INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 01 OCTOBER 2014
30 SEPTEMBER 2014
Komagata Maru centenary observed
A year-long centenary commemoration of the Komagata Maru was launched in the presence of three granddaughters of Baba Gurdit Singh who was among the leaders of the 376 immigrants aboard the ship that had been turned away from Canada and forced to return to India.
The British imperial government saw the men on the ship as dangerous political agitators, and sent the police to arrest Singh and others. While Singh escaped arrest, 19 men were killed in the firing.
About Komagata Maru incident:
A Japanese steam ship named Komagata maru, filled with Indian immigrants was forced to return to India on September 29, 1914 from Canada when the passengers were not allowed to land in Canada(only 24 out of 352 passengers were admitted to Canada). This was due to the Continuous passage act enacted by the Canadian government to check the immigrants and particularly from India.
In this incident, 19 Canada-bound Indian immigrants were killed in police firing and many were arrested by the British police. This incident made the Ghadar Party proclaim war and inspired thousands of Indian immigrants to come back and organize an armed rebellion against British imperialism. However, this movement was crushed by the British.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 which came into force on 6th December, 2013, is an important tool for achieving the government’s objective of complete sanitation.
The Act addresses the twin problems of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers in a very comprehensive manner. It provides for elaborate mechanisms at the local, state and central level to ensure that the insanitary latrines which are the root cause of manual scavenging are eliminated and the manual scavengers are rehabilitated in alternative occupations on a sustainable basis.
Highlights
■ The act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, the manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment, and the construction of insanitary latrines. ■ It seeks to rehabilitate manual scavengers and provide for their alternative employment. ■ Each local authority, cantonment board and railway authority is responsible for surveying insanitary latrines within its jurisdiction. They shall also construct a number of sanitary community latrines. ■ Each occupier of insanitary latrines shall be responsible for converting or demolishing the latrine at his own cost. If he fails to do so, the local authority shall convert the latrine and recover the cost from him. ■ The District Magistrate and the local authority shall be the implementing authorities. ■ Offences under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailable, and may be tried summarily.
As per the Act, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis has been mandated to monitor the implementation of the Act. It states that the Commission shall perform the following functions:
■ To monitor the implementation of the Act; ■ To enquire into complaints regarding contravention of the provisions of the Act, and to convey its findings to the concerned authorities with recommendations requiring further action; and ■ To advise the Central and the State Governments for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act. ■ To take suo motu notice of matter relating to non-implementation of the Act.
In the discharge of its above mentioned functions, the Commission has been given the powers to call for information with respect to any matter specified above from any Government or local or other authority.
Sources: PIB, www.prsindia.org.
About NABARD
It is an apex development and specialized bank established on 12 July 1982 by an act by the parliament of India.
Its main focus is to uplift rural India by increasing the credit flow for elevation of agriculture & rural non farm sector.
It was established based on the recommendations of the Committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the chairmanship of Shri B. shivaraman.
It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development Corporation (ARDC).
It is one of the premier agencies to provide credit in rural areas.
It has been accredited with “matters concerning policy, planning and operations in the field of credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas in India”.
NABARD is active in developing financial inclusion policy and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. Its role and functions:
It looks after the development of the cottage industry, small industry and village industry, and other rural industries.
The Bank has been given certain roles as follows:
■ It Serves as an apex financing agency for the institutions providing investment and production credit for promoting the various developmental activities in rural areas ■ It takes measures towards institution building for improving absorptive capacity of the credit delivery system, including monitoring, formulation of rehabilitation schemes, restructuring of credit institutions, training of personnel, etc. ■ Co-ordinates the rural financing activities of all institutions engaged in developmental work at the field level and maintains liaison with Government of India, State Governments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other national level institutions concerned with policy formulation ■ It Undertakes monitoring and evaluation of projects refinanced by it. ■ NABARD refinances the financial institutions which finances the rural sector. ■ It regulates the institution which provides financial help to the rural economy. ■ It provides training facilities to the institutions working the field of rural upliftment. ■ It regulates the cooperative banks and the RRB’s, and manages talent acquisition through IBPS CWE.
NABARD is also known for its ‘SHG Bank Linkage Programme’ which encourages India’s banks to lend to SHGs.
Sources: The Hindu, www.nabard.org, Wiki.
01 OCTOBER 2014
About Enforcement Directorate
Enforcement Directorate, established in the year 1956, is a law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.
Directorate of Enforcement is a specialized financial investigation agency under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, which enforces the following laws: –
Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999 (FEMA) – A civil law having quasi judicial powers, for investigating suspected contraventions of the Exchange Control laws and regulations with powers to impose penalties on those adjudged guilty.
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) – A Criminal Law, with the officers empowered to conduct investigations to trace assets derived out of the proceeds of crime, and to provisionally attach/ confiscate the same, to arrest and prosecute the offenders found to be involved in Money Laundering.
The other functions include:
■ To collect, develop and disseminate intelligence relating to violations of FEMA, 1999, the intelligence inputs are received from various sources such as Central and State Intelligence agencies, complaints etc. ■ To investigate suspected violations of the provisions of the FEMA, 1999 relating to activities such as “hawala” foreign exchange racketeering, non-realization of export proceeds, non-repatriation of foreign exchange and other forms of violations under FEMA, 1999. ■ To adjudicate cases of violations of the erstwhile FERA, 1973 and FEMA, 1999. ■ To realize penalties imposed on conclusion of adjudication proceedings. ■ To handle adjudication, appeals and prosecution cases under the erstwhile FERA, 1973 ■ To process and recommend cases for preventive detention under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act (COFEPOSA) ■ To undertake survey, search, seizure, arrest, prosecution action etc. against offender of PMLA offence. ■ To provide and seek mutual legal assistance to/from contracting states in respect of attachment/confiscation of proceeds of crime as well as in respect of transfer of accused persons under PMLA.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.enforcementdirectorate.gov.in/.
Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as CVC
President Pranab Mukherjee has authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) until a regular appointment is made.
About CVC:
Established in 1964, it is the Main agency to address governmental corruption.
The CVC is not an investigating agency, and works through either the CBI or through the Departmental Chief Vigilance Officers.
It was created by a resolution of the central government on the recommendation of the Santhanam commission.
The CVC is headed by a Central Vigilance Commissioner who is assisted by two Vigilance Commissioners. They are appointed by the President of India by warrant under his hand and seal on the recommendation of a 3 member committee consisting of Prime Minister, central Home Minister and the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The term of office of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance Commissioners would be four years from the date on which they enter their office or till they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier and they are not eligible for further reappointment.
The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has, on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner, as the case may be, ought to be removed.
CVC is only an advisory body. Central Government Departments are free to either accept or reject CVC’s advice in corruption cases.
The Ordinance of 1998 conferred statutory status to the CVC and the powers to exercise superintendence over functioning of the Delhi Special Police Establishment, and also to review the progress of the investigations pertaining to alleged offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 conducted by them.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, cvc.nic.in.
Rift between Hong Kong and China
China has failed to keep up the political commitments it made before taking control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. And hence protests are going on in Hong Kong demanding Democratic elections.
About Hong Kong and its relationship with China:
Hong Kong is officially known as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and is an autonomous region on the southern coast of China geographically enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea.
It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. It is also known for its deep natural harbour.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). Hong Kong Island was first ceded to the UK in perpetuity, followed by Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories was put under lease in 1898. It was occupied by Japan during the Pacific War (1941–45), after which the British resumed control until 1997.
As a result of the negotiations and the 1984 agreement between China and Britain, Hong Kong was handed over to the People’s Republic of China and became its first Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997, under the principle of “one country, two systems”.
As the last Crown Colony of the United Kingdom, loss of Hong Kong also represented the end of the British Empire.
It has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kong’s independent judiciary functions under the common law framework. The Hong Kong Basic Law, the constitutional document drafted by the Chinese side before the handover based on the terms enshrined in the Joint Declaration, governs its political system, and stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign relations and military defence.
Points of tension between the Mainland and the Special Administrative Region (SAR), handed back to Beijing in 1997 after British rule ended, have been demonstrated in terms of marked differences in public behaviour to business ethics, as well as language and colloquialism barriers.
Recent protests:
The agreement signed by Britain and China allowed Hong Kong to retain its free-market economy, a legal system with an independent judiciary and other rights, including greater civil liberties than residents of the mainland. China also promised free elections for Hong Kong’s chief executive in 2017, but, in august 2014, China’s legislature called for limiting the candidates who would be allowed to run, among other restrictions. With the government insisting on controlling the nomination process, the protesters’ demand for fully democratic elections looked to be slipping away, so they took to the streets.
China blocked moves by Hong Kong to move to full democracy, by ruling that only three candidates could run for elections as leader in 2017, and they would not be chosen by any process in Hong Kong, but by a nomination committee established by China.
Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 elections but only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to stand – something demonstrators have labelled a “fake democracy” that shows Hong Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers.
Civil liberties have also been increasingly restricted, while the election of the region’s chief executive is largely seen as a farce puppet-stringed by Beijing.
The crisis is also raising concerns in Taiwan, a self-governing island that the Chinese government insists is a province of China that must one day be reunited with the mainland. After what’s happened in Hong Kong, the Taiwanese will have no reason ever to trust China’s promise of “one country, two systems.”
Sources: The Hindu, www.nytimes.com, wiki.
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
The Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), which came into force in July 2005, is aimed at combating money laundering in India with three main objectives –
■ to prevent and control money laundering. ■ to confiscate and seize the property obtained from laundered money, and ■ to deal with any other issue connected with money laundering in India.
The Act provides that whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or knowingly assists or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property, shall be guilty of offences of money-laundering. For the purpose of money-laundering, the PMLA identifies certain offences under the Indian Penal Code, the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Arms Act, the Wild Life (Protection) Act, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act, the proceeds of which would be covered under this Act.
Special Court under Section 43 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) says that the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the High Court, shall, for trial of offence punishable under Section 4, by notification, designate one or more Courts of Session as Special Court or Special Courts for such area or areas or for such case or class or group of cases as may be specified in the notification.
A person, who is accused of having committed the offence of money laundering, has to prove that alleged proceeds of crime are in fact lawful property.
This act extends to the whole of India including the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The Directorate of Enforcement in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance is responsible for investigating the cases of offence of money laundering under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance is the central national agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial transactions to enforcement agencies and foreign FIUs.
For further reference: http://www.enforcementdirectorate.gov.in/faqs_on_pmla.pdf.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, www.enforcementdirectorate.gov.in, fiuindia.gov.in.
Reserve Bank keeps policy rates unchanged
Repo rate unchanged : 8 per cent.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) : 4 per cent.
(The repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to banks. The CRR is the portion of total deposits of customers, which commercial banks have to hold as reserves either in cash or as deposits with the central bank).
Medium-term objective: inflation target of 6 per cent by January 2016.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu.
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 02 OCTOBER 2014
New NATO head takes over
Former two-term Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg started to work as NATO’s Secretary-General, the 13th in the trans-Atlantic organisation’s 65-year existence.
About NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 28 countries from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. In accordance with the Treaty, the fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means. NATO is playing an increasingly important role in crisis management and peacekeeping.
NATO’s essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.
POLITICAL – NATO promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and cooperation on defence and security issues to build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
MILITARY – NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military capacity needed to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – NATO’s founding treaty – or under a UN mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organizations.
NATO provides a unique opportunity for member countries to consult and take decisions on security issues at all levels and in a variety of fields.
A “NATO decision” is the expression of the collective will of all 28 member countries since all decisions are taken by consensus.
All member countries that participate in the military aspect of the Alliance contribute forces and equipment, which together constitute the integrated military structure of the Alliance. These forces and assets remain under national command and control until a time when they are required by NATO for a specific purpose (i.e. conflict or crisis, peacekeeping). NATO, however, does possess some common capabilities owned and operated by the Alliance, such as the AWACS early warning radar aircraft.
NATO against Terrorism:
NATO’s work on counter-terrorism focuses on improved threat awareness and preparedness, developing adequate capabilities and enhancing engagement with partner countries and other international actors.
On 12 September 2001, less than 24 hours after the terrorist attacks against the United States, NATO declared the attacks to be an attack against all the 28 NATO member countries within the terms of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
This landmark decision was followed by practical measures aimed at assisting the United States in different fields, in relation to its campaign against terrorism.
NATO and CYBER DEFENCE:
Against the background of increasing dependence on technology and on the Internet, the Alliance is advancing its efforts to confront the wide range of cyber threats targeting NATO’s networks on a daily basis. The growing sophistication of cyber attacks makes the protection of the Alliance’s communications and information systems (CIS) an urgent task. This objective has been recognised as a priority in NATO’s Strategic Concept.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, www.nato.int.
National Green Tribunal (NGT)
The National Green Tribunal has been established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
The Tribunal’s dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
Members:
The sanctioned strength of the tribunal is currently 10 expert members and 10 judicial members although the act allows for up to 20 of each.
The Chairman of the tribunal who is the administrative head of the tribunal also serves as a judicial member.
Every bench of the tribunal must consist of at least one expert member and one judicial member. The Chairman of the tribunal is required to be a serving or retired Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Members are chosen by a selection committee (headed by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India) that reviews their applications and conducts interviews.
The Judicial members are chosen from applicants who are serving or retired judges of High Courts. Expert members are chosen from applicants who are either serving or retired bureaucrats not below the rank of an Additional Secretary to the Government of India (not below the rank of Principal Secretary if serving under a state government) with a minimum administrative experience of five years in dealing with environmental matters. Or, the expert members must have a doctorate in a related field.
Jurisdiction:
The Tribunal has Original Jurisdiction on matters of “substantial question relating to environment” (i.e. a community at large is affected, damage to public health at broader level) & “damage to environment due to specific activity” (such as pollution). However there is no specific method is defined in Law for determining “substantial” damage to environment, property or public health.
The powers of tribunal related to an award are equivalent to Civil court and tribunal may transmit any order/award to civil court have local jurisdiction. The Act specifies that an application for dispute related to environment can be filled within six months only when first time dispute arose (provided tribunal can accept application after 60 days if it is satisfied that appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filling the application).
Also Tribunal is competent to hear cases for several acts such as Forest (Conservation) Act, Biological Diversity Act, Environment (Protection) Act, Water & Air (Prevention & control of Pollution) Acts etc. and also have appellate jurisdiction related to above acts after establishment of Tribunal within a period of 30 days of award or order received by aggrieved party.
The Act says that decision taken by majority of members shall be binding and every order of Tribunal shall be final. Any person aggrieved by an award, decision, or order of the Tribunal may appeal to the Supreme Court within 90 days of commencement of award but Supreme Court can entertain appeal even after 90 days if appellant satisfied SC by giving sufficient reasons.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, http://www.greentribunal.gov.in/.
‘Punarjagaran’- Mass Awakening Campaign for youth
It will be launched by The Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports.
‘Punarjagaran’ aims at creating awareness among youth and empower them to become active partners in nation building activities.
The yearlong Campaign also aims to make aware and educate youth on key issues in thematic areas, provide information on the avenues for skill development, encourage and empower them with the spirit of nationalism and volunteerism. The thematic areas of the campaign are encouraging Nationalism, promoting “Swachh Bharat, Shramadaan” and popularizing the recently launched “Jan Dhan Yojana”.
Sources: PIB.
PIO Card valid for Life Time
In pursuance of the announcement made by the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 28, 2014, now, Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Card shall be valid for life time and the PIO Card holder shall be exempt from police reporting / registration.
It has been further clarified that all PIO Cards issued till September 30, 2014 are automatically deemed to have life time validity.
About PIO card:
A PIO card allows visa free travel and several other benefits to the card holder.
All persons of Indian origin who are in possession of the passport of any other country except Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Sri Lanka or any other country specified by the government, are eligible for PIO Card if:
■ He/She had any time held an Indian passport. ■ He/She or either of his/her parents or grand parents or great grand parents was born in India or permanent resident in India provided neither was at any time a citizen of any other specific country. ■ He/She is a spouse of a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin covered under 1 & 2 above. ■ Iranian nationals of Indian Origin can be granted PIO card after MHA approval.
Sources: PIB, http://boi.gov.in/.
ECI Launches Video Game to Educate Voters
In a first of its kind effort, the Election Commission of India has developed a video game titled “Get! Set! Vote!”
The game has been created to broadly engage citizens of all age groups to learn on democracy and electoral process.
In a fun-filled and interactive manner, the video game gives out pieces of information and interesting details in10 levels of mazes. With every successive level, the information becomes more specific to subjects such as Indian democracy, registering to vote, ethical voting, help from ECI and so on. The mazes also get more challenging with the player clearing each level.
Under the Commission’s SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation) programme, the video game has been developed in collaboration with UNDP India.
A series of edutainment materials including picture book “Proud to be a Voter” and “Garv se bane Matdata”; Cartoon Strips “Wah Election Wah”; board game “Ready! Steady! Vote!” and “Vote kiBaazi”; and radio programme “Loktantra Express” has been developed for imparting voter education through entertainment.
Sources: PIB. INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 03 OCTOBER 2014
Food Security Act: Odisha to digitise ration cards
Moving ahead in the implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the Odisha government plans to take up digitisation for new ration cards.
About National Food Security Act, 2013:
It is also called as Right to Food act.
This is an act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
It extends to the whole of India.
Under the provisions of this act, beneficiaries are able to purchase 5 kilograms per eligible person per month of cereals at the following prices:
■ rice at 3 Rupees per kg ■ wheat at 2 Rupees per kg ■ coarse grains (millet) at 1 rupee per kg.
Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free meals.
Salient features:
■ 75% rural and 50% of the urban population are entitled for three years from enactment to five kg food grains per month at 3 Rupees , 2 Rupees, 1 Rupee per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains (millet), respectively. ■ The states are responsible for determining eligibility. ■ Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a nutritious “take home ration” of 600 Calories and a maternity benefit of at least Rs 6,000 for six months. ■ Children 6 months to 14 years of age are to receive free hot meals or “take home rations”. ■ The central government will provide funds to states in case of short supplies of food grains. ■ The state government will provide a food security allowance to the beneficiaries in case of non- supply of food grains. ■ The Public Distribution System is to be reformed. ■ The eldest woman in the household, 18 years or above, is the head of the household for the issuance of the ration card. ■ There will be state- and district-level redress mechanisms; and ■ State Food Commissions will be formed for implementation and monitoring of the provisions of the Act. ■ The cost of the implementation is estimated to be $22 billion(1.25 lac crore), approximately 1.5% of GDP. ■ The poorest who are covered under the Antodaya yojana will remain entitled to the 35 kg of grains allotted to them under the mentioned scheme.
Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/ , Wiki.
United Nations Convention against Corruption
The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which entered into force in December 2005, is the ever-first binding global anti-corruption instrument. It obliges the States to prevent and criminalize different corrupt practices, promote international cooperation, cooperate for the recovery of stolen assets and enhance technical assistance and information exchange.
The Convention addresses both the public and private spheres and provides a set of comprehensive agreed-upon obligations and provisions to criminalize corruption and enhance transparency and accountability. In order to monitor the progress in the implementation of the Convention, Member States have agreed to conduct “peer-review mechanisms” among themselves, for which UNODC acts as a Secretariat.
It is the first global legally binding international anti-corruption instrument. And is a multilateral convention negotiated by members of the United Nations.
UNCAC requires that States Parties implement several anti-corruption measures which may affect their laws, institutions and practices. These measures aim at preventing corruption, criminalizing certain conducts, strengthening international law enforcement and judicial cooperation, providing effective legal mechanisms for asset recovery, technical assistance and information exchange, and mechanisms for implementation of the Convention, including the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (CoSP).
UNCAC was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 31 October 2003 by Resolution.
Currently, there are 172 parties, including the European Union.
UNCAC covers five main areas: preventive measures, criminalization and law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and information exchange. It includes both mandatory and non-mandatory provisions.
In May 2011, the Indian Government ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) convention.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: Wiki, http://www.unodc.org/, http://www.business-standard.com/. INSIGHTS - Simplifying UPSC IAS Exam Preparation insightsonindia.com http://insightsonindia.com/2014/10/04/insights-current-events-04-october-2014/
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 04 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Move to Deny Foreign Nationals Access to Surrogacy Draws Flak
The view among experts looking into the new Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill 2014 that single parents and foreign nationals should not be allowed to have children through surrogates in India has come in for criticism.
Some experts opine that single men or women can’t be deprived of the right to have children through surrogacy. Any restriction on foreign parent, single or couple, may be questioned as foreigners, irrespective of marital status, are allowed inter-country adoptions under Indian law. Even, the Supreme Court allows religion and gender-free secular adoptions. Even transgenders will have rights. A right to reproductive autonomy as part of Right to Life under Article 21 is available even to foreigners as ‘persons’ and cannot be unreasonably curtailed.
The view to disallow foreign nationals stems from the concern over citizenship rights of children born to Indian surrogate mothers as several countries have banned surrogacy and do not recognise the children born through assisted means as their citizens.
The Supreme Court had asked the government to clarify its stand on the citizenship of children born via an Indian surrogate mother in India, but whose biological mother is a foreign national. A Supreme Court Bench led by Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked: “Under the Constitution, a child born in India from an Indian surrogate mother is entitled to Indian citizenship, but what happens if the biological mother is a foreign citizen and the child applies for citizenship of that country”. The Bench is looking into the larger issue of the need for a “comprehensive legislation” dealing with all the issues and situations, including citizenship of a surrogate child, created by the latest reproductive technology.
There has been an intense debate on the provisions of the ART Bill, with a majority of the stakeholders favouring that only married Indian couples be allowed to hire surrogates. A small section says it could be extended to couples where at least one parent is an Indian national. It is now left to the government to take a decision and present the Bill in Parliament
Indian Council for Medical Research guidelines on Surrogacy:
The Indian Council for Medical Research has given Guidelines in the year 2005 regulating Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures. The following observations have been made by the Law Commission in its report:
Surrogacy arrangement will continue to be governed by contract amongst parties, which will contain all the terms requiring consent of surrogate mother to bear child, agreement of her husband and other family members for the same, medical procedures of artificial insemination, reimbursement of all reasonable expenses for carrying child to full term, willingness to hand over the child born to the commissioning parent(s), etc. But such an arrangement should not be for commercial purposes. A surrogacy arrangement should provide for financial support for surrogate child in the event of death of the commissioning couple or individual before delivery of the child, or divorce between the intended parents and subsequent willingness of none to take delivery of the child. A surrogacy contract should necessarily take care of life insurance cover for surrogate mother. One of the intended parents should be a donor as well, because the bond of love and affection with a child primarily emanates from biological relationship. Also, the chances of various kinds of child-abuse, which have been noticed in cases of adoptions, will be reduced. In case the intended parent is single, he or she should be a donor to be able to have a surrogate child. Otherwise, adoption is the way to have a child which is resorted to if biological (natural) parents and adoptive parents are different.
Legislation itself should recognize a surrogate child to be the legitimate child of the commissioning parent(s) without there being any need for adoption or even declaration of guardian. The birth certificate of the surrogate child should contain the name(s) of the commissioning parent(s) only. Right to privacy of donor as well as surrogate mother should be protected. Sex-selective surrogacy should be prohibited. Cases of abortions should be governed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 only.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki.
Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual property (IP) rights are the legally recognized exclusive rights to creations of the mind. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, trade dress, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.
IPR plays a key role in almost every sector and has become a crucial factor for investment decisions by many companies.
INDIA and IPR Regime:
In today’s globalised scenario of expanding multilateral trade and commerce, it has become inevitable for any country to protect its intellectual property by providing statutory rights to the creators and inventors and thus help them fetch adequate commercial value for their efforts in the world market.
This innovative and creative capacity is protected under the intellectual property system of WTO. Recognising this fact, India as a founder member of WTO has ratified the Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). As per the agreement, all member countries including India are to abide by the mutually negotiated norms and standards within the stipulated timeframe. Accordingly, India has set up an Intellectual Property Right (IPR) regime, which is WTO compatible and is well established at all levels whether statutory, administrative or judicial.
TRIPS is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO), which sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulations as applied to the nationals of other WTO Members.
IPR-related issues in India like patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs and geographical indications are governed by the Patents Act 1970 and Patent Rules 2003, Trademarks Act 1999 and the Trademarks Rules 2002, Indian Copyrights Act, 1957, Design Act 2000 and Rules 2001, and The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act, 1999 and The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Rules 2002, respectively. All these Acts and regulations are at par with international standards. The very well-balanced IPR regime in India acts as an incentive for foreign players to protect their Intellectual Property in India. This can be established by the very fact that approximately 80% of patent filings in India are from the MNCs.
While the IPR regime in India consists of robust IP laws, it lacks effective enforcement, for which “least priority given to adjudication of IP matters” is often quoted as a reason.
The key challenge is to sensitize the enforcement officials and the Judiciary to take up IP matters, at par with other economic offences, by bringing them under their policy radar.
The IPR division tries to provide proactive business solutions through research, interactions at the highest political level while facilitating global networking. Further, since the IPR provides exclusive rights over assets, it is a major challenge for the country to balance the interests of the innovators and the interests of the society at large. In today’s highly competitive global economy, IPRs are giving companies the cutting edge and increasing their competitiveness.
American companies, particularly from the pharma sector, have alleged that Indian IPR laws discriminate against U.S. companies and violate global norms. In the report ‐ titled special 301 report ‐ brought out by the U.S., India has been classified as a ‘priority watch list country’. On the report, India has said that the Special 301 process is a unilateral measure taken by the U.S. under their Trade Act, 1974, to create pressure on countries to increase IPR protection beyond the TRIPS agreement.
