Women's Bill row: 7 MPs suspended in Rajya Sabha!Commitment of Political Party Suspected as Markets to take time and consolidate around current levels!Mamata's TMC likely to abstain from voting on Women's Bill.Rajya Sabha votes on Women's Reservation Bill!
BREAKING NEWS
Font Size
Rajya Sabha passes women's reservation bill
Tags: 
ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!
Related Stories
Photogallery
 |  |
New Delhi: After unprecedented disruptions and bedlam, the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday evening finally passed the historic women's reservation bill reserving one-third seats for women in parliament and state legislatures.
The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Left Front voted for the bill. The two MPs of the Trinamool Congress, the government’s second biggest ally, abstained from voting.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley, Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) Brinda Karat, Bahujan Samaj Party's (BSP) Satish Mishra and Jayanthi Natarajan of Congress took part in the debate for the bill.
Earlier, seven opposition members, who suspended for their unruly behaviour, were physically evicted from the Rajya Sabha after they continued to squat on the floor for more than three hours.
Rajya Sabha passes women's reservation bill
Rajya Sabha passes women's reservation bill
Sonia to Lalu: You have seven daughters, should support Bill
JD(U) faces danger of split within ranks on Women's Bill
"He has seven daughters. I was telling him that within his family there are seven for the Bill," Ms. Gandhi told reporters when asked about her informal interaction with Mr. Prasad and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in the Lok Sabha. more by Sonia Gandhi - 36 minutes ago - The Hindu (5 occurrences) |
Rajya Sabha debates women's bill - finally
Suspended MPs physically evicted from Rajya Sabha
BJP MLA condemns obstruction of women's bill in Parliament
Women's Bill giant leap of empowerment: PM
Women's Bill: BSP opposes, AIADMK, JD(U) support
Trinamool not to vote on Women's Bill
Timeline of articles
Sonia to Lalu: You have seven daughters, should support Bill 36 minutes ago - The Hindu | |
Women Reservation: Quota conundrum 11 hours ago - Economic Times | |
UPA fails to pull through Women's Bill in Upper House 15 hours ago - The Hindu | |
Protests at any cost, say Lalu and Mulayam Mar 8, 2010 - Hindustan Times | |
JD(U) Lok Sabha MPs to ask Sharad to talk with Nitish on women's bill Mar 8, 2010 - Daily News & Analysis | |
SP, RJD MPs snatch papers from Rajya Sabha Chairman Mar 8, 2010 - IBNLive.com | |
Rajya Sabha set to create history, pass women's bill Mar 7, 2010 - IBNLive.com | |
Historic women's quota bill may hit coalition equations Mar 7, 2010 - Daily News & Analysis | |
Women's quota bill set to pass on March 8 Mar 4, 2010 - Times of India |
|
 |
| Congress women supporters celebrate the tabling of the women’s bill on Monday. Picture by Prem Singh |
What does the bill propose to do?
It seeks to reserve for women a third, or 33 per cent, of the seats in the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies.
Doesn’t it apply to the Rajya Sabha?
No — and nor to the legislative councils (in states with bicameral legislatures), whose members are elected indirectly like the Rajya Sabha’s.
If the bill is passed, how many Lok Sabha seats will be reserved for women?
A total of 182, since the Lok Sabha has 545 seats.
How many women members does the Lok Sabha now have?
Just 59.
But can’t women contest the non-reserved seats too?
They can, which means that in principle, all 545 Lok Sabha members can be women (like now) though not all 545 can be men (unlike now).
Is there a sub-quota within the women’s quota?
Yes, of the 182 reserved seats, 42 — that is, roughly 22 per cent — will be reserved for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women. This is in keeping with the current policy of reserving 22 per cent Lok Sabha seats for SCs and STs.
The Assemblies too will have a sub-quota for SC/ST women within the women’s quota.
Will the sub-quota seats for SC/ST women come into being over and above the current 22 per cent SC/ST quota that is open to both genders?
Yes. This means, of course, that nearly 30 per cent of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats will now practically be reserved for the SC/STs.
So what will be the total quota volume after the women’s bill is passed?
Fifty five per cent — 33 per cent for women plus the existing 22 per cent for SC/STs.
How will the reserved seats be selected for the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies?
By rotation.
But what if a state or Union territory has less than three Lok Sabha seats?
If it has just one seat, it will be reserved for women in the first general election after the bill’s passage, and then once every three elections.
If a state has two seats, each will be reserved for women once in a cycle of three elections.
What about the two Lok Sabha seats reserved for Anglo-Indians?
Each will be reserved for women once in every three elections.
Who will select the seats to be reserved for women at each election?
An authority prescribed by Parliament. There is no provision for one in the bill as it stands.
Can we expect to see high-profile women politicians like Sonia Gandhi or Mamata Banerjee contest a reserved seat?
They will almost certainly not do so because that could dim their aura. So when the turn of Rae Bareli or Calcutta South comes to become a reserved seat, Sonia and Mamata will probably contest from elsewhere.
Why was the need for a women’s quota felt?
Because the proportion of women in the legislatures did not reflect the gender equality enshrined in the Constitution. Women’s strength in the Lok Sabha has hovered between 11 per cent and 3.5 per cent.
The level of women’s participation in the political process is viewed as a reliable barometer of a democracy’s well-being.
Have other countries in the region done any better?
Yes — Nepal with 33 per cent, Pakistan with 22.5 per cent and Bangladesh with 12 per cent.
What are the perceived advantages of such a quota?
A study has shown that women elected to panchayats under the quota tend to invest more in public utility services linked to women’s concerns. A 2008 study commissioned by the panchayati raj ministry showed that over the years, many women representatives had gained in self-esteem and developed the confidence to make decisions.
What are the disadvantages, according to the quota critics?
A narrowing of the women’s outlook and perpetuation of their unequal status — apparently because they would not be seen as competing on merit.
Besides, according to the critics, there would be no real empowerment of women because of the bill’s failure to address larger issues of electoral reform, such as measures to check money and muscle power in politics and promote internal democracy in political parties.
Why are Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav upset?
They say the quota will only facilitate the entry of “elite”, English-speaking women who are more articulate and self-confident than backward-caste and minority women in general. The Yadav chieftains want “the playing field levelled” through sub-quotas for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and minorities within the women’s quota.
Why can’t the government allow these sub-quotas?
An OBC quota within the women’s quota would be unconstitutional; nor is there any constitutional provision for faith-based reservation.
How credible is the fear that some male politicians may simply field their wives or girlfriends and remote-control them? Is there any clause in the bill to prevent this?
The fear of “proxy” representatives — or relatives of former male candidates — is real, as underlined by the all-powerful panchapatis or mukhia patis (husbands of women sarpanches) in the rural bodies.
But bill supporters argue that this can at worst be seen as a teething problem and should not be a deterrent. The bill has no provision to prevent such remote control by men.
Does such a quota exist anywhere else in the world?
