January1 of 91. 2013

International affairs:

 US President Barack Obama on 31 January, has come out with his much-awaited comprehensive

immigration reforms, that will pave the way for legalization of more than 11 million

undocumented immigrants. The reforms, which also propose to eliminate the annual country caps in the

employment category, are expected to benefit large number of Indian technocrats and professionals. In a major

policy speech on comprehensive immigration in Las Vegas, Obama urged the Congress to act on his proposals.

The other key proposals of his "comprehensive" reform plan include "stapling" a green card to the diplomas of

science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), PhD and Masters Degree graduates from qualified US

universities who have found employment in the country. The President also proposed to create a startup visa for

job-creating entrepreneurs. The proposal allows foreign entrepreneurs, who attract financing or revenue from

American investors and customers, to start and grow their businesses in the US, and to remain permanently if

their companies grow further, create jobs for American workers, and strengthen the economy. The proposal

removes the backlog for employment-sponsored immigration by eliminating annual country caps and adding

additional visas to the system. Outdated legal immigration programs are reformed to meet current and future

demands by exempting certain categories from annual visa limitations, the White House said. Obama also

proposed to eliminate existing backlogs in the family-sponsored immigration system by recapturing unused visas

and temporarily increasing annual visa numbers. The proposal also raises existing annual country caps from

seven per cent to 15 per cent for the family-sponsored immigration system.

 India dropped nine places to 140th rank in the list of 179 countries in the latest World Press

Freedom Index 2013, which is the lowest since 2002. India got this lowly rank because of increasing impunity

for violence against journalists and internet censorship. Netherlands, Norway and Finland topped the list.

The Press Freedom Index was released by world Press Freedom index for the year 2013. China got

173rd rank. Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were placed at the bottom of the list as has been in the last

three years. As per the Press index report, there has been a decline in freedom of information in South Asia and

the Indian subcontinent among Asia witnessed the sharpest deterioration in providing freedom and security for

those involved in news reporting in 2012. In India considered as the world's biggest democracy, the authorities

insist on censoring the Web and impose numerous kinds of restrictions, while violence against journalists was not

punished and the regions like Kashmir and Chhattisgarh are getting increasingly isolated. 1 www.tnpsctamil.in 1 of 91.  Iran on 2 February, has unveiled a new home-made2 of 91. combat aircraft, which Iran officials say it can

evade radar. The single-seat Qaher F313 (Dominant F313) is the latest design produced by Iran's military

since it launched the Azarakhsh (Lightning), in 2007. President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad said it had "almost all the

positive features" of the world's most sophisticated jets.

 China on 3 february, has given a political role to Mo Yan,the 2012 winner of Nobel prize for

literature and movie star Jackie Chan by selecting them as members of one of the houses of

parliament, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. They are among the 2,237 persons

handpicked by China's new leaders led by Xi Jinping as new members of the CPPCC National Committee. The

CPPCC members, who are from different walks of life were selected without an election process and include 893

members of the Communist Party. Those chosen include officials, military officers, members of non-Communist

parties, along with representatives from economic, political, cultural, social and environmental fields.

 India on 30 January pledged a donation of $2.5 million as humanitarian assistance for over two million Syrians

displaced by the ongoing conflict in the country. The announcement was made by Minister of State for External

Affairs E. Ahamed at an international conference of donors on Syria held in Kuwait, inaugurated by UN Secretary

General Ban Ki-moon. The Indian minister said the conference was an important initiative of the UN to support

the humanitarian needs of the Syrian people. The Indian assistance could be in the form of life saving drugs, food

and other essential items. At the same time, Minister Ahamed expressed India's opposition to foreign military

intervention in Syria. He said at a reception hosted by the Indian mission in Kuwait that India wanted the people

of Syria to decide their own future. Some 60,000 people have been killed since the conflict between the

government of Bashar al-Assad and US-backed opposition groups determined to topple him began nearly two

years ago. Some four million Syrians in Syria are in need of food, shelter and other aid, according to UN figures.

More than 700,000 have escaped to Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. India has closely followed the

developments in Syria and is "deeply concerned" about the hardships and sufferings of the people of Syria as a

result of violence in the country. At the meeting, the UN chief said the situation in Syria was catastrophic and

getting worse. Ban urged warring factions in Syria to end the violence. He said Syria's problem can be resolved

only politically. He urged the international community to donate liberally to raise $1.5 billion to provide

humanitarian assistance to the displaced Syrians. Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed announced $300 million

contribution while the US pledged $155 million. The new commitment will bring the total US assistance to $365

million, making it the single largest donor.

2 www.tnpsctamil.in 2 of 91.  Milos Zeman became Czech Republic’s first directly3 of 91. elected President as per the Czech Republic Presidential

election results declared on 25 January 2013. He won 55 percent as compared with 45 percent of Karel

Schwarzenberg. Milos Zeman is the former Prime Minister of Czech Republic and head of the Party of Civic

Rights-Zemanovci (SPOZ) while Karel Schwarzenberg is foreign minister in the present centre-right coalition

government. Zeman succeeds Vaclav Klaus as the President of Czech Republic.Milos Zeman is the first directly

elected President in Czech history (and overall third President), with the presidential elections held prior to 2013

all being decided internally by the senate. Prior to this, he served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from

1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party during the 1990s, he transformed it into one of the

country's major political parties. He was also the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies- the lower house of the

Czech parliament- from 1996 to 1998.

 Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi announced emergency as well as curfew in three main cities of Egypt on 27

January 2013. Emergency and curfew was declared by the Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in three main

cities, i.e., Suez, Ismailia and Port Said because of increasing violence and protests in the streets. The violence

posed serious threats to Morsi’s government as well as the democracy of Egypt. It is important to note that the

three major cities sit on the economically crucial Suez Canal. The state of emergency was imposed for one month

in three major cities of Egypt. Under the Mubarak-era laws which are in-effect to the Egypt’s new constitution,

under the state of emergency, the ordinary judicial process as well as most of the civil rights is suspended. Also,

the state of emergency imparts extraordinary powers to the police and the President.

 The balance in cash-strapped Zimbabwe's government public account stood at just 217 dollars, Finance Minister

Tendai Biti told the press on 30 January. Biti, claiming some of civil servants had healthier bank balances than the

state, told journalists that last week after paying salaries to them there was only 217 dollars left in government

coffers. He said that the government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment, adding that they were

failing to meet their targets. Zimbabwe's economy went into free-fall at the turn of the millennium, after President

Robert Mugabe began seizing white-owned farms. The move demolished investor confidence in the country,

paralyzed production, prompted international sanctions and scared off tourists. After more than a decade, in

which the country suffered hyper-inflation of 231 million percent and infrastructure that crumbled as quickly as

prices went up, the situation is now more stable. But public finances remain a mess and local business battles

against unstable electricity supplies, lack of liquidity and high labour costs. Zimbabwe's government has warned it

does not have enough money to fund a constitutional referendum and elections expected this year. Biti said that

3 www.tnpsctamil.in 3 of 91. left no choice but to ask the donors for cash. Government's4 of 91. national budget for this year stands at $3.8bn and the

economy is projected to grow five percent.

 A business tycoon from Taiwan with interests mainly in China declared on 28 January 2013 that he was funding

the Asia's Nobel Prizes for outstanding achievements in natural and social sciences. Samuel Yin, the head of

Ruentex Group announced that he would establish Tang Prize Foundation which would have an initial donation of

103 million dollar. Tang Prize Foundation, which uses the name of Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), is valued by the

Chinese for cultural as well as scientific achievements. It was decided that the prizes under the Tang Prize

Foundation will be awarded every alternate year to the international leaders in sustainable development,

biopharmaceutical science, and the rule of law as well as the study of China. Samuel Yin declared that these

categories were kept in the new awards because the Nobels, which are 118 years old, did not include these fields.

He also opined that these categories had high importance for the humanity. The prizes under the Tang Prize

Foundation will commence from 2014. The winners of the prize would be entitled to receive 1.7 million US dollar.

Nobel prizes award 1.2 million US dollar to the awardees. The winners of the Tang Prize will be nominated as well

as screened by the special committees which in turn would be established by the Academia Sinica, the highly

prestigious research organization of Taiwan.

 Dutch Queen Beatrix announced on 28 January that she would step down in April after nearly 33 years on the

Dutch throne, which means her son Willem-Alexander is set to become the country's first king since the 19th

century. "Responsibility for our country must now lie in the hands of a new generation," the monarch said in a

brief televised address. Beatrix recalled she is about to turn 75 and this is "the moment to lay down my crown" in

favour of Crown Prince Willem-Alexander, 45. The queen's first-born has been married since 2002 with Argentine

investment banker Maxima Zorreguieta, with whom he has three daughters. The couple is the most popular

figures in the Dutch royal family. Beatriz was married in 1966 to the German Claus van Amsberg, who died in

2002. The second of their three sons, Prince Friso, has been in a coma since February 2012, when he was buried

under an avalanche in Austria.

 US Senate panel approves John Kerry for secretary of state

Veteran Senator John Kerry, known for his relationship-building skills, is all set to replace Hillary Clinton as the

new US Secretary of State after the Senate overwhelmingly confirmed his nomination. 69-year-old Kerry,

currently the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has been a close confidant of

President Barack Obama on foreign policy issues especially on the volatile Af-Pak region. The nomination of 4 www.tnpsctamil.in 4 of 91. Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran, was confirmed on5 28of January91. by 94-3, with all three negative votes coming from

Republican Senators James Inhofe, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, who is Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus. This

is the first Cabinet selection during Obama's second term to be confirmed by the Senate. Senator Robert

Menendez, incoming Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Kerry was the best choice

to head the State Department.

 A record one billion tourists took international trips last year, says a report published on 29 January by the UN

World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The figure showed a four-percent rise from that in 2011, Xinhua

reported. Around 1.03 billion tourists visited foreign countries, 39 million more than in 2011, the report said. The

strongest growth was seen in the Asia and Pacific region with a seven-percent rise in international tourism last

year, taking the total number of arrivals to 233 million. Despite the ongoing economic crisis, the region is

expected to see higher-than-average growth in 2013 at 5-6 percent. Europe was still the most-visited region in the

world with 535 million arrivals, while North-East Asia and Central America each saw a six-percent growth in

international tourism. "Tourism is thus one of the pillars that should be supported by governments around the

world as part of the solution to stimulating economic growth," UNWTO General Secretary Taleb Rifai was quoted

as saying. Tourists spent more while travelling last year. Hong Kong was the best performer, seeing increase of

receipts by 16 percent, followed by a 10-percent rise in the US and a six-percent rise in Britain, which was partly

due to the 2012 London Olympics. The importance of China as a source market was highlighted by a 42-percent

rise in expenditure by Chinese tourists. There was also a 31-percent rise in spending from Russians travelling

abroad. International tourism in the US and Canada both grew by seven percent, while the biggest losers turned

out to be France and Italy where tourism dropped by seven and two percent respectively.

 The Fourth Meeting of ASEAN and India Tourism Minister was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 21

January, in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2013. The Meeting was jointly co-chaired by Union

Tourism Minister K.Chiranjeevi and Prof. Dr. Bosengkham Vongdara, Minister of Information, Culture and

Tourism, Lao PDR. Both the Ministers signed the Protocol to amend the Memorandum of

Understanding between ASEAN and India on Strengthening Tourism Cooperation, which would

further strengthen the tourism collaboration between ASEAN and Indian national tourism organisations. The

main objective of this Protocol is to amend the MoU to protect and safeguard the rights and interests of the parties

with respect to national security, national and public interest or public order, protection of intellectual property

rights, confidentiality and secrecy of documents, information and data. Both the Ministers welcomed the adoption

of the Vision Statement of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held on 20 December 2012 in New Delhi,

5 www.tnpsctamil.in 5 of 91. India, particularly on enhancing the ASEAN Connectivity6 of 91. through supporting the implementation of the Master

Plan on ASEAN Connectivity. The Ministers also supported the close collaboration of ASEAN and India to

enhance air, sea and land connectivity within ASEAN and between ASEAN and India through ASEAN-India

connectivity project. In further promoting tourism exchange between ASEAN and India, the Ministers agreed to

launch the ASEAN-India tourism website (www.indiaasean.org) as a platform to jointly promote tourism

destinations, sharing basic information about ASEAN Member States and India and a visitor guide.

 The Russian Navy on 20 January, has begun its biggest war games in the high seas in decades that

will include manoeuvres off the shores of Syria. Officials say, more than two dozen ships drawn from all four

fleets, as well as long-range warplanes, will conduct nine-day exercises in the Mediterranean and Black seas. It is

the largest naval manoeuvres since the collapse of the Soviet Union.The purpose is to improve coordination

among different naval groups during missions in “far-away sea zones”.Experts suggested the exercises would serve

to project Russia’s naval power to a highly explosive region and render moral support for the embattled regime of

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Russia leases a naval base at the Syrian port of Tartous. The naval manoeuvres

will involve training for landing operations on the Syrian shore, informed sources told Russia’s Interfax news

agency. Moscow may also be preparing for possible evacuation of thousands of Russian nationals from war-torn

Syria, experts said. About 9,000 Russians are registered with the Russian Embassy in Damascus, but their total

number may well exceed 30,000.

 Barack Obama was sworn in as the President of the country for the second term on 20 January

2013. The oath-taking ceremony was held in the White House East Room by Justice John Roberts. Obama took

oath as the President of the country on the family Bible. On 21 January 2013, Obama repeated oath-taking process

on those Bibles which were used by Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln because 20 January 2013 was an

official holiday in the US. Apart from Obama, in yet another ceremony, Vice-president Joseph Biden administered

this oath-taking by associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Barack Obama became the first mixed-race president who

was elected for second consecutive term. Also, Barack Obama is the third consecutive president to win two terms,

after Bush and Clinton. This had happened two centuries ago earlier when Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and

James Monroe were elected for two terms each between the time periods of 1801 to 1825.

 China, the world's second largest economy, grew 7.8% in 2012, a 13-year low, National Bureau of

Statistics (NBS) announced on 19 January. In 2010, economy grew 10.4%.NBS does not see any significant

improvement this year when China's new leader, Xi Jinping, will take over as president as part of a once a decade 6 www.tnpsctamil.in 6 of 91. political change. The earlier low point was in 19997 ofwhen 91. GDP grew 7.6%. The numbers released by NBS is bound

to cause pessimism among economists, who were expecting China to give a fillip to the world economy, which is

facing a slowdown. But, China has fared much better than leading economies with its GDP reaching $8.28 trillion

and cementing its position as the second biggest economy.

 The war crimes tribunal trying those accused of committing atrocities during the Bangladesh

liberation war in 1971 pronounced its first verdict on 21 January, awarding death sentence to a former

Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. Maulana Azad, best known as ‘Bachchu Razakar’, was the

leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. He went into hiding a few hours

before the war crimes tribunal issued an arrest warrant against him on April 3 last year. On November 4, Azad

was indicted on eight charges based on eight incidents that left at least 12 people, mostly minority Hindus, dead

and in which several Hindu women were raped, during the 1971 war. He was convicted on seven of the charges

and sentenced to death by hanging. The much-awaited verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal-2

was passed by chairman of the three-member panel Justice Obaidul Hassan. The summary of the 112-

page verdict was pronounced in a packed court amid tight security. Liberation War veterans have expressed

satisfaction over the verdict and National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman called for early

execution of the order.

 Two American Senators on 25 January, have introduced a legislation in the name of Malala

Yousafzai, a Pakistani peace activist who was shot by the Taliban, to provide scholarship to girls from

Pakistan. Introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer and Mary Landrieu, the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act

is designed to expand scholarship opportunities for disadvantaged young women in Pakistan. The

bill would require a 30 per cent increase in the number of scholarships awarded under the programme for the next

four years, and that these awarded solely to women. It would also expand the range of academic disciplines that

recipients could pursue to improve graduates’ chances of obtaining meaningful employment.

 Russia will ban smoking in public places, hike tobacco taxes and restrict the sale of cigarettes

from mid-2014 to cut the alarmingly high rate of deaths from smoking-related diseases. A law approved by the

State Duma, Lower House, on 25 January, in the second of three readings calls for an immediate ban on all

tobacco advertising and kiosk sales and the phasing out of smoking in all bars and restaurants, in medical, sports,

educations and cultural institutions by January 1, 2015. It will be against the law to smoke at children’s

playgrounds, in the halls and stairways of apartment houses. 7 www.tnpsctamil.in 7 of 91.  Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley8 of was91. on 24 January, sentenced to 35 years in prison

by a U.S. court for masterminding the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The sentence will be followed by

five years supervised release. While the U.S. government admitted the “deplorable” nature of his role in the 26/11

attacks, the prosecution had pressed for a sentence of 30-35 years under a plea bargain with Headley in return for

his cooperation. The death penalty and extradition options were dropped. Pronouncing the sentence in

Chicago , U.S. federal district court judge Harry Leinenweber said he had to consider that Headley had

committed numerous crimes in the past, confessed to them and received lenient sentences.

 A British human rights lawyer is to lead a U.N. inquiry into the legality of American drone attacks

and their impact on civilians in Pakistan, Afghanistan and several other countries. Ben

Emmerson, QC, who will head a team of international experts in his capacity as a U.N. Special

Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism, said in London on 22 January that the “exponential’’ rise in

the use of drone technology represented “a real challenge to the framework of international law”. The inquiry,

which will examine 25 attacks in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Palestinian territories and Somalia, follows

anger over the loss of innocent civilian lives. Critics have called them “extra-judicial’’ killings. According to the

London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, American drone attacks in Pakistan since 2004 had killed up

to 3,461 people, including nearly 900 civilians. Mr. Emmerson said the U.N. had decided to investigate the

complaints as a “final resort’’ because America and its allies who should have done so had not done it.

 Switzerland will be able to provide banking and other details sought by other countries, including India, from next

month about a 'group of persons' even without their individual identification, provided the information has not

been requested as part of some 'fishing expedition'. A new Tax Administrative Assistance Act will come into force

on February 1 and the Switzerland’s Federal Council has passed a resolution to this effect.

 The US military will formally end its ban on women serving in front-line combat roles, officials said on 23

January, in a move that could open thousands of fighting jobs to female service members. The move knocks down

another societal barrier, after the Pentagon scrapped its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban in 2011 on gays and lesbians

serving openly in the military. The decision by outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is expected to be formally

announced on 24 January and comes after 11 years of non-stop war that has seen dozens of women killed in Iraq

and Afghanistan. They have represented around 2 percent of the casualties of those unpopular, costly wars, and

some 12 percent of those deployed for the war effort, in which there were often no clearly defined front lines, and

where deadly guerrilla tactics have included roadside bombs that kill and maim indiscriminately. "This is an 8 www.tnpsctamil.in 8 of 91. historic step for equality and for recognizing the 9role of women91. have, and will continue to play, in the defense of our

nation," said Democratic Senator Patty Murray from Washington, the outgoing head of the Senate Veterans

Affairs Committee.

 Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem was confirmed by his euro zone peers as president of the Euro group

on 21 January, a senior euro zone official said. The ministers, meeting in Brussels, appointed Dijsselbloem to take

over from Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker as the head of the influential group of policymakers, which

comprises the 17 finance ministers from the euro zone countries. Dijsselbloem told his colleagues he wanted to

move on from simply fighting crises and focus on longer-term policies to boost fledgling confidence and restore

growth, and that he saw an enhanced role for his new task.

 David Coleman Headley, the Pakistani-American and the mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attack 2008

was sentenced to 35 years in Prison on 24 January 2013 by a U.S. Court. The Court sentence would be followed by

a five years of supervised release. The U.S. Federal District Court Judge Harry Leinenweber, who said that

Headley was a terrorist, pronounced the sentence and Headley committed numerous crimes but his confessions

turned up to be the reason that lenient sentences were issued for him. It was admitted by the U.S. Government

that the nature of role-played by Headley in 26/11 attacks were deplorable and the prosecution pressed for a

sentence of 30 to 35 years for him. The death penalty and extradition options were dropped because of the

cooperation shown by him. Headley, under a deal with U.S. Government supplied major information about the

terror suspects, which was really helpful in carrying on the investigation and bring defendants like Ilyas Kashmiri,

Tahawwur Rana and other Pakistan-based operatives under criminal charges. Justice Leinenweber in third week

of January 2013 sentenced 14 years in Jail to Tahawwur Rana, the Chicago based businessman and immigration

consultant for his alleged involvement in supporting the terrorist group from Pakistan, which worked with the

intelligence service of Pakistan and carried out the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks in 2008. He was also a convict for a

Denmark strike in a Jyllands-Posten – a Danish newspaper.

 Air India has been rated world's third least safe airline after China Airlines and TAM Airlines, according to a

report from a website that monitors plane crashes around the world. India's national carrier is ranked 58th among

60 listed airlines by Hamburg based Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC). Finn air is now the

world's safest airline, followed by Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific and Emirates, according to JACDEC Safety

Ranking 2012. None of the top nine ranked airlines had lost an aircraft or had a fatality during the 30-year period,

but many had also not been active for the full 30 years. Not one North American carrier made the top 10 list, but 9 www.tnpsctamil.in 9 of 91. none of them made the bottom 10 either. The centre10 of calculates 91. its annual rankings based on aircraft loss accidents

and serious incidents over the past 30 years. The resulting index relates that information to the revenue per

passenger kilometer earned by the airline over the same period. There were 496 fatalities on commercial

passenger flights last year, according to the report, two fewer than in 2011. The most significant involved a Dana

Air flight which crashed in Nigeria, killing 169 people, and a Bhoja Air flight which crashed in Pakistan, killing

127. 30 planes were destroyed and there were 44 "hull losses", or aircraft write-offs, one less than the previous

year.

 Thousands of demonstrators demonstrated in Moscow in freezing temperatures on 14 January,

against the law banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans. The ban, which President Putin

signed on New Year’s Eve, was rushed through the Kremlin-controlled Parliament in retaliation for the so-called

Magnitsky Act; a U.S. law that blacklists Russian officials accused of human rights violations. Up to 30,000

protesters marched through Moscow chanting “shame on the scum” and carrying the posters with the word

“shame” splashed across the portraits of Mr. Putin and legislators who voted for the adoptions ban. Over the past

two decades, more than 60,000 orphans have found new families in the U.S. Many of them are children with

disabilities, because they rarely get adopted into Russian families.

 Pakistan on 15 January plunged into a fresh political crisis with the Supreme Court ordering the

arrest of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf for allegedly receiving bribes in power projects.

Already rocked by fiery cleric Tahirul Qadri's ongoing protest seeking dissolution of provincial and national

assemblies, Pakistan appeared headed for uncertainty with the court setting a 24-hour deadline for authorities to

implement its arrest orders that may cost a second Prime Minister to lose office in less than a year. 62-year-old

Ashraf, who became Prime Minister after the exit of Yousuf Raza Gilani in June last year, has

been accused of receiving kickbacks and commission in the Rental Power Projects (RPPs) case as

federal minister for water and power. Gilani had to quit in the midst of a raging battle with the Supreme

Court over his refusal to write to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari there.

After Ashraf assumed power, the government wrote to Swiss authorities. It is not clear as to what will be the

political fallout of the Supreme Court's order against Ashraf as this is probably the first case of an incumbent

Prime Minister being ordered to be arrested in a corruption case. It remains to be seen whether the ruling PPP will

elect a new leader to replace Ashraf. In March last year, the Supreme Court had declared all contracts signed by

the government for "rental power plants" as illegal and directed authorities to take legal action against those

10 www.tnpsctamil.in 10 of 91. responsible for clearing the projects, including Ashraf.11 of 91. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the country's

main anti-corruption agency, had so far refused to act on the court's directive. Ashraf was Power Minister when

contracts were signed for several rental power projects, which were part of the PPP-led government's strategy to

overcome a crippling energy shortage.

 Delegations from some 140 countries agreed on 20 January gathered in Geneva, to adopt a

groundbreaking treaty limiting the use and emission of health-hazardous mercury, the U.N. said,

though environmental activists lamented it did not go far enough. The world’s first legally binding treaty on

mercury, reached after a week of thorny talks, will aim to reduce global emission levels of the toxic heavy metal,

also known as quicksilver, which poses risks to human health and the environment. The treaty has been

named the Minamata Convention on Mercury, in honour of the Japanese town where inhabitants for

decades have suffered the consequences of serious mercury contamination. The text will be signed in Minamata in

October and will take effect once it has been ratified by 50 countries — something organisers expect will take three

to four years. Mercury is found in products ranging from electrical switches, thermometers and light-bulbs, to

amalgam dental fillings and even facial creams. Large amounts of the heavy metal are released from small-scale

gold mining, coal-burning power plants, metal smelters and cement production. Serious mercury poisoning

affects the body’s immune system and development of the brain and nervous system, posing the greatest risk to

foetuses and infants. The treaty sets a phase out date of 2020 for a long line of products, including mercury

thermometers, blood pressure measuring devices, most batteries, and switches, some kinds of fluorescent lamps

and soaps and cosmetics. It, however, provides exceptions for some large medical measuring devices where no

mercury-free alternatives exist. Achim Steiner, U.N. Under-Secretary General and head of the U.N. Environment

Programme (UNEP), told reporters in Geneva that, the treaty “is a dynamic instrument”.

 The 2nd Health Ministers’ meeting of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa) concluded in New Delhi, India on January 11, with a strong call for strengthened cooperation in the

implementation of affordable, equitable and sustainable solutions for common health challenges. During his

opening remarks, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India, highlighted the

progress of the BRICS countries in the global AIDS response. “In India, we have reduced new HIV infections by

57% in the last decade, which puts us on track to halt and reverse the spread of HIV.” He was making reference to

reaching one key HIV-related development goal by 2015.Addressing the participants, UNAIDS Executive Director

Michel Sidibe emphasized the unique role of the BRICS countries to draw on their positive experience with HIV to

11 www.tnpsctamil.in 11 of 91. serve as an engine for innovation, research and12 development of 91. of health solutions for other developing countries.