But, India has consistently pointed out that the intellectual property rights (IPR) legal regime in India is fully TRIPS compliant and that any issues to be discussed have to be discussed in bilateral forums such as the Trade Policy Forum (TPF),”.
For further reference: http://www.ficci.com/sector/24/Project_docs/IPR-profile.pdf.
Sources: The Hindu, www.ficci.com, http://business.gov.in/.
International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM)
Invasive aquatic species present a major threat to the marine ecosystems, and shipping has been identified as a major pathway for introducing species to new environments. The problem increased as trade and traffic volume expanded over the last few decades, and in particular with the introduction of steel hulls, allowing vessels to use water instead of solid materials as ballast. The effects of the introduction of new species have in many areas of the world been devastating. Quantitative data show the rate of bio-invasions is continuing to increase at an alarming rate.
The Ballast Water Management Convention, adopted in 2004, aims to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another, by establishing standards and procedures for the management and control of ships’ ballast water and sediments.
Under the Convention, all ships in international traffic are required to manage their ballast water and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific ballast water management plan. All ships will also have to carry a ballast water record book and an international ballast water management certificate.
The Convention will require all ships to implement a Ballast Water and Sediments Management Plan. All ships will have to carry a Ballast Water Record Book and will be required to carry out ballast water management procedures to a given standard. Existing ships will be required to do the same, but after a phase-in period.
Parties to the Convention are given the option to take additional measures which are subject to criteria set out in the Convention and to IMO guidelines. General Obligations:
Under General Obligations, Parties undertake to give full and complete effect to the provisions of the Convention and the Annex in order to prevent, minimize and ultimately eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments.
Parties are given the right to take, individually or jointly with other Parties, more stringent measures with respect to the prevention, reduction or elimination of the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and management of ships’ ballast water and sediments, consistent with international law. Parties should ensure that ballast water management practices do not cause greater harm than they prevent to their environment, human health, property or resources, or those of other States.
This convention also calls for Parties individually or jointly to promote and facilitate scientific and technical research on ballast water management; and monitor the effects of ballast water management in waters under their jurisdiction.
For further reference: http://www.imo.org/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-Convention-for-the-Control-and- Management-of-Ships’-Ballast-Water-and-Sediments-(BWM).aspx.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.imo.org/.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
It is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
The Treaty entered into force in 1970.
More countries have adhered to the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament agreement, a testament to the Treaty’s significance.
A total of 190 states have joined the Treaty. Four UN member states have never joined the NPT: India, Israel, Pakistan and South Sudan. North Korea, which acceded to the NPT in 1985 but never came into compliance, announced its withdrawal in 2003.
The treaty recognizes five states as nuclear-weapon states: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China. Four other states are known or believed to possess nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they possess nuclear weapons, while Israel has had a policy of opacity regarding its nuclear weapons program.
The NPT is interpreted as a three-pillar system, with an implicit balance among them: the three pillars are:
non-proliferation, disarmament, and The right to peacefully use nuclear technology.
The NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
The treaty is reviewed every five years in meetings called Review Conferences of the Parties to the Treaty of Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Even though the treaty was originally conceived with a limited duration of 25 years, the signing parties decided, by consensus, to extend the treaty indefinitely and without conditions. Several additional measures have been adopted to strengthen the NPT and the broader nuclear non-proliferation regime and make it difficult for states to acquire the capability to produce nuclear weapons, including the export controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the enhanced verification measures of the IAEA Additional Protocol.
Important articles in the Treaty:
Each nuclear-weapons state (NWS) undertakes not to transfer, to any recipient, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices, and not to assist any non-nuclear weapon state to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices. Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices; not to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices; and not to receive any assistance in their manufacture. Each non-NWS party undertakes to conclude an agreement with the IAEA for the application of its safeguards to all nuclear material in all of the state’s peaceful nuclear activities and to prevent diversion of such material to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination. All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Parties to the Treaty in a position to do so shall also co-operate in contributing alone or together with other States or international organizations to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing areas of the world. The states undertake to pursue “negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament”, and towards a “Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control”.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.un.org/.
INSIGHTS © 2014. All Rights Reserved. INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 06 OCTOBER 2014
National Investigation Agency
National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a federal agency established by the Indian Government to combat terror in India. It acts as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states.
The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008.
NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as need for a central agency to combat terrorism was realised.
NIA has concurrent jurisdiction which empowers the Centre to probe terror attacks in any part of the country, covering offences, including challenge to the country’s sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships, and attacks on nuclear installations.
Other than offenses of terrorism, it also deals with counterfeit currency, human trafficking, narcotics or drugs, organised crime (extortion mobs and gangs), plane hijacking and violations of atomic energy act and weapons of mass destruction act.
Jurisdiction:
The Agency has been empowered to conduct investigation and prosecution of offenses under the Acts specified in the Schedule of the NIA Act.
A State Government may request the Central Government to hand over the investigation of a case to the NIA, provided the case has been registered for the offenses as contained in the schedule to the NIA Act.
Central Government can also order NIA to take over investigation of any scheduled offense anywhere in the India.
Officers of the NIA who are drawn from the Indian Revenue Service and the Indian Police Service have all powers, privileges and liabilities which the police officers have in connection with investigation of any offense.
Special Courts:
Various Special Courts have been notified by the Central Government of India for trial of the cases registered at various police stations of NIA under the NIA Act 2008. Any question as to the jurisdiction of these courts is decided by the Central Government. These are presided over by a judge appointed by the Central Government on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the High Court with jurisdiction in that region.
Supreme Court of India has also been empowered to transfer the cases from one special court to any other special court within or outside the state if the same is in the interest of justice in light of the prevailing circumstances in any particular state. They are empowered with all powers of the court of sessions under Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 for trial of any offense.
An appeal from any judgment, sentence or order, not being an interlocutory order, of a Special Court lies to the High Court both on facts and on law. Such an appeal is heard by a bench of two Judges of the High Court.
At present there are 38 Special NIA Courts. State Governments have also been empowered to appoint one or more such special courts in their states.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.nia.gov.in/.
‘Mautana’
“Mautana” or monetary compensation is a tradition where the victim’s family receive a settlement when one of their own passes away from the accused family. It is a custom started by a Tribal Community in Rajasthan. It is imposed as a social-penalty, (mostly in accidental death-cases), heavy cash-fine is imposed on the culprit/s in favor of family of victim and his community.
“Mautana,” for death, started with the noble intention of providing relief to the victim’s family. The meaning of the word mautana is Money against Death.
This age-old tribal criminal justice system is being misused by unscrupulous elements and this is causing law-and-order problem in the Mewar region of Rajasthan. For moneylenders, it is good business since the compensation is often huge, making the accused borrow from them. The money will be in the range of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 15 lakh depending on the social status of the dead and the accused.
Though it is a Bhil tribal tradition, Mautana has been adopted by various communities in the region. Among the Bhil tribes, a person or a family used to be pronounced as an accused just because the body of the victim was found in their property — be it a house, farm or well — even if it is a case of natural death, suicide or accident. If a woman died in her natal house, her in-laws would demand “Mautana” from her parents.
The family or the community would not cremate the body even for days together until its demand was met. If the family was unable to pay, the victim’s side would simply destroy its property, forcing it to migrate from the village in what is known as Chadhotra.
Unfortunately, what was confined to tribal communities in remote areas, where there is no interface with the government, has been adopted by other communities as well. Most of these cases go unreported, or even if the police take cognisance of them, “Mautana” and the legal system run parallel.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Essential Commodities Act
The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) was enacted by the Central Government in 1955 to control and regulate trade and prices of commodities declared essential under the Act.
The Act empowers the Central and state governments concurrently to control production, supply and distribution of certain commodities in view of rising prices. The measures that can be taken under the provision of the Act include, among others, licensing, distribution and imposing stock limits. The governments also have the power to fix price limits, and selling the particular commodities above the limit will attract penalties. Black marketing of essential commodities was a major problem in the past and this has now been controlled to a large extent. The Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) and such other orders have been issued under the powers of the ECA.
Some of the major commodities covered under the act are:
■ Petroleum and its products, including petrol, diesel, kerosene, Naphtha, solvents etc ■ Food stuff, including edible oil and seeds, vanaspati, pulses, sugarcane and its products like, khandsari and sugar, rice paddy ■ Jute and textiles ■ Drugs- prices of essential drugs are still controlled by the DPCO ■ Fertilisers- the Fertiliser Control Order prescribes restrictions on transfer and stock of fertilizers apart from prices
The Act empowers the Centre to order states to impose stock limits and bring hoarders to task, in order to smoothen supplies and cool prices. Generally the Centre specifies upper limits in the case of stock holding and states prescribe specific limits. However in case there is a difference between states and the Centre, the act specifies that the latter will prevail.
Food and civil supply authorities execute the provisions of the Act.
Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/, consumeraffairs.nic.in.
Article 370
Under Part XXI of the Indian constitution, which deals with “Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions”, Article 370 is a temporary provision granting special autonomous status to J&K.
This implies that Concurrence of the state government is required in all matters except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications and ancillary matters (matters specified in the instrument of accession). Thus the state’s residents live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.
Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India including those in Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland.
Article 370(3) says that:
“Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify: Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification”.
Jammu and Kashmir has no Constituent Assembly now. Hence the question arises as to how the article can be amended or removed from the Indian Constitution.
Some argue that the President may, by public notification under article 370(3), declare that Article 370 shall cease to be operative and no recommendation of the Constituent Assembly is needed as it does not exist any longer. Others say it can be amended by an amendment Act under Article 368 of the Constitution and the amendment extended under Article 370(1).
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, jammu.nic.in/. INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 07 OCTOBER 2014
New government advertisement norms
A Supreme Court-appointed panel headed by eminent legal expert N.R. Madhava Menon has released a set of guidelines to prevent Funds misuse.
The panel said the issue of multiple advertisements by different departments and public sector undertakings should be avoided in commemorative advertisement and only one advertisement must be issued. As far as possible during the period prior to elections, only those advertisements required by law such as public health and safety advisories or job and contract advertisements alone should be released by the government. The government should appoint an Ombudsman to receive complaints of violations of guidelines and recommend action in accordance with the guidelines.
The guidelines include:
■ Government advertisement must not mention the party in government by name. ■ Government advertisement must not directly attack the views or actions of the Opposition. ■ It must not include party political symbol or logo or flag. ■ It must not aim to influence public support for a political party or candidate for election. ■ It should not refer or link to the websites of political parties or politicians.
The panel also came to the conclusion that the existing Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) guidelines did not govern the issues.
The panel’s guidelines are intended to prevent misuse of public funds on advertisements to gain political mileage as distinct from legitimate government messaging and would apply to all institutions of government; public sector undertakings; and local bodies and other autonomous bodies or organisations established under a statute.
The report makes it clear that the objects of these guidelines are to prevent arbitrary use of public funds for advertising by public authorities to project particular personalities, parties or governments without any attendant public interest.
Sources: The Hindu.
Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana In order to attain National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) goal of providing access to electricity to all rural households and electrification of all villages, Government of India, in April, 2005 conceived “Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana” (RGGVY) to electrify all un-electrified villages / habitations and to provide access to electricity to all rural households in un-electrified and electrified villages in the entire country.
The scheme covers electrification of all the villages in the country except the villages under the programme of Ministry of Non-conventional Sources (MNES) for providing electricity from non- conventional energy sources under their remote village electrification programme. With the launch of this scheme the existing “Accelerated Electrification of One lakh Villages and One Crore Households” and the Minimum Needs Programme for rural electrification got merged with RGGVY.
The scheme has been launched to fulfil the commitment of the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of completing the household electrification in next 5 years and modernizing the rural electricity infrastructure.
The scheme is being implemented through the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) which has been designated as Nodal Agency by Ministry of Power.
The scheme provides for free of cost connection to all rural households living below poverty line. The programme aims at a qualitative transformation of the rural electricity infrastructure. It envisages that there will not be any discrimination between urban and rural areas in respect of hours of supply. 24 hours supply of good quality power would also enable dispersal of small industries, khadi and village industries in the rural areas. It will also facilitate delivery of modern health care, education and application of information technologies. This is aimed at accelerated rural development, employment generation and poverty alleviation.
SALIENT FEATURES
The scheme has the following important features:
■ Ninety per cent capital subsidy is provided towards overall cost of the projects under the scheme. 10% of the project cost is contributed by States through own resources / loan from financial institutions. ■ Prior commitment of the States has been obtained before sanction of projects under the scheme for: ■ Guarantee by State Government for a minimum daily supply of 6- 8 hours. ■ Free of cost service connection to all families Below Poverty Lines.
Sources: The Hindu, http://rggvy.gov.in/.
Big Data
Big data is an all-encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional data processing applications. Big data usually includes data sets with sizes beyond the ability of commonly used software tools to capture, curate, manage, and process data within a tolerable elapsed time. Big data “size” is a constantly moving target.
Advertising and marketing are a major source of revenue for many companies and Big Data is quickly becoming one of the core priorities for advertisers and marketers. Big Data is seen by marketers as a tool for creating targeted and effective advertising.
Big Data can drive an integrated marketing and business strategy like nothing else. According to a recent IBM study, high-performing Chief Marketing Officers are integrating internal and external data to garner deep insights which, in turn, provide them with a much deeper understanding of their customers.
What is considered “big data” varies depending on the capabilities of the organization managing the set, and on the capabilities of the applications that are traditionally used to process and analyze the data set in its domain. Big data requires exceptional technologies to efficiently process large quantities of data within tolerable elapsed times.
Big Data and analytics technologies help marketers overlay offline transaction data with all of these other online data types – including data from various third-party sources – to gain insights and improve Returns On Investment. With the right interpretation of data, advertisers can understand their customers as individuals, know each customer in context and co-create authentic brand experiences.
A McKinsey study last year stated that companies using Big Data and data analytics effectively show productivity rates and profitability that are 5-6 per cent higher than competitors.
With Big Data technologies, advertisers can:
■ Conduct real time analysis of customer behaviour to produce tailored experiences and targeted promotions ■ Measure the effectiveness of online advertising to fine-tune campaigns while they are in progress ■ Adopt advanced content analytics solutions to mine social media posts and call centre logs in order to assess customer sentiment and avoid churn ■ Analyse data continuously streaming in from to increase service uptime, facilitate better planning ■ Implement predictive analytics solutions to anticipate future customer behaviour. The Big Data has been changing few (so called) market rules. First, it has brought the customer back into focus, whether in terms of what they think of products or how they react to marketing. Second, it seems to have queered the pitch for big marketers. The spread of marketing automation systems and database applications has taken all the customer data out of the technology departments and into marketing cubicles. One can also say the arrival of such complex data sets has changed the role of the marketer from being largely creative to being slightly more technical, and that at a macro level, small businesses and their larger counterparts can finally compete on a level playing field. Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/, Wiki. The Electricity Act, 2003 It is an Act of the Parliament of India which covers major issues involving generation, distribution, transmission and trading in power. It is an Act enacted to consolidate the laws relating to generation, transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity industry, promoting competition therein, protecting interest of consumers and supply of electricity to all areas, rationalization of electricity traffic, ensuring transparent policies regarding subsidies, promotion of efficient and environmentally benign policies constitution central electricity authority, regulatory commissions and establishment of appellate tribunal and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Before Electricity Act, 2003, the Indian electricity sector was guided by The Indian Electricity Act, 1910 and The Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948. The generation, distribution and transmission were carried out mainly by the State Electricity Boards in various States. Due to politico-economic situation, the cross-subsidies reached at an unsustainable level. For the purpose of distancing state governments form tariff determination, The Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act was enacted in 1998. So as to reform electricity sector further by participation of private sector and to bring in competition, Electricity Act was enacted in 2003. The Act delicenses power generation completely (except for hydro-power projects over a certain size).As per the Act, 10 per cent of the power supplied by suppliers and distributors to the consumers has to be generated using renewable and non-conventional sources of energy so that the energy is reliable. The Act delicenses distribution in rural areas and brings in a licensing regime for distribution in urban areas. However, as per the Act, only 16 states in India have notified what constitutes as rural areas and therefore the rural distribution is yet to be freed up in nearly one third of the country. The main features of the Act are as follows:
■ Generation has been delicensed and captive generation freely permitted, i.e. any generating company may establish, operate and maintain a generating station without obtaining a licence under this Act with the only exception that it should comply with the technical standards relating to connectivity with the grid. ■ No person shall
1. transmit electricity; or 2. distribute electricity; or 3. undertake trading in electricity,
Unless he is authorised to do so by a licence issued, exceptions are informed by authorised commissions through notifications.
■ Transmission utility at the central and state level to be a government company with responsibility of planned and coordinated development of transmission network. ■ Open access in transmission with provision for surcharge for taking care of current level of cross- subsidy, with the surcharge being gradually phased out. ■ The state governments are required to unbundle State Electricity Boards. However they may continue with them as distribution licensees and state transmission utilities. ■ Setting up State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) has been made mandatory. ■ An appellate tribunal to hear appeals against the decision of (CERC’s) and SERC’s. ■ Thrust to complete rural electrification and provide for management of rural distribution by panchayat, cooperative societies, NGOs, franchisees etc. ■ Central government to prepare National Electricity Policy and Tariff Policy. ■ Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to prepare National Electricity Plan.
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 08 OCTOBER 2014
Alert in Rajasthan as polio strikes Pakistan
With Pakistan reporting the highest number of polio cases in the past 15 years, India has stepped up surveillance along the international border, particularly in Rajasthan, to check any spread of the infection.
While India was given the polio-free certificate by the World Health Organisation this February, Pakistan has recorded 202 polio cases this year — the highest in the world — accounting for 83 per cent of the cases reported globally until last week.
Other than Pakistan, neighbouring Afghanistan, and Nigeria, where polio is endemic, outbreaks have been reported from Syria, Somalia, Iraq and several African countries in the recent years. However, for India, the risk of transmission of this crippling and potentially deadly disease is more from Pakistan because of cross-border population movement — both legal and illegal.
About POLIO:
Polio (also called poliomyelitis) is a contagious, historically devastating disease that was virtually eliminated from the Western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th century. Although polio has been around since ancient times, its most extensive outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s until the polio vaccine was introduced in 1955.
It is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
Symptoms and Cure:
Although approximately 90% of polio infections cause no symptoms at all, affected individuals can exhibit a range of symptoms if the virus enters the blood stream. In about 1% of cases, the virus enters the central nervous system, preferentially infecting and destroying motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness and acute flaccid paralysis.
Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.
The focus of modern treatment has been on providing relief of symptoms, speeding recovery and preventing complications. Supportive measures include antibiotics to prevent infections in weakened muscles, analgesics for pain, moderate exercise and a nutritious diet. Treatment of polio often requires long-term rehabilitation, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, braces, corrective shoes and, in some cases, orthopedic surgery.
Pulse Polio in India: Pulse Polio is an immunisation campaign established by the government of India in 1995-96 to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against polio virus. This project deals with the ways to fight poliomyelitis through a large scale immunisation programme, co-operating with various international institutions, state governments and Non Governmental Organisations, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by Rotary International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 1995, following the Polio Eradication Initiative of World Health Organization (1988), India launched Pulse Polio Immunisation Program along with Universal Immunisation Program which aimed at 100% coverage.
On 27 March 2014, World Health Organization (WHO) declared India a polio free country with no case of disease being reported in last three years.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, www.unicef.org, www.who.int.
SAT upholds SEBI order against Angel Broking
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has upheld the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s order against Angel Broking in case related to violations of stock broker norms and fraudulent dealings in shares of Sterling Green Woods.
About SAT:
Securities Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body established under the provisions of Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India or by an adjudicating officer under the Act and to exercise jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on the Tribunal by or under this Act or any other law for the time being in force.
It covers the whole of India.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Memorandum of Understanding Between MoES and USA
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Earth System Science Organization-Ministry of Earth Sciences (ESSO-MoES) and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), USA was signed for cooperation in Earth System Sciences.
This collaboration is expected to act as a step to bring together academia and application scientists to come together.
The present MoU will provide a mechanism to jointly undertake research and developmental work to address Earth System Science issues of common concern through exchange of excellent scientific knowledge and technological know how existing in the two countries. Collaborations are expected to include aircraft and radar technology, now casting of severe weather events, hydrometeorology, satellite data, oceanic and climate research, urban flooding as well as capacity building through scientific lectures and distance learning. A particularly important area is the long-range forecasting, which has extreme value to the Indian economy and caters to the need of the farmers with planting decisions and agricultural practices based on the projected intensity and timing of the next monsoon season.
The MoU covers scientists from a range of institutions from India, to be coordinated and funded by the ESSO-Ministry of Earth Sciences with the scientists from UCAR’s 104 member universities, as well as NCAR (National Centre for Atmospheric Research). Through the MoU, the regional expertise available with Indian scientists will be complemented by the domain expertise available with UCAR.
Sources: PIB.
Pashmina Promotion Programme (P-3) to be launched
Under Pashmina Promotion Programme, major provision has been made for establishment of latest technology imported Pashmina Dehairing Plant at Leh with total grant of Rs.19.35 crore including other machineries like Scouring, Drying, and boiler along with construction of building for installation of these machineries at Leh.
The existing Deharing Plant has obsolete Chinese dehairing machine and is not sufficient to de-hair 45 ton of Pashmina wool produced here and with present capacity it can only de-hair up to five ton pashmina, leaving 40 ton sold into the market as raw which renders loss of value addition of Pashmina.
Under this new Programme, financial assistance would be provided under different components like Creation of Common Pashmina Facilitation Centre for Wool testing, Disease Surveillance Centre, Geographic Information System (GIS) Lab, Shelter for Nomads, Portable Electric Units for Handloom Spinning/Weaving, Solarised Community Centres, Open Fodder enclosures, establishment of Pashmina Dehairing Plant, Distribution for Foundation Stock to farmers and construction of Shelter for Housing of Pashmina Stock.
The Ministry of Textiles is implementing Pashmina Wool Development Scheme with the help of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh from 10th Five Year Plan for development of this Sector in Ladakh region. In the 12th Plan, this programme has been expanded with enhanced financial assistance of Rs. 41.21 crore.
Ladakh region produces the finest Pashmina wool (specialty fiber) in the world, which has high demand globally. Ladakh region grow about 45 ton of Pashmina wool every year from the population of about 2.50 lakh Pashmina goats.
Sources: PIB.
The Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope
India recently launched an ingeniously manufactured microscope-that generates 3D images of objects-under CSIR-New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative (CSIR-NMITLI): A Unique Public -Private – Partnership (PPP) Programme. The Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope has several applications in medicine and materials sciences. It uses an infrared beam which passes through a patented photonic crystal fibre.
This project is an ideal and successful example of a hand in hand participation programme of a private industry and a publicly funded CSIR’s laboratory, that too in a very highly advanced technology area. This is an effort launched by the CSIR over a decade ago to develop technologies through collaborative efforts by research laboratories and technology companies in India.
This is a humble beginning towards Prime Minister’s “Made in India and reach Global” strategy. This is a first of its kind in India and is designed to make it affordable to the researchers. A few laboratories have already expressed their intention to procure the developed product.
Confocal Microscopes are used to obtain three dimensional features at microscopic level and play vital role in scientific understanding of nano-materials, biological objects etc. At present, these are only available at limited number of science laboratories in India due to their prohibitive cost. As science advances, Scientists want to also understand the spectroscopic behavior of materials and this can be achieved only using Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope. It can also do resonant scanning up to 1024×1024 pixels.
The unique nature of supercontinuum light makes spectral coverage for all forms of confocal microscopy and for fluorescence imaging over wide range of wavelength. Here, the confocal microscope is illuminated using a Supercontinuum Light Source. At the global level, there are only a few Supercontinuum Source manufacturers as well as Confocal Microscope manufacturers. While using the broadband source, the optics has to be carefully designed to take care of chromatic aberrations too.
The Supercontinuum Source uses patented photonic crystal fiber technology developed by CSIR- CGCRI,Kolkata. Only a handful all over the world has this capability and facilities.
The optic fibre produces multiple wavelengths from the laser due to its surface which has very small holes. This is similar to the way a peacock’s feather scatters light. This is projected on to the target object which allows us to see a three dimensional structure of the object.
This is also cost effective since similar confocal microscopes cost about Rs. 4 crore to import, these will be priced between Rs. 1.25 crore and Rs. 1.5 crore.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, PIB.
Fracking Technology
Fracking /Hydraulic fracturing (also called as hydrofracturing or fraccing) is a well-stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a hydraulically pressurized liquid. A high-pressure fluid (usually chemicals and sand suspended in water) is injected into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing particles (either sand or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures open once the deep rock achieves geologic equilibrium. Some hydraulic fractures form naturally—certain veins or dikes are examples. The hydraulic fracturing technique is commonly applied to wells for shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas. Such well-stimulation is common throughout the exploitation of the field to greatly increase the flow rate. Stimulation is intensified to extend the period before production declines.
Hydraulic fracturing is highly controversial, proponents advocating economic benefits of readily accessible hydrocarbons, and opponents concerned for the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing including contamination of ground water, depletion of fresh water, degradation of the air quality, the triggering of earthquakes, noise pollution, surface pollution, and the consequential risks to health and the environment. This technology also results in methane emissions which is cause of concern.
