CONTENTS

I.I.I. IMPORTANT DATES 111

II.II.II. BOOKS & AUTHORS 444

III.III.III. EVENTS, APPOINTMENTS.. etc 6

IV.IV.IV. VARIOUS COMMITIES 15 THE BOOK OF V.V.V. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS 22 FUTURE VI.VI.VI. CONSTITUTIONCONSTITUTIONALAL AMENDMENT BILLS 52 VII.VII.VII. CURRENT GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 59

VIII. INTERNATIONAL SUMMITS 100 CURRENT AFFAIRS 2010 IX.IX.IX. SPORTS & GAMES 109109109 JANUARY TO AUGUST X.X.X. RBI MONETORY POLICY 124

XI.XI.XI. WHO IS WHO…? 127

XII.XII.XII. UNION BUDGET 20102010----1111 134

XIII. RAILWAY BUDGET 2012010000----1111 148148

XIV.XIV.XIV. WHAT IS ECONOMIC SURVEY 153

XV.XV.XV. INFLATION RATES 153 2010

Self-Restraint is the Basis of Freedom Sensitivity will give you right Perception

I II June 4: International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.

IMPORTANT DATES June 5: World Environment Day.

June (2nd Sunday) : Father’s Day. January 12: National Youth Day. June 26: International day against Drug abuse & Illicit Trafficking. January 15: Army Day. June 27: World Diabetes Day. January 26: India’s Republic Day and International Customs day. July 6: World Zoonoses Day. January 30: Martyrs’ Day July 11: World Population Day. February 24: Central Excise Day. August 3: International Friendship Day. February 28: National Science Day. August 6: Hiroshima Day, March 8: International Women's Day. August 9 :Quit India Day and Nagasaki Day. March 15: World Disabled Day. August 15: Independence Day. March 21: World Forestry Day. August 29: National Sports Day. March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. September 5: Teachers’ Day. March 23: World Meteorological Day. September 8: World Literacy Day. April 5: National Maritime Day. September 16: World Ozone Day. April 7: World Health Day. September 21: Alzheimer’s Day. April 18: World Heritage Day. September 26: Day of the Deaf. April 22: Earth Day. September 27: World Tourism Day. May 1: Workers Day (International Labor Day). October 1: International day of the Elderly. May 3: Press Freedom Day. October 3: World Habitat Day. May (2nd Sunday): Mother's Day. October 4: World Animal Welfare Day. May 8: World Red Cross Day. October 8: Indian Air Force Day. May 11: National Technology Day. October 9: World Post Office day. May 15: International Day of the Family. October 10: National Post Day. May 17: World Telecommunication Day. October 13: UN International Day for National disaster reduction. May 24: Commonwealth Day. October 14: World Standards Day. May 31: Anti-Tobacco Day. October 15: World White Cane Day( guiding the Blind).

1 2 BOOKS & AUTHORS October 16: World Food Day.

October 24: UN Day, World development information Day. 1. I witness - Partial Observation: Kapil Sibal

October 30: World Thrift Day. 2. Imagining India- Ideas for the new century: 3. No Future Without Forgiveness: Desmond Tutu November 14: Children's Day ( in India ) 4. A Better India A Better World: N. R. Narayan Murthy November 20 : Africa Industrialization Day. 5. A Suitable Girl: Vikaram Seth

November 29: International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People. 6. You Are Born to Blossom: Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam 7. Unaccustomed Earth: Jhumpa Lahiri December 1: World Aids Day. 8. Unleashing India: Veerappa Moily December 4: Navy Day. 9. A History of ancient and early Medieval India from Stone age to the 12th century:

December 7: Armed Forces Flag Day. Upinder Singh (Daughter of PM Dr.) 10. Dreams from my Father: Barack Obama December 10: Human Right Day. 11. Empire of the Stars Arthur: I. Miller December 23: Kisan Divas Farmer's Day 12. Environmentalism : A Global History Ramchandra Guha

13. For the Love of India : The Life and Times of Jamsetji Tata: Russi M. Lala 14. Good Bye Shahzadi (A biography of Benzir Bhutto): Shyam Bhatia 15. India Monetary Policy Financial Stability and other Essays: C Rangarajan 16. Jinnah -India, Partition, Independence: Jaswant Singh 17. Prime Minister of India : Bharat Bhagya Vidhata: Shivnath Jha & Neena Jha 18. Moon Walk (Autobiography ): Michael Jackson 19. My Diary: K. Natwar Singh 20. My Country My Life: Lal Advani

21. My Kashmir, Conflict and Prospects of Enduring Peace: Wajahat habibullah 22. My Life ( Autobiography ): Fidel Castro 23. The Geometry of God: Uzma Aslam Khan 24. R.K. Laxman : the Uncommon Man: Dhermendra Bhandari 25. No Limits : The Will to Succeed: Michel Pheleps 26. Notes from a small Room: 27. Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics: Joe Biden 28. Reconciliation : Islam Democracy and the West: Benizir Bhutto

29. True Colours ( Autobiography ): Adam Gilchrist 30. Sahibs Who loved India: Khushwant Singh 31. Sapna Jo Pura Hua: Vergees Kurian 32. Why I Supported the Emergency: Khushwant Singh 33. Sea of Poppies:

3 4 34. Shadows across the playing field : 60 Years of India-Pakistan Cricket: Shashi Tharoor and Shaharyar EVENTS, APPOINTMENTS.. etc Khan 35. Six Suspects: Vikas Swarup AUGUST 2010 36. Speaking for Myself: Cherie Blair DISTINGUISHED VISITORS 37. Travelling Through Conflict: Hamid Ansari Katsuya Okada: Foreign Minister of Japan 38. Sustaining India’s Growth Miracle: Jagdish N. Bhagwati & Charles W Calomiris Zalmay Rassoul: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan. 39. Termites in the Trading System: Jagdish Bhagwati Admiral Julio Soares De Mours Neto: Chief of Brazilian Navy. 40. The Audacity of Hope : Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dreams: Barack Obama DIED 41. The Calcutta Chromosome: Amitav Ghosh K.M. Mathew: Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama. He was 93. 42. The Elephant, the tiger and the Cell phone :Reflections on India in the 21st Century: Shashi Tharoor 43. The Enchantress of Florence: Salman Rushdie EVENTS AUGUST 44. Ways of the Rifle Co authored by and his coaches Gabriele Buhlmann and Heinz 6—More than 200 people are killed in flash floods in Leh, J&K. ReInkemeier 45. The Good Boatman: A Portrait of Gandhi: Rajmohan Gandhi 22—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurates the country’s first domestically built unmanned bomber aircraft, calling it an “ambassador of death” to Iran’s enemies. The 4-metre-long drone aircraft can 46. The Idea of Justice: Amartya Sen carry up to four cruise missiles and will have a range of 1,000 km. 47. The Judge Speaks: Justice A.R. Laksmanan, Chairman of the Law Commission of India 48. The Lost Symbol: Dan Brown 31—US President Barak Obama announces an end to the US combat mission (Operation Iraqi Freedom) in Iraq. 49. The Miracle of Democracy: T.S. Krishnamurthy

50. The Museum of Innocence: Orhan Pamuk MILESTONES 51. The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis is of 2008: Paul Krugman 52. The States of Indian Cricket: Ramchandra Guha Leo Hunter: This six-year-old has bagged a multi-book publishing deal after he penned a mini-novel about his pet dog. He wrote “Me and My Firend” to tell the story of his alliance with pet Asatian “Kuger”. 53. The Tales of Beedle the Bard: J.K. Rowling 54. The White Tiger: Arvinda Adiga Mukesh Ambani: Reliance Industries Chairman and Managing Director, he has been elected as Member to 55. To the Last Bullet : Vinita Kamte (Wife of 26/11 martyr Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok the Board of World Economic Forum (WEF). Others elected to the Board are: Alcatel-Lucent’s CEO Ben J. Verwaayen and Zhu Min, Special Adviser, IMF. Klaus Schwab is the founder and Executive Chairman of Kamte) WEF. Sachin Tendulkar: He has been conferred the rank of honorary Group Captain by the Indian Air Force, a post equivalent to a Colonel of Indian Army.

Sudarsan Pattnaik: Orissa-based renowned sand artict, he has won the people’s choice award at the 8th International Sand Sculpture Festival in Berlin, for his creation on global warming.

Jimena Navarrete: Miss Mexico, she has been crowned Miss Universe, 2010. The pageant ceremony was held in Las Vegas, USA. Miss Jamaica Yendi Philipps was first runner-up and Miss Australia Jenista Campbell was the second runner-up. Miss India Ushoshi Sengupta failed ot make it to top 15.

5 6 rebellion had been spearheaded by Ms Gillard, opposing his policies on health, education and climate change. JULY 2010 Roza Otunbayeva: She has been elected as the first woman President of Kyrgystan. She claimed victory in a referendum in Kyrgyzstan, making her the interim President till 2011, a vote held to decide the legitimacy APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. of her rule after President Kurmanbek Bakiyev regime was ousted in April 2010. Dr S.Y. Quraishi: He has been appointed as the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India. He is the first Benigno Aquino: He has been elected as the President of Philippines. Muslim to head the panel Justice (Retd) K.G. Balakrishnan: Former Chief Justice of India, he has been appointed as Chairperson of . the National Human Rights Commission. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Sharad Pawar: He has taken over as the President of International Cricket Council (ICC). David Cameron: Prime Minister of Britain. General Than Shwe: Military ruler of Myanmar. RESIGNED Seyed Shamsodin Hosseini: Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, Iran. Madhav Kumar Nepal: Prime Minister of Nepal. Shibu Soren: Chief Minister of . DIED Ravi Baswani: Hindi film actor who won acclaim for his comic roles in films like “ Jane Bhi Do Yaro ” and DISTINGUISHED VISITORS “Chashme Buddoor ”. He was 64. Mahinda Rajapaksa: President of Sri Lanka. Jacob Zuma: President of South Africa. David Warren: A pioneering Australian scientist who invented the ‘black box’ after investigating the world’s first jet airliner crash in 1953. He was 85. The challenges of determining the causes of an air crash MILESTONES led him to the idea of a recording device that could withstand a crash where there were no survivors and no Nitin Noharia: An Indian-American he has taken over as the Dean of Harvard Business School. He is the witnesses. first person of Indian origin to occupy the prestigious and high profile post.

EVENTS EVENTS JULY JUNE 1—More than 45 people are killed as terrorists strike at Sufi shrine of Data Ganj Baksh in Lahore. 11—The first World Cup football tournament in Africa kicks-off with a feast of song and dance in Johannesburg, South Africa. 11—Spain creates history by winning its first Football World Cup title. 14—The 64-day-old blockade of the two crucial highways leading to Manipur is suspended by the Naga Student Federation following talks with the Union government. The organisation had launched the blockade 12—ISRO-built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launches five satellites from Sriharikota. protesting elections to Autonomous District Councils in Manipur hills and Manipur government’s decision to ban entry of NSCN leader T. Muivah to the State. 13—The lower House of the Parliament of France approves a ban on burqa-like Islamic veils. 26—The Union government finally lifts government control and allows oil companies to fix prices of petrol on the basis of market forces. 19—More than 63 people are killed in a train collision at Sainthia station of Birbhum district of West 29—Masoists kill 26 CRPF personnel in a remote area of Chattisgarh’s Narayanpur district. Bengal. Speeding Uttarbanga Express overshoots signal and ploughs into Vanachal Express. MAY 2010 28—A passenger jet crashes into the hills surrounding Islamabad in Pakistan, amid poor weather, killing all 152 people on board. APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. David Cameron: He has been elected as the Prime Minister of UK. JUNE 2010 Kamla Persad-Bissessar: A 58-year-old woman of Indian origin, she has been elected as the first woman Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago. Her party, People’s Partnership, won 29 of the 41 parliamentary seats APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. to end the 43-yeaqr-old rule of the ruling party. Naoto Kan: He has been elected as the Prime Minister of Japan. He has become the fifth Prime Minister of Justice Sarosh Homi Kapadia: He has been appointed as the 38th Chief Justice of India. He is an expert in Japan in three years, taking the helm as the country struggles to rein in a huge public debt, engineer growth taxation and commercial laws. in an aging society, and manage ties with security ally USA and a rising China. Dr Ratan Kumar Sinha: He has been appointed as the new Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Julia Gillard: She scripted history when she was elected as the first woman Prime Minister of Australia. (BARC). He is closely associated with the design and development of India’s first Thorium-based advanced She succeeded Kevin Rudd, who stepped down following revolt against him within the Labour party. The Heavy Water reactor.

7 8 RESIGNED Mukul M. Sangma: He has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya. Horst Koehler: President of Germany. He resigned following criticism over his comments about Gen V.K. Singh: He has taken over as the Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army. Germany’s military engagement in Afghanistan. He is the first President in Germany’s post-war history to Chirayu Amin: He has been appointed as the interim chairman of Indian Premier League (IPL) by the resign before completing his term. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). RESIGNED DISTINGUISHED VISITORS D.D. Lapang: Chief Minister of Meghalaya. Jacob Zuma: President of South Africa. Shashi Tharor: Minister of State for External Affairs in the Union Cabinet.

DIED DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Bhairon Singh Shekhawat: Former Vice President of India. He was 86. A senior BJP leader, he had also Admiral Dary Roughead: Chief of the US Navy. held the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Mac Mohan: Veteran character actor of Hindi film industry, he immortalised in the role of Gabbar Singh’s DIED sidekick “Sambha” in blockbuster “Sholay”. He was 71. Lech Kaczynski: President of Poland. Prabha Rau: Governor of Rajasthan. MILESTONES C. K. Prahalad: Globally known influential management thinker. Nitin Nohria: India-born American, he has been named the 10th Dean of Harvard Business School. He is the first person of Indian origin to achieve this honour. MILESTONES Mamta Sodha: 30-year-old Dalit girl from Kaithal, Haryana, she has achieved the distinction of climbing Manasvi Magmai: girl, she has been crowned Femina Miss India World. Nicole Faria from Mount Everest. She was part of the Mission Mount Everest 2010 expedition. Bangalore has won the Miss India Earth title and Neha Hinge has won Miss India International title. Jordan: A 13-year-old American boy from California, he has become youngest person to climb Mount Prasun Chatterjee: An Indian environmental engineering student whose research has contributed to a new Everest. He achieved the feat on May 22, 2010. way of detecting toxic lead and copper in water, has won one of the highest US research honours. Arjun Bajpayee: 16-year-old resident of 's Noida city, he has become the youngest Indian to Chatterjee, a research student at the University of Lehigh, Pennsylvania, received the 2010 C. Ellen Gonter climb the Mount Everest. He broke the record of Krushnaa Patil,18, from who became the Environmental Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Environmental Chemistry youngest Indian to reach the highest peak in 2009. Division. Commander Dilip Donde: He has become the first Indian to sail solo around the world. Shah Faesal: An MBBS degree holder from Srinagar, he has topped the Civil Services Exam 2009. EVENTS Gita Gopinath: She is the first Indian woman in the history of Harvard University to be appointed a full APRIL time professor at the University. She is a professor in Economics Department of Harvard University. 1—The exercise to conduct the 15th Census of India begins. 6—Seventy three security personnel are killed in the deadliest Naxal strike in the restive Dantewada district EVENTS of Chhattisgarh. MAY 6—Prime Minister Gordan Brown of UK announces General Elections on May 6; the Parliament is 1—The police in New York foil a major terror attack by defusing a crude car bomb in the heart of city’s dissolved. famous tourist hub of Times Square. 7—Thailand’s embattled Prime Minister declares a state of emergency in after protesters storm 17—Maoists blow up a passenger bus in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, killing more than 36 people. Parliament in a dramatic escalation of their bid to topple the government. 17—The Strategic Forces Command, with logistics support from DRDO, successfully launches the Agni-II 10—Polish President Lech Kacznski and his wife are among 97 people killed in air crash in western Russia. surface-to-surface, intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM). 14—More than 400 people die as a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hits China’s Qinghai province on the Tibetan 22—In one of the worst air tragedies in India, Air India flight from Dubai overshoots runway at Mangalore plateau. airport and bursts into flames, killing 158 passengers and crew on board. 15—After 18 years of research and testing, the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) first attempt to 28—More than 80 people are killed as a goods train rams into already derailed Gyaneshwari Express near put a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine ends in Kharagpur, . The Maoists are blamed for the derailment of the passenger train. failure. 19—The Supreme Court upholds the conviction and life sentence to Manu Sharma for the 1999 murder of model Jessica Lall. APRIL 2010

APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. Justice S.H. Kapadia: He has become the 38th Chief Justice of India. D.M. Jayaratne: He has been appointed Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

9 10 MARCH 2010 Horst Koehler: President of Germany. Salman Bashir: Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. APPOINTED; ELECTED Etc.

Sonia Gandhi: UPA chairperson and Congress President, she has been appointed as the head of National Advisory Council (NAC), four years after quitting the post over an office-of-profit controversy. She will DIED hold the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister. Fred Morrison: Inventor of the Frisbee, a flying-saucer shaped toy. He was 90. S. Ramadorai: He has been appointed as the Chairman of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Nanaji Deshmukh: One of the founder members of Bhartiya Jan Sangh, social worker and former member

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sbha. He was 93. Vladmir Putin: Prime Minister of Russia. Kakkadah Nandanath Raj: Leading economist of India who made a significant contribution in preparation Stephen Smith: Foreign Minister of Australia. of India’s first five-year Plan (1951-56). He was 85. General Mohammad Abdul Mubeen: Army chief of Bangladesh. Nelson Jobin: Defence Minister of . Nirmal Pandey: Hindi films actor. He was 46. A graduate rom National School of Drama, he is best known for his roles in “Bandit Queen”, “Iss raat kee subha nahin” and “Pyar Kiya to darna kya”. DIED Tahir Hussain: Well-known Hindi film-maker and father of film star Amir Khan. He is known for Girija Prasad Koirala: Five-time Prime Minister of Nepal and architect of the landmark peace deal with the Maoists that ended a decade-long insurgency in Nepal. producing hits like “Hum hain rahi pyar ke”, “Zakhmee”, “Anamika” and “Caravan”. G.P. Birla: Noted industrialist and second most eldest member of the Birla clan. He was 86. MILESTONES MILESTONES Sanjiv Mehta: He is the new owner of East India Company, the world’s first multinational whose forces Capt Tejdeep Singh Rattan: A 31-year-old Dentist, he has become the first Sikh in over 25 years to be once ruled much of the globe, including India. allowed to complete US Army officer basic training without giving up his turban or shaving his full beard. EVENTS EVENTS MARCH FEBRUARY 2010 7—Explosions rock Iraq as the country votes to elect a new government, leading to 36 people getting killed. 5—Twin blasts in Karachi claim 25 lives. Terrorists target a Shia religious procession and a hospital. 29—Two female suicide bombers blow themselves up on two packed metro trains, near iconic Gorky Park in Moscow, killing more than 40 people. 7—India successfully test-fires its indigenous, nuclear-capable Agni-III missile, with a range of over 3,000 km.

13—More than 11 people are killed in a high-intensity bomb explosion at the German bakery at Koregaon FEBRUARY 2010 Park, Pune. This is the first major terror strike in India after 26/11 strikes in .

15—Maoists kill 24 jawans during s daring attack at a police camp at Simplipal in the West Midnapore APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. district of West Bengal. S.C. Sinha: Haryana cadre IPS officer, he has been appointed as the Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). 18—Naxals gun down 11 persons in a village under Jamui district of Bihar. Salil Shetty: He has been appointed as the Secretary-General of Amnesty International. He is the first 21—Taliban behead a Sikh in Pakistan for refusing to pay ‘jazia’ (money to protect a non-Muslim Indian to be appointed to the job and will succeed Irene Khan in June 2010. community).

RESIGNED 24—Railways Budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Shyam Saran: Prime Minister’s special envoy on climate change. 24—Sachin Tendulkar becomes the first cricketer in the world to hit a double century in One-Day format (in DISTINGUISHED VISITORS ODI against South Africa, played in Gwalior). Abdullah Gul: President of Turkey.

11 12 26—Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presents his fifth Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak: Prime Minister of Malaysia.

26—Nine Indians are among 18 people killed in a series of attacks by militants in central Kabul, DIED Afghanistan. Jyoti Basu: CPM patriarch and former Chief Minister of West Bengal. He was 95. 27—Earthquake measuring 8.8 on Richter scale hits areas around Santiago, Chile, killing more than 500 Billy : Pioneering wildlife activist and author. He was 94. people and destroying property worth billions of dollars. Erich Segal: Author of the tear-jerking novel Love Story and screenwriter of the Oscar-winning film

27—Prime Minister Manmohan Singh becomes the first Prime Minister in 28 years to visit Saudi Arabia. version. He was 72.

MILESTONES JANUARY 2010 Asma Parween: Her story features on the 2010 UN Population Fund calendar. A native of an obscure village, Sakri Saraiya in Bihar’s Muzzafarpur district, this 19 year-old girl defied her orthodox father to join an education-cum-vocational centre in her village. Today she is a history honours student as also a karate APPOINTED; ELECTED; Etc. trainer. Mahinda Rajapaksa: He has been re-elected as the President of Sri Lanka, E.S.L. Narasimhan: He has been appointed as the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. EVENTS

Shivraj Patil: He has been appointed as the Governor of Punjab and Chief Administrator of Union Territory JANUARY 2010 of Chandigarh. 1—India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand M.K. Narayanan: He has been appointed as the Governor of West Bengal. implementing it with immediate effect.

Prabha Rau: She has been appointed as the Governor of Rajasthan. 1—A suicide bomber blows up a car packed with explosives killing 70 people during a volleyball game in a Sekhar Dutt: He has been appointed as the Governor of Chattisgarh. village in north-west Pakistan. M.O.H. Farooq: He has been appointed as the Governor of Jharkhand. K. Sankaranarayanan: He has been appointed as the Governor of Maharashtra. 4—Blazing fireworks and dazzling lights mark the opening of the world's tallest tower, Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai). Urmila Singh: She has been appointed as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh. Gen Vijay Kumar Singh: He has been appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, Indian Army. 14—The first holy bath of century’s and Uttarkhand’s first Maha Kumbh starts at Haridwar. Shiv Shankar Menon: He has been appointed as the National Security Advisor. 15—Century’s longest annular solar eclipse takes place. S. Sundareshan: He has been appointed as the Petroleum Secretary in the Union government.

Vikram Srivastava: He has been appointed as the Director-General of Central Reserve Police Force 18—Taliban attack heart of Kabul by targeting key government buildings. (CRPF). 13—More than three lakh people are killed as an earthquake with 7.0 magnitude hits Port-au-Prince, capital Raman Srivastava: He has taken over as the Chief of (BSF). of Haiti. Ranjeet Kumar Bhatia: He has taken over as the Chief of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). Mrinal Pandey: She has been appointed as the Chairperson of Prasar Bharti. 25—Ninety persons die in Ethiopian airlines crash into Mediterranean sea, shortly after take-off from Beirut.

26—Sri Lanka goes to polls to elect new President. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Lee Myung-bak: President of South Korea. He was the Chief Guest on occasion of the Republic Day 2010. 27—Bangladesh hangs five ex-Army officers convicted for assassinating country’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Sheikh Hasina: Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Rahman, almost three decades after he was killed in a military coup.

Uzi Arad: National Security Adviser of Israel. Vice-Admiral Elizer Marom: Commander-in Chief of Israeli Navy.

13 14 VARIOUS COMMITIES 33. Gadgil Committee (1969): Lead Banking System 34. Godwala Committee: Rural Finance Here is the list of various Committees and their main Focus Areas 35. Goiporia Committee: Customer Service In Banks 1. A C Shah Committee: NBFC 36. GS Dahotre Committee: Credit Requirements Of Leasing Industry 2. A Ghosh Committee: Final Accounts 37. GS Patel Committee: Carry Forward System On Stock Exchanges 3. A Ghosh Committee: Modalities Of Implementation Of New 20 Point Programme 38. Hathi Committee: Soiled Banknotes 4. A Ghosh Committee: Frauds & Malpractices In Banks 39. Hazari Committee (1967): Industrial Policy 5. Abid Hussain Committee: Development Of Capital Markets 40. IT Vaz Committee: Working Capital Finance In Banks 6. Adhyarjuna Committee: Changes In NI Act And Stamp Act 41. J Reddy Committee: Reforms In Insurance Sector 7. AK Bhuchar Committee: Coordination Between Term Lending Institutions And Commercial 42. James Raj Committee: Functioning Of Public Sector Banks Banks 43. Jankiramanan Committee: Securities Transactions Of Banks & Financial Institutions 8. B Eradi Committee: Insolvency And Wind Up Laws 44. JV Shetty Committee: Consortium Advances 9. B Sivaraman Committee: Institutional Credit For Agricultural & Rural Development 45. K Madhav Das Committee: Urban Cooperative Banks 10. B Venkatappaiah Committee: All India Rural Credit Review 46. Kalyansundaram Committee: Introduction Of Factoring Services In India 11. BD Shah Committee: Stock Lending Scheme 47. Kamath Committee: Education Loan Scheme 12. BD Thakar Committee: Job Criteria In Bank Loans (Approach) 48. Karve Committee: Small Scale Industry 13. Bhagwati Committee: Unemployment 49. KB Chore Committee: To Review The Symbol Of Cash Credit Q 14. Bhagwati Committee: Public Welfare 50. Khanna Committee: Non Performing Assets 15. Bhave Committee: Share Transfer Reforms 51. Khusrau Committee: Agricultural Credit 16. Bhide Committee: Coordination Between Commercial Banks And SFC's 52. KS Krishnaswamy Committee: Role Of Banks In Priority Sector And 20 Point Economic 17. Bhootlingam Committee: Wage, Income & Prices Programme 18. C Rao Committee: Agricultural Policy 53. L K Jha Committee: Indirect Taxes 19. CE Kamath Committee: Multi Agency Approach In Agricultural Finance 54. LC Gupta Committee: Financial Derivatives 20. Chatalier Committee: Finance To Small Scale Industry 55. Mahadevan Committee: Single Window System 21. Chesi Committee: Direct Taxes 56. Mahalanobis Committee: Income Distribution 22. Cook Committee (On Behalf Of BIS - Under Basel Committee ): Capital Adequacy Of Banks 57. Marathe Committee: Licensing Of New Banks 23. D R Mehta Committee: Review Progress And Recommend Improvement Measures Of IRDP 58. ML Dantwala Committee: Regional Rural Banks 24. Damle Committee: MICR 59. Mrs. KS Shere Committee: Electronic Fund Transfer 25. Dandekar Committee: Regional Imbalances 60. Nadkarni Committee: Improved Procedures For Transactions In PSU Bonds And Units 26. Dantwala Committee: Estimation Of Employments 61. Nariman Committee: Branch Expansion Programme 27. Dave Committee: Mutual Funds (Functioning) 62. Narsimham Committee: Financial System 28. Dharia Committee: Public Distribution System 63. Omkar Goswami Committee: Industrial Sickness And Corporate Restructuring 29. DR Gadgil Committee: Agricultural Finance 64. P R Nayak Committee: Institutional Credit To SSI Sector 30. Dutta Committee: Industrial Licensing 65. P Selvam Committee: Non Performing Assets Of Banks 31. G Lakshmai Narayan Committee: Extension Of Credit Limits On Basis Of Consortium 66. PC Luther Committee: Productivity, Operational Efficiency & Profitability Of Banks 32. G Sundaram Committee: Export Credit 67. PD Ojha Committee: Service Area Approach

15 16 68. Pendarkar Committee: Review The System Of Inspection Of Commercial, RRB And Urban 103. SS Kohli Committee: Willful Defaulters Cooperative Banks 104. SS Nadkarni Committee: Trading In Public Sector Banks 69. Pillai Committee: Pay Scales Of Bank Officers 105. SS Tarapore Committee: Capital Account Convertibility 70. PL Tandon Committee: Export Strategy 106. Sukhmoy Chakravarty Committee: To Review The Working Of Monetary System 71. PR Khanna Committee: Develop Appropriate Supervisory Framework For NBFC 107. Tambe Committee: Term Loans To SSI 72. Purshottam Das Committee: Agricultural Finance And Cooperative Societies 108. Tandon Committee: Follow Up Of Bank Credit 73. R Jilani Banks: Inspection System Of Banks 109. Tandon Committee: Industrial Sickness 74. R S Saria Committee: Agricultural Finance And Cooperative Societies 110. Thakkar Committee: Credit Schemes To Self Employed 75. Raghavan Committee: Competition Law 111. Thingalaya Committee: Restructuring Of RRB 76. Raja Chelliah Committee: Tax Reforms 112. Tiwari Committee: Rehabilitation Of Sick Industrial Undertakings 77. Rajamannar Committee: Centre - State Fiscal Relationships 113. UK Sharma Committee: Lead Bank Scheme (Review) 78. Rajamannar Committee: Changes In Banking Laws , Bouncing Of Cheques Etc. 114. Usha Thorat Panel: Financial Inclusion 79. Rakesh Mohan Committee: Petro Chemical Sector 115. Vaghul Committee: Mutual Fund Scheme 80. Ram Niwas Mirdha Committee (JPC): Securities Scam 116. Varshney Committee: Revised Methods For Loans (>2 Lakhs) 81. Rangrajan Committee: Computerization Of Banking Industry 117. Venketaiya Committee: Review Of Rural Financing System 82. Rangrajan Committee: Public Sector Disinvestment 118. Vipin Malik Committee: Consolidated Accounting By Banks 83. Rashid Jilani Committee: Cash Credit System 119. VT Dehejia Committee: To Study Credit Needs Of Industry And Trade Likely To Be 84. Ray Committee: Industrial Sickness Inflated 85. RG Saraiya Committee (1972): Banking Commission 120. Vyas Committee: Rural Credit 86. RH Khan Committee: Harmonization Of Banks And Ssis 121. Wanchoo Committee: Direct Taxes 87. RK Hajare Committee: Differential Interest Rates Scheme 122. WS Saraf Committee: Technology Issues In Banking Industry 88. RK Talwar Committee: Customer Service 123. Y H Malegam Committee: Disclosure Norms For Public Issues 89. RK Talwar Committee: Enactment Having A Bearing On Agro Landings By Commercial Banks 124. YV Reddy Committee: Reforms In Small Savings 90. RN Malhotra Committee: Reforms In Insurance Sector Some Recent Working Groups & Committees by RBI & Their Focus Area: (Name of Chairmen is 91. RN Mirdha Committee: Cooperative Societies given) 92. RV Gupta Committee: Agricultural Credit Delivery 93. S Padmanabhan Committee: Onsite Supervision Function Of Banks 1. Working Group on Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR): Deepak Mohanty 94. S Padmanabhan Committee: Inspection Of Banks (By RBI) 2. Working Group on Surveys: Deepak Mohanty 95. Samal Committee: Rural Credit 3. High Level Committee to Review Lead Bank Scheme: Usha Thorat 96. SC Choksi Committee: Direct Tax Law 4. Working Group to Review the Business Correspondent Model: P Vijaya Bhaskar Rao 97. Shankar Lal Gauri Committee: Agricultural Marketing 5. High Level Group on Systems and Procedures for Currency Distribution: Usha Thorat 98. SK Kalia Committee: Role Of NGO And SHG In Credit 6. G20 Working Group on Enhancing Sound Regulation and Strengthening Transparency: Dr. Rakesh 99. SL Kapoor Committee: Institutional Credit To SSI Mohan and Mr. Tiff Macklem 100. Sodhani Committee: Foreign Exchange Markets In NRI Investment In India 7. Committee on Financial Sector Assessment: Dr. Rakesh Mohan 101. SS Kohli Committee: Rehabilitation Of Sick Industrial Units 8. High Level Committee on Estimation of Savings and Investment: Dr. C. Rangarajan 102. SS Kohli Committee: Rationalization Of Staff Strength In Banks

17 18 9. Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) on Capital Flows and Emerging Market 40. Working Group to Review Export Credit: Shri Anand Sinha Economies: Dr. Rakesh Mohan 41. Internal Working Group on RRBs: Shri A V Sardesai 10. Task Force For Diamond Sector: A K Bera 42. Working Group on Warehouse Receipts and Commodity Futures: Shri Prashant Saran 11. Technical Advisory Group on Development of Housing Start-Up Index in India: Prof. Amitabh 43. Internal Group to Review Guidelines on Credit Flow to SME Sector: Shri C.S.Murthy Kundu 44. Working Group on Regulatory Mechanism for Cards Shri R.Gandhi 12. Working Group on Defraying Cost of ICT Solutions for RRBs: Shri G. Padmanabhan 45. Group on Model Fiscal Responsibility Legislation at State Level: Shri H R Khan 13. Working Group on IT support for Urban Cooperative Banks: R Gandhi 46. Task Force on Revival of Cooperative Credit Institutions: Prof.A.Vaidyanathan 14. Working Group on Technology Upgradation of Regional Rural Banks: Shri G. Srinivasan 47. Special Group for Formulation of Debt Restructuring Mechanism for Medium Enterprises: Shri 15. Interest Rate Futures: Shri V.K. Sharma G.Srinivasan 16. Internal Working Group to Study the Recommendations of the NCEUS Report: KUB Rao 48. Working Group on Screen Based Trading In Government Securities: Dr.R.H.Patil 17. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep: S. 49. Expert Group on Internet Deployment of Central Database Management System (CDBMS): Ramaswamy Prof.A.Vaidyanathan 18. Working Group on Rehabilitation of Sick SMEs: Dr. K. C. Chakrabarty 50. Report on Monitoring of Financial Conglomerates: Smt.Shyamala Gopinath 19. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services In Jharkhand: V.S.Das 51. Working Group on Development Financial Institutions: Shri N. Sadasivan 20. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in Himachal Pradesh: Dr. J. Sadakkadulla 52. Advisory Committee to Advise on the Administered Interest Rates and Rationalisation of Saving 21. Internal Technical Group on Seasonal Movements in Inflation: Dr. Balvant Singh Instruments: Dr.Rakesh Mohan 22. Working Group to Examine the Procedures and Processes of Agricultural Loans: C P Swarankar 53. Advisory Committee on Flow of Credit to Agriculture: Prof.V.S.Vyas 23. Task Force on Empowering RRB Boards for Operational EfficiencyDr. K.G. Karmakar 54. Working Group on Flow of Credit to SSI Sector: Dr.A.S.Ganguly 24. Technical Group Set up to Review Legislations on Money Lending: Shri.S. C. Gupta 55. Group to Study the Pension Liabilities of the State Governments: B. K. Bhattacharya 25. Working Group To Suggest Measures To Assist Distressed Farmers: Shri. S. S. Johl 56. Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives: Shri G. Padmanabhan 26. Technical Group on Statistics for International Trade in Banking Services: Shri K.S.R.Rao 57. Working Group on Instruments of Sterilisation: Smt. Usha Thorat 27. Technical Advisory Group On Development Of Leading Economic Indicators For Indian 58. Working Group on Information on State Government Guaranteed Advances and Bonds: EconomyDr. R B Barman Shri.G.Padmanabhan 28. Working Group on Savings for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-12): Dr.Rakesh 59. Working Group on Cheque Truncation and E-cheques: Dr.Barman, ED Mohan 60. Working Group on Introduction of Credit Derivatives in India: Shri B. Mahapatra 29. Working Group on Compilation of State Government Liabilities: Dr. N.D. Jadhav 61. Group to Assess the Fiscal Risk of State Government Guarantees: Smt. Usha Thorat 30. Working Group on Improvement of Banking Services in Uttaranchal: V.S. Das 62. Advisory Committee on Ways and Means Advances to State Governments: Shri C.Ramachandran 31. Working Group on Cost of NRI Remittances: P. K. Pain 63. Working Group on Rupee Derivatives: Shri Jaspal Bindra 32. Working group to formulate a scheme for Ensuring Reasonableness of Bank Charges: N. Sadasivam 64. Committee on Computer Audit: Shri A.L. Narasimhan 33. Committee on Fuller Capital Account Convertibility: S.S.Tarapore 65. Committee on Payment Systems: Dr R H Patil 34. Committee on Financial Sector Plan for North Eastern Region: Smt. Usha Thorat 66. Review Group on The Working of The Local Area Bank SchemeShri G.Ramachandran 35. Survey on Impact of Trade Related Measures on Transaction Costs of Exports: Balwant Singh 67. Technical Group on Statistics of International Trade in Services: Shri Deepak Mohanty 36. Advisory Committee on Ways and Means Advances to State Governments: M.P.Bezbaruah 68. Working Group for Suggesting Operational and Prudential Guidelines on STRIPS (Separately 37. Need and Use Behavior for Small Denomination Coins: Sanal Kumar Velayudhan Traded Registered Interest and Principal of Securities): Shri M.R.Ramesh 38. Debt Sustainability at State Level in India: Indira Rajaraman, Shashank Bhide and R.K.Pattnaik 69. Working Group on Electronic Money: Mr.Zarir J. Cama 39. Internal Group to Examine Issues Relating to Rural Credit and Microfinance: Shri H.R.Khan 70. Working Group on Economic Indicators Dr. R.B. Barman

19 20 71. Working Group to Examine the Role of Credit Information Bureaus in Collection and Dissemination INDIA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS of Information on Suit-filed Accounts and Defaulters: Shri S.R. Iyer

72. Information systems audit policy for the banking and financial sector: Dr. R.B.Burman KAUSHAL VIKAS YOJANA 73. Working Group on Consolidated Accounting and Other Quantitative Methods to Facilitate On August 15, 2007, India's Prime Minister had announced to set up 1600 Industrial Training Institutes Consolidated Supervision: Shri Vipin Malik (ITIs) & Polytechnics and 50,000 Skill Development Centres with active help of the private sector. 74. Expert Committee to Review the System of Administered Interest Rates and Other Related Issues: Consequntly, Ministry of Labour & Employment has undertaken a project titled “Kaushal Vikas Yojana” to set up 1500 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) & 5000 Skill Development Centres (SDCs) in Public Private Dr.Y.V. Reddy Partnership (PPP) mode in India at locations identified by the State Governments. These ITIs are proposed 75. Inter-Departmental Group to study the Rationalisation of Current account Facility with Reserve Bank to be set up in unserviced blocks (blocks where no ITIs/ITCs exist) & SDCs in a cluster of about ten of India: Shri K.W. Korgaonkar villages. State Governments have been requested to identify locations where free of cost land and basic 76. The Expert Committee on Legal Aspects of Bank Frauds: Dr.N.L. Mitra infrastructure such as power, water, road, etc. are available.

