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THE TIMES OF INDIA
BJP comes to UPA aid on pension bill
TNN, Mar 25, 2011, 04.08am IST
NEW DELHI: The government survived a major embarrassment on Thursday when the BJP offered it support to overcome Left's resistance in the introduction of pension regulatory bill, presenting a contrast from when the two squared off in a bitter debate over the cash-for-votes scam.
Congress returned the favour later by agreeing to defer a bill on science and technology to respect the sentiments of senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, just when it was set to sail through. The give-and-take was a far cry from recent bitterness between Congress and BJP over a spate of corruption charges.
The Economics Times.
India introduces pension bill in parliament
Mar 24, 2011, 03.26pm IST
NEW DELHI: India's finance minister introduced a long-awaited pension bill in parliament on Thursday that would pave the way for private players in the sector and help cut government spending.
The Pension Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) bill, which would allow part investment of the corpus in the stock market, will take time for parliamentary approval as the current session of parliament ends on Friday.
Pranab thanks Sushma for passage of Pension Bill
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New Delhi (25 Mar ,2011),(pti).
In the midst of all the sparring between BJP and government in Parliament, a rare instance of cordiality was witnessed in the Lok Sabha today when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee thanked the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj for BJP's support to the Pension Bill.
The UPA government found itself at its wits end in the Lower House this morning when CPM member Basudev Achariya asked for a division of votes on the introduction of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011.
"We are opposing introduction of the Bill. I am asking for division instead of a voice vote,"Acharia said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, several ministers and members were not present in the House.
Acharia was seen urging senior BJP leader L K Advani to support him."We were opposing this legislation during UPA-I. They (government) are bringing it now,"he was heard telling Advani.
During UPA-I, Left parties with over 60 members were key outside supporters of the government.
However, BJP supported the government and the Bill was introduced.
http://www.indiareport.com/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/1019393/National/1/22/1
Union Cabinet of India Approved the Pension Bill
Current Affairs Category: National | India, 2011 Current Affairs, March 2011 Current Affairs
Current Affairs Week: 14 Mar 2011 To 20 Mar 2011
Union Cabinet of India, on 17 March 2011, approved the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) Bill and the State Bank of India (Subsidiary Bank Laws) Amendment Bill.
The PFRDA bill seeks to establish a statutory pension regulator and also allow up to 26 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on pension fund management companies.The objective of the State Bank of India(Subsidiary Bank Laws) Amendment Bill 2009 is to empower the government to fix the authorised capitals of SBI subsidiaries and appoint managing directors. SBI has five associate banks or subsidiaries; State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travancore.
State Bank of India (Subsidiary Bank Laws) Amendment Bill 2009 also has provisions for fixation of terms and office, salary and allowances of MDs of these subsidiaries by the government.These amendmants were needed because as these powers were vested with RBI from whom the ownership of these banks was transferred to the Union government of India few years ago.
The PFRDA Bill was originally introduced in Parliament in 2005 and after that it was sent to the Standing Committee on Finance. But any political consensus could not be reached on that. If the bill is enacted, the interim regulator which is currently set up under an executive order would get legal backing and would have the power to regulate all pension funds and enforce contracts
Pension bill introduced in Lok Sabha with BJP support
Published: Thursday, Mar 24, 2011, 15:21 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI
For a change, BJP today came to the rescue of the government saving it from embarrassment as the Left parties pressed for a division on a bill to regulate pension funds at the introduction stage itself.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Kumar Bansal was among a few senior ministers present and the attendance on the treasury benches was thin ringing alarm bells for the government.
The treasury benches appeared to be caught unawares as speaker Meira Kumar ordered division on introduction of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011 at the insistence of CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia.
"We are opposing introduction of the Bill. I am asking for division instead of a voice vote," Acharia said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, leader of the house Pranab Mukherjee, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, several ministers and members were not present in the House.
Bansal cited rules which state that the member has to make a brief statement giving reasons for opposing a bill. The person moving the bill is also allowed to make a statement.
Manish Tewari (Cong) pointed out that the rules state that a notice to oppose the introduction of a bill, addressed to the secretary general, has to be given by the member by 10.00am on the day on which the motion for leave to introduce the Bill is included in the list of business.
The speaker gave a ruling in favour of division.
Acharia was seen urging senior BJP leader LK Advani to support him. "We were opposing this legislation during UPA-I. They (government) are bringing it now," he was heard telling Advani.