Increases in seismic activity following hydraulic fracturing are usually caused by the deep-injection disposal of flowback and brine (which is produced from hydraulically fractured wells). For these reasons, hydraulic fracturing is under international scrutiny, restricted in some countries, and banned altogether in others. Some of those countries, notably the U.K., have repealed bans on hydraulic fracturing in favour of regulation. The European Union is drafting regulations that would permit controlled application of hydraulic fracturing.
While the main industrial use of hydraulic fracturing is in stimulating production from oil and gas wells, hydraulic fracturing is also applied:
■ To stimulate groundwater wells ■ To precondition or induce rock cave-ins mining ■ As a means of enhancing waste remediation, usually hydrocarbon waste or spills ■ To dispose waste by injection deep into rock ■ To measure stress in the Earth ■ For electricity generation in enhanced geothermal systems. ■ To increase injection rates for geologic sequestration of CO2.
Environmental Concerns:
Hydraulic fracturing has raised environmental concerns and is challenging the adequacy of existing regulatory regimes. These concerns have included ground water contamination, risks to air quality, migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, mishandling of waste, and the health effects of all these. An additional concern is that oil obtained through hydraulic fracturing contains chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, which may increase the rate at which rail tank cars and pipelines corrode, potentially releasing their load and its gases.
Concern has been expressed over the possible long and short term health effects of air and water contamination and radiation exposure by gas production. Health consequences of concern include infertility, birth defects and cancer.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 09 OCTOBER 2014
Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)
It is a National Programme implemented by the Ministry of Science & Technology for attraction of talent amongst students to study science and pursue career with research.
INSPIRE is an innovative programme developed by the Department of Science & Technology to attract talent to the excitement and study of science at an early age, and to help the country build the required critical resource pool for strengthening and expanding the S&T system and R&D base. It is a programme with long term foresight.
The programme was launched on 13th December 2008. The implementation started during 2009-10.
INSPIRE Programme covers students in the age group 10-32 years, and has five components: INSPIRE Award (for 10-15 age group), INSPIRE Internship at a science camp with opportunity for interaction with global science leaders (for 16-17 age group), INSPIRE Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) @ Rs 80000/ per year for continuing education at B.Sc. and M.Sc. levels (for 17-22 age group), INSPIRE Fellowship for doctoral research (for 22-27 age group) and INSPIRE faculty for assured career opportunity (for 27-32 age group).
Sources: PIB, http://www.inspire-dst.gov.in/. Digital India
Digital India is an initiative of Government of India to integrate the government departments and the people of India and to ensure effective governance. It also aims at ensuring the government services made available to citizens electronically by reducing paperwork. The initiative also includes plan to connect rural areas under high-speed internet networks. The project is stated to be completed by 2019. This is a two-way platform where both the service offerers and the consumers stand to benefit through.
The scheme will be monitored and controlled by the Digital India Advisory group which will be chaired by the Ministry of Communications and IT. It will be an inter-ministerial initiative where all ministries and departments shall offer their own services to the public Healthcare, Education, Judicial services etc. The Public-private-partnership model shall be adopted selectively. The scheme has plans also to restructure the National Informatics Centre.
Sources: Wiki, PIB. Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
It is a law enacted by the Parliament of India aimed at effective prevention of unlawful activities associations in India. Its main objective is to make powers available for dealing with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.
The National Integration Council appointed a Committee on National Integration and Regionalisation to look into, the aspect of putting reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.
Pursuant to the acceptance by Government of a unanimous recommendation of the Committee on National Integration and Regionalism appointed by the National Integration Council, the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, was enacted empowering Parliament to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India, on the:
■ Freedom of Speech and Expression; ■ Right to Assemble peaceably and without arms; and ■ Right to Form Associations or Unions.
The Act makes it a crime to support any secessionist movement, or to support claims by a foreign power to what India claims as its territory. It includes the following:
> Unlawful activity, in relation to an individual or association, means any action taken by such individual or association (whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise),
■ which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, on any ground whatsoever, the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory of India from the Union, or which incites any individual or group of individuals to bring about such cession or secession; or ■ which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India; or ■ which causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India.
The Act has been amended to make the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 more effective in preventing unlawful activities, and meet commitments made at the Financial Action Task Force (an intergovernmental organization to combat money laundering and terrorism financing).
For further reference: http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-unlawful-activities-prevention-amendment-bill-2011-21 59/.
Sources: The Hindu, PRSindia.org, Wiki. Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Two Americans and a German scientist have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for finding ways to make microscopes more powerful than previously thought possible by using glowing molecules to peer inside tiny components of life, allowing scientists to see how diseases develop inside the tiniest cells. Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been equally divided among the Laureates Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner for having bypassed a presumed scientific limitation stipulating that an optical microscope can never yield a resolution better than 0.2 micrometres (half the wavelength of light).
Their breakthroughs, starting in the 1990s, have enabled scientists to study diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s at a molecular level. Due to their achievements the optical microscope can now peer into the nanoworld. Using the fluorescence of molecules, scientists can now monitor the interplay between individual molecules inside cells; they can observe disease-related proteins aggregate and they can track cell division at the nanolevel. The instrument opened a new window to studying living organisms non-invasively.
Despite the advantages, the optical microscope suffers from a major drawback — a physical restriction as to what size of structures is possible to resolve. Ernst Abbe in 1873 said that microscope resolution is limited by, among other things, the wavelength of the light (0.2 micrometres).
While Abbe’s microscope resolution limitation still hold true, the Laureates have successfully demonstrated ways of bypassing the limitation. The three have taken optical microscopy into a new dimension using fluorescent molecules. Two different principles have been able to do this and they developed independently of each other.
Using fluorescence microscopy it was possible for scientists to see where a certain molecule was located. But only clusters of molecules, like entangled strands of DNA, could be located. The resolution was too low to discern individual DNA strings.
The smaller the volume allowed to fluoresce at a single moment, the higher the resolution of the final image. Hence, there is, in principle, no longer any limit to the resolution of optical microscopes.
About Nobel Prize:
The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895.
The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; the Swedish Academy grants the Nobel Prize in Literature; and the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The various prizes are awarded yearly. Each recipient, or laureate, receives a gold medal, a diploma and a sum of money, which is decided by the Nobel Foundation. Posthumous nominations:
Although posthumous nominations are not permitted, individuals who die in the months between their nomination and the decision of the prize committee were originally eligible to receive the prize.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki. Nobel Prize in Physics
This year the Nobel prize in physics goes to Isamu Akasaki, Meijo University and Nagoya University, Hiroshi Amano, Nagoya University, and Shuji Nakamura, University of California, Santa Barbara, for inventing the blue light emitting diode (blue LED) 20 years ago.
Blue LED:
The blue LED forms the long-awaited third in the set (red, green were already produced) of coloured LEDs that can together produce white light, in a way that is environment-friendly and energy-efficient. The blue LED can also be made to excite a phosphor into emitting red and green lights, with the mixture yielding white light.
LEDs basically consist of a junction of p-type (electron deficient or hole rich) and n-type (electron rich) semiconductors. When a voltage is applied across this junction, the holes and electrons flow across the junction and recombine, in the process, releasing light.
They do not use mercury or any such gas as is used in the fluorescent light. This makes them environment friendly.
They do not require a filament to get heated and glow to shed light unlike the case of the tungsten light bulb.
In contrast to the incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lamps, the LEDS directly convert electricity to light particles.
As a result, there is greater efficiency; in the other two cases, a great part of the electricity gets converted to heat.
The colour of the light emitted by the LED when voltage is applied may range from infrared to ultraviolet. Red and green LEDs have been around since the late 1950s, and these have been used extensively in digital displays and the like.
This application has advanced the technology for storing music, pictures and movies.
Today, LED lights are used in smart phones and lamps. White light from LEDs is more power-efficient than from other sources: If the amount of light flux produced per unit of power supplied is 16 for a tungsten bulb, and 70 for a fluorescent bulb, it is 300 for a LED supplied source. This would drastically lower our power consumption if LED lights are used more. Solar-powered LED lights are also taking the world by storm. From providing illumination to possible future applications such as generating UV light for treating bacteria-infested water, the blue LED has come to stay.
Sources: The Hindu. National Early Childhood Care & Education policy
The National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy reaffirms the commitment of the Government of India to provide integrated services for holistic development of all children, along the continuum, from the prenatal period to six years of age. The Policy lays down the way forward for a comprehensive approach towards ensuring a sound foundation, with focus on early learning, for every Indian child.
Early childhood refers to the first six years of life. This is acknowledged as the most crucial period, when the rate of development is very high and foundations are laid for cumulative lifelong learning and human development. There is growing scientific evidence that the development of the brain in the early years is a pathway that affects physical and mental health, learning and behaviour throughout the life cycle.
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is an indispensable foundation for lifelong learning and development, And has critical impact on success at the primary stage of education. It therefore becomes imperative to accord priority attention to ECCE and invest adequately by providing commensurate resources.
The Government of India recognizes the significance of ECCE, which has been included as a constitutional provision through the amended Article 45 (The Constitution Act, 2002) which directs that “The State shall endeavour to provide ECCE for all children until they complete the age of six years”.
The Vision of the policy is to promote inclusive, equitable and contextualised opportunities for promoting optimal development and active learning capacity of all children below 6 years of age. It envisages to improve pathways for a successful and smooth transition from care and education provided at home to centre based ECCE and thereafter to school-age provision by facilitating an enabling environment through appropriate systems, processes and provisions across the country.
The key areas of this policy are universal access with equity and inclusion, quality in ECCE, strengthening capacity, monitoring and supervision, advocacy, research and review.
The policy also includes standards like:
■ An ECCE programme for three-four hours ■ One classroom for a group of 30 children measuring at least 35 square meters and with the availability of a minimum outdoor space of 30 square meters ■ Separate space for cooking nutritionally balanced meals and nap time for children ■ Caregiver and student ratio of 1:20 for children between three-six years and 1:10 for under three years ■ Primary medium of instruction will be mother tongue or local language
For further reference: http://wcd.nic.in/schemes/ECCE/National%20ECCE%20Policy%20draft%20(1).pdf.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: PIB, The Hindu. INSIGHTS - Simplifying UPSC IAS Exam Preparation insightsonindia.com http://insightsonindia.com/2014/10/10/insights-current-events-10-october-2014/
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 10 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
‘Super Tuesday’
In a unique move, the Karnataka government has decided to observe every Tuesday as ‘Super Tuesday’ to guarantee availability of medical treatment to mentally challenged persons in taluk hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres (PHCs) across the State.
In a first-of-its-kind scheme in the country, the State launched two major programmes — Manochaitanya and Manasadhara — to provide free treatment, counselling and medicines to people suffering from mental disabilities and their rehabilitation. The World Mental Health Day is observed on 10th of October every year.
According to the programme all psychiatrists of district hospitals must visit taluk hospitals and community and primary health centres on that day and offer treatment and drugs to people suffering from various mental disabilities.
Doctors of PHCs will provide guidance to people with mental disabilities. Resident doctors, postgraduate students and teaching and non-teaching staff of medical colleges would also participate in the programme. Doctors of respective hospitals or health centres would be held responsible if there is dereliction of duty or non-availability of medicines.
The programme is aimed at promoting social wellbeing of people suffering from mental disabilities, and for rehabilitation to increase their economic productivity and promote happiness among families.
Sources: The Hindu.
cyclones and their naming
Cyclones were usually not named. The tradition started with hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, where tropical storms that reach sustained wind speeds of 39 miles per hour were given names. ( hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones are all the same, just different names for tropical storms in different parts of the world; Hurricane in the Atlantic, Typhoon in the Pacific and Cyclone in the Indian Ocean). If the storm’s wind speed reaches or crosses 74 mph, it is then classified into a hurricane/cyclone/typhoon. Tropical storms are given names and they retain the name if they develop into a cyclone/hurricane/typhoon.
Naming of cyclones in North Indian Ocean by India and other SAARC countries and Oman and Thailand began 10 years ago for easy reference, documentation and research. Naming of storms is done for effective forecasting and getting it circulated through mass media. It is also useful for academic research
The latest storm Hudhud, which is expected to hit the odisha coast, is named by Oman after Arabic word, Hoopoe, a blue-crested bird found in Afro Eurasia known for its beautiful crest of feathers. The next is named by Pakistan as Nilofer. Phailin was named by Thailand after the word, sapphire.
Naming of cyclones is done by turns in the following sequence after Nilofer by Pakistan: Priya (Sri Lanka), Komen (Thailand), Chapala (Bangladesh), Megh (India), Roanu (Maldives), Kyant (Myanmer), Nada (Oman) and Asiri (Sri Lanka). International committee of World Meteorological Organisation and UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific play a key role in cyclone naming.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/phailin-how-are-cyclones-named-what-does-phailin- mean/1/314282.html
Sources: The Hindu, indiatoday.
Nobel Literature Prize
France’s Patrick Modiano has won the Nobel Literature Prize for his enigmatic novels rooted in the trauma of the Nazi occupation and his own loveless childhood.
The Swedish Academy said it wanted to celebrate Mr. Modiano’s “art of memory” in capturing the lives of ordinary French people living under the Nazis during World War II.
His first novel La place de l’etoile ( The Star’s Place ), was a direct reference to that mark of shame inflicted on the Jews.
It was the first of many recreations of wartime Paris stuffed with meticulous detail — street names, cafes, metro stations and real-life crime cases of the day — earning him the moniker of literary archaeologist.
Sources: The Hindu.
Japan Plus
The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has set up a special management team to facilitate and fast track investment proposals from Japan. The team, known as “Japan Plus”, will comprise representatives from Government of India and METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), Government of Japan.
It is an outcome of the recently concluded visit of the Prime Minister of India to Japan. The mandate of the “Japan Plus” team runs through the entire spectrum of investment promotion – research, outreach, promotion, facilitation and aftercare. The team will support the Government of India in initiating, attracting, facilitating, fast tracking and handholding Japanese investments across sectors. The team will also be responsible for providing updated information on investment opportunities across sectors, in specific projects and in industrial corridors in particular. In addition, the “Japan Plus” team will identify prospective Japanese companies, including, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and facilitate their investments in India.
The “Japan Plus” team will also provide assistance to DIPP in undertaking regular benchmarking studies, identifying bottlenecks and areas of concern in sectors of interest to Japanese companies, and analyzing their impact on industrial development production in India.
Japan is the 4th largest FDI contributor to India, with major interests in pharmaceuticals, automobiles and services sectors and accounts for 7.46% of total FDI equity inflows into India. Over the last decade, the number of Japanese establishments in India have increased by 11 times, reflecting the positive sentiments of Japanese investors for Indian market.
Sources: PIB.
Draft Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014 It is a Bill which aims to provide a framework for safer, faster, cost effective and inclusive movement of passengers and freight in the country thus enabling the mission of ‘Make in India’.
Highlights of the Bill:
2 lakhs lives to be saved in first 5 years due to reduction in road traffic accident deaths 4% GDP improvement on account of increased efficiency and safety of road transport sector
10 lac Jobs to be created with increase in investment in the sector
The bill proposes to include:
Motor Vehicle Regulation & Road Safety Authority of India
Independent agency for vehicle regulation and road safety Dedicated institutional setup to save over 200,000 lives in first 5 years Legally empowered & fully functional agency, accountable to Parliament Innovative financing mechanism for funding safety programs
Unified Driver Licensing System
Simplified application and issuance procedures for driver licensing system Unified biometric system to avoid duplication Technology adoption for driver testing facilities Transparent, single window driver licencing system. Automated driving test for increased capacity with private sector participation.
Unified Vehicle Registration System
Unified registration in a dynamic information system
Integration of all stakeholders. Easy (online) transfer of vehicles across states. Increased private sector participation in fitness testing to create more jobs Manufacturer, owner, transport authority, insurer, enforcement agency all in one eco-system Private sector participation in establishing fitness certification centres
Road Safety & Traffic Management
Provision for enforcement of modern safety technologies
Creation of a motor accident fund for immediate relief to accident victim Special emphasis on safety of school children and security of women Electronic enforcement in urban clusters. Special emphasis for safety of vulnerable road users
National Road Transport & Multimodal Coordination Authority
Single national authority for improving quality of road transportation Focus on developing integrated transport systems & multi-modal hubs Feeder system and last mile connectivity for people friendly mobility Institutional setup to facilitate ‘Make in India’ vision. Seamless movement of goods and passengers across various modes
Goods Transport & National Freight Policy Identification and development of freight networks Address bottlenecks concerning trucking industry Simplified permits and single portal clearances
The DRTSB also includes the setting up of a Highway Traffic Regulation and Protection Force (HTRPF).
For further reference: http://morth.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/Road%20Transport%20and%20Safety%20Bill%202014%20Draft- 0068086402.pdf.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: www.business-standard.com, PIB.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 11 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
It is a village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.
The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams or model villages by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024.
The Project to be launched on the occasion of birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan aims to keep the soul of rural India alive while providing its people with quality access to basic amenities and opportunities to enable them to shape their own destiny. Inspired by the principles and values of Mahatma Gandhi, the Scheme places equal stress on nurturing values of national pride, patriotism, community spirit, self-confidence and on developing infrastructure.
The Scheme is unique and transformative as it has a holistic approach towards development. It envisages integrated development of the selected village across multiple areas such as agriculture, health, education, sanitation, environment, livelihoods etc. Far beyond mere infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling certain values, such as people’s participation, Antyodaya, gender equality, dignity of women, social justice, spirit of community service, cleanliness, eco-friendliness, maintaining ecological balance, peace and harmony, mutual cooperation, self-reliance, local self-government, transparency and accountability in public life, etc., in the villages and their people so that they get transformed into models for others.
The scheme will be implemented through a village development plan that would be prepared for every identified gram panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to come out of poverty. The constituency fund, MPLADS, would be available to fill critical financing gaps. The planning process in each village will be a participatory exercise coordinated by the District Collector. The MP will play an active facilitating role in this exercise.
SAGY gives focus to community participation. Social mobilization of village community can trigger a chain of other development activities in the village. For instance, reducing risk behaviours like alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse (drugs/tobacco/gutkha etc) among all age groups of population. Women participation in the decision- making process will be encouraged.
Adoption and adaptation of technology and introduction of innovations are critical to this programme. This will include use of space application and remote sensing for planning, mobile based technology for monitoring, agriculture technology for increasing productivity etc.
At the national level, a separate, real time web based monitoring system will be put in place for the scheme covering all aspects and components. The Ministry will put in place a specially designed capacity building programme for Government functionaries at different levels including Gram Panchayats. At the state level there will be an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary consisting of the relevant Departments and including experts, as required with at least two Civil Society representatives. The district Collector will be the nodal officer for implementing the SAGY. He will conduct a monthly review meeting with representatives of the participating Line Departments. The Members of Parliament concerned will chair the review meetings.
Sources: PIB.
National Optical Fibre Network
The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is a project to provide broadband connectivity to over two lakh Gram panchayats of India at a cost of Rs.20,000 crore.
The project provides internet access using existing optical fibre and extending it to the Gram panchayats. The project was intended to enable the government of India to provide e-services and e-applications nationally. A special purpose vehicle Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) was created as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Companies Act of 1956 for the execution of the project. The project will be funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
All the Service Providers like Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), ISPs, Cable TV operators etc. will be given non- discriminatory access to the National Optic Fibre Network and can launch various services in rural areas. NOFN has the potential to transform many aspects of our lives including video, data, internet, telephone services in areas such as education, business, entertainment, environment, health households and e-governance services.
National Optic Fibre Network uses Gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology indigenously developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT). A passive optical network (PON) brings fiber cabling and signals to the home using a point-to-multipoint scheme that enables a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises. Encryption maintains data security in this shared environment. The architecture uses passive (unpowered) optical splitters, reducing the cost of equipment compared to point-to-point architectures.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, www.bbnl.nic.in.
About UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATION FUND
The New Telecom Policy – 1999 (NTP ‘ 99), approved by the Union Cabinet, sought to achieve the following Universal Service Objectives:
Provision of Voice and Low speed data service to the balance 2.98 lakh uncovered villages, Achieve Internet access to all district headquarters, and Achieve telephone on demand in urban and rural areas.
The New Telecom Policy – 1999 provided that the resources for meeting the Universal Service Obligation (USO) would be raised through a ‘Universal Access Levy’ (UAL), which would be a percentage of the revenue earned by the operators under various licenses, to be decided in consultation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
It envisaged that the implementation of USO Obligation for rural/remote areas would be undertaken by all fixed service providers who shall be reimbursed from the USO Fund. Other service providers would also be encouraged to participate in USO provision subject to technical feasibility and would be reimbursed from the funds.
The Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 giving statutory status to the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was passed by both Houses of Parliament in December 2003.
The resources for implementation of USO are raised through a Universal Service Levy (USL) which has presently been fixed at 5% of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of all Telecom Service Providers except the pure value added service providers like Internet, Voice Mall, E-Mail service providers etc. In addition, the Central Govt. may also give grants and loans.
The Fund is to be utilized exclusively for meeting the Universal Service Obligation. It has been defined in the Act as the obligation to provide access to telegraph services to people in rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable prices.
Support from the fund is being carried out by means of a bidding process on the least – quoted – subsidy support basis (reverse auction).
Credits to the Fund are through Parliamentary approvals and the balance to the credit of the Fund does not lapse at the end of the financial year. USOF activities fall under Plan Budget. They were previously carried out under Non-Plan Budget till 2010-2011.
Sources: http://www.usof.gov.in/.
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to protect interests of consumers in India. It makes provision for the establishment of consumer councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers’ disputes and for matters connected therewith.
Consumer Protection Councils are established at the national, state and district level to increase consumer awareness.
Central Consumer Protection Council
It is established by the Central Government which consists of the following members:
The Minister of Consumer Affairs, – Chairman, and Such number of other official or non-official members representing such interests as may be prescribed.
State Consumer Protection Council
It is established by the State Government which consists of the following members:
The Minister in charge of consumer affairs in the State Government – Chairman. Such number of other official or non-official members representing such interests as may be prescribed by the State Government. such number of other official or non-official members, not exceeding ten, as may be nominated by the Central Government.
The State Council is required to meet as and when necessary but not less than two meetings every year.
Consumer Disputes Redressal Agencies
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF): Also known as the “District Forum” will be established by the State Government in each district of the State. The State Government may establish more than one District Forum in a district. It is a district level court that deals with cases valuing up to 20 lakhs. State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC): Also known as the “State Commission” will be established by the State Government in the State. It is a state level court that takes up cases valuing less than 1 crore. National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): Established by the Central Government. It is a national level court that works for the whole country and deals with amount more than 1 crore.
For further reference: http://dc-siwan.bih.nic.in/Consumer_Act.pdf. Sources: PIB, Wiki, www.ncdrc.nic.in.
Country’s first ever Mental Health Policy
The Mental Health Policy was launched on the first ever National Mental Health Day organised by the government.
The National Mental Health Policy outlines the prioritized agenda for extending within a pragmatic time-frame basic mental health care facilities to all sections of the population across the country by the year 2020. It also pushes for decriminalisation of attempted suicide.
The Policy’s objective is to provide universal access to mental health care by enhancing understanding of mental health and strengthening leadership in the mental health sector at all levels. It will have a pro-poor orientation because only the creamy layer of society presently has access to mental healthcare in India today.
The Policy is backed up by the “Mental Health Action Plan 365″. It clearly spells out the specific roles to be played by the Central government, the state governments, local bodies and civil society organisations.
Earlier laws governing the mentally ill, the Indian Lunatic Asylum Act, 1858, and Indian Lunacy Act, 1912, ignored the human rights aspect and were concerned only with custodial issues.
The National Mental Health Policy is aimed at doing “the greatest good to the largest number” through five interdependent and mutually synergistic strategies, to be implemented in a phased manner over the next two decades –
Extension of basic mental health care facilities to, the primary level. Strengthening of psychiatric training in Medical Colleges at the undergraduate as well as postgraduate level. Modernization and rationalization of mental hospitals to develop them into tertiary care centers of excellence. Empowerment of Central and State Mental Health Authorities for effective monitoring, regulation and planning of mental health care delivery systems. Promoting research in frontier areas to evolve better and more cost-effective therapeutic interventions as well as to generate seminal inputs for future planning.
For further reference: http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/download/MH%20Policy%20rewrite.pdf.
Sources: PIB, http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/, The Hindu.
India, Pak. crusaders share Nobel
Kailash Satyarthi, 60-year-old child rights activist from Madhya Pradesh, and Malala Yousafzai, who has risked her life to wage a campaign for girls’ education in Pakistan, are the joint winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
It is an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and extremism.
Mr. Satyarthi showed great personal courage and maintaining Gandhi’s tradition, has headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain. The peace prize winner has saved thousands of children from bonded labour in factories through the Bachpan Bachao Andolan which he founded in 1980, and other organisations. He is a member of the high-level group formed by UNESCO on Education for All on which selected presidents, Prime Ministers and UN agency heads are represented.
Despite her youth, Malala has already fought for several years for the rights of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improve their own situations. Malala became a global symbol of the fight against extremism after she was shot by Taliban militants two years ago in Swat.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 13 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Centre to set inflation targets for RBI
The Centre has given the go-ahead for a major overhaul of the current monetary policy framework wherein the Centre will specify ‘inflation targets’ for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to achieve.
Under the proposed new regime, the RBI will set inflation as its top priority in its policy statements.
An expert committee of the RBI, appointed to examine monetary policy, headed by Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Urjit R. Patel, had recommended that the monetary policy decision-making should be vested with a monetary policy committee, chaired by the RBI Governor. But this new decision of the centre departs from the recommendation made.