Yes, in Argentina, Pakistan, Uganda, Bangladesh, Eritrea and Tanzania.
If the Rajya Sabha passes the bill, what next? When will the law kick in?
If the Rajya Sabha passes the bill, it goes to the Lok Sabha. There is no deadline; it can take a day or a year or even longer to travel from one House to the other depending on what the government decides.
Lalu Prasad, Mulayam and Sharad Yadav are all members of the Lok Sabha, so the Opposition will be more strident there. Unsure of Lalu Prasad’s and Mulayam’s response following their threat to withdraw support on Monday, the UPA government may not want to risk taking the bill up in the Lok Sabha before the passage of the finance bill. If the Lok Sabha passes the bill, a notification will be issued and the act will come into force immediately.
Will this happen on time for the May 2011 Bengal elections?
The central notification will impose the quota only on the Lok Sabha. The Assemblies must pass the bill separately for the quota to apply to them. Not all the state legislatures have to do it — as soon as half of them (that is, 15 Assemblies in the country) pass the bill, all Assemblies will come under its ambit.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has already said he wants to get the bill passed in Patna before the October 2010 state elections.
Once the quota comes into being, does it stay for ever?
The act will be in force initially for 15 years. It can be extended by fresh enactment in Parliament.
COMPILED BY RADHIKA RAMASESHANRajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari
9 Mar 2010, 1542 hrs IST
Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari asking the Members to maintain decorum during a ruckus in the House over Women's Reservation Bill in New Delhi. PTI
 | Mamata likely to abstain from voting on women's Bill The TC leader Mamata Banerjee claimed that her party was kept in the dark over the way the Bill was being passed in Rajya Sabha. | |
New Delhi, March 8: If Sonia Gandhi was in favour of pushing through the women’s bill on International Women’s Day itself, another lady advised against bulldozing the legislation.
Sources said Mamata Banerjee was among the UPA allies who advocated caution after Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad conveyed to the Prime Minister that they would go to any extent to foil the passage of the bill.
Pressing forward under such circumstances would have meant asking marshals to bodily lift the trouble-makers and bundle them out. But Congress leaders felt that throwing out members of the Samajwadi Party and the RJD would damage future ties and help the BJP.
The sources said the Prime Minister and the Congress’s main troubleshooter, Pranab Mukherjee, were not in favour of bulldozing the bill but Sonia’s insistence on passing the bill today itself created a piquant situation.
Mamata and Sharad Pawar intervened forcefully to convince the Prime Minister that running the risk of antagonising secular parties at this stage was not good politics. The budget is yet to be passed and the government will have to rely on Independents if the Samajwadis and the RJD carry out their threat to withdraw support.
The sources said Mamata, who also mediated between the government and the bill sceptics, saw merit in the demand for sub-quotas for Muslim and backward class women. The Trinamul chief is banking on the minority community to see her through in the Bengal Assembly polls next year.
She conveyed to the Prime Minister that “all viewpoints should be considered” before passing the bill and no section of the society should feel discriminated against.
The DMK was also not in favour of use of force to amend the Constitution. The BJP at this stage indicated that it did not want the bill to be put to vote without a debate. Congress managers grabbed this opportunity to buy time.
 |
 |
 |
| (From left) Kathryn Bigelow, Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock at Kodak Theatre in Hollywood after winning their Oscars. (AFP) |
Los Angeles, March 8: The Hurt Locker, a gritty, challenging and little-seen drama about bomb disposal in the Iraq war, was the leading winner with six Academy Awards, including best picture and the first directing honour for a female filmmaker.
The Iraq-bomb-defusing drama’s Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for directing. “There’s no other way to describe it. It’s the moment of a lifetime,” said Bigelow, who was only the fourth woman nominated for directing in the academy’s 82-year history.
The Hurt Locker took home the top prize, best picture, and four awards in other categories. Avatar, the 3D smash-hit directed by Bigelow’s ex-husband, James Cameron, ended up with three awards, all in technical categories.
The organisers had doubled this year’s best-picture contest to 10 movies to rope in more mass-appeal hits and boost the ceremony’s ratings; but The Hurt Locker, an emotionally exhausting account of an army explosive ordnance disposal team, stands apart as the lowest-grossing film in modern history to capture Hollywood’s highest award.
Sandra Bullock was named best actress for The Blind Side, and Jeff Bridges won for best actor for Crazy Heart. Mo’Nique won for best supporting actress for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, and Christoph Waltz was named best supporting actor for Inglourious Basterds.
With US theatrical receipts of less than $15 million — about 2 per cent of the domestic haul of Cameron’s box-office behemoth Avatar — The Hurt Locker, like many other movies about conflict in West Asia, has sold substantially fewer tickets than several low-grossing best picture winners, including 2005’s Crash and 1987’s The Last Emperor.
Although almost every film producer and distributor passed on making Bigelow’s film, financed independently for $11 million, The Hurt Locker was among last year’s most critically acclaimed releases, and won any number of key awards in the weeks leading up to the Oscars ceremony.
The evening’s winner for best actress, Bullock, represented a far more popular movie, the blockbuster The Blind Side. Best known for crowd-pleasing (and critically dismissed) works such as Miss Congeniality and The Proposal, Bullock won the Oscar with her very first nomination for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy, the real-life adoptive mother of a homeless teenager.
Bridges, one of Hollywood’s most respected performers, won the best actor Oscar for depicting alcoholic singer Bad Blake in the fictionalised country music biography Crazy Heart. The son of the actors Lloyd and Dorothy Dean, Bridges said on stage: “I feel an extension of them. This is honouring them as much as it is me.”
Ranchi, March 8: Chief minister Shibu Soren sought to end his ambivalence on the Maoist question today by assuring the Assembly that his government was in favour of launching an armed offensive against the rebels amid reports that coordinated operations had already been launched on the Bengal-Jharkhand border.
“It’s a sad fact that ultra-Left rebels are executing murders at their whim and fancy in rural areas of the state. There is a need to restore civil administration in those areas to expedite overall development. There is a need and I am in favour of initiating a major offensive against the Naxalites,” Soren told the House.
Today’s statement, given in reply to JVM MLA Pradeep Yadav, was the first instance when Soren chose to be unambiguous about his support for an armed offensive. On earlier occasions, he has always been wavering, at times nuancing his stance by insisting on launching development projects simultaneously with any plans of an armed offensive.
In fact Yadav’s question to the chief minister spoke of his, and his government’s, “conflicting and changing” views on starting an offensive against Naxalites amid a fairly large deployment of central para military forces.
Today, with home secretary J.B. Tubid, DGP Neyaz Ahmad and other senior police officers seated in the VIP enclosure, Soren told the Assembly that the Centre had directed Jharkhand to ensure proper coordination with neighbouring states to ensure the success of the planned operation against the rebels.
The chief minister, who has never shown such wholehearted support for an offensive before — he even stayed away from a review meeting chaired by Union home minister P. Chidambaram in Calcutta on February 9 — added that maintaining law and order was a state subject and the police had recorded initial gains in the ongoing operations.
