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INDEX

Editorial

• Self Confidence Brings Success…............................................................................03

SECTION - 1: Articles

• Moon Mission Chandrayaan-I ................................................................................04

• Doha Talks ...............................................................................................................19

• Hindi Article: ( ¤ÉÉ±É ¸É¨É =x¨ÉÚ±ÉxÉ )..................................................................................26

SECTION - 2: Hot Topics

PSLV-C14 Successfully Launched Oceansat-2 ............................................................32

SECTION - 3: Current Relevant Facts.....................................................................36

SECTION -4: Sports ...............................................................................................50

SECTION -5: Awards...............................................................................................55

SECTION - 6: Mains Special

• Science & Technology ..............................................................................................58

• Social Problems & Welfare Schemes........................................................................85

• Economy ...............................................................................................................103



Now that you may be sitting for the IAS mains examination this year, I am sure all of youmust have read many books, notes, magazines etc; and must have made very good planfor your studies. But still many of you feel, a certain type of unprepared-ness, fear andmemory-wash.

You need self-confidence!Through self-confidence, you can keep all your studies with you and utilize all yourpotential in the examination. No doubt, during your long preparation, you have gaineda lot, learnt a lot, But now you have to keep all your treasure intact and utilize them fullyin the examinations.

At this juncture self-confidence is vital. Forget all negative points and enhance only andonly positive things. You need to choose optimism! You need to rectify yourfears and surround yourself with positive people. It will provide you a positive state ofmind, self-confidence and ultimately success.

We are doing our best to provide you important materials for Mains Examinations. Inthe seventh volume, you will find Science & Technology, Social Problems & WelfareSchemes and Economy under the IAS (main) Special Column. If you read them care-fully, I am sure you will gain your confidence. There are articles on Moon MissionChandrayaan-I, Doha Talks and ¤ÉÉ±É ¸É¨É =x¨ÉÚ±ÉxÉ (in Hindi). PSLV-C14 SuccessfullyLaunched Oceansat-2 is written as the hot topic of month. Besides all these, you willhave usual columns like Current Affairs and Sports & Awards.

I have full confidence in you and your ability and you will also keep it on. We are suremany of our members will emerge as a winner.

Keep up the Hard Work...

Editor: R. K. Pandeywith UPSCPORTAL.COM Team

Self Confidence Brings Success…



Radio contact with Chandrayaan-I spacecraft wasabruptly lost at on August 29, 2009 while India’sspace agency ended an $82 million mission to mapthe surface of the moon after failing to restore con-tact with its unmanned Chandrayaan I craft onAug. 31,2009. It may be recalled thatChandrayaan-I space-craft was launched fromSatish Dhawan SpaceCentre Sriharikota onOctober 22, 2008 .TheSpacecraft has com-pleted 312 days in orbitmaking more than 3400orbits around the Moonand providing large vol-ume of data from so-phisticated sensors likeTerrain Mapping Cam-era, Hyper-spectral Im-ager, Moon MineralogyMapper etc., meetingmost of the scientific objectives of the mission.

India’s space program has come a long way sinceit was established in 1962 as the Indian NationalCommittee on Space Research (INCOSPAR). Itssuccessor, the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), was set up in 1969, and six years later theirfirst satellite, Aryabhata, was launched. Since thenISRO has matured into one of the “Big Three”Asian space agencies, alongside China’s CNSA andJapan’s JAXA. It is a significant partner in manyinternational space projects.

The first ISRO Moon probe, Chandrayaan 1, wasan important step away from ISRO’s previous fo-cus on practical space technology applications,such as remote sensing, communications, distancelearning, telemedicine, and security. These effortswere all aimed at supporting India’s national de-velopment goals. For many years the feeling wasthat everything they did had to have a direct pay-off for the people and particularly for the impov-erished masses. The mission was the first pure

By R. K. Pandey

Moon Mission Chandrayaan-IEnd of Task with Affirmative Approach

space science mission the Indian agency had evendone.

The Insat series of communications satellites andthe unique weather sensors that they carry are agood example of ISRO’s traditional approach.

These satellites were atfirst launched mostly byEurope’s Ariane and arenow being put into or-bit by India’s own Geo-synchronous SpaceLaunch Vehicle(GSLV). The technol-ogy for the spacecraftthemselves was almostentirely homegrown.ISRO’s policy was to useas little foreign input aspossible, both in orderto develop their own in-dustrial base and-so

they claimed-to hold down costs.

Chandrayaan 1 represented a major break fromthat tradition. It incorporated instrument pack-ages from Britain, Germany, Russia, Sweden, andthe US, as well as from India itself. This repre-sented a major step forward in India-US coopera-tion. Overcoming the bureaucratic and politicalobstacles that have long stood in the way of suchbilateral programs was a major achievement forall involved. On the US side breaking through theInternational Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)restrictions was only accomplished with a lot ofhard work on the part of both NASA and the StateDepartment. It would never have been possiblewithout a commitment from the highest levels ofgovernment: former President George W. Bushand former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee deservea lot of credit in this regard.

Chandrayaan 2, scheduled for launch in 2011, isa lander/rover mission that ISRO is developingwith some technological input from Russia. This

Section -1 (Article : Moon Mission Chandrayaan - I)



summer they plan to ask the international scien-tific community for proposals for sensors and ex-periments to include on the rover. This may be adifficult because the final configuration of the mis-sion has not yet been determined. The rover mayweigh anywhere from 30 to 100 kilograms. Obvi-ously there is quite a bit of “trade space” so theproposals, or at least the early ones, will have toinclude more than a bit of guesswork.

To meet the anticipated launch date India and itspartners will have to work within some serioustime constraints. By space mission standards 2011is right around the corner and system integrationhas got to start as soon as possible. The Indiangovernment has approved funding for the missionand for the advanced version of the GLSV launcherneeded to get the probe onto the lunar surface.

Along with their recently announced independentmanned space exploration program theChandrayaan series of science missions show thatIndia is determined to be a space power in the fullsense of the term. This flows naturally from India’semergence as a global economic and politicalpower. Over many decades hundreds of thousandsof high-quality scientists and engineers have beentrained in Indian universities. These men andwomen have helped propel India to its new sta-tus, and giving them challenging and fascinatingnew space projects is a way for the Indian gov-ernment to keep this talent at home and busy.

It will be interesting to see how ISRO uses theRussian technology that they are getting forChandrayaan 2. We should also keep an eye onthe laser imaging system that is being developedfor the rover. Integrating these systems into themission is not going to be easy, but if India pulls itoff it will be an even more impressive achieve-ment than Chandrayaan 1.

Unmanned Chandrayaan 1

The unmanned Chandrayaan 1 spacecraft blastedoff smoothly from a launch pad in southernAndhra Pradesh to embark on a two-year missionof exploration on 22 oct 2008. The robotic probe

has revolved the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas ofthe lunar surface and mapping the distribution ofelements and minerals.

The launch is regarded as a major step for India asit seeks to keep pace with other space-faring na-tions in Asia.

Competitive Mission

An Indian-built launcher carrying the one-and-a-half-tonne satellite blasted off from SatishDhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, an island offthe coast of Andhra Pradesh.

One key objective was be to search for surface orsub-surface water-ice on the Moon, especially atthe poles. Another was be to detect Helium 3, anisotope which is rare on Earth, but is sought topower nuclear fusion and could be a valuablesource of energy in future.

Powered by a single solar panel generating about700 Watts, the Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) probe carried five Indian-built instruments and six constructed in othercountries, including the US, Britain and Germany.The mission is expected to cost 3.8bn rupees(£45m; $78m), considerably less than Japanese andChinese probes sent to the Moon last year.

The Indian experiments included a 30kg probe thatwill be released from the mothership to slam intothe lunar surface. The Moon Impact Probe (MIP)has record video footage on the way down andmeasured the composition of the Moon's tenuousatmosphere. It was also dropped the Indian flagon the surface of the Moon. The country's tricolourwas painted on the side of the probe and, if suc-cessful, India has become the fourth country af-ter the US, Russia and Japan to place its nationalflag on the lunar surface.

C1XS mapped the abundance of different elementsin the lunar crust to help answer key questionsabout the origin and evolution of Earth's onlynatural satellite.




The relative abundances of magnesium and ironin lunar rocks could help confirm whether theMoon was covered by a molten, magma oceanearly on in its history.

The instrument has to look for more unusual ele-ments on the Moon's surface, such as titanium.This metallic element has been found in lunarmeteorites, but scientists know little about its dis-tribution in the lunar crust.

Chandrayaan (the Sanskrit word for "moon craft")also investigated the differences between theMoon's near side and its far side. The far side isboth more heavily cratered and different in com-position to the one facing Earth.

The spacecraft took about eight days the reachthe Moon. During its lunar encounter,Chandrayaan fired its engine to slow its velocity -allowing it to be captured by the Moon's gravity.Chandrayaan then slipped into a near-circular or-bit at an altitude of 1,000km. After a number ofhealth checks, the probe has drop its altitude un-til it is orbiting just 100km above the lunar sur-face.

Next Step

The next step in the lunar mission, theChandrayaan II, which aims to land an unmannedrover on the moon’s surface to prospect for chemi-cals, won’t be delayed. India will launch a mis-sion to Mars within four to six years.

The craft was designed to orbit the moon for twoyears at an altitude of 100 kilometers (62 miles).It will take 1,000 days to hit the lunar surface andis being tracked by the U.S. and Russia.

Moon Atlas

India launched its first rocket in 1963 and firstsatellite in 1975. The country’s satellite programis one of the largest communication systems inthe world. Japan launched its first lunar explorer,Kaguya, in September 2007 and landed a probe onthe moon’s surface in June this year. China is

scheduled to land a rover to retrieve soil and rocksamples in 2012 and, like the U.S., plans to sendastronauts there by 2020. Russia aims to followwith a manned mission five years later.

South Korea intends to send a probe to orbit themoon by 2020, according to the Korea AerospaceResearch Institute. The nation carried out its firstspace rocket launch last week in an unsuccessfulattempt to put a satellite into orbit. The satelliteprobably burned up in the atmosphere after fall-ing back to Earth, according to the government.

Chandrayaan 2

The Indian space program got another shot in thearm with the initial design phase of theChandrayaan 2 being completed. While this is justthe beginning of what is arguably India's mostambitious space project ever, the success of thedesign phase in itself is an achievement mainlybecause of its inherent complexity.

The Chandrayaan 2 mission will consist of a lunarrover that will be dropped on to the lunar surfaceonce the craft reaches the lunar orbit. The mainduty of the rover would be to collect and analyzelunar soil and transmit the data back to the datacenters on earth. Pertinent to note here is the factthat while the spacecraft would be indigenouslymade, the lunar rover will be made by Russia.

The Chandrayaan 2 is expected to be operationalin the next two years. India had launched theChandrayaan 1 in October 2008. Already a suc-cessful mission, it had been recently hit by a tech-nical snag that jeopardized its operations. How-ever, the Chandrayaan 1 has already accomplished95 percent of the objectives assigned to it. An-other thing to note is that the Chandrayaan 1 willaugment the Lunar landing of the rover as thescientists are using data obtained from theChandrayaan 1 to decide on the perfect landingschedule for the lunar rover.




Mission to Mars After 2015

India will embark on an unmanned mission toMars to explore the red planet in quest of its spaceambitions but such a mission will be feasible onlyafter 2015 as the space agency will be pre-occu-pied with its second lunar mission (Chandrayaan-2) in 2013 and a manned mission to space by 2015.As the fourth planet from the sun in the solar sys-tem, the distance between earth and Mars variesfrom 36 million miles when nearest, to 250 mil-lion miles when farthest in its elliptical orbitaround the sun.

Progress

Though the government Aug 13,2009 sanctionedRs.100 million (Rs.10 crore) as seed funding forthe Mars mission, a lot of ground work has to bedone for preparing the project report. The mis-sion to Mars is being conceived as low-cost plan-etary missions. For instance, Chandrayaan-1 is thefinest example of a low-cost mission, as at a costof $80 million (Rs.380 crore) while such missionsby other space agencies are considered low-costat $500 million.

To prepare a project report for government ap-proval, the space agency will elicit the opinion ofthe scientific community on the viability of sucha mission and evolve a concept paper.

The space agency plans to use the powerful geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV)Mark-III for the Mars mission, as the spacecrafthad to be first put in the earth's orbit and raisedup to Martian orbit, using ion thrusters and liquidengines.

Though the US and Russia had launched missionsto Mars, other space-faring nations such as Chinaand Japan are planning to join the Martian race aspart of their planetary expeditions. Even the Eu-ropean Space Agency (ESA) is mulling a joint mis-sion to Mars in the coming decade. The US spaceagency National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-tration (NASA) Aug 29 proposed to Russia for a

manned mission to Mars by 2030, using the In-ternational Space Station (ISS) as a launch-pad tothe red planet.

Indian space vision 2025

» Satellite based communication and navigation

systems for rural connectivity, security needs and

mobile services

» Enhanced imaging capability for natural re-

source management, weather and climate change

studies

» Space science missions for better understanding

of solar system and universe

» Planetary exploration

» Development of Heavy lift launcher

» Reusable Launch Vehicles - Technology dem-

onstrator missions leading to Two Stage To Orbit

(TSTO)

A Brief History of IndianSpace Program

Space activities in the country started during early1960s with the scientific investigation of upperatmosphere and ionosphere over the magneticequator that passes over Thumba nearThiruvananthapuram using small sounding rock-ets Realising the immense potential of space tech-nology for national development, Dr. VikramSarabhai, the visionary leader envisioned that thispowerful technology could play a meaningful rolein national development and solving the problemsof common man.

Thus, Indian Space programme born in the churchbeginning, space activities in the country, con-centrated on achieving self reliance and develop-ing capability to build and launch communicationsatellites for television broadcast, telecommuni-cations and meteorological applications; remotesensing satellites for management of natural re-sources.




The objective of ISRO is to develop space tech-nology and its application to various national tasks.ISRO has established two major space systems,INSAT for communication, television broadcast-ing and meteorological services, and Indian Re-mote Sensing Satellites (IRS) system for resourcesmonitoring and management. ISRO has developedtwo satellite launch vehicles, PSLV and GSLV, toplace INSAT and IRS satellites in the requiredorbits.

Accordingly, Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) has successfully operationalised two ma-jor satellite systems namely Indian National Sat-ellites (INSAT) for communication services andIndian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites for man-agement of natural resources; also, Polar SatelliteLaunch Vehicle (PSLV) for launching IRS type ofsatellites and Geostationary Satellite Launch Ve-hicle (GSLV) for launching INSAT type of satel-lites.

The Space Commission formulates the policies andoversees the implementation of the Indian spaceprogramme to promote the development and ap-plication of space science and technology for thesocio-economic benefit of the country. DOSimplements these programmes through, mainlyIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Na-tional Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), PhysicalResearch Laboratory (PRL), National AtmosphericResearch Laboratory (NARL), North Eastern-Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) and Semi-Conductor Laboratory (SCL). The Antrix Corpo-ration, established in 1992 as a government ownedcompany, markets the space products and servicessensing satellites for management of natural re-sources.

The Indian Space Program may be divided in twomajor categories. One is the Satellite Program andthe another is the Launcher Program.

The Satellite program involves putting the satel-lites in the space and managing the same. The sat-ellites may be lifted by Indian made launchers orit may involve the commercial launch vehicles.

The Satellites are also of two different categories,communication satellites and remote sensing sat-ellites.

The launcher program involves the design, fabri-cation and launching of launch vehicles. India hasalso developed a series of launch vehicles, after along research and development through thepainstacking ways of successes and failures.

Satellites Program

For the past four decades, ISRO has launched morethan 50 satellites for various scientific and tech-nological applications like mobile communica-tions, Direct-to-Home services, meteorological ob-servations, telemedicine, tele-education, disasterwarning, radio networking, search and rescueoperations, remote sensing and scientific studiesof the space.

ISRO has established two major space systems, theIndian National Satellite System (INSAT) seriesfor communication, television broadcasting andmeteorological services which is Geo-StationarySatellites, and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites(IRS) system for resources monitoring and man-agement which is Earth Observation Satellites.ISRO has launched many Experimental Satelliteswhich are generally small comparing to INSATor IRS and Space Missions to explore the space.

Launch Vehicles Program

Launch Vehicles are used to transport and put sat-ellites or spacecrafts into space. In India, thelaunch vehicles development programme beganin the early 1970s. The first experimental Satel-lite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3) was developed in1980. An Augmented version of this, ASLV, waslaunched successfully in 1992. India has made tre-mendous strides in launch vehicle technology toachieve self-reliance in satellite launch vehicleprogramme with the operationalisation of PolarSatellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchro-nous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).




PSLV represents ISRO's first attempt to design anddevelop an operational vehicle that can be used toorbit application satellites. While SLV-3 securedfor India a place in the community of space-far-ing nations, the ASLV provided the rites of pas-sage into launch vehicle technology for ISRO. Andwith PSLV, a new world-class vehicle has arrived.PSLV has repeatedly proved its reliability and ver-satility by launching 30 satellites / spacecrafts (14Indian and 16 for international customers) into avariety of orbits so far.

ISRO also makes the Rohini series of soundingrockets used by the Indian and international sci-entific community to launch payloads to variousaltitudes for atmospheric research and other sci-entific investigations. These rockets are also usedto qualify some of the critical systems used foradvanced launch vehicles.

Indian National Satellite(INSAT) System

The INSAT series, commissioned in 1983, has to-day become one of the largest domestic satellitessystems in the Asia, pacific region comprisingEleven satellites in service.

1. INSAT-4CR Launched on Sep 02, 2007

2. INSAT-4B Launched on Mar 12, 2007

3. INSAT-4A Launched on Dec 22, 2005

4. EDUSAT Launched on Sep 20, 2004

5. INSAT-3E Launched on Sep 28, 2003

6. GSAT-2 Launched on May 08, 2003

7. INSAT-3A Launched on Apr 10, 2003

8. KALPANA-1 Launched on Sep 12, 2002

9. INSAT-3C Launched on Jan 24, 2002

10. INSAT-3B Launched on Mar 22, 2000

Indian Remote Sensing SatellitesSystem (IRS)

The Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite systemis one of the largest constellations of remote sens-ing satellites in operation in the world today. TheIRS programme commissioned with launch of IRS-1A in 1988 and presently includes Nine satellitesthat continue to provide imageries in variety ofspatial resolutions from 1 metre to 180 metres.

1. RISAT-2 Launched on Apr 20, 2009 by PSLV-C12

2. CARTOSAT-2 A Launched on Apr 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9

3. IMS-1 Launched on Apr 28, 2008 by PSLV-C9

4. CARTOSAT - 2 Launched on Jan 10, 2007 by PSLV-C7

5. CARTOSAT-1 Launched on May 05, 2005 by PSLV-C6

6. RESOURCESAT-1 Launched on Oct 17, 2003 by PSLV-C5

7. TES Launched on Oct 22, 2001 by PSLV-C3

8. OCEANSAT-1 Launched on May 26, 1999 by PSLV-C2

9. IRS-1D Launched on Sep 29, 1997 by PSLV-C1

Satellite Applications

Space has become the mainstay of national infra-structure providing vital services. INSAT withmore than 210 transponders, is providing tele-communications, television broadcasting, weatherforecasting and societal application services suchas tele-medicine and tele-education IRS Systemwith Nine satellites in operation is providing datafor a variety of application programmes such asGroundwater Prospects Mapping, Crop Acreageand Production Estimation, Potential Fishing ZoneForecast, Biodiversity Characterisation etc., Inorder to reach space-based services directly to the




rural population, nearly 500 Village Resource Cen-tres (VRCs) have been set up in association withNGOs, Institutes and Government Agencies.

INSAT Applications

The telephone circuit devices through INSAT con-nect remote inaccessible areas to major cities inIndia. The launch of INSAT-4A during Decem-ber 2005, INSAT-4B in and INSAT- 4CR in 2007have ushered in Direct To Home (DTH) televi-sion services in the country. Television reaches85 percent of India's population via INSAT. Over200 AIR stations are linked via INSAT network.In the recent years, Very Small Aperture Termi-nals (VSAT) have revolutionised our telecommu-nications sector. INSAT supports over 20,000VSATs for e-commerce and e-governance. Na-tional Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Ex-change use VSAT technology across the countryfor instantaneous transactions. Today exclusivechannels are provided for interactive training andDevelopmental communication including distancelearning.

