KingMakers Mains capsu… · Historical background of the Cauvery water dispute ... water dispute regarding inter-state river Cauvery and the river valley thereof. About monitoring

General Studies paper-I

Mains 2016

Kingmakers Mains capsule material

10.Why are the tribals in India

referred to as „the Scheduled

Tribes‟? Indicate the major

provisions enshrined in the

Constitution of India for their

upliftment.

Page No-99

10.“Aimed at protecting the rights of forest

dwelling tribal communities the Scheduled

Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers

(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

promised much. However, over the years its

implementation has been tardy and there

have been concerted efforts to dilute it.”

Critically discuss. 16.South China Sea has assumed

great geopolitical significance in the

present context. Comment.

Page No-74

5.Write a critical note on South China Sea

dispute and examine the purpose and

consequences of India‟s joint naval exercises

with Japan and USA near the South China

Sea region

15.The effective management of land

and water resources will drastically

reduce the human miseries. Explain.

Page No-99

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional

Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest

Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) was passed to

restore the traditional rights of land to the

people who have been living in forests for

generations and guards against misuse by

empowering gram sabhas to take decisions 18.Present an account of the Indus

Water Treaty and examine its

ecological, economic and political

implications in the context of

changing bilateral relations.

Page No-75

6.In a bid to find out ways to “punish”

Pakistan without actually waging a war, India

is reportedly considering to review its

position on the Indus Waters Treaty.Examine

20.In what way micro-watershed development projects help in water conservation in drought-prone and semi-arid regions of India?

Page No-58

58.Drought is a serious natural hazard that

has severe implications

Mains 2016

General Studies paper-I

Kingmakers Current affairs

Magazine

1. Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while

depicting folk motifs and narratives,

successfully expoundsBuddhist

ideals. Elucidate.

Oct current affairs-part1I Page No-1.

Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuan Zang stayed

in Bezawada

Oct current affairs-part1, Page No-1.

International Buddhist Conclave

8.To what extent globalisation has

influenced the core of cultural

Oct current affairs-part1I,Page No-31 3. Economic integration with the world has

S-48, 20th Street, 6th Avenue, Annanagar Chennai.04464625452, 9444227273

KingMakers

diversity in India? Explain.

led to a domestic fragmentation of societies

within nations. Critically discuss varying

impact of globalization on societies and

polities around the world.

10.Why are the tribals in India

referred to as „the Scheduled

Tribes‟? Indicate the major

provisions enshrined in the

Constitution of India for their

upliftment.

Oct current affairs-part1I Page No-2.

Constitution provision for safeguarding and

promoting the interests and rights of the

Scheduled Tribes

11.With a brief background of

quality of urban life in India,

introduce the objectives and strategy

of the „Smart City Programme.”

Nov current affairs-part1I Page No-17

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban

Transformation


KingMakers

Mains 2016

General Studies paper-III Kingmakers Mains capsule material

1. How globalization has led to the

reduction of employment in the

formal sector of the Indian

economy? Is increased

informalization detrimental to the

development of the country?

Nov current affairs-part1 Page No-27 3. Economic integration with the world has

led to a domestic fragmentation of societies

within nations. Critically discuss varying

impact of globalization on societies and

polities around the world.

3.Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

(PMJDY) is necessary for bringing

unbanked to the institutional finance

fold. Do you agree with this

for financial inclusion of the poor

section of the Indian society? Give

arguments to justify your opinion.

Page-96

8. Do you think India is ready to go fully

cashless today? Critically examine.

4.What are „Smart Cities‟? Examine

their relevance for urban

development in India. Will it

increase rural-urban differences?

Give arguments for ‟Smart Villages‟

in the light of PURA and RURBAN

Mission.

Nov current affairs-part1I Page-17

15.Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban

Transformation (AMRUT

5.Justify the need for FDI for the

development of the Indian economy.

Why there is gap between MOUs

signed and actual FDIs? Suggest

remedial steps to be taken for

increasing actual FDIs in India.

Page No-9

5. Radical changes in FDI policy regime

9

6.Comment on the challenges for

inclusive growth which include

careless and useless manpower in the

Indian context. Suggest measures to

be taken for facing hese challenges.

Page No-63

9.With access to information and educational

materials, blindness need no longer be a

barrier to learning, employment and full

participation in society.

11.Give an account of the current

status and the targets to be achieved

pertaining to renewable energy

sources in the country. Discuss in

brief the importance of National

Programme on Light Emitting

Page No-91

5. Renewables can and should play a greater

role in our sustainable energy future, but we

need proper accounting and specialised effort

to understand their grid implications and

scalability.comment


KingMakers

http://www.insightsonindia.com/2016/11/14/4-think-india-ready-go-fully-cashless-today-critically-examine/


Diodes (LEDs).

12.Discuss India‟s achievements in

the field of Space Science and

Technology. How the application of

this technology has helped India in

its socio-economic development?

Page No-24 Launch of PSLV-C35

Page No-30

Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has detected

Great Balls of Fire (GBF)

Page No-31

LIGO -INDIA PROJECT 17.The terms „Hot Pursuit‟ and

„Surgical Strikes‟ are often used in

connection with armed action against

terrorist attacks. Discuss the strategic

impact of such actions.

Page No-28

Indian Army carries out surgical strikes

18.„Terrorism is emerging as a

competitive industry over the last

few decades.” Analyse the above

statement.

Oct current affairs-part1I Page No-10

BRICS nations condemns terrorism in all its

forms and stressed that there can be no

justification for such acts


KingMakers

Kingmaker’s IAS Academy , S-48, 20th Street, 6th Avenue, Anna Nagar,Chennai – 600 040. Call us (+91) 94442 27273 email: [email protected] Page 1

CONTENT PAGE NUMBER

I.CURRENT AFFAIRS

1.Cauvery water disputes 2

2.Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 4

3.Expansion of India – Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) 6

4.China Rolls Out Its First Sky Train 9

5. Radical changes in FDI policy regime 9

6.INSAT-3DR 12

7.India Declares itself Free from Avian Influenza (H5N1) 14

8.Kashmir violence: Army begins operation ‗Calm Down‘ 15

9.Air pollution killed at least 600,000 Indians in 2012. 16

10.The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 18

11.Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill, 2016 19

12. Chabahar Agreement 23

13.Launch of PSLV-C35 24

14.World's Largest Telescope (FAST) 26

15.Indian Army carries out surgical strikes 28

16. INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA 29

17.Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has detected Great Balls of Fire (GBF) 30

18. LIGO -INDIA PROJECT 31

19.Saraswati River existed 33

20.Inter-State Council reconstituted 34

21.Latvia becomes first Baltic Sea country to link with China‘s OBOR 35

22.The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 38

23Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) 39

24.Donald Trump was elected as 45th President of USA 40

25.Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 Currency no longer Legal Tender 41

26.Food Security Act implemented : Ram Vilas Paswan 43

27.Special Committee for Inter-Linking of Rivers 44

28.Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 46

29.Airtel launches India‘s first payments bank 48

30.50 years of establishment of UNCITRAL 50

II.GS-I Predictions with keypoints 51

III.GS-II Predictions with keypoints 67

IV.GS-III Predictions with Keypoints 82

http://www.affairscloud.com/rs-500-rs-1000-currency-no-longer-legal-tender/


1.Cauvery water disputes

Historical background of the Cauvery water dispute

The disturbance between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over Cauvery river dates back to the

nineteenth century i.e. from British times.

In those days, Karnataka was the Princely state of Mysore & Tamil Nadu was called as Madras

Presidency.

Two important agreements over the use of water in the Cauvery river was signed between these

two parties in 1892 & 1924.

This last agreement of 1924 lapsed in the year 1974 & from that time major tensions started to

emerge between these two states.

What Karnataka has to say?

Karnataka as a state doesn‘t get the same benefit of the Cauvery river in the same way as the

Tamil Nadu gets. Hence proper changes should be drawn up in the existing pattern of the 1924

agreement.

What Tamil Nadu has to say?

Tamil Nadu has developed around 3,000,000 acres of land based on the availability of the water.

If some changes are brought in the availability of the water millions of farmers in Tamil Nadu

will be starved to death.

Tamil Nadu, being the lower-riparian state, charges that Karnataka has built new dams and

expanded the agricultural areas irrigated by the available water, thus affecting the water-

supply down-stream. As a result, there has been a dispute and tension between these two

states over the division of water.

In short TamilNadu wanted to maintain status quo over its share of water while Karnataka

wanted to tap most of the water flowing from its territory.

Karnataka wanted to build 4 new reservoirs in the tributaries of Cauvery.

The Planning commission did not approve to give funds and neither did the Central

government.

But Karnataka state went ahead with the building of the reservoirs with its own funds. These

reservoirs were

1. Harangi

2. Kabini

3. Hemavathi

4. Suvarnavathy

This diverted some of the water of Cauvery, due to which Tamil Nadu protested.

It directed the Centre to create a Tribunal.


But since, the Centre did not create a Tribunal. Tamilnadu moved the SC to order the centre.

The tribunal was finally formed in 1990.

About Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT)

One farmers association from Tamil Nadu moved to Supreme Court so that a tribunal can be

formed on the river dispute. (The talks between the State were going on but yielded no

result).

Finally on the order of Supreme Court a 3 member tribunal was formed in 1990

headquartered at New Delhi & it was headed by Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee.

The CWDT was constituted by the Government of India on 2nd June 1990 to adjudicate the

water dispute regarding inter-state river Cauvery and the river valley thereof.

About monitoring committee of CWDT

The Cauvery River Authority consists of the Prime Minister as Chairperson and Chief Ministers

of the basin States as members.

The Monitoring Committee consists of Secretary, MOWR as Chairperson, Chief Secretaries and

Chief Engineers of the basin States as Members and Chairman, Central Water Commission as

Member.

Confusion over the Creation Of Tribunal

Article 262 of the India constitution states that

(1) Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect

to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, in any inter-State river or river valley.

(2) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution, Parliament may, by law, provide that neither

the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute

or complaint as is referred to in clause (1)‖

In short, it means that SC can‟t interfere in the water disputes. But as no such law has been

made by Parliament , SC can still direct the Parliament to create Tribunal.

Final Award of CWDT of 2007

The tribunal gave its final award in February 2007.

For Tamil Nadu, the tribunal recommended 419 tmcft (against the demand for 562 tmcft);

Karnataka 270 tmcft (465 tmcft); Kerala 30 tmcft; and Puducherry 7 tmcft.

The actual release of water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu will be 192 tmcft a year. From it, Tamil

Nadu will release 7 tmcft to Puducherry.

Here tmcft stands for Thousand Million Cubic Feet. Unit of volume which means total water

released and Cusecs stands for Cubic feet per second. Unit of flow which means the water flow

released continuously.


In addition, CWDT reserved some quantity of water for (i)environmental protection and (ii)

inevitable escapages into the sea as under:

i) Quantity reserved for environmental protection – 10 tmcft ii) Quantity

determined for inevitable escapages into the sea – 4 tmcft.

Recent Issue:

The Supreme Court on sep 5,2016 directed the Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs of

Cauvery river water every day to Tamil Nadu for next 10 days to meet the demands of the

summer crop in the state.

2.Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014

Highlights of the Bill

The Bill amends the Constitution to introduce the goods and services tax (GST).

Parliament and state legislatures will have concurrent powers to make laws on

GST. Only the centre may levy an integrated GST (IGST) on the interstate supply of

goods and services, and imports.

Alcohol for human consumption has been exempted from the purview of GST.

GST will apply to five petroleum products at a later date.

The GST Council will recommend rates of tax, period of levy of additional tax, principles

of supply, special provisions to certain states etc.

The GST Council will consist of the Union Finance Minister, Union Minister of

State for Revenue, and state Finance Ministers.

The Bill empowers the centre to impose an additional tax of up to 1%, on the inter-state

supply of goods for two years or more. This tax will accrue to states from where the

supply originates.

Parliament may, by law, provide compensation to states for any loss of revenue from the

introduction of GST, up to a five year period.

The Constitution (122nd Amendment) (GST) Bill, 2014 got approval of President Pranab

Mukherjee under the Article 111 of the Constitution and opened road to roll out a new

indirect tax rule with this India became one tax nation.

After this the Central and State Governments will respectively pass the Central GST,

Integrated GST and State GST laws.

Goods and Services Tax

GST is single indirect tax for the whole nation, which will make India one unified

common market.


It is a single tax on the supply of goods and services, right from the manufacturer to the

consumer.

GST is essentially a tax only on value addition at each stage i.e. credits of input taxes

paid at each stage will be available in the subsequent stage of value addition.

Thus, the final consumer will bear only the GST in the supply chain charged by the last

dealer with set-off benefits at all the previous stages.

Purpose of GST

GST aims to bring uniform indirect tax regime throughout the country by subsuming

central and state indirect taxes into single indirect tax.

It also seeks to enhance fiscal federalism by removing indirect tax barriers across states

and integrate the country into a common market, boosting government revenue and

reducing business costs.

Which indirect taxes will subsume into GST?

At the Central level: (i) Central Excise Duty, (ii) Additional Excise Duty, (iii) Service

Tax, (iv) Additional Customs Duty (also known as Countervailing Duty) (v) Special

Additional Duty of Customs.

At the State level: (i) State Value Added Tax (VAT) or Sales Tax, (ii) Octroi and Entry

tax, (iii) Purchase Tax, (iii) Luxury tax, and (iv) Taxes on lottery, betting and gambling

(v) Entertainment Tax (other than the tax levied by the local bodies) (vi) Central Sales

Tax (levied by the Centre and collected by the States).

GST administration in India

There will be two components of GST – Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST)

in order to comply with federal structure of India.

Thus both Centre and States have authority to simultaneously levy GST across the value

chain.

GST will be levied on every supply of goods and services.

States will levy and collect the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) on all transactions

within a State and Centre will levy and collect Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST).

The credit of SGST paid on inputs will be allowed for paying the SGST on output.

No cross utilization of credit would be permitted.

Similarly, the input tax credit of CGST will be available for discharging the CGST

liability on the output at each stage.

Benefits

For business and industry

Uniformity of tax rates and structures


Removal of cascading

Easy compliance

Improved competitiveness

Gain to manufacturers and exporters

For Central and State Governments

Simple and easy to administer

Better controls on leakage

Higher revenue efficiency

For the consumer

Single and transparent tax proportionate to the value of goods and services

Relief in overall tax burden

3.Expansion of India – Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)

An agreement on the expansion of India–Chile Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was

signed between India and Chile in a meeting held between Ms. Rita Teaotia, Commerce

Secretary and Mr. Andrés Barbé González, Ambassador, Embassy of Chile on 6th

September, 2016.

A Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between India and Chile was earlier signed on

March 8, 2006 and came into force with effect from August, 2007.

Under the expanded PTA, Chile has offered concessions to India on 1798 tariff lines with

Margin of Preference (MoP) ranging from 30%-100% and India has offered concessions

to Chile on 1031 tariff lines at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10%-100%.

Among the LAC countries, Chile was the third largest trading partner of India

during 2015-16.

India has friendly relations with Chile.

Chile has been cooperating with India at the International fora and expansion of India

Chile PTA will enhance the trade and economic relations between the two countries.

The expansion would be an important landmark in India-Chile relations and consolidate

the traditional fraternal relations that have existed between India and LAC countries.

Preferential Trade Agreement

A trade pact between countries that reduces tariffs for certain products to the countries

who sign the agreement.

While the tariffs are not necessarily eliminated, they are lower than countries not party to

the agreement.

It is a form of economic integration.


India‘s Preferential Trade Agreements Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) have been

proliferating, especially since the establishment of the World Trade Organisation

(WTO) in 1994.

All WTO members except Mongolia have concluded at least one PTA.

What are the various types of PTA?

i. Partial Scope Agreement (PSA)

A PSA is only partial in scope, meaning it allows for trade between countries on a small

number of goods.

ii. Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

A free trade agreement is a preferential arrangement in which members reduce tariffs on

trade among themselves, while maintaining their own tariff rates for trade with non-

members.

iii. Customs Union (CU)

A customs union (CU) is a free-trade agreement in which members apply a common

external tariff (CET) schedule to imports from non-members.

iv. Common Market (CM)

A common market is a customs union where movement of factors of production is relatively

free amongst member countries.

v. Economic Union (EU)

An economic union is a common market where member countries coordinate macro-

economic and exchange rate policies.

vi. India and Free –Trade Agreements

In addition to its long-standing commitment to multilateralism under WTO agreements and

in line with global trends, India has made use of FTAs as a key component of its trade and

foreign policy, especially from 2003-04 onwards. Hitherto, India has mainly focused on

partnering with other Asian countries, and in goods more so than in services. Within Asia,

India has signed bilateral FTAs with Sri Lanka (1998), Afghanistan (2003), Thailand (2004),

Singapore (2005), Bhutan (2006), Nepal (2009), South Korea (2009), Malaysia (2011) and

Japan (2011). There have also been two regional trade agreements, the South Asian Free

Trade Agreement (SAFTA, 2004) and the India-Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Agreement (ASEAN, 2010). Outside Asia, FTAs have been agreed with Chile (2006) and

MERCOSUR (2004).

vii. Mega-regionalism

Recently, PTAs have begun to morph into mega-regional agreements, which would

encompass a large share of world GDP and trade. The two major mega-regionals are the

Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which has been signed but not yet ratified by member

countries, and the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP), which is


currently being negotiated. India is not part of these groupings and will hence be outside

these large trade zones.

viii. Atlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP)

TTIP, when concluded, will be a PTA between the United States and the European

Community of 27 member states and representing ―30 percent of global merchandise trade,

about 40 percent of world trade in services, and nearly half of global GDP‖.

ix. Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

The TPP comprises 12 member countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan,

Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam. The TPP will

cover 40 percent of global GDP and 33 percent of world trade.

Impact of FTAs

The impact of an FTA on the trade balance is unclear, as it may favour one region over

the other.

The FTAs, in contrast to unilateral trade liberalization, give rise not only to beneficial

trade creation but also to trade diversion.

Trade diversion occurs when tariff preferences offered under an FTA causes a shift of

imports from firms in non-FTA member countries to less efficient firms within the trade

bloc, which now become competitive due to tariff reliefs.

Review of India‟s FTAs

India‘s FTAs have increased trade with FTA countries more than would have happened

otherwise.

Increased trade has been more on the import than export side, most likely because India

maintains relatively high tariffs and hence had larger tariff reductions than its FTA

partners.

The trade increases have been much greater with the ASEAN than other FTAs and they

have been greater in certain industries, such as metals on the import side.

On the export side, FTAs have led to increased dynamism in apparels, especially in

ASEAN markets.

Should India continue to negotiate FTAs and if so with whom and what should be the

India‟s response towards new mega-regional agreements?

Multilateral trade liberalisation remains the best way forward.

But the WTO process seems to have been overtaken by preferential trade agreements.

Against this background, India has a strategic choice to make: to play the same PTA

game as everyone else or be excluded from this process.

In the current context of slowing demand and excess capacity with threats of

circumvention of trade rules, progress on FTAs, if pursued, must be combined with


strengthening India‘s ability to respond with WTO-consistent measures such as anti-

dumping and conventional duties and safeguard measures.

No matter what India ultimately decides, one thing is clear.

Analytical and other preparatory work must begin in earnest to prepare India for a mega-

regional world.

4.China Rolls Out Its First Sky Train

China's first sky train came off the assembly line in the city of Nanjing, making it

third country after Germany and Japan to develop the technology.

The Nanjing Puzhen Company Limited, affiliated to China's largest state-owned rolling

stock manufacturer CRRC Corporation Limited (China Railway Rolling Stock

Corporation) rolled out the elevated railway train yesterday, according to official media.

Expert says, when compared with subways and trams, sky trains have lower costs,

better climbing and turning ability, and higher wind resistance..

The overhauled railway is driven by batteries which can run for four hours at a time, and

the batteries can be changed when stopped at a station, with the whole process lasting

only two minutes.

5. Major impetus to job creation and infrastructure: Radical changes in FDI policy

regime; Most sectors on automatic route for FDI

The Union Government has radically liberalized the FDI regime , with the objective of

providing major impetus to employment and job creation in India.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

today.

This is the second major reform after the last radical changes announced in November 2015.

Now most of the sectors would be under automatic approval route, except a small negative

list.

With these changes, India is now the most open economy in the world for FDI.

India today has been rated as Number 1 FDI Investment Destination by several

International Agencies. Accordingly the Government has decided to introduce a number of amendments in the FDI

Policy.

Changes introduced in the policy include increase in sectoral caps, bringing more activities

under automatic route and easing of conditionalities for foreign investment.

These amendments seek to further simplify the regulations governing FDI in the country and

make India an attractive destination for foreign investors.

Details of these changes are given in the following paragraphs:

1. Radical Changes for promoting Food Products manufactured/produced in India

It has now been decided to permit 100% FDI under government approval route for trading,

including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured or produced in India.


2. Foreign Investment in Defence Sector up to 100%

Present FDI regime permits 49% FDI participation in the equity of a company

under automatic route. FDI above 49% is permitted through Government approval on case to

case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and ‗state-of-art‘ technology in the

country. In this regard, the following changes have inter-alia been brought in the FDI policy on

this sector:

i. Foreign investment beyond 49% has now been permitted through government

approval route, in cases resulting in access to modern technology in the country or for

other reasons to be recorded. The condition of access to ‗state-of-art‘ technology in the

country has been done away with.

ii. FDI limit for defence sector has also been made applicable to Manufacturing of Small

Arms and Ammunitions covered under Arms Act 1959.

3. Review of Entry Routes in Broadcasting Carriage Services

FDI policy on Broadcasting carriage services has also been amended. New sectoral caps and

entry routes are as under:

4. Pharmaceutical

The extant FDI policy on pharmaceutical sector provides for 100% FDI under automatic

route in greenfield pharma and FDI up to 100% under government approval in brownfield

pharma. With the objective of promoting the development of this sector, it has been decided

Sector/Activity New Cap and Route

(1)Teleports(setting up of up-linking HUBs/Teleports);

(2)Direct to Home (DTH);

(3)Cable Networks (Multi System operators (MSOs) operating at

National or State or District level and undertaking upgradation of

networks towards digitalization and addressability);

(4)Mobile TV;

(5)Headend-in-the Sky Broadcasting Service(HITS)

100%

Automatic

Cable Networks (Other MSOs not undertaking upgradation of

networks towards digitalization and addressability and Local Cable

Operators (LCOs))

Infusion of fresh foreign investment, beyond 49% in a company not seeking license/permission

from sectoral Ministry, resulting in change in the ownership pattern or transfer of stake by

existing investor to new foreign investor, will require FIPB approval


to permit up to 74% FDI under automatic route in brownfield pharmaceuticals and

government approval route beyond 74% will continue.

5. Civil Aviation Sector

(i) The extant FDI policy on Airports permits 100% FDI under automatic route in

Greenfield Projects and 74% FDI in Brownfield Projects under automatic route. FDI

beyond 74% for Brownfield Projects is under government route.

(ii) With a view to aid in modernization of the existing airports to establish a high standard

and help ease the pressure on the existing airports, it has been decided to permit 100%

FDI under automatic route in Brownfield Airport projects.

(iii) As per the present FDI policy, foreign investment up to 49% is allowed under

automatic route in Scheduled Air Transport Service/ Domestic Scheduled Passenger

Airline and regional Air Transport Service. It has now been decided to raise this limit to

100%, with FDI up to 49% permitted under automatic route and FDI beyond 49%

through Government approval. For NRIs, 100% FDI will continue to be allowed under

automatic route. However, foreign airlines would continue to be allowed to invest in

capital of Indian companies operating scheduled and non-scheduled air-transport

services up to the limit of 49% of their paid up capital and subject to the laid down

conditions in the existing policy.

6. Private Security Agencies

The extant policy permits 49% FDI under government approval route in Private Security

Agencies. FDI up to 49% is now permitted under automatic route in this sector and FDI beyond

49% and up to 74% would be permitted with government approval route.

7. Establishment of branch office, liaison office or project office

For establishment of branch office, liaison office or project office or any other place of business

in India if the principal business of the applicant is Defence, Telecom, Private Security or

Information and Broadcasting, it has been decided that approval of Reserve Bank of India or

separate security clearance would not be required in cases where FIPB approval or

license/permission by the concerned Ministry/Regulator has already been granted.

8. Animal Husbandry

As per FDI Policy 2016, FDI in Animal Husbandry (including breeding of dogs), Pisciculture,

Aquaculture and Apiculture is allowed 100% under Automatic Route under controlled

conditions. It has been decided to do away with this requirement of ‗controlled conditions‘ for

FDI in these activities.

