Rangnath Mishra Commission

National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities:- 

• Headed by former Chief Justice of India, Rangnath Mishra.
• Commission recommended de-linking of Scheduled Caste status from religion and abrogation of the 1950 Scheduled Caste Order which "still excludes Muslims, Christians, Jains and Parsis from the SC net". The 1950 Order originally restricted the SC status to Hindus only but was later opened it to Buddhists and Sikhs.
• Commission has recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs. In case of non-availability of Muslims to fill the 10 per cent earmarked seats, these may be made available to other minorities but in "no case" shall any seat within the recommended 15 per cent shall be given to anybody from the majority community.
• Commission favored Scheduled Caste status for Dalits in all religions.
• The Commission also suggested an alternative route for reservation to minorities if there is "insurmountable difficulty" in implementing the recommendation for 15 reservation.
• In this regard it said since minorities constitute 8.4 percent of the total OBC population according to the Mandal Commission report so in the 27 percent OBC quota, an 8.4 percent sub quota should be earmarked for minorities.
• The internal break-up should be 6 percent for the Muslims, commensurate with their 73 percent share in the total minority population at the national level and 2.4 percent for other minorities.

P.S :-

1. At present, there are 21 Muslim groups like Ansari and Ganchi in the government’s list of OBCs.
2. OBCs make up 40.7% of total Muslims and comprise 15.7% of the overall OBC population.

OBC , Creamy Layer and Quota

The government has enhanced the ceiling for applying the 'creamy layer' restriction on "socially advanced persons".  The Union Cabinet gave its approval for increase in the present income criterion of Rs. 4.5 lakh per annum for applying the Creamy Layer restriction throughout the country to Rs. 6 lakh per annum.

In its additional manifesto on "empowerment of minorities", Congress has said it will work towards earmarking a quota of 4.5% for backward Muslims in the existing other backward caste (OBC) reservations.

The fresh minority pitch - available on the manifesto link on the Congress website - goes further, speaking of "extension of Scheduled Caste status to all Dalit minorities", a demand opposed by many Dalit groups currently accessing quotas.

Amending the SC criteria - currently available to Hindus and Buddhists — will allow 'dalit' Muslims and Christians to access quotas and has been strongly opposed by BJP on the ground that there is no caste-based discrimination in both religions.

Art. 340. (Appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes) - 

(1) The President may by order appoint a Commission consisting of such persons as he thinks tit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the Union of any State to remove such difficulties and to improve their condition and as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by the Union or any State and the conditions subject to which such grants should be made, and the order appointing such Commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission.

(2) A Commission so appointed shall investigate the matters referred them and present to the President a report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as they think proper.

(3) The President shall cause a copy of the report so presented together with a memorandum explaining the action taken thereon to be laid before each House of Parliament.

As matter of fact, in some of the southern States, reservations in favor of O.B.Cs. were in vogue since quite a number of years prior to the Constitution. There was a demand for similar reservations at the center. In response to this demand and also in realization of its obligation to provide for such reservations in favor of backward sections of the society, the Central Government appointed a Backward Class Commission under Article 340 of the Constitution on January 29, 1953. The Commission, popularly known as Kaka Kalelkar Commission, was required "to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labor and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the Union or any State to remove difficulties and to improve their conditions". The Commission submitted its report on March 30, 1955. Be that as it may, the Report was never discussed by the Parliament.

By an Order made by the President of India, in the year 1979, under Article 340 of the Constitution, a Backward Class Commission was appointed to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India, which Commission is popularly known as Mandal Commission.

Art. 16. (Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment) - 

(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an office under the Government of, or any local or other authority within, a State of Union territory, any requirement as to residence within that State or Union territory prior to such employment or appointment.

(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

(5) Noting in this article shall affect the operation of any law which provides that the incumbent of an office in connection with the affairs of any religious or denominational institution or any member of the governing body thereof shall be a person professing a particular religion or belonging to a particular denomination.

Anti Defection Law

The 10th Schedule to the Constitution, popularly referred to as the ‘Anti-Defection Law,' was inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985.The grounds of disqualification are specified in Paragraph 2 of the 10th Schedule. A member would incur a disqualification under paragraph

•          2 (1) (a) when he “voluntarily gives up his membership of a party” and
•         2 (1) (b) when he/she votes (or abstains from voting) contrary to the directive issued by the party.

As per the 1985 Act, a 'defection' by one-third of the elected members of a political party was considered a 'merger'. Such defections were not actionable against. 

The Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms, the Law Commission in its report on "Reform of Electoral Laws" and the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) all recommended the deletion of the Tenth Schedule provision regarding exemption from disqualification in case of a split.

Finally the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003, changed this. So now at least two-thirds of the members of a party have to be in favour of a "merger" for it to have validity in the eyes of the law. "The merger of the original political party or a member of a House shall be deemed to have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the members of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger," states the Tenth Schedule.

Nachiket Mor Committee on Financial Inclusion

• It has proposed universal electronic bank accounts to all Indian citizens above the age of 18 by Jan 2016.
• Access points would be within 15 minutes of walking distance.
• Each low income household and small business will have access to formally regulated lenders and also access to deposit and investment products at reasonable charges.
• An instruction to open the bank account should be initiated by the UIDAI after the issue of an Aadhaar No. to an individual over the age of 18.