Later, the chief minister and his two deputies, Raghubar Das and Sudesh Mahto, went to Delhi to meet Chidambaram who had by then made it clear that he would like all state governments to be on the “same page” on the question of launching operations against Maoists.
Soren’s statement came on a day senior officials revealed to The Telegraph that anti-rebel operations had already been launched along the Jharkhand-Bengal border and that two choppers were on standby. “CRPF and Jharkhand Jaguar jawans have been pressed into service. Two helicopters have also been deputed for any exigency. The operation has been launched simultaneously by the Jharkhand and Bengal police,” said an official overseeing the operations.
Yesterday, the security forces succeeded in surrounding over 200 Naxalites in the Balumath area of Latehar where a fierce encounter was on for hours. Moreover, a new CRPF battalion has already been shifted from Tripura to Tamar (in Ranchi district), a rebel stronghold along NH 33 that connects the state capital to Jamshedpur.
A few more battalions of central para military forces were expected to arrive here soon.
 |
New Delhi, March 8: The government today introduced a bill in Parliament to reduce its minimum holding in the State Bank of India (SBI) to 51 per cent as it seeks to arm India’s No. 1 bank with greater fund-raising powers.
The amendment to the State Bank of India Act, 1955, if cleared, will enable the bank to split its shares and undertake preferential or private placements to meet future capital requirements, provided the government holding does not fall below 51 per cent.
Under the new law, the SBI will also be allowed to issue bonus shares to existing shareholders.
Earlier, the central government had announced plans to reduce its holdings in state-run banks while retaining majority control.
Political parties and unions, however, are opposed to the move. “We will continue to oppose the bill. Government holding in the SBI should not be reduced. On the contrary, it should be hiked,” CPM leader Basudeb Acharya told The Telegraph.
As on December last year, the government held a 59.41 per cent stake in the SBI. Under the existing act, government holding in the bank cannot go below 55 per cent.
The SBI (Amendment) Bill proposes to allow the bank have government holding on a par with other nationalised banks at 51 per cent. “The move will give headroom to the SBI to raise around Rs 6,000 crore,” said an SBI official. The Reserve Bank of India had a majority stake in the SBI, which was subsequently transferred to the government.
The government estimates that the bank may raise over Rs 25,000 crore through preference shares to maintain a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of over 12 per cent by 2013.
Previous avatar
The SBI (Amendment) Bill, 2006, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 18, 2006 and subsequently sent to the parliamentary standing committee on finance. The parliamentary panel had approved the amendments in August 2007. However, the bill lapsed because of the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha.
“It is proposed to introduce the State Bank of India (Amendment) Bill, 2010 broadly on the same lines of the lapsed bill,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said while presenting the bill in Parliament.
The bill also proposes to increase the authorised capital from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore. Moreover, the bank will have four managing directors instead of two.
The amendment will enable the SBI to do a follow-on public offer because the present law restricts capital-raising through this route. The SBI had plans to go for a public offer in 2007-08 but deferred it as the amendment bill, which was introduced in December 2006, had not received Parliament’s nod.
SBI chairman .P. Bhatt had recently said the bank would need to raise about Rs 40,000-50,000 crore over the next five years to meet its credit needs.
For this year, Bhatt said the bank was looking to raise Rs 10,000-20,000 crore through a rights issue. However, a rights issue will require government co-operation since it will have to subscribe to the offer.
The SBI Act was last amended in 1993 to enable the bank to access the capital markets. While the SBI can issue equity shares or bonds, there is no provision that will allow it to issue preference and bonus shares.
News of the introduction of the bill led to a rally in the SBI stock. On the BSE today, the scrip gained 1.16 per cent, or Rs 23.80, to close at Rs 2,070.25.
On the National Stock Exchange, the scrip settled at Rs 2,064.50, up 0.85 per cent. Over 51.22 lakh shares of the lender changed hands on the two bourses.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100309/jsp/frontpage/story_12194920.jspTHE LOS ANGELES TIMES
Half of half the sky
| As the world raised a toast on the 100th International Women’s Day, many women in the Asia-Pacific region raised only a cry of distress. The UN The report’s prescriptions for policy interventions, including economic policies to support gender equality, boosting political participation, addressing legal discrimination and providing access to quality education and skills are not new, but remain valid. There is no one size-fits-all cure. As the report rightly points out, the solutions will depend on the specific circumstances of each country. A major inequality, though, continues to be in asset ownership. Women own only 7% of the farms in Asia Pacific compared to 20% of farms in most other parts of the world. Women continue, by and large, not to own assets except in the absence of a male heir. Asset ownership will enable them to have a greater share in decision-making . There is a need, therefore, to institute extensive financial incentives and ensure inheritance rights for women. In India, this could include providing a lower income tax rate. The story is almost the same in south Asia’s labour market, which, again, is rife with inequalities. Corrective action is needed on this front. The economic spin-offs of gender equality, quantified in the report, are impressive. According to the report , India’s Gross Domestic Product could go up by as much as 4% if the employment rate for women is pushed up. That, of course, is a numerical exercise. Empowering women to become productive agents of Indian prosperity calls for radical social change, one that goes well beyond women. |
 |
"With better food production inflation will die down. Food inflation is high, it's a concern. My own expectation is by April-May the base effect would have gone," Basu said.
The government needs to take action and has taken action and that is why we are witnessing some decline in food prices, Basu said, adding the overall average inflation will be around 4 per cent for 2009-10.
Earlier he had said though fuel prices would lead to a marginal rise in WPI inflation, however, a lower fiscal deficit in the long-run would dampen the average inflation.
Owing to changes in the tax structure announced in the Budget 2011, fuel prices have gone up and as a result, the WPI will rise by 0.4 per cent, he had said.
In the Budget, the government hiked customs duty on petrol and diesel to 7.5 per cent from 2.5 per cent while excise duty was raised by Re 1 on non-branded (normal) petrol and diesel.
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena in a reply to the Rajya Sabha said the hike in prices of items could be attributed to expectations of supply-side constraints of food items, especially due to unfavourable Southwest monsoon.
The government has taken several measures to check inflation in food items, including reducing import duties to zero for rice, wheat, pulses, edible oils and sugar, Meena said today.
Besides, the government allowed import of raw sugar at zero duty under open general licence, he said.
Two million tonne of wheat and one million tonne of rice have been allocated to states for distribution to retail consumers over and above normal public distribution system allocation, he added.
Earlier, cracking the whip on disruptive MPs, Ansari suspended the seven MPs for the remaining part of the Budget session for their unruly behaviour in the House over the Bill.
The suspended members are Subhash Yadav (RJD), Sabir Ali (LJP), Veerpal Singh Yadav, Nand Kishore Yadav, Amir Alam Khan and Kamal Akhtar (all SP), and Ejaz Ali (unattached), who had yesterday tried to attack the Chairman and created unprecedented pandemonium in the Upper House.
