Table of Contents

Social Issues .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Violence against dalits in Una, Gujrat ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Traffic Halt at Gurgaon ................................................................................................................................................................... 2

Geography .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
85 dead, 68 lakh displaced as rains pound north & east ..................................................................................................... 3
Supercomputer to forecast monsoon with dynamical model ........................................................................................... 3

Monsoon covers nearly entire India; narrows rainfall deficit .......................................................................................... 4

Polity and Governance ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Union Cabinet allocates Rs 12,000 crore to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana .............................................. 6
Parliament passes Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016 ......................................................................... 7
Lok Sabha passes Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill ........................................................................................ 8
Parliament passes Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 ......................................... 8
Parliament passes Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2016 ....................................................... 9
Union Government enhances Financial Powers of Ministries, Departments ............................................................ 10
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 ............................................................................................. 11
Funds meant for SCs underutilised, finds NCSC .................................................................................................................... 13
Consensus on major points of difference on GST between Govt and Opposition ..................................................... 14
Parliament passes Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016 ................................................................................... 16
Advocates and Judges conflict in Tamil Nadu ...................................................................................................................... 18
Lok Sabha gives nod for Lokpal Act amendment ................................................................................................................ 19
Back under a doping cloud ........................................................................................................................................................... 19
Irom Sharmila to end fast, contest Manipur elections ...................................................................................................... 20
J&K gets 10% of Central funds with only 1% of population ............................................................................................ 21
NGOs have to register with NITI Aayog for grants ............................................................................................................. 22
Despite hype, only one firm qualified for Startup India .................................................................................................... 23
SC asks Centre to take over Adarsh building ......................................................................................................................... 24
Govt. defends LPG subsidy calculations ................................................................................................................................... 24
SC rejects consecutive life terms, says it is an anomaly .................................................................................................... 25
SC accepts Lodha panel report to revamp BCCI .................................................................................................................. 25
Speaker facing the axe cannot disqualify MLAs, says SC .................................................................................................. 27
Developments in Arunachal Pradesh ....................................................................................................................................... 28
SC quashes Arunachal Governor order, Tuki takes charge as CM ................................................................................ 29
Union Government notifies AADHAR Act giving UIDAI legal basis .............................................................................. 32
Namami Gange projects for cleaning river Ganga launched .......................................................................................... 34
WHO report sounds alarm on 'doctors' in India .................................................................................................................. 35
 Freedom for the farmer from APMC in Maharashtra ........................................................................................................ 36
Justice Mudgal report says DDCA should have a CEO ........................................................................................................ 39
Ex-CBI chief visitors log genuine: SC panel ............................................................................................................................ 40
SC ends impunity for armed forces in disturbed areas ...................................................................................................... 41
Pizzas in Kerala get a 14.5% fat tax ......................................................................................................................................... 42
Pulses deficit in India ...................................................................................................................................................................... 43
All about NSCN (I-M) ...................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Supreme Court: 3 per cent quota for disabled must in all posts .................................................................................... 45
Madras High Court ruled in favour of Perumal Murugan ............................................................................................... 45
Analysis of recent Cabinet Reshuffle ......................................................................................................................................... 46
Union Cabinet Expansion and Reshuffle ................................................................................................................................. 47
Govt. bats for big diesel cars, tells SC that they pollute less ............................................................................................ 48
Arrest of Principal Secretary of Arvind Kejriwal ................................................................................................................. 49

Bilateral Relations and International Organisations ..................................................................................................... 50

South Africa to host BRICS office ............................................................................................................................................... 50

Chinese troops are active on Uttarakhand border ............................................................................................................. 51

Blow to India as arbitration tribunal rules against Antrix ............................................................................................. 52
Excessive response to coup attempt by Erdogan ................................................................................................................. 54
Kidnapped aid worker back home safe from Afghanistan .............................................................................................. 55
10 dead in Munich shooting ......................................................................................................................................................... 55
PM Modi, Sheikh Hasina inaugurate Petrapole Integrated Check Post to boost bilateral trade ..................... 55
Stop inciting violence: India to Pakistan ................................................................................................................................ 56
Change of Government expected in Nepal .............................................................................................................................. 57
Problems in Iraq on account of ISIS ......................................................................................................................................... 60
With many Indians opting to remain, eye brows have been raised over the cost of Operation Sankat
Mochan ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 61
84 killed in France as terror truck ploughs through crowd ............................................................................................ 62
Analysis of PM Africa tour ............................................................................................................................................................ 64
PM South Africa visit ...................................................................................................................................................................... 65
International tribunal ruling in South China Sea case ..................................................................................................... 66
Theresa May to become next British PM ................................................................................................................................ 67
Chilcot Inquiry committee report .............................................................................................................................................. 68
India abstains at UN vote on LGBT ........................................................................................................................................... 69
Issue of visa-free entry ................................................................................................................................................................... 69
World Bank approves aid for Indias solar programme ................................................................................................... 70
 Pokhara-New Delhi direct bus service launched ............................................................................................................... 72
Union Cabinet approves the Revised Cost Estimate of Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan
.................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 72
Russian hackers hit Clinton run ................................................................................................................................................. 73
Govt comes to aid of workers in Jeddah .................................................................................................................................. 74
Delhi hopes UN will push global terror convention ............................................................................................................ 75

Indian Economy ................................................................................................................................................................................... 77

New RBI Governor faces five priority areas .......................................................................................................................... 77
Former RBI Governor views on conflict between Government and RBI over Monetary Policy ......................... 78
Telecom panel fixes minimum spectrum usage charge at 3% ........................................................................................ 79
Union Government constitute Shankar Acharya Committee to examine desirability and feasibility of new
financial year ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Verizon purchases Yahoo, explained ........................................................................................................................................ 81
DGCA rules on refund of ticket charges and for differently abled person ................................................................. 81
Enayam: a new port in Tamil Naidu ........................................................................................................................................ 83
A.P. set to be nuclear power hub of India ............................................................................................................................... 84
Union Cabinet approves National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme ...................................................................... 85
National Mineral Exploration Policy ........................................................................................................................................ 86
Skill banks to train workers for global market .................................................................................................................... 86
Government stretches list of Smart Cities from 100 to 109 ............................................................................................. 87
Draft regional connectivity scheme for airlines ................................................................................................................... 89
Possible economic implications of raising salaries and pensions ................................................................................. 90
What are masala bonds? ............................................................................................................................................................... 91

Science & Technology and Environment ................................................................................................................................ 92

Solar Impulse -2 Completes its Global Journey ..................................................................................................................... 93
Facebook Internet drone Aquila passes first full-scale test ............................................................................................. 94
Russian athletes cant go to Rio ................................................................................................................................................. 94
Torrent download site owner arrested for online piracy ................................................................................................. 95
Centre lets microbeads off the hook ......................................................................................................................................... 96
Panama agrees to sign tax treaty .............................................................................................................................................. 97
Three World Heritage sites recognized in India's by UNESCO ....................................................................................... 98
Juno in orbit of Jupiter after 5-year journey .......................................................................................................................... 99
Indigenous Tejas inducted into Air Force ............................................................................................................................ 100
New missile shoots down target aircraft ............................................................................................................................. 102
Solar Power Tree for generation of electricity from solar energy ............................................................................. 103
India-US joint expedition discovers natural gas in Indian Ocean .............................................................................. 104
 Union Cabinet increases limit for foreign investment in Stock Exchanges from 5% to 15% ........................... 105
India-US ink $1 billion deal to buy four Poseidon-8I aircraft ...................................................................................... 105
Antarctic ozone hole is starting to heal: Scientists .......................................................................................................... 106
NASA extends New Horizons mission .................................................................................................................................... 106

Internal Security Related Topics ............................................................................................................................................. 108

Dhaka Terorrist Attack ............................................................................................................................................................... 108
Red Corridor to be redrawn by govt. ...................................................................................................................................... 109
Brutal Crowd Control Tactics .................................................................................................................................................. 111
Unrest in Kashmir after death of Wani ................................................................................................................................ 112
17 missing persons from Kerala flew to Iran before going off radar ....................................................................... 113
Ashok Patnaik is NATGRID chief ............................................................................................................................................. 115
Zakir Naiks UK-registered Foundation under scanner ................................................................................................. 115

Other Topics ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 108

Mahasweta Devi passes away .................................................................................................................................................. 108
Red Corridor to be redrawn by govt. ...................................................................................................................................... 109
Iconic Indian artist S H Raza passes away .......................................................................................................................... 111
Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi appointed CBSE Chairman ................................................................................................... 112
Euro Cup won by Portugal defeating France ..................................................................................................................... 113
Captain Radhika Menon: First woman to receive Exceptional Bravery award at Sea ...................................... 115
Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi passes away ............................................................................................ 115
Second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant gets operational ........................................................................ 116
NBAGR confers rare and singular species genetic recognition tag to Kendrapara sheep ............................... 116
India, ADB sign $100 Million Loan pact on Cauvery basin development ............................................................... 117
Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to have Happiness Department ..................................................................... 118
Union Government Arvind Subramanian committee to tackle the shortage of pulses ..................................... 118
Kerala Govt. Policy to regulate online cab operators ..................................................................................................... 119
SOCIAL ISSUES

1.Violence against dalits in Una, Gujrat

Atrocity against dalit

Dalits were stripped, flogged, bound and paraded on accusations that they had killed a
cow for skinning. The video of the atrocity was posted online.

Response by dalits
The various modes of protest must be seen as a cry for redressal and systemic social
change all around. Some have protested by attempting suicide, and one died after
consuming a poisonous substance. Certain protesters have taken to dumping animal
carcasses near a district officials office. There has been mobilisation on the streets
across Gujarat, with one policeman succumbing to injuries after stone-pelting by
protesters. There are plans for more State-wide protests.

Large parts of Saurashtra, the region rocked most by agitations led by Dalit groups,
were practically shut down after a bandh call.

Response required
1. The victims of the Una assault must be reassured by the authorities seeing to it that
their assailants are punished;

2. Moreover, the administration must ensure their safety, so that reprisals are not
visited upon them. But for this to happen, the Central and State governments need to
level with the people.

3. Cow protection (gau raksha) cannot be a cover for the pursuit of the kind of
aggressive vigilantism that has been witnessed in different parts of the country, more
often than not as an exercise in communal consolidation.

4. That violence and intimidation in the name of the cow (or beef) will not be tolerated
is a message that needs to go out quickly and unequivocally not only from the Gujarat
government but also from the Centre.

Question: Critically analyse the neo-orthodox movements sanctioning the atrocities

against dalits? Explain with recent examples. Do you think that state can play a
more active role in reducing these atrocities?

2. Traffic Halt at Gurgaon

Blame by residents
Traffic screeched to a halt in Gurgaon but sent tempers racing among its residents, who
laid the blame for the mess at Government.

Cause of traffic jam

The jam was triggered by heavy rains coupled with a breach of the Badshahpur drain.
As the downpour continued, the city came to a virtual standstill.

Views of residents
Gurgaon is the highest contributor to the State's exchequer. But the authorities seem
least bothered in spending this money on the infrastructure of the city.

Condition of people
Thousands of motorists were stopped in their tracks, with many going without food and
water for over 12 hours. Offices registered low attendance, hitting productivity, while
the administration issued an advisory to schools to remain closed for the next two days.
The industrial sector pegged the loss at over Rs.500 crore. Several vehicles broke down,
some even running out of fuel giving commuters a harrowing time. Many had to spend
the night inside their vehicles.

Question: The heavy rains have proven the unprepared of urban infrastructure in
mega cities of India. How can the effect of heavy rains be mitigated in these cities.
Explain in context of recent Chennai Floods and Gurgaon Traffic Jam.
GEOGRAPHY

3. 85 dead, 68 lakh displaced as rains pound north & east

Extent of disaster
With the monsoon trough moving toward northern parts of India, overflowing
reservoirs and swirling rivers in combination with lightning strikes have claimed 85
lives over the last few days in Assam, Bihar and Odisha, displacing close to 68 lakh
people and rendering tens of thousands homeless.

The National Disaster Response Force and State rescue and relief teams evacuated
people from the danger zones and moved them to camps.

Worst affected areas

In Assam, which was the worst-affected, more than two dozen lives were lost in the
floods, and about 37 lakh people in 3,300 villages were displaced from their homes.
Close to 80 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park, home to the one-horned rhinoceros,
lay submerged.

In Bihar, flood waters affected over 26 lakh people in 2,034 villages. Among the rivers
flowing above the danger level are Baghmati at Benibad, Kamlabalan at Jhanjharpur and
Kosi at Baltara.

Question: Discuss the physical and man-made factors which prove monsoon as
bane for our water starved country?

4. Supercomputer to forecast monsoon with dynamical model

Next year, Indias annual summer monsoon forecast may be made by a supercomputer
running a dynamical model. The dynamical model is being tested at the Indian Institute
of Tropical Meteorology, (IITM) Pune.

About Dynamic Model

A dynamical monsoon model works by simulating the weather on powerful computers
and extrapolating it over particular timeframes. Though the dynamical model, called the
Coupled Forecast System version 2, has so far achieved only 60 per cent accuracy in
forecasting the monsoon, government aims to make that 77 per cent. A confidence
boost came when the dynamical model and the ensemble technique correctly signaled a
drought in 2015.

Though this method is normally effective in forecasting weather over a few days, using
it to forecast the annual monsoon over 3 or 4 months has proved difficult.
While such models have been used for research purposes for long, the India
Meteorological Department (IMD) has never integrated them into its operational
forecast.

Presently used method: Ensemble model

The IMD relies on an ensemble model, a statistical technique that uses an average of six
meteorological values correlated to the monsoon such as sea surface temperatures in
the Pacific, and North Atlantic sea level pressure. These values are derived from
century-old meteorological data linked to the historical performance of the monsoon.

Prediction failures in Past

This traditional approach in recent decades has failed to predict monsoon failures in
2002 and 2004 for instance leading to calls by meteorologists for a new, modern
forecasting system.

Prediction in future
While the IMD has for some years put out the dynamical models forecast along with the
traditional one, its plans to give prominence to the dynamical model signals a new
approach. This is a precursor to giving monsoon predictions over Indias 36 sub-
divisions rather than only four broad geographic regions that encompass them. A
dynamical approach can also be more easily tuned to account for rapidly changing
global weather conditions.

5. Monsoon covers nearly entire India; narrows rainfall deficit

According to IMD, Monsoon rains have covered nearly all of India except some parts of
the western states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, while the remaining region is likely to be
covered this week.

Importance of Monsoon:

Although agriculture accounts for about 15 percent of the country's $2 trillion economy,
about two-thirds of its 1.3 billion people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The
monsoon delivers nearly 70 per cent of rains that India needs to water farms, and
recharge reservoirs and aquifers. Nearly half of India's farmlands, without any irrigation
cover, depend on annual June-September rains to grow a number of crops.

The monsoon arrived in India on June 8, a week later than usual, but it is set to cover the
entire country on time by mid-July. Rainfall has picked up in central and northern India
in the last few weeks, helping to narrow the rainfall deficit in the current season to 6
percent, sharply down from 18 percent in the first week of June. In 2016, the monsoon
is likely to deliver 106 percent rainfall of a long-term average.

Downside of Monsoon:
Heavy rains in several parts of India resulted in cloudbursts in Uttarakhand and
landslides in hill states of Arunachal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Nearly 30 people
have lost lives in these rain related disasters.
Polity and Governance

6. Union Cabinet allocates Rs 12,000 crore to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal

Vikas Yojana

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for allocation of Twelve thousand crore rupees
to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

The funds will be used to impart skill training to 60 lakh youths and certify skills of 40
lakh persons acquired non-formally.

It is the revamped version of the PMKVY, which includes a mechanism to revive the
traditional Guru-Shishya approach to train youth with the help of local craftsmen and
trade practitioners.

Key Facts

1. Under this scheme, skill training would be done based on industry led standards
aligned to the National Skill Qualification Framework.

2. Besides catering to domestic skill needs, the scheme will also focus on skill training
aligned to international standards for overseas employment in European and Gulf
countries etc.

3. There will be scholarship for student undergoing training in high end job roles.

4. Training centres will be categorised on the basis of their infrastructure and past
performance. Third party agencies will be also deployed to validate their training efforts
and placement records.

5. Residential programmes will be promoted to youths from north-eastern States,

Kashmir Valley, Leh region and Left-wing extremism-affected districts.

About Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

PMKVY is the flagship outcome-based skill training scheme of the Union Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship.

Objective of the scheme is to enable and mobilize a large number of Indian youth to take
up outcome based skill training and become employable and earn their livelihood.

Question: Union Government has launched recently two major initiatives for skill
development of manpower namely Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and
Global Skill Banks. Explain these initiatives. Also, do you think that Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana prepares youth to undertake tasks in India whereas Global
Sills Banks prepare youth to undertake Global Tasks?
7. Parliament passes Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016

The Parliament has passed the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Bill, 2016 to provide
statutory status to the existing Regional Centre for Biotechnology in Faridabad,
Haryana.

The Bill seeks to provide legislative backing to the Regional Centre and also confers
upon it the status of an institution of national importance.

Key Facts
Objectives of the Regional Centre:

(i) Disseminate knowledge by providing teaching and research facilities in

biotechnology and related fields,

(ii) create a hub of biotechnology expertise,

(iii) facilitate transfer of technology and knowledge in the SAARC region and generally
Asia and

(iv) Promote cooperation at the international level.

Powers:
(i) Provide masters, post-graduate diplomas and doctoral degrees in biotechnology and
related subjects (eg. Agricultural, medical and engineering sciences)

(ii) Institute academic positions like professorships and appoint them

(iii) Determine standards of admission to the Regional Centre etc.

It will have Board of Governors, Programme Advisory Committee, Executive Committee

and Finance Committee etc. as authorities responsible for its administration and
functioning.

Background
In 2006, India had entered into an agreement with the UNESCO regarding establishment
of the Regional Centre for Biotechnology Training and Education in India to serve the
member countries of UNESCO.

In light of this agreement, the Union government had established the Regional Centre
for Biotechnology Training and Education in Faridabad, Haryana in 2009 through an
executive order.

8. Lok Sabha passes Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill,

The Lok Sabha has passed Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 or opening
six new IITs.

The Bill seeks to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 to add six new IITs as
institutions of national importance.

Key Features of Bill

1. Addition of six new IITs in Palakkad (Kerala), Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Goa,
Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir).

2. Bring the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad (Jharkhand) within the ambit of
the parent Act. All these institutions will be declared as institutions of national
importance.

3. Until the statutes in relation to IIT (ISM), Dhanbad are made under the parent
Act, the statutes applicable to IIT Roorkee will apply to it.

The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 declares certain Institutes of Technology as

institutions of national importance.

9. Parliament passes Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation)

Amendment Bill,2016

Parliament has passed the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill,
2016. The bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha and later in Lok Sabha during Monsoon
session of Parliament.

It seeks to amend the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 to widen the
scope of the law against child labour and stricter punishments for violations.

Key Facts

1. The Bill calls for complete ban employment of children below 14 in all
occupations and enterprises, except those run by his or her own family.

2. It defines children between 14 to 18 years as adolescents and bars their

employment in any hazardous occupations.

3. It makes child labour a cognizable offence attracting a jail term of up to two years
and penalty upto fifty thousand rupees.

4. The Bill has a provision of Rehabilitation Fund for the rehabilitation of children.

Question: What are the important provisions of Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016? Do you think that Child Labour (Prohibition and
Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 has fallen short of goal set under 86th
Constitutional Amendment Act?

10. Parliament passes Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment

Bill, 2016

The Parliament has passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill after
it was unanimously approved by Rajya Sabha.

The comprehensive amendment bill seeks to amend and strengthen Benami

Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 1988 in terms of legal and administrative procedure to
curb domestic black money

Key Features of Bill

1) The Bill seeks to

(i) Amend the definition of benami transactions to widen the scope for legal action
(ii) Specify penalties for entering into benami transactions and
(iii) establish adjudicating authorities and Appellate Tribunal to deal with benami
transactions.

2) It add other transactions which qualify as benami, such as property transactions

where: (i) the owner is not aware or denies knowledge of the ownership of the
property,
(ii) transaction is made in a fictitious name
(iii) person providing the consideration for the property is not traceable.

3) The Bill also adds provisions to establish an Appellate Tribunal in order to hear
appeals against any orders passed by the Adjudicating Authority.

4) Appeals against orders of the Appellate Tribunal will lie to the high court. The Bill
specifies the penalty for providing false information.

5) The punishment includes rigorous imprisonment ranging from 6 months up to 5

years, and a fine which may extend to 25% of the fair market value of the benami
property.

6) It empowers the Union Government to confiscate benami property by following due

procedure.

7) The Bill provides immunity under the Benami Act to those who declare their benami
properties under income declaration scheme.

Comment
In recent years the Union Government has taken various measures to curb the black
money and the proposed legislation is one of them. It has been framed to tackle the
menace of black money by creating fear of law.

Question: The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2016 but the
social fabric of India can be an effective tool to curb Benami transactions in India?

11. Union Government enhances Financial Powers of Ministries,

Departments

The Union Government has decided to enhance financial powers of its Ministries,
Departments for appraisal and approval of Non-Plan Schemes or Projects.

In this regard, Union Finance Ministry has issued a notification in order to expedite
appraisal and approval process in the Union Government Ministries and Departments.

As per the revised delegation by Union Finance Ministry

1. The Committee on Non-Plan Expenditure (CNE) will now appraise proposals

involving expenditure of 300 crore rupees and above. The earlier this limit was of 75
crore rupees.

The concerned Ministry or Standing Finance Committee of the Ministry will now
appraise Non-plan Schemes and projects involving expenditure less than 300 crore
rupees.

2. The Minister-in-charge of the administrative Ministry now can approve Non-Plan

schemes costing less than 500 crore rupees. Earlier this limit was of 150 crore rupees.

Scheme or projects having financial implications of 500 crore rupees and above and
upto 1000 crore rupees will be approved by Union Finance Minister.

3. The Union Cabinet or Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs will final the competent
financial authority for proposal having financial limits of 1000 crore rupees and above.

4. The Financial Adviser now can appraise upto 20% increase in the firmed up cost
estimates.
If the absolute cost escalation is upto 75 crore rupees it has to be approved by Secretary
of the concerned administrative Department.

In case the absolute cost escalation is above 75 crore rupees, then the Administrative
Minister-in-charge will approve it.

12. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha
by the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment.

1. Definition of a transgender person: The Bill defines a transgender person as one

who is (i) neither wholly female or male; (ii) a combination of female and male; or
(iii) neither female nor male.

2. Prohibition against discrimination: The Bill prohibits the discrimination against a

transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment in relation to: (i)
education; (ii) employment; (iii) healthcare; (iv) access to, or enjoyment of goods,
facilities, opportunities available to the public; (v) right to movement; (vi) right to
reside, rent, own or otherwise occupy property; (vii) opportunity to hold public or
private office; and (viii) access to a government or private establishment in whose
care or custody a transgender person is.

3. Right of residence: Every transgender person shall have a right to reside and be
included in his household. If the immediate family is unable to care for the
transgender person, the person may be placed in a rehabilitation centre, on the
orders of a competent court.