77. The Standing Committee on International Financial Standards and Codes These ITIs are proposed to be set up in unserviced blocks (blocks where no ITIs /ITC s exist) & SDCs in a Standing Committee on International Financial Standards and Codes: Dr. Y.V.Reddy cluster of about ten villages. 78. Technical Group on Market Integrity: Shri C.R. Muralidharan Objective: 79. Technical Group on Phasing Out of Non-banks from Call/Notice Money Market (March 2001): The objective of setting up these institutions is to provide access to vocational training facilities to youth in Dr.Y.V.Reddy rural, hilly, border & difficult areas. It is expected to provide opportunities of Skill development at door step 80. Core Group on Voluntary Disclosure Norms for State Governments: Dr.Y.V.Reddy of youth.

81. Task Force to Study the Cooperative Credit System and Suggest Measures for its Strengthening: Shri Jagdish Kapoor NATIONAL LIVELIHOOD MISSION (NLM)

82. Internal Group to Review the Guidelines Relating to Commercial Paper: Dr.Y.V.Reddy India's Ministry of Rural Development is proposing to re-design the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana 83. High Power Committee on Urban Cooperative Banks: Shri Madhav Rao (SGSY) into National Livelihood Mission (NRLM). Here are the proposed main features of the NRLM:

84. Working Group for setting up Credit Information Bureau in India: Shri N.H.Siddiqui 1. To bring each BPL household under Self Help Group (SHG) net, 85. Committee for Redesigning of Financial Statements of Non-Banking Financial Companies: Shri 2. To set up dedicated implementation structure at various levels, V.S.N. Murthy 3. To enhance capital subsidy for the beneficiaries, 86. Working Group on Restructuring Weak Public Sector Banks: Shri M.S.Verma Working Group for Working Out Modalities on Dissemination of Information in Electronic Form: 4. To ensure easy access for multiple doses of credit,

Shri Y.S.P. Thorat and Shri C.R. Gopalasundaram 5. To form and strengthen people owned organization such as Self Help Groups (SHG) Federation at 87. Committee on Technology Upgradation in the Banking Sector: Dr A.Vasudevan various level,

88. Working Group of EURO: Shri V.Subrahmanyam 6. To upscale the skill development and placement programs, Rural Self Employment Training Institute 89. New Monetary Aggregates: Dr. Y.V. Reddy (RSETIs) in each district of the country.

90. Committee on Capital Account Convertibility: Shri S.S.Tarapore It is also proposed to induct dedicated professionals at various levels for implementation of the program. Special emphasis will be given to technology inputs. Under the scheme, it is provided that Schedule Caste (SC) and Schedule Tribes (STs) will account for at least 50% of Swarojgaries, women 40%, minorities 15% and disabled 3%.

Under the existing guidelines of SGSY, 15% of allocation is set apart for taking up special projects which

are of pioneering nature for bringing a specified large number of rural below poverty line (BPL) beneficiaries above poverty line in a time bound manner.

21 22 The objective of the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) is to bring the assisted poor families • The States will be expected to roll out training for medical officers, nurses and auxiliary nurse (Swarozgaries) above the Poverty Line by ensuring appreciable sustained level of income over a period of midwives on their own. time. This objective is to be achieved by inter alia organising the rural poor into Self Help Groups (SHGs) through the process of social mobilization, their training and capacity building and provision of income This program was launched in September 2009 by Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad. The aim of the generating assets. The SHG approach helps the poor to build their self-confidence through community program is to reduce the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) from 55 to 30 by the year 2012. action. IMR in India was 60 in 2003 & 55 in 2007. The new programme will enable the paramedical staff to save new born child and mother at various health centres across the country. NAVJAAT SHISHU SURAKSHA KARYAKRAM

Neonatal Deaths in India: HISTORY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT & EMPLOYEMENT GENERATION PROGRAM • According to WHO stats, out of 9.2 million under-5 deaths in world, India accounts for 2.2 million which is maximum in the world. Two-third of the neo-natal deaths occurred in the first week of life, 1. 1952: Community Development Programme (CDP) two-third of those took place within the first 24 hours due to non-availability of delivery institutions overall development of rural areas and people’s participation. in villages and smaller towns. 2. 1960-61: Intensive Agriculture Development program (IADP) Causes To provide loan for seeds and fertilizers to farmers 3. 1964-65: Intensive Agriculture Area programme (IAAP) • Causes of neonatal deaths include infection, complications related to premature birth, pneumonia, diarrhoea and measles apart from hypothermia and infection, and basic newborn resuscitation. To develop special harvest in agriculture area.

Focus on New Born Care in National Rural Health Mission: 4. 1965 : Credit Authorization Scheme (CAS) Involved qualitative credit control of reserve bank of India • To reduce the neonatal mortality which constitutes 45% of under-5 mortality, the following initiatives have been taken under the NRHM framework: 5. 1966-67: High yielding variety programme (HYVP) (i) Navjat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram – a new programme in Basic new-born care and resuscitation To increase the productivity of food grains by adopting latest varieties of inputs of crops. (23% of neonatal death occurs due to asphyxia at birth). 6. 1966-67: Green Revolution: (ii) Creation of new-born care units at district level hospitals, stabilization units at CHC level and To Increase productivity. Confined to wheat production. new born corners at PHC level to provide specialized care. (iii) Skill development of ASHAs and skilled birth attendants to ensure home-based new born and 7. 1969: Rural Electrification Corporation child care. To provide electricity in rural areas

The above three prong strategy is expected to make a significant reduction in infant mortality. 8. 1972 : Scheme of Discriminatory Interest Rate Navjaat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram To provide loan to the weaker sections of society at a concessional interest rate of 4%

• Navjat Shishu Suraksha Karyakram is a new programme in Basic new-born care and resuscitation 9. 1972-73 : Accelerated Rural water Supply Programme (ARWSP) (23% of neonatal death occurs due to asphyxia at birth). Providing drinking water in villages

• A two-day training module for care providers at health facilities has been developed and training 10. 1973: Drought Prone Area Programme: programme to train master trainers at State and district levels has been rolled out with the support of Protection from drought by achieving environement balace and by developing ground water Indian Academy of Paediatrics and Neonatal Forum of India. Training for all care providers shall be 11. 1973: Crash Scheme for Rural Employment CSRE completed by June 2010. For rural employment • The NSSK will train healthcare providers at the district hospitals, community health centres and 12. 1973-74 : Marginal Farmer and Agriculture Labor Agency (MFALA) primary health centres in the interventions at birth with the application of the latest available Technical & financial assistance to marginal farmers scientific methods aimed at significantly reducing the infant mortality ratio. 13. 1974-75: Small Farmer Development Scheme SFDS • The Health and Family Welfare Ministry will organise district level trainers’ training programme for Technical & financial assistance to small farmers 10 States and master trainers’ training programmes in other States and Union Territories. 14. 1975: Command Area Development Programme: (CADP) Better utilization of irrigational capacities

23 24 15. 1975: Twenty Point Programme (TPP) 31. 1988: Service Area Account Poverty eradication and an overall objective of raising the level living Rural Credit

16. 1977: National Institution of Rural Development 32. 1989: Jawahar Rozgar Yojna : JRY Training, investigation and advisory for rural development Employment to rural unemployed

17. 1977-78 : Desert Development Programme: (DDP) 33. 1989: Nehru Rozgar Yojna NRY To control the desert expansion by maintaining environment balance Employment to Urban unemployed

18. 1977-78: Food For Work Programme: 34. 1990: Agriculture & Rural Debt Relief Scheme: ARDRS providing food grains to labor Exempt Bank loans up to Rs. 10000 for rural artisans and weavers

19. 1977-78 : Antyodaya Yojna : 35. 1990: Scheme for Urban Micro Enterprises SUME Scheme of Rajasthan, providing economic assistance to poorest families Assist urban small entrepreneurs

20. 1979 : Training Rural Youth for Self Employment TRYSEM (launched on 15th August) 36. 1990: Scheme of Urban wage Employment SUWE educational and vocational training Scheme for urban poor’s

21. 1980 : Integrated Rural Development Programme :IRDP (launched on October 2, 1980) 37. 1990: Scheme of Housing and Shelter Upgradation (SHASU) overall development of rural poor Providing employment by shelter Upgradation

22. 1980 : National Rural Development programme NREP 38. 1991: National Housing Bank Voluntary Deposit Scheme employment for rural manforce Using black money by constructing low cost housing for the poor.

23. 1982 : Development of Women & Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA) 39. 1992: National Renewal Fund sustainable opportunities of self employment to the women belonging to the rural families who are This scheme was for the employees of the public sector living below the poverty line. 40. 1993: Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) (Launched on October, 2) 24. 1983 : Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) (Launched on August Employment of at least 100 days in a year in villages 15) employment to landless farmers and laborers 41. 1993: Members of parliament Local Area Development Scheme MPLADS (December 23, 1993) Sanctioned 1 crore per year for development works 25. 1983-84: Farmers Agriculture Service Centers FASCs Tell the people use of improved instruments of agriculture 42. 1994: Scheme for Infrastructural Development in Mega Cities : SIDMC Water supply, sewage, drainage, urban transportation, land development and improvement slums 26. 1984 : National Fund for Rural Development : To grant 100% tax rebate to donors and also to projects in metro cities provide financial assistance for rural development projects 43. 1993: District Rural Development Agency DRDA 27. 1985: Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme: Financial assistance to rural people by district level authority Crop Insurance 44. 1993 : Mahila Samridhi Yojna (October 2, 1993) 28. 1986: Council of Advancement of People’s Action & Rural Technology (CAPART) Encourage rural women to deposit in Post office schems Assistance to rural people 45. 1994 : Child labor Eradication Scheme 29. 1986: Self Employment Programme for the Poor SEPUP Shift child labour from hazardous industries to schools Self employment through credit and subsidy 46. 1995: prime Minister Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication programme PMIUPEP 30. 1986: National Drinking Water Mission: To eradicate urban poverty For rural drinking water renamed and upgraded to National Drinking Water Mission in 1991. 47. 1995 : Mid day Meal Scheme: Nutrition to students in primary schools to improve enrolment, retention and attendence

25 26 48. 1996: Group Life Insurance Scheme for Rural Areas 66. 2004: Kastoorba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Insurance in rural area for low premium Setting up residential schools at upper primary levels for girls belonging to predominantly OBC, SC & ST 49. 1995: national Social Assistance programme: Assist BPL people. 67. 2005: Janani Suraksha Yojna Providing care to pregnant women 50. 1997-98; Ganga Kalyan Yojna Provide financial assistance to farmers for exploring ground water resources 68. 2005, Dec. 16 : Bharat Nirman Development of India through irrigation, Water supply, Housing, Road, Telephone and electricity 51. 1997 Kastoorba Gandhi Education Scheme: (15 August 1997) Establish girls schools in low female literacy areas (district level) 69. 2005: National Rural Health Mission: Accessible, affordable, accountable, quality health survices to the porest of the poor on remotest 52. 1997: Swaran Jayanto Shahari Rojgar Yojna: areas of the country. Urban employment 70. 2005: Rajeev Gandhi Grameen Vidyuti Karan Yojna: 53. 1998: Bhagya Shree Bal Kalyan Policy Extending electrification of all villages and habitations and ensuring electricity to every household. Upliftment of female childs 71. 2005: Jawahar Lal Nehru national Urban Renewal Mission: (JNNURM) 54. March 1999 : Annapurna Yojna Click here to read more 10 kgs food grains to elderly people 72. 2006: February 2 : National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme NREGS 55. April 1999: Swaran Jayanto Gram Swarojgar Yojna 100 days wage employment for development works in rural areas. Self-employment in rural areas 73. 2007: Rastriya Swasthya Bima Yojna : 56. April 1999: Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojna Health insurance to all workers in unorganized area below poverty line. Village infrastructure 74. 2007: Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna 57. August 2000 : Jan Shree Bima Yojna Insurance cover to the head of the family of rural landless households in the country. Insurance for BPL people 75. 2009: Rajiv Awas Yojna 58. 2000 : Pradhan Mantri Gramodaya Yojna To make India slum free in 5 years Basic needs of rural people

59. December 25, 2000 : Antyodaya Anna Yojna Which scheme merged with which? To provide food security to poor 1. National Food for Work program was merged with NREGA 60. December 25, 2000 : Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna: Connect all villages with nearest pukka road. 2. Sampoorna Grameen Rojgar Yojna merged with NREGA

61. September 2001: Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna 3. Intesified Jawhar Rozgar Yojna 1993 was merged with Employment Assurance Scheme 1996 which Employment and food security to rural people was later merged with Sampoorna grameen Rozgar Yojna 2001.

62. December 2001: Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojna VAMBAY 4. IRDP , TRYSEM, DWCRA, Million Wells Scheme, SITRA & Ganga kalian Yojna merged with Slum houses in urban areas Swaran jayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojna.

63. 2003: Universal health Insurance Scheme: 5. Rural Landless Employment Guarantee programme merged with Jawahar Rojgar Yojna which was Health insurance for Rural people replaced by Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojna (1999) and Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojna was merged with Sampoorna grameen Rojgar Yojna (2001) 64. 2004: Vande mataram Scheme VMS Initiative of public Private partnership during pregnecy check up.

65. 2004: National Food for Work programme Supplementary wage as foodgrains for work

27 28 SAAKSHAR BHARAT MISSION 3. The objective of the SGSY is to bring the assisted Swarozgaris above the poverty line by providing them incomegenerating assets through bank credit and Government subsidy. Saakshar Bharat Mission was launched in September 2009 by Prime Minster Man Mohan Singh for Female Literacy on International Literacy Day (September 8, 2009) in . 4. The Scheme is being implemented on a 75:25 cost sharing of between the Centre and the States.

This is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, under the aegis of Department Of School Education & Literacy, 5. Since its inception, and up to April 2004, a total allocation of Rs. 6,734 crore was made available by Ministry Of Human Resource Development, Government of India. the Centre and States. Rs. 4,980 crore, have been utilized up to April 2004, benefiting 45.67 lakh Swarozgaris. Objectives: 6. In the Union Budget 2009-10, Allocations of Rs. 2350 Crore was made for establishing micro- 1. To further promote and strengthen Adult Education, specially of women enterprises in rural areas through activity clusters and group approach under Swaranjayanti Gram 2. To impart functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 15-35 years in a time bound manner, Swarozgar Yojana. At least 50% of the Swarozgaries will be SCs/STs, 40% women and 3% disabled. the National Literacy Mission (NLM) was launched in 1988 and it continued through Ninth and 7. In The Union Budget 2010-11 Rs. 2984 Crore have been provided in outlays including Rs. 301 crore Tenth Five Year Plans. for NE region.

Objectives: PRADHANMANTRI ADARSH GRAM YOJANA (PMAGY) 1. Focussed Approach to poverty Alleviation by setting up a large number of Micro enterprises in The Government of India has launched a new scheme called Pradhanmantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) rural areas of our country. for the integrated development of scheduled castes dominated villages in the country. The Finance Minister while presenting the Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha said that there are about 44,000 villages in which the 2. Capitalising group lending population of scheduled castes is above 50 per cent. Shri Mukherjee said that the new scheme PMAGY will be launched this year on a pilot basis in 1000 such villages. An amount of Rs.100 crore has been allocated 3. Overcoming the problem of running multiple programmes overlapping each other. for this Scheme. 4. A holistic programme of micro enterprises covering all aspects of self employment which includes Under this Scheme, each village would be able to avail gap funding of Rs.10 lakh over and above the organising rural poor into Self help groups. allocations under Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation Schemes. On successful implementation of 5. Integration of various agencies like District Rural Development Agencies, Banks, Line the pilot phase, the PMAGY would be extended in coming years inputs from PIB Departments., Panchayati Raj Instituions, NGOs etc.

6. Bring the assistated poor family above BPL by providing them a mix of income generating assets like bank credit + Government subsidy. PRADHAN MANTRI GRAMODAYA YOJANA (PMGY)

PMGY was launched in 2000-2001 in all States and Union Territories (UTs) in order to achieve the objective of sustainable human development at the village level. The PMGY envisages allocation of SAMPOORNA GRAMEEN ROZGAR YOJANA (SGRY) Additional Central Assistance (ACA) to the States and UTs for selected basic minimum services in order to The SGRY was launched in September 2001, by merging the ongoing Schemes of Jawahar Gram Samridhi focus on certain priority areas. PMGY initially had five components viz., primary health, primary education, Yojana (JGSY) and Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS). rural shelter, rural drinking water and nutrition. Rural electrification was added as an additional component from 2001-02. For 2002-03 as well as 2003-04, the allocation of ACA for PMGY was Rs.2,800 crore. Both The objective of the programme is to provide additional wage employment in the rural areas as also food financial and physical monitoring of the programme is being carried out by the Planning Commission. security, along with the creation of durable community, social and economic infrastructure in rural areas.

The SGRY is open to all rural poor who are in need of wage employment and desire to do manual and SWARNAJAYANTI GRAM SWAROZGER YOJANA (SGSY) unskilled work in and around the village/habitat. The Scheme is implemented through Panchyati Raj Institutions. 1. This Scheme was launched after a review and restructuring of the erstwhile Integrated Rural Development Program(IRDP) and allied schemes like Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment The scheme envisages generation of 100 crore man-days of employment in a year. The cost of each (TRYSEM), Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas (DWCRA), Million Wells component of the programme is shared by the Centre and States in the ratio of 75:25. During the year 2003- Scheme (MWS), Supply of Improved Toolkits to Rural Artisans (SITRA) & Ganga Kalyan Yojna. 04 an amount of Rs. 4,121 crore as cash component and 49.97 lakh tones of food grain were released to the States/UTs and 76.45 crore man-days (Provisional) have been generated as reported by the States/UTs. 2. SGSY was launched on April 1, 1999 and is the only self employment Programme currently being implemented.

29 30 Under the Special Component of the SGRY, 65.84 lakh tonnes of foodgrain have been released to 12  Allocation for housing and provision of basic amenities to urban poor enhanced to Rs.3,973 crore in calamity affected States during 2003-04. the Union Budget 2009-10. This includes provision of Rs. 150 Crore for Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY).

 As per the UPA government's proposal for this scheme , the schemes for affordable housing through partnership and the scheme for interest subsidy for urban housing would be dovetailed into the Rajiv RURAL HOUSING SCHEME Awas Yojana which would extend support under JNNURM to States that are willing to assign • Rural housing schemes such as Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) aim at providing dwelling units, free of property rights to people living in slum areas. cost, to the poor families of the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), freed bonded  Developing a robust database on slums is critical for implementation of the proposed Rajiv Awas laborers and also the non- SC/ST persons Below Poverty Line (BPL) in the rural areas. Yojana (RAY). The Ministry of HUPA has released funds for Slum/Household/Livelihoods surveys • The Scheme is funded on a cost-sharing basis of 75:25 between the Center and States. Till the end of in 394 class I cities having more than one lakh population in the country. 2003-04, the ceiling on construction assistance under IAY was Rs. 20,000/- in plain areas and Rs.  The surveys are in progress. Funds will also be released for other towns/cities in a phased manner. 22,000/- in hilly areas, which has been increased to Rs. 25,000/- per unit for plain areas and Rs. An e-enabled MIS is being developed for processing of data and building a national database. 27,500/- for hilly areas from April 1, 2004. Twenty per cent of the allocation is allowed for upgradation of unserviceable Kutcha houses for which ceiling of Rs. 12,500 per unit applies since April 2004. 20 POINT PROGRAM • Credit-cum-Subsidy Scheme for rural housing targeting rural families having annual income up to The Twenty Point Programme was initially launched by Prime Minister in 1975 and was Rs.32, 000 was launched on April 4, 1999. An amount of Rs. 10 crore as equity support was subsequently restructured in 1982 and again on 1986. With the introduction of new policies and provided to Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) during 2003-04 by Ministry of programmes it has been finally restructured in 2006 and it has been in operation at present. The Rural Development. Programmes and Schemes under TPP-2006 are in harmony with the priorities contained in the National • In addition, the innovative scheme of Rural Housing and Habitat Development and Rural Building Common Minimum Programme, the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and SAARC Centres (RBCs) was introduced to encourage innovative, cost effective and environment friendly Social Charter. The restructured Programme, called Twenty Point Programme – 2006 (TPP-2006), was solutions in building/housing sectors in rural areas. approved by the Cabinet on 5th October, 2006 and operated w.e.f 1.4.2007.

• A National Mission for Rural Housing and Habitat has also been set up to address the critical issues The 20 Point Program Consisted following: of housing gap and induction of science and technology inputs into the housing/construction sector in 1. Attack on rural poverty rural areas. 2. Strategy for Rained agriculture • Since inception (up to June 1, 2004) 113.96 lakh houses have been constructed/upgraded by incurring an expenditure of Rs. 19,869 crore. During 2003-04, against the target of 14.84 lakh, 12.54 3. Better use of irrigation water lakh (provisional) houses have been constructed/upgraded. 4. Bigger harvest

5. Enforcement of Land Reforms RAJIV AWAS YOJANA 6. Special Programs for rural labour  Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) is a new scheme announced by the President earlier in 2009, focuses on slum dwellers and the urban poor. 7. Clean drinking water

 This scheme aims at promoting a slum-free India in five years and would focus on according 8. Health for all property rights to slum dwellers. 9. two child norm  The scheme will focus on according property rights to slum dwellers and the urban poor by the states and union territories. 10. expansion of education

 It would provide basic amenities such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, internal and approach 11. Justice for SC / ST roads, street lighting and social infrastructure facilities in slums and low income settlements adopting 12. Equality for women a 'whole city' approach. It would also provide subsidized credit. 13. New Opportunities for women

31 32 The TPP further restructured in 2006 has following Points: Since 1993-94 the Yojna was made more targets oriented and expanded substantially through increased budgetary allocations. It was divided into 3 streams: 1. Poverty eradication First Stream: Comprising general works under JRY and also two sub schemes Indira Awas Yojna and

2. power to people Million Wells Scheme. This stream got 75% of the total allocation. In Indira Awas Yojna the allocation was 3. Support to farmers increased from 6% to 10 % and in Million Wells Scheme from 20% to 30 % during that period.

4. Labour welfare Second Stream: This was also called intensified JRY and was implemented in selected 120 backward districts. It got 20% allocation. 5. Food security Third Stream: This was left with 5 % allocation for Innovative programs which included Prevention of labor 6. Clean drinking water migration, drought proofing watershed etc. programs.

7. Housing for all Since April 1, 1999 this Yojna was replaced by Jawahar Gram samridhi Yojna. Later from September 25, 2001, Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojna was merged with Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojna 8. Health for all

9. Education for all ACCELERATED POWER DEVELOPMENT AND REFORM PROGRAMS (APDRP) 10. Welfare of SC/ ST/ OBC and minorities Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme or APDRP has been undertaken from the year 11. Women welfare 2000-01 with the twin objectives of financial turn-around in the performance of the power sector especially 12. Child welfare in electric distribution and improvement in quality of supply. The role of APDRP is to act as a catalyst for bringing about the desired changes through funding arrangements for implementing schemes. 13. Youth Development The schemes are targeted towards improving financial viability and customer satisfaction. The scheme comprises of 25% grant and 25% of soft loans from the Central Government to the State Government. The 14. Improvement of slums remaining 50% resources have to be generated by State Government. The states also have to commit 15. Environment protection and afforestation themselves for agreed loss improvement and collection improvement. APDRP mainly focuses on six aspects i.e. Customer, Feeder, Distribution Circle, SEB, State and the Nation. 16. Social security 17. Rural Roads Objectives: 1. Improving financial viability 18. Energising of rural areas 2. Reduction of T&D losses to around 10 % 3. Improving customer satisfaction 19. Development of Backward areas 4. Transparency through Computerization 20. IT enabled and e-governance In the Union Budget 2009-10, Allocation under Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (APDRP) increased by 160 per cent to Rs.2,080 crore in B.E. 2009-10 over B.E. 2008-09.

JAWAHAR ROZGAR JOYANA

Jawahar Rozgar Yojna was launched on April 1, 1989 by merging National Rural Employment Program ACCREDICTED SOCIAL HEALTH ACTIVIST (ASHA) (NREP) and Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP). At the end of Seventh Five Year ASHA is a new band of community under National Rural Health Mission, which serves as first port of call Plan. So this was a consolidation of the previous employment programs and it was largest National for any health related demands of deprived sections of the population, especially women and children, who Employment Program of India at that time with a general objective of providing 90-100 Days Employment find it difficult to access health services. The main objective is to provide every village in the country with a per person particularly in backward districts. People below Poverty Line were main targets. trained female community health activist – ‘ASHA’ or Accredited Social Health Activist. Selected from the The Yojna was implemented on rural scale. Every village was to be covered through Panchayati Raj village itself and accountable to it, the ASHA will be trained to work as an interface between the community Institutions. The village got aide and support from District Rural Development Authority. Expenditures were and the public health system. born by central & state in 80:20 ratios.

33 34 ANTYODAYA ANNA YOJANA (AAY) 4. Telephone Connectivity: Every village to be connected by telephone: remaining 66,822 villages to be covered by November 2007 • AAY was launched in December 2000. 5. Electricity : Every village to be provided electricity: remaining 1,25,000 villages to be covered by • Under the scheme 1 crore of the poorest among the BPL families covered under the targeted public 2009 as well as connect 2.3 crore households distribution system are identified. 6. Housing : To construct 60 lakh additional houses for poor under Indira Awas Yojna • Twenty five kilograms (kg) of food grains were made available to each eligible family at a highly subsidized rate of Rs. 2 per kg for wheat and Rs.3 per kg for rice. This quantity has been enhanced from 25 to 35 kgs with effect from April, 2002. THE COUNCIL FOR ADVANCEMENT OF PEOPLE’S AND RURAL TECHNOLOGY (CAPART) • The scheme has been further expanded in June 2003 by adding another 50 lakh BPL families. Under The Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) was set up as a pioneer the scheme, during 2002-03, against an allocation of 41.27 lakh tonnes of foodgrain, 35.39 lakh organisation in September, 1986, as a supporting and funding agency for the Voluntary Organisations (VOs) tonnes have been lifted by State Governments, and during 2003-04, 38.24 lakh tonnes of food-grain by merging two organisations, namely, People’s Action for Development (India) and Council for have been lifted against an allocation of 45.56 lakh tonnes. Advancement of Rural Technology (CART) with the mandate to promote voluntary action and propagate appropriate rural technologies for the benefit of the rural masses. Since then, CAPART has been contributing towards the rural development and poverty alleviation through the work of VOs at the BACKWARD REGIONS GRANT FUND PROGRAMME grassroots level and by supplementing Government’s efforts.

Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF) was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at CREDICT GURANTEE FUND FOR MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES Barpeta in Assam on 19th February 2006. This programme signifies a new approach to addressing persistent regional imbalances in development. The programme has subsumed the Rashtriya Sama Vikas Yojana Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme for Micro and Small Enterprises is operational under Credit Support (RSVY), a scheme earlier being administered by the Planning Commission. Programme for Micro Small & Medium Enterprises.

This Programme covers 250 districts in 27 States, of which 232 districts fall under the purview of Part IX Through this scheme, the guarantee cover is provided for collateral free credit facility extended by member and Part IX-A of the Constitution dealing with the Panchayats and the Municipalities respectively. The lending institutions (MLIs) to the new as well as existing small enterprises on loans up to Rs. 100 lakh. In remaining 18 districts are covered by other local government structures, such as Autonomous District and another component of Portfolio Risk Fund’ (PRF) under this programme, Government of India provides Regional Councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and state specific arrangements as in the funds for Micro Finance Programme to SIDBI which is used for security deposit requirement of the loan case of Nagaland and the hill areas of Manipur. amount from the MFIs/NGOs. The Programme also covers Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Scheme for Women under which assistance is provided for economic empowerment Proposed Budget Allocation: of women through development of their entrepreneurial skills in non- farming activities.

In 2009-10, the budget allocation for BRGF as Rs. 4670 crore has been proposed. DISTRICT RURAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

• Over the years the District Rural Development Agencies have emerged as the principal organs at the district level to oversing the implementation of different poverty alleviation programmes. BHARAT NIRMAN • Since inception, the administrative costs of the DRDAs were met by setting apart a certain Bharat Nirman is a a time-bound plan for rural infrastructure by the Government of India in partnership with percentage of the allocation for each Programme. Of late, while the number of programmes State Governments and Panchayat Raj Institutions.It was launched in 2005. It has 6 components: increased, not all Programmes provided for the administrative cost of the DRDAs.

1. Water : Every habitation to have a safe source of drinking water: 55,067 uncovered habitations to be • Keeping in view the need for an effective agency at the district level to co-ordinate the poverty covered by 2009. In addition all habitations which have slipped back from full coverage to partial alleviation efforts, a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme for strengthening the DRDAs was introduced coverage due to failure of source and habitations which have water quality problems to be addressed w.e.f. 1st April, 1999.

2. Roads: Every habitation over 1000 population and above (500 in hilly and tribal areas) to be • The primary objective of the DRDA Administration Scheme is to professionalise the DRDAs so that provided an all-weather road: remaining 66,802 habitations to be covered by 2009 they are able to effectively manage the poverty alleviation programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development and interact purposively with other agencies. The DRDAs are expected to (effectively) 3. Irrigation: 10 million hectares (100 lakhs) of additional irrigation capacity to be created by 2009 60 coordinate with the Panchayati Raj Institutions. lakh houses to be constructed for the rural poor by 2009

35 36 DRDA ADMINISTRATION • Improving internal management processes and decision making in Panchayats

• The objective of the scheme of DRDA Administration is to strengthen the DRDAs and to make them more Enabling PRIs to use IT for electronic tagging and tracking of funds transferred to Panchayats, professional and effective. It is visualized as a specialized agency capable of managing anti-poverty including rapid bank transfer of funds, tracking fund transfers to, expenditures of the Panchayats programmes of the Ministry on the one hand and effectively relate these to the overall efforts of poverty eradication in the districts on the other. This scheme is funded on a 75:25 basis by the Centre and State Governments and on 90:10 basis in respect of Centre and North-Eastern States for meeting administrative FOOD FOR WORK PROGRAMME (FFWP) costs. In the case of UTs the Centre provides 100% funds for the scheme. In Union Budget 2010-11 the outlay for DRDA Administration has been kept for Rs. 405 Crore • The Food for Work Programme was started in January, 2000-01 as part of the Employment Assurance Scheme (EAS) in eight drought affected States viz. Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal. DROUGHT PRONE AREAS PROGRAMME • The Food for Work Programmes (FFWP) was later expanded to form a part of any wage 1. Desert Development Program (DDP) and Integrated Wastelands Development Program (IWDP) are employment scheme of the Central or State Governments being implemented in the notified districts being implemented for the development of wastelands / degraded lands.+ during periods of natural calamities, such as drought, flood, cyclone or earthquake.

2. DPAP was launched in 1973-74 to tackle the special problems faced by those areas constantly • Now the programme is in operation in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, affected by drought conditions. Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Orissa and Rajasthan.

3. DDP was launched in 1977-78 to mitigate the adverse effects of desertification. IWDP has been • In this programme the cash component of the wage and material is met from the Scheme under under implementation since 1989-90. These programs were implemented on a sectoral basis till which it is being implemented. 1994-95.

4. Since April 1995, these programs are being implemented on watershed basis. For the project DPAP, GLOBAL ADVISORY NETWORK GROUP ON ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE (GANGES) total number of the projects sanctioned were 2,535, with funds released by the Centre at Rs 295 crore. Global Advisory Network Group on Environmental Sciences (GANGES) is one of the 5 specific initiatives of Ministry of Environment & Forests, which have been announced as a series of measures to strengthen the 5. Under DDP, 1,562 projects have been sanctioned with funds of amount Rs.215 crore; and under scientific base underlying the activities of the Ministry. IWDP, 190 projects with funding of Rs. 306 crore, were sanctioned. The cost norms for all the three schemes have been revised to Rs.6,000 per hectare. It is a new forum that comprises world’s leading environmental scientists of Indian origin, established to advise the Government of India on the country’s environmental sciences agenda. GANGES will focus on 6. Under DPAP and DDP, the cost is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25, questions such as: while in the case of IWDP, Rs.5,500 is borne by the Central Government and Rs.500 is shared by the States. 1. What areas of Environmental Sciences should we focus on? e-PRI 2. How should the government engage on this agenda (identify priority areas, directly conduct research, support and fund outside research, etc.)? e-PRI is a a unique scheme of Panchayati Raj Ministry that proposes to provide a whole range of IT related services to Panchayati Raj Institutions as part of the Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under NeGP (National 3. Which institutional collaborations should be undertaken in specific areas and in what way? E Governance programme). 4. How should academia and private sector be engaged? It has been launched by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India on January 28, 2010. It would 5. How should innovation in this space be stimulated, and how do we fast-track development, provide the services like Decentralised Database and Planning, PRI Budgeting and Accounting, demonstration and dissemination?

12 globally renowned scientists are part of this group. They are : Objective of e-PRI MMP 1. , School of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA • Enabling Panchayats to better deliver its mandated services to the Citizens through IT. 2. Jagadish Shukla, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, George Mason • Enabling PRIs to use IT as a tool for transparency, disclosure of services to Citizens and social audit University, USA

37 38 3. Purnendu Dasgupta, Department of Analytical and Environmental Chemistry, University of Texas, INTEGRATED LOW COST SANITATION (ILCS) SCHEME Arlington, USA What this Scheme is About? 4. Veerabhadran Ramanathan, University of California, San Diego, USA • The "Integrated Low Cost Sanitation" Scheme aims at conversion of individual dry latrine into pour 5. Asit Biswas, Third World Centre for Water Management, Queens University, Canada flush latrine thereby liberating manual scavengers from the age old, obnoxious practice of manually carrying night soil. 6. Ashok Gadgil, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA History: 7. Pratim Biswas, Washington University in St. Louis, USA • ILCS scheme was initially started in 1980-81 through the Ministry of Home Affairs and later through 8. Kamal Bawa, University of Massachusetts, Boston Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

9. Tam Sridhar, Faculty of Engineering, Monash University, Australia • The scheme was transferred in 1989-90 to Ministry of Urban Development & Poverty Alleviation and from 2003-2004 onwards to Ministry of UEPA/HUPA. 10. Shankar Sastry, Dean of Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA

11. Venkatachalam Ramaswamy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, University of Objectives & Progress: Colorado, Boulder Institute, USA • The scheme has helped in constructing/converting over 28 lakh latrines to liberate over 60000 scavengers so far. While implementing the ILCS scheme, it was observed that the scheme did not 12. Venky Narayanamurti, Science, Technology and Public Policy Programme, Harvard Kennedy perform well due to various reasons. School, USA • To make the scheme more attractive and implementable the Guidelines have been revised w.e.f. 17th January, 2008.

INTEGRATED CHILD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES PROGRAMME • The main objective of the Scheme is to convert low cost sanitation units through sanitary two pit pour flush latrines with superstructures and appropriate variations to suit local conditions . • The Integrated Child Development Sevices Programme aims at providing services to pre-school children in an integrated manner so as to ensure proper growth and development of children in rural, tribal and slum areas. ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme. INTEGRATED WASTELAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

• Launched on 2nd October 1975 in 33 Community Development Blocks, ICDS today represents one The Integrated Wastelands Development Programme (IWDP), Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) of the world’s largest programmes for early childhood development. ICDS is the foremost symbol of and Desert Development Programme (DDP) have been consolidated and renamed Integrated Watershed India’s commitment to her children – India’s response to the challenge of providing pre-school Management Programme (IWMP). education on one hand and breaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, reduced learning capacity and mortality, on the other. The modified scheme of IWMP is scheduled to be implemented as per the Common Guidelines for Watershed Development Projects, 2008.The cost norm of this centrally sponsored scheme will be Rs. • It is an inter-sectoral programme which seeks to directly reach out to children, below six years, 12,000/- per hectare for the plains and Rs. 15,000/- per hectare for the hilly and difficult areas. The cost will especially from vulnerable and remote areas and give them a head-start by providing an integrated be shared in the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and the States. New components for dedicated institutions programme of early childhood education, health and nutrition. at State, District and Village level relating to livelihood activities for landless people have been incorporated in IWMP. The watershed projects sanctioned upto Xth Plan will continue to be implemented as per the Objectives: existing guidelines. In Union Budget 2010-11 a provision of Rs. 2,458 crore has been made for IWMP, including Rs. 245.80 crore for North Eastern Region and Sikkim. 1. To improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group of 0 to 6 years.

