e-preptalk aug-sep 2015.pdf
TRANSCRIPT
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02 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
Letters to the editor
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Alcohol has uses too
Migrants have their issuesand concerns
While reading the edition of Prep
Talk, I was enlightened to know that
alcohol has certain medicinal properties
and that it is useful for human
consumption. Alcohol is present in
nature, extracted from plants, fruits and
flowers. Man consumes for his purpose,
whether to seek pleasure or escape from
grief, alcohol extracted or synthesised
from natural sources. But only health
experts use alcohol for useful purposes.
The article served as an eye-oener.
There was another informative article in
the same edition, in which social media
displayed luxury brands that were not
genuine. This is not proper, as many
people get influenced by the social
media and become misled as to their
usage. The edition carried several
useful articles that would serve the
general interests of readers, enhancing
their general awareness and feeding the
right news of develoments and
breakthroughs that have occurred, in a
digestible manner.
People have lived in regions and
terrains for several generations,
pursuing their chosen vocations for
eeking out their livelihood. When they
leave their lands and move to different
countries, driven by the situations
uncontrollably, the host country faces
problems that were not thought of. The
case of the Columbians fleeing
Venezeula might be different from that
S Alagappan, Chitoor
of the migrants in the European Union.
Yet they have posed challenges before
their respective nations that are
concerned with their plight, which call for
adept handling. Prep Talk came out with a
graphic account of both the crises. The
edition contained useful information on
matters relating to health and hygiene,
na ture and env i ronment , space
expeditions and corporate business,
which need to be known. Such snippets
would satiate the appetite of the
discernible reader, leading to sharing and
dissemination of knowledge in a
productive and healthy way.
Defence personnel serve the country
with utmost dedication, vigilance and
bravery, both during war and peace. They
make supreme sacrifices for the nation
Zelia Noronha, Chiplun
War veterans are relevant toour country
with their lives, as also with deprivation
of family life and other enjoyment. They
deserve to be treated respectfully by the
government. The grievances of the ex-
servicemen and other staff in various
ranks and capacities, which were kept
pending before the government for
several years, caused an unpleasant and
disturbing situation, compelling them
to take to warpath. The Cover Story of
the edition of Prep Talk made me think
deeply of the problems faced by these
b r a v e p e o p l e . H o p e f u l l y, t h e
government would attend to their woes
and come out with a solution which
would satisfy the defence personnel.
There was a piece in the edition which
described the way NASA would track
huuricanes. This would be a boon.
Rustam Abbas, Etawah
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PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 03
Dear Readers,
Never before in recent times had the atmosphere in the country become
intolerant. It is not uncommon to find storms in tea cups taking place over
seemingly insignificant issues, examples of Much Ado About Nothing, to borrow
the Shakespearean phrase. A stray incident or an out-of-place remark by certain
people wielding position, power and influence is enough to cause an uproarious
situation and put the community and the state to ransom, often fuelled by rumours
and instigations by people having vested interests. However, this time, the
situation has resulted in an unprecedented backlash by writers, authors,
playwrights and other intellectual people, resulting in them showing resentment
and anguish by returning awards, honours other forms of recognition, conferred
on them, over the years, by Sahitya Akademi and other organisations of India. Some
of them have resigned from key posts of the institutions and organisations, in
which they were functioning all this while. They have protested vehemently on the
clamp on the intellectual freedom in present times, which has become a
disquieting feature of democratic India. The genesis and the happening of the
outrage on part of the members of the intelligentsia are detailed in this edition of
Prep Talk, which forms its Cover Story.
Alongside, there have been notable and significant events and happenings that
find space in this edition. Many of them have been in the form of achievements,
research and development ventures, cosmic journeys, forays into realms of
environment and ecology, medicine and therapy, health and fitness, science and
technology, trade and commerce, sports and games, et al. All these speak
eloquently of the human prowess, and that there are no heights that are not reached
by the human being, provided the indomitable spirit is properly exploited and
harnessed. At the same time, there are also those acts that are disdainful and
despicable. While the former is to be emulated, the latter should be avoided.
Friends, most among you would be preparing fervently to
crack the ensuing CAT and other entrance exams of B-
Schools. Develop the skills, practise intensely, go the extra
mile to acquire the wherewithal to make you a cut above the
rest.
Kar Ke Dikhayenge! Godspeed.
Sandeep Manudhane
It is not the cards youre dealt, it is
how you play the game.
Chris Pardo
Sometimes it is the smallest
decision that can change your life
forever.
Keri Russell
Most people want to improve their
situation but few take responsibility
for motivating themselves to make
changes.
Omar Periu
People who are unable to motivate
themselves must be content with
mediocr i t y, no matter how
impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie
It is wiser to find out than to
suppose.
Mark Twain
Opportunities don't happen, you
create them
Chris Grosse
Great minds discuss ideas; average
minds discuss events; small minds
discuss people.
Eleanor Roosevelt
A loving silence often has far more
power to heal and to connect than
the most well-intentioned words.
Rachel Naomi Remen
The ladder of success is best
climbed by stepping on the rungs of
opportunity.
-Ayn Rand
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Volume 14. Edition 02. August - September 2015
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Cover Story:
Current Events
Regulars
05
MP govt mulls automated meters for electricity consumers .. 47
Nature thrives in Chernobyl, site of worst nuclear disaster.... 49
3 share Nobel medicine prize for new tools to kill parasites... 51
Amazon India is building an army of 'cowboys' & 'Jeff bots'
India ....................................................................................... 11
...................................................................................... 19
Business and Economy ......................................................... 27
Dinosaurs could have been warm-blooded ......................... 10
Heavy air pollution in 80% of Chinese cities: Greenpeace 18
Samsung struggles to regain smartphone market share.... 34
7 out of every 10 Indians are vitamin deficient ................... 35
SC seeks response on levy of pollution
compensatory charges........................................................... 37
Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, the biggest
threat to internet, signed....................................................... 38
Tips to fight obesity and lose weight ................................... 39
Samsung is finally seeing a revival, and
smartphones are not the reason ........................................... 43
Cure for cancer might accidentally have been found ......... 45
First nano-satellite functional: Nasa.................................... 46
Nehru's niece Nayantara Sehgal returns
Sahitya Akademi award, protests rising intolerance ........... 50
14 elephants killed by cyanide poisoning in Zimbabwe ..... 52
.... 53
Foods that fight wrinkles and ageing ................................... 54
Hypertension rising steeply in India .................................... 55
iPhone's India launch a bigger affair this time ................... 57
Listen to your body while you workout ................................ 58
M-commerce roles need hunger to create impact.............. 59
Nokia completes Alcatel-Lucent merger,
announces new team ............................................................. 60
Odisha gets its 1st 100% solar-powered village .................. 61
Gas 'fingerprinting' used to monitor carbon
dioxide may reduce emissions .............................................. 62
Government to fast-track green clearances
for Sagarmala project............................................................. 63
Health mistakes we usually make......................................... 64
World
India's intelligentsia claims it is threatened
by a Climate of Intolerance ........................................................
Contents
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PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 05
Dozens of Indian writers have returned top national
awards in a protest against what they call a climate of
intolerance in the emerging economicpower.
The campaign, described as an unprecedented rebellion by
the cream of India's literary talent, follows a series of incidents
of communal violence and attacks on intellectuals.
More than 40 novelists, essayists, playwrights and poets have
now given back awards from the country's most prestigious
literary institution, theSahityaAkademi.
One of the most prominent is the niece of Nehru, journalist
and author Nayantara Sahgal, who claimed that India's culture
of diversity anddebate is nowunder vicious assault.
The row took on an international dimension earlier recently,
when Salman Rushdie weighed in, telling a local television
network that the failure of the government to act was allowing a
newdegree of thuggish violence in India.
Recently, 80-year-old novelist Dalip Kaur Tiwana said that
she was returning her Padma Shri, one of the most important
national decorations,which shewon in 2004.
Tiwana, from the northwestern state of Punjab, said that she
was acting out of solidarity with those protesting against the
increasing communalisation of our society. To kill those who
stand for truth and justice puts us to shame in the eyes of the
world andGod,Tiwana said.
The two incidents that havemost angered thewriters are the
lynching of a Muslim labourer in Dadri, last month, and the
murder of a rationalist thinker, inAugust, 2015.
In the first, a mob in the village of Bisara on the outskirts of
Delhi, the capital, believed their victim had eaten beef and beat
him todeath outsidehis home.
