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VETRII IAS STUDY CIRCLE

CURRENT AFFAIRS

TNPSC

(APRIL - 2015)

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TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS

www.vetriias.com Page 1

I. INDIA

Around half of Indian Children under 5 Stunted

India is home to third-highest number of obese people after the U.S. and China, 48 per

cent of women of reproductive age and 59 per cent of children under the age of five are anaemic,

and close to 48 per cent of children under the age of five are stunted.

Rain - hit areas to get NREGS boost

The Union government will increase the number of work days under the Mahatma

Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme from 100 to 150 in places where the

recent unseasonal rain and hailstorms have affected crops. The relief package will include cash

compensation. Compensation would be paid out from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF)

and the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). Both also allow for food compensation in case of

crop damage

Odisha government launched ‗Aahar‘ - cheap meal scheme for providing subsidised

food to urban poor. Aims at providing meal at Rs. 5 to the urban poor.

Gulshan Rai took charge as India‘s first cyber security chief under PMO.

Andhra Pradesh government approved Amaravathi as name of the new capital city of

the state.

Malli Mastan Babu, one of India‘s top mountaineers passed away.

1st Indian mountaineer to summit othe tallest peak in Antartica, Mt. Vinson Massif,

also first person from Andhra Pradesh to scale the Mt. Everest.

Union government launches ‗give it up‘movement in Karnataka, it appeals to the rich

people to voluntarily give up their subsidy amount given on liquefied Petroleum Gas

(LPG) Cylinders, and the money surrendered will be utilised far poor to get LPG

connection in rural as well as in urban areas.

World health day - April 7, Theme for 2015 - ―food safety‖, observed since 1950

NREG at 2005 renamed as MGNREGA providing at least 100 days

of wage employment in a financial year.



Gujarat leads in Swachh Bharat implementation

Gujarat stands top the list of states in the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission,

while Odisha has excelled in the construction of community toilets, according to an assessment

by the Union Urban Development Ministry for 2014-15.

Swachh Bharat, launched on October 2 2014, last is aimed at ensuring cleanliness in all

4,041 statutory cities and towns of the country by October 2, 2019, the 150th birth anniversary

of Mahatma Gandhi.

Reform agricultural insurance

The recent attempt by the Gujarat government to reintroduce the Farm Income Insurance

Scheme (FIIS) can reform agricultural insurance and prevent farm-level distress.

The FIIS, originally introduced in 2003 and withdrawn the next year, has been revived in

Gujarat. The scheme‘s main thrust is that it tries to ensure guaranteed income by insuring the

difference between the farmer‘s predicted income and the actual income.

Centre extends food law deadline again by 6 months

The Centre has given six months more to the states for rolling out the National Food

Security Act (NFSA), the deadline, which has already been extended twice for implementing the

law, was ending on April 4.

11 states/UTs have implemented — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,

Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Chandigarh have so

far implemented the Act, some of them fully and others partially.

Objective of Swachh Barat

Elimination of open defecation

Conversion of insanitary toilets to pour flush toilets

Eradication of Manual Scavenging

100% recycling of municipal solid waste



Operation Raahat: over 600 evacuated

In the largest evacuation as part of Operation Raahat so far, three Air India flights

airlifted 488 people from Sana‘a to Djibouti.

Government moves to clear the air

Amid growing concerns over deteriorating air quality in India‘s major cities, the

government launched the National Air Quality Index (AQI) that will put out real time data about

the level of pollutants in the air and inform people about the possible impacts on health.

Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the two-day conference of

Environment and Forest Ministers, the new index will initially cover 10 cities - Delhi, Agra,

Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad -

each of which would have monitoring stations with AQI display boards. The aim was to

eventually deploy the indix in all cities with a population of over one million.

Delhi was the world‘s most polluted capital.

Dark green, the first level, indicates good air quality while maroon at the other end

indicates severe pollution.

NSFA aims at providing legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised

foodgrains to the identified person per month.

NFSA 2013 will provide high nutrition food to the age group of 6 years.

Pregnant women and lactating mothers will be entitled to get maternity

benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000.

Name given to the Indian Air force’s rescue operations to

evacuate civilians affected by the 2013 North India floods



MISSION INDRADHANUSH

Schedule for Children up to 2 years

VACCINE WHEN TO GIVE

BCG At birth or as early as possible till one year

of age

Hepatitis B Birth dose At birth or as early as possible whin 24

hours

OPV Zero dose At birth or as early as possible within the

first 15 days

OPV 1, 2 & 3

DPT 1, 2 & 3

Hepatitis B 1, 2 & 3 At 6 weeks, 10 weeks & 14 weeks

HiB containing Pentavalent 1, 2 & 3

Measles 1st dose 9 completed months 12 months. (give up

to 5 years if not received at 9-12 months

age0

JE 1st dose 9 completed months

Vitamin A (1st dose) 9 completed months

DPT 1st booster 16-24 months

OPV Booster 16-24 months

Measles 2nd dose 16-24 months

JE 2nd dose 16-24 months

Schedule for pregnant women

VACCINE WHEN TO GIVE

TT-1 Early in pregnancy

TT-2 4 weeks after TT-1

TT-Booster If received 2 TT doses in a pregnancy

within the last 3 years

Pentavalent vaccine and Japanese Encephalitis vaccine available in select areas

Vitamin A supplementation is also provided to all children

Launched on December 25, 2014. It aims to immunize all children

against seven vaccine preventable diseases namely diphtheria,

whooping cough, tentanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis

by 2020.