Several of the other BRICS Ministers highlighted their national commitments to HIV and the need to create a

BRICS platform to enhance cooperation on global health, including HIV. The five BRICS countries represent 43%

of the global population, giving them a unique and growing role in contributing to global health. The meeting

adopted the Delhi Communiqué, which calls for the BRICS to renew efforts to face the continued challenge

posed by HIV. The Delhi Communiqué reiterated the commitment of the BRICS countries to “ensure that bilateral

and regional trade agreements do not undermine TRIPS flexibilities so as to assure the availability of affordable

generic antiretroviral drugs to developing countries.”At the closing of the meeting, it was announced that the

next BRICS Ministerial meeting will be hosted by South Africa in January 2014.

 India was ranked lowest among the world’s major economies for its preparedness to tackle global environmental

risks and second-lowest for economic risks, while Switzerland is on the top, a report said on 8 January. As per

the annual Global Risks Report published by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF), the

biggest global risk in terms of likelihood would be ‘severe income disparity’ for the next 10 years

and ‘major systemic financial failure’ will be the top-most risk before the world in terms of

impact. The report said that Switzerland is best placed among the world’s 10 major economies for

adapting to or recovering from global economic and environmental risks. While India is ranked ninth

in terms of its ability to tackle global economic risks and comes last at tenth position for environmental risks. Italy

is ranked lowest at tenth position for economic risks. The rankings of the 10 major economic of the world - Brazil,

China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, the UK and the US - are based on Global Risks

Perception Survey of over 1,000 experts from across the world. India fared relatively better at sixth position in

terms of the government’s risk management effectiveness, although it ranks second-lowest in terms of its global

competitiveness index score. The survey on risk management effectiveness found that Germany, Switzerland and

the UK are perceived by business leaders to have highest risk-management effectiveness, while Russia was seen as

having the least effective risk management. The US and China were ranked fourth and fifth respectively, while

those positioned below India on this metric included Italy, Brazil, Japan and Russia. Surveys were conducted

across a total of 139 countries. Taking into account the scores of all the countries, India was ranked 38th in terms

of its risk management effectiveness and 32nd for its resilience to global risks. Singapore was ranked on top in

both these surveys. Among the top-five global risks in terms of likelihood are: severe income

disparity, chronic fiscal imbalances, rising greenhouse emissions, water supply crises and

mismanagement of ageing population. On the other hand, water supply crises would be the second-biggest

12 www.tnpsctamil.in 12 of 91. global risk in terms of impact, followed by chronic13 fiscal of 91. imbalances, food shortage crises and diffusion of weapons

of mass destruction in the top five, the WEF report said.

 The Sultan of Malaysia's Selangor state on 9 January, has decreed that non-Muslims in the region

have been barred from using the word "Allah," saying it is a sacred word exclusive to Muslims.

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had expressed shock and regret over opposition DAP party's Secretary General Lim

Guan Eng's recent remarks urging the Malaysian Government to allow the word "Allah" to be used in the Malay

version of the Bible.Sources said the Sultan had stated that stern action could be taken against anyone who

questioned the 'fatwa' that was issued according to state laws. Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin

Yassin said that Sultan Sharafuddin had every right, as head of the State's Islamic affairs, to issue the decree.

 Barrack Obama, the US president signed into law the Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012

which extends life-time protection to the former American presidents as well as family which includes

the children till 16 years of age. The new Former Presidents Protection Act of 2012 also restores the lifetime Secret

Service protection of the former presidents who were not serving as the President before 1 January 1997, along

with their spouses.

 Indian-origin politician Halimah Yacob (58) is set to become the first woman Speaker of

Singapore’s Parliament replacing Michael Palmer, who was forced to quit over his extra-marital affair. Prime

Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 8 January, said he would nominate Ms. Halimah as the next Speaker when the

House sits on January 14, 2014.Ms. Halimah, a former labour lawyer, is a Member of Parliament from the ruling

People’s Action Party (PAP) and has extensive experience in the labour movement, social work and pre-school

education.

 Saudi King Abdullah appointed 30 women to the previously all-male consultative Shura Council in

decrees published on 11 January, marking a historic first as he pushes reforms in the ultra-

conservative kingdom. The decrees, published by the official SPA news agency, give women a 20-per-cent

quota in the Shura Council, a body appointed by the king to advise him on policy and legislation. King Abdullah

took the decisions following consultations with religious leaders in the kingdom, where women are subjected to

many restrictions and are not allowed to mix with men, according to the decrees published by the SPA. They

stipulate that men and women will be segregated inside the council, with a special area designated for females

who will enter through a separate door so as not to mix with their male colleagues. King Abdullah had been

13 www.tnpsctamil.in 13 of 91. carefully treading towards change, introducing 14municipal of 91. elections for the first time in Saudi Arabia in 2005.In

September 2011 he granted women the right to cast ballots and run as candidates in the next local

vote, set for 2015.

 Obama nominates Hagel as Defence Secy, Brennan as CIA chief

Revamping his national security team, US President Barack Obama on 7 January chose former Republican

Senator Chuck Hagel as his next defence secretary and nominated his top counter-terrorism adviser John

Brennan, who was involved in the planning of the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, as the next

CIA director. If confirmed by the Senate, 66-year-old Hagel would replace, defence secretary, Leon Panetta.

Brennan, 57, a former CIA analyst and CIA station head in Saudi Arabia before he joined the 2008 Obama

Campaign and then his administration, would replace Gen (rtd) David Petraeus, who resigned last year citing

extra-marital affairs. "To help meet the challenges of our time, I'm proud to announce my choice for two key

members of my national security team, Chuck Hagel for secretary of defence and John Brennan for director of the

Central Intelligence Agency," Obama said in an announcement made in the East Room of the White House.

 At least 61 people were crushed to death in a stampede outside a stadium in Ivory Coast's main

city of Abidjan after a New Year's Eve fireworks display. The incident took place near Felix Houphouet

Boigny Stadium where a crowd had gathered to watch fireworks, emergency officials said. Fire Chief Issa Sacko

said 61 people were now confirmed dead, with at least another 49 injured. President Alassane Ouattara, visiting

the scene and later injured people at a local hospital, called the incident a national tragedy and said an

investigation was under way to determine what happened. The incident was the worst of its kind in Abidjan since

2010, when a stampede at a stadium during a football match killed 18 people.

 The US Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation to stop a recession-threatening "fiscal

cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts on 1 January night, hours before financial markets reopen after

the New Year's holiday. The bill's passage on a 257-167 vote in the House of Representatives sealed a hard-won

political triumph for the president less than two months after he secured re-election while calling for higher taxes

on the wealthy.

 In a landmark ruling, a South Korean court, on 3 January, sentenced a 31-year-old pedophile to 15

years in jail and ordered the country’s first ever-chemical castration. The ruling is the first since the

country passed a law in 2011 that allows hormonal treatment or chemical castration for convicted child molesters,

14 www.tnpsctamil.in 14 of 91. who are at risk of repeating their crimes. The defendant,15 of 91. only known by his surname Pyo, was charged with having

sex with five teenagers, whom he met through a smartphone chat service, six times between November 2011 and

May 2012. Mr. Pyo then threatened to circulate the online video footage of them engaging in sexual acts and nude

photos of the minors. He also raped them threatening with deadly weapons The court also ordered that Mr. Pyo’s

information be made available to the public for 10 years and that he should wear an electronic monitoring anklet

for 20 years after his release from prison. Mr. Pyo was also ordered to undergo 200 hours of therapy to treat his

sexual impulses. South Korea was the first country in Asia to adopt this type of treatment, although

Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland and the U.S. state of California have used it for years. The

Seoul court’s verdict came at time when India is debating whether to introduce punishment like chemical

castration to check crimes against women in the wake of the horrific gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in Delhi, who

died in Singapore last month.

 China has launched a postage stamp for the upcoming "Year of Snake" depicting a reptile that carries a

bright pearl in its mouth in gratitude for the man who saved its life. The stamp is with a face value of 1.20 Yuan (19

cents). The snake is the sixth among the 12 Chinese zodiac signs.

 $100 M First Earthquake-Proof Hindu Temple of the World Opened Near Hollywood

One among the biggest Hindu temples in US, which is built at an enormous cost of 100 million dollar near

Hollywood city, Los Angeles was opened on 3 January 2013. The temple became an attraction for its majesty as

well as eco-friendly design ever since it was inaugurated on 23 December 2012. This is the 68th Swaminarayan

temple built by Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) by making use of the

35000 hand-carved Italian Carrara marble pieces as well as Indian Pink Sandstone. The temple is also said to be

the first earthquake-proof Hindu temple of the world and it is expected to standstill for 1000 years. Making use of

the state-of-the-art technology for providing it protection from the earthquakes, the temple includes two huge

domes, 122 pillars, five pinnacles, 129 archways and four balconies. The upper portion of the entire complex is

earthquake-proof because it is segregated from base with line of 40 base-isolator units. There are 6600 hand-

carved motifs which are a depiction of assortment of devotion, dedication and inspiration apart from historical

figures that showcase Hinduism. The temple is located on 20-acre site comprising of 91 foot pond that is lotus-

shaped, gymnasium, classrooms as well as Cultural Centre. For generating electricity, the temple makes use of the

solar power system. The temple in all is said to be an amalgamation of traditional stone art as well as architecture

along with modern technology.

15 www.tnpsctamil.in 15 of 91.  US President Barack Obama has signed into law16 a whopping of 91. $633 billion defence bill that authorises spending on

the war in Afghanistan and enhanced security for American missions worldwide. Obama in a signing statement

said that he was doing so to ensure that the US would continue to have the strongest military in the world. The

President, who is holidaying in Hawaii, said that he was clearing the bill even as he has strong reservations on

several provisions of National Defence Authorisation Act 2013. The White House had earlier threatened to veto

the bill. The bill provides the Department of Defence with a spending threshold of $633 billion for 2013, including

$527.4 billion for the Pentagon budget and a $88.5 billion for overseas operations.

National Affairs:

 The Union Cabinet on 31 January paved the way for further consideration of Lokpal legislation in

Parliament as it approved most of the modifications recommended by a Rajya Sabha Select

Committee on its draft Lokpal Bill. The Cabinet approved 14 of 16 recommendations made by the

committee. These include the mode of appointing the Lokpal and CBI director. The Cabinet, however, delinked

the Lokpal from the institution of Lokayukta at the state level. Contrary to provisions of the earlier draft, states

will continue to appoint Lokayuktas. The Cabinet accepted that the CBI director will be appointed by a

panel comprising the prime minister, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and the chief

justice of India. But it dropped related recommendation that CBI officials involved in probing cases under

Lokpal supervision will not be transferred by the government. Therefore, though the CBI will be under the Lokpal,

the government will have the authority to transfer them. The Cabinet decisions were announced by Minister of

State for Personnel V. Narayanasamy. Non-religious charitable institutions receiving government funds too will

come under the Lokpal purview, though the Upper House panel did not favour this. As per the decision, the

nine-member Lokpal will be selected by a panel comprising the prime minister, Lok Sabha

Speaker, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the chief justice of India and an eminent jurist

who will be in turn selected by the first four. The decision to leave out Lokayukta appointment came after

states vehemently opposed and accused the Centre of “usurping the rights of the states in the Lokayukta

appointment.” Owing to opposition, the controversial bill got stuck in the Upper House. After the enactment of the

bill by the Centre, states will have to appoint their Lokayuktas within a year.

 President Pranab Mukherjee on 3 February, gave his assent to the ordinance sharpening laws

against sexual assault, mandating harsher punishment like death penalty for offenders in cases where the

16 www.tnpsctamil.in 16 of 91. victim dies or is pushed into a persistent vegetative17 of state. 91. The amended law comes into force immediately. The

ordinance, which also introduced voyeurism, stalking, disrobing of women and acid attacks as specific offences

under the Indian Penal Code, was approved by the Union Cabinet on 1 February. Though the presidential assent

has brought the "changed" provisions of the law into force, the government will have to get it passed in Parliament

within six months. The President's assent to the ordinance came even as women's rights activists expressed

unhappiness over the provisions. They were upset over the government's refusal to recognize marital rape as an

offence, failure to hold command officers accountable for rapes by their subordinates and omission of rapes by

armed forces as a category. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 — comprising several

recommendations of the Justice (retired) JS Verma committee , was rushed through to beat the

notification of the budget session which is due to begin on February 21. Going beyond recommendations of

the Justice Verma committee, the ordinance has prescribed death penalty for cases of rape which

lead to the victim's death or pushes her into coma. It seeks to treat such cases as "rarest-of-rare" for which

courts can award capital punishment if they so decide. For such cases, the ordinance prescribes a minimum

sentence of 20 years which can be extended to imprisonment until the natural life of the convict, or death.

Brought against the backdrop of Nirbhaya's case, the ordinance changes various clauses in

existing criminal law by amending Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)

and the Evidence Act. The new provisions will be brought before Parliament as part of official amendments to

the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2012 which was introduced in December last year. The pending legislation is

currently being examined by a parliamentary standing committee.

 The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on 29 January, has constituted an Expert Committee

for the purpose of reviewing the institutional frame work of Prasar Bharati including its

relationship with Government, its continuing role as a public broadcaster and measures needed

to ensure technical up gradation of the organization. The composition of the Expert Committee is

as under the chairmanship of Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information

Infrastructure & Innovations. the other members are-Smt. Asha Swaroop, IAS (Retd.) and former Secretary to the

Govt. of India, Dr. B.K. Gairola, Mission Director (e-Governance), Sh. Shekhar Kapur, Member of the National

Innovation Council, Prof. M.P. Gupta, IIT Delhi

 Government of India on 31 January signed an agreement for a $100 million loan with Asian

Development Bank (ADB) as second tranche of Uttarakhand Urban Sector Development

17 www.tnpsctamil.in 17 of 91. Investment Program which will support rehabilitation18 of 91. and expansion of basic urban infrastructure in five

major urban centers of Uttarakhand and ensure sustainable municipal service delivery. The project will

supplement the urban infrastructure program already initiated under the first tranche in Dehradun, Haridwar

and Nainital and will be extended to cover in addition Haldwani, Roorkee and Ramnagar towns specially

for improving the water supply infrastructure that will benefit about 800,000 residents. A comprehensive

sewerage system will also be developed under the project, which will provide improved sanitation facilities to

about 100,000 residents of Roorkee town. The documents were signed by Dr. Anup Wadhawan, Joint Secretary,

Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of Government of India, Mr. Hun Kim, Country Director of ADB’s

India Resident Mission on behalf of ADB and Mr. M.H. Khan, Secretary (UD) on behalf of Government of

Uttarakhand. Smt. Radhika Jha, Project Director and Dr. Anwar A. Khan, Deputy Program Director from

Uttarakhand Government were the part of loan signing team. ADB based in Manila is dedicated to

reducing poverty in Asia and the Pacific through inclusive economic growth, environmentally

sustainable growth and regional integration. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members

 Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood superstar topped the inaugural Forbes India Celebrity 100 list.

The ranking was given based on the popularity as well as income of the biggest entertainers of India. Second on

the list was Salman Khan and MS Dhoni followed in the third position. The special edition of Forbes India judged

in eight different categories, i.e., directors, film actors, TV personailities, models, comedians, sports stars, authors

and singers/musicians. Even though Salman Khan and MS Dhoni were ahead in the ranking in terms of

popularity, in comparison to SRK, but the Bollywood King ranked high because of his earning, most of which

came from the brand endorsements. According to the Forbes India estimates, the total earning of SRK

from October 2011 and September 2012 was 202.8 crore Rupees. In comparison to SRK’s, Salman’s

earning was 144.2 crore Rupees, while that of Dhoni was 135.16 crore. In the list of top 10 celebrities were Akshay

Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Sachin Tendulkar, Kareena Kapoor, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli and Katrina Kaif.

The list prepared by Forbes India is meant to rank most powerful Indians in media as well as entertainment

sector. Among the sportspersons, MS Dhoni, the captain of India cricket team grabbed the top most position. In

the category of singer/musicians, AR Rahman led the pack. Malaika Arora Khan was declared as the leading TV

personality. On the other hand, Karan Johar was listed as the most powerful director. The youngest celebrity in

the list of Forbes India was Saina Nehwal, aged 23 years.

18 www.tnpsctamil.in 18 of 91.  Chief Justice’s recommended19 of 91. for 3 NE states

The Supreme Court collegium has recommended three Chief Justices for the proposed High Courts in the

northeastern states of Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya, officials said here on 27 January. The three High Courts

are likely to start functioning in March after completion of necessary formalities. "We have heard that the

Supreme Court collegium has recommended the names of three Chief Justices to the Union ministry of Law and

Justice," Datamohan Jamatia, secretary, Tripura Law Department, told. "Now the law and justice ministry

through the Prime Minister would send the recommendations to the president for the appointment and

notification of the three chief justices," he said. As per the suggestions of the Supreme Court collegium, Justice T

Meena Kumari, a judge of the Patna High Court, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, is being elevated as the chief

justice of Meghalaya.Justice Deepak Gupta, who hails from Himachal Pradesh is being elevated as the Chief

Justice of Tripura, and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre, a judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, is being appointed

as the Chief Justice of Manipur.

 The Supreme Court on 21 January, banned tourists from taking the Andaman Nicobar Trunk

Road that passes through the area where the Jarawas live. The road is used to reach the Limestone Cave.

The court has already banned all commercial and tourism activities within a five-km radius of the Jarawa Tribal

Reserve on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and H.L. Gokhale passed the

order, taking on record the Andaman and Nicobar Administration’s January 17 notification to comply with the

court directives issued last year. Except 30 villages notified in the schedule, the notification declares a buffer zone

the area up to a five-km radius, adjacent and contiguous to the Jarawa Tribal Reserve Area ,starting from the

Constance Bay in South Andaman to Lewis Inlet Bay in Middle Andaman. No person shall operate any

commercial or tourist establishment directly or indirectly in the buffer zone. Furthermore, no one shall carry out

any activity, which may be prejudicial to the safety, security and interests of the Jarawas in any of the settlement

villages. The Bench directed that only government officials, persons residing in the reserve and vehicles carrying

essential commodities for the Jarawas would be allowed on the Trunk Road.

 A special CBI court on 22 January, sentenced former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash

Chautala and his son Ajay Chautala to ten years rigorous imprisonment for illegal selection of

over 3,000 junior basic trained (JBT) primary school teachers in 1999-2000 by replacing the original

selection lists compiled from 18 Haryana districts with fake ones. Special Judge Vinod Kumar sentenced eight

others including Mr. Chautala’s political advisor Sher Singh Badshami, his former OSD Vidya Dhar, and the

19 www.tnpsctamil.in 19 of 91. former Haryana Director of Primary Education 20Sanjeev of 91. Kumar to ten years’ rigorous imprisonment. One person

was sentenced to five years and 44 others were sentenced to four years in prison.

 The government on 24 January, said it will set up a committee to look into the allegations that US

retail giant Walmart indulged in lobbying activities in India to gain entry in the country's market.

Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot said the government will set up a committee to look into the matter. As per

the proposal, the government will set up one-man commission to be headed by a retired High Court Chief Justice

or a judge. The move comes over a month after the proceedings of Parliament during the Winter Session were

paralysed over the allegations that the US retail giant indulged in lobbying here to gain entry into the Indian

market. According to the proposal of the Corporate Affairs Ministry, the Commission, to be set up under the

Commission of Inquiry Act, 1951, will submit its report within three months of its constitution. The Terms of

Reference include probe into "recent media reports regarding their lobbying activities" and "whether Wal-Mart

undertook any activity in India in contravention of any Indian law". Under the Commission of Inquiry Act, it is

obligatory on part of the government to table the probe report as well as the action report in Parliament.

 24 January is celebrated as the National Girl Child Day every year by the Government of India with an

objective to raise consciousness of Indian society towards the girl children. The Women and Child Development

Ministry observed National Girl Child Day on 24 January 2013. 24 January is celebrated as the National Girl Child

Day every year since 2008 by the Government of India. The primary objective of the National Girl Child Day is

raising awareness and consciousness of the society towards the girl child. The primary aim is to ensure that every

girl is respected and valued in Indian society. On this day, the Women and Child Development Ministry take up

multi-pronged approach for addressing as well as working towards the trend of diminishing child sex ratio in

India. The initiatives like these ensure that girl child is born as well as nurtured in a way that it gives them equal

opportunities as well as rights like those to the boys. On the National Girl Child Day, the aim is to address issues

related to health, education and nutrition of the girl child. The State's Women and Child Development

Department instructed the District Programme Officers of various states of India to organise programmes for the

National Girl Child Day.

 The Election Commission of India celebrated the 3rd National Voters’ Day across the country on 25

January 2013. The theme for the 3rd NVD is “Inclusion”. NVD functions were held at more than 6.5 lakh

locations across the country covering nearly all 8.5 lakh Polling Stations. Around 46000 Educational Institutions

also celebrated National Voters’ Day. Around 4867 Youth Voter Festivals have been held across the states to 20 www.tnpsctamil.in 20 of 91. engage youth in the registration process. The National21 of 91. Function to mark the 3rd National Voters’ Day was held at

Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. 25th January is also the foundation day of the Commission, which came into

being on this day in 1950. The Commission’s objective through NVD is to increase enrolment of voters, especially

of the newly eligible ones, to make universal adult suffrage a complete reality. The National Voters’ Day is also

utilized to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

 The West Bengal Government on 22 January 2013, the day of Neta Ji Subhash Chandra Bose’s birth

anniversary, declared that it would give a heritage status to his ancestral house at Kodalia in South

24 Parganas district. The Government also announced that if the need arises to acquire the land, than it is also

ready to do so.

 Kalyan Singh, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on 21 January 2013 merged his Jan Kranti Party

with Bhartiya Janta Party. Singh merged his party with BJP during the Atal Shankhnaad Rally of BJP in

Lucknow’s Jhelum Park. He himself was unable to join the party himself as he is an independent MP from Etah

Constituency and before joining the party it is required for him to resign from the membership of the house as it is

an electoral cause under anti-defection law. His resignation from the Parliament would have created a space for

by-elections for the Etah Seat. Kalyan Singh left BJP before the Lok Sabha Elections of 2009 due to the differences

with the senior leaders of BJP.

 India celebrated its 64th Republic Day on 26 January 2013. Unfurling of National flag, the rich cultural

heritage, and nation's achievements in various fields were the highlights of Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in

Delhi. The impressive march-past was watched by Chief Guest, King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel

Wangchuk. The Army showcased its impressive weaponry which included main battle tank- ARJUN, Super

Sonic Cruise Missile Brahmos Weapon System and Multi Barrel Rocket System -Pinaka. Display of above 5000

kilometer range Agni-V missile, Mobile Integrated Network Terminal and mini version of INS Vikramaditya

also remained the centre of attraction during the function. 19 tableaux from various States and Central Ministries

also mesmerized the spectators.

 The Justice Verma panel, which is a 3-member commission created to review the laws for sexual

crimes submitted the report to the Government of India on 23 January 2013. Justice Verma panel was

created after the brutal gang rape of the Para-medical student on 16 December 2012. Former Chief Justice of

India, Justice JS Verma headed the commission and reviewed the laws on sexual crimes which exist already. The

21 www.tnpsctamil.in 21 of 91. report was prepared by the panel in its 30-day22 deadline. of 91. The former CJI described that there were more than

80000 suggestions from the length and breadth of India as well as abroad after 5 January 2013 was declared as

the deadline for receiving comments from common man in order to refurbish the present legislation that deals

with the sex offenders. The Justice Verma panel recognised failure of governance as primary cause of

sexual crimes. The panel additionally criticised the police, government and also the public for the lack of

interest and also recommended changes in the entire society.

 Some of the changes described by the Justice Verma panel are as follows:

o There is a need for overall wide spectrum of law for violence against the women.

o It is important to address even the placid sexual harassment and that every complaint of sexual

harassment should be registered.

o Anyone committing rape shall be given rigorous imprisonment which may range from seven years to life

term.

o Crimes like gang rape shall entail punishment ranging from not less than 20 years to whole life of the

convict.

o Gang-rape causing death of the victim shall amount to life imprisonment for the convict.

o The panel also mentioned in its report the Khap panchayat mentioning that Khaps were unconstitutional

and they had no right to declare the marriage invalid.

o In order to preserve the rules of law, there is a need for police reforms as well.

o The Panel suggested that Law enforcement agencies should not work as slaves of the political masters.

o All the marriages should be registered, while making sure that there was no demand for dowry.

o Minor children trafficking should be considered as a serious offence.

o Trafficking should be made punishable with imprisonment ranging from not less than 7 years to 10 years.

o In case, a police officer or a public servant is involved in child trafficking, it should be dealt with in a

stricter manner than usual.

 Union Home Ministry issued Strict Guidelines for Regulating Surrogacy in India

The Union Home Ministry in India issued stricter guidelines for those visas which are used by the foreign

nationals interested in surrogacy. This is said to be the archetypical step by the Home Ministry to regulate

surrogacy in India. The new guidelines indicated that single foreigners as well as the gay couples would not be

eligible for having the Indian surrogate. Only those foreign man and woman, who are married for at least two

years, would be granted the visas. The Union Home Ministry stated that they had noticed a few foreign nationals

22 www.tnpsctamil.in 22 of 91. visiting India for the purpose of surrogacy on their23 of tourist 91. visa, which is not appropriate. Back in July 2012, the

Union Ministry of Home Affairs had decided in the circular sent to foreign embassies that the foreigners were

entitled to enter India for surrogacy only on their medical visas and no other kind of visas. Also, it was mandatory

for the foreign nationals to fulfill a few criterions. The circular was notified on 17 December 2012 by the Foreign

Regional Registration Office in Mumbai and was also sent to the fertility clinics. The guidelines are issued when

the legislation for regulating the fertility clinics is waiting for tabling in the Parliament. This legislation is called

the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill 2010.

