[The Big Picture] Land act ordinance : Will it stand scrutiny?

Summary:

• The decision of the NDA government to amend certain provisions of the land acquisition act through an ordinance is witnessing increasing opposition. Most of the opposition parties are opposing this move.

• The ordinance aims at expediting the acquisition for industrial projects. The amendments in the Act brought through the ordinance would ensure higher compensation to land owners while fulfilling developmental needs of the nation.

• The opposition is against both the ordinance route and its provisions. While the government has asserted that this is expected to meet the strategic and developmental needs of the country and will help the larger section of the farmers. The opposition have slammed the move as it also exempts Social Impact Assessment. This is seen as a anti- farmer move.

• The land acquisition act of 1894 was created with the purpose of facilitating acquisition by the government of privately held land for public purposes. Under the colonial LAA, private interest, rather than public purpose, dictated the land acquisition process. People affected by land acquisition received a pittance by way of compensation.

• The 2013 act was meant to be a Humane and ethical law. The purpose of this law was to promote participatory governance and give farmers a say in the whole process.

• Section 105 of the earlier Act, provided that the government could issue a notification and direct ‘any’ provision of the Act relating to compensation or R&R (Resettlement & Rehabilitation) would be made applicable to the exempted Acts.

• The present ordinance provides that the farmers would get higher compensation if land is acquired under any of the exempted laws. It goes a step further than the 2013 act itself.

• Some people say that the Ordinance subverts the crucial distinction between public-versus private purposes. It widens the scope of private purpose acquisitions. Now, land can be acquired by force for a large set of private projects, including private projects in health, tourism, cold storage sectors and SEZs. For these and many other private projects, land can be acquired even without consulting the affected people. Moreover, the definitions of exempted categories are subject to the discretion of the government and can be relaxed further.

Indian-American Frank Islam presented with Martin Luther King Award

Frank Islam, an eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist has been presented with the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr Award.

He was given the award for his contribution to the legacy of the great leader through his efforts in international service and civil engagement.

About Frank Islam:

• He was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh to a peasant father. He had moved to US when he was only 15 years old.

• He is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.

• In 1993, he had bought a struggling IT company in Maryland. Later in 2007, he sold it to spent rest of his life in philanthropy, both in India and the US.

• Currently, he heads the FI Invest Group a firm that he established after selling his IT Company.

• He is also board member of several think tanks, academic and cultural organisations including pretigious Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts, the Brookings Institute and US Institute of Peace.

• Books: He has written two well-regarded books on the American condition. They are Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again (2013). Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage (2010).

Martin Luther King Jr Award:

• It is an annual award started in 1991.

• It honors the legacy of noble peace recipient civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr and the legendary Dorothy I Height and their impacts both at home and abroad.

2014 hottest year on record: US scientists

According to US scientists, year 2014 was the hottest year on record, with global average temperature increasing about 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880.

It was revealed by two separate analyses carried out by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Key outcomes:

• 10 warmest years since records began in the 19th century have all been since 1997.

• In 2014, record temperatures were spread around the globe. It included most of Europe stretching into northern Africa, the western United States, far eastern Russia into western Alaska, parts of interior South America, parts of eastern and western coastal Australia and elsewhere.

• Recent trends of warming have been dominated by human emissions of greenhouse gases.

• Earlier, it was thought of chaotic weather patterns. But later it was considered that year-to-year fluctuations in average global temperature are caused by phenomena such as El Nino or La Nina.

• El Nino or La Nina phenomena generally warm or cool the tropical Pacific oceanic region and are thought to have played a role in the flattening of the long-term warming trend over the past 15 years.

• However, 2014’s record warmth occurred during an El Nino-neutral year.

United Nation and Mali government declares country Ebola-free

Mali Government has declared country Ebola free. It was announced after no new case of deadly virus was reported in last 42-day period (i.e. two incubation periods of 21 days for Ebola virus).

While, United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) has also declared that Mali as Ebola free.

Key facts:

• Mali was the sixth West African country to record cases of Ebola virus.

• First case was reported in October 2014.

• As per World Health Organisation (WHO) in Mali, in total 8 cases were reported, killing 6 of them.

According to WHO, it is the worst Ebola (viral haemorrhagic fever) outbreak in history which has infected at least 21,296 people.

Till date deadly Ebola virus has killed more than 8,400 people mostly from West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

World Future Energy Summit begins in Abu Dhabi

The World Future Energy Summit 2015 has begun in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It is eight edition of the summit and will be four day event.

It will provide platform to delegates including world leaders, international policy makers, industry leaders, investors, experts, academia, intellectuals and journalists from all over the world including India.

Delegates will discuss the future of renewable energy and how to overcome the challenges in tapping potential of it.

Key highlights of World Future Energy Summit:

• It will provide a platform for commercial solutions to clean and green energy.

• It will include exhibition of first-of-its-kind, fully integrated hybrid product that captures both solar and wind energy to provide more consistent power generation.

• Summit will also display a mobile solar power plant on a trailer with a 4.8 kWp capacity and battery storage of up to 20 kWh and a new turbine that converts energy from sea waves.

• It will also display parabolic sun-dish concentrators combined with a specialized steam generator suitable for enhanced oil recovery, power generation, water desalination operations and power generations are on display.

First Female IPS from Sikkim : Aparajita Rai

Aparajita Rai Sikkim girl She had cracked UPSC Examinations in both 2011 and 2012. She ranked 358 in UPSC 2012 Examinations and was allocated IPS cadre.

During the course of her training she won many awards, which highlight her ability. In all she won the prestigious trophies such as :

• 1958 batch IPS Officer.Trophy for "the best Lady outdoor probationer".

• Shri umesh Chandra Trophy for "Field combat".

• The 55th batch of senior course officer Trophy for "Best tum out".

• West Bengal Gov Trophy for "Bengali".

She was always a brilliant student and was the School topper at Tashi Namgyal Academy and had scored 95% in ISC. She was also the recipient of the Best girl all rounder Shrimati Ratna Pradhan Memorial Trophy in TNA.

Her academic brilliance was proven once again, when she scored the Gold medalist from National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata in both Jurisprudence and Public Administration.

Such an amazing achiever deserves to be applauded, and we are happy to note that our women are no less than our men, in fact they are a step ahead of the men.

Hat's Off and Congratulation Aparajit, from Darjeeling and its people!! You are an inspiration to our younger generation, and we are hopeful that your success will inspire thousands of our children.