2. To lay the foundations for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child. NATIONAL URBAN RENEWAL MISSION (JNNURM) 3. To reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity, malnutrition and school drop-out. Cities and towns of India constitute the world’s second largest urban system. They contribute over 50% of 4. To achieve effective coordination of policy and implementation amongst the various departments to country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and are central to economic growth. For these cities to realize promote child development. their full potential and become true engines of growth, it is necessary that focused attention be given to the improvement of infrastructure therein. For achieving this objective, a Mission mode approach is essential. 5. To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education. JNNURM was launched on 3rd December 2005.

39 40 Objectives: 2011 with an outlay of Rs. 4,882 crore under National Policy for Farmers in the Eleventh Five Year Plan.The proposed Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘National Food Security Mission (NFSM) is to 1. Focused attention to integrated development of basic services to the urban poor Security of tenure at operationalise the resolution of NDC and enhance the production of rice, wheat and pulses. affordable price, improved housing, water supply, sanitation; Key Features: 2. Convergence of services in fields of education, health and social security 1. The scheme to be implemented in a mission mode through a farmer centric approach 3. As far as possible providing housing near the place of occupation of the urban poor 2. All the Stakeholders to be actively associated at the District levels for achieving the set goal. 4. Effective linkage between asset creation and asset management to ensure efficiency 3. The scheme aims to target the select districts by making available the improved technologies to the

5. Scaling up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to farmers through a series of planned interventions. urban poor. 4. A close monitoring mechanism proposed to ensure that interventions reach to the targeted beneficiaries. 6. Ensuring adequate investment of funds to fulfill deficiencies in the basic services to the urban poor.

Objectives: MID-DAY MEAL SCHEME 1. Increasing production of rice, wheat and pulses through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner; The Mid-day Meal Scheme involves provision of lunch free of cost to school-children on all working days. 2. Restoring soil fertility and productivity at individual farm level; Key Objectives: The key objectives of the programme are: 3. Enhancing farm level economy (i.e. farm profits) to restore confidence of farmers of targeted districts 1. Protecting children from classroom hunger

2. Increasing school enrolment and attendance NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE GRID (NATGRID)

3. Improved socialisation among children belonging to all castes Government of India is setting up a national intelligence grid called NATGRID.It is a brainchild of Home Minister P Chidambaram. This NATGRID will be fully set up by May 2011 where each individual's data 4. Addressing malnutrition, and social empowerment through provision of employment to women. ranging from land records, Internet logs, phone records, gun records, driving license, property records, The scheme has a long history especially in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and has been expanded to all parts of insurance, and income tax records would be available in real time and with no oversight. India after a landmark direction by the Supreme Court of India on November 28, 2001. NATGRID & UID: • The success of this scheme is illustrated by the tremendous increase in the school participation and The government believes that UID project may not be enough to eliminate the risks of terror on the domestic completion rates in the state of Tamilnadu. front. NATGRID is currently awaiting the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security. • Allocation for this programme has been enhanced from Rs 3010 crore to Rs 4813 crore (Rs 48 With a UID from the Unique Identification Authority of India being given to every Indian from February billion, $1.2 billion) in 2006-2007. 2011, the government would be able track people in real time. A national population registry of all citizens will be established by the 2011 census, during which fingerprints and iris scans would be taken along with • This program is being run by Akshaya Patra Foundation and is the world’s largest school meal GPS records of each household. programme being implemented across seven states in India and covering about ten lakh students in over 4,800 schools. The allocation was of Rs 8000 crore for the Mid-Day meal schemes in the Basic Idea: interim budget 2009. The basic idea of the government is to network 21 available databases across government and private • This is world's largest school feeding programme. : agencies to 'flag potential terrorist threats.

NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORK NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY MISSION On March 25, 2010 Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure approves the establishment of the National Background: Knowledge Network (NKN) at an outlay of Rs 5,990 crore to enable scientists, researchers and students To meet the growing food grain demand, National Development Council in its 53rd meeting adopted a resolution to enhance the production of rice, wheat and pulses by 10, 8 and 2 million tons respectively by

41 42 from diverse spheres across the country to work together for advancing human development in critical and NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GURANTEE ACT (NREGA) emerging areas. What is NREGA? The implementation part will be responsibility of NIC and it will take a period of 10 years.

1. NREGA is designed as a safety net to reduce migration by rural poor households in the lean period through A hundred days of guaranteed unskilled manual labour provided when demanded at Objectives: minimum wage on works focused on water conservation, land development & drought proofing. • NKN will catalyse knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer between stakeholders seamlessly that

too across the nation and globally. 2. Notification of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act came in September 2005. It was launched on February 2, 2006. • The NKN is expected to encourage a larger section of research and educational institutions to create

intellectual property. 3. NREGA is the flagship programme of the UPA Government that directly touches lives of the poor and promotes inclusive growth. • It would enable the use of specialised applications, which allow sharing of high performance

computing facilities, e-libraries, virtual classrooms and very large databases. 4. The Act aims at enhancing livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least one hundred days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every • Health, Education, Grid Computing, Agriculture and e-Governance are the main applications household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. identified for implementation and delivery on NKN. 5. The ongoing programmes of Sampoorn Grameen Rozgar Yojna & National Food for Work • Applications such as countrywide classrooms will address the issue of faculty shortage and ensure Programme were subsumed within this programme in the 200 of the most backward districts of the quality education delivery across the country. country, in which it was introduced in phase -1 .

• The crux of the success of the Knowledge Network is related to the education-related applications, 6. In phase-2 it was introduced in 130 additional districts. databases and delivery of services to the users on demand. 7. The scheme was extended to 274 rural districts from April 1, 2008 in phase-3.

NATIONAL NOISE MONITERING NETWORK 8. NREGA is the first ever law internationally, that guarantees wage employment at an unprecedented scale. India's Union Environment and Forests Ministry decides to set up a National Ambient Noise Monitoring Network on the pattern of existing Air and Water Networks. A road map has been prepared by the ministry 9. Dr. Jean Drèze, a Belgian born economist, at the Delhi School of Economics, has been a major which shall be ready by September 2010. Under this network noise monitoring centers will be set on pilot influence on this project. basis in 7 cities viz Delhi, , Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, and Lucknow. Each city will What are Objectives of NREGA? have 10 stations. By 2011 the network will be expanded to 18 more cities with 5 stations in each city. There will be 160 stations placed in 2 years time frame. Rs. 10 crores will be spent in these two year sunder the 1. Augmenting wage employment. current 5 year plan. 2. Strengthening natural resource management through works that address causes of chronic poverty like drought, deforestation and soil erosion and so encourage sustainable development. Objective: 3. Strengthening grassroots processes of democracy This will a make available a systematic national level monitoring and reporting network in the country similar to case of air and water pollution. The job is at present done by Central and State Pollution Control 4. Infusing transparency and accountability in governance. Boards on random basis. The Objective of this Road Map is to facilitate setting up of a systematic national level noise monitoring network in a time bound manner. The baseline data which shall be created in these 5. Strengthening decentralization and deepening processes of democracy by giving a pivotal role to the stations will be utilized to control noise at regional and national level. Panchayati Raj Institutions in planning, monitoring and implementation.

NREGA & Union Budget 2009-10:

1. During 2008-09, NREGA provided employment opportunities for more than 4.47 crore households as against 3.39 crore households covered in 2007-08.

2. Govt. is committed to providing a real wage of Rs.100 a day as an entitlement under the NREGA.

43 44 3. To increase the productivity of assets and resources under NREGA, convergence with other schemes 4. The NMBS has since been transferred to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare w.e.f. 1-4-2001. relating to agriculture, forests, water resources, land resources and rural roads is being initiated. In The NSAP aims at providing social security in case of old age, death of primary breadwinner the first stage, a total of 115 pilot districts have been selected for such convergence. andmaternity.

4. Govt of India has proposed an allocation of Rs.39,100 crore for the year 2009-10 for NREGA which 5. The main objectives and features of the two schemes, NOAPS and NFBS are given below: marks an increase of 144% over 2008-09 Budget Estimates. 6. The Programme aims at ensuring a minimum national standard of social assistance in addition to the NATIONAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NSDC) benefit that States are already providing.

On October 20, 2009, India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has launched National Skill Development 7. The Central assistance is not to displace expenditure by States on social protection schemes. Corporation. However, the States/UTs are free to expand their own coverage of social assistance whenever they wish to do so. Features:

• The NSDC is a unique Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Enterprise. NATIONAL TOBACCO CONTROL PROGRAMME • As against 40 million people currently who have received any kind of formal or non-formal training, the new vision envisages creation of a pool of 500 million skilled people by 2022 On 28 January 2010, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the National Tobacco Control Programme (NTCP). • NSDC has been incorporated as a not-for-profit organization under Section 25 of the Companies Act, Objective: 1956 by the Ministry of Finance. This programme aims to build the capacity of the States and Districts to facilitate effective implementation • It has been formed as 51:49 shareholding of private and government. of the Tobacco Control Laws and to bring about greater awareness about the harmful effects of tobacco.

• The company as a public-private initiative will help to hone the talent of India's workforce in 21 Componets: high-growth industries. The proposed NTCP has 3 componets as follows:

• Besides Ministry of Finance, all prominent industry bodies have contributed to the initial capital of (A) National level: this venture. 1. Public awareness and media campaigns for awareness building and for behavioural change; • It will primarily focus on tackling 30 percent of the total skill gap of India's workforce over the next decade. 2. Establishment of tobacco product testing laboratories, to build regulatory capacity, as required under COTPA, 2003; • Two areas which can be taken up for immediate consideration are adoption of a few ITI's by the corporation on a management contract, so that models for better management of the existing 3. Mainstreaming the programme components as a part of the health delivery mechanism under the infrastructure can be evolved. NRHM framework;

4. Mainstreaming Research & training on alternate crops and livelihoods with other nodal Ministries;

NATIONAL SOCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME 5. Monitoring and Evaluation including surveillance such as the Adult Tobacco Survey (ATS).

1. The National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) which came into effect from 15th August, 1995, (B)State level: is a 100 % Centrally Sponsored Programme. 1. Dedicated tobacco control cells for effective implementation and monitoring of Anti Tobacco 2. NSAP is a social assistance programme for poor households and represents a significant step towards Initiatives; the fulfillment of the Directive Principles in Articles 41 and 42 of the Constitution recognizing the (C) District level: concurrent responsibility of the Central and State governments in the matter. 1. Training of health and social workers, NGOs, school teachers and the like; 3. It has three components namely, National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS), National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS). 2. Local IEC activities;

3. Provision of tobacco cessation facilities;

4. School Programmes.

45 46 Total Outlay: PRIME MINISTER’S EMPLOYEMENT GENERATION PROGRAMME

The total financial outlay for the National Tobacco Control programme in the Eleventh Plan is Rs 182 crore. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is a scheme of Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. It is a credit linked, Central Sector Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme which was NEW MARKET DEVELOPMENT SCHEME FOR KHADI & VILLAGE PRODUCTS approved in August 2008. The two erstwhile schemes of the ministry Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment On January 28, 2010, The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) approves introduction of a new Generation Programme (REGP) were merged to launch this scheme which continued till March 31, 2008. Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme for Khadi and Village products and polyvastra.The scheme starts from April 1, 2010. This will be monitored by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme is a significant initiative with a higher level of Enterprises. subsidy than both PMRY and REGP.

Who are the beneficiaries: Objectives: This scheme envisages financial assistance at the rate of 20 per cent of production value on Khadi and • Village products and polyvastra. The assistance is to be shared among spinners and weavers, producing The main objective of this programme is to generate employment opportunities by assisting institutions and selling institutions at the rate of 25 per cent, 30 per cent and 45 per cent of total value of establishment of micro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas by the first generation MDA at an estimated cost of Rs 345.05 crore. entrepreneurs.

The scheme is expected to increase the participation by and coverage of rural beneficiaries by KVIC and State Governments in a more focused manner through rationalized implementation, focused EDP Training, Operational Period : This new scheme replaces the existing rebate scheme on Khadi and polyvastra. It will be operational during monitoring and verification procedures to be piloted and coordinated by KVIC, Khadi Village Industries 2010-11 and 2011-12 as recommended in the Expenditure Finance Committee. Boards and District Industries Centres (DICs) of State Governments. PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA The Technical/Engineering Education Quality Improvement Project is a project of World Bank for India 1. The PMGSY, was launched in December, 2000, to provide road connectivity to 1.6 lakh which supports the production of high quality technical professionals through reforms in the unconnected habitations with population of 500 persons or more (250 in case of hilly, desert and technical/engineering education system in order to raise productivity and competitiveness of the Indian tribal areas) in the rural areas by the end of the Tenth Plan period. economy. There are two project components.

2. It is being executed in all the States and six UTs. Although the initial estimates indicated a 1. The first component, Institutional Development, comprises three sub-components: 1) promoting requirement of Rs. 60,000 crore for the program, the present indications are that about Rs.1,30,000 academic excellence; 2) networking institutions for quality enhancement and resource sharing; and crore will be needed for achieving the intended connectivity. 3) enhancing quality and reach of services to the community and the economy. Under this component, qualifying institutions, based on their capabilities, will be first selected either as lead 3. As per the Budget announcements of 2003-04, the diesel cess which is the source for funding the institutions or as network institutions, and then be required to compete through specific sub-projects. programme, was increased from Re. 1 per litre to Rs. 1.50 per litre, in order to provide additional

funds for the programme. Since the inception of the program, project proposals for Rs. 14,417 crore 2. The second component, System Management Capacity Improvement, supports 1) developing a have been cleared and 88,685 Kms. of rural roads have been taken up under this program. 20,740 modern management style through training of policy planners, managers, and administrators from road works had been completed till March 2004, and an expenditure of over Rs. 6,547 crore has been the central and participating state governments. 2) conducting studies at the State and national levels, incurred by the States/UTs. the findings of which would be used for improving policy and decisionmaking processes, and implementing reforms; 3) enhancing performance and the quality and efficiency of State audits of 4. The National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA), registered under the Societies institutions; and 4) establishing structures and facilities for program management at the central and Registration Act, provides Operations and Management support for the program. The Asian State levels. Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to support the development of rural roads in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which have been identified as recipient States for the first tranche. The ADB Planning Commission has assessed that the country will require 50 crore trained individuals by 2022. The Board has approved a loan of $400 million (in a project size of $571 million). The States of Assam, process of establishing a mission for training youth between 14 and 25 years of age is underway. In this Orissa and West Bengal have been identified for the second tranche of ADB assistance, of the order regard the WB Review Mission recognised Madhya Pradesh as the best state. of US $500million. Recently a two-day meeting of the Joint Review Mission of the World Bank (WB)-aided Professional Education Improvement Project was held and was attended by representatives of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, 5. A first tranche of $400 million for funding projects in Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, , Lakshadweep, Jammu and Kashmir. Uttar Pradesh is likely to be available from the World Bank by the end of 2004-05.

47 48 As many as 28 industrial training institutes of the state have been selected for being developed as centres of 2. Scheme to bridge yield gap in agriculture in Eastern India. These new sub-components will be excellence. For this, Rs 73 crore were sanctioned.The Project is on for the past two years. designed by the States in consultation with Govt. of India, including Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, National Rainfed Area PROPOSED NATIONAL SEED BANK Authority and Planning Commission, and would form part of the approved process of RKVY.The provision Government of India is planning to establish a National Seed Bank. This seed bank will help farmers in the of Rs. 6,722 crore is for ‘Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana’ (RKVY) in The Union Budget 2010-11 event of any crisis of shortage of seeds to cultivate. RURAL BUSINESS HUBS 1. Proposed Seed Bank would cover all varieties of seeds like oil, cereals and pulses depending on the situation of each states in the country. Rural Business Hubs is an initiative by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry started in 2007. (ref) 2. It would be established with the cooperation of National Seeds Corporation and State-level agencies.

3. Private operators also could be accommodated for the purpose which was expected to come into Rural Business Hubs is a first-of-its-kind Public, Private and Panchayat Partnership which aims to foster and being with in a year or two. permeate economic growth into and for rural India.

4. Seed Reserve would be set up on the lines of National Food Buffer Stock. The idea is to ensure that no farmer leave his farmland barren for the want of seeds. The concept of Rural Business Hubs is based upon synnergically link rural products, skills and produces 5. The move is to help the farmers in the event of any crisis of shortage of seed to grow and the cost with the marketing and professional skills of the industry to overcome the impending factors which hinder would be borne by the Government. economic growth from reaching rural India. Such impediments are Poor market linkages , weak Infrastructure , Fragmented farms and farming , Many layers of intermediaries , Lack of standardisation and RAJIV GANDHI UDYAMI MITRA YOJANA grading etc.

Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana was launched on February 7, 2008. The scheme aims to provide Current Situation: handholding assistance to first generation entrepreneurs through lead agencies or Udyami Mitra, who shall provide guidance to the potential entrepreneurs and help them in completion of various tasks and formalities Till February 2010, Government has identified 35 districts for Rural Business Hubs intervention programme necessary for the establishment of the enterprise. in consultation with State Governments. So far 26 district RBH workshops have been organised and champion products identified. In addition, financial assistance to 49 projects throughout the country has Objectives: been extended for establishment of RBH. The objective of Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana (RGUMY) is to provide handholding support and SCHEME OF FUND FOR TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES assistance to the potential first generation entrepreneurs, who have already successfully completed EDP/SDP/ESDP/VT programmes, through the selected lead agencies i.e. 'Udyami Mitras', in the SFURTI is the first comprehensive initiative for focused regeneration of the khadi and village industries establishment and management of the new enterprise, in dealing with various procedural and legal hurdles sector, based on the cluster development methodology. and in completion of various formalities required for setting up and running of the enterprise. SFURTI has been introduced in October 2005 with a view to developing around 100 traditional clusters RASTRIYA KRISHI VIKAS YOJANA from khadi, village industry and coir sectors for comprehensive development over 5 years. KVIC and Coir Board are the nodal agencies for the scheme . As per resolution adopted by National Development Council, reaffirming its commitment to achieve 4% annual growth in Agriculture Sector during the XIth Plan, this scheme was launched as a State Plan scheme The Scheme Steering Committee (SSC) has approved 118 clusters (32 khadi, 60 village industries and 26 during 2007-08. coir) with additional clusters serving as a reserved cluster against any possible ‘dropout’.

The scheme will incentivize States to provide additional resources in their State Plans over and above their 17 National level institutions have been identified as Technical Agencies under this programme for baseline expenditure to bridge critical gaps. providing technical support to these clusters.Diagnostic Study Reports (DSR) and Annual Action Plans (AAP) for 96 clusters have been approved by the SSC. Two new sub-components, budgeted at Rs. 700 crore, to be introduced as part of RKVY have been approved for 2010-11, viz. 69 KVI clusters (29 Khadi and 40 VI) have been operationalized with the distribution of tools, equipments and inauguration of common facility centres. Complementary activities have been intiated in 25 coir 1. Special initiative for pulses and oilseeds development in selected pulses/oilseed growing villages in clusters. rainfed areas as supplementary programmes, specifically targeted to rainfed areas and will be implemented on same parameter, as ongoing programmes for oilseeds and pulses

49 50 SWARAN JAYANTI SHAHARI ROZGAR YOJANA CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BILLS • The Urban Self-Employment Program and the Urban Wage Employment Program are two special

schemes of the SJSRY initiated in December 1997, which replaced various programs operated earlier for urban poverty alleviation. 95 TH AMENDMENT BILL 2003

• Between the Centre and the States, SJSRY is funded on a 75:25 basis. During 2002-03, the full The Constitution 95th amendment bill was passed and came into effect as Constitution (88th Amendment allocation of Rs.105 crore provided for various components of this program was released. For 2003- Act 2003 to place "Service Tax " formally under Union List. 04, an allocation of Rs.94.50 crore plus Rs. 10.5 crore for North East and Sikkim was provided for various components of this program. The expenditure during 2003-04 was Rs. 105 crore. In the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, under Article 246, the item relating to "taxes on services" was not specifically mentioned in any entry either in the Union List or in the State List. At the same time Entry Update : November 12, 2009 97 of the Union List empowers the Union Government to Make laws in respect of any other law which is not enumerated in list II (State List ) and List III (Concurrent list), including any tax which has not been Swarna jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojna has been comprehensively revamped by the Union Housing & Urban mentioned in Union List or the State List. Since "Taxes on Services" is not there in either of the lists, the Poverty Alleviation ministry as per a press release by PIB on November 12, 2009. The new scheme has central government kept levying the service tax exercising the powers under Entry 97 of the union List. '' commenced from 2009-2010. SJSRY will have five major components:

1. Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP) To place the Service Tax formally, The Constitution 95th Amendment Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on May 7, 2003. (link) . After coming into effect as Constitution (88th Amendment Act 2003, this amendment act 2. Urban Women Self-help Programme (UWSP) has inserted article 268A and amended article 270. It inserted in the Union List Item 92 C 'taxes on services"

3. Skill Training for Employment Promotion amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP) 96 TH AMENDMENT BILL 2003

4. Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP) Constitution (96th amendment )Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on May 6, 2003 & Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2003. This act updates delimitation against the very latest count of the population. 5. Urban Community Development Network (UCDN)

Background: The 42nd amendment of the Constitution had imposed a freeze on the delimitation of the constituencies. 42nd amendment also provided that until the relevant figures for the first census taken after VALMIKI AMBEDKAR AWAS YOJANA the year 2000 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust the allocation of seats in the House • The VAMBAY was launched in December 2001 to ameliorate the conditions of the urban slum of the People to the States and the division of each State into territorial constituencies under this article.". dwellers living below the poverty line without adequate shelter. In other words, the rationalization of the constituencies, including re-fixing of the number of seats reserved • The scheme has the primary objective of facilitating the construction and up-gradation of dwelling for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, was earlier to be done on the basis of the 1991 Census and units for slum dwellers and providing a healthy and enabling urban environment through community after 84th amendment on the basis of 2001 Census. But within the overall number of seats allocated to each toilets under Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan, a component of the scheme. state for Parliament and within the state for its Assembly as frozen at the 1971 levels. The 96th Constitutional Amendment is a progressive step that updates delimitation against the very latest count of the • The Central Government provides a subsidy of 50 per cent, the balance 50 per cent being arranged population. by the State Government. 97 TH AMENDMENT BILL • There are prescribed ceilings on costs both for dwelling units and community toilets. During 2003- 04, Central subsidy to the extent of Rs. 239 crore has been released. Since inception up to May 2004, The Constitution (97th Amendment) is also known as an amendment to Anti-Defection Law. Rs. 522 crore have been released as Government of India subsidy for the construction/upgradation of 2,46,035 dwelling units and 29,263 toilet seats under the scheme. Background: Defection which literally means (withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility) leads to political instability. The Constitution (52nd Amendment) Act 1985 was passed to

curb the menace of defection and clip the wings of “Aya Ram, Gaya Ram” (political word for describing the practice of floor-crossing by members).

This amendment added the Tenth Schedule to the constitution which contained the provisions regarding the disqualification of members of the parliament or state legislatures in the event of defection. In other words Tenth Schedule, also known as the Anti-Defection Act was included in the Constitution in 1985 by

51 52 the Rajiv Gandhi ministry and sets the provisions for disqualification of elected members on the grounds 103 RD AMENDMENT BILL 2004 of defection to another political party. The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Bill, 2004 along with National Commission for Minorities (Repeal) Bill, 2004 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 23.12.2004. Bills were referred to the Further Constitution (Ninety First Amendment) act of 2003 brought certain changes in the 1985 Anti- Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment. Chairperson of defection Law. This amendment deleted paragraph 3 of the Tenth Schedule . Deleting this paragraph this committee was Smt Sumitra Mahajan and the committee submitted its report on February 21, 2006. allowed one-third of the legislature party to split without attracting provisions of the existing ant defection law. The Constitution (Ninety First Amendment) debarred the defectors from holding any public Background: office as a minister or any other remunerative post till the end of the current term or till fresh elections are hold. 1. In 6 states& UTs viz. Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Punjab, the Hindus are a minority in contrast with the rest of the country. At the same time, the Constitution (Ninety First Amendment) 2003 also sought to check defection by 2. The minority standard of Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsees who are designated as minority in restricting the size of Council of Ministers 15% of the Lok Sabha & Assembly members. India should not be applicable to these states. For example, in Punjab Sikhs are in majority, in J& K Muslims are in majority. Due the these developments, it is not possible for handful members to split and create new parties. If any member splits, he disqualifies the membership and seek fresh election. "On August 8, 2005, a Supreme Court judgment decreed that Jains should not be treated as a minority at the national level and no more communities should be declared as a minority at the national level. Only the state Further, there was one more amendment to Anti Defection Law in the form of Constitution (97th government may declare communities as minorities. ." Amendment) Act. The 97th amendment bill sought to reduce the size of the ministerial council to 10% of the members. In other words, after this amendment, the size of the Council of Ministers cannot be Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Bill, 2004 along with National Commission for more than 10 per cent of respective strengths of Parliament and State legislatures. Minorities (Repeal) Bill, 2004 was to bring an end to these anomalies. Bill proposed states as the basic unit

to judge which community is a minority in which state. This amendment was carried out during NDA Government's regime and based upon recommendations made by Dinesh Goswami Committee, Law Commission of India and the National Commission to Review the Some features: Working of the Constitution (NCRWC). 1. The National Commission for Minorities (Repeal) Bill, 2004 repeals the National Commission for TH 98 AMENDMENT BILL Minorities Act, 1992. It proposed to dissolve the National Commission for Minorities.

The Constitution 98th amendment Bill sought to constitute a National Judicial Commission. The bill 2. The Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Bill, 2004 proposed to establish a new propsed to include a Chapter IV-A in Part V of the Constitution which shall be in charge of appointing National Commission for Minorities, with a constitutional status, in order to inspire greater judges to the higher judiciary and for transferring High Court Judges. The bill also sought to empower the confidence towards the effectiveness of the Commission. National Judicial Commission to draw up a code of ethics for judges, inquire into the cases of misconduct or deviant actions of a judge other than those that are punishable with his or her removal, and advise the chief 3. The states would be asked for their view on the basis of data available as to who is a minority. They justice of India or chief justice of High Courts appropriately after such enquiry. will be consulted by the President of India, would then notify the minorities in that state. While the President is to consult the states, he would not be bound to act on their advice. 99 TH AMENDMENT BILL Current Status: The Bill got lapsed. The constitution (99th amendment) Bill sought to protect the rights of the non-tribals in the newly elected Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) by keeping intact the existing representation of the scheduled tribes and nonscheduled tribes in the Assam legislative assembly from the Bodoland territorial Council Areas district. 104 TH AMENDMENT BILL 2005 This amendment bill came in effect as constitution 90th Amendment act 2003. Constitution (One Hundred and Fourth Amendment) Bill was pased 22nd December, 2005. President A. P. 100 TH AMENDMENT BILL J. Abdul Kalam signed it on January 20, 2006 and the 104th Constitution Amendment Bill became the The Constitution (100th) amendment Bill sought to insert Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali in the 8th the Constitution 93rd amendment Act, 2005. schedule of the constitution. This act was passed and came into force as Constitution (92nd Amendment)

Act 2003 . This act took the number of official languages in India to 22. This bill has been quite famous as "Quota Bill". It adds a new clause to Article 15 of the Constitution. This act amends the article 15 and adds clause 15(5) after Clause 15(4).

53 54 Clause(5) says: and the state legislative assemblies. The allocation of the reserve seats to be determined by an authority or as "Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making prescribed by the parliament. Seats may be allotted by rotation. any special provision,by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of The bill also seeks to reserve one-third of SC & ST seats for women of those classes. citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to The bill further says that the reservation shall cease to exist in 15 years from the commencement of the act. their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or TH unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of 109 AMENDMENT ACT 2009 article 30.". Constitution (109th Amendment Act) 2009 was passed by Rajya Sabha on the 3rd August, 2009 & Lok Sabha on the 4th August, 2009 and ratified by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the states, and 105 TH AMENDMENT BILL assented to on 18 Jan., 2010.

The Constitution (One Hundred Fifth) Amendment Bill, 2006 sought to exclude Bihar from purview of article 164 (1) and to extend the provision of this article to Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. This bill was passed Background: Through this amendment article 334 of the Constitution , for the words "sixty years", the and got assent of the President on June 12, 2006. The bill came in effect as Constitution (94th Amendment) words "seventy years" shall be substituted. Act 2006. Note: Article 164 (1) provides for a minister in charge of the tribal welfare, who may in addition be in This article has sought to extend the reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and state charge of the welfare of the scheduled castes and backward classes of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh & Orissa. assemblies by another 10 years. The time period of 60 years under article 334 of the constitution was to TH lapse on January 25, 2010 and this bill extends the reservation beyond January 25, 2010. 106 AMENDMENT BILL Current status : Passed and this is the Latest Passed Amendment Act Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Bill, 2006 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on May 22, 2006. It was referred to the Department Related Standing Committee on Agriculture which submitted its report on August 20, 2007. Chairperson of this committee was Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav. 110 TH AMENDMENT BILL 2009

Background: The Constitution (One Hundred and Tenth Amendment) Bill, 2009 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on The Constitution (106th Amendment) Bill proposed to to insert a new part IX B in the Constitution and November 26, 2009 by the Minister of Panchayati Raj, Shri C.P. Joshi. adding Articles 243ZH through 243ZT providing for incorporation, regulation and winding up of co- operative societies. Background: 1. The bill specified maximum number of Board members and the tenure of the members. Article 243D of the Constitution provides that a minimum of one-third of the total number of seats filled by direct elections in the Panchayats shall be reserved for women. The seats may be allotted by rotation to 2. The bill also specified for elections to be held before the expiry of the term of the Board. different constituencies in a Panchayat.

3. The bill specified that the Board of a co-operative society that has government shareholding or loans can be superseded for the maximum period of six months. Offices of Chairpersons in Panchayats shall be reserved for SC/STs and women in a manner to be prescribed 4. State governments can co-opt upto two nominees on the Board of a co-operative society. the state legislatures. The reservation shall be in proportion to the population of SC/STs in the state. Also, a minimum of one-third seats shall be reserved for women among the total number of offices of Chairpersons 5. The Bill specified certain offences related to co-operative societies. State legislatures can define the in the Panchayats. penalties related to co-operative societies.

The Bill seeks to amend the article 243D to enhance the quantum of reservation for women from one-

TH third to one-half of the total seats in the Panchayats. Similar reservation shall be provided among the 108 AMENDMENT BILL 2008 OR WOMEN’S RESERVATION BILL total number of offices of Chairpersons. Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill or Women’s Reservation Bill has been the most highlighted Current Status: amendment bills of recent times. This bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha on May 6, 2008 and passed in Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010. The bill is pending . The Bill was referred to the Department related Standing Committee on Rural Development (Chairperson: Smt Sumitra Mahajan), which has to submit its report. Background: Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill 2008 seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha

55 56 111 TH AMENDMENT BILL 2009 3. Also, a minimum of one-third seats shall be reserved for SC/ST women within the seats reserved for SC/STs in a Municipality. The Constitution (One Hundred and Eleventh Amendment) Bill, 2009 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on November 30, 2009 by Sh. Sharad Pawar , Minister of Agriculture, Consumer Affairs and Public 4. Offices of Chairpersons in Municipality shall be reserved for SC/STs and women in a manner to be Distribution System. prescribed the state legislatures.

5. The reservation of SC/STs shall be in proportion to the population of SC/STs in the state. Background: 107 TH AMENDMENT BILL • The Bill adds a new Directive Principles of State Policy stating that the “State shall endeavour to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional The Constitution (One Hundred and Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2007 had been introduced in Lok Sabha on management of co-operative societies. ” November 30, 2007. The Sixth Schedule to the Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2007 was also introduced with the same bill. • It further inserts a new part IX B in the Constitution (adding Articles 243ZH through 243ZT), which outlines certain guidelines for running co-operative societies. Current Position: This bill got lapsed.

Background: These bills sought to amend the Constitution to include Gorkha Hill Council, Darjeeling in Current status: The bill is at Present Pending the Sixth Schedule TH 112 AMENDMENT BILL What is Sixth Schedule? Sixth Schedule Articles 244 and 275 provides for the creation of autonomous The Constitution (112 th Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on November 24, 2009 and this District Councils in certain tribal areas of the North-Eastern states viz. Assam,meghalaya,tripura,mizoram. bill seeks to seeks to amend many clauses of Article 243T of the Constitution , providing for reservation The Bill sought to form a District Council for the hill areas of Darjeeling in West Bengal called the Gorkha of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and also for the women in Urban local Bodies. Hill Council, Darjeeling (GHC). All District Councils have the power to make laws on a range of subjects such as the allotment of land, use of water course, and inheritance of property. The GHC has the power to Current Status (Till: March 2010) :This Bill has been approved and now has been referred to the make laws on 45 additional subjects such as agriculture, education and transport. Departmentally-related Parliamentary Standing committee on Urban Development for examination and report in March 2010. The Bills were referred to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs which submitted its report on Feb 28, 2008. Chairperson of this committee was Sushma Swaraj. Standing Committee was unable to verify facts on Parliamentary Standing committee on Urban Development now invites suggestions the same bill. The the ground. Therefore, it accepted the views of the central and state governments and recommended that the committee is headed by Mr. Sharad Yadav. The memoranda containing views of the Bills be passed with some amendments. individuals/organizations interested in the subject matter of the Bill, and also to hear oral evidence on the subject are invited. Which is Latest Amendment Bill / What is Constitution (One Hundred and Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 2010? Background: The Constitution (112th Amendment) Bill 2009 to provide for 50% reservation of women in Urban Local Bodies. Through this Bill the Government of India seeks to increase the The latest amendment bill is Constitution (One Hundred and Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 2010 which was representation of women in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) from the present level of one-third to 50 percent introduced on March 15, 2010. The Current Status of this bill is : pending which would also include enhancement of reservation for women upto 50 percent in seats reserved for Background: The Government of Orissa had forwarded to the Central Government in December 2008, the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and 50 percent reservations for women in the posts of Chairpersons. Resolution passed by the Legislative Assembly of Orissa on 28th August, 2008 that, inter alia, the name of This would result in increased representation of women in ULBs and is likely to yield significant benefits in the language specified as "Oriya", in the Eighth Schedule of Constitution be changed as "Odia" and terms of higher priority to women’s issues in critical areas of urban Governance and service delivery such as translation of the word "Odia" in Hindi language should be revised as " " accordingly and authorised water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, education and health, etc. the Government of Orissa to place the matter before Government of India for change of name of the State and change of language of the State and change of their Hindi translations. The Constitution (One Article 243T: Hundred and Thirteenth Amendment) Bill, 2010 seeks to change of name of the language mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India, from 'Oriya' to 'Odia'. 1. Article 243T of the Constitution provides that a minimum of one-third of the total number of seats filled by direct elections in every Municipality shall be reserved for women. Please note that the bill that seeks to change the name of Orissa to is Orissa (Alteration of Name) Act, 2010. This bill is pending in the Lok Sabha. 2. The seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Municipality.

57 58 CURRENT GENERAL KNOWLEDGE RESEARCH Wheat genome code cracked

AUGUST 2010 British scientists have decoded the genome of wheat, in a breakthrough research that will prove valuable to ABBREVIATIONS crop breeders in countries like India, in increasing the yield of the staple food crop. Wheat production MNP: Mobile Number Portability worldwide is under threat from climate change at a time when there is an increase in demand from a growing human population. AWARDS Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy for Sports Scientists at the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with the University of Bristol and the John Innes Centre, have sequenced the entire wheat genome and will make the DNA data available to crop breeders to The Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University have been awarded the trophy for academic session help them select key agricultural traits for breeding. 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively. Scientists have analysed the wheat genome, which is five times larger than the human genome and is the Gallantry Awards, 2010 largest genome to be sequenced till date.

Ashok Chakra: Major Laishram Jyotin Singh, an unarmed army doctor serving in Kabul, who took on a SPACE RESEARCH suicide bomber and killed him, has been awarded Ashok Chakra (posthumously) , the highest peacetime gallantry award. Scientists discover richest planetary system yet Astronomers have discovered a planetary system containing at least five planets and which orbit a Sun-like Kirti Chakra: Captain Davinder Singh Juss of the Parachute Regiment and Vinod Kumar Choubey, SP, star, HD 10180. They said there was evidence of two more planets in the same system, which would make it Chhattisgarh, have been awarded India’s second highest peace time gallantry award. Juss killed a foreign similar to our solar system in terms of the number of planets and their arrangement. terrorist in February 2010 during an encounter in J&K and Choubey fought against more than 300 naxalites. The planets and their sun-like star are about 127 light years from Earth, astronomers with the European OIL Southern Observatory said. The system is one of only 15 known to have more than three worlds. India emerges as shale gas hub India could soon turn into a potential shale gas destination. Even though the work has just begun in India, The five planets circle their parent star in a regular pattern like the planets of our solar system, only in a initial studies by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India (ONGC) on reserve estimation of more compact arrangement, the researchers said. The confirmation of the extra planets would make it the shale gas in some of the country's sedimentary basins such as Damodar and Cambay basin have revealed a highest tally of alien worlds ever spotted around a single star. resource potential of about 35 and 90 trillion cubic feet of gas. Of the two potential additional planets that may be present, one may have a mass that is the closest to This, when compared with the existing gas resources in India, such as the one from the country's largest gas Earth's, if it is confirmed, they added. field of Reliance Industries in the KG basin—estimated to hold some 10 tcf of gas—is indeed a massive The planet would be rocky, like Earth, but probably far too hot to sustain life. With at least five Neptune- reserve of gas. sized planets circling inside an orbit equivalent to that of Mars, the HD 10180 system has a more populated ONGC, which took the initiative some five years back to explore shale gas, said shale sequences in well inner region than our solar system. explored basins are found to be promising in Damodar, Cambay, Krishna Godavari and Cauvery basins. The five strongest signals correspond to planets with Neptune-like masses—between 13 and 25 Earth masses—which orbit the star with periods ranging from about 6 to 600 days. These planets are located In the US, shale gas contributes nearly 14 per cent of the total gas production. between 0.06 and 1.4 times the Earth-Sun distance from their central star.

