National News: Election Management (Iidem) Launched at ECI

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National News
*NSG ends India's clean' waiver: The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) adopted new guidelines on the transfer of Sensitive Nuclear Technology that will effectively nullify the clean waiver India received from the cartel in 2008 as far as the import of enrichment and reprocessing equipment and technology (ENR) is concerned. The decision was announced from Noordwijk, the Netherlands, where the 46-nation grouping held its 2011 plenary meeting. The NSG agreed to strengthen its guidelines on the transfer of sensitive enrichment and reprocessing technologies, a formal statement blandly noted. Though the new guidelines have not been made public yet, the draft text makes it clear that the group will exclude countries which are not signatories to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and which do not have a full-scope safeguards agreement allowing international inspections of all their nuclear facilities. Prior to this, the NSG had a catch-all requirement of full-scope safeguards in paragraph 4 of its guidelines for the supply of any nuclear equipment or material. Additional requirement - The only additional requirement for ENR exports as contained in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the guidelines was that suppliers were asked to exercise restraint and to ensure that any supplied equipment or technology not be used to enrich uranium beyond 20 per cent. The NSG's September 6, 2008 Statement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation with India' waived the fullscope safeguards requirement of paragraph 4 and expressly allowed ENR exports, subject to paragraphs 6 and 7. In adopting its waiver, the NSG said it was acting based on the commitments and actions on non-proliferation undertaken by India. But, the cartel tore up that bargain, adopting a new paragraph 6 specifying objective and subjective criteria a recipient country must meet before an NSG member can sell ENR to it. The very first of these is NPT membership. Since all nuclear exports to the only other countries outside the NPT Israel, Pakistan and North Korea are already prohibited by paragraph 4, this provision in the new guidelines was expressly designed to target India, to whom the restrictions of that paragraph no longer apply.
*India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (Iidem) Launched at ECI: The Election Commission of India recently launched the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management- an advanced resource centre of learning, research, training and extension for participatory democracy and election management. IIDEM has four components. These are Training and Capacity Development, Voter Education and Civic Participation, Research, Innovation and Documentation and International Projects and Technical Collaboration. The Institute will be a national and international hub for exchange of good practices in election management. The Institute is being developed in collaboration with the Government of India, United Nations, the Commonwealth and inter-governmental organisations like Sweden based International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). The 54 member Commonwealth group has proposed to set up a resource centre for its member nations at IIDEM. IIDEM will work for promoting democratic values and practices, enhancing voter education and awareness and developing human resource and capacities for efficient conduct of free and fair elections in India and for developing mutually beneficial partnership as well as collaborations with other countries. *The Law Commission Proposed Legislation to Curb Honour Killings: The Law Commission headed by Justice P. Venkatrama Reddi approved the proposed draft legislation, The Endangerment of Life and Liberty (protection, prosecution and other measures) Act, 2011 to prosecute persons or a group involved in honour killings. Law commission member R.Venkatramni drafted the proposed legislation. The draft legislation prohibits village elders to interfere with the life and liberty of young couples who marry as per their choice even if they belong to the same gotra. According to the legislation, village elders cannot place these couples in a hostile environment in the village concerned. As per the draft legislation, the act of endangerment of life and liberty will mean and include measures such as social boycott, forcing people to leave their homes in the locality and deprivation of the means of livelihood. However, the law commission turned down the demand for introducing a clause in
Cracking IAS Study Circle, Chennai.
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Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code to bring honour killings under its ambit (Section 300). The act drafted by the law commission to curb honor killings was necessary because Article 21 of the Constitution of India clearly states that no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law. Khap Panchayats can't impose their dictats on young couples. * Postal Department to set up Post Bank of India: The Postal Department will set up a Post Bank of India to provide financial facilities, particularly to persons in the rural areas. Radhika Duraiswamy: Secretary Department of Post. The Post Bank concept already exists in many countries of the world. The Department of Post is working as the Registrar of UID. *MV Suez Crew returned Home after being held Captive for 1o months by Somali Pirates: Six Indian sailors, who were among the 22-member crew of MV Suez held captive by Somali pirates for nearly 10 months, reached Karachi on 23 June 2011. *Warship 'INS Kabra' commissioned in Navy: Indigenous Water Jet-Propelled Fast Attack Craft (FAC) INS KABRA, the eighth in a series of 10 Car Nicobar-class FACs built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) for the Navy, was commissioned. INS Kabra is the eighth of a series built at Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. With a top speed of over 35 knots and manoeuvrability offered by her water-jet propulsion, the ship was ideally suited for highspeed interdiction of fast-moving targets and useful in search and rescue operations. 1 knot = 0.514444444 m / s = 1.852 km per hour = 1.151 mph. INS Kabra complies with the latest regulations of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on sea pollution control. The main armament of the ship is a 30-mm CRN-91 gun. The ship, also fitted with machine guns of various types and IGLA shoulder-fired Surface-to-Air missiles, has a crew of three officers and 39 sailors. It is commanded by Commander Bandhul Mishra, a specialist in missile, weapons and radar systems. Senior crime reporter Jyotirmoy Dey (J. Dey)
was murdered. Eminent Economist & Former Chairman of PMEAC, Prof. Suresh Tendulkar expired. India has completed the process of ratification of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. A Bangladesh court has issued an arrest warrant against one of India's most important fugitives, Paresh Barua, the military chief of the separatist United Liberation Front of Asom. A war veteran and retired major general Prithvi Raj, passed away. The illustrious officer is survived by son Lt Gen Deepak Raj, commandant of Army War College (AWC). Under whose command the 12th Infantry division nuclear tests were conducted in Pokhran in 1974. Chhattisgarh becomes the 3rd state in India after Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh to present a separate budget for agriculture. MV Wisdom which is stranded on the juhu beach was a major attraction for people in Mumbai as the Indian Navy began its rescue operation for the ship to be moved away slowly. The Merchant Vessel Wisdom, a massive cargo ship was on its way to Alang Shipyard, Gujarat from Colombo to be dismantled. The engine of the ship failed while it was on its way after which the cable used to towboat broke down. Project Sunshine is the name of Monsanto's hybrid maize expansion programme seeking to bring about a Yellow Revolution in tribal areas of India and is being implemented under various names in Gujarat, Orissa and Rajasthan, among others. In Madhya Pradesh, the project provides 90 per cent subsidy for Monsanto's Dekalb hybridmaize seeds, a move which many fear will lead to the death of the traditional non-hybrid white maize, also known as the Open Pollinated Variety (OPV) seeds currently in use reducing farmers' control over their seeds. [The Shivraj Singh Chauhan government recently formed a separate Agriculture Cabinet and passed a comprehensive Organic Policy to make Madhya Pradesh an organic State, an important priority and poll promise under the Bharatiya Janata Party's Swadeshi ideology.] Swami Nigamanand of Matri Sadan, Haridwar died. He had been on fast since April 19 seeking a ban on quarrying activities in and around the Ganga in Kumbh area. Although only the 11th biggest economy in the world, India is the second fastest growing behind China. According to a study by Morgan Stanley,
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driven by a sterling demographic dividend, continuing structural reform and globalisation, India is poised to accelerate its growth rate to 9-9.5% over 2013-15. According to Broadband Policy of 2004 broadband was defined as an always on connection with downloads speeds of 256 kbps or more. India stands at a very dismal 117th position (out of 159 countries) in global ICT development index. Over the last decade there has been fast growth in internet penetration but it is less than satisfactory. By the broadband policy 2004, we should have 20 million internet subscribers by now. India stands at 22nd position among 133 countries in Government success in ICT promotion. Hasdeo-Arand - the coalfields of this heavilyforested, mineral rich region of Chhattisgarh has finally granted a stage-I forest clearance to three blocks in the region: Tara, Parsa East and Kante Basan. INS Venduruthy is the oldest naval establishment in Kochi, India. A small naval unit was set up just two days prior to the outbreak of World War II it is currently being used as a Seamen Training Establishment. The name of the establishment which was then H.M.S. Chinkara was renamed H.M.I.S. Venduruthy (after the name of the original Venduruthy island) and on January 26, 1950, when India became a Republic, H.M.I.S. was altered to I.N.S.
* IT (Guidelines for Cyber Caf) Rules, 2011: The IT (Guidelines for Cyber Caf) Rules, 2011, require cyber caf customers to furnish proper identification proof, a copy of which must be stored for a year. Acceptable identity cards include those issued by any school or college, or photo credit cards, passports, voter identity cards, PAN cards, driving licences or any cards issued by a government agency, including the UID number. Schoolchildren who do not have a photo ID will not be allowed entry unless accompanied by an adult possessing identity proof. Additionally, cyber caf owners must photograph their customers and maintain a detailed time-log of each of their visits. A soft and hard copy of these usage logs, which will include the customer's photograph and ID proof, must be submitted to a government-designated person or agency every month. In addition, the cyber caf owner shall be responsible for storing and maintaining backups of
[the] following log records for each access or login by any user of its computer resource for at least one year, including the history of websites accessed. Incredibly, the new rules, framed under the Information Technology Act, 2008, even specify the kind of furniture a cyber caf must have. Cubicles with partitions higher than four-and-a-half feet will be illegal, and cafs are obligated to place terminals in such a way that computer screens face outward (towards common open space of the caf) and can be easily monitored. The new guidelines say that computers in cyber cafs should be equipped with commercially available safety or filtering software so as to avoid, as far as possible, access to the websites relating to pornography including child pornography or obscene information. Further, cyber caf owners need to put a display board, clearly visible to users, prohibiting them from viewing pornographic sites as well as copying or downloading information that is prohibited under the law. Cyber cafs shall take sufficient precautions to ensure that their computer resources are not utilised for any illegal activity, the rules add. Alleging that the new guidelines could cause further harassment of cyber caf owners as well as users, Nikhil Pahwa, editor and publisher of the website MediaNama, says the provisions in the law need to be more liberal in order to prevent its misuse by lawmakers. There is one silver lining. In the earlier rules, an officer not below the rank of police officer was authorised to inspect the cyber caf and network. But in the changed rules, an officer of the registration agency will be authorised. This means that the harassment of cyber caf owners/managers would probably not be done by a police officer. *High-powered Task Force for the revamp of Defence Management: The Union government decided to set up a high-powered task force to review the unfinished tasks and make further suggestions for implementation with a view to revamp of defence management in India. The government arrived at the decision ten years after the Kargil Review Committee and a Group of Ministers attempted the first major revamp. The Naresh Chandra committee will contemporarise the Kargil Review Committees (KRC) recommendations in view of the fact that 10 years have passed since the report was submitted. It
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is also expected to examine why some of the crucial recommendations relating to border management and restructuring the apex command structure in the armed forces have not been implemented. It will look at the reasons why the post of first among equals among the three service chiefs in the form of a Chief of Defence Staff was never created. The formation of the task force marked the first comprehensive attempt at reviewing the entire gamut of defence preparedness and management in a decade. The Kargil Review Committee (KRC) report a decade back had led to the setting up of a Group of Ministers which had suggested sweeping reforms in the country's security management system to ensure that any intrusion such as the one by the Pakistan Army in 1999 should not come as a complete and total surprise to the Government, the armed forces and the intelligence agencies. The KRC, headed by the late K. Subrahmanyam had been the first major attempt at overhauling the country's security after Independence. The KRC report had led to major improvements in some areas, especially relating to procurement with the setting up of the Defence Procurement Board and the Defence Acquisition Council. This led to better preparedness as far as systems and technologies were concerned in areas such as armoured, Special Forces, strategic lift and assault, military aviation, intelligence and navy. *Deal for Ten Boeing C-17s Cleared: The US in June 2011 welcomed the sale of 10 Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF). The C-17 Globe master will broaden India's capability to provide humanitarian assistance to people devastated by natural disasters; to deploy peacekeeping troops around the world to secure peace in dangerous areas and to evacuate its citizens and others from areas of civil strife anywhere in the world. Assignment questions FDI into the country had declined to $19.43 billion (about Rs.88, 520 crore) in 2010-11 from $25.83 billion (about Rs.1.23-lakh crore) in the previous fiscal, a decline of 25 per cent. Find out the factors responsible for it. Suggest few measures and a roadmap for implementation of National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF).
*'New Delhi superbug' remains a global concern: WHO: The New Delhi superbug " remains "a global concern" because of its resistance to all available antibiotics in the world, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO recently launched the Global Infection Prevention Control Network to address the growing threat from serious infectious epidemics like SARS (Severe Anti-Respiratory Syndrome) which spread to several countries over seven years ago, and anti-microbial resistance. The NDM-1 became a huge controversy in India last year after a study was published in Lancet, a British medical journal about this new global public health threat. The Lancet study carried out by a multi-national team reported the spread of bacterial carrying NDM-1 gene that was resistant to multiple different classes of antibiotics. *Secret chambers of Padmanabhaswamy temple to be opened: The secret underground chambers of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple Thiruvanantha puram will be opened in the presence of two Supreme Court-appointed observers. Lord Vishnu is enshrined here in the Anananthasayanam posture (in eternal sleep of yognidra), lying on Sri Anantha, the hooded snake. Sree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu. Divya Desams are the holiest abodes of the Lord Mahavishnu that are mentioned in the works of the Tamil Azhvars (saints). This temple in its present form is built by Maharaja Marthanda Varma (1729-1758), one of the most powerful rulers of Travancore. * National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF): The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has constituted a Group of State Ministers for recommending a National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF) and preparing a roadmap for its implementation. The committee would include the Ministers of Education (in charge of Vocational Education) of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Mizoram. The Secretary (School Education & Literacy) will be the convener of the group and the Secretary (Higher Education) its co-convener, the release said.
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The Group of Ministers will submit its report by July 31. In order to co-ordinate the drafting of the NVEQF, the HRD Ministry has also constituted a Co-ordination Committee consisting of senior officials from the Ministry as well as the University Grants Commission, the All India Council of Technical Education, the National Institute of Open Schooling, the Central Board of Secondary Education, the National Skill Development Corporation and the Institute of Applied Manpower Research. The Coordination Committee is mandated to prepare a harmonized approach to the NVEQF by suitably incorporating the recommendations of the Committees constituted through the Sectoral Round Tables. The Co-Ordination Committee is to present its draft to the Group of State Ministers for approval. The terms of reference of the Committee would be to set common principles and develop guidelines for a nationally recognized qualifications system, covering schools, vocational education institutes and institutes of higher education with qualification ranging from secondary to doctorate level, facilitating international recognition of national standards. The NVEQF will provide vertical and horizontal mobility with multiple entry and exit to the students. There will be full collaboration with sector skill councils (SSCs) and industry for development of quality standards competencies, model curricula, assessment and testing procedures. Congress official party magazine - Sandesh. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) continues to hold A status with the ICC since 1999. This status is given to the NHRIs, which are fully compliant with the Paris Principles towards the promotion and protection of human rights. Touted as the country's first university, dedicated exclusively to Urban Studies, the Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) is setting up its 58acre campus in south-west Bangalore. India has third largest overall telecom network and the second largest wireless network in the world. Frequency bands allocated for certain types of radio services in India are as under: Frequency Band Services 1.6-30 MHz Fixed, Mobile, Maritime, Broadcasting 10000 - 14000 MHz Satellite Communication
and DTH services 1710 - 1930 MHz GSM Services (2G), Fixed Mobile 174 - 230 MHz Television Broadcasting 3400 - 7125 MHz Satellite Communication 806 - 960 MHz GSM & CDMA mobile services (2G), Trucking 87.5 - 108 MHz FM radio In India the Cellular Mobile Service Providers (CMSPS) use two types of technologies viz. Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The allocation of Spectrum to the CMSPs depends on the type of technology they use. GSM is a digital mobile telephony system which uses a variation of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and is widely used world over. It operates in the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz frequency band. CDMA technology allows many users to occupy the same time and frequency allocations in a given band/space. As its very name implies, CDMA assigns unique codes to each communication to differentiate it from others in the same Spectrum bands. It operates in the 800 MHz and 1900 MHz bands. Presently 25 MHz Spectrum in 900 MHz band (890-915/935-960 MHz) and 75 MHz in the 1800 MHz band (17101785/1805-1880 MHz) are earmarked for the GSM services. *Project Prahari revived to curb witch hunting: Concerned over witch-hunting in the Bodo heartland, which has already claimed eight lives since January this year, the Kokrajhar police, in collaboration with the Assam State Commission for Women (ASCW), revived Project Prahari, which aims to educate people about the menace and introduce community policing. Habrubari is the place where the witch-hunting began on January 1 this year. *INS Kamorta delivery: INS Kamorta, the first in a series of four anti-submarine corvettes being built by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a defence shipyard, will be delivered to the Navy in June 2012. It is part of PROJECT 28 approved in 2003. As in INS Shivalik high-grade steel produced in India was utilized for its construction. *TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA recommendations on National Broad band plan: Currently in India, the penetration of broadband is 0.8% as against the tele-density of 60.99 as of
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Sep2010. The number of broadband connections is only 10.3 million as against a target of 20 million by the year 2010. Therefore, there is an urgent need to facilitate rapid growth of broadband. Towards this end, a National Broadband Network will be established. This network will be an open access optical fibre network connecting all habitation with population of 500 and above. This Network will be established in two phases. The first phase covering all cities, urban areas and Gram Panchayats will be completed by the year 2012. Phase II will see the extension of the network to all the habitations having a population more than 500, to be completed by the year 2013. A National Optical Fibre Agency (NOFA) will be set up to establish this broadband network. NOFA is proposed to be a 100% Central Government owned holding company. Besides being a Holding company, NOFA will also establish the networks in all the 63 cities covered under Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM). A State Optical Fiber Agency (SOFA) would be formed in every State with 51% equity held by National Optical Fibre Agency (NOFA) and 49% by the respective State Government. NOFA would be the holding company of all the SOFAs. All the SOFAs, under the overall guidance of NOFA will establish the networks and backhaul in the rural areas and in the urban areas other than those cities covered under Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM). The National Broadband Plan envisages provision of 75 million broadband connections (17 million DSL, 30 Million cables and 28 million wireless broadband) by the year 2012 and 160 million broadband connections (22 million DSL, 78 million cables and 60 million wireless broadband) by the year 2014. *Basic Computer Literacy Course for Panchayat Functionaries: The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has initiated a process of taking up the training of PRI functionaries (officials and Elected Representatives) so that they are able to operate computers work on ePanchayat Applications and access information therein. Kolhapur initiative - Worried over increasing number of female foeticides and low sex ratio, Goa is now looking to follow the Kolhapur initiative in which software was installed in all clinics to monitor every sonography done. In Himachal Pradesh, the 1000 MW Karcham
Wangtoo Hydroelectric project in Kinnaur has started generating more than 550 MW electricity. Golden Corridor Committee (GCC): Angela Sontakke said the newly formed Golden Corridor Committee (GCC) oversees the movements activities in Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Ahmedabad and Surat. The setting-up of a Golden Corridor Committee is a recent development. According to the chief of the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, it was formed in February 2008. In the Maoist scheme of things, there are eight strategic areas, one of which lies along the western coast. Within this exists the area known as the Golden Corridor that extends from the region around Pune and stretches till Ahmedabad and includes Mumbai, Nashik, Surat and Vadodara. Incidentally, this is also the industrial backbone of the country. It is towards this belt that the Maoists have currently turned their attention. The area could, indeed, turn out to be a milch cow for the Maoists. *National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Project of India: National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Project of India is one of the most ambitious Intelligence Gathering Project of India. NATGRID Project is an essential requirement for robust and effective Intelligence Agencies and Law Enforcement functions in India. The aim of NATGRID is to ensure a readily available and real time information sharing platform between Intelligence Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies, etc of India. Information gathering and its timely distribution is also an essential part of Cyber Crisis Management Plan of India. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) recently gave an in-principle clearance to the ambitious National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project. *Asian Development Bank Assisted North Eastern States Roads Investment Programme (NESRIP): The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the project proposal titled "ADB assisted North Eastern State Roads Investment Programme (NESRIP)", a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region to construct / upgrade/ improve a total of 433 km long roads in six NE States at an estimated cost of Rs. 1353.83 Crore to be implemented over a period of 5 years i.e. 2011-2016.
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International
*Organisation of the Islamic Conference changes name: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference, an umbrella organisation representing 57 Muslim nations, says it has changed its name to better reflect the groups international role. It will henceforth be known as the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation. It will retain the same acronym, OIC. OIC says the members foreign ministers endorsed the change of the name during a meeting in Kazakhstans capital, Astana. OIC was established in Morocco in 1969 at an Islamic summit of 25 Muslim countries to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world. * World's largest E coli outbreak kills 14 in Germany: The E coli pathogen has been identified on cucumbers imported from Spain but it is unclear if they were contaminated there, during transport or in Germany. The German government has identified the pathogen as hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication of a type of E coli known as Shiga toxin-producing E coli (STEC), and said it had killed 14 people and made at least 329 ill. Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E. coli bacteria, with lethal genes. The outbreak is already considered the thirdlargest involving E. coli in recent world history, and it may be the deadliest. Twelve people died in a 1996 Japanese outbreak that reportedly sickened more than 12,000, and seven died in a 2000 Canadian outbreak. *Tunisian Court sentenced Former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Absentia to 35 years in Jail: A Tunisian court on 20 June 2011 sentenced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in absentia to 35 years in jail, six months after his overthrow in a revolution that inspired the Arab Spring. Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia after being forced out of power, was found guilty after just one day of deliberation of theft, illegally possessing jewellery and large sums of cash. *Russia, China Seek 'Long-Term' Energy Partnership: Russia and China are seeking to form a
long-term energy partnership as they pursue bilateral trade of $200 billion a year by 2020. China is already Russia's biggest trading partner, with bilateral trade soaring 50 per cent last year, to $59 billion. By comparison, India's trade with Russia stood at $8.5 billion in 2010 and is projected to grow to $20 billion by 2015. Russia and China decided to form long-term strategic energy partnership in oil, gas, nuclear, coal, electricity and renewable energy. However, the two countries failed to sign, as expected, a mega-deal for the supply of Russian gas to China. After two years of hard-nosed bargaining the sides still cannot agree on the price, with Russia insisting on a market price, close to what Russia charges its customers in Europe, $352 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas whereas China is not prepared to pay more than $235. Under a 2009 agreement Russia is to build two pipelines to China to supply a total of 68 billion cubic metres of Siberian gas a year from 2015 to 2030. Earlier this year Russia started pumping oil along a newly built pipeline to China under a contract to supply 300 million tonnes of crude through 2030. * Russia Pakistan Relations: The cooperation between Russia and Pakistan has obvious geopolitical reasons. During the recent visit of A.A. Zardari to Russia the parties stressed the crucial importance of sustaining peace and stability in Afghanistan; it was underscored that the national reconciliation in that country can be achieved only if the Afghan people play the defining role in this process. Multilateral projects of the regional development can be very useful for the settlement of conflicts within the country. (India, which remains the largest regional sponsor, has already invested more than $1.5 billion into the Afghan economy. At the same time China has provided the financial aid to Afghanistan which is twice as much as the contribution of India in the Afghan development). The visit of A.A. Zardari to Russia proved that Pakistan is intensively working of the diversification its foreign trade ties and foreign policy. In these activities Pakistan is supported by its main and all weather ally China, which pursues the soft refrain policy to downsize the US influence in Asia. Pakistan and Russia signed four Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on energy cooperation, air space, promotion of investment and cooperation in
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agriculture sectors. The MoU in energy fields would encourage development of Pakistans oil and gas fields, development of petroleum and natural gas storages in Pakistan, improvement of Pakistans natural gas infrastructure, project for using natural gas as a motor fuel. *Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries: Participants at a United Nations summit outlined a 10-year plan to support the worlds most vulnerable countries overcome poverty, calling on the private sector to play a greater role in the fight, urging wealthy nations to step up their aid commitments and demanding the elimination of many trade barriers. The Istanbul Programme of Action to spur development and economic growth was made public at the end of the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The summit focused on ways to harness the potential of the 48 countries many of them in sub-Saharan Africa classified as LDCs so that they can lift themselves out of poverty and develop economically. Under the programme of action, affluent countries have committed to realizing the target of spending 0.15 per cent to 0.20 per cent of their national incomes on official development assistance (ODA). If implemented, this would represent a significant increase on current levels of aid. The plan also calls for the abolition or reduction of arbitrary or unjustified trade barriers, and the opening up of markets in wealthier countries to products from poorer nations. *Ban Ki-moon gets second term as UN secretary general: The 192-nation UN General Assembly has voted unanimously to elect Ban Ki-moon for a second five-year term as the global body's secretary-general. The assembly unanimously backed the former 67year-old South Korean foreign minister. Ban's second term will commence from January 1, 2012. Among other agendas, the UN chief will oversee 'Rio+20' next year, which is being dubbed as the most important environmental summit in recent times. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Since mid-March Mr Assad, who likes to project himself as a reformist surrounded by a clan of conservatives, has faced the greatest crisis in his 11 years in office. Unprecedented protests calling for
change have shaken his authority, prompting him to announce a string of reforms and to scrap nearly five decades of draconian emergency rule. An ophthalmologist by profession, Mr Assad succeeded his father Hafez as president in July 2000, a month after his death. * Agreement Reached on Sudans Abyei Region: Negotiators for north and south Sudan have reached a landmark agreement on the future on the disputed oilrich region of Abyei less than three weeks before the south is to gain its independence. The accord was signed in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, following days of tough negotiations led by former South African president Thabo Mbeki. It calls for the complete demilitarization of the region and for the deployment of Ethiopian peacekeepers. The north and south negotiators also agreed to establish a council to oversee security in Abyei. The council will be comprised of two members from both sides along with a representative from the African Union. North and south Sudan fought a decades-long civil war that ended in 2005 with an agreement providing for the south to hold a referendum on self-determination. Southern voters voted overwhelmingly in January to secede. * President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh Left for Saudi Arabia Ending his 33 Year Long Rule: President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, on 5 June 2011 left for Saudi Arabia for medical treatment and thus ended his 33-year rule over the nation. On 3 June 2011 he was injured in a rocket attack by the rival group. It created a political vacuum and a hope for the pro-democracy movement to achieve its objective. But at the same time it will fuel violence in the country because it is divided into armed tribes and to unify them under one command wont be an easy task. *17-member House panel to monitor May 29 deal in Nepal: The parliament formed a 17-member committee to monitor the implementation of the fivepoint agreement signed by top leaders of three major political parties before the Constituent Assemblys term extension on May 29. The formation of the special House committee chaired by Speaker Subas Nembang comes amid stagnation in the peace process and constitution
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writing. The House committee will monitor the progress in the peace process, steps taken to develop Nepal Army as an inclusive institution as agreed with the Madhesi Morcha in the past and the attempts made by the parties to form a national unity government. The committee will make a regular assessment of the progress in peace process and hold discussions with stakeholders regarding the implementation of the May 29 agreement. It is authorised to seek explanation from government officials and give them required instructions. * Qatar Diplomat Elected UN Assembly President: The UN General Assembly elected as its next President Veteran Qatari Diplomat Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser. Nasser, who has been Qatars Ambassador to the UN since 1998, will replace Joseph Deiss of Switzerland. * Russian choppers for Afghanistan: Russia has signed a deal with the United States for the supply of 21 helicopters to Afghanistan. Russian arms export corporation Rosoboronexport signed a contract with the U.S. Army Forces Command on supplying 21 Mi-17V5 multipurpose helicopters to Afghanistan. Russia will also provide spare parts, ground support equipment and maintenance services. * G20 Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture: G20 - Agriculture ministers from G20 countries issued the Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture on June 22-23 2011 meeting, in Paris. The action plan will be submitted to G20 leaders at the next summit, in November 2011. This declaration states that food security remains a critical issue for the international community. Countries reaffirmed the right of everyone to have access to safe, sufficient and nutritious food, consistent with the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the context of national food security. In order to tackle food prices volatility, the plan stresses the need for: (i) improving agricultural production and productivity, (ii) increasing market information and transparency, (iii) strengthening international policy coordination, (iv) improving and developing risk management tools for governments, firms and farmers, and (v) improving the functioning of agricultural commodities.
