Weekly Current Affairs Bulletin: 29 April 2013 To 05 MAY, 2013

WEEKLY CURRENT AFFAIRS BULLETIN
29TH APRIL 2013 TO 05TH MAY, 2013
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CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS
Current Affairs Notes for IAS PT 2013

UPSC: The central recruiting agency in India, nowadays emphasizing more on applicable part of knowledge. GS syllabus has undergone an overhaul from the past few years and requires multidimensional approach to handle this. The paper concentrates more on concepts related to general awareness i.e. what we see around us. Its recruiting pattern wants an IAS aspirant to have grip on socio-economic problem-solvingskills; applicable knowledge of science; ability to logically analyse the situations and interpret the outcomes accordingly.
This will provide a "trustworthy and time saving guide" for all IAS aspirants preparing for Prelims. Topics Covered :1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION SUMMITS Bills in Parliament Biotechnology-1
Constitutional news
Environmental news Health News
Important Reports 2012-13 INDIA - HDR 2011
International News
Science and Technology Prelims Special Part-1 Prelims Special Part-2 Prelims special Part- 3 Package Fee
Current Affairs Notes for PT 2013 for Weekly E-Magazine Subscriber (Printed) ........... 2000.00 Current Affairs Notes for PT 2013 (Printed) ............................................................................ 2500.00
[ 2 ] Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013
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Thus CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY is launching a comprehensive material which includes: Important Bills; Committees; Reports; Current affairs of the past one year.
TOPICAL TESTS
Infrastructure & Resources 1. Transportation infrastructure: Road and Highway Networks, Mass Transit Systems, Railways, Waterways, Ports.... 2. Energy infrastructure:- Thermal Power Generation, Natural Gas Pipelines & Petroleum Pipelines, Nuclear Energy, Renewable Energy...... 3. Water management infrastructure:- Drinking water supply, Sewage Collection and Disposal of Waste water, Flood Control, Water Harwesting..... 4. Communications infrastructure:- Television and Radio Transmission, Internet, Social Network, Search Engines, Communications Satellites...... 5. Solid Waste Management 6. Economic Infrastructure: Manufacturing Infrastructure, including Industrial Parks and Special Economic zones, Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Infrastructure.... 7. Resources: Water Resources, Forest Resources, Land Resources, Energy Resources, Minerals, Resource Management..... Demography : Population Composition, Density, Literacy, Sex Ratio... Environmental Problems & Global Environmental Governance : Deforestation, Pollution: Air, Water, Land, Noise, Desertification, Biodiversity Depletion, Global Warming, SD.......
productivity, Microirrigation, Government Initiatives......
Urbanization,
Human Development, Social Sector Initiatives and Programmes & Policies 1. Concept of Human Development, Development vs. Growth, Human Development Index, MPI, Innovation..... 2. Social Inclusion, Child Welfare, Women Welfare.... Agriculture, Urbanisation, Health : Agriculture and GDP, Agricultural Regionalization, Production and
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1. 2. 3. 4. 31st March ...... 7th April ......... 21st April ........ 28th April .......
Indian Economy Basics, Planning & Trade 1. Industry Services, Agriculture, Energy..... 2. Balance of Payments. Foreign Direct Investment....... 3. Growth, Development and Other Issues......... 4. Poverty Estimates, Impact of Poverty........ 5. Exchange rate. Role of RBI..... 6. Nature of Planning - Five Year Plan, Planning after 1991 (LPG), Inflation.....
Governance and Contemporary Political Developments: Development Politics, Political and Administrative Institutions, Good Governance, Internal Security....
SECTIONAL TESTS (PAPER I & II)
Ecology and environment Comprehension Polity and Governance English Language Comprehension + Logical Reasoning 5. Geography 6. Decision Making and Problem Solving 7. General Science and Science and Technology 8. Mental Ability, Basic Numeracy, Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency 9. History 10. Indian Economy
FULL MOCK SCHEDULE

Mock Mock Mock Mock 1 2 3 4 Paper Paper Paper Paper 1, 1, 1, 1, Mock Mock Mock Mock 1 2 3 4 Paper Paper Paper Paper 2 2 2 2
Qs of IAS 2012 prelims paper were close and directly from Chronicles 2012 test series. When it comes to matching the format of question in the exam it was 100% identical. Have you ever heard of such claim in IAS exam, indeed we do it habitually! After all it is a matter of experiences. Testimonial is available at chronicleias.com as well in the public domain, since it was conducted in 22 cities of India. We dont claim your success, but our performance. Lets begin...
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Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013
Fee Structure : All India Complete Test Online ......................................6000/All India Complete Test Postal .......................................4000/All India Mock Test Online .............................................3000/[3]
NATIONAL
National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) approved by the Cabinet targeted outreach services and involvement of the community and urban local bodies. GOI clears Rs 11,000 cr modernisation plan for central forces The Union Cabinet gave its approval to launch a National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a new sub-mission under the over-arching National Health Mission (NHM). Under the Scheme the following proposals have been approved: a) One Urban Primary Health Centre (U-PHC) for every fifty to sixty thousand population. b) One Urban Community Health Centre (U-CHC) for five to six U-PHCs in big cities. c) One Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANM) for 10,000 population. d) One Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA (community link worker) for 200 to 500 households. The estimated cost of NUHM for 5 years period is Rs.22,507 crore with the Central Government share of Rs.16,955 crore. Centre-State funding pattern will be 75:25 except for North Eastern states and other special category states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for whom the funding pattern will be 90:10. The scheme will focus on primary health care needs of the urban poor. This Mission will be implemented in 779 cities and towns with more than 50,000 population and cover about 7.75 crore people. The interventions under the sub-mission will result in: I. Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) II. Reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) III. Universal access to reproductive health care IV. Convergence of all health related interventions. The existing institutional mechanism and management systems created and functioning under NRHM will be strengthened to meet the needs of NUHM. Citywise implementation plans will be prepared based on baseline survey and felt need. Urban local bodies will be fully involved in implementation of the scheme. NUHM aims to improve the health status of the urban population in general, particularly the poor and other disadvantaged sections by facilitating equitable access to quality health care, through a revamped primary public health care system,
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The high-powered Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved a Rs 11,000-crore project for modernisation of central paramilitary forces, including ITBP which guards the now tense Sino-Indian border which will be implemented in five years beginning this fiscal. The standoff along the Sino-Indian border in Ladakh, which is being guarded by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, is believed to have prompted the CCS to clear the project which is already delayed by a year. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), National Security Guard (NSG) and Assam Rifles will benefit under the plan which was awaiting approval from CCS. The modernisation will ensure that the forces have better arms, ammunition, night vision devices, patrolling equipment, vehicles and other infrastructural upgradation. The CRPF is primarily deployed for internal security, law and order maintenance and antiNaxal operations. The BSF guards the Indo-Pakistan and IndoBangladesh borders besides helping in internal security duties. The ITBP guards the Sino-Indian border while SSB protects the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan frontiers. The CISF primarily guards country's civil airports and major installations, including in nuclear and aero space domain. The NSG is a specialist counter-terror force while Assam Rifles guards the Indo-Myanmar border and is deployed in counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast.
The combined strengthen of all central paramilitary forces is around eight lakh personnel.
New Bill for protection and welfare of widows
Social organization Sulabh International has launched a campaign demanding a bill for protection, welfare and maintenance of widows in the country. The draft Bill prepared by Sulabh International seeks to provide for measures to be undertaken by the state for the protection, welfare and maintenance of neglected, abandoned and destitute widows by establishing a welfare board and creating a separate fund for these women. The proposed Protection, Welfare and Maintenance of Widows Bill, 2013 is a slight improvement on a similar document tabled in the Lok Sabha by Professor Mahadeorao Shiwankar in 2007 as Private Member's Bill that lapsed due to the dissolution of the House. The National Widows Welfare Board is proposed to be chaired by the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment with MPs, widows, civil society representatives and State officials as its members. Central and State governments would contribute to the Fund and all donations would be credited to it for use for the welfare of widows. The draft Bill proposes a subsistence allowance of Rs. 2,000 per month for each woman - to be revised as per price index - in addition to free residential accommodation, education, vocational training, employment and medical facilities. Among other provisions, it says that a widow shall not be evicted or thrown out of the house of her in-laws or parents, and would be entitled to property as per inheritance laws, in addition to maintenance allowance from the heir or in-laws who do not keep her in the family. Sulabh International will also shortly start a helpline for widows in Vrindavan and Varanasi where widows in distress or shelter providers could seek help from. According to the draft Bill, nearly three per cent of the total female population in the country comprises widows; with more than half of them being old, infirm, disabled and having no soyurce of income. A widow is often driven out by her inlaws' house or even her parental house. At some places, these women are termed as witches and tortured by their own family members. Annual health Survey Report released
The objective of the AHS is to yield a comprehensive, representative and reliable dataset on core vital indicators including composite ones like Infant Mortality Rate, Maternal Mortality Ratio and Total Fertility Rate along with their co-variates (process and outcome indicators) at the district level and map the changes therein on an annual basis. These benchmarks would help in better and holistic understanding and timely monitoring of various determinants on well-being and health of population particularly Reproductive and Child Health. Annual Health Survey (AHS) has been implemented by the Office of Registrar General, India for a three year period spread over 2010-11 to 2012-13. Highlights of the report: a) Uttarakhand continues to perform well and Uttar Pradesh poorly on key health indicators. b) Shravasti district of Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) - the number of deaths of children less than one year of age per 1000 live births - of 100, three districts of Almora, Pithoragarh and Rudraprayag in Uttarakhand recorded a comparatively low IMR of 20. c) Uttarakhand also recorded the lowest Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) (162) and Assam the highest of 347 among these States.
The Health Ministry has released the Annual Health Survey (AHS) conducted in 284 districts of eight Empowered Action Group States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Rajasthan, besides Assam, representing half the country's population.
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f)
d) Garhwal HQ (155) in Uttarakhand had the lowest MMR and Faizabad Mandal (437) in Uttar Pradesh the highest MMR which is defined as the ratio of the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. e) Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand recorded the lowest of 766 while Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest of 1,050.Among the States, Chhattisgarh recorded the highest SRB of 951 and Uttarakhand the lowest of 866. Assam recorded the highest rise in SRB. Rudraprayag and Pithoragarh (12) in Uttarakhand had the lowest Neo-Natal Mortality Rate (NNMR) and Balangir district of Odisha had the highest of 72.
g) Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand recorded the lowest Under Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) at 23 while Kandhamal district of Odisha had the highest of 142. h) Bageshwar district in Uttarakhand had the lowest Crude Birth Rate (CBR) of 14.5 and Shravasti in Uttar Pradesh the highest of 40.2, while it declined in 261 (91.9 per cent) districts and remained same in 10 (3.5 per cent) districts as compared to the baseline.
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i)
IMR declined in 230 (81 per cent) districts and remained same in 30 (10.6 per cent) districts. A total of 248 (87.3 per cent) districts have an IMR of 45 or more. For the Neo-Natal Mortality Rate (NNMR), it declined in 186 (65.5 per cent) districts and remained same in 55 (19.4 per cent) districts, while the U5MR declined in 249 (87.7 per cent) districts and remained same in 10 (3.5 per cent).
j)
k) In the MMR, as compared to baseline, Rajasthan recorded the highest fall (67) while Jharkhand and Bihar recorded the lowest fall (11). Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) revised
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Human Resource Development for the revision of norms related to Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA). This will facilitate the States / UTs to execute the civil works for construction of new schools as well as expanding capacity in existing schools. About RMSA:
This scheme was launched in March, 2009 with the objective to enhance access to secondary education and to improve its quality. It is envisaged to achieve an enrolment rate of 75% from 52.26% in 2005-06 at secondary stage within 5 years of implementation of the scheme by providing a secondary school within a reasonable distance of any habitation. The other objectives include improving quality of education imparted at secondary level through making all secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, providing universal access to secondary level education by 2017, i.e., by the end of 12th Five Year Plan and achieving universal retention by 2020. The revised norms are as follows: a) State/UT governments will be permitted to use State Schedule of Rates (SSoR) or Central Public Works Department (CPWD) Rate, (whichever is lower) for construction, b) enhancing the funds of Management, Monitoring Evaluation and Research (MMER) from 2.2 percent to 4 percent of the total outlay, c) subsuming other centrally sponsored schemes of secondary education- Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at school, girls hostel, Inclusive Education for Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) and Vocational
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Education (VE) in their existing form under the umbrella of RMSA. The pattern of assistance as well as coverage of schools as per their existing norms of all subsumed schemes will continue for the 12th Five Year Plan, d) extending all the benefits of RMSA to aided secondary schools excluding infrastructure support / core areas, this will help in providing support to interventions that will improve the quality of education in these schools. e) continuation of existing fund sharing pattern of 75:25 for the last four years of the 12th Plan to non - North Eastern Region (NER) states and 90:10 for NER States (including Sikkim), and f) authorizing the RMSA Project Approval Board (PAD) of Ministry of Human Resource Development to consider for approval of the integrated plan of the umbrella scheme of RMSA, including the subsumed four centrally sponsored schemes of secondary education and release of funds to the RMSA state implementation society directly. g) Out of enhanced MMER of 4 percent, fund up to 3.5 percent of the annual budget allocated for RMSA will be earmarked to the states/UTs for activities undertaken under MMER. In those states and UTs where the proposed percentages of MMER do not meet the requirement, MMER can be enhanced upto 5 percent of the budget allocation of the concerned states/UTs. Amendments in the National Food Security Bill Introduced in the Lok Sabha
Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri K.V.Thomas has introduced amendments in the National Food Security Bill in the Lok Sabha for consideration. The National Food Security Bill was introduced to addresses the issue of food security in a comprehensive manner, by adopting a life cycle approach. Based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee and views of various stakeholders thereon, the Government decided to move certain amendments to the Bill. These amendments seek to make the framework of the proposed legislation simpler, provide more flexibility to States/UTs in its implementation and to address some of the concerns raised by them. The key amendments to the Bill are as under: a) Coverage and entitlement under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS): Instead of coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population under
c)
State-wise coverage and identification of beneficiaries: Corresponding to coverage of 75%/50% of the rural/urban population at the all India level, State-wise coverage will be determined by the Planning Commission. The work of identification of eligible households is proposed to be left to the States/UTs, which may frame their own criteria or use the Social Economic and Caste Census (SECC) data.
d) Subsidized Prices under TDPS and their revision: Uniform prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains will be applicable to all eligible beneficiaries. It is proposed to fix these prices for the first three years of implementation of the Act, and thereafter link the same suitably to MSP. e) Cost of intra-State transportation & handling of foodgrains and FPS Dealers' margin: In order to address the concerns of States/UTs regarding additional financial burden, it is proposed that Central Government may provide assistance to States towards cost of intra-State transportation, handling of foodgrains and FPS Dealers' margin, for which norms will be devised. f) Grievance Redressal: It is proposed to allow States/UTs to use the existing machinery of District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO), State Food Commission, if they so desire, to save expenditure on establishment of new set up.
At the coverage and entitlement now proposed, total estimated annual foodgrains requirement is 612.3 lakh tonnes and the corresponding estimated food subsidy for implementation of NFSB, at 201314 costs, is about Rs. 1,24747 crore. When compared to the estimated food subsidy requirement under existing TDPS and Other Welfare Schemes, the
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two categories of priority and general households with different entitlements and issue prices provided in the original Bill, there would be only one category of beneficiaries with uniform entitlement of 5 kg per person per month. b) Protection of entitlements under Targeted Public Distribution System: The entitlement of Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute poorest of the poor will, however, be protected at 35 kg per household per month. It is also proposed to accept the recommendation of the Committee to protect the existing allocation of foodgrains to the States/ UTs, subject to it being restricted to average annualofftake during last three years (2009-10 to 2011-12).
additional food subsidy implication is about Rs.23,800 crore per annum. Requirement for assistance to States for meeting the expenditure on Transportation, Handling and FPS Dealers' margin, etc., would be additional. Immunization communication campaign launched during Special Immunization Week
To create awareness on the urgency to vaccinate every eligible child and intensify efforts to improve immunization coverage, the Government of India has launched Special Immunization Weeks. Four weeks, with one week each in the months of April, June, July and August will be used to hold special immunization sessions in high-risk areas across the country. Each year, full immunization prevents approximately 4 lakh under-five deaths from vaccine preventable diseases in India. But close to 75 lakh children every year miss the benefits of childhood vaccinations. A majority of those missing the opportunity are from among underserved and marginalized populations. Being unvaccinated keeps them at highest risk of catching life-threatening childhood diseases. Globally, every fifth child is unimmunized. Year 2012-13 was declared as "Year of Intensification of Routine Immunization." Intensification efforts saw the expansion of Pentavalent vaccine to six more states in India after successful introduction in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Pentavalent protects children from Hib pneumonia and Hib meningitis in addition to protection from diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and Hepatitis B. In June 2012, the Governments of Ethiopia, India and the United States with UNICEF, USAID and other partners launched a global roadmap to end preventable deaths of children under the age of five. Since then, under the banner of Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, more than 170 countries have signed up and renewed their commitment to child survival. In February 2013, Government of India launched a Call to Action on Child Survival and Development in Tamil Nadu, renewing the promise towards further reducing Under 5 mortality in India. The Summit also arrived at a set of agreed actions that will sustain the momentum and promote accountability in India's journey towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals related to maternal and child mortality. New health policy released by Kerala
A draft health policy, which seeks to take healthcare in the State out of the purview of just the
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Health Department and make it literally every department's responsibility and in turn, position health as a product of the State's development agenda incorporating a host of allied subjects, was released. The draft is the first step towards a comprehensive health policy, one which the State never had and, in fact, one which few other States in the country have. The objective of the draft policy was to position good health as the product of a development agenda that incorporated social determinants of health such as water supply, nutrition, sanitation, prevention of ecological degradation, respect for citizens' rights, and gender sensitivity. The policy would strive to ensure availability of the required financial, technical, and human resources to meet the health needs of the State; to effectively organise provision of healthcare from primary to tertiary levels through referral networks managed by primary care providers to maximise efficiency and reduce costs; and to regulate practise in the sector to ensure quality and patient protection. The policy, in fact, aims at crucial changes from the grassroots level, looking at 'networked care managed by primary care groups.' This would also have a revamp of the primary care system, with specialised training to be provided through a soonto-be launched postgraduate course to create a cadre of qualified doctors for primary care alone.
promotion of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy systems; and proposals for continued engagement with the private sector for purchasing services. Steps to Increase Level of Processing of Perishable Food Items from 6% to 20%
The other major proposals in the draft policy include a unified Kerala Public Health Act, combining the existing Travancore-Cochin Public Health Act and the Madras Public Health Act and current needs; the setting up of a Public Health Cadre and Public Health Protection Agency; strategies to reduce maternal and infant mortality through a framework developed with support of the Kerala Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence, United Kingdom; putting in place a referral protocol along with strengthening of cancer care and prevention systems; systems for better trauma care management with dedicated trauma care teams at district and taluk levels apart from extension of the 108 Ambulance services across the State; a Medical Establishment Bill 2013 covering registration and regulation of all healthcare institutions, including private hospitals, laboratories and diagnostic centres; a data management system that will compile all household level data and also lead to an Electronic Health Record; pedagogic techniques to assure quality in the medical education sector; research and documentation and quality assurance systems for
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The level of processing in 2005 was 6%. It is estimated to have gone over 10%. The level of processing of fruit and vegetables in the country is estimated at 2.20%. The low level of fruit and vegetable processing is due to non availability of processable varieties of raw material of right quantity and quality, seasonable nature of industry, lack of adequate post harvest infrastructure such as lack of cold chain facilities, transportation, proper storage facilities etc. In order to increase level of processing and to promote food processing industries to exploit both the domestic and international market potential for processed food products, Vision 2015 Document has been finalized by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MFPI), which envisages trebling the size of the processed food sector by increasing the level of processing of perishables from 6% to 20%, value addition from 20% to 35% and share in global food trade from 1.5% to 3% by 2015. An integrated strategy for promotion of agribusiness-Vision, Strategy and Action Plan for the Food Processing Sector has also been approved by the Government. For the growth of processed food products and use of modern technologies available in foreign countries, the extant policy permits Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under the automatic route for food processing sector except for items reserved for the Micro and Small Scale sector. FDI brings in, apart from capital, state-of-art technology and best managerial practices, thereby providing better access to the domestic industry to foreign technology and integration into the global market. Foreign Direct Investment will bring new products, improved quality and new technology in the Food Processing Sector resulting in higher employment, reduction in wastage of agri products, safe and hygienic foods as well as export potential of processed food. Ministry of Food Processing Industries has entered into agreements with some developed countries viz. Germany & France for bilateral cooperation in the field of food processing which generally include processed food segments including fruits & vegetables. Besides, the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation has entered into number of umbrella agreements with some developed countries like USA, France, Canada, Netherlands,
Argentina, Austria, Brazil for bilateral co-operation in the areas of agriculture and allied sectors which generally include agro and food processing. Apart from this, MoUs have been entered into by two institutions under the Ministry, namely National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM) & Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT) with universities in such industrial countries. These MoUs relate to collaboration in teaching and research in the food processing sector. Amendments in Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
A timeframe has been set for getting sanction of competent authority to prosecute serving and retired bureaucrats and reasons will have to be specified giving the nod or refusing it. For the first time, a provision for liability of a commercial entity for failing to prevent bribery of a public servant has been incorporated.
The amended bill has also laid down a clear definition of different forms of bribery in line with international practices.
In what is being seen as a reprieve for retired bureaucrats, they would not have to face prosecution for acts of omission and commission while in office without the prior sanction of competent authority. At present, the government's protection in the form of prosecution sanction does not extend to retired bureaucrats.
A need was felt to bring the amendment to extend this protection to retired officials so that it would be mandatory for the prosecuting agency to get prior sanction before prosecuting them for something which they might have done with good intention while in office. India's fight with malnutrition
According to Food Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012" report, there is a reduction of 34.9 percent in prevalence of undernourishment from 1990-1992 to 2010-2012 (down from 26.9 percent in 1990-1992 and 17.5 percent in 2010-2012). In 2012, the Food
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Sweeping changes to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 have been approved by the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Under the new amendments property illegally acquired by a corrupt public servant will be confiscated and a time line has been set for securing sanction to prosecute serving and retired public servants under a bill.
Agriculture Organisation's (FAO) report indicates that 17.5 percent of India's population was estimated to be undernourished in 2010-2012 (down from 19.0 percent in 2007-2009 and 20.9 percent in 2004-2006). The problem of malnutrition is complex, multidimensional and inter-generational in nature and cannot be improved by a single sector alone. The approach to deal with the nutrition challenges has been two pronged: First is the multi-sectoral approach for accelerated action on the determinants of malnutrition in targeting nutrition in schemes/ programmes of all the sectors. The second approach is the direct and specific interventions targeted towards the vulnerable groups such as children below 6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers. The Government is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/ Departments through State Governments/UT Administrations. The schemes/programmes include the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Mid-Day Meal Scheme(MDM), Rajiv Gandhi Schemes for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) namely SABLA, Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna (IGMSY) as direct targeted interventions. Besides, indirect Multi-sectoral interventions include Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), National Horticulture Mission, National Food Security Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, National Rural Drinking Water Programme etc. Several of the schemes namely, ICDS, NRHM, MDM, SGSY have been expanded post 2005-06. All these schemes have potential to address one or other aspect of Nutrition. Nutrition has been receiving attention at the highest levels. Recent decisions of Government inter alia, include (i) strengthening and restructuring of the ICDS with special focus on pregnant and lactating mothers and children under three. (ii) a multi-sectoral programme to address the maternal and child malnutrition in selected 200 high-burden districts. (iii) A nationwide information, education and communication campaign (iv) bringing in strong nutrition focus in Ministries dealing with Health, Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, School Education, Agriculture and Food & Public Distribution. (v) programmes such as the ICDS and Midday meal shall use iron fortified iodized salt (Double fortified salt). The main schemes/programmes of Ministry of Women and Child Development which have a bearing on the nutritional status includes the
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Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme which provides a package of six services namely supplementary nutrition, pre-school nonformal education, nutrition & health education, immunization, health check-up and referral services. ICDS Scheme has since been universalized with effect from 2008-09. Recently Government has approved the strengthening and restructuring of ICDS with special focus on pregnant and lactating mothers and children under three. The restructured and strengthened ICDS has been rolled out in three phases with focus on the 200 high burden districts for malnutrition during 2012-13 and additional 200 districts in 2013-14 including districts from the
special category States and North Eastern Region( NER) and the remaining districts in 2014-15. Additionally, Government has launched an Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Campaign against malnutrition for generating awareness on key nutrition issues with effect from 28th December, 2012. The proposed National Food Security Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha will also contribute towards food security. Government has also announced a pilot programme on Nutri-Farms for introducing new crop varieties that are rich in micronutrients such as iron-rich bajra, protein-rich maize and zinc-rich wheat.
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INTERNATIONAL
Court bans Musharraf from polls for life Arab League nod for Israel-Palestine land swap Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf 's plans to stage a political comeback were virtually sealed after the Peshawar high court banned him from contesting polls for life while another court remanded him in judicial custody till three days after the May 11 parliamentary polls. The high court's ruling came on an appeal by the former president who had challenged the rejection of his nomination papers for the national assembly seat in the north-western hill-station of Chitral. The ruling stated that since Musharraf had abrogated the Constitution twice, he could not be allowed to contest elections for either the National Assembly or Senate. The military dictator returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile on March 24 to head his All Pakistan Muslim League in the May 11 general elections. He had filed nomination papers from four constituencies, but his candidature was rejected in each of them. His appeals against dismissal of papers from other seats - Islamabad, Karachi and Kasur in Punjab - were rejected earlier. Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani on behalf of the 22-nation Arab League (AL) stated that Arab countries have collectively agreed to accept an arrangement that would allow Israelis and Palestinians to go ahead with land swaps to resolve differences, rather than strictly sticking to the pre1967-war position. It is a part of the process by Arab nations and US to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace. Israel welcomed the support given by the Arab league delegation and the US secretary of state to the diplomatic process. Arab League statement appeared to be a softening of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative which called for a two-state solution based on a complete Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines and making east Jerusalem the Palestinian capital, in return for "normal relations in the context of a comprehensive peace with Israel". The 2002 initiative also called for the "achievement of a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem to be agreed upon in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 194." In the Arab world, that resolution is viewed as enshrining a Palestinian refugee "right of return" to Israel. The Palestinian leadership supported the land swap idea but the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine group condemned the proposal. The group accused the Arab foreign ministers of "begging" the US to resume the peace process between the PA and Israel. Another radical group, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also condemned the land swap idea and accused Qatar of seeking to liquidate the Palestinian issue. Muhammad Jadallah, a senior member of the DFLP, said that Qatar was seeking to take over the Arab League in order to serve US interests in the region. UN launches initiative to achieve 'zero hunger' in Asia and the Pacific
Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the garrison city of Rawalpindi sent him to a two-week judicial remand in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case. The court fixed the next date of hearing on May 14, three days after the polls. Bhutto was killed in a deadly bomb and gun attack in December 2007 after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi's Liaquat Bagh. The court had framed charges against Musharraf in the case in February 2011, and in August that year he was declared a proclaimed offender. The ex-army chief, already in judicial custody in the judges' detention case after imposing emergency in November 2007, was not produced in the court for security reasons.
The court gave permission to the Balochistan police to question Musharraf in the case relating to the killing of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Bugti was killed in a military offensive in the mountainous Dera Bugti region in southwest in August 2006 when Musharraf was president and army chief.
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According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one in every eight people in
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Over 270,000 pedestrians killed each year: WHO
The World Health Organisation report stated that more than 270,000 pedestrians are killed on the world's roads each year; 5,000 pedestrians are killed on the world's roads each week because their needs have been neglected for decades, often in favour of motorised transport The UN health agency underlined that pedestrian victims make up 22 per cent of the total 1.24 million people killed annually in road traffic accidents around the globe. It pointed to studies showing that males -whether children or adults -- make up a high proportion of pedestrian deaths and injuries. In developed countries, older pedestrians are more at risk, while in low-income and middleincome countries, children and young adults are often affected. The proportion of pedestrians killed in relation to other road users is highest in Africa, at 38 per cent, and lowest in Southeast Asia, where the figure is 12 per cent.
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Asia and the Pacific suffers from chronic hunger, and nearly two-thirds of the world's chronically hungry people live in the region. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015 aimed at halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, along with improving education, gender equality, child and maternal health and environmental stability. The MDGs have been the most successful global anti-poverty drive in history. But there are still many gaps. Thus the United Nations has launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in Asia and the Pacific, calling on governments, farmers, scientists, business, civil society and consumers to work together to end hunger in the region where the majority of the world's undernourished people live. First proposed at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil last June, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Zero Hunger Challenge aims for a future where every individual has adequate nutrition. Its five objectives are to make sure that everyone in the world has access to enough nutritious food all year long; to end childhood stunting; to build sustainable food systems; to double the productivity and income of smallholder farmers, especially women; and to prevent food from being lost or wasted.
Governments should put in place measures to better protect all of pedestrian. This will not only save lives, but create the conditions needed to make walking safe. When roads are safe, people will walk more, and this in turn will improve health and protect the environment. The WHO recommends a mix of enforcement, engineering and education measures to improve pedestrian safety. They include boosting laws against speeding, drinking and driving, and mobile phone use at the wheel, as well as providing pavements, underpasses and decent road lighting, better public transport and improved design with soft vehicle fronts that reduce impact damage. Iraq revokes al-Jazeera's licence
Iraqi authorities had revoked the operating licences of pan-Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera and nine other satellite TV channels, alleging that they are promoting a sectarian agenda as the country grapples with a wave of violence. Al-Jazeera is based in the small, energy-rich Gulf nation of Qatar. The channel has aggressively covered the "Arab Spring" uprisings across the region, and has broadcast extensively on the civil war in neighbouring Syria. Qatar itself is a harsh critic of the Syrian regime and a leading backer of the rebels, and is accused by many supporters of Iraq's Shia-led government of backing protests in Iraq too. Iraq and other governments across West Asia have temporarily shut down al-Jazeera's offices in the past because they were disgruntled by its coverage. The other nine channels whose licences were suspended by Iraq's Communications and Media Commission include al-Sharqiya and al-Sharqiya News, which frequently criticise the government, and seven smaller local channels. Bee-harming pesticides banned in EU
Europe will enforce the world's first continentwide ban on widely used insecticides linked to serious harm in bees, if passed by European Commission (EC). The landmark suspension is a victory for millions of environment campaigners concerned about dramatic declines in bees, who were backed by experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). But it is a serious defeat for the chemical companies, who make billions a year from the products.
Neonicotinoids have been widely used for more than decade and are used as seed treatments rather than sprays, meaning the insecticide pervades the growing plant, as well as its nectar and pollen. They are less harmful than some of the sprays they replaced, but scientific studies have increasingly linked them to poor bee health. Google recognises 'Palestine'
The domain name www.google.ps, Google's search engine for the territories, now brings up a homepage with "Palestine" written underneath the Google logo. The U.N. General Assembly in November upgraded Palestine to the status of non-member observer state by a vote of 138 votes in favour, nine against and 41 abstentions. Palestinian authorities have since begun to use the "State of Palestine" in diplomatic correspondence and issued official stamps for the purpose.
Google has recognised the Palestinians' upgraded U.N. status, placing the name "Palestine" on its search engine instead of "Palestinian Territories".
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ECONOMY
Committee set up to boost exports from MSMEs Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector contributes about 40 per cent in the country's total exports and over 8 per cent to India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The exports from MSME is decreasing, there is an urgent need to look at the MSME sector as exports are not doing well due to which the country's trade deficit has touched an alltime high of USD 190.1 billion in 2012-13. around 45 per cent of the manufacturing output and provides employment to about 60 million persons through 26 million enterprises. RBI pegs 5.7 percent growth for current fiscal
Thus worried over widening trade gap, the government has set up a six-member interministerial committee under the chairmanship of Finance Secretary R S Gujral, that will suggest measures to boost MSME exports. The committee will suggest short and long term measures to enhance exports from MSME sector. It will submit its recommendations by mid-May.
Although the government is taking every step including recent announcement of incentives and revamping special economic zone (SEZ) policy in order to increase shipments from the country, "more needs to be done". India's exports declined by about 2 per cent to $300.5 billion in 2012-13, way below the $360 billion targeted at the beginning of the year, due to the global demand slowdown.
The widening trade gap is adding woes on the the Current Account Deficit (CAD) front, which has emerged as a tough policy challenge for the government. CAD crossed 6.7 per cent of the GDP in the third quarter of last fiscal.
The other members of the committee include Commerce Secretary S R Rao, Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose, MSME Secretary Madhav Lal, Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru and Chief Economic Adviser Raghuram Rajan. According to experts, the government should take steps like providing credit to the sector at affordable rates. Government should also increase the marketing funds for MSMEs. It will help them in marketing and branding of their products in the international market. As per estimates, the share of MSME exports has fallen from 40 per cent to 36 per cent to the country's total exports. The sector accounts for
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Projecting a modest pick-up in economic activity in the coming months, Reserve Bank pegged the GDP growth rate for the current fiscal at 5.7 pc, significantly lower than the Finance Ministry's forecast of 6.1 to 6.7 pc and Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council's growth projection of 6.4 percent for 2013-14. It is also lower than the World Bank's growth projection, which predicted Indian economy to grow by 6.1 percent in 2013-14 on account of robust domestic demand, strong savings and investment rate. India's economy grew by 5 percent in the last fiscal, lowest in a decade, on account of poor performance of manufacturing, agriculture and services sector. The Reserve Bank has also cut the key interest rate by just 0.25 percent to 7.25 percent and kept the liquidity enhancing cash reserve requirement unchanged, disappointing the industry and stock market. Further, the central bank stated that inflation will hover broadly around the 5.5 percent mark in the current fiscal and will deploy "all instruments at command" to bring it down to 5 percent by March next year. Headline inflation, as measured by the wholesale price index (WPI), moderated to an average of 7.3 percent last fiscal year. The overall inflation in March fell to 5.96 percent, lowest in the last three years, but the consumer price index remained elevated at 10.39 percent. The central bank further stated that it is critical to consolidate and build on the recent gains in containing inflation and it will endeavour to condition the evolution of inflation to a level of 5 percent by March 2014. The decision to leave the CRR unchanged seems to have been driven by an improvement in the liquidity deficit, as the banks are now drawing around Rs 84,000 crore from the overnight window compared to Rs 1.8 lakh crore late last fiscal.
Describing the widening current account deficit and its financing as the biggest threat to monetary policy, RBI warned that growth would slip if governance is not improved and supply constraints are not unlocked. The central bank expects non-food credit growth to pick up marginally to 15 percent in 2013-14 from 14 percent achieved in the previous fiscal and deposit mobilisation to be flat at 14 percent. Following are the highlights of the RBI's annual monetary policy 2013-14: a) Key short-term lending rate (repo) cut by 0.25 pc to 7.25 pc. b) Cash reserve ratio kept unchanged at 4 per cent. c) RBI says assessment of growth-inflation dynamics limits scope for further easing of policy rate. d) FY14 GDP growth pegged at 5.7 per cent, down from govt's estimates.
travellers, while at the same time offer choice to service seekers at a price. This will allow the passengers to benefit from lower base fares and to customise the product to better suit their requirements and budget while allowing airlines to develop more sustainable operations in an environment of wafer thin margins. The list of services that have been unbundled and can be charged for separately include preferential seating, meals and drinks except water, usage of airlines' lounges, carrying check-in baggage, sports equipment carriage, musical instrument carriage and luggage specially declared valuable. DGCA is empowered to monitor the levy of charges for such services/flight products under Rule 135 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and such services come under tariff as per the definition provided under Section-5 of the Aircraft Act. However, the levy of such charges will be based on the following principles:a. Safety, schedule and reliability not to be compromised.
e) Inflation to remain range-bound around 5.5 pc in FY14. f) CAD is the biggest risk to the economy. g) RBI proposes doubling of limits on priority sector lending to MSMEs to Rs 5 cr.
h) Banks asked to stop differential treatment to home-branch and non-home branch customers.
i) RBI says probe into Cobrapost's sting operation calls for a better regulatory compliance by banks. j) Banks not carrying out customer due diligence as required while marketing and distributing third-party products.
k) RBI proposes restricting gold imports only to meet genuine needs of exporters of gold jewellery. l) Banks asked to set up mechanism to monitor and review implementation of Direct Benefit Transfer. m) Mid-quarter review of policy on 17th June.
Civil Aviation Ministry Permits Scheduled Airlines to Charge Fees for Certain Unbundles Services Separately
The Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Ajit Singh, has decided to permit scheduled airlines to unbundle certain services and to charge fees for these services separately. This is based on the recommendations of the Nathan Economic Consultants in their report on "Economic Regulations to Airlines Ticket Pricing in India". The objective of the decision is to facilitate airlines to offer low base fare for price sensitive
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c. e. f.
b. Services permitted for unbundling shall be distinct with a clear description and without any ambiguity. Services to be provided on opt-in basis and not on opt-out basis i.e. customers should be given opportunity to pick and choose which amenities they want to receive and pay for.
d. Charges for unbundled services shall be a fixed amount and announced well in advance by the airlines which shall not vary with the base fare for a particular flight. The key guiding principle shall be adequate disclosure and transparency on the part of airlines on the websites, online travel portals and travel agents so that the consumers maximize the informed choice. Airline to file details of services to be unbundled and fee charges for the same to DGCA in terms of product description, charges/fee, manner of disclosure to public, terms and conditions etc.
g. DGCA may not fix fee for unbundled services but shall have the right to intervene and stop charging if regulatory principles are violated by the airlines. The list of services will be reviewed by the ministry after six months. Globally, airlines are permitted to unbundle services and charge each unbundled service. The practice is widely followed by low-cost airlines such as AirAsia, Ryanair and EasyJet.
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Fixation of Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for the year 2013-14
The Cabinet accorded approval to the proposals of the Department of Fertilizers for fixation of NBS rates for the year 2013-14. These rates will be applicable from 1st April 2013. The Department of Fertilizers is implementing Nutrient Based Subsidy Policy for the P&K fertilizers w.e.f. 1.4.2010. As per this Policy, the Government of India announce NBS rates for various nutrients namely Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P), Potash (K) and Sulphur (S) for P&K fertilizers covered under the policy every year. Accordingly, the Cabinet has approved per Kg NBS rates of fertilizer nutrients 'N', 'P', 'K' & 'S` for the financial year 2013-14 at Rs.20.875, Rs.18.679, Rs. 18.333 and Rs.1.677, respectively. Based on these rates, the subsidy on Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Muriate of Potash (MOP) would be Rs. 12350 PMT and Rs. 11300 PMT, respectively. The per Metric Tonne subsidy on other P&K fertilizers covered under the Nutrient Based Subsidy Policy shall also be as per the nutrient content in that grade. Under the NBS policy applicable to fertilizers other than Urea, while the government decides a fixed subsidy on each grade of fertilizers covered by the policy, the importers and manufacturers decide the domestic prices of these fertilizers. They are allowed to fix the MRP at reasonable level. As the domestic demand for P&K fertilizers is largely met through import of finished fertilizers and the raw materials, the domestic price should normally move in tandem with movement of prices in the international market. However, in view of the recent trend of falling international prices having no corresponding decrease in domestic prices, the Cabinet has decided that it shall henceforth be mandatory for all fertilizer companies to submit certified cost data while claiming subsidy. In case MRP is not found to be reasonable, subsidy may be restricted or denied. In proven case of abuse of subsidy mechanism, the Government may exclude any grade/grades for fertilizers of a particular company or the fertilizer company itself from the NBS Scheme. The Cabinet has also decided that the reasonability of MRP of P&K fertilizers fixed by the companies in the year 2012-13 shall also be looked into by the Government for making recovery of subsidy, wherever necessary. The implementation of new rates will result in reduction of subsidy by about 15%. The price of
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DAP and MOP is expected to be reduced by a minimum of Rs.1500 and Rs.1000 per MT, respectively from the current level which will provide relief to the farmers. Proposal for extension of completion date of NATRiP project
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the extension of the date of completion of the project by two years beyond 31st December, 2012 to 31st December, 2014. The National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP) was approved by the CCEA on 25th July, 2005 with a total investment of Rs.1718 crore, for upgradation of three existing centres viz. Vehicle Research and Development Establishment viz. VRDE at Ahmednagar, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) at Pune and International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT) at Manesar and for setting up of four Greenfield centres at Chennai, Indore, Silchar and Rae Bareily for automotive testing, homologation and R&D. The project aims at putting in place automative testing infrastructure that will meet safety and emission regulation requirements till 2015 and also deepen India's automotive R&D capabilities. NATRiP faced hurdles in the initial stages on account of delays in acquisition of land at various sites, delays in clearances, shifting of utilities, contractual complications etc. These factors have already led to escalation of the project cost and extension of the scheduled completion date. The CCEA, on 31st July, 2011 had approved the revised cost of 2,288 crore and 21st December, 2012 as the completion date of the project. The completion date of 31st December, 2012 was arrived at on the assumption that adequate funding and availability of required land will be ensured as envisaged. However, despite best efforts, the project implementation continues to be hampered by a number of problems. Creation and launch of an Exchange Traded Fund comprising stocks of listed CPSEs
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today approved the setting up of a Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), which would comprise CPSE stocks (from amongst the listed CPSE stocks). Each stock would have a fixed weightage in the basket.
The composition of the basket, the launch of the New Fund Offer (NFO), the discount to be provided and other issues relating to contribution and pricing of the ETF would be decided by the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM). This will help in minimizing market disruptions seen in public offerings of listed CPSEs; increase ability of the Government to monetize partial stakes in listed CPSEs, some of which have low liquidity and free float; broad base retails participation of shares of CPSEs, and moreover, help to deepen the market for equity-based products; beneficial to the Government from a pricing perspective as part of the discounts could be back-ended; in the perspective of success of ETFs globally, a CPSE ETF will boost the ETF product in the country, and will help fulfill the domestic investors' appetite for an equity ETF products as the domestic Indian investor is vastly under-served vis-a-vis the foreign investor community. CPSE ETF is made up of a basket of shares of different CPSEs, that tracks an index fund, but trades like a stock on the exchange. Reliance Jio, five others join to set up undersea cable system
According to analysts, this new cable system could help end the monopoly of some existing players operating in this region and bring down infrastructure cost for the consortium members. Tata Communications' formerly VSNL submarine cable system almost passes through the same route. BSE, S&P Dow Jones Indices launch S&P BSE 500 Shariah index
BSE and S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced the launch of the S&P BSE 500 Shariah index, the first new index resulting from the strategic partnership formed between the two companies in February 2013. The S&P BSE 500 Shariah index was designed to represent all Shariah compliant stocks of the broad based S&P BSE 500 index. The S&P BSE 500 consists of 500 of the largest, most liquid Indian stocks trading at the BSE. The S&P BSE 500 represents nearly 93 percent of the total market capitalization on the BSE and covers all 20 major industries of the economy. The S&P BSE 500 Shariah index meets the need for an investable benchmark in India to gauge the performance of some of the most widely followed Shariah compliant stocks trading at the BSE. Shariah is Islamic canonical law, which observant Muslims adhere to in their daily lives. Shariah has certain strictures regarding finance and commercial activities permitted for Muslims. S&P Dow Jones Indices has contracted with Ratings Intelligence Partners (RI) to provide the Shariah screens and to filter the stocks. Ratings Intelligence Partners is a London/Kuwait-based consulting company specializing in solutions for the global Islamic investment market. The partnership brings together BSE's closely watched India index suite, which includes the SENSEX, with S&P Dow Jones Indices' 115 years of experience in publishing uncompromised global benchmarks. NSE certification programme
Telecom carriers Vodafone Group of the U.K., Telekom Malaysia from Malaysia, Omantel from Oman, Etisalat from the UAE, Reliance Jio Infocomm and Dialog Axiata from Sri Lanka have formed a consortium to set up an Bay 8,000-km-long Bay of Bengal Gateway (BBG) submarine cable system to link Malaysia and Singapore to the Middle East, with connections reaching out to India (Mumbai and Chennai) and Sri Lanka.
The construction of BBG is planned not only to provide connectivity between Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, but also to Europe, Africa and to Far East Asia through inter-connections with other existing and newly-built cable systems landing in India, the Middle East and Far East Asia. The construction and maintenance agreement (C&MA) and the supply contract for BBG were signed in Kuala Lumpur. The cable system is designed to provide upgradable and transmission facilities by having 100 Gbps capability. This cable system is expected to carry commercial traffic by the end of 2014. BBG will also serve as an extraordinary opportunity for business growth as it will help support current and future high capacity requirements from the surrounding areas of the region and next generation Internet applications.
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To provide school and college students employability skills relating to the world of stocks and shares, the Department of Education has inked a memorandum of understanding with the National Stock Exchange for two certification programmes. While students of Plus One classes will be offered the NSE Certified Financial Markets Professional Programme, college students will be able to take the NSE Certified Capital Market Professional
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Programme. These courses will be offered under the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) of the Department of Education. The NSE would initially train 300 master trainers who, in turn, would impart the skills to school and college students. The department aimed to provide such training to 75,000 students by 2017. The department has signed MoUs with NASSCOM, BSNL and the Indian Institute of Cost Accountants for offering similar courses under the ASAP. Foodgrains output exceeds target for 2013
The overall production of oilseeds is expected to be higher at 30.72 million tonnes than the earlier estimate as well as the output in the previous year. The output of groundnut, however, which was hit by kharif drought in Gujarat and Karnataka, is likely to be lower by 1.53 million tonnes. "India Aviation - 2014" released by Civil Aviation Minister
The Centre has revised its foodgrains production estimate upwards by 5.22 million tonnes for 2012-13 over earlier expectation on account of higher output of rice, wheat and coarse cereals. The total foodgrains output is now estimated at 255.36 million tonnes with wheat production pegged at 93.62 million tonnes and rice at 104.22 million tonnes. However, despite a better showing in the third advance estimates released officially, the total foodgrains production will be lower by 3.96 million tonnes than the previous year's (2011-12) record production of 259.24 million tonnes. Wheat output then was 94.98 million tonnes and rice was 105.31 million tonnes. Drought in parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan due to delayed and inadequate monsoon had hit production of coarse cereals and pulses during kharif season but the late rains redeemed the situation. However, some hail and untimely rain towards the final stages of the rabi season that followed, affected the wheat output in parts of Punjab and Haryana. As per the 3rd Advance Estimates, the total rice production (including kharif and rabi) for the 201213 crop year from July to June, has been revised upwards to 104.22 million tonnes from 101.8 million tonnes in the second advance estimates. The thrust on rice cultivation in the eastern region has helped enhance production. Output of coarse cereals is expected to be 39.52 million tonnes as against 38.47 million tonnes in the earlier estimate. In the previous year, however, the coarse cereals production was higher at 42.04 million tonnes. There has been a slight improvement in the output of pulses from 17.58 million tonnes in the second estimates to 18.00 million tonnes in the third advance estimates, which is higher than output of 17.09 million tonnes achieved in the previous year. But for gram and moong the output of all pulses has improved.
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Civil Aviation is a key infrastructure sector that facilitates the growth of business, seamless flow of investment, trade and tourism, with significant multiplier effects across the economy. The aviation sector is one of the prime movers for economic growth and a strategic element of employment generation, besides providing air transport for passengers and goods. Over a third of world trade by value is delivered by air and about half of international tourism is facilitated by air links. Aviation has created a global community based on the connectivity it provides. In a world of decreasing barriers to trade, the civil aviation industry remains a unique engine for innovation and technological progress, one that provides infrastructure that keeps the nation competitive. Rapidly expanding air transport network and opening up of the airport infrastructure to private sector participation have fuelled the growth of the air traffic in India. The Indian airport system is poised to handle 336 million domestic and 85 million international passengers by 2020, making India the third largest aviation market. In order to stimulate air connectivity, airlines are expected to add around 370 aircrafts, worth US$ 27.5 billion, to their fleet by the year 2017. Moreover, it is estimated that commercial fleet size is expected to reach 1000 from 400 today by 2020, and one thousand General aviation aircrafts by 2020 including fleet renewal. Estimated investment requirement for the General aviation aircrafts alone is of the order of US$ 4 Billion. Indian government has envisaged investment of US $12.1 billion in the airports sector during the 12th Plan period, of which US $ 9.3 billion is expected to come from the private sector for construction of new airports, expansion, modernization of existing airports and development of low cost airports to keep the tariff at its minimal at smaller airports, improvement in connecting infrastructure, development of world class Air Navigation Services infrastructure. At the same time, in order to develop world class ground handling, cargo, logistic facilities including high-output
distribution centers at major airports, huge investment is also anticipated. Indian Government has introduced several policies and regulatory reforms to encourage private participation and investments in the sector. There have also been several initiatives in the regulatory framework for propelling the aviation sector to new heights despite the challenges faced due to rising fuel costs, fierce competition and infrastructure bottlenecks. Recently, 49% FDI by the foreign carriers in domestic airlines has been allowed which are going to provide much-needed relief to the domestic aviation industry, reeling under the pressure of mounting losses and rising debt burden. Some carriers like Tata - Air Asia and Jet Airways - Etihad have already announced their collaboration which is expected to boost civil aviation both domestically and internationally. Further, Indian carriers have been allowed to import ATF directly.
Recently, the Aircraft Acquisition Committee has been abolished to liberalise the acquisition of aircraft by the scheduled, non-scheduled airlines, flying institutes and for private use, which will give impetus to the growth and expansion of airlines in India. Henceforth, no permission for acquisition of aircraft will be required from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and they will be free to acquire aircrafts as per their business plan and requirements. This decision will minimize delays in seeking approvals and avoid the cumbersome procedures which airlines were supposed to follow before acquiring an aircraft. The decision will help airlines to plan better for future induction of aircraft and also maintain timeliness of acquisition. The Government has also allowed Flexi Use of Airspace by civil and military users, which permits them to efficiently and effectively utilize the available airspace on sharing basis. It would result in optimum usage of airspace, enhancement of airspace capacity, minimizing delays, conservation of fuel, reduction in emissions and ultimate benefits to travelling public. It is expected that there will be a reduction of carbon emissions by about 7 million kg per annum by direct routing between 7 major city pairs only because of flexible usage of airspace.
In an endeavor to make the growth of the sector equitable and inclusive, Government has taken significant measures for providing affordable air connectivity to remote and interior areas of the country - the North Eastern Region and Tier-II & III cities of India. Government is in the process of formulation of a policy for the promotion of regional connectivity, incentivizing Indian airlines to operate on these routes, by code-sharing and seat-credit mechanism. The bigger airlines will be able to use such credits to meet their requirement of having to connect such remote areas without having to lose money on such operations. This is expected to generate greater financial viability for regional operators. An Essential Air Services Fund is also being proposed by the Government for providing subsidy for development of low-cost airports throughout the country. This is to encourage domestic airlines to fly on remote interior routes with tourism potential. To spur the growth of international air travel, the Government has taken substantial steps to liberalize and grant traffic rights to Indian carriers to fly to several new destinations across the globe. The new traffic rights have increased the overall traffic entitlements of the airlines by approximately 60% over the existing traffic rights. Another important move that has accelerated the modernization and development process is the privatization of five major airports under PPP mode and the policy of development of Greenfield airports which envisages synergy between the public and private sector. Moreover, to develop civil aviation in India and further facilitate the functioning of the sector, series of policy reform decisions are under consideration. These include getting ATF declared as notified product & bringing transparency in its pricing; rationalisation of bilateral air service agreements with different countries, traffic entitlements on international routes to Indian carriers, creation of a separate Air Navigation Services Corporation from AAI to make it more effective, efficient & professional body, creation of a Civil Aviation Authority in place of DGCA and creation of a separate Civil Aviation Security Force which is professionally trained for the work of civil aviation.
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INDIA AND THE WORLD

