weekly 25 march to 31 march 2013 for web

25TH MARCH 2013 TO 31ST MARCH, 2013

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WEEKLY CURRENTAFFAIRS BULLETIN

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[ 2 ] Weekly Current Affairs 25th March to 31st March, 2013

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Weekly Current Affairs 25th March to 31st March, 2013 [3]

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Programme Assistance:

Email id:[email protected] Assistance : Sushil SinghEmail id: [email protected]: 9582948810, 9953007628Mail: [email protected]

Production and productivity, Microirrigation,Urbanization, Government Initiatives......

6th January: Indian Economy Basics, Planning & Trade1. Industry Services, Agriculture, Energy.....2. Balance of Payments. Foreign Direct Investment.......3. Growth, Development and Other Issues.........4. Poverty Estimates, Impact of Poverty........5. Exchange rate. Role of RBI.....6. Nature of Planning - Five Year Plan, Planning after

1991 (LPG), Inflation.....

13th January: Governance and Contemporary PoliticalDevelopments : Development Politics, Political andAdministrative Institutions, Good Governance, InternalSecurity....

SCHEDULE FOR SECTIONAL TESTS(PAPER I & II)

20th January ... Ecology and environment27th January ... Comprehension3rd February .. Polity and Governance10th February . English Language Comprehension

+ Logical Reasoning17th February . Geography24th February . Decision Making and Problem

Solving3rd March ....... General Science and Science and

Technology10th March ..... Mental Ability, Basic Numeracy,

Data Interpretation and DataSufficiency

17th March ..... History24th March ..... Indian Economy

FULL MOCK SCHEDULE31st March ...... Mock 1 Paper 1, Mock 1 Paper 27th April ......... Mock 2 Paper 1, Mock 2 Paper 221st April ........ Mock 3 Paper 1, Mock 3 Paper 228th April ....... Mock 4 Paper 1, Mock 4 Paper 2

SCHEDULE FOR GS TOPICAL TESTS

2nd December: Infrastructure & Resources1. Transportation infrastructure: Road and Highway

Networks, Mass Transit Systems, Railways,Waterways, Ports....

2. Energy infrastructure:- Thermal Power Generation,Natural Gas Pipelines & Petroleum Pipelines, NuclearEnergy, Renewable Energy......

3. Water management infrastructure:- Drinking watersupply, Sewage Collection and Disposal of Wastewater, Flood Control, Water Harwesting.....

4. Communications infrastructure:- Television andRadio Transmission, Internet, Social Network, SearchEngines, Communications Satellites......

5. Solid Waste Management6. Economic Infrastructure: Manufacturing Infrastructure,

including Industrial Parks and Special Economic zones,Agricultural, Forestry and Fisheries Infrastructure....

7. Resources: Water Resources, Forest Resources, LandResources, Energy Resources, Minerals, ResourceManagement.....

9th December: Demography : Population Composition,Density, Literacy, Sex Ratio...

16th December: Environmental Problems & GlobalEnvironmental Governance : Deforestation, Pollution:Air, Water, Land, Noise, Desertification, BiodiversityDepletion, Global Warming, SD.......

23rd December: Human Development, Social SectorInitiatives and Programmes & Policies1. Concept of Human Development, Development

vs. Growth, Human Development Index, MPI,Innovation.....

2. Social Inclusion, Child Welfare, Women Welfare....

30th December: Agriculture, Urbanisation, Health :Agriculture and GDP, Agricultural Regionalization,

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NATIONAL••••• Centre rejects TN assembly resolution on Sri

Lanka

Days after the DMK pulled out of the Centreand Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa barredSri Lankan cricketers from playing in Chennai, theCentre has taken a tough stand on politics over SriLankan Tamils.

The Tamil Nadu assembly had recently adopteda resolution, moved by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,urging the Centre to take firm steps against Colombotill the "suppression" of Tamils was stopped andthose responsible for "genocide and war crimes"faced a credible international probe.

The resolution came close on the heels ofJayalalithaa writing to Prime Minister ManmohanSingh saying India should boycott theCommonwealth Heads of Government meeting tobe held in Colombo in November this year.

The government has rejected the resolutionpassed by Tamil Nadu assembly that had asked theCentre to stop treating Sri Lanka as a friendly nationand to slap sanctions on it while demanding areferendum for a separate Tamil Eelam.

••••• The National IPv6 Deployment RoadmapVersion - II released

The 'National IPv6 Deployment RoadmapVersion - II, a document containing policy guidelinesfor IPv6 transition prepared by NT Cell, Departmentof Telecom (DoT), was released by Union Ministerfor Communications & IT, Shri Kapil Sibal.

According to it all government organisationshave to plan a shift to a network that supports newversion of internet addresses, IPv6, by 2017-end."The plan should be prepared latest by December2013 and accordingly the required budgetaryprovisions should be made in their demand forgrant. For this purpose, it is recommended that adedicated transition unit in each organisation shouldbe formed immediately to facilitate entire transition

The current version, IPv4, has almost run out ofaddresses. The explosive growth of number ofsubscribers and the increasing number of deviceshas made it necessary to migrate to IPv6. Itsadoption is must for secure and sustainable growthof internet.

The roadmap mandates that all internetconnections provided to business organisationsshould support new version of internet addresses,IPv6, from January 1, 2014 onwards.

As per the IPv6 adoption plan, all new IP basedservices like cloud computing, data centres etc, to beprovisioned for and by the government organisationsshould be on dual stack. This means it should supportboth IPv6 traffic as well as current version of internetaddresses IPv4 with immediate effect.

The public interface of all government projectsfor delivery of citizen centric services should beon dual stack supporting IPv6 traffic latest byJanuary 1, 2015.

The government organisations should procureequipments which are also IPv6 Ready (Dual Stack)and go for deployment of IPv6 ready (Dual Stack)networks with end-to-end IPv6 supportedapplications.

••••• Government sermonizes media on 'positive'portrayal of women

The government has stepped in to curb "indecentor stereotypical" portrayal of women in the media.Recent depiction of women in films, television andadvertisements has got the I&B ministry so botheredthat it has asked the industry bodies to review itsguidelines.

It has also urged TV broadcasters and the censorboard to run gender sensitization workshops.Portrayal of women in media has come underscrutiny in months following the Nirbhaya gang rapeon last year. I&B's move comes after the Committeeof Secretaries headed by the cabinet secretaryshowed concern over the "indecent portrayal andcommodification of women" in films, advertisementsand by other sections of media.

Other suggestions include running 30-secondspots on "positive portrayal of women" along thelines of anti-smoking spots prior to the screening offilms and holding awareness workshops with filmindustry bodies. The ministry has asked TVbroadcasters also to launch a sustained mediacampaign to project a "positive image" of women.The ministry has directed the board to review its


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guidelines on the portrayal of women. In acommunication to the board, the ministry pointedout that concerns have been raised at the "highestquarters" of government about films, advertisementsand TV shows reinforcing biased and negativeperceptions about women.

••••• PM-headed panel for CAG selection mooted

Eminent retired bureaucrats and members of theForum of Retired Officers of Indian Audit andAccounts Service have demanded the creation of aselection committee headed by Prime Minister toselect the new Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) of India. The term of current CAG Vinod Raiends in May.

They have contended that when such acommittee procedure had been adopted for theselection of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner andthe National Human Rights Commission Chairman,the same procedure should be applied for theselection of the CAG.

The proposed selection committee shouldcomprise the Finance Minister, the Leader ofOpposition in the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha Speaker,the PAC Chairman and, possibly, the Chief Justiceof India or other eminent legal luminary to bring"transparent, institutionalised selection mechanism"for the appointment of the next CAG.

The signatories to the memorandum includedthe former deputy CAGs, J.N. Gupta, B.P. Mathur,R. Parameswar; and the former Secretary Ministryof Water Resources, Ramaswmy R. Iyer.

The former bureaucrats did not favour thecurrent criteria, which selected only those who hadserved as Secretary for the CAG post. They stronglyrecommended selecting deserving Deputy CAGswho had vast knowledge and experience ofgovernment accounts and audit.

According to the Forum, the practice of selectingonly those who had served as Secretaries is open toquestion, as apart from the fact that most Secretariesare unlikely to have the in-depth knowledge neededfor the position of CAG, it could be argued that abackground as a Secretary to the Government ofIndia is very likely to lead to questions of conflict ofinterest, as the CAG may find himself or herselfhaving to audit decisions taken by him or her earlierin the capacity of Secretary. It may be recalled thata question of possible conflict of interest did ariserecently in the case of the CVC.

The former officials further stressed that theselection of the CAG should be unanimous and not

by the majority principle on the plea that therationale of a broad-based selection committee wouldbe negated if the government retained a majority inthe committee and the majority view prevailed.

••••• Cashless treatment for road accident victims

Union Minister of Road Transport and HighwaysC.P. Joshi unveiled a pilot project under which roadaccident victims would be provided cashlesstreatment, an initiative that could bring down thehigh rate of fatalities in the country.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways(MoRTH) has signed an MoU with ICICI Lombardto jointly launch the pilot project by May on the225-km Delhi-Gurgaon-Jaipur route that claims about250 lives annually.

The project will be launched with a corpus ofRs. 20 crore to be provided by the Ministry and theprivate insurance company providing back endsupport for managing the control room, monitoringambulances and tying up with hospitals to providethe "golden period" treatment.

Under the scheme, cashless treatment of up toRs. 30,000 would be provided to the victims duringthe first two days of treatment at 51 hospitalsidentified on the route at CGHS rates.

