current affairs - amazon web services · 2017. 2. 4. · energy efficiency’s bachat lamp yojana....

CURRENT AFFAIRSAugustOctober

Ease of doing Business report 2016 25

3) INTERNATIONALIndia to push for funds at climate talks 222016 BRICS Summit 22

International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) - Oman meet 24

BIMSTEC a sunny prospect in BRICS summit 24

Gender Gap Index – 2016 25

CONTENT

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4) INTERNATIONAL ISSUESLatin America gradually marches towards the Right 27Santos, FARC scramble to save deal 27U.N. panel to examine blacklisting Azhar 27ICJ rejects disarmament case against India 27East Aleppo faces destruction shortly 28Israel cuts ties with Unesco over Jerusalem draft resolution 28

5) ENVIRONMENTKigali pact: an amendment to Montreal protocol 30India got 3% less rain than normal 32Hurricane Matthew 32GM mustard unlikely to get approval this rabi season 32Palampur to set the standards for air quality 33

6) SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYHubble shows 2 trillion galaxies in observable universe 35

Self-powered UV photo detector 35Indian researcher produces stable solar cells 35Missile destroyer Mormugao 35The End TB strategy 35

1) NATIONALIndia to light up IEA’s global lighting program 5

Income Disclosure Scheme 6Bihar may implement new alcohol prohibition law 7

SC blocks BCCI funds to State cricket units 10

Janani Suraksha Yojana pays dividends 8

Union cabinet approves bill to protect HIV community from bias 7

Centre to invite bids for the implementation of National waterways project 8

Centre plans to revive National counter terror centre 9

LPG distributors raise concerns over govt haste in PMUY implementation 5

Cauvery board formation put off, SC gives nod for technical team 9

Centre plans to link varsity autonomy to performance 11

Supreme Court reserves order on Cauvery appeals 12

Join consultation on ending triple talaq, says centre 10

Expert panel says river Saraswati did exist 11A report on Public Health spending in India 11

2) BILATERALOperation Ginger 14India rejects Pak references at U.N. 14

India, Sri Lanka eye economic pact 15

Singapore Premier says India needs to remove bottlenecks for more investment 14

Bangladesh, China begin strategic alliance 15India buys S-400 missiles from Russia 15India, China discuss NSG membership issue 16China blocks tributary of Brahmaputra to build dam 16India – Hungary bilateral update 17India revises DTAA with South Korea 17India, New Zealand bilateral update 18Indo-Bhutan bilateral update 18

7) ECONOMYNew regime at RBI 38Forex reserves touch record high 38NITI Aayog reviewing centre’s stake in CONCOR 38WPI inflation reduces to 3.6 per cent 38Centre to set up credit guarantee fund for start-ups 39One India push for ease of business 39Nagpur SEZ to host Rafale offset manufacturing 39India will be home to 10500 start-ups by 2020 40

Nobel prize 2016 – 42

43

8) AWARDS

9) MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

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National


Current Affairs August 2016 5


The LED programme by EESL - UJALA has been so successful

that International Energy Agency is partnering with it to take the programme global.

IEA said India, through its company Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), has performed exceedingly well in terms of vastly improving access to LED lighting while reducing their cost drastically.

The price at which EESL has been purchasing LED lights to distribute under the government’s Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All - UJALA scheme i.e. Domestic Efficient Lighting Program - DELP has been consistently falling over the last 2 years.

The company purchased LEDs at Rs.310 per piece in 2014, and the price fell to Rs.55 as of March 2016. The production has also been ramped up to about 4 crore per month from the 10 lakh a month that were produced two years ago.

This also helps centre achieve the 175 GW of renewable energy capacity target by 2022

International Energy Agency (IEA) -

• It is an autonomous organization based in Paris and established under the aegis of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of oil crisis in 1973.

• IEA acts as a policy adviser to the member states, but also works with non-member countries, especially China, India, and Russia

UJALA -

• Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All was launched by the centre in 2015, replacing the Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s Bachat Lamp Yojana. The scheme is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited - EESL.

• The scheme was announced as Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme - DELP, urging the people to use LED bulbs in place of incandescent bulbs, tube lights and CFL bulbs as they are more efficient, long lasting and economical in their life cycle duration.

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) -

• It is promoted by Union ministry of Power as a Joint Venture company of 4 Central Power Sector undertakings viz. NTPC Ltd, PFC, REC, and Power Grid. EESL was set up to create and sustain markets for energy efficiency in the country.

World Sustainable Development summit –

• The summit evolved from the Energy and Resources Institute’s (TERI) annual event, the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. It brings together Nobel laureates, political leaders, decision-makers from different public spheres to deliberate on issues related to sustainable development.

India to light up IEA’s global lighting program

LPG dis-tributors raise concerns over govt haste in PMUY im-plementa-tion

• The 1st edition of the WSDS was held in October 2016 in New Delhi, India under the focal theme of ‘Beyond 2015: People, Planet and Progress’.

• Since 2001, TERI annually organized the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit - DSDS, an international platform to facilitate the exchange of knowledge on all aspects of sustainable development.

LPG distributors have raised serious concerns regarding

the government’s haste in implementing the targets set under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which is aimed at providing poor households with LPG connections, saying that rushed implementation could compromise the safety of the recipients.



Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) -

• It is a scheme for providing Free LPG connections to Women from BPL Households. The scheme would be implemented over 3 years (2016-19).

• Rs. 8000 crore has been earmarked for providing 5 crore LPG connections to BPL households. It provides a financial support of Rs 1600 for each LPG connection to the BPL households

• This is the first time the Union ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas would implement a welfare scheme benefitting crores of women belonging to the poorest households.

• Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country. This measure will empower women and protect their health.

• It will reduce drudgery and the time spent on cooking. It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

Reasons for the introduction of the scheme –

• In our country, the poor have limited access to cooking gas (LPG)

• There are serious health hazards associated with cooking based on fossil fuels - 5 lakh deaths in India alone due to unclean cooking fuels

• Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children

Income Disclosure SchemeUnion Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

announced that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had received total disclosures of Rs. 65,250 crore under the Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) - 2016 in the form of cash and other assets.

The four-month window under the Income disclosure scheme for declaring undisclosed income or black money that had escaped assessment closed recently.

Union Finance minister further said unlike the IDS, the earlier scheme, the voluntary disclosure scheme of 1997 which mopped up Rs. 9,760 crore in taxes at an average of about Rs. 7 lakh per declarant had not penalised the declarents and allowed them to value the assets declared at the market prices of 1987 rather than current rates.

Note - In the 175 cases of black money allegedly stashed overseas in HSBC bank accounts, the CBDT has already filed 164 prosecutions following assessments of sums that add up to Rs 8,000 crore. The probe is being monitored by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up under the directions of the Supreme Court.

Following the leads from the investigations undertaken by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the CBDT has detected Rs.5,000 crore of undisclosed deposits in foreign accounts made and filed 55 prosecution cases in those cases. Similarly, investigation in the Panama cases has led to 250 references being made to other countries asking for details about tax evaders, bank accounts etc. A quantum jump in the searches and survey has resulted in the seizure of Rs.1986 crore as well as undisclosed income of Rs.56,378 crore in the last two and half years.

Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS) 2016 –

• It provided a one-time opportu-nity to black money holders who had not paid full taxes in the past to come clean by declaring their domestic undisclosed income and assets by paying tax plus penalty at the rate of 45 per cent.

• No target for disclosures or collections from the scheme had been set for the CBDT. The gov-ernment stands to mop up 45 per cent of this, or about Rs 29,000 crore, in taxes and penalties. It is one of the steps taken by the centre to increase tax compliance and reducing tax avoidance in the country.

• The CBDT removed the difficulties that had been expressed by those wanting to avail of the scheme, especially with respect to making the tax payment within a short span by agreeing to accept it in three instalments, the last being in September 2017. The declarents have been assured of absolute confidentiality.

• The income tax and penalties collected under the scheme will be used for public welfare.



The State government appeared all set to implement the new stringent

Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act, 2016 despite Patna High Court order which set aside the prohibition law in Bihar made effective from April 5, 2016.

The Bihar government also filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court soon to challenge the High Court’s order. State government’s counsel said “The Patna High Court order has come in relation with the previous Act of prohibition made effective from April 5 in the State but the new Bihar Excise and Prohibition Act, 2016, will be implemented from October 2”.

Supreme Court stays Patna high court order quashing liquor ban in Bihar –

The Apex Court stayed the Patna high court order quashing the notification banning consumption and sale of liquor in the state. The Supreme Court bench said “Ban on liquor and fundamental rights do not go together. There is no privilege or fundamental rights to be claimed in liquor business”

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by the Bihar government against the High Court order dated September 30 which quashed the notification banning consumption and sale of liquor in the State. In its appeal, the Bihar government has urged the apex court to decide whether State could impose absolute prohibition on distribution and consumption of liquor and whether an individual could claim right to consume liquor as his or her fundamental right under the Constitution.

The Union Cabinet approved the long-awaited amendments to the

HIV Bill, to provide stronger protection to the country’s HIV community. The Bill prohibits discrimination against people living with HIV (PLHIV) in accessing healthcare, acquiring jobs, renting houses or in education institutions in the public and private sectors.

According to the 2015 Global Burden of Diseases (GBD), there are approximately 21 lakh estimated to be living with HIV in India and the percentage of patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) treatment currently stands at a mere 25.82% as against the global percentage of 41%.

The Union ministry of Health affairs said HIV and AIDS Bill, 2014 will bring legal accountability and establish a formal mechanism to probe discrimination complaints against those who discriminate against such people. It seeks to prevent stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.

These amendments will allow families that have faced discrimination to go to court against institutions or persons being unfair. It also requires that no person shall be compelled to disclose his HIV status except with his informed consent, and if required by a court order.

It lists various grounds on which discrimination against HIV-positive persons and those living with them is

Alcohol prohibition in India:

• It is in force in the states of Gu-jarat, Kerala, Bihar, Nagaland and Manipur; as well as in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep.

Art 47 of the Indian Constitution:

It says that the State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health.

Bihar may implement new alcohol prohibition law

Union cabinet approves bill to protect HIV community from bias



prohibited. These include the denial, termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to employment, educational establishments, health care services, residing or renting property, standing for public or private office, and provision of insurance.

A new study brings in first conclusive evidence of the role

played by Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in reducing socioeconomic disparities existing in maternal care. The program was launched in 2005 as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to improve maternal and neonatal health by promotion of institutional deliveries (childbirth in hospitals).

According to a working paper by National centre for applied economic research - NCAER and University of Maryland, JSY has led to an enhancement in the utilisation of health services among all groups especially among the poorer and underserved sections in the rural areas, thereby reducing the prevalent disparities in maternal care.

Though the previous studies had shown the impact of JSY in reducing maternal mortality, it was not known if it had reduced socioeconomic inequalities - differences in access to maternal care between individual people of higher or lower socioeconomic status. The study found that after the implementation of the JSY, there was generally a narrowing of the gap between the less educated and more educated women and between the poorer and richer women.

Janani Suraksha Yojana pays dividends

The study was conducted using data from two rounds of the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) conducted in 2004-05 and 2011-12. The IHDS data serves two advantages in this case -

First, round 1 of IHDS was conducted in 2004-05 when the JSY was not in place and round two was conducted six years after the launch, providing a before-after scenario for comparison. Secondly, the IHDS is a longitudinal data set same households were interviewed in both rounds, which allows to examine changes in maternal care patterns.

Three key services of maternal care were used for the analysis: full antenatal care (full ANC), safe delivery, and postnatal care.

There were three major findings - First, the increase in utilisation of all three maternal healthcare services between the two rounds was remarkably higher among illiterate or less educated and poor women. Secondly, the usage of all three maternal healthcare services by the OBC, Dalit, Adivasis and Muslim women increased between the surveys. It was found in the survey that women in their early twenties were more likely to avail of each of the three maternal health care services as compared to their older women. Also, the incidence of women availing maternal healthcare services decreases with the increase in the number of children they have delivered.

Note - High incidence of maternal mortality continue to plague India. As per the latest Lancet series on maternal health, India accounted for 15 per cent of the total maternal deaths in the world in 2015, second only to Nigeria with 45,000 women dying during pregnancy or childbirth.

Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) -

It is a safe motherhood intervention under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) being implemented with the objective of reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among the poor pregnant women

Centre to invite bids for the implemen-tation of National waterways projectThe government said it will augment the process of development for 36 waterways in the first phase and soon float tenders to invite bids for the project to get its ambitious National waterways project under way. The centre plans to develop these in a major way in the first phase as India has huge potential in this so-far-untapped segment despite being endowed with rivers that could change the economy.

The Union minister of Transport said the environment-friendly and cost-effective mode of transportation will reduce the logistics costs significantly from as high as 18 per cent in India.

Note – In 2016, Parliament had enacted a legislation allowing 106 rivers across the country to be converted into National Waterways (NWs) in addition to the existing 5 such NWs in a bid to boost movement of goods and passengers via rivers and reducing transportation costs substantially.



Centre plans to revive National counter terror centre

Cauvery board formation put off, SC gives nod for technical team

World’s diamond city can guide India’s waterways -

Belgium’s Port of Antwerp could well be India’s lighthouse. In its bid to drastically cut logistics costs, India is planning to pump in billions of dollars to make its dry river beds navigable and develop over 2,000 river ports across 111 national waterways spanning 20,000 km. And, it could take away a few lessons on generating cargo close to its proposed riverine ports from its European counterpart.

The Port of Antwerp, a river port set up over 500 years ago, and Europe’s second largest port behind Rotterdam, attracts some of the biggest vessels to its 86 terminals located 80 km inland, away from the North Sea, as it has emerged as one of Europe’s major transshipment hubs feeding cargo to large parts of Europe through water, rail and roadways.

Centre is planning revival of the National Counter Terrorism Centre

(NCTC), a project conceived by the Union government in 2012. Union Home ministry said NCTC proposal would be reworked to allay the fears of State governments that their intelligence gathering mechanism would be encroached upon by the Centre.

NCTC was opposed by the opposition in 2012 as a poorly conceived idea which tinkers with age-old existing systems and would do irreparable

loss to our internal security apparatus.

The NCTC proposes to have powers to seek information from all State and central agencies and maintain records of terror suspects, their relatives in a single database. It will also have the mandate to carry out anti-terror operations, if any, through, or in conjunction with, the State police.

National Counter Terrorism Centre

• It is a proposed federal anti-terror agency to be created in India, modelled on the National Counter terrorism Center of the USA.

• The proposal arose post the 2008 Mumbai attacks - 26/11 attacks where several intelligence and operational failures revealed the need for a federal agency with real time intelligence inputs of actionable value specifically to counter terrorist acts against India.

The Supreme Court put on hold its order to constitute the Cauvery

Management Board (CMB) and finally settled for the Centre’s suggestion to appoint a technical team to visit the Cauvery basin and report back on the ground reality there. The centre said while the CMB was recommended by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in its final order in 2007, the tribunal

award itself was under challenge in the Supreme Court. “I am only asking this court to defer its order for the constitution of the Board till disposal of the appeals,” Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi submitted.

Technical team

It will be led by G.S. Jha, Chairman, Central Water Commission will visit the river basin along with nominees of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala to submit a report in the Supreme Court by October 17. The court will hear the matter on October 18.

Tamil Nadu’s stand

It accused the Centre of playing into the hands of the Karnataka government to deny the people of Tamil Nadu their share of Cauvery water.

Meanwhile, the Apex court ordered Karnataka to release 2,000 cusecs of water from October 7 to 18.

The court recorded Karnataka’s submission that, pursuant to the apex court orders, it has released 17.5 TMC water from September 5 to 30. This was disputed by Tamil Nadu, which said that only 16.9 TMC was released during the period. Tamil Nadu submitted that Karnataka was in deficit of 4.6 TMC in September and has to release 22 TMC in October as per the 2007 tribunal award. Karnataka informed the court that it would complete the release of 3.1 TMC by October 6.



SC blocks BCCI funds to State cricket units The Supreme Court went for the

financial jugular of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s 25 State cricket associations, barring them from using BCCI funds till they accept the Justice Lodha Committee’s reforms in letter and spirit.

The court said several statements and actions of the BCCI are grossly out of order and may even constitute contempt. In case the State associations continue to resist the Lodha reforms, their shares would be invested in fixed deposit accounts until they change their minds.

Ultimatum to BCCI

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur had given an ultimatum to the BCCI to give an undertaking by October 7 to unconditionally comply with the reforms of the Justice Lodha Committee upheld by the Supreme Court.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal who represented the BCCI responded it was not possible for the Board to persuade all the member State associations to fall in line within the next few hours.

Join con-sultation on ending triple talaq, says centre The Union government asked the

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and certain other Muslim organisations to reconsider their decision to boycott the Law Commission’s consultation on triple talaq and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

Centre said here that the government only wanted a debate and asked the case against triple talaq now under way in the Supreme Court not be mixed up with the efforts of the Law Commission for a UCC.

The real mood of the country is that people want this triple talaq to end. People do not want any discrimination on the basis of any religious faith against women. The issues involved here are gender justice, non-discrimination and dignity of women.

Note - Article 44 of the Indian Constitution lists Uniform Civil Code (UCC) as one of the directive principles of state policy

Ravi Shankar Prasad says Centre’s stand on triple talaq based on gender justice –

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the Centre’s affidavit on the triple talaq issue, which is being heard in the Supreme Court, was based on the principles of assuring gender justice, gender equality and dignity - flowing directly from the fundamental values of Indian Constitution. He stressed that the right to freedom of religion did not

enjoin every pernicious practice as being integral to it.

The minister further said the Law Commission’s wider consultation on the question of a uniform civil code was separate from the triple talaq issue.

Certain victims of triple talaq from the Muslim community approached the Supreme Court challenging its validity. The court had asked for a response from the government for which the centre has responded.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board asserted that the centre was intent on interfering with Islam rather than any other minority community, including the Jains, in terms of religious practice.

Uniform civil code

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad denied that uniform civil code was part of the ideological core of the BJP. He said Article 44 is a part of our Constitution enjoining uniform civil code. The framers of our Constitution were big leaders like Pandit Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Dr Ambedkar; 99 per cent of the founding fathers were from the Congress school of thought and they were clear that we must steadily progress towards a uniform civil code.

Triple Talaq –

It refers to a process of divorce whereby the Husband utters the word Talq thrice in one sitting; thus getting out of the marriage contract.



Expert panel says river Saraswati did exist An expert committee formed by

the Union ministry of Water resources, comprising of geologists, archaeologists and hydrologists have found evidence of the course of the river Saraswati, a river mentioned in the Rigveda and Hindu mythology.

The seven-member committee, headed by Professor K.S. Valdiya of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), submitted the report.

Findings:

It was concluded that evidence from palaeochannels - remnants of defunct rivers suggested that the Sarsuti-Markanda rivulets in Haryana were the water courses of the eastern branch of a Himalayan river and the Ghaggar-Patiali channels were the western branches.

According to the findings, the 2 branches met in Shatrana, 25 kilometres south of Patiala and flowed as a large river emptying out into the sea that is now the Rann of Kutch. The mystery over the origins of the Saraswati rivers has occupied scholars over at least two centuries with some averring that the Yamuna, Sutlet and Ghagghar were all once part of the Saraswati, the shrinking of which is linked to the decline of the Harrapan civilization.

Other scholars, however, hold that the Saraswati existed only in myths.The palaeochannels of ancient mighty Saraswati from Himalaya to Rann of Kachchh have been compiled and presented in the map.The report is an assertion of the assumption

A study of health accounts of six States reveals bulk of the total

public money spent in State-level healthcare system is not spent on medical services, but goes to wages and salaries of human resource.

Wages and salaries account for 86 per cent of the total public expenditure in Punjab, 72 per cent in Maharashtra, 65 per cent in Kerala, 52.5 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and 35 per cent in Odisha. However, the per capita total cost of care which includes money spent by patients as well as that spent by the government on paying salaries to staff, for health subsidy etc is mostly cheaper in the public sector than in the private sector.

Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), which was a part of the study, said that the outpatient cost is largely driven by spending on medicines.

Findings of the report –

Tamil Nadu: more than 95 per cent patients get free medicines from the government. The cost of public sector outpatient treatment is hence lesser than private in Tamil Nadu because when the government itself procures medicines, it is 300 per cent cheaper than the market.

Union Human Resource Development Ministry is

considering linking the autonomy of higher education institutions to their performance as measured by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). The Ministry is thinking of dividing universities in three categories - A, B and C on the basis of their NIRF rankings. The A category will comprise institutions with high NIRF rank and these will be highest on the autonomy scale, the B category will comprise middle-ranking institutions with part autonomy but also government regulation, and category C will mean institutions with low ranking that will require greater regulation and hand-holding for improvement.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said greater autonomy could imply a number of things, including the complete freedom for institutions to have their own syllabi and curricula.

Note: NIRF - It is a comprehensive ranking system for universities developed by the HRD Ministry. The first NIRF rankings were released in 2016. The next round of NIRF rankings will be published on the first Monday of April 2017.

that River Saraswati originated from Adibadri in the Himalaya to culminate in the Arabian Sea through the Runn of Kutch. This river was once upon a time the lifeline of the north-western states of India and a vibrant series of civilizations from Mahabharat period to Harappa had flourished on the banks of this river.

A report on Public Health spending in India

Centre plans to link varsity autonomy to perfor-mance

Maharashtra: Public sector cost is higher since free medicines are not given by the government like Tamil Nadu.



2016 NIRF rankings

IIT Madras topped among engineering colleges, followed by IITs at Mumbai, Kharagpur, Delhi, Kanpur and Roorkee. IIT Madras had a score of 89.41. Among universities, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, topped, followed by the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, Hyderabad University and Tezpur University. Among management schools, IIM Bengaluru was ranked first with a score of 93.04, followed by the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Udaipur and Kozhikode.

Supreme Court reserves order on Cauvery appeals The Tamil Nadu government

said Parliament cannot put shackles on the Supreme Court's constitutional powers to hear the appeals of States against the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final award in 2007. Tamil Nadu joined counterparts Karnataka and Kerala to oppose the Centre's stand that the Supreme Court is barred from entertaining the appeals as the tribunal's award is final and binding on the three neighbour States as per the parliamentary law of Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956.

The Apex court reserved the case for judgment on whether the States' appeals are maintainable and if the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to adjudicate on them. The Supreme Court bench further reiterated its order to Karnataka to release 2000

cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till further orders.

On focus during the hearing were several provisions of the 1956 Act, most prominently Section 6 (2), which mandates the Centre to frame a scheme for implementation of the tribunal award. The scheme, once prepared, would be placed before both Houses of the Parliament for approval. Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi submitted that the provisions of the 1956 Act coupled with Article 262 (2) of the Indian Constitution excluded the Supreme Court from hearing or deciding any appeals against the Cauvery Tribunal's decision.

Bilateral




Operation Ginger

India rejects Pak references at U.N.

Few weeks in the summer of 2011 witnessed two of the

bloodiest cross-border surgical strikes between India and Pakistan in which at least 13 soldiers were killed, and six of them decapitated. Five of those heads were carried across the border as trophies - two to Pakistan and three to India. To carry out the revenge attack at least seven reconnaissance - physical and air surveillance mounted on UAV missions were carried out to identify potential targets.

Indian Reconnaissance

In revenge, the Indian Army planned Operation Ginger, would turn out to be one of the deadliest cross-border raids carried out by the Indian Army in recent memory. Consequently, three Pakistani army posts were determined to be vulnerable: Police Chowki, a Pakistani army post near Jor, Hifazat and Lashdat lodging point. The mission was to spring an ambush on Police Chowki to inflict maximum casualty.

A few days after the beheading, Indian Army discovered a video clip from a Pakistani militant who was killed in an encounter while crossing into Kashmir, showing Pakistanis standing around the severed heads of Adhikari and Singh displayed on raised platform. After repeated recce over two months, the Indian Army launched Operation Ginger on August 30, 2011. The operation had lasted 45 minutes- at least eight Pakistani troops had been killed and another two or three more Pakistani soldiers may have been fatally injured in the action.

India has strongly rejected Pakistan’s references on Kashmir

at the U.N., saying such remarks is a self-serving attempt by Pakistan to bring extraneous issues to the world body for its territorial aggrandisement.

India, exercising the Right of Reply after Pakistan’s envoy to the U.N. raised the Kashmir issue at the U.N said that Pakistan had made references to the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir in a self-serving attempt to bring extraneous issues before the committee. Such efforts were a flagrant misuse of the body for Pakistan’s own territorial aggrandizement. India said, recalling that the Special Committee on Decolonisation was concerned only with Non-Self-Governing Territories.