India and Germany step up cooperation in health sector During the meet Azad also mentioned about the recent changes made in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and assured the German delegation about the transparency while dealing with the cases of drug licenses. Both sides agreed that there is a need to further discuss various pending issues on medical technologies and drug licensing. The German Minister offered cooperation in the field of medical technologies, training of medical professionals and in the pharma sector, besides health card and insurance. India pharma industry is rapidly growing sector and in volume of exports, it stands at number three in the world. India produces affordable drugs at the highest quality and export medicines to more than 200 countries and vaccines to about 150 nations across the globe. Chinese troops erect another tent at DBO
Following the Supreme Court's judgement in the Novartis patent, Germany expressed hope that pharma firms would have clear rules to rely on for business in India - as innovation needs to be "acknowledged and innovation does need a fair price. Germany also acknowledged the stronger cooperation between Indian and Germany in the health sector, especially in training and immigration of medical and nursing professionals.
Further India is planning to introduce the German Health Smart Card model. Thus during the meet the Indian minister detailed about 'Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) and the massive programme of skilling 500 million people by 2022. He said RSBY has already reached out to more than 34.4 Million families covering about 110 Million persons. More than 5.2 Million workers have visited the hospitals and availed the hospitalization facilities under the scheme. He also placed on record the appreciation of the Government of India to Government of Germany for the technical support given under the project Indo German Social Security Programme through GIZ India in making the project a success. The German side inquired about the framework of RSBY and its impact on the lives of workers. They were also informed of the new initiatives taken to augment the base and applicability of of RSBY smart card. They also showed keen interest to foster exchange of programmes between the two countries in this regard.
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A 16 Member Delegation led by Hon'ble Minister of Health, Government of Germany, Mr. Daniel Bahr, called on Union Health & Family Welfare Minister, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi. The German delegation includes three Members of the Parliament and senior officers of the Government of Germany and leaders of private pharmaceutical sector. Indian Delegation included Secretary (Health & Family Welfare), DGHS, AS&DG (CGHS) and Drug Controller General of India.
Even as tensions between India and China continue in eastern Ladakh, the two sides held a third flag meeting to discuss the incursion issue. Chinese troops have erected another tent in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in Ladakh raising the number of such structures in the area of incursion to five, as the standoff between India and China entered the third week. Local commanders of the two sides, usually of the rank of brigadier, met for the third flag meeting to discuss the situation prevailing in the Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO). China is showing no signs of withdrawing its troops from the Indian Territory; it has laid down condition that some bunkers constructed by India at a key vantage point be dismantled. The vantage point is at a junction between two mountains in Ladakh area from where the Indian troops could remain unseen and oversee the activities of the Chinese troops in that area. The first two flag meetings held on April 18 and 23 failed to yield any result that could have helped in ending the stand-off. According to India's perception of the LAC, Chinese troops' incursion is 19 km deep inside Indian territory in eastern Ladakh.
The rigidity shown by the Chinese over its demand is also one of the reasons behind more flag meetings between the two sides not being held for over a week. India to develop Iranian port
geopolitical resonance. The full development of the Chabahar port would lower landlocked Afghanistan's dependence on Pakistani ports for assured access to the sea. Besides, the trilateral arrangement could balance joint forays by China and Pakistan in the Indian Ocean. In February, Pakistan decided that China would operate its Gwadar port, just 76 km from Chabahar. For the first time, Gwadar would provide Chinese ships sustained anchorage in an area on the edge of the Arabian Sea, not far from the Strait of Hormuz, through which the bulk of the world's energy supplies pass.
India has announced its participation in the Chabahar port project - a move that would reinforce New Delhi's strategic ties with Tehran and Kabul ahead of next year's withdrawal from Afghanistan by the United States. Analysts point out that India's participation "in the upgradation" of Chabahar port has deep
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