4. Employment: No government or private entity can discriminate against a

transgender person in employment matters, including recruitment, promotion,
etc. If the entity has more than 100 persons, it is required to designate a person to
be a complaint officer to deal with complaints in relation to the Act.

5. Education: Educational institutions funded or recognised by the government shall

provide inclusive education, sports and recreational facilities for transgender
persons, without discrimination.
6. Health care: The government shall take steps to provide health facilities to
transgender persons including separate HIV surveillance centres, sex reassignment
surgeries, etc. The government shall review medical curriculum to address health
issues of transgender persons, and provide comprehensive medical insurance
schemes for them.

7. Certificate of identity for a transgender person: A transgender person may make an

application to the District Magistrate for a certificate of identity, indicating the
gender as transgender. The District Magistrate will issue such certificate based on
the recommendations of a District Screening Committee. The Committee will
comprise: (i) the Chief Medical Officer; (ii) District Social Welfare Officer; (iii) a
psychologist or psychiatrist; (iv) a representative of the transgender community;
and (v) an officer of the relevant government.

8. Welfare measures by the government: The Bill states that the relevant government
will take measures to ensure the full inclusion and participation of transgender
persons in society. It must also take steps for their rescue and rehabilitation,
vocational training and self-employment, create schemes that are transgender
sensitive, and promote their participation in cultural activities.

9. Offences and Penalties: The Bill recognizes the following offences: (i) begging,
forced or bonded labour (excluding compulsory government service for public
purposes); (ii) denial of use of a public place; (iii) denial of residence in household,
village, etc.; (iv) physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse. These
offences will attract imprisonment between six months and two years, and a fine.

10. National Council for Transgender persons (NCT): The NCT will consist of: (i) Union
Minister for Social Justice (Chairperson); (ii) Minister of State for Social Justice
(Vice- Chairperson); (iii) Secretary of the Ministry of Social Justice; (iv) one
representative from ministries including Health, Home Affairs, Minority Affairs,
Housing, Human Resources Development, etc. Other members include
representatives of the NITI Aayog, National Human Rights Commission, and National
Commission for Women. State governments will also be represented. The Council
will also consist of five members from the transgender community and five experts
from non-governmental organisations.

The Council will advise the central government on the formulation and monitoring of
policies, legislation and projects with respect to transgender persons.
Question: The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016 when passed
will lead to an era of equality, inclusion and progressives for Transgenders. Explain
the statement in context of Provisions of Bill.

13. Funds meant for SCs underutilised, finds NCSC

Analysis by National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC)

Figures submitted by State governments to the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes (NCSC) have led the monitoring body to observe that while many States have
generally allocated funds to the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) on a par with the
Scheduled Castes (SC) population of the States, the actual expenditures under SCSP is
between 2% and 8% of allocation in most States except West Bengal, Karnataka and
Telangana.

The unspent SCSP fund is often re-appropriated and spent on general population
schemes.The data submitted by the States covered the years 2012-13 to 2015-16.

Example from Bihar

The data for Bihar, for instance, is illustrative of these trends. In 2015-16, its SCSP
outlay of Rs. 9,335.5 crore was 16.34% of its total plan allocation, which is
commendable. But of the Rs. 9,335.5 crore, Rs. 7,917 crore was diverted to expenditure
for general schemes. Only Rs. 1,329.94 crore was actually spent on SC-specific schemes.
Translated into percentages, expenditure on SC-specific schemes was only 2.48% of the
total plan expenditure (Rs. 53,673 crore) in a State whose SC population is 15.90%.

Counter argument
Bihar Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Welfare department, while admitting that
Bihars expenditure on SC-specific schemes was 2.48%, insisted that general population
schemes also benefit SCs and should be counted when calculating SCSP spending.
Bihars record of expenditure on SC-specific schemes is still better than that of other
States such as Odisha and Rajasthan.

The NCSC observed in an internal note that Telangana had the best record in terms of
not diverting SCSP funds. Of its SCSP outlay of Rs. 8,089 crore, only Rs. 970.59 crore
had been adjusted in general purpose schemes. West Bengal (23.5% SC population)
and Karnataka (17.15%) had the best numbers in terms of SC-specific allocations,
recording 22% and 16% respectively of the total Plan outlay.

Objectives of SCSP
The SCSP was introduced to bridge the gap in human development between the SCs and
the general population. It aims to channelise funds directly to SCs via dedicated
schemes. A States failure to spend on SC-specific schemes in proportion to its SC
population is seen as a comment on its commitment (or the lack thereof) to welfare of
the socially and economically marginalised communities.

Relevance of this article: Government schemes for welfare of SCs and STs
14. Consensus on major points of difference on GST between Govt and
Opposition

Three major points of difference are:

1. Cap of 18% on GST rate to be mentioned in the constitution.

A key demand of the Congress is to either peg GST at 18 per cent or spell out the
conditions under which the GST rate could be raised.
Government want flexibility in determining the tax rate. For instance, Government
argues that Consider emergenciesand the need to raise extra revenuewill the
Constitution have to be amended?

2. Scrapping of the proposal to levy an additional one percent tax

The government has already committed to dropping the proposed one per cent
additional tax in line with the Congress demand.

3. Formation of a GST disputes settlement authority

The Congress demand was for an independent dispute resolution mechanism headed by
a High Court judge, and not the GST Council proposed by the Centre.

When there was such a sweeping change in the indirect taxation system there are
bound to be issues of implementation. Therefore the Congress feels the need for a truly
independent dispute resolution mechanism.

The Centre was not averse to introducing a proposal in the Constitutional (122nd
Amendment) Bill providing for the setting up of dispute resolution mechanism as
suggested by the Congress

Stalemate ended
The stalemate ended after no less than seven rounds of discussions, the last of which
lasted nearly an hour. After this, the Congress gave up its demand for including in the
Constitution a cap of 18% on the GST rate and the government agreed to address its
concerns for an independent mechanism for dispute resolution.

About Goods and Services Tax (GST)

What is GST?
Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be levied both on goods (manufacturing) and
services.
GST will convert the country into unified market, replacing most indirect taxes with one
tax.
It would have a dual structure a Central component levied and collected by the Centre
and a state component administered by states.

What will GST include?

At the Central level, it will subsume Central excise duty, service tax and additional
customs duties while at the state level it will include value-added tax, entertainment tax,
luxury tax, lottery taxes and electricity duty.

But state taxes on petroleum products will continue for a few years after GST is
introduced, as per the deal brokered between the Centre and states. State taxes on
alcohol and tobacco, too, would remain.

Who would administer GST?

The administration of the Central GST to the Centre and for State GST to the States
would be given. This would imply a reduction in unhealthy competition among the
centre and the states over tax revenue that was prevalent earlier and an increase in
harmonious functioning between them.

GST will be based on VAT

As with VAT, the tax will be charged on each stage of value addition. At each stage, a
supplier can off-set the levy through a tax credit mechanism. This means, the consumer
pays GST added on by only the last dealer in the supply chain.

Relevance of this article: Goods and Service Tax can be asked from multiple Parameters.
Under GS Mains Paper III, it can be asked as provisions, benefits and possible
disadvantages of GST

Under GS Mains Paper II, procedure to pass GST, Demands by Opposition in GST bill and
reasons for consensus between government and opposition can be asked .

Question: The Congress demand for an independent dispute resolution mechanism

is important to maintain the federal structure of Indirect taxation system in India.
Critically Evaluate.

Question: What are the challenges in introduction of GST? What will be the impact
of introduction of GST on government revenues and Why?

15. Parliament passes Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016

The Parliament has passed the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016 after it was
approved by the Rajya Sabha.

The bill provides for establishment of funds under the public accounts of the Centre and
State levels for compensatory afforestation.

Salient features of the bill

1. Establishes National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (NCAF) under the Public

Account of India, and a State Compensatory Afforestation Fund under the Public
Account of each state.

2. The payments into the funds include compensatory afforestation, net present value of
forest (NPV) and any project specific payments.
3. The NCAF will get 10% of funds collected and the remaining 90% will go to respective
State Fund.

4. The collected funds will be utilised for afforestation, regeneration of forest ecosystem,
wild life protection and forest related infrastructure development.

5. Establishes National and State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and

Planning Authorities to manage the funds.

Net present value (NPV) of forest: It is the value of diverted forest which is calculated
and recovered from the user agency for diverting forests. It is calculated for 50 years
period. Basically an expert committee calculates the NPV for every patch of the forest.

Comment
The legislation will allow states to access nearly 42000 crore rupees that is lying idle
and channel it into afforestation projects.

It has provisions for administration of funds and utilization of funds by the user
agencies to undertake plantations, protection of forests and forest-related
infrastructure development.

Objections on the bill

1. Provisions of the Bill vesting greater powers in the forest bureaucracy than on
resident tribals.
2. The possible violation of tribal rights, and
3. Gram panchayats not having the final say in deciding what kind of forests could be
grown
4. Several members of the House also raised doubts on whether it would lead to an
ecologically-sustainable replenishing of forests, and whether tribals were not
persecuted by officialdom under the garb of regenerating forests.

Assurance by government
The deficiencies in the bill would be addressed within the Rules of the Bill. Any
deficiencies could be dealt with in future after a lapse of 1 year, he added. The
provisions of the Panchayati Raj Act are powerful enough to ensure that forest rights [of
tribals] and consent of gram panchayats are respected, said Mr. Dave, Union Minister of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

History of the bill

The Bill was first passed in the Lok Sabha during the UPA governments tenure but was
in cold storage after opposition in the Rajya Sabha. It was again cleared by the Lok
Sabha this year after incorporating amendments.
Relevance of the article: Direct question can be asked on provisions of bill or on
implications of its provisions

Question: Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2016 attempts to restore the

federal balance in environment management. Do you think so? Also, Comment
whether the bill ignores the objectives sought by PESA,1996?

16. Advocates and Judges conflict in Tamil Nadu

Differences between lawyers and judges over the new rules

The amendments notified by the Madras High Court empower High Court judges and
principal district judges to debar advocates
1. who browbeat judges,
2. lay siege to court halls,
3. tamper with records,
4. spread unsubstantiated allegations against judges or
5. accept money in their names or
6. on the pretext of influencing them.

Committee to review amendments

With protests erupting across the State, all judicial work in lower courts has come to a
standstill. It is in this context that the Full Courts resolution constituting a committee of
five judges to look into the new rules afresh and keeping them in abeyance must be
welcomed.

Arguments against new rules

1. Advocates may nurse a genuine apprehension that a couple of clauses, such as the
one relating to the browbeating of judges or spreading unsubstantiated allegations,
are essentially subjective and liable to varying interpretations.
2. As in the infamous scandalising the court provision in our contempt law, there is a
case for demanding that such general expressions give way to a more rigorous
definition of misconduct.
3. Further, rules that commit advocates to silence are better avoided, as they have a
duty to expose wrongdoing and raise their voice in support of the integrity of the
judicial process and the independence and dignity of the legal profession.

Arguments in favour of new rules

1. At the same time, what should not be lost sight of is that there is a specific context in
which the rules were notified. The lawyer community in Tamil Nadu is seen to have
organised too many protests in recent years and resisted all attempts to bring about
discipline among them. There have been frequent unruly scenes in courts, and
allegations against individual judges have been bandied about.
2. Moreover, elected Bar representatives were also part of the process by which the
new rules were framed. If the advocates want them changed, it is only fair that they
approach the committee for redress.
Relevance of the Article: Direct Question can be asked on the critical evaluation of the new
rules.

17. Lok Sabha gives nod for Lokpal Act amendment

Amendment passed by Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha approved an amendment to the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, to
allow extension of the time given to public servants and trustees and board members of
NGOs receiving government funds of more than Rs. 1 crore or foreign funding of more
than Rs. 10 lakh to declare their assets and those of their spouses.

The amendment to Section 44 of the Act was moved by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of
State handling the Department of Personnel and Training, under whose jurisdiction the
Bill falls. Senior Ministers made it clear that the amendment was for providing
immediate relief to public servants facing the July 31 deadline.

Fifth extension
According to the rules notified under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, every public
servant shall file declaration, information and annual returns pertaining to his assets
and liabilities as well as of his spouse and dependent children as on March 31 before
July 31 of that year. The extension given now is in fact the fifth since the Act came into
force in January 2014.

Objective of amendment
Allows more time for public servants and trustees and board members of NGOs to
declare their assets

Question: Do you think that continuous extension in implementation of provisions of

Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 reflect the lack of willingness of administration?
What can be other possible reasons for such regular extensions?

18. Back under a doping cloud

Who has been recently tested positive for doping?

World Championship bronze medallist, wrestler Narsingh Yadav and shot putter
Inderjeet Singh have been tested tested positive for a banned steroid.

Possible implications
If found guilty by the NADA disciplinary panel, the duo may face a four-year suspension
under the anti-doping code. That would automatically throw two of Indias brightest
medal prospects out of next months Olympics.

Poor Anti-doping record in India

But the incidents has once again brought to the fore Indias rather lackadaisical
approach towards keeping sport clean.

1. India wasnt even a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code until
December 2004.

2. The National Dope Testing Laboratory was established in New Delhi in 1990 but was
accredited by WADA only in 2008. In this intervening period, every positive drug test
could be contested in court, a convenient alibi for any athlete or administrator to cover
up wrongdoing.

3. When three women from the victorious 2010 Commonwealth 4x400m relay team
tested positive and were handed one-year sentences by NADA, the International
Association of Athletics Federations had to intervene against what it perceived as
lenient punishment.

4. Interestingly, coach Yuri Ogorodnik of Ukraine, who was fired after being accused of
providing food supplements that were not sanctioned by the Sports Authority of India,
was reappointed last year.

5. A WADA report for 2013 had placed India third in the world in terms of doping
offences.

Relevance of the article: Anti- doping record of India and reasons for the same

19. Irom Sharmila to end fast, contest Manipur elections

Decision of Irom Chanu Sharmila to contest elections

Sixteen years after starting her hunger strike demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act, Irom Chanu Sharmila has decided to end her fast on August 9 and
contest the Manipur Assembly elections as an Independent candidate.

Who is Irom Chanu Sharmila (also known as Iron Lady)?

The 44-year-old rights activist who has refused to eat or drink anything since November
2000, and is force-fed through a nasal tube in Imphals Jawahar Lal Nehru Hospital. She
is in a special ward which serves as her prison.

On November 2, 2000, an Assam Rifles battalion allegedly killed 10 civilians in a village

near Imphal. 3 days later, Sharmila started a fast, demanding the revocation of the
Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act which allows security forces to kill a person on
suspicion without liability to face trial.

Sharmilas non-violent resistance inspired collective protest against the Act in the
northeastern States. It won her several awards, including the 2007 Gwangju Prize for
Human Rights, which is given to an outstanding person or group, active in the
promotion and advocacy of peace, democracy and human rights. International
organisations like Amnesty International have demanded her release.

In 2000, when the activist started her hunger strike, she had vowed not to enter her
house or meet her mother till the government repealed the law. Since then, she has met
her mother Sakhi Devi only once when she was also admitted to the same hospital in
2009.

Relevance of the article: Information can be used in relation to protests under Armed
Forces Special Powers Act

20. J&K gets 10% of Central funds with only 1% of population

Level of financial assistance

Jammu and Kashmir has received 10 per cent of all Central grants given to states over
the 2000-2016 period, despite having only one per cent of the countrys population.

In contrast, Uttar Pradesh makes up about 13 per cent of the countrys population but
received only 8.2 per cent of Central grants in 2000-16. That means J&K, with a
population of 12.55 million according to the 2011 Census, received Rs.91,300 per
person over the last sixteen years while Uttar Pradesh only received Rs.4,300 per
person over the same period.

Even among the special category states, Jammu and Kashmir receives a
disproportionate amount of Central assistance.

The state received Rs.1.14 lakh crore in grants over the sixteen years under review,
according to the Union Finance Ministrys data, which is more than a quarter of the
Central funds disbursed to the 11 special category states in that period.

Special Category Status

In general, the special category states get a higher share of central grants, and Jammu
and Kashmir being one of them will also get such treatment. But even among them,
Jammu and Kashmir is getting a higher share due to its disturbed status and its border
with Pakistan.

Experts on the subject also say that this larger share could work as an incentive to
ensure that the state remains with India.

CAG report: Misuse of funds

Comptroller and Auditor General of India in 2015 castigated the Jammu and Kashmir
government for the pendency of a large number of inspection reports and observations
highlighting serious financial irregularities in the state.

According to the CAG report, 32,625 audit observations containing 8,518 inspection
reports pertaining to the period 1998-2014 were outstanding as of March 31,
2014.There were persistent errors in budgeting, savings, excess expenditure and
expenditure without provision, the CAG report on the States finances for the year
ended March 31, 2014, said. Anticipated savings were either not surrendered or
surrendered at the end of the year leaving no scope for utilising these funds for other
development purposes.

Fiscal reasons
There are also some fiscal reasons for Jammu and Kashmir receiving a larger share of
Central grants.

Service Tax is not levied in Jammu and Kashmir and hence the state does not get a share
of the same in the devolution of central taxes to states.

21. NGOs have to register with NITI Aayog for grants

Regulations inrtroduced to make NGOs more accountable

1. Stepping up its scrutiny of NGOs, especially their financial dealings, the Centre has
made obtaining unique identification numbers and registering them on the NITI Aayog
portal, including the details of the Aadhaar and PAN numbers of all their trustees and
office- bearers, mandatory for them to apply for grants from any ministry.

2. Another government notification said if an NGO receives government funding in

excess of Rs 1 crore, those handling its day-to-day operations will be treated as public
servants under the Lokpal and Lok Ayukta Act (2013).

In case of foreign funding, this limit was pegged at Rs 10 lakh a year.

The notification also said that managers, directors, board members of NGOs will have to
declare their personal assets, jewellery, cash, moveable and immoveable property by
July 31.

3. They will also be subject to rules and regulations for government officials under the
Prevention of Corruption Act.

The notification has caused considerable consternation in the community raising fears
of excessive control by the Centre, though officials maintain the order is only to pave the
way for making NGOs accountable.

Question: Elucidate the recent measures undertaken by government to regulate

NGOs? Do you think that these regulations are necessary for pro-social functioning
of NGOs or mere cover to check anti-government stands?

22. Despite hype, only one firm qualified for Startup India

Benefits given under Centres two initiatives:

StartUp India that provides tax benefits to startups and StandUp India that is focused
on providing credit to Dalit entrepreneurs.

Record under StartUp India

Ironically, the official figures show that of a total of 728 applications received under
Startup India till Monday, the government has recommended only one for tax benefits.

Of total applications received, it categorised 180 applicants as startups (whose

applications were found to be complete), but found that only 16 applicants had been
incorporated after April 1, 2016, the cut off date stipulated in the Finance Act 2016 for
consideration for tax benefits.

The Finance Act provided income tax exemption for 3 years in a block of 5 years for the
startups (Companies and LLPs) incorporated between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2019
and certified as eligible by the Inter-Ministerial Board. In its meeting held on June 28,
2016, the Board recommended the tax benefits for just one of the three applications put
up to it for consideration.

Reord under StandUp India Scheme

The StandUp India scheme, launched on April 5, 2016 by Mr. Modi, aims to facilitate
bank loans of Rs.10 lakh-Rs.1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled
Tribe (ST) and one woman beneficiary per bank branch for setting up a greenfield
enterprise in trading, services or manufacturing sector.

The record for StandUp India is slightly better. Of the total Rs 1360.11 crore disbursed
in loans till July 15, Rs 179.15 crore, or 13.17 per cent were given to Scheduled Castes
(Dalits). The rest went to women and Scheduled Tribes, the other target beneficiary
groups.

Question: The implementation of Stand Up India and Start Up India explain the
long pending problem in administration of India Effective Policy backed with
Ineffective Action. Explain with exmaples.

23. SC asks Centre to take over Adarsh building

SC Order
The 31-storey scam-tainted Adarsh apartments, built at Colaba in posh South Mumbai,
for Kargil war heroes and war widows, will not be demolished for the time being with
the Supreme Court asking the Centre to secure it after taking possession from the
housing society by August five.

Background: Bombay HC decision

Earlier, the High Court had ordered demolition of the apartments and had sought
initiation of criminal proceedings against politicians and bureaucrats for misuse of
powers, holding that the tower was illegally constructed.

About Adarsh Housing Society scam

The Adarsh Housing Society is a posh, 31-storey building constructed on prime real
estate in Colaba, Mumbai, for the welfare of war widows and personnel of Indias
Ministry of Defence. Over a period of several years, politicians, bureaucrats and military
officers allegedly conspired to bend several rules concerning land ownership, zoning,
floor space index and membership get themselves flats allotted in thiscooperative
society at below-market rates

24. Govt. defends LPG subsidy calculations

Defence by the government

The government clarified that an intensive exercise was carried out for identifying
duplicate/fake/ ghost/inactive domestic LPG connections and, as of April 1, 2015, 3.34
crore such connections were identified by the oil marketing companies.

As a result of implementation of Direct benefit tranfer (PAHAL) mechanism, it became

possible to block these 3.34 crore LPG connections as the subsidy was transferred in the
accounts of only those consumers who had registered under PAHAL and who have been
cleared after de-duplication exercise.

For the financial year 2014-15, for 3.34 crore consumers outside the PAHAL net, the
estimated savings would be 3.34 crore x 12 cylinders x Rs.369.72 (average
subsidy/cylinder for FY 2014-15) equal to Rs. 14,818.4 crore. Following a similar
principle, the savings estimated for FY 2015-16 is Rs. 6,443 crore and the total for both
the years, works out to Rs. 21,261 crore, the government clarification said.

CAG findings
The CAG audit has found that the saving from people voluntarily giving up LPG subsidy
under the governments Give It Up campaign and direct bank transfers under the
PAHAL scheme adds up to less than Rs. 2,000 crore, a far cry from the Rs. 22,000 crore-
odd touted by the government.

The remaining saving, according to the auditor, is due to the dramatic fall in the prices
of LPG that India annually imports.

25. SC rejects consecutive life terms, says it is an anomaly

SC Judgement
Like any human being, a convict too has only one life and cannot serve consecutive
sentences of life imprisonment, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held in an
explanation on why there is no point in awarding life sentences twice and thrice over to
those found guilty of heinous crimes.

Details of the judgement

Multiple life sentences will be served concurrently and not consecutively, the court held.
Any direction that requires the offender to undergo imprisonment for life twice over
would be anomalous and irrational for it will disregard the fact that humans, like all
other living beings, have but one life to live, the judgment held.
Criticism of the judgement
The person given one life sentence would face no threat of increase in punishment on
indulging in more crimes.

26. SC accepts Lodha panel report to revamp BCCI

Major recommendations

1. Bar on ministers and civil servants and those above 70 from becoming its members.

2. It, however, left it to Parliament to decide whether BCCI should come under the RTI
and betting on the game should be legalised.

3. A CAG nominee in the BCCI to oversee receipt and expenditure of funds.

4. The Bench rejected the BCCIs objection against recommendation of one-State-one-

vote. It said that States like Maharashtra and Gujarat that have more than one cricket
association will have voting rights on a rotational basis.

