March-12-2015

>>High Court cannot entertain plea against Armed Forces Tribunal:Supreme Court

•  The Supreme Court has said high courts cannot entertain pleas under writ jurisdiction against verdicts of the Armed Force Tribunal(AFT) in disputes pertaining to armed forces.

• Justices SJ Mukhopadhaya and NV Ramana said that if a high court entertains a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution against the order passed by the AFT, it would bypassing the machinery of statute as enshrined in the AFT Act, and there is likelihood of anomalous situation for the aggrieved person in praying for relief from this court.

• The apex court's ruling came after it had set aside an order of the Delhi High Court which had allowed a writ petition against an army personnel.

• Section 30 of AFT Act stipulates that an appeal against the final decision or order of the tribunal shall lie in the Supreme Court.

 

 

>>India and Maritius signs Five MoU s to boost bilateral co-operation

•  Prime Minister Modi, will be the chief guest at the 47 th  National Day celebrations of Mauritius. India and Mauritius signed five agreements to give new momentum to bilateral cooperation. The MoUs were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Sir Anerood Jugnuth.

• The agreements signed between both sides included one on Ocean Economy. It provides for mutually beneficial co-operation for exploration and capacity development in the field of marine resources, fisheries, green tourism, research and development of ocean technology, exchange of experts and other related activities.

• The MoUs for improvement in Sea and Air Transportation Facilities at Agalega Island in Mauritius, programme for cultural co-operation between the two countries for the next three years, co-operation in the field of Traditional System of Medicine and Homeopathy, and protocol for import of fresh mangoes from India were also signed between both sides.

• Prime Minister Modi on Thursday offered a concessional line of credit of 500 million US dollars to Mauritius for key infrastructure projects.

• "We have also offered our support for the construction of the second cyber city. I am grateful to you and the people of Mauritius for the invitation as the Chief Guest of the National Day on March 12th 2015.

>>Parliament passes Insurance Laws(Amendment) Bill,2015:

• Parliament  approved the NDA government's first major economic reform measure as the long-pending bill providing for raising the FDI cap in insurance sector to 49% was passed in RajyaSabha.

• The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced after Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien ruled that the new bill, as passed by the LokSabha, could be taken up as it was a "unique and unprecedented" situation.

• The bill seeks to replace an ordinance issued by the government earlier, which had come under sharp attack from various quarters.

•  It seeks to amend the Insurance Act, 1938 and the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act 1972 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999. It provides for raising FDI cap in insurance sector from 26 % to 49 %.

• The bill provides for imprisonment of up to 10 years for selling policies without registration with the regulator IRDA. The legislation will also allow PSU general insurers to raise funds from the capital market and provides for increased penalty to deter multilevel marketing of insurance products.

• The law provides that 15 % of the premium should be invested in building infrastructure.

• The Lower House had passed the Bill on March 4.

 

>> Sri Lanka has decided to release 86 Indian Fishermen as a goodwill gesture to mark PM Narendra Modi’s visit.

 

>> World Kidney Day is observed annually on the 2^nd Thursday in March.This is global health awareness campaign focusing on the importance of the kidneys and reducing the frequency and impact of kidney deseses.

 

>>International  Monetary Fund(IMF) has raised India’s growth forecast for the current fiscal to 7.2%.

     IMF said that India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing market economies and the growth rate would grow by 7.5%

>>Union Govt launches Pharma Jan Smadhan Scheme for redressal of grievances on drugs pricing:

It was launched by Union Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar in New Delhi.

About Pharma Jan Samadhan scheme:

• The scheme is a web-enabled system created by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
• It seeks to serve as a robust E-governance tool for protection of interests of consumers through effective implementation of the price of drugs.
• The scheme will provide consumers with an online facility to redress their complaints related to over-pricing of medicines, non-availability of medicines and refusal of supply for sale of any medicine without good and sufficient reason.
• After receiving the complaint, NPPA will initiate action on any complaint within 48 hrs.
• The scheme also seeks to create awareness among the people and act as a deterrent against black-marketing, spurious medicines and inflated cost of drugs by creating phama-literacy initiative.