A united opposition on Wednesday had a face-off with the government over the triple talaq bill in the Rajya Sabha and stalled a debate on it insisting that it should be sent to a select panel, as the ruling BJP strongly sought its expeditious passage to stop the unlawful practice.
Amid noisy scenes, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 for discussion and passage, but pandemonium broke out in the Upper House with the opposition creating an uproar and the BJP countering it vociferously.
The House, which had met at 3 PM after witnessing three adjournments over the Maharashtra caste violence, also witnessed procedural wranglings from both sides.
The bill, which seeks to make instant triple talaq illegal with up to three years in jail for the husband, was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 28.
While the government emphasised the need to pass the bill on an urgent basis citing a Supreme Court judgement pronouncing triple talaq as unconstitutional, the opposition countered it saying the views of various stakeholders must be taken by the select panel.
While supporting the bill, the Opposition parties especially those from the Congress, Trinamool Congress and Samajwadi Party, insisted that it be referred to a select panel for further scrutiny.
As heated exchanges continued despite warnings and appeals, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien adjourned the House for the day, without giving any ruling on the validity of the opposition’s motion on the select panel.
Terming it “a historic bill”, Prasad said the Supreme Court on August 22 “called triple talaq as unconstitutional … The judges appealed to Parliament to come out with a law.
Until then, it stopped the practice for six months. Even after Lok Sabha passing it, triple talaq is being given.”
Appealing for its expeditious passage, the Minister also said that the Congress had supported the bill in the Lower House and asked it to clear its position here.
However, the opposition remained adamant on its demand for setting up of a select committee, with Congress Deputy Leader Anand Sharma moving a resolution to this effect.
Sharma gave a list of opposition members to be part of the proposed select committee and asked the ruling party to suggest its names to the panel, which should give its report in the first week of the Budget Session.
Besides Congress, SP and TMC, the names proposed by Sharma for the panel included leaders of AIADMK, BSP, DMK, NCP, CPI, CPI(M), TDP, RJD, BJD, JMM, IUML and nominated member KTS Tulsi.
The Congress leader, along with Derek O’Brien (TMC), also insisted that the resolution on sending the bill to a select panel be put to vote in the House and a division was sought.
Dubbing Sharma’s motion to set up a select committee as “invalid”, Leader of the House Arun Jaitley objected to the procedure followed by him, saying Rule 70 (sub-rule 2a) cited by Sharma was not applicable here because the bill did not orginate from the Upper House. It orginated in the Lok Sabha and was transmitted to the Rajya Sabha.
The other objection Jaitley raised was that the notice for setting up of a select panel was not given before, thereby breaking the parliamentary procedure.
Not only the names given for the proposed panel were proportionate to the strength of the parties represented in the House but the consent of these members was also not taken, he claimed.
“Now, we are taken by surprise that we all assemble here after 3 PM, a motion is suddenly submitted to us. For the first time breaking all parliamentary convention and procedures, an invalid motion is moved,” Jaitley said.
Citing reasons for the urgency of the bill to be passed to end the unlawful practice, Jaitley explained why the bill should not be referred to a select panel.
“The practice (of triple talaq) was declared unconstitutional on August 22. Two of the judges…held the practice to be unfair. They used their extraordinary power to suspend this practice for six months. Those six months expires on February 22.
“They said we (court) beseige all political parties to come out with an appropriate legislation. Therefore, there is an urgency which the country expects from Parliament and the urgency is that the practice is unlawful,” Jaitley said.
The minister further said that some people have said that “we will defy the judgement and resort to this practice. So, the legislature must act with responsibility and act expeditiously and give it a legislative face.”
Hitting out at Congress, Jaitley said, “The whole country is watching that in the other House you supported the bill and here you are trying to derail it” and sought a ruling from the chair on this matter.
Countering Jaitley’s views, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said the Minister referred to a minority judgement of the Supreme Court on the issue while there was no mention of urgency in the majority judgement of the apex court.
As unruly scenes continued, the ruling party members including ministers were up on their feet and asked, “Is it wrong to give respect to women?”
Responding to them, Sharma said the Congress respects the women’s rights and supports the bill. “We are not opposing, we are supporting it. We are not hypocrites. We want to ensure the bill goes through legislative scrutiny.”