They had indulged in unruly scenes as soon as Law Minister Veerappa Moily moved the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill that provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
The motion for their suspension was moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Prithviraj Chavan and was passed by voice vote.
The action against members under Rule 256 was taken for showing total "disregard for dignity of Council and authority of the Chair" by obstructing the business of the House.
The rule under which the seven members were suspended does not allow any adjournment or debate.
After their suspension, the House was adjourned by Ansari till 2 PM, for the second time in the day.
Even as discussion and voting on the issue was on in the Upper House, an angry Banerjee said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had given her party the understanding that there will be an all-party meeting on the issue.
But with the bill being suddenly taken up for discussion and voting, she said she could not mobilise her party MPs in the Rajya Sabha. TMC has 2 members in the Upper House.
She said it was made clear to her yesterday that the measure will not be adopted the way it was being done.
To a question on Trinamool Congress expressing reservations over the passage of the bill, Sonia Gandhi said all the parties in the UPA had welcomed the measure when it was brought in the Cabinet and she saw no problems within the UPA.
When asked whether she had to be tough to push ahead with the bill, Gandhi said yesterday also she was firm. People mentioned some possible consequences which she had to take into account. "I may not not have thought of that."
She denied suggestions that Congress was "in a shambles" yesterday on the bill. "Certain developments took place and we had to face that," she said.
Food prices to cool in 2 months: Montek
“The trend is that food price will come down in the next two months. I am sure that the trend down on food prices will bring down the overall inflation in the next two months,” Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here.
The wholesale price inflation (WPI) rose to 8.56% in January, the highest in over 13 months, shooting past the RBI’s forecast of 8.5% for this fiscal end.
The WPI hike was mainly because of a surge in prices of food items such as sugar, potatoes and pulses. Overall inflation in December was 7.31%.
In January, sugar prices rose by 58.96% year-on-year while potatoes turned costlier by 53.39% and pulses by 45.64%. About the government’s borrowings next fiscal, Mr Ahluwalia said, “If fiscal deficit goes down the govt borrows less that year...means more money is available for private sector.” Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has projected a fiscal deficit of 5.5% of GDP in his Budget for 2010-11.
Meanwhile, Mr Ahluwalia also met Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and both agreed on a plan size of Rs 3,000 crore for 2010-11 for the state.
Mr Ahluwalia asked the state government to focus on improving tourism and horticulture as the sectors have immense revenue generation potential.
Expressing satisfaction over the state’s plan outlay of Rs 3,000 crore for 2010-11, Mr Dhumal said: “We are happy with the plan size. The state’s plan outlay will have top priority for social services sector and 33.69% of the total funds will be given to the sector.”
On extension of tax holidays for the hill states, Mr Dhumal said, “The centre must continue the tax holiday for Himachal and Uttranchal as well till 2013.”
The centre had provided tax holiday for Jammu and Kashmir, Uttranchal and Himachal Pradesh in 2003. But now the government is continuing this benefit only for Jammu and Kahsmir.
The tax holiday includes 100% and excise duty exemption.
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday suspended seven MPs for disrupting proceedings in the Rajya Sabha over the Women's Reservation
The MPs were suspended for the remainder of the session.
Earlier, Vice President Hamid Ansari had adjourned the Rajya Sabha within minutes of reconvening as members began to shout slogans against the Women's Reservation Bill when the House opened at 11am.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav led the protests in the Lok Sabha against the Women's Reservation Bill forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House for 15 minutes.
Earlier in the morning, Sharad Yadav, Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav, who are opposing the Women's Reservation Bill had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and informed the PM of their differences towards the bill.
On Monday, SP and RJD MPs had held the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to ransom by disrupting proceedings where the landmark legislation was to be discussed and adopted.
The women’s quota supporters, who are in a majority, watched as their gameplan to pass the bill in the Upper House on International Women’s Day, was torn to shreds.
Signs of what was to come became evident in the morning when both Houses were adjourned as SP, RJD and LJP protested against the bill, which seeks to ensure 33% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
It was after two adjournments of the House that law minister Veerappa Moily tabled for consideration and passage in Rajya Sabha amid the din. Slogan-shouting members of SP, RJD and LJP moved into the well of the House, snatched copies of the bill and tore it. Bits of the document were seen flying across the House.
Nand Kishore Yadav of SP was seen trying to climb up the Chairman’s desk but was prevented by a marshal, not before he snatched a file on the Chairman’s table and threw it back into the House. He also succeeded in disabling the public address system on the Chairman’s podium. Subhash Yadav of RJD seemed to be making an attempt to assault the Rajya Sabha secretary-general who was seated below the chairman’s podium. While Kamal Akhtar of SP climbed on to the reporter’s table.
Within seconds, the Chairman adjourned the House for an hour. During this time, the House staff cleared every such item off the Chairman’s podium, secretary general’s and reporter’s table that could be hurled by the protesters. An effort that greeted sneers from the dissenting MPs.
To avert a re-run of the scenes during the tabling of the bill, the number of marshals present in the House went up dramatically following the unruly exchange. All these measures were in vain. The House met again thrice only to adjourn amid uproar. As against over 180 supporters of the bill in a House with an effective strength of 233, there are just 18 opponents.
Earlier in the day during question hour, the protesting members demanded a debate on the reports of the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by Ranganath Misra that favours job quotas for Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians.
The report pointed out that India is emerging as an attractive investment market for PE firms as an increasing number of family-owned businesses are turning to outside investors to raise funds.
Rapid domestic expansion across several sectors is set to provide ample opportunities for growth-capital investing in the country, said Sri Rajan, head, PE practice in India with Bain & Company. “Given the growth trajectory in India, PE investments will pick up in the coming fiscal but the average value of deals will be lower than that of 2007, which was the boom period for investments. Key sectors that will witness an upswing in future are infrastructure and healthcare,” he added.
It also said PE deals are showing signs of recovery globally with value of buyouts moving to $36 billion in the past quarter of 2009 after hitting a low of $8 billion for the quarter ended March 2009.
But fund-raising by PE firms will take some time to pick up. Even as PE firms are flush with commitment now, raising capital will be much of a challenge over the short term, it said.
Fund-raising more than halved in each of the four quarters of 2009 over the corresponding period a year ago shrinking as much as 76% to $37 billion in the three months to December, the lowest since the third quarter of 2004, according to Bain & Co.
  Lalu Prasad & Mulayam Singh Yadav protest against the Women's Reservation Bill outside Parliament —SANJEEV RASTOGI (BCCL) |
Only the reality challenged would have gone along with the view that the opposition from the Yadavs would be perfunctory and that the government can carry the day. The signs of trouble were there from last week itself — Mulayam and Lalu had been warning that they would wage a war against the government over the women’s bill.