* Russia, China reaffirms solidarity with Lanka: The two-veto wielding superpowers, Russia and China reiterated their goodwill and solidarity with Sri Lanka when their Heads of State met President Mahinda Rajapaksa on the sidelines of the 15th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This was the first time Sri Lanka was represented at this top international economists forum. Sri Lanka attended the meeting as an Observer. Russia and Sri Lanka have also decided to establish direct flights. Tea is Sri Lanka's largest export to the CIS countries. China will begin work on the second phase of the Hambantota Port soon. China is working on many infrastructure projects, including roads, railways and ports. China would also take up work on the nearly 130-km southern railway track from Matara to the pilgrimage town of Katargama. New York becomes the sixth and largest state in the U.S. where gay couples can wed, doubling the number of Americans living in a state with legal gay marriage. The bill makes New York only the third state, after Vermont and New Hampshire, to legalize marriage through a legislative act and without being forced to do so by a court. * Portugal agrees to EU-IMF bailout, Greece deal teeters: Portugal agreed to a three-year 78-billioneuro ($116 billion) bailout with the European Union and IMF, making it the third euro zone country in a year, after Ireland and Greece, to need financial help. Giving few details except that Portugal has more time to meet budget deficit targets than previously promised by the government, caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates warned: There are no financial assistance programmes that are not demanding. The deal is more complicated than Irelands 85 billion euro package, agreed last November, or Greeces 110 billion euro programme agreed on May 2, 2010 a deal that looks increasingly inadequate to shore up Greeces finances. Portugal for its part has high public sector debts, banking problems and structural economic shortcomings, with rigid labour markets. The deal struck with Greece exactly one year ago looked to be unravelling. Greeces finance minister said he hoped Athens might get more time to repay the bailout loans, already extended from three to seven years, at a lower rate.
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Greeces sovereign debt is set to rise to 340 billion euros, or 150% of annual output this year. *US decided to pull-out Troops from Afghanistan & hand Security over to Afghan Authorities in 2014: US President Barack Obama on 23 June 2011 set in motion a substantial withdrawal of American troops in an acknowledgment of the shifting threat in the region and the political and economic challenges in a war-weary America. He announced that the United States had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan. Obama announced plans to withdraw 10000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. The remaining 20000 troops from the 2009 surge would leave by 2012 summer, amounting to about a third of the 100000 troops in the country. The pullout will continue at a steady pace until security is handed over to Afghan authorities in 2014. The withdrawals would signal the end of the militarys counterinsurgency strategy adopted 18 months ago. Afghan president Hamid Karzai welcomed US president Barack Obamas move to withdraw 10000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011. Karzai was confident that Afghanistans Natotrained police and army could take control of the country from the forces. US president Barack Obamas 2014 deadline for withdrawal provided India sufficient leeway to continue its nation-building assistance in Afghanistan without fear of a Pakistan-backed return of the Taliban. *Thailand pulls out of World Heritage Convention: Thailand announced its departure from the World Heritage Convention with immediate effect, after the World Heritage Committee failed to heed its request seeking postponement of the Cambodia's unilaterally-proposed Preah Vihear Temple management plan, as Thailand fears that it may threaten national sovereignty. Thailand is opposed to the terms of "urgent repair and restoration" but preferred using the wording "protection and conservation" in the draft. The head of the Thai delegation also said the pullout means that any WHC resolution will not be binding to Thailand. Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear temple was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008. In April, Cambodia asked the court to clarify its 1962 ruling on the ancient Hindu temple on its disputed border with Thailand following recent deadly armed clashes between the two neighbouring countries.
The world court, based in The Hague, ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both Phnom Penh and Bangkok claim ownership of 4.6-square-kilometre (1.8-square-mile) of the surrounding area. * Egypt eases restrictions for Gaza travelers: Under Egypt's new travel guidelines, women, minors and men over 40 no longer require a visa to enter the country; meaning hundreds more passengers will be able to cross every day. Egypt under Mubarak cooperated with Israel's closure of the Gaza Strip following a violent takeover of Gaza by the militant Islamist group Hamas. The group, considered a terrorist organization by the United States and others, was also viewed as a threat by Mubarak. Egypt decided to ease restrictions after Hamas recently signed a reconciliation agreement with the rival Fatah faction that runs the West Bank. Hamas sees the interim government that replaced Mubarak as more sympathetic to the Palestinians' cause. Egypt eased travel restrictions for residents of Gaza, eroding a blockade of the Palestinian territory imposed by Israel to isolate its Islamist Hamas rulers. Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979 but whose interim military rulers want to improve relations with Palestinians, allowed Gazans to enter its territory at the Rafah crossing. The Rafah crossing, Gaza's only door to the outside world not controlled by Israel. Israel maintains a tight blockade of the Gaza Strip because Hamas refuses to recognize the Jewish state and calls for its destruction. Israel allows most commercial goods to be brought into the Gaza Strip through land border crossings but limits the import of construction material it says could be used by Hamas to produce weapons or fortifications. It lets out a small number of Gazans, mainly for medical treatment. Weapons and consumer goods have been smuggled for years through tunnels that run under the Gaza-Egypt border. Under Egypt's new travel guidelines, women, minors and men over 40 no longer require a visa to enter the country; meaning hundreds more passengers will be able to cross every day. Israel is watching events on the border with concern. Israeli officials have warned that Egypt's loosening of restrictions could open the way for terrorists and arms smugglers. The loosening of the border crossing restrictions applies only to pedestrians. Along with Israel, Egypt continues to restrict the passage of most goods and vehicles into the Gaza Strip.
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*U.S. removes India from human trafficking Watch List: After a gap of six years, the United States has taken India off the human trafficking Watch List for making significant efforts in combating the menace. In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department has upgraded India to Tier 2 countries after keeping it on a Watch List for six years. The Watch List is for those countries where the number of victims of severe forms of trafficking is very significant or is significantly increasing and there is a failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat it. Tier 2 is for those countries whose governments do not fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Acts (TVPA) but are making significant efforts in this regard. * India Russia Express Intent for CECA: Anand Sharma co chaired Inter-governmental Commission, who has led bilateral economic cooperation with the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Sergei Ivanov. With regard to business deals NMDC, the country's largest iron ore producer, and Russian steel maker OJSC Severstal took a firm view that both firms would invest a total of Rs 9,000 crore in setting up the plant near Bellary in Karnataka. It was agreed to form six working groups under India Russia Working Group on Trade and Economic Cooperation (IRWGTEC) with Government and private participation on IT, Pharma, Banking and finance modernization, precision engineering and nano technology. * Afghanistan gains duty-free market access from India: India has extended duty-free market access to Afghanistan as part of its economic package for least developed countries (LDCs). Under the scheme, the import of most products from the neighbouring country will be allowed at zero duty. India's duty-free tariff preference (DFTP) scheme, launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008, provides preferential duty access on products comprising 92.5 per cent of global LDC exports. The DFTP scheme grants duty-free access on 85 per cent of India's total tariff lines. The scheme is to be implemented over a period of five years through five equal tariff reductions of 20 per cent
each on the current applied rates to bring down the duty rate to zero. Some of the products of interest for LDCs which are covered include cotton, cocoa, aluminium ore, copper ore, cashewnut, cane sugar, readymade garments, fish fillets and non-industrial diamonds. *Krishna meets SCO leaders: S M Krishna (External Affairs Minister India) in Kazakhstans capital Astana to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)-11th Summit. During his meeting with Mr Nazarbayev, Mr Krishna reviewed the overall status of bilateral relations and expressed that both sides were looking forward to deepening further development and cooperation. They also reviewed the regional situation, including Afghanistan and Pakistan. At President Nazarbayevs request, the EAM gave his assessment of the situation and about Indias role and assistance in Afghanistan and of the ongoing dialogue with Pakistan. President Nazarbayev and Mr Krishna spoke for the need of a peaceful and stable region which is good for both the region and world beyond. They discussed SCO and welcomed the growing role and importance of this regional forum. President Nazarbayev appreciated Indias role in SCO and stated that he was supporting Indias membership. Mr Krishna also had brief meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. *Indo-Nepal election management pact: A Memorandum of Understanding for mutual cooperation in election management between India and Nepal was signed by Chief Election Commissioner of India S.Y. Quraishi and his Nepal counterpart Neel Kantha Uprety in Kathmandu. The agreement covers exchange of knowledge/experience in the electoral process, exchange of material and expertise, training of personnel, production and dissemination of materials, voting technology and conducting voters' education and awareness programmes. The ECI is already providing technical assistance to Nepal and the Indian election officers, including technical experts on the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM), have been visiting Nepal for providing assistance and demonstration since 2006. The ECI had earlier gifted 700 EVM to Nepal.
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Agustin Carstens - Governor of the Central Bank of Mexico reached India to intensify lobbying for the top post of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director, calling for an end to the European dominance in the world financial institution. Tamil Nadu Assembly on 8 June 2011 adopted a resolution unanimously which urged the Union government of India to approach the UN to declare those responsible for killing thousands of Tamils in Sri Lanka as war criminals. The resolution also demanded that India should impose economic sanctions on Sri Lanka to ensure that the Tamils living in that country should be given dignity and basic rights Canada-India Innovation Summit at Ottawa: With India and Canada negotiating a free trade agreement after signing a landmark nuclear deal in 2009, the Innovation Summit aims at creating 'winwin relationships and joint business opportunities'' between the two countries. Its major thrust was on 'identifying strategic opportunities in key sectors such as biotechnology, environment and information and communication technologies.'' The Innovation Summit is one of the many Indiacentric events taking place in Canada in June as part of the on-going celebrations of the Year of India in Canada, including the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards. Oxford-India Day (17.06.11) - Oxford links with India go back a long way in history. The first recorded Englishman to arrive in India was from Oxford (Father Thomas Stephens from New College, in 1579). His letters lay the foundation of Anglo-Indian literature. The first Indian paintings given to any Western library were given to the Bodleian Library (Mughal paintings given in 1630 by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury and St John's College graduate). The first Oxford professorship relating to India was established in 1832; Indian students first came to Oxford in 1871, when entry opened to non-clergy; and Oxford's Indian Institute was founded in 1883. Oxford University Press India is coming up for its 100th anniversary: it was founded in 1912. More recent milestones include the founding of the Asian Studies Centre at St Antony's College (1982); and the appointment of Oxford's first
Professor of Indian History and Culture (2002). In 2008, the university launched the one-year MSc in Contemporary India, the first of its kind in the world. *India amends tax treaty with Singapore: India and Singapore amended their Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) to enable more effective mutual exchange of banking and tax related information. The international standardincludes the principles incorporated in the OECD Model Article on Exchange of Information' and requires exchange of information on request in all tax matters for the administration and enforcement of domestic tax law without regard to a domestic tax interest requirement or bank secrecy for tax purposes. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, there is increased recognition on the part of governments that improvements in exchange of information in tax matters are a part of a broader agenda to improve transparency and global governance. * India, ADB sign 2 loan agreements: India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) recently signed two loan agreements aggregating to $432 million for projects in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. While a $300-million loan agreement was signed for upgrading about 1,000 km of state highways in Madhya Pradesh, the other loan agreement for $132 million related to strengthening Bihar's power sector. *India Slovenia Sign Three Agreements: India and Slovenia on 14th June signed three agreements including one on cooperation in the field of education and research. The two nations entered into an agreement on the mutual promotion and protection of investments, which was signed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Slovenian Minister of Economy Darja Radic. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the Bureau of Indian Standards and Slovenian Institute for Standardization. The MoU was signed by Bureau of Indian Standards Director General Sharad Gupta and Bogdan Topic, President, Slovenian Institute of Standardization. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India and University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia for cooperation the field of research and education. Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, Chairman, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Dr.
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Danilo Zavrtanik Rector, University of Novaorica, Nova Gorica, signed the MoU. Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said that he is looking forward to a strong political and business ties with India. *Work out Political Solution with Tamils: India to Lanka: "The quicker the Sri Lankan government can come to a political arrangement (with Tamils) the better," National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said after his talks with President Rajapaksa along with Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar. The controversial 1987 amendment was a result of the Indo-Lanka peace accord which sought, but failed to end Tamil separatism in the island. Sri Lanka has agreed to devolve power to the minority Tamils according to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution made under the Indo- Lanka Accord of July 1987. The Amendment envisages province as the unit of power and devolution of powers between the center and the provinces as a solution to the ethnic conflict. Sri Lanka has said that it would implement a devolution plan for Tamil areas extending beyond the 13th Amendment. The visit took place against the backdrop of the Tamil Nadu Assembly passing a resolution demanding imposition of economic sanctions against Colombo. India had called for "genuine reconciliation" and urged Sri Lanka to investigate alleged human rights abuses, a demand made by the West as well as the United nations. *U.K. Queen's birthday honours list: Nirmala Rao, Professor of Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE). Namita Panjabi, who runs a chain of popular Indian restaurants, also gets an OBE for her services to the hospitality industry. Artist twins Amrit Kumari Dhigpal Kaur Singh and Rabindra Kumari Dhigpal Kaur Singh have been honoured for their contribution to Indian miniature tradition of paintings. Others, honoured in various categories include social activists, public servants, educationists, entrepreneurs, community workers and inter-faith campaigners. Their names are: Mayur Parsuram Patel, Sunirmal (Biku) Ghosh; Kanwaljit Kaur; Rajinder Kaur
Mann; Mayank Bachubhai Patel; Gurcharan Singh Dhesi; Devinder Kalhan;Kamaljit Kaur; Jyotsna Arun Kotnis;Parvinder Singh Lalli; Bipinchandra Dharamshi Patel; Saroj Bala Seth; and Marcus Jayant Solanki. *DCNS eyes Indian market for Gowind: With India seeking to increase its fleet of ships for maritime security, French naval defence major DCNS made moves to expand its presence in the country to take the relationship beyond building the Scorpene submarines for the Navy. The DCNS, which christened its self-funded Gowind Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) L'Adroit' at a ceremony in the Western French town shipyard LORIENT (France), hoped the vessel would get a look-in by the Indian Coast Guard as would its Mistral class Landing Helicopter Dock by the Navy. The French Navy will induct the Gowind OPV towards the end of the year, initially for surveillance mission closer to its coast before enlarging its role, its Navy Chief Admiral PierreFrancois Forissier told a group of visiting international correspondents. *India and Japan Signed Agreement for Six Development Projects: On 16 June 2011 India and Japan signed an agreement for six development projects. As soft loan, Japan promised to provide 7361 crore rupees under this agreement. The agreement was signed by Indias Ambassador in Tokyo, Alok Prasad and President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ms. Sadako Ogata in Tokyo. The agreement was meant to support Indias quest for energy and its efforts to improve infrastructure necessary for rapid growth in economy. The Indian external affairs ministry assured that this agreement is going to help accelerate spread of new and renewable energy and energy conservation projects using Japanese experience. The six projects for which the loan will be used are Rural High Voltage Distribution System. Transmission System Modernization. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Energy saving Project (Phase II). New and Renewable Energy Development Project Metro Rail Project in Bangalore. Forestry and Bio-Diversity Project (Phase II) in Rajasthan. What is SOFT LOAN? Soft Loan is a financing that offers flexible or
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lenient terms for repayment, usually at lower than market interest rates. Soft loan is provided customarily by government agencies and not by financial institutions. It is also called a concessional funding. *India averse to inking 3 military pacts with U.S.: The Obama administration was extremely upset after Boeing and Lockheed Martin were knocked out of the race for combat aircraft. The issue figured in the May 9 conversation between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the U.S. President Barack Obama after the U.S. Embassy contended that the evaluation was not transparent. The final report listed some qualitative requirements that the U.S. companies could not meet. But these deficiencies were not mentioned in the initial report, claimed the U.S. However, India has been unwavering in backing the evaluation of some 600 qualitative requirements of the six fighters in contention. While the U.S. was denied a strategic foothold in the IAF's offensive capabilities segment, it could face continued stonewalling with respect to three military pacts Logistics Sharing Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA). *India, Russia ink pact to boost apparel, textile industries: A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by the Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC) and Russian Union of Entrepreneurs of Textiles and Light Industry. The MoU also stipulates the promotion of textile trade, participation in fairs and exhibitions, transfer of technology and exchange of know-how in textile manufacturing and processing. * Spectrum interference by Pak affects 3G services: After cross-border terrorism, India now plans to take up another form of incursion with Pakistan that of cross-border spectrum interference. This comes after telecom companies complained to the Department of Telecom that consumers in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir were facing severe disruption while using third generation (3G) mobile services.
The disruption is on account of Pakistani operators offering limited mobility services in border areas using the same radio frequencies allocated to Indian telecom companies for 3G services. Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Aircel have officially complained to the DoT that they are facing severe interference in 3G services. The DoT will now urge the Ministry of External Affairs to take up the issue with its Pakistani counterpart. Wireless Monitoring Organisation carried out a detailed monitoring in the affected areas and confirmed the presence of interference and also located the source of interference emanating from Pakistani territory. Monitoring reports confirmed presence of down-link Wireless in Local Loop signals in Indian 3G up-link band. It is proposed to take up the matter with the MEA to sort out the issue on priority. The DoT had allocated 1959-1979 Mhz frequency band for 3G services whereas Pakistani operators use 1960-1980 Mhz for WLL services. Although spectrum allocation is specific to each country, sometimes interference can be caused due to proximity. At a global level, spectrum usage is determined by the International Telecommunication Union a UN body. If the issue was not resolved bilaterally then India has the option to involve ITU. * India pledges $10 mn for South Sudan development: India has pledged a grant of 10 million dollars towards socio-economic development of South Sudan.
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Science, Technology, Environment *Rare Venus occultation: A rare sight on June 30, 2011 when the thin crescent moon came directly between Earth and Venus and the planet was right behind the moon. The event was seen first in Kandla, Gujarat, at about 1:03 PM. The longest duration of Venus occultation was at Japal Rangapore, Andhra Pradesh. The spectacle can be seen only if there is a clear sky. An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. Across the globe, this lunar occultation of Venus is visible in Africa, Middle East and Asia. In western Africa, it can be observed before sunrise while the other countries will witness it during the day time. The first location where the Moon eclipses Venus was Tripoli, Libya. The last Venus occultations seen from India were on Jun 18, 2007, and May 16, 2010 (daytime). The next occultation is on Feb 26, 2014. * Chile volcano ash causes renewed air chaos in Australia: Australia's two major airports are facing up to 48 hours of disruption as the ash cloud from a Chilean volcano drifts across the south of the country. The ash cloud from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano is circling the Earth for a second time. *India witnesses century's longest and darkest lunar eclipse: The moons bright white glow turned crimson brick red when it delved into the dark centre of the earths shadow during the centurys longest and darkest lunar eclipse on June 15 night. The full moon appeared much dimmer than usual, but sunlight passing through the earths atmosphere gave the lunar surface a deep reddish hue. The total phase lasted 100 minutes. The last eclipse to exceed this duration was in July 2000. The next such eclipse will only take place in 2141. *World's Most Powerful Supercomputer is Japan's 'K': The 2011 International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg recently witnessed a new king of supercomputers take the crown as the worlds most powerful. Fujitsus supercomputer, named simply K, took the top title, blowing away the second place Tianhe computer from China that was the previous champ.
The Japanese computers name comes from the word Kei, (10 peta or 10^16) which is a reference to the intended goal of 10 petaflops. And besides being the most powerful of all computers on the list, it is reportedly also one of the most energy efficient. K proved capable of doing 8.2 quadrillion calculations per second (8.2 petaflops). *Worlds first dog with 4 bionic legs: The first dog in the world to be fitted with four set of bionic legs is NAKIO. * Carbon credits: Himachal inks pact with World Bank: The Himachal Pradesh government recently inked a green pact with the World Bank to allow the hill state to secure carbon credits through carbon sequestration under the Clean Development Mechanism. Carbon credits provide a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by giving them a monetary value. A credit gives the owner the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide. Credits can be exchanged between businesses or bought and sold in the international market at current market prices. Under the Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement, the World Bank would buy 3.5 lakh temporary certified emission reductions (tCERs) for plantations raised over 4,000 hectares. With the signing of the agreement, the process of physical verification of the plantations to ascertain the growth of biomass will be started and the exact rate for the purchase of carbon credits will be fixed on its basis. While the exact rate of purchase of carbon credits will determined on the growth of biomass, the normal range is between $4.5 and $5 per tCER and accordingly the locals covered under the project will receive at least Rs.2,000 per hectare annually as per conservative estimates. Himachal Pradesh has 14,752 sq km forest area out of which 1,097 sq km is very dense forest. *Scientists Developed New Male Infertility Test Called Spermocomet: The Spermocomet provides unique information that no other test offers. It can predict the success of infertility treatments by measuring damaged DNA in individual sperm. This will result into reduced waiting times and improved chances of conception. The Sperm Comet test is so called because it appears like a comet in the sky.
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*Elephant-8 Ministerial Meet: (Botswana, Congo, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand). Eight countries with the largest number of elephants met for the first in May 2011 in New Delhi to plot new strategies to protect the animal. India is home to an estimated 25,000 Asian elephants but their numbers are falling due to poaching and habitat destruction. Delegates at "Elephant 8 Ministerial Meet" underscored threats to elephant habitats from mining, deforestation and land development. *India for accord on listing asbestos under Rotterdam Convention: Canada is stalling the listing of chrysotile asbestos (white asbestos) at the Conference of Parties to the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent, meeting in Geneva. India changed its stand and supported the listing. Canada, which exports large quantities of white asbestos to developing countries, including India, said it would not join a consensus. India agreed to chair a small breakout group to continue discussions with opponents to listing about their specific concerns. Rotterdam PIC Convention The Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedures for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade was adopted at the Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on September 10, 1998. It facilitates the exchange of information to protect human health and the environment from potential harm caused by hazardous chemicals and pesticides and prescribes processes concerning their import or export. *Package for developing nations in top-level domain expansion: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the international body that oversees the use and deployment of internet address resources, decided to expand the scope of the generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) regime at its recent meeting in Singapore. The Internet address system, now restricted to 22 gTLDs, will witness the expansion from 2012 when the new programme gets going. * '32% of land affected by degradation in India': An estimated 32 per cent of India's total land area is affected by land degradation, most of which is undergoing desertification, which has severe implications for livelihood and food security, an Environment Ministry report said.
About 69 per cent of the country is dry land, arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid-- and "degradation has severe implications for livelihood and food security" for millions of people living in these heavily populated areas, said India's 4th National Report to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 2010. The UNCCD is a convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programmes. "81.45 million hectares, or 24.8 per cent of the country's geographic area is undergoing desertification," said the report, which provides a holistic overview capturing comprehensively India's policies and programme related to desertification, land degradation and drought. The report said water and soil erosion are major causes of land degradation and water erosion is most prominent in agricultural regions. "The key anthropogenic factors resulting in degradation are unsustainable agricultural practices, diversion of land to development programmes, industrial effluents, mining and deforestation," it said. The report said unsustainable resource management practices drive desertification, and accentuate the poverty of people affected by desertification. "Land rehabilitation has been a major priority since Independence, and several policies and government agencies address desertification and degradation," it said. Assignment question Poverty and environmental degradation are major problems in dry lands. Suggest few measures to combat this. *Unexpected Function of Dyslexia-Linked Gene: Controlling Cilia of Cells: Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have discovered that a gene linked to dyslexia has a surprising biological function: it controls cilia, the antenna-like projections that cells use to communicate. This present study shows that one of these genes, DCDC2, is involved in regulating the signalling of cilia in brain neurons. Cilia are hair-like structures that project from the surface of most cells. Their purpose has long remained something of a mystery, but recent research has revealed that the cells use them to communicate and that they play a crucial part in the development of the body's organs.
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*Indias advanced satellite placed in geosynchronous orbit: India recently successfully placed its advanced communication satellite GSAT-8 in the geosynchronous orbit, about 36,000 km above the Earth. The Rs.260-crore GSAT-8 was launched on board Ariane-V rocket of Arianespace May 21 from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana off the South American coast. Weighing 1,426 kg (dry mass) in space, the cuboid shaped spacecraft has 24 high-power Ku-band transponders as its payload for direct-to-home (DTH) services from July 1 by state-run and private broadcasters after its induction into the Indian satellite (INSAT) system. *Ramesh launches green tech for leather units: To protect the Ganga from pollution, Union minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh launched a green technology -- saltless preservation of hides by lyophilization method -- at Common Effluent Treatment Plant in Jajmau in Kanpur. Kanpur is the first city in the world to use this technology that prevents water released by leather processing units from contaminating the river. Lyophilisation is an advanced technique patented by the environment ministry's Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for preservation of biodegradable material without salt. It is based on sublimation, whereby, water content in the hide is sublimated to water vapour under vaccum condition to make it stable and easier to store at room temperature. Lyophilization is a process which extracts the water from foods and other products so that the foods or products remain stable and are easier to store at room temperature (ambiant air temperature). Sublimation is the transition of a substance from the solid to the vapour state, without first passing through an intermediate liquid phase. To extract water from foods, the process of lyophilization consists of: Freezing the food so that the water in the food become ice; Under a vacuum, sublimating the ice directly into water vapour; Drawing off the water vapour; Once the ice is sublimated, the foods are freezedried and can be removed from the machine. Advantages of Lyophilization Lyophilization maintains food quality because the food remains at a temperature that is below the freezing-point during the process of sublimation; The use of lyophilization is particularly important when processing lactic bacteria, because these
products are easily affected by heat. Foods which are lyophilized can usually be stored without refrigeration, which results in a significant reduction of storage and transportation costs. Lyophilization greatly reduces weight, and this makes the products easier to transport. For example, many foods contain as much as 90% water. These foods are 10 times lighter after lyophilization. Because they are porous, most freeze-dried foods can be easily rehydrated. Lyophilization does not significantly reduce volume; therefore water quickly regains its place in the molecular structure of the food. *India likely to offer gamma-ray telescope site in Leh [Himalayan gamma-ray Observatory (HiGRO)]: India plans to offer an astronomical site at Hanle, in Leh, for an international collaboration which is exploring the possibility of setting up two large gamma-ray telescope arrays in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), along with the Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and several other national institutions, is setting up a telescope with a 21-metre diameter collector, which will collect the gamma rays in the space. The analysis of the rays will help astrophysicists in better understanding of different types of matter in the universe. Known as the Major Atmospheric Cerenkov Experiment (MACE) facility, the observatory here will be the only such one in the eastern hemisphere, and at an altitude of 4,300 metres above the mean sea level. Hanle is considered one of the most suitable sites for such astronomical researches due to its location high altitude and dry weather. It has an annual precipitation of less than 7 cm and thus offers a large window for observations. On an average, observations can be made for 260 days a year. The facility is next to the IIA's Himalayan Chandra Telescope (HCT), which was set up about a decade ago. The HCT became functional in 2001 and is operated from Bangalore through a satellite-based communication link. This telescope has already helped in discovering three galaxies with super-massive black-holes, and nature of several supernovae, and several new variable stars in our galaxy, among other things.
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The effort to establish the MACE facility is being led by the BARC, in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. It is estimated to cost about Rs. 40 crore and is expected to be ready by December 2012. The technical feasibility of the high altitude for atmospheric Cerenkov detectors was proved by the IIA and the TIFR by setting up a smaller facility, High Altitude Gamma Ray (HAGAR) experiment in 2008. The Los Alamos site was the birthplace of the atomic bomb in the 1940s and still maintains Americas biggest nuclear arsenal. The vast nuclear complex at Los Alamos, New Mexico is under siege from a blaze which reached to within two miles of where 30,000 drums of Cold War-era plutonium-contaminated waste are sitting in the open. New Zealand inventor Glenn Martin aims to have his jetski for the skies on the market within 18 months. After 30 years of painstaking development, Mr. Martin's jetpack last month soared 1,500 metres above the South Island's Canterbury Plains as its creator watched anxiously from a helicopter hovering nearby. The United Nations on 21 June 2011 launched a drive, Sustainable sanitation: The Five-YearDrive to 2015 to accelerate progress towards the goal of halving the proportion of the population without access to basic sanitation by 2015. The drive launched on 21 June was established by the General Assembly in a resolution adopted in December 2010 that called on Member States to redouble efforts to close the sanitation gap, one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015. The UN had recognized access to sanitation as a human right, a basic service required to live a normal life. However despite the recognition, some 2.6 billion people or half the population in the developing world still lack access to improved sanitation. Sanitation is an unpopular subject though it is an extremely sensitive issue. The UN resolution of December 2010 had called for an end to open defecation, the most dangerous sanitation practice for public health and one practiced by over 1.1 billion people who have no access to facilities. Ending open defecation will require strong political commitment, a focused policy framework and reliable supply chains for both building and maintaining affordable latrines.
