Abhimanu

Weekly current affairs Series

Week: III, Jan 2016

Abhimanu’s IAS Study Group Chandigarh

NATIONAL ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Easwar Panel On Income Tax

The 9-member Justice Easwar Panel has taken the first step to simplify direct tax laws. In its first batch of recommendations, the panel has suggested a few substantive changes to tax policy which could be addressed in the coming Budget.

Major recommendations:

TDS rates for individuals and HUFs to be reduced to 5 per cent as against the present 10 per cent.

This panel also recommended enhancement and rationalization of the threshold limits of TDS.

Presently, TDS is applicable on Rs 2,500 in case of payment of interest on securities and on interest on NSS accounts, Rs 5,000 for payment of interest on private deposits and commission or brokerage and Rs 10,000 for payment of bank interest.

This panel suggested on raising the threshold for TDS to Rs 15,000 from Rs 2,500 annually. Similarly, for other interest earnings the limit is recommended to be raised to Rs 15,000 from current Rs 10,000 for bank deposits and Rs 5,000 for others.

The panel recommended raising TDS limit for payments to contractors from current limits of 30,000 for single transaction and 75,000 annually to Rs 1 lakh annual limit.

TDS limit on rent income threshold for TDS is proposed to be raised from Rs 1.8 lakh annually to Rs 2.4 lakh.

The threshold for fees for professional or technical services is recommended to be raised to Rs 50,000 from Rs 30,000 but TDS rate is proposed to be retained at 10 per cent.

It proposed deferring the contentious Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) provisions and making the process of refunds faster.

The committee has asked the income-tax department to desist from the practice of adjusting tax demand of a taxpayer whose tax return is under assessment against legitimate refunds due.

It has also proposed deletion of a clause that allows the tax department to delay the refund due to a taxpayer beyond six months and suggested a higher interest levy for all delays in refunds.

The panel also proposed that stock trading gains of up to Rs.5 lakh will be treated as capital gains and not business income, a move that could encourage more retail investments in the stock market.

It also sought to provide an exemption to non-residents not having a Permanent Account Number (PAN), but who furnish their Tax Identification Number (TIN), from the applicability of TDS at a higher rate.

The committee also recommended that most of the processes of the income-tax department should be conducted electronically to minimize human interface. To this effect, it suggested that processes such as filing of tax returns, rectification of mistakes, appeal, refunds and any communication regarding scrutiny including notices, questions and documents sought should be done electronically.

To make it easy for small businesses, the committee recommended that the eligibility criteria under the presumptive scheme be increased to Rs.2 crore from Rs.1 crore.

It also recommended launching a similar scheme for professionals. The presumptive tax is levied on an estimated income and makes life (and work) easier for small businesses. Under the presumptive income scheme, such professionals or businesses will not need to maintain a book of accounts but just pay tax based on presumptive income calculations.

About TDS:

TDS denotes the tax deductions at source of an individual’s income/payments. The deductor (employer/contractor etc) is the person who is making payments to the deductee (employee, stock broker etc.).

How is TDS Deducted: Income and expenditure such as salary, lotteries, interests from banks, payment of commissions, rent payment, payments to freelancers, etc. fall under the ambit of TDS. When making payments under these segments, a percentage of the overall payment is withheld by the source that is making the payments. This source, which can be a person or an organization, is known as the Deductor. The person whose payment is getting deducted is called the Deductee. For instance, a deductor is the employer paying salary to an employee (the deductee).

TDS helps in reducing tax filing burdens for a deductee and ensures stable revenue for the government.

In most cases, TDS is collected after a certain threshold limit of earnings has been crossed. The highest TDS of 30% is applicable on winnings from horse races, and lotteries and other games.

TDS certificate is issued wherever TDS has been collected, typically by the deductor or a bank.

TDS is exempted on some payments made to government, RBI, cooperative societies etc.

Refunds can be requested if there are discrepancies in the collected amount and the actual payable amount.

TDS is managed by the Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT), which comes under the Indian Revenue Services (IRS).

National Family Health Survey (NFHS- 4)

The Fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) is a nationally representative household survey that measures a wide range of indicators relating to fertility, family planning, and maternal and child health, as well as knowledge, attitudes and behavior around HIV/AIDS and the prevalence of HIV infection among Indian adults.

This is the fourth NFHS conducted in India and include for the first time blood glucose and hypertension measurements.

NFHS-4 produces population-based estimates of anemia, HIV prevalence, blood glucose, blood pressure, and height and weight measurements among women age 15 -49 and men age 15-54. Among young children age 6-7 months, anemia, height and weight will be measured.

This survey includes findings of only 13 States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and two Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry.

Highlights:

Infant mortality rate:

This survey indicate that fewer children are dying in infancy and early childhood. After the last round of National Family Health Survey in 2005-06, infant mortality has declined in all first phase States/Union Territories for which trend data are available.

All 15 States/Union Territories have rates below 51 deaths per 1,000 live births, although there is considerable variation among the States/Union Territories.

Infant mortality rates range from a low of 10 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to a high of 51 deaths per 1000 live births in Madhya Pradesh.

Fertility Rate:

Better care for women during pregnancy and childbirth contributes to reduction of maternal deaths and improved child survival. Almost all mothers have received antenatal care for their most recent pregnancy and increasing numbers of women are receiving the recommended four or more visits by the service providers. More and more women now give birth in health care facilities and rates have more than doubled in some States in the last decade. More than nine in ten recent births took place in health care facilities in Andaman

and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, providing safer environments for mothers and new-borns.

Overall, women in the First Phase States/Union Territories are having fewer children. The total fertility rates, or the average number of children per woman, range from 1.2 in Sikkim to 3.4 in Bihar. All First Phase States/Union Territories except Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya have either achieved or maintained replacement level of fertility– a major achievement in the past decade.

Immunization Programme:

Full immunization coverage among children age 12-23 months varies widely in the First Phase States/Union Territories.

At least 6 out of 10 children have received full immunization in 12 of the 15 States / Union Territories.

In Goa, West Bengal, Sikkim, and Puducherry more than four-fifths of the children have been fully immunised.

Family planning:

Married women are less likely to be using modern family planning in eight of the First Phase States/Union Territories.

There has been any increase in the use of modern family planning methods only in the States of Meghalaya, Haryana, and West Bengal. The decline is highest in Goa followed by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Despite the decline, about half or more married women are using modern family planning in eight of the 15 States/Union Territories. Water and sanitation facilities

Indian families in the First Phase households are now more inclined to use improved water and sanitation facilities.

