Current Affairs Feb 2014

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Union Cabinet granted minority status

to Jain community across India

Jain community has been granted

the minority status by Union Cabinet.

This nod has enabled the community

to avail the benefits in government

schemes and programmes. With this

nod of the Union Community, Jain

community became the sixth

community to attain minority

status.

Other five communities that has

been granted the status of minority

are,

Muslims

Christians

Sikhs

Buddhists

Parsis

By this the community will get a

share in the central fund that is

regulated under the welfare

programmes and also as

scholarships for the minority

after the decision is notified under

Section 2(c) of the National

Commission for Minorities Act 1992.

With this notification, the community

will be allowed to administer and

mange their own educational

institutions.

Chapter I of the National

Commission for Minorities under its

Section 2 has defined the minority

commission and the Act has

mentioned,

Commission means the

National Commission for

Minorities constituted under

section 3.

Member means a Member of

the Commission [and includes

the Vice Chairperson].

Minority, for the purposes of

this Act, means a community

notified as such by the Central

Government.

Prescribed means prescribed

by Rules made under this Act.

Chapter II of the commission under

Section 3 has described the process

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of Constitution of the National

Commission for Minorities

The Central Government shall

constitute a body to be known as

the National Commission for

Minorities to exercise the powers

conferred on, and to perform the

functions assigned to, it under

this Act.

The Commission shall consist of a

Chairperson, [a Vice Chairperson

and five] Members to be

nominated by the Central

Government from amongst

persons of eminence, ability and

integrity; Provided that five

Members including the

Chairperson shall be from

amongst the Minority

communities.

About Jain Community

At present about 50 lakh (as per the

census 2001, Jain community is

about 0.4 percent of total Indian

population) people are a part of Jain

population in India.

The community is considered as a

prosperous group because

maximum of its population is a

business group traditionally.

According to Jainism, it originated as

a religion by 24 Thirthankaras.

Rigveda have the reference of the first

Thirthankara named Rishabha. The

last two Thirthankaras were

Parasvanath (23rd) and

Vardhamana Mahavira (24th).

Parasvanath died at the age of 100

years, got enlightment at the age of

30.

Mahavira was born in 540 BC in

Kundagrama, near Vaisali in North

Bihar and got enlightment at the age

of 42 and died at the age of 72 years

in 468b BC in Rajgir in Bihar by

self-starvation.

Union Government launched National

Waterway-4 project in Tamil Nadu

Union Government launched the

project for the development of the stretch of

37 Kilometres of the National Waterway-

four (NW-4) between Sholinganallur to

Kalpakkam in South Buckingham

Canal in Tamil Nadu.

NW-4 covers a total length of 1078

Km consisting of Kakinada-Puducherry

canal systems integrated with

Godavari and Krishna Rivers.

Main components of the project

include dredging and excavation to

develop navigational channel,

construction of three terminals and

navigational locks.

The project will ease out the

transportation problems in Chennai

suburbs to a great extent besides

promoting tourist movement to important

tourist spots at Mahabalipuram and

Puducherry.

Other stretches of the National

Waterway-4, which covers the states of

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and

Puducherry, would also be taken up for

development subsequently.

About National Waterway

National Waterway 1: will starts

from Allahabad to Haldia with a

distance of 1620 km. The NW 1 runs

through the Ganges, Bhagirathi and

Hooghly river system. It will be the

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longest National Waterway in

India.

National Waterway 2: a stretch

on Brahmaputra River from

Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam state.

National Waterway 3: run from

Kollam to Kottapuram. The 205

km long West Coast Canal is India’s

first waterway with all time

navigation facility.

National Waterway 4: connect

Kakinada to Pondicherry

through Canals, Tank and River

Godavari along with Krishna River.

National Waterway 5: connects

Orissa to West Bengal using the

stretch on Brahmani River, East

Coast Canal, Matai River and

Mahanadi River Delta.

National Waterway 6: It is the

proposed waterway in Assam state

and will connect Lakhipur to

Bhanga in river Barak.

Union Government banned cosmetic

companies from testing on animals

The notification prohibiting testing of

cosmetics on animals was issued by

the Union Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare.

The rules prohibiting testing of

cosmetics on animals will become

effective within 45 days of it being

made public.

The ban implies that no cosmetic

which has been tested on animals in

the country will be allowed to be

sold.

With this India became the first

country in South Asia to ban the

testing of cosmetics and its

ingredients on animals.

To give effect to the notification, the

amendment was made in the Drug

and Cosmetics Act, 1945.

The amendment provides that any

cosmetic product which carries out

animal testing will face action as per

provisions of the Drugs and

Cosmetics Act and the Animal Cruelty

Act.

However, the ban will not prevent

companies from importing and

selling animal-tested cosmetics in the

country.

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Companies are still free to

outsource their animal testing

to other countries and then import

newly animal-tested cosmetics and

ingredients back into India.

To prevent this, India must also ban

the import and sale of cosmetic

products and ingredients that have

been newly animal-tested anywhere

in the world.

Union Cabinet approved to set up Rail

Tariff Authority

Rail Tariff Authority will be an

advisory body which will advise the

Railway Ministry on fares. RTA will

comprise of a chairperson and four members

at the apex level.

At present railway fare and freight

rates are set by the Railway Board in

accordance with the Railway Act, 1989.

The Rail Tariff Authority functions include

It will recommend fare revision from

time to time taking into account input

cost and market condition.

It will aim to develop an integrated,

transparent and dynamic pricing

mechanism for the passenger and

freight segments of the Indian

Railway’s business.

It will help the government to

generate requisite surpluses for

growth in the future.

RTA will be the first external pricing

regulatory body for the country’s rail

sector. The RTA will be given mandatory

powers only after the amendment of the

Railway Act, 1989 by the Parliament.

TRAI released Working Guidelines for

Spectrum Trading

Telecom Regulatory Authority

of India (TRAI) released working

guidelines for trade of spectrum. The

guidelines need to be approved by the

government before it can be implemented.

