Lok Sabha Approved Lokpal Act Amendment
- The Lok Sabha on July 26, 2016 approved an amendment to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, to allow extension of the time given to public servants and trustees and board members of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) receiving j government funds of more than Rs 1 crore or foreign funding of more than 10 lakh to declare their assets and those of their spouses.
- Amendments to bills can be moved under three condition—one, when cleared by the Union Cabinet; second, the Prime Minister invokes rule 12 of the transaction of business and takes a suo motu decision, and a post facto approval is then sought from the Union Cabinet; or an empowered group of Ministers meet and clear it, again with post facto approval of the Cabinet.
Statue of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Unveiled in Rameswaram
- Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Manohar Panrikar unveiled a life-size statue of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam at Peikarumbu, his burial site in Rameswaram Island cm the occasion of his the first death anniversary on July 27, 2016.
- Kalam passed away on July 27, 2015 while delivering a lecture at the IIM-Shillong in Meghalaya.
- An exhibition named ‘Mission of Life’ depicting the life of Kalam and his achievements towards nation building is set to be inaugurated.
See Also – Current Affairs of Economy & Banking
Lok Sabha Passed IIT (Amendment) Bill
- The Lok Sabha passed the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 that will govern the six new recently set-up Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and bring the Indian School of Mines at Dhanbad in Jharkhand within the ambit of this law on July 25, 2016.
- The government will set-up a fund with Rs 11000 crore investment and an equal contribution from a financial institution that will leverage Rs 20000 crore for adding research infrastructure to IITs.
- The six IITs that have come up are at Tirupati, Palakkad, Goa, Dharwar, Bhilai and Jammu. Students from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, those from BPL families and physically challenged are exempt from fees in IITs and NITs.
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 Passed
- The Parliament passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 with Lok Sabha’s approval on July 25. 2016. The bill seeks to prohibit the employment of children below 14 in all occupations and enterprises, except those run by his or her own family.
- The bill seeks to make child labour a cognisable offence attracting a jail term of up to three years and penalty up to Rs 50000. Children below 14 will be allowed to work only in family enterprises, that too after school hours. The bill also defines children between 14 to 18 years as adolescents and bars their employment in any hazardous occupations.
Notification Issued for Implementation of 7th Pay Commission
- The Union government published the implementation notification of the 7th Pay Commission on July 25, 2016. According to recommendation, it has to increase minimum pay from existing Rs 7000 to Rs 18000 per month.
- He announced that a fitment factor of 2.57 would apply for pay revision of all employees. And the rate of annual increment has been retained at 3%.
- The government also announced that CBSE Chief Rajesh Kumar Chatuivedi will be given additional charge of chief of the implementation cell of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.