Shale gas is natural gas trapped under rocks. Its extraction involves tapping natural gas trapped between Among the other two planets that could exist, one would be a Saturn-like planet (with a minimum mass of layers of shale rock, similar to the extraction of gas from between coal seems in India. 65 Earth masses) orbiting in 2200 days. The other would be the least massive exo-planet ever discovered, with a mass of about 1.4 times that of Earth. US has the largest shale gas resource and China comes second. India is estimated to be one of the biggest holders of shale gas. Large deposits are located in the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and the country’s So far, astronomers know of 15 systems with at least three planets. The last record-holder was 55 Cancri, extensive coastline. which contains five planets, two of them being giant planets.

It took astronomers six years to study it using a planet-finding instrument called the HARPS spectrograph, Experts are of the view that shale gas promises to transform the energy landscape by making available clean attached to ESO's 3.6 metre telescope at La Silla, Chile. gas to supplement other energy sources.

59 60 MISCELLANEOUS Census of the seas JULY 2010 First global count of marine life logs 230,000 species—but scientists warns of mass extinctions. It has been the biggest and most comprehensive attempt ever to answer that age-old question—how many fish are there ABBREVIATIONS in the sea? A 10-year study of the diversity, distribution and abundance of life in the world’s oceans ITIR: Information Technology Investment Region. attempts just that. AVIATION The Census of Marine Life estimates there are over 230,000 species in our oceans. Solar plane takes off On July 7, 2010, giant glider-like aircraft completed the first night flight propelled only by solar energy. A team of over 360 scientists around the world surveyed 25 regions, from the Antarctic through the temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic. Solar Impulse, whose wingspan is the same as an Airbus A340, flew 26 hours and 9 minutes, powered only Over fishing, degraded habitats, pollution and the arrival of invasive species are major threats to the marine by solar energy stored during the day. It was also the longest and highest flight in the history of solar life. But more problems are around the corner: rising water temperatures and acidification thanks to climate aviation. The plane, which has 12,000 solar cells built into its 64.3-metre wings, is a prototype for an aircraft change and the growth in areas of the ocean that are low in oxygen and, therefore, unable to support life. that its creators hope will carry out its first circum-navigation of the globe from 2012.

Among the major findings are: Bertrand Piccard, the Swiss president of the project, best known for completing the first round-the-world flight in a hot air balloon in 1999, said the success of the flight showed the potential of renewable energies —A fifth of the world’s marine species are crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, krill and barnacles. Add in and clean technology. molluscs (squid and octopus) and fish and that accounts for nearly half the species in world’s seas. The carbon-fibre aircraft reached a maximum speed of 68 knots (ground speed), an average speed of 23 —Species often used in conservation campaigning—whales, sea lions, turtles and sea birds—account for knots and a maximum altitude of 8,564 metres above sea level. less than 2% of the species in the oceans.

—Enclosed seas such as the Mediterranean, Gulf of Mexico, China’s shelves, Baltic, and the Caribbean are AWARDS having the most threatened biodiversity. Arjuna Awards, 2009 Indian women’s cricket team captain, Jhulan Goswami, who won the ICC Women's Player of The Year —The most diverse regions are around Australia and south-east Asia. Award in 2007, is among those named for the Arjuna Award for the year 2009 by the committee headed by former track queen P.T. Usha. Other winners are: Joseph Abraham (Athletics), Krishna Poonia (Athletics), —Australian and Japanese waters contain more than 30,000 species each and are among the most Dinesh Kumar(Boxing), Parimrajan Negi (Chess), Deepak Kumar Mandal (Football), Sandeep Singh biologically diverse in the world. (Hockey (Men)), Jasjeet Kaur Handa (Hockey (Women)), Dinesh Kumar (Kabaddi), Sanjeev Rajput —The manylight viperfish ( Chauliodus sloani ) is the most “cosmopolitan” marine creature with a presence (Shooting), Rehan Jehangir Poncha (Swimming), Kapil Dev K.J. (Volleyball), Rajeev Tomar (Wrestling), in around a quarter of the world’s seas. Rajesh Chaudhary (Yachting), Jagseer Singh (Paralympic (Athletics)).

—The number of marine fish species known to science stood at 16,764, and was growing at around 100 a Awardees will receive statuettes, citations and cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each. year. There are believed to be 22,000 fish species in the world. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2009 India's ace shuttler Saina Nehwal has been selected for the prestigious award, for her outstanding achievements on the badminton court. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. The award carries a medal, a scroll of honour and a cash component of Rs. 500,000.

The award was instituted in the year 1991-92 to supply the lack of a supreme national accolade in the field of sports.

Dronacharya Awards, 2009 This award is given by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching. The award comprises

a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a scroll of honour and a cash component of Rs.500,000 each. The award was instituted in 1985. As the best sports-person award is named Arjuna Award, it is appropriate that the coaching award is named after Dronacharya, as he was the Guru ofArjuna.

61 62 Among the winners of 2009 award were: Subhash B. Aggarwal (Billiards & Snooker), L. Ibomcha Singh Dr Quraishi is known for his special contributions in social sector reforms covering health, education, (Boxing) and Ajay Kumar Bansal (Hockey). Captain Roop Chand (Wrestling) and A.K. Kutty (Athletics) population, drug abuse, and civil society action. He also has a number of books, articles and talks to his were awarded for lifetime achievement. credit on issues related to democracy, elections, HIV AIDS and Family Planning, social marketing, women and child development and Youth. His book ‘Social Marketing for Social Change’ has broken new ground Dhyan Chand Award, 2009 in the field of Development Communication. Anita Chanu (Weightlifting), Satish Pal (Athletics) and Kuldeep Singh (Wrestling) have been chosen for the award which is India's highest award for lifetime achievement in sports and games. The award is named PROJECTS after the legendary Indian hockey player Dhyan Chand. Three Indian projects among World’s top 100 Global consultancy firm KPMG, in its Infrastructure 100 Project Report, has included three Indian projects CONFERENCE in the list of 100 most interesting infrastructure projects. The report showcases examples of great India’s first sports law conference infrastructure projects at different stages of development across the world. The Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) organised the first ever ‘Sports Law Conference’ in New Delhi, on July 24-25, 2010, to deliberate on various issues related to sports and law in India. Among other things, the The three Indian projects are: KG-D6, 4,000-MW Mundra Plant and the newly opened Indira Gandhi conference discussed the ‘Right to Information’ (RTI) and accountability of sports federations, and legalities International Airport project in New Delhi. involved in staging major sports events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games. It also discussed gender discrimination in sports, intellectual property rights, importance of transparency in India’s KG-D6 project not only sets new standards in integrated gas infrastructure projects but it also corporate structure of professional sports leagues, future of IPL, besides public relation opportunities and launches an innovated approach to the sale and transportation of energy, helping to accelerate India’s challenges which are concomitant with it, issues relating to infrastructure in developing and maintaining economic growth. The 4,000 MW Mundra Plant, one of the nine Ultra Mega Power Projects, uses stadiums, training facilities etc. unfashionable coal, making it the most energy-efficient plant. The IGI Airport at New Delhi was upgraded and modernised while still functioning, delivering a world-class facility, which has also been turned around EXPEDITION in record time. India’s first scientific expedition to South Pole To commemorate the centenary of Norwegian explorer Ronald Amundsen’s December 14, 1911 feat, India RESEARCH will launch its first scientific expedition to the South Pole in November 2010. First robot with emotions A robot that is capable of developing and showing emotions has finally been unveiled. When Nao— An eight-member team of scientists would undertake the 3,000-km long treacherous terrain from India’s developed by a European research team—is sad, he hunches his shoulders forward and looks down. When research station Maitri in the Antarctic region to the South Pole. The route to be taken is a fairly new one he's happy, he raises his arms, angling for a hug. When frightened, Nao cowers, and he stays like that until and had been charted with the aim to understand climate change over the past years. These studies are he is soothed with some gentle strokes on his head. expected to add to the knowledge of how the ancient landmass, once fused with other continents in a super- continent before being separated 200 million years ago, has evolved. Nothing out of the ordinary, perhaps, except that Nao is a robot—the world's first that can develop and display emotions. He can form bonds with the people he meets, depending on how he is treated. The more The challenging effort will be simplified to some extend with the help of navigational equipment and four he interacts with someone, the more Nao learns a person's moods and the stronger the bonds become. modern ice-traversing vehicles that the Union government is planning to acquire for the trip. He can use video cameras to work out how close a person comes and sensors to detect how tactile they are. PERSONS Quraishi, Dr S.Y. Nao can also work out where his human companions are looking, follow their gaze and memorise different He has been appointed as the 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India. He is the first Muslim to hold the people's faces. Using a neural network brain, he can remember interactions with different people. post. Dr. Quraishi earlier held the position of Election Commissioner. This understanding, plus some basic rules of what is good and bad for him, learned from exploring his In the management of elections, Dr. Quraishi has brought a special focus on people’s participation, voters’ environment, allows Nao to indicate whether he is happy, sad or frightened with what is going on around education and youth involvement in the electoral process through scientific research and interventions. He him. The display actions for each emotion are pre-programmed but Nao decides by himself when to display has been an ardent proponent for lending strength to the grassroots level election functionaries. each emotion or combination of emotions.

Born on 11 June 1947, Dr Quraishi completed his Masters degrees from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi Nao's programming was developed as part of a project called Feelix Growing, funded by the European before joining the Indian Administrative Service in 1971. He received a Ph.D for his thesis on “Role of commission. It was a collaboration of eight universities and robotics companies across the UK, France, Communication and Social Marketing in Development of Women and Children”. Switzerland, Greece and Denmark.

63 64 Brain chip may give mobility to paralysed patients Car to break 1000 mph barrier Scientists have developed a brain chip that will help paralysed patients operate their bionic limbs. The technology employs tiny microchips to sense nerve messages, decode the signals, and turn thought into One of the 2010 Farnborough International Air Show’s wildest propositions was the Bloodhound movement. SuperSonic car, unveiled for the first time during the show. The 42ft, full-size, fibre-glass prototype revealed the super-slick shape that the design team believes will enable the car to hit 1,000 miles per hour, The scientists hope that, within five years, they will be able to offer robotic devices to patients with damaged boosted by Eurofighter Typoon jet engines. spinal cords that will enable them to move their arms or legs at will. A more ambitious idea is not to use robotic devices but to replace the broken connection to the limb with an artificial link. The brain chip would The construction of the rear portion of the car by aerospace group Hampson Industries is to go ahead in then send signals to an implanted stimulator in the spinal cord. This would generate electrical impulses to 2011. And a separate contract to build the nose is imminent. make muscles contract and move paralysed limbs. If speed tests on a British runway in 2011 go according to plan, the Bloodhound will go to the Hakskeen Pan SPACE RESEARCH dried-up lake bed in South Africa to try to break the world land-speed record, which stands at 763 mph.

PSLV launches five satellites The design of the back of the vehicle is crucial to avoid dangerous “lift” at high speeds and to manage the sonic boom shock-wave. The Bloodhound SuperSonic is also being used to help to inspire children to study On July 12, 2010, five satellites—CARTOSAT, STUDSAT and three foreign satellites—were launched by science, maths and engineering. the ISRO-built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The three foreign satellites—Algerian, Canadian and Swiss—were launched as part of a commercial operation. JUNE 2010 Studsat weighs one kg and has been built by 35 students of seven engineering colleges of Karnataka and ABBREVIATIONS Andhra Pradesh. It has a camera that produces high-resolution data. Built at Rs 175 crore and weighing 694 kg, CARTOSAT-2B is an earth observation satellite in a sun- AFSPA: Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. synchronous orbit. Its application will be towards cartography in India. It will generate pictures and data relevant for agriculture and rural development. NBS: National Business Register. AWARDS MISCELLANEOUS IIFA Awards, 2010 Rupee goes designer Best Film: 3 Idiots. On July 14, 2010, the Union Cabinet approved a new symbol for the Indian Rupee—an Best Actor: , for his role as a progeria-afflicted child in “Paa”. amalgam of the Devnagiri ‘Ra’ and the Roman capital ‘R’, minus its stem. With the gaining Best Actress: Shared jointly by Vidya Balan for “Paa” and Kareena Kapoor for “3 Idiots”. of the symbol, the Indian rupee joins the elite club of US dollar, British pound, European euro and Japanese yen that currently have their own symbols. Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani for “3 Idiots Best Screenplay: 3 Idiots. 31-year-old IIT-B postgraduate in industrial design, D. Udaya Kumar has designed the new Best Cinematography: 3 Idoits symbol. Best Supporting Actor (Male): Sharman Joshi for his role in “3 Idiots”. All individuals and entities within and outside India would use the symbol after its incorporation in Unicode Best Supporting Actor (Female): Divya Dutta for her performance in “Delhi 6”. Standard, ISO/IEC 10646 and IS 13194. Encoding of the symbol in the Indian Standards is estimated to take Best Actor in Negative Role: Boman Irani for his role in “3 Idiots”. about six months while encoding in the Unicode and ISO/IEC 10646 will take about 18-24 months. It will be incorporated in software packages and keyboards in use in India. Best performance in Comic Role: for performance in “All the Best”. Best Music Director: Pritam for “Love Aaj Kal”. The symbol will standardise the expression for Indian Rupee in different languages, both within and outside Best Singer (Male): Shaan, for “Behti hawa sa tha woh” (3 Idiots). the country. It would better distinguish the Indian currency from countries whose currencies are also Best Singer (Female): Kavita Seth for “Iktara’ in “Wake Up, Sid!”. designated as Rupee or Rupiah, such as Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Best Lyrics: Swanand Kirkire for “3 Idiots”. Best Debut (Female): Jacqueline Fernandez and Mahie Gill share the award for their role in “Aladin” and

65 66 Dev D”, respectively. These two ships are the first lot of the ten similar ships that the Navy proposes to induct in its fleet. They Best Debut (Male): Omi Vaidya for his role of Chatur in “3 Idiots” and ackky Bhagnani for “Kal Kissne belong to the Car Nicobar class V and VI in the FAC series. Dekha”. INS Cankarso is named after an island near Goa while INS Kondul derives its name from an island near Lifetime Achievement Award: Veteran filmmaker J. Om Prakash and yesteryear actress Zeenat Aman. Nicobar. Kolkata-based Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers built these ships in two years.

Outstanding achievement by an Indian in International Cinema: Anil Kapoor. EDUCATION The awards ceremony was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. India’s first PG course in Golf Management

Golf, as a sport, is one of the fastest emerging sectors in India, with an estimated growth of 30 per cent in DAYS; YEARS the next five years. However, there is a huge gap for good quality management professionals to join the World Environment Day golfing industry in India. To bridge this gap, International School of Corporate Management (ISCOM) has partnered with the prestigious Elmwood College, St. Andrews, Scotland, to introduce the first ever The World Environment Day is the biggest global celebration for positive environmental action, coordinated Postgraduate Programme in Golf Management. by United Nations Environment Programme every year on June 5. It is a day that reminds everyone on the planet to get involved in environment-friendly activities. From school children to community groups, The course is India’s first ever PG course in Golf Management and includes six months’ intensive companies and governments, all come together to pledge towards building a greener planet. The day urges apprenticeship at a golf facility in Scotland, UK. Minimum degree required to be eligible for the course is every citizen to mitigate environmental problems, which are a result of human activities. graduation. Admission is through entrance test. Candidates who qualify in GMAT, CAT, MAT or equivalent with at least 60% marks will be exempt from the entrance test. You have to be a golf player with minimum This year’s theme—Many Species. One Planet. One Future—focuses on the importance of wealth of species 24 handicap. and ecosystems to humanity. ENVIRONMENT DEFENCE Solar-powered LED lanterns to earn carbon credits First flight of Tejas supersonic fighter plane The United Nations’ Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)—aimed at slowing the warming of the The dream of having a supersonic fighter jet of indigenous built came one step closer to realisation on June planet—has notified governments and companies on how to calculate carbon-emission saved by installing 2, 2010, when the Limited Series Production Tejas aircraft (LSP-4) took off from the Hindustan Aeronautics solar-powered Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) instead of ubiquitous, ancient lanterns. This could give India Limited airport, Bangaluru, for its first flight. an incentive to replace the lamps that are used in 30 per cent of households, meaning a saving of 50 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year. Test pilot, Group Captain Suneet Krishna, flew the aircraft to an altitude of 11 kms and went supersonic, touching 1.1 Mach speed. A fighter plane flies in supersonic speed when it has already accomplished its A tonne of emission saved fetches up to Rs 19,000 in the international carbon market. mission and is being chased by enemy aircraft. For testing, there was a plane chasing the Tejas LSP-4 during its first test flight. A poor Indian household can save up to Rs 1,000 per annum on kerosene costs, half the cost of a solar- powered LED lighting system. Once charged, LED bulb works for up to 42 hours, compared with eight to The Tejas flew in the configuration that would be finally delivered to the Indian Air Force. 10 hours that conventional solar lanterns do.

Navy gets two Warships LED lamps are about 90 per cent more energy efficient than traditional incandescent lamps and about 20 per cent more than Compact Fluorescent Lamps. Giving a boost to the Navy’s defence capabilities, two state-of-the-art high-speed warships, INS Cankarso and INS Kondul, were commissioned into the naval fleet on June 29, 2010. The UN estimates its new initiative can change the lives of a quarter of humanity, which still gets light by directly burning fuels, emitting nearly 200 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, the equivalent of 60 The indigenously-built ships use water jet propulsion technology and can achieve speeds in excess of 35 million cars. knots. Water jet technology has rapidly gained acceptance as the leading means of propulsion for all types of high-speed marine craft, including ferries, work boats, patrol crafts and pleasure boats. PROJECTS India’s first integrated Waste Management Plant The ships will be based in Goa and tasked with the role of detecting, locating and destroying small, fast- moving enemy surface craft engaged in covert operations. Infra firm a2z Infrastructure will set up India’s first integrated municipal solid waste management plant in Kanpur. The project, touted to be Asia’s largest, would comprise management of the city’s solid waste in an INS Cankarso and INS Kondul are fitted with 30-mm CRN-91 gun built by Ordnance Factory, Medak, and environment friendly manner and subsequent power generation for captive and merchant use. Igla missiles and set of machine guns ranging from light to heavy.

67 68 Majority of the fuel used in the plant will be RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel) derived from solid waste, which is considered a better replacement for coal with lesser emissions. The power plant will have the capacity to The telescope will have a 30-metre segmented mirror which uses diffraction of light and focuses in much produce 15 MW power. sharper way than smaller telescopes. Such a large size of aperture will help it collecting more light, thus generating much clearer and sharper images of fainter objects, which may not be possible by present day IIT-Kanpur to set up experimental power plant scopes. The images generated by the telescope will be 12 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) has planned to set up a 550 kilowatt (KW) Solar Energy Research Experimental Station (SERES) in its campus. The station would serve the purpose of solar energy A look at these images will help the scientists to understand several key aspects of universe, including the development research, apart from being a pilot project for improving the commercial viability of solar black hole formation, formation of galaxies, starting of the Universe and formation of first heavy elements in energy generation. it.

It would provide uninterrupted free power supply to six neighbouring villages, Nankari, Bara Sirohi, MISCELLANEOUS Singhpur, Bakunthpur, Naramau and Kachchar. The villages are electrified, but the present power supply is National Business Register highly erratic. The sixth economic census, set to take off in 2011, will provide India with a National Business Register The Rs 18-crore project has been taken up as a part of the ongoing golden jubilee celebrations at the (NBR) for the first time, containing the details of every business establishment in the country. institute. The creation and maintenance of a business register and directory are expected to be an economic data Currently, the solar power produced in India costs around Rs15 per KW hour, whereas conventional energy framework for various needed statistical surveys, including the Annual Survey of Industries and others of costs as little as Rs 3.5 per KW hour. The institute will bring in team from the biotechnology and electrical the National Sample Survey Organisation. departments to work on reducing the production cost of solar power to make it more economical and commercially viable. Currently, a fairly reasonable database exists for the agricultural sector, while much is lacking for the non- agricultural ones, particularly services. The move to create a directory will particularly benefit the latter. The The project will be modelled on the German mode of solar power generation after conducting the requisite services sector, contributing 62.5 per cent to the country’s gross domestic product, does not have a studies on production and transmission. comprehensive data bank. The national accounts significantly under-states the sector, even as it is the major contributor. RESEARCH

“Printer” to create human organs The business register is to keep an account of all business establishments with a workforce of 10 or more It may sound a bit too much, but doctors could one day be able to “print” new organs for transplant, say people—addresses, sectors, turnovers, number employed etc. scientists who claim to have designed a “bio-printer” to create made-to-measure human organs. A prototype Now, fly tricolour at night machine developed by the California-based regenerative medicine company Organovo is already capable of growing new arteries. India’s National flag will now fly even during night, which was not earlier allowed under the flag code rules. This has been possible due to efforts of industrialist-turned-politician and chairman of the Flag Foundation It is based on 3-D laser printing technology used to create new machine parts for industry. But, instead of of India and MP Naveen Jindal. combining layers of plastic and metal, the “bio-printer” puts living tissue together. The Union Home Ministry has allowed keeping the National Flag fly even during night with a rider that the Two laser-based printing heads are used to place living cells onto thin sheets of gel with microscopic flag does not remain in dark. precision. Multiple layers are then laid on top of each other in a specially designed mould, or ‘scaffold’ and the cells begin to fuse together. MAY 2010 SPACE RESEARCH AWARDS Thirty Meter Telescope Project National Technology Award, 2010 On June 25, 2010, India joined as an observer in the ambitious astronomical observatory, Thirty Metre A pioneer in processing rice bran oil, A.R. Sharma, who comes from dusty town of Dhuri in Sangrur district, Telescope (TMT), in Hawaii, which will help in unravelling mysteries of black hole, origin of galaxies and has been honoured with the national award by the Technology Development Board of the Ministry of formation of planets among others. Science and Technology. Former President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presented the award—Rs 10 lakh and a The status of an observer is first step by India in becoming a full partner in TMT, which will be fully trophy—to him. operational in 2018 and will be world’s most advanced astronomical observatory.

69 70 “Lost” Booker Prize through the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Arabian Sea. He also sailed along the Equator. He made only four halts during the voyage, at Fremantle-Australia, Christchurch-New Zealand, Port Stanley- Late author J.G. Farrell has been honoured for his novel Troubles, 40 years after it was first published, in an Falkland Islands and Cape Town-South Africa. Donde had trained for the expedition with legendary Sir unusual take on Britain's most prestigious literary award, the Booker Prize. Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo and non-stop round the world in 1968-69.

DEFENCE The world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation was set in January 2008 by Frenchman Francis Light Combat Helicopter takes to skies Joyon, at 67 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds.

The maiden flight of the indigenously manufactured Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) on May 22, 2010, PERSONS heralded India's entry into the select group of countries capable of developing their own combat helicopters. Kapadia, Justice Sarosh Homi He has been appointed as the 38th Chief Justice of India. Hailing from a poor family, Justice Kapadia The LCH, manufactured by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is a dedicated attack helicopter featuring a replaced Justice Balakrishnan. narrow fuselage and a tandem seating for the pilot and co-pilot. The machine is designed for low detection (reduced visual, aural, radar and infra-red signatures) and has crash-worthy landing gear for better Born on September 29, 1947, he is the first CJI born in post independence era. An erudite man with a keen survivability. The hinge-less rotors and the powerful Shakti engines enable the easy manoeuvring of LCH interest in Economics, Public Finance, Theoretical Physics and Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, he would even with weapons. remain at the helm of the judiciary till September 29, 2012. He started his career as a class IV employee and The other interesting feature of the LCH is the chin-mounted canon along with the helmet mounted sighting possesses integrity as “the only asset”. system, which gives the pilot the capability to look and fire at targets around the aircraft. An advanced Justice Kapadia was part of the Constitution bench that in January 2007 declared that laws placed under the sensor suite consisting of CCD camera, forward looking infra-red imaging technology and laser range finder protective umbrella of the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution were open to judicial review. facilitates target acquisition in all weather conditions.

The helicopter would be fitted with a data link for network-centric operations facilitating the transfer of RESEARCH mission data to the other airborne platforms and ground stations operating in the network, thus facilitating First life-form made by man the force multiplication. Scientists have created the world’s first synthetic life form in a landmark experiment that paves the way for With these features, the LCH is expected to play a major role in air defence against slow moving aerial designer organisms that are built rather than evolved. targets, destruction of enemy air defence operations, escort to special heli-borne operations, support of combat search and rescue operations, anti-tank role and scout duties. The controversial feat, which has occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40 million, was described by one researcher as “a defining moment in biology”. EXPEDITION First Indian to sail solo around the world Craig Venter, the pioneering US geneticist behind the experiment, described the converted cell as “the first self-replicating species we’ve had on the planet whose parent is a computer.” He said the achievement On May 22, 2010, Commander Dilip Donde of the Indian Navy became the first Indian ever to heralds the dawn of a new era in which new life is made to benefit humanity, starting with bacteria that circumnavigate the globe solo on a sail-boat when he steered into the Mumbai harbour after his arduous churn out bio-fuels, soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and even manufacture vaccines. effort spanning a little over nine months. Commander Dilip Donde, who started the voyage on August 19 2009 on INSV Mhadei, touched base back The new organism is based on an existing bacterium that causes mastitis in goats, but at its core is an in India at the Sunk Rock Light House in Mumbai. His boat was ceremonially escorted by a fast attack craft entirely synthetic genome that was constructed from chemicals in the laboratory. The single-celled organism of the Indian Navy, along with speedboats and two tugs operating their water cannons. Vice-President has four “watermarks” written into its DNA to identify it as synthetic and help trace its descendants back to Hamid Ansari, along with Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma and Donde’s family their creator, should they go astray. members, who were on board INS Delhi , anchored at the finish line, witnessed the historic moment and gave The team now plans to use the synthetic organism to work out the minimum number of genes needed for life him a rousing reception. to exist. From this, new micro-organisms could be made by bolting on additional genes to produce useful The 56-foot-long Mhadei, with 23-tonne displacement, is the first fibreglass yacht constructed entirely in chemicals, break down pollutants, or produce proteins for use in vaccines. India and boasts of state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment. The 276-day voyage was part Most scientists agree Venter has achieved a technical feat in synthesizing the largest piece of DNA so far—a of the Navy's daunting Sagar Parikrama project, which aims to revive the old tradition of sea faring. million units in length—and in making it accurate enough to substitute for the cell’s own DNA.

The 42-year-old officer covered 21,600 nautical miles sailing in the seas to achieve the milestone. He sailed The US President Barack Obama has asked the White House bio-ethics commission to complete a study of

71 72 the issues raised by synthetic biology within six months and report back to him on its findings. He said the On May 26, 2010, Atlantis and its six-man crew landed at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center marking the end new development raised “genuine concerns,” though he did not specify them further. of Atlantis’ 25 years of service. Only two shuttle missions remain, by NASA’s two other spaceships.

Indian discovers new, more environmental friendly technique to extract rare earth minerals The space agency would like Atlantis to return to the International Space Station in June 2011. But that’s not Fears that China may end up ruling a green world have been partly rested by a technological breakthrough in the cards unless the White House grants a reprieve. by an NRI scientist in the field of rare earth metals—key components of technologies that are set to shape our future. The space station construction mission boosted Atlantis’ mileage to just over 193 million km, accumulated over 32 flights. The shuttle and its astronauts left the outpost bigger and more powerful, adding a new Bhagalpur-born Animesh Jha, a material sciences professor at Leeds University and an alumnus of Roorkee compartment and fresh batteries. University and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has isolated significant quantities of rare earth metals while refining low-grade titanium dioxide—a common mineral. MISCELLANEOUS BRO turns 50 In the process, he may have soothed the jangly nerves of governments and manufacturers of leading-edge technologies around the world—in a state of uncertainty after China, which produces 95 per cent of the Exactly 50 years ago, on May 5, 1960, with war clouds gathering on the Sino-Indian border, Jawaharlal world’s rare earth declared in 2009 that it was sharply reducing its exports of the metals. Nehru created the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), an inter-ministerial task force that has become an Rare earths—versatile metals that are really not so rare—have come to dominate growing areas of people’s Indian exemplar of grit and fortitude. Thanks to over 48,000 kilometres of BRO roads, soldiers now drive to day-to-day lives around the world. From laptop hard disks, iPod headphones and mobile phone speakers to far-flung border pickets that earlier involved days of marching. aerospace, defence, medicine, laser, super-conductivity and atomic energy, rare earth metals sparkle with endless promise. Since the time the BRO’s first chief, the dashing Major General Kartar Nath Dubey, pushed through the first roads to Tawang and Chushul in the early 1960s, the BRO has become a reassuring presence on India’s Accelerated global attempts to forge a green future too are tied to supplies of rare earth metals—they make borders. Every spring, it cuts through walls of snow in high-altitude passes to clear 95 roads, like the the strongest magnets on the planet, which are then used in motors that drive wind turbines as well as hybrid Srinagar-Kargil highway. The BRO is over-seeing the 8.8-km long Rohtang tunnel, which will allow traffic cars. to Lahaul-Spiti to flow around the year. It has constructed 19 border airfields and 400 major bridges. It is currently working on 699 roads, having a total length of 28,000 km. There are only 17 rare earth metals, and it is China where they are mostly found.

It’s not as if there are no substantial rare earth deposits elsewhere around the world: far from it. But existing APRIL 2010 US mines shut down in the mid-1980s, unable to compete with cheap Chinese exports, with the supply chain eventually moving to China. And opening new mines is a long and cumbersome process. ABBREVIATIONS

CSP: Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) There are also massive environmental concerns over the way these metals have been extracted (by acid ICAAN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers. leaching) in many of the mines. Inner Mongolia, home to 75 per cent of China’s reserves, is said to resemble IDN: Internationalised Domain Names. a desolate moonscape. LCH: Light Combat Helicopter. This is where Jha’s breakthrough becomes important: not only is it a potential alternative to Chinese NPR: National Population Register. supplies, but by removing the need to scar the earth for high grade titanium dioxide, it also offers a clean UID: Unique Identification (number) solution that chimes in with attempts to combat climate change. AWARDS Working with half a million pounds in the laboratories of the Institute for Materials Research in Leeds, Jha Dan David Prize and his small team of researchers found that they could extract rare earth metals at the very start of the titanium dioxide refining process. Noted Indian author Amitav Ghosh has won the prestigious Dan David Prize for his remarkable reworking of the great tradition of the western novel in transnational terms. Leeds University says the new process could “eventually shift the balance of power in global supply, breaking China’s near monopoly.” Ghosh, 53, is the third Indian to win the award, joining an comprising of chemist C.N.R. Rao and musician Zubin Mehta. The Indian author will be sharing the prize in the present dimension with Dr If Jha succeeds in scaling up his process, it could become a small but important step toward creating a Gordon E. Moore, whose Moore's Law has become the guiding principle for the semi-conductor industry. sustainable world. SPACE RESEARCH PM’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration Gulshan Bamra has been given the award for his initiative to involve community in the Naxal-affected areas Space shuttle Atlantis lands for final time of Madhya Pradesh.

73 74 Commonwealth Prize, 2010 DEFENCE INS Chennai Missile Destroyer launched British-Indian author Rana Dasgupta (38) has won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for ‘Best Book’ on for his second book Solo. Rana won a prize of £10,000 (Rs 8.5 lakh). Indian Navy launched INS Chennai, a missile destroyer in the Project-15 alpha class, at the Mazgaon Dock in Mumbai on April 1, 2010. Elizabeth Antony, wife of Defence Minister AK Antony, launched the warship. Solo is a story told by a 100-year-old Bulgarian, and includes a cast of riveting characters, among them talking parrots. Project 15 Alpha is code name for Kolkata-class destroyers that are being made in the Mazgaon dock in Though Dasgupta was born in Britain and holds a British passport, he has been based in Delhi for over eight Mumbai. These are the largest warships ever constructed at Mazgaon, the oldest and the most prolific of all years now. His first novel “Tokyo Cancelled” had also drawn enormous praise. Indian naval dockyards.

Australian author Glenda Guest’s “Siddon Rock” won in the Best First Book category. Aimed at adding a new dimension to the country's naval warfare, India has launched the indigenous warship with enhanced stealth features and land-attack capabilities. CYBER SPACE The 6800 tonnes Kolkata class (Project 15-A) destroyers incorporate Indian systems including the HUMSA- Browse at the speed of light NG (Hull Mounted Sonar Array New Generation), 16 Brahmos missiles, torpedos and the Nagin active towed array sonar, jointly developed by the DRDO's Naval Science and Technology Laboratory in Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new infra-red laser made Visakhapatnam and Bharat Electronics Limited in Bangalore. from germanium that operates at room temperature, which has made light-speed computing come one step closer to reality. Russia is assisting Project 15-A with shafts and propellers. The propulsion package consists of four reversible gas turbines in combined gas-and-gas configuration. The research removes the cryogenic cooling systems previously needed for infra-red lasers and could lead to powerful computer chips that operate at the speed of light. INS Shivalik—India’s first indigenous stealth warship

Until now, infra-red germanium lasers required expensive cryogenic cooling systems to operate. The new On April 29, 2010, India affected a generational shift in its warship-building capability by commissioning germanium laser operates at room temperature. INS Shivalik —the first indigenously built stealth frigate that is the biggest in its class in the world. The ship, which is 143 metres long, can tactically fire weapons even before the enemy detects it. To create the germanium laser, the scientists take a six-inch, silvery-gray disk of silicon and spray it with a thin film of germanium. These same disks are actually used to produce chips in today's computers. The hard-to-detect warship will form a crucial component of the Indian Navy. It is equipped with a mix of Indian, Russian, Israeli and western weapons and sensors. Domain names in Indian languages Two other such ships—INS Satpura and the INS Sahayadari —would follow soon. Each ship would carry on If everything goes well as planned, India will be ready to have Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) on board long-range surface-to-surface Klub missiles, area defence missiles Shtil and Barak, anti-submarine the internet in seven Indian languages—Hindi, Bangla, Punjabi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu and Gujarati—by torpedoes, 100 mm mounted gun and six-barrelled 30 mm gun. Ships like these would form the core of the 2011. The Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India has submitted its proposal India’s battle fleet in the first half of this century. the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation responsible for managing the internet’s domain name system, including IP address space assignments, based in A 250-member crew, including 35 officers, will man INS Shivalik . The new design features give the ship California, USA. enhanced operational capabilities in terms of survivability, stealth, sea keeping, ship handling and weapons.

Domain names are entered in the address bar of the browser to access a web-site. The domain name provides The sea king Choppers on board will carry torpedoes to target submarines which are out of the ship’s ranges. a unique identity and on clicking on a given domain name, the web page of the particular site opens up. It will have an array of sensors and an anti-missile defence for its own protection and also coordinate the Initially, the domain name will be available to seven Indian languages and later on to the all the country’s 22 firing of on-board weapons. official languages. In future the Navy is looking to have a data exchange system with the IAF’s Airborne Warning and Control Once it comes into effect, the user will be able to not only type out the address of a website in the scripts of System (AWACS). A system is being integrated with the AWACS to provide data that may be out of the any of the country’s 22 official languages, but also access sites under the domain name “bharat”. It is worth range of the ship. This will provide an edge in firing of weapons. noting that in the past, IDNs were available only in Latin Characters (the script in which English and most other European languages are written). The naval satellite to be launched in the near future will also help this ship to coordinate with other ships in the fleet for firing of weapons and will form the network centric operations. The combat management system developed by the Bharat Electronic Systems will give the ship’s captain a view of all weapons and data in one screen.

75 76 INS Shivalik can hoodwink enemy radars, sensors by concealing its size. It has three-dimensional warfare Mangala currently produces about 30,000 barrels of oil per day (1.5 million tonnes a year) which is capability—surface, air, underwater. Its weapons suites have anti-ship, anti-submarine and air defence processed at Train-1 near Barmer before being sold to refiners. The Train-2 (second oil processing plant) has missiles. a capacity of 50,000 bpd (2.5 million tonnes a year).

The ship is powered by a unique combination of gas, diesel engines and can stay in sea for more than 3 Cairn output will help offset the decline in crude oil production at the ONGC that could not meet its targeted weeks or cover 10,800 km without refuelling. Its filters can protect crew during a nuclear, biological or output in 2009-10 fiscal. The company can produce up to 2,40,000 barrels per day from Rajasthan fields, chemical attack. equivalent to output from the nation’s largest oilfield of Bombay High.

Light Combat Helicopter makes successful first flight PERSONS Kapadia, Justice S.H. On March 29, 2010, India entered the big boys’ league with the successful first flight of the prototype of its very own attack helicopter—Light Combat Helicopter (LCH). Justice S.H. Kapadia has been appointed the Chief Justice of India. He is the 38th CJI and will have a tenure of two years and five months. Justice Kapadia has vast experience in tax, finance and business matters, The maiden test flight of the 5.5-tonne attack chopper, a derivative version of Banagalore-based Hindustan besides other civil cases and issues relating to crime. Aeronautics Limited (HAL) flagship product Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)—Dhruv —was termed by pilots who flew it as “very good”. Prahalad, C.K.

