weekly 28th jan to 3rd feb 2013 web
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28TH JANUARY, 2013 TO 3RD FEBRUARY, 2013
Strictly for Internal Circulation (Not for sale)
WEEKLY CURRENT
AFFAIRS BULLETIN
Visit:ias100.in
Call: 09582948810, 09953007628
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Programme Assistance:
Email id:[email protected]
Technical Assistance : Sushil Singh
Email id: [email protected]
Call: 9582948810, 9953007628
Mail: [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 ....... Mental Ability, Basic Numeracy,
Data Interpretation and DataSufficiency
10th March ..... General Science and Science andTechnology
17th March ..... History24th March ..... Indian Economy
FULL MOCK SCHEDULE
31st March ...... Mock 1 Paper 1, Mock 1 Paper 2
7th April ......... Mock 2 Paper 1, Mock 2 Paper 2
14th April ....... Mock 3 Paper 1, Mock 3 Paper 221st April ........ Mock 4 Paper 1, Mock 4 Paper 2
SCHEDULE FOR GS TOPICAL TESTS
2nd December: Infrastructure & Resources
1. Transportation infrastructure: Road and HighwayNetworks, 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 water
supply, 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 Management
6. 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 & Policies
1. Concept of Human Development, Developmentvs. 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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[ 4 ] Week l y Cu r r en t A f f a i r s 28t h J anu a r y t o 3 rd Feb rua r y , 2013
CHRON ICL E I AS ACAD EMY I AS 2013 PT Cr ash Cour se Star ts f r om 10th F eb. 2013. Ca l l : 9582948810
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NATIONAL
I&B Ministry Constitutes Expert Committee toReview Functioning of Prasar Bharti
The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has
constituted an Expert Committee for the purpose of
reviewing the institutional framework of Prasar
Bharati including its relationship with Government,
its continuing role as a public broadcaster and
measures needed to ensure technical upgradation
of the organization. The Expert Committee will be
headed by Shri Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime
Minister of India on Public InformationInfrastructure & Innovations. Other members will
be: Smt. Asha Swaroop; Dr. B.K. Gairola; Sh.
Shekhar Kapur; Prof. M.P. Gupta; Sh. Jitendra
Shankar Mathur and Shri Jawhar Sircar.
The terms of r eference of t he Commi t t ee are as
fol lows:-
a) To suggest measures to sustain, strengthen and
amplify Prasar Bharati`s role as a Public
Broadcaster with special reference to its
relationship with Government in the emergingcontext.
b) To review the status of implementation of the
recommendations made by various committees
that have undertaken study of Prasar Bharati,
namely, the Sengupta committee, the Bakshi
Committee and the Narayanamurthy committee
and suggest a road map ahead for enhancing
the reach and potential of Prasar Bharati.
c) To suggest measures to digitize the archival
material in the possession of Doordarshan (DD)and All India Radio (AIR) including material
from Independence Movement era, and develop
enabling infrastructure, in the form of data
digitalization systems, data centers and
networks etc.
d) To suggest ways of using the new media to
deliver digital content - both in broadcast mode
(DTH) and in a demand-based mode (Free on
social media like You-Tube, and on payment
through IPTV).e) To suggest a strategy for creating a network of
domestic and overseas business partners for
ensuring wider reach to a worldwide audienceincluding creating an exclusive overseas service.
Government approves amendments on Lokpal
and Lokayuktas Bill 2011
The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was passed
by the Lok Sabha on 27th December, 2011. The Bill
was taken up for discussion and passing in the Rajya
Sabha on 29.12.2011. Discussions remained
inconclusive. Thereafter, the Rajya Sabha adopted a
motion and referred the Bill to a Select Committee
of the Rajya Sabha for examination and report.
The Select Committee submitted its report to the
Rajya Sabha. The Union Cabinet has approved the
proposals submitted by the Department of Personnel
& Training for moving official amendments to the
Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011, as suggested by
the Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha.
Sal i ent feat ures of amendment s t o lokpal and
lokay ukt as bi l l 2011 approv ed by the cabinet ar e as
bel ow :-
a) Collegium for Selection of Lokpal: The Bill
provides for selection of Members of Lokpal by
a Selection Committee comprising the Prime
Minister, Speaker (Lok Sabha), Leader of
Opposition (Rajya Sabha), Cheif Justice of India
or a Supreme Court judge nominated by CJI and
an eminent jurist nominated by the President.
The Select Committee has recommended that the
fifth member of the Selection Committee (i.e.,
eminent jurist) may be nominated by the
President on the basis of recommendation of the
first four members of the Selection Committee.
Government has accepted this recommendation.
b) Jurisdiction over bodies receiving donations
from public: The Select Committee has
recommended exclusion of bodies and
institutions receiving donations from the public
from the purview of Lokpal. Government has
decided to exempt only such bodies or
authorities established, constituted or appointed
by or under any Central or State or ProvincialAct providing for administration of public
religious or charitable trusts or endowments or
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societies for religious or charitable purposes
registered under the societies Registration Act.
Other non governmental bodies receiving
donation from the public would thus remain
within the purview of Lokpal.
c) Power to order investigation straight away:
Select Committee has recommended that the
Lokpal should be given power to order aninvestigation straightaway (without first
ordering a preliminary inquiry) in case Lokpal
finds that a prima facie case exists. Government
has accepted this recommendation subject to the
modification that the Lokpal should, before
coming to a conclusion that there exists a prima
facie case for entrusting the matter for
investigation, call for the explanation of the
public servant and then decide whether there
exists a prima facie case for orderinginvestigation.
d) Opportunity of Hearing to public servant: The
Select Committee has recommended that the
seeking of comments from the public servant
during the preliminary inquiry by the
investigating agency should not be mandatory
[clause 20 (2)]. Committee has also
recommended that the opportunity of hearing
by Lokpal before ordering investigation may be
dispensed with [clause 20 (3)]. The affording of
an opportunity to the public servant and to the
government/competent authority at the
preliminary inquiry stage and before ordering
formal investigation would help clear doubts in
several cases and would substantially reduce the
number of cases going for regular investigation.
Therefore, Government has decided not to accept
this recommendation of the Select Committee
and move an official amendment for the
purpose.
e) Power to order prosecution of public servants:
The Select Committee has recommended that the
power to grant sanction for prosecution of public
servants could be shifted to the Lokpal in place
of the Government. The Select Committee has
also recommended that Lokpal may be required
to seek comments of the competent authority
and the public servant before taking such
decision. Government has decided to accept this
recommendation of the Select Committee.
f) Strengthening of CBI: The Select Committeehas recommended a number of amendments in
the Bill for strengthening the CBI. These include-
..... The setting up of a Directorate of prosecutionheaded by a Director of Prosecution under the
overall control of Director, CBI;
II. The appointment of the Director of Prosecutionon the recommendation of the Central Vigilance
Commission;
III. Maintenance of a panel of advocates by CBI,
other than the Government Advocates, with the
consent of the Lokpal for handling Lokpal
referred cases;
IV. Provision of adequate funds to CBI forinvestigating cases referred by Lokpal;
V. Transfer of officers of CBI investigating cases
referred by Lokpal with the approval of Lokpal.
Government has decided to accept all these
recommendations except the last one, i.e., seeking
approval of Lokpal for transfer of officers of CBIinvestigating cases referred by the Lokpal, which is
proposed not to be accepted as it would affect the
smooth functioning of the CBI.