In the second incident, Malleshappa Kalburgi, an award-
winning scholar, whose frequent criticism of what he saw as
superstition and false beliefs had angered the extremists, was
gunneddown in the southern state ofKarnataka.
The authors, who write in English as well as regional
languages, have called on the Sahitya Akademi, which was
established nearly 60 years ago by India's independence leader
and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to publicly condemn the
murder ofKalburgi.
The upsurges of sectarian tension in recent years have often
coincided with elections. Currently, voting is underway in a key
state-level election in the east of India.
Some analysts say that rightwing groups allied to the
nationalist group are pushing to see how far they can go under
the incumbent government.
Samir Saran, of theObserverResearchFoundation, said that
louder and more rabid rightwing groups in India felt
India's intelligentsia claims it isthreatened by a Climate of Intolerance
Cover Story
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06 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
emboldened by themandate won in last year's poll, and believed
that theynowhadmore freedomof action.
However, Saran said that the greater scrutiny and reporting
of such incidents following the establishment of the government
obscured how such incidents had happened under previous
governments ledby the centre-leftCongress party too.
It is definitely getting greater prominencenow,he said.
Senior government officials have however dismissed the
writers' protests, accusing themofbeingpoliticallymotivated.
If they say they are unable to write, let them stop writing,
MaheshSharma, India'sMinister forCulture, said.
However, he also condemned the murders of Kalburgi and
Mohammed Akhlaq, the labourer lynched by the mob last
month.
The sectarian violence has had a significant impact on
India's image overseas and could undermine the government's
drive to attract investors.
There is a long history of clashes over culture and effective
censorship by parties and leaders from across the political
spectrum in India.
In one case earlier this year, a critically acclaimed Indian
novelist announced his death as a creative artist, following
threats and protests by rightwing religious and caste groups,
prompted by his book about a woman's efforts to get pregnant
with a stranger through a religious ritual.
Perumal Murugan said that he planned to stop writing and
asked his publishers to withdraw all his works of fiction from
sale.
In February 2014, religious conservatives forced the removal
from sale of a book on contemporary religion by the US
academic Wendy Doniger, claiming that it was insulting to the
faith.
An editorial in a leading newspaper at the time condemned
the growing power of bullying self-appointed censors,
displaying aVictorianhangoverwith aTaliban temperament.
The sale ofRushdie's 1988novelTheSatanic Verses remains
proscribed in India and its author was unable to appear at the
Jaipur literary festival in 2012 after Muslim organisations
protested.
Politicians have repeatedly sought to ban or restrict the sale
or production of specific books.
One after the other, many well-known litterateurs of India
have returned the Sahitya Akademy Awards. Among them is the
noted Hindi poet and critic Ashok Vajpayee. Before him, the
English writer, Nayantara Sehgal, returned one of India's
highest literary honors. The objective of their returning the
awards is to protest against the visible attacks on the secular
credentials of Indian constitution, and the surprising silence of
the Prime Minister of India, who otherwise is swift in the
deployment of technology to propagatehis achievements.
Three eminent writers from Punjab have announced that
they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, while
Kannada writer Aravind Malagatti resigned from the body's
general council, joining the growing protest by litterateurs over
rising intolerance andcommunal atmosphere.
Killing of personalities likeKalburgi, (Govind) Pansare and
incidents likeDadri lynching are an attack on theConstitutional
rights in this country. They are highly condemnable, Malagatti
said. Malagatti is among 20 representatives from various
Universities in theGeneralCouncil of theSahityaAkademi.
Returning theawards
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With the writers' protest over its silence on rationalistMM
Kalburgi's murder growing louder, Sahitya Akademi
chairperson Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari came out with a
statement saying that the apex literary body stands for freedom
of expression and condemns attack on any writer or artist
anywhere.
It asserted its commitment to the core secular values
enshrined in theConstitution and the right to life of all.
Eminent writers Gurbachan Bhullar, Ajmer Singh Aulakh
and Atamjit Singh, announced that they were returning their
Sahitya Akademi awards like several other authors including
Nayantara Sehgal, Sara Joseph,Uday Prakash andAshok Vajpeyi,
demanding that the Akademi speak out against the killing of its
member Kalburgi and other rationalists and the communal
atmosphere, in the backdrop of the Dadri lynching incident.
Bhullar said that he was perturbed by the attempts to disrupt
the social fabric of the country
During recent past, the attempts at disrupting the social
fabric of the country, targeting particularly the area of literature
and culture, under an orchestrated plan of action, has been
perturbingme,he said.
The 78-year-old author born inBathinda in Punjab had been
awarded the Sahitya Akademi for his 2005 book of short stories
Agni-Kalas. A renownedPunjabi playwright, Aulakh said that
he was very pained by the attacks on progressive writers,
leaders of the rationalmovement and the forcible regimentation
of education and culture. He said that he was very upset over
the communal atmosphere being created in the country and the
central government was not performing its duty as the
representative of a secular and democratic country. Punjabi
theatre personality Atamjit Singh said that he was returning his
Akademi Award as he is very upset over the incidents of
communal hatred in the country for the last somemonths.
Recently literary figures like Shashi Deshpande, K
Satchidanandan, PKParakkadavu had resigned from their posts
in theAkademi, citing similar reasons. A federation ofKashmiri
scholars, Adbee Markaz Kamraz, too expressed solidarity with
the eminent writers for their decision to return Sahitya Akademi
awards, asking the top literary body to break its silence over the
increasing communal frenzy. Poet and critic Adil Jussawalla,
who won the Sahitya Akademi honour for his 2014 work, also
urged the literary body to condemn the unacceptable
censoring of writers by violently intolerant groups.
Jussawalla said he has written to chairperson of Sahitya
Akademi.
Writer Ganesh Devy returned his Sahitya Akademi Award to
express solidarity with the writers, who have recently given up
their awards to condemn the shrinking space for free
expression and growing intolerance towards differences of
opinion in the country. It is high time that writers take a
stand,Devy said in a letter addressed to thePresident of Sahitya
Akademi Prof Viswanath Pratap Tiwari. It is with utmost regret
that I would like to convey to you that I wish to return the 1993
Sahitya AkademiAward given in the category of books inEnglish
tomywork 'AfterAmnesia' (1992), he said in the letter.
"The great idea of India is based on a profound tolerance for
diversity and difference. They far surpass everything else in
importance. That we have come to a stage when the honourable
Rashtrapatiji had to remind the nation that these must be seen
as non-negotiable foundations of India should be enough of a
reason for theSahityaAkademi to act,"Devy said.
Kannada author K Veerabhadrappa had received the Sahitya
Akademi award for his novel 'Aramane.' He condemned the
academy's silence on the killing of a noted scholar, Malleshappa
MKalburgi.
PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 07
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Eminent Rajasthani and Hindi writer
Nand Bhardwaj also registered his protest
by returning his Sahitya Akademi award.
Bhardwaj said that he was miffed with the
academy for not speaking up against
Kalburgi's killing.
Delhi-based Aman Sethi said he too
was returning the Sahitya Award he got in
1993, as the "spirit of inquiry is clearly under threat".
Literary figures like Shashi Deshpande, K Satchidanandan,
P K Parakkadavu had resigned from their posts in the Akademi,
citing similar reasons.
What is the Sahitya Akademi, and the Sahitya Akademi
Award?
TheSahitya Akademi is India's premier institution of letters,
with a stated commitment to promoting Indian literature
throughout the world. The Akademi was established by
Jawaharlal Nehru, who was also its first chairperson, and
inaugurated on March 12, 1954. Every year, the Akademi
announces awards for authors of works of outstanding literary
merit in Indian languages. Awards are currently given for 24
languages; themost recent additions beingBodo and Santhali in
2005. Awards in English began in 1960 the first recipient was
R K Narayan for his novel The Guide. Over the years, the
Akademi has introduced other awards such as the Bhasha
Samman,YuvaSahityakar andBal SahityaPuraskar.
The first awards were given in 1955. The award amount was
initially Rs 5,000, and has been gradually raised it has beenRs
1 lakh since 2009. The Akademi is under the central
government's Ministry of Culture, but works as an autonomous
institution. To be eligible, the book must be an outstanding
contribution to the language and literature to which it belongs.
