- On August 9, 2019, President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act 2019 aimed to make India hub of domestic and global arbitration for settling commercial disputes. It will amend Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
- Arbitration Council of India (ACI) allows appointment of arbitrators by “arbitral institutions” designated by the Supreme Court(SC) /High Court(HC) rather than Supreme Court or a high court themselves. The ACI will consist of a Chairperson who is either a Judge of the Supreme Court/ a Judge of a High Court/Chief Justice of a High Court/ an eminent person with great knowledge in conduct of the arbitration.
- On August 10, 2019, President of India Ram Nath Kovind gave his assent to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, to improve road safety and facilitation of the citizens while dealing with transport departments. The Act will amend the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
- The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019 is based on the recommendations of the Group of Transport Ministers (GoM) headed by the then Transport Minister of Rajasthan, Shri. Yoonus Khan.
- The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. The Bill increases fine for several offenses under the Act. Refer below for details of charges under each offense as per the new Amendment.
| Violation | New penalty(in Rupees) | Old Penalty(in Rupees) |
| Driving under the influence of alcohol/Drug | 10,000 | 2000 |
| Driving without Insurance | 2,000 | 1,000 |
| Driving without license | 5000 | 500 |
| Over Speeding | 1000 for LMV (Light Motor Vehicle) 2000 for medium passenger vehicle | 400 |
| Not giving way for emergency vehicles | 10,000 | – |
| Speeding | 5000 | 500 |
| Driving without helmet | 1000, disqualification of license for 3 months | 100 |
| Offense by Juveniles | 25000 with 3 years imprisonment for guardian/owner | – |
| Traffic violations | 500 | 100 |
| Disobedience of orders of authorities | ||
| Driving despite disqualification | 10,000 | – |
| Penalty for dangerous driving | 5,000 | 1,000 |
| Seat Belt violation | 1000 | 100 |
| Oversize vehicles | 5000 | – |
- Shri Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution inaugurated the inter-State portability in two clusters of adjoining States of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana and Gujarat & Maharashtra, as a major step towards achieving the objective of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’. Under the National Food Security Act, beneficiaries can avail the benefits from any of the two cluster States.
- 11 States/UT have implemented the intra-State portability. The 11 states are Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura. Having implemented intra-State portability already, the inter-State portability will be introduced in these 11 States by 1st January 2020.Other states apart from these 11 states will be included in the inter-state portability in a phased manner starting from 1st of June 2020.
- In a bid to encourage and recognise entrepreneurs and also to catalyse a cultural shift in youth for entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has announced the 4th edition of National Entrepreneurship Awards (NEA) for the year 2019.
- Under the Jharkhand state’s scheme, Mukhyamantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana launched by Shri Venkaiah Naidu, farmers/ beneficiaries having farmlands of less than 1 acre to 5 acres. The launching ceremony was held in 23 districts apart from Ranchi. This scheme would benefit approximately 35 lakh farmers and by September/October this year Rs 3000 crore will be sent to beneficiaries’ account. This scheme is apart from the benefits that the farmers are getting under Pratan Mantri Kisan Yojana.
- Under the Jharkhand state’s scheme, Mukhyamantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana launched by Shri Venkaiah Naidu, farmers/ beneficiaries having farmlands of less than 1 acre to 5 acres will be provided a financial assistance of Rs5,000-25,000.
Money distribution:
Rs.5000- farmers having less than 1 acres of land.
Rs.10, 000- farmers having two acres of land.
Rs.15000- farmers having three acres of land.
Rs.20,000- farmers having four acres of land.
Rs.25, 000- farmers having five acres of land.