5. It accepted the recommendation that there should be a players association in the

BCCI to select cricketers and the funding of players association shall be undertaken
while leaving it to the Board to decide the extent of funding.

6. The Bench accepted the recommendation that one person should hold one post in
cricket administration to avoid any conflict of interest and scrapping of all other
administrative committees in the BCCI after the CAG nominee comes in.7. It left it to the
Board to decide whether there is need for any change in the existing agreement relating
to broadcasting rights and whether a franchise member should be in the Board to avoid
any conflict of interest.

The Bench requested the three-member panel headed by former CJI Lodha to oversee
the transition of administrative structure in the BCCI which has to take place within six
months.

Backgornd
The apex court-appointed Lodha Committee on January 4 to recommend reforms in
functioning of BCCI.

About BCCI
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the national governing body for
cricket in India. The board was formed in December 1928 as a society, registered under
the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act. It is a consortium of state cricket associations
and the state associations select their representatives who in turn elect the BCCI
officials.
Earlier in June, 2016
Rahul Johri takes charge as first ever CEO of BCCI

Rahul Johri took charge as first ever chief executive officer (CEO) of the Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) at its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As a CEO, Mr.
Johri will directly report to the BCCI secretary.

The appointment and creation of post of BCCI CEO was based on the lines of key
recommendations of the three-member Justice RM Lodha Committee.

Post of CEO has been created to separate executive functions (Policy Implementation)
from legislative functions (Policy Making). Earlier, BCCI members used to carry out both
executive and legislative functions. Now, with the creation of post of CEO, BCCI
members will carry only legislative functions.

Question: The appointment of CEO partially separates the function of policy making
from policy implementation at BCCI? Evaluate. Also, explain the recommendations
of Lodha Panel in context of democratization of BCCI?

27. Speaker facing the axe cannot disqualify MLAs, says SC

Judgement of Supreme Court

A Speaker should refrain from deciding the disqualification of MLAs for defection under
the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution if he himself is facing the prospect of removal,
the Supreme Court has held.
Basis of judgement

A Speaker, under the threat of losing his position, may choose to disqualify the MLAs to
alter the composition of the House in his favour.

We hereby hold that it would be constitutionally impermissible for a Speaker to

adjudicate upon disqualification petitions under the Tenth Schedule, while a notice of
resolution for his own removal from the office of Speaker is pending, SC Bench
interpreted .

Background
The court was discussing Speaker Nabam Rebias disqualification of 14 legislators when
a resolution against his own removal was pending.

It refrained from going into Mr. Rebias actions, merely saying that the Gauhati High
Court had already stayed the disqualification. Instead, the judgment interprets Article
179, which deals with the vacation and resignation of, and removal from, the offices of
Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

Article 179(c) provides that a Speaker (or Deputy Speaker) may be removed from his
office by a resolution of the Assembly passed by a majority of all the then members of
the Assembly.
The judgment points to the phrase all the then members of the Assembly to conclude
that the composition of legislators should remain the very same while deciding whether
a majority in the House wants the Speaker to continue or not.

The words all the then members demonstrate an expression of definiteness. Any
change in the strength and composition of the Assembly, by disqualifying sitting MLAs,
for the period during which the notice of resolution for the removal of the Speaker (or
the Deputy Speaker) is pending, would conflict with the express mandate of Article
179(c), requiring all the then members to determine the right of the Speaker to
continue, the court held.

28. Developments in Arunachal Pradesh

Progression of events
The Congress retained power by backing 36-year-old Pema Khandu as Chief Minister
after it became evident that former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki would fail to command a
majority.

The credit must primarily go to the Supreme Court for reinstating the Tuki regime
purely on grounds of constitutional propriety, despite serious doubts about whether he
commanded a majority.

The numbers in the legislature tell an interesting tale. Out of the 47 MLAs with the
Congress, 14 were disqualified by the Speaker in December, while two were told that
their resignations had been accepted. The game-plan was to give the impression that
the rebels had 31 MLAs, a clear majority.

When Kalikho Pul, the rebel faction head, was sworn in as Chief Minister in February, he
claimed the support of 29 Congress MLAs. (Orders disqualifying 14 MLAs had already
been stayed.) He declared that his 30-strong group had merged with another party.
The strategy was to claim that two-thirds of the Congress Legislature Party had merged
with another party, the only situation in which an act of defection is permitted under
the law.

After Mr. Tukis regime was reinstated after the Supreme Court verdict, he stood no
chance of surviving a floor test. This impending embarrassment appears to have goaded
the Congress to shake off months of lethargy. It salvaged the situation by recognising
the dissidents grievances, offering the leadership to a more acceptable candidate and
winning back the entire rebel faction.

Lessons for Political Parties

Earlier, the Congress leadership had ignored the deep divisions within the legislature
party and the extent of dissatisfaction within its own ranks, which resulted in Mr. Tuki
no longer enjoying the confidence of the House.
Using this situation, the Governor intervened by arrogating to himself the power to
advance a duly convened Assembly session and seeking to set the agenda for it. The BJP
responded to the unfolding crisis with cynical opportunism by backing a rebel faction in
the Congress and playing along with, if not encouraging, overreach by the Raj Bhavan.

29. SC quashes Arunachal Governor order, Tuki takes charge as CM

Judgement of Supreme Court

Once again, a Congress Chief Minister unseated by internal rebellion that enjoyed the
backing of a friendly regime at the Centre is set to return to office. A Constitution Bench
of the Supreme Court has ruled that status quo ante as on December 15, 2015, should be
restored in Arunachal Pradesh. This means that Nabam Tuki will return as Chief
Minister and Kalikho Pul, the dissident who formed the government with the help of the
BJP after a brief spell of Presidents Rule, and even proved his majority in a floor test in
February, will have to go.

Politics involved in Changing State Governments

In political terms, the verdict is yet another rebuff to the Narendra Modi government,
after the Uttarakhand misadventure that led to the reinstatement of Harish Rawat as
Chief Minister.

Background
In Arunachal Pradesh, events took an unseemly turn last December when the Governor,
J.P. Rajkhowa, intervened in an apparently partisan manner by advancing a session of
the State Assembly by nearly a month and asking the House to take up a motion to
remove the Speaker as the first item on the agenda. This led to a shutdown of the
legislature at the behest of the Chief Minister and the Speaker, and the dissidents
holding a parallel session at a makeshift venue, where the Speaker was removed and a
no-confidence motion against the government adopted. The subsequent imposition of
Presidents Rule and the installation of the Pul regime raised questions about the
propriety of the BJP-led Central governments approach to Congress-ruled States.

Importance of the judgement

Legally, the main significance of the Arunachal Pradesh verdict lies in the clarity it
provides on the Governors role.

A. The Governor has no authority to resolve disputes within a political party; nor is he
the conscience-keeper of the legislature.

B. He has no discretionary power to advance an Assembly session without the aid and
advice of the Council of Ministers; nor can he fix its agenda.

C. On Mr. Rajkhowas defence that he was acting to prevent constitutional improprieties

such as a Speaker, for whose removal a motion was pending, adjudicating on the
disqualification of some MLAs, the Court has made three points about the Governors
intervention:
1. he had no role in the removal of the Speaker,
2. he had no authority to interfere in the Speakers powers under the anti-defection law,
and
3. he had no basis to act on the views of a group of 21 breakaway Congress MLAs, who
clearly did not constitute a two-third fraction of the 47-member Congress Legislature
Party to be lawfully recognisable.

What is special about the judgement?

This judgment is unprecedented in that it is the first time the apex court used its powers
of judicial review to restore a government when its successor government is still in
place.

Though there are several judicial precedents, led by the nine-judge Bench in the historic
S.R. Bommai judgment, which condemned the arbitrary use of Article 356 invoking
Presidents rule, none have gone so far as to restore a government ousted by
emergency.

The Constitution Bench was exclusively looking into the question of constitutionality of
the Governors discretionary powers to override the authority of Speaker Nabam Rebia
and advance the Assembly session without the aid and advice of the Tuki Cabinet.

The court said that a Governor is not an elected representative, but only an executive
nominee whose powers flow from the advice of the Cabinet. His tenure depends on the
pleasure of the President. Using discretionary powers to summon or dissolve Assembly
sessions without the aid and advice of the Chief Minister and his Cabinet is
unconstitutional.

The Governor is not an ombudsman for the Legislature nor the Speakers mentor. The
Governor cannot require the Speaker to discharge his functions in the manner he
considers constitutionally appropriate, Justice Khehar wrote.

Limits on Governor role

Now that the Supreme Court has reemphasised the limits of the Governors role, there is
a stronger case than ever before for greater care in the appointment of Governors and
the manner of their functioning.

Sarkaria Commission Recommendations on Appointment of Governor :

(i) should be an eminent person;
(ii) must be a person from outside the State;
(iii) must not have participated in active politics at least for some time before his
appointment;
(iv) he should be a detached person and not too intimately connected with the local
politics of the State;
(v) he should be appointed in consultation with the Chief Minister of the State, Vice-
President of India and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha;
(vi) His tenure of office must be guaranteed and should not be disturbed except for
extremely compelling reasons and if any action is to be taken against him he must be
given a reasonable opportunity for showing cause against the grounds on which he is
sought to be removed. In case of such termination or resignation of the Governor, the
Government should lay before both the Houses of Parliament a statement explaining the
circumstances leading to such removal or resignation, as the case may be;
(vii) After demitting his office, the person appointed as Governor should not be eligible
for any other appointment or office of profit under the Union or a State Government
except for a second term as Governor or election as Vice-President or President of India,
as the case may be; and
(viii) At the end of his tenure, reasonable post-retirement benefits should be provided.

The Commission felt that the State Government should be given prominence in
appointing the Governor. The appointment should be made
(1) From a panel to be prepared by the State Legislature; or
(2) From a panel to be prepared by the State Government or invariably by the Chief
Minister;
The Commission felt that the Chief Minister should be consulted before appointing the
Governor. For proper working of the Parliamentary system there has to be a personal
rapport between the Governor and the Chief Minister.
Thus the main purpose of consulting the Chief Minister is to ascertain his objections, if
any, to the proposed appointment.
The Commission found that consultation with the Chief Minister has not invariably been
taking place in recent years.
The general practice, as far as the Commission has been able to ascertain, seems to be
that the Union Government merely informs the Chief Minister that a certain person is
being appointed as the Governor of the State. Sometimes even such prior intimation is
not given.
The Commission recommended that the Vice President of India and the Speaker of the
Lok Sabha should be consulted by the Prime Minister in selection of Governor. Such
consultation, the Commission felt, will greatly enhance the credibility of the selection
process.
Some of the recommendations have been adopted such as Governor to be from outside
State. The SC has many a times emphasized the urgent need for implementing Sarkaria
commission's recommendations on selection and appointment of Governors.

Question: The Supreme Court Judgement on Arunachal Political Crisis is a

landmark judgement on many counts. Explain the statement along with the details
of Supreme Court judgement.

30. Union Government notifies AADHAR Act giving UIDAI legal basis

The Union Government has notified the UIDAI (Terms and Conditions of Service of
Chairperson and Members) Rules, 2016 to give legal status to Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI).

These rules have been framed as per provisions of Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of
Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.

Key Facts

These rules have detail provisions for appointment of its chairperson and members.

1. The chairperson of UIDAI will be selected on the recommendation of a search-cum-

selection committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
2. Besides, Secretaries of Department of Personnel and Training, Finance and
Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and two experts will be
its members.

3. The two experts will be nominated by the Union Communications and IT Minister.
The Chairperson will draw a salary of the level of a Secretary.

Presently over 102 crore persons in the country have unique identity numbers and
Aadhaar card. The Aadhaar has been linked to more than 12 crore LPG consumers, 27
crore bank accounts, 13 crore ration cards holders and 7 crore MGNREGA workers.

Background

Union Government is going to notify the Aadhaar Act in two phases for complete
operationalisation of the Act.

After the chairperson and members are appointed they will pass the regulations for
notifying rest of the Act.

Presently, only few Sections of the Act have been notified for operationalisation.

31. Namami Gange projects for cleaning river Ganga launched

Union Government has launched various projects under Namami Gange programme for
cleaning of river Ganga and its tributaries from Haridwar, Uttarakand.

Besides, simultaneous projects were also launched at over 103 locations in seven
states for cleaning of river Ganga and its tributaries from Gangotri to Howrah.

Key Facts

1. The Namami Gange Programme aims at cleaning the holy river and ensuring its
unfettered flow. Union government has allocated Rs.20,000 crore budget for it.

2. Under it, projects such as modernization and redevelopment of ghats, crematoriums

and other development activities will be undertaken.

3. Besides it will also undertake project for development of sewage infrastructure and
treatment, tree plantation, afforestation, pilot drain project, interceptor drain project,
trash skimmers and conservation of biodiversity.

4. The projects were launched simultaneously in five basin states of the river Ganga viz.
Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Besides, projects were also launched in Delhi and Haryana through which Gangas
largest tributary Yamuna passes.

About Namami Gange Programme (NGP)

Namami Gange Programme is an ambitious integrated Ganga Conservation Mission that

was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2015.

The programme integrates the efforts to clean and protect the Ganga River in a
comprehensive manner.

Focus of Programme: Pollution abatement interventions by interception, diversion and

treatment of wastewater through bio-remediation.

Appropriate in-situ treatment or use of innovative technologies such as effluent

treatment plant (ETPs) and sewage treatment plants (STPs) for cleaning Ganga.

Besides, it also seeks to benefit vast population dependent on the river Ganaga in terms
of job creation, improved livelihoods and health benefits.

Adoption of Namami Gange Name

The name highlights the religious and spiritual significance of Ganga and inspires
people to assist government in keeping Ganga clean.

Question: Do you think that Namami Gange Programme holds promise of clean
Ganga? How is it different from Clean Ganga Mission adopted earlier by
government?

32. WHO report sounds alarm on 'doctors' in India

Details of study by World Health Organisation (WHO) titled The Health Workforce in
India published in June 2016

Educational Attainments of Medical Practitioners

1. Almost one-third (31 per cent) of those who claimed to be allopathic doctors in
2001 were educated only up to the secondary school level and 57 per cent did not have
any medical qualification.
2. The situation was far worse in rural India, where just 18.8 per cent of allopathic
doctors had a medical qualification.
3. Interestingly, female healthcare workers 38 per cent of the total were found to
be more educated and medically qualified than their male counterparts.
For instance, among allopathic doctors, 67 per cent of females had a medical
qualification compared to 38 per cent of males.
4. The data for each district in the country from the 2001 census were specially
extracted for this study, which provided a comprehensive picture of health workers in
each district.

Researchers hoped that a similar study was repeated with data from Census 2011,
which was not yet available.
The study revealed that the density of all doctors allopathic, ayurvedic,
homoeopathic and unani at the national level was 80 doctors per lakh population
compared to 130 in China.

Ignoring those who dont have a medical qualification, the number for India fell to 36
doctors per lakh population. As for nurses and midwives, India had 61 workers per lakh
population compared to 96 in China. The number reduced tenfold to 6 per lakh
population, if only those with a medical qualification were considered.

Health workers
The study found substantial variation in the density of health workers across States and
districts. For instance, Kerala had 38.4 per cent of the countrys medically qualified
nurses but constituted only 3.1 per cent of the total population. Similarly, West Bengal
had 30.6 per cent of all homoeopathic doctors in the country but only 7.8% of the
population. Better-off States seemed to afford more doctors plus nurses per capita, the
study noted.

33. Freedom for the farmer from APMC in Maharashtra

Decision by Maharashtra Government

The Maharashtra governments decision to promulgate an ordinance this week to
exempt farmers from having to mandatorily sell their fruit and vegetable crop at mandis
governed by a 1963 law on marketing farm produce, is a bold and laudable step against
the powerful lobby of middlemen, who shut shop in protest, is even more
commendable.

Problem with the present system

The problem with the present regime, under which produce has to be sold through
Agricultural Produce Market Committees, is that farmers seldom benefit from price
movements; traders rake in the upside that consumers are forced to shell out. When
onion prices soar, for instance, it is usually traceable to APMC mandis in Nashik.
Benefits expected
1. This reform could help check household food expenditure by cutting out high
intermediary costs to an extent.

2. Farmer would be able to sell his output at larger prices in the open market.

Prerequisites
1. If the Central government wants to double farmers incomes in five years (not an
easy task even over a decade, going by official data from 2003 to 2013), several
interventions are necessary, including better irrigation facilities, and the freedom to sell
output where farmers get the best price. Fruits and vegetables are a good place to start
dismantling monopolies of the sort that Indian industry was freed from 25 years ago.

2. Despite a substantially lower acreage than crops such as cereals and pulses, they
contribute a quarter of farm sector incomes. Estimates vary, but there is no denying that
a significant chunk of horticultural produce just rots. That wouldnt be the case if
farmers could sell easily to food processing units, or even directly to consumers via e-
commerce channels.

3. Breaking the stranglehold of APMCs must be accompanied with easier access to

credit and market information services, for which farmers often rely on their captive
buyers; there also needs to be a greater push for cooperative groups so that marginal
and small farmers have adequate negotiating heft in a free market.

4. Healthy competition among private traders and processing units, government

procurement agencies and cooperative farmer-producer groups would improve price
discovery from farm to fork.

5. Going ahead, Maharashtra and other States also need to back the Centres ambitious
plan unveiled this April to create an e-National Agriculture Market for 25 major crops.

State of regulations requiring selling of horticultural produce in open market

Though seven States had already implemented the Centres June 2014 advisory to allow
farmers to sell their horticultural produce anywhere instead of through APMCs,
Maharashtras initiative is crucial as it has a larger agrarian economy with a greater
impact on national food market dynamics.

34. Justice Mudgal report says DDCA should have a CEO

Findings of Mudgal Committee Report

1. Recognising the proxy system as the bane of Delhi cricket, Justice (Retd) Mukul
Mudgal in his report submitted before the Delhi High Court on Monday has
advised that the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) should have a full-time
CEO.

2.It is advisable that DDCA has a full time CEO who independently looks after the
administration and financial aspects of DDCA to ensure continuity and smooth
functioning of the DDCA, said Justice Mudgal in his 28-page report, which the court has
asked to be sent to the BCCI for consideration.

3. The current state of affairs in the DDCA require scrutiny of BCCI, Justice Mudgal said
in his report, adding that several complaints were received regarding selection process
of players during his tenure at the DDCA.

4The proxy system is the bane of Delhi cricket that deserves to be jettisoned, said the
report, adding that several office-bearers and the executive members of the DDCA only
acted for their own personal gains and for maintaining their relationship, at the expense
of the cricket body.

5. The coaches, players, vendors and employees of the DDCA are not paid on time. The
office-bearers, executive committee members and the sports working committee
members of the DDCA should be concerned about improving cricket facilities in Delhi.

6. BCCI responsibility :The report left it to the BCCI to decide whether to constitute a
specialised adhoc body or a committee to take over and manage the affairs of the DDCA.

7. Complimentary passes: Justice Mudgal termed ticketing and accreditation as the

most controversial aspect of his tenure of overseeing the matches at the DDCA where
complimentary tickets/passes are a bone of contention between various office-bearers
of the DDCA, the executive committee members and various authorities.

The senior office-bearers eye maximum complimentary tickets to serve the interest of
their proxies, who cater to their vote bank requirements during elections, the report
said, adding that the practice needs to be curbed by limiting complimentary passes.

8. Other shortcomings: Besides this, the report reveals lack of proper account keeping,
prior permissions and clearances for matches leading to last-minute provisional
certificates and no proper tendering of various works.

Backgorund
Justice Mudgal was appointed by the High Court to oversee the conduct of the 2016 ICC
World Twenty20 matches at Ferozshah Kotla.

What is Proxy system?

Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby some members of a decision-making body may
delegate their voting power to other members of the same body to vote in their absence,
and/or to select additional representatives. A person so designated is called a "proxy"
and the person designating him or her is called a "principal".

35. Ex-CBI chief visitors log genuine: SC panel

Findings of the SC Panel

A Supreme Court-appointed committee, led by former Special Director of the CBI M.L.
Sharma, has concluded that a visitors logbook, maintained at the official residence of
the former chief of the country's premier investigative agency, Ranjit Sinha, is genuine.

Conclusion from the findings

The damaging conclusion from findings is that Mr. Sinha had frequent meetings with the
prime accused to scuttle inquiries, investigations and prosecutions carried out by the
CBI in the coal block allocation cases and other important cases.

Background
An anonymous whistleblower had leaked the logbook to advocate Prashant Bhushan,
the civil rights lawyer who represented NGO Common Cause, which moved the court
against the coal block allocations and the huge losses suffered due to skewed allocation.

Mr. Bhushan had passed on the logbook to the Supreme Court without revealing his
source.Mr. Bhushan had alleged that the visitors log of 2013 and 2014 showed
meetings, several of them late at night, at his residence with several accused persons in
prominent cases like Coal scam, 2G scam, and with Hawala operators...

The Sharma Committee, set up to conduct an independent enquiry into the veracity of
the entries in the logbook and allegations against Mr. Sinha, had submitted its
confidential report relating to alleged misconduct of Mr. Sinha in April this year.

36. SC ends impunity for armed forces in disturbed areas

SC Judgement
The Supreme Court held that every death caused by the armed forces in a disturbed
area, whether the victim is a dreaded criminal or a militant or a terrorist or an
insurgent, should be thoroughly enquired into. This is to address any allegation of use of
excessive or retaliatory force beyond the call of duty.

Argument behind the judegement

1. It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a
terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state.
The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both. This is the requirement
of a democracy and the requirement of preservation of the rule of law and the
preservation of individual liberties, SC bench said.

2. The enquiry into deaths would enhance the accountability of armed forces and reduce
the human rights violations in these regions.

3. Dealing a blow to the immunity enjoyed by security personnel under the Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA) against criminal action for acts committed
in disturbed areas, the apex court held that there is no concept of absolute immunity
from trial by a criminal court if an Army man has committed an offence.

Relevance of Judgement
The verdict tears down the cloak of secrecy about unaccounted deaths involving
security forces in disturbed areas and serves as a judicial precedent to uphold civilian
and human rights in sensitive areas under military control.

The judgment came on a plea by hundreds of families in the north-eastern State of

Manipur for a probe by a Special Investigation Team into 1,528 cases of alleged fake
encounters involving the Army and the police.

Arguments given by government but not accepted by SC

1. Throwing out the governments argument that lack of immunity from prosecution
would have a demoralising impact on the security forces, the court asked the Centre to
spare a thought for the equally unsettling and demoralising picture of a citizen living
under the fear of the gun in a democracy.

2. The court dismissed the governments argument that every armed person breaking
prohibitory orders in a disturbed area runs the risk of being considered an enemy.

3. It would not be correct to say that merely because a person was carrying arms in a
prohibited area, he or she becomes an enemy or an active member of a banned or
unlawful organisation... Before a person can be branded as a militant or a terrorist or an
insurgent, there must be the commission or some attempt or semblance of a violent
overt act, the judgment held.