India has an exclusive meteorological satelliteKalpana - 1. The imaging instruments (VHRR) &(CCD) collect meteorological data and providetimely warnings on impending cyclones. The datarelay transponder in the INSAT system is used forcollect real time hydro meteorological data forriver monitoring flow forces.

The launch of EDUSAT on September 20, 2004heralded new era in the field of distance educa-tion and today, about 35,000 class rooms are inthe EDUSAT network providing services at pri-mary, secondary and university levels.

The satellite based telemedicine network has ex-panded its network connecting 375 hospitals (305remote and rural hospitals including those inJammu & Kashmir, North Eastern region andAndaman and Nicobar Islands, 13 mobile units and57 super specialty hospitals in major cities).

IRS Applications

Imagery taken by Indian Remote Sensing (IRS)Satellite System has found application in diversefields ranging from agriculture to urban planning.Crop health monitoring, crop yield estimation anddrought assessment are the significant areas ofapplication in the agriculture and the allied fields.Soil mapping at different scales with relative easehas become a reality.

IRS data has also been used for Ground Waterpotential zone mapping and mineral targetingtasks. The ocean applications of IRS data includepotential fishing zone identification and coastalzone mapping.

Forest cover mapping, biodiversitycharacterisation and monitoring of forest fire isnow carried out using IRS imagery. IRS spacecraftprovide timely inputs to Flood and earthquakedamage assessment thereby providing the neces-sary supportive strength to disaster management.Even in the field of Archaeological survey, theutility of IRS imagery has been well established.

The judicious combination of information derivedfrom space based imagery with the ground basedsocio economic data is leading to a holistic ap-proach for resource monitoring and its manage-ment.

Village Resource Centre (VRC)

Combining the services offered by INSAT and IRSsatellites, a new concept namely Village ResourceCentre (VRC) to provide information on naturalresources, land and water resources management,tele-medicine, tele-education, adult education,vocational training, health and family welfareprogrammes has been established. Nearly 500 suchVRCs have been established in the country.




Remote Sensing Satellites

The data from Indian Remote Sensing Satellitesare used for a variety of applications towards natu-ral resources monitoring and management. Re-mote sensing applications in the country havegraduated from demonstrative phase to opera-tional phase and expanding their scope to severalnew areas. Vital applications such as identifyingzones which could yield ground water, suitablelocations for recharging water, monitoring com-mand areas, estimating crop areas and yields, as-sessing deforestation, mapping urban areas forplanning purposes, delineating ocean areas withhigher fish catch potential and monitoring of en-vironment etc., are being pursued actively by us-ers using space based data.

The remote sensing application projects at na-tional, regional and local levels are being carriedout through NRSC, Hyderabad, SAC, Ahmedabad,five Regional Remote Sensing Service Centres(RRSSC) located at Bangalore, Dehradun, Jodh-pur, Kharagpur, and Nagpur as well as North-East-ern Space Application Centre (NE-SAC), Shillong.State and central government departments, stateremote sensing centres and others are also associ-ating in execution of the projects.

Major application activities using satellite re-mote sensing data in the country include:

» Natural Resources Census

» Forecasting of Agriculture outputs through Sat-

ellite, Agrometeorology and Land based observa-

tions (FASAL)

» Groundwater Prospects Mapping

National Wastelands Monitoring

» National Database for Emergency Management

(NDEM) for emergency response management in

times of natural and man-made disasters

» Watershed development for Watershed

prioritization, characterization, development plans

and impact assessment

» Topographic Mapping of Indian Coast

» Web enabled land use/land cover information

system BHOOSAMPADA

» National Urban Information System (NUIS)

» Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Program (AIBP)

» Flood Management Information System

» Evaluation of Irrigation Tanks

» Natural Resources Data Base (NRDB)

» Programme on Climate change Research In Ter-

restrial environment (PRACRITI)

» Precision Farming

» Forest inventory & management

» Biodiversity characterization at landscape level

» National Agricultural Drought Assessment and

Monitoring (NADAMS): The near real time in-

formation on agricultural drought situation, from

June to November, covering national/state/district

is an input to plan for effective drought manage-

ment of the country

» Potential Fishing Zones(PFZ)

» Irrigation management and command area de-

velopment

» Snow and Glacier Inventory, Snow pack Char-

acterization and Mass balance modeling

» Desertification status mapping

Forthcoming Satellites

( RISAT - 1)

Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) is a microwaveremote sensing satellite carrying a Synthetic Ap-erture Radar (SAR)

The satellite is planned to be launched on boardPSLV in 2009-10. The new technology elementsin RISAT include 160 x 4 Mbps bit rate data han-




dling system, 0.3 Nm reaction wheels, SAR an-tenna deployment mechanism, 70 V power bus,thermal control of SAR antenna and phased arrayantenna with dual polarization.

( RESOURCESAT-2 )

Resourcesat-2 is a follow on mission toResourcesat-1 to provide continuity of data. Com-pared to Resourcesat-1, LISS-4 multi-spectralswath has been enhanced from 23 km to 70 kmbased on user needs. Suitable changes includingminiaturization in payload electronics have beenincorporated in Resourcesat-2. Resourcesat-2 isslated for launch during 2009-10.

( Megha-Tropiques )

ISRO and French National Space Centre (CNES)signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)in 2004-05 for the development and implementa-tion of Megha-Tropiques (Megha meaning cloudin Sanskrit and Tropiques meaning tropics inFrench). The launch of Megha-Tropiques isplanned by 2009-2010.

Megha-Tropiques is aimed at understanding thelife cycle of convective systems and to understandtheir role in the associated energy and moisturebudget of the atmosphere in the tropical regions.The satellite will carry an Imaging Radiometer, asix channel Humidity Sounder and GPS RadioOccultation System.

( GSAT-4 )

GSAT-4 is envisaged as a technology demonstra-tor. The communication payload consists of multi-beam Ka-band bent pipe and regenerative tran-sponder and navigation payload in C-band, L1 andL5 bands. GSAT-4 will also carry TAUVEX-II, ascientific payload comprising three Ultra-Violetband telescopes developed by Tel Aviv Univer-sity and Israel space agency, ELOP, for surveyinga large part of the sky in the 1400-3200 Å wave-lengths.

( INSAT - 3D )

INSAT-3D is a meteorological satellite planned tobe launched in the 2010. The satellite has manynew technology elements like star sensor, microstepping Solar Array Drive Assembly (SADA) toreduce the spacecraft disturbances and Bus Man-agement Unit (BMU) for control and telecommand/telemetry function. It also incorporates newfeatures of bi-annual rotation and Image and Mir-ror motion compensations for improved perfor-mance of the meteorological payloads.

( SARAL )

The Satellite for ARGOS and ALTIKA (SARAL)is a joint ISRO-CNES mission, being slated forlaunch on board PSLV for the third quarter of2009. The Ka band altimeter, ALTIKA, providedby CNES payload consists of a Ka-band radar al-timeter, operating at 35.75 GHz. A dual frequencytotal power type microwave radiometer (23.8 and37 GHz) is embedded in the altimeter to correcttropospheric effects on the altimeter measure-ment. Doppler Orbitography and Radio-position-ing Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) on board en-ables precise determination of the orbit. A LaserRetroreflector Array (LRA) helps to calibrate theprecise orbit determination system and the altim-eter system several times throughout the mission.

( ASTROSAT )

ASTROSAT is a multi-wavelength space borneastronomy satellite to be launched during 2009-10. This will be the first dedicated Indian as-tronomy mission. ASTROSAT has wide spectralcoverage extending over visible, UV, soft X rayand hard X ray regions. This spacecraft wouldenable observations on the celestial bodies in bothX-ray and UV spectral bands simultaneously. Thescientific payloads cover the Visible (3500-6000Å), UV (1300-3000 Å), soft and hard X-ray re-gimes (0.5-8 keV; 3-80 keV).




( GSAT-5 / INSAT-4D )

It is a C-band and Extended C-band satellite, car-rying 18 transponders. Of these, 12 transponderswill operate in the Normal C-band with widercoverage in uplink and downlink to cover Asia,Africa and Eastern Europe/Zonal coverage. 6 tran-sponders will operate in Extended C-band andhave India coverage. The option of incorporatingL-band is under consideration. It will be launchedonboard GSLV during 2010 and positioned at 82deg E longitude.

( GSAT-6 / INSAT-4E )

The primary goal of GSAT-6/INSAT-4E which isa Multimedia mobile S-band satellite is to cater tothe consumer requirements of providing enter-tainment and information services to vehiclesthrough Digital Multimedia consoles and to theMultimedia Mobile Phones. The spacecraft willbe positioned at 83 degree East longitude with amission life of 12 years. The satellite is planned tobe launched during 2010 by GSLV.

( GSAT-7 / INSAT-4F )

GSAT-7/INSAT-4F is proposed as a multi-bandsatellite carrying payloads in UHF, S-band, C-bandand Ku-band

( GSAT-8 / INSAT-4G )

GSAT-8/INSAT-4G is proposed as a Ku-band sat-ellite carrying 24 transponders similar to that ofINSAT-4A and INSAT-4B. It will also carry thesecond GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation(GAGAN) payload. The satellite is expected to belaunched during 2010 and positioned at 55 degreeE longitude.

Top LaunchVehicle/Forthcoming Launches

( PSLV-C14 )

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C14)carrying Oceansat- 2 satellite (OCEANSAT-2) isscheduled to be launched during second quarterof 2009-10.

( GSLV-D3 )

Preparations for the next flight Geo-synchronousSatellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D3) carryingGSAT-4 is in advanced stage. The GSLV-D3 isexpected to use indigenous cryogenic engine andwill place the GSAT-4 in geosynchronous trans-fer orbit. GSLV-D3 is scheduled for launch dur-ing 2009.

( GSLV-F06 )

Preparations for the next flight Geo-synchronousSatellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F06) carryingINSAT-3D is in advanced stage of realisation. TheGSLV-F06 is expected be launched during 2009-10.

( GSLV-Mk III )

GSLV-Mk III is envisaged to launch four tonnesatellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. GSLV-Mk III is a three-stage vehicle with a 110 tonnecore liquid propellant stage (L-110) and a strap-on stage with two solid propellant motors, eachwith 200 tonne propellant (S-200). The upper stagewill be cryogenic with a propellant loading of 25tonne (C-25). GSLV Mk-III will have a lift-offweight of about 629 tonne and will be 42.4 m tall.The payload fairing will have a diameter of 5 metreand a payload volume of 100 cubic metre.




Top Reusable Launch VehicleTechnology Demonstrator (RLV-TD)

As a first step towards realizing a Two Stage ToOrbit (TSTO) fully re-usable launch vehicle, a se-ries of technology demonstration missions havebeen conceived. For this purpose a Winged Reus-able Launch Vehicle technology Demonstrator(RLV-TD) has been configured. The RLV-TD willact as a flying test bed to evaluate various tech-nologies viz., hypersonic flight, autonomous land-ing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flightusing air breathing propulsion. First in the seriesof demonstration trials is the hypersonic flightexperiment (HEX).

Human Space Flight MissionProgramme

The department has carried out a detailed studyon the feasibility of undertaking indigenous hu-man space flight mission with an aim to build anddemonstrate the capability for carrying humansto low earth orbit and their return to earth. Theprogramme envisages development of a fully au-tonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or threecrew members to 275 km low earth orbit and theirsafe return. It is planned to realise the programmein about seven years time frame.

Top Space Science Missions

Space Capsule Recovery Experiment(SRE-II)

The main objective of SRE II is to realize a fullyrecoverable capsule and provide a platform to con-duct microgravity experiments on Micro-biology,Agriculture, Powder Metallurgy, etc.

( Aditya-1 )

The First Indian space based Solar Coronagraphto study solar Corona in visible and near IR bands.Launch of the Aditya mission is planned duringthe next high solar activity period - 2012

Objectives: To study the Coronal Mass Ejection(CME) and consequently the crucial physical pa-rameters for space weather such as the coronalmagnetic field structures, evolution of the coro-nal magnetic field etc.

Provide completely new information on the ve-locity fields and their variability in the inner co-rona having an important bearing on the unsolvedproblem of heating of the corona would be ob-tained.

( YOUTHSAT )

A joint scientific mission between India and Rus-sia with participation of youth from both the coun-tries to celebrate the golden Jubilee of the satel-lite era.

The second satellite in the micro satellite seriesproposed is YOUTHSAT which will carry pay-loads of scientific interest with participation ofyouths from Universities at graduate, post gradu-ate and research scholar level. Youth from uni-versities will participate from testing of the pay-loads in laboratory up to utilization of the datafrom payloads. Participation of youth will incul-cate interest in space related activities and pro-vide opportunities for realization of future pay-loads for scientific experiments. The micro satel-lite bus is planned and designed to carry differentkinds of payloads like earth imaging, atmosphericapplications, weather monitoring, stellar observa-tions, scientific experiments etc.

YOUTHSAT is planned to be launched as auxil-iary satellite along with any remote sensing satel-lite planned for launch during 2009-10 in a polarsun-synchronous orbit of local time of around 0900to 1030 hrs.




Top Satellite Navigation

( GAGAN )

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided toimplement an indigenous Satellite-Based RegionalGPS Augmentation System also known as Space-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) as part of theSatellite-Based Communications, Navigation andSurveillance (CNS)/Air Traffic Management(ATM) plan for civil aviation. The Indian SBASsystem has been given an acronym GAGAN - GPSAided GEO Augmented Navigation. A nationalplan for satellite navigation including implemen-tation of Technology Demonstration System (TDS)over the Indian air space as a proof of concept hasbeen prepared jointly by Airports Authority ofIndia (AAI) and ISRO. TDS was successfully com-pleted during 2007 by installing eight Indian Ref-erence Stations (INRESs) at eight Indian airportsand linked to the Master Control Center (MCC)located near Bangalore. The first navigation pay-load is being fabricated and it is proposed to beflown on GSAT-4 which is expected to belaunched in 2009. Two more payloads will be sub-sequently flown, one each on two geostationarysatellites GSAT-8 and GSAT-12.

A brief chronology of the events are presentedbelow:

» PSLV-C12 successfully launches RISAT-2 andANUSAT from Sriharikota (April 20, 2009).

»PSLV-C11 successfully launchesCHANDRAYAAN-1 from Sriharikota (October22, 2008).

» PSLV-C9 successfully launches CARTOSAT-2A,IMS-1 and 8 foreign nano satellites fromSriharikota (April 28,2008).

» PSLV-C10 successfully launches TECSAR sat-ellite under a commercial contract with AntrixCorporation (January 21, 2008).

» Successful launch of GSLV (GSLV-F04) withINSAT-4CR on board from SDSC SHAR (Septem-ber 2, 2007).

» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C8, successfully launched Italian astronomical sat-ellite, AGILE from Sriharikota (April 23, 2007).

» Successful launch of INSAT-4B by Ariane-5from Kourou French Guyana, (March 12, 2007).

» Successful recovery of SRE-1 after manoeuvringit to reenter the earth’s atmosphere and descendover the Bay of Bengal about 140 km east ofSriharikota (January 22, 2007).

» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C7 successfully launches four satellites - India’sCARTOSAT-2 and Space Capsule Recovery Ex-periment (SRE-1) and Indonesia’s LAPAN-TUBSAT and Argentina’s PEHUENSAT-1 (Janu-ary 10, 2007).

» Second operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F02)from SDSC SHAR with INSAT-4C on board. (July10, 2006). Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

» Successful launch of INSAT-4A by Ariane fromKourou French Guyana, (December 22, 2005).

» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C6, successfully launched CARTOSAT-1 andHAMSAT satellites from Sriharikota(May 5, 2005).

» The first operational flight of GSLV (GSLV-F01)successfully launched EDUSAT from SDSC SHAR,Sriharikota (September 20, 2004)

» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C5, successfully launched RESOURCESAT-1(IRS-P6) satellite from Sriharikota(October 17, 2003).

» Successful launch of INSAT-3E by Ariane fromKourou French Guyana, (September 28, 2003).




» The Second developmental launch of GSLV-D2with GSAT-2on board from Sriharikota (May 8,2003).

» Successful launch of INSAT-3A by Ariane fromKourou French Guyana, (April 10, 2003).

» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C4, successfully launched KALPANA-1 satellitefrom Sriharikota(September 12, 2002).

» Successful launch of INSAT-3C by Ariane fromKourou French Guyana, (January 24, 2002).

» ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C3,successfully launched three satellites -- Tech-nology Experiment Satellite (TES) of ISRO, BIRDof Germany and PROBA of Belgium - into theirintended orbits (October 22, 2001).

» The first developmental launch of GSLV-D1with GSAT-1 on board from Sriharikota (April 18,2001).

» INSAT-3B, the first satellite in the third gen-eration INSAT-3 series, launched by Ariane fromKourou French Guyana, (March 22, 2000).

» Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, IRS-P4(OCEANSAT), launched by Polar Satellite LaunchVehicle (PSLV-C2) along with Korean KITSAT-3and German DLR-TUBSAT from Sriharikota (May26, 1999).

» INSAT-2E, the last satellite in the multipur-pose INSAT-2 series, launched by Ariane fromKourou French Guyana, (April 3, 1999).

» INSAT system capacity augmented with thereadiness of INSAT-2DT acquired from ARABSAT(January 1998).

» INSAT-2D, fourth satellite in the INSAT series,launched (June 4, 1997). Becomes inoperable on

October 4, 1997. (An in-orbit satellite, ARABSAT-1C, since renamed INSAT-2DT, was acquired inNovember 1997 to partly augment the INSAT sys-tem).

» First operational launch of PSLV with IRS-1Don board (September 29, 1997). Satellite placed inorbit.

» Third developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P3, on board (March 21, 1996). Satellite placed inpolar sunsynchronous orbit.

» Launch of third operational Indian Remote Sens-ing Satellite, IRS-1C (December 28, 1995).

» INSAT-2C, the third satellite in the INSAT-2series, launched (December 7, 1995).

» Second developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-P2, on board (October 15, 1994). Satellite success-fully placed in Polar Sunsynchronous Orbit.

» Fourth developmental launch of ASLV withSROSS-C2, on board (May 4, 1994). Satellite placedin orbit.

» First developmental launch of PSLV with IRS-1E on board (September 20, 1993). Satellite couldnot be placed in orbit.

» INSAT-2B, the second satellite in the INSAT-2series, launched (July 23, 1993).

» INSAT-2A, the first satellite of the indigenously-built second-generation INSAT series, launched(July 10, 1992).

» Third developmental launch of ASLV withSROSS-Con board (May 20, 1992). Satellite placedin orbit.

» Second operational Remote Sensing satellite,IRS-1B, launched (August 29, 1991).




» INSAT-1D launched (June 12, 1990).

» INSAT-1C launched (July 21,1988). Abandonedin November 1989.

» Second developmental launch of ASLV withSROSS-2 on board (July 13, 1988). Satellite couldnot be placed in orbit.

» Launch of first operational Indian Remote Sens-ing Satellite, IRS-1A (March 17, 1988).

» First developmental launch of ASLV withSROSS-1 satellite on board (March 24, 1987). Sat-ellite could not be placed in orbit.

» Indo-Soviet manned space mission (April 1984).INSAT-1B, launched (August 30, 1983).

» Second developmental launch of SLV-3. RS-D2placed in orbit (April 17, 1983).

» INSAT-1A launched (April 10, 1982).

» Deactivated on September 6, 1982.

» Bhaskara-II launched (November 20, 1981).

» APPLE, an experimental geo-stationary com-munication satellite successfully launched (June19, 1981).

» RS-D1 placed in orbit (May 31, 1981)

» First developmental launch of SLV-3.

» Second Experimental launch of SLV-3, Rohini

» satellite successfully placed in orbit. (July 18,1980).

