CONTENTS

NATION DIPLOMACY WORLD ECONOMY SOCIAL 2 12 14 17 20

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NATION
Political Interference Disappoints Lokpal Search Panel
Days after Fali Nariman declined to be part of the process to pick Indias first Lokpal, the government suffered a second embarrassment in the matter as retired Supreme Court Judge K T Thomas, who headed the search panel also quit, saying that the committee lacked independence. Thomas, who lives in Kerala, was picked to head the search panel comprising 7 others. With Nariman and Thomas quitting, the eight-member search panel now has only six members left. In a letter sent to the Prime Ministers Office, Judge K T Thomas withdrew his willingness to head the search panel after raising serious questions like Why there should be a Search Committee at all when the Selection Committee itself can decide on who should be the members of Lokpal? As per the Lokpal selection process, the Selection Committee comprising the PM, Sushma Swaraj, Speaker Meira Kumar, Supreme Court Justice H L Dattu (representative of the Chief Justice of India), and jurist P P Rao (the fifth member) must set up a Search Committee to shortlist possible candidates. However, the government has forwarded a list of 305 names to the Search Committee, asking it to pick and shortlist from the list. The Search Committee was required to pick out names of persons from the list provided by the Central Government and the Search Committee cannot make any independent search to find out the most deserving persons to be included in the panel. Further, the Lokpal Selection Committee, under the parent statute, is allowed to ignore the search committees recommendations. Already, the governments nomination of P.P. Rao to the selection committee has run into controversy, with the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, having questioned his political neutrality. It is essentially a matter of serious concern that Government has been interfering openly in the creation of the anti-corruption super cop in a complete disregard to the people of the country who fought a valiant battle to get such a Bill passed but the political class is still unwilling to give away its control.

SC Directs Government On NCPCR Appointments

A Bench led by Justice T S Thakur prohibited the government from issuing notification for appointment of members for the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), after noting there were no norms and guidelines in place for selecting such members, who were being paid out of the public money. The court underlined neither any advertisement had been issued for inviting applications from people at large nor any criteria with respect to a candidates eligibility and suitability was laid down. It said that receiving applications from candidates, recommended by people who had no role to play in the process of selection may render the selection process suspect. Receiving applications only from candidates recommended by Ministers, MPs and other functionaries may not be right the appointments sought to be made have statutory flavor, and those appointed are remunerated out of the public exchequer. That being so there is no reason why all such persons as are eligible for appointment should not have an opportunity to apply and compete for the same, said the Bench. The court asserted that norms and guidelines for selection of candidates should be framed and published so that the entire process of selection was fair, reasonable, objective and transparent.

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The government sought six weeks time for issuing a proper advertisement inviting applications from all eligible candidates, and notifying the guidelines for assessment of the inter se merit of the candidates. The court asked the government to do so within six weeks and then come back to it for lifting the restraint order on appointment.

Earlier out of the available six vacancies, the government had shortlisted five members for the child rights panel, currently chaired by Kushal Singh. A three-member selection panel, headed by Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, had shortlisted Jarjum Ete, Deepika Shrivastava, Preet Verma, Bhuwan Ribhu and Yogesh Dube for the positions left vacant since last November.

Navy Chief Quits Taking Moral Responsibility

Admiral D K Joshi resigned as Navy Chief following a spate of accidents that had raised serious questions about the safety record of the force. He becomes the first armed forces chief to quit since Independence taking the moral responsibility. The resignation came hours after an accident on board the INS Sindhuratna submarine in which two officers were killed after one of its compartments was filled with smoke during a sea trial. It was the third accident in a series of submarine accidents, including an explosion on INS Sindhurakshak, which exploded and sank in the sea in Mumbais naval dockyard in August 2013, killing 18 sailors. Last month, INS Sindhughosh ran aground on its way to the Mumbai harbor, but there was no loss of life. Moreover, Experts said the resignation came in the backdrop of concerns in the Navy over the capabilities of its fleet. Probably, the real reasons have to do with frustration with successive governments over their failure to modernize the submarine fleet. It is to be noted that five of Indias 13 conventionally powered submarines, have exceeded their design life. INS Sindhughosh, INS Sindhudhwaj, INS Sindhuraj, INS Sindhuvir and the ill-fated INS Sindhuratna, all Russian-manufactured Kilo-class submarines, were inducted between 1986 and 1988. The Navy has refitted its submarines to keep them running, but age obviously increases the risks of material failures significantly. In recent years, each military chief has told Defense Minister A.K. Antony of the growing danger that India might prove unable to fight future wars. Even as the Army has been instructed to be prepared to fight a war on two fronts, acquisitions of desperately needed armor and artillery systems have been endlessly delayed. The Air Force is warning that its combat fleet will start shrinking from 2017; squadrons are rationing flying time to prolong the life of aircraft for as long as possible. The Navy is well below strength, and its increasingly obsolescent platforms are dangerous. Perhaps most dangerous, all three services face large-scale deficits of officers, because the armed forces pay scales and service conditions are too poor to attract the skilled young people modern militaries need. There are more than a few in the armed forces who are asking whether the civilian leadership is not just as responsible for the deaths on board the Sindhuratna as Admiral Joshi, whose resignation the Union government was so quick to accept. Though Defense Minister Mr. Antonys years in office have seen him maintain his stellar reputation for personal probity, he has done little to address the looming crisis in Indian defense. There have been news of payoffs in defense purchases alongwith his inability to carry out much needed modernization. The depreciation of the rupee against the dollar, and Indias slowing growth, have stripped him of resources badly needed for modernization. Too little has been done on defense reform and capacity-building in the past few years. The last Indian military chief to hand in his resignation was General K.S. Thimayya. Thimayya did so in 1959 to protest Defense Minister V.K. Krishna Menons refusal to consider 3

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his plans to prepare the Army for a war with China. Prime Minister Nehru persuaded the legendary General to take back his resignation, but chose not

to persuade his Defense Minister to take the threat of war seriously. The consequences still haunt India.

Social Media Regulation Gets EC Attention In Poll Time

The Election Commission of India believes that control and regulation of social media is a major challenge during the election process. There is a need to remove all the publicity material put on social media after the model code of conduct comes into effect i.e., the date of announcement of elections. The expenditure on social media comes within the expenditure limit. The Election Commission of India made it clear that campaign on social media sites will be under strict scanner in the upcoming elections. Taking serious view of the scope for these sites to incorporate paid news in their content, the EC said that the commission will not spare any social media site that violates election code. The rules applicable to electronic media are also applied to social media sites as far paid news are concerned. All political advertisements need to be pre certified before they are posted on social media sites and the candidates are mandated to disclose the expenditure incurred by them in using these sites for campaigning. The Media Certification and Monitoring Committees MCMCs, set up at district levels, function round the clock to keep a check on paid news. These committees will be operational in the state for first time in the ensuing elections. Television channels and newspapers owned by political parties are mandated to give election news in line with election code. There has been elaborate measures regarding bulk messages and Whatsapp with all the service providers to get regular information about the bulk messages being transmitted in terms of their cost. A ban is also proposed on the bulk messages during the 48 hours before end of the polling. Apart from this, the Election Commission has issued revised guidelines and asked for comments from political parties regarding the use of black money in the elections. As per the guidelines, political parties are not to give cash to their candidates for their election expenses. It should be given only by crossed cheques.