The UN pointed out that child under five are the most vulnerable to poor hygiene and inadequate sanitation, two of the major causes of diarrhoea. According to the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the disease kills at least 1.2 million children under five each year. Cases of diarrhoea in children under five can be reduced by a third simply by expanding the access of communities to sanitation. The Prince of Orange, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, is Chairperson of the UN SecretaryGenerals Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. The Scientists discovered a werewolf gene which is behind the Werewolf Syndrome. The Werewolf syndrome is also known as hyper-trichosis, where thick hair covers the face and upper body. Asteroid 2011 MD, a body between 8m to 18 meters, will pass by us at a short distance of 0.05 Lunar Distances (LD) on the 27 th June . Due to its small size it wont be visible to the naked eye. Asteroids are a class of small solar system bodies in the orbit around the sun. The larger asteroids have also been called planetoids. The asteroid 2011 MD was recently discovered by the LINEAR Near-Earth Object Discovery Team scanning the sky from Socorro, New Mexico. The asteroid orbits the Earth in 396 days. It will come close to the Earth next on May 10, 2023. SAGA-220 (Supercomputer for Aerospace with GPU Architecture-220 TeraFLOPS) - Indian Space Research Organisation has built a supercomputer, which is to be Indias fastest in terms of theoretical peak performance of 220 TeraFLOPS (220 Trillion Floating Point Operations per second). The supercomputer SAGA-220, built by the Satish Dhawan Supercomputing Facility is located at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram. The new Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) based supercomputer, SAGA-220 is being used by space scientists for solving complex aerospace problems. SAGA-220 is fully designed and built by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre using commercially available hardware, open source software components and in house developments. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) / Booby Traps: An IED can be almost anything with any type of material and initiator. It is a homemade device that is designed to cause death or injury by using explosives alone or in combination with toxic chemicals, biological toxins, or radiological material. About 400,000 million insect samples are on display in Asias largest insect museum opened
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in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan. Chilean Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano in Lake Correntoso recently erupted. Nafion is a polymer that efficiently conducts ions (a polymer electrolyte) and water through its nanostructure, making it important for many energy-related industrial applications, including in fuel cells, organic batteries, and reverse-osmosis water purification. UNESCO removed the in-danger tag from the Manas National Park, a World Heritage Site in Assam. The tag suffixed to the national park was removed at the 35th session of Unescos World Heritage Committee in Paris that started on 20 June 2011. The in-danger tag was attached to Manas National Park in 1992 it was ravaged due to insurgency and political unrest. The tag was removed after all the countries of the 22-member committee unanimously voted in favour of Manas. The removal of the tag was a huge achievement and recognised the hard work put in by the government and the people, to restore the lost glory of Manas. Manas National Park is a biodiversity hotspot in Northeast India. Manas has a number of additional epithets, including a national park, a tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 1985. Microsoft recently showcased the next major release of its superior version of operating system for smartphones code named Mango. On Mango, customers will be able to enjoy following features: Threads: Switch between text, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation. Groups: Group contacts into personalized live tiles to see the latest status updates right from the start screen and quickly send a text, email to the whole group. Deeper social network integration: Twitter and LinkedIn feeds are now integrated into contact cards, and Mango includes built-in Facebook check-ins and new face detection software that makes it easier to quickly tag photos and post to the web. Hands-free messaging: Built-in voice-to-text and text-to-voice support enables hands-free texting or chatting. Microsoft recently announced partnership with Nokia and said that Mango will further expand and strengthen the windows phone ecosystem through new partnerships with Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE Corp., which announced plans to deliver new Windows Phone devices in markets around the world.
*Super sand to purify drinking water: Scientists have developed a way to chemically transform ordinary sand into so-called super sand' for improved purification of drinking water. Ordinary sand, an abundant natural resource of the earth, is a preferred filter material used throughout the world to purify drinking water from municipal water supplies to small domestic water filters, particularly as packed bed filters. The new method transforms the regular sand into a super sand' with five times the filtering capacity, according to a report in the journal Applied Materials and Interfaces published by the American Chemical Society (ACS). Majumder and colleagues started off with a nanomaterial called graphite oxide and chemically modified its surface to enable its use as a novel material for low-cost water purification processes. They used a simple method to coat sand grains with surface modified graphite oxide, creating super sand that successfully removed mercury and a dye molecule. * First national inventory of wetlands: A detailed national inventory of wetlands has been prepared on the basis of satellite imagery by ISRO, highlighting the areas of critical ecological significance and those which are facing extreme threat due to developmental activities. This is for the first time in India that Space Application Centre (SAC), a part of ISRO, has prepared such an inventory and atlas of all the wetlands that are existing in the country. As per the findings of SAC study, excluding rivers, wetlands cover some 10 million hectares, or a little over three per cent of the countrys geographical area. Of this 10 million hectares, reservoirs account for about 2.5 million hectares, inter-tidal mud flats 2.4 million hectares, tanks 1.3 million hectares, lakes/ponds 0.7 million hectares, mangroves for some 0.47 million hectares and corals for about 0.14 million hectares. The main objective of the project is wetland mapping and inventory at 1:50,000 scale resolution by the analysis of digital satellite data of post and pre-monsoon seasons, creation of digital database in GIS environment and preparation of state-wise wetland atlases. State-wise distribution of wetlands showed that Lakshadweep has 96.12 per cent of geographic area under wetlands followed by Andaman and
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Nicobar Islands (18.52 per cent), Daman and Diu (18.46 per cent) and Gujarat (17.56 per cent). Puducherry (12.88 per cent), West Bengal (12.48 per cent), Assam (9.74 per cent) are wetland rich states. In states like Mizoram, Haryana, Delhi Sikkim, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the extent of wetland is less than 1.5 per cent. The inventory said India has a long coastline and large area under coastal wetlands like inter-tidal, mudflat, lagoon and creek. The inventory has also mapped high altitude lakes lying above 3,000 metre elevation. The Himalayas covers almost 18 per cent of Indias land surface and is spread over six states, which have 4703 lakes above 3,000 meter elevation. This includes 1996 small lakes. The total area of these lakes is 1.26 lakh hectares. *Sign MoU to protect dugongs, India urges neighbours: Country's endangered 'mermaids', zoologically called Sirenoid or Dugong dugong (commonly known as sea cow) habitat is gradually under threat due to pollution and destruction of coral reefs. India is strongly encouraging its neighbours in South Asia to sign the Dugong United Nations Environment Programme/Convention of Mirgatory Species (UNEP/CMS) MoU as early as possible. The first South Asian Dugong Conservation workshop, which was held at Tuticorin as the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere (GoMB) has the largest population of dugongs in the country, has asked Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to sign the MoU at the earliest. According to Convention of Migratory Species, the dugong is a sea-grass dependent marine mammal of tropical and subtropical coastal waters, with high genetic biodiversity value. * Shuttle Endeavour leaves space station forever: Endeavour and its crew of six departed the International Space Station and headed home to wrap up NASAs next-to-last shuttle flight. *Scientists develop first ever drug to treat 'Celtic gene' in cystic fibrosis sufferers: An international research team led by Queen's University have developed a ground breaking treatment for Cystic Fibrosis sufferers. The new drug will benefit sufferers who have the 'Celtic Gene', a genetic mutation which is particularly common in Ireland. The drug (VX-770) is a significant breakthrough not only for those with the 'Celtic Gene', known
as G551D, but also for all other Cystic Fibrosis sufferers as it indicates that the basic defect in Cystic Fibrosis can be treated. This is the first drug aimed at the basic defect in Cystic Fibrosis to show an effect. It is still too early to determine whether this treatment will improve life expectancy but the improvements in the breathing tests and the reduction in flare-ups would suggest survival will be better. This is the first drug to show that treating the underlying cause of Cystic Fibrosis may have profound effects on the disease, even among people who have been living with it for decades. The remarkable reductions in sweat chloride observed in this study support the idea that VX770 improves protein function thereby addressing the fundamental defect that leads to CF. VX-770 will open the defective channel in the lung cells of people with Cystic Fibrosis and allow proper lung clearance of bacteria. This is a ground breaking treatment because it treats the basic defect caused by the gene mutation in patients. What is Cystic Fibrosis? Chronic, progressive and life limiting autosomal recessive genetic disease characterized by chronic respiratory disease, pancreatic insufficiency, elevation of sweat electrolytes and male infertility. *Wild Unicorn, the Oryx Saved from Extinction: A wild unicorn, the Arabian Oryx, whose distinctive horns are widely believed to have influence the legend of the unicorn, has been brought back from the brink of extinction in the deserts of the Arabian peninsula. Around 1,000 of the wild Arabian Oryx are now back in their natural habitats, thanks to around 30 years of successful breeding, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said. The Arabian Oryx is known locally as Al Maha and is prominently featured in Arabic poetry and paintings. Its long, narrow horns can appear as one when viewed in profile and may have provided the source of the unicorn legend. It can smell water from miles away and lives in small herds of eight to 10 animals. The creature has been updated to "vulnerable" on the union's "Red List" of endangered plants and animals, the best improvement for an animal once thought to be extinct in the wild. *India develops technology to fight aliens in the sea: India has developed an eco-friendly technology
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to treat sea water brought in by cargo ships into our domain, bringing along with it alien organisms and may be even radioactive elements that harm the marine ecosystem or can have even bigger consequences. Ballast water, as the sea water brought in by the ships is called, is sea water admitted into tanks at the bottom of the ship to stabilise it for the high seas. Some of the organisms that the ballast water imported by the ships may bring along are black striped mussels and harmful algae which can lead to uncontrolled growth of organisms alien to the local ecology. This can wipe out local fisheries and harm the maritime ecology by fighting with the native organisms and creating an imbalance in the ecosystem. *NASAs Aquarius mission launched to study Earths oceans salinity: The Aquarius mission is one of two new Earth System Science Pathfinder smallsatellite program missions confirmed by NASA in 2005. Each mission performs a first-of-a-kind exploratory measurement that will help answer fundamental questions about how our planet works and how it may change in the future. It is the first satellite mission specifically designed to provide monthly global measurements of how sea water salinity varies at the ocean surface, which is a key to studying the links between ocean circulation and global water cycles. Variations in ocean surface salinity are a key area of scientific uncertainty. Salinity variations modify the interaction between ocean circulation and the global water cycle, which in turn affects the oceans capacity to store and transport heat and regulate Earth's climate. The Aquarius Mission seeks to determine how the ocean responds to the combined effects of evaporation, precipitation, ice melt and river runoff on seasonal and inter-annual time scales, and their impact on the global distribution and availability of fresh water. Sea surface salinity, along with sea surface temperature, determines the sea surface density. This controls the formation of water masses in the ocean and regulates the 3-dimensional ocean circulation. *China launches high-speed train in Brazil: A China-made high-speed train has been launched for the first time in Brazil, and would be fully operational
during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. *ADB pledges Rs 1,799m grant to Nepal: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a grant assistance of US$ 25.1 million (around Rs 1,799.67 million) to Nepal government for the implementation of High Mountain Agri-business and Livelihood Improvement (HIMALI) Project as well as Capital Market and Infrastructure Capacity Support Project. The ADB will provide Rs 1,441.17 million to the HIMALI project which consists of the three componentsMountain agri-business development, value chain capacity development and project management activities. Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Dolakha, Rasuwa, Manang, Mustang, Humla, Dolpa, Jumla and Mugu district are the project areas. Under another agreement, the ADB will provide around Rs 358.5 million for the Capital Market and Infrastructure Capacity Support Project. The main aim of the project is to facilitate greater private sector participation *Two new elements added to Periodic table: The two elements are yet to be named but they have been given placeholder names. The first element is referred to as element 114 with the other element named as Element 116. Scientists call element 114 ununquadium and element 116 is called ununhexium. Substantive names are expected to be given to the elements once scientists have been able to come up with some. The periodic table has 94 naturally-occurring elements with all the rest being manufactured in the lab. * Mobile phone user cancer caution: MOBILE phone users may be at increased risk from brain cancer and should use texting and hands-free devices to reduce the threat, the World Health Organisation's cancer experts warned recently. The International Agency for Research on Cancer announced that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields generated by mobiles are "possibly carcinogenic to humans". *Toxic strontium found in Fukushima groundwater: Radioactive contamination from the stricken nuclear power facility Fukushima has worsened, with probes of groundwater turning up
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traces of strontium that were 240 times above the allowable maximum limit. Strontium (Sr) Atomic No: 38 in Periodic Table Sr is an Alakaline Earth Metal, soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. It turns yellow when exposed to air. Strontium-90 (90Sr) isotope is present in radioactive fallout and has a half-life of 28.90 years. * India hosts 2011 World Environment Day: India will host this year's World Environment Day tomorrow and the government has announced that the country will continue to play a very important role in defining the terms of environmental debate at the global level. Each year a different country is chosen as the principal venue for the global celebration of World Environment Day which falls on June 5 and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has selected India as the global host of this year's programme. The theme of this years celebration is "Forests: Nature at Your Service", which highlights the crucial environmental and economic roles played by the forests, particularly in India. According to the UNEP, India has successfully introduced projects that track the health of nation's plants, animals, water and other natural resources including the Sundarbans-- the largest deltaic mangrove forest in the world, and home to one of India's most iconic wildlife species: the tiger. *'High accuracy' Prithvi-II missile successfully test-fired: Nuclear weapons-capable, surface-tosurface Prithvi-II missile was successfully flighttested for its full range of 350 km by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) personnel. Prithvi-II - the first indigenously built surfaceto-surface strategic missile. The single-stage, liquid-fuelled Prithvi-II that is capable of carrying payloads ranging from 5001,000 kg had been inducted into the armed forces. It is equipped with a high accuracy inertial navigation system with sophisticated on-board control and guidance. It could be launched from anywhere with its mobile launcher having userdriven features. In December last, two Prithvi-II missiles were successfully test-fired for different ranges within a span of one hour.
'Prithvi', the first ballistic missile developed under the country's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), is propelled by liquid propulsion twin engine. With a length of nine meter and one meter diameter, Prithvi-II uses an advanced inertial navigation system with manoeuvring trajectory. * ITU (International Telecom Union) in its document Core ICT Indicators 2010 released in January 2010 has defined broadband as follows: Fixed broadband refers to technologies at speeds of at least 256kbits, in one or both directions, such as DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), cable modem, high speed leased lines, fibre-to the -home, power line, satellite, fixed wireless, Wireless Local Area Network and WiMAX. Mobile broadband refers to technologies at speeds of at least 256 k bits, in one or both directions, such as Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) in Europe; High-speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), complemented by High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA); CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO and CDMA 2000 1xEVDV. Access can be via any device (handheld computer laptop or mobile cellular telephone etc.). Broadband connection may be defined as A data connection using any technology that is able to support interactive services including Internet access and support a minimum download speed of 512 Kilo bits per second (Kbps).
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ECONOMIC NEWS
*FDI in LLPs may ring cash registers of financial services: A Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) firm is a hybrid of a partnership firm and a corporate body. Recently, the government had opened the doors for FDI in LLP firms, on certain conditions. The LLP Act was enacted in 2008 and notified in April 2009. Since then, 4,900 LLPs have come into existence. But regulatory hurdles make it difficult to successfully convert a partnership business entity into an LLP. The LLP route will remain close to the foreign institutional investors (Flls) and foreign venture capital investors (FVCIs). They will also not be permitted to avail External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs). *25 paise coin to become history in India: The Government of India has decided to withdraw the small coins from circulation by June 30 and planned to fix 50 paise at the base for any transactions valued at a fraction of a rupee. As per the plan, the banks in the country have been directed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the apex bank, to make arrangements for the exchange of coins of denominations of 25 paise and below at their branches. India won its independence on 15 th August, 1947. During the period of transition India retained the monetary system and the currency and coinage of the earlier period. While Pakistan introduced a new series of coins in 1948 and notes in 1949, India brought out its distinctive coins on 15 th August, 1950. The Frozen Series 1947-1950: This represented the currency arrangements during the transition period upto the establishment of the Indian Republic. The Monetary System remained unchanged at One Rupee consisting of 192 pies.. 1 Rupee = 16 Annas 1 Anna = 4 Pice 1 Pice = 3 Pies The Anna Series : This series was introduced on 15th August, 1950 and represented the first coinage of Republic India. The King's Portrait was replaced by the Lion Capital of the Ashoka Pillar. A corn sheaf replaced the Tiger on the one Rupee coin. In some ways this symbolised a shift in focus to progress and prosperity. Indian motifs were incorporated on other coins. The monetary system was largely retained unchanged with one Rupee consisting of 16 Annas. The first series of 25 naye paise coins (19571968): After the conversion to the decimal coinage from the Anna denominations, with necessary amendments to
the Indian Coinage Act in 1957 the 25 naye paise (new coins under the decimal coinage) denomination coins were introduced in 1957. These coins were issued till 1968. The composition of these coins was pure nickel. The second series of 25 paise coins (1972- 1990): In 1972, these coins were reissued, but the words naye paise were dropped, as the new decimal coinage had stabilized in the country. These coins looked very much like the coins issued in the earlier series, except that, their composition was cupro-nickel. The third series of 25 paise coins (1988-2002): Production for the second series of 25 paise coins continued till 1990, however, a new series of 25 paise coins was introduced in 1988, the composition of which was Ferratic Stainless Steel (FSS). * Area under major kharif crops rice, cotton down: Area under major kharif crops like rice, oilseeds, cotton and pulses have declined in the current kharif season so far, according to the government data. However, crop area under sugarcane and jute/mesta has risen in the same period. Area under rice, a major kharif crop, has gone down by almost 8 per cent to 19.09 lakh hectares in 2011-12 kharif season so far compared to 20.72 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Less area is reported mainly in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa, according to the data. However, in sugarcane -- another major kharif crop -- sowing area has increased by about five per cent to 50.94 lakh hectares in the current season as against 48.71 lakh hectares in the same period of the previous year. In sugarcane, higher area was reported from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and less area was reported in Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. Sowing area under pulses have registered a fall of about 8 per cent to 3.77 lakh hectares in 2011-12 kharif season compared to 4.09 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. Similarly, area under oilseeds cultivation has declined by 36 per cent to 7.43 lakh hectares so far in the current season against 11.69 hectares in the same period last year. Likewise, cotton sowing area has been down by almost five per cent to 26.22 lakh hectares as against 27.53 lakh hectres in the period under review.
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*Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by Indian Firms jumped to $43.9 billion in FY 2010-11: According to data released for the first time by the Reserve Bank of India in June 2011, foreign direct investment (FDI) by Indian firms jumped more than two-folds in financial year 2010-11 to $43.9 billion from about $18 billion in 2009-10. FDI by Indian corporates was $5.1 billion in the first two months of the current financial year 2011-12 beginning April. Indian overseas investment policies were liberalised over the years to promote exports and strengthen economic linkages with other countries. Outward FDI comprises investments in equity, loans and guarantees issued by Indian firms to their joint ventures or wholly owned subsidiaries (WoS). The biggest outward investment from India during May 2011 was by Gammon India Ltd, which pumped over $ 1.83 billion into its Panamabased joint venture, Campo Puma Orient SA. The Panamanian JV is engaged in the fields of agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing. The investment was in lieu of both equity, as well as a loan to the subsidiary. In the same month Tata Steel invested $514.57 million in its Singaporebased subsidiary Tata Steel Asia Holdings PTE. Tata Motors also invested in its joint venture company in Thailand and a WoS in the United Kingdom. Religare Enterprises invested $166 million in its wholly owned American subsidiary, Religare Global Asset Management Inc. In the post 2003 period, the overseas investment policy enabled corporate entities and registered partnerships to invest in bonafide businesses abroad, currently to the extent of 400 per cent of their net worth, under the automatic route. India has been facing a fall in foreign institutional investment due to global risk aversion. The foreign funds have been selling nearly $213 million of local shares in June 2011 after offloading $1.16 billion in May. However, FDI flows into India bounced back in April 2011 on an investment surge in services, construction and auto sectors, reversing a steep drop recorded in the previous financial year. * Manufacturing Policy Gets PM Nod: The Indian Government has approved in principle a draft National Manufacturing Policy to significantly increase the share of manufacturing in GDP and generate substantial employment while reducing the compliance burden on industry. The objective of the policy is to raise the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent by 2025 from the present 16 per cent, and also to generate 100 million additional jobs in that sector.
The creation of National Manufacturing and Investment Zones (NIMZs), as mega investment regions, equipped with world-class infrastructure, has been proposed as a major policy instrument. The draft policy proposes institution of a review mechanism and a high-level committee chaired by Secretary Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) to regularly monitor policy implementation. The policy also lays emphasis on creating a Manufacturing Industry Promotion Board to ensure coordination between Central and State Governments. Besides, it encourages access by Indian companies to foreign know-how and develops indigenous technology through fiscal incentives and subsidies. State Bank of India Chairman - Pratip Chaudhuri. Ninja 650R - Bajaj Auto Ltd. (BAL) and Kawasaki of Japan launched the muchanticipated Ninja 650R motorcycle. The worldrenowned motorcycle will be sold and serviced exclusively through Bajaj Probiking, the country's largest dealership network for premium motorcycles. * Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement between India and Mozambique Notified: The Government of India notified the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with the Government of Mozambique for the avoidance of double taxation and for the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income on 31st May, 2011. The DTAA provides that business profits will be taxable in the source state if the activities of an enterprise constitute a permanent establishment in the source state. Examples of permanent establishment include a branch, factory, office, place of management, etc. Profits of a construction, assembly or installation projects will be taxed in the state of source if the project continues in that state for more than 12 months. Profits derived by an enterprise from the operation of ships or aircraft in international traffic shall be taxable in the country of residence of the enterprise. Dividends, interest and royalties income will be taxed both in the country of residence and in the country of source. However, the maximum rate of tax to be charged in the country of source will not exceed 7.5% in the case of dividends and 10% in the case of interest and royalties. Capital gains from the sale of shares will be taxable in the country of source. The DTAA further incorporates provisions for effective exchange of information and assistance in
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collection of taxes between tax authorities of the two countries in line with internationally accepted standards including exchange of banking information and incorporates anti-abuse provisions to ensure that the benefits of the Agreement are availed of by the genuine residents of the two countries. The DTAA will provide tax stability to the residents of India and Mozambique and facilitate mutual economic cooperation as well as stimulate the flow of investment, technology and services between India and Mozambique. * Norms for infrastructure debt fund cleared: In order to raise long-term resources for funding the infrastructure sector, the government said Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF) could be set up either as a company or trust. The IDF, which was proposed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Budget 2011-12, is aimed at accelerating and enhancing flow of long term debt for funding the ambitious programme of infrastructure development in the country. The requirement of infrastructure in the 12th Plan has been pegged at USD one trillion. IDF is a novel attempt to address the issue of sourcing of long term debt, it said the structure of the fund would be reviewed for efficacy and refinement. The fund would try to garner resources from domestic and off-shore institutional investors, especially insurance and pension funds. Banks and financial institutions would be allowed to sponsor IDFs. IDF as a company could be set up by NBFCs or banks, with a minimum capital of Rs 150 crore. Such a fund would be allowed to raise resources through rupee or dollar denominated bonds of minimum five year maturity. These bonds could be traded among the domestic and foreign investors. Company based IDFs would be allowed to fund projects in public-private partnership (PPP) which have completed one year of commercial operations. Potential investors in this category, include offshore and domestic institutional investors, high networth individuals and non-resident Indians. As regards the trust-based IDFs, the ministry said the fund could be sponsored by a regulated financial sector domestic entity. It would have to invest 90 per cent of its assets in the debt securities of infrastructure companies or SPVs across all infrastructure sectors. Minimum investment by trust-based IDF would be Rs one crore with Rs 10 lakh as minimum size of the unit.
The credit risks associated with underlying projects will be borne by the investors and not by IDF, but in case of company-based IDF, the fund would bear the risk. *India confident of extending exclusive economic zone: India on 10.06.2011 said it was confident that the UN will soon clear its claim to almost double the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending to the seas, which could give it access to larger mineral resources, oil and natural gas. India last year submitted its claim to extend its coastal EEZ from 200 nautical miles to 350 to the UN Commission on Law of Seas (UNCLOS). Under the provision of UNCLOS, a coastal country can seek an extension of the EEZ beyond the approved 200 nautical miles if it can demonstrate that the continental shelf of the country extends beyond that distance - up to a maximum of 350 nautical miles. The claims of 14 countries have so far been settled by UNCLOS on their respective EEZs. National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) in Goa. * SEBI launches complaints redress system: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) launched a centralised web-based complaints redress system (SCORES). *Spices Board launched Campaign to spread Awareness on Aflatoxin: The Spices Board on 5 June 2011 launched a campaign to educate farmers, traders and exporters about aflatoxin, a naturally occurring toxin that degrades spices exported from India. The campaign was launched following rapid alerts issued by the European Union against aflatoxin in nutmeg and mace exported from India. Nutmeg and mace are important spices that find wide application in food industry and medicine, and hence monitoring their quality is of utmost importance. Countries from the EU and West Asia, and South Africa and Japan import large quantities of these products in the raw form and as valueadded spice oils and oleoresins. Poor primary processes followed by the farmers result in the presence of aflatoxin in nutmeg. As the crop is often harvested during monsoon, drying in the sun is usually not feasible, and farmers adopt other traditional methods to dry the harvested nutmeg. As a result of inadequate drying and storage practices, the crops become susceptible to fungal attacks. Farmers therefore need to dry the produce well to avoid growth of fungi and mould in nutmeg. Though aflatoxin contamination does
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not hamper productivity, it makes the produce unfit for consumption. Indian produce becomes less acceptable in global markets as a result of stringent standards on the permissible limits of aflatoxin by importing countries. The aflatoxins are a group of chemically similar toxic fungal metabolites (mycotoxins) produced by certain moulds of the genus Aspergillus (Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasticus) growing on a number of raw food commodities. Aflatoxins are highly toxic compounds and can cause both acute and chronic toxicity in humans and many other animals. Aflatoxins are rated as potent carcinogens. Nutmeg and mace exports from the country have been on a rapid upward spiral growing to Rs 91.86 crore in 2009-10 from Rs 31.17 crore in 2005-06. *Gopinath Committee suggested raising Interest Rates on Post Office Savings Deposits to 4 %:Committee on Small Savings headed by RBI Deputy Governor Shyamala Gopinath on 7 June 2011 suggested raising interest rates on Post Office savings bank deposits to 4 per cent. The committee recommended linking returns on other small savings schemes with interest rates on government securities. It went on to suggest that Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) be withdrawn and the annual investment limit for the popular Public Provident Fund (PPF) be raised to Rs.1 lakh from Rs.70000 at present. The committee recommended that interest rates for Post Office savings deposits be raised to 4 per cent from 3.5 per cent at present, in line with the Reserve Bank's decision to hike rates on savings bank deposits. Under the new formula, suggested by the committee, small savings schemes would provide better returns to investors. Interest rate for oneyear deposit scheme would go up to 6.8 per cent from 6.25 per cent, while returns for the PPF would improve to 8.2 per cent from 8 per cent. The committee mentioned with regard to taxing returns on the small savings schemes that the issue should be considered by the government while firming up the Direct Taxes Code, which seeks to replace the Income-tax Act, 1961. Given that the small savings schemes are agent-driven, the committee suggested that the commission on them should be gradually reduced from 4 per cent to 1 per cent. While recommending a raise in the interest rate on savings deposits by 50 basis points to 4 per cent, the panel notified that the Centre should introduce the system of calculation of interest rate on a daily basis on post office schemes as is being done by banks.
