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SMART LEADERS IAS: JANUARY 1-31
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T
CONTENT
Title Page No
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES 03
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS 15
INDIA AND WORLD 30
POLITY 40
SCHEMES 53
ECONOMY 56
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 73
ENVIRONMENT 83
AWARDS 90
PERSONALITIES 95
OTHERS 97
Editorial Board Sub - Editor
Sivarajavel. S Anandhi. H
Sadik. M.A
Co-ordinator
R. Senthilkumar
No. 9, Plot No. 2163, (Behind Hot Chips) 12th Main Road, Anna Nagar West,. Chennai-40 Tel:044-43525468/ 7200010122/9176787980. www.smartleadersias.com
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LETTER TO ASPIRANTS
There was a man and his favourite donkey walking on a
muddy road. Donkey suddenly fell onto a sand pit unnoticed and
tried hard to get out of it. The man, not willing to leave his favourite
donkey on its own, tried his efforts to pull it out of the pit. But, the
pit was all too mighty to give up its prey, like a crocodile catching a
lame sheep.
The man, with all his efforts wearied down, decided to help
donkey in a novel way. He started filling the pit with the soil from
the sides of the road. The soil had fallen straight onto donkey. The
tired and scary donkey, not knowing the intention of his master, was
initially puzzled and clueless on what to do next. But spontaneously,
it shrug its body off mud which fell onto the ground. It then stood on
top of fresh soil and gained some ground. The master continued
pouring down the soil from atop and donkey continued to shake it
off and started reaching the surface. At last, the master and his
favourite donkey were reunited and walked their rest of their
journey together.
Falling onto pit or facing troubles or failures is common to all,
more particularly for civil service aspirants’ community. But
strongly believe, there is your Master who is all willing to help you
in your tougher times. All that we have to do, is trust Him and act on
what He gives. Like the donkey, we have to shake off our troubles
trusting our Master and keep standing on feet. A time will come for
our success for our efforts to be seen by the world. Till then, stay in
the struggle and keep standing on your feet.
Regards,
ANANDHI. H FACULTY
(SMART LEADERS IAS)
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INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
CHINA
Muslim Uighurs seethe at China’s crackdown
Xinjiang region in the far west of China revealed a society seething with
anger and trepidation as the government, alarmed by a slow-boil
insurgency that has claimed hundreds of lives, has introduced
unprecedented measures aimed at shaping the behaviour and beliefs of
China‘s 10 million Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority that
considers this region its homeland.
Driving these policies is the government‘s view that tougher security and
tighter restraints on the practice of Islam are the best way to stem a wave
of violence.
The tough security measures are on full view for travellers as they stop at
the ubiquitous highway checkpoints that slow movement across this
rugged expanse of deserts and snowy peaks.
Intrusive search
Armed soldiers rummage through car trunks and examine ID cards, ethnic
Uighur motorists and their passengers are sometimes asked to hand over
their cell phones so police can search them for content or software deemed
a threat to public security.
In addition to jihadist videos, the police are on the lookout for Skype and
WhatsApp, apps popular with those who communicate with friends and
relatives outside China, and for software that allows users to access
blocked websites.
Kashgar, the fabled Silk Road outpost near China‘s border within Pakistan
and Afghanistan, officials have banned mosques from broadcasting the
call to prayer, forcing muezzins to shout out the invocation five times a
day from rooftops across the city.
The new rule is an addition to longstanding policies that prohibit after-
school religious classes and children under 18 from entering mosques.
Southeast of Kashgar, shopkeepers in the city of Hotan seethed over a
government decision to outlaw two dozen names considered too Muslim,
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forcing parents to rename their children or be unable to register them for
school, according to local residents and the police.
‘Strike-hard operation’
Beijing began a ―strike hard special operation‖ after 43 people were killed
in a pair of attacks in the regional capital, Urumqi, in 2014. It dismantled
nearly 200 terrorist groups and resulted in the execution at least 49 people.
China’s 6.9 per cent growth calms global market nerves
China‘s economy grew by 6.9 per cent last year, in line with the official
projection of around 7 per cent.
The numbers signalled that the government was on track of transitioning
the economy from manufacturing to the lower growth ―new normal‖ path,
where consumption and services would dominate.
Though last year‘s growth was the slowest since 1990, it nevertheless
calmed nerves in the global market, which had feared that the Chinese
economy was on the brink of a ―hard landing‖ following the recent
mayhem in the stock market and spurts of currency volatility.
Consequently, the data emerging from China‘s National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS) triggered a significant rally in industrial commodities, in
anticipation that Chinese demand may not be falling as sharply as feared.
Brent crude, the international energy benchmark, which had dropped to
$27.67 a barrel, a 12-year intra-day low firmed up by 5.5 per cent to reach
$30.12, following data from Beijing. Copper also rose to $4,447 a tonne,
after dropping last week nearly to a seven-year low of $4,318.
The NBS figures revealed that China‘s GDP stood at around $10.3 trillion.
Significantly, the services sector, the indicator of an economic shift from
inefficient manufacturing accounted for 50.5 per cent of the GDP. This
was the first occasion that services sector‘s contribution had breached the
50 per cent mark. Unemployment rate in major cities stood at around 5.1
per cent.
Urban fixed-asset investment continued to taper, expanding 10 per cent
year-on-year, compared with 15.7 per cent in 2014. Retail sales grew 10.7
per cent, significantly below the 12 per cent recorded in 2014. For the first
time in six years, foreign trade contracted in 2015.
China‘s government debts were not a cause of anxiety, as they accounted
for less 40 per cent of the country's GDP, well below the 60 per cent alert
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line that was internationally accepted. Supply-side structural reforms were
essential to streamline the economy.
CHINA AND IRAN
China moves to deepen its footprint in Iran
Rising from the yellowish, treeless plains so typical for central Iran stands
a square, three-dimensional labyrinth of pipes and conveyor belts, topped
by a silver chimney that glitters in the summer sun.
Sanctions against Iran failed to halt the construction of the complex, a
steel mill that went into operation in September and now churns out ingots
and billets. Sheng Kuan Li, a wealthy Chinese businessman, from pouring
$200 million into the project.
Li‘s steel mill and other similar endeavours are the result of a strategic
pact that gives China a much-needed western gateway to West Asian
markets and beyond, and that has saved Iran from international isolation
and economic ruin.
Both countries agreed to increase trade to $600 billion in the coming
decade. That agreement was made during a meeting between Iran‘s
leaders and China‘s President Xi Jinping, who became the first foreign
leader to visit Iran after most international sanctions were lifted.
China has relied on Iranian oil and views the country as a vital link in
Mr. Xi‘s so-called Silk Road strategy, an ambitious agenda that seeks to
extend China‘s economic influence westward.
The deep Chinese footprint in Iran does not only manifest itself in the tens
of thousands of inexpensive cars that have flooded the streets of Tehran in
the past few years
In Tehran, the Chinese have been involved in the construction of a huge
elevated expressway and the building of the Niayesh Tunnel, one of the
longest urban tunnels in the world. The city‘s metro system was built from
scratch, starting in 1995, with Chinese capital and Chinese engineers. The
train cars that run on it are Chinese, too.
Thirst for cheap crude oil and enthusiasm for the Silk Road project, which
incorporates the goal of unlocking China‘s isolated western provinces,
brought the Chinese to Iran, the only country in West Asia where the U.S.
had no presence.
China looked the other way when the Iranians sought to advance their
missile technology, and assisted in developing the country‘s nuclear
energy programme.
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So the two countries, which were connected by the old Silk Road, have
embarked on establishing a new one.
Train to Tehran will take Silk Road into West Asia
China demonstrated the integration of West Asia in its New Silk Road
connectivity project by flagging a train from its trading hub of Yiwu to
Tehran.
The container train will cover a journey of 10,399 km in its maiden
journey to West Asia in14 days. It will exit China through Alataw Pass in
western China‘s Xinjiang province, and then pass through Kazakhstan and
Turkmenistan before heading for the Iranian capital. Yiwu is already
connected by trains that head for Duisburg in Germany and Madrid.
A strategic partnership agreement between China and Iran that was inked
covers military and security cooperation, including intelligence-sharing
and this pact is valid for 25 years.
Xinhua reported that 4,000 businessmen from West Asia live in Yiwu,
where more than 180 companies from the region have made investments.
In 2015, the city exported goods worth $8.8 billion dollars to West Asia.
CHINA AND AFRICA
African economies shaken by slowdown in China
Years of rapid economic growth across sub-Saharan Africa fuelled hopes
of a prosperous new era. To many, the world‘s poorest continent was
finally emerging, with economies that were no longer dependent on the
fickle global demand for Africa‘s raw resources.
But as China‘s economy slows and its once seemingly insatiable hunger
for Africa‘s commodities wanes, many African economies are tumbling,
quickly.
Since the start of this year, the outlook across the continent has grown
grimmer, especially in its two biggest economies, Nigeria and South
Africa. Their currencies fell to record lows this month as China, Africa‘s
biggest trading partner, announced that imports from Africa plummeted
nearly 40 per cent in 2015.
The International Monetary Fund has in recent months sharply cut its
projections for the continent. Credit rating agencies have downgraded or
lowered their outlook on commodity exporters like Angola, Ghana,
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Mozambique and Zambia, which were the darlings of international
investors until just over a year ago.
Many economists expect South Africa, the continent‘s most advanced and
diversified economy, to slide into a recession this year, a projection
disputed by the government. As Africa‘s biggest exporter of iron ore to
China, South Africa is suffering from a slump in mining, as well as in
other sectors like manufacturing and agriculture.
Increased food costs
The weak rand will make it more painful for South Africa, which is
experiencing the worst drought in a generation and is usually an exporter
of agricultural products, to import corn, the nation‘s staple. Higher food
prices could pose a challenge to the government of President Jacob Zuma.
Nigeria, Africa‘s biggest economy and oil producer, is reeling from the
crash in crude prices, at the same time President Muhammadu Buhari tries
to deal with Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group that has long
terrorised the nation.
With oil accounting for 80 per cent of government revenue, the
government may also lack the resources to quell potential unrest in the
Niger Delta, the source of the country‘s oil.
Weakening currencies will make it harder for Nigeria and many other
African governments to repay China for loans used to build large
infrastructure projects.
While previously high-flying commodity exporters, like Angola and
Zambia, have been hit hardest by China‘s slowdown, other countries are
showing greater resilience.
East African countries, including Kenya and Ethiopia, which have been
forced to diversify their economies in part because of their dearth of
commodities, will probably continue to enjoy robust growth.
SAUDI ARABIA
What is the difference between Sunnis and Shias
Saudi Arabia‘s execution of Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr escalated
tensions in the Muslim world. Here is a primer on the basic differences
between Sunni and Shia Islam.
What caused the split?
A schism emerged after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. He
died without appointing a successor to lead the Muslim community, and
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disputes arose over who should shepherd the new and rapidly growing
faith.
Some believed that a new leader should be chosen by consensus; others
thought that only the prophet‘s descendants should become caliph. The
title passed to a trusted aide, Abu Bakr, though some thought it should
have gone to Ali, the Prophet‘s cousin and son-in-law. Ali eventually did
become caliph after Abu Bakr‘s two successors were assassinated.
After Ali also was assassinated, with a poison-laced sword at the mosque
in Kufa, in what is now Iraq, his sons Hasan and then Hussein claimed the
title. But Hussein and many of his relatives were massacred in Karbala,
Iraq, in 680.
His martyrdom became a central tenet to those who believed that Ali
should have succeeded the Prophet. (It is mourned every year during the
month of Muharram). The followers became known as Shias, a contraction
of the phrase Shiat Ali, or followers of Ali. The Sunnis, however, regard
the first three caliphs before Ali as rightly guided and themselves as the
true adherents to the Sunnah, or the Prophet‘s tradition. Sunni rulers
embarked on sweeping conquests that extended the caliphate into North
Africa and Europe. The last caliphate ended with the fall of the Ottoman
Empire after World War-I.
How do their beliefs differ?
The Sunni and Shia sects encompass a wide spectrum of doctrine, opinion
and schools of thought. The branches are in agreement on many aspects of
Islam, but there are considerable disagreements within each. Both
branches include worshippers who run the gamut from secular to
fundamentalist.
Shias consider Ali and the leaders who came after him as Imams. Most
believe in a line of 12 Imams, the last of whom, a boy, is believed to have
vanished in the ninth century in Iraq after his father was murdered. Shias
known as Twelvers anticipate his return as the Mahdi, or Messiah. Sunnis
emphasise God‘s power in the material world, sometimes including the
public and political realm, while Shias value martyrdom and sacrifice.
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UNITED STATES
Gun control measure to mandate background check
President Barack Obama announced executive actions designed to expand
background checks for some firearm purchases and step up federal
enforcement of the nation‘s gun laws.
Executive action
Mr. Obama will take modest steps that stop well short of the kind of large-
scale changes to the gun trade that he unsuccessfully sought from
Congress three years ago. That legislation would have closed loopholes
that allow millions of guns to be sold without background checks at gun
shows or in online firearm exchanges.
Mr. Obama will clarify that existing laws require anyone making a living
from selling guns to register as a licensed gun dealer and conduct
background checks. White House officials said the President would note
that criminal penalties already existed for violating those laws.
Under President plan, the officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives would begin contacting gun sellers to let them
know of new standards to ―clarify‖ who would be considered a regulated
dealer, taking into account factors such as whether someone has a business
card, uses a website, or sells guns in their original packaging.
There is no definition for how many guns sold would make someone
called as a ―dealer‖. White House officials said someone could sell as few
as one or two guns yet still be considered a dealer whose sales are subject
to background checks.
The changes are particularly meant for online gun merchants, who often
avoid conducting background checks despite making high-volume gun
sales through websites like armslist.com.
Smaller U.S. atom bombs are adding fuel to nuclear fears
The Obama administration was preparing a test of its own in the Nevada
desert.
A fighter jet took off with a mock version of the nation‘s first precision-
guided atom bomb. Adapted from an older weapon, it was designed with
problems like North Korea in mind: Its computer brain and four
manoeuvrable fins let it zero in on deeply buried targets like testing
tunnels and weapon sites. And its yield, the bomb‘s explosive force, can
be dialled up or down depending on the target, to minimise collateral
damage.
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President Barack Obama has long advocated a nuclear-free world. His
lieutenants argue that modernising existing weapons can produce a smaller
and more reliable arsenal while making their use less likely because of the
threat they can pose. The changes, they say, are improvements rather than
wholesale redesigns, fulfilling the President‘s pledge to make no new
nuclear arms.
The B61 Model 12, the bomb flight-tested last year in Nevada, is the first
of five new warhead types planned as part of an atomic revitalisation
estimated to cost up to $1 trillion over three decades. As a family, the
weapons and their delivery systems move toward the small, the stealthy
and the precise.
Russia called the B61 tests ―irresponsible‖ and ―openly provocative‖.
China is said to be especially worried about plans for a nuclear-tipped
cruise missile.
Pakistan’s nuke warheads aimed at deterring India: U.S. report
Pakistan‘s nuclear arsenal probably consists of approximately 110-130
nuclear warheads, although it could have. Islamabad is producing fissile
material, adding to related production facilities, deploying additional
nuclear weapons and new types of delivery vehicles by Congressional
Research Service (CRS) report.
In its 28-page report, the CRS noted that Pakistan‘s nuclear arsenal is
widely regarded as designed to dissuade India from taking military action
against it, but Islamabad‘s expansion of its nuclear arsenal, development
of new types of nuclear weapons and adoption of a doctrine called ―full
spectrum deterrence‖ have led some observers to express concern about an
increased risk of nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India, which also
continues to expand its nuclear arsenal.
CRS is the independent research wing of the U.S. Congress, which
prepares periodic reports by eminent experts on a wide range of issues so
as to help lawmakers take informed decisions. Reports of CRS are not
considered as an official view of the U.S. Congress.
Pakistani and U.S. officials argue that since the 2004 revelations about a
procurement network run by former Pakistani nuclear official A.Q. Khan
Islamabad has taken a number of steps to improve its nuclear security and
to prevent further proliferation of nuclear-related technologies and
materials.
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SRI LANKA AND PAKISTAN
Sri Lanka, Pakistan to expand FTA
Sri Lanka and Pakistan have agreed on the inclusion of services and
investment in the bilateral free trade agreement. This would help
companies of the two nations to form joint ventures for exports to other
nations.
When the FTA came into effect in June 2005, Pakistan‘s exports to
Sri Lanka were to the tune of $150 million. In 2010-11, they went up to
$332 million but dropped to $260 million in 2013-14 and 2014-25, Under
the agreement, Sri Lanka‘s exports to Pakistan were valued at about $52
million, accounting for around 70 per cent of the country‘s total exports to
Pakistan.
Both countries have agreed to reinvigorate their efforts to realize the goal
of $1 billion at the earliest.
The MoUs covered a number of areas, including trade promotion and
curbing money laundering and terrorism financing.
NORTH KOREA
North Korea claims to have tested
hydrogen bomb
North Korea declared that it
had detonated its first hydrogen
bomb.
In an announcement on Central
Television, the state-run
network, North Korea said the
test was a ―complete success‖.
But it was difficult to tell
whether the statement was true.
North Korea has made repeated
claims about its nuclear
capabilities that analysts elsewhere have greeted with scepticism.
This is the self-defensive measure Korea took to defend their right to live
in the face of the nuclear threats and blackmail by the United States and to
guarantee the security of the Korean Peninsula.
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The North‘s announcement came about an hour after detection devices
around the world had picked up a 5.1 seismic event along the country‘s
northeast coast.
It may be weeks or longer before detectors sent aloft by the U.S. and other
powers can determine what kind of test was conducted.
PAKISTAN
Pak. to host meet on Afghan peace talks
Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States hold talks in Islamabad
aimed at reviving the Afghan peace process.
Talks do not include the Taliban, who have been battling the U.S.-backed
government for nearly 15 years and have recently stepped up their attacks.
Talks with the Taliban have been on hold since July, when they collapsed
after just one meeting following Afghanistan‘s announcement that long-
time Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had been dead for more
than two years. The Taliban called off its participation and a second
meeting was cancelled.
Pakistan is believed to have influence over the Taliban, but relations with
Kabul have been tense in recent months. The two countries have long
accused each other of backing the Taliban and other insurgents operating
along their porous border. Taliban leaders are widely believed to be based
in Pakistani cities near the Afghan border, including Quetta and Peshawar.
Analysts have cautioned that despite the rapprochement between Kabul
and Islamabad, any substantive peace talks are still months off.
Taliban demands have consistently focused on the end to an international
military presence in the country. The U.S. and NATO have 13,000 troops
stationed in Afghanistan, mostly in a training capacity. They include 9,800
Americans.
The Taliban have intensified attacks in recent weeks and come close to
taking over strategically important districts in southern Helmand province,
the world‘s premier poppy-producing region. Almost all the world‘s
heroin is made from opium grown in southern Afghanistan.
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GERMANY
Merkel wants expulsion rules toughened
German Chancellor Angela Merkel backed a toughening of expulsion
rules for convicted refugees, as protesters took to the streets against a
shocking rash of sexual assaults blamed on migrants during New Year's
festivities.
Both women's groups and supporters of the xenophobic PEGIDA
movement mobilised in separate rallies in Cologne, as Ms. Merkel
declared that refugees found to have committed a crime even those who
have not been given jail terms should be required to leave Germany.
Pegida rally
Pegida rally took place in Germany against the migrants.
Carrying banners and signs bearing slogans like ―Rapefugees not
welcome,‖ the protesters took aim at Ms. Merkel, accusing her of allowing
migrants to run amok through her liberal stance towards those fleeing
war.
What is Pegida?
PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the
Occident) is a German political movement based in Dresden in the east
of the country.
It claims to be anti-Islamist and against what it sees as the growing
influence of Islam in Europe.
NEPAL
India welcomes Nepal amendments
India welcomed the first round of amendments of the Nepal Constitution,
which is expected to create a more inclusive society in Nepal.
The amendments, supported by 461 of the 601 members of Parliament,
covered Article 42 to ensure more inclusive social justice, Article 84 to
create a House of Representatives, and Article 286 to create a new process
of constituency delimitation, helping the Madhesi groups.
All the three elements of the amendment process were part of a deal
between the government of Nepal and its mainstream political parties, and
the rebel Madhesi political formation of the United Madhesi Democratic
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Front (UMDF), which has been agitating for the changes in the
Constitution.
Main demand
The amendment process has not addressed the core issue of creating two
provinces for Madhesi people on the 1,200-km-long southern plains of
Nepal bordering India. The amendments were passed in the absence of the
35 members of the Madhesi political parties who boycotted the late night
session.
Nepal‘s Constitution, promulgated on September 20, 2015, has attracted a
series of amendment proposals. This amendment was the first of the
process and several others are expected to come up soon.
PORTUGAL
Law prof. wins Portugal presidency
A 67-year-old law professor and TV pundit, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,
was the clear winner in Portugal‘s presidential election, with over 52 per
cent of the vote, according to a nearly-complete count.
Rebelo de Sousa, a former head of the centre-right Social Democratic
Party, secured the post with 52.78 per cent of the vote, far ahead of his
closest rival, independent leftist Antonio Sampaio da Novoa, who won
22.17 per cent, according to results from 97 per cent of constituencies.
Although largely ceremonial, Portugal‘s presidency has make-or-break
power over the nation‘s fragile ruling alliance and the right to dissolve
Parliament in the event of a crisis.