9. Single Brand Retail Trading

It has now been decided to relax local sourcing norms up to three years and a relaxed sourcing

regime for another five years for entities undertaking Single Brand Retail Trading of products

having ‗state-of-art‘ and ‗cutting edge‘ technology.


Today‘s amendments to the FDI Policy are meant to liberalise and simplify the FDI policy so as

to provide ease of doing business in the country leading to larger FDI inflows contributing to

growth of investment, incomes and employment.

What is a 'Foreign Direct Investment - FDI'?

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made by a company or individual in

one country in business interests in another country, in the form of either establishing

business operations or acquiring business assets in the other country, such as ownership

or controlling interest in a foreign company.

Foreign direct investments are distinguished from portfolio investments in which an

investor merely purchases equities of foreign-based companies.

The key feature of foreign direct investment is that it is an investment made that

establishes either effective control of, or at least substantial influence over, the decision

making of a foreign business.

Methods of Foreign Direct Investment

Foreign direct investments can be made in a variety of ways, including the opening of

a subsidiary or associate company in a foreign country, acquiring a controlling interest in an

existing foreign company, or by means of a merger or joint venture with a foreign company.

The threshold for a foreign direct investment that establishes a controlling interest, per

guidelines established by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development

(OECD), is a minimum 10% ownership stake in a foreign-based company, typically

represented for the investor acquiring 10% or more of the ordinary shares or voting shares of

a foreign company.

However, that definition is flexible, as there are instances where effective controlling interest

in a firm can be established with less than 10% of the company's voting shares.

Automatic route :

Under this route no Central Government permission is required.

Government Route :

Under this route applications are considered by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB).

Approval from Cabinet Committee on Security is required for more than 49% FDI in defence.

The proposals involving investments of more than INR 30 billion are considered by Cabinet

committee on economic affairs.

The Indian company receiving FDI either under the automatic route or the government route is

required to comply with provisions of the FDI policy including reporting the FDI and issue of

shares to the Reserve Bank of India.

6.INSAT-3DR

INSAT-3DR similar to INSAT-3D, is an advanced meteorological satellite of India

configured with an imaging System and an Atmospheric Sound.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/investment.asp

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INSAT-3DR has a lift-off mass of 2211 kg, which includes about 1255 kg of propellant.

The propellant carried by INSAT-3DR is mainly required to raise the satellite from the

Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) to its final Geostationary orbit.

The launch vehicle equipped with the Cryogenic upper stage(CUS)

This was the first operational flight of GSLV equipped with CUS and the fourth to

carry the indigenous CUS.

Cryogenic upper stage(CUS)

A Cryogenic rocket stage is more efficient and provides more thrust for every

kilogram of propellant it burns compared to solid and earth-storable liquid propellant

rocket stages.

Specific impulse (a measure of the efficiency) achievable with cryogenic propellants

(liquid Hydrogen and liquid Oxygen) is much higher compared to earth storable liquid

and solid propellants, giving it a substantial payload advantage.

ISRO's Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP) envisaged the design and development of

the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage to replace the stage procured from Russia and

used in GSLV flights.

Differences between geostationary and geosynchronous orbits

Geostationary geosynchronous

The orbit is circular

The orbit is NOT circular

The orbit is in equatorial plane i.e. directly

above the equator and thus inclination is

zero.

The orbit is NOT in equatorial planee.

directly above the equator, it‘s in inclined

orbit

The angular velocity of the satellite is equal

to angular velocity of earth

The angular velocity of the satellite is equal

to angular velocity of earth

Finish one revolution around the earth in

exactly one day i.e. 23 hours, 56 Minutes and

4.1 seconds

There is ONLY one geostationary orbit

Period of revolution is equal to period of

rotation of earth.

There are many geosynchronous orbits


7.India Declares itself Free from Avian Influenza (H5N1)

The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the Ministry of

Agriculture and Farmers welfare has declared India free from Avian Influenza (H5N1)

from 5th September, 2016.

India had notified outbreak of Avian Influenza (H5N1) on 09.05.2016 at Humnabad,

Bidar district, Karnataka. There has been no further outbreak reported in the country

thereafter.

The control measures adopted in the radius of one Km around outbreak location included

following:

1. Stamping out of entire poultry population including destruction of eggs, feed,

litter and other infected materials, restriction on movement of poultry and poultry

products to and from the area of outbreak, disinfection and cleaning up of infected

premises.

2. Surveillance was carried out throughout the country. Surveillance around the

areas of the outbreaks since completion of the operation (including culling,

disinfection and clean -up). Post the surveillance the state has shown no evidence

of presence of Avian Influenza.

3. The Centre has emphasized the need for continued surveillance especially in the

vulnerable areas bordering infected countries and in areas visited by migratory

birds.

What is H5N1?

H5N1 is a type of influenza virus that causes a highly infectious, severe respiratory disease

in birds called avian influenza (or "bird flu"). Human cases of H5N1 avian influenza occur

occasionally, but it is difficult to transmit the infection from person to person. When people

do become infected, the mortality rate is about 60%.

How does H5N1 influenza spread to people?

Almost all cases of H5N1 infection in people have been associated with close contact with

infected live or dead birds, or H5N1-contaminated environments. The virus does not infect

humans easily, and spread from person to person appears to be unusual. There is no evidence

that the disease can be spread to people through properly prepared and thoroughly

cooked food.

Why is there so much concern about H5N1 influenza?

H5N1 infection in humans can cause severe disease and has a high mortality rate. If the

H5N1 virus were to change and become easily transmissible from person to person while

retaining its capacity to cause severe disease, the consequences for public health could be

very serious.

Why might the H5N1 influenza virus change?


Influenza viruses constantly undergo genetic changes. It would be a cause for concern,

should the H5N1 virus become more easily transmissible among humans.

What are the symptoms of H5N1 avian influenza in humans?

The symptoms of H5N1 infection may include fever (often high fever, > 38°C) and

malaise, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches. Other early symptoms may include

abdominal pain, chest pain and diarrhoea. The infection may progress quickly to severe

respiratory illness (for example, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, pneumonia, Acute

Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and neurologic changes (altered mental status or seizures).

Is it safe to eat chicken, poultry products and other wild game birds?

Yes, it is safe to eat properly prepared and cooked poultry and game birds. The virus is

sensitive to heat. Normal temperatures used for cooking (so that food reaches 70°C in all

parts) will kill the virus. To date, a large number of human infections with the H5N1 virus

have been linked to the home slaughter and subsequent handling of diseased or dead birds

prior to cooking.

How is H5N1 avian influenza in humans treated?

The antiviral medicine oseltamivir can reduce the severity of illness and prevent death, and

should be used in all cases.

Is a vaccine available to prevent human infection with H5N1avian influenza?

Candidate vaccines to prevent H5N1 infection have been developed, but they are not ready

for widespread use.

Does seasonal influenza (seasonal flu) vaccination provide protection against H5N1

viruses?

Seasonal influenza vaccination does not appear to protect against H5N1 infection.

What is the WHO response to H5N1 influenza?

WHO is working with countries to help them detect and manage cases of H5N1 infection in

humans when they occur.

WHO collaborates with global health partners and agencies, including the World

Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the

United Nations (FAO), to control and prevent the spread of animal diseases.

8.Kashmir violence: Army begins operation „Calm Down‟

As turbulence continues unabated in the Valley, the army has quietly moved an entire

brigade into South Kashmir as part of operation 'Calm Down' to clear it of militants and

protesters.

Other related Mission

Mission Sahayata & Operation Megh Rahat, 2014

Jammu & Kashmir faced one of the worst natural calamities in the form of floods in 2014.

While hundreds were killed in the floods, many more were rendered homeless.


The Indian Armed Forces were deployed in the state for search, rescue, relief relocation, and

humanitarian assistance.

Operation Safed Sagar

Aimed to flush out Regular and Irregular troops of the Pakistani Army from vacated

Indian Positions in the Kargil sector along the Line of Control.

Operation Meghdoot

It was the name given to the attack launched by the Indian Military to capture the

Siachen Glacier in the disputed Kashmir region, precipitating the Siachen Conflict.

Launched on 13 April 1984, this military operation was unique as the first assault launched in

the world‘s highest battlefield.

9.Air pollution killed at least 600,000 Indians in 2012

Air pollution could have killed at least 600,000 Indians in 2012, a study conducted by the

World Health Organisation and made public.

That is about a fifth of the 3 million who died worldwide because they were exposed to fine

particulate matter (PM2.5) that may have aggravated or been directly responsible for

cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer.

India comes just behind China – which witnessed an estimated 800,000 deaths – says the

study, which relied on mathematical modelling to arrive at its figures.

It is second among all countries in the absolute number of deaths caused due to exposure to

air pollution.

About 2,49,388 Indians died of Ischemic heart disease;1,95,001 of stroke; 1,10,500 of

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and 26,334 of lung cancer, the study

relying on publicly available national data on pollutant levels showed.

Industries, households, cars and trucks emit complex air pollutants, including invisible

PM2.5 particulates.

The impact of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) highlighted by the World Health Organisation

(WHO) study is felt through a broad spectrum of acute and chronic illnesses that cause

premature death.

These include lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and

cardiovascular diseases.

Worldwide, it is estimated to cause about 16 per cent of lung cancer deaths, 11 per cent of

COPD deaths, and more than 20 per cent of ischaemic heart disease and stroke.

Particulate matter pollution is an environmental health problem that affects people

worldwide, but low- and middle-income countries disproportionately experience the burden.

A WHO South East Asian Region (SEAR) statement said, ―Air pollution is the world‘s

biggest environmental risk to health and must be addressed on a priority basis as it continues

to rise, causing long lasting disease and illness.‖


The study findings, based on data derived from satellite measurements, air transport models

and ground station monitors for more than 3000 locations, both rural and urban, were

developed by WHO in collaboration with the University of Bath in UK.

Urban nightmare

In instances where accurate PM2.5 (that is, 2.5 micrometers or less) measurements were

unavailable, the researchers derived their averages based on PM10, which are larger dust

particle-concentrations.

It notes that more than 80 per cent of people living in urban areas that monitor air pollution

are exposed to air quality levels that exceed the World Health Organization (WHO) limits.

The study gave the WHO air quality guidelines for PM2.5 as 10 micrograms per cubic metre

annual average, and 25 micrograms per cubic metre 24-hour average.

While all regions of the world are affected, populations in low-income cities are the most

impacted.

Overall, 98 per cent of cities in low- and middle income countries with more than 100,000

inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines.

However, in high-income countries, that percentage decreases to 56 per cent.

Summary on Air Prevention and Control of Pollution Act (1981) of India

The Act specifically empowers State Government to designate air pollution areas and to

prescribe the type of fuel to be used in these designated areas.

According to this Act, no person can operate certain types of industries including the

asbestos, cement, fertilizer and petroleum industries without consent of the State Board.

The Government passed this Act in 1981 to clean up our air by controlling pollution.

It states that sources of air pollution such as industry, vehicles, power plants, etc., are not

permitted to release particulate matter, lead, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen

oxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or other toxic substances beyond a prescribed

level.

To ensure this, Pollution Control Boards (PCBs) have been set up by Government to

measure pollution levels in the atmosphere and at certain sources by testing the air.

This is measured in parts per million or in milligrams or micrograms per cubic meter.

The particulate matter and gases that are released by industry and by cars, buses and two

wheelers is measured by using air-sampling equipment.

The main objectives of the Act are as follows:

(a) To provide for the prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.

(b) To provide for the establishment of central and State Boards with a view to implement the Act.

(c) To confer on the Boards the powers to implement the provisions of the Act and assign to the Boards

functions relating to pollution.

Powers and Functions of the Boards:

Central Pollution Board:


The main function of the Central Board is to implement legislation created to improve the

quality of air and to prevent and control air pollution in the country.

The-Board advises the Central Government on matters concerning the improvement of

air quality and also coordinates activities, provides technical assistance and guidance to

State Boards and lays down standards for the quality of air.

It collects and disseminates information in respect of matters relating to air pollution and

performs functions as prescribed in the Act.

State Pollution Control Boards:

The State Boards have the power to advise the State Government on any matter concerning

the prevention and control of air pollution.

They have the right to inspect at all reasonable times any control equipment, industrial

plant, or manufacturing process and give orders to take the necessary steps to control

pollution.

Penalties:

Whoever contravenes any of the provision of the Act or any order or direction issued is

punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with a fine of Rs.

10,000 or with both, and in case of continuing offence with an additional fine which may extend

to Rs 5,000 for every day during which such contravention continues after conviction for the first

contravention.

10.The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The Bill amends the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The Act regulates the employment of

women during the period of child birth, and provides maternity benefits.

The Act applies to factory, mines, plantations, shops and other establishments.

The Bill amends provisions related to the duration and applicability of maternity leave, and

other facilities.

Duration of maternity leave

The Act states that every woman will be entitled to maternity benefit of 12 weeks. The Bill

increases this to 26 weeks.

Under the Act, this maternity benefit should not be availed before six weeks from the

date of expected delivery. The Bill changes this to eight weeks.


In case of a woman who has two or more children, the maternity benefit will continue to

be 12 weeks, which cannot be availed before six weeks from the date of the expected

delivery.

Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers: The Bill introduces a provision to

grant 12 weeks of maternity leave to:

(i) A woman who legally adopts a child below three months of age; and

(ii) A commissioning mother. A commissioning mother is defined as a biological mother

who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in another woman.

The 12-week period of maternity benefit will be calculated from the date the child is handed

over to the adoptive or commissioning mother.

Option to work from home:

The Bill introduces a provision that states that an employer may permit a woman to work

from home.

This would apply if the nature of work assigned to the woman permits her to work from

home.

This option can be availed of, after the period of maternity leave, for a duration that is

mutually decided by the employer and the woman.

Crèche facilities:

The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment with 50 or more

employees to provide crèche facilities within a prescribed distance.

The woman will be allowed four visits to the crèche in a day. This will include her interval

for rest.

Informing women employees of the right to maternity leave

The Bill introduces a provision which requires every establishment to intimate a woman at

the time of her appointment of the maternity benefits available to her. Such communication

must be in writing and electronically.

11.Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill, 2016

The Bill amends the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 in relation to declaration of assets

and liabilities by public servants.


The provisions of the Bill would apply retrospectively, from the date of the coming into

force of the 2013 Act.

The Lokpal Act requires a public servant to declare his assets and liabilities, and that of

his spouse and dependent children. Such declarations must be made to the competent

authority within 30 days of entering office.

Further, the public servant must file an annual return of such assets and liabilities by July

31st of every year.

The Lokpal Act also mandates statements of such declarations be published on the website of

the relevant Ministry by August 31 of that year.

The Bill replaces these provisions to state that a public servant will be required to declare his

assets and liabilities.

However, the form and manner of making such a declaration will be prescribed by the

central government.

Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 seeks to provide for the establishment of Lokpal for the

Union and Lokayukta for States to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain

public functionaries and for related matters.

The act extends to whole of India, including Jammu & Kashmir and is applicable to ―public

servants‖ within and outside India.

The act mandates for creation of Lokpal for Union Lokayukta for State

Composition of Lokpal

The institution of Lokpal is a statutory body without any constitutional backing. Lokpal is a

multimember body, made up of one chairperson and maximum of 8 members.

Who can become the Chairperson?

The person who is to be appointed as the chairperson of the Lokpal should be either of the following:

Either the former Chief Justice of India Or the former Judge of Supreme Court Or an eminent

person with impeccable integrity and outstanding ability, having special knowledge and expertise

of minimum 25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration,

vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.

Who can become a member?

Out of the maximum eight members, half will be judicial members. Minimum fifty per cent of

the Members will be from SC / ST / OBC / Minorities and women. Judicial Member The judicial

member of the Lokpal should be__ either a former Judge of the Supreme Court or a former Chief

Justice of a High Court Non-Judicial Member The non-judicial member should be an eminent


person with impeccable integrity and outstanding ability, having special knowledge and expertise

of minimum 25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration,

vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.

Appointment of Chairperson and members

The members are to be appointed by President on the recommendations of a selection

committee. This selection committee is made up of_: Prime Minister—Chairperson; Speaker of

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Chief Justice of India or a Judge nominated by

him / her One eminent jurist

Term of Office:

The term of office for Lokpal Chairman and Members is 5 years or till attaining age of 70 years.

The salary, allowances and other conditions of service of chairperson are equivalent to Chief

Justice of India and members is equivalent to Judge of Supreme Court. If the person is already

getting the pension (for being a former judge), the equivalent pension amount will be deducted

from the salary. The source of salary for Lokpal and Members is Consolidated Fund of India. If

the chairperson dies in office or has resigned from the post, President can authorise the senior-

most Member to act as the Chairperson until new chairperson is appointed. If chairperson is not

available for certain functions due to leave, his job will be done by senior most member.

Post retirement jobs: Once a Lokpal chairperson / member has ceased to be so, he cannot take

up the following jobs: He cannot be reappointed as chairperson / member of Lokpal Cannot take

any diplomatic assignment Cannot be appointed as administrator to a Union Territory Any

constitutional / statutory post in which appointment is made by President Any other office under

the government of India He cannot contest any of the elections such as President / Vice President

/ MLA / MLC/ Local bodies for 5 years after relinquishing the post.

The following come under the jurisdiction of Lokpal:

Prime Minister of India, under certain conditions. All ministers of the Union Members of

Parliament except for matters related to article 105 of constitution. (that is anything said or a vote

given by him in Parliament) Group ‗A‘ or Group ‗B‘ officers Group ‗C‘ or Group ‗D‘ officials

Any person who is or has been in-charge (director / manager/ secretary) of anybody / society set

up by central act or any other body financed / controlled by central government.

The Lokpal benches will sit in New Delhi or any other places as decided by Lokpal. The benches

can be constituted and reconstituted by Chairperson time to time.

Powers of Lokpal


The Lokpal has following powers: It has powers to superintendence over, and to give

direction to CBI. If it has referred a case to CBI, the investigating officer in such case cannot

be transferred without approval of Lokpal. Powers to authorize CBI for search and seizure

operations connected to such case.

The Inquiry Wing of the Lokpal has been vested with the powers of a civil court.

Lokpal has powers of confiscation of assets, proceeds, receipts and benefits arisen or

procured by means of corruption in special circumstances Lokpal has powers to recommend

transfer or suspension of public servant connected with allegation of corruption. Lokpal has

power to give directions to prevent destruction of records during preliminary inquiry.

12.Trilateral Meet between India, Afghanistan and Iran to Take Chabahar Agreement

Further

Trilateral meeting was held between Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping,

Sh. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Afghanistan, Dr.

Mohammadullah Batash and Minister of Road and Urban Development, Iran, Dr. Abbas

Ahmed Akhoundi in the capital.

The three Ministers held discussions on Trilateral Agreement on Establishment of

International Transport and Transit Corridor i.e. Chabahar Agreement which was signed

by them on 23rd May, 2016 in Tehran in the presence of Prime Minister of India and

Presidents of Iran and Afghanistan.

During the meeting the Ministers reiterated the importance of Chabahar as a hub for

regional connectivity and their commitment to work towards this objective.

It was decided to organize a connectivity event involving all stakeholders at Chabahar

within two months to increase awareness about the new opportunities offered by Chabahar

Port.

They also exchanged views on the next steps to be taken for an early implementation of

the Agreement.

It was decided to evolve protocols related to transport and transit, ports, customs procedures

and consular affairs..


Development of Ports, Road and Rail connectivity will open up new opportunities leading to

new jobs and prosperity in all three countries.

Trade is recognized as driving economic growth and development, the implementation of

the Agreement would provide the eco-system for the private sector to seize the business

opportunities emerging due to substantial reduction of logistic costs for trade among the three

countries.

Developing the Chabahar port is understood to be a major breakthrough for India's trade

with West Asia.

Five things about this big development:

1) Where is Chabahar?

The port of Chabahar is located in southeastern Iran in the Gulf of Oman. It is the only

Iranian port with direct access to the ocean.

2) What does the pact entail and what are India's plans for Chabahar?

a) India will develop and operate the Chabahar port. India Ports Global, a recently formed

port project investment arm of the shipping ministry and a joint venture between the Jawaharlal

Nehru Port Trust and the Kandla port, will invest $85 million in developing two container berths

with a length of 640 metres and three multi-cargo berths.

b) The contract is for 10 years and extendable. It will take 18 months to complete phase one

of the port construction.

3) Is that all?

No. State run railway body IRCON International will set up a railway line at

Chabahar to move goods right up to Afghanistan. The 500-km rail link between Chabahar

and Zahedan will link Delhi to the rest of Iran's railway network.

Also, part of the agreement is a free trade zone where a total investment of Rs 1 lakh

crore is envisaged. Indian companies would set up a range of industries from aluminium

smelter to urea plants in the region. State-owned NALCO will set up an aluminium smelter

while private and co-operative fertiliser firms are keen to build urea plants.

India will also supply $400 million of steel rails to Tehran. There are plans of a fertilizer

plant through a joint venture with the Iran government. Securing hydrocarbon sources is a

priority for India as Delhi and Tehran would look to expand the basket in the coming years.


4) Why is it so important for India?

No other international port has seen the level of involvement and enthusiasm from

Chabahar as India. The port will make way for India to bypass Pakistan in transporting goods

to Afghanistan using a sea-land route. At present, Pakistan does not allow India to transport

through its territory to Afghanistan. It has, however, recently allowed some Afghan shipments to

come to India.

This will also give momentum to the International North-South Transport Corridor of

which both are initial signatories along with Russia. Iran is the key gateway in this project. It

entails the ship, rail, and road routes for moving freight between India, Russia, Iran, Europe and

Central Asia. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and

Russia. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities

such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Astrakhan etc.

It would counter Chinese presence in the Arabian sea through the support to Pakistan in

developing Gwadar port. It can be used to station security vessels for merchant ships off the

African coast apart from giving the country a foothold in the western Arabian Sea, which is

important as many of its energy imports pass through the route.

5) India has been making efforts to finalise this deal. What took it so long and what is the

history?

The port was partially built by India in the 1990s. An initial pact to build the Chabahar port

was first inked during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government in 2003, but the deal slipped

through during subsequent years.

Negotiations only intensified after nuclear deal between P5 + 1 (the UN Security Council's

five permanent members -- China, France, Russia, UK and US -- plus Germany) and Iran last

year. But reaching the deal was far from smooth and differences cropped up over ownership as

Tehran's Port Authority introduced role of private player in the process. After several rounds of

negotiations between India's consortium of JNPT, Kandla Port Authority and Iranian authorities,

the contract was deemed ready for signing

13.Launch of PSLV-C35

India‘s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its thirty-seventh flight (PSLV-C35), launches the

371 kg SCATSAT-1 for weather related studies and seven co-passenger satellites into

polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).


Co-passenger satellites are ALSAT-1B, ALSAT-2B, ALSAT-1N from Algeria, NLS-19 from

Canada and Pathfinder-1 from USA as well as two satellites PRATHAM from IIT

Bombay and PISAT from PES University, Bengaluru.

SCATSAT-1 was placed into a 720 km Polar SSO whereas; the two Universities /

Academic Institute Satellites and the five foreign satellites will be placed into a 670 km polar

orbit.

This is the first mission of PSLV in which payloads were launched into two different

orbits.

PSLV-C35 was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre

(SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota .

About the Launch Vehicle

The PSLV is one of world's most reliable launch vehicles.

It has been in service for over twenty years and has launched various satellites for historic

missions like Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission, Space Capsule Recovery Experiment,

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) etc.

PSLV remains a favourite among various organisations as a launch service provider and has

launched over 40 satellites for 19 countries.

In 2008 it created a record for most number of satellites placed in orbit in one launch by

launching 10 satellites into various Low Earth Orbits.

What is the difference between GSLV and PSLV?

Both PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch

Vehicle) are the satellite-launch vehicles (rockets) developed by ISRO.

PSLV

PSLV is designed mainly to deliver the “earth-observation” or “remote-sensing‖ satellites

with lift-off mass of up to about 1750 Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of

600-900 Km altitude.

The remote sensing satellites orbit the earth from pole-to-pole (at about 98 deg orbital-

plane inclination).

An orbit is called sun-synchronous when the angle between the line joining the centre of

the Earth and the satellite and the Sun is constant throughout the orbit.

Due to their sun-synchronism nature, these orbits are also referred to as “Low Earth Orbit

(LEO)” which enables the on-board camera to take images of the earth under the same sun-

illumination conditions during each of the repeated visits, the satellite makes over the same

area on ground thus making the satellite useful for earth resources monitoring.