Itmay be a creative or a critical work, butmust not be awork of
translation, an anthology, abridgement, compilation or
annotation, or university research paper. A committee of three
writers, selected by the Akademi president out of a panel of
seven names recommended by the Language Advisory Board,
chooses the awardee in each language.
WHAT DOES A SAHITYA AKADEMI
HONOUR MEAN FOR A WINNER?
WHAT DOES RETURNING THE AWARD MEAN? WHAT
EXACTLY ARE THEY RETURNING? HOW?
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WRITERS'
PROTEST?
Despite occasional controversies in
the Akademi's functioning, the main
award remains, after the Jnanpith, the
most prestigious and coveted literary
honour in India. The Akademi gets the
winning book translated into several
Indian languages, which ensures a wide readership, and
organises programmes for the winners in several parts of the
country. As it enhances the prestige of thewinner, the award also
cements the credibility of the Akademi the honour is in effect
recognition for an outstanding original work that already had its
readers.
Some have returned the award amount along with a formal
letter to theAkademi. A fewothers have sent letters, but have not
enclosed cheques. Some have just announced their decision,
but are yet to formally inform the Akademi. No one has returned
the award citation or trophy so far. As events unfold rapidly
across the country, the writers seem to be responding
instinctively to an atmosphere of protest a coordinated or
concretemodeof action is yet to take shape.
The Akademi is confounded. To accept the cheques would
mean the money would have to go back to its coffers. This
involves a procedure, and requires the approval of the Executive
Board. The cheques and the letters are still awaiting their fate at
theAkademi.
While the Culture Ministry has remained unruffled,
returning the Akademi award is a major statement, considering
that hardly anyone has done so in the last six decades. Writers
from across the country have accused the Akademi of having
failed to perform its duty as the custodian of literary freedom. It
08 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
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is a severe indictment, and a powerful blow to the Akademi's
moral standing. The writers want the Akademi to speak up
against the establishment, something that the Akademi's
chairperson has been unable to do so far. This raises questions
about the Akademi's autonomy, and suggests, fairly or unfairly,
that it is under pressure from thegovernment.
A protest by writers or artists is not the same as a dharna by a
political party. A community that works closely with metaphors
can be expected to protest through symbols. Critics have
derided these writers as inconsequential women and men of
whom very few have even heard, let alone reading their work. By
its very nature, however, literature would have significantly
fewer readers than popular, mass-produced books and the
fact that not many would have read or heard about Gora or Ek
Chithra Sukh or Samskara does not diminish the greatness of
either these works or of their authors, Rabindranath Tagore,
Nirmal Verma, orURAnanthamurthy.
Some have questioned the politics and motivation of the
writers, saying they are returning awards given to them by the
Congress.However,Hindi poetsMangaleshDabral andRajesh
Joshi, and Punjabi writer Waryam Singh Sandhu received their
awards when Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government was in power,
and Punjabi writer Jaswinder was honoured last year, the first
year of ithepresent governmrnt inDelhi.
The Akademi is under great pressure, and has called an
emergency meeting of its Executive Board on October 23, to
discuss the situation.The announcement of this year's awards is
just about amonth away. If the rebellion continues, thatmight be
jeopardised. Some writers have also pointed out that if the
controversy ends up destroying the authority of the Akademi, it
might prompt the government to take it over, thus destroying
everything that theprotesters havebeen fighting for.
What purpose does the return of awards serve? This is not
the first time that awards have been received and returned by
persons of eminence.Even JeanPaul Sartre refused to accept the
Nobel Prize. However, his reason was far different from that of
the above mentioned figures. To Sartre, there was a striking
WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
difference between Jean Paul Sartre, the writer, and Jean Paul
Sartre, the Nobel Prize winning writer. He refused to be part of
the process of institutional process andwished, like James Joyce,
to continue to remain an artist independent of the co-opting
forces of institutions, at the service of ideological ends. In the
current list of returnees, the motivation is not the reluctance to
be out of institutional actions but compel the institutions to
stand for the values which constitution has bestowed on them
and from which they draw the inspiration to continue to work
anddisseminate ideas irrespective of allegiance to faith or creed.
Thepurpose of returning the award is dual.
One is to bring to bear an institutional force and the secular
logic on the head of the country to speak on behalf of the
minority, who feel insecure and threatened under the current
dispensation.
Second, the purpose of returning the awards is to raise
awareness of the masses against a rising tide of communal
politics. A kind of competitive politics, whichwill shred the India
that Gandhi had imagined, who incidentally felt that eating beef
cannot be banned in India. Such awareness from personages
who represent a reflective and contemplative India embodying
the wishes of millions, can make the ruling regime to sit up and
think about the consequences of their determined silence.
Whether their purpose is served or not, at least they listened to
their conscience, cutting through the din of media and barrage
of arguments and counter arguments, and expressed their
opinion in a manner which befits a person of letters; a
conscience which seems to have gone to seed among the
awardees.
PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 09
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10 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
Anew method to chemically
analyse dinosaur egg shells has
allowed scientists to gauge the
extinct lizards' body temperature,
researchers said recently.
The findings support recent work by
other teams that dinosaurs were neither
warm nor cold-blooded, but
somewhere in between, researchers
wrote in the journalNatureCommunications.
But it also indicated that body temperature differed between
dinosaur species.
"The temperatures we measured suggest that at least some
dinosaurs were not fully endotherms (warm-blooded) like
modern birds," said the study's lead author Robert Eagle of the
University ofCaliforniaLosAngeles (UCLA).
"They may have been intermediate somewhere between
modern alligators and crocodiles andmodernbirds."
This meant they could produce heat internally and raise
their body temperature, but notmaintain it at a consistently high
level.
Warm-blooded animals, or endotherms, typically maintain a
constant body temperature while cold-blooded ones, called
ectotherms, rely on external heat sources to warm up like
lizards lazing in theSun.
Scientists have been debating for 150 years whether
dinosaurs were warm-blooded hunters, like mammals, or cold-
blooded and sluggish likemany reptiles.
"If dinosaurs were at least endothermic (warm-blooded) to a
degree, they hadmore capacity to run around searching for food
than an alligatorwould,"Eagle said.
Warm-blooded animals typically
need to eat a great deal to stay warm,
forcing them into frequent hunts or to
eat largequantities of plants.
The team said it used a pioneering
procedure to measure the internal
temperature of dinosaur mothers which
lived some71-80million years ago.
They examined the chemical makeup of the shells of 19
fossilized eggs from two types of dinosaur, unearthed in
Argentina andMongolia'sGobi desert.
One was a large, long-necked titanosaur sauropod, a
member of the largest animal group to ever to walk the Earth,
and the other a smaller oviraptorid closely related to
Tyrannosaurus rex andmodernbirds.
The team analysed the behaviour of two rare isotopes in
calcium carbonate, a key ingredient in egg shells. The isotopes
carbon-13 and oxygen-18 tend to cluster together more
closely at colder temperatures.
"This technique tells you about the internal body
temperature of the female dinosaur when she was ovulating,"
saidEagle's colleague, AradhnaTripati.
The titanosaur mother's temperature had been about 38-
degrees celsius (100-degrees Fahrenheit), the team found. A
healthy human temperature is 37-degrees celsius.
The smaller dinosaur was substantially cooler, probably
below 32-degrees celsius but was probably able raise its
temperature above that of its environment, said the team.
Fossilised soil from around the nest area in Mongolia had been
about 26-degrees celsius.
"The oviraptorid dinosaur body temperatures were higher
than the environmental temperatures suggesting they were
not truly cold-bloodedbut intermediate," saidTripati.
Dinosaurs could havebeen warm-blooded
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PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 11
RAHUL GANDHI ON PADAYATRA, MEETSAND COMFORTS DISTRESSED FARMERS
Undertaking a padayatra and interacting with farmers,
Congress Vice-President RahulGandhi counselled the peasants
not to commit suicide, as itwasno solution to their problems.
On his tour of Karnataka to comfort the distressed families
of farmers who had committed suicide, Rahul started about a
seven-km long padayatra from Maidur village in Haveri district
of north Karnataka. At the first stop of his padayatra, the
Congress MP had interactions with students at Maidur higher
primary school. Asked how he would solve the farmers
problems if he became the Prime Minister, Rahul said the
country should be run by the citizens and they should be
empowered to solve their problems.
During his interaction with farmers, he urged them not to
commit suicide because it is not the solution. He met the
farmers at Kandebagur helipad in Rannebennur, where they
raised concern over Kalasa-Banduri row between Goa,
Karnataka andMaharashtra. The farmers urgedRahul to exhort
pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request
President Pranab Mukherjee to intervene to resolve the matter.