A maximum of 10 ambulances would bestationed at a distance of about 20 km of each otherto respond to an accident within six to seven minutesand take the victims to a nominated hospital.

Before launching the project, ICICI Lombardwould also collect data on the causes of the accidenton the route - whether it was because of the driver,vehicle or manufacturing defect or engineering faultin the construction of the road.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries is alsocooperating in the exercise to get the automakerscorrect defects, if any.

The objective of the project is to obtain data vitalfor the insurance companies to assess insurancepremium and the cost of offering such a service andby reducing the rate of fatalities scale down thirdparty liabilities.

Based on the data of the project, MoRTH willroll out a similar scheme throughout the country.More than 1.4 lakh people are killed in about 5 lakhaccidents in a year in the country. Three per cent ofthe victims suffer permanent disability while 12 percent suffer serious injuries.

The data will help all other insurance companiesto be competitive in participating in the schemewhere MoRTH will insure all road users for apremium which will be decided on the actual moneyrequired to treat them on the first two days.


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••••• UGC set to make strict rules for privateuniversities

The University Grants Commission (UGC) is allset to review the Establishment of and Maintenanceof Standards in Private Universities Regulations,2003, to make rules governing private universitiesmore stringent.

The regulations on deemed universities weremade more stringent on quality by the UGC fromthe earlier guidelines in 2010 but a similar exercisewas not undertaken for private universities. Takingadvantage of the lacunae, in some States privatedeemed universities started converting into privateState universities in order to escape the robustdeemed universities regulations.

The UGC has set up an expert committee toreview the existing Regulations under Prof. P. N.Tandon and co-chair M. Anandakrishnan, both ofwhom were associated with the drafting of the UGC(Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2010.However, private universities had been left out ofthe purview then.

The expert committee has been asked to keep inmind the suggestions received from States andstakeholders by the earlier committee that alsoreviewed the 2003 Regulations. The Human ResourceDevelopment was, however, not too satisfied withthe draft regulations that, in addition to bringinguniversities set up under State legislatures underthe purview of the UGC Regulations, had also saidthat reservation policy would be applicable to themalso. The private universities would have to be not-for-profit organisations and shall not be engaged incommercialisation of education.

The draft Regulations of 2010, prepared by aMinistry-appointed committee, had also said that ahigher education institution could be approved as auniversity only if it had been in existence for 15years and fulfilled the laid down criteria of land,faculty and other infrastructure and had generatedIP Rights and produced enough quality research.Violation of any of the provisions would attractheavy penalty.

Private universities were brought in for the firsttime through the 2003 Regulations under UGC'squality control.

In fact, in the Prof. Yashpal versus ChhattisgarhState case, the private universities set up under thethen Chhattisgarh Private Universities Act hadchallenged that UGC had no control over privateuniversities as they were established under StateActs. The Supreme Court had upheld UGC'scompetence to regulate private State universities,saying that entry 66 of the Union List in 7th Scheduleof the Constitution permitted the Centre to legislateon standards of higher education even if Statelegislatures had jurisdiction under entry 32 of theState List to establish universities.

••••• Forensic laboratory to check corporate fraudplanned

Amid concern at the rise in corporate fraud cases,the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has launched threeinitiatives to strengthen its investigating mechanism,including one to establish a forensic laboratoryattached to its Serious Fraud Investigation Office(SFIO).

The SFIO has signed memoranda ofunderstanding with the National Institute ofElectronics and Information Technology (NIELIT),which works under the Department of Electronicsand Information Technology, and with the FinancialIntelligence Unit (FIU-IND) of the Finance Ministry.

The NIELIT will set up the laboratory on theSFIO premises on an outlay of Rs. 3.80 crore. Theturnkey project will be completed in two phases overthe next two years. Similarly, the agreement withthe FIU-IND will facilitate exchange of data andinformation relating to suspicious bankingtransactions under the Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act, 2002.

The FIU-IND was helping the Ministry ofCorporate Affairs and the SFIO by supplying themwith information on suspicious banking transactions.Having access to the banking information availablewith, and the expertise of, the FIU-IND would helpthe SFIO conduct comprehensive investigations.

The SFIO was developing a framework forprevention of fraud through an 'early warningsystem.' The Ministry was also revamping the SFIO'sMarket Research & Analysis Unit to help it functionas an intelligence unit.

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••••• EU suspends sanctions against Zimbabwe

The European Union (EU) has suspended anassets freeze and visa ban against most Zimbabweanfirms and people (around 81 individuals and eightentities) on its sanctions list in reward for a "credible"March referendum. A total 21 Zimbabweans out of112 on the EU blacklist, and one of 11 firms, hadalready been removed in February after Harareannounced a firm intention to hold the vote.

The sanctions were originally imposed in 2002on the grounds of political violence, human rightsabuses and the failure to hold free and fair elections.

However, sanctions will remain in force againstZimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and 10 of histop aides, an EU source told Reuters news agency.

Drafting a new constitution was a key conditionof reforms agreed in 2008 when Mugabe was forcedinto a power-sharing deal with arch-rival Tsvangiraiafter a violence-marred presidential election.

The new constitution - endorsed by bothPresident Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai - expands civilliberties in Zimbabwe. Fresh elections are expectedto be held sometime this year.

Salient features of new Constitution

a) Presidents limited to two five-year terms

b) Legislation can no longer be vetoed by thepresident

c) Devolves power to 10 provinces

d) Establishes peace and reconciliationcommission

e) Creates independent prosecuting authority,anti-corruption commission, and guaranteesindependent electoral commission

f) Includes bill of rights which stipulatesfreedom of expression and a free media

g) Allows dual citizenship

h) Seizure of farms under the land reformprogramme can no longer be legallycontested; president appoints landcommission to carry out national audit

••••• Bailout package for Cyprus by EU

Cyprus avoided bankruptcy, and potentialturmoil across the Euro zone, by securing a last-

INTERNATIONALminute $13-billion bailout with promises to sharplycut back its oversized banking sector and make largebank account holders take losses to help pay muchof the bill. Without a bailout deal, the tinyMediterranean nation would have faced the prospectof bankruptcy, which could have forced it to becomethe first country to abandon the euro currency. Thedeal has been designed by the 17-nation Euro zonefinance ministers.

What are the terms of the deal?

Cyprus struck a deal with EU officials on a €10billion aid package to shore up the country's bankingsector. The plan will protect all deposits of less than•100,000, but is likely to impose a levy or "haircut"for account holders with more than •100,000 at thetwo biggest banks -- the Bank of Cyprus and PopularBank of Cyprus.

Popular Bank will be broken up immediately,and its viable assets will be integrated into the Bankof Cyprus. While the exact percentage of the "haircut"has not yet been determined, the levy on PopularBank depositors alone will raise about •4.2 billion($5.5B) towards the bailout deal, while shareholdersand bondholders are likely to be wiped out.

As part of the program, Cyprus will also have toraise taxes on capital gains and companies, introducestructural reforms and privatize some state assets. Ithas also agreed to an independent audit of anti-money laundering efforts in the banking system.

EU officials had originally proposed a packagethat would have imposed a levy on all bank accountsin order to raise •5.8 billion ($7.5B) toward the deal.Account holders with more than •100,000 ($130,000)would have paid a 9.9% levy and those with smallerdeposits 6.75%.

But the Cypriot parliament rejected the bailoutoffer due to public outrage over the levy, promptingfears of a run on the country's banks, which havebeen closed since March 16, and officials went backto the drawing board.

••••• Syrian opposition takes seat at Arab summit

Syrian opposition representatives took thecountry's seat for the first time at an Arab Leaguesummit in Qatar, showcasing a significant diplomatic


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boost for the forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime. A delegation was led by Mouaz al-Khatib, the former president of the main oppositionalliance - the Western-backed Syrian NationalCoalition - at the invitation of Qatar's emir, SheikHamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Besides al-Khatib, theSyrian delegation included Ghassan Hitto, recentlyelected prime minister of a planned interimgovernment to administer rebel-held areas in Syria,and two prominent opposition figures, George Sabraand Suheir Atassi.

The decision for the opposition to take Syria'sseat was made at the recommendation of Arabforeign ministers earlier this week in the Qataricapital, Doha. The Arab League in 2011 suspendedthe Syrian government's membership in theorganization in punishment for the regime'scrackdown on opponents.

The Qatari ruler, who chairs the summit, statedthat the Syrian opposition deserves representationbecause of the popular legitimacy they have won athome and the broad support they won abroad andthe historic role they have assumed in leading therevolution and preparing for building the new Syria."

Addressing the gathering, Syrian leader al-Khatibthanked the Arab League for granting the seat tothe opposition. "It is part of the restoration oflegitimacy that the people of Syria have long beenrobbed of. He also defended the presence in Syria offoreign jihadis, saying the militants were there tohelp defend a people under attack but added thatthose more needed by their families in their owncountries should leave.

••••• US new Bill to curb H-1 B hiring

The rhetoric against outsourcing andimmigration in the US was expected die down afterthe presidential election. However a section of USlawmakers is still trying to place immigrationhurdles and the latest bid is from US Senator CharlesGrassley, who has introduced a new H-1 B and L-1 Visa Reform Act 2013 that would require UScompanies to pay significantly higher wages to H-1 B visa holders over their American peers withsimilar experience.

The bill requires firms to make a good faith effortto hire Americans first over H-1 B visa holders. Butthe biggest impact of the bill will be to make it costprohibitive and burdensome to hire a foreignnational. The proposed bill prohibits employers fromadvertising only to H-1 B visa holders andoutsourcing them to other companies. It has evenincreased administrative expenses per violation from$1,000 to $2,000 and from $5,000 to $10,000 for willfulmisrepresentation.