Over two-thirds of households in every State/Union Territory have access to an improved source of drinking water, and more than 90% of households have access to an improved source of drinking water in nine of the 15 States/Union Territories.

More than 50% of households have access to improved sanitation facilities in all First Phase States/Union Territories except Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

Use of clean cooking fuel, which reduces the risk of respiratory illness and pollution, varies widely among the First Phase States/Union Territories, ranging from only about 18% of households in Bihar to more than 70% of households in Tamil Nadu and more than 80% of households in Puducherry and Goa.

Obesity:

Even as India battles malnutrition, the country has developed another nutritional problem—obesity. In past 10 years, the number of obese people has doubled in the country. People having Body Mass Index (BMI) more than 25 kilogram per meter square have been considered as obese.

Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, Puducherry and Sikkim have more than 30 per cent of their populations falling under the “obese” category.

The survey highlights that urban population is more prone to obesity as compared to their rural counterparts

HIV:

There is widespread ignorance about HIV/AIDS among adults in India. Nearly 82 per cent women and nearly 70 per cent men lacked comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS and safe sex practices.

This is seen as a direct result of budget cuts, with IEC (information, education and communication) measures and targeted intervention activities coming to a screeching halt.

Anaemia

Anaemia has declined in the country. However, it still remains widespread as more than half the women in eleven States/Union Territories are anaemic.

Child stunting

Indian States have seen some improvements in child nutrition over the last decade, but over one in three children is still stunted, and over one in five underweight.

As of 2005-06, India had 62 million stunted children, accounting for a third of the world’s burden of stunting.

Child sex ratio

In the past 10 years, the sex ratio has significantly decreased in nine out of 11 states of India.

Institutional deliveries - children delivered in a medical institution under supervision - increased by 32.8 per cent in the past 10 years. Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar saw a huge rise of 54.6 per cent, 44.8 per cent and 43.9 per cent, respectively in institutional deliveries.

The only state where the sex ratio rose was Uttarakhand - from 996 to 1,015 females per 1,000 males.

In first phase , on an average, there are 985 females per 1,000 males in 2015-16 compared to 1,000 females per 1,000 males in 2005-06.

Tobacco

Number of tobacco consumers — men as well as women— has decreased marginally in the past 10 years. However, alcohol consumption has remained almost static in the same period.

The number of male and female tobacco consumers has fallen by 10 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous survey done in 2005- 06. However, male alcohol consumers increased by 0.16 per cent, whereas it was a fall of 0.24 per cent for females.

Male tobacco consumption dropped in every state.

Among females, alcohol consumption dropped by 3.8 per cent, 0.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent in Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Goa, respectively. Apart from Meghalaya, every other state saw a decline in female tobacco consumption.

Demographic dividend:

A part of India’s touted demographic dividend — the population below age 15 years — has decreased in the past 10 years.

Sikkim topped the list of states showing a decrease of population aged below 15 years, to 23.1 per cent in 2015-16 from 30.7 per cent in 2005-06. Madhya Pradesh was next, with a decrease of seven percentage points in the period.

Uttarakhand was the only state which showed significant improvement in all five parameters of living standards. These being households with improved sanitation facilities, a clean cooking fuel source, electricity connection, clean drinking water source and using iodised salt. It increased the household numbers by 20 per cent, 15 per cent, 17.5 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 24.3 per cent, respectively.

Demographic dividend down, standard of living up Haryana was number one in increasing the number of households with improved sanitation, from 40 per cent in 2005-06 to 79.2 per cent in 2015-16.

About Survey

All National Family Health Surveys have been conducted under the stewardship of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

NFHS-4 funding was provided by the Government of India, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department for International Development (DFID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the MacArthur Foundation.

Technical assistance for the HIV component of the survey was provided by the National AIDS Control Organization and the National AIDS Research Institute

Women Empowerment: NFHS -4

Indian women seem to have finally embarked on their journey to empowerment

Though the fertility rate or the number of children each woman has is dropping—a good sign given India’s burgeoning population—the health of women and children remains a major concern.

Data shows a marked increase in the percentage of women in the age group of 15-49 years having a savings account that they use themselves.

Among the 13 states whose data has been released, Goa at 82.8% has the maximum number of women who manage their own finances.

However, it is Tamil Nadu which has outdone all other states with the numbers increasing from 15.9% in the third round of NFHS (NHFS-3) done in 2005-2006 to 77% in the fourth round.

But states like Bihar at 26.4% still have a long way to go, though the numbers have increased from 8.2% in NHFS-3.

NFHS-4 has added an indicator—women owning a house and/or land (alone or jointly with others). Bihar, which otherwise is at the bottom in other indicators, tops the list with 58.8% women owning some form of property. Tripura finishes second at 57.3%, while West Bengal at 23.8% has the least number of women owning property

The data also breaks the myth that women do not have a say in decision-making in what is perceived to be an inherently patriarchal society. At 95.3%, Sikkim tops the indicator—in the number of married women who usually participate in household decisions. West Bengal has shown the maximum increase from 70.2% in NFHS-3 to 89.8% in NFHS-4.

Only 28% women in India own a mobile phone as against 43% men.

Goa tops the list of having mobile phones with women with 80.9%, while Sikkim closely follows at 79.8%. Though Meghayala (64.3%), Tamil Nadu (62%) and Uttarakhand (55.4%) show some gains, Madhya Pradesh lags far behind at 28.7%.

Female literacy

On other indicators like the percentage of literate women, Goa again takes the cake with 89% literate women in the age group of 15-49 years.

This is closely followed by Sikkim at 86.6%, while Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have had the highest growth from 60.4% and 44.4% in NFHS-3 to 75.4% and 59.4% respectively.

In Bihar, the female literacy rate improved from 37% in the last survey to 49.6% in the current one. Haryana, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, too, showed a rise in female literacy rates from 60.4% to 75.4%, 59.7% to 71.7% and 44.4% to 59.4%, respectively. In Tamil Nadu, the female literacy rate improved from 69.4% to 79.4% and in West Bengal, it rose to 71% from 58.8%.

Fertility and maternal mortality rates

The fertility rate or the number of children each woman has is dropping, a finding that is expected to bring cheer to policymakers given India’s already sizeable population standing at 1.27 billion population and its youth bulge.

In Bihar, the fertility rate has come down from four children per woman in NHFS-3 to 3.4 in NHFS-4. Some of the sharper declines in fertility rates were found in states with significant populations like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal—with the numbers coming down from 2.7 to 2.1, 3.1 to 2.3 and 2.3 to 1.8, respectively.

