18.06.2007

• Big grocery retailers to be under licence raj
• In an attempt to mollify the Left, the government seems to be bent on introducing licensing for the big retailers.
• The objective is to check unfettered growth of grocery retail and to protect small kirana stores by restricting the mushrooming of organized retail outlets in a particular catchment area.
• Speakers may get power of sanction to book MPs/MLAs under the PC Act
• An amendment to section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 is on the cards to enable the Speakers to sanction prosecution of MLAs and MPs.
• This is coming nearly 9 years after a 1998 Supreme Court ruling which held that the MPs and MLAs are ‘public servants’ within the meaning of the Act.
• What is graphalogy?
• It is the science which can ‘read’ the handwriting of a person and know the personality of a person with about 95 to 100% accuracy.
• Graphologists read the pressure, slant and size of letters etc., and then predict the personality traits of a person.
• A recap of outbound FDI from India
• 2005: $4.3 bn
• 2006: $15 bn
• 2007: $35 bn (estimated)
• Petro imports and matters related thereto
• Of our 111 mn tonnes imports of crude into the country, most of it is from the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries.
• Customs duty on crude was halved to 5% in 2005.
• Import duty on Diesel and Petrol was 10% in 2005. In 2006, it was brought down to 7.5%.
• No customs duty on kerosene and LPG since 2005.
• No import duty on naphtha and LSHS (Low Sulphur Heavy Stock). These two are key inputs to the fertilizer industry.
• Should taming inflation be the main agenda for RBI?
• NO; feels Rakesh Mohan, a Deputy Governor of the Bank.
• At present, the monetary policy objective in India is growth, price and financial stability. RBI undertakes various policy measures like rate hikes and other measures with an aim of achieving the said objectives in its policy statements from time to time.
• He feels that monetary policy should be more explicitly associated with managing inflation expectations rather than current inflation. Indications of inflationary expectations are output growth, capacity utilization, inventory, corporate performance, industrial / investment expectations and other indicators of aggregate demand.
• What is the Vietnamese currency?
• Dong
• How should government deal with flash strikes? The likes of the recent one by Indian Airlines staff?
• Section 2 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 defines ‘strike’ as a cessation of work by the employees in an industry.
• There are two noteworthy judicial pronouncements by Supreme Court in this regard:
• In 2003 the Court held that employees don’t have any fundamental right to resort to strike. The court further held that there is no statutory provision empowering the employees to go on strike and that there is no moral or equitable justification to go on strike. K. Rangarajan vs. Government of Tamilnadu.
• 1962: Trade unions do not have a guaranteed right to strike. All India Bank Employees’ Association vs. National Industrial Tribunal.
• Where a service is declared to be a public utility service, the government is not obliged to hear the petition of the union representing workmen.
• Tennis
• Andy Roddick (US) became the fourth person to win the Queen’s Club trophy four times. He beat France’s Nicolas Mahut in the finals.
• Lleyton Hewitt, Boris Becker and John McEnroe were the earlier champions who achieved this feat.