Inflation targeting is a monetary policy strategy used by central banks for maintaining inflation at a certain level or within a specific range. In general, central banks normally follow a policy of keeping inflation sufficiently low. However, in inflation targeting, there is a preset, publicly declared target. Using methods such as interest rate changes, the central bank and other monetary authorities are expected to guide inflation to a targeted level or range.
The committee, headed by Urjit Patel, was constituted with the aim of making Monetary policy framework transparent and predictable.
The key recommendations, related to inflation, made by the committee are ass follows,
CPI (combined) should be used as the nominal anchor for a flexible inflation targeting framework. Target range of inflation should be 4% with a tolerance band of 2% to be achieved in a 2 year time frame. The transition path to the targeted range should be graduated to bring down inflation from the current level of around 10% to 8% over a period not exceeding 12 months and to 6% over a period not exceeding 24 months. Administered prices and interest rates should be eliminated as they as impediments to monetary policy transmission and achievement to price stability. The committee also suggested to use CPI headline inflation instead of core inflation.
Sources: The Hindu, Economic survey.
Huge response to crowd sourcing Andhra Pradesh government, for the first time, is using space technology with the help of ISRO and NRSC in disaster management.
Responding to tech-savvy Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister’s appeal, people from cyclone-hit areas have uploaded over 3,000 photos for crowd sourcing on NRSC website using an android app which allows mapping of neighbourhood in an easy manner.
Besides seeking the help of National Remote Sensing Centre, the Disaster Management Department of AP government created a Facebook page. NRSC was directed to use GIS, GPS and remote sensing technologies to spot the damage and put them on the satellite through geo-tagging. This would enable the government to have data on damages on the map.
What is Crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers.
The process of crowdsourcing is often used to subdivide tedious work and to obtain real time information.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Green-rated buildings not keeping their promise, says CSE report
Green-rated buildings are falling below the minimum benchmarks of their official star rating by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), says a report — “Building sense beyond the green façade of sustainable habitat” — by the Centre for Science and Environment released recently.
Data put out by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) on energy consumption of large commercial buildings that were rated and awarded silver, gold and platinum ratings, under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-rating programme, show they are grossly underperforming.
India started to mirror the global trends in green rating when the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) began rating buildings in India.
In 2007, LEED India (Leadership in Energy and environmental Design-India) was adapted from the USGBC LEED programme. This is a private initiative run by the IGBC.
India adopted the Green-rated Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) as the national rating system for buildings in 2007.
About GRIHA:
GRIHA is a rating tool that helps people assesses the performance of their building against certain nationally acceptable benchmarks. It evaluates the environmental performance of a building holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what constitutes a ‘green building’. The rating system, based on accepted energy and environmental principles, will seek to strike a balance between the established practices and emerging concepts, both national and international.
GRIHA attempts to minimize a building’s resource consumption, waste generation, and overall ecological impact to within certain nationally acceptable limits / benchmarks. It attempts to quantify aspects such as energy consumption, waste generation, renewable energy adoption, etc. so as to manage, control and reduce the same to the best possible extent.
With over two decades of experience on green and energy efficient buildings, TERI has developed GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), which was adopted as the national rating system for green buildings by the Government of India in 2007. This tool has been adopted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. This tool, by its qualitative and quantitative assessment criteria, is able to ‘rate’ a building on the degree of its ‘greenness’.
The basic features of GRIHA:
The system has been developed to help ‘design and evaluate’ new buildings (buildings that are still at the inception stages). A building is assessed based on its predicted performance over its entire life cycle – inception through operation. The stages of the life cycle that have been identified for evaluation are:
Pre-construction stage: (intra- and inter-site issues like proximity to public transport, type of soil, kind of land, where the property is located, the flora and fauna on the land before construction activity starts, the natural landscape and land features). Building planning and construction stages: (issues of resource conservation and reduction in resource demand, resource utilization efficiency, resource recovery and reuse, and provisions for occupant health and well-being). The prime resources that are considered in this section are land, water, energy, air, and green cover. Building operation and maintenance stage: (issues of operation and maintenance of building systems and processes, monitoring and recording of energy consumption, and occupant health and well-being, and also issues that affect the global and local environment).
The benefits:
On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities and processes that lead up to it, will benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, reducing energy consumption and the stress on natural resources.
Some of the benefits of a green design to a building owner, user, and the society as a whole are as follows:
Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats, and biodiversity, and reduced soil loss from erosion etc. Reduced air and water pollution (with direct health benefits) Reduced water consumption Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse Reduced pollution loads Increased user productivity Enhanced image and marketability
For further reference: http://www.asci.org.in/eeibe/Resources/Presentations/Mr.%20Siva%20Kishan.pdf.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.grihaindia.org.
TFA implementation problem a ‘shame’
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has described the world’s inability to get across the finish line with the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) as “really, really a shame,” adding that the market would “punish those who are putting their heads in the sand.”
Trade Facilitation was one of the important elements of the outcome from the Bali ministerial conference. About TFA:
The Trade Facilitation Agreement forms part of the Bali Package agreed by members at the Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement contains provisions for faster and more efficient customs procedures through effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. It also contains provisions for technical assistance and capacity building in this area.
It is a trade protocol aiming to give a spur and do away with the stumbling blocks in doing international trade between various countries. The deadline to sign the agreement is July 31 and the deal has to come into force fully by 2015.
It is being believed, especially by the proponents of the agreement that deal could add $1 trillion to global GDP and also can generate 21 million jobs by slashing red tape and streamlining customs.
India and FTA:
India fears that agreeing to the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) could compromise its own food security.
The problem with TFA runs in a clause that says farm subsidies cannot be more than 10% of the value of agricultural production. If the cap is breached, other members can challenge it and also go on to impose trade sanctions on the country.
The developing countries have a problem with the solutions offered by the developed countries as without the subsidies the food security of the developing nations could be seriously harmed. India agreed to the TFA in Bali only under the condition that interim relief would be provided to the developing nations. It said no legal actions or sanctions would be imposed on the developing nations till 2017, by which time a solution would be worked out among the nations. However, this interim relief would not be applicable if such subsidies would lead to trade distortions, by which one means, that prices of exports and imports cannot be affected by this.
India’s Food Security Act, which is binding on the government by law now, implies that the government will provide very cheap food to the most vulnerable part of the population at low prices. Apart from providing subsidies to the consumers, through the public distribution system, it also provides subsidies to the producers of food grains. So it buys food grains from farmers at a minimum support price, and subsidises inputs like electricity and fertiliser.
Concerns expressed by India:
The 10% cap on subsidies which will not be possible for India to achieve. And the 10% cap is calculated based on 1986-88 prices when the prices of food grains were much lower. So the cap has to be updated taking into account the present prices of foodgrains. India will have to open up its own stockpiling to international monitoring, even for providing subsidised food. The United States has been providing farm subsidies to its farmers to the tune of more than $20 billion per year which seems unfair to the developing countries to not crack down on that issue.
India which is home to about 25% of the world’s hungry, feels that it is a Government’s responsibility and duty to ensure availability of proper food to its people.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, www.wto.org.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 14 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
OP LEHAR
It is the rescue operation conducted under which The Defence Crisis Management Group has nominated Indian Navy as the lead service for conduct of rescue and relief operations in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha affected by Cyclone Hudhud.
Sources: PIB.
Strong Measures to be Introduced Against Female Foeticide
The Union Health Minister has decided to set up an expert group to examine the new methods being used for gender determination of foetuses to get around the existing regulation of ultra sound machines.
While misuse of ultra sound machines is still prevalent because it is cheap, newer medical technologies are increasingly being used in the name of ‘genetic testing’.
The use of simple blood tests that give away the sex of the foetus represents a new dimension to gender-specific foeticide. At IVF-ART clinics, couples are given the option of accepting or rejecting a foetus depending on the sex. While rules are in place to prevent misuse of ultra-sound machines, very little is known about recent innovations brought to bear on sex selection. Therefore, it is necessary to form an expert group to identify the approaches and formulate responses in the form of an Amendment to the Act.
About Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act:
It is an Act enacted in 1994 by the Parliament of India to stop female foeticides and arrest the declining sex ratio in India. The act banned prenatal sex determination. It is an Act to provide for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception, and for regulation of pre-natal diagnostic techniques for the purposes of detecting genetic abnormalities or metabolic disorders or chromosomal abnormalities or certain congenital malformations or sex-linked disorders and for the prevention of their misuse for sex determination leading to female foeticide; and, for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective abortion.
Sex selection is any act of identifying the sex of the foetus and elimination of the foetus if it is of the unwanted sex.
Salient features:
Offences under this act include conducting or helping in the conduct of prenatal diagnostic technique in the unregistered units, sex selection on a man or woman, conducting PND test for any purpose other than the one mentioned in the act, sale, distribution, supply, renting etc. of any ultra sound machine or any other equipment capable of detecting sex of the foetus. Main provisions in the act are The Act provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception. It regulates the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques, like ultrasound and amniocentesis by allowing them their use only to detect :
1. genetic abnormalities 2. metabolic disorders 3. chromosomal abnormalities 4. certain congenital malformations 5. haemoglobinopathies 6. sex linked disorders.
No laboratory or centre or clinic will conduct any test including ultrasonography for the purpose of determining the sex of the foetus. No person, including the one who is conducting the procedure as per the law, will communicate the sex of the foetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives by words, signs or any other method. Any person who puts an advertisement for pre-natal and pre-conception sex determination facilities in the form of a notice, circular, label, wrapper or any document, or advertises through interior or other media in electronic or print form or engages in any visible representation made by means of hoarding, wall painting, signal, light, sound, smoke or gas, can be imprisoned for up to three years and fined Rs. 10,000. The Act mandates compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic counselling centres, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics and ultrasound clinics.
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT), was amended in 2003 to The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) to improve the regulation of the technology used in sex selection.
The Act was amended to bring the technique of pre conception sex selection and ultrasound technique within the ambit of the act. The amendment also empowered the central supervisory board, state level supervisory board was constituted.
For further reference: http://www.rajswasthya.nic.in/PCPNDT%2005.12.08/PCPNDT%20Act%20(2).pdf.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, http://www.rajswasthya.nic.in/.
Most Indian women engaged in unpaid housework
A recently released NSSO data shows that Close to two out of every three Indian women are, in their prime working years, primarily engaged in unpaid housework. This phenomenon, on the rise over the last decade, is least common in the southern and north-eastern States and most common in the northern States, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in particular.
Observations made by the Report:
Over 60 per cent of adult women are primarily engaged in housework — slightly more so among urban women. The data shows that women, in both rural and urban areas, are increasingly reporting domestic work as their main occupation.
Even though a majority of the women surveyed were engaged in productive activity — collecting firewood or rearing household poultry — they could not be classified as ‘workers’ as the value added by and the number of hours spent on these actions were not sufficient to constitute ‘economically productive activity’.
Among women who spend most of their time on domestic duties, over 60 per cent said they did so because there was no other family member to help out with household chores. A third of women doing domestic work said they would be willing to take up regular paid home-based work, particularly of tailoring.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 15 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Standards Compliance for Consumer Products to be Monitored Strictly
The Government is working with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to introduce the regime of strict quality standards for consumer products and services. BIS Act will be amended soon with this propose.
Why is it required?
Indian products should meet international quality standards in all respects. Compliance to standards by industry will pave way for the success of recently launched ‘Make in India’ initiative by the Government. The adoption of standards facilitates in providing a level playing field to all enterprises, helps them to overcome the technical gaps to reach global markets and to improve quality of life for all. Govt. regulations are intended to provide fairness to all players to play by the same set of rules. Standards provide practical tools for tackling many of today’s global challenges from managing global resources.
BIS is playing a committed role at National and International level by developing standards in tune with world trade and at the same time keeping in mind the requirements of our society for standardization.
About BIS:
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national Standards Body of India working under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23 December 1986.
The organization was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), set up under the Resolution of the then Department of Industries and Supplies. The ISI was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
BIS is a founder member of International Organisation for Standardization (ISO). It represents India in ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the World Standards Service Network (WSSN).
Functions:
One of the major functions of the Bureau is the formulation, recognition and promotion of the Indian Standards covering important segments of economy, which help the industry in upgrading the quality of their products and services.
Product Certifications are to be obtained voluntarily. For some of the products like Milk powder, Drinking Water, LPG Cylinders, Thermometers etc., certification is mandatory as these products are concerned with health and safety.
All foreign manufacturers of products who intend to export to India are required to obtain a BIS product certification license. Towards this, BIS launched its Product Certification Scheme for overseas manufacturers in the year 1999. Under the provisions of this scheme, foreign manufacturers can seek certification from BIS for marking their product(s) with BIS Standard Mark. If or otherwise, the foreign manufacturer has not signed an MoU with BIS, it has to set up a liaison office in India with the permission of Reserve Bank of India. Otherwise, an authorized representative or agent needs to be appointed by the foreign firm.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, http://www.bis.org.in/. skill development of urban poor
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) has convened a Conference of about one hundred leading employers for assessing their skilled manpower requirements so as to undertake necessary skill development programmes for urban poor under ‘Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY).’
Under DAY, the Ministry of HUPA intends to undertake skill development of five lakh urban poor per year based on identified market needs. An expenditure of up to Rs.15,000/-per person is admissible under the ‘Employment through Skills Training & Placement (EST&P)’ component of DAY. First phase of DAY in urban areas is to be implemented till 2016-17.
The meeting with leading employers, particularly, in manpower intensive sectors will help in identifying the different kinds of skills required by the different sectors, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Thereafter, Ministry of HUPA, in association with the states would plan for training and skill development programmes across the country.
For effective and time bound execution of quality training programmes, the Ministry of HUPA has signed a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). As per the MoU, NSDC will assist in training of urban poor as per market needs. NSDC will also help in identification of beneficiaries besides certification of training programmes through 31 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs). SSCs are industry led bodies that define the Occupation Standards and curriculum for different training programmes.
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana – DAY:
It is an overarching scheme for uplift of urban and rural poor through enhancement of livelihood opportunities through skill development and other means.
If India is to emerge as the manufacturing base to meet global needs, the only certain way is to empower every youth of the country with the necessary skills. Skill development has multiple outcomes including enhancing employment opportunities, stimulating economic growth and promoting self-worth of beneficiaries.
Under the urban component of DAY, focus will be on:
Imparting skills with an expenditure of Rs.15,000 – Rs.18,000 on each urban poor; Promotion of self-employment through setting up individual micro-enterprises and group enterprises with interest subsidy for individual projects costing Rs.2.00 lakhs and Rs.10.00 lakhs for group enterprises. Subsidized interest rate will be 7%; Training urban poor to meet the huge demand from urban citizens by imparting market oriented skills through City Livelihood Centres. Each Centre would be given a capital grant of Rs.10.00 lakhs. Enabling urban poor form Self-Help Groups for meeting financial and social needs with a support of Rs.10,000/- per each group who would in turn would be helped with bank linkages; Development of vendor markets besides promotion of skills of vendors; and Construction of permanent shelters for urban homeless and provision of other essential services.
Sources: PIB.
Malnourishment declined sharply among children in India: survey New provisional data from a survey conducted by the government and UNICEF shows that India’s proportion of children underweight fell from 45.1 per cent in 2005-06 to 30.1 per cent in 2013-14.
This makes the decline in one indicator of child undernourishment the sharpest in the 25 years.
Since 2005-06, there has been no new data on child and adult weights and heights, key in determining malnutrition, because of a delay in the National Family Health Survey, India’s official source of health data.
Ending what has been referred to as a “data drought,” these provisional numbers have significantly altered India’s position in global health indices. India’s ‘hunger’ status no longer ranks as “alarming” in the International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) Global Hunger Index, but has instead been reclassified as “serious.”
In the last decade, India has improved its health status faster than other South Asian countries, the new data indicates, as opposed to the widespread belief that countries such as Bangladesh had done a better job on reducing malnutrition than India despite India’s faster economic growth.
IFPRI credits the government’s push to extend nutrition schemes like the Integrated Child Development Services along with better monitoring by a Supreme Court-appointed committee, improve access to health under the National Rural Health Mission, provide access to work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and strengthen the implementation of the Public Delivery System for subsidised grain.
India still has the highest number of underweight children under five in the world and 70% of children are anaemic. The proportion of undernourished people in the overall population has fallen from 21.5 per cent in 2004-06 to 17 per cent in 2011-13, according to IFPRI estimates. Moreover, State-wise differences are not yet known.
According to the survey, globally, two billion people are suffering from “hidden hunger”, a lack of essential vitamins and minerals in their diet.
Sources: The Hindu.
U.S. wins WTO case against India
In a setback, India lost a case filed by the U.S. in the WTO against restrictions it imposed on poultry imports from America.
Giving its ruling, the World Trade Organisation’s dispute panel said restrictions imposed by India on imports of poultry from America were “inconsistent” with international norms.
In March 2012, the U.S. dragged India to the WTO against India’s ban on imports of certain American farm products, including poultry meat and eggs. India had banned imports of various agricultural products from the U.S. in 2007, as a precautionary measure to prevent outbreaks of avian influenza in the country.
The ruling said that India’s Avian Influenza (AI) measures are inconsistent with several articles of the SPS [sanitary and phyto-sanitary) Agreement because they are not based on the relevant international standard.
SPS Agreement: The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, also known as the SPS Agreement, is an international treaty of the World Trade Organization. It was negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995.
Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on member-states’ policies relating to food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labelling) as well as animal and plant health (phytosanitation) with respect to imported pests and diseases.
There are 3 standards organizations who set standards that WTO members should base their SPS methodologies on. They are the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Secreatariat of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).
The SPS agreement is closely linked to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, which was signed in the same year and has similar goals.
The SPS agreement gives the WTO the power to override a country’s use of the precautionary principle – a principle which allows them to act on the side of caution if there is no scientific certainty about potential threats to human health and the environment. Under SPS rules, the burden of proof is on countries to demonstrate scientifically that something is dangerous before it can be regulated.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.wto.org/.
New Bill for total ban on child labour
The proposed amendments in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment (CLPRA) Bill will for the first time ban employment of children below 14 years in any occupation, bringing the law in consistency with the Right to Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009. The Bill prohibits employment of adolescents aged 14-18 years in hazardous occupations.
The Bill will regulate conditions of work for adolescents, and of children working in audio-visual entertainment industry. In 1996, the Supreme Court had prescribed a penalty of Rs. 20,000 from employers and Rs. 5,000 from State government for every child worker rescued. This will now be introduced in law and indexed to price rise.
The 1986 law prohibits employing children only in certain occupations such as mines, work in hazardous process and with inflammable substances or explosives.
Minors working in middle class homes as domestic workers and those employed at hotels, dhabas were included as a category of child labourers only after an amendment in 2006.
The Standing Committee on Labour and Employment under D.S. Chauhan had in its report on CLPRA Bill, in December 2013, recommended that the Bill give details for regulation for prescribing the conditions of work for adolescents — criteria for wages, hours of work, settlement of disputes. This was incorporated. It had suggested that adolescents should have completed Class VIII before being allowed to join an occupation. It suggested the explicit exception in the Bill granted to children helping their family after school hours be deleted. Both suggestions were not accepted.
Despite the amendment, different Acts continue to define “child” differently. While the RTE Act 2009 and CLPRA 2012 define a child as 14-year-old, the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 considers this to be 18 years.
Other provisions in the Bill:
The Bill enhances the punishment for employing any child in an occupation. It also includes penalty for employing an adolescent in a hazardous occupation. The government may confer powers on a District Magistrate to ensure that the provisions of the law are properly carried out. The Bill empowers the government to make periodic inspection of places at which employment of children and adolescents are prohibited. The central government may add or omit any hazardous occupation from the list included in the Bill. The penalty for employing an adolescent in hazardous occupation is imprisonment between 6 months and two years or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 or both.
Sources: The Hindu, prsindia.org.
India bans import of animal-tested cosmetics
Coming just a few months after implementation of a national ban on cruel cosmetics testing in India’s labs, the import ban now makes India the first cruelty-free cosmetics zone in South Asia and an example for other nations to follow.
The ban comes in the form of Rule 135-B that states, ” No cosmetic that has been tested on animals after the commencement of Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014 shall be imported into the country.”
This is a huge achievement that could not have been possible without the compassion of government, consumers and industry. If this vision is applied to other areas of product testing, this can be a defining moment in the modernisation of India’s safety science, with potentially hundreds of thousands more animals spared of pain and suffering.
After intensive efforts by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made this announcement that will save millions of animals from being blinded, poisoned and killed in cruel and useless tests for products sold to India’s billion plus population.
India’s dual test and import ban mirrors that of the European Union and is the latest victory in a string of achievements for the BeCrueltyFree campaign globally. Earlier this year BeCrueltyFree campaigners in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States have all celebrated the introduction of bills proposing national cosmetic animal test bans. Efforts by BeCrueltyFree China also resulted in China removing mandatory animal testing for many domestically-produced cosmetics.
Be Cruelty-Free India is part of the largest campaign in the world to end cosmetics animal testing. Globally there are Be Cruelty-Free campaigns in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan and the U.S.where the campaign is led by The Humane Society of the United States.
Sources: The Hindu, TOI.
J&K policewoman wins U.N. peacekeeper award
An inspector with the Jammu and Kashmir Police has bagged the International Female Police Peacekeeper Award 2014 instituted by the U.N. for her “exceptional achievements” while serving with the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.
It is a competitive award given to an outstanding female police peacekeeper serving in a U.N. peace operation.
Shakti Devi, 38, currently deployed in the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), was also cited for her efforts towards helping victims of sexual and gender-based violence. The award is instituted by the U.N. Police Division.
The U.N. communication said Ms. Devi has contributed to the improvement of the status of female police and has effectively helped the police of Afghanistan move towards achieving their goals of fully adopting democratic principles of policing. Sources: The Hindu.
U.K. Commons votes in favour of Palestinian state
In a political development that will have enormous symbolic importance for the cause of Palestine, the British House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of recognising Palestine as a state alongside Israel.
Although it is the government and not the House of Commons that recognises states, the voting result at 274 to 12 will strengthen the moral case for Palestine internationally while simultaneously isolating Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine.
The United Kingdom had not recognised the state of Palestine, and was one of the 41 countries that abstained from voting at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 when a majority voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of a ‘non-member observer state.’ Its current policy on Palestine “reserves the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at the moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace.”
Sources: The Hindu.
New procuring model for e-governance apps from start-ups
The Kerala State government is mulling over the scope of introducing the Swiss challenge model for procuring e- governance application software from startups under its new Entrepreneurship and Innovation policy.
Swiss challenge is a public procurement model usually adopted by an agency or government whereby the bid for a product or service is published inviting third parties to match or exceed it.
As per the proposal, once a startup comes up with an e-governance application along with its cost, the government would invoke the Swiss challenge mode.
Under the new proposal if no other bidder comes forward, then the bid would go to the startup concerned. Even if a third party offers a bid, even then the startup would be given the opportunity to match it and win the bid. It’s a new thinking and would be a great encouragement to the young startups.
The new policy, the draft of which was completed last week, is also expected to give a fillip to m-governance initiative, as it would open up the possibility of government procuring mobile phone applications developed by young startups.
Swiss challenge system:
Swiss Challenge System is a bidding process to help private sector initiative in core sector projects. It’s an offer made by the original proponent to the government ensuring his process to be best (in terms of effectiveness including both the factors cost and time) by his initiative as a result of his own innovative approach or on the demand of the government to perform certain task.
The Swiss challenge system, like the bonus system, further allows third parties to make better offers (challenges) for a project during a designated period with simple objective to discourage frivolous project, or to avoid exaggerated project development costs. Then accordingly, the original proponent gets the right to counter-match any superior offers given by the third party.
The system basically works on two different patterns, it is up to the government to decide as to which one they want to adopt. The two main ways are as follows:
The government can either purchase the intellectual property rights for a project concept from the proponent or then award the project through a competitive bidding process in which no bidder has a predefined advantage. The government can offer the original proponent an advantage in a competitive bidding process. In this case the government should create rewards that satisfy the original proponent while still allowing a truly competitive process.
There are various attributes, which the government takes into account while dealing with the Swiss challenge system it includes:
Offering cost reimbursement: Advantage of offering cost reimbursement maintains private sector interest during the development phase of an infrastructure project, helps to ensure that the source of ideas is not limited to large investors with deep pockets, and encourages proponents to allocate the resources needed to ensure that projects are professionally developed. Setting time limits: Government often sets time limits on the approval and bidding phases. Time constraints on counterproposals give an obvious competitive advantage to the original project proponent.
However it has been observed that in both bonus and Swiss challenge systems it is not easy to find the right balance between incentives to propose beneficial projects and incentives for third parties to submit counter proposals.
The questions relating to legal validity of using the Swiss challenge system when a counterproposal contains different specifications than the original proposal was always being raised.
Finally system provides companies with considerable incentives to propose new ideas. If they are able to propose a sufficiently innovative idea there is likelihood that the company gets the contract. The system allows a competitive platform for every one and at the same time, it protects the government from making expensive mistakes if the idea is not specific to the originating company and other companies are able to provide the services at a lower price.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 16 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
World Food Day
Every year 16th October is observed as World Food Day to mark the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). The intention of observing this Day is to raise public awareness about the plight of the hungry and malnourished people all over the world and initiate comprehensive action to tackle and mitigate the menace of malnutrition and hunger.