 Andhra Pradesh SCSP and TSP Act came into effect on 25 January. A gazette notification has been issued to the

effect after Governor ESL Narasimhan signed the papers. With this, Andhra Pradesh becomes the first state in the

country to give effect to such Act. The Bill was passed in both the A P Legislative Assembly and Council in

December 2012. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who participated in the Jaipur Chinthan Shivir, urged the

AICC to bring such an Act at national level for the uplift of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the country. It is

expected that the provisions of the Act would make available an additional amount of about Rs 3,000 crore every

year for SCSP and another Rs 1,200 crore for TSP. There are three salient features of the SC Sub-Plan (SCSP) and

Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) -- Earmarking of funds for the SCs and STs in proportion to their population, giving the

funds to a nodal agency and appointing a separate Finance Secretary to release the funds allocated to SCSP and

TSP. The recommendation of the Sub-Committee to establish an ombudsman to monitor utilization of funds was

not accepted since there is the Lokayukta to handle complaints and the nodal agency, comprising ministers in

charge of concerned portfolios, to oversee the implementation.

 The 8th Annual Status of Education Report, ASER 2012 was released in New Delhi on 17 January by

the Minister of Human Resource Development, Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju. Speaking on the occasion the Hon’ble

Minister said that the focus of the current 12th Five Year Plan is on quality of education imparted in

schools. He said that the quality of the teachers in schools has to be improved and infrastructure needs to be

strengthened. Appreciating the trend in improvement of infrastructure in schools including sanitation and mid-

day meals, he said that the trend of the girl’s enrollment going down is a matter of concern.

Expressing satisfaction over the performance of some states, the Minister said that after the enactment of RTE Act

some states are doing well in primary and elementary education but states from north-east regions have to catch

up. Stating that aspiration level of the parents and the child is going up. The report says that the enrollment

level for the 6-14 age group continued to be very high in rural areas. In 2012, 96.5% of all the children

23 www.tnpsctamil.in 23 of 91. in this age group in rural areas were enrolled in24 schools. of 91. The proportion of the children in the age group of 6-14

who are not enrolled in schools has gone up slightly from 3.3% in 2011 to 3.5% in 2012. The increase is largest in

Rajasthan and UP. The report also says that learning outcomes were low but steady in the years leading to 2010.

But across the country, children’s ability to read simple text and do basic arithmetic has declined since then.

Nationally, private schools enrollment has increased (6-14 age group). In next five years, the

country may have half of the children attending private schools even in the rural areas.

 President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 28th Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology

(APAO) Congress in Hyderabad on 17 January. Speaking in the occasion he says, Private sector companies

and Government institutions should join hands to fight blindness. Citing the World Health Organisation data, the

President said by 2020, there would be 76 million blind people indicating that visual impairment would double in

1990-2020. India had a historical tradition of focusing on eye-care as its ancient sage-cum-surgeon, Shushruta

was the father of cataract surgeries, he said. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy said about 80 lakh school

children were screened for detecting visual impairment in the State under various initiatives. The treatment for

visual impairment was also included under State Government’s health scheme ‘Aarogyasree’, he added. The

four-day congress is being organised in conjunction with the 71st annual conference of All-India

Ophthalmological Society. It would throw light on the recent advances in the field. About 10,000 eye

specialists and experts are expected to participate in the event.

 The Supreme Court on 19 January banned fresh encroachment of roads, pavements and sideways

by construction of religious structures or installation of statues of public figures. The apex court's

ruling addresses a common hazard in all Indian cities and towns where unauthorized religious structures - often

thinly disguised cases of land grab - have sprung up on public and private land and are obstructing roads and

inconveniencing residents. The order can empower municipal and government bodies to prevent

unauthorized constructions being carried out under the garb of religious structures as often local

political interests and religious sentiments render authorities helpless. Along with religious

structures, the court also ruled on installation of statues. "Henceforth, states shall not grant permission to install

any statue or erect any structure on public roads, pavements and sideways and other public utility places,"

ordered a bench of Justices R M Lodha and S J Mukhopadhaya

 President’s rule was finally imposed in Jharkhand on 18 January, a day after the Union Cabinet

accepted Governor Syed Ahmed’s report recommending that the Assembly be kept in suspended 24 www.tnpsctamil.in 24 of 91. animation. Regional ally JMM had withdrawn25 support of 91. to the Arjun Munda government on January 8, reducing

it to a minority. President Pranab Mukherji has signed the proclamation under Article 356(1) of the

Constitution, imposing Centre’s rule for the third time, on a request from the Union Home Ministry. Former

Director General of CRPF, Vijay Kumar and former Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta have been appointed

advisers to the governor, the ministry stated. The government’s move has invited mixed reactions. The JMM was

disappointed, having lost an opportunity to instate either Shibu Shoren or his son Hemant as the chief minister. A

miffed BJP said it will stage a dharna against the Cabinet decision.

 Prompted by nationwide outrage over the Nirbhaya gang rape incident, New Delhi, the law ministry on 17

January has approved Rs 80 crore for recruitment of 2,000 more judges across the country for

fast-track courts. In a letter to state governments and high courts on January 9, the Centre asked them to

increase the strength of subordinate judiciary from the current 18,000 to 20,000 with the additional judges to be

deployed in fast-track courts. The law ministry took Cabinet approval in the last week of December when India

was rocked by mass protests over Nirbhaya's gang rape that saw activists, lawyers, officials and jurists pointing to

how victims were disadvantaged by long trials that allowed accused to influence witnesses. Sources said the

government was working on another proposal to allow states to use funds available for morning and evening

courts to further increase the number of fast-track courts, a demand raised by various sections of society to

expedite trial of pending cases, particularly those of sexual assault and heinous crimes.

 The government on 17 January raised the cap on supply of subsidised LPG cylinders to nine bottles from six per

year and allowed oil companies to hike diesel prices by a “small quantum” periodically. There will be no change in

LPG and kerosene rates, Oil Minister M. Veerappa Moily told in New Delhi after the meeting on Cabinet

Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA). Consumers will get a quota of five subsidised cylinders between September

2012 and March 2013 and from April 1, 2013, they will be entitled to nine cylinders per annum.Mr. Moily said that

the oil companies have been permitted to raise diesel prices by a small quantum periodically till such time that

they are able to cover Rs. 9.60 per liter loss they incur on the fuel.

 Political uncertainty deepened in Jharkhand on 8 January, with Chief Minister Arjun Munda

submitting his resignation to Governor Syed Ahmed. On 7 January, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

(JMM) announced the withdrawal of its support to the BJP-led government. Mr. Munda

recommended that the Governor dissolve the Assembly to facilitate fresh elections. He has been asked by the

Governor to continue as caretaker chief minister. Mr. Munda said the decision was taken as no national party 25 www.tnpsctamil.in 25 of 91. came forward to provide an alternative government26 of after 91. the JMM decided to pull out of the government, which

was formed in September 2010. Both the JMM and the BJP have 18 seats each in the 81-member Assembly. The

Congress has 13 seats, while the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) has 11. The JMM is expected to

approach the Congress to stitch together an alliance, taking in five MLAs of the RJD and seven Independents.

 The Andhra Pradesh government has banned the manufacture and sale of gutkha and pan masala

in the state with immediate effect, according to the State Health and Family Welfare

Department.The ban has made Andhra Pradesh the 14th state in the country to take the step

towards eradicating tobacco use, bringing down shutters on the 12 gutkha manufacturing units in the state.

Various departments, including vigilance and enforcement, commercial tax, transport, labour, municipal

administration, panchayat raj and police will work together to enforce the ban. According to the Global Adult

Tobacco Survey (GATS 2010), released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in October 2010,

about 29 per cent of the adult population in AP consumes tobacco products in some form or the other. Among

them, 15 per cent use smokeless tobacco while 17.4 per cent are smokers. Experts point out that among the 3,095

chemical components found in the tobacco products, including gutkha, 28 were proved to be carcinogens which

cause cancer. While it is widely known that gutkha causes oral cancer in the long run, not many users are aware

that its immediate effects are on the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems. The non-food grade agents and

chemicals present in gutka can also lead to heart attacks and infertility, experts warned.

 The Prime Minister on 9 January, unveiled the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP)

2020 in the presence of Mr. Praful Patel, Minister for Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises and Mr Montek

Singh Ahluwalia, Dy. Chairman, Planning Commission. The principal end objectives of the National Mission

for Electric Mobility (NMEM) are National energy security, mitigation of the adverse impact of vehicles on the

environment and growth of domestic manufacturing capabilities. The NEMMP 2020, the mission document for

the NMEM that was approved by the National Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM) on 29th August, 2012, sets

the vision, lays the targets and provides the joint Government – industry vision for realizing the huge potential

that exists for full range of efficient and environmentally friendly electric vehicle (including hybrids) technologies

by 2020. The NEMMP 2020 is a well researched document and relies on in-depth primary data based study

conducted jointly by the Government and the Industry which indicates that high latent demand for

environmentally friendly electric vehicle technologies exists in the country. As per these projections, 6-7 million

units of new vehicle sales of the full range of electric vehicles, along with resultant liquid fuel savings of 2.2 – 2.5

26 www.tnpsctamil.in 26 of 91. million tones can be achieved in 2020. This will27 alsoof 91. result in substantial lowering of vehicular emissions and

decrease in carbon di-oxide emissions by 1.3% to 1.5% in 2020 as compared to a status quo scenario. The NEMMP

2020 projections also indicate that the savings from the decrease in liquid fossil fuel consumption as a result of

shift to electric mobility alone will far exceed the support provided thereby making this a highly economically

viable proposition. Therefore on all counts encouraging the faster adoption of hybrid & electric vehicles and their

manufacture in India is a wise investment for our future generations. NMEM is amongst the most

significant interventions of the Government that promises to transform the automotive paradigm

of the future by lessening the dependence on fossil fuels, increasing energy efficiency of vehicles

and by providing the means to achieve ultimate objective of cleaner transportation that is

compatible with sustainable renewable energy generation. This Intervention will also help encourage

the Indian Automotive Industry to shift to newer, cleaner technologies so that it builds its future competitive

advantage around environmentally sustainable products, high end technologies, innovation and knowledge. The

implementation and roll out of the NEMMP 2020 will be done through various specific schemes, interventions,

policies that are currently under formulation and will be considered by the Government in the near future.

 The Union Cabinet on 10 January, approved the revised cost estimates of Rs.1457.56 crore for

reconstruction and completion of the Salma Dam Project (3X14 MW) in Afghanistan by M/s

WAPCOS Ltd. towards civil, hydro-mechanical, electro-mechanical and other components of the dam till

completion of the dam in December 2014 or two years from the date of approval of revised cost estimates. The

expenditure on the projects will be met from the Non-Plan head of 'Aid to Afghanistan' budget of the Ministry of

External Affairs. The Cabinet had approved the proposal in June 2010 for the revised cost estimates of Rs.854.86

crore up to December 2010. The project has registered physical progress of 60 percent. The project is being

executed by M/s WAPCOS, a central PSU under the Ministry of Water Resources. The local communities of

Western Afghanistan would directly benefit from the project. The availability of power and water through the

project upon its successful completion will lead to overall economic development of Afghanistan's Western region

and generate goodwill for India in Afghanistan. The completion of this project will address the issues of energy

requirement and irrigation needs in Western Afghanistan.

 The Union Cabinet on 10 January approved the declaration of the National Institute of Design

(NID) by Parliament by law as an 'Institution of National Importance'. The status of 'Institution of

National Importance' would authorise NID, Ahmadabad to award degree to its students. This, in turn, may prove

27 www.tnpsctamil.in 27 of 91. to be beneficial for students who wish to pursue28 of post 91. graduation. This will fulfill the need to professionalize,

standardize and internationally benchmark professional design education in India, so as to take full advantage of

opportunities opening up for the design industry, both in domestic as well as in international markets.

 The Union Ministry of Tourism will organise an International Tourism Mart at Guwahati from

18th to 20th of January, 2013. Announcing this at a press conference in New Delhi, Union Tourism Minister

K. Chiranjeevi said that this will not only be the first ever International Tourism event to be organised in the

north-eastern region, but also the first International Tourism Mart to focus on a specific region of India. He said

“It will bring together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs from the eight north eastern States of

India and West Bengal. The event has been planned and scheduled to facilitate interaction between buyers,

sellers, media, Government agencies and others. The Minister informed that about 100 delegates including

tourism Ministers, Tourism Secretaries, Tour operators, Hoteliers and Media Representatives from Australia,

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Combodia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar,

The Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America and

Vietnam will be attending the mart. He said these delegates will engage in one-two-one meetings with sellers from

the north eastern region and West Bengal. Mr. Chiranjeevi said this will enable tourism product suppliers from

the region to reach out to international and domestic buyers and promote tourism in the region. Chiranjeevi

disclosed that celebrity artistes such as Lou Majaw from Meghalaya, Rubin from Manipur, Mami Varte from

Mizoram and Debojit Saha, Dikshu, Priyanka Bharali, Manas Robin, Joy Chakravarty, Simanta Shekhor, Mousam

Gogoi and Papori Sharma from Assam will perform at the Mart. The north east region of India comprising the

states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, is endowed

with diverse tourist attractions and products. The varied topography of the region, its flora and fauna, the ethnic

communities with their rich heritage of ancient traditions and lifestyles, festivals, arts and crafts, make it a holiday

destination waiting to be explored. Considering the contiguous features of West Bengal with the north east, the

state has been included in the Mart.

 The Union Cabinet on 10 January approved the introduction of a Bill in the Parliament for

declaring Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch (121 kms.) of the Barak River as a National Waterway. It also

gave its approval for preparation of projects/schemes for development of infrastructure facilities on this stretch of

the river at an estimated cost of Rs.123 crore with implementation in two phases. Inland Waterways Authority of

India (IWAI) set up under IWAI Act, 1985 will be the implementing agency for this project. The first phase of the

28 www.tnpsctamil.in 28 of 91. project would be completed by 2016-17 followed29 by of the 91. second phase which is likely to be completed by 2018-19.

The enactment to declare Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of the Barak River as National Waterway will result in unified

development of the waterways for shipping and navigation and transportation of cargo to the North Eastern

Region particularly in the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The

Government of India has so far declared five waterways as National Waterways. These are:- (i)

Allahabad-Haldia stretch of the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system (1620 km); (ii) Dhubri-Sadiya stretch of

Brahmaputra River (891 km); (iii) Kottapuram-Kollam stretch of West Coast Canal along with Udyogmandal and

Champakara Canals (205 km); (iv) Kakinada-Puducherry stretch of the canal along with designated stretches of

Godavari and Krishna Rivers (1078 km); and (v) designated stretches of East Coast Canal, Brahmani River and

Mahanadi Delta (588 km). The Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of the Barak River would be the sixth National

Waterway.

 The Union Cabinet on 10 January, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Rural Development to

provide a quality and affordable house and also taking into account numerous requests from the stakeholders for

increasing the unit cost, keeping in view the steep increase in cost of materials. The approval is that -

Enhancement of unit assistance under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) from Rs. 45,000/- to Rs. 70,000/- in plain

areas and from Rs. 48,500/- to Rs. 75,000/- in hilly/difficult/LAP district; The IAY is a flagship scheme of

the Ministry of Rural Development and aims at addressing rural housing issues by providing grant for

construction / upgradation of dwelling units of BPL families especially giving priority to Scheduled

Castes/Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers and physically challenged persons with financial assistance of

Rs. 45,000/- in plain areas and Rs. 48,500/- in hilly /difficult areas.

 The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released a Commemorative Postage Stamp on ‘Silk

Letter Movement’ at a function in New Delhi on January 11, 2013.Speaking on the occasion, the President said

that the sacrifices of individuals and groups, such as those associated with the Silk Letter Movement,

constitute a glorious chapter of India’s history of Freedom struggle and need to be acknowledged and

appreciated. The President said that he is happy that the Department of Posts has done its bit over the years and

has issued postage stamps to acknowledge the contribution of various groups and movements which in their own

ways contributed to the overall effort to liberate India.

 Recognizing the importance of cinema as a powerful tool for the development and promotion of various tourist

destinations, Union Tourism Minister K.Chiranjeevi announced, several initiatives for promoting 29 www.tnpsctamil.in 29 of 91. “Film Tourism” through films shot in India.30 ofAnnouncing 91. this in New Delhi on 11 January, the Minister

said that a “Land of Pi” campaign would be launched soon across all media, including print,

online, electronic and outdoor, to promote Puducherry and Munnar as tourist destinations. The

widely acclaimed film “Life of Pi” has been partly shot in the beautiful locales of Puducherry (Pondicherry) and

Munnar in Kerala. In order to enable viewers of the film to visit the two regions shown in the film, Mr. Chiranjeevi

held a meeting last month with the Secretaries of Tourism of Puducherry and Kerala along with Tour Operators of

the region, immediately after it was observed that the film had highlighted awareness of the two regions.

K.Chiranjeevi has already announced special National Tourism Awards for Mr. Ang Lee, Director and Mr. Yann

Martel, author of the Book “Life of Pi”, for promoting India through the film.

 President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on 12 January, inaugurated the celebrations to

commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson

UPA, A.K. Antony, Minister of Defense & Chairman NIC, P. Chidambaram, Minister of Finance, were also present

at the function organized at the Rashtrapati Bhawan auditorium. The Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

released a set of Commemorative Coins and presented the first set to the President Pranab

Mukherjee. The coins are of Rs.150 and Rs. 5 denomination. The Government of India decided to

undertake the commemoration of 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. A National Committee

under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was constituted to approve

policies/plans, programmes and supervise and guide the Commemoration of the 150th Birth

Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda including preparatory activities leading up to the Anniversary

year in 2013-14. A National Implementation Committee was also constituted in 2010 under the Chairmanship

of the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to implement the decisions of the National Committee. On Pranab

Mukherjee assuming the office of President of India, Defence Minister Shri A.K. Antony has been appointed

Chairman of the said National Implementation Committee.

 Foreign Exchange Earnings from Tourism shows an Increase of 21.8 Percent During 2012 Foreign

Tourist Arrivals also Goes up by 5.4 Percent during the Year Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from

Tourism during the year 2012 showed an increase of 21.8% as compared to FEEs of 2011. Foreign Tourist

Arrivals ( FTAs) in the country also registered an increase of 5.4% during the year 2012 as compared to FTAs of

2011.

The following are the important highlights regarding FTAs and FEEs from tourism in India during the year 2012:

30 www.tnpsctamil.in 30 of 91. o FEEs from tourism in rupee terms during31 2012 of 91. were Rs.94, 487 crore with a growth of 21.8% as compared

to the FEEs of Rs.77, 591 crore with a growth of 19.6% during the year 2011 over 2010.

o FEEs from tourism in terms of US$ during 2012 were US$ 17.74 billion with a growth of 7.1% over 2011.

o FTAs in India during 2012 were 66.48 lakh with a growth of 5.4% as compared to the FTAs of 63.09 lakh

during the year 2011.

Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) on the basis of data received

from major ports and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism on the basis data available from Reserve

Bank of India.

 National Aluminum Co Ltd (Nalco) Commissioned its First Wind Power Project in AP

National Aluminum Co Ltd (Nalco) in the Month of January 2013 commissioned its first wind power project

at Gandikota in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. Nalco which is the Government-owned manufacturer and

distributor of aluminum products had invested around 275 crore rupees for the 50-MW Suzlon-erected project.

Nalco signed a power purchase agreement with the State’s power transmission utility Transco and has begun

inoculation of power to the State grid. The windmill project had received clearance from the Ministry of Forests

and Environment. Also, setting up of the second wind power is on the line which is supposed to be of 50 MW, and

will be situated in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. The cost of this project is estimated to be around 190 crore

rupees.

Nalco, a large thermal power consumer for its aluminum smelting in Odisha, is appreciative to generate renewable

energy under electricity regulations. As per the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the Indian Wind Turbine

Manufactures Association (WTMA) had reported that public sector units have so far established around 1135 MW

of wind power projects in the country, besides solar power projects of 27 MW.

 News Broadcasting Standards Association Issued Guidelines for Reporting of Sexual Crimes

The News Broadcasting Standards Association (NBSA) on 7 January 2013 issued certain guidelines for the

television channels to exercise discretion and sensitivity, while reporting the sexual assault cases. Keeping in view,

the Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), NBSA directed television channels to keep the identity of the

victims involved in sexual assault, hideous. The guidelines were a result of the Zee News television interview of the

friend of Delhi gangrape victim. The name of victim was also disclosed in one international publication. NBSA 31 www.tnpsctamil.in 31 of 91. while issuing guidelines declared that the news32 channels of 91. needed to keep in mind that the coverage as well as

reporting of crime can influence the mindset of viewers, thereby also creating significant impact on perception of

their minds for such crimes. The news channels were advised to balance the right to privacy of the survivor as well

as his/her family with the public interest. Channels were therefore asked to secrete the identity of victims of sexual

assault, aggression and violence. The issued guidelines declared that in reporting of such sexual crimes on women,

victims of juvenile offending and child abuse, the privacy should be respected and name, photographs as well as

other private details should not be disclosed. The television channels were directed to practice sensitivity, sound

judgment as well as discretion, especially while disclosing the details of sexual assault because these details re-

traumatized the survivor.

 National Data Centre for UIDAI to come up in Gurgaon

The Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda on 7 January 2012 laid the foundation stone of the state-

of-the-art National Data Centre of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) at Maneshar, Gurgaon in

Haryana. The centre that will spread in an area of five-acres would serve as the respiratory system for the UIDAI

and would store all the basic biometric and demographic information of the residents, before the 12-digit Aadhaar

Number is issued. The development work of the UIDAI center would be completed by mid 2014 and is being

developed as a green data centre and abides to all the global standards and guidelines.

 Railway fares hiked for first time in 10 years; increase across all classes

Ahead of the rail budget for 2013, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on 9 January announced a fare hike

with effect from January 21-22 midnight. Addressing a press conference Bansal said that having hiked the railway

fares now, the government will not increase the tariff in the budget. This is the first railway fare hike in ten years.

The new fares imply 2 paise per kilometer increase in second class ordinary suburban tariffs. The fare for second

class non sub-urban travel has gone up by 3 paise per kilometer and that of sleeper class has been hiked by 6 paise

per kilometer. Travelling in Air conditioned (AC) chair car and sleeper class will now be costlier by 10 paise per

kilometer. Justifying the hike, Bansal said, "Input costs have increased immensely while rail fares have remained

stagnant. In fact there was a decrease in lower class fares. Given economic slowdown, we have not been able to so

far achieve this year's targets in either freight or fare side." In the last railway budget, government hiked the fares

only to roll them back, except for AC-1 and II passengers. The last across-the-board hike had happened at the start

of the millennium, when Nitish Kumar held the charge. His successors fought shy of taking the "politically

incorrect" step.

32 www.tnpsctamil.in 32 of 91.  Three centers of ISRO, viz., Vikram Sarabhai33 Space of 91. Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Liquid Propulsion

Systems Centre (LPSC), with campuses in Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and Mahendragiri and Satish Dhawan

Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota, have new Directors (Mr. S. Ramakrishnan, Mr. M. Chandradathan

and Dr. M.Y.S. Prasad respectively) from January 1, 2013.Mr. S. Ramakrishnan, Distinguished Scientist of

ISRO and hitherto Director, LPSC, has assumed the office of the Director, VSSC. He took over the charge from

Mr. P. S. Veeraraghavan, the retiring Director. VSSC is the lead centre for the design and development of launch

vehicle technologies for the Indian Space Programme. Mr. M. Chandradathan, Distinguished Scientist and

hitherto Director, SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota, is appointed as Director, LPSC with campuses in

Thiruvananthapuram, Mahendragiri and Bangalore. He took over the charge from Mr. S. Ramakrishnan, who is

appointed as Director, VSSC. Dr. M.Y.S. Prasad, Distinguished Scientist and Associate Director of SDSC

SHAR, Sriharikota has assumed the office of Director, SDSC SHAR. He took over the charge from Mr. M

Chandradathan, who has been appointed as the Director of ISRO's Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. SDSC

SHAR with two launch pads is the spaceport of ISRO.

 Former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, who broke with Sharad Pawar's NCP last year to contest the

Presidential elections against Congress nominee Pranab Mukherjee, launched his own National People's

Party (NPP) on 6 January and joined hands with BJP-led NDA. Launching the NPP at the "national level," in

New Delhi Sangma said, it has been active for long as a recognised party from Manipur. Sangma had previously

joined hands with NDA after he put together a coalition of north-east parties ahead of the 2004 election. Sangma

who unsuccessfully contested the Presidential polls last year as a candidate of the Tribal Forum of India said that

his party would give due importance to tribal and women issues.He announced that former Union minister Arvind

Netam will be working president of the new party.

 The government is going to roll out its ambitious scheme of transferring cash to beneficiaries of

select schemes in 20 districts on 1 January 2013, but food, fertiliser and fuel subsidies will not be covered

in the initial phase. As per the roll-out plan, more and more districts and schemes would be covered under the

scheme during the course of 2013.All 26 schemes are ready for rollout. On 1 January 2013 the seven schemes in

which payout is due in the (20 selected) districts, the money will be transferred through the direct benefit transfer

system using the UIDAI platform. However, Government clarified that subsidies relating to cooking gas (LPG),

kerosene, diesel, food and fertilizers will not be included in the first phase of the rollout. The scheme is going to be

rolled out in 43 districts by 1 March 2013, 20 districts from January 1, 11 districts from February 1 and 12 districts

33 www.tnpsctamil.in 33 of 91. from March 1. By end of 2013, the direct cash benefit34 of 91.transfer will be rolled out in all the districts of the country.

The subsidies would be transferred to the beneficiaries’ bank accounts if they do not have an Aadhaar number.

 Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on 6 January launched the Aadhar-enabled Direct Benefits

Transfer Scheme (DBTS) for MGNREGP and Social Security Pensions at Gollaprolu village in East

Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. East Godavari (EG) is one of the four districts in Andhra Pradesh

where the scheme is being launched as part of the nationwide roll-out of DBTS in the first phase. EG has the

distinction of achieving 99 per cent enrolment for Aadhar and as many as 43.32 lakh persons were already issued

UID cards. To mark the launch of the scheme, the Union Rural Development Minister paid the pension amount to

Nilla Satyanarayana, a physically challenged person, using a micro ATM. The minister also paid wages using

micro ATM to MGNREGP workers on the occasion. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, state Home Minister P

Sabita Reddy, MPs Undavalli Arun Kumar and G Harsha Kumar, ministers, legislators and senior officials were

present on the occasion.

 Task force formed to review women’s safety in Delhi

The Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a special task force to look into the issues of women’s safety in the

capital every fortnight. The 13-member body, to be headed by the Home Secretary, will also regularly review the

functioning of the Delhi Police. Its members are the Chief Secretary; the Police Commissioner, the Special

Commissioner (Traffic) and the Special Commissioner (Law & Order); the chairperson of the Delhi Commission

for Women; the New Delhi Municipal Council chairperson; the Transport and Excise Commissioners; the

Corporation Commissioners of East Delhi, North Delhi and South Delhi; and the Joint Secretary (Union Territory)

in the Home Ministry, an official statement said. “The task force may co-opt any such member it may deem fit. It

will also take into consideration the suggestions made by the Members of Parliament during the debate on the

issue. The task force shall continuously review action taken by the Delhi Police and the Delhi Government,” the

statement said. The Delhi Police works under the Home Ministry. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been

demanding that the State government be given control of the force for better policing of the capital

 Foreign Tourists Not Allowed To Work as Journalists on Tourist Visa

Ministry of Home Affairs on 2 January 2013 ordered foreign tourists not to indulge in the journalistic activities on

their tourist visas. The order was issued by the Ministry after observing that a lot of foreigners visiting India on

their tourist visa are also involved in covering the events as well as journalistic activities in India. The Home

Affairs official cleared that tourist visa was not the appropriate visa for covering journalistic activities by 34 www.tnpsctamil.in 34 of 91. foreigners. Tourist visa is issued to the foreigners35 who of do91. not have residence as well as occupation in India and the

primary objective of their visit is recreation, casual visit for meeting relatives and friends as well as sightseeing.

Any other activity on this tourist visa was not permissible. Ministry of Home Affairs also requested the Ministry of

External Affairs to communicate directives to the Indian Missions or Posts abroad. The Ministry also ordered that

the State Governments as well as concerned authorities of India should strictly abide by the order.

 Chief Justice of India Inaugurated First Fast-Track Court in Delhi for Hearing Rape Cases

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Altamas Kabir inaugurated the first fast-track court in Delhi on 2 January 2013 for

dealing with the crimes against females. The first fast-track court is one among other four fast-track courts which

would deal with the cases of crime against the women. This court is set up in the Saket Court Complex and the

first case to be heard here is that of the Delhi gangrape which took place on 16 December 2012. Other fast track

courts would function from 3 January 2013 at Rohini, Tis Hazari and Dwarka in New Delhi. In the first rape case

which would be heard in the fast-track court, the Delhi Police decided to submit a 1000-page chargesheet in the

magistrate court in Saket on 3 January 2013 after which it would move to fast-track court where hearing will take

place on daily trial basis. In December 2012, the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court announced that all the cases

of crime against women in Delhi would be dealt in the fast-track courts.

 The Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, has become the first RPO in the country to deliver more than 5 lakh

passport services, according to Dr Srikar Reddy, Regional Passport Officer, Hyderabad. He announced this at a

press conference on 4 January. During 2012, the RPO, Hyderabad, received about 5.73 lakh applications (20 %

more than 2011) and provided about 5.5 lakh passport services. Dr Srikar Reddy said that the AP police

authorities were extending full cooperation in completion of police verification in the mandated three weeks’ time.

The PVRs pending for more than 21 days had come down to about 4,000 as of December 31, 2012, from over

60,000 at the beginning of August 2012. The average police verification time for the month of December 2012 was

22 days, with over 84% of the police reports being submitted within 21 days.

 Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on 4 January 2013 launched Pilot Project of Crime and Criminal

Tracking Systems. The Government launched the project to make use of technology in bringing greater

transparency and accountability into government functioning, as Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and

Systems (CCTNS) is supposed to be an important step forward in this direction which requires a significant

change management effort. The pilot launch of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)

35 www.tnpsctamil.in 35 of 91. Project would create a nation-wide environment36 for of the 91. real-time sharing of crime and criminal information and

connect approximately 14000 police stations throughout the country apart from higher offices in police hierarchy.

Bilateral Affairs

 Union Minister for Tourism K. Chiranjeevi held bilateral discussions with Spanish Minister for

Industry, Tourism & Trade Mr Jose Manuel Soria Lopez in Madrid on 31 January. Both the

countries agreed to set up Indo-Spain Tourism Promotion Forum for building a dialogue between the

stakeholders of tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India and Spain. Spanish side showed keen interest to

invest in Hotel sector in India which has 100% Foreign Direct Investment. Both sides emphasized on direct air

connectivity between India and Spain. A delegation led by Ms. Isabel Maria Barrege Cortes, Secretary of State of

Spanish Tourism will visit India shortly to take forward these proposals. New Delhi will be hosting the 1st Joint

working group meeting on tourism co-operation between India and Spain in near future.

 Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi on 1 February, met the Secretary General of United Nation

World Tourism Organization Taleb Rifai in Madrid, Spain, and discussed issues relating to tourism

cooperation. "During the talks, the Secretary General and the Tourism Minister emphasized on the proactive

approach to make tourism an important global political and economic agenda," a Tourism Ministry release said.

Chiranjeevi also told Rifai about efforts taken by the Indian government to ease the visa regime. Chiranjeevi also

invited Rifai for 25th Joint Meeting of UNWTO Commissions for East Asia and the Pacific and South

Asia. The meeting will be held in Hyderabad on 12th and 13th April.

 India and the United States inaugurated the first triangular “India-US-Africa partnership” in

agricultural training at the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad,

on 6 January 2013 for 30 trainees from three African countries – Kenya, Liberia and Malawi. The three-year

triangular partnership program aims to improve agricultural productivity, strengthen

agricultural value chains, and support market institutions in Kenya, Liberia, and Malawi.

Supported by the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), by

the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture of India, and implemented by two of India’s

leading agricultural training institutes - National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE),

Hyderabad, and the Chaudhary Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), Jaipur, the

program will train 180 mid-level African Government and private sector agriculture professionals from Kenya,

36 www.tnpsctamil.in 36 of 91. Malawi, and Liberia in agricultural extension practices,37 of 91. agri-business, and agricultural marketing. The training

will include classroom sessions, group work, field trips, and interaction with industry experts. After their training,

these professionals will go home with new knowledge, skills, and potential innovations to address their domestic

challenges in food and nutrition security.

 The 14th Session of the India - Australia Joint Ministerial Commission convened in New Delhi on

29 January, 2013. The Commission was co-chaired by Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce, Industry and

Textiles, India and the Dr. Craig Emerson MP, Australian Minister for Trade and Competitiveness and Minister

Assisting the Prime Minister on Asian Century Policy. Mr. Sharma and Dr. Emerson emphasised the importance

of closer trade and investment relations as a critical component of the strategic partnership. The Ministers

underlined the importance of a solid institutional framework to facilitate future growth in

bilateral trade and investment. In this context, they highlighted the priority they placed on the

conclusion of a mutually beneficial Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). The

Ministers recognized the critical role played by industry in driving trade and investment between the two

countries. In this regard, they expressed their strong support for the initiatives of the India Australia CEO Forum,

co-chaired by Mr. Lindsay Fox AC and Mr. Naveen Jindal. The Ministers welcomed the launch of the

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations towards a modern,

comprehensive, high quality, and mutually beneficial regional economic partnership agreement.

They discussed their mutual commitment to strengthening the East Asia Summit (EAS) as a forum that

incorporated all the major economies in the India-Pacific region. The Ministers discussed the importance of

consolidating the G20 as the pre-eminent global economic forum. The Ministers underlined their commitment to

reinforce the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), both during India's remaining

period as chair and Australia's two year term as chair from November 2013. The Ministers welcomed the

inaugural Ministerial-level dialogue on energy security in December 2012 as a significant step in

developing a strategic relationship on energy and resources. Ministers also welcomed the decision of the

Australian Government on uranium exports to India, and the announcement to commence negotiations on a

bilateral civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement in March 2013. They noted the significant growth in

the bilateral agricultural cooperation, including the establishment and first meeting of the Joint

Working Group on Agriculture held in New Delhi in September and the proposed first meeting of the Joint

Working Group on Wool and Woolen products in February 2013. They announced plans for Australia and India to

host a regional Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) workshop in 2013. They also commended the work by both

37 www.tnpsctamil.in 37 of 91. countries in improving market access for meat and38 of horticultural 91. products. The Ministers warmly welcomed

the success of Oz Fest, Australia's largest ever cultural festival in India including educational and

business events in 18 locations all over India. The Ministers agreed that the next Joint Ministerial

Commission will be held in Australia in 2014.

 Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New & Renewable Energy on 30 January, met Spanish

delegation led by Ms. Carmen Vela Olmo, Minister of State for Research, Development and

Innovation. Both the leaders agreed to enhance research, cooperation and technologies in the

field of Renewable Energy. Besides, research projects in the area of forecasting of wind power and

fabrication of cost effective solar cells will be considered for financing by the Indian and Spanish

governments. The Spanish Minister, Ms. Carmen Vela Olmo is currently on a 3 day visit to India. During the

meeting, the two ministers agreed to initiate a second call for research proposals so as to encourage

joint research and development activities between research institutions as well as industry groups

of both the countries. The joint Indo-Spanish programme for Technological cooperation in Renewable Energy

was developed as a consequence of the visit of the Minister of New & Renewable Energy, to Spain last year.

Following the signing of the agreement in May, 2012, a joint call for project proposals was published. Proposals on

various aspects on Renewable Energy involving industry and R & D institutions in both the countries and covering

all aspects of Renewable Energy. India is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of wind power

installed capacity. In addition, India’s National Solar Mission aims to facilitate the installation of 20000 MW of

grid connected power capacity by 2020. Spain is the 4th largest producer of wind generated power and

is top-ranked worldwide in terms of photovoltaic solar power capacity. The Solar Platform of

Almeria (PSA), run under the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness is considered

one of the largest and best R&D facilitates for Concentrating Solar Power Technologies.

 India and Bangladesh on 29 January, signed two landmark agreements to extradite criminals and

terrorists and liberalise the visa regime. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and his Bangladesh

counterpart, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, signed the agreements on the first of the two-day Home Ministers’

meeting in Dhaka. However, refusal provisions have been built into the extradition treaty, which India waited for

long. If extradition of someone poses a threat to national security, either country may refuse the deportation

request. No political detainee will be brought within the purview of the treaty. If a controversy arose

during an extradition process, officials explained, the matter would be settled as per the laws of the country

38 www.tnpsctamil.in 38 of 91. concerned. The other agreement provides for39 ofa friendlier91. visa regime for Bangladeshis. Businessmen

will be given a five-year, multiple-entry visa. Those travelling on medical grounds will get a two-year, multiple-

entry visa, extendable for one more year. Three attendants of a patient will also be entitled to visa. Until now,

India has been granting Bangladeshi tourists visas for up to six months and has allowed one person to accompany

a patient. Earlier in the day, the Bangladesh Cabinet approved the extradition treaty at its regular meeting

presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Indian Cabinet approved it on January 24.

 Smt. Panabaka Lakshmi, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas on 22 January, has said that India will

soon send a delegation of experts to Niger for exploring possibilities of cooperation between two

countries in the hydrocarbon sector. Responding to the proposal of her counterpart Mr. Foumakore Gado,

Minister of Energy & Petroleum of Niger, at a meeting in New Delhi, Smt Lakshmi said Indian companies are

interested to choose exploration blocks and invest in the oil Marketing infrastructure of the country. She also

offered to provide training by PSUs like ONGC, GAIL, IOC to the Niger’s hydrocarbon sector personnel. Mr. Gado

invited Indian delegation of experts in the oil & gas sector to provide them technical expertise in the hydrocarbon

value chain. He welcomed Indian companies to invest in exploration blocks and other oil & gas sector activities.

Mr. Foumakore Gado led a high level delegation of Niger at the meeting, which included Minister of Agriculture,

Minister of Transport and chairman & Finance Commission of Niger.

 Defence Minister AK Antony on 22 January called on the President of Myanmar U Thein Sein in

NayPyiTaw. Antony conveyed the importance placed by India on enhancement of bilateral ties in all fields,

including defence. He noted that the recent exchanges of visits between both countries at political and other levels

had imparted a new momentum to the bilateral relationship. In the case of defence in particular, the defence

minister noted that the two sides were working to consolidate ties, in mutual interest of both. He informed that

the visit of all three Service Chiefs of India to Myanmar in the last 18 months reflected the desire of the Indian

government to strengthen ties. These visits and other exchanges in the recent times had provided each side a

better understanding of mutual concerns, needs and strengths. Antony stated that as neighbours which share a

land and maritime boundary, both sides should work together to address common concerns. The Myanmar

President welcomed the enhancement of bilateral ties between both countries in all fields. He stated that

Myanmar can also play the role of a bridge between India and South-East Asia. The President also assured

that Myanmar will not allow its territory to be used by anti-India insurgent groups. He welcomed the

development of cooperation between the Armed Forces of both sides to deal with challenges along the land and

maritime boundaries between both countries.

39 www.tnpsctamil.in 39 of 91.  India and Sri Lanka on 22 January, signed two40 separateof 91. agreements on combating international terrorism and

avoidance of double taxation, eyeing elevation of “robust” bilateral ties to building of a special economic

partnership. The two key accords were signed after the 8th India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission meeting held in

New Delhi, discussed enhanced cooperation in a range of areas including civil nuclear energy. At the meeting, the

Indian side was led by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid while the Lankans were led by his counterpart

G.L. Peiris. The two sides also discussed the emotive issue of fishermen and rehabilitation process of Tamils in Sri

Lanka besides the 13th Amendment of the Lankan constitution that gives autonomy to provinces. India and Sri

Lanka are each other’s largest trade partners in South Asia. Khurshid said “Given the vast untapped potential, we

have stressed the need for intensive consultations towards a more comprehensive framework for economic

cooperation and building of a special economic partnership,”.

 United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Lord Green called on Dr. Ashwani

Kumar, Union Minister of Law and Justice, in New Delhi on 16 January, and discussed various issues of

mutual interest. Lord Green is on a preparatory mission for the forthcoming visit of United

Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron. During the hour long meeting the two leaders discussed

ways and means for enhancing the Indo-UK business relationship; streamlining of the visa regime for Indians in

the UK; greater cooperation in the fields of science, health and education. The possibilities of opening up of legal

service sector between the two countries also came in for discussion. Dr. Ashwani Kumar informed Lord Green

that India attaches great importance to the unique and historical relationship between the two countries and that

the Government of India remains committed to carrying forward the process of economic reforms and to establish

an overall atmosphere in the country conducive to foreign investment.

 Railway officials from India and Bangladesh on 16 January decided to fast track some more rail

links between the two countries. They also decided to study the feasibility of increasing the

frequency of Maitree Express between Kolkata-Dhaka. The three-day inter-government meeting, which

concluded on 17 January, discussed ongoing rail projects and feasibility of a few more rail connectivity points. For

some of the projects, survey has already been completed while feasibility of new links is to be studied. The meeting

also took up issues like streamlining of inter-country freight train operations. “With a view to increasing people to

people contact between India and Bangladesh, it was decided to expedite the projects for opening rail links

between Akhaura (Bangladesh) –Agartala (India), Chilahati (Bangladesh) – Haldibari (India), Shahbazpur

(Bangladesh) – Mahishashan (India) and Birol (Bangladesh) – Radhikapur (India) and also examine the

40 www.tnpsctamil.in 40 of 91. feasibility of establishing a rail link between Feni41 of (Bangladesh) 91. and Belonia (India),” said Indian officials. The

meeting constituted a working-group to study feasibility of increasing the frequency of the bi-weekly Maitree

Express. The train’s around 375-km run from Kolkata to Dhaka has two stoppages for immigration check, at Gede

(on Indian side) and at Darshana (Bangladesh side). It takes 10–11 hours to cover the stretch.

 India, Vietnam signed MoU to Strengthen Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises

India and Vietnam on 15 January 2013 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is directly meant

for building capacity and developing institutional framework and identifying thrust areas and opportunities for

micro, small and medium enterprises in Vietnam.The MoU was signed during the 4 day state visit of Vice

President Hamid Ansari to Vietnam.

 The Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, who is on a two day visit to

Mauritius, had a meeting with the Hon. Navinchandra Ramgoolam, the Prime Minister of the

Republic of Mauritius on 9 January, at Port Louis. Mr.Sharma informed the Prime Minister of Mauritius

that there was a need for deepening and diversifying trade and investment ties between the two countries.

Towards this end, he stressed upon the need for making the Mauritius India Business Council (MIBC) a robust

institutional mechanism for giving a boost to trade and investment ties by identifying the priority sectors and

sectors of engagement. The identified sectors can be tourism, infrastructure, manufacturing and light engineering,

pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, health and life sciences, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and

textiles. It was agreed that a Joint Working Group on trade and investment would meet before

April, 2013 to work out the modalities for broadening and deepening the economic engagement

between the two countries. Anand Sharma assured of full support for the development of the textiles sector in

Mauritius. He stated that the three draft MOUs in the textiles sector proposed by the Government of Mauritius

involving cooperation of the Northern India Textile Research Association (NITRA) and the Apparel Promotion

Council of India with the Mauritian institutions would be finalized soon. He further stated that a delegation from

India in the textiles sector will visit Mauritius shortly to establish institutional linkages. The Commerce, Industry

and Textiles Minister announced that 35 scholarships would be made available by India annually – 15 in the

Institute of Apparel Management (IAM) , 10 in the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and 10 in the

Apparel Training and Design Centre (AT & DC) . He further announced that 1000 trainees from Mauritius would

be provided training for skill development in the textiles sector and 10 factories in Mauritius would be taken up by

the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) for compliance with the requirements of quality certification.

41 www.tnpsctamil.in 41 of 91. Anand Sharma thanked the Prime Minister of 42 Mauritius of 91. for consistently supporting India’s candidature for a

permanent seat in the Security Council. Sharma announced that in addition to the existing Line of Credit of US $

250 million (which was announced during the visit of the Prime Minister of Mauritius in February, 2012), buyer’s

credit to the tune of US 100 million would be provided to Mauritius.

 The 10th meeting of the India-Kazakhstan Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on Trade,

Economic, Scientific, Technological, Industrial and Cultural was held during 8-9 January 2013 in

New Delhi. Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, led the delegation from India. The

Kazakh side at the IGC meeting was led by Mr. Bulat Akchulakov, Vice Minister of Oil and Gas, Republic of

Kazakhstan. The two Ministers signed IGC Protocol after conclusion of the India-Kazakhstan IGC

meeting. The two sides reviewed progress with regard to various decisions taken at the 9th Inter-Governmental

Commission meeting held in Astana on 12th October 2011.The discussions took place in 20 sectors of cooperation

like Energy, Trade, Agriculture, IT, Science & Technology, Mines etc. Both the sides agreed that the current level

of bilateral trade is not commensurate with the potential existing between the two countries and called for

conscious efforts to increase Indo-Kazakh trade through the Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic

Cooperation and the India Kazakh Joint Business Council. The meeting of the Joint Working Group on

cooperation in hydrocarbon sector was held along with the IGC meeting. The next meeting of the Joint

Working Group will be held in Kazakhstan. The dates will be agreed through diplomatic channel. Both sides also

agreed that tourism provides the opportunity to strengthen the links between the two countries at human and

cultural level. Both sides agreed that the 11th meeting of the IGC will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

 The Indian Diaspora has made the country proud through the significant contributions that they have made to the

development of the nations which they have chosen to make their homes. Delivering the valedictory address

at the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held at Kochi during January 7-9, President Pranab Mukherjee

said that it is a matter of pride that there are at least 5 Heads of States and over 70 senior political leaders such as

Deputy Heads of State, Speakers and Ministers in various countries who can trace their roots to India.

Highlighting the Indian Economy, Mukherjee said that India is the third largest economy in the world on the basis

of Purchasing Power Parity basis. It too is the second fastest growing economy after China. It has managed to

grow at a rate above 8 per cent. Due to the slowdown in the global economy and other factors, the growth rates

have declined, from 8.4 per cent in 2010-11 to 6.5 per cent in 2011-12, and further to 5.4 per cent in the first half of

2012-13. He expressed hope the economic growth back to the level of 8 to 9 per cent. He called upon NRI’s to

42 www.tnpsctamil.in 42 of 91. invest in India. Addressing on the occasion, the43 Minister of 91. of Overseas Indian Affairs Mr. Vayalar Ravi said that

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas has over the years, grown not only in size but also in its contents. Meeting under the

overall theme of “Engaging Diaspora-the Indian Growth Story” this year a wide-ranging and interesting

discussions were held in various sessions such as the Seminar on NRIs in the Gulf; on Skill Development; on

Heritage and Diaspora; on engaging the young Overseas Indians; on India’s Growing Soft Power; and, on Science,

Innovation and Technology. On the occasion of the centenary year of the Ghadar movement, a stamp

was released by the Prime Minister.

Economic Affairs

 The government on 1 February, granted Maharatna status to BHEL and GAIL, a development which

will provide them greater financial and functional autonomy and also ensure better valuation for shares of the two

PSUs. A Maharatna firm can take investment decision of up to Rs 5,000 crore without going to the

government. For Navratna firms, this limit is Rs 1,000 crore. The apex committee, headed by Cabinet

Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, has approved both the proposals for awarding the status to these two PSUs as they

meet the eligibility criteria to qualify for the status. Both the companies meet the eligibility criteria in terms of net

worth, turnover and net profit. A company qualifying for the Maharatna status should have an average annual

turnover of more than Rs 25,000 crore in the last three years, according to the Department of Public Enterprises

guidelines. Among others, the PSU must have a net worth of over Rs 15,000 crore and net profit of more than Rs

5,000 crore during the last three years. The development will help the government get a better price for its equity

in BHEL which will be offloaded as part of the disinvestment programme. The government is proposing to sell the

equity in the power equipment major in the next fiscal.

 India’s overall food grain production in the 2012-13 crop marketing year that would end in June

2013 was expected to be around 250 million tones, nine million tones less than last year’s revised

record output of almost 259 million tones because of low production during the kharif sowing

season, Agriculture Secretary Ashish Bahuguna said on 29 january. According to the government’s first

advanced estimate, food grain production during the 2012-13 kharif season is expected to be almost 9.8 per

cent less than the kharif production of 2011-12 because of an uneven southwest monsoon in most parts of the

country. However, production of wheat during the ongoing rabi harvest season is expected to near 2011-12’s

harvest of around 94 million tones. According to official data, the area sown under wheat has declined to 29.4

million hectares so far in the current rabi season, from 29.5 5 million hectares in the year-ago period. Rabi (winter 43 www.tnpsctamil.in 43 of 91. crop) sowing starts from October onwards and harvesting44 of 91. begins from February-end. The government has kept a

conservative production target for wheat at 86 million tones for the current year. States like Maharashtra, Andhra

Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are likely to be affected as area under rabi crops is lower, while Karnataka, Rajasthan

and Gujarat (which suffered drought during the Kharif season) are doing well. Sowing of crops like wheat, rice,

maize and oilseeds like soybean is taken up well by farmers as the markets for these commodities are developed.

However, the same is not the case with minor oilseeds like sunflower and cereals like jowar and bajra.

 Government on 31 January, revised the economic growth for fiscal 2011-12 to 6.2% from the

earlier estimate of 6.5%.However, as per the first revised estimates of national income, consumption

expenditure, saving and capital formation, the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for the fiscal 2010-11 has been

revised upwards to 9.3% from 8.4%."GDP at factor cost at constant (2004-05) prices in 2011-12 is estimated at Rs

52, 43,582 crore as against Rs 49, 37,006 crore in 2010-11, registering a growth of 6.2% during the year as against

a growth of 9.3% in the year 2010-11," the estimates showed. The estimates were released by the Central

Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for 2011-12, along

with second revised estimates for the year 2010-11 and third revised estimates for 2009-10. At current prices, CSO

said that GDP in 2011-12 is estimated at Rs 83, 53,495 crore as against Rs 72, 66,967 crore in 2010-11, showing an

increase of 15%, as against an increase of 19% in the previous fiscal. The CSO said that the per capita income

in real terms (at 2004-05 prices) is estimated at Rs 38,037 for 2011-12 as against Rs 36,342 in

2010-11, registering an increase of 4.7% during the year, as against an increase of 7.2% during the previous year.

The per capita income at current prices is estimated at Rs 61,564 in 2011-12 as against Rs 54,151 for the previous

year, depicting a growth of 13.7%, as against an increase of 17.1% during the previous year. The data further said

that the growth in the GDP during 2011-12 has been achieved due to expansion in financing, insurance, real estate

and business services (11.7%), transport, storage and communication (8.4%), electricity, gas and water supply

(6.5%) and trade, hotels and restaurants (6.2%).

 The government on 31 January approved the Rs 200-crore revival package of ailing Lucknow-

based public sector undertaking Scooters India Ltd (SIL) that includes debt waiver of nearly Rs 112

crore. The Cabinet also decided to hike salaries of employees of the two-wheeler maker. Their retirement age has

also been increased to 60 years. According to sources, the clearance for revival has come in view of implications

relating to the fate of about 1,000 employees of Scooter India, though the Finance Ministry had expressed

reservations about providing such a package to the ailing unit. According to an official statement, the revival

44 www.tnpsctamil.in 44 of 91. package will result in improvement of SIL's productivity45 of 91. through enhanced capacity utilization and improvement

in efficiency. This would also lead to improved sales and employment generation in the area. Besides, it stated, the

increase in production and sales will result in enhanced contribution to the exchequer. The automobile company

has been incurring losses since 2002-03. In March 2009, the company was declared sick. SIL's net loss stood at

about Rs 20 crore during the 2011-12 fiscal. Incorporated in 1972, SIL initially manufactured scooters under the

brand name Vijai Super for the domestic market and Lambretta for overseas markets.

