Compulsory marriage registration has been approved by the Cabinet

                 In a significant move, government will bring in a bill in Parliament’s Budget Session for registration of marriages under a law for recording of births and deaths, notwithstanding one’s religious affiliation, thereby providing legal protection especially in the cases of inter-religious matrimony.

                The Union Cabinet also approved introduction of the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 to provide for registration of marriage of Sikhs, fulfilling a long standing demand of the community.

                 The Cabinet approved introduction of the bill in the Budget session to amend the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 to include registration of marriages as well, according to the honorable Union Minister Kapil Sibal.

                  While marriages of Sikhs along with those of Buddhists and Jains are currently registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, Muslims, Parsis, Christians, and Jews have separate Acts for registration of their marriages. The proposed bill will save the women from unnecessary harassment in matrimonial and maintenance cases. It will also provide evidentiary value in the matters of custody of children both from the wedlock and the age of the person’s marriage.

                  In February 2006, the Supreme Court had directed the states and the central government that registration of marriages of all people who are citizens of India and belonging to various religious denominations should be made compulsory in their respective states where they are solemnized.

                 The 18^th Law Commission of India in its 205^th report dealing with amendments to the “Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 and Other Allied Laws” had recommended that the government should make registration of marriages of all communities within a stipulated period of times, and it is mandatory.

                 The Commission had also recommended legislation on compulsory registration of marriages by enacting a “Marriage and Divorce Registration Act” applicable to the whole of India, without any “exceptions or exemptions”.

India and Qatar signed six agreements recently

                India and Qatar, signed six agreements recently in diverse areas, including a pact on co-operation in oil and gas exploration. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on a range of issues, including boosting trade and investment as well as energy ties between the two countries. Issues relating to the welfare of Indian workers in the Gulf country were also discussed.

                After the talks, India’s Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Qatar’s Energy Minister Mohammed Bin Saleh al-Sada signed a pact on establishing a cooperative framework to enhance the bilateral cooperation in oil and gas.

                 The pact envisages cooperation in the areas of upstream and downstream oil and gas activities. It is expected to encourage and promote investment and cooperation between two ministers of oil and gas and through affiliated companies.

                 Qatar, which holds the world’s third largest natural gas reserves after Russia and Iran, has an LNG (liquefied natural gas) export capacity of 77 million tons per year.

                 India buys 7.5 million tons of LNG from Qatar under a long term contract. India imported 5.6 million tons of oil from Qatar in 2010-11 and is willing to increase the imports. Three agreements were signed in the fields of educational exchange, cultural contacts and promoting tourism.

                A memorandum of agreement was signed between the Reserve Bank of India and Qatar Central Bank. The pact will establish an arrangement for sharing of supervisory information and enhancing cooperation in the area of banking supervision. Another pact on exchange of experiences, information and expertise in the field of legal affairs was also signed.

Latest World Bank Approvals

World Bank approves $ 1.09 billion for Pakistan Power Sector

              The World Bank has approved about $ 1.09 billion financial aid to Pakistan for funding its two projects that would surely improve the country’s power supply in the crucial agricultural sector.

             While the Tarbela IV Extension Hydropower Project will add power generation capacity of 1,410 MW, the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project is geared toward maximizing water use efficiency for increased yield per unit of water.

              The $ 840 million Tarbela IV Extension Hydropower Project will use the existing dam, tunnel, roads and transmission line for generating additional electricity in summer months when demand for electricity and river flows are high. Meanwhile, the $ 250 million Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Productivity Improvement Programme Project is aimed at getting maximum productivity out of every drop of irrigation water.

World Bank approves $ 500 million education project for India

                  In a bid to make quality education accessible to young people at the secondary level, the World Bank approved a USD 500 million credit to support India’s secondary education project.

                The project will support all activities as envisioned in the USD 12.9 billion Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) programme, a flagship Government of India programme for gradual universalisation of secondary education.

                The project would be financed by a credit from the International Development Association (IDA) - the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm- which provides interest free loans with 25 years to maturity and a grace period of five years.

               According to the Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India, RMSA is a young programme which is expected to grow rapidly and hence it is an opportunity for the World Bank to support the Government of India in building effective systems as the Programme expands while improving quality.

China becomes the largest arts, antiques market of the World

              China has overtaken the US as the world’s largest market for the field of arts and antiques, according to a report.

            The historic turning point was also an important indicator of seismic shifts in the wider global economy, said the report, which is titled as “The International Art Market in 2011”.

            The study was released by the European Fine Art Foundation, who are also the organizers of the prestigious European Fine Art Fair.

            China’s share of the global art market rose from 23 percent in 2010 to 30 percent last year, pushing the US to second place with a share of 29 percent.

           The British Art Market, which was overtaken by China in 2010, was third with a 22 percent of market share France was a distant fourth with a share of six percent only.

           Sales of art and antiques at auctions in China saw a dramatic rise of 177 percent in 2010 and a further 64 percent increase in 2011. The modern and contemporary sectors accounted for nearly 70 percent of the whole market.

Indian Government allocates Rs 23K Crore for Disaster Management

 

               With an aim to effectively manage disasters, the government has allocated huge money, which is Rs 23K Crore. An official said it’s for developing disaster management infrastructure at the state, district and panchayet level across the whole country.

                 The 13^th Finance Commission has allocated the amount for developing infrastructure across the country to help manage disasters in a better way. It is a indeed a great decision taken by our government. Some disasters hit us quite badly and they are unavoidable too, like the natural disasters like Tsunami, earth-quake, flood etc etc.

                  Out of the Rs 23K Crore, Rs 15K Crore will be given to the states and local bodies as direct grant and Rs 8K Crore will be performance grant.