The theme selected for this year’s World Food Day is Family Farming: “Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth”.
Sources: PIB.
India and UK sign MOU to step up Cultural Cooperation over the next five years
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries on Cultural Cooperation which will form the bulwark of the India-UK cultural relations for the period 2014 to 2019.
The agreement envisages collaboration in the field of museums, libraries, archaeology, performing arts, capacity building programs, skill development, joint publications, archives, cinematography and literature.
The priorities set by the two governments include enhanced efforts for preservation of monuments, preservation of Buddhist heritage, infrastructure development at archaeological sites, enhanced people to people contact through Festivals of India abroad for projection of India’s soft power diplomacy and promotion of tourism, improved records management in Government and the National Missions on Libraries and Manuscripts.
Future areas of collaboration between India and the UK include collaboration between Indian National Museum and British Museum, development of a conservation policy and applied conservation techniques & training, digitization and improved records management practices and conservation of built heritage.
Sources: PIB.
PFBR awaits clearance
Loading of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) with liquid sodium awaits clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). BHAVINI, a public sector undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy, has built the PFBR at Kalpakkam, 60 km from Chennai. The PFBR uses plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel and liquid sodium as coolant.
About Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor:
It is a 500MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed in Kalpakkam, India. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is responsible for the design of this reactor.
The reactor will use sodium as the coolant. It shall generate electrical power of 500MW. It will make use of MOX fuel, a mixture of PuO2 and UO2. A fuel burnup of 100GWd/t is expected. It will have an operational life of 40 years.
The fact that PFBR will be cooled by liquid sodium creates additional safety requirements to isolate the coolant from the environment, since sodium explodes if it comes into contact with water and burns when in contact with air. Another hazard associated with the use of sodium as a coolant is the absorption of neutrons to generate the radioactive isotope 24Na.
The PFBR will use plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel, and liquid sodium as coolant. If sodium comes into contact with water, it will catch fire. At Fukushima in Japan in March, four reactors’ nuclear fuel core could not be cooled because the station suffered a black-out after the tsunami, which also knocked out the pumps and the diesel generator sets. So water could not be pumped for cooling the fuel core.
In the case of sodium fire in an open place, sodium bicarbonate — a dry chemical powder — would be used to douse the fire. If sodium caught fire in an enclosed place, nitrogen would be injected to extinguish it. Sodium fire is milder than oil catching fire.
After the Fukushima accident, two committees reviewed the safety at the Atomic Power Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam. Mobile power generation sets had been procured. MAPS’ emergency core cooling equipment was relocated to a higher level after the 2004 tsunami.
About Atomic Energy Regulatory Board:
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was constituted on November 15, 1983 by the President of India by exercising the powers conferred by the Atomic Energy Act to carry out certain regulatory and safety functions under the Act. The regulatory authority of AERB is derived from the rules and notifications promulgated under the Atomic Energy Act and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The mission of the Board is to ensure that the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to health and the environment.
Currently, the Board consists of a full-time Chairman, an ex-officio Member, three part-time Members and a Secretary.
FUNCTIONS OF AERB:
Develop safety policies in nuclear, radiation and industrial safety areas. Develop Safety Codes, Guides and Standards for siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning of different types of nuclear and radiation facilities. Grant consents for siting, construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning, after an appropriate safety review and assessment, for establishment of nuclear and radiation facilities. Ensure compliance of the regulatory requirements prescribed by AERB during all stages of consenting through a system of review and assessment, regulatory inspection and enforcement. Prescribe the acceptance limits of radiation exposure to occupational workers and members of the public and approve acceptable limits of environmental releases of radioactive substances. Review of the emergency preparedness plans for nuclear and radiation facilities. Safety reviews for transport of large radioactive sources, irradiated fuel and fissile material. Review of the training program, qualifications and licensing policies for personnel of nuclear and radiation facilities and prescribe the syllabi for training of personnel in safety aspects at all levels. Take such steps as necessary to keep the public informed on major issues of radiological safety significance. Promote research and development efforts in the areas of safety. Maintain liaison with statutory bodies in the country as well as abroad regarding safety matters.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.aerb.gov.in/.
Euromoney award
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has received the Euromoney’s Central Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014.
Euromoney is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance. Euromoney publishes the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, with an annual awards event recognising the top banks in the world. It also publishes awards for Central Banker of the Year and Finance Minister of the Year.
Ban sale of loose cigarette sticks
An experts’ committee, headed by Ramesh Chandra, constituted by the Union health ministry to review the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, has come out with various recommendations, including a ban on the sale of loose cigarette sticks, a ban on advertisements of tobacco products at points of sale and heftier fines on violations of the Act.
Recommendations made by the committee:
The panel proposed the amended Act be called the COTPA, 2014. It recommended the sale of loose cigarette sticks or tobacco products be banned, as youngsters were finding it “cheap” and “convenient” to consume tobacco products. It also recommended only those aged at least 25 be allowed to buy tobacco products, against the current 18 years. If implemented, the move might hit the profits of major cigarette companies in India, as a large number of their consumers are aged 18-25. The panel recommended the penalty for not specifying nicotine and tar contents, under section 20 of the COTPA, 2003, be increased from the current Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 (for the first conviction). For smoking in public places, the penalty shouldn’t be less than Rs 200, which could go up to Rs 1,000, the panel said. For selling tobacco products to someone aged less than 18, the fine should be Rs 500-1,000, the committee said. The committee recommended deleting section 4 of the Act, which would result in hotels and restaurants doing away with smoking zones in their premises.
About COTPA Act:
It is an Act of Parliament of India enacted in 2003 to prohibit advertisement and regulation of tobacco business in India. The Act put restriction on tobacco products including cigarettes, gutka, panmasala (containing tobacco), cigar, cheerot, Beedi, Snuff, chewing tobacco, hookah, tooth powder containing tobacco.
It was enacted mainly to discourage the consumption of Cigarettes and other Tobacco products through imposing progressive restrictions and to protect non-smokers from second hand smoke.
The Key provisions under the Act include:-
Prohibition of smoking in public places Prohibition on all forms of direct / indirect advertisement, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products Prohibition and sale of tobacco products to minors (any person who is under eighteen years of age) Prohibition and sale of tobacco products in an area within a radius of one hundred yards of any educational institution Mandatory depiction of specified health warnings on all tobacco products
Sources: www.business-standard.com, www.mohfw.nic.in.
MIT questions feasibility of Mars One mission
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have questioned the technical feasibility of the ‘Mars One’ project that aims to establish the first human colony on the Red Planet by 2025.
Mars One Project:
‘Mars One’ is a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands that has put forward conceptual plans to establish a permanent human colony on Mars.
The mission plans to initially send four astronauts on a one-way trip to Mars where they would spend the rest of their lives building the first permanent human settlement.
The Mars One mission plan consists of cargo missions and unmanned preparation of a habitable settlement, followed by human landings. In the coming years, a demonstration mission, communication satellites, two rovers and several cargo missions will be sent to Mars. These missions will set up the outpost where the human crew will live and work.
The mission design takes into account the expansion of the human colony where a new crew will arrive every two years. Mars One will select and train the human crew for permanent settlement.
Mars One has received a variety of criticism, mostly relating to medical, technical and financial feasibility.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, http://www.mars-one.com/.
ISRO successfully launches navigation satellite IRNSS 1C
ISRO successfully launched IRNSS 1C, the third member of the seven satellite constellation of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
The satellite, which is similar in composition to its predecessors 1A and 1B, carries navigation and ranging payloads. It will play a vital role in the IRNSS operations right from guiding drivers on city roads to aerial navigation, disaster management, mapping and surveillance activities.
The IRNSS with a 1500km range will make India self-reliant on navigation and surveillance from outer space as it is expected to cover the Asian region. It will be utilized for two services — standard positioning service (SPS) extended to all users and restricted service (RS) which will be encrypted.
About Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System:
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users. The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.
IRNSS comprises of a space segment and a ground segment. The IRNSS space segment consists of seven satellites, with three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in inclined geosynchronous orbit. IRNSS- 1A, the first satellite of the IRNSS constellation, has already started functioning from its designated orbital slot after extensive on orbit test and evaluation to confirm its satisfactory performance.
IRNSS ground segment is responsible for navigation parameter generation and transmission, satellite control, ranging and integrity monitoring and time keeping.
Applications of IRNSS:
Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation Disaster Management Vehicle tracking and fleet management Integration with mobile phones Precise Timing Mapping and Geodetic data capture Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers Visual and voice navigation for drivers
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: TOI, http://www.isro.org/.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 17 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
PM rolls out labour reforms
Prime Minister unveiled new measures for the youth, workers and employers to improve ease of doing business for enterprises while expanding government support for training workers.
Details of the Schemes launched are as follows:
Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojna
The Apprentices Act 1961 was enacted for regulating the Apprenticeship Training Scheme in the industry for imparting on-the- job training to apprentices. Presently, there are only 2.82 lakh apprentices undergoing training against 4.9 lakh seats.
Apprenticeship Scheme has huge potential for training the large number of young person’s to make them employable. If properly revamped, it could also significantly contribute to ‘Make in India’ Mission. Similar schemes have been highly successful in countries like Germany, China and Japan where the number of apprentices are stated to be 3 million, 20 million and 10 million respectively.
The Apprentice Protsahan Yojana will support one lakh apprentices during the period upto March 2017. Selected Apprentices and the Establishments ready to participate in this scheme from various states will be invited and it is proposed that Prime Minister will give sanction letters to these to mark the launch of the new scheme.
Present framework tightly regulates the number of apprentices trade-wise, and is not attractive to youth because of low rate of stipend. Further the industry is averse to participate because the scheme is not viable for the small industries. There are a large number of establishments including MSMEs where training facilities are available but could not be utilized so far.
A major initiative has been undertaken to revamp the apprenticeship Scheme in India after extensive consultation with industry, states and other stakeholders with the vision of increasing apprenticeship seats to more than 20 lakhs in next few years. There are four components of this initiative, which are given below:
Making the legal framework friendly to both, industry and youth. Enhancing the rate of stipend and indexing it to minimum wages of semi skilled workers. Apprentice Protsahan Yojana which will support manufacturing units mainly and other establishments by reimbursing 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years of their training. Basic training component (mainly class room training part) of the curricula is being restructured on scientific principles to make it more effective, and MSMEs will be supported financially by permitting this component in government funded SDI scheme.
Sources: PIB.
Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees Provident Fund:
Under the scheme complete information for approximately 4 crore subscribers of EPF has been centrally compiled and digitized and a UAN has been allotted to all. The UAN is being seeded with Bank account and Aadhar Card and other KYC details for financial inclusion of vulnerable section of society and their unique identification.
Camps are being organized to facilitate opening of bank account and Aadhar card for those subscribers who have no bank account or Aadhar card as on date. This will ensure portability of the Social Security Benefits to the labour of organised sector across the jobs and geographic areas.
The EPF account of employee will be now be updated monthly and at the same time he will be informed through sms. Finally it will ensure that each of the 4 crore or more EPF account holders have direct access to their EPF accounts and will also enable them to consolidate all their previous accounts .
The minimum pension for employees has been introduced first time so that employees’ pension is not less than Rs. 1000 per month. The wage ceiling has been raised from Rs. 6500 to Rs. 15000 per month to ensure that vulnerable groups are covered under EPF Scheme.
Sources: PIB.
Labour Inspection Scheme:
To bring in transparency in labour inspection, a transparent Labour Inspection scheme is being developed. The four features of the inspection scheme are:
Serious matters are to be covered under the mandatory inspection list. A computerized list of inspections will be generated randomly based on pre-determined objective criteria. Complaints based inspections will also be determined centrally after examination based on data and evidence. There will be provision of Emergency List for inspection of serious cases in specific circumstances.
A transparent Inspection Scheme will provide a check on the arbitrariness in compliance mechanism.
Sources: PIB.
Shram Suvidha Portal
Ministry Labour & Employment has developed a Shram Suvidha Portal in central sphere to create a conducive environment for industrial development. The 4 main features of this Portal are: Unique labour identification number (LIN) will be allotted to Units to facilitate online registration. Filing of self-certified and simplified Single Online Return by the industry. Now Units will only file a single consolidated Return online instead of filing 16 separate Returns. Mandatory uploading of inspection Reports within 72 hours by the Labour inspectors. Timely redressal of grievances will be ensured with the help of the portal.
This will bring in the necessary ease in compliance of provisions related to labour and will be a step forward in promoting the ease of doing business. The complete database available centrally at unified portal will also add to the informed policy process. The portal will be operative in 4 central organizations namely Chief Labour Commissioner, Directorate General of Mines Safety, Employee Provident Fund and Employees’ State insurance Corporation. In this endeavor of the Ministry, complete information of all 11 lakh units for these organizations has been collected, digitized and de-duplicated reducing the total number to 6-7 lakh. It is proposed to allot LIN to all these 6-7 lakh units.
Sources: PIB.
World Food Prize
Sanjaya Rajaram, an eminent Indian scientist, has been awarded the World Food Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to global wheat production.
Mr. Rajaram, currently a Senior Scientific Advisor at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), has developed some 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries across six continents and an estimated 58 million hectares. His wheat improvement research has helped secure a 1.3 per cent rise in global wheat production per annum in the last four decades.
About World Food Prize:
THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE is the foremost international award recognizing — without regard to race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs — the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The Prize recognizes contributions in any field involved in the world food supply — food and agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty alleviation, political leadership and the social sciences.
The World Food Prize emphasizes the importance of a nutritious and sustainable food supply for all people. By honoring those who have worked successfully toward this goal, The Prize calls attention to what has been done to improve global food security and to what can be accomplished in the future.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.worldfoodprize.org/.
India’s new CEA
US-based economist Arvind Subramanian took charge as chief economic advisor (CEA) in the finance ministry.
He is a former International Monetary Fund economist. His key task will be to work out a new monetary policy framework in which the government will set the inflation target, to be implemented by a policy panel of the central bank.
He heads a team who are to bring out the government’s annual Economic Survey during the Budget session, and the Mid-Year Analysis of the economy in the Winter Session of Parliament in December. The challenge before him will be to defend policies and actions of the government, such as India’s stand at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Chief Economic Adviser heads the Economic Division of Government of India. The main functions of the Division are advisory in nature. The Division examines domestic and international economic trends and undertakes research studies having a bearing on economic policies and management of the economy and renders policy advice.
Main activities of the Economic Division include:
Monitoring of Prices and policies relating to price control. Monitoring of trends in Agricultural and Industrial Production and related policy issues. Monitoring of Production, Public Distribution and Stocks of food grains and related policy issues. Monitoring of Monetary and Credit Aggregates. Monitoring of Public Finance. Monitoring of Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. Monitoring of Foreign Trade and Balance of Payments. International Economic Institutions: World Bank and IMF, ADB and G-20 related issues. Preparation of Annual Economic Survey and Mid Year Review of the Economy.
For further reference: http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/economic_div/ed_index.asp.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: business-standard, PIB, finmin.nic.in.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 18 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Nirbhay
India`s first indigenously designed and developed long range sub-sonic cruise missile ‘Nirbhay’ was successfully flight tested.
About Nirbhay:
Nirbhay is an all-weather low-cost long-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy. The missile has a range of more than 1000 km. It weighs about one tonne and has a length of 6 metres. Its relatively slow flight speed, just 1,000 km per hour, allows it to navigate its way precisely to the target.
The Nirbhay cruise missile is an Indian version of the American Tomahawk, which became an icon of high-tech warfare in the 1991 Gulf War through televised CNN footage of Tomahawks flying through the streets of Baghdad and precisely entering target buildings through open windows.
It carries a ring laser gyroscope for high-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the height determination. It is capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and air and shall be inducted into Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force. In particular, Nirbhay is being adapted for the Indo/Russian Su-30MKI. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The two-stage missile Nirbhay is able to pick out a target and attack it among multiple targets. The missile has a loitering capability, i.e., it can go round a target and perform several manoeuvres and then re-engage it. Flying at treetop level and navigating its way through heavily defended enemy airspace where a manned fighter would be quickly shot down by anti-aircraft missiles and guns, the Nirbhay is better equipped to survive the flight to its target.
The missile is capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4 km above the ground and can also fly at low altitudes to avoid detection by enemy radar.
A key hurdle to developing a long-range cruise missile like the Nirbhay is the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which forbids signatory countries from assisting or providing technology to any other country developing a cruise missile with a range of 300 km or more. India and Russia legally collaborated in developing the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile because its range was pegged at 295 km, just below the MTCR limit. In building the Nirbhay, India has had to go it alone.
Sources: PIB, business-standard, wiki.
The National Air Quality Index The National Air Quality Index which was inaugurated recently is ‘One Number- One Colour-One Description’ for the common man to judge the air quality within his vicinity. The formulation of the index was a continuation of the initiatives under Swachh Bharat Mission envisioned by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.
The index constituted part of the Government’s mission to introduce the culture of cleanliness. Institutional and infrastructural measures were being undertaken in order to ensure that the mandate of cleanliness was fulfilled across the country. As a part of the process, clean air would be a part of Peoples’ campaign to take up the issue in a mission mode.
Under the new measurement process, an effort has been made to include a comprehensive set of parameters. While the earlier measuring index was limited to three indicators, the current measurement index had been made quite comprehensive by the addition of five additional parameters. The initiatives aim at balancing environment and conservation and development.
Traditionally, air quality status has been reported through voluminous data. Thus, it was important that information on air quality is put up in public domain in simple linguistic terms that is easily understood by a common person. Air Quality Index (AQI) is one such tool for effective dissemination of air quality information to people. An Expert Group comprising medical professionals, air quality experts, academia, advocacy groups, and SPCBs was constituted and a technical study was awarded to IIT Kanpur. IIT Kanpur and the Expert Group recommended an AQI scheme.
There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe. The proposed AQI will consider eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short- term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
Based on the measured ambient concentrations, corresponding standards and likely health impact, a sub-index is calculated for each of these pollutants. The worst sub-index reflects overall AQI. Associated likely health impacts for different AQI categories and pollutants have been also been suggested, with primary inputs from the medical expert members of the group. The AQI values and associated likely health impacts for the identified eight pollutants are as follows:
AQI Associated Health Impacts
Good Minimal Impact
(0–50)
Satisfactory May cause minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people.
(51–100)
Moderately May cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma, and discomfort to polluted people with heart disease, children and older adults.
(101–200)
Poor May cause breathing discomfort to people on prolonged exposure, and discomfort to people with heart disease (201–300)
Very Poor May cause respiratory illness to the people on prolonged exposure. Effect may be more pronounced in people with lung and heart diseases. (301–400)
Severe May cause respiratory impact even on healthy people, and serious health impacts on people with lung/heart disease. The health impacts may be experienced even during light physical activity. (401-500)
Sources: PIB, wiki.
Kachchh Mahotsav
As a first step towards promoting handloom and craft based textiles from the famous Kachchh region of Gujarat, `Kachchh Mahotsav’ was launched.
The exhibition focuses on Kachchh crafts such as Soof, Mirror work, Rabari, Ahir, Patchwork and other embroidered products, Ajrak, Tie & Dye, Batik and Block Printed Textile products, Hand woven Embroidered Shawls, Wooden Lacquerware, Wood Carving, Copper Coated Iron Bell, Embroidered Leather Accessories, Mud/ Clay Work, Rogan Painting.
In an endeavour to promote Indian handicrafts and handlooms, the Union Government had announced setting up of a Handicraft mega cluster in Kachchh. The mega cluster will focus on handcrafted items and craft based textiles from the region.
Kachchh is known for its distinctive traditional crafts, from embroidery to jewellery-making and carving. Using simple materials, the artisans create objects of great beauty. The Mahotsav includes Kachchi crafts range from Block printing on textiles, Bandhni of the Khatris, Patch work of Bhirandiyara, leather creations by Meghwal artisans, besides traditional wood and lacquer work and Rogan, the extremely fine lacquer work on cloth produced by the artisans of Chobari and Nirona villages, Ajrakh printing from Khavda village to the exquisite beadwork of Rabari women. The folk embroidery of Kachchh is an ongoing and dynamic tradition. Some of the villages and communities have specialised for generations in certain crafts and thereby create masterpieces that delight a connoisseur.
Sources: PIB.
Scheme to check blindness under review
With 30,000 fresh cases of blindness being reported in the country every year, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare has announced a review of the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB).
A Centrally-funded scheme, the NPCB was launched in 1976 to reduce the prevalence of blindness.
India has the largest burden of global blindness — about 3.5 million with 30,000 new cases being added each year.
National Programme for Control of Blindness:
National Programme for Control of Blindness was launched in the year 1976 as a 100% Centrally Sponsored scheme with the goal to reduce the prevalence of blindness from 1.4% to 0.3%. As per Survey in 2001-02, prevalence of blindness is estimated to be 1.1%. Rapid Survey on Avoidable Blindness conducted under NPCB during 2006-07 showed reduction in the prevalence of blindness from 1.1% (2001-02) to 1% (2006-07). Various activities/initiatives undertaken during the Five Year Plans under NPCB are targeted towards achieving the goal of reducing the prevalence of blindness to 0.3% by the year 2020.
Main causes of blindness are: – Cataract (62.6%) Refractive Error (19.70%) Corneal Blindness (0.90%), Glaucoma (5.80%), Surgical Complication (1.20%) Posterior Capsular Opacification (0.90%) Posterior Segment Disorder (4.70%), Others (4.19%) Estimated National Prevalence of Childhood Blindness /Low Vision is 0.80 per thousand.
Goals & Objectives of NPCB:
To reduce the backlog of blindness through identification and treatment of blind at primary, secondary and tertiary levels based on assessment of the overall burden of visual impairment in the country. Develop and strengthen the strategy of NPCB for “Eye Health” and prevention of visual impairment; through provision of comprehensive eye care services and quality service delivery. Strengthening and upgradation of RIOs to become centre of excellence in various sub-specialities of ophthalmology Strengthening the existing and developing additional human resources and infrastructure facilities for providing high quality comprehensive Eye Care in all Districts of the country; To enhance community awareness on eye care and lay stress on preventive measures; Increase and expand research for prevention of blindness and visual impairment To secure participation of Voluntary Organizations/Private Practitioners in eye Care.
< p style=”text-align: right”>Sources: The Hindu, npcb.nic.in/.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 20 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Productivity Linked Bonus for Railway Employees
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister gave its ex-post facto approval for the payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days` wages for the financial year 2013-14 to all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees.
The PLB on Railway covers all non-gazetted Railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF personnel) throughout the country.
Background:
The Railways were the first departmental undertaking of the Government of India where the concept of PLB was introduced. The main consideration at that time was the important role of the Railways as an infrastructural support in the performance of the economy as a whole. In the overall context of Railway working, it was considered desirable to introduce the concept of PLB as against the concept of Bonus on the lines of the Payment of Bonus Act -1965. Even though the Payment of Bonus Act does not apply to the Railways, yet the broad principles contained in that Act were kept in view for the purpose of determining the “Wage/Pay Ceiling”, definition of `Salary`/`Wage`, etc.
The PLB Scheme for the Railways came into force from the year 1979-80 onwards and was evolved in consultation with the two recognised federations, the All India Railwaymen`s Federation and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen and with the approval of the Cabinet. The scheme envisages a review every three years.
Sources: PIB.
New domestic gas pricing policy
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved the new domestic gas pricing policy.
The salient features of the new Gas Pricing Policy are follows:
Upward revision in gas prices will be approximately 75% less as compared to the price arrived at using Rangarajan formula. Approximately 80% of the additional revenue due to revision in gas price will go to the Government companies. Government will get additional revenue of approximately Rs. 3800 crore per annum on account of higher royalty, higher profit petroleum and higher taxes. The Committee, which was constituted to look into the matters relating to the Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, has recommended an approach for gas price determination, which is based on the modification to the Rangarajan formula by:
Removal of both the Japanese and Indian LNG import components in the formula. Consideration of Alberta Gas Reference price in place of Henry Hub Prices for Canadian consumption. Consideration of Russian actual price in place of National Balancing Point price for the Russian consumption considered under Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. Consideration of appropriate deductions on account of transportation and treatment charges, etc., for different hub prices. The options of bi-annual and annual price revision instead of quarterly revision may be considered.
The Committee also recommended applicability of the modified approach prospectively and to apply it uniformly to all sectors of the economy, along with prevailing gas allocation policy of the Government. The Committee was of the view that the National Oil Companies (NOCs) may also get the same price as determined under the proposed dispensation, including the gas from the nomination fields. In addition, the Committee also drew attention to the fact that although in India gas is historically being priced on National Calorific Value (NCV), the input prices being used in the Rangarajan formula are based on Gross Calorific Value (GCV).
Sources: PIB.
Policy Framework for Relaxations, Extensions and clarifications under PSC regime for early Monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas regarding “Policy Framework for Relaxations, Extensions and clarifications at the Development and Production stage under PSC regime for early Monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries”.
Under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), there is commitment on the part of the contractor to carry out Minimum Work Programme (MWP) specified under each exploration phase.