» First Experimental launch of SLV-3 with RohiniTechnology Payload on board (August 10, 1979).Satellite could not be placed in orbit.

» Bhaskara-I, an experimental satellite for earthobservations, launched (June 7, 1979).

» Satellite Telecommunication ExperimentsProject (STEP) carried out.

» Satellite Instructional Television Experiment(SITE) conducted.

» ISRO First Indian Satellite, Aryabhata, launched(April 19, 1975).

» Becomes Government Organisation (April 1,1975).

» Air-borne remote sensing experiments.

» Space Commission and Department of Space setup (June 1, 1972). ISRO brought under DOS.

» Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)formed under Department of Atomic Energy (Au-gust 15, 1969).

» TERLS dedicated to the United Nations (Febru-ary 2, 1968).

» Satellite Telecommunication Earth Station setup at Ahmedabad.

» Space Science & Technology Centre (SSTC) es-tablished in Thumba.

» First sounding rocket launched from TERLS (No-vember 21, 1963).




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Negotiators from key trading nations agreed on sept 15, 2009 a new work planaimed at concluding the long-stalled Doha Round of WTO global trade negotia-tions in Geneva. Everybody had a calendar and now our calendar is full until theend of the year, said Swiss WTO ambassador Luzius Wasescha, who also chairsthe negotiating group on industrial goods. Senior officials will also come to Genevafor a week every month to advance negotiations, with the first such session to takeplace around October 19, said Indian ambassador Ujal Singh Bhatia following ameeting with his counterparts at the World Trade Organisation.

Since an aborted attempt to organise a small ministerial meeting in December lastyear, the Doha Round of negotiations that began in 2001 has been restricted to low-level contacts inGeneva. However, during a ministerial meeting in New Delhi early September, ministers pledged to re-sume high-level talks. As a result, discussions have been scheduled at the WTO, while the EuropeanUnion also hosted a separate session with some ambassadors.

Ambassadors said however that it was still too early to tell if the latest talks will yield concrete results. TheDoha round of WTO negotiations began in 2001 with the aim of creating a new free-trade pact that wouldboost global commerce to help developing countries. Deadlock between the major trading blocs has dashedrepeated attempts to forge a new pact.The last push in July last year in Geneva ended in failure but with a new government installed in Washing-ton since then, there is renewed hope for another drive for success sometime next year.

What is the Doha Round?The WTO launched this round of negotiations at its November 2001 ministerial conference in Doha,Qatar. The aim is to unlock global trade in areas where many barriers still exist, in sectors such as agricul-ture, services and manufacturing. The Doha declaration placed particular emphasis on correcting distor-tions that have effectively barred poor, rural nations from a share in world agricultural markets. Manydeveloping countries have a comparative advantage in delivering farm goods to market, and seek a sharpreduction in rich-country trade barriers on agricultural goods, as well as textile and apparel tariffs.

As part of a grand bargain, rich countries want to increase their access to non-agricultural manufacturingand service sectors in robust developing countries like China, India, and Brazil. They are especially eager tocapitalize on their strong financial, transportation, and telecommunications services. A much-cited worldbank study says the abolition of agricultural tariffs and subsidies would increase global exports by nearly$300 billion per year by 2015. These kinds of targeted trade liberalizations could help lift many states outof poverty.

Why is Doha in trouble?Agriculture is the main stumbling block. Despite some initiatives in the past year—including a U.S. offerto make modest cuts in farm subsidies there has been little substantive progress. The United States and anegotiating bloc of developing states called the Group of Twenty (G-20)—including China, India andBrazil—have criticized proposed European Union (EU) tariff cuts as insufficient; at the same time, somecountries are skeptical of the sincerity of the U.S. offer. The EU wants pledges from Brazil and India to cuttariffs on industrial goods before it risks justifying trade concessions to the entrenched EU farm lobby.

By- Avadhesh PandeyAuthor is an Expert of Economic and political Issues and working as a Freelance Editor

Doha TalksAiming to Unlock Global Trade Barriers

Section -1 (Article : Doha Talks)



Particularly in Europe, many farmers would beuncompetitive without high government subsi-dies.

Leading U.S. congressional figures have said pros-pects are slim for completing the Doha round be-fore presidential trade-promotion authority ex-pires in July 2007. This authority allows the presi-dent to negotiate trade deals without the need forcongressional review. Given the rise of protection-ist sentiment in general, and particularly since theDemocrats retook both houses of Congress in No-vember 2006, some experts say fast track author-ity is highly unlikely to be renewed. Without it,controversial farm subsidy reforms would need tobe passed by both houses of Congress tall order.

What are the most divisive issues?The dispute over agriculture hinges on the activerole the United States and the EU take to supporttheir agricultural sectors with subsidies and tar-iffs. Last fall, the United States offered to cut itsagricultural subsidies by an average of more than50 percent, but conditioned the offer on majormarket-access proposals from the EU and G-20states. The EU has offered to cut its tariffs by anaverage of 40 percent, but it also wants to identifyup to 160 of its agricultural products as “sensitive”and preserve tariff protections for them. TheEconomist says 17 and 54 are the two “magic num-bers” to meet if renewed talks this spring are tosucceed: the U.S. will need to limit its farm subsi-dies to $17 billion (its lowest offer thus far is $22billion), and EU countries must make cuts in theiragricultural tariffs in the vicinity of 54 percent.The EU and United States are calling on develop-ing nations like India and Brazil to improve theiroffer to open up their markets to industrial goods.But an open embrace from the developing worldis highly unlikely if the United States refuses togive up its significant farm subsidies.

After decades of trade negotiations, most of therich countries have liberalized a great deal, withtariffs on many goods in the single digits.

Which countries are the stumbling blocks?Experts say blame can be widely distributed. EUTrade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is under

pressure by states such as France to stick moreclosely to a mandate set by EU governments. Hesays he cannot offer increased concessions unlesshe sees a more attractive offer from Brazil, Indiaand other developing countries on non-agricul-tural goods. But United States and Europe are fail-ing to provide a proper example to developingnations considering a drop in barriers. These coun-tries are very worried about an influx of cheapmanufactured goods from China if they open uptheir markets, and are watching U.S.-EU policytoward China with interest. Both the United Statesand Europe are actively considering or pursuingtrade restraints against China on one product tothe next.

This has always been an issue of U.S. and Euro-pean leadership on lowering barriers to worldtrade, and now you need some push from otherplaces.

G-20, now a major actor in the trade talks, needsto provide more leadership. China should be moreengaged in the talks rather than contenting itselfto benefit from what the EU and United Statesgain through negotiations. China is particularlyreluctant to open up its highly protected servicesmarkets, such as telecoms and banking.

Which issues have been agreed on in the round?The WTO's Hong Kong ministerial meeting in De-cember 2005 produced an agreement by wealthynations to end export subsidies in agriculture by2013. That date is conditioned on agreements be-ing reached to avoid hidden export subsidies incredit, food aid, and the sales of exporting stateenterprises. There are also agreements calling fordeveloped countries to eliminate all forms of ex-port subsidies for cotton as early as the end of 2006.Another important commitment made during theround is the introduction of duty and quota-freeaccess for most exports from the thirty-two least-developed countries by 2008.

What happens if Doha fails?The Doha talks are seen as a major test for the149-member WTO. Elliott worries countries likethe United States will turn their back on WTO




multilateral trade talks and focus instead on bilat-eral agreements with stronger developing states.This poses problems to businesses worried abouta “spaghetti bowl” [when multiple bilateral agree-ments overlap, causing complex and un-integratedregulatory requirements], but it has even moreserious implications for poor nations. The round'sfailure would be a setback to global poverty-re-duction efforts such as the UN millennium devel-opment goals, the World Bank's move to canceldebt for very poor countries, and increasing ef-forts to improve foreign aid.

But trade experts often point out that previoustrade rounds in the post-World War II period haveoften gone down to the wire, emerging nonethe-less with agreements that have steadily liberal-ized world trade.

What is the World Trade Organization?The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals withthe rules of trade between nations at a global ornear-global level. But there is more to it than that.There are a number of ways of looking at theWTO. It’s an organization for liberalizing trade.It’s a forum for governments to negotiate tradeagreements. It’s a place for them to settle tradedisputes. It operates a system of trade rules. (Butit’s not Superman, just in case anyone thought itcould solve — or cause — all the world’s prob-lems!)

Essentially, the WTO is a place where membergovernments go, to try to sort out the trade prob-lems they face with each other. The first step is totalk. The WTO was born out of negotiations, andeverything the WTO does is the result of nego-tiations. The bulk of the WTO's current workcomes from the 1986-94 negotiations called theUruguay Round and earlier negotiations under theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).The WTO is currently the host to new negotia-tions, under the “Doha Development Agenda”launched in 2001.

Where countries have faced trade barriers andwanted them lowered, the negotiations havehelped to liberalize trade. But the WTO is not just

about liberalizing trade, and in some circumstancesits rules support maintaining trade barriers — forexample to protect consumers or prevent thespread of disease.

WTO Agreements

WTO agreements negotiated and signed by thebulk of the world’s trading nations. These docu-ments provide the legal ground-rules for interna-tional commerce. They are essentially contracts,binding governments to keep their trade policieswithin agreed limits. Although negotiated andsigned by governments, the goal is to help pro-ducers of goods and services, exporters, and im-porters conduct their business, while allowinggovernments to meet social and environmentalobjectives.

The system’s overriding purpose is to help tradeflow as freely as possible — so long as there are noundesirable side-effects — because this is impor-tant for economic development and well-being.That partly means removing obstacles. It alsomeans ensuring that individuals, companies andgovernments know what the trade rules arearound the world, and giving them the confidencethat there will be no sudden changes of policy. Inother words, the rules have to be “transparent”and predictable.

Trade relations often involve conflicting interests.Agreements, including those painstakingly nego-tiated in the WTO system, often need interpret-ing. The most harmonious way to settle these dif-ferences is through some neutral procedure basedon an agreed legal foundation. That is the pur-pose behind the dispute settlement process writ-ten into the WTO agreements.

The WTO began life on 1 January 1995, but itstrading system is half a century older. Since 1948,the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT) had provided the rules for the system.(The second WTO ministerial meeting, held inGeneva in May 1998, included a celebration of the50th anniversary of the system.)




It did not take long for the General Agreement togive birth to an unofficial, de facto internationalorganization, also known informally as GATT.Over the years GATT evolved through severalrounds of negotiations.

The last and largest GATT round, was the Uru-guay Round which lasted from 1986 to 1994 andled to the WTO’s creation. Whereas GATT hadmainly dealt with trade in goods, the WTO andits agreements now cover trade in services, and intraded inventions, creations and designs (intellec-tual property).

Trade Without Discrimination

Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN)( Treating Other People Equally )

Under the WTO agreements, countries cannotnormally discriminate between their trading part-

ners. Grant someone a specialfavour (such as a lower customsduty rate for one of their prod-ucts) and you have to do the samefor all other WTO members.

This principle is known as most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment. It is so impor-tant that it is the first article of the General Agree-ment on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which gov-erns trade in goods. MFN is also a priority in theGeneral Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)(Article 2) and the Agreement on Trade-RelatedAspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)(Article 4), although in each agreement the prin-ciple is handled slightly differently. Together,those three agreements cover all three main areasof trade handled by the WTO.

Some exceptions are allowed. For example, coun-tries can set up a free trade agreement that ap-plies only to goods traded within the group —discriminating against goods from outside. Or theycan give developing countries special access totheir markets. Or a country can raise barriersagainst products that are considered to be tradedunfairly from specific countries. And in services,

countries are allowed, in limited circumstances,to discriminate. But the agreements only permitthese exceptions under strict conditions. In gen-eral, MFN means that every time a country low-ers a trade barrier or opens up a market, it has todo so for the same goods or services from all itstrading partners — whether rich or poor, weakor strong.

National treatment(Treating foreigners and locals Equally )

Imported and locally-produced goods should betreated equally — at least after the foreign goodshave entered the market. The same should applyto foreign and domestic services, and to foreignand local trademarks, copyrights and patents. Thisprinciple of “national treatment” (giving others thesame treatment as one’s own nationals) is alsofound in all the three main WTO agreements (Ar-ticle 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3of TRIPS), although once again the principle ishandled slightly differently in each of these.

National treatment only applies once a product,service or item of intellectual property has enteredthe market. Therefore, charging customs duty onan import is not a violation of national treatmenteven if locally-produced products are not chargedan equivalent tax.

Lowering trade barriers

Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvi-ous means of encouraging trade. The barriers con-cerned include customs duties (or tariffs) and mea-sures such as import bans or quotas that restrictquantities selectively. From time to time otherissues such as red tape and exchange rate policieshave also been discussed.

Since GATT’s creation in 1947-48 there have beeneight rounds of trade negotiations. A ninth round,under the Doha Development Agenda, is now un-derway. At first these focused on lowering tariffs(customs duties) on imported goods. As a result ofthe negotiations, by the mid-1990s industrialcountries’ tariff rates on industrial goods had fallen




steadily to less than 4%.

But by the 1980s, the negotiations had expandedto cover non-tariff barriers on goods, and to thenew areas such as services and intellectual prop-erty.

Opening markets can be beneficial, but it also re-quires adjustment. The WTO agreements allowcountries to introduce changes gradually, through“progressive liberalization”. Developing countriesare usually given longer to fulfil their obligations.

Predictability(Through Binding And Transparency)

Sometimes, promising not to raise a trade barriercan be as important as lowering one, because thepromise gives businesses a clearer view of theirfuture opportunities. With stability and predict-ability, investment is encouraged, jobs are createdand consumers can fully enjoy the benefits of com-petition — choice and lower prices. The multilat-eral trading system is an attempt by governmentsto make the business environment stable and pre-dictable.

In the WTO, when countries agree to open theirmarkets for goods or services, they “bind” theircommitments. For goods, these bindings amountto ceilings on customs tariff rates. Sometimes coun-tries tax imports at rates that are lower than thebound rates. Frequently this is the case in devel-oping countries. In developed countries the ratesactually charged and the bound rates tend to bethe same.

A country can change its bindings, but only afternegotiating with its trading partners, which couldmean compensating them for loss of trade. One ofthe achievements of the Uruguay Round of mul-tilateral trade talks was to increase the amount oftrade under binding commitments. In agriculture,100% of products now have bound tariffs.

The Result Of All This(A Substantially Higher Degree Of Market

Security For Traders And Investors)

The system tries to improve predictability and sta-bility in other ways as well. One way is to dis-courage the use of quotas and other measures usedto set limits on quantities of imports — adminis-tering quotas can lead to more red-tape and accu-sations of unfair play. Another is to make coun-tries’ trade rules as clear and public (“transparent”)as possible. Many WTO agreements require gov-ernments to disclose their policies and practicespublicly within the country or by notifying theWTO. The regular surveillance of national tradepolicies through the Trade Policy Review Mecha-nism provides a further means of encouragingtransparency both domestically and at the multi-lateral level.

Promoting Fair Competition

The WTO is sometimes described as a “free trade”institution, but that is not entirely accurate. Thesystem does allow tariffs and, in limited circum-stances, other forms of protection. More accu-rately, it is a system of rules dedicated to open,fair and undistorted competition.

The rules on non-discrimination MFN and na-tional treatment are designed to secure fair con-ditions of trade. So too are those on dumping (ex-porting at below cost to gain market share) andsubsidies. The issues are complex, and the rulestry to establish what is fair or unfair, and howgovernments can respond, in particular by charg-ing additional import duties calculated to compen-sate for damage caused by unfair trade.

Many of the other WTO agreements aim to sup-port fair competition: in agriculture, intellectualproperty, services, for example. The agreement ongovernment procurement (a “plurilateral” agree-ment because it is signed by only a few WTOmembers) extends competition rules to purchasesby thousands of government entities in manycountries. And so on.




Encouraging development and economic reformThe WTO system contributes to development. Onthe other hand, developing countries need flex-ibility in the time they take to implement thesystem’s agreements. And the agreements them-selves inherit the earlier provisions of GATT thatallow for special assistance and trade concessionsfor developing countries.

Over three quarters of WTO members are devel-oping countries and countries in transition tomarket economies. During the seven and a halfyears of the Uruguay Round, over 60 of thesecountries implemented trade liberalizationprogrammes autonomously. At the same time,developing countries and transition economieswere much more active and influential in the Uru-guay Round negotiations than in any previousround, and they are even more so in the currentDoha Development Agenda.

At the end of the Uruguay Round, developingcountries were prepared to take on most of theobligations that are required of developed coun-tries. But the agreements did give them transitionperiods to adjust to the more unfamiliar and, per-haps, difficult WTO provisions — particularly sofor the poorest, “least-developed” countries.

A ministerial decision adopted at the end of theround says better-off countries should accelerateimplementing market access commitments ongoods exported by the least-developed countries,and it seeks increased technical assistance forthem. More recently, developed countries havestarted to allow duty-free and quota-free importsfor almost all products from least-developed coun-tries. On all of this, the WTO and its members arestill going through a learning process. The cur-rent Doha Development Agenda includes devel-oping countries’ concerns about the difficultiesthey face in implementing the Uruguay Roundagreements.


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By Dr. DivyaAuthor is Currently Working as Assistant Professor for Home Science

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Three days after its 16th birthday, the Polar Sat-ellite Launch Vehicle on Sep 23, 2009 roared itsway to success from the Sriharikota spaceport andput in orbit India’s Oceansat-2 and six foreign nanosatellites. This was the 15th successful flight ofthe launch vehicle in a row. The first PSLV flighttook place on September 20, 1993.

It was a spectacular mission.Everything went all right for theIndian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) as thecountdown was smooth and thelift-off perfect at the appointedtime of 11.51 a.m. Then the firststage of the PSLV-C14 camealive and the vehicle galvaniseditself as it climbed into the sky.The three other stages too ig-nited and separated on time andthe satellites were precisely in-jected into orbit.At the end of 18 minutes offlight, the PSLV’s fourth stageinjected Oceansat-2 into orbit ata velocity of 25,000 km an hourat an altitude of about 728 km. Thereafter, spring-loaded action mechanisms catapulted four nanosatellites called Cubesat 1, 2, 3 and 4 into orbitone after the other. The other two nano satellites,Rubinsat 9.1 and 9.2, remained attached to thefourth stage. It implies that the fourth stage wentinto orbit.

The satellite’s solar panels had been deployed. Aground station at Antarctica had tracked it. Thespacecraft, which was built at the centre, waspointing towards the earth in the right direction.While two of Oceansat-2’s three payloads weredesigned and developed by the Space ApplicationsCentre (SAC), Ahmedabad, the third one camefrom Italy. The satellite would provide data aboutplant life in the oceans. It would help in locatingschools of fish and monitoring algal blooms thatwere harmful to fish life.

PSLV-C14 Successfully Launched Oceansat-2Steps Towards World Space Market

ISRO Has Challenges Ahead

Although the PSLV-C14 mission was a success,there are challenges ahead for the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO). These includelaunching a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Ve-

hicle (GSLV-D3) with an indig-enous cryogenic stage fromSriharikota in December 2009and the PSLV-C15 ahead of De-cember.

The GSLV-D3 launch would bea landmark in indigenous tech-nology. It would put a commu-nication satellite called GSAT-4in orbit. The first stage hadmoved to Sriharikota. Its indig-enous cryogenic stage would un-dergo tests at the Liquid Propul-sion Systems Centre atMahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.Then it would be moved toSriharikota and integrated withthe other stages. In the case of

the PSLV-C15, it would put Cartosat-2B in orbit.

ISRO had completed the preliminary design ofChandrayaan-2, which would boast of a lander-cum-rover. The rover would go about on the moonand pick up samples, which would be analysed insitu. Its launch would take place in 2012-13.

Oceansat-2

Oceansat-2 satellite mainframe systems derivetheir heritage from previous IRS missions andlaunched by PSLV-C14. It carries three pay-loads:» Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM)

Section -2 (Hot Topics)



» Ku-band Pencil Beam scatterometer (SCAT) de-

veloped by ISRO

» Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmosphere

(ROSA) developed by the Italian Space Agency.