Government Takes U-Turn On GM Trials Before Polls

The GM technology especially food crops has been a subject of hot debate among the scientific community and evoked concerns among civil society groups. The GM technology had also created divisions in the government the Agriculture Ministry, the department of Biotechnology and the PMO on one side and the Environment Ministry on the other. This had also delayed the governments deciding on its stance on the Technical Expert Committees report in the case before the Supreme Court. In a clear shift from the stand of his predecessor Jayanthi Natarajan, Environment Minister Veerappa Moily has approved the March 2013 decision of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) to allow more than 200 successful gene modification trials for rice, wheat, maize, castor and cotton. The trials were held up after Natarajan had refused to approve the GEAC decision and wrote to the Prime Minister saying field trials were not feasible as the issue was pending in the Supreme Court. At its March 2013 meeting, the panel had given Bayer Bioscience an open-ended clearance to test GM rice in all four regions of the country subject to the consent of state governments. It permitted Bayer to conduct selection trials on 45 transgenic 4

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rice events, comprising six genes. Mahyco and BASF India were allowed to conduct trials of GM rice while Hyderabad-based Directorate of Oilseeds Researchs GM castor had been re-approved for field trails. Monsanto India was permitted to test its GM maize at alternate sites after facing protests in several states. Similarly, Mahyco was also given an extended clearance for GM wheat trials. Besides, the GEAC had also cleared field testing of various GM cotton varieties by Bayer, BASF and Mahyco. Governments around the world over have been torn between passionate opposition from activists and the push of seed companies. Since these modified plant species are of relatively recent origin, data on biosafety are still not accepted as conclusive or comprehensive. The

question of their superiority over hybrids is also a matter of debate. From the farmers perspective, there is fear of commercial monopolies in agriculture wherever GM crops are linked to intellectual property rights or commercial contracts, restrictions on use and the prospect of litigation come into play. This is an important dimension in India, which has a large number of small farms. Moreover, the GM foods industry claims transgenic plant varieties are safe on the one hand, but fiercely opposes labeling of products as such. The key questions that must be answered while considering grant of permission for their production is their impact on health and the environment.

Falling Standards Of Indian Medicines- A Matter Of Concern

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) bans Sun Pharmaceuticals for its cephalosporin facility located at Karkhadi in Gujarat, for non-compliance of good manufacturing practice. In the recent past, leading pharmaceutical players such as Ranbaxy Laboratories and Wockhardt have received warnings and import bans from the US FDA for quality and compliance issues. Sun Pharmaceuticals makes active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and formulations at its Karkhadi unit. The import alert was issued to it by the US FDA as a follow up to the last inspection of the facility, during which some non-compliance of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) regulations were identified. Ranbaxy Laboratories, Wockhardt, Sun Pharmaceuticals etc have all faced ire of US FDA for some or the other shortcoming. In another case, the Supreme Court of India issued notice to the Centre and Ranbaxy Laboratories on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), seeking cancellation of the companys license for allegedly supplying adulterated drugs in the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam, however, refused to pass any interim order for restraining the company from manufacturing drugs. The court passed the order on a PIL filed by advocate M. L. Sharma, seeking action against the company for allegedly supplying sub-standard and adulterated drugs. In his PIL, the petitioner alleged that Ranbaxy was fined $500 million by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for making and selling adulterated drugs. The PIL also sought sealing of all its manufacturing units. The petitioner alleged that despite Ranbaxy pleading guilty to supplying adulterated drugs in the U.S. and it being fined such a huge amount, the Centre has not taken any action to prohibit or ban the drugs made by the company. The petition also sought action against Indian drug regulator Central Drug Standards Control Organization for permitting Ranbaxy to sell drugs in India.

Reliance Gas Pricing Issue Takes A Toll On Political Authenticity

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mr. Mukesh Ambani has Swiss bank account and also has close relations with the Congress which is adversely affecting the interests of the country. Aam Aadmi Party Convener Arvind Kejriwal has earlier written a letter to the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi regarding the proposed gas price hike from first of April. Mr. Kejriwal has sought clarifications from Mr. Gandhi regarding an alleged deal between the Reliance and the Congress.

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Mr. Kejriwal has questioned the Congress Vice President on why gas price is proposed to be hiked to eight dollars when the gas evacuation cost is less than one dollar. The government, however, has ruled out termination of Reliance's contract for the controversial KG-D6 block. According to the oil Ministry, Reliance's KG-D6 contract cannot be terminated pending arbitration on issue of gas output lagging targets. The Ministry gives the rationale for raising rates as Gas fields in high potential KG and Cauvery basin are unviable at 4.2 dollar gas price. Since Reliance struck gas in the KG-D6 block in the Krishna Godavari basin in 2002 - seen as a validation of allowing private players into gas and oil - controversy has never been far. The first controversy broke out in 2007, during the tenure of Murli Deora as Oil Minister, accused of colluding with Reliance to try and push up the price of gas. The first price of KG-D6 gas was 'discovered' in 2004, when Reliance bid and won a tender to supply gas to the public sector National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for $2.34 per mmbtu (million metric British thermal units), for a period 17 years. Around the same time, the Ambani bothers split. One of the terms of the split was Reliance (Mukesh Ambani) agreeing to supply gas to the power plants of Anil Ambani, at the same terms $2.34 per mmbtu for 17 years. But Reliance refused to supply gas to both and they separately took it to court. This, Reliance's critics say, was proof that it wanted a higher price. When they asked the government to clear the deal with Anil Ambani, the government refused. The matter was referred to an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM), headed by Pranab Mukherjee, which settled on a rate of $4.2 mmbtu, on the logic that a higher price leads to greater revenue for the government. Strong objections were raised by many people against this hike and collusion between the Government and Reliance Industries Limited was talked about.

