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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 26 May 2014

Swearing in of India’s new PM

Marking the beginning of a new era in Indian politics, Narendra Modi was sworn in Prime Minister at the head of a 45—member coalition government after the elections that saw the BJP gain absolute majority in 30 years. 63—year—old Modi, the first leader to get a landslide victory for the BJP, became the 15th Prime Minister in a virtual ‘coronation’ ceremony in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan before a 3000-strong gathering, the largest audience at the swearing in a of new government.
Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Uma Bharti, Maneka Gandhi, Ananth Kumar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smriti Irani and Harsh Vardhan were among those who were sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Akali Dal), Anant Geete (Shiv Sena) and Ashok Gajapathi Raju (TDP) were those from allied parties who took the oath today.
Dignitaries from politics, industry, cinema and religion, capped by leaders of SAARC nations including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, watched Modi take the oath of office and secrecy in Hindi.

New era in Industry?

Corporate India has come out to express confidence in the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the hope that the business scenario in India will see better times soon. Corporate India, led by the Ambanis, Mittals, Munjals, Adanis, Hindujas and Ruias, was in full strength at Mr. Modi’s swearing in ceremony in New Delhi.
Ajay Shriram, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said that the Prime Minister’s stress on growth and development had translated into an unequivocal mandate for change, and industry would look forward to a new era of reform and liberalisation of the Indian economy.
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) President Rana Kapoor congratulated India’s governance and development-driven captain PM Narendra Modiji to lead the nation into an era of exceptional and high quality, sustainable 10 per cent growth.

Cabinet Strength

Unlike every single government since 1989, Mr. Modi does not have any ‘coalition compulsions’ like his predecessors. The Bharatiya Janata Party on its own has 10 members more than the required 272 in the Lok Sabha for a simple majority.
BJP’s allies, who are part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), account for only 56 members in the Lok Sabha. So, to that extent Mr. Modi’s dependence on allies is reduced. However, it does not have even 50 members in the Rajya Sabha with an effective strength of 245. In effect, no legislation can be pushed through without major support from other parties, including the Congress.
Article 72 of the Constitution prescribes that the total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15 per cent of the number of members of the House of the People.
Prior to January 1, 2004 (effective date of 91st Amendment of the Constitution) the Prime Minister had discretion to appoint any number in his council of ministers. But the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act in 2003 made a drastic change in curbing such power of the Prime Minister.
This Amendment added clause (1A) in this Article which made a specific provision that, the total number of Ministers, including Prime Minister, in no case can exceed 15 per cent of the total number of Lok Sabha members.
The Prime Minister can induct into his ministry a person who is not a member of either House of Parliament. However, a minister who for a period of six consecutive months is not a member of either House of Parliament shall at the expiration of that period cease to be one.
When Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed his government for the first time in March 1998, he had 21 Cabinet and 21 Ministers of State some with independent charge. At the beginning of his second stint in October 1999, there were 22 Cabinet and equal numbers of Ministers of State. Subsequently, it was expanded to suit political expediencies.
The UPA-I and UPA-II led by Manmohan Singh began with over 50 ministers and at some stage the maximum strength was 78.

Latest Current Account Deficit

India’s current account deficit (CAD) for the January-March period narrowed sharply to $1.2 billion (0.2 per cent of GDP) from $18.1 billion (3.6 per cent of GDP) in the same period last year, which was also lower than $4.2 billion (0.9 per cent of GDP) in the October-December quarter of 2013-14.
“The lower CAD was primarily on account of a decline in the trade deficit as decline in imports was sharper than that in export.”
As per preliminary data on India’s balance of payments (BoP), released by the RBI, merchandise exports declined by 1.3 per cent to $ 83.7 billion for the fourth quarter of 2013-14, as against an increase of 5.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012-13.
Contraction in the trade deficit, coupled with a rise in net invisibles receipts, resulted in a reduction of CAD to $32.40 billion (1.7 per cent of GDP) in 2013-14 from $87.80 billion (4.7 per cent of GDP) in 2012-13.
The RBI said that net inflows under the capital and financial account (excluding change in foreign exchange reserves) declined to $48.80 billion in 2013-14 from $89 billion in corresponding period of 2012-13 owing to lower net FDI and portfolio flows, net repayment of loans and trade credit and advances.

Philippine - US defence pact

Two former senators, lawyers and activists asked the Philippine Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of an agreement with the United States that gives the American military greater access to bases across the country. They also urged the court to halt the pact’s implementation until it issues a ruling.
The Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement signed hours before a visit last month by President Barack Obama will allow thousands of U.S. troops to be temporarily based in Philippines for the first time in more than 20 years, signalling closer cooperation in the allies’ hot-and-cold relationship that has been shaped over the decades by war, terrorism and now, jitters over China’s growing military might and assertiveness.
The petition says the 10-year agreement violates the constitutional ban against the presence of foreign military bases or troops in the country except under a treaty approved by two-thirds of all Senate members. The constitution also says if Congress requires, the agreement should be ratified by majority of Filipinos in a referendum, and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting state.
It said the agreement was wrongly framed as a furtherance of the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty and the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement and so evading the constitutional requirement for concurrence of the Senate.
But the petition said the 1951 treaty was superseded by the 1987 Constitution and “its express renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy.”