MARSHALL ISLANDS
Marshall Islands to sue India, Pak. over nukes
The tiny Marshall Islands will, in March, seek to persuade the UN‘s
highest court to take up a lawsuit against India, Pakistan and Britain which
they accuse of failing to halt the nuclear arms race.
The International Court of Justice, founded in 1945 to rule on legal
disputes between nations, announced for separate hearings for the three
cases between March 7 and 16.
In the cases brought against India and Pakistan, the court will examine
whether the tribunal based in The Hague is competent to hear the lawsuits.
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The hearing involving Britain will be devoted to ―preliminary objections‖
raised by London.
In 2014, the Marshall Islands, a Pacific Ocean territory with 55,000
people, accused nine countries of not fulfilling their obligations with
respect to the cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to
nuclear disarmament.
They included China, Britain, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan,
Russia, and the U.S.
The government based in the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro said by
not stopping the nuclear arms race, the countries continued to breach their
obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) even if the
treaty has not been by signed by countries such as India and Pakistan.
The Marshall Islands had decided to sue the world‘s nuclear heavyweights
as it has a particular awareness of the dire consequences of nuclear
weapons.
U.S. tests
Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. conducted repeated nuclear tests in the
Marshall Islands, Majuro‘s representatives said in papers filed in court.
But the court only admitted three cases brought against Britain, India and
Pakistan because they already recognised the ICJ‘s authority.
In March 2014, the Marshall Islands marked 60 years since the devastating
hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, that vapourised an island and exposed
thousands in the surrounding area to radioactive fallout.
The 15-megaton test on March 1, 1954, was part of the intense Cold War
nuclear arms race and 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb
dropped on Hiroshima. Bikini Islanders have lived in exile since they were
moved for the first weapons tests in 1946.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION
$50-mn loan to fund education of minorities
The Union government and the World Bank signed a $50-million credit
agreement for a project aimed at helping young people from minority
communities complete their education and improve their employment
opportunities.
The Nai Manzil Scheme is designed as an integrated education and
training programme that provides youth from minority communities skills
needed for different tasks in a rapidly changing world.
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Around 20 per cent of those between 17 and 35 years of age from minority
groups such as Muslims, Parsees, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, and Sikhs
are out of the labour force, according to the World Bank.
Digital dividends not spreading rapidly - World Bank
With 60 per cent of the world‘s population still offline, institutional and
regulatory barriers to efficiency are exacerbating the problem of low and
unevenly distributed ―digital dividends‖ from growing Internet penetration
across countries, a new World Bank study has found.
In its annual World Development Report (WDR) the Bank appeared to
strike a balance between outlining the positive outcomes from a deepening
digital economy in countries such as India, and the fact that automation of
jobs was in some cases leading to inequalities in the labour market
between high-skill and low-skill workers.
The 2016 WDR issue titled ―Digital Dividends,‖ noted that almost 1.063
billion Indians were offline even though India ranked among the top five
nations in terms of the total number of Internet users, along with China,
the U.S., Japan and Brazil.
With nearly 20 percent of the world‘s population unable to read and write,
the spread of digital technologies alone is unlikely to spell the end of the
global knowledge divide.
The report also cautioned that with the advent of big data, which includes
the likes of India‘s Aadhaar unique identity project secret snooping by
governments can be for legitimate law enforcement reasons, but
sometimes violates laws and rights, as the Edward Snowden revelations
about spying by the security agencies of the United States, the United
Kingdom, and others have shown.
Among them, the Bank‘s report outlined several cases of NGOs partnering
with the Indian government and such ―digital citizen engagement‖ led to
success with projects such as ―I Change My City,‖ ―I Paid A Bribe,‖ and
the ―Karnataka BVS.‖
India signs Agreement with World Bank for Bihar Kosi Basin
Development Project
The Financing Agreement for World Bank (IDA) assistance of US$ 250
million for Bihar Kosi Basin Development Project was signed between
Government of India and the World Bank.
The objective of the project is to enhance resilience to floods and increase
agricultural production and productivity in the targeted districts in the
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Kosi River Basin, and to enhance Bihar‘s capacity to respond promptly
and effectively to an eligible crisis or emergency.
The primary beneficiaries will be rural producers and households in the
Kosi River Basin who are regularly exposed to floods. This includes
farmers who lost their agricultural lands due to the silt deposits brought by
the 2008 Kosi River Flood as well as farmers in the project area that are
currently without access to irrigation and other technologies, improved
agricultural practices and an adequate transport network.
Project Components: The project has five components: (i) Improving
Flood Risk Management; (ii) Enhancing Agricultural Productivity and
Competitiveness; (iii) Augmenting Connectivity; (iv) Contingent
Emergency Response; and (v) Implementation Support.
It is a loan for an implementation period of 5 years. Government of Bihar
is the implementing agency.
WORLD BANK
The World Bank is an international financial institution that
provides loans to developing countries for capital programs. It comprises
two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD), and the International Development
Association (IDA). The World Bank is a component of the World Bank
Group, which is part of the United Nations system.
The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty. However,
according to its Articles of Agreement, all its decisions must be guided
by a commitment to the promotion of foreign investmentand international
trade and to the facilitation of Capital investment.
The World Bank is not to be confused with the World Bank Group, an
extended family of five international organizations:
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
International Development Association (IDA)
International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
International Centre for Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID)
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India to counter ‘non-issues’ at WTO talks
The government is firming up a strategy to prevent ‗attempts‘ by rich
nations to introduce ‗new pro-corporate issues‘ such as global value
chains, digital economy, labour and climate-related trade into the World
Trade Organisation (WTO) deliberations and negotiations on mega free
trade agreement.
When the Doha Round negotiations (for a global agreement to lower trade
barriers) resume at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, India will make it
clear that discussions on any ‗new issue‘ can take place only after
resolving all the outstanding matters related to the Doha Round talks.
The development came after India had opposed the declaration brought
out after the WTO‘s ministerial conference (its highest decision making
body) in Nairobi last month as it did not include measures primarily meant
for improving trade prospects of developing and poor nations.
The outstanding issues include an effective ‗Special Safeguard
Mechanism‘ (or a tool to help developing countries protect the interests of
their poor farmers by temporarily increasing duties to counter farm import
increase and price fall) and a permanent solution for the issue of public
stockholding for food security purposes.
Two criteria
India will state at the WTO that any country pitching for the introduction
the ‗new issues‘ will first have to ensure that they meet two criteria.
One is to establish the relevance of these issues in the context of trade and
the other to ensure that there is a consensus among all 162 WTO member
countries in taking up such an agenda.
India will strengthen the alliance of developing and poor countries to put
an end to the attempts to introduce 'new issues' into the WTO talks at this
stage.
These ‗new issues‘ that the developed world is keen to introduce into the
WTO‘s Doha Round talks include global value chains, e-commerce,
labour, climate-related trade (such as environmental services and goods),
competition policies, investment pacts, government procurement and
state-owned enterprises, on all of which the rich nations have superior
standards or rules than the developing and poor countries.
The developing nations feel these standards or rules might therefore
become non-tariff barriers, hurting their exports to rich nations while the
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latter will be able to indirectly open up the developing markets through an
agenda that includes 'new issues'.
India to pitch for TFA in services
India will pitch for a trade facilitation agreement (TFA) in services at the
WTO and other bilateral free trade pacts as the sector has huge potential
and it contributes significantly to the country‘s economy.
India is already pushing hard for a comprehensive trade pact in the
services sector, a key area of interest for the country, in the ongoing free
trade agreement negotiations including with the European Union and
Regional Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
After doing TFA in goods at the World Trade Organization, India intend
to take TFA in services to the WTO. TFA in services means liberalised
visa regime such as multiple entry visas, visa-free travel for foreign
tourists and long term visas for business community.
In RCEP negotiations India wants a comprehensive agreement in goods,
services and investments. India has decided that it would be now
aggressive in demanding freer movement of people because it is in the
interest of India and the world.
India is very strong in the services area as the sector contributes over 50
per cent in the country‘s economic growth. To boost services exports, the
ministry is already working on some reform measures in sectors including
education and legal.
Ex-post-facto approval on the approach adopted by India at the Tenth
Ministerial Conference of the WTO
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has
given its ex-post facto approval for the approach adopted by India at the
Tenth Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in Nairobi, Kenya during
15-19 December 2015.
Background
The outcomes of the Conference, referred to as the 'Nairobi Package'
include Ministerial Decisions on agriculture, cotton and issues related to
least developed countries (LDCs). These cover a Special Safeguard
Mechanism (SSM) for developing countries, public stockholding for food
security purposes, a commitment to abolish export subsidies for farm
exports and measures related to cotton.
Decisions were also made regarding preferential treatment to LDCs in the
area of services and the criteria for determining whether exports from
LDCs may benefit from trade preferences. A Ministerial Declaration was
also adopted.
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In the run-up to the Nairobi Conference, it became clear that the
Conference would determine the future of the Doha Round of trade
negotiations. While the Round is very important for greater integration of
developing countries in the global trading system, a few developed
countries were strongly opposed to the continuation of the Doha
Development Agenda (DDA).
India took the stand that the DDA must continue after the Nairobi
Conference and no new issues must be introduced into the WTO agenda
until the DDA has been completed. The Nairobi Ministerial Declaration
acknowledges that members "have different views" on how to address the
future of the Doha Round negotiations but noted the "strong commitment
of all Members to advance negotiations on the remaining Doha issues."
In view of the reluctance of developed countries to agree to continue the
Doha Development Agenda post-Nairobi, India negotiated and secured a
re-affirmative Ministerial Decision on Public Stockholding for Food
Security Purposes honouring both the Bali Ministerial and General
Council Decisions. The decision commits Members to engage
constructively in finding a permanent solution to this issue.
India negotiated a Ministerial Decision on another very important issue
which recognizes that developing countries will have the right to have
recourse to an agricultural Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) as
envisaged in the Doha mandate. Members will continue to negotiate the
mechanism in dedicated sessions of the Committee on Agriculture in
Special Session. The WTO General Council has been mandated to
regularly review the progress of these negotiations. This is a crucial
decision in view of the differing views about the future of the Doha
Round.
Members also agreed to the elimination of agricultural export subsidies
subject to the preservation of special and differential treatment for
developing countries such as a longer phase-out period for transportation
and marketing subsidies for exporting agricultural products. The
Ministerial Decision also contains disciplines to ensure that other export
policies are not used as a disguised form of subsidies. These disciplines
include terms to limit the benefits of financing support to agriculture
exporters, rules on state enterprises engaging in agriculture trade, and
disciplines to ensure that food aid does not negatively affect domestic
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production. Developing countries have been given a longer time to
implement these rules.
India supported outcomes on issues of interest to LDCs including
enhanced preferential rules of origin for LDCs and preferential treatment
for LDC services providers. India already provides substantial preferences
in these areas to LDCs.
Another area under negotiation in Nairobi dealt with the rules on fisheries
subsidies. Like India, several other countries had strong reservations on
this issue due to the lack of clarity. This was in tune with India's position.
There was no outcome in this area of the negotiations. A group of 53
WTO members, including both developed and developing countries, also
agreed on a timetable for implementing a deal to eliminate tariffs on 201
Information Technology products. Duty-free market access to the markets
of the members eliminating tariffs on these products will be available to
all WTO members. Though not a party to the Agreement, its benefits will
also be available to India.
WTO The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental
organization which regulates international trade. The WTO officially
commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, signed
by 123 nations on 15 April 1994, replacing the General Agreement on
Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.
The WTO deals with regulation of trade between participating countries
by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute
resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO
agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments
and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the WTO focuses
on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay
Round (1986–1994).
The WTO is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha
Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus
on developing countries. As of June 2012, the future of the Doha Round
remained uncertain: the work programme lists 21 subjects in which the
original deadline of 1 January 2005 was missed, and the round is still
incomplete.
The conflict between free trade on industrial goods and services but
retention of protectionism on farm subsidies to domestic agricultural
sector (requested by developed countries) and the substantiation of fair
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trade on agricultural products (requested by developing countries) remain
the major obstacles. This impasse has made it impossible to launch new
WTO negotiations beyond the Doha Development Round. As a result,
there have been an increasing number of bilateral free trade
agreements between governments. As of July 2012, there were various
negotiation groups in the WTO system for the current agricultural trade
negotiation which is in the condition of stalemate.
WHO declares end to Ebola epidemic
The World Health Organisation declared an end to the deadliest Ebola
outbreak ever after no new cases emerged in Liberia, though health
officials warn that it will be several more months before the world is
considered free of the disease that claimed more than 11,300 lives over
two years.
Liberia, which along with Sierra Leone and Guinea was an epicentre of
the latest outbreak, was first declared free of the disease last May, but new
cases emerged two times in Liberia.
That‘s because there is still ongoing risk of re-emergence of the disease
because of persistence of the virus in a proportion of survivors. In Liberia,
there was guarded optimism about reaching the 42-day benchmark with no
new cases. The Ministry of Health is still carrying out Ebola tests on dead
bodies before burial, and remains on the lookout for any suspicious cases.
WHO unit to focus on achieving universal health coverage
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced setting up of a
dedicated unit that will focus on achieving universal health coverage
(UHC), which is target 3.8 of sustainable development goals (SDGs).
The goals within SDGs emphasise the need to achieve UHC by ensuring
financial risk protection and improving access to essential health care
services for those marginalised. So far, the quality of services has been
neglected within the UHC dialogue
This special unit will focus on three key aspects: alignment of country
engagements and global framework, health service resilience, and quality
and lastly establishing partnerships to reach these goals.
This year, the prestigious award (in medicine) was conferred upon
Professor Morton Mower from the United States for invention of the
Automatic Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, a device that helps
monitor heart rate and rhythm, and deliver electrical current when
abnormality is detected.
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Sir Michael Marmot of the U.K. won the award in public health for his
evidence-based evaluation of the role of Social Determinants of Health, a
concept adopted by the British government and the WHO to eliminate
health inequities.
WHO
WHO began when our Constitution came into force on 7 April 1948 – a
date we now celebrate every year as World Health Day. We are now more
than 7000 people working in 150 country offices, in 6 regional offices and
at our headquarters in Geneva.
Their primary role is to direct and coordinate international health within
the United Nations‘ system.
These are our main areas of work:
Health systems
Promoting health through the life-course
Noncommunicable diseases
Communicable diseases
Corporate services
Preparedness, surveillance and response.
We support countries as they coordinate the efforts of multiple sectors of
the government and partners – including bi- and multilaterals, funds and
foundations, civil society organizations and private sector – to attain their
health objectives and support their national health policies and strategies.
Opening of AIIB part of global financial revamp
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was formally
opened, signalling the steady revamp of the global financial architecture,
which will also soon incorporate the New Development Bank of the
Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping.
The bank would target investments in ―high-quality, low-cost‖ projects.
Analysts say the AIIB is likely to lend anywhere between $10-15 billion a
year during the first five or six years of its existence.
The AIIB is expected to open a new channel of funding for the Global
South, which was so far dependent on the western backed International
Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank
(ADB), in which Japan plays a pre-eminent role.
Observers say the new lender will focus on infrastructure development in
Asia, a move that is likely to support the Eurasian connectivity initiative
under the China-led Belt and Road framework
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The EBRD was set up in 1991 to aid infrastructure development in
Eastern Europe. Since then, it has broadened its area of operations to
include central Asia, some Mediterranean and North African nations, the
Balkans and Southern Europe.
Bonding with Europe
The Silk Road will reduce time taken for exports between China and
Europe. If we can get the infrastructure moving, this will reduce the costs
of imports and exports both ways between China and Europe.
Without specifying the amount, India was likely to be in the beneficiary of
lending from the AIIB, especially in the power sector.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang confirmed Beijing‘s closer structural
bonding with Europe, after China formally joined the EBRD as its 67th
member. The AIIB‘s President-designate, Jin Liqun, stressed the bridging
the digital divide between the regional and global economies would be the
bank‘s top priority in the future.
ASIAN INFRASTRUTURE INVESTMENT BANK
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international
financial institution that aims to support the building of infrastructure in
the Asia-Pacific region. The bank has 30 member states (all "Founding
Members") and was proposed as an initiative by the government of China.
The initiative gained support from 37 regional and 20 non-regional
Prospective Founding Members (PFM), all of which have signed the
Articles of Agreement that form the legal basis for the bank. The bank
started operation after the agreement entered into force on 25 December
2015, after ratifications were received from 10 member states holding a
total number of 50% of the initial subscriptions of the Authorized Capital
Stock. Major economies that did not become PFM include the United
States, Japan and Canada.
The United Nations has addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential
for "scaling up financing for sustainable development" for the concern of
global economic governance. The capital of the bank is $100 billion,
equivalent to2⁄3 of the capital of the Asian Development Bank and about
half that of the World Bank.
The bank was proposed by China in 2013 and the initiative was launched
at a ceremony in Beijing in October 2014.
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Sri Lanka tops South Asia in human development
Sri Lanka has maintained its high ranking in human development. But the
country‘s performance in terms of average annual human development
index (HDI) growth rate during 1990-2014 was lower than many other
South Asian countries.
UN Development Programme (UNDP) released the Global Human
Development Report (HDR) 2015.
Sri Lanka has been placed at the 73rd rank with an HDI value of 0.757. In
the previous year‘s report, it occupied the 74th place. Since the end of the
civil war in 2009, the country‘s rank went up by five.
According to the document, the region of South Asia includes Iran too,
apart from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and
Maldives.
Iran is ahead of Sri Lanka, standing at 69th rank, the Maldives is ranked
104th. India and Bhutan fall under the category of medium human
development countries and Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan come under
the group of low human development countries.
India is placed at 130th rank and Pakistan, 147th. As for the growth rate
during 1990-2014, South Asia‘s figure was 1.38, the highest among all
regions.
The UNDP took 1990 into account as it was from that year that the series
of global HDI reports began. In the context of Sri Lanka, too, the year was
significant as the Eelam War resumed in June 1990 after the withdrawal of
the Indian Peacekeeping Force three months earlier.
In 1990, Sri Lanka‘s HDI value was 0.620 whereas the region‘s figure was
0.437. In 2014, the region‘s tally was 0.607.
HDI
The report, which studied a total of 188 countries and territories, has
determined the HDI values by assessing long-term progress in three basic
dimensions of human development, a long and healthy life, access to
knowledge and a decent standard of living.
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United
Nations' global development network.
Headquartered in New York City, UNDP advocates for change and
connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people
build a better life. It provides expert advice, training, and grant support to
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developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance to the least
developed countries.
The status of UNDP is that of an executive board within the United
Nations General Assembly. The UNDP Administrator is the third highest-
ranking official of the United Nations after the United Nations Secretary-
General and Deputy Secretary-General.
To accomplish the MDGs and encourage global development, UNDP
focuses on poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS, democratic governance, energy
and environment, social development, and crisis prevention and recovery.
UNDP also encourages the protection of human rights and the
empowerment of women in all of its programmes. The UNDP Human
Development Report Office also publishes an annual Human Development
Report (since 1990) to measure and analyse developmental progress. In
addition to a global Report, UNDP publishes regional, national, and local
Human Development Reports.
UNDP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from member nations.
The organization operates in 177 countries, where it works with local
governments to meet development challenges and develop local capacity.
Additionally, the UNDP works internationally to help countries achieve
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Currently, the UNDP is one
of the main UN agencies involved in the development of the Post-2015
Development Agenda.
UNDP works with nations on their own solutions to global and national
development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the
people of UNDP and its wide range of partners.
Denmark the least corrupt country, India at 76th position
India has climbed nine points to rank 76th in this year‘s global corruption
index launched by Transparency International, topped by Denmark.
According to Transparency International‘s International Corruption
Perceptions Index 2015, India is placed at 76th position along with
Thailand, Brazil, Tunisia, Zambia and Burkina Faso out of 168 countries.
India has improved its past year‘s position of 85 and has a grade index
score of 38 out of a possible 100 which indicates the least corrupt, said the
report topped by Denmark.
The index was prepared by using data from institutions including the
World Bank, the African Development Bank.
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According to Berlin-based Transparency International, 68 per cent of
countries worldwide have a serious corruption problem and half of the
G20 are among them.
Not one single country, anywhere in the world, is corruption-free, the
report said. Denmark tops of the index for the second consecutive year as
the country perceived as least corrupt. It scored 91 points, while North
Korea and Somalia remained at the bottom with unchanged scores of 8.
Europe scores high
The U.S. rose one spot this year to 16th place with a score of 76, tying
with Austria. The U.K. rose three spots to place 10th, with a score of 81
that tied it with Germany and Luxembourg.
The other top spots, from second to ninth, were occupied by Finland,
Sweden, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore
and Canada.
Brazil and Turkey were among nations that tumbled the most. Brazil slid
to 76th place, sharing its position with India, down from 69th last year.
Turkey fell two spots to 66th, continuing its descent from 53rd place in
2013.
―Dealing with many entrenched corruption issues, Brazil has been rocked
by the Petrobras scandal, in which politicians are reported to have taken
kickbacks in exchange for awarding public contracts,‖ the report said.
Global corruption index
Global corruption index, a composite index that draws from 12 surveys to
rank nations around the globe, has become a benchmark gauge of
perceptions of corruption and is used by analysts and investors.
Transparency International India
Transparency International India (TII) is a non-government, non-party and
not-for-profit civil society organization of Indian citizens with
professional, social, industrial or academic experience seeking to promote
transparent and ethical governance and to eradicate corruption.