Apart from launching the remote sensing satellites to Sun-synchronous polar orbits, the

PSLV is also used to launch the satellites of lower lift-off mass of up to about 1400 Kg to

the elliptical Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

PSLV is a four-staged launch vehicle with first and third stage using solid rocket motors

and second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines. It also uses strap-on motors to

augment the thrust provided by the first stage, and depending on the number of these strap-on

boosters, the PSLV is classified into its various versions like core-alone version (PSLV-CA),

PSLV-G or PSLV-XL variants.

GSLV

The GSLV is designed mainly to deliver the communication-satellites to the highly elliptical

(typically 250 x 36000 Km) Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).

The satellite in GTO is further raised to its final destination, viz., Geo-synchronous Earth

orbit (GEO) of about 36000 Km altitude (and zero deg inclination on equatorial plane) by

firing its in-built on-board engines.

Due to their geo-synchronous nature, the satellites in these orbits appear to remain

permanently fixed in the same position in the sky, as viewed from a particular location on

Earth, thus avoiding the need of a tracking ground antenna and hence are useful for the

communication applications.

Two versions of the GSLV are being developed by ISRO.

o The first version, GSLV Mk-II, has the capability to launch satellites of lift-off

mass of up to 2,500 kg to the GTO and satellites of up to 5,000 kg lift-off mass to

the LEO.

o GSLV MK-II is a three-staged vehicle with first stage using solid rocket motor,

second stage using Liquid fuel and the third stage, called Cryogenic Upper Stage,

using cryogenic engine.

14.World's Largest Telescope the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope

(FAST)

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) is nestled within a natural

basin in China's remote and mountainous south western Guizhou province.

Nicknamed Tianyan, or the Eye of Heaven, the new radio telescope is seen in this

photograph taken near the start of its testing phase of operations on September 25.

Designed with an active surface for pointing and focusing, its enormous dish antenna is

constructed with 4,450 individual triangular-shaped panels.

The 500 meter physical diameter of the dish makes FAST the largest filled, single dish

radio telescope on planet Earth.


FAST will explore the Universe at radio frequencies, detecting emission from hydrogen gas

in the Milky Way and distant galaxies, finding faint galactic and extragalactic pulsars.

The instrument would be used to study gravitational waves, stellar radio emissions and

potentially signals from extraterrestrial civilizations.

China plans to use one of its best supercomputers, the SkyEye-1, to process the massive

amounts of data supplied by FAST. At its peak the data flow is expected to require

computing power of over 200 teraflops per second.

Differences between Optical and Radio Telescope

Optical astronomy is the study of the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, that is

wavelengths of approximately 400 nm (purple) to 700 nm (red).

Radio wavelengths are much longer; the radio spectrum ranges from approximately one

millimeter to hundreds of meters. This means that optical photons have much higher energies

than radio photons. This property of photons affects the way one would detect them.

Optical Telescopes

In optical astronomy there are three basic types of telescopes; the refractor, the catadioptric

and the reflector.

Refractor Telescope: The refractor telescope receives light through the objective lens (the

large lens closest to the subject being viewed) and sends it to the eyepiece for magnification.

The image below shows a schematic diagram of a refractor telescope.

Catadioptric Telescope: This type of telescope is similar to the Cassegrain reflector. It uses

both mirrors and lenses, as the light entering the tube changes its direction twice. The tube

length is shorter than its focal length. Focal length is the distance between the optical center

of the objective lens and the optical center of the eyepiece. The longer this distance, the

greater the magnification.

Reflector Telescope: The basic reflector telescope uses a concave mirror as its objective lens

to collect light from distant objects and then reflects that light up the tube to an overhead

diagonal mirror. The diagonal mirror redirects the light into the eyepiece for magnification.

Radio Telescopes

Radio telescopes are mainly either prime focus or Cassegrain reflectors. However, the radio

telescope looks very different from the optical telescope; radio telescopes are much larger

than optical telescopes.


There are four basic elements to a radio telescope, the reflector, the subreflector, the feed and

transmission line and the receiver.

The reflector collects power from astronomical sources.

The subreflector is a surface that directs the radiation to the feed at the center of the

reflector.

Behind the feed is the receiver system (at the cassegrain focus).The receiver amplifies the

radio signal, selects the appropriate frequency range that detects the signal.

15.Indian Army carries out surgical strikes on terror launch pads across LoC

Indian Army has successfully conducted surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the

Line of Control in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) i.e. along India‟s de-facto border

with Pakistan.

The surgical strikes were India‘s first direct military response to attack on Uri army base

by Pakistan-based militants that had killed 18 Indian soldiers.

The motive of the operation was to hit out at the terrorists who were planning to infiltrate

into the Indian territory. During the operation, significant casualty was caused to terrorists.

The cross-border action comes India reviewed Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and pulled

out of the regional SAARC Summit that was scheduled to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan as

part of a wider diplomatic offensive to isolate Pakistan.

What is surgical strike?

1. A surgical strike is a military attack which is intended to demolish something specific or

specific target to neutralise it.

2. It is done with an intention to not harm the surroundings.

3. No damage is intended to any structure, building etc.

4. An example of surgical strike is precision bombing which is conducted systematically

and with much coordination.

5. These are methodically planned and coordinated on various levels.

6. Surgical strike also needs Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence,

Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) support from the commanders.


16. INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY BOARD OF INDIA

The Centre has constituted a four-member Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India

(IBBI) under the Chairmanship of MS Sahoo.

The oath of office was administered by Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley

here. Sahoo was appointed as IBBI Chairman for a period of five years.

The members of the IBBI are Ajay Tyagi, Additional Secretary, Finance Ministry; Amardeep

Singh Bhatia, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs; GS Yadav, Joint Secretary,

Department of Legal Affairs; and Unnikrishnan, Legal Advisor, Reserve Bank of India.

The main activity of IBBI would be to regulate the functioning of insolvency

professionals, insolvency professional agencies and information utilities under the

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. The Centre had notified the Insolvency Code in May.

While the Centre has for now set up the IBBI with four members, going forward this will be

expanded to 10 (including the Chairman), official sources said.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016

The Code creates time-bound processes for insolvency resolution of companies and

individuals. These processes will be completed within 180 days. If insolvency cannot be

resolved, the assets of the borrowers may be sold to repay creditors.

The resolution processes will be conducted by licensed insolvency professionals (IPs).

These IPs will be members of insolvency professional agencies (IPAs). Information utilities

(IUs) will be established to collect, collate and disseminate financial information to facilitate

insolvency resolution.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will adjudicate insolvency resolution for

companies. The Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) will adjudicate insolvency resolution

for individuals.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India set up to regulate functioning of IPs, IPAs

and IUs.

Key Issues and Analysis

Time-bound insolvency resolution will require establishment of several new entities. Also,

given the pendency and disposal rate of DRTs, their current capacity may be

inadequate to take up the additional role.

IPAs, regulated by the Board, will be created for regulating the functioning of IPs. This

approach of having regulated entities further regulate professionals may be contrary to the

current practice of regulating licensed professionals. Further, requiring a high value of

performance bond may deter the formation of IPAs.

The Code provides an order of priority to distribute assets during liquidation. It is unclear

why: (i) secured creditors will receive their entire outstanding amount, rather than up to their

collateral value, (ii) unsecured creditors have priority over trade creditors, and (iii)

government dues will be repaid after unsecured creditors.


The Code creates an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Fund. However, it does not specify the

manner in which the Fund will be used.

17.Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has detected Great Balls of Fire (GBF)

The Great Balls of Fire (GBF) are mysterious, super-hot blobs of gas which were detected

by the Hubble Space Telescope over the weekend.

Each as massive as planet Mars and zooming so fast through space that they would travel

from earth to the moon in 30 minutes, the GBF have continued once every 8.5 years for at

least the past 400 years.

The fireballs present a puzzle to astronomers. The gas balls were observed near a red giant

called V Hydrae, about 1,200 light years away from earth.

„Red giants are stars that are nearing the end of their fuel supplies and have begun to

puff up and expand. While the fireballs could not have been ejected by the star, it is felt that

an unseen companion star in an elliptical orbit around the red giant could be responsible‘.

The elongated orbit carries the companion every 8.5 years to within the puffed-up

atmosphere of V Hydrae, where it gobbles up material from the bloated star. This material

then settles into a disk around the companion, and serves as the launching pad for blobs of

plasma, which travel at roughly a half-million miles per hour.

This star system could explain a dazzling variety of glowing shapes uncovered by Hubble

that are seen around dying stars and called planetary .

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth

orbit in 1990, and remains in operation.

Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and

is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.

The HST is named after the astronomer Edwin Hubble, and is one of NASA's Great

Observatories, along with the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Chandra X-ray

Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope.

With a 2.4-meter (7.9 ft) mirror, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near

ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectra. Hubble's orbit outside the distortion of

Earth's atmosphere allows it to take extremely high-resolution images, with substantially

lower background light than ground-based telescopes.

Hubble has recorded some of the most detailed visible light images ever, allowing a deep

view into space and time. Many Hubble observations have led to breakthroughs in

astrophysics, such as accurately determining the rate of expansion of the universe.

The HST was built by the United States space agency NASA, with contributions from

the European Space Agency. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) selects


Hubble's targets and processes the resulting data, while the Goddard Space Flight Center

controls the spacecraft.

18. LIGO (LASER INTERFEROMETER GRAVITATIONAL WAVE OBSERVATORY)

INDIA PROJECT

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) — a giant facility to

detect cosmic gravitational waves with US collaboration, will come up in Hingoli district

of Maharashtra.

The LIGO — part of a collaboration between India and the US is a large-scale physics

experiment and observatory to detect cosmic gravitational waves in the universe.

It would develop gravitational wave observations as an astronomical tool and will be the

third such observatory in the world.

―Hingoli has been chosen for the LIGO-India observatory and laboratory, for which the state

government will provide the land,‖ .

The project was first cleared by the centre after an ‗in principle‘ clearance accorded in

February for a gravitational wave detector facility in India, after Indian and foreign scientists

had detected gravitational waves from deep space by LIGO detectors in Washington and

Louisiana, US.

The LIGO-India will be piloted and overseen by the Department of Atomic Energy and

Department of Science and Technology.

The LIGO-India shall be coordinated and executed by three leading research institutions –

o Pune‘s Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)

o Indore‘s Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology (RRCAT) and

o Gandhinagar‘s Institute for Plasma Research (IPR).

While IUCAA will provide the scientific teams, data acquisition and scientific data

computation, RRCAT will provide its expertise in lasers and laser technology, while IPR will

contribute in the high vacuum and cryogenic systems for the prestigious project.

The project will deploy cutting-edge technology for the Indian industry which will be

engaged in building an 8 km long beam-tube at ultra-high vacuum on a levelled terrain.

According to LIGO-India, gravitational waves are predicted as an essential element of

Albert Einstein‟s Theory of General Relativity.

The strongest sources of gravitational waves are among the enigmatic objects in our universe

like black holes, neutron stars, supernova and even the Big Bang.

Extracting the information transmitted by the waves to address questions of physics and

astronomy would depend on our ability to identify the individual sources of these waves.


This requires a network of detectors spread over Earth and LIGO already operates two sites

in the US besides collaborating with a similar detector in Virgo, Italy.

LIGO-India will enable scientists to locate sources over the entire sky and the ellipses on the

sky maps indicate how much more accurately sources can be found with the Indian facility.

What are Gravitational Waves?

Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most

violent and energetic processes in the Universe.

Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general

theory of relativity.

Einstein's mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (such as neutron stars or

black holes orbiting each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that 'waves' of

distorted space would radiate from the source (like the movement of waves away from a

stone thrown into a pond).

These ripples would travel at the speed of light through the Universe, carrying with them

information about their cataclysmic origins, as well as invaluable clues to the nature of

gravity itself.

The strongest gravitational waves are produced by catastrophic events such as colliding black

holes, the collapse of stellar cores (supernovae), coalescing neutron stars or white dwarf

stars, the slightly wobbly rotation of neutron stars that are not perfect spheres, and the

remnants of gravitational radiation created by the birth of the Universe itself.

What is LIGO?

LIGO is the world's largest gravitational wave observatory and a cutting edge physics

experiment. Comprised of two enormous laser interferometers located thousands of

kilometers apart, LIGO exploits the physical properties of light and of space itself to detect

and understand the origins of gravitational waves.

Though it's called an observatory, LIGO is unlike any other observatory on Earth.

Although LIGO will search for gravitational waves from space, and it is called an

"Observatory", LIGO is not to be solely an astronomical facility. LIGO is truly a physics

experiment on the scale and complexity of some of the world's giant particle accelerators

and nuclear physics laboratories.

Though its mission is to detect gravitational waves from some of the most violent and

energetic processes in the Universe, the data it will collect will have far-reaching effects on

many areas of physics including gravitation, relativity, astrophysics, cosmology, particle

physics, and nuclear physics.

Since LIGO has the word "Observatory" in it, however, it is helpful to first describe how it

differs from the observatories that most people envision. Three things truly distinguish LIGO

from an astronomical observatory:


o First, LIGO is blind. Unlike optical or radio telescopes, LIGO cannot see

electromagnetic radiation (e.g., visible light, radio waves, microwaves) nor does it

have to because gravitational waves are not part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

In fact, electromagnetic radiation from space is so unimportant to LIGO that it is

completely isolated and sheltered from the outside world. LIGO cannot (nor does

it need to) see anything. Rather, it 'feels' for invisible gravitational waves.

o Second, LIGO is the opposite of round. Since LIGO doesn‘t need to collect

light from stars or other objects in the Universe, it doesn't need to be dish-shaped

like telescope mirrors or radio dishes, which collect and focus electromagnetic

radiation to produce images. Rather than having 'eyes' typical of astronomical

observatories, LIGO really has ears consisting of two straight and level 4 km (2.5

mi.) long steel vacuum tubes, 1.2 m in diameter, arranged in the shape of an ―L‖,

and protected by a 10-foot wide, 12-foot tall concrete enclosure that protects the

tubes from the outside world. (See photos at right.)

o Third, LIGO cannot function alone. While an astronomical observatory can

function and collect data just fine on its own (some do not, by choice),

gravitational wave observatories like LIGO cannot operate solo. The only way to

definitively detect a gravitational wave is by operating in unison with a distant

twin so that local vibrations are not mistaken for signals from gravitational waves.

There are some very good reasons for this, which you can learn about in LIGO‘s

Dual Detectors.

LIGO's detector is a laser interferometer.

19.Saraswati River existed

The K.S. Valdiya committee in its report submitted to the Union Water Resources Ministry

has concluded that Saraswati River so far considered mythical, existed.

The committee comprising of geologists, archaeologists and hydrologists say that they have

found evidence of the course of the river Saraswati.

Earlier, River Saraswati was considered as a mythological river and has been mentioned in

the ancient Hindu scriptures like the Rig Veda, Ramayana, Mahabharata and others giving

credence that it existed during those times.

Committee found that Saraswati River originated in the Himalayas. It was approximately

4,000 km in length and flowed through India and Pakistan before meeting Arabian Sea

through Rann of Kutch.

Two-third stretch of river measuring nearly 3000 km in length fell in India and reaming one-

third of the river stretch fell in present-day Pakistan.

The river had two branches viz.

(i) Western Branch: It represented by the Himalayan-born Satluj River of the past

which flowed through the channels of present-day Ghaggar-Patialiwali rivulets.

(ii) Eastern Branch: Palaeochannels (remnants of defunct rivers) Sarsuti-Markanda

rivulets in Haryana were courses of eastern branch of river, known as Tons-Yamuna.

The confluence of the branches was near Shatrana, 25 km south of Patiala. From this

confluence point river flow crossed dessert (Rann of Kutch) and meet gulf of western sea.


During its six-month research period, the committee studied piles of sediments, their shapes

and features which appeared to have been brought by a ―big river‖ and are reminiscent to

ones found in present-day Ghaggar, Ganga and Yamuna.

20.Inter-State Council reconstituted

The Government has reconstituted the Inter State Council (ISC) and the Standing Committee

of the Inter State Council under Clause 2 of the Inter State Council order,1990.

The Prime Minister has approved the composition of the Inter State Council. And thereby

Prime Minister will be the chairman of the council

Members of the ISC:

(i) Chief Ministers of all States.

(ii) Chief Ministers of Union Territories having a Legislative Assembly and Administrators

of Union Territories not having Legislative Assembly.

Six Union Ministers

a) Shri Rajnath Singh - Minister of Home Affairs

b) Smt.Sushma Swaraj - Minister of External Affairs and Overseas Indian

Affairs

c) Shri Arun Jaitley - Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and

Information & Broadcasting

d) Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu - Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban

Poverty Alleviation and Parliamentary Affairs

e) Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari - Minister of Road Transport & Highways and

Shipping

f) Shri Manohar Parrikar Minister of Defence.

Besides this Few Ministers have been appointed as permanent invitees.

The Prime Minister has also approved the following composition of the Standing Committee

of the Inter State Council and thereby Minister of Home Affairs will be the chairman.

The Standing Committee will:

(i) have continuous consultation and process matters for consideration of the

Council

(ii) Process all matters pertaining to Centre State Relations before they are taken

up for consideration in the inter-State Council.

(iii) Monitor the implementation of decisions taken on the recommendations of the

Council and

(iv) consider any other matter referred to it by the Chairman/Council.


(v) The Standing Committee may, if necessary, invite experts and persons

eminent in specific fields to have the benefit of their views while deliberation

upon the related subjects.

Inter-state council

The Commission on Centre-State Relations under the Chairmanship of Justice R. S. Sarkaria in

its report in January 1988 recommended that:

―(a) A permanent Inter-State Council called the Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) should be set

up under Article 263.

(b) The IGC should be charged with the duties set out in clauses (b) and (c) of Article 263, other

than socio-economic planning and development.‖

Government of India accepted the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission to set-up an

Inter-State Council and notified the establishment of the Inter-State Council

vide Presidential Order dated 28.05.1990

Article 263 of the Constitution of India provides for the establishment of an Inter-State

Council. The text of the Article reads as under:

"263. Provisions with respect to an inter-State Council – If at any time it appears to the

President that the public interests would be served by the establishment of a Council charged

with the duty of –

inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen between States;

investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States, or the Union and one

or more of the States, have a common interest; or

making recommendations upon any such subject and, in particular, recommendations for the

better co-ordination of policy and action with respect to that subject,

o it shall be lawful for the President by order to establish such a Council, and to define

the nature of the duties to be performed by it and its organization and procedure..

The Council is a recommendatory body to investigate and discuss subjects, in which some

or all of the states or the union government have a common interest.

It considers recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action, and also

matters of general interest to the states.

The inter-state council is not a permanent constitutional body for coordination between the

states and union government. It can be established ‗at any time‘ if it appears to the President

that the public interests would be served by the establishment of such a council.

21.Latvia becomes first Baltic Sea country to link with China‟s OBOR

Latvia has become the first country in the Baltic Sea area to sign a Memorandum of

Understanding to link up with China‘s One Belt and One Road (OBOR) Initiative.

The MoU was signed after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang‘s meeting with his Latvian

counterpart Maris Kucinskis in Riga (capital of Latvia).

http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/iscs/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/gazette_1.pdf

http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/iscs/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/coi-4March2016.pdf


It was Chinese Premier‘s first visit to the European Union country. Besides, Latvia and

China also singed five agreements on cooperation in such areas as small and medium-sized

enterprises, transportation and logistics.

China‟s One Belt and One Road (OBOR) Initiative OBOR initiative is China‘s key

development strategy that targets to boost its connectivity and trade in Asia, Africa, and

Europe.

It includes two components:

1.Silk Road Economic Belt

2.21st Century Maritime Silk Road

It was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. Consider a part of China‘s

recovered 21st century Silk Road diplomacy that pushes it to take a bigger role in global

affairs.

The One-Road-One-Belt (OROB) initiative for connectivity, with clear strategic advantages

for China, contrasts sharply with existing treaty-based integration concepts where the

geographical scope, partner countries, strategy, principles and rules are clearly defined at the

outset.

34 countries have already signed cooperation agreements with China.

What is One Belt, One Road initiative?

The One Belt One Road initiative is the centrepiece of China‘s foreign policy and domestic

economic strategy. It aims to rejuvenate ancient trade routes–Silk Routes–which will open up

markets within and beyond the region.

Through this initiative, China‘s plan is to construct roads, railways, ports, and other

infrastructure across Asia and beyond to bind its economy more tightly to the rest of the

world.

South Asia is the least integrated region in the world, and that is not in line with global

trends. The new initiative aims to integrate the region.

The Initiative, seen more as a policy indicator than a set of projects, will link three continents

– Asia, Europe and Africa.

China has cash and deposits in Renminbi equivalent to USD 21 trillion, or two times its

GDP, and expects that the massive overseas investment in the OROB will speed-up the

internationalization of the Renminbi.

It is also seen as a strategic response to the military ‗re-balancing‘ of the United States to

Asia.

Structural challenges that confront the Chinese OBOR initiative:

First, the perception, process and implementation to date do not inspire trust in OBOR as a

participatory and collaborative venture.

The unilateral ideation and declaration and the simultaneous lack of transparency further

weaken any sincerity towards an Asian entity and economic unity. However, China says that

it is committed to pursue wide-ranging consultations with the 60-plus nations on this issue.


It is widely accepted that through this initiative China is projecting its military and political

presence along OBOR. China is also willing to underwrite security through a collaborative

framework. Hence, few countries including India have wholeheartedly not welcomed this

initiative.

Another challenge deals with the success of the ‗whole‘ scheme, given that the Chinese

vision document lays out five layers of connectivity: policy, physical, economic, financial

and human. While no developing country will turn away infrastructure development

opportunities financed by the Chinese, they may not necessarily welcome a rules regime built

on a Chinese ethos.

This belt runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Hence, a formal nod to the project will

serve as a de-facto legitimisation to Pakistan‘s rights on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and

Gilgit-Baltistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that is closely related

to OBOR.

China is also aware that it is investing in a risky environment and that the OROB initiative

may not be commercially rewarding.

China has a three-fold solution to these problems:

First, it invites governments to organize summits to identify issues and seek common

understandings, cooperation memorandum and people-to–people contact as the basis for

regional cooperation.

Second, China is also organizing technical workshops of the concerned countries to facilitate

investments and is partnering with multilateral institutions in this effort to give greater

legitimacy. It is entering into areas the United Nations and bilaterals have ignored but have

been considered important by developing countries. For example, a workshop to harmonize

intellectual property rights legislation was organized in Beijing in July, jointly with the

World Intellectual Property Organization.

Third, China is using money to resolve security issues, like paying Pakistan for an army

division dedicated to the protection of Gwadar and is actively considering setting up a private

security agency, borrowing ideas from something the United States has done for decades, but

paid for by the companies rather than the government.

India and OBOR:

With China now a USD 10 trillion economy, compared to India‘s economy of USD two

trillion, India is at a defining movement on how the Asian Century will be shaped. The

strategic question is whether Asia will have two poles, as it has had throughout history, or

will India remain at Asia‘s periphery as a regional power?

Chinese political expansion and economic ambitions, packaged as OBOR, are two sides of

the same coin. It is being seen as both a threat and an opportunity. To be firm while

responding to one facet, while making use of the opportunities that become available from

the other, will largely depend on the institutional agency and strategic imagination India is

able to bring to the table.

China is keen to have India on board and both recognize that working together is necessary

for achieving the ‗Asian Century‘. India should seek to ‗redefine‘ OROB to add a strong

component for a ‗Digital Asia‘, as that is where our comparative advantage lies, and for


Asian connectivity to have two nodes, in China and in India, as has been the case throughout

history.

22.The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016

The Parliament has passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill after it

was unanimously approved by Rajya Sabha.

The comprehensive amendment bill seeks to amend and strengthen Benami Transaction

(Prohibition) Act, 1988 in terms of legal and administrative procedure to curb domestic black

money.

Key Features of Bill

The Bill seeks to

(i) Amend the definition of benami transactions to widen the scope for legal action

(ii) Specify penalties for entering into benami transactions and

(iii) establish adjudicating authorities and Appellate Tribunal to deal with benami

transactions. It add other transactions which qualify as benami, such as property transactions

where:

(i) the owner is not aware or denies knowledge of the ownership of the property,

(ii) transaction is made in a fictitious name

(iii) person providing the consideration for the property is not traceable.