Annadurai to head ISRO satellite centre

Mayilsamy Annadurai, who led two of the country‘s much celebrated space projects - the

Mars mission and the Chandrayaan -1 - is the new Director of ISRO Satellite Centre, bengaluru.

In 2014, India had the largest number of patients globally

Since 2005, there has been a rise in the incidence of leprosy in India ‗on account of the

shift in public health priorities from leprosy to AIDS and cancer‘, the Law Commission said

In 2014, India had the largest number of new leprosy cases globally (58 per cent). From

2005 to 2014, the National Leprosy Eradication Programme has recorded 1.25 lakh to 1.35 lakh

new cases every year, a majority of those affected being children.

Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd. (Launched on 8th April 2015)

Objectives

To be an integrated financial and support service provided for the micro enterprises &

help in economic and social development

Creating a good architecture of Last Mile Financiers to micro businesses

Promoting right technology solutions for financial delivery to the last mile

Providing doorstep credit at lower cost

PM announces enhanced input subsidy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced enhanced input subsidy relief for farmers in

distress.

Farmers will now be eligible for input subsidy if 33 per cent of their crop has been

damage, as opposed to 50 per cent or more, which was the norm till now, the Prime Minister

said at the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd.

(MUDRA) Yojana.

Further the input subsidy given to distressed farmers will be enhanced by 50 per cent of

the existing amount.

Leprosy also known as Hansen’s disease (HD) is a chronic

infection caused by bacteria, Mycobacterium leprae



He launched the MUDRA bank with a corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore and credit guarantee of

Rs. 3,000 crore. The bank will be responsible for refinancing microfinance institutions in the

business of lending to small entities.

Dhanush Successfully Test - fired

India successfully test-fire the nuclear-weapons capable Dhanush missile for its full range

of 350 km off the Odisha coast.

Earth Hour

An 11-member international jury has declared Thane the National Earth Hour Capital

with the city emerging the winner from India in the Earth Hour City Challenge this year.

The city represented India in the Global Earth Hour Capital Competition of 16 countries

in Seoul. The host city was declared the winner and acknowledged as the Global Earth Hour

Capital 2015.

India-French Deal

Marking a break through in the protracted talks for striking the French Rafale jet deal, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi announced here that India would buy 36 of the fighter planes in

flyway condition, citing critical operational requirements of the Indian Air Force.

Concrete steps by Central Government for assisting farmers affected by crop

losses

Norms for input subsidies to farmers liberalised.

Now even at 33% crop loss, farmers to be provided assistance (earlier the criterion was 50% loss or more)

As per new norms Govt to help those farmers whose crops were affected in February and March this year.

Assistance for agricultural crops, horticulture crops, annual plantation crops, perennial crops and sericulture increased by 50%.

Monetary assistance to change every year on the basis of inflation rates.

MUDRA - Public sector financial institution in India,

Provides loans at low rates to small entrepreneurs.

Last year Coimbatore was selected Earth hour - is a world wide movement

organized by WWF, Turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from

8.30 to 9.30 pm on the last Saturday in March.



Banks to re-structure crop loans.

Speedy settlement of farmers‘ claims by Insurance companies.

Court orders free surgery, medicines, rehabilitation

In an order likely to have far - reaching effects, the Supreme Court ruled that private

hospitals could neither ―turn away‖ victims of acid attack nor wash their hand of after providing

first aid.

The court made it mandatory for these hospitals across the country to provide full and

free medical treatment to the victims. The order said the term ‗treatment‘ included

reconstructive surgery, free medicines, bed, rehabilitation and aftercare.

Decks cleared for SAMEER project

With the revenue officials paying nearly Rs. 65 lakh as compensation to 17 farmers, the

Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) under the Ministry of Communication and IT is all set

to launch work on the Centre for Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (Centre for 3Es) at

Gambheeram in the city shortly.

This will be the fourth R&D complex by Society for Applied Microwave Electronic

Engineering & Research (SAMEER), an autonomous body under Deity with other centres

located at Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

New role for MNREGS beneficiaries

The State government has dicided to utilise the services of Mahatma Gandhi National

Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme beneficiaries for collection and segregation of garbage

under the solid waste management (SWM) programmes to be implemented in village

panchayats.

According to an order Rs. 200 crore has been allotted for implementing SWM

programme in 12,524 village panchayats. In Phase-I, it will be implemented in 2,000 village

panchayats, including 328 panchayats located on the outskirts of Chennai.

The declaration of wetlands in Suchindrum-Theroor -Manakudi in Kanyakumari

district as conservation reserve will offer protection to their habitat

Originally, the Forest Department was looking to declare it as a sanctuary, but has now

declared it as a conservation reserve as there are people all around the wetlands. The objective

is to involve the community in improving ecology and the biodiversity, say forest officials.



India is below Bhutan in broadband reach: TRAI

India ranks 125th in the world for fixed broadband penetration. Some of our neighbours

such as Bhutan and Sri Lanka are ahead of us.

Uttarakhand gets new tiger reserve

Uttarakhand, the state with the second highest tiger population after Karnataka, now has

a second tiger reserve, besides the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

The Rajaji National Park has now been notified as the Rajaji Tiger Reserve by the Centre.

India has 988 species on IUCN ‘Red List’

India has added 15 more species to the ‗Red List‘ of threatened species published by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2014

India had 988 threatened species on the list, which lists critically endangered,

endangered and vulnerable species. In 2013, the number was 973. With 659 species in 2008, the

increase over seven years is 50 per cent, in part due to better research identifying more

threatened species and deforestation.