Oceansat-2 is envisaged to provide continuity ofoperational services of Oceansat-1(IRS-P4) withenhanced application potential.

» Launch Date: Sept 23, 2009

» Launch Site: SHAR, Sriharikota

» Launch Vehicle: PSLV - C14

» Orbit: Polar Sun Synchronous

» Altitude: 720 km

» Inclination: 98.28°

» Period: 99.31 minutes

» Repetitivity Cycle: 2 days

» Playloads: OCM, SCAT and ROSA

» Mass At Lift Off: 960 kg

» Power: 15 Sq.m Solar panels generating

1360W, Two 24 Ah Ni-Cd Batteries

» Mission Life: 5 years

For the PSLV-C14 flight, George Koshi was theMission Director and P. Kunhikrishnan the Ve-hicle Director. M. Venkata Rao was the ProjectDirector of Oceansat-2 and Mr. Prasad the RangeOperation Director. While the rocket costs Rs. 75crore, the Oceansat-2 costs Rs. 160 crore.

The 960-kg Oceansat-2 had three important pay-loads. They were the ocean colour monitor, ascatterometer (both designed by the SAC) and Ra-dio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies(ROSA) built by the Italian Space Agency.

The ocean colour monitor would gather data aboutplant life in the oceans and the scatterometerwould measure the sea surface winds.

Winds are important for weather forecasting andhow the cyclones are generated. Data from boththese sensors would be available to the nationaland international community. The ROSA wouldstudy the temperature and humidity in the atmo-sphere.

These three payloads will help in monitoring manyof the phenomena [related to the oceans and theatmosphere] and help in predicting the weather.The six nano satellites put in orbit were educa-tional satellites from abroad, meant to test newspacecraft technologies.

Of the six, four were Cubesats weighing one kgeach. They were from Ecole Polytechniquefederale de Lausanne in Switzerland, TechnicalUniversity of Berlin and University of Wurzburg,both in Germany, and Istanbul Technical Univer-sity. The Rubinsats, weighing eight kg each, werefrom Luxembourg and Germany.

CUBESATs & RUBIN

Four CUBESATs and Two RUBIN are the foreignsatellites launched by PSLV-C14 along with themain satellite - Oceansat-2.

CUBESATs

The four CUBESATs are educational satellites fromEuropean universities, each weighing around onekg. and developed to perform technology demon-stration in space. The satellites are launched in-side a Single Picosatellite Launcher (SPL) alsoweighing one kg., which is a dedicated Europeanlaunch adaptor to deploy a CubeSat.

CUBESAT-1: UWE-2, from the UniversitätWürzburg, Germany

UWE-2 is a pico satellite, with the mission objec-tive of demonstration of a newly developed Atti-tude Determination and Control system (ADCS)and the technology demonstration of a GPS on aCubesat.




CUBESAT-2: BeeSat, from the TechnischeUniversität Berlin, Germany

BeeSat is a pico satellite project of the TechnicalUniversity of Berlin with the main objective ofon-orbit verification of newly developed microreaction wheels for pico satellite applications andwill demonstrate the use of coin sized micro reac-tion wheels for attitude control of pico satellitesin orbit as one of the key elements.

CUBESAT-3: ITU-pSAT1, from IstanbulTechnical University, Turkey

The primary mission of the satellite is to examinethe performance of an on-board passive stabilitysystem consisting of a magnet which will alignthe satellite to the magnetic field of the Earth withan error of about 15 degrees according to simula-tions, and to verify this figure. A secondary ob-jective is to download photographs taken using acamera with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.

CUBESAT-4: SwissCube, from EcolePolytechnique Fédéral de Lausanne, Switzer-

land

The SwissCube mission objective is to house a sci-ence payload and take optical measurements andcharacterize the airglow intensity over selectedlatitudes and longitudes thereby demonstratingthat the airglow emissions are strong enough tobe measured by an off-the-shelf detector and vali-dating the concept for the development of a low-cost Earth sensor.

RUBIN-9

RUBIN-9 consists of two Spacecrafts Rubin-9.1and Rubin-9.2 weighing 8kg each and will prima-rily be used for the Automatic Identification Sys-tem (AIS) for Maritime applications. These arenon-separable payloads that will be mounted atan angle of 45deg to the PSLV EB deck.

Rubin-9.1 is developed by Luxspace and has amission objective of providing an insight into theissue of message collisions that limit detection inareas of dense shipping.

The main purpose of the Rubin-9.2 spacecraft isto test and qualify nano technologies from Ang-strom company Sweden and to continue spacebased maritime Automatic Identification System(AIS) receiver experiments (started with Rubin-7and Rubin-8 missions). Rubin-9.2 is similar to theRubin-8 launched on PSLV-C9 in April 2008

PSLV-C14

PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle employingboth solid and liquid propulsion stages. PSLV isthe trusted workhorse launch Vehicle of ISRO.During Sep. 1993 - Apr. 2009 period, PSLV hadfifteen launches of which fourteen were consecu-tively successful. PSLV has repeatedly proved itsreliability and versatility by launching 39 space-crafts (17 Indian and 22 for international custom-ers) into a variety of orbits so far. It may be re-called that during its previous mission, PSLV hadsuccessfully launched RISAT-2 and ANUSATspacecrafts on April 20, 2009.

In its standard configuration, the 44 m tall PSLVhas a lift-off mass of 295 tonne. It is a four-stagelaunch vehicle with the first and the third stagesas well as the six strap-ons surrounding the firststage using HTPB based solid propellant. PSLV'sfirst stage is one of the largest solid propellantboosters in the world. Its second and fourth stagesuse liquid propellants.

This mission is unique for PSLV as this is the firsttime that new AMC/ATS based avionics is beingused for a typical SSPO mission. A Core Aloneconfiguration of the vehicle with PS4 L2.5 stageis being employed to put the satellites in orbit.This is the fifth mission of PSLV in Core aloneconfiguration.

Major changes

» PS4 to use L2.5 stage

» First time use of ECI frame and Quaternion basedcomputation for SSPO mission




» Introduction of a 45° inclined deck to mountRubin spacecrafts on EB» CUBESATs are separated using a separation sys-tem SPL supplied along with S/C by the user.

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» United States continued to lead the global ITindustry competitiveness ranking in an annual sur-vey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, followedby Finland, Sweden andCanada.

The prominence of Fin-land, Sweden, Canada andthe Netherlands in theindex's top tier was helpedmost by their robust IT in-frastructure and strongsupport for technology re-search and development,the survey said. An im-proving R&D environment and also human capi-tal helped lift China's ranking to 39th and Russia'sto 38th.

The IT Industry Competitiveness Index of 66countries assesses and compares the quality of thelocal technology infrastructure, the availabilityand quality of IT talent, the innovation environ-ment, the legal regime, the business environment,and government technology policies, the EIU said.India stands at 44th rank among global IT com-petitiveness index.

» The Union Cabinet on Sep 17, 2009 approvedamendments to the Transplantation of Human Or-gans Act, 1994, to prevent illegal organ trade andprovide for stringent punishment to those indulg-ing in such practices. The amendments will allowtransplantation of tissues that include bones, skin,and tendons.

Organ swapping

The definition of the word ‘relative’ has been re-vised to incorporate grandparents and grandchil-dren as donors. Further, organ swapping will nowbe allowed.

Current AffairsCurrent Relevant Facts

While organ transplanting in India will be madestringent for foreign nationals, the penalty provi-sions have been strengthened, with erring doc-

tors liable to 10-year imprison-ment and touts or middlemenup to seven years.

The amendments were ap-proved in view of illegal trade,particularly in kidneys, whichoften involves the exploitationof economically weaker sec-tions by some clinicians, man-agers of clinical centres andmiddlemen.

Patient-friendly

The objective was to prevent commercial dealingsand make the system transparent and patient-friendly. There was an increasing perception incivil society that while the Act had not been ef-fective in curbing commercial transactions intransplantation, it thwarted genuine cases whatwith the complicated and long-drawn process in-volving organ donation.

The Act came into force on February 4, 1995 inGoa, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra. It wassubsequently adopted by all States except Jammuand Kashmir, where Central legislation have tobe endorsed by the Assembly. The purpose of theAct is to regulate the removal, storage and trans-plantation of organs for therapeutic use and toprevent commercial dealings. Organ transplanta-tion has been under a cloud for long, with eventhe National Human Rights Commission voicingconcern over it. Subsequently, a committee wasset up on the directions of the Delhi High Courtto review the Act, and it submitted its report fouryears ago.

Section -3 (Current Affairs)



The Union Cabinet on Sep 17, 2009 approved thesetting up of nine new National Institutes of Tech-nology (NITs), taking their number to 29 acrossthe country. While the process of establishing thenew NITs will get under way immediately, thefirst round of admissions will begin in the nextacademic year and classes will be held in mentorNITs or campuses taken on lease.

The new NITs will be set up in Manipur,Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Goa, Puducherry,Sikkim, Delhi, and Uttarakhand. The Goa NIT willcater to the Union Territories of Daman & Diu,Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Lakshadweep, whilethe Puducherry NIT will cover the Andaman &Nicobar Islands. Chandigarh will come under theDelhi NIT.

Barring the Delhi and Uttarakhand NITs, all othernew NITs will be established at a cost of Rs.250crore each. In the case of the Delhi andUttarakhand NITs, the cost estimate is higher atRs.300 crore. Work for the construction of thenew campuses will begin as soon as the State gov-ernments provide land free-of-cost.

By setting up these new NITs, the Union HumanResource Development (HRD) Ministry hopes tocover all the States and Union Territories whichtill date have remained uncovered by the NITnetwork. This will locally address some of thedemand for engineering education in these States,as 50 per cent of the seats have to be filled fromwithin, while the remaining seats are to be filledon an all-India merit basis.

Of the 20 existing NITs, 17 used to be RegionalEngineering Colleges. They were taken over asfully funded institutes of the Central government,granted deemed university status, and rechristenedNITs in 2003 by the Murli Manohar Joshi regimein the HRD Ministry.

» The HRD Ministry has issued a fresh notifica-tion on the revision of pay for teaching and otherstaff in the Centrally Funded Technical Institu-tions, following protests by some faculty mem-bers. As per the new notification, the post of lec-turer-cum-post doctoral fellows will be re-desig-

nated as assistant professors, to be recruited oncontractual basis.

Also, assistant professors in Indian Institutes ofTechnology, the Indian Institute of Science, Ban-galore, and in Indian Institutes of Managementon completion of three years of service will moveto pay band-4, with an academic grade pay ofRs.9,000. Their designation will remain the same.

» An additional weightage of 10 per cent for eachyear of rural service will be given to doctors ap-plying for postgraduate entrance examinationsfrom the next academic year.

Announcing this on Sep 17, 2009 at a press con-ference, Union Health and Family Welfare Min-ister Ghulam Nabi Azad said this weightage willbe subject to a maximum of 30 per cent for threeyears, though a doctor could serve in rural areasfor as many years as he chose to after completingthe internship . Similarly, 50 per cent of seats inpostgraduate diploma courses have also been re-served for medical officers in government servicewho have served for at least three years in remoteand inaccessible areas.

In order to facilitate the increase in the numberof medical specialists, the government has alsodecided to increase the enrolment of postgradu-ate students. The existing 1:1 ratio will be en-hanced in broad specialities for professor and insuper specialities to 1:2. The rise in the number ofpostgraduate doctors will automatically increasethe number of teachers due to the multiplier ef-fect. Thus, without substantive additional resourceand infrastructure requirement, the number ofpostgraduate specialists would dramatically in-crease annually by almost 5,000 from the existing13,000 .

Further, Mr. Azad said land requirement for set-ting up medical colleges was also being relaxedfrom the current 25 acres to 20 acres throughoutthe country. However, with respect to hill States,northeastern States, Empowered Action Group(EAG) States under the National Rural HealthMission and Union Territories of Andaman and




Nicobar Islands, Lakshdweep, Dadra and NagarHaveli and Daman and Diu, two parcels of landseparated by a distance of not more than 10 kmwill be allowed.

Due to non-availability of land in the metropoli-tan and A grade cities, medical colleges could havemulti-storied buildings with the required floorarea. In such cases the land requirement wouldbe 10 acres instead of 20 acres.

State governments will also be allowed to enterinto private partnerships to set up medical col-leges where district hospitals can be used as pub-lic components. Now, companies registered un-der the Companies Act will also be allowed to es-tablish medical colleges as against the existing rulesthat allowed only universities, autonomous bod-ies, registered societies and religious and chari-table trusts to establish medical institutions.

» Renewable energy, health care, drug discoveryand nanotechnologies will be among thrust areasof cooperation in science and technology betweenIndia and Russia under a new bilateral programmefor 2010-2020. The new programme to be signednext year will be a renewal of the Integrated Long-Term Programme (ILTP) of Cooperation in Sci-ence & Technology that the two countries firstsigned in 1987. Over the past 20 years more than500 projects have been successfully accomplishedunder the ILTP title and another 80 projects arein the pipeline.

As a first step, India and Russia plan to set up ajoint venture for large-scale production of siliconwafers in Russia using abundant hydropower inSiberia, which is substantially cheaper than elec-tricity generated in India. This is a third time in adecade that India plans to tie up with Russia forsilicon production.

Earlier India could not spare at least $200 millionto invest in the project and did not feel such ur-gency for alternative energy. India also hopes tosource from Russia new non-silicon technologiesfor utilising solar energy. Under an MoU with

Russia’s Ioffe Physics Institute, the CSIR will testin its laboratories prototype photo-material de-veloped by Russian scientists, Prof. Brahmacharisaid.

In another major development, the Departmentof Atomic Energy is negotiating for India to be-come a member of the international Dubna JointInstitute for Nuclear Research, a top-notch Rus-sian nuclear centre. India already has a coopera-tion agreement with the Kurchatov Institute, an-other Russian nodal centre for nuclear research.

» U.S. President Barack Obamashelved a Bush-era plan for an EasternEuropean missile defence plan that hasbeen a major irritant in U.S. relationswith Russia. He said a redesigned de-

fensive system would be cheaper, quicker andmore effective against the threat from Iranianmissiles. New missile defence architecture in Eu-rope will provide stronger, smarter and swifterdefences of American forces and America’s allies.It is more comprehensive than the previousprogramme; it deploys capabilities that are provenand cost effective, and it sustains and builds uponour commitment to protect the U.S. homeland.

The missile defence system, planned under theBush administration, was to have been built inthe Czech Republic and Poland. Mr. Obamaphoned Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer onWednesday night and Polish Prime MinisterDonald Tusk on Thursday to alert them of his de-cision.

Mr. Obama said the plan was scrapped in partbecause, after a review, the U.S. has concludedthat Iran was less focused on developing the kindof long-range missiles for which the system wasoriginally developed, making the building of anexpensive new shield unnecessary. New technol-ogy also had arisen that military advisers decidedcould be deployed sooner and more effectively.But later Defence Secretary Robert Gates said theU.S. still aimed to deploy missiles in Poland andthe Czech Republic in 2015, even though Iran’s




long-range missile programme was further off thanthought. The second phase about 2015 will in-volve fielding upgraded land based SM-3s abouthosting a land based version and other compo-nents of the system

» Former president of the Indiancricket board Raj Singh Dungarpurdied in Mumbai on Sep 12,2009 af-ter a protracted illness, leaving the

entire cricket world in mourning. He was 73.

Raj Bhai, as he was fondly known, was the manwho never hesitated to take bold decisions. Aschief selector he picked Sachin Tendulkar afterfirst watching him play for Cricket Club of India(CCI). Hailing from the erstwhile royal family ofDungarpur in Rajasthan, he was the youngest sonof Lakshman Singhji, the ex-ruler.

A right-arm medium-fast bowler who representedand led Rajasthan successfully in the Ranji Tro-phy in the 1960s, Dungarpur took 206 wickets in86 first-class matches. He dedicated his post-re-tirement life to cricket administration and rose tobecome the board president 1996-99. Dungarpur’scapabilities as a visionary were also evident in theform of the critical role that he essayed in the in-stitution of the National Cricket Academy at Ban-galore in 2000.

» Norman Borlaug, a Nobel Prizewinning scientist whose work ondisease-resistant wheat is creditedwith saving hundreds of millions of

lives, has died at the age of 95 on 13 sept,2009.The acclaimed agriculturalist, often credited withsparking the Green Revolution, died late on Sat-urday in Dallas, Texas, due to complications fromcancer, according to Texas A&M University,where Borlaug served since 1984.

Borlaug was best known for his work developinghigh-yield disease-resistant "dwarf" wheat, whichdramatically increased food production in Asia andLatin America.

Norman E. Borlaug saved more lives than any man

in human history. His total devotion to endingfamine and hunger revolutionized food securityfor millions of people and for many nations.Borlaug began his career in the pre-war years atthe US forestry service, after earning an under-graduate degree at the University in Minnesota.Like many in America's midwest, Borlaug tracedhis roots back to Europe's Nordic region, whichhe referred to as "the land of my fathers."

Born in Iowa in March 1914, "his childhood dayswere spent on an Iowa farm, influenced by hisNorwegian grandfather's lessons on commonsense. That common sense led him to focus onone of the fundamentals of human existence, food.Beginning in 1944 he worked for two decades withMexican scientists to develop new wheat variet-ies, which was were later introduced to India andPakistan, helping to feed what he described as the"population monster."

The dwarf wheat yielded two to three times asmuch as the normal crop. According to his ownfigures, the new strain nearly doubled Indian andPakistani wheat production between 1965 and1970, a leap of over 11 million tons. The success,at a time when mass famines were widely pre-dicted, spread his fame across the globe and hisdwarf wheat throughout Latin America, theMiddle East and Africa.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for hiswork in 1970, when he pledged to serve with "anarmy of hunger fighters... for a lifetime term." Inthe United States he was awarded the Presiden-tial Medal of Freedom and the US CongressionalGold Medal, the country's two top civilian hon-ors. He has also earned a slew of honorary univer-sities degrees from around the world, from India'sPunjab to Bolivia. As biotechnology developedapace with the advent of genetic modification,Borlaug was an avid supporter.

» The U.S. Food and Drug Admin-istration (FDA) has approved aswine flu vaccine, keeping officials

on track to begin a mass vaccination campaign bynext month. It has approved applications for vac-




cine for the 2009 H1N1 virus for four of the (five)manufacturers of the U.S. licensed seasonal influ-enza vaccine.

The U.S. government purchased 195 million dosesof the vaccine and would make shots available freeof charge “for the American people” starting nextmonth. Providers might charge a fee to adminis-ter them, she said. Vaccination would be volun-tary, with priority given to five groups deemed atparticular risk from the novel swine flu virus.Clinical trials were under way to determine ifthere was “any harm” in having a seasonal flu vac-cine, already available, at the same time as thisone.

» Central Electricity RegulatoryCommission (CERC) on Sep 17,2009 notified tariff regulations forgreen power generated from re-newable energy sources in an ef-fort to attract new investments in

this sector. The regulations have been finalisedkeeping in view the statutory mandate to Elec-tricity Regulatory Commission for promoting co-generation and generation of electricity from re-newable sources of energy.

These regulations assumed special importance inview of the National Action Plan on ClimateChange which stipulated that minimum renew-able purchase standards might be set at 5 per centof the total power purchases in the year 2010 andthereafter should increase by one percentage pointeach year for ten years.

Specifying capital cost norms and fixing tariffupfront for the whole tariff period are the twomain features of the new regulations. The regula-tions provide normative capital costs for projectsbased on different renewable technologies. Thesecapital costs are to be revised every year for in-corporating the relevant escalations. The tariffpermitted to a project under these regulationswould apply for the whole tariff period which is13 years. The tariff period for solar power has beenkept as 25 years and for small hydro below 5 MW,

it has been kept as 35 years. The Forum of Regu-lators has also agreed to implement RenewableEnergy Certificate (REC) mechanism which willbe an alternative route for fulfilling renewablepurchase obligations.