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 31 January, gave its approval to authorize ONGC

Videsh Limited (OVL) to acquire Participating Interest (PI) owned by Hess Corporation's wholly-

owned subsidiaries in the upstream and midstream oil and gas assets in Azerbaijan comprising

2.7213 percent PI in the Azeri Chirag Guneshli (ACG) contract area and 2.36 percent PI in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan

(BTC) pipeline for an investment of US$ 1001 million, plus certain adjustments including working capital, interest

from the economic date and other defined elements on cash sink basis, and also authorized OVL to incur expenses

so as to keep the total exposure up to the approved amount i.e. US $ 1001 million at all times. The acquisition

shall provide OVL, oil production of about 1 Million Ton per year for about a decade. In addition to oil revenue,

the investment would enable OVL to enter into Azerbaijan, which is rapidly emerging into a strategically

important country in the CIS region. Acquiring a stake in the strategic BTC pipeline would provide OVL the

opportunity to enhance its portfolio around the region and transport crude from future assets, which the company

may acquire in the Caspian Sea in the future.

 SpiceJet, the low-cost carrier, will become the only private Indian airline to fly to China starting

on 8 February, when it will launch four weekly flights from New Delhi to Guangzhou. The first flight by an

Indian airline to the southern port city , home to one of the biggest Indian expatriate communities in China as well

as the centre of the country’s manufacturing heartland , will leave New Delhi on February 8.While much of India's

trade with China is driven by the southern manufacturing provinces, Shanghai is the only major southern

mainland city that is connected directly to India, through Air India and Air China flights. The Chinese carrier

operates 14 weekly flights to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, from Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing, while Air

India flies from Shanghai to New Delhi. The lack of adequate direct air connectivity between India and China has

been seen by officials in both countries as an obstacle to boosting closer commercial engagement, even as trade

has seen rapid growth this past decade. China became India’s biggest trade partner in 2011, with trade

reaching $73 billion. Bilateral trade fell to $66 billion last year on account of the downturn.Spice

45 www.tnpsctamil.in 45 of 91. Jet is looking to target the business community46 of 91. and will focus its China strategy on the southern

part of the country. The airline is also looking into launching flights to Macau and Zhuhai, besides Hong Kong.

Jet Airways became the first Indian carrier to fly to China when it launched a flight from Mumbai

to Shanghai and onward to San Francisco in 2008. The flight was subsequently discontinued amid lower

than expected load factors and after the carrier began to rationalise its routes on account of financial troubles.

 Reserve Bank of India slashed Repo Rate to 7.75 Percent and CRR to 4 Percent

The Reserve Bank of India on 29 January 2013 slashed its key interest rates by 0.25 per cent and released 18000

crore rupees additional liquidity into the system to perk up growth through reduced cost of borrowing. RBI in its

third quarter monetary policy review surprised the market by cutting short-term lending rate called repo, by 0.25

per cent to 7.75 per cent and Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by similar margin to 4 per cent. The repo rate cut will

reduce the cost of borrowing for individuals and corporates, whereas the reduction in CRR, which is the portion of

deposits that banks have to park with RBI, would improve the availability of funds. Unveiling the policy review in

Mumbai, RBI stated that the stance of monetary policy in this review is intended to provide an appropriate

interest rate environment to support growth as inflation risks moderate. CRR cut will have impact on long term

interest rates. The RBI, however, has reduced the growth projections for the current financial year to 5.5 per cent

from its earlier estimate of 5.8 per cent.

On inflation, it moderated the rate to 6.8 per cent for March-end from earlier projection of 7.5 per cent. The repo

rate, which was cut last in April 2012, stands revised at 7.75 per cent with immediate effect, while the liquidity

infusing CRR stands at 4 per cent effective February 9th. Inflation has been the prime inhibiting factor that has

prevented the RBI from cutting repo rate in the last nine months, which have seen a host of liquidity infusing

measures like a cut of 1.75 per cent in CRR, government bond buybacks and a one percentage point cut in SLR.

RBI however, added the caveat stating that the stance will depend on how the government manages the risk from

the twin deficits on the fiscal and current account side, and the evolving growth-inflation dynamics. Stating that

the widening current account deficit, which represents the differential between the foreign exchange, earned and

expended through trade and services, is a big concern, RBI said the number is expected to widen in third quarter,

beyond the 5.4 percent in the preceding quarter.

 Union Ministry for Commerce launched eBiz Portal to Provide one Stop Shop for all Investment

The Union Minister for Commerce on 28 January 2013 launched an eBiz portal at the CII Partnership Summit in

Agra . The portal is India’s Government-to-Business (G2B) portal developed by Infosys in a Public Private

46 www.tnpsctamil.in 46 of 91. Partnership (PPP) Model. This Mission Mode Project47 of will91. mark a paradigm shift in the Government’s approach to

providing Government-to-Business (G2B) services for India’s investor and business communities. In order to

enable businesses and investors to save time and costs and in order to improve the business environment in the

country, an online single window was conceptualized in the form of the eBiz Mission Mode Project under the

National e-Governance Plan. The project aims to create a business and investor friendly ecosystem in India by

making all business and investment related regulatory services across Central, State and local governments

available on a single portal, thereby obviating the need for an investor or a business to visit multiple offices or a

plethora of websites. The core value of the transformational project lies in a shift in the Governments’ service

delivery approach from being department-centric to customer-centric. E-Biz will create a 24x7 facility for

information and services and will also offer joined-up services where a single application submitted by a customer,

for a number of permissions, clearances, approvals and registrations will be routed automatically across multiple

governmental agencies in a logical manner. An inbuilt payment gateway will also add value by allowing all

payments to be collected at one point and then apportioned, split and routed to the respective heads of account of

Central and State agencies along with generation of challans and MIS reports. This payment gateway is the first of

its kind designed in India and can become a universal payment gateway for all e-Governance applications. The

eBiz Project is the first of its kind ever implemented in the country. It marks the highest level of maturity in web-

based eGovernance applications as it strives to achieve horizontal integration across various verticals of Central

government, State governments and Para-statal agencies. The first phase of the project, which was being

launched, provides an interactive tool that helps investors assess the Licenses and Permits requirements while

setting up and operating a business in India. The License & Permit Information wizard will provide authentic

information 24X7 to investors and businesses by providing answers to questions in an interview style format.

 Diesel prices will be hiked by 40-50 paise per litre every month till losses on the nation's most used fuel are

completely wiped out, oil minister M Veerappa Moily said on 2 February. "Until further orders, oil marketing

companies can increase it (diesel price) by 40-50 paise (per litre) every month," he told reporters here. The

government had on January 17 decided to move towards deregulating or freeing diesel prices from state control

and gave powers to state-owned oil firms to raise prices in small measures every month till all of their losses are

wiped out.

 Beverages giant Coca-Cola on 22 january, announced $ 100,000 fund for a WEF initiative aimed at

helping young people take action on issues they care about in more than 200 cities worldwide.

The Global Shapers Community, set up by the World Economic Forum in 2011 with the aim of

47 www.tnpsctamil.in 47 of 91. engaging young people as active agents of48 change of 91., is also supported by DST Global Advisors and Reliance

Industries. The funding is offered in a competition aimed at more than 1,700 entrepreneurs, social activists and

"positive disruptors" who make up the 'Global Shapers Community', WEF said in a release. "It will provide seed

financing for Shapers' projects that address some of the most pressing problems in their communities," it said.

Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola Company said a challenge to spark and expand innovative

ideas from the young leaders is what the world needs.

 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 23 January 2013 projected that the economic growth rate

of India in 2013 would be 5.9 percent. The IMF also projected an increased growth rate of 6.4 percent for

2014 looking forward towards the gradual strengthening of the global expansion in India’s context. In its update at

the World Economic Forum , the IMF also forecasted that the global economic growth rate would be 3.5 percent,

little higher than the 3.2 percent estimated earlier. As per the report of IMF, uncertainty in policy making and

supply bottlenecks were one of the most visible causes that hampered the growth aspects of the economies like

India and Brazil. It also stated that the scopes of easing the policy to any further extent have also gone down in

these countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries that works for

fostering the global monetary cooperation, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, facilitate

international trade, secure financial stability and reduce poverty around the world.

 The inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in India decreased to around 2-year low at 1.05 billion US dollar in

November 2012 because of uncertainties of the global economies. Back in November 2011, the FDI was worth 2.53

billion US dollar. The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) announced that from April-

November period 2012-13, inflows of FDI decreased by around 31 percent to 15.84 billion US dollar from 22.83

billion US dollar in 2011-12. The reason why inflow of FDI decreased was because of the issues arising in the

global economic scenario. Economic slowdown as well as absence of political consensus on FDI-associated issues

is the main causes of decline in FDI inflow. During 2012-2013, the sectors which remained on the positive side of

the FDI inflows included services, hotel and tourism, metallurgical, construction and automobile. In India,

maximum FDI inflow came from Mauritius (USD 7.2 billion), Japan (USD 1.56 billion), Singapore (USD 1.5

billion) the Netherlands (USD 1.09 billion) and the UK (USD 615 million). The FDI declined to a low level earlier

in January 2011 when the inflow was recorded to be 1.04 billion dollar. Foreign direct investments play a very

crucial role in India’s economy. India has a requirement of FDI inflow of around 1 trillion US dollar in next 5 years

48 www.tnpsctamil.in 48 of 91. time so that it can refurbish infrastructure sectors49 oflike 91. highways, airports and ports. Decrease in the FDI inflow

will pressurize the balance of payment of the country, while also impacting the Rupee.

 IMF: World Economic Growth Rate would be 3.5 percent in 2013

International Monetary Fund (IMF) in at update to World Economic Outlook (WEO) on 23 January 2013,

projected that the global economic growth rate would be 3.5 percent in 2013. The update mentioned that the

global economic growth would strengthen gradually as the limitations of the economic activities have seen a

positive note with the start of the year.

Some of the major projections of IMF are

o Global growth would reach 3.5 percent in 2013, from 3.2 percent in 2012

o Crisis risks would narrow down but the downside risks will remain crucial

o Main sources of growth would be the emerging markets, developing countries and the United States

 Government to auction 700 Mhz spectrum for 4G services next year

The government on 21 January said it will auction spectrum in 700 Mhz band, which is used for offering high-

speed Internet services through fourth generation technologies, in 2014. "We are going to auction the 700 band in

any case by 2014," Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said during the commissioning of country's first lab for

measuring specific absorption rate (SAR) for mobile handsets. The 700-Mhz spectrum band ranges from 698 Mhz

to 806 Mhz and has been identified by the International Telecommunication Union for telecom services. "We have

set up a lab in the country so that mobile phones can be tested here for electromagnetic radiations," Sibal said. He

added more such labs will be set up across the country starting with Mumbai.

 Aiming at providing hygienic condition at rail premises, the Railways on 22 January, has decided to

undertake cleanliness drive at about 100 important stations across the country and equip

maximum number of coaches with bio-toilets. Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has written to

General Managers of all zonal railways to ensure cleanliness at 100 stations with more than 10 lakh population

and with religious and tourists importance. The stations have been identified for taking up cleanliness drive in the

first phase, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said at the Consultative Committee meeting held in New Delhi

on 22 January. The agenda of the meeting was 'Railways ongoing projects'. Bansal said that more and more

coaches will be provided with bio-toilets and the washing aprons are being provided at the stations. Emphasising

on cleanliness, he also informed the committee that a team of officers of Railway Board will be formed who will go

around the country to undertake inspections to ensure cleanliness. Referring to the catering services, the minister

49 www.tnpsctamil.in 49 of 91. said that efforts are on to provide quality catering50 ofservices 91. at station and in running trains. The committee was

informed that new tenders are being floated and base kitchens are being constructed to cook food in the most

hygienic environment. Expressing concern over the accidents at unmanned level crossings, Bansal said that

railways is constantly working to eliminate such crossings and cooperation of state governments is being sought in

this regard.

 State Bank of India (SBI) will open its second branch in China in the north-eastern port city of

Tianjin in February, to cater to the growing trade with India, particularly from the northern part of the country.

While China’s more prosperous southern provinces drive much of the annual $66 billion bilateral trade, SBI

officials believe the increasing trade from northern China and particularly through the fast-developing trade hub

of Tianjin will provide a platform to grow the operations of the bank’s second China branch. SBI is also

considering opening a third office in the southern port city of Guangzhou. SBI Shanghai, in 2010, became the

first Indian bank to acquire a licence from Chinese authorities to do business in the local

Renminbi (RMB) currency. Dinesh Sharma, CEO of the SBI Shanghai Branch, said the Tianjin branch would

open towards the end of February. Under Chinese rules, banks have to go through a five-year waiting period

before they can acquire an RMB licence. The Tianjin branch will open with $47 million capital. SBI Shanghai

operates with $76 million capital, including 300 million RMB.

 Union Government of India increased Import Duty on Gold and Platinum by 2 Percent

The Union Government of India on 21 January 2013 hiked the import duty on Gold and Platinum from 4 percent

to 6 percent. The step of the Government came in effect to control the import of the precious metals leading a

widening gap in the Current Account Deficit of the country as the import of gold has shown tumbling effects on

different economic fronts and has also played a major role in distortion of the balance of trade. The Government

has also linked the Gold ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) along with the Gold Deposit Schemes, so that the supply

of the physical gold in the market can be increased. These regulations and increased in the import duty would also

show changes on the customs duty as well as the excise duty of gold ores, refined gold, gold dore bars and more.

Within a year, the import duty on gold has been hiked for third time. Before this, the government increased the

duty on import of gold from 1 percent to 2 percent in January 2012 and it doubled the import duty on standard

gold from 2 percent to 4 percent in March 2012.

 The Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC) under the Education & Training Initiatives of Apparel

Export Promotion Council (AEPC) is going to set up India’s first ‘Technology Innovation Research 50 www.tnpsctamil.in 50 of 91. Centre’ at the ATDC-Training of Trainers’51 Academy, of 91. Gurgaon, in collaboration with JUKI India Pvt. Ltd.

This Centre will demonstrate leading edge technologies and undertaking applied research. The ATDC-JUKI TECH

Innovation Centre is an important initiative to strengthen the Apparel Industry, especially the SMEs, to adopt new

technologies for increasing productivity, efficiency and quality for better price realisation and better global

competitiveness. The Centre will be launched by Textiles Secretary Smt. Kiran Dhingra, IAS on 17 January. The

ATDC-JUKI TECH Innovation Centre will be a platform where industry and academia can focus on showcasing

and demonstrating leading edge technology and carrying out applied ‘Research’ which is a key word in SMART

(Skills for Manufacturing of Apparel through Research and Training). Applied ‘Research’ combined with

technology training can become a potent force to catalyse advancement of apparel production techniques and

praxis, that would be relevant for India’s apparel manufacturing environment.

 Amidst a string of varying growth numbers being projected by multilateral institutions, a report by the United

Nations has estimated the Indian economy to grow by 6.1 per cent in 2013, marking a recovery

from the decade-old slowest pace of 5.5 per cent in 2012. The UN, in its report titled ‘World

economic situation and prospects 2013’ (WESP), released in New Delhi on 16 January, said: “GDP growth

in India will accelerate to 6.1 per cent in 2013 and 6.5 per cent in 2014 as a result of stronger growth of exports

and capital investment... Investment demand is expected to respond to a more accommodative monetary policy

stance and slightly improved business confidence. “The WESP noted that India’s economy, representing almost

three quarters of the South Asian region’s GDP (gross domestic product), slowed markedly in the past years with

annual growth declining from more than 9 per cent in 2010 to 5.5 per cent in 2012, the slowest pace in 10 years.

Releasing the report, United Nation’s ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) Chief

Economist Nagesh Kumar, however, viewed that India had a huge growth potential in the long term. “India and

China are playing a major role in the growth of world economy,” he said. As for the South Asian region as a whole,

the report pointed out that economic growth during 2012 also fell to its lowest pace in a decade. After growing by

5.8 per cent in 2011 South Asia’s gross domestic product expanded by only 4.4 per cent in 2012.

 The Implementation of GAAR deferred by 2 Years, to Come into Force from 1April 2016

The implementation of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) was deferred by two years by the government of

India. It will now come into force from 1 April 2016. Earlier, the provisions of GAAR were to be implemented from

1 April 2014. GAAR will not apply to those Foreign Institutions Investors, FIIs who are not taking any benefit

under an agreement under the Income Tax Act. Besides, it will also not apply to non-resident investors in FIIs.

51 www.tnpsctamil.in 51 of 91. The Parthasarathi Shome Committee in its final52 report of 91. submitted to Finance ministry on 30 September 2012 had

suggested that GAAR should be deferred by three years. The report was made public on 14 January 2013. Union

Government accepted major recommendations of the Shome Committee with some modifications. Shome

Committee was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2012 to address the issue of GAAR.

 Cabinet committee on economic affairs, on17 January, lifted ban on exports of processed foods and value added

agricultural products. These include wheat of muslin flour, cereal flours, grouts, meal pellets and grains, milk

products including casein and its products, butter and other fat derivatives from milk and dairy spread, cheese

and curd and value added products of onion and peanut butter. The move will give a push to India’s sagging

merchandise exports and is estimated to add $5 billion to exports over the next two year with West Asia identified

as a key market for processed food from India. Besides, it will help Indian exporters to move up the value chain as

well as create additional employment in the country. At present, India’s major agricultural exports comprises of

raw or primary produce and unprocessed or semi processed agriculture commodities, which are susceptible to

restrictions owi¬ng to various reasons such as bad weather conditions, deficient or delayed rainfall and food

security issues. “The exports of processed and value added products constitute a very miniscule portion of the

overall exports, and hence their continuation would not affect the availability in the domestic market owing to

very marginal processing capacity in the country. Always open policy of this sector will not only help reduce

wastage of perishable products but also encourage value addition,” a statement from CCEA said. For long, there

has been no consistent policy on exports of agricultural products in India, as a result of which the overseas buyers

were reluctant to import from India to meet their domestic requirement year-after-year. Even for the raw or

primary agricultural pro¬ducts, India has been adopting switch-on and switch-off approach citing issues of

domestic food security. Industry experts feel that the decision will now bring clarity on India’s stand on exports of

proc¬essed food and agricultural products and help generate additional exports in coming years.

 Union Cabinet Approved 50 Percent Reduction in the Reserve Prices for CDMA Spectrum

The Union Government on 17 January 2013 approved a 50 per cent reduction in the reserve price of spectrum

used by CDMA mobile operators. Spectrum auction, for both GSM and CDMA, is supposed to be completed by 31

March 2013 and thereafter the markets will decide how much revenue the government will get. With the reduction

of reserve price to 50 percent pan-India 5MHz of 800 MHz spectrum (CDMA radio waves) will now cost 9100

crore rupees. It was witnessed that auction of CDMA spectrum that took place in November 2012 did not attract

bidders due to high reserve price. The reserve price set was 11 times higher than what operators paid in 2008.

52 www.tnpsctamil.in 52 of 91. Earlier CDMA spectrum price fixed by government53 ofwas 91. priced at 1.3 times more than the GSM spectrum in 1800

Mhz band. The Cabinet has already approved a 30 per cent cut in the reserve price of 1,800 MHz band spectrum

used for offering GSM services. The Supreme Court has recently allowed the companies whose licences were

cancelled to continue operations till 4 February 2013 when the government is supposed to inform it of the final

reserve or minimum price for the spectrum sale.

 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 10 January, approved the disinvestment of 10

percent paid up equity in Engineers India Ltd. (EIL) out of its equity capital holding of 80.40 percent

through a prospectus based Further Public Offering (FPO), in the domestic market as per SEBI Rules and

Regulations. After this disinvestment, Government of India’s shareholding in the company would come down to

70.40 percent. The paid up equity capital of the company, as on 31st March, 2012 is Rs.168.47 crore. EIL is a

listed “Mini-Ratna” Central Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of

Petroleum and Natural Gas. It is one of India’s largest companies to provide design, engineering and related

project management and consultancy services for the hydrocarbon sector and the process plants industry in the

country.

 Dr M Veerappa Moily, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, launched on11 january, new IT/web

enabled initiatives to make distribution of domestic LPG more customer friendly and enhance

transparency. Speaking on the occasion, he said, currently, the three OMCs together home-deliver over 30 lakh

cylinders everyday across the length and breadth of the country, including far-flung areas like Leh and the

Andaman & Nicobar Islands, making it a mammoth and challenging marketing exercise. The Government of

India has launched new initiatives, Project “Lakshya”, in the LPG business focusing on greater customer

empowerment, better subsidy administration, enhanced transparency in the distribution chain; along with a slew

of IT-based customer service initiatives. With the launch of “Transparency portal”, the Minister said, customers

have already been empowered to know their consumption and enabled civil society activists to look through and

flag anomalies in the distribution of LPG cylinders. This effort has started bearing fruit.

 The Union Cabinet on10 January 2013 approved a proposal of infusing 12517 crores rupees in

public sector banks so that bank could enhance the lending activity and meet the capital adequacy norms. As

per the Finance Minister P Chidambaram about 9-10 public sector banks are going to be benefitted from the

capital infusion programme. Also, the name of the banks, the amount for each bank and terms of the conditions

will be decided in consultation with them at the time of infusion. The government is supposed to Provide capital 53 www.tnpsctamil.in 53 of 91. funds to PSBs during the year 2012-13 to the tune54 ofof 91.12517 crore to maintain their Tier-l CRAR (capital to risk-

weighted assets ratio) at comfortable level. The need for that is to make the PSU remain obedient with the stricter

capital adequacy norms under BASEL-III as well as to support internationally active PSBs for their national and

international banking operations undertaken through their subsidiaries and associates. In principle approval of

the Cabinet is accorded for need based additional capital infusion in PSBs from the year 2013-14 to 2018-19 for

ensuring compliance to Capital Adequacy norms under Basel- III.

 Empowered Group of Ministers decided to Auction four Telecom Circles in 1800 MHz Band

The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on 7 January 2013 decided to auction the four telecom circles in

1800 MHz band, which failed to win bidders in the November 2012 auction. The EGoM also decided to reduce the

reserve price fixed in November by 30 percent. The auction is planned in March 2013. Of the 1800 MHz Band the

quantum of spectrum that would be put forward for auction in different states and cities are 15 MHz in Mumbai

and Delhi and 10 MHz in Rajasthan and Karnataka. There also are provisions of getting an extra topping of 3.75

MHz as was in November 2012

 In a move to regulate mutual fund distribution business, SEBI on 9 January said it has notified regulations to set

up a Self Regulatory Organisation (SRO) to monitor distributors of mutual fund and portfolio management

products.“The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) hereby appoints the date of this notification as the

date on which the regulations shall come into force in relation to distributors engaged by asset management

companies of mutual funds and distributors engaged by portfolio managers,” the regulator said in its notification

dated January 8.In August, last year, SEBI in its board meeting had approved the proposal made by its Mutual

Fund Advisory Committee (MFAC), to set up an SRO to regulate the Mutual Fund distribution business. The

decisions followed concerns about mutual fund distributors in India not being regulated and there having been

various complaints against them for mis-selling of products to the investors. Presently, the distributors need to

register with Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) and their registration can be cancelled by AMFI for

violation of a prescribed Code of Conduct or for any other malafide practice.

 Fitch's threat of India's rating downgrade fails to ruffle govt

Fitch Ratings has warned that India still faced the risk of a sovereign credit rating downgrade despite the wave of

reform measures announced in September last year, and has said that the upcoming budget will indicate the

government's commitment to fiscal consolidation. But the government brushed aside the warning, saying it was

taking steps to address the concerns of rating agencies. Standard & Poor's also had last month reiterated the 54 www.tnpsctamil.in 54 of 91. possibility of a downgrade and on 8 January, Fitch55 warnedof 91. that the twin deficits, on the fiscal and current account,

were cause for concern. In June last year, Fitch had revised the outlook on India's BBB- rating to negative, joining

S&P that had in April said that India might become the first BRIC nation to lose the coveted investment grade

rating. Any downgrade will send India's sovereign debt into junk grade, which could weaken capital flows and

raise the cost of borrowing overseas for Indian companies.

 Proposing a major overhaul of corporate governance norms for listed companies, the Securities

and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has suggested an omnibus set of measures that align pay of top-

level executives in companies with their performance and providing greater powers to minority shareholders. It

also makes it necessary to expand the size of the boards by excluding nominee directors from the definition of

independent directors. SEBI has also proposed a new concept of ‘Corporate Governance Rating’ by independent

rating agencies to monitor the level of compliance by companies and regular inspection by the Sebi and stock

exchanges. The measures incorporate the Adi Godrej committee report, the Companies Bill 2012 and Sebi’s own

corporate governance guidelines in one document. Sebi said institutional investors should show more

involvement in the boards where they have nominee directors instead of just protecting their investments. Sebi

has proposed to exclude the nominee directors from the category of independent directors to align the provisions

of Clause 49 with the bill.

 Government mulling steps to reduce gold import: FM

The government is considering steps to reduce gold import by making it more expensive, Finance Minister P

Chidambaram said on 2 January. "Demand for gold must be moderated...We may be left with no choice but to

make it more expensive to import gold. The matter is under government consideration," he told. Gold import is a

major constituent of India's rising Current Account Deficit (CAD). The CAD, which represents the difference

between exports and imports after considering cash remittances and payment, widened to a record high of 5.4

percent of GDP, or USD 22.3 billion, in the July-September quarter. In value terms, gold imports stood at USD

20.2 billion in the April-September period of the current fiscal, a decline of 30.3 percent over the corresponding

period a year ago. For the entire 2011-12 fiscal, gold imports stood at USD 56.2 billion. The decline was mainly on

account of increase in customs duty on gold imports by government in January and March 2012.