He also chided the ruling party for claiming to the champion of the women’s cause but not bringing the women’s reservation bill.
As noisy scenes and sloganeering continued forcing the chair to finally adjourn the House for the day.
New Delhi, Jan 3: India is likely to impose anti- dumping duty of up to USD 397 per tonne on a Chinese chemical used in construction and dyes industry.
The move is aimed at guarding domestic players from cheap imports of ‘Sulphonated Naphthalene Formaldehyde’ from the neighbouring country.
Commerce ministry’s investigation arm Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) in its final findings has concluded that the product has been exported to India from China below its normal value and it has resulted in dumping.
“The domestic industry has suffered material injury due to dumping of the product,” DGAD said in a notification.
It has recommended “imposition of definitive anti-dumping duty” for a period of five years to remove the injury to the domestic industry.
Himadri Speciality Chemical had filed the application for initiation of anti-dumping investigations.
While DGAD recommends the duty, the Finance Ministry imposes it.
Countries initiate anti-dumping probes to determine if the domestic industry has been hurt by a surge in below-cost imports.
As a counter-measure, they impose duties under the multi-lateral WTO regime.
Anti-dumping measures are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry. They are not a measure to restrict imports or cause an unjustified increase in cost of products.
Anti-dumping steps are taken to ensure fair trade and provide a level-playing field to the domestic industry.
New Delhi, Jan1: Foreign investors are still looking at corruption as a major challenge when it comes to making investment decision in India and also see ‘evolving’ corporate governance and risks to security of assets as other pain points, says US risk management firm Kroll.
After a stable government came to power in 2014, global investors were expecting significant changes in the way businesses used to happen in India but things have not turned out as expected, the New York-based risk consultancy noted.
The factors that affected investment decisions of foreign investors include the likelihood of retrospective actions by the government — especially related to tax, potential social unrest due to high unemployment and state-level politics and struggling and under-capitalised banking system.
Asked whether there has been a decline in terms of risks associated with India after the Narendra Modi government took charge of office, Kroll managing director Tarun Bhatia answered in the affirmative but added a word of caution that more could have been done.
“As the current government got voted in and based on the promises made, global investors were expecting a material change in how business is done in India. Unfortunately that hasn’t happened to the extent anticipated. Multiple reforms have been introduced which signal strong intent of the government. However, they haven’t been tested yet,” Bhatia told PTI.
According to a World Bank report on combating corruption, some of the country’s largest social welfare programmes suffered because of “ineligible beneficiaries receiving payments and officials taking a cut of or delaying payments meant for the poor”.
Bhatia further noted that the government seems very determined to address issues related to ease of doing business in India and steps like demonetisation, introduction of GST, etc are expected to influence the supply chain, push digitisation and make businesses easy to operate.
According to Kroll’s global fraud report released earlier this year, almost 20 per cent of investors/companies were dissuaded from doing business in India due to corruption, ‘evolving’ corporate governance environment and risks to security of assets risks.
According to a Transparency International survey released earlier this year, India had the the highest bribery rate in the Asia Pacific, as more than two-thirds of Indians had to pay ‘tea money’ or fork out other forms of bribe to get public services.
The survey found 69 per cent in India as saying they had to pay a bribe, followed by 65 per cent in Vietnam. China was much lower at 26 per cent while the same for Pakistan was 40 per cent.
Meanwhile, India has jumped 30 places to rank 100th in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ ranking and global credit rating company Moody s Investors Service also upgraded India’s sovereign rating by a notch and changed the outlook from stable to positive.
However, everyone was not convinced and another global ratings major Standard & Poor’s kept its sovereign rating for the country unchanged at the lowest investment grade of ‘BBB- minus’ citing high government debt and low income levels.
According to Kroll, some of the factors that help to attract foreign investors’ interest to India include relative high growth opportunity as compared to other developed and developing markets; stable government at the centre and a high likelihood for it to continue in the medium term.
Moreover, introduction of regulations and reforms such as Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), Real Estate Regulatory ACT (RERA), Goods and Services Tax (GST) suggest improvement in ease of doing business and India’s Credit Rating Upgrade.
Going ahead, beyond the much talked about land, labour and tax reforms, some of the areas which need immediate attention include education, as India is losing out to South East Asian and East European countries due to a weak and stalled education system, he said.