More Rains and Floods Due to Global Warming not proved Further, the Government has undertaken the following steps in the area of climate Change: a) Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change has been constituted to coordinate national action for assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change. b) Under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), it is proposed to establish a permanent institutional mechanism that will play a development and coordination role. The NAPCC was released by the Prime Minister on 30th June 2008. c) Under the NAPCC, eight missions in specific areas of Solar Energy, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture and Strategic knowledge for Climate Change have been identified as a part of multipronged, long term and integrated strategies for achieving key developmental goals in the context of climate change by appropriately dealing with possible adverse impacts. Monsoon rainfall varies on different spatial and temporal scales. Extreme rainfall events that occur at some isolated places (viz. heavy rainfall over Mumbai or in Rajasthan) are highly localized and are part of the natural variability of the Indian monsoon system itself. Although, some recent studies hint at an increasing frequency and intensity of extremes in rainfall during the past 4050 years, their attribution to global warming is yet to be established. Moreover, the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCCAR4, 2007) and our country`s own assessment using regional climate models indicate that the extremes rainfall events are likely to be more frequent in the later part of the 21st century in the world including India. As regards other extreme weather phenomena, there are many other reasons for their occurrence, which cannot always be related to climate change.
Although, the monsoon rainfall at all India level does not show any trend but on regional scale areas of increasing trend is discerned. It is not clear if this increasing trend in the heavy rainfall events is attributable to global warming. Summary of the observed long term changes so far include: (i) Mean annual surface air temperatures show a significant warming of about 0.5 degree C/100 years during the last century. (ii) No significant long-term trends are reported in the frequencies of large-scale droughts or floods in the summer monsoon season. (iii) The total frequency of cyclonic storms that form over the Bay of Bengal has remained almost constant. (iv) Analysis of past tide gauge records for the Indian coastline regions gives an estimate of sea level rise of 1.30 mm/year. (v) There is evidence that glaciers in Himalayas are receding, however it is unclear as to how much of this recession is attributable to climate change, as glacial retreat is also due to natural longterm inter-glacial cycles.
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d) Constituted an Expert Committee on Climate Change impacts, which is headed by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. e) Launched a high-priority Programme to address the Science issues of Global and Regional Climate Change (GRCC) with a well-equipped state-of-the-art Center for Climate Change Research (CCCR) at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, a unit under Earth System Science Organization (ESSO) for interdisciplinary research and training in the area of science of climate change. Gene that halts cancer growth discovered
Scientists have identified a "master regulator" gene that, when repressed in cancer cells, puts a halt to tumours and stops them from enlarging and spreading to distant sites. Researchers hope the gene may be the key to developing a new treatment for tumours resistant to current drugs.
Gene that controls three different diseases identified
An international research team led by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), the CIBERER and the University of Wurzburg (Germany) used next-generation massive ultra sequencing techniques to sequence over 20,000 genes of a Fanconi anaemia patient's genome. By adopting this strategy they succeeded in identifying pathogenic mutations responsible for this disease in the ERCC4 gene, which had already been linked to two other rare diseases: xeroderma pigmentosum and a type of progeria. The latter are characterised by heightened sensitivity to sunlight, susceptibility to skin cancer and, in the case of progeria, premature ageing. Fanconi anaemia, on the other hand, is characterised by progressive anaemia, congenital malformations and a high risk of developing leukaemia and mouth tumours. The ERCC4 gene can therefore be responsible for three different diseases. The scientists have shown that this gene is involved in two DNA repair mechanisms by which cells maintain the stability of
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This master regulator is normally turned off in adult cells, but it is very active during embryonic development and in all highly aggressive tumours studied. In addition to their role in cancer, these genes are essential for giving stem cells their special powers. In the newly reported study, the Resar's team applied the same techniques to several strains of human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, including the so-called triple negative cells - those that lack hormone receptors or HER2 gene amplification. The Resar team blocked HMGA1 expression in aggressive breast cancer cells and followed their appearance and growth patterns. The aggressive breast cancer cells grow rapidly and normally appear spindle-shaped or thin and elongated. Remarkably, within a few days of blocking HMGA1 expression, they appeared rounder and much more like normal breast cells growing in culture. The team also found that the cells with suppressed HMGA1 grow very slowly and fail to migrate or invade new territory like their HMGA1expressing cousins. Researchers next implanted tumour cells into mice to see how the cells would behave. The tumours with HMGA1 grew and spread to other areas, such as the lungs, while those with blocked HMGA1 did not grow well in the breast tissue or spread to distant sites.
the genome, in such a way that the balance between these two repair systems will determine which of the three diseases the patient will contract. The findings as well as improving the diagnosis and genetic characterisation of rare diseases, will allow new therapeutic strategies to be applied. NASA rover to explore Greenland's ice
NASA is sending six feet-tall solar-powered rover prototype designed for ice exploration on highest part of Greenland's massive ice sheet. The space agency's newest scientific rover is set for testing from May 3 through June 8 in the highest part of Greenland. The robot known as GROVER, which stands for both Greenland Rover and Goddard Remotely Operated Vehicle for Exploration and Research, will roam the frigid landscape collecting measurements to help scientists better understand changes in the massive ice sheet. This autonomous, solar-powered robot carries a ground-penetrating radar to study how snow accumulates, adding layer upon layer to the ice sheet over time. GROVER will be joined on the ice sheet in June by another robot, named Cool Robot, developed at Dartmouth College, Hanover. This rover can tow a variety of instrument packages to conduct glaciological and atmospheric sampling studies. The tank-like GROVER prototype stands six feet tall, including its solar panels. It weighs about 363kg and traverses the ice on two re-purposed snowmobile tracks. The robot is powered entirely by solar energy, so it can operate in pristine polar environments without adding to air pollution. The panels are mounted in an inverted V, allowing them to collect energy from the Sun and sunlight reflected off the ice sheet. A ground-penetrating radar powered by two rechargeable batteries rests on the back of the rover. The radar sends radio wave pulses into the ice sheet, and the waves bounce off buried features, informing researchers about the characteristics of the snow and ice layers. From a research station operated by the National Science Foundation called Summit Camp, a spot where the ice sheet is about 3.2 km thick, GROVER will crawl at an average speed of 2 kilometres per hour. Because the Sun never dips below the horizon during the Arctic summer, GROVER can work at any time during the day and should be able to work longer.
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Greenland's surface layer vaulted into the news in summer 2012 when higher than normal temperatures caused surface melting across about 97 percent of the ice sheet. Scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, expect GROVER to detect the layer of the ice sheet that formed in the aftermath of that extreme melt event. Research with polar rovers costs less than aircraft or satellites, the usual platforms. Nod for alternatives to endosulfan
The non-chemical alternatives were proposed in a significant departure from past practice. The evaluation of non-chemical alternatives, as accepted by the conference, consists of an ecosystem-based approach to pest management as well as technical interventions.
The conference approved as many as 100 chemical alternatives to endosulfan subject to certain reservations. The approved chemical alternatives include pesticides malathion, aldicarb, carbofuran, cabaryl, fipronil, methyl parathion, and pyrethrin, which are used in India.
The approval essentially takes note of the report on the assessment of chemical and non-chemical alternatives to endosulfan carried out by the Persistent Organic Pollutants Review Committee of the convention and encourages parties to consider
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The Conference of Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants approved non-chemical as well as chemical alternatives to endosulfan.
the outcome of the assessment when choosing alternatives to endosulfan for the use of crop-pest complexes available as specific exemptions. The decision emphasised the need for further assessment under local conditions prevailing in the context of specific agro-ecosystems and agricultural practices and giving priority to ecosystem-based approaches to pest control. The conference requested its secretariat to undertake activities to support parties in evaluating the information on alternatives to the use of endosulfan in their countries, including the information made available through the work programme on endosulfan. The convention had decided upon phased elimination of endosulfan and its related isomers in 2011 with specific exemptions that included use on multiple crop-pest complexes. As a follow-up to that, it had launched the work programme for evaluating alternatives, as wanted by India and other countries. The review committee was asked to support the development and deployment of alternatives. Of the 110 chemical alternatives considered by the committee, dicofol was dropped as it was considered a potential persistent organic pollutant. Nine others needed further evaluation. India, Canada, and China raised concerns that the draft decision encouraged parties to avoid using dicofol prior to (full) review, and requested the committee to assess nine additional chemicals that might meet the criteria before adoption by parties. Benin, Uganda, Kenya, Morocco, Venezuela, and Togo reported that they had banned endosulfan use and import and were already using alternatives.
2 - MARKERS
NTPC ranked 3rd Best Company in Rewards & Recognition-2013 Initiative to Attract Best Talent in Science NTPC has been selected as one of India's Best Companies for Rewards & Recognition in 2013 in a study conducted by Great Place To Work Institute India, in partnership with Edenred.Over 100 companies with remarkable rewards and recognition practices participated in this study and only 15 who excelled made it to the Best Companies List. With the objective of attracting best talents in science, in the year 2008, the Government had formulated and initiated a programme entitled 'Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research' (INSPIRE). This programme is continuing in the 12th plan period. Apart from this, the 'Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana' (KVPY) scheme, of the Department of Science and Technology, being implemented by Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore also aims to attract talents for science. Kashmir Festival
NTPC is the largest state owned electric utilities company headquartered in the capital. Established on November 7, 1975, it was listed in Forbes Global 2000.
It is also listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange with 84.5 percent Government's share. The corporation is looking forward to become a 75,000 MW company by 2017. At present, it is generating 41,184 MW energy. Setting up of new railway factory in Bihar
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Railways for setting up of an Electric Locomotive Factory at Madhepura, Bihar and a Diesel Locomotive Factory at Marhowra, Bihar.
The two factories shall be set up in Joint Venture (JV) with locomotive manufacturers to be selected through International Competitive Bidding (ICB). JV partners will be selected through a two stage ICB process. The bids will be finalized within three months of receipt of the Cabinet`s approval. Over a ten year period, the factories will provide Indian Railways with 800 electric locomotives of 12,000 horse power (h.p.) each and a mix of 1,000 diesel locomotives of 4,500 and 6,000 h.p. with high level performance guarantees similar to international practices.
Locomotives manufactured by these factories will be of international class energy/fuel efficiency and will become an important instrument of India`s response to global efforts towards mitigation of adverse impacts on climate due to emission of greenhouse gases. Successful execution of these projects by the JV route will usher Indian Railways into a new era of reforms.
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In a major initiative to promote Tourism in Kashmir Valley "Kashmir Festival 2013" will be held for a fortnight from May 13th to May 29th at different places in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The Festival will be held in Sringar, Pahalgam, Yousmarg, Manasbal, Doodhpathri, Gulmarg, Lolab Valley and Sonmarg and will include activities such as Shikara Races, Cycle Races, Canoeing, River Rafting, Para Gliding, Painting, Swimming Competition, Horse Races etc. The Festival will also showcase culture of Jammu & Kashmir through performances by the cultural troupes of the State. Willem-Alexander becomes Europe's youngest monarch
The Netherlands' Willem-Alexander was sworn in as Europe's youngest monarch after his mother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated and his country hailed the avowedly 21st-century King with a massive, orangehued party. She will now be referred to as Princess. The Dutch monarch is sworn in before a joint session of the Houses of Parliament in the deconsecrated church, rather than crowned, because church and royalty are separated in the Netherlands. India elected member of SIAP governing council
India got elected to the governing council of the prestigious Statistical Institute of Asia Pacific (SIAP), one of the most active organs of the UN. The UN Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP) was established in Tokyo in 1970 by 20 countries in Asia and the Pacific and the United
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Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as an international centre to bring about regional cooperation in training government statisticians from developing countries of the region. SIAP was accorded the legal status of a subsidiary body of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 1995. SIAP governing council has a representative designated by the Government of Japan and eight representatives nominated by other members. New norms for NRLM's 'Umeed' in J&K
Below Poverty Level [BPL], has been dispensed with and replaced by a process of participatory identification of the poor [PIP]. Replacing the BPL with PIP will clear the decks for constitution of 90,000 Self Help Groups and enrolment of nine lakh rural women in the State. The Union Cabinet has also changed the NRLM funding pattern from the existing 75:25 to 90:10 in favour of J&K. Bangladesh gets first woman Speaker
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Paving the way for enrolment of two-thirds of rural women in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Cabinet has drastically relaxed norms for the Centresponsored 'Umeed' project, part of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM). The criterion of the
Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has been selected as the first woman speaker of Bangladesh, elected by the Jatiya Sangsad. A lawyer by profession, Dr. Chaaudhury entered Parliament for the first time as an MP from one of the reserved seats for women. She holds a Ph.D. from Essex University in the United Kingdom.
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EDITORIALS
The CBI muddle THE opposition criticism of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Law Minister overseeing the CBI report on its investigation into the Coalgate scam being monitored by the Supreme Court is understandable. What is not understandable is the failure of politicians and intellectuals to recognize that such a situation was inherent and inevitable under the prevailing system. It is all very well demanding a change in the government. What about demanding a change in the system? The Prime Minister was in charge of the Coal ministry when the scam occurred. The CBI before submitting its report had it vetted by the Law Minister and officials of the PMO. Since the PM was directly responsible for the ministry being investigated there was clear conflict of interest in the decision of his officials to examine the CBI probe report during its preparation. That is obvious. But what if the PM had not been in direct charge of the Coal ministry during the scam? If the CBI probe had been similarly vetted by government officials in that event would the conflict of interest have been any less? For the CBI to serve directly under the authority which it might be investigating violates the laws of natural justice. That is why the CBI is constantly in controversy and has lost its reputation. Many statements to this effect by opposition politicians as well as by CBI officials themselves testify to this truth. That is why there are frequent demands of making the CBI an autonomous investigative agency. It is while considering options of achieving this that enormous confusion abounds. The CBI cannot be a sovereign body. It must perforce function under a superior authority. Clearly that authority cannot be the government because not only are the careers of CBI officers under the government's jurisdiction but also because very often it is the government itself that has to be investigated by the agency. The CBI cannot function under Parliament because not only does the government have majority support in Parliament but also because very often its members equally have vested interest in the outcome of investigation. To overcome this systemic flaw the expedient solution of allowing the Supreme Court (SC) to monitor the CBI probe has been adopted.
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It is a wholly unsatisfactory solution. While the SC may monitor the CBI probe its officers continue to function under the government aware of its power to promote, demote or transfer them. In the day-today conduct of an investigation the SC can do nothing to prevent government pressure on the CBI. This became glaringly evident from the abysmal failure of the SC when it first adopted the policy of monitoring a CBI probe. That was in the Jain Hawala Case. The much lauded and recently departed Chief Justice JS Verma headed the bench in that case. In all the voluminous and much deserved praise showered on him after his death it was a trifle disappointing that Justice Verma's spectacular failure in delivering justice in that case found no mention. That failure was particularly instructive and relevant to the present crisis. I will not burden the reader by attempting to convince him of the failures of the Court in dealing with that case by iterating old facts and arguments. I will let the late Justice Verma do that. Addressing a memorial lecture in mid-2004, Justice Verma said that the CBI had performed poorly in the Jain Hawala Case and the case therefore should be revived. Since Justice Verma headed the SC bench, which monitored the investigation, it clearly indicates that the SC as a monitoring agency cannot deliver satisfactory results. What then is the solution? Recently almost the entire political class and media were shouting themselves hoarse while demanding that the CBI be liberated from the shackles of the government by creating an independent Lokpal which would have the power to monitor its functioning. There were differences expressed about the quantum of powers that might be given to the proposed Lokpal. There was no dispute about the principle of transferring responsibility of overseeing the CBI from the government to the proposed Lokpal. There was near unanimity on this proposal. This writer from the outset shot down the proposal for being grievously flawed. Who would appoint the Lokpal and to which authority would it be accountable? In what manner would it perform better than the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) or the Comptroller-Auditor General (CAG) which are similarly mired in
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controversy? Fortunately the euphoria about the Lokpal has largely evaporated. But the nationwide support it first attracted offers the obvious solution to the problem that our politicians resolutely refuse to recognize. The obvious solution lay in the fact that there already exists a Super Lokpal designated as the President of India in our Constitution. The President is the ultimate authority to ensure that laws are implemented. The President is detached from day to day politics and is unaffected by its fluctuations. The President has the widest mandate and is chosen not only by both Houses of Parliament but also by all the Assemblies in the nation. The proposed Jan Lokpal was rubbished for its farreaching powers over the Lok Ayuktas and minor officials because it violated the Constitution. But a Supreme Court ruling that renders Governors entirely independent of the Union Cabinet offers constitutionally the President and all the Governors directly appointed and accountable to Rashtrapati Bhawan the powers envisaged in the proposed Jan Lokpal and Lok Ayuktas.
A suitable CAG
As the tenure of the incumbent draws to a close, let's debate the institution's structure and powers It is time for the selection of a new comptroller and auditor general as the tenure of the incumbent draws to a close on May 22. Traditionally, the CAG has been an unseen agency, churning out audit report after audit report on every department supported by government funds every year. The last time the CAG was in the news in a visible way was when the report on the procurement of the Bofors gun hit the headlines. Every CAG report is a meticulous and factual assessment of expenditure and performance. Facts do not become part of the reports unless they are validated at an appropriate level by the department under review. Unfortunately, only those reports hit the headlines where the focus is driven by motives other than that of governance. With the kind of attention that the CAG's report on the Commonwealth Games and the auctioning of 2G spectrum has managed to garner, the position of the CAG has come under fire, not least from the executive, which has tended to question the basis of the office, the model of the institution and the efficacy of the facts in the reports. The CAG, by virtue of being an unitary authority in a federal structure, constitutionally is the singular head of a hierarchical audit authority. This is in line with the Westminster model of Parliament we have adopted. This singularity has consistently threatened successive governments, leading to attempts to dilute the role of the CAG. In 1976, the separation of Union government accounts from audit at the ministry level led to the creation of the civil accounts cadre. The CAG ceased to control this cadre and this was brought under the secretary (expenditure) in the ministry of finance. The then CAG, Gyan Prakash, was the last audit and accounts service officer to hold that position. For reasons best known to the then prime minister, the CAG was appointed from within the IAS and it has remained that way since. What such a move hoped to achieve is hard to say. But successive CAGs have proved that the impartiality envisaged for the position in the Constitution has been the protagonist of the piece. A lot has been said about the merits of the institution of the CAG being set up as a collegium structure driven by the perception of too much wherewithal resting with a single individual. There have been comparisons made with the chief election commissioner. However, while Article 148 of the Constitution states clearly that there shall be a CAG
My proposal was threefold. First, the President aided by his secretariat should have mandatory power over all the constitutional bodies like the Election Commission, CVC and CAG. The CBI should also be converted into a constitutional body. Secondly, the President should exercise the executive authority assigned to the office in our written Constitution with restraint and act only as an advisor to both the Union Cabinet and to Parliament. And finally, to further strengthen his mandate the President's tenure might be made co-terminus with the fixed tenures of Parliament and all the State Assemblies. Thereby the President would be elected by incoming legislators at the same time as his own election. While the election would remain indirect it would for all practical purpose get converted into a popular mandate in which ordinary voters would exercise their choice about who should be President because they would know which Presidential candidate the MPs and MLAs they vote for will support. If this were done, appropriate Presidents would be elected. This is the only solution for making the CBI a genuinely independent investigative agency. This solution does not violate the Constitution but respects its spirit and text. This solution can be acted upon with minimal legislation that would not disturb the basic structure of our Constitution. Will our leaders seize it? Source: The Statesman
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who shall be appointed by the president, Article 324 states that the "Election Commission shall consist of the chief election commissioner and such number of other election commissioners, if any, as the president may from time to time fix". This underlines the difference of spirit behind creation of these two positions. They play distinct roles. One facilitates a defined procedure of governance while the other exercises a broad oversight function on all aspects of governance and use of government money to ensure financial probity. But, successively, the position has been challenged. The proposal for a multi-member audit board was proposed by the Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah Committee set up to review the working of the Constitution in 2001. The department's reply to this stated that the existing Indian model was successful in 34 Commonwealth countries. The application of mind at several levels before the CAG finally signs off on an audit report ensured a rational and balanced approach. The executive is given ample opportunity to respond to audit reports and their replies play a significant role in the finalisation. This was communicated to the committee by the then CAG, V.K. Shunglu, and accepted by them. The issue came up again when the CAG's report in the wake of the Commonwealth Games fiasco tread on too many toes and the report on the auctioning of 2G spectrum caused many red faces. Ironically, the Shunglu Committee recommended a collegium structure and ascribed the delay in the CAG's audit of the Games as a reason for irregularities in procurement. The department reiterated its stand by furnishing Shunglu's own reply stating that considering the system already in place, there was no need for a collegial decision on audit findings. In this melee, the government's discomfort with the CAG was evident. The mandate of the CAG came under question.
interest of credible governance. The larger question is if the role of the CAG is only one of attesting public expenditure, or if it extends to assisting those engaged in governance. Governance is not just the remit of the government. In today's social milieu, it extends to a mature and active civil society, the media and citizens, who seek answers to systemic failure and lack of financial probity in government expenditure by holding governments to account. The Constitution clearly envisaged the office of the CAG as one independent of the executive to enable the CAG to exercise independent oversight on government expenditure. Consequently, the CAG plays as large a role in ensuring governance as any other administrative agency. His role could not have been envisaged by the framers of the Constitution as one of merely an accountant to the government. The auditor's role is to assess systems and performance and the value of the money spent on this. Viewing the CAG's role as adversarial is self-defeating. One aspect open to question is the process of selection of the CAG. To strengthen the independence of the office, there is a need to put in place clear guidelines and criteria for selection. At the moment, there are no clear parameters. The only obvious criteria seem to be that the candidate needs to be an officer of the level of secretary to the Union government and from the IAS. There is no apparent reason as to why it cannot be an officer from the audit and accounts department. Unless there is a clear process of selection, the appointment is open to question. This compromises the perception of independence. Currently, there is neither transparency nor clarity. Impartiality being crucial to this role, there is a need to define the selection process to establish this impartiality. A thought to dwell on is whether there is a need to consider other models of supreme audit institutions. In some countries, there are commissions of audit. In others, like France and Mexico, there are courts of audit. The audit courts are vested with quasi-judicial and punitive powers. Is that a model we want for ourselves? A debate on the model most suitable would be worthwhile in the run-up to the selection of the next CAG. Source: Indian Express Child malnutrition in India
This brings us to the debate on whether the CAG has the mandate to question policy, or whether his job is to merely look at compliance of systems. As policy and systems are a cause and effect construct, the outcome of policy on systems is open to question. The CAG has the wherewithal to analyse both. There is a tendency within the executive to justify action by arguing that means justify the end. If that be so, why define financial propriety and put in place a system of oversight? It is not a process that can be applied selectively. And who will define what process is ethical and what is not? In a country like India, with a sizeable and well informed middle class, having a fair and transparent audit is in the
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The problem is likely to be less severe than UN statistics indicate, given faulty yardsticks If asked to name the state with the lowest incidence of child malnutrition in India, readers will overwhelmingly pick one of Kerala, Goa, Himachal
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Arunachal Pradesh, the star performer in child nutrition, had IMR of 32 in 2011 compared with 11 in Goa and 12 in Kerala. But the CAG report places 34% children in Goa, 37% in Kerala and just two percent in Arunachal Pradesh in the underweight category. Assam does worse than even the Indian average in life expectancy and IMR but beats Goa and Kerala in child nutrition. These puzzling inter-state rankings mirror some international rankings. In 2009, 33 countries in SubSaharan Africa (SSA) had lower per-capita incomes than India. The same year, India ranked ahead of the vast majority of these countries in life expectancy, IMR, child mortality and maternal mortality. Yet, India had proportionately more underweight children than every one of these 33 countries. These paradoxical inter-state and India-SSA comparisons are rooted in the flawed measurement methodology that the World Health Organization (WHO) has aggressively pushed to give substance to one of the key United Nations Millennium Development Goals. This methodology prescribes a single worldwide weight norm for children of a given age and gender to determine whether they are underweight. The underlying assumption is that regardless of race, ethnicity, culture and geography, different populations produce identical weight and height outcomes if provided identical diets. By implication, a larger proportion of children deviating from the pre-specified norm in a population represents greater incidence of malnutrition in that population.
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Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab or West Bengal. But they will all be wrong by a wide margin: none of these states appears among even the top five performers. According to the recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India,Arunachal Pradesh walks away with the top prize. Based on 2010-11 data, Nagaland, Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram, in that order, follow on the top five list. Maharashtra ranks a close sixth but the next four slots again go to northern and northeastern states " Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam. Only then do Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab find a place on the list (caveat: I exclude Madhya Pradesh due to possible data inconstancies). Nine out of the top ten states are from the northeast or north. Even Tripura, the only remaining northeastern state, scores a tie with Kerala. The rankings are also wildly out of line with the only other vital health statistic for children that I am able to access for all Indian states: infant mortality rates (IMR) per thousand live births.
But populations greatly differ in height and weight even absent nutritional differences. Japanese adults remain 12 to 13 centimeters shorter than their Dutch counterparts after many generations of healthy diet. American adults have been having as good a diet as the Dutch for decades but they began falling behind the latter in height during the 1950s and have shown no tendency to catch up. African adults are much taller than their South Asian counterparts despite poorer diets for decades. In a 2008 study, Martin Nube compares South Asian adults living in Fiji, South Africa and the United States with their respective native counterparts. He finds "an ethnically determined predisposition for low adult BMI [Bio Mass Index]" in them. He concludes that this predisposition "cannot be explained on the basis of indicators which relate to access to food, social status of women or overall standard of living." Careful studies using extensive data find similar differences between infants born in the United States to Indian and Japanese mothers on the one hand and American mothers on the other. After controlling for maternal socio-demographic and prenatal care factors, newborns of the former groups show much greater incidence of low birth weight and low height for gestation than the latter. Nonetheless, newborns of the three groups exhibit very similar IMRs. Using a single weight (or height) norm to determine malnutrition when populations of different races and ethnicities differ in these attributes is bound to result in measured outcomes that defy commonsense. No wonder prescribed nutrition measures show children from Chad and Central African Republic as better nourished than their Indian counterparts and those from Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Assam better fed than children from Goa and Kerala. The government of India needs to carefully review whether the WHO approach to measuring underweight children, adopted uncritically, rests on a sound methodology. If not, it should work with its best pediatricians and nutritionists toward devising a better methodology. Until then, there are good reasons to be skeptical of claims that India suffers from worse malnutrition than SSA or that Goa and Kerala lag behind Assam in combating child malnutrition. To end on a positive note, however, even the flawed methodology allows us to reasonably track progress over time within the same population. So have the reforms and growth in India indeed failed
to improve child nutrition as widely alleged by the reform critics and growth bashers? Not by a long shot. According to the CAG report, in just four years, the proportion of underweight children in India has declined from 50% in 2006-07 to 41%. This matches Indias achievements in life expectancy and IMR. Source: Times of India IMPORT TEACHERS EDUCATION FOR QUALITY
enough teacher training institutes. The current capacity is woefully inadequate and lags demand. Where can we find more teachers? We will have to expand the pool of people that participate in the selection and training process. The Teach for India programme finds and trains teachers among graduates and professionals engaging them in a twoyear programme. Government schools are experimenting, with local para-teachers who may not be fully qualified but are engaged in the progress of the community. The pool needs to diversify to grow. Pathways to teaching practice need to be created for retraining people returning to the workforce. There are thousands, if not millions, who have been performing care-giving duties in their homes and need to find a way to employment once those duties are done. They are educated, competent and keen to participate. Some, who are still committed to other priorities, could engage on flexible working platforms such as job shares, project-based work or fixed-time working. This needs to be done professionally - institutes will need to contract for scope of work, not jobs and employees will need to commit and deliver to results. Job shares are an excellent way of bringing talent back to where it is needed while managing social contracts. Often people who wish to give something back to society volunteer to teach. While the intent is noble, it may do as much harm as good. Teaching is not merely standing and speaking in front of a group of children. It is a skilled job that brings out the best in students in the long run - often the tools in play not visible to bystanders. Holding a group together and taking them on an intellectual journey is not for the layman. Nor for the subject expert, unless they have been shown the ropes of teaching. Experts in their field who want to share their learning must be brought into the pool, but experts do not always make good teachers. They will need to be trained in teaching. India's best bet for increasing the number of teachers is imports. Bring in trained and proven teachers from across the world to raise education standards to global levels. Bring in trainers to enthuse Indian teachers and show them different ways of teaching and learning. It is fair exchange. India imports teachers and exports unemployment, our demographic dividend - now-skilled to international levels to meet the projected shortages in many countries. Source: The Pioneer
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It is time to bring in trained and proven faculty from all over the world to raise standards of learning in India that can match global levels The demographic dividend is upon us; let us prepare them for their prosperous future, let us skill them. If we don't, they will have no jobs, will know nothing and will run riot on the streets. The demographic dividend will turn into a demographic disaster. If these hands don't earn, what will they eat? Where will the taxes come from to pay for the roads and lights? Who will bear the nation's medical bills? No, we do not speak of the malaise of dishonesty today - honest problems are large enough. So, first we must teach them, then we must train them. We build schools in each district, invite public-private partnerships, while silently asking: Where are the teachers? We need all hands to the till, teaching in schools, in colleges, in ITIs, in skills units all over the nation. Do we have enough hands and heads to teach? Are they good enough? The truth is that the number of teachers and trainers in India falls far short of what is required. We need millions more each year, and we need them to be good. The numbers range from five million to 11 million per year, depending on how you count it - the higher number including pre-school and post-secondary education too. There are two clear hurdles in finding so many teachers and trainers. First, the quality of education has been allowed to suffer so badly in the past two decades that it is very difficult to find literate, articulate people even in graduate schools. Their degrees are no assurance of subject mastery, their crisp presentation to guarantee of their ability to share and communicate. Many studies have shown that the certified are not well educated. Are they worthy of becoming teachers? Second, the quality of teacher training is poor. Very few of the thousands of teacher- training institutes produce good teachers many of them cannot even pass the Teacher Eligibility Test. While these teacher training outfits are showed up as inadequate in producing good teachers, it is equally true that India does not have
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A threat to food security
The National Food Security Bill, a high risk venture of UPA government, is more a product of soft politics than hard economics. The Bill promises to supply, at subsidised prices, 7 kg of foodgrains to each Indian, every month, at 1/8th of the economic cost of grains in the first year, ending up at 1/9th of the economic cost in the third year. It aims to envelop two-thirds of the population. Its huge reach measures its vote-bank potential. Finding itself in Catch-22 situation, the opposition would hate the ruling party to succeed in garnering votes through the scheme but, would not oppose it as that would be politically suicidal. With the entire political spectrum backing the Bill, the public discourse on the Bill is mute, if not muffled. What the nation is not conscious of is that, because of the lack of rigorous intellectual scrutiny, the Bill threatens the food security of the whole country -- even as it seeks to address the food security of two thirds of its people. The national debate has so far touched two aspects of the Bill. One, its impact on the Budget. The elephantine scheme would torpedo government's plans to make the future budget deficits Kelkar Report- compliant. It looks unaffordable even at the optimistic growth targets of economy. The additional dent it will cause in the first budget after its advent is likely to be twenty times the effective extra provision of Rs 5,000 crore made in the Budget for 2013-14, if the Bill is passed in the current Budget session (See Food Bill will torpedo Budget, Business Line, March 21, 2013). MORE FARM OUTPUT
The second aspect of the discourse is operationally more critical. The Discussion Paper of the Commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) titled "National Food Security Bill Challenges and Options" says that, on a procurement-production ratio of 35 per cent, the current production of rice and wheat (of 190 million tonnes) would yield 67 million tonnes of stocks. The scheme requires 75 million tonnes. So, a further 8 million tonnes need to be procured. As much of the additional production and procurement will have to be dispersed outside Punjab and Haryana, the procurement ratio will be less at 30 per cent and so national grain production has to rise by 25 million tonnes to achieve the additional 8 million tonne procurement.
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So the second aspect of the debate is about how to increase food production by 25 million tonnes to work the scheme. And, how to procure 75 million tonnes, and for that, how build the logistics - storage, transport, and handling. The first part of the discourse seems to assume the second part as a done deal and the second part seems to assume the first part as done, when neither is done. SMALL FARMERS' IMPACT What is as yet not seen in the radar of discourse is the impact of the Food Bill on Indian farming. Particularly on small farmers. And, on the village and agricultural economy which is substantially backward- integrated to the small farmers' kitchen and also the kitchen of most landless labour. The government intends to procure 75 million tonnes to supply food grains to some 750-800 million people - two thirds of the population. The first question is: from whom will the government procure the supplies and to whom does it intend to supply? What is shocking is that most of the persons in rural areas to whom the government will supply grains at highly subsidised rates under the scheme are the very small and marginal farmers from whom it will have to procure the supplies! See how this crazy agro-economics works. According to Census 2011, the urban Indian population is 377 million and the rural, 743 million. Like the two thirds of urban population (251 million), two-thirds of the rural population (495 million) will also benefit under the scheme. Now, look at the structure of the beneficiaries in the rural population. Out of some 138 million farm households, 117 million are small and marginal farmers owning less than 2 hectares (State of Agriculture Report 2012-13). The average farm family size being five, some 690 million people live on 138 million farms. About a third of the landless rural households with a population of 75 million cultivate as tenants, leaving some 50 million as totally landless labour. After accounting the entire 75 million landless as beneficiaries under the scheme, the balance 420 million beneficiaries will be from the small and marginal farming family. These small and marginal farmers who produce substantial foodgrains, also consume and use a large part of what they produce. Generally, all farmers consume and use a large part of what they produce. TRADITIONAL SYSTEM According to the Working Group on Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure and Policy Required for Internal and External trade (Eleventh Plan) out of the total foodgrains produced, farm families consume and use 60 per cent for their needs and
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sell only 40 per cent - called the marketable surplus. But, small and marginal farmers retain more than 60 per cent for personal use and for market they set aside less than 40 per cent. Here are some details for urbanites to understand why and how the farmers use up 60 per cent of their produce. Apart for their family consumption, which is in excess of a third of their production, they retain the produce for paying permanent and temporary farm labour in kind; for feeding farm animals and as seeds; for payment in kind for farm equipments, customary dues, repayment of loan and irrigation charges. Thus, small and marginal farmer ends up largely feeding the farming family and paying in kind to the landlord and landless alike in kind, which distributes the foodgrain within the village.
Rice and wheat cultivation is the most difficult and least gainful farm operation which is already haunted by shortage of labour and skyrocketing wage and input costs. Giving highly subsidised foodgrains to small and marginal farmers is the best way to dissuade them from farming for their family's food supplies. PRODUCE MORE How then to help the small and marginal farmers? According to the FAO the small and marginal farmers supplied as much as 7.2 million tonnes of food grains to the national grain market as early as in 1990. Another FAO publication titled, Smallholder farmers in India: Food security and agricultural policy (March 2002) concluded: "India's agricultural economy and food security depend vitally on the small-holder farmers...It is socially beneficial to the nation that the number of smallholdings should continue to increase. It is therefore incumbent upon the nation to assist the small-holder families to increase their productivity and to augment their assets and entitlements." Assisting them means to make them produce more and not less, by incentivising their production and productivity by direct cash subsidies. The Food Bill is bound to encourage the small and marginal farmers to go for easy alternatives like commercial crops and horticulture. Most States are deficient in food production. If in those States small and marginal farmers shift away from foodgrains, the country will face huge dent in food security. That is precisely what the Food Security Bill is likely to end up achieving by large scale state intervention that threatens to disincentivise and turn some 700 million producers of food into consumers of food-dependent government supplies at subsidised rates. Will the nation wake up before it is too late? Source: Business Line Climate change: The battle against carbon heats up
So, 60 per cent of the grain produced is shared within the village for farm families' own consumption and by way of traditional barter which makes grain available to those, including labour, who do not own any land or cultivate. This is how the food security of the villages is traditionally secured outside the modern market system. Only the balance produce moves into urban India and into trade within and outside India. FOOD BILL EFFECT
Now, let us see how the national food security scheme adversely impacts on the traditional food security system at work.
The 117 million small and marginal farm families with population of 585 millions, constitute almost 78 per cent of the rural population. They now produce food for themselves, and also for others. They produce food more efficiently than medium and large farmers. While their families consume most of the foodgrains they produce, they also contribute a significant part of the national kitty of food production for others. If they stop producing foodgrains, the national kitty of food production will go down significantly.
Now under the Food Security Bill, most of their families will qualify for subsidised food grains. And they will get grain supply at less than 1/8 of the price at which they produce and sell grains to the government. If the government would supply them grain at 1/8 price, why should they till and toil on their land and produce 51 per cent of national food using 46 per cent of the cultivated area, particularly when their cost of cultivation per acre as compared to medium and large players is higher.
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In February 2011, the Australian government established an independent body, the Climate Commission, to provide unbiased scientific information to the public about climate change. Although meant primarily for Australia, the reports of the commission are now attracting global attention. Its first report said key decisions would have to be made this decade if we are to keep climate change
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to manageable levels. Its second report, published in August last year, said major countries were taking action to combat climate change. The third, published this week, concluded that the US and China have accelerated their efforts to tackle climate change. In fact, China is the global leader now in action to combat global warming. It is a dramatic change from a few years ago, when the world was accusing China of having scant regard for the environment. Coal Warning The Climate Commission report provides great hope for a world now reeling under droughts and floods. None of the official negotiations has worked in forcing substantial agreements from governments, but the major polluters are on track to reduce carbon dioxide emissions anyway.
The most serious problem is with coal, which is still the leading supplier of the world's energy. Over 1,000 coal-fired power plants are being planned around the world, whose combined effect " with existing plants "would be tough to deal with. A coal power plant lasts for half a century. So, to reach our goal of zero emissions by 2050, we need to stop building new coal plants while also shutting down existing ones over the next two decades. Neither seems to be a possibility at the moment. Leaving aside massive carbon capture and storage, which still remains a fancy idea, the only way out of this situation is for solar energy to become so cheap that coal is no longer economically viable. Solar Way Despite the continued drop in solar electricity prices, this won't happen without technology breakthroughs that boost the efficiency of solar cells to over 50%. Current commercial solar cells work at about 20% efficiency. There are a few candidates under development that can increase the efficiency to over 50% in a few years, if they are proven commercially. In the longer run, new materials like graphene can also produce the same effect more cheaply. And yet, solar cells will not be able to do this job without efficient grid storage. There are promising candidates here as well, none of them commercially proven yet. To tackle climate change quickly, there is no substitute to scientific research. The world relies on the US far too much for new technology. Other countries would need to share the burden. India's efforts are too meagre to be worthy of a mention. Source: Economic Times
China has reduced its carbon intensity by 5% in 2012 and halved its growth in electricity demand. It invested $65.1 billion in 2012 on clean energy, and increased its solar power capacity by 75% in two years.
The US invested $35.6 billion on renewable energy in 2012, and is on target to reach its goal of reducing its emissions by 17% between 2005 and 2020. It also doubled renewable energy capacity in the last four years. Total US emissions have started declining, and China's emissions are now projected to start declining around 2025, earlier than expected. And yet, concluded the report, a lot needs to be done to reduce global carbon emissions to zero. Amidst all this good news, we might forget that we are plucking low-hanging fruits. The report does not mention what is being planned around the world, decisions that will increase the global emissions for a long time.
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CENSUS 2011 DATA

