Current Affairs: National - Major Issues 10 to 18 August 2010

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (Goldy sir)

Caste in Census: Cabinet to decide on modalities

• The government said a final decision on the modalities of inclusion of caste in the census would be taken by the Cabinet.
• Making a statement in the Lok Sabha — a day after the Group of Ministers (GoM) agreed to include caste in the census — Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said the GoM had decided that caste would be canvassed without affecting the integrity of the headcount.
• An appropriate decision on the modalities of canvassing the caste was yet to be taken. How and when it would be done was still under consideration. Mr. Mukherjee said this after Opposition members disrupted question hour raising doubts over the GoM's recommendation that caste census would be conducted at the biometric stage, which would be after headcount that was under way.
• According to Mr. Mukherjee, the GoM met on Wednesday and considered the views of several parties on the issue. The GoM was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after strong demands over inclusion of caste in the census.

Hot debate over Electronic Voting Machines

• This week the debate on whether electronic voting machines in India are tamper-proof reached boiling point in faraway Washington, as a representative of the Election Commission of India and an American university professor clashed publicly over contradictory claims regarding the machines.
• The controversy was stoked at an industry conference on EVMs, where Alok Shukla, Deputy Election Commissioner at the ECI and Alex Halderman, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan, also put forth different accounts regarding the case of Hari Prasad, a colleague of Mr. Halderman who was alleged to have appeared on Indian television with an EVM that he procured from unnamed sources.
• Mr. Halderman, who said that he and his colleagues had worked with Mr. Prasad to demonstrate the vulnerability of EVMs to tampering, pleaded with Mr. Shukla to call off efforts by the ECI to have the Indian police question Mr. Prasad.
• Mr. Shukla, however, pointed out that if the Indian police had sought out Mr. Prasad after his television appearance it was because he was known to have government property in his possession and that such unauthorised access to EVMs could have serious consequences for election results themselves.
• The technical arguments surrounding the question of the vulnerability of EVMs to tampering were also in stark contradiction.

Kashmir to get a political package

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made the first move to reach out to the bleeding Valley by promising a political solution that addresses emotional needs of the people and their alienation.
• Addressing a meeting of an allparty delegation from Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Singh, however, said that only prolonged peace can provide the required momentum to the political process.
• The prime minister, who backed the security forces that are engaged in bringing normalcy to the Valley, refused to give a commitment on the demand for the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
• In his address, the prime minister also asked the state political parties and the state government to connect more effectively with the people of the Valley. Although the current violent protests are being choreographed by forces based in the hostile neighbourhood, it is also seen as an expression of lack of confidence of people in the Abdullah dynasty. Chief minister Omar Abdullah has proved to be ineffective in meeting the challenges posed by the stone-pelters and their handlers.
• An expert group headed by Dr C Rangarajan with N R Narayana Murthy, Tarun Das, P Nanda Kumar, Shaqueel Qalander and a representative of the J&K government as members is being set up to formulate a job plan for the state.

India to get access to its landlocked N-E states through Bangladesh

• India will get access to its landlocked seven northeastern states through Bangladesh with "unfettered movement of people and goods" as Dhaka seeks to transform itself into a "regional hub" by boosting road and railway connectivity in the country.
• Relations between the South Asian neighbours were chilly between 2001-2006 when the Islamist-allied BNP was in power in Bangladesh and New Delhi regularly accused Dhaka of harbouring anti-India insurgents and fostering militancy.
• The bilateral ties, however, have been on the upswing since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power after the landmark general election in 2008.
• In the largest-ever loan India has given to any foreign country, New Delhi on Saturday signed an agreement with Bangladesh to extend a USD 1 billion credit line to Dhaka for developing 14 infrastructure projects, mostly in the communications sector.
• India has agreed to facilitate transit between Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan while Dhaka signed a deal to allow New Delhi access to its landlocked northeastern states during Prime Minister Hasinas maiden tour to India in January.