The Bill also adds provisions to establish an Appellate Tribunal in order to hear appeals

against any orders passed by the Adjudicating Authority

. Appeals against orders of the Appellate Tribunal will lie to the high court. The Bill specifies

the penalty for providing false information.

The punishment includes rigorous imprisonment ranging from 6 months up to 5 years, and a

fine which may extend to 25% of the fair market value of the benami property.

It also intends to effectively prohibit benami transactions and consequently prevent

circumvention of law through unfair practices.

It empowers the Union Government to confiscate benami property by following due

procedure. Therefore it promotes equity across all citizens.

The Bill provides immunity under the Benami Act to those who declare their benami

properties under income declaration scheme. Comment In recent years the Union

Government has taken various measures to curb the black money and the proposed

legislation is one of them.

It has been framed to tackle the menace black money by creating fear of law. However, the

law does not cover benami property which is outside the country under it as it will be deemed

as black money.

The Act prohibits recovery of the property held benami from benamdar by the real owner.

As per the Act, properties held benami are liable for confiscation by the government, without

payment of compensation.

An appellate mechanism has been provided under the act, in the form of an adjudicating

authority and appellate tribunal.


According to the government, the four authorities who will conduct inquiries or

investigations are the

Initiating Officer,

Approving Authority,

Administrator and

Adjudicating Authority.

23Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)

AFSPA extended in Assam

The Centre has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act to declare Assam a ‗disturbed

area‘ for one more year.The Government of India in exercise of powers under AF(SP) Act, 1958

has also declared, besides other areas, the area falling within 20 km wide belt in Assam and

Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya along their border with the Assam as disturbed area.

AFSPA

It is an Act empowering armed forces to deal effectively in ‗Disturbed Areas‘. Any area which is

declared ‗Disturbed‘ under the disturbed areas act enables armed forces to resort to the

provisions of AFSPA.The choice of declaring any area as ‗disturbed‘ vests both with state and

central government.

Special powers provided to armed forces

After an area comes under the ambit of AFSPA, any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non-

commissioned officer or another person of equivalent rank can use force for a variety of reasons

while still being immune to the prosecution.

Ambit

The act was passed on 11 September 1958 by the parliament of India to provide special legal

security to the armed forces carrying out operations in the troubled areas of Arunachal Pradesh,

Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura (seven sisters).

In 1990 the act was extended to the state of Jammu and Kashmir to confront the rising

insurgency in the area.

In Manipur, despite opposition from the Central government, state government withdrew the

Act in some parts in Aug, 2004.

The government can declare AFSPA in the following conditions:

When the local administration fails to deal with local issues and the police proves inefficient

to cope with them.

When the scale of unrest or instability in the state is too large for the police to handle.

Legal provisions of AFSPA

In an area declared ‖disturbed‖ an army officer is legally free to carry out following operations:

Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing of death, against any person who is

acting in contravention of any law‖ against ―assembly of five or more persons‖ or possession

of deadly weapons.


Destroy any shelter (private or govt.) from which armed attacks are made or likely to be

made or attempted to be made.

Arrest any person without warrant who has committed a cognizable offence or against whom

a reasonable suspicion exists that he has committed or is about to commit a cognizable

offence.

Enter and search, without warrant, any premises for purpose of arrest or to recover any

person, arms, explosives.

To search and seize any vehicle suspected to be carrying an offender or any person against

whom any reasonable suspicion exists that he has or is about to commit an offence.

To provide legal immunity to the army personnel found involved in any violation or ethical

breach i.e., they cannot be sued or prosecuted.

Why do armed forces need AFSPA?

The forces are aware that they cannot afford to fail when called upon to safeguard the

country‘s integrity. Hence, they require the minimum legislation that is essential to ensure

efficient utilization of combat capability. This includes safeguards from legal harassment and

empowerment of its officers to decide on employment of the minimum force that they

consider essential.

The absence of such a legal statute would adversely affect organizational flexibility and the

utilization of the security capacity of the state. This would render the security forces

incapable of fulfilling their assigned role.

Common people see it as ‗Right to Kill‘ Act. Since its inception many Human Rights

organizations and civil societies have been opposing it for the following reasons:

It makes no distinction between a peaceful gathering of five or more people and a berserk

mob.

The law also states that, ―no prosecution can be initiated against an officer without the

previous sanction of the Central government‖.

The decision of the government to declare a particular area ‗disturbed‘ cannot be challenged

in a court of law.

In 2005 the Jeevan Reddy Commission said that AFSPA should be repealed and the clauses

that are required should be included in other Acts.

24.Donald Trump was elected as 45th President of USA

The United States presidential election of 2016, held on November 8, 2016, was the 58th

U.S. presidential election. Donald Trump the Republican nominee defeated

the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump, age 70, became the oldest person

ever to be elected as president. He was born in 1946.

Trump will assume the office as the 45th President from January 20, 2017.


Mr. Trump defeated Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton who would have been the

country‘s first woman President in its 240-year history succeeding Barack Obama, the first

African-American President of the U.S.

The 2016 presidential election is likely to be the fifth election in U.S. history in which the

eventual winner failed to win the popular vote.

25.Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 Currency no longer Legal Tender

The union government has announced that five hundred and thousand rupee notes will cease

to be legal tender. This move is aimed at rooting out the menace of black money and

corruption.

The legal tender character of the existing bank notes in denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000

issued by the Reserve bank of India till November 8, 2016 stands withdrawn.

In consequence thereof, these bank notes cannot be used for transacting business and/or

storage of value for future usage. These bank notes can be exchanged for value at any of the

19 offices of the Reserve Bank of India or at any of the bank branches or at any head post

office or sub-post office.

How many Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are floating around?

According to the RBI press conference today, there are 16.5 billion ‗500-rupee‘ notes and 6.7

billion ‗1000-rupee‘ notes in circulation right now.

In addition to this, RBI data shows that the share of Rs 1,000 notes in the stock of currency in

circulation at the end of financial year 2014-15 was 39%. Rs 500 notes accounted for a

further 45% of currency stock.

Putting it simply, a little over 80% of the cash in India (by value) will be worthless pieces of

paper.

What was the need for such move?

The incidence of fake Indian currency notes in higher denomination has increased. For

ordinary people, the fake notes look similar to genuine notes, even though no security feature

has been copied.

The fake notes are used for anti-national and illegal activities. High denomination notes have

also been misused by terrorists and for hoarding black money.

Therefore, in order to contain the rising incidence of fake notes and black money, the scheme

to withdraw the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes has been introduced.

Advantages of the move

First, people who have a lot of cash, legally earned, will deposit it in the bank. This will

increase bank‘s deposits by a huge margin. This will also increase the lending activity

because banks have a CRR (cash reserve ratio) to maintain and with more deposits they can

do more lending.

http://www.affairscloud.com/rs-500-rs-1000-currency-no-longer-legal-tender/


Credit (loans) will become easier and interest rates may come down. More loans given out

increases broad money supply and creates inflation.

On a long-term basis the government‘s decision to curb black money would reduce

corruption and bring transparency into the sector.

The move will benefit the poor, middle class and aspirational middle class by increasing

opportunity and bringing real estate and higher education within their reach again.

The government‘s move will benefit companies in the cashless economy.

Rupee will strengthen as the time passes. Inflation will go down which will benefit poor and

middle class people.

Investments in gold and jewelleries will increase as trust on currency will go down. More

people will try to convert paper into gold. It will eventually increase investment in the

government‘s gold monetization scheme.

More and more businesses will be organized those who accept paper money only such as

small jewelers, hotels etc.

Funding for arms, smuggling, terrorism will take a blow. This is most important advantage to

the country.

Circulation of counterfeit currency will see the end soon.

Who will be affected by this move?

The lower/middle class will not find it tough to account for or exchange the currency. The

real fear will be for those who have unaccounted money.

Land and property prices, particularly those of luxury homes, are likely to come down in the

short to medium term as a result of this move.

The impact of this will be huge in many markets where payment of cash is mandatory and

the major form of profit-taking. These markets will see a major crash making an already

difficult situation even more challenging.

The demand for gold and other investment options such as diamonds and silver may shoot

through the roof until the deadline, and beyond it.

Challenges ahead:

This ban on high denomination currency has the potential to dramatically push up the

volumes of electronic transactions. Consequently there are new cyber security implications.

In the emerging cashless transaction environment the government and the businesses will

have to be on their feet to guard against cyberattacks as they are carried out not merely by

criminals, but also by nation states.

Cyber warfare perpetrated by enemy states has the potential to hit a country‘s economy.

Terrorist networks will find ways to penetrate the most protected vaults in the world in the

absence of unregulated cash transactions.

Suggestive measures

There is an immediate need for banks to get proactive about information security and beef up

their IT infrastructure against potential cyberattacks. What holds good for banks, also holds

good for other businesses as cyber criminals are quite capable of targeting Point of Sale

terminals, mobiles and a variety of other devices.


With more electronic transactions and monitored cash disbursals the government will have

better control on who has access to money. But we will need a robust and a proactive cyber

security strategy to ensure these objectives will work.

Way ahead:

While political parties welcomed the announcement, they cautioned the government must be

open to changes so that common people are not penalized in the process of fighting

corruption and black money.

In the medium to long-term the policy that emerges will determine how much corruption will

return in due course. The RBI and government will need a massive outreach and

communication program to calm the frayed nerves of the common citizen and transition to

the new currency notes.

Conclusion:

The government‘s move is bold in its intent and massive in its measure. While the intent is clear,

the implementation and impact is yet to be seen. One thing is sure though – the Indian economy

just had a massive disruption overnight.

26.Food Security Act implemented : Ram Vilas Paswan

The Union Government has announced that the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013

which envisages supply of subsidised foodgrains has been implemented across the country.

Announcement in this regard was made by Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan after last

two remaining states Kerala and Tamil Nadu rolled out the NFSA from November 2016.

With this, now NFSA has been implemented in all States and Union Territories. As a result,

81.34 crore persons will get subsidised wheat at Rs. 2 per kg and rice at Rs. 3 per kg. At the

current coverage, the monthly allocation of foodgrains to States and UTs under the Act is

about 45.5 lakh tonnes. The subsidy implication of about Rs. 11,726 crore per month and it is

overall about Rs. 1,40,700 crore per year.

Now Union Government will focus on further reforms in the public distribution system

(PDS) including end to end computerization in order to check leakages and diversion of

foodgrains. About National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013

The NFSA aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the

population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).

It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the Central

Government. It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services

scheme and the Public Distribution System.

Grains like wheat, rice and coarse grain will be distributed at the subsidized price of 3 Rs. 3,

Rs. 2 and Rs. 1. Pregnant women and lactating mothers and children are entitled to get meals

under the prescribed nutrition by MDM and ICDS.

NFSA 2013 will provide high nutrition food to the children from age group of 6 months to 14

years. Pregnant women and lactating mothers will be entitled to get maternity benefit of not less

than Rs. 6,000


27.Special Committee for Inter-Linking of Rivers

To comply with the Supreme Court‘s 2012 order, the Union Cabinet has approved the

constitution of a ‗special committee for inter-linking of rivers‘.

In February 2012, the Supreme Court gave a green signal for interlinking of rivers.

As per the Court‘s order, the formation of such a committee is necessary to take firm steps to fix

a timeline for completion of feasibility reports and to ensure completion of projects on time, so

that the benefits accrued from the projects are reaped within reasonable time and cost.

Key facts

The committee will have representations from various departments of the government apart from

civil society organizations.

The committee has to meet at least once in two months.

The committee is required to submit a bi-annual report to the Union Cabinet regarding the status

and progress of the project.

The union Cabinet is expected to act on the matters placed before its consideration by the

committee within 30 days.

Significance

The committee will help in monitoring projects carried out under National Perspective Plan,

1980.

The special committee‘s bi-annual status-cum-progress report will enable the Union Cabinet to

take faster and informed decisions in the interest of the country.

National Perspective Plan, 1980

In 1980, the Ministry of Water Resources formulated a National Perspective Plan for the

development of water resources by transferring water from water surplus basins to water deficit

basins through inter-linking of rivers.

Interlinking of rivers Interlinking of rivers is a proposed large-scale engineering project to link

rivers by a network of reservoirs, dams, and canals.

The objective of the project is to reduce the disparities in different river basins by transferring

surplus water to water deficit regions of the country.

The project has been split into three components:

Himalayan rivers inter-link component

Peninsular component

Intra-state rivers linking component.

National Water Development Agency (NWDA) The Inter-link project is being managed by

India‘s National Water Development Agency (NWDA).

NWDA was set up as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 in 1982 to carry out

the water balance and feasibility studies of the river linking program.

Advantages of Interlinking of Rivers


1. India receives most of its rain during monsoon season from June to September, most of it falls

in northern and eastern part of India, the amount of rainfall in southern and western part are

comparatively low. It will be these places which will have shortage of water. Interlinking of

rivers will help these areas to have water throughout the year.

2. The main occupation of rural India is agriculture and if monsoon fails in a year, then

agricultural activities come to a standstill and this will aggravate rural poverty. Interlinking of

rivers will be a practical solution for this problem, because the water can be stored or water can

be transferred from water surplus area to deficit.

3. The Ganga Basin, Brahmaputra basin sees floods almost every year. In order to avoid this, the

water from these areas has to be diverted to other areas where there is scarcity of water. This can

be achieved by linking the rivers. There is a two way advantage with this – floods will be

controlled and scarcity of water will be reduced.


4. Interlinking of rivers will also have commercial importance on a longer run. This can be used

as inland waterways and which helps in faster movement of goods from one place to other.

5. Interlinking creates a new occupation for people living in and around these canals and it can

be the main areas of fishing in India.

Disadvantages of Interlinking of Rivers

1. Interlinking of rivers will cause huge amount of distortion in the existing environment. In

order to create canals and reservoirs, there will be mass deforestation. This will have impact on

rains and in turn affect the whole cycle of life.

2. Usually rivers change their course and direction in about 100 years and if this happens after

interlinking, then the project will not be feasible for a longer run.

3. Due to interlinking of rivers, there will be decrease in the amount of fresh water entering seas

and this will cause a serious threat to the marine life system and will be a major ecological

disaster.

4. Due to the creation of Canals and Reservoirs, huge amount of area which is occupied by the

people will be submerged leading to displacement of people and government will have to spend

more to rehabilitate these people.

5. The amount required for these projects is so huge that government will have to take loans from

the foreign sources which would increase the burden on the government and country will fall in a

debt trap.

28.Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 („the Bill‟) in the Parliament

The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha on

November 28, 2016. It seeks to amend the Income Tax Act, 1961 and Finance Act, 2016.

Self-declaration of undisclosed income The Bill proposes to introduce the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016. Under

the scheme, taxpayers may declare undisclosed income possessed in the form of cash or

deposited in banks, post offices or Reserve Bank of India before a notified date. In such

cases, taxes and penalties will be levied as presented in Table 1.

Table 1: Levies on undisclosed income as proposed by the Bill

Levy Rate

Tax 30% on undisclosed income

Cess 33% on the tax levied

Penalty 10% on undisclosed income

Sources: The Taxation Laws (Second

Amendment) Bill, 2016; PRS.

The cess will be known as the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Cess, and will be used for

welfare of economically weaker sections.

Further, the taxpayer has to deposit 25% of the undisclosed income into the Pradhan Mantri

Garib Kalyan Deposit Scheme, 2016. The deposit will not earn any interest. This deposit may

be withdrawn only after four years from the date of deposit.


The declarations of undisclosed income made under the Yojana will not be used as evidence

under provisions of any other law, except certain laws including:

(i) the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988,

(ii) the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002,

(iii) the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967,

(iv) the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax

Act, 2015,

(v) the Special Court (Trial of Offences Relating to Transactions in Securities) Act, 1992.

Disclosure of unexplainable income:

Currently, a tax is levied when the taxpayer is not able to explain any of his income. The Bill

proposes to:

(i) increase the tax rate and surcharges levied on such income, and

(ii) levy of a penalty.

The proposed changes are presented in Table 2.

Table 2: Change in taxes on unexplained income

Current Proposed

Tax 30% 60% of unexplained income

Penalty - 10% of tax if the assessing authority finds

the unexplained income

Surcharge 2%-15%

on tax

payable

25% on tax payable

Source: The Income Tax Act, 1961; The Finance Act, 2016; The

Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill, 2016; PRS.

Income found during search of taxpayer‟s assets: Currently, the income tax assessment authorities may initiate an investigation and search of

assets of a taxpayer on the suspicion of possessing undisclosed income. In the case of such a

search, in addition to the tax payable, an additional penalty will be levied.

The penalty will be levied at a higher rate if the taxpayer does not admit to possession of

undisclosed income found in the search. The Bill proposes to increase the penalties as presented

in table 3.

Table 3: Penalties on undisclosed income found during a search

Current Proposed

Penalty if taxpayer admits holding

undisclosed income

10% of undisclosed

income

30%

Penalty if taxpayer does not admit

holding undisclosed income

20% of undisclosed

income

60%

Source: The Income Tax Act, 1961; The Taxation Laws (Second

Amendment) Bill, 2016; PRS.


29.Airtel launches India‟s first payments bank

Airtel Payments Bank Ltd has become the first payments bank to start operations, offering

services in Rajasthan in a limited scale.

The pilot will run at 10,000 Airtel retail outlets where basic banking services will be

provided. Customers will be offered an interest rate of 7.25% on deposits in savings account,

higher than the 4-6% commercial banks are offering.

Bank accounts can be opened by customers without documents using Aadhaar based e-

KYC. The subscriber‘s mobile number would function as a bank account number and

transfer from Airtel to Airtel phone numbers would be free.

The retail outlets, which will act as banking points, will offer account opening services, cash

deposit and withdrawal facilities.

As a payments bank it cannot perform lending activities, except while giving loans to its

employees on approval of the board. The bank can, however, accept deposits of as much

as Rs1 lakh.

Airtel was the first applicant to receive the final licence from the Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) in April. Kotak Mahindra Bank holds 19.9% in the Airtel Payments Bank.

In August last year, the central bank had given in-principle approval to 11 applicants to set

up payments bank by February 2017. Out of the 11 applicants, Cholamandalam Investment

and Finance Co., Tech Mahindra Ltd and billionaire Dilip Shanghvi have already given up

their approvals.

Payment Bank

According to RBI guidelines issued in November 2014, a payments bank will maintain

cash reserve ratio with the central bank. Apart from it, they will be required to invest

minimum 75% of their deposits in statutory liquidity ratio eligible government securities with

maturity up to one year and hold maximum 25% in current and time deposits with other

scheduled commercial banks for operational purposes and liquidity management.

What are Payment Banks?

New stripped-down type of banks, which are expected to reach customers mainly through

their mobile phones rather than traditional bank branches.

What they can and can‟t do

They can‘t offer loans but can raise deposits of upto Rs. 1 lakh, and pay interest on these

balances just like a savings bank account does.

They can enable transfers and remittances through a mobile phone.

They can offer services such as automatic payments of bills, and purchases in cashless,

chequeless transactions through a phone.

They can issue debit cards and ATM cards usable on ATM networks of all banks.

They can transfer money directly to bank accounts at nearly no cost being a part of the

gateway that connects banks.

They can provide forex cards to travellers, usable again as a debit or ATM card all over

India.

They can offer forex services at charges lower than banks.


They can also offer card acceptance mechanisms to third parties such as the ‗Apple Pay.‘

Who has Reserve Bank granted in-principle approval to be a payment bank?

Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd

Airtel M Commerce Services Ltd

Cholamandalam Distribution Services Ltd

Department of Posts

Fino PayTech Ltd

National Securities Depository Ltd

Reliance Industries Ltd

Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Tech Mahindra Ltd

Vodafone m-pesa Ltd

Why are they going to be a game-changer?

This is for the first time in the history of India's banking sector that RBI is giving out

differentiated licences for specific activities. RBI is expected to come out with a second set

of such licences — for small finance banks — and the process for those is in its final stage.

The move is seen as a major step in pushing financial inclusion in the country.

It‘s a step to redefine banking in India. The Reserve Bank expects payment banks to

target India‟s migrant labourers, low-income households and small businesses, offering

savings accounts and remittance services with a low transaction cost. It hopes payments

banks will enable poorer citizens who transact only in cash to take their first step into formal

banking. It could be uneconomical for traditional banks to open branches in every village but

the mobile phones coverage is a promising low-cost platform for quickly taking basic

banking services to every rural citizen. The innovation is also expected to accelerate India‘s

journey into a cashless economy.

India‘s domestic remittance market is estimated to be about Rs. 800-900 billion and growing.

With money transfers made possible through mobile phones, a big chunk of it,

especially that of the migrant labour, could shift to this new platform. Payment banks

can also play a crucial role in implementing the government‘s direct benefit transfer scheme,

where subsidies on healthcare, education and gas are paid directly to beneficiaries‘ accounts.

Also, this is the first time since banks were nationalized, that private sector business

groups have bagged the RBI‟s nod for banking services.

What has the experience been in other countries?

Payment technologies have proved hugely popular in other developing countries. In Kenya,

the most cited success story, Vodafone‘s M-Pesa is used by two in three of adults to store

money, make purchases and transfer funds to friends and relatives.


30.50 years of establishment of UNCITRAL

India is the host for the golden jubilee celebrations of United Nations Commission on

International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

UNCITRAL was established by the UN General Assembly in 1966 to promote the

progressive harmonisation and unification of international trade law.

India is a founding member of UNCITRAL. India is only one of eight countries which have

been a member of UNCITRAL since its inception.

Last year, it was re-elected for a term of six years (2016-2022).

UNCITRAL has a membership of 60 States selected from among States Members of the

United Nations.

The members are selected to ensure the representation of various geographic, principal

economic and legal systems of the world.

Out of 60 members, 14 are African states, 14 Asian, 8 Eastern European States, 10 Latin

American & Caribbean States and 14 Western European and other States UNCITRAL is the

core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law

UNCITRAL specialises in commercial law reform worldwide for a period of over 40 years.

The main job of UNCITRAL is to modernise and harmonise rules on international business.


II.GS-I Predictions with keypoints

(Indian Heritage and Culture, History and

Geography of the World and Society)


1. According to WHO, Delhi‟s air is the worst among world megacities. Identify these

sources responsible for pollution and related agencies responsible for fixing these sources

and possible measures to overcome the issue.

Delhi‟s air pollution is the worst among world megacities

According to WHO, Delhi‟s air is the worst among world megacities.

Delhi recorded a PM10 level of 229 µg/m³, followed by Cairo with 179 µg/m³ and Dhaka

with 158 µg/m³ – the top three megacities with the most polluted air globally. Beijing and

Shanghai were sixth and seventh on that list.

Delhi was the only megacity to record a PM10 level above 200 µg/m³, exceeding the

WHO air quality standard of 20 µg/m³ by more than 900%.

Within India, the smaller cities of Gwalior and Allahabad measured the worst levels of

ambient air pollution at PM2.5 levels of 176 µg/m³ and 170 µg/m³ respectively.

A significant portion of northern India falls in a zone with ―critical‖ air pollution-reporting

PM2.5 levels of over 70 µg/m³ in the WHO‘s mapping of air pollution and population.

In 2012, with one million deaths, China reported the highest toll from PM2.5 and PM10

pollution. At the time, India followed, reporting 621,138 deaths, nearly 10% of the global toll

(6.5 million deaths) associated with outdoor and indoor air pollution.

However, between 2011 and 2015, in a comparison of megacities with population above 14

million, Delhi‘s ambient air-pollution levels were worse than Beijing and Shanghai.

What is PM, and how does it get into the air?

PM stands for particulate matter (also called particle pollution): the term for a mixture of

solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air.

Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with

the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron microscope.

Exposure to PM 10 is not good

It is because most air-pollution deaths are caused by fine, invisible particles, called PM2.5,

about 30 times finer than a human hair.

These pollutants, if inhaled deep into the lungs, can cause heart attacks, strokes, lung

cancer and respiratory diseases, and are known to pose the greatest risk to human beings.

PM10, or coarse particulate matter with diameter between 2.5 and 10 micrometers, are

primarily made up of dirt and dust from farming, factories and roads, and caused due to the

crushing of rocks and soil.

What are the Harmful Effects of PM?

Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they

can be inhaled and cause serious health problems. Particles less than 10 micrometers in

diameter pose the greatest problems, because they can get deep into your lungs, and some

may even get into your bloodstream.

Fine particles (PM2.5) are the main cause of reduced visibility (haze) in parts of the United

States, including many of our treasured national parks and wilderness areas.


