The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 provides the framework for the functioning of the Legislative Assembly and the government of Delhi. Key features include:
Parliament may also legislate on subjects under the State List with respect to Delhi, and these laws will prevail in case of repugnancy with state laws.
The Ordinance specifies that the Delhi Legislative Assembly will not have the power to legislate on the subject of ‘services’, which comes under the State List. Services include matters related to appointments and transfers of employees of the Delhi government, and vigilance.
National Capital Civil Services Authority: The Ordinance establishes the National Capital Civil Services Authority to recommend to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi (LG):
transfers and postings, matters related to vigilance, disciplinary proceedings, and prosecution sanctions of Group A of All India Services (except Indian Police Service), and Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil) Services.
The Authority will Consist of the:
Chief Minister of Delhi as Chairperson, Principal Home Secretary of the Delhi government as Member Secretary, and Chief Secretary of the Delhi government as member.
The central government will appoint both the Principal Secretary and Chief Secretary. Officers serving in connection with the subjects of police, public order, and land will not come under the Authority’s purview.
All decisions of the Authority will be based on a majority vote of the members present and voting. The quorum for a meeting is two people.
Powers of the Lieutenant Governor: Under the Act, matters where the LG may act on his discretion are:
matters outside the legislative competence of the Delhi Legislative Assembly but which have been delegated to the LG, or
where he is required by a law to act in his discretion or exercise any judicial or quasi-judicial functions.
The Ordinance specifies that in these matters, the LG will act in his sole discretion. It expands the discretionary role of the LG by giving him powers to approve the recommendations of the Authority, or return them for reconsideration.
The LG’s decision will be final in the case of a difference of opinion between him and the Authority.
Quad Health Security Partnership
The 2023 QuadLeaders’ Summit issued a joint statement launching the Quad Health Security Partnership.
The Quad is a diplomatic network of the four countries committed to supporting an open, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
It consists of India, the United States of America, Japan, and Australia. The Quad Leaders’ Summit is attended by heads of government. The new partnership is an expansion of the Quad Vaccine Partnership, launched in 2021.
The vaccine partnership is planned to enhance equitable access to vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region. The new partnership will strengthen coordination and collaboration in support of health security in the Indo-Pacific.
The partnership plans to implement activities to build the region’s capacity to detect and respond to outbreaks of epidemic diseases. These activities include:
Disease surveillance
Coordination of outbreak response
Developing and supporting the health workforce.
Constitution of Inter-Ministerial Committee for Grain Storage
Eight schemes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, and Ministry of Food Processing Industries will be converged for this purpose.
The Committee will address the shortage of agricultural storage infrastructure by facilitating the establishment of godowns and processing units at the level of Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS).
The Committee will be empowered to modify (within approved outlays) guidelines/ implementation methodologies for such schemes to create infrastructure at selected viable PACS.
PACS will carry out additional activities such as functioning as procurement centres for the Food Corporation of India (FCI) or state agencies and serving as fair price shops.
Decentralised storage capacity at the local level is expected to reduce food grain wastage.
Further, providing options to farmers is expected to prevent distressed sales of crops, and reduce transportation costs.
Implementation of the proposal will begin within 45 days of Cabinet approval.
Revised rates under the nutrient-based subsidy scheme will be effective between January 1, 2023 and March 31, 2023 for Rabi crops and between April 1, 2023 and September 30, 2023 for Kharif crops. A subsidy of Rs 38,000 crore will be provided for Kharif 2023.
UDAN 5.1 for Helicopter Routes Launched
The Ministry of Civil Aviation launched round 5.1 of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) – Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN).
The Scheme seeks to enhance connectivity to remote areas of the country and achieve last-mile connectivity through helicopters.
The Scheme seeks to facilitate regional air connectivity by making it affordable.
Key features of the UDAN 5.1 include:
Expansion of operational scope by allowing routes with either the source or destination being the priority area location.
Reduction in helicopter airfare caps by 25%.
An increase in viability gap funding caps for single and twin-engine helicopters.
As per the Ministry, greater helicopter use will help boost tourism, hospitality, and local economies.
As of May 2023, 46 helicopter routes have been operationalised under previous rounds of the Scheme.
Draft Amendments to New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019
They have been framed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
The 2019 Rules specify the procedure for conducting clinical trials.
Clinical trials are studies of the efficacy and safety of new drugs or research on potential new drugs.
The 2019 Rules specify procedural details such as obtaining informed consent of participants and the oversight of trials by an ethics committee.