Some estimate the recommended wages wouldbe up to 50% higher than the prevailing US wages.Given that Indian IT companies are the biggest usersof this visa, the bill if passed, could substantiallyincrease the costs for these companies.

In 2010 the US had raised H-1 B visa fees by asmuch as $2,000 per application and L-1 visas fees by$2,700 to fund its enhanced costs on securing itsborder with Mexico. India had moved the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) against the visa fee hike,saying that it discriminates against employees ofIndian companies who are on short-term contractsin America.

The pitch for protecting American jobs beganafter unemployment rates neared double-digit levelsfollowing 2008 sub-prime crisis. It reached acrescendo in the months leading up to the USelections in November last year. Though the USunemployment rate remains high at 7.7% now, theunemployment rate in the technology sector is saidto be significantly lower.

On the other hand the Tech companies in theUS have been lobbying to significantly increase thenumber of H-1 B visas. The US government currentlyhas a bill before it seeking to raise the H-1 B capfrom 65,000 to 1.15 lakh.

••••• North Korea severs last military hotline toSouth

North Korea severed its military hotline withSouth Korea, breaking the last direct communicationlink between the two countries at a time ofheightened military tensions. A few weeks earlier,North Korea suspended two other direct phone lines,one that was connected to the U.S. military commandin South Korea and the other a Red Crosshumanitarian link.

The decision was relayed by a senior NorthKorean military official to his South Koreancounterpart. Severing the military hotline couldaffect operations in the Seoul-funded KaesongIndustrial Complex, just north of the border, becauseit was used to organise movements of people andvehicles in and out. Since 2004, the Kaesong factorieshave operated with South Korean money and know-how, with North Korean factory workers managedby South Koreans. The factories provide jobs andbring in much-needed hard currency for NorthKorea, and supply a cheap and efficient labor sourcefor South Korea.

Other examples of joint inter-Korean cooperationthat blossomed during an earlier era of detente came


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and went during the previous administration ofSouth Korean President Lee Myung-bak, whosetough policies on North Korea angered thePyongyang regime.

North Korea also cut the Kaesong line in 2009,in a protest of that year's South Korean-U.S. militarydrills. North Korea refused several times to let SouthKorean workers return home from their jobs, leavinghundreds stranded in North Korea. The countryrestored the hotline and reopened the bordercrossing more than a week later, after the drillsended.

Aside from the hotlines, there are no landline,cellphone, fax, email or mail connections betweenNorth and South Korea. Both Seoul and Pyongyangprohibit from direct contact with citizens from theother Korea without government permission.

North Korea's actions have been accompaniedby threatening rhetoric, including a vow to launcha nuclear strike against the United States and a repeatof its nearly two-decade-old threat to reduce Seoulto a "sea of fire." However, analysts outside thecountry have seen no proof that the country hasmastered the technology needed to build a nuclearwarhead small enough to mount on a missile.

••••• Brazil and China agree currency swap

Brazil and China sealed a $30bn currency swapagreement that is expected to act as a backstop togrowing trade between the two countries.

Though the agreement is expected to be of littleuse in day-to-day trade, the deal will guarantee theflow of Brazil's growing soy, iron ore and otherexports to China and China's imports ofmanufactured goods to Brazil regardless of globalfinancial conditions.

The central banks of China and Brazil woulddeposit the money with each other in their respectivecurrencies for a period of three years, with thepossibility of extension upon expiry.

The central banks would be responsible forextending lines of credit to support companiestrading.

The move is seen as an important step forwardin China's "currency swap diplomacy" - its efforts topromote the renminbi as a global reserve currencyamid a number of other such agreements withcountries ranging from Australia to Argentina. Brazilrepresents an attractive prospect for Beijing's effortsto grow trade in renminbi. Its large domesticconsumer market and need for infrastructure makeit an ideal export destination for Chinese goods.

The currency swap agreement, worth R$60bn inBrazilian currency, was first announced by Brazilianpresident Dilma Rousseff and former Chinesepremier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the Rio+20environmental summit last year.

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[ 1 0 ] Weekly Current Affairs 25th March to 31st March, 2013

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••••• Fiscal deficit touched 97.4 percent of the budgetestimates

According to the data released by ControllerGeneral of Accounts (CGA) the government's fiscaldeficit touched 97.4 percent of the budget estimates(BE) in the April-February period of the currentfiscal. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gapbetween expenditure and revenue receipts, stood atover Rs 5.07 lakh crore at the end of February.

The Government has estimated the fiscal deficitfor current fiscal at Rs 5,13,590 crore, or 5.1 percent,of GDP in the budget for 2012-13. However, in therevised estimate, it pegged the deficit to be at 5.2percent for the fiscal ending 31st March. The fiscaldeficit rose from the budgeted levels due to the risingsubsidy outgo.

In monetary terms, CAD widened in theOctober-December quarter to $32 billion, markedlyup from $20 billion (4.4 per cent of GDP) in thesame quarter of 2011-12, mainly on account of asignificant increase in oil and gold imports at atime when exports have remained particularlysubdued in the wake of an uncertain globalenvironment and recessionary conditionsprevailing in the U.S. and Europe.

During April-December of 2012, CAD stood at$71.7 billion, which worked out to 5.4 per cent ofthe GDP as compared to $56.5 billion, or 4.1 percent of the GDP in the like period of 2011.Significantly, gold imports during the April-December period stood at $ 38 billion while in fiscal2011-12, imports of the commodity was valued at $56 billion.

Clearly, while gold imports appeared to be on adecline, it was the trade deficit during the thirdquarter that widened to $ 59.6 billion, up from $48.6 billion in the same quarter a year ago, mainlydriven by higher imports which were up by 9.4 percent during the period.

To contain it at 5.2 percent, the government hastaken a number of steps like rationalisation ofexpenditure including 10 percent mandatory cut onnon-plan expenditure. Besides, steps have beentaken to cut the subsidy outgo on petroleumproducts.

The government has rolled out the fiscal deficitroad-map for the 12th Five Year Plan. It estimates

ECONOMYfiscal deficit to come down to 4.8 percent in 2013-14and to 3 percent of the GDP by 2016-17.

••••• Government steps up black money crackdown

The government has taken a slew of measuresin the past few years to ensure that Indian taxauthorities have access to information from othercountries to tackle black money and taxavoidance. It has renegotiated several tax treaties,including the one with Switzerland, to enableexchange of information. The government hasentered into Tax Information Exchange Agreements(TIEAs) with tax havens like Cayman Islands,Bermuda, British Virgin Islands. And, it hastightened domestic tax provisions.

The Finance Act 2012 extended the time limitfor reopening cases to 16 years where income relatesto an asset located outside India. Details of foreignbank accounts, immovable properties and assetsoutside India are also required to be filed by taxpayers. Tax authorities will intensify their effortsfurther to crack down on unaccounted moneystashed overseas by seeking information from theircounterparts in other countries.

The CBDT points out that such regulatory effortwill come to naught if tax officers do not make useof the opportunities for obtaining cross-borderinformation. In January, CBDT had issued an internalmanual - 'The Manual on Exchange of Informationfor tax purposes with foreign jurisdictions' - whichprovided guidelines on how to obtain informationfrom authorities of other countries under the taxtreaties, TIEAs and multinational conventions.

CBDT's internal manual points out that taxofficers are not making many requests primarilybecause they are not fully aware of the provisions.For instance, only 39 requests were made duringfinancial year 2008-09 seeking information fromIndia's treaty partners. The number increased to 92and 386 during FY11 and FY12, respectively.

The internal manual not only providesinformation on the avenues available under whichinformation can be sought from overseascounterparts, but also provides formats which thetax officers must follow while making specificrequests to foreign tax authorities, be it treaty ornon-treaty countries.


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Even under India's domestic tax laws, a taxpayer,barring certain exceptions, is guaranteedconfidentiality of information filed in his return,points out the manual. As tax treaties over-ridedomestic tax laws, if information is treated asconfidential in the country providing suchinformation, it will also be treated as confidential inIndia and not made public.

••••• Indian Financial Code Bill proposed

Aiming to reform financial sector regulations forthe longer term in keeping with systemic risksinvolved in financial management, the government-appointed Financial Sector Legislative ReformsCommission (FSLRC) headed by Justice B. N.Srikrishna has proposed an Indian Financial CodeBill to enable creation of a unified financial regulatorwhile limiting the role of the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) to monetary management.

As per the proposed regulatory architecturerecommended by the Commission, the unifiedfinancial agency (UFA) - will comprise four existingagencies which will be merged into one. These arethe Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),the Forward Markets Commission (FMC), theInsurance Regulatory and Development Authority(IRDA) and the Pension Fund Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (PFRDA). The RBI willcontinue to exist, though with modified functions.

The Commission has suggested seven agenciesand each of them will have distinct functions.

The other agencies; apart from RBI and unifiedfinancial agency; the Commission has suggestedFinancial Sector Appellate Tribunal (FSAT),Resolution Corporation, Financial Redressal Agency,Public Debt Management Agency and FSDC(Financial Stability and Development Council). Theexisting Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) will besubsumed into FSAT and the existing DepositInsurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India(DICGC) will be subsumed into the ResolutionCorporation.

While the existing FSDC will continue to existthough with modified functions and a statutoryframework, the Commission has recommended twonew creations - a Financial Redressal Agency (FRA)and a new Debt Management Office. The draftIndian Financial Code Bill containing 450 clauses andsix schedules is to give effect to its recommendations.

