Indian Polity - Current Affairs for December, 2017

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was elected unopposed as president of the Indian National Congress on December 11, 2017. Congress party's central election authority chief Mullappally Ramachandran said Mr. Gandhi will formally take over on December 16. He is the 16^th president of the Congress since Independence and sixth from the Nehru-Gandhi clan to take over the party reins. Mr. Gandhi has been vice-president of the party since 2013. Among other senior politicians, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated him. Rahul Gandhi: Know More

• Rahul Gandhi (born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician who currently serves as Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Amethi, Uttar Pradesh and is also the President of the Indian National Congress.
• He also currently serves as Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.
• He also serves as the Chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India. He is the second-highest-ranked member of the Congress Working Committee.
• He also serves as Trustee of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.
• Gandhi formerly served as a general secretary in the All India Congress Committee.

The Election Commission has put in place an elaborate framework of administrative system, security protocols and procedural checks-and-balances in Gujarat, which prevent any possible misuse of EVMs/VVPATs or procedural lapses in the use of EVMs and VVPATs during polls. These safeguards are being implemented by ECI, in total transparently, with the active and documented involvement of Political Parties, Candidates and their Representatives at every stage, so as to build their confidence on efficacy and reliability of EVMs and VVPATs All these functions and procedures are implemented through the District Election Officers (DEOs), Returning Officers (ROs), Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) and other election related officers concerned, who are on deemed deputation to the ECI and are under its superintendence, direction and control. The comprehensive framework of administrative protocols and procedural safeguards comprises the First Level Checking of all EVMs and VVPATs, strict regime of Mock Polls conducted on each and every EVM and VVPAT during the FLC, Candidate Setting and Poll Day (before the beginning of actual polls). Additionally, there was 2-stage randomization of EVMs and VVPATs, stringent security protocols for storage of EVMs and VVPATs before, during and after the polls, and comprehensive videography and CCTV coverage of all EVM & VVPAT related activities and storage in strong-rooms. The randomizations were carried out through EVM Tracking Software (ETS) by the DEO in the presence of the representatives of political parties/candidates for complete transparency.

The Congress on Dec 7, 2017 suspended former Rajya Sabha MP Mani Shankar Aiyar from primary membership of the party and issued a show-cause notice to him for his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Aiyar had earlier expressed regret for his comments after public censure from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The former MP had called Prime Minister Narendra Modi "neech kism ka aadmi" (a low life) in reaction to Mr. Modi's speech at the inauguration of the Ambedkar International Centre, where he accused the Congress of systematically undermining Ambedkar's legacy. Mr. Aiyar does not hold any post in the party. After the controversial remark, Mr. Gandhi took to Twitter to publicly censure Mr. Aiyar. Mani Shankar Aiyar: Know More

• Mani Shankar Aiyar (born 10 April 1941) is a former Indian diplomat turned politician.
• He is a former member of the Indian National Congress party and was a part of first Cabinet (2004-2009) of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
• He has served as the Union Minister of Panchayati Raj until he lost his seat in the 2009 election. He served as the Union Cabinet Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas from May 2004 through January 2006 and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports till 2009.
• He was also the first Minister of Development of North Eastern Region.
• He represented the Mayiladuthurai constituency of Tamil Nadu in the 14th Lok Sabha.
• He is currently a nominated member of parliament from Rajya Sabha.

Rebel JDU MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar were disqualified from the Rajya Sabha on Dec 4 night. Mr. Naidu, Chairman of the RS, agreed to the JDU's contention that the two senior leaders had voluntarily given up their membership by defying their party's directives and attending events of Opposition parties. The JD(U) had sought their disqualification on the grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in violation of its direction. Mr. Yadav had joined hands with the opposition after JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kuamar dumped the Grand Alliance in Bihar and tied up with the BJP. Mr. Yadav was elected to the House last year and his term was scheduled to end in 2022. Mr. Anwar's term was to expire early next year. Sharad Yadav: Know More

• Born: 1 July 1947
• Hoshangabad, Central Provinces and Berar, British India
• Alma mater: Jabalpur Engineering College
• Occupation : Politician
• Website: www.sharadyadavjdu.in
• Sharad Yadav has been elected to Lok Sabha seven times and to Rajya Sabha

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed Kapu Reservation Bill, 2017 to provide 5% quota in education and employment. The reservation to Kapu community will be given by including them in Backward Classes list. The reservation to existing Backward Castes will not be affected by this decision. With the quota for Kapus, the total reservation in state goes up to 55%, beyond 50% cap set by Supreme Court for reservations. Andhra Pradesh already has 29% reservation for Backward Castes. Apart from this, 15% and 6% reservations exist for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). The bill will be sent to Centre for its consent and State government is also going to request Centre to include this reservation in the 9th Schedule, to insulate it from judicial review.

NITI Aayog in collaboration with the European Union delegation to India have released the Strategy on Resource Efficiency at a function in the capital. The report included in action plan for promoting resource efficiency in India. It adds that sustainability is a global priority and SDGs commitment and 11th Five year plan clearly enunciate importance of Resource efficiency (RE). Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy are important goals and central principles for achieving sustainable development. Resource efficiency very simply put is making more with fewer materials. In practice, through a life-cycle approach, it leads to minimizing impact on environment & the associated societal burdens, transforming 'waste' into 'resources' fostering circular economy, and strengthening resource security. This strategy is the first policy document to emphasize resource productivity in the country. RE Strategy emphasizes on Sustainable Public Procurement (SSP) as an action agenda which will be the market transformation tool to transform to a resource efficient economy. The document is developed with the recommendations from the Indian Resource Efficiency Programme (IREP), launched by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Indian Resource Panel (InRP) in April 2017. The work on Resource Efficiency Strategy and proposed plan of action (core and medium term) will be supported for its implementation by the European Union (EU) funded Resource Efficiency Initiative (EU-REI) led by GIZ in the consortium with TERI, CII and Adelphi. NITI Aayog has provided key support in positioning this document for public consultation, and charting the way forward. Resource Efficiency in India

• India's large population, rapid urbanization and expanding industrial production have led to exploitation of available limited natural resources with concerns regarding resource depletion and future availability becoming more pronounced.
• Ensuring resource security requires and integrated, concerted and collaborative approach in order to fulfill the needs of a vast and growing population.
• Also, the environmental burdens emanating due to resource extraction, utilization and disposal, including land degradation, biodiversity loss, as well as air and water pollution remain of great concern.
• Enhancing resource efficiency (RE) and promoting the use of secondary raw materials (SRM) is a pertinent strategy to address these challenges and reduce dependence on primary resource.