* Ashok Chawla to be next Competition Commission Chairman: The Competition Act, 2002 was passed by the Parliament in the year 2002, to which the President accorded assent in January, 2003. It was subsequently amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007. In accordance with the provisions of the Amendment Act, the Competition Commission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal have been established. The Competition Commission of India is now fully functional with a Chairperson and six members. The provisions of the Competition Act relating to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position were notified on May 20, 2009. *CBDT gets nod to set up criminal investigation: In order to empower the Income Tax department to robustly deal with tax crimes related to illegal activities, the Government has decided to set up a directorate of criminal investigation within the Income Tax Department. This would pave the way for the Income Tax Department to investigate cases involving tax evasion arising out of criminal activities. With this decision, high profile cases like Hasan Ali or those involving black money stashed away in the Liechtenstein Bank can now be effectively investigated. The Income Tax Department had come in for some criticism in the Hasan Ali case. In the recent years, there has also been criticism that the Department could do little in bringing back the black money stashed by Indians in banks abroad. The National Information Utilities is being set up with the objective of providing operational flexibility and space for the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to rollout innovative services to taxpayers. *Government to act against RIL for not adhering to gas plan: With the Directorate-General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) already probing the sudden decline in gas output from the KG-D6 fields operated by Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry gets ready to take tough action against the Mukesh Ambani-owned company for not adhering to the Field Development Plan (FDP). Thanks to this decline, gas allocation to a host of customers, including non-priority sectors, has had to be curtailed by around 20 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd). KG gas is now being supplied only to the power, fertilizer, LPG and city gas sectors. Though this has affected RIL's immediate sales revenue, analysts say the
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company does not lose since gas prices which are set by the government and are due for revision only in 2014 are much lower than what RIL would like to see. A three-member team lead by Gautam Sinha, head of production, DGH, is assessing and reviewing the well-wise production and reservoir performance of the KG-D6 fields. The Management Committee comprising Petroleum Ministry and RIL officials have held three rounds of talks on the continued decline in gas production without any concrete result. What has particularly irked the Ministry, is RIL's refusal to drill more wells under the agreed pact. Under contractual terms, RIL had to drill 22 wells by the end of April this year. However, it has drilled only 18 and did not complete the required number on the plea that as gas output was declining; there was no need to drill further. Ministry officials are also intrigued by the fact that RIL managed to strike a sweet deal, selling a 30 per cent stake in all its exploration blocks to BP for $7.2 billion even as it claims that the amount of gas in the overall structure is less than what it initially believed. In 2006, RIL had won a government award to invest $8.836 billion in Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D1 and D3 fields) in its Eastern offshore KG-D6 Block after assuring production of 61.88 mmscmd of gas from 22 wells by April 2011 and 80 mmscmd from 31 wells by 2012. But a completely different scenario has emerged on the ground, with the D6 fields witnessing a drastic fall in gas output. Today, RIL is producing only about 42 mmscmd from the 18 wells drilled so far on D1 and D3 fields in that block. Another 8 mmscmd is being produced from an MA oilfield in the same block, taking the total output to around 50 mmscmd as against the 69.88 mmscmd committed by the company. RIL says the output dipped after touching 61.5 mmscmd in March last year due to falling pressure in its wells and that drilling more wells will not solve the problem as it will only end up tapping the same resource. In 2007, allegations of gold-platting or inflating capital costs - Gold-plating (i.e. overdesign of assets, unnecessary assets) were levelled against RIL when it claimed that the investment required for developing the D1 and D3 gasfields was $8.8 billion and not $2.47 billion initially proposed in 2004. Because of its revenue implications for the exchequer, the matter is under the investigation of the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India.
*Govt approves new index for measuring industrial output: Production trend in 100 new items, including ice cream, fruit juices and mobile phones will weigh on measuring the pace of industrial production, as per the new index series approved by the government. The new index of industrial production which will come into effect from June 10, with the base year 2004-05, has been approved by the Committee of Secretaries (CoS). The new items in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) would also include computer stationary, newspapers, chemicals like ammonia, ammonia sulphate, electrical products like solder power systems, gems and jewellery and molasses. On the other hand, obsolete articles like typewriters, loud speakers and VCRs would be taken off to make the series representative of the present-day industrial production and demand scenario. The base year for the new series will be changed to 200405 from 199394. The IIP for April would be based on the new model of measuring the countrys factory output. The April data would be released on June 10. The new IIP series will help policymakers and market participants, the official added. The Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP) and Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) were jointly working on the new index. Currently the IIP basket has 283 items. The industrial output data or IIP is released on monthly basis. The factory output grew by 7.8 per cent in the fiscal 2010-11. *Pitroda, Nilekani in panel on national broadband plan: The Government has set up a high level committee, including Mr Sam Pitroda and Mr Nandan Nilekani, to monitor the implementation of the National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN) project. Under the project, the Government is looking to lay optic fibre cable network across the country to boost broadband uptake. The Government is working on a National Broadband Plan aimed at rolling at broadband infrastructure to every village with more than 500 people. The focal point of this plan is to create an optic fibre cable network across the country. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, additional 25 lakh route kilometers of cable would be required at an estimated cost of Rs 60,000 crore to meet future bandwidth demands. The project
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will be partly financed by the Universal Services Obligation fund. * Iron-ore Miner NMDC signed MoU with Minemakers to develop Phosphate Mine in Wonarah: State-run NMDC on 6 June 2011 agreed to team up with Australia's Minemakers Ltd to develop a phosphate mine in Wonarah in northern Australia. India's largest iron ore miners decision to sign a memorandum of understanding with Minemakers is part of its strategy to focus on food and energy security by acquiring phosphate and coal mines. NMDC had signed an MoU with Nagarjuna Fertilisers for mining rock phosphate and potash in early 2011. As part of the MoU, NMDC and Minemakers decided to undertake a joint feasibility study into development of the Wonarah deposit. After completing the feasibility study, NMDC proposed to acquire 50% equity in the project and participate in the development of the project. This acquisition will provide NMDC an entry in Australia's largest known undeveloped phosphate deposit and contribute towards securing supplies of phosphate for the domestic fertiliser industry. India currently imports roughly around 2.5 million tonnes of phosphate every year. NMDC's partnership with the Nagarjuna group envisaged developing a phosphate mine in Africa. * Govt plans 20 tourism parks based on Singapore's Sentosa model: With an aim to attract more global tourists, the government has decided to set up 20 tourism parks in the country on the pattern of Sentosa theme park on an island in Singapore. Each tourism park, first-of-its-kind in the country, will have a hotel, convention centre, food street and entertainment and amusement facilities. According to the plan, the 20 tourism parks will be developed in a mission mode with an outlay of 1,000 crore, a Tourism Ministry official said. Each park will come up in about 50 acres and will be equipped with adequate facilities such as haats, craft centres and amphitheatres for hosting cultural events. "The basic idea is to hold tourists for longer period. There are such examples like Sentosa in Singapore". *EU's new import tariff rules may hit Indian exports: The European Union's whittling down its list of 176 such countries currently enjoying specific tariff preferences to 80 will probably impact Indian exports to the EU. The EU's popular scheme called the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) in vogue since 1971
allowing developing countries to pay lower import tariffs on some or all of their exports to the EU has been reshaped to render its applications needbased. Quantifying the GSP, the EU said in 2009, imports that obtained GSP preferences were worth 60 billion, representing 4 per cent of total EU imports and 9.3 per cent of the total EU imports from developing countries. The tariff preferences include GSP, GSP plus and Everything But Arms (EBA) arrangement under which all products from the least developed countries do not face import duties in the EU. Under the revised scheme, imports that would receive GSP preferences are estimated at 37.7 billion, a substantial decline of 37 per cent. In 2009, India was the main beneficiary of the GSP as New Delhi benefitted to the tune of 13.1 billion out of the 48 billion EU imports that qualified under the GSP scheme. PREFERENTIAL ACCESS As one of the key elements of the restructured GSP includes countries that have preferential access to the EU which is as good as under GSP, for instance, under the Free Trade Agreement, would no longer be eligible. Thus, the imminent forging of an FTA by India with the EU might risk India being out of the beneficiary ambit of the GSP. The need-based criterion and India's status as an emerging economy coupled with the drastic reduction in the overall quantum of GSP benefits and the number of beneficiary countries would only reinforce that the benefits from GSP for India would be nugatory in the short to medium-term, they say. The rejigged GSP takes into account the emergence of more advanced developing countries which are now globally competitive while seeking to spur more countries to respect core global conventions on human rights, labour standards, environment and good governance in the GSP-plus scheme which confers additional trade concessions for trade-vulnerable countries. Pakistan was the beneficiary under GSP-plus because of its fight against drug trafficking. SIGNIFICANT COMPETITION' Pointing out that the most advanced emerging economies remain the biggest beneficiaries of GSP preferences accounting for around 40 per cent of preferential imports under GSP, the EU contended that there is significant competition' between GSP beneficiaries. Hence, the need to focus preferences on those that most need them, that is, low and lower middleincome countries.
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An interesting proposal in the revised GSP scheme relates to balanced improvements to the conditions for withdrawal from the whole GSP scheme notably in making explicit that unfair trading practices include those affecting the supply on raw materials and in emphasising that preferences might be temporarily withdrawn if beneficiaries fail to comply with global conventions on antiterrorism. Since 1971, the EU has had rules ensuring that exporters from developing countries pay lower duties on some or all of what they sell to the EU. This gives them vital access to EU markets contributing to the growth of their economies. This scheme is known as the "Generalized System of Preferences". The so-called "EBA Regulation" ("Everything But Arms"), grants duty-free access to imports of all products from LDCs, except arms and ammunitions, without any quantitative restrictions (with the exception of bananas, sugar and rice for a limited period). EBA provides the most favourable regime available. The EBA gives the 49 LDCs duty free access to the EU for all products, except arms and ammunition. China, a major beneficiary like India, recently slapped restrictions on the export of rare earth and such practices could cause withdrawal of GSP benefits. The extant GSP scheme will end in December but the European Commission has put forward a rollover' regulation, extending the scheme until the end of 2013 to avoid GSP lapsing while the institutions discuss the GSP proposal. The new regulation will apply as of January 1, 2014, after it is approved by the European Council and the European Parliament. Production Sharing Contracts An agreement between Contractor and Government whereby Contractor bears all exploration risks, production and development costs in return for its stipulated share of production resulting from this effort. These costs are recoverable in case of commercial discovery. Following activities are being carried out in PSC: Review of work Programme and budget of all exploration blocks and fields under PSCs. Facilitating of statutory and other clearances. Management Committee Meetings. Assignment of Participating Interest. Extension of phases, relinquishment of acreages, assignment, appointment of auditor, approval of auditing account and other PSC related issues as and when arise.
* India ranks 5 in 'attractive destinations' for FDI survey: The '9th Annual European Attractiveness Survey' has ranked India as the fifth among the most attractive destinations for European firms within the next three years. The survey conducted by Ernst & Young said low business cost coupled with high economic growth appeal to investors across the globe. While Shanghai topped the chart, a vast number of respondents felt that India would be the home to the next big brand name in the IT sector. The survey said that India continues to be among the preferred destinations for foreign direct investment due to the country's high economic growth; with both Mumbai and Delhi have the best chance of producing the next Microsoft or Google. Around 800 executives from top-level global firms participated in the survey, out of which 31 per cent of the participants felt that Western Europe and China would be among the attractive markets for investing in the next three years. E&Y said India ranked at fifth position, with 17 per cent of respondents believing the country to be a profitable economy for expansion of business. However, experts have been warning against regulatory hurdles and a slowdown in the reform process as likely irritants in attracting FDI. Foreign Direct Investments into the country had fallen to $19.43 billion (Rs 88,520 crore) in 201011 as against $25.83 billion (Rs 12.31 lakh crore) in the previous fiscal, a decline of 25 per cent. The report said, "India is undergoing a transition in terms of investor perception of its market potential, bolstered by economic growth projected to surpass 8 per cent annually." The Indian economy had expanded by 8.5 per cent in 2010-11, but the Reserve Bank said that growth is likely to slow down a bit but still clock around 8 per cent this fiscal.
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Social Development
*The Law Commission approved Legislation to Curb Honour Killings: The Law Commission headed by Justice P. Venkatrama Reddi approved the draft legislation, The Endangerment of Life and Liberty (protection, prosecution and other measures) Act, 2011 to prosecute persons or a group involved in honour killings. The draft legislation prohibits village elders to interfere with the life and liberty of young couples who marry as per their choice even if they belong to the same gotra. According to the legislation, village elders cannot place these couples in a hostile environment in the village concerned. As per the draft legislation, the act of endangerment of life and liberty will mean and include measures such as social boycott, forcing people to leave their homes in the locality and deprivation of the means of livelihood. However, the law commission turned down the demand for introducing a clause in Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code to bring honour killings under its ambit (Section 300). The Union government is working on a mechanism of voluntary disclosure' by the corporate and private sector on enhancement of employment opportunities for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections. Under the provisions of the Constitution, reservation in employment and education for SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is applicable only to public sector undertakings and public and private educational institutions. There have been demands for enforcement of job reservation in the private and corporate sector. The suggestion has not evoked a positive response from the private sector and hence the efforts by the government to encourage voluntary intake of weaker sections in recruitment. Kolhapur initiative - Worried over increasing number of female foeticides and low sex ratio, Goa is now looking to follow the Kolhapur initiative in which software was installed in all clinics to monitor every sonography done. *Bankers Committee (Chairman of the Committee, Sri R.Sridhar) on Rural Housing recommendations: The prime recommendation is for increasing the grant from Rs. 45,000 to Rs. 75,000 per house for each BPL household with an additional bank loan support of Rs. 50,000 to be extended at a subsidised rate of interest of 4 percent.
Making it affordable for a Below Poverty Line (BPL) unit, the loan will spread over 15 years with an EMI of not more than Rs. 250. The subsidy burden on the government would range from Rs. 4750 crore to Rs. 17,500 crore. For the Above Poverty Line (APL) unit, a loan not exceeding Rs. 4 lakh will be provided on a commercial basis at possibly a lower rate of interest but with no subsidies attached. In case subsidy is to be provided to APL families the report has suggested various options where the loan amount will stand reduced for a higher subsidy on interest. It has also suggested adding a productivity component to go with the housing loan to boost income generating activity and help the household pay their EMI. Since the property will not be mortgaged against loan, the idea is to extend them through self help groups and through joint liability groups. To cover the risk of the banks, the committee has suggested setting up a rural risk fund, besides a rural habitat development fund to be funded partly through budgetary support and contribution from financial bodies to finance the ambitious project. *Global scourge of child labour: A staggering 215 million children worldwide have been ensnared into child labour, denying them a lifeline to education and a proper childhood. Mauritius has not been spared by this global phenomenon. According to figures released by the International Labour Organisation, more than 115 million children are engaged in hazardous work, doing gruelling 12-hour shifts in inhumane conditions. June 12 World Day Against Child Labour 2011 will be a global stage to launch the battle against Children in Hazardous Work. The international community has identified hazardous work as among the worst forms of child labour and has targeted it for eradication by 2016. The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the World Day Against Child Labour in 2002 to focus attention on the global extent of child labour and the action and efforts needed to eliminate it. Though India has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of child labourers, this is a global scourge. The Asia-Pacific accounts for 41 per cent of all child labour, followed by Africa with 33 per cent and Latin America with 8 per cent. Child labour exists in the United States and parts of Europe, particularly Central and Eastern Europe.
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Two out of three child labourers are engaged in agriculture and allied activities; the rest are in informal and unorganised sectors. Some are used for prostitution and pornography. Many are forced into beggary and into committing petty crimes for their bosses. Still others are drafted as child soldiers. Child labour and slavery are among the worst forms of human rights violations. The prevalence of child labour points to utter disrespect towards international declarations, treaties and conventions, and national constitutions and legislation. It is the biggest obstacle in the way of education and development. Its continued prevalence is evidence of a lack of political will and social concern. Child labour denies freedom, justice, dignity, equal opportunities and a fulfilled childhood. It also endangers children's present and future. It is a slap in the face of civilisations, cultures and religions. The theme for 2011 World Day Against Child Labour is Children in Hazardous Work. The 2011 World Day Against Child Labour will provide a global spotlight on hazardous child labour, and call for urgent action to tackle the problem. Push factors The push factors include abject poverty, illiteracy, lack of awareness, parents' gullibility and a child un-friendly mindset in communities Then there are socio-cultural discrimination, gender bias, denial of legal safeguards and thin outreach of development benefits. The absence or inadequacy of educational facilities, the state's incapability to effectively handle natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, droughts and famines, are other causes. Development disasters such as deforestation, mining and displacement are largely responsible for children falling prey to child labour. Greedy employers looking for a vulnerable, docile and cheap workforce, bribery and other forms of corruption and apathy among law enforcement agencies, combined with connivance among traffickers, employers, politicians and bureaucracy are some of the pull factors. In addition to the fact that children provide cheap or free labour, they are preferred to adults because they do not challenge employers or form unions, are unable to demand decent work and never resort to strikes despite abuse and exploitation. It is the statutory obligation of governments to eliminate child labour; it is also their moral and social responsibility. Child labour is one of the four core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation and is incorporated in the definition of the ILO's fundamental principles. That means all state-parties are accountable to act in accordance with international treaties and conventions. There are two
specific pieces of international legislation that deal with the problem. One is ILO Convention 138 on minimum age adopted in 1973 and ratified by 159 countries. Under this, no child can be employed before 14 years of age in any occupation in developing countries and 15 years in developed countries. The other is Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour, unanimously adopted in 1999 and ratified by 173 countries. India has not signed either; here it joins the ranks of Sierra Leone, Somalia and Myanmar. The worst forms involve slavery, forced labour, and bonded labour, trafficking, armed conscription, illegal activities and criminal activities such as drug peddling. These can jeopardise the physical, mental or moral well-being of a child, because of its nature and the conditions in which they are carried out. It is hazardous work. The stateparties in the ILO were encouraged to ratify the Convention and synchronise their domestic legislation with international obligations. They are supposed to develop a time-bound national action plan and involve stakeholders in its planning, implementation and monitoring. Global commitments Besides the legal obligations, the countries are accountable to two other international commitments the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Dakar Framework for Action on Education For All. India is a signatory to both. Education figures prominently among the MDGs, along with poverty reduction, employment generation and adult literacy. The international community has pledged to achieve both the development and education goals by 2015. This means all children are supposed to be enrolled in schools this year. Recent UN reports are alarming. More than 80 countries have failed their children in their commitment towards education. Civil society has been pointing out that without the abolition of child labour, these goals can never be met, as it is a crosscutting issue. Studies prove that child labour is a significant cause that creates and perpetuates poverty and unemployment. It is also a serious obstacle in achieving education goals. Each child is employed at the cost of an adult's job. There are 21.5 crore child labourers worldwide, while there are 26 crore unemployed adults. Studies have revealed that most of the jobless adults are the parents of full-time child labourers. This is a vicious circle. No country could possibly solve the problem of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy without eliminating child labour. Economic aspects
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A recent UN study on the economic aspects of child labour reveals that an investment of $1 on the elimination of child labour will return $7 over a period of 20 years. While lack of education is a cause of child labour, it is also its consequence and effect. Education is the single most important tool of growth that can be given to children to take them out of the rut of poverty and to better their lives. Bringing children under the ambit of education requires getting them liberated from the trap of child labour. For the first time in the global development discourse, child labour has been formally incorporated and acknowledged as a key obstacle to attaining the MDGs. During the UN MDG summit in September 2010, member-states agreed that steps to eliminate the worst forms of child labour are necessary to ensure universal elementary education, strengthen child protection systems and combat child trafficking. Child labour is a serious threat to human rights and liberty, and an impediment to the personal development of an individual and the economic growth of a nation. It has to be addressed as a political priority and with a sense of urgency. On the one hand, the laws have to be in place and respected; on the other, agencies responsible for their implementation are to be held accountable. Adequate budgetary provisions for law enforcement and for providing free and quality education for all must be ensured. Since child labour, trafficking and slavery are not isolated issues, they have to be addressed in a holistic approach of development in human rights. This requires an effective inter-ministerial and inter-agency cooperation and coordination with a convergent and coherent policy framework. Accountability Child labour is a major threat to the success of Corporate Social Responsibility and ethical trading practices. Globalisation, privatisation and liberalisation have fuelled a massive demand for cheap and docile labour in the supply chain. The fastgrowing domestic and international corporations must be held accountable. Though all major brands in consumer goods and industries claim their commitment through contracts, codes of conduct and internal monitoring systems, many of them have been exposed time and again as employing child labour. Here the role of consumer concern and action is important. They must boycott all services provided by and goods made by children. Their personal commitment and social alertness are essential to solve the complex problem. Success stories There are several success stories to learn from. Mid-day meal programmes and the Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan in India have helped increase the enrolment and retention of children in schools. In Bangladesh, a food-for-education programme and special focus on girls' education have helped remarkably. The focus on enrolling and providing life skills education to hard-to-reach urban children, especially girls, was very successful. In the Bolsa Escola, and later on the Bolsa Familia programme in Brazil, stipends were given to children from poor families, provided they did not miss more than two classes a month. This conditional cash transfer programme was a success. There was a surge in school enrolments. More important, there were no drop-outs, as per a World Bank study. The abolition of school fees and improvement in the quality of education have brought millions of child labourers in Tanzania, Mozambique and Kenya into classrooms. Initiatives such as multi-stakeholder partnerships in the chocolate industry, voluntary social labelling for South Asian carpets and mass movement building by the Global March Against Child Labour are success stories. Though it presents a challenge, the end of child labour is definitely within reach. What are necessary are persistent efforts and innovative measures. Manual Scavenging Manual scavenging refers to the practice of removing human excreta with hands by people and carrying the load on their heads hips or shoulders. The dehumanising practice of manual scavenging is closely interlinked with untouchability. It is well known that this work is socially assigned and imposed upon certain untouchable castes of India. Manual scavenging is rooted in caste and with very few exception, all the manual scavengers are from the Scheduled Castes. Manual scavenging is thus a caste based occupation, with a large majority of them being women. The continuance of manual scavenging constitutes a gross violation of human rights and the worth of the human person and flies in the face of the Constitutional guarantee assured, in its very Preamble, of a life with dignity for every individual in the country. The number of manual scavengers in the country according to the official statistics of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India was 676009 for the year 2002-2003. The highest numbers were in Uttar Pradesh 149202 followed by Madhya Pradesh (80072) and Maharashtra (64785). Section 7A of the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955 (amended in 1976) provides that whoever compels any person on the ground of untouchability to do any scavenging shall be deemed to have
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enforced a disability arising out of untouchability and thus punishable with imprisonment. It was only four decades after the commencement of the Constitution that manual scavenging was specifically prohibited under the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition ) Act which was passed by Parliament in May 1993 after obtaining resolutions from the State Legislatures of Andhra Pradesh ,Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tripura and West Bengal under Article 252(1) of the Constitution .While the Act received the assent of the President in June 1993 , it took almost four years for the issue of the notification bringing the Act into force in these six States and all Union Territories in January 1997 . The remaining States were expected to adopt the Act by passing resolutions under Article 252(1); but the legislation is yet to become one of countrywide applicability. Some of the States have not adopted the law on the ground that there were no manual scavengers in the State, despite evidence to the contrary. It is indeed a shame for a country like India, who is signatory to Human Rights Convention No. 111 of United Nation to allow the obnoxious practice of manual scavenging to continue in modern India and even after 60 years of independence. Manual scavengers are the most discriminated people experiencing the most atrocious form of untouchability. The spirit of Article 17 of the Indian Constitution has not fully touched their lives as yet. The continuing stranglehold of the social structure, viz caste system and internalization of social exclusion, untouchability and discrimination is evident in this manifestation. What is needed is special focus to liberate our society from the norms of social exclusion and discrimination along with an action plan. * CCEA approves job-linked skill programme for one lakh J&K youth: A proposal to provide joblinked skill training to one lakh youth in Jammu and Kashmir over the next five years under a centrally sponsored scheme got approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The training will be provided under Skill Empowerment and Employment Special Scheme for J&K, which will be 100 per cent centrally assisted and cost the exchequer Rs 235.3 crore. The scheme is a placement linked, market driven skill training programme for J&K youth. The placements will be in the private sector both within and outside J&K. It will commence from June-July this year and cover youth from both Below Poverty Line and
non-BPL categories. In the first year, 15,000 youth will receive training for salaried and self employment opportunities. A recommendation in this regard had been made by a committee headed by former RBI Governor C Rangarajan. The panel was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to suggest measures to enhance employment opportunities in the state and formulate a plan involving both private and public sectors. Of the total expenditure, Rs 70.59 crore will be met from existing budget of the Rural Development Ministry under SGSY Scheme to cover 75 per cent cost of training rural BPL youth. The remaining will be covered under special scheme for J&K to cover rural non-BPL, urban BPL and non-BPL youth. *Centre proposes higher compensation for sterilization in 20 high focus States: Stepping up its family planning services for population stabilization, the Centre proposes to substantially enhance the compensation for sterilisation in 20 high focus States. It will now be on a par with what is offered under the Janani Suraksha Yojana, in which women are given a monetary incentive for delivery in a health facility to help reduce maternal and infant mortality. The new scheme provides for enhancing the compensation package for tubectomy from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 (for women up to three children only) and from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,500 for vasectomy (for men up to three children only) for services provided at public facilities. The package for both tubectomy and vasectomy will be hiked from Rs. 1,500 to Rs. 2,500 done in accredited private and non-governmental organisation centres. The differential of Rs. 500 for vasectomy has been kept to encourage men to take up the responsibility of family planning, so far shouldered only by women. The approval for the new compensation scheme, which will mean an additional burden of Rs. 133 crore in the first year, will be sought at the seventh meeting of the Mission Steering Group of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) next week. The funds for this would be met from the Reproductive and Child Health Programme component of the NRHM, available with the States. The States to be covered are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and the eight northeastern States.
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*Scheme for Re 1 per piece sanitary napkins for rural girls: This scheme is aimed at ensuring that adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years in rural India have adequate knowledge and information about menstrual hygiene and use of sanitary napkins. As part of promotion of menstrual hygiene, the napkins will be sold to girls at a cost of Rs.6 for a pack of six - Re. 1 per piece - in the village by the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA). The girls will be provided a pack of six napkins under the National Rural Health Mission's brand Freedays.' In India, menstruation and menstrual practices are clouded by taboos and socio-cultural restrictions for women as well as adolescent girls. Limited access to safe sanitary products and facilities is believed to be one of the reasons for constrained school attendance, high dropout rates and illhealth due to infection. With specific reference to ensuring better menstrual health and hygiene for adolescent girls, the government is launching this scheme as part of the Adolescent Reproductive Sexual Health (ARSH) in the RCH II. The sanitary napkins will be manufactured and supplied by the Hindustan Latex Limited (HLL) and self-help groups. Tamil Nadu, Haryana and West Bengal will depend totally on self-help groups for the supply of the napkins. The Mission Steering Group the highest decision-making body of the NRHM had approved the proposal for supplying the napkins at a highly subsidised cost of Re.1 a pack of five to the girls below poverty line while the rest would have to pay Rs.5 a pack. *Planning Commission asked to revise BPL norms: The Supreme Court asked the Planning Commission to revise the per capita norms to determine below poverty line looking to the price index of May 2011 or any other subsequent dates. A Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma, at a special sitting to hear the case relating to streamlining of the public distribution system, pointed out that according to the parameters of the Planning Commission, Rs.15 per capita per day in rural areas and Rs. 20 in urban areas was the yardstick for evaluating who is Below Poverty Line. It noted that the BPL population is anchored on a norm of 2400 calories per capita per day for rural areas and 2100 calories per capita per day for urban areas.
According to the Tendulkar Committee, with the price level of 2011, it is impossible for an individual in an urban area to consume 2100 calories on Rs.20 and an individual in a rural area to consume 2400 calories on Rs.15. A large section of the population which has marginally higher income than Rs. 20 in urban areas and Rs. 15 in rural areas also deserves food at subsidised rates. The Wadhwa Committee has referred to this group as Marginally Above Poverty Line. National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme Iodine is an essential micronutrient with an average daily at 100-150 micrograms for normal human growth and development. Deficiency of Iodine can cause physical and mental retardation, cretinism, abortions, stillbirth, deaf mutism, squint & various types of goitre. The Government is implementing the National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme (NIDDCP) formerly known as National Goiter Control Programme (NGCP) since 1962 a 100% centrally assisted programme with a focus on the provision of Iodated salt, IDD survey/ resurvey, laboratory monitoring of Iodated salt and Urinary Iodine excretion, health education and publicity. The annual production of Iodated salt is about 52.00 lakh M.T. Government of India has banned the sale of non iodated salt in the entire country for direct human consumption under Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954 with effect from 17th May, 2006. * Rural self-employment programme in Rajasthan to be launched: Congress President Sonia Gandhi launched National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in Rajasthan's Banswara district on June 3 2011. The scheme will enable more than seven crore BPL families to earn their livelihood through selfhelp groups. Strengthening the self-help group (SHG) movement, the mission proposes universal social mobilisation through such institutions and forming SHG federations at the level of villages, cluster of villages, blocks and districts. NRLM will have special focus on the poorest households, who are currently dependant on the rural employment guarantee programme. These families will be supported to broaden their livelihood through assets and skill acquisition. This will enhance the quality of their livelihood significantly. NRLM has achieved large scale success in states such as Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh where social mobilization and building strong institutions of
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the poor have led to significant reduction in poverty and empowerment of the poor. The role of Banks will be of prime importance under NRLM as a source of credit for the poor at reasonable rates. NRLM will focus on getting banks to lend to the poor by making them bankable clients through smart use of subsidy. NRLM will focus on women as it is felt that the best way of reaching out to the whole family is through the woman. The second focus of NRLM would be rural youth of the country who are unemployed. They will be supported through placement linked skill development projects through which their skills will be upgraded through short term training courses in sectors, which have high demand for services.