Ot her sali ent features of t he Bi ll
a) Powers of supervision over CBI : The Bill
confers powers of superintendence on the Lokpal
over the Delhi Special Police Establishment (CBI)
in respect of matters referred by the Lokpal for
inquiry/investigation.
b) Appointment of Director, CBI: A high poweredCommittee chaired by the Prime Minister will
recommend selection of the Director, CBI.
c) Attachment/confiscation of ill-gotten property:
The Bill contains provisions for attachment/
confiscation of property acquired by corrupt
means, even while prosecution is pending.
d) Enhancement of punishments under Prevention
of Corruption Act: The Bill proposes to enhance
punishments under Prevention of Corruption
Act:
i) Maximum punishment from 7 years to 10
years
ii) Minimum punishment from 6 months to 2
years.
Executive Committee on Climate Change
constituted
The implementation of eight missions to fight
climate change were in poor condition as there was
no inter-ministerial coordination, thus PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh has constituted a
secretary level panel to assist the PM's council on
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climate change in implementing the eight missions
to fight climate change.
The committee will be headed by principal
secretary to Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji. The
Executive Committee on Climate Change would
focus on the following tasks:
a) Assist the PM's Council on Climate Change in
evolving a coordinated response to issues
relating to climate change at the National level.
b) Regularly monitor the implementation of the
eight national missions and other initiatives on
Climate Change.
c) Advise the PM's Council on Climate Change on
modifications in the objectives, strategies and
structure of the missions, as may be necessary.
d) Co-ordinate with various agencies on issues
relating to climate change.
The Chairman of the Executive Committee on
Climate Change will be the Principal Secretary to
the Prime Minister and Secretary, Ministry of
Environment and Forests will be the Member-
Convenor. Other members of the Committee include
Cabinet Secretary, Finance Secretary, Secretary,
Planning Commission, Secretary, Ministry of Power,
Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy,
Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Secretary,
Water Resources, Secretary, Department of Science
& Technology, Secretary, Department of Agriculture
& co-operation, Secretary, Department of
Agricultural Research & Education, Secretary,
Department of Earth Sciences, Secretary, Ministry
of Coal, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural
Gas, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs. The
Chairman of Executive Committee on Climate
Change may invite any other officer/Expert to the
meetings as may be necessary.The PM's Council on Climate Change and the
Executive Committee on Climate Change would be
serviced by Ministry of Environment and Forests.
The Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change
was constituted in 2007, in order to co-ordinate
National Action for Assessment, Adaptation and
Mitigation of Climate Change. The National Action
Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC) was released by
the Prime Minister in June 2008. Under the NAPCC,
with the approval of PM's Council on ClimateChange, eight national missions are being
implemented.
National Green Tribunal bans throwing ofdebris into Yamuna
With a view to cleaning the Yamuna, theNational Green Tribunal has restrained anybody,person or authority from throwing debris of anykind, including solid wastes, on the banks of the
Yamuna or the water body near the grand old river.
A Full Bench of the Tribunal, comprising itsChairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, judicialmember Justice P. Jyotimani and expert membersD.K. Agrawal, G.K. Pandey and A.R. Yousuf, passedthis order after hearing counsel for various parties.
Even private parties are throwing debris on theriver bank, on the basis of the principle of 'polluterpays' it will be in the interest of justice that theseauthorities are directed to recover amounts spent
for removal of debris which are thrown by the
private persons, from them.According to the judgement "persons" will
include a company, partnership, sole proprietorshipand individuals. All these authorities should exercisetheir statutory powers and not only preventing allpersons throwing debris on the river bank, but evenrequire them to pay for the purposes of removal ofdebris which are thrown by them. This shall be inthe discretion of the authorities and will beimplemented upon compliance with the principleof natural justice.
Further the Bench has issued the following
directions: The State of Uttar Pradesh, DDA,Government of NCT Delhi and East Delhi MunicipalCorporation shall forthwith start removing debrisfrom the river bank of Yamuna and the water body.The construction and other materials shall beremoved to other identified sites. In the event nosites have been identified by any authority, all theCorporations and the DDA, State of Uttar Pradeshand the NCT of Delhi will have to notify within two
weeks of notification the sites for dumping of debris.In the event of no site being available, as temporarymeasure all the above public Authorities/Corporations and State of Uttar Pradesh shall startremoving debris and bring them to the end of'highest flood level' of river Yamuna. The storeddebris shall be converted into a wall at that endpoint. It would prevent unauthorised entry, floodand prevent pollution of the Yamuna.
New health scheme launched for rural kids in
Uttar PradeshThe UP government has launched a new scheme
"Aashirvad Child Health Guarantee Scheme" for the
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health care of over six crore children in the age group
of two years to 18 years living in the rural areas of
Uttar Pradesh. It will be implemented under the
National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Regular
health check-ups, diagnosis and treatment of
ailments form the core of the ambitious programme
of the Samajwadi Party government.
According to the 2011 Census, U.P.'s populationwas around 20 crore, of which about 8.5 crore
children were in the 2-to-8-years age group. This
included around 6 crore kids residing in the rural
and far flung areas where health facilities are
negligible. Studies have revealed that about 50 per
cent of the rural children in this age bracket suffer
from malnutrition and were anaemic.
The scheme will be implemented in three phases.
The first phase will cover children studying in
primary and secondary schools in the rural areas. Inthe second phase children from Class 1 to 12 in
government and government-aided schools, informal
education schools, schools run by the Labour and
Social Welfare departments, juvenile reform homes
and Aanganbari schools will be covered. The third
phase will cover children not going to school,
including the kids living with their parents at
construction sites, brick kilns and those belonging
to the families of gypsies.
For better health care facilities 54 digital X-raymachines, 118 coloured ultrasound machines, 20 X-
ray machines and 33 operation machines for
orthopaedic operations would be installed in the
government hospitals. Further 100 X-ray machines,
99 ultrasound machines and 455 ECG (electro
cardiogram ) machines would be provided to
different community health centres.
Cash incentives to States for lower neonatal
deaths
To achieve the millennium development goal
(MDG) of 28 per 1,000 live births by 2015, the
Ministry of Finance has approved the release of
incentive grant-in-aid for reduction in the Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR) during 2012-13. The Rs. 1,500-
crore incentive will be given to the States that have
made impressive reduction in the IMR between 2009
and 2011. This has been done on the
recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission.
Despite making huge achievements, India is
unlikely to reach the international target of reducinginfant mortality rate, set by the United Nations in
2000, considering that in 2011 the national IMR stood
at 44, with the picture in rural areas worse than in
urban settings.
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and
Nagaland account for 50 per cent of the total grant.
Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu account for
another Rs. 400 crore, and the remaining money is
distributed among the rest of the States and Union
Territories.
Manipur, with an IMR of 11 per 1,000 live births,
will receive the highest amount of Rs. 458 crore,
followed by Tamil Nadu that gets Rs. 168 crore. The
IMR of Tamil Nadu is 22. Among the smaller States,
Meghalaya will get Rs. 6.2 crore, Mizoram Rs. 3.13
crore, Nagaland will get Rs. 159 crore, Sikkim Rs.
150 crore and Tripura Rs. 84 crore.
As for big States, Maharashtra will get Rs. 133
crore, Punjab Rs. 106 crore, Karnataka will receive
Rs. 53 crore, West Bengal Rs. 26 crore andUttarakhand Rs. 42 crore.
The grant is payable to the States based on the
data available in the Sample Registration System
Survey of 2009 and 2012. Only 11 States and Union
Territories have achieved the MDG as far as IMR is
concerned. Of these, only three bigger States -
Maharashtra, Kerala and Delhi - have been able to
achieve the target.
Strengthen RTE guidelines to enddiscrimination: NAC
The Working Group, headed by Farah Naqvi,
has recommended that The Right to Education Act's
guidelines need to be strengthened to help end
discrimination in schools, whether based on caste,
religion, gender, disability, class or language, by
setting up an effective grievance redress and
monitoring machinery.