The Shakti engine being used in the LCH has been jointly developed by the HAL and Turbomeca of France Dr C.K. Prahalad, a globally known influential management thinker, died on April 19, 2010. He shook the with primary focus on high-altitude operations. The rotor system has also been developed indigenously. corporate world in the US and elsewhere during the past two decades with his offbeat but radical strategies for managing corporations. The most notable among them was his “The Fortune at the Bottom of the The helicopter is expected to meet operational requirements like air support, anti-infantry and anti-armour Pyramid” through which he urged MNCs to evolve a business model that would cater to the huge market of roles. The twin-engine LCH is a pure attack helicopter made by the design experience gained from the world’s four billion poor. He firmly believed that such an approach would help eradicate the scourge of Dhruv. poverty.

Currently around 100 Dhruv helicopters are being used by the Indian armed forces and paramilitary forces He stole the limelight with his best seller book “The Future of Competition”. He stressed that it would not be like the Coast Guard and the BSF, civil operators like Pawan Hans and the ONGC. Dhruv is also being used worthwhile for the companies to foray into unrelated diversifications. The book is widely acknowledged as by foreign countries like Ecuador, Nepal, Mauritius and Male. one of the world's most significant forces in corporate thinking.

Though LCH is derived from Dhruv, there are differences in design. While in Dhruv pilots sit side-by-side, He was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission of the United Nations on private sector and development. in the LCH they sit one behind the other. All flight controls, hydraulics and fuel system have been He was also the first recipient of the Award for contributions to management and public redesigned for the sleeker, heavily armoured LCH. administration, presented by the President of India in 2000.

OIL Singh, Gen V.K. Fourth discovery by RIL in Cambay Basin Gen V.K. Singh is the Chief of Indian army. A third generation officer from the Rajput regiment, Gen Singh Reliance Industries has announced its fourth oil discovery in exploratory block CB-ONN-2003/1, located is a graduate of the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College as well as the Rangers Course at Fort on-land in the Cambay basin and named ‘Dhirubhai-47’. The block was awarded under NELP V round of Benning, USA and the US Army War College, Carlisle. exploration bidding. He was commissioned into 2 Rajput Regiment in June 1970 and commanded the same unit when it was This block is located at a distance of 130 kms from and covers an area of 635 sq kms. RIL is the positioned along the Line of Control with Pakistan. operator and has 100 per cent participating interest in the block. The block has 14 exploratory wells and the Experienced in counter insurgency operations, Line of Control and high altitude operations, Gen Singh was company is continuing further exploratory drilling efforts in the block. The company says that, based on the awarded the Yudh Sena Medal for his distinguished service during 'Operation Pawan' against the LTTE in acquired 3D seismic data, there are several more prospects with upside potential have been identified in the Sri Lanka. contract area. Cairn starts second plant PROJECTS RIL commissions India’s first one-megawatt solar plant Cairn India has started the second crude oil processing plant at its giant Mangala oilfield in Thar deserts of Rajasthan, which will help the company ramp up output for the nation's most prolific oilfield. On April 7, 2010, solar energy initiative of Reliance Industries, RIL Solar Group, commissioned India's first one-megawatt solar plant to power a stadium to be used in the Commonwealth Games 2010.

77 78 Thyagaraj Stadium, where the plant has been commissioned, is planned to be a model green stadium. RIL “Solar sails are the technology that realises space travel without fuel as long as we have sunlight. It is a Solar Group has also implemented power plants in the R.K. Khanna Tennis Complex. hybrid technology of electricity and pressure. The availability of electricity would enable us to navigate farther and more effectively in the solar system,” Japanese Space Agency expert Yuichi Tsuda said. The solar initiative is one of the major ones to compensate for carbon-dioxide emissions to be released through the game. The solar power generated at the Thyagaraj Stadium is expected to result in emission NASA’s Solar Mission releases stunning pictures of Sun reduction of more than 1,200 tons of CO2 per year. US space agency NASA has released stunning solar images some of which highlight never-before-seen The power plant is expected to generate around 1.4 million units of electricity per year. It would cater to the material streaming out of the Sun while others show extreme close-ups of activity on the Sun’s surface. power requirements of the stadium and the surplus would be fed to the grid. Desertec Industrial Initiative “These initial images show a dynamic Sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research,” said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The The Desertec Industrial Initiative has plans under-way to transform swathes of the Sahara desert into a images were taken by Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO that was recently launched by NASA. It is the glimmering sea of mirrors, with the goal of transmitting clean and efficient solar energy to Europe. first mission of the organisation’s Living with a Star Program or LWS—one of the NASA’s many missions to study the Sun and space environment. Desertec will create fields of concentrated solar power (CSP) plants—arrays of mirrors which focus the sun’s energy to turn water into steam, and so drive the electrical turbines. From there the power will flow The goal of LWS is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the through a network of low loss transmission cables to pipe electricity into the existing European grid, via connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society. Spain. MISCELLANEOUS Census 2010 The $316 billion venture is designed to meet as much as 15% of Europe’s electricity demand by 2050. The 15th national census exercise, the biggest census ever to be attempted in human history to cover India's 20 years ago, the maximum efficiency you could get from the sun was 15-20%, compared to over 50% for 1.2 billion population, began on April 1, 2010 with President Pratibha Patil being the first to be enumerated fossil fuels. Today, CSP is closer to 40%. Large CSP plants can produce power at quarter of the cost of that in the decennial exercise. generated by standard solar photovoltaic cells. The census is the most credible source of information on demography (population characteristics), economic India can consider CSPs in the Thar Desert. Its conditions would allow 37.5 MW of power to be generated activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanisation, fertility and mortality, for each one square km of desert—and the Thar Desert has 228,000 square km area. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, language, religion, migration, disability and many other socio- cultural and demographic data since 1872. A single patch of Sahara Desert, just 114,090sq km in area, receives enough sunlight to meet the entire world’s electricity demand through CSP. Census is the only source of primary data at village, town and ward level. It provides valuable information for planning and formulation of polices for Central and State governments and is widely used by national SPACE RESARCH and international agencies, scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more.

IKAROS—First solar powered spacecraft The delimitation / reservation of constituencies—Parliamentary / Assembly / Panchayats and other local Japanese scientists have developed a kite-shaped ‘space yacht’ that uses only solar power for propulsion. bodies is also done on the basis of the demographic data thrown up by the census. The census is the basis for The spacecraft—IKAROS—would be launched into the space for a six-month mission to Venus. It is the reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the on-going schemes of the government and first spacecraft to use such technology. most importantly, plan for the future.

Its name is an acronym for Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun. It also alludes to The slogan of Census 2011 is 'Our Census, Our Future'. the Greek mythic hero Icarus who flew too close to the Sun and fell into the sea. National Population Register

In space, the spacecraft’s short cylindrical pod will be separated from the rocket spinning up to 20 times a The NPR would be a register of usual residents of the country. The NPR will be a comprehensive identity minute. This will help it unfold its flexible 46-feet sail, which is thinner than a human hair. database that would help in better targeting of the benefits and services under the government The square-shaped sail, equipped with thin-film solar cells, uses resistance created by the Sun’s energy in schemes/programmes, improve planning and help strengthen security of the country. This is being done for the same way as wind propels a yacht through water, thus providing the spacecraft with enough thrust to the first time in the country. hover and rotate. While the census is a statutory exercise conducted under the provisions of the Census Act 1945, the NPR is being created under the provisions of the Citizenship Act and Rules.

79 80 All information collected under the census is confidential and will not be shared with any agency— The gas particles are actually silica so fine they will invade the spaces between rotating machinery and jam government or private. Certain information collected under the NPR will be published in the local areas for it—the silica melts at about 1,100 degree Celsius and fuses on to the turbine blades and nozzle guide vanes public scrutiny and invitation of objections. This is in the nature of the electoral roll or the telephone that feed fuel, which in modern aircraft operate at 1,400 degree Celsius. directory. After the NPR has been finalised, the database will be used only within the government. This was discovered by the crew of two aircraft, a Singapore Airlines airplane and a British Airways Boeing Unique Identification (UID) number christened Aadhaar 747, in 1982 which flew through an ash cloud from the Galunggung volcano in Indonesia. On both planes, all four engines stopped; they dived over 20,000 feet before they could restart them and make emergency Aadhaar, or the 12-digit unique identification (UID) number that will identify the 1.2 billion residents of landings. India on the basis of their biometrics, will have an additional four digits that will be hidden from the common man. Ash particles are razor sharp and can pit the windscreens of the pilot’s cabin, damage the fuselage and light cover, and even coat the plane so much that it becomes tail-heavy. At runways, ash creates an extra problem As far as people are concerned, there would only be a 12-digit number that would be relevant for their because takeoffs and landings will throw it into the air again—where the engines can suck it in and it will identification and use. However, a provision of extra four digits would be a post-fix for this 12-digit number create horrific damage to moving parts that suddenly find themselves in contact. for pin-based identification. So, UID will become a 16-digit number for use and the database that will maintain be maintained by UIDAI. Once ash has got into an engine, it is impossible to remove as it is so fine. It pollutes filtration systems, electrical and avionic units—and the accompanying sulphuric acid aerosol can eat into rubber parts. These four digits, which the authority terms a ‘virtual number’, will change as and when the resident changes his pin number or residence. The user, however, will only use the 12-digit number allotted to him. MARCH 2010

The first set of Aadhaars will be issued between August 2010 and February 2011. The authority plans to ABBREVIATIONS issue 600 million UIDs over the next five years. CSAT: Civil Services Aptitude Test.

UIDAI, which is being headed by Nandan Nilekani, has been allocated Rs 1,900 crore for the financial year AWARDS 2010-11. Of this, Rs 1,300 crore will be used to enable the registrars to enrol people in the system and the SAARC Environment Award, 2010 remaining Rs 600 crore will be spent for setting up the information technology infrastructure. Environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal has been selected for the award for setting new milestones UIDAI estimates total annual revenue of Rs 288 crore from authentication services in the initial stages. in the field of environment, especially his initiative on cleaning the Kali Bein rivulet passing through Kapurthala, Punjab. World’s smallest 3-D map Saraswati Samman, 2009 Scientists claim to have created the world’s smallest three dimensional map—a map of the Earth so small that 1,000 of them could fit on one grain of salt. “Lafzan Di Dargah”, a poetry collection in Punjabi by , has been awarded the 19th Saraswati Samman for 2009. A team at computer giant IBM accomplished this through a new, breakthrough technique which uses a tiny, silicon tip with a sharp apex—1,00,000 times smaller than a sharpened pencil—to create patterns and The award, instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in 1991, carries an award of Rs 5 lakh, a citation and a structures as small as 15 nanometre at greatly reduced cost and complexity. plaque. It is recognised as the most prestigious and the highest literary honour in India and is given every year to an outstanding literary work written in an Indian language and published during the last 10 years. According to the scientists, this patterning technique opens new prospects for developing nano-sized objects in fields such as electronics, future chip technology, medicine, life sciences, and opto-electronics. The first recipient of the award was Harivansh Rai Bachchan in 1991 for his autobiography. Other awardees include Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar, Oriya writer , Malayalam poetess Balamaniamma, The complete 3D map of the world measuring only 22 by 11 micrometre was “written” on a polymer. It is Tamil writer Indira Parthasarathy, Bengali novelist Sunil Gangopadhyay and Urdu literary critic Shamsur composed of 5,00,000 pixels, each measuring 20 NM2, and was created in only 2 minutes and 23 seconds. Rahman Faruqi.

Why volcanic ash is bad for planes Oscar Awards, 2010

Aircraft avoid any airspace that has volcanic ash in it for a simple reason: The ash can wreck the function of Best Movie: The Hurt Locker. propeller or jet aircraft. Best Director: Kathyrn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker). She has become the first woman director to win the honour. Best Actor: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart). Best Actress: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).

81 82 Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique. After the latest test, India has become the first and only country in the world to have a “manoeuvrable Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz. supersonic cruise missile in its inventory”. Best Animated Movie: Up Best Foreign Film: The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina). The test-firing was part of the pre-induction tests by the Navy as moves are afoot to deploy the vertical- Chameli Devi Jain Award, 2009 launch version of the missile in ships. The weapon system has been designed and developed by the Indo- The award for an outstanding woman media-person has been shared by Shoma Chaudhary, executive editor Russian joint venture company. of Tehelka , Delhi and Monalisa Changkija, Editor of Nagaland Page , Dimapur. All the three Indian Navy’s Talwar class ships, under construction in Russia, have been fitted with vertical Mother Teresa Award, 2010 launchers and many other ships will also be equipped with them. The Navy had earlier carried out several tests of the BrahMos but most of them had been done from inclined launchers abroad INS Rajput. The UGC chairman has been given the prestigious Mother Teresa Lifetime Achievement missile is already in service with the Navy and its Shivalik class frigates have been equipped with it. Award for 2010. Thorat, who has authored 21 publications, has been instrumental in introducing several BrahMos has also been inducted into the Army. academic and administrative reforms in higher education during ongoing XIth plan. PERSONS CYBER SPACE Koirala, Girija Prasad

Browse at the speed of light Veteran democratic leader of Nepal politics and former Prime Minister of Nepal, he died on March 20, 2010. He was 87. He had the distinction of becoming the Prime Minister of Nepal five times. He had led the Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new infra-red laser made peaceful April Uprising in 2006 and abolished the 239-year-old authoritarian royal regime of Nepal. from germanium that operates at room temperature, which has made light-speed computing come one step closer to reality. RESEARCH The research removes the cryogenic cooling systems previously needed for infrared lasers and could lead to World's smallest superconductor developed powerful computer chips that operate at the speed of light. Scientists have developed the world's smallest superconductor—less than one nanometre wide—which "Using a germanium laser as a light source, you could communicate at very high data rates at very low could be used for making miniature electronic devices. The superconductor, a sheet of four pairs of power," said Jurgen Michel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who developed the new molecules, provides the first evidence that nano-scale molecular superconducting wires can be fabricated. germanium laser. "Eventually, you could have the computing power of today's supercomputers inside a laptop," he said. Superconducting materials have an electrical resistance of zero, and so can carry large electrical currents without power dissipation or heat generation. The creation of a new laser, even one based on germanium, is not newsworthy; more than 15,000 different lasers, some of which use germanium, have been created since the 1950s. Superconductivity was first discovered in 1911, and until recently, was considered a macroscopic phenomenon. The current finding suggests, however, that it exists at the molecular scale, which opens up a What makes this particular germanium laser unique is that it creates an infra-red beam at room temperature. novel route for studying this phenomenon.

Until now, infra-red germanium lasers required expensive cryogenic cooling systems to operate. The new CERN scientists recreate how universe began germanium laser operates at room temperature. On March 30, 2010, scientists came a little closer to understanding the Big Bang—the event that created the To create the germanium laser, the scientists take a six-inch, silvery-gray disk of silicon and spray it with a universe—when they slammed together two streams of sub-atomic particles, moving at very high speed, at thin film of germanium. These same disks are actually used to produce chips in today's computers. an energy level never before achieved in the laboratory. The collision was orchestrated at around in the world’s largest particle collider, the Large Hadron Collider An electrically powered, room-temperature, infrared laser for laptop computers is still years away, however, (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva. cautioned Michel. If and when those laptops do arrive, they will be powerful—more powerful in fact than even today's super-computers. The collision sought to recreate—on a vastly reduced scale—the conditions that scientists believe came into being right after the Big Bang. Once analysed, the results could change the way physicists understand the DEFENCE origin and structure of the universe. Super Cruiser BrahMos test-fired successfully When sub-atomic particles slam together at very high speeds, they shatter, leaving behind new elements. On March 21, 2010, India joined the league of select nations to have a ‘manoeuvrable’ supersonic cruise Scientists are hoping one of the new elements created by the collision and shattering will be the fabled Higgs missile when it successfully test-fired the vertical-launch version of 290-km range BrahMos from a warship boson—popularly called ‘God Particle’—the particle that some theories claim is responsible for the mass of in the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast. everything in the universe.

83 84 The LHC is a 26.6 km circular tube buried nearly 100 meter below the earth’s surface. spacecraft has provided evidence for the presence of ice deposits near the moon’s North Pole. The Mini- SAR instrument found more than 40 small craters (two to 15 km in diameter) with sub-surface water ice Indian scientists have contributed to the Compact Muon Solenoid, one of the ultra-sensitive detectors that located at their base. scientists at CERN used to monitor and photograph the collision. The TIFR, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Punjab University and have all been involved in the project. The interior of these craters are permanently shadowed and thus, oblivious to the extreme solar heat found on the moon. Breakthrough in Malaria study Earlier, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper, another NASA instrument aboard the Indian mission, discovered Scientists from India and the US have found what they call an internal “switch” that controls mosquitoes’ water molecules in the moon’s polar region. The two pioneering discoveries made by payloads aboard the immunity to malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites. If scientists can find a way to flip this switch, they Chandrayaan-I have arguably made the Indian mission the most successful lunar expedition after the could block the spread of malaria from mosquitoes to humans, according to Sanjeev Kumar, lead author of Apollo-11 manned mission to the moon in 1969. the study and a researcher in the biological sciences group at the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS) in Pilani. MISCELLANEOUS Census 2010 A natural reaction inside the mosquito’s body after it sucks human blood might be responsible for protecting The 15th national census exercise, the biggest census ever to be attempted in human history to cover India's Plasmodium parasites from the natural germ-fighting agents in its stomach, found the scientists. Because of 1.2 billion population, began on April 1, 2010 with President Pratibha Patil being the first to be enumerated this reaction, the parasites can multiply and spread to humans. in the decennial exercise.

As soon as a mosquito ingests a meal, the blood heads for the gut. Normally, a mosquito has strong anti- The census is the most credible source of information on demography (population characteristics), economic germ agents that hunt down and kill any invasive bacteria and parasites. But, the scientists found that, this activity, literacy and education, housing and household amenities, urbanisation, fertility and mortality, germ-fighting ability was blocked by a reaction in the mosquito’s body. Once blood reaches the gut, it Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, language, religion, migration, disability and many other socio- triggers two proteins, an Immuno-Modulatory Peroxidase (IMPer) and dual oxidase (Duox). These proteins cultural and demographic data since 1872. form a protective net-like bag around the blood meal. Census is the only source of primary data at village, town and ward level. It provides valuable information The blood—and any parasites it contains—passes through the digestive system unscathed. The parasites for planning and formulation of polices for Central and State governments and is widely used by national multiply and move into the mosquito’s salivary glands, from where they pass into their next human victim. and international agencies, scholars, business people, industrialists, and many more.

When the scientists switched off the functioning of the two proteins, the bag didn’t form and all the The delimitation/reservation of constituencies -- parliamentary/assembly/panchayats and other local bodies Plasmodium parasites were killed. is also done on the basis of the demographic data thrown up by the census. The census is the basis for reviewing the country's progress in the past decade, monitoring the on-going schemes of the government and The findings have implications for the study of human immunity. It has been long suspected that a similar most importantly, plan for the future. reaction is what allows the good bacteria to survive in the stomach. The slogan of Census 2011 is 'Our Census, Our Future'. SPACE RESEARCH National Population Register Chandrayaan-I finds deepest crater on moon The Union government has given a go-ahead to the creation of National Population Register (NPR), a Scientists have discovered moon's biggest and deepest crater, some 2,400 km-long and 9 km deep, using unique mechanism to record biometric particulars of the entire populace of India. The work on the project data from a NASA instrument that flew aboard India's maiden unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-I. will start in April 2010 and is expected to complete by September 2010.

The US space agency's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) detected the enormous crater, the South Pole-Aitken The project would cover an estimated population of 1.2 billion and the total cost of the scheme is Rs basin, that was created when an asteroid smacked into moon's southern hemisphere shortly after the 3,539.24 crore. The creation of a digital database with identity details of all individuals, along with their formation of earth's only natural satellite. photographs and finger biometrics, will result in the creation of a biometrics based identity system in the country. Once finalised, the NPR database will be sent to the Unique Identification Authority of India Chandrayaan-I finds ice on moon (UIDAI) for biometric de-duplication and assigning of a unique identification number. This UID number The success story of Chandrayaan-I, the maiden Indian moon mission, turned a new chapter with the will be added to the NPR database. discovery of ice deposits on the moon by an American payload aboard the spacecraft. Such a database will enhance the efficacy of providing services to the residents under government schemes and programmes, improve the security scenario and check identity frauds in the country. Analysis of data obtained by the Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (Mini-SAR) aboard Chandrayaan-I

85 86 Sasawaka Prize of UNEP, 2010 Cloud Computing A portable light that can be recharged by pedalling for 20 minutes and was developed for use in areas not Most of us who use web-based email services, watch a video online, share snaps using photo-hosting wired for electricity, has won a Canadian of Indian origin, Sameer Hajee, the prestigious Sasakawa Prize of services, read news online or watch TV shows on the internet may not realise that we use ‘cloud computing’ the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). services. The device has been developed by Nuru Design (Nuru means light in Swahili). A pilot project is already in A metaphor for the internet, cloud computing stores data and applications on the internet. Users do not have place in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. The device, called the Nuru light, is essentially a lighting system that to invest in hardware (reducing costs considerably) and maintenance experts. They can simply pull up can be recharged by a pedal generator—the Nuru POWERCycle. applications when needed and use them like we use utilities, for example electricity. Most players provide Nuru Light’s objective is to replace the use of expensive, polluting, unhealthy, and dangerous kerosene as a these services for free for individual users. For enterprise users, it’s generally a paid subscription-based source of lighting for the two billion people without access to electricity. Of those, nearly 580 million are in model. India.

Major Indian players like Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Patni Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards offer cloud computing solutions as “software as a service” or SaaS or on-demand computing. Punjab has for the first time bagged the highest number of awards in the performing arts category for 2009, Cloud computing, however, still faces questions within IT about security and the guarantee of uptime for since the inception of the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1952. companies which rely on the cloud. The winners of the coveted honour include Ustad Lachhman Singh Seen (classical music tabla), Ustad Civil Services (Prelims) Exam to change Vilayat Khan, Goslan Khanna (ragi/dhadi) and Neeta Mahindra (theatre). Besides Kamal Arora (theatre make-up) from Chandigarh is another recipient. The first big reform in the way India selects its civil servants is around the corner. The Union government has decided to replace the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination with the Civil Service Aptitude Test The award carries a citation, a shawl, a memento and a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000. (CSAT), which will test candidates on their aptitude and analytical abilities rather than their ability to Grammy Awards, 2010 memorise. The CSAT is expected to come into effect from 2011. Life Time award: Michael Jackson, posthumously. The UPSC is further expected to push for changes in the Civil Service (Mains) Examination also. Album of the Year: Taylor Swift, Fearless. FEBRUARY 2010 Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Jai Ho, written by , A. R. Rahman and Tanvi Shah, from “Slumdog Millionaire”. AWARDS Record of the Year: Use Somebody, Kings of Leon. Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, 2009 New Artist: Zac Brown Band. Entrepreneur of the year: Anand G. Mahindra, Vice Chairman and MD of Mahindra Group. Song of the Year: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), written by Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Lifetime Achievement award: N. Vaghul, Ex-Chairman of ICICI Bank Ltd. Nash and Christopher Stewart (Beyoncé). Entrepreneur of the year (Start-up): Amit Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director of A2Z Maintenance Female Pop Vocal Performance: Halo, Beyoncé. & Engineering Services Pvt. Ltd. Male Pop Vocal Performance: Make it mine, Jason Mraz. Entrepreneur of the year (Business transformation): Dr Vikram Akula, Chairperson & founder SKS Pop Performance, Duo Or Group: I Gotta Feeling, the Black Eyed Peas. Microfinance Ltd. Pop Collaboration: Lucky, Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. Entrepreneur of the year (Manager): O.P. Bhatt, Chairman, State Bank of India. Pop Instrumental Performance: Throw Down Your Heart, Béla Fleck. Entrepreneur of the year (Manufacturing): Harsh C. Mariwala, Chairman and Managing Director, Pop Instrumental Album: Potato Hole, Booker T. Jones. Marico Ltd. Pop Vocal Album: The E.N.D., the Black Eyed Peas. Entrepreneur of the year (Healthcare and Life Sciences): Pankaj R. Patal, Chairman and Managing Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Working on a Dream, Bruce Springsteen. Director, Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd. Hard Rock Performance: War Machine, AC/DC. Entrepreneur of the year (Services): Shashi Kiran Shetty, Chairman and Managing Director, Allcargo Metal Performance: Dissident Aggressor, Judas Priest. Global Logistics Ltd. Rock Song: Use Somebody, written by Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill and Nathan Followill. Rock Album: 21st Century Breakdown, Green Day.

Alternative Music Album: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Phoenix. Female R&B Vocal Performance: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), Beyoncé.

87 88 Male R&B Vocal Performance: Pretty Wings, Maxwell. With the commissioning of RAPS-5 the total installed nuclear power capacity of India has risen to 4,340 Female Country Vocal Performance: White Horse, Taylor Swift. MW. Male Country Vocal Performance: Sweet Thing, Keith Urban. Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Up. RESEARCH Path-breaking energy source unveiled CYBER SPACE Indian American Silicon Valley entrepreneur and former NASA scientist, K.R. Sridhar, has unveiled his Google plunges into social networking with Buzz "Bloom Box," which can generate energy by combining air and a range of fuels without going through the dirty process of combustion—all in its owner's back yard. He describes it as "the plug-and-play future of On February 9, 2010, Google introduced a new service called Google Buzz, a way for users of its Gmail electricity." service to share updates, photos and videos. Buzz is Google’s boldest attempt to build a social network that can compete with Facebook and Twitter. The service is built into Gmail. And Buzz comes with a built-in The Bloom Energy Server, a patented solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology, provides a cleaner and more circle of friends, a group that is automatically selected by Google based on the people that a user reliable alternative to both today’s electric grid as well as traditional renewable energy sources. Sridhar says communicates with most frequently in Gmail and on Google’s chat service. each Bloom Box can power up to six homes in India.

Like other social services, Buzz allows users to post status updates that include text; photos from services Bloom's fuel cell works in this way: Oxygen is pumped in on one side and natural gas on the other. The two like Google’s Picasa and Yahoo!’s Flicker; videos from YouTube ; and messages from Twitter. Analysts say combine inside the cell to create a chemical reaction that produces electricity, without any combustion or many of its features mimic those of Facebook. power lines. A Bloom Energy Server consists of thousands of Bloom's fuel cells—flat, solid ceramic squares Google executives say that Buzz would help tackle the problem of information overload, as Google would made from a common sand-like “powder”. Each server provides 100 kilowatts of power in roughly the area apply its algorithms to help people find the information most relevant to them. of a parking space. Unlike traditional renewable energy technologies, like solar and wind, which are intermittent, Bloom’s technology can provide renewable power 24/7. EDUCATION SEBI takes investor education to schools World’s most precise clock

Class 8 and 9 students at 26 schools all over the country are taking lessons in investor education these days, Scientists claim to have created the world's most precise clock based on the oscillation of a trapped courtesy the capital market regulator SEBI. The optional three-month course teaches these students the aluminium-27 atom. According to the New Scientist, the new record-holder for the most precise timekeeper, importance of money, how to manage it and concepts of budgeting and saving. built at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Colorado, USA, could tick off the 13.7- billion-year age of universe to within 4 seconds. The optical clock monitors the oscillation of a trapped atom The initiative follows the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) decision to facilitate financial of aluminium-27 and is more than twice as precise as the earlier version, reported in 2008. literacy to children before they complete their secondary education. The regulator feels catching them young is the only way of increasing the number of households investing in the equity market. The number is paltry, MISCELANEOUS even after decades of a free capital market. Consumer Pyramid, a survey of 120,000 households done by the Panel to study merits of another time zone for India Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), showed only 6.5 per cent of Indian households invest in shares and only 1.12 per cent of the total savings flow into listed shares and mutual funds. India may be looking at another time zone in the near future, a move that could fulfill a long-standing demand. A committee, chaired by the director-general of Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), is trying to SEBI is implementing the financial literacy programme through the National Institute of Securities Markets examine the implications of another time zone in India. (NISM), set up by the regulator to improve the quality of the market through educational initiatives. A pilot project, called the School Financial Literacy Programme, is being supervised by the National Progressive The committee will report on the energy savings that would result because of a number of interventions, of Schools Conference. Of the 26 schools, 13 are from north India, 11 from the south and two from the east. which another time zone for the country is a possibility. While another time zone is desirable, a lot of problems can crop up that have to be carefully examined. The N-ENERGY magnitude of the task of setting up another time zone is enormous. India’s 18th nuclear plant A separate time zone for the north-eastern and eastern parts has been a longstanding demand. The east-west India’s 18th nuclear power plant at Rawatbhata in Rajasthan (RAPS-5) began production on February 6, spread of India extends for about 28 longitudinal degrees, accounting for about 2 hours as a result of which 2010. The plant has been set-up by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India. The indigenously built 220 MW the sun rises two hours earlier in the eastern part of the country. unit uses fuel imported from Russia which has been acquired after India got waiver from Nuclear Suppliers Group guidelines in September 2008. The operationalisation of RAPS-5 has increased the capacity of . Rawatbhata plant to 96 MW. The project, set-up in September 2002, took six years to complete. It had remained idle for some months because of lack of fuel.

89 90 JANUARY 2010 National Film Awards, 56 th

ABBREVIATIONS Best Film: Antaheen (Bengali) NKN: National Knowledge Network Best Direction: Bala for Naan Kadavul (Tamil) Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment: Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! AWARDS Best Children’s Film: Gubbachigalu (Kannada) Jeevan Raksha Padaks, 2010 Best Film on Family Welfare: Little Zizou (English, Gujarati) Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak: Braveheart Rukhsana Kauser and Delhi’s Narender Kaushik Best Actor: Upendra Limaye for Jogwa (Marathi) (posthumously) have been selected for Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak for their conspicuous courage in Best Actress: Priyanka Chopra for Fashion (Hindi) saving life under circumstances of very great danger to the life of the rescuer. Best Supporting Actor: Arjun Rampal for Rock On!! (Hindi) Best Supporting Actress: Kangana Ranaut for Fashion (Hindi) Rukhsana, 22, had killed a top Pakistani militant and injured another at Kalsian village in Rajouri district on Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a Director: A Wednesday (Hindi) the night of September 27 2009. Nargis Dutt Award (for Best Feature Film on National Integration): Aai Kot Nai (Assamese) Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak: The winners include Syed Areef Sujauddin from Andhra Pradesh, Umman Best Child Artist: Shams Patel Antony from Kerala, Rajan Kamble from Maharashtra (all posthumously), besides Karanbir Singh Kang Best Cinematography: Avik Mukhopadhyay for Antaheen (Bengali) from Maharashtra and Prachi Santosh Sen from Madhya Pradesh. Best Screenplay: Sachin Kundalkar for Gandha (Marathi) Best Art Direction: Gautam Sen for Firaaq Kang, who lost his wife and two children in the 26\11 Mumbai attacks, had rescued many from Taj hotel Best Make-up Artist: V. Moorthy for Naan Kadauul (Tamil) and never dithered from doing his duty. Best Costume Design: Neeta Lulla for Jodhaa Akbar Best Music Direction: Ajay Atul for Jogwa (Marathi) Jeevan Raksha Padak series of awards are meant for meritorious act of humane nature in saving the life of a Best Lyrics: Antaheen (Bengali) person in three categories: Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha PAdak and Jeevan Best Male Playback Singer: Hariharan for Jogwa (Marathi) Raksha Padak. Best Female Playback Singer: Shreya Ghoshal for Antaheen (Bengali) Golden Globe Awards, 2010 Best Choreography: Chinni Prakash and Rekha Prakash for Jodha Akbar Best Audiography: Pramod J. Thomas for Gandha (Marathi) Best Director: James Cameron for Avatar Best Editing: A. Sreekar Prasad for Firaaq (Hindi) Best Motion Picture (Drama): Avatar Best Special Effects: Govardhan (Tata Elxsi) Mumbai Meri Jaan (Hindi) Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy): The Hangover Special Jury Award/Special Mention (Feature Film): Bioscope Best Actor (Motion Picture Drama): Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart Best Actor (Motion Picture Musical or Comedy): Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes Best Actress (Motion Picture Drama): Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side Republic Day Awards, 2010 Best Actress (Motion Picture Musical or Comedy): Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia Padma Vibhushan: Nobel laureate of Indian origin Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Apollo Hospitals chief Best Supporting Actor (Motion Picture): Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds Pratap Reddy, former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy, Zohra Segal, Ebrahim Alkazi and noted Mridangam Best Supporting Actress (Motion Picture): Mo’nique for Precious. Carnatic artist Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman. Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner for Up In The Air Best Original Score: Michael Giacchino for Up : Music maestro A.R. Rahman, Music maestro Illaiyaraaja, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan Best Original Song: “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart and controversial Indian origin businessman Sant Singh Chatwal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band - Eine Deutsche Kindergeschichte) cardiac surgeon R.M. Panda, eminent neurosurgeon Satya Paul Agarwal, prominent industrialist from from Germany Punjab S.P. Oswal, Manvinder Singh Banga, eminent journalist Fareed Zakaria and real estate czar K.P. Best Animated Film: Up Singh were among the 43 winners. Dada Saheb Phalke Award, 2008 V.K. Murthy, the ace cinematographer of Guru Dutt’s films who is best known for his camera work in Padma Shri: Cricketer Virendra Sehwag, hockey player Ignace Tirkey, Formula One driver Narain Chaudvin ka Chand and Pakeezah, has been honoured with the award. He is the first cinematographer to get Kartikeyan, badminton star Saina Nehwal, boxer Vijender Singh, Sachin Tendulkar's 'guru' Ramakant the award. Achrekar, Yesteryear Bollywood diva Rekha, Oscar winner sound recordist Resul Pokutty and actor were among 83 winners.

91 92 Bravery Awards, 2010 EXPEDITIONS Kirti Chakra: Rukhsana Kausar and her brother Aijaz Ahmad have been awarded the second highest Climate expedition to Antarctica gallantry award in peacetime, for their act of bravery in killing a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander in their Morha Kalsi village in Jammu and Kashmir in 2009. On January 11, 2010, an Indian team set sail on the first Southern Ocean expedition after the Copenhagen meet — the fourth to be taken up by the National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa — Tagore Literature Award, 2009 to study, among other things, climate change and its impact on life.

Noted Kashmiri poet Naseem Shafai has been conferred the prestigious “Tagore Literature Award” by the It will also be the first time Indian scientists will be crossing the 55 degrees South latitude to go almost up to Sahitya Akademi for her outstanding contribution in Kashmiri literature, especially poetry. the polar region on an Indian vessel.

The award has been instituted by the Akademi at the initiation of the Korean government and the Embassy Sagar Nidhi, the only Indian vessel that can cut through ice, left Goa with 25 scientists for Mauritius and of Korea in Delhi. head farther southwards on a voyage that will last till April 2010.

Nasem was selected for this honour for her poetic collection, “Na Thsay Na Aks” (Neither shadow nor The scientists will take up about 20 studies in the ocean between 35 and 66 degrees South latitudes. reflection). She has become the first women poet from Kashmir to be honoured by the Akademi. This was Prominent among them would be paleo-climatic studies that involve collecting samples from the ocean bed the second collection of Naseem’s poetry after “Derche Machrith” (open windows) in 1999. at a depth of up to six kilometres.

CYBER SPACE Changes in sediment formation, water mass and other parameters would be compared with previous data to ascertain the impact of climate change. Gmail adopts new protocol to encrypt data PERSONS Google has introduced a mandatory secure encryption for all users of its free email service Gmail, which Basu, Jyoti will make it more difficult for hackers to break into the email accounts. The CPM patriarch and former Chief Minister of West Bengal, he died on January 17, 2010 at the age of 95. Gmail will now be accessible through what is known as the hypertext transfer protocol secure or HTTPS on The “colossus of Indian politics” left behind a void that will be hard to fill, not only in the Left but also internet, instead of the HTTP protocol which it was using earlier. national politics.

Under the new protocol, email data travelling between a user’s browser and Google computer server will be He was born on July 8, 1914 in Kolkata. In 1935 he graduated from the Presidency College of Kolkata with encrypted, making it tougher for the hackers sitting on unprotected Wi-Fi to break into the user’s accounts. honours in English. Then he went to London to study law and it was here that he was influenced by Communism. In 1940 he joined the then undivided Communist Party of India. For users, the new encryption would result in higher level of security, similar to an online banking transaction. Hackers would also find it more challenging to steal credit card and bank statements stored by He was one of the founder-members of CPM in 1964. In 1977 he became the Chief Minister of West Bengal Gmail users in their mailboxes. and continued to hold the office for 23 straight years, making him the longest-serving Chief Minister in India. He quit as Chief Minister in November 2000. His major achievements as Chief Minister of West Thousands of users in the government departments and corporate sector across the world use Gmail for Bengal were rural land reforms and entrenching of the Panchayati Raj institutions. transferring official emails or storing bank confidential information. With this enable-ment, loss of such Jyoti Basu played a major role in formation of coalition governments at the Centre in 1989, 1996, 1997 and information or hacking of Orkut or Gmail accounts is likely to become less frequent. Many government of 2004. In 1996, he narrowly missed out on becoming Prime Minister of India after his party’s veto. India documents also get exchanged through Gmail. The ministry of external affairs has, however, banned use of such private email providers for official use. Murthy, V.K.

DEFENCE V. K. Murthy is the first cinematographer, and second Kannadiga after Kannada movie icon Dr Raj Kumar, India planning to buy C-17 Globemaster-III strategic aircraft from USA to get the Dada Saheb Phalke award for his contribution to the film industry. He is known for his work in most Guru Dutt films like Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, Kaagaz Ke Phool and Pyaasa. India is set to buy 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic aircraft, each of which comes for about $220 million. The four-engine C-17 is capable of carrying payload of up to 78 tonnes, transport tanks and air-drop Besides Guru Dutt, Murthy also worked with Pramod Chakravarthy (Naya Zamana, Jugnu), Kamal Amrohi more than 100 combat-ready paratroopers directly into a battle-zone. (Pakeezah) and Shyam Benegal (Bharat Ke Khoj, a television series).