Draft Amendments:
The draft amendments define Clinical Research Organisations to be bodies that conduct some or all parts of a clinical trial on behalf of a sponsor, which is the entity initiating and managing the trial.
The draft amendments add a chapter pertaining to the functioning of Clinical Research Organisations. For example, they are required to register with the Drugs Controller of India, and such registration is valid for five years.
Clinical Research Organisations are subject to inspections and must maintain records and data regarding the conduct of trials. The registration can be cancelled if the Clinical Research Organisation fails to comply with the Act or Rules. \
Amendments to Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Rules, 2004
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notified amendments to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Rules, 2004.
The 2004 Rules place restrictions on the sale, production, and advertisement of tobacco products. For example, they prohibit:
The advertisement of tobacco products, and
The sale of tobacco products within 100 yards of an educational institution or to a minor.
The 2023 amendments require that anti-tobacco advertisements be displayed with online curated content that features the use of tobacco products.
Online curated content refers to any curated audiovisual content made available on demand via a computer resource, such as OTT content.
CEA is required to formulate a national electricity plan once in five years under the Electricity Act, 2003.
The Plan provides a review of the last five years (2017- 22), capacity addition requirements for 2022-27, and projections for the period 2027-2032.
Recommendations on Ease of Doing Business in the Telecom and Broadcasting Sector
Key recommendations include:
Clearances and Approvals:Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) noted that currently, the process of obtaining permissions, and making payments is complex and time-consuming.
Concerned Ministries should set up a single window system for all clearances and approvals.
Each Ministry should specify stage-wise timelines for all the processes in the respective guidelines or policies. Each Ministry should set up a standing Ease of Doing Business committee to review, simplify, and update processes in this regard.
Infrastructure and Essential Services Status: The broadcasting and cable service sector should be granted ‘infrastructure status’. This will enable the industry to raise capital from non-banking finance companies, insurance companies, pension funds and India Infrastructure Financing Company Limited.
Testing of Telecom Products: To avoid duplication in the testing of telecom products, the Department of Telecommunications should constitute a standing committee.
Right of Way: DoT has developed the GatiShakti portal to streamline the process for right of way approvals. However, there is no provision for local cable operators (LCO) to take such approvals from the portal.
The portal should incorporate all service providers including LCOs.
Website Blocking: TRAI noted that different ways/ portals are being used to send the list of websites to be blocked to internet service providers. It recommended creating a single window portal for website blocking. The list of blocked websites should be sent to the internet service provider via the portal.
The Rules provide a framework for open access to renewable energy (from sources including solar, wind, hydro, and waste-to-energy).
Open access means allowing a consumer to purchase electricity from a distribution company of its choice.
Under the Rules, consumers with access to green energy (renewable sources) shall pay a cross-subsidy surcharge as per the central government's tariff policy.
Cross subsidy refers to a tariff structure where a group of consumers pay relatively higher charges to cover the cost of supply to another group of consumers.
Scheme to Make Cities Climate Change Resilient and Promote Circular Economy
The Union Cabinet approved the ‘City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain 2.0’ (CITIIS 2.0) for a period of four years (2023-2027).
The program has been conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in partnership with:
French Development Agency (AFD), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW); a German bank, European Union (EU), and National Institute of Urban Affairs.
CITIIS, launched in 2018, is a sub-component of Smart Cities Mission in 12 select cities.
It focused on building infrastructure-related projects in cities, capacity building with states, and promoting integrated urban management at the national level.
Key aims of CITIIS 2.0 include:
providing financial and technical support in up to 18 smart cities (will be selected) for projects related to building climate resilience, and circular economy focusing on waste management,
assisting states/ UTs (on demand basis) to facilitate climate data driven planning with necessary infrastructure and build capacities of urban local bodies, and
assisting the centre, state, and city to integrate climate change governance in urban India.
The Rs 2,000 denomination banknote was introduced in November 2016 to expeditiously meet currency requirements in the backdrop of the withdrawal of the legal tender status of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination banknotes.
RBI noted that the objective of introducing the Rs 2,000 banknote was met once other denominations became available in adequate quantities.
It also observed that the banknote is not commonly used for transactions.
People may deposit such banknotes in their bank accounts or exchange them for banknotes of other denominations at any bank branch by September 30, 2023. An amount of up to Rs 20,000 in Rs 2,000 banknotes can be exchanged at a time.