 Mukesh Ambani 18th richest man in world: Report

Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani is the 18th richest person in the world with a personal wealth of $24.7

billion in 2012, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world's 100 wealthiest

55 www.tnpsctamil.in 55 of 91. individuals. Mexican telecommunications magnate56 of Carlos 91. Slim remained the world's richest person last year

holding a personal fortune of more than $70 billion, it said. Ambani, 55, chairman & MD of Reliance Industries,

has also retained his position as the world's richest Indian for the sixth year in a row and increased his ranking

from 19th to 18th position and personal wealth from $21 billion to $24.7 billion in the world, the Index showed.

The world's top 100 billionaires got even richer in 2012, with their total wealth rising by around 15% to $1.81

trillion, it said. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the founder of fashion retailer Zara, Amancio Ortega, rounded

out the top three spots, with wealth estimated just over and just under $60 billion, respectively. Renowned

investor Warren Buffett slipped to fourth place, but added around $5 billion to his fortune over the year despite

donating a substantial amount to charity last year. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad saw his net worth rising 16.6%

to approximately $40 billion, putting him in fifth place on Bloomberg's billionaire index.

 The government has imposed around five per cent cut in the Rs 1.93lakh-crore defence budget this year in view of

economic slowdown. The Ministry of Finance recently conveyed to the Defence Ministry that there would be a cut

of around Rs 10,000 crore in the Rs 1.93 lakh crore allocated for the defence sector, Ministry officials said here.

After the cut in budget, several key acquisition plans of the three forces including the procurement of 126 combat

aircraft for the IAF are expected to be pushed for the next fiscal, they said. Defence Minister A K Antony had given

indications in this regard recently when he said that the Ministry would be struggling to get even the allocated

amount.

 Union Government Doubled 12th Plan Outlay for Science and Technology Ministry

Union Science and Technology Minister S. Jaipal Reddy on 4 January 2013 declared that the Centre’s allocation

for the science and technology and earth sciences ministry had been doubled for the 12th Plan period. The

declaration came in the inauguration ceremony of Children Science Congress as part of the 100th Indian Science

Congress where Jaipal Reddy announced that in the 12th Five-Year Plan, the combined planned allocation for

science and technology and earth sciences had been nearly doubled from 33000 crore rupees in the previous Plan

period to around 60000 crore rupees in the present 12th plan period.The Minister S. Jaipal Reddy also stressed

on the newly announced Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, and recommended that the policy would

emphasise on the importance of greater innovation and suggested that there is a need for integrating science,

research and innovation to develop valuable technologies.

56 www.tnpsctamil.in 56 of 91. Science & Technology 57 of 91.

 The 10th BioAsia Summit, BioAsia 2013, Asia's biggest technology and bio-business platform,

which commenced on January 28, concluded in Hyderabad on 30 January. The valedictory ceremony

was attended by eminent personalities including Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Ms. D

Purandeswari, FABA President Dr. Khalid Chowdhary, ICRISAT Director General Dr William Dar, Global

Business Bureau Director General (Gangwon Provincial Government, South Korea) Mr. WookJae Lee, US India

Business Alliance Chairman Mr Sanjay Puri and PHARMEXIL Director General Dr PV Appaji. Ms.D

Purandeswari has released the special report by BioAsia- Grant Thorton on the key trends and

alliances in the Biologics and Biosimilars markets. The Minister also released BioAsia-ISB's report on Intellectual

Property Regime and Lifesciences. BioAsia - Grant Thorton Report covers the recent developments in the

Biosimilars opportunities particularly partnerships and regulatory dynamics in key global markets BioAsia-ISB

report captures the impact of the changes in Indian Patent Law on strategies and competitiveness of local players.

 In pursuit of common aims and to raise awareness of the importance of Cheminformatics to

accelerate the discovery of novel therapies for neglected diseases like TB and Malaria, the Council

of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), which provides scientific and industrial R&D that maximises

the economic, environmental and societal benefits for the people of India on 29 January, signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between its Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD)

initiative and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the largest European organization for advancing

chemical sciences in its headquarter , New Delhi. The MoU, spanning three years, aims to address the

objective of finding novel, faster-acting, and more effective regimens for TB and Malaria by

advancing the discipline of Cheminformatics. The collaboration envisions conducting workshops and

conferences to build links between experts and leaders in the coming years and will focus on jointly building an

online repository of real and virtual molecular structures along with developing free-to -use software tools for

drug discovery and development. The partnership also aims at exploring the possibility of advancing OSDD’s e-

learning program for students. CSIR is an autonomous society whose President is the Prime Minister of India.

CSIR is an ensemble of 37 laboratories in engineering, physical, biological, chemical and information science

clusters, funded chiefly by the government of India. CSIR laboratories engage about 5000 scientists and almost

10000 students pursuing higher degrees. CSIR provides scientific and industrial R&D that maximizes the

economic, environmental and societal benefits for the people of India. Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD)

57 www.tnpsctamil.in 57 of 91. is an initiative funded and led by the Council58 of of 91. Scientific and Industrial Research. OSDD is a team

India consortium with global partnership with a vision to provide affordable healthcare to the developing world to

solve the complex problems associated with discovering novel therapies for diseases like Tuberculosis, Malaria

and Leishmaniasis. The Royal Society of Chemistry is the largest organisation in Europe for

advancing the chemical sciences. Supported by a worldwide network of members and an international

publishing business, RSC’s activities span education, conferences, science policy, development of chemical

applications and the promotion of chemistry to the public.

 The Defense Minister AK Antony handed over a Dornier surveillance aircraft to the Foreign

Minister of Seychelles Mr. Jean Paul Adam at a function in New Delhi on 31 January. The maritime

surveillance aircraft will be used to guard the extensive coastline of the island nation in the Indian Ocean. The

Dornier 228 manufactured by the defense public sector undertaking, the Hindustan Aeronautics

Ltd. (HAL) will also be supported by the HAL team for maintenance on site to enable the new user to get the

requisite expertise. The DO-228 is a highly reliable, multi-purpose, fuel efficient, rugged, light weight twin turbo

prop aircraft with a retractable tricycle landing gear. Describing the event as yet another milestone in the defense

cooperation between India and Seychelles, Antony said HAL-DO-228 aircraft is being extensively utilized by our

various users such as the Coast Guard, the Navy, Air Force and civilians for a variety of applications. He said it is a

frontline surveillance platform for applications like maritime reconnaissance, intelligence warfare, search and

rescue, pollution control and transport. He expressed confidence that the aircraft will prove useful for maritime

applications by Seychelles, as it is fitted with the latest state of the art surveillance and communication equipment.

The Foreign Minister of Seychelles Mr. Jean Paul Adam thanked New Delhi for the aircraft and said it will

revolutionize the coastal surveillance of Seychelles. He said it will not only help Seychelles to fight piracy but

would come as a useful platform for security in a broader way.

 China Successfully Carried Out Interceptor Missile Test

China on 27 January 2013 successfully performed the second interceptor missile test. The test was -said to be of

the defensive nature without targeting any other country. This is for the second time that China announced testing

such a missile. Likewise, the anti-missile interception test was conducted successfully on 11 January 2010 earlier.

No detailed information was revealed.

 India test-fires ballistic missile from underwater platform

India on 27January made a major stride towards completing its nuclear triad capability by successfully test firing 58 www.tnpsctamil.in 58 of 91. a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, with a strike 59range of 91.of around 1500 km, from an underwater platform in Bay of

Bengal. Completion of the nuclear triad will give India the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and

sea. This is the first missile in the underwater category to have been fully developed by India and can be launched

from a submarine. "The medium range K-5 ballistic missile was test fired successfully from an underwater

pontoon and all parameters of the test firing were met," Defence Research and Development Organisation

(DRDO) chief V K Saraswat told from an undisclosed test area. Officials said more than 10 trials of the missile had

been carried out earlier. This was the last development trial of K-5. Only a select few nations including the US,

France, Russia and China have this type of missile capability, they said.K-5 is part of the family of underwater

missiles being developed by DRDO for the Indian strategic forces' underwater platforms. The missile, which is

also known as BO5, has been developed by DRDO's Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development

Laboratory (DRDL).

 Iran on 28 January 2013 announced that it had successfully sent into space a monkey. While declaring the

sending of a monkey into space, Iran also declared that it was yet another step towards the space flight goal of

Tehran. The rocket called Pishgam (meaning Pioneer) reached at a height of 120 km. Though the details about

timing or the location were not disclosed, but Iran declared that the monkey had come back to the Earth

successfully. Since a long time, Iran wanted to send an astronaut in space as its aerospace programme in 2012. In

2010, Iran declared that it had launched the Explorer rocket into space which carried worms, turtle and mouse.

Iran’s effort to launch a monkey into the space had earlier failed in 2011. However, US and the allies worried that

the technology from the space programme might be utilised for creation of missiles which could potentially also be

armed with the nuclear warheads. Iran, in the meanwhile, denied that it took atomic weapons and also claimed

that it was using the nuclear reactors for medical and energy applications. In its joint project with Russia, Iran had

announced that it had successfully launched satellites into space back in 2005. Though Iran conceals details of the

new space facility that it has planned, but the most important satellite launch complex of Iran is near Semnan.

 NASA launched a New Communication Satellite called TDRS

NASA on 31 January 2013 launched a new communication satellite to stay in touch with its space station

astronauts and relay more Hubble telescope images. An unmanned Atlas V rocket blasted into the starry night sky

carrying the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) from Cape Canaveral. This is the 11th TDRS satellite to be

launched by NASA. The space agency uses the orbiting network to communicate with astronauts living on the

International Space Station. The first TDRS spacecraft flew in 1983.This newest third-generation TDRS carries the

59 www.tnpsctamil.in 59 of 91. letter K designation. Once it begins working, it60 will of become91. TDRS-11. It will take two weeks for the satellite to

reach its intended 22300-mile-high orbit. Testing will last a few months. NASA estimates the satellite costs

between 350 and 400 million US Dollars. Another TDRS spacecraft, L in the series, will be launched in 2014.

 Construction of the world’s largest optical telescope by a five-nation consortium including India is

expected to start next year with Indian scientists making a significant contribution in developing its key

components. The Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT), dubbed as the world’s most advanced ground-based

observatory, will be built at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii at a cost of $1.2 billion. The

TMT Governing Board ended its two-day meeting in New delhi on 22 January, where it reviewed the status of the

project and the contributions to be made by partner nations India, China, Japan, Canada and the US.

“The TMT will be 81 times more sensitive than the current telescopes of its kind,” said TMT Governing Board vice-

chairman Edward Stone. TMT Project Manager Gary Sanders said 15% of the 492 mirror segments, each 1.44 m in

size, will be fabricated in India.

 India has decided to go it alone in its second lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-2, which was

originally proposed as an Indo-Russian venture. This was disclosed on 21 January by S.V.S. Murty of the

Planetary Exploration Group of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), an institution under the Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO) .Dr. Murty was speaking on India’s lunar and Mars missions at the ongoing

workshop on exoplanets at the laboratory located in Ahmedabad. According to an agreement signed on November

12, 2007 between ISRO and Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, ISRO had the primary responsibility

to provide both the orbiter and the rover, while Roskosmos was to design and build the lander for this combined

orbiter-rover-lander mission. However, following the failure in December 2011 of Roskosmos’ Phobos-Grunt

mission, there was a delay in the construction of the Russian lander. The mission had a lander to return soil

sample from the Martian satellite Phobos. This resulted in a complete review of technical aspects connected with

the Phobos-Grunt mission, which were also used in the lunar projects such as the lander for Chandrayaan-2. Due

to this, as well as financial problems, the Russian agency apparently expressed its inability to provide the lander to

meet even the revised time frame of 2015 for the Chandrayaan-2 launch. Dr. Murty stated that the cancellation of

the Russian lander also meant that mission profile had to be marginally changed. The design of the indigenous

lander and the preliminary configuration study was completed by the Space Applications Centre (SAC),

Ahmedabad, he said. Chandrayaan-2 will have five primary payloads on the orbiter, two of which will be

improvements on instruments that were onboard Chandrayaan-1.In addition, the rover too will carry two

additional instruments. Chandrayaan-2 will be launched by a GSLV powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine.

60 www.tnpsctamil.in 60 of 91.  A new state-of-the art, anti-radiation missile61 of that91. can target enemy radars and communication

facilities is being developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). At

present there is no such missile in India’s arsenal, while some advanced countries, including the US, Israel and

Russia, have such a weapon, top DRDO sources told the media. The government recently gave the go-ahead for

the project, and the design work has already begun at one of the key DRDO laboratories. Sources added that in

any war scenario, radar and communication facilities of the enemy would be the first target.The new air-to-surface

100-km range tactical missile picks up radiation or signals emitted by radars and communication systems, homes

on to the target and destroys the network. The missile’s front-end comprises a sensor to pick up various radio

frequencies. The missile is expected to be ready in the next three to five years. After a series of developmental

trials, it will be integrated with fighter aircraft, including Sukhoi and Light Combat Aircraft.

 The Naval offshore patrol vessel (NOPV) INS Saryu was formally commissioned into the Indian

Navy on 22 January. The commissioning was done by air marshal P K Roy, commander-in-chief Andaman and

Nicobar command, at the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in Vasco. The first in the series of four new class of

NOPVs designed and built by the GSL for the Indian Navy, the state-of-the-art ship will be based at

Andaman and will be tasked with protecting India's strategic maritime interests and assets in the

region. Besides ocean, surveillance and surface warfare operations to prevent infiltration and protect maritime

sovereignty the ship will monitor sea lines of communication, defence of offshore oil installations and other assets.

The 105m INS Saryu is powered by twin SEMT Pielstick diesel engines and is equipped with the latest navigation,

communication and radar equipment. Its weapons systems include a 76mm super rapid gun mount and two

30mm close-in weapon system guns as well as six chaff launchers.

 President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 28th Congress of the Asia Pacific Academy of

Ophthalmology at Hyderabad on 17 January. Speaking on the occasion, the President said as stated in the

Vision 2020 document of WHO, the problem of blindness can only be combated through increased political

commitment, professional commitment, provision of high quality eye care, increasing public awareness and

support of non-governmental organizations and private sector. Private sector companies and government

institutions should join hands to fight blindness and visual impairment. The private sector companies should not

consider this a burden but as a way of discharging their social obligations. The President said he is confident that

the Congress would find solutions for providing greater medical access to the needy. He also hoped that the

technical sessions would provide the necessary platform for knowledge sharing and information dissemination.

61 www.tnpsctamil.in 61 of 91.  India on 27 January, made a major stride towards62 of completing 91. its nuclear triad capability by successfully test

firing a nuclear-capable ballistic missile K-5, from an underwater platform in Bay of Bengal.

Completion of the nuclear triad will give India the ability to fire nuclear-tipped missiles from land, air and sea.

This is the first missile in the underwater category to have been fully developed by India and can

be launched from a submarine. The medium range K-5 ballistic missile was test fired successfully from an

underwater pontoon and all parameters of the test firing were met," Defence Research and Development

Organisation (DRDO) chief V K Saraswat told the press. Officials said more than 10 trials of the missile had been

carried out earlier. Only a select few nations including the US, France, Russia and China have this type of missile

capability. The development phase of the K-5 missile, which comes in the category of submarine-launched ballistic

missile (SLBM), was over and it was now ready for deployment on various platforms including the

around 6,000-tonne indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant which is under development.K-5

is part of the family of underwater missiles being developed by DRDO for the Indian strategic

forces' underwater platforms. The missile, which is also known as BO5, has been developed by

DRDO's Hyderabad-based Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL).This missile will

help India to achieve the capability of launching nuclear warheads from underwater facilities. So far, India had the

capability of delivering nuclear weapons from land and aerial platforms only.

 The 54th All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology began in Mumbai on 17 January. Ghulam

Nabi Azad, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare was the Chief Guest at the inaugural programme.

Addressing the function, Mr. Azad said Maternal and Child Health has received utmost priority from the Health

Ministry. There has been a significant decline in MMR, IMR and TFR in India. The current MMR as per the latest

Sample Registration Survey is 212 per 100,000 live-births and the IMR is 44 per 1,000 live births. However, the

current pace of decline needs to be further accelerated to achieve the commitments on the millennium

development goals. About 28 million pregnancies occur along with an estimated 56,000 maternal deaths in India

every year. It may be mentioned that the All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology (AICOG) is the

important annual event on the academic calendar of the Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecological Societies of

India (FOGSI) involved with women’s health. Gynecologists and medical experts from India and abroad

participate in the academic event. The programme includes pre-congress workshops, continuous medical

education sessions, detailed scientific sessions, free paper and poster presentations. FOGSI is the professional

organization representing practitioners of obstetrics and gynecology in India. With 219 member societies and over

27,000 individual members spread over the length and breadth of the country, FOGSI is one of the largest

62 www.tnpsctamil.in 62 of 91. membership based organizations of specialized63 of professionals. 91. FOGSI has close links and affiliation with

international and regional organizations like FIGO, AOFOG and SAFOG.

 The Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) in its endeavor to promote Non Timber Forest based

Handicrafts, Herbal/Health/Cosmetic Medicinal & Food items (Forest/Argo/Biodiversity food) is organising 15

Days program: “GREEN HAAT” with primary objective of “Connecting nature with our lives”. The

event would be organized in New Delhi from 16th January 2013. It will continue till 31st January 2013. Green

Haat is an initiative of Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF), Govt. of India to raise awareness on the rich

forest and bio diverse heritage of the country among the growing urban population often living far off from the

forests. The initiative is to showcase various value added forest based products developed by Rural Artisans,

Community Self Help Groups, NGOs, and State Federations and thus provide support to biodiversity conservation

and sustainable livelihoods. The first Green Haat was organized on the eve of World Environment Day 2011 where

India played as a Global Host.

 Union Minister for science & Technology and Earth Sciences S.Jaipal Reddy has inaugurated the

“Weather Services of IMD on Mobile” in a glittering function organised to mark the 138th

Foundation Day of India Metrological Department (IMD) in New Delhi on 15 January. Mr. Reddy while

commending the commend the progress made by the IMD in different fields of atmospheric science said the

increased needs of the society for timely, authentic and directly usable information on weather and climate have

thrown up new challenges before us. It calls for enhanced efforts in the field of atmospheric observations, analysis

and weather forecasting. Appreciating the efforts of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) in bringing all

concerned organisations under the umbrella of Earth System Science Organisation (ESSO) for understanding the

complex interactions among key elements of the EARTH SYSTEM the minister said the co-ordinated efforts of the

ESSO are now clearly visible in improving observational system and enhancing the weather forecasting

capabilities. However, the dedicated services for specialised sectors such as agriculture, aviation, power etc

developed by IMD need to be extended to other weather sensitive economic activities. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary,

Ministry of Earth Sciences said IMD has taken a new initiative in the development of an application called

“Indian-Weather” for smart phones and TABS based on android. This application is freely downloadable through

goggle play available on the home screen of android based smart phones and tabs. The occasion also marked the

foundation of IMD as on this day of Mr. H. F. Blanford assumed his office as Imperial Meteorological Reporter on

15th January, 1875. The day is being celebrated with a view to highlight the achievements of the Department and

63 www.tnpsctamil.in 63 of 91. to promote awareness about new initiatives taken64 and of 91.also to focus on the future plans for improving the weather

and climate services of the Department.

 A centre of excellence specialising in reading space weather conditions to help air traffic on polar

routes would come up in Kolkata by the middle of this year(2013), the first of its kind in the

country. Besides air traffic on polar routes, the centre would help in the functioning of GPS networks and mobile

satellites placed in space. Scientists said coronal mass ejections (CME) and solar flares were two kinds of storms

originating from the sun that exposed flights to immense amounts of radiation over Polar Regions. Several

commercial flights from south Asia, Europe and North America flew over the Polar Regions to cut short time and

distance. They said if the weather in the solar system was not good it would impact the functioning of satellites,

which in turn would have an adverse effect on the GPS system and mobile networks. The centre, approved by the

Union HRD ministry, would come up at the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) campus.

The ministry has sanctioned Rs four crore for it.

 River Ran on the Mars 3.5 Billion Years Ago: European Space Agency

The European Space Agency released surprising pictures of the remains of huge river which ran across the Red

Planet, Mars at some point of time, on 17 January 2013. The images which were captured by the ESA’s Mars

Express showed Reull Vallis, the river-like structure, which is believed to have formed when water ran from the

surface of Mars in distant past. The Reull Vallis, cut a steep-sided channel through Promethei Terra Highlands

and then ran towards the floor of huge Hellas basin. The structure which surprised the astronomers stretches for

around 900 miles or 1500 km across the Martian surface and also shows various tributaries. One of the tributaries

was seen cutting the main valley towards the upper side in the north. Experts from ESA opined that these images

displayed a resemblance with the morphology which is found in various areas affected by glaciation on Earth.

Planetary scientists, in the meanwhile opined that images represented the presence of high water or the glacial

levels on Mars, before the water or ice evaporated. ESA described that the sides of Reull Vallis were mainly sharp

as well as steep in the images captures by the Mars Express. The parallel longitudinal features covered floor of the

channel. The structures like these were believed to be formed due to passage of loose ice or debris during

Amazonian period because of the glacial flow along the channel. These structures, it is believed, were formed

somewhere around 3.5 billion years ago. The lineated structures like these, which were rich in ice, were also found

in the surrounding craters. Such images were useful because they provided the scientists and astronomers a

glimpse into the past of the Red Planet.

64 www.tnpsctamil.in 64 of 91.  President of India on 13 January, launched65 of 91. the National Immunization Day, 2013 by

administering polio drops to children at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Speaking on the historic occasion, Ghulam

Nabi Azad said that he was extremely happy to inform the august gathering, that day is a momentous day for the

whole country, as India had completed two years without any case of wild polio virus. On 25th February 2012,

the World Health Organization removed India from the list of polio endemic countries, which was a

historical achievement since there was a perception among many experts that India would be the last country to

eradicate polio. This was more so because, until 2009, India accounted for half of the total polio cases in the

world. To mitigate the risk, we need to continue to protect every child up to the age of 5 years with the polio

vaccine, till polio is eradicated globally. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria still continue to be polio endemic

countries in the world. Ajad also says, I would like to mention here that to deal with any case of polio importation,

we have put in place an Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan which we are committed to

implement in all States across the country. Under this plan, a case of poliovirus anywhere in the country will be

treated as a public health emergency. Rapid Response Teams have been formed in all the States and Union

Territories, to effectively respond to any case of polio importation. The focus of the Ministry and the partners

continues to be on the most vulnerable migrant, mobile populations, youngest children and under-served

populations, which remain at the highest risk of contracting the disease. I am happy to inform you that the

Nation-wide Immunization campaign for Polio Eradication will start on 20st January 2013, in which more than

170 million children of less than 5 years of age will be given polio drops. More than 23 lakh volunteers will

participate in this massive national effort, with more than 1.5 lakh supervisors monitoring the quality and

coverage of the Immunization activity.

 Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘ICGS-Rajkamal’, the fourth in the series of eight Inshore Patrol Vessels

(IPVs) designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, was

commissioned at Chennai by the Minister of State for Defence Shri Jitendra Singh on 8 January. The 50

meter indigenous IPV displaces 300 tones and can achieve a maximum speed of 34 knots, with an endurance of

1500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 16 knots. Equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry and advanced

communication and navigational equipment, it makes an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast

missions such as surveillance, interdiction, Search and Rescue, and medical evacuation. The special features of the

ship include an Integrated Bridge Management System (IBMS), Integrated Machinery Control System (IMCS) and

an integrated gun mount with indigenous Fire Control system (FCS). ICGS "Rajkamal", literally meaning

"Royal Lotus", will be based at Chennai and will be under the administrative and operational control of the

65 www.tnpsctamil.in 65 of 91. Commander, Coast Guard Region (East).The ship66 of is 91. commanded by Commandant Ravindra Kumar and has a

crew of 05 Officers and 30 Enrolled Personnel. The ship will enhance the Indian Coast Guard’s capability to

undertake operations to further Maritime Safety and Security and Coastal Security on the Eastern Seaboard. With

the commissioning of ICGS Rajkamal, the force level of ICG has gone up to 77 ships and boats and with the

planned inductions the force level would be doubling by 2018.

 India is expected to start building the world's largest solar telescope on the icy heights of Ladakh

to study the sun's atmosphere and understand the formation of sunspots and their decay process.

The Rs 300-crore project is expected to come up at either Hanle or Merak, which is very near to the Ladakh's

Pangong lake along the Line of Actual Control with China. Currently, the world's largest solar telescope is the

McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope with an aperture size of 1.6 metres in Kitt Peak National Observatory at Arizona in

the US "Fabrication of the National Large Solar Telescope is expected to begin in late 2013," Siraj Hasan, Principal

Investigator for the project, told reporters on the sidelines of the 100th Indian Science Congress in Kolkatta.

Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics is the nodal agency for the project, which also has participation

from Indian Space Research Organisation, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, Tata Institute

of Fundamental Research, IUCAA, IISc and IISER.

 The Internet, a revolutionary and cheap communications system that has transformed the lives of billions of

people across the world, turned 30 on 1 January 2013. The computer network officially began its technological

revolution when it fully substituted previous networking systems on January 1 1983. Known as "flag day", it was

the first time the US Department of Defence (DoD)-commissioned ARPANET network fully switched to use of the

Internet protocol suite (IPS) communications system. Using data "packet-switching", the new method of linking

computers paved the way for the arrival of the World Wide Web. "I don't think that anybody making that switch

on the day would have realised the importance of what they were doing," the Daily Telegraph quoted Chris

Edwards, an electronics correspondent for Engineering and Technology magazine, as saying. "But without it the

Internet and the World Wide Web as we know them could not have happened." Commenting on the historic

event's impact on the world, Edwards said: "The Internet means there is nowhere and no one in the world you

can't reach easily and cheaply.''

