Renzi will be Italy's youngest premier
1.Matteo Renzi will be sworn in as Italy’s youngest Prime Minister ever on Saturday after he cobbled together a government he says will change the face of the country’s politics and economy.
2.Mr. Renzi, the 39-year-old leader of the Centre-Left Democratic Party, unveiled his government Friday and said the broad coalition will bring hope to the economically stagnant country.
3.After formally accepting the mandate to form the government, Mr. Renzi said he will waste no time in enacting reform.
4.“We aim tomorrow morning to immediately do the things that need to get done,” he said.
5.Mr. Renzi had been serving as Florence mayor when he engineered a power grab last week to effectively force fellow Democrat, Enrico Letta, to step down after 10 months at the helm of a fragile, often-squabbling coalition.
6.Mr. Renzi recently cut a deal with Berlusconi, who has been kept out of office by a tax fraud conviction, to work swiftly for parliamentary passage of electoral reforms.
7.In a key development, Mr. Renzi’s economy minister will be Pier Carlo Padoan, the well-respected chief economist of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international think-tank of leading economies.
BJP to announce first list of candidates on Feb 27
1.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will announce its first list of candidates on February 27. The list is expected to declare the candidature of all its top leaders including Narendra Modi, L. K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Murli Manohar Joshi.
2.While she confirmed that the list will be out on February 27, leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj refused to divulge any further details. Although she is almost certain to be projected again from Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, from where she had won in 2009, Swaraj said she will follow the party’s diktat on the matter.
3.“I am a loyal soldier of the party. I’ve gone everywhere, from Delhi (where she contested the Assembly elections) to Bellary. If the party now tells me to fight from Telangana, I will go there,” she said.
4.The reference to Telangana was significant as Swaraj had played a crucial part in the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha on February 18. From the floor of the House, she had reminded the people of Telangana: “Don’t forget your Chinnamma (little mother) and not just Sonia Amma.”
5.Sitting across the table from party President Rajnath Singh, who had contested from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, Swaraj said she is not fixated on any seat. “If Rajnathji wants to contest from Vidisha, I will invite him there. Mera kya hai, mein to Telangana chali jaoongi (my candidature doesn’t matter so much. I could even go to Telangana.),” she said.
Governor asks Kiran to continue as caretaker CM
1.The Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan has accepted the resignation of State Chief Minister N.Kiran Kuma Reddy and requested the latter and his colleagues in the Council of Ministers to continue in office till alternative arrangements were made.
2.In a communiqué issued a short while ago by the Governor’s office, it was informed that Kiran Kumar Reddy submitted his resignation to the Governor. While accepting it with effect from February 19, he was asked to continue as caretaker till alternative arrangements were made.
3.It is to be seen whether Reddy, who announced his move to quit as Chief Minister, MLA and from the Party protesting against the creation of a separate State of Telangana, would accept this request. Earlier, he disbanded the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and moved out of the CM’s Camp Office too.
4.On Wednesday, he had requested the Governor to make alternative arrangements. Given the current situation and acrimony between leaders of both the regions, forming a Government seems to be tough.
5.In the past two days since Reddy put in his papers, the Governor is learnt to have spoken to some of the State leaders. Several senior ‘Ministers’ of the Kiran Cabinet too had called on the Governor on Thursday, but described it as ‘just a courtesy call’. However, sources indicated that efforts were underway to explore if a new leader could be chosen and Government formed.
6.The Governor will take a final call after consulting the Centre. The options before him include forming of a new Government or recommending the imposition of President’s rule.
Mahila Bank ties up with New India; launch 3 health schemes
1.Bharatiya Mahila Bank (BMB), the first all-women bank, today tied with New India Assurance to launch health insurance products for women account holders of the bank.
2.These policies, BMB Sakhee, BMB-Nirbhaya and BMB-Parivar Suraksha provide customised package of health insurance policies from New India assurance, its chairperson Usha Ananthasubramanian said here.
3.While Sakhee Policy aimed at rural women, offers covers up to Rs 50,000, the Nirbhaya schemes offers cover limit up to Rs 5 lakh.
4.At the same time, Parivar Suraksha offers family floater facilities, she said.
5.These products would be available on portals for the bank, to create more efficiencies and ease of use, she added.
6.The bank, a pioneering initiative to empower women, was launched in November last year with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore to function as a universal bank.
7.Coinciding with the 96th birthday of late Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the first of seven branches of the bank in the presence of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Mumbai on November 19, 2013.
Bezbaruah Committee Constituted for the protection of rights of North Eastern people
A committee was constituted under the chairmanship of M.P. Bezbaruah on 21 February 2014. The committee was constituted to look into the various kinds of concerns of the persons hailing from the North Eastern States.
The committee was constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. M.P.Bezbaruah is a Member of North Eastern Council.
The Committee will look upon the issues as follows:-
• To examine the various kinds of concerns, including the concerns regarding security, of the persons hailing from the North Eastern States. • To examine the causes behind the attacks/violence and discrimination against the people from the North-Eastern States. • To suggest measures to be taken by the Government to address these concerns. • To suggest legal remedies to address all the concerns.
The committee will interact with the students/professionals, NGOs, students’ organizations and other persons from the North Eastern States living in Delhi to seek their suggestions.
Whistleblower Protection Bill passed by Union Legislature
1.Whistleblower Protection Bill was passed by Union Legislature on 21 February 2014.
2.The bill aims to provide a regular mechanism to encourage persons to disclose information on corruption or willful misuse of power by public servants and ministers.
3.The Whistleblower Bill will provide an adequate protection to persons reporting corruption or wilful misuse of discretion which causes demonstrable loss to the government or commission of a criminal offence by a public servant.
4.The bill seeks the procedure to inquire into the disclosures and provides adequate safeguards against victimisation of the whistleblower. It will also seek to provide punishment for false or frivolous complaints.
5.The bill was passed by Lok Sabha in 2011 and was taken up by the Rajya Sabha in 2012 for consideration.
6.Rajya Sabha made two new proposals in the bill.
7.First, the definition of disclosure was amended to include wilful misuse of power or wilful misuse of discretion which leads to demonstrable loss to the government or demonstrable gain to the public servant or any third party.
8.Second, the definition of competent authority to which a complaint can be made has also been expanded.
Oldest M.P. Rishang Keishing retired after serving seven decades
1.Rishang Keishing the oldest Parliamentarian of India decided to retire on 21 February 2014. He is 94.
2.He joined politics as the member of the first Lok Sabha in 1952 after being elected from Socialist Party. He had served the nation for seven decades. He joined Congress in 1962.
3.The present term of Rishang Keishing of Rajya Sabha is due to ends in April 2014.
4.Till now, he had served as four time Chief Minister of Manipur, two tenure in Rajya Sabha and two tenures in Lok Sabha.
5.Keishing is a former school teacher. He hails from Naga- dominated Ukhrul district.
6.Few serving oldest parliamentarian:
• Ram Sundar Das (92), JD(U) MP from Hajipur, Bihar
• Kailash Joshi (84), BJP MP from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
• Jai Narain Prasad Nishad (83), JD(U) MP from Muzaffarpur, Bihar
• Shafiqur Rahman Barq (83), BSP MP from Sambhal
• Sukhdev Singh Libra (81), Congress MP from Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab
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