Transparency International India is the Indian chapter of Transparency
International, an international organization based at Berlin that has turned
the fight against corruption into a worldwide movement.
To create a corruption-free India, so that the poor do not lose their voice to
corruption.
To lead and support a committed effort to improve transparency and
accountability by eradicating corruption through widening of knowdedge
and catalyzing action.
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Good governance, research, capacity building, communication and
advocacy, participatory monitoring, engaging with Government, private
sector and NGOs
IMF reforms: India, China, Brazil get more voting rights
In long-pending reforms that came into effect that emerging economies
gained more influence in the governance architecture of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
India‘s voting rights increased to 2.6 per cent from the current 2.3 per cent
and China‘s to six per cent from 3.8. Russia and Brazil are the other two
countries that gain from the reforms.
More than six per cent of the quota shares will shift to emerging and
developing countries from the U.S. and European countries. The combined
quotas or the capital countries contribute doubles to about $659 billion
from about $329 billion.
The reforms were agreed upon by the 188 members of the IMF in 2010, in
the aftermath of the global financial meltdown, and their delayed
implementation has been a major concern for India.
Among the reasons for the delay has been the time it took the U.S
Congress to approve the changes. U.S voting share will marginally drop,
from 16.7 per cent to 16.5 per cent. The U.S Senate had approved the
changes in December 2015.
The reforms bring India and Brazil to the list of the top 10 members of the
IMF, along with the U.S, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., China
and Russia.
For the first time, the Executive Board will consist entirely of elected
executive directors, ending the category of appointed executive directors.
Currently, the members with the five largest quotas appoint an executive
director, a position that will cease to exist.
There were problems in China although not that big as stock markets were
making it to be.
IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188
countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial
stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and
sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.
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Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 188
countries that make up its near-global membership.
Membership: 188 countries
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Original aims:
promote international monetary cooperation;
facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade;
promote exchange stability;
assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments; and
make resources available (with adequate safeguards) to members
experiencing balance of payments difficulties.
Agartala, Aizawl get $80 mn ADB loan
India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an $80 million loan
agreement for improving the infrastructure in the two North-Eastern cities
of Agartala and Aizawl.
The loan is the third tranche of a $200 million financing facility under the
North-Eastern Region Capital cities Development Investment Program
and will be used for investments in water supply, solid waste management
and sanitation in Agartala and Aizwal. It will also support urban reforms,
benefiting nearly a million people in the two cities.
The previous two tranches were aimed at improving the infrastructure in
Shillong, Aizawl, Kohima, Gangtok and Agartala.
Urban infrastructure and services in the northeast of the country are
grossly inadequate and this third tranche loan will help Agartala and
Aizawl improve and expand services, as well as strengthening the
institutional, managerial, and financial capacity of service institutions.
The Ministry of Urban Development is to complete the third tranche-
related activities by June 2019.
ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank
established on 19 December 1966 which is headquartered in Ortigas
Center located in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines, and maintains
31 field offices around the world, to promote social and economic
development in Asia.
The bank admits the members of the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP, formerly the Economic
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Commission for Asia and the Far East or ECAFE) and non-
regional developed countries. From 31 members at its establishment, ADB
now has 67 members, of which 48 are from within Asia and the Pacific
and 19 outside.
The ADB was modeled closely on the World Bank, and has a similar
weighted voting system where votes are distributed in proportion with
members' capital subscriptions. ADB releases an annual report that
summarizes its operations, budget and other materials for review by the
public.
At the end of 2014, Japan holds the largest proportion of shares at 15.7%.
TheUnited States holds 15.6%, China holds 6.5%, India holds 6.4%,
and Australiaholds 5.8%.
The highest policy-making body of the bank is the Board of Governors,
composed of one representative from each member state. The Board of
Governors, in turn, elect among themselves the twelve members of the
Board of Directors and their deputy. Eight of the twelve members come
from regional (Asia-Pacific) members while the others come from non-
regional members.
INDIA AND WORLD
INDIA AND NEPAL
India-Nepal bus service resumes after 27 years
A friendship bus service between India and Nepal via Champawat in
Uttarakhand resumed after a gap of 27 years, much to the delight of people
on either side of the border who have family and trade ties with each
other.
These air-conditioned buses with free Wi-Fi facility, painted with Indian
and Nepalese flags, will enter the Nepalese district of Kanchanpur at 6
a.m. every day and start for Delhi, and return from there at 6 p.m.
The bus which runs between Kanchanpur in Nepal close to Banbasa
border in Champavat district of Uttarakhand and Anand Vihar, Delhi.
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No special documents are required to travel in these buses. A bottle of
mineral water would be provided free of cost to the passengers. The
service was suspended 27 years ago in the wake of the Indo-Nepal Trade
and Transit Treaty.
Resumption of the service between the two countries was welcomed by
locals on either side of the border as about 10,000 Nepalis travel in these
buses daily from Kanchanpur district, Dandel Dhura, Voti, Sapen, Acham,
Kalali, Jagbuddha and Siddhartha Nagar areas in Nepal.
INDIA AND SINGAPORE
Cabinet approves MoU with Singapore to manage airports
The Union Cabinet approved the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding with Singapore for operating and maintaining the terminal
building of airports at Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
This is the first time the Airports Authority of India will award operation
and maintenance contract to any entity for terminal building. The city side
and airside of Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports will continue to be managed
by the AAI.
The objective of this MoU is to establish mutual cooperation in the field of
civil aviation, which will cover, to begin with, the airports of Jaipur and
Ahmedabad.
The MoU envisages collaboration with Singapore in areas such as traffic
development, commercial development, master planning and design,
training and development, cargo handling and management among others.
INDIA AND CHINA
Chinese initiative for India-centric magazine
China-India Dialogue, the first ever India-centric publication in China, is
seeking to put renewed focus on issues common between and related to
India and China.
The idea is to provide a platform for Chinese and Indian commentators to
write on politics and economy, and for academics from both countries to
communicate and debate with each other on specific themes.
China-India Dialogue, brought out by the China International Publishing
Group (CIPG) based in Beijing, will focus on a monthly theme. The
inaugural issue took up Internet connectivity in an inclusive economy as
the theme. The next issue would focus on ―poverty relief‖.
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China-India Dialogue would attempt to expand its readership and presence
in India, looking for both contributors and partners, and eventually to
register as a publication in the country. It also had a website in the works,
and would have other multimedia content hosted on it, she said.
The CIPG also publishes periodicals including China Pictorial, which
comes out in Chinese, English, Russian and Korean.
INDIA AND AUSTRALIA
Naval exercises will strengthen ties
Australia, which held its first bilateral naval exercise with the Indian Navy
last year, has been long keen on joining the Malabar exercises along with
the U.S. and Japan.
The India-U.S. Malabar naval exercises, which began in 1992, have grown
in scope and complexity, acquiring geopolitical significance in recent
times. The bilateral format gave way to a trilateral one with inclusion of
Japan as a permanent member in 2015.
In 2007, Australia joined the other three in a quadrilateral format for the
exercises, but based severe criticism from China which saw it as a
containment strategy.
Trading nations
Emphasising that both India and Australia are ―maritime trading nations‖,
it was for the importance of the freedom of the seas and respect for the
international law and the rule of law.
China, which claims the part of the South China Sea up to the nine dash
line as its own, has been reclaiming reefs in the region at a rapid pace.
Recently, it landed civilian planes on a 3,000-metre airstrip on the Fiery
Cross reef raising concern that fighter jets could follow next.
Lt. Gen. Campbell said that with growing prosperity, there was an
increasing trend of military modernisation across Asia as was evident with
India, China, Indonesia and others.
Both India and Australia seek to understand their security concerns by
looking at the constructive security arrangements and the strategic settings
across the India-Pacific oceans.
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INDIA AND EUROPEAN UNION
India, EU hold stock-taking meet on outstanding issues on FTA
India and the European Union held a stock-taking meeting on ―outstanding
issues‖, including duty cut on automobiles and wines/spirits as well as
easier temporary movement of skilled professionals which had stalled
talks on the proposed bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
The FTA talks were launched in 2007 and around 16 rounds of
negotiations were held till 2013. Though after that, no negotiations have
been held, India has moved ahead on many issues (that were demanded by
the EU) such as permitting 49 per cent FDI in insurance, 100 per cent FDI
in telecom and easing of foreign investments norms in the banking sector.
The main demands of the EU included duty cuts on automobiles, wines
and spirits, while India‘s demands included data security status, easier
temporary movement of skilled professionals, seamless intra-corporate
movement, real market access in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary
(norms related with plants and animals) and technical barriers to trade
measures adopted in EU.
The talks were to be restarted in August 2015, but India deferred them
expressing disappointment and concern over the EU banning sale of
around 700 pharma products clinically tested by GVK Biosciences.
EUROPEAN UNION
The EU is a unique economic and political partnership between 28
European countries that together cover much of the continent.
The EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. The first
steps were to foster economic cooperation: the idea being that countries
who trade with one another become economically interdependent and so
more likely to avoid conflict.
The result was the European Economic Community (EEC), created in
1958, and initially increasing economic cooperation between six countries:
Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Since
then, a huge single market has been created and continues to develop
towards its full potential.
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INDIA AND SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia’s oil premium may force India to tap Africa
India is looking at Africa to spruce up its oil and gas imports as it seeks to
diversify its energy basket after Saudi Arabia‘s decision to charge a
premium for the oil it sells to Asian customers.
Africa already contributes around 15 per cent of India‘s oil needs, with
India having imported 32 million metric tonnes from the entire continent
in 2014.
Last year, Nigeria overtook Saudi Arabia as the largest contributor to
India‘s oil imports for a short period of time and currently remains one of
the top providers of oil to India.
Saudi Arabia‘s national oil and gas company, Saudi Aramco, recently
announced that it would be charging Asian customers 60 cents a barrel
more for Arab Light crude oil during February compared to the prices they
would be paying in January.
India is currently the third-largest oil importer in the world, relying on
imports for 76 per cent of its oil needs. The International Energy Agency
projects that this would rise to around 90 per cent by 2030 as India‘s
demand continues to increase.
State-run ONGC and BPCL will invest $6 billion in developing a gas field
off the coast of Mozambique. OVL, ONGC‘s overseas arm, already has
investments in Sudan, South Sudan, Libya and Mozambique.
INDIA AND NIGERIA
India to buy more crude oil from Nigeria
India is set to import more crude oil from Nigeria, already one of the
biggest contributors to the country‘s oil imports.
Nigeria has now agreed to increase the term contract from 1.7 million
tonnes per annum to three million tonnes in 2016 on the sidelines of the
fourth India- Africa Hydrocarbon Summit in New Delhi.
Nigeria is the third-largest contributor to India‘s oil imports, accounting
for 11.59 million tonnes (MT) in the first half of this financial year, behind
Saudi Arabia (19.56 MT) and Iraq (17.01 MT). The benefit of a term
contract is that not only does it assure a certain quantity to be supplied but
also ensures a stable price unlike oil bought from spot markets whose
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price can fluctuate drastically. Apart from Nigeria, Sudan also wants to
increase its engagement with India.
India, on its part, is also keen to diversify its oil import basket as Saudi
Arabia‘s national oil and gas company recently announced that it would be
selling oil to its Asian customers, including India, at a premium of $0.6 a
barrel above the prevailing market price in February.
Sudan offer
Sudan have offered more oil blocks for exploration and asked for Indian
companies‘ expertise to raise production from existing fields.
Sudan currently owes India $240 million for the oil it consumed from the
Greater Nile Oil Project in the country of which OVL owns 25 per cent.
Sudan offered Blocks 8, 15 and 24 to OVL for exploration and urged the
Indian company to consider buying a stake in Block 17, which reportedly
produces 7,000 barrels of oil per day.
INDIA AND ARAB LEAGUE
India, Arab League vow to check terror, funding sources
India and the Arab League vowed to combat terrorism and called for
developing a strategy to ―eliminate‖ its sources and for delinking religion
from terrorism.
While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation
Forum here in the Bahraini capital, Ms. Swaraj also warned that those who
―silently sponsor‖ terror groups could end up being used by them, in an
apparent jibe at Pakistan.
The Manama Declaration
The meeting, which was opened by Bahrain‘s Foreign Minister Khalid bin
Ahmed Al Khalifa, culminated with the two sides issuing a joint statement
called the Manama Declaration.
The two sides discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern,
including the Palestinian issue, developments in the Arab region and in
South Asia, as well as counter-terrorism, Security Council reforms and
nuclear disarmament.
The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and
rejected associating it with any religion, culture or ethnic group.
They also emphasised the need for concerted regional and international
efforts to combat terrorism and to address its causes and develop a strategy
to eliminate the sources of terrorism and extremism, including its funding,
as well as combating organised cross-border crime, the Declaration stated.
36 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
In this context, the two sides affirmed their respect to the independence,
sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and non-interference in
its internal affairs and rejecting infringement of such principles, strongly
condemned crimes committed by all terror organisations, especially those
committed by the Islamic State.
INDIA AND FRANCE
India, France can gain by sharing strategies against terrorism
India and France are carrying out Shakti 2016 in Rajasthan which reflects
our common interests, French Ambassador to India Francois Richier,
referring to the joint exercise under way in Rajasthan, which focusses on
counter-terror and counter-insurgency operations.
Collaboration with France on counter-terror will help to bring in anti-
terror resolutions at the United Nations and on other multilateral platforms
in near future, explaining that the armed counter-measures were not
sufficient to deal with terror sponsors and terrorists as the global war on
terror demanded a multi-layered strategy.
Greater French support for India‘s decades-old anti-terror struggle would
help India attain both regional as well as global targets in the fight against
terrorism.
Rafale pact concluded, but no deal yet on price
India and France signed 14
agreements, including an
intergovernmental
agreement for the purchase
of Rafale fighter jets,
nuclear reactors, French
railway locomotives and a
major commitment to
counter -terror cooperation.
Bilateral talks
In a joint statement, the
two sides said they would
embark on new ways of
cooperation on fighting
terrorism, including
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intelligence-sharing and joint exercises along with the annual strategic
dialogues and a joint working group on counterterrorism meetings.
They called for decisive action to be taken against Lashkar-e-Tayibba,
Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the Haqqani Network and other
terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda urging Pakistan to bring to justice the
perpetrators of the Pathankot and Gurdaspur attacks and the 2008 Mumbai
attack, in which two French nationals were among those killed.
RAFALE
Rafale is a twin-jet combat aircraft capable of carrying out a wide range of
short and long-range missions, including ground and sea attacks,
reconnaissance, high-accuracy strikes and nuclear strike deterrence.
The aircraft were developed for the French Air Force and Navy.
The Rafale entered service with the French Navy in 2004 and with the
French Air Force in 2006. Ten aircraft are operational on the Charles de
Gaulle aircraft carrier.
Rafale can carry payloads of more than 9t on 14 hardpoints for the air
force version, with 13 for the naval version. The range of weapons
includes: Mica, Magic, Sidewinder, ASRAAM and AMRAAM air-to-air
missiles; Apache, AS30L, ALARM, HARM, Maverick and PGM100 air-
to-ground missiles and Exocet / AM39, Penguin 3 and Harpoon anti-ship
missiles.
The aircraft is also equipped with fixed-frequency VHF / UHF radio for
communications with civil air traffic control. A multifunction information
distribution system (MIDS) terminal provides secure, high-data-rate
tactical data exchange with Nato C2 stations, AWACS aircraft or naval
ships.
India, France set to expand space partnership
The Indian Space Research Organisation and its French counterpart CNES
(National Centre for Space Studies) agreed to work together in the next
Mars mission, as well as a satellite launch and a thermal infrared
observation mission.
Under the Make in India banner, India and France signed a deal that will
allow French industrial major Alstom to make 800 high horse power
locomotives in India. The locomotives are expected to be made in the
electric locomotives factory in Madhepura, Bihar.
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Both sides also signed an agreement on upgrading the Delhi-Chandigarh
line to 200 kmph, in keeping with France‘s special focus on the
Chandigarh ‗Smart City‘ project.
France remains an important interlocutor for India, in the European Union,
as India‘s position on sensitive issues have often been supported by France
even when it faced opposition from other European power.
In the joint statement, France also committed itself to supporting India‘s
bid for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council and India‘s
accession to the multilateral (nuclear) export control regimes in 2016
itself.
France commits €300 million for solar energy
French President Francois Hollande committed €300 million (around $325
million or Rs. 2,200 crore) over the next five years for the global
development of solar energy and the real challenge was to attract
investments worth a trillion dollars to promote the renewable source.
Through this solar alliance, it will be helpful for the countries with no
resources other than the sun an opportunity to produce electricity for
meeting the needs of most of their people.
The International Solar Alliance, envisaged to bring together 122 countries
that lie wholly or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn, is an initiative announced by Mr. Modi at the COP 21 Summit
in Paris in November. The member countries are to be those that enjoy
300 or more days in a year of bright sunlight.
The Alliance would focus on three broad areas. First, it is about pooling
together the requests of countries with a huge potential in order to reduce
their cost of capital. Second, it is about opening the markets in order to
reduce the cost of investment. Third, it is about transferring the necessary
technology and know-how from developed to developing countries.
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Progress is impossible without energy. The developing countries still have
a lot of progress to achieve. But the problem is that energy through fossil
fuels yields issues of global warming and harm to the environment, and
without energy, these countries will sink into darkness.
INDIA AND ARMENIA
India and Armenia Signed Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
A Protocol to amend the existing Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
was signed by the Government of India and the Government of Armenia.
The Protocol amends the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention
between India and Armenia that has been in existence since 9th
September, 2004. The Protocol amends the Article on Exchange of
Information for tax purposes to bring it in line with the updated provisions
in the OECD Model.
The Protocol will enable the two countries to exchange information related
to financial and banking transactions under the Double Taxation
Avoidance Convention, and thereby facilitate them in addressing tax
evasion. It is also expected to further strengthen the efforts of Government
of India in curbing generation of black money.
DOUBLE TAXATION AVOIDANCE CONVENTION
Double taxation is the levying of tax by two or more jurisdictions on the
same declared income (in the case of income taxes), asset (in the case
of capital taxes), or financial transaction (in the case of sales taxes). This
double liability is often mitigated by tax treaties between countries.
The term 'double taxation' is additionally used, particularly in the USA, to
refer to the fact that corporate profits are taxed and the shareholders of the
corporation are (usually) subject to personal taxation when they receive
dividends or distributions of those profits.
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POLITY
NDC to be scrapped, NITI Aayog council likely to get its powers
After the Planning Commission, the Narendra Modi-led government is set
to bring down the curtains on another Nehruvian legacy: the National
Development Council (NDC).
The Cabinet will, in early
January, take up its closure
and also pass a resolution for
transferring its powers to the
Governing Council of the
NITI Aayog, chaired by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
After getting the Cabinet‘s
approval, Mr. Modi will take
up the resolution with the
Chief Ministers at a meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog.
Shyam Benegal to head CBFC revamp panel
The Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry constituted a
committee, headed by film-maker Shyam Benegal, to suggest best
practices to help the Board members understand the nuances of certifying
films.
A Ministry note said the recommendations of the committee were
expected to provide a holistic framework and enable those tasked with the
work of certification of films to discharge their responsibilities keeping in
view this framework.
The exclusion of Mr. Nihalani from the deliberations of the committee
raises serious questions on the controversial decisions taken by him from
blocking cuss words to chopping of scenes deemed objectionable even
from adult films such as the recent James Bond starrer, Spectre, two
months ago. Sources in the Ministry said Mr. Nihalani was very much part
of the decision to set up a committee to streamline certification process of
films.
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Direct transfer of kerosene subsidy
The Centre announced a scheme to implement direct benefit transfers for
kerosene subsidies starting April 1, as is already being done for LPG
users, by incentivising States to make the transition.
Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Punjab, and Rajasthan have already agreed to initiate the
scheme in a few of their districts. Together, they will implement DBT for
kerosene in 26 districts.
Under the scheme, the consumer would have to pay full unsubsidised price
of kerosene at the time of purchase. The subsidy amount will then be
directly transferred to bank account.
Special Package for Siddi Tribe
Ministry for Social Welfare has announced a Rs. 55.35-crore special
package for the overall development of the Siddi tribe of Uttara Kannada
district.
The plan is to implement all welfare schemes under the special package
within one year. To ensure access for education to the Siddi children, the
government will open a residential school at Vada.
Besides, two new residential schools, modelled on the lines of the
Navodaya residential schools, will be opened in Yellapur and Haliyal, and
nearly 70 per cent of the seats would be reserved for Siddi children in
these schools.
The government had released Rs. 5 crore to provide drinking water,
streetlights and other such amenities, and Rs. 2.5 crore to construct 150
houses.
Enhancing crop productivity vital
Globally, India lags behind in productivity of most crops and it is of
utmost importance that the productivity per hectare is raised urgently to
pull out farmers from poverty.
Productivity and production could not be improved till the quality of land
improves. Therefore, improving soil health is one of the most important
issues in agriculture especially in irrigated areas where extensive use of
urea has resulted in deterioration in soil health.
Improving soil
Centre had been emphasising on improving the health of soil by integrated
nutrient management and had announced a programme of collection of
soil samples, conduct analysis and issuance of soil health card in a time
bound manner.
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Many of our farmers are not able to get the optimal yields from their
fields, as they are not aware of the soil conditions. Our goal is to
communicate benefits of soil health to the farmers so that they can apply
appropriate dosage of fertilisers to increase productivity and profitability
Health cards
Government decided to provide soil health cards to 14 crore farmers of the
country.