During UPA-I, the Left parties with over 60 members, were key outside supporters of the government.
The bill was introduced after a division of votes which showed as many as 115 members backing the proposed legislation, 43 opposing it and one member abstaining from voting. As many as 159 member were present in the 543-member House.
Later, a junior minister said the prime minister and Mukherjee, who were scheduled to be present in the Rajya Sabha, could not make it to the Lok Sabha as the lobbies were cleared. After the lobbies are cleared, no member is allowed to enter the house.
BJP comes to UPA aid on pension bill
TNN, Mar 25, 2011, 04.08am IST
NEW DELHI: The government survived a major embarrassment on Thursday when the BJP offered it support to overcome Left's resistance in the introduction of pension regulatory bill, presenting a contrast from when the two squared off in a bitter debate over the cash-for-votes scam.
Congress returned the favour later by agreeing to defer a bill on science and technology to respect the sentiments of senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, just when it was set to sail through. The give-and-take was a far cry from recent bitterness between Congress and BJP over a spate of corruption charges.
India introduces pension bill in parliament
24 Mar, 2011, 1526 hrs IST, Reuters
NEW DELHI: India's finance minister introduced a long-awaited pension bill in parliament on Thursday that would pave the way for private players in the sector and help cut government spending.
The Pension Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) bill, which would allow part investment of the corpus in the stock market, will take time for parliamentary approval as the current session of parliament ends on Friday.
The bill had failed to get parliamentary approval in the previous term of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government due to strong opposition from its then Left allies.
The coalition has the majority now to get it passed, and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has indicated it would not oppose the bill.
The proposed legislation was silent on allowing foreign companies to invest up to 26 percent in pension funds that was part of a draft, but said the government would separately announce foreign investment policy for the sector.
The bill provides powers to the PFRDA to oversee multiple pension funds in the country.
All the employees of the federal government except the armed forces, who have joined since January 2004, would be covered by the proposed National Pension System under the new legislation.
Twenty seven states have agreed to join the new pension system, the bill said, under the proposed law that is expected to provide social security to millions of employees and funds for infrastructure sector.
The budget session of Parliament is over. It ended on Friday soon after the budget 2011-12 was passed. Typically, the budget session continues into April with a recess in between. But with state elections coming up at the same time, it’s been cut short.
The last week of the budget session saw a flurry of reform-oriented bills introduced in Parliament. Topping the list was the bill for the Goods and Services Tax. Another is the much-awaited banking bill. That proposed legislation would give the Reserve Bank the extra powers it needs to give industrial houses banking licenses.
A third crucial bill brought in during the week was the one intended to reform India’s pension industry. The PFRDA bill allows for a portion of the pension corpus to be invested in stock markets. Significantly though, it doesn’t mention foreign companies. The bill’s original draft allowed 26% FDI in pension funds.
Switching to other news, a fresh set of norms could soon be put in place for India’s mutual fund industry. Market regulator Sebi plans to bring in additional regulations to prevent distributors from mis-selling mutual funds. Last month it sent funds a note on practices used to sell schemes. It then held a follow-on meeting with the larger asset management companies. There are roughly one hundred thousand distributors in India. And since Sebi can’t regulate them directly, it’s going through asset management companies.
ONGC’s overseas arm OVL may have paid top dollar to acquire Imperial Energy, but that deal is now under fire. India’s top auditor, the CAG, says the acquisition has resulted in a loss of nearly Rs1,200 crore. That estimate is for the period from January 2009 to March 2010. The CAG says Imperial’s main Siberian oil field only produces some 17,000 barrels per day. OVL’s original target was 35,000 barrels per day.
Airline passenger traffic has shown steady growth in February, despite the hike in oil prices. Air India’s domestic traffic increased 15.8%, while Kingfisher’s went up by 19%. IndiGo saw an 18.7% increase and SpiceJet’s growth was at 13.8%. Overall growth on domestic routes stood at 18.5%.
Staying with airlines, private carriers only have a few days left to hire dedicated ground handlers at top destinations. The aviation ministry has told airlines to outsource ground handling at the six biggest airports. They have until the end of this month to comply. Airlines have appealed against the order in the Supreme Court.
And in a separate development, SpiceJet has suspended controversial pilot Garima Passi. The move came after reports that she fared badly during pilot training in the US. Earlier, the airline fired two other pilots for allegedly getting their flying licenses using forged documents.
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