In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, other states with a sizeable populations, the decline in fertility rates was marginal from 1.8 to 1.7 and 2.1 to 1.8.

Women were taking the lead in the case of adopting family planning methods. The findings showed, for example, that women were the ones opting for methods like sterilization rather than men. In the case of Haryana, the female sterilization rate was 38.1% compared to 0.6% among men. In the case of Bihar, the female sterilization rate was 20.7% compared with nil for men. And the case of West Bengal, the female sterilization rate was 29.3% while for men it was 0.1%.

Institutional deliveries shot up in most states and UTs. In Bihar, it rose threefold—from 19.9% in 2005-06 to 63.8% in 2014-15. Similarly, over the same period, institutional deliveries rose from 35.7% to 80.5% in Haryana and 26.2% to 80.8% in Madhya Pradesh.

Health remains a concern

While the overall health status of Indians has improved, there are glaring gaps in the health condition of children.

In almost all the 13 states and two union territories, nutrition rates among children fared better than NHFS-3. But the number of stunted (height for age) children, a key indicator of malnutrition, in certain states has

remained high, even though it has slightly reduced in the past decade. In Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Meghalaya, more than 40% of children were found stunted. In 2005-06, Bihar had 55.6% of its children stunted, which reduced to 48.3% in 2014-15. In Madhya Pradesh, stunting reduced from 50 to 42 and in Meghalaya from 55.1 to 43.8.

Anaemia continues to haunt children as well as women. In Goa, the percentage of anaemic children has gone up from 38.2% in 2005-06 to 48.3% in 2014-15. In Madhya Pradesh, there has been a marginal decline from 74% to 68.9%.

In Meghalaya, the percentage of anaemic women in productive age has gone up from 46.2% during NFHS-3 to 56.2% in NFHS-4. Haryana follows a similar trend—from 56.1% to 62.7%.

Another worrying factor is reduced awareness among women about HIV/AIDS. The percentage of women with comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS in MP reduced from 20.3% to 18.1% of total women in the state. Similarly, in Bihar, it decreased from 11.7% to 10.1%. Tripura is an exception which saw an increase from 11.8% to 28%. It is pertinent to note here that India’s HIV programme has been facing government apathy in recent times. Last year, massive shortages in medicines of HIV/AIDS in government facilities were reported across the country. It was only after it became a national issue that problems in procuring medicines were resolved.

Wider health insurance net

India has taken big strides improving the health insurance coverage of its citizens in the last 10 years, though many remain deprived of any form of basic health coverage.

Larger concerns

However, analysts feel that though the numbers are encouraging, a wide gap in women empowerment still needs to be bridged.

Budgetary allocations to women empowerment schemes need to be increased with a focus on education and employment opportunities. Gender-specific barriers like domestic violence or violence outside home, high drop-out rates of girls especially after class X, all hinder self-actualization

NHFS data does not cover is that increase in institutional deliveries does not automatically translate into reduction in maternal mortality rates (MMR).

Bharat Innovation Fund:

The Bharat Fund is an endeavor to bring together government, academia and corporate to create an enabling ecosystem and encourage youth to solve India’s key problems by providing them risk-capital, prototyping support, guidance and market-access.

The fund aims at catalyzing over $150 mn for innovative Indian startups through a venture fund and, in addition to capital, provide technical support to entrepreneurs.

The Bharat Fund is basically a public-private-academia partnership set up by Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE).

The Fund was launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in September 2015 during the Startup Konnect event in California.

The Fund will be managed and coordinated by CIIE at the IIM, Ahmedabad.

It will support innovation and innovative startups in areas of healthcare and life-sciences, sustainability, and digital technologies.

The Fund will use important tools such as labs, mentorship, funding, and networking to support entrepreneurs who take on hard challenges of an ever-broadening Indian market.

Since its launch in the Startup Konnect event, the Bharat Fund has received pledges from several government and corporate entities, such as the Department of Industrial Promotion and Policy (DIPP), Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Tata Trusts, and others.

Now , The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its PSU BIRAC today announced its participation in the Bharat Innovation Fund. This partnership will lead to rapid commercialization of Indian science for Indian

citizens, through Indian startups. These efforts will leverage the experience of BIRAC and will foster exciting innovations.

Analysis:

The current Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem is more geared towards eCommerce and solutions for urban privileged consumers and significant support for startups in impact areas is required through initiatives like Bharat Fund.

Start ups are mainly creating solution for urban elite. A miniscule part of total investments in India has gone into areas like healthcare, agriculture, energy or affordable technologies for the masses. Through Bharat Fund, this gap can be fulfilled.

With the Government’s support, a startup can be built in a day which will definitely motivate many young entrepreneurs to turn ideas into action thereby increasing the jobs in India as well.

India needs 10 million jobs a year and global data shows that it is startups, not large enterprises that create net new jobs in any country.

But on the contrary view, Government should refrain from getting directly involved in funding of start-ups. . Start-ups are booming without much help from government as investors at home and abroad are willing to back many an idea with money. Start-ups are getting funding from experienced investors who are taking risks. In this situation the government should ideally just stick to removing obstacles in starting and carrying out businesses. If government extends its funding activities to start-ups, it will have to cut back on investments in areas such roads and railways where private investment is hard to come by at this moment. Money is limited and government should stick to areas where private investment is largely unavailable.

NATIONAL POLITY

Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill 2015

President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015. The bill was first passed by Lok Sabha after it was declared a money bill. President gave his assent as per provisions of Article 111 of Constitution.

Highlights of bill :

The Sugar Cess Act, 1982 has been amended by the Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill 2015.

The primary act had provisions for imposing a surcharge on the excise duty levied on the production of sugar.

The rate of the cess is determined by the government. It originally specifies the ceiling of the cess at Rs. 25 per quintal. The amendment raises it to Rs. 250 per quintal.

It was proposed to increase the ceiling of the cess imposed on the production of sugar as it would increase the government’s expenditure on interventions to ensure that the outstanding dues to sugarcane growers are paid.

This step will help cane-growers who are in crisis as it can facilitate rehabilitation and modernisation of sugar factories.

Situation of Sugar industry in India in 2015:

Sugar can be produced from sugarcane, sugar-beet or any other crop having sugar content. But in India,

sugarcane is the main source of sugar. At present, this is the second largest agro-based industry of India after cotton textile industry. India is the world’s largest producer of sugarcane and second largest producer of sugar after Cuba

2015, was not a good year for sugar industry. There was fall in price of sugar which leads to the shutting down of sugar mills throughout the country specially in Maharashtra.