Five crore farmers will be provided these card in 2015-16 and remaining
farmers will be given the cards in 2016-17. Under the Soil Health Card
Scheme Rs. 109 crore have been released till December 2015.
The national e-Market will be launched by March 2016 under the National
Agriculture Market Scheme (NAM).
20 States have expressed interest in linking their markets (mandis). While
200 mandis will be connected by September 2016, another 200 mandis
will be connected by March 2017.
Legalise betting in cricket - Lodha panel
Urging lawmakers to legalise betting in
cricket for all except cricket players,
officials and administrators, the
Supreme Court-appointed Justice R.M.
Lodha Committee report said that
government servants and ministers
should be banned from holding posts in
the BCCI.
The committee commended the ―good
work‖ done by the BCCI, including a
pension scheme for national players.
Justice Lodha, along with Justices Ashok Bhan and R.V. Raveendran, said
their objective handed down by the apex court was not to limit the
autonomy of the BCCI.
Taking a realistic stand on betting, the very cause for the apex court
setting up the panel, Justice Lodha said betting was a $ 400 billion
phenomenon practised across the globe and lawmakers in India should
enact laws to legalise it.
But the committee said players, team and match officials and cricket
administrators should not be allowed to indulge in betting, which should
be restricted through licensed betting houses.
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SC wants interim mechanism to protect whistleblowers
Whistleblowers who raise their voice against corruption in government
need to be protected, the Supreme Court gave the Centre a week‘s time to
report back on the time required for setting up a foolproof interim
mechanism to receive complaints and protect the lives of whistleblowers
till a law is enacted in Parliament.
The Bench then scheduled for January 13 hearing of the public interest
litigation petition filed by NGO Parivartan on how whistleblowers who
exposed corruption ended up victims of their own courageous act and even
faced threats to their lives. Earlier, the Centre had said legislation was in
the offing.
The Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha and there is a demand to send
it to the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha.
Panel proposes bringing elite clubs under RTI Act
In yet another proposal by politicians that could control the functioning of
elite clubs in the city, a Legislature committee has proposed to bring all
clubs under the ambit of the government‘s rules and the Right to
Information (RTI) Act.
There is already strong resistance from club managements to the
controversial move to bring in legislation to control membership and other
issues at clubs in the city.
A seven-member Legislative Assembly Committee headed by the
Congress MLA, N.A. Harris, which visited clubs in the city, found that
most clubs in Bengaluru and other parts of the State charged exorbitant
fees for membership and enforced dress codes.
The panel members said the clubs were behaving in an ―extremely
exclusive‖ manner despite getting grants, land and other concessions from
the government.
The committee members cited the Supreme Court-appointed Justice R.M.
Lodha Committee recommendation for bringing the Board of Control for
Cricket in India under the RTI Act to back their proposal. The committee
is expected to submit its final report in a few months.
Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs merged with MEA
In order to avoid duplication of work and to improve efficiency, the
government merged the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) with
the Ministry of External Affairs.
Sources, however, indicated that the decision to merge MOIA with MEA
was taken as senior diplomats wanted officials dealing with foreign
44 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
workers-related issues and emergencies to have better diplomatic back-up
and coordination.
The merger of MOIA was to avoid ―duplication‖ as most of the work of
MOIA was done by Indian missions abroad. Even the information for
answering the questions related to MOIA in Parliament used to be
provided by the Indian missions.
But reportedly, the MEA, which has been short of staff, wanted greater
number of officials with diplomatic experience in key positions in MOIA
to deal with emergencies involving Indians in various crisis-prone
countries in West Asia. The merger is expected to increase efficiency in
MEA‘s emergency work abroad.
MEA wanted the key operational posts, including that of the Protector
General of Emigrants, one of the most important offices in MOIA, to have
diplomatic focus.
The post of Protector General of Emigrants is responsible for issuing
registration certificates to recruitment agents who send workers abroad,
especially to the Gulf region.
NRIs likely to get Aadhaar number
The government is considering giving Aadhaar cards to non-resident
Indians and a decision on it will be taken soon.
Women workers would be allowed to go to Gulf countries for employment
only through the government agencies to ensure they were not duped by
recruiting agents or firms.
The PBD, webcast by almost all Indian Missions and Posts, was organised
for the first time by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after the
government‘s decision to merge Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs
(MOIA) with it.
Earlier the MOIA used to host the event. January 9 was chosen as the day
for PBD as it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the ―greatest
Pravasi,‖ returned home from South Africa to lead India‘s freedom
struggle.
Asked the diaspora to participate in government‘s various flagship
programmes including the Skill India, the Digital India and the Clean
Ganga initiatives and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted the
Aadhaar card scheme to be extended to the NRIs.
So far, Aadhaar card has been given to those Indians who live in India. It
is not for non-resident Indians.
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PM even wants it for OCI (Overseas Citizens of India card) holders. The
matter is under consideration. No decision has been taken as discussions
on it are underway.
The government has so far issued Aadhaar cards to over 92 crore citizens.
Under the programme, every citizen is to be provided with a 12-digit
unique identification number for which biometric information is collected.
Bonus Act notified
The Union government has notified the Payment of Bonus (Amendment)
Act, 2015, allowing lakhs of workers to become eligible to bonus
retrospectively from the last financial year, the Labour Ministry.
While the decision has enthused workers, the industry is unhappy. It has
written to the government suggesting ways to simplify bonus distribution.
It has said the new Act will lead to financial stress, especially on small and
medium enterprises, and as the account books for the previous financial
year would have been closed, difficulties are bound to crop up in bonus
distribution.
Under the law, all employees earning Rs. 21,000 a month will be entitled
to bonus, against the earlier limit of Rs. 10,000. Also, the ceiling for bonus
calculation has been doubled from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 7,500 a month. This
will retrospectively come into effect from April 1, 2014.
An employee earning up to Rs. 7,000 per month will be eligible to a bonus
on his or her entire salary. If the salary is between Rs. 7,000 and Rs.
21,000, bonus will be calculated on the salary of Rs. 7,000 a month. The
notification was published on January 1.
NITI Aayog plans model lease law
After several State
governments resisted the
Union government‘s
ordinance and Bill
proposing amendments to
the Land Acquisition Act,
2013, NITI Aayog has
taken up with the States a
proposal for unlocking
the value of farmland
through leasing.
An expert group, headed
by T. Haque, former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs
and Prices, held consultations with officials from various States on a
46 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
model land leasing law that NITI Aayog will prepare for the States to use
for reforming land lease provisions.
Representatives of farmers‘ organisations and non-governmental
organisations attended the meeting.
The organisations and individuals unanimously supported a model law,
which should help the tenant and protect the landowner‘s right.
The majority opinion was that the law should be restricted to agriculture
and should not encourage corporate farming.
The measure is among the reforms NITI Aayog is taking up with the
States on the subjects under the State and Concurrent Lists of the
Constitution.
Land bank
A land bank held by a public agency is being considered in which
interested landowners could deposit their land parcels for cultivators to
lease land. Under this system, the public agency acts as an intermediary
and transfers rent from the actual cultivator to owner while charging a
small fee to cover its costs. This is expected to permit the consolidation of
operational landholdings, given the steadily declining size of and
fragmentation of farmland holdings in the country.
The biggest advantage of a liberalised and secure land lease market will be
that it will ease the exit of those farmers who find farming unattractive or
non-viable and economically strengthen those farmers who want to stay in
the farming and raise the scale of operational holdings.
Such a market offers solution to several problems of Indian agriculture
such as consolidation of operational holdings, fallow land, access to
institutional credit, and productive use of land belonging to farmers
unwilling to engage in farming.
Telangana becomes first State to make gender education compulsory
Telangana has become the first State to introduce compulsory gender
education at the graduate level; without repeating gender stereotypes in its
bilingual textbook titled, ‗Towards a World of Equals‘.
The book introduced on a pilot basis in engineering colleges affiliated to
the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU-Hyderabad)
discusses gender in its composite form without limiting itself to crime
against women. From information on unacknowledged women writers of
Telangana to problems of sex selection and women‘s work in politics and
economics, the book attempts to cover it all.
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It also touches upon complex subjects like female-centric history and
male-female relationships.
Structured in simple language and form to suit under-graduates, the book
discusses different strands of women‘s movements across the world,
introducing students to political movements of Afro-American, Caribbean,
African, Dalit and minority women.
A nine-member, all-women, panel which drafted the syllabus and
developed its content has already held four training workshops for groups
of 15 to 40 teachers and is expected to take up yet another session this
week.
What makes the textbook interesting is the gamut of reactions and
classroom discussions which it attempts to generate. For instance, in its
first chapter on Socialisation, the book hints at initiating a discussion in
the classroom on ―Are boys taught household work while growing up?
Discuss your experiences at home.‖
Govt. to set up three committees to address issues in medical tourism
The government would set up three sub-committees to look into the issues
of regulation, accreditation and marketing of medical and wellness tourism
in the country, in an attempt to promote the sector.
Tourism Ministry will address the problems faced by the people (coming
to India for medical and wellness purposes). They are going to propose
hassle-free visa facility to medical tourists. They have plans to engage
with tour and travel operators and ensure that a transparent system of
medical facilities.
Some of the issues raised by the members of the board were the need for
more accredited hospitals, an easy visa regime, linkages between service
providers and the end user, besides promoting and marketing India as a
medical and wellness tourism hub.
The government had last year announced the setting up of the National
Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board. Its members include
yoga guru Ramdev, renowned cardiologists Naresh Trehan, Devi Prasad
Shetty and K.K. Aggarwal, and Sangeeta Reddy of Apollo Hospitals.
Government formed a board with a seed capital of Rs.2 crore.
Centre clears new crop insurance scheme
The Union government approved the much-talked about new crop
insurance scheme in which it has kept the premium amount for farmers at
a maximum of two per cent for food grains and oilseeds while capping it
up to five per cent for horticulture and annual commercial crops.
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Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana will bring about a huge change in the
lives of farmers.
The Cabinet had approved the PMFBY, replacing the existing National
Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) as well as the modified NAIS. The
scheme will be implemented from the kharif season this year.
The farmer‘s share of premium has been substantially reduced and the
government will provide subsidy on premium adding that government
liability on premium subsidy would be shared by the Central and State
governments on a 50:50 basis.
The scheme will have a uniform premium of only two per cent to be paid
by the farmers for all kharif crops and 1.5 per cent for all rabi crops. In
case of annual commercial crops such as cotton and horticultural crops, it
will be only five per cent.
The premium rates to be paid by farmers are kept very low and the balance
premium will be paid by the government to provide full insured amount to
the farmers against crop loss on account of natural calamities.
There is no upper limit on government subsidy. Even if the balance
premium is 90 per cent, it will be borne by the government.
Coverage raised
The scheme comes at a time the country is facing a drought for the second
straight year due to poor monsoon rains and the government wants to
enhance insurance coverage to more crop area to protect farmers from
climate variations.
The government expects the scheme to help increase the insurance
coverage to 50 per cent of the total crop area of 194.40 million hectares
from the existing level of about 25-27 per cent crop area.
National Family Health Survey-4
‘37% children under age 5 stunted’
The new National Family Health Survey-4 data
for 15 States showed that 37 per cent of
children under the age of five is stunted, a fall
of just five percentage points in a decade.
Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are the worst off,
with 48 and 42 per cent respectively of
children stunted. The proportion of
underweight children has reduced equally
slowly, from 39 per cent to 34 per cent, with
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49 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
Bihar and Madhya Pradesh the worst again.
The one success has been in the area of child wasting (low weight for
height).
The States for which data are available have more than halved their
proportion of such children in the last decade, from 48 per cent to 22 per
cent. The proportions of adult men and women with below normal Body
Mass Index have also declined.
The data cover only half the country and does not include high-performing
States in the Northeast, Kerala and Maharashtra
Child sex ratio dips further
Shockingly, Karnataka‘s
preference for male children
appears to be only getting worse.
While child sex ratio (females per
1,000 males) stood at 922 in the
last NFHS survey, it has declined
to 910 now.
What is even more shocking is the
divide between the urban and rural
areas, with rural areas clearly less
biased against girl children. While
child sex ratio stood at 875 in urban areas, it was 935 in urban areas. In the
overall population too, there is a decline in the number of females, down
from 1,028 to 979.
The NFHS-4 was conducted from February 25 to June 20, 2015 in
Karnataka and information was gathered from 23,842 households, and
26,291 women and 3,743 men.
Drop in married women using modern family planning methods
Karnataka has recorded a decline in use of modern family planning
methods by married women, with just over 50 per cent of them using
them, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) for 2015–16 has
revealed.
The survey shows that 51.8 per cent of married women in the 15 to 49 age
group are using ―any method‖ of family planning, with the decline in
terms of percentage during the last one decade at 11.8 per cent. It stood at
63.6 per cent in NFHS survey (2005–06).
There has been a decline in all categories. While women using ―modern
method‖ stood at 51.3 per cent in 2015–16, it was 62.5 per cent in 2005–
50 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
06, a decline of 11.2 per cent. The percentage of women undergoing
sterilisation saw a decline of 8.8.
SSA to develop ‘model’ schools
A total of 3,843 elementary schools in Andhra Pradesh have been
identified for development as ‗model schools‘ by upgrading the facilities
in the institutions, State Project Director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
Strengthening the existing infrastructure through provision of additional
classrooms, toilets, drinking water, computers, and maintaining healthy
teacher- student ratio are among the initiatives to be taken up in the model
schools. The target is to develop all the model schools by March-end.
The objective of the SSA is to provide free education in the 6-14 age
group as guaranteed by the 86th amendment of the Constitution as a
Fundamental Right.
One of the focus areas of the SSA was ensuring education of girls and
bringing down the dropout rate.
Girls education is being taken care of through the Kasturba Gandhi Balika
Vidyalayas (KGBVs). There are 352 KGBVs in Andhra Pradesh and most
of them are giving excellent results. These are residential schools where
food and accommodation needs of the students are met.
WEF offers to team up with State
The World Economic Forum has offered to partner with the Andhra
Pradesh government to make agriculture profitable and commercially
viable by bringing in best practices from across the world.
Addressing a session on ‗The New Vision for Agriculture: Advancing the
Action Agenda‘ at the WEF‘s annual summit at Davos, Chief Minister N.
Chandrababu Naidu explained the government‘s vision to create a
knowledgeable farmers‘ community in the State.
The WEF has come forward to set up a secretariat in the State. The WEF
and AP will work towards bringing in best practices, improve the value
chain and improve the incomes of farmers. WEF has already created sub-
groups to study and implement best agricultural practices in South
America, Africa, Asia and Pacific regions. The studies from these groups
will be implemented in AP to enhance productivity and profitability in
agriculture. Mr. Naidu gave an overview to the delegates on Primary
Sector Mission and the irrigation initiatives, including the linking of the
Godavari and Krishna rivers taken up by the State. He said the
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51 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
government took a brave step by launching debt redemption scheme for
farmers in spite of revenue deficit.
An exercise to reduce neonatal deaths
A seemingly inane exercise of holding meetings with women on health
issues brought down neonatal death rates in five remote districts of
Jharkhand and Odisha – a success story recorded in 2011 and 2012 that
will feature in the February edition of medical journal The Lancet Global
Health .
The model is already being scaled up, with the Union Health Ministry
sending a circular to 10 States with a high burden of neonatal and maternal
mortality earlier this month to emulate the ‗meeting‘ approach to bring
down newborn baby deaths. A quarter of world‘s neonatal deaths and 15
per cent of maternal deaths are recorded in India.
The exercise‘s appeal lies in its simple, yet effective approach. The trial,
led by non-governmental organisation Ekjut that is active in Jharkhand
and Odisha over the last decade, was carried out in 30 geographical
clusters (each cluster with a population of 5,000 people and covering three
to five villages) in five districts.
Government accredited social health activists (ASHAs) were asked to
spend an additional one hour in their meetings with women in the 15 to 49
age group. During these meetings, they discussed maternal and newborn
health issues and possible solutions. They also set the agenda for the next
meeting, identifying subjects such as nutrition or hygiene.
Health workers made home visits following child birth to counsel families
on newborn care and meetings were held with midwives and Anganwadi
workers. In the subsequent meetings, women discussed if the solutions had
worked practically.
In all, 4,903 meetings were held. The outcome? The early neonatal death
mortality rate dropped from 49.8 to 30.2 in the first year of the research
and then to 23 in the next year, much lower than the control clusters where
the meetings were not held. A drop was recorded in the late neonatal
mortality rate as well — from 13.7 to 3.8 in the first year to 2.8 in the
second year. A drop was recorded in maternal mortality ratio as well.
Ekjut carried out this trial in collaboration with the Institute for Global
Health, University College London (UK). ―Communities were able to
navigate through health issues better, choose a better midwife, and even
choose a better vehicle (to take women for check-ups, delivery), and keep
the newborn baby warm.
52 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
Cabinet approves India joining the International Energy Agency – Ocean
Energy Systems
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has
given its approval for India becoming a member country of the
International Energy Agency - Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES) by
signing the Implementing Agreement (IA).
The nodal agency for the membership would be Earth System Science
Organisation - National Institute of Ocean Technology (ESSO-NIOT)
under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
By becoming a member of the IEA-OES, India will have access to
advanced R&D teams and technologies across the world. India will
partner in developing test protocols along with other countries. This will
help in testing Indian prototypes as per international requirements and
norms. Joint cooperative programs with institutes of member countries
could be taken up. India's own research projects with specific targets can
be taken up in conjunction with other countries.
Background:
The long coastline of India and severe power deficit in the country,
warrant the study of ocean renewable energies. Vagaries of the sea makes
harnessing ocean energy a technological challenge. In the Indian context
designing of scaled up ocean energy devices (including wave, currents and
tidal) and their techno-commercial viability needs to be undertaken.
Tropical countries have high sea surface temperatures and hence Ocean
Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a good option for countries like
India. NIOT, an autonomous research institute under the Ministry of Earth
Sciences, is working in the area of ocean energy and desalination.
The IEA is an inter-governmental organization with a broad role of
promoting alternate energy sources (including renewable energy), rational
energy policies and multinational energy technology co¬operation and
acts as energy policy advisor to 29 member countries. The OES, launched
in 2001, is an intergovernmental collaboration between countries, which
operates under framework established by the International Energy
Agency. This initiative is to advance research, development and
demonstration of technologies to harness energy from all forms of ocean
renewable resources, as well as for other uses, such as desalination etc.
through international cooperation and information exchange.
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SCHEMES
Cabinet approves Stand Up India Scheme
A boost to promote entrepreneurship among SC/ST and Women
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
approved the ―Stand Up India Scheme‖ to promote entrepreneurship
among SC/ST and Women entrepreneurs. The Scheme is intended to
facilitate at least two such projects per bank branch, on an average one for
eachcategory of entrepreneur. It is expected to benefit atleast 2.5 lakh
borrowers.
The expected date of reaching the target of at least 2.5 lakh approvals is 36
months from the launch of the Scheme.
The Stand Up India Scheme provides for:
Refinance window through Small Industries Development Bank of
India (SIDBI) with an initial amount of Rs. 10,000 crore.
Creation of a credit guarantee mechanism through the National Credit
Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC).
Handholding support for borrowers both at the pre loan stage and during
operations. This would include increasing their familiarity with factoring
services, registration with online platforms and e-market places as well as
sessions on best practices and problem solving.
The details of the scheme are as follows:
Focus is on handholding support for both SC/ST and Women
borrowers.
The overall intent of the approval is to leverage the institutional credit
structure to reach out to these under-served sectors of the population
by facilitating bank loans repayable up to 7 years and between Rs. 10
lakh to Rs. 100 lakh for greenfield enterprises in the non farm sector
set up by such SC, ST and Women borrowers.
The loan under the scheme would be appropriately secured and
backed by a credit guarantee through a credit guarantee scheme for
which Department of Financial Services would be the settler and
National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC) would be
the operating agency.
Margin money of the composite loan would be up to 25%.
Convergence with state schemes is expected to reduce the actual
requirement of margin money for a number of borrowers. • Over a
54 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
period of time, it is proposed that a credit history of the borrower be
built up through Credit Bureaus.
Background:
The "Start up India Stand up India" initiative was announced by the
PrimeMinister in his address to the nation on 15th August, 2015. The
Stand up India component is anchored by Department of Financial
Services (DFS) to encourage greenfield enterprises by SC/ST and Women
entrepreneurs.
eNPS-Online Subscriber Registration and Contribution Facility under
NPS developed
In light of the Prime Minister‘s ―Digital India‖ campaign on promoting e-
governance for providing last mile connectivity through extensive use of
ICT (Information and Communications Technology) platforms, Pension
Fund Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) has been pursuing the
development and operationalization of online transaction facilities for the
prospective as well as existing subscribers of NPS.
Towards this end, an online platform for registration of subscribers and
receipt of contribution under National Pension System (eNPS) through
NPS Trust at www.npstrust.org.in has been developed. Through this
platform, a prospective subscriber can register for NPS; contribute to
his/her Permanent Retirement Account. Further, the subscribers who
already have an NPS account can make contributions through eNPS
directly.
A prospective subscriber can visit NPS Trust website www.npstrust.org.in
and select NPS Online menu to register and contribute to NPS.
While registering, a Subscriber will provide his/her name & Permanent
Account Number (PAN) details which will be validated online with the
Income Tax Department. Subscriber will then select the Bank (through
which KYC verification to be done), fill up the personal details and upload
photograph & signature. After filling up of details, the Subscriber will
make contribution through net banking from the account of the selected
Bank. Once payment is made, PRAN will be provided online to the
Subscriber.