To give them credit, they managed to couch their opposition in a message that would appeal to their social base — the present as well as the one slipping away from them. The two leaders said that the bill was aimed at denying a “rightful place” to Muslims, backwards and Dalits. They have been shouting from the roof top that with 180 seats reserved for women and 70 for SCs and STs, the two other sections — Muslims and OBCs — don’t stand a chance.
Power for the two leaders come from the support of these two sections: if they lose their backing, their parties will melt down. Congress is already emerging as a credible competitor for the Muslim vote bank — the party managed to get a substantial chink of these votes in the last Lok Sabha elections in UP and it has set its sight on the Muslims in Bihar.
The fighting spirit of the two leaders was on display in Parliament on Monday. Mr Lalu Prasad showed that a depleted strength will not come in the way of his bouncing back to the centrestage. For him, Congress will be equally detrimental for RJD’s electoral project in Bihar. And he cannot let go off an opportunity to corner Congress. The same considerations drove the SP leader to unleash his MPs in Parliament.
The two used the occasion to get back at Congress which has been spurning their overtures. As a matter of fact, Congress, for all practical purposes, had put the two parties in the enemy column. While Mr Lalu Prasad would have ideally liked to approach the electoral battle in Bihar as part of a broader “secular” coalition, Congress has steadfastly refused to oblige him.
Government on Monday said Rs 24,122 crores has been spent till February 2010 to procure various defence equipment for the armed forces
during the current financial year.
"Out of this amount, a sum of Rs 8,143 has been spent on procurement from foreign vendors," Defence Minister A K Antony said in reply to a Lok Sabha query.
Under the modernisation plans for the armed forces, India is procuring a large number of weapon platforms and systems, which include P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft, T-90 tanks, Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers, BrahMos missiles, Smerch rocket launchers, C-130J transport aircraft and SU-30 MKI multi-role fighter jets.
In next 10 years, India is expected to spend over USD 50 billion for modernising its military.
Replying to another query, the Minister said the net worth of government investment in the Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Ordnance Factory Boards was Rs 11,685 crores.
About the Light Combat Aircraft, Antony said the Centre had signed a contract worth Rs 2,701 crores with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for procuring 20 indigenously-built fighters.
He said to check further delays in the programme, "a high level review is being conducted by the Air Force chief once every quarter and once every month by the Deputy Air Chief."
Antony said the LCA was now expected to join the IAF by March 2011.
Answering another query he said, "32 incidents of air space violation by foreign aircraft have taken place during last 3 years (January 2007-2010)."
ET Exclusive: Commitment of all political parties suspect, says Medha Patkar
What happened in the Rajya Sabha on Monday was entirely unwarranted though it was unexpected given the history of hostility to this bill. It was supposed to be a smooth passage since the bill has been debated ad nauseam. At the most, it should have generated a beautiful ideological debate followed by voting.
But the commotion that happened has raised legitimate questions about the credibility and commitment of all political parties to this issue. I see no reason for women to have faith in this Parliament after what happened in the Rajya Sabha. I see very little chance of this bill getting passed in the current Lok Sabha. For there seems to be a dormant but very powerful majority of men across all political parties militantly opposed to this bill. The political parties do not seem sensitive and ideologically committed enough to be trusted with this responsibility anymore. It’s time women themselves took this up along with committed people’s organisation.
The people’s organisations must now take a stern view of the entire situation and launch a collective agitation on this issue.
There is a larger ideological confusion beyond the commotion and opposition to this bill. While 33% reservation for women is necessary, mere legal intervention will not lead to real success and real social mobility for all women. Indian society needs to change its mindset and this is a real challenge. As a first step, reservation is essential because it will bring in a large number of women in the representative democracy which in turn will greatly check criminalisation of politics, politicisation of caste, communalism, and corporatisation of the entire society.
Yet, it will only be a starting point. The real revolution will have to be spearheaded by women themselves.
Irrespective of what happens to this bill now, women, and men supporting their cause, must take a counsel from what has happened to the Panchayat Raj Bill which put in place reservation for women in local bodies. Women have to be successful on their own without their husbands or sons being around for hand-holding. All women cannot and should not contest elections. There are other and perhaps better avenues of self-actualisation like social activism, environmental crusades, and the whole lot of people’s issues where great many acts of injustice are being committed by men-dominated society.
(The writer is a social activist)
Women's Reservation Bill: Well intentioned but highly flawed
It is ill conceived because: The rotation system will automatically result in two-thirds of incumbent members –one third women and one third men — being forcibly unseated in every general election. The remaining one-third will be left in limbo until the last moment, not knowing if their constituency will form part of the one-third randomly reserved seats. This will require them to scramble at short notice to find another seat from which to contest. Such compulsory unseating violates the very basic principles of democratic representation. It jeopardises the possibility of sensible planning to contest and nurture a political constituency for both male and female candidates.
Even though there will be no legal bar on women standing from general constituencies, it is highly unlikely that many women will obtain party tickets to run for office outside the reserved constituencies. This same pattern is evident with SCs and STs who have been permanently ghettoised to fixed reserved constituencies.
It will make it harder for women to build their long-term credibility as effective representatives, since they will not be able to contest twice from the same constituency once it is de-reserved. There will be no incentive for a woman politician to nurse her constituency since it will be reserved only once in 15 years. They will thus will be deprived of a strong political base and will forever be regarded as ‘one time’ players.
Reservation through territorial constituencies will restrict the choice of voters who would have no option but to elect women only, violating the basic principles of democratic representation. This is likely to lead to greater resentment against women, undermining the very objective of the Bill.
Those men who get pushed out of their constituencies or who see their allies sidelined will either sabotage female contenders in revenge, or spend much of their political capital helping their own female relatives in cornering these reserved seats. Such proxies would be expected to keep the seat ‘safe’ for the men until the next election, when they would again try to reclaim their seats. This will further strengthen the culture feminine space being dominated by the” biwi beti” brigade.
Women will be ghettoised to ‘women only’ constituencies leading to the zenana dabba mindset. Leadership acquired in such a manner will be seen as unnatural, artificial and foisted.
Given these serious infirmities, Manushi proposed an alternative model, which addresses many of the flaws listed above. The important provisions of the proposed Alternative Bill are as follows:
Through an amendment of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, it should be mandatory for every recognised political party to nominate women candidates for election in one-third of the constituencies. This enables each party to choose where it wishes to nominate women candidates, duly taking local political and social factors into account.
To prevent a party from nominating women candidates only in states or constituencies where the party’s chances of winning election are weak, and to ensure an even spread of women candidates, the unit for consideration (the unit in which at least one out of the three party candidates shall be a woman) for the Lok Sabha shall be a state or Union Territory; for the assembly, the unit shall be a cluster of three contiguous Lok Sabha constituencies.
 |
New Delhi, March 8: The women’s reservation bill erupted in the face of an under-prepared government today, earning it brickbats from overt backers of the contentious legislation and robbing it of critical political support from allies who staunchly oppose it.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress boss Sonia Gandhi were struggling tonight to free themselves from the squeeze of a double irony -- they have the support of the Opposition on the bill, their allies have walked away.