But Reliance continued to receive unfair benefits, with the second gas price hike last year recommended by the Rangarajan Committee, set up to come up with a formula for gas pricing. The Committee considered the average of the import price of gas, as well as the price of gas at major gas trading hubs like the US, UK and Japan, and came up with a figure of $8.4 per mmbtu. Although the integrity of Rangarajan is unquestionable but still suspicion of political interference is there. Mr. Moily replaced Jaipal Reddy who was Oil Minister between January 2011 and October 2012. Under Mr. Jaipal Reddy's tenure, Reliance was penalized over US$ 1 billion for falling output from its KG Basin gas fields. The matter is now in arbitration between the government and Reliance. Reliance had argued that this was because they had overestimated the reserves in the fields, an argument rejected by Mr. Reddy, who ordered the imposition of the penalty. Mr. Reddy was replaced shortly afterwards by Mr. Moily. The other allegation is over whether Reliance is deliberately escalating its costs. In 2004, when Mani Shankar Ayer was Oil Minister, the ministry approved Reliance's plan to develop KG-D6 at $2.39 billion to produce 40 mmscmd of gas. Just two years later, in 2006, with Murli Deora, the Oil Ministry approved an amended plan by Reliance that it needs to spend four times that amount, $8.8 billion, to produce only double, 80 mmscmd of gas. As per Reliance contract with the government, Reliance first needs to recover its costs, before sharing profits with the government. So the higher the costs it declared, the longer it can delay sharing profits. Reliance claims the jump from $2 to $8 billion was spurred by massive increase in oil prices in those years, which in turn pushed up the cost of drilling equipment which rose by 540% in the same period. With claims and counterclaims piling up, the only point on which there seems to be agreement is that India needs a less confusing, more consistent gas pricing policy.

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No Dissections On Live Animals In Labs: UGC

The UGC has reiterated its directive to stop dissection of any live animal in any university. In zoological parlance a live animal will include even cockroaches and earthworms. The letter addressed to Vice-Chancellors and directors of educational institutions forbids dissection and experiments on live animals. They were requested to come up with alternate modes of dissections using digital/plastinated dissected specimen. The expenditure for this purpose may be met out of the UGC block grants provided to the university during the XII plan period.. The UGC had prescribed guidelines for stopping dissections in a phased manner and suggested alternative methods of experimentation in November 2011, and the letter had also asked colleges and departments in every university to comply with it.

No Indian University In Global Top 200 - World Reputation Rankings

The 2014 World Reputation Rankings, released by the UK-based Times Higher Education says that no higher education institute from India found place among top 200 reputed universities of the world. The list, dominated by the American and British institutions, also had a few universities from Asian nations like China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. In the World Reputation Rankings, described as a definitive list of the worlds 100 most prestigious universities, the famed IITs and the Indian Institute of Science have slid below the 200 mark. Indias most prestigious institution, based on the results of expert global opinion poll, is the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), but it sits roughly around the 200th position and fell further since last year. IITs Bombay, Delhi and Kanpur are also top of Indias ranking, but they have slipped in the global list. Indias absence from the list could affect its ability to attract globally reputed faculty.

SC Rejects Government Plea On Commutation Of Death Sentences

The Centre moved Supreme Court seeking review of its verdict holding that undue delay by the government in deciding mercy plea can be a ground to commute death sentence of a condemned prisoner. In a review petition, it submitted that the January 21 judgment, by which 15 condemned prisoners were granted life and paved the way for similar relief for Rajiv Gandhi killers, is patently illegal and suffers from errors apparent. The Centre said such an important issue should have been heard by a Constitution bench and the judgment passed by a three-judge bench was without jurisdiction. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the Centre's plea seeking review of its verdict. The bench comprising Chief Justice P Sathasivam and Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Shiva Kirti Singh said that they found no merit in the review petitions and rejected it.

HAL- Rolls Royce- Yet Another Case Of Defense Pay-Offs

Defense Minister A K Antony ordered a CBI probe into allegations of bribery in the 10,000 crore rupees deal for supply of aircraft engines to stateowned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited by the London-based company Rolls Royce. The deal relates to supply of engines for Hawk trainer and Jaguar fighter aircraft between 2007 and 2011. The agency will be probing alleged payment of bribe or kickbacks in the purchase of spare parts of

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the engines of the helicopters to the industrial and marine gas turbine division of HAL. India will seek information from Britain about its investigations against Rolls Royce where the Serious Fraud Office is investigating bribery

charges against the company. The Defense Ministry has also asked the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to take action to recover from the London-based Rolls Royce the money paid by it to its commission agents.

Sedition Charges Against Kashmiri Students

Hours after the Uttar Pradesh police slapped sedition and other charges on 67 Kashmiri students of a Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, a private university in Meerut, who were booked for allegedly cheering the victory of Pakistan over India in the Asia Cup cricket match, the State government dropped the charge. However, the other charges of promoting enmity between different groups (Section 153 A) and mischief (Section 427) under the Indian Penal Code against them will stay. The FIR against unknown persons does not name any of the accused. Earlier in his case the police registered a case of sedition under section 124(a) against Kashmiri students of, who allegedly celebrated the victory of Pakistan over India in a cricket match. The University management had suspended all 67 Kashmiri students residing in the hostel. Groups of students were watching the match on TV in the community hall of the hostel at the SVSU when a clash broke out soon after India lost, a result which the Kashmiris allegedly celebrated. No action was taken against the other group.

Government Raises MGNREGS Days To 150 For Tribals Ahead Of Polls

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) promised 100 days of work to every rural household annually. The government increased the number of workdays under its flagship rural jobs guarantee scheme for tribal households to 150 recently. But official data show that no more than 11 per cent of Scheduled Tribe households have been able to complete even the promised 100 days of annual employment over the last few fiscal years. Ministry said that it was hoped the move would stem the migration of tribal populations. Increasing it to 150 days will encourage more tribal households to work on their own land allotted to them under the FRA under the scheme (MGNREGS). Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said this move would help fight left-wing extremism and improve the green cover. However, according to the ministrys own data, only 11.7 per cent of ST households could complete 100 days of employment in 2011-12. The figure for 2012-13 was worse at 11.08 per cent. No data is available for beneficiaries of the scheme covered by the Forest Rights Act. But according to the cabinet note, it can be extrapolated that the same proportion of FRA beneficiaries (as STs) would be expected to avail the additional 50 days of work. The overall national average for participation in the scheme isnt good either. Only 10 per cent of households completed 100 days of work in 2012-13. The average days of employment per household has been just 40.2 this year so far. And in the last two financial years, it was 46.2 and 43.2 respectively. Which means that on an average, a household has not got work for even half of its entitled days. In a similar move in 2012, the government had increased the number of work days under MGNREGA to 150 for drought-hit areas. But according to ministry officials, this did not make much of a difference.