About 50 farmers from Nargund and Navalgund and Hubli-
Dharwadwerepresent.
The Kalasa-Banduri Nala (diversion) project, to utilise 7.56
tmcft of water from the inter-state Mahadayi river, is being
undertaken by Karnataka to improve drinking water supply to
the twin cities ofHubballi-Dharwad and the districts of Belagavi
and Gadag, over which Goa has reservations. Protests are on by
several organisations and farmers across districts of North
Karnataka demanding implementation of Kalasa-Banduri
project.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, senior Congress
leader Digvijaya Singh, also in charge of party affairs in
K a rn a t a k a , a nd KPCC
President G Parameshwara
accompanied Rahul during his
outreach to farmers. Rahul
had visited Mandya district.
The visit of Rahul to Mandya
and Haveri districts came
against the backdrop of a sudden rise in farmerssuicides in the
last sixmonths inKarnataka,with 541peasants taking away their
lives. Mandya and Haveri districts were the most affected by
distress driven suicides.
Delegates of theMizo StudentsUnion (MSU), in its general
conference, decided to ask the Mizoram government to take
steps to ensure that the entire state be made scheduled (tribal)
area again. The MSU general conference, held in Mizoram-
Manipur border Darlawn village, adopted the resolution, where
several delegates stressed the need to make the entire Mizoram
a scheduled area again for safeguard and protection of the
natives of the state. As of now, scheduled areas in the state
comprised only of the Mara, Lai and Chakma autonomous
district council areas in Mizorams Saiha and Lawngtlai
districts. The MSU also adopted a resolution seeking
amendment to the Indian Constitution on the lists of Mizo
tribes. Leaders of the MSU felt that the present list of the Mizo
tribes had become a hurdle for the unity and integrity of the
Mizo ethnic groups.
Keen to put in place a system to prevent international tax
evasion and avoidance, FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley hasmade a
MSU TO ASK MIZORAM GOVT TO MAKETHE STATE SCHEDULED TRIBAL
JAITLEY BATS FOR AUTOMATIC INFOEXCHANGE TO TACKLE BLACK MONEY
India
Current Events
-
12 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
strong pitch for countries to implement Common Reporting
Standards on automatic exchange of information.
Jaitley in his intervention during the 49th Annual
Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting welcomed the
efforts of OECD in areas of BEPS project and automatic
exchange of information, which have important implications for
Commonwealthnations.
"He emphasised the need to ensure that the Common
Reporting Standards on Automatic Exchange of Information are
implemented globally on a fully reciprocal basis, as this would be
a key to prevent international tax evasion and avoidance," an
official statement said.
The OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
Project provides governmentswith solutions for closing the gaps
in existing international rules that allow corporate profits to
'disappear' or be artificially shifted to low/no tax environments,
where little or no economic activity takes place.
Revenue losses from BEPS are conservatively estimated at
USD100-240 billion annually, or anywhere from4-10 per cent of
global corporate income tax (CIT) revenues.
Jaitley noted that India has been the beneficiary of these
systems by getting vital information on tax evasion and
emphasised the need for genuine and equitable multilateralism
indeciding global norms and standards on taxation.
The meeting of Commonwealth finance ministers also
focused on issues relating to infrastructure financing and small
states trade financing facility.
Jaitley was on an official tour fromOctober 7 to 11 to Peru to
attend the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund
and theWorldBank aswell as other associatedmeetings.
Accustomed to playing by their own rules in regard to
transfers and postings, rail officials are being shaken out from
their comfort zoneby theNDAgovernment.
In a radical policy reform initiative aimed at addressing
incongruities in administering the public sector monolith,
GOVERNMENT FRAMES FIRST TRANSFERPOLICY FOR INDIAN RAILWAYS
railways minister Suresh Prabhu unveiled the first-ever
comprehensive transfer policy for railway officers that defines
guidelines and tenures of posting and transfer of Grade A and B
categories of officers.
Aimed at tackling the problem of favoured officers
overstaying in particular locations and whimsical transfers,
the government has proposed a minimum of two and a
maximum of five-year tenure. The existing system has
promoted a culture of patronage and builds vested interests at
the expense of professional organisational needs, said an aide
ofPrabhu.
The business of transfer and postings has also generated
controversies, including the 2014 cash-for-post scandal that led
to the resignation of then railwaysminister PawanKumarBansal
and thenRailwayBoardmemberMaheshKumar.
The new policy brings in a clause of a cooling-off period of a
minimum of three years for postings at the Railway Board in
New Delhi and reduces the maximum tenure for sensitive
posts from five to four years. The policy also provides that the
total stay at a stretch at a particular stationwont bemore than 10
years and the total cumulative stay (in broken spells) will not be
more than15 years.
President Pranab Mukherjee said
that the country should keep in mind
core values of diversity and tolerance,
days after the killing of a 55-year-old
Muslimman over rumours that he and
his familymembers ate beef.
I firmly believe that we cannot allow the core values of our
civilization to be wasted and the core values are what over the
years the civilization celebrated diversity, promoted and
advocated tolerance, endurance andplurality.
These core civilization values keep us together over the
centuries. Many ancient civilizations have fallen. But that is
right that aggression after aggression, long foreign rule, the
Indian civilization has survived because of its core civilizational
values and wemust keep that inmind. And if we keep those core
values inmind, nothing can prevent our democracy tomove, he
said.
DIVERSITY, TOLERANCE OUR COREVALUES: PREZ AMID DADRI LYNCHING UPROAR
-
The Presidents remarks come in the wake of lynching of a
50-year-old man in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh by an enraged mob
over rumours that he stored and consumed beef, which has
sparked anoutrage across the country.
ThePresidentwas handed over a coffee-table book onhimat
a function at theRashtrapati Bhawan.
The book written by Prabhu Chawla, editorial director of
New Indian Express, was released by Vice President Hamid
Ansari.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, leader of
opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Jammu
andKashmir CMFarooq Abdullah andMPswere also present at
the function.
In his brief 15-minute address, Mukherjee said being a
political leader all along, he felt shy speaking at such an occasion
where a book on him was written. He said the country has made
tremendous progress in many sectors and there is no limit to
doingmore.
There is no limit. We will have to do much more, he said.
He added that there is no end to work in the Presidents office,
which is considered strictly Constitutional and recalled how his
friends jokingly commented that he would not have anything
much todo in thepost.
I in my own way, I am making my contribution to make the
country more important... After three years of coming here, I
recognise that much more is to be done. There is no end to
working in the Presidents office, which is considered strictly
constitutional, he said.
Lauding the strength of democracy in the country, the
President said that its electorate decisively decided to put an end
to the era of coalition andgave a single party government.
Despite their diversity and despite having a long period of
absence of single party majority, the Indian electorate decisively
decided tomake an end of that.Many of us thought that perhaps
an era of coalition has reached and that no single party would
ever come (to power). In true sense, the marvel of Indian
democracy has its own strength and wemust celebrate that, he
said.
He said he has closely seen many important events in the
country happen before him right from the first election, when
people wondered how an election covering 350 million people
can take place smoothly, to the last one.He also recalled his days,
when he entered Parliament as a member of the Rajya Sabha
during a turbulent period when Congress faced amajor crisis
over banknationalisation andeventually split.
The President also recalled his mother telling him to go to
school walking 10 kms everyday and that impacted his mind to
strive hardwhen there is no option.
He lauded the work of Prabhu Chawla, who along with his
team put the book together, describing it as a gift from his
friends and near and dear ones. Ansari said the book is a small
tribute to an eminent personality, who has a range of experience
anddepth of understanding issues.
Praising the book, Rajnath Singh said to putMukherjees life
in a book is difficult to do so for such a personality who has not
been in politics only to be in power and one who had strived
successfully to bring about consensus in Parliament on many
issues. He played the most important role in bringing about
consensus, theHomeMinister said.
Despite the government's recent steps to alleviate the
problems in the road construction sector, 53 per cent of the
highway projects under construction under the build, operate
and transfer (BOT) framework are at risk of never being
completed, aCrisil report released recently finds.
About 5,100 km of BOT [build, operate, and transfer]
highway projects, or around 53% of those under construction in
India, are at high risk of not being completed because of delays
in land acquisition and clearances, and weak wherewithal of
sponsors, the report titled No smooth ride said.