Question: The Supreme Court Judgment on immunity enjoyed under AFSPA,1958 is

an impending change required in the law. Explain along with other controversial
provisions of this act.

37. Pizzas in Kerala get a 14.5% fat tax

Decision by Kerala Govt.

Kerala announced a 14.5 per cent fat tax on pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and tacos sold
through branded outlets on Friday, in sync with the World Health Organizations
advocacy of using fiscal tools to promote healthy eating.

Drop in intake likely

The fat tax may not stop children from eating junk food altogether. But there will
definitely be a drop in consumption because many parents will put their foot down
when it comes to spending more. Also, fat tax will create awareness about health
consequences of consuming unhealthy food.

Similar tax
Like a cigarette tax and an alcohol tax, a fat tax would dissuade children from eating a
lot of energy dense foods.

Reasons for introducing tax

Worldwide, obesity rates have prompted governments to consider imposing a tax to
slow sales of food laden with saturated fat and sugars.

38. Pulses deficit in India

Reasons and Solutions for High prices of Pulses

1. Demand for pulses is rising even in parts of the world where it hasnt been a staple
diet.As population increases and incomes rise, pushing up demand for high-protein
foods like pulses, the weaker sections may be forced to simply cut back on consumption.
This is a worrying portent for a country where per capita pulse intake has already fallen
by more than a third over the past 55 years.

2. There are structural problems in boosting output. Farmers, for instance, prefer to sow
wheat and paddy instead of pulses, thanks to the Minimum Support Price regime.

3. Since the Centre may not have the resources to procure dal on the same scale as
wheat and paddy, it needs to think beyond the usual template.

4. Now that it has allowed 100 per cent FDI in food processing, dismantling the
Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee laws that cripple free trade for farmers
could pave the way for them to deal directly with large traders and retailers, thereby
creating the assured market they need and bringing down consumer costs by getting rid
of the myriad intermediaries.

Measures taken
The Centre has already undertaken some measures to deal with the current uptick in
dal prices:
1. Creating a buffer stock,
2. Imposing stock limits on traders,
3. Offering tur dal at Rs.120 a kg through mobile vans.
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is signing a pact with Mozambique to double pulses
imports from that country. More dal diplomacy is under way to scale up the
approximately 5 million tonnes of pulses India procures from 46 countries.
5. Governments move to raise the minimum support price for pulses is expected to help
push up their output and thereby contain food inflation

Note: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has designated 2016 as
the year of pulses to highlight their importance in curbing malnutrition.

Question: The Pulses deficit in India is product of structural constraints, lack of

administrative vision and unethical practices of traders. Explain.

39. All about NSCN (I-M)

Demands of National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah)

1. NSCN (I-M) is the largest of the naga groups. Naga groups envisage a Greater
Nagalim comprising the contiguous Naga-inhabited parts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur and Myanmar with Nagaland.

2. NSCN (I-M) also demands sovereignty from India. It agrues that the Nagas were never
part of the Indian union by consent of the Naga people. That is why the Nagas will have
the right to decide their role as we were never under Indian rule.

Main Leaders
1. Thuingaleng Muivah is a general secretary of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim
(Isak-Muivah)

2. Recently, chairman of NSCN (I-M) Isak Chishi Swu died.

Opposition to demand
1. Adjoining states of Nagaland oppose inclusion of their regions in Greater Nagaland.

2. Government of India argues that Nagas have to give up demand for sovereignty and
the rebel outfit can be given a solution within the Constitution of India.

Framework agreement
Last year, the government signed the framework agreement with NSCN-IM as it was the
largest group representing the Nagas. The framework agreement carried broad
parameters on which further negotiations will be carried out by GOI and NSCN-IM.
Details of the framework agreement has been kept secret.

Question: The Naga issue ceases to be resolved despite long negotiations and
Framework Agreement signed last year. Explain in context of demands made by
NSCN(IM) and what these demands, once accepted, can have implications on Indian
integrity?

40. Supreme Court: 3 per cent quota for disabled must in all posts

The SC quashed central governments earlier orders on restricting reservation for the
differently-abled in promotion to Group A and Group B posts, the Supreme Court has
ruled that three per cent reservation shall be provided to them in all posts and services
under the Government of India.The government had confined such reservation to Group
C and Group D posts.

The SC declared government order as illegal and inconsistent with the Persons with
Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
This judgment has directed the government to give benefits of reservation to the
differently-abled, without any classification.
Govt. View:
The government opposed reservation to the disabled, contending that they have no
right to demand reservation in promotion to identified Group A and Group B posts.It
also cited the nine-judge bench ruling by the apex court in the Indra Sawhney (Mandal
reservation) case which said reservation should be confined to recruitment at the initial
level and not at the stage of promotions.

SC view:
The bench said that Indra Sawhneys case shall not impose a bar on reservation for the
disabled, since the principle laid down in this case is applicable only when the State
seeks to give preferential treatment in the matter of employment to the backward class.

41. Madras High Court ruled in favour of Perumal Murugan

Judgement of Madras High Court

The Madras High Court ruled in favour of Perumal Murugan, author of novel
Madhorubhagan, granting him relief from all the controversies that affected the work of
fiction that compelled him to announce that he would withdraw his entire body of work
from publication and never write again.

The court directed the State government to circulate a series of guidelines framed by the
court to handle such situations among the State police and to form an expert committee
to handle such issues.

Background
Perumal Murugan was forced to agree to a written unconditional apology at a peace
committee meeting organised by local officials in the face of orchestrated protests to
demand a ban on his novel Mathorubhagan (One Part Woman) and his prosecution.

Basis of Judgement
The judgment builds on a series of progressive rulings. It has applied the contemporary
community standards test in concluding that there is nothing obscene in the novel.

It has affirmed that the novels focus is on recording the travails of a childless couple
subjected to community ridicule rather than what the books opponents allege: that it is
an attempt to vilify the deity in a Tiruchengode temple or the women who lived in the
town by linking them to a social practice of having sex with strangers on one particular
night as part of an age-old temple festival.

The Bench has instead reminded the authorities of their duty to secure freedom of
expression and not pander to mob demands in the name of preserving law and order.
The court draws on the argument that eroticism is not unknown in Indian artistic
tradition.
Question: The Contemporary Community Standards adopted by Courts in recent
judgments have given enough freedom of speech and expression to creative works?
Explain with recent examples from Judgments of Courts? Why creative content is
treated at different parameter when compared with other content when it comes to
freedom of speech and expression?

42. Analysis of recent Cabinet Reshuffle

Prime ministerial form of government

With the portfolio allotment and the manner of announcing it, by holding back the big
surprises for hours after the swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr. Modi has
sent out the signal that he is a powerful Prime Minister with significant influence in the
party.

It is said that only Mr. Modi and BJP Party president Amit Shah was aware of the
portfolios to be allocated before portfolios were actually allocated.

Electoral considerations in Cabinet reshuffle

1. Mr. Modi has clearly traded the promise of a lean Ministry in the minimum
government, maximum governance credo for electoral considerations by expanding
the Ministry. The emphasis is on bringing in more Ministers to give an edge to the Uttar
Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat Assembly election campaigns in the months ahead.

2. Careful arithmetic in inducting Dalit, OBC and tribal leaders is evident. For instance,
Induction of Dalit Ministers is an effort to right their under-representation in the
Ministry and to take the edge off the BSP and Aam Aadmi Party challenge in U.P. and
Punjab, respectively.

43. Union Cabinet Expansion and Reshuffle

The council of ministers now has 77 members, the largest in years. Ex- Environment
Minister Prakash Javadekar is considered most significant benficiary after being
elevated to full Cabinet rank and given HRD ministry.Smriti Irani has been shifted to
Textiles from HRD ministry.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has shed Information and Broadcasting (I&B) portfolio
and Venkaiah Naidu has been given additional charge of I&B.

Besides Mr. Javadekar, 19 new Ministers (17 new faces and two old hands) took oath as
Ministers of State. The previous strength of the government was 63 (after Gopinath
Munde died and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and BJP Maharashta chief
Rao Saheb Danve quit). Five Ministers of State tendered their resignation on Tuesday,
leaving 58 Ministers in the earlier batch.
Criticism:

1. The size of the council of ministers has led to critics describing it as far removed from
the PM's promise of "minimum government and maximum governance" made during
his campaign for the general election.

2. A number of new ministers belong to backward castes, which will play a critical role
in next year's election in the largest state of Uttar Pradesh. Important states like Gujarat
and Punjab will also choose their next governments soon.

3. Neerja Chowdhury, a political analyst said that PM has given representation to the
social groups that voted for him in the last general election."

Appreciation:

Political analysts are arguing that cabinet reshuffle seems to be a consequence of a very
thorough appraisal done by PM Modi of his ministers over a period of last three months.

Background: 91st amendment act, 2003

The 91st Amendment mainly deals with size of the Council of Ministers.
Size of Council of Ministers - 91st Amendment introduced in 2003-04, capped the upper
level of Ministers to 15% of the strength of the "popular house of the legislature"
implying LS in case of Parliament and Vidhan Sabha in case of states. Exceptions were
given for smaller legislature of Goa, Sikkim & Mizoram. Therefore, the maximum size of
council of ministers can be 82 (i.e. 15 % of 545)

44. Govt. bats for big diesel cars, tells SC that they pollute less

Union govt arguments favouring big diesel cars

1. Big and high-end diesel cars have better emission norms and pollute less than the
commoners small cars, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday .Big diesel cars
and SUVs have better emission norms than smaller cars. Just because a car is big and
powerful does not mean it is more polluting.

2. Global car makers would opt to leave India , rendering lakhs of youths without jobs
and FDI in a shambles.
The ban was imposed when they were already conforming to emission norms. This
showed inconsistency on our side in policy. Companies are fed up with the
unpredictability and have said they will go away. These foreign companies have huge
investments involved here, Mr. Rohatgi (attorney general) submitted before a three-
judge Bench.

3. The government also challenged the Supreme Courts authority to impose a cess
when taxation came within the domain of the government. This was in response to an
idea mooted by the court to make high-end diesel car buyers pay a hefty one-time anti-
pollution cess or environmental compensatory charge for opting for a polluting fuel.

Instead, the Centre put its weight behind the car makers proposal to deposit with the
government 1 per cent of the showroom price of every 2000 CC diesel vehicle bought in
Delhi.
The money, which would go into the cause of reducing pollution, would be taken from
the buyer.

4. Besides, Mr. Rohatgi said, the government was ready with a scheme by which persons
with cars made before 2005 could sell their vehicles at designated government scrap
yards.10 to 15 years old cars pollute 10 times more than big cars because they follow
BS-II emission norms.

View of Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority

(EPCA)
The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) advised
the court against the car makers proposal to pay one per cent of the cars showroom
price towards combating pollution. It said the aim of the Supreme Court was to prevent
dieselisation and not allow car makers to pay money to allow them to continue to
pollute.

Background
The arguments by Mukul Rohtagi were in response to the courts blanket ban on fresh
registration of diesel luxury cars and SUVs with over 2000 CC engine capacity in the
national capital.

45. Arrest of Principal Secretary of Arvind Kejriwal

IAS officer Rajendra Kumar Principal Secretary of Arvind Kejriwal and four others have
been arrested for alleged corruption by CBI.

Allegations against Mr. Kumar

It alleged that Mr. Kumar had promoted a company called Endeavour System Private
Limited (ESPL) and by misusing his official position, helped it in getting tenders of Rs.
9.5 crore through public sector company Intelligent Systems Communication Limited
(ICSIL).

The accused persons had entered into a conspiracy to award works to ESPL by
designing pre-qualification criteria or without calling tender, the CBI alleged in its
remand application.

It is also alleged that Mr. Kumar and the accused persons were found threatening
witnesses.
Criticism of the arrest
The arrest of Rajendra Kumar is also criticized on the ground that Union government is
deliberately targeting the officials close to Mr. Kejriwal.
Bilateral Relations, International Organisations and Events

46. South Africa to host BRICS office

Regional Office of NDB in South Africa

South Africa is set to reinforce its position as a regional economic hub as it prepares to
open a regional office that would channel funding drawn from the New Development
Bank (NDB) of the Brazil-Russia-China-India-South Africa (BRICS) grouping.

About NDB
The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development
Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia,
India, China and South Africa).

The initial authorized capital of the bank is $100 billion. The initial subscribed capital of
the NDB is $50 billion. The initial subscribed capital of the bank was equally distributed
among the founding members. The Agreement on the NDB specifies that the voting
power of each member will be equal to the number of its subscribed shares in the
capital stock of the bank.

The bank is headquartered in Shanghai, China. The first regional office of the NDB will
be opened in Johannesburg, South Africa. NDB will finance projects for social and
economic development around the world.

Question: What is NDB? Is it complementary to World Bank or IMF? What was the
need to establish NDB when similar institutions already exist?

47. Chinese troops are active on Uttarakhand border

Presence of Chinese troops
Stating that Chinese troops were active in the Bara Hoti area of Chamoli district,
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday confirmed that the Peoples
Liberation Army (PLA) had transgressed the area earlier this month.

Response by Chinese troops

PLA troops told the Indian officials to go back as the area belonged to them. They told
the Indian team that they recognise the area as Wu-Je.

Canal not crossed

The PLA troops, however, did not cross the canal in Bara Hoti that has become the
unofficial demarcation line between India and China. This is not the first time Chinese
activity has been noticed along the 350-km Sino-India border.

About Bara Hoti Area

The 80 square kilometre ground in Bara Hoti has been agreed by two countries to be a
disputed site since 1957. Chinese army calls the territory Wu- Je and is known to have
written China on some rocks in the area.

Question: The recurrent Chinese incursions, Karakoram Highway, Chinese stand on

United Nations Convention on terrorism and Indias membership in NSG has brought
new external and internal challenges for India. Discuss.

48. Blow to India as arbitration tribunal rules against Antrix

Decision of Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal
A Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal in The Hague has ruled against Antrix
Corporation, the commercial arm of Indias space organisation, ISRO, in the ongoing
case with Devas Corporation over sharing of spectrum on satellites. Following the
ruling, India may have to pay $ 1 billion as compensation to Devas.

Response of Indian Government

The government said the award is being examined and legal recourse, as deemed fit,
would be taken.

Second ruling
The ruling was the second by an international tribunal in favour of Devas on the
cancellation of the Devas-Antrix contract.
With this PCA award, two international tribunals have now unanimously agreed that
financial compensation should be paid after the annulment of Devass rights.

About PCA
PCA administers cases under the arbitration rules of the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

Antrix-Devas deal details

In January 2005, Antrix Corporation signed an agreement with Devas Multimedia (a
private company formed by former ISRO employees and Venture Capitalists from USA)
for lease of S band transponders on two ISRO satellites (GSAT 6 and GSAT 6A) for a
price of Rs.1,400 crore (US$210 million), an amount lower than market price, to be paid
over a period of 12 years. ISRO was committed to spending Rs. 766 crore (US$110
million) of public money on building, launching and operating two satellites which were
leased out for Devas. Devas shares were sold at a premium of Rs. 578 crore (US$86
million), thus getting a high profit. In July 2008, Devas offloaded 17% of its stake to
German company Deutsche Telekom for US$75 million, and by 2010 had 17 investors,
including former ISRO scientists.

In late 2009, some ISRO insiders exposed information about the Devas-Antrix deal, and
the ensuing investigations resulted in the deal being annulled. G. Madhavan Nair (ISRO
Chairperson when the agreement was signed) was barred from holding any post under
the Department of Space. Some former scientists were found guilty of "acts of
commission" or "acts of omission". Devas and Deutsche Telekom demanded US$2 billion
and US$1 billion, respectively, in damages. Government of India's Department of
Revenue and Ministry of Corporate Affairs initiated an inquiry into Devas shareholding.

The CBI concluded investigations into the Antrix-Devas scam and registered a case
against the accused in the Antrix-Devas deal under Section 120-B, besides Section 420
of IPC and Section 13(2) read with 13(1)(d) of PC Act, 1988 on March 18, 2015 against
the then Executive Director, Antrix Corporation Limited, Bengaluru; two officials of
USA-based company; Bengaluru based private multi-media company and other
unknown officials of Antrix Corporation Limited /ISRO/Department of Space.

Question: Explain the details of Antrix- Devas deal. How this deal has brought
disgrace for India?

49. Excessive response to coup attempt by Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogans disproportionate response to the failed coup

1. Given the authoritarian streak in his government, many had warned that he would
capitalise on the opportunity to purge his enemies and critics. Unfortunately, that is
exactly what is happening now.

2. Mr. Erdogan blames Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish cleric, for the coup, though
he has yet to furnish any evidence.

3. The government has already arrested, fired, suspended or served notice on about
58,000 people, largely Gulen supporters.

4. Media groups are under pressure not to carry reports critical of the President.

5. A three-month state of emergency declared last week gives Mr. Erdogan sweeping
powers; one of the first presidential decrees was to close down institutions linked to Mr.
Gulen.

Response required
The failed coup was a chance for Mr. Erdogan to genuinely explore the reasons that led
to the military revolt and take steps to address systemic failures.

It was also an opportunity to strengthen democratic institutions and address the

concerns about his dictatorial policies, and the threats to constitutional secularism, one
of the founding principles of modern Turkey.

Instead, Mr. Erdogan appears convinced that the political capital he gained is best used
to oust his enemies, real and imagined, from influential sectors. This marks a dangerous
turn.

A large-scale crackdown on a society that has strong democratic currents within it and a
history of revolts against rulers will only invite public resentment.

50. Kidnapped aid worker back home safe from Afghanistan

Judith DSouza, the Indian aid worker who was kidnapped in Kabul last month, was
rescued from her captors.Ms DSouza, who was kidnapped on June 9, was accompanied
by Indian Ambassador in Afghanistan Manpreet Vohra, as she arrived at the Indira
Gandhi International Airport at around 6 p.m. She later called on External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj, who oversaw the rescue efforts. Ms D'Souza, who refrained
from speaking to the media, was received by her brother Jerome D'Souza at the Indira
Gandhi International Airport.
51. 10 dead in Munich shooting

Where did the terror attack took place?

Several people were killed in a shooting rampage in a Munich, Germany shopping
centre.

Details of the attack

A gunman ran through the mall near the Olympic stadium in the southern German city,
firing on several people before fleeing in the direction of a nearby metro station.

Who is behind the attack?

The attacker who was also killed during the attack.

Terror in Europe
Europe has been on alert for terrorism in the wake of a string of attacks including
bombings in neighbouring France and Belgium.Germany has so far escaped the kind of
large-scale jihadist attacks seen in neighbouring France.

52. PM Modi, Sheikh Hasina inaugurate Petrapole Integrated Check Post

to boost bilateral trade

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh
Hasina jointly inaugurated the Petrapole Integrated Check Post (ICP) through video-
conferencing. Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee also participated from
Kolkata in the video-conference.

It is the second ICP on the Indo-Bangladesh border. The first one was set up at Agartala.

Plans for future

Eight such integrated check posts along Indo-Bangladesh border to be set up in times to
come.

What are ICPs

Existing designated entry and exit points on the international borders are characterized
by unplanned growth leading to delays and traffic jams. The need to develop
infrastructure was recognized by the Government and after due consultations and
deliberations, the concept of Integrated Check Post was devised.

ICP is conceived as a sanitized zone having adequate passenger and freight processing
facilities. The term integration refers to integration of sovereign functions and not of
inter-modal integration of several transport modes such as; rail, road waterways etc.

Land Ports Authority of India

The Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) is to provide better administration and
cohesive management of entry points/land ports and entrusted with the task of
development and management of Integrated Check Posts on the land borders and would
be vested with the powers on the lines of similar bodies like Airports Authority of India.
The Land Ports Authority of India has been established from 1st March, 2012 as a
statutory body which will function as a body corporate under the administrative control
of the Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs.

Question: The integrated Check Posts along the Indo-Bangladesh border will not
only improve the bilateral ties with Bangladesh but will also facilitate development
of border areas. Explain.

53. Stop inciting violence: India to Pakistan

Response by Pakistan on death of Wani

1. Since July 8, when J&K security forces killed Burhan Wani and two others, Pakistan
has issued at least 10 statements, increasing the pitch in each one.

2. The Nawaz Sharif government, which has held several special meetings to discuss the
situation in Kashmir, has also sent representations to the United Nations, the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and other international groups.

3. In addition, the Pakistan government put out a federal note commanding all
provincial and central government offices to mark a Black Day on July 20 to protest
grave violations of human rights in Kashmir.

4. Among the instructions were: all officials to wear black arm bands, to hold special
prayers, and for Pakistani nationals living abroad to lodge strong protests outside
national parliaments and U.N. offices around the world.

Response by Indian Government

India on Thursday attacked Pakistan for a series of statements on Kashmir, and its
decision to mark a Black Day over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander
Burhan Wani and the subsequent violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

We once again ask Pakistan to stop inciting and supporting violence and terrorism in
any part of our country and refrain from its deplorable meddling in our internal affairs
in any manner, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

On PoK elections
The MEA also rejected elections held on Thursday in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, calling
them a meaningless exercise meant to mislead the international community. India
demands that Pakistan must fulfil the obligation to vacate its illegal occupation of PoK,
Mr. Swarup added.

The statement issued by the government comes after a series of measures taken by the
Pakistan government over the past two weeks in an effort to internationalise the
Kashmir issue.
54. Change of Government expected in Nepal

New PM of Nepal

Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda of United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre)

has been appointed new Prime Minister of Nepal. He became PM after passage of no-
confidence motion against K.P. Olis Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-
Leninist)-led government.

Performance of Oli Govt.

Mr. Olis government had barely managed to get a grip on the reconstruction effort after
the devastation of the 2015 earthquake and the instability in the federal arrangement
after the turmoil in the Terai with Madhesi groups protesting against the new
Constitution.

Mr. Oli had never showed any enthusiasm for a truly federal Nepal and chose to ignore
the demands of Madhesi, Tharu and Janajati groups that sought greater decentralisation
of power.

Possibility of recognition of demands of federal structure

The new government is expected to have representation of marginalized sections such

as Madhesi, Tharu and Janajati groups and thus is expected to accept the demands of
these communities.

The most important demand being carving out the provinces according to their
population so that these sections are able to form government in provinces.

Background

Relations with India of Previous Government

K.P. Oli Government shared unhealthy relations with India as explained below:

Nepals Constitution Amendment

Nepal promulgated its new Constitution in 2015 but the Madhesis immigrants, the
Janajatis and the Tharus, who are considered as the marginalised groups felt they were
being left out in the new constitution. These groups then blockaded the border points.
The amendments supported by 461 of the 601 members of the Nepali Parliament
covered:

Article 42 to ensure more inclusive social justice, The amendment provides for
representation of 15 categories of people in the state organs on the basis of social,
educational, economic deprivation as the determining factors.
 Article 286 Constituency Delimitation Commission shall consider population the
first priority and geography the second while fixing 165 electoral constituencies
Article 84(Constitution of House of Representatives). What is more, each district in
the provinces shall have at least one electoral constituency.

Madhesi Demands: The amendment process, however, did not include the main
demand of the Madhesis for the creation of two separate Madhesi provinces on the
plains of Nepal along Indian border.