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Panel Suggests Healthy Eating Habits In School Children By Law

An expert group has suggested restricting the availability and consumption of junk food or food high in fat, sugar and salt in schools and in a 50 meter radius around them. The Expert Group has also called for increasing the availability of wholesome food to school children across the country. The committee has identified chips, fried foods, sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages, sugar-sweetened non-carbonated beverages, ready-to-eat noodles, pizzas, burgers, potato fries and confectionery items as the common foods containing fat, sugar and salt in high quantities. It gave this suggestion in draft guidelines for making available quality and safe foods in schools. The Court has been hearing a petition by non-government organization Uday Foundation in the matter. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India had set up the expert committee on a direction by the Court to advise the Central Advisory Committee to develop guidelines for making available quality and safe food in schools. The guidelines further state that steps should be initiated to develop a nationwide programme for identification of more foods based on the criterion and inform the schools accordingly. Another category of concern is the nonstandardized deep fried foods such as samosa, chana-bhatura, etc that are available in school canteens and nearby areas. The guidelines state that the school managements must ensure regulation of such foods through canteen policies that promote consumption of healthy, wholesome and nutritious foods alone. Canteen in schools should not be treated as commercial outlets; they carry a social responsibility towards inculcating healthy eating behavior, the guidelines noted. The canteens can be used to motivate children to consume healthy and hygienic food. The guidelines also stress the need to regulate `the exposure and power of advertisements and promotional activities that are targeted at children. ``It is recommended that the government may advise the Advertising Standards Council of India or any other relevant body to consider developing such a framework for (1) regulating advertisements for foods high in fat, sugar and salt (2) limiting reach of such advertisements in the electronic media where the school children are the key audience (3) restricting celebrity endorsements for such foods and (4) regulating promotional activities of such foods targeted at the children, the guidelines pointed out. It has also been stated that FSSAI should ensure that the labels on all food packets should carry information on the type and quantity of various nutrients and how much the serving size contributes to the total daily requirement.

Congress Wants EC To Ban Opinion Polls

The Election Commission has asked the government to take appropriate action on a complaint about alleged manipulation of opinion polls by agencies. Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath has said that the Election Commission has in the past given recommendations on opinion polls and it was now for the government to act. In a communication to the ministries of Law, Corporate Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, the Commission said the matter involves allegations of conspiracy to prepare false reports and polls for publishing misleading information on illegal payment of money.The Commission has also written to the Press Council and News Broadcasting Association to consider prescribing appropriate guidelines and norms to be followed by the media while engaging the agencies for conducting opinion polls. The Commission had received a complaint from Congress on a sting operation done by a news Ga Ma s R ou n d - up F or t h e m ont h of M ar ch 2 0 1 4 9

channel purportedly showing that some agencies engaged in conducting opinion polls were tweaking the figures. Congress has sought Election

Commission's intervention to ban opinion polls until the expiry of 48 hours from the close of polling for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

SC Asks N. Srinivasan To Step Down As BCCI Chief

The Supreme Court asked BCCI President N. Srinivasan to step down from his post to ensure a free and fair probe of the Indian Premier League Fixing and betting scandal. The SC warned Srinivasan that if he fails to step down, it will pass an order to that effect. The apex court made the observation while taking up the Justice Mukul Mudgal led Committee report on corruption charges against Chennai Super Kings, its Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan who is also Srinivasan's son-in-law. The apex court said that Probe panel report in sealed envelope contains very serious allegations and unless BCCI President steps down, no fair probe can be conducted.

Deadline For Trial For MPs And MLAs

The Supreme Court has set a deadline for lower courts to complete trial in criminal cases involving sitting MPs and MLAs within a year of framing of charges. A bench headed by Justice R M Lodha today said, trial courts will have to give an explanation to the Chief Justice of the respective high court if the trial is not completed within a year. The bench, however, said the period can be extended by the Chief Justice of the high court. The court passed the order on a PIL filed by an NGO.

SC On Euthanasia
The Supreme Court referred the issue of legalizing euthanasia in the country to a five-judge Constitution bench. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam said that it is extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law on this issue and referred the matter to a larger Constitution bench. The Centre had vociferously opposed the plea terming it as "suicide" which could not be allowed in the country.

Sikkim Assembly Passes Lokayukta Bill

The Sikkim State Legislative Assembly unanimously passed the Lokayukta Bill -2014. The bill will allow people to file petition against any corrupt individual ranging from Chief Minister to the Panchayat or chief Secretary to peon.

Indigenously Built Akash Tested

India test-fired the indigenously developed surfaceto-air missile 'Akash' from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur-on-sea, about 15 km from Balasore in Odisha. Akash is a medium range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defense system developed by DRDO as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.

SC Stand Against Fatwas

The Apex Court ruled that a Fatwa iss ued by Muslim clerics cannot be forced upon people. The court said that the State has to protect persons who are harassed for not following such diktats. The apex court ruling by a single-judge bench headed by Justice C K Prasad, came after a PIL filed by an advocate pleaded that fatwa issued by clerics is unconstitutional.

No Voluntary Retirement For Suspended Government Employees

Central government servants under suspension, issued charge sheets or facing judicial proceedings on charges of grave misconduct will not be eligible for taking voluntary retirement, as per new rules notified by the Centre.

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The Ministry of Personnel has amended provisions of Fundamental Rule and notified Fundamental (First Amendment) Rules, 2014. According to the new rules, it shall be open to the appropriate authority to withhold permission to a government servant if he or she is under

suspension or if a charge sheet has been issued and the disciplinary proceedings against him or her are pending. A permission seeking voluntary retirement may be withheld if an employee is facing judicial proceedings on charges which may amount to grave misconduct, they said. There are about 50 lakh central government employees.

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DIPLOMACY

Third BIMSTEC Summit At Nay Pyi Taw

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh attended the third Summit of Bay of Bengal Initiative for MultiSectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The Group consists of seven members comprising India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal. The summit took place at Myanmars new capital Nay Pyi Taw. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for early conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement, focusing first on trade and services and later investment. Dr. Singh said India is working with BIMSTEC countries on developing infrastructure through various road projects like India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, the Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project and the Asian Highway Network. He also called for greater co-operation in energy and greater connectivity through energy grids, transmission highways, gas and oil pipelines, and exploring opportunities for co-operation in renewable sources. Saying that our security is indivisible, Dr. Manmohan Singh also emphasized on early ratification of the Convention on Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organized Crime, and Illicit Drug Trafficking. BIMSTEC is an expression of Indias Look East Policy of the 1990s. It is a link between SAARC and ASEAN, between South Asia and South-east Asia and seeks to promote cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region. It has 14 priority areas with India as the lead country in transport and communication, tourism, environment and disaster management, and counter-terrorism and trans-national crime. India has pledged contribution of 32 percent of annual expenditure.