The report found that 37 per cent of BOT projects, of 3,520
km, are in the high implementation risk category. High
implementation risk means that less than 70 per cent of the
project has been completed and the delay in completion is
expected tobebetween12-18months.
TOTAL OF 7,500 KM OF HIGHWAYPROJECTS UNDER RISK: CRISIL
PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 13
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Making matters worse is the fact that about 2,400 km, or 40
per cent of the total length of operational BOThighways, are not
in a position to service their debt on their own due to lower-
than-estimated traffic and resultant toll collections. Thus, the
report finds, a total of 7,500 km of projects (both under
construction and already operational) are at risk.
In the next two years, these projects require a toll revenue
growth of around 40 per cent in order to service their debt
obligations. Thats a tough ask considering that toll rates are
linked toWPI inflation, which is in negative territory. And traffic
has just started to inch up and is yet to reach double digits in
most cases, saidSushmitaMajumdar,Director,Crisil Ratings.
Apart from delays in land acquisition and clearances, one
major problem the report citedwas the financial weakness of the
sponsors of theseprojects.
The report finds that to ensure that the under-construction
projects progress on schedule, their sponsors will have to raise
around Rs. 28,500 crore. The stronger sponsors should be able
to raise Rs. 6,700 crore through accruals and borrowings, and
they should be able to raise an additional Rs. 9,300 crore in the
next few years through the recently introduced reformmeasure
of allowing 100 per cent exit from projects two years after
completion.
However, this leaves a gap of Rs. 12,500 crore over the next
three years that theweaker sponsors donot have thewherewithal
to raise at themoment, the report said.
Another source of problems, the report says, has to do with
the timing of the project bids. The majority of the projects
under stress today were bid between fiscals 2010 and 2012 and
involved acquisition of large swathes of land. Most were
aggressively bid for, leading to high premium payments.
Funding avenues then tapered leaving sponsors unable to
financeprojects at hand, the report said.
Reform measures initiated by the government have helped,
Crisil says.Thenewpolicy that allows developers to exit projects
following their completion, in particular will help highway
projects and their developers. Not only can the funds raised
Raising funds
Govt. policies
through this route help in turning around stressed projects and
meet existing commitments, a change in promoters could also
openupnewavenues of finance, the report says.
Swatting away rumors on the
discrepancies in the age of his sons
as per the affidavits filed by them,
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)
supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav said
that there was no error whatsoever
and what was mentioned in the
voter list was final. Tejaswis age in voter id is real and there is
no dispute related to that. What is written in the voter list is
final, Lalu affirmed. Lalus younger son Tejaswi, however, said
there is an error in the affidavit and added that they have filed a
complaint in this regard. The affidavit filed by the RJD chief s
elder son Tej Pratap Yadav while submitting his nomination
from theMahua Assembly seat in Vaishali district shows his age
as 25 years.The affidavit filed byTejaswi, who is contesting from
theRaghopur assembly seat, showshis age as 26 years.
India is experimenting, said the submission, with a careful
mix ofmarketmechanisms together with fiscal instruments and
regulatory interventions to mobilise finances for climate
change.
India would need to spend at least $2.5 trillion between 2015
and 2030 on mitigation activities to meet targets as part of its
Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)
submission to the United Nations Framework Convention on
ClimateChange (UNFCCC).
To achieve the INDC of reducing the emissions intensity of
its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from the 2005 level, India
has said it will bank on fiscal measures including fuel subsidy
cuts and increased taxes on fossil fuels including diesel and
petrol.
The Modi governments policy of duty increases that are an
implicit carbon tax of $140 for petrol and $64 for diesel in
BIHAR POLLS: LALU PRASAD YADAVDOWNPLAYS HIS SONS AGE DISCREPANCIES
INDIA BANKS ON SUBSIDY CUTS,HIGHER TAXES ON FUELS
14 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
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absolute terms will help India achieve a net reduction of 11
million tonnes ofCOemissions in less than a year.
Over the past one year, India has almost cut its petroleum
subsidy by about 26 per cent, according to the 38-page
document. This, it said, is substantially above what is now
considered a reasonable initial tax on CO emissions of $25- $35
per tonne. The subsidies cuts and increased taxes on fossil
fuels have turned a carbon subsidy regime into one of carbon
taxation.
India is experimenting, said the submission, with a careful
mix ofmarketmechanisms together with fiscal instruments and
regulatory interventions to mobilise finances for climate
change.
One of the dedicated funds at the national level for meeting
the costs of mitigation is the cess on coal. In 2010, the cess was
imposed at the rate ofRs.50 ($0.8) per tonne of coal andhas been
quadrupled to Rs.200 ($ 3.2) per tonne of coal. The coal cess
translates into a carbon tax equivalent, using the emission factor
for coal, of about $2 per tonne. This forms the corpus for the
National Clean Environment Fund -- used for financing clean
energy, technologies, andprojects related to it.
The total cess collection, of Rs.17,084 crore ($2.7 billion) till
2014-15, is being used for 46 clean energy projects worth
Rs.16,511 crore ($2.6 billion).
Tax-free infrastructure bonds of Rs.5,000 crore ($794
million) are also being introduced for funding of renewable
energy projects during the year 2015-16, India said.
Also included in the submission is the 14th Finance
Commission recommendation on incentives for forestry sector
that has based the devolution of funds to states from the federal
pool of taxes on a formula that attaches 7.5 per cent weight to the
area under forest. According to the estimations based on 14th
Finance Commission data, the initiative provides afforestation a
boost by conditioning about $6.9 billion of transfers to the states
based on their forest cover, which is projected to increase up to
$12 billion by 2019-20. Implicitly, India is going to transfer to
Cessoncoal
Forestry sector
states roughly about $174 per hectare of forest per year which
compares very favourably with other afforested countries, the
INDCdocument said.
Locals of Ramnathi inNorthGoa district, where the Sanatan
Sanstha is headquartered, have demanded a ban on the right-
wing outfit and urged the state government to ensure that its
ashram is shifted out of their village failing which they would
intensify their agitation against them and their sadhaks
(seekers).
The villagers have given the state
government a weeks time to ban the
Sanstha or shift the ashram at Ramnathi
saying that theywould organise a rally and
a public meeting at Ponda (taluka) bus
stand if their demands are not met. This
is not the first time that the villagers have protested against the
Sanstha based in Ramnathi in Ponda, known for a cluster of
popular temples. They had earlier done so after the 2009 bomb
blasts when mastermind Gonda Patil and accomplice Yogesh
Naik, both full-time members of the Sanstha, died while
ferrying IEDs on their scooter to a Diwali gathering in Margao,
located 35kmfromPanaji.
Village sarpanch Shamila Lotlikar claimed that she has been
approached by several locals with a demand that the ashram be
shifted from Ramnathi following which she has appealed to the
Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar to do so immediately.
Ramnathi Yuva Sangh President SaurabhLotlikar also sought to
free the village from the menace of Sanstha after its members
came under the scanner for alleged involvement in the murder
of veteran communist leader and rationalist Govind Pansare in
Maharashtra.
SameerGaikwad, a full-time seeker of the Sanstha, has been
arrested in the Pansare murder case. The Special Investigating
Team(SIT), probing themurder of Pansare, suspects role of two
more Sanstha members Rudra Patil and Sarang Akolkar alias
Kulkarni, who are absconding in connection with the 2009 blast,
in the case. Rudra along with Sarang have been declared
absconders by National Investigation Agency (NIA) since the
Goa blasts. Pansare was shot along with his wife near his
GOA: RAMNATHI VILLAGERS SEEK BANON SANATAN SANSTHA
PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 15
-
residence in Kolhapur in Maharashtra on February 16. He
succumbed to injuries four days later inMumbai.
Natural gas production growth at 3.7% is in the positive
territory for the first time innearly five years.
The index of eight core industries registered a growth of 2.6
per cent in August 2015 compared to its levels in August 2014.
This is significantly higher than the 1.1 per cent registered in
July.
Five out of eight of the sectors registered a growth of more
than five per cent inAugust.The three that failed tohit thismark
were coal, natural gas, and steel.
The strongest growth came from the fertiliser sector, which
grew a whopping 12.6 per cent in August compared to 8.6 per
cent in July.Thismarks thehighest level of growth the sector has
achieved sinceMay 2014when it grewat 17.5 per cent.