It asserted that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India.

Pakistan responded by saying that the United Nations recognised that all people under alien subjugation had a right to self-determination. Raking up the Kashmir issue again at the U.N., Pakistan had said the non-implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions for a plebiscite in Kashmir was the most persistent failure of the U.N.

Pakistan further said the U.N. has a moral responsibility towards people suffering under colonial domination and foreign occupation.

Citing land acquisition, over-regulation and legal hassles

among the biggest bottlenecks, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong said India is not as open for business as investors hope. He further said “For trade to grow, India must make a strategic decision that you want to encourage interdependence and more openness and more trade-based economy”. The Singapore Prime Minister’s words are significant as the city state is the biggest source of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India. In the last financial year, it overtook Mauritius on FDI inflows, accounting for US$13.7 Bn, which was more than one third of all FDI coming into India.

While India and Singapore have stepped up contacts as a part of the centre’s Look east and Act east policy, bilateral trade between India and Singapore has declined year on year, down 11.2% in 2015-2016 to US $15 billion compared to 2014-2015, with Indian exports dropping 21.2% in a year.

Singapore Premier says India needs to remove bottle-necks for more investment

India and Sri Lanka will sign an Enhanced bilateral economic

partnership - Economic and Technical Co-operation agreement (ETCA) by the end of 2016 to allow the free flow of services, investments and technology. This will be in addition to the existing Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two nations.

Impact:

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said that closer economic ties can accelerate growth among India’s five southern States and Sri Lanka and categorically denied there was any military engagement involved in the island nation’s negotiations with China for its ‘One Road, One Belt’ initiative.

Sri Lanka’s PM also suggested the creation of a larger special zone of economic co-operation around the Bay of Bengal to India, which takes on board Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia in addition to BIMSTEC countries. He further said Sri Lanka is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Singapore, while India already has comprehensive economic partnership pact with the latter, so there is scope for a trilateral arrangement to boost the three economies.

India, Sri Lanka look at infrastructure partnerships –

India and Sri Lanka discussed potential India-Sri Lanka partnerships in areas such as

India, Sri Lanka eye economic pact

Bangladesh, China begin strategic alliance

India buys S-400 missiles from Russia

transport, energy and infrastructure. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, in Sri Lanka on an economic diplomacy initiative, is accompanied by an official delegation from public sector companies such as GAIL, NTPC, IOC and RITES.

On the agenda are discussions on likely partnerships in the power sector using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), developing the Trincomalee Oil Farm and expansion of the airports in Palally in Jaffna Peninsula and Colombo, among other projects. Following Sri Lanka’s decision in September, 2016 to scrap an NTPC-aided power project in the strategically-important Trincomalee, India has offered to partner the country in LNG and solar power initiatives.

India and Sri Lanka are also negotiating a trade deal, the Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) which would be signed by end of December, 2016.

Bangladesh and China have agreed to elevate their cooperation

to strategic partnership during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Bangladesh. The two countries have also agreed to jointly advance China’s belt and road initiative and establish institutional cooperation in areas of maritime issues and counter-terrorism.

The 2 countries witnessed the signing of 26 agreements on different sectors.

China and Bangladesh reached consensus on working together in trade and investment and other

key areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, energy and power, ICT and transportation. Bangladesh hoped that with cooperation from China, it will be able to reach its goal to become a middle-income country by 2021.

India and Russia put up an emphatic display of deep bilateral ties by

signing 16 important deals including one on S-400 missile systems, a game-changer in countering airborne threats. Apart from the Inter Governmental Agreement on the missile system Russia, in a show of special and privileged strategic partnership, also agreed to sell Kamov 226T helicopters and 4 Krivak class stealth frigates to India

Kamov 226T helicopters

It will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Rostec State Corporation of Russia under a joint production plan.

Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi said the agreements on manufacturing of Kamov 226T helicopters, construction of frigates and acquisition and building of other defence platforms are in synergy with India’s technology and security priorities. They also help India achieve the objectives of Make in India.

President Vladimir Putin highlighted Russia’s stable approach to ties with India and said his government will ensure steady energy cooperation with India to support the expanding Indian economy.

The 2 countries are working on joint development of Sukhoi super



jets and passenger aircraft and started the ground laying work for Units three and four of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant by pressing a button.

Deal on information security -

India and Russia sealed a deal on information security aimed at countering terrorism, drug trafficking and other illegal cross-border activities. India also appreciated Russia’s unequivocal condemnation of the cross border terror attack in Uri.

Indo-Russia agreement on Nuclear Submarine –

India and Russia have signed an agreement on the lease of a second nuclear submarine from Russia. The long-discussed lease to transfer a multipurpose Project 971 nuclear submarine to India from the Russian Navy was signed in Goa. Submarines of Project 97 (NATO name Akula-II) weighing 8,140 tonnes are considered one of the most silent SSNs in service.

India had earlier leased an Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine (SSN) for a period of 10 years. The vessel was inducted into service as INS Chakra in April 2012. Since then, the government had expressed interest in leasing at least one more submarine to train Navy crew in the complex submarine operations as the nation prepares to have a large fleet of nuclear submarines.

Note - India inducted its first indigenously built nuclear ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), Arihant, into service in August, 2016 completing its nuclear triad.

India, China discuss NSG mem-bership issue

China blocks tributary of Brah-maputra to build dam

India and China at the 8th BRICS Summit at Goa discussed India’s

hopes for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group at a bilateral summit.

The 2 nations described as hopeful the process set into motion of meetings between the two nuclear negotiators of the countries.

China has blocked a tributary of the Brahmaputra (Yarlung

Zangbo) as part of a major hydro-electric project, whose construction began in 2014. The blockage is a part of China's most expensive hydro project. The Brahmaputra in its upper reaches is called Yarlung Zangbo, after it originates from the Angsi glacier in western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar Lake.

China said the current plan falls within the parameters of the larger

Lalho project that began in 2014. The project on the Xiabuqu in Xigaze, also called Shigatse (a railhead of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, very close to Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim) involves an investment of $740 million. The multipurpose enterprise, which includes construction of two power stations with a combined generation capacity of 42 MW, was scheduled for completion in 2019. Its reservoir is designed to store up to 295 million cubic meters of water and helps irrigate 30,000 hectares of farmland.

So far, China has maintained that its dams do not restrict the flow of water towards India as they are based on run-of-the river principle. China’s 13th five year plan has proposed significant hydropower expansion along rivers that also originate in the Tibetan plateau. Although the plan does not mention any river specifically, it is anticipated that the new dams are envisaged along the Yarlung Zangbo, Lancang (Mekong) and Nu (Salween), all originating in the Tibetan plateau.

Note - China’s move coincides with the debate in India on the re-calibration of Indus water flows into Pakistan following a cross-border raid in Uri that killed 18 Indian troops.



India – Hungary bilateral update 2 important agreements were

signed between India and Hungary during the visit of Vice-President of India, Hamid Ansari to Hungary.

• 1st agreement between India and Hungary is related to water management.

• 2nd agreement for cooperation between the Indian Council for World Affairs and the Institute of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary.

The two countries also agreed to set up a working group on technology to develop each other’s capabilities in a set of areas.

The Indian outreach comes in the backdrop of the support Hungary has extended to India’s bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and also in the context of the post-Brexit uncertainties for Indian business and industry in the United Kingdom.

India revises DTAA with South Korea After Mauritius and Cyprus, India

has revised double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with South Korea, giving India the

right to tax capital gains made from investment here subject to a threshold. Under the new treaty with South Korea, if the capital gains in India pertain to selling of shares up to five per cent of the paid-up capital, then it will be taxed in South Korea. If these are more than this level, the tax would be in India.

The move could set a standard for proposed revision of the India-Netherlands DTAA as well. Currently, the talks of India-Netherlands DTAA at 10 per cent threshold for capital gains to be taxed in India are on.

Like Mauritius and Cyprus, capital gains provisions would also come into effect from April 1, 2017. While DTAA with Mauritius talks of only 50 per cent of capital gains tax of two years from April 1, 2017, and full tax afterwards, there is no such mention in India-South Korea DTAA. Like every new DTAA, the one with South Korea also inserted the limitation of benefits clause to ensure the benefits of the agreement are availed only by the genuine residents of both the countries.

The revised DTAA also enables bilateral advance pricing agreements (APAs) between India and South Korea in transfer pricing. In bilateral APAs, the governments of both sides are involved along with companies concerned, while in unilateral agreement, it is only India and the company concerned. It would also enable both the countries to apply the mutual agreement procedure (MAP) in transfer pricing disputes. MAP is a mechanism laid down in tax treaties to ensure that taxation is in accordance with the tax treaty.

Further, the revised DTAA contains express provisions to facilitate exchange of information held by banks. Information exchanged under the revised DTAA can now be used for other law enforcement purposes with the authorisation of information supplying country.

India, Algeria mull joint venture on fertilizers India’s keen desire to initiate a joint venture arrangement with Algeria for a multi-billion dollar fertilizer plant located in the North African country seemed to have moved to the front burner following a meeting between the 2 countries.

India, which has up to 96 per cent phosphate dependency, with the volumes running to some six million tonnes a year, is seeking a 49 per cent share in an Algerian block that has a capacity of six billion tonnes with 26 per cent to 50 per cent phosphate content. For India, such a project will have major favourable food security implications and could ease the fertilizer subsidy burden as well. India currently imports raw phosphate resources from a number of African countries including Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Syria, as also from Russia, Canada and Israel among others.

Note - India’s aspirations in Algeria also span the information technology, pharma and space sectors. India believes there are good prospects for diversified expansion across sectors. India’s bilateral trade with Algeria currently stands at $1.5 billion a year with the trade balance in Algeria's favour given India's import of oil and gas. The major item of exports from India has been automobiles.



India, New Zealand bilateral update India and New Zealand reached

an understanding on further cooperation on cyber-security, counter-terrorism, customs, education and food security. PM of New Zealand John Key repeated New Zealand’s consistent support for India to become a member of the reformed UN Security Council. New Zealand showed an understanding of India’s clean energy needs and the importance of predictability in global rules on nuclear commerce in enabling the expansion of nuclear energy in India indicating that India’s NSG membership application will hinge on its need to keep climate change commitments.

The New Zealand PM’s visit comes in the run-up of a crucial NSG consultative Group meeting to be held in Vienna specifically to consider whether countries that haven’t signed Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty - NPT can be considered for membership. Mr. Key’s statement indicated that New Zealand is yet to change its hard-line position on only admitting signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty into the NSG, a group which works by consensus.

India’s membership bid failed to make headway in June, 2016 in Seoul, but the new South Korean Chairperson of the Group had mandated outgoing Argentine Chairperson Rafael Grossi to speak to all NSG members to discuss the way forward so that India’s case could be taken up later this year.

The Union cabinet has approved a new agreement on trade,

commerce and transit between India and Bhutan. It provides for a free trade regime between two countries, and duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries. According to the pact, bilateral trade between will continue to be transacted in Indian Rupees and Bhutanese Ngultrums.

The agreement was renewed on 29th July 2006 for ten years. The validity of this agreement was extended, with effect from 29th July 2016, for one year or till the new agreement comes into force, through exchange of diplomatic notes.

Bhutan was among the SAARC nations that had shared the concerns of India in the wake of the Uri attack, and expressed solidarity with New Delhi saying it was not conducive to hold the SAARC Summit in Islamabad under the situation that prevailed then. Bhutan is also part of the BIMSTEC grouping that had recently held talks with BRICS nations including India to boost ties.

Note - Bilateral trade between India & Bhutan had grown by 55 per cent year-on-year in FY’16 to $750 million, with India’s exports increasing 40.4 per cent to $469 million, while imports from Bhutan rose 87 per cent to $281 million.

Indo-Bhutan bilateral update

International


UniformCIVIL CODE

By uniform civil code, it is meant that all sections of the society irrespective of their religion shall be treated equally according to a national civil code, which shall be applicable to all uniformly.

THEY COVER AREAS LIKE

Marriage Divorce Maintenance

Inheritance Adoption Succession of property

It is based on the premise that there is necessarily no connection between religion and personal law in a civilized society.

However, Article 37 of the Constitution itself makes clear, that the directive principles “shall not be enforceable by any court”.

Nevertheless, they are “fundamental in the governance of the country”. This shows that although our constitution itself believes that a Uniform Civil Code should be implemented in some manner, it does not make this

implementation mandatory.