Main Working Guidelines are:

Only outright transfers of

airwaves have been permitted from

the seller to the buyer.

While no permission will be required

from the government for trading of

spectrum, the regulator has

mandated that both the seller and the

buyer will have to inform the licensor

six weeks before the trade takes place.

Only that spectrum will be allowed to

put up for trade for which the

companies have paid a market

determined price, and trade of

spectrum will be on a pan-licensed

service area basis.

While the transaction will be between

two parties–buyer and seller—the

regulator has provided that the seller

has the flexibility to choose the

prospective buyer of its spectrum

through mechanism such as tender or

auction.

In 800 Mhz, spectrum trading will be

allowed in the block size of 1.25 Mhz,

in 900 Mhz and 1,800 Mhz at 200

Khz, in 2,100 Mhz at 5 Mhz, in 2,300

Mhz and 2,500 Mhz at 20 Mhz.

A non-refundable transfer fee of 1% of

the transactional amount or 1% of the

prescribed market price, whichever is

higher shall be imposed on all

spectrum trade transactions.

These working guidelines once

implemented, trading will enable companies

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to sell their surplus radio waves to operators

facing a spectrum crunch. Spectrum trading

is also expected to boost mergers and

acquisitions in the sector.

About TRAI

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of

India (TRAI) was established on 20th

February 1997 by an Act of Parliament,

called the Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India Act, 1997.

It was established to regulate telecom

services, including fixation/revision of

tariffs for telecom services which were

earlier vested in the Central Government.

Ethical Voting

The Election Commission of India

celebrated the 4th National Voters

Day across the country on 25

January 2014.

The theme for the 4th NVD is

Ethical Voting.

National Voters Day is started from

25 January 2011.

25th January is also the foundation

day of the Commission, which came

into being on this day in 1950.

The Commission’s objective through

NVD is to increase enrolment of

voters, especially of the newly

eligible ones, to make universal adult

suffrage a complete reality.

The National Voters Day is also

utilized to spread awareness among

voters regarding effective

participation in the electoral process.

Pitroda Committee submit report to

Information and Broadcasting

Ministry

Expert Committee constituted by

Information and Broadcasting Ministry to

review the institutional framework of

Prasar Bharti has submitted its report.

The committee was headed by the

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public

Information Infrastructure, Sam Pitroda.

Committee has recommended to

amend the Act of 1990 to give effective

freedom to the Prasar Bharti with

administrative and financial powers.

Committee has following

recommendations:

To develop a funding mechanism for

Prasar Bharati to address the need for

autonomy with financial

accountability.

The organisation should have the

power to frame rules and regulations

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for its employees without requiring

government approval.

There should be an reorganisation of

the Prasar Bharati board to make it a

professionally managed body effective

in guiding the organisation.

Complete transfer of ownership and

management of assets and human

resource to Prasar Bharati to make

the organisation administratively and

financially autonomous of

government.

Significantly, it recommended setting

up of a regulatory body to ensure

public accountability of the

organisation with respect to all

content broadcast on its television

and radio network. It should be a sub-

committee of the Prasar Bharati

board.

Prasar Bharati should create a world-

class broadcasting service

benchmarked with the best in the

world.

The committee encouraged

outsourcing of content creation to

external producers to attract high

quality and diverse programme and

creation of a distinct brand identities

for different TV and radio channels,

defining the content strategy for each.

The committee also strongly batted

for the use of social media by Prasar

Bharati which can be implemented

immediately and defining a social

media strategy for the organisation.

It also called for setting up of a Prasar

Bharati connect as a third arm of the

public service broadcaster

independent of DD and AIR and

mandate it to manage the various

social media initiatives of the

organisation.

The committee sought expansion of

satellite and digital cable TV

operations to meet the obligations of

public service broadcasting.

It also pressed for digitalisation of the

present AM radio system to a new

radio transmission system after due

evaluation, subject to cost and

technical availabilities.

The committee further suggested

greater involvement of the private

sector to expand broadcasting market

with a view to effectively utilise

infrastructure being created by Prasar

Bharati.

There should be a creation of a

dedicated, multi-platform channels

for dissemination of Prasar Bharati's

archival products.

National Urban Health Mission

launched

National Urban Health Mission was

launched by the Union Health Minister

Ghulam Nabi Azad in Bangalore.

NUHM aims to

Improve the health care status of the

urban population particularly the

poor and other disadvantaged

sections.

Strengthen public health care system.

Involve the community and urban

local bodies in healthcare delivery.

Supplement the National Rural

Health Under a unified National

Health Mission.

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Special Focus on

Urban Poor Population living in listed

and unlisted slums.

All other vulnerable populations such

as homeless, rag-pickers, street

children, rickshaw pullers,

construction site workers, sex

workers and any other temporary

migrants.

Highlights

30- 100 bedded Urban Community

Health Centres for cities above 5 lakh

population.

Urban Primary Health Centres for

every 50000 population located

within or near slums like settlements.

Strengthening existing First Referral

Units (FRUs), Urban Health Centres

& Dispensaries in terms of human

resources, equipment, medicines &

consumables.

Special outreach sessions for the most

vulnerable sections of the urban

population.

One ANM is for every 10000-12000

population.

One ASHA is for every 200-500

slums & urban poor households.

Empowerment of communities

through Mahila Arogya Samiti for

every 50-100 slums & urban poor

households.

Coverage

State Capital, District Headquarters

and all cities, towns with population

above 50000.

Estimated 22.13 crore urban

populations, including around 7.75

crore poor and vulnerable population.

National Girl Child Day observed on

24 January

National Girl Child Day observed on

24 January 2014 across India by the

Government.

This day is observed every year to

raise awareness and consciousness of the

society towards girl children.

This year’s theme of Girl Child Day is

Safety and Development of girl child.

This day is being observed every year on 24

January, since 2008.