India- US Trade May Be Hit By Drug Patent Issue

US industry trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) believes Washington should take a tougher line by downgrading India to a Priority Foreign Country i.e., country whose practices on protecting intellectual property should be monitored closely by Washington. It is a classification for the worst offenders of intellectual property rights, which could trigger possible actions against India. If India is relegated by the US to Priority Foreign Country level, it would join Ukraine as the second country in that segment. Countries in the Priority Watch List include China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia, Thailand and Argentina. Differences over intellectual property rights (IPRs) have emerged as a strong undercurrent in Indias economic relations with the U.S. The attempt by the influential pharmaceutical lobby to stymie Indias efforts to ensure the supply of medicines at affordable rates without violating existing treaty commitments, requires a principled response from New Delhi. Upset by Indias decision to use the flexibilities that are available in the existing TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement, big pharmas in the U.S. are using their considerable clout to pressure the U.S. Trade Representative into designating India as a priority foreign country in its 2014 Special 301 Report, due on April 30. That label is reserved for the worst offenders of IPRs, and as a follow-up the U.S. could impose trade sanctions such as withdrawing tariff preferences for Indian exports. In an election year, India will most likely retaliate through anti-dumping duties or tariff hikes on U.S. imports. On the other hand, an Indian committee is reviewing up to a dozen patented drugs to see if so-called compulsory licenses, which in effect break exclusivity rights, can be issued for some of 12

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them. In 2012, India issued its first-ever compulsory license to domestic drugmaker Natco Pharma Ltd on a kidney and liver cancer drug, Nexavar, patented by Germanys Bayer AG. That and a series of recent decisions on patented drugs in India, as part of New Delhis push to increase access to life-saving treatments, is at the centre of trade friction between India and the United States. Like other emerging markets, such as South Africa and China, India is battling to bring down healthcare costs and boost access to drugs to treat diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. The United States, however, voiced concern over protection of patents on safer and more effective next-generation medicines in India amid fears that authorities are considering allowing more Indian firms to make new varieties of cheap generic drugs still on patent. Western drugmakers, including Pfizer Inc, Novartis AG, Roche Holding AG and Sanofi SA, covet a bigger share of the fast-growing drugs market in India. But they have been frustrated by a series of decisions on patents and pricing, as part of New Delhis push to increase access to treatments in a country where only 15% of the 1.2 billion people have health insurance. These companies consider provisions like compulsory licensing as detrimental to R & D of the new medicines as compulsory licensing cuts down the premium of drug innovators. The matter of concern is about whether next-generation drugs would be protected, and ensure that investments that are being made to develop ever-more effective drugs can then be continued.

The genesis of this issue goes back to 1994 when at the Uruguay Round of trade talks India, while not being wholly successful in resisting U.S. attempts to have a 20-year product patent on medicines and chemicals, managed to incorporate certain flexibilities in the TRIPS agreement. However, since 2005 when India incorporated patent protection into domestic laws, it has used the flexibilities only twice. In March 2012, it issued a compulsory license to an Indian firm for a cancer drug, whose patent-holder, the German multinational Bayer, had priced it well beyond the reach of a majority of Indian patients. Under another provision, countries have the option to deny a patent to a drug that involved only incremental innovation over an existing drug. In April 2013 the Supreme Court upheld the 2006 decision of the Indian patent office denying the Swiss multinational Novartis patent on a drug that involved only incremental innovation. Clearly, not just these two instances but the prospect of other countries emulating India has rattled big pharma. India, which has not violated the treaty obligations, can challenge any prospective action by the U.S. by taking it before the WTO, whose dispute settlement mechanism has a good record of impartiality. Developing countries as also a few developed ones expect India to act effectively to safeguard its domestic commitment to public health.

India- China Army Exercise

India and China will hold a joint Army exercise this year in India following the successful conduct of last year's exercise in China. This was agreed upon at the 6th annual Defense and Security Dialogue between the two sides in New Delhi. The two sides agreed to continue expanding exchanges between their armed forces to foster mutual trust and understanding.

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WORLD

Disappeared Malaysian Aircraft Stuns The World

The Malaysian Government said that the Malaysia Airline aircraft which went missing with 239 people on board, is said to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the government has reached the conclusion on the basis of information provided by British satellite company Inmarsat. Malaysia Airline Flight MH370 disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board. No distress signal was received from the plane and there has been no trace of wreckage. There were no reports of bad weather and no sign as to why the Boeing 777-200ER would have vanished from the radar screens about an hour after it took off from Kuala Lumpur. The airline said people of 14 nationalities were among the 227 passengers, including at least 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four French and three Americans. It has been reported that two passengers who were listed on the plane's manifest, an Italian and an Austrian, were not actually on the flight. They both reportedly had their passports stolen in Thailand years ago. A massive multinational search mission far failed to locate the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, even as investigators feared the worst and did not rule out the possibility of a terror link. India had deployed three warships along with four surveillance aircraft to search for the missing Malaysian aircraft. India's assistance in search operation has been provided on the basis of a request made by the Malaysian Government.

Autonomous Republic Of Crimea Secedes From Ukraine To Join Russia

Despite strong international objections, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with Crimean leaders making Crimea part of Russia. This was followed by a disputed referendum in which the Crimean people overwhelmingly approved independence of Crimea from Ukraine and joining with Russia. 97% of the people favored this decision in referendum. MPs in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea voted to formally become part of the Russian Federation. The newly-proclaimed Republic of Crimea decided to use Russian rouble as official currency, while its legislature also decided to switch to Russian time zone by the end of March. Ukraine, however, believes it to be unconstitutional for Crimea to join Russia. Crimea, a region population of which is mostly ethnic Russian, has been at the centre of tensions following the fall of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president. Crimea was transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954. Simferopol is the capital of Crimea. The interim government of Ukraine and that of the Western nations are criticizing the referendum for violating Ukraine's Constitution and international law. US President Barack Obama, in an executive order imposed sanctions related to Russia's incursion into Ukraine. The sanction was also imposed on former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The Group of Eight countries have suspended Russia from elite club of world powers. Meanwhile Russia has threatened to switch to other trade partners if the European Union and the United States impose economic sanctions against Moscow. Takeover of Crimea gives strategic advantage to Russia.

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Russian Naval Base at Sevastopol gives it an access to Mediterranean Sea. Crimea voted to join independent Ukraine in 1992.

The population of 2.01 million of Crimea has around 59% Russians, 24% Ukrainians, 12% Tatars and others.