The State shall endeavor to secure the citizen a Uniform Civil Code throughout the territory of India

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION

Part IV, Article 44 of the constitution

The codification and unification of the variegated personal laws will produce a more coherent system of laws. This will reduce the existing confusion and enable easier and more efficient administration of laws by the judiciary.

Many provisions of personnel laws violate human rights

It will help in bringing every Indian, despite his caste, religion or tribe, under one national civil code of conduct.

It will help the society move forward and take India towards its goal of becoming a developed nation.

A uniform civil code will also help in improving the condition of women in India.

A uniform civil code will also help in reducing vote bank politics that most political parties indulge in during every election.

By allowing personal laws we have constituted an alternate judicial system that still operates on thousands of years old values. A uniform civil code would change that.

Article 25 and 26 guarantee freedom of religion and UCC is not opposed to secularism.

IT WILL INTEGRATE INDIA WILL HELP IN REDUCING

SIGN OF MODERN

MORE RIGHTS

ALL INDIANS SHOULD

IT PROMOTES REAL

CHANGE HAS BEEN

PERSONAL LAWS VOTE BANK POLITICS

PROGRESSIVE NATION

TO THE WOMEN

BE TREATED SAME

SECULARISM

LAW OF NATURE

ARE A LOOP HOLE

All the laws related to marriage, inheritance, family, land etc. should be equal for all Indians.

A uniform civil code doesn’t mean it will limit the freedom of people to follow their religion, it just means that every person will be treated the same.

A minority of people should not be allowed to pick and choose the laws they want to be administered under and these personnel laws were formulated in specific spatio-temporal context and should not stand still in a changed time and context

ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF UCC

The task of actually devising a set of rules that will govern all communities is a very formidable and tedious one considering the vast range of interests and sentiments to be accounted for.

Lack of political will due to the complexity and sensitivity of the issue.

Misinformation about UCC - Content of UCC has not been spelt out leading minorities to believe that it is a way of Hinduise them.

Change in laws in favour of women like Hindu inheritance Act has neither brought about any change in the percentage of property held by women nor in their status.

Some sections in Minorities claim it is a way of imposing majority views on them.

Different religious communities have different personal laws which lead to politicization.

CHALLENGES

SUGGESTIONSA progressive and broadminded outlook is needed among the people to understand the spirit of such code. For this, education, awareness and sensitisation programmes must be taken up. A committee of eminent jurists should

be considered to maintain uniformity and care must be taken not to hurt the sentiments of any particular community.

The Uniform Civil Code should act in the best interest of all the religions.

The matter being sensitive in nature, its always better if the intiative comes from the religious groups concerned.

In order to promote the spirit of uniformity of laws and accomplish the objectives enshrined in Art.44 of the Constitution, the following suggestions need immediate consideration.



India to push for funds at climate talks

2016 BRICS Summit

A day before India ratifies the Paris climate agreement the union

environment minister emphasised that India would push for finance and technology from developed countries at the climate talks (COP-22) in Morocco. The minister also confirmed that there was no link between India ratifying the deal and its membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

At the climate talks in Morocco in November, 2016 India would stress most on trying to operationalise the $100 billion corpus called the Green Climate Fund committed by developed countries to aid policy, projects and technology transfer as a buffer against the impact of climate change. Unfortunately, only a fraction of it ($2 million out of $10 Billion) has been pledged so far.

The minister further said India will also set up a pavilion at the climate talks in Morocco to showcase Gandhiji’s low carbon lifestyle.

On INDC’s

The funds will help nations work on fulfilling their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) which aim to reduce carbon emissions through a host of solutions. Union environment minister said that India has already completed 12 per cent of all pre-2020 Intended National Determined Contributions (INDC), or the road map by which it will make good on its commitments to reduce carbon emissions. As part of its INDC plans, India had promised to bring

down its emissions intensity, or emissions per unit of the GDP, by at least 33 per cent by the year 2030 as compared to 2005 levels.

The 8th BRICS summit ended with the adoption of the

Goa Declaration which pledged opposition to terrorism. However, India could not succeed to get a consensus on references to cross-border terror and Pakistan-based terror groups in the final statement. The declaration did not name any country specifically as the source of cross-border terrorism. It called for all nations to counter radicalism, and block sources of financing international terrorism, including through organised crime by means of money-laundering, drug trafficking, criminal activities, dismantling terrorist bases and countering misuse of the Internet including social media by terror entities through misuse of the latest Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Reflecting international concern, the Goa Declaration pointed out the need for countering the Islamic State which has occupied territories in Iraq, Syria, and Libya and called for a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the U.N. General Assembly. It further called for a resolution of the civil war in Syria, in accordance with the legitimate aspirations of the people of Syria and sought action against U.N.-designated terrorist groups like IS and Jabhat al-Nusra.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The most serious direct threat to our economic prosperity is terrorism. Tragically, its mother-ship is a country in India’s neighbourhood.” India did get the diplomatic edge it wanted in this direction from the summit.

Paris pact -

• The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference - COP 21 was held in Paris, France. The conference negotiated a global agreement on the reduction of climate change – the Paris Pact.

• It will enter into force when joined by at least 55 countries which together represent at least 55 percent of global greenhouse emissions.

• The UNFCCC members agreed to reduce their carbon output as soon as possible and to do their best to keep global warming to well below 2 degrees C which helps in combating climate change.



India, Nepal, China trilateral meeting on the sidelines on BRICS summit –

An unusual, unscheduled trilateral meeting took place among the 3 nations. It highlighted the significance of Nepal in India’s ties with China.

At the 8th BRICS Summit at Goa, India Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi met Premiers of Russia, Brazil, China and South Africa with the task of carving out common ground on counter-terrorism actions.

Apart from terror, the summit is likely to see significant announcements on development initiatives in the Bay of Bengal region with an outreach to the 7-nation BIMSTEC, as well as a possible discussion on the worsening situation for civilians in Syria. However, the summit will face an overhang from ongoing tensions with Pakistan, the differences with China and worries over the slowing down of economies, especially Brazil and South Africa.

India’s push to have a comprehensive convention on international terrorism (CCIT) adopted at the U.N. The 5th BRICS summit at Brasilia in 2010 had included an appeal for an early conclusion of negotiations in the UN General Assembly of the CCIT and its adoption by all Member States, but India would like to see more decisive language on the convention as well the threat of cross-border terrorism and support by Pakistan to terror groups in the wake of the Uri attack.

BRICS agrees to set up credit rating agency –

BRICS nations signed an agreement to set up an independent credit rating agency based on market-oriented principles, saying it would further strengthen the global governance architecture.

The group said BRICS institution-building is critical to the shared vision of transforming the global financial architecture to one based on the principles of fairness and

equity. The setting up of a BRICS Rating Agency would further bridge the gap in the global financial architecture.

Responding in favour of a rating agency backed by BRICS, New Development Bank (NDB) president K.V. Kamath expressed concerns over methodologies of the three global agencies (S&P, Fitch, Moody’s) saying that these constrain growth in emerging nations. He said that ratings of multilateral banks like the BRICS-promoted NDB were affected by the parent countries’ ratings, despite having deep capital buffers.

NDB to target incremental revenue of $2.5 billion in 2017 –

NDB president K.V. Kamath said the bank established by BRICS countries in 2015, is targeting incremental revenue of $ 2.5 billion in 2017 - largely in the area of green and sustainable infrastructure, and a plan to raise $1.5 billion through green bonds. He said member countries including India would be approached to mobilise funds through the bond markets. Mr. Kamath also said that the Shanghai-based bank had approved loans for development of the renewable energy sector.

BBC meeting - BRICS Business Council (BBC) reflects the full economic diversity and depth of business engagement between the member countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the Council to work with member countries to strengthening mutual trade, enhancing business opportunities, building investments linkages, promoting innovation and removing bottlenecks to intra-BRICS commerce.

The 2 faces of BRICS –

It is a display of muscle that the world is bound to watch when leaders of countries that make up half the world’s population and nearly a quarter of global GDP ($17 trillion combined) gather. Yet despite the power-packed photo

opportunities at the 2016 BRICS summit at Goa, there are several reasons to believe that the BRICS forum, once comprising the world’s fastest growing economies, is running out of steam. The slumps in oil prices have negatively impacted both Russia and Brazil’s growth stories, and Russia has paid heavily for western sanctions over Ukraine.

Diplomatic divergence -

Meanwhile bilateral ties between India and China have reached new lows: with China’s CPEC clinch with Pakistan and India’s shift to the U.S.’ strategic corner on the South China Sea.

Russia’s shift away from an exclusive relationship with India, ambivalence on defence ties with Pakistan consistent with its new dependence on China is another factor that is loosening some of the mortar between the BRICS countries.

Brazil and South Africa are also known to have reservations on India’s bid for the NSG membership, possibly prompted by China that has openly discouraged non-NPT members, which is a critical issue for India later this year when it tries to push through the bid again.

When it comes to the Goa declaration, each of them has a particular agenda.

Growing connectivity –

BRICS has shown a coherence and focus that is leading to new projects on connectivity, building infrastructure and sharing resources, both inter-regionally as well as bilaterally. India’s Act East policy is spurring the government to extend the Trilateral highway project all the way to Cambodia, to help with port infrastructure in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, while recently rescued ties with Nepal will see the government step up its hydel and road projects there.

In addition, the ‘SASEC’ grouping that also includes the Maldives, met recently to clear infrastructure



projects funded by the Asian Development Bank, and the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) and BCIM (Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar) groupings are seeing their projects on seamless connectivity moving at a quicker pace.

India will have concrete plans and projects to recommend for BRICS’s New Development Bank to fund and the contingency reserve arrangement to propose, as the lynchpin between BRICS and BIMSTEC, India can also carve out a new leadership role that will help the region, while tiding over the current tensions within its BRICS partnerships.

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

• The grouping was originally known as BRIC before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010. The BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialised countries, but they are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies and significant influence on regional and global affairs; all five are G-20 members.

• Since 2010, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits.

• The BRIC grouping’s first formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg, commenced in 2009; in 2010, South Africa began efforts to join the BRIC grouping, and the process for its formal admission began in August of 2010. Sanya (China) hosted 2011 summit, New delhi (India) hosted the 2012 summit where the decision was taken to establish BRICS bank.

BIMSTEC a sunny prospect in BRICS summit Given all the stresses and strains

on the structure of BRICS, the sunny spot for India as a host may come from the BIMSTEC outreach instead. The seven-nation grouping of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, was founded in 1997 as BIST-EC, and then refurbished as the Bay of Bengal initiative for Multi-sectoral technical and economic cooperation (BIMSTEC), but has floundered since then for lack of funding.

The meetings were held at the Thai foreign ministry in Bangkok until it was given headquarters in Dhaka in 2011 and a secretary general, Sri Lankan diplomat Sumith Nakandala, in 2014.

PM of India Narendra Modi said BIMSTEC members - Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal have many economic opportunities to share about - growth, development, commerce and technology. He added that the member nations can work together also in issues related to environment and disaster management.

BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) – It is an international organisation involving a group of 7 countries in South Asia and South East Asia.

Members: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal

Intern- ational Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) - Oman meet At a time when all official meetings

between India and Pakistan are on hold, senior MEA and R&AW officials met their counterparts in the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and ISI at a conference in Oman, organised by the U.S. Military National Defence University and British think-tank International Institute for Strategic Studies - IISS.

The conference, which is held annually in Oman, brings together officials from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss regional security.

After India pulled out of the SAARC summit, Pakistan has cancelled its attendance at an Asian Disaster Risk Reduction conference to be held in Delhi - November 2-5. The Muscat conference that took place on October 21-23 was the 10th round of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) and Near East South Asia (NESA) Center for Strategic Studies at the US National Defense University’s dialogue on South Asian Security.



Gender Gap Index – 2016According to the WEF’s Gender Gap index - 2016, Efforts to close gender gaps in pay and workforce participation slowed so dramatically in the past year that men and women may not reach economic equality for another 170 years. Statistics just a year ago predicted the economic gap between genders could close in 118 years, but progress has decelerated, stalled or reversed in nations around the world.

Iceland and Finland ranked highest among 144 nations measured on progress in equality in education, health and survival, economic opportunity and political empowerment. Next were Norway and Sweden, followed by Rwanda, which has improved economic participation and income equality and has the highest share of women parliamentarians in the world.