According to the Working Group, the Human
Resource Development Ministry should ask theStates to establish a monitoring and grievance
redress architecture from local to the State and
National levels; that the Ministry, along with the
States, institutionalize mechanisms for dialogue
and mediation that ensures the participation of
all stakeholders in resolving grievances, individual
and systemic; and make provisions for capacity-
building of all personnel involved with this task
while creating inter-ministerial coordination
mechanisms at the Centre and the State level for
better convergence.
The Working Group also wants the Ministry of
Women and Child Development to strengthen the
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National Commission for the Protection of Child
Rights (NCPCR) and the State Commissions for
Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) by
undertaking institutional reform measures within
the SCPCRs and augmenting both human and
financial resources.
It has also suggested reforms in teacher education
and training for preparing and training teachers tohandle discrimination and engaging with issues of
identity, diversity, processes of social exclusion and
inclusion. Grievance redress, it feels, should be done
as far as possible in a non-adversarial manner
through dialogue, training of school management
committees and local authorities on discrimination
and by evolving a time-bound and confidential way
of resolution, in which civil society groups could be
involved. However, if the non-adversarial route does
not work, then it wants punitive action taken.
ADB $100 million Loan to Provide Sustainable
Urban Services in Five Uttarakhand Towns
Government of India has signed an agreement
for a $100 million loan with Asian Development
Bank (ADB) as second tranche of Uttarakhand Urban
Sector Development Investment Program which will
support rehabilitation and expansion of basic urban
infrastructure in five major urban centers of
Uttarakhand and ensure sustainable municipalservice delivery.
The project will supplement the urban
infrastructure program already initiated under the
first tranche in Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital
and will be extended to cover in addition Haldwani,
Roorkee and Ramnagar towns specially for
improving the water supply infrastructure that will
benefit about 800,000 residents. A comprehensive
sewerage system will also be developed under the
project, which will provide improved sanitation
facilities to about 100,000 residents of Roorkee town.
The project will address this objective and helpalleviate infrastructure deficiencies, tap economic
potential, and improve the living environment. The
project will improve the quality life and employment
opportunities for the people living in five project
towns. It will also improve the ability of participating
institutions to manage sector reforms and deliver
better services. The contribution of tourism in the
state economy is significant, so upgrades to key
infrastructure will also help draw visitors and
generate more employment opportunities.The second tranche loan from the ADB's
Ordinary Capital Resources has a 25-year term
including a grace period of five years, commitment
charges of 0.15% and interest rate to be determined
in accordance with ADB's LIBOR-based lending
facility. The Government of India will provide
counterpart funds of $42.86 million for a total second
tranche project investment cost of $142.86 million.
Asian Development Bank, based in Manila,
is dedicated to reducing poverty in Asia and thePacific through inclusive economic growth,
environmentally sustainable growth, and
regional integration. Established in 1966, it is
owned by 67 members - 48 from the region.
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World Press Freedom Index 2013The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking
of countries compiled and published by ReportersWithout Borders based upon the organization'sassessment of the countries' press freedom recordsin the previous year. A smaller score in the indexcorresponds to greater freedom of the press.
This year's index is a better reflection of theattitudes and intentions of governments towardsmedia freedom in the medium or long term.
For the third year running, Finland hasdistinguished itself as the country that most respectsmedia freedom. It is followed by the Netherlandsand Norway. Although many criteria are considered,
ranging from legislation to violence againstjournalists, democratic countries occupy the top ofthe index while dictatorial countries occupy the lastthree positions. Again it is the same three as lastyear - Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.
India has dropped nine places to 140th rank inthe list of 179 countries because of increasing
impunity for violence against journalists andbecause Internet censorship continues to grow. Itis the lowest for the "world's biggest democracy"since 2002. China (173rd, +1) shows no sign of
improving. Its prisons still hold many journalistsand netizens, while increasingly unpopular Internetcensorship continues to be a major obstacle toaccess to information.
The Press Freedom Index published by ReportersWithout Borders does not take direct account of the
kind of political system but it is clear thatdemocracies provide better protection for thefreedom to produce and circulate accurate news andinformation than countries where human rights areflouted. In dictatorships, news providers and their
families are exposed to ruthless reprisals, while indemocracies news providers have to cope with themedia's economic crises and conflicts of interest.
Coinciding with the release of its 2013 PressFreedom Index, Reporters Without Borders for thefirst time has published an annual global "indicator"of worldwide media freedom. This new analytic toolmeasures the overall level of freedom of informationin the world and the performance of the world's
INTERNATIONAL
governments in their entirety as regards this keyfreedom In view of the emergence of newtechnologies and the interdependence ofgovernments and peoples, the freedom to produceand circulate news and information needs to beevaluated at the planetary as well as national level.Today, in 2013, the media freedom "indicator" standsat 3395, a point of reference for the years to come.
The indicator can also be broken down by regionand, by means of weighting based on the populationof each region, can be used to produce a score from
zero to 100 in which zero represents total respect formedia freedom. This produces a score of 17.5 forEurope, 30.0 for the Americas, 34.3 for Africa, 42.2for Asia-Pacific and 45.3 for the former Sovietrepublics. Despite the Arab springs, the Middle Eastand North Africa region comes last with 48.5.
The high number of journalists and netizenskilled in the course of their work in 2012 (thedeadliest year ever registered by Reporters WithoutBorders in its annual roundup), naturally had a
significant impact on the ranking of the countrieswhere these murders took place, above all Somalia(175th, -11), Syria (176th, 0), Mexico (153rd, -4) andPakistan (159th, -8).
ICJ asked Britain to explain acquisition ofDiego Garcia
In a blow to the British government, theInternational Court of Justice in The Hague has askedBritain to explain its decision to acquire the ChagosIslands in the Indian Ocean from Mauritius in 1965
and sub-lease its biggest island Diego Garcia to theUS, much to India's discomfort, especially duringthe 1971 Indo-Pak war when Washington tilted infavour of Islamabad. Diego Garcia is used by longrange bombers belonging to the US Air Force and astaging post for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The hearing will be on the basis of the UNlaw of the sea; and the final verdict will be
binding on Britain.
After purchasing the Chagos archipelago, ofwhich Diego Garcia is a part, Britain forcibly evictedaround 1,500 islanders - deporting them to Mauritiusand Seychelles - to pave the way for the US base.The deportation of Chagos islanders is a matter of
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alleged human rights violation and legal battlesin British courts. A defeat for Britain at the ICJcould result in a return of the islanders to theiroriginal habitat.
UK's flourishing tongues: Punjabi, Bengali,Gujarati
The 2011 Census conducted by UK Office forNational Statistics (ONS) has for the first time triedto see how well the population could speak Englishwhen this was not their main language. It showedEnglish remained the main language for 92% (50m)residents aged 3 and over. The remaining 8% (4m)had a different main language, but most wereproficient in English.
The second most reported main language inEngland and Wales was Polish (1% - 546,000).
For the first time three Indian tongues figuredin the list of top six spoken languages spoken inBritain, with Punjabi being the third most commonlanguage used in England and Wales, after Englishand Polish. It is spoken by 2.73 lakh people.
Bengali is the fifth commonest languagefollowed by Gujarati, jointly spoken by 4.34 lakhpeople in England and Wales. Tamil took 12th spotwith just over a lakh people using it as the main
spoken language.
The top 10 languages included English, Polish,
Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Arabic, French,Chinese and Portuguese. The census revealed therewere 49 main languages (spoken by groups of morethan 15,000 people). The top 20 included five SouthAsian languages and nine European. Interestingly,22,000 people used sign language.