It can cover 2,400 nautical miles at a stretch and with mid-air refuelling it can go even longer distances. The He also shot India’s first cinema-scope movies, Kagaz ke Phool and is also one of the pioneers of colour plane has the capability to take off and land on 3,000 feet or less runway, as also on a semi-prepared cinematography. runway.

93 94 The building has returned the location of Earth's tallest free-standing structure to the Middle East — where Singh, Gen Vijay Kumar the Great Pyramid of Giza claimed this achievement for almost four millennia before being surpassed in 1311 by Lincoln Cathedral in England. He has been appointed as the chief of Indian Army. He was born on May 10, 1951, in Bapada village of Haryana. His grandfather—Mukh Ram—was also a soldier, who rose to the rank of Risaldar Major. His Davos father Jagat Singh also joined the Army and retired as a Colonel. Over 2500 global leaders in business and politics gathered in Davos, Switzeraland, for the World Economic Forum. Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Gen V.K. Singh, an infantry man, was commissioned into the Rajput Regiment in 1970. During his long Range. At 1,560 meters, it is the highest city in Europe. career he has participated in the 1971 operations against Pakistan and the IPKF operations in Sri Lanka in 1988. His last posting before taking over as army chief was as the Eastern Army Commander, Kolkata. Prior Haiti to that, he commanded vital Ambala-based 2 Strike Corps of the Army. The capital of this tiny island nation, Port-au-Prince, was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale on January 13, 2010. More than three lakh people perished in the tragedy. He is also an honours graduate of the US Army Infantry School, Georgia. He studied at the Defence Services Staff College, the Army War College and the US Army War College, Carlisle. The earthquake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince, Jacmel and other settlements in the region. Many notable landmark buildings were significantly damaged or destroyed, including the Presidential Palace, the PLACES National Assembly building, the Port-au-Prince Cathedral, and the main jail. Among those killed were Bengaluru Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Joseph Serge Miot, and opposition leader Micha Gaillard. The headquarters of The Electronic Warfare India Conference (EWIC) was held in Bengaluru. This was the first international the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), located in the capital, collapsed, killing conference on electronic warfare to take place in India. many, including the Mission’s Chief, Hédi Annabi.

Burj Khalifa Who’s who of the literature world descended on Jaipur in January 2010 to attend the Jaipur Literature On January 4, 2010, blazing fireworks and dazzling lights marked the opening of the world's tallest tower, festival. Burj Khalifa, formerly known as Burj Dubai. The $1.5 billion, 818 metres (2,684 feet) high structure is an “unprecedented” engineering marvel. RESEARCH

Burj Khalifa has been designed to be the centrepiece of a large-scale, mixed-use development that will Super lozenge as cure for cold to H1N1 include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, 7.4 acres of parkland, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall, and the 30-acre man-made Burj Khalifa Lake. In a breakthrough, Australian scientists have developed a drug that prepares the immune system to effectively fight all cold and flu infections, including swine flu virus. The Veldona lozenge, which tastes like With more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the following records: a sweet and dissolves in the mouth, prepares the immune system to attack every cold and flu virus. • Tallest building in the world The drug, that could be taken once a day before breakfast, would prevent everyday sniffles in otherwise • Tallest free-standing structure in the world healthy people and life-threatening infections in the elderly.

• Highest number of stories in the world The lozenge contains tiny amounts of interferon alpha—a protective protein that the body naturally makes when attacked by a virus. When the lozenge dissolves in the mouth, the protein is released, tricking the • Highest occupied floor in the world immune system into thinking there is a virus in the body and gets ready for a fight. • Highest outdoor observation deck in the world Once the trial results are positive, the drug can be made available over-the-counter in the next two years. It • Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world would cost just around Rs 9 a pill.

• Tallest service elevator in the world SPACE RESEARCH

Not only is Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest building, it has also broken two other impressive records: tallest NASA’s WISE probe structure, previously held by the KVLY-TV mast in Blanchard, North Dakota, and tallest free-standing structure, previously held by Toronto’s CN Tower. The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Nasa has published the first images from its Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, which has been Habitat (CTBUH) has established three criteria to determine what makes a tall building tall. Burj Khalifa scanning the skies since January 2010. wins by far in all three categories. The images include a comet, a "star factory" 20,000 light years away in our Milky Way galaxy and our nearest large neighbour, the Andromeda spiral galaxy.

95 96 Wise will search on until October when its supplies of frozen coolant for chilling instruments will run out. when shipped to India, costs about Rs 18,000. The Pi reader has no wireless connectivity, however.

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (Wise) had blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in The Pi supports 13 Indian languages and has a micro USB port to connect to a PC. Users will need to create December 2009. The probe is expected to uncover objects that have never seen before, including some of an account with Infibeam.com, register the device and then download the ebooks. The ebooks can be read on the coolest stars and the most luminous galaxies. the PC as well as on the Pi.

The $320m mission will do this by scanning the entire sky in infrared light with sensitivity hundreds of The Pi can also be used to read any document (word or pdf, for instance). It can store about 600 ebooks in its times greater than ever before. internal memory. It also has space for a 4GB card—that means about 3,000 ebooks can be carried around. Indian scientists discover a large cave on the Moon Pi can play music as well. Human habitation or a permanent base on the Moon could soon be a reality. After the discovery of water, scientists analysing the data of Chandrayaan-I have now found a large cave on the lunar surface, which Copenhagen Wheel could possibly act as a natural shelter for humans. Reinventing the wheel was not exactly what Myshkin Ingawale had in mind when he set out from NIT- This is an empty volcanic tube, measuring about two kilometre in length and 360 meters in width. Such wide Bhopal towards MIT-Massachusetts, with a stop-over at IIM Calcutta. The 27-year-old’s Copenhagen tunnels could sustain underground lunar outposts, while the ceilings could help protect astronauts from Wheel, named after the Danish capital after it was unveiled during the climate summit in December 2008, space radiation, meteoroid impacts and wild temperature fluctuations (up 300 degree centigrade) that is could be about to do just that. commonplace on the lunar surface. A smart disc that can be retrofitted on any bicycle, the device can boost the cycle’s power and can also keep There are similar lava tubes on Earth. They are formed when molten rock, flowing from a volcanic eruption, track of friends, fitness, smog and traffic. And if someone tries to steal the bike while its owner happens to cools and hardens on top while the lava underneath continues to flow. If the lava drains completely, a cavern be away, the device will send out an alert via a text message. is left. Scientists had long suspected that such rock formations existed on the moon, but lacked evidence The Danish capital is set to embrace it whole-heartedly in its attempt to become the world’s first carbon- until now. neutral capital city by 2025.

The findings happened while the data from the TMC (Terrain Mapping Camera) was being analysed. The Ingawale began working on the device in 2003, when he started fitting bicycles with electric motors. An TMC was one of the five Indian payload that was on-board Chandrayaan-I. early version of the device was made during his time at the National Institute of Technology campus in MISCELLANEOUS Bhopal, where he studied for a B.Tech in electrical engineering.

Algorithm trading The big leap for the device and Ingawale came about when he got in touch with a team from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, which was working on ways to make bikes efficient The rising number of brokerages with algorithm, or computer programme-driven trading, may turn out to be and green. a second turning point in Indian markets after the introduction of electronic trading a decade-and-a-half ago, which closed about 20 stock exchanges and many local brokerages, but expanded the trading community “From the days of the horse-drawn carriage, all we have done is replaced the horse with a beast of a and volumes by leaps and bounds. different kind. Can we be creative, can we make something that radically improves things for the better? This was the motivation and thought process of the team,” he says. The National Stock Exchange, which controls more than three-fourths of the trading volumes, has approved applications of 200 of its members, roughly a fourth, to trade using algorithms. Tricolour to tower over nation

Algorithmic trading refers to automated trades executed through software programs which do not require Naveen Jindal, MP from Kurukshetra who fought a long legal battle to ensure that individuals can hoist the humans to place orders. There could be thousands of programs written to buy or sell a security, currency or national flag too, will put up monumental flag poles with flags about 3,500 square feet in size and hoisted on commodity at a particular level when one or more factors emerge. Those programs are so fast that people 206-feet-high steel poles—all across the country. who look at various developments and decide trade would be left way behind because a machine has done it After putting up five monumental flag poles in his own constituency, Jindal now has plans to set up many in milliseconds. more to create awareness and generate respect for the national flag in every Indian.

Jindal's Flag Foundation of India, set up after he won the legal battle in 2005 against the government diktat Indian invention Infibeam Pi to give competition to Amazon’s Kindle that only institutions can hoist the national flag, will work with local bodies to set up these poles. He has On January 28, 2010, Vishal Mehta announced the Infibeam Pi, an e-book reader that looks like the Amazon even had the government amend the Flag Code to allow these massive flags to fly even at night, with proper Kindle, has the same e-Ink screen that the Kindle sports, and has a rights architecture that is more open than illumination. the Kindle. The Infibeam Pi, which can be ordered online and is priced at Rs 10,000. The Amazon Kindle,

97 98 The first monumental flag pole outside Kurukshetra will come up in Angul, a tribal district in Orissa, INTERNATIONAL SUMMITS followed by Hyderabad, Mumbai and Kanyakumari. Each project will cost Rs 40 lakh, with the pole, made of high tension steel, weighing 12.5 tonnes, and the flag, made of knitted polyester, weighing 28 kg and G-20 SUMMIT costing Rs 60,000.

National Martyr Register What is the G-20

Sixty years after it became a Republic, India is about to share with its people the first authenticated list of The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to martyrs, who helped it realise the dream of freedom. The list would, for the first time, cover the martyrs of bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the 1857, recognised now as the watershed in the struggle for India’s Independence. global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 15-16, 1999, hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers. Also, the list’s focus would be the nation to avoid accusations that the existing works on martyrs are heavily tilted in favour of the North. Origins The G-20 was created as a response both to the financial crises of the late 1990s and to a growing Till date the country had no National Register of Martyrs which could be taken as the basis of future recognition that key emerging-market countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic historical research on the subject. Names that do exist in scattered works, including “Who’s Who of Indian discussion and governance. Martyrs’ published by the Education Ministry in 1969, are the ones that figured in the national movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Membership However, the existing names of martyrs lacked historical referencing and could be dismissed as claims The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: unless proved otherwise by evidence in primary sources like judicial records and jail files. Argentina,Australia,Brazil,Canada,China,France,Germany,India,Indonesia,,Japan,Mexico,Russia,Saudi Arabia,South Africa,Republic of Korea,Turkey,United Kingdom,United States of America But now, thanks to experts under the Indian Council of Historical Research which is in charge of the project, India will soon have its first historically-tested list of martyrs. Meetings and activities

India’s first aero sports centre The 2010 G-20 Toronto summit is the fourth meeting of the G-20 heads of government, in discussion of the Narnaul, a non-descript village located in the backwaters of Haryana has got India’s first aero sports centre, global financial system and the world economy, which took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, at the local airstrip on January 31, 2010. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, during June 26–27, 2010. The next G-20 summit will be held at November 11- The centre, named after the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, has been set up by the Department of Civil 12 at Seol, in the Republic of Korea. Aviation, Haryana, in collaboration with the Aero Club of India. APEC SUMMIT

A summit meet of Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was held in Singapore on November 14-15, 2009. The forum of the APEC on November 15, pledged to promote balanced, inclusive, and sustainable growth to ensure a durable recovery form the world economic recession. Leaders of 21 APEC economies

Who concluded a two-day summit in Singapore noted that the global economy has now began to recover, with Asia–Pacific region taking the lead.

Origin and Aims : APEC was originally established in 1989 to take advantage of the interdependence among Asia- Pacific economies, by facilitating economic growth for all participants and enhancing a sense of community in the region. APEC is working to achieve what are referred to as the ‘Bogor Goals’ of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies

Next APEC summit will be held at Yokohama, Japan in November 13-14 2010.

Members : Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea. Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, USA

and Veitnam.

99 100 WORLD FOOD SUMMIT G-8 SUMMIT

The UN Hunger Summit held in Rome in the third week of November (16-18) 2009 vowed urgent action to The G-8, or Group of Eight, is made up of eight of the world’s most industrialized countries: Canada, combat food shortages, but drew fire for failing to pledge new funds or set a time table to beat the scourge France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union is affecting more than one billion people across the globe. As Pope Benedict XVI condemned the greed of also represented at the summit. The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialized democracies grain speculators, participants at the summit declared that hun-ger was an unacceptable blot on the lives, emerged following the 1973 oil crisis. livelihoods and dignity of onesixth of the world’s population. Their joint final declaration— which was rolled out on the first day of the threeday summit—also outlined five principles including direct action to Each year, a different G-8 country takes over the presidency of the Group of Eight and speaks on behalf of help the most vulnerable. Unfortunately no new financial commitments were contained in the document, the G-8 for the year. which calls on wealthy nations to honour pledges of $ 20 billion in aid over the next three years made at the Group of Eight summit in July, 2009. Also unluckily, the final declaration also omitted any mention of a U. Summit Outcomes N. 2025 deadline for the eradication of world hunger, prompting an angry response from campaigners. At the Muskoka 2010, Ontario, Canada on June 25 th & 26 th G-8 Summit, the G-8 provided leadership on Opening the summit, U. N. Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon, calling for a single global vision to address development and international peace and security challenges. These priorities relate to the core values and the plight of the world’s hungry, said, “the food crisis of today is a wake-up call for tomorrow”. By the time interests of the G-8 and are areas where G-8 member countries—through sustained cooperation and the world population reaches some nine billion in 2050, “we know we will need to grow 70 per cent more leadership—can make a real difference in responding to global issues that affect all countries and regions of food,” he said. the world. The Summit also focused on strengthening G-8 accountability and effectiveness.

Development COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF GOVERNMENT MEETING (CHOGM) As with recent G-8 summits, international development featured prominently at Muskoka, with a particular The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, abbreviated to CHOGM, is a biennial summit meeting focus on maternal, newborn and child health, and accountability for past promises. Canada’s pragmatic and of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Every two years the meeting is held in a results-driven agenda followed up on past G-8 commitments and set focused goals for G-8 leadership going different member state, and is chaired by that nation's respective Prime Minister or President, who becomes forward. the Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office. The first CHOGM was held in 1971, and there have been Food Security twenty-one held in total: the most recent in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009. They are held once every two years, although this pattern has twice been interrupted. They are held around the Commonwealth, rotating by As with other summits, food security was a priority at the Muskoka 2010 G-8 Summit through the invitation amongst its members. implementation of and accountability for the commitments that were made at L’Aquila. Accounting for these commitments is crucial for demonstrating progress and results on food security. 21st Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port of Spain [Climate Change Tops Agenda of the Summit] Africa Partnership Forum (APF) The 21st Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) was held in Port of Spain, the capital In 2003, the Africa Partnership Forum (APF) was established at Canada’s initiative and was of Trinidad and Tobago in 27 th & 29 th November 2009. The 53-nation grouping of former British Colonies, formally endorsed by leaders at the Evian G-8 Summit. The APF broadens international support for the which include developed, developing and under-developed countries deliberated on burning issues of the political and economic reform process in Africa to include other African countries and institutions and world, particularly climate change Africa’s major bilateral and multilateral development partners.

Four Components Peace and Security Four components are climate change response—mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology . The other highlights of the CHOGM were : an ambitious declaration on young people, committing the nations to When leaders gathered at the Summit, they responded to the most pressing global security issues. Non- new ventures in supporting youth enterprise, a statement on non-communicable diseases, a particular focus proliferation and disarmament efforts are at the top of the global agenda this year, with the recent conclusion in the Caribbean, a statement on the CHOGM partnership theme. of the Nuclear Security Summit and the Review Conference of the parties of the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The threat of nuclear weapons is real. The nuclear activities of both Iran and North Korea are of serious concern. Progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan and on the Middle East peace process is essential for global peace and security. Ongoing and pervasive vulnerabilities – including terrorism, organized crime, and trafficking in drugs continue to threaten global stability, security and prosperity.

101 102 G-15 SUMMIT ASEAN

The Group of 15 (G-15 ) was established at the Ninth Non-Aligned Movement Summit Meeting in The Association of Southeast Asian Nations , commonly abbreviated ASEAN is a geo-political and Belgrade, Yugoslavia in September 1989. economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on 8 August 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to This informal forum was set up to foster cooperation and provides input for other international groups, such include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Its aims include the acceleration of as the World Trade Organization and the Group of Eight. It is composed of countries from North America, economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, the protection of the peace and South America, Africa, and Asia with a common goal of enhanced growth and prosperity. The G15 focuses stability of the region, and to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully. on cooperation among developing countries in the areas of investment, trade, and technology. The membership of the G15 has expanded to 18 countries, but the name has remained unchanged. ASEAN Summit

Structure and activities The organisation holds meetings, known as the ASEAN Summit, where heads of government of each member meet to discuss and resolve regional issues, as well as to conduct other meetings with other The G-15 is intended to be an informal forum for discussions involving an intentional community or an countries outside of the bloc with the intention of promoting external relations.The ASEAN Leaders' Formal epistemic community. The G-15 membership is marked by a range of attributes and factors, including Summit was first held in Bali, Indonesia in 1976.

(a) a shared set of normative and principled beliefs By December 2008, the ASEAN Charter came into force and with it, the ASEAN Summit will be held twice (b) shared causal beliefs ; in a year. (c) shared notions of validity (d) a common policy enterprise The formal summit meets for three days. The usual itinerary is as follows:

• By design, the G-15 has avoided establishing an administrative structure like those for international Leaders of member states would hold an internal organisation meeting. organizations, such as the United Nations or the World Bank; but the G-15 does have a Technical Support • Leaders of member states would hold a conference together with foreign ministers of the ASEAN Facility (TSF) located in Geneva. The TSF functions under the direction of the Chairman for the current Regional Forum. year. The TSF provides necessary support for the activities of the G-15 and for its objectives. Other organs and functions of the G-15 include: • A meeting, known as ASEAN Plus Three, is set for leaders of three Dialogue Partners (People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea) • Summit of Heads of State and Government • Annual meetings of Ministers of Foreign Affairs • A separate meeting, known as ASEAN-CER, is set for another set of leaders of two Dialogue [citation needed ] • Steering Committee ( Troika ) Partners (Australia, New Zealand). • Personal Representatives of Heads of State and Government HANOI 8 - 9 Apr 2010 Vietnam hosts 16th ASEAN summit

The Fourteenth G-15 summit was held in Tehran, Iran in May 17-20, 2010. The bi-annual summit agenda Vietnam, Association of Southeast Asian Nations president for 2010, hosts the 16th and 17th summits of the of the Group of 15 (G-15) encompassed a range of issues. organization. The 2010 theme is: Towards the ASEAN Community: from vision to action. Vietnam, which is not a party to the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect on 1 Jan 2010, might find The gathering brought together leaders, representatives and policymakers from non-aligned nations. African the need to be mediator as well as host. G-15 nations are Algeria, , Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. Those from Asia are India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka. Latin American G-15 nations include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, The ASEAN-China FTA establishes the world's largest free trade area by population and has been under Jamaica, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. negotiation since 2002. Under the pact, China and the six founding ASEAN states -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- agreed to eliminate barriers to investment and tariffs on 90 The summit is expected to focus on improving south-south cooperation, addressing global inequities and percent of products by January 1, 2010. Members that joined ASEAN later, including Vietnam and assessing the impact of global economic recovery on developing nations. Cambodia, have until 2015 to follow. The Tehran summit is likely to repeat previous calls for restructuring of international financial institutions "ASEAN thus has the potential to physically anchor itself as the transportation, Information and and a more equitable representation of developing countries in those institutions. Communication Technology, and tourism hub of this region," according to the leaders' statement. They urged the completion of road, rail, air, and sea linkages within the community, and new infrastructure projects of the same type. These include the ASEAN Highway Network and the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link. (Written Feb 2010)

103 104 BRIC SUMMIT SHANGAI COOPERATION ORGANIZZATION (SCO)

In economics, BRIC (typically rendered as "the BRICs " or "the BRIC countries" or known as the "Big The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO ) is an intergovernmental mutual-security organisation Four") is a grouping acronym that refers to the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China that are deemed which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, , Kyrgyzstan, Russia, to all be at a similar stage of newly advanced economic development. Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Except for Uzbekistan, the other countries had been members of the Shanghai Five , founded in 1996; after the inclusion of Uzbekistan in 2001, the members renamed the organisation. The BRIC term Membership Member States Observer States Dialogue Partners Guest Attendances • China • India • Belarus • Afghanistan • Kazakhstan • Iran • Sri Lanka • ASEAN • Kyrgyzstan • Mongolia • CIS • Russia • Pakistan • Turkmenistan • Tajikistan • Uzbekistan The BRIC leaders in 2009 The BRIC leaders in 2010 Activities The 1st BRIC summit took place in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 16, 2009. The four heads of government from the BRIC countries attended. The 2010 BRIC summit took place in Brasilia, Brazil on April 16, • Cooperation on security 2010. The meeting took place between the four heads of government from the BRIC states following • Military activities bilateral meetings in the prior days. • Economic cooperation • Cultural cooperation Issues The leaders discussed the current global financial crisis, global development, and further strengthening of The ninth summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held in Tashkent, capital the BRIC group. city of Uzbekistan on June 10-11. The summit discussed the issues of strengthening stability and security in Central Asia, expanding SCO contacts with multilateral organizations, as well as other regional and global World economy issues. The BRIC leaders called for increased economic reform, demanding a "greater voice and representation in international financial institutions, and their heads and senior leadership should be appointed through an SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION open, transparent and merit-based selection process." They urged the international community to push for comprehensive results of the Doha Round. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC ) is an organization of South Asian nations, founded in 1985 and dedicated to economic, technological, social, and cultural development Political issues emphasizing collective self-reliance. Its seven founding members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Amongst the important issues discussed were United Nations reform. "We reiterate the importance we attach Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined the organization in 2007. Meetings of heads to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a of state are usually scheduled annually; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually. Headquarters are in greater role in the United Nations." Kathmandu, Nepal.

Food crisis The SAARC Secretariat and Member States observe 8 December as the SAARC Charter Day1. Regarding the 2007–2008 world food price crisis, the leaders issued a joint statement on global food Secretaries General security, calling for "action by all governments and the relevant international agencies"; and reaffirmed "their commitment to contribute to the efforts to overcome the global food crisis". Abul Ahsan January 16, 1987 to 15 October 1989

Kant Kishore Bhargava October 17, 1989 to December 31, 1991

Ibrahim Hussain Zaki January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1993

January 1, 1994 to December 31, 1995 Yadav Kant Silwal Naeem U. Hasan January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1998

105 106 Nihal Rodrigo January 1, 1999 to January 10, 2002 NATO

Q.A.M.A. Rahim January 11, 2002 to February 28, 2005 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO also called the "(North) Atlantic Alliance", is an Lyonpo Chenkyab Dorji March 1, 2005 to February 29, 2008 intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.

Sheel Kant Sharma March 1, 2008 to present The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. SIXTEENTH SAARC SUMMIT For its first few years, NATO was not much more than a political association. However, the Korean War 28-29 April 2010 galvanized the member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration U.S. supreme commanders. “Towards a Green and Happy South Asia” The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, famously stated the organization's goal was "to keep the SAARC/SUMMIT.16/15 Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down". Doubts over the strength of the relationship SIXTEENTH SAARC SUMMIT between the European states and the United States ebbed and flowed, along with doubts over the credibility 28-29 April 2010 of the NATO defence against a prospective Soviet invasion—doubts that led to the development of the Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration independent French nuclear deterrent and the withdrawal of the French from NATO's military structure from “Towards a Green and Happy South Asia” 1966. In this Silver Jubilee Year of SAARC, the Leaders emphasized the need to develop a ‘Vision Statement’. They agreed to form a ‘South Asia Forum’ for the generation of debate, discussion and the exchange of After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the organization became drawn into the Balkans while building ideas on South Asia and its future development. The Leaders welcomed the offer of the Government of better links with former potential enemies to the east, which culminated with several former Warsaw Pact Maldives to host the Seventeenth Summit of the Heads of State or Government of the South Asian states joining the alliance in 1999 and 2004. On 1 April 2009, membership was enlarged to 28 with the Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in 2011. entrance of Albania and Croatia.[5] Since the 11 September attacks, NATO has attempted to refocus itself to new challenges and has deployed troops to Afghanistan as well as trainers to Iraq. GLOBAL ECONOMIC SUMMIT 2010 The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the world's defence

spending.[7] The United States alone accounts for 43% of the total military spending of the world [8] and the Welcome to the ‘Global Economic Summit on Trade & Investment 2010’, in Mumbai. United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy account for a further 15%. [7]

When and Where: From January 20 to 22, 2010, India will play host to nearly 25 countries as we gather under one roof at the historic Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in South Mumbai.

Who: This Summit will witness the august gathering of international speakers and dignitaries. To be inaugurated by H.E. Mr. S.C. Jamir, Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra, the other speakers include HRH Prince Michael of Kent, United Kingdom, Ashok Chavan Hon'ble CM, Maharashtra; Chhagan Bhujbal, Hon'ble Deputy CM, Maharashtra; Suvi Linden, Minister of Telecommunications, Finland; Gurudas Kamat, Minister of State for Information, Technology and Communications; among a host of other luminaries. The speakers include experts in the fields of infrastructure such as Telecom, Ports, Roads and Power, SMEs, Financial Services and Biotechnology.

Why : The Global Economic Summit 2010 will provide the participants from nearly 25 countries with an international forum for networking, discussions and presentations of the opportunities related to trade and investment.

Benefits : The raison d’etre of this Summit is for all the participating countries, from Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Canada and Australia to avail of an ideal forum to present their respective trade and investment opportunities. In a congenial atmosphere of knowledge and reciprocity, each country will enjoy the benefit of strategic information exchange. One of the most enterprising aspects of this Summit will be the pre- scheduled one-to-one business meetings.

107 108 SPORTS GAMES Youth Olympic Games Singapore hosted the first Youth Olympics from August 14 to 26, 2010. A total of 3,531 athletes between 14 Sports News in Brief: August 2010 and 18 years of age from 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 201 events in 26 sports.

ATHLETICS The opening ceremony of the Games was held on 14 August at The Float@Marina Bay, a floating stage National Athletic Meet, 50 th near downtown Singapore. Approximately 27,000 spectators attended the event, which took place against a Kerala, Punjab and Haryana stood overall first, second and third, respectively, in the National Athletic backdrop of the city's skyline. Senior Championship held at NIS Patiala. Lyo and Merly were the official mascots. The duo ere made up of a red male lion and a blue female Merlion. CRICKET A contest held to name the two mascots was won by two Singaporeans. It took designers from Cubix Sri Lanka-New Zealand-India One-Day Tri-series International about six months to complete designing the mascots. Sri Lanka rode on Tillakaratne Dilshan’s century to clinch the tri-series title with an emphatic 74-run win over India, ending M.S. Dhoni’s sequence of four consecutive series triumphs on Sri Lanka soil. China topped the medals tally with 30 gold medals, followed by Russia (18) and South Korea (11). India was ranked 58 with 6 silver medals and 2 bronze medals in its kitty. England-Pakistan Test series England crushed Pakistan by an innings and 225 runs to win the fourth and final Test at Lord’s, London. It was during the 119th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Guatemala City on the England ended up winning the series 3-1. July 5, 2007 when the IOC decided to create Youth Olympic Games (YOG). The vision of the innovative concept for the new sport event is to inspire young people all around the world to participate in sport Pakistan overcame a late batting collapse to beat England by four wickets in the third Test. and adopt and live by the Olympic values (excellence, friendship, respect).

England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership when they Innsbruck and Seefeld will host the first Winter Youth Olympic Games from January 13-22, 2012. extended their stand to 332 on the third day of fourth Test. The record was earlier held by Pakistan’s Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq. GOLF Atwal first Indian to win US PGA title Earlier, in the first Test, James Anderson took ten wickets in a Test for the first time to help England crush Arjun Atwal has become the first Indian ever to win a US PGA title when he won the Wyndham Golf Pakistan by 354 runs. In their second innings, Pakistan were bundled out for just 80 runs, their lowest total Championship. against England, replacing the 87 they made at Lord’s in 1954. HOCKEY Sri Lanka-India Test Series Champions Trophy, 2010 Veteran V.V.S. Laxman cracked a fighting unbeaten 103 as India pulled off a five-wicket win in the third Australia won their third successive Champions Trophy, and 11th in all, with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Test to level the three-Test series 1-1. Laxman was adjudged the man of the match while Virender Sehwag England. Netherlands secured the third place. The championship was held at Monchengladbach, Germany. was adjudged man of the series. SHOOTING Tendulkar becomes most-capped player Tejaswini becomes first Indian woman to win gold at World Championships Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has become the most-capped Test cricketer (169 Test matches). Tejaswani Sawant scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman shooter to clinch a gold medal at the This feat was achieved in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, played in August 2010. Steve Waugh World Championships, with a world-record equalling score in 50m Rifle Prone event in Munich, Germany. (168 Test matches) of Australia had held the record earlier.

FOOTBALL Sports News in Brief: July 2010 , 2010 Kerala lad Denson Devdas struck twice as Bengal made a spectacular comeback to beat Punjab 2-1, ending BOXING their 11 years title drought in the National Football Championship for Santosh Trophy. Senior National Championship World Youth champion Vikas Krishan stole the show with his maiden gold medal and the ‘Best Boxer’ trophy, but the Railways Sports Promotion Board clinched the overall title for the fourth consecutive year in

109 110 the 57th Senior Men’s National Boxing Championships, held in New Delhi. The RSPB swept the overall The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup. It took place in South Africa from June 11 to tally with four gold, two silver and three bronze medals. July 11, 2010. In 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, had selected South Africa to become the first African nation to host the tournament. Haryana finished a distant second with two gold and three bronze medals. The Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) was third in the overall list with two gold, two silver and an equal number of bronze medals. The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for SSCB’s Manpreet Singh (91kg), the defending champion who signed off with a bronze, was adjudged the participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. ‘Best Loser’ of the event. Golden Ball: Diego Forlán (Uruguay) CRICKET Golden Boot: Thomas Müller (Germany) Sri Lanka-India Test Series Golden Glove: Iker Casillas (Spain) Sri Lanka defeated India by ten wickets in the first Test to take lead in the three-Test series. This Test will Best Young Player: Thomas Müller (Germany) be known in cricket history as one in which Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first FIFA Fair Play Trophy: Spain bowler in the world to take 800 wickets. This Test was also the last Test match of Murali’s career. The official mascot for the 2010 World Cup was Zakumi , an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair, The second Test meandered to a tame, high-scoring draw with a staggering 1,478 runs getting scored over presented on 22 September 2008. His name came from “ZA” (the international abbreviation for South five days. India scored 707 all out in the first innings, its second highest total ever. Suresh Raina became the Africa) and the term kumi, which means “ten” in various African languages. The mascot's colours reflected 12th Indian to score a Test century on debut. those of the host nation's playing strip–yellow and green.

Pakistan-Australia Test Series The official song of the 2010 World Cup, " Waka Waka ", was performed by the Colombian singer Shakira Australia completed a record 13th consecutive victory win over Pakistan when they beat them by 150 runs and the band Freshlyground from South Africa. The song was sung in both English and Spanish. The song is in the first Test at Lords. based on a traditional African soldiers’ song, Zangalewa. Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at Pakistan beat Australia in a Test for the first time since 1995 after winning by three wickets in the second the opening ceremony and at the closing ceremony. Test, played at Leeds, to level the two-match series 1-1. The series was played in England as Pakistan is still not considered safe place for visiting teams. HOCKEY Asian Champions Trophy (Women) England-Bangladesh One-Day series Korea beat Japan 2-1 to win the inaugural Asian Women's Hockey Championship, held at Busan South England defeated Bangladesh by 144 runs in the third match, played at Birmingham, to clinch the series 2-1. Korea.

Muralitharan becomes first bowler to take 800 wickets The first Asian Women Champions Trophy drew the four highest-ranking teams in the region—South On July 22, 2010, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the first bowler to take 800 Test Korea, China, Japan and India—which will also compete for the gold medal in the Asian Games to be held wickets, reaching the milestone in the last Test of his illustrious cricket career. The 38-year-old spin wizard in Guangzhou, China, in November 2010. got Indian tail-ender Pragyan Ojha caught at slip by Mahela Jayawardene to reach the magical figure, which puts him several pedestals above his contemporaries. India beat higher-ranked China 2-1 to win the bronze medal.

FOOTBALL Rangaswamy Cup, 63 rd World Cup, 2010 Mumbai overcame Haryana 3-2 to regain the senior national men’s hockey championship. The tournament Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, was held in Bhopal. with Andrés Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world TENNIS champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were eliminated in the first round of the tournament. Wimbledon Championship, 2010 The 124th Championships, a Royal tournament thanks to the first visit to the All England Club by Her In the semi-finals, Spain defeated Germany by 1-0 while Netherlands had defeated Uruguay. Majesty the Queen for 33 years, was also a record-breaking occasion in many ways, most notably in that unforgettable first round men's singles between John Isner of the United States and France's Nicolas Mahut, Germany defeated Uruguay 3–2 to secure third place. Germany holds the record for most third place finishes which smashed every existing record in the sport. in the World Cup (4), while Uruguay holds the record for most fourth place finishes (3). The Isner-Mahut first round marathon, which stretched over three days, lasted 11 hours five minutes and

111 112 totalled 183 games before Isner staggered away the winner 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68. The final set alone lasted just over eight hours. Both men shattered the record for aces in one match, previously held by Ivo England-Australia One Day series Karlovic at 78. Isner delivered 112 and Mahut also cracked the century with 103. An exhausted Isner England won the five-match series 3-0. This followed 2009’s Ashes triumph and 2010’s Twenty20 World crashed out to Thiemo De Bakker of Holland in the next round, collecting just five games. Cup final win over their oldest rivals.

In the men’s singles final Rafael Nadal beat Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 to win the title. This was the SHOOTING second Wimbledon title for the Spaniard. Berdych became the first Czech since Ivan Lendl in 1987 to reach ISSF Shotgun World Cup the Wimbledon final. Double-trap marksman Ronjan Sodhi clinched the gold in the tournament held at Lonato, Italy.

The women’s singles title was won by defending champion Serena Williams who beat Russia’s Vera TENNIS Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2. The victory took her to 13 Grand Slam singles titles, past Billie Jean King, and sixth in French Open, 2010 the all-time list. Men’s Singles title: Rafael Nadal won the title by defeating Robin Soderling. This was his fifth French Open win. In the doubles, the men's title went to an unseeded pair, Austria's Jurgen Melzer and Germany's Philipp Petzschner, playing only their seventh tournament as a team. The women's doubles was won by an Women’s Singles title: Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles American-Kazakh combination, Vania King and Yaroslava Shvedova. Also unseeded, they overcame the title when she defeated Australian Samantha Stosur to win the women’s singles title. Russians, Elena Vesnina and Zvonareva, 7-6, 6-2. The mixed double's championship fell to a seeded combination, Leander Paes and Cara Black, the second seeds, who beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Men’s Doubles title: Canada’s Daniel Nestor and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic won by beating defending Lisa Raymond (United States) 6-4. 7-6. champions Leander Paes of India and Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic.

Sports News in Brief: June 2010 Women’s Doubles title: Serena and Venus Williams of USA. Serena Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the BADMINTON women's doubles in the Slams. Venus Williams won her second French Open Women's Doubles title, and Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix the twelfth title in that discipline, which this was the fourth win in a row in the women's doubles in the Saina Nehwal of India beat Malaysia’s Mew Choo Wong to win the title. This was her second international Slams. title win at home. She had won the Lucknow Grand Prix in 2009. Mixed Doubles: Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonji? were the winners. Srebotnik won her third French Indonesia Open Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline. Zimonji? won his second French Open Saina Nehwal notched up an incredible hat-trick of titles by successfully defending her Indonesian Open Mixed Doubles title, and the fourth Slam title in that discipline. Super Series title with s hard-fought win over Japan’s Sayaka Sato. She had earlier won the Indian Open Grand Prix and the Singapore Open Super Series. Sports News in Brief: May 2010 BOXING Singapore Open Asian Women’s Championship Indian ace Saina Nehwal clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open The Asian Women's Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhistan, in May 2010. Kazakhastan topped with a straight-game triumph over Chinese Taipie’s Tzu Ying Tai. the medals tally with eight gold medals. China won the most medals in total—10, followed Korea and India amassing eight medals each. CRICKET Asia Cup CHESS India defeated Sri Lanka by 81 runs to win the Asia Cup. India had set the Lankans a stiff target of 299 runs. World Title, 2010 Dinesh Karthik was declared man of the match. held his nerve and focus better than his opponent, Veselin Topalov, to win the 12th and final game to retain his World Championships title. West Indies-South Africa One Day Series South Africa completed a 5-0 white-wash of the series with a thrilling one wicket win in the final match. The 40-year-old Indian beat the local man from Bulgaria in the closing game with black pieces, to emerge a Earlier, the South Africans had also won the Twenty20 two-match series. 6.5-5.5 winner and seal his place as a dominant player of his era.