» From August 7 to 8, the 13th Meeting betweenthe Chinese and Indian Special Representative onBoundary Question was held in New Delhi, In-dia. Chinese Special Representative, State Coun-cilor Dai Bingguo met with his counterpart, Mr.Narayanan, India’s National Security Advisor.During his stay in India, State Councilor Dai alsomet with Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of theIndian Congress Party and Prime Minister Singh.In a friendly and candid atmosphere, the two Spe-cial Representatives had an in-depth exchange ofviews on resolving the boundary question. Bothagreed to press ahead with the framework nego-tiations in accordance with the agreed politicalparameters and guiding principle so as to seek fora fair and reasonable solution acceptable to both.Prior to that, both should work together to main-tain peace and tranquility in the border areas.

During the talks, the two sides exchanged in-depthviews on the further development of China-IndiaStrategic and Cooperative Partnership, as well asregional, international and global issues of mutualinterest.

The Chinese side pointed out that the ChineseGovernment and people value the strategic andcooperative partnership between China and In-dia, the largest two developing nations with a com-bined population accounting for 40 percent of theworld’s total. Friendly coexistence, mutual ben-eficial cooperation and shared progress betweenthe two neighbours will contribute not only tothe people of the two countries but also Asia andthe whole world. China and India have no otheroption than living in peace and developing sideby side. China stands firmly committed to work-ing with India to press ahead with the bilateralties.

The Chinese side believes that both countries need




to promote the relationship with a higher and stra-tegic perspective and continue to uphold the FivePrinciples of Peaceful Coexistence. China and In-dia should endeavor to build the strategic mutualtrust. Both need to expand the common interestsand cooperation bilaterally and on regional andglobal affairs. Both should take concrete steps toenhance people-to-people and cultural interac-tions so as to nurture the mutual understandingand friendship between the two peoples. For thequestions left over from history,the two countriesshould work to seek for a fair and reasonable mu-tually acceptable solution through peaceful andfriendly negotiations.

For the future development of the bilateral ties,the Chinese side made the following suggestions.The two countries need to maintain the momen-tum of high-level exchanges, well celebrate the60th anniversary marking the establishment of thediplomatic relations between the two countries,especially the China Festival and India Festival ineach other’s country in 2010. Both countriesshould strengthen mutually beneficial cooperationin the economic field and trade, fully tap the po-tential for cooperation and properly handle fric-tions and questions thereof and stand side by sideagainst trade protectionism so as to ensure thesustained and healthy development of bilateraleconomic ties. The two neighbours should en-hance people-to-people and cultural exchanges,those between the youth, academic institutions,media and localities in particular, and deepen de-fence cooperation and continue the defence andsecurity talks. China and India should also inten-sify the coordination and cooperation on majorinternational issues, especially the global effortsin response to world financial crisis, climatechange, energy and food security so as to promoteevolution of international system that is in favorof developing nations. The two sides also exchangeviews on the situation in South and Northeast Asia.

» The first batch of India’s indigenously built state-of-the-art T-90 main battle tanks, named Bhishma,with features like protection from nuclear attack,were handed over to the army on August 24, 2009at a function in Avadi, Tamil Nadu. The tanks are

being manufactured at the Heavy Vehicles Fac-tory (HVF).

HVF plans to produce 100 tanks per year. Indianarmy has already around 700 of these frontlinetanks in service and contract has been signed forpurchase of another 400 off the shelf.

The tanks have features like capability to fireguided missile, in addition to the conventionalammunition, using the same main gun barrel andguided weapon system and ballistic computer fa-cilities to ensure accurate firing of both conven-tional ammunition and guided missiles.

It is equipped with 125 mm smooth bore gun, 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun and 7.62 mm co-axial Machine gun supported with high accuracysighting systems, and automatic loader for higherfiring rate. The induction of the tanks is an im-portant milestone for the Indian army and a steptowards attaining self-sufficiency in its prepared-ness.

» A team comprising only lady officers of the In-dian Army scaled the Siachen glacier on August15, 2009, making it the first ladies team to havereached the highest battlefield in the world. Lo-cated in north-eastern J&K, Saichen glacier is to-tally snow- bound throughout the year and is oneof the treacherous stretches of land with deepcrevices and steep walls of ice.

The lady officers, led by Major Meghna Aktadikar,are from the corps of engineers. The expeditioncomprised the following officers: Major NehaBhatnagar, Major Pradiya Kulkarni, MajorMeghna R, Capt Shalini Datta, Capt PushpaKumari, Capt RP Parashar, Lt Namrata Rathore,Lt Girija Mohalkar, Lt Vijay Laxmi Thakur, LtGarima Pal and Lt Neelam Rathore.

» Sixty- three-year-old social activist Deep Joshihas been decorated with the 2009 RamonMagsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.He has been recognised for “his vision and leader-ship in bringing professionalism in the NGO move-




ment in India”.

He has been working to transform the lives of overa lakh families covering as many as 3,000 villages,many of them in Naxalite-affected areas. His ac-tivities are spread over the Naxalite-affected beltof Jharkhand, Bankura and Purulia regions of WestBengal and the Maoist-dominated Chhattisgarhand Orissa.

Joshi founded in 1983 the Professional Assistancefor Development Action (PRADAN), an NGO,along with one Vijay Mahajan. The NGO recruiteduniversity-educated youth from campuses acrossthe country and groomed them for grass-root workthrough a rigorous year-long apprenticeshipwhich combined formal training and guided prac-tice in the field.Living and working directly with India’s poorestcommunities, PRADAN staff empowered villagegroups with technical, project implementation,and networking skills that increased both theirincome-generating capabilities and their actualfamily earnings.

A Masters in engineering from the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) and a Masters inManagement from the Sloan School, MIT, Joshiworked with the Systems Research Institute, theFord Foundation and has nearly 30 years of expe-rience in the field of rural development and live-lihood promotion. He also advises the governmenton poverty alleviation strategies.

» Yukio Hatoyama has been electedas the Prime Minister of Japan. He is afourth-generation politician andgrandson of a former Prime Ministerand belongs to a rich family thatfounded tyre giant Bridgestone.

He has a doctorate in engineering from StanfordUniversity in the US and is married to a formermusical actress who has also published several cookbooks.

He was elected to the lower house for the first

time in 1986 on a LDP ticket. In 1993 he walkedaway from LDP and floated New Party Sakigake,which ousted LDP in elections later that year. Thepro-reform coalition, however, fell after eightmonths over a funding scandal. In 1996-99, hehelped found the Democratic Party of Japan andbecame its leader. In 200 he stepped down as DPJleader over criticism of his plan for a merger withsome opposition groups. In 2009 he again tookoverthe helm of DPJ and led it to victory.

Mr Hatoyama wants to improve people’s livesthrough increased welfare spending. He is knownless for economic policies than for his stance onsecurity and diplomacy. He has advocated revis-ing the pacifist constitution to acknowledgeJapan’s right to defend itself and maintain a mili-tary for that purpose.

» The Mangala oil fields of Cairn India in Barmer,Rajasthan were inaugurated by Prime ministerManmohan Singh on August 29, 2009. The fieldswill help India curtail its oil import bill, which isto the tune of $20 billion, to a large extent.Mangala’s peak production of 1.25 lakh barrels perday (bpd) will be reached in the first half of 2010.Along with two other fields—Bhagyam andAishwarya—the aggregate peak production ofCairn India will be 1.75 lakh bpd, which is 20 percent of India’s domestic production. The threefields are expected to save the country $1.5 bil-lion annually as import bill over the next 10 years.It would also earn the government $30 billionthrough taxes, royalties and profit petroleum.

» Twenty-five years after it established DakshinGangotri, the first permanent research station inthe South Polar Region, India is all set to buildthe third such centre in Antarctica to take up cut-ting-edge research in various fields. The new sta-tion, tentatively named Bharti, is scheduled to beoperational by 2012, making India a member ofan elite group of nine nations that have multiplestations in the region. Argentina, Australia, Chile,China, France, Russia, the UK and US have mul-tiple stations in Antarctica.




Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1984, was buried inice and had to be abandoned in 1990, a year afterIndia set up Maitri, the second station. The Na-tional Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research(NCAOR), Goa, will set up the new station onLarsmann Hill, 3,000 km from Schirmacher Oa-sis, where Maitri stands. While Maitri was morethan 100 km from the Antarctic Sea, Bharti willbe on a promontory by the sea.

Bharti, like Maitri, will also conduct research onseismic activity, climate change and medicine. Thestation will be a compact structure of 30x50metres, accommodating 25 scientists. While liv-ing in Antarctica, where temperatures range from-89 degrees Celsius in winter to -25 degrees Cel-sius in summer, can be tough, constructing a per-manent structure is a huge challenge.

Experiments in extreme cold climates, as in thepolar region, have contributed immensely to sci-entific developments. India was admitted to theScientific Committee on Antarctic Research(SCAR), an international body that coordinatesscientific activities in the region, on October 1,1984. India holds the vice-chairman’s post in thepanel.

» The government has given its clearance for thedevelopment of a communications satellite thatwould have a GPS-based navigation system. Theapproval came at the meeting of the Cabinetchaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Thedesign and development of GSAT-10 spacecraftwould cost Rs 735 crore with a foreign exchangecomponent of Rs 634 crore, the government said.The 3.3-tonne satellite, one of the heavier space-crafts to be developed by space agency ISRO, willreplace INSAT 2E and INSAT 3B, an official re-lease said.

The GSAT-10 satellite will have 12 high powerKu-band transponders, 12 C-band and 12 extendedC-band India coverage transponders that wouldcreate additional capacity for direct-to-home likeoperations.

» India has completed the design of Chandrayaan-2, its next mission to the moon—this time in col-laboration with Russia—that would have a Landerand Rover which can collect samples of the lunarsoil and analyse them and send back the data.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission would have an or-bital flight vehicle, constituting an Orbital Craft(OC) and a Lunar Craft (LC), which would carry asoft landing system up to Lunar Transfer Trajec-tory (LTT).

The target location for the Lander-rover wouldbe identified using data from instruments ofChandrayaan-1.While ISRO will be developingthe orbiter, it will be Russia's job to make theLander and Rover. Additional scientific payloadswould be acquired from international scientificcommunity.

» The abrupt end of the moon missionChandrayaan-I on August 29, 2009, has tempo-rarily buried India’s dream of bettering China inthe field of moon exploration. While the Indianmission was called off 10 months after it waslaunched and 14 months before its scheduled ter-mination, the Chinese mission Chang’e 1(launched on October 24, 2007), after having com-pleted its original tenure of one year, was given afour months extension and was finally terminatedon March 1, 2009.

Importantly, Japan, the other Asian space faringnation, has also done well in the field of moonexploration. Kaguya, the Japanese probe launchedon September 14, 2007, successfully orbited themoon for 20 months before it was made to crashon the lunar surface on June 10, 2009.

Chandrayaan-I was launched on October 22, 2008.It had to be called off due to snapping of radiolink.

» India will host World Tiger Summit in 2010where wildlife experts from various countries areexpected to congregate to deliberate on conserva-tion of diminishing striped cats in the wild.




"Rajasthan will be hosting the World Tiger Sum-mit at Ranthambore in October or November.

About 200 experts from across the countries areto participate in the summit, including those fromthe world renowned organisation, Global TigerInitiative.

With over 44 royal big cats, Ranthambore TigerReserve will be showcased as a role model to del-egates attending the summit being held for thefirst time in the country which is home to around1,400 endangered species.

» Sonia Sotomayor is the firstHispanic to be sworn-in as theUS Supreme Court judge. Shealso became the first high

court member to have her oath-taking made avail-able to TV cameras.

» The Pakistan government has decided to conferits highest civilian award, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, post-humously on Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande forworking towards peace, harmony and cordial re-lations between India and Pakistan. It is for thefirst time that services of any Indian woman topublic life and her contribution to building amityin the region had been acknowledged by the Pa-kistan government.

» Stefania Fernandez has won theMiss Universe pageant 2009. Miss Do-minican Republic Ada Aimee De laCruz was first runner-up and MissKosovo Gona Dragusha was secondrunner-up. The pageant was held at

Nassau, Bahamas.

» Baitullah Mehsud, Pakistan’s most feared ter-rorist commander who established the Taliban asa force in huge swathes and unleashed attacksacross the country, is killed in a US missile attackon the house he was hiding in on aug 7,2009.

» C. Rangarajan has been appointed as the headof Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council

(PMEAC). The other members of PMEAC are: M.Govinda Rao, V.S. Vyas, Suman Bery and SaumitraChaudhari.

» Dr V.K. Saraswat has been ap-pointed as the Director-General of theDefence Research and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO). He will also bethe new Secretary, Department of De-fence Research and Development, be-

sides being the Scientific Advisor to Defence Min-ister.

» U.D. Choubey has taken over as Director Gen-eral of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises(SCOPE), the apex body of public sector units.

» Just six months after the Indian Navy was givencharge of the country’s entire coastal security, itannounced a revised maritime policy on August28, 2009. The Navy will now have an even sharperfocus on the neighbourhood of the country. Thismeans securing the trade routes in the IndianOcean region; extending the reach of the Navy toproject India as a major force and also preventingMumbai-style sea-borne invasions by terrorists.

The 2009 edition of the Indian Maritime doctrinewas released by the Chief of Naval Staff, AdmiralSuresh Mehta. The original doctrine was publishedin 2004 to provide a common understanding ofuniversally applicable maritime concepts, not onlyfor the forces but also for the public at large. Thisrevision was needed on account of the rapidlychanging geo-strategic environment and transfor-mational changes in the maritime domain.

» As per a WHO study, India ranks 171 out of the175 countries in the world in public health spend-ing. This is less than some of the sub-Saharan Af-rican countries. For a country of one billion, In-dia spends 5.2% of the GDP on healthcare. While4.3% is spent by the private sector, the govern-ment continues to spend only 0.9% on publichealth. When the economic growth index is mov-ing forward, the wellness index is dipping.




While India ranks among the top 10 countries forcommunicable disease, it is, today, world leaderof chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension andcoronary artery disease.

One of the key findings of the commission wasthat by improving the health condition, theeconomy of the country will improve. But it hasbeen reverse in India. There is growth in GDPbut there has been no increase in healthcare spend-ing. This inadequate public health spending hasforced the public to depend on private sector.

India’s health scenario currently presents a con-trasting picture. While health tourism and pri-vate healthcare are being promoted, a large sec-tion of Indian population still reels under the riskof curable diseases that do not receive ample at-tention of policy-makers.

» Making the process of paying taxes simpler forthe common man has always been on top of theUPA’s agenda. This was amply demonstrated to-day with the government initiating radical taxreforms by releasing the direct tax draft code thataims to moderate tax rates and at the same timetries to make it easier for a layman to understandand calculate his tax liability.

The reform of the tax regime introduced in 1961is based on the objective of having a tax systemthat is simpler, fairer, and easy to administer. Thespecific objectives of the measures are to improvethe responsiveness of the tax system, that is, toenhance the automaticity in the increase in taxrevenues with increases in economic activity; im-prove tax administration by simplifying the taxsystem; and, lastly, promote tax compliance ob-jective as to reduce the scope for disputes andminimize litigation.

The goal of the new tax code is to consolidate andamend all direct taxes and simplify language toensure that the law can be reflected in the returnform. The aim is also to reduce scope for litigationand provide flexibility in accommodating changeswithout need for frequent amendments.

» The Centre, West Bengal government and theGorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) have agreed toscrap the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC)and bring in its place an alternative administra-tive framework for the hill district to be finalisedthrough mutual consultation and agreement. At atripartite meeting of representatives of the Cen-tre, led by Union home secretary G.K. Pillai, ofWest Bengal government led by chief secretaryA.K. Chakrabarty and of GJM led by AnmolePrasad, it was decided that the DGHC Act, 1988would be repealed and the proposal for establish-ment of a hill council under the Sixth Schedule ofthe Constitution be dropped.

The press statement, however, makes no refer-ence to the GJM’s central demand for a separateGorkhaland: a pointer to such a drastic conces-sion being almost ruled out. The alternative ad-ministrative framework to be worked out by theyet-to-be-named interlocutor for the Gorkha talkswill have due constitutional status and will besupported by a full-fledged Act. It is also likely tobe given more powers than DGHC. However,working out its terms is likely to be a long-drawnaffair, and, in all probability, the new frameworkmay come well after installation of the new gov-ernment in West Bengal.

» In a major success in its ‘Look East' policy, In-dia, on August 13, 2009, signed a Free TradeAgreement (FTA) with the 10-member Associa-tion of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) bloc thatwould eventually eliminate duty on 80% of thegoods traded at present by 2016. The two sideshave set an ambitious target of achieving an in-crease of $10 billion worth of trade in the firstyear after the agreement comes into force fromJanuary 2010. India's current bilateral trade withthe ASEAN bloc is worth $40 billion.

The agreement was signed by Commerce and In-dustry Minister Anand Sharma and EconomicMinisters of ASEAN in Bangkok. Considered as amajor breakthrough, the pact comes after six yearsof intense negotiations. The FTA would bringdown tariffs on electronics, chemicals, machin-ery and textile goods.




However, talks on software and information tech-nology services have been postponed for Decem-ber 2009. This is one area where Indian exportersof services could have brought in good businessand also offset setbacks received in the Europeanand US markets during the downturn. Of the to-tal $936 billion worth of ASEANn imports, ser-vices import account for $180 billion which is theprimary focus of Indian industry. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia,Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Lobbying from the domestic industry has led toIndia excluding 489 items from the list of tariffconcessions and 590 items from the list of tariffelimination to address sensitivities in agriculture,textiles, auto, chemicals, crude and refined palmoil, coffee, tea, pepper, etc.

» Defence Minister A.K.Antony went on a three-dayofficial visit to Maldives fromAugust 20, 2009. He led ahigh-level delegation com-prising Defence Secretary

Pradeep Kumar; DG, Armed Forces Medical Ser-vices, Lt Gen N.K. Parmar; DG, Coast Guard, ViceAdmiral Anil Chopra and Deputy Chief of NavyStaff Vice Admiral D.K. Joshi.

During his visit, Mr Antony held bilateral discus-sions with his counterpart Ameen Faisal on waysof expanding defence cooperation between thetwo countries. He also attended the closing ses-sion of the India-Maldives Friendship function,besides paying a visit to the Indira Gandhi Me-morial Hospital, the most visible symbol of Indo-Maldives cooperation and friendship.

» Amid an uncertain political situation back home,Prime Minister of Nepal, Mr Madhav Nepal ar-rived in New Delhi on August 7, 2009 on a five-day visit to India—his first to the country sincehe assumed office nearly three months ago.

Several important bilateral issues, including theproposed revision of the friendship and trade trea-ties and the finalisation of a revised extraditiontreaty figured prominently in the discussions be-tween the two sides.

Besides meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,the Nepalese Prime Minister also meet PresidentPratibha Patil, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi, ExternalAffairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P.Chidambaram.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended India’sfull support to the peace process in Nepal and alsodiscussed the broad contours of a proposed revisedtrade treaty between the two countries. The twoleaders had a one-on-one meeting lasting aboutan hour during which they discussed the entiregamut of bilateral relations as well as internationalissues.

Intensifying economic partnership between thetwo countries remained at the centre of the dis-cussions with the focus on investment in hydropower sector. The issue of the misuse of Nepal'sterritory by anti-Indian forces also came up dur-ing the talks.

Nepalese Prime Minister also addressed captainsof the Indian industry, inviting them to invest lib-erally in the Himalayan Nation in various sectors.He assured them of conducive atmosphere for in-dustrial growth. The visiting dignitary identifiedhydro power, roads, bridges, infrastructure con-struction, tourism, agro-processing and financialservices as potential areas of investment.

Political events in Nepal since May this year hadshaken the confidence of Indian entrepreneursafter attacks by militant trade unions on a fewfirms, including a well-known fast moving con-sumer goods firm. With India-Nepal trade ex-pected to touch Rs 15,000 crore ($3 billion) in2009-10, the commerce ministers of the two coun-tries discussed the proposed revised treaty towiden the scope of bilateral trade.