Explaining why the vast changes in the systemof financial regulation and management is necessary,

the report said that over the coming 25 to 30 years,Indian GDP is likely to become eight times largerthan the present level, and is likely to be biggerthan the United States GDP as of today.

Implementation of the report, however, is notexpected to be smooth. Apart from the legislativechanges required through Parliamentary approval.

••••• IRDA passes credit rating norm for choosingforeign reinsurers

The Insurance Regulatory and DevelopmentAuthority (IRDA) has tightened the norms forreinsurers.

In the reinsurance business, multiple insurancecompanies share the risk by purchasing insurancepolicies from other insurers to limit the total lossthe original insurer would face in the case of adisaster.

According to the new IRDA norms, insurersshould place their reinsurance business outside Indiawith only those insurers who have a credit rating ofat least "BBB" with Standard & Poor's, or anequivalent rating by any other international agencyfor the past five years.

The past claims performance of the reinsurersshould also be considered while accepting theirparticipation in the reinsurance programme.

The reinsurance programmes would commencefrom the beginning of every financial year. Thedetails would have to be submitted to the regulatorat least 45 days in advance. One of the objectivesof reinsurance programme, according to theregulator, is to maximise retention (the portion ofrisk which an insurer assumes for its own account).The net retention of non-life insurers increased to91.84 per cent in 2011-12 from 88.24 per cent in theprevious year.

The reforms in the reinsurance business havebeen proposed because IRDA was founding itdifficult to track the audit trail of many transactionswith regard to reinsurance placements andcoinsurance.

Further, there has been a demand from thegeneral insurers that a level playing field be createdfor foreign insurance companies and Indianreinsurers because, so far, there have been norestrictions in place for the foreign firms. Theregulator also plans to introduce a hi-tech electronicplatform for transactions and settlement.

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INDIA AND THE WORLD

••••• Zimbabwe seeks Indian Investment to Reviveits Manufacturing Sector

The Union Minister for Commerce, Industry andTextiles Shri Anand Sharma met the Prime Ministerof Zimbabwe, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai during his visitto Harare for the India-Zimbabwe Joint TradeCommittee (JTC) Meeting. During the JTC meetingIndia has offered various capacity buildingprogrammes, including scholarships and dedicatedcourses in bamboo craft development andhandicrafts. Further Lines of Credit (LOC) proposalsworth USD 400 million from the Zimbabwean sidewill be considered and Zimbabwe could also availthe 'Buyers Credit Scheme' and the 'pilot 2 % Interestsubvention scheme' for projects in Zimbabwe. ShriSharma agreed to the request of Mr. Tsvangirai forproviding assistance in revival of its textile industryand in developing its nascent diamond industry.

The India-Zimbabwe Joint Trade Committee(JTC) meeting was co-chaired by Shri Sharma andthe Prof. Welshman Ncube, Minister of Industry andCommerce of Zimbabwe. During the JTC meeting,the two sides reviewed the bilateral trade andinvestment relations and held discussions on thefollowing areas of cooperation: Textiles Sector, Agro/food Processing Sector, Gems and Jewellery,industrial cluster initiatives, Lines of Credit, capacitybuilding programmes, establishing of CommodityExchange in Zimbabwe. During the meeting, boththe Ministers emphasized that the present levels ofbilateral trade and investment were much below thepotential. In the year 2012, the India-Zimbabwebilateral trade was USD 166 million, with balance oftrade heavily in favour of India. The ZimbabweanMinister sought investments and technical assistancefrom India to enable Zimbabwe in revival of itsmanufacturing sector, and to achieve greater valueaddition and beneficiation of natural resources,which will also enable Zimbabwe to increase thevalue of its exports. The Zimbabwean side alsopresented to the Indian side the potential jointventure investment projects from the IndustrialDevelopment Corporation of Zimbabwe forconsideration of the Indian industry.

••••• New Saudi law related to 'Nitaqat'(naturalisation) may hit Indian jobs

South Asian workers - a majority of whom arefrom India employed in the small and mediumenterprises in Saudi Arabia - are likely to be hithard as the Kingdom goes ahead with its plans toexpand employment avenues for its own nationalsin the backdrop of the Arab Spring. Saudi Arabiahas proposed the policy of reserving 10 per centjobs for locals.

A study by the Saudi Central Department ofStatistics and Information, fixed theunemployment rate in the country last year at 12.2per cent. That meant that more than 588,000 peoplewere without jobs.

Other estimates suggest that an alarming 39 percent of the youth in the 15-25 years old category, areunemployed. Consequently, the Kingdom hasadopted the Nitaqat programme - a plan to push itsnationals into employment in companies that arecolour coded to deter expatriates from monopolisingtheir workforce.

Thus, firms falling into the red zone are the worstoffenders as they have, according to the Kingdom'sgrading criteria, failed to employ the minimum quotaof Saudi nationals in their workforce.

Those in the yellow slot have also fallen short oftheir targets, but, despite their poor showing, havebeen recognised for their effort to employ Saudinationals. Companies in the green zone fall in theblue chip category as they have fully complied withthe Kingdom's latest labour laws.

As a result they are allowed to expand theirworkforce by employing a larger number ofexpatriates.

The Saudi Arabia government's decision hascaused much worry among the Indian expatriatesthere, particularly those from Kerala. As many as 5lakh people from the State were working in SaudiArabia alone, he said, adding that job losses couldcause great social unrest in the State. The issue wouldget more complicated if other Middle Easterncountries start following the Saudi model.


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••••• UN call for boost in efforts to combat drug-resistant tuberculosis

On the occasion of World TB Day - United Nationsurged countries to strengthen their efforts to respondto drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB) andincrease funding to eliminate this deadly disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) hasdeclared TB a global health emergency two decadesago, since then new diagnostics, new drugs andthe promise of new vaccines have decreased theincidence of disease burden but there are stillchallenges to be met, mainly stopping the spreadof multi-drug resistant TB, also known as MDR-TB, which threatens to reverse the gains achievedin past years.

According to WHO, an estimated 8.7 millionpeople developed TB and 1.4 million died from thedisease in 2011. Worldwide, an estimated 630,000people are infected with MDR-TB, which isnotoriously difficult to diagnose and costs at least10 times more to treat than drug-sensitive TB.

The emergence of MDR-TB, at dramatic levels insome settings, is a signal that care and controlmeasures have failed. When patients are given toolittle treatment, stop taking their medicines, or aretreated with sub-standard medicines, only theweakest TB bacteria are killed.

TB in India

India may have achieved a success rate of 88 percent in treatment of tuberculosis - higher than theglobal treatment success rate of 85 per cent - butHIV-TB co-infection continues to be a cause of majorconcern, as the percentage of people infected withthe twin infection increased substantially between2010 and 2011. The percentage of TB patients testedfor HIV increased nationally from 32 per cent to 45per cent.

It is estimated that there are around 2.4 millionHIV patients in India. Recent country- level datashow that about 6 per cent of TB patients are HIV-positive. National surveillance has shown that thedistribution of HIV among TB patients is highlyheterogeneous, and is closely correlated with thedistribution of HIV infection.

Further according to the sub-national surveysconducted in three States between 2006 and 2009the multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)prevalence is at 2.1 per cent among new cases and15 per cent among retreatment cases. Despite thelow MDR-TB prevalence, India ranks first amongthe 27 MDR-TB high burden countries. The Revised

National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) hasdeveloped a plan to scale up the servicesconsiderably in order to treat at least 40,000 MDR-TB patients annually by 2017, supported by theGlobal Fund Round Single Stream Funding, Unitaidand domestic funds.

Ineffective and delayed diagnosis in both privateand public sectors and failure to notify and registerpatients in the private sector diagnosed with TB, inaddition to patients accessing private providers notlinked with the RNTCP, have been identified assome of the major challenges faced by India incontrolling the dreaded disease that claims 24 livesof every 100,000 people infected.

Achieving universal access, includingmarginalised and high risk groups, whilemaintaining and continuing to improve the qualityof services across the country; introducing newerdiagnostics and their positioning at various levelsof health care, and ensuring adequate staffing at alllevels - through improved human resourcedevelopment - to reduce reliance on a limited poolof dedicated TB staff are some more issues that needto be tackled, the 'Stop TB in South-East Asia - zerodeath to zero infection' says.

Enforcing regulations for prescription and saleof anti-TB drugs; promoting rational use of first andsecond line drugs outside the programme to preventMDR and extensively drug resistant TB (XDR TB),developing and implementing airborne infectioncontrol measures in health facilities and effectivelypromoting operational research to address localchallenges are among the issues flagged in the report.

India is also planning a national Drug ResistanceSurvey for 2013.

••••• BRICS proposes establishment of developmentbank

The developing countries mainly face challengesof infrastructure development due to insufficientlong-term financing and foreign direct investment,especially investment in capital stock. Thus BRICSnations have decided to establish a new developmentbank to finance infrastructure projects and to createa USD 100 billion contingency fund to tackle anyfinancial crisis in emerging economies. It is a majorachievement for India in its campaign for reformingthe international financial architecture.

BRICS cooperation towards more productive useof global financial resources can make a positivecontribution to addressing this problem.


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The development bank, mooted by India at thelast year's Summit in Delhi, was originally proposedto be started with a capital of USD 50 billion withUSD 10 billion from each of the members.

On the issue of Contingency ReserveArrangement, India proposes a fund of anythingbetween USD 50 and USD 100. There was agreementthat China, which has a huge foreign exchangereserve, will contribute 41 billion while it will be 18per cent for others except South Africa which willcontribute USD five billion.