IUCN - founded in October 1948

IUCN Red list of Threatened species founded in 1964

IUCN Red List - to evaluate the extinction risk of thousand of species

and subspecies

48 Tige reserves in India administered by National Tiger conservation

Authority which was estabilished in 2005.

Nagarjunsagar - Srisailam Tiger reserve is the largest tiger reserve in

India.

TRAI established on February 20, 1997 to regulate telecom

services and tariffs, which were previously vested in the

centreal government



Three new havens for tigers

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for creation of reserves in Ratapani in

Madhya Pradesh, Sunabeda in Odisha and Guru Ghasidas in Chhattisgarh.

Odisha is among the States where the tiger population has dwindled. The NTCA also

accorded final approval to a proposal to declare Kudremukh National Park in Karnataka and

Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand as tiger reserves.

K. Radhakrishnan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), was

conferred honorary D.Sc. (Doctor of Science) by Mahatma Gandhi University on Tuesday. Dr.

Radharkrishnan is the 11th recipient of the honorary doctorate.

Oussudu lake, a fully protected wetland now

Seven years after the Puducherry government declared the Oussudu lake as a birds‘

sanctuary, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department has finally woken up and declared 331 hectares of

the wetland in its territory as a bird sanctuary.

An important bird area, located between the Publicat and Point Calimere wetlands, the

about 800-acre Oussudu lake spreads equally in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu territories.

Designated as one of the important wetlands of Asia by the International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the wetland will have protection from both sides.

Bill for Transgender

A private member‘s Bill protecting and providing rights for transgenders was passed by the

Rajya Sabha. The Bill also guarantees reservation in education and jobs, financial aid and

social inclusion. This is the first time in 45 years that a private members Bill has been passed

by the House.

The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014, paves the way for a law on the matter in the

near future.

THE WORLD BOOK AND COPYRIGHT DAY - 23RD APRIL, 2015

National Panchayati Raj Day 24th April,

2015



257 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra this year

The Maharashtra government has reported 257 suicides by farmers in the State between

January and March this year resulting from the agrarian crisis.

―The government of Maharashtra has reported that 257 farmers have committed suicide

in the State due to agrarian reasons during the period January to March 2015.

The amount of compensation to a farmer who commits suicide was decided by the State

government. The Maharashtra government has reported that it provides a compensation of Rs. 1

lakh to the family of those farmers who end their lives due to crop failure, debt and inability to

repay loan.

Hyderabad based Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) has formally

handed over indigenously built Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), which will be used in a

critical final stage during rocket launches, to Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SPSC), the satellite

launching station of ISRO at Sriharikota. By middle of june, pslv vehicle carrying three uk based

research satellites will be launched from shar sriharikota.

Two more navigational satellites and one ASTROSAT for educational purposes will be

launched from Sriharikota by year end.

Operation Maitri to continue

Operation Maitri, India‘s Army led rescue and relief mission in quake-hit Nepal, would

continue till normalcy returned to the Himalayan country. The Indian rescue mission

succeeded in evacuating 170 foreign nationals belonging to the U.S., the U.K., Russia and

Germany.

Smart Cities

The Union Cabinet cleared one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s most favoured

projects — 100 smart cities spread across the country — and a new urban renewal

mission named after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, replacing the existing one named after

Jawaharlal Nehru, with a total outlay of nearly Rs. 1,00,000 crore.

The meeting, chaired by Mr. Modi, approved the Smart Cities Mission for development of

100 smart cities and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) of

500 cities, which replaces the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, with outlays

of Rs. 48,000 crore and Rs. 50,000 crore, respectively

The smart cities mission is aimed at ―recasting the urban landscape of the country by

making cities more liveable and inclusive, besides driving economic growth.

Centre approves outlay of nearly rs. 1 lakh crore to make cities more liveable



Rs. 48,000 crore for Smart Cities Mission

100 smart cities to receive Rs. 100 crore per year for five years

Rs. 50,000 crore for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

500 cities and towns, with population of one lakh and above, to receive funds in three

instalments.

Over Rs. 2 lakh crore to flow into urban areas over the next five years.

7 - Year prison term brings it to the heinous crime category

The amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, approved by the Union

Cabinet include enhancing punishment from the minimum 6 months to 3 years and form the

maximum five years to seven years.

―The seven-year imprisonment brings corruption to the heinous crime category. The ambit

of the existing Act will be enhanced to make commercial entities liable for inducement of public

servants. Under the present law, only individuals are liable. The proposed amendment bill also

provides for issue of guidelines to commercial organisations to prevent persons associated with

them from bribing a public servant.

Nadia District of West Bengal is going to be declared as the first Open Defecation Free

District and the Sate will observe this day as ‗‘Nirmal Bangla Diwas”

Trainings to Gram Panchayats to build ―Nirmal Pally‖

Campaign to augment mass awareness and behaviour change through ―Mission Nirmal

Bangla‖

Implementation of Solid Waste Management System in Gram Panchayats

Provision of Community Toilets, Drainage and Safe Drinking Water Supply by Gram

Panchayats using performance linked discretionary grant

Geographical Information System based Planning and Monitoring in Gram Panchayat

Initiation of Grievance Redressal System for improved accountability and transparency

Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi become the 20th Chief Election Commissioner. His

tenure turns upto July 2017.

1st Chief Election Commissioners - Sukumar Sen

19th Chief Election Commissioners - H.S. Brachma



A total ban on child labour is a must : Satyarthi

As per the Census 2011, India has over four million working children in the age group of

5-14.

Child Labour (Amendment) Bill, 2012 in the coming parliamentary session.