The bill itself is in peril of falling through the cracks another time.
At the end of the day the government and the Congress found itself pilloried from either side. The BJP and the Left lashed it for not preparing the ground well enough, and questioned its commitment to the bill.
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party and Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal announced outraged withdrawal of support from the UPA, reducing its Lok Sabha majority to a thin-ice three or four.
Lalu Prasad, who met and sought President Pratibha Patil’s intervention in the matter, later said he was not opposed to reservation for women but insisted that Muslims and OBCs be provided a sub-quota within its framework. “I am for 50 per cent reservation for women, but this country lives in the under-privileged heartland, let Muslim and OBC women not be robbed of their rightful share, we will never allow that,” he said.
The stormy tabling of the bill in the Rajya Sabha this afternoon has flung the Congress and the UPA into a crisis that is suddenly no longer about women’s reservation alone; it is about the future of the Manmohan Singh government itself.
There is palpable alarm in the government now that this could impact the passage of the budget and the survival of UPA II.
The Prime Minister has called an all-party meeting tomorrow but it is unlikely to throw up any resolution that will make for orderly discussion on the bill in Parliament. It is significant — and indicative of some panic in the UPA — that Singh has also scheduled a separate meeting with Mulayam, Lalu Prasad and Sharad Yadav who has risked an open divide in the Janata Dal (United) and the NDA to oppose the bill.
The Prime Minister is anxious not to lose the support of the Samajwadi and the RJD, sources said, even if it has to be at the cost of postponing the divisive vote.
 |
Neither the Prime Minister nor the Congress leadership is innocent of the fact that in the long term it must still rely on parties like the Samajwadi and the RJD on critical issues. “The BJP and the Left are supporting the women’s bill, but they are not this government’s allies, they are the Opposition and we cannot lose sight of that crucial reality,” a Congress MP said.
The horns of the dilemma pricked the ruling establishment deep. Having wrapped the bill in the high symbolism of the centenary of International Women’s Day, Sonia is loath to see her vaunted gift buried.
But with the budget, and other key legislation on Manmohan Singh’s agenda, to be approved, the government is worried over being able to locate enough legislative support.
As one worried Congressman put it: “We have found ourselves a first-rate problem, this feels like a garland made of stones, you wear it and it may well weigh you down.”
He feigned “total ignorance” of what course his leaders would now take, but did not rule out yet another shove to the bill into the cold storage. “Such legislation should ideally be done on the basis of a broad consensus and it is clear there is no such consensus at the moment, we have to build it,” he said.
The BJP and the Left did not merely hammer the apparent lack of backroom consensus-building before the government brought the bill back into Parliament, they also raised doubts whether the government was serious at all.
“There was no discussion at all,” railed Brinda Karat of the CPM, “and no preparation to prevent the kind of unruliness that happened in the Rajya Sabha. If nothing, we women were prepared to form a protective ring around the chairman (Vice-President Hamid Ansari).”
The leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, said: “I have serious doubts about the intentions of the government, and now I positively think it has developed cold feet over going through with the legislation.”
Arguing that the government should have anticipated vociferous opposition from sections, one Opposition leader put a different analysis on why the bill had been tabled in a rush. “This has nothing to do with International Women’s Day,” said K.C. Tyagi, general secretary of the JD(U). “This was done merely to divide opposition unity on the issue of price rise. In the din over the women’s bill, everybody seems to have forgotten about the real and daily problems of people, and the Opposition stands totally divided. But equally, the strategy has backfired on the Congress.”
Crisis management kicked in the moment the import of immediate political implications began to emerge. Troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee met Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad, and then called on the Prime Minister to brief him on their obdurate opposition to the bill in its current shape. Soon after, the Congress core committee was called into emergency session. Sources said that several leaders counselled a “detached review” of the situation hinged on not risking the passage of the budget.
That was also the chief reason behind the government’s opposition to using house marshals to remove anti-women’s bill disrupters from the floor of Parliament. “We need the support of these MPs in the coming weeks,” a Congress leader said. “We cannot be party to them being physically lifted away from the House.”
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100309/jsp/frontpage/story_12195266.jspThe sentiments were very down but technically market were still holding strong above their important support level. The markets reacted positively to the Union Budget delivered and gave a spectacular breakout from the consolidation that took place since a long time. Nifty has given a symmetrical breakout on 26 Feb above the 4,910 level and this breakout gives an ultimate target of 5,200 – 5,330 in the coming days.
Giving a technical call on the road ahead for the markets in March, brokerage firm Nirmal Bang Securities said, “Currently Nifty has rallied almost 230 points or 4.8% from its low of 4,958 and has reached the 61.8% retracement level of 5,070 which is from the top of 5,310 to the low of 4,675. Now this 5,070 happens to be an important point from where markets could give a fresh breakout on the higher side. We believe that this 230 point rally took place in a very short period of time. Going forward, we feel that markets will take time and consolidate around this level and look for a fresh trigger to drift the market high from these levels.”
According to the brokerage firm, Nifty is well placed above its 50-day moving average of 5,015 and support for the market in March series is placed at 4,960 / 4,880 and resistance at 5,120. Unless the Nifty breaks below 4,880, every dip should be used as a buying opportunity. Given the current scenario, more action will be shifted from the frontline index stock to blue chip midcap stocks where one could see big action happening.
Stocks like Ador Welding, Dalmia Cement, JK Cement, Prakash Ind, PSL Ltd, Spice Jet, Nectar LifeScience, Welspun (I), GujNre Coke, SREI Infra, Strides Arco, Videocon Ind, State Bank of India looks a great buy on corrective phase from an investment perspective, the brokerage recommends.
On a sector specific note, it added, “As such we do not expect market to run away from here and expect it to consolidate. We do not expect the up move in auto stocks especially four-wheelers and commercial vehicle to sustain and are negative on them. Stocks in construction sector are expected to continue to do well with year-end fresh order win announcements. The appreciating rupee may not allow IT stocks to perform. Private banks, capital goods and entertainment sector looks good. Action will continue in selected mid cap and small cap stocks.”
- Sensex lacklustre; metals, realty, PSU decline
- Nifty opens lower; Tata Motors, DLF, IDFC down
- Stocks seen ranged; global cues mixed
- Exide to mop up Rs 540 cr via QIP
- Sensex closes at 6-wk high on recovery cues
- Nifty seen in 5000-5200 range
- Latest
News - Most
Read - Most
Emailed - Most
Commented
- Honda launches Jazz edition priced at Rs 7.21 lakh
- Auto industry to see price hike next month: Tata Motors
- US economists see rate hike in 6 months
- Cyber-bullying cases put heat on Google, Facebook
Infosys, Genpact, PepsiCo, ICICI to start paying bonusesCos such as Infosys, Genpact, EXL Services, Maruti Suzuki, Fiat, PepsiCo India, Dabur and ICICI Bank will soon start paying bonuses.