The decision was taken at the BRICS Summit(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). inDurban which also launched a Business Council toencourage investment and trade in member countriesand to expand business cooperation.

Both the ideas (BRICS development bank andContingency Reserved Arrangement) have beenrecommended by the finance ministers and havebeen approved by the leaders.

••••• India and Liechtenstein inks pact in TIEA

India and Liechtenstein have signed a TaxInformation Exchange Agreement (TIEA) at Bern,Switzerland. The Agreement was signed by MsChitra Narayanan, Indian Ambassador inSwitzerland from Indian side and Madame DorisFrick, Ambassador of Liechtenstein in Switzerlandon behalf of Liechtenstein.

Salient features of the agreement (TIEA) withLiechtenstein are:

a) It is based on international standard oftransparency and exchange of information.

b) Information must be foreseeable relevant to theadministration and enforcement of the domesticlaws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxescovered by the agreement.

c) There is a specific provision that the requestedParty shall use its information gatheringmeasures to obtain the requested informationeven though that Party may not need suchinformation for its own tax purposes.

d) There is a specific provision for providingbanking and ownership information.

e) It provides for the representatives of thecompetent authority of the requesting Party toenter the territory of the requested Party tointerview individuals and examine records.

f) The Agreement has specific provisions forprotecting the confidentiality of the informationobtained under the Agreement. Information isto be treated as secret and can be disclosed toonly specified person or authorities, which aretax authorities or its oversight body. However,the information may be used for other purposeswith the express consent of the CompetentAuthority of the supplying State.

g) The Agreement shall enter into force one monthfrom the later of the notification. On enteringinto force, information can be exchanged if itpertains to taxable periods beginning on or after1st April, 2013.

h) The Agreement provides for the exchange ofdocuments or information created in or derivedfrom a date preceding 1st April, 2013, that areforesee ably relevant to a request relating to taxyears beginning on or after 1st April, 2013.


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••••• Kaziranga records net increase of rhinos

The Kaziranga National Park has recorded a netincrease of 39 rhinos even after losing about 125rhinos due to poaching, high flood and natural deathsince January 2012.

A census revealed that the total rhino count ofthe park - famous for one-horned rhinoceros - is2,329. The census was carried out on March 24 and25. The 2012 census had put the count at 2,290. Thepark has the world's largest population of Indianone-horned rhinoceros.

Poachers have been keeping forest personnel ontoes in and around the Park of late and have so farkilled over ten rhinos since January this year creatingpublic outcry in the state.

Meanwhile, Assam forest department is mullingto arm forest guards in the KNP with sophisticatedweapons like AK series assault rifles to counter thenew brand of rhino poachers who are using assaultrifles to kill one-horned rhinos of late.

The Assam government has also ordered a probeby the Central Bureau of Investigation into the spurtin cases of rhino poaching in the Kaziranga parkafter the All Assam Students' Union and variousNGOs raised the demand for a probe by the apexinvestigating agency into such unabated incidents.

Assam government recently formed a specialforest protection battalion armed with SLRs to protectwildlife in the State. Out of the 300-strong battalion,100 personnel are being deployed in the KNP.

Kaziranga National Park is spread over an areathat forms parts of Golaghat, Nagaon and Sonitpurdistricts of Assam while Karbi Anglong hill districtstrikes along the southern border of the Park that isa UNESCO World Heritage Site. Assam governmentwith permission from the Central government hasamended the Wildlife Protection Act to enhance themaximum punishment to convicted rhino poachersto life imprisonment. Wildlife offences have beenmade non-bailable and cognizable.Under theprovisions of Section 197 CrPC, forest officers andstaff have been granted immunity from prosecutionwithout prior sanction from the government so thatthey can go all out against poachers on the prowl.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

••••• 'Include vaccine for cervical cancer in publichealth policy'

Famous oncologist and chief scientific advisorto Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital& Research Institute (BIACHRI) Dr. NoriDattatreyudu has suggested inclusion of cervicalcancer vaccine in the public health policy in India.

He expressed concern over the increasingincidence of cancer in India at a time when it hadbeen coming down in the western countries. Lackof awareness among people on preventive steps andlack of education on the symptoms of cancer for itsearly detection was the reason for increasing numberof cancer patients, he said.

The cases of head & neck and cervical cancerwere high in India due to the habits of cigarettesmoking, tobacco chewing and lack of personalhygiene. Public education was most important tocreate awareness on these aspects.

Mandatory administration of cervical cancer toall adolescent girls would bring down cases ofcervical cancer drastically. The number of suchpatients was coming down in advanced countriesas they had made cancer vaccination part of theirpublic health policy.

In the US, about 1.6 lakh cervical cancer casesused to be detected and the deaths were around 25per cent about 35 years ago, but the numberof detections had come down to 10,000 anddeaths into just a couple of hundreds in the last fiveyears, he said.

He proposed that cervical cancer vaccine shouldbe included in the public health policy here bybringing down its manufacturing cost.

••••• WHO-approved TB test, now at a subsidisedprice

Providing accurate diagnosis for TB and therebyenabling earlier initiation of treatment has got a bigboost. Currently, around 30 private laboratoriesacross the country have come together to providethe WHO-approved GeneXpert MTB/RIF moleculartest to diagnose active TB at a subsidised ceilingprice of Rs.1,700 and Hain Genotype test at a ceiling


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price of Rs.1,600. More labs are expected to join theinitiative. The market price of the molecular test ismore than Rs.3,500.

The Hain Genotype and MGIT Liquid Culturewill help in deciding which alternative drugs shouldbe given to patients who are resistant to first-lineTB drugs.

Any private laboratory can become a member ofthe initiative and offer the test at a subsidised rateprovided it is accredited either by the NationalAccreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL) orCollege of American Pathologists (CAP) or by theRevised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP).

One of the biggest positive outcomes will be thatthe member labs will be obliged never to providethe inaccurate and unreliable serological (blood)antibody tests for diagnosing active TB.

The consequences of relying on blood tests areterrible - patients who are actually not suffering fromactive TB are put on long-term medication, while

many people who are actually suffering from activeTB never end up getting the treatment at the righttime. TB patients who are not undergoing treatmentcan spread the disease to a large number of people.Thus the government banned the serological TB testin June last year. Yet, many private laboratoriescontinue to provide the test.

The GeneXpert test, on the other hand, has 98per cent sensitivity (ability to detect every positiveTB case) in smear-positive cases. And specificity(ability to correctly diagnose only the positive cases)is 99 per cent. The molecular test can provide reliableresults in just about two hours.

But the biggest advantage is its ability to identifyrifampicin drug resistance. Rifampicin is one of thefirst-line drugs given to TB patients. And patientswho are resistant to the drug are generally resistantto isoniazid drug (another first-line drug) too. Hence,the molecular test can serve as an excellent markerof multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB).


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2 - MARKERS••••• Competition Commission of India Nominated

for Global Competition Review Awards 2013

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) hasbeen nominated for 'Global Competition Review(GCR) Awards 2013' under the category of "Agencyof the Year-Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa". It isvery first time that the CCI has been nominated forthis internationally prestigious award. Otheragencies nominated in this category are Japan's FairTrade Commission, Pakistan's CompetitionCommission and Turkey's Competition Authority.GCR is the world`s leading antitrust and competitionlaw journal and news service.

The annual awards by GCR aim to recognise theachievements of teams and individuals from privatepractice firms, corporate legal departments, economicconsultancies, academic organisations andcompetition authorities in 2012.

••••• NTPC Awarded as Most Efficient Maharatna

NTPC Limited, India's largest power utility hasbeen awarded as the most Efficient Maharatna-inManufacturing for the year 2012 by a leading StockMagazine at the 4th DSIJ Award held in New Delhi.The Award was received by Shri I.J. Kapoor, Director(Commercial), NTPC from Shri Ajit Singh, UnionMinister of Civil Aviation.

••••• Apollo launches nationwide vaccination drive

Apollo Hospitals announced the launch of anationwide vaccination drive to create awarenessand encourage precautionary steps to avoid easilypreventable diseases. Many lives can be savedthrough structured drive on vaccination preventivediseases (VPD) and help avoid both chronic andacute conditions like cervical cancer, pneumococcal,swine flu and cholera.

The campaign titled 'Apollo Protect' will focuson encouraging vaccinations for the adolescent andadult population and it will be driven across thegroup's integrated healthcare network of 50hospitals, 1,500 pharmacies, 100 clinics, four CradleHospitals and other medical establishments acrossthe country.

••••• Notify TB cases, private hospitals told

The Principal Secretary of Medical and HealthAjay Sawhney has asked private medicalpractitioners and nursing homes to see that everycase of tuberculosis was notified to the governmentas it was mandated by law.

••••• Bihar Cabinet nod for 50 % quota for womenin coops.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's announced50 per cent of the seats in all cooperatives; primaryagricultural cooperative societies will be reservedfor women. From the quota, two seats each will bereserved for the Scheduled Castes and ScheduledTribes, Backward Classes and EconomicallyBackward Classes.

••••• DRDO awards for seven from Bangalore

Seven scientists and employees from Bangalore-based labs of the Defence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation have received the Ministry of Defenceannual national awards for 2012.

The Young Scientist awards were given to M.Vengadesh Kumar of the Defence Avionics ResearchEstablishment; Vishal Kesari of the Microwave TubeResearch & Development Centre; N.N.R. Ranga Suriof the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics;and Narasimhan R.S. of the Electronics and RadarDevelopment Establishment.