These are reform initiatives which would help in monetization of some of the pending discoveries, lead to resolution of various long pending operational issues which are hampering E&P operations and create better climate for investment. The salient features of this Reform Measure are as follows:-
Extension of Appraisal period for submission of Declaration of Commerciality (DOC) in respect of Hydrocarbon discovery. Extension of time period for submission of Field Development Plan (FDP) after review of DOC by the Management Committee. Reduction in Minimum Work Program (MWP) in case a block or its part is not available for exploration activities consequent to denial of permission by Government Agencies. In cases where the committed Minimum Work Programme of any particular exploration phase is not completed, entry into subsequent exploration phases, would be permitted after paying cost of unfinished MWP of previous phases. Condoning delays in submission of notice for entering into next phase. Condoning delays in submission of Annual Work Programme and Budget and the Appraisal work programme. Permission for drilling of Appraisal Wells after submission of DOC. Probing additional reservoirs during appraisal programme. These changes do not change the basic structure of the PSC and have been approved in the overall interest of the energy security of the country.
These proposals are expected to yield the following benefits:
Monetization of some of the discoveries which are struck because of expiry of timelines. Additional discoveries in the appraisal period. Improvement in investment climate because of resolution of disputes between the contractors and the Government. Enhancement of production of oil and gas from these blocks. Preparation of a more robust FDP.
Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojana
‘Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojana’ was launched recently under which the CSIR (Council for Scientific & Industrial Research), affiliated with the Ministry of Science & Technology, will identify thousand villages in Jammu & Kashmir for the growth of aromatic plants with active participation of local farmers and owners of the land. The Government will initially spend over Rs.25 crores on this scheme in addition to technical support by a team of CSIR scientists.
This scheme is a new concept whereby the agricultural land with the potential for growth of aromatic plants will be identified and CSIR scientists as well as aroma experts from different parts of the country will educate and train the local farmers to bring up this cultivation. This will not only enable the local farmers to usher in a new area of cultivation but will also prove economically beneficial to them since the net profit for the farmers through this venture has been estimated to be Rs. 1 – 1.5 lakhs per hectare per annum. one of the important reasons to start this new scheme from Jammu region was that the IIIM (Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine), Jammu has been actively pursuing research and production of aromatic medicinal and perfumery products for several decades and some of the products produced from this laboratory are of international export quality. Nine varieties of scientifically tested and commercially beneficial plant saplings will be provided by IIIM Jammu and under the guidance CSIR experts.
The scheme is a part of the new innovative initiatives being under taken by CSIR and the Ministry of Science & Technology. Once the new scheme gets going successfully from its initial start in Jammu & Kashmir, the same will then be extended to other States and also other parts of the country as well.
Sources: PIB.
Diesel deregulation
The Union Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister approved the issues relating to the under-recovery on sale of diesel and its present status. The prices of Diesel will be market determined at both Retail and Refinery Gate level.
Diesel prices will henceforth be market determined. This will facilitate greater competition in the Auto Fuels Retail segment and enhanced efficiency in service delivery of the oil companies. This is expected to benefit consumers due to greater competition among oil companies and more choices. The competition is also expected to foster greater efficiency in oil companies benefitting the consumers.
Some experts are also of the view that the Deregulation of Diesel will not only help in controlling the fiscal deficit but also be advantageous for the consumers as they will now pay market rates for the fuel which is lower by more than Rs. 3 per litre. This will also leave more money with upstream companies for investment in the exploration and production sector, thereby enhancing our efforts for energy security for the country.
Diesel deregulation will also bring the retail network of private oil marketing companies into system. This will increase competition, benefiting the end consumer.
The government’s decision to deregulate diesel prices is a step in the right direction as it will help cut subsidies and balance the fiscal deficit in the long run. This was long overdue.
Sources: The Hindu, PIB.
U.N. Women launches campaign in India
U.N. Women launched a campaign called ‘HeForShe’, aiming at ensuring greater participation of men in promoting women’s rights and gender equality.
The goal is to engage men and boys as advocates and agents of change in the effort to achieve equality. When women are empowered, the whole of humanity will be benefited.
‘HeForShe’ is a global solidarity movement to end gender inequality by 2030. It is a campaign for gender equality initiated by UN Women. It aims to engage men and boys as agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and women’s rights, by encouraging them to take action against inequalities faced by women and girls. Grounded in the idea that gender equality is an issue that affects all people — socially, economically and politically — it seeks to actively involve men and boys in a movement that was originally conceived as “a struggle for women by women”.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, www.heforshe.org.
Cabinet approves Iran port project
The Union Cabinet gave its approval to India’s participation in the Chahbahar port project in Iran. This is a move that could offer significant geo-strategic advantage to India by way of smooth access to Afghanistan.
An Indian Joint Venture (JV) company will lease two fully constructed berths the port’s first phase for a period of 10 years, with an investment of $ 85.21 million within 12 months.
Located along the Makran coast in the Gulf of Oman, Chahbahar is in close proximity to the Strait of Hormuz which facilitates about 40 per cent of the world’s oil trade, and hence has significant strategic implications for India.
The road or rail link from Chahbahar would provide India the shortest access to Pashtun areas of Afghanistan, from the Nimroz province.
Not only would it allow India to gain easier access to Afghanistan and central Asia without having to depend on Pakistan, it is also being touted as India’s answer to Chinese control over Pakistan’s Gwadar port, just 76 km from Chahbahar.
Sources: The Hindu.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 21 October 2014
By INSIGHTS
Govt. to e-auction coal mines
The Union Cabinet recommended the promulgation of an Ordinance to acquire the land of 214 coal blocks mines whose allocations were quashed by the Supreme Court.
It also approved a plan for e-auctioning the cancelled blocks to end-user private players of coal from the power, steel and cement sectors. Government entities, including public sector units such as NTPC and State Electricity Boards, however, will not have to go through the auction route as a pool of coal mines will be reserved for allocation to them from the cancelled blocks.
The Cabinet’s decisions are with the view of cleaning up the coal mess due to allocations via the screening committee mechanism that the Supreme Court quashed.
The proceeds from the e-auction of coal mines will go entirely to the States where they are located — mainly in Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. And this would lead to financial empowerment of these States.
The land to be acquired back from owners of mines that stand de-allocated following the Supreme Court ruling would be valued by an independent authority under the Coal Nationalisation Act.
The expeditious disposal of the process will provide a huge impetus to the manufacturing sector and the country will save precious foreign exchange on coal imports and this will also help banks that have funds stuck as a fallout of the Supreme Court’s verdict. Sources: The Hindu.
Scientists improve tractor beam tech
The Australian National University (ANU) announced that Laser physicists in Australia have built a tractor beam that can repel and attract objects, using a hollow laser beam that is bright around the edges and dark in its centre.
It is the first long-distance optical tractor beam and moved particles one-fifth of a millimetre in diameter a distance of up to 20 cm, around 100 times further than previous experiments.
The new technique is versatile because it requires only a single laser beam. It could be used, for example, in controlling atmospheric pollution or for the retrieval of tiny, delicate or dangerous particles for sampling.
Unlike previous techniques, which used photon momentum to impart motion, the ANU tractor beam relies on the energy of the laser heating up the particles and the air around them.
The particles are trapped in the dark centre of the beam. Energy from the laser hits the particle and travels across its surface, where it is absorbed creating hotspots on the surface.
Air particles colliding with the hotspots heat up and shoot away from the surface, which causes the particle to recoil, in the opposite direction.
About Tractor Beam:
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance.
Tractor beams are most commonly used on spaceships and space stations. They are generally used in two ways:
As a device for securing or retrieving cargo, passengers, shuttlecraft, etc. This is analogous to cranes on modern ships. As a means of preventing an enemy from escaping, analogous to grappling hooks.
Tractor beams and pressor beams can be used together as a weapon: by attracting one side of an enemy spaceship while repelling the other, one can create severely damaging shear effects in its hull. Another mode of destructive use of such beams is rapid alternating between pressing and pulling force in order to cause structural damage to the ship as well as inflicting lethal forces on its crew.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Swasthya Bima Yojana to be merged with UHAM
The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), which insures families of unorganised sector workers for up to Rs. 30,000 of medical care, is expected to be transferred from the Ministry of Labour and Employment to the Union Health Ministry.
The RSBY, operationalised in 2008 by the UPA government, will be merged with the Universal Health Assurance Mission (UHAM) proposed by the NDA government.
The scheme, which covers secondary care, hospitalisation expenses up to Rs. 30,000 at empanelled public and private hospitals at present, is set to be expanded to include tertiary care for major surgeries, accompanied by increasing coverage beyond Rs. 30,000.
The Labour Ministry had identified three main challenges — not enough hospitals were empanelled in blocks and districts, pathways for disease to be outlined to avoid hospitals carrying out unnecessary medical procedures and insurance companies had not been paid dues on time.
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana:
RSBY has been launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India to provide health insurance coverage for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
The objective of RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve hospitalization. Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up to Rs. 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization. Government has even fixed the package rates for the hospitals for a large number of interventions. Pre-existing conditions are covered from day one and there is no age limit. Coverage extends to five members of the family which includes the head of household, spouse and up to three dependents. Beneficiaries need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central and State Government pays the premium to the insurer selected by the State Government on the basis of a competitive bidding.
The scheme has won plaudits from the World Bank, the UN and the ILO as one of the world’s best health insurance schemes.
Unique Features of RSBY:
The RSBY scheme differs from other schemes in several important ways.
Empowering the beneficiary – RSBY provides the participating BPL household with freedom of choice between public and private hospitals and makes him a potential client worth attracting on account of the significant revenues that hospitals stand to earn through the scheme. Business Model for all Stakeholders – The scheme has been designed as a business model for a social sector scheme with incentives built for each stakeholder. Hospitals – A hospital has the incentive to provide treatment to large number of beneficiaries as it is paid per beneficiary treated. Intermediaries – The inclusion of intermediaries such as NGOs and MFIs which have a greater stake in assisting BPL households. Information Technology (IT) Intensive – For the first time IT applications are being used for social sector scheme on such a large scale. Every beneficiary family is issued a biometric enabled smart card containing their fingerprints and photographs. All the hospitals empanelled under RSBY are IT enabled and connected to the server at the district level. This will ensure a smooth data flow regarding service utilization periodically. Safe and foolproof – The use of biometric enabled smart card and a key management system makes this scheme safe and foolproof. The key management system of RSBY ensures that the card reaches the correct beneficiary and there remains accountability in terms of issuance of the smart card and its usage. The biometric enabled smart card ensures that only the real beneficiary can use the smart card. Portability – The key feature of RSBY is that a beneficiary who has been enrolled in a particular district will be able to use his/ her smart card in any RSBY empanelled hospital across India. This makes the scheme truly unique and beneficial to the poor families that migrate from one place to the other. Cards can also be split for migrant workers to carry a share of the coverage with them separately. Cash less and Paperless transactions – A beneficiary of RSBY gets cashless benefit in any of the empanelled hospitals. He/ she only needs to carry his/ her smart card and provide
For further reference: http://www.rsby.gov.in/about_rsby.aspx.
Sources: The Hindu, www.rsby.gov.in.
Norms for defence sector companies eased
The government allowed private companies in the defence sector to sell equipment to state-run entities without prior approval of the defence ministry, a move that could attract investments in the sector. The decision came after the government opened the sector for higher foreign direct investments (FDI) and relaxed compulsory licensing for a number of equipment.
The licencee shall be allowed to sell defence items to government entities under the control of ministry of home affairs, state governments, public sector units and other valid defence licensed companies without prior approval of the Department of Defence Production (DoDP).
However, it said, for sale of the items to any other entity, the licencee shall take prior permission from DoDP. The government also decided to deregulate the annual capacity for production of defence items by industrial licencees with the condition that licencees shall submit half-yearly production returns to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and DoDP.
As a measure of ease of doing business, two extensions of two years each in the initial validity of three years of the industrial license would be allowed up to seven years.
Earlier, the government had raised FDI cap in the defence sector to 49 per cent from existing 26 per cent and allowed even beyond that limit on a case-to-case basis if results in infusion of state- of-art technology.
The steps would help India in improving its ranking the ease of doing business and attract investments in the defence sector. According to a World Bank report, India has slipped three positions to 134th spot in the latest ‘ease of doing business’ list, which is topped by Singapore.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.business-standard.com/.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 22 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Spending reforms
Union Finance Minister has rolled out reforms aimed at the efficient management of government expenditure through speedy project approvals, decentralisation of more financial powers to Ministries and reduced transaction costs.
Now, the Ministries have got a four-fold increase in the powers for approving expenditure without seeking the Finance Ministry’s nod. The Secretary of an administrative Ministry can now approve schemes and projects that cost up to Rs. 100 crore, up from the present Rs. 25 crore. The Union Cabinet’s approval will be needed only for those that cost more than Rs. 1,000 crore, not Rs. 300 crore.
The proposals attempt to address the issue of quality of government spending through the stipulation that all schemes and programmes be monitored and evaluated in terms of “measurably defined” outcomes.
The administrative Ministries are beginning to take advantage of the new rules that have been in place for about a month now.
The Finance Ministry estimates that the resultant savings on time and cost overruns could lift the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth by 0.5-1 percentage point.
Sources: The Hindu.
India wins another term at UNHRC
India received the most number of votes in the Asia-Pacific group of the U.N. Human Rights Council, winning a second consecutive two- year term at the world body.
162 of 190 countries voted for India. Three other countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh and Qatar were elected. This was a reflection of India’s standing in the world.
About UNHRC:
The Human Rights Council is an inter- governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.
The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights and is a subsidiary body of the UN General Assembly. The council works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and engages the United Nations’ special procedures.
The General Assembly established the UNHRC by adopting a resolution on 15 March 2006, in order to replace the previous CHR, which had been heavily criticised for allowing countries with poor human rights records to be members. One year later, the Council adopted its “Institution-building package” to guide its work and set up its procedures and mechanisms.
The Human Rights Council also works with the UN Special Procedures established by the former Commission on Human Rights and now assumed by the Council. These are made up of special rapporteurs, special representatives, independent experts and working groups that monitor, examine, advise and publicly report on thematic issues or human rights situations in specific countries.
The members of the General Assembly elect the members who occupy the UNHRC’s 47 seats. The term of each seat is three years, and no member may occupy a seat for more than two consecutive terms.
The General Assembly can suspend the rights and privileges of any Council member that it decides has persistently committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its term of membership. The suspension process requires a two-thirds majority vote by the General Assembly.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.ohchr.org/.
Revised protocols for health workers caring for Ebola patients
Tightening previous infection control guidelines, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) revised the protocols for health workers caring for Ebola patients.
Under the new guidelines, health workers are required to wear waterproof fabric and boots and leave no part of the skin uncovered. Every step of putting on and taking off equipment must be done under the supervision of a senior medical professional to reduce the margin for error.
Hospital workers treating Ebola patients should wear double sets of gloves, disposable hoods with full face shields and special masks.
These procedures are based on the stringent protocols used by Doctors Without Borders for years while caring for Ebola patients.
Meanwhile, India has put in place the same surveillance and tracking systems that Nigeria used to check the entry of infected patients into the country.
In India, all international airports and sea ports will soon be equipped with thermal scanners and other Ebola detection equipment. These scanners, which resemble the radar guns used by police officers to catch speeding motorists, can detect high body temperature among people queued up before immigration counters. Fever is one of the commonest symptoms of EVD (Ebola virus disease).
Sources: PIB, The Hindu.
Project Report on “DRISHTI” Submitted The Government constituted High Powered Committee on “DRISHTI” -(Driving Information System for Holistic Tax Initiatives) has submitted its Report to the Finance Minister. The Report, after examining the existing business processes and the current status of IT Systems in CBEC (Central Board of Excise & Customs), has highlighted the areas for improvement. The recommendations of the Committee aim at leveraging IT for improving the quality and extent of taxpayer services, encouraging voluntary tax compliance and detecting tax evasion.
The Strategic Recommendations of the Committee include the following:
Creation of National Taxpayer Services Directorate, National Assessment Centre for Customs & National Processing Centre for Central Excise & Service Tax Returns, National Targeting Centre & Directorate of International Customs Setting up of specialised function-based units for Data Analytics & Business Intelligence, Tax Dispute Resolution and Litigation, BPR, etc Leveraging Service Oriented Architecture for IT Applications Merging different Customs IT Applications into a Single System Enabling Mobility solutions in Business Workflows Introduction of Entity-based Risk Management System Introduction of IT Centric HR Policy
The Committee also examined the suitable options for an appropriate IT Governance Model for CBEC. The recommendations have been classified as Short (upto 2 years), Medium (2 to 4 years) and Long Term (4 to 6 years). The Committee has also suggested steps for overseeing the implementation of the above Recommendations.
Sources: PIB.
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General Studies-2014: Daily Answer Writing Challenge – 45
By INSIGHTS
ARCHIVES
23 October 2014
1) Examine the effect communism had on China after Mao Zedong’s death. (200 Words)
Reference
2) What is New Regionalism? Explain the differences between old and new regionalism in international relations. (200 Words)
Reference
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 24 October 2014
By INSIGHTS
Nirbhay will be backbone of cold-start
Defence analysts and strategic experts feel that Nirbhay, India’s first long-range subsonic cruise missile, which was test-fired recently, can be a game-changer in India’s strategic calculus.
Capable of flying at a tree-top altitude for over 1,000 km, Nirbhay can carry out surgical strikes and thus back up India’s “cold start” doctrine that envisages limited, precise strikes across the border.
In the event of an Indian offensive, a volley of missiles flying low can effectively take out key command and control centres, blunting the resistance to the advancing armoured columns.
The successful indigenous development of Nirbhay cruise missile will fill a vital gap in the war-fighting capabilities of Indian armed forces. It is felt that Nirbhay will be a force multiplier to the in-waiting “cold start” doctrine, but the doctrine itself is a non-starter as of now for lack of critical assets such as artillery, armour and helicopters.
What is Cold-start Doctrine?
Cold Start is a military doctrine developed by the Indian Armed Forces for use in a possible war with Pakistan. It involves the various branches of India’s military conducting offensive operations as part of unified battle groups. The Cold Start doctrine is intended to allow India’s conventional forces to perform holding attacks in order to prevent a nuclear retaliation from Pakistan in case of a conflict.
Cold start has been put forward as an offensive doctrine by the Indian strategic establishment. Though “officially denied,” its presence is widely acknowledged in strategic circles.
The development of this doctrine represents a significant change in Indian defence planning. Exercises aimed at reducing mobilisation time and improved network-centric warfare capabilities have contributed to the development of the Cold Start doctrine. Despite the advances, this doctrine remains in the experimental stage.
The doctrine deviates from the defence posture that India’s military had employed since independence in 1947. The goal of this limited war doctrine is to establish the capacity to launch a retaliatory conventional strike against Pakistan that would inflict significant harm on the Pakistan Army before the international community could intercede, and at the same time, pursue narrow enough aims to deny Islamabad a justification to escalate the clash to the nuclear level.
Drawing on the experience of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War as well as the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, Indian defence planners envisioned this doctrine. It would involve limited, rapid armoured thrusts, with infantry and necessary air support.
As per Cold Start promulgation, offensive operations could begin within 48 hours after orders have been issued. Such a limited response time would enable Indian forces to surprise their Pakistani counterparts. Operations would involve armoured spearheads launched from forward positions in Punjab and Rajasthan. The Cold Start doctrine has invited criticism from Pakistani media and former generals who claim that although the doctrine was designed to punish Pakistan in a limited manner without triggering nuclear retaliation, the Indian Army cannot be sure if Pakistan’s leadership will, in fact, refrain from such a response.
The threat of the Indian Cold Start doctrine and increase in Indian Defence Budget from $24 Billion to $40 Billion between 2007 and 2009 has apparently prompted the Pakistan government to sharply increase its defence budget to 32% of their federal government’s net revenue receipts, further increasing the strain on that country’s already tenuous economy.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Mobile shopping set to drive e-commerce in India
India is the second largest mobile phone market with more than 930 million customers. According to IDC data, the domestic smartphone market grew 84 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 and is expected to grow rapidly.
The online retailers are taking the smartphones route to tap the market opportunity offered in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Most leading players expect 90 per cent of their online shopping to come through smartphones and tablets within the next few years.
With the huge market potential offered by smartphones, companies such as Snapdeal, Flipkart, Myntra, among others, have already launched mobile applications.
The growth in internet usage in India, largely on mobile devices, is the key driver for e-commerce growth. Specifically for fashion, the non-availability of the latest brands in Tier-II and Tier-III cities has led to high interest in online shopping.
Another reason for the increase in mobile commerce is the penetration of smartphone into the rural markets. Around 45per cent of the online users in India access internet only through their mobile phones. As per industry experts, out of all shopping queries in India, 30 per cent come from mobile phones, however, presently less than 5per cent of total digital commerce happens through mobile
According to a recent report from IT research and advisory firm Gartner, the eCommerce market is expected to grow 70 per cent and touch $6 billion in 2015.
Mobile commerce will help organisation skip the desktop wave with increasing penetration of affordable smart devices with connectivity and a rapidly growing ecosystem to engage customers on mobile.
Sources: The Hindu.
Pre-primary education in tribal language
The Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) will implement an educational package for tribal pre-primary children in their own language.
The initiative is aimed at ending the feeling of alienation among tribal children when they get initiated into the world of letters in Malayalam, which is an alien language to them.
The project that will introduce the children to formal education will be implemented as a pilot project in Attappady block in Palakkad district. It will be expanded across the State later.
Titled Early Childhood Curriculum Care and Education (ECCCE), it will be implemented in anganwadis in tribal areas with the active participation of government agencies. Anganwadi teachers will use languages of different tribal ethnic groups to impart pre-primary education.
The curriculum has been prepared, and it includes details of the origin, history, cultural diversity, and social life among different tribal groups. The teachers in anganwadis will be trained with the help of tribal village elders.
When the tribal children begin their education, at the pre-primary stage in the anganwadis near their settlements, they find themselves lost. The language used for instruction and communication here is frighteningly strange. The process flows on to the primary level too. Majority of these children drop out of school as they find it difficult to fully comprehend classroom teaching and the activities, or read the language and understand textbooks.Hence, this concept has been developed on the thought that the use of tribal language in the initial years can go a long way in making them comfortable with the process of education.
Sources: The Hindu.
Chinese slowdown
According to International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook, released earlier this month, China is expected to grow 7.4 per cent in the current calendar year, against 7.7 per cent in 2013. The country’s economy is likely to slow down further to 7.1 per cent in 2015 and 6.8 per cent in 2016.
For global commodity producers that were counting on continued rapid growth in Chinese demand, this has come as a rude shock. It helps explain the sharp drop in iron ore and coal prices. It might also be responsible for some of the weakness in oil prices. For many of the individual base metals, however, specific fundamentals are playing a more significant role than generic Chinese growth; for example, Indonesia’s ban on exports of unprocessed raw materials.
These changes are expected to lead to permanently slower Chinese growth, so some commodity markets might have to adjust to a materially different trajectory of demand growth.
A decline in Chinese appetite for commodities would be felt the most by Indian metal producers like Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SAIL, Sesa Sterlite and Hindalco. Lower international prices would hurt realisations and profitability. Integrated players like Tata Steel and SAIL, which have own mines will feel the biggest impact; while those like JSW, which buy coal and iron ore from open market would be the least affected.
On the brighter side, a moderation in commodity prices would provide a relief to user industries like automobiles, auto ancillaries, capital goods, consumer durables, tyres and cement. Companies in these sectors could see an expansion in margins, as raw material costs would decline.
The worrying part for companies is the risk of a spike in low-cost imports, as Chinese manufacturers push their excess production in export markets globally, including India. Tyre and steel makers are already feeling the pressure of a dip in Chinese prices for their respective products.
This has raised some concern about India’s growth prospects. Since the Lehman crisis, China has accounted for nearly a third of incremental growth in world economy and cushions the impact of a recession in the US and euro zone. China’s share in world gross domestic product growth is expected to fall to a fifth by 2016, according to IMF data for 178 countries.
This might have some negative impact on India’s export growth, which has been a key driver of economy and corporate earnings growth in the past three years.
Imports from China, however, remained strong and accounted for 12.1 per cent of India’s total merchandise imports in the June quarter, against 1.3 per cent in the same period a year before and 10.7 per cent in 2008-09.
But economists rule out an immediate impact of China’s slowdown on India’s GDP growth. There is no one-to-one correlation between Chinese expansion and India’s economic growth. China is still a minor export market for us when compared with the US or Europe. If growth in the US economy recovers as expected, the export upside to the US — both for merchandise and IT services — will more than make up for any slack from China.
Others see in the Chinese slowdown a stimulus for the Indian economy, with a decline in prices of crude oil and metals. At the macro level, inflation through imports would tend to come down; that will improve cost structures of companies and help them improve their margins — at the time when the economic conditions are looking up. This reduction in commodity prices has been quite fortuitous for India Inc. At a broader level, this can be the starting point of seriously contemplating a rate cut by the central bank.
The impact of China’s slowdown on India Inc would depend on interplay of lower input prices, higher competition from cheaper imports and a potentially slower global growth.
Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT AFFAIRS: 25 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
DIPP Constitutes IPR Think Tank to Draft National Intellectual Property Rights Policy
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has constituted an IPR Think Tank to draft the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy and to advice the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion on IPR issues.
The panel, to be chaired by retired Justice Prabha Sridevan, will identify areas in IPRs where study needs to be conducted and furnish recommendations in this regard to the Commerce and Industry ministry. The expert group will also advise the government on best practices to be followed in trademark offices, patent offices and other government offices dealing with IPRs to create an efficient and transparent system of functioning in the said offices.