Stumped: Few takers for new IPL teamsIn particular, potential bidders were uncomfortable with one of the pre-conditions that required them to have a net worth of $1 bn.
30-year-old, MBA grad Chhavi Rajawat quits job to be sarpanch30-year-old Chhavi Rajawat, leaves behind corporate glamour and city life to head back to her village Soda, 60 km from Jaipur.
IIM-C bags over 91 offers in Slot ZeroIIM Calcutta wrapped up Slot Zero of its final placements with 91-plus offers over the two days.
The mood at Davos was decidedly downbeat and cautious. Though most economies have turned around, the recovery is unfortunately a jobless one. When Sonia Gandhi advices Congress MPs to put up good attendance, observers no longer spend time counting heads in the Congress benches next day. |
TT Ram Mohan We withdrew stimulus last year! Many commentators complained that the Budget for 2010-11 lacked a big headline. There is one but it was missed. Jaideep Mishra Drive growth with fiscal prudence Budget 2010 is fiscally-prudent and seems policy-designed to shore up the economic growth momentum. Mythili Bhusnurmath Reading between the lines Budget 2010 conceals a worsening in the quality of the fiscal deficit. |
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets-to-take-time-and-consolidate-around-current-levels/articleshow/5662324.cms
- Market Analysis
- Stock to Buy
- Research Reports
Orissa targets 9% growth in 11th Five year plan
9 Mar 2010, 1805 hrs IST, Nageshwar Patnaik
The Eleventh Five-Year Plan has envisaged a growth rate of 9% in the Orissa with a projected outlay of Rs 32,225 crore during the period, according to Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare.
Orissa mining scam runs to Rs 3 lakh crore: Congress
9 Mar 2010, 1803 hrs IST, Nageshwar Patnaik
The Congress on Monday released a book on the multi-crore mining scam in Orissa.
| All News headlines >> |
- Fiscal consolidation to be the top agenda on Budget: Deven Choksey
- Expectations have started building up for the Budget: Angel Broking
- Vidarbha wants Rs 30,000 crore from Mukherjee's Budget kitty
- India needs 6,800 more hospitals, NRHM has many glitches: Survey
- Survey calls for serious measures to meet growth target
- Govt to forgo Rs 50,000 crore revenue on export promotion schemes
- After railway bounty, Bengal raises some questions
- Keeping fares low can hit Rlys in the long term
- Railways plans special train to Bangladesh
- India needs new banks
- Every penny we spend goes to common man: FM
- Sharp movements in markets to be sector-specific
- Don't dip into cos fortune for pay packets: FICCI to corporate
- Indian firms form 37% of new registrations at UAE freezone
- India-born Sanjay Jha top paid CEO in US: Survey
- Orissa begins power regulation, power holiday for industries declared
- BMW sees definite upturn in almost all car markets
- 'Avatar' producer lauds Reliance MediaWorks for its Oscar
- Orissa targets 9% growth in 11th Five year plan
- Inflation will ease by April: Basu
- Finmin, RBI to meet end March on FY11 borrowing
- Europe watches as Portugal struggles to restore economy
- Toyota finds no flaw with safety electronics
- Tata stake sale to help Daimler Q1 EBIT
- Union Budget 2010: Cold-storage incentives to attract fresh funds
- Union Budget 2010: Auto parts cos relieved by mild excise rollback
- Union Budget 2010: Govt raises allocation for MSME at Rs 2400 cr for 2010-11
- Orissa mining scam runs to Rs 3 lakh crore: Congress
- Mamata's TMC likely to abstain from voting on Women's Bill
- Mamata likely to abstain from voting on women's Bill
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | |
 | Alroy Lobo, Chief Strategist & Global Head-Equities, Kotak Asset Management |
 | |
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/articlelist/1715249553.cms
At the outset I must admit, I have been in favor of some of the reservations based on caste, religion and economic criteria because we have empirical evidence to suggest that there has been blatant discrimination against people based on caste and religion. A course correction was needed and it was aptly conceived and provisions made either in Constitution of India or through subsequent legislations. Whether it should have been for perpetuity or in a time bound manner is a matter of a separate debate. I have also believed wherever reservations are absolutely necessary; implement them with a time bound manner with a definitive date for dissolution of the same. But to extend this reservation to the entire womanhood to me seems to be too simplistic and a politically motivated agenda. Not that reservations based on caste is not politically motivated, but at least it serves a purpose.
The bill in its current form mandates that one third of the seats in the Lok Sabha as well as the legislative assemblies be reserved for women. Talking of numbers, it means roughly 190 seats shall be exclusively reserved for women. Logically, it makes perfect sense to have at least one third of the Parliament represented by women, especially when demographically the ratio of male to women is roughly the same. However the manner in which this is being envisaged seems irrational at times.
Following are some thoughts on why:
I feel the spirit behind the move is noble, but the way it is being done is questionable.
Anti-quota brigade catches Congress off guard
NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party MP Kamal Akhtar’s lunge for microphones on Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari’s desk around 2pm proved decisive. It
Despite the women’s bill likely to garner as many as 200 votes in the House, 10-12 odd holdouts from SP, RJD and one JD(U) MP would have to be marshalled out or prevented from entering the chamber. There was no way a division could take place with dissenters prepared to even assault the chair.
The government had calculated that the anti-quota brigade would, after a couple of adjournments, allow a debate. If there were disruptions when the vote was being called for, a division might be contemplated with some sloganeering in the well. The assessment proved to be awfully off the mark and Congress managers were caught off guard.
If the government’s trouble-shooters looked all at sea, some cold political realities sank in. Once it became evident that the House would not function, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress managers found themselves confronted with a set of three options, none of which seemed more appealing than the other. It was time to take some hard calls.
The bill could be voted on amid a din without discussion . But both BJP and Left, whose support was crucial, insisted the bill be debated. A legal challenge was also possible. The disrupters could be marshalled out. But this would mean serious bad blood with Yadav leaders Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad.
Neither the PM nor finance minister Pranab Mukherjee were comfortable with passing the bill without discussion or marshalling out MPs.
Apart from setting a “totalitarian ” precedent, government was worried that acting against the dissenters would make Mulayam and Lalu even more determined in joining forces with BJP and Left on cut motions on the Budget. With UPA numbers reduced to 274 — including some independents — government would have to bank on a mercurial BSP to provide a decent buffer.
This left the third option of living to fight another day, even at the expense of losing face. The government could grab at the fig leaf of more consultations with the bill’s opponents while deciding whether to press ahead nonetheless. This, too, is not easy as Congress must address concerns over becoming more dependent on its own allies and smaller groups in Lok Sabha carefully.
Just before the PM met leaders of political parties at 4.15pm, UPA leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Sharad Pawar were contacted. They had little to say other than to state that they would go with whatever decision was arrived at. If Congress was looking to corner the glory, its allies were not falling over one another to offer helpful advice.