» On August 4, 2009, India and Singapore signeda joint action plan on tourism cooperation. Minis-ter of Tourism Kumari Selja and Singapore SeniorMinister of State for Trade and Industry and Edu-cation S. Iswaran witnessed the signing by tour-ism officials of India and Singapore. The plan re-iterates provisions of cooperation enshrined in thebilateral agreement on tourism signed betweenIndia and Singapore on January 24, 1994.India and South Korea have signed a comprehen-sive economic partnership agreement which willmake Korean consumer products and auto partscheaper in India. The deal excludes fully built-upvehicles and provides for easier movement of con-tractual service providers and professionals be-tween the two countries and treatment of invest-ments from one another’s country on a par withdomestic investments.

This is the second CEPA signed by India, the otherbeing with Singapore. This is also India’s first bi-lateral trade agreement with an OECD country. As per the agreement, South Korea will eliminateduties on 93% of its industrial and agriculturalproducts and India will do the same on 85% of itsgoods. India has excluded sensitive items such asfarm products, textile items and built-up automo-biles from tariff elimination commitments. Du-ties will be phased out on most products in thenext eight years.

» Japanese voters swept the opposition to a his-toric victory in an election on August 30, 2009,ousting the ruling conservative party and hand-ing the untested Democrats the job of breathinglife into a struggling economy.

The win by the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)ended a half-century of almost unbroken rule bythe Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and breaks adeadlock in Parliament, ushering in a governmentthat has promised to focus spending on consum-ers, cut wasteful budget outlays and reduce thepower of bureaucrats.

Democratic Party leader Hatoyama, grandson of

a former Prime Minister, will take over as the newPrime Minister.

The ruling party loss ended a three-way partner-ship between the LDP, big business and bureau-crats that turned Japan into an economic power-house after the country’s defeat in World War II.That strategy foundered when Japan’s “bubble”economy burst in the late 1980s and growth hasstagnated since. The Democrats will have to movefast to keep support among voters worried abouta record jobless rate and a rapidly ageing societythat is inflating social security costs.

The Democrats have pledged to refocus spendingon households with child allowances and aid forfarmers while taking control of policy from bu-reaucrats. The Democrats also want to forge a dip-lomatic stance more independent of the UnitedStates, raising concerns about possible friction inthe alliance.

» Lt Gen Chhatraman SinghGurung, who received trainingat the Indian Military Academy,Dehradun, was appointed tohead the Nepal Army on August9, 2009, after his controversialpredecessor General Rukmangad

Katawal went on a month-long leave ahead of hisretirement in September. Gurung is the first fromthe rank of commoners to head the army, whichhas been led by the country’s elite and the aris-tocracy. The change of guard at the helm of95,000-strong Nepal Army came amid a contin-ued blockade of Parliament by the Maoists de-manding Katawal’s removal. The Maoists, whoseeight-month-old government fell in May 2009after the reinstatement of Katawal, had sought hisdismissal and a debate in Parliament on the issueof “civilian supremacy” in the country.

» The world has earmarked a staggering $11.9 tril-lion to wriggle out of the financial crisis, the sumwhich is enough to finance a $1,779 handout forevery person living on the planet, according tothe International Monetary Fund.




Most of the cash has been handed over by devel-oped countries, for whom the bill has been $10.2trillion, while developing countries have spentonly $1.7 trillion the majority of which is in cen-tral bank liquidity support for their stuttering fi-nancial sectors.

The whopping total cost of crisis is equivalent toaround a fifth of the entire globe's annual eco-nomic output and includes capital injectionspumped into banks in order to prevent them fromcollapse, the cost of soaking up so-called toxic as-sets, guarantees over debt and liquidity supportfrom central banks.

» India and China have agreed to jointly fight anyattempt by Western nations to link trade withclimate change and impose trade-related penal-ties on developing countries that fail to meet en-vironmental standards. India and China have agreed to coordinate theirviews on different aspects of climate change be-fore every major international meeting on thesubject. These are expected to be spelt out in formof an agreement. Both countries want to negoti-ate with West for higher levels of financial assis-tance and technology transfer in return for prom-ises to do their best to tackle environmental prob-lems. But they would not agree to any legal bind-ing on reducing emission norms because it wouldcome in the way of their development goals. In-dia and China will also not agree to the creationof any trade barriers on the excuse of climatechange. India has also suggested China to considerreducing carbon dioxide levels in power plantssupplied by it to India. This would be part of themitigation activities that the two countries expectto carry out jointly. In a first, China has surpassed US to become Japan'slargest trading partner. The move is expected tohave a softening effect on China-Japan disputesover an island and have wide implications in Asianregion including India. Japan's trade with the USaccounted for just 13.7% of its total world tradein the January-June period. Its trade with Chinaaccounted for 20.4% of the total trade volume giv-

ing Beijing tremendous clout over its neighbour'seconomy. South Korea, another neighbour, ac-counted for 6.1%.

» The Solar Mission under the National ActionPlan on Climate Change has got an in-principlenod from the Prime Minister with an ambitioustarget of 20,000 MW solar power by 2020 beingaccepted.

» Australia has decided to provide more than 80lakh dollars to set up Australia India Institute inMelbourne. A joint project of the University ofMelbourne, La Trobe University and the Univer-sity of New South Wales, the new Institute willhelp Australians to know and understand Indiabetter.












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» Indian Billiards prodigy Pankaj Advani easedthrough defending champion Mark Russel to winthe World Professional Billiards Championship-2009 September 6, 2009. Advani won 2030-1253against defending champion Mark Russel. Withthis win, Advani has now become only the sec-ond Indian to claim the World Professional Bil-liards Championship title in 139 years of its his-tory. Indian legend Geet Sethi ear-lier won the title back in 1992.

» Advani was awarded with theprestigious Padma Shri in 2009, theRajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2006,the Rajyotsava Award in 2007, Vi-sion of India's "International Indian"Award in 2005, Senior Sportspersonof the Year 2005, the Sports Writ-ers' Association of Bangalore's, theBangalore University ' Sportspersonof the Year in 2005, the Hero IndiaSports Award (HISA) in 2004, the Rajeev GandhiAward in 2004, the Arjuna Award in 2004, theIndo-American Young Achiever's Award - 2003,and the Sports Star Sportsperson of the Year 2003.

» The 12th IAAF World Championships in Ath-letics were held in Berlin, Germany from Auguast15–23, 2009. The majority of events took place inthe Olympiastadion, while the marathon and race-walking events started and finished at theBrandenburg Gate. United States, with 10 gold, 6silver and 6 bronze medals, topped the medalstally, followed by Jamaica, Kenya, Russia, Polandand Germany.

» Sprint king Usain Bolt provedlightning does strike twice as hesmashed his own 100m worldrecord, exactly one year after settingthe previous benchmark at theBeijing Olympics. Bolt took 33

strides down the track at Berlin’s Olympic Sta-

Sportsdium and sliced the largest chunk off the worldrecord since electronic timing was introduced. Boltpushed himself and the result was a stunning timeof 9.58 seconds in the men's 100-metre final:eleven-hundredths of a second better than hisgame-changing mark of 9.69 in Beijing.

His world record performance was all the moreremarkable as the 22-year-oldwas involved in a car crash in Ja-maica in April 2008 when his caroverturned in a ditch off a high-way. Bolt had a small operationon his left foot, but his lightningstrides showed nothing to bewrong with his feet.

Jamaica’s sprinting dominancecontinued in sizzling style whenOlympic champion Shelly-AnnFraser clocked 10.73 seconds towin the women’s world 100

metres. Now, only Florence Griffith-Joyner andMarion Jones remain among those who have runfaster than Fraser.

Usain Bolt also shattered his own 200 metres worldrecord to win gold at the world championships ina breathtaking 19.19 seconds and secure his placeas the greatest sprinter ever seen.

» Olympic champion LinDan has become the first bad-minton player to clinch a hat-trick of world titles, beatingfellow Chinese Chen Jin in

straight games to win the men's singles title ofthis mega event held at the Gachibowli stadium,Hyderabad. Lin had won the earlier World Cham-pionship in 2006 and 2007, apart from winningfour All-England titles in 2004, 2006, 2007 and2009.

In all-Chinese women’s singles final Lu Lan beatXie Xingfang in straight sets to win the world title.

Section -4 (SPORTS)



Danish mixed pair Thomas Laybourn and KamillaRytter Juhl thrashed the two times World Cham-pions from Indonesia, Nova Widianto and LilyanaNatsir to win the mixed-doubles title.

The Chinese pair of Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun de-feated Koreans Lee Young Dae and Jung Jae Sungeto win the men’s doubles title.

China’s Zhao Tingting and Zhang Yawen won thewomen’s doubles final against Cheng Shu andZhao Yunlei, also of China.

» V. Diju overcame a back strain and Jwala Guttabattled a stiff left (playing) arm to create historyby becoming the first Indian mixed doubles pairto win a Grand Prix Gold. The third-seeded Indi-ans pulled off a stunning 24-22, 21-18 win overIndonesians Hendra Aprida Gunawan and VitaMarissa in the final of the Chinese Taipei GoldGrand Prix and walked home with $11,560 as prizemoney.

» Vijender Singh has been rankedsecond in the 75 kg category by theInternational Boxing Association.Akhil Kumar (57 kg) and Jitender(51 kg) are placed 9th and 13th intheir respective categories. In the 48

kg category, Thokchom Nanao Singh is at fifthspot.

» England regained the Ashes with a sweeping197-run victory over Australia in the fifth test atthe Oval, despite a battling century from MichaelHussey which threatened to take the game into afifth day.

Australia, who needed at least a draw to retainthe Ashes they won back by crushing England 5-0 in 2006-7, were dismissed for 348 in their sec-ond innings after being set a record 546 for vic-tory. The series was tied 1-1 after Australia wonthe fourth test at Headingley within three days.

Earlier, Australia had batted with grim determi-nation through the final day to earn a draw in thethird Ashes Test against England. CenturionMichael Clarke and Marcus North shared a part-nership of 185 and Shane Watson and MichaelHussey also made patient half-centuries in a totalof 375 for five which ensured they would go intothe fourth test only 1-0 down in the series.

Australia completed a crushing victory over En-gland in the fourth test to level the Ashes seriesat 1-1. The touring side ended England’s enter-taining lower order resistance 20 minutes afterlunch on the third day, Mitchell Johnson bowl-ing Graham Onions to dismiss the hosts for 263and seal victory by an innings and 80 runs.

» An illness-depleted New Zealand were bam-boozled in the face of pace and spin as Sri Lankacruised to a 202-run victory in the first Test tolead the two-match series. The Kiwis, set an im-probable target of 413 runs, collapsed to 210 allout in their second innings before tea on the fifthand final day at the Galle International Stadium.

» Sri Lanka clinched second spot behind SouthAfrica in the official rankings as they swept asideNew Zealand by 96 runs in the final cricket Testto sweep the series 2-0. Left-arm spinner RanganaHerath claimed five wickets as the Kiwis, set animprobable victory target of 494 runs, werebowled out for 397 in their second innings justbefore tea on the fifth day.

» Teenager Umar Akmalsmashed an unbeaten 102 off 72balls as Pakistan won the fourthone-dayer by 146 runs to recordtheir first win on a dismal tourof Sri Lanka. Umar's maiden in-

ternational century and a dogged 89 from skipperYounus Khan lifted Pakistan to 321-5 after thetourists elected to bat in the day-night match atthe Premadasa stadium.

» Pakistan clinched a 52-run victory over SriLanka in a one-off Twenty20 international to fin-

Section -4 (SPORTS)



ish their losing tour on a high on Wednesday.Pakistan, who lost the test series 2-0 and the one-day series 3-2, dominated the match with skipperShahid Afridi guiding his team to a competitive172 for five in 20 overs.

» Bangladesh raced to a five-wicket defeat of Zim-babwe in the fifth match to win the series 4-1.Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry equalled the high-est individual One-day International score, but italso became the highest ODI score in a losingcause. Coventry’s big-hitting party was gate-crashed by Tamim Iqbal, who helped Bangladeshwrap up the five-match series. Coventry blastedan unbeaten 194 to equal former Pakistan openerSaeed Anwar’s 12-year record as Zimbabwe piledup 312-8 in their 50 overs. But Bangladesh openerTamim then hit his country’s highest individualscore of 154 as the tourists took victory with 13balls to spare.

» Subrata Paul was hero and sav-iour rolled into one for India. Themercurial goalkeeper made threebrilliant saves in a nerve-wrackingpenalty shootout as India overcamea strong Syria 6-5 to retain the

ONGC Nehru Cup. The tournament was held atNew Delhi.

» Tiger Woods cruised to a bogeyfree, final round three-under 69 anda three shot victory to lift the BuickOpen title for a third and possiblyfinal time. The troubled Detroitauto-maker is expected to pull out

its sponsorship which will lead to the tournamentdisappearing from the PGA Tour calendar in 2010.

» Tiger Woods created history on the par-70greens of Firestone Country Club clinching theWorld Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invita-tional for a record seventh time at Akron in Ohio(USA). India’s Jeev Milkha Singh tumbled downthe ladder playing his worst card of the event (sixover 76) to finish tied 64.

» Y.E. Yang, a 37-year-old South Korean whowas in PGA Tour quali-fying school nine monthsago, has become the first

Asian-born player to capture a major title. Evenmore memorable was that he beat Tiger Woodsto win the title.

» After 29 false starts, the Vijay Mallya-ownedForce India finally nixed the hoodoo and scoredtheir maiden Formula One points with GiancarloFisichella finishing second in the Belgian GrandPrix. The 36-year-old Italian driver, rumoured tohave one foot in Ferrari, shunned extravagance torun a flawless race and trailed Kimi Raikkonen’sFerrari, which had snatched the lead using theKinetic Energy Recovery System, all the way fora podium finish and earns eight valuable points.The Italian finished less than a second behindRaikkonen.

» Juan Martin del Potro ended Roger Federer’srun of dominance at the U.S. Open on Sep 14, 2009stunning the top-ranked Swiss great in five sets towin in his first Grand Slam final. The 20-year-oldArgentine prevailed 3-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2to snap Federer’s streak of five straight U.S. Opentitles. The sixth-seeded del Potro had not beatenFederer in their six previous encounters.

» Federer had won 40 consecutive matches atFlushing Meadows. He was seeking to become thefirst man since Bill Tilden in 1920-25 to win theAmerican championship six straight times and thefirst man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win threestraight Majors in a season. He had won 33 of hisprevious 34 Grand Slam matches. And he has madethe final at 17 of the past 18 Grand Slam tourna-ments, 21 overall

» Del Potro is the first man from Argentina towin the U.S. Open since Guillermo Vilas in 1977.

» The 26-year-old Belgian Kim Clijsters won theUS Open Singles title for women, beating Caroline

Section -4 (SPORTS)



Wozniacki in the final on September 13, 2009.Clijsters won in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. She had ear-lier beaten Venus Williams and Serena Williamsin the quarterfinal and semifinal. This is Kim'ssecond Grand Slam title, as she had won the USOpen in 2005.Kim Clijsters also became the sec-ond mom to win a Grand Slam title. Earlier,Evonne Goolagong Cawley had won Wimbledonin 1980. Kim made a comeback into tennis worldafter a two-year retirement. She was an wild-cardentry at the US Open and was unseeded. She alsobecame the first US Open women’s champion fromoutside the top 10.

» Fourth seeded US tennis players, Serena Will-iams and Venus Williams, took over top seedsCara Black of Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of theUnited States in straight sets of 6-2, 6-2 to clinchthe women’s doubles title at US Open on 2009-09-14.This win will be the 10th Grand Slamdoubles crown for the Williams sister with theprize money of 420,000 dollars. This is the thirdGrand Slam for Williams sister this year, after theclinched the crowns at Wimbledon and Austra-lian Open. The Williams sisters had clinched theUS Open title back in 1999.

» Leander Paes clinched his 10th Grand Slam titleafter winning his sensational battle against es-tranged friend Mahesh Bhupathi in the US Openmen’s doubles final. Fourth seeds Paes and hisCzech partner Lukas Dlouhy scripted a thrilling3-6 6-3 6-2 win over third seeds Bhupathi andMark Knowles of Bahamas in the championshipmatch on September 13, 2009. This is for the firsttime that Paes and Bhupathi faced each other inthe title clash of a Grand Slam.

» For Paes it is his fifth men’s doubles Grand Slamcrown, second with Dlouhy and 41st overall inhis career. It was also second title of the year forthe seasoned Paes, who won French Open in Junealong with Dlouhy. The defeat for Bhupathi meansthat he has not won a men’s doubles Grand Slamcrown in seven years. Interestingly, his last vic-tory came at the US Open only when he tri-umphed with Max Mirnyi in 2002. He had won

the Australian Open mixed doubles title withSania Mirza at the start of the season.

» Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partnerMark Knowles continued their rampaging formto lift their fourth ATP title together, beating sev-enth seeds Max Mirnyi and Andy Ram in straightsets in the finals of $ three million Rogers Cup.The third seeds won 6-4, 6-3 to clinch their firsttitle at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tennistournament.

Section -4 (SPORTS)











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» Major Amit Oscar Fernandes of Maratha LightInfantry, Major Deepak Tewari of Electronic andMechanical Engineers, Naik Rishikesh Gurjar ofRajput Regiment have been awarded Kirti Chakrafor exceptional gallantry shown during anti-in-surgency operations in J&K, along with para-trooper Shabir Ahmad Malik of 1 Para Regiment,who laid down his life in gun-battle in Kupwara.

» Indian sanitation expertBindeshwar Pathak has beenawarded the Stockholm WaterPrize, 2009, the most prestigiousaward for outstanding achieve-ment in water-related activities.The founder of Sulabh Sanitation

Movement in India, Pathak is known around theworld for his wide-ranging work in the sanitationfield. He has worked to improve public health,has advanced social progress, and has improvedhuman rights in his home nation and other coun-tries.

» The Stockholm Water Prize, which was firstpresented in 1991, includes a $150,000 award anda crystal sculpture. It honours individuals, insti-tutions or organisations whose work contributesbroadly to the conservation and protection ofwater resources and improves the health of theplanet's inhabitants and ecosystems.

» The Board of Trustees of the Ramon MagsaysayAward Foundation (RMAF) has selected six indi-viduals from Burma, China, India, the Philippines,and Thailand to receive Asia’s premier prize.The Awardees are:-» Krisana Kraisintu, from Thailand. She is beingrecognized for “her placing pharmaceutical rigorat the service of patients, through her untiringand fearless dedication to producing much-neededgeneric drugs in Thailand and elsewhere in thedeveloping world.”

AWARDS» Deep Joshi, from India. He is being recognizedfor “his vision and leadership in bringing profes-sionalism to the NGO movement in India, by ef-fectively combining ‘head’ and ‘heart’ in the trans-formative development of rural communities.”Yu Xiaogang, from China. He is being recognizedfor “his fusing the knowledge and tools of socialscience with a deep sense of social justice, in as-sisting dam-affected communities in China toshape the development projects that impact theirnatural environment and their lives.”

» Antonio Oposa, Jr., from the Phil-ippines. He is being recognized for“his path-breaking and passionatecrusade to engage Filipinos in actsof enlightened citizenship thatmaximize the power of law to pro-tect and nurture the environment

for themselves, their children, and generations stillto come.”

» Ma Jun, from China. He is being recognized for“his harnessing the technology and power of in-formation to address China's water crisis, andmobilizing pragmatic, multi-sectoral, and collabo-rative efforts to ensure sustainable benefits forChina's environment and society.”

» Ka Hsaw Wa, from Burma. He is being recog-nized for “his dauntlessly pursuing non violent yeteffective channels of redress, exposure, and edu-cation for the defence of human rights, the envi-ronment, and democracy in Burma.”

» The RMAF confers the award annually for thosein Asia, who have achieved excellence in six cat-egories, viz government service; public service;community leadership; journalism, literature andcreative communication, arts; peace and interna-tional understanding; and emergent leadership.Actually, there were only the first five categoriesin the beginning and only from 2000 the category

Section -5 (AWARDS)



of emergent leadership was added using a grantreceived from the Ford Foundation.