Three Best Performance awards in the non-scientist category were given to D.K. Devappa ofLRDE; R.N. Rangaswamy of DARE; and SusheelaGanesh of Aeronautical Development Establishment.

DRDO Director-General V.K. Saraswat, NationalSecurity Adviser Shivshankar Menon, officials of theDefence Ministry, the three Forces, industry captainsand scientists were present.

••••• IAF goes 'Live Wire' to test battle efficiency

To test battle efficiency in a wartime scenario,the Indian Air Force has been conducting the first-ever massive exercise, 'Live Wire,' at all its basessince mid-March.

All IAF assets - the legacy systems as well as thelatest inductions - are being tested for their


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competence in the third dimension in a simulatedbattle scenario. Round-the-clock operations are beingcarried out in a network-centric environment thatprovides enhanced situational awareness, monitoredby the Integrated Air Command and Control Systemsand the AWACS.

••••• Healthcare Businessman of the Year Award2013

NRI entrepreneur Kartar Lalvani has beenconferred with the Healthcare Businessman of theYear Award 2013 at the Asian Business Awardsceremony. He is the founder-chairman of Vitabiotics,UK's largest supplier of minerals and vitaminsupplements to the retail trade.

Amit Bhatia, chief of the Swordfish group ofcompanies and son-in-law of steel tycoon LakshmiMittal, was declared the Young Entrepreneur of theYear 2013.

The Lifetime Achievement Award 2013 went toIndian-origin entrepreneur Sudhir Choudhrie.

••••• Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai has signed a deal reported tobe worth nearly £2 million to publish a book whichwould tell not only her own story but also that of"61 million children who can't get education.''

In I am Malala , to be published in the autumn,the 15-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl will give adetailed account of the day she was shot by a Talibanmilitant in Swat Valley last October while on herway to school: how a gunman stopped her schoolbus, asked for her by name and then shot her in thehead at point-blank range.

Malala underwent extensive surgery in aBirmingham hospital to rebuild her skull which wasbadly damaged in the attack.

••••• U.R. Rao inducted into Satellite Hall of Fame

U.R. Rao, who led the country's spaceprogramme between 1984 and 1994, has becomethe first Indian to be inducted into the prestigiousSatellite Hall of Fame, Washington. He joins theelite company of Arthur C. Clarke and 49 other starspace scientists.

Dr. Rao was Secretary, Department of Space, andthe ISRO chairman for 10 years. He has started hiscareer with the first Indian satellite Aryabhata in1975, over 20 satellites were designed and launchedunder his guidance and the rocket technologydevelopment was accelerated in India.

Currently, he is the chairman of the governingcouncil of the Physical Research Laboratory,Ahmedabad.

••••• Gury Marchuk

Academician Gury Marchuk, the architect of aunique and highly successful programme of Indo-Russian cooperation in science and technology, diedin Moscow.

Marchuk was the moving spirit behind theIntegrated Long-Term Programme (ILTP) ofCooperation in Science & Technology set up in 1987at the initiative of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi andSoviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Over 25 years that Marchuk co-chaired the ILTPJoint Council with Prof. C.N.R. Rao scientists of thetwo countries carried out hundreds of joint projectsin dozens of research fields, from healthcare toinformation technologies and from biotechnology tolasers and electronics.

In recognition of his services to India, Marchukwas awarded Padma Bhushan in 2002. He wasalso honorary member of India's National Academyof Sciences.

In the 1950s Marchuk helped build the Sovietthermonuclear bomb and designed a liquid metalcooled nuclear reactor for submarines that remainsunrivalled to this day.

Later he set up and headed for many years theInstitute of Computational Mathematics in Moscow.In 1986 he was elected President of the SovietAcademy of Sciences and headed it till the break-upof the Soviet Union in December 1991.

••••• HRD Ministry advices State Governments toPromote Gender Sensitization

The State Governments have been advised bythe HRD Ministry to promote Gender Sensitization.This includes curriculum and textbooks be re-examined and improved for gender positivematerials and at least a 2-3 day gender module beconducted with all teachers during the annual in-service training programmes. The Ministry has alsoadvised that school monitoring systems incorporatea checklist of such gender sensitive parameters thatpromote gender sensitivity in classroom transactionand school extra-curricular activities. It has alsoproposed that from upper primary classes, physicaleducation classes should include training in self-defence for girls.

The Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) is preparing the gender sensitization modules


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to train teachers and help students battle stereotypesagainst women from a young age. Gender Sensitivitytraining modules for teachers/trainers will be in theform of advocacy Programmes for sensitization andcreating awareness. Also Master Trainer Programmefor identified and motivated counsellors and nodalteachers. The programmes will also include GenderSensitivity teachers/trainers' manual and activitycards for students from classes I-XII. The latestsyllabus on Health and Physical Education for classesI - X developed by the National Council ofEducational Research & Training (NCERT) based onNational Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005includes topics related to self defence under the

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themes included for upper primary classes such asHuman Body, Security and Safety, Self Defence andProtection of Others and Social Health.

The efforts have also been made to introducevalue education and gender studies in schoolsyllabus. The syllabus will include : introduction ofvalue based questions in the Summative Assessment-II in classes IX-X and year end examination of classesXI-XII from the year 2012-13; publication of Teachers'Manual on Environmental Education andAdolescence Education; and the Modules forAdolescence Education Programme include activitiesrelated to gender sensitisation.


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EDITORIALS••••• Five thoughts on China

Together, leaders of India and China can craft aPanchsheel for a new time

There is something about the number five inIndia-China relations. As free powers, the two Asiangiants defined their relationship in terms of thefamous Panchsheel - mutual respect for each other'sterritorial integrity and sovereignty; mutual non-aggression; mutual non-interference in each other'sinternal affairs; equality and mutual benefit; and,peaceful co-existence. China's new leaders haveenunciated a Panchsheel for our times.

China's President Xi Jinping listed a "five pointproposal" for guiding India-China relations. Theseare: maintain strategic communication and keepbilateral relations on the right track; harness eachother's comparative strength and expand win-wincooperation in infrastructure, mutual investment andother areas; strengthen cultural ties and increasemutual understanding and friendship between ourpeoples; expand coordination and collaboration inmultilateral affairs to jointly safeguard the legitimaterights and interests of developing countries andtackle global challenges; accommodate each other'score concerns and properly handle problems anddifferences existing between the two countries.

India would be happy to be on board with eachof these five points. The fifth point is the only trickyone. It leaves undefined what China's "core concerns"are. Traditionally, Tibet and Taiwan were China's"core interests", but more recently, Chinesespokespersons have referred to their claims on theSouth China Sea as a "core interest". This has alreadyopened a Pandora's box for China, setting the catamong the South-east Asian pigeons and facilitatingAmerica's rediscovery of Asia. India, like many othercountries that have economic interests in the Pacific,would like freedom of navigation through these seas.

India would, understandably, want to knowwhat exactly China has in mind when it talks ofcore interests today. For its part, China too must bemindful of India's "core interests", especially becauseit has grievously hurt at least one Indian core interestby enabling the nuclear weaponisation of Pakistan.

Clearly, the last of the five points raised by Xirequires further elaboration and consideration.Indian anxieties on this score have been enhancedby China's investment in strategic assets like theGwadar Port in Pakistan. While China cannot beblamed, perhaps not even implicated, in the risingtrend of India's South Asian neighbours trying toplay the so-called "China card", India cannot remainoblivious to this trend. It would, at some point,impact on India's core interests.

Having entered that caveat, India shouldwelcome these five principles for they takecognisance of the new and growing economicrelationship between the two and their cooperationat the global level. This in itself would be a goodstarting point for Prime Minister ManmohanSingh's conversation with Xi this week in Durban,South Africa.

Over the past nine years, Prime Minister Singhhas enunciated his own five principles about India-China relations, though he has never packagedthem together into one general statement, as Xi hasdone. What are the PM's five principles in dealingwith China?

The first principle he enunciated on India-Chinarelations related to the border issue and was statedby him at his very first meeting with his counterpart,Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in Vientiane inNovember 2004. Singh told Wen that India waswilling to show accommodation on the borderquestion, "but an accommodation that must take intoaccount ground realities."

Singh's second principle, which is often reportedin the media as Wen's observation but was in factoriginally coined by Singh and subsequentlyrepeated on several occasions by Wen, says that "theworld has enough space for the growth ambitionsof both countries". This at once places in perspectivea question that is often asked: is the rise of Chinafollowed by India, two-fifths of humanity, a zero-sum game that has conflict written into it?

Having said this, Singh enunciated his thirdprinciple, that the rise of China and India is a globalpublic good. Addressing the China Academy ofSocial Sciences in January 2008, he saw the possibility


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of the rise of China and India having positiveexternalities for the world as a whole because of thenew opportunities for development they could bringto the international community, especially otherdeveloping countries.

The fourth principle Singh has repeatedlyenunciated is that, because of all the above and,equally, despite the above, the relationship betweenthe two would be characterised both by elements ofcooperation and competition. In other words, evenwhile there would be space in the world for bothcountries to rise, and even as that may havebeneficial consequences for the world, theseprocesses would both offer opportunities forcooperation, as on climate change and energysecurity, and generate the potential for competition,for markets, resources and influence.

The fifth principle articulated by Singh is amore general principle of national security, thatone country's policy towards another is definednot just by intentions but also capabilities.Intentions can change, capabilities are moreenduring. Thus, it is not what one country'spolitical leadership says that ought to guideanother's policy but what one is capable of doing.Even as India accepts China's reassurances, itcannot afford to remain indifferent to China'srising capability to create problems for India.