Maldives Parliamentary Polls Supports Old Dictator Gayoom

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who ruled the Maldives with an iron hand for three decades before giving way to more democratic forces, is back. The party he founded, the Progressive Party of Maldives, has emerged as the single largest party in a surprisingly trouble-free 18th parliamentary election in the Maldives on March 22. More important, the PPM and its allies have won a nearly two-thirds majority in the 85-member Peoples Majlis, the Maldives Parliament. President Abdulla Yameen's coalition won majority in Parliament, bagging 54 out of the 85 seats. The Maldivian Democratic Party, whose nominee, Mohamed Nasheed, was elected President in the first multi-party elections in 2008, lost its numbers in Parliament, winning just 24 seats. Barely few months backs, Mr. Gayooms half brother, Abdulla Yameen, won the presidency in the 2013 elections against Mohammed Nasheed. Ever since February 2012, after Mr. Nasheed stepped down in controversial circumstances, the Maldives has slipped from one crisis to another. The economy has hit the lowest level in decades, and many multinationals insist on payment in U.S. dollars for any transaction. Public confidence in institutions and government is at an all-time low. Though Mr. Yameen made his first foreign visit to India, there is a discernible confidence gap between the two countries. India is critical to sustaining the Maldivian economy and Mr. Yameen is aware of this. In addition to managing relations with India, he needs to carry all sections with him and work to improve governance.

Turmoil In Egypt Continues With Fall Of Government

Egypt's military-backed government led by Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi resigned. The decision was made after the cabinet meeting was attended by armed forces chief and Defense Minister Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. Beblawi's government was sworn in on July 16, less than two weeks after the army deposed Mohammed Morsi. Egypt is going through tough times after the President Morsi was ousted. The defense chief Sisi is expected to become the President in near future. In another incident during the month passed by, an Egyptian court has sentenced to death 529 supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. They were convicted of charges including murdering a policeman and attacks on people and property. The group, including top Muslim Brotherhood members, are part of a trial of over 1,200 Morsi supporters. Authorities have cracked down harshly on Islamists since Mr. Morsi was removed by the military in July. Hundreds have been killed and thousands arrested. The Muslim Brotherhood's general guide Mohammed Badie was among those convicted. They are expected to appeal against the sentence.

Slave And Gravity Sweeps Oscars

Harrowing historical drama 12 Years a Slave won the coveted best picture Oscar, while 3D space thriller Gravity was the top prize winner with seven. Slave win marks the first time a film directed by a black filmmaker has won best picture.

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True-life AIDS activist drama Dallas Buyers Club won three Oscars including best actor for Matthew McConaughey, while Australias Cate Blanchett won best actress for Woody Allens Blue Jasmine.

But 1970s crime caper American Hustle and Martin Scorseses The Wolf of Wall Street went home empty-handed from the Oscars, the climax of Hollywoods annual awards season.

China On The Path Of Liberalization Of Banks

China would allow, for the first time, the setting up of five private banks on a trial basis, and also move to liberalize deposit rates in the next two years, as regulators grapple with the rising pressure on the banking sector from a newly booming online finance industry. The banks would be subject to the same regulation and supervision as existing state-run banks, but would be focused more on small and medium enterprises. SMEs have complained of the struggle to obtain financing from the major banks, which tend to lend preferentially to other state-owned enterprises an increasing entrepreneurs. source of frustration for

The moves come amid a churn in Chinas banking sector, driven in part by an unprecedented expansion of Internet financing products in recent months. A recent research report said Yu'ebao, as of last month, had 81 million investors, surpassing the stock exchanges of Shanghai and Shenzhen, who list 67 million and 65 million shareholders. The flexibility and ease of using Yu'ebao has prompted many Chinese to pull deposits out of the big four traditional state-controlled banks the Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China.

The US Government Vs The Internet

In connection to revelations made by whistleblower and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, that the Agency infected millions of computers worldwide with malware to enhance its surveillance, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said on Thursday, March 13, 2014 that he had called President Barack Obama to complain that the U.S. government is undermining confidence in the Internet with vast, secret surveillance programmes. Ive called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future, he wrote on his Facebook page. The comments came a day after a report citing leaked NSA documents said the spy agency had imitated a Facebook server to inject malware into computers to expand its intelligence collection capacity. Subsequently, the President acceded to holding a talk with him and Google CEO Eric Schmidt on Friday. After the meet, Mr. Zuckerberg said, While the U.S. government has taken helpful steps to reform its surveillance practices, these are simply not enough. He added that users of Facebook and other social media and email services deserve to know that their information is secure and Facebook will keep urging the U.S. government to be more transparent about its practices and more protective of civil liberties. Further, on the role of government, he said The U.S. government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what theyre doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst. The White House in a statement insisted that Mr. Obama was committed to take steps to give people greater confidence that their rights are being protected while preserving important tools that keep us safe. Mr. Obama had announced on January 17, the new Presidential Directive to reform and govern intelligence activities. The meeting was considered of huge importance as it came shortly ahead of a March 28 deadline by which time Mr. Obama is seeking recommendations to end the NSAs collection of bulk telephone metadata. Tech giants in Silicon Valley are said to be closely watching what Obama decides to do about the collection of bulk phone records, because the spying is done under a broad authority that could also include the interception of Internet data.

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ECONOMY

RBI Goes Strict On Corporate Borrowers In The Wake Of Rising NPAs

The Reserve Bank of India has moved in to make it difficult for corporate borrowers to escape repaying banks for their loans. The norms say that shareholders, including promoters of companies, will be asked to suffer the first loss instead of the banks that provided the debt. To ensure more skin in the game of promoters when a loan is restructured, they would be asked to bring in more equity into the company. This equity will be put into an escrow or a trustee account till the company is revived. The banks will also have the right to complain about auditors to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India if they are seen to have given clean balance sheets for a borrower actually in trouble. Similarly, where advocates have given clear legal titles for assets which are not so, their names should be reported to the Indian Banks Association, the RBI rules say. Their names, like the auditors, will be circulated among the bank s before giving them any work. The provisions will apply for large loans of over Rs 100 crore. Banks will need to come together in a Joint Lending Forum (JLF) to protect their interests even before the debt becomes a non-performing asset. Non-performing assets and restructured loans in the Indian banking sector has crossed 10 per cent of total advances and, according to rating agency Crisil, could reach close to 15 per cent in another year. The JLF will begin much before the current system of corporate debt restructuring (CDR) cell and will consequently have a better chance to rescue the loans. The JLF will work with the borrower to put the loan back on track and for this purpose can also invite state or Central officials if there is a need for a change in policy to help the project. In recent years, nearly Rs 15 lakh crore of projects were stymied due to environmental and land-use policies of Centre and states. The RBI rules will ensure that projects will not have to waste time for a decision on whether they are fit cases for CDR. Instead the JLF mechanism will come in. Banks will also be allowed to fund specialized entities which can acquire and turnaround troubled companies. The lenders should, however, assess the risks associated with such financing and ensure that these entities are adequately capitalized, and debt equity ratio for such entity is (prudent) the RBI circular says. Such companies can be promoted by individuals or institutional promoters having professional expertise in turning around troubled companies. At the same time, RBI has increased provisioning norms for loans that become sub-standard which will encourage banks to get rid of them quicker. The RBI said if banks refinance any existing infrastructure and other project loans by way of take-out financing, even without a pre-determined agreement with other banks or FIs, and fix a longer repayment period, the same would not be considered as restructuring.

