Pope Francis Named Time's ‘Person of The Year 2013’

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff, elected nine months ago, was named Time magazine's Person of the Year for 2013, leaving whistleblower Edward Snowden in second place, the magazine revealed on Wednesday.

The iconic title goes each year to the one chosen by prominent US magazine Time as the individual who had the most influence on the world and news over the year.
                                             

               
"For pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world’s largest church to confronting its deepest needs and for balancing judgment with mercy, Pope Francis is TIME's 2013 Person of the Year," as managing editor, Nancy Gibbs, explained the magazine’s choice.

“He took the name of a humble saint and then called for a church of healing.”

“The first non-European pope in 1,200 years is poised to transform a place that measures change by the century,” Time wrote about the Argentinian, who outran former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden, who took second place.

The Vatican reacted to the news saying that the pontiff is not looking for fame.

“The Holy Father is not looking to become famous or to receive honors. But if the choice of Person of the Year helps spread the message of the gospel - a message of God's love for everyone - he will certainly be happy about that" said Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, as cited by “Today”.

Supreme Court Asks Centre, States To Make Functional CBI Courts

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set a fresh four-month deadline for Centre and states to make functional all the 22 CBI courts across the country for trying corruption cases involving politicians and public servants and warned that failure to comply with its order would invite contempt action against chief secretaries.

A bench of justices G S Singhvi and C Nagappan also observed that these CBI courts are necessary for “speedy and expeditious” disposal of corruption cases.
                                       

                   
"We expect the Central government and the state governments to make all Central Bureau of Investigation courts functional. If not complied within four months, chief secretaries will be liable for proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act," said the Bench while pointing out that the people's confidence in administration of justice is restored by expeditious disposal of corruption cases.

The court had earlier expressed its displeasure over the Centre's failure to set up adequate special functional CBI courts despite its repeated orders.

The court had on January 30 directed the Centre to set up 22 special CBI courts within two months across the country while making it clear that it was not satisfied with the reasons and explanations given by the authorities concerned.

"We have been passing orders since 2011... But every time you come out with reasons and explanations. If you wish, you can do it within an hour," the bench had observed.

The court had earlier taken cognisance of a letter written by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to chief ministers in July 2009 for creation of additional special courts.

The government had in 2009 decided to set up 71 additional special courts exclusively for trial of CBI cases in various states.

deliton.net

Armed Forces Flag Day Observed Throughout The Country

7 December: Armed Forces Flag Day

Armed Forces Flag Day was observed across India on 7 December 2013. The day is observed to remember the sacrifices made by gallant servicemen of India in defending the integrity of our borders and to salute the martyrs, honour the brave and express solidarity and support towards welfare of widows, children, disabled and sick ex-servicemen.
                                                       

                                               
The day is observed on 7 December every year in India, since 1949.
                                                     
The officials of Kendriya Sainik pinned Armed Forces Flag Day (AFFD) Lapels on Dignitaries and collected donations from the public which goes into the AFFD corpus. The fund collected with the donation is utilized to give grants to various ESM welfare institutions and relief to ex-servicemen and their dependents besides host of other welfare measures.

Significance and Purpose of the Flag Day

The Flag Day is observed to serve three basic purposes

• Rehabilitation of battle casualties

• Welfare of serving personnel and their families

• Resettlement and welfare of ex-servicemen and their families

On Armed Forces Flag Day funds are collected from the Indians by distribution of flags. This process gives Indians a chance to express gratitude and appreciation to the military personnel of India.

deliton.net

Parliament Passes Bill to Prohibit Employment of Manual Scavengers

A bill seeking to prohibit employment of individuals as manual scavengers by prescribing stringent punishment, including imprisonment up to five years, to those employing such labour was passed by Parliament on Saturday.

The bill has provisions for providing for rehabilitation of manual scavengers and their family members as well.
                                               

It has a wider scope for higher penalties than the 1993 Act. Offences under the Bill shall be cognisable and non-bailable and may be tried summarily. The penalty could be up to five years imprisonment.

The bill, which had got a strong push from Congress President Sonia Gandhi and seeks to wipe out this "social stigma" by arranging for alternative jobs and providing other provisions to those in such work and their families got the unanimous approval of Rajya Sabha today.