On the question of intention vs capability, formerUS President Ronald Reagan had the last word.When asked if he could trust his Soviet counterpartswhen they promised to reduce their nuclear andmissile capability, Reagan famously said, "trust, butverify". That was precisely Singh's reply when hewas asked if he could trust Pakistan's formerPresident Pervez Musharraf, and that should be anyIndian leader's response to reassurances offered byChina's leaders.

All this offers a good framework for a business-like interaction between the PM and Xi this week.There is, today, another concern that ought to engageboth leaders. That is, how would developments inthe global economy, especially the Trans-Atlanticeconomic slowdown and the rise of religious andother extremist politics in Asia, impact on their ownrise and of Asia as a whole?

Would conflict in Asia, in the South China Seasor in West Asia, serve anyone's interests at all? CanChina and India afford to remain reticent observerswhile the Asia around them burns and remainsmired in sectarianism, terrorism, violence andinstability? Don't they confront, along with manyother Asian economies, a shared energy security

challenge? Does it serve China's purpose to unnervethe countries of Southeast Asia, playing one ASEANmember off against another? Is a Sino-Japan conflictin the interests of the rest of Asia? Should they notwork together to build new regional architecturesfor sustained economic growth and regionalsecurity? Don't Asia's two giants have theresponsibility to work with other Asian powers,including the ASEAN, Japan, Russia and the US toensure peace, prosperity and stability in Asia? Manyprinciples of cooperative engagement can be craftedfrom these challenges.

The writer is Director for Geo-economics andStrategy, International Institute for Strategic Studiesand Honourable Senior Fellow, Centre for PolicyResearch

Source: Indian Express

••••• Upcoming drug-pricing policy suffers a hostof anomalies

The proposed drug-pricing policy suffers from ahost of anomalies. Extending price control to all"essential" medicines implies massive regulatoryoverreach, especially given the widespread problemof substandard and spurious drugs in the over Rs 1-lakh-crore Indian pharmaceuticals sector (40% ofwhich is exported).

Now, as per the last Drugs (Price Control) Order,1995, the prices of 74 select bulk drugs are to beregulated, but only 47 of them were actually underproduction as of last year.

Evidently, the rigid cost-based approach in thepresent drug-pricing regime has discouraged output,and the new policy seeks changeover to market-determined prices. And the ceiling price envisagedis the simple average of all brands having marketshare of 1% and above of the total turnover in anyparticular medicine.

But such an approach would also be prone tomisuse; it makes sense to work out weightedaverage prices at the very least. Also, the plan tohike drug prices annually in step with the wholesaleprice index (WPI) would defeat the very purposeof price control.

Regulated prices surely need to take into accounta sector-specific efficiency factor X, so that pricesrise by no more than WPI minus X. The new policyhas no pricing provision for patented drugs.

The policy paper simply says a separatecommittee is looking into it! This is ridiculous. Pricecontrol, rather than frequent resort to compulsorylicensing, is the way to make key drugs affordable.


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A major reason why the market for drugs isunlike other markets is structural informationasymmetry between the consumer and the doctorwho determines what the consumer should demand.Modern information technology and telecom mustbe deployed to remedy this to a large extent, usingmobile phone apps and text messaging service.

Source: The Economic Times

••••• India, Japan must get closer

Bridging the 'psychological gap' will helppromote deeper engagement.

Despite favourable geopolitical conditions suchas concern over the nature of China's rise, therelationship between India and Japan remains oneof unfulfilled potential. The persistence of a"perception gap" between the two is preventingdeeper engagement.

At first glance, India and Japan appear naturalpartners. Located on the periphery of Asia, both areexamples of economic growth developing in linewith democratic values.

Furthermore, India and Japan share no territorialdisputes or historical animosity. Since a nadirfollowing India's nuclear tests in 1998, relations haveevolved apace; yet certain sticking points are holdingback its promise.

During the Cold War, India and Japan adoptedcontradictory political and - crucially for Japan as atrading-nation - economic systems. India's economicliberalisation in 1991 encouraged some commercialinterest, but this was low, as Japan concentratedefforts on China and South-East Asian markets.

South Korean companies, in contrast, who areless risk-averse than Japanese, established an earlypresence in India and have since proven moreaggressive and hence successful.

Limited exchange

Progress has been made in attracting Japaneseinterest, most recently evident in the predictedannouncement in May 2012 that Japan will sell Indiaadvanced bullet-train technology, but despitemomentum in this stream of diplomacy, elevatingrelations to the strategic level has provedproblematic. Decades of non-engagement havecreated a psychological chasm. Due to India'srelatively distant location and humble economicorigins, India has only gradually entered Japaneseconceptions of Asia.

For some in India, Japan's alliance with the USand efforts to frame the relationship within a China-checking diplomatic strategy, have created unease.In addition to this, and in contrast to India-USrelations, weak levels of people-to-people andcultural exchange limit understanding.

One significant perceptual difference lies in howIndia and Japan intend to handle China's rise. Bothare highly concerned by Beijing's militarymodernisation and activities around its peripherybut differ in how to frame their response.

NO ALLIANCES, PLEASE

Both depend on trade with China but India,cautious not to be seen to take sides and cruciallysharing a controversial border with China, is lesswilling to be explicit in its suspicion.

Whereas Japan has begun to identify China'smilitary as a concern in official documents such asthe 2010 defence guidelines, (which was quickly metby angry criticism by Beijing), India's establishmentmakes greater effort to clarify that securitycooperation with Japan is "not at the cost of anythird country, least of all China."

Second, Japan faces a significant challenge fromIndia's deep aversion to alliance-making. While inJapan, the relationship enjoys broad cross-partysupport, powerful lobbies in India resist aligningtoo closely with any one partner, especially oneoccasionally hyphenated with the US. As tensionsrise over sovereignty in the East China Sea and thepro-US-Japan alliance LDP re-establish themselvesin government, relations between Tokyo andWashington are set to deepen. This causes problemsfor those in India who would like to see Japan as amore autonomous actor.

Third, in India there exists a belief that due toJapan's constitutional restrictions, India has little togain from working with Tokyo. Interest has beenvoiced in India, for example, to engage in jointdefence production, especially naval vessels, but hasbeen resisted in Tokyo. This inability orunwillingness to adjust the Constitution, accordingto some scholars interviewed, feeds the belief thatJapan would get a "free ride" from militarycooperation with India.

JAPAN'S REGARD

There are, nonetheless, reasons for optimism. Therelationship enjoys the support of politicalleadership; Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has


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continuously supported ties since 1991, whenTokyo's pledge of $300 million helped India avertfiscal calamity. Speaking in 2008, Singh explained,"I consider our bilateral relations with Japan to beone of the most important we have."

India also has reason to welcome the election asPrime Minister, on December 16, 2012, of ShinzoAbe. Abe, previously in office during 2006-07, haslong endorsed relations with India, once describingthem as "the most important bilateral relationshipin the world." Prior to his second election victory, ina Project Syndicate article, Abe identified India as a"resident power in East Asia" on whom Japan shouldgive "greater emphasis."

On the popular level, as a recent surveydemonstrated, Japan is viewed favourably as ahighly developed, honest, hard-working andpeaceful country. Japanese products, includingMaruti-Suzuki and Toyota automobiles, white goodsand Overseas Development Assistance (ODA)contributions such as the Delhi-Mumbai IndustrialCorridor (DMIC) are appreciated, as is the DelhiMetro system.

Gradually, strategists on both sides areappreciating the necessity of deeper engagement,particularly regarding maritime security and nucleartechnology trade. For example, whereas in 2008,India resisted inviting Japan to join Malabarmaritime exercises following China's vocal uneaseat the creation of an "Asian NATO," in 2012 Japanand India staged their first bilateral initiative.

Similarly, in stark contrast to Japan'scondemnation of India's position on nucleartechnology following tests in 1998, in June 2010,Japan announced talks to conclude a civil-nucleartrade agreement. Considering India's refusal to signthe Non-Proliferation Treaty, this move was aremarkable step for Japanese policymakers who havelong been one of the treaty's staunchest defenders.Despite some unease by Delhi, the launch inDecember 2011 of a US-Japan-India trilateraldialogue also suggested a realisation of theimportance of exchanging views at the top level ofgovernment. Despite the objections of China to thisgrouping, the annual meeting is set to continue.

MILITARY EXERCISES

Significant challenges, however, remain. Militaryexercises are small in scale and despite interest fromIndia; it is uncertain whether Japan will extend itsrecent relaxation in arms exports controls to trade

directly with India. The disaster at the Fukushimanuclear plant has thrown Japan's pre-March 2011nuclear strategy into flux with little immediateprospect of a conclusion to talks, despite rumoursthey may be re-launched this year. Despite somepartial understanding by each of the other's positionon nuclear technology, Japan's adherence and India'srejection of the NPT remains an obstacle.

Japan remains uncertain as to what extent Delhiwill stand up to China and a tough general electionfor the ruling Congress party in 2014 will likelyfurther harden India's willingness to remainunaligned. But pressure will grow on Delhi to outlineits position within the balance of power.

However, relations to some extent have beencompartmentalised in order to exploit thecomplementarities in Japan and India's economies.

Japan offers India advanced technology,infrastructure investment, and power supplyexpertise, while India's expanding middle class,accompanied by growing geopolitical stature,provide an enticing alternative to China. Theagreement in 2012 for India to provide Japan withrare earth supplies following China's indirectsanction on Tokyo, demonstrated the practical valuethat working with India can provide.

