June 2012 National Affairs

The Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 22 June 2012 approved defence proposals worth over 20000 crore rupees for the procurement of defence eqipments for the Indian army. The proposals were accepted by the government in a meeting chaired by Defence Minister AK Antony.

The government in the meeting cleared an IAF proposals worth over 8500 crore rupees for procuring 14 Dornier aircraft and setting up a nationwide communication network and guns for navy and the coast guard ships. Besides, the proposal for procuring eight regiments of QR-SAMs worth over 10000 crore rupees was also approved by the defence ministry. The decision to accelerate the defence procurements came following the former Army Chief Gen VK Singh’s letter to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which he had raised serious questions over the preparedness of India’s defence system.

The Calcutta High Court on 22 June 2012, held the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011 as unconstitutional and void. The legislation enabled the government to recover the disputed Singur land from Tata Motors, who was leased 997 acre of land at Singur in Hooghly district by previous left front government in the state. The Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act was passed by the West Bengal state assembly in 2011 when Mamata Banrjee led Trinamool Congress swept to power in May 2011. The legislation that justified the state government’s land re-acquisition drive empowered the government to recover 1000 acres of land at the abandoned Tata Nano factory site in Singur.

The Supreme Court of India on 11 June 2012 refused to entertain the Union Government’s petition seeking a stay on an Andhra Pradesh high court order that quashed a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities in educational institutions and government jobs in the existing OBC quota. The two-judge Supreme Court bench of Justices K.S.Radhakrishnan and J.S.Khehar refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order as it observed the government did not present any material to show how it had arrived at a figure of 4.5 percent reservation. As per the bench's directions the reports by the Union Government are to be produced on 13 June 2012.

India's first "talking" Automated Teller Machine (ATM) for visually impaired was inaugurated in Ahmedabad on 6 june. The ATM by the Union Bank of India is first-of-its-kind for the visually challenged and 4000th in the countrywide network of the state-run bank.

Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar sworn in as the member of the Rajya Sabha on 4 June 2012. Sachin along with hindi film actress Rekha and business woman Anu Aga was nominated by the President of India as Rajya Sabha MP on 27 April 2012.Since Parliament is not in session, Sachin was administered the oath in the chamber of the Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari. The Vice President administered him the oath. Sachin, 39, is the first active cricketer who has been nominated to Rajya Sabha for 6-year term. The President of India under article 80 of the Indian constitution nominates 12 members belonging from the various fields like art, literature, business, sports to the 250-member Rajya Sabha.

The Union Government of India on 1 June 2012 announced to constitute an implementation panel to look into the ways of implementing the Dharmadhikari committee report on Air India and Indian Airlines merger. The implementation panel will also suggest the issues including pay, allowances and career progression structure. The four-member Dharmadhikari committee constituted in January 2012, on integration of nearly 29000 employees of Air India and Indian Airlines.