Of the 4 million residents aged 3 and over witha main language other than English, 1.7 million couldspeak English very well, 1.6 million well, and 726,000not well. The remaining 138,000 could not speak
English at all.
China gives go-ahead for three newBrahmaputra dams
China has given the go-ahead for the
construction of three new hydropower dams onthe middle reaches of the Brahmaputra River,ending a two-year halt in approving new projectson the river amid concerns from India andenvironmental groups.
China has, so far, only begun construction onone major hydropower dam on the main stream ofthe middle reaches of the Brahmaputra or YarlungZangbo as it is known in China - a 510 MW project
in Zangmu in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR),which began to be built in 2010. One of the threeapproved new dams is bigger than the Zangmuproject. A 640 MW dam will be built in Dagu, whichlies 18 km upstream of Zangmu. Another 320 MWdam will be built at Jiacha, also on the middlereaches of the Brahmaputura downstream of
Zangmu. A third dam will be built at Jiexu, 11 kmupstream of Zangmu. The capacity of the Jiexu damis, as yet, unconfirmed.
The three projects were listed in the StateCouncil's energy plan for the Twelfth Five Year Planperiod (2011-15), which was released on January 23.
The catchment area at the dam site, according tothe Huadong Engineering Corporation, is 157,400square kilometres, and the average annual dischargeis 1010 cubic metres per second.
The dam will be built with a height of 124 metresand 640 MW capacity. The construction of theZangmu dam in 2010 had triggered concerns in Indiaregarding possible impact on downstream flows.Chinese officials, however, assured their Indiancounterparts that the project was only a run-of-the-river hydropower station, which would not divertthe Brahmaputra's waters. The government has also
built at least six smaller hydropower projects on theYarlung Zangbo's tributaries which will have noimpact on downstream flows.
The government has, for now, shelved a long-discussed plan to divert the Yarlung Zangbo's watersto the arid north, citing technical difficulties. Theplan is part of the proposed Western route of themassive South-to-North diversion project, on whichconstruction is yet to begin.
However, with the three new approvals underthe energy plan, four hydropower projects will now
be built - all located within a few dozen kilometresof each other - on the main stream of the middlereaches of the Brahmaputra.
While they are run-of-the-river projects, they willbe required to store large volumes of water forgenerating power. Their construction is likely totrigger fresh concerns in India on how the flows ofthe Brahmaputra downstream will be impacted.
China gets Pakistan's strategic Gwadar port
Pakistan's cabinet formally agreed to hand overthe operation of its strategically located Gwadarport from Singapore's PSA (Port of SingaporeAuthority) International to China's Overseas PortHoldings. This puts in place China's famed "stringof pearls" strategy which may have significantimplications for India.
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In 2011, the Pakistani defence minister hadannounced in Beijing that Islamabad would transferownership to a Chinese company. China haddemurred then, but despite the worsening securitysituation in Balochistan, the Chinese have apparentlyagreed to take it over.
Gwadar was built by China but during its
operation by PSA, it barely attracted any commercialtraffic. There is also a lot of port development thatremains to be built. Pakistan expects China tocomplete that construction in record time, given itspast performance. More than that, Pakistan expectsChina to turn Gwadar into a naval base. For China,Gwadar could also be a conduit for energy flowsinto northwestern China, by transporting oil andgas from the port through pipelines that traverseBalochistan and the federal agencies to feed intoChina's Xinjiang province. As China's oil imports
increase, it would prefer to insulate its energy flowsfrom the turbulent waters of the Straits of Malaccaand the South China Sea.
As China moves into the Indian Ocean, Gwadarport would be ideal as a staging ground for Chineseships. China already has a steady presence in SriLanka's Hambantota port, it is wooing Maldives,though no port presence is planned yet. China isalso building a port in Chittagong, Bangladesh, aswell as Sonadiya, near Cox's Bazar. From the
security point of view, India could find itselfconsiderably constrained.
New United Nations report calls Israelisettlements in Palestinian areas 'illegal'
The report of the International Fact-FindingMission on Israeli Settlements in the OccupiedPalestinian Territory (OPT) states that a multitudeof the human rights of the Palestinians are violatedin various forms and ways due to the existence ofthe settlements. These violations are all interrelated,
forming part of an overall pattern of breaches thatare characterized principally by the denial of theright to self-determination and systemicdiscrimination against the Palestinian people whichoccur on a daily basis. Thus an independent inquirymandated by the United Nations has called on Israelto halt all settlement activity and to ensureaccountability for the violations of the human rightsof the Palestinians resulting from the settlements.
The UN Human Rights Council, based inGeneva, dispatched the Mission in March 2012 "to
investigate the implications of the Israeli settlementson the civil, political, economic, social and culturalrights of the Palestinian people throughout the
occupied Palestinian territory, including EastJerusalem."
The report states that settlements are established
and developed for the exclusive benefit of Israeli
Jews. They are maintained and advanced through
a system of total segregation between the settlers
and the rest of the population living in the OPT.
This system of segregation is supported andfacilitated by strict military and law enforcement
control to the detriment of the rights of the
Palestinian population.
The report further states that Israel is committing
serious breaches of its obligations under the right to
self-determination and under humanitarian law. The
magnitude of violations relating to Israel's policies
of dispossessions, evictions, demolitions and
displacements from land shows the widespread
nature of these breaches of human rights. The
motivation behind violence and intimidation against
the Palestinians and their properties is to drive the
local populations away from their lands, allowing
the settlements to expand.
About 250 settlements in the West Bank,
including East Jerusalem have been established since
1967 either with or without Government
authorization. The number of settlers is estimated at
520,000 (200,00018 in East Jerusalem and 320,000 inthe rest of the West Bank. Over the past decade the
settler population has grown at a much higher rate
than the population in Israel itself with a yearly
average growth of 5.3 per cent (excluding East
Jerusalem), compared to 1.8 per cent in Israel.
The establishment of the settlements in the West
Bank including East Jerusalem is described by the
report as "a mesh of construction and infrastructure
leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the
establishment of a contiguous and viable PalestinianState and undermines the right of the Palestinian
people to self-determination".
The Mission also reported the continuing cases
of violence by settlers against native Palestinians,
including "physical assaults on the person, the use
of knives, axes, clubs and other improvised weapons,
as well as shootings and throwing Molotov
cocktails". Between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2012,
Israeli settlers injured 147 Palestinians, including 34
children. Settler attacks on schools and harassmentof children on their way to school is showing an
upward trend since 2010.
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One of the primary sources of livelihood for thePalestinian farmers is olives. To harass and hurt thisvaluable asset, Israeli settlers often target the olivetrees. From 2005 to 2012 Yesh Din, a local NGO,monitored 162 investigations into vandalism againstPalestinian trees with only one investigation leadingto an indictment. Figures for 2012 (until mid-October)
show that during this period over 7,500 trees weredamaged or destroyed by settlers.
The Mission also reported the wide spread policyof the Israelis to prevent Palestinians from going totheir mosques or practicing holy rituals.
Iran unveils domestically built-fighter jet
Iran has unveiled its newest combat jet the
Qaher-313, or Dominant-313, a domestically
manufactured fighter-bomber that can even
evade radar.
The Qaher is one of several aircraft designs rolled
out by the Iranian military since 2007. Qaher-313 is
a fully indigenous aircraft designed and built by
our aerospace experts. This is a radar-evading plane
that can fly at low altitude, carry weapons, and
engage enemy aircrafts and land at short airstrips
The Islamic republic launched a self-sufficiency
military programme in the 1980s to compensate for
a Western weapons embargo that banned export of
military technology and equipment to Iran. Since
1992, Iran has produced its own tanks, armored
personnel carriers, missiles, torpedoes, drones and
fighter planes.