At the heart of the crisis is the fall in global crude oil prices along with a decline in the Brazilian currency (real). Lower crude prices means Brazil’s mills that have just started crushing would divert less sugarcane for producing ethanol. The extra sugar resulting from this, combined with a weak real, has brought down international prices, making it also further difficult for India to export.

the average cost of conversion of cane to sugar is Rs 800 per tonne, the mills have to pay an average Rs 2,100 per tonne to farmers as per fair and remunerative prices (FRP) fixed by the government.

To ease the crisis, the Centre recently announced an export incentive on sugar, while the state government waived off purchase tax. But this has not eased the distress.

Top six states mentioned above account for approximately 90% of total India’s sugar production; of which Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh together account for nearly 60% of total sugar production.

Union Government Launched 4 Mobile Health Services To Strengthen Public

Health Infrastructure

The Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare has launched four mobile health (m-Health) services to provide citizen-centric health services. These m-Health services are Kilkari, Mobile Academy, M-Cessation and TB Missed Call initiative.

Kilkari

Under this service, weekly audio messages will be delivered to families about pregnancy, child birth and child care.

The 72 messages would reach the targeted beneficiaries from the 4th month of pregnancy until the child is one year old. On an average, the duration of each message is two minutes.

Such messages will empower and educate women and parents to help create a better environment in maternal and child health. This service will be provided free to the beneficiaries.

In the first phase of implementation, such messages would be sent to the pregnant women and infants’ mothers in six States in Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and HPDs of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

They are being developed in Hindi, English and Odiya languages in the first phase, to be later expanded to other languages to cover the entire country and would benefit over 2 crore pregnant women and 2 crore infants, annually.

Mobile Academy

It’s a mobile-based application aimed at providing training services to 9 million ASHAs.

This will aid in enhancing their inter-personal skills. Once registered, ASHAs can access the 240-minute course via their mobile phones.

They can then complete the standardized course at their convenience. Digital bookmarking technology enables ASHAs to complete the course at their own pace.

ASHAs successfully completing the course by securing more than minimum prescribed marks will receive a Certificate of completion from the Government.

M-Cessation

It will be an IT-enabled tool to help tobacco users to quit tobacco.

Built on a helpline concept, it will register beneficiaries on the basis of a missed call.

The counselling would be done through a two-way SMS process, the Minister informed.

TB Missed Call initiative

Under TB Missed Call initiative, a dedicated toll free number 1800-11–6666 which will provide round the clock counselling and treatment support services for TB patients.

The callers can give a missed call or call for free to get information related to TB symptoms, treatment services available, address and contact details of the nearest treatment facility etc.

Initially the service will be available to people in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Analysis:

This launch is a part of Government’s Digital India programme, which is in line with its commitment to prioritize public health and strengthen citizen-centric health services by leveraging India’s expanding mobile phone penetration.

These services aim to improve family health – including family planning, reproductive, maternal and child health, nutrition, sanitation and hygiene – by generating demand for healthy practices by empowerment and capacity building at the individual and community level, and by creating an enabling environment.

Amendment To The Power Tariff Policy

The Centre unveiled a new power tariff policy which allows 100 percent expansion by existing power plants, passing on levies to consumers and purchase of 100 percent electricity produced from waste.

Highlights:

This amendments will allow producers to pass on the effect of any change in domestic duties, levies, cess and taxes.

This also allows for pass-through of the cost of sourcing coal if Coal India fails to meet its fuel supply commitments.

This policy allows developers to expand their plants by up to 100 per cent of their capacity through the automatic route.

The tariff policy also allows power plants to sell the surplus electricity through power exchanges. The benefit of such sale of electricity, after deducting the variable cost, will have to be shared with the electricity distribution utility.

The tariff policy also provides for all transmission projects to be given through competitive reverse bidding. Only inter-governmental projects or those involving security risk will be given on a nomination basis.

The policy also waives inter-State transmission charges for solar and wind power.

The amended policy mandates consumers to use smart meters that will allow them to interact with distribution companies and make money by switching off appliances in peak hours and using them in non-peak hours. The meters will help check power thefts, allow net metering and improve accounting.

Consumers using over 500 units/month need to install these meters by December 2017, while those using 200-500 units per month need to do it by December 2019.

The state regulator would devise the trajectory for achieving 24*7 power by 2022 and closely monitor it as well. Regulator would also mandate compulsory purchase of power from micro grids set up in remote locations.

Solar Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO)1 to reach 8 per cent by March, 2022. Also, the policy introduces Renewable Generation Obligation, which allows new coal/lignite based thermal plants to also establish renewable capacity to meet their RPO. Existing plants can set up such capacity subject to approval of procurers.

1 The RPO in India was implemented as part of the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) with an ambitious target

of supplying 15% of the energy demand in the national grid by renewable by 2020.

About Tariff policy:

Tariff policy for power is governed under the Electricity Act. The policy is the guiding principle for setting power rates, power purchase agreements, sale and purchase of coal and power – both conventional and renewable energy.

The policy revision was undergoing since 2006 in wake of increasing basket of power generation, corresponding growth of transmission & distribution and lack of regulations to tackle new issues cropping up in the ever dynamic power sector. Power ministry in its first draft said the revision was taken up “to provide affordable power to consumers and ensuring fair returns to generators, transmitters and distributors of power and to facilitate development of markets and market instruments in the power sector.

Analysis

This will remove ambiguity and uncertainty for competitively bid projects.

This would allow for the optimal use of land as well as reduce the time required to secure environmental clearances.

Removal of inter-State transmission charges for solar and wind power will help in reducing litigation

It brings clarity on the rate-setting authority for multi-state sales. Though actual passing on of increased costs or statutory levies or of retail rate revisions would be taken by states,depending on their financial health and commitment to greener energy.

Exemption to hydropower projects from competitive bidding till 2022 and extending of power purchase agreements (PPAs) by 15 years beyond the current 35 years would help to even out rates over a longer period and save the early shocks in this regard for this mode of power, with its high cost and long gestation.

RPO will mandate discoms towards providing clean energy to the consumers and prevent payment default to the power producers.

But in contrary, Liberal open-access regime proposed would almost certainly not be favoured by state governments and regulators.

The huge cross-subsidy to agriculture by industry and commercial establishments will be the biggest barrier in allowing access to the latter category of consumers to power markets.

The greater issue pertains to execution issues on account of terrain, local agitation, clearances and natural calamities.

Pradhan Mantri Nai Manzil Scheme Yojana

The scheme “Nai Manzil” scheme is launched to address the educational and livelihood needs of minority communities in general and Muslims in particular as it lags behind other minority communities in terms of educational attainments.