The Indian Census is the most credible source of information on Demography (Population characteristics), Economic Activity, Literacy & Education, Housing & Household Amenities, Urbanization, Fertility and Mortality, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Language, Religion, Migration, Disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data since 1872. Census 2011 is the 15th National Census of the country. This is the only source of primary data at village, town and ward level. It provides valuable information for planning and formulation of polices for Central & State Governments and is widely used by National & International agencies, scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more. than two-third of the total population, while 377.1 million persons live in urban areas. Urban proportion has gone up from 17.3 per cent in 1951 to 31.2 per cent in 2011. Empowered Action Group (EAG) states have lower urban proportion (21.1 per cent) in comparison to non EAG states (39.7 per cent). Highest proportion of urban population is in NCT Delhi (97.5 per cent). Top five states in share of urban population are Goa (62.2 per cent), Mizoram (52.1 per cent), Tamil Nadu (48.4 per cent), Kerala (47.7 per cent) and Maharashtra (45.2 per cent). Literacy: Literacy rate in India in 2011 has increased by 8 per cent to 73 per cent in comparison to 64.8 per cent in 2001. While male literacy rate stands at 80.9 per cent - which is 5.6 per cent more than the previous census, the female literacy rate stands at 64.6 per cent -- an increase of 10.9 per cent than 2001. The highest increase took place in Dadra and Nagar Haveli by 18.6 points (from 57.6 per cent to 76.2 per cent), Bihar by 14.8 points (from 47.0 per cent to 61.8 per cent), Tripura by 14.0 points (from 73.2 per cent to 87.2 per cent). Improvement in female literacy is higher than males in all states and UTs, except Mizoram (where it is same in both males and females) during 2001-11. The gap between literacy rate in urban and rural areas is steadily declining in every census. Gender gap in literacy rate is steadily declining in every census. In Census 2011, the gap stands at 16.3 points. Top five states and UTs, where literacy rate is the highest, are Kerala (94 per cent), Lakshadweep (91.8 per cent), Mizoram (91.3 per cent), Goa (88.7 per cent) and Tripura (87.2). The bottom five states and UTs are Bihar (61.8 per cent), Arunachal Pradesh (65.4 per cent), Rajasthan (66.1 per cent), Jharkhand (66.4 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (67 per cent).
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The delimitation/reservation of Constituencies Parliamentary/Assembly/Panchayats and other Local Bodies is also done on the basis of the demographic data thrown up by the Census. Census is the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the on-going schemes of the Government and most importantly, plan for the future. That is why the slogan of Census 2011 is "Our Census, Our Future". Some of the salient features of the data released are as below: a) Population: India's total population stands at 1.21 billion, which is 17.7 per cent more than the last decade, and growth of females was higher than that of males. There was an increase of 90.97 million males and increase of 90.99 million females. The growth rate of females was 18.3 per cent which is higher than males -- 17.1 per cent. India's population grew by 17.7 per cent during 2001-11, against 21.5 per cent in the previous decade. Among the major states, highest decadal growth in population has been recorded in Bihar (25.4 per cent) while 14 states and Union Territories have recorded population growth above 20 per cent. Altogether, 833.5 million persons live in rural area as per Census 2011, which was more
b) Rural and Urban population
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c)
d) Density: The density of population in the country has also increased from 325 in 2001 to 382 in 2011 in per sq km. Among the major states, Bihar occupies the first position with a density of 1106, surpassing West Bengal which occupied the first position during 2001. Delhi (11,320) turns out to be the most densely inhabited followed by Chandigarh (9,258), among all states and UTs, both in 2001 and 2011 Census. The minimum population density works out in Arunachal Pradesh (17) for both 2001 and 2011 Census. The sex ratio of population in the country in 2011 stands at 943 female against 1000 males, which is 10 per cent more than the last census when the number female per thousand male stood at 933.
With the declaration of sex ratio in the age group 0-6, the Census authorities tried to bring out the recent changes in the society in its attitude and outlook towards the girl child. It was also an indicator of the likely future trends of sex ratio in the population. There has been a decline of 8 per cent in the sex ratio of 0-6 age group. In 2011, the child sex ratio (0-6) stands at 919 female against 1000 male in comparison to 927 females in 2001. Male child (0-6) population has increased whereas female child population has decreased during 2001-11. Eight states, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Meghalaya have proportion of child population more than 15 per cent. The worst performing states in regard to sex ration in the age group of 0 to 6 years are Haryana (834 females), Punjab (846), Jammu and Kashmir (862), Rajasthan (888) and Gujarat (890). The best performing states are Chhattisgarh (969), Kerala (964), Assam (962), West Bengal (956) Jharkhand (948) and Karnataka (948).
Haryana has the dubious distinction of having the worst male-female ratio among all states while Kerala fares the best. The number of females per 1000 males in Haryana in 2011 stands at 879 followed by Jammu and Kashmir (889 female) and Punjab (895 females).
The other two worst-performing states in terms of skewed sex ration are Uttar Pradesh (912 females) and Bihar (918 females). Five top performing states in terms of sex ratio were Kerala (1,084 females), Tamil Nadu (996), Andhra Pradesh (993), Chhattisgarh (991), Odisha (979). Child population in the age of 0 to 6 years has seen an increase of 0.4 per cent to 164.5 million in 2011 from 163.8 million in 2001.
f)
Child population:
The child population (0-6) is almost stationary. In 17 states and UTs, the child population has declined in 2011 compared to 2001.
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g) SC/ST data:
e) Sex Ratio:
According to the Census, Scheduled Castes are notified in 31 states and UTs and Scheduled Tribes in 30 states. There are altogether 1,241 individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as SCs in different states and UTs. The number of individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as STs is 705. There has been some changes in the List of Scs/STs in states and UTs during the last decade. The SC population in India now stands at 201.4 million, which is 20 per cent more than the last census. The ST population stands at 104.3 million in 2011 - 23.7 per cent more than 2001.

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[ 2 ] Weekly Current Affairs 06th May to 12th May, 2013
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NATIONAL
Special Rapporteur report on AFSPA According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2,560 deaths occurred during encounters with police between 1993 and 2008. Of this, 1,224 cases were regarded by the NHRC as "fake encounters". The police, the central armed police forces and the armed forces have been accused of "fake encounters". Complaints have been lodged, particularly against the Central Reserve Police Force, the Border Security Forces, and the armed forces acting under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA). In the face of such alarming statistics, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Mr. Christof Heyns, was invited to the country. The main findings of his report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva in June 2013. It recommends a series of legal reforms and policy measures aimed at fighting impunity and decreasing the level of unlawful killings in India. According to the report use of force hampers accountability, and represents a major challenge. The report stated that India should repeal, or at least radically amend, AFSPA and the Jammu and Kashmir AFSPA, with the aim of ensuring that the legislation regarding the use of force by the armed forces provides for the respect of the principles of proportionality and necessity in all instances, as stipulated under international human rights law. It should also remove all legal barriers for the criminal prosecution of members of the armed forces. The report also recommends the immediate ratification of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It recommends India to swiftly enact the Prevention of Torture Bill and ensure its compliance with CAT. All vigilante groups and civilians recruited to perform military or law enforcement tasks, and who are not part of the regular security forces, should be dissolved and prohibited with immediate effect, states the report.
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The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should be reviewed with the aim of extending its scope to Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians. The criminal legislation should be reviewed to ensure that all gender-based killings, as well as killings of any member of a tribe or lower caste receive high sentences, possibly under the form of life imprisonment. The Indian legislation regarding the imposition of the death penalty should be reviewed to provide that the death penalty may be imposed for the most serious crimes only, namely only for those crimes that involve intentional killing. India should consider placing a moratorium on the death penalty in accordance with General Assembly resolutions with a view to abolishing it, according to the report. A mechanism should be put in place to regularly review and monitor the status of implementation of the directives of the Supreme Court and the NHRC guidelines on arrest, encounter killings, and custodial violence and death. The establishment and effective functioning of the independent Police Complaints Authorities should be made a priority in all states. It should be ensured that FIR registration is prompt and made mandatory in all cases of unlawful killings and death threats. The authorities should put in place an independent mechanism to monitor FIR registration following any request to do so, as well as of punishment of those law enforcement officials who refuse to register a FIR. 'Unsafe abortions - reason for high MMR'
While India's MMR has declined from 254 per 1,00,000 live births in 2004-06 to 212 in 2007-09 but unsafe abortions are killing a woman every two hours in India, according to estimates and calculations correlating data on maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and Sample Registration System (SRS) data by IPAS, India, an international NGO working on increasing access to safe abortion services. The last nationwide MMR data giving details of causes of maternal deaths was in SRS 2001-03. One of the major reasons is that the Centre is yet to implement the recommendations for amendments to the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act as discussed by an expert group it had constituted
in 2010. The MTP Act, 1971, enabled women to undergo abortions with specific conditions. It was amended in 2003 to facilitate better implementation and increase access for women, especially in the private health sector. However, over 40 years after the implementation of a liberal MTP Act, unsafe abortions continue to outnumber safe and legal abortions in India. To correct this, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had appointed the expert group to examine the MTP Act and amend it to enable increased access to safe abortion services. Further abortion deaths are under-reported in India. A Lancet paper in 2007 said there were 6.4 million abortions, of which 3.6 million or 56 per cent were unsafe. Ipas has calculated based on the latest population and crude birth rates (CBR) which peg the number of induced abortion at 5,007,932.
To expand the base of legal providers, the expert group had suggested amendments for mid-level providers. In countries like Bangladesh for instance, field workers are trained to conduct abortions. The group has recommended increasing the base of legal MTP providers by including medical practitioners with a Bachelor's degree in Unani, Ayurveda or Homeopathy. Nurses with a three and half year's degree and registered with the Nursing Council of India, could also be included in the base of legal providers. Since the training required to provide only medical methods of abortion is significantly less than surgical abortions, it has been recommended to distinguish between the two trainings. Revival of thirsty villages in Allahabad region by World Bank
Three years after the expert group was formed, no decision has been taken to amend the MTP Act based on its recommendations. It is feared that expanding the base of providers for abortion will lead to more sex-selective abortions. However, 8090 per cent abortions in the country take place in the first trimester and sex determination takes place in the second trimester. Women also delay abortion till the second trimester for reasons other than sex selection. In the absence of safe legal options, women opt for backroom procedures which can be fatal. The proposed amendments to the MTP Act are aimed at increasing the availability of safe and legal abortion services.
In terms of accessibility of safe abortion services in the public health system where a MTP is available, only 73 per cent district hospitals in major States had this facility. In Bihar, it was only 35 per cent district hospitals and Uttar Pradesh 48.5, the lowest in the country. On the percentage of health facilities with at least one doctor who received training during the last three years, the situation was grim with only 14.6 per cent in primary health centres being trained. The Abortion Assessment Project in its study found that most abortion seekers are married women who want to limit their families or space their children. Though awareness of family planning was high, women were not always able to use it because of cost, non-availability or lack of permission from husbands apart from fear of side effects. Additionally, women were hesitant to visit public hospitals because of long waiting times or unsympathetic attitude of staff or because doctors insisted on the husband's signature.
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Over a 100 villages in the southern region of Allahabad district are set to benefit from the World Bank's plan to revive water projects. The international agency has accepted the Allahabad Jal Nigam's (AJN) proposal for reviving the Kaurihar Gram Samuh Drinking Water Project. The project, under the AJN's Nirman Fund, will ensure supply of potable water to 104 villages in the Meja and Kaurihar blocks. It was conceived in 196768 and inaugurated in January 1972, when the region faced severe drought and several families were compelled to migrate. Around 150 villages spread over 50 kilometres benefited from the World-Bankfunded project on the banks of the Tons, the largest tributary of the Yamuna. However, it was abandoned in 1980 - due, primarily, to lack of maintenance. The supply pipes, which were linked to tanks and provided water directly to the villages through underground pipes, are in a dilapidated condition. According to a Union Ministry of Water Resources report, Kaurihar falls under the semicritical category as far as ground water is concerned but the region's terrain is rocky thus tube wells have failed over the years. Out of the 820 blocks in Uttar Pradesh, 107 are described as semi-critical, with six - Bahadurpur, Dhanupur, Saidabad, Urwa, Pratappur and Kaurihar - located in the district. Further, a 2008-2009 Ground Water Brochure of Allahabad notes that construction of canals or strengthening of the existing canal system should be emphasised in four blocks - Bahadurpur, Chaka, Kaurihar and Meja. Around 35 per cent of the district's population depends upon groundwater and this project will benefit as many as 1,35,259 persons, including 30,417 belonging to the Scheduled Castes (2001 Census).
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Tribal Forest Dwellers Empowerment Scheme launched
The Government enacted a Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006. Under this act, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional forest Dwellers have been given the right to hold the forest land for habitation or for self-cultivation or for carrying out any other traditional activity for their livelihood. Most of the Scheduled Tribes are poor and need financial support for productive utilization of land for their livelihood. In order to provide concessional finance to the Forest Dwelling STs, the NSTFDC has formulated the new Tribal Forest Dwellers Empowerment Scheme. NSTFDC would generate awareness, provide training and assist in market linkage apart from providing financial assistance at concessional rate of interest of 6% p.a. to the beneficiaries. This assistance would be made available through 33 State Channelizing Agencies of NSTFDC and certain PSU Banks/ Regional Rural Banks having refinance agreements with NSTFDC.
issues over a long period. The framework will lead to specific actions and programmes to enhance the security posture of country's cyber space. Besides, cyber security intelligence forms an integral component to be able to anticipate attacks and quickly adopt counter measures. National Rural Livelihoods Mission (Aajeevika) revised by the Cabinet
The Radio Partnership MoU between NSTFDC and AIR will cover events organized by NSTFDC for socio economic empowerment of STs. The broadcast can be in 23 languages and 146dialects throughout the country. The coverage will be in the form of Radio Report with in-house/news reel programmes. As AIR is having foot print over the entire country and is covering more than 99% of population, this partnership will facilitate creation of larger awareness about programmes of NSTFDC throughout the country. Government approves National Cyber Security Policy
According to the government report, around 1,692 security threat incidents were reported to the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) from various national and international agencies, in last December. Thus the government has approved the National Cyber Security Policy that aims to create a secure computing environment in the country and seeks to build adequate trust and confidence in electronic transactions along with the focus on manpower training.
The policy caters for the whole spectrum of ICT users and providers including small and home users, medium and large enterprises and government and non-government entities. It aims to create a cyber security framework that will address all related
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The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) aims at creating efficient and effective institutional platforms of the rural poor enabling them to increase household income through sustainable livelihood enhancements and improved access to financial and selected public services. NRLM have special focus on the poorest households, it aims at establishing self-managed Self Help Groups (SHGs) and federated institutions. In addition, the poor would be facilitated to achieve increased access to their rights, entitlements and public services, diversified risk and better social indicators of empowerment. In a major boost to the roll out of the women's self help group model across the country, the Union Cabinet has cleared important changes to the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (Aajeevika). The changes will provide additional resources and additional flexibility to implement the NRLM (Aajeevika) in a more effective and accelerated manner across the country, creating new livelihoods and empowering women across rural India. The key changes approved are as follows: a) Improved targeting, by doing away with BPL criteria and instead identifying target groups through the Participatory Identification of Poor (PIP) process. Under the existing framework of implementation of N.R.L.M, only rural households included in the official BPL list could be targeted under N.R.L.M. This list was prepared in 2002, has not been updated and has many defects. Since the entire N.R.L.M scheme depends on the formation of affinity based groups of poor women with common bonding and synergistic functioning, which cannot be created by simply drawing persons from an externally prepared and incomplete BPL list, the Cabinet has now approved the that target groups under N.R.L.M will be determined by a well defined, transparent and equitable process of Participatory Identification of Poor (PIP), at the level of the community. The P.I.P process has been extensively demonstrated to be very
effectives in states where women's self-helpgroups have succeeded. The list finalized through the P.I.P process will be vetted by the Gram Sabha and approved by the Gram Panchayat. The P.I.P process will also have a set of exclusion criteria, automatic inclusion criteria and a set of deprivation indicators for enabling poverty ranking in a participatory manner. This delinks N.R.L.M target group from the BPL list. b) Interest subvention and additional interest subvention in 150 districts. The Cabinet has approved the provision of interest subvention to Women SHGs, enabling them to avail loans up to Rs. 3 lakh at an interest rate of 7 per cent per annum. Women SHGs that repay loans in time will get additional 3 per cent subvention, reducing the effective rate to 4 per cent. The initiative, in the first phase, would focus on 150 districts, including the 82 IAP districts, affected by Left Wing Extremism. c)
to continuously build capacities of the State rural livelihoods missions in planning, implementing and monitoring the programme. The Society structure would enable access to high quality professional support, provide flexibility to create partnerships and facilitate innovations and would serve as a knowledge center for rural livelihoods for the state missions. Further it will provide an opportunity for formally involving State Governments in decision-making, by nominating them to the Executive Committee of the Society. The World Bank Assisted ISSNIP launched
Change in the pattern of financial assistance replacing Capital subsidy with a Community Investment Support fund. Financial assistance to the poor households was so far provided in the form of capital subsidy linked to bank credit. It was felt that this did not create a perpetual and viable capital base at the S.H.G level and was open to misuse. The Cabinet has thus approved to withdraw 'capital subsidy' to S.H.Gs and instead provide financial support S.H.G federations and livelihoods organizations of the S.H.G members in the 'intensive' blocks through a grant called Community Investment Support fund, which will be used by the Federations to advance loans to S.H.Gs and to undertake common socioeconomic activities. This will happen in a phased manner, since intensive blocks will be added in a phased manner.
d) Setting up of National Level Society under N.R.L.M for more effective implementation. The Cabinet also approved the setting up an 'autonomous, adequately staffed, professionally managed and empowered agency at the national level to implement the N.R.L.M', called the National Rural Livelihoods Promotion Society (N.R.L.P.S) under the Societies Registration Act. The NRLPS will act as the technical support unit of N.R.L.M. The setting up of such a Society is essential to implement the programme in a mission mode, as livelihoods programmes require a wide range of specialization and experience. The main objective of the Society is
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The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) data had indicated about 43 percent children under 5 years of age and 40 percent under three children are underweight. Thus the World Bank assisted ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) has been launched by Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women & Child Development The four major components under the project are: (i) Institutional and systems strengthening in ICDS (ii) Community mobilization and behaviour change communication (iii) piloting multi-sectoral nutrition actions, and (iv) Project Management, Technical Assistance and Monitoring & Evaluation. The programme aims at improving child development and nutritional outcomes for children in selected districts having higher proportional of child under nutrition. The estimated cost of phase 1 of the project is about US$ 151.50 million (Rs. 682 crore) of which US$ 106 million is the International Development Association (IDA) share (70 percent). The World Bank is supporting this project initially with a concessionary loan of US$ 106 million payable over 25 years. This is likely to be followed by a second phase of support of US$ 344 million subject to assessment of phase 1. The first phase of the project will support the government's efforts to strengthen policy measures and institutional capacity needed to improve nutrition in the targeted groups of mothers and children and will also finance innovative pilots and programmers in 162 high malnutrition-burden districts across eight States. In additional the project will support urban/sub-urban pilots in NCR of Delhi and convergent nutrition action pilots in Odisha and Uttarakhand. There are significant regional disparities in nutritional indicators with 60 percent of the burden of malnutrition found in the low-income states
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(Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh) and an additional 810 percent of the burden concentrated in specific geographical areas in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Cabinet approved creation of the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA)
January this year and it was referred to a Group of Ministers (GoM) to review all aspects. Initiatally, there were some objections from ministries such as HRD and Labour and Employment which argued that the new body would lead to duplication of efforts. However, the differences were sorted out subsequently. Cabinet approves amendments to Multi-State Co-operatives Bill
The new skill body will coordinate and harmonise the skill development efforts of the government and the private sector to achieve the targets of the 12th Plan and beyond. It will also anchor and operationalise the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) and be the nodal agency for sector skills councils and endeavour to bridge the social, regional, gender and economic divides in skilling. Further, it will also be empowered to raise extra budgetary resources. The central ministries and NSDC will continue to implement schemes in their remit, the statement said.
The NSDA is expected to provide the muchneeded single point focus to ensure that skilling quality and standards meet sector-specific requirements benchmarked to international standards. The initiative will boost employability of youth in India. The proposal to set up NSDA was first considered by the Cabinet in its meeting held in
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The Union Cabinet has approved for constituting an autonomous body called the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) by subsuming the Prime Minister's National Council on Skill Development (PMNCSD), the National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB) and the Office of the Adviser to the PM on Skill Development. It will be located in the Ministry of Finance.
The Union Cabinet has approved the moving official amendments to the Multi-State Co-operative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010 which is pending in the Lok Sabha. The moving of official amendments ensures that the provisions of the Bill were in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution (97th Amendment) Act, 2011. The amendment proposes that if the Central Registrar opines that a multi-State co-operative society has become sick, it may be declared as "sick". Then the Centre or any person authorised by it shall prepare a scheme for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of such sick a society and the society shall place it before its general body for approval. It is also proposed that where a scheme for rehabilitation and the reconstruction of a multi-State co-operative society has been prepared, the Centre may, on the recommendation of general body, reorganise the board of such persons having experience in the field of co-operative, management finance, accountancy and any other area relating to such societies as may be recommended by general body. The Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill, 2010 seeks to further amend the provisions of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, 2002 "to keep the legislation in tune with the changing economic policies and to facilitate the multi-state co-operative societies to take advantage of the new and emerging opportunities."
INTERNATIONAL
State Of The World's Mothers Report 2013 released Save the Children released its 14th annual State of the World's Mothers (SOTWM) report: 'Surviving the First Day.' The report focuses on the staggering number of newborn deaths that occur in a baby's earliest days -- and the opportunity to reduce this universal tragedy. It includes data on women's health, children's health and economic wellbeing for 176 countries. Key highlights of the Report The first day of life is the most dangerous day for mothers and babies. Save the Children's firstever Birth Day Risk Index compares first-day death rates for 186 countries and finds that in most countries, children are at greatest risk on the day they are born. Babies in Somalia have the highest risk of dying on their birth day. First-day death rates are almost as high in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, and Sierra Leone. Mothers in these four countries are also at high risk on this day. Mothers in Somalia and Sierra Leone face the second and third highest lifetime risk of maternal death in the world, respectively. The first day is also a day of unequaled opportunity to save lives and set the stage for a healthy future. Most newborn and maternal deaths could be prevented by ensuring that mothers and newborns have access to low-cost, lifesaving interventions through improved and expanded health care systems. Ensuring access to well-trained and equipped health care workers during childbirth is part of the solution. According to the United Nations, four products could greatly assist health workers in saving many newborn lives. The products are: a) steroid injections for women in preterm labor (to reduce deaths due to premature babies' breathing problems); b) resuscitation devices (to save babies who do not breathe at birth); c) hlorhexidine cord cleansing (to prevent umbilical cord infections); and Other low-cost interventions such as kangaroo mother care and early and exclusive breastfeeding would save many more babies. Such interventions, as part of strengthened health care systems, not only can dramatically reduce maternal and newborn deaths, but also can prevent a lifetime of negative health consequences such as long-term disabilities, intellectual impairment and increased vulnerability to illness. Poor health is not only costly for individuals and their families, it can also impede a nation's efforts toward economic growth. Mothers and babies in sub-Saharan Africa face the greatest risks. Maternal, child and newborn death rates have declined across the developing world since 1990, but progress has been slowest in subSaharan Africa. The bottom 10 countries on the Mothers' Index are all in sub-Saharan Africa. Many of these same countries also have very high rates of first-day death, and sub-Saharan Africa also occupies the 10 worst spots on the Birth Day Risk Index. Seven countries - Central African Republic, Chad, Cte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Sierra Leone and Somalia - score in the bottom 10 on both indices. While mothers and babies struggle for survival in much of sub-Saharan Africa, a number of countries have demonstrated that progress is possible despite great challenges. On the Mother's Index -- the global ranking system for maternal and infant health -- Finland, Sweden and Norway top the list, while Sierra Leone, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo bring up the rear. The United States fell from number 25 to number 30 in 2013 and is also the country in which more than half of all first-day deaths in the industrialized world occur. India and South Asia Further over three lakh newborns in India die within 24 hours of their birth every year - the highest number in the world. With a total of 3,09,000 babies hardly surviving a day, India tops the list for such deaths. The country accounts for 29 per cent of all such deaths - ahead even of Nigeria, Pakistan and China.
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d) injectable antibiotics (to treat newborn sepsis and pneumonia).