Anand first won the world title in 2000 and held it till 2002 when the chess world was still split. He became

113 114 the undisputed World champion in 2007 and then retained the title in 2008 when he beat Vladimir Kramnik. The Chinese trio of Ding Ning, Liu Shiwen and Guo Yan fell to their Singaporean counterparts 3-1 in the final in Moscow as Singapore claimed their first title in the event. Commonwealth Championship Grandmaster R.R. Laxman clinched his career best win and bagged the gold after beating GM Pablo WRESTLING Lafuente of Argentina at the Parsvnath Commonwealth Chess Championship. Sushil, Narshing win gold in Asian Wrestling Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar lived up to his reputation as he bagged a gold in men's 66kg In the open category, Grandmaster Maletin Pavel of Russia signed peace with International Master Lalith freestyle in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships held at New Delhi. Narshing Yadav won a gold in Babu on the top board to win the title. Both Pavel and Laxman had nine points after 11 rounds, but the the 74kg freestyle category. former had the better tie-break record on Bucholz count. The Russian was not in contention in the Commonwealth category. Sports News in Brief: April 2010 BADMINTON In the women’s category, D. Harika outwitted IM Tania Sachdev on account of superior tie-break. Asian Championship, 2010 Men’s Singles: Lin Dan (China). CRICKET Women’s Singles: Q-Li Xuerui (China) T20 World Cup, 2010 Men’s Doubles: Gun Woo Cho and Yeon Seong Yoo (Korea). Chasing a challenging target of 148 runs, England defeated Australia by seven wickets to win the T20 World Women’s Doubles: Pan Pan and Quing Tian (China) Cup. The tournament was held in West Indies. Mixed Doubles: Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh (Malaysia) The Championship was held in New Delhi. Australia’s women held their nerves in a low-scoring final as they beat New Zealand by three runs to lift the Women’s T20 World cup title. CRICKET Deodhar Trophy West Indies-South Africa One-Day series North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played South Africa defeated West Indies by 67 runs in the third match to win the series. They went on to win the at Vadodara. fourth match also. South Africa beat West Indies by seven wickets. Indian Premier League-3 England-Bangladesh Test series Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indian by 22 runs to win the third edition of the tournament. Electing to England beat Bangladesh by five wickets in the first Test of the series, played at Lords, to be one-up in the bat first, Chennai posted 168 for 5 and then restricted Mumbai to 146 for 9 to win their maiden title. Suresh two-Test series. Raina was declared the man of the match.

FOOTBALL Royal Challengers Bangalore routed Deccan Chargers by nine wickets in the third and fourth place play-off Premier League match. With this win Royal Challangers qualified for the Champions League Twenty20 tournament. Chelsea has won the title by a single point. They have swept back the trophy after four years. Sachin Tendulkar won the DLF Golden Player award and the Orange cap for hitting the maximum runs in Champions League, 2010 the tournament. Pragyan Ojha won the Purple cap for taking maximum wickets in the tournament. The A goal in each half by Argentina striker Diego Militi helped Inter Milan overcome Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Kingfisher Fair-play award was won by Chennai Super Kings. Champions League final. KABADDI HOCKEY World Cup Kabbadi Punjab Championship, 2010 th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, 19 India outclassed Pakistan 58-24 to win the title. The championship was held in Ludhiana, Punjab. India and South Korea were named joint champions after the final match was abandoned following heavy rains in Malaysia. For defending champions India it was their fifth win, matching Australia, while for Asian SHOOTING champions South Korea this was their second title win; they had last won the cup in 1996. Narang shoots World Cup bronze Ace Indian shooter Gagan Narang won a bronze in 10 meter air rifle event at the World Cup in Beijing. TABLE TENNIS Russian Denis Sokolav won the gold. World Team Championship Chinese fans were left in shock after their women paddlers failed to win the gold medal at the World Team Table Tennis Championships for the first time since 1991.

115 116 Sports News in Brief: March 2010 HOCKEY ARCHERY World Cup, 2010 Asian Grand Prix Australia defeated Germany 2-1 to deny Germany a historic hat-trick of titles. Germany had won the title in Recurve Men: India’s Rahul Banerjee won the gold. The team gold medal was also won by India. 2002 and 2006. The Netherlands came back strongly from a 1-3 first half deficit to prevail over England 4-3 Recurve Women: India’s Deepika Kumari won the gold. The teasm event was also won by India. and win the bronze medal. India could manage eight spot only. Compound Men: India’s Hansdah won the gold. The host nation Thailand won the gold medal in the team competition. India took the bronze. Guus Vogls of The Netherlands was declared the player of the tournament. Compound Women: Ngeain Aung of Myanmar won the gold. India took the team gold medal. Mixed Teams: India won the gold medal in the recurve category. In compound, Myanmar won the gold NETBALL th over India, and the bronze went to Vietnam. National Championship, 29 Punjab lifted the men’s title of the 29th National Netball championship by defeating Delhi. Chattisgarh BOXING defeated Andhra Pradesh to with the bronze medal. In the women’s section Delhi edged Kerala for the top Commonwealth Championship, 2010 honours. Chattisgarh eves won the bronze medal. India won six gold medals, which till date is the biggest haul in the Championships, as also the tournament, held at New Delhi. India bettered their record of four gold, two silver and three bronze medals they had SHOOTING achieved in Scotland in 2005. ISSF World Cup World champion marksman Manavjit Singh Sandhu lived up to his top billing and clinched the trap gold in Vijender Singh, the Olympic Games bronze-medallist, came out trumps, clinching his maiden gold in the the ISSF World Cup at Acapulco, Mexico. Another Indian, Anirudh Singh also impressed by entering his Commonwealth Boxing Championships. first ever World Cup final with a score of 122.

Asian bronze-medallist Paramjeet Samota (+91), Asian champion Suranjoy Singh (52kg), World Cup In the women’s trap event, none of the three Indian shooters could make it to the final round. Shagun bronze-medallist Dinesh Kumar (81kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg) and Amandeep Singh (49kg) were the other Chowdhary finished 13th, Shreyasi Singh ended 16th and Seema Tomar 17th. Chinese shooter Yang Huan gold-medallists. claimed the gold.

CRICKET Sports News in Brief: February 2010 Deodhar Trophy BOXING North Zone beat West Zone by 49 runs to win the Deodhar Trophy cricket tournament. The final was played Vijender wins silver in Champion of Champions tournament at Vadodara. Olympic hero Vijender Singh broke the bronze jinx and fetched one of India’s two silver medals at the two- day Champion of Champions invitational boxing tournament in Guangzhou, China. The 24-year-old Bangladesh-England Test series Olympic and World Championship bronze medallist lost 0-6 to China's Zhang Jin Ting in the in the middle England crushed Bangladesh by nine wickets in the second and final Test to sweep the series. weight (75kg) category final.

India finish second in ICC ODI rankings The other silver medal for India came through Olympian Dinesh Kumar, who settled for silver in 81kg after Indian cricket team finished the season as number two ranked, behind Australia, in One-Day cricket losing 2-10 to Chinese Meng Fan Long. rankings of ICC. CRICKET Kapil inducted in ICC Hall of Fame Cricket can now bid for 2020 Olympics Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who led India to their only ODI World Cup triumph in 1983, has been Cricket’s push to be a part of the Olympic Games received a major boost with International Olympic inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame. A commemorative cap was presented to Council (IOC) granting recognition to International Cricket Council (ICC) on February 12, 2010. This could Kapil by ICC President David Morgan, in front of fellow Hall of Famer Clive Lloyd, as well as an audience be seen as a first step towards cricket becoming Olympic sports. Its Twenty20 version can now bid to join of ICC officials and other invited guests at the governing body’s headquarters in Dubai. The Hall of Fame, the 2020 Olympic Games though ICC has not made it clear which format it will push for. run in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA), recognises some of the legends of the game. Cricket was granted the status of a recognised Olympic sport in 2007, for sports not in the Olympic programme but which conform to certain criteria, pending a decision for a permanent slot in the Games.

Cricket was part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris and has not appeared since then. The game was part of the

117 118 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and its Twenty20 version is set to feature at Asian Games in Australia-West Indies One-day series Guangzhou, China. Australia defeated West Indies by 113 runs in the first match played at Melbourne.

Sachin becomes first batsman to hit a double hundred in an ODI GAMES Sachin Tendulkar rewrote the record books on February 24, 2010, hammering the first double century in the South Asian Games, 2010 history of one-day cricket to add another feather to his well-adorned cap. The capacity crowd at the Captain The 11th edition of South Asian Games (SAG) opened at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka, on Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior witnessed history as Tendulkar, statistically the greatest batsman the game January 29, 2010. The aquatic show was the main attraction of the opening ceremony, in which a concert has ever seen, pushed South African bowler Charl Langeveldt’s delivery through the off-side and ran a hosted by Pt. Ravi Shankar and Beatles star George Harrison for Bangladesh’s Independence day and the single to achieve a feat which no other cricketer has achieved. March 7 address of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman were displayed on a water screen.

One Day International cricket, since its 1971 inception, had to wait nearly four decades to see a batsman This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the Games, thus becoming the first city to hold score 200. The previous best mark was shared by Zimbabwean Charles Coventry (194 not out) and the games three times. Pakistan’s Saeed Anwar (194). Athletes from eight countries— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Top 10 highest individual knocks in the history of one day cricket are: Lanka—competed in 23 different sports. India continued its dominance with 175 medals, including 90 gold 200*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs South Africa in Gwalior on February 24, 2010. medals. Pakistan narrowly beat the host to occupy the second spot with 19 golds, while the host Bangladesh 194*: Charles Coventry (Zim) vs Bangladesh in Bulawayo on August 16, 2009. capture 18 golds, including the most popular and prestigious football and cricket titles. Sri Lanka’s Shehan 194: Saeed Anwar (Pak) vs India in Chennai on May 21, 1997. Abeypitiya became the fastest man while Pakistan’s Naseem Hamid was crowned the fastest woman of the 189*: Viv Richards (WI) vs England in Manchester on May 31, 1984. region. 189: Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) vs India in Sharjah on October 29, 2000. 188*: Gary Kirsten (SA) vs at Rawalpindi on February 16, 1996. The logo of the Games was 'Kutumb', a flying doel, known in English as the Oriental Magpie Robin. It is the 186*: Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) vs New Zealand in Hyderabad on November 8, 1999. National Bird of Bangladesh. The mascot also featured a Magpie Robin. 183*: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Ind) vs Sri Lanka in Jaipur on October 31, 2005. 183: Sourav Ganguly (Ind) vs Sri Lanka at Taunton on May 26, 1999. Delhi will host the next South Asian Games. India was picked to host the regional sporting event after 181*: Matthew Hayden (Aus) vs New Zealand in Hamilton on February 20, 2007. Bhutan, whose turn it was to host the next SAG, expressed its inability to stage the meet. India has hosted 181: Viv Richards (WI) vs Sri Lanka in Karachi on October 13, 1987. the South Asian Games twice thus far—in 1987 (Kolkata) and in 1995 (Chennai).

India-South Africa Test Series Winter Olympics, 2010 India crashed to a humiliating innings and six runs defeat in the first Test played in Nagpur. This was the The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport first Test defeat under Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s captaincy. event held on February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

India levelled the two-Test series after winning the second Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata by an innings and Approximately 2,600 athletes from 82 nations participated in 86 events in fifteen disciplines. Cayman 58 runs. With this win India managed to retain the number one Test team title it received when it first topped Islands, Colombia, Ghana, Montenegro, Pakistan, Peru and Serbia made their winter Olympic debuts. Also the ratings in December 2009, as also pocketed a cheque for Rs 78.75 lakh. Jamaica, Mexico and Morocco returned to the Games after missing the Turin Games.

India-South Africa One-day series The 2010 Winter Olympics were the third Olympics hosted by Canada, and the first by the province of India eked out one-run victory in the first match played at Jaipur. India, batting first, had set a target of 299 British Columbia. Previously, Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec and the 1988 runs. South Africa was bowled out by India for 297. The second match at Gwalior by 153 runs. The Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta. highlight of the match was Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first batsman in the world to hit a double century in One-day format. Canada topped the medals tally with 14 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze medals. Germany was second, followed by USA. India lost the third and last match at Ahmedabad by 90 runs thus depriving itself a chance to register their first ever clean sweep against South Africa. India won the series 2-1. Sachin Tendulkar was declared the The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held from February 7 to February 23, 2014 in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, man-of-the-series. Russia.

119 120 GOLF Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-India triangular series Asian Tour International crown Sri Lanka defeated India by four wickets to win the triangular one-day series final. India had made 245 Gaganjeet Bhullar scripted a sensational come-from-behind victory at Asian tour International crown, batting first and Sri Lanka surpassed the target with nine balls to spare. played at Bangkok. This was his second Asian tour title. Bangladesh-India Test series SHOOTING India clinched the first Test with an emphatic 113-run victory to take 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. Commonwealth Championships, 2010 With 23 gold medals, 17 silver and 9 bronze medals, India topped the medals tally of the championships South Africa-England Test series held in Delhi in February 2010. England was second in the medals tally, followed by Australia. England’s last pair of Graeme Swann and Graham Onions survived 17 balls to salvage a thrilling draw in the third Test against South Africa and keep their side 1-0 ahead in the series. Sports News in Brief: January 2010 BADMINTON South Africa won the fourth and final Test at Johannesburg by an innings and 74 runs to level the series 1-1. Senior National Badminton Championship, 74 th Chetan Anand claimed his fourth national title while Trupti Murgunde clinched her maiden one by winning Australia-Pakistan Test series the men’s and women’s singles finals. There was more joy for Chetan as his wife Jwala Gutta claimed a Australia completed a remarkable Test victory over Pakistan, coming from 206 runs behind in the first double by winning both the women’s and mixed doubles finals. innings to win the second Test at SCG by 36 runs. Needing 176 for its first victory in Australia in 14 years, Pakistan was bundled out for 139 runs. BASKETBALL National Senior Championship, 60 th Australia defeated Pakistan by 231 runs in the third Test, to win the three-Test series 3-0. This was a record- squeezed past hosts Punjab in men’s section to retain the men’s title. The women’s title was equalling 12th successive win against Pakistan. The sequence, which began in November 1999, equals the also won by Indian Railways who defeated Delhi in final to retain the title. longest victory string against a team in Test history. Shane Watson was declared the Mon of the series.

CHESS Australia-Pakistan One Day series World Team championship Australia completed a series whitewash after defeating Pakistan by two wickets in the fifth and final match, Russia won the gold with 24 points. India trounced Brazil in the ninth and last round to earn a bronze. The amid allegations of ball tampering by Shahid Afridi. Afridi was subsequently banned for two T20 matches championship was held at Bursa, Turkey. after pleading guilty to the charges.

CRICKET Catching record of Dravid Under-19 World Cup Rahul Dravid is the first player ever to take 100 catches overseas for India. His overall tally of 193 catches Australia have become the first team to win the under-19 world cup thrice. They defeated Pakistan by 25 in 139 Tests is a world record. runs to win the 2010 edition. The tournament was hosted by New Zealand. FOOTBALL Defending champions India finished sixth after being humbled by South Africa in the fifth place play-off match. West Bengal clinched the title by over-coming giant-killer Lajong FC of Shillong. The final was held at Guwahati, Assam. Ranji Trophy, 2010 Defending champions Mumbai pulled off a thrilling six-run win over Karnataka to clinch the coveted trophy GOLF for the 39th time. Royal Trophy Europe survived a dramatic fight-back to beat holders Asia and win the Royal trophy for the third time. Polly Umrigar Trophy Delhi’s Vidya Jain Public School has claimed the trophy, symbol of supremacy in school cricket, defeating TENNIS Presidency School, Bangalore by 54 runs. Australian Open, 2010 Serena Williams defeated Belgium’s Justine Henin to win the women’s singles title for the fifth time and her 12th Grand Slam title. With this win she drew level with Billie Jean King’s record of 12 Grand Slam wins.

121 122 Roger Federer beat Andy Murray to win his fourth Australian open men’s title , taking his own Grand Slam RBI: ANNUAL MONETORY POLICY 2010-11 titles record to 16.

Reserve Bank of India is the apex Institution of India's monetary system and financial system and plays a Leander Paes, with partner Cara Black, won the mixed doubles title. This was his 11th Grand Slam title, leading role in organizing, running, supervising, regulating and developing the monetary and financial equalling Mahesh Bhupathi’s record of most wins by an Indian. system. Preparing and conducting the monetary policy and credit policy are special responsibilities of

Reserve bank of India. Mike and Bob Bryan won the men’s doubles title. The women’s doubles title was won by Serena and Venus Williams. RBI expresses its view on economy through changes in monetary policy which is known as Annual Policy Statement. The policy is released every year in April and is reviewed every quarter. Chennai Open, 2010 Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao has released its annual monetary Policy statement on April Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia retained the title with a victory over Switzerland’s Stanislas 20, 2010 for the year 2010-11 . This will be followed by the first quarter review of monetary policy for Wawrinka. 2010-11 which will be announced on July 27, 2010.

Following are the main points of this policy statement:

Cash reserve ratio (CRR): (6%) CRR is the percentage of cash deposits that banks have to maintain with RBI.

The RBI had hiked the CRR by 75 points in January 2010. This absorbed Rs. 36000 Crores from the systemThe latest move is to hike the CRR by an increase of 25 basis points from 5.75 to 6.0 percent has taken effect from April 24. This will suck out Rs. 12500 Crores from the banks.

This move means that banks have to park more money with the central bank. This money does not earn any interest to them (or negligible returns) and sucks out the liquidity in the banking system. As a result, banks have lesser money with them to lend. This could lead to higher interest rate as there isn't enough

liquidity in the system.

This affects the bank in the form of increased cost of funds because they have to keep more money for negligible returns on it. The banks pass on this cost to their customers and thus loans become dearer.

Repo Rate: (6%) Repo Rate is the rate of interest at which the RBI lends money to banks. This also means that Repo Rate is the RBI's lending rate to other banks. When RBI reduces the Repo Rate, the banks can borrow more at a lower cost. This contributes to lowering of the rates.

In the Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11 the RBI has hiked the Repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25 percent. This means that RBI has increased its lending rate to other banks by .25%. For banks the borrowing from RBI becomes costlier.

Reverse Repo Rate: (5%) Reverse repo rate is the rate at which RBI borrows funds from banks. This is opposite of repo rate. Reverse repo rate is also known as RBI's borrowing rate.

In the Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11, the RBI has increased the Reverse Repo Rate by 25 basis points to 3.75 percent. This means that now RBI will provide 0.25% etc. interest on the money which it borrows from the banks. An increase in reverse repo rate means that banks earn higher returns by lending to RBI. This indicates a hike in the deposit rates.

123 124 Thus we can see that change in Policy rates has a direct impact the lending and borrowing rates of the banks. 2010. Besides RBI stunned the market by mid-cycle increase of 25 basis points each in the policy repo rate The consumers get affected accordingly. and the reverse repo rate under the LAF on March 19, 2010. The latest policy has the following stance:

Please note that Prime lending rate is going to be replaced with Base Rate System from July 2010 and the 1. Anchor inflation expectations, while being prepared to respond appropriately, swiftly and effectively impact will be seen on Base Rates after the Base rate system comes into effect. to further build-up of inflationary pressures. 2. Actively manage liquidity to ensure that the growth in demand for credit by both the private and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) : (25%) public sectors is satisfied in a non-disruptive way. Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the fraction of liquid assets which a bank has to keep an assured amount of 3. Maintain an interest rate regime consistent with price, output and financial stability. funds. The funds may be in the form of cash, gold, government bonds, etc. In October 2009 Credit Policy the RBI had RBI had hiked the SLR by 100 basis points - from 24 to 25 per cent. Financial Stability Report: The first Financial Stability Report (FSR) was released by RBI on March 25, 2010. in the Policy statement This measure controls bank's credit expansion and can lead to higher interest rates. In the October 2009 RBI announces that Financial Stability Reports will be published half yearly. he FSR will assess the strength Credit Policy, RBI had hiked the SLR by 100 basis points - from 24 to 25 per cent. It has not been touched of the financial sector, with particular focus on banks. by RBI in the Annual Monetary Policy 2010-11. Introduction of Base Rate System: Base Rate ( 7.50% - 8.00%) Growth Projection for the Year 2010-11: After indicating the base rate system in Annual Policy Statement of April 2009, RBI had constituted a Working Group on Benchmark Prime Lending Rate. Chairman of this working group was Shri Deepak The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has projected India's growth for this fiscal at upward of 8 percent, Mohanty. The objective was to review the present benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) system and against 7.2 percent as per the earlier projection , while the annual rate of inflation at the end of March suggest changes to make credit pricing more transparent. Deepak Mohanty group submitted its report in 2011 is projected at 5.5 percent. October 2009 and the same was placed on the Reserve Bank’s website for public comments. Based on the Inflation Projection for 2010-11: recommendations of the Group and the suggestions from various stakeholders, the draft guidelines on Base Rate were placed on the Reserve Bank’s website in February 2010. RBI has now decided to mandate banks WPI (Wholesale Price Index) inflation has been projected 5.5 percent by RBI . The Policy says that to switch over to the system of Base Rate from July 1, 2010. Guidelines on the Base Rate system were Inflationary pressures have accentuated in the recent period & Inflation risk looms large due to domestic issued on April 9, 2010. Savings Bank Rate (3.5%), Deposit Rate (6.00% - 7.50%) demand and price rise in global commodities. Interest Rate Futures Money Supply: RBI had introduced the Interest Rate Futures contract on 10-year notional coupon bearing Government of During 2009-10, money supply (M3) growth decelerated from over 20.0 per cent at the beginning of the India security was on August 31, 2009. In the policy statement of 2010-11 RBI announces to introduce financial year to 16.4 per cent in February 2010 before increasing to 16.8 per cent by March 2010, slightly Interest Rate Futures on 5-year and 2-year notional coupon bearing securities and 91-day Treasury Bills. above the Reserve Bank’s indicative projection of 16.5 per cent. For policy purposes, M3 growth for 2010- (Product design and operational modalities yet to be finalized) 11 is placed at 17.0 per cent. Consistent with this, aggregate deposits of SCBs are projected to grow by 18.0 per cent. The growth in non-food credit of SCBs is placed at 20.0 per cent. As always, these numbers are 2010-11 : State Annual Plans by Planning Commission provided as indicative projections and not as targets. • Arunachal Pradesh : Rs. 2500 Crore Aggregate Deposit projection: • Assam : Rs. 7645 Crore The aggregate deposits of the scheduled commercial banks are projected to grow by 18% in the 2010-11. • Bihar : Rs. 20000 Crore • Chhattisgarh : Rs. 13230 Crore • Goa : Rs. 2710 Crore Bank rate: Bank rate has been retained at 6 percent. (6%) • Gujarat : Rs. 30000 Crore • Haryana : Rs. 18260 Crore Motive & Policy Stance of RBI: • Himachal Pradesh : Rs. 3000 Crore It is worth note that in the wake of Global Economic crisis, RBI had adopted a suitable monetary policy • Jharkhand : Rs. 8015 Crore from September 2008, to boos market confidence and mitigate the adverse impact of global financial • Karnataka : Rs. 31050 Crore slowdown on Indian Economy. RBI was quite successful in achieving its goals but in the late 2009, the food • Kerala : Rs. 10025 Crore • inflation started soaring and RBI shifted to its first phase of exit from the expansionary monetary policy. The Maharastra : Rs. 37916 Crore • Meghalaya : Rs. 2230 Crore moves of RBI included raising the Key Policy rates and restoring the statutory Liquidity Ratio in October • Orissa : Rs. 11000 Crore 2009. RBI continued to move on the same track and announced 75 basis points increase in CRR in January • Rajasthan : Rs. 24000 Crore • Sikkim: Rs. 1175 Crore

125 126 WHO IS WHO…? MINISTER OF STATES (Independent Charge) Mr. Praful Patel : Civil Aviation UNION GOVERNMENT Mr. Prithviraj Chavan : Science and Technology, Earth Sciences; Prime Minister’s Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil : President (From July 25, 2007) Office Mohammad Hamid Ansari : Vice-President Mr. Sriprakash Jaiswal : Coal; Statistics and Programme Implementation Mr. Salman Khursheed : Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs UNION COUNCIL OF MINISTERS Mr. Dinsha J Patel : Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises CABINET MINISTERS Ms. Krishna Tirath : Women and Child Development Dr. Manmohan Singh : Prime Minister and also in-charge of Ministers/Departmenters Mr. Jairam Ramesh : Environment and Forests not specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister Viz. : (i) Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; (ii) Ministry of Planning; (iii) MINISTERS OF STATE Department of Atomic Energy; (iv) Department of Space and ; (v) Ministry of Mr. Srikant Jena : Chemicals and Fertilizers Culture Mr. E. Ahmed : Railways Mr. Pranab Mukherjee : Finance Mr. Mullappally Ramachandran : Home Affairs Mr. Shared Pawar : Agriculture; Food and Civil Supplies; Consumer Affairs and Mr. V. Narayansaamy : Planning and Parliamentary Affairs Public Distribution Mr. Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia : Commerce and Industry Mr. A.K. Antony : Defence Ms. D. Purandeswari : Human Resource Development Mr. P. Chaidambaram : Home Affairs Mr. K.H. Muniyappa : Railways Ms. Mamata Banerjee : Railways Mr. Ajay Maken : Home Affairs Mr. S.M. Krishna : External Affairs Ms. Panabaka Lakshmi : Textiles Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad : Health and Family Mr. Namo Narain Meena : Finance Mr. Sushil Kumar Shinde : Power Mr. M.M. Pallam Raju : Defense Mr. M. Veerappa Moily : Law and Justice Mr. Saugata Ray : Urban Development Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy : Urban Development Mr. Jitin Prasada : Petroleum and Natural Gas Mr. Kamal Nath : Road Transport and Highways Mr. S.S. Palanimanickam : Finance Mr. Vayalar Ravi : Overseas Indian Affairs Mr. A. Sai Prathap : Steel Mr. Murli Deora : Petroleum and Natural Gas Ms. Preneet Kaur : External Affairs Mr. Kapil Sibal : Human Resource Development Mr. Gurdas Kamat : Communications and Information Technology Ms. Ambika Soni : Information and Broadcasting Mr. Harish Rawat : Labour and Employment Mr. B.K. Handique : Mines; Development of North Eastern Region Prof. K.V. Thomas : Agriculture; Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Mr. Anand Sharma : Commerce and Industry Mr. Bharatisinh Solanki : Power Mr. Virbhadra Singh : Steel Mr. Mahadev S. Khandela : Road Transport and Highways Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh : Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Mr. Dinesh Trivedi : Health and Family Welfare Mr. C.P. Joshi : Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Mr. Sisir Adhikari : Rural Development Kumari Selja : Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Tourism Mr. Sultan Ahmed : Tourism Mr. Subodh kant Sahay : Food Processing Industries Mr. Mukul Roy : Shipping Dr. M.S. Gill : Youth Affairs and Sports Mr. Mohan Jatua : Information and Broadcasting Mr. G.K. Vasan : Shipping Mr. D. Napoleon : Social Justice and Empowerment Mr. Dayanidhi Maran : Textiles Dr. S. Jagathrakshakan : Information and Broadcasting Dr. Farooq Abdullah : New and Renewable Energy Mr. S. Gandhiselvan : Health and Family Welfare Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge : Labour and Employment Mr. Tusharbhai Chaudhary : Tribal Affairs Mr. Pawan K. Bansal : Parliamentary Affairs; Water Resources Development Mr. Sachin Pilot : Communication and Information Technology Mr. Mukul Wasnik : Social Justice and Empowerment Mr. Arun Yadav : Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Mr. Kantilal Bhuria : Tribal Affairs Mr. Pratik Prakashbapu Patil : Youth Affairs and Sports Mr. M.K. Azhagiri : Chemicals and Fertilizers Mr. R.P.N. Singh : Road Transport and Highways Mr. A. Raja : Communication and Information Technology Mr. Sashi Tharoor : External Affairs Mr. Vincent Pala : Water Resources

127 128 Mr. Pradeep Jain : Rural Development JUDICIARY Mr. Agatha Sangma : Rural Development Chief Justice of India (From January 14, 2007) : Mr. Justice KG Balakrishnan Attorney General of India : Mr. Goolam Essaji Vahanvati (June 8, 2009) HEAD OF IMPORTANT OFFICES INDIA: Chairman Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) : Mr. Justice Ashok Agarwal CHIEF OF ARMED FORCES Solicitor-General of India : Mr. Gopal Subramaniam (June 15, 2009) Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces : President Pratibha Devisingh Patil Additional Solicitor General of India : Indira Jaisingh (June 30, 2009) First Chief of the Army Staff : General V.K.Sinh (From April 1, 2010) Woman to hold post Chief of the Air Staff : Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik (May 31, 2009) Chief of the Naval Staff : Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma (August 31, 2009) HEAD OF COMMISSIONS Commander-in-Chief Strategic Forces : Vice-Admiral Vijay Shankar Chairman, Planning Commission : Dr. Manmohan Singh Chief of Integrated Defence Staff : Vice Admiral Raman Puri Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission : Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy : CONSTITUTIONAL & OTHERS Mr. Anil Kakodhar Rajya Sabha, Chairman : Md. Hamid Ansari Chairman, Space Commission and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) : Mr. G Rajya Sabha, Deputy chairman : Mr. K. Rahman Khan Madhavan Nair Speaker of Lok Sabha : Ms. Meira Kumar Chairman, 18th Law Commission : Mr. Justice A. R. Lakshamanan Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha) : Mr. Lal Krishna Advani Chairman, National Consumer Protection Commission : Mr. Jutice M B Shah Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party : Ms. Sonia Gandhi Chairman, National Commission on Labour : Mr. Ravindra Verma Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha) : Mr. Arun Jaitely Chairman, National Commission for Backward Classes : Justice S RAtnavel Pandian Chief Election Commissioner : Mr. Navin Chawla Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes : Mr. Kunwar Singh Comptroller and Auditor-General of India : Mr. Vinod Rai Chairman, MRTPC : Justice C N Nayar Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha : Mr. Charanjit Singh Atwal Chairman, National Commission for Farmers : Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Election Commissioner : Mr. S Y Quaraishi Chairperson, National Commissioner for Women : Ms. Girija Vyas Election Commissioner : Mr. VS Sampath President, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission : Mr. Justice D P Secretary General, Rajya Sabha : Mr. Vivek Kumar Agnihotri Wadhwa Lok Sabha, Secretary General : Mr. P D T Achary Chairman, National Commission on Educational Institutions for Minorities : Mr. M S A Siddiqui OFFICERS OF UNION GOVERNMENT Chairman, National Human Rights Commission : Mr. Justice S Rajendra Badu Cabinet Secretary : Mr. K.M. Chandrasekhar Chairman, Telecom Commission : Mr. Anil Kumar Principal Secretary to Prime Minister : Mr. T K A Nair Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India : JS Sharma (May 14, 2009) National Security Adviser and Special adviser to PM (Internal Security) : Mr. M Chairman, National Forest Commission : Mr. B.N. Kirpal K Naryanan Chairman, Central Water Commission : Mr. R Jeyasheelan Deputy National Security Adviser : Mr. Vijay Nambiar Chairman, Sixth Pay Commission : Mr. B N Srikrishna Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Defence Research and Chairman, National Knowledge Commission : Mr. Development Organisation (DRDO) : Mr. V K Saraswat (September 1, 2009) Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government : Dr. R Chidambaram HEADS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANISATIONS Foreign Secretary : Ms. Nirupama Rao Director, General, National Investigation Agency (NIA) : Mr. Radha Vinod Raju : Mr. Gopal Krishna Pillai (June 30, 2009) (January 15, 2009) Defence Secretary : Mr. Vijay Singh Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB) : Mr. Rajiv Mathur (January 1, 2009) Finance Secretary : Mr. Ashok Chawla Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) : Mr. Ashwini Kumar (July 31, Information and Broadcasting Secretary : Mr. Surendra Arora 2008) Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister : Mr. C Rangarajan Director, Research And Analysis Wing (RAW) : Mr. KC Verma (January 31, 2009) Registrar-General of India and Census Commissioner : Mr. D K Sikri Director-General, Border Security Force (BSF) : Mr. Raman Srivastava (July 31, Chief Vigilance Commissioner : Mr. Pratyush Sinha 2009) Principal Information Officer, Government of India : Mr. Saheb Singh Director-General, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) : Mrs. Niraj Ranjan Das (November 17, 2008) Director-General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) : Mr. Vikram Srivastava

129 130 Director-General, Coast Guard : Vice Admiral anil Chopra Chairman and Managing Director, Oil India : Mr. N M Borah Director-General, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) : Lt. General Avtar Singh Director-General, Railway Protection Force (RPF) : Mr. Ranjit Sinha HEADS OF BANKS AND COMMERCIAL ORGANISATIONS Director-General, Border Roads Organisation : Lt. General A.K. Nanda Governor, Reserve bank of India (RBI) : Mr. Duvvuri Subbaroa Director-General, National Security Guards (NSG) : Mr. NPS Aulakh Chairperson, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) : Mr. SSN Moorthy (January 31, Director-General, Defence Intelligence Service : Lt Gen, Avtar Singh 2009) Director-General, Rashriya Rifles : Lt. Gen. Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) : Mr. CB Bhave (February Director, Police Research and Development Bureau : Mr. N C Joshi 14, 2008) Director, Institute of Defence Studies and Analysed (IDSA) : Mr. N S Sisodia Chairman, Central Board of Excise and customs : Mr. V Sridhar (July 31, 2009) Director-General, National Cadet Core (NCC) : Lt. Gen. MC Bhandari Director General, Indian, Institute of Foreign Trade : Mr. Prabir Sengupta Director, Enforcement Directorate : Mr. R N Das Chairman, NABARD : Mr. Y S P Thorat Director General, (SSB) : Mr. Gopal Sharma Chairman, State Bank of Indian (SBI) : Mr. O.P. Bhatt President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) : Mr. HEADS OF SCIENTIFIC ORGANISATIONS Harsh Pati Singhania Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) : Mr. S Banerjee Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) : Mr. T S Vijayan Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) : Mr. S K Sharma President, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) : Mr. Venu srinivasan (March Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) : Dr. Vishwa Mohan 31, 2009) Katoch President, NASSCOM : Mr. Som Mittal Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) : Dr. Mangal Chairman, NASSCOM : Mr. Pramod Bhasin (April 2, 2009) Rai President, ASSOCHAM : Mr. Sajjan Jindal Director General, Council of Scietific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and President, IFFCO : Mr. Surendra Kumar Jakhar chairman, Indian National Science Academy : Dr. Samir Kumar Brahmachari President, State Trading Corporation (STC) : Mr. Arvind Pandalai President, National Manufacturing competitiveness Council : Mr. V Krishnamurthy HEADS OF PUBLIC SECTOR UNITS President, Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) of India : Mr. P K Das Chairman, Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) : Mr. Sushil Kumar Roongta Chairman, South Asian Federation of Accountants : Mr. Ashok Chandok Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) : Mr. Sarthak Behuria Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority : Mr. J Harinarajan Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC : Mr. R S Sharma Chairman, IDBI : Mr. V P Shetty Chairman, Central Electricity Authority : Mr. D V Khera Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) : Mr. HEADS OF BOARDS & COUNCILS Kuldeep Goel Chairperson, Central Social Welfare Board : Ms. Rajni Patil Chairman, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) : Mr. R S P Sinha Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) : Mr. D N Tripathi Chairman, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) : Mr. Subodh Bhargava Chairman, ICSSR : Mr. Director General, Maruti Udyog Limited : Mr. S Nakanashi Chairperson, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Chairman and Managing Director, GAIL (India) : Mr. BC Tripathi (August 1, 2009) : Mr. Ishar Judge Ahluwalia Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Food Corporation of India (FCI) : Mr. Deepak President, ICCR : Dr. Karan Singh (Resigned) Kumar Panwar (November 6, 2008) Vice-Chancellor, IGNOU : Mr. V N Rajasekharan Pillai Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) : Prof. Krishan Kumar : Director, NCERT Mr. M S Manchanda Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) : Mr. V Rajagopalan Managing Director, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) : Mr. E Sridharan Chairman, Central Social Welfare Board : Ms. Prema Cariappa (June 16, 2008) Chairman, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) : Mr. Ajay Shankar Chairman, Railway Board : Mr. S S Khurana Chairman, National Highway Authority of India : Mr. Pradeep Kumar Chairman, National Shipping Board : Mr. V.K. Khanna Chairman, HUDCO : Mr. K L Dhingra Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) : Dr. Amrita Patel Chairman and Managing Director, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) : Mr. Chairman, Company Law Board : Mr. Justice Ajay Kumar Banerji RS Sharma (May 1, 2008) Chairman, 13th Finance Commission : Mr. Vijay L Kelkar Chairman and Managing Director, National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL) : Mr. Arvind jadhav (May 1, 2009) HEADS OF ORGANISATION : ARTS & FILMS Chairman and Managing Director, BHEL : Mr. B Prasada Rao Chairman, Sahitya Akademi : Mr. Sunil Gangopadhyay

131 132 Chairman, Sangeet Natak Akademi : Mr. Ram Niwas Mirdha UNION BUDGET 2010-11 Chairman, National Film Development Corporation : Mr. Om Puri (April 2008) Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification : Ms. Shramili Tagore India's finance minister Pranab Mukherjee unveiled the Union Budget 2010-11 on Friday, February 26, Chairperson, Children’s Film Society of India : Ms. Nandita Das (July 31, 2009) 2010. Budget is not just a statement of Government accounts, but it reflects the Government’s vision and President, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) : Mrs. Kapila indicates the policy of the government, which decides the path of the economy for the future. Vatsyayan In this post the budget has been discussed at a length. Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi : Mr. Ashok Bajpai Director, Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) : Mr. Tripurari Sharan Key Features of Budget 2010-2011 Director General, Doordarshan : Mr. Naveen Kumar CHALLENGES Director General, AIR : Mr. T R Malakar • To quickly revert to the high GDP growth path of 9 per cent and then find the means to cross the HEADS OF SPORTS ORGANISATIONS ‘double digit growth barrier’. President, Indian Olympic Association : Mr. Suresh Kalmadi (Since 1996) • To harness economic growth to consolidate the recent gains in making development more inclusive. President, All India Sports Council : Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra • To address the weaknesses in government systems, structures and institutions at different levels of President, BCCI : Mr. Shashank Manohar governance. President, Sports Authority of India : Mr. V K Mittal Director General, SAI : Mr. Shyam Chatterjee President, All India Football Federation : Mr. Praful Patel (October 20, 2009) OVERVIEW OF THE ECONOMY President, Indian Wrestling Federation : Mr. M S Malik • India among the first few countries in the world to implement a broad-based counter-cyclic policy President, Fencing Federation of India : Mr. Arvind Khanna package to respond to the negative fallout of the global slowdown. President, Badminton Association of India : Mr. VK Verma (since 1998) President, Tennis Association of India : Mr. yashwant Sinha (since 2000) • The Advance Estimates for Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for 2009-10 pegged at 7.2 per President, Table Tennis Association of India : Mr. Ajay Chautala (since 2001) cent. The final figure expected to be higher when the third and fourth quarter GDP estimates for President, Archery Association of India : Mr. VK Malhotra (Since 1972) 2009-10 become available.