This scheme has been designed to help minority youth (17-35 age group) from poorer backgrounds. It is particularly aimed at school dropouts and those who lack the necessary skills to find jobs even after completing their education.

Under a two-pronged approach, help will be afforded to those who sign up for the programme by providing them an opportunity to complete their education through open schooling, followed by hands-on vocational training that will equip them for the job market.

The programme mainly aimed at reaching out to Muslim students who have studied in madrassas and need help with formal schooling—and vocational skills.

The education in Madrasas is good in terms of religious teaching, however, it often misses on the contemporary education system and does not help students get a job or earn a living out of it.

This scheme will enable students of madrasas to cope up with the contemporary education system and provide them skill training so that they could earn their leaving once they move out of the madrasas.

As per the government’s statistics, a total of more than 3 lakhs big and small madrasas are operating in India and this scheme would benefit all of them. There is an average of about hundred students in all these madrasas and thus this scheme is going to benefit a total of more than three crore students.

Central government is providing a gross of Rs 3,738 crore for this purpose and the scheme would be applied on a pan India basis.

For those students who would not be willing to take on the academic training, the scheme would provide an option for skill training so that they are skilled enough to work as skilled labor or get a job directly. These skill based training may range from driving to security guards, to carpentry to tailoring to nursing assistants, etc.

To boost the education system in Madrasas through Nai Manzil sceme, the World Bank has agreed to give $50 million to the government of India.

Analysis:

This would act as a rescue to thousands of Muslim students who somehow get their education from Madrasas, however fail to get an admission or a job in universities just because they do not have any standardized form certification.

Such schemes would only enhance the productivity of youths studying in the madrasas. This would ensure that they are not left behind in this competitive world just because of lack of any formal training or education.

however, one weakness has emerged. The scheme appears to focus almost entirely on men. Women from the Muslim community.

There's a serious point to 'Nai Manzil' given the scale of the problem of lack of proper education and unemployment among minorities, especially Muslims, and it is important for both the government and minorities to work together to make a success of it

Sikkim Becomes The First Fully Organic State Of India

Sikkim has become India’s first fully organic state by implementing organic practices on around 75,000 hectares of agricultural land. This state is also known as the Land of Flower.

In 2003 when the Pawan Chamling-led government decided to make Sikkim an organic farming state through a declaration in the legislative assembly.

Sikkim government had restricted the entry of chemical inputs for farmland and ban on their sale. So, Farmers therefore had no option but to go organic.

Within 1.24 million tonnes of organic production in the country around 80000 million is supplied by Sikkim alone.

With this, Sikkim now joins hands with the organic states of the foreign countries like California, Wisconsin among others.

About Organic Farming:

Organic farming is a system which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetic inputs (such as fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, feed additives etc) and to the maximum extent feasible rely upon crop rotations, crop residues, animal manures, off-farm organic waste, mineral grade rock additives and biological system of nutrient mobilization and plant protection

It tries to strike a harmonious balance with a complex series of ecosystems by rejuvenating it.

Evidence shows that yields will go up 35 to 40% in case of intensified organic farming. Intensification is what is needed in cultivating the beneficial soil microorganisms and increasing the micro climate for them. Taking care of the micro climate for soil organisms helps absorb carbon in the atmosphere.

Analysis(On Sikkim Achievement)

Organic cultivation is free of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilisers as it tries to strike a harmonious balance with a complex series of ecosystems.

In the long term, organic farming leads in subsistence of agriculture, bio-diversity conservation and environmental protection.

Sustainable farming will also help in building the soil health resulting in sustainable increased crop

production.

it will also boost the tourism industry in the tiny landlocked Himalayan state.

This is setting an example for the entire nation, Sikkim now join hands with the organic states of the foreign countries like California, Wisconsin among others. Several other parts of India now also inspire the same and working hard to achieve the status. Leading the race is Kerala followed by Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

This could be the possible answer for global climate change problems.

A Pact For Dam On Ganga: 1916

The 1916 agreement's basic thrust and focus is on the 'Aviral Dhara' (continuous flow) of the river. This sentiment is of religious value and will be kept in mind.

The idea is to ensure that at least some part of the river waters flow naturally and uninterrupted by any hydel power structure or barrage right through. Such an arrangement will have to be incorporated in the design of every barrage or dam structure that does come up along the river in Uttarakhand

It was signed between the then British government, Princely states , Madan Mohan Malviya and others speaking on behalf of the 'Hindus'.

The agreement said that 1,000 cusecs of water would flow unfettered across the ghats of the city at the foothills at all times. At the time, no hydropower projects existed in what is now Uttarakhand.

This agreement found its mention in present government policy to allow unfettered flow of 1,000 cusecs specifically in three tributaries of the Ganga (Alaknanda, Bhagirathi and Mandakini) and the main stream.

This agreement arises when the Supreme Court, of its own volition, asked the government whether the dams in Uttarakhand had played a role in the tragedy of 2013 when thousands were killed in the flash floods in the Kedarnath valley. It asked an expert body to provide a report.

The expert body report said the dams had played a role in exacerbating the disaster. It asked for immediate ban on 24 projects in the pipeline, a perpetual ban on projects above the snowline and a comprehensive review of all the other projects before they were given a nod.

Since then the focus of both the court case and the policy of the government has changed. The court's focus has shifted to six particular hydroelectric projects2 and whether the government wants to clear these or not

For this government has setup a committee on the issue of clearance.

This committee contradicts the government policy on revival of pact on 1916. It considered and dismissed it in two paragraphs saying the original 1916 agreement only refers to such water flow levels at Haridwar. The committee cleared five out of the six projects the court was focused on. This report too has been submitted to the court.

There are more than 60 other small and large dams already in the pipeline after this at various stages of development in Uttarakhand.

Analysis:

When and how did the government decide that 1,000 cusecs of water in three tributaries of the Ganga, besides in the main stem, are adequate and that other tributaries should not even be discussed?

Environmental flows and the dams on the upper Ganga basin decide not just the safety of the people of Uttarakhand, the ecology of the hills and the country's hydroelectric power policy , but also life in the entire riparian zone in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Government's desire to clean up the Ganga too depends on the flow of water in the river - how much sewage it can take without turning into a sewage canal naturally depends on how much fresh water it has to begin with.

2 NTPC's Lata Tapovan and Tehri Hydro Development Corp's Jhelum Tamak on the Dhauli Ganga, GMR's project on the

Alakananda river, two projects by Super Hydro on Bhyundar Ganga and Khairo Ganga, and NHPC's Kotlibhel 1A on the Bhagirathi.