NPAs- The Gravest Issue Of India Banking: FM

Worried over rise in bad loans, especially among large companies, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram exhorted public sector banks to effectively deal with non-performing assets (NPAs), their biggest challenge. Chidambaram said that the biggest challenge facing the public sector banks is NPAs and asset quality. NPAs are high in large corporate sector as well as in the SSI and MSE sector. Stressing the importance of addressing NPAs, the Minister said

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that banks should focus on recovery and banks are focusing on recovery. The efforts have also yielded some positive results but the overall situation is still grave. The issue of bad loans led to the resignation of UBI Chief Archana Bhargava few months back.

Kolkata-based United Bank of India posted a net loss of Rs.1,238 crore in the three months ended December, 2013, during which its gross NPAs surged to Rs.8,546 crore from Rs.2,964 crore at the end of March last year.

SC Says Enough Is Enough To Sahara Chief

The Supreme Court ordered Sahara Chief Subrata Roy to remain in judicial custody in Delhi. He was kept in the high-security Tihar prison. The order to arrest Roy was issued after his failure to appear before the apex court in the contempt case arising out of non-refund of 20 thousand crore rupees to investors by two of his companies. The court said that it is not happy with the proposal submitted by Sahara regarding refund of the investors' money. The court said, it wants concrete proposal from the Sahara. While seeking more time, Roy said the Group will sell its properties to refund the amount to the investors. The bench told the Sahara Chief that the payment cannot be made in cash as it is contrary to law. The court said the refund money to the investors have to made through demand draft or cheque. During the hearing, Roy apologized before the bench for not complying with its order and assured that its order would be followed by him and sought more time for refunding money to investors. The court had issued non-bailable warrant against Roy after he failed to appear before it on February 26. The true case involves long tussle between SEBI and Sahara. SEBI in 2009 sensed certain largescale fund raising exercises by two Sahara firms Sahara India Real Estate Corp Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) through illegal means, by issuance of certain bonds, called OFCDs (Optionally Fully Convertible Debentures), to the public throughout the country for many months. SEBI asked to refund the money to the people immediately. But Sahara failed to comply with the orders. The matter went to the SC but the attitude of Sahara has always remained in question. The Sahara chief has often defended himself in full page advertisements in newspapers on one hand and has tried to make mockery of SC orders and SEBI on other occasions. Sahara chiefs comments about SEBI officials hospitality during questioning at SEBI office and Sahara sending 60 trucks of mixed up documents to SEBI office often irked the financial regulator. The limit was crossed when Sahara Chief Mr. Roy preferred not to appear before the SC. This irked the SC and it issued nonbailable warrant against Sahara Chief.

RBI Instructs Banks To Prepare For XP Impact

Microsoft, the US software giant will stop issuing updates and patches for bugs in its Windows XP operating system from April 8, 2014. According to a study conducted by Ascentius Consulting, public sector banks and financial institutions face the largest risk as many of them run Windows XP on around 40 to 70 per cent of their computers. As some of your systems, including ATMs, may still be working on Windows XP, you are advised to Ga Ma s R ou n d - up F or t h e m ont h of M ar ch 2 0 1 4 18 take immediate steps to implement appropriate systems and controls in this regard, the central bank instructed. To ensure that their machines are protected against viruses and hackers, many banks across the world have agreed to deals with Microsoft to continue supporting their ATMs until they are upgraded. Britains five biggest banks shelled out close to $100 million each to keep their outdated software secure.

Stay Off The Stock Exchange: SEBI Orders FTIL

On December 17, 2013, the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) passed an order which found FTIL, which was also a promoter of the scamtainted National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), as not being fit and proper to hold more than two per cent of the equity of Multi Commodity Exchange. On Wednesday, March 19, 2014 the SEBI ordered that Financial Technologies (India) Ltd (FTIL) is not a fit and proper person to acquire or hold any equity share in a recognized stock exchange or clearing corporation, either directly or indirectly. The order also covers warrants that FTIL may be holding SEBIs order observed that since commodity future exchange and stock exchange basically discharge similar functions and obligations except that the two exchanges deal in different underlyings physical commodity being underlying in the commodity futures exchange and the securities being the underlying in the stock exchange; a person who is not 'fit and proper' to hold shares in commodity future exchange cannot be a 'fit a proper person' to hold share in the recognized stock exchange and the clearing corporation. He poses same danger to the interest of securities market as to the commodity futures market as both the market require the same standard of integrity. Thus, there is no doubt that the declaration of FTIL as not 'fit and proper person' by FMC has direct bearing on the securities market. The regulatory objective in both the exchanges are same as far as investor protection, market integrity, transparency, fairness and governance are concerned. SEBI added. The capital market regulator also said that FTIL should divest all its existing equity holdings in MCXSX, MCX-SX Clearing corporation Ltd (MCX-SX CCL), Delhi Stock Exchange Ltd (DSE), Vadodara Stock Exchange Ltd (VSE) and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSEIL) within 90 days. FTIL has also been told that it shall cease to be entitled to exercise voting rights in respect of those shares or instruments, with immediate effect.

CBI Registers Case Against Former SEBI Chief

The CBI has registered a Preliminary Enquiry, in connection with alleged irregularities in granting sanction to the MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX) by the SEBI in 2008 and renewing the recognition in 2009 and 2010. The Inquiry is against ex-chairman of the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), C B Bhave and former Board Member K M Abraham, the Jignesh Shah-founded FTIL and the MCX, among others. The CBI will probe how MCX-SX was granted permission despite opposition by SEBI when Bhave was head of the regulatory body. MCX-SX was set up by the Shah-led Financial Technologies India Ltd. FTIL and its commodity exchange arm MCX and began functioning as a full-fledged stock exchange last year. Former Home Secretary G K Pillai, later, resigned as Chairman of MCX Stock Exchange because of action initiated by the CBI against two former top officials of SEBI for alleged irregularities in grant of license to the bourse. Mr. Pillai, who was appointed public interest director and Chairman of MCX-SX after SEBI ordered a restructuring of its board in the wake of NSEL scam. Mr. Pillai term ed the CBI action as most unfortunate and said that Mr. Bhave was an outstanding officer of high integrity.