* NACs Draft Food Security Bill: Key Features of the Draft National Food Security Bill, 2011 Every person shall have the right of access to sufficient and safe food either directly or by purchasing the food. The central and state government shall share the financial cost of procuring, storing and distributing food grains to the population entitled to it. There are special provisions for pregnant and lactating mothers, children in the 0-6 age group, destitute persons, homeless persons and disaster affected persons. The appropriate government shall take immediate steps to provide relief to persons living in starvation. The state government shall provide all children upto class 8 freshly cooked meal in all schools run by local bodies and the government. It shall also provide mid-day meals to children who are admitted under the 25% quota for children belonging to disadvantaged groups in unaided private schools Each household shall be categorised into priority and general in rural and urban areas. Each individual in the priority group households shall be entitled to at least 7kg of grain every month at a maximum price of Rs 3/kg for rice, Rs 2/kg for wheat and Rs 1/kg for millets. Each individual in the general group households shall be entitled to 4kg of grain per month at 50 per cent of the Minimum Support Price for paddy, wheat and millet. The state government can exclude certain persons who fulfil the exclusion criteria in rural and urban areas. However, it has to cover at least 90% of the population in rural areas and 50% of the population in urban areas.
The Bill lays down norms for procurement, storage and distribution of food grains under the Public Distribution System. It also gives detailed norms for Fair Price Shops, ration cards, and monitoring the system. It seeks to set up a National Food Commission and State Food Commission in each state. The Commission shall inquire into complaints on denial of entitlement, advise central and state governments and monitor the schemes. Each district shall have a District Grievance Redressal Officer. The Bill includes penalties for dereliction of duty by public servants, which includes deduction of penalty from the salary of the public servant. Any person deprived of his entitlement to food shall be entitled to compensation from the appropriate government. The Gram Sabhas should conduct social audits of all schemes under this Act. * Govt 2 Create Public Awareness Against Food Wastage: Government will create public awareness against food wastage through Jago Grahak Jago campaign. Food wastage has gained importance in the background of proposed Food Security Bill. Enormous food is wasted in marriages and other social gatherings in the country. Five star hotels too are discarding food. To find out places where excess food is wasted and to suggest remedies, the Indian Institute of Public Administration will be assigned the work of conducting a scientific survey. Assignment question Suggest measures to prevent food wastage. *ILO: New Landmark Treaty to Protect Domestic Workers: The adoption by the International Labor Organization (ILO) on June 16, 2011, of a new, groundbreaking treaty to extend key labor protections to domestic workers will protect millions of people who have been without guarantees of their basic rights. Governments, trade unions, and employers' organizations that make up the ILO overwhelmingly voted to adopt the ILO Convention on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, which establishes the first global standards for the estimated 50 to 100 million domestic workers worldwide, the vast majority of whom are women and girls. Key elements of the convention require governments to provide domestic workers with labor protections equivalent to those of other workers, including for working hours, minimum wage coverage, overtime compensation, daily and weekly rest periods, social security, and maternity
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protection. The new standards also oblige governments to protect domestic workers from violence and abuse, and to ensure effective monitoring and enforcement. Swaziland was the only government that did not vote in favor of the convention. El Salvador, Malaysia, Panama, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Sudan, the Czech Republic, and Thailand abstained from the vote. Members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), along with Bangladesh, Indonesia, and India, reversed early opposition to a legally binding convention and expressed support in the latest round of negotiations and final vote. The convention requires governments to set a minimum age for domestic work and to ensure that work by child domestic workers above that age does not interfere with their education. An accompanying recommendation urges governments to limit strictly the working hours of child domestic workers and to prohibit domestic work that would harm their health, safety, or morals. The new convention contains detailed requirements for governments to regulate private employment agencies, investigate complaints, and prohibit the practice of deducting domestic workers' salaries to pay recruitment fees. The convention also stipulates that migrant domestic workers must receive a written contract that is enforceable in the country of employment and that governments should strengthen international cooperation.
unskilled manual labour in the list of works allowed under the scheme. It had also suggested that the change would primarily focus upon skill development in the artisan sector, such as handlooms and handicrafts. NCSDs suggestion got support from former NASSCOM president and Rajya Sabha member Mabel Rebello. However the representative from the Maharashtra government argued against the proposal, stating that local government functionaries were already burdened to honour the spirit of the NREGS programme. In another decision, the CEGC also agreed against stopping the flow of funds to the districts where malpractices are reported and action is not taken. Instead, the meeting suggested that the Centre should use the provisions in the NREG Act to ensure that senior district-level officers are punished for letting the malpractices continue. * India a dangerous place to live in: India's rank has fallen seven points on the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2011, which ranks countries according to how peaceful they are. India now ranks 135 out of 153 countries. We are now amongst the 20 least peaceful nations in the world, along with countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. At rank 80, China fares a lot better than India. While sub-Saharan Africa remains one of the most violent regions in the world according to the GPI, most countries in Africa and nearly all countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe rank above India. The GPI, now in its fifth edition, has been developed by Killelea's Institute for Economics and Peace along with the Economist Intelligence Unit, the research wing of The Economist magazine. Killelea feels the increased perception of violence in India may have a lot to do with the repeated terror attacks on the country in recent times. That India is in a volatile neighbourhood and has issues with countries such as Pakistan and China only adds to the threat perception," says Killelea. Pakistan fares worse than India with a rank of 146 on the GPI, thanks largely to the easy access to small weapons in the country coupled with high levels of internal conflict and terrorism. Despite China's poor human rights track record, Killelea says that China's relatively better performance has much to do with low levels of homicide and violent crime in the country, as well as a much lower potential for terrorist attacks. The GPI shows that for the third consecutive year, levels of peacefulness have dropped across the
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*Central Employment Guarantee Council rejected NCSD Proposal of Skill Development: The Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC) on 23 July 2011 rejected the suggestion of the Prime Ministers National Council on Skill Developments (NCSD) suggestion to include provision of skill development to unskilled wage seekers under the scheme. CEGC is the apex monitoring agency for the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). It was pointed out that adding of the additional feature into the NREGS would possibly not be viable given the several teething problems in the implementation. The NCSD had recently suggested the Rural Development Ministry to consider amending the preamble and Schedule 1 of the NREG Act to provide skill development training to workers who completed stipulated number of days of
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globe. The uprising in the Arab world and parts of Africa had much to do with an increase in global violence this time around. The country that showed the biggest tumble at the GPI is Libya, whose rank fell by 87 places. Countries like Egypt and Bahrain also showed a large drop on the GPI. Iceland topped the ranking as the World's most peaceful nation and Somalia ranked the least as the World's least peaceful nation among the 153 nations. *Survey claimed that 55 per cent of Bihars population was malnourished: A survey report released on June 16 by the Supreme Court appointed panel claimed that 55 per cent of Bihars population is malnourished and 70 per cent of women and children are anaemic due to low intake of food because of poverty. The survey was done in the year 2011. The following are the highlights of the report: Drought and flood have aggravated the situation with farmers and landless workers being forced to migrate to cities to look for jobs. Implementation of the welfare schemes, health scheme and work schemes have not been accelerated, resulting in deterioration in the condition of the poor. The agriculture sector has been neglected; though over 80 percent population is dependent on it for sustenance. The report added that government's efforts to check malpractices are not sufficient based on the survey of status of the implementation of schemes like integrated child development scheme, mid-day meal scheme, the public distribution system and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 33 villages of seven districts of Bihar. According to Bihar government estimates, the state has 1.45 crore BPL families Bihar had been hit by severe drought for two consecutive years. In 2009, 26 of the 37 districts were declared drought hit. In 2010, the state government had declared all districts as drought hit. About the Supreme Court Appointed Panel In interim orders dated 8 May 2002 and 2 May 2003, the apex court had appointed Commissioners for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of all orders related to the right to food. The Supreme Court of India had appointed a two-member panel of Commissioner NC Saxena and Special Commissioner Harsh Mander. An NGO, People's Union for Civil Liberties had filed a PIL in the apex court against Union of India and other states seeking recognition to the right to food in 2001.
Bihars Growth Rate - Bihar had registered an impressive 13.06 per cent growth in 2008-09. The gross state domestic product (GSDP) of Bihar was higher at 8.56 per cent in 2009-10 as the national average was eight per cent. However, the per capita net state domestic product (NSDP) of Bihar had remained lowest for the financial years in 2007-08 at Rs 11,514 in 2008-09 at Rs 13,980 and at Rs 16,119 in the financial year 2009-10. This was attributed to poor performance in the previous financial years. * NAC directed the Tribal Affairs Ministry to consult Jarawas on their Future: The National Advisory Council (NAC) directed the Tribal Affairs Ministry on 22 June 2011 to consult the Jarawas, a primitive tribal group in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands who are threatened with extinction, before drafting a policy on their future. The question on their future revolves around whether they should continue to live in their pristine habitat, in splendid isolation, or be allowed to mingle with the local population. NACs concern was raised following a recommendation made by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration that as the Jarawas have already begun mingling with the local population; the policy of isolation should end. Earlier in 2011, the NAC itself had sent an official to the island to check whether the Jarawas were being adversely affected by the droves of tourists. There have been fears of exploitation, including sexual exploitation of the Jarawas. Sonia Gandhi headed NAC wanted a full-fledged discussion on the issue regarding the future of Jarawas. Lieutenant Governor of the Islands, Lt.Gen. (retd.) Bhopinder Singh, made a presentation on the Jarawa policy adopted by the government in 2004 and the current status of the threatened tribal group. The Ministry was directed following the presentations to consult the Jarawas on their future before finalising their recommendations. *NCPCR seeks report on genitoplasty in Indore: Taking cognisance of a newspaper report about several hospitals and clinics in Indore performing surgeries on baby girls to change their sex, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the State government to undertake an investigation with a team of doctors, known for high professional competence and ethical standards. Surgical alteration of external genitals is known as genitoplasty.
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Question A children's rights group has recently asked the government of Madhya Pradesh to look into allegations of genitoplasty being performed on baby girls in health clinics in Indore. What are the sociocultural factors ivolved I this issue? Suggest few measures to address this issue. * SEE J&K Scheme: The objective of the Skill, Empowerment and Employment in Jammu & Kashmir (SEE J&K) SEE J&K project is to provide options and opportunities to all youth in J&K, ranging from school dropouts to college educated, to select training program for salaried or self- employment as per their interest. The placements will be in the private sector, both within and outside J&K. This scheme will cover 1 lakh youth from J&K in the next 5 years and will be implemented through competent training providers, from the private sector and non-profit organisations. The scheme will cover training for salaried employment as well as self-employment. It is estimated that 70% funds will be used to provide salaried employment linked training, and the remaining 30% for self-employment linked training. The training providers for placement linked skill training will give a 75 percent placement guarantee for the trained youth. Placement for youth will be provided all over the country, within J&K and outside. Under SEE J&K Scheme, different training strategies will be used for diverse groups of youth school dropouts, dropouts of XII class level, and those who have had college education. *India to Train 500 Cr Skilled Workers by 2022: The Government has introduced a new Skill Policy under which 50 crore workers will be trained into different skills in India by 2022. The aim of the policy is to achieve rapid and inclusive growth through enhanced employment prospects and ability to adapt to changing technologies and labour market demands. The policy also aims at improving productivity and living standards of workers and strengthening global competitiveness of the country. Providing social security benefits to the unorganized sector workers was the biggest challenge before the Government of India. A number of steps have been taken to achieve this goal, notable among them being the flagship programmes like RSBY and MGNREGA, establishment of Labour Welfare Funds and enactment of legislation to provide Social Security to unorganized workers. Notwithstanding its geographically small size and tiny population, Sikkim excels in implementation of the
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. About 3/4th of the one lakh rural households of the state have been provided with the job cards so far under the scheme, which kicked off in the state five years ago. * MP tops list of infanticide cases: Madhya Pradesh has acquired a dubious distinction, recording the countrys highest number of foeticide and infanticide cases and the second-highest percentage of anaemia in children. The figures for 2010 have been revealed in the sixth issue of the National Health Profile report from the union health ministry. Of the 186 registered cases across the country, the state registered 51. Punjab was a distant second with 29 cases and Maharashtra third with 18. The state also recorded 23 cases of foeticide among the 102 in the country, UP and Tamil Nadu both recorded 17. *Union Cabinet approved extension of the RSBY Scheme to all Registered Domestic Workers: The Union Cabinet on 23 June 2011 approved extension of the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to all the registered domestic workers in India. The scheme will likely cover approximately 47.50 lakh domestic workers in the country. The RSBY will provide for smart card based cashless health insurance cover of Rs.30000 per annum to BPL workers (a unit of five) in unorganised sector in any empanelled hospital anywhere in India. More than 2.34 crore smart cards were issued on 31 May 2011. The health insurance cover, available to domestic workers in the 18-59 age bracket, will entitle the beneficiary to cashless treatment at empanelled hospitals. This can be done with the help of a smart card that would be issued to those covered under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which is now expected to cover around 47.5 lakh workers. The beneficiaries will have to get identification certificates from two of the four eligible institutions namely- employer, residents welfare association, registered trade union or the local police. The scheme has since then been extended to building and other construction workers registered with Welfare Boards constituted under the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, street vendors, beedi workers and such MNREGA workers who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding year. Distribution of Scheme Cost between Centre & State
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The funds will be allocated from the National Social Security Fund for Unorganised Workers. The premium will be shared by the Central and State Governments in the ratio of 75:25. In case of States in NE Regional and J&K the ratio is 90:10. The scheme is expected to cost the Centre around Rs 30 crore during 2011-12, with the spending projected to rise to over Rs 74 crore in 2012-13. About Domestic Workers Domestic work forms one of the largest sectors of female employment in the urban areas. Domestic workers are unorganized and the sector remains unregulated and unprotected by labour laws. These workers come from vulnerable communities and backward areas. Most of these are poor, vulnerable, illiterate, unskilled and do not understand the urban labour market. *Union Law Ministry decided to keep Navodaya Vidyalayas outside the ambit of RTE Act: The Union Law Ministry decided to keep the Navodaya Vidyalayas in the country outside the ambit of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The decision was reached by the Law Ministry after hearing out the logic of Human Resource Development Ministry and consultation with the Attorney General (AG). The two key provisions of the RTE Act are- no screening and 25% reservation for economically weaker sections will not be applicable to 444 Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country. Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS) conducts entrance examination in February every year and new session commences in July. However in the backdrop of legal constraint, the entrance examination could not be held thus far for 2011. The RTE Act states that no screening test of either children or their parents can be conducted for admission in any school. Every school will have to reserve 25 percent seats for the children belonging to economically weaker section. However entrance examination is the basis for admission in Navodaya Vidyalayas, which had refused to admit children under RTE. Following the refusal of the Navodaya Vidyalayas to abide by the prescribed admission procedures, National Commission for Child Protection had issued notice to Navodaya Vidyalaya to cancel admission on the basis of entrance test. NVS had sought HRD ministry's opinion after it received notice from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights for flouting RTE norms. HRD ministry had sought the opinion of former Chief Justice of India A S Anand, who
mentioned that Navodaya Vidyalayas are special category schools. The law ministry while agreeing with the AG's opinion suggested that instead of issuing a notification that Navodaya Vidyalayas fall in a separate category, the RTE Act should be amended. However, the ministry was of the view that the Act does not need to be amended since section 2(p) puts Navodaya Vidyalayas in a specified category along with Kendriya Vidyalayas and Sainik Schools. There are a number of reasons for letting Navodaya Vidyalayas off the RTE hook: Navodaya Vidyalayas start from class VI and not class I. These schools, located in all districts, have 75% seats reserved for rural children. Seats are also reserved for children from SC and ST communities in proportion to their population in the district, but not less than the national average. One-third of the seats are for girl students and 3% of the seats are for disabled children. Till class IX there is no fee, and from IX to XII, Rs 200 is charged per month. NVS argued that since these schools cater primarily to poor rural children, there was no reason for it to give 25% reservation. As for the contentious issue of no-screening, NVS contended that these schools were primarily meant for meritorious children and admission was done through a tough entrance examination conducted by CBSE. *Integrated Action Plan (IAP): The Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for Selected Tribal and Backward Districts under the BRGF programme will cover for 60 selected tribal and backward districts spread across nine States, mostly affected by Naxal violence. The IAP will be implemented with a block grant of 25 crore and 30 crore per district during 2010-11 and 2011-12 respectively. A Committee headed by District Collector/District Magistrate and consisting of the Superintendent of Police of the District and the District Forest Officer will be responsible for implementation of this scheme. The District-level Committee will have the flexibility to spend the amount for development schemes according to need as assessed by it. The scheme will focus on effective implementation of the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (Forest Rights Act).
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Sports
*Northern Ireland prodigy Rory McIlroy captured his first Major golf title with his victory in the 111th U.S. Open on 19 June 2011. Gurmeet Singh of India qualified for the 2012 London Olympics 20-Km Race Walking Competition after finishing 6th in the 18th Dublin International Grand Prix in Ireland. Haryana lifted Hockey India's first Senior National Hockey Championship (Men) title by defeating its rival Karnataka. *Indian Express Crashes Out Of Wimbledon: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi duo, fondly known as the Indian Express pair crashed from the Wimbledon Mens double event. The duo lost to the French-Czech pair of Arnaud Clement and Lukas Dlouhy The defeat of Paes and Bhupathi leaves Somdev Devvarman the only Indian in the mens doubles draw Somdev is playing along with Japanese Kei Nishikori. *'Golden Boy' Abhinav Bindra qualifies for London Olympics 2012: Bindra, India's first individual Olympic gold medallist clinched a London Olympics place despite finishing a lowly eighth in the 10m air rifle event of the Shooting World Cup in Munich, Germany. *Bopanna-Qureshi win Germany ATP event: Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi won their first ATP title of the season, overcoming Robin Haase and Milos Raonic in the summit clash of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. It took the Indo-Pak pair one hour and 19 minutes to beat the DutchCanadian combination. * Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer to Win the French Open Title for the Sixth Time: World No. 1 Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer at Roland Garros (French Open) and won the title for the sixth time on 5 June 2011. With the victory, the reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon champ Nadal equaled former tennis great Bjorn Borgs six titles at Roland Garros. * Chinese Tennis Player Li Na became first Asian to win Grand Slam Singles Title: Chinese tennis palyer Li Nas won the French Open women singles title on 4 June 2011 by defeating defending champion Francesca Schiavone. She became the first Asian to win grand slam singles title.
Awards & Honours

*Green energy awards for Indians: Two Indian companies have been awarded this years Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, claimed to be Britain most prestigious green energy awards. The awards were launched in 2001 to encourage greater use of local clean energy to address climate change and alleviate poverty. The winning Indian companies are Abellon Clean Energy Ltd. and Husk Power Systems. *Sam Pitroda awarded ITU World Telecom Award 2011: International Telecommunication Union (ITU) confers ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Award 2011 to Sam Pitroda, adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations and Chairman of the National Innovation Council of India for his significant contribution towards promoting ICT as a means of providing a better life for humanity and social and economic empowerment and thereby
unleashing digital revolution. Sam Pitroda is best known as the father of Indian telecom revolution. Founding chairman of the Telecom Commission in India, this telecom czar is widely known as the brain behind the proliferation of the yellow PCO boxes which can be seen anywhere throughout the breadth and length of the country. *World Food Prize for Brazil's da Silva, Ghana's Kufuor: The award has, since it was instituted in 1987, always gone to agricultural scientists such as M.S. Swaminathan winner of the first WFP award and to social entrepreneurs such as Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh's Grameen Bank. But this time the WFP Foundation, which includes Professor Swaminathan, sought to highlight the impact that top political leaders could have on the welfare of those afflicted by chronic hunger, if they foster a deep commitment to agriculture that
- Sports, Awards & Honors -
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actually translates into policy and results on the ground. The Foundation chose the former President of Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, and the former President of Brazil, Luiz Incio Lula da Silva, for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries. *GD Birla Award to IIT-Mumbai professor: A professor of IIT-Mumbai Subhasis Chaudhuri was selected for the prestigious G D Birla Award for Scientific Research for his contributions in the area of electronic communications. Chaudhury joined IIT Mumbai in 1990 and is currently serving as an Institute Chair Professor and the Dean of International Relations. He works in the area of computer vision and image processing. *WikiLeaks' Assange awarded top Sydney peace prize: Assange has been awarded the Sydney Peace Foundation's top honour for "exceptional courage in pursuit of human rights", joining the likes of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. *India honours doyen of modern Sinhala music: The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka organised an evening with musician and Magsaysay award winner Pandit Amaradeva, at India House, to celebrate his six decades of excellence in music, and to underline the deep cultural and civilisational links the two countries share. Pandit Amaradeva (earlier known as Albert Perera), who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2002 and composed the melody for the Maldivian national anthem, along with Ananda Samarakoon (author of the Sri Lankan national anthem), and composer-musician Sunil Santha, are regarded as the founding fathers of the modern Sinhala music. All the three had much in common were celebrated artists but utterly poor, had deep links with India, and were greatly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and Rabindra Sangeet. *Sunil Mittal gets INSEAD award: Leading international business school INSEAD has honoured Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder, Chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises, with its Business Leader for the World Award. The award is given to business leaders who have set new standards in building successful, sustainable, global enterprises that span
multiple cultures, embrace diversity, and contribute to economic and social prosperity. *Angela Merkel Receives Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding: India on Tuesday has awarded Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding to visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi. *Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011: BritishSierra Leonean writer Aminatta Forna has won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers Prize for her novel The Memory of Love, a tale of war and its legacy set in West Africa. *Orascom bags Global Telecom Business award: Orascom Telecom Bangladesh (Banglalink), the second largest mobile operator of Bangladesh in partnership with Comviva, has won the Global Telecom Business award for innovation in econsumer services for Banglalink mobile wallet service. The awards were announced at the Global Telecoms Business Innovation Summit 2011, held in London recently. *Magician Gopinath Muthukad wins the International Merlin Award: Muthukad is only the second Indian to receive this honour after P.C. Sorcar Jr. *Humanity award for Niketu Iralu: The UN Brahma Trust has decided to confer the Upendra Nath Brahma Soldier of Humanity Award, 2011 to the nestor of the Naga society, Niketu Iralu. Iralu was a well known peace maker among the Naga people and had been the key figure in spreading the moral rearmament movement in 1957. Iralu, being a member of the International Initiative of Change, has been working for peace at least in more than 30 countries and has received the prestigious Gopi Nath Bordoloi National award in 2005.
CSAT 2011 achievement
In total there were 74 questions in CSAT PAPER 1 from our study materials, model test papers, and classroom guidance. 12 questions in CSAT PAPER 1 based on our model test papers alone. We have shown the same trend since 2007 in both Prelims and Mains.
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Polity & Governance

*Another panel on black money: The Committee, headed by Anita Kapur, Director General of Income Tax (Admn), will suggest ways to recover tax demand from assessees who are not traceable. The committee, set up by Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in the Finance Ministry, will also look into the possibility of putting the list of "chronic defaulters" in public domain. The panel on black money will also suggest modalities for utilisation of the information available with Financial Intelligence Unit -India (FIUIND) and the Directorate of Income Tax (Systems) with a view to recovering outstanding demands. * World Refugee Day being observed: The day is observed every year on 20th of June by the United Nations to recognise the courageous spirit and resilience of refugees around the world. This years theme, One refugee without hope is too many is aimed to encourage the people to Do One Thing to show their solidarity for refugees and displaced people around the world. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention of the United Nations. According to the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR there are more than 10 million refugees around the world who have lost everything. A refugee is someone who has been put on to run away from his or her country due to harassment, war, or hostility. There were over 1,98,000 refugees in India in the beginning of this year and the figure is likely to go up to 2,04,000 by the end of December according to the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees. India is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol and does not have a national refugee protection framework. However, it continues to grant asylum to a large number of refugees from neighboring countries and respects UNHCRs mandate for other nationals, mainly from Afghanistan and Myanmar. While the Government of India deals differently with various refugee groups, in general it respects the principle of the UNHCR documentation. The 1951 Convention is the key legal document in defining who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of nations. * SC rules it has unfettered powers under Article 142: The Supreme Court has ruled that the powers of top court of the country under Article 142 of the
Constitution to pass any order to do complete justice are unfettered with the exception that the order cannot be contrary to any express provision of the law. A bench comprising Justices Asok Kumar Ganguly and Deepak Verma let off the appellant Yomeshbhai Pranshankar Bhatt of the charge of killing his maid servant for her refusal to come back to work. The Apex Court converted the offence under Section 302 IPC (murder) to section 304 II IPC and reduced the sentence from life imprisonment to 11 years which he has already undergone and ordered his immediate release. Defining the powers of the Supreme Court under Article 142, the court ruled, "The provision of Article 142 of the Constitution have been construed by this court in several judgements. However, one thing is clear that under Article 142 of the Constitution, this court in exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decrees and may make such orders as is necessary for doing complete justice in any case or matters pending before it. It is therefore clear that the court while hearing the matter finally and considering the justice of the case may pass such orders which the justice of the case demands and in doing so, no fetter is imposed on the Court's jurisdiction except of course any express provision of the law to the contrary, and normally this court cannot ignore the same while exercising its power under Article 142." Justice Ganguly further added, "Subject to the provisions of any law made in this behalf by Parliament, the Supreme Court shall, as respects the whole of the territory of India, have all and every power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery or production of any document, or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself." * National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms: On 23 June 2011 the Union Cabinet of India approved of a proposal of the law ministry for a National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms, providing for fast track courts to clear the backlog in the judicial system. The objective of the Mission is to increase access to justice by reducing delays and arrears in the system and enhance accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards.
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The objectives are to be achieved in a time bound manner by 2015-16 through a mission mode approach. The Mission is planned to have a Mission Directorate, an Advisory Council and a Governing Council for overseeing the implementation of the Mission. Areas covered by the National Mission Policy and legislative changes, re-engineering of procedures, human resource development, leveraging ICT and improve physical infrastructure of subordinate courts. Infrastructure development is a much needed requirement of the subordinate judiciary. Through enhancement of the funding pattern from 50:50 to 75:25 for the States and 90:10 for the North-East region under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme the requirement is planned to be met. The Central Government assured of bearing an estimated expenditure of Rs. 5510 crore for five years for the Mission Mode Project. It aimed to increase access to justice by reducing delays and arrears and enhanced accountability through structural changes and by setting performance standards. The focus was on infrastructure development in the courts through computerisation, improving physical infrastructure and human resource development. The salient features of the National Mission are The National Mission would comprise of Advisory Council, Governing Council, National Mission Leader and the Mission Directorate. The Advisory council is to advise on the goals, objectives and strategies of the National Mission and the Action Plan and its implementation and performance of the Mission in meeting its objectives and would be chaired by the Minister for Law and Justice and would have membership from Parliament, State Governments, Jurists & senior officers of Government of India. The Governing Council would facilitate implementation, give policy directions and oversee the work of the Mission and would be headed by the Minister for Law and Justice. The Secretary, Department of Justice would be the National Mission Leader. A Mission Directorate would be constituted to implement and monitor the various initiative/program of the National Mission. It would be headed by an officer of the rank of the Joint Secretary who would act as the Mission Director.