» Major Mohit Sharma, who laid down his lifefighting militants infiltrating from Pakistan intoJ&K in March 2009, has been awarded with AshokChakra, the highest peacetime gallantry award ofthe country, along with Major D. Sreeram Kumar.Major Sharma of Ghaziabad belonged to the Elite1 Para special forces of the Army. He was deputedto Rashtriya Rifles in Kashmir. He along with fourothers was killed while fighting terrorists in theHafruda forest of Kupwara district. This was oneof the biggest attempts to infiltrate by militantseven before the snow in the high mountain passeshad melted. The militants were heavily armed andit led to a fierce gun-battle. Four terrorists werekilled, two of them by Major Sharma despite be-ing fatally injured.

» Major D. Sreeram Kumar of Artillery regimentis presently serving in Assam Rifles. He wasawarded in recognition of his service in the Op-eration Hifazat in Manipur. He eliminated 12 andapprehended 23 terrorists and recovered 12 weap-ons. He has also created a vibrant intelligence net-work.

» Eminent Sanskrit poet SatyaVrat Shastri has been presentedthe prestigious 42nd JnanpithAward. The award was conferredto him by the Princess of Thai-land, Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, for

his “outstanding contribution to the enrichmentof Indian literature.” He is the first Sanskrit poetto be conferred the award since its inception.

» The award recognises Dr. Shastri for introduc-ing a number of new genres in Sanskrit writingsuch as autobiography, diary and collections ofletters in verse. His magnum opus, “TheRamayana: A Linguistic Study”, is the first everlinguistic appraisal of the Valmiki Ramayana andalso of any existing Sanskrit work.

Section -5 (AWARDS)









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International Year ofAstronomy 2009

UNESCO and the In-ternational Astronomi-cal Union (IAU)launched 2009 as theInternational Year ofAstronomy under thetheme "The Universe,Yours to Discover".The IYA2009 is a glo-

bal celebration of astronomy and its contributionsto society and culture, with events at national, re-gional and global levels throughout the whole of2009. Now, halfway through 2009, much has beenachieved and even more can be expected in thefuture.

Objectives: The Galileoscope project headlines theIYA2009. With the aim of providing low-cost tele-scopes that offer views far better than those ob-tained by Galileo Galilei some 400 years ago, theventure has picked up significant pace since theIYA2009 began. By the end of July, the first 60000 Galileoscopes have been shipped, and a fur-ther 100 000 are currently in production. Morethan 4000 Galileoscopes have been generously do-nated by the IYA 2009 and individuals toorganisations and schools in developing countries.This gesture aptly demonstrates the commitmentof astronomy enthusiasts to the IYA2009 goal ofmaking the skies accessible to all.

But perhaps the most impressive figures for theIYA2009 have come from the national activitiesthat have brought together hundreds of thousandsof people in many countries for astronomy-themedevents. For example, more than 400 000 peoplegathered for the Sunrise Event on New Year’s Dayin Busan City, South Korea.

Science & Technology

IAU(International Astronomical

Organisation)

The IAU is the international astronomicalorganisation that brings together almost 10 000distinguished astronomers from all nations of theworld. Its mission is to promote and safeguard thescience of astronomy in all its aspects through in-ternational cooperation. The IAU also serves asthe internationally recognised authority for assign-ing designations to celestial bodies and the sur-face features on them. Founded in 1919, the IAUis the world’s largest professional body for astrono-mers.

SCOSTA(OS Standard for Smartcards)

In order to standardise and secure the data foridentity and related applications, Govt. of India isdeploying the smart card technology in variousapplications such as Indian Driving Licences, Ve-hicle Registration Certificates, National Identity,Electronic Passports etc. The first major applica-tion of this standard is the e-Passport that waslaunched in India on June 25, 2008. The SCOSTA-CL standard is upward compatible to old SCOSTAstandard.

Smart cards are secured electronic devices that areused for keeping data and other information in away that only "authorized" users are permitted tosee or write the data.

A technical Sub-committee was set up to drawoperating system specifications for the smart cardbased Indian Driving Licences (DL) and VehicleRegistration Certificates (RC) on in June 2001. TheSCOSTA specifications were defined primarily byIIT Kanpur alongwith this committee. TheSCOSTA specification is largely compliant withthe international ISO 7816 standard (parts 4 to 9)for smart cards. Subsequently, the standards were

Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Science And Technology)



enhanced to support secure messaging, which isnecessary in many applications involving contact-less communications. The enhanced standard(SCOSTA-CL) was defined by IIT Kanpur and wasreleased to public in July 2006.

SCOSTA can be implemented on any micropro-cessor based smart card. The applicatons specifythe memory requirement for the card. Usually,4KB permanent storage (EEPROM) on the micro-processor is sufficient for DL and RC applications,16KB for the national ID and 64KB for the e-Pass-port. The use of any other media (such as opticalstripes) for additional data storage is not prescribedby these application specifications.

Objectives: The SCOSTA project was initiatedwith the following principal objectives.

Standardization of Information

The card layout, data fields and other relevantinformation stored on the card and the back-endhave been standardized to ensure that informa-tion on all cards (issued wherever in India) is uni-form and can be read and written all over India.Inter-operability

Since the Indian applications are to be deployednationwide, it is essential for the standards to beinteroperable and therefore, SCOSTA specifica-tions deal fully with this aspect. All non-interoperable features are discouraged and aretherefore non-compliant and do not form part ofSCOSTA specifications

Multi Vendor Support / Non-Propri-etary

Keeping in view the need for future up-gradation,multi vendor support and the critical requirementof the specifications and product to be non-pro-prietary, it is essential to have the operating sys-tem specification to be open and standard.Security and Integrity of Data

A microprocessor based smart card can ensure thatonly authorized persons can read or write the ap-

plication data stored in the card. SCOSTA sup-ports both password based and key based authen-tication of users. Additionally, the SCOSTA-CLalso supports the secure messaging and session keysfor communication between the reader and thecard. The application specifications include securekey management systems that ensure that onlyofficials authorized to change the card data cando so and that it is not possible to create forgedidentity.

Common Services Centre (CSC)

The Government has approved a Common Ser-vices Centres (CSCs) Scheme for providing sup-port for establishing 100,000 Common ServicesCenters in 600,000 villages of India. The Scheme,as approved by the Government of India, envi-sions CSCs as the front-end delivery points forGovernment, private and social sector services torural citizens of India, in an integrated manner.

Objective & Implementation

The objective is to develop a platform that canenable Government, private and social sector or-ganizations to align their social and commercialgoals for the benefit of the rural population in theremotest corners of the country through a com-bination of IT-based as well as non-IT-based ser-vices.

The Scheme has been approved at a total cost ofRs 5742 Cr. over 4 years, of which the Govern-ment of India is estimated to contribute Rs 856Cr. and the State Governments Rs 793 Cr. Thebalance resources would be mobilized from theprivate sector. The Common Services Centreswould be designed as ICT-enabled Kiosks havinga PC along with basic support equipment likePrinter, Scanner, UPS, with Wireless Connectiv-ity as the backbone and additional equipment foredutainment, telemedicine, projection systems,etc., as the case may be.

The Scheme is to be implemented through a Pub-lic Private Partnership. CSCs are the primary




physical front-end for delivery of Government andprivate services to citizens. They are one of thethree pillars of the core and support infrastruc-ture of the National e Governance Plan for en-abling anytime anywhere delivery of governmentservices, the other two being (a) the State WideArea Network (for Connectivity) which has al-ready been approved by the Government for Rs3334 Cr. and (b) the State Data Centre Scheme(for secure hosting of data and applications) forwhich the draft guidelines are under preparation.Implementation of a mission-oriented project ofthis size and scope would pose significant chal-lenges of project management at the national levelas also in exploiting opportunities to achieve sig-nificant economies of scale in the identification,customization and implementation of the physi-cal and digital infrastructure required for theproject. Further, many of the potential citizen-centric services would lend themselves to aggre-gation at the national level. To serve the aboveobjectives and to enable the State-specific imple-mentation plans to benefit from such economiesof scale, aggregation of best practices, content pro-viders, etc. DIT has appointed a National LevelService Agency (NLSA) with defined Terms ofReference to coordinate the entire activity.

The CSC Scheme has a 3-tier implementationframework:

» At the first (CSC) level would be the local Vil-lage Level Entrepreneur (VLE- loosely analogousto a franchisee), to service the rural consumer in acluster of 5-6 villages.

» At the second/middle level would be an entitytermed the Service Centre Agency (SCA looselyanalogous to a franchiser) to operate, manage andbuild the VLE network and business. An SCAwould be identified for one or more districts (onedistrict would cover 100-200 CSCs).

» At the third level would be the agency desig-nated by the State- the State Designated Agency(SDA) - to facilitate implementation of the Schemewithin the State and to provide requisite policy,content and other support to the SCAs.

State Wide Area Networks (SWAN)

The SWAN Scheme for 29 States & 6 Union Ter-ritories, at an estimated outlay of Rs. 3334 Crores,was approved by Govt. of India, in March 2005 toset up State Wide Area Networks (SWAN), inter-connecting each State / UT Head Quarter withDistrict Head Quarter and below each DistrictHead Quarter with the Block Head Quarters withminimum 2 Mbps leased line.

The objective of the Scheme is to create a secureclose user group (CUG) government network forthe purpose of delivering G2G and G2C services.The duration of project is 5 years with a pre-projectimplementation period of 18 months. The projectis being implemented as a Central Sector Schemewith Rs. 2005 Crores as Grant-in-aid from De-partment of Information Technology and balancefund from the State Plan fund under AdditionalCentral Assistance (ACA) allocation.

Nano Mission

Nano Technology is a knowledge-intensive and"enabling technology" which is expected to influ-ence a wide range of products and processes withfar-reaching implications for national economyand development. The Government of India, inMay 2007, has approved the launch of a Missionon Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission)with an allocation of Rs. 1000 crore for 5 years.

Nodal Agency

The Department of Science and Technology is thenodal agency for implementing the Nano Mission.Capacity-building in this upcoming area of re-search will be of utmost importance for the NanoMission so that India emerges as a global knowl-edge-hub in this field. For this, research on fun-damental aspects of Nano Science and training oflarge number of manpower will receive prime at-tention. Equally importantly, the Nano Missionwill strive for development of products and pro-cesses for national development, especially in ar-eas of national relevance like safe drinking water,




materials development, sensors development, drugdelivery, etc. For this, it will forge linkages be-tween educational and research institutions andindustry and promote Public Private Partnerships.The Nano Mission has been structured in a fash-ion so as to achieve synergy between the nationalresearch efforts of various agencies in Nano Sci-ence and Technology and launch new programmesin a concerted fashion. International collaborativeresearch efforts will also be made wherever re-quired.

The Nano Mission is an umbrella programme forcapacity building which envisages the overall de-velopment of this field of research in the countryand to tap some of its applied potential for nation’sdevelopment. In brief, the objectives of theNano-Mission are:

Objectives: Basic Research Promotion: Fundingof basic research by individual scientists and/orgroups of scientists and creation of centres of ex-cellence for pursuing studies leading to fundamen-tal understanding of matter that enables controland manipulation at the nanoscale.Infrastructure Development for Nano Science &Technology Research: Investigations on the nanoscale require expensive equipments like OpticalTweezer, Nano Indentor, Transmission ElectronMicroscope (TEM), Atomic Force Microscope(AFM), Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM),Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Time of FlightMass Spectrometer (MALDI TOF MS), MicroarraySpotter & Scanner etc. For optimal use of expen-sive and sophisticated facilities, it is proposed toestablish a chain of shared facilities across thecountry.

Nano Applications and Technology DevelopmentProgrammes: To catalyze Applications and Tech-nology Development Programmes leading to prod-ucts and devices, the Mission proposes to promoteapplication-oriented R&D Projects, estabsish NanoApplications and Technology Development Cen-tres, Nano-Technology Business Incubators etc.Special effort will be made to involve the indus-trial sector into nanotechnology R&D directly orthrough Public Private Partnership (PPP) ven-tures.

Human Resource Development: The Mission shallfocus on providing effective education and train-ing to researchers and professionals in diversifiedfields so that a genuine interdisciplinary culturefor nanoscale science, engineering and technol-ogy can emerge. It is planned to launch M.Sc./M.Tech. programmes, create national and over-seas post-doctoral fellowships, chairs in universi-ties, etc.International Collaborations: Apart from explor-atory visits of scientists, organization of joint work-shops and conferences and joint research projects,it is also planned to facilitate access to sophisti-cated research facilities abroad, establish joint cen-tres of excellence and forge academia-industrypartnerships at the international level whereverrequired and desirable.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the engineering of tiny ma-chines, the projected ability to build things fromthe bottom up inside personal nanofactories (PNs),using techniques and tools being developed todayto make complete, highly advanced products. Ul-timately, nanotechnology will enable control ofmatter at the nanometer scale, using mecha-nochemistry. Shortly after this envisioned molecu-lar machinery is created, it will result in a manu-facturing revolution, probably causing severe dis-ruption. It also has serious economic, social, envi-ronmental, and military implications. A nanom-eter is one billionth of a meter, roughly the widthof three or four atoms. The average human hair isabout 25,000 nanometers wide.

Integrated Guided Missile Development ProgramThe Integrated Guided Missile Development Pro-gram (IGMDP) was an Indian Ministry of Defenceprogram for the development of a comprehensiverange of missiles, including the intermediate rangeAgni missile (Surface to Surface), and short rangemissiles such as the Prithvi ballistic missile (Sur-face to Surface), Akash missile (Surface to Air),Trishul missile (Surface to Air) and Nag Missile(Anti Tank). The program was headed by DefenseResearch and Development Organization (DRDO),




with former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam,being one of the chief engineers involved in theproject.

The project was started in early 1980s and resultedin the development of several key strategic mis-siles. The last major missile developed under theprogram was Agni 3 intermediate-range ballisticmissile which was successfully tested on 9 July2007. On 8 January 2008, and the third test on 7May 2008, the DRDO announced that it will beclosing the missile program formally since mostof the missiles in the program are developed andinducted into Indian armed forces. According tostatement by Dr. S Pralhada, head controller ofDRDO, new missile and weapons systems will bedeveloped within a five-year time frame at lowcosts, with foreign partners and private industries.DRDO has independently carried out further de-velopment work on Nag and Surya missile.

In 2008, India noted that the strategic integratedguided missile program was completed with itsdesign objectives achieved. Follow on strategicprojects are being either pursued singly (e.g. Agniproject) whereas tactical systems could involvejoint ventures with even foreign partners.In September 2008 Indian scientists developed apath-breaking technology that has the potentialto increase the range of missiles and satellitelaunch vehicles by at least 40%.The enhancedrange is made possible by adding a special-pur-pose coating of chromium metal to the blunt nosecone of missiles and launch vehicles. This wouldadd-up on the stated range.

India’s top missile scientist (Dr VK Saraswat), re-vealed for the first time that the Integrated GuidedMissile Development Programme (IGMDP) waslikely to close down on 31 December 2008.

Development

In the twentieth century, the government of in-dependent India embarked on a number of plansto develop missiles which would strengthen India’sdefences. In 1958, the government constituted the

Special Weapons Development Team whichwould later become the Defence Research andDevelopment Laboratories (DRDL), to undertakethe development of first-generation anti-tankmissiles. In the 1970s, the Indian government de-cided to manufacture anti-tank missiles under li-cense from France. At the same time, DRDL wasentrusted with two other projects: Project Val-iant, which involved the development of a long-range ballistic missile; and Project devil, whichwas aimed at reverse engineering the Soviet SA-2surface-to-air missile. Both projects were termi-nated prematurely; Project Valiant was terminatedin 1974 and Project Devil met the same fate in1980.

However, by this time, DRDL had developed someinfrastructure and facilities to undertake the de-sign and development of missiles. In 1983, underthe experience and leadership of Dr. Abdul Kalam,who had previously been the project director forthe SLV-3 programme at ISRO, the Indian gov-ernment revived the missile program as an Inte-grated Guided Missile Development Program(IGMDP). As part of this program, the InterimTest Range at Balasore in Orissa was developedfor missile testing.

India on Tuesday 07, 2008 announced the scrap-ping of the strategic integrated guided missileprogramme, and said the development and pro-duction of most of futuristic weapons systemswould henceforth be taken up with foreign help.The main aim of the Integrated Guided MissileDevelopment Program was to develop, a missilein five different categories simultaneously,namely: a short-range surface-to-air missile(codenamed Trishul), a medium-range surface-to-air missile (codenamed Akash), a third-generationanti-tank guided missile (codenamed Nag), a short-range surface-to-surface missile (codenamedPrithvi), and an intermediate-range surface-to-surface missile (codenamed Agni).

There were a number of failures and successes,which led to an expansion of the program in the1990s, to develop the long range Agni missile, aballistic missile (codenamed Sagarika), which




would be the naval version of the Prithvi, and aninter-continental-ballistic-missile (codenamedSurya) with a range of 8,000-12,000 km.

In 1998, the Government of India, signed an agree-ment with Russia to design, develop, manufactureand market a Supersonic Cruise Missile Systemwhich has been successfully accomplished by2006. BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile thatcan be launched from submarines, ships, aircraftor land. At speeds of Mach 2.5 to 2.8, it is theworld’s fastest cruise missile and is about threeand a half times faster than the American sub-sonic Harpoon cruise missile. BAPL is contemplat-ing a hypersonic Mach 8 version of the missile,named as the BrahMos II. BrahMos II will be thefirst hypersonic cruise missile and is expected tobe ready by 2012-13. The laboratory testing of themissile has started.(codenamed BrahMos).

AWACS Aircraft

AWACS aircraft was inducted into Indian AirForce on May 28,2009. Earlier the AWACS air-craft landed at Jamnagar air base in Gujarat. Theaircraft will operate from the Agra air base underthe Central Air Command as part of the extendedfleet of the IL-76s family. India became the firstcountry in South Asia to own an AWACS, popu-larly called ‘an eye in the sky’. The aircraft beinglooked as a replacement for the IL-76 includeEmbraer and Gulfstream 550, which can carry outflying missions of over nine hours at a stretch.

Indian scientists clone first buffalo in the worldThe buffalo clone named Samrupa is the first timesome animal has been cloned in India on Febru-ary 14th 2009. ‘Samrupa’ is a Hindi word mean-ing some one who is exactly same as some oneelse. So, samrupa was exactly same as her motherbuffalo. This is a milestone for Indian science andtechnology. Dr. S K Singla a scientist at the Na-tional Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryanaand his biotechnologist team had been workingon the cloning of the calf for the last four years.This milestone came to Indian science 13 years

after the first animal Dolly was cloned from hermother sheep. Samrupa’s mother is a one year oldbuffalo of the famous Murrah variety of Haryanathat gives 35 Kgs of milk per day.

Global Meeting on Water Crisis

Government ministers from 120 countries, scien-tists and campaigners met in Istanbul from March16, 2009 to discuss how to avert a global watercrisis and ease tensions between States fightingover rivers, lakes and glaciers. The world’s popu-lation of 6.6 billion is forecast to rise by 2.5 billionby 2050. Most of the growth will be in develop-ing countries, much of it in region where water isalready scarce. As populations and living standardsrise, a global water crisis looms unless countriestake urgent action, the international body said.The agenda for the talks included how to avertcatastrophic floods and droughts as climate pat-terns change, and how the global financial crisisthreatens to hit large scale water infra-structureprojects within the next several years.

InternationalMobile Equipment Identity

International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)number is a unique 15-digit code that can iden-tify a mobile to a GSM network. It prevents sto-len handsets from being used to make calls andallows lawful interception to prove that a particu-lar device was used for making calls.

India’s First Biodegradable Bags

Biobin, India’s first biodegradable bags meant asan alternative to non-bio-degrable plastic bags, amain source of environment pollution, has beenintroduced in Tamil Nadu. This is the first time inIndia that bio-degradable bags with disinfectantproperties and fragrance have been launched.These bags have special characteristics that helpthem degrade faster. The Sunstar Trading Corpo-ration, jointly with Exnora International, has de-signed and launched the biobin bags.