The details submitted by the subscriber will be sent through CRA system
to the selected Bank for KYC verification. After verification of KYC by
the Bank, the PRAN will become active and operational. Subscriber will
be required to print the form, paste photograph, affix signature and submit
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55 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
the physical form to CRA within a specified period while continuing
contributing online.
Subscriber can make subsequent contribution online through net banking
/debit card/credit card at any time and the same will be credited in the
subscriber‘s PRAN account on T+2 basis.
The complete information about eNPS is available in PFRDA website
www.pfrda.org.in and also on NPS Trust websitewww.npstrust.org.in.
Presently, ten banks viz. Allahabad Bank, Bank of India, Bank of
Maharashtra, Oriental Bank of Commerce, South Indian Bank, State Bank
of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Patiala, Tamilnadu
Mercantile Bank and United Bank of India have provided the facility of
online KYC verification. PFRDA has advised all other Bank POPs to join
the eNPS platform and provide online verification of KYC for the
customers of their Banks willing to open NPS account online.
Through this facility, it is expected that the subscriber will have multiple
advantages like seamless on boarding experience where he need not visit a
Point of Presence and can register from anywhere through an internet
connection, contribution with minimum cost of transaction and reduction
in errors resulting from various manual activities.
Currently, NPS has more than 1.13 Crore subscribers with total Asset
under Management (AUM) of more than Rs. 1.08 lakh crore.
Cabinet approves New Crop Insurance Scheme
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has
approved the ‗Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana‘ - a path breaking
scheme for farmers‘ welfare.
The highlights of this scheme are as under:
There will be a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for
all Kharif crops and 1.5% for all Rabi crops. In case of annual
commercial and horticultural crops, the premium to be paid by
farmers will be only 5%. The premium rates to be paid by farmers are
very low and balance premium will be paid by the Government to
provide full insured amount to the farmers against crop loss on
account of natural calamities.
There is no upper limit on Government subsidy. Even if balance
premium is 90%, it will be borne by the Government.
Earlier, there was a provision of capping the premium rate which
resulted in low claims being paid to farmers. This capping was done
to limit Government outgo on the premium subsidy. This capping has
56 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
now been removed and farmers will get claim against full sum insured
without any reduction.
The use of technology will be encouraged to a great extent. Smart
phones will be used to capture and upload data of crop cutting to
reduce the delays in claim payment to farmers. Remote sensing will
be used to reduce the number of crop cutting experiments.
The new Crop Insurance Scheme is in line with One Nation – One
Scheme theme. It incorporates the best features of all previous
schemes and at the same time, all previous shortcomings/weaknesses
have been removed.
One Nation – One Scheme: best features of all previous schemes
incorporated + all previous shortcomings / weaknesses removed.
ECONOMY
PUBLIC FINANCE
CBDT clarifies rules regarding quoting of PAN
The Central Board of Direct Taxes clarified the rules regarding the
quoting of PAN for certain transactions which will come into effect from
January 1, 2016.
It has been decided that quoting of PAN will be required for transactions
of an amount exceeding Rs. 2 lakh regardless of the mode of payment, the
CBDT said in a release, adding that the previous limit was Rs. 1 lakh as
announced by Finance Minister.
The CBDT also said that in an effort to balance the burden of compliance
on legitimate transactions and the need to capture information regarding
high-value transactions, the government has increased the monetary limits
for many transactions requiring the quoting of PAN.
Open multi-brand retail, e-commerce, education to more FDI: India Inc.
The government should further ease Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
norms, especially in sectors such as multi-brand retail, education and e-
commerce, where its stance has been ambivalent till now, the country‘s
leading industry associations demanded. They also sought more liberalised
norms for the insurance industry.
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57 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
In a pre-Budget meeting with the commerce and industry ministry, India
Inc. also raised concerns on the ―adverse‖ impact of Free Trade
Agreements (FTA) on local manufacturing and demanded support to boost
manufacturing, exports and startups. FTAs, they said, have led to import
surges as a consequence of lower/nil duties.
On greater liberalisation of FDI in retail, FICCI said: Taking into account
the sensitivities regarding ‗protecting kiranas‘, the government could
consider allowing 100 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail in non-food
segment such as electronics and apparel. In food space, there is scope to
allow 100 per cent FDI in fresh food product retail.
FICCI also sought clarity on FDI norms in e-commerce by pointing out
that though 51 per cent FDI is permitted in multi-brand retail, FDI is
prohibited in business-to-consumer (B2C or retail) e-commerce. It added
that FDI should be allowed in B2C e-commerce in a phased manner and
there could be a requirement to source significantly from within India to
promote ‗Make in India‘ and focus on preferable sourcing of certain
percentage from SMEs and MSMEs.
On the education sector, it said 100 per cent FDI should be allowed in all
service companies ancillary to education including construction of student
housing, faculty housing, sports facilities, auditoriums and related
facilities.
On the insurance sector, though the government enhanced the FDI limit
from 26 per cent to 49 per cent, the provision mandating that management
and control should be in Indian hands is restrictive and therefore should be
done away with.
Volatility is the new norm, says Arun Jaitley
Global economic volatility is the new norm, said by Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley. Earlier, challenges and crisis emerged once in a decade. With
the global economy so critically integrated, volatility is the new rule, it‘s
the new norm.
The World Bank has downgraded the global growth forecast by 0.4
percentage points to 2.9 percent, India is struggling to improve its own
growth. At a time like this, the Centre wants states like West Bengal to
increase the economic growth rate.
Given the structure of India‘s federal polity, it is imperative that the states
grow as well. Strong states mean a stronger India. West Bengal
contributes nearly 6 to 7 per cent of national GDP. Given the fact that
growth of the eastern states was lower than those of the western states, the
additional growth will have to come from the former, adding that the
58 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
Centre will stand behind states to ensure that they attract more
investments.
An increase in public spending on infrastructure, social infrastructure and
rural infrastructure was needed.
States told to meet exporters more often
The Centre has asked the state governments to hold bi-monthly meetings
with exporters, especially to address infrastructure and tax-related issues.
Inputs received from the states would be then considered by the Centre, on
a dynamic basis, for taking further steps to reduce the transaction costs of
exporters and in turn boost the competitiveness of India‘s exports.
This was one of the main takeaways from the first meeting of the Council
for Trade Development and Promotion, which was chaired by Commerce
and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The Centre has been trying to push a ‗competitive and cooperative
federalism‘ model to encourage states to take measures to improve the
ease of doing business, thereby attracting more investment, generating
greater employment and boosting exports as well.
Suggestions by States
The states, on their part, wanted the Centre to take care of all the
infrastructure-related issues including at ports, special economic zones and
inland container depots (ICD). The land-locked states sought 1-2 per cent
subsidy to exporters to compensate higher logistics costs.
Maharashtra leading exporter
Maharashtra with Rs.4,45,350 crore and Gujarat (Rs.3,64,316 crore) were
the leading states in exports in 2014-15.
Tax on seed funding to be scrapped
The government has decided to scrap
a tax on seed funding provided to
start-ups by Indian angel investors in
the upcoming Union Budget, to help
domestic financiers bankroll new
entrepreneurial ventures under its
Start Up India campaign.
The tax provision in question treats
infusion of funds by domestic angel
investors as income in the hands of
the start-up, making India the only
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59 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
country in the world to penalise local angel investors in such a manner.
Senior government officials working on the Start Up India action plan to
be unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the tax is one of the
key reasons that 90 per cent of Indian start-ups are financed by foreign
venture capital and angel funds.
Government keen to do away with the tax provisions that characterise
angel investments into a new venture as the investee company‘s income,
thus taking away roughly 30 per cent of the investment from the start-up‘s
cash flow as it is taxed.
This tax also applies only to domestic investors and thus acts as a
disincentive to local funding for start-ups that the government wants to
incentivise instead.
Government mulls Shome panel suggestions on tax administration
The government is considering the recommendations of the Parthasarathi
Shome committee aimed at simplifying tax administration. Among the key
proposals of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC),
headed by Dr. Shome, was a suggestion that Income Tax Return forms
should also include wealth tax details.
The panel had mooted that retrospective amendments to tax laws should
be avoided as a principle and that the post of Revenue Secretary be
abolished.
Other recommendations were for the CBDT and the CBEC to be merged
and for the use of Permanent Account Number (PAN) to be widened.
The TARC, which was appointed by the UPA Government, submitted its
report to Mr. Jaitley in June 2014.
The proposal for reducing corporate tax from 30 per cent to 25 per cent
over 4 years along with removal of corresponding tax exemptions that
finance ministry made in his last Budget would make the tax system
cleaner and simpler and will ensure that ―oppressive taxman does not
hover over us‖.
GDP expanded 7.2 % last year, slower than estimated
India‘s economy expanded 7.2 per cent in the financial year ended March
2015, marginally slower than the previous estimate of 7.3 per cent.
Real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for the years 2014-15 and
2013-14 stands at Rs.105.52 lakh crore and Rs. 98.39 lakh crore
respectively, showing growth of 7.2 per cent during 2014-15, and 6.6 per
cent during 2013-14,‖ according to a statement released by the Statistics
and Programme Implementation Ministry.
60 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
In terms of real Gross Value Added, that is, GVA at constant (2011-12)
prices, there has been a growth of 7.1 per cent in 2014-15, as against a
growth of 6.3 per cent in 2013-14.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had warned that we should be careful
about how we measure growth. People are shifting between activities, but
it is important that when they shift to a new area, they are creating value.
High-employment sectors such as agriculture are growing very slowly,
adding to the concerns. The revised numbers peg the agricultural GVA at
1.3 per cent in 2014-15, up from the 0.6 per cent provisionally estimated
earlier. The secondary sector, comprising manufacturing and construction,
grew at 5.4 per cent in the same period, down from the estimated 6.5 per
cent. The services sector grew at a robust 10.3 per cent.
More than 50 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture, but the
sector is growing at less than 2 per cent.
Gross Capital Formation, a proxy for economic activity, decreased
marginally from 36.2 per cent of GDP in 2013-14 to 35.9 per cent in 2014-
15.
At constant (2011-12) prices, the private final consumption expenditure [a
measure of individual spending capacity and inclination] is estimated as
Rs. 55.20 lakh crore and Rs. 58.64 lakh crore, respectively for the years
2013-14 and 2014-15.
The corresponding rates of PFCE to GDP for the years 2013-14 and 2014-
15 are 56.1 per cent and 55.6 per cent respectively, according to the
ministry statement.
MONETARY MANAGEMENT
RBI asks banks to open more branches in rural areas
India‘s central bank has asked the lenders to open more brick and mortar
branches in villages with no banking facilities and with a population of
more than 5,000.
The banking regulator has asked banks to submit a roadmap on how many
branches they will be opening by 31 March 2017. Banks have to submit
the roadmap by end of January 2016.
It has been observed that coverage of banking services in unbanked
villages is skewed towards the BC model and the ratio of branches to BC
is very low. For increasing banking penetration and financial inclusion,
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61 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
brick and mortar branches are an integral component, according to a
statement by the Reserve Bank of India.
Therefore, it has been decided to focus on villages with population above
5,000 without a bank branch of a scheduled commercial bank. This will
also enable banks to provide quality financial services and timely support
to BC outlets that would help in sustaining and strengthening the services
provided through BCs and also ensure close supervision of BC operations.
The convenor banks of the state-level bankers committee have been asked
to identify villages with population above 5,000 without a bank branch.
New form for ASBA in place
With a checklist regime kicking in for initial public offerings (IPOs),
capital markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI), has put in place a new form for ASBA (Application Supported by
Blocked Amount) facility.
ASBA facility has become mandatory for all categories of investors
applying for a public issue for making payment. The facility allows the bid
amount to remain in the applicants account till the time the shares are
finally allotted.
In a circular, SEBI said that the application form for ASBA would be
printed in a booklet form of A4 size paper.
Besides, SEBI has prescribed white colour form for Resident Indian, NRIs
applying on a non repatriation basis and blue colour form for NRIs,
Foreign Venture Capital Investor, Foreign Institutional Investors, their
Sub-Accounts (other than sub-accounts which are foreign corporates or
foreign individuals bidding under the QIB Portion), on a repatriation basis.
It further said that top of the application form will have a coloured
identifier strap incorporating the name of the issuer, ISIN (An
International Securities Identification Number) and type of form
(Repatriation, Non- Repatriation). Besides, the main application should
have information about eight digit application number, PAN number,
bidders depository account details, investor category, among others.
A confirmation by the applicant (on behalf of joint bidders) that he/she has
read, understood and agrees to such confirmations is also required.
The regulator said that application should also highlight about different
category of investors (retail, non-institutional and QIBs), number of equity
shares (reservation if applicable), percentage of issue available for
allotment, basis of allocation in case of over-subscription, mode of
allotment and terms of payment.
62 Smart Leaders IAS - “Smart News”
The new circular will be applicable for all public issues opening on or
after January 1, 2016, SEBI.
In order to enhance the points for submission of applications, SEBI had
also allowed Registrar and Share Transfer Agents (RTAs) and Depository
Participants (DPs) to accept application forms (both physical as well as
online) and make bids on the stock exchange platform.
This will be over and above the stock brokers and banks where such
facilities are presently available. The number of bank branches with
ASBA facility has now increased to about 95,500, from 9,800 when this
facility was introduced.
ASBA
ASBA (Applications Supported by Blocked Amount) is a process
developed by the India's Stock Market Regulator SEBI for applying to
IPO. In ASBA, an IPO applicant's account doesn't get debited until shares
are allotted to them.
Rupee among best of Asian currencies in 2015
Rupee turned out to be one of the best performers in 2015 among all Asian
and BRICS currencies, excluding yen.
The currency‘s depreciation of about five per cent against the dollar was
less than the losses of most of its other Asian peers. The Indian rupee
fared better in 2014, when it weakened by only two per cent.
The Indian rupee was caught between the leviathans like the U.S. dollar
and China‘s yuan devaluation and the erosion of rupee against the dollar
continued relentlessly in 2015.
However, the rupee fared much better despite a pullout by foreign funds
from the emerging markets, including India, as an interest rate hike was
expected from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The currency was stable when the U.S. raised the benchmark interest rate
and has actually strengthened against the dollar since then.
Its Asian counterparts like the Indonesian rupiah weakened by 11.30 per
cent and the Thai baht depreciated 9.5 per cent against the dollar. Only the
Chinese currency fared marginally better, losing only 4.6 per cent.
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BRICS nations
Among the BRICS nations also the Indian currency fared well. The
Brazilian real depreciated 49 per cent against the dollar while the South
African rand declined 34.75 per cent.
The Indian currency, which tumbled 12.4 per cent in 2013, started
recovering in 2014.
Experts attribute the relative stability of the rupee to the improved macro-
economic conditions.
The country‘s foreign exchange reserves rose by more than $75 billion
since the currency crisis of 2013. From about $274.8 billion in early
September 2013, foreign exchange reserves rose to $351 billion as on 25
December, 2015.
In the two and half year since the currency crisis, the twin deficits – fiscal
and current account - have narrowed. In 2013-14, the fiscal deficit was 4.5
per cent of the GDP, which is now seen at 3.9 per cent for 2015-16.
Similarly, the current account deficit in the first quarter of 2013-14
zoomed to a record high of 4.9 per cent of the GDP. CAD has since
narrowed to 1.6 per cent of GDP during the July-September quarter of the
current financial year and is expected to be 1 per cent of GDP in 2015-16,
mainly due to soft crude oil prices.
SCHEMES
‘Start-up India’ Action Plan: a good start, but Govt. apathy, big
corporates a hurdle
The much anticipated, and
needed, ‗Start-up India‘
initiative was Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in a move to
help start-ups and catalyse
entrepreneurship.
Start-ups and entrepreneurship
are critical to India‘s efforts to
restart private investment into
the economy, in the face of risk aversion, stalled or slow investments from
corporate India.
Start-ups in India have faced two significant obstacles. One is government
apathy, corruption and a complex approvals process. The other is the
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power of entrenched corporates, to oppose or kill start-ups which
challenge them.
The Action Plan unveiled by Mr. Modi is a catalyst, also needed are
structural reforms that permit free and fair competition and other issues
that determine the viability and existence of start-ups. Net neutrality, for
instance, is a policy requirement that will determine the future for tech
start-ups.
The Start-up India Action Plan lists out a comprehensive set of structural
and regulatory reforms in order to achieve this. Income tax exemption,
easing compliance through reduction of regulations and having fixed
qualifications as to what a ‗start-up‘ is, were expectations at the top of the
entrepreneurial bucket-list.
But the Action Plan goes further. It goes on, for instance, to provide an 80
per cent waiver on patent filing fees by start-ups, provide advisory
services and create a Rs.10,000 crore fund-of-funds which is to be
managed by professionals drawn from the private sector. These are just a
few of the ‗sweetheart‘ deals for start-up entrepreneurs under the Action
Plan.
Money matters
But the Action Plan also appears to have a few flaws which need to be
addressed. For instance, it sets up an ‗Inter-Ministerial Board‘ led by the
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion which ‗validates‘ the
innovative nature of an enterprise, thereby qualifying it as a start-up – an
involvement of government in this ecosystem that is hardly desirable. It
also requires a start-up to obtain a recommendation from an incubator in
order to be eligible.
The most obvious and tangible benefits to start-ups under the Action Plan
are the tax breaks and funding support. The Action Plan waives income
tax on profits for a period of three years and also exempts taxes on capital
gains which are invested in the ‗fund-of-funds‘.
This move will help to reduce cash outflows and bring down the cost of
running a start-up. In conjunction with the waiver of the ‗angel investor‘
tax under the Finance Act, 2013, start-ups now can have improved access
to funding opportunities.
Pending reforms like the GST regime, would also make it easier for small
start-ups to operate across the country.
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Rs.10,000 crore ‘fund-of-funds’
The Rs.10,000 crore ‗fund-of-funds‘ is a significant financial commitment
by the Government under the Action Plan. It is set to start with Rs.2,500
crore initially with the amount set to recur for 4 years.
This mega fund will not directly invest in start-up ventures. Instead, it will
do so via SEBI registered venture funds. This fund will contribute a
maximum of 50 per cent of the daughter fund size, providing a significant
boost to the corpus of investments that start-ups have access to. It is
important that this corpus is not managed by Politicians or bureaucrats, but
smart, savvy fund managers who have a track record on investing.
On the cost saving side, an 80 per cent rebate on patent filing costs
alongside an exemption from having ‗prior-experience‘ to be eligible
under the public procurement process are steps taken to promote tech-
based start-ups in particular.
While tax incentives, cost saving measures and funding support will
undoubtedly drive up investment into innovative start-ups it is essential
that the government not lose sight of non-tech start-ups. It should make
special provisions to ensure that this support structure extends to the
agriculture, manufacturing, and handicrafts sectors.
Ease of doing business
Promoting start-ups by improving ease of doing business is clearly at the
forefront of the Action Plan. A significant benefit a start-up accrues under
this policy is the waiver from labour inspections for 3 years.
Now, anyone who has run a business and navigated the maze of
bureaucracy understands the quagmire that labour laws can be, especially
for a start-up. Along with the ease in environmental checks, these changes
to labour inspections are a step in the right direction particularly for those
start-ups which are based in the manufacturing sector. But the Action Plan
exempts starts-up from inspection under a fixed number of labour laws
six to be specific. There are about 45 laws at the central level and about
four times this number at the state level. The Centre needs to work with
the States to ensure a smooth rollout of the benefits under the Action Plan
and avoid discord between policies at the two levels.
‘Start-up India Hub’
The Action Plan also creates a centralised system under the ‗Start-up India
Hub‘ which assists start-ups by providing advisory services on financing,
business structuring and improving management skills. It also provides for
a mobile app which allows start-ups to self-certify themselves and also
acts as a single point of contact between entrepreneurs, regulators and the
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government. This is a positive move in simplifying the registration
process.
This is perhaps the most pertinent question which has been answered by
the Action Plan. In order to obtain the wide ranging benefits which have
been detailed in the 40-page Action Plan, it is essential for an enterprise to
qualify as a ‗start-up‘. An uncontroversial requirement, but the devil is in
the details.
The Action Plan requires an enterprise or partnership to be innovative by
developing and commercialising a new product or service a step to
promote truly innovative ideas. But it institutes an inter-ministerial body
led by DIPP to examine whether an enterprise is ‗innovative‘.
It also requires a ‗recommendation‘ from an incubator setup by the
government or be supported by an incubator in a post-graduate institution
recognised by the government this need for validation and
recommendation goes against the very steps the Action Plan takes to
reduce government involvement. This additional layer of bureaucracy
could slow down the starting up process and needs to go.
Start-up India is consistent with the PM‘s call for innovation when he
launched Digital India. The Start-up India Action plan is a good start to
this – but will need continued support and evolution to make this a true,
deep revolution for the youth of India.
Start Up India schemes get funds for take-off
The government can finally start deploying funds from the Self-
Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) scheme and the Atal
Innovation Mission (AIM) announced in the Union Budget for 2015-16 to
promote startups and scientific research, after over 10 months of
spadework.
While the AIM would focus on inviting aspiring entrepreneurs to solve
India‘s contemporary socio-economic problems via grand challenges that
offer substantial awards to incubate and scale up winning ideas, the SETU
scheme‘s resources would be devoted to strengthening incubators and
setting up tinkering labs where ideas can be shaped into prototypes before
they are ripe for funding.