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SOCIAL

Scorecard On Condition Of Women In India

NCAER, the oldest think tank in India, and the only one outside the government which carries out large independent household surveys on social and economic issues, recently undertook India Human Development Survey (IHDS), a nationally representative survey of about 42,000 households conducted by researchers from the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and the University of Maryland. It is the largest household survey in India after the government's Nation Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) surveys, and the NCAER is the only independent body that conducts such large-sample panel surveys. The survey covers economic data on income and expenditure, development data on education and health, and sociological data on caste, gender and religion. An attempt was made to generate insights for developing a gender scorecard covering the years of economic growth between 2004-2005 and 2011-2012. While there were some indications of progress, the story remains dismal for the most parts. The statistics of the findings are elaborated below. Social Stagnation One of the few areas to rejoice about is the declining gap in school enrolment between boys and girls. In 2005, among children aged between 6-14, 88 per cent of girls and 92 per cent of boys entered school. By 2012, the percentage for both sexes rose to 96 per cent. But to assume that rise in womens literacy will lead to an overall improvement in their status will be a mistake. Women remain bound by strict patriarchal norms that govern where they go (18 per cent dont even go to a Kirana shop), whether they can venture outside the home alone (50 per cent do not travel alone by bus/train even for a short distance), how much input they are allowed in household decisions vital to themselves and their children (only 25 per cent have the final authority on what to do when they are sick, and as much as 81% needed permission to visit a doctor), only 10% said that they could take the primary decision to buy large items for the house, less than 20% had their names on the house's papers and even whether they have any input in who they marry (only 25 per cent actually met their husbands before marriage). 60% of women including 59% of forward caste Hindus and 83% of Muslim women practiced some form of `purdah' or `ghunghat'. Over half of all women said it was common for women in their community to be beaten if they went out without permission. Better economic status doesnt help either. The more financially well off households become only become more rigid. Despite the increase in overall education level of women, sex ratio failed to show any improvement. Census 2001 recorded only 927 girls between the ages 0-6 compared to 1,000 boys. This ratio dropped to 919 in 2011. On a more shocking level, during years of rapid economic growth, womens employment has steadily declined. In spite of the attempts the IHDS survey made to capture diverse sources of womens work, womens work participation rates for those between the ages 15-59 dropped from 58 to 54 per cent for rural women and from 23 to 20 per cent for urban women between 2005 and 2012. Further, women remain concentrated in the agricultural sector. With the slow but steady migration of men out of agriculture into non-farm economy, agricultural work is slowly becoming feminized largely due to 20

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the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). In 2005, 73 per cent of the rural men did any agricultural work; by 2012 this number fell to 65 per cent. In contrast, the decline for women has been smaller, from 91 per cent to 86 per cent. None the less, IHDS records that 44 per cent of the beneficiaries are women while it only mandates that at least a third of beneficiaries should be women. The Institution Of Marriage Some progress has been made in child marriage, with 48% of women over 25 reporting in 2011-12 that they were married before the age of 18 as opposed to 60% in 2004-5. The average number of children that women (over 40) reported they had had has also come down slightly to 3.55. Still, women's autonomy remains severely constrained. 41% of women had no say in their marriage and just 18% knew their husbands before marriage, a statistic that has not improved. The reported figures state that the average Indian family gives over Rs. 30,000 in cash as dowry and 40% admitted to giving large items like TVs and cars as dowry. The practice of giving large items as dowry was most common among forward caste Hindus and lowest among Muslims. Wedding expenses ranged from nearly Rs 1 lakh in the poorest village to Rs 1.7 lakh in small cities, a big jump over the 2004-5 survey. Kerala and Delhi had the most expensive weddings.

Public Policy Successes Some of the programmes like Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) have borne fruit. In 2005, before the implementation of JSY, which provides cash benefits of up to Rs.1,400 for a Hospital Delivery, only 50 per cent of the deliveries took place in a hospital; by 2012, this had risen to nearly 70 per cent. But, even large schemes often suffer from operational difficulties; the demand for hospital-based deliveries has fast outpaced the ability of government hospitals to deliver reasonable quality care. Implementation of the no-frills bank account has increased womens financial inclusion. The proportion of women with their name on a bank account has risen from 18 per cent to a whopping 38 per cent in these seven years. Other schemes have had much lesser success. Only about one per cent of households have registered their daughters for the much trumpeted girl-child schemes that provide cash incentives for the survival and education of girls. In an interview with The Hindu, Suneeta Dhar, director of the women's rights group Jagori said "Those of us in the women's movement and in progressive groups have been saying right from the beginning that instead of focusing on instruments of security like the police alone, there needs to be a transformation inside the home, in schools, in communities".

Social Inclusion On Its Way

In 1990s, the Prime Ministers high-level Sachar Committee made a repot on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India. It concluded that Muslims were doing much worse than the rest of the population on most social indicators. A decade down the line, things have started looking up. Data show that indicators for Muslims are converging with the rest of India. In IHDR, data is collected from the 2000s until 2011, capturing data a decade after Sachar Committee. Across the board, most economic and social indicators for Muslims show convergence through the 2000s: per capita consumption expenditure, unemployment rate or child labor rate; health-related ones like infant/child mortality rate, total fertility rate or child immunization; access to toilets, and literacy. Over eight years after 1999, the percentage of Muslim underweight children, which was worst in the nation as mentioned by Sachar committee, dropped by 6.5 percentage points compared to a drop of 4.5 percentage points in the 21

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national average. As a result, the Muslim average for underweight children was better than the national average in 2005-06. In 1990s, the most sensitive health indicators, the infant and under-five child mortality rates were diverging. Both have been converging for Muslims with the rest of India in the 2000s. The Committee had noted that the fertility rate for Muslims was higher than the national average by 0.7 in 1992-93. Fertility rate refers to the number of children born to a woman during her reproductive ages of 15-49. The difference increased to 1 in 1998-99, which was of disturbing significance. However, by 2006, the Muslim fertility rate on average was higher only by 0.5 (3.09) compared to the national average (2.6), and converging with the latter. Improving Literacy Rates Although Muslims still continued to have lower literacy rates compared to the national average in

2008-08, it is improving faster than the all-India average, with the gap narrowing over time. The difference between the national average and the Muslim average in literacy rates in rural areas was 6 percentage points and in urban areas 10 percentage points in 2001. Both fell to 3.5 percentage points and 8.5 percentage points respectively. According to the National Sample Survey, about 75 per cent of the total population aged 7 years and above were literate in 2011-12. The literacy rate for Muslims had climbed to 72 per cent, only 3 points below that for India. On a concluding note, it can be deduced that gaps between Muslims and the national average on most human development outcomes are narrowing, reflecting their improving condition. Further, they fare better than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on most social indicators. The SCs and STs remain, in this sense, the most marginalized of social groups in Indian society. However, there are many socio-economic indicators which still have much ground to cover.

Regular Batches for

GS (Mains) Paper III

(Technology, Economic Development, Bio diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management) Under the guidance of Kamal Garg

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(Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) Under the guidance of Lakshman Maaheshwary

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