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India launches G2B portal for business relatedinformation
India ranks a poor 132nd among 185 countriesin the International Finance Corporation's Ease ofDoing Business index. Smaller countries, including
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal have rankedhigher in the index.
To improve the business environment, India haslaunched its first Government-to-business portal toprovide a round-the-clock, secure, one-stop-shop for
all investment and business related informationunder the National eGovernance Plan.
This mission mode project will mark a paradigmshift in the Government's approach to providing G2Bservices for India's investor and businesscommunities. The portal has been developed byInfosys in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.The project aims to create a business and investor-
friendly ecosystem in India by making all businessand investment related regulatory services acrossCentral, State and local Governments available on a
single portal, thereby obviating the need for aninvestor or a business to visit multiple offices or aplethora of Web sites.
eBiz will create a 24x7 facility for informationand services and will also offer joined-up serviceswhere a single application submitted by a customerfor a number of permissions, clearances, approvals
and registrations will be routed automatically acrossmultiple governmental agencies in a logical manner.An inbuilt payment gateway will also add value by
allowing all payments to be collected at one pointand then apportioned, split and routed to therespective heads of account of central/ State alongwith generation of challans and MIS reports.
RBI cuts policy rates by 0.25 pc
After a long gap of nine months, the ReserveBank (RBI) has reduced the short-term lending rate
by 0.25 per cent to 7.75 per cent and Cash ReserveRatio (CRR) by similar margin to 4 per cent thusreleased Rs 18,000 crores primary liquidity into the
system. While repo rate cut will reduce the cost ofborrowing for individuals and corporates, thereduction in CRR, which is the portion of deposits
ECONOMY
that banks have to park with RBI, would improvethe availability of funds.
Following the repo rate revision, the otherpolicy rates like reverse repo, bank rate, andMarginal Standing Facility Rate too will come down
by 0.25 per cent.
These initiatives are aimed at encouraginginvestments, supporting growth and anchoringinflationary expectations.
Inflation has been the prime inhibiting factor that
has prevented the RBI from cutting repo rate in thelast nine months. The RBI, however, has reduced thegrowth projections for the current financial year to5.5 per cent from its earlier estimate of 5.8 per cent.On inflation, it moderated the rate to 6.8 per cent forMarch-end from earlier projection of 7.5 per cent.
What i s CRR?
Cash reserve Ratio (CRR) is the amount of fundsthat the banks have to keep with RBI. If RBIdecides to increase the per cent of this, the
available amount with the banks comes down.RBI is using this method (increase of CRR rate),
to drain out the excessive money from the banks.
What i s SLR?
Statutory Liquidity Ratio is the amount of liquid
assets, such as cash, precious metals or otherapproved securities, that a financial institutionmust maintain as reserves other than the Cashwith the Central Bank
What i s Repo and Reverse Repo ra t e?
A repurchase agreement is the sale of securitiestogether with an agreement for the seller to buy
back the securities at a later date. The repurchaseprice should be greater than the original sale price,the difference effectively representing interest,called the repo rate. The party that originally buys
the securities effectively acts as a lender. Theoriginal seller is effectively acting as a borrower,using their security as collateral for a secured cash
loan at a fixed rate of interest.A reverse repo is simply the same repurchaseagreement from the buyer's viewpoint, not the
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seller's. Hence, the seller executing the transactionwould describe it as a "repo", while the buyer inthe same transaction would describe it a "reverserepo". So "repo" and "reverse repo" are exactlythe same kind of transaction, just described fromopposite viewpoints. The term "reverse repo andsale" is commonly used to describe the creation
of a short position in a debt instrument wherethe buyer in the repo transaction immediatelysells the security provided by the seller on theopen market.
New Norms to judge PSUs merit for takingpart in coal mine auction released
Embroiled in controversy over the allocation of
mines, the Coal Ministry has charted out a new set
of guidelines to evaluate applications from
government firms for assessing eligibility for taking
part in competitive bidding.The new eligibility criteria include: Demand-
supply deficit, plant location and progress made inearlier awarded block, mining capability and the
company's financials.
The eligibility would be judged on a parameter
of 20 marks in which the highest weightage of seven
points has been given to demand-supply gap of the
unit followed by five each on its financials andprogress made in the earlier awarded block. The
remaining three is for its mining capability.As far as the marks with respect to demand-
supply gap, this will not be applicable for central
PSUs i.e. Ministry of Power, will provide the deficitposition based on Central Electricity Authority
derived norms to be confirmed by Ministry of
Power/Planning Commission, as the case may be.
Demand-supply deficit of the state PSUs has to be
verified by the competent authority of the state
government. If required, this may be referred to
Planning Commission for their comments.After carrying out the scrutiny, a task force
constituted by Coal India arm CMPDIL will prepare
a comprehensive status incorporating details, coal
block-wise and applicant-wise, to be submitted to
the Coal Ministry. Coal Ministry will then seek
various stakeholders' views including state
governments and concerned ministries.
CMPDIL's observations would again be reviewed
by the Coal Ministry which would place it for
reviewing before a technical committee, to be
constituted with members drawn from Ministry of
Power and Steel, Central Electricity Authority, DIPP
and Planning Commission.
The proposed technical committee's recommen-dations would then be placed before an InterMinisterial Panel, headed by Coal Secretary, for itsfinal decision.
The Coal Ministry's move is understood to havefollowed government auditor CAG's reportestimating a whopping Rs 1.86 lakh crore potential
loss to the exchequer due to allotment of blocks to57 private firms without auction.
First Revised Estimates of National Income,Consumption Expenditure, Saving and Capital
Formation, 2011-12
The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry ofStatistics and Programme Implementation hasreleased the First Revised estimates of NationalIncome, Consumption Expenditure, Saving andCapital Formation for the financial year 2011-12.
The salient features of the estimates at aggregatelevel, which are based on latest availableinformation, are indicated below:
GROSS DO M EST IC PROD UCT AN D GROSS
NATIONAL INCOME
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at factor cost atconstant (2004-05) prices in 2011-12 is estimated at` 52,43,582 crore as against ` 49,37,006 crore in 2010-11 registering a growth of 6.2 per cent during the
year as against a growth of 9.3 per cent in the year2010-11. At current prices, GDP in 2011-12 isestimated at ` 83,53,495 crore as against ` 72,66,967crore in 2010-11, showing an increase of 15.0 percent during the year, as against an increase of 19.0per cent in the previous year.
At constant (2004-05) prices, the Gross NationalIncome at factor cost in 2011-12 is estimated at `51,96,848 crore as against ` 48,82,249 crore in 2010-11 showing a rise of 6.4 per cent during the year, asagainst an increase of 8.8 per cent in the previous
year. At current prices, the Gross National Incomein 2011-12 is estimated at ` 82,76,665 crore ascompared to ` 71,85,160 crore in 2010-11, showing arise of 15.2 per cent during the year, as against anincrease of 18.4 per cent in the previous year.
The growth rate of 6.2 per cent in the GDP during2011-12 has been achieved due to growth infinancing, insurance, real estate & business services(11.7%), transport, storage and communication(8.4%), electricity, gas & water supply (6.5%) andtrade, hotels & restaurants (6.2%). At constant prices,the primary sector, i.e. agriculture, forestry & fishinghas shown a growth of 3.6 per cent during 2011-12as against 7.9 per cent during the year 2010-11. The
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growth of secondary sector is 3.5 per cent and thatof service sector is 8.2 per cent during 2011-12, asagainst a growth of 9.2 per cent and 9.8 per cent,respectively, in the previous year.