Some Schemes for girls in India

Dhan Lakshmi Scheme - Government

of India (Ministry of Women and

Child Development)

Bhagyalakshmi Scheme - Karnataka

Ladli Lakshmi Yojana - Madhya

Pradesh

Girl Child Protection Scheme -

Andhra Pradesh

Ladli Scheme – Delhi and Haryana

Rajalakshmi Scheme - Rajasthan

(Discontinued)

Balika Samridhi Yojana (BSY) -

Gujarat

Beti Hai Anmol Scheme - Himachal

Pradesh

Rakshak Yojana - Punjab

Mukhya Mantri Kanya Suraksha

Yojana - Bihar

Mukhya Mantri Kanya Vivah Scheme

- Bihar

Kunwarbainu Mameru Scheme -

Gujarat

Indira Gandhi Balika Suraksha

Yojana - Himachal Pradesh

Mukhya Mantri Kanyadan Yojana -

Madhya Pradesh

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Most of these schemes are administered

through the Department of Women and

Child Development using the vast network

of ICDS and Anganwadi workers.

The Constitution of India offers all

citizens, including children, certain basic

fundamental rights.

The Directive Principles of State

Policy emphasizes that the state needs to

ensure that all children are provided with

services and opportunities to grow and

develop in a safe and secure environment.

However, in the Indian context, the

adverse social attitude towards daughters

has left girl children vulnerable and at a

disadvantage.

Their survival, education, health care,

development, security and well being are a

matter of national concern. A significant

impact of this discrimination is reflected in

the deterioration of the male-female ratio,

particularly among children. The 1991

Census of India indicated worsening trends

in sex ratio.

The 2001 Census revealed the gravity of

the situation. The dwindling number of girl

children on account of increasing incidences

of sex selection is a matter of concern in

many states.

Even after legislations such as the Pre-

conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic

Techniques Act of 1994, popularly known

as the PCPNDT Act, and many campaigns

to promote the value of the girl child, the

situation has barely improved.

Programmes and policies clearly state that it

is necessary to empower girl children in all

aspects of life so that they become equal

partners in society. They should be in a

position to avail equal freedom and

opportunity.

Objective of the National Girl Child

Day

National Girl Child day is observed

with an aim to ensure that every girl child is

respected, valued and treated equally in the

society.

On this day multi-pronged approach

to address and work towards the

diminishing child sex ratio in India is taken

up by the Women and Child Development

Ministry.

These initiatives help the country in

nurturing the girl child in a way that equal

opportunities are given to them similar like

the boys.

Earlier on 22 January 2014, the

India Post launched a special savings

scheme for the girl child between 10 and 20

in age of India. The scheme has asked the

parents of girls to open a Savings Bank

account. It says that the parents can open,

Recurring Deposit (RD)

Monthly Income Scheme (MIS)

Fixed Deposits

And can also buy National Savings

Certificate (NSC)

Parents who open an account during the

National Girl Child Week (24 to 30 January

2014) will be given special prizes.

India Post has mentioned that the

parents can deposit minimum 10 rupees for

the Recurring Deposit account, for Savings

bank accounts 50 rupees can be deposited

and for Monthly Income Scheme can be

opened from 5000 rupees and it goes up to 6

lakh rupees.

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Incentives to Girls for Secondary

Education

To promote enrolment of girl child in

the age group of 14-18 at secondary stage,

especially those who passed Class VIII and

to encourage the secondary education of

such girls, the Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

National Scheme of Incentives to Girls for

Secondary Education was launched in May,

2008.

The Scheme covers

All SC/ST girls who pass class VIII

and

Girls, who pass class VIII

examination from Kastrurba

Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas

(irrespective of whether they belong

to Scheduled Castes or Tribes) and

enroll for class IX in State/UT

Government, Government-aided or

local body schools in the academic

year 2008-09 onwards.

Girls should be below 16 years of age

(as on 31 March) on joining class IX.

Married girls, girls studying in private

un-aided schools and enrolled in

schools run by Central Government

are excluded.

A sum of 3000 Rupees is deposited in the

name of eligible girls as fixed deposit. The

girls are entitled to withdraw the sum along

with interest thereon on reaching 18 years of

age and on passing 10th class examination.

International Day of the Girl Child

is observed on 11 October and was declared

as a day to be observed by United Nations in

2012.

UN declared this day to support more

opportunities to a girl child worldwide upon

their gender like education, legal rights,

medical care, nutrition, child marriage and

violence.

Comment: In India there are many

government schemes to promote girls

education but it has failed till date because

of the lack of information transmission.

These schemes have also failed to reach the

target group even in urban areas. In terms

in education girls from the economically

weaker section of the country hardly has

been able to go beyond eighth or tenth class.

NALSA launched free legal service

clinics across the country

National Legal Services Authority

(NALSA) launched the 2648 village

legal service clinics across the country

on 24 January 2014.

The move aims to bring legal services

to the doorsteps of the weakest

section of the country.

Chief Justice of India P.Sathasivam

open free legal clinics in New Delhi.

As per the regulation, NALSA will set

up village legal services clinics

in one village in each Taluk of

the country.

On the lines of health centres in

villages, these legal services will

provide legal care to villagers who are

not aware about laws and their rights.

With the help of Para-legal volunteers

and empanelled lawyers, clinics will

also assist villagers in getting BPL

card, Election ID, Aadhaar Card, gas

connection and other government

welfare schemes.

About NALSA

The National Legal Services

Authority (NALSA) has been

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constituted under the Legal

Services Authorities Act, 1987 to

provide free Legal Services to the

weaker sections of the society and to

organize Lok Adalats for amicable

settlement of disputes.

In every State, State Legal Services

Authority has been constituted to give

effect to the policies and directions of

the NALSA and to give free legal

services to the people and conduct

Lok Adalats in the State.

The State Legal Services Authority is

headed by the Chief Justice of the

respective High Court.

Cabinet approved Amendments to the

Mental Health Care Bill

The Union Cabinet approved the

amendments in the Mental Health Care Bill

with an aim to empower people suffering

from mental illness and to protect their

rights.