The terms of reference of the IPR Think Tank will be as follows:
To draft National Intellectual Property Rights Policy. To identify areas in the IPRs where study needs to be conducted and to furnish recommendations in this regard to the Ministry. To provide views on the possible implications of demands placed by the negotiating partners. To keep the Government regularly informed about the developments taking place in IPR cases which have an impact upon India`s IPR Policy. To advise the Government on best practices to be followed in Trademark Offices, Patent Offices and other Government Offices dealing with IPR in order to create an efficient and transparent system of functioning in the said offices. To prepare periodic reports on best practice followed in foreign countries. To highlight anomalies in the present IPR legislations and to advice possible solutions to the Ministry. To give suggestions on the steps that may be taken for improving infrastructure in IP offices and Tribunals. To examine the current issues raised by industry associations and those that may have appeared in media and to give suggestions to the Ministry on such issues.
The decision assumes significance as the Obama administration in the recent times has been strongly criticising India’s investment climate and IPR laws, especially in the pharmaceuticals and the solar sectors.
Sources: PIB, The Hindu.
Rashtriya Ekta Diwas The Government has decided to observe the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as the ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’ (National Unity Day) on 31st October every year. This occasion will provide an opportunity to re-affirm the inherent strength and resilience of our nation to withstand the actual and potential threats to the unity, integrity and security of our country.
All the Government Offices, Public Sector Undertakings and other Public Institutions will arrange a pledge taking ceremony to observe the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has been requested to issue suitable instructions that the students of Schools and Colleges may be administered the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Pledge to motivate them to strive to maintain the unity and integrity of the country.
All Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and all the State Governments/Administrators of all the Union Territories have been requested to organize appropriate programmes on the occasion in a befitting manner, including the ‘Pledge-taking Ceremony’, ‘Run for Unity’ involving people from all sections of society, March-Past in the evening by the Police, the Central Armed Police Forces and other organizations like the National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS), Scouts and Guides, Home Guards etc.
Sources: PIB.
MEA to oversee foreign investments in States
Aiming to streamline foreign infrastructure investment, the government has announced a new division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), appointing a joint secretary for “Centre-State” relations.
The new post will increase engagement between the MEA and State governments to coordinate State delegations visiting abroad, passport issues and political clearances, as well as to set up a database of State-level tie-ups and work on sister cities.
With more foreign dignitaries expressing their desire to visit cities other than Delhi, the special section will also coordinate visits to Tier Two cities. However, the new division will not deal with policy disagreements of the kind seen between the Centre and Tamil Nadu over Sri Lanka and with West Bengal over the Teesta accord with Bangladesh.
The move had followed several complaints from other countries on the lack of coordination between State governments and the Centre. In one such case in August, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India had written to the government, seeking “urgent intervention” to help iron out differences in commitments by the Centre that were not implemented by the States on major projects such as the Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial corridor, for which Japan had committed $100 billion in 2009.
Sources: The Hindu.
India signs up for China’s Asian bank
India signed a memorandum of understanding, along with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal and others, as the founding member of the AIIB.
With an initial subscribed capital of $50 billion, the setting up of the Beijing-headquartered AIIB has been welcomed by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. However, the U.S. has expressed concerns over the bank’s ambiguous nature and lack of transparency. China led 21 Asian nations, including India, in forming a multilateral financial front in the form of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), being seen as a challenger to the U.S.-backed Bretton Woods institutions.
The 21-nation group comprises Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
It is being called as a very positive development in the sense that it opens up more borrowing opportunities. However, not everyone was optimistic about India’s potential gains from multilateral financial partnership.
Sources: The Hindu
Kolkata girl bags Panda award
Ashwika Kapur of Kolkata won the prestigious Panda Award, as part of the annual Wildscreen Film Festival held at Bristol, U.K. She is the first Indian woman to win the coveted wildlife photography award for her film on a Kakapo parrot.
Ms. Kapur’s film “Sirocco — how a dud became a stud” is based on Sirocco, a Kakapo parrot, which is perhaps the only bird to have bagged a government job.
The male bird was appointed as the Official Spokesbird for Conservation in New Zealand and it helps in conservation advocacy on social media.
Kakapo parrot:
The Kakapo parrot, a nocturnal and flightless species of the parrot, is classified as a critically endangered species since 2012 on the IUCN Red List.
The bird, found in New Zealand, is known to be one of the longest-living birds and its known population is 125. Over 14,000 people from 162 countries voted the Kakapo the world’s favourite species in 2013. INSIGHTS - Simplifying UPSC IAS Exam Preparation insightsonindia.com http://insightsonindia.com/2014/10/28/insights-current-events-27-october-2014/
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 27 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Commemorative Postage Stamp on Anagarika Dharmapala
Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications & IT has brought out a Commemorating Postage Stamp on Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala, the great Buddhist thinker and visionary from Sri Lanka.
The release of the commemorative postage stamp on Anagarika Dharmapala is expected to contribute towards further strengthening the bilateral ties between India and Sri Lanka and bring the two nations closer.
Anagarika Dharmapala
He was one of the founding contributors of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism and was also a pioneer in the revival of Buddhism in India. He not only embraced Buddhism but also lent it Sinhalese nationalist character. He waged a protracted struggle to protect and conserve the foundations of Buddhism in its place of birth, India.
He joined the Theosophical Society and spearheaded the reform and revival of Ceylonese Buddhism and it’s propagation. He later entered the order of Buddhist monks as Venerable Sri Devamitta Dharmapala and is considered a Bodhisattva in Sri Lanka. He was ordained a bhikkhu at Sarnath in 1933 and he died there in December of the same year.
In 1891, Anagarika Dharmapala went on a pilgrimage to the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha had attained enlightenment. He decided to work towards restoring it’s glory. Accordingly, the Maha Bodhi Society at Colombo was founded in 1891 and one of its primary aims was the restoration to Buddhist control of the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya.
Many people remember Anagarika Dharmapala for his religious zeal. But there was another aspect to this towering figure – his practical vision regarding the alleviation of poverty. The voice of Anagarika Dharmapala was also a significant factor in Ceylon’s historical struggle for freedom from the British Raj. He spoke of the importance of a firm educational and economic foundation if the struggle for freedom was to succeed. He also concentrated on establishing schools and hospitals in his country. He had a vision of a newly emerging Ceylon, which could effectively link up with other countries and forge ahead.
In 1893 Dharmapala was invited to attend the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago as a representative of “Southern Buddhism” – which was the term applied at that time to the Theravada. There he met Swami Vivekananda and like him, he was also a great success at the Parliament.
Sources: PIB.
India off Fragile Five list
Among emerging markets and BRICS countries, India stands out for accomplishing the sharpest turnaround in its macro economy since the U.S. Federal Reserve started reversing its zero-interest rates monetary policy. As a result, of all these economies, India is best prepared to deal with the Fed’s monetary policy actions.
The IMF had raised its 2014 India growth forecast to 5.6 per cent as against its 5.4 per cent in April projection while cutting its world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth projection to 3.3 per cent.
The Fed’s initiation of the tapering of its monetary policy triggered sharp volatility in the rupee and a spike in the current account deficit. The CAD is down from the level of 4.7 per cent of the GDP to 1.7 per cent of GDP. Substantial dollar inflows have led to India’s foreign exchange reserves rising from $270 billion in August to $315 billion.
Fragile five:
Fragile Five is a term coined in August of 2013 by a research analyst at Morgan Stanley to represent emerging market economies that have become too dependent on unreliable foreign investment to finance their growth ambitions.
Members of the Fragile Five are:
Turkey Brazil India South Africa Indonesia
The Fragile Five came into focus in 2013 and 2014 as emerging market economies that relied on foreign investments to cover current account deficits and finance growth began to see capital outflows as a result of improvements in developed economies.
Sources: The Hindu.
New law proposed for small factories
The Labour Ministry has proposed the Small Factories (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Bill to govern wages and conditions of work in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The Bill envisages rules for wages, overtime hours, social security and appointment of factory inspectors in units employing fewer than 40 workers.
The new Bill has been proposed to align the work conditions in the SMEs with the Factories Act amendments and allow enterprises to file compliance forms online as the government announced earlier this month.
There was a demand from the SME sector for a separate Act to govern them. In line with that, this Act will reduce the number of forms required for compliance with rules. It will allow the SMEs to employ women in night shifts based on the fulfilment of certain conditions. It will change the inspection system to one based on self-certification and inspections based on computer lots as announced by the government earlier this month.
The Bill builds on the Labour Laws (Exemption from Furnishing Returns and Maintaining Registers by Certain Establishments) Amendment Bill, 2011, which increases the number of laws under which units will be exempt from maintaining registers and filings returns. The Factories Act (Amendment) Bill is for allowing the States to raise the minimum number of workers employed to 20 where power was used and 40 for others, from 10 and 20, respectively. Based on the suggestions in a June 2011 report by an expert committee under former Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav, the Bill removes prohibitions on women working on certain machines in motion and near cotton openers and allows the State governments to make rules allowing women to work night shifts in factories upon fulfilling certain conditions. It doubled the permissible overtime hours from 50 hours in one quarter to 100 hours and from 75 hours to 125 hours in certain cases.
The Small Factories Bill will bring the SMEs, which account for over 30 per cent of industrial production, in line with the amendments to the Factories Act.
Sources: The Hindu.
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill
The Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008, with a view to amend the Insurance Act 1938, the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on the 22nd December, 2008.
In India, insurance companies are not permitted to have foreign holding of more than 26%. This Bill raises the limit to 49% and allows entry of foreign re-insurers (companies that insure insurance companies). It also provides for permanent registration of insurance companies. It permits the holder of a life insurance policy to name the beneficiary.
These amendments in the bill are aimed at removing archaic and redundant provisions in the legislations and incorporating certain provisions to provide Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA) with flexibility to discharge its functions effectively and efficiently. The overall objective is to further deepen the reform process which is already underway in the insurance sector.
With foreign participants playing a bigger role, there will be more variety in products and more professionalism in selling these. With more competition, mis-selling will reduce. Simplifying the norms for expansion of re-insurance companies will also help penetration.
The Bill seeks to amend clause 45 to the effect that no claim can be repudiated (rejected) after three years of the policy issuance under any circumstances. With the aim to reduce the dependence on agents the Bill seeks to have more channels for distribution, in addition to the existing ones such as agents and bancassurance.
The Bill proposes to give insurance companies the freedom to collect premiums in instalments for more products. Currently, general insurance companies can collect premiums in the form of instalments only in health insurance. But if they are given the freedom to collect premiums for products like motor and fire, this will help them in product diversification and also give flexibility to customers.
To strengthen redressal of policyholders’ complaints, the Bill proposes an independent grievance redressal authority, with powers similar to a civil court. The authority should be composed of judicial and technical members. The current ombudsman scheme is held to be insufficient to tackle the large number of complaints against companies. The Bill also stresses on technology to increase electronic issuance of policies. This will help improve claims payout. Since electronic issuance and dematerialising of policies can facilitate data sharing between companies, any cases of fraud can be detected faster.
As an added precaution to prevent mis-selling, the Bill proposes that insurance companies not pay any agent commission in excess of what is prescribed in the regulation. Currently there are cases where companies reward agents through gifts such as cars or foreign trips. In the absence of such incentives, there are less of chances that agents would try and push policies that are not suited for customers.
Other provisions in the Bill:
The Bill allows foreign investors to hold up to 49% of the capital in an Indian insurance company. It allows for nationalised general insurance companies to raise funds from the capital markets. Companies or co-operative societies in the life or general insurance business must have a minimum equity capital of Rs 100 crore, while those in health insurance must have a minimum equity capital of Rs 50 crore. An insurer cannot challenge a life insurance policy for any reason, after a period of five years. Insurers who fail to meet their obligations with respect to underwriting third party motor insurance, or underwriting policies in rural and social sectors or with vulnerable sections, face a fine of Rs 25 crore. The Bill provides for appeals against decisions by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority to lie with the Securities Appellate Tribunal set up under the SEBI Act, 1992.
Sources: www.business-standard.com/, prsindia.org.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 28 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
World Bank predicts 5.6 % growth
A World Bank report, released recently, said that India’s GDP is likely to expand at 5.6 per cent this fiscal as reforms gain momentum and the growth is expected to accelerate as proposed measures such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will give a boost to the manufacturing sector. In the following years, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth is likely to rise further to 6.4 per cent and 7 per cent in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively.
Other important observations made:
India’s growth is likely to accelerate towards its high long-run potential and implementation of the GST as well as dismantling of inter-State check posts can significantly improve the global competitiveness of Indian manufacturing firms. Implementing the GST will transform India into a common market, eliminate inefficient tax cascading, and go a long way in boosting the manufacturing sector. The transformational impact of reform, particularly if enhanced by a systematic dismantling of inter-State check posts, can dramatically boost competitiveness and help offset both domestic and external risks to the outlook. With economic reforms gaining momentum, long-term prospects for growth remain bright for India. To realise its full potential, India needs to continue making progress on its domestic reforms agenda and encourage investments. The government’s efforts at improving the performance of the manufacturing sector will lead to more jobs for young Indian women and men. The Growth has rebounded significantly due to a strong industrial recovery. Capital flows are back, signalling growing investor confidence as inflation has moderated from double digits, exchange rate has stabilised and financial sector stress has plateaued. Long-term growth potential in India remains high on favourable demographics, high savings and recent policy and efforts to improve skills and education. Improved growth prospects in the U.S. will support India s merchandise and services exports, while stronger remittance inflows and declining oil prices are expected to support domestic demand.
The projections may face risks from external shocks, such as financial market disruptions on the back of monetary policy changes in high income countries, slower global growth, higher oil prices, and adverse investor sentiment on geo-political tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
In the domestic front energy supply, fiscal pressures from weak revenue collection in short term can pose challenges. However, risks could be mitigated to a large extent by focusing on reforms that help the manufacturing sector.
Sources: The Hindu.
CCI directs CIL to desist from unfair business ways In a directive against Coal India for abusing its dominant position, the Competition Commission of India asked the state-owned miner to cease and desist from unfair business practices.
About CCI:
Competition Commission of India is a body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition in India. It was established on 14 October 2003. It became fully functional in May 2009.
The objectives of the Act are sought to be achieved through the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government. It is the duty of the Commission to eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India. The Commission is also required to give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
The Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws. The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and Merger and acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
To achieve its objectives, the Competition Commission of India endeavours to do the following:
Make the markets work for the benefit and welfare of consumers. Ensure fair and healthy competition in economic activities in the country for faster and inclusive growth and development of economy. Implement competition policies with an aim to effectuate the most efficient utilization of economic resources. Develop and nurture effective relations and interactions with sectoral regulators to ensure smooth alignment of sectoral regulatory laws in tandem with the competition law. Effectively carry out competition advocacy and spread the information on benefits of competition among all stakeholders to establish and nurture competition culture in Indian economy.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.cci.gov.in/.
Project 75I
Recently, a decision was taken by the Defence Minister relating to build six state-of-the-art submarines for the navy under Project 75I.
About Project 75I:
Under Project 75I India will purchase 6 next generation diesel submarines with Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP) technology for the Indian Navy by 2022.
Conventional diesel-electric submarines have to surface every few days to get oxygen to recharge their batteries. With AIP systems, they can stay submerged for much longer periods.
Project 75-I will have both vertical launched BrahMos for the sea & land targets and tube-launched torpedoes for anti-submarine warfare. The new Project 75-I submarines are huge in value, estimated at around $10 billion-plus, depending upon the offsets and transfer of technology (ToT). The defense offsets policy mandates a minimum investment of 30 per cent to be put back in a related defence industrial venture in India. Acceptance of Necessity for acquisition of six submarines under Project-75(I) has been accorded by the Defence Acquisition Council in August 2010. The case is being progressed in accordance with the Defence Procurement Procedure.
The Indian navy requested information from firms who had independently designed and constructed a complete modern conventional submarine which is currently in service / undergoing sea trials. The submarine should be capable of operating in open ocean and littoral / shallow waters in dense environment and able to undertake following missions:-
anti surface and anti submarine warfare. supporting operations ashore. ISR missions. special force and mining ops.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.globalsecurity.org/.
Govt chalks out plans for massive solar power push
With Prime Minister asking the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) to prepare an action plan by November first week, India is about to witness a massive scaling up of solar power capacity to 100,000 Mw.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s election manifesto had promised a considerable push to clean energy.
The target is five times the target designated under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), one of the key programmes of the earlier United Progressive Alliance government. Large solar projects similar to coal- based ultra mega power projects, solar parks, micro grids and solar rooftops – all would be a part of the project.
The cost of gas-based power plants has gone up and with coal looking at fresh auctions; thermal power prices would also go up. The current price of solar power production is Rs 6.5 crore per Mw. So, with a viability gap funding (VGF) support of Rs 1 crore per Mw, solar is looking at parity with coal very soon. The government, though, would look at all possible models – VGF, power bundling, state support – according to size and type of project.
The ministry is also setting up a single-window clearance agency to promote investment in solar power.
Following the directions from the Minister of State for Coal, Power and Renewable Energy, the ministry of new and renewable energy is also approaching top 500 private companies and 50 public sector companies, to sign commitment for developing solar power and set a trend for the sector.
About Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission:
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (also known as the National Solar Mission) is a major initiative of the Government of India and State Governments to promote ecologically sustainable growth while addressing India’s energy security challenges. It will also constitute a major contribution by India to the global effort to meet the challenges of climate change.
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission was launched on the 11th January, 2010 by the Prime Minister. The Mission has set the ambitious target of deploying 20,000 MW of grid connected solar power by 2022 and is aimed at reducing the cost of solar power generation in the country through
long term policy; large scale deployment goals; aggressive R&D; and Domestic production of critical raw materials, components and products, as a result to achieve grid tariff parity by 2022.
Mission will create an enabling policy framework to achieve this objective and make India a global leader in solar energy.
The objective of the National Solar Mission is to establish India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating the policy conditions for its diffusion across the country as quickly as possible. The immediate aim of the Mission is to focus on setting up an enabling environment for solar technology penetration in the country both at a centralized and decentralized level.
The Mission under the aegis of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will adopt a 3-phase approach, spanning the remaining period of the 11th Plan and first year of the 12th Plan (up to 2012-13) as Phase 1, the remaining 4 years of the 12th Plan (2013–17) as Phase 2 and the 13th Plan (2017–22) as Phase 3. At the end of each plan, and mid-term during the 12th and 13th Plans, there will be an evaluation of progress, review of capacity and targets for subsequent phases, based on emerging cost and technology trends, both domestic and global. The aim would be to protect Government from subsidy exposure in case expected cost reduction does not materialize or is more rapid than expected.
Sources: www.business-standard.com/ ,www.mnre.gov.in/.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 29 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
Bangalore Railway Station Becomes the First Station in the Country to Have Wifi Facility
The Indian Railways has successfully implemented Wi-Fi facility in Bangalore City Railway station for providing high speed internet to the passengers. “RailWire” – the retail Broadband distribution model of RailTel Corporation of India Ltd, a PSU of the Ministry of Railways, is the powering engine for distributing internet bandwidth through WiFi. The facility at Bangalore is taken up as a pilot project. The Minister of Railways recently inaugurated the facility and dedicated the service for passengers.
This service will be great help for the commuters at Bangalore City Railway station to stay connected and surf internet on the go. With the implementation of this service, Bangalore railway station becomes the first station in the country to have WiFi facility for passengers.
RailTel has been mandated by Railways to provide Wi-Fi facility at A1 & A category stations and Bangalore is the first such stations being taken up this facility by RailTel as a pilot. The facility has been created by RailTel with a Gigabit Ethernet network using Optic Fibre in a ring.
RailTel Corporation a “Mini Ratna (Category-I)” PSU is the largest neutral telecom services providers in the country owning a Pan-India optic fiber network covering all important towns & cities of the country and several rural areas covering 70% of India’s population. RailTel is in the forefront in providing nationwide Broadband Telecom & Multimedia Network in all parts of the country in addition to modernization of Train operations and administration network systems for Indian Railways. With its Pan India high capacity network, RailTel is working towards creating a knowledge society at various fronts and has been selected for implementation of various.
Sources: PIB.
Celiac Disease Diagnostics Kits launched commercially
Minister for Science and Technology, Government of India, launched Diagnostic kits for Celiac Disease. These kits have been developed through a collaborative, multi-institutional, inter-disciplinary approach funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.
Celiac Microlisa is useful for centralized diagnostic laboratories with adequate infrastructure where large number of samples could be handled. The Celiac Cardcan be used by smaller hospitals and clinicswhich lack adequate facilities.
The newly launched diagnostic kits are expected to cater to the need for accurate identification of Celiac Disease in Indian population. These indigenous kits are rapid, sensitive, specific and would be much cheaper as compared to the imported kits.
Celiac Disease: Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that can occur in genetically predisposed people where the ingestion of gluten leads to damage in the small intestine. It is estimated to affect 1 in 100 people worldwide. Two and one-half million Americans are undiagnosed and are at risk for long-term health complications.
The disease is a lifelong digestive and auto-immune disorder that results in damage to the lining of the small intestine when foods with gluten such as wheat, rye, barley and oats are eaten. The affected individuals display symptoms like prolonged diarrhea, abdominal, fullness and anemia, owing to decreased absorption of nutrients by the intestine.
When people with celiac disease eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley), their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks lead to damage on the villi, small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, that promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body.
Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning that it runs in families. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease.
Currently, the only treatment for celiac disease is lifelong adherence to a strict gluten-free diet. People living gluten-free must avoid foods with wheat, rye and barley, such as bread and beer. Ingesting small amounts of gluten, like crumbs from a cutting board or toaster, can trigger small intestine damage.
Sources: PIB, celiac.org/.
Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana
Centre has launched Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY) for welfare of Tribals. The scheme was launched on the occasion of the meeting of the Tribal Welfare Ministers of States/UTs. The scheme is aimed at improving the infrastructure and human development indices of the tribal population.
The scheme been launched on pilot basis in one block each of the States of AP, MP, HP, Telangana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Under the scheme centre will provide Rs. 10 crore for each block for the development of various facilities for the Tribals. These blocks have been selected on the recommendations of the concerned States and have very low literacy rate.
This scheme mainly focuses on bridging infrastructural gaps and gap in human development indices between Schedule tribes and other social groups. VKY also envisages to focus on convergence of different schemes of development of Central Ministries/Departments and State Governments with outcome oriented approach. Initially the blocks having at least 33% of tribal population in comparison to total population of the block will be targeted.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has taken up initiatives for strengthening of existing institutions meant for delivery of goods and services to tribal people i.e Integrated Tribal Development Agencies /Integrated Development Project and creation of new ones wherever necessary. Specific funds are allocated to the State Governments for this purpose to be utilized judiciously with a view to build the institutional mechanism more robust by way of strengthening these institutions.
Under the scheme maximum selling price for Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is being implemented in schedule V States initially. A web based portal has also been developed which indicate current price of MFPs on real time basis across different mandis of the States. 12 MFP products have been included in the programme namely (i) Tendu Leave (ii) Bamboo (iii) Mahuwa Seeds (iv) Sal Leaf (v) Sal Seed (vi) Lac (vii) Chironjee (viii) Wild Honey (ix) Myrobalan (x) Tamarind (xi) Gums (Gum Karaya) and (xii) Karanji.
Sources: PIB.
It will take 81 years for gender parity at workplace, says WEF report
The annual gender survey of the World Economic Forum shows that India, which ranks low on narrowing the gender gap in education, health and equal pay for equal work, has, however, taken a high position on the political empowerment sub-index.
Placing India at 114 out of 142 countries vis-à-vis removing gender-based disparities, the survey puts the country at number 15 on the scorecard for political empowerment. India also tops the list of countries on the years with woman head of state (over the past 50 years). While it fell 13 places to 114th slot, politically it is ranked higher than the United States and the United Kingdom. It ranks 111 on the list of countries which have women in Parliament and 107 on the list of countries with women ministers.
Other observations made:
India experienced a drop [in absolute and relative value] on the health and survival sub-index compared with 2006, mainly due to a decrease in the female-to-male sex ratio at birth. In 2014, it also performed below average on the Economic Participation and Opportunity and Educational Attainment sub-indexes On economic participation and opportunity, India ranks 134, while on educational attainment it ranks 126. But on the health and survival parameter India’s rank is among the lowest at 142. Owing to its low sex ratio at birth India slumps to 114th position overall, which makes it the lowest-ranked BRICS nation and one of the few countries where female labour force participation is shrinking. Pointing out that it will take 81 years for gender parity at the workplace, the report shows Nordic nations dominate the Global Gender Gap Index in 2014. On average, in 2014, over 96 per cent of the gap in health outcomes, 94 per cent of the gap in educational attainment, 60 per cent of the gap in economic participation and 21 per cent of the gap in political empowerment has been closed. No country in the world has achieved gender equality.
The index was first introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 as a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities and tracking their progress. The index benchmarks national gender gaps on economic, political, education and health criteria.
Sources: The Hindu.
Campaign to highlight violations of RTE Act
Several NGOs are set to launch a 150-day campaign to highlight violations of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The campaign organised by the RTE Forum involves 10,000 NGOs across 18 States.
It is being observed that more than 10,000 schools are not implementing the Act and there was a shortage of 1.2 million teachers. Ten per cent of the schools have only one teacher and more than one lakh schools have been shut after the passage of the Act in 2009.
The campaign is expected to take place from November 1 to March 31, 2015 — which is the deadline for complete implementation of the Act.