Lok Sabha had passed the bill on Friday.

Moving the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2013 in the Rajya Sabha, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Kumari Selja said the new bill had to be brought in as the earlier Act did not prove very effective.

Under the new law, each occupier of insanitary latrines shall be responsible for converting or demolishing the latrine at his own cost. If he fails to do so, the local authority shall convert the latrine and recover the cost from him.

Nepali Congress Emerges Largest Party in Parliament

The Nepali Congress Party won the largest share of seats in the Constituent Assembly, according to official election results announced on Tuesday.

The party, which already won 105 seats through direct election, took an additional 91 seats though the proportional representation system, for a total of 196. The 601-member Assembly will also function as a parliament.
                                     

                     
The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxists Leninists won a combined total of 175 seats.

The Unified Maoist party, which was the largest in the previous parliament, won 80 seats, the election commission said. The party is demanding an investigation into alleged voting irregularities.

“The agenda will still be the same, only the drivers of an old bus have changed,” said political commentator Bijay Kumar Pandey.

“Federalism is still the agenda of all the three major parities and it will still be a secular Nepal.” In the previous Constituent Assembly, the Maoists had a total of 229 seats, while the Nepali Congress had 115 and the UML had 108 seats.

That 2008 Assembly failed to produce a draft constitution after several deadline extensions and was disbanded in 2012.

EGoM Approves M&A Norms For Telecom Sector

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Telecom, on Tuesday, approved the ‘mergers and acquisitions’ (M&A) guidelines, besides clearing the sale of over 400 MHz of 2G spectrum (1800 MHz band), a move that would help further growth and consolidation of the cellular phone market in the country.

At its meeting, the EGoM, headed by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, also approved payment of market rates for spectrum above 4.4 MHz allotted to the acquired entity.
                                         

   
"EGoM has approved M&A guidelines, which will now go for the approval of the Cabinet," the source said, adding that legal opinion will be taken if M&A amounts to sale of equity.

The M&A guidelines are expected to pave the way for consolidation in the telecom sector where there are 12 mobile service providers, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL, Tata Teleservices and Aircel.

"The M&A rules have been approved," Communications Minister Kapil Sibal told reporters after a meeting of the empowered group of ministers, headed by finance minister P Chidambaram. The Cabinet is expected to meet shortly to ratify the changed rules.

The government in the Budget has provisioned about Rs 41,000 crore from spectrum revenue, which included upfront money from auction and various fees levied on airwaves used for commercial mobile communications.

E-BRC Project Won 2013 EASIA Award

Directorate General of Foreign Trade’s e-BRC project has won the 2013 eASIA Award under Trade Facilitation category. The award was announced by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 29 November 2013.

About e-BRC Project

electronic Bank Realization Certificate (e-BRC) project was launched on 5 June 2012, to electronically transmit foreign exchange realization details on exports from the respective banks to Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).
                                     

The project has created an integrated platform for receipt, processing and subsequent use of all Bank Realization related information by exporters, banks, central and state government departments. It was made mandatory with effect from 17 August 2012.

The Bank Realization Certificate is required for discharge of export obligation and to claim incentives under Foreign Trade Policy. Earlier, this certificate was issued by banks manually. BRC is also used by state government departments for refund of VAT.

About the Award

The award is administered by Asia Pacific Council for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (AFACT). Its principal focus is to facilitate international transactions, through the simplification and harmonization of procedures and information flows, and so contribute to the growth of global commerce.

AFACT aims to support in the Asia Pacific region and its adjacent countries and economies policies and activities, especially those promoted by United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), dedicates to stimulate, improve and promote the ability of business, trade and administrative organizations, to exchange products and relevant services effectively through the simplification and harmonization of processes, procedures and information flows in a non-political environment.

Pan Asian eCommerce Alliance (PAA) is the Association member of the AFACT and the member countries are: 

• Afghanistan

• Australia

• China

• Chinese Taipei

• Cambodia
 
• India

• Indonesia

• R. Iran

• Japan

• Malaysia
 
• Mongolia

• Pakistan

• Philippines

• Korea

• Singapore
 
• Sri Lanka

• Saudi Arabia

• Thailand

• Vietnam