The crude oil sector broke its short phase of contractionwith
growth coming in at 5.6 per cent in August following twomonths
of growth numbers being negative.The refinery products sector
also saw strong growth in August, at 5.8 per cent compared to 2.9
per cent in July.
Growth in electricity production accelerated for the second
month in a row, at 5.6 per cent in August compared to 3.5 per
cent in July and 0.2 per cent in June.Cement production also saw
a similar growth trend, coming in at 5.4 per cent in August up
from1.3 per cent in July.
Coal production grewmarginally in August, by 0.36 per cent
compared to 0.3 per cent in July, whichwas the lowest it hadbeen
sinceOctober 2013.Natural gas productionwhichgrewby 3.7
per cent in August was in the positive for the first time in
nearly five years. The last time the sector saw any growth was in
November 2010.
The steel sectorwas the only one out of the eight core sectors
that saw a contraction, which accelerated to -5.9 per cent in
August compared to -2.5 per cent in July. This is probably due to
CORE SECTOR REGISTERS 2.6% GROWTH
the increased import of cheap steel from China due to the
devaluation of yuan.
The data from the core sectors,many of which are integral to
the manufacturing process, is at odds with the private sector
PMI data for August, which fell to 52.3 from 52.7 in July. This
index is a measure of the economic health of the manufacturing
sector.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of technology giant Google, said that
India has long been an exporter of talent to technology
companies, but is now undergoing its own revolution that will
have great benefits for the 1.2 billionpeople in the country.
Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Silicon
Valley, the India-bornCEO said there is tremendous excitement
for his visit among all Googlers and the entire Indian
community.
The bond between India and the Silicon Valley is strong.
India has longbeen anexporter of talent to tech companies.
The products built by Indian graduates from IIT and other
institutions have helped revolutionise the world. But it is India
thats now undergoing its own revolution, he said in a YouTube
video.
He saw great benefits for everyone in the country as many
people will come online for the first time, especially those in
rural areas and Indic language speakers.
It will also help girls learn new skills and have successful
careers, power education of the next generation and help
businesses of all sizes to findnewcustomers, Pichai said.
Were looking forward to your remarks at the SAPCentre in
San Jose, and also when you come toGoogle... We hope your visit
will energise people in the Valley, excite Indians all across the
country, and renewand strengthenourpartnership, he said.
PrimeMinisterModis Digital India vision is central to this
revolution. It focuses on connecting the 1.2 billion people in
PM MODIS DIGITAL INDIA VISIONCENTRAL TO REVOLUTION: PICHAI
16 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
-
India. It has received tremendous support in India and in Silicon
Valley,Pichai said.
Highlighting the role played by Google, Pichai said that the
company as well as many others around the world is passionate
about playing their part.
Some of our initiatives include making our products work
on lowbandwidth and even offline,making theWeb accessible in
Indic language, providing low-cost Chromebooks in Indian
schools, investing in core infrastructure and affordable
smartphonewithAndroidOne, he said.
During his US visit, Modi was also scheduled to meet
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and address a town hall
question and answer session on September 27 at the companys
headquarters in California. He is expected to meet Apple CEO
Tim Cook and electric carmaker Teslas CEO Elon Musk,
amongothers.
Modi is addressing the India-US Startup Konnect and share
his vision on Start up India, Stand up India to be hosted by
Indian IT industry body Nasscom, The Silicon Valley, and IIM
AhmedabadsCIIE India
Railways has appointed
consortiums led by Chinese,
French and Spanish firms to
conduct studies into building
three high-speed rail lines
linking major cities, as part of
PrimeMinister NarendraModis
diamondquadrilateral project.
A consortium led by Chinas Third Railway Survey and
Design Institute Group Corp. and Lahmyer International
(India) Pvt., has been chosen to conduct a feasibility study for a
1,200 kilometre line between Delhi and Mumbai. Frances
SYSTRA engineering consultancy will lead a consortium, which
includes RITES and E&Y LLP, for conducting a study in a
proposed high speed railway corridor between Mumbai and
Chennai. The Railways has awarded the consultancy for
conducting feasibility study on Delhi-Kolkata high speed
corridor to a consortium of Spanish transport consultancy,
TYPSAand IntercontinentalConsultants andTechnocratsPvt.
RAILWAYS PICKS FIRMS FOR HIGH SPEED RAIL STUDY
CBDT TO ISSUE PRE-FILLED ITR FORMS TO EASE E-FILING
As part of efforts to popularise the electronic mode of filing
Income Tax Returns (ITRs), the CBDT is planning to provide
pre-filled return forms to filers, which will have an automatic
upload of data on incomeandother vitals of a taxpayer.
The apex policy-making body of the I-T department is
actively working to ensure that this customer-friendly measure
canbe launched for taxpayers from thenext financial year.
Themove comes in the backdrop of the new e-filing system,
put in place in August, which allows online verification of an ITR
by using either the Aadhaar number, Internet banking, ATM
amongothers.
Small taxpayers with income less thanRs. 5 lakh andwithout
claims of refund can generate an electronic verification code
from the e-filing website of the tax department, which is later
sent to their registered email to e-verify the return.
We are looking at a possibility of making more entries for a
pre-filled form so that it becomes easier for the taxpayer to file
an e-return. We want to ensure that when technology moves, we
can always bring in better facilities tomake the life (of taxpayers)
even easier,CBDTChairpersonAnitaKapur said.
She said these technology upgrades are proposed to be
initially started for small taxpayers, who file the one-page ITR
(ITR 1), and the thinking in the department is that when the
data of income as per previous records is automatically
uploaded, then the taxpayer can file their ITRs quickly and
wherever there are any amendments or changes, those can be
correctedby the taxpayer himself.
We want to give the taxpayers the right to change or correct
their figures (in the new system) and help them file their ITR as
quickly and easily as possible, she said.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is particularly
bolstered on this front by the latest figures, which recently
reported that the tax department received 2.06 crore returns on
its e-filing portal, which is an increase of 26.12 per cent over the
last year,when1.63 crore returnswere filed online.
PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 17
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Pollution in nearly 80 per cent of Chinese cities surveyed
by Greenpeace "greatly exceeded" national standards
over the first nine months of this year, the advocacy
group said onThursday.
The average level of PM2.5 particulates -- small enough to
deeply penetrate the lungs -- in the 367 cities tested was also
more than four times themaximum recommended by theWorld
HealthOrganization (WHO),Greenpeace said.
Nearly 80 per cent of the cities exceeded the national
standard on PM2.5, which is significantly less strict than the
WHO benchmark, despite an overall improvement from the
sameperiod last year.
Widespread use of coal for power generation and emissions
from heavy industry regularly swathe Chinese cities in smog,
linked tohundreds of thousands of prematuredeaths each year.
It is amajor source of discontent with the rulingCommunist
party, who have announced measures such as moving power
plants, but fewexpect rapid improvements.
Greenpeace said that average pollution levels were about 10
per cent lower than the sameperiod last year.
"Although we're seeing gradual improvement, air pollution
levels are still unhealthy and unsafe," said Greenpeace East Asia
Climate andEnergy campaignerDongLiansai.
Themost polluted cities wereKashgar andHotan inChina's
northwestern Xinjiang region, and the northern industrial hub
ofBaoding.
Average PM2.5 readings across the surveyed cities was 47.2
micrograms per cubic metre. The WHO maximum for annual
average exposure is 10whileChina's annual standard is 35.
Beijing's average over the nine months was 72.1 while
Shanghai'swas 50.4.
China's capital ranked as one of the most polluted cities,
despite factory closures to ensure blue skies for a massive
military parade lastmonth.
Locals dubbed the reprieve "parade blue" but Greenpeace
said such short-term interventions had a "negligible effect on
overall long termair quality".
"Rather than temporary measures, we need a long term
strategy and systemic change toChina's energy structure,"Dong
added.
Greenpeace called for a cap on coal use to be included in
China's new five-year economic plan, currently being drafted by
the rulingCommunist party.
"A cap on coal consumption is critical for reducing air
pollution and bringing back healthy, breathable air to our cities,"
Dong said.
Recently, a player at theChinaOpen tennis tournament held
inBeijing in thick haze said pollution hadmadehim vomit, while
fans wore face masks. Heavy air pollution in 80% of Chinese
cities:Greenpeace
Heavy air pollution in 80% ofChinese cities: Greenpeace
18 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
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PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 19
AFGHAN PRESIDENT APPOINTS INVESTIGATORSFOR KUNDUZ AIRSTRIKE
Afghanistans President Ashraf Ghani has appointed a
commission to investigate a US airstrike in northern Kunduz
city that destroyed a hospital and killed at least 22 people, his
spokesman said.