Indias concern: Communities living in the Terai, especially the Madhesi, Tharu and
Janajatis (ethnic minorities), have expressed concern that the proposed boundaries of
the new provinces could lead to their political marginalisation. The three groups make
up nearly 40% of Nepal's population and they share close ethnic ties with people in
India.

Nepal being a landlocked country is dependent on India for its supplies. India has given
Nepal free access to its ports.

The government of Nepal has accused India of imposing an undeclared blockade. India
has denied the allegations, stating the supply shortages have been imposed by Madhesi
protesters within Nepal, and that India has no role in it.

Nepal seals transit treaty with China, to build new rail link

The new Nepalese Prime Minister, K. P. Oli visited Beijing and signed between Nepal
and China and the most important pact called as transit treaty provided that the Tibet
rail link would be extended to Nepal.

Implications of this rail link on India:

1. The rail link will end Nepals total dependence on Indian sea ports for purpose of
import and export. Nepal is a landlocked country and thus is dependent on India for
access of ports. With extension of Tibet rail link to Nepal, Nepal would be able to
access ports of China.

2. The transit treaty clearly highlights drift of Nepal towards China. Political analysts
have argued that Nepal has taken such a step because Madhesis in recent times have
blocked the trade route connecting India and Nepal consequently Nepal has faced
great shortage of essential commodities.

Further deterioration of relations

K.P. Oli (PM of Nepal) has made whats now called an unsuccessful visit to New Delhi in
February. That visit was supposed to restore India-Nepal ties and get the blockade
being lifted.

For India, the Oli governments withdrawal of its ambassador and cancellation of the
Nepal presidents visit was a low point in bilateral relations. Oli reportedly did it on
allegation of Indias role to unseat him.

However, new govt. is headed by Maoist leader Prachanda which is believed to have tilt
towards Communist China on account of Ideological similarity.

Question: The change of Guard in Nepal has improved the chances of Madhesis in
getting a fair representation at provincinal governments. Analyse. Also, evaluate
the impact of the change on the bilateral relations with India?

55. Problems in Iraq on account of ISIS

The blast in Baghdad, which killed more than 200 people, is the latest in a string of
attacks carried out by terrorists around the world during Ramzan. The Islamic State has
boastfully claimed responsibility for the attack thatoccurred in front of a Shia mosque in
one of the busiest commercial areas in the heart of the Iraqi capital.

Reasons for rise in terrorist attacks

The Iraqi troops, under American air cover and assisted by Iran-trained Shia militias,
defeated the IS in Fallujah, one of the first cities it had captured in Iraq in early
2014. The loss of Fallujah is a big blow to the so-called Caliphate, whose territory has
been shrinking over the past year in a series of military setbacks.

In fact, Iraqi troops are now preparing for the final battle in Mosul, Iraqs second largest
city from where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the Caliphate two years ago.

Present ability of ISIS

Military setbacks havent done anything to blunt the ability of the IS to stage major
terror attacks, as the latest violence shows.

Secondly, by targeting Shias, the IS is trying to deepen Iraqs sectarian wounds. In an

online statement claiming the Baghdad bombing, the group clearly stated that it
targeted a Shia gathering.

In 2006, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had led a series of attacks
on Shias that triggered a civil war between the two dominant communities. This
sectarian tension helped the IS capture Mosul in 2014.

Failure on part of Iraqi government

1. The Iraqi government is simply not able to provide basic security to its citizens. If in
other global cities terror is an irregular threat, Iraqis live dangerously in its shadow
every day.

2. The problems Iraq faces today are partly structural. It never completely recovered
from the American-led invasion of 2003 which destroyed the state and threw society
into anarchy.

3. One reason the IS machinery became so strong in Iraq is that many battle-ready
Saddam-era generals, who had lost their jobs after the Americans disbanded the Iraqi
military, joined its ranks.

4. The former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was viewed with suspicion by Sunnis for
his sectarianism, the incumbent, Haider al-Abadi, is seen to be too incompetent to be a
wartime Prime Minister. He has not been able to implement even the promised reforms,
and this has virtually stalled governance, helping jihadists exploit the security gaps in
the big cities.

56. With many Indians opting to remain, eye brows have been raised
over the cost of Operation Sankat Mochan

While the government declared the South Sudan evacuation Operation Sankat
Mochan a success, questions are being raised after hundreds of Indians chose to stay
back in Juba, meaning that one of two airforce C-17 Globemaster planes sent returned
empty with only 154 of the 550 initially expected passengers.

The result has led some officials to say that a full cost-benefit analysis must be made
before any future evacuation operations are planned.According to sources aware of the
planning of Operation Sankat Mochan, discussions for an evacuation began on July 11
after Ms Swaraj received inputs from the embassy in Juba, and a barrage of messages
over twitter, that called for a rescue operation as fighting between the rival factions in
South Sudan worsened. On July 12 morning, a multi-ministry meeting, held by Ms.
Swaraj to discuss logistics, was informed that approximately 450 people including
Dutch nationals, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis had requested evacuation out of Juba. At
the time, Juba airport was closed, and no commercial options were available. After some
discussion, the officials agreed to send two massive C-17s rather than the smaller C-
130s.

Changing situation
But later that day the situation in Juba improved after President Salva Kiir and his rival,
Vice-President Riek Machar announced a ceasefire.According to sources on the ground,
Indians who owned shops and small business were less inclined to leave, while salaried
employees and families, which numbered about 300 were still insisting on an
evacuation.However, by the time General V.K. Singh actually landed in Juba, only 154
persons wanted to return, a load that could have filled one aircraft. We were
disappointed that at least 300 people who had signed up for the evacuation effort
decided not to return at the last minute, MEA Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar
Sinha told.
57. 84 killed in France as terror truck ploughs through crowd

What was the incident?

An attacker ploughed a truck through crowds celebrating Bastille Day on the French
Riviera, killing at least 84 people, including 10 children and injuring 202.

Who was behind the attack?

The driver, identified by police sources as Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, a 31-year-old
Tunisian resident in France, also appeared to open fire before officers shot him dead. He
was known to the police in connection with common crimes such as theft and violence
but was not on the watch list of French intelligence services, the sources said.

Cause of concern
The third mass killing in Western Europe in eight months caused more fear across an
already anxious continent struggling with security challenges from mass immigration,
open borders and pockets of Islamist radicalism.
The attack is the third major one in France in less than 18 months, following last
Novembers siege of Paris that claimed 130 lives, and the January 2015 attack on the
office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo that left 12 persons dead.

Who was behind the attack?

No group had officially taken responsibility for the attack so far.

Broad lines for analysis

There are two broad lines of analysis that the attack calls for. The first is the tactical
question of how to deal with the lone wolf, the solitary potential terrorist motivated
by everything from bigotry and mental illness to a genuine belief in the ultra-violent,
nihilistic philosophy of the IS.

Lone wolves are committed to carrying out suicide missions and taking as many
innocent lives as possible, sometimes drawing direct inspiration from the words of IS
leaders. A case in point here is of IS spokesman Muhammad al-Adnani who has called
upon the faithful to run over [American and French disbelievers] with your car. How
can they be stopped in any part of the world?

Secondly, a question that countries such as France must ask themselves is a strategic
one. For instance, how could the French leadership do more to re-examine the roots of
the social alienation and economic misery that engulf so many among its almost five
million Muslims and leave them vulnerable to radicalisation? Such introspection could
potentially reset deep-seated ethno-religious dissonance.

Question: The lone wolves radicalized to carry out suicide missions have been a
cause of concern for internal security of Europe and North America. Examine in
light of recent terror attacks.

58. Analysis of PM Africa tour

Focus areas in the present tour

1. energy
2. food
3. maritime security.

Visits
PM stops at Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya were accompanied by
discussions on securing lines of coal and natural gas and funding capacity-building in
energy production.
In Tanzania and Mozambique, in particular, there were discussions on enhancing the
export of pulses to India to meet a demand shortfall.

India is Kenyas largest trading partner, and the second largest investor.

Special about Tanzania Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with Solar Mamas, a group of nearly 30 rural
women solar engineers from six African countries, who have been trained under Indias
developmental support for harnessing solar energy. These women are called as Solar
Mamas.

The Solar Mamas, who come from across Africa, are trained at the Barefoot college in
Rajasthans Tilonia village or the centre in Tanzania. These women have been trained to
fabricate, install, use, repair and maintain solar lanterns and household solar lighting
systems in their villages.

About Barefoot College

Under Government of India-supported programmes, the college in Rajasthan has been
promoting and training rural women solar engineers from Africa in household solar
lighting systems.A barefoot women vocational training college in Zanzibar Islands of
Tanzania and other countries in Africa has also been setup for imparting solar
electrification skills and distributing solar kits.These colleges also support various
entrepreneurial skills such a bee-keeping and tailoring among others.

Comparison with China

India has been slow to upgrade ties with Africa. Chinas current hold in trade and
investment in Africa is three times Indias, and South Africa, for instance, has a key role
in promoting the Maritime Silk Route programme as part of the One Belt One Road
initiative.

Mr. Modis visit to these four countries in southern and east Africa should, therefore, be
seen as a work in progress. Africa is a continent of 54 countries, and each has diverse
reasons to improve ties with India from sharing low-cost technologies and
pharmaceuticals, building on the Solar Alliance and renewable energies, and growing
markets for each others goods.

Ancient terms used in relation to Indo-African relations

1. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam meaning Globalism
2. Ubuntu is a zulu word meaning humanism

Question: The recent overtures to Africa have highlighted that India is not behind
China in building ties with Africa. Critically Evaluate.

59. PM South Africa visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reached out to South Africa on the second leg of
his Africa tour and recalled Mahatama Gandhi and Nelson Mandela saying the duo
connected the two nations.

Highlights of the visit

1. Defence and security co-operation was high on agenda as well as increased co-
operation at international forums. South African President Jacob Zuma is scheduled to
visit Goa later this year to attend BRICS Summit, an event that will provide both the
leaders another chance to discuss various issues.

2. Zuma did not explicitly endorse Indias bid for a permanent seat in the UNSC, but said
South Africa would work with India on reforming the council.

3. The issue of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) also came up since South Africa was
among those nations that had objected to process-related procedures for India's entry
and thus, supported Indias entry to NSG.

Modi thanked the President for South Africas support for Indias membership to the
Nuclear Suppliers Group.

4. Terrorism was another topic discussed between the two leaders.

60. International tribunal ruling in South China Sea case

Details of the ruling

A tribunal ruled that China has no legal basis for its vast claims in the South China Sea
and had aggravated the seething regional dispute with its extensive construction of
artificial islands that destroyed coral reefs and infringed on the Philippines exclusive
economic zone.

Besides, the court slammed China for damaging parts of the ecosystem in the Spratly
islands a contested archipelago-- on account of overfishing and development of
artificial islands.

Who has referred the matter?

The Philippines, under a U.N. treaty governing the seas, asked in 2013 for arbitration.
The five-member panel from the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague,
Netherlands, unanimously concluded that China had violated its obligations to refrain
from aggravating the dispute while the settlement process was under way.

About South China Sea dispute

Spartly and Parcel Islands in South China Sea are claimed by six nations namely China,
Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

As per United Nations Convention on Law of Seas (UNCLOS), ownership of islands leads
to claim 200 nautical miles of sea waters adjoining islands.

Significance of disputed waters

1. Estimated $5 trillion in global trade passes each year.
2. Nearly 3 million sq/ km. of water is under threat.
3. 190 trillion cu feet gas
4. 11 billion barrel of oil reserves

Response of China to ruling

The Chinese Foreign Ministry strongly asserted that Beijings "territorial sovereignty
and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea shall under no circumstances
be affected by those awards.

The Chinese response follows the ruling by the 5-member international tribunal, which
rejected the legal validity of the nine-dash linethe demarcation line underlying
Beijings claim to most of the South China

Question: Why Spartly and Paracel Islands have been in news? What is the
importance of these islands? Do you think that the ruling of International Tribunal
on these islands have heightened the tensions among claimant nations?

61. Theresa May to become next British PM

Theresa May will take over as new Prime Minister of UK.

Challenges before incoming PM

1. Talks with EU over Brexit.
2. Handling dissatisfaction among people who did not want to leave EU.

About May
1. 59-year-old Ms. May would become Britains second female Prime Minister after
Margaret Thatcher.
2. Presently, she holds the post of Home secretary.
3. She will succeed David Cameron as PM. Mr. Cameron resigned because he was
supporter of Britain continuing as member of EU.

62. Chilcot Inquiry committee report

Findings of the Inquiry Committee

1. The first is that the judgments of the severity of the threat posed by Iraqs weapons of
mass destruction were presented [to the British Parliament] with a certainty that was
not justified. Mr. Blair, in a misleading statement to Parliament in September 2002, had
warned that the-then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had chemical and biological
capabilities that posed a threat to the U.K. with a certainty that was not justified, the
report states.

2. Second, the outcome of the invasion was underestimated by Mr. Blair, despite
explicit warnings.While military action in Iraq might have been necessary at some
point, the report notes that in March 2003, when the U.S.-U.K.-led coalition entered
Iraq, there was no imminent threat from Saddam Hussein.

More than 1,50,000 Iraqis had died by the time most of the British troops withdrew in
2009, while 179 British soldiers also lost their lives.

3. Third, planning for an Iraq after Saddam was wholly inadequate, and finally, the
government failed to realise its stated objectives.Mr. Blair did not establish clear
ministerial oversight in planning and preparation for the war and his post-war efforts in
Iraq never matched the scale of its challenge, the report concluded.
Seven years later, the country remains badly plagued by sectarian violence, as shown
notably by Sundays Baghdad suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant
group which killed at least 250 people.

4. Mr. Blair faced particular criticism for pledging to support U.S. President George W.
Bush the year before the invasion, writing: I will be with you, whatever.
In the report, Mr. Blair emerges as not just an obedient junior ally of the then U.S.
President George W. Bush, but as a powerful backer and, sometimes, a step ahead of the
U.S. President, first in pushing for regime-change in Iraq, and then endorsing military
invasion as a means to carry it out.
View Point of former British PM Tony Blair

Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, who took the controversial and
unpopular decision to send British troops into war in Iraq in 2003, said he would take
the same decision today if he had the same level of information as he had then.

Mr. Blair argued that if the US-led coalition had withdrawn the threat of invasion in
2003, they would have found it impossible to regroup the forces, and Saddam Hussein
would have been strengthened by then insisting that they did not have the option to
delay.

Question: The Chilcot Inquiry committee report points to excessive and inadequate
planned response to threat of weapons of mass destruction possessed by Iraq.
Examine the statement with the relevant extracts of the report. Do you think that
fall of Saddam Regime create a fertile ground for rise of ISIS?

63. India abstains at UN vote on LGBT

Indias avoided voting at UN

India avoided taking a position on the need to end discrimination based on sexual
orientation at the Human Rights Council of the UN.

The MEAs clarification came a day after India abstained from a voting at the UNHRC on
a resolution to set up the office of Independent Expert to end discrimination against
LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual) persons.

Reason for Indias avoiding stand at UN

The issue of LGBT rights in India is a matter being considered by the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court is yet to pronounce on this issue. India had to take this into account
in terms of vote on the third UN resolution to institutionalize the office of an
Independent Expert to prevent discrimination against LGBT persons.

Stand of other countries

The resolution which was backed by the Latin American member states was opposed by
Russia and the Islamic countries as India, Philippines and South Africa abstained.

64. Issue of visa-free entry

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) that
they were against a proposal to allow visa-free entry to business visitors and tourists
from eighteen key countries, including China.

Reasons by MHA
Electronic tourist visa on arrival (eTV), it said, was granted within 48 hours of an
application being received in almost 87 per cent of the cases. Normal tourist visas,
which were valid for six months, were issued within three days in 90 per cent of the
cases.

According to MHA, the security situation in India is not conducive for this kind of a
waiver.

View of Commerce Ministry

Commerce Ministry argues dispensing with the visa requirement for business visitors
and tourists from countries belonging to the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa) and the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
countries.

According to Ministry of Commerce, dispensing with the visa requirement for business
visitors and tourists will boost foreign investment, trade with other countries and
expenditure by foreign tourists in India.

65. World Bank approves aid for Indias solar programme

The World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim who is on two-day trip to India
announced $ 1 billion in support of Indias ambitious solar generation plans, its largest
financing of solar projects for any country in the world.

The projects now under preparation include solar rooftop technology, infrastructure for
solar parks, bringing innovative solar and hybrid technologies to the market, and
transmission lines for solar-rich States.

Sunshine countries and International Solar Alliance

The sunshine countries comprise all major countries which come either completely or
partly between the Tropic of Cancer and theTropic of Capricorn. Prime Minister of India
Narendra Modi launched the initiative to form a group of 107 sunshine countries at the
India Africa Summit and held a meeting among them before the conclave of 2015 United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 November 2015. He has coined a
term for them as "suryaputra," or "sons of the sun".

The alliance is also called International Agency for Solar Policy and Application (IASPA).
The headquarters will be set up in India with an investment of an initial $30M. In first
phase, $400M will be raised from membership fees along with international agencies.
India already has ambitious targets of achieving renewable energy that it will generate
more than 175GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022 and decrease emissions by 33
to 35 percent by 2030.

India will endorse clean energy, sustainable environment, public transport and climate
adaptive agriculture through this initiative.Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and
the President of France Franois Hollande, jointly laid the foundation stone of the
International Solar Alliance (ISA) Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat
of the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gwalpahari, Gurgaon on 25
January 2016.

Formal launch of International Solar Alliance

The focus is on solar power utilization. The launching of such an alliance in Paris also
sends a strong signal to the global communities about the sincerity of the developing
nations towards their concern about climate change and to switch to a low-carbon
growth path.

Geographical importance

The area of Earth located in between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn is
called the tropical (torrid) zone. The points on the Tropic of Cancer are the
northernmost points up to which the Sun can pass directly overhead. Similarly, the
southernmost points are on the Tropic of Capricorn which follow the same criteria.
Location at the north of the Tropic of Cancer shows the Sun appearing at the south of
the zenith. The sunniest countries of the world are on the African continent, ranging
from Kenya, east to Niger and north to Egypt.

For India, the possible additional benefit from the alliance can be the strengthening ties
and with the major African countries increase goodwill for India among them.

Countries joined

121 countries from across the globe are part of the alliance and more are being asked to
join it. The sunshine countries comprises all major countries that lie between the
tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, including Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay,
Brazil, India, Australia, New Zealand, China and other countries. A conclave started from
30 November 2015 for the sunshine grouping, christened as InSPA (International
Agency for Solar Policy & Application).

Future targets

India with support of France has invited more solar rich nations to facilitate
infrastructure for implementation of solar projects. The alliance has been committed $1
trillion as investment and it is committed to bringing down the costs of solar power to
make it affordable for remote and inaccessible communities. The alliance will endorse
India in achieving its 100GW of solar energy and to installing 175GW of renewable
energy by 2022. The countries shall support each other in research and development
and other high level activities.

It is also seen as an alliance by the developing countries to form a united front and to
undertake research and development for making solar power equipment within
developing countries.
Progress
On June 30, 2016 entered into an understanding with the World Bank for accelerating
mobilization of finance for solar energy. The Bank will have a major role in mobilizing
more than US $1000 billion in investments that will be needed by 2030, to meet ISAs
goals for the massive deployment of affordable solar energy.

Other Important Projects Financed by World Bank in India

1. Smart Cities
2. Ganga Rejuvenation
3. Skill Development
4. Swachh Bharat
5. Power for All

Question: What is International Solar Alliance (ISA)? Can ISA be game changer is
promotion of renewable energy among the developing nations of the world? What
has been the contribution of India towards this initiative?

66. Pokhara-New Delhi direct bus service launched

The first direct bus service between Pokhara (Nepal) and New Delhi (India) was
launched to connect South Asias two important cities.

Key Facts

The bus service was launched as per the Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) signed
between both countries.

The agreement was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis Nepal visit in 2014.

After the signing MVA, regular buses are being plied from New Delhi- Kathmandu,
Kathmandu-Varanasi and Mahendranagar-Delhi and vice versa.

67. Union Cabinet approves the Revised Cost Estimate of

Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project in Bhutan

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for Revised Cost Estimate (RCE) of 7290.62
crore rupees for the ongoing 1020 MW Punatsangchhu-II Hydroelectric Project (HEP) in
Bhutan.

The Hydroelectric project seeks to provide surplus power to India and thus augment
power availability in the country.

The approval of RCE would enable project works to proceed smoothly without
interruption and the total cost escalation for the project after RCE at this stage is
3512.82 crore rupees.

Background

India and Bhutan had signed a bilateral agreement to execute the Punatsangchhu-II HEP
in April 2010.

The project was approved cost of 3777.8 crore rupees with funding by Union
Government as 30% grant and 70% loan at 10% annual interest.

The main factors behind cost escalation were due to inflation from March 2009 to
March 2015 and increase in capacity of HEP from 990 MW to 1020 MW.

Besides, change in surface power house to underground power house and additional
requirements of Bhutans National Transmission Grid Master Plan and adverse
geological condition also escalated the cost.

68. Russian hackers hit Clinton run

Computer systems used by Hillary Clintons presidential campaign were hacked in an

attack that appears to have come from Russias intelligence services, an American
enforcement official said.

Possibility of manipulating election

The apparent breach, coming after the disclosure last month that the Democratic
National Committee (DNC)s computer system had been compromised, escalates an
international episode in which Clinton campaign officials have suggested that Russia
might be trying to sway the outcome of the election.

Sensitive details hacked

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fundraising arm for House
Democrats claimed that the databases of the national committee and the House
organisation contain some of the partys most sensitive communications on voter and
financial data.

The attack on the congressional committees system appears to have come from an
entity known as Fancy Bear, which is connected to the GRU, the Russian military
intelligence service, according to an official involved in the forensic investigation.
The same arm of Russias intelligence operation was also implicated in the attack on the
national committee, in which it gained access to opposition research on Republicans,
including the partys presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

After that breach, WikiLeaks last week released some 20,000 committee e-mails, many
of them embarrassing to Democratic officials, which led to the resignation of Florida
congresswoman, as the groups leader.

Relevance of this article: External attempts to alter US Presidential Election Results

69. Govt comes to aid of workers in Jeddah

Indian workers in distress

The government has moved to help hundreds of Indian workers laid off by Saudi
infrastructure company, Saudi Oger Ltd in Jeddah, with External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj organising food and monitoring their welfare on an hourly basis. Even
as officials warned that the numbers of Indians in distress could rise dramatically, Ms
Swaraj later said The number of Indian workers facing food crisis in Saudi Arabia is
over ten thousand. It is not 800 as is being reported.

Reason for Lay offs

The 800 Indians at Saudi Oger were laid off as part of major cutbacks by the Lebanese-
owned company that used to be among West Asias most successful construction
companies.In the past two years, the dramatic fall in oil prices and declining Saudi
economy have hurt the companys fortunes, and many employees say they havent been
paid wages since last December.

Condition of economy in Saudi Arabia

While the Saudi Arabia has seen a steady GDP growth of 5 per cent from 2005-2015, the
GDP could drop to less than 2 per cent in 2016, economic news agencies reported.