An Action Plan has been drawn up which would of course be subjected to change once the Governing Council meets to set out the agenda. Inadequacy of infrastructure facilities in District and Subordinate courts has remained a major bottleneck in the judicial system largely contributing to the accumulation of arrears. So, a preliminary assessment of requirement of infrastructure for subordinate courts from the States was also made. * Cabinet clears proposal for academic qualifications' database: A proposal to create a national database of academic qualifications in DMAT format, which would authenticate and reissue certificates was recently cleared by the government. The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal, paving way for the Ministry to bring the National Academic Depository (NAD) Bill 2011 in the Parliament. The national database would be established in an electronic format by an identified registered depository, with all institutes, including school boards, IITs, NITs and polytechnics from different states having linkages to the depository. Establishment of the database would also help the administration effectively deal with issues like forged certificates and fake degree rackets. It will also enable online verification and easy retrieval of academic qualifications. Students would also benefit from the fact that from now on they need not worry about spoilage of certificates over time and getting their certificates attested. The Cabinet is also understood to have approved incorporation of some suggestions of the Parliamentary Standing Committee in the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) (Amendment) Bill and the National Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill. The NIT Act (Amendment) is aimed at inclusion of the five Indian Institute of Science Education & Research (IISER) and the 10 new NITs within the ambit of the Act so as to empower them to award degrees, the sources added. * EC to Conduct Field Trial of VVPAT in Five States: The Election Commission will conduct field trial of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, VVPAT in five states on the 24th of July. Some political parties had recommended in October last year that the Commission should consider introducing VVPAT system, for further verifiability and transparency in the electoral system.
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In the VVPAT system, when the voter presses the button for the candidate of his choice, a paper ballot containing the serial number, name of candidates and symbol of candidate will be printed. VVPAT system is already used in Venezuela and in some states of the US. The five districts where the trial will be carried out are -Leh, Thiruvananthapuram, East Khasi Hills in Cherrapunjee, East Delhi and Jaisalmer. * Anti-piracy: New bill to give Navy, Coast Guard more powers: To handle pirates effectively under Indian laws, the government is planning to introduce in Parliament a bill which will give more powers to the Navy and the Coast Guard to deal with the sea brigands. * Rajiv Gandhi Adhivakta Prashikshan Yojna (Rajiv Gandhi Advocates Training Scheme): The main object of the scheme is to give motivation and encouragement to young lawyers who are practicing in Magistrate and Munsif Courts, by providing proper professional training for a period of two months so that they may serve the need of law professional at grass root level. The scheme envisages selection of 10 young practicing Advocates from each State every year for being imparted professional training. While selecting the candidates, preference shall be given to those candidates who belongs to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, and women and physically handicapped. The Government would spend Rs.70 lakh every year on this training. Preamble to the Constitution of India assures justice, social, economic and political. Article 39-A of the Constitution mandates that the State shall provide free legal aid by suitable legislation or schemes or in any other way to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities. The Supreme Court in the case of State of Maharashtra v. Manubhai Pragaji Vashi, (1995) has observed that the need for a continuing and well-organised legal education is absolutely essential reckoning the new trends in the world order, to meet the ever-growing challenges.
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Articles
India's NSG question The new guidelines of the nuclear cartel have caused much disquiet in India, with some seeing in it a move to question the clean waiver granted to it. India has since then established contacts with major countries to seek assurances that the NSGs decision would not have any adverse impact on the India-specific agreement with the 46-member nuclear cartel. The US, France and Russia are among the top countries which have signed civil nuclear deals with India since it got the nuclear waiver three years back. India has objected to the new guidelines adopted by the NSG recently on the export of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) equipment which include membership in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty as a condition for supply. Having secured a waiver from the NSGs catch-all full-scope safeguards requirement in 2008, New Delhi sees the new guidelines as a rollback. Impact on the Indian civil nuclear programme The Indian indigenous civilian nuclear power programme has been planned in three stages with the first stage being based on the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) run on natural uranium, the second stage being the Fast Breeder programme running on plutonium obtained from reprocessing of the spent fuels from both PHWRs and Light Water Reactors (LWR) and the third stage being advanced reactors based on thorium fuel. The only need for enrichment of uranium arises from the need to obtain highly enriched uranium (HEU) for Indias nuclear submarine programme. The imported LWRs will be covered by the accompanying fuel supply agreements making it unnecessary for India to enrich uranium for its LWR programme. And since Indias natural uranium reserves are low, there is little or no possibility of India entering commercial enrichment facilities. Such a programme would require (i) massive capital, modern enrichment facilities being capital intensive, (ii) enrichment technology, since the Indian enrichment technology has a long way to go before attaining the productivity levels of the TC21 and AC100 centrifuge machines; and (iii) need to import massive quantities of natural uranium. Therefore, without either the natural resource i.e. uranium or up to date enrichment technology, it is unlikely that India will need to import either enrichment technology or facilities. Therefore, for all practical purposes, the changes to the NSG guidelines will have very little impact on the Indian civil nuclear programme in so far as enrichment activities are concerned. Indias membership in NSG is a difficult and complex issue since it will be the first non-NPT country to be in this cartel. The complexity arises out of Pakistan and Israel being non-NPT signatories who may also seek membership of the NSG. In this respect India holds the view that NPT has served its full purpose during the cold war and is now out-lived its utility. Hence NPT cannot be a necessary condition for the membership of NSG. What is necessary is the like mindedness of Indias national activities broadly supporting the NSGs non-proliferation regime. In fact India earned the clean waiver from NSG on the principles of like-mindedness proven on the seven non-proliferation points of India that were recognised and appreciated by the NSG in 2008. The membership of NSG requires essentially three further conditions namely, safeguards on all nuclear facilities, CTBT and moratorium on nuclear tests. The first criterion requires that India as a non-NPT signatory, place its all new nuclear sites under IAEA safeguards. It would mean restricting further development of Indias nuclear weapons sites thus seriously limiting its weapons programme only on the existing military sites without any new additions. It is significant to point out that under its Separation Plan India has already identified nuclear sites and committed to international safeguards thereon. It would be unfair to add further conditions on India that may not be acceptable to India learning from the experience Parliament faced on July 22, 2008, during the discussion on the Indo-US 123 Agreement and on the Nuclear Liability Bill (2010) on August 25, 2010. The second condition for non-NPT signatories to join NSG would be to join and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. To recollect the story, the CTBT was adopted in the UN General Assembly on September 10, 1996, and is collecting dust ever since for the last 15 years. It faces an uncertain future as it has not been ratified till date even by the US and China. It is unlikely to come into force in the near future. Many believe it to be a dead issue awaiting a decent burial. It is thus pointless
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to insist on this criterion. The third criterion is a nuclear test moratorium pending the indefinite delay in CTBT coming into force. India had declared voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing in 1998 and has reiterated its stand time and again till date. There is no reason that India will go back on its decision. The opponents of India believe that such an assurance is legislatively non-binding and it would be foolish to expect India give-up its sovereign rights to develop nuclear arsenals just to join NSG. They further believe that if the NSG admits India in its fold without further conditions, it may jeopardise its future decisions that are based on consensus. The matter is slightly more complex in the case of reprocessing technology. India already operates three reprocessing facilities. The total capacities of these plants have so far been sufficient to satisfy the current needs of reprocessed fuel. However, as the civil nuclear power sector expands with the import of LWRs, expansion of the PHWR programme and the introduction of FBRs (Fast Breeder Reactor), there will be a need to increase substantially the reprocessing capabilities in India. The size of these plants will have to be in range of hundreds of MT rather than the current size of 100 MT/year. If the state of Indian reprocessing technology is not at par with the best international practice, then for an economic running of the FBRs, India will need to import the best reprocessing facilities and technology. In such a case, the new restrictions imposed on transfers of reprocessing technology by the NSG will work against Indian interests and will definitely have an impact on the Indian civil nuclear programme. Enrichment technology and facilities Regarding enrichment technology and facilities, currently there are 13 countries that have centrifuge enrichment plants operating within them. Of these 13 countries, only eight namely, China, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, UK and USA have commercially viable large scale plants. The other five have small scale plants of vintage centrifuge technology. All the eight countries that have large scale plants are members of the NSG with seven of them being members of the G-8 as well. The only exception is China which is not a member of the G-8. Of the five that operate small scale centrifuge plants namely, Brazil, India, Iran, DPRK and Pakistan, Brazil is a member of the NSG. Of the remaining four, only Iran is a member of the NPT. Thus, with the G-8 already enforcing NPT membership as a criterion for transfer of enrichment technology, the only potential suppliers of such technology to India are Brazil, China, Iran, DPRK and Pakistan. With the exception of China all others operate small size plants. Thus, the latest NSG amendment to its guidelines only affected transfers from Brazil and China. It is hardly likely that India would source enrichment technology from either Brazil or China. Hence, the new NSG guidelines on enrichment transfer are of little consequence to India, especially when India has little or no need to import such technology. Reprocessing technology and facilities India may require importing reprocessing facilities or technology. Although a large number of countries have, or had operated in the past, reprocessing facilities, currently only eight countries namely, China, France, India, DPRK, Pakistan, Japan, UK and Russia have operating facilities. Of these eight countries four France, Japan, UK and Russia - are members of G8 and are, therefore, already enforcing NPT membership as criteria for transfer of reprocessing facilities and technology. None of remaining four either operate any large scale commercial reprocessing plant, of the size that would be needed by India in future or have any technology superior to that already possessed by India. Hence, the recent NSG changes to its guidelines will have no practical impact on Indias access to globally competitive reprocessing technology. What is the correct status? It is also not correct to state that the 2008 amendment to the NSG guidelines exempting India gave a blanket assurance to India that India will have automatic access to ENR technologies. The September 2008 NSG decision was only in respect of paragraphs 4(a), 4(b) and 4(c) of the guidelines - those relating to IAEA full scope safeguards requirements - and had no assurance whatsoever on access to ENR technologies, unless, of course, there were some side letters exchanged between India and the NSG. There is no evidence that such letters were exchanged. Therefore, the Indian charges that the recent amendments have altered the terms of the September 2008 NSG amendment are groundless. In addition, it hardly behoves India to charge others with bad faith, when it enacted a nuclear liability bill that was out of line with all international norms of nuclear liability laws in operation in all other countries. Indeed, because of this nuclear liability law, India has not been able to sign any commercial contract with any of the international nuclear facility suppliers even though it has signed a number of country-to-country nuclear cooperation agreements - even with Russia
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which had been a strong supporter of India in the past by providing India with nuclear fuel for Tarapur in the face of opposition by other NSG members. There is another important aspect that also needs to be analysed in respect of ENR transfers to India. According to the Agreement of the understandings between India and the United States of America expressed in the India-US Joint Statement of July 18, 2005, India agreed to: identify and separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and programmes in a phased manner; file with the Agency a declaration regarding its civilian nuclear facilities (hereinafter referred to as the Declaration); and take a decision to place voluntarily its civilian nuclear facilities under Agency safeguards. The separation of the civilian and military facilities was entirely at Indias discretion and India and Indian analysts have been extremely zealous in asserting this right. Under these circumstances it would have been difficult for an NPT member to provide India with any ENR technology even if allowed to do so under NSG guidelines. The NPT members are prohibited from assisting any NPT NNWS in any nuclear weapon related activities. India is an NPT NNWS which has strategic nuclear programmes. If India is transferred ENR technologies, there is no guarantee that India cannot or may not replicate such facilities for its strategic programme and exercise its prerogative under the US-India agreement to claim that such replicated facilities are military in nature and not subject to safeguards. India has shown its technical capabilities in nuclear science and technology by replicating - successfully and on a large scale - the PHWR technology that it originally acquired from Canada. In fact, India is the only country that has imported nuclear technology and facility and successfully kept the replicated facilities out of any IAEA safeguards. No other country has been able achieve such success with its civil nuclear programmes through replication of transferred technologies. In any case, in respect of other NNWS either they were members of NPT and hence were required to keep all of their nuclear facilities under safeguards or were not technically competent, as in the case of Pakistan, to replicate technology even if it was possible for them to do so. The IAEA, in fact, modified the text of its safeguards agreement to guard against such an eventuality only after India embarked on a programme of replicating the PHWR technology. Earlier, the safeguards agreement, such as the one negotiated between India and the IAEA in 1974 in respect of the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS), required that The Government of India agrees that the nuclear material used or produced in the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station will be used only for peaceful purposes i.e. only in respect of the transferred facility. However after Indias programme of replicating RAPS, the IAEA modified its safeguards agreement to require that None of the following items shall be used for the manufacture of any nuclear weapon or to further any other military purpose or for the manufacture of any other nuclear explosive device: (1) Nuclear material or any nuclear facility transferred from one of the said States to the other; (2) Any nuclear facility which is designed, constructed or operated in one of the said States on the basis of or by the use of relevant technological information transferred from the other. In order to enforce the above requirements the safeguards agreement also included a paragraph that stated Any nuclear facility or specified equipment which is designed, constructed or operated on the basis of or by the use of relevant technological information transferred from one State to the other shall be notified to the Agency by the contracting Government of the State to which the relevant technological information had been transferred. The contracting Government of the State from which the relevant technological information had been transferred is under the obligation to consult promptly the other contracting Government if in the view of the former there is reason for a notification to the Agency under this paragraph. The contracting Governments shall jointly or severally inform the Agency promptly if any disagreement should arise between them as to whether a particular nuclear facility or specified equipment should be notified to the Agency in accordance with this paragraph. Therefore, a transfer of ENR technology to India under the current environment can be made only if India agrees to such conditions i.e. allow for an examination by IAEA or mutually agreed experts to decide whether or not any similar ENR facility constructed by India subsequent to an ENR transfer is or is not based on the transferred technology i.e. whether or not the constructed facility should or should not be covered by IAEA safeguards. If India should consider such a condition a violation of its freedom to separate the civilian and military facilities and not agreeable to it, then transfers of ENR technologies to India may not be possible even if NSG does not bar ENR transfers.
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Hence for all practical purposes the recent NSG changes should not have any appreciable impact on Indias civil nuclear programme and should not be a matter of concern from that angle. However, that does not mean that India should not be concerned by the recent NSG actions. At the time of the September 2008 NSG exemption to India from the NSG guidelines requiring full scope safeguards for nuclear transfer, the NSG also agreed that In order to facilitate Indias adherence to INFCIRC/254/Parts 1 and 2 and to remain current in its implementation of the Guidelines, the NSG chair is requested to consult with India regarding changes to and implementation of the Guidelines and inform the Plenary of the outcomes of the dialogue with India. Consultations with India regarding proposed amendments will facilitate their effective implementation by India. (Para 4, INFCIRC/ 734 (Corrected)). It is not at all certain whether the NSG followed this procedure or took into account Indias legitimate concerns. Under the circumstances it may not be out of place to suggest or assume that the NSG changes were directed primarily against India. What should India do now? Currently, NSG is considering on how to accommodate India as an NSG member. As NPT membership is also a criterion for admittance of new members to NSG, the NSG will, therefore, have to craft a language that will allow India to circumvent this requirement. If the NSG is willing to grandfather this language in respect of ENR transfers as well then India may not have any problem with the revised NSG guidelines. If, however, the NSG is unwilling to consider such a move then India may reconsider its approach to the issue of NSG membership and decline NSGs offer of NSG membership. Under the current environment, neither India nor the NSG stand to gain or lose much if India is not a member of the NSG. The reasons are: i) India has already got an NSG exemption allowing for NSG members to trade in civil nuclear commerce with India without fulfilling the requirement of IAEA full scope safeguards; ii) India has formally declared its adherence to the NSG guidelines; iii) India has a robust export control system in place; Therefore, NSG membership does not confer, at this moment, any additional benefits to India with the NSG exemption already in place. The NSG also does not get, at this moment, any additional benefits to its nonproliferation goals from Indias membership as India is already committed to adhering to the NSG guidelines. In the long run too, India does not gain much from NSG membership except for the fact that India will have a voice in future amendments to the guidelines. But, the only amendment to the NSG guidelines that would be of concern to India would perhaps be an amendment rescinding the 2008 NSG amendment. However, for the NSG members concerned about the evolution of future non-proliferation norms, Indian membership in the NSG would be crucial. India has a vibrant and growing nuclear sector in all its aspects: research and development, technology development and nuclear industry which is extremely cost competitive with the rest of the world. In future, countries interested in nuclear industry are likely to look to India as a source of technology and equipment including dual-use items as they develop their nuclear capabilities. It is not unlikely that one or more of the current NSG members would refuse them such technology and equipment. In such cases they are more likely to look towards India for fulfilling their industrial needs. The NSG members do share license information during their annual plenary and routinely exchange information on license denials. It is extremely unlikely that the NSG would be able to name specific countries or states as those being ineligible for nuclear transfers under their guidelines. Only the United Nations Security Council would be able to impose such sanctions. With no possibility of nuclear disarmament in the near and long term future, the UN would be unable to muster sufficient support for any ban on nuclear trade with a country except under dire circumstances. That being the case, a country refused a nuclear transfer license by an NSG member can approach any non-NSG member for technical and industrial assistance and India will be one of the few countries with the full range of nuclear activities that would be able assist such countries. Since India will not be member of the NSG, even if it agrees to adhere to NSG guidelines, there will be no bar on transfers from India to NPT members in good standing. It will make commercial sense as well for India to delink its nuclear commerce from that of the major NSG members who have been in the forefront of actions against India in the NSG.
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Therefore, India should refuse the offer of NSG membership even if it is offered to India in the absence of NPT membership so long as the NSG does not consider transfer of ENR technologies to India under proper safeguards as a legitimate requirement for the progress of Indian civilian nuclear programme. Prime Minister under the ambit of "Lokpal Bill" Corruption is a disease consuming the body politic. As far back as 1979, Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer observed in a judgment in his inimitable style: Fearless investigation is a sine qua non' of exposure of delinquent greats' and if the investigative agencies tremble to probe or make public the felonies of high office, white-collar offenders in the peaks may be unruffled by the law. An independent investigative agency to be set in motion by any responsible citizen is a desideratum. A good Lokpal bill has to be nothing less. It is important to observe that in most of the Lokpal bills, including the 2010 government draft (except the 1985 version), the Prime Minister is within the ambit of the Lokpal. The Constitutional position Under the Indian Constitution there is no provision to give immunity to the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers or Ministers. Under Article 361, immunity from criminal proceedings is conferred on the President and the Governor only during his term of office. The principle behind such immunity being given is as here. Constitutional heads who do not directly exercise executive powers are given immunity as heads of state. Active politicians such as Ministers, who cannot remain aloof from the hurly-burly of electoral and party politics, ethical or unethical, honest or corrupt, are not given any immunity. They are subject to penal laws and criminal liability. The basic structure of the Constitution clearly denies immunity to the Prime Minister. Internal Emergency During the period of the Internal Emergency (1975-77), Indira Gandhi enjoyed dictatorial powers. She detained without trial prominent Opposition leaders and was supported by a captive and rump Parliament. The Constitution (40th Amendment) Bill was moved in, and passed by, the Rajya Sabha in August 1975 and later it was to go before the Lok Sabha. The Bill was blacked out from the media and hence very few people knew about it. It never became law because it was not moved in the Lok Sabha. The Bill sought to amend Article 361 by substituting sub-clause (2) thus: (2) No criminal proceedings whatsoever, against or concerning a person who is or has been the President or the Prime Minister or the Governor of a State, shall lie in any court, or shall be instituted or continued in any court in respect of any act done by him, whether before he entered upon his office or during his term of office as President or Prime Minister or Governor of a State, as the case may be, and no process whatsoever including process for arrest or imprisonment shall issue from any court against such person in respect of any such act. The attempt to give life-time immunity from criminal proceedings for acts done during and even prior to assuming office, of the President, the Governor and additionally the Prime Minister did not materialize. Main arguments against bringing the Prime Minister under the Lokpal's scrutiny As the Prime Minister is covered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, we don't need him covered under Lokpal. Any misconduct by a Prime Minister can be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. However the truth and the ground realities are different. First, the CBI, the premier anti-corruption investigative agency, is under the Department of Personnel and Training, which is controlled by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). Secondly, the career prospects of CBI officers and other personnel are dependent on the political executive, and all officers are subject to transfer except the Director. Thus, the investigative arm is controlled by the political suspects' themselves. Thirdly, the Single Directive, a secret administrative directive that was invalidated by the Supreme Court in the Jain hawala case in 1997 (Vineet Narain v. Union of India) has been legislatively revived. Consequently, under Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, the CBI is disabled from starting an inquiry or investigation against Joint Secretary or higher level bureaucrats without the Central government's prior approval. Therefore, the Prevention of Corruption Act is a non-starter against Ministers and high-level bureaucrats who may act in concert. It is imperative that the CBI's anti-corruption wing be brought under the Lokpal and not under the PMO. This alone would meet the test of an independent and fearless investigative agency as enunciated by Justice Krishna Iyer.
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June & July 2011
Secondly, it is argued that if the Prime Minister is within its ambit, the Lokpal could be used by foreign powers to destabilise the government. Today, the checks on the executive government are the higher judiciary, which has actively intervened in the 2G spectrum scam and other scams; the CAG, whose reports against the functioning of the telecommunications sector triggered investigations into scams; the Election Commission headed by the Chief Election Commissioner, which conducted elections in West Bengal in the most efficient and orderly fashion. All these authorities could be undermined by a foreign power. Why should the Lokpal alone be the target of a foreign power? Why not the intelligence and defence services? Why not leaks from Cabinet Ministers and their offices bugged or not? Thirdly, it is argued that bringing the Prime Minister under the Lokpal's scrutiny would mean a parallel government being put in place. This objection is disingenuous. Do the Supreme Court and the higher judiciary constitute a parallel government? Is the CAG a parallel government? Is the CEC a parallel government? Is the CBI a parallel government? The answer is clear. These constitute checks and restraints on the political executive and the administration so that public funds are not misappropriated and constitutional democracy and citizen rights are not subverted. The Lokpal will be under the Constitution and subject to judicial review, and it is imperative that the anti-corruption wing of the CBI be brought under the Lokpal. There is no question of any parallel government. The Lokpal will be only a check on the corrupt activities of the Executive. If all checks and balances are to be regarded as the marks of a parallel government and therefore abolished, it will be a recipe for dictatorship. Main arguments for bringing the Prime Minister under the Lokpal's scrutiny The Prime Minister, though the head of government, is only first amongst equals. In a democratic country, political vacuum does not arise as the Cabinet has a collective responsibility. Also, our past experience does not show that all our Prime Ministers have been angels. Serious credible accusations have been made against them. The regret always was that in the absence of an independent mechanism like the Lok Pal to enquire into these allegations, the ruling party was able to successfully scuttle any honest independent enquiry. India @ SCO In the summit last year in Tashkent, the SCO decided to bring in some more countries as full members as well as observers. It is hoped that India will soon become a full member of SCO. In fact, India and Pakistan are considered as the favorites for joining the six-nation regional grouping. The UN sanctions effectively block Iran from joining the SCO. According to SCO norms and rules a country which wants to become a full member of the SCO cannot be subject to UN Security Council sanctions. Indias full membership in the SCO would help to strengthen the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking. Itll also provide India a closer platform for integration with the Eurasian States (including Central Asia and Russia) and can address the geopolitical as well as security concerns of the region. India, along with other SCO states, can contribute in increasing regional stability. The growing importance of the SCO makes it essential for India to increase dialogue and engagement with this body and strengthen its position within the forum. A strong India-SCO relationship would bring major trade and investment opportunities for India. The SCO is gradually realising its ambitious economic integration agenda, including the formation of a free-trade zone and setting-up rules for the free movement of goods, services and technologies within SCO member states. With its rapidly growing economy, Indias energy demands are set to grow manifold, and in this context the energy-rich SCO states could be of strategic importance. India has played an important role in strengthening the SCO since it joined it as an observer at the fifth summit held in July 2005 in Astana. India shares with the SCO common positions on many politico-security issues and concerns of the region. India has good relations with all SCO members; hence, prospects for future cooperation are very bright. India is interested in getting the SCO's full membership for politico-economic as well as security reasons. It is also expected that during Chinas SCO presidentship in 2012, India-Pakistan and India-China relationship will improve considerably as leaders of the SCO member states announced 2011-2012 as the SCO's year of good-neighborliness and friendship. India and Global Zero Summit
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June & July 2011
The international Global Zero movement was launched in December 2008 for the phased, verified elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. But the Global Zero got going in late 2006 itself. Its two founders were Bruce Blair, a former Minuteman ballistic-missile launch-control officer and fellow of Brookings Institution who had set up the World Security Institute, a think-tank in Washington, DC, a few years earlier and Matt Brown, who had served as a youthful secretary of state for Rhode Island. It was started with the belief that the only way to eliminate the nuclear threat including proliferation and nuclear terrorism is to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, secure all nuclear materials and eliminate all nuclear weapons: global zero. Global Zero announced itself with a meeting in December 2008 that drew together more than 100 international political, diplomatic, military and academic bigwigs. They agreed to set up a commission that would draw up a practical, step-by-step plan. They also sent a jointly signed letter to Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, who were about to meet for the first time, urging them to make a commitment to eliminate nuclear weapons and start making further big cuts in their own arsenals. The UN Security Council endorsed in September 2009 the goal of Global Zero. In February 2010 in Paris, the 2nd Global Zero Summit convened 200 eminent leaders from around the world. Presidents Obama and Medvedev and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sent strong statements of support, including President Obamas declaration that Global Zero will always have a partner in me and my administration. More than 400,000 people from every country in the world have signed the Global Zero declaration in less than 3 years of its existence. Students are getting involved, starting over 70 Global Zero chapters on college campuses worldwide. Global Zero, in partnership with the Academy Award winning team behind An Inconvenient Truth, Lawrence Bender and Participant Media, produced Countdown to Zero, a major documentary film. Global Zero held its third annual summit in London recently. India Indias clean record gives her more say than her actual global status in such an international initiative. India has been steadfast in its support for global, non-discriminatory, verifiable nuclear disarmament. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi presented a visionary Action Plan for a Nuclear-Weapon-Free and Non-Violent World Order. This Action Plan sets out a roadmap for achieving nuclear disarmament in a time-bound, universal, non-discriminatory, phased and verifiable manner. The goal of nuclear disarmament can be achieved by a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework that is global and non-discriminatory. Progressive steps are needed for the de-legitimization of nuclear weapons. Measures to reduce nuclear dangers arising from accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons, increasing restraints on the use of nuclear weapons and de-alerting of nuclear weapons are essential steps. There is need for a meaningful dialogue among all states possessing nuclear weapons to build trust and confidence and for reducing the salience of nuclear weapons in international affairs and security doctrines. This campaign can be taken forward by forging a renewed consensus on non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament. Public awareness and support is vital to generate and sustain an irreversible momentum until we reach our cherished goal of a world without nuclear weapons. Redefining the role of Election Commission The five State Assembly polls in April-May 2011 has produced a victor going beyond what the voters in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry have chosen. The Election Commission has appropriated kudos that goes beyond the role assigned to it under the constitutional scheme - and not without reason. The Election Commission's initiatives in the recent elections were a natural progression of the trend set in motion in the early Nineties. Independent of issues pertaining to the supremacy of the CEC over the laterday appointment of two Election Commissioners when Seshan held the wheel, or when seniority and corruption issues dogged the poll panel as with other institutions of governance, it held forth, nonetheless. If anything, it only grew in stature and substance, without allowing internal equations to come in the way. It was thus that in the Bihar Assembly polls in 2010, followed now by the Assembly elections in 2011, equal, if not more, media space came to be allocated to the poll panel as for all the political parties in each State put together. After all, the Election Commission is the only stakeholder involved in the conduct of polls in all the
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States and all constituencies in an equal/equitable measure, compared to even the political parties staking claims to form government(s). Elections-2011 was noted for the way the Election Commission attempted to check the use, misuse and abuse of money-power and political power. The latter related to the party in power. It may not have succeeded fully, but there was no denying the presence of the Election Commission in every nook and corner of the States that went to the polls. It was felt more in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in particular, where 'scientific rigging' had taken new forms and names. 'Cash for vote' was only one. That the Election Commission could enforce discipline among the State Government employees and command them to do be fair and fearless in the discharge of poll-related duties has made a difference to the quality of work that could be extracted from the very same people when placed in different circumstances. New meaning and direction Apart from launching days-long operations across the State, to check transfer of illegal money through all modes of transport, in the case of Tamil Nadu, the Election Commission ordered the overnight transfer of the Director-General of Police, and indicated the same in the case of ADGP (Intelligence). Down the line, more police officials and bureaucrats were transferred, with the aim of ensuring free and fair elections. The Election Commission also summoned the services of senior officials from other States for poll duty in Tamil Nadu. To a greater or lesser degree, it was the case in the other four States, too. It had been so in the 2010 Bihar elections. Possibly for the first time ever, there were no incidents of violence in the State at the time. Each election that way has been an improvement on the previous one, in terms of the Election Commission's reach, depth and width in the enforcement of the 'Model Code of Conduct', accountsverification process for individual candidates and parties, and overall law and order enforcement during the poll period. For a nation that embraced elected democracy as the best way to govern itself, the Election Commission has introduced a new meaning, purpose and direction since 1991. In a way, electoral reforms and ethics were not on the top of the national agenda at the turn of Independence, or later when "we, the people of India" gave ourselves a Constitution and constitutional scheme. In good time, they have claimed their due place. The process(es) had been delayed but could not have been put off, however. Their diffidence to the contrary notwithstanding, political parties and governments in the country have had exhibited a unique conciliatory tone, bordering on grudging acknowledgement of the role of two constitutional institutions. The higher judiciary has traditionally remained one. The Election Commission has acquired a similar status since it shed its image as a 'toothless tiger'. As has variously been explained by a succession of CECs and Election Commissioners over the past two decades, the poll panel has been acting only within the framework of the Constitution and the laws of the land. It has derived additional muscle from a series of Supreme Court verdicts. The court conferred legality and enforceability on the 'Model Code'. The Executive and the Legislature have not had the moral courage to contest it. The courts had similarly clarified that all poll-related officials deputed/co-opted from State and Central Government services would come under the administrative and disciplinary control of the Election Commission. This has not been contested even by trade unions of Government employees, or the associations of the elite corps from the IAS and IPS. Lately, the Election Commission has shown an uncanny knack for enforcing these two provisions to great effect. The processes initiated by the Election Commission on this score and others have restored the fast-fading confidence of the people at large in the poll process and democracy as a whole. The feeling of restored confidence in democracy is no more confined to the urban elite or their rural counterpart. Across the country, the sense of despondency in participative democracy has been replaced by hope. Need for greater legitimacy It is now the Election Commission will have to eschew any over-arching ambition to out-bet other constitutional institutions. Nor could individual Election Commissioners, starting with the CEC, come to any hasty conclusion that armed with constitutional powers and court verdicts, they could seek to replace any other arms/pillars of Government under the democratic scheme. Independent of the party or person in power, the Executive has emerged as the favourite whipping boy of all other pillars of democracy, starting with the higher judiciary. While a free media has been acknowledged as a fourth pillar, in the Indian context, the Election Commission has emerged as the fifth and the newest. For a greater purpose and meaning to be derived from the on-going exercises involving the Election Commission, greater legitimacy and constitutionality need to be conferred on it more directly, to make its actions justiciable under all circumstances.