The new bill seeks to decriminalise

suicide and make access to affordable

mental health care a right for all. This is the

first time in India, that a bill that seeks to

decremanlise acts of suicide by

linking it to the state of mental health

of the person attempting the act has

been presented in the Rajya Sabha and

approved by the Cabinet.

As per the Bill People suffering from

mental health attempting suicide would be

treated as mentally ill and therefore the act

will be exempted from the provisions of

Section 309 of Indian Penal Code.

This bill has fulfilled the gap in the

mental health law in the country after India

Ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities that requires

harmonization in its laws with those

prevalent worldwide. The convention was

signed by India on 1 October 2007 and it

came into force from 3 May 2008.

Cabinet approved Amendments in

OBC Central List for 13 States and 3

Union Territories

Union Cabinet gave its approval for

making amendments in the Central

List of Other Backward Classes

(OBCs) in 13 states and three Union

Territories.

The amendments have been done by

way of inclusion/correction/deletion

of castes/communities as per the

advices received from the National

Commission for Backward

Classes (NCBC).

115 changes will be notified by the

amendments, which were

recommended by the NCBC. The

three Union Territories are

Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry

and the 13 states include

Andhra Pradesh

Bihar

Goa

Himachal Pradesh

Jharkhand

Karnataka

Kerala

Maharashtra

Punjab

Tamil Nadu

Uttarakhand

Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

The amendments introduced in the

OBCs central list enable a person who

belongs to these castes/communities to avail

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Currency notes issued before 2005 to

be withdrawn: RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has

decided to withdraw all currency notes

issued prior to 2005 from circulation on

21 January 2014.

From 1 April 2014, Banks will

provide exchange facility to the general

public for exchanging the pre-2005 issued

bank notes. The notes issued before 2005 do

not have the year of printing on the reverse

side.

The move by the RBI is to capture

the money flows into the system and

also to help flush out counterfeit notes.

This would leave currency hoarders with no

option but to liquidate their unaccounted

holdings by spending or exchanging them.

Globally, it is a practice across

central banks to phase out banknotes at

regular intervals.

India ranked lowest in International

Intellectual Property Index

US Chamber of Commerce

released the International Intellectual

Property (IP) Index.

In the IP Index, India has scored a

low seven point out of maximum 30

points.

India continues to have the weakest

IP environment of all countries

included in the GIPC Index for the

second consecutive year.

The continued use of compulsory

licenses, patent revocations, and weak

legislative and enforcement mechanisms

raise serious concerns about India‟s

commitment to promote innovation and

protect creators.

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Other highlights of the IP Index

The United States received the

highest (28.5 percent) overall score,

but came in third after the United

Kingdom and France in the

enforcement category.

China IIP environment continued to

see challenges (trade secret protection

and enforcement) and it shows

improvements in certain aspects of its

patent regime.

Canada‟s treatment of pharmaceutical

patents, copyright laws, and

unwillingness to ratify international

IP treaties resulted in significantly

lower scores than other upper-income

economies.

About International IP Index

International IP Index is prepared by

the Global Intellectual Property

Center (GIPC) of the US Chamber of

Commerce which maps the IP environment

of 25 countries from around the world.

In 2010, the then-President of India

declared the next 10 years to be India‟s

“Decade of Innovation.”

Promoting innovation means

protecting domestic innovators and creators,

attracting world-class research and

development, and creating and sustaining

high-quality future jobs through a robust

intellectual property (IP) system.

IRDA formed Suresh Mathur panel to

suggest ways to improving FDI

The Insurance Regulatory and

Development Authority (IRDA) formed

a new committee headed by Suresh Mathur

to suggest ways to enhance Foreign

Domestic Investment (FDI) in insurance

intermediaries (other than insurance

companies) and Third party administrators

(TPA).

The Terms of Reference of the Committee

are:

To explore the options of further

increasing FDI limit for insurance

intermediaries.

To analyse possible impact of such

increase on the industry and other

related sectors.

To review the related international

practices.

To examine to what extent, if

possible, the FDI limit can be

increased in intermediaries and study

the international practices in this

regard.

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Presently, a foreign company cannot

hold more than 26% shares in an insurance

company. But, in case of insurance

intermediaries there is no such restriction.

There was also a consistent demand

for increasing the foreign shareholding in

insurance brokers from the existing limit of

26% to 100%.

The aforesaid proposed change would

not require any modification in the

Insurance Act. But, In case of increasing

foreign shareholding in an insurance

intermediary or TPA, the insurance act

would get modified.

There is a long pending Insurance bill

in Rajya Sabha since 2008. This bill seeks to

raise the FDI limit in insurance sector

from existing 26% to the 49 %.

Kelkar panel submitted report to

Union Oil Ministry

The Kelkar Committee submitted the

first part of its report. The committee

recommended continuing with the present

production-sharing regime in contracts for

blocks and allows companies to recover

exploration and production costs.

A Committee was set up under Vijay

Kelkar to suggest ways of raising domestic

oil and gas output. The panel was entrusted

with the task of drafting a plan to reduce

India‟s dependence on overseas energy by

2030 and submit a report within six months.

Suggestions of committee:

It suggested administering

Production-Sharing Contracts (PSC)

without any changes and

strengthening the Directorate-

General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) for

better administration.

Shifting to an open acreage regime,

where companies can pick

exploration areas through the year

rather than wait for periodic auctions

that offer areas identified by the

government.

The panel has called for setting up a

National Data Repository (NDR) that

will preserve and promote the

country‟s natural resources data.

The second part of the report would

cover pricing and taxation issues and is

likely to be submitted in February 2014.

Under the present regime, oil

companies can recover all costs of successful

and unsuccessful wells from sales of oil and

gas before sharing profit with the

government.

The suggestions in the first part of the

Kelkar Committee report are contrary to the

royalty-sharing regime suggested by C.

Rangarajan Committee, which has been

accepted by the government.

Under royalty -sharing regime

companies are required to state upfront the

quantum of oil or gas they would share with

the government from the first day of

production.