At the bottom - Yemen, then Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran

The report further said - in the political sphere, women’s engagement in public life has a positive impact on inequality across society at large. In addition, there is a range of evidence to suggest that women’s political leadership and wider economic participation are correlated.

Globally, the political gender gap is slowly but steadily improving. On the other hand, the economic gap this past year reverted back to where it was in 2008. It stands at 59 per cent, meaning women’s economic participation and opportunity is a little more than half of what men have. At the current rate, and given that the gap widened last year, women and men will not be equal economically for another 170 years.

Around the world, 54 per cent of working-age women on average participate in the formal economy, compared with 81 per cent of men. Women’s average annual earnings are roughly half those of men, estimated at $10,778, versus $19,873. The gap between men and women in terms of education - literacy and school enrolment is so small that they could be at equal levels within the next 10 years. But closing the gap in political empowerment, at current rates, could take 82 years.

Ease of doing Business report 2016India improved its position to 130

in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2017 report. It was placed at 131 according to the revised rankings for last year indicating a marginal improvement.

Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have jointly topped the 2016 all-India State/Union Territory-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings.

InternationalIssues




Latin America gradually marches towards the Right It was not a good time for Latin

America’s Leftists. Colombia rejected a peace deal with Marxist rebels, delivering a very public victory to Alvaro Uribe, the conservative former President who campaigned passionately against it. The voters in Brazil too handed a resounding defeat to the Leftist party that once controlled their country, knocking it down in municipal elections.

It was just another sign of the shift to the Right in Latin America. In less than a year, voters have thwarted the Leftist movement in Argentina and elected a former investment banker as President of Peru, while lawmakers impeached the Leftist leader of Brazil.

Factors responsible

The sharp drop in commodities prices has eroded economic growth around Latin America and the support Leftist governments once drew from it. The clout of evangelical Christian mega-churches is expanding, and they are confronting socially liberal policies and channelling widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo; Leaders embracing market-friendly policies are eclipsing the Leftists who exerted sway around the Americas in the previous decade. Once-powerful Leftist Presidents like Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina now face corruption inquiries.

Santos, FARC scramble to save deal

U.N. panel to examine blacklisting Azhar

Colombian government opened a new national dialogue to seek

peace with FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army) rebels as both sides scrambled to revive a peace deal to end the half-century conflict.

In an address a day after voters rejected the agreement in a referendum, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos asked the government’s chief negotiator Humberto de la Calle to “begin discussions as soon as possible addressing all the necessary issues to have an agreement and realise the dream of every Colombian to end the war with the FARC”.

India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan globally would be tested when

a United Nations Sanctions

International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected nuclear disarmament

cases filed by the Pacific nation of the Marshall Islands against Britain, India and Pakistan, saying it did not have jurisdiction. The United Nations’ highest court - ICJ ruled that the Marshall Islands had failed to prove that a legal dispute over disarmament existed between it and the three nuclear powers before the case was filed in 2014.

The Marshall Islands originally filed cases against all nine nations that have declared or are believed

FARC

It is a guerrilla movement involved in the continuing Colombian armed conflict since 1964. It has been known to employ a variety of military tactics in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism.

Committee takes up the proposal to put Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar on the list of proscribed terrorists. China had put a technical hold on this proposal in April, 2015.

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, has been accused by India of orchestrating several terror attacks here, the latest being the attack on an Army camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Uri. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing both the Pathankot and Uri attacks, is learnt to have given crucial points nailing Azhar’s direct role in the terror attacks.

India said it would apprise the 1999 resolution - 1267 Taliban/Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee that Azhar has close links to the Taliban and consequently to Al Qaeda.

China has three options now but they were not very optimistic. China can extend the technical hold, convert the hold to a block, or allow the designation (as a terrorist) to go through.

ICJ rejects disarmament case against India



to possess nuclear weapons: the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea. But only the cases against Britain, India and Pakistan got to the preliminary stage of proceedings.

Note - In a landmark 1996 advisory opinion, the court said that using or threatening to use nuclear arms would “generally be contrary to” the laws of war and humanitarian law. But it added that it could not definitively rule on whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be legal “in an extreme circumstance of self-defence, in which the very survival of a state would be at stake.” The judges in 1996 also unanimously stated that there is a legal obligation “to pursue in good faith” nuclear disarmament talks.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

• It is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations (UN) based in The Hague, Netherlands. It is established by the UN Charter in 1945

• It settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

East Aleppo faces destruction shortly

Israel cuts ties with Unesco over Jerusalem draft resolution

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan da Mistura

made an impassioned appeal to save eastern Aleppo, warning the city faced total destruction and urging Islamist fighters to leave so civilians can get aid.

Addressing himself to the Russians and the Syrian government, he asked: “Are you really ready to continue this type of level of fighting using that type of weapons, and de facto destroy the whole city of eastern Aleppo ... which is home to 275,000 people for the sake of eliminating 1,000 al Nusra fighters?

Israel suspended cooperation with UNESCO after the U.N. cultural

agency adopted a draft resolution that denies Israel its deep, historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem.

UNESCO’s draft resolution, sponsored by several Arab countries, uses only the Islamic name for a hilltop compound sacred to both Jews and Muslims, which includes the Western Wall, a remnant of the biblical temple and the holiest site where Jews can pray.

Israelis and many Jews around the world viewed it as the latest example of an ingrained anti-Israel bias at the UN, where Israel and its allies are far outnumbered by Arab countries and their supporters.

Israel captured East Jerusalem, with sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 war. Palestinians claim the territory as part of their future state, and its fate is a central dispute.

Environment




Kigali pact: an amendment to Montreal protocol About 200 nations, including

India after intense negotiations took a landmark step to combat climate change by signing a legally-binding deal to phase down climate-damaging HFCs that have global warming potential thousand times more than carbon dioxide.

Negotiators and policymakers had intense deliberations to iron out differences concerning the amendment to the Montreal Protocol to reach the Kigali Amendment to phase down the use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The agreement reached by 197 parties on the amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer is expected to prevent a global temperature rise of up to 0.5 degrees C by the end of the century, while continuing to protect the ozone layer.

According to the amendment adopted by nations, developed countries will reduce the use of HFCs first, followed by China, along with a large number of countries. India and 9 other countries of South and West Asia will follow suit. Overall, the agreement is expected to reduce HFCs use by 85 per cent by 2045.

Note - The amendment will enter into force on January 1, 2019 provided that at least 20 instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval of the Amendment have been deposited by states or regional economic integration organizations that are parties to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone Layer.

Under the amendment, 3 different schedules have been set for countries to freeze and then reduce their production and use of HFCs. The developed countries, led by the US and Europe, will reduce HFC use by 85 per cent by 2036 over a 2011-13 baseline. India will reduce the use of HFCs by 85 per cent over the 2024-26 baseline.

Developed countries have also agreed to provide enhanced funding support to developing countries. Unlike the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Montreal Protocol amendment is legally binding.

From the Indian perspective -

Hailing the role played by India in reaching the deal, Indian climate experts said India went with a clear strategy and a proactive agenda to enhance the overall environmental ambition of the deal and to protect the nation’s economic interests. The amendment finally agreed to not only protects India’s economic interests, but also doubles the climate benefit compared to the previous Indian proposal. It will avoid HFC emissions equivalent to 70 billion tonnes of CO2

Kigali makes history with HFC freeze -

Countries came to an agreement at Kigali in Rwanda to phase out a family of potent greenhouse gases by the late 2040s and move to prevent a potential 0.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperature by the end of the century.

The agreement is significant in that it amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol, initially conceived only to plug gases that were destroying the ozone layer, to now include gases responsible for global warming. This has been the turf of agreements such as the recently ratified Paris agreement that pushes countries to cap global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius by 2100.

Unlike the more glamorous Paris agreement that will come into force by 2020 and doesn’t legally bind

countries to their promises to cut emissions, the amended Montreal Protocol will bind countries to their HFC reduction schedules from 2019.

There are also penalties for non-compliance as well as clear directives that developed countries provide enhanced funding support estimated at billions of dollars globally. The exact amount of additional funding will be agreed at the next Meeting of the Parties in Montreal, in 2017. Grants for research and development of affordable alternatives to hydrofluorocarbons will be the most immediate priority.

Note - Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are a family of greenhouse gases that are largely used in refrigerants in home and car air-conditioners. They are currently the world’s fastest growing greenhouse gases, with emissions increasing by up to 10 per cent each year. They are one of the most powerful, trapping thousands of times more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2).



Ozone Layer shields earth from

UV Rays

UV-AUV-B

C

ClCl

ClF

OO

O

Stratosphere 10-50 km

Troposhere 0-10 km

CFC molecule

UV-A

Ozone molecule O3

Ultra-violet rays split a chlorine atom away from the CFC molecule

The chlorine atom breaks up an ozone molecule, making a hole in the ozone layer

The molecules left behind are chlorine monoxide and oxygen (O2)

Ozone layer

The stratospheric layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun.

The Montreal protocol

An international treaty signed in 1987 and ratified by all UN members, it successfully encouraged all nations to eradicate the use of CFCs in products. According to the Ozone assessment report - 2014 released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Earth’s protective ozone layer is well on track to recovery in the next few decades, all thanks to the Montreal protocol, without which the atmospheric levels of ozone depleting substances could have increased tenfold by 2050.

Ozone-depleting chemicals

CFCs (Aerosols, refrigerants, Solvents)

HCFCs (Aerosols, refrigerants, Solvents)

Halons(Fire extinguishers)

Methyl bromide(Pesticides)



India got 3% less rain than normal

Hurricane Matthew

GM mustard unlikely to get approval this rabi season

According to Indian Meteorological department

(IMD), India has ended up with 3 per cent less rain than normal during the monsoon months of June to September, 2016. This is the first time since 2011 that the department was not able to forecast the overall sign of the monsoon - meaning that it expected heavy rain but ended up with less than normal. In 2014 and 2015, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) could not anticipate the severity of the droughts but had indicated that monsoon would be below normal.

In 2011, the IMD said India would get below normal (95% of the average) rain, but the country ended up with 2 per cent more rain than normal.

The Director General (DG) of IMD said the forecasting agency is not worried that we couldn’t get the trend right because all monsoon models in the world had expected a La Nina to form during the end of the monsoon. Moreover there have been no reports of moisture stress from any region.

He added that through the monsoon months, there were indications that East and Northwest India would see rain deficits, but the delayed La Nina greatly affected the rains in South India, which has so far seen an 8 per cent deficit. Deficient rain over South India led to riots and violence in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the sharing of Cauvery waters.

Hurricane Matthew churned across the Caribbean toward

Haiti with devastating force after claiming its first victims in the impoverished island nation. More than 6,400 people had been evacuated to temporary shelters immediately across Haiti.

Cuba evacuated some 316,000 people from the east of the island.

Hurricane Matthew killed almost 900 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Haiti before plowing northward over waters just off the U.S. southeast, where it caused flooding and widespread power outages.

Union ministry of Environment said GM mustard, which was

open for public consultation and received a nod from the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), is unlikely to be approved during the ongoing season.

The crop is facing opposition from organic food proponents. Environmental activists have petitioned the Supreme Court seeking a moratorium on release of the crop without adequate and comprehensive bio-safety data, including feeding studies, which according to the petition has not been conducted.

One of the crucial points of contention is has remained that the Ministry has not released the bio-safety dossier into the public domain despite orders from the Central Information Commission.

On La-Nina:

IMD said, activation phase of La Nina - a weather phenomenon that is the converse of the El Nino that brings good rains to India was supposed to boost rains in September. However the near normal rains have so far been well distributed and had contributed to good kharif sowing.

Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) – It is an organization constituted in the Union ministry of Environment and Forests under the Environment Protection Act, 1986.

• It is an apex body for approval of activities involving large scale use of hazardous microorganisms and recom binants

• It is also responsible for approval of proposals relating to release of



genetically engineered organisms and products including experimen-tal field trials.

Palampur to set the standards for air qualityPalampur - a hill station in

Himachal Pradesh may soon set the bar for clean air in India. The National Physical Laboratory, an organization of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - CSIR, best known for the being the repository of physical standards such as the kilogram, second and the centimetre, has set up instruments in Palampur that will measure atmospheric levels of a wide range of pollutants including ozone, nitrous oxides, ammonia and particulate matter.