Permissible level of PM:

According to WHO guidelines, the annual mean levels should be:

20 µg/m³ (for PM10)

10 µg/m³ (for PM2.5)

For 24 hours, the levels should not exceed 50 µg/m³ (for PM10) and 25 µg/m³ (for PM2.5).

Strong measures needed

Need to put pressure on policymakers and the polluters by improving the functioning of Air

Quality Index

Need to expand coverage from the present 23 cities to all agglomerates with a significant

population and economic activity.

They must be mandated to provide full and regular information within a given time-frame.

Data must be put in open format to enable multiple channels of dissemination including

novels methods like mobile apps.

An action plan when the quality for air is bad. In China, for instance drastic measures like

shutting down of schools, limiting production from factories etc. are taken when air quality

goes severely bad.

2. The declining female labour force participation in India alongside high economic growth

is puzzling. Critically analyse the causes.

Background:

Labor force participation is one of the deciding factor on which growth rests.

Despite it, the latest NSSO report have shown decline in the female labor force participation

with growing economy.

Critical Analysis of the issue:

Unequal access of job: Jobs getting created in highly skilled sectors like services where a few

women make it to the top (cascading effect caused by low literacy rate among women)

compared to men.

Domestic activities not included- There is a flaw which is considered in NSSO‘s definition of

of employment which doesn‘t consider domestic activities wherein the women are full time

participants.

Declining employment opportunities Due to advancement in Technology and automation,

overall job prospects have lowered and it affects womenfolk the most as they are already

suffering from depressed participation rate.

Declining agricultural activities- Lesser contribution of agriculture in GDP is a fact that

agriculture generates lesser jobs. Female labour force are the important part of agrarian

economy and hence with decline in agricultural activities, women are stepping back.

Quality of employment- home based work, domestic work, street vending , waste picking are

kinds of jobs where quality is not maintained. Women are preferring not to engage in such

jobs.

Male workers have replaced female workers in undesirable informal sector occupations.

Lack of job security and higher incidence of sexual harassment also contribute to this factor.

http://www.insightsonindia.com/2016/11/12/1-declining-female-labour-force-participation-india-alongside-high-economic-growth-puzzling-critically-analyse-causes/

http://www.insightsonindia.com/2016/11/12/1-declining-female-labour-force-participation-india-alongside-high-economic-growth-puzzling-critically-analyse-causes/


Conclusion:

Thus not only economic but also social and political reasons defy the situation of lower

female labour workforce participation rate.

schemes like Stand Up India, MUDRA, SHG initiative etc. should focus more on women.

Also health and safety of women needs to be emphasized in its policymaking.

3.The Paris Agreement on climate change marks a milestone in preserving the earth‟s

environment and provides a floor on which to build ambition and action. comment

The Paris Agreement on climate change marks a milestone in preserving the earth‘s

environment and provides a floor on which to build ambition and action. It is the outcome of

a long struggle by millions of citizens around the world, aided by the weight of scientific

evidence linking severe, more frequent weather events such as cyclones and droughts to man-

made greenhouse gas emissions.

The 195 country-parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have

acknowledged that global climate action can no longer be postponed.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon characterised the Paris Agreement as a ―monumental

triumph‖.

This agreement strikes a remarkably delicate balance between the collective ambition of

global efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions, differentiation between developed and

developing countries, and mobilisation of the financial resources needed for support.

Significance of the Paris agreement:

The Paris Agreement is ambitious in several respects. It resolves to hold global temperature

rise to ―well below 2 degrees Celsius‖ above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts

towards a 1.5 degrees C temperature limit. This was a crucial demand of the small island

states and least developed countries — for them, a higher temperature increase poses an

existential threat.

The world is not currently on a pathway to 1.5 degrees C and such a pathway would

dramatically shrink the remaining carbon space with troubling implications for countries like

India. Nevertheless, the aspirational 1.5 degrees C sets an ambitious direction for the climate

regime.

This ambitious goal is complemented by a binding obligation to submit mitigation

contributions every five years and to pursue domestic measures to achieve them. For

every five-year cycle, states must put forward contributions more ambitious than their last.

To ensure delivery, the agreement puts in place a robust transparency framework. States

will provide information on the implementation of their contributions, which is then subject

to a technical expert review process. In addition, the agreement envisages a ―global

stocktake‖ every five years to assess collective progress towards long-term goals.

Significantly, the global stocktake will also take into account ―equity‖ — thus paving the

way for conversation on burden-sharing between nations.

The agreement puts in place strong top-down elements that are expected to discipline self-

determination and enhance ambition. The agreement also recognises the fact that the global


temperature goal must be achieved in the context of sustainable development and poverty

eradication.

Differentiated responsibilities:

Targets set under the agreement emphasize the greater the need for differentiation in efforts

between developed and developing countries as well as for financial resources to support

ambitious efforts.

But, developed countries, scarred by the Kyoto Protocol that obliged only them to take on

absolute emissions reduction targets, have always been fiercely resistant to another

differentiated climate agreement. Even, developed countries, with faltering economies, are

reluctant to pay for global efforts to combat climate change.

Developing countries are fundamentally opposed both to giving up the differential treatment

that had benefited them thus far and to assuming a share of the financial burden for lowering

emissions.

However, the Paris agreement presses countries as far as they could on differentiation and

finance. The agreement includes a provision requiring developed countries to send $100

billion annually to their developing counterparts beginning in 2020. This figure is

expected to increase with time.

India and the Paris agreement:

India had much to lose and gain from this negotiation, as did the world. Like all other

countries, India is now required to periodically report on its targets and performance under

the Agreement, and update its Nationally Determined Contributions by 2020.

This will need the active involvement of all States and wide consultations — more so for the

175 gigawatt renewables revolution, including 100 GW from solar, to meet the 2022 target.

The Centre should now consider enacting a strong climate change law that harmonises

policies nationally, beginning with energy, buildings, transport, water, agriculture and urban

development.

The question of adaptation to climate change and addressing loss and damage looms large for

India, given the regular cycles of crippling droughts, devastating flooding and lost

livelihoods.

Conclusion:

More than a milestone, Paris represents a landmark in the UN climate negotiations. In

striking a fine balance between ambition, differentiation and finance, it sets us on track to

secure our climatic future, the best way we know how — based on our common but

differentiated responsibilities, respective capabilities and different national circumstances.

The Agreement ensures that the road to climate ambition will be paved with equity.

Agreement is not a done deal, but countries responsible for 75% of the world‘s carbon

emissions have now set targets for cuts in carbon emissions. Paris Agreement is not THE

solution to climate change. But it might lead to one. It is a framework for progress, the first

step in what has been a long and torturous road. In that sense, the Paris agreement is a bet on

the willingness of nations to act in the future — and on the world‘s citizens to keep the heat

on them.


4. Can genetically modified (GM) food crops ensure food security in India? Do you think

it‟s time for India to start cultivating GM food crops? Critically comment

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), of the ministry of environment and

forests has deferred a decision on allowing commercial cultivation of Mustard DMH-11.

What is GM Mustard?

Mustard DMH-11 (Dhara Mustard Hybrid 11), a genetically modified (GM) crop, is a

transgenic crop developed by Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop Plants at Delhi

University and partly funded by the National Dairy Development Board.

The resulting GM mustard, it is claimed, gives 25-30 per cent more yield than the best

varieties such as ‗Varuna‘ currently grown in the country. Arguments in support of GM

mustard

Research needed for long term food security issues amidst new pests infestation, effects of

climate change and growing demand.

In 2014-15, India imported 14.5 million tonnes of edible oils valued at $10.5 billion.

Therefore, the need to raise domestic crop yields and cut dependence on imports.

Country‘s cotton production has gone up more than 2½ times since Bt hybrids were first

planted in 2002. Also, no adverse effects on human have reported (consumption of cotton

seed oil, etc).

Technology behind GM mustard

It has been created using GM technology (alteration of DNA), involving incorporation of

―Barnase‖ gene isolated from a soil bacterium called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens.

It codes for a protein that impairs pollen production and renders the plant into which it has

been introduced male-sterile.

This male-sterile plant is crossed with a fertile parental line, containing, in turn, another gene,

―Barstar‖, from the same bacterium that blocks the action of the ―Barnase‖ gene.

The resultant progeny, having both the foreign genes, is a hybrid mustard plant that is not

only high-yielding, but also fertile and capable of producing seed/grain.

We import edible oil from GM crop using countries.

Delhi University‘s CGMCP has pledged to distribute the GM mustard for free. Arguments

against GM MUSTARD

Long term adverse effects cannot be ascertained without proper research.

The entire process is seen as a political one where the government pays heed to different

lobbyists (opaque functioning of GEAC).

The farmers also oppose the ‗seed monopolies‘, which are causing price distortion and not

adhering to government guidelines on price control in case of Bt Cotton. They are also not

being made accountable for the losses due to pest attacks like the recent pink bollworm.

Organic is a more sustainable option, as could be seen from the growing demand for such

food.

New varieties are input intensive. (water, fertilizer, etc)

Supreme Court‟s view


The Supreme Court has sought an explanation from the central government on its proposed

move to introduce herbicide resistant mustard, cotton and corn in the face of a court-imposed

ban on their introduction.

The top court had in a series of orders passed in February 2007, April 2008 and August 2008

sought to restrain both small-scale and large-scale field trials in any food crops as well as

their commercial introduction in the country.

CIC‟s Order on Safety

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Genetic Engineering Appraisal

Committee (GEAC), under the Ministry of Environment to make public all the data

pertaining to the safety of genetically modified (GM) mustard, except proprietary intellectual

property data. It said that provisions of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety should be kept in

mind.

The ministry objected saying the information is exempted under the RTI clause related to

commercial confidence of the third party: the Centre for Genetic Manipulation of Crop

Plants. It also argued that since the trial is in a premature stage it would not be right to

disclose the data.

The Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety is an international agreement which aims to ensure the

safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern

biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account

risks to human health. Way Forward

Transparency of data and functioning - is crucial for public and scientific confidence in the

GEAC's decisionmaking process.

An independent and autonomous regulator which is insulated against pulls and pressures

(envisioned in the lapsed Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill)

A legislation to fix the liability of the seed monopoly is also desired.

5. Discuss the mechanism and origin of Monsoon winds and explain the role of El Nino on

Monsoon circulation

Monsoon brings showers and cheers to India. If it fails, it is a disaster both for people and

economy. This year all forecasts of good monsoon have been belied and government is

preparing to combat drought.

Thankfully we have enough food reserves to meet emergency requirements. Last year India

produced record 252 million tonnes of foodgrains. Lot of it will be eaten by rats and left to

decay in open spaces of FCI but that is another issue.

Monsoon faithfully arrives at the shores of Kerala every year in the month of June. Its arrival

is sometimes disrupted by a phenomena called El Nino which occurs in Eastern Pacific, near

the shores of Peru.

Already it is predicted that El Nino will occur this year, and this is a bad news for India and

neighbouring countries. El Nino makes Monsoon weak, and kills it.

If Monsoon fails, farmers and policy makers in India will have tough time. But it is farmer

who suffers more. Government declares drought, and announces financial packages and

relief measures – which we know hardly reaches people.


DROUGHT

Drought is a serious natural hazard that has severe implications for the affected region.

It can be defined as:

‖ a protracted period of deficient precipitation resulting in extensive damage to crops,

resulting in loss of yield‖

In more technical terms it is defined as:

― a period of abnormally dry weather sufficiently prolonged for the lack of water to cause

serious hydrologic imbalance in the affected area”

Indian Commission on Agriculture(1976) classified droughts into three categories:

1) Meteorological: when there is significant decrease in precipitation from normal over an

area (i.e. more than 10%)

2)Agricultural: situation where amount of moisture in the soil no longer meets the needs of a

particular crop.

3)Hydrological: it manifests from prolonged meteorological drought results in depletion of

surface and ground water supplies.

Indian Meteorological Department declares a year as drought hit when rainfall received is

deficient by 20% or more of normal rainfall.

Drought affects crop yield, carrying capacity of livestock, water scarcity – especially

drinking water. It also results in decreased water table diminishing groundwater and also

surface water essential for agriculture and water supply to cities.

Drought has resulted in mass migrations of people and cattle in many parts of the world.

Some have resulted in social unrest – fight for food and water.

Effect of deficient rainfall is already evident in India in the power sector. There is decreased

power production thanks to empty dams and rivers; also some thermal power stations need

water to produce steam, and they are also affected.

The effect of drought is catastrophic to wildlife – as it results in wildfires, and also straying

of wild animals into human habitats which end up being killed.

Very recently India suffered from droughts in 2002 and 2009. In 2002, there was 19%

rainfall deficiency and 29% of India was hit. In 2009, there was 27% rainfall deficiency and

it was one of the worst droughts in three decades.

El Nino

To understand effect of El Nino on Indian Monsoon, we can imagine a situation first: we

have Dubai in the west and Mumbai in the east. Both are financial and economic hubs. That

is in normal years and in normal times.

Now assume, for our example sake, that Mumbai suddenly warms up – in the financial

sector. There is a boom in realty, equity markets, and bollywood.

Meanwhile, Dubai sheikhs are content in investing in their own city. But, Mumbai has

become too attractive to neglect. So they divert their investments to Mumbai, bleeding Dubai

economy.

Monsoon requires rain bearing clouds and a wind system called trade winds to drive them

towards Indian sub continent. In the Eastern Pacific, like Mumbai of our example, a situation

arises once in 3-7 years when its temperature increases above normal. This disrupts trade

winds and pressure systems of the western Pacific and Indian ocean.


These western winds move toward Eastern pacific carrying with them moisture. And

Monsoon bleeds. (thing is high temperature in Eastern Pacific creates low pressure, and

winds always move from high to low pressure regions – here, Monsoon winds represent high

pressure winds)

This unusual phenomena results in drought in India and copious rainfall off the coast of Peru

which is actually a desert.

Scientists are still understanding the complete mechanism of both Monsoon and El Nino.

What we know better is their consequences on our economy and people.

6. A recent study has found that the Indian Ocean has been warming at an alarming rate,

much faster than the other oceans. Examine why.

Indian Ocean has been warming at an alarming rate

A study commissioned by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences for its Monsoon Mission of

India programme, aimed at improving monsoon forecasts, blames the ―rapid warming‖ of the

Indian Ocean, partly fuelled by greenhouse gases, for the steady decline in the summer

monsoon over most of South and Central Asia, leading to the gradual drying of the land

mass.

The study, which analysed the monsoon data of the past century, found a decrease of nearly a

fifth of the rainfall over the central-east and northern regions of South Asia, ranging from

south-west Pakistan to the Himalayan foothills and Bangladesh to the east, suggesting that

this could be the reason for the drought conditions in the past three decades.

The south-west monsoon occurs between June and September and contributes 80 to 90 per

cent of the overall rainfall in Central-South Asia, where agriculture is still largely rain-fed.

Any disruption in this rainfall pattern, as the study notes, is a shock to the entire rural

economy of the region.

The study led by Roxy Mathew Koll, a scientist at the Centre for Climate Change Research

in the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, included his student Ritika

Kapoor and scientists from the University of Maryland, United States, and Paris-Sorbonne

University, France. It was published in June 2015 in Nature Communications, an initiative of

the journal Nature.

In an interview to Frontline, Koll said: ―The results are significant, considering that we have

had back-to-back drought in the country and that one-third of the past 15 years have been

drought-hit.‖ He said severe weather conditions, such as the Chennai rains of November-

December 2015, would be a common feature in the years to come, interspersed with

prolonged spells of deficient rainfall. He said last year‘s El Nino, one of the strongest in

recorded history, coupled with the warming of the Indian Ocean contributed to the severity of

the rainfall that hit almost the entire south-eastern coastline of India.

El Nino is the phenomenon of warming of the east-equatorial Pacific Ocean, which then

raises temperatures across much of the planet at intermittent intervals of two to seven years,

wrecking lives and livelihoods.

The presence of El Nino can significantly influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and

marine fisheries across large portions of the globe for an extended period of time. For

instance, California recorded its worst drought in decades last year. But this was followed by


unprecedented storms and floods in 2015-16, an El Nino year wreaking havoc on the U.S.‘

main agriculture State.

7. Evaluate to what extent has the reservation for women in Panchayats empowered them?

Throw light on major factors hindering their active participation in Panchayats.

Women reservation in local governments

Bihar government introduced 35% reservations for women in the state government jobs at all

levels for which direct recruitment is made, in early 2016.

Why is it needed in Bihar?

The labour rate participation of women of working age in Bihar is 9%, which is one of the

lowest in India, with the all India average being 33%.

Share of women in casual employment in Bihar amount to 50% as against the national

average of 31%. This is evidence of gender disparity.

Better representation in the formal work force with assured wages and incomes will help

improve status of women.

Female literacy in the largely agricultural state stands at 51.5 percent against male literacy of

71.2 percent, and a national female literacy rate of 65 percent.

Why women need reservation?

The labour rate participation of women is very low.

Lack of opportunities in formal sector.

Better representation in the formal work force with assured wages and incomes will help

improve status of women.

Women reservation in law making bodies will ensure that the interests of the women will be

aired during formulation of laws or policies related to women.

Mandated women reservation in PRIS has shown positive results. Women took effective

steps for welfare of the women in their Panchayats, for example, Meena Behen, the first

women Sarpanch from a village in Gujarat, built a road because the accessibility to the

village was very bad which created problems especially for pregnant women.

Is it an effective step?

Not too many jobs are created in public sector so the policy may turn out to be merely

symbolic.

In most of the PRIs where women are elected, it is the male member of the family who

wields the real power on behalf of the woman.

It is possible that only women from well to do and politically connected families would reap

the benefits of reservation to get elected to the lok sabha and state legislative assemblies.

There are other issues like, lack of skill development, transport facilities, safety etc. in the

absence of which it is not possible to effectively implement the policy.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by Rajya Sabha in August 2016

and amended some of the provisions related to the duration and applicability of maternity

leave, and other facilities in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Key Features of the Bill

The act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons.


Duration of maternity leave: The Act states that every woman will be entitled to maternity

benefit of 12 weeks. The Bill increases this to 26 weeks.

Under the Act, this maternity benefit should not be availed before six weeks from the date of

expected delivery. The Bill changes this to eight weeks.

In case of a woman who has two or more children, the maternity benefit will continue to be

12 weeks, which cannot be availed before six weeks from the date of the expected delivery.

Maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers: The Bill introduces a provision

to grant 12 weeks of maternity leave to a woman who legally adopts a child below three

months of age o a commissioning mother. A commissioning mother is defined as a biological

mother who uses her egg to create an embryo implanted in another woman.

Option to work from home: an employer may permit a woman to work from home even after

the leave period.

Crèche facilities: it is a mandatory provision requiring every establishment with 50 or more

employees to provide crèche facilities within a prescribed distance.

Informing women employees of the right to maternity leave: every establishment to

intimate a woman at the time of her appointment of the maternity benefits available to her.

Critical appraisal of Bill PROS

The Bill provides a maternity leave of 26 weeks which exceeds ILO‘s minimum standard of

14 weeks. It will improve India's ranking in terms of the number of weeks for maternity

leave.

Why maternity leaves are important

Six month of breastfeeding is important for the infant to develop immunity against diseases.

This step will lower the infant mortality rate.

Also WHO and the Union ministry of health and family welfare guidelines emphasize that a

baby needs to be nursed by its mother for a minimum of six months.

Article 42 of the Constitution guarantees maternity benefits to all working women.

The amendments will help 18 lakh women workforce in organised sector.

They also help women devote time to take care of their babies and enable an increase in the

women‘s labour force participation (WLFPR) rate in India.

The increase in maternity leave as mandated by law from 12 weeks to 26 would help new

mothers bond with their babies and also to enable them to breastfeed leading to enhanced

nutrition and immunity for the child.

CONS

The bill recognizes mothers as primary care giver and ignores role of father in childcare.

Thus, the bill perpetuates gender role stereotypes i.e. fathers don't need to spend time with

newborn. Also it is silent on paternity leave issue.

As the bill excludes the men, it may lead employers to pay men more than the women due to

different work conditions. It weakens the directive "equal pay for equal work" enshrined in

the constitution.

The bill ignores single father or transgender who might want to adopt a child.


The bill may deter employers from hiring female work force, thus making women less

desirable as male employees in free market enterprises, perpetuating gender gap in

employment.

Challenges Ahead

Smaller companies that may struggle to meet the increased financial burden of providing

longer paid maternity leave.

The provisions are limited to the organised sector, thus benefitting less than a quarter of

working women.

The proposal may affect the employability of young married women.

The women on leave may spend more time on domestic work than nurturing the child.

Due to longer leaves women will lose touch with work-related developments and will lag

behind their colleagues after they resume work.

Way out

Singapore Model: the concern that the financial burden will deter employers to hire young

married women can be solved by adopting this model. In Singapore, women in the city-state

get 16 weeks of maternity leave with the employer paying for eight weeks and the next eight

reimbursed to the employer by the government.

The role of father in childcare should not be ignored. To ensure equality in employment bill

should extend to both the parents. They can share the leaves as it is done in other countries

across the world.

The bill should also extend to women working in unorganized sector.

Employer should offer light workload, flexible or reduced working hours, and work from

home facility for the first few weeks after the woman resumes work. This will give them time

to pick the pace without getting discouraged after they resume the work.

8. Write a note on union government‟s new Green Road Corridor project

The Union government will unveil its Green Highways policy on September 29, Road

Transport and Highways Secretary Vijay Chhibber said on Thursday.

Under it, bushes and trees will be grown along all the highways in a phased manner.

―The purpose of this policy is to promote the greening of highway corridors with the

participation of the local community, including local contractors and the local Forest

Department,‖ he told a press conference. The latent objective was to generate employment.

The investment in the project would be Rs. 1,000 crore this year, calculated as one per cent

of the Rs. 1,00,000-crore investment in national highway projects in the year, Mr. Chhibber

said. If Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari‘s plan for Rs. 5,00,000 crore of

investment in highways in the next four years comes off, Rs. 5,000 crore will go to the Green

Highways policy.

The plan is to grow three layers of trees and bushes. The first will be of bushes so that if a

vehicle goes off the road, it does not collide with something life-threatening. The second will

be of medium-sized trees and the last will be of tall fruit trees. Only species indigenous to the

area would be planted, Mr. Chhibber said.


―The benefits are manifold… The community will gain in terms of huge employment

opportunities and entrepreneurship development, and there will be huge environmental

benefits also… The local community will get the rights to the non-timber produce from the

trees,‖ the Ministry said in a statement.

A wide cross-section of agencies can participate in the project. Those eligible include

government or private companies, NGOs registered as societies, trusts or private limited non-

profit companies, and producer organisations. The empanelment of these companies will

begin shortly, according to the Ministry. Thereafter, the bidding for stretches of the highways

will take place.

―Planting is best done in the beginning May or June. Our target is to have everything under

way so that planting can start in at least one-tenth of the area envisaged by that time,‖ Mr.

Chhibber said.

The government has also laid down strict targets for the companies growing and maintaining

trees. The minimum survival rate is 90 per cent. Only after reaching this level will a company

get the required money from the Ministry in the next year.

The government is concentrating on working with green contractors, separate from the brick

and mortar ones. The projects will also be awarded on small stretches of 8-10 km. Pilot

projects, to be carried out in each State, will first take place where there has been a good

response from the local community, Mr. Chhibber said.

―It is best to go small and get it right in the beginning to show that the policy works and then

scale it up,‖ Mr. Chhibber said.

He said there was no plan now for a separate Delhi-Agra expressway parallel to National

Highway 2. But the idea might be reconsidered later, depending on the requirement.

9.With access to information and educational materials, blindness need no longer be a

barrier to learning, employment and full participation in society.With thw light of the

statements discuss the significance of The Marrakesh Treaty.

Marrakesh Treaty

On Sep 29th, Marrakesh Treaty came into force, after 22 countries ratified the treaty adopted

in 2013 by members of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

What is Marrakesh Treaty?

The Treaty is to facilitate Access to Published works by Visually Impaired Persons and

Persons with Print Disabilities.

It is also called ―Books for Blind‖ treaty.

Highlights of the treaty:

The treaty allows for copyright exceptions to help for the creation, export and import,

sharing, translation of the books in any format for accessible versions of copyrighted books

and other works for the people with impaired visibility.

The treaty is expected to alleviate the ―book famine‖ experienced by 300 million people

suffering from such disability, according to WHO.

Implementation of Treaty


World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), a United Nations Organisation based in

Geneva, administers the Marrakesh Treaty and leads an alliance of private and public

partners known as the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC).

