Chhattisgarh govt moves SC against NIA Act

The Congress-led Chhattisgarh government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to declare the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, as unconstitutional. The state has filed an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution, which provides for the state to move directly to the SC in matters of dispute against the Centre. The suit said the NIA Act in its present form not only takes away the power of conducting investigation by the plaintiff (state) through police but also confers “unfettered, discretionary and arbitrary powers” on the defendant (Centre). The state government said the provision of the Act leaves no room for coordination and pre-condition of consent in any form by the Centre from the state government, which clearly is against the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution.

Big powers seek new rules limiting subsidies

The US, Japan and the EU have joined forces in calling for stronger global rules against government subsidies that distort trade, a practice China has long been accused of exploiting. The governments called on the WTO to beef up existing regulations, which they said are “insufficient to tackle market and trade-distorting subsidisation”. But they refrained from naming China directly. “These unfair practices are inconsistent with an international trading system based on market principles and undermine growth and development,” the statement said. The latest statement came after many months of trilateral meetings, a rare display of multilateral cooperation by the Trump administration, which has launched multi-front trade wars and crippled the WTO’s dispute settlement panel.

More girls than boys enrolled in govt schools

More than 90 per cent children in the age group of 4-8 are enrolled in some type of educational institution, while the number of girls getting enrolled in government schools is higher than boys, according to the 14th Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). The ASER 2019 was conducted in 26 districts across 24 states, covering a total of 1,514 villages, 30,425 households and 36,930 children in the age group of 4 to 8. Children did a variety of cognitive, early language and early numeracy tasks. Activities to assess children’s social and emotional development were also conducted. “More than 90 per cent of children in the 4-8 age group are enrolled in some type of educational institution. This proportion increases with age, from 91.3 per cent of all 4-year-olds to 99.5 per cent of all 8-year-olds in sampled districts,” the report said.

Gold hallmarking mandatory from Jan 2021

Jewellers can sell only hallmarked jewellery and artefacts made of 14, 18 and 22 carat gold from January 15, 2021, and violation of this will attract penalty and imprisonment of one year, said Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Jewellers have been given one year time to register with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and implement the mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery to ensure purity of the precious metal. Consumers have to watch out for four marks on hallmarked gold jewellery: BIS mark, purity in carat, assay centre’s name and jewellers’ identification mark. Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the precious metal and is voluntary in nature at present. The BIS is already running a hallmarking scheme for gold jewellery since April 2000 and 40 per cent of gold jewellery is being hallmarked currently.

China’s trade with BRI nations surged in 2019

China’s trade with countries participating in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has posted “robust growth”, totalling $1.34 trillion in 2019, as Beijing seeks to expand its export base away from the US and EU markets. Trade with BRI partners outpaced China’s aggregate trade growth by 7.4 percentage points, officials said. Touted as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet project, the initiative focuses on improving connectivity and cooperation among Asian countries, Africa, China and Europe. The BRI is aimed at furthering China’s influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world. The initiative also led to allegations of smaller countries reeling under mounting Chinese debt after Sri Lanka gave its strategic Hambantota port in a debt swap to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease.

Boris rejects Scottish call for new referendum

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on January 14 rejected a request by Scotland’s devolved government for powers to hold another referendum on independence. In a letter to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, Johnson noted that a previous referendum held in 2014 had been billed as a “once in a generation” vote. Scots voted then by 55 per cent to 45 per cent against breaking away from the rest of the UK, and Johnson said Edinburgh had agreed to abide by that decision. Sturgeon wants Scotland to have another referendum in 2020, and last month asked London to transfer the powers to the Scottish Parliament needed to make this happen. She argues that the Brexit referendum in 2016 is a justification for allowing Scots to vote again on secession.

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