Indian workers
Companies like Saad, and the BinLaden group have already laid off at least 50,000
workers in the past year, and many other oil and infrastructure companies are following
suit, giving workers permanent exit visas to leave and without a promise of wages.

Nearly three million Indians live and work in Saudi Arabia, according to the MEA
website, and constitute the largest population of Indian passport holders outside of
India. In 2015, Indians in KSA remitted about $10.1 billion home, and the government
will feel the pinch if those dry up.
70. Delhi hopes UN will push global terror convention

Demand by India
India has revived its two decade old proposal for the adoption of the Comprehensive
Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) at the UN General Assembly in
September this year, given the recent spate of terror attacks across the globe.

Opposition to draft
India has been able to complete a draft which effectively counters the opposition from
the three main blocs that have raised objections: the U.S., the Organisation of Islamic
Countries (OIC) and the Latin American countries.

Objections by US
The most powerful objector, the U.S. has been worried about the application of the CCIT
to its own military forces especially with regard to interventions in Afghanistan and
Iraq.

Objections by OIC
Convention will be used against Pakistan and right of self-determination groups in
Kashmir and Palestine. Both Pakistan and Palestine are members of OIC.

Objections by Latin American Nations

Concerns that by application of harsh laws human rights may be violated.

Contents of original draft

The original draft that was tabled in 1996 and discussed until April 2013 includes
amongst key objectives:
1. to have a universal definition of terrorism that all 193-members of the UNGA will
adopt into their own criminal law
2. to ban all terror groups and shut down terror camps regardless of their stated
objectives
3. to prosecute all terrorists under special laws
4. to make cross-border terrorism an extraditable offence worldwide.

Chinese endorsement
Despite the current impasse over the NSG, China, that recently blocked Indias moves for
a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, is not expected to pose hurdles for
the CCIT, having endorsed it in BRICS and RIC (Russia-India-China) statements.
Indian Economy

71. New RBI Governor faces five priority areas

With Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan deciding not to seek a
second term, the government is in the process of finalising Mr Rajans successor.
The top challenges he/she faces are:

FCNR (B) Redemption:

One of the immediate challenge is the redemption pressure of the Foreign Currency
Non-Resident (bank) deposits, or the FCNR(B) deposits, as outflows will start from
September. These deposits were raised in 2013 when the rupee was depreciating
sharply and went on to hit its lowest against the dollar in August 2013. While Mr. Rajan
said the outflows, estimated at about $20 billion, was a non-event, there are concerns of
foreign inflows slowing down.

Monetary Policy Committee:

The new governor will be also the first one to make his policy stance under the new
framework of the Monetary Policy Committee. The Centre has already laid down the
rules for the selection of its nominees to the panel.

MPC is a departure from the present practice where the entire onus rests on the
governor for any rate decision. While the governor will have the casting vote if there is a
tie, the responsibility will be shared by the committee.

Managing expectation:
The new governor will take charge amid expectation of sharp cuts in interest rates
something which Mr. Rajan resisted. RBI had reduced the policy rate by 150 bps to 6.5
per cent between January 2015 and now.

The new governor may find it challenging to manage rate cut expectation of the
government and the industry at a time when inflation is on the rise.

Bank clean up:

The new governor also has to complete the task of cleaning up of Indian banks that was
started by Mr. Rajan, who had set a deadline of March 2017 to complete the exercise but
the process is yet to be finished.

RBI autonomy:
Former RBI governor Dubburi Subbarao once famously said that the public perception
of autonomy of the central bank is more important than the actual autonomy. Mr.
Subbarao, who was the first governor to be appointed straight from the government
ranks (where he was the finance secretary), had raised eyebrows about central bank
independence after he took charge.

Question: The declaration of bad debts by Public Sector banks has posed both a
challenge and future opportunity for public sector banks. Critically Analyze.
72. Former RBI Governor views on conflict between Government and
RBI over Monetary Policy

Former RBI governor D. Subbarao views

Edited Excerpts:
You wrote about the uneasy relationship with finance ministers in the book. Have
you felt that the government was trying to undermine the autonomy of the RBI?
Yes, that was the feeling I had, especially, as I wrote in the book, the activities of the
financial services department of the finance ministry, trespassing on regulatory turf,
that was certainly undermining RBI.

To some extent that uneasy relationship between the government and the central bank
is inherent in the growth inflation dynamics; that the government always focusses on
growth while the central bank always focusses on long-term price sustainability. What
is important in our context is how the tensions are managed.

Should the current Governor Raghuram Rajan have been given a five-year term?
Certainly yes, he has done very well. He has enhanced the credibility of RBI.

Do you think the setting up of a Monetary Policy Committee can ease the tension?
It can go both ways. In some sense it can reduce the tension, because RBI can always
push back against pressures saying we have to deliver on the target. Therefore, it gives
some additional leeway for RBI to ascertain its point of view.

On the other hand, RBI with a single-minded focus on delivering on inflation targets can
hurt growth prospects. Therefore it needs a balanced and mature approach. I believe
the monetary policy committee is a good institutional arrangement, that you shift the
decision-making from the governor as an individual to the committee.

Will the new governor face pressure from the government, as you did, to cut
interest rates?
Quite possible. The new governor should keep an open mind, should listen to all
stakeholders, including the government and make a professional decision which he
believes is in the larger public interest.

Why do you think autonomy for a central bank is important?

Central bank autonomy is important because the primary mandate of the central bank is
price stability. Price stability is a necessary condition for long-term, sustainable growth.

But maintaining price stability requires sacrifice of growth for the short-term.
Politicians in a democracy, driven by democratic compulsions, may not agree to
sacrificing growth. So you need a central bank that is autonomous and free of political
compulsions and to take a long-term view in order to achieve macroeconomic stability.

Question: The formation of Monetary Policy Committee will give primary control
over Monetary Policy to Government from RBI. Explain the question in context of
composition of Monetary Policy Committee. Do you favour formation of Monetary
Policy Committee to replace the existing system where RBI decides on Monetary
Policy?

73. Telecom panel fixes minimum spectrum usage charge at 3%

View of Telecom Commission

The Telecom Commission stuck to its position in favour of using a weighted average
formula to calculate the annual fee that telecom companies pay for using airwaves.
However, it has decided to fix a minimum rate of three per cent of a companys adjusted
gross revenue as spectrum usage charge (SUC), in a bid to move towards a uniform rate
for all players.

How are SUC calculated using weighted average formula ?

TRAI gives examples of how its new formula would work, especially when it comes to
operators (like Reliance Jio) who plan on utilising Broadband Wireless Access (BWA)
spectrum. In the case of an Operator A who owns 5 Mhz of spectrum in a non BWA
band (with a SUC of 4%) and 20 Mhz of spectrum (unpaired) in a BWA band (with a SUC
of 1%) and the revenue contribution from the bands is 60% (non-BWA) and
40%(BWA) then under the TCs proposal the overall SUC would be only 1.6%.
However, under TRAIs proposal it would be 2.29%. If revenues from different spectrum
bands were segregable, this operator would in the real world attract a SUC of 2.8%.

Cabinet approval: Final decision on Method to levy Spectrum usage charges

The Cabinet approval on the recommendations of Telecom Commission will be final.

Possible implications
With the weighted average, the usage charges in percentage terms would come down
for spectrum in the 2300 MHz band, bought in the 2010 auctions. Airtel's SUC will fall
from 4.9 per cent to 3.8 per cent. Reliance Jio will pay about 3 per cent instead of about
5 per cent.

View of TRAI
The Union Cabinet had last month decided to refer back the issue of SUC to TRAI for its
recommendations. The regulator had said that the weighted average formula, as
suggested by the telecom department, for calculating the annual charge that operators
pay to use airwaves is at best a temporary solution, and had proposed its own formula
to calculate the SUC. TRAI has been pitching for a flat SUC.

However, the telecom department was unable to make any changes towards a flat SUC
after objections from the Auditor-General.

About TRAI and Telecom Commission

TRAI is a regular of the telecom sector and Telecom Commission has an objective of
promotion of telecommunications in India.
74. Union Government constitute Shankar Acharya Committee to
examine desirability and feasibility of new financial year

The Union Finance Ministry has constituted four members committee to examine the
feasibility and desirability of having a new financial year.

The committee has been tasked to examine the merits and demerits of various dates for
the commencement of the financial year including the existing date (April to March) by
taking into account the various relevant factors.

Terms of Reference of Committee

Take into consideration genesis of the current financial year and the earlier studies
made in the past on the desirability of change in financial year.

It will take into consideration suitability of the financial year from point of view of

(i) Correct estimations of receipts and expenditure of Union and State Governments. (ii)
Effect of the different agricultural crop periods. (iii) Relationship of financial year on the
working season. (iv) Impact on business. (v) Taxation systems and procedures. (vi)
Statistics and data collection. (vii) Convenience of the legislatures for transacting budget
work. (viii) Other relevant matters

Recommend the date of commencement of the financial year which in its views is most
suitable for the country.

In case the committee recommends change in financial year, it will also work out on the
modalities for effecting the change.

The committee will submit its report to the Union Government by 31st December 2016.

75. Verizon purchases Yahoo, explained

Sale of Yahoo to Verizon

One of the most important companies of the first dot-com boom, Yahoo, has reached the
end of its life as an independent company. Yahoos board approved the sale of Yahoos
core business to Verizon in a deal valued at $4.8 billion. The companys shareholders
and regulators must still approve the deal the companies expect it to close in early
2017.

Fall in Value
The deal represents a stunning decline for a company that was valued at more than
$100 billion at its 2000 peak. Yahoo was never really able to adapt its technology and
culture for a post-2000 internet that was focused on social media and mobile devices,
and so it steadily fell behind rivals such as Google and Facebook.

Future of other online services Yahoo

After the Verizon acquisition, signature Yahoo properties like its search engine, email
service, photo sharing site Flickr, and blogging platform Tumblr will presumably
continue operating. But its hard to imagine that Yahoo will ever again play the kind of
high-profile role online that it did two decades ago.

Investment in Alibaba
In 2005, Yahoo invested $1 billion in one of China's hottest technology startups, Alibaba.
That bet paid off so spectacularly that by last year Yahoos Alibaba shares accounted for
the large majority of the companys value.

Comparison with other companies

The most successful companies in Silicon Valley including Google, Facebook, and
Apple have an intensely technology-focused culture. These companies are obsessive
about hiring the most talented engineers (and in Apple's case, designers) so they can
build the best technology products. And this culture tends to be self-perpetuating
very skilled, highly motivated people like to work with other very skilled, highly
motivated people. Once you have a critical mass of such people, it becomes easy to
recruit more of them.

Yahoo never had the same kind of obsessive focus on recruiting technical talent. Yahoo's
core business seemed to be worth less than nothing. In the past few years, Yahoo's
media and tech businesses were overshadowed by a third line of business: venture
capital. At the same time that Yahoo's core business was in decline, its Alibaba
investment was soaring in value. Indeed, earlier this year if you subtracted the value of
Yahoo's major assets from the total market value of the company itself, you got a large
negative number.

76. DGCA rules on refund of ticket charges and for differently abled
person

Decision of DGCA: Airlines to refund all statutory taxes and dues, excluding fuel
surcharge
Domestic airlines will be allowed to keep fuel charge component of a cancelled ticket
and the Centre has mandated them to refund all the other statutory taxes and dues paid
by passengers.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in its final rules published on July 12,
has fixed a cap on cancellation fee. As per the earlier proposal the cancellation charges
included the base fare alone. Now, with the final rule, airlines will not have to refund the
fuel charges of a cancelled ticket to the passenger. The rules will take effect on August 1.

Implication of the decision

The move will give airlines some room to charge up to Rs.400-Rs.500 extra for a
cancelled ticket. However, the cancellation charges will still be considerably reduced
from the present fee levied by both airlines and travel agents.

For instance, the cheapest airfare for travel on July 31 on the Delhi-Mumbai route would
cost Rs.2,847 if booked from a travel portal. Passengers will get a refund of Rs.297 if the
ticket is cancelled. However, when the new rules set in, the passengers may get up to
Rs.881 as refund for the cancelled ticket. The airlines will have to refund passenger
service fee, service tax, user development fee and other taxes even for promotional or
special fares.

Transparency in the new rules

The airlines will have to indicate in an unambiguous manner the amount of refund of
money admissible on cancellation of a ticket. The airlines shall not levy any additional
charge to process the refund.
The rules also put onus on airlines to process refund of cancelled ticket purchased from
travel agents who are their appointed representatives. Airlines have to ensure that
passengers get the refund within 30 working days. The move might trigger a legal
recourse as the airlines had strongly opposed it.

Rules for passenger with disability

In a separate set of rules, the DGCA has also enlisted a slew of measures to be taken by
airlines for passengers with disability or reduced mobility.

1. It shall be the responsibility of the persons with disability or reduced mobility to

notify their needs at least 48 hours before the scheduled time of departure so that the
airline makes necessary arrangements.
The airlines will have to provide all assistive devices free of cost to differently -abled
passengers.

Domestic airlines had opposed this and requested the government to charge a nominal
fee for providing certain devices such as ambulift and wheelchairs as they bear the cost
of such devices provided by ground handling agencies.

2. To ensure safety of aircraft operations, the maximum number of differently-abled

passengers permitted to travel in a single flight should not be more than the number of
cabin crew except when such passengers are accompanied by trained escorts.

3. Airports will have to reserve parking spaces close to the terminal building for persons
with disability or reduced mobility and provide ramps at least at the main entrance or
exit gates.

77. Enayam: a new port in Tamil Naidu

Union Cabinets decision to approve the construction of a new port on Tamil Nadus
west coast at Enayam near Colachel.

Why Enayam is chosen?

Envisaged as a gateway container trans-shipment hub for cargo moving to and from
India and along one of the worlds major shipping lanes connecting the Suez Canal to
east Asia, Enayam is being projected as a competitor to Colombo.

Chosen for its natural water depth of about 20 m, and proximity to the east-west
international shipping lane, the proposed port will be located about 40 km south of
Vizhinjam in Kerala, where the Adani Group is developing a trans-shipment container
terminal.

Arguments against the project

1. It is alleged that the decision is aimed at making good a poll promise of the Bharatiya
Janata Party.

2. Enayam port is expected to cost about Rs.6,500 crore in the first phase, when
container handling capacity is projected at 1.5 million TEUs. The proposed initial
funding for the Rs.27,000- crore project raises questions over the facilitys feasibility
given the capital requirement and the ability of the existing major ports to find the
money.

3. The location of the facility so close to another mega container terminal, however,
has invited doubts about its viability, even its necessity. Enayam is in close proximity to
the Adani concession at Vizhinjam, whether two major container trans-shipment hubs
can be justified in terms of the potential traffic they aim to attract is debatable.

With global trade still becalmed by the worldwide economic slowdown, the outlook for
container shipping demand remains cloudy.

Arguments in support of the project

Enayam will be designed to berth the latest and largest Triple-E class container vessels,
however, does indicate that the Ministrys planners have a strategic vision and are
counting on a future rebound in world trade.
According to the preliminary study for this port, trans-shipment traffic at the terminal is
projected to surge fourfold from 700,000 TEUs in 2020 to 2.8 million TEUs by 2025, and
touch 3.9 million TEUs by 2030.

Certain Pre-requisites for success of Port

1. These include commitment from the State and Central governments to promote
industrial activity in the ports hinterland;
2. Speedy, transparent and fair land acquisition; and
3. Provision of world-class road, rail and coastal shipping links to allow cargo to move
rapidly in and out of the port.

78. A.P. set to be nuclear power hub of India

Nuclear Plants coming up in A.P.
1. After the government announced that U.S. company Westinghouses Nuclear Power
Project (NPP), planned in Gujarat's Mithi Virdi, is being moved to Andhra Pradesh,
sources confirmed that Russian-owned Rosatom will build its next phase of six reactors
in Andhra Pradesh as well.

2. With other States like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Maharashtra facing local
protests over NPPs, the government is now pinning its mega plans for generating the
clean energy on coastal Andhra Pradesh. In fact, if all the projects under consideration
from Russia, the U.S. and NPCIL were to actually go through, NPPs in Andhra could
account for more than 30,000 MW of the Modi governments goal of 63,000 MW
installed capacity by 2031.

3. The site for the next set of six Russian reactors is believed to be Kavali in Nellore
district.

4. Prior to the move by Westinghouse, U.S. company GE-Hitachi had also been allocated
a site in Kovvada, where the State plans its nuclear park.

5. Another Russian project that has been hanging fire for years, to build 6 Reactors of
1000 MWe in West Bengals Haripur may also be moved to Andhra Pradesh due to local
protests.

79. Union Cabinet approves National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme

The Union Cabinet has approved a National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)
for providing apprenticeship training to over 50 lakh youngsters in order to create
more jobs.

The Scheme has an outlay of 10,000 crore rupees and a target of training 50 lakh
apprentices by 2019-20

Key Feature of Scheme

It will be implemented by Director General of Training (DGT) under the aegis of Union
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

Union Government for the first time will provide financial incentives to the employers
to engage apprentices.

Union Government will directly share 25% of the total stipend payable to an apprentice
with employers.

In addition, Union Government will also support basic training which is considered an
essential component of apprenticeship training.

Union Government will bear the 50% of the total expenditure incurred on providing
basic training to an apprentice.
Comment
The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) seeks to catalyze the entire
apprenticeship ecosystem in the country. It is expected to become one of the most
powerful skill-delivery vehicle in the country and will offer a win-win situation for all
stakeholders.

Background

Apprenticeship Training is considered as one of the most efficient and effictive way to
develop skilled manpower for the country. It provides for an industry led, practice
oriented, effective and efficient mode of formal training.

The NAPS has been framed to meet objective of National Policy of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship, 2015 which focuses on apprenticeship as one of the key
components for creating skilled manpower in India.

Question: National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme is a step in the right direction

from classroom based vocational training towards industry oriented vocational
training. Explain the statement in context of National Apprenticeship Promotion
Scheme. Also, explain the other relevant provisions of the scheme.

80. National Mineral Exploration Policy

The Union Government has unveiled National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP), 2016
for adaptation of comprehensive exploration of non-fuel and non-coal mineral
resources.

Aims to bring together best of knowledge and experience, modern technology, trained
manpower and financial resources on a collaborative platform.

Uncover full mineral potential of the country in order to put the nations mineral
resources (non-fuel and non-coal) to best use and maximize sectoral contribution to
economy.

Key Highlights of NMEP, 2016

1. Emphasizes on making available baseline geoscientific data of world standards in the

public domain, quality research in a public-private partnership (PPP).

Pave way for the special initiatives for search of deep-seated and concealed mineral
deposits.

Undertake quick aero-geophysical surveys of country and creation of dedicated

geoscience database etc.

2. The Union Ministry of Mines will carry out auctioning of identified exploration blocks
for exploration by private sector.

Auctioning will be done on the revenue sharing basis in case their exploration leads to
auctionable resources. The revenue will be borne by the successful bidder of those
auctionable blocks.

3. Gives emphasis to use of space technology to check illegal mining by developing a

mining surveillance system.

Question: Enumerate the provisions of National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP),

2016. Explain how this policy provides ample consideration to use modern Science
and Technology in field of mining?

81. Skill banks to train workers for global market

What are Global Skill banks?

Prime Minister Narendra Modis plan to make India the human resource capital of the
world will first take off in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where the government is setting up
50 global skill banks this year to train potential immigrant workers in 110 job roles as
per international standards.

Where these Skill banks will be set first?

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were selected first due to their high population and for having
the record for the maximum migration for overseas employment.

What will these banks do?

These banks, or training centres, will impart skills across sectors such as medicine and
healthcare, hospitality, IT, construction, automobile and retail trade where job
opportunities exist or are likely to arise across different countries. Before they emigrate,
youth trained in these skill banks would also be made familiar with the respective local
culture and language of the country they obtain a job in as well as its work ethic.

When will these banks be set up?

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is likely to sign a pact with the
External Affairs Ministry to co-operate on the initiative to realise the Prime Ministers
vision. By the end of this month, about 20 global skill banks are expected to be up and
running, with another 30 becoming operational by the end of the 2016-17 period.
82. Government stretches list of Smart Cities from 100 to 109
Decision of the government to increase number of Smart Cities
As per the Urban Development Policy, only 100 cities are listed to be developed as
Smart Cities in the next five years. The ministry, however, has now allowed nine more
capitals, including Patna, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru, Amaravati, Itanagar and
Gangtok, to participate in the next round of the competition.
It has also allowed the governments of Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh to
nominate two cities each Jammu and Srinagar, and Rae Bareli and Meerut
respectively in contravention of the rules.

Criticism:
1. More cities have been included to accommodate political demands. For instance, The
Jammu and Kashmir government did not nominate the one city it was entitled to,
following the standoff between regional leaders from Jammu and Kashmir for over a
year, with both demanding a Smart City. To accommodate conflicting demands now
both Jannu and Srinagar have been included.

2. Union Govt. plans to spend Rs. 500 crore on each smart city over a period of 5 years.
Government will be required to provide more funds.
83. Draft regional connectivity scheme for airlines

The civil aviation ministry released the draft regional connectivity scheme in a bid to
make flying affordable and to revive dormant airports.

Once the scheme is implemented, passengers will be able to fly an hours journey (of
about 500 km) for an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,500. The passenger service fee and user
development fee will not be

Who will be eligible for subsidy?

1. The cap on the airfares will be applicable only to a limited number of seats in an
aircraft and the passengers will be eligible for subsidised fare on a first-come-first
served basis. Subsidised fares will be applicable only on nine seats (for 12 to 18-
seater plane) and 40 seats (for aircraft with 80 or more seats).

2. Only routes covering a distance of 200-800 km connecting a less connected or

unconnected airport will qualify for the regional connectivity scheme and the
airfare cap will be proportional to the air distance travelled.

3. Airfares will be capped in the range of Rs.1,700-Rs.4,070 and will be revised every
quarter based on the prevailing inflation rate.

4. While the scheme will be applicable to airports with no flight connections in the
previous two flying seasons, the government has identified 16 airports, receiving
seven flights a week, which will also fall under the scheme.

Some of them are: Agra, Allahabad, Pantnagar, Diu, Shillong, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar,
Kullu, Tezpur, among others.

5. The airlines will be mandated to fly at least three flights every week on such
regional routes and the subsidy will be provided for maximum seven flights per
week.

How much will be Subsidy given by government?

While the Centre will provide 80 per cent subsidy to airlines for three years to fund
the losses they incur, to enable them to charge lower airfares to passengers, the
remaining 20 per cent will come from the states.

How the subsidy will be financed?

The Centre will set up a regional connectivity fund, to be be financed by a cess
charged to airlines flying on metro or trunk routes for each departure.

The cess, which will likely be levied beginning August 1, may marginally increase
airfares on such routes.
If an airline is not able to develop a route within three years even after (our) giving
viability gap funding, then it will be given a cooling off period of two years before the
route can again qualify to become a part of the scheme.
Question: Citing relevant provisions of Draft Regional Connectivity scheme, explain
how it will change the air-traffic in India? Do you think that the Draft Regional
Connectivity scheme is return to era of strong regulation over civil aviation sector?