CONSUM PTION EXPENDITURE, SAVIN G AN D
CAPITAL FORMATION
As various components of expenditure on GrossDomestic Product, namely, ConsumptionExpenditure and Capital Formation, are normallymeasured at market prices.
PRIVATE FINAL CONSUM PTION EXPENDITURE
Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE)at current prices is estimated at ` 50,56,219 crore in2011-12 as against ` 43,49,889 crore in 2010-11. Atconstant (2004-05) prices, the PFCE is estimated at `33,34,900 crore in 2011-12 as against ` 30,88,880 crore
in 2010-11. In terms of GDP at market prices, therates of PFCE at current and constant (2004-05) pricesduring 2011-12 are estimated at 56.3 per cent and59.2 per cent, respectively, as against thecorresponding rates of 55.8 per cent and 58.3 percent, respectively in 2010-11.
DOMESTIC SAVI NG
Gross Domestic Saving (GDS) at current pricesin 2011-12 is estimated at ` 27,65,291 crore as against` 26,51,934 crore in 2010-11, constituting 30.8% of
GDP at market prices as against 34.0% in theprevious year. The decrease in the rate of GDS hasmainly been due to the decrease in the rates offinancial savings of household sector from 10.4% to8.0%, private corporate sector from 7.9% to 7.2% andthat of public sector from 2.6% to 1.3% in 2011-12 ascompared to 2010-11.
ESTIM ATES AT PER CAPI TA LEVEL
The per capita income (per capita Net National
Income at factor cost) in real terms, i.e. at 2004-05prices, is estimated at ` 38,037 for 2011-12 as against` 36,342 in 2010-11, registering an increase of 4.7 percent during the year, as against an increase of 7.2%during the previous year.
The per capita income at current prices isestimated at ` 61,564 in 2011-12 as against ` 54,151for the previous year depicting a growth of 13.7 percent, as against an increase of 17.1% during theprevious year.
The per capita PFCE at current prices in 2011-12
is estimated to be ` 42,065 as against ` 36,677 in theyear 2010-11, showing an increase of 14.7% as againstan increase of 15.7% in the previous year. The
corresponding estimates at constant (2004-05) pricesare ` 27,745 and ` 26,045, registering an increase of6.5% in 2011-12, as against an increase of 7.1% inthe previous year.
CST issue between Centre and States resolved
The Centre and states have resolved the
contentious issue of Central Sales Tax compensationwith the states; agreeing for a lower payment of Rs
34,000 crore for phasing out the Central Sales Tax,
a precondition for rollout of the Goods and Services
Tax (GST).
CST, a tax imposed on the interstate movement
of goods, was reduced from 4% to 3% in 2007-08
and further to 2% in 2008-09 after the introduction
of value-added tax (VAT). The centre had then
promised the states that it would bear losses due to
reduction of CST.The Empowered Committee set up by finance
minister P Chidambaram to resolve the CST issue
had suggested that the payment of Rs 34,000 crore
be made to the states towards losses on account of
phasing out of CST.
According to the resolution the Centre would
bear 100% of the loss accrued to states in 2010-11
fiscal on account of lowering of CST. However, for
2011-12 and 2012-13 fiscal, the Centre would give
75% and 50% of the losses to the states.The CST will be phased out totally after the
introduction of GST, which was originally
scheduled to be launched from April 2010. The
GST rollout has missed several deadlines on
account of differences over contentious issue of CST
compensation and design of the GST structure
between the states and the Centre. Introduced in
the Lok Sabha in March 2011, GST Constitution
Amendment Bill is with the standing committee
on finance.
Cabinet clears revival package for Scooters
India
The Cabinet has approved the Rs 200-crore
revival package for ailing public sector unit (PSU)
Scooters India (SIL) on the recommendation of the
Department of Heavy Industry.
In 2011, the Cabinet had given approval to
divesting government's entire 95.38 per cent stake
in Scooters India to a private player through
strategic route. But the Department of HeavyIndustry had put on hold the strategic sale of ailing
public-sector unit SIL.
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Incorporated in 1972, SIL initially manufacturedscooters under the brand name Vijai Super for thedomestic market and Lambretta for overseasmarkets. Later, it ventured into the three-wheelersegment with the Vikram brand. In 1997, it stoppedtwo-wheeler production and is now engaged in themanufacture and marketing of only three-wheelers.
The automobile company, which has about 1,200regular employees, has been incurring losses since2002-03. In March 2009, the company was declaredsick. SIL's net loss (before tax) stood at about Rs 20crore during the 2011-12 fiscal.
Growth hits 9-year low in 2011-12
India's economic growth estimate for 2011-12has been revised downward to 6.2 per cent from6.5 per cent earlier. This has been reflected in thefirst revised estimate for 2011-12 (earlier called
quick estimates) released by the Central StatisticsOffice (CSO).
The revised GDP growth estimate of 6.2 percent is the lowest in nine years after the 2002-03nadir of 4 per cent.
The CSO had in February last year estimated
GDP growth for 2011-12 at 6.9 per cent, but revised
it later to 6.5 per cent in May. The downward
revision of GDP estimate for 2011-12 could be
attributed to the scaling down of services growth
from 8.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent earlier.
CSO has, however, raised agriculture and
industry growth estimate to 3.6 per cent and 3.5 percent, respectively. Agriculture was earlier estimated
to have grown by 2.8 per cent and industry by 3.4
per cent.
The CSO has also pegged the 2011-12 gross
domestic savings at 30.8 per cent of GDP as
compared to 34 per cent a year ago.
Along with the first revised estimate for 2011-
12, the CSO also came up with the second revised
estimate for 2010-11 and third revised estimate for
2009-10.GDP growth estimate for 2010-11 has
been revised upwards to 9.3 per cent from 8.4 per
cent, and for 2009-10 to 8.6 per cent from 8.4 per
cent earlier.
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INDIA AND THE WORLD
Cross-LoC trade, bus service to be resumedbetween India and Pakistan
Cross-border trade and bus service between India
and Pakistan will resume along Chakan-da-Bagh
crossing point in Poonch district of Jammu and
Kashmir from 28 Jan 2013, after more than a
fortnight-long suspension, following escalation in
tension at the Line of Control over the brutal killing
of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops.
Pakistan army had on 11th January refused to
open the gates for allowing cross-LoC trade atChakan-Da-Bagh crossing point in Poonch district
resulting in stranding of 25 J-K trucks carrying goods
mostly vegetables for traders in Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir (PoK).
Chakan-Da-Bagh crossing point was started in
2006 to facilitate easier trade and travel between
divided families of Jammu and Kashmir and PoK.
Cross-LoC trade and travel are considered as
major confidence building exercises between India
and Pakistan.
This was the second time that LoC travel and
trade had come to a grinding halt after Pakistani
Army refused to open gates in past 8 months. LoC
trade had earlier come to a halt on 14th June last
year due to closure of gates of Chakan-Da-Bagh
border point in Poonch following LoC firing, shelling
and ceasefire violations. It was resumed later on 14th
July.
The Poonch-Rawlakote'Carvan-e-Aman' bus
service was also suspended on 11th June 2012 and
resumed later on 17th July after the Brigade
commander level meeting between Pakistani and
Indian armies.
India and Bangladesh ink extradition treaty
The 4th Home Ministers level talks between
Bangladesh and India commenced at Dhaka.
The Bangladesh delegation was led by Dr.
Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, Minister, Ministry
of Home Affairs whereas Indian delegationwas led by Shri. Sushilkumar Shinde, Union
Home Minister.