The five-man teamwould leave soon for Kunduz to look into
the cause of theOctober 3 airstrike on a traumacenter runby the
international charity Doctors Without Borders, Ghanis deputy
spokesmanZafarHashemi said.
The team would be led by the former head of the national
intelligence agency Amrullah Saleh, he said, andwould report to
thepresident.
The airstrike was requested by Afghan ground forces,
according to the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, Gen.
JohnFCampbell, butmistakenly hit thehospital.
The bombing continued for about an hour and destroyed the
hospitals main building. President Barack Obama apologized
and the US military is investigating. The hospital has been
abandoned.
Doctors Without Borders said that 12 staff members and 10
patients, all of them Afghans, were killed. Many more are still
missing though all internationals havebeen accounted for.
Ghanimetwith representatives ofDoctorsWithout Borders,
his office said.
He told the groups general director Christopher Stokes and
Afghanistan representative Guilhem Molinie that he had
ordered Afghan security forces to ensure the protection of
humanitarian organisations, a statement said.
It made no mention of a call by Doctors Without Borders for
an independent probe of the incident, specifically by the Swiss-
based International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission -
which ismade up of diplomats,
legal experts, doctors and
some former military officials
fromnine European countries,
including Britain and Russia.
It was created after the Gulf
War in 1991, and has never
deployed a fact-f inding
mission.
Stokes said earlier that Doctors Without Borders - a Nobel
Peace Prize-winning organization that provides medical aid in
conflict zones - is awaiting responses to letters sent to 76
countries that signed the additional protocol to the Geneva
Conventions, asking tomobilize the 15-member commission.
For the IHFFC to bemobilized, a single country would have
to call for the fact-findingmission, and theU.S. andAfghanistan
-which arenot signatories -must also give their consent.
Meanwhile, the situation in Kunduz remains tenuous, as
government troops continue to battle to clear remnants of the
Taliban frompocketswithin the city and its outskirts.
Sarwar Hussaini, spokesman for the provincial police chief,
said three areas of the city had been retaken overnight, though a
gas station in Seh Darak had been hit by a rocket and destroyed.
Hussaini saidhedidnot knowwhich sidewas responsible.
Kunduz resident Abdullah, who gave only one name, said
that people were still leaving the city for safety. He said he had
seen grocers emptying their shops of food to take home, fearing
ongoing scarcities.
The World Food Program said it was feeding thousands of
people in camps in other cities in the north, and that additional
wheat is being milled in anticipation of increased needs in the
comingdays.
Food and water are still not getting through in adequate
quantities, and the city remained without electricity, residents
said.
World
Current Events
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20 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
The whole city is empty of people, Abdullah said.
Residents are still not feeling safe.
The Syriza party government led
by Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras survived a no-confidence
vote, bolstering the left-wing leader as
he gets down to implementing
reformsdemandedby creditors.
The governing coalition of the
premiers left-wingSyriza party and thenationalist Independent
Greeks (ANEL) used their 155-strong majority to pass the
motion through the 300-seat parliament.
The vote wraps up three days of debate, which were largely
for forms sake after Tsipras in July signed Greece up to a
roadmap of budgetary overhauls agreedwith the IMFandEU, in
return for further bailout funds.
His agreement to further belt-tightening sparked a rebellion
by the left wing of his party, prompting the government to call
fresh elections,whichSyriza comfortablywon lastmonth.
Before the vote, Tspiras said his primary goal was to
implement reforms demanded by Greeces creditors, allowing
them to to conclude the recapitalisation of the banks by the end
of the year andbegin talks ondebt restructuring.
The 41-year-old premier also welcomed comments from
French President Francois Hollande, who told the European
Parliament that the deal struck between Athens and Brussels
shouldnowbecomeadiscussionondebt servicing.
Tsipras argues that the quickest way for Greece to regain its
economic sovereignty is to keep its commitments to its
creditors, so Athens can begin negotiations with the EU and
IMFon restructuring its unbearable debt burden.
In July, Athens signed up to more tax hikes and public
spending cuts in return for a three-year, 86-billion-euro ($96-
billion)EUbailout -- its third since 2010.
In a sign that the sense of crisis has passed after Greece
came close to the brink of economic collapse this summer, the
BankofGreecehailed signs of an improvement in the liquidity of
Greekbanks and a stabilisation of deposit flows.
GREECES NEW SYRIZA-LED GOVTSURVIVES NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE
Greece agreed to a series of measures to be implemented by
mid-October to unlock the first tranche of two billion euros
($2.2 billion) from its latest international rescuepackage.
This will be followed swiftly by another billion euros,
provided further conditions are met, as part of an initial 26-
billion-europackage approvedby creditors inAugust.
Ten billion euros were set aside for the recapitalisation of
Greeces banks and another 13 billion euros was immediately
put towards repaying debts to the IMF and European Central
Bank.
The bailout is conditioned on a series of controversial
reforms, including reforming state pensions, tax increases on
farmers andprivatisations of cherished state companies.
The full programme must have parliaments backing by
aroundOctober 15, government spokeswomanOlgaGerovasili
saidWednesday.
Addressing parliament, Greek Finance Minister Euclid
Tsakalotos said the reforms would weigh heavily on numerous
social groups but said it was important to move ahead quickly
and successfully.
China will conform to the latest statistical standards set by
the IMF to improve transparency and remove scepticism about
the economic data provided by the world's second largest
economy, especially in the backdrop of global concerns over the
slowdownof its economy.
After approval from the cabinet, the People's Bank of China
(PBOC)governorZhouXiaochuan informed IMFof its decision
to conform to the Special Data Dissemination Standards
(SDDS)of the IMF, thebank announced.
Since 2002, China has used theGeneralDataDissemination
System (GDDS), which the IMF set up in December 1997, to
provide a framework for countries to adapt and improve their
statistical systems.
The GDDS applies to all IMF members, while the SDDS
applies to member countries that have or are seeking access to
internationalmarkets.
The SDDS was started by the IMF in 1996 to help it gain
access to regular economic and financial statistics and assist
CHINA ADOPTS IMF STATISTICALBENCHMARK TO IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY
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participating countries in crafting updated economic policies
andgaining access to financialmarkets.
The move came amid global concerns over slowdown of
China's economy, which is having a cascading effect on the
global economy.
According to IMF, China's growth is expected to slow from
7.3 per cent in 2014 to 6.8 per cent this year and 6.3 per cent in
2016, as the country struggles with its shift from export to
consumption-driven economy.
Analysts say SDDS is expected to add more credibility to
China's economic data by removing scepticism about the
figures.
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised last November at the
BrisbaneG20Summit thatChinawould switch to theSDDS.
In the past year, China's central economic agencies have
worked to meet the IMF's SDDS statistics requirements, state-
runXinhuanews agency reported.
The adoption of SDDS is a necessary step in reform and
opening up, which will further improve China's statistical
transparency, credibility and comparability among different
economies, thePBOCsaid.
PBOC Deputy Governor Yi Gang and David Lipton, first
deputy managing director of the IMF, attended a ceremony to
celebrate China's adoption of the SDDS in Peruvian capital
Lima.
At the ceremony, Yi said China and the IMF have been
working together to improve China's statistics for many years,
and subscribing to the SDDS is another milestone in the
collaboration.
The IMF and the US also welcomed the move, calling it "an
important advance."
Adhering to the SDDS shows "China's strong commitment
to transparency as well as to the adoption of international best
practices in statistics,"Lipton said.
Washington's use of its de facto veto at the International
Monetary Fund to block reforms giving emerging countries a
greater say is jeopardizing the IMF's credibility, its leader said.
IMF'S 'CREDIBILITY AT STAKE INREFORM ROW: LAGARDE
The IMF has been caught up in a
protracted, politically charged battle
over reforms intended to reflect the
changing global economy by giving
emerging giants such as China more
weight at theFund.
"It is an issue for the credibility and
the representat iveness of the
institution, particularly vis-a-vis the under-represented
countries," IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said at
theFund's annualmeeting inLima,Peru.
The reformsadoubling of IMF funding and a reallocation
of voting power to boost China and other up-and-coming
economic powers -- were originally propelled by Washington,
and President Barack Obama's White House has repeatedly
endorsed them.