WHAT THE BILL PROVIDES

Child labour is prohibited in only select industries identified as hazardous

No adolescent shall be employed in hazardous occupation or processes

Six month to two years’ jail and fine of Rs. 20,000 -50,000

Only employers who violate the law are to be held accountable

Doesn’t specify that child labour is non-bailable

No provision for rehabilitation

AMENDMENTS MR. SATYARTHI WANTS

All forms of child labour should be prohibited, up to the age of 14

Up to the age of 18, no child should be employed in the worst forms of child labour.

such as begging and prostitution

Increase in fine amount and period of imprisonment

Enforcement agency employees should also be held responsible if children are found

working in their jurisdiction

Child labour must be made a cognisable and non-bailable offence

Rehabilitation should be made an integral part of the law



II. INTERNATIONAL

Plaestine joins ICC

Palestine formally joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday, a move

the Palestinians hope could open the door to the possible prosecution of Israelis for alleged war

crimes.

The accession was marked at a closed - door ceremony at ICC headquarters in The Hague,

exactly 90 days after Palestine joined the court‘s founding Rome Statute.

Social Progress Index puts Norway on top, U.S. at 16th place

India has managed a low 101th rank in the 133-country Social Progress Index (SPI) ratings

to be released globally.

The SPI, launched in 2013 by the U.S.- based non-profit organisation Social Progress

Imperative, is based on 52 indicators of a country‘s social and environmental performance,

including health, water and sanitation, personal safety, access to opportunity, tolerance,

inclusion personnal freedom and choice.

India‘s standing is lowever than its rank of 93 for per capita GDP. Even Nepal and

Bangladesh rank higher than India. Norway has bagged the first rank the U.S. is to the 16th

place.

Top 5 Countries

1. Norway

2. Sweden

3. Switzerland

4. Iceland

5. New Zealand

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)

published the ―Education for All‖Global Monitoring Report to evaluate the progress of

countries.

UNESCO formation -16th November 1945

Head quarters - Pairs, France

Head - Irina Bokova

Members - 195 member states



India is likely to reach the first goal of 80 per cent enrolment in pre-primary education by

2015, has already reached the second goal of universal primary enrolment, and will fall just

short of universal youth literacy by 2015, the report said. The one measurable goal India will not

reach is reducing its adult illiteracy rate by half (it has reduced it by 26 per cent). The country‘s

major success has been in reaching gender parity for primary and lower secondary enrolment,

the only country in South and West Asia to do so.

A massive earthquake of 7.9 magnitudes on the Richter scale and a series of after shocks

hit several parts of Nepal. Heaving over 1,500 people dead and many others injured Roads and

buildings, many off them historic landmarks such as the Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu, were

destroyed.

Modi, Ghani talk trade, terror

India is keen to be included in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement and it

will welcome Afghan trucks on the Wagah-Attari border with Pakistan, said Prime Minister

Narendra Modi as he addressed a joint press gathering along with visiting Afghanistan

President Ashraf Ghani.

Mr. Ghani, who is making his first state visit to India, said he hoped to increase regional

cooperation where ―the energy of Central Asia will flow to South Asia, where pipelines, fibre

optics, railways, and connectivity, air, ground and virtual will connect us.‖

Sri Lanka adopts 19th Amendment

Marking the beginning of a new chapter in the contemporary political history of Sri Lanka,

the Parliament adopted the 19th Constitutional Amendment with an overwhelming majority.

The legislation envisages the dilution of many powers of Executive Presidency, which had been

in force since 1978.

Among the important features of the Bill are: the reduction in the terms of President and

Parliament from six years to five years; re-introduction of a two-term limit that a person can

have as President; the power of President to dissolve Parliament only after four and a half years

[unlike one year, as prevalent now]; the revival of Constitutional Council and the establishment

of independent commissions.

The deadliest earthquakes of past 30 years

Powerful aftershocks rocked Nepal on Sunday compounding the worst disaster to his the

Himalayan nation in more than 80 years.

August 11, 2012 : Twin earthquakes with magnitude 6.3, 6.4 leave 306 dead

near Tabriz, Iran



March 11, 2011 : 18,900 killed when tsunami triggered by magnitude 90

undersea quake slams into northeast coast of Japan

January 12, 2010 : Magnitude 7.0 quake hits Haiti, 300,000 dead

May 12, 2008 : Quake measuring 8.0 hits China‘s southwest province of

Sichuan, 87,000 dead or missing

October 8, 2005 : Earthquake of 7.6 kills more than 75,000 in Pakistan‘s

North West Frontier Province; 3.5 million displaced.

December 26, 2004 : Undersea quake off coast of Sumatra triggers tsunami,

220,000 killed in countries around Indian Ocean

December 26, 2003 : Quake measuring 6.7 hits Iranian city of Bam, killing at least

31,884

January 26, 2001 : 7.7 quake hits Gujarat, Killing 25,000 people and injuring

166,000

July 28, 1976 : 7.8 quake hits Tangshan, in north China‘s Hebel province

Officials said 242,000 people died

January 15, 1934 : Magnitude 8.1 quake hits eastern Nepal and Bihar state in

neighbouring India killing 10,700 people



III. SPORTS

Rajeev Shukla made IPL boss again

Rajeev Shukla was re-appointed chairman of the Indian Premier League Governing

Council.

Dronavalli Harika wins bronze in world. Women‘s Chess Championship

Winners of 2015 Miami open titles

Men Single: Novak Djokovic won the titles, this was Djokovic fifth Miami

Open Trophy

Women’s Singles : Serena Williams

Men’s Doubles : BOB Bryan and Mike Bryan

Womens’ Doubles : Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis.