Both the nations have inked an extradition treatyand a friendlier visa regime. The Extradition Treaty
will help to increase cooperation among law
enforcing agencies of the two countries and to curb
criminal activities. The RTA will ease the visa
obtaining procedure and will promote people-to-
people exchanges between the two countries. The
new visa regime, named revised travel arrangement,
proposes to remove restrictions on visits of
businesspersons, students, patients, senior citizens
above 65 years and children below 12 years.Businessmen would be given five-year multiple
entry visa, while those travelling for medical
purposes would be given two-year multiple entry
visa along with visa to three attendants of a patient,
under the proposals.
During the meet both sides expressed satisfaction
at the smooth operation of the Coordinated Border
Management Plan (CBMP) and agreed to increase
number of joint patrolling with a view to curbing
criminal activities along the border. They expressedconfidence that increased number of coordinated
patrolling under the CBMP would enhance
cooperation between the border guarding forces of
the two countries, and enable them to manage the
identified vulnerable areas with a view to preventing
criminal activities, illegal movement, acts of violence
and loss of lives along the border areas. Both sides
agreed to allow development work within 150 yards
of zero line. As an additional measure for better
border management , bo th sides agreed toimmediately start consultations between the District
Commissioner and District Magistrate of border
districts for resolving local issues.
Both sides also agreed to further intensify the
activities of the different nodal points in different areas
of cooperation such as human trafficking, drugs,
INTERPOL, etc. Both sides agreed to extend
cooperation for apprehension of wanted criminals and
fugitives and in this regard, Bangladesh Home Minister
once again urged for immediate tracking, arresting,and handing over the killers of the father of the Nation,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
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14th Session of India - Australia Joint
Ministerial Commission convenes in Delhi
The 14th Session of the India - Australia Joint
Ministerial Commission convened in New Delhi. It
was co-chaired by Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of
Commerce, Industry and Textiles, India and the Dr.
Craig Emerson MP, Australian Minister for Trade
and Competitiveness and Minister Assisting thePrime Minister on Asian Century Policy.
The Ministers welcomed the positive
momentum in the India-Australia relationship,
based on shared values, converging interests and
growth in economic links.
Both the nations has emphasised on the
importance of closer trade and investment relations
for the strategic partnership. The Ministers
underlined the importance of a solid institutional
framework to facilitate future growth in bilateraltrade and investment. In this context, they have
placed the priority on the conclusion of a mutually
beneficial Comprehensive Economic Cooperation
Agreement (CECA); a comprehensive, high quality
equitable agreement would broaden the base of
merchandise trade, remove non-tariff barriers that
impede trade in services, and facilitate and
encourage investment.
The Ministers welcomed the growth in the
bilateral investment relationship and agreed on theimportance of strong bilateral investment flows
particularly in priority areas such as mining,
advanced manufacturing, infrastructure, clean
technology and tourism.
The Ministers has also welcomed the launch of
the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) negotiations towards a modern,
comprehensive, high quality, and mutually beneficial
regional economic partnership agreement. During
the meet, they have discussed their mutualcommitment to strengthening the East Asia Summit
(EAS) as a forum that incorporated all the major
economies in the India-Pacific region.
Further the Ministers underlined their
commitment to reinforce the Indian Ocean Rim
Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC),
both during India`s remaining period as chair and
Australia`s two year term as chair from November
2013. In particular, they commended the work being
done in IOR-ARC on trade facilitation, customs
cooperation and business-to-business cooperation,as useful practical steps towards greater regional
trade and economic cooperation.
The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to
finding ways to break through the current impasse
in the Doha Round of World Trade Organization
negotiations. They expressed disappointment that it
had not been possible to conclude the Doha
Development Agenda to date, but agreed on the
importance of moving the process forward,
particularly in the current global economicenvironment. They also agreed on the need to resist
rising protectionist pressures.
The Ministers acknowledged the critical
importance of education and skills development in
helping to achieve both countries` targets for
innovation, productivity and economic growth and
welcomed efforts underway to strengthen the
bilateral knowledge partnership. In particular, they
commended growing collaboration under the
auspices of the Australia-India Education Councilbetween India`s nascent Sector Skills Councils and
Australia`s Industry Skills Councils on standards and
approaches to vocational training.
The Ministers highlighted research work
underway to lift agricultural productivity and make
crops more disease-resistant. The two Ministers
recognized the potential for greater focus and
collaboration in food security, including through
enhanced agricultural trade and investment. Indian
delegate encouraged greater Australian investment
in the Indian agriculture sector, including for cold
chains and storage and logistics management of
agriculture and horticultural produce.
They noted the significant growth in the
bilateral agricultural cooperation, including the
establishment and first meeting of the Joint
Working Group on Agriculture held in New Delhi
in September and the proposed first meeting of the
Jo int Work ing Gr oup on Wool and Wool len
products in February 2013. They announced plans
for Australia and India to host a regional Sanitary
and Phytosanitary (SPS) workshop in 2013. They
also commended the work by both countries in
improving market access for meat and horticultural
products.
The Ministers agreed on the important role of
people-to-people links in the expanding bilateral
relationship. The Ministers felt that direct flights
between India and Australia would provide a further
boost to bilateral engagement.
The Ministers agreed that the next Joint
Ministerial Commission will be held in Australia
in 2014.
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India and Spain Agrees to Enhance
Cooperation in the Field of Renewable Energy
Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Minister for New &
Renewable Energy met Spanish delegation led by
Ms. Carmen Vela Olmo, Minister of State for
Research, Development and Innovation. Both the
leaders agreed to enhance research, cooperation and
technologies in the field of Renewable Energy.Besides, research projects in the area of forecasting
of wind power and fabrication of cost effective solar
cells will be considered for financing by the Indian
and Spanish governments.
During the meet, the two ministers also agreed
to initiate a second call for research proposals so as
to encourage joint research and development
activities between research institutions as well as
industry groups of both the countries. The joint
Indo-Spanish programme for Technologicalcooperation in Renewable Energy was developed
as a consequence of the visit of the Minister of
New & Renewable Energy, to Spain last year.
Following the signing of the agreement in May,
2012, a joint call for project proposals was published
which included proposals on various aspects on
Renewable Energy involving industry and R & D
institutions in both the countries and covering all
aspects of Renewable Energy.
India is the fifth largest country in the world interms of wind power installed capacity. In addition,
India's National Solar Mission aims to facilitate the
installation of 20000 MW of grid connected power
capacity by 2020. Spain is the 4th largest producerof wind generated power and is top-ranked
worldwide in terms of photovoltaic solar power
capacity.
Legislation for doubling H-1B visa, makeGreen Card easier
A bipartisan group of top US Senators hasintroduced a legislation in the Senate aiming at
several changes in immigration norms, including
doubling of H-1B visa cap and establishing a market-
based escalator.
The other proposed measures include
recapturing of unused Green Card numbers,
eliminating country cap and recommending a series
of new provisions to provide legal permanent
residency to talented and brilliant.
Introduced by Senators Marco Rubio, OrrinHatch, Amy Klobuchar, the Immigration Innovation
(I2) Act of 2013 proposes to increase H-1B cap from
65,000 to 115,000 and establish a market-based H-1B
escalator, so that the cap can adjust to the demands
of the economy. The bill includes a 300,000 ceiling
on the ability of the escalator to move. If the cap is
hit in the first 45 days when petitions may be filed,
an additional 20,000 H-1B visas will be made
available immediately. If it is hit in the first 60 days
when petitions may be filed, an additional 15,000H-1B visas will be made available immediately and
if the cap is hit in the first 90 days when petitions
may be filed, an additional 10,000 H-1B visas will
be made available immediately. In case the cap is
hit during the 185-day period ending on the 275th
day on which petitions may be filed, and additional
5,000 H-1B will be made available immediately, the
bill proposes and calls for uncapping the existing
US advanced degree exemption (currently limited
to 20,000 per year).