84. Possible economic implications of raising salaries and pensions

The Government has decided to raise salaries and pensions for more than one crore
government employees and pensioners by implementing the Seventh Pay Commissions
recommendations.

Arguments in favour
Raise of salaries and pensions for more than one crore government employees and
pensioners will impart a fillip to consumption demand and economic growth.

In Indian economy, robust private consumption is a key driver of current economic

momentum, additional money in the hands of the government staff and retired
personnel is bound to fuel a healthy demand for a variety of goods and services.

The announcement of the pay increases has been welcomed by industry groups, from
automobile manufacturers to consumer durables sellers. And with the additional payout
from the government toward the enhanced pay, allowances and pensions projected to
exceed Rs.1.14 lakh crore over the course of the current fiscal year ending in March
2017, the multiplier effect is bound to be significant.

1. Centres decision will put upward pressure on salaries in State governments as well
as the private sector.

3. The decision to more than triple the ceiling for house building advance to Rs.25 lakh
from Rs.7.5 lakh is likely to provide a much-needed incentive for more government and
defence personnel to invest in housing, and thereby boost employment.
4. Besides the anticipated increases in spending, the higher pay and pensions are also
expected to bolster savings, which could help the banking and financial system channel
funds to meet investment demand.

Argumets against
There are, however, some risks from the increased salary and pension outgo.
1. The RBI had flagged the upside risks to the inflation outlook posed by several factors
including the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commissions recommendations.

2. The other concern relates to the impact on government finances, particularly the
effort at fiscal consolidation. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is confident that
the budget deficit will be contained within the 3.5 per cent of GDP target this financial
year.

Question: The implementation of Seventh Pay Commission recommendations may

create challenges on both monetary and fiscal front. Explain.

85. What are masala bonds?

The Masala bond refers to a rupee-denominated bond through which Indian entities can
raise money from foreign markets in rupee, and not in foreign currency.

Basically, bonds are instruments of debt that are typically used by corporates to raise
money from investors.

By issuing bonds in rupees, an Indian entity is protected against the risk of currency
fluctuation, typically associated with borrowing in foreign currency. Depreciation of
rupee may require borrower to repay larger amount of foreign currency during
repayment of loan in case bonds are denominated in foreign currency.

Masala bonds also help in internationalization of the rupee and in expansion of the
Indian bond markets. These bonds are usually traded on the LSE and not in India.

Background

Earlier in September 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had allowed companies to
raise rupee-denominated bonds in order to reduce the risk of borrowing in foreign
currencies.

Question: What are Masala Bonds? Do you think that Masala bonds may overturn
the reduced reliance on External Commercial Borrowings in recent years?
Science & Technology and Environment

86. Solar Impulse -2 Completes its Global Journey

About Solar Impulse Project

Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range experimental solar-powered aircraft project, and
also the name of the project's two operational aircraft. The privately financed project is
led by Swiss engineer and businessman Andr Borschberg and Swiss psychiatrist and
aeronaut Bertrand Piccard, who co-piloted Breitling Orbiter 3, the first balloon to circle
the world non-stop.

The Solar Impulse project's goals were to make the first circumnavigation of the Earth
by a piloted fixed-wing aircraft using only solar power and to bring attention to clean
technologies.

Solar Impulse 1
The aircraft are single-seat monoplanes powered by photovoltaic cells; they are capable
of taking off under their own power. The prototype, often referred to as Solar Impulse
1, was designed to remain airborne up to 36 hours. It conducted its first test flight in
December 2009. In July 2010, it flew an entire diurnal solar cycle, including nearly nine
hours of night flying, in a 26-hour flight.

Solar Impulse 2
A second aircraft, completed in 2014 and named Solar Impulse 2, carries more solar
cells and more powerful motors, among other improvements. Solar Impulse 2 is made of
carbon fiber and has 17,248 solar cells built into the wings that supply the plane with
renewable energy, via four motors. The solar cells recharge four lithium polymer
batteries, which provide power for night flying.

Journey of Solar Impulse 2

In March 2015 Piccard and Borschberg began to circumnavigate the globe with Solar
Impulse 2, departing from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The aircraft was
returned to Abu Dhabi in July 2016 after a multi-stage journey around the world.

In July 2015, it completed the longest leg of its journey, from Japan to Hawaii. During
that leg, the aircraft's batteries sustained thermal damage that took months to repair.

Stops in India
Solar Impulse-2 had two stops in India namely Varanasi and Ahemdabad.

How winds helped Solar Impulse-2 to carry its Global Journey?

Solar Impulse-2 made use of Tailwinds to fly across the globe. Tailwinds are winds
blowing in the direction of travel of a vehicle or aircraft; a wind blowing from behind.

Question: What is Solar Impulse-2? How was it different from Solar Impulse-1?

87. Facebook Internet drone Aquila passes first full-scale test

Solar powered Aquila drone

Facebook announced that it had completed its first successful test of its solar-powered
Aquila drone, being develop to deliver internet service to remote areas of the world.

Significance of the Test

The test flight represents a major milestone for Facebooks efforts to bring the
internet to underserved locations of the planet.

Facebook had conducted previous test flights using a one-fifth scale version of Aquila
for several months, but this was the first time using the full-scale aircraft, which has a
wingspan greater than that of a 737 passenger jet.

Challenge to Aquila
To reach goal of being able to fly over a remote region and deliver connectivity for up to
three months at time, Facebook will need to break the world record for solar-powered
unmanned flight, which currently stands at two weeks. This will require significant
advancements in science and engineering to achieve.
Access of internet around the world
Internet access can offer life-changing opportunities and experiences to all of us, but
there are still four billion people without it. Thats 60 percent of the global population.
As many as 1.6 billion of those unconnected people live in remote locations with no
access to mobile broadband networks, where implementing existing network
technologies is so challenging and costly that it will take years to bring everyone
affordable access.

Question: What is Acquila drone tested by Facebook recently? Do you think that
Acquila project has objectives similar to that of Project Loon by Google?

88. Russian athletes cant go to Rio

Decision by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday rejected Russias appeal against a
doping ban on its athletics team from the Rio Olympics starting in 15 days, drawing an
angry condemnation from Moscow.
CAS rejects the claims/appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 athletes, it
said, backing the right of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to
suspend the Russian athletics federation.

Implication of the decision

The decision increases the possibility that the International Olympic Committee will
now exclude Russia from all sports, not just track and field, in Rio de Janeiro.

That would mark the deepest crisis in the Olympic movement since the U.S. and Soviet
boycotts of the 1980s, and would be a grave blow to a nation that prides itself as a
sporting superpower.

Background
The IAAF ban was imposed in November last after rampant state-sponsored doping was
uncovered. It was maintained in June after the IAAF Council ruled that not enough
progress had been made in transforming Russias anti-doping programme. Pressure on
the IOC to take such a step increased after another report revealed evidence of
systematic state-sponsored doping before and during the 2014 Winter Olympics in
Sochi.

89. Torrent download site owner arrested for online piracy

Who is behind Kickass Torrents?

Mr. Vaulin is alleged to own Kickass Torrents or KAT.
A Ukrainian alleged to be the ringleader of the worlds biggest online piracy site, Kickass
Torrents, was hit with U.S. criminal charges for distributing over $1 billion worth of
illegally copied films, music and other content.

The Justice Department unveiled a criminal complaint against Artem Vaulin, 30, of
Kharkiv, Ukraine, who was arrested in Poland earlier in the day and is being sought by
U.S. authorities for copyright infringement, money laundering and other charges.

About Kickass Torrents

KAT, which distributes films, video games, television programs, music and other
electronic media, is estimated to be the 69th most frequently visited website, according
to a Justice Department statement. Vaulin is charged with running todays most visited
illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion
of copyrighted materials, said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

How the crime was made possible?

In an effort to evade law enforcement, Mr. Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in
countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil
lawsuits. His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can
run, but they cannot hide from justice.

Action sought by US Government

U.S. officials will seek to extradite Mr. Vaulin to face charges filed in federal court in
Chicago, which ordered the seizure of one bank account and seven domain names
associated with the file-sharing website.

90. Centre lets microbeads off the hook

What are Microbeads?
Microbeads, also called microplastics, small pellets of plastic, extensively used in
personal care products such as shampoo, baby lotion and face cream and considered
toxic to marine life.

Status of Microbeads
They are being banned internationally but Indian government has not banned them.
The United States has promulgated a ban, which will come into effect next July, on
cosmetic products containing microbeads.

Over 299 million tonnes of plastic was produced worldwide in 2013 some of which
made its way to oceans, costing approximately $13 billion per year in environmental
damage to marine ecosystems, says a June 2015 report by the United Nations
Environmental Programme that investigated the possible harm by
microbeads/microplastics.

Arguments for ban

These plastics are too small to be caught by sewage treatment and water filtration
techniques and they pass unchecked into rivers and seas and contaminated them. They
take centuries to degrade and worse, are sometimes eaten by fish and other aquatic
animals and could even make their way into human diets.
Petition pending in NGT
On a petition filed by Ashwani Kumar, an environment lawyer, requesting a ban on
microbeads, this March, a National Green Tribunal Bench asked the Ministries of Health,
Environment and Water Resources file their response.

Question: What are micro-beads? Should they be banned? Why there is a special
case for India to worry about micro-beads based pollution?

91. Panama agrees to sign tax treaty

Panama has agreed to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative

Assistance in Tax Matters, which the Indian agencies believe will help them expedite
investigations into the Panama papers recently made public by the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Benefit to India
India is among the 98 countries and jurisdictions that have already joined the
Convention. It is a positive development and in due course, will help the Convention
participants like India exchange information on tax matters with Panama more swiftly,
said a government official.

History of the treaty

It was developed jointly by the OECD and the Council of Europe in 1988 and amended in
2010, in response to the call by the G-20 to align it to the international standard on
exchange of information and to open it to all countries, thus ensuring that developing
countries could benefit from the new transparent environment. The Convention also
represents a wide range of countries, including all G20, BRIICS and OECD countries,
financial centres and several developing countries.

Status of Panama under Treaty

It is learnt that though Panama has decided to sign the Convention following an analysis
of international expectations and consultations with the private sector, its commitment
for automatic exchange of information would be only towards those countries with
which it signs bilateral agreements.

92. Three World Heritage sites recognized in India's by UNESCO

The listing was announced at the 40th session of the WHC, currently under way at
Istanbul in Turkey.
1. Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP) in Sikkim has been named a world heritage
site by the World Heritage Committee (WHC) of UNESCO.
The KNP is the first mixed heritage site from India to make it to the list. A mixed site
exhibits qualities of both natural and cultural significance.
2. The archaeological site of Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) in Bihar was
also marked as a heritage site.
3. The Capitol Complex in Chandigarh also made it to the list.

This is the first time that any country got three sites inscribed in the Word Heritage List
at a single session of the committee meeting, a Culture Ministry official said.

India now has 35 sites, including 27 cultural properties, seven natural sites and one
mixed site, notified as World Heritage Sites.

About Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP)

The park exhibits one of the widest altitudinal ranges of any protected area worldwide.
It boasts of a unique diversity of lowlands, steep valleys and snow-clad mountains,
including the worlds third highest peak, Mt. Khangchendzonga, besides numerous lakes
and glaciers.

The KNP, which covers 25 per cent of Sikkim, is home to a significant number of
endemic, rare and threatened plant and animal species. A large number of bird and
mammal species has also been recorded from here.

The park combines the religious and cultural practices of Buddhism as well as the
ecological significance of the region, and stands out as an outstanding example of
traditional knowledge and environmental preservation. It is also a unique example of
coexistence and exchange between different religious traditions and people.

The park qualified as a mixed site under the Operational Guidelines of WHC for its
exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living or which
has disappeared.

Capitol marvel
Chandigarhs famed Capitol Complex, which includes the Legislative Assembly,
Secretariat and High Court, was designed by French architect Le Corbusier.

The complex was designed by Le Corbusier in the 1950s when the city was constructed
as a symbol of independent, modern India.

Nalanda University

1. The archaeological site of Nalanda University also called Nalanda Mahavihara is

located in Bihar. Nalanda stands out as one of the most ancient universities in South
Asia.

2. Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara (Nalanda University) comprises the

archaeological remains of a monastic and scholastic institution dating from the 3rd
century BCE to the 13th century CE.

3. The site includes stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and educational buildings) and
important art works in stucco, stone and metal.
4. The University engaged in the organised transmission of knowledge over an
uninterrupted period of 800 years. The historical development of the site testifies to the
development of Buddhism into a religion and the flourishing of monastic and
educational traditions.

Process of securing UNESCO heritage site status

After India sent the entries, an expert from Paris-based International Council of
Monuments and Sites visited the sites to evaluate the bid for the coveted tag.

Delhi pulled out

India had pulled out Delhi from the race for the UNESCO Heritage List, arguing that
such a prestigious tag for the city will put a lot of restrictions on carrying out
infrastructure works in the national capital.

Question: How is UNESCO natural heritage site different from cultural heritage site?
Which sites from India have been recently recognized under UNESCO Heritage List?
What are the advantages of this recognition?

93. Juno in orbit of Jupiter after 5-year journey

The National Aeronautics and Space Administrations Juno spacecraft has successfully
entered the orbit around Jupiter without being knocked down by the planets intense
magnetic field and radiation. Spacecraft had travelled 2.8 billion km since its launch in
August 2011. Juno, with a diameter of 11.5 ft, is not the first spacecraft to enter into
orbit around Jupiter.

Junos name
Junos name comes from Greek and Roman mythology.The mythical god Jupiter drew a
veil of clouds around himself to hide his mischief, and his wife the goddess Juno
was able to peer through the clouds and unveil his true nature.

Comparison with Galileo

1. Unlike its predecessor, the Galileo spacecraft that explored the planet between 1995
and 2003, Juno will study Jupiter much more thoroughly given the array of nine
scientific instruments that it carries on board.
2. The most important difference between the two missions is Junos ability to see
below the dense cloud cover of Jupiter; only a probe of Galileo entered the planets
atmosphere. Getting as close as 5,000 km from the cloud tops and being able to see
through the clouds will make it possible for Junos camera, Junocam, to take close-up
photos of the poles and other points of interest.

Functions of Juno
1. The main objectives of the mission are to understand the origin and evolution of
Jupiter, to find out if the planet, like Earth, has a solid rocky core, to uncover the source
of its intense magnetic field, to measure water and ammonia in deep atmosphere, and to
observe the auroras.
2. Juno will orbit the planet from pole-to-pole, minimising the amount of radiation
exposure, but the orbit will ultimately shift due to Jupiters intense gravitational field,
making the spacecraft pass through more intense regions of radiation. Though shielded
by a titanium vault, the radiation from Jupiter will slowly but surely compromise the
instruments by the time it finishes its mission in February 2018.

But before this happens, scientists expect to collect enough information to further our
understanding of how the giant planet was formed some 4.5 billion years ago, and of the
origins of the solar system. The amount of water it contains and the nature of its core
will provide clues about where the planet formed early in the systems life span.

Question: What is Juno Space- craft? What are its functions? Why the spacecraft is
expected to survive for a limited time period?

94. Indigenous Tejas inducted into Air Force

First indigenous fighter aircraft

The first two contemporary or fourth generation Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, designed
and built in India, joined the Indian Air Forces squadron. The induction marked the
fruition of a 33-year, nearly Rs. 8000-crore national dream to have an Indian fighter in
the countrys air defence fleet.Tejas has been developed for the IAF and the Navy by the
Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) starting 1985 and produced by the public
sector aircraft manufacturer, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, both based in Bengaluru.

HAL said it was ramping up production at its two dedicated production lines. The IAF
had ordered 40 LCA in two versions and promised to buy another 80 in the upgraded
Mark 1A version. The first 20 are expected by 2018-19.

Presently used fighter aircraft

The current IAF fighters are the French-origin Mirage-2000s and the Russian origin
Sukhoi-30s and the aged MiGs.
The LCA was conceived in 1985 to replace the MiG-21 series.

So what exactly are the features of Tejas?

1. It can be maneuvered in any direction regardless of pure aerodynamic principles.

2. It is designed to meet the tactical requirements of a modern air force and is a multi-
role aircraft capable of comprehensive air superiority and air defence roles.

3. It has the fly-by-wire system, which means that the manual flight control has been
replaced by an electronic interface which automatically maneuvers the flight, helping it
stabilise, when needed. Signals sent by the aircraft computers are translated into
actions by the aircraft itself, without the input of a pilot.

4. The material that Tejas is made of is chosen such that the aircraft can be of the
lightest weight possible and yet strong at the same time. 45% of its airframe is made of
CFC materials.

These materials also call for fewer joints or rivets, increasing the aircrafts reliability
and lowering its susceptibility to structural cracks which may be caused by fatigue.

95. New missile shoots down target aircraft

A new generation Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM), developed by India

and Israel, was successfully test-fired from the Integrated Test Range off Odisha Coast,
significantly boosting Indias efforts to fill gaps in its air defence capabilities.

Organisations associated
Developed by the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Israel
Aerospace Industries (IAI) for the Indian Air Force, the missile successfully shot down
pilotless target aircraft twice.

About MRSAM
The MRSAM system provides reliable air defence at medium ranges. Capable of
intercepting incoming aerial threats up to a range of 70 km, MRSAMs could be deployed
in sensitive air force stations, the national capital and also for protecting other sensitive
installations such as nuclear plants.
The MRSAM is the land version of LRSAM (long range surface to air missile) that DRDO
and IAI are developing for the Navy.

Concerns over contract for MRSAM

1. The contract for MRSAM was signed in 2009 kicking up much controversy over the
way the partnership was formed without a transparent selection process. Then worth
Rs. 10,400 crore, the DRDO handled about Rs. 3000 crore worth of the contract, while
the rest, over Rs. 7000 crore, went to IAI.

2. No technology transfer : An internal report by a team of military officers had pointed

out that IAI remains the design authority for the complete system. IAI is doing the role
of supplier and the DRDO is the buyer, which is contrary to the DRDO role of design
agency.
No transfer of technology has been taken as part of the contract. We will remain
dependent on IAI for its share, the report said. It had also said that the intellectual
property rights remain with the design authority.

96. Solar Power Tree for generation of electricity from solar energy

The Union Ministry of Science and Technology has launched Solar Power Tree, an
innovative way to generate electricity by harnessing maximum solar energy in a limited
space.

Key Features of Solar Power Tree

1. The Solar Power Tree has been developed by the CSIR (Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research)

2. It can harnesses solar energy for producing electricity with an innovative vertical
arrangement of solar cells.

3. It reduces the requirement of land as compared to conventional Solar

Photovoltaic layout. It keeps the land character intact and is viable in both rural
and urban areas.
 4. It takes only 4 square feet of land for installing a 5 KW Solar Power tree. But in a
conventional horizontal layout for generating 5 KW it requires 400 square feet of
land.

5. On an average, it harnesses more sunrays for one hour in a day as photovoltaic

panels are placed at higher height.

6. It can harness up to 10-15% more power in comparison to a conventional layout

on ground.

7. It has a battery back-up of 2 hours on full load and can give light even after
sunset.

8. It is facilitated with water sprinkler at the top for self-cleaning of panels which
help to increase the efficiency of the solar panels.

97. India-US joint expedition discovers natural gas in Indian Ocean

Joint expeditions by India and the United States have discovered large, highly enriched
accumulations of natural gas hydrate (an icy form of the fuel) in Indian Ocean.

The discovery was made by the Union Oil Ministry and the US Geological Survey in the
Bay of Bengal. It was the result of the most comprehensive gas hydrate field venture in
the world to date that comprised of scientists from India, Japan and the US.

Significance

This is the first of its kind discovery in the Indian Ocean that has the potential to be
producible and opens up a new resource to meet needs of energy hungry India.

The discovery will help unlock the global energy resource potential of gas hydrates as
well as help define the technology needed to safely exploit (extract) them.

What are Natural gas hydrates?

Natural gas hydrates are a naturally occurring, ice-like combination of natural gas and
water. They are mainly found in oceans and Polar Regions.

Gas hydrates are considered as vast resources of natural gas. They are known to occur
in marine sediments on continental shelf margins.

Composition: By nature Gas hydrates is mostly methane (CH4). Methane gas hydrate is
most stable at the seafloor at water depths beneath about 500 meters.

Distribution of Gas hydrates

The amount of gas within the worlds gas hydrate accumulations is estimated to greatly
exceed the volume of all known conventional gas resources.
In India, gas hydrate resources are estimated at 1,894 trillion cubic meters (tcm) and
these deposits occur in Eastern, Western and Andaman offshore areas.

It is postulated that gas hydrate deposits along ocean margins are estimated to exceed
known petroleum reserves by a factor of three.

98. Union Cabinet increases limit for foreign investment in Stock

Exchanges from 5% to 15%

The Union Cabinet has given its approval for raising foreign shareholding limit from
current 5% to 15% in Indian Stock Exchanges.

The decision brings the investment limit of foreign entities at par with that of domestic
institutions.

This enhanced limit is for a stock exchange, depository, banking company, insurance
company and commodity derivative exchange.

Implications

1. Enhance global competitiveness of Indian stock exchanges.

2. Enable Indian stock exchanges to acquire and adopt latest technology and global
best practices.

3. Pave way for better overall growth and development of the Indian capital market

99. India-US ink $1 billion deal to buy four Poseidon-8I aircraft

India has signed a defence deal with United States worth over $1 billion to purchase
four additional Poseidon-8I (P8I) long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine
warfare aircraft.

This deal is a follow-up order to the eight P-81 aircrafts that are already bought by India
in a direct deal with Boeings Indian subsidiary in 2009.

The acquisition of additional four P-8I aircraft will give the Indian Navy much-needed
punch to build up its naval surveillance capabilities.
About Poseidon-8I (P8I) aircraft
The P-8I is a long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft.

The P-8I is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon that Boeing is developing for the US Navy. It is
capable of broad area, maritime and littoral operations.

It is equipped with the sophisticated Harpoon missiles, lightweight torpedoes and

rockets. The Indian Navy is the first international customer for the P-8I.

100. Antarctic ozone hole is starting to heal: Scientists

Scientists for the first time have found clear evidence that the thinning in the ozone
layer above Antarctica is starting to heal.

Ozone layer in the atmospheres stratospheric layer comprises of Ozone (O3), an

allotrope of oxygen. It plays important role in blocking harmful ultraviolet radiation
(UV) from the Sun.

The absence or thinning of Ozone layer increases the chances of skin cancer, cataract
damage in human beings and even causes harm to animals and plants.

Key Findings

In the research, scientists have found that ozone hole was around 4 million square
kilometres in September 2015, smaller than it was in the year 2000.

It was based on detailed measurements of the amount of ozone in the stratosphere

between 2000 and 2015.

The healing of ozone layer was due to the long term phasing out (banning) of ozone-
destroying chemicals (ODCs) such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in Montreal Protocol
1987.