As of now, life of millions in the hills and the Gangetic plains has been left dependent on an ambiguous reading by the government of an agreement signed in 1916 that was merely meant to secure the flow of river at Haridwar ghats for religious bathing - that too 100 years ago.

INTETRNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Lancet Journal On Stillbirths

Lancet Series focuses on ending preventable stillbirths.

Main Highlights:

An estimated 2.6 million third trimester stillbirths occurred in 2015 across the world. Most stillbirths (98%) occur in low and middle income countries.

India continues to be at the top of the table in the rank for number of stillbirths in 2015, recording 5,92,100, followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Ethiopia. Cultural taboos and superstitions often take the blame in the case of stillbirth.

Many disorders associated with stillbirths are potentially modifiable and often coexist — maternal infections, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, lifestyle factors and maternal age older than 35 years.

Five priority areas to change the stillbirth trend include intentional leadership; increased voice, especially of women; implementation of integrated interventions with commensurate investment; indicators to measure effect of interventions and especially to monitor progress; and investigation into crucial knowledge gaps. The post-2015 agenda represents opportunities for all stakeholders to act together to end all preventable deaths, including stillbirths.

About Stillbirth

The birth of an infant that has died in the womb (strictly, after having survived through at least the first 28 weeks of pregnancy).

Causes:

Bleeding (haemorrhage) before or during labour

Placental abruption –where the placenta separates from the womb before the baby is born (this may be associated with bleeding or abdominal pain)

Pre-eclampsia – a condition that causes high blood pressure in the mother

A problem with the umbilical cord, which attaches the placenta to the baby's tummy button – the cord can slip down through the entrance of the womb before the baby is born (cord prolapse), or it can be wrapped around the baby and become knotted

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) or obstetric cholestasis – a liver disorder during pregnancy characterised by severe itching

A genetic physical defect in the baby

Pre-existing diabetes

Infection in the mother that also affects the baby

Analysis:

There is a need of maintaining meticulous records of all births and deaths (maternal and foetal) in order to

increase the availability of data, rationalising that while data alone will not help save lives

Causal pathways for stillbirth frequently involve impaired placental function, either with growth restriction, or preterm labour or both.

Prenatal health is a crucial biological foundation to life-long health. A key priority is to integrate action for prenatal health within the continuum of care for maternal and newborn health.

Still, specific actions for stillbirths are needed for advocacy, policy formulation, monitoring, and research, including improvement in the dearth of data for effective coverage of proven interventions for prenatal survival.

Indirect and intangible costs of stillbirth are extensive and are usually met by families alone. This issue is particularly onerous for those with few resources. Negative effects, particularly on parental mental health, might be moderated by empathic attitudes of care providers and tailored interventions. The value of the baby, as well as the associated costs for parents, families, care providers, communities, and society, should be considered to prevent stillbirths and reduce associated morbidity.

Strong leadership is needed worldwide and in countries. Institutions with a mandate to lead global efforts for mothers and their babies must assert their leadership to reduce stillbirths by promoting healthy and safe pregnancies.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Pilot Whales

Hundreds of short-finned pilot whales have been found stranded on the beaches of Tamilnadu.

Nobody knows for sure, even though whale stranding is neither an uncommon nor a recent phenomenon.

But some experts believes that the increase in sound levels from ship traffic, sonic testing and oil drilling interferes with the navigation of the whales which often results in the sort of mass stranding.

Also, following prey-rich currents might draw whales towards land, or they might end up panicking at the presence of a mega predator such as a killer whale. Gently-sloping shorelines can deceive whales dependent on echolocation for navigation.

There’s also climate change or unnatural weather phenomena. In one recorded event, after a strong El Niño in 1982-83, a resident population of short-finned pilot whales apparently disappeared from areas along southern California.

Is rehabilitation possible: Depending on how severely disoriented they are, rehabilitating some whales could mean transferring them to a special, correctional facility. The facilities have large pools with water temperatures maintained to simulate that near the shores. They also have medical experts monitoring the whales’ heart rates and their overall health at least once a day.

How can beached whales be rescued: They are sometimes covered in wet towels and sheets, with volunteers pouring water over the mammals to keep them cool. Zinc oxide is placed around the blowhole to keep the airways clear and, sometimes, tents are placed over the pen to provide additional protection from the sun. After the monitoring, lasting days , the whales — before being released into the sea — are tagged with satellite markers to track their long-term progress.

About Pilot Whales:

Pilot whales are of two types: Long-finned pilot whales living in cold waters and short-finned pilot whales living in tropical and subtropical waters.

Pilot whales are among the largest of the oceanic dolphins, exceeded in size only by the killer whale or orca .

They and other large members of the dolphin family are also known as blackfish.

Short-finned pilot whales, inhabitants of deep, warm waters in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and yet known for frequent stranding.

Their pods of up to 50 animals form ranks that can stretch over a kilometre. This may explain how dozens of animals beach themselves across several kilometres, but it is not clear why they approach shallow waters in the first place.

In India, the first recorded beaching of short-finned pilot whales was in 1852 near Kolkata.

About Cetaceans:

Collectively, whales, dolphins and porpoises are known as cetaceans. Cetacean species are divided into two groups;

(1) Baleen whales – these are the “great whales” and as their name suggests they all have baleen plates that are used to filter their food (which consists of plankton and small species of fish).

(2) Toothed whales (otherwise known as odontocetes and including all species of dolphin and porpoise) – These have teeth, and eat larger prey items, including at times, other marine mammals. The main differences with porpoises are that they are usually smaller than other toothed whales and instead of cone-shaped teeth they have flat, spade-shaped teeth.

Baleen whales are larger (except the sperm whale), and slower (except the fin whale which is known as the “greyhound of the sea”) than toothed whales.

System Of Aerosol Monitoring And Research (SAMAR)

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has launched a System of Aerosol Monitoring and Research (SAMAR).

It will help the country in studying concentration of black carbon in atmosphere due to air pollution and its impact on climate.

The system was launched by the Union science and technology minister Harsh Vardhan on the IMD’s 141st foundation day.

System of Aerosol Monitoring And Research (SAMAR) is a network of 16 Aethalometers3, 12 Sky radiometers

4

and 12 Nephelometers 5to study black-carbon concentration, aerosol radiative properties, environmental visibility respectively & their climatological impacts

At present, India has to depend on other countries’ research for this purpose.

About Aersol:

An aerosol can be defined as a system of solid or liquid particles suspended in air or other gaseous environment. Aerosols vary in size and composition, they can be naturally or manmade generated.