But the US Congress has refused for three years to sign off
on the deal, with some legislators not wanting to contribute
moremoney to the IMF and others concerned about erodingUS
dominance of theFund.
As the rules stand now, China, the world's second-largest
economy, has less than four percent of the voting power at the
IMF--barelymore than Italy, an economyone fifth its size.
"I... very much hope that (reforms) will be taken seriously
and that the US authorities will actually appreciate the need to
reinforce an institution that they participated very actively in
creating,"Lagarde said.
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew repeated the
administration's support for the reforms, adoptedback in 2010.
"The consequences for the United States and the
international financial community are very significant if quota
reform isnot done," he said.
The North Korean capital Pyongyang braced for what was
predicted to be one of the largest ceremonial displays ofmilitary
strength in thenuclear-armednations history.
A cavalcade of tanks, armoured vehicles and assorted
ballistic hardware was set to rumble through the citys Kim Il-
Sung Square, with thousands of hard-marching troops for
escorts, in celebration of the ruling Workers Partys 70th
NORTH KOREAN CAPITAL SETFOR MILITARY EXTRAVAGANZA
PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015 21
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birthday. One thing the organisers could not control was the
weather, with an overnight thunderstorm and light rain in the
morning threatening to put a dampener on thewhole event.With
the roads slick with rainwater, there was still no formal
announcement ofwhen theparadewould actually begin.
But hundreds ofmilitary trucks, used to ferry participants to
the parade venue, were lined up along the banks of the capitals
Taedong River, suggesting the event would go ahead. Taking the
salute from the massed military ranks will be supreme leader
Kim Jong-Un, the third generation of a family dynasty that has
ruled the North with absolute authority for the past seven
decades. Kim paid tribute to that legacy with a midnight visit
Friday to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, which serves as the
mausoleum for his father Ki Jong-Il and grandfather Kim Il-
Sung,NorthKoreas founding leader.
The scale of the parade was already apparent from satellite
images taken four days before, which showed a sprawling
training ground in Pyongyang featuring some 800 tents, 700
trucks and 200 armoured vehicles. Aswith similar displays in the
past, the event will be closely watched for glimpses of any new
hardware thatmight signal a forward step in theNorthsmilitary
development. When announcing plans for the grand-style
parade back in February, the ruling partys top decision-making
body had stressed the importance of cutting-edge weaponry
suitable formodernwarfare.
North Korea has conducted three nuclear tests and
threatened a fourth as part of a nuclear weapons and missile
programme that it has pursued through a barrage of
international sanctions. There is debate among experts as to
how far it has come in developing those weapons, especially the
ability to shrink nuclear warheads so that they can fit on a
missile. An exhaustively researched report published by theUS-
based Institute for Science and International Security estimated
that North Korea had between 10 and 16 nuclear weapons as of
the endof 2014.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the
election of a newheadof theUNclimate sciencepanel.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
elected Lee Hoesung of South Korea as its chairman. He will
guide the panels work on assessing the science related to
climate change, Xinhua reported. Ban in a statement reaffirmed
his support for the IPCCs role in supplying decision-makers
and the public with the worlds most authoritative scientific
UN CHIEF WELCOMES NEW HEAD OF UNCLIMATE SCIENCE PANEL
understanding of climate change, including its impacts as well
as solutions.
The Secretary-General looked forward to the IPCCs new
leadership at this critical moment when governments are
preparing for the global climate change conference in Paris later
this year, said the statement. Lee, aged 69, is professor in the
economics of climate change, energy and sustainable
development at Korea Universitys Graduate School of Energy
and Environment. He is currently one of the IPCCs three vice-
chairs. The IPCC, set up in 1988, is the world body for assessing
the science related to climate change. It has been endorsed by
the UNGeneral Assembly to provide policymakers with regular
assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts
and future risks, andoptions for adaptation andmitigation.
British spies can hack into phones
remotely with a simple text message and
make audio recordings or take photos
without owners knowing, former US
intelligence contractor Edward Snowden
revealed.
They want to own your phone instead of you, the
whistleblower said in an interview with the BBCs Panorama
programme, re fer r ing to Br i t a in s Government
CommunicationsHeadquarters (GCHQ)agency.
Snowden claimed that GCHQ used a series of interception
tools called Smurf Suite, after the blue cartoon characters,
TheSmurfs.
Nosey Smurf enabled spies to switch on a smartphones
microphone even if thephonewas off, he claimed.
Other programmes used by GCHQ were nicknamed
Tracker Smurf and Dreamy Smurf, which allows phones to
be switchedon andoff remotely, Snowden said.
He said the textmessage sent byGCHQ to gain access to the
phonewouldnot benoticedby its owner.
Its called an exploit, he said.
When it arrives at your phone, its hidden from you. It
doesnt display. You paid for it but whoever controls the software
owns thephone, he added.
UK SPIES CAN HACK SMARTPHONESREMOTELY: SNOWDEN
22 PT's PrepTalk Aug - Sep 2015
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The BBC said the government had declined to comment in
linewithusual policy on intelligencematters.
Snowden, who has been charged by the US with espionage
and theft of government property after leaking documents to the
media about digital espionage, has been living in exile in Russia
since June 2013.
The British government is planning legislation that would
give more powers to intelligence agencies to monitor online
activity to investigate crime.
Air Frances human resources manager had his shirt
stripped from his body, as he was almost lynched by workers
protesting aplan to cut 2,900 jobs from the struggling airline.
Bosses were unveiling a revamped restructuring plan after
pilots rejected an earlier proposal to work longer hours. But the
board meeting had to be abandoned when hundreds of striking
workers stormed into the airlines headquarters at Charles de
Gaulle airport outsideParis.
Human resources manager Xavier Broseta was almost
lynched, according to one union delegate, and had his shirt
ripped off as he clambered over a wire fence to escape, helped by
security guards. Another executive, Pierre Plissonnier, who is
responsible for the long-haul flight division, had his shirt and
jacket torn in the scrum.
CEO Frederic Gagey also made a hasty exit, and the board
said themeetingwouldnot resume.
Seven people were hurt, including a security guard who was
knocked unconscious and required hospital treatment, Air
France said.
The management condemned the physical violence, and
said it would file complaints to the police. Prime Minister
Manuel Valls, on a visit to Japan, said of the events: The
company is in a difficult situation, but nothing justifies such
attacks.
The loss-making airline, which employs 52,000 people, is
struggling in the face of fierce competition from global rivals. It
had tried to convince pilots, who earn up to 250,000 euros
($280,000) a year, to fly 100morehours a year for the same salary,
Nothing justifies violence
AIR FRANCE OFFICIALS ATTACKEDBY WORKERS PROTESTING JOB CUTS
but talks broke down , with pilots saying the plan amounted to an
effective pay cut.
The French government, which owns a 17.6-percent stake,
has criticised thepilots hard-line stance in thepast.
Officials at the French employers federation MEDEF were
appalled at the scenes and said they would harm Frances
reputation. It is really terrible for the company and for the
country, aMEDEFsource said, askingnot to benamed.
Four unions announced a strike to coincide with the
meeting. Itwasnot clear howmany staffwere takingpart, but the
airline said flights would be unaffected beyond some check-in
delays. Not all staff support the pilots, who also led a record-long
strike a year ago that cost the companynearly half a billion euros.
Ground staff, stewards and hostesses feel they have made
enormous efforts without ending up in a position to influence
decisions, Beatrice Lestic, of the CFDT union, told Le
Parisiennewspaper.
They are now spectators to a crash in which they will be the
first victims, she said.
Seeking to sharpen its competitive edge against main
European rivals Lufthansa and British Airways-Iberia, the
managements new proposals include ending five long-haul
routes, reducing the frequency of other flights, and selling 14
planes over the next two years. Although the company says it
favours voluntary departures, Gagey has indicated compulsory
redundancies may be necessary for the first time to increase
productivity.
Sources at the meeting said the plan includes the possibility
of dismissing 300 pilots, 900 air hostesses and stewards, and
1,700 ground staff. The company has already shed 5,500 posts
via voluntary departures between 2012 and 2014 as it battled
competition from low-cost carriers andGulf airlines.
Pilots were also behind a record-long two-week strike in
September 2014, which knocked 416 million euros off turnover
and was described as catastrophic for the French aviation
sector in a joint statement fromunions.
The striking