Rangarajan Committee had suggested

for royalty sharing regime without cost

recovery to check gold plating of

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investments by companies. Royalty sharing

regime is prevalent in developed countries.

However, Kelkar Committee has

opined that royalty sharing regime is not

workable in Indian conditions wherein the

exploration of oil & gas blocks are still

under-developed. Thus, the Kelkar panel

favoured the revenue sharing model for

shallow and on-land blocks that are less

cost-intensive than deep sea exploration.

The Comptroller and Auditor General

(CAG) had criticised the PSC regime on

grounds that it encouraged companies to

increase capital expenditure and delay the

government‟s share.

NABARD reduced refinance rate for

banks

National Bank for Agriculture

and Rural Development (NABARD)

reduced the refinance rates for the banks

and other lending agencies by 0.20

percent. This has been done with an aim to

promote rural credit and rural

infrastructure.

In its notification, NABARD has also

mentioned that banks drawing refinance of

500 crore rupees and more in a single drawl

would be allowed further reduction of 0.10

percent.

In its notification it also mentioned

that the reduction of 10 basis point for the

State Cooperative Agriculture and

Rural Banks (SCRDBs) will be allowed

for a single drawl of 200 crore rupees and

above.

With this reduction, NABARD expects

that this step will give a boost to banks by

extending investment credit. It will also help

in creation of warehouse infrastructures for

agricultural commodities in India.

About NABARD

NABARD (National Bank for

Agriculture and Rural

Development) was formed on 12

July 1982 by transferring the

agricultural credit functions of RBI

and refinance functions of then

Agricultural Refinance and

Development Corporation (ARDC).

NABARD was dedicated for the

service of the nation by the late Prime

Minister Indira Gandhi on 5

November 1982.

NABARD was constituted following

the recommendation of a committee

that was formed to review the

arrangements for institutional credit

for agriculture and rural

development (CRAFICARD) on

30 March 1979.

The committee was constituted by the

RBI under the Chairmanship of B

Sivaraman.

The Parliament, through Act 61 of

1981, approved the setting up of

NABARD. NABARD was set up with

an initial capital of 100 crore rupees.

NABARD basically looks for the

financial and developmental

issues. It also supervises the issues.

RBI appointed a Committee to Review

Governance of Boards of Banks in

India

Reserve Bank of India constituted an

Expert Committee to Review

Governance of Boards in India.

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The expert committee will be chaired

by PJ Nayak, the former Chairman

and CEO of Axis Bank and includes

other eight members.

The terms of reference of the

Committee would be,

To review the regulatory compliance

requirements of banks‟ boards in

India

To judge what can be rationalised and

where requirements need to be

enhanced

To examine the working of banks‟

boards including whether adequate

time is devoted to issues of strategy,

growth, governance and risk

management and will also review

central bank regulatory guidelines on

bank ownership, ownership

concentration and representation in

the board

To analyse the representation on

banks‟ boards to see whether the

boards have the appropriate mix of

capabilities and the necessary

independence to govern the

institution, and to investigate possible

conflicts of interest in board

representation, including among

owner representatives and regulators.

In this regard to also assess and

review the „fit and proper‟ criteria for

all categories of directors of banks,

including tenor of directorship

To examine board compensation

guidelines, and any other issue

relevant to the functioning of banks‟

boards and the governance they

exercise

Before this committee, the RBI

formed a similar panel in 2002 under the

chairmanship of AS Ganguly and seeked it

tp provide suggestions to find ways to make

the role of board members more effective.

The drafted report was mainly applicable for

private banks

RBI expert panel suggested adoption

of new CPI for Anchoring Monetary

Policy

Expert Committee to revise and

strengthen the monetary policy

framework submitted its report to

the Governor of RBI.

The committee was headed by Dr.

Urjit R Patel, the Deputy Governor

of RBI and was constituted on 12

September 2013 by the Governor Dr.

Raghuram G Rajan.

The committee in its suggestion has

recommended that a new

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

should be adopted by Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) to anchor the monetary

policy has been recommended on 21

January 2014 by an expert panel set

by the central bank.

The committee has also set an

inflation target at 4 percent with a

band of plus/minus 2 percent around

it.

The panel in its recommendation has

also suggested that the monetary

policy decision should be vested in

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the hands of the Monetary Policy

Committee (MPC) that will be

headed by the Governor.

These suggestions as

recommendation is intended to better

ground inflation expectations by

making it clear that inflation is the

RBI‟s primary objective. It also

expects to be held accountable for its

performance in this regard.

The committee has suggested

detachment of Open Market Operations

(OMOs) from the fiscal operations and

instead linked solely to the liquidity

management.

OMOs should not be used for

managing yields on government on

government securities.

The terms of reference of the Committee

were,

To review the objectives and conduct

of monetary policy in a globalised and

highly inter-connected environment.

To recommend an appropriate

nominal anchor for the conduct of

monetary policy.

To review the organisational

structure, operating framework and

instruments of monetary policy,

particularly the multiple indicator

approach and the liquidity

management framework, with a view

to ensuring compatibility with

macroeconomic and financial

stability, as well as market

development.

To identify regulatory, fiscal and

other impediments to monetary

policy transmission, and recommend

measures and institutional pre-

conditions to improve transmission

across financial market segments and

to the broader economy.

To carefully consider the

recommendations of previous

Committees/Groups in respect of all

of the above.

In recent years, inflation in India has

been amongst the highest within the G-20.

Household Inflation expectations have risen

sharply and have remained at elevated

levels, unhinged from the low inflation

experience of 2000-07 as also from the

global inflation record. Professional

forecasters’ surveys show that the long-

term inflation expectations have risen by

about 150 basis points during this period.

Reserve Bank of India relaxed Foreign

Direct Investment rules

The Reserve Bank of India relaxed the

rules of Foreign Direct Investment.

The decision is aimed at providing

exit option to the foreign

investors.

The investors can exit their

investments by selling their holding

of equity or debt.

The relaxation was expected to

facilitate higher foreign direct

investment (FDI) inflows into India.