Examples of natural aerosols are fog, forest exudates and geyser steam. Examples of artificial aerosols are haze, dust, particulate air pollutants and smoke.

Effect of Aerosol:

3 The Aethalometer is an instrument that uses optical analysis to determine the mass concentration of Black Carbon particles

collected from an air stream passing through a filter

4 It helps in monitoring aerosols of larger size and this requires measurement at longer wavelengths

5 A nephelometer is an instrument for measuring concentration of suspended particulates in a liquid or gas colloid. A

nephelometer measures suspended particulates by employing a light beam (source beam) and a light detector set to one side (often 90°) of the source beam.

Aerosols interact both directly and indirectly with the Earth's radiation budget and climate. As a direct effect, the aerosols scatter sunlight directly back into space. As an indirect effect, aerosols in the lower atmosphere can modify the size of cloud particles, changing how the clouds reflect and absorb sunlight, thereby affecting the Earth's energy budget along with precipitation.

When aerosols absorb pollutants, it facilitates the deposition of pollutants to the surface of the earth as well as to bodies of water. This has the potential to be damaging to both the environment and human health.

Aerosol particles with an effective diameter smaller than 10 μm can enter the bronchi, while the ones with an effective diameter smaller than 2.5 μm can enter as far as the gas exchange region in the lungs,which can be hazardous to human health.

Volcanic eruptions release large amounts of sulphuric acid, hydrogen sulphide and hydrochloric acid into the atmosphere. These gases represent aerosols and eventually return to earth as acid rain, having a number of adverse effects on the environment and human life

Zinnia Flower

A bright orange zinnia has blossomed aboard the International Space Station, marking a first in space.

The zinnia flower has a reputation for being one of the easiest flowers to grow on Earth. In space, it was a challenge getting it to sprout.

Growing such flowers — zinnias are edible — is part of a long term NASA project known as Veggie, which was delivered to the ISS in April 2014.

About Project Veggie:

Astronauts started experimenting with Veggie in 2014, when they grew red romaine lettuce in the same system that’s now growing the zinnias: trays of water with bags of seeds in a type of calcined clay used on baseball fields, used to increase aeration to help the plants grow. The growing plants are lit by LED lights and fertilized by an automatic release.

Ultimately, the hope is to make possible “a sustainable food supplement” for a future manned mission to Mars.

Astronauts are planning to try growing tomatoes in 2018.

The farther and longer humans go away from Earth, the greater the need to be able to grow plants for food, atmosphere recycling and psychological benefits

Gardening in Space:

Space gardening is plagued with problems, including high radiation levels and temperature extremes.

Fortunately, with the ISS in a low orbit, the Earth’s magnetic field shields plants from the worst radiation effects. Inside the station, the atmosphere can be tightly controlled.

Growing plants in space might be trickier than you think - watering flowers is much more difficult in a place without gravity!

Another problem was that the high levels of moisture in the air inside the space station led to mould growing on some leaves.

About Zinnia:

Zinnias are named after Johann Gottfried Zinn (1727-1759), a German professor of botany who grew the plant after it was "discovered" in the New World and brought back to Europe. Zinnias are native to Mexico, Central America, and the southwestern United States.

Zinnias can be direct sown or transplanted into the garden. In warmer areas with long growing seasons, sow zinnia seeds directly into the garden after all danger of frost has passed. Sow into well-prepared soil free of large clumps.

In colder regions with shorter growing seasons, sow seeds indoors about 4 to 5 weeks before the last average frost.

Zinnias have no major insect problems, but are susceptible to mildew, which causes foliage to discolor and plants to lose vigor and sometimes wilt.

Mildew problems are caused by wet and/or high humid conditions. Minimize mildew problems by not over watering zinnia plants, planting in well-drained soil, and watering plants at soil level to avoid wetting foliage. Also avoid overcrowding plantings, which decreases air circulation around zinnias.

IRNSS-1E(Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System)

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched IRNSS-1E, the fifth of the seven-satellite Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) into space.

PSLV C-31 rocket lifted the 1,425 kg satellite from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre .

IRNSS-1E with a mission life of 12 years was launched into a sub geosynchronous transfer orbit with a 284 km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657 km apogee (farthest point from Earth) with an inclination of 19.2 degree with reference to the equatorial plane.

IRNSS-1E carried navigation and ranging payloads, including a rubidium atomic clock, C-band transponder and corner cube retro reflectors for laser ranging.

The signal-in-space of four satellites has already been validated by various agencies within and outside the country.

About Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS) and is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.

The IRNSS system mainly consists of Ground Segment, Space Segment and User Segment. The space segment consists of seven satellites with three in geostationary orbit and four in inclined geosynchronous orbit. The navigation payload transmits signals in L5 and S-band. The ranging payload consists of a C-band transponder, which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite.

IRNSS-1A

The first of the 7 satellites of the IRNSS Constellation, IRNSS-1A, was successfully launched onboard . PSLV-C22 on July 01, 2013 and is functioning satisfactorily.

IRNSS-1B

The satellite was launched successfully on April 4, 2014 by PSLV-C24. IRNSS-1B is functioning satisfactorily.

IRNSS-1C

The satellite was successfully launched onboard PSLV-C26 on October 16, 2014. Orbit raising operations and In-Orbit Testing were successfully completed and Spacecraft performance is satisfactory.

IRNSS-1D

IRNSS-1D is a satellite in the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) constellation. The satellite is the fourth of seven in the constellation, launched after IRNSS-1A, IRNSS-1B and IRNSS-1C. The satellite is the only satellite in the constellation slated to provide navigational services to the region.

Applications Of IRNSS

IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users. The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.

Some applications of IRNSS are:

Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation

Disaster Management

Vehicle tracking and fleet management

Integration with mobile phones

Precise Timing

Mapping and Geodetic data capture

Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travelers

Visual and voice navigation for drivers.

Himalayan Forest Thrush

Scientists have described a new species of bird in northern India and China, called the Himalayan forest thrush. The species was distinguished by its musical song.

This species is not new to the bird kingdom. It is quiet similar to the plain - backed thrush , and known by the same name till now differentiated by its musical song. Now, Plain - backed thrush is renamed to Alphine thrush.So, Plain - backed thrushhave two categories one is Himalayan forest thrush and other one is Alphine thrush.

The alpine thrush (Zoothera mollissima) breeds above the tree line whereas the Himalayan forest thrush breeds in forested habitats.

Alphin thrush has a much harsher, scratchier, unmusical song.