Moreover, India has a multiple regulator regime and its judiciary needs to have a process where there is faster resolution and greater accountability.
Besides, there is a need for stronger policy and regulations clearly articulating the laws around IT, Cyber Security & Privacy. “These are prominent risks which need to be addressed at the earliest,” Bhatia said.
Chandigarh, Dec 31: With the Manohar Lal Government standing by them, the distressed farmers growing veggies in Haryana will no more have to throw them on roads, in the event of a crash in prices.
With a view to protect their interests and encourage them to resort to diversification of crops, the Haryana Government on Saturday launched the country’s first ‘Bhavantar Bharpayee Yojana,’ in which tomato, onion, potato and cauliflower have been included. A separate fund would be constituted by the state government for the scheme.
Riyadh, Dec 30: Indian Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand lifted the World Rapid Chess Championship title beating Russia’s Vladimir Fedoseev in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
The former world champion won in the tie-break play-off on Thursday.
After winning the title Mr Anand took to tweeter, “Thanks all!! Feeling is like floating. My head keeps playing the song… we are the champions! The words ring so true. More on this moment after the blitz!”
Beijing, Dec 30: China is responding to Washington’s tax overhaul by offering foreign companies a break on Chinese taxes in a bid to retain investment.
The measure announced late Thursday is Beijing’s first major reaction to the US decision to cut corporate tax rates.
It follows a flurry of promises by communist leaders to spur growth in the slowing, state-dominated economy by opening more industries wider to foreign companies.
Foreign companies will be exempt from withholding taxes on profits they re-invest in industries specified by Beijing, the Finance Ministry and tax agency announced. It is retroactive to January 1, 2017, meaning companies would receive a refund on taxes paid this year.
Beijing wants to “attract foreign investors after a host of countries unveiled similar measures to lure foreign and domestic investment,” the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The exemption will apply to companies that re-invest profits in industries cited in government investment catalogues, the announcement said. Those include solar and wind power, “green farming” and other fledgling fields in which Beijing is trying to develop technology.
Supporters of the U.S. changes enacted this month say it will encourage investment in the United States. Governments including Canada and private sector analysts have warned that could draw money away from their economies.
It was unclear whether China’s tax break was significant enough to influence investment decisions in emerging industries in which foreign companies complain they are shut out of promising areas or face pressure to hand over technology to potential Chinese competitors.
China has long been among the top global destinations for investment but foreign enthusiasm is cooling. Surveys by business groups show companies are shifting emphasis to other Asian economies seen as more profitable or less restrictive.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranks China 59th out of 62 countries in openness to foreign direct investment.
Chinese official data show foreign investment into this country grew just 1.9 percent in the January-October period over a year earlier but jumped up in November. However, Chinese economists say that is a poor measure of foreign interest because the bulk of it is money brought home by Chinese companies and disguised as foreign investment to gain tax breaks.
China is a key market for autos, aircraft, smartphones, cosmetics and other goods. But Beijing bars foreign companies from fields including finance, telecoms and utilities. In others, companies are required to work through local partners that might become competitors.
Moscow , December 29 : Russia on Thursday has slammed the United States’ (US) plan to sell an anti-missile system to Japan, in response to North Korea’s increasing nuclear missile tests.
Senior Russian officials have also criticized Japan’s plan to deploy two new land-based missile defence systems, local media reported.
On Tuesday, Japan’s cabinet approved the deployment of the anti-missile system named – ‘Aegis Ashore systems’, as North Korea pursues its nuclear and missile programs.
The Aegis Ashore system will use a new type of missile interceptor jointly developed with the US. The Japanese officials have said that the two systems will provide coverage for the entire country.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said on Tuesday that the decision would have a negative impact on Russia-Japan ties. He also said that the ‘current atmosphere’ would not allow both the countries to sign a peace treaty for denouncing disarmament.
A senior Russian foreign ministry official, Mikhail Ulyanov, in charge of disarmament, said the Aegis Ashore launch system is capable of using strike weapons, including cruise missiles.
He suggested that the deployment would violate the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union. The INF treaty prohibits the deployment of ground-launched ballistic or cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 km.
Russia has been accusing the US of expanding its missile defence systems in North-East Asia, by using threats from North Korea as a pretext.