India saw a drop of 15 percent in FDI

inflows from April 2013 to October

2013.

The exit option given to the foreign

investors is subject to the condition

that any FDI will have a minimum

lock-in period without any

assured return.

The lock-in period for defence and

construction sector has been kept

at three years and for all other sectors

it will be at least a year.

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National Cloud

Union Ministry of

Communications and

Information Technology

launched the National Cloud under

MeghRaj Initiative.

The National Cloud is being

implemented by National

Information Centre (NIC).

The features of the National Cloud

includes self service portal,

multiple Cloud solutions,

secured VPN access and multi

location-Cloud.

About MeghRaj

Government of India embarked upon

an ambitious initiative GI cloud named

MeghRaj to utilize and harness the

benefits of Cloud Computing.

The focus of GI cloud is to accelerate

delivery of e-services while optimizing ICT

spending of the Government.

It will ensure optimum utilization of

the infrastructure

It also speeds up the development

and deployment of e Gov applications.

About Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a type of

computing that relies on sharing

computing resources rather than

having local servers or personal

devices to handle applications.

Vetrii’s Current Affairs Techno Watch

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In cloud computing, users access

software applications remotely

through the Internet or other

network via a cloud application

service provider.

Moclic software to predict weather

Moclic is a software Monitoring

Climate Change (Moclic)

through which is possible to

organise, store and operate geo-

referenced data from climate

elements.

Moclic can calculate bio and agro

climatic indicators such as

humidity, aridity, rain erosion

and rainfall concentration.

Using the new software

information regarding

temperature can be known more

accurately which feeds on data from

weather stations in any state or

country.

Moclic project allows an agronomist

to obtain annual rainfall records and

relate them to the crops production

figures for explanation of a possible

event.

It is also possible to identify

desiccation processes in a

region which comes useful while

considering the seeds that can resist

droughts.

Cassini spacecraft

The new study was conducted using

data gathered by the NASA’s

Saturn-orbiting Cassini

spacecraft.

Saturn's iconic rings were formed

about 4.4 billion years ago said

the researchers at NASA.

The rings are composed

primarily of water ice, but they

contain small amounts of rocky

material contributed by

micrometeoroid bombardment.


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NIT Odisha developed technology to

turn Plastic into fuel

National Institute of Technology,

Odisha, developed a commercially viable

technology for efficiently rendering

common polymer, low-density

polyethylene (LDPE) into a liquid

fuel.

This discovery may lead to re-using

discarded plastic bags and other

products to address growing demands for

fuel globally.

About LPDE

LDPE is used to make container,

medical and laboratory equipment,

computer components and plastic

bags.

The team heat up the plastic waste to

between 400 and 500 degrees celsius

over a kaolin catalyst (a clay

mineral containing aluminum and

silicon).

This caused the plastic's long chain

polymer chains to break apart in a

process known as thermo-

catalytic degradation.

An analytical method called Gas

chromatography-mass

spectrometry (GC-MS) was used

to characterise these product

molecules like paraffin’s.

The process, if implemented on a

large scale, can reduce pressures on

landfill as well as ameliorating the

effects of dwindling oil supplies in a

world with increasing demands on

petrochemicals for fuel.

Nanotechnology may prevent Cancer

from spreading

Nanotechnology may prevent cancer

from spreading by using sticky

nanoparticles.

These are made by attaching Trail

protein and other proteins to the

nanoparticles.

As per the results of earlier trial

tests, Trail protein has the ability to

kill cancer cells. These sticky

nanoparticles are injected into blood stream


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which attaches themselves with the white

blood cells.

Tests revealed that as soon as sticky

nanoparticles came in contact of cancel

tumor cells which had broken off the main

tumour and were trying to spread, it kills

them. It thus prevent tumour from

spreading into other regions. The test

results are significant in human blood and

mice.

IUCN Red List has completed 50

years of its existence

IUCN announced that it is

celebrating 50 years of the IUCN Red List of

Threatened Species in guiding

conservation action and policy decisions.

The Red list of IUCN is the world’s

most comprehensive information source on

the global conservation status of animal,

plant species and fungi related to

livelihoods.

The IUCN Red list acts as a powerful

tool to inform and catalyse action for

biodiversity conservation and policy

change for things that are critical to protect

the natural resources that is needed by us to

survive.

It also provides the information on

population size as well as trends depending

upon the range and habitat needs of

species.

Process of how the Red List of IUCN helps

in saving the species

Conservation Planning – It provides

the information that is related to species-

based conservation actions. It also helps in

identifying globally important sites for

conservation including important Plant

Areas, important bird areas, key

biodiversity areas and alliance for zero

extinction sites.

Decision-making – It helps in by

influencing the decisions of conservation at

multiple scales that includes environmental

impact assessments to international

multilateral environments agreements

Monitoring – Indicating the current

status of species and revealing trends in

their extinction risk over time, to track

progress towards biodiversity targets.

About International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

The International Union for

Conservation of Nature is the

world’s oldest and largest

global environmental

organization.

It was founded in 1948 and at

present it is the largest professional

global conservation network.

It is funded by governments,

bilateral and multilateral

agencies, member

organisations, corporations

and foundations.

It has the status of official

observer at the United Nations

General Assembly.


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For the first time the IUCN Red List

was conceived in 1964, when it set a

standard for species listing and

conservation assessment efforts.

Indigenous Glucose Monitoring

Device launched by Union

Government

The Union Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare launched two indigenous

Glucose Monitoring Device, Suchek and

QuickcheQ.

The launching of two kinds of

glucometers and testing strips will make

mass screening and detection

feasible.

About Suchek

Suchek is designed and developed by

Nanobios Lab, Indian Institute of

Technology, Mumbai.

Suchek is very useful for health

camps as it has a mobile

application, which helps save, trend

and analyse blood glucose levels at

an individual level.

About QuickcheQ

QuickcheQ is designed and

developed by the Birla Institute of

Technology, Hyderabad with

funding from the Indian Council of

Medical Research(ICMR).

