The Cabinet today approved the Instrument of Accession to the Budapest Treaty which will enable India to patent micro-organisms.
The treaty, which will be signed and deposited with director-general World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), will make India eligible for depositing micro-organisms in recognised international depository authorities for patentable micro-organisms.
The Cabinet decided to provide flexibility to state governments and Union Territories in fixing the margin for fair-price shops. At present, the margin is restricted to 50 paise per kg.
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The state governments will, however, have no flexibility in fixing the margins under the Antodaya Anna Yojna, parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet also cleared the Off-shore Areas Mineral (Development & Regulation) Bill, 2001 for introduction during the forthcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The Bill will ensure that mineral exploration and development in territorial waters is streamlined and in the process attracts private investment in the mineral sector. It also seeks to develop off-shore areas scientifically and systematically.
The Indian Council of World Affairs Bill, 2001, to replace the Indian Council of World Affairs (Second) Ordinance, was also cleared for introduction in the forthcoming session of Parliament.
Mahajan said the new Bill seeks to appoint the Indian vice-president as the president of ICWA while the external affairs minister will be the vice-president of the council.
Mahajan also said the Cabinet had asked law minister Arun Jaitley to convene an all-party meeting prior to the introduction of a Bill in Parliament which seeks to permit proxy voting by the armed forces personnel.
A Bill had been introduced in Parliament which was referred to the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs which could not arrive at a conclusion due to divergence of views, the minister said.
The Cabinet also cleared the signing and ratification of an extradition treaty between India and Philippines which would also cover economic offenders.
The Budapest Treaty will enable India to deposit micro-organisms within the country for the purpose of patent protection involving invention of micro-organisms.
WIPO has prescribed that countries make provisions for patenting micro-organisms if criteria like the creation of micro-organisms using inventive techniques with industrial utility are met.
Patenting of micro-organisms requires that they be deposited as it is not possible to describe all their characteristics.