An overarching supervisory body with about ten members is being formed
to oversee the allocation of funds under the schemes to line ministries.
Finance Ministry had allocated Rs 1,000 crore to the SETU scheme and
Rs 150 crore for AIM.
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Likely to be chaired by Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya, the
panel would include secretaries from the departments of science and
technology, biotechnology, industrial policy and promotion as well as the
ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises.
Professor Tarun Khanna, director of the South Asia Institute at Harvard
University, is also likely to be part of the panel as an external expert. He
was earlier appointed by the Aayog as chairperson of an expert panel on
innovation and entrepreneurship, that was also asked to advise on the
‗detailed contours‘ of AIM and SETU.
Half of the funds under SETU would be earmarked for strengthening
existing incubators in the country, backed by different departments, so that
the support mechanism for budding entrepreneurs is more robust.
The rest, Rs 500 crore, would be used for setting up tinkering labs, where
students can literally potter about and create prototypes and models of
their ideas with the ability to demonstrate basic functions,‖ the official
said, adding a similar lab already exists at the Indian Institute of
Technology in Kanpur.
The idea of posing social problems as a ‗grand challenge‘ for aspiring
startups under the AIM, is to engage young graduates eyeing the startup
space into thinking beyond the internet, e-commerce and mobile
applications space.
Government’s UDAY scheme may light up power distribution companies:
Crisil
The government‘s UDAY Scheme to aid ailing electricity distribution
companies (discoms) has a better chance of succeeding than the previous
financial restructuring plan, says Crisil.
UDAY is better than the previous financial restructuring plan that didn‘t
do much to change the health of the discoms.
Under UDAY, state governments will take over 75 per cent of the debt
held by their discoms as of September 30, 2015. Half the debt will be
taken over in 2015-16 and 25 per cent in 2016-17. The balance 25 per cent
of the debt is to be serviced through state government-guaranteed bonds
issued by the discoms.
15 states have joined the UDAY scheme. Around 90 per cent of the losses
made by the discoms are covered by the states that had joined UDAY.
Many of these projects find it difficult to service their debt obligations
because either the plant is running at a low plant load factor, tariffs are not
adequate or they have won coal blocks where the premium to the state
government is very high, which cuts into their cash flows.
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UDAY SCHEME:
The Scheme UDAY (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) has been launched
to improve financial and operational efficiencies of power distribution
companies (DISCOMs). It envisages to reduce interest burden, cost of
power and AT&C losses. Consequently, DISCOM would become
sustainable to supply adequate and reliable power enabling 24x7 power
supply. The scheme provides that States would take over 75% debt of
Discoms, as on 30th September, 2015 in two years.
UDAY has inbuilt incentives encouraging State Governments to
voluntarily restructure their debts. These incentives include taking over of
DISCOM debt by the States outside the fiscal deficit limits; reduction in
the cost of power through various measures such as coal linkage
rationalization, liberal coal swaps, coal price rationalization, correction in
coal grade slippage, allocation of coal linkages at notified prices;
priority/additional funding through schemes of MoP & MNRE; and,
reduction in interest burden.
UDAY is different from earlier restructuring schemes in several ways
including flexibility of keeping debt taken over outside fiscal deficit limit,
reduction in cost of power and a series of time bound interventions for
improving operational efficiency. UDAY provides for measures that will
reduce the cost of power generation, which would ultimately benefit
consumers.
Credit fund to guarantee loans worth Rs.1 lakh cr
The government said the Credit Guarantee Fund for loans disbursed under
the Pradhan Mantri Micro Units Development Refinance Agency
(MUDRA) Yojana would be able to guarantee loans of over Rs.one lakh
crore as it gave its approval to convert MUDRA into a bank.
The government expects the fund to be able to guarantee loans worth more
than Rs.one lakh crore over the next three years of micro and small units.
In the event of defaults under the scheme, the Fund will safeguard banks
and financial institutions.
The Union Cabinet had approved the creation of a Credit Guarantee Fund
for Micro Units Development Refinance Agency (MUDRA) loans and to
convert MUDRA Ltd into MUDRA Small Industries Development Bank
of India (SIDBI) Bank into a wholly owned subsidiary of SIDBI.
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The MUDRA (SIDBI) Bank will undertake refinance operations and
provide support services with focus on portal management; data analysis
etc apart from any other activity entrusted or advised by Government of
India.
MUDRA Bank and a Credit Guarantee Fund was proposed to be set up
with a refinance corpus of Rs.20,000 crore and a corpus of Rs.3,000 crore
respectively in the Budget 2015-16.
ENERGY
International Solar Alliance set to be operational in 6 months
An International Solar Alliance (ISA) is likely to be operational by the
middle of 2016. The international alliance is expected to have 121
members.
The initiative was announced by Prime Minister, at the Conference of
Parties in (COP 21) in Paris last November. Mr. Modi and French
President François Hollande would lay the foundation stone of the alliance
at the National Institute of Solar Energy in Gurgaon, Haryana on January
25.
It comprises of countries with land between the Tropic of Capricorn and
the Tropic of Cancer which typically have 300 or more days of sunshine a
year.
One of the objectives of the alliance is to get $1 trillion investments in the
solar sector worldwide by 2030. Another objective is to get solar sector-
specific human resources development in all member countries and ensure
that any research and development in a country becomes available to all.
This will be the first time that India will have the headquarters of an
international agency. The government of India will host the ISA‘s
Secretariat for five years, following which it is expected to generate its
own resources and become truly independent.
India has already offered Rs. 100 crore for an ISA corpus, which is
expected to grow to $1 billion when all the member countries contribute.
Following the signing of the statute, each member country will have to
send the document to their Cabinets or Parliaments for ratification within
three months. The International Solar Alliance will become a legal entity
after a minimum of 25 countries ratify it.
Only countries between the two Tropics will be eligible as members,
others can join as partners. Around 30 countries were present at each of
the two Steering Committee meetings held so far.
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Increase in renewable energy use to boost global GDP by $1.3 trillion
A 36 per cent share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030
would increase global gross domestic product by nearly $1.3 trillion,
generating millions of jobs and helping countries like India dependent on
importing oil and gas.
‗Renewable Energy Benefits: Measuring the Economics‘, released at Abu
Dhabi during the International Renewable Energy Agency‘s (IRENA)
sixth assembly session, provides the first global estimate of the
macroeconomic impacts of renewable energy deployment.
Specifically, the report highlights the benefits that would be achieved
under the scenario of doubling the global share of renewable energy by
2030 from 2010 levels.
The recent Paris Agreement sent a strong signal for countries to move
from negotiation to action and rapidly decarbonise the energy sector.
This analysis provides compelling evidence that achieving the needed
energy transition would not only mitigate climate change but also
stimulate the economy, improve human welfare and boost employment
worldwide.
Beyond finding that global GDP in 2030 would increase by up to $1.3
trillion more than the combined economies of Chile, South Africa and
Switzerland as of today the report also analyses country-specific impact.
Japan would see the largest positive GDP impact (2.3 per cent) but
Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea would
also see growth of more than one per cent each.
According to the report, improvements in human welfare would go well
beyond gains in GDP thanks to a range of social and environmental
benefits. The impact of renewable energy deployment on welfare is
estimated to be three to four times larger than its impact on GDP, with
global welfare increasing as much as 3.7 per cent.
Employment in the renewable energy sector would also increase from 9.2
million global jobs today, to more than 24 million by 2030.
A transition towards greater shares of renewables in the global energy mix
would also cause a shift in trade patterns, as it would more than halve
global imports of coal and reduce oil and gas imports, benefiting large
importers like Japan, India, Korea and the European Union. Fossil fuel
exporting countries would also benefit from a diversified economy. The
report builds on previous IRENA analysis on the socio-economic benefits
of renewable energy and on REmap 2030, a renewable energy roadmap to
doubling the global share of renewable energy by 2030.
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TRANSPORT
ABS will be mandatory for two-wheelers
In an attempt to make roads safer, the Union government will soon make it
mandatory for all two-wheelers to fit anti-lock braking system (ABS) and
combined braking system (CBS) by April 2019.
The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry, which has released
the draft notification, had earlier planned to implement the rule on all two-
wheelers by April 2018.
If we took a call on the deadline a year back and it took time to frame the
policy, then we might need to extend the deadline by a year.
The Ministry has proposed mandating ABS for all vehicles with an engine
capacity above 125 cc and CBS for vehicles below 125 cc engine. While
ABS helps the rider to maintain stability while applying brakes, the CBS
distributes the pressure applied on the rear wheel to the front wheel. At
present, two-wheelers account for the highest share in road accidents. In
2014, two-wheelers accounted for around 27 per cent of the total road
accidents.
ABS will be mandatory for all new models with more than 125 cc engine
from April 2017 and the existing ones from April 2018. Also, the
Ministry‘s notification set an April 2017 deadline for CBS in all new
models of two-wheelers with less than 125cc engine and April 2018 for
existing models.
Panel warns against ‘Swiss Challenge’ route
India‘s ambitious plan to build new expressways across the country by
adopting the ‗Swiss Challenge‘ method for awarding these projects has
become uncertain following an expert committee‘s warning to the
government against using this approach for infrastructure investments.
It is a difficult task to find builders to develop Greenfield expressways, we
were keen on taking the ‗Swiss Challenge‘ route to find bidders for
building around 19,000 km expressways as per the master plan.
In its report on ‗Revisiting and Revitalising the PPP model of
infrastructure development,‘ presented to the Finance Ministry, the panel
led by the former Finance Secretary, Vijay Kelkar, had discouraged the
government from following the ‗Swiss Challenge‘ model of auctioning
infrastructure projects. Incidentally, the Centre had already approved the
use of this model for redeveloping 400 railway stations.
Unsolicited proposals (―Swiss Challenge‖) may be actively discouraged as
they bring information asymmetries in the procurement process and result
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in lack of transparency and in the fair and equal treatment of potential
bidders in the procurement process, according to the panel‘s report.
The original proposer will get the right of first refusal in such cases and
the cost of the DPR will be covered by the agency which bags the
contract.
India plans to build 18,637 km expressways in a phased manner by 2022
under an official Master Plan for the National Expressway Network.
An express highway is a controlled-access highway, generally six-lane or
more, where entrance and exit are controlled by the use of slip roads.
Under the ‗Swiss Challenge‘ model, any bidder can offer to improve upon
a project proposal submitted by another player.
The Union government has identified building 16 greenfield expressways
at present. However, some of the projects put on priority such as the 135-
km long Eastern Peripheral Expressway, the 66-km Delhi-Meerut
Expressway and the 400-km Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway, are not
being bid using the ‗Swiss Challenge‘ route.
Govt. to implement BS-VI norms by 2020
The government, in a move to fight pollution, will implement Bharat
Standard (BS)-VI emission norms by April 1, 2020.
Government has decided that it will move to BS-VI norms across the
country directly from BS-IV norms by April 1, 2020. The Petroleum
Ministry would spend Rs.30,000 crore for upgrading refineries to
implement the clean fuel technology,.
The decision was taken a day after the Supreme Court pressed for
implementing clean vehicular fuel norms soon amid concerns on rising air
pollution in the country, especially in Delhi.
BS-VI is the Indian equivalent of the Euro-VI norms followed globally.
The Supreme Court had asked the government to implement BS-VI norms
earlier than the April 2021 deadline fixed by the Union government. The
apex court also ordered shutting down more entry points at the national
capital border for heavy commercial vehicles not meant for Delhi.
The BS-VI norms will be implemented for new vehicles by April 2020
and for existing vehicles by April 2021 and a notification will be issued by
the Union government soon, according to sources in the ministry.
The Road Ministry had issued a draft notification in November to
introduce BS-V and BS-VI norms for new vehicles from 2019 and 2021
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respectively. It was planned to switch to BS-V and BS-VI norms for
existing vehicles from April 1 2020 and April 1, 2022 respectively.
At present, BS-IV auto fuels are being supplied in over 30 cities while the
rest of the country has BS-III fuels.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SPACE
ISRO puts fifth GPS satellite in orbit
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched IRNSS-1E, the
fifth of the seven-satellite
Indian Regional Navigation
Satellite System (IRNSS)
into space.
ISRO‘s workhorse PSLV C-
31 rocket lifted the 1,425 kg
satellite from the second
launchpad of the Satish
Dhawan Space Centre here
at 9.31 a.m. and placed it in
the intended orbit some 19
minutes later. This is ISRO‘s
first launch for this year.
Though it was a textbook launch, the extremely cloudy skies in Sriharikota
deprived the onlookers and journalists of a clear view, as the soaring
rocket was visible only for a few seconds, before clouds engulfed it.
The national space agency had a long way to go since two more satellites
were to be launched by March.
With the launch of the first four satellites IRNSS-1A, 1B, 1C and 1D were
launched in July 2013, April and October, 2014 and March last year
respectively.
IRNSS-1E with a mission life of 12 years was launched into a sub
geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284 km perigee (nearest point to
Earth) and 20,657 km apogee (farthest point from Earth) with an
inclination of 19.2 degree with reference to the equatorial plane.
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IRNSS-1E carried navigation and ranging payloads, including a rubidium
atomic clock, C-band transponder and corner cube retro reflectors for laser
ranging. The signal-in-space of four satellites has already been validated
by various agencies within and outside the country.
IRNSS
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being
developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information
service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km
from its boundary, which is its primary service area. An Extended Service
Area lies between primary service area and area enclosed by the rectangle
from Latitude 30 deg South to 50 deg North, Longitude 30 deg East to 130
deg East.
IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning
Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service
(RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users.
The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better
than 20 m in the primary service area.
IRNSS is a 7-satellite constellation to provide an indigenous terrestrial,
aerial and marine navigation, vehicle tracking and fleet management,
disaster management, precise timing, mapping, visual and voice
navigation for drivers etc,.
IRNSS would have seven satellites, out of which five are already placed in
orbit. The constellation of seven satellites is expected to operate from June
2016 onwards.
ISRO conceives two ‘space parks’
Two space industry enclaves or ―parks‖ that have been conceived one for
launchers at Sriharikota and a smaller one at an existing Bengaluru
spacecraft campus signal increased privatisation of the nation‘s space
programme over the next five years.
For now, the facilities will be ―captive‖ to drive the future missions of the
Indian Space Research Organisation.
First, ISRO wants to groom and engage domestic industry in the launch
vehicles area from integrating sub-systems up to assembling, and even
launching the PSLV.
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This well-established rocket has put Indian and foreign satellites of up to
1,600 kg into space.
Currently industries such as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Godrej & Boyce,
Larsen & Toubro, MTAR and Walchandnagar Industries produce 80 per
cent of the launch vehicle parts and sub-units.
These production works are scattered across their respective locations. The
launch industry initiative must be close to ISRO‘s launch complex, the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, at the 145-sq km Sriharikota range.
Satellite support
On the spacecraft front, ISRO plans to increasingly support small and mid-
sized industries at its 10-year-old second spacecraft complex, the 100-acre
ISITE, at Marathahalli in Bengaluru.
ISITE, short for ISRO Satellite Integration & Test Establishment, is
already open to a few suppliers who assemble and test their spacecraft
systems for the ISRO. In the coming years, more satellites will be needed
for replacing the ageing ones in orbit and new advanced communication,
Earth observation and navigation spacecraft.
The most energetic light ever in space
Scientists have discovered the most energetic light ever detected in the
universe from the centre of a supernova known as ‗Crab pulsar‘ which is
situated 6,500 light years away from Earth.
The Crab pulsar is the corpse left over when the star that created the Crab
nebula exploded as a supernova.
It has a mass of 1.5 times the mass of the Sun, concentrated in about a 10
km diameter object, rotating 30 times per second.
It is surrounded by a region of intense magnetic field 10 thousand billion
times stronger than that of the Sun.
The pulses were found by researchers working with the Major
Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (Magic) observatory in the
Canary Islands, Spain.
The new observations extend this tail to much higher, above trillion
electron volt (TeV) energies, which is several times more energetic than
the previous measurement.
The Crab pulsar, created in a supernova explosion that occurred in 1054
A.D., is located at the centre of a magnetised nebula visible in the Taurus
constellation.
The Crab is the most powerful pulsar in our galaxy and it is one of only a
few pulsars detected across all wavelengths, from radio up to gamma rays.
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In its rotating magnetic field, electrons and positrons are accelerated up to
relativistic energies and emit radiation that arrives to our telescopes in the
form of pulses every 33 millisecond, each time the neutron star rotates and
meets our telescopic sight.
Before the MAGIC measurement, this radiation was believed to stop
abruptly when the photons reach energy few billion times larger than
visible light.
CRAB PULSAR
The Crab Pulsar (PSR B0531+21) is a relatively young neutron star. The
star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN
1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054. Discovered
in 1968, the pulsar was the first to be connected with a supernova remnant.
The Crab Pulsar is one of very few pulsars to be identified optically. The
optical pulsar is roughly 20 km in diameter and the pulsar "beams" rotate
once every 33 milliseconds, or 30 times each second.
Ninth planet may exist, say scientists
There might be a ninth planet in the solar system after all and it is not
Pluto.
A ninth planet could be gravitationally herding them into these orbits.
For the calculations to work, the planet would be quite large at least as big
as Earth, and likely much bigger a mini-Neptune with a thick atmosphere
around a rocky core, with perhaps 10 times the mass of Earth. It would
dwarf Pluto, at about 4,500 times its mass.
Pluto, at its most distant, is 4.6 billion miles from the sun. The potential
ninth planet, at its closest, would be about 20 billion miles away; at its
farthest, it could be a trillion miles away. It would take from 10,000 to
20,000 years to complete one orbit around the sun.
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NAVY
Commissioning of INS Kadmatt
INS Kadmatt, second ship of Project 28 (P28) class Anti-Submarine
Warfare (ASW) Corvettes, was commissioned into the Indian Navy by the
Chief of Naval Staff at a glittering ceremony held at Naval Dockyard,
Visakhapatnam today.
The event marks the formal induction into the Navy of the second of the
four ASW Corvettes, indigenously designed by the Indian Navy‘s in-
house organisation, Directorate of Naval Design and constructed by
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, Kolkata.
The earlier Kadmatt, also an ASW Corvette, acquired in 1968 from the
erstwhile Soviet Union, distinguished herself in the 24 years of service to
the nation, particularly during the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Operation Pawan in
Sri Lanka, and Operation Tasha.
INS Kadmatt is named after one of the large islands amongst the
Lakshadweep group of Islands off the west coast of India. The
Lakshadweep Islands and the Navy share a special relation with the Island
chain being home to our base INS Dweeprakshak, as well as detachments
on Minicoy, Androth and Bitra Islands. The commissioning of INS
Kadmatt today signifies the importance of our Island territories as our
maritime interests said the Admiral.
Regarded as a very prestigious acquisition, INS Kadmatt is one of the
most potent warships to have been constructed in India. The ships of P28
class have been constructed using high grade steel (DMR 249A) produced
in India. With a displacement of 3300 tonnes, the sleek and magnificent
ship spans 109 meters in length and 13.7 meters at the beam and is
propelled by four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots
with an endurance of 3450 Nm. Some of the advanced stealth features
have been incorporated in this ship.
INS Kadmatt has a multitude of networks such as Total Atmospheric
Control System (TACS), Integrated Platform Management System
(IPMS), Integrated Bridge System (IBS), Battle Damage Control System
(BDCS) and Personnel Locator System (PLS) to provide a contemporary
and process oriented System of Systems for optimal functioning of the
warship.
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COAST GUARD
Coast Guard women officers trained to sail hovercraft
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the Coast Guard, which has already
deployed women officers to operate its fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters,
has now trained them for operations on board hovercraft an amphibious
craft that patrols in shallow water to check illegal activities in seas,
especially near international maritime boundary lines.
In the first batch, four women officers were trained in a 10-day first-phase
training capsule at ICGS Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district.
The Coast Guard decided to train women officers in hovercraft. In the first
batch, Assistant Commandants Sneha Khatayak, Anuradha Shukla, Shirin
Chandran and Vasundhara Chouksey from Coast Guard stations in
Paradip, Mumbai, Chilika and Chennai respectively, completed their
training.
The 10-day training was in familiarising with the way sea patrol is
undertaken. Other basics of operating the hovercraft and other procedures
were part of the training.
Ms. Chouksey was also part of a different team that underwent training
under Commander Dilip Donde, the first Indian to circumnavigate the
globe on board the sailing boat INSV Mhadei .
This is the first time, women in the forces, would be posted in craft
operating from sea.
Hovercraft or Air Cushion Vehicles are amphibious vehicles that can
move in land and sail at sea at a maximum speed of 40 knots to intercept
any boat or ship suspected to be involved in illegal activity.
Presently, a total of 18 hovercraft serve in the Coast Guard, attached to
units in Okha and Jakhua in Gujarat, Mumbai in Maharashtra, Mandapam
in Tamil Nadu, and Haldia in West Bengal.
HEALTH
Boost for immunisation drive in India
India‘s immunisation programme, in dire need of expanding the number of
vaccines on the list, will receive a boost with Gavi the Vaccine Alliance
pledging to spend up to $ 500 million between 2016 and 2021.
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The Government of India
and Gavi, the Vaccine
Alliance, was announced in
Delhi, after a meeting
between Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Seth
Berkley, CEO, Gavi.
In addition to introducing
new vaccines into the
schedule, the idea is also to
reach the unreached and
increase access to vaccines
for millions of children in
India.