These will be manufactured by

Biosense Technologies and will

be available in the open market in

the next six months.

About Diabetes

Diabetes, diabetes mellitus,

describes a group of metabolic diseases

in which the person has high blood glucose

(blood sugar), either because insulin

production is inadequate, or because the

body's cells do not respond properly to

insulin, or both.

Patients with high blood sugar will

typically experience polyuria (frequent

urination), they will become increasingly

polydipsia(frequent thirst) and

polyphagia(frequent hunger).

There are three types of diabetes:

Type 1 Diabetes


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The body does not produce insulin.

People usually develop type 1 diabetes

before their 40th year, often in early

adulthood or teenage years.

Patients with type 1 diabetes will

need to take insulin injections for the rest of

their life. They must also ensure proper

blood-glucose levels by carrying out regular

blood tests and following a special diet.

Approximately 10% of all diabetes cases are

type 1.

Type 2 Diabetes

The body does not produce

enough insulin for proper function, or

the cells in the body do not react to insulin

(insulin resistance).

Some people may be able to control

their type 2 diabetes symptoms by losing

weight, following a healthy diet, doing

plenty of exercise, and monitoring their

blood glucose levels. Approximately 90% of

all cases of diabetes worldwide are of this

type.

Gestational Diabetes

This type affects females during

pregnancy. Some women have very high

levels of glucose in their blood, and their

bodies are unable to produce enough

insulin to transport all of the glucose into

their cells, resulting in progressively rising

levels of glucose.

First online Global Freshwater

Biodiversity Atlas launched

A new online Atlas of freshwater

biodiversity that presents spatial

information and species distribution

patterns was launched at the Landmark

Water Lives symposium.

Freshwater that is quite important

for diverse habitats covers only 1 percent of

total earth’s surface and is a home for

about 35 percent of all vertebrate species.

A vertebrate is an animal that has an

internal backbone and a skeleton that is

made of bones and it also include humans.

Some other vertebrate species are fish,

amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals,

primates, rodents and marsupials.

The newly launched online atlas is a

response from freshwater scientists to key

geographical information and spatial

freshwater biodiversity across different

scales.

The online Atlas adopts a book-like

structure allowing easy browsing through

its four thematic chapters,

Patterns of freshwater biodiversity

Freshwater resources and

ecosystems


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Pressures on freshwater systems

Conservation and management

Atlas is an output of BioFresh

(European Union funded project) that

is putting together the scattered pieces of

information about life in rivers and lakes.

Name of some of the partners who were

involved in this work are are:

GEO Biodiversity Observation

Network (GEO BON)

The International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

The Global Water System Project

(GWSP)

Conservation International (CI)

Wetlands International

The Nature Conservancy (TNC)

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

First multi-coloured 3D Printer

launched

World’s first 3D-printer Objet500

Connex3 was launched recently.

The printer was manufactured by the

USA based company Stratasys, the

owner of the MarkBot range of

printers.

Object500 Connex3 is the world's

first 3D printer that can produce

multi-colour, multi-material

objects at the same time.

It enables users to get exact intended

colour, material properties and

surface finish as conceptualized.

The printer uses three different base

resins and 10 colour palettes and can

craft a variety of objects like a pair

of sports goggles, flexible shoes,

headphones, a blender and even

multi-colored football and bike

helmets.

It is touted to be better than the 3D

printer the ProJet 5500X which was

unveiled by Stratasys’s rival 3D Systems.

ProJet 5500X offers a smaller range of

colours:

black, white, and certain shades of grey.

However, since the size of the printer

is large, it is mainly targeted toward major

corporations and high-end designers.

Dexter, Private Information Stealing

Virus, detected in online banking

transactions

Dexter, a private information

stealing virus, was detected by

Computer Emergency Response

Team – India (CERT-In) in online

banking transaction space.

The virus is particularly more

threatening for the users of credit card


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while making payments at the shopping

counters.

When the credit card is swiped at the

point of sale (POS), the virus Dexter steals

the confidential data like card holder’s

name, account number, expiration date,

CVV code and other discretionary

information.

This leak of the information could

lead to financial loss and phishing attacks

on the card.

Earlier in December 2013, RBI made

it mandatory for debit card holders to

punch in their PIN every time when they

make a purchase. The order was passed

following the spread of virus of Trojan

Family which was detected at the Point of

Sale (POS).

About Computer Emergency

Response Team - India (CERT-In)

CERT – In, set up in January 2004,

is a nodal department under the

Union Ministry of

Communications and

Information Technology.

It is mandated to protect Indian

cyberspace and software

infrastructure against destructive

and hacking activities.

In accordance with the Information

Technology Amendment Act, 2008,

CERT – In is designated as national

agency to perform the following

functions in the area of cyber

security

Collection, analysis and

dissemination of information

on cyber incidents.

Forecasts and alerts of cyber

security incidents. Emergency measures for

handling cyber security

incidents.

Coordination of cyber incident

response activities.

Issue guidelines, advisories,

vulnerability notes and

whitepapers relating to

information security

practices, procedures,

prevention, response and

reporting of cyber security

incidents.

Anu Vidyut Pariyojana launched in

Fatehabad, Haryana

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

laid the foundation of 2,800 Megawatt

nuclear power plant in Fatehabad

district of Haryana on 13 January 2014.

The project named as Anu Vidyut

Pariyojna, will have four units of 700

MWes each and it will be built at a cost

23502 crore rupees.

They are Pressurised Heavy

Water Reactors (PHWRs) which will


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use natural uranium as fuel and heavy

water as both coolant and moderator.

The Nuclear Power Corporation of

India Limited (NPCIL) will build these

reactors. This is the first time Haryana

will have a nuclear project.

In the second stage, the NPCIL will

build two more PHWRS of 700 MWe each

at the Gorakhpur site of Haryana.

The nuclear plant will accelerate the

pace of development of the area and it

would also generate more employment

opportunities.