RTE Act:
The Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002 inserted Article 21-A in the Constitution of India to provide free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right in such a manner as the State may, by law, determine. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, which represents the consequential legislation envisaged under Article 21-A, means that every child has a right to full time elementary education of satisfactory and equitable quality in a formal school which satisfies certain essential norms and standards. Article 21-A and the RTE Act came into effect on 1 April 2010.
With this, India has moved forward to a rights based framework that casts a legal obligation on the Central and State Governments to implement this fundamental child right as enshrined in the Article 21A of the Constitution, in accordance with the provisions of the RTE Act.
The RTE Act provides for the:
Right of children to free and compulsory education till completion of elementary education in a neighbourhood school. It clarifies that ‘compulsory education’ means obligation of the appropriate government to provide free elementary education and ensure compulsory admission, attendance and completion of elementary education to every child in the six to fourteen age group. ‘Free’ means that no child shall be liable to pay any kind of fee or charges or expenses which may prevent him or her from pursuing and completing elementary education. It makes provisions for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age appropriate class. It specifies the duties and responsibilities of appropriate Governments, local authority and parents in providing free and compulsory education, and sharing of financial and other responsibilities between the Central and State Governments. It lays down the norms and standards relating inter alia to Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school-working days, teacher-working hours. It provides for rational deployment of teachers by ensuring that the specified pupil teacher ratio is maintained for each school, rather than just as an average for the State or District or Block, thus ensuring that there is no urban-rural imbalance in teacher postings. It also provides for prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-educational work, other than decennial census, elections to local authority, state legislatures and parliament, and disaster relief. It provides for appointment of appropriately trained teachers, i.e. teachers with the requisite entry and academic qualifications. It prohibits (a) physical punishment and mental harassment; (b) screening procedures for admission of children; (c) capitation fee; (d) private tuition by teachers and (e) running of schools without recognition, It provides for development of curriculum in consonance with the values enshrined in the Constitution, and which would ensure the all-round development of the child, building on the child’s knowledge, potentiality and talent and making the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety through a system of child friendly and child centred learning.
Sources: The Hindu, http://mhrd.gov.in/.
Global warming has doubled risk of harsh winters in Eurasia: report
According to new research, the risk of severe winters in Europe and northern Asia has been doubled by global warming. The counter-intuitive finding is the result of climate change melting the Arctic ice cap and causing new wind patterns that push freezing air and snow southwards. Severe winters over the last decade have been associated with those years in which the melting of Arctic sea ice was greatest.
The new work is the most comprehensive computer modelling study to date and indicates the frozen winters are being caused by climate change, not simply by natural variations in weather.
Climate change is heating the Arctic much faster than lower latitudes and the discovery that the chances of severe winters has already doubled shows that the impacts of global warming are not only a future threat. Melting Arctic ice has also been implicated in recent wet summers in the UK.
The research also shows that the increased risk of icy winters will persist for the next few decades. But beyond that continued global warming overwhelms the colder winter weather.
The Arctic is expected to be ice-free in late summer by the 2030s, halting the changes to wind patterns, while climate change will continue to increase average temperatures.
Climate scientists have warned for many years that global warming is not simply leading to a slow, gradual rise in temperature. Instead, it is putting more energy into the climate system which drives more frequent extreme events.
Sources: The Hindu.
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INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 30 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
The Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2013
The Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2013 has been re-referred by the Speaker, Lok Sabha to the Departmentally Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development for examination and report.
The Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2013 seeks to amend the Registration Act, 1908. It inter alia provides for compulsory registration for the leases of immovable property for any term, registration of immovable property only in the State in which it is actually located.
Provisions in the Bill:
Under the Act it is not compulsory to register immovable property that is leased for less than one year. The Bill makes registration compulsory, irrespective of the term of the lease of the immovable property, that is, even property that is leased for less than one year must be registered. It provides that wills, authority to adopt by a will and any documents notified by the state government may be registered by the concerned parties. The Bill prohibits registration in certain cases, specifically relating to transactions which (a) are prohibited by any central or state act; (b) entail transfer of property owned by the central and state governments or by any person who is not statutorily empowered to do so; (c) entail transfer of property which is attached permanently by a competent authority; and (d) may adversely affect accrued interest in immovable properties of the central, state and local governments and educational, cultural, religious and charitable institutions. It specifies that immovable property can only be registered in the state within which it is located. Any person presenting a document at the registration office must affix a passport size colour photograph, get photographed by a digital camera and affix their thumb impression on the document. The Bill makes new provisions relating to the recovery of inadequate payment of registration fee and refund in case the fee paid is in excess of what is legally payable. Amendments have been proposed as a result of the rapid computerisation of land records in the country. For example, the Bill includes provisions for enclosing scanned copies of documents in certain cases. All banks and financial institutions that grant loans on the basis of equitable mortgage may send an e-copy of the same to the registering officer under whose jurisdiction the property to be mortgaged is situated.
Sources: PIB, prsindia.org.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of oil and gas between India and Mozambique The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister gave its approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of oil and gas between India and Mozambique for a period of five years.
Offshore gas discoveries in 2010 in two adjacent offshore blocks have seen the emergence of Mozambique as a significant hydrocarbon rich nation. Mozambique is strategically located near India and is ideally suited for bringing natural gas to India at market determined price. Participation of Indian energy companies in the project will facilitate access to LNG for the growing Indian gas market.
The MoU seeks cooperation in the areas of upstream and downstream oil and gas sector; encourage and promote trade and investment between the parties or through their affiliated companies; promote dialogue and consultations among all concerned parties with regard to sharing of information; enhance capacity-building, including forging closer cooperation between research and training centres and intensifying technology transfer, conduct of applied research and development activities and installation of demonstration facilities.
Sources: PIB, Wiki.
Union Home Minister reviews the citizenship issue of Goans
The issue of dual citizenship, being faced by nearly 50,000 Goans, is likely to be settled soon with Home Minister issuing an order to find a lasting solution to it at the earliest.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister of Goa briefed the participants on the present situation and requested them to resolve the issue. The issue was discussed in detail by all participants. The Home Minister asked the Home Secretary to find out an amicable solution at the earliest to resolve the citizenship issue being faced by thousands of Goans.
The Union Home Ministry via a notification dated March 28, 1962, had notified the Goa, Daman and Diu (Citizenship) Order, 1962, under Section 7 of the Citizenship Act 1955, which ensured that every person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents was born before December 20, 1961, in the then Union Territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, shall be deemed to have become citizens of India on that day, except where any such person had made a declaration in writing within one month that he had chosen to retain the citizenship which he had immediately before December 20, 1961.
Many people in Goa have registered their names in the Portuguese birth registry, a facility they were offered by Portugal as citizens of their erstwhile colony, to get access to the European Union in pursuit of better career and economic prospects.
Sources: PIB, www.business-standard.com/.
India and Oman Sign Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement
The Union Home Minister and the Minister of Commerce & Industry, Sultanate of Oman signed ‘Agreement on Legal and Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters’ between the two countries.
The Agreement provides for substantial engagement in the areas of pursuing and eliminating transnational crimes and terrorism in its different forms.
The Memorandum of Agreement also contains provisions for transfer of documents, records and objects, search and seizure, availability of persons to give evidence and assist in investigation. The Agreement will also be a deterrent to those who directly or indirectly obtain benefit from proceeds of crime.
India and Oman enjoy friendly bilateral relations based on strong foundation of mutual trust and respect and people to people linkages. Oman is an important trading partner of India in the Gulf region with bilateral trade exceeding US$ 5.70 billion in 2013-14. The contribution of over 700,000 strong Indian community in the progress and development of Oman is well acknowledged and appreciated.
Sources: PIB.
Ratification of the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur supplementary protocol on liability and redress to the Cartagena protocol on biosafety by India
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister gave its approval for ratifying the `Nagoya-KualaLumpur supplementary protocol on liability and redress to the Cartagena protocol on bio-safety` by India.
The proposed approach provides for an international regulatory framework in the field of liability and redress related to living modified organisms that reconciles trade and environment protection. The Supplementary Protocol would promote sound application of biotechnology making it possible to accrue benefits arising from modern biotechnology while minimizing the risk to the environment and human health.
The proposal will protect the interests of all Indians without distinction or differentiation.
The proposal is based on the principles of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, both internationally negotiated and binding legal instruments. It will promote innovation in agricultural and healthcare research and development that is safe for the environment and human beings.
About the Protocol:
The Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress is a supplementary protocol to the Cartagena protocol on Biosafety. After several years of negotiations, the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety adopted the Supplementary Protocol on 15 October 2010, in Nagoya, Japan.
The Supplementary Protocol aims to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity by providing international rules and procedures for liability and redress in the event of damage resulting from living modified organisms (LMOs).
The Supplementary Protocol fulfils the commitment set forth in Article 27 of the Cartagena Protocol to elaborate international rules and procedures on liability and redress for damage to biodiversity resulting from transboundary movements of LMOs. It is also inspired by Principle 13 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development which calls on States to “cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to develop further international law regarding liability and compensation for adverse effects of environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control”.
The Supplementary Protocol takes an ‘administrative approach’ whereby response measures are required of the operator (person or entity in control of the LMO) or the competent authority if the operator is unable to take response measures. This would cover situations where event of damage to biological diversity has already occurred, or when there is a sufficient likelihood that damage will result if timely response measures are not taken.
However, countries can still provide for civil liability in their domestic law and the first review of the Supplementary Protocol (five years after its entry into force) will assess the effectiveness of domestic civil liability regimes. This could trigger further work on an international civil liability regime.
The Supplementary Protocol is the second liability and redress treaty to be concluded in the context of multilateral environmental agreements next to the 1999 Protocol on Liability and Compensation to the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes.
Sources: PIB, http://www.gmo.hr/.
Two-thirds of prison inmates are undertrials
New official data show that two of every three persons incarcerated in India have not yet been convicted of any crime, and Muslims are over-represented among such undertrials. Despite repeated Supreme Court orders on the rights of undertrials, the jails are filling ever faster with them, shows Prisons Statistics for 2013 released by the National Crime Records Bureau. The number of convicts grew by 1.4 per cent from 2012 to 2013, but the number of undertrials shot up by 9.3 per cent during the period.
Men make up 96 per cent of all prison inmates. Nearly 2,000 children of women inmates live behind bars, 80 per cent of those women being undertrials.
A sharp increase in the number of undertrials charged with crimes against women contributes to the rise in the number of all undertrials. The number of those incarcerated on charges of rape rose by over 30 per cent from 2012 to 2013, and the number facing charges of molestation grew by over 50 per cent. The number of men convicted of rape rose dramatically too, by 16 per cent — the biggest increase among major sections of the Indian Penal Code.
Undertrials are younger than convicts — nearly half are under the age of 30 and over 70 per cent have not completed school. Muslims form 21 per cent of them. On the other hand, 17 per cent of those convicted are Muslims.
These numbers point to a failure of the delivery of justice, and it also appears that the system is unequally unjust. The disproportionate presence of members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Muslims among undertrials points not simply to a technical breakdown but also to the increased vulnerability of these groups.
Among the 2.8 lakh undertrials, over 3,000 have been behind bars for over five years. Between them, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are home to 1,500 of those undertrials. Most undertrials — 60 per cent of them — have, however, been behind bars for less than six months. While most States have a little over twice as many undertrials as convicts, Bihar has a staggering six times as many.
The NCRB numbers also provide the only insight available into the number of people on death row; at the end of 2013, 382 persons had been sentenced to death and were awaiting either legal relief or the execution of sentence.
Sources: The Hindu.
7 new frog species reported from Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
A team of researchers from India and Sri Lanka has discovered seven new species of Golden-backed frogs in the Western Ghats- Sri Lanka global biodiversity hot spot, throwing new light on the highly-distinct and diverse fauna in the two countries.
The results show that the frogs in Sri Lanka and those in India belong to distinctly different species. It was earlier believed that some of the Golden-backed frogs ( Genus Hylarana ) found in the two countries were of the same species.
The team, led by Delhi University’s Prof used DNA techniques and morphological evidence as tools to identify species and understand the frogs’ distribution.
The survey yielded 14 distinct Golden-backed frogs, with seven new species, including one ( Hylarana serendipi ) from Sri Lanka. Of the six new species from the Western Ghats, four ( H. doni, H.urbis, H.magna and H sreeni ) are found in Kerala and one each in Karnataka ( H. indica ) and Maharashtra ( H.caesari ). The distribution pattern of the species highlights the need to reassess the conservation status of the amphibians and work out separate conservation strategies.
The study also indicates that frogs in the region are under threat due to habitat destruction. Interestingly, one of the newly-named species, Hylarana urbis , had remained unnoticed though its habitat is in urban areas in and around Kochi and is under threat due to human activity.
Globally, Golden-backed frogs are one of the most widely-distributed group of frogs. Their distribution extends across Africa, Asia and Australia.
The land bridge connection between the Indian subcontinent and the island of Sri Lanka that existed 50,000 years ago led to the assumption that two Golden-backed frog species ( Hylarana aurantiaca and H temporalis ) were common to both the countries.
At present, there are nearly 200 known amphibian species in the Western Ghats, of which 100 were discovered only in the last 15 years.
Sources: The Hindu.
India slips further in ease of business ranking
India ranked 142 among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” report released recently, a drop by two places from the last year’s ranking, as Singapore topped the list.
The fall in ranking from last year’s 140 is mainly because other nations performed much better, Bank officials said. India’s ranking originally stood at 134 last year, but was adjusted to 140 to account for fresh data.
In the 2014 report, India had 52.78 points and this year it scored 53.97 points.
The latest ranking, however, does not take into account a slew of measures taken by the New government to make India a business friendly destination.
Appreciative of the steps taken by the new government, World Bank officials said that there was a very high likelihood of India significantly jumping up the ladder in the next report.
Sources: The Hindu.
Conditional nod from WHO for new drug to treat MDR TB
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed a new drug to stem the global spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, but has cautioned that its use must follow a set of guidelines issued by it.
Pointing out that since information about this new drug, Delamanid, remains limited, as it has only been through Phase IIb trial [the phase specifically designed to study efficacy — how well the drug works at the prescribed dosage] and studies for safety and efficacy, the WHO has issued interim policy guidance that lists five conditions that must be in place if the new drug is used to for treatment of MDR-TB.
According to the WHO 4,80,000 people developed MDR-TB in the world in 2013 and more than half of these cases occurred in India, China and the Russian federation. Almost 84,000 patients with MDR-TB were notified to the WHO globally in 2012, up from 62,000 in 2011. The biggest increases were in India, South Africa and Ukraine. The new drug is being described as “a novel mechanism of action” for treatment of adults with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). (MDR-TB is TB that does not respond to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs.)
Delamanid has been granted conditional approval by the European Medicine Agency in April 2014 and can be used for the treatment of tuberculosis resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, the main first-line drugs.
The WHO has advocated “special caution” for the use of Delamanid in people aged 65 and over, in adults living with HIV, patients with diabetes, hepatic or severe renal impairment, or those who use alcohol or substances.
WHO has cautioned that “When Delamanid is included in treatment, all principles on which the WHO- recommended MDR-TB treatment regimens are based must be followed, particularly the inclusion of four effective second-line drugs as well as pyrazinamide. Delamanid should not be introduced alone into a regimen in which the companion drugs are failing to show effectiveness.”
Sources: The Hindu.
India third largest start-up ecosystem in world: Nasscom
India is the fastest growing and third largest start-up ecosystem in the world after the U.S. and the U.K., according to a Nasscom (National Association of Software and Services Companies) a study.
The study, India Start-up Report 2014, by Nasscom also says India is poised to see a rapid growth in the number of product start-up operational by 2020. At present, there are around 3,100 start-ups in India, and is expected to grow to 11,500 by the end of 2020, says the study.
The Indian start-up ecosystem is rapidly evolving driven by extremely young, diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. An additional driving force is a four-fold increase in access to capital through VCs, angel investment and seed funding for the Indian entrepreneurs.
Further, the study says the rapid growth in start-up will create an employment for around 250,000 people by 2020 as against the current 75,000.
The Nasscom study also states that in the last five years there were more than 70 VC/PE have investment worth over $2 billion in the domestic start-up ecosystem. According to Nasscom data, there were over 20 merger and acquisition deals worth $ 1billion in the last three years.
The presence of more than 80 business incubators and accelerators providing seed stage support to start-ups is also another major reason for the growth of start-ups in the country. Major cities such as Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai account for 90 per cent of the start-up activity.
Sources: The Hindu.
School of Planning and Architecture Bill, 2014
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister gave its approval to introduce the School of Planning and Architecture Bill, 2014 in the Parliament to bring all three Schools of Planning and Architecture(SPAs) within the ambit of the School of Planning and Architecture Bill, 2014. The Bill would adhere to Government policies on reservations from time to time. The proposed Act will empower these Schools to award degrees through an Act of Parliament.
This would enable the School of Planning and Architecture to become centres of excellence like IITs, NITs and help fulfil the need of the country for quality manpower in the field of architecture and planning.
All the money spent from public exchequer will be accounted for and audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Annual Report and Audited Accounts of each SPA will be placed before Parliament.
Sources: PIB.
INSIGHTS © 2014. All Rights Reserved. INSIGHTS - Simplifying UPSC IAS Exam Preparation insightsonindia.com http://insightsonindia.com/2014/10/31/insights-current-events-31-october-2014/
INSIGHTS CURRENT EVENTS: 31 OCTOBER 2014
By INSIGHTS
India tops new global slavery index
The Global Slavery Index 2013, which surveyed 162 nations, was compiled by Australia-based rights organisation Walk Free Foundation using a definition of modern slavery that includes debt bondage, forced marriage, trafficked into brothels and the use of children in the military.
The Foundation’s estimate of 29.8 million slaves worldwide is higher than other attempts to quantify modern slavery. The UN estimates almost 21 million people are victims of forced labour.
Important observations made by the Report:
According to the index, about 14 million Indians are living in conditions of modern-day slavery, nearly half of 30 million across the world. India (13,956,010), China (2,949,243), Pakistan (2,127,132) and Nigeria (701,032) have the highest numbers of people enslaved, the rights group claimed. Together with six other countries, they account for three-quarters of the total estimated number of people enslaved worldwide. India’s ranking was mostly due to the exploitation of Indians citizens within the country itself. It also noted that in India the risk of enslavement varies markedly from state to state. While the highest proportion of slaves is in Mauritania, with many people inheriting slave status from their ancestors, Haiti is second in the index, Pakistan third and India fourth.
The new index has the backing of noted personalities like former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, philanthropists Bill Gates and Richard Branson.
Sources: business-standard.
Infants to get free treatment till age one in Rajasthan
Extending the scope of the Janani Shishu Suraksha Yojana (JSSY) with an aim to bring down the infant mortality rate (IMR) in the State, the Rajasthan government has decided to provide free treatment to newborns till they complete one year. This will include diagnostics, medicine and free transportation facilities.
The scheme is applicable to all children born in public health facilities. The decision comes amidst reports of suspected diphtheria deaths in Alwar district over the past few days.
The JSSY, launched in 2011, provides free treatment for a mother and her newborn for up to one month in a public healthcare facility.
The move may also help Rajasthan achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) targets to bring down IMR from 49 deaths per 1,000 live births at present to 28 deaths by the end of 2015. Similarly, the under-five mortality rate that is currently 59 per 1,000 live births at present has to be brought down to 38. Diphtheria:
Diphtheria is a bacterial infection that affects the membranes of the throat and nose. Although it spreads easily, diphtheria can be prevented through the use of vaccines. If left untreated, diphtheria can cause severe damage to kidneys, nervous system, and heart.
Diphtheria is caused by the corynebacterium diphtheriae bacterium. It is most commonly spread through person- to-person contact or contact with items that have the bacteria on them. Coming into contact with items such as an infected person’s cup or used tissue can transfer the bacteria. The mist exhaled by an infected person’s sneeze or cough can also contain the bacteria. Diphtheria is an infectious disease spread by direct physical contact or breathing the aerosolized secretions of infected individuals.
With the use of antibiotics and vaccines, diphtheria is not only treatable, but preventable as well.
Signs of diphtheria often appear two to five days after infection. The most common and visible symptom is a thick, gray coating on throat and tonsils. Other common symptoms include:
difficulty breathing swollen lymph nodes in the neck chills fever a loud, barking cough bluish skin a sore throat drooling a general feeling of uneasiness or discomfort
Diphtheria of the skin usually presents as redness in the affected area and ulcers that may be covered with a gray membrane like the one found in the throat.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Government Announces Measures for Fiscal Prudence and Economy
Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure has been issuing austerity instructions from time to time with a view to containing non-developmental expenditure and releasing of additional resources for priority schemes. Such measures are intended at promoting fiscal discipline, without restricting the operational efficiency of the Government. In the context of the current fiscal situation, there is a need to continue to rationalise expenditure and optimize available resources. With the same objective, the following measures for fiscal prudence and economy have been announced:
Cut in Non-Plan expenditure:
For the year 2014-15, every Ministry / Department shall effect a mandatory 10% cut in non-Plan expenditure excluding interest payment, repayment of debt, Defence capital, salaries, pension and Finance Commission grants to the States. No re-appropriation of funds to augment the Non-Plan heads of expenditure on which cuts have been imposed shall be allowed during the current fiscal year.
Seminars and Conferences:
Utmost economy shall be observed in organizing conferences/Seminars/workshops. Only such conferences, workshops, seminars, etc. which are absolutely essential, should be held wherein also a 10% cut on budgetary allocations (whether Plan or Non-Plan) shall be effected. There will be a ban on holding of meetings and conferences at five star hotels except in case of bilateral/multilateral official engagements to be held at the level of Minister-in-Charge or Administrative Secretary, with foreign Governments or international bodies of which India is a Member. The Administrative Secretaries are advised to exercise utmost discretion in holding such meetings in 5-Star hotels keeping in mind the need to observe utmost economy in expenditure.
Purchase of vehicles:
Purchase of new vehicles to meet the operational requirement of Defence Forces, Central Paramilitary Forces & security related organizations are permitted. Ban on purchase of other vehicles (including staff cars) will continue except against condemnation.
Domestic and International Travel:
Travel expenditure {both Domestic Travel Expenses (DTE) and Foreign Travel Expenses(FTE)} should be regulated so as to ensure that each Ministry remains within the allocated budget for the same after taking into account the mandatory 10% cut under DTE/FTE (Plan as well as Non-Plan). Re-appropriation augmentation proposals on this account would not be approved.
While officers are entitled to various classes of air travel depending on seniority, utmost economy would need to be observed while exercising the choice keeping the limitations of budget in mind. However, there would be no bookings in “First Class.” In all cases of air travel, the lowest air fare tickets available for entitled class are to be purchased/procured. No companion free ticket on domestic/ international travel is to be availed of.
Balanced Pace of Expenditure:
As per extant instructions, not more than one-third (33%) of the Budget Estimates may be spent in the last quarter of the financial year. Besides, the stipulation that during the month of March the expenditure should be limited to 15% of the Budget Estimates is reiterated.
For further reference: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx.
Sources: PIB.
HC upholds State liquor policy but with changes
The Kerala High Court has upheld the liquor policy of the State government, but allowed bars in four-star and heritage hotels to function in addition to those in five-star and higher categories.
The court, however, ratified the government decision not to renew the licences of bars in two and three-star, and other hotels.
The judge said the proposal to shut down bars in four-star and heritage hotels surfaced all of a sudden in the liquor policy of 2014-15. The preferential treatment given to the bars in hotels in five-star and higher categories could not be justified as well.
The new liquor policy was envisaged to shut down bars attached to hotels below the five- star category as part of its plans to reduce availability of liquor. And according to the policy 10 per cent of the retail liquor stores in the state would be closed every year till there is none left by 2023.
Sources: The Hindu.
Only case-specific information can be disclosed: Switzerland
Amid a debate on disclosure of names of suspected black money holders, Switzerland has said that information exchanged under the Swiss-India tax treaty cannot be disclosed “in principle” to a court or any other body outside the proceedings of a “specific and relevant” case.
The comments come at a time when a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team is probing alleged stashing of black money by Indians abroad, including Swiss banks. Switzerland, long accused of being a safe haven for illicit funds, has promised to extend assistance to India and reply to requests for information in a “time- bound” manner on cases of alleged tax evasion and financial crimes, or provide a reason if no information can be shared.
The protocol to Swiss-Indian DTA (Double Taxation Agreement) states that any information received “by a contracting state shall be treated as ‘secret’ in the same manner as information obtained under the domestic laws of that state.” The treaty further provides that any such information “shall be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) concerned with the assessment or collection of (information), the enforcement or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to the taxes… or the oversight of the above.” The treaty states that “such persons or authorities shall use the information ‘only’ for such purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial decisions.”
Accordingly, the information exchanged under the terms of the DTA can be provided to a Court in situations where it is dealing with a specific case related to tax matters for which this information is relevant. Conversely, information cannot be disclosed in principle outside of such proceedings.
Sources: The Hindu.
Notification taking ACB out of RTI purview withdrawn
Governor of Maharashtra has ordered the withdrawal of the controversial notification issued by the Congress-NCP government taking the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) out of the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Governor took the decision to withdraw the notification issued by the State Government after considering representations from various RTI activists and taking cognizance of newspaper reports which reflected the view that the notification was in violation of the RTI Act.
The controversial notification was issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) under the charge of the then Chief Minister just six days before the model code of conduct came into force. It drew flak from RTI activists as the anti-corruption body was awaiting sanction from the government to commence an open inquiry against some influential political leaders of Maharashtra in the alleged multi-crore irrigation scam.
Sources: The Hindu.