HEADS OF PRESS INSTITUTIONS • The growth rate in manufacturing sector in December 2009 was 18.5 per cent – the highest in the Chairman, Press Council of India : Mr. Justice G N Ray past two decades. Director Press Institute of India : Mr. Ajit Bhattacharjea • A major concern during the second half of 2009-10 has been the emergence of double digit food Chairman, United News of India : Mr. Ravindra Kumar inflation. Government has set in motion steps, in consultation with the State Chief Ministers, which President, Indian Newspapers Society : Mr. T Venkattraman Reddy (September 24, should bring down the inflation in the next few months and ensure that there is better management of 2009) food security in the country. Chairman, Press Trust of India : Mr. Vijay Kumar Chopra (August 27, 2009) Chairperson, Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) : Mr. Subroto Chattopadhyaya CONSOLIDATING GROWTH (September 2009) Register General of Newspapers in India : Mr. P B Roy Fiscal Consolidation Chairman, Copyright Board : Mr. S Ramaiya • With recovery taking root, there is a need to review public spending, mobilise resources and gear

them towards building the productivity of the economy. HEADS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations : Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri • Fiscal policy shaped with reference to the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission, (April 2009) which has recommended a calibrated exit strategy from the expansionary fiscal stance of last two India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to WTO : Mr. K M Chandrasekhar years. Chairman, University Grant Commission (UGC) : Mr. Sukhdeo Thorat Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) : Mr. Vinit Joshi • It would be for the first time that the Government would target an explicit reduction in its domestic Chairman, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) : Mr. Damodar Acharya public debt-GDP ratio. Chairman, UPSC : Mr. DP Agarwal

Chairman, SSC : Mr. NK Raghupathy Director General of Archaeological Survey of India : Mr. Anshu Vaish

133 134 Tax reforms

• On the Direct Tax Code (DTC) the wide-ranging discussions with stakeholders have been concluded Banking Licences – Government will be in a position to implement the DTC from April 1, 2011. • RBI is considering giving some additional banking licenses to private sector players. Non Banking • Centre actively engaged with the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers to finalise the Financial Companies could also be considered, if they meet the RBI’s eligibility criteria. structure of Goods and Services Tax (GST) as well as the modalities of its expeditious Public Sector Bank Capitalisation implementation. Endeavour to introduce GST by April, 2011 • People’s ownership of PSUs Rs.16,500 crore provided to ensure that the Public Sector Banks are able to attain a minimum 8 per cent Tier-I capital by March 31, 2011. • Ownership has been broad based in Oil India Limited, NHPC, NTPC and Rural Electrification Recapitalisation of Regional Rural Banks (RRB) Corporation while the process is on for National Mineral Development Corporation and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam. This will raise about Rs 25,000 crore during the current year. • Government to provide further capital to strengthen the RRBs so that they have adequate capital base to support increased lending to the rural economy. • Higher amount proposed to be raised during the year 2010-11. Corporate Governance Fertiliser subsidy • Government has introduced the Companies Bill, 2009 in the Parliament to replace the existing • A Nutrient Based Subsidy policy for the fertiliser sector has been approved by the Government and Companies Act, 1956, which will address issues related to regulation in corporate sector in the will become effective from April 1, 2010. context of the changing business environment. • This will lead to an increase in agricultural productivity and better returns for the farmers, and Exports overtime reduce the volatility in demand for fertiliser subsidy and contain the subsidy bill. • Extension of existing interest subvention of 2 per cent for one more year for exports covering Petroleum and Diesel pricing policy handicrafts, carpets, handlooms and small and medium enterprises. • Expert Group to advise the Government on a viable and sustainable system of pricing of petroleum Agriculture Growth products has submitted its recommendations. • Government will follow a four-pronged strategy, covering • Decision on these recommendations will be taken in due course. (a) Agricultural production Improving Investment Environment • Rs. 400 crore provided to extend the green revolution to the eastern region of the country comprising Foreign Direct Investment Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern UP, West Bengal and Orissa. • Number of steps taken to simplify the FDI regime. • Rs. 300 crore provided to organise 60,000 “pulses and oil seed villages” in rain-fed areas during • Methodology for calculation of indirect foreign investment in Indian companies has been clearly 2010-11 and provide an integrated intervention for water harvesting, watershed management and soil defined. health, to enhance the productivity of the dry land farming areas.

• Complete liberalisation of pricing and payment of technology transfer fee and trademark, brand • Rs. 200 crore provided for sustaining the gains already made in the green revolution areas through name and royalty payments. conservation farming, which involves concurrent attention to soil health, water conservation and preservation of biodiversity. Financial Stability and Development Council (b) Reduction in wastage of produce • An apex level Financial Stability and Development Council to be set up with a view to strengthen and institutionalise the mechanism for maintaining financial stability. • Government to address the issue of opening up of retail trade. It will help in bringing down the considerable difference between farm gate, wholesale and retail prices. • This Council would monitor macro-prudential supervision of the economy, including the functioning of large financial conglomerates, and address interregulatory coordination issues. • Deficit in the storage capacity met through an ongoing scheme for private sector participation – FCI to hire godowns from private parties for a guaranteed period of 7 years.

135 136 • Plan outlay for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy increased by 61 per cent from Rs.620 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.1,000 crore in 2010-11. (c) Credit support to farmers • Solar, small hydro and micro power projects at a cost of about Rs.500 crore to be\ set up in Ladakh • Banks have been consistently meeting the targets set for agriculture credit flow in the past few years. region of Jammu and Kashmir. For the year 2010-11, the target has been set at Rs.3,75,000 crore. Environment and Climate change • In view of the recent drought in some States and the severe floods in some other parts of the country, the period for repayment of the loan amount by farmers extended by six months from December 31, • National Clean Energy Fund for funding research and innovative projects in clean energy 2009 to June 30, 2010 under the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme for Farmers. technologies to be established.

• Incentive of additional one per cent interest subvention to farmers who repay short-term crop loans • One-time grant of Rs.200 crore to the Government of Tamil Nadu towards the cost of installation of as per schedule, increased to 2% for 2010-11. a zero liquid discharge system at Tirupur to sustain knitwear industry.

(d) Impetus to the food processing sector • Rs.200 crore provided as a Special Golden Jubilee package for Goa to preserve the natural resources of the State, including sea beaches and forest cover. • In addition to the ten mega food park projects already being set up, the Government has decided to set up five more such parks. • Allocation for National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) doubled in 2010-11 to Rs.500 crore.

• External Commercial Borrowings to be available for cold storage or cold room facility, including for • Schemes on bank protection works along river Bhagirathi and river Ganga-Padma in parts of farm level pre-cooling, for preservation or storage of agricultural and allied produce, marine products Murshidabad and Nadia district of West Bengal included in the Centrally Sponsored Flood and meat. Management Programme.

Infrastructure • A project at Sagar Island to be developed to provide an alternate port facility in West Bengal.

• Rs 1,73,552 crore provided for infrastructure development which accounts for over 46 per cent of the INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT total plan allocation. • The spending on social sector has been gradually increased to Rs.1,37,674 crore in 2010-11, which is • Allocation for road transport increased by over 13 per cent from Rs. 17,520 crore to Rs 19,894 crore. 37% of the total plan outlay in 2010-11.

• Rs 16,752 crore provided for Railways, which is about Rs.950 crore more than last year. • Another 25 per cent of the plan allocations are devoted to the development of rural infrastructure.

India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) Education

• IIFCL’s disbursements are expected to touch Rs 9,000 crore by end March 2010 and reach around Rs • Plan allocation for school education increased by 16 per cent from Rs.26,800 crore in 2009-10 to 20,000 crore by March 2011. Rs.31,036 crore in 2010-11.

• IIFCL has refinanced bank lending to infrastructure projects of Rs. 3,000 crore during the current • In addition, States will have access to Rs.3,675 crore for elementary education under the Thirteenth year and is expected to more than double that amount in 2010-11. Finance Commission grants for 2010-11.

• The take-out financing scheme announced in the last Budget is expected to initially provide finance Health for about Rs. 25,000 crore in the next three years. • An Annual Health Survey to prepare the District Health Profile of all Districts shall be conducted in Energy 2010-11.

• Plan allocation for power sector excluding RGGVY doubled from Rs.2230 crore in 2009-10 to • Plan allocation to Ministry of Health & Family Welfare increased from Rs 19,534 crore in 2009-10 Rs.5,130 crore in 2010-11. to Rs 22,300 crore for 2010-11.

• Government proposes to introduce a competitive bidding process for allocating coal blocks for Financial Inclusion captive mining to ensure greater transparency and increased participation in production from these • blocks. Appropriate Banking facilities to be provided to habitations having population in excess of 2000 by March, 2012. • A “Coal Regulatory Authority” to create a level playing field in the coal sector proposed to be set up.

137 138 • Insurance and other services to be provided using the Business Correspondent model. By this • Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana benefits extended to all such Mahatma Gandhi NREGA arrangement, it is proposed to cover 60,000 habitations. beneficiaries who have worked for more than 15 days during the preceding financial year.

• Augmentation of Rs.100 crore each for the Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) and the Financial • A new initiative, “Swavalamban” will be available for persons who join New Pension Scheme Inclusion Technology Fund, which shall be contributed by Government of India, RBI and NABARD. (NPS), with a minimum contribution of Rs.1,000 and a maximum contribution of Rs.12,000 per annum during the financial year 2010-11, wherein Government will contribute Rs.1,000 per year to Rural Development each NPS account opened in the year 2010-11. Allocation of Rs.100 crore made for this initiative. • Rs. 66,100 crore provided for Rural Development. Skill development • Allocation for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme stepped up to • National Skill Development Corporation has approved three projects worth about Rs 45 crore to Rs.40,100 crore in 2010-11. create 10 lakh skilled manpower at the rate of one lakh per annum. • An amount of Rs.48,000 crore allocated for rural infrastructure programmes under Bharat Nirman. • An extensive skill development programme in the textile and garment sector to be launched by • Unit cost under Indira Awas Yojana increased to Rs.45,000 in the plain areas and to Rs.48,500 in the leveraging the strength of existing institutions and instruments of the Textile Ministry to train 30 hilly areas. Allocation for this scheme increased to Rs.10,000 crore. lakh persons over 5 years. Social Welfare • Allocation to Backward Region Grant Fund enhanced by 26 per cent from Rs.5,800 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 7,300 crore in 2010-11. • Plan outlay for Women and Child Development stepped up by almost 50 per cent. • Additional central assistance of Rs 1,200 crore provided for drought mitigation in the Bundelkhand • The ICDS platform being expanded for effective implementation of the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for region. Adolescent Girls.

Urban Development and Housing • “Saakshar Bharat” to further improve female literacy rate launched with a target of 7 crore non- • Allocation for urban development increased by more than 75 per cent from Rs.3,060 crore to literate adults which includes 6 crore women. Rs.5,400 crore in 2010-11. • Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana to meet the specific needs of women farmers to be launched • Allocation for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation raised from Rs.850 crore to Rs.1,000 crore in with a provision of Rs 100 crore as a sub-component of the 2010-11. National Rural Livelihood Mission. • Scheme of one per cent interest subvention on housing loan upto Rs.10 lakh, where the cost of the • Plan outlay of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment enhanced by 80 per cent to Rs.4500 house does not exceed Rs.20 lakh — announced in the last Budget — extended up to March 31, crore. With this enhancement, the Ministry will be able to revise rates of scholarship under its post- 2011. Rs.700 crore provided for this scheme for the year 2010-11. matric scholarship schemes for SCs and OBC students. • Rs.1,270 crore allocated for Rajiv Awas Yojana as compared to Rs.150 crore last year. • Plan allocation for the Ministry of Minority Affairs increased by 50 per cent from Rs.1,740 crore to Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Rs.2,600 crore for the year 2010-11. STRENGTHENING TRANSPARENCY & PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILTY • High Level Council on Micro and Small Enterprises to monitor the implementation of the recommendations of High-Level Task Force constituted by Prime Minister. • Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission to be set up to rewrite and clean up the financial • Allocation for this sector to be increased from Rs.1,794 crore to Rs.2,400 crore for the year 2010-11. sector laws to bring them in line with the requirements of the sector.

• The corpus for Micro-Finance Development and Equity Fund doubled to Rs.400 crore in 2010-11. • Rs 1,900 crore allocated to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for 2010-11. UIDAI will be able to meet its commitments of issuing the first set of UID numbers in the coming Unorganised Sector year • National Social Security Fund for unorganised sector workers to be set up with an initial allocation • A Technology Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP) to be set up to look into various of Rs.1000 crore. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, bidi technological and systemic issues for effective tax administration and financial governance. workers etc.

139 140 • Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) chaired by the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission to be PART B TAX PROPOSALS set up to evaluate the impact of flagship programmes. • The Centralized Processing Centre at Bengaluru is now fully functional and is processing around 20,000 returns daily. This initiative will be taken forward by setting up two more Centres during the Security and Justice year. • Allocation for Defence increased to Rs. 1,47,344 crore including Rs 60,000 crore for capital • expenditure. The Income Tax department has introduced “Sevottam”, a pilot project at Pune, Kochi and Chandigarh through Aayakar Seva Kendras, which provide a single window system for registration • About 2,000 youth to be recruited as constables in five Central Para Military Forces from Jammu and of all applications including those for redressal of grievances as well as paper returns. The scheme Kashmir in the year 2010. will be extended to four more cities in the year.

• Planning Commission to prepare an integrated action plan for the thirty-three left wing extremism • Automation of Central Excise & Service Tax, has already been rolled out throughout the country this affected districts. Adequate funds will be made available to support the action plan. year. Similarly, a Mission Mode Project for computerization of Commercial Taxes in States has been approved recently. With an outlay of Rs. 1133 crore of which the Centre’s share is Rs. 800 crore, the • Government has approved the setting up of the National Mission for Delivery of Justice and Legal project will lay the foundation for the launch of GST. Reforms to help reduce legal backlog in courts from an average of 15 years at present to 3 years by 2012. • The income tax department to notify SARAL-II form for individual salaried taxpayers for the coming assessment year. BUDGET ESTIMATES 2010-11 • Scope of cases which may be admitted by the Settlement Commission expanded to include • The Gross Tax Receipts are estimated at Rs. 7,46,651 crore proceedings related to search and seizure cases pending for assessment. Scope of Settlement • The Non Tax Revenue Receipts are estimated at Rs. 1,48,118 crore. Commission also expanded in respect of Central Excise and Customs to include certain categories of cases that hitherto fell outside its jurisdiction. • The net tax revenue to the Centre as well as the expenditure provisions in 2010-11 have been • estimated with reference to the recommendations of the Thirteenth Finance Commission. Bi-lateral discussions commenced to enhance the exchange of bank related and other information to effectively track tax evasion and identify undisclosed assets of resident Indians lying abroad. • The total expenditure proposed in the Budget Estimates is Rs. 11,08,749 crore, which is an increase Direct Taxes of 8.6 per cent over last year. Income tax slabs for individual taxpayers to be as follows • The Plan and Non Plan expenditures in BE 2010-11 are estimated at Rs. 3,73,092 crore and Rs. 7,35,657 crore respectively. While there is 15 per cent increase in Plan expenditure, the increase in Income upto Rs 1.6 lakh Nil Non Plan expenditure is only 6 per cent over the BE of previous year. Income above Rs 1.6 lakh and upto Rs. 5 lakh 10 per cent • Fiscal deficit for BE 2010-11 at 5.5 per cent of GDP, which works out to Rs.3,81,408 crore. Income above Rs.5 lakh and upto Rs. 8 lakh 20 per cent • Taking into account the various other financing items for fiscal deficit, the actual net market borrowing of the Government in 2010-11 would be of the order of Rs.3,45,010 crore. This would Income above Rs. 8 lakh 30 per cent leave enough space to meet the credit needs of the private sector. • Deduction of an additional amount of Rs. 20,000 allowed, over and above the existing limit of Rs.1 • The rolling targets for fiscal deficit are pegged at 4.8 per cent and 4.1 per cent for 2011-12 and 2012- lakh on tax savings, for investment in long-term infrastructure bonds as notified by the Central 13, respectively. Government • • Against a fiscal deficit of 7.8 per cent in 2008-09, inclusive of oil and fertilizer bonds, the Besides contributions to health insurance schemes which is currently allowed as a deduction under comparable fiscal deficit is 6.9 per cent as per the Revised Estimates for 2009-10. the Income-tax Act, contributions to the Central Government Health Scheme also allowed as a deduction under the same provision. • Conscious effort made to avoid issuing bonds to oil and fertilizer companies. Government would like • to continue with this practice of extending Government subsidy in cash, thereby bringing all subsidy Current surcharge of 10 per cent on domestic companies reduced to 7.5 per cent. related liabilities into Government’s fiscal accounting. • Rate of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) increased from the current rate of 15 per cent to 18 per cent of book profits.

141 142 • To further encourage R&D across all sectors of the economy, weighted deduction on expenditure chewing tobacco etc to be enhanced. Compounded levy scheme for chewing tobacco and branded incurred on in-house R&D enhanced from 150 per cent to 200 per cent. Weighted deduction on unmanufactured tobacco based on the capacity of pouch packing machines to be introduced. payments made to National Laboratories, research associations, colleges, universities and other Agriculture & Related Sectors institutions, for scientific research enhanced from 125 per cent to 175 per cent. • Provide project import status with a concessional import duty of 5 per cent for the setting up of • Payment made to an approved association engaged in research in social sciences or statistical mechanised handling systems and pallet racking systems in ‘mandis’ or warehouses for food grains research to be allowed as a weighted deduction of 125 per cent. The income of such approved and sugar as well as full exemption from service tax for the installation and commissioning of such research association shall be exempt from tax. equipment. • Benefit of investment linked deduction under the Act extended to new hotels of two-star category • Provide project import status at a concessional customs duty of 5 per cent with full exemption from and above anywhere in India to boost investment in the tourism sector. service tax to the initial setting up and expansion of • Allow pending projects to be completed within a period of five years instead of four years for • Cold storage, cold room including farm pre-coolers for preservation or storage of agriculture and claiming a deduction of their profits, as a one time interim relief to the housing and real estate sector. related sectors produce ; and Processing units for such produce. Norms for built-up area of shops and other commercial establishments in housing projects to be relaxed to enable basic facilities for their residents. • Provide full exemption from customs duty to refrigeration units required for the manufacture of refrigerated vans or trucks. • Limits for turnover over which accounts need to be audited enhanced to Rs. 60 lakh for businesses and to Rs. 15 lakh for professions. • Provide concessional customs duty of 5 per cent to specified agricultural machinery not manufactured in India; • Limit of turnover for the purpose of presumptive taxation of small businesses enhanced to Rs. 60 lakh. • Provide central excise exemption to specified equipment for preservation, storage and processing of agriculture and related sectors and exemption from service tax to the storage and warehousing of their • If tax has been deducted on payment by way of any expense and is paid before the due date of filing produce; and the return, such expenditure to be allowed for deduction. Interest charged on tax deducted but not deposited by the specified date to be increased from 12 per cent to 18 per cent per annum. • Provide full exemption from excise duty to trailers and semi-trailers used in agriculture. • To facilitate the conversion of small companies into Limited Liability Partnerships, transfer of assets • Concessional import duty to specified machinery for use in the plantation sector to be, extended up to as a result of such conversion not to be subject to capital gains tax. March 31, 2011 along with a CVD exemption. • “The advancement of any other object of general public utility” to be considered as “charitable • To exempt the testing and certification of agricultural seeds from service tax. purpose” even if it involves carrying on of any activity in the nature of trade, commerce or business provided that the receipts from such activities do not exceed Rs.10 lakh in the year . • The transportation by road of cereals, and pulses to be exempted from service tax. Transportation by rail to remain exempt. • Proposals on direct taxes estimated to result in a revenue loss of Rs. 26,000 crore for the year. • To ease the cash flow position for small-scale manufacturers, they would be permitted to take full Indirect Taxes credit of Central Excise duty paid on capital goods in a single installment in the year of their receipt. • Rate reduction in Central Excise duties to be partially rolled back and the standard rate on all non- Secondly, they would be permitted to pay Central Excise duty on a quarterly, rather than monthly, petroleum products enhanced from 8 per cent to 10 per cent ad valorem. basis. Environment • The specific rates of duty applicable to portland cement and cement clinker also adjusted upwards proportionately. Similarly, the ad valorem component of excise duty on large cars, multi-utility • To build the corpus of the National Clean Energy Fund, clean energy cess on coal produced in India vehicles and sports-utility vehicles increased by 2 percentage points to 22 per cent. at a nominal rate of Rs.50 per tonne to be levied. This cess will also apply on imported coal. • Restore the basic duty of 5 per cent on crude petroleum; 7.5 per cent on diesel and petrol and 10 per • Provide a concessional customs duty of 5 per cent to machinery, instruments, equipment and cent on other refined products. Central Excise duty on petrol and diesel enhanced by Re.1 per litre appliances etc. required for the initial setting up of photovoltaic and solar thermal power generating each. units and also exempt them from Central Excise duty. Ground source heat pumps used to tap geo- thermal energy to be exempted from basic customs duty and special additional duty. • Some structural changes in the excise duty on cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos to be made coupled with some increase in rates. Excise duty on all non-smoking tobacco such as scented tobacco, snuff,

143 144 • Exempt a few more specified inputs required for the manufacture of rotor blades for wind energy duplication. In all such cases the value representing the transfer of intellectual property rights would generators from Central Excise duty. be subjected to service tax.

• Central Excise duty on LED lights reduced from 8 per cent to 4 per cent at par with Compact • Provide project import status at a concessional customs duty of 5 per cent with full exemption from Fluorescent Lamps. special additional duty to the initial setting up “Digital Head End” equipment by multi-service operators. • To remedy the difficulty faced by manufacturers of electric cars and vehicles in neutralising the duty paid on their inputs and components, a nominal duty of 4 per cent on such vehicles imposed. Some Precious Metals critical parts or sub-assemblies of such vehicles exempted from basic customs duty and special • Rates on precious metals indexed as follows: additional duty subject to actual user condition. These parts would also enjoy a concessional CVD of 4 per cent. ♦ On gold and platinum from Rs.200 per 10 grams to Rs.300 per 10 grams

• A concessional excise duty of 4 per cent provided to “soleckshaw”, a product developed by CSIR to ♦ On silver from Rs.1,000 per kg to Rs.1,500 per kg. replace manually-operated rickshaws. Its key parts and components to be exempted from customs duty. • Basic customs on Rhodium – a precious metal used for polishing jewellery reduced to 2 per cent.

• Import of compostable polymer exempted from basic customs duty. • Basic customs duty on gold ore and concentrates reduced from 2 per cent ad valorem to a specific duty of Rs.140 per 10 grams of gold content with full exemption from special additional duty. Infrastructure Further, the excise duty on refined gold made from such ore or concentrate reduced from 8 per cent to a specific duty of Rs.280 per 10 grams. • Project import status to ‘Monorail projects for urban transport’ at a concessional basic duty of 5 per cent granted. Other Proposals

• To allow resale of specified machinery for road construction projects on payment of import duty at • Full exemption from import duty available to specified inputs or raw materials required for the depreciated value. manufacture of sports goods expanded to cover a few more items.

• To encourage the domestic manufacture of mobile phones accessories, exemptions from basic, CVD • Basic customs duty on one of key components in production of micro-wave ovens, namely and special additional duties are now being extended to parts of battery chargers and hands-free magnetrons, reduced from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. headphones. The validity of the exemption from special additional duty is being extended till March 31, 2011. • Value limit of Rs. 1 lakh per annum on duty-free import of commercial samples as personal baggage enhanced to Rs. 3 lakh per annum. Medical Sector • Outright exemption from special additional duty provided to goods imported in a pre-packaged form • Uniform, concessional basic duty of 5 per cent, CVD of 4 per cent with full exemption from special for retail sale. This would also cover mobile phones, watches and ready-made garments even when additional duty prescribed on all medical equipments. A concessional basic duty of 5 per cent is they are not imported in pre-packaged form. being prescribed on parts and accessories for the manufacture of such equipment while they would be exempt from CVD and special additional duty. • The refund-based exemption is also being retained for cases not covered by the new dispensation.

• Full exemption currently available to medical equipment and devices such as assistive devices, • Toy balloons fully exempted from Central Excise duty. rehabilitation aids etc. retained. The concession available to Government hospitals or hospitals set up • Reduction in basic customs duty on long pepper from 70 per cent to 30 per cent; under a statute also retained. • Reduction in basic customs duty on asafoetida from 30 per cent to 20 per cent; • Specified inputs for the manufacture of orthopaedic implants exempted from import duty. • Reduction in central excise duty on replaceable kits for household type water filters other than those Infotainment based on RO technology to 4 per cent; • To address the difficulties experienced by film industry in importing digital masters of films for • Reduction in central excise duty on corrugated boxes and cartons from 8 per cent to 4 per cent; duplication or distribution loaded on electronic medium vis-a-vis those imported on cinematographic film, owing to a differential customs duty structure, customs duty to be charged only on the value of • Reduction in central excise duty on latex rubber thread from 8 per cent to 4 per cent; and the carrier medium. The same dispensation would apply to music and gaming software imported for

145 146 • Reduction in excise duty on goods covered under the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations Act from 16 RAILWAY BUDGET 2010-11 per cent to 10 per cent. Railway Budget 2010-11 presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Lok Sabha. • ! Proposals relating to customs and central excise are estimated to result in a net revenue gain of Rs. 43,500 crore for the year. 1

Service Tax HIGHLIGHTS OF RAILWAY BUDGET 2010-11

• Rate of tax on services retained at 10 per cent to pave the way forward for GST. Introduction

• Certain services, hitherto untaxed, to be brought within the purview of the service tax levy. These to • Economic viability and Social responsibility – main consideration for taking up of the projects. be notified separately. • ‘Inclusive growth and expansion of rail network’ for development of the country. • Process of refund of accumulated credit to exporters of services, especially in the area of Information • Special Task Force to clear proposals for investments within 100 days. Technology and Business Process Outsourcing, made easy by making necessary changes in the definition of export of services and procedures. • A separate structure will be created within the Railways for implementation of the business models.

• Accredited news agencies which provide news feed online that meet certain criteria, exempted from Commitments Fulfilled service tax. • Of the 120 new trains, extensions and increase in frequencies announced, 117 would be flagged off by • Proposals relating to service tax are estimated to result in a net revenue gain of Rs 3,000 crore for the the end of March 2010. year. • Recruitment policy of the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) has been reviewed. • Proposals on direct taxes estimated to result in a revenue loss of Rs. 26,000 crore for the year. Proposals relating to Indirect Taxes estimated to result in a net revenue gain of Rs.46,500 crore for • RRB examination fee for woman candidates and those belonging to minority and economically the year. Taking into account the concessions being given in the tax proposals and measures taken to backward classes waived. mobilise additional resources, the net revenue gain is estimated to be Rs. 20,500 crore for the year. • All question papers to be set in Hindi, Urdu, English and in local State languages and examination for a particular post will be held on the same date simultaneously by all RRBs.

• Izzat Scheme, implemented within three months of announcement.

• Work initiated in all the 67 Multi-functional Complexes (MFCs). Development of Adarsh Stations started in phases.

Passenger Amenities/Facilities

• 94 stations to be upgraded as Adarsh Stations

• 10 more stations identified to be converted as World Class Stations

• Construction of additional 93 Multi Functional Complexes

• Multi-level parking through PPP route.

• Six clean drinking water bottling plants to be set up through PPP for providing cheap bottled drinking

water.

• SMS updates of reservation status and punctuality of trains to passengers,

• SMS updates on the movement of wagons to freight customers.

147 148 • RFID technology for tracking of wagons to provide modern trolleys at all important stations to be • Scope of safety-related retirement scheme to be expanded to cover all safety category staff with a handled by uniformed attendants for senior citizens and ladies. grade pay of Rs 1800.

• Allotment of iron ore rakes to be rationalised scientifically and would be accessible through the web. • To extend Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to all licensed porters, vendors and hawkers , from unorganised sector and socially challenged. • Introduction of e-ticket based mobile vans for issuing tickets. • To set up a state-of-the-art advanced loco pilot training centre at Kharagpur, an advanced railway Safety and Security track training centre at Beleghata and four multi-disciplinary training centres. • Automatic fire and smoke detection system to be introduced in 20 long distance trains. Railway Research • All the unmanned LCs to be manned within five years. • A Centre for Railway Research to be set up at IIT, Kharagpur. To establish strong research • 12 companies of women RPF personnel named ‘Mahila Vahini’ to be raised. partnerships with premier institutes like IITs, NITs, CSIR and DRDO.

Sports Infrastructure • • Railways first recipient of Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar To modernize and augment the capacity of CLW to 275 locomotives. • • Five Sports Academies at Delhi, Secunderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai to be setup. A Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) factory to be set up at Sankrail. • • Astro-turfs to be provided at more places for hockey. Second unit to be installed at ICF. • • Railways will be lead partners of Common Wealth Games. Wagon repair shop to be set up at Badnera. • • Railways to run a Commonwealth exhibition train. Centres of Excellence in Wagon Prototyping to be set up at Kharagpur Workshop. • Culture and Heritage A new Rail Axle Factory to be set up in New Jalpaiguri under PPP/JV mode. • • To set up a Railway Cultural & Heritage Promotion Board for coordinating and supervising all related A Design Development and Testing Centre for Wheels to be set up at RWF, Bangalore. activities on the railways. • A new MLR workshop of 250 coach capacity to be set up at Anara (Adra). • To set up Rabindra Museum at Howrah and Gitanjali Museum at Bolpur to commemorate 150th birth • Five state-of-the-art wagon factories to set up at Secunderabad, Barddhaman, anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Bhubaneshwar/Kalahandi, Guwahati and Haldia under PPP/JV mode. • To set up Shambhu Mitra Cultural Complex with performing arts and a music academy at Howrah. • Two workshops for POH of high axle load wagons to be set up in Maharashtra and Dankuni. Staff Welfare and Health • Kisan Vision Project initiated at six locations, namely Dankuni, Mechheda, Nasik, New Jalpaiguri, • A new scheme “House for All” to be launched, to provide residences to all railway employees in the New Azadpur and Singur as pilot projects. next ten years with the help of Ministry of Urban Development. • To set up a refrigerated container factory on PPP mode at Budge Budge. • MOU entered with Ministry of Health and Ministry of Human Resource Development for setting up Freight Business of hospitals and educational institutions on surplus railway land. • A modified wagon investment scheme for high capacity general purpose and special purpose wagons • To set up about 522 hospitals and diagnostic centres, 50 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 10 residential schools to be introduced. on the pattern of Navodaya Vidyalaya, model degree colleges and technical and management institutions of national importance to benefit railway employees and their children. • Private operators to be permitted to invest in infrastructure and run special freight train.

• To set up 50 crèches for children of women employees and 20 hostels. Railways will also provide • To set up automobile and ancillary hubs at 10 locations. more numbers of community centres and stadia. Carbon Footprint • Contribution to Staff Benefit Fund to be enhanced to Rs 500 per employee. • Railways to distribute 2.6 million CFLs to railway employees.

149 150 • To introduce ten rakes with green toilets and install on diesel locomotives a GPS-based optimised • Additional budgetary support of Rs 3701 cr sought for 11 National Projects. driver guidance system. • Surveys for 114 socially desirable projects connecting backward areas to be taken up. • To set up 10 Rail Eco-parks to conserve, protect and promote Railways’ wetlands and forest areas. • 54 Surveys for new lines, 2 for gauge conversion, 7 for doubling and 5 others to be taken up. Other Projects • Master Plan for the development of rail infrastructure in the Northeast region to be drawn up in • Preliminary Engineering-cum-Traffic Survey (PETS) to be taken up for north-south, east-west, east- consultation with the Northeast Development Council and the state authorities concerned. south and south-south DFCs. • 1021 km of New Lines to be completed. 9 new new line projects announced. • Six high speed passenger corridors identified, to be executed through PPP mode. To set up a National • High Speed Rail Authority for planning, standard setting, implementing and monitoring these 800 km of gauge conversion and 700km of doubling targeted. projects. • Several projects being taken up on cost sharing basis with State Governments and on PPP mode. • To provide rail link between Akhaura on Bangladesh side and Agartala on Indian side. Concessions • To new Railway projects viz., Jogbani (India) – Biratnagar (Nepal) new line and Jaynagar (India) – • Technicians of regional film industry when travelling for film production related work to be eligible Bijalpur (Nepal) gauge conversion with extension upto Bardibas(Nepal) have been taken up to for 75% concession in Second Sleeper and 50% concession in higher classes in all trains. improve transport infrastructure between the two countries. • Cancer patients going for treatment to get 100% concession in 3 AC and Sleeper Class Financial Performance in 2009-10. • 50% concession to spouse of the correspondents extended to the companion of those correspondents • Loading target of 882 MT likely to surpassed by 8 MT in 2009-10. who do not have a spouse, and dependent children up to 18 years. • Gross Traffic Receipts kept at Rs. 88,356 crore, i.e an increase of 10.7%. • Service charge on e-tickets to be reduced to Rs.10 for Sleeper Class and Rs.20 for AC Class. • The full impact of VI CPC fully absorbed within the Railway resources. • Reduction of Rs 100 per wagon in freight charges for food-grains for domestic use and kerosene. • The current dividend liability to be fully discharged. New Suburban services • Annual Plan kept at Rs 40,284 cr. • 101 new suburban services to be introduced in Mumbai area. More services to start in Chennai and Budget Estimates 2010-11. Kolkata areas.

• Freight loading targeted at 944 MT – an increment of 54 MT; number of passengers likely to grow by Special Trains 5.3 %. • Sanskriti Express to run across the country to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Kabiguru • Gross Traffic Receipts estimated at Rs. 94,765 crore, i.e Rs 6490 cr more than 2009-10. Rabindranath Tagore . It is also proposed to take this train to Bangladesh. • • The dividend payable to general revenues kept at Rs 6608 cr. Ladies special trains to be renamed as ‘Matrabhoomi specials’. • • Budgeted operating ratio 92.3%. 3 unreserved trains named as ‘Karambhoomi trains’ to be introduced. • Annual Plan 2010-11 A new weekly express train service ‘ Janmabhoomi express’ to start between Ahmedabad and Udhampur . • Highest ever Plan Outlay at Rs 41,426 cr., an increase of Rs 1142 cr over 2009-10. • Special tourist trains called “Bharat Tirth” to start on 16 routes. • New Lines – Rs 4411cr. • 6 long route Duronto trains and 4 short distance Duronto day trains to be introduced. • Passenger Amenities–Rs 1302 cr. Other New Train Services • Metro Projects – Rs 1001cr. • 54 new train services to be introduced.28 new passenger train services, 9 MEMU and 8 DEMU • Aquisition of 18000 wagons. services to start. Extension of 21 trains and increase in frequency of 12 trains announced.

151 152 INFLATION

REFERENCES INFLATION : The condition where money is in excess by the goods are less for consumption is called Inflation.

Food Inflation: 12.63 % THE BOOK OF FUTURE

Food Inflation is calculated on the base of Wholesale Price Index (WPI)

Fuel Inflation: 18.0 % Head Line Inflation: 10.16 %

Core Inflation: 6 % www.gktoday.in

RBI projected an inflation of 8.5 % in the year 2009-10 and projects an inflation of 5.5 % in the coming year 2010-11. www.competitionmaster.com

ECONOMIC SURVEY Pratiyogitha Darpan What is Economic Survey?

Economic survey is an annual commentary on the state of the economy of India which is put together by Finance Ministry of India. It is a document which presents economic development during the course of the The Hindu year. The draft of the survey is prepared by Department of Economic Affairs and cleared by Chief economic Advisor and the secretary Economic Affairs. The final version is vetted by Finance secretary and Finance Minister.

When an Economic Survey is presented?

Economic survey is presented every year shortly before presenting the Union Budget of govt. of India, or just after the railway budget. Out of the 10 to 11 chapters presented, the first chapter which is titled “State of the Economy and prospects” deals in detail with overall macroeconomic performance of the country.

What is the objective of an Economic Survey?

An economic Survey provides an opportunity for the government of India to spell out its economic agenda. The govt. also represents its issues and priorities.

153 154

The Book Of Future