The ‘Voice of Cricket’ falls silent

Former Australia captain Richie Benaud, the celebrated ‗voice of cricket‘, has died at the

age of 84 after battling skin cancer.

Sania Mirza will become the first Indian woman to claim the number one doubles ranking

after winning the Charleston title with partner Martina Hingis.



IV. ECONOMY

RBI keeps rates unchanged

The Reserve Bank of India (RBD, kept the short-term policy rate (repo) unchanged at

7.50 per cent.

Repo rate is the rate at which banks borrow funds from the central bank.

Moody’s a global ratings agency, raised India‘s rating outlook to ―positive‖ from ―stable‖ but

retained the Baa3 rating. All rating agencies maintain India at the last rung of investment

grade. Moody‘s is the first to give the country a positive outlook after downgrading, it as the

economy sagged.

The International Monetary Fund forecast India‘s growth to strengthen from 7.2 per cent

in 2014 to 7.5 per cent in 2014 to 7.5 per cent in both 2015 and 2016, overtaking China‘s growth

for the first time since 1999 that it projected will slow down to 6.8 per cent.

The World Bank too projected India‘s growth to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in 2015, but

added that on the back of significant acceleration of investment, growth could even reach 8 per

cent in 2017-18. The country is attempting to shift from consumption to investment-led growth,

at a time when China is undergoing the opposite transition.

The Union Cabinet decided to hike the import duty on sugar to 40 per cent from the

current 25 per cent to check the slide in domestic prices of the sweetener and enable the

industry to clear cane arrears to the tune of Rs. 20,099

The Reserve Bank of India‘s (RBI) decision to grant special status to the renewable

energy sector, among others, under priority sector lending, is expected to accrue large benefits

for the sector. This is also expected to ensure energy security of the country, which is currently

betting big on renewable energy with a target to achieve 100 GW of green energy by 2022.

IMF - Headquarters - Washington, D.C.

Formation - 27 December 1945

World Bank - founded 1944

Created in Bretton Woords Conference.



V. AWARDS

President Pranab Mukherjee presenting the Padma Vibhushan to actor Amitabh

Bachchan at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Fifty luminaries received the Padma awards.

Veteran actor Dilip Kumar, who was also awarded the country‘s second highest civilian honour,

could not receive it because of ill-health. Mr. Bachchan has already been honoured with Padma

Shri and Padma Bhushan.

Shah Rukh Khan honoured at Asian Awards

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has been awarded the prestigious outstanding

Contribution to Cinema award at the fifth annual Asian Awards.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the prestigious Jnanpith Award for 2014 to

Marathi writer Bhalchandra Nemade. The highest literary honour in India.

He is the fourth Marathi writer to win the honour after novelist V.S. Khandekar (1974),

and poets V.V.Shirwadkar, aka Kusumagraj (1988), and Govind Karandikar, aka Vinda

Karandikar (2003).



VI. TAMIL NADU

TN ranked first in gross enrolment ratio

Tamil Nadu has been ranked first in the Gross Enrolment Raio (GER) among all States in

the country.Among all States, Tamil Nadu was doing well in higher education. Its GER was 42,

double of the national average and was more than that of Malaysia.

Vellore ranks second in family planning

Efforts to promote family planning are paying off, with Vellore district improving its

achievements in performing sterilisation procedures.

From its third position in the State during 2012-2013 for implementation of family

planning programme, the district has moved a place ahead during 2013-2014.

Firebrand writer Jayakanthan died after a prolonged illness. He was 81 he won both the

Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi Awards.

GER to determine the number of students enrolled in school at

several different grade leves

Born in Cuddalore

He was also a recipient of Padma Bhushan (2009)



I. AGRICULTURE

It is distressing to learn that the small and medium farmers of India have to give up their

life unable to negotiate with the climate that is less predictable nowadays. Why does a farmer

have to resort to this end? One simple question that can be asked is - what does a farmer left

with to live his life once the crop he raised is affected by the flood, hailstorms, drought and

untimely rainfall, etc to mention just a few. There is a systemic helplessness a farmer has to

undergo every day once he started to raise the crop. In order to raise crops he needs money,

which does not come to him from his kitty as it is already empty. Rather he has to depend on the

local money lenders to avoid the hassles and trouble of approaching the nearest public sector

bank. Once he has cash in hand, he can buy seeds and other requirements to ready the field to

raise the crop. After some incubation period, the sprout of the seed peeks out to see the world,

and the farmer rejoices looking at it for the promise it beholds. He knows that in the imminent

days he would reap a good benefit out of the crop. It is even more beneficial when the crop

happen to be a cash crop. The field and the sprouts are taken very good care for a considerable

period of time only to be spoiled at the wrath of climate vagaries making the farmer physically

helpless, mentally at loss and economically debt ridden. No escape is clearly visible before the

naked eyes of the farmer from the clutches of pain and suffering that is approaching him. Soon

elation gave way to desperation (within a crop period) who to avoid the sickness of failure and

abject poverty take the extreme step of ending his own life subsequently.

This is the case of the small and marginal farmers across the nation who does not have

the means to take care of himself and his family. The government cannot be at fault for the

spoilsport nature plays. It gives fertilizer in subsidy by importing phosphate from countries such

as Canada to help our farmers. It has kisan credit card scheme in place. It has evoked the slogan

of Jai Kisan and prides at him as those who feed the country feeds its population are great and

high hearted. Then who could be pointed finger for the malaise of a farmer. What is the systemic

helplessness a farmer undergoes in a period of single crop?

