Rajya Sabha passed Negotiable Instruments Bill
Rajya
Sabha on 7 December, 2015 passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment)
Bill, 2015. The Bill provides for filing of cheque bounce cases at the
place where a cheque is presented for clearance and not the place of
issue. The Bill seeks to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. If a
complaint against a person issuing a cheque has been filed in the court
with the appropriate jurisdiction, then all subsequent complaints
against that person will be filed in the same court.
New IPL teams – Pune, Rajkot
Teams
from Pune and Rajkot will compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL)
replacing the suspended Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals for a
period of two years. The Pune franchise was bought by New Rising,
Kolkata based Sanjeev Goenka Group while the Rajkot franchise was won by
Intex Mobiles. A meeting of the IPL Governing Council finalised the
IPL-9 dates between April 9 to May 29, 2016.
Sushma Swaraj visit to Pakistan
External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Pakistan on 8-9 December, 2015.
She went to Islamabad to attend the ‘Heart of Asia’ 5th Ministerial
Meeting on Afghanisthan held in Islamabad on 9 December. During her
visit to Pakistan, she met with Pakisthan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
and External Affairs Minister Sartz Aziz and held bilateral talks to
improve the bilateral ties between the two nations.
Heart of Asia meet in Islamabad
Heart
of Asia-Istanbul Process meeting started on 8 December to finalise the
agenda for a ministerial conference to be held on 9 December. Pakistani
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will
jointly inaugurate the Fifth Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process meeting on 9
December. The conference aims to cement regional ties through a set of
confidence building measures. Foreign ministers of 10 countries,
including India, China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Iran will attended
the meeting. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj reached
Islamabad on 8th December to attend the meeting. Sushma Swaraj will also
meet Sharif and Aziz at the sidelines of the Heart of Asia meeting. The
main objective of the process is to foster efforts for regional
cooperation and connectivity with a view to promoting long-term peace
and stability as well as progress and development in Afghanistan and the
region.