Based on at least a year’s worth of observations on how these gases vary and the influence of local weather, the scientists hope to develop a reference standard for air quality realistic to India’s climate that can be extrapolated to other cities and regions. Delhi’s air is considered among the most noxious in the world though there is wide disagreement on the extent to which Delhi’s vehicles, topography or agricultural practices in neighbouring States are responsible.

Science &Technology




The 3D modelling of images collected over 20 years by the

Hubble Space Telescope shows that there are a dizzying two trillion galaxies in the universe, up to twenty times more than previously thought.

The analysis reached back more than 13 billion years very near the time of the Big Bang thought to have given birth to the universe.

Hubble shows 2 trillion galaxies in observable universe

Indian researcher produces stable solar cells

Missile destroyer Mormugao

Self-powered UV photo detector Researchers from the Indian

Institute of Science (IISc) - Bangalore have developed a cost-effective, high-performance, self-powered UV photodetector that can use the harvested optical energy for direct self-charging of energy storage devices such as super capacitor. It can also be used for operating electronic devices in the absence of external power source.

The photodetector has been developed by the researchers by integrating semiconducting vanadium doped zinc oxide - VZnO nanoflakes with a conducting

In a first of its kind, a researcher from Pune’s Indian Institute of

Science Education and Research (IISER) has successfully produced a stable, high-efficiency, all-inorganic perovskite nanocrystal solar cells. The new material has 10.77% efficiency to convert sunlight to electricity.

Traditional research has been around a hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskite material. Though the hybrid material has high efficiency of over 22%, the organic component in it is volatile and becomes completely unstable under ambient conditions within a short span of time. This renders the material unsuitable for commercial photovoltaic applications.

The researchers assembled the nanocrystals as a thin film. The thin film was used for making both solar cells and red LEDs. Solar cells made using the nanocrystal thin film has 10.77 per cent efficiency to convert sunlight to electricity and produce a high voltage of 1.23 volts.

Indian Navy’s guided missile destroyer, Mormugao was launched in Mumbai; it was built by the Mazgaon Shipyard.

Mormugao is the second ship of Project 15B and will be one of the most advanced warships of the force. It has been named after the Mormugao port of Goa.

Note - The first ship of the project, guided-missile destroyer Visakhapatnam, was launched in 2015.

polymer. The photodetector has superior performance in terms of faster detection of photo signals in the order of milliseconds even when UV light intensity is low.

The End TB strategy The Global TB Report 2016,

recently released, has revised the estimates for the tuberculosis (TB) burden in India upwards. The country has 27 per cent of the global burden of incident tuberculosis and 34 per cent of global TB deaths. For the year 2015, the updated estimate of incidence (new and relapse TB cases per year) is 2.8 million cases.

India diagnosed and notified 1.7 million incident TB patients in 2015, leaving approximately 1.1 million presumptive patients whose fate was unknown. The actual burden of TB will be known only after the completion of a national TB prevalence survey scheduled for 2017-2018; the numbers could be even higher. Worryingly, the 2015 estimate of the number of TB deaths is 4,78,000 making TB one of the leading causes of death in India. Further, of the estimated 79,000 cases of multidrug resistant (MDR)



TB, about 31,000 were diagnosed and the majority put on treatment.

There is strong political commitment at the moment to tackle TB head-on and achieve the 90-90-90 targets by 2035. In order to do this, our policies must be driven by data and evidence, as well as be responsive to patient needs and expectations. Unlike polio, we do not have an effective vaccine to prevent TB, so our strategy must be based on finding all cases, treating them appropriately, reducing risk factors and preventing further transmission. For this, we need better and more efficient diagnostics, shorter treatment courses, a better vaccine (BCG protects only young children from severe forms of TB) and better preventive strategies.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) have a joint programme to evaluate indigenous TB diagnostics and have evaluated a couple of very promising products which could potentially replace imported tests.

WHO seeks special U.N. session on TB –

The World Health Organisation (WHO) frustrated with a lack of political will shown by nations with a high burden of tuberculosis, is calling for the 1st United Nations General Assembly on the deadly but curable infection.

The development follows the release of the Global TB report, in which the WHO had to significantly revise the global burden of TB after a 34 per cent increase in cases reported from India. The country shoulders the highest burden of 2.2 million cases a year. Nearly 2, 40,000 people die of TB each year, and 61,000 develop an untreatable form of the disease, called Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB).

The UNGA meeting on TB is a strategy copied from the HIV movement, when member states adopted a political declaration to fast-track progress in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Countries

adopted a set of time-bound targets in June this year towards combating the worldwide scourge of HIV/AIDS over 5 years and ending the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

So far, on the WHO’s urging, Russia and South Africa - both high-burden countries have initiated a dialogue. The idea is to move beyond Health Ministers and involve Ministers of Justice (as TB is a common problem among prisoners) and Finance Ministers.

Meanwhile, the global health community gathered at the 47th World Lung Conference in Liverpool is keenly following developments in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a high-level meeting on TB.

Economy




New regime at RBI

Forex reserves touch record high

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided at its first policy

review to reduce the benchmark repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India’s key policy interest rate has now been cut to its lowest level since 2011.

The decision of the MPC is consistent with an accommodative stance of monetary policy in consonance with the objective of achieving consumer price index inflation at 5 per cent by Q4 of 2016-17.

MPC also, hinted that there was scope for policy interest rates to ease further when he said the neutral rate is 1.25 per cent, which is lower than the 1.5-2 per cent regime that prevailed under the previous governor Raghuram Rajan.

The neutral rate is the difference between the risk free rate and inflation - a key determinant of the policy rate.

RBI says NPA situation to be dealt with firmness, pragmatism –

The NPA situation is an important issue for the RBI and India. RBI said it will deal the situation with firmness and pragmatism so the economy does not feel any lack of credit to support the growth in the economy. But we must remember that the situation has not occurred overnight and therefore will require skill and thoughtful endeavour to resolve.

Just five sectors contribute 61 per cent of the stressed assets of the banking sector – infra, steel, textiles, power and telecom. The sectors are each individually important and dealing with stressed assets will require skill and creativity. There are many reasons that led to this

situation, but now helping banks to deal with this situation is of the utmost importance for the country. We will move at various levels to address the situation and we have indeed done so. We are working with the banks and the government on the subject.

As per the Reserve Bank data, India’s foreign exchange

reserves scaled a new high of $371.99 billion, up $1.223 billion for the week to September 30. The increase was on account of a $1.468-billion surge in the foreign currency assets.

Previously, they had touched a high of $371.279 billion in the week to September 9. Foreign currency assets which are a major component of the overall reserves surged by $1.468 billion to $346.71 billion, the Reserve Bank said.

According to the data released by the Union Ministry of Commerce

and Industry Wholesale price inflation (WPI) eased marginally to 3.6 per cent due to a cooling off of food prices. Inflation in the food category eased to 5.75 per cent.

The slowdown in the growth of the WPI comes at a time when India’s retail inflation also eased sharply. Growth in the Consumer Price Index

NITI Aayog reviewing centre's stake in CONCOR The Union Finance Ministry has returned a proposal of NITI Aayog for strategic disinvestment of

the Centre’s stake in Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) on the ground that the move could potentially lead to a public sector monopoly becoming a private sector monopoly.

In light of the Ministry’s response the Aayog is re-examining its proposal. It is also taking on board the views in this regard of the Railways Ministry since CONCOR works under it. In 2006, the anti-trust watchdog Competition Commission of India had ruled that Indian Railways and CONCOR had not abused their dominant position in the freight services segment.

Note - Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) is a logistics company; it is a network of 64 terminals, offering scheduled and on-demand rapid rail and road services between the hinterland and ports, and between terminals across the country.

It is the only listed company of Indian Railways with a cash surplus of Rs.2,400 crore and zero debt on its balance sheet.

WPI inflation reduces to 3.6 per cent



Centre to set up credit guarantee fund for start-ups

stood at 4.3 per cent, the slowest in more than a year. This shows that the Reserve Bank of India was correct in cutting rates in its latest policy review.

Inflation has declined due to the sufficient rains and some supply side management by the authorities.

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said the

Centre will set up a Rs.2,000 crore credit guarantee fund to support start-ups.

This corpus of Rs.2,000 crore will provide up to 80 per cent risk cover for collateral free credit being given by banks and financial institutions to start-ups.

One India push for ease of business The Centre is working with States

to introduce a One India concept, the most ambitious ‘ease of doing business’ initiative so far. Under the One-form-One-portal model, aimed at attracting huge investments, the processes will be simplified to an extent where investors will need to

fill only a single e-form for investing and doing business anywhere in India.

Currently, firms are mandated to complete multiple forms at the Central and State-levels, and it gets more complicated as each State has different requirements and regulations.

The government is working on what could be the world’s best single window clearance mechanism with an in-built information wizard that will help investors with the application processes.

The plan aims to help raise India’s global ranking on the World Bank Group’s ‘Doing Business’ index from 130 in 2016 to the top 50 among the 189 economies featured on the list. The proposed concept will also make it easy for investors to even change plans midway and shift projects to different locations in India where it is easier to do business.

e-Biz portal:

The Centre is already developing an e-Biz project that is basically a government-to-business portal. The services offered under the portal which firms and investors can use 24X7 online are on starting, running and closing down a business. Introduced in January 2014, the portal has an integrated payment gateway and currently offers 17 pan-India services (at the Central government-level).

The state-level services on offer include that of Delhi (two services), Andhra Pradesh (13) and Odisha (15). The upcoming services include seven Central government and other services, 13 from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra (10), Delhi (six), and Haryana and Tamil Nadu (eight each). Other States have been asked to link their services to the portal soon, and the aim is to integrate more than 200 services within a few years.

The focus now is on revamping this portal by identifying and removing glitches. The thrust will

be on quality by reducing the cost, time and processes involved, and ensuring greater transparency. For instance, States have been asked to do away with the requirement of fees for services, wherever the fee involved is nominal. The portal will also be soon shifted to an ‘open source multi-platform’ system/browser. Also in the pipeline is a Permanent account number (PAN)-based Business Identification Number (BIN) for firms. This unique business ID will integrate about 18 identification numbers including the existing Company Identification Number.

Nagpur SEZ to host Rafale offset man-ufacturing An integrated facility will be commissioned in the Reliance Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Nagpur by the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group and its French partner Dassault shortly for the execution of offset contracts of the just-concluded deal for 36 French fighters. A significant part of the whopping Rs. 30,000 crore offsets would be executed through the joint venture, Dassault - Reliance Aerospace.

4 French companies which have a major stake in the Rafale deal - Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran and MBDA will execute offsets worth about Rs. 30,000 crore as per their share. The Dassault-Reliance JV will only execute a part of the offsets because some of the investments have to be done in DRDO for technology development.



India will be home to 10500 start-ups by 2020 According to a Nasscom - Zinnov

start-up report, India continues to harbour the third largest start-up base, marginally behind the U.K. The report, titled Indian Start-up Ecosystem Maturing - 2016, says that the ecosystem is poised to grow by an impressive 2.2 times to reach more than 10,500 start-ups by 2020 despite the popular belief that the Indian start-up ecosystem is slowing down.

According to the report there is an increased interest from student entrepreneurs in 2015-16. A remarkable growth of 25 per cent has been witnessed in 2016 with over 350 ventures founded by young students. The median age of start-up founders has reduced marginally from 32 years in 2015 to 31 years in 2016. Technology start-ups are creating a new identity for India and its technological process.

The report demonstrates continued growth in the number of start-ups in 2016, with Bengaluru, the National Capital Region, and Mumbai continuing to lead as major start-up hubs for the nation. In terms of vertical growth, investors are looking at the domains like health-tech, fin-tech, and edu-tech. With a total funding of approximately $4 billion, close to 650 young firms were funded signifying an aware and healthy growth of the ecosystem.

The number of technology firms in India is expected to grow by 10-12 percent to over 4,750 start-ups by the end of 2016. Interestingly over

1400 new ventures have emerged in 2016 denoting that the ecosystem is becoming prudent with both investors and start-up founders focusing on profitability and optimising the overall spend.



Awards




Nobel prize 2016 Nobel Prize in Medicine

The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi, professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy - a fundamental process for degrading and recycling cellular components.

Nobel laureate in Medicine, Christian de Duve coined the term autophagy (meaning self eating) in 1963.

Nobel Prize in Physics

British-born scientists David J. Thouless, F. Duncan Haldane and J. Michael Kosterlitz won the Nobel Physics Prize for deep new ideas in quantum theory of matter, using topology.