1. Monsoonal rainfall:

Gone are the days when references were made by many legends in the country that there

would be rainfall thrice in a month. Farmers were fed the country having planned the task of

agriculture with a well thought out exercise with precision. Constancy in the behaviour of the

climate enabled the farmer to plan the task of agriculture beforehand and well in advance. But

now the situation has dramatically changed. No good rainfall to plan for agriculture well in



advance. Noone knows when would the rain come and least of all how much it would rain. Given

the unpredictable nature of rain agriculture has become a gamble of monsoon. What are the

possible reasons for the change in the behaviour of the climate? Unequal heating of land and sea

causes winds in motion due to pressure difference it creates between them. Overheating of land

and water creates anomaly in the normal functioning of the winds and causes disturbance above

the surface of the Earth which causes untimely rainfall, hailstorms,etc. References to this

abnormal behaviour of the wind system are attributed to the warming of the earth by the

infrared rays that are emitted from the land surface. Hence the destruction is exclusively mutual

offsetting the balance of anomaly off the earth and on the land surface. Unfortunately farmers

have to pay the biggest price for the anomaly as he directly depends on the rainfall for his

sustenance and livelihood.

2. Credit disbursal:

Government has mandated the banks through RBI to lend 40% (32% in case of foreign

banks)of its deposit to be spent upon encouraging certain activities such as Agriculture and

allied activities, Self Help Groups, Weaker sections and so on to help them access credit supply

to forward their business practices and derive advantage out of it. Such practice is called as

Priority Sector Lending by banks. Even an exclusive 8% credit supply among this 40% is for is

(for small and medium) Agriculture and allied activities alone. Despite such a positive policy

measure, access to credit remains a challenging task. Actually it was made to help the farmer

from the local money lenders who charge usurious interest rates for the money they lend.

Unfortunately the tedious bank procedure and method is demanding more from them in terms

of details and documentation works. A simple method of interface between banks and farmers

need to be worked out to enable farmers to approach banks with ease and comfort. Large scale

farmers are mostly benefit out of this scheme as their risk and collateral damage (surety) are

proportionate and banks find it convenient to lend its asset to them with ease and eagerness.

3. Rate of return:

It is mentioned before in the article, investments that the farmer does are for a handsome

rate of return. But due to gamble of monsoon, the chance for the farmer to emerge victorious of

his work is 50:50 or 100:0 or 0:100 and so on. To insulate the farmers from the anomaly,

government at the union level had set up a price commission to recommend for Minimum

support price to almost two dozen crops to save the farmer from the traders at the grain market

charging non-remunerative price for their product. The prices are revised suitably taking the



preceding months and market dynamics and input costs of agriculture into account. Despite the

effort market play spoilsport by pricing its value based on the benchmark price set up by the

price commission. Any defect in the methodology of arriving at the reasonable price for the farm

products minus farmers labour work cause a huge fall in the rate of return to farmers.

4. Agriculture – state subject:

Agriculture being the state subject, irrigation facilities is made by the state governments.

However Rashtriya krishi vikas yajana of union government give credit to state governments

that show more investments to agriculture in proportion to its respective investments. Since

65% of farming in India is rain fed, more and more irrigation facilities need to be made available

across length and breadth of the country? As construction of canals, culverts and bridges are

under the local government to build, there has to be a seamless coordination among all the three

levels of government to provide for access of water to water the land and crops.

5. Distress in Agriculture:

The available national agricultural insurance scheme should cover all the farmers with the

ceiling limit of crop damage reduced to even less than 30% across the country. Along with

extending unskilled work under MGNREGS work days to the agriculture affected distress areas,

training the farmers in the alternate agriculture methods and practices, curtailing burdensome

inflation would enable them to be resilient in agriculture and adopt modern agriculture methods

and practices.

Hence high input cost owing to inflation, non-remunerative practices in practicing

agriculture, climate change, crop loss and consequent inability to pay debts and arrears to local

money lenders and lack of innovative mechanisms to think out of box to fix the farmer‘s distress

are some of the key areas that need more focus, plan and action. It is not an isolated event where

farmers are ending their life fearing the misery and the undignified life awaiting for them in this

country. It is an integrated effect on the planet whose price is paid by the poor farmers who do

not have any other means to earn their livelihood except from the piece of the land they hold.

Thus the government must initiate steps that should enable the farmers to adopt and adapt

better means of livelihood with dignity.



II. NET NEUTRALITY IN INDIA

NOMENCLATURE:

1) ISP : An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a company that provides you with access to

the Internet, usually for a fee. Airtel,Reliance,BSNL are some of the

Telecommunication companies(Telcos) that also offer services as isp.

2) OTT: Over the top (OTT) refers to the service you use over the network services of your

service provider.For eg, You have a 3G data plan with a mobile operator.Then, you

use Skype or any other VoIP service to make cheaper and free voice calls and SMS

using the 3G network. Skype here is referred to as the OTT service.It refers to the

value added third party internet-based services such as WhatsApp, Skype,

Facebook and Viber, among others

3) TRAI : The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is the independent regulator of

the telecommunications business in India.It was established on February 20, 1997

by an Act of Parliament.

4) Internet.org : Facebook teamed up with Reliance Communications to bring Internet.org in

India, that plans to bring affordable access to selected Internet services to

less developed countries by increasing affordability and efficiency

Internet is the largest and most diverse platform for expression in recent history. Net

Neutrality (NN) is a concept that preserves the fairness and equality of treatment in internet.It

is the principle that ISPs should treat all data on the Internet equally, and not discriminate or

charge differently by user, content, site, platform, or application. There are no rules for it in the

country as of now.

How the debate on Net Neutrality started?