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Quoting Sample Registration Survey (SRS 2011) figures, the report says Madhya Pradesh has the highest burden of early newborn deaths (0-7 days) at 32, followed closely by Uttar Pradesh and Odisha (30). Other States with high burden are Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir. Kerala is the leader in reducing neonatal mortality by a wide margin, while Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Maharashtra too have improved the national rate. The report also claims that 4,20,000 babies across South Asia die on their first day - almost one every minute. According to the report, of the one million babies who die each year on the day they are born, almost 40 per cent are in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Chronic malnourishment which leads to mental or physical impairment or 'stunting' is particularly severe in the region.
alleged human rights violations in Russia and differences over Syria. The developments have emerged from the talks between the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. They will try to convince both the Syrian government and opposition to accept a solution based on the core elements of the final communique issued on 30 June 2012, after the UN-backed Action Group for Syria meeting. The communique called for an immediate cessation of violence and the establishment of a transitional government that could include officials serving under President Bashar al-Assad and members of the opposition. Afghanistan agreed for stay of US forces after 2014
Bangladesh has reduced newborn mortality by 49 per cent since 1990. Community health workers reaching mothers and babies at home, and training birth attendants and medical staff in resuscitation devices to help babies breathe are factors in this progress. Nepal has reduced mortality by 47 per cent since 1990. In South Asia, there are striking differences among countries in the case of maternal risk to life. In Afghanistan, a mother has a one in 32 risk of maternal death, in India it is 1 in 170, and in Nepal one in 190. The top five countries in the South Asian mothers' ranking are: Maldives, Sri Lanka and Bhutan. The bottoms five are (in descending order) Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Nigeria has 89,700 deaths in this category, followed by Pakistan (59,800), China (50,600), Congo (48,400), Ethiopia (28,800), Bangladesh (28,100), Indonesia (23,400), Afghanistan (18,000) and Tanzania (17,000). U.S., Russia agree on Syria peace process
Russia and the United States have agreed to work together to bring the warring sides in Syria to the negotiating table, raising hopes for an end to carnage in the war-torn country and a thaw in frosty relations between Moscow and Washington. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, the USA and Russia have often represented opposite poles on most of the issues of global consequence, such as Iraq invasion, attack on Afghanistan, USA- Iran standoff, western powers' intervention in Libya, Egypt, Syria etc. Russia has frequently been seen aligning alongside China on these issues. Relations between Moscow and Washington have recently soured over
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has irked Washington with his frequent criticism of American military operations in his country, has agreed to let the U.S. have nine bases across Afghanistan after most foreign troops withdraw in 2014. The Americans will establish their bases in major Afghan cities including Kabul, Bagram, Mazar-iSharif, Jalalabad, Gardez, Kandahar, Helmand, Shindand and Herat. Whereas in return Afghanistan asked US to intensify efforts in the peace process, strengthen Afghanistan's security forces, provide concrete support to the economy - power, roads and dams and provide assistance in governance. Pacific nations engage in tsunami preparedness exercise "PacWave13"
More than 30 Pacific Rim countries have took part in a United Nations-backed tsunami warning exercise to improve their ability to respond to an alert and enhance regional coordination in the event of a disaster. According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is coordinating the two-week long warning exercise through its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), around 75 per cent of the world's tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean and connected seas. The region has been struck by four tsunamis in the past five years: Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga were hit in 2009; Chile in 2010; Japan in 2011; and the Solomon Islands in 2013. In addition, an average of one or two local tsunamis has struck worldwide every year over the past century.
The test called Exercise Pacific Wave 2013 would help the 39 countries involved in improving their response capability in the event of a tsunami and were "to reduce significantly the number of areas warned unnecessarily and to help provide advanced notice of potential local tsunamis." Exercise Pacific Wave 2013, also known as PacWave13, will simulate a tsunami warning
situation requiring Government decision-making regarding three scenarios for possible earthquakes occurring either off the northern coasts of Japan, the Philippines or Chile, which will generate destructive tsunamis. Each Pacific country participating in the exercise will select one of these three scenarios with the evaluation of the outcome expected for 31 May.
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ECONOMY
PPP Policy with CIL envisaged by the government The Union Government has envisaged that one of the ways forward to reduce the dependence on imports is to devise a Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy framework with CIL as one of the partners in order to increase the production of coal for supply to power producers and other consumers. Thus the Ministry of Coal has set up a Committee to devise a PPP Policy framework with CIL as one of the partners in order to increase production of coal. Besides this, the Government has taken following measures to further step up domestic production which includes: a) Emphasis on modernization and technology development and coal quality improvement. The move is part of increasing the scope of its financial inclusion drive to urban areas on one hand and helping the government realize its efforts to plug the loopholes in subsidy deliveries by transferring all the benefits directly to the bank accounts of the target people. The scheme will be extended to all the districts in metropolitan areas. The LBS in its present form is applicable only to non-urban districts. Further to help the government meets its objective of covering the maximum number of people under the ambitious direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme; the Reserve Bank also asked banks to open the Aadhaar-based bank accounts in camp mode with the help of local government authorities. Accordingly, the apex bank has also decided to ask banks to seed the existing accounts or the new accounts with the Aadhaar numbers apart from putting in place an effective mechanism to monitor and review the progress in the implementation of DBT which aims at transferring the subsidy to the beneficiaries' bank accounts. According to the financial inclusion plan (FIP) 2010-13, as many as 2-lakh villages came under the banking fold. Still the work is very long as there are more than 4-lakh unbanked villages. The RBI also asked banks to draw up the next FIP for the period 2013-16 to take financial inclusion to the next stage of providing universal coverage and facilitating electronic benefit transfer (EBT). RBI panel favours differential tax regime for exporters
b) Emphasis on infrastructure development. c) Periodical review of development of coal blocks. d) Development of some of the coal blocks assigned to CIL through engaging Mine Development & Operator (MDO).
e) Periodical review of on going projects. f) Constant persuasion with Ministry of Railways for expeditious implementation of critical rail lines & improved supply of rakes.
g) Regular persuasion with the State Governments on the pending issues and law & order problems. h) Regular interaction with line Ministries and State Governments for clearing Environment and Forest clearances for new projects. RBI extends lead bank scheme to urban areas in inclusion drive
RBI in a special drive to increase financial inclusion in urban areas - has asked banks to bring all districts in metropolitan areas under the lead bank scheme (LBS) fold. The purpose of the LBS extension is to bring all the unbanked urban areas under the banking fold. The lead bank scheme, launched way back in 1969, is an integrated mechanism to extend banking services to the doorsteps of consumers, especially the poor.
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The Reserve Bank had constituted a technical committee on services/facilities for the exporters under the Chairmanship of RBI Executive Director G. Padmanabhan to suggest ways for improving financial support from alternative sources. In order to boost exports and bridge the current account deficit gap, a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) committee, suggested a slew of measures such as introduction of differential tax regime, and increasing the scope of interest subsidy scheme for exporters. The Committee has also made recommendations relating to i) review of Gold Card Scheme for
According to the committee there was a need to widen the scope of interest subvention to ensure larger exporter segment derive benefit from the Scheme. It has recommended for "inclusion of additional sectors such as electronics and all engineering goods, especially automotive sector, and all exports originating from domestic tariff area units to SEZs".
It also asked for early introduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax) to make the tax structures more streamlined for exporters, who incur numerous levies, such as VAT (value added tax), purchase tax, turnover tax, octroi, electricity duty, which are making the export pricing uncompetitive. Further, the committee recommended continuation of export credit refinance policy for three years which would provide certainty in availability of funds to the banks for managing their asset-liability positions, and would also build confidence among the exporting community.
It asked for setting up of a nodal agency for borrowing in foreign currency from abroad on a pool basis, and further lend to these companies in India at competitive rates. Borrowing on a pool basis will increase the bargaining power of this nodal agency with overseas lender thereby ensuring cost effective solution to exporters for its technological innovation/ upgrades/ capacity expansion. CAD, which is the difference between the inflow and outflow of foreign currency, had touched a record high of 6.7 per cent in the December quarter of last fiscal year. Exports declined by 1.76 per cent to $300.6 billion in 2012-13. The trade deficit during the period has touched an all time high of $190.91 billion.
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extension of export credit to exporters, ii) appropriate inclusion of export finance under the Priority Sector Advances for scheduled commercial banks, iii) raising of foreign currency loans on pool basis for extension of export credit to exporters, iv) allowing factoring on non recourse basis, v) liberalization of merchanting trade, vi) financing to units in Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) / Special Economic Zone (SEZ), vii) more incentives in the area of taxation benefits and subvention, viii) denomination of export credit limit in foreign currency, ix) simplification of hedging procedure, xi) securitization of receivable/ introduction of new insurance products by Export Credit Gurantee Corporation (ECGC)/liberalization of claim procedure by ECGC, etc. Reserve Bank along with the other agencies would examine the recommendations for implementation.
RBI panel moots India Bill Payment System
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel mooted 'India Bill Payment System' (IBPS), a GIRO-based electronic bill payment system for payment of dues of essential services, insurance premia, utility payments, taxes, university fees, examination fees and school fees. The committee set up to study the feasibility of implementation of the GIRO-based payment system in India under the chairmanship of G. Padmanabhan, Executive Director by RBI has recommended initiating a service mark/logo and displaying it on the bills as well as the IBPS points, where payments are accepted. The consumer will be provided with an instant receipt by the IBPS, acknowledging the receipt of the payment. This model will enable the setting up of a centralised infrastructure bringing all the billers and banks to the bill platform through the aggregators. It will also allow interoperability in the bill payment process and enable the consumers to make payments at any of the collection points, which is the essence of GIRO system. GIRO payment is a credit push transaction initiated by the payer and may involve the presence of three banks (collecting bank, payer bank and the payee bank). Bill paying public/customers can access any payment channel through banks/non-bank entity under the proposed GIRO system. This is part of the ongoing efforts of the central bank in improving payment and settlement systems as laid out in its Payment Systems vision (2012-15). At present, there is no standardised system of bill data codification across billers. However, the IBPS would support the prevalent mode of bill presentment, which is largely paper-based and also encourage electronic presentment. Mobile number/ Aadhaar-based mapping for payers and billers could also be undertaken while safeguarding the consumers' privacy at the same time. Further, the committee recommended that the payment information from the IBPS point should flow online to help minimize reconciliation issues and customer grievances. The billers/businesses which may not be able to provide/support online flow of payment information may leverage the aggregators' capability in this regard. Further the IBPS should enable acceptance of all payment instruments, including cash at the IBPS points. The system should provide for acceptance of payments at any IBPS outlet, including bank branches and ATMs. It should also facilitate acceptance of payments through IVRS, net banking and mobile banking."
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The IBPS will provide for online registration of complaints from customers and the first point of contact (bank branches/customer service point receiving the payment) would provide customer support. But the customer grievances related to bill payment will have to be attended to by the biller and IBPS/aggregator would provide the necessary support to the billers in this regard. Ideally, the committee recommended that a separate organisation needs to be set up to operate and manage the IBPS in a professional manner and the operations of the organisation should be run on commercial lines. The organisation should have an advisory body/steering committee with representations from billers, aggregators, banks, payment networks, customers and others. The new organisation could be authorised by the RBI under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007, to operate the IBPS. Approval for funding Phase IV of the UIDAI
marginalized section of the society and thus would strengthen equity. Apart from providing identity, the UID will enable better delivery of services and effective governance. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was established in 2009 and has been mandated to issue Unique Identification (UID) numbers to residents of India. UIDAI was constituted by the Government of India on 28th January 2009 as an attached office of the Planning Commission. Consequent upon creation and establishment of the UIDAI in 2009 for providing unique identification to residents across the country, the proposal for Phase I of the scheme was placed before the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) for seeking approval for an amount of Rs.147.31 crore to meet expenditure during the initial period of 12 months. The proposal was approved by the SFC in its meeting held on 11th November, 2009 and by the Finance Minister subsequently. Subsequently, Phase II of the scheme comprising cost estimates towards issuing 10 crore UID numbers (Aadhaar numbers) through multiple registrars, other project components and recurring establishment costs for the period upto March 2014 for an total outlay of Rs.3,023.01 crore was approved by the CC-UIDAI in its meeting held on 22nd July, 2010. Thereafter, Phase III of the scheme comprising cost estimates towards issue of UID numbers (Aadhaar numbers) to 20 crore residents through multiple registrars upto March 2012, technology and other support infrastructure costs for creation, storage and maintenance of data and services for leveraging the usage of Aadhaar for the entire estimated resident population upto March 2017 was approved by the CC-UIDAI in its meeting held on 27th January, 2012. The outlay was Rs.8,814.75 crore by subsuming the earlier approval of Rs.3,023.01 crore for Phase II of the Scheme. EGoM likely to snatch power to determine fuel prices from coal regulator
The Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification Authority of India (CC-UIDAI) has approved cost estimates of Phase IV of the UID Scheme at an estimated cost of Rs.3436.16 crore which includes various project components such as cost of enrolment for additional 40 crore residents through multiple registrars, cost of updation services, cost of printing and delivery of Aadhaar letters, additional cost for construction of buildings for headquarters, data centres, non-data centres and additional rent for regional offices of UIDAI.
The expenditure comprises (a) Rs. 1600 crore towards cost of enrolments for additional 40 crore residents, (b) Rs. 490 crore towards cost of updation services, (c) Rs.1049 crore towards cost of printing and dispatch of Aadhaar letters, (d) Rs. 247.16 crore towards additional cost for construction of buildings for headquarters, data centres and non-data centres. Phase IV of the project will commence immediately. Since the launch of the project on 29th September 2010, UID numbers have been issued to more than 31 crore residents. Enrolment for additional 40 crore residents allotted to UIDAI will be completed by March 2014. UID numbers will also be issued in respect of enrolment data packets received through Registrar General of India (RGI) as per their committed time lines. The UID project would provide unique numbers to all residents of India. The UID project is primarily aimed at ensuring inclusive growth by providing a form of identity to those who do not have any identity. It also seeks to provide UID numbers to
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An empowered group of ministers (EGoM) chaired by finance minister P Chidambaram has decided that the proposed regulator in the coal sector should have no pricing powers and its say would be limited in recommending the guiding principles of pricing the fuel. The regulator, however, would be empowered to adjudicate on disputes relating to price, quality, including disputes arising out of fuel supply agreements (FSAs). All disputes will be adjudicated
with the regulator and then there will be an appellate authority. The proposal for setting up an independent regulatory authority for coal sector was also submitted for consideration of the Cabinet. An independent regulator for the sector is considered important for fixing guidelines for price revision, improving competitiveness in the e-auctions, setting trading margins and increasing transparency in the allocation of reserves. The EGoM agreed to the point made by coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal that fixation of coal price was de-controlled in phases between 1996-2000 with the objective of ensuring that the coal companies generate sufficient surplus revenue to finance fresh investments for fresh exploration. The GoM includes Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Mr. Jaiswal. New major ports coming in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh
major ports in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh at an investment of about Rs.15,820 crore. The new port in West Bengal, which will have a capacity of 54 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), requires an investment of around Rs.7,820 crore. The need for a port at Sagar in West Bengal was felt as the existing ports at Kolkata and Haldia were facing capacity constraints. The other new port in Andhra Pradesh, whose projected capacity is around 50 mtpa, would entail an investment of about Rs.8,000 crore. The new ports will be notified as major ports under the Indian Ports Act, 1908. Major ports come under the Central Government, while minor ports are operated by State governments as well as by the private sector. There are at present 12 major ports - KolkataHalida, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, V O Chidambaranar (formerly Tuticorin), Kochi, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru (JNPT) and Kandla. The new major ports are likely to be set up on public-private partnership (PPP) mode, and will cater to increased imports of coal and oil besides boosting the local economy and generating jobs.
Giving a push to infrastructure development, the government has approved a proposal to set up two
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INDIA AND THE WORLD