 Based on designs by Welsh scientist Donald Davies, the ARPANET network began as a military project in the late

1960s. It was developed at prestigious American universities and research laboratories, such as the University of

California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Stanford Research Institute. Starting in 1973, work on the powerful and 66 www.tnpsctamil.in 66 of 91. flexible IPS and Transmission Control Protocol 67(TCP) of 91.technology which would change mass communications got

under way. The new systems were designed to replace the more vulnerable Network Control Program (NCP) used

previously, making sure the network was not exposed to a single point of failure. This meant a single attack could

not bring it down, making it safer and more reliable, the report said. By January 1 1983, the substitution of the

older system for the new Internet protocol had been completed and the Internet was born. British computer

scientist Tim Berners-Lee was then able to use it to host the system of interlinked hypertext documents he

invented in 1989, known as the World Wide Web.

 India’s tryst with Mars will begin in October to explore the red planet’s atmosphere and search for life-sustaining

elements, a top space official said on 4 January. “We are trying very hard and by mid-October we are expecting to

launch the Mars mission,” said J.N. Goswami, in-charge of the exploration mission. Speaking on the sidelines of

the Indian Science Congress in Kolkata, Mr. Goswami said the mission is yet to get an official name. The Rs.470-

crore mission will demonstrate India’s capability to launch a spacecraft on a 55 million km journey from earth and

look for life-sustaining elements from 500 km over the Martian surface.

“The mission has a very specific science objective as we want to study the atmosphere of Mars. This mission will

explore things which have not been done previously by other countries,” said Mr. Goswami, director of Physical

Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. The Indian space agency plans to use a high-end rocket (PSLV-XL) to launch

the 1.4-tonne Martian spacecraft from its Sriharikota spaceport, about 80 km northeast of Chennai, with five

instruments to study various aspects of the red planet. The Mars mission will allow India to join the elite club of

five top nations comprising the US, Russia, Europe, China and Japan which have launched similar missions. As

the fourth planet from the Sun and smallest celestial object in the solar system, Mars is terrestrial with breath-

taking valleys, deserts, craters and volcanoes in a thin atmosphere. Named after the Roman god of war, the red

planet has many similarities with Earth like the rotation period and seasonal cycles.

 Researchers: Siachen Glacier Shrinking Due to Increasing Temperatures

The researchers claimed that the Siachen Glacier reduced to 5.9 km in its longitudinal extent from the time period

of 1989 to 2009. This happened because of increasing temperatures. The researchers additionally also believed

that presence of humans on Siachen would affect other neighbouring glaciers such as Milan, Janapa, Miyar and

Gangotri which are a source to Chenab, Sutlej and Ganges river. Hindukush, Karakoram and Himalaya actually

form the largest mountain chain on this planet. They are also keepers of the third-largest ice reserves only after

Polar Regions. The glaciers found in these mountains feed a population of 1.7 billion via seven huge Asian river

67 www.tnpsctamil.in 67 of 91. systems which also include Brahmaputra, Mekong,68 of 91. Yangtze, Ganges and Indus. Siachen is largest mountain

glacier of the world, which is 70 km in length and 5-10 km in width. The satellite pictures revealed that the glacier

was shrinking. It is even worse that the satellite images displayed increasing numbers as well as sizes of blue lakes

in glacier. The main cause of Siachen shrinking is construction of the helipads as well as frequent flights of

helicopters which loosen packed snows leading to avalanches. Snow scooters also cause the same. Most of the

experts believe the fact that saving these glaciers is actually the scientific challenge which needs attention

immediately.

Awards

 An Indian-origin woman, named Krishna Arora is all set to figure in the prestigious list of people who

have received the Order of Australia Medal (OAM).85-year old Krishna Arora, who has been running a

community service was selected for this year's awards for her contribution to the Indian community. Arora, also

popularly known as 'Auntieji', runs a hotline tele service offering cooking tips. She has also been teaching Asian

cooking to Australians for two years at one of the Community Centre in Western suburb of Victoria. The other

Indian-origin women who had earlier received the honour include Joyce Westrip (2000), Mala Mehta (2006) and

Vettath Rajkumar (2009).In November last year, iconic Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was also

conferred with the prestigious award.

 Lalji Singh, scientist and Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, has been selected for the

prestigious Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Award for 2012 for his outstanding contribution to life

sciences, particularly in establishing DNA fingerprinting as a tool of both fundamental research and crime

detection, and for trying to unravel the puzzle of human evolution in relation to the Andaman-Nicobar tribes.Dr.

Y. Nayudamma Memorial Trust Founder P. Vishnu Murthy stated in a press release that the award would be

presented by Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar at a function to be held in Tenali, A.P on February 16. On the

occasion, Dr. Lalji Singh would deliver the 21st Dr. Y. Nayudamma Memorial Lecture on the theme Mystery of

Our Origins.He joins the galaxy of awardees such as Rajendra Pawar, V. Shanta, V.K. Saraswat, T. Ramasami, A.

Sivathanu Pillai, Nori Dattatreyudu, Sam Pitroda, G. Madhavan Nair, Kota Harinarayana, V. K. Aatre, R.

Chidambaram, R.A. Mashelkar, J. S. Bajaj, K. Kasturi Rangan, Verghese Kurien, S.Z. Qasim, M.G.K. Menon and

M. S. Swaminathan, to mention a few.He was earlier Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology

(CCMB), Hyderabad. The award was instituted in 1986 to honour persons who made significant contributions to

68 www.tnpsctamil.in 68 of 91. the development of science and technology, in69 commemoration of 91. of the distinguished scientist and renowned

leather technologist Dr. Nayudamma.

 U.S President Barack Obama on 2 February presented the prestigious National Medal of

Technology and Innovation to eminent Indian American Rangaswamy Srinivasan for his

groundbreaking work with laser. Rangaswamy received the award along with Samuel Blum and James

Wynne, for the pioneering discovery of excimer laser ablative photodecomposition of human and animal tissue,

laying the foundation for PRK and LASIK laser refractive surgical techniques that have revolutionised vision

enhancement. At a glittering function held on 2 February at the White House, Obama presented National Medal of

Science to 12 eminent scientists while 10 extraordinary inventors received 2011 National Medal of Technology

and Innovation, the highest honors bestowed by the United States Government upon scientists,

engineers, and inventors. Established by statute in 1980, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation

was first awarded in 1985 and is administered for the White House by the US Department of Commerce Patent

and Trademark Office. In 1981, Srinivasan discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser could etch living tissue in a

precise manner with no thermal damage to the surrounding area. He named the phenomenon Ablative

Photodecomposition (APD), which later revolutionized eye surgery. Inducted into the US Inventor Hall of Fame in

2002, Srinivasan has spent 30 years at IBMs T J Watson Research Center. He received both bachelors and

masters degrees in science from the University of Madras, in 1949 and 1950. He earned doctorate in physical

chemistry at the University of Southern California in 1956. He currently holds 21 US patents.

 The Visakhapatnam district of A.P. has bagged the prestigious award in recognition of effective

and successful implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee

Scheme (MGNREGS).Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh gave the award to District Collector V Seshadri at a

function held in Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi on 3 february. Various awards were given in seven categories to

different States and Visakhapatnam has been selected from Andhra Pradesh in the area of

MGNREGS. The scheme is aimed at providing work for 100 days to agriculture workers. One Ramanamma, a

Dalit woman from Ramachandrapalem village of Kotavuratla mandal, who had completed 100 days of work, was

one among three Dalits who had aired their opinion about this welfare programme. Union Minister Jairam

Ramesh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were present at the function.

 A Taiwanese tycoon with business interests in mainland China said on 29 January, he is funding what local

media call Asia's Nobel Prizes for outstanding achievements in natural and social sciences. Ruentex Group 69 www.tnpsctamil.in 69 of 91. head Samuel Yin announced the establishment70 of 91. of the Tang Prize Foundation with an initial

endowment of $103 million. The 618-907 AD Tang Dynasty is revered by Chinese for its cultural and scientific

achievements. The prizes will be awarded every other year to international leaders in biopharmaceutical science,

sustainable development, the study of China and the rule of law. Yin said he decided on those fields because the

118-year-old Nobels do not cover them, and they have intrinsic importance for humanity. The prizes will be

awarded starting next year. Winners will receive $1.7 million, compared to $1.2 million that comes with a Nobel

Prize. The Tang Prize winners will be nominated and screened by special committees set up by the Academia

Sinica, Taiwan's most prestigious research organization.

 Senior Indian diplomat D. Bala Venkatesh Varma, a key member of the negotiating team that saw the

Indo-U.S. nuclear deal through from the first agreement of July 2005 down to the Additional Protocol in 2010,

was given the first S.K. Singh award “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen India's position in the global

nuclear order” by UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a high-profile function held in New

Delhi on 4 January. The award for excellence in the Indian Foreign Service is named after the former

foreign secretary and Governor, Shailendra Kumar Singh, a diplomat widely respected within the IFS

community for his acumen, professionalism and leadership. Mr. Varma was selected as the first recipient

of the prestigious award by a top-drawer jury consisting of Vice President Hamid Ansari, National Security

Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai, Ms Gandhi and Congress M.P. Rahul Gandhi.

 58th Idea Filmfare Awards were given away on 20 January 2013 at YRF Studio, Andheri. At the 58th Idea

Filmfare Awards, Barfi!, the much-acclaimed film grabbed seven awards while, Kahaani bagged five awards. The

award for the Best Actor was given to Ranbir Kapoor for his deaf-mute performance in Barfi! Vidya Balan,

on the other hand was adjudged as the Best Actress for Kahaani. Barfi! was awarded with the Best Film

award, while Kahaani’s director Sujoy Ghosh won the Black Lady for the Best Director. The lifetime

achievement award was given away to Yash Chopra posthumously. Yash Chopra’s wife Pamela collected this

award on his behalf.

The other awards are-

o Critics’ Award for Best Actor: Irrfan Khan for Paan Singh Tomar (Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia)

o Critics’ Award for Best Film: Gangs of Wasseypur (Director: Anurag Singh Kashyap )

o Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female): Richa Chadda for Gangs of Wasseypur

o Best Lyricist: Gulzar for Challa (Jab Tak Hai Jaan: Director Yash Chopra)

70 www.tnpsctamil.in 70 of 91. o Best Music Director: Pritam for Barfi! 71 of 91.

o Best Background Score: Pritam for Barfi!

o Best Production Design: Rajat Podar for Barfi!

o Best Playback (Female): Shalmali Kholgade for the song ‘Pareshaan’

o Best Playback (Male): Ayushmann Khurrana for the song ‘Pani da Rang’

o Lifetime Achievement Award -Yash Chopra

o Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female): Anushka Sharma (Jab Tak Hai Jaan)

o Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male): Annu Kapoor (Vicky Donor)

 Charles Wright, professor emeritus of the English department’s Creative writing programme in the University

of Virginia’s college of Arts and Sciences, has won the 2013 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry. Wright

taught at U.Va. for almost 30 years, retiring in 2011, and is one of America’s most celebrated poets. The Bollingen

Prize in American Poetry is among the most prestigious prizes given to American writers. Established by Paul

Mellon in 1949, it is awarded biennially by the Yale University Library to an American poet for the best book

published during the previous two years or for lifetime achievement in poetry. The prize includes a cash award of

$150,000.The judges awarded Wright the Bollingen Prize for his 2011 book, “Bye-and-Bye: Selected Late Poems,”

describing it as “an extended meditation in which we sense ‘splinters of the divine’ in the phenomena and cyclic

changes of the natural world, and in the elusive reaches of memory, myth, and history.”

 President has approved the conferment of 108 Padma Awards. These comprise 4 Padma

Vibhushan, 24 Padma Bhushan and 80 Padma Shri Awards. 24 of the awardees are women and the list

also includes 11 persons in the category of Foreigners, NRIs, PIOs and Posthumous awardees. Padma Awards, the

country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan

and Padma Shri. The awards are announced on Republic Day every year. The awards are conferred by the

President of India at a function held at Rashtrapati Bhawan sometime around March/ April.

Padma Vibhushan

Sl No. Name Discipline State/ Domicile

1. Shri Raghunath Mohapatra Art Orissa

71 www.tnpsctamil.in 71 of 91. 72 of 91. 2. Shri S. Haider Raza Art Delhi

3. Prof. Yash Pal Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh

4. Prof. Roddam Narasimha Science and Engineering Karnataka



Padma Bhushan

Sl No. Name Discipline State/ Domicile

1. Dr. Ramanaidu Daggubati Art Andhra Pradesh

2. Smt. Sreeramamurthy Janaki Art Tamil Nadu

3. Dr. (Smt.) Kanak Rele Art Maharashtra

4. Smt. Sharmila Tagore Art Delhi

5. Dr. (Smt.) Saroja Vaidyanathan Art Delhi

6. Shri Abdul Rashid Khan Art West Bengal

7. Late Rajesh Khanna Art Maharashtra

8. Late Jaspal Singh Bhatti Art Punjab

9. Shri Shivajirao Girdhar Patil Public Affairs Maharashtra

10. Dr. Apathukatha Sivathanu Pillai Science and Engineering Delhi

11. Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat Science and Engineering Delhi

12. Dr. Ashoke Sen Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh

13. Dr. B.N. Suresh Science and Engineering Karnataka

14. Prof. Satya N. Atluri Science and Engineering USA

15. Prof. Jogesh Chandra Pati Science and Engineering USA

16. Shri Ramamurthy Thyagarajan Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu

72 www.tnpsctamil.in 72 of 91. 73 of 91. 17. Shri Adi Burjor Godrej Trade and Industry Maharashtra

18. Dr. Nandkishore Shamrao Laud Medicine Maharashtra

19. Shri Mangesh Padgaonkar Literature & Education Maharashtra

20. Prof. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Literature & Education USA

21. Shri Hemendra Singh Panwar Civil Service Madhya Pradesh

22. Dr. Maharaj Kishan Bhan Civil Service Delhi

23. Shri Rahul Dravid Sports Karnataka

24. Ms. H. Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom Sports Manipur



Padma Shri

State/ Sl No. Name Discipline Domicile

Andhra 1. Shri Gajam Anjaiah Art Pradesh

2. Swami G.C.D. Bharti alias Bharati Bandhu Art Chhattisgarh

3. Ms. B. Jayashree Art Karnataka

4. Smt. Sridevi Kapoor Art Maharashtra

5. Shri Kailash Chandra Meher Art Orissa

6. Shri Brahmdeo Ram Pandit Art Maharashtra

7. Shri Vishwanath Dinkar Patekar alias Nana Patekar Art Maharashtra

Andhra 8. Shri Rekandar Nageswara Rao alias Surabhi Babji Art Pradesh

9. Shri Lakshmi Narayana Sathiraju Art Tamil Nadu

73 www.tnpsctamil.in 73 of 91. 74 of 91. 10. Smt. Jaymala Shiledar Art Maharashtra

11. Shri Suresh Dattatray Talwalkar Art Maharashtra

12. Shri P. Madhavan Nair alias Madhu Art Kerala

13. Shri Apurba Kishore Bir Art Maharashtra

14. Shri Ghanakanta Bora Borbayan Art Assam

15. Smt. Hilda Mit Lepcha Art Sikkim

16. Smt. Sudha Malhotra Art Maharashtra

Jammu and 17. Shri Ghulam Mohammad Saznawaz Art Kashmir

18. Shri Ramesh Gopaldas Sippy Art Maharashtra

19. Ms. Mahrukh Tarapor Art Maharashtra

Jammu & 20. Shri Balwant Thakur Art Kashmir

21. Shri Puran Das Baul Art West Bengal

Jammu & 22. Shri Rajendra Tikku Art Kashmir

23. Shri Pablo Bartholomew Art Delhi

24. Shri S. Shakir Ali Art Rajasthan

25. Sh. S.K.M Maeilanandhan Social Work Tamil Nadu

26. Ms. Nileema Mishra Social Work Maharashtra

27. Ms. Reema Nanavati Social Work Gujarat

28. Ms. Jharna Dhara Chowdhury Social Work Bangladesh

29. Late Dr. Ram Krishan Social Work Uttar Pradesh

30. Late Manju Bharat Ram Social Work Delhi

74 www.tnpsctamil.in 74 of 91. 75 of 91. 31. Prof. Mustansir Barma Science and Engineering Maharashtra

32. Shri Avinash Chander Science and Engineering Delhi

33. Prof. Sanjay Govind Dhande Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh

34. Prof. (Dr.) Sankar Kumar Pal Science and Engineering West Bengal

35. Prof. Deepak B. Phatak Science and Engineering Maharashtra

Andhra 36. Dr. Mudundi Ramakrishna Raju Science and Engineering Pradesh

37. Prof. Ajay K. Sood Science and Engineering Karnataka

38. Prof. Krishnaswamy Vijayraghavan Science and Engineering Karnataka

39. Dr. Manindra Agrawal Science and Engineering Uttar Pradesh

Andhra 40. Dr. Jayaraman Gowrishankar Science and Engineering Pradesh

41. Prof. Sharad Pandurang Kale Science and Engineering Maharashtra

42. Smt. Vandana Luthra Trade and Industry Delhi

43. Ms. Rajshree Pathy Trade and Industry Tamil Nadu

44. Shri Hemendra Prasad Barooah Trade and Industry Assam

45. Shri Milind Kamble Trade and Industry Maharashtra

46. Ms. Kalpana Saroj Trade and Industry Maharashtra

47. Dr. Sudarshan K. Aggarwal Medicine Delhi

Andhra 48. Dr. C. Venkata S. Ram alias Chitta Venkata Sundara Ram Medicine Pradesh

49. Dr. Rajendra Achyut Badwe Medicine Maharashtra

50. Dr. Taraprasad Das Medicine Orissa

51. Prof. (Dr.) T.V. Devarajan Medicine Tamil Nadu

75 www.tnpsctamil.in 75 of 91. 76 of 91. 52. Prof. (Dr.) Saroj Chooramani Gopal Medicine Uttar Pradesh

53. Dr. Pramod Kumar Julka Medicine Delhi

54. Dr. Gulshan Rai Khatri Medicine Delhi

55. Dr. Ganesh Kumar Mani Medicine Delhi

56. Dr. Amit Prabhakar Maydeo Medicine Maharashtra

57. Dr. Sundaram Natarajan Medicine Maharashtra

58. Prof. Krishna Chandra Chunekar Medicine Uttar Pradesh

59. Dr. Vishwa Kumar Gupta Medicine Delhi

60. Prof. (Capt.) Dr. Mohammad Sharaf-e-Alam Literature & Education Bihar

Andhra 61. Dr. Radhika Herzberger Literature & Education Pradesh

62. Shri J. Malsawma Literature & Education Mizoram

63. Shri Devendra Patel Literature & Education Gujarat

64. Dr. Rama Kant Shukla Literature & Education Delhi

65. Prof. Akhtarul Wasey Literature & Education Delhi

66. Prof. Anvita Abbi Literature & Education Delhi

Madhya 67. Shri Nida Fazli Literature & Education Pradesh

68. Shri Surender Kumar Sharma Literature & Education Delhi

69. Dr. Jagdish Prasad Singh Literature & Education Bihar

70. Late Shaukat Riaz Kapoor Alias Salik Lakhnawi Literature & Education West Bengal

71. Prof. Noboru Karashima Literature & Education Japan

72. Shri Christopher Pinney Literature & Education UK

73. Smt. Premlata Agrawal Sports Jharkhand

76 www.tnpsctamil.in 76 of 91. 77 of 91. 74. Shri Yogeshwar Dutt Sports Haryana

75. Shri Hosanagara Nagarajegowda Girisha Sports Karnataka

Himachal 76. Subedar Major Vijay Kumar Sports Pradesh

77. Shri Ngangom Dingko Singh Sports Maharashtra

78. Naib Subedar Bajrang Lal Takhar Sports Rajasthan

79. Ms. Ritu Kumar Fashion Designing Delhi

80. Dr. Ravindra Singh Bisht Archaeology Uttar Pradesh

 Major Abup J Manjali of the Rashtriya Rifles has been awarded the Kirti Chakra on this Republic Day

for the exhibition of exceptional valor in counter- terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Manjali is the only

soldier to be awarded the second- highest peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra on this Republic Day. Major

Abup J Manjali of the Rashtriya Rifles was selected for the award of Kirti Chakra for his extraordinary bravery

efforts in counter- terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir. Major Manjali will be awarded on 26 January

2013. Shaurya Chakra, on the other hand, is being given away to Major Sandeep Kumar of 13 Sikh Regiment for

his bravery act in Northeast area.

 Noted Indian scientist Dr CNR Rao has been conferred with China's top science award for his

important contributions in boosting China-India scientific cooperation. Chinese Academy of Sciences

(CAS) on 24 January, gave its 2012 Award for International Scientific Cooperation to three scientists from India,

Germany, and Russia. Rao, 79, founder of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research ( JNCASR),

Bangalore, shared the 2012 award with Herbert Jaeckle of Germany's Max Planck Society and Russian space

physicist GA Zherebtsov. The awards are given every year by the CAS, which is China's top academic and research

institution for natural sciences. It has so far honoured 17 international scientists for their contributions in China-

foreign research cooperation, since the prize was instituted in 2007.Rao has won various prestigious awards. He

is currently the head of the scientific advisory council to the Indian Prime Minister.

 The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 15 January, presented the lifetime achievement awards

for the scientists in the field of Atomic energy to R.B. Grover, who played a key role in negotiating the

Indo-U.S. nuclear deal, K. Balaramamoorthy, who developed non-destructive testing techniques, 77 www.tnpsctamil.in 77 of 91. mathematician R. Balasubramanian, and S.K.78 of Sikka, 91. a key player in the nuclear tests of 1974 and 1998.

Presenting the lifetime achievement awards of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to four of its veteran

scientists at a brief ceremony at his residence, Dr. Singh noted that the Department worked in “one of the most

complex, sophisticated and challenging areas of science, technology and engineering.” He appreciated its

scientists for working with unfailing commitment, dedication and skill, despite decades of facing international

technology denial regimes. He urged the DAE to ensure that it continued to attract the best scientific minds

among the younger generations and expressed hope that its scientists would continue to be guided by the basic

goal of directing scientific activities to bring about an improvement in people’s quality of life .Dr. Singh paid

special tributes to nuclear scientist and Principal Scientific Advisor to the government, R. Chidamabaram for

“guiding India’s atomic energy programme with such great distinction” and said his [Dr. Chidambaram’s] life and

work were a source of inspiration for all scientists and technologies in the country.

 President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 January, presented Krishi Karman Awards to eight States for

their achievements in food grains production in 2011-12. Ten States were given commendation awards. Madhya

Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland received the awards for special contribution to total food grains

production. Bihar received the award for contribution to production and productivity of rice, Haryana for wheat,

Jharkhand for pulses and Uttar Pradesh for coarse cereals. Punjab, Uttarakhand, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura,

Rajasthan, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh received commendation awards. The

awards were received by Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Manipur and Agriculture Ministers/

Agriculture Secretaries of other States. For the first time one female and one male farmer from the eight award

winning States were also given awards for their outstanding performance. Krishi Karman Awards were instituted

in 2010-11 for recognizing the meritorious efforts of States in food grain production. The awards are given to best

performing States in two broad sets, one for the total food grain production and the other for individual food grain

crops of rice, wheat, pulses and coarse cereals. States for total food grains category are further divided into three

categories based on total food grain production capacity of the State.

 London-based Indian researcher Mahaveer Golechha has been selected for a prestigious award

for his work on a drug to cure Alzheimer’s. The 27-year-old will be travelling in the month of February to

San Francisco to receive the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s ‘Young Investigator Scholarship Award’ at

the 7th Annual Drug Discovery for Neurodegeneration Conference .He has been recognised for his outstanding

research on ‘naringin’, a bioflavonoid found in grape fruits and citrus fruits. In his study, he found that naringin

78 www.tnpsctamil.in 78 of 91. possesses significant “anti-Alzheimer activity” and79 willof 91. form the basis of further research to develop as a cure for

the degenerative disease related to old age, which worsens as its progresses and eventually leads to death.

Alzheimer’s is a common form of dementia afflicting millions around the world and has no known cure at present.

It is estimated that by 2025 at least 34 million people worldwide will be affected by the disease. Mahaveer is

currently pursuing a Master’s in Health Policy, Planning and Financing at the London School of Economics (LSE)

and was recently elected director of external relations of the LSE Students’ Union India Society.

 Malala Yousafzai, 15, the schoolgirl from Pakistan shot by Taliban for campaigning girls’ education, on 9

January 2013 received France's Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Women's Freedom in Paris. Malala’s

father Ziaudin Yousafzai received the honour on her behalf. The award is accompanied with 2.5 million Rupees

honorarium. In the first week of January 2013, Malala Yousafzai got released from the British hospital. She is

waiting for the reconstructive surgery to be performed on the skull. Malala was shot by the Taliban in her head

after her school bus drove through Mingora town of Swat Valley of Pakistan.

 Renault Duster was awarded the Car of the Year Award 2013 by the automotive magazine Autocar India at

the annual awards night on 9 January 2013 in Mumbai. Autocar India gave away 22 awards in all, in the two-

wheeler as well as four-wheeler segment. Renault Duster grabbed three awards in all and these were

SUV of the year 2013 viewer’s choice car of the year 2013 and overall Autocar car of the year 2013.

In the meanwhile, Mahindra and Mahindra were awarded with the Manufacturer of the Year

Award 2013 and Bajaj KTM 200 Duke bagged the Autocar Bike of the Year 2013 and viewers’ choice Bike of the

Year 2013.

 Ireland’s prestigious Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 was awarded on 3 January

2013 to Malala Yousafzai the teenage schoolgirl from Pakistan, who was shot by Taliban’s Gunman in October

2012.Malala, would be conferred with the award for her bravery, courage and determination to speak and support

the cause of access to equal education for every child. With this award, Malala became the second Pakistani

National to win the award. Before this, Lt. Benazir Bhutto was awarded with the same award in 2007.