Recently Indian telecom companies have been quite vocal about their dislike for OTT

services such as messaging and calling apps, hampering their revenue in voice calling and SMS.

Airtel even cameup with a new data plan which would charge users for VoIP calls, but it was

dropped after public outrage.



On 27th March, TRAI published the ‗Consultation Paper on Regulatory Framework for

Over-the-top (OTT) services‘.It sought public comments on net neutrality and regulation of OTT

services.

In the following week, Airtel launched a new marketing platform, Airtel Zero, allowing

customers to access apps of participating app developers at zero data charges. It instantly faced

criticism from netizens for violating NN.Due to Public anger,Flipkart decided to pull out of

Airtel Zero partnership.

Internet.org also faced the same criticism of violating NN.

What NN provides?

1. Freedom of expression and choice to web users:

One can connect to any website or service he chose without any discriminatory treatment

like differential speed, different data rate etc. The ISPs donot bother about the kind of data that

flows through their servers. This makes internet, an ideal medium for freedom of expression.For

eg, eventhough you criticize an ISP's service in your blog, access to your blog will not be blocked

by that ISP

2. Level playing field for startups:

Web hosting doesn't need lots of money or connections. In the virtual world of internet

where net neutrality prevails, both web giants like google, facebook etc and these modest

startups will have equality of opportunity i.e,the ISP willnot give preferential access (like high

speed, low data rates) to any party. If the user likes the services of startups, it will growup

irrespective of its modest resources.

So, If Net neutrality is not there, both the above mentioned advantages have to be

compromised.A user will have limited freedom to choose what he wants to see and No startup

could have success unless it has the money power to withstand the giants.

After spending billions of dollars in setting up infrastructure and bringing themselves

under regulatory scrutiny, telecom companies are of the view that numerous applications use

their network for free, detrimental to their revenue itself. For eg, Skype and WhatsApp compete

head on with the voice and messaging services of the telcos. But the impact on voice services in

India due to OTT is not considerable, mainly as voice calling rates here are the lowest. Also,

mobile internet penetration is only around 20 per cent, that too predominantly on 2G, and



quality of service of such OTT apps is not as good as traditional voice services offered by

operators .Hence the question on OTT stealing the revenue of Telcos is debatable. The absence

of net neutrality will definitely benefit the telcos while at the same time harming the market by

favouring monopolistic tendencies. Any dilution of the neutrality of the Internet is expected to

affect the freedom of expression, development of innovative ideas and newer applications and

entrepreneurship of youngsters and startups.



III. INDUSTRIALISATION, URBANISATION AND MODERNISATION

There has been a huge protest both inside the Parliament and outside regarding The Right

to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement

(Amendment) Bill, 2015 which seeks to amend LARR Act 2013 in the following ways.

1. The bill creates special categories of land use such as a) defence b) rural infrastructure c)

affordable housing d) industrial corridors e) infrastructure projects.

2. The bill exempts these categories of land use from getting the consent of 80 per cent of

land owners for private projects and that of 70 per cent of land owners for PPP projects.

3. Further, it exempts socio impact assessment that has to be done in the land to be acquired.

4. The LARR Act 2013 excluded the acquisition of land for private hospitals and private

educational institutions from its purview. The Ordinance removes this restriction.

5. The period after which unutilised land will need to be returned will be five years, or any

period specified at the time of setting up the project, whichever is later.

6. The LARR Act 2013 exempted 13 laws (such as the National Highways Act, 1956 and the

Railways Act, 1989) from its purview but the ordinance brings it in consonance with LARR

Act 2013.

7. Retrospective amendment is applicable in case of land acquired under Land Acquisition act

1894 within five years or before from the commencement of LARR Act 2013 when the land

so to be acquired not acquired or compensation not paid. However in calculating the said

period the acquisition was held up due to court or tribunal proceedings or the land

acquired and the compensation is lying deposited with court or any account will not be

counted.

8. While the LARR Act 2013 was applicable for the acquisition of land for private companies,

the Ordinance changes this to acquisition for private entities. A private entity is an entity

other than a government entity, and could include a proprietorship, partnership, company,

corporation, non-profit organisation, or other entity under any other law.

9. The LARR Act 2013 stated that if an offence is committed by the government, the head of

the department would be deemed guilty unless he could show that the offence was



committed without his knowledge, or that he had exercised due diligence to prevent the

commission of the offence. The Ordinance replaces this provision and states that if an

offence is committed by a government official, he cannot be prosecuted without the prior

sanction of the government.

10. The LARR Act 2013 imposes certain restrictions on the acquisition of irrigated multi-

cropped land and other agricultural land. For example, irrigated multi-cropped land

cannot be acquired beyond a limit specified by the government.

Now let us discuss why the amendments in the ordinance are not appreciated by the

opposition, farmers and various other civil society members. But first let us appreciate the

intent of the government to make India a global power house in manufacturing and attract a

pre-eminent destination for global foreign direct investment. Hence the government of India

took many steps such as;

1. Make in India - Industrial Corridor: The Government of India is developing the Delhi-

Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) as a global manufacturing and investment destination

utilizing the 1,483 km-long, high-capacity western Dedicated Railway Freight Corridor (DFC) as

the backbone. Other four corridors which have been conceptualized are Bengaluru-Mumbai

Economic Corridor (BMEC); Amritsar – Kolkata Industrial Development Corridor (AKIC);

Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), East Coast Economic Corridor (ECEC) with

Chennai Vizag Industrial Corridor as the first phase of the project (CVIC).