China pulls out troops from Daulat Beg Oldi sector After a tense face-off for a couple of weeks, Chinese troops have finally decided to withdraw from Indian Territory in Depsang plains in northern Ladakh. This will pave the way for foreign minister Salman Khurshid's visit to Beijing on May 9 and the Chinese premier's India visit on May 20. A battalion of Chinese troops estimate at about 50 and accompanied by vehicles and dogs had intruded 19 km inside the Indian Territory across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Daulat Beg Oldi sector on April 15 and set up five tents. The Indian troops had also established tented posts facing the Chinese forces at a distance of 300 metres. The troops of the two sides held four flag meetings, the last one being on Saturday. However, there was no positive outcome from these meetings, which went hand-in-hand with high level diplomatic efforts to break the impasse. The Chinese had been insisting that India should dismantle its security and monitoring posts built in Chumar and other areas. India had resisted this because Chumar is considered to have strategic significance, particularly since Indian soldiers can monitor troop movements across the Line of Actual Control from there. Finally an agreement was reached later and both sides agreed to pull back their troops simultaneously from the face off point. Further the Saudi kingdom also made it clear that if the expatriates, who have to return to the homeland jobless, were able to succeed in getting a new job/sponsor, they could continue to stay there without facing any hardship. A number of companies/corporate houses were approaching the Indian Embassy in the kingdom offering jobs/ sponsorship to the jobless Indian expatriates. Based on the request made by India, the kingdom had already deferred enforcement of Nitaqat by three months from April 1. The problem for Saudi employers in implementing Nitaqat is that they would have to reserve 10 per cent jobs for the locals and give them a minimum of 3,000 Riyals (one Riyal is equal to about Rs.14.50) a month as salary. In order to reduce the unemployment rate among the Saudi citizens, the Saudi government issued a new system for the localization of jobs in Saudi Arabia under the name of "Nitaqat". The new system replaces the system applied since 1994 under the name of "The Saudization". The Nitaqat divides the labour market into 41 activities and each activity into 5 sizes (Giant, Large, Medium, Small and Very Small) to have in total 205 categories. The performance of the establishment in the localization of the jobs is to be evaluated compared with the similar establishment's activity and size in order to have fair standard for the evaluation After the evaluation, Nitaqat classifies these establishments into ranges (Excellent, Green, Yellow and Red) based on the ratio of the citizens working in the establishment. The Excellent and Green range, which are the ranges with the highest localization ratios, will be rewarded, while the system deals firmly with the Red range, which is the range with the lowest localization ratio and gives more time for the Yellow range to adjust their positions, being the medium range. The motive of applying the Nitaqat system is to make the appointment of Saudi citizens represent a competitive advantage for the establishments in the Kingdom.
New concession for Indians in Saudi Arabia The Saudi Arabian government has announced a new concession to the expatriates who are affected by the new Nitaqat (naturalisation) law to be enforced in the kingdom. The announcement would greatly benefit a large number of Indian expatriates, over one lakh of them. According to the new norms those expatriates who were staying illegally/overstayed could return to homeland without facing penal action. The cutoff date for this would be April 6, 2013 (ie, those who were found to be staying illegally on or prior to that date). Earlier the Saudi Arabia has warned illegal foreign workers, including Indians, that they will face jail and fines once the three-month grace period ends on July 3, but those willing to return to India will not face any penalty.
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Asian Development Bank to assist India in development
Recently the Asian Development Bank (ADB) made a commitment to maintain an assistance quantum of about $6 billion loan to India over the next three years.
In 2012, the lending agency had extended a total loan assistance worth $ 2.4 billion to India spread across diverse sectors such as transport, energy, commerce, industry, trade and finance. The ADB chief also indicated that the bank would maintain its loan assistance quantum of $10 billion each year to member-nations despite the low returns on investments, a major resource challenge which would require urgent attention. As has been suggested by governors on its board from various countries, the ADB may opt for investments in a diverse basket of assets to fetch larger revenue, even as "financial safety and return is the key objective while making investment". India-Iran Joint Commission held
Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Iran to attend the 17th India-Iran Joint Commission meeting co-chaired by his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi.
During the meet both sides has reviewed the bilateral relations, and are also discussed the upgradation of Iran's Chahbahar port (located roughly 80 kilometers west of Pakistan's Gwadar Post, which is operated by a Chinese company) which gives India access to Afghanistan. The Indian and Iranian parties also talked about the developing situation in Afghanistan and agreed to remain in regular contact. "They reaffirmed their support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity
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c)
Rapid economic growth in India over the past 2 decades has lifted millions out of poverty. However, income disparities and regional imbalances remain. To supplement the government's efforts in reducing interstate disparities and promoting regionally balanced growth, ADB has expanded its operations in low income and special category states. An important aspect of ADB's engagement in these states has been its support to strengthening the capacities of executing agencies in planning and implementation of infrastructure projects, and exposing them to new technologies and international and regional best practices.
of Afghanistan,". The two sides also reiterated the importance of greater connectivity between Russia, Central and South Asia through the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). India and Iran expressed their strong concern "on the continuing and unabated violence" in Syria. The delegations called upon all sides in Syria to "abjure violence and resolve all issues peacefully through discussions," and renewed their support to the Geneva Communiqu, including the 6-Point Plan of Kofi Annan, and welcomed the Joint Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's efforts. Three Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed. a) MOU between Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Islamic Republic of Iran (ISIRI) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). b) MOU between the Foreign Service Institute, Ministry of External Affairs, Republic of India and School of International Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran. MOU between the Government of Republic of India and the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran on cooperation in the field of water resources management.
Indian External Affairs Minister has also inaugurated the Indian Cultural Centre in Tehran. The 16th Session of the Joint India-Iran Commission was held in New Delhi on July 8-9, 2010. The 30-member delegation of Iran led by Iranian Economy Minister Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini participated in that meeting. India and Iran have been holding discussions at regular intervals on issues related to economic cooperation under the joint commission mechanism, which was established in July 1983. The meeting of the Joint India-Iran Commission provided an opportunity to review bilateral economic and cultural cooperation. India and Iran share strong cultural and economic ties. Both countries shared a border until 1947, and following India's partition, diplomatic links were established in 1950. Bilateral trade between the two nations stood at $ 15.94 billion in 201112. However, recent economic sanctions imposed on Iran have had an adverse effect on the bilateral trade as the international banking channels have gradually become non-existent.
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Gene causing motor developmental delay identified radar system that is able to sense the trunks and big branches of trees from orbit. Scientists will use Biomass to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests, and to monitor for any changes over the course of the five-year mission. The satellite's data will help researchers understand better the role trees play in the cycling of carbon on Earth and, by extension, the influence this has on the planet's climate. In addition, Biomass will return information on national forestry resources, and that's important for things like energy and biodiversity. The satellite will be the seventh of the agency's so-called Earth Explorers - a series of spacecraft that are designed to do innovative science in obtaining data on issues of pressing environmental concern. Three missions have so far gone into orbit, returning remarkable new information on gravity, polar ice cover, soil moisture and ocean salinity. A fourth, to study the Earth's magnetic field, launches this year; with satellites to study the wind and fine particles in the atmosphere further back in the development schedule. About satellite Biomass will be a 1.2-tonne satellite at launch, meaning it will probably go up on Esa's new Vega rocket, which successfully conducted only its second flight overnight. Its sole instrument will send down a 70cm radar pulse that will penetrate the leafy canopies of forests but scatter back off the large woody parts of trees. It will sense the volume of material at a resolution of about 200m. In essence, it will be able to weigh the amount of carbon tied up in the world's forests. A 12m reflector antenna will be needed to capture the return signal from the radar pulse. An antenna of this size has to be folded for launch to fit inside the Vega vehicle, and then unfurled once the satellite has reached its 650km-high orbit. Currently, Biomass will not be permitted to operate over North America, Europe and the Arctic. Moon and Earth Have Common Water Source A global team of researchers comprising .C. Verma, director of the Centre for Medical Genetics at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Monica Juneja of the Department of Paediatrics at the Maulana Azad Medical College has identified the causative gene behind the motor developmental delay in children around the globe. The team by using gene sequencing has found that mutations in the DARS gene were responsible for causing inherited brain disorder, HBSL (Hypomyelination with Brain Stem and Spinal Cord Involvement and Leg Spasticity). Hypomyelination occurs when people do not have enough myelin, the substance that coats nerve fibres and enables the transmission of electrical impulses in the nervous system. The discovery assumes significance for, at present between 30 and 40 per cent of patients with intellectual disability go undiagnosed in India. Discovering the causative gene will help in providing genetic counselling to the family. It will also ensure that they have normal children. New bird flu variant in China a mix of 4 strains
The new H7N9 bird flu strain has been found to be a mixture of genes. This virus has claimed 26 lives in the Chinese mainland. The strain was found to be a new type of "quadruple reassortant" virus with a mixture of genes from four flu strains found in birds. One of those genes is likely to have come from migratory birds from East Asia. The H7 influenza virus was later transmitted to ducks in the Yangtze River Delta region during migration. The ducks might have acted as a host, transferring viruses of wild birds to domestic poultry. Another six gene segments are traceable to chickens in east China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, as well as in Shanghai. European expected to launch a satellite to monitor Earth's forests
A satellite Biomass that can "weigh" the Earth's forests is expected to launch in 2020 by European Space Agency. The spacecraft will carry a novel
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Researchers used a multi-collector ion microprobe to study hydrogen-deuterium ratios in lunar rock and on Earth. They concluded that: The Moon's water did not come from comets but was
already present on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, when a giant collision sent material from Earth to form the Moon. The findings raise new questions about the process that formed the Moon. The Moon is thought to have formed from a disc of debris left when a giant object hit Earth 4.5 billion years ago, very early in Earth's history. Scientists have long assumed that the heat from an impact of that size would cause hydrogen and other volatile elements to boil off into space, meaning the Moon must have started off completely dry. But recently, NASA spacecraft and new research on samples from the Apollo missions have shown that the Moon actually has water, both on its surface and beneath. By showing that water on the Moon and on Earth came from the same source, this new study offers yet more evidence that the Moon's water has been there all along.
places in the solar system have different amounts of deuterium. In general, things formed closer to the sun have less deuterium than things formed farther out. Researchers found that the deuterium/hydrogen ratio in the melt inclusions was relatively low and matched the ratio found in carbonaceous chondrites, meteorites originating in the asteroid belt near Jupiter and thought to be among the oldest objects in the solar system. That means the source of the water on the Moon is primitive meteorites, not comets as some scientists thought. 3D-printed gun shot successfully
To find the origin of the Moon's water, researchers looked at melt inclusions found in samples brought back from the Apollo missions. Melt inclusions are tiny dots of volcanic glass trapped within crystals called olivine. The crystals prevent water escaping during an eruption and enable researchers to get an idea of what the inside of the Moon is like. Research from 2011 led by Hauri found that the melt inclusions have plenty of water -- as much water in fact as lavas forming on Earth's ocean floor. Using a Cameca NanoSIMS 50L multicollector ion microprobe at Carnegie, the researchers measured the amount of deuterium in the samples compared to the amount of regular hydrogen. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen with an extra neutron. Water molecules originating from different
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The world's first gun made almost entirely with a 3D printer has been successfully fired in the US. The gun - called the "Liberator" and produced by Defense Distributed, a group that describes itself as aiming to "defend the civil liberty of popular access to arms" through "information and knowledge related to the 3D printing of arms. Unlike the original, steel Liberator, it is almost entirely plastic: Fifteen of its 16 pieces have been created inside an $8,000 second-hand Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, a machine that lays down threads of melted polymer that add up to preciselyshaped solid objects just as easily as a traditional printer lays ink on a page. The only non-printed piece is a common hardware store nail used as its firing pin. All of the necessary parts can be printed from a 3D printer. In order to comply with US laws, the gun as produced also has a 175g chunk of steel inside it, so that it doesn't evade metal detectors). It is a fullblown gun, and recognisably so.
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2 - MARKERS
CBSE introduces vocational courses Skill-based courses that can help a student enter the job market soon after school have now been introduced by the Central Board of Secondary Education along with a course of Compassionate Citizen, that has been designed to teach children to be kind to animals. As for the skill-based courses, CBSE has shortlisted some private institutes which offer special training programmes for skill development. In order to take this initiative to a maximum number of students, CBSE has also asked schools to tie up with these private institutes. The list, drawn up by CBSE, includes 35 skill knowledge providers in 11 areas, including retail, information technology, security, automobile, banking and insurance, hospitality and tourism, mass media and media production, health and beauty, music production, design, and medical diagnostics. This course is essential for students to excel and emerge successful in real life situations of work. The "Compassionate Citizen" course will be part of the curriculum for students aged between eight and 12 years and has been designed by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Students will be taught how to behave and respect animals and would be provided with information on how to be sensitive to animals' rights and needs. 2013 as "Water Conservation Year" declared by cabinet The Union Cabinet has declared the year 2013 as "Water Conservation Year 2013. A number of mass awareness activities will be undertaken during Water Conservation Year 2013 with emphasis on sensitizing the masses on water related issues, encourage them to conserve and use it judiciously. The policies and programmes of the Ministry of Water Resources will be propagated to create a sustainable society and economy. An effective and sustained mass awareness programme will be launched with the involvement of all stakeholders to achieve the objectives identified in the National Water Policy, 2012 and National Water Mission. National Technology Day on 11 may
The course is not compulsory. Students studying in CBSE-affiliated schools will be given a choice to opt for these competency-based skill courses along with the general academic subjects. Haryana students to get 'Shiksha Setu' cards
To keep the teachers and guardians updated about students' performance Haryana Government will issue 'Shiksha Setu' cards for all government schools, which will keep the teachers and guardians updated about students' performance. The move aims to ensure that individual attention is given to every student, it would help in imparting quality education in government schools. Furthermore, teachers will be provided with diaries to ensure they reach their respective classes with full preparation.
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On 11th May, 1998 India achieved a major technological breakthrough by successfully carrying out nuclear tests at Pokhran. Also first, indigenous aircraft "Hansa-3" was test flown at Bangalore on this day and India also performed successful test firing of the Trishul missile on the same day. Considering above technological achievements on a particular date i.e. 11th May, the day of 11th May was chosen to be commemorated as National Technology Day. Technology Day is celebrated as a symbol of quest for scientific inquiry, technological creativity and the translation of that quest in the integration of Science, Society and Industry. This day is also celebrated to honour technological innovations and their successful commercialization which makes fruits of research reach people at large. To commemorate this day, TDB instituted a National Award which is conferred upon both the provider of technology and the developer of technology product. The award carries an amount of Rs.10 Lakh each to the Industrial Concern and the technology provider, and a trophy each to both. In addition to this TDB has introduced cash Award of Rs. 5.00 lakhs and a trophy to be given to maximum three SSI units which have successfully commercialized a technology based product.
World Heritage Sites status sought for 6 Rajasthan forts, Himalayan park
World Heritage Sites are extremely exceptional cultural and natural properties nominated voluntarily by signatory nations. This year India has nominated a group of six hill forts in Rajasthan and the Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh as candidates for World Heritage Sites. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee at its meeting in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh next month will decide on conferring the status on them. The hill forts at Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore, Gagron, Amber, and Jaisalmer are excellent examples of Rajput military architecture, which are found in palaces, temples, memorials and even in villages. Built between 13th and 19th centuries, these forts are unique to this region and creatively use the landscape to increase protection. The Great Himalayan National Park, spread over 75,400 hectares, is located on the western part of the Himalayan mountains in Kullu District. It is among the most scenic sites in the country and rich in biodiversity. It is home to 25 forest types, supports 805 kinds of plants and hosts 31 species of mammals and 209 sort of birds. A key benefit of ratification, particularly for developing countries, is access to the World Heritage Fund. Annually, about US$4 million is made available to assist States Parties in identifying, preserving and promoting World Heritage sites. Emergency assistance may also be made available for urgent action to repair damage caused by humanmade or natural disasters. Polar Music Prize 2013
The award, founded in 1992 by the late Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, is typically shared by a pop artist and a classical musician. Najib Razak sworn as Premier of Malaysia
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been selected for the second term after his Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition, which has ruled for 56 years. Roberto Azevedo selected as WTO's new chief
Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour and Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho have been awarded the 2013 Polar Music Prize, Sweden's most prestigious award for musicians. They will each receive 1 million kronor ($153,300) and an invitation to the prize ceremony in Stockholm 27 August.
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Roberto Azevedo, a Brazilian trade diplomat, has been selected as the next head of the World Trade Organization. He has become the first Latin American to head the trade group since its creation in 1995. He will succeed France's Pascal Lamy in September. MIG-29 K fighter planes commissioned into Navy
The squadron, named INAS 303 Black Panthers, will be commissioned by the Defence Minister at INS Hansa Naval base in Goa. The aircrafts were inducted in the force on February 19, 2010. The MIG-29K (K stands for 'Korabelny' meaning "Carrier Borne" in Russian) is a potent carrier borne fighter, which, once integrated with 'INS Vikramaditya' will bolster the Navy's punch with its multi-role capability. The aircraft, armed with its arsenal of weapons, including advanced anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles, precious bombs and sophisticated systems to support weapon delivery, will not only be able to dominate the air in all spectrum of conflict but simultaneously project power to meet the nation's military objectives. This lethal fighter aircraft will enhance Indian Navy's capability to exercise air superiority in its area of influence. It will also decisively enhance the core of Navy's striking power.
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EDITORIALS
The responsibility to protect A sound whistleblowers' protection law is long awaited. It languishes in Parliament at the system's peril Nandi Singh, a resident of a remote village in Assam, was brutally attacked with axes in September 2012 as a result of a complaint filed by him regarding irregularities in the functioning of fair price shops supplying rations under the public distribution system. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital and his wife was seriously injured in the attack. Nandi Singh had also been attacked a month prior to his murder and had filed a case and sought protection. His wife and two children await justice. Ram Thakur from Bihar's Muzaffarpur district was shot dead last month by relatives of the mukhiya of his village. He had exposed embezzlement of funds in the MGNREGA in Ratnauli panchayat using muster rolls and other information he had accessed under the RTI Act. He had also alleged that the mukhiya of the village had siphoned off the funds. Prior to the fatal attack, there had been several incidents of attacks on him and he had repeatedly sought protection from the police. Nandi Singh, Ram Thakur and thousands like them across the country have been threatened, assaulted, even killed for raising their voices against corruption and wrongdoing. Following the passage of the RTI Act in 2005, it isn't just officials within the system who have access to government information - ordinary citizens across the country are holding local officials to account in ways that were unfathomable even a decade ago. Unfortunately, for these whistleblowers who dared to show truth to power, there has been no justice. Neither have their attacks and murders been properly investigated, nor have the cases of corruption and wrongdoing they exposed been dealt with. The well-known case of Satyendra Dubey, a graduate from IIT-Kanpur who was murdered in 2003, after he exposed financial and contractual irregularities in the Golden Quadrilateral Corridor Project of the National Highways Authority of India, had sparked the demand for an effective bill to protect whistleblowers. However, over nine years
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and innumerable attacks on whistleblowers later, the bill remains stuck in legislative morass. The Whistleblowers Protection Bill, introduced in Parliament in August 2010, was passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011 and has been awaiting discussion and passage in the Rajya Sabha. The bill provides for a mechanism to conceal the identity of a whistleblower, where (s)he feels that revelation of identity would lead to victimisation or harassment by vested interests. The bill makes it an offence to reveal the identity of the complainant and prescribes imprisonment and fine for anyone who reveals the identity. In addition, there are provisions to protect the whistleblower from victimisation resulting from the disclosures made. There are, however, several lacunae in the bill that need to be discussed and addressed in Parliament. One of the most significant is the lack of a clear and adequately broad definition of what constitutes victimisation. It is critical to ensure that under the law, in case of a complaint of victimisation, the charge should stand established if the action or inaction that led to the complaint violates any law, rule, policy, order or is not in conformity with the general practice, procedures and norms in the matter, or is not based on sound reasons. The bill is also silent on penalties and compensation vis--vis victimisation. If the legislation is expected to effectively deter victimisation, it must provide for strict punishment and penalties to be imposed on anyone who victimises whistleblowers. It must also ensure that wherever a whistleblower is killed or suffers grievous injury as a result of making a complaint, action is taken on a priority basis on the original complaint of corruption or criminal offence filed by the whistleblower. Cases of people like Nandi Singh, Ram Thakur and scores of whistleblowers who are poor and marginalised, bear testimony to the fact that whistleblowers and their families need to be compensated for any loss or other detriment suffered by them as a result of victimisation. The law must cover complaints against the prime minister, chief ministers and all other public authorities, like the armed forces. Also, it is important that complainants against the private
sector get protection under this act. It is widely recognised that corruption in private institutions has a significant impact on the public. Given the vast scale of the private sector in India and the corruption therein, it is important that this bill be extended to complaints about the private sector when they either abet corruption (under Section 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act), or commit a criminal offence. This would also be in keeping with the stated position of the government, as indicated in the prime minister's speech at a CBI conference in October 2011, to bring the private sector within the ambit of anticorruption laws. The law must take care to not empower anyone to dismiss or close a complaint on the grounds that it is "frivolous" or "vexatious". These terms are impossible to define objectively and are likely to be misused. It may lead to a situation where most complaints would be routinely rejected as being frivolous or vexatious.
2015 period, far better than the 2-3 per cent growth expected in this sector in the US and Europe. This has put India among the top three emerging markets for direct investment by large medical device multinational companies. Currently, over 75 per cent of medical devices sold in India is imported, though India enjoys significant global market share of some medical products, such as the low-cost intra-ocular lens manufactured by Aravind Eyecare. With a population of over 1.2 billion people, the $3-billion market translates into an extremely low average expenditure on medical technology: less than $2.50 per capita. This under-penetration presents a compelling market opportunity for companies looking to bring new medical technology products to India. Medical devices are part of a heavily regulated global industry and regulations touch every stage of the lifecycle of a medical device: research and development, clinical trials, pre-market approvals, manufacturing, labelling, and ultimately, marketing. Under the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European CE Marking agencies, medical devices are regulated for quality and patient safety under a separate pathway from pharmaceutical drug regulations. Medical device regulation is relatively new in India, although pharmaceuticals have been regulated by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) since 1940, under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Indian government proposed regulatory guidelines for medical devices in 2008, through amendments to the 1940 Drug and Cosmetics Act (DCA). New guidelines on applying drug rules to medical devices were introduced in 2012, and an updated Bill will be presented to Parliament in 2013. The new Bill is expected to bring all medical devices sold in India under the purview of the government agency charged with regulating medical devices: the Central Licensing Approval Authority (CLAA) under the CDSCO. Whereas the DCA was originally meant primarily for drugs and pharmaceutical products, the new regulations attempt to regulate medical devices as a sector separate from drugs. Based on advice from the World Health Organisation, the FDA, The Global Harmonisation Task Force and industry experts, medical devices are classified by risk. In general, higher-risk devices are subject to stricter regulations and a more stringent pre-market conformity assessment process.
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It is the moral obligation of the government to protect whistleblowers like Satyendra Dubey, Ram Thakur and Nandi Singh, who represent the conscience of the nation. A robust mechanism for the protection of whistleblowers in a time-bound manner is necessary to promote an environment to encourage people to blow the whistle about wrongdoings. A sound whistleblowers' protection law might not be sufficient to protect whistleblowers, but is certainly a long-awaited and necessary first step. The National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI) has been demanding that the Whistleblowers Protection Bill be immediately discussed and passed by Parliament in the current session. This legislation is a key measure for fighting corruption, and in conjunction with other anticorruption and grievance redress legislations like the Lokpal bill and the grievance redress bill, will ensure better governance. Source: Indian Express Medical devices too need regulation
Medical devices form a $200-billion global industry, which develops and manufactures essential healthcare equipment. The equipment ranges in complexity, from simple devices such as thermometers and stethoscopes, to complex ones such as pacemakers, ultrasound machines and surgical robots. India's medical devices market was worth $3 billion in 2011 and grew at roughly 15 per cent annually in that year. It is expected to grow at a 16 per cent compounded annual clip during the 2010Weekly Current Affairs 06th May to 12th May, 2013
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For the moment, however, the CLAA only requires certain categories of devices that have been the subject of notifications in the Official Gazette of India (21 device categories in total) to register with the CDSCO. These include cardiac stents, bone cements, intra-ocular lenses, orthopaedic implants, and heart valves. Since the CLAA currently requires pre-market reviews of only certain devices, all other devices do not require registration prior to sale in India. Imported medical devices on the notified list that have already obtained approval in the US (by the FDA) or the European Union (by CE Marking) are allowed on the Indian market without undergoing separate conformity assessment procedures. Relatively ineffective regulation translates into fewer bottlenecks in the development of a new product. The lack of regulation increases the ease with which these devices get pre-market approval when compared with a sophisticated regulatory regime with more stringent criteria for obtaining approval. However, this environment also creates a lack of credibility for medical products in the eyes of clinicians, their patients, and the investors who may be interested in funding these products and companies.
It is also lobbying for changes to the taxation structure of medical devices with an eye to making it uniform across different States. While the lax regulatory environment in India can be beneficial for innovators and entrepreneurs, changes to the regulatory regime are required for several reasons. First, an unregulated market cannot protect the patient from unsafe products, and this hinders the growth of the sector as a whole. Secondly, approval of products is a differentiator in the marketplace, allowing better and safer products to be successful. This benefit is lost to the innovator of a novel device in the absence of regulation. Finally, the current tariff and import duty structure disincentivises indigenous medical device manufacturers because of the low duties on finished imported goods, resulting in a large trade deficit in medical technology. The first step towards a better regulatory regime is the approval of a medical devices regulation Bill which creates a system of control, separate from that of drugs, for quality, safety, and efficacy of medical devices in India. Source: Business Line
Until standards are properly implemented across the board, it will be difficult for doctors and others making procurement decisions to determine which products are truly worth purchasing. TAXATION STRUCTURE Regulations affect not only product marketing but also issues such as import and export of devices. As mentioned earlier, over 75 per cent of medical devices sold in India is imported, primarily because taxation is skewed to favour imports. Currently, import duty on medical devices averages about 10 per cent, which is usually passed on to consumers. As the product is imported on a SICOI (sale in the course of import) basis, value added tax (VAT) is not applicable.
However, if parts and equipment were imported for the manufacture of medical devices domestically, a similar import duty would apply, plus excise and VAT. This means taxation on domestically-produced products is much higher than the 10 per cent duty paid on finished, imported medical goods. The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMED) has been petitioning the Government to change the tax structure on locally made products to incentivise the domestic medical device manufacturing industry.
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US-CHINA COLD WAR IN KOREA
The complete loss of bilateral trust in the peninsula is directly proportional to the expansionist interests of Beijing and Washington, DC. While the former patronises Pyongyang, the latter is an ally of Seoul The Korean peninsula is again going through a rough time. North Korea's nuclear test and South Korea's close military co-operation with the US has lead the region and international community towards deep uncertainty. But this is not for the first time that there have been tensions in the Korean region. The two countries have been bitter rivals since the Korean War ended in 1953. From North Korea's standpoint, its aggression has been surfacing because of South Korea's overreliance on the US. Over the decades, South Korea's easy access to nuclear capacity has created a sense of grave insecurity within the dictatorial regime of North Korea. However, it is by manipulating this potential threat from a neighbour that the dynasty in North Korea has endured for long. And, the swiftness with which Mr Kim Jong-un succeeded his father as the Supreme Leader of North Korea confirms it. As for South Korea, it has moved with the times, keeping
in mind its defence and trade-related requirements, under the shadow of the US. North Korea, too, found in China, a patron to help it challenge the combined might of the USSouth Korea alliance. Nevertheless, its reliance on China is not quite on the same level as the symbiotic relationship that South Korea shares with the US. But a liberal South Korea tried to bring about a rapprochement in the past with its 'sunshine policy' - this was a genuine initiative put forth by then President Kim Dae-jung in 1998. The policy was a big step towards improved political and economic engagement with North Korea. Unfortunately, within a decade, it ceased to exist. This created ground for never-ending acrimony between these two countries. The present wave of hostilities in the Korean peninsula is possibly generated in response to the recent leadership change in South Korea and US President Barack Obama's unprecedented aggression towards the 'wrong part of world'.
For years, North Korea has routinely violated the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. But the country's third and latest nuclear test worried the American establishment to such an extent that North Korea is now considered by Washington, DC to be a serious threat - in fact, it seems to have been listed as the 'foremost security threat in the region'. North Korea's young and immature Supreme Leader has only made the situation worse by behaving unmindfully. At the height of a crisis such as this, North Korea has made a terrible blunder by not pushing for serious negotiations.
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The complete loss of bilateral trust in this region can be seen as directly proportional to the expansionist interests of both China and the US. 'Multi-lateralism' is an obsolete term today - the US has ensured as much with its remarkable follies in the past six decades. The Cold War has been over for more than two decades now, and there is no supposed threat from the Soviet Union which does not even exist. But given the manner in which the US is responding to any Chinese overture around the world, it seems like the the foreign and military policies of America are yet to move with the times. As for China, it is not always what it appears. Sometimes, its actions help clear the fog around it; at other times its intentions are unclear. For example, in the Korean region and even in Nepal, China has played an awkward role. Remember North Korea was once sanctioned by China too under its opportunistic state policy. And Nepal will pay the price for cosying up to the Asian giant. As for the Korean clashes, they will probably not end in the foreseeable future. But India can, meanwhile, learn a lesson from China which has undertaken a dangerous march in the neighbourhood, outside of its den. It needs to be careful. Source: The Pioneer
Moving to cloud computing can be smart decision for governments & companies
North Korea may succeed in engaging the US, but it has no infrastructure to effectively challenge the world's mightiest country. The US is formidable because it can fight relentlessly. Often, it even wages war without apparent reason. This is perhaps because it has no civilisational back-up that India enjoys, so it has little to consider regarding the moral degradation that comes with such aggression. A few weeks ago, the North Korean Government stepped up the security-cover it provides to foreign diplomatic missions in Pyongyang. Before that, it had stopped the movement of South Korean workers employed in a giant business district run by both countries - this was an attack on business interests, and had more than just a symbolic impact on South Korea. It made Seoul more worried over its vulnerable location. South Korea's capital is close to the demilitarised zone and could be demolished in case there is a military confrontation with the North.
There is no end to the social and economic challenges faced by developing economies. While sustaining a high GDP growth rate remains the biggest objective, an equally critical goal is ensuring inclusive growth. Along with these, generating high levels of employment and allocating frugal fiscal resources on various demanding sectors round up the four key priorities for decisionmakers in India and other emerging economies. Investments in infrastructure and access to productive resources are the two big levers for sustained economic growth. But investments in productive assets are traditionally capital-intensive and a strain on developing economies, while market and regulatory imbalances often inhibit the access of government agencies to productive resources. Now technology is considered as much a productive resource as land, labour and capital. So how can a developing economy solve its problem of increasing access to technology? The answer has, fortunately, come from the technology industry itself. Cloud computing gives us an opportunity to reimagine technology as an affordable, operational expense.
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From an investment perspective, cloud computing is a form of optimal use of capital " it is a common infrastructure that can be shared internally (by departments, or companies in case of a conglomerate), or externally (as in public cloud). By lowering upfront costs, resources can be freed. Use of cloud computing is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 26% globally. Cloud computing is expected to account for 20% of global IT market, excluding IT services and client devices, by 2015. Government Clouds Major government IT organisations of developed nations, including those of the US, Canada, UK, Japan, Australia and South Korea, have already defined their cloud strategy and are determined to run centralised government clouds, leveraging public clouds where appropriate.
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fact, governments of developing nations are likely to remain early and heavy adopters of cloud. However, governments are understandably concerned about data security and are looking at private clouds. According to a report, 56% of local governments and 42% of central governments across Europe use or will use internally hosted private clouds. Alternatively, government agencies can look at Infrastructureas-a-Service (IaaS), which mitigates security concerns. By migrating to the cloud, publicsector organisations will be allowed to divert their IT funds to priority sectors such as education and healthcare or reducing fiscal deficit. Adopting technology delivered via cloud can be a strategic economic decision that benefits the nation. Source: Economic Times
The false allure of liberating CBI
Many BRICS nations are demonstrating that they are taking cloud computing seriously by engaging in pilot projects and even awarding contracts to operate some part of their business "in the cloud". The Government of India is already working towards using cloud in multiple e-governance projects. The Jammu & Kashmir government was the first to adopt cloud in India. IT minister Kapil Sibal has recently announced the establishment of a cloud infrastructure at the NIC data centre as well as a centre of excellence on cloud computing. China and Korea have a more strategic approach. Korea plans to invest $540 million till 2014 as a stimulus to the domestic cloud computing market. China is much ahead. It has five pilot cloud computing cities and, according to its 12th Five-Year Plan, cloud computing will be a chief driver of the IT industry. Security Concerns
From an access perspective, public cloud brings cutting-edge technology within the reach of government departments with limited budgets, entrepreneurs and small businesses. The easy and pervasive availability of enterprise technology delivered via cloud can fuel business growth in large and small organizations and enable small businesses to compete with large enterprises. According to a Sand Hill study, cloud computing is expected to create more jobs than the early internet did as cloud applications and platforms will revolutionise the IT landscape. Within the government, smaller departments with budgetary constraints can use the pay-as-yougo model to deliver high-quality citizen services. In
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A law minister's mistakes cannot be used to introduce an institutional imbalance by creating an autonomous policeman through judicial intervention As a nation we remain self-absorbed in our own hypocrisies. And perhaps there is no greater misconceived a hypocrisy than the notion that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should be and, can be - functionally independent of the political executive of the Union. But our politically correct commentators and other noisemakers are obsessed with an "autonomous" CBI as a panacea for misgovernance; and, the politicians, when in opposition, decry the "political misuse" of the agency but once in office cheerfully lord over the CBI. Let us only recall how after L.K. Advani had manoeuvred to become the deputy prime minister during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, he strenuously tried to grab the CBI and bring it under his control, but that old fox, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was shrewd enough not to let go of this investigative instrument. Indeed, no Prime Minister in his or her right political senses would let rivals control an asset like the Central Bureau of Investigation. Time for moderation Therefore, it would be a great misinterpretation of the constitutional scheme of things if a section of the judiciary were to seize upon the Union Law Minister's supercilious stupidities to prise the CBI from the political executive. Admittedly, the incumbent Law Minister is punching way above his weight and has over the last few months demonstrated himself to be lacking that fine balance of temperament and competence that is so essential in a sensitive ministerial assignment. In normal