Malala was one among the five nominees, which included Sonia Gandhi, the Indian National Congress Party

President and Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State.

 Well-known filmmaker Shyam Benegal has been chosen for the 8th annual Akkineni Nageswara

Rao (ANR) national award by the ANR International foundation on 3 January at Hyderabad. The award

79 www.tnpsctamil.in 79 of 91. carries a prize of Rs 5 lakh. Hemamalini, K Balachander,80 of 91. Lata Mangeshkar, Vyjayantimala Bali, Anjali Devi,

Shabana Azmi and Dev Anand among others were recipients of this award earlier.

 Professor Joseph Stiglitz , Noble Laureate in Economics received the degree of Doctor of Science

from Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at the University of Hyderabad on 4 January.

 Muthunayagam and Saraswat to be awarded with Aryabhatta Award by the ASI

The Astronautical Society of India (ASI) in the last week of December 2012 announced names of former secretary

of the Department of Ocean Development, Dr. A.E. Muthunayagam and Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to

the Defence Minister for prestigious Aryabhatta Award for the year 2010 and 2011 respectively. The two have been

selected for the achievement in rocketry. Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy an associate Director of Research Centre Imarat

Hyderabad and P. Kunhikrishnan of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO), Thiruvananthapuram would receive ASI Awards for rocket and rocket related technologies for the year

2010 and 2011 respectively.

 Scientist Venkatesh Mannar honoured with Order of Canada Award

Venkatesh Mannar a Channai-born Scientist of Indian Origin and President, Micronutrient Initiative, Canada was

awarded with Canada’s Highest Civilian Award – the Order of Canada in the last week of December 2012. Mannar,

a Graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and a post graduate in chemical engineering from

Northwestern University, US, was honoured with the award for his forty years long contribution working towards

reduction of debilitating micronutrient deficiencies among the worlds most vulnerable.

 Dr. P.R. Swarup conferred with EPC World Awards 2012 for Outstanding Contribution to HRD

Dr. P.R. Swarup, Director General, Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC) has been conferred with

the EPC world Awards 2012 under the category Special Achievement Awards in the field of Human Resource

Development for the Indian Construction & Infrastructure Industry. The award ceremony was held on 15th

December 2012 at hotel The Ashok, New Delhi. EPC World Media Group has been presenting the award for the

past three years to recognize the qualitative & quantitative performance, innovation and strategic initiatives of the

companies, individuals & projects in the field of Infrastructure & Construction sector in India.

 Ireland’s prestigious Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 awarded to Malala

Ireland’s prestigious Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 was awarded on 3 January 2013 to Malala

Yousafzai the teenage schoolgirl from Pakistan, who was shot by Taliban’s Gunman in October 2012. Malala

80 www.tnpsctamil.in 80 of 91. would be conferred with the award for her bravery,81 of courage 91. and determination to speak and support the cause of

access to equal education for every child. With this award, Malala became the second Pakistani National to win

the award. Before this, Lt. Benazir Bhutto was awarded with the same award in 2007. Malala was one among the

five nominees, which included Sonia Gandhi, the Indian National Congress Party President and Hillary Clinton,

the U.S. Secretary of State.

Sports

 Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined the likes of Roger Federer and David Beckham when he

launched his own signature brand of international perfumes at an event held in Dubai on 31 January. Dhoni

became the first Indian cricketer to launch his line of fragrances named '7 By MS Dhoni' because

the cricketer's lucky number is 7. In an event held at the Al Joharah Ballroom in Madinat Jumeirah, the Indian

skipper launched a collection of six body sprays and perfumes. The six fragrances are named Intense, Power,

Action, Connect, Cool and Energy. The collection of perfumes is based on his own choice of fragrances. Rhiti

Sports Management, the firm that manages Dhoni's business portfolio, has partnered with Dubai-based Beauty

Contact to launch the men's fragrances range in the global market. The Indian captain will be personally involved

in the creation, formulation and development of the M S Dhoni line of fragrances, which caters exclusively to men.

 Mumbai won its 40th Ranji trophy by defeating Saurashtra at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 28 Jan

2013. Mumbai won the final match against Saurashtra by an inning and 125 runs on the third day of Ranji Trophy

final. The Mumbai team so far has played in 44 finals of Ranji Trophy.Wasim Jaffar was declared Man of the

Match. Ajit Agarkar was the captain of the winning team.

 Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of the Indian cricket team was appointed as the vice-president

of India Cements on 1 February 2013. India Cements is headed by BCCI President N Srinivasan. India Cements

owns IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, the captaincy of which lies in the hands of Dhoni since 2008. The

Managing Director-cum-vice-chairman of India Cements is Srinivasan. Earlier, Dhoni played in the Corporate

Trophy for the team of Air India, but later he resigned.

 World No. 2 Tiger Woods captured his 75th career golf title on 28 January, winning the US PGA

Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes for his record-setting eighth career triumph at Torrey Pines,U.S.A.

Woods won his most recent major crown at the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines and has also won the PGA event

staged at Torrey Pines seven times. No other PGA player has won so many times on a single course. Woods, who 81 www.tnpsctamil.in 81 of 91. also has won PGA events seven times at Bay Hill82 and of Firestone, 91. moved closer to the all-time record of 82 triumphs

set by the late Sam Snead.

 Novak Djokovic of Serbia defeated Andy Murray of UK in four sets to win Australian Open 2013 final held in

Melbourne. It was Djokovik’s third consecutive Australian Open title and fourth overall. In 2012,

Djokovic had started with an epic 5-hour, 53-minute five-set win over Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, the

longest Grand Slam final. Djokovic won his first major title in 2008 Australian Open. He now has six Grand Slam

titles altogether. Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on 26 January 2013 won the Women’s Singles title of the

Australian Open Tennis tournament at Melbourne by defeating Li Na of China, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final to win the

title for the second successive time. Top seeded American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan won the men's doubles

title. Americans Mike and Bob Bryan won their record 13th Grand Slam doubles title, defeating the

Dutch team of Robin Haase and Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-4.

 Fauja Singh(101), the oldest marathon runner of the world decided to stop running in the

competitions after Hong Kong marathon which will be held in February 2013. However, before the Hong Kong

marathon, Singh will be running in the Australia marathon as well. Fauja Singh is also popularly known as

the Turbaned Tornado in all the international events. Though Fauja Singh announced his retirement from

marathon, but he admitted that he would keep running for inspiring the masses. Fauja Singh was born on 1 April

1911. Fauja was also felicitated at the Buckingham Palace by the queen in London on December 7, 2005.

 Indian Grandmaster MR Lalith Babu emerged the winner of the CSK 5th Chennai Open

International Grandmasters Chess Tournament when he scored a crucial win over Swapnil Dhopade in

the final round on 23 January. Grandmaster Lu Shanglei of China became the runner-up of the event as he

outwitted Russian Grandmaster Anderi Deviatkin.Though both Lalith Babu and Lu Shanglei were tied with nine

points each, Lalith Babu emerged champion because of superior tie-break.Indian Grandmaster B Adhiban

annexed the third place with 8.5 points. The prizes totalling Rs 10 lakh were distributed in a grand function. K

Shankar, President, Shipping Division, India Cements Ltd., representing the sponsors -- Chennai Super Kings --

distributed the prizes to the winners.

 Kohli became the Quickest Indian and Second at World Level to complete 4000 ODI Runs

The Indian Cricketer and the right handed batsman Virat Kohli on 19 January 2013 completed his 4000 runs in

One day International cricket tournament. He is the 12th Indian batsman and 84th at world level to reach this

82 www.tnpsctamil.in 82 of 91. milestone. By scoring these runs in just 93 innings,83 of he 91. became the first quickest from India and second at world

level to accomplish this milestone. Viv Richards, the West Indies player reached this milestone in 88 innings in

the year 1985 and is placed at the 1st position in the list of crickets to touch the mark of 4000 runs in less number

of innings. Both Richards and Kohli played in 96 matches to reach the score. Before Kohli, the former Indian

Captain Sourav Ganguly had this record of scoring the fastest 4000 runs in ODI in 110 matches and 105 innings.

 Defending champion Kerala defeated Tamil Nadu 25-22, 25-23, 25-23 to retain the men’s title in the

61st National volleyball championship in Jaipur on 15 January. In the women’s final, Kerala tried its

best, but could not make much of an impression on Railways, which clinched its 28th title in the

championship.

 Saina Nehwal, the Olympics bronze medalist on 17 January 2013 clinched her career best second rank

in the latest rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). To clinch the second position in the

latest rankings released, Saina scored 80091.7444 points and is leaded by the Chinese Li Xuerui, who has

94626.7153 points by her name. Parupalli Kashyap the quarterfinalist in London Olympics was also successful

in clinching his career best tenth position in men’s list and he has 51986.6900 points by her name.

Kashyap is the only Indian player to be within the list of top-25 players in the BWF list. Saina Nehwal regained her

world number two position after an interval of two years. For the first time, she achieved this position in

December 2010.

 The International Olympics Committee (IOC) on 17 January 2013 asked the popular Cyclist Lance

Armstrong facing the charges of doping to return the Olympic Bronze Medal and Certificate of

2000 Sydney Games. The IOC wrote a letter to the defamed Cyclist and the winner of seven times Tour de

France and asked him to return back the bronze medal and the certificate that accompanied it for the men’s time

trial event. Lance Armstrong is a cyclist, who used performance enhancing drugs and banned substances

 IOC asked Armstrong to return the Sydney Olympic Bronze Medal

The International Olympics Committee (IOC) on 17 January 2013 asked the all time popular Cyclist Lance

Armstrong facing the charges of doping to return the Olympic Bronze Medal and Certificate of 2000 Sydney

Games. The IOC wrote a letter to the defamed Cyclist and the winner of seven times Tour de France and asked

him to return back the bronze medal and the certificate that accompanied it for the men’s time trial event. The

83 www.tnpsctamil.in 83 of 91. dominoes continue to fall for Lance Armstrong,84 with of 91.the International Olympic Committee formally requesting

that the disgraced cyclist return his Olympic bauble from the 2000 Sydney Games.

 Lionel Messi added yet another record to his stellar list of achievements over the past 12 months on 8 January,

when he won an unprecedented fourth, consecutive, Ballon d'Or at a FIFA gala in Zurich. Messi

received a vote share of 41.60 percent to 23.68 for Ronaldo and 10.91 for Iniesta. Messi and former French star,

UEFA president Michel Platini, had been the only players to win three straight Ballon d'Or awards while Dutch

greats Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten both won the accolade on three occasions. Spain's Vicente del

Bosque was named coach of the year for 2012.Messi finished 2012 with an astonishing 91 goals in all

competitions.

 Andy Murray, the third seeded Scottish tennis player retained his Brisbane International Tennis

Title after defeating the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on 6 January 2013. Murray defeated Dimitrov by 7-6 and 6-4

in straight sets.

 Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath was on 4 January, inducted into the International Cricket

Council’s Hall of Fame, making him its 68th male member. McGrath was formally inducted during the

lunch interval of the ongoing third Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney. McGrath joins fellow 2012-13

inductees West Indian Brian Lara and England’s Enid Bakewell in being recognised by the ICC and the living

members of the Hall of Fame. While Lara and Bakewell were inducted in September at the ICC Awards, McGrath

was inducted at his home ground of the SCG by ICC President Alan Isaac, along with Cricket Australia chairman

Wally Edwards in front of a large and appreciative crowd. McGrath represented Australia in 124 Test matches

between 1993 and 2007 claiming 563 Test wickets at an average of 21.64. He has taken more Test wickets than

any other seam bowler currently in the game or retired. When McGrath retired from the game in 2007 he had

represented Australia in 250 ODIs, claiming 381 wickets at an average of 22.02 while he took over 800 first-class

wickets in his career.

 Serena Williams won the WTA Brisbane International on 5 January with a straight sets demolition of

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Serena defeated the world no. 36 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour to win her 16th

consecutive match - her 52nd win in her last 54 matches and her 47th career title. Serena now heads into the

Australian Open as the odds on favourite. She already has 5 singles titles in Melbourne and will be aiming for her

16th grand slam title. Andy Murray defended Brisbane International title by defeating Bulgarian Grigor

84 www.tnpsctamil.in 84 of 91. Dimitrov 7—6, 6—4 on 6 january,2013. Murray85 began of 91. his breakthrough season in 2012 by winning in Brisbane

and followed that up later with titles at the London Olympics and U.S. Open. Sania Mirza and her partner

Bethanie Mattek-Sands won the WTA Brisbane International trophy by winning against Kveta Peschke

and Anna-Lena Groenefeld on 6 January. The second seeded Indo-American pair crashed the fourth seeded rivals

by 4-6 6-4 10-7. It was Sania's first doubles title of the season while 15th of her career.

 Young India batsman Virat Kohli on 4 January bagged the International Cricketer of the Year

award while Pakistan was named as the Best International Cricket Team in the 2011-2012 season

at the CEAT cricket awards. Another former Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas received the Lifetime

Achievement Award. In the special India-Pakistan award category, legendary Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar

lifted the Best Test Batsman trophy while former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq was honoured with the Best

ODI Batsman award.The 1983India's World Cup winning captain Kapil dev was adjudged the Best Test bowler,

Akram received the award Best ODI bowler award. EAT Audience Choice Awards 2011-2012 went jointly to former

Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar and Indian opener Virender Sehwag.

 Serbian world number nine Janko Tipsarevic by defeating the Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut clinched the

Chennai Open on 6 January. Tipsarevic beat the unseeded 24-year old Spaniard by 3-6 6-1 6-3.

Persons

 P.R. Vasudeva Rao-Vasudeva rao was appointed as the Director of the Indira Gandhi Centre for

Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam on 31 January 2013. He succeeded S.C Chetal, who has now

retired. Dr. Rao was earlier the Director, Chemistry Group in IGCAR and is also a specialist in the field of actinide

chemistry as well as a few areas of chemistry of nuclear fuel cycle. In IGCAR, Dr. Rao led various R&D

programmes related to the field of chemistry.

 S.Janaki- The renowned playback singer, refused to accept the Padma Bhushan award. She refused

on the grounds that only some people from the Southern states were awarded and that honour given to her was

too late. S. Janaki was given Padma Bhushan award in Art discipline. She remained in her field for 55 years. She is

75 years old. The singer had won four national awards and was selected for Padma Bhushan in the art category,

among 24 other padma.

85 www.tnpsctamil.in 85 of 91.  S. N. Ananthasubramanian- a Fellow Member86 of 91. of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India

(ICSI) has been elected as the President of the Institute w.e.f 19th January 2013. Harish K. Vaid, also a

Fellow Member of the Institute, has been elected as the Vice President. Ananthasubramanian has been in practice

as a Company Secretary at Thane since 1991. He has contributed to the visibility and growth of the profession as

member of ICSI-WIRC between 2001 and 2006. As its Chairman in 2005, he was actively associated in ICSI-NSE

Collaboration towards the inclusion of Corporate Governance Module in National Certificate in Financial Markets

(NCFM) and as its Secretary, facilitated the formation of Thane Chapter of ICSI in 2003. Shri

Ananthasubramanian was a member of various Committees of the Council of the ICSI including the Core Group

for formulating the ICSI-Vision 2020.

 Rahul Gandhi – Rahul gandhi was formally elevated to the number two position in the Congress party on 19

January after being appointed its vice-president, but his role in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be decided later.

The anointment of the 42-year-old leader nine years after he entered politics was formalised at the meeting of the

party's highest policy making body, the Congress working committee (CWC), which unanimously adopted a

resolution for this moved by defence minister AK Antony.The decision ends prolonged speculation about a bigger

role for Rahul, so far one of the 11 general secretaries of the Congress. The speculation focussed on the possibility

of his being made working president or secretary general of the party.

 Sri Lankan President Kicked Out First Woman Chief Justice of the Country over Graft

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the President of Sri Lanka, on 13 January 2013 kicked out the first woman chief justice of the

country, Shirani Bandarnayake after endorsing her impeachment by the Parliament that caught her guilty on the

corruption charges. It is worth noticing that Bandarnayake was fired despite widespread protests by the lawyers as

well as others. Bandarnayake, 54, was given the notice in which the President ordered her to move down from the

post. This happened two days after the Parliament in Sri Lanka voted to put her on trial, widening the face-off

between the government and the judiciary. Impeaching Bandarnayake was initially declared unconstitutional by

the courts. In the meanwhile, the finding by parliamentary committee which had found her guilty was cancelled.

The parliamentary committee had declared on 8 December 2012, that Bandarnayake was guilty of 3 charges out of

14. The impeachment proceedings were held against her, which were moved by ruling UPFA coalition legislators.

The three charges in which she was held guilty were those of financial impropriety which were based on non-

declaration of the assets.

86 www.tnpsctamil.in 86 of 91.  Mohan Peiris-Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapaksa87 of 91. on 15 January swore in Mohan Peiris, a retired attorney

general and a legal adviser to the Cabinet, as Chief Justice of Srilanka after his nominee was approved by a

parliamentary council on 15 january.On14 January, Rajapaksa dismissed Chief Justice Shirani

Bandaranayake after a parliamentary committee found her guilty of having unexplained wealth and misuse of

power.

 Wie Wei-China on 16 January appointed career diplomat Wei Wei, its current envoy to Singapore, as the

country's new Ambassador to India, succeeding Zhang Yan.President Hu Jintao has appointed Wei Wei,

57, as China's new ambassador to India, replacing Zhang, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.Hu made

the appointment in line with a decision made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

(NPC), China's top legislature.

 Tahir-ul Qadri- The Canada-returned cleric led thousands of the protestors in Pakistan and rallied

in Islamabad for the third consecutive day on 16 January 2013. Qadri asked the government to quit as well as

dissolve the provincial and national assemblies on 16 January 2013. The demand is electoral reforms,

among others. In his speech, Qadri who marched on 14 January 2013 to Islamabad with thousands of

supporters to protest near the Parliament in Pakistan outlined four major demands, which included electoral

reforms as per the Constitution before the elections as well as reconstitution of Election Commission. On 16

January 2013, Qadri’s protests leveraged as the apex court passed an order for arresting Prime Minister Raja

Pervaiz Ashraf on the corruption charges associated with power projects. Tahir-ul Qadri has in a way triggered the

political emergency in Pakistan. Qadri is Thehrik-e-Minhajul Quran leader who is protesting for a

corruption-free Pakistan.

 Halimah Yacob (58) - Halimah Yacob became the first woman Speaker of the Singapore

Parliament on 14 January 2013. She replaced Michael Palmer, the former People's Action Party MP. Palmer got

down from the post of Speaker of the Parliament and as an MP on 12 December 2012. Prime Minister of

Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong nominated her for the designation of speaker. Halimah Yacob came down from her

post of Minister of State (Social and Family Development) and was elected as the Speaker by Members of

Parliament. Halimah Yacob, 58, is an Indian-origin woman born in Singapore. She belongs to the

People's Action Party.

87 www.tnpsctamil.in 87 of 91.  Lt Gen Ashok Singh will take over as Pune-based88 Southern of 91. Army Commander, replacing Lt Gen A K Singh who is

superannuating on January 31. Lt Gen Ashok Singh is at present the Commandant of NDA. Prior to his present

appointment, he had also commanded the elite 1 Strike Corps in Mathura and held various important command

and Staff appointments. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He is an alumnus of the

45th NDA course

 Justice D.K.Jain- Union Government of India on 7 January 2012 appointed Justice D.K. Jain as

Chairman of the 20th Law Commission of India. Justice Jain would take on the chair of the Chairman of

the Law Commission on 24 January 2012 after he retires of a Judge of Supreme Court on the same day. The Law

Commission is responsible for offering advices on complex issues to the Government. He would be heading the

commission as its chief for a period of three-years from the date of being in the office. The 20th Law Commission

of India was constituted with the Order of the Government of India with effect from 1 September 2012. The

functioning of the commission would end on 31 August 2012. The commission would be responsible for

identification of obsolete laws and suggest measures suitable for quick grievance handling and redressal of the

citizens. It would also be examining the laws that effects poor and suggest measures which would help in

harnessing the law and the legal process for the economically weaker and poor section of the society.

 Ravindra Dholakia-The Ministry of Civil Aviation on 3 January 2013 constituted a five-member

committee to look into and suggest the measures that can be taken for cost cutting as well as

optimal utilization of resources in Air India. The committee would be headed by Prof. Ravindra Dholkia of

IIM, Ahmadabad. The Ministry has provided a two months time to Prof. Dholkia and the committee to submit its

report along with interim recommendations, for immediate implementation.

 Rajiv Takru, now Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has

been appointed as Financial Services Secretary in the Finance Ministry. A promotion for the 1979-batch IAS

officer (Gujarat cadre), Mr. Takru will take over as Secretary, Department of Financial Services, from Dinesh

Kumar Mittal, who retires on January 31. According to official release on 9 January, the Appointments Committee

of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also approved the appointment of Ravi Mathur

as Secretary, Department of Disinvestment, under the Ministry of Finance. A 1979-batch IAS officer (Rajasthan

cadre) and now Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr. Mathur will fill the vacancy

in the Department of Disinvestment following the retirement of Mohammad Haleem Khan as Secretary. The ACC

88 www.tnpsctamil.in 88 of 91. also appointed Prof K. Vijayraghavan, Director,89 National of 91. Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, as Secretary,

Department of Biotechnology.

 M S Gopalakrishnan (82)-Veteran violinist M S Gopalakrishnan died in Chennai on 3 January following a

brief illness. Awarded with Padma Bhushan among others, Gopalakrishnan's career spanned over seven decades

during which he was known for his deep knowledge of Carnatic and Hindustani music. His contemporaries

include Lalgudi G Jayaraman and TN Krishnan.

 Former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy will be the Chairman of 14th Finance Commission, Finance Minister P.

Chidambaram said on 2 January. The Finance Commission has been asked to submit its report by October 31,

2014. Finance Commission, a constitutional body, is set up every five years. Besides other things, the Commission

lays down principles governing the grants-in-aid to states and other local bodies for a five-year period beginning

April 1, 2014. Prior to joining RBI as its Governor in September 2003, Mr. Reddy was India’s Executive Director

on the Board of the International Monetary Fund. The 13th Finance Commission was headed by former Finance

Secretary Vijay Kelkar.

 Syed Asif Ibrahim, Alok Joshi new chiefs of Intelligence Bureau, RAW respectively

Syed Asif Ibrahim and Alok Joshi on1 January took over as new chiefs of the country's top snoop agencies

Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed

by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had cleared their names in November.

 59-year-old Ibrahim is the first Muslim to lead the internal intelligence agency of the country. A 1977-batch IPS

officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Ibrahim was appointed as OSD in the Intelligence Bureau last month. He today

took over as its Director after incumbent Nehchal Sandhu retired yesterday. Ibrahim, who joined as a Special

Director in the organisation after his return from London where he served as Minister (Coordination), has been

with the IB for nearly three decades. He has served the agency in various capacities handling operations, Kashmir,

Naxal, security and cyber security. He was also Private Secretary to late Congress leader Madhavrao Scindia and

PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Joshi, who took over as RAW chief, is a 1976 batch officer of Haryana

cadre. He has earlier served as Special Secretary in the agency besides occupying other important positions. The

Appointments Committee of Cabinet had approved Joshi's appointment for a period of two years or until further

orders, whichever is earlier, in place of present incumbent SK Tripathi, whose tenure completed on December 29.

89 www.tnpsctamil.in 89 of 91. Joshi has served in Intelligence Bureau and Haryana90 of 91. Police with key operations in Nepal and Pakistan to his

credit.

 S. Ramakrishnan took over as Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

o He is an expert in aerospace propulsion, launch vehicle systems and project management

o Before Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre he served as director (project) at VSSC and Chairman of Flight

readiness review panel

o He played a major role in accomplishing the PSLV C-11/Chandrayaan Mission

o He was hounoured with a Padma Shri in 2003

o He served as the Mission Director for PSLV C1, C2, C3 and C4 flights

o He played a major role in helping India accomplish its first satellite Launch Vehicle SLV-3

 Urjit Patel Was Appointed As the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

Urjit Patel was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 3 January 2013. Urjit Patel

succeeds Subir Gokarn, who handled Monetary Policy in RBI. The three-year term of Subir Gokarn terminated in

November 2012 but he was given an extension that ended finally on 31 December 2012. Urjit Patel was chosen

over current Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn and International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Kalpana

Kochhar. There are in all four Deputy Governor Posts in RBI. With the termination of term of Subir Gokarn, one

post was vacant. Urjit Patel is an economist with hawkish point of view on inflation. He authored a research paper

called Dynamics of Inflation Herding: Decoding India's Inflationary Process along with Gangadhar Darbha, ED,

and Nomura.

 PM Manmohan Singh Became the 19th Most Followed Leader on Twitter

As per Digital Policy Council (DPC), PM Manmohan Singh became the 19th most followed leader of the world on

Twitter. PM Manmohan Singh is ahead of David Cameron and Julia Gillard, both of who were left behind in less

than 12 months time. The latest study conducted by Digital Policy Council (DPC) concluded that leaders of

politically-unstable states or fragile states considered social media threatening but Manmohan Singh and India

were an exception to this fact. Singh ranked 19th with 342612 followers. US President Barrack Obama topped the

list with 24611982 followers. Second on the list was President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez with 3802177 followers.

Nevertheless, Manmohan Singh has more followers on Twitter than Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and UK.

DPC provides its analysis about government institutions and world leaders who make use of the social media sites

for connecting with the citizens. The latest study conducted by DPC proves that 75 percent of the heads of

90 www.tnpsctamil.in 90 of 91. countries were making use of Twitter. The study91 about of 91. the ranks of leaders of states on Twitter also considers the factor of state fragility and this is what forms a negative point for Manmohan Singh because India ranks very poorly on this factor. Manmohan Singh is depicted as the leader of a state which is among politically unstable nations. The state fragility includes factors such as changes in the important policies, factionalism, auto-coups as well as state failure.

91 www.tnpsctamil.in 91 of 91.