Chinese sub-species of the Himalayan Forest Thrush and named as the Sichuan Forest Thrush. This bird’s song was found to be even more musical than that of the Himalayan Forest Thrush.

The Himalayan forest thrush is only the fourth species of bird discovered in India since independence in 1947.

This new thrush species have given the scientific name Zoothera salimalii in honour of the late Indian ornithologist Dr Salim Ali.

In IUCN list it is considered as least concern species.

Superbug And Quantum Dot

Quantum dot could be a new way to tackle so-called superbugs. The quantum dots were successful in killing 92 percent of drug-resistant lab-grown bacterial cells.

The quantum dots are inactive in the dark and active on command via light exposure. This enables scientists to adjust the wavelength to kill the affected cells.

These dots are made of semiconducting materials like cadmium telluride instead of metal. They can be tailored to specific infections, slipping inside the disease-causing germ to destroy them without any side effects.

Previous efforts to thwart superbugs have largely failed, due to the bacteria's ability to rapidly adapt and develop immunity to antibiotics such as penicillin.

About AMR and Superbug:

AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance) occurs when microbes evolve defensive mechanisms designed to evade therapeutic agents, thus rendering these drugs partly or completely ineffective as forms of treatment.

Largely due to the oversubscription of antibiotics to people and their overuse within intensive livestock farming, the situation has led many to suspect that we are entering a post-antibiotic era.

Not only does this make once-treatable infections far more difficult to treat, it also means that they could potentially become life threatening. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) had become a global health security threat. Various “superbugs” are evolving too rapidly to be counteracted by traditional drugs

About quantum dot:

Nanoparticles of semiconductors (quantum dots) were theorized in the 1970s and initially created in the early 1980s. If semiconductor particles are made small enough, quantum effects come into play, which limit the energies at which electrons and holes (the absence of an electron) can exist in the particles.

As energy is related to wavelength (or colour), this means that the optical properties of the particle can be finely tuned depending on its size. Thus, particles can be made to emit or absorb specific wavelengths (colours) of light, merely by controlling their size.

Applications Of Quantum Dots:

Using magnetic quantum dots in spintronic semiconductor devices such as memory chips. Spintronic devices are expected to be significantly higher density and lower power consumption because they measure the spin of electronics to determine a 1 or 0, rather than measuring groups of electronics as done in current semiconductor devices.

Researchers are developing humidity and pressure sensors using graphene quantum dots.

Quantum Dots can be used for producing images of cancer tumors.

Used in solar cell that uses a copper indium selenide sulfide quantum dots. Unlike quantum dots containing lead or cadium the copper based quantum dot is non-toxic as well as low cost.

Analysis:

There is the rise of super-bacteria resistant to the latest antibiotics, the last line of medical defense against various infections, cancer and HIV. The rampant, indiscriminate administration of common antibiotics—penicillin is a prime example—has allowed bacteria such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus and E. coli the ability to shuffle their genes and defeat these drugs. For humanity, it’s always been a one-step-ahead-many-steps-back battle in the war against the superbugs, which use evolutionary abilities to overwhelm medical advances.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect about two million people and kill at least 23,000 people in the US each year. There is no comparative data for India, but the country is the world’s largest consumer of antibiotics and has emerged as a leading hotbed of untreatable bacterial infections

This could offer some hope, showing that tiny structures called nanoparticles can be turned into targeted, destructive weapons that can destroy resistant bacteria by using nothing more than light

Green Cement

Cement is a major part of today’s construction industry which demands solutions that consider both economical and ecological aspects. Cement manufacturers are continuously striving to achieve more efficient and environmentally-friendly production methods.

Recently, work on development and testing of a new blend of low-carbon cement or green cement has started.

Green cement is a material that meets or exceeds the functional performance capabilities of ordinary Portland cement by incorporating and optimizing recycled materials, thereby reducing consumption of natural raw materials, water, and energy, resulting in a more sustainable construction material.

Cement production comprises around 10% of human CO2 emissions. This is becoming a significant environmental issue, considering that cement production is growing by 2.5% annually.

About 60 per cent of this is released in unavoidable chemical reactions as the limestone decomposes (calcination process). The remaining 40 percent is generated from the vast amounts of energy needed to heat the clinker to about 1450°C.

Big cement firms around the world are looking for new ways to make Portland cement more environmentally palatable. The producers added steel byproducts, such as slag; coal residues, such as fly ash; and other materials, such as magnesium oxide, to bulk up the cement mixture, requiring less Portland cement. They experimented with mineral additives to reduce the temperatures needed to prepare the materials.

In this direction, Indian firm Kiran Global Chems has launched Geocement. Geocement is made out of industrial wastes. It comes in two-part packing – 35 kg Geocement powder and 15 kg Geobinder liquid. Both can be mixed at construction sites like normal cement. It comprises a range of products including geo-binder, geo-powder and geo-concrete (geocrete), is aimed at cutting down carbon emissions by over 80%.

Analysis:

Most widely used form of cement today — 'portland' cement — is made by roasting limestone and clay in giant kilns in a process that sends nearly a tonne of carbon dioxide skywards for every tonne of final product.

Prospect of carbon taxes and cap-and-trade markets has led industry groups around the world to adopt green or sustainable cement initiatives.

The anti-bacterial properties of the green cement can be used for construction of underground seweage pipes and toilets as well.

This new green cement has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of construction sites by 40%.

QUICK FACTS

In report released by World Economic Forum(WEF) in Davos, Rank of India is - 22

Name of scheme under which Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked banks to provide loans of up to 3 lakh rupees at 7% interest rate during 2015-16 to Women Self-Help Group (SHG) is - Aajeevika scheme

New chairman of Cental Board of Direct Taxes - Atulesh Jindal.

The stock exchange which launched an Algorithm Trading Test Environment in partnership with Symphony Fintech Solutions –Bombay Stock Exchange

New Executive director of Greenpeace India is - Ravi Chellam.

Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura celebrate their statehood day on - 21st January.

State which was the host for 19th National Conference on e-Governance –Nagpur

New Prime Minister of Moldova – Pavel Filip

Winner of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy - Uttar Pradesh

Mount Egon and Zhupanovsky situated in - Russia.

Head of the Committee on Yoga Education in Universities - Prof H R Nagendra

The sixth assembly session of the International Renewable Energy Agency was held at – Abu Dhabi in the UAE.

Winner of DSC won the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for her novel titled - Anuradha Roy (For her novel : Sleeping on Jupiter).

First female President of Taiwan - Tsai Ing-wen( From Democratic Progressive Party).