Both countries must challenge the "psychologicaldistance" and deepen the conversation at all levels,including student exchange, foreign visitors, militarydialogue, and bureaucratic cooperation in order toenhance relations.

Source: Business Line

••••• Can India become a great power?

India's lack of a strategic culture hobbles itsambition to be a force in the world

NOBODY doubts that China has joined the ranksof the great powers: the idea of a G2 with Americais mooted, albeit prematurely. India is often spokenof in the same breath as China because of its billion-plus population, economic promise, value as atrading partner and growing military capabilities.All five permanent members of the United NationsSecurity Council support-however grudgingly-India's claim to join them. But whereas China's riseis a given, India is still widely seen as a nearly-power that cannot quite get its act together.

That is a pity, for as a great power, India wouldhave much to offer. Although poorer and lesseconomically dynamic than China, India has soft


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power in abundance. It is committed to democraticinstitutions, the rule of law and human rights. As avictim of jihadist violence, it is in the front rank ofthe fight against terrorism. It has a huge and talenteddiaspora. It may not want to be co-opted by theWest but it shares many Western values. It isconfident and culturally rich. If it had a permanentSecurity Council seat (which it has earned by beingone of the most consistent contributors to UNpeacekeeping operations) it would not instinctivelyexcuse and defend brutal regimes. Unlike China andRussia, it has few skeletons in its cupboard. With itsenormous coastline and respected navy (rated by itsAmerican counterpart, with which it often holdsexercises, as up to NATO standard) India is well-placed to provide security in a critical part of theglobal commons.

Yet India's huge potential to be a force forstability and an upholder of the rules-basedinternational system is far from being realised. Onebig reason is that the country lacks the culture topursue an active security policy. Despite a rapidlyrising defence budget, forecast to be the world'sfourth-largest by 2020, India's politicians andbureaucrats show little interest in grand strategy (seearticle). The foreign service is ridiculously feeble-India's 1.2 billion people are represented by aboutthe same number of diplomats as Singapore's 5m.The leadership of the armed forces and the political-bureaucratic establishment operate in differentworlds. The defence ministry is chronically short ofmilitary expertise.

These weaknesses partly reflect a pragmaticdesire to make economic development at home thepriority. India has also wisely kept generals out ofpolitics (a lesson ignored elsewhere in Asia, not leastby Pakistan, with usually parlous results). ButNehruvian ideology also plays a role. At home, Indiamercifully gave up Fabian economics in the 1990s(and reaped the rewards). But diplomatically, 66years after the British left, it still clings to the post-independence creeds of semi-pacifism and "non-alignment": the West is not to be trusted.

India's tradition of strategic restraint has in someways served the country well. Having little to showfor several limited wars with Pakistan and one withChina, India tends to respond to provocations withcaution. It has long-running territorial disputes withboth its big neighbours, but it usually tries not toinflame them (although it censors any maps whichaccurately depict where the border lies, something

its press shamefully tolerates). India does not golooking for trouble, and that has generally been toits advantage.

Indispensable India

But the lack of a strategic culture comes at acost. Pakistan is dangerous and unstable, bristlingwith nuclear weapons, torn apart by jihadist violenceand vulnerable to an army command threatened byradical junior officers. Yet India does not thinkcoherently about how to cope. The governmenthopes that increased trade will improve relations,even as the army plans for a blitzkrieg-style attackacross the border. It needs to work harder at healingthe running sore of Kashmir and supportingPakistan's civilian government. Right now, forinstance, Pakistan is going through what should beits first transition from one elected civiliangovernment to the next. India's prime minister,Manmohan Singh, should support this process byarranging to visit the country's next leader.

China, which is increasingly willing and able toproject military power, including in the IndianOcean, poses a threat of a different kind. Nobodycan be sure how China will use its military andeconomic clout to further its own interests and,perhaps, put India's at risk. But India, like China'sother near neighbours, has every reason to benervous. The country is particularly vulnerable toany interruption in energy supplies (India has 17%of the world's population but just 0.8% of its knownoil and gas reserves).

India should start to shape its own destiny andthe fate of its region. It needs to take strategy moreseriously and build a foreign service that is fittingfor a great power-one that is at least three timesbigger. It needs a more professional defence ministryand a unified defence staff that can work with thecountry's political leadership. It needs to let privateand foreign firms into its moribund state-run defenceindustry. And it needs a well-funded navy that canbecome both a provider of maritime security alongsome of the world's busiest sea-lanes and anexpression of India's willingness to shoulder theresponsibilities of a great power.

Most of all, though, India needs to give up itsoutdated philosophy of non-alignment. Since thenuclear deal with America in 2005, it has shiftedtowards the west-it tends to vote America's way inthe UN, it has cut its purchases of Iranian oil, itcollaborates with NATO in Afghanistan and co-


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ordinates with the West in dealing with regionalproblems such as repression in Sri Lanka andtransition in Myanmar-but has done sosurreptitiously. Making its shift more explicit, bysigning up with Western-backed security alliances,would be good for the region, and the world. Itwould promote democracy in Asia and help bindChina into international norms. That might not bein India's short-term interest, for it would riskantagonising China. But looking beyond short-termself-interest is the kind of thing a great power does.

That India can become a great power is not indoubt. The real question is whether it wants to.

Source: The Economist

••••• Aakash is no silver bullet

The government needs to open its eyes and realisethat the technological utopia it envisions in the low-cost tablet is no cure for poor education, poverty orinequality

The last few days have brought the Aakash tabletback into the media limelight. Last Friday, HumanResource Development (HRD) Minister M.M. PallamRaju said that troubles with the manufacturer coulddoom the project. But the next day, former HRDMinister Kapil Sibal, who started the project, deniedMr. Raju's comments. He further added: "I wantpublic services to be delivered through Aakash. Iwant Aakash to be a platform for 1.2 billion people."

Before Mr. Sibal sets more ridiculous targets andspends taxpayers' money on them, he needs to bestopped. His fanciful ideas are wrong. First, there isno evidence that a tablet can solve any of theproblems that he claims it can. Second, it is not clearhow it will ever be able to produce a laptop thatcosts less than $35.

Root of the idea

The idea for the Aakash tablet and troubles thatthe project brings with it have both been inheritedfrom the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) projectlaunched in 2005 by Nicholas Negroponte ofMassachusetts Institute of Technology. OLPC's hopewas that empowering children in the developingworld with computers connected to the internet willhelp them learn faster, develop better skills and reachtheir full potential.

But there were problems with the idea right fromthe start. First, it hadn't been tested on a large enoughpopulation to make a reasonable cost-benefitanalysis. Second, the project claimed that scaling up

production will reduce the cost of each laptop belowRs.5,400 ($100), though they weren't sure how. Third,OLPC thought better education was the panacea toall problems irrespective of a country's needs.

Despite these issues, OLPC received backingfrom the United Nations Development Programmein 2006. With this stamp of approval, its large-scale implementation began. About eight yearsafter its launch, the results are in and OLPC hasn'tdone so well.

Tested in Peru

Peru was the site of the largest experiment. Morethan 850,000 laptops were given out at a cost ofRs.108 crore ($200 million). In treatment schoolswhere the number of laptops per child wasincreased from 0.12 to 1.18, a report by the Inter-American Development Bank found that OLPCfailed in its goals. Test scores in languages andmaths remain dismal. Enrolment isn't higher thanwhat it was before.

A 2010 study in Romania, another middle-incomecountry, found that those children who were givenlaptops were, not surprisingly, more proficient inits use. But they did not score anymore in examsthan those who didn't have computers. Even in alow-income country like Nepal, a small-scale studyproduced the same results. Furthermore, the priceof each laptop, up until 2010, remained at more thanRs.10,000 ($200).

More than 20 lakh laptops have been handedout so far. Berk Ozler, senior economist at the WorldBank, argues that OLPC is a mess. A report by MarkWarschauer and Morgan Ames of the University ofCalifornia Irvine, says: "Unlike Negroponte'sapproach of simply handing computers to childrenand walking away, there needs to be integratededucation improvement efforts." It is not clear howgovernments all around the world fell for the schemethat is backed by little evidence.

OLPC's latest victim is India, even thoughAakash is not a laptop. Mr. Sibal, like Negroponte,considers Aakash to be the panacea to all problems.It's not just that. Mr. Sibal also wants Aakash to bethe cheapest tablet. This has proved to be a majorhurdle. Datawind, a Canadian company, won thetender to provide tablets at a cost of less than $35.Its first version failed miserably because of poorhardware. The newer version seemed morepromising, but it looks like Datawind will defaulton its promise to deliver 1,00,000 units by March 31.


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Even if the government somehow, howeverdifficult it may seem, is able to get access to cheaptablets, they are not going to help achieve its aims.Can a laptop overcome the negative impact of a badteacher or poor school? Can it make children smarterdespite the lack of electricity, water, toilets orplaygrounds? Can it overcome the limitations ofstunted growth among the malnourished? CanAakash increase productivity of the workforce tocounterbalance the money invested in it?

There is no evidence that it can do any of thesethings. And yet, the National Mission on Educationthrough Information and Communication

Technology "strongly hinges around a low-costdevice through which the content created can reachthe learner." This adoption of OLPC's main idea isfraught with problems. Warschauer and Amesrightly argue that handing out laptops, or in India'scase, tablets, ignores the local context and thusavoids solving any of the targeted problems.

Right now when government officials arethemselves confused over the future of Aakash, it isimportant to step back and analyse the reasons forpressing forward with a hopeless idea. Withoutconcrete evidence, it would be foolish to continue.

Source: The Hindu

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