25 APRIL 2016

Ø  Breaking down several times in his half-hour speech addressed directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was present at the Annual Chief Ministers and Chief Justices Conference on Sunday, Chief Justice of India Tirath Singh Thakur launched a scathing attack on government inaction, blaming the Centre for stalling appointment of judges to the High Courts and doing nothing to increase the number of courts and judges, thus denying the poor and undertrial prisoners their due of justice.

Ø  The Labour Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to form a panel headed by a former Deputy Governor of the central bank to look into a proposal of creating a Workers' Bank using Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). In 2004, the Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc) had first submitted a theme paper to the government on setting up ‘Workers’ Capital Trust’ to improve the earnings of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) by investing its corpus in various instruments. The idea was modelled on similar experiences in countries like Canada, Netherland, Switzerland and South Africa where a collective pension fund system invests worker’s savings in equities of domestic and global markets. Various committees set up to review the proposal had suggested that EPFO should concentrate on its core activities and were not in favour of the Workers’ Bank. However, the idea was revived after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took charge in May 2014. The Labour Ministry has also sought the opinion of Department of Financial Services in the Finance Ministry on the proposal.

Ø  As it looks to contain public expenditure, the government is considering a proposal to liquidate some loss-making PSUs while protecting the interest of their employees who may be offered “lucrative” payouts. In line with recommendations of Expenditure Management Commission, a proposal for liquidating some loss-making PSUs is being examined. Liquidation should be done in a manner that it does not hurt interest of employees and is a win-win for both government and the staff. As per the latest government report, there are 77 loss-making PSUs at the end of March last year with a total aggregate loss of Rs. 27,360 crore. Some of the companies include, Bharat Gold Mines, Tannery and Footwear Corporation of India, Cycle Corporation of India, Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation, National Bicycle Corporation of India, Bharat Process and Mechanical Engineers, Weighbird India and Bharat Brakes & Valves. The commission was given the task to review all matters related to central government spending, including suggesting space for increased developmental spending and reviewing the budgeting process and norms under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act and suggesting ways to meet a reasonable proportion of spending on services through user charges. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2016-17 speech had said NITI Aayog will identify Public Sector Units for strategic sale. The Department of Disinvestment has been renamed DIPAM. The government aims to collect Rs. 56,500 crore through disinvestment in PSUs this fiscal, as per Budget 2016-17.

Ø  Reliance Industries has bought crude oil from Iran after a six-year break and is looking to strike a long-term fixed quantity deal, post lifting of sanctions. RIL, which operates the world’s biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, is looking at quickly ramping up purchases to the earlier levels of about 5 million tonnes a year.