Adoption of Central Acts in J&K among key Cabinet decisions


New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS): Adoption of Central Acts in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and a new Surrogacy Bill to ensure effective regulation of the service allowing widows and divorcees to be surrogates were among seven key decisions the Union Cabinet took on Wednesday.

The Cabinet approved issuance of an order for adoption of Central Acts in Jammu & Kashmir under Section 96 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 by the Central government. With the order, a total of 37 Central laws will be applicable to J&K which are applicable to the whole of India.

These laws will be application in the erstwhile state with effect from October 31, 2019 when the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 came into force bifurcating J&K into two Union Territories -- Jammu & Kashmir with an Assembly and Ladakh without one. As per Section 96 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Central government has powers to modify the existing laws through repeal or amendment within one year of the constitution of the UTs.

The Cabinet also gave its approval for the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 to ensure effective regulation of the service and also allowing widows and divorcees to be surrogates, if it was "altruistic". The Bill, cleared by the Cabinet, has incorporated recommendations of a 23-member Rajya Sabha Select Committee and is expected to be introduced in Parliament during the second phase of the Budget Session beginning on March 2.

In place of "close relative", the bill has now proposed that the surrogate mother should be a "willing" woman. The select committee had recommended that not only close relatives but any woman, whether she is a widow or divorcee, who is "willing" should be allowed to act as a surrogate mother, Union Minister Smriti Irani told media.

The Cabinet has also decided that the insurance cover of the surrogate mother which was proposed for 16 months would be increased to 36 months. Irani said that the surrogacy facility will be provided only to those who have medically necessitated conditions.

"These rights would be of Indian married couples and Indian-origin couples in which women and men would be of Indian origin."

In single women category, the surrogacy rights would be of widows and divorcee women, the minister said. Government sources said that the select committee suggested 15 major changes to the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, including deleting the definition of "infertility" as the inability to conceive after five years of unprotected intercourse on the grounds that it was too long a period for a couple to wait for a child.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has also approved setting up of a National Technical Textiles Mission with an outlay of Rs 1,480 crore for four year implementation period in line with the announcement made in Budget 2020 presented earlier this month.

Making announcement following the CCEA meeting, she said the idea behind the mission is to integrate technology and manufacturing. The minister said that the step would position the country as a global leader in technical textiles and that the goal was to be self-dependent in this field to nullify the trade deficit in the area which was already declining.

Technical textiles have various applications ranging from agriculture, roads, railway tracks, sportswear, health on one end to bullet proof jackets, fire proof jackets, high altitude combat gear and space applications on the other end of the spectrum.

The Cabinet also approved the exemption of the India Ports Global Ltd (IPGL) from the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Guidelines, except reservation and vigilance policies. IPGL was incorporated under the Companies Act 2013, as a Special Purpose Vehicle jointly promoted by Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and Deendayal Port Trust (DPT), - earlier Kandla Port Trust (KPT) - under administrative control of Ministry of Shipping, for development and management of Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar in Iran.

Subsequent to the withdrawal of the US from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Ministry of External Affairs advised Ministry of Shipping on October 29, 2018 to exclude JNPT and DPT from possible impact of US sanctions.

In another decision, the Cabinet approved the amendments to the National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) Bill, 2011. The objective of the Bill is to confer status to Institutions of National Importance to National Institutes of Food Technology located in Kundli in Haryana and Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.

It also gave a nod to amendment of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi Islands Land Revenue and Tenancy Regulation, 1965. This will confer occupancy rights to the scheduled tribe population in the UT of Lakshadweep.

At the end, the Cabinet also gave a green signal to three MoUs for cooperation between India and Myanmar on combating timber trafficking, conservation of tigers and other wildlife and in the field of petroleum products and communications.

 

  

Top Stories


Leave a Comment

Title: Adoption of Central Acts in J&K among key Cabinet decisions



You have 2000 characters left.

Disclaimer:

Please write your correct name and email address. Kindly do not post any personal, abusive, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent, discriminatory or unlawful or similar comments. Daijiworld.com will not be responsible for any defamatory message posted under this article.

Please note that sending false messages to insult, defame, intimidate, mislead or deceive people or to intentionally cause public disorder is punishable under law. It is obligatory on Daijiworld to provide the IP address and other details of senders of such comments, to the authority concerned upon request.

Hence, sending offensive comments using daijiworld will be purely at your own risk, and in no way will Daijiworld.com be held responsible.