The discovery opened the door on an unknown world where matter can assume strange states. They have used advanced mathematical methods to study unusual phases, or states, of matter, such as superconductors, superfluids or thin magnetic films.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

It has been awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J. Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for developing molecular machines.

Nobel Peace Prize

It has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his efforts to end his country’s 50-year civil war.

He negotiated a peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) guerrilla group but the peace deal was rejected by a narrow majority of Colombians when it was put to referendum. The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process.

Multiple ChoiceQuestions




1. Which of the following program of the Government of India has been selected by the International Energy Agency for the conservation of energy at the global level?

a) UDAYb) UJALA/DELPc) National solar missiond) Pradhana mantri ujjwala yojana

2. Which of the following cells are attacked by the HIV virus in the human body?

a) D cellsb) Macrophages c) RBC’sd) Both A & B

3. Janani suraksha yojana is a part of

a) National Rural Health Missionb) National Urban Health Missionc) RURBAN missiond) Universal health coverage

4. River management boards in India have

a) Constitutional status b) Statutory status c) Both A & Bd) Neither A nor B

5. Which of the following statements are correct?

1. Uniform civil code is mentioned in part 4 of the Indian constitution

2. It can be enforced in both High courts and Supreme court

Options:

a) 1 only b) 2 only c) Both 1 & 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

6. An expert committee formed by the Union ministry of Water resources has found evidence about the course of Ancient River ___________ using the paleo channels

a) Gayatrib) Saraswatic) Bhagirathid) Agastya

7. ‘National Institutional Ranking Framework’ which is used to measure the performance of higher educational institutions is released annually by

a) Union ministry of HRDb) University Grants Commission c) National Accreditation and appraisal committee - NAACd) IIT Ahmadabad

8. The Energy and Research Institute - TERI organised the 1st ever World Summit on Sustainable development at

a) Mumbaib) New Delhi c) Bangalore d) Chennai

9. The International energy agency works under the aegis of

a) Organisation of petroleum exporting countries - OPECb) Organisation for economic cooperation &

development - OECDc) World bank d) IMG

10. With respect to the bilateral affairs of India, ‘Trincomalee’ appears in news. It is in

a) Sri Lanka b) Omanc) Myanmard) Indonesia

11. India recently signed an intergovernmental agreement with _________ to purchase S-400 missiles which will act as a game-changer in countering airborne threats.

a) U.S.b) Russia c) Japan d) Germany

12. India is not a member of which of the following multilateral groups?

a) Nuclear suppliers groupa) Hague code of conduct against ballistic missile

proliferation c) Missile technology control regimed) Shanghai cooperation organisation

13. Recently, India signed an agreement with ___________ to set up a fertiliser plant

a) Eritreab) Chadc) Malid) Algeria



14. Recently, UNFCCC’s Conference of parties (COP-22) concluded at

a) Paris, France b) Marrakech, Moroccoc) Warsaw, Poland d) Lima, Peru

15. ‘Goa Declaration’ which pledged opposition to terrorism is related to

a) SAARCb) BIMSTECc) BRICSd) Shanghai cooperation organisation

16. ‘Gender gap report’ is released by

a) World bank b) UN Womenc) World Economic Forumd) IMG

17. According to 2016 All-India State/Union Territory-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings released by the World bank, which state/UT is the most favourable to start and run business?

a) Telanganab) Andhra Pradesh c) Both A & Bd) Maharashtra

18. Revolutionary armed forces - FARC sometimes appears in news in the context of

a) Malaysia b) Colombiac) Hungary d) Myanmar

19. Recently, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected nuclear disarmament cases filed by ____________ against Britain, India and Pakistan, saying it did not have jurisdiction.

a) Cook island b) Marshall island c) Fiji island d) El hierro island

20. Recently, Israel suspended cooperation with _______ after the agency adopted a draft resolution that denied Israel its deep, historic Jewish connection to holy sites in Jerusalem.

a) UNESCO b) UN cultural forumc) ICJ

d) None of these

21 ‘Kigali pact’ sometimes appears in news. It is related to

a) Climate change b) Ozone layer c) Air pollution d) Both A & B

22. Recently Hurricane Mathew caused devastating damage in

a) Cuba & Haitib) Vietnam & Laosc) Colombia d) Vatican city

23. ‘Generic Engineering Approval Committee’ works under

a) Union ministry of Agriculture & farmers welfareb) Union ministry of Science & Technology c) Union ministry of Environment, forest and climate

change d) It is not under any department

24. Which city has set the bar for clean air in India?

a) Madurai, Tamil Nadub) Palampur, Himachal Pradesh c) Hasan, Karnataka d) Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh

25. Indian Navy recently launched INS Mormugao in Mumbai. It is a

a) Anti submarine warfare shipb) Offshore patrol boatc) Stealth frigated) Guided missile destroyer

26. The recently constituted Monetary policy committee is headed by

a) RBI Governorb) Union Finance ministerc) Prime Minister of India d) Union Cabinet secretary

27. In the Indian Economy, ‘Headline Inflation’ is measured by

a) Consumer price indexb) Wholesale price indexc) Producer price indexd) Service price index



28. Which of the following scheme of the Government of India provides free LPG connection to female headed households?

a) PAHALb) PM ujjwala yojana c) DISHAd) JAM

29. Which of the following is not a part of foreign exchange reserves of India?

a) Goldb) Foreign currency c) Special drawing rightsd) Equities

30. WHO recently called a special UN General assembly session to eradicate

a) MalariaB. Zika feverC. Tuberculosis D. AIDS

31. Consider the following statements about the ‘Janani Suraksha Yojana’-

1. It aims to promote institutional deliveries2. It provides monetary assistance to the mother to meet

the cost of delivery3. It avails services of Direct benefits transferWhich of the statements given above is /are correct?a) 1 and 2 only b) 2 onlyc) 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3

32. Former Portugal Prime Minister - Antonio Guterres has been proposed to be appointed as

a) UN Secretary Generalb) UN High Commissioner for Refugeesc) Director general of WTOd) None of these

33. India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is in -

a) New Delhib) Noidac) Maharashtrad) Gujarat

34. Consider the following statements about Bilateral Investment Treaty –

1. It aims at promoting and protecting two-way direct investments.

2. India and U.S. recently signed itWhich of the statements given above is /are correct?a) 1 only b) 2 onlyc) Both 1&2 d) neither 1 nor 2

35. Consider the following statements regarding Cauvery Management Board

1. It is a constitutional body2. It will have representations from Karnataka,

Tamilnadu, Kerala and PuducherryWhich are correct?a) 1 onlyb) 2 onlyc) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

36. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the 19th SAARC summit are correct?

1. Sri Lanka joined India, Afghanistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh in demanding the summit should not be held.

2. The Summit was to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan.

a) 1 onlyb) 2 onlyc) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

37. Which of the following country in not a permanent member of the security council - P5?

a) Chinab) Russiac) Franced) Germany

38. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the Indian Individual Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to combat Climate Change?

1. It aims to reduce the National Emissions Intensity by 33% to 35% by 2030.

2. Generation of forests (Carbon Sinks) which can absorb 3 billion tonnes of carbon equivalent by 2030

3. By 2030, 50% of our energy needs should be fulfilled by non-conventional (renewable) sources.

a) 1 and 2 onlyb) 2 and 3 onlyc) 1 and3 onlyd) All 3

39. Consider the following statements about National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS):



1. It is part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) under the Department of Atomic Energy.

2. Its mandate is basic and interdisciplinary research in the frontier areas of biology.

Which are correct?


40. Which of the following is a Bio-diversity Hotspot?

a) Eastern Himalayas b) Western Himalayasc) Sundarbans d) Nilgiris.

41. Which of the following statements are correct about Article 47 of the Indian constitution - the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health?

1. It is a Gandhian principle under the Directive principles of State policy (DPSP)

2. It is enforceable in a court of law


42. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the National pension scheme (NPS)?

1. It is administered by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).

2. It is applicable for government employees only.


43. Which of the following is true regarding OPEC?1. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization2. OPEC has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland

a) Only 1b) Only 2c) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2 44. Which of the following bird in India is endangered

due to the effects of use of Diclofenac?

a) Indian Vulture b) Peacockc) Great Indian Bustard d) Great horned owl.

45. Which of the following statements are correct with regard to NIA?

1. NIA acts as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency.

2. NIA was established by executive resolution of the Central government.


46. Which Organization won the 2016 UN Climate award for promoting the use of clean technologies to promote sustainable development?

a) Union ministry of environment and forestsb) National Green corpsc) Swayam Shikshan Prayog – an Indian NGOd) Environment management and policy research

institute (EMPRI)

47. The famous Keshavananda Bharati case 1973 is related to

a) Basic structure of the Indian constitutionb) Preamblec) Both a and bd) Neither a nor b

48. Consider the following rivers:1. Arkavathi2. Sharavathi3. Netravathi4. KabiniWhich of the above are tributaries of River Cauvery?a) 1,2 and 3b) 1,3 and 4c) 1 and 4 onlyd) 2 and 3 only

49. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) is related to

a) Human papiloma virus (HPV)b) Hepatitisc) Human Immuno deficiency virus (HIV)d) None of these

50. Consider the following statements regarding International Court of Justice (ICJ):

1. It is the primary judicial branch of the UN2. It settles legal disputes submitted to it by states

and provides advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by UN General Assembly.

Which are correct?




51. Consider the following statements regarding National AIDS control organization (NACO):

1. It works under the Union ministry of Health and Family Welfare

2. It is the nodal organization for formulation of policy and implementation of programs for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in India.

Which are correct?a) 1 onlyb) 2 onlyc) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

52. The 2016 Nobel Peace prize was awarded to

a) National Dialogue Quartet – Tunisian mediatorsb) Organization for the prohibition of chemical weaponsc) Colombian President Juan Manuel Santosd) UN peacekeeping force

53. Consider the following statements Bio-fortification:1. It is the idea of breeding crops to increase their

nutritional value.2. It is seen as an upcoming strategy for dealing with

deficiencies of micronutrients in the developing world.Which are correct?a) 1 onlyb) 2 onlyc) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

54. Which of the following is true?1. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the price of a

representative basket of wholesale goods2. A consumer price index (CPI) measures changes in

the price level of a market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households

a) Only 1b) Only 2c) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

55. The Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) works under

a) The Union ministry of Railwaysb) The Union ministry of Road Transportc) The Union ministry of Shippingd) None of these

56. Which country recently hosted the BRICS Media summit for the 1st time?

a) China b) India c) Brazil d) Russia

57. The World Bank publishes which of the following reports

1. World Development report2. World Economic Situations & Prospects.3. World Investment report

a) 1 & 2 b) 2 & 3 Only c) 1 & 3 Only d) All the above

58. India is not a member of 1. APEC 2. BIMSTEC3. BRICS 4. East Asian summit

a) Only 1b) 1 & 4 Only c) 2, 3 & 4d) None of these

59. Which of the following diseases are caused by bacteria?

a) Tuberculosis, Cholera, Swine flu, Zika feverb) Tuberculosis, Cholera, Malaria, Leprosyc) Tuberculosis, Cholera, Bird flu, Typhoidd) Tuberculosis, Cholera, Typhoid, Leprosy

60. DIPP recently proposed to start a Credit Guarantee Fund. The main objective is -

a) To fund start-ups b) To promote skill development c) Rural development d) Sustainable development

61. Which of the following statements are correct regarding HFC’s (Hydro-Flouro-carbons)?

1. They belong to a family of greenhouse gases that are largely used in refrigerants in home and car air-conditioners.

2. They are one of the most powerful – trapping thousands of times more heat in the Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2).

a) 1 only b) 2 onlyc) Both 1 & 2 d) Neither 1 nor 2



62. Which multilateral group recently signed an agreement to set up an independent credit rating agency based on market-oriented principles?

a) IBSA b) BIMSTECc) SAARC d) BRICS

63. The words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ were added to the preamble by:

a) 42nd amendmentb) 44th amendmentc) 46th amendmentd) 41st amendment

64. Which of the following is true regarding NIIF?1. It stands for National Investment and Infrastructure Fund2. The objective of NIIF would be to maximize economic

impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects


65. Which of the following national waterways (NW) is correctly matched?

a) NW1 – Sadiya Dhubri stretchb) NW2 – Allahabad Haldia stretchc) NW3 – Kollam Kozhikode stretchd) None of the above