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June & July 2011
MINING IN INDIA Minerals are valuable natural resources being finite and non-renewable. They constitute the vital raw materials for many basic industries and are a major resource for development. In India, 80% of mining is in coal and the balance 20% is in various metals and other raw materials such as gold, copper, iron, lead, bauxite, zinc and uranium. India with diverse and significant mineral resources is the leading producer of some of the minerals. India is not endowed with all the requisite mineral resources. Of the 89 minerals produced in India, 4 are fuel minerals, 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic and 22 minor minerals. India is the largest producer of mica blocks and mica splittings; ranks third in the production of coal & lignite, barytes and chromite; 4th in iron ore, 6th in bauxite and manganese ore, 10th in aluminium and 11th in crude steel. Iron-ore, copper-ore, chromite and or zinc concentrates, gold, manganese ore, bauxite, lead concentrates, and silver account for the entire metallic production. Limestone, magnesite, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite & phosphorite, steatite and fluorite account for 92 percent of non-metallic minerals. Regulation of Minerals Management of mineral resources in India is the responsibility of the Central Government and the State Governments in terms of Entry 54 of the Union List (List I) and Entry 23 of the State List (List II) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The Central Government in consultation with the State Governments formulates the legal measures 'Go' and 'no go' areas for the regulation of mines and the A 'no go' zone is a densely forested area where mining development of mineral resources to ensure will not be allowed at any cost. "Thirty-five per cent of basic uniformity in mineral administration and coal mining areas fall in "no go areas" where mining will to ensure that the development of mineral not be allowed. resources keeps pace, and is in consonance 'Go' area prima facie means that the ministry will only with the national policy goals. The regulation consider the proposal for approval or rejection. It is of mines and development of mineral possible that a mine in a 'go' area after inspection turns out resources in accordance with the national to be a 'no-go' mine". goals and priorities is the responsibility of the Central and State Governments. The role to be played by the Central and State Governments in regard to mineral development has been extensively dealt in the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 and rules made under the Act by the Central Government and the State Governments in their respective domains. The provisions of the Act and the Rules are reviewed from time to time and harmonized with the policies governing industrial and socio-economic developments in India. The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 lays down the legal frame-work for the regulation of mines and development of all minerals other than petroleum and natural gas. The Central Government has framed the Mineral Concession Rules 1960 for regulating grant of prospecting licences and mining leases in respect of all minerals other than atomic minerals and minor minerals. The State Governments have framed the rules in regard to minor minerals. The Central Government has also framed the Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988 for conservation and systematic development of minerals. These are applicable to all minerals except coal, atomic minerals and minor minerals. National Mineral Policy A national mineral policy has evolved over the years in India. The policy emphasizes the need for conservation and judicious exploitation of finite mineral resources through scientific methods of mining, beneficiation and economic utilization. Simultaneously, it keeps in view the present & future needs of defence and development of India and strives to ensure indigenous availability of basic and strategic minerals to avoid disruption of core industrial production in times of international strife. The basic objectives of the mineral policy in respect of minerals are:(a) to explore for identification of mineral wealth in the land and in off-shore areas; (b) to develop mineral resources taking into account the national and strategic considerations and to ensure their adequate supply and best use keeping in view the present needs and future requirements; (c) to promote necessary linkages for smooth and uninterrupted development of the mineral industry to meet the needs of India;
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(d) to promote research and development in minerals; (e) to ensure establishment of appropriate educational and training facilities for human resources development to meet the manpower requirements of the mineral industry; (f) to minimise adverse effects of mineral development on the forest, environment and ecology through appropriate protective measures; and (g) to ensure conduct of mining operations with due regard to safety and health of all concerned. According to the policy, induction of foreign technology and foreign participation in exploration and mining for high value and scarce minerals shall be pursued. Foreign equity investment in joint ventures in mining promoted by Indian companies would be encouraged. While foreign investment in equity would normally be limited to 50%, this limitation would not apply to captive mines of any mineral processing industry. Enhanced equity holding can also be considered on a case to case basis. In respect of joint venture mining projects of minerals & metals in which India is deficient or does not have exportable surplus, a stipulated share of production would have to be made available to meet the needs of the domestic market before exports from such projects are allowed. In case of ores whose known reserves are not abundant, preference will be given to those who propose to take up their mining for captive use. The policy also addresses certain aspects and elements like mineral exploration in the sea-bed, development of proper inventory, proper linkage between exploitation of minerals and development of mineral industry, protection of forest, preference to members of the scheduled tribes for development of small deposits in scheduled areas, environment and ecology from the adverse effects of mining, enforcement of mining plan for adoption of proper mining methods and optimum utilisation of minerals, export of minerals in value added form and recycling of metallic scrap & mineral waste. Comptroller and Auditor General - redefining As the most important instrument of accountability, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has a dual role to perform as an agency to function on behalf of the Legislature to ensure that the executive complies with the various laws passed by the Legislature in letter and spirit, and secondly, on behalf of the Executive to ensure compliance by subordinate authorities with the rules and orders issued by it. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, as the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department, is thus neither a part of the Legislature nor the Executive but is an officer created by the Constitution to see that diverse authorities act in regard to all financial matters in accordance with the Constitution and the laws and rules framed there under. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is more than just the keeper of our national accounts. It is, in many ways, a conscience-keeper and a watchdog. Like the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, the CAG has managed to protect its integrity and independence despite pressure from various arms of the state. If conducted freely and fairly, a robust audit can serve as a catalyst for corrective action. The CAG's report on Bofors in 1989 had major political consequences. Its explosive 2010 report on the allocation of 2G spectrum led to the filing of criminal charges against politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen. Other reports may have had a less dramatic political impact but they have been equally useful. The CAG's observations may be politically embarrassing to the government but they clearly contribute to the public good. Democratic India must ensure that the government takes the work of this constitutionally sanctioned institution very seriously and removes the obstacles placed in the path of a more effective and efficient audit process. Aware of the limitations of its mandate, the CAG has asked the government to make three broad amendments in the 1971 Audit Act, which governs the functioning of the audit authorities. The first amendment is intended to ensure that government departments reply to audit enquiries in 30 days rather than in the open-ended manner as now. Secondly, the CAG wants the statute to stipulate a clear timeframe for the tabling of completed audit reports on the floor of the relevant legislature. The Act, as it stands today, gives the Central and State governments wide latitude in this regard and it is hardly surprising that this freedom has been abused to delay making public the audit reports that contain embarrassing observations. The third set of proposed amendments is aimed at bringing the CAG's legal mandate up to speed with the changes that have taken place in the way public money is spent. Since the 1971 Act was passed, the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution have been adopted, adding a layer of decentralised governance and hence expenditure management to the institutions of the state.
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Liberalisation has meant public money is increasingly utilised in joint ventures and public-private partnerships. Because of ambiguities in its mandate, the CAG feels unable adequately to audit this vast area of public economic activity. The government should deal with the call for a modernised Audit Act proactively. INDIAAFRICA FORUM SUMMIT The IndiaAfrica Forum Summit is the official platform for the African-Indian relations. It was first held from April 4 to April 8, 2008 in New Delhi, India. It was the first such meeting between the heads of state and government of India and 14 countries of Africa chosen by the African Union. Libya and Egypt's heads of state did not attend. The second summit was held at Addis Ababa, with India and 15 African Countries participating. The leaders discussed significant aspects of the India-Africa partnership with the objective of enhancing and widening its ambit for mutual benefit. Second Africa-India Forum Summit 2011: Addis Ababa Declaration The Addis Ababa Declaration which was adopted at the end of the second Africa-India Forum Summit called on all countries to ensure that acts of cross-border terrorism do not occur and that their territories are not made a base for terrorists. Both India and Africa condemned piracy and terrorism in all forms and called for active prosecution of persons who subscribe to such heinous crimes. The declaration also called on all states to cooperate with each other in order to prosecute, render legal assistance, extradite with maters pertaining to international terrorism. On the issue of piracy which has becoming a major menace, the declaration condemned such acts. The leaders condemned kidnapping, hostage taking and demanding ransom and also the political concessions in such cases. In the declaration India supported Africas claims for permanent membership of the Security Council. On its part Africa backs Indias claim to a permanent seat with full rights in an expanded Security Council. INDIA - UZBEKISTAN RELATIONS The relations between India and Uzbekistan are based on shared historical and cultural ties. Over the years there has been a steady exchange of high level visits between the two countries. Uzbek President Islam Karimov paid an official visit to India on May 17-19. It was his fifth visit to India. Karimov is the President of Uzbekistan since 1990. He came to India to hold talks on strengthening security, energy links and communication. During this visit, India and Uzbekistan signed more than 30 agreements. India and Uzbekistan also issued a joint declaration in the course of this visit which asked for active cooperation in a wide spectrum of areas including political, counter-terrorism, health, education, human resource development, science and technology and culture. The two leaders also condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and decided to continue holding consultations on it, under the aegis of the Indo-Uzbek Joint Working Group on combating international terrorism. The leaders held a detailed discussion on the persistent unstable situation in Afghanistan, and underlined the importance of early establishment of peace and stability in the country. Uzbekistan reaffirmed support for India's candidature for permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council, and the two sides agreed to strengthen their cooperation within the framework of SCO. Afghanistan concern The views of Uzbekistan and India converge on regional security especially with respect to the situation in Afghanistan. Tashkent agrees with New Delhi's reasoning of winnowing the bad Taliban from the good and then going in for reconciliation with sections that have repudiated the al-Qaeda ideology of militancy and violence to usher a universal Islamic caliphate. At the receiving end of an al-Qaeda inspired militancy, Uzbekistan has cracked down ruthlessly and nearly decimated the feared Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan especially after the Andijan stand-off with its security forces in 2005. In opening up communication links, India will be especially interested in two proposed routes that would bypass Pakistan and the restive southern Afghanistan while giving it access to Central Asia. Both originate from Tashkent, pass through Termez in Uzbekistan and Mazar-e-Sharief in Afghanistan. They then branch off from the western Afghan city of Herat.
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The proposed western spur goes to Delaram, follows the India-built road till the Iran border and, if the missing links are put in place, connects to the Iranian port of Chabar. The second alternative would pass through Iran's Sangan and Kerman cities before ending at the Banda Abbas port. In both cases, India will have to ship its goods to the Iranian ports and then transport them by land into Afghanistan and Central Asian countries that lie in the north and the east. Currently, part of the route in Uzbekistan is used by the NATO to send supplies to its forces in Afghanistan. Another promising area of cooperation is energy. National companies have reached an understanding over sourcing underground coal gasification technology from Uzbekistan and are likely to sign a pact over identifying blocks for exploration. The Gas Authority of India Limited is engaged in talks with Uzbekneftgas for scouting for gas in Karakal-Pakistan region. FARMING IN THE AGE OF E-TRADING In the absence of such swift information flow, farm markets and consumers can be badly hit. The severe inflation in onion prices in Delhi in December 2010 was actually due to a crop failure in Maharashtra in November 2010. There was a lag of 30 days for corrective action to be taken, and the price volatility was a result of the decision-makers' lack of access to the right information. CENTRALISED SYSTEM Unlike in other countries, such situations tend to have an exaggerated impact in India because of the large population and ever-growing demand fuelled by greater economic activity. Minor variations in the production cycles of any crop would result in a production dip of a few million tonnes and jack up prices. The global trade in agriculture commodities, especially perishables, being razor thin, it becomes extremely difficult to import perishables within a short time-frame to tame inflation. In the context of climate change and unpredictable variations in weather patterns across the world, it is of utmost importance to be prepared for such eventualities. Three institutional innovations could go a long way in taming inflation as well as lead to better incomes for farmers. First, there is a dire need for a robust, centralised agriculture intelligence gathering system. Such a system should capture production details of all crops, the demand levels and market prices, and closely monitor the weather and its implications on crops. When a query is posed on any crop on any day, the system should be able to come up with accurate numbers and facts. The intelligence gathering should not be limited to Indian conditions but also factor in the ground realities in neighbouring countries and major importing destinations. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has had such system in place for many decades and has proved pivotal in taking decisions on export and import of agriculture commodities. PRODUCER COMPANIES Second, an institutional mechanism in the form of producer companies or farmers associations needs to be put in place to use intelligence efficiently. For instance, if an early warning system predicts a sub-normal or delayed monsoon, information on cultivation of short-duration crops must be conveyed to farmers. Producer companies would be the right vehicles to disseminate such information quickly and mobilise farmers to shift their cropping patterns. The bargaining power of farmers would also improve if they organise themselves into producer companies. This could be effectively leveraged to strike better deals for purchase of inputs as well as sale of farm produce. ELECTRONIC PLATFORM Last, electronically connecting farmers and consumers could go a long way in eliminating intermediaries and taming inflation. This would ensure higher farm gate prices and lower consumer prices. Fortunately, we have a head start in this area, as such models are already operational in the market, by way of electronic spot exchanges such as the MCX supported National Spot Exchange Limited (NSEL) and NCDEX Spot Exchange (NSpot). These spot exchanges enable farmers to participate on their platforms for sale of agri produce in lots as small as 10 quintals. They ensure farmers get best prices from across the mandis/processors/retail players in the country. The Government should look at providing enough support to these institutions to scale up rapidly and operate in every district. One can look forward to a rapid deceleration in food inflation if such spot exchanges are, in turn, connected to producer companies.
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The institutional innovations suggested would resolve issues related to higher inflation and efficient distribution of perishables and also ensure higher incomes for farmers. LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP (LLP) 1. Concept of limited liability partnership LLP is an alternative corporate business form that gives the benefits of limited liability of a company and the flexibility of a partnership. The LLP can continue its existence irrespective of changes in partners. It is capable of entering into contracts and holding property in its own name. The LLP is a separate legal entity, is liable to the full extent of its assets but liability of the partners is limited to their agreed contribution in the LLP. Further, no partner is liable on account of the independent or un-authorized actions of other partners, thus individual partners are shielded from joint liability created by another partners wrongful business decisions or misconduct. Mutual rights and duties of the partners within a LLP are governed by an agreement between the partners or between the partners and the LLP as the case may be. The LLP, however, is not relieved of the liability for its other obligations as a separate entity. Since LLP contains elements of both a corporate structure as well as a partnership firm structure LLP is called a hybrid between a company and a partnership. Committees, which have made 2. Structure of an LLP recommendations for legislation on LLPs in LLP shall be a body corporate and a legal India entity separate from its partners. It will have perpetual Bhat Committee (1972) succession. Naik Committee (1992) 3. Advantages of LLP form Expert Committee on Development of Small LLP form is a form of business model which: Sector Enterprises headed by Sh. Abid (i) is organized and operates on the basis of an Hussain in 1997. agreement. Study Group on Development of Small Sector (ii) provides flexibility without imposing detailed legal Enterprises (SSEs) headed by Dr. S P Gupta and procedural requirements (2001). (iii) enables professional/technical expertise and Following Committees set up by M/o Company initiative to combine with financial risk taking capacity in Affairs have also recommended for legislation on an innovative and efficient manner LLPs:4. Other countries where this form is available Committee on Regulation of Private The LLP structure is available in countries Companies and Partnerships headed by Sh. like United Kingdom, United States of America, Naresh Chandra (2003). various Gulf countries, Australia and The Committee on New Company Law (Dr. Singapore. On the advice of experts who have J.J. Irani Committee) (2005). studied LLP legislations in various countries, the LLP Act is broadlybased on UK LLP Act 2000 and Singapore LLP Act 2005. Both these Acts allow creation of LLPs in a body corporate form i.e. as a separate legal entity, separate from its partners/members. 5. Difference between LLP & traditional partnership firm Under traditional partnership firm, every partner is liable, jointly with all the other partners and also severally for all acts of the firm done while he is a partner. Under LLP structure, liability of the partner is limited to his agreed contribution. Further, no partner is liable on account of the independent or un-authorized acts of other partners, thus allowing individual partners to be shielded from joint liability created by another partners wrongful acts or misconduct. 6. Difference between LLP & a Company A basic difference between an LLP and a joint stock company lies in that the internal governance structure of a company is regulated by statute (i.e. Companies Act, 1956) whereas for an LLP it would be by a contractual agreement between partners. The management-ownership divide inherent in a company is not there in a limited liability partnership. LLP will have more flexibility as compared to a company.
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LLP will have lesser compliance requirements as compared to a company.
ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS - A DEFINITE PRELUDE TO THE 2014 GENERAL ELECTION? The Assembly elections are a definite prelude to the 2014 general election. The most important message from the results of Assembly Elections 2011 is that the voter can no longer be taken for granted. The results of the April-May 2011 round of Assembly elections in four States and the Union Territory of Puducherry contain many historically pertinent signals for the various players in the national polity. Geographically, this round covered only two corners of the country West Bengal and Assam in the East and Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in the South and accounted for roughly 1/5th of the strength of Parliament, but the messages that the results sent have relevance for the whole country. More specifically, there is a thematic dimension to the verdicts and this is bound to recur in elections across the country in the days to come. At the level of realpolitik are the dramatic defeats of the Left parties in their long-standing bastion of West Bengal and the serious setback for the ruling Congress at the Centre in terms of sustaining the political gains it made in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The defeats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and the wafer-thin majority in Kerala have played an important part in the realpolitik reverses for the Congress. A close look at these reverses takes one to the thematic issues. Central to the thematic messages in the verdict is the reiteration that the Indian electorate, which has underscored its maturity from time to time, does not brook political cynicism and stasis in governance. There is also the message that the adaptation mechanisms political parties employ to keep up with the changing times have to imbibe and reflect the fundamental life concerns of the common people. Besides these, the outcome also points to the influence, in some regions, of conventional sectarian considerations on the basis of caste and community and issues such as anti-incumbency. Political cynicism and the popular rejection of it was most dominant in Tamil Nadu, where the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its ally, the Congress, sought to brush vital governance issues and corruption under the carpet through a mixture of populism and welfarism'. Even in Kerala one of the strands in the campaign of the Communist Party of India( Marxist )-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), which was pipped at the post by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), was against treating corruption and other deviations in politics as the norm, and this generated tremendous popular response. The point about the mismatch between the adaptation of new-age mechanisms and addressing the fundamental concerns of the people presented itself strikingly in West Bengal where the Left Front's efforts to bring in industrial investment in a predominantly agrarian society backfired. In statistical terms, the Congress and its allies won in West Bengal, Kerala and Assam, while regional parties that are not aligned with the Hindutva-oriented principal national opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), triumphed in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leads the new government in Tamil Nadu and is a part of the winning combine in Puducherry. Riding the wave of resentment towards the DMK regime marred by corruption and nepotism, the Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK has achieved a massive victory in the Tamil Nadu Assembly election. Corruption free governance should be the new Chief Minister's top priority. As for Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front, which has won a wafer thin majority, should give more importance to the politics of consensus to ensure that the State is firmly on the path of sustainable development. In West Bengal, the Left Front regime, which had been in office for a record 34 straight years, crumbled under the political assault of the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance. Puducherry also witnessed a verdict against political cynicism and attempts to use populism to overcome flak for corruption and misgovernance. The ruling Congress suffered a shock defeat at the hands the All India NR Congress (AINRC) led by former Congress leader N.R. Rangasamy. Assam, too, presented a study in contrast to the brand of political cynicism displayed by the ruling party in Tamil Nadu. Here, Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi represented the non-cynical approach to politics and governance against the overtly regional Asom Gana Parishad, the minority-politics of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), and the Hindutva-oriented BJP. Electorally, this meant Gogoi returned as Chief Minister for the third time.
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In spite of the positive victory in Assam and the gains made in West Bengal and Kerala in the company of allies, the Congress' national leadership has no reason to be happy over Assembly Elections 2011. In both West Bengal and Kerala, the leader of the ruling coalition at the Centre is at the mercy of its allies. While in West Bengal it is decisively the minor partner of the Trinamool Congress, in Kerala it will be under pressure from powerful smaller parties such as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Kerala Congress (Mani group). The IUML has 20 seats and the KC(M) nine, whereas the Congress tally has fallen to 38. Clearly, turbulent times lie ahead. For the Congress, the results the loss of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry and the unimpressive win in Kerala are all the more disappointing when compared with the 2009 Lok Sabha election results. In that election, the Congress and its allies literally swept these States, raising visions of impressive victories in the 2011 Assembly polls. But the corruption scandals and misgovernance took away the Congress' advantage. The scandals that rocked the Manmohan Singh-led UPA-II government included the 2G spectrum allocation scam, the Antrix-Devas deal, the misappropriation of funds and corruption in the conduct of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the blatant violation of rules in the construction and allotment of apartments in the Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai. The cumulative effect of all this is bound to reflect at the level of day-to-day governance at the Centre. The Congress' regional allies, the Trinamool Congress, the IUML or the KC (M), have emerged stronger than the Congress after the latest round of Assembly elections. This is bound to make them more demanding and aggressive. Education of Tribal Children in India The term tribe or tribal is not defined anywhere in the Constitution although according to the Article 342, ST represents the tribe or tribal communities that are notified by the President. Tribes are not part of the traditional Hindu caste structure. STs in India are more like the indigenous or native people in other parts of the world. Mishra (2002) defines Scheduled tribes as people who (I) claim themselves as indigenous to the soil; (ii) generally inhabit forest and hilly regions; (iii) largely pursue a subsistence level economy; (iv) have grate regard for traditional religious and cultural practices; (v) believe in common ancestry and (vi) have strong group ties. However, all characteristics do not apply to all tribal communities. Tribals are not homogenous groups. There are at least four groups of STs hunting-gathering group, agricultural group, irrigation-agricultural group and industrial wage earning group. In a country marked by a spaghetti bowl of languages, castes, religions and ideas; cementing indigenous values while embracing modernity, is a progressive phenomenon. Within the context of the education of marginalized communities such as tribals, a fine balance between these two ends of the spectrum is necessary to yield results that have an impact, are sustainable, and underpin a holistic education effort. Education as a means of advancement of capacity, well-being and opportunity is uncontested, and more so among communities on the periphery. Marked improvements in access and to some extent in quality of primary education in tribal areas have occurred, and stem from government and non-government initiatives. However, the number of out-of-school children continues to be several millions, mainly due to a lack of interest and parental motivation, inability to understand the medium of instruction (i.e. state language), teacher absenteeism and attitude, opportunity cost of time spent in school (particularly for girls), large seasonal migration etc. Low literacy rates in tribal communities continue to indicate a need for overarching support that tackles issues from health to attitudes of non-tribal populations. Recognizing that the education system is currently designed for the dominant group, there needs to be investment in creating support mechanisms that supplement the assimilation of tribal children into the formal education system. There has been a clear indication that education support programs need to build on the strengths of the tribal community, value their culture and history, and at the same time, establish programs which enable, more or less seamless, integration into mainstream education systems. This balancing act between preserving tribal cultural identity and mainstreaming for economic prosperity can be better achieved through creating stronger community cultural wealth by developing a tribal child as an individual. Educational content must encompass building life skills that can help integration with the mainstream system. The tribal population in India, an estimated 87 million, is marked by intense diversity. Traditionally referred to as adivasis, tribes, or tribals, scheduled tribes (STs) constitute about 9% of Indias population. Despite diversity in their community history, languages, production practices, and relationships with the non-tribal world, approximately 87 million Indians fall under the adivasi population, of which nomadic and denotified
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communities (DNTs), are at a projected 60 million. Nine States Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, and West Bengal together account for more than four-fifths of the total tribal population in India. Each of the 573 scheduled tribes has their own language, and differs from the one mostly spoken in the State where they reside. Tribals are not a homogenous group. Different tribes, even if living in the same village, maintain exclusive identities. Socialization is generally endogamous and they identify more with people belonging to their tribe rather than to those living in the same village or area. Due to the absence of rehabilitation following Independence, tribals are dispersed across the country, and live on the periphery further away from urbanization. As industrialization and urbanization flourish, infrastructure such as roads, water, electricity are not reaching these tribal localities. Reduced accessibility and connection has further deprived tribals from improving their lives. Additionally, adivasis who have accepted facelessness as the only option for survival often migrate to cities as an attempt to stumble on a job within the mainstream. However, they are often unable to find a place in city slums, due to an entrenched caste hierarchy that is difficult to penetrate. Realizing the need to improve the overall status of tribals, their education has emerged at the forefront of recent development efforts. Despite the education initiatives, there is disparity among the states in terms of tribal literacy rates. There exist areas in the tribal-dominated districts across India that remains largely unserved by primary education facilities. Tribal children tend to inhabit forests and hard-to-reach areas where dwellings are spread and access to good quality education is more limited. Low enrolment coupled with soaring drop-out rates in primary schools exacerbates the problem, which has its origin in a gamut of inter-related cultural and socioeconomic variables. Adivasis are associated with a certain stigma and behavior, which can be partially tackled through a change in mindset among non-tribals. The under-development of the tribal areas further exacerbates issues in delivering quality education: Good teachers prefer to live in urban/semi urban centres and therefore, need to commute for 4-5 hours per day to reach tribal area schools Lack of electricity and water results in poor school infrastructure causing dismal sanitary conditions and low ventilation Long lead times for delivery of teaching materials imply that textbooks and training materials arrive at the schools after the training program, or not at all. The situation of tribal education is related to the quality of education in general, and not solely to being tribal. Of course being a tribal also means that most of the time they are also poor, they live in areas where the provision of education is very weak, so the situation is not only because they are tribals but because of all these inter-related issues. It is important therefore to view the problem in all its complexity. INTERNAL FACTORS Internal factors are intrinsic to the structure of the education system, and can be addressed through appropriate programs. Language of Instruction - State or Tribal language? - Tribal children have limited contact with the state language, and tend to speak in their own local dialect. Government schools use the state language for teaching and communication, which is most often not familiar to a tribal child at the pre-primary and primary levels. They are thus unable to fully comprehend classroom teaching and activities, read in the state language or understand the texts properly. Curriculum Content - Methods and Materials - Under the government program Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), words, terminologies, messages, topics reflected in the syllabus and textbooks are most often alien to tribals, and can reinforce their differing identity. Language resources of the tribal community can be tapped for this purpose, as has been done by the government in Orissa. Developing primers and dictionaries in the tribal dialect involving content from the local context can help improve the quality of teaching. Teacher Training and Pedagogy - Teacher absenteeism in tribal areas is high as teachers most often live in cities. Children are taught using a city syllabus, which is less applicable to tribal areas, leaving children in a state of confusion. At the same time, teachers, when they are present, are often unclear about the teaching methodology, and do not offer flexibility and freedom to students.