The objective is to increase the share of manufacturing in the GDP of the country and to

create smart sustainable cities where manufacturing will be the key economic driver. Sectors of

focus include general manufacturing; IT/ITES; electronics including high-tech industries;

automobiles and auto ancillary; agro and food processing; heavy engineering; metals and

metallurgical products; pharmaceuticals and biotech; and services sector.

New DMIC Cities will help to meet pressures of urbanisation and also lead India‘s

economic growth for the next 20 -30 years. The project aspires to double employment potential,

triple industrial output and quadruple exports from the region in the next seven to nine years.

2. Defence: The government, vide Press Note 7 (2014) dated the 26th of August, 2014, has

allowed FDI up to 49% on approval route in Defence sector with certain conditions, for e.g., the

applicant company seeking FIPB approval be an Indian company owned and controlled by

resident Indian citizens. Above 49% the proposal will be routed to the Cabinet Committee on



Security on a case-to-case basis, wherever it is likely to result in access to modern and state-of-

the-art technology in the country. Portfolio investments have been permitted in the Defence

sector for up to 24% on automatic route. A number of conditions have been relaxed or removed,

making the sector more investor-friendly. The provision is expected to result in technology

transfer who would help in increasing the production base and providing impetus to the

manufacturing sector and job creation in India. The measure is expected to not only reduce the

heavy burden of imports and conserve foreign exchange reserves but also make domestic

manufacturing an integral part of India‘s GDP growth.

3. Affordable Housing: The Government has issued Press Note No. 10 (2014 Series) on 3rd

December, 2014 amending the FDI policy regarding Construction Development Sector.

Amended policy includes easing of area restriction norms, reduction of minimum capitalization

and easy exit from project. Further, in order to boost low-cost affordable housing, provisions for

conditions of area restriction and minimum capitalization will not apply to cases committing

30% of the project cost towards affordable housing.

4. Infrastructure projects: Railways: The government, vide Press Note 8(2014) dated 27

August, 2014, has allowed 100% private and foreign direct investment under the automatic

route in construction, operation and maintenance of the following rail infrastructure projects:

The provision will facilitate private investment including FDI inflows into infrastructure

projects including elevated rail corridor project in Mumbai, High Speed Train project, port

connectivity projects, dedicated freight corridors, logistic parks, station development,

locomotive manufacturing units and power plants, through public-private partnerships which

would not only bring in the much needed capital but also technology and best global practices.

Under the rural infrastructure, the government has not spelt out very clearly as to what its

intention of dvelopment except Sansaad Adarsh Yojana to develop a miniscule model villages

and curtailing investments under social sector schemes.

It is evidently clear that the government wants to facilitate development in the country

through PPP and partnering with various private entities and to raise India among the nations

as a manufacturing hub of the world and attract FDI. But at what cost? No doubt

Socio - Impact Assessment (SIA):

Though the government argues that by also including the exempted 13 sectors of the LARR

Act 2013 in the new bill , the people who lose their land would be compensated even more as per



the prevailing market price twice of its land value in case of urban areas and four times in case

of rural areas. But how to arrive at the compensation for the land to be acquired only with

monetary value t market price when the acquisition uproots the concerned people from the land

he owns and works entirely. Even there is a provision in the ordinance to return the land if the

land so acquired is not used for atleast five years or as mentioned in the contract whichever is

later how can it guarantee a family that was uprooted from its land for five years and come in

terms with it afterwards. In that case what happens to the compensation already paid by the

government? Hence looking at compensation only in terms of monetary value is not a fair

compensation when the alternative livelihood is not foreseen in the assessment. When the socio

impact assessment is removed from the exclusive club of five, the compensation, resettlement

and rehabilitation is less inspiring given the record of the government in doing so once land is

acquired. Grams sabha - is not to be consulted when the SIA is removed. But the government's

concern seems to be the delay that may be caused by acquisition of the projects due to no time

fixed in wrapping up the SIA and compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement once for all. It

is a time consuming process.

Consent clause:

The Ordinance is clear in removing the consent of 80% of the people (landowners) for

private projects and 70% for PPP. However it is not mandatory for public projects to get the

consent of the people to be affected of such acquisition at all. Since Independence thousands of

acres of land have been acquired by the government for many infrastructure projects such that

the common good of the community and country as a whole mediates between the seller of the

land and the acquirer of the land.i.e state in arriving at the compensation at the earliest. But in

the emerging idea of enterprising governance, the government intends to handshake with the

private sector as a matter of convenience and choice in raising the infrastructure of the country,

where the latter is always remembered by people as profit makers at the cost of many poor

people.

Protection to civil servants: Unless there is a criminal intent or malafide action that is

established, the civil servants are immune from arrest except sanction by the government.

The fear that envelops the farming community is that once the land sold to the government

or to any private entity they may not have any say at all in their land. Unless the government

integrates the livelihood of the land owner and labourers even after him selling the land and do

so in a speedy manner, there would be a slow or no movement in the industrialisation ambitions



of the government. The other contentious clause seems to be removing SIA and giving no

chance to gram sabha in evaluating the socio impact assessment. Given the suspicious attitude

of the people, not including the gram sabha in the assessment would denigrate the process of

consultation and consensus in the land acquisition process. If judiciary is proactively involved in

the land acquisition process then it will hamper the acquisition of land into effect and allow the

farmer whose land has been acquired to reclaim the land in dispute dragging the case for long.

Thus in order to work out a solution that can give consent and SIA back in the bill , government

should not put the entire process of acquisition a mockery of democracy. Modernisation,

urbanisation and Industrialisation are indeed necessary for India to be a super power but not at

the cost of poor man‘s succour.

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