66. Which of the following is true regarding the river Brahmaputra?

1. Dibang, Dihang and Padma rivers are tributaries of the river Brahmaputra

2. The Indus and Brahmaputra originate from the same land and follow same directions


67. Which of the following programs of the centre is not related to urban development?

a) Smart city plan b) Housing for all by 2022c) AMRUT d) RURBAN Mission

68. India’s 1st indigenously built nuclear ballistic missile submarine is

a) INS Arihantb) INS Chakrac) INS Vikrantd) INS Vikramaditya

69. Which of the following are part of ‘freedom of religion’ according to the constitution of India?

a) All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion

b) Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion

c) Freedom to manage religious affairsd) All of the above

70. India shares largest land border with:

a) Pakistanb) Bangladeshc) Myanmard) Nepal

71. Which of the following statements are correct regarding Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)?

1. It is a group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.

2. India got a waiver from NSG in 2008 to enter International Nuclear commerce.

a) 1 only b) 2 onlyc) Both 1 and 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

73. Who heads the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which was recently constituted by the centre?

a) Union Finance Ministerb) Prime Ministerc) Chief Economic Advisord) Governor of RBI

74. An integrated facility will be commissioned at the Reliance Special Economic Zone (SEZ) for the operationalization of Dassault Rafale deal in?

a) Puneb) Nagpurc) Mysored) Chitoor



75. Which of the following parts of the Indian Constitution mention about Education?

1. Fundamental-Rights2. Fundamental-Duties3. Directive principles of state policy

a) 1 and 2 onlyb) 2 and 3 onlyc) 1 and 3 onlyd) All 3 are correct

76. The Shangri-La Dialogue - an annual meeting of Asia-Pacific region Defense Ministers in Singapore, and the Manama Dialogue - an annual meeting of Persian Gulf region security ministers and officials in Bahrain are organized by

a) International Institute of Strategic Studiesb) NATOc) UN General Assemblyd) Gulf Cooperation Council

77. Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) Tuberculosis is caused by

a) Virus b) Bacteriac) Fungusd) Worms

78. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management - DIPAM?

1. It lays down the procedure and mechanism for strategic disinvestment of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)

2. It works under the Union Ministry of Finance

a) 1 only b) 2 onlyc) Both 1 & 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

79. Which country topped the WEF’s Gender Gap index – 2016 for having least Gender Inequality in various spheres?

a) Finland b) Icelandc) New Zealand d) Australia

80. With which of the following countries, India recently revised the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements - DTAA to levy Capital Gains tax?

a) Mauritius, Singapore, Cyprus, Netherlandsb) Mauritius, South Korea, Cyprus, Singaporec) Mauritius, South Korea, Cyprusd) Mauritius, Singapore, Cyprus, Germany

83. Which of the following statements are correct regarding the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana?

1. It aims to provide Free LPG connections to Women from BPL Households

2. This is the first time the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is implementing a welfare scheme.

a) 1 only b) 2 onlyc) Both 1 & 2d) Neither 1 nor 2

84. In which of the following countries is the port of Sittwe located?

a) Myanmar b) Bangladesh c) Pakistan d) Sri Lanka

85. Recently, which Indian organization developed a UV photodetector that can use the harvested optical energy for direct self-charging of energy storage devices such as super capacitor?

a) Centre for Scientific and Industrial Researchb) Indian Institute of Sciencec) National Institute of Technology - Suratd) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

86. Who won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Economics?

a) Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstromb) Oliver Hart and Alice Munroc) Joseph Stiglitz and Oliver Hartd) Joseph Stiglitz and Bengt Holmstrom

87. Which country has the highest number of Tuberculosis patients in the World?

a) Myanmar b) Sri Lankac) Bangladeshd) India

88. Which organization releases Balance of Payments – BoP report in India?

a) Reserve Bank of Indiab) Union Ministry of Financec) Union Ministry of Commerced) Central Statistical office

89. Which of the following Student made satellites are correctly matched?

1. PRATAM - PES University students2. PISAT - IIT-Bombay students3. ANUSAT - Anna University students



Options:a) 1and 2 onlyb) 2 and 3 onlyc) 1 and 3 onlyd) All 3 are correct 90. ISRO’s ‘PSLV C-35’ appears in news in the context of

a) 1st time ISRO launched satellites in two different orbits in a single mission

b) Longest PSLV missionc) Both a) and b)d) Neither a) nor b)

91. Recently, which country developed the world’s largest radio telescope, Five hundred aperture spherical telescope – FAST?

a) Russiab) USc) Chinad) India

92. U.S. National Space Society’s Space Pioneer Award for 2015 was given to

a) ISRO’s MOM teamb) NASA’s Curiosity teamc) Jointly awarded to A and Bd) ESA’s Mars Exploration team

93. The One Belt, One Road initiative and the new Maritime Silk Route/Road is the initiative of -

a) Chinab) Bangladeshc) Russiad) India 94. Which of the following institutions releases the

‘World Development Report’?

a) World Bank b) IMFc) International Bank for Reconstruction and

Developmentd) International Finance Corporation

95.’Tarapore committee’ is related to -

a) Full convertibility on Capital accountb) Current account convertibilityc) Balance of paymentsd) None of these

96. Which of the following pollutants are monitored and controlled in the National Air Quality Index?

a) Carbon-monoxide, Ozone, Oxides of Sulphur, Ammonia, Carbon-dioxide

b) Carbon-monoxide, Hydrogen sulphide, Oxides of Nitrogen, Ammonia, Carbon-dioxide

c) Carbon-monoxide, Ozone, Oxides of Sulphur, Ammonia, Oxides of nitrogen

d) Carbon-monoxide, Ozone, Oxides of nitrogen, Ammonia, Carbon-dioxide

97. National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF) works under -

a) Union Ministry of Trade and Commerce b) Union Ministry of Financec) Union Ministry of Industriesd) Union Ministry of Home affairs

98. Which of the following is true?

1. Galvanisation is the process of applying a protective zinc coating to steel or iron, to prevent from rusting

2. Hot-dip, electrogalvanising, sherardizing are some of the methods for galvanizing steel


99. Which of the following is true regarding the concept of ‘Climate Justice’?

1. Climate justice links human rights and development to achieve a human-centred approach,

2. It safeguards the rights of the most vulnerable people and sharing the burdens and benefits of climate change and its impacts equitably and fairly


100. Which of the following countries border both India and Pakistan?

a) China and Afghanistanb) Tajikistan and Afghanistanc) Afghanistan onlyd) None of the above



ANSWER KEYS1 B

2 D

3 A

4 B

5 A

6 B

7 A

8 B

9 B

10 A

11 B

12 A

13 D

14 B

15 C

16 C

17 C

18 B

19 B

20 A

21 D

22 A

23 C

24 B

25 D

26 A

27 B

28 B

29 D

30 C

31 D

32 B

33 D

34 A

35 B

36 C

37 D

38 A

39 C

40 A

41 A

42 C

43 C

44 A

45 C

46 C

47 C

48 C

49 C

50 C

51 C

52 C

53 C

54 C

55 C

56 A

57 A

58 A

59 D

60 A

61 C

62 D

63 A

64 C

65 C

66 C

67 D

68 A

69 D

70 B

71 C

72 A

73 D

74 B

75 D

76 A

77 B

78 C

79 B

80 C

81 D

82 D

83 C

84 A

85 B

86 A

87 D

88 A

89 D

90 C

91 C

92 A

93 A

94 A

95 A

96 C

97 B

98 C

99 C

100 C



UPSC MAINS GENERAL STUDIES - PAPER I

UPSC MAINS GENERAL STUDIES - PAPER II

Indian Heritage and Culture

UPSC Syllabus

LiteratureArt FormsArchitecture

History

• Modern Indian history include the significant events, personalities, issues during the middle of the eighteenth century until the present

• Various stages and important contributors and contributions from different parts of the country in ‘The Freedom Struggle’

• Post-independence consolidation and reorganization within the country

• History of the world will include events from 18th century like industrial revolution, world wars, colonization, decolonization, redrawal of national boundaries, political philosophies like communism, capitalism, socialism etc - their forms and effect on the society

Society

• Effects of globalization on Indian society

• Salient aspects of Diversity of India and Indian Society

• Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues, urbanization, their problems and remedies

• Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism

• Current Affairs

Geography of the World and India

• Distribution of key natural resources across the world including South Asia and the Indian sub-continent; factors responsible for the location of primary, secondary, and tertiary sector industries in various parts of the world including India

• Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes

• Salient features of world’s physical geography

• Current Affairs

Polity & Constitution

• Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

• Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein

• Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries

• Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions

• Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these

• Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies

• Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and

the Judiciary Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity

• Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act

• Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

• Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies

• Current Affairs

• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

• Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources

• Development processes and the development industry the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders

• Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures

• Issues relating to poverty and hunger

• Role of civil services in a democracy

• Current Affairs

Governance & Social Justice



UPSC MAINS GENERAL STUDIES - PAPER III

Economy

• Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

• Government Budgeting

• Inclusive growth and issues arising from it.

• Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers

• Economics of animal-rearing.

• Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.

• Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices; Public Distribution System objectives, functioning, limitations, revamping; issues of buffer stocks and food security; Technology missions

Science & Technology

• Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life Achievements of Indians in science & technology;

• Indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

• Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

• Current Affairs

International Relations

• Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

• India and its neighborhood- relations

• Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate

• Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora

• Current Affairs

• Land reforms in India.

• Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth.

• Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

• Investment models

• Current Affairs

Bio diversity & Environment

• Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

• Current Affairs

Security

• Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

• Linkages between development and spread of extremism.

• Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges, basics of cyber security; money-laundering and its prevention

Disaster Management

• Disaster and disaster management.

• Current Affairs

UPSC MAINS GENERAL STUDIES - PAPER IV

Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude

• Ethics and Human Interface- Essence, determinants and consequences of Ethics in human actions; dimensions of ethics; ethics in private and public relationships

• Human Values- lessons from the lives and teachings of great leaders, reformers and administrators; role of family, society and educational institutions in inculcating values

• Attitude- content, structure, function; its influence and relation with thought and behavior; moral and political attitudes; social influence and persuasion

• Aptitude and foundational values for Civil Service, integrity, impartiality and non-partisanship, objectivity, dedication to public service, empathy, tolerance and compassion towards the weaker-sections

• Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance

• Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and world

• Public/Civil service values and Ethics in Public administration- Status and problems; ethical concerns and dilemmas

• Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

• Security challenges and their management in border areas; linkages of organized crime with terrorism

• Current Affairs



• Current Affairs: Events of national and international importance

• History of India and Indian National Movement

• Indian and World Geography: Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.

• Economic and Social Development: Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

• General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change (no subject specialization required.

• General Science

• Comprehension

• Interpersonal skills including communication skills

• Logical reasoning and analytical ability

• Decision making and problem solving

• General mental ability

• Basic numeracy (Numbers and their relations, orders of magnitude etc. Class X level)

in government and private institutions; laws, rules, regulations and conscience as sources of ethical guidance; accountability and ethical governance; strengthening of ethical and moral values in governance; ethical issues in international relations and funding; corporate governance

• Probity in Governance- Concept of public service; Philosophical basis of governance and probity; Information; sharing and transparency in government, Right to Information, Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, Citizen’s Charters, Work culture, Quality of service delivery, Utilization of public funds, challenges of corruption

• Case Studies on above issues

QUALIFYING PAPERS ON INDIAN LANGUAGES AND ENGLISH

The aim of the paper is to test the candidate’s ability to read and understand serious discursive prose, and express his ideas clearly and correctly, in English and Indian Language concerned.

The pattern of questions would be broadly as follows :

(i) Comprehension of given passages

(ii) Precis Writing

(iii) Usage and Vocabulary

(iv) Short Essays

Indian Languages:

(i) Comprehension of given passages

(ii) Precis Writing

(iii) Usage and Vocabulary

(iv) Short Essays

(v) Translation from English to the Indian language and vice-versa.

Note:

1) The Papers on Indian Languages and English will be of Matriculation or equivalent standard and will be of qualifying nature only. The marks obtained in these papers will not be counted for ranking.

2) The candidates will have to answer the English and Indian Languages papers in English and the respective Indian language (except where translation is involved..

IAS EXAM PRELIMS PAPER – I SYLLABUS

IAS EXAM PRELIMS PAPER – II SYLLABUS

• Data interpretation (Charts, graphs, tables, data sufficiency etc. Class X level)

• English language comprehension skills (Class X level)

• Questions relating to English language comprehension skills of class X level.

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