Under the new partnership
strategy, Gavi will allocate
the $ 500 million in two
tranches $ 100 million to
support the country‘s current immunisation programme and enhance
reach, and $ 400 million for country-wide introduction of new vaccines for
diarrhoea and pneumonia, cervical cancer, and Rubella with measles.
India is due to begin transitioning away from Gavi support from 2017 and
is expected to begin fully self-financing all its vaccine programmes by
2021, according to sources at Gavi.
India has a huge birth cohort of about 27 million. While historically India
has been slow in introducing new vaccines, over the last few years. Also,
with the polio immunisation programme, India has proved that it is
possible to reach every child.
He also lauded the Prime Minister and the Health Minister for taking the
initiative.
The Gavi team will create a joint action plan with the government,
marking out specific milestones and timelines, and providing targeted
release of funds. There will also be an active communication programme
to take the message of vaccination to people and explain the benefits of
the new vaccine.
Gavi procures 60 per cent of its vaccines from Indian manufacturers. It is
hoped that through the partnership, Gavi and the Government of India will
work more closely together.
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GAVI
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private global health partnership
committed to increasing access to immunisation in poor countries.
Gavi brings together developing country and donor governments,
the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine
industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and
technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and
other private philanthropists.
Gavi was launched in 2000, at a time when the distribution of vaccines to
children in the poorest parts of the world had begun to falter. By the end of
the 1990s, immunisation rates were stagnating or even declining. Nearly
30 million children born every year in developing countries were not fully
immunised.
India sets an example in subsidised TB diagnosis
There is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy TB scenario in India. Of the
12 high-burden countries where the private sector is a major player in
providing health care, the Indian private sector offers the cheapest price
for the WHO-approved Xpert MTB/RIF, a molecular test for diagnosing
TB.
India also has the highest number of private labs offering the test, with 113
labs offering it at a subsidised rate.
While it costs only Rs. 2,000 in the 113 labs (with 5,200 collection
centres) which are part of a novel initiative Improving Access to
Affordable & Quality TB Tests (IPAQT) that was launched in India in
March 2013, the charges are anywhere between Rs. 3,500 and Rs. 5,000 in
labs that are not part of the IPAQT initiative.
The mean price of the highly accurate TB test in Bangladesh is nearly $75,
while it is $50 in the case of Afghanistan. It is as high as $155.5 in
Philippines. Xpert is not commercially available in the private sector in six
other high-burden countries.
The cost of the test will see a further drop if the Indian government waives
off customs duty of 31 per cent levied on Xpert machine and reagents.
As a result of the subsidised pricing agreement with the manufacturer,
there has been an increase in the number of people in India accessing the
highly accurate diagnostic test since 2013. From 15,190 people who
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availed themselves of the test between March and December 2013, it has
gone up to 1,31,440 tests in 2015. The total number of tests done since
March 2013 stands at 2,08,550.
Access to accurate tests at subsidised price is very important in India as
nearly 80 per cent of the population in India first seek the private sector. If
one out of every four TB patients in the world is an Indian, one in eight
TB patients in the world is a privately treated Indian patient.
Though the price is internationally set at $9.98 per cartridge, and the
agreement allows for a 10 per cent variation in the exchange rate, the cost
of the test has not been increased since January 2014 despite the rupee
depreciating against the dollar in recent times. But the price may be
revised if the rupee continues to depreciate.
Serological test
Besides increasing the access to the highly reliable and sensitive test, all
labs that become a member of the Initiative abide to ban the unreliable
serological test. India banned serological test for TB in June 2012. Also,
TB notification by the member labs has improved dramatically as IPAQT
helps them with the process of notifying all TB cases.
While the sensitivity of smear microscopy is about 50 per cent, Xpert has
90 per cent sensitivity (in smear positive cases) and 98 per cent specificity.
It can also indicate resistance to rifampicin, a first-line TB drug.
TECHNOLOGY
Photonics to drive terabit chips
Scientists from the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at
the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru are working on two
projects in the area of photonic integrated circuits.
In the first, researchers and scientists at CeNSE are building a next-
generation processor. It‘s hard to imagine a world without
microprocessors. These ubiquitous little chips drive our technology and
are embedded everywhere, from phones to laptops to DVDs and rockets.
But at its very core, each unit is still electrical; it has millions of transistors
connected with copper lines.
What if you replaced the copper lines with photonic components? It would
exponentially improve the power of microprocessors. Now, scientists from
CeNSE, in a project supported by the Defence of Research and
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Development Organisation (DRDO), are trying to develop indigenous
technology for high-speed optical interconnect technology. CeNSe has
received a Rs. 5-crore grant from the DRDO for the three-year project.
The copper wires/interconnect create a bottleneck for data transfer, but the
project, will exploit high-speed Silicon photonics to improve data transfer
between the core and the memory exponentially.
In the second project, a CeNSE team is working towards improving the
existing optical communication technology.
The aim is to build integrated photonic transceivers that will allow for
communication speeds beyond 1 terabits per second per channel in a
scalable fashion.
CERT-In signs cyber security pacts with 3 nations
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has signed
cooperation pacts with its counterparts in Malaysia, Singapore and Japan
for cyber security.
CERT-In is the nodal agency responsible for dealing with cyber security
threats. The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) will promote closer
cooperation for exchange of knowledge and experience in detection,
resolution and prevention of security-related incidents between India and
the three countries, according to an official statement. The Cabinet,
chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Wednesday apprised of
the three MoUs which were signed last November and December. An
agreement between CERT-In and CyberSecurity, Malaysia, was signed on
November 23, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur during Mr.Modi's visit to Malaysia,
while the MoU with Singapore Computer Emergency Response Team
(SingCERT), Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of the Republic of Singapore
was signed on November 24, 2015 during the Prime Minister‘s visit to
Singapore.
The agreement between CERT-In and Japan Computer Emergency
Response Team Coordination Center (JPCERT/CC) was signed on
December 7, 2015 through diplomatic exchange. The exchange of the
signed MoU between the two parties was completed by December 22,
2015, according to the release.
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ENVIRONMENT
POLLUTION
Stranded ship sets alarm bells ringing
A dead vessel stranded off the coast off North Maharashtra near Hazira,
Gujarat, has set the alarm bells ringing with a possibility that it may be
carrying organic pollutants and radioactive substances.
The Basel Action Network (BAN), an international toxic waste watchdog,
has flagged off the American vessel Horizon Trader, which has falsely
claimed blackout but has the intention of dumping toxic waste into the
Indian Sea.
The Ministry of Shipping and the Coast Guard are looking into the
whereabouts of the vessel with an IMO number 7326233, which according
to BAN is stranded at Hazira, Gujarat.
The ship, according to BAN, is laden with Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs), asbestos and possibly with radioactive substances, putting the
country‘s maritime security and environment at risk.
Turkish vessel, Bulk Rose with IMO number 9501215, was stranded
around the same location off the coast of Hazira and had also cited
blackout. The crew of the Turkish ship had sought assistance of the Coast
Guard and were rescued recently.
The ship has been in anchorage for a number of days and is waiting
assistance from owners. It is a commercial dispute and is no threat to the
country. Every ship carrying some toxic material does not mean it is a
threat.
Activists have demanded inquiry into both the vessels from the Union
Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari to ensure the Ship Breaking Code and
Basel Convention are not violated by creating a ‗fait accompli‘ situation
like in the case of end of life ships like Riky, Blue Lady, Platinum II, all
accused of dumping hazardous waste in Indian waters in the past.
Air in Indian cities fouler than in Beijing
All six north Indian cities for which data was available had worse air
quality than Beijing in 2015, analysis of official data shows.
However the south‘s comparatively better air quality levels could hide
some lethal truths about toxic combustion sources. Launched in April
2015, India‘s National Air Quality Index portal produces an Air Quality
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Index (AQI) value for around 15 cities based on the most prominent
pollutant at that time for that city.
Pollution monitoring stations measure the concentration of six different
pollutants PM2.5 (particulate matter of diameter less than 2.5
micrometres), PM10, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide
and ozone.
The AQI is then classified along one of six categories good, satisfactory,
moderate, poor, very poor or severe.
Analysing AQI data for 2015, found that Anand Vihar in east Delhi
measured the worst air quality of any of the 25 monitoring stations for
which adequate data were available, with just 15 per cent of its days being
good, satisfactory or moderate.
AIR QUALITY INDEX
The Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change Shri Prakash
Javadekar launched The National Air Quality Index (AQI) in New Delhi
on 17 September 2014 under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It is outlined as
‗One Number- One Colour-One Description‘ for the common man to
judge the air quality within his vicinity. The index constitutes part of the
Government‘s mission to introduce the culture of cleanliness. Institutional
and infrastructural measures are being undertaken in order to ensure that
the mandate of cleanliness is fulfilled across the country and the Ministry
of Environment, Forests & Climate Change proposed to discuss the issues
concerned regarding quality of air with the Ministry of Human Resource
Development in order to include this issue as part of the sensitisation
programme in the course curriculum.
While the earlier measuring index was limited to three indicators, the
current measurement index had been made quite comprehensive by the
addition of five additional parameters. Under the current measurement of
air quality there are 8 parameters .
There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately
polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. The proposed AQI will consider
eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which
short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air
Quality Standards are prescribed.
Water from Bharathapuzha poses health hazard in Kerala
The all-time high coliform count recorded in the once mighty
Bharathapuzha, which continues to remain a major drinking water source
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for Palakkad, Malappuram, and Thrissur districts, has evoked widespread
concern. Already facing an imminent death largely because of massive
deforestation, encroachments, chemical contamination, dumping of waste,
and unscientific sewage disposal, the river is now posing severe health
hazard to people living in its basin areas.
According to official statistics, the river meets the drinking water needs of
a population of over 5.9 lakh in rural areas and 1.73 lakh in urban areas.
It quenches thirst of 175 grama panchayats and a dozen municipalities
spread in the three districts and they include the temple town of
Guruvayur.
Tests conducted at government labs on water collected from the river from
Pattambi have confirmed that the coliform count was above 1,000 per 100
ml water.
The samples were collected from the close vicinity of the pumping station
of the Pavaratty Drinking Water Scheme that distributes drinking water in
Guruvayur.
‗Alarming situation’
The situation is quite alarming. The count is high at a time when the river
is reduced to a trickle because of the onset of summer months. The count
would increase manifold if allowed unchecked during rainy months. The
situation demands better steps to properly treat sewage in areas close to
the
The much-trumpeted river revival mission of the Rural Development
Department with an initial outlay of Rs.76.79 crore still remains on paper
Relief eludes Kerala endosulfan victims
According to an unofficial survey, 613 children below the age of 14
continue to suffer from the illnesses caused by the aerial spraying of the
pesticide in mango plantations of Muthalamada in Palakkad district of
Kerala.
Hemalatha was born two years after the global ban on the killer pesticide
endosulfan came into being. Now two-and-a-half-years, her swollen head
and apparent physical illnesses are testimony to the residuary harm the
banned pesticide had been doing to the people of Muthalamada in
Palakkad, known widely as the mango hub of Kerala.
Six years have passed since the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC) directed the State government to conduct a health survey and
economically empower the poor victims of the killer pesticide, once
sprayed indiscriminately in the mango orchards of Muthalamada.
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The order issued on December 31, 2010, directed the government to pay at
least Rs. 5 lakh to the close relatives of those who died because of the
aerial spraying of the banned pesticide.
An equal amount was promised to those who became permanently
bedridden and suffered from severe deformities. The NHRC also ordered
payment of at least Rs. 3 lakh to all those who turned living victims of the
killer pesticide.
Now the families of the living victims are demanding an expert study at
Muthalamada, Elavanchery, Kozhinjampara, Velanthavalam,
Vadakarapathi, Eruthempathy, Nenmara, and Nelliyampathy grama
panchayats.
According to an unofficial survey conducted by the Chittur Taluk
Endosulfan Virudha Samara Samithi, 613 children below the age of 14
continue to suffer from the illnesses caused by the aerial spraying of the
pesticide in mango plantations of the region. While some of them have
apparent physical illnesses and swollen heads, rest of the children had
severe birth deformities, cancer, cerebral palsy, mental disorders, skin
diseases, and vision loss.
The pesticide was sprayed on individual trees with nozzles directed
skywards here. The person spraying gets affected almost instantly and the
after-effects are transferred genetically to kids.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Indian climate models to aid future IPCC reports
India will have its own climate change models to project the impact of
global warming over the decades and these will form part of the
forthcoming Sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports
that is expected to be available in 2020.
The IPCC reports there have been five so far since 1988 are coordinated
by the United Nations and bring together the scientific consensus on the
causes and impact of climate change. They also assess the extent to which
the globe is expected to warm up over the medium and long term.
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Crucial at Paris summit
The IPCC‘s fifth report in 2014, was critical in shaping the resolution at
the recently concluded climate talks in Paris that all countries developed
and developing had to, over time, do their bit to contain their greenhouse
gas emissions to keep ensure that mean global temperatures did not rise
beyond 1.5 to 2 degree of temperature in the 19th century.
As per the Paris Agreement, which will come into effect in 2020, India
and several other countries will have report their emissions as well as
detailed plans to curb them.
The climate models, being developed by the Earth Sciences Ministry, will
be prepared by the Pune-based Centre for Climate Change Research.
These are so-called dynamic models that rely on super-computers to
compute the weather on a given day and simulate how it would evolve
over days, months and even years. These models, developed in the United
States, have over few years been customised to Indian conditions.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading
international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established
by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide the world with a
clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge in climate change
and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. In the same
year, the UN General Assembly endorsed the action by WMO and UNEP
in jointly establishing the IPCC.
The IPCC reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and
socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the
understanding of climate change. It does not conduct any research nor
does it monitor climate related data or parameters.
As an intergovernmental body, membership of the IPCC is open to all
member countries of the United Nations (UN) and WMO. Currently 195
countries are Members of the IPCC. Governments participate in the
review process and the plenary Sessions, where main decisions about the
IPCC work programme are taken and reports are accepted, adopted and
approved. The IPCC Bureau Members, including the Chair, are also
elected during the plenary Sessions.
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2015 was Earth’s hottest in modern times, by far
Last year was the planet‘s hottest in modern times by the widest margin on
record, setting a troubling new milestone as the climate warms at an
increasing pace
During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean
surfaces was 1.62 [0.90 Celsius] above the 20th century average said the
report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record. This is also
the largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been
broken.
The report, which was confirmed by a separate analysis from NASA
scientists, marks the fourth time a global temperature record has been set
this century.
The latest finding adds to a steady rise in heat across land and sea surfaces
that have seen records repeatedly broken over the years.
Since 1997, which at the time was the warmest year on record, 16 of the
subsequent 18 years have been warmer than that yeart.
Last year alone, 10 months had record high temperatures for their
respective months. The heat was felt worldwide, with unprecedented
warmth covering much of Central America and the northern half of South
America.
Hot temperatures were observed in parts of northern, southern and eastern
Europe as well as western Asia and a large section of east-central Siberia.
The El Nino effect
Regions of eastern and southern Africa experienced more blistering heat
than ever, as did large parts of the northeastern and equatorial Pacific
boosted by the El Nino weather phenomenon.
SPECIES CONSERVATION
New thrush species found in eastern Himalayas
An international team of scientists have described a new species of the
thrush in northeastern India and adjacent parts of China. The species was
distinguished by its musical song.
The Himalayan Forest Thrush (Zoothera salimalii) is common in the
eastern Himalaya range but was overlooked till now because of its
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similarity in appearance to the plain-backed thrush, now renamed as
Alpine thrush.
This is the first Indian bird to be named after late Dr. Salim Ali, who was
closely associated with Bombay Natural History Society as researcher,
honorary secretary and president. The bird has been named after him in
recognition of his huge contribution to the development of modern Indian
ornithology and wildlife conservation.
New bird species are rarely discovered to science nowadays, when most
natural habitats are shrinking. Since 2000, an average of five new species
have been discovered globally every year, mostly from South America.
The Himalayan Forest Thrush is only the fourth new bird species
described from India by modern ornithologists since Independence.
Scientists from India, Sweden, China, U.S. and Russia worked on the
project.
Scientists Per Alström and Shashank Dalvi first found the bird between
May and June 2009, while studying the thrushes at high elevations in
western Arunachal Pradesh. They realised that instead of a single species
of plain-backed thrush ( Zoothera mollissima ), there were two different
species in the eastern Himalayas.
What first caught the attention of the scientists was the fact that the ones
found in forests (Himalayan forest thrush) had a rather musical song,
whereas those found in the same region on bare rocky habitats above the
tree-line (Alpine thrush) had a much harsher, scratchier and unmusical
song.
The Himalayan forest thrush, found to be breeding in the coniferous and
mixed forests of the eastern Himalayas, had not been separately classified.
A third species called Sichuan forest thrush is present in China.
Sundarbans buzzes with discovery of solitary bee
A ―solitary bee‖ species was
recently discovered in the
Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve.
The 6.2-mm-long bee,
named Braunsapis chandrai , is
black in colour and has punctured
legs. What makes it distinct from
other species of solitary bees is the
different patterns of the marks on
its face and frontal region.
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The 96 species of bees of the genus Braunsapis do not make combs as
common honeybees do. Solitary in nature, they nest in stems and twigs
independently.
The findings were published recently in the Journal of Environment and
Bio-sciences. The new species plays a significant role in pollination.
83-mn-year-old dinosaur species identified
Researchers have identified and named an 83-million-years-old species of
a rare, primitive duck-billed dinosaur, after studying its fossils discovered
in the eastern United States.
This new discovery also shows that duck-billed dinosaurs originated in the
eastern US, what was then broadly referred to as Appalachia, before
dispersing to other parts of the world.
The researchers have named the new dinosaur Eotrachodon orientalis ,
which means dawn rough tooth from the East.
This duck-billed dinosaur also known as a Hadrosaurid was probably 20 to
30 feet long as an adult and mostly walked on its hind legs, though it could
come down on all four to graze on plants with its grinding teeth and had a
scaly exterior.
A large crest on the nose, plus indentations found in the skull and its
unique teeth alerted the researchers from McWane Science Centre in US
and the University of Bristol in UK that the skeleton they had was
something special.
The skeletal remains of this rare dinosaur were originally found by a team
of amateur fossil enthusiasts alongside a creek in Alabama in marine
sediment. The dinosaur likely was washed out to sea by river or stream
sediments after it died.
AWARDS
Suket Dhir bags Woolmark Prize
Delhi-based fashion designer Suket Dhir was named the winner of the
2015-2016 Menswear International Woolmark Prize.
The award was judged by a panel that included designer Haider
Ackermann, The Business of Fashionfounder and editor-in-chief Imran
Amed, Vogue international editor Suzy Menkes, and the Woolmark
Company managing director Stuart McCullough.
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Using the traditional technique of hand-tied and dyed yarn ( Ikat ), the
collection aims at tracing the mellowed and faded experiences of the past
memories through the ombre pattern. Seamless moulding and heat setting
of the fabric reinforces the garments.
This is the second year that the International Woolmark Prize has included
a menswear category, last year won by New York-based label Public
School.
The Hindu Prize for 2015 goes to Easterine Kire
Easterine Kire, poet, novelist and children‘s writer from Nagaland,
won The Hindu Prize, 2015, for her novel When the River Sleeps, a book
about a lone hunter seeking a faraway river, to take from it a stone that
will give him untold powers.
Ms. Kire was one of the six authors shortlisted from nearly 60 entries for
the sixth edition of the prize. The shortlisted books included Amit
Chaudhuri‘s Odysseus Abroad ; Amitav Ghosh‘sFlood of Fire ; Anuradha
Roy‘s Sleeping on Jupiter ; Janice Pariat‘s Seahorse and Siddharth
Chowdhury‘s The Patna Manual of Style .
K. Satchidanandan, one of the judges, described When the River Sleeps as
a sample of how the mythopoeic imagination can work in our times.
The award, a citation and a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.
Anuradha Roy wins DSC Prize
Author Anuradha Roy won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature,
2016, for her novel Sleeping on Jupiter , which deals with violence against
women.
At the Fairway Galle Literary Festival, about 130 km south of here, Sri
Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe handed Ms. Roy the prize.
The award cash prize of $50,000 and a trophy, according to a release.
Te DSC Prize received 74 entries this year.
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is a literary prize awarded
annually to writers of any ethnicity or nationality writing about South Asia
themes such as culture, politics, history, or people. It is for an original full-
length novel written in English, or translated into English.
The award is for novels published in the year preceding the judging of the
prize. The winner receives Rs. 2,800,000 (about US$50,000).[2]
The prize
was instituted by DSC Limited, an Indian infrastructure and construction
company which also sponsored the Jaipur Literature Festival.
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Greek islanders to be nominated for Nobel Peace Prize
Greek islanders who have been on the frontline of the refugee crisis are to
be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize with the support of their national
government.
Of the 9,00,000 refugees who entered Europe last year, most were
received scared, soaked and travelling in rickety boats by those who live
on the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.
The islanders, including fishermen who gave up their work to rescue
people from the sea, are in line to be honoured with one of the world‘s
most esteemed awards. Eminent academics from the universities of
Oxford, Princeton, Harvard, Cornell and Copenhagen are drafting a
submission in favour of awarding the prize to the people of Lesbos, Kos,
Chíos, Samos, Rhodes and Leros.
It must be noted that a people of a country already dealing with its own
economic crisis responded to the unfolding tragedy of the refugee crisis
with ―empathy and self-sacrifice‖, opening their homes to the
dispossessed, risking their lives to save others and taking care of the sick
and injured.
Only individuals or organisations are eligible to win the prize.
Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami posthumously awarded Ashok Chakra
Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami from the Army‘s elite Para Special
Forces has been awarded the Ashok Chakra, the country‘s highest
peacetime gallantry award, posthumously for his role in saving two
colleagues during an encounter with militants in Kashmir last year.
Another of his colleague, Subedar Mahendra Singh was awarded Kirti
Chakra for his valiant actions in the same operation.
These are among the 365 gallantry awards and other defence decorations
approved by President Pranab Mukherjee on the eve of the 67th Republic
Day Celebrations.
These include four Kirti Chakras, 11 Shaurya Chakras, one Bar to Sena
Medal, 48 Sena Medals, four Nao Sena Medals, two Vayu Sena Medals in
addition to 298 Distinguished Service medals.
Lance Naik Goswami
Late night on September 2 last year, Lance Naik Goswami was engaged in
a fierce encounter with terrorists hiding in the Haphruda forest in
Kupwara, North Kashmir.
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When two of his colleagues were wounded, he rushed to rescue them,
braving the volley of fire despite getting grievously wounded himself.
Subedar Mehendra Singh
In the same operation, Subedar Mehendra Singh moved with Lance Naik
Goswami to evacuate his colleagues, drawing heavy fire in the process. He
returned fire and killed one terrorist at close quarters which also bought
them additional time. He was awarded the Kirti Chakra for his exemplary
leadership, selflessness and courage beyond compare.
The other Kirti Chakra was posthumously awarded to Sepoy Jagdish
Chand from the Defence Security Corps for his display of raw courage in
tackling terrorists during the attack on the Pathankot air base on January 2.
Of the eight Shaurya Chakra given to Army personnel, two were awarded
posthumously.
Among the four Navy gallantry awards, three went to personnel at INS
Shikra , the naval air station in Mumbai, for their efforts in the rescue of
vessels in distress.
In the Air Force, the two Vayu Sena Medals (Gallantry) went to Wing
Commander Nirmal Kumar Bakshi and Wing Commander Rajiv Dobhal,
both Mi-17 helicopter pilots, for their role in Operation Maitri to provide
relief operations in adverse weather conditions in Nepal following the
devastating earthquake last year.
Techie, born in T.N., wins Academy Award
When Cottalango Leon steps up to receive the Technical Achievement
Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year, all
of India will be cheering, and Coimbatore will be the loudest.
Mr. Leon will take home the recognition with J Robert Ray and Sam
Richards for the design, engineering and continuous development of Sony
Pictures Imageworks Itview. It is a tool used only within Sony
Imageworks
Mr. Leon was born in Thoothukudi. He grew up in Coimbatore and visits
the place every alternate year. He studied in the Government High School
at Kallappalayam here till Class VII and in Kadri Mills Higher Secondary
School from Class VIII to XII. His mother, Rajam (72), lives here with his
brother Cafasa.
Mr. Leon went on to do his B.E. at PSG College of Technology during
1988 to 1992 and later worked in Delhi for two years.
Master‘s degree at Arizona State University in computer graphics as his
specialisation and pursued jobs in that field after graduating in 1996.
When Mr. Leon started working at Imageworks, there was a similar
product that was hard to use and hence he was asked to create something
better.
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Indian-origin doctors, scientist win honours
Three Indian-origin persons have been awarded Australia‘s highest
civilian honour for their contribution in the fields of physics, engineering
and medicine.
Chennupati Jagadish
Chennupati Jagadish, an eminent professor at Australian National
University (ANU) in Canberra, was conferred with the award for his
eminent service to physics and engineering, particularly in the field of
nanotechnology and to education as a leading academic.
Jay Chandra
Jay Chandra, an eye doctor in New South Wales, who has been the head of
vitreoretinal surgery at Westmead Hospital since the unit opened in 1985,
also received the award for his significant service to medicine in the field
of ophthalmology.
Sajeev Koshy
Mr. Sajeev Koshy, a dentist in Melbourne, was awarded the medal for his
service to dentistry in the State.
This year‘s Australia Day honours list included over 600 people whose
remarkable achievements range from high-profile humanitarian missions
to work at the grassroots level.
They are a source of courage, support and inspiration, and we are a
stronger, safer and more caring nation because of them.
Book on Partition wins prestigious Colby Award
A book on India‘s Partition and its consequences has won a prestigious
$5,000 prize in the U.S.
Midnight‘s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India‘s Partition by Nisid Hajari
won the William E. Colby Award for 2016.
Hajari‘s first book covers the Partition and the violence that surrounded
that event.
COLBY AWARD
The prize, named after a former CIA Director, is awarded annually by
Norwich University to a first-time author in recognition of a work of
fiction or non-fiction that has made a major contribution to the
understanding of military history, intelligence operation, or international
affairs.
The award and honorarium will be presented to Hajari at Norwich
University in April.
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PERSONALITIES
New Year gift for Adnan Sami
Mr Sami can become an Indian citizen as soon as he completes the
necessary paperwork. The Union Home Ministry cleared the proposal.
Mr Sami, who has been staying in India since 2011, will have to fill a
citizenship form at the Home Ministry‘s office in Delhi and pay Rs
13,700.
Mr Sami will be given citizenship under Section 6 (I) of the Indian
Citizenship Act, 1955 under the category ―citizenship by naturalisation.‖
The power to grant citizenship lies only with the Home Ministry and
Mr Sami will have to go to the Foreigners Division Office located on Jai
Singh Road, near Connaught Place to complete the paperwork.
As of now, Mr Sami is on a three-month visa extension which was given
to him on October 6 by the MHA. Mr Sami‘s Pakistani passport issued on
May 27, 2010 expired on May 26 this year and it was not renewed by the
Pakistan government.
He renounced his Pakistani citizenship then. Following this, Mr Sami
approached the Home Ministry with the request to legalise his stay in
India on humanitarian grounds.
Lahore-born Sami first arrived in India on March 13, 2001 on a visitor‘s
visa with a validity of one year. It was issued by the Indian High
Commission in Islamabad.
Mr Sami was exempted from deportation proceedings under Section 3 of
the Foreigners Act.
Arunima Sinha scales Mt Aconcagua in Andes
Arunima Sinha, the amputee mountaineer who set a record by conquering
Mount Everest, has added another feather to her cap by conquering Mount
Aconcagua in Argentina.
Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside Asia, at 6,960.8 metres.
She was successfully completed the 5th summit of the Mission 7 Summits.
She have climbed Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, South America. This is
also known as second Everest.
After completing this she also sets a world record as first female amputee
to climb five mountains of the world. She will also summit the other two
mountains and complete the goal of Mission 7 Summits.
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Arunima lost her left leg in a train accident in 2011 and she surprised the
world by scaling Mt. Everest on May 21, 2013. She was awarded the
Padma Shri for her achievement.
Amitabh Kant to take over as NITI Aayog CEO
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has appointed Amitabh Kant as the chief executive officer
of NITI Aayog.
The appointment will take effect after Mr.Kant retires from service in
March.
A 1980 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, Mr.Kant is currently serving as the
Secretary in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The Cabinet‘s Appointments Committee had given Mr.Kant additional
charge of the NITI Aayog CEO from January 1, with the extended tenure
of the previous CEO Sindhushree Khullar ended on December 31.
Mr.Kant, who was earlier the CEO of India‘s largest industrial
infrastructure project - the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor
Development Corporation – has been the Industry Secretary since March
2014.
He has been steering the government‘s two major campaigns to attract
investments and create jobs – Make In India, which was launched in
September 2014, and Start Up India that would be unveiled by Mr.Modi.
Mr.Kant was said to be in the reckoning for a couple of other post-
retirement roles, including the chairperson of the Competition
Commission of India, whose current chief, Ashok Chawla, was retired and
a possible role in the proposed National Industrial Corridor Development
Authority.
Mrinalini Sarabhai passes away
Veteran dancer and Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai passed
away at her residence in Ahmedabad after a day‘s hospitalisation. She was
97.
Fondly called ‗Amma,‘ Mrinalini was one of the most celebrated Indian
classical dancers, proficient in Bharatanatyam, Kathakali and
Mohiniyattam. She studied at Santiniketan under the guidance of Nobel
laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
Born into the renowned Swaminathan family, Mrinalini married Dr.
Vikram Sarabhai, father of India‘s space programme and institution
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builder who belonged to an illustrious industrial family of Gujarat.
Vikram‘s father Ambalal Sarabhai was a leading textile baron and was one
of the patrons of Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom struggle.
Mrinalini‘s father was a freedom fighter, parliamentarian and social
worker. Her mother Ammu Swaminathan was also a noted freedom
fighter.
After settling down in Ahmedabad after marriage, Mrinalini set up the
Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, where more than 15,000 students
trained.
Besides being a celebrated classical dancer, she was a poet, writer and
environmentalist and played a leading role on the social and art scene. She
choreographed over 300 shows.
OTHERS
SHGs to provide food on trains
Passengers travelling in trains will now have the option of enjoying food
prepared by some women‘s self-help groups (SHGs) as the Indian Railway
Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is planning to tie up with
them to enhance its e-catering portfolio.
The empanelled SHGs will be displayed on e-catering websites with their
menu and prices. Passengers may choose meal or food items offered by
the SHGs and place the order. This will help in sustainable development
of SHGs.
The initiative aims to develop local communities and ensure all-inclusive
growth. India has no less than one crore SHGs, mostly functioning in rural
and semi-urban areas with 10 to 20 members (majority women) per group.
Currently, IRCTC provides e-catering facility in all the trains passing
through the most important 45 stations of Indian Railways. It also provides
food to 1,516 trains without pantry cars. The food is directly delivered by
the vendor on the berth/seat of the passenger.
In its e-catering service which facilitates supply of food on ordering two
hours before boarding the train, IRCTC is already in a collaboration with
Foodpanda, KFC, Domino‘s, TFS, Street Foods, Wimpy, Jan Aahar, Mio
Amore, Alibaba, Cafe Lite, Hello Curry and Ratna Cafe besides IRCTC
Food Plaza and IRCTC Fast Food Units.
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Book raises a toast to 100 women scientists of ZSI
The rich contributions of 100 women scientists of the Zoological Survey
of India (ZSI) have been compiled into a book by the country‘s premier
zoological body.
Called ‗The Glorious 100 Women‘s Scientific Contribution in ZSI‘, the
book is part of the ZSI‘s activities to mark its centenary in 2016.
These women scientists were responsible for 10 percent of the discoveries
of new species by ZSI in the last 100 years, Dhriti Banerjee, deputy
director of ZSI and co-author of the compilation.
Ms. Banerjee said that starting from 1949, when Mira Mansukhani became
the first woman to join the ZSI, women researchers have made ―major
contributions‖.
Large blue star sapphire found in Sri Lanka
The world‘s largest blue star sapphire, weighing 1,404.49 carats and
valued at an astonishing $100 million, has been found in a mine in Sri
Lanka.
Lankan gemmologists say the sapphire was found in the city of Ratnapura,
known as the ‗City of Gems‘, in southern Sri Lanka. It could be sold at
auction for $175 million.
The current record for the largest blue star sapphire is 1,395 carats.
The sapphire has been named the ‗The Star of Adam‘ by its current owner,
after an Islamic belief that Adam arrived in Sri Lanka after being sent
away from the Garden of Eden. Blue star sapphires are so named because
of the distinctive mark found at their centre.
MVD e-Seva kendras to keep touts away
The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has roped in Kudumbasree to
commence 72 e-Seva Kendras to provide hassle-free service to motorists
and to keep touts and middlemen away from its offices.
The e-Seva Kendras, to be manned by Kudumbasree volunteers, will
function from the premises of 17 Regional Transport Offices (RTO) and
55 Joint RTOs in the State from February 1. The motorists will get all
services related to payment of fee and motor vehicle tax at these kendras
on payment of a nominal fee.
The aim is to ensure hassle-free service to the motorists stepping into the
MVD offices and to keep the touts and middlemen away. We have seen
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that they fleece those who do not have access to the online facility
extended.
The e-Seva Kendras will function under the direct supervision of the RTO
and Joint RTO. The MVD has issued a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP) for smooth functioning.
Internet connectivity
Two computers, printer, scanner, photocopier, and Internet connectivity
will be made available by the MVD.
The applications submitted will be accorded top priority after the ones
received through fast-track counters.
The RTOs and Joint RTOs have been asked to ensure that the touts and
middlemen do not get service from these kendras.
Govt. approves closure of HMT units
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the closure of
three Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) units HMT Watches Ltd., HMT
Chinar Watches Ltd. and HMT Bearings Ltd.
While earlier attempts to shut down the company were opposed by its
employees, the 923-strong force welcomed the move this time. They will
be given an attractive Voluntary Retirement Scheme package based on the
2007 pay scale.
The production of HMT watches will come to an immediate halt, the
procedure to wind up the three units is expected to take a few more
months. HMT Watches Ltd. presently has an unsold inventory of around
six lakh watches. The company has decided to sell these watches in a mela
across the country in the coming months.
Premji most generous Indian, Mukesh Ambani ranks sixth
Azim Hashim Premji, 70, chairman
of Wipro, is the most generous
Indian of the year for the third time
in a row with donations worth Rs.
27,514 crore for education,
according to Hurun India
Philanthropy List 2015.
In the list all the top five
contributors belonged to the
information technology industry.
Premji is followed by Nandan Nilekani and wife Rohini Nilekani with
donations of Rs. 2,404 crore while Infosys co-founder Nagavara Ramarao
Narayana Murthy stood third in the list with donations of Rs. 1,322 crore,
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according to the report by the Hurun Research Institute.The Azim Premji
foundation works in the education sector of India with operations in eight
states and over 3,50,000 schools.
The top five are also the biggest wealth creators on the Hurun India Rich
List while richest Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of
Reliance Industries (RIL), stood sixth in the list with donations of Rs. 345
crore. Nandan Nilekani, an Indian entrepreneur, bureaucrat and politician
left Infosys and joined Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
as its chairman.
Rohini Nilekani is the chairperson and founder of Arghyam, an
organisation that grants funds to implement and manage ground water and
sanitation projects in India.
Infosys‘s K Dinesh, after retiring from Infosys in 2011, has been actively
involved in philanthropic ventures in education, entrepreneurship
encouragement and healthcare. With donations of Rs. 1,238 crore Dinesh
shot into the top ten for the first time with fourth rank.
Dinesh is followed by Shiv Nadar, promoter of $6.3 billion HCL
Technologies, India‘s fourth-largest software company, as he donated Rs.
525 crore to various charitable activities through the Shiv Nadar
Foundation.
Richest Indian, Mukesh Ambani with personal wealth of about $21.3
billion is ranked sixth in Hurun India Philanthropy list as he donated Rs.
345 crore towards healthcare through Reliance Foundation, the
philanthropic arm to promote sustainable growth in India.
This year only 36 individuals made it to the Hurun India Philanthropy List
compared to 50 last year. According to Charity Aid Foundation UK, as per
the World Giving Index, India came down in its ranking from 93rd in
2013 to 106 in 2014, demonstrating an overall reduction in Indian
philanthropy.
Shanghai-based Hurun Report Inc., a business and lifestyle media
platform, measures the donations made upwards Rs. 10 crore from
November 1, 2014 to October 2015 to compile this list.
Rohan Murthy is a good example of the new generation of Indian
philanthropists, according to the report. His transition from IT professional
to philanthropist demonstrates a new wave of philanthropy in India by
donated Rs. 32 crore toward education, said Hurun in its India
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Philanthropy List adding that with six individuals Infosys has created the
highest number of philanthropists on the list.
Mission Bhageeratha brings Telangana forest lands in focus
Forest rights of Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwelling communities
have come into sharp focus in connection with Mission Bhageeratha, the
drinking water project of Telangana State, which requires the alienation of
vast tracts of forest lands.
Exercise is on to identify locations where the pipelines would cut across
lands on which the rights of the tribals and forest dwellers have been
recognised as per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act.
Once the locations are identified, it is upon the respective district
authorities to conduct ‗gram sabha‘ and obtain consent from the villagers
for acquiring land.
Diversion of forest lands
As per the Act, the authority to divert forest lands for public purposes,
which include drinking water supply and water pipelines, is vested with
the Central government.
However, such diversion is subject to the rider that the land in question is
less than one hectare in each instance and the ‗gram sabha‘ recommends
it.
Of the 26 segments the project is divided into, 21 need forest clearances.
They have been further divided into 96 sub-segments for the purpose of
convenience, and proposals are being prepared for the same.
District collectors, as chairpersons of the district level committees for
recognition of forest rights, have to issue certificates that the requirements
under the Act have been fulfilled.
If tribal lands are involved, alternative land or compensation will be
offered, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests.
Adilabad and Khammam are two districts where the project might come
into conflict with forest rights, as they have large number of tribal
inhabitants.
1700 hectares needed
Over 1700 hectares of forest land are required for the project, informed the
Engineer-in-Chief (Rural Water Supply and Sanitation).
First Braille-embedded train to chug out of Mysuru
The Mysuru-Varanasi Express will become the country‘s first Braille-
embedded train. The bi-weekly express (Train No. 16229/16230), which
will leave Mysuru for Varanasi on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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It has been provided with metallic Braille signage indicating berth
numbers, location of alarm chains, toilets, and emergency windows. There
are also instructions on how to operate the emergency exit windows. The
initiative has been financed by Mysuru MP Pratap Simha from the
MPLAD fund.
Though the Puri-Delhi Purushottam Express was the first train in the
country to have a Braille-embedded coach, the Mysuru-Varanasi Express
will be the first in the country where all reserved coaches have embedded
Braille signage.
Braille signage has been introduced on one rake of the express and it will
soon be introduced in the second rake as well.
The Chamundi Express and the Mysuru-Talguppa Express are the other
two trains that will be provided with Braille.
The plan is to extend the facility to all reserved coaches of long-distance
trains in a phased manner. Braille signage indicating the coach number is
next on the agenda.
Villagers here swipe a card to get drinking water
Packaged drinking water and long queues are things of the past in
Orakkadu village, located 30 km from Chennai. People here get drinking
water at the swipe of a smart card.
People are getting drinking water round the clock with my ATM card, it‘s
actually an ‗any time water‘ card. I recharge it with Rs.100 every month.
Many families have stopped buying packaged water and don‘t have to
plan their day around the water supply time.
The reverse osmosis plant and the ATM (the villagers prefer to call it
ATM) are perhaps the first such facility in the State. It all started with a
discussion on drinking water scarcity in the village, where the
groundwater was saline. The total dissolved solids content was over 1,600
ppm.
The novel idea of a reverse osmosis plant with an ATM was mooted by
Vasanthi Baskaran, panchayat president, to solve the water crisis.
The village now has two RO plants with attached ATMs in Alimedu and
Orakkadu supplying water to nearly 500 families.
Groundwater drawn from the borewell is stored in the overhead tank and
transmitted to the plant, which has the capacity to treat 2,000 litres per
hour. Though the Kosasthalaiyar river is just two km away, the village
grappled with poor quality groundwater for a decade.
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They use the fund generated at the ATM to maintain the plants. Both the
facilities supply drinking water of 8,000 litres every day. We provide
60,000 litres of water from overhead tanks for other needs.
While the plant was designed by a Chennai-based firm, pre-paid cards for
the ATM were sourced from Pune. These facilities were established at a
cost of Rs.9.7 lakh each under the self-sufficiency scheme. The rejected
water is used to water plants in the neighbourhood.
In a first, all-woman naval team to go around the world under sail
The Navy has firmed up its plans to embark on all-women
circumnavigation under sail in August 2017, in a bid to push the frontiers
of gender constructs. Six women naval officers shortlisted for the historic
voyage are training under the first Indian solo circumnavigator on a sail
boat, Commander Dilip Donde.
A whole new sloop, of the class of the legendary INSV Mhadei with over
one-lakh nautical miles under the keel and two circumnavigations behind
it, is being built for the purpose. (Cdr Abhilash Tomy took the boat on a
non-stop, unassisted solo circumnavigation in the wake of Cdr Donde‘s
feat).
In the run-up to this exciting new phase of the Navy‘s Sagar Parikrama
project, Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi part of the present crew of
Mhadei skippered by Cdr Donde as the 56-ft-long sloop leads a ‗Parade of
Sails‘ comprising 50 small boats at the International Fleet Review (IFR) in
Visakhapatnam next month will take command of the vessel in March. By
mid-May, the all-woman crew of Mhadei will add zeal to their sea legs by
embarking on a round trip under sail to Mauritius.
The Mhadei will then have a whole new crew that will steer her to cruise
across the South Atlantic in what was originally known as the Cape-to-Rio
Ocean Race.
Mhadei at IFR
Now at Visakhapatnam, Mhadei skipper Cdr Donde sounds confident
about his crew of four women officers Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, a naval
constructor; Lt Pratibha Jamwal and Swati P., both air traffic controllers;
and Sub Lt Payal Gupta, an education officer.
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IMPORTANT DAYS
January 1 Army Medical Corps Establishment Day
January 5 Louis Braille Day
January 8 African National Congress Foundation Day
January 9 NRI Day
January 10 World Laughter Day
January 12 National Youth Day (Birthday of Swami
Vivekanand)
January 15 Army Day
January 23 Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose‘s birth anniversary
January 24 Rashtriya Balika Divas
January 25 National Tourism Day, Voter‘s Day, International
Customs and Excise Day
January 26 Indian Republic Day, International Customs Day
January 28 Birth Anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai
January 30 Martyr‘s Day (Mahatma Gandhi‘s Martyrdom),
World Leprosy Eradication Day
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