The ABC has established a free centralized electronic database of accessible books produced

by libraries for the blind around the world. It is a library-to-library service.

India and Marrakesh Treaty

India was the first country to ratify the Marrakesh Treaty back in July 2014 and has set an

example for other countries to follow.

India has 63 million visually impaired people, of whom about 8 million are blind, according

to WHO.

India has begun implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty through a multi-stakeholder

approach, which includes collaboration among key players such as government ministries,

local champions like the DAISY Forum of India, and the private sector.

In line with Marrakesh treaty, India launched Accessible India Campaign (Sugama Bharat

Abhiyan) and has set up Sugamya Pustakalaya, which has 2,00,000 volumes

10. Critically examine the design of recent schemes that were aimed at eradicating open

defecation in India. How they should be addressed?

October 2, 2016 marked the second anniversary of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). The

programme aims to eliminate open defecation by 2019. The goal also includes the

elimination of open defecation, conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets,

eradicating of manual scavenging and Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM).

Poor sanitation spreads infectious diseases that kill hundreds of thousands of children each

year, and stunt the physical and cognitive development of those who survive. Announcing a

goal of accelerating the reduction in open defecation was a great idea, articulating a worthy

goal for serious public policy efforts.

Background:

The Swachh Bharat Mission was launched two years ago on the birth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi. The mission was divided into two parts — urban and rural. The Swachh

Bharat Mission Urban is managed by the Ministry of Urban Development, while the Swachh

Bharat Mission Gramin (Rural) is led by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Brief history:

With effect from April 1, 1999, the Government of India restructured the Comprehensive

Rural Sanitation Programme and launched the Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC).

To give a fillip to the TSC, effective June 2003, the government launched an incentive

scheme in the form of an award for total sanitation coverage, maintenance of a clean

environment and open defecation-free panchayat villages, blocks and districts, called Nirmal

Gram Puraskar.

Effective April 1, 2012, the TSC was renamed to Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (SBA). On October

2, 2014 the campaign was relaunched as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.


Major components of the goal:

Construction of individual sanitary latrines for households below the poverty line with

subsidy (80%) where demand exists.

Conversion of dry latrines into low-cost sanitary latrines.

Construction of exclusive village sanitary complexes for women providing facilities for hand

pumping, bathing, sanitation and washing on a selective basis where there is not adequate

land or space within houses and where village panchayats are willing to maintain the

facilities.

Setting up of sanitary marts.

Total sanitation of villages through the construction of drains, soakage pits, solid and liquid

waste disposal.

Intensive campaign for awareness generation and health education to create a felt need for

personal, household and environmental sanitation facilities.

Performance of the scheme:

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has recently released a press note on the

progress of the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin in the last two years. According to the

release, 2.4 crore toilets have been constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission and 15.04

lakh under MNREGA across rural India. The rural household toilet coverage has increased

from 42% at the start of Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin to 55.34%.

In the first year of the Swachh Bharat Mission, an increase of 446% in construction of toilets

was observed, as compared to the pre-SBM period of 2014-15. 35 districts and about one

lakh villages are targeted to be declared open defecation free.

Over Rs 18,000 crore have been spent under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) since its

launch in October, 2014. The Swachh Bharat Kosh-which seeks to attract the participation of

the private sector-has reportedly received Rs 400 crore to aid this national goal.

What‟s missing?

The programme does not target on fixing the existing missing links. For instance, safe

disposal of human waste in urban India is worse than in rural India. Be it sewage treatment or

management of faecal sludge from stand alone toilets, the required infrastructure either does

not exist or if created, has seldom delivered.

The policy and approach behind it ignores a fundamental pre-requisite to ensure sustainable

results through Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). SBM seeks to simply adopt tools

without bothering to provide an environment which enables CLTS to succeed. This conveys

that toilets are being sought, not the collective behavior change essential to secure sanitation

as a public good.

The real focus of the implementation is on showing toilets and the expenditure to be reported

on toilet-based subsidies. As a result, usage on community scale becomes its immediate

casualty.

The current verification system which seeks the uploading of toilet photos (for beneficiary

payments to be reimbursed) reinforces this focus on toilets instead of behavior change. So the

presence of toilets becomes the measurable proxy for sanitation, which the Centre uses to

disburse funds and states find easiest to deliver.


Most of the money is going towards latrine construction, and very little towards information,

education, and communication (IEC), the headline for behaviour-change activities. The

fraction of spending on IEC has actually fallen since the SBM started, from 3% of total

expenditure in 2014-2015 to 1% in 2015-2016. This is troublesome given the reasons open

defecation persists in rural India.

What‘s equally distressing is that even though the goal of the SBM is to eliminate open

defecation and programme guidelines call for a latrine use survey, there is still no plan to

collect such data.

Not only is the SBM viewed as the Centre‘s programme, even the mantle for its

implementation has been donned by the concerned central Ministry. It is setting its sights on

district level achievement and engaging with district administrators directly. States end up

feeling little responsibility for delivering outcomes and are accountable only for doing what

the Centre asks them to.

Direct central involvement with the districts means that it loses the ability to critically

examine ODF declarations. It becomes an actor responsible for the result and not a judge of

the outcome. This can end up putting a question mark on the sustainability of the

achievements that will be rewarded through the World Bank loan.

What needs to be done?

The clear message from past experience (both in India and abroad) is to avoid toilet subsidies

since they detract from behavior change. But in our subsidy imbued political economy, the

legacy of toilet subsidies is not only seen as necessary but that which should be enhanced

every few years. Explicit withdrawal of such a subsidy would immediately invite an anti-

poor label for the government.

The ideal solution is to leave sanitation to the states and local bodies and not have a central

programme at all. After the increase in untied devolution following the recommendations of

the 14th Finance Commission, states have enough funds to spend on any function they

prioritise. However, this would run counter to a situation in which the Centre needs to show

that it is driving the sanitation agenda.

The next best option is a Central programme which does two things. First, the Centre should

not prescribe how toilet funds are spent and let states choose their own approach. Second, it

should focus on outcomes and thus, reward states which perform better. This will incentivise

them to adopt policies that deliver better sanitation and not just toilets which become derelict

or at best are partially used.

The Centre must facilitate more the exercise of choice by states, examine the ODF district

claims critically and disseminate information to them. Annual surveys which reward genuine

performance and not a mere toilet chase will also help.

Conclusion:

Lack of proper sanitation leads to a less healthy and less productive population, leading to

economic loss. A World Bank study estimates that the resulting loss to the Indian economy is

6.4% of the GDP because of poor sanitation. Announcing a goal of eliminating open

defecation by 2019 was a great idea, but now that we are 40% through India‘s flagship

sanitation campaign, it is a good time to assess how much progress the SBM has made.


III.GS-II Predictions with keypoints

(Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)


1.Why did India, which has had the remarkable achievement of being the largest exporter

of information technology services and skilled manpower among developing countries, fall

behind China in digitally transforming its economy?

In the light of the World Bank‘s recently released World Development Report (WDR)

‗Digital Dividends‘, critically examine.

Background

India has had the remarkable achievement of being the largest exporter of IT services and

skilled manpower among the developing countries. However, still it considerably falls behind

China in digitally transforming its economy.

World Bank‘s recently released World Development Report (WDR) ‗Digital Dividends‘

sheds some light on this.

Problems with India‟s Digital Economy

Unfortunately, not only does India have a higher digital access gap, it also has a bigger

digital capability gap. The capability gap, according to the WDR, arises from two main

sources: o Overall business climate.

Quality of human capital.

India scores considerably below China in doing business indicators. It is important for India

to create space for creativity and enterprise and to promote competition.

The slow pace of improvement of the quality of basic infrastructure — expressways,

logistics, storage, postal delivery system and reliable supply of electricity.

The excessively cautious approach of Indian regulators towards disruptive technological

innovations such as mobile money or ride-sharing services has made it difficult for digital

start-ups to enter new markets and achieve scale.

Low level of skills and education in a majority of population. Around 25 per cent of India‘s

adult population cannot read and write compared to fewer than 5 per cent in China.

Even the quality of education is poor. The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)

test scores in rural India show that 10 per cent of children aged 16 and below cannot identify

single-digit numbers consistently.

Way Forward

Successful and accelerated development of programmes like Digital India, Make in India,

Start-up India, and innovative applications of Aadhaar such as JAM (Jan DhanYojana-

Aadhaar-Mobile trinity) and Digital Lockers.

Making the Internet accessible, open and safe for all Indians is an urgent priority. Low cost

of mobile phone access along with a supportive policy environment involving smart

spectrum management, PPP, and intelligent regulations of Internet markets is needed.

An important lesson from the WDR is that even the most sophisticated technologies are no

substitute for tackling long-standing shortcomings in other areas — most importantly basic

health, education and a regulatory ethos that encourages competition and enterprise.

Thus, there is a need to make long overdue progress on the analogue complements of digital

investments.


2. The stated idea of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies,

Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, is to provide for “efficient, transparent, and targeted

delivery of subsidies, benefits and services”. Examine.

After years of criticisms and discussions over Adhaar, the unique identification number, the

NDA government has decided to give legislative backing to it. This move was, however,

initiated earlier by the UPA government.

The Adhaar bill has now been introduced as a money bill. It is being said that this move is

aimed at avoiding any possibility of the opposition blocking the bill in the Rajya Sabha

where the government does not have a majority.

However, even this bill has been criticized by some quarters for some issues in the bill

including privacy issues.

But, the government has insisted that the Adhaar is not compulsory and only those who wish

to avail government services like subsidies and scholarships among others need to have it.

What‟s good about Adhaar?

Aadhaar gives every resident an opportunity to possess a portable national identity. It is

unique because it anchors demographic attributes such as name or gender to biometric

attributes like iris patterns of individuals.

When this unique identity is combined with universalisation of banking and communication

through mobile telephones, we have a historic opportunity to transform the leaky and corrupt

distribution of welfare.

The benefits of a transition to direct transfer are twofold: price distortions in the economy

will end and people will be liberated from local power brokers.

What‟s there in the new bill?

The stated idea of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies,

Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016, is to provide for ―efficient, transparent, and targeted

delivery of subsidies, benefits and services‖. This, along with a clause that says the unique

numbers will not be considered as proof of citizenship, is welcome.

The Bill seeks to give statutory backing to the processes of enrolment, authentication and use

of Aadhaar-related information for delivery of various benefits, subsidies and services by the

government.

Also, it has provisions to guarantee the security and confidentiality of identity information

and authentication records of every individual who has been issued an Aadhaar number.

To ensure that the number of people excluded from Aadhaar‘s fold is minimum, the bill also

talks about special measures that will be undertaken by the Authority to issue numbers to

women, nomadic tribes, street dwellers, senior citizens, persons with disability and unskilled

and unorganized workers.

Why we need legislative backing for Aadhaar?

The fact that there is no law in place, based on which the Aadhaar enrolments and use in

government programmes have been happening, always makes the UID scheme open to

challenge. Nor is there any legal recourse now for a person in the event of any misuse of


identity information collected in the course of enrolment or authentication. All this

uncertainty would end once there is a law governing the Aadhaar project.

How critics view this bill?

They see it as a move which is meant to dilute whatever is happening in the court. The court

has already systematically and consistently said that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory.

But, government, through this bill, is making it mandatory.

Concerns:

1. Introduction as a money bill:

The process of legislating for Aadhaar has not been wholly reassuring. The Bill has attracted

immediate criticism for being introduced as a money bill, by virtue of which it does not require

approval of the Rajya Sabha. Bypassing the Upper House‘s vote does give the Bill an easy route

to becoming law. The question is, given that Aadhaar was a signature project of the Congress-led

UPA, could not the government have made the effort to reach out to lawmakers across the board

on such a crucial, bipartisan issue

2. Data protection: Another key concern over the collection of personal information on this scale is data protection.

There are provisions in this Bill that seem to address the concern, including one that prohibits

any official from revealing information in the data repository to anyone. But the exceptions

cause unease. Two provisions are particularly troubling-

The first is Section 29(4), by which no Aadhaar number or biometric information will be

made public ―except for the purposes as may be specified by regulations‖.

The second, which experts have already flagged, is Section(33), under which the inbuilt

confidentiality clauses will not stand when it concerns national security.

The only reassurance could be that in such cases the direction has to come from an official

who is not below the rank of a Joint Secretary to the government. Nonetheless, without

robust laws to protect their data, citizens would be rendered vulnerable. It is not about just

snooping. It is also being said that in order to be useful and effective, Aadhaar data might

have to be used alongside other databases. That could trigger further privacy questions.

Other concerns:

The bill also does not speak about the rights of people.

And, Section 7 of the Bill makes proof of Aadhaar necessary for ―receipt of certain subsidies,

benefits and services‖. This must be read in the backdrop of a Supreme Court ruling that said

Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory.

Conclusion:

While a law enabling Aadhaar which will pass judicial scrutiny will go some way in

plugging leakage in the payment of subsidies, it is important to point out that even biometric

determination of identity will not be a panacea. Leakages through impersonation and

duplication of payment will be curtailed, but eligibility for subsidies is governed by

determination of income. Electronic systems are no help there. Hence, the government

should find ways to address these issues too.


3. Discuss the significance of right to information and its relationship to good governance

and development.Do you think this RTI helps to strengthen the democracy.

The Right to Information (RTI) Act has completed 10 years of implementation. It has

changed the thinking and the style of functioning of government machinery in the last 10

years.

According to the Information Commission‘s annual reports, there are at least 50 lakh RTI

applications filed in India every year.

Over the last decade, at least 2 per cent of the Indian population has used the law. How RTI

Act has spawned a new breed of activism and citizenship

Despite various challenges to implementation of RTI act, people have used it fiercely and

owned the law like no other. People have defended it against every attack and put it to

sustained use.

In the unequal battle of trying to hold power to account, it offers sense of hope for the human

desire for dignity, equality, public ethics, and the capacity to enforce these even to some

extent.

In a democracy like India people struggle every day to establish some reason in dealings in

public life with assertions of citizenship, entitlements, and ethics. RTI addresses the issue of

constitutional rights and empowers people to demand answers.

RTI enthusiasts are often ordinary people, who not only file applications but also spend

countless hours debating sections, cases, applications, and answers. Thus, encourage a

culture of asking questions.

The RTI provides a platform for each view to engage with the other on the basis of a shared

logic. It can help us escape from policy paralysis, and build a more informed, equitable and

robust decision-making process.

Beside good governance RTI has helped in the development process as well

Why in news?

The Delhi cabinet has given the go-ahead to scrap 200 affidavits that were required in order

to access various government services, including ration cards, income and caste certificates

and electricity connections. effective delivery of socio-economic services, awareness and

realization of entitlements, informed decision making leads to empowerment

Guarantee of income and Food Security: Reduction in leakages and corruption in social

welfare schemes, better scrutiny, allocation of resources, effective delivery of servicest.

Human Capital: Education and Health Care: Schemes like SSA, National Rural Health

Mission are better implemented

Misuse of RTI?

In May‘ 2016 several MPs in the Rajya Sabha demanded amendments to the act.

The Act may be used to blackmail public functionaries which makes them unable to take

decisions objectively.

Large number of frivolous RTI applications are being filed affecting efficiency of

governance.


The Act poses threat to national security as anybody, without establishing their locus, can ask

questions on sensitive issues such as - missile programs and international relations. However,

two national studies carried out by the RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) in

collaboration with the National Campaign for Peoples‘ Right to Information (NCPRI) had

noted following facts which are opposite to the issue raised Less than 1 per cent

applications are frivolous.

Majority of applicants sought basic information about actions of government, functioning of

public authorities & use of public resources.

A little over 1 per cent applications only require vast information which could divert time

70 per cent of the information sought should have been made public proactively

Section 8 of the Act that clearly spells out the exceptions can be used in matters of national

importance. Issues and Constraints in the implementation of the Act

Low Public Awareness - While the Act has been clear in defining the responsibility of the

appropriate Government, with respect to creating awareness on the Act, there has been lack

of initiative from the Government‘s side. The efforts made by appropriate Governments and

Public Authorities have been restricted to publishing of rules and FAQs on websites. These

efforts have not been helpful in generating mass awareness of the RTI Act.

Failure to provide information within stipulated time - It is a known fact that the record

keeping process within the Government is a big challenge. Therefore, due to inadequate

record management procedures with the Public Authorities, there is failure to provide

information within the stipulated 30 days. This situation is further aggravated due to non-

availability of trained PIOs and the enabling infrastructure (computers, scanners, internet

connectivity, photocopiers etc.).

Lack of Monitoring and Review mechanism - One of the most important roles of the

Information Commission is to monitor and review the Public Authority and initiate actions to

make them comply with the spirit of the Act. However this has been one of the weakest links

in the implementation of the Act. Monitoring the Public Authority for compliance of the Act

is also an important aspect of the role of the Information Commission, which could result in

reducing the number of appeals.

High level of pendency - The pendency at the Information Commission is a huge challenge.

Unless and until the pendency is kept at manageable level, the objective of the Act would not

be met. High pendency of appeals is due to non optimal processes for disposing of appeals

and complaints.

Way ahead

While assessing the entire situation the following themes emerge: The Public Authorities

have to enhance the level of ownership to ensure the RTI delivery happens as per the spirit of

the Act. They have to be ultimately responsible for o Identifying the gaps in their offices in

the delivery of the information, thereafter identify the resources needed and appropriately

budget for it. o Maintenance of the information required to be furnished to the State

Information Commission.

WHAT IS A SPV?


An SPV is a legal entity created for a specific purpose, which can theoretically be shut down

after the specified purpose has been achieved. The major advantage of an SPV is that it

allows investors to limit their risks and maximize profits, and bypass cumbersome legal and

regulatory issues.

The role of the Centre/State Government is to facilitate the Public Authorities in

implementation of the Act. This can happen through providing support to Public Authorities

for training, development of software applications, e-Training modules, generating awareness

amongst citizens etc.

The role of the Information Commission has to go beyond the Hearing of the appeals. As per

the Act, they are expected to issue orders/directions to the Public Authorities to carry out

their duties as per the mandate of the Act.

However till the time Information Commission assumes the role of ensuring the compliance

of the RTI Act by the various Public Authorities, there would not be any control mechanism.

The State Government has to play a facilitative role to the Information Commission through

issuance of supporting rules/orders to the Public Authorities.

4.Discuss the need and significance of Inter State Council for India‟s federalism.

Recently, the eleventh meeting of the Inter-State Council (ISC) was held after a gap of 10

years.

What is ISC?

Article 263 provides the establishment of an Inter-State Council to effect coordination

between the states and between Centre and states.

It is not a permanent constitutional body for coordination between the States of the Union. It

can be established 'at any time' if it appears to the President that the public interests would be

served by the establishment of such a Council.

First time it was set up on the recommendation of the Sarkaria Commission and established

the ISC by a presidential ordinance on May 28, 1990.

The ISC is proposed to meet thrice a year, but in 26 years, it has met only 11 times.

Significance

The forum is the most significant platform to strengthen Centre-state and inter-state relations

and discuss policies.

This works as an instrument for cooperation, coordination and evolution of common policies.

It can act to bridge trust deficit between centre and states. Issues discussed during 11th ISC

Meeting: The following Agenda items were discussed during the meet: Consideration of the

Recommendations of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations.

Use of Aadhaar as an identifier for providing subsidies; benefits and public services.

Improving Quality of Education with focus on improving learning outcomes, incentivizing

better performance, etc.

Internal Security with focus on intelligence sharing and coordination for combating

Terrorism/Insurgency and Police Reforms & Police Modernization. Need for further

strengthening of ISC

Together, the FC and the ISC should operationalize again Part XI and XII of the Constitution

that ensure appropriate financial devolution and political decentralization.


It should be given the power to investigate the issues of inter-state conflicts which is

mentioned in the Constitution but dropped by the Presidential order creating ISC in 1990

(Based on Sarkaria Commission's recommendations) Conclusion Though, there are other

bodies such as the NITI Aayog‘s Governing Council-it has a similar composition, including

the prime minister, chosen cabinet ministers and chief ministers-that could address centre-

state issues. But the ISC has constitutional backing, as against the NITI Aayog which only

has an executive mandate. This puts the states on more solid footing-an essential ingredient

in building the atmosphere of cooperation needed for calibrating centre-state relations.

5.Write a critical note on South China Sea dispute and examine the purpose and

consequences of India‟s joint naval exercises with Japan and USA near the South China

Sea region

The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Netherlands, has ruled that

China‘s claims of historical rights over South China Sea (SCS) has no legal basis. The case

was brought to the court in 2013 by the Philippines, centring on the Scarborough Shoal, but

Beijing chose to boycott the proceedings.

What did the arbitration panel rule?

The court at The Hague ruled that China‘s claims to the waters within the so-called ―nine-

dash line‖, with wide-ranging economic interests, was in breach of the UN Convention on the

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The court slammed China for damaging parts of the ecosystem in the Spratly islands- a

contested archipelago-- on account of overfishing and development of artificial islands.

The Court also said that China violated the Philippines‘ sovereign rights. It said China has

caused ―severe harm to the coral reef environment‖ by building artificial islands.

What is the „nine-dash‟ line?

The ‗nine-dash line‘ stretches hundreds of kilometers south and east of its southerly Hainan

Island, covering the strategic Paracel and Spratly island chains. China buttresses its claims by

citing 2,000 years of history when the two island chains were regarded as its integral parts.

Chinese response to ruling of PCA

China rejected an international ruling on the South China Sea as ―null and void‖ and devoid

of any ―binding force‖.

China is contemplating to establish a military Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the

South China Sea (SCS). The imposition of an ADIZ would require overflying planes to first

notify China.

Many Chinese experts stressed that the entire episode was a cover to enforce the US' ―Pivot

of Asia‖ or Rebalance strategy, aimed at the containment of China. India‘s response India has

made it clear that it recognised that the tribunal had been set up within the jurisdiction of the

UN‘s Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that must be given the ―utmost respect‖.


Why South China Sea is considered so important?

The SCS is a busy international waterway, being one of the main arteries of the global

economy and trade. More than $5 trillion of world trade ships pass through the SCS every

year.

The SCS is also resource rich, with numerous offshore oil and gas blocks.

6.In a bid to find out ways to “punish” Pakistan without actually waging a war, India is

reportedly considering to review its position on the Indus Waters Treaty.Examine

The 56-year-old Indus Waters Treaty between both the countries has become a rallying point for

many.

It has been suggested by some politicians that India should either revisit or abrogate the treaty as

it would be the easiest way to punish the neighbouring country that refuses to control terrorism

emanating from its land.

Many in India claim that the treaty is too one-sided, hence it requires introspection. However, the

suggestion is fraught with dangers, according to experts.

About the treaty:

Signed in 1960 by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Pakistan President Ayub

Khan, the treaty allocates 80% of water from the six-river Indus water system to Pakistan.

Beas, Ravi, Sutlej, Indus, Chenab and Jhelum from the Indus water system that flows from

India to Pakistan. The Indus river basin spans parts of 4 countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan,

India and China) in an area that is more than 30% arid.

Under the treaty, control over six north Indian rivers were divided between the two countries.

India got control over the rivers Beas, Ravi and Sutlej whereas Pakistan got control over

Indus, Chenab and Jhelum.

This is a unique treaty involving a third party. It was brokered by the World Bank.

A Permanent Indus Commission was set up as a bilateral commission to implement and

manage the Treaty. The Commission solves disputes arising over water sharing.

The Treaty also provides arbitration mechanism to solve disputes amicably.

How will changes in this treaty affect India?

India may face environmental damage if it decides to scrap the treaty. The river flows

through earthquake prone region.

It would take years of work to build huge dams or reservoirs or canals to change the flow of

water. This may also lead to floods in the valley.

The decision of not giving water to Pakistan may further enrage the terror elements in the

country, making them intensifying their attacks on India. Even the construction works for

diverting the flow of water would be on the target of terrorists all the time.

To check terrorist activity, India will have to deploy huge security forces. This would further

drain the Indian economy.

India‘s decision to abrogate the treaty may be detrimental to the country‘s interests in the

long run. Experts say that people in Pakistan already do not like the fact that India controls its

rivers, even as it has complied with the provision of the treaty sincerely.


India at present enjoys a moral high ground because it respects all its treaties with the

neighbouring countries. The decision to abrogate the treaty would make other smaller

neighbours uneasy. Not only the neighbours would be distrustful of India, even the country

would not be in a position to say anything if China also takes a similar move against it. The

country may also earn the ire of China. Indus originates in China and if the country decides

to divert the Indus, India would lose over 35% of its river water.