Interim Budget & Vote on Account

Interim Budget:-

It refers to the budget of a govt. that is going through a transition period. It helps span the transition time between two govt's so that the govt. can continue to function.

Vote on Account :-

It presents an estimate of expenditures to be sanctioned by the exchequer till the budget is passed.

# In budget fresh taxes can be imposed, old ones may go, while vote on account can not alter the direct taxes as they need to be passed through a finance bill.

#The budget announces new programs and estimates the public expenditure for the fiscal year.

Diplomatic Immunity

• The  Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 states that Diplomats are immune from prosecution in a host country, if they break the law of the host country.
• Under the  Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 individuals are protected from the host country's law only when the offences are related to their consular duties.

Coal Mining

• Under the Mines and Minerals Act (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, the power of allocation of all minerals, including coal, is with State Govt. For some scheduled minerals, such as coal, the State Govt. is required to get the consent of the Centre.

• As per the Coal Nationalization Act. 1973, the centre can decide what kind of industries or companies will be allowed to get coal. As per section 3 of the Act, Coal can be allocated to companies engaged in the production of steel or cement or any other industry that the govt. may notify.

Jan Aushadhi Campaign

Jan Aushadhi Program is a public welfare program which intends to supply quality medicines at affordable prices to the common man through dedicated outlets.

• A Key initiative under the campaign is opening of "Jan Aushadhi Stores" where quality generic medicines are sold at cheaper prices.
• A generic drug is a phramaceutical product that is manufactured without a license from the innovator company & marketed after the expiry of patent period.
• Affordability, quality and easy availability of medicines is the hallmark of the campaign.

Service to the Nation

Serving the people of India is a privilege, and serving India means serving to those who suffer from ignorance, from poverty, from disease.

-Jawahar Lal Nehru

CNT Act

• The Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act enacted in 1908 after the Birsa Movement to govern land issues and prevent land alienation is supposed to be MagnaCarta for tribals.  
• The blueprint of the act was prepared by John Hoffman, a missionary social worker.
• Under the CNT Act, land belonging to SC/ST/BC can be mortgaged only for five years, so banks will lose the right to recover loans after five years. Since, housing loans are for larger terms >5, it creates problems for housing schemes.
• CNT Act has been listed in the 9^th Schedule of the Constitution, which implies that it is beyond Judicial Review.
• A tribal can transfer his land through sale/gift/transfer to a fellow ST member and resident of his own police station only.
• It is applicable in North Chotanagpur, South Chotanagpur and Palamau divisions.

Urijit Panel Report

Urijit Patel, Deputy Governor RBI, headed the committee to revise and strengthen the monetary policy framework.The Committee said inflation should be the nominal anchor of the monetary policy framework and it should be defined without ambiguity.

• The panel suggested adopting a longer term target of 4% for CPI inflation with a band of (+/-) 2 per cent.
• In current situation the target should be 
•    8% in the coming 12 months
•    6% in the coming 24 months
•  RBI has accepted the CPI as the anchor for Inflation Targeting (IT) with effect from 01^st April 2014.

Mercy Petition and Supreme Court

“Right to seek for mercy is a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive. Every constitutional duty must be fulfilled with due care and diligence.”

-Honourable Supreme Court

In another landmark decision that will ensure that there was no repeat of the Afzal Guru like execution, the court said, there has to be 14 days gap between the communication of rejection of mercy petition to the convict and his family members and actual execution of the death sentence.

It also said that,

•   Legal aid to be provided to the condemned prisoners inside the jail.
•  Solitary confinement of a death convict and other prisoners is unconstitutional.
• Condemned prisoners must be given a chance to meet their family members before execution of death sentence.
• Death sentence of a condemned prisoner cannot be executed if he is suffering from mental illness and schizophrenia.
• Unexplained delay is a ground for commuting death penalty to life sentence.

(Source: The Hindu)

Opinion Poll, Exit Poll and EC

An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll, is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. Unlike an opinion poll, which asks whom the voter plans to vote for or some similar formulation, an exit poll asks whom the voter actually voted for.

A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll.

Marcel van Dam, Dutch sociologist and former politician, is credited with having invented the exit poll, and being the first to implement an exit poll during the Dutch legislative elections on February 15, 1967.

EC Guidelines on Opinion and Exit Poll:-

1. No result of any opinion poll conducted at any time shall, be published, publicized or disseminated, in any manner whatsoever, in or by any print or electronic media, 48 hours prior to the first day of poll for the general elections and till half an hour after the closing of poll in all States and Union Territories.
2. The organizations and agencies shall also be free to conduct exit polls. But the result of any such exit poll conducted at any time shall also not be published, publicized or disseminated, in any manner whatsoever, in or by any print or electronic media, at any time from 0700 hours  (from the first day of poll for the general elections) and till half an hour after the closing of poll in all States and Union Territories
3. Any organization or agencies conducting any Opinion Poll or Exit Poll, while publishing, publicizing or disseminating the result of any such poll, must indicate the sample size of the electorate covered by such polls and geographic spread of survey so conducted. They must invariably give the details of methodology followed, likely percentage of errors, the professional background and experience of the organization or organizations and the key professionals involved in the conduct and analysis of the poll.

Source:-
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_poll
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exit_poll
3. http://eci.nic.in/archive/instruction/recent/media/pnxitpoll_FINAL.html