Having pitched women’s quota to the top of its priorities has exposed the government’s flanks to a pincer attack from BJP and Left. Both are busy pointing out that the government backed out despite having the numbers and the Congress leadership’s backing. The government may yet regain lost ground, but this is UPA-2 ’s second serious miscalculation after Telangana.
In the 1950s, the Economic Survey used to be a modest affair — some 10,000 words of text and a couple of dozen tables. Apart from reporting on elementary economic magnitudes, it was really an account of how much the government had been able to spend on the five-year plan, which was the deity of that age. This year’s survey has some 400 pages, 180,000 words of text, 192 text tables and 125 appendix tables. Its 30-odd Authors Anonymous were so exhausted at the end that they did not even enter the tables and figures in the table of contents. It is so heavy that two hands would be too few to hold it up for reading. Even if the literary diarrhoea could not be controlled, the Survey need not have been bulky. It weighs so much because the AAs prefer, for some reason, to use a space-wasting 12-pitch Arial font. It is easy to read; but it is primitive and not particularly good-looking. The Survey is printed in two colours — black and blue. The text is in black; blue is used for headings, and for shading in tables. The paper is thicker than necessary, but not fine enough for colour printing, so the blue is often smudged.
The page-setter is not skilled enough to shrink graphs, so they are all spread across a page. But the volume is so thick already that the page-setter does not feel able to give a graph more than a quarter page. As a result, many series just meander horizontally across the page; whatever the point may be of giving them, it does not come out. Series descriptions are put at one end of the graph, where they take up too much horizontal space. The graph-maker does not know that in Excel, the descriptions are easily tucked away at the bottom of the graph; they take less space, and are more easily followed.
The table-maker is not skilled in decimals, so most figures are too detailed. The macroeconomic aggregates these days go up to rupees trillion, or as our nationalist statisticians prefer to put it, to Rs lakh crore. They are given in crores — that is, in six or seven digits. No reader wants them in such detail. Neither does he want percentage figures up to the second decimal. All he wants in text tables is to get an idea of trends and fluctuations; two to four digits are quite enough to give him the idea.
The survey, following the Central Statistical Office, calls the non-corporate private sector the household sector. This is misleading, for it contains both non-corporate businesses and genuine households. Using this obscure label, the survey shows that the “household” sector’s savings come to almost a quarter of the gross domestic product, but that it invests only half as much. Obviously, the other half goes to finance the investments of the corporate sector and the government sector. How does it do so? What forms does it take? Which financial institutions mediate between the savers and the investors? These obvious questions do not occur to the AAs.
The government produces price indices in great detail, so the survey is replete with detailed figures for commodity groups, periods and consumers. But one is at a loss if one wants an answer to the question: how is it that the government, sitting on some 40-50 million tons of foodgrains, suddenly lost control of prices last monsoon, which was delayed? One can understand why it was powerless to stop the rise in the price of onions or potatoes — it had no stocks, and had too many import controls in place for the commodities to come in from abroad. But why could it not have compensated by bringing down the prices of wheat and rice, of which it had stocks?
Regarding the impact of the global crisis, the survey says that India was initially affected: capital started flowing out, the rupee depreciated, and the stock market went down. But the government raised agricultural support prices, wrote off farmers’ loans, gave out money under the national rural employment guarantee scheme and the Bharat Nirman scheme, and people became more aware through television, press and cellphones. That stopped the downturn in India. That would be a riveting story if only it were true. But the survey, which spills out figures everywhere else, becomes economical with data on this point. A few pages later it says that exports fell in April-December 2009 by 14 per cent in rupee terms and 20 per cent in dollar terms. Service exports fell by a quarter. The exporters who lost sales surely did not get money out of NREGS and Bharat Nirman. So, until the government produces better figures, this story is best treated as poppycock.
The survey reproduces some none-too-clever tendentious arguments of the customs department. It says that although 77 per cent of the imports in 2008-09 paid customs duty of or less than 7.5 per cent, they came under only 39 per cent of the tariff lines. Since the imports under the other 61 per cent of the tariff lines were only 23 per cent, India could afford to reduce duties on many tariff lines under which imports were negligible. What customs officials do not realize is that imports under those tariff lines are low precisely because they have kept tariffs on them high. Most of them are consumer goods. The pre-reform conventional wisdom still rules — that importing consumer goods is a sin. But import liberalization of consumer goods would increase efficiency in their domestic production just as it has in the case of other goods; it would be a low-cost boost to growth.
The survey also gives an extravagant figure of Rs 49,000 crore for import duty “foregone” [sic] on duty-free imports of inputs and capital goods for exports. This revenue is not forgone at all. Export inputs should not bear duty; only the revenue-obsessed customs department would think of killing exports to squeeze out revenue. The survey has an entire chapter on finance; there it gives figures of stock market indices and turnover. But it tells us nothing about the importance of the stock market. It is in the industry chapter that we learn that of the Rs 4.5 trillion raised by the “commercial sector” in 2008-09, Rs 162 billion — that is, less than three per cent — came from the stock market. This is the achievement of the Securities and Exchange Board of India; its overregulation has killed the market. With its invention of qualified institutional investors, it has created an oligopoly of investors who systematically underprice public issues, and, as if that is not enough, force companies to sell shares to “small” investors at even lower prices.
Such are the things one can glean from the Survey, but it did not mean to tell us. Under the rule of negligent chief economic advisors, the AAs have fallen into a rut. They take last year’s survey and replace all its figures by recent ones; that is their idea of writing a survey. This exercise is easy to the point of brainlessness. But it is not economics. I hope the new CEA will ask and answer some serious economic questions next year.
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100309/jsp/opinion/story_12194583.jspRajya Sabha passes women's reservation bill
Pakistan Army involved in 26/11: Nikam
Raj Thackeray's men attack Airtel showrooms
Email this storyAnother Osmania student commits suicide for Telangana
Sri Lanka reconvenes Parliament to pass Emergency vote
Email this storyOrissa targets 9% growth in 11th Five year plan
MF Husain applies for overseas citizenship
Email this storyIsraeli drug dealer held in Goa
Congress distances from Meghalaya minister's remarks
Email this storyDelhi nod for 33% hike in minimum wages
Email this storyTerror alert sounded in Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata
Supreme Court extends status quo on deemed universities
Even sub-Sahara pips South Asia
Email this storyCJI under RTI will hit judiciary freedom: SC counsel to SC
Indian boy's death: Woman gave lift to taxi driver
5-star hotels figure low on CISF list, will have to wait for security cover
Email this storyJailed legislator ready to mediate with Maoists
Orissa mining scam runs to Rs 3 lakh crore: Congress
Email this storyIndia refutes Pak statement on Saeed
Email this storyAI operates all-woman flights
Featured video
Govt FORCED to tear Women Reservation Bill copy in parliament: Mulayam Singh Yadav
Featured photo
No comments:
Post a Comment