Question: The recent scientific evidence on healing of Ozone hole is an evidence of

successful implementation of Montreal Protocol. Explain. What is Ozone and what
can be possible consequences of its destruction?
101. NASA extends New Horizons mission
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has given its approval to
extend New Horizons mission to investigate a mysterious object deep in the Kuiper Belt.
In the extended mission New Horizons space probe will investigate a mysterious object
known as 2014 MU69 located deep in the Kuiper Belt.

2014 MU69: It is an ancient object considered one of the early building blocks of the
solar system. It lies about 1.5 billion kilometres beyond Pluto and is roughly 45
kilometres in diameter. Its exploration may help to give insights on the building blocks
of the solar system.

About New Horizons

New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe that was launched on January 19, 2006.

Mission: The primary mission is to perform a flyby study of the Pluto system. The
secondary mission to fly by and study one or more other Kuiper belt objects (KBOs).

Mission Status: On July 14, 2015, New Horizons flew 12,500 km above the surface of
Pluto, making it the first spacecraft to explore the dwarf planet. The flyby study ad
confirmed presence of frozen methane on Plutos surface.

After completing flyby mission of Pluto, New Horizons has maneuvered for a flyby of
KBO 2014 MU69. It expected to take place on January 1, 2019.

About Kuiper belt

Kuiper belt is a region of the solar system beyond the planets, extending from the orbit
of Neptune. It consist mainly small bodies or remnants from the solar systems
formation.

It is similar to the asteroid belt, although it is far larger 20 times as wide and 200
times as massive.

The Kuiper belt objects (KBO) are composed largely of frozen volatiles (termed ices),
such as methane, ammonia and water.

Kuiper belt is home to dwarf planets such as Pluto.

 Internal Security Related Topics

102. Dhaka Terorrist Attack

About the terrorist attack

Armed militants killed 20 civilians including an Indian after taking them hostage in a
Bangladesh cafe . A total of 18 people were rescued from the restaurant.
Heavily-armed commandos stormed the popular Dhaka eatery in the diplomatic enclave
and killed militants who had been holding many people, including foreigners, captive
for over 12 hours.

Which organization was behind the attack?

Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack .

Situation in Bangladesh
The Muslim-majority Bangladesh has witnessed a wave of deadly attacks on religious
minorities and secular bloggers by suspected Islamist militants.
Hindu priests and Buddhist leaders were brutally hacked to death in recent times.

Reasons for rise in intolerance in Bangladesh

The terror strike in Dhaka is a sign of Bangladeshs internal political dynamics as well as
the continuing appeal of a new wave of religious violence inspired by the Islamic State.
Political developments in the neighbouring country since 2014 such as ban on islamist
political parties from participating in elections and the execution of war criminals of
1971 were the key reasons for the violence.

Question: The terror attacks in Bangladesh and radicalization of some youth in

India has highlighted the concerns that India is not insulated to threat of ISIS.
Explain in context of above statement that why ISIS is a threat to India. Also, explain
the factors which hamper the radicalist agenda of ISIS in India?

103. Red Corridor to be redrawn by govt.

Reduction of Maoist affected districts

A senior Home Ministry official told that approximately 20 of the 106 districts which
have been described as being Maoist-affected and are part of the Red Corridor may soon
no longer be part of the list.
This exercise, under way now for two years, is being done for the first time since 2006,
when the Maoist-affected districts were identified and graded on the basis of their
violence profile.

Red Corridor
Red Corridor is the Maoist affected area in India. Maoist are called as naxals in India
because their movement started in Naxalbari village of West Bangal. The 106 districts
which span 10 States Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Telangana, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are
described as those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and constitute the Red
Corridor. Of these, 44 districts are said to be the worst-affected. India has a total of 683
districts.

Considerations for examining districts

The considerations on which the government has examined the districts with LWE
features are: their violence profile, an assessment of the kind of logistical and other
support provided to armed Maoist cadres by their sympathisers and over ground
workers, and the kind of positive changes brought about by development work that
these districts have seen.

Why re-evaluation of affected districts is required?

It will help in effective use of law and order forces. For instance, for the last four years in
Bankura, West Midnapore, Purulia and Birbhum districts of West Bengal there has been
no reported incident of Maoist-related activities. Even so, a senior government official
pointed out, two battalions of central armed police (roughly 1,000 men comprise a
battalion) continue to be deployed there as West Bengal has staunchly opposed the
withdrawal of forces. The implication: they could be better deployed elsewhere.

Once a district is taken off the list financial aid which is made available to the districts
to the tune of Rs. 30 crore annually for various developmental work will dry up.

Question: The re-evaluation of red corridor will help the government in not just
better dealing with Left wing extremism but also more rational use of law and
order forces. Explain the statement.

104. Brutal Crowd Control Tactics

What has happened recently?

With the death toll rising to at least 38 in the clashes in the Kashmir Valley, the brutal
crowd-control tactics of the police have come under the spotlight. The clashes are taking
place because people are opposing death of their leader Wani by security forces. The
security forces considered him a terrorist.

Changes in Standard operating procedure questioned

They call into question the changes in standard operating procedure that were made
after the violent protests of 2010, when scores of people died, mostly to bullet injuries.
A decision had then been taken to introduce non-lethal pellets. But ammunition can
only be as non-lethal as the tactics employed. And it is evident that the security forces
have failed to exercise enough restraint, given the nature of injuries sustained by many
young men and women.

A high number of the injured have suffered pellet injuries in the eyes. For instance, in
one Srinagar hospital alone, the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, of the 87 civilians
who were brought in with injuries, about 40 had sustained pellet injuries to their eyes.
Of these, doctors concluded that 19 persons, or almost half of those with eye injuries,
may never recover their eyesight.

Pellets have been fired from 12-bore guns for riot control. These are not long-distance
weapons. Police around the world have been trained to aim for below the knee. The idea
is that the pain caused by the pellets, usually made of metal and sometimes encased in
rubber, acts as a deterrent without maiming or causing serious life-inhibiting injuries.

Conclusion drawn from event

It speaks to a lack of both training and leadership. It is nobodys case that it is an easy
job to control a violent crowd, but it is the duty of the police to do so by causing as little
injury as possible. They must ensure that the force they use is never disproportionately
excessive to the cause of action. In the heat of the moment, there was a clear lack of
restraint, evident in the numbers injured by the spray of pellets.

Even as the best medical care is now sought to be provided, a more holistic healing must
be expeditiously administered. It has to be a political exercise. This week of violence
must also end with the assurance that the security forces have learnt important lessons
the most important among them being the adoption of more humane measures for
crowd control.

Protests

1. The morphed images created by a Pakistani lawyer showing leading Indian figures as
hit by pellet guns have gone viral in the Valley, with separatists and their supporters in
Kashmir actively sharing them on social media. The morphed images, in black and
white, resemble the pellet victims in the Valley.

2. The youth of the Kashmir has engaged in stone pelting against the armed forces
deployed to control the situation.

Question: What are the non-lethal pellets? What restrains are required to be
adopted by security forces while using them? Do you think that their excessive and
unrestrained use has created new internal security challenges for Indian State?
Examine with examples.

105. Unrest in Kashmir after death of Wani

Eleven protesters were killed and over 120 persons, including 96 security personnel,
were injured, as violent street protests erupted across the Kashmir after militant
commander Burhan Wani was killed in a joint operation by security forces.

Why does mob support cause of Wani?

The killing of top Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani is likely to throw Jammu and
Kashmir into a cycle of deadly violence in the coming days, officials worry.
A senior police official told that the Kashmiri youth was attracted to Wani because he
was one among them, who grew up in the aftermath of the insurgency of 1990s and
came of age witnessing two violent summers in 2008 and 2010 and the
subsequent hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013.

Youth are quick takers of the oppression theory and its becoming increasingly hard for
Government of India to counter this belief among the youth.

106. 17 missing persons from Kerala flew to Iran before going off radar
India has sought Irans help in tracing 17 persons from Kerala, who have been missing
for over a month, and are suspected to have joined the Islamic State (IS). Investigations
by Indian agencies have revealed that the 17 Indians, including women and children,
travelled till Iran on tourist visas before going off the radar.

Route adopted
The official said the missing persons left India in two different groups about a month
ago.One group reached Muscat and the other group reached Dubai. They took a flight to
Tehran from Muscat and Dubai respectively. This might have been done to dodge any
suspicion. Since they went on tourist visas and had family members along, nobody
suspected them, said the official.

The official said they were looking at two probable scenarios now. One, the group might
have reached Afghanistan, which shares its border with Iran and joined the Islamic
State in Khorasan Province.
The other possibility, the official said, was that they have travelled to Iraq and from
there on to Syria.

All the missing persons are from Kasargod district in Kerala and their relatives said they
had received messages from them that they had reached their final destination the
Caliphate that the IS aims to establish.

107. Ashok Patnaik is NATGRID chief

The NDA government appointed a serving Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Ashok
Patnaik as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Intelligence Grid
(NATGRID), one of the most ambitious intelligence projects, which failed to take off
during United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule.

The appointment of Mr. Patnaik, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, who also
happens to be the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being seen
as the governments effort to revive the project, which was conceived in the wake of the
2008 Mumbai attacks.

About NATGRID
The NATGRID is a centralised agency which stores sensitive personal information on
citizens from almost two dozen agencies to be made available for counter-terror
investigations.

Mr. Patnaik is currently serving as Additional Director in the IB and he will continue to
hold this post till his superannuation in 2018.

While the clearance for Rs.3,400-crore project from the Cabinet Committee on Security
(CCS) came in 2011, execution of the project slowed down after the exit of Home
Minister P. Chidambaram in July 2012. There are around 70 personnel, drawn from
both the government and private sectors, in the NATGRID.

Question: What are the expected comprehensive patterns of intelligence expected

to be generated by NATGRID? How NATGRID can resolve the problem the problem
of coordination among intelligence agencies?

108. Zakir Naiks UK-registered Foundation under scanner

Zakir Naik, who has come under the scanner after the Dhaka terror attacks, the
government is probing the financial records for massive contributions that the
preachers organisations received in the past few years.

The Birmingham-based Foundation was set up on January 11, 2007, for the purpose of
religious and other charitable activities. It has its email and website registered on
peacetv.tv domain.
According to investigations, Dr. Naik is a trustee of the UK-registered Islamic Research
Foundation International (IRFI) that has received over 7 million in donations between
2009 and 2014.

Reasons for suspicion:

1. Government sources said IRFI primarily funds Peace TV that broadcasts Dr. Naiks
public speeches. The television network is banned in the U.K., the U.S., Canada and
China. In 2010, the U.K. government had banned Dr. Naik; he is also not allowed to enter
Canada and Malaysia.
2. Following allegations that one of the terrorists involved in the recent Dhaka terror
attack and killing of 20 hostages was inspired by the speeches of radical Islamic
preacher Zakir Naik, the Indian government has also initiated a probe into the foreign
funding of his non-government organisations.

3. A study of the returns filed by the two NGOs with the MHA under the mandatory
FCRA regulations revealed that they received about Rs.10 crore in the past decade. The
funds came mostly from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Remaining topics Relevant for Prelims

1. Mahasweta Devi passes away

Eminent litterateur and social activist Mahasweta Devi passed away in Kolkata.

About Mahasweta Devi

1. She was born into a family of literary figures in Dhaka in 1926. In a literary career spanning over
half-a-century, she wrote over 120 books.
2. Wife of one of Bengals most prolific playwrights and litterateurs, Bijon Bhattacharya, the activist-
writer grew up in the family of Bengals leading writers, poets and filmmakers. Filmmaker Ritwick
Ghatak was her uncle.
3. Influenced by the Communist movement of the 1940s, she chose to work among the poorest of the
poor in the tribal areas of southern West Bengal and in other parts of the country.
4. Mahasweta Devi was a colossal figure in Bengali literature and a respected social activist who lent
her voice to the poor. She played a significant role to uplift the extremely backward community, Kheria
Sabar.
5. She was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi, Jnanpith and the Magsaysay awards.

Views of eminent personalities on Mahasweta Devi

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the author as her guardian and said: India
has lost a great writer. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said she wonderfully illustrated the might of the
pen. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi described her as a powerful voice against injustice and
inequality.

2. Magsaysay award for Wilson, T.M. Krishna

Ramon Magsaysay award winners
Bezwada Wilson, a renowned campaigner against manual scavenging, and Carnatic singer T.M.
Krishna from Chennai were named for the prestigious Magsaysay Award.

About Bezwada Wilson

Born into a Dalit family in Karnataka, Mr. Wilson, 50, is the national convener of the Safai Karmachari
Andolan formed in 1993. Mr. Wilson was rewarded for his work on reducing the activity of manual
scavenging. Manual scavenging is the work of removing by hand human excrement from dry latrines
and carrying on the head the baskets of excrement to designated disposal sites.

A hereditary occupation, manual scavenging involves 180,000 Dalit households cleaning the 790,000
public and private dry latrines across India; 98 per cent of scavengers are meagrely paid women and
girls.

About Mr. Krishna

Under the category Emergent Leadership, Mr. Krishna was chosen for the award for bringing social
inclusiveness in culture.The award committee hailed him for showing that music can indeed be a
deeply transformative force in personal lives and society itself. Krishna was born into a Brahmin
family in Chennai and was trained right from the tender age of six in the refined Carnatic music.

About Ramon Magsaysay awards

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine
President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people,
and pragmatic idealism within a democratic society. The prize was established in April 1957 by the
trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund based in New York City with the concurrence of the
Philippine government.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation gives the prize to Asianindividuals achieving excellence in
their respective fields. The awards were given in six categories, five of which were discontinued in
2009:
Government Service (19582008)
Public Service (19582008)
Community Leadership (19582008)
Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts (19582008)
Peace and International Understanding (19582008)
Emergent Leadership (2001 )
Uncategorized (2009 )

3. Iconic Indian artist S H Raza passes away

Who was Syed Haider Raza?
Iconic Indian artist Syed Haider Raza, known for his abstracts, passed away on Saturday at the age
of 94.
Raza's works had very rich use of colour, replete with icons from Indian cosmology as well as its
philosophy.

Raza is touted as one of Indian modern art's greatest painters. He was a founder-member of the
Progressive Artists' Group that wished to break with the revivalist nationalism established by the
Bengal school of art and to encourage an Indian avant-garde engaged at an international level.

Achievements
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1981, the Padma Bhushan in 2007 and the Padma Vibhushan in
2013. He was also conferred with the highest French civilian honour, the Commandeur de la Legion
d'honneur (Legion of Honour) in 2015.
He became one of India's priciest modern artists in June 2010 when his seminal work, "Saurashtra"
was sold for Rs 16.42 crore at a Christie's auction.

4. Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi appointed CBSE Chairman

The government appointed a 1987- batch IAS officer Rajesh Kumar Chaturvedi Chairman of the
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for a five-year term.
The post had been lying vacant from December 2014.

In 2015, Ms. Irani's choice and Ministry official Satbir Bedi's name had not passed muster apparently
on the techincal ground that she did not have the requisite experience in educational administration.
Other important appointments
1. Guruprasad Mohapatra as Chairman, Airports Authority of India
2. SP Singh Parihar as chairman, Central Pollution Control Board

About CBSE Role and Objectives

The central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was reconstituted in 1st July 1962. The head
office of the Board is situated at New Delhi. It is an autonomous body fully controlled by the
Government of India. Today the Board has 5119 schools affiliated to it, which include 784 Kendriya
Vidyalayas, 1381 Government schools, 2486 independent schools, 355 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya
and 13 Adhoc schools.

In order to execute its functions effectively, and maintain the educational standards, the Board has
decentralized its administration. As a result, Regional Offices have been set up in different part of the
country to be more responsive to the affiliated schools. It has regional offices in Ajmer, Chennai,
Allahabad, Guwahati, Chandigarh and Delhi.

The headquarters constantly monitors the activities of the Regional Offices, although sufficient powers
have been vested with the Regional Offices. The regional offices deal with the matters pertaining to
day-to-day administration and pre and post examination arrangements. But issues involving policy
matters are referred to the head office.

Objectives of CBSE:
The Central Board of Secondary Education was set up to achieve certain interlinked objectives.
These are as follows:
(1) To prescribe conditions of examinations and conduct public examinations at the end of class X
and XII.
(2) To grant qualifying certificates to successful candidates of the affiliated schools.
(3) To fulfil the educational requirements of those students whose parents were employed in
transferable jobs.
(4) To prescribe and update the courses of instructions for examinations.
(5) To affiliate institutions for the purpose of examination and raise the academic standards of the
country.

5. Euro Cup won by Portugal defeating France

An extra-time goal by Eder saw Portugal beat hosts France 1-0 in Euro 2016 final to win their first major
tournament.

The victory ended Portugal's run of 10 straight defeats against France, who had eliminated them in the
semi-finals at Euro 1984, Euro 2000 and the 2006 World Cup.
About Euro Cup
The UEFA European Championship (known informally as the Euros) is the primary association football
competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the Union of European
Football Associations (UEFA), determining the continental champion of Europe. Held every four years
since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the
UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968.

6. Captain Radhika Menon: First woman to receive Exceptional Bravery award

at Sea
Captain Radhika Menon became the first woman in the world to receive the Award for Exceptional
Bravery at Sea for the year 2016 from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

She will be bestowed with this award for saving the lives of seven fishermen, whose hopes of survival
were all over.

The award will be presented to her at the ceremony set to take place at IMO Headquarters in London.

Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea: It is an annual Award established by IMO. It seeks to
provide international recognition for those who perform acts of exceptional bravery at the risk of losing
their own life.

7. Pakistani philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi passes away

Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, humanitarian and ascetic Abdul Sattar Edhi passed away after
a long battle with kidney disease. He was 88.

He was famously known as Pakistans Father Teresa, Angel of Mercy and was Pakistans most
respected figure for his humanitarian work.

Edhi Foundation: He was the founder and head of the Edhi Foundation, which is known for its
humanitarian work in Pakistan, South Asia and across the World.

Indian Connection: He was born in undivided India. In October 2015, Indian Government had
coordinated with Edhi foundation to bring back Geeta (hearing and speech impaired girl) who had
strayed across the border in Pakistan 15 years ago.

8. Second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant gets operational

The second unit of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), Indias largest nuclear power plant in
Tamil Nadu became operational.

The 1,000 Megawatt (MW) capacity plant attained criticality after the second unit became operational.

The criticality process of the Unit 2 was undertaken by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India
(NPCI), a PSU under the Department of Atomic Energy which manages the plant.

Already, the first unit of the plant is generating 1000 MW power.

About Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP)

KNPP is a nuclear power station located in Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu. It has capacity of generating
2000 MW with 2 reactors.

The nuclear reactors of the plant have been built with Russian expertise. The construction on the
plant began in 2002.
The work on third and fourth reactors will start in 2017.

9. NBAGR confers rare and singular species genetic recognition tag to

Kendrapara sheep
The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) has conferred rare and singular species
genetic recognition tag to the threatened breed of Kendrapara sheep found in Odisha.

About Kendrapara sheep

Kendrapara sheep is found only in coastal districts of Odisha. Locally it is called kuji mendha.

The average adult sheep weighs 18-20 kg and are dwarf in built with the body covered with coarse
hair. They are well adapted to high ambient temperature, high humidity and heavy rain.

Kendrapara sheep carries FecB mutation gene, which is responsible for prolificacy (multiple babies in
same delivery) or multiple birth syndrome.

This characteristic makes them distinctive from other species sheep species as they are not known
for giving multiple births.

Economic Significance: Multiple-birth characteristics make it a profitable livelihood source. They are
primarily used for mutton production. Besides, their skin also has economic importance.

National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR): It premier institute is dedicated to work
with its mandate of identification, characterization, evaluation, conservation and utilization of livestock
and poultry genetic resources of the country.

10. India, ADB sign $100 Million Loan pact on Cauvery basin development
India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a 100 million dollars loan agreement for
irrigation projects, drainage system and water management in Vennar sub-basin of Cauvery delta in
Tamil Nadu.

About Asian Development Bank (ADB)

ADB is multilateral lending agency based in Manila, Philippines. It is dedicated to reduce poverty in
Asia and the Pacific region through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth,
and regional integration. It is collectively owned by 67 members 48 from the region including India.

11. Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to have Happiness Department

Madhya Pradesh became the first state in India to have Happiness Department that will work as
knowledge resource centre on the subject of happiness on the lines of Bhutan.

Key Facts
The Happiness Department will work under a working committee headed by a chairman. The
committee will evaluate the states gross happiness.

The department will prepare guidelines for coordination between different departments like women
and child development, health, and sports for propagating happiness in the state.

It will prescribe action plan and activities for experiencing happiness by identifying and defining the
parameters of happiness and efficiency.
It will also undertake constant researches and surveys for expanding means happiness and improve
norms to assess them. It will publish reports pertaining to status of happiness.

Bhutan is the first country in the world to come up with the concept of Gross National Happiness
(GNH). It has fixed standards of living, education, good governance, health and psychological
happiness among the various parameters that make its citizens happy.

The World Happiness Report 2016 published by the United Nations ranks India at 118th position
among 156 countries.

12. Union Government Arvind Subramanian committee to tackle the shortage of

pulses

The Union Government has recently constituted a high-level committee headed by Chief
Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian to tackle the shortage of pulses in India.

Terms of References

1. The committee is tasked to study and suggest ways to contain the rising prices of
pulses in the country.

2. The committee will consider a reasonable hike in the Minimum Support Price (MSP)
for pulses and bonus for the farmers to promote pulse cultivation.

3. Frame an appropriate long term policy to promote cultivation of pulses in India and
shall also consider the issue of subsidising farmers who wish to grow pulses.

4. Beside this, the Union Government also has decided to increase the buffer stock of
pulses from 8 lakh to 20 lakh tonnes.

13. Kerala Govt. Policy to regulate online cab operators

Who are Regulated?
Stringent licensing norms to cap fares and to reign in motor cab operators and drivers
and a host of safety features for riders have been spelled out in the Transport
Aggregator Policy aimed at regulating those providing on demand Information
Technology-based transportation.

Provisions
1. Online taxi aggregators will have to secure licence from the State Transport Authority
(STA) within three months of commencement.

2. Motor vehicles should have digital fare meters with printer, GPS, Web or mobile
application for grievance redressal.

3. Facility for the rider to contact two persons and the local police.

4. The licensee should have a 24 x 7 call centre, operational telephone number and
should provide e-mail address of grievance redressal officer and ensure that all
journeys are booked only via the aggregator IT-based platform.

5. The licensee will have to provide the list of drivers with driving licence, badge
number and registration details, chassis number of vehicles on quarterly basis to the
STA.

6. Rs. 1 lakh will be charged for issuance or renewal of license. Renewed license will be
valid for 3 years.

7. The drivers can register or log into multiple online cab aggregators. They will not be
compelled to drive a minimum number of hours.

8. On receiving complaint, the erring driver will be suspended and the driver will be
deactivated from the platform.

Reasons for introduction

The Kerala On-Demand IT-based Transportation Scheme 2016 comes against the
backdrop of the mushrooming of the online taxi operators, increasing grievances from
riders and skirmishes with taxi operators.

Status of Policy
Policy chalked out by the Motor Vehicles Department, based on the guidelines of the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), has been forwarded to the
government for approval.