It was P.V. Narasimha Rao who cynically used the CBI to embroil his rivals within the Congress Party in the Hawala case. So blatant was this misuse of prime ministerial authority that the late Justice J.S. Verma seized a PIL case to pronounce a new doctrine of maximalist distrust. The court, quoting from its earlier verdict (in the case of Union of India and others versus Sushil Kumar Modi and others, 1997), insisted on ensuring "performance of the statutory duty by the CBI and the other government agencies in accordance with the law for the proper implementation of the rule of law. To achieve this object, a fair, honest and expeditious investigation into every reasonable accusation against each and every person reasonably suspected of involvement in the alleged offence has to be made strictly in accordance with the law." Since the Hawala case, an entire generation of higher judges has been in thrall of the idea of laying down what the CBI can and cannot do. The Hawala ruling prompted a new Central Vigilance Commission regime and for a while we applauded ourselves for having struck a blow against corruption among public servants. But given our addiction to this or that hypocrisy, we pretend that such judicial interventions have had a long-term salutary effect on matters that are essentially political in nature. It is also an unfortunate fact that since the mid1990s, there has been no Central government strong enough nor a Prime Minister so assured of the support of his own party and coalition partners that he would protest encroachment of the executive's prerogatives. Judicial interventions have only encouraged the PIL-industry to make a nuisance of itself at the behest of corporate rivals.
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circumstances, the Prime Minister would have perhaps sought the Law Minister's resignation for having committed a grave impropriety, but these are not normal times. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its present, destructively self-righteous mood, has bayed for the Law Minister's blood a bit too loudly. An Opposition that does not believe in moderation cannot hope to shame the ruling party into doing the right thing. Neither the BJP's practised cussedness nor the United Progressive Alliance's habitual obduracy should weigh heavily with the judiciary; there is certainly no reason for the judiciary to get too distracted by the political noise in the matter of the so-called coal allocation scam to try and manufacture an artificial and unsustainable "autonomy" for the CBI. If there was a time for moderation in judicial pronouncements and comments, it is now.
Lok Pal debate In the recent Lok Pal debate, the government and the Opposition were silently united in rejecting the demand that the CBI be brought under the proposed ombudsman. It was a rare display of political common sense so essential to sustained statecraft. Undoubtedly, the political class is a rather unattractive lot and the middle classes are always willing to set policemen "free" from the presumed clutches of the elected politician. It is an attractive proposition that the "professional" police officer would be an honest, scrupulous, law-abiding and justice-dispensing public servant, and would hold his own against the errant politician. Hence, periodic judicial efforts to intervene or "oversee" investigations. All these essays in judicial meddlesomeness have produced only a massive hypocrisy: the political supervision of the CBI got driven underground, while everybody pretends that the agency has been set "free." A legitimate relationship of consultative advice - between the political executive and an investigating agency - has been rendered somewhat suspect; therefore, the communication and command rites are performed away from the public gaze. Whatever the colour of the government in New Delhi, its political managers were always anxious and, rightly so - to ensure that the agency was not manipulated by rivals. There is a history to this anxiety. Since the Allahabad High Court judgment against Indira Gandhi in 1975, sections of the judiciary have been happy to entertain political rivals using courts to settle scores and contests which otherwise should be sorted out in the electoral arena or in Parliament. A judicial pronouncement - even an oral observation would do - is seized upon to demand this or that functionary's ouster from office. Every judicial pronouncement is seized upon to unleash a furious debate, generate indignation and anger, feeding distrust and discontent among the citizens towards lawfully constituted constitutional authority. This over-reliance on finding a judicial solution to the abuse of power by ministers and bureaucrats has come at the expense of Parliament as the ultimate institution of accountability and democratic legitimacy. Rather than raise matters of ministerial transgressions in Parliament and make the Prime Minister explain his colleagues' misdemeanours, the Opposition disrupts and stalls the functioning of the legislative institution. Political partisanship strangulates any debate over the merit or demerit in an alleged misdeed. Political leaders, from Prime
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Minister downward, are no longer willing to sit in moral judgment over this minister's or that bureaucrat's presumed guilt, because everyone assumes that sooner or later, the matter would end up in a court of law. The notions of democratic accountability and political responsibility stand considerably diluted. Accountability Given the context of this political culture of suspicion and accusation, it would be tempting to judicially "liberate" the CBI. This can only produce an institutional disequilibrium of the most unhelpful kind. Any democratic society should be very suspicious of a policeman, however competent a professional he may be, with powers to determine political life and death. As it is, we have yet to evolve a code of conduct for an ever enlarging plethora of regulators and independent commissions. Everyone goes about hypocritically believing that we have
found the magic formula to make honest appointments of honest individuals to such "institutions." Once an appointment has been wangled, then it is entirely open to an incumbent to take a maximum or a minimal view of his or her brief. We are becoming wise to another aberration: the potential and, in a few cases, the reality - of a corporate house suborning these so-called "independent" authorities. Before we succumb once again to the allurement of installing unelected gods as our saviours, let us just remember that it is easy to proclaim and grab "independence" but it is much more difficult a task to produce the requisite institutional culture, anchored in balance, fairness and rectitude. That balance can be produced and enforced only by democratic processes of accountability. This balance can neither be produced nor imposed by a court. Source: The Hindu
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Constitutional news
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Current Affairs Notes for PT 2013 for Weekly E-Magazine Subscriber (Printed) ........... 2000.00 Current Affairs Notes for PT 2013 (Printed) ............................................................................. 2500.00
[ 2 ] Weekly Current Affairs 13th May to 19th May, 2013
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productivity, Microirrigation, Urbanization, Government Initiatives...... Indian Economy Basics, Planning & Trade 1. Industry Services, Agriculture, Energy..... 2. Balance of Payments. Foreign Direct Investment....... 3. Growth, Development and Other Issues......... 4. Poverty Estimates, Impact of Poverty........ 5. Exchange rate. Role of RBI..... 6. Nature of Planning - Five Year Plan, Planning after 1991 (LPG), Inflation..... Governance and Contemporary Political Developments: Development Politics, Political and Administrative Institutions, Good Governance, Internal Security....
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NATIONAL
Hydro-Meteorological Data Dissemination Policy (2013) released In pursuance of the recommendations of the National Water Policy (2012) for placing all hydrological data, other than those classified on national security consideration, in public domain, Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) had formulated a draft Hydro-meteorological Data Dissemination Policy. The Hydro-meteorological Data Dissemination Policy (2013) provides for hosting of all unclassified data (after validation and to the extent published in Water Year Book, Water Quality Year Book, Water Sediment Year Book, Ground Water Year Book) on IndiaWRIS (web based Water Resources Information System) website, which can be downloaded by any web-registered user free of cost. The National Sample Survey Office`s 66th round confirms that MGNREGA has reduced the traditional gender wage discrimination which was apparent in several States across the country. According to an analysis by the Paris School of Economics in 2011, MGNREGA also leads to an increase in private sector wages and has welfare benefits for non-participating households. The gains from the rise in wages are more for the poor and marginalised, including women. Similarly, an analysis by Jean Drze, a noted social scientist observes that the pre-MGNREGA (20001 to 2005-6) growth rate of real agricultural wages was around 0.1 per cent per year for men and negative for women. After the implementation of MGNREGA (2005-6 to 2010-11), the growth rate for agricultural wages for men increased to 2.7 per cent per year and for women to 3.7 per cent per year. Till 31st March 2013, more than 1408 crore person-days of employment have been generated, of which 47.48% are women i.e. an average of five crore households provided with employment every year since 2008. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes account for 50% of the total person-days generated. Last year 30 new works included under MGNREGA like Watershed, Irrigation and Flood management works, Agricultural and Livestock related works, Fisheries, Rural Drinking water and Sanitation related works. To reduce delay in payment of wages, Ministry of Rural Development has initiated Electronic Fund Management System (eFMS) in Karnataka, Orissa, Gujarat, Tripura and Rajasthan, for directly crediting wages into beneficiary accounts using Core Banking System. eFMS will ensure capture of real time transactions, eliminate delays and leakages. Ministry is now working to implement eFMS in identified 46 MGNREGA districts for Direct Benefit Transfer. Aadhaar enabled direct electronics crediting of accounts payments for workers in MGNREGA is being implemented in 51 districts, in its pilot phase.
The hydrological data of Indus basin & other rivers and their tributaries discharging into Pakistan and Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin & other rivers and their tributaries discharging into Bangladesh/Myanmar have been categorized as classified data. A Classified Data Release Committee is proposed to be set up to examine all requests for release of classified data.
It is expected that implementation of this policy would result into open access of all unclassified data and streamlining of the process of obtaining classified data. Impact of MGNREGA in the rural areas: Analysis
Women and unskilled labourers are the main beneficiaries of the higher wage rates of MGNREGA, which has been revised recently to protect workers against inflation. With effect from April 01, 2013, a maximum wage of Rs 214 has been fixed for Haryana and a minimum of Rs 135 for North Eastern States. Moreover, there is a definite positive impact on agricultural wages and wages in general in the rural areas, which remained stagnant for a longlong time.
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The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing 100 days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. The Act came into force in February 2, 2006 and now is in operation in 632 districts in the country. Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG scheme in 20 Districts
database and Bank account. Others will not get any subsidy. g) After the grace period, as soon as a consumer links the Aadhaar number to bank account and in LPG database, one-time advance and subsidy transfer will re-commence as per balance entitlement. h) Consumers who do not provide Aadhaar will continue to get LPG cylinders at market price. No arrest for posts on social sites without permission: SC
The salient features of the DBTL scheme are described below:
a) All LPG consumers desirous of availing subsidy will have to provide the Aadhaar number to Oil Marketing Companies and also to their bank accounts for linking with their LPG consumer numbers and bank accounts respectively. b) All Aadhaar linked domestic LPG consumers will get an advance in their bank account as soon as they book the first subsidized cylinder even before delivery. This is to reduce their financial burden when they purchase the first LPG cylinder after launch of scheme at market rate. c) As soon as, the first cylinder is delivered to such consumers, subsidy eligible on date of delivery will again get credited in the bank account, which will then be available for the purchase of the next cylinder at market rate.
d) Subsidy eligible on each such domestic cylinder, up to the cap of 9 cylinders per year will be directly transferred to the Aadhaar enabled bank account of the consumer. e) All LPG consumers who are not Aadhaar linked will have three month grace period to link LPG consumer number and bank account with Aadhaar number and during this period they will continue to get the LPG cylinders at subsidized rate, as they are getting today, up to their entitlement. f) After the grace period, LPG cylinders will be sold to all domestic LPG consumers at market price. However, the subsidy will be transferred to only those who have linked Aadhaar in LPG
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Government of India is launching Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme in 20 high Aadhaar coverage districts. The scheme aims to curb leakages and prevent black-marketing and provide subsidy to consumers in their bank accounts.
Giving a big relief from arbitrary police action on freedom of expression, Supreme Court stated that no person should be arrested for posting objectionable comments on social networking sites without permission of senior police officials. The apex court, which refused to pass an order for a blanket ban on the arrest of a person for making objectionable comments on websites, said state governments should ensure strict compliance of the Centre's 9th January advisory which said that a person should not be arrested without taking permission from senior police officials. The advisory issued by the Centre says that, "State governments are advised that as regard to arrest of any person in complaint registered under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, the concerned police officer of a police station may not arrest any person until she/he has obtained prior approval of such arrest from an officer, not below the rank of Inspector General of Police (IGP) in metropolitan cities or of an officer not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) or Superintendent of Police (SP) at district level, as the case may be." Bureau of Water Use Efficiency to be established by the GOI
The Centre will establish a National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency as an "authority" for "promotion, regulation and control of efficient use of water in irrigation, municipal and industrial uses under the National Water Mission that was established as part of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. The National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency, will have the responsibility of improving water use efficiency across various sectors namely irrigation, drinking water supply, power generation and industry. The Bureau will take up five benchmarking irrigation projects in parts of the country to demonstrate water use efficiency through water
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supply on volumetric basis, empowering Water Users Associations to price water and collect water charges and demonstrating state-of-the-art technologies. Further for improving "water use efficiency" by 20 per cent, the Mission will review the National and State Water Policies and prepare Sate-specific Action Plans for water sector "through consultation process". States will have to establish Water Regulatory Authorities for overseeing water pricing and mandatory water audits. Several States have in the past expressed reservations on such a move. The Mission will issue guidelines to States for basin-wise uses of water for irrigation, drinking and industrial use. At the centre of the plan is the strategy to open up the water sector and incentivise States that reform based on the principle that "incentivising is more effective in bringing out reforms." Simultaneously, studies will be undertaken on impact of climate change, if any, on water resources.
Further the Centre has also decided to transfer its share of the funding to the state governments directly instead of allocating it to the districts. This change has been affected keeping in view the misappropriation of funds in another flagship programme the national rural health mission. The states have also been issued guidelines to ensure that manual scavengers, freed bonded labourers and particularly vulnerable tribal groups are given preference in allotments. The ministry will also ask each state government to focus on scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and minorities. Targets for SC/ST and minority communities will be fixed, which would be proportionate to the population in respective states. For the IAY, the Centre and the states share is fixed at 75:25 ratio. Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was launched during 1985-86 as a sub-scheme of Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) and continued as a sub-scheme of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) since its launching from April, 1989. It has been delinked from the JRY and has been made an independent scheme with effect from January 1, 1996. The objective of IAY is primarily to provide grant for construction of houses to members of Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers and also to non-SC/ST rural poor below the poverty line. Government forms GoM to maintain CBI's autonomy
With funding and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank, the Ministry will initiate a National Water Use Efficiency Improvement Support Programme to identify "priority actions". The Central Water Commission has identified 138 major and 73 medium irrigation projects for baseline study of water use efficiency in two years. During 2013-14, water use efficiency is targeted to be raised by five per cent. New guidelines for the Indira Awas Yojana notified
The government has notified new guidelines for the Indira Awas Yojna scheme for building houses for rural poor, including increased allocations and a requirement for constructing compulsory toilets for each unit. The special assistance of Rs.10,000 would be coming from the 'Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan' which is a scheme to provide clean drinking water and sanitation.
The government has also hiked the monetary assistance by Rs 25,000 under its housing scheme for the poor, giving primacy to scheduled castes, tribals and minorities. The allocation for each dwelling unit has been increased from Rs.45,000 to Rs.75,000. In Maoist-affected and mountainous regions, the allocation would now be Rs.75,000 from the existing Rs.48,500. Landless labourers which were given Rs.10,000 for buying land would now be given Rs.20,000.
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In the wake of the Supreme Court's observation about the CBI for being a "caged parrot" of its political masters, the government has formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) to draft a law to insulate the investigating agency from external influence. The Court's direction had come following an affidavit from the CBI Director, who admitted to have shared a draft coal block allocation probe report with former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and two joint secretaries--Shatrughna Singh and A K Bhalla--in the Prime Minister's Office and Coal Ministry respectively. The GoM, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, has External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Communications and Information Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari and Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy as members. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha will also give his input to the newlyconstitued GoM.
The Group of Ministers will deliberate on ways to further strengthen CBI's autonomy and safeguard it from any kind of outside interferences. The Group will finalise its findings and draft a law which will be submitted to the Supreme Court before July 10, next date of hearing of the case. Income criterion for OBC revised
New Drug Pricing Control Order 2013 notified
The increase in the income limit to exclude the creamy layer is "in keeping with the increase in the consumer price index" and would "enable more persons to take advantage of reservation benefits extended to OBCs in government services and admission to central educational institutions". It would bring about "equity and greater inclusiveness" in society.
Earlier, the limit for annual income was fixed in 2008, which specified that families with an annual income of Rs. 4.5 lakh and above could not be allowed the benefits. As per a recommendation made by the OBC Commission, the ceiling was kept at Rs.12 lakh per annum for urban and Rs. nine lakh per annum for rural areas but Group of Ministers (GoM) resolved the issue.
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The Union Cabinet gave its approval for increasing the "creamy layer" income criterion from Rs. 4.5 lakh to Rs. six lakh per annum throughout the country for excluding socially advanced persons and sections from the purview of reservation of OBCs.
The Indian consumer will benefit under the new Drug Pricing Control Order 2013 (DPCO 2013) which has been notified and will replace the DPCO 1995. The new order will bring 652 drugs under price control and will enable the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy 2012 to regulate prices of 348 drugs covered under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2011. Consumers will be the biggest beneficiaries as prices of some brands may fall by up to 70 per cent. The new policy differs from the existing DPCO 1995 in that it is based on the simple average price (SAP) for all brands with a market share above 1 per cent in their segment. The new policy also uses a market-based pricing mechanism against the earlier proposed cost-plus method. Analysts estimate that the policy will cover twothirds of the Rs. 60,000 crore domestic industries. "The larger companies with established brands may be able to sustain better but there could be some loss of market share. The average impact on industry profitability to be around 20 per cent, so in the short-term, industry profitability could decline by around Rs. 1,500 crore. In the long-term, the policy proposes to reduce the bandwidth of prices of the same molecule and this will have an impact on manufacturers in the mid and lower segments. However, despite the initial hit on profitability, volume growth over the next few years and price indexation to inflation will help companies recover.
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INTERNATIONAL
UN General Assembly approves resolution on Syria and beyond. Over four million more people have been internally displaced since the fighting began. Syria had reacted positively to peace initiatives and he stressed his continued commitment to achieving a "Syrian-led comprehensive national dialogue" that would include the opposition. Action plan formulated to combat illegal trade in elephant ivory The UN General Assembly has approved an Arab-backed resolution calling for a political transition in Syria and strongly condemning President Bashar Assad's regime for its escalating use of heavy weapons. The resolution also strongly condemns the Syrian Government's increased use of heavy weapons, and also condemns ongoing "widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms." The resolution was adopted by a vote of 107 to 12 with 59 abstentions. Russia, a close ally of Syria, urged a "no" vote and a group of Latin American countries led by Argentina demanded changes which weren't accepted to water down the resolution's support for the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition group.
India abstained from voting whereas Pakistan voted in favour of the resolution, in a significant change from its previous position. This marks the fifth resolution on the situation in Syria voted by the 193-member body since 2011, when fighting broke out between the Government and opposition forces seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad.
The current measure welcomes the establishment of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces "last year as effective representative of interlocutors needed for a political transition."
The Arab-led resolution requests the international community to provide "urgent" financial support to host countries to enable them to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees and affected communities. It also requests the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to submit a report to the Assembly within 90 days "on the very dire situation" of IDPs in the country. At least 80,000 have died since the start of the hostilities, most of these casualties believed to be civilians, and the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has registered more than a million, now living in camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq,
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Eight countries identified as being the most affected by the illegal trade in elephant ivory have submitted national action plans to the United Nations-backed treaty Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for the conservation of endangered species containing measures to combat the scourge. The eight countries are: China, Kenya, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania and Viet Nam. The plans - which contain specific activities in the areas of legislation and regulations, national and international enforcement, outreach and public awareness - were requested by the CITES Standing Committee as a response to the dramatic rise in the number of elephants poached for their ivory. Data gathered by CITES-led programme known as MIKE, or Monitoring Illegal Killing of Elephants, found that an estimated 17,000 elephants were illegally killed in 2011. Data for 2012 shows the situation did not improve, and actual figures for last year may be much higher. The illegal killing of large numbers of elephants for their ivory, according to CITES, is increasingly involving organized crime and, in some cases, wellarmed rebel militias. Unknown amounts of poached ivory are believed to be exchanged for money, weapons and ammunition to support conflicts in several African countries. Significant poaching incidents have recently occurred in Cameroon (Bouba N'Djida National Park), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Garamba National Park) and the Central African Republic (Dzanga-Ndoki National Park). The eight countries that have submitted action plans are requested to take urgent measures to put
their plans into practice before July 2014. In July 2014, the Secretariat will provide the Standing Committee with its evaluation of the activities conducted by each country, and recommend potential further measures to intensify efforts in critical areas. Two additional groups of countries that need to adopt measures in the near future have also been identified. The first group - comprising Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mozambique and Nigeria - will need to develop and start implementing similar national action plans to combat illegal trade in ivory this year. Also, the Secretariat will be seeking clarification from Angola, Cambodia, Japan, Laos, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on how they control trade in ivory. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. With 176 member States, CITES is one of the world's most powerful tools for biodiversity conservation, regulating international trade in close to 35,000 species of plants and animals, including their products and derivatives, ensuring their survival in the wild with benefits for the livelihoods of local people and the global environment. EU granted fund for Mali's reconstruction
Hollander acted came a day after the nation's top court, the Constitutional Council, ruled that the bill adheres to the constitution. The most historic part is that future generations will no longer have to ask themselves if they have the right to marry or not and they will be recognized by their country. The legislation also legalises gay adoption. But while gay rights groups hailed the move, opponents of the measures have vowed to fight on. The first gay wedding could be held 10 days after the bill's signing. Constitutional challenge Hollande made "marriage for all" a central plank of his presidential election campaign last year. After a tortured debate, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was adopted by France's Senate and National Assembly last month. The bill was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds by the main right-wing opposition UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. But the Constitutional Council ruled that samesex marriage "did not run contrary to any constitutional principles," and that it did not infringe on "basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty". Whereas legalising same-sex adoption would not automatically mean the "right to a child". Laws in other nations France is the ninth country in Europe to allow same sex marriage. Lawmakers in New Zealand this year made it the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to legalize same-sex marriage. The law is set to be enacted later this year. Uruguayan lawmakers have also approved a measure allowing same-sex marriage. It awaits the signature of Uruguay's president, who has indicated he supports it. If the laws in New Zealand and Uruguay are enacted as expected, the count of nations allowing same-sex marriage will rise to 14. The first same-sex couples walked down the aisle in the Netherlands in 2001, with others following suit in Canada, South Africa, Belgium and Spain. Argentina was the first Latin American nation to legalize such marriages, in 2010. Other countries on the list are Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Portugal and Sweden. Legislators in the United Kingdom are also weighing proposals to legalize same-sex marriage. Lawmakers in Australia voted against a bill to
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International officials are concerned that Mali's vast, ungoverned north can be a haven for terrorist groups that, unhindered by government control, could feel free to plot attacks anywhere in the world. Thus in the major international donors' conference the European Union has pledged 520 million ($674.8 million) over the next two years to help rebuild the West African country of Mali as a functioning state. The investment would benefit Europe as well as Africa.
The plan includes rebuilding government institutions and the military, staging elections in July, holding dialogues with rebels in the north, rebuilding roads and schools, reviving the moribund economy so that people get paid for working, and more. France legalizes same-sex marriage
France's president has signed into law a controversial bill making the country the ninth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage.
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legalize same-sex marriage last September. A poll for the advocacy group Australian Marriage Equality indicated that 64% of those surveyed "support marriage equality." In the United States, the question went before the Supreme Court and justices are deliberating over the matter. Twelve U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriages. On the other side, many states have specific laws blocking same-sex couples from legally marrying. Afghanistan lawmakers block law on women's rights
But according to the United Nations analysis in late 2011, only a small percentage of reported crimes against women were pursued by the Afghan government. Between March 2010 and March 2011 - the first full Afghan year the decree was in effect - prosecutors filed criminal charges in only 155 cases, or 7 percent of the total number of crimes reported. First bailout installment for Cyprus released by EU
The Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women has been in effect since 2009, but only by presidential decree. It is being brought before parliament now because lawmaker Fawzia Kofi, a women's rights activist, wants to cement it with a parliamentary vote to prevent its potential reversal by any future president who might be tempted to repeal it to satisfy hard-line religious parties.
The law criminalizes child marriage and forced marriage, and bans "baad", the traditional practice of selling and buying women to settle disputes. It also makes domestic violence a crime punishable by up to three years and specifies that rape victims should not face criminal charges for fornication or adultery. While in power, the Taliban imposed a strict interpretation of Islam that put severe curbs on the freedom of women. For five years, the regime banned women from working and going to school, or even leaving home without a male relative. In public, all women were forced wear a head-to-toe burqa, which covers even the face with a mesh panel. Violators were publicly flogged or executed. Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, women's freedoms have improved vastly, but Afghanistan remains a deeply conservative culture, especially in rural areas.
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Conservative religious lawmakers of Afghanistan has blocked legislation aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedom, arguing that parts of it violated Islamic principles and encouraged disobedience.
The finance ministers of the 17 EU nations using the single currency released $2.6 billion (2 billion euros) for Cyprus from the rescue package agreed in March and offered to provide another $1.3 billion (1 billion euros) before the end of June. In return for the bailout package from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Cyprus had agreed to raise $16.9 billion (13 billion euros), mainly to restructure the country's stricken banking sector, by charging a levy up to 60 per cent on all deposits above 1,00,000 euros in the Bank of Cyprus, the country's largest bank. Also, The Laiki Bank, the second largest bank of the country, will be dissolved and its "good" assets will be folded into the Bank of Cyprus. The Cypriot parliament had at the end of April endorsed the bailout deal with the EU and the IMF, clearing the way for the release of the assistance. Meanwhile, the finance ministers also agreed to release the latest tranche of $9.75 billion (7.5 billion euros) from the second rescue package of $169 billion (130 billion euros) for Greece, which was approved by the EU and the IMF in March last year. Greece became the first euro zone nation to receive a bailout when it was rescued from bankruptcy in May 2010 with the support of a $143 billion (110 billion euro) financial lifeline from the EU and the IMF. The ministers also agreed to disburse the latest tranche of 2.1 billion euros from the 78-billion euro bailout package offered to Portugal by the EU and the IMF in 2011.
ECONOMY
India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) Announces Rating of the First Infrastructure Debt Fund India Ratings & Research (Ind-Ra) has announced its rating on the Mutual Fund (MF) schemes of the Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) Series 1, launched by IL&FS Financial Services Ltd (IFIN, 'IND AAA'/Stable), a 100% subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. (IL&FS, 'IND AAA'/Stable) under the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines. The Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram in his Budget Speech for FY12 had announced settingup of IDFs to accelerate and enhance the flow of long-term debt into infrastructure projects for funding the government's massive programme of infrastructure development, estimated at around USD 1 trillion during the 12th Five-Year Plan. IDFs are expected to be medium for channelising much-needed long-term debt for financing infrastructure projects and also to help in the migration of project loans for operating assets from banks to the fixed income markets. Government of India has actively facilitated the creation of the regulatory framework and establishment of an enabling environment. Planning Commission should formulate a Draft Bill on Dispute Resolution in Public Contracts: PM authorities along with timelines for fulfilling such obligations. Whenever some of these obligations are not fulfilled, projects get delayed, which in turn increases project costs and reduces the returns. Private sector entities often find it difficult to enforce their contractual rights and tend to stop short of claiming damages due to them for fear of antagonizing project authorities. The ultimate recourse available to the private sector participants is only arbitration, as provided in the contract. Given the current state of arbitration in India and the likelihood of arbitral awards being challenged in courts, project developers face a long process which imposes a heavy burden on them. Large amounts of capital get locked up in disputes, restricting growth and the ability of entrepreneurs to use it fruitfully. Further, developers factor these delays into their costs, thus pushing up project costs. There are a few hundreds PPP contracts already in operation and more are being signed on a fairly rapid pace. As a result of this expansion, contractual disputes have been rising steadily and it has now become essential to consider an institutional arrangement that would address such disputes expeditiously and at reasonable costs. It is in the interests of all concerned to set up an institutional mechanism that can provide assurance of speedy resolution of disputes, especially in respect of large public contracts. This could be a dedicated institutional arrangement, drawing from the experience of various other tribunals, while eliminating any litigation up to the High Court. The Planning Commission will conceptualise this further and present a draft bill for consideration of the Government. RBI planning to introduce plastic notes
Following the rapid expansion of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) which have already attracted investment of a few lakh crore of rupees in different sectors, dispute resolution in large public contracts is an area of growing concern and the Prime Minister has initiated the first steps in improving the institutional arrangement for dispute settlement. The Prime Minister has tasked the Planning Commission to formulate a draft Bill on Dispute Resolution in public contracts in consultation with all stakeholders and Ministries. There is a certain dissatisfaction among private sector participants arising from the responses they receive from project authorities about the obligations of project authorities. Most concession agreements specify the obligations of project
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According to the RBI the total value of all currency notes in circulation stood at over Rs 10.5 lakh crore at the end of financial year 2011-12. However, soiled notes valued at an estimated amount of Rs 2.05 lakh crore had to be moved out of circulation by RBI during that fiscal. This data reveals that on an average, one out of five paper notes in circulation (over 20 percent) get disposed
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of every year after getting soiled. Thus the Reserve Bank is planning for a trial of plastic currency notes as it is expected to tackle this problem to a large extent because of a much longer shelf-life of the plastic bills. Pioneered by Australia, the plastic currency notes are already in use across a number of other countries, including Singapore, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Fiji, Brunei, Papua New Guinea and Romania, while the UK is also said to be toying with the idea. Australia was the first country to shift to these currencies. In India, the RBI is planning to introduce one billion pieces of Rs 10 notes in polymer or plastic on a trial basis in Kochi, Mysore, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Shimla.
(CAD), which widened to historic high of 6.7 per cent in third quarter of 2012-13. Gold and silver imports last month shot up 138 percent, year-onyear, to USD 7.5 billion. The RBI will launch IIBs each month starting from 4th June, with a maturity period of 10 years with the primary objective of weaning away household savings from gold into these hedged bonds up to Rs.15,000 crore this fiscal year. According to the apex bank, the first tranche of IIBs-2013-14 for Rs. 1,000-Rs. 2,000 crore will be issued on the first Tuesday of June, after which the bonds will be issued on the last Tuesday of each month for a total issue size of about Rs. 12,000 crore-Rs. 15,000 crore for 2013-14. The first series of the IIBs will be open for all classes of investors, including institutions, pension funds and insurance, while the second series, issue, starting October this year, will be reserved exclusively for retail investors. Announcement of the bonds to discourage investments in gold is the second major move by RBI in the last few days. Earlier it had placed restrictions on banks to import gold. Inflation Indexed Bonds These are bond or other fixed-rate security with an interest rate that varies according to inflation. An inflation-indexed bond, for example, may pay a fixed coupon plus an additional coupon with the amount adjusted every so often according to some inflation indicator, such as the Consumer Price Index. If these securities are held to maturity, then the investor guarantees that the return will exceed the rate of inflation. Inflationindexed securities exist to provide a low-risk investment vehicle in which the return is guaranteed not to fall below the rate of inflation. Restriction on gold imports by banks placed by RBI
Way back in early 2000s, the RBI had rejected a similar proposal, but it later began working seriously on trying out plastic notes, given their high longevity and growing menace of paper bills getting soiled and the rising costs of their disposal. At the same time, the successful launch of plastic notes across various countries has also led to a serious thought over similar practices in India. Polymer notes would be suitable for "tropical and sub tropical conditions" and the lifeline could be more than four times longer than their paper equivalent for even lower denomination notes which are used more frequently.
According to Gerry Wilson of Australia-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the polymer notes have longer life time and can be produced at a faster rate than paper currency. Secondly, plastic currency is highly secure. The security features in plastic currencies will be difficult to tamper with. These notes can also be granulated and recycled into products like garden furniture and other plastic items. Inflation Index Bonds (IIBs) to be launched by GOI soon
With respect to the announcement made in the Union Budget 2013-14, the Government of India in consultation with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to launch Inflation Index Bonds (IIBs), as instruments that will protect savings of poor and middle classes from inflation and incentivise household sector to save in financial instruments rather than buy gold. Both the government as well as the RBI is concerned over the rising gold imports as its putting pressure on Current Account Deficit
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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI has imposed restrictions on banks to import gold with immediate effect to curb the widening current account deficit (CAD). The RBI had stated that it would restrict the import of gold on consignment basis by banks only to meet the genuine needs of exporters of gold jewellery. Further the Working Group on Gold, under the chairmanship of K. U. B. Rao, had recommended aligning gold import regulations with rest of the imports for creating a level-playing field between gold imports and other imports.
Nominated banks and agencies were permitted to import gold on loan basis, suppliers' credit / buyers' credit basis, consignment basis as also on unfixed price basis. The widening CAD is a worry for the government as well as for the central bank. It reached a record high of 6.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the October-December quarter on the back of rising oil and gold imports. CCEA to take up gas pricing issue
otherwise the Petroleum Ministry should move a Cabinet note for the consideration of the CCEA. The Petroleum Ministry had sent a draft proposal for the consideration of the EGoM to price all domestically produced natural gas as per the formula suggested by the Rangarajan Committee. The EGoM was originally constituted in 2008 to consider commercial utilisation of natural gas Reliance Industries had planned to produce from Eastern offshore KG-D6. The present EGoM was different from the EGoM led by former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee which had fixed the $4.2 per mmBtu price for KGD6 gas in 2007. The Terms of Reference (ToR) of this EGoM were to decide on pricing of gas produced from New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) blocks, and it ceased to exit at the end of the term of UPA-I in May 2009. On the other hand, the EGoM on gas utilisation was re-notified. Its terms of reference were to consider and decide issue of commercial utilisation of gas under NELP and other related matters. The last time price of natural gas produced by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Limited from fields given to them on nomination basis, called the administered or APM gas, was revised in June 2010 to $4.2 per mmBtu from $1.79 by the CCEA.
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On the issue of raising the domestic natural gas prices from the present $4.2 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtu) to almost double as proposed by A. K. Antony-led Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), Cabinet Secretariat dismissed the issue indicating that the Petroleum Ministry is not empowered to take such a decision. Thus the matter would more likely to be put up for consideration of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). According to the Cabinet Secretariat, the EGoM, led by Mr. Antony, was only empowered to take decisions on allocation of gas for various sectors, and the pricing mechanism was not part of its agenda. If the Petroleum Ministry wants the EGoM to take a decision on this issue, they should amend the terms of reference of the EGoM giving it powers to take a decision on pricing of natural gas
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INDIA AND THE WORLD