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Children are taught by teachers who may or may not be from the tribal community. The presence of tribal teachers, especially from the same community, has shown and improved school participation of tribal children, as these teachers understand and respect the culture with greater sensitivity. Assuming that tribal teachers are a more natural fit, many states have appointed community teachers or para teachers. However, cases have indicated that special training on both course materials as well as appropriate conduct with tribal students has to be undertaken even if the teacher has tribal origins. Community Participation and Ownership - Ownership by the community is one of the most complex issues. Often, despite homogeneity, communities are marked by fragmentation and power structures, thereby complicating institutional design. Achieving significant scale and impact in the tribal areas is often problematic, and can only be achieved through strong community involvement and improving the culture for education. In order to engage communities fully in the education process as collaborative partners, they have to experience meaningful education. Emphasis should not be merely on imparting education to enrolled children, but also bringing about a real social change in the community. A sense of community ownership of schools and teacher empowerment can lead to improvement in other indicators such as enrolment, retention, equality of opportunity and learning levels. New and comprehensive ways of engaging communities have to be explored constantly, keeping in mind the changing needs of the community. EXTERNAL FACTORS External factors lie outside the education system, and are the problems a program attempts to combat Gender Bias - Although external to the education system, gender disparity is an important issue that needs to be tackled via appropriate programs. Tribal girls have a higher tendency to drop-out and a lower tendency to enroll in school. In many tribal communities, parents give minimal importance to girls education due to economic and social limitations, send them to school only intermittently, or keep the girls sheltered from the outside world. Most frequently, girls, apart from taking part in agricultural activities and collection of forest products are engaged in sibling care. They are often forcibly pulled out from schools, and become child laborers, never to return to education. Accessibility and Migration - Physical access to schooling in tribal areas is often difficult given unfavorable geographic conditions, sparse population, remoteness of the tribal village, or migratory patterns of tribals. Seasonal migration has become a reality in many parts of the country, caused by relentless drought and environmental degradation, and is particularly common in several tribal areas. It has been observed that migrant populations (comprising mainly the landless poor, who have hardly any other assets, skills or education) are overwhelmingly from tribal communities. As a result, education of migrant children in tribal areas becomes a huge hurdle, as a large number of poor rural families are forced to migrate out of their villages for several months every year in search of work, merely to survive. Children tend to accompany their parents, drop out of school and are forced into hard labor at work sites. Conclusion: Education is the single most important means by which individuals and society can improve personal endowments, build capacity levels, overcome barriers, and expand opportunities for a sustained improvement in their well being. In the context of tribal education, finding a balance between preserving tribal cultural identity and mainstreaming for economic prosperity means building education programs that ensure a tribal childs success in mainstream schools. Recognizing that the education system is currently designed for the dominant group, there needs to be investment in creating support mechanisms that supplement the integration of tribal children into the formal education system. The support within the education system includes: Using both tribal and state languages during the pre-primary and primary levels Creating supplemental tribal relevant learning materials Introducing monetary/non-monetary incentives for teachers in tribal areas Addressing the health and nutritional needs of tribal children Improving community participation by training tribal teachers and youth as peer educators Establishing and strengthening transitional education centres which focus on mainstreaming tribal children. Creating seasonal hostels and residential schools for children of migratory parents Training female teachers for single sex classroom
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It is evident that there needs to be more philanthropic investment in building community cultural wealth (aspirational, linguistic familial, social, navigational and resistant capital) outside the classroom too. This would provide a solid foundation that leverages these assets and develops stronger individual potential that can transcend the barriers experienced by tribals in mainstream society. RENEWABLE ENERGY IS THE FUTURE, NOT NUCLEAR Nuclear power is often referred to as a clean, safe, economically cost-effective and environmentally benign source of electric power. It is not clean because it generates large quantities of highly radioactive solid and liquid wastes. The liquid wastes can be treated to bring them to set levels and then discharged into the environment. However, even after extensive multi-level treatment, the solid wastes leave a considerable amount of residues of long-life nuclear isotopes. These have first to be loaded into thick walled lead containers, the containers hermetically sealed by a special technique, vitrified and then buried deep in hard rock cavities in shafts of disused metaliferous or coal mines, making sure that the shafts are free of water ingress. Such storage has to be for several decades. This whole process is technically demanding and expensive but has to be done to ensure human and ecological safety. Popular accounts of nuclear reactors seldom bring out these issues. But such waste disposal applies not only to nuclear electrocuting reactors but also the tailings from uranium mines and mills which produce the basic material for making the fresh uranium fuel rods that feed the reactors but also in the process of reprocessing the used or spent fuel coming out of the reactors and containing the deadliest and most dangerous plutonium. Human ingestion of even one billionth of a gram of plutonium leads to death. So, all reprocessing plants are almost totally robotised. Then there is the elaborate process and equipment involved in continuously cooling the core of the reactor while the reactor is in operation. When an accident occurs, affecting the cooling system, as happened in two reactors of the Fukushima nuclear power in Japan in March, the core becomes so hot (2,000 degrees C) that the highly radioactive core melts and the molten core falls to the bottom of the reactor, punctures the heavy steel containment vessel and seeps into the reactors foundation and then into the ground beneath, contaminating any ground water present. All this is not a gory hypothetical scenario. It actually happened at Fukushima. To steeply reduce the probability of such events, modern nuclear reactors have traps at the base of the containment vessel, to prevent the kind of puncturing described above. Whether such traps will be near-100 per cent effective, only time will tell. It is well-known that because of the technology involved, nuclear power reactors are intrinsically highly capital-intensive. When one adds the protective technology and equipment, as well as the waste treatment technology and equipment described above, the capital costs go through the roof. Thus the capital cost of the latest European Power Reactor (EPR) which the French firm Areva is to set up at Jaitapur in Maharashtra is around Rs 20 crore per Mw, compared to Rs 15 crore for solar power and Rs 6-7 crore per Mw for wind power. Such capital cost levels, in turn, take the cost of nuclear power to Rs 7-8 per KWh (or unit of power generated), making the reactors totally uneconomic. Then there is the problem of recurring slippages in the time scales of setting up nuclear power plants, particularly imported ones. For example, the two 1,000 Mw Russian reactors coming up at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu are already four years behind schedule, provided they are actually commissioned in 2011 and 2012, as the Nuclear Power Corporation claims they will be. The four Areva 1,650 Mw EPRs one each in France and Finland, and two in China are also four years behind schedule, with no firm commissioning dates indicated by Areva as of now. As a result, the plant in Finland came close to being cancelled by the Finnish government about two years ago. This is despite all four, like the Kudankulam plant, being set up on a turnkey basis by the foreign suppliers involved. These time over-runs, which have for example taken the Kudankulam plants to a total construction time of 11 and 12 years, inevitably lead to huge cost over-runs as well. Areva is now promising that the first two EPRs at Jaitapur will be commissioned in 2017-18. But what credence can we put on such promises, given Arevas past record? This in turn makes NPCILs claim that it will have 20,000 Mw of nuclear power 14,000 Mw indigenous and 6,000 Mw imported by 2020, look like a pipe dream. As for its repeatedly announced plan of achieving 63,000 Mw by 2030, it is a laugh! To put these numbers in perspective, the current installed nuclear power generating capacity is around 5,000 Mw.
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Contrast this state of affairs with that in renewable energy. In wind power we have an operating capacity of 16,000 Mw, the fourth largest in the world. Suzlon, our largest wind turbine manufacturer and project developer, added 4000 Mw last year. It is a Rs 22,000 crore company with subsidiaries in Europe and a production plant in China. As for solar energy, the 20,000 Mw by 2022 Nehru Solar Energy Plan is progressing well, with many foreign and local companies having committed to establish large grid-connected solar power plants of 100 Mw to 500 Mw capacity. Child & Maternal Nutrition in India Malnutrition in India has been called The Silent Emergency. The proportion of under-nutrition among children and women in India is one of the highest in the world. India is committed to halving the prevalence of underweight children by 2015 as one of the key indicators of progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MGD). In spite of unprecedented economic growth, improvements in childhood nutritional status in India over the last decade have been slow. Suboptimal infant and young child feeding practices in particular continue to be a serious challenge to reducing malnutrition among children. High rates of maternal under-nutrition measured by low body mass index and anemia adversely affect the health and survival of mothers and newborns. In contrast to other development indicators, several indicators of malnutrition are on the increase, including anemia and wasting. Furthermore, signicant disparities in nutrition levels exist across regional and societal groups. Nutrition in India factsheet One in every 3 malnourished children in the world live in India. South Asia has the highest rates and largest number of malnourished children in the world, with 47% of children in India aged fewer than 5 categorized as moderately or severely malnourished. This compares to rates of moderate or severe child malnutrition of 38% in Ethiopia, 24% in Mozambique or 20% in Kenya or 8% in China. Malnutrition results not just from limited food intake it is also caused by lack of access to health services, poor feeding practices and infection. Furthermore, malnutrition is perpetuated from one generation to the next. Poorly nourished mothers give birth to babies weighing too little and lacking sufficient nutrition. Roughly a third of adult women in India are underweight. Partly as a result of this and inadequate nutrition during pregnancy, 26% of Indian infants are born at a dangerously low birth weight (less than 2.5 kg). Low birth weight babies have 11-13 times higher risk of mortality in the neonatal period (the first 28 days of life) than normal birth weight babies. The current probability of a child dying before his or her 5th birthday is 8.7%. It is estimated that at least half of these deaths are related to malnutrition, often associated with infectious diseases. Malnutrition can also have serious long term consequences as is impedes motor, sensory, cognitive and social development. Thus, malnourished children will be less likely to benefit from schooling, and will consequently have lower incomes as adults. Under-nutritions most damaging effects occur during pregnancy and the first 2 years of a childs life. The damages caused to health and developments are irreversible, making it crucial to address this problem between conception and 24 months of age. Breastfeeding is essential for infants, providing them with a source of balanced nutrition and antibodies against disease. An estimated 1.5 million babies worldwide could be saved each year if every infant were breastfed exclusively for the first 4-6 months of its life. To do so, women must be adequately fed themselves and be taught about breastfeedings health benefits. Currently, 37% of children in India under 6 months are exclusively breastfed. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can also affect childrens survival and development. Iodine deficiency can reduce learning capacity by up to 13%, and increase the risk of death during childbirth, and in India this is widespread as less than 50% of all households use iodised salt. On average, iron deficiency affects 44% of women in developing countries, but in India the numbers who are iron deficient is estimated to be nearly 70%. Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness and increase morbidity and mortality among pre-schoolers. Direct nutrition programmes can help alleviate this.
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Improving nutrition requires focused local and national action to provide health and nutrition education and services, such as the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, in conjunction with prenatal care and basic maternal and child health services, micronutrient supplements and fortified food. Undernutrition jeopardizes childrens survival, health, growth and development, and slows national progress towards development goals. Undernutrition is often an invisible problem. Large-scale programmes including the promotion, protection and support of exclusive breastfeeding, providing vitamins and minerals through fortified foods and supplements, and community-based treatment of severe acute malnutrition have been successful in many countries. Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene increase the risk of diarrhea and other illnesses that deplete children of vital nutrients and can lead to chronic undernutrition and increase the risk of death. Improving child and maternal nutrition is not only feasible but also affordable and cost-effective. Nutrition interventions are among the best investments in development that countries can undertake. In India, 48 percent of children under 5 years old are moderately or severely stunted. Stunting is an important predictor of child development; it is associated with reduced school outcome. Compared to children who are not stunted, stunted children often enroll later, complete fewer grades and perform less well in school. In turn, this underperformance leads to reduced productivity and income-earning capacity in adult life. Undernutrition is a violation of child rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child emphasizes childrens right to the highest attainable standard of health and places responsibility on the State to combat malnutrition. It also requires that nutritious food is provided to children and that all segments of society are supported in the use of basic knowledge of child nutrition. Nutrition must be placed high on national and international agendas if this right is to be fulfilled. Undernutrition greatly impedes countries socio-economic development and potential to reduce poverty. Many of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly MDG1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), MDG 4 (reduce child mortality) and MDG 5 (improve maternal health) will not be reached unless the nutrition of women and children is prioritized in national development programmes and strategies. With persistently high levels of undernutrition in the developing world, vital opportunities to save millions of lives are being lost, and many more children are not growing and thriving to their full potential. Progress for children lies at the heart of all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Along with cognitive and physical development, proper nutrition contributes significantly to declines in under-five mortality rates, reductions of disease and poverty, improvements in maternal health and gender equality thus, it is essential for achieving most of the MDGs. What is to be done? A heightened level of political commitment, signicant increases in resources, and strong leadership to combat the nutrition emergency. Policies translated into concrete and well coordinated, convergent actions. Information and monitoring systems that focuses on results of nutrition interventions rather than inputs. Communication strategies and interventions that emphasize behavior change. Targeting children less than 2 years of age for improved quality, quantity and frequency of infant and young child feeding. Micronutrient supplementation to children and women. A better understanding of the direct and indirect causes of persistent and recurring severe and moderate malnutrition. More evidence of the effectiveness of community and facility-based rehabilitation for severely and moderately malnourished children.
Questions
1. What is the role of broad band in development? Broadband is by far the most important element of ICT today, having the largest impact of GDP. Broadband enables improved performance of ICTs which in turn have a fundamental impact on the way economies work and contributes to productivity growth by expanding markets, increasing business efficiency
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and reinforcing competitive pressure. Relative to other historical general purpose developments, such as railways and electricity, the impacts may be larger and materialize more rapidly. Broadband infrastructure enables country-wide facilities like health care, education, energy, job training, civic engagement, Government performance and public safety. As per the World Bank, in low and middle-income countries every 10 percentage point increase in broadband penetration accelerates economic growth by 1.38 percentage points more than in high-income countries and more than for other telecommunications services. In a similar study, McKinsey & Company estimated that - a 10 percent increase in broadband household penetration delivers a boost to a countrys GDP that ranges from 0.1 percent to 1.4 percent. [Finland is the first country in the world to make high-speed Internet accesses a legal right, obliging operators to provide connections of at least 1Mbps to every citizen.] Economy of the country and ICT has a recursive relationship. They help each other grow. However, this does not happen by itself. Appropriate measures need to be taken to ensure that the window of opportunity is not lost. 2. Water related issues come under state list. Does water need to be put on the Concurrent list of the Constitution?. Though the present constitutional position is that water is a State subject, the position is not quite so simple. The primary entry in the Constitution relating to water is indeed Entry 17 in the State List, but it is explicitly made subject to the provisions of Entry 56 in the Union List which enables the Union to deal with inter-State rivers if Parliament legislates for the purpose. This means that if Parliament considers it expedient in the public interest that the regulation and development of an inter-State river, say the Ganga or Yamuna or Narmada, should be under the control of the Union, it can enact a law to that effect, and that law will give the Union legislative (and therefore executive) powers over that river. That enabling provision has not been used by Parliament. No law has been passed bringing any river under the control of the Union. Under Entry 56, Parliament did enact the River Boards Act 1956 providing for the establishment of River Boards for inter-State rivers, but no such board has been established under the Act. That Act is virtually a dead letter. The reasons are political, i.e., strong resistance by State governments to any enhancement of the role of the Central government. It is more than sixty years that we have attained Independence and it is time politicians and the people at large start considering certain matters from the national point of view and accept the proposals to transfer "water from the State list to the Concurrent List. There are several reasons for saying so. 1. First, it appears that to the Constitution-makers water' meant essentially river waters and irrigation. This is quite evident from the wording of the entries. In that context, it might have appeared appropriate to assign the primary role to the States, and provide a specific role for the Centre in relation to inter-State rivers. However, even from that limited perspective, a primary rather than a secondary or exceptional role for the Centre might well have been warranted: most of our important rivers are in fact inter-State, and inter-State (or inter-provincial) river water disputes were an old and vexed problem even at the time of drafting the Constitution. 2. Secondly, that limited perspective is in fact inadequate. Water as a subject is larger than rivers; ponds and lakes, springs, groundwater aquifers, glaciers, soil and atmospheric moisture, wetlands, and so on, are all forms of water and constitute a hydrological unity; and there is more to water than irrigation. If the environmental, ecological, social/human, and rights concerns relating to water had been as sharply present to the makers of the Constitution as they are to us, it seems very probable that the entries in the Constitution would have been different. (Incidentally, there are serious concerns now relating to groundwater rapid depletion of aquifers in many parts of the country, the emergence of arsenic and fluoride in many States, etc. and it is interesting that there is no explicit reference to groundwater or aquifers in the Constitution.) 3. Thirdly, the Constitution-makers could not have anticipated the sense of water scarcity and crisis that now looms large. It is clear that while action will be called for at the State and local levels, the perception of a crisis casts a great responsibility on the Centre: national initiatives will definitely be called for. 4. Fourthly, a new factor not foreseen even a few decades ago is climate change and its impact on water resources. This is a subject which is still under study and research, but it is clear that coordinated action will be called for not only at the national level but also at the regional and international levels. The Central government has necessarily to play a lead role in this regard.
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The theoretical case for water being in the Concurrent List is thus unassailable. Of all the subjects that are or ought to be in the Concurrent List, water ranks higher than any other. The practical and political difficulties of shifting it there remain, but these would need to be overcome. 3. What is Administered Price Mechanism?. Briefly explain its pros and cons. APM system, introduced in 1970, is based on the retention price concept under which the oil refineries, oil marketing companies and the pipelines are compensated for operating costs and are assured a return of 12% post-tax on net worth. Under this concept, a fixed level of profitability for the oil companies is ensured subject to their achieving their specified capacity utilisation. Upstream companies, namely ONGC, OIL and GAIL, were also under retention price concept and are assured a fixed return. Under the APM, prices in the hydrocarbon sector are controlled at four stages production, refining, distribution and marketing on the principle of compensating normative cost and allowing a pre-determined return on investments. The entire administered pricing system is operated through a complex oil industry pool account wherein inflows and outflows of the pool account are to be kept in balance. Due to international price variation, statutory levies and devaluation of rupee, ad hoc price adjustments have to be made from time to time to balance the oil pool account. To maintain the prices of kerosene and domestic LPG as well as naphtha and furnace oil for fertiliser inputs at a lower level, the prices of gasoline, naphtha and furnace oil for industrial usage are kept disproportionately higher. Disadvantages of APM The experience of existing public sector undertakings (PSUs) shows that providing returns on a costplus formula does not always encourage efficiency in operations. Since all investments and costs are reimbursed, there is no incentive to make profitable investment decisions and to run the refinery in a costeffective manner. In the upstream sector, PSUs have inadequate incentive to invest in risky but potentially rewarding ventures to develop future oil and gas reserves. It also leads to inefficient exploitation of the countrys exhaustible resources. Moreover, so long as the players in this sector were PSUs, it was possible for the government to effectively control the investments and costs. With the entry of the private sector, however, the cost-plus formula will encourage gold plating of the plant and inflate costs which the consumer will have to bear. Investors will be reluctant to commit large funds in the petroleum sector of APM continues because under the administered pricing regime a decision of the government can influence the profitability and market shares irrespective of the efficiency with which a company operates. Therefore, investors prefer a free market setup with minimum government interference in investment and operating decisions. Dismantling of Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) Subsequent to the dismantling of Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) in the Petroleum Sector with effect from 1st April 2002, the Oil Coordination Committee (OCC) was abolished and a new cell, the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) was created and attached to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas to assist in discharge of some of the functions earlier performed by OCC. Free imports are permitted for almost all petroleum products. Free marketing of imported kerosene, LPG and lubricants by private parties is permitted. It is contemplated that in a phased manner, all administered price products will be taken out of the administered pricing regime and the system will be replaced by a progressive tariff regime in order to provide a level playing field for new investments in a free and competitive market. 6. Is attempted suicide an offence? YES: The right to life is the supreme right from which no derogation is permitted even in time of public emergency which threatens survival of the nation. Article 21 of the Constitution is a provision guaranteeing protection of life and personal liberty and by no stretch of the imagination can extinction of life be read to be included in protection of life. The right to life is a natural right embodied in this Article but suicide is an unnatural termination or extinction of life and, therefore, incompatible and inconsistent with the concept of right to life. Thus, by declaring attempt to commit suicide a crime, the Indian Penal Code uphold the dignity of
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human life because human life is as precious to the State as it is to its holder and the State can not turn a blind eye to a person's attempt to kill himself. NO: The Section 309 of Indian Penal Code is irrational because it provides double punishment for a troubled individual whose deep unhappiness had caused him to try and end his life. The Supreme Court judgement of 1994 stated that the right to live also implies the right not to live a forced life. In many cases the cause behind desperate shortcut to death is poverty, feeling of burden on the family or of the family. Such people may commit/attempt to commit suicide in order to relieve themselves of the unbearable burden of life which may be greater torture than the pain of death. Persons who attempt suicide therefore require assistance in their physical and psychological life and not punishment by fine and / or imprisonment. Penal deterrents are better suited to criminal act, not acts of distress. Hence the Section 309 of Indian Penal Code deserves to be effaced from the statute book to "humanize our penal laws". In this connection, in 1971, the Law Commission recommended the abolition of Section 309 of Indian Penal Code. The then Government of India accepted the recommendation but could not pass the bill in the Lok Sabha in 1979 as the elected body was dissolved and the bill elapsed. 5. What is Development induced Displacement? What are the issues that need to be addressed in this context?. Suggest measures to address the same. Development-induced displacement can be defined as the forcing of communities and individuals out of their homes, often also their homelands, for the purposes of economic development. The effects of displacement spill over to generations in many ways, such as loss of traditional means of employment, change of environment, disrupted community life and relationships, marginalization, a profound psychological trauma and more. Such consequences lead to the requirement of legislations that address not only the issue of compensation, but also of resettlement, rehabilitation and participation in negotiation. The following are a few major issues that need to be addressed:1) Required changes in the legislation: - Too wide a definition of Public Purpose - Uncertainty in rehabilitation caused by case-by-case approach - Arbitrary and only monetary compensation - No provision for compulsory Social Impact Assessment - Non-recognition of indigenous rights. 2) Need for participation by the people affected in the process, 3) Larger issues of Governance such as a lack of political will and a Utilitarian mindset. Measures Feelings of victimization and helplessness can be addressed by encouraging greater participation in collective decision-making. Unique system of Panchayat Raj can be utilized to form a platform where the affected people can voice their opinions and grievances within their comfort-zone, and at the same time, form an interest group that cannot go unheard. The power to empower the Panchayats, however, rests with the State and Central Governments. 6. Write short notes on SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF INDIA. Sedimentary basins refer to a geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. On burial they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification. The sedimentary basins of India occupy an area of 3.14 million sq. km. of which 3,20,000 sq. km. is in the offshore up to 200m isobaths. There are total 26 sedimentary basins out of which 13 are important for Hydrocarbon reserves. Some of the important basins are:AssamArakan Basin: It includes Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. The Cambay Basin: The Cambay Basin occupies an area of approximately 56,000 sq.km. Cauvery Basin: The Cauvery Basin, situated 160 to 460 km south of Chennai city, encompasses an area of 25,000 sq. km. falls in Indian territorial waters.
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Bombay Offshore Basin: It lies in region of Western continental shelf of India and forms an important hydrocarbon bearing province. It is extending from Saurashtra Coast in the North to Vengurla arch near Goa in the South covering an area of about 1,20,000 sq.km. up to 200 m isobaths. Krishna Godavari Basin: It an area of about 15,000 sq. km. of on land and the East- coast of India, West and North western limits are demarcated by Archaean outcrops. K.G. Basin is called the Middle-East of India as it has got such considerable amount of reserve that if properly utilized can serve the energy needs of not only the whole of India that also will make us more energy efficient so that we can even export crude and oil products to other nations. 7. What is Bio-Methanation? Biomethanation is a process by which organic matter is decomposed by the simultaneous action of mixed microbial consortia to form methane and carbon dioxide. Biomethanation has been used in waste treatment to get rid of organic waste. Anaerobic digestion involves several different types of Biomethane (biogas) is an alternative bacteria working together to break down complex organic material in and renewable energy source produced stages to produce biogas. through the anaerobic (oxygen free) Step 1 is hydrolysis, which involves bacteria that can convert digestion of organic matter whereby insoluble carbohydrates, proteins, and fats into simple sugars, fatty the organic matter is converted into a acids, amino acids, and peptides. combustible biogas rich in methane Step 2 is a fermentation process where acid-forming (CH4) and a liquid effluent. bacteria, also known as acidogens, convert the products of hydrolysis into simple organic acids, alcohols, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen gas. Volatile acids longer than two carbons are converted to acetate and hydrogen gas by acetogenic bacteria that only produce hydrogen. Finally, Step 3, methane-forming bacteria (methanogens) produce biogas from acetic acid or hydrogen and carbon dioxide. 8. What is Marine Bioinvasion? Marine bioinvasion is introduction of marine organisms alien to local ecosystem through ship hulls and ballast water. The two major pathways of marine bioinvasion are intentional, for aquaculture gain or unintentional introduction, through a ships ballast water discharge and fouling of ship hulls. It has serious consequences to native biota, fishery and general coastal ecosystem. Over 80% of the world cargo is mobilized transoceanically and over 12 billion tones of ballast water is filled at one part of the ocean and discharged at the other. These ballast waters offer conducive situation for bacteria, viruses, algae, dinoflagellates and a variety of macro-faunal larval/cyst stages to translocate to alien regions, usually along the coasts of the continents. As an example, there are over 18 species of animals and plants documented along the Indian coasts as those that might have got invaded and established. They can cause deleterious effects to local flora and fauna through their toxigenic, proliferative and over-competitive characteristics. Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) is popularly referred to as Red Tides and their incidences have been rising the world over. Ballast water has been considered one of the important vectors for the spread of these organisms. The toxic effects of these harmful algae can lead to fatality in human beings through paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) and cause health concerns through diarrhoeatic shelfish poisoning (DSP). Human death due to PSP has been recorded in India. 9. What is the Right to Education Act? What are its salient features?. What are the challenges in RTE implementation? The Right to Education Act enforces the 86th Constitutional amendment, which gives every child between the age of 6 and 14 years the right to free and compulsory education. Salient features *Every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years will have the right to receive free and compulsory education.
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*Towards this, the State would ensure the availability of a neighbourhood school within a period of three years from commencement of this Act. In case of non-availability of neighbourhood school, the State shall provide free transportation to the nearest school or provide free residential school facilities. *Private schools shall admit at least 25 per cent of the children in their schools without any fee. *The National Commission for Elementary Education shall be constituted to monitor all aspects of elementary education including quality. Challenges *Some State governments have said that they do not have the funds to implement the Act. *The governments have also observed that they do not have adequate control over private schools to compel them to reserve quota of seats as laid down. *Many unaided private schools have petitioned the Supreme Court, challenging the 25 per cent reservation of seats as unconstitutional and violating fundamental rights of unaided private educational institutions. *Shortfall of trained teachers. The average students-to-teacher ratio in a classroom at present stands at 50:1. The Act spells out that this ratio should be 30:1, which means that at least 12 lakh trained teachers will be required within six months of notification of the Act. The real challenge in RTE implementation is changing the mindsets of teachers, parents and the school managements.
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