The legislation focuses on areas vital to keep US
competitiveness intact in the global economy.
It proposes increased access to Green Cards for
high-skilled workers by expanding the exemptions
and eliminating the annual per country limits for
employment based Green Cards.
The legislation also aims at reforming the fees
on H-1B and Green Cards so those fees can be used
to promote American worker retraining and
education.
India, Gibraltar sign Tax Information Exchange
Agreement
India and Gibraltar have signed a Tax
Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) that calls
for the transparent sharing of information.
The Agreement was signed by Jaimini Bhagwati,
High Commissioner of India to the UK from Indian
side and Gilbert Licudi QC, Minister with the
responsibility of Financial Services, Gibraltar onbehalf of Gibraltar.
This is the 13th TIEA being signed by India. So
far India has signed TIEAs with Bahamas, Bermuda,
British Virgin Islands, Isle of Man, Cayman Islands,
Jersey, Macau, Liberia, Argentina, Guernsey, Bahrain
and Monaco.
As per the agreement, based on internationalstandard of transparency and exchange ofinformation, information must be foreseeably
relevant to the administration and enforcement ofthe domestic laws of the Contracting Partiesconcerning taxes covered by the agreement. It also
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provides for tax examination abroad and hasspecific provisions for providing banking andownership information.
The salient features of the agreement also
say that the requesting state has to provide some
minimum details about the information requested
in order to justify the foreseeable relevance criteria.
Information is to be treated as secret and canbe disclosed to only specified person or authorities,
who are tax authorities or the authorities concerned
with the determination of tax appeal. It also provides
for the use of information for non tax purposes
with the written consent of the Competent Authority
of the requested Party. There is a specific
provision that the requested Party shall provide
upon request the information even though that
Party may not need such information for
its own tax purposes. The agreement alsoprovides for exchange of past information in
criminal matters.
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CSIR-OSDD Collaborates with the RoyalSociety of Chemistry
In pursuit of common aims and to raiseawareness of the importance of Cheminformaticsto accelerate the discovery of novel therapies forneglected diseases like TB and Malaria, the Councilof Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), whichprovides scientific and industrial R&D thatmaximises the economic, environmental andsocietal benefits for the people of India has signeda Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between
its Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) initiativeand the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), thelargest European organization for advancingchemical sciences. RSC's activities span education,conferences, science policy, development ofchemical applications and the promotion ofchemistry to the public.
The MoU, spanning three years, aims toaddress the objective of finding novel, faster-acting, and more effective regimens for TB andMalaria by advancing the discipline of
Cheminformatics. The collaboration envisionsconducting workshops and conferences to buildlinks between experts and leaders in the comingyears and will focus on jointly building an onlinerepository of real and virtual molecular structuresalong with developing free-to -use software toolsfor drug discovery and development. Thepartnership also aims at exploring the possibilityof advancing OSDD's e-learning program forstudents.
Open Source Drug Discovery (OSDD) is an
initiative funded and led by the Council ofScientific and Industrial Research. OSDD is ateam India consortium with global partnershipwith a vision to provide affordable healthcareto the developing world to solve the complexproblems associated with discovering noveltherapies for diseases like Tuberculosis,Malaria and Leishmaniasis.
Global Research Team Decodes GeneSequence of Chickpea
A global research team has completed high-quality sequencing of not one but ninety genomesof chickpea (gram / chana) that promises improvedgrain yields and quality, greater drought tolerance
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
and disease resistance, and enhanced geneticdiversity.
The research milestone was the result of yearsof genome analysis by the International ChickpeaGenome Sequencing Consortium led by theInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The project team had 49scientists from 23 organizations in 10 countries,including ICAR from India.
The global research partnership succeeded inidentifying - 28,269 genes of kabuli variety of
chickpea. Re-sequencing of additional 90 chickpeatypes provided millions of genetic markers. This
has great potential in developing drought tolerantand disease resistant varieties of this importantpulse crop.
Chickpea or gram is the second largest pulsecrop in the world, grown in about 11.5 millionhectares. It is grown mostly by poor farmers and indry areas. It is highly nutritious. While India is thelargest producer (also importer and consumer) of
chickpea, it is grown in a number of Africancountries including Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya.
Chickpea is also an important component of thepulse industry in Australia, Canada and USA.
Water flow on Mars hints at ancient life
A new study hints at the possibilities thatnarrow ridges found in Martian craters mayactually be fossilized remnants of undergroundcracks through which water once flowed on thered planet. Water flowing beneath the surface ofancient Mars suggests life may once have beenpossible on the Red planet.
The study, published in the journal GeophysicalResearch Letters, bolsters the idea that the subsurfaceenvironment on Mars once had an active hydrologyand could be a good place to search for evidence of
past life. The study suggests that the ridges, manyof them hundreds of metres in length and a fewmetres wide, had been noted in previous research,
but how they had formed was not known.
Water, if present in the subsurface, would havecirculated through the cracks, slowly filling them in
with mineral deposits, which would have been
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harder than the surrounding rocks. As thosesurrounding rocks eroded away over millions ofyears, the seams of mineral-hardened material wouldremain in place, forming the ridges seen today. Usinghigh-resolution images from Nasa's MarsReconnaissance Orbiter, the researchers noted theorientations of the ridges and composition of the
surrounding rocks.The orientation data is consistent with the idea
that the ridges started out as fractures formed byimpact events. Importantly, researchers also foundthat the ridges exist exclusively in areas where thesurrounding rock is rich in iron-magnesium clay, amineral considered to be a telltale sign that waterhad once been present in the rocks.
Iran successfully sends monkey into space
Iran recently claimed to have sent a monkey
into space. The primate travelled in a Pishgamrocket, which reached an altitude of some 120km(75 miles) for a sub-orbital flight before "returningits shipment intact".
Western nations have expressed concern thatIran's space programme is being used to developlong-range missiles, which could be later used todevelop missiles that could potentially be used tocarry nuclear warheads, whereas Iran denies it isseeking to develop nuclear weapons and insists its
nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.Later Iran claimed that the monkey has returned
safely from space over which many peopleexpressed skepticism.
The Iranian Space Agency is Iran's governmentalspace agency. Iran is an active participant in theAsian space race and became an orbital-launch-capable nation in 2009.
According to Iranian manned space program, thefirst sub-orbital spaceflight with an Iranian on board
will take place by 2016 at an altitude below 200kilometers as preparation for the eventual orbitalspaceflight. Experts are looking at this launch fromIran in light of these plans.
Life found deep below Antarctic ice
Cells containing DNA have emerged as the firstevidence of life in a subglacial lake in WestAntarctica. A U.S. research team retrieved water fromLake Whillans, which sits 800 meters below the icesurface. The water hosted a surprising bounty of
living cells.The scientists collected three 10-liter water
samples from the lake. Preliminary tests conducted
in mobile labs show that the cells are actively usingoxygen. It may take months for biologists to identifythe microbes present. The microbes have been sealedoff below the ice for at least 100,000 years.
Lake Whillans sits in a shallow cavity at thedownstream end of a slow-moving sheet of ice. Thedeep liquid streams that feed this and more than
340 other subglacial lakes across Antarctica alsolubricate the ice above. Geothermal energy, alongwith friction and a heavy blanket of ice, keeps thewater liquid in this frigid land.
Pulsar behaviour defies theories
Unlike pulsars that emit either at X-ray or radiofrequencies, a pulsar located 3,500 light years away
has b