India and Netherlands sign MoU on Urban Planning India is facing huge challenges related to urbanization. Thus to address the problems Shri Kamal Nath, Minister for Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs, and Ms Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Minister for Infrastructure and Environment, Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Technical Cooperation in the field of "Spatial Planning, Water Management, and Mobility Management". GOI will address the issue in partnership with the technical and professional experts and business leaders of both countries. The Memorandum of Understanding will enable greater cooperation in the areas of - Spatial planning, urban and regional planning and development and architecture; Water management in terms of Water supply and sanitation and governance structures; Transport management and transport systems and infrastructure; Energyefficient and sustainable built forms Under the MoU, a Joint Working Group would be set up that would prepare annual work programmes. It was decided that the first seminar under the MoU would take place in June 2013 at Rotterdam to be followed by another seminar in India later in the year. Indo-US Co-Operation in Knowledge Sector billion dollars of additional resources will be pumped in the state system to ensure access and excellence in tertiary education through National Higher Education Mission (RUSA in vernacular). Eight more awards have been finalised under the Obama-Singh 21st century Knowledge Initiative and the joint announcement would be made during the Indo-US strategic dialogue in Delhi in June. Eight such awards were announced last year. There is also a proposal to place young Indian faculty in best of US institutions to enhance their capabilities. Under this plan 126 post-doctorals have been selected. The round table was attended among others by the US under Secretary of State Ms. Tara Sonenshine, senior academicians, industry partners and community college principals. Indian Ambassador to the US Ms. Nirupama Rao also addressed the conference. Obama-Singh 21st century Knowledge Initiative The goal of the initiative is to further strengthen, through faculty exchanges, joint research, and other collaboration, partnerships between American and Indian institutions of higher education in priority fields, including food security, climate change, sustainable energy, and public health. Each project will receive an award of approximately $250,000 that can be utilized over the three-year grant period to encourage mutual understanding, educational reform, and economic growth, as well as the development of junior faculty. India - Japan bilateral meet on commerce
India and the US have decided to further expand their cooperation in the knowledge sector during a round table discussion on the US-India Academic Partnership. The round table was organised by the International Institute of Education to discuss issues such as collaboration in the field of community colleges and promoting online courses and technology enabled education. It also discussed students mobility, particularly encouraging US students to visit India. India asked for US co-operation in promoting skill building in India through community colleges in the field of ICT, digital world, promoting quality research and innovation and vocational education system. Human Resource Ministry has already approved and notified the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF). 20
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H.E. Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India and H.E. Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan met in Tokyo to discuss economic relations between the two. During the meet India has sought investment from Japan in sectors like infrastructure and electronic hardware to enhance trade relations between the countries. The minister updated the Japanese business community that India is now open for multi-brand retail and civil aviation
investments by foreign players and "more reforms in insurance and pension sectors, among others, were in the pipeline". CII informed the community that vital economic legislations such as Banking Bill and Companies Bill are under discussion and that there has been a remarkable progress on Goods and Services Tax and Direct Taxes Code to simplify the taxation system in the country. With respect to the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor both sides welcomed progress of Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) as the backbone of DMIC and agreed to review their progress on a continuous basis. Both the nations are cooperating in manufacturing, development of industrial clusters and skill development centers promoted by The Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in the DMIC region. The ministers also agreed to expedite the process of Smart Community Projects such as seawater desalination atDahej, Gujarat; power system stabilization project in the State of Gujarat; a microgrid system using large-scale photovoltaic (PV) power generation at Neemrana Industrial Area in Rajasthan (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO); and gas-fired independent power producer (IPP) in Maharashtra and agreed to advance the projects by exploring solutions for electricity and environmental regulations and/ or their implementation with related Ministries. India and Japan partnership is also developing Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. Whereas the issue of improving access to Ennore and Chennai ports will be taken up in partnership with the State Government.
understood to be given tacit backing by the government. For the first ever 'blue book' on India has been released in China by the Social Sciences Academy Press which has portrayed a government in "serious crisis," but expressed the belief that India would likely emerge as a stronger country by conquering its current obstacles. The blue book detailed political, economic, foreign policy and defence issues for the year 2011-12. The book runs into more than 300 pages, and was compiled by Yunnan University, which has one of China's biggest South Asia programmes. According to a brief summary, the book sees India as weighed down by a number of crises particularly corruption scandals - but also details India's rising military strength, which it sees as being partly directed at China. It ultimately expresses the optimistic view that India would emerge stronger from the current period of difficulty. It pointed to frequent corruption scandals, divisions within the UPA and public anger at the economic situation as leaving Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government with a tarnished image amid declining public trust. It saw the year 2011-12, which the report covers, as among the worst since India's "remarkable achievements" after reforms in 1991. The book estimates that by 2030, India's population will exceed that of China's. On the foreign policy front, the blue book notes that India has focused on boosting relations with its neighbours in South Asia, pushed forward peace with Pakistan and developed strategic relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal - countries with which China has also recently deepened economic ties. US paves way for shale gas export to India
Further the ministers has agreed to deepen discussion on concrete measures on India-Japan Investment Promotion under partnership with both countries` businesses, reaffirming the expansion of investment as being essential for the global, strategic and complementary economic relationship between the two countries. The bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 18.42 billion in 2011-12. Japan has invested a total of USD 14.42 billion in Indiabetween April 2000 and February 2013. China's 'blue book' on India released
Chinese think tanks release 'blue books' every year on a number of issues. While not representing the government's view, the books are put together by official think tanks and the projects are
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As India is facing a situation of energy insecurity thus the US has granted conditional authorization to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) to nations that do not have Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with it. It implies Freeport LNG Expansion, LP and FLNG Liquefaction, LLC (Freeport) to export domestically produced LNG to non-FTA countries from Freeport Terminal on QuintanaIsland in Texas. Given that the companies from countries like China, Japan and Britain have already have an overwhelming stake in this Texascompany, India is unlikely to benefit immediately from this grant of license.
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But the decision paves the way for India, which does not has a FTA with the US, to get its companies seek similar licenses for import of much needed gas from the United States in large quantities from other terminals. The existing federal law generally requires approval of natural gas exports to countries that have an FTA with the United States. For countries that do not have an FTA with the United States, the Natural Gas Act directs the Department of Energy to grant export authorizations unless the Department finds that the proposed exports "will not be consistent with the public interest." The proposed exports are likely to yield net economic benefits to the United States and is unlikely to affect adversely the availability of natural gas supplies to domestic consumers or result in natural gas price increases or increased price volatility such as would negate the net economic benefits to the United States. Observer Status to India in Arctic Council
region, with its permanent research station Himadri opened in 2008 at Ny Alesund which conducts its operations under the guidance of the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. However, at the level of realpolitik, India will be looking at the opportunities for hydrocarbon exploration offered in the Arctic circle. High rate of industrial development of India causes the strong growth of demand on raw materials, first of all hydrocarbons. Thus India is expanding its interest in the field of resources and this shift can be attributed to the evolving geo-economic shift to the North pivoting on oil and gas, mining and fishing. Recently the U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 90 billion barrels of oil, 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are recoverable in the frozen region north of the Arctic Circle. There may also be significant reserves of coal, zinc and silver. Thus Indian investments in the Arctic are in joint ventures by ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) with Russian partners which offer an opportunity to invest in cold-climate / deep-sea oil and gas and metal extracting ventures similar to Sakhalin in East Russia. The Indian steel giant Tata is developing iron ore mines in Quebec and Newfoundland & Labrador in Canada. The Northern Shipping Route (NSR) is emerging as an alternative to the traditional sea route through the Indian Ocean and India could explore the possibility of using the NSR for transporting energy and mineral resources from the Arctic region.
China, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Singapore were granted the observer status at the eighth ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council convened in Kiruna, the northernmost city of Sweden.
The Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi has welcomed India's admission reported that India would contribute its scientific expertise, particularly its polar research capabilities, to the work of the Arctic Council to support its objectives. India has had a long tradition of polar research in the Arctic
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NASA's asteroid mission OSIRIS-Rex given approval OSIRIS-REx, the $1 billion asteroid sample return mission led by the University of Arizona, reached a major milestone as the project has passed the agency-level confirmation review called Key Decision Point-C, or KDP-C. KDP-C authorized continuation of the project into the next phase of development, giving the team the authority to proceed toward launch in 2016. The mission will travel to and return pristine samples of a carbonaceous asteroid with known geologic context. Such samples are critical to understanding the origin of the solar system, Earth and life. The OSIRIS-REx mission will travel to nearEarth asteroid Bennu (named via a recent student competion), study it for a year with a variety of instruments, collect a sample and return it to Earth in 2023. Measuring more than 1,600 feet in diameter, the OSIRIS-REx target asteroid is uniquely interesting scientifically, while at the same time one of the most potentially hazardous objects known, with a one-in-2,000 chance of colliding with Earth in the late 22nd century. The asteroid could hold clues to the origin of the solar system. So-called primitive carbonaceous chondrites are very special to scientists studying the origins of our solar system because they represent time capsules from the very beginning of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. They are believed to hold primordial building blocks of organic material that potentially could have provided the very basic ingredients for life on Earth. OSIRIS-REx will map the asteroid's global properties, measure non-gravitational forces and provide observations that can be compared with data obtained by telescope observations from Earth. OSIRIS-REx will collect at least 60 grams (about 2 ounces) of surface material. The spacecraft will return samples to Earth for scientists to study for decades. The return to Earth of pristine samples with known geologic context will enable precise analyses that cannot be duplicated by spacecraft-based instruments. Pristine carbonaceous materials obtained directly from an asteroid surface have
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never before been analyzed in laboratories on Earth. The mission's cost breaks down roughly into $800 million for the flight system and science operations and $240 million for the launch rocket. Science operations will be performed on the UA campus; University scientists and engineers will build the camera suite for the spacecraft. On OSIRIS-REx, the UA is partnering with the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, which will manage the mission, and Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Littleton, Colo., which will build and operate the spacecraft. First Made in India rotavirus vaccine unveiled
Indian Scientists has unveiled the first completely indigenous and affordable vaccine to prevent severe rotavirus diarrhoea, which kills children under the age of five in India every year. Rotavirus is responsible for approximately 4,53,000 child deaths due to diarrhoea globally each year. It is particularly threatening in India where according to a recent study - around 1,00,000 children die each year from severe diarrhoea and dehydration caused by rotavirus. India accounts for 22 per cent of the estimated global deaths from diarrhoea-causing rotavirus. The Phase-III clinical trial demonstrated for the first time that the India-developed rotavirus vaccine ROTAVAC in collaboration with Bharat Biotech under the Public-Private Partnership mode is efficacious in preventing severe rotavirus diarrhoea in low-resource settings in India. ROTAVAC significantly reduced severe rotavirus diarrhoea by more than half-56 percent during the first year of life, with protection continuing into the second year of life. Moreover, the vaccine also showed impact against severe diarrhoea of any cause. The vaccine was developed through a unique social innovation partnership that brought together the experience and expertise of Indian and international researchers as well as the public and private sectors. Rotavac is an oral vaccine and is administered to infants in a three-dose course at the ages of 6,
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10 and 14 weeks. It is given alongside routine immunisations in the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) vaccines recommended at these ages. The vaccine originated from an attenuated (weakened) strain of rotavirus that was isolated from an Indian child at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in 1985-86. New danger zone' for Earth: U.N.
Graphene can be used for digital storage: Scientists
Graphene, a one-atom thick lattice of graphite, is a synthetic material with diverse applications ranging from solar cells to diagnostics. It is simple to synthesise and deploy, and allows scientists to manipulate its properties at the atomic level. Its greatest advantage is that it is much more electrically conductive than copper or silver at room temperature. Researchers from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM), Spain, have demonstrated how graphene could facilitate the formation of a magnetic field under certain conditions. This development could potentially open the floodgates on graphene's use in computers, which use magnetic fields to store information on hard-drives.
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According to the UN the world has entered a "new danger zone" with levels of Earth-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere never experienced by humankind. The CO2 level has increased to 400 parts per million (ppm). The level measured by U.S. monitors has not existed on Earth in three to five million years - a time when temperatures were several degrees warmer and the sea level was 20 to 40 meters higher than today. Before the Industrial Revolution, when man first started pumping carbon into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, CO2 levels were about 280 ppm - rising steadily since records began in the 1950s. The new measurement came from analysers atop Mauna Loa, the volcano on the big island of Hawaii that has long been ground zero for monitoring the worldwide trend on carbon dioxide, or CO2. Devices there sample clean, crisp air that has blown thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean, producing a record of rising carbon dioxide levels that has been closely tracked for half a century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has earlier stated that CO2 must be limited to 400 ppm for a temperature rise of 2-2.4 degree Celsius. Climate negotiations have been making poor progress and the yearly rise has led many to conclude that warming of three or four degree Celsuis is probable by century's end.
Manuela Garnica and Sara Barja from UAM first grew a graphene sheet on a base made of the element ruthenium (Ru). Then they evaporated organic molecules called tetracyano- p quinodimethane (TCNQ) on the graphene, which gathered on the layer in a condensed manner. Graphene thus acted as a separating layer between the ruthenium and TCNQ molecules," preventing TCNQ from bonding with the Ru base. Because Ru is a good electrical conductor, it has a lot of free and highly mobile electrons that move into the graphene layer, and then into the TCNQ layer. The unique property of graphene to prevent bonding between two layers while allowing charge transfer between them allows the spins of electrons in the top layer to get aligned with those in the bottom. This alignment is called an antiferromagnetic coupling Once all electrons have the same spin, the system is said to have a magnetic field. This is the first time graphene has been shown to play a role in the creation of a magnetic field. Such graphene-Ru arrangements can be used to align electrons with random spins to the same spin. This could find application in faster manipulation of digital information and their high-efficiency storage in computers. Kepler shut down due to mechanical failure
NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft has been shut down by the failure of one of the reaction wheels that keep it pointed. As designed, the telescope needs at least three of its four wheels spinning to steady itself for the delicate task of finding planets circling distant stars. Kepler, which was launched in 2009, lost its first positioning wheel last year. Kepler works by detecting slight dips in the amount of starlight coming from about 100,000 target stars in the constellations Cygnus and Lyra. Follow-up observations and analysis then determine if the dips are caused by planets passing in front of their parent stars, relative to the telescope's point of view, or other phenomena. So far, Kepler scientists have found and confirmed 130 extrasolar planets, and are in the process of assessing another 2,700 potential candidates. The goal of the mission is to find Earth-sized planets positioned at the right distance from their parent stars for liquid water to exist on their surfaces. Liquid water is believed to be necessary for life. It was designed to operate for four years, but last year it was extended another three years, until 2016.
2 - MARKERS
President presented Asom Ratna Award and Srimanta Shankardeva Award The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee presented the Asom Ratna Award (posthumously) to Late Smt. Indira Goswami and the Srimanta Shankardeva Award for the year 2008 to Smt. Sharmila Tagore. First Indian Naval P-8I LRMRASW Aircraft arrived at INS Rajali WHO does not have its own institutional network but identifies institutions from member countries to work in specific areas of health and designate them as WHO Collaborating Centres. There are 21 WHO Collaborating Centres for Traditional Medicine across the globe, but none in India in spite of having a large number of AYUSH institutions and 32 Collaborating Centres for Modern Medicine. The matter was taken up by the Department of AYUSH with WHO. Two AYUSH institutions namely Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga, New Delhi and Institute of Postgraduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, Gujarat have now been designated as WHO collaborating centres in traditional medicine. The priority area of work for WHO Collaborating Centres of Traditional Medicine is to generate evidence-based information on the safety, quality, and cost-effectiveness of traditional medicine products and therapies. 'Rashtriya Smriti' to be constructed in New Delhi
Indian Naval Aviation received a major fillip with the arrival of the first of eight Boeing P-8I Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance and Anti Submarine Warfare (LRMRASW) aircraft at Naval Air Station Rajali (Arakkonam). The remaining seven aircraft would be delivered over the next two years.
The P-8I aircraft, based on the Boeing 737800(NG) airframe, is the Indian Naval variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing has developed for the US Navy. The aircraft is equipped with foreign & indigenous sensors for Maritime Reconnaissance, Anti Submarine operations and Electronic Intelligence missions. The aircraft is fully integrated with state of the art sensors and highly potent Anti Surface and Anti Submarine weapons. These LRMRASW aircraft have been procured under the contract signed in 2009. The Indian Navy is in process of procuring an additional four P-8I aircraft under the option clause. The P-8I aircraft would greatly enhance India`s maritime surveillance capability in the Indian Ocean Region.
Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga designated as WHO Collaborating Centre in Traditional Medicine (YOGA)
The Department of Yoga Therapy and Training of MDNIY has been designated as WHO Collaborating Centre in Traditional Medicine for a period of four years recently. This is the result of the efforts initiated in 2008 when MDNIY started collaborating with WHO Country Office under the biennium programme of traditional medicine and developed Yoga Resource Centre and brought out disease-specific booklets of Yogic interventions for healthcare.
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Nawaz Sharif
The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the construction of a 'Rashtriya Smriti' at the Samadhis Complex near Ekta Sthal in New Delhi, to establish a place to perform last rites of departed national leaders namely Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime Ministers, former Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime Ministers and such other leaders as decided by the Cabinet. In the past, separate memorials for departed national leaders were created near Rajghat which covered a large space. The Smriti area will provide space for last rites of departed national leaders in future, besides space for a public gathering.
Nawaz Sharif's has bagged 124 of the 272 directly elected seats in Pakistan's National Assembly and became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He has previously served the Pakistan's 12th and 14th Prime Minister for two nonconsecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993 and from February 1997 to October 1999. Sharif is the President of Pakistan Muslim League-N, one of Pakistan's largest political parties.
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Saudi woman conquers Everest
Raha Moharrak, a 25-year-old native of Jeddah, has become the first woman from Saudi Arabia to climb the world's highest mountain. She's also the youngest Arab to reach the top. She was a member of a team of 11 Saudi women, led by Princess Reema Bint Bandar Bin
Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, that trekked to the Everest base camp in May last year to increase awareness about breast cancer. Ms. Moharrak has also climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and has reached the summit of Vinson Massif in Antarctica.
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EDITORIALS
CAG, food security and good sense A new CAG report offers valuable insights into the likely implications of implementing the proposed food security law. The National Food Security Bill (NFSB) couldn't be passed in the Parliament session that ended last week, despite a spirited promotional pitch by its proponents - including Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. Last week also saw the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) table its report on "Performance Audit of Storage Management and Movement of Food Grains in Food Corporation of India (FCI)". ALLOCATIONS vs OFF-TAKE allocations. Where is this extra grain going to come from - when the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has noted that up to 98 per cent of the market arrivals in major States are already being mopped up by FCI/agencies? And even if more grain gets procured, what is the guarantee of it getting lifted? Also, what would be the impact of such large-scale procurement by government agencies on open market prices? It all raises questions on the very feasibility and sustainability of the proposed NFSB. STORAGE, ACCOUNTABILITY The CAG report has also made pertinent points about the status of storage capacity available with FCI. The latter's 'storage gap', corresponding with the peak space requirement on June 1 after the wheat crop's procurement, was estimated at 332 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2012. That amounted to 40 per cent of the total Central pool stock of 824 lt for that date (June 1, 2012). From this observation, it is natural to ask: If FCI does not have storage capacity for 332 lt of grain (worth Rs 66,000 crore or $12 billion), how is it going to handle the additional quantities that will have to be procured for the NFSB? It is quite possible that in this case, the Centre would pass on the onus for creating the matching storage infrastructure to the States! Related to this is the involvement of multiple agencies - including State corporations and even private millers - in storing foodgrains constituting the so-called Central pool. The CAG is right in observing that having so many agencies, without any "single point accountability" that should mandatorily lie with FCI, is conducive to a situation where the indicated stock in the Central pool may not actually be available for distribution at a given point of time. That, in turn, raises strong possibilities of mismanagement, theft and pilferage of the stocks supposedly held in the Central pool. Needless to add, the chances of these would go up even more with grains selling at Re 1 (coarse cereals), Rs 2 (wheat) and Rs 3 (rice) under the NFSB. At these rates, large-scale diversion and 'round-tripping' of
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This report, covering the period from 2006-07 to 2011-12, has highlighted some of the major systemic deficiencies in the operations of the public distribution system (PDS).The convergence in the timing of the NFSB being introduced in Parliament and tabling of the CAG report provides an opportunity to understand the problems potentially arising from implementing the proposed legislation. Before formalising it into an Act, the Government may well look into the current creaky system of procurement and distribution of grains, whose flaws cannot be eliminated, even if attempted to be remedied through the new legislation. A significant observation made in the CAG report pertains to the allocations made from the Central foodgrain pool for the targeted PDS and various welfare schemes during 2006-12. These, as the accompanying chart shows, stood way above what actually got lifted by the States. It points to a lack of real demand and also overestimation by the Centre while making allocations.
Equally interesting is the fact that in most years, even procurement of grain by FCI and State agencies has been lower than the allocated quantities, while more than the actual off-take. Clearly, it means a limited capacity of the system to distribute whatever grain is procured. In the event of the NFSB becoming an Act, one can expect a further step-up in grain allocations by the Centre. That would, then, require procurement to go up even more to match the proposed
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the same grain back to the Government procurement agencies are inevitable. In the process, a new 'grain mafia' class could well emerge. MSP VAGUENESS Another observation by the CAG is about minimum support prices (MSP) of paddy and wheat being fixed in an ad-hoc manner. The MSP of wheat alone during 2006-12 was fixed anywhere between 30 and 66 per cent over the 'C2' cost. The latter, determined by the CACP, takes into account all input costs - including the imputed value of family labour and rental income foregone. While there are set procedures for computing C2 costs, there are no such established norms, though, for arriving at the margins (over the C2 costs) while fixing the MSP. By hiking MSPs without following any norms, the impact on the quantum of the Government's food subsidy bill has been predictable. The fiscal costs will go up further when this arbitrariness in fixing MSPs gets combined with the fixed Rs 1-3/ kg retail pricing formula under the NFSB.
In 2011-12, the Government incurred over Rs 88,000 crore ($16 billion) as the economic cost of the grains handled by it, while realising slightly over Rs 26,000 crore ($4.7 billion) through their disposal. The FCI's economic cost for wheat alone is now about Rs 20/kg, against a realisation of Rs 6 or so. Under NFSB, the latter will be Rs 2. And who knows, with progressive reductions in the coming years, it could be virtually free! The conclusion from all this is as follows: Offtake under the PDS is currently less than allocations as well as procurement. The FCI's storage gap, at around 40 per cent, will only increase with higher procurement sought under the NFSB - unless the States oblige by augmenting warehousing capacities (which is unlikely). On top of it, there is no singlepoint accountability on quality or quantity of grains stored, just as the system of MSP fixation follows no norms whatsoever. The nation needs to seriously consider whether the above monolithic mechanism needs to be promoted further under the proposed NFSB law. Source: Business Line The embattled land
AFTER endless days of deepening strife, a small change for the better has now finally emerged from the embattled land of Syria. The internal struggle within that country remains where it was and there is no letup in the fierce and bloody
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fighting between the contending factions; but the USA and Russia have been able to come to agreement to try jointly to facilitate negotiations between the opposed sides. Hitherto, international action to bring a measure of calm and peace to that country has been stalled by acute divergence of views between these two countries, as a result of which the UN Security Council has been unable to do anything much to try to improve the situation. Some of the members, led by the USA, have been pressing for intervention by the UNSC, seeing no other way of curbing a regime that they believe shows no regard for the basic human rights of its people; others, principally Russia with China in support, have adamantly stood in the way. The UNSC has tried repeatedly, for many years, to push and persuade Syria but with little success: its resolutions have availed little and the division in its ranks has prevented any concerted peacekeeping effort under UN colours. This has led to bitter exchanges between the UNSC members concerned, reflecting the terrible struggle on the ground. Their differences have led to angry questioning about their respective motivation, and with it there has been a considerable downturn in the US-Russia relationship. The humanitarian argument is real but it does not wholly mask the political factors driving the UNSC. Over the years, Russia has developed strong ties with Syria, developing and consolidating a relationship that goes back to Soviet days. Political and military considerations are at the core of it, and while Russian support is critical to Syria, especially in its present days of virtual isolation, Russia too retains a big stake in the relationship which is very relevant to its position in the Arab world. The issue of 'regime change', or a demand for President Assad to be replaced, is a deeply divisive issue between his supporters and his opponents, not only at home but also in the wider world, especially at the UN. Until now, this rift has blocked the possibility of an agreed peace process being framed and implemented, for the removal of Mr Assad is the point of departure for any negotiations involving the Syrian opposition while, unsurprisingly, the regime is in no hurry to accept its own demise. This issue, maybe more than any other, has put paid to diplomatic efforts to find a way forward and has baffled the attempts of some noted peacemakers like Kofi Annan, former UN SecretaryGeneral, who functioned for a while as the Special UN Representative for Syria of his successor the
current SG, to be followed in turn by the seasoned Algerian diplomat, Lakhdar Brahimi. Mr Brahimi has been reported as being on the verge of throwing up his hands on more than one occasion, owing to the intransigence of the competing parties. He has hung on nevertheless and now has given a welcome to the latest development. His imprimatur, as much as anything else, has raised expectation that something substantial has been achieved between the USA and Russia. While Russia has come under criticism for what some observers, particularly in the Western media, regard as its readiness to support a ruthless tyrant, those on the other side also have much to answer for in the Arab world. Interventions by Western powers and their agencies in the processes of the 'Arab Spring' have created many problems that remain to trouble the local populations. NATO actions in Libya have had the ill-effect of removing what was a bulwark against fundamentalist forces and giving these forces added strength. The transition in Tunisia too, where it all began, seems to have run into comparable difficulty, with the democratic process as promoted in that country having the unintended effect of creating space for religious forces of extremist views. Egypt is another country where democratic elections brought to power a party with a long history of Islamist political activism. Next door to Syria lies Iraq where US-led military intervention devastated the country and eventually permitted religious and sectarian political parties to thrive, with the unending toll of life that is to be witnessed even today. It can well be argued that the same experience should not be repeated in Syria through poorly thought out strategies by interventionist powers. But then neither can there be tolerance of the brutal and destructive actions of the present regime, hence the dilemma that has defied solution until now.
to the hostility being shown to their kin in Syria. There is considerable uneasiness on this score in Lebanon. More ominous is the fallout of what has become a civil war in Syria on the Middle East as a whole. In recent days, there have been massive attacks on Damascus that have caused great damage and loss of life. It is generally accepted that the attacks have been launched by Israel, though in keeping with its established policy Israel has made no acknowledgement of its involvement. Syria's main supporter in the region, Iran, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have strongly reacted. It would not take much in present circumstances for these entities to be drawn in to the strife ~ indeed, many observers believe that Israel's real concern is with Iran and its nuclear programme rather than Syria. The Israeli attacks on Damascus underline the fragility of the situation in the Middle East. It is thus a timely initiative by the new US Secretary of State Mr Kerry to have visited Moscow and sought common ground with the Russian leadership on various issues that have hitherto divided the two countries. They seem to have agreed that an imposed change of leadership can open the way for extremist Al Qaida-type elements to assume command, to the detriment and danger of the entire region. Their readiness to work together to address the situation in Syria could be an important step forward. Source: The Statesman
Meanwhile, the war has spread. Within Syria, there is scarcely an unaffected part, casualties keep mounting, and neighbouring countries have been drawn in. Right in Syria's backyard lies Lebanon which has very close ethnic and social ties with it ~ indeed was part of it until the middle of the nineteenth century ~ and is especially susceptible to what is happening next door. Large numbers of refugees have come across, as they have elsewhere in the Arab world, especially Jordan, but in Lebanon the kith-and-kin dimension of the situation can be very complicated. The Alawis who rule Syria are united by religious, tribal and family ties to Alawi groups in Lebanon, who can be susceptible
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Two neighbours, and dealing with them
Once praised for keeping aside the core issue to move ahead on other fronts, India-China ties can no longer be cited as a model for relations with Pakistan When I worked in the Prime Minister's Office of Indira Gandhi from 1981 to 1984, she told me that she could visualise a time in the future when India and Pakistan would have normal, even friendly, relations but she did not have the same hope for relations with China because, she said, it was essentially an expansionist power. How do recent events validate her instinct and analysis? As far as Pakistan is concerned, it is universally acknowledged that it is the military establishment which is most opposed to normalising relations with India; indeed, it appears to have a vested interest in keeping India-Pakistan relations tense. Friendly relations with India would seriously undermine the raison d'tre for the inflated size of the armed forces. They would lose control over the security policy,
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over Afghan and Indian policy as well as control over nuclear arsenal. In other words, the military establishment would become an adjunct of the civilian government, thereby losing not only its preeminent position but also its self-cultivated image of being the only institution that can safeguard and save the people, in effect, from themselves. It might also lose at least a part of its economic empire. Thus, for the Pakistan military, it makes sense not to normalise relations with India. Consensus for dtente On the other hand, going by the election manifestos of major political parties in Pakistan in the run-up to the May 11 elections, there seems to be a growing consensus among politicians for dtente with India. Their manifestos not only did not contain anti-India rhetoric; they also indicated a willingness to promote peace with India. The party of incoming Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif even went to the extent of declaring that it will open the transit route for trade between India, Afghanistan and beyond through Pakistan. Since winning the election convincingly, he has reiterated his desire to work for better relations with India, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warmly reciprocated. Imran Khan's party also spoke of progressive detente with India. This trend needs to be noted and welcomed in India. It suggests that the political mainstream might be ready to stand up to the military in case the latter came in the way of normalising relations with India. Whether it is able to do so will remain to be seen, but at least it has made public its intention to do so. Mr. Sharif has declared that he will be the 'boss' and that civilian supremacy will be asserted. If that happens, the possibility of normal relations between the two countries can certainly be entertained. Indians have a tendency to lurch from euphoria to hostility in reacting to developments in neighbouring countries. We need to wait and watch. Does this mean that Pakistanis have finally accepted that India has no evil designs on their country and that they have nothing to fear from us? Opinion polls in Pakistan have suggested that India is not on the top of their list of most worrisome subjects. The realisation that the country is being torn from within by forces nurtured by their own agencies seems to have dawned on them. The business lobbies - and Mr. Sharif is a businessman - are certainly interested in opening trade and investment opportunities on a reciprocal basis. Pakistan has not kept the deadline of
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implementing the promised Most Favoured Nation status to India but one may expect this to happen in view of the declared intention of all parties to do so post-election. By and large, most people in Pakistan have reached the sensible conclusion that China, their all-weather friend, is not going to bail them out and that the best, perhaps the only, salvation for their fast-collapsing economy is to ride piggyback on India's vast economy. The big question of how they tackle the terrorist outfits acting against India from Pakistani territory will remain. Increasing aggression China, by contrast, has become much more aggressive, and not just towards India. Having secured two decades of peaceful growth, China is now ready, it feels, to take on the world. Confirming this assertiveness are its actions in the South China Sea, Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, and its unwillingness to discuss water issues with neighbours. China is more than willing to exploit its greatly enhanced clout in global economy to press its interests. It vigorously pursues its ambition to have the Yuan accepted as an alternative currency in international trade. It scored an important success by concluding a deal with Australia to trade directly using only the Yuan and the Australian dollar, bypassing the U.S. dollar. As far as India-specific actions are concerned, there are any number of examples of China's difficult attitude, as indicated by the deployment of several thousand PLA personnel in Pakistanoccupied Kashmir and its intrusions across the Line of Actual Control. The most important indication of China's true assessment of India's importance for it is the suo moto statement of President Xi Jinping that the border problem will not be solved any time soon, making it clear that it certainly will not be resolved during his 10 years in office. Hence, the reported statement by a Chinese official in Delhi that China would like to focus on reaching an agreement on the 'framework' for the settlement of the border issue needs to be noted. China will continue to make noise about the need for the two countries to cooperate in the international arena on issues such as climate change, but it remains firmly opposed to India's aspiration for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (it would have been preferable for India not to have had any reference to this matter in the final declaration of the BRICS summit in South Africa than to have agreed to the most unpalatable formulation as finally agreed).
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This is what a Chinese scholar thought of India way back in 1903: "Indians have generally not cared if their territory is lost Chinese determination is stronger than the Indian we can foresee that Chinese accomplishments will certainly surpass those of the Indians." Has anything changed? The comparison with Pakistan and China brings out an interesting aspect. For many years, we in India had been asking Pakistan to follow the example of our relationship with China, in which both countries took a conscious decision to keep aside the core issue of border for the time being and concentrate on other aspects of bilateral relations that offered scope for cooperation to mutual benefit. Trade in particular was identified as offering a huge potential for expanding bilateral relations. This has happened, although the trade is heavily lopsided in China's favour. What is more, China is gobbling up our precious natural resources such as iron ore which we ought to be preserving for use in our own steel plants. It was the expectation at least on our part that increased economic relations would create conditions propitious for the two countries to deal seriously and pragmatically with the border problem. In this, we have been sadly mistaken.
Court on Coalgate: How Govt handling of CBI subverts the rule of law
The Coalgate affair revolves around the allotment of 194 coal blocks by the government to private and public sector entities. Recently, the Supreme Court observed that in a court-supervised probe, the government should not meddle in the process of investigation. The attorney general told the court that he had agreed to meet CBI officials only after being asked by the law minister to do so. On March 8, 2013, the CBI filed the first status report on its investigation. On March 12, the court asked the CBI director to file an affidavit saying that the status reports filed by the CBI had not been vetted by anyone in government and that this should be followed for all subsequent reports. But on March 12, an affidavit filed by the CBI director established that the rule of law was broken. It admitted that constitutional and statutory functionaries subverted the judicial process, obstructing justice and committing contempt of court. Thus, they become parties to a criminal conspiracy committing diverse offences including under Section 217, 218 and 219 of the Indian Penal Code. The Supreme Court has been trying to free the CBI from government interference since its 1997 judgment in the Vineet Narain case. Earlier, in its observations in the Bihar fodder scam cases, the court said that even in police investigations under the Code of Criminal Procedure, no authority could interfere. In 2003, the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, was amended to say that for corruption cases, the police would be supervised by the Central Vigilance Commission. The Central Vigilance Act, 2003, rounds this off by establishing that it would supervise the Delhi Police for cases under the prevention of corruption Act or for criminal cases involving public servants. During the debate of the Central Vigilance Bill in 1999, Shivraj Patil said, "I would like to repeat and repeat it again and again that with the corruption charges levelled against many persons, the machinery to investigate into it, the machinery to supervise it and the machinery to decide it should, by all means, be strengthened." Clearly, there has been a subversion of the rule of law. The affidavits of the CBI director categorically admit that the law minister and officials of the PMO and coal ministry have seen the status report.
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Pakistan, on the other hand, insisted that there can be no progress on any of the bilateral issues so long as the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir was not resolved. It is premature to draw definitive conclusions, but about a year ago, Pakistan relented and agreed to move forward on trade before the core issue was settled. It agreed to grant India MFN status, apparently with the military's consent, even in the absence of any progress on the Kashmir issue. An interesting debate What is the better approach? Settle the core issue first and then normalise, or normalise and then tackle the core issue? This is not just an academic question. Those arguing for the former would in effect suggest standstill in bilateral relations since the core issues are not going to be resolved, given the inflexible and politically difficult positions of all sides. Those in favour of the latter approach in effect would be reconciled to an indefinite status quo, since there would be no incentive to tackle the core issue. The debate needs to be joined. Source: The Hindu
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In one paragraph, the second affidavit seeks to exonerate the attorney general, but in another damns him by stating that he not only saw the changes but himself made changes. One wonders why the former law minister, the attorney general and the additional solicitor general would violate the law? The inescapable conclusion is that because they did not want the status report to throw light on the darkness of the coal block allocations. What the Supreme Court will do is not important. The court is supervising an investigation into the alleged scam. But that does not absolve the constitutional and statutory functionaries from doing what they must, to own up to their guilt without waiting for the court to order them to do so.
One of the critical dimensions of the developmental process today is the interface between high technology concerns and behavioural patterns which are rooted in a conventional ethos. The interfacing is made complex in the absence of an operational framework. Indeed, never before in history have decision-makers had to factor in 'implicit' resources. These are, therefore, seminal times. In the early 1990s, Bill Gates, through his sojourns in information technology, altered the nature of 'assets' of the corporate world. With the emergence of information technology, assets ceased to be just plant and machinery but also covered knowledge power. This line of thought was bound to be extended into resources and the result was the emergence of 'virtual resources'. Spectrum would be a good example. But the complexity does not end here. Spectrum, for instance, is not a monolithic resource. It can operate on several layers. There is one layer which provides for mobile trunking services which radio taxis use. When it comes to public transportation, a different slice of spectrum is used for communication. Here metro rail is a good example. Then there is the traffic which passes through optical fibres. There are many such examples In effect, the situation becomes progressively complex. Decision-making patterns do not exist because there is no antecedence for these practices. Add to this the fact that public understanding of these issues is low and the numbers of players are few, and it becomes even more difficult to comprehend the boundaries of equity and fair play. In an atmosphere where bonafides run low, mutual suspicion is high and the propensity to make quick money is widely believed to be a social failing, developmental processes are bound to be observed by default. Much of this is being explained away as natural and normal. However, it is still difficult to comprehend why governance processes are not addressing this issue. This is not a matter of an individual department or one Minister. This is a matter of general concern and needs to be addressed on the floor of Parliament. The Union Cabinet also needs to take the initiative to tackle these issues by encouraging new options and enabling the exercise of wise choices. Periodic talk of 'auction' or 'first-come-firstserved' only highlights inadequate analysis. It does not take a genius to recognise that information technology has become a part of social
On November 25, 1949, Bhimrao Ambedkar, the chief architect of India's Constitution, said that the Congress party could take all credit for the smooth sailing of the draft Constitution in the constituent assembly. But, he warned, "The Constitution can provide only the organs of state such as the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The factors on which the workings of those organs of the state depend are the people and the political parties they will set up as their instruments to carry out their wishes and their politics." His words have been prophetic and his fears have been proved right.
After following the events of the last few weeks and the court's stinging observations, one must conclude that despite the existence of clearly enunciated laws and procedures by the Supreme Court and Parliament, the CBI remains enslaved in the hands of the political executive.
India is blessed with a great Constitution. But as Ambedkar warned us prophetically on November 4, 1948, "Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new Constitution, the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that Man was vile." Source: Economic Times Information Technology: The Building Blocks of Our Time
It has become an integral part of social and work life. The digital society has opened up huge business opportunities and today information technology is no longer a subsidiary discipline. In fact, any addition on this front can greatly impact the bottom line
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and work life. Digital society has opened up huge business opportunities and IT is no longer a subsidiary discipline. Corporates like American Airlines, Cisco, Dell, GE highlight how the upper crust of e-business technology has made it possible to ensure the maintenance of customer relations, affordability and efficiency of supply chain. In fact, any addition on the IT front can greatly impact the bottom line today. Embedding this in an environment of economic down-turn, one has to focus on how to retain customer and keep the business going. Here again modern management principles would need to go together with traditional wisdom. Typically, prudent and carefully implemented terms and conditions with IT vendors will go a long way in software licensing. It will also support arrangements that make sure that services are maintained and the
systems are up and running. With the all pervasive character of IT, it is difficult to reverse the process of computerisation and what goes with it. The story does not end there. The back-up and recovery mechanism must also be in place to ensure that operations are not affected under any circumstances. The energy domain also comes to mind as an easy reference. As the search for cheaper, cleaner and capable technology continues, it is obvious that the nature of life-support systems is undergoing yet another seminal change. In short, any solution is possible only if we recognise the basic building blocks of the new paradigms, which have over taken developmental theory and management practices. Source: The Pioneer
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Current Affairs Notes for IAS PT 2013

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION SUMMITS Bills in Parliament Biotechnology-1

Environmental news Health News

Important Reports 2012-13 INDIA - HDR 2011

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

productivity, Microirrigation, Government Initiatives......

SECTIONAL TESTS (PAPER I & II)

FULL MOCK SCHEDULE

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

New Bill for protection and welfare of widows

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Over 270,000 pedestrians killed each year: WHO

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

INDIA AND THE WORLD

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Gene that controls three different diseases identified

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

GS MAINS UPGRAD ATION PROGRAMME UPGRADA

Starting F rom From

Contemporary Issues Covered Complete Study Material

Separate Notes for Current Affairs

Call : 9953120676 , 9582263947

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

A threat to food security

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS

Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013

CENSUS 2011 DATA

b) Rural and Urban population

Weekly Current Affairs 29th April to 05th May, 2013

CHRONICLE IAS ACADEMY GS MAINS UPGRADITION PROGRAMME A SOLUTION TO 1250 MARKS