The NPCIL is already building four

PHWRS of 700 MWe each, two units each

at Kakrapara in Gujarat and

Rawatbhatta in Rajasthan. The units

at Kakrapara are under advanced stage of

construction and they will attain criticality

in 2016.

NPCIL is the sole body responsible

for constructing and operating India's

commercial nuclear power plants. The

company had 21 nuclear reactors in

operation at seven locations. Total installed

capacity of nuclear reactors is 5780 MWe.

About India's three-stage nuclear

power programme

Programme was formulated by Dr.

Homi Bhabha in the 1950s. The objective

of the plan is to secure the country’s long

term energy independence, through the use

of uranium and thorium reserves found in

the monazite sands of coastal regions of

South India.

Programme has three stage vision:

The first stage consists of the

pressurised heavy water

reactors (PHWR),

The second stage consists of fast

breeder reactors (FBR) and

The third stage consists of

advanced heavy water reactors

(AHWR).

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UNWTO Ulysses Awards for

Innovation announced

Ulysses Award given by United Nation

World Tourism Organisation

(UNWTO) was presented on 22 January

2014.

The awards were given for Excellence and

Innovation in Tourism.

The winners were announced at the Awards

Ceremony which took place at the

International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR)

in Madrid, Spain.

About Ulysses Award

These are the flagship awards for the

global tourism sector, recognizing

knowledge creation, dissemination

and innovative applications.

Every year, Awards are conferred by

the UNWTO and the UNWTO

Knowledge Network to highlight and

showcase innovation and application

of Knowledge in Tourism.

In doing so, the UNWTO Awards seek

to recognize and stimulate knowledge

creation, dissemination and

innovative applications in tourism

and to bring to light the latest

advances in the area.

Peshawar, largest reservoir of polio in

world: WHO

Peshawar in Pakistan had the

largest number of polio cases in the

world in 2013. This was revealed by

World Health Organisation (WHO) in

a global analysis for polio 2014.

The analysis by World Health

Organisation (WHO) further said that

Pakistan is the only polio-

endemic country which reported

more polio cases in 2013 than in

2012.

Pakistan reported 83 cases in 2013

compared to 58 cases in 2012. In

2013, 369 cases were reported

worldwide.

In Pakistan, 59 cases were from

Federally Administered Tribal Areas

(FATA), 10 from Khyber

Pakhtunkhwa and seven each from

Punjab and Sindh.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, of

which Peshawar is the capital and

adjoining tribal districts, has been

found to be the polio hotspot in

Pakistan.

All the polio cases reported from

Pakistan are type-1 cases. No report

of type-3 polio cases has been

reported from Pakistan.

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The analysis by WHO suggested that

viruses from Toba Tek Singh,

Sahiwal, Lahore and Multan are

closely related with each other. This

reflects a common source of outbreak

because of a significant immunity gap

in the central region of Punjab.

As a result, the most immediate

epidemiological challenge is to control this

transmission in the region. At the same

time, building super high immunity in

southern districts of the province is needed

to reverse previous trends of transmission

moving to the south after the central region

outbreak.

Obama established Af-Pak strategic

partnership office

Ahead of the drawdown of US troops

from Afghanistan by the end of 2014,

US President Barack Obama

announced to establish an Af-Pak

Strategic Partnership Office

(APSPO) on 18 January 2014.

The objective is to oversee smooth

transition and promote

normalised diplomatic presence

in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

APSPO has been tasked to perform

the specific project of supporting

executive departments and agencies

in facilitating a partnership with the

two South Asian countries of

Afghanistan and Pakistan.

APSPO will be a temporary office and

would be based in Washington,

Islamabad and Kabul. It would

promote security and stabilisation

and transitioning to a normalised

diplomatic presence in both the

countries.

The office will also aid in coordinating

the final drawdown of the

Department of State’s civilian field

operations and staff in Afghanistan.

Besides, it will also support agencies

in transitioning to a partnership with

the governments of Afghanistan and

Pakistan in the economic, diplomatic,

cultural, technology, and security

fields. It will be particularly in the

areas of program management, rule

of law, and program oversight.

Indus Civilization ended due to

Disease and violence

The Researchers at Appalachian

State University, US discovered that

violence, infectious disease and changes in

climate were responsible for the end of

Harappa, Indus Civilization around 4000

years ago.

The study focused on human skeletal

remains discovered in the Harappa

currently in Pakistan were not peaceful and

egalitarian group so often proposed.

The study results showed that

climate, economic and social changes all

played a role in the process of urbanization

and collapse but not known how these

changes affected the human population.

The study revealed that communities

of Harappa, particularly marginalized

communities faced more significant impacts

than others from climate and socio-

economic strains.

In southeast of the city a small pit

contained the remains of men, women and

children revealed the presence of violence at

rate of 50 percent and 20 percent showed

signs of presence of leprosy.

India launched Gandhi portal for

British-Indian children

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India launched a Gandhi Portal

named Search for Gandhi in London

on 31 January 2014. With this India

aims to popularize Mahatma Gandhi

among children of British Indians

settled in UK.

High commissioner of India to UK

Ranjan Mathai and Sam Pitroda

launched this portal.

The portal is meant for children aged

6 to 15 and will use audios, videos,

creatively integrated facts, games and

quizzes.

Youth 4 Gandhi Foundation

(Y4G) plans to propagate Gandhi

and his values in children which can

be fun and includes a hint of

seriousness attached to it.

The portal will use both English and

Hindi to communicate the messages.

The website would contain five main

sections. The Know Gandhi section

will go through Gandhi's journey as a

writer, philosopher and leader.

Meet Gandhi will take children on an

online tour of Gandhi Smriti where he

spent the last days of his life and his

belongings and glimpses of his life on

display.

The website will take the children

through a virtual tour of Raj Ghat

where Gandhi was cremated.

Gandhi Gaming will bring out the fun

quotient carrying games and quizzes

that will educate youngsters about

Gandhi through entertainment.

The portal will also allow one to

watch Gandhi's iconic videos and hear

the audios of his most famous

speeches.

Documents

Current Affairs Feb 2014