Not respecting the treaty, may invite global condemnation to India as the treaty is an

international agreement. At present India is on a moral high ground vis-a-vis Pakistan after

the Uri attack. This would be lost if India doesn‘t follow the deal. Such decision by India

would automatically bring World bank in the picture and in support of Pakistan.

How will this affect Pakistan?

About 65% area of Pakistan, including the entire Punjab province, is a part of the Indus

basin. Interestingly, Pakistan boasts of the world‘s largest canal irrigation system because of

its development of the basin, which covers over 90% of irrigated area.

The water from Indus is important for the country for irrigation, drinking and other purposes.

India‘s decision to abrogate the treaty would affect Pakistan severely. Pakistan may face

draught-like conditions.

What‟s the way out then?

Pakistan can be pressured even without stopping the waters or violating any other provisions

of the Indus Treaty. India has never used its rights on the western rivers. Under the Treaty,

India can make use of the waters of the western rivers for irrigation, storage, and even for

producing electricity, in the manner specified. If we just do what we are entitled to under the

Treaty, it would be enough to send jitters through Pakistan. It would be a strong signal

without doing anything drastic.

India also needs to engage with Afghanistan on the development of the Kabul river that flows

into Pakistan through the Indus basin. This again can make Pakistan extremely nervous. It is

in our strategic interest in any case to enhance our engagement on developmental issues with

Afghanistan.

Conclusion:

So far the treaty has survived wars and phases of frosty ties between India and Pakistan.

India‘s any move affecting the treaty would be closely watched by the international

community. India cannot abrogate the treaty on a short notice. It takes years to divert the

flow of a river. The government of India will have to prepare a long-term strategy if it

intends to threaten Pakistan by diverting or stopping the water.

7. The problem in establishing strategic presence in the Indian Ocean region is that India‟s

ambitions seem to be running ahead of its capacity.”comment

The Indian Ocean covers at least one fifth of the world's total ocean area and is bounded by

Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (known as the western Indian Ocean), India's coastal waters

(the central Indian Ocean), and the Bay of Bengal near Myanmar and Indonesia (the eastern

Indian Ocean).


It provides critical sea trade routes that connect the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia with

the broader Asian continent to the east and Europe to the west.

A number of the world's most important strategic chokepoints, including the Straits of

Hormuz and Malacca.

Challenges in IOR

Despite a decline in piracy off the coast of Somalia, the Indian Ocean has been witnessing a

sudden rise in non-traditional challenges.

Maritime crime has been increasing, with a record number of drug hauls in the Asian littoral

in the last two years (a recent seizure of more than 150 kg of heroin from a smuggling vessel

by an Australian warship off the east coast of Africa, serving as the latest reminder of the

severity of the drug threat in the IOR).

Migration and human trafficking in South and Southeast Asia too has registered a surge in

numbers. Last year, a rise in refugee movement from Bangladesh and Myanmar, resulted in a

humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Role of India

The Indian Navy played a pivotal role in containing piracy on the high seas and is positioning

itself as the ―net security provider‖ in the broader Indian Ocean region with capacity

building, joint exercises and increased multilateral exchanges.

India has been reaching out to the smaller Indian Ocean island nations through various

Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) exercises.

Domain Awareness (MDA) exercises includes :

o Search and Rescue (SAR) support.

o Oil pollution response exercises.

o Assistance in legal matters.

Indian navy has supported countries in Indian Ocean region (IOR) such as Sri Lanka,

Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles with training, hydrographic surveys, surveillance

operations and counter-terror patrols.

India and China are locked in efforts to widen their respective spheres of influence in the

strategically vital Indian Ocean.

Given that the Indian Ocean channels carry two-thirds of the world‘s oil shipments, a third of

the bulk cargo and half of all container traffic, the region‘s strategic significance is

unquestionable. Also to counter china‘s presence in Indian Ocean require strategic relation

with our extended neighbourhood.

8. Discuss the nature of relation between India and the Arab League and challenges both

need to address together to bring peace in the Arab region.

India and the Arab League on Sunday vowed to combat terrorism and called for developing a

strategy to ―eliminate‖ its sources and its funding as External Affairs Minister Sushma

Swaraj made a strong pitch for delinking religion from terrorism.

While addressing the 1st Ministerial Meeting of Arab-India Cooperation Forum here in the

Bahraini capital, Ms. Swaraj also warned that those who ―silently sponsor‖ terror groups

could end up being used by them, in an apparent jibe at Pakistan.


―Those who believe that silent sponsorship of such terrorist groups can bring rewards must

realise that they have their own agenda; they are adept at using the benefactor more

effectively than the sponsor has used them,‖ Ms. Swaraj told some 14 foreign ministers of

the 22-member Arab League grouping, with its Secretary General Nabil El Araby in

attendance.

„Turning point‟

She said the meeting marked a ―turning point‖ for India-Arab relations, while pointing out

that ―we are also at a major turning point in history when the forces of terrorism and violent

extremism are seeking to destabilise societies and inflict incalculable damage to our cities,

our people and our very social fabric.‖

―Equally, we must delink religion from terror. The only distinction is between those who

believe in humanity and those who do not. Terrorists use religion, but inflict harm on people

of all faiths,‖ said Ms. Swaraj, who arrived here on Saturday.

The Manama Declaration

The meeting, which was opened by Bahrain‘s Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al

Khalifa, culminated with the two sides issuing a joint statement called the Manama

Declaration.

The two sides discussed regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the

Palestinian issue, developments in the Arab region and in South Asia, as well as counter-

terrorism, Security Council reforms and nuclear disarmament.

The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and rejected

associating it with any religion, culture or ethnic group.

They also emphasised the need for concerted regional and international efforts to combat

terrorism and to address its causes and develop a strategy to eliminate the sources of

terrorism and extremism, including its funding, as well as combating organised cross-border

crime, the Declaration stated.

In this context, the two sides affirmed their respect to the independence, sovereignty, unity

and territorial integrity of Iraq and non-interference in its internal affairs and rejecting

infringement of such principles, strongly condemned crimes committed by all terror

organisations, especially those committed by the Islamic State.

9. Do you think India‟s growing relations with USA constrain India‟s ability to conduct its

diplomacy with other major powers like China and Russia? Discuss.

Since India‘s independence, ties with the United States have weathered the cold war era,

distrusts and estrangement over India‘s nuclear program. Relations have warmed up in recent

years and cooperation has strengthened across a range of political and economic areas.

Though, the relations have not always been cordial.

Historically the relationship between the India, under the British Raj, and the US was not so

good. The only significant immigration from India involved Sikh farmers going to California

in the early 20th

century. Very few American businessmen, tourists, religious seekers and

Christian missionaries spent much time in India. Things changed during the 2nd

World War

when India became the main base for the America, China and Burma in the war against


Japan. Thousands of American men arrived bringing in all kinds of sophisticated technology

and money. They left in 1945.

After India‘s Independence and until the end of the cold war the relationship between the

India and the US was often cold and often thorny. This was due to the close association of

Pakistan with the United States and Pakistan joining western block in 1954. Indian as an

independent state was trying to maximize the autonomy of its decision making power in the

international affairs and adopted Non Alignment Policy. While the US, in the name of ending

communism, was creating two blocs in the world.

In 1959 the then US president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, visited India to strengthen the

staggering ties between the two nations. He was the first president to visit India. During the

times of Kennedy in 1961 to 63 India was considered to be a strategic partner and

counterweight to the rise of communist china. The Kennedy government openly supported

India during Sino Indian war and considered Chinese action as blatant communist Chinese

aggression against India. America supplied arms and ammunition to India during the war.

Following the assassination of Kennedy Indo US relations deteriorated and hit all time low

under Nixon administration in the early 1970s. Richard Nixon established very close

relationship with Pakistan aiding it militarily and economically as India then was seen an ally

of Soviet Union. This was further proven in 1971 India Pakistan war when the US openly

supported Pakistan throughout the war.

Later in 1974 India conducted its first nuclear test, Smiling Buddha, which was opposed by

the US. However India said that the test did not violate any agreement. In the late 1970s

under the Morarji Desai led government, which was anti soviet, the relations with US

improved. This process continued through early 1980s. However the Bhopal gas tragedy

proved an obstacle in the improving relationship and is still seen as an impediment in the

bilateral relations.

The relations further deteriorated when nuclear tests were conducted during the Atal Bihari

Vajpayee‘s regime. The US strongly condemned the tests and voted in favour the UNSC

resolution condemning the tests. Some economic sanctions were also imposed upon India

which proved to be ineffective. However, the sanctions were soon lifted.

In March 200 the then US president Bill Clinton visited India giving bilateral relations a

push. During the visit the Indo US science and technology forum was established. In the

following years the India agreed to close monitoring of nuclear weapon developments in

India although it refused to give up its nuclear arsenals. The economic ties since then have

improved.

After the September 2011 attacks the US associated closely with India in controlling and

policing the Indian Ocean sea lanes from Suez Canal to the Singapore. The US also

supported India during 2004 Tsunami in search and rescue operations. An open skies

agreement was signed in 2005 enhancing trade, tourism and business. In 2005 both the

countries agreed for a civil nuclear cooperation deal. The deal makes India the only country

outside of non proliferation treaty that has nuclear capabilities and is allowed to participate in

nuclear commerce.

After 26/11 attacks the US sent FBI officials team and helped in the probe by sending

investigators and forensic experts. During the times of Bush the relation between the

countries was seen to be blossoming primarily on the issues of growing Islamic extremism,


climate change and energy security. In 2010 the India and the US formally convened the first

strategic dialogue which involved a large high ranking delegation. And India was seen as an

indispensible partner. The US is also backing the India‘s demand for a permanent seat in the

UN Security Council. The two countries have also signed a MoU in the field of cyber

security.

There was a little disturbance between the two countries when in 2013 an Indian diplomat

was detained and arrested. But it was soon resolved when the US president invited the newly

elected Indian PM for a Whitehouse visit. Recently, the US president was invited to be the

chief guest for republic day celebrations.

10.Critically discuss the efforts made by SAARC countries to forge a strong social and

economic integration between their people and the challenges they are facing in this

pursuit.And do you think organisatons like SAARC is relevant today?

SAARC was set up in 1985 and today it has 8 members: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,

India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Srilanka. Afghanistan joined SAARC only in 2007.

SAARC member nations cooperate on a range of issues from agriculture, economy, poverty

alleviation, S&T and culture to encourage people to people contact.

It is being said that SAARC has become a merely a symbolic regional forum with little

prospect of strengthening regional cooperation. It is also true that even after 30 years of its

establishment, South Asia remains one of the worst economically integrated regions of the

world.

When compared to other regional groupings it seems that SAARC has been

underperforming.

The whole idea of SAARC is to establish a regional market.

One of the main objectives of the SAARC was to accelerate regional economic cooperation

and to that end SAFTA was signed in 2004.

India needs to play a pivotal role since SAARC is India centric.

Trade alone would not suffice for economic cooperation. There are also issues related to

exchange of technology, social issues, transportation and many more.

In some areas Bangladesh has sidelined India.

Sub regional cooperation within SAARC would take out national prejudices and improve the

relations.

Domestic problems of SAARC members have tended to shape the attitude to regional

cooperation.

It is also being said that the PAK has been the biggest impediment in the progress of

SAARC. Trade and investment go hand in hand.

SAARC can also be used to deal with security issues.

SAARC declaration on terrorism has completely become infructuous. It requires the member

countries to pass enabling laws. But the countries are delaying it.

SAARC has made two significant contributions:

o This is the only forum in south Asia where all the leaders come together every year.

o SAARC official process has sensitized a large number of non-official processes.

The entire SAARC process has to be put in a project mode. And the SAARC process must be

made multifarious.


IV.GS-III Predictions with keypoints

Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment,

Security and Disaster Management


1.―Free, basic Internet‖ interchangeably with “Free Basics”.In the light of this statement

bring out the significance of net neutrality .

Facebook‘s Free Basics app, which aims to provide ‗free Internet access‘ to users who can‘t

afford data packs, has run into trouble in India since the last two weeks. After regulator TRAI

issued a paper questioning the fairness of zero-rating platforms, it also asked Reliance

Communications (the official telecom partner for Free Basics) to put the service on hold.

Facebook on its part has gone for an aggressive campaign, both online and offline, to

promote Free Basics and ensure that its platform is not banned permanently.

In its campaign, Facebook is also using the generic phrase ―free, basic Internet‖

interchangeably with ―Free Basics‖. This is in blatant violation of Indian rules on

advertising, which forbid generic words being used for brands and products.

What is Free Basics?

Internet.org was rechristened Free Basics in September. According to Facebook, it is an

open platform that gives Indian developers the opportunity to make their services and

websites available free of cost to those who cannot afford internet access. However, this free

access is limited to partner websites and applications.

It was launched two years ago globally in partnership with Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek,

Opera Software, Nokia and Qualcomm.

What‟s the problem with this initiative?

Contrary to what it claims, it doesn‟t offer equal and unbiased access to all services.

Facebook is partnering with ISPs to provide preferential and selective access to a set of app

developers and services. This is the main criticism of those opposed to Free Basics; they

argue that the internet should be free and equal for all users. This is also the cornerstone of

net neutrality.

What‟s net neutrality?

Net neutrality means access to free and unbiased internet for all. To put it in simple terms,

anyone from anywhere around the world should be able to access or provide services and

content on the internet without any discrimination.

How Facebook defends this initiative?

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, views this initiative as a philanthropic gesture, as part

of a purported, larger aim to bring access to the Internet to those people who find the costs of

using generally available mobile data prohibitive.

Arguments against this initiative:

Free Basics is not free, basic Internet as its name appears to imply. It has a version of

Facebook, and only a few other websites and services that are willing to partner Facebook‘s

proprietary platform.

The danger of privileging a private platform such as Free Basics over a public Internet is that

it introduces a new kind of digital divide among the people. A large fraction of those who

will join such platforms may come to believe that Facebook is indeed the Internet.


The initiative also risks breaking the network into many smaller ones and skewing the

playing field in favour of apps and services that enjoy privileged pricing.

It also threatens net neutrality, the principle that all Internet sites should be equally

accessible.

The initiative also restricts access to free, full Internet for users and hampers innovation.

This initiative forgets that while English is spoken by only about 12% of the world‘s

population, 53% of the Internet‘s content is English. If Indians need to access education or

health services, they need to access it in their languages, and not in English. And hence this is

not suitable for India.

And the Internet is not a substitute for schools and colleges but only a complement, that too if

material exists in the languages that the students understand. Similarly, health demands

clinics, hospitals and doctors, not a few websites on a private Facebook platform.

Then, what are the alternatives available?

Government subsidies: The government could subsidise ‗open‘ Internet. And let people pay

for it though taxes. Taxes that could be used in areas where private enterprise cannot function

profitably, at scale.

There are other various ways of providing free Internet, or cost-effective Internet, to the low-

end subscribers. People could be provided some free data with their data connection, or get

some free time slots when the traffic on the network is low.

2G data prices can and should be brought down drastically, as the telcos have already made

their investments and recovered costs from the subscribers.

Conclusion:

India is expected to have 500 million Internet users by the end of 2017, and what kind of an

Internet they get access to is important for our country. TRAI must now take a call on

whether such business strategies are anti-competitive. But in dealing with the question, the

regulator must not allow itself to be persuaded that such schemes are necessary for bringing

the Internet to the masses. It should be noted here that in spite of having 125 million Indian

subscribers, Facebook refuses to be sued in India, claiming to be an American company and

therefore outside the purview of Indian law. Nor does it pay any tax in India.

2. “The extended time taken by the security forces to neutralize the attack on the airbase in

Pathankot has led to a clamour for the need to have the ability to respond more swiftly”.Do

you think India have to standardize its national security doctrine.

The extended time taken by the security forces to neutralize the recent attack on the airbase

in Pathankot has led to a clamour for the need to have the ability to respond more swiftly.

The whole incident has also raised several questions about how to respond to such attacks.

Most people are of the view that the local police should have reacted faster. However, given

the present state of policing in India, one can easily conclude that our police forces are not in

a position to handle such attacks.

The three greatest problems confronting the country today are:

1. The challenge of international terrorism.


2. The spread of Maoist influence over vast areas of Central India.

3. The cancer of corruption.

If we are to tackle these problems effectively, there is no getting away from having a

professional police force, well trained and equipped, highly motivated, and committed to

upholding the law of the land and the constitution of the country. However, this would

require a total revamp of police forces in the states.

Present state of police forces in the country:

The bulk of the recruits in the police come from the rural areas and from the economically

weaker sections of society. Physical tests at the entry levels are deliberately designed in a

manner that does not weed out too many hopeful candidates. And also for the same reason,

the training curricula, as well, cannot be too stringent.

Even on the job, a daily grind with 14-hour duty schedules, irregular food timings,

consumption of unhealthy street food, has made them less active.

And the police forces at the state level are primarily required to maintain law and order,

manage traffic, and prevent and investigate crime.

Hence, for the police, who are used to wielding a lathi and investigating crime, it becomes

difficult to take up sophisticated arms and combat well-trained terrorists. It is also difficult to

arm this civilian force with automatic weapons to respond to a terrorist attack without any

prior training.

Reforms needed:

Such a change in the work profile would require a paradigm change in the way police

officials are recruited and trained.

So the first thing that policymakers have to decide is the kind of police they want, depending

on the kind of tasks they expect the police to perform. This should be followed up by

necessary improvements in the training facilities available for the police and they should be

provided with suitable ammunition.

Another important requirement for a force to be battleworthy is regular firing practice.

The police would also have to modernise their work culture and daily processes. Policemen,

particularly in metropolitan cities, could be equipped with short batons and communication

devices so that they can respond quicker. Specialised units are essential to deal with terror

attacks.

Several strategic assets are spread across the country. Hence, we have to look at the way

physical protection measures are taken at strategic installations. For instance, we often find

incomplete or poorly built boundary walls and inadequate lighting, with hardly any back-up.

This would have financial implications for policymakers as these units would have to be

suitably housed, trained, equipped and kept motivated.

The recommendations of committees, set up to review the security of various assets, and the

reports of the Intelligence Bureau should be seriously taken up. While manpower is essential

to provide security, investments must also be made in technology to secure assets.


The political class too is not anywhere near to loosening its control on the police. Steps have

to be taken to prepare our policing and investigative agencies for any kind of crimes and

attacks.

There is a need to recruit more officers with specialisation in forensic sciences and also in

different fields like cyber crime, financial accounting and auditing and psychology.

Once officers are recruited they need to go through police regimen, with stress on their field

of expertise. In this regard, physical exercise must be made mandatory for overall physical

and mental wellbeing.

Intelligence gathering is an art. Intelligence records need to be digitised and made available

to authorised personnel when required. Also, Intelligence analysts need to be trained and

engaged.

There is a need to utilise the services of every officer in the organisation with clear division

of work and responsibility. There is also an urgent need to separate law and order from the

investigation and detection of crime.

Finally, concerns about the integrity are some of the most important issues facing the

profession of policing. Cases of police misconduct can seriously harm years of work to

establish trust and confidence between the police and members of the community they

endeavour to serve. We need to have some oversight over the police working, as is in vogue

in South Africa, Northern Ireland and much of the UK.

Supreme Court on Police reforms:

The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgement in September, 2006, ordered the setting up of three

institutions at the state level:

1. State security commission with a view to insulating the police from extraneous

influences.

2. Police establishment board to give it functional autonomy.

3. Police complaints authority to ensure its accountability.

Other recommendations by the apex court:

The apex court also ordered that the Director General of Police shall be selected by the state

government from amongst the three senior-most officers of the department empanelled for

promotion to that rank by the Union Public Service Commission, and that he shall have a

prescribed minimum tenure of two years. Police officers on operational duties in the field

would also have a minimum tenure of two years.

The court also ordered the separation of investigating police from the law and order

police to ensure speedier investigation, better expertise and improved rapport with the

people.

The Union government was also asked to set up a National Security Commission for the

selection and placement of heads of Central Police Organisations, upgrading the

effectiveness of these forces and improving the service conditions of its personnel.

The aforesaid orders were to be implemented by March 31, 2007 and the court also appointed

the Thomas Committee to monitor the implementation of its directions in various states.

Several States have passed executive orders purportedly in compliance of the Court‘s

directions, but actually they have diluted or even subverted the directions with a view to


continuing the supremacy of the political executive in the enforcement of law and order.

Seventeen states have passed Acts, but not in keeping with the letter and spirit of judicial

directions.

Conclusion:

The police are the first responders in the event of any terrorist attack or Maoist violence, and

they are also the backbone of our intelligence, investigation and anti-corruption agencies.

Thus, looked at from any angle – the security of the common man, the survival of

democracy, maintaining the trajectory of economic progress or dealing with the major threats

confronting the country – we have to have a reformed, restructured and revitalised police

force. Recent incidents call for a cutting-edge approach to policing. This also necessitates an

overhaul of managerial thinking in the police as well as training methods.

3. It is said that government initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India enable

financial inclusion but also make the country an attractive target for cybercriminals. In

this regard, Bring out the shortcoming in the National cybersecurity policy.

Cyberspace was primarily intended as a civilian space. It has, however, become a new

domain of warfare.

Past cyber-attacks

tuxnet cyber-attack (2010) on an Iranian nuclear facility at Natanz

In 2007, Estonia was almost brought to its knees through a cyberattack, presumed to be by

Russian hackers.

The past few years have seen successful attacks against the best-guarded installations of

advanced nations.

The past year also witnessed a devastating attack on Ukraine‘s critical infrastructure.

It is evident that no rule of law exists in cyberspace. The domain has already become a

dangerous place.

Cyber security vis- a-vis terrorism

The architecture of the Internet was designed to promote connectivity, not security. Cyber

experts warn that the more technologically advanced and wired a nation is, the more

vulnerable it is to a cyber-attack.

Cybersecurity has an interesting parallel to terrorism.

o Both are asymmetric.

o Ensuring security of data, information, and communication is considerably harder

than hacking into a system.

o The attacker has an inherent advantage in both conventional terrorism and

cyberattacks.

o In the case of state-sponsored attacks, the challenges are of a much higher magnitude.

India‘s Vulnerability on cyber space

India remains vulnerable to digital intrusions such as cyber-espionage, cybercrime, digital

disruption and Distributed Denial of Service.


Despite having a National Cyber Security Policy (2013), risks to our critical infrastructure

remain.

In spite of instituting a National Cyber Security Coordinator (2014), internecine rivalries

between the National Technical Research Organisation (the nodal agency for cybersecurity)

and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology impede cooperation.

Lack of coordination among different government agencies.

China‘s emphasis on ‗cloud computing techniques‘, and the involvement of its Ministry of

State Security in this endeavour, suggests that it is preparing for allout offensive cyber

operations. India would be a prime target.

What India Needed ?

Bleeding edge technology: Bleeding edge refers to technology that has been released but is

still not ready for the general public due to the fact that it has not been reliably tested. The

term bleeding edge was formed as an allusion to the similar terms "leading edge" and

"cutting edge".

Big data analytics: it is the process of collecting, organizing and analyzing large sets of data

(big data) to discover useful information.

Air gapping: Air gapping is a security measure that involves isolating a computer or

network and preventing it from establishing an external connection. An air gapped computer

is physically segregated and incapable of connecting wirelessly or physically with other

computers or network devices.

Emphasis on cloud computing techniques.

Offensive cyber operations and strengthened cyber security.

4. Discuss how would demonetization or devaluation of money will impact terror

financing.

Summary:

The changeover of high denomination notes in India is arguably a major strategic step that

has been lauded by many Indians. The gaping chasm between our legal and illegal economy

had reached an alarming state where the anti-national elements ranging from corrupt officials

and tax evaders to state sponsored terrorists had a free run through India‘s security

apparatuses. Among others, demonetization has badly affected terror financing in the

country.

Finance of terrorism in India:

There are four essential elements needed by terrorists and organised crime groups to achieve

its objectives – mobility, logistic bases, communications and financing. The finance of

terrorism in India follows a hybrid model, which includes terror funding from within and

beyond the country‘s borders. An assessment of past cases that have come to light suggests

that terrorists have employed a variety of channels to fund their activities.

Various forms of terror financing and the impact of demonetization on them:

Terror financing falls mainly into three categories:


1. Tactical terror financing: It is the money needed to mount specific operations. This

aspect would remain unaffected by the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes for

the simple reason that terror operations are incredibly cheap and can be funded by kosher

resources.

2. Operational terror financing: This includes funds required for running a low-intensity

campaign like the ISI-sponsored ‗thousand cuts‘ strategy in Kashmir. More than tactical

financing, it is operational financing that is well within the capability of state-sponsored

terrorism. Equipping a few hundred terrorists with assault rifles, explosives,

communication tools and blood money is well under a few score crores. However,

demonetisation per se will not put a dent on this.

3. Counterfeit currency: Damaging our economy by flooding counterfeit currency is the

main strategic prong of terrorist groups. The demonetisation will disrupt it only for a

brief period until the terrorist groups replicate the new format of high denomination

notes. Granted that the newer currency will be harder to replicate, but if Indian mints can

make them, so can Pakistani. Additionally, they only need to make a near replica to pass

the muster and not an exact copy.

Other forms of terror financing:

Banking channel

Amongst formal channels, money has been moved through the banking channels, as was

witnessed prior to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. It can also involve the use of money

transfer service scheme (MTSS), as has been resorted to repeatedly by the Indian Mujahideen

(IM) to finance their operations in India. Benefactors in Pakistan transferred money to

innocuous middlemen not previously suspected of terrorist linkages in India. This money was

later withdrawn and handed over to IM cadres to fund their activities. Squeeze of cash flow

due to demonetization could witness increase in exploitation of formal channels by NGOs.

Barter trade

There have also been attempts to exploit the barter trade between India and Pakistan through

over or undervaluing the invoice, thereby creating a surplus value, which was then diverted

for funding terrorism. Demonetization would have impact on this limited given low volume

of trade with Pakistan. Squeeze of cash flow could witness increase in exploitation of trade

with other countries through proxies.

Movement by cash

Money is also transferred in the form of cash across borders through couriers, and thereafter

converted into Indian currency to support terror funding. Cash also forms the last mile

instrument of choice, for financing both organisational activities and terrorist operations.

This includes money spent for buying weapons, paying cadres, or organising terror strikes.

This is especially the case with groups which collect their funds directly in the form of

extortion, kidnapping or so called taxation etc. With demonetization, the groups which have

most of their financial reserves in the form of cash are likely to be affected the most.

Subsidiary money parking options like property could also be affected adversely affected due

to limited liquidity.


Real estate

There have also been cases of money being invested in real estate deals or investments in

businesses both inside and beyond Indian borders, to cater for long term needs.

Hawala

The last, and possibly the most commonly used method of transferring value remains hawala

in the Indian context, especially by Pakistan and Pakistan based terror groups which have

been fuelling, funding and coordinating terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) as well as

through the IM. This does not involve the physical movement of cash across borders, but

through the employment of hawaladars or hawala agents to collect and disburse money

across different countries and continents. However, they will have the maximum impact by

demonetization.

Demonetization alone is not sufficient in fight against terror financing. What else needs to

be done?

Two of the most vulnerable sectors that have traditionally been exploited for parking crime

proceeds and black money is the property, and gems and jewellery market. These sectors

have also been used for the temporary investment of terror funds. Unless transactions are

made transparent and reflect real market value, black money and terror funds will continue to

find their way into these businesses.

Fake currency can potentially be reintroduced into India after a break by Pakistan. In order to

sustain action, enhanced detection measures at public sector banks should be put in place. A

forensic cell should be established to monitor each case of counterfeit currency to better

understand the technology being applied to counterfeit notes. This must contribute to future

measures to enhance security against counterfeiting.

Demonetisation provides an opportunity to encourage a shift to a digital economy. This is an

essential requirement to not only reduce corruption but also create an electronic trail for

transactions. This will help bring transparency into the financial transactions of individuals

and organisations thereby constraining corruption, criminal proceeds, money laundering and

the finance of terrorism, which are all linked given the common channels employed for

transferring funds. Suitable measures should be put in place to shield our digital economy.

A large percentage of funds have been routed through NGOs in West Asia, especially in case

of Kashmir. The government should make it clear that each institution receiving funds must

register itself and seek clearance for receiving funds from foreign sources. The controlling

group of the NGO or establishment receiving money should be clearly established. A

government panel of charted accountants should audit the accounts of these NGOs.

The finance of terrorism should become a priority area for intelligence and enforcement

agencies.

Way ahead:

Demonetisation is not a complete and all-encompassing end in itself. It is part of a process

which must be taken forward through additional allied and subsidiary policies. There is a


need to take interlinked steps and it is only the sum of these individual initiatives that can

impact the larger fight against the financing of terrorism.

Conclusion:

Demonetisation is an important step in the fight against the finance of terrorism. However, it

should neither be the first nor the last, if the interlinked threats of corruption, crime and the

finance of terrorism have to be controlled. These must also not be addressed simply within

departmental and ministerial silos. Instead, an all-of government approach is imperative if

each of these challenges is to be met.

5. Renewables can and should play a greater role in our sustainable energy future, but we

need proper accounting and specialised effort to understand their grid implications and

scalability.comment

According to the Central Electricity Authority data, the total capacity of renewable energy

sector increased to 42,849.38 MW, surpassing the total capacity of hydro power sector at

42,783.42 MW, out of the nation‘s total installed capacity of a little over 3 lakh MW on April

30, 2016.

The renewable energy investments in solar and wind have benefited from a strong central

policy and several years of early-stage private sector investment, respectively.

In contrast, hydro power suffered from multiple challenges, including non-availability of

long-term financing; the cost imposed by royalty power (from 12 per cent to 36 per cent) to

be offered free to the state government; and limited opportunities for the private sector.

NATIONAL SOLAR MISSION

Aim

Generating 100 GW of solar power by the year 2021-22.

To generate 60 GW ground mounted grid-connected solar power and 40 GW through roof-

top grid interactive solar power.

The target for the current year is 2,000 MW and next year target is 12,000 MW. Solar power

potential in India

As per the study conducted by ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), India‘s solar

power potential is as high as 748 GW, against our country‘s cumulative installed capacity

from all sources at around 275 GW. Work being done

States step up

This year India had 6,762 megawatts (MW) of grid-connected solar power projects. Of this,

Rajasthan tops the list with around 1,269MW. states like Telangana (527.8MW), Andhra

Pradesh (573MW) Tamil Nadu (1,061.8) and Gujarat (1,119.1MW)are also doing well

Bridge to India report released in April highlighted that states such as Maharashtra and Uttar

Pradesh that are large power consumers have been relatively slow to grow.

To achieve above stated objective, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has initiated

several projects like:

o Scheme for Development of Solar Parks and Ultra Mega Solar Power Projects;

o Scheme for Development of Solar PV Power Plants on Canal Banks/ Canal Tops;


o Scheme of setting up 1000 MW of Grid- Connected Solar PV Power Projects by

CPSUs with Viability Gap Funding.

Suryamitra mobile app

―Surya Mitra‖ is a GPS based mobile App developed by National Institute of Solar Energy

(NISE).

This App is a high-end technology platform, which can handle thousands of calls

simultaneously and can efficiently monitor all visits of Suryamitras. Challenges

Availability of land: for solar units is a major problem.

Land ownership and the willingness of the owners to part with these lands are an issue that

needs to be addressed.

Evacuation of power from remote areas is difficult. Wasteland is available, but the problem is

that they are typically in remote locations.

RPOs: The lifting of solar power by the distribution companies is also a question mark

because of their poor financial health, and because renewable energy purchase obligations

may not be effectively enforced.

Many investors are asking deeper questions about viability. Nearly one square kilometre of

land is needed to put up a 40-60 MW solar plant. Such large chunks of land are not readily

available except in isolated areas from which evacuation of power becomes even more

difficult.

Way Forward

Germany has become a world leader in Solar Energy because of the system of Feed-in-

Tariffs (FITs - fixed per kWh for 20 years, covering investment )and guaranteed priority grid

connections to renewable energy producers

Farmer co-operatives to harvest solar fields, especially in areas that have low irrigation and

cropping intensity, like Marathawada and Bundelkhand. This will also supplement in the

income of farmers.

6. GST will be the single most important tax reform in the country since

independence.Elucidate

What is GST?

GST is a Value Added Tax. GST contains most of indirect taxes levied on goods, including

central and state level taxes. The GST system is explained in the info-graphic below. Let us

assume a 10% tax rate.

Features of GST system

It is a destination based tax.

It will be collected on VAT method i.e tax at every stage of value addition.

It will be imposed at a uniform rate, to be decided by the GST Council.

The GST Council will recommend the taxes to be subsumed and exempted from the GST, the

rates of taxation and the model Central, State and Integrated GST laws

The government also cleared changes in the Bill including:


o Doing away with the additional 1 per cent tax by producing states and

o Compensating all states for any revenue loss in the first five years post the GST

rollout.

As the next step, the Centre has to enact two laws, one on the creation of Central GST

(CGST subsumes central taxes) and another on Integrated GST (IGST). The state

governments, on their part, have to pass legislation on creation of state GST (subsumes

various state taxes).

Advantages

Governance

GST will get rid of the current patchwork of indirect taxes levied by centre and states such

as: excise, value added tax, octroi and sales tax with one uniform tax that will be shared by

both states and the Centre.

The earlier indirect taxes were partial and suffered from infirmities, mainly exemptions and

multiple rates.

Reduced tax disputes.

Due to easy framework it improves tax compliances.

Checks tax-evasion.

It is expected to help build a transparent and corruption-free tax administration.

Increased tax base and tax to GDP ratio.

Economy

A national seamless market will be established. This will significantly lower transit time and

also improve truck utilization.

Greater cost-competitiveness – as competitors would not get undue benefit due to location or

product etc.,

Productivity gains – in tax and logistic areas.

It is estimated that India will gain $15 billion a year by implementing the Goods and Services

Tax as it would promote exports, raise employment and boost growth. Evolved to new

Economic structure both intra and inter-national

Under GST, the taxation burden will be divided equitably between manufacturing and

services, through a lower tax rate by increasing the tax base and minimizing exemptions.

With the increase of international trade in services, the GST has become a preferred global

standard. All OECD countries, except the US, follow this taxation structure.

Challenges

Consensus between centre and states on loss of revenue. Though this is resolved for next 5

years due to compensation by centre, it is bound to remain a challenge.

Loss to manufacturing states as 1% additional tax is also removed in final GST bill.

Dual control in every area.

Credit will be available with GST network i.e., online only. This will negatively affect small

businesses.


Information technology systems and the administrative infrastructure may not be ready to

implement GST

States lose autonomy to change tax rate as this will be decided by GST council. Clause 246A

makes Parliament‘s decisions will be overriding and binding on the States. Similarly centre

also loses autonomy on central duties.

Petroleum and liquor still out. They form almost 40% of India‘s total trade, so significant

portion is still outside.

Administrative mechanism: In India, a merger between two government agencies is next to

impossible, as long as appraisals and promotions are linked to seniority and regretfully, not

performance. And integrating the revenue collection services of all states and an extremely

powerful Central Service into one GST collection agent.

Negative impact on sectors currently enjoying tax benefits such as: textiles, media, dairy,

IT/ITeS, Pharma etc.,

Way forward

It can be seen under the recommendations of Arvind Subramanian Committee Report on

Goods and Services Tax (GST):

Removal of 1% levy on inter-state movement,

The standard GST rate in the range of 17-18 per cent.

Revenue neutral rate (RNR) of GST at 15-15.5 per cent.

Essential goods will be taxed at a lower rate of 12 per cent

Demerit goods such as luxury cars, aerated beverages, pan masala and tobacco products will

be taxed at 40 percent.

Remaining all goods will be taxed at a standard rate of 17 to 18 per cent.

The aim should be to create a GST with the widest possible base

For Success of GST we have to address the issue of improving the billing culture in the

country. Without addressing the question, the transformation effect will not be fully realised

Decoding Key Terms of Recommendations

The standard rate- The rate at which most goods will be taxed is more than RNR because

some goods that are in the nature of public goods or targeted at deprived sections will need to

be taxed at the lower rate. This rate is most likely to apply on most goods and services under

the new indirect tax regime

The Revenue Neutral Rate - At which if all goods and services are taxed there will not be any

revenue loss for both states and the Centre.

Why Standard rate is more than Revenue Neutral rate ?

The standard rate is more than the revenue neutral rate because some goods that are in the

nature of public goods or targeted at deprived sections will need to be taxed at the lower rate.

There will be a demerit good rate that is higher than the standard rate that will apply to goods

such as tobacco, the use of which needs to be discourage.

Getting the design of the GST right is critical. Specifically, the GST should aim at tax rates

that protect revenue, simplify administration, encourage compliance, avoid adding to

inflationary pressures, and keep India in the range of countries with reasonable levels of

indirect taxes.


7. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code has been welcomed by the banking sector.

Examine how this code will benefit the Indian economy and how it will sort the issue of

wilful defaulters and NPA.

Background

The objective of the code is reducing the delay in resolution of insolvency or bankruptcy

cases and improving recoveries of the amount lent. Need Today, bankruptcy proceedings in

India are governed by multiple laws - the Companies Act, SARFAESI Act, Sick Industrial

Companies Act, and so on. The entire process causes a lot of delay thus locking capital for a

long period.

Salient Features of the law:

A unified code for greater legal clarity.

Fixed a timeline of 180 days, extendable by another 90 days, to resolve cases of insolvency

or bankruptcy.

A new regulator - the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to regulate

professionals/agencies dealing with insolvency and informational utilities.

Specialized Bench at the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to adjudicate bankruptcy

cases over companies, limited liability entities.

Debt Recovery Tribunal (―DRT‖) shall be the Adjudicating Authority with jurisdiction over

individuals and unlimited liability partnership firms.

The code allows the corporate debtor itself to initiate the insolvency-resolution process once

it has defaulted on a debt.

Prioritization of claims by different classes of creditors (Financial creditors and operation

creditors.) Issues with the present bankruptcy law

The insolvency request can be stayed by the adjudicatory authority or an appeal against it can

be filed in High court. So, the operational creditor may not have enough resource to pursue

the case against the bankrupt company.

Without repealing the existing laws, the bankruptcy law can further complicate the process.

If the insolvency resolution plan is not submitted by the Insolvency Resolution Professional

within 270 days or if it is disapproved by the adjudicatory authority then liquidation is the

only option. However, the law is unclear if the corporate is given a chance to be heard before

liquidation.

The option of liquidation may also lead to parties not giving enough research towards

recovery the ailing company. Way Ahead The Bankruptcy Law is a much needed step

towards reducing NPAs and improving ease of doing business in India. However the law

must be amended preferably by bringing experts from abroad countries that have experience

of handling bankruptcies and distressed debt market.

8. Do you think India is ready to go fully cashless today? Critically examine.

Background:

Cashless economy refers to a situation where flow of cash is non-existent & all transactions

are done through electronic channels such as debit cards, credit & debit cards, mobile money

transfers, immediate payment services etc.



The government along with the reserve bank has initiated policies to transform Indian

economy to a cashless economy.

Readiness of India for a cashless economy:

Partial Demonetization: It has led to upsurge in electronic transactions, especially mobile

money transfers.

Bank Accounts: Quantitative success of PMJDY campaign in opening an account for almost

every household in India.

Mobile Penetration: This has crossed over 100 million connections.

Government Measures: Ambitious payment interfaces such as UPI & NPCI.

But the challenges to an immediate cashless economy are huge:

Poor Cashless Payment Infrastructure: Especially in rural, Suburban and Tier 2 cities of

India, most of shopkeeper, vendor, employers don‘t have electronic machines to do cashless

payments and they even don‘t know how to operate it.

Security Issues: Recently, the details of millions of cards have been compromised by ATM

network. Poor cyber security can lead to threat to Indian economy and it is against individual

‗s interest.

Lack of Awareness: People are not fully aware about cashless transactions that is, how to

use it and what benefits are.

Poor Internet Connectivity and Digitization: Internet connectivity is poor in rural India

and some urban sectors. Private Internet companies are also not able to expand in rural India

due to lower profits ineffective policy implementation.

Black Money and Tax Evasion: People do payment in cash form in order to hoard black

money and for tax evasion.

Way Forward:

Govt‘s move towards Block chain technology to curtail paper currency is a welcome step.

should make effective policy to digitalize incentive payments like cash back schemes and

motivate people through tax rebates.

It will be better if private players are given more incentives to operate and provide internet

connectivity in rural areas as well.

Cyber security infrastructure needs to be strengthened.

Financial Inclusion and awareness through the JAM trinity and other schemes needs to be

given a major Push.

Conclusion:

India is still in a nascent stage to go fully cashless but it is definitely possible as seen in the

case of Sweden

But in order to fully realize the potential of cashless economy, first an enabling environment

needs to be created through the concerted efforts from all the stakeholders – Banks, Govt,

State governments, civil society, and Private players & among others.


9. To maintain a good economic health in any country, it is necessary for both the Central

bank and the government to work in tandem. In this regard Draw out the significance of

the Monetary Policy Committee.

Monetory policy commitee

Background:

It is now widely believed that monetary policy had very little to do with the decline in

inflation since 2014. There are few factors which helped keep inflation low in the last two

years. These include:

Sharp drop in petroleum prices and the accompanying decline in primary commodity prices

after August 2014. Metal and mineral prices declined sharply in the last two years and

various agricultural commodities also witnessed a sharp fall in prices.

The distress in rural areas that had started building up since November 2013 has continued

until now. The drying up of demand in the last three years was seen in the decline in real

wages in rural areas.

There was also a decline in farm business income and a drop in construction and other non-

farm activities which had maintained wage rate growth even during periods of drought.

The cutback in rural spending, partly a result of the Fourteenth Finance Commission award

and partly as a result of the government‘s decision to cut back spending on rural

programmes, also resulted in low rural demand.

Back-to-back droughts in the last two years have added to the misery of the rural population.

The continued recession in major markets outside India meant that exports fell throughout

the last two years. The net result of weak domestic demand coupled with falling exports was

a build-up of inventory and excess capacity in the manufacturing sector.

Role of Monetary Policy in Inflation control:

According to experts, while all those factors mentioned above contributed to low inflation

that persisted in the last two years, none of these was affected by the RBI‘s monetary policy.

Nor was monetary policy successful in keeping retail inflation low.

While retail inflation has come down as a result of the factors mentioned above, the real

problem with inflation in India has been persistently high food inflation. While these have

moderated a bit due to distress in the economy, they continue to be beyond acceptable limits.

Most of the inflation in food commodities has been due to structural problems of marketing,

excessive speculation and flip-flop in government policy, with no role of monetary policy.

This continues even today.

Hence, it can be said that neither was the high inflation a result of poor monetary policy nor

is the decline in inflation a result of monetary policy.

What is inflation targeting?

Inflation targeting is a monetary policy in which a central bank has an explicit target inflation

rate for the medium term and announces this inflation target to the public. It will have price

stability as the main goal of monetary policy.


Many central banks adopted inflation targeting as a pragmatic response to the failure of other

monetary policy regimes, such as those that targeted the money supply or the value of the

currency in relation to another, presumably stable, currency.

Why it is good?

It will lead to increased transparency and accountability.

Policy will be linked to medium/long term goals, but with some short term flexibility.

With inflation targeting in place, people will tend to have low inflation expectations. If there

was no inflation target, people could have higher inflation expectations, encouraging workers

to demand higher wages and firms to put up prices.

It also helps in avoiding boom and bust cycles.

If inflation creeps up, then it can cause various economic costs such as uncertainty leading to

lower investment, loss of international competitiveness and reduced value of savings. This

can also be avoided with targeting.

Challenges to inflation targeting:

It puts too much weight on inflation relative to other goals. Central Banks Start to Ignore

More Pressing Problems.

Inflation target reduces ―flexibility‖. It has the potential to constrain policy in some

circumstances in which it would not be desirable to do so.

Cost-push inflation may cause a temporary blip in inflation.

Way ahead:

Inflation targeting has been successfully practiced in a growing number of countries over the

past 20 years, and many more countries are moving toward this framework. Over time,

inflation targeting has proven to be a flexible framework that has been resilient in changing

circumstances, including during the recent global financial crisis. Individual countries,

however, must assess their economies to determine whether inflation targeting is appropriate

for them or if it can be tailored to suit their needs. This should not be seen as a panacea for all

the problems.

10.“Aimed at protecting the rights of forest dwelling tribal communities the Scheduled

Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006

promised much. However, over the years its implementation has been tardy and there have

been concerted efforts to dilute it.” Critically discuss.

Background

The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights)

Act, 2006 (FRA) was passed to restore the traditional rights of land to the people who have

been living in forests for generations and guards against misuse by empowering gram sabhas

to take decisions. But, its implementation has not been up to the mark and efforts to dilute it

has been made:-


Rights only on paper

After relocation, communities are allotted with lands for cultivation other than their natural

forest land, next to their new homes, some of it unfit for growing anything. They have rights

to minor forest produce but the forests are far away from their new homes, making them

vulnerable to high levels of malnutrition and number of child deaths.

Relocation of forest dwellers

Usually the primitive tribes face the problems of food, shelter, vulnerability to diseases, they

don‘t get adapted to shelter homes, food through PDS system. It comes to them as cultural

shock. State authorities remain insensitive to the needs of tribals. For example- few

communities of Baiga tribe evicted from their homes in forest in Chhattisgarh. People died

after relocation due to lack of access to food and shelter. The difficulties in relocation revolve

mainly around livelihoods, access to food and basic amenities.

Diversion of forest for developmental projects

The forestlands are being diverted for industry, roads and other infrastructure, there is

widespread feeling that this act has come in the way of speedy implementation of projects.

Thus, MoEFCC is giving forest clearances to such projects, ignoring the rights of forest

dwellers.

Forging gram sabha clearances

It has been found that at many instances, district administration has taken decision on behalf

of gram sabha for clearances, even without consulting them. For example- In 2012 gram

sabhas in seven villages in Jharsuguda and Sambalpur districts in Odisha opposed two

private coal plants. The district administration forwarded gram sabha resolutions which

unanimously approved the diversion of forestland for the coal mining projects to the centre

for approval, but in reality villagers had opposed the projects. The forgery came to light

when the affected people from four villages compared these resolutions and found the real

records were different.

Interference from the MoEFCC

The FRA has to be implemented by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, but MoEFCC have been

coming up with new rules interfering the powers of Tribal minsitry. For example- In

Maharashtra, such rule was passed in 2014, which would give more powers to the forest

department and the villagers would have to manage forests in accordance with that. One of

the rule was that if there is any ―encroachment,‖ or fire, affecting more than 40% of trees in

the plantations, the forest will be taken back. Upset with the success of the Mendha Lekha in

Gadchiroli (Maharashtra), the first village in the country to be given control over 1,800

hectares of community forests and rights to harvest and sell bamboo, the new rules specified

that bamboo can only be harvested according to the plans drawn up by the forest department.

While the FRA gives powers to the gram sabha, the new rules emphasised the supremacy of

the forest officials, defeating the spirit of the FRA.


Relaxing the supporting laws/rules

The Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 has been relaxed by the

government. For example -In December 2012, the environment ministry exempted public

hearings for existing coal mining projects which applied for a one-time capacity expansion of

up to 25% in the existing mining operation.

Poor implementation by states

Many states have a poor record of implementation of the act: Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal

Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal

have been identified as having lagged behind in implementation of the FRA. The misuse of a

law cannot be the reason to dilute it or call for its repeal.

Proposal under new laws

Under the FRA Act gram sabha (village council) is the final authority on forest land of tribals

and other forest-dwellers. But the recently framed-The Compensatory afforestation

(CAMPA) bill does not clearly acknowledge the power of such councils.

However, FRA has been helpful in following:-

o FRA acts as first line of defence- For conservators, it acts as first line of defence

along with protecting the rights of the people. For example- it was beneficial for

community conservation in Uttarakhand‘s van panchayats, community forest

management in Odisha, in the B R Hills Tiger Reserve in Karnataka, etc. It was

possible because, FRA includes the principles of respect for rights (including right to

use, manage and conserve), transparency and accountability.

o Granting rights over minor forest Produce – FRA‘s passage was successful in

granting rights to tribal people over minor forest produce like – bamboo, tendu

leaves, etc. But, till now the scope of such produce has been very limited.

The forest department perceives FRA as a one-sided legislation that may lead to grave

compromises at the cost of the environment. They believe that people residing in proximity

of wildlife sanctuaries or parks would hamper conservation effort. Perception – must be

changed by popularizing examples like Maldharis effort in conserving lions of Gir National

Park, Bishnois are considered to be the environmentalists in the world. Land is a valuable

resource for those who live off it and one way of ensuring lesser fragmentation is to approve

community forest rights which take a long time for clearance.

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