The Indigenous Missile ‘Shaurya’

The indigenous missile ‘Shaurya’ was launchedfrom an underground facility with an in-built can-ister from Complex-3 of the Integrated Test Rangeat Chandipur, Balasore (Orissa) in 2008. The so-phisticated tactical medium-range surface-to-sur-face ballistic missile Shaurya is capable of carry-ing conventional warheads with a payload of aboutone tonne. It has 600-km range and is capable ofhitting targets deep inside Pakistan and China.

Y (4140)

Scientists has found evidence of an unexpectedparticle whose curious characteristics may revealnew ways that quark can combine to form mat-ter. The new particle was temporarily designatedas Y (4140). It has a mass equivalent to 4140 mil-lion electron volts (MeV) of energy – in the senseof Einstein’s mass-energy relation – and the sym-bol Y is indicative of its as yet unconfirmed andill-understood status. At present, it is not clearwhat exactly Y (4140) is made of.

Primate Fossil Ida

A new 47-million year old primate fossil Ida, foundin Germany was unveiled to the world at theAmerican Museum of Natural History in NewYork on May 19,2009. It may be a key link to ex-plaining the evolution of early primates and, per-haps, telling them about developments that led tomodern human beings. Dr. Jorn Hurum of theUniversity of Oslo, who led the two-year effortto determine the fossil’s importance, nicknamedit ‘Ida’ after his own six-year-old daughter. Ida,the fossil of a young female that probably re-sembled a modern-day lemur was described as themost complete primate fossil ever found.

Tropical Cyclone Aila

Tropical cyclone Aila wreaked havoc in Kolkata,its suburbs and across south Bengal. Aila also hitBangladesh’s southern coastlines with wind-

driven tidal surged inundating residential areas andbreaching embankments. Many people died onboth sides.

Oldest Evidence of Leprosy

A team from Appalachian State University andDeccan College Pune analyses 4000- year-old skel-eton from India and found the evidence of lep-rosy. The skeleton represents both the earliestarchaeological evidence for human infection withMycobacterium larvae in the world and the firstevidence for the disease in prehistoric India. Thestudy demonstrates that leprosy was present inhuman populations in India by the end of themature phase of the Indus Civilisation (2000 BC)and provides support for one hypothesis aboutprehistoric transmission routes for disease.

Swine Flu

New cases of the deadly swine flu virus have beenconfirmed in April 2009 as far afield as NewZealand and Israel, as the UN warned it can notbe contained. The US, Canada, Spain and Britainconfirmed cases earlier but no deaths have beenreported outside Mexico, where the virus was firstreported. Mexico has raised the number of prob-able deaths to 152, with 1,614 suspected sufferersunder observation. UN inspectors examined re-ports pig farms may have spread the virus. TheUN’s health agency, the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO), confirmed that the flu had beentransmitted between humans. Countries with sus-pected cases: Brazil, Guatemala, Peru, Australia,and South Korea, and seven EU states is beingtransmitted from human to human.

What is Swine Flu

Swine flu is a respiratory disease, caused by influ-enza type A, which infects pigs. There are manytypes, and the infection is constantly changing.Until now it has not normally infected humans,but the latest form clearly does, and can be spreadfrom person to person - probably through cough-ing and sneezing. The World Health Organiza-tion has confirmed that at least some of the hu-




man cases are a never-before-seen version of theH1N1 strain of influenza type A. H1N1 is the samestrain which causes seasonal outbreaks of flu inhumans on a regular basis. But this latest versionof H1N1 is different: it contains genetic materialthat is typically found in strains of the virus thataffect humans, birds and swine. Flu viruses havethe ability to swap genetic components with eachother, and it seems likely that the new version ofH1N1 resulted from a mixing of different versionsof the virus, which may usually affect differentspecies, in the same animal host. Pigs provide anexcellent ‘melting pot’ for these viruses to mix andmatch with each other.

Symptoms

Symptoms of swine flu in humans appear to besimilar to those produced by standard, seasonalflu. These include fever, cough, sore throat, bodyaches, chills and fatigue. Most cases so far reportedaround the world appear to be mild, but in Mexicolives have been lost. When any new strain of fluemerges that acquires the ability to pass from per-son to person, it is monitored very closely in caseit has the potential to spark a global epidemic, orpandemic. The World Health Organization haswarned that taken together the Mexican and UScases could potentially trigger a global pandemic,and stress that the situation is serious. However itis still too early to accurately assess the situationfully.

Nobody knows the full potential impact of a pan-demic, but experts have warned that it could costmillions of lives worldwide. The Spanish flu pan-demic, which began in 1918, and was also causedby an H1N1 strain, killed millions of people. Thefact that all the cases in the US and elsewhere haveso far produced mild symptoms is encouraging. Itsuggests that the severity of the Mexican outbreakmay be due to an unusual geographically-specificfactor - possibly a second unrelated virus circulat-ing in the community - which would be unlikelyto come into play in the rest of the world.

Alternatively, people infected in Mexico may havesought treatment at a much later stage than those

in other countries. It may also be the case that theform of the virus circulating in Mexico is subtlydifferent to that elsewhere - although that willonly be confirmed by laboratory analysis. Thereis also hope that, as humans are often exposed toforms of H1N1 through seasonal flu, our immunesystems may have something of a head start infighting infection. However, the fact that manyof the victims are young does point to somethingunusual. Normal, seasonal flu tends to affect theelderly disproportionately.

The virus appears already to have started to spreadaround the world, and most experts believe thatcontainment of the virus in the era of readily avail-able air travel will be extremely difficult.

According to World Health Organization that re-stricting flights will have little effect. It arguesthat screening of passengers is also unlikely to havemuch impact, as symptoms may not be apparentin many infected people.

Project Snow Leopard

India has launched Project Snow Leopard to con-serve the endangered species (Uncia uncia) acrossits habitat in the five Himalayan states in the coun-try on Jan 20,2009 .The project is a manifestationof the government of India’s resolve to conservebiodiversity with community participation. Gov-ernment has launched the project to give thespecie the same status of importance in the highaltitude as that of tiger in the terrestrial landscape.The project will be undertaken in five Himalayanstates of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh withsupport from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII)and the Mysore based Nature Conservation Foun-dation (NCF).

Snow leopard is globally endangered specie andan important flagship species of the mountain re-gion. They are at the apex of ecological pyramidand suffer the most on account of relatively smallerpopulation size and also due to man-animal con-flict. This situation gets further aggravated due tothe hostile landscape forming its habitat. Snow




leopard has been included in the list of speciesunder the Recovery Programme to be fundedthrough the umbrella scheme of integrated de-velopment of wildlife habitats.

There are more than 26 protected areas in theHimalayan landscape where specie is reported.However, areas outside the protected areas areequally important for long-range species like snowleopard. India is endowed with the unique wild-life assemblage of global importance in the Hima-layan and trans-Himalayan zones. Thus, imple-mentation of Project Snow Leopard will give anopportunity for the conservation of this uniquebiodiversity.

Securing of landscape for conservation, capacitybuilding of staff, research on wildlife and humanactivities in snow leopard habitat, grazing andmanagement policies, and education awareness,among others, would be vital for long-term con-servation of the species. The Himalayan region ishome to at least 350 mammal species, 1,200 birdspecies, besides a large number of amphibians andreptiles, and numerous plants including with me-dicinal properties.

Radio Collaring to Save Gharials

Fast vanishing crocodiles from Chambal wildlifesanctuary have forced the Department of Scienceand Technology to use science to monitor the en-dangered species in the area spread over threestates of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan. Close to 2,500 captively bred crocodileshave been released into the Chambal since 1983but less than 1,000 are estimated to be survivingin the river. The department has asked the WIIand forest departments of the three states to useradio collaring to monitor the crocodiles releasedinto the river from captive centers.

Radio Collaring

Radio collaring is a technology, which uses Glo-bal Positioning Response System to record move-ments of the animal on a daily basis after it is re-

leased in the wild. The WII will soon be starting apilot project in this regard.

96th Indian Science Congress

The 96th Indian Science Congress concluded on3-7 jan, 2009 with the scientific community mak-ing specific recommendations for a tangible andsubstantial action to be taken in future tostrengthen Science and Technology scenario andScience Education in the country. In his addressat the concluding session at NEHU in Shillong,the President of the ISC2009, Dr. T Ramasamisummed up the final recommendations as follows:

1. Science Education systems at various levels mustbe reviewed and special schemes for attraction oftalent for excellence in research though the newlylaunched INSPIRE must be strengthened thoughthe participation of the community.

2. HRD initiatives for space, agriculture, indus-trial research must be further strengthened.

3. Further strengthening of ongoing Indian ini-tiatives on mega science, astronomy and astrophys-ics, women in science is supported.

4. New models for PPPs in science education aswell as research and development.

5. Teacher motivation and enabling systems in-cluding in-service training, teaching tools fromlocal examples, project-based learning systems andimplementation of some recommendations of theInter-academy panel on new educational models.

6. Formation of scientific advisory councils to thestates in the NER for promotion of science andtechnology in the region. ISCA recommends thatsuch councils may be formed by other states aswell.

7. A special package for relating science educa-tion and promotion of research in the NER maybe developed and resources made availablethrough a special grant.




8. Approaches for an evidence-based budgetingand policy building.

9. Right sizing and expansion of R&D base in bothpublic and private sector.

10. Increased career opportunities in S&T sectorfor the youth; and

11. Introduction of Performance Related Incen-tive Systems for the S&T staff

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is technology based on biology,agriculture, food science, and medicine. Modernuse of the term usually refers to genetic engineer-ing as well as cell- and tissue culture technolo-gies. However, the concept encompasses a widerrange and history of procedures for modifying liv-ing things according to human purposes, goingback to domestication of animals, cultivation ofplants and "improvements" to these throughbreeding programs that employ artificial selectionand hybridization. By comparison to biotechnol-ogy, bioengineering is generally thought of as arelated field with its emphasis more on mechani-cal and higher systems approaches to interfacingwith and exploiting living things.

Biotechnology draws on the pure biological sci-ences (genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture,molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, cellbiology) and in many instances is also dependenton knowledge and methods from outside thesphere of biology (chemical engineering,bioprocess engineering, information technology,biorobotics). Conversely, modern biological sci-ences (including even concepts such as molecularecology) are intimately entwined and dependenton the methods developed through biotechnol-ogy and what is commonly thought of as the lifesciences industry.

Biotechnology

Biotechnology has applications in four major inIndustrial areas, including health care (medical),

crop production and agriculture, non food (indus-trial) uses of crops and other products (e.g. biode-gradable plastics, vegetable oil, biofuels), and en-vironmental uses.

For example, one application of biotechnology isthe directed use of organisms for the manufac-ture of organic products (examples include beerand milk products). Another example is usingnaturally present bacteria by the mining industryin bioleaching. Biotechnology is also used to re-cycle, treat waste, clean up sites contaminated byindustrial activities (bioremediation), and also toproduce biological weapons.

A series of derived terms have been coined to iden-tify several branches of biotechnology, for ex-ample:-Bioinformatics

» Bioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field whichaddresses biological problems using computationaltechniques, and makes the rapid organization andanalysis of biological data possible. The field mayalso be referred to as computational biology, andcan be defined as, "conceptualizing biology interms of molecules and then applying informaticstechniques to understand and organize the infor-mation associated with these molecules, on a largescale."[6] Bioinformatics plays a key role in vari-ous areas, such as functional genomics, structuralgenomics, and proteomics, and forms a key com-ponent in the biotechnology and pharmaceuticalsector.

» Blue biotechnology is a term that has been usedto describe the marine and aquatic applications ofbiotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.

» Green biotechnology is biotechnology appliedto agricultural processes. An example would bethe selection and domestication of plants viamicropropagation. Another example is the design-ing of transgenic plants to grow under specificenvironmental in the presence (or absence) ofchemicals. One hope is that green biotechnologymight produce more environmentally friendlysolutions than traditional industrial agriculture.




An example of this is the engineering of a plant toexpress a pesticide, thereby ending the need ofexternal application of pesticides. An example ofthis would be Bt corn. Whether or not green bio-technology products such as this are ultimatelymore environmentally friendly is a topic of con-siderable debate.

» Red biotechnology is applied to medical pro-cesses. Some examples are the designing of organ-isms to produce antibiotics, and the engineeringof genetic cures through genomic manipulation.

» White biotechnology, also known as industrialbiotechnology, is biotechnology applied to indus-trial processes. An example is the designing of anorganism to produce a useful chemical. Anotherexample is the using of enzymes as industrial cata-lysts to either produce valuable chemicals or de-stroy hazardous/polluting chemicals. White bio-technology tends to consume less in resources thantraditional processes used to produce industrialgoods. The investments and economic output ofall of these types of applied biotechnologies formwhat has been described as the bioeconomy.

Medicine

In medicine, modern biotechnology finds prom-ising applications in such areas as:» Drug production;» Pharmacogenomics;» Gene therapy; and» Genetic testing;

Pharmacogenomics

Pharmacogenomics is the study of how the ge-netic inheritance of an individual affects his/herbody’s response to drugs. It is a coined word de-rived from the words "pharmacology" and"genomics". It is hence the study of the relation-ship between pharmaceuticals and genetics. Thevision of pharmacogenomics is to be able to de-sign and produce drugs that are adapted to eachperson’s genetic makeup.

Pharmacogenomics results in the following ben-efits:Ø Development of tailor-made medicines. Usingpharmacogenomics, pharmaceutical companiescan create drugs based on the proteins, enzymesand RNA molecules that are associated with spe-cific genes and diseases. These tailor-made drugspromise not only to maximize therapeutic effectsbut also to decrease damage to nearby healthycells.

Ø More accurate methods of determining appro-priate drug dosages. Knowing a patient’s geneticswill enable doctors to determine how well his/her body can process and metabolize a medicine.This will maximize the value of the medicine anddecrease the likelihood of overdose.

Ø Improvements in the drug discovery and ap-proval process. The discovery of potential thera-pies will be made easier using genome targets.Genes have been associated with numerous dis-eases and disorders. With modern biotechnology,these genes can be used as targets for the devel-opment of effective new therapies, which couldsignificantly shorten the drug discovery process.

Ø Better vaccines. Safer vaccines can be designedand produced by organisms transformed by meansof genetic engineering. These vaccines will elicitthe immune response without the attendant risksof infection. They will be inexpensive, stable, easyto store, and capable of being engineered to carryseveral strains of pathogen at once.

Pharmaceutical products

Most traditional pharmaceutical drugs are rela-tively simple molecules that have been found pri-marily through trial and error to treat the symp-toms of a disease or illness. Biopharmaceuticalsare large biological molecules known as proteinsand these usually target the underlying mecha-nisms and pathways of a malady (but not always,as is the case with using insulin to treat type 1diabetes mellitus, as that treatment merely ad-dresses the symptoms of the disease, not the un-




derlying cause which is autoimmunity); it is a rela-tively young industry. They can deal with targetsin humans that may not be accessible with tradi-tional medicines. A patient typically is dosed witha small molecule via a tablet while a large mol-ecule is typically injected.

Genetic testing

Genetic testing involves the direct examinationof the DNA molecule itself. A scientist scans apatient’s DNA sample for mutated sequences.There are two major types of gene tests. In thefirst type, a researcher may design short pieces ofDNA ("probes") whose sequences are complemen-tary to the mutated sequences. These probes willseek their complement among the base pairs of anindividual’s genome. If the mutated sequence ispresent in the patient’s genome, the probe willbind to it and flag the mutation. In the secondtype, a researcher may conduct the gene test bycomparing the sequence of DNA bases in apatient’s gene to disease in healthy individuals ortheir progeny.

Genetic testing is now used for:» Carrier screening, or the identification of unaf-fected individuals who carry one copy of a genefor a disease that requires two copies for the dis-ease to manifest;

» Confirmational diagnosis of symptomatic indi-viduals;

» Determining sex;» Forensic/identity testing;» Newborn screening;» Prenatal diagnostic screening;» Presymptomatic testing for estimating the riskof developing adult-onset cancers;

» Presymptomatic testing for predicting adult-on-set disorders.

Gene therapy

Gene therapy may be used for treating, or evencuring, genetic and acquired diseases like cancerand AIDS by using normal genes to supplementor replace defective genes or to bolster a normalfunction such as immunity. It can be used to tar-get somatic (i.e., body) or gametes (i.e., egg andsperm) cells. In somatic gene therapy, the genomeof the recipient is changed, but this change is notpassed along to the next generation. In contrast,in germline gene therapy, the egg and sperm cellsof the parents are changed for the purpose of pass-ing on the changes to their offspring.

Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project is an initiative of theU.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") that aims togenerate a high-quality reference sequence for theentire human genome and identify all the humangenes.

The DOE and its predecessor agencies were as-signed by the U.S. Congress to develop new en-ergy resources and technologies and to pursue adeeper understanding of potential health and en-vironmental risks posed by their production anduse. In 1986, the DOE announced its Human Ge-nome Initiative. Shortly thereafter, the DOE andNational Institutes of Health developed a plan fora joint Human Genome Project ("HGP"), whichofficially began in 1990.

The HGP was originally planned to last 15 years.However, rapid technological advances and world-wide participation accelerated the completion dateto 2003 (making it a 13 year project). Already ithas enabled gene hunters to pinpoint genes asso-ciated with more than 30 disorders.

Cloning

Cloning involves the removal of the nucleus fromone cell and its placement in an unfertilized eggcell whose nucleus has either been deactivated orremoved.

There are two types of cloning:1. Reproductive cloning. After a few divisions,




the egg cell is placed into a uterus where it is al-lowed to develop into a fetus that is geneticallyidentical to the donor of the original nucleus.

2. Therapeutic cloning. The egg is placed into aPetri dish where it develops into embryonic stemcells, which have shown potentials for treatingseveral ailments.In February 1997, cloning became the focus ofmedia attention when Ian Wilmut and his col-leagues at the Roslin Institute announced the suc-cessful cloning of a sheep, named Dolly, from themammary glands of an adult female. The cloningof Dolly made it apparent to many that the tech-niques used to produce her could someday be usedto clone human beings. This stirred a lot of con-troversy because of its ethical implications.

Agriculture

However biotechnology has little to do with pre-venting starvation or malnutrition. The main pur-pose of biotechnology is to increase profits for asmall group of companies by privatizing naturalresources. Starvation is not caused by inadequatefood supplies or crop varieties, but rather the eco-nomic and power inequalities which biotechnol-ogy reinforces.

Crop yield

Using the techniques of modern biotechnology,one or two genes(Smartstax from Monsanto willuse 8, starting in 2010) may be transferred to ahighly developed crop variety to impart a newcharacter that would increase its yield. However,while increases in crop yield are the most obviousapplications of modern biotechnology in agricul-ture, it is also the most difficult one. Current ge-netic engineering techniques work best for effectsthat are controlled by a single gene. Many of thegenetic characteristics associated with yield (e.g.,enhanced growth) are controlled by a large num-ber of genes, each of which has a minimal effecton the overall yield. There is, therefore, muchscientific work to be done in this area.

Reduced vulnerability of crops to envi-ronmental stresses

Crops containing genes that will enable them towithstand biotic and abiotic stresses may be de-veloped. For example, drought and excessivelysalty soil are two important limiting factors in cropproductivity. Biotechnologists are studying plantsthat can cope with these extreme conditions inthe hope of finding the genes that enable them todo so and eventually transferring these genes tothe more desirable crops. One of the latest devel-opments is the identification of a plant gene, At-DBF2, from thale cress, a tiny weed that is oftenused for plant research because it is very easy togrow and its genetic code is well mapped out.When this gene was inserted into tomato and to-bacco cells (see RNA interference), the cells wereable to withstand environmental stresses like salt,drought, cold and heat, far more than ordinarycells. If these preliminary results prove successfulin larger trials, then At-DBF2 genes can help inengineering crops that can better withstand harshenvironments. Researchers have also createdtransgenic rice plants that are resistant to rice yel-low mottle virus (RYMV). In Africa, this virusdestroys majority of the rice crops and makes thesurviving plants more susceptible to fungal infec-tions.

Increased nutritional qualities &quan-tity of food crops

Proteins in foods may be modified to increase theirnutritional qualities. Proteins in legumes and ce-reals may be transformed to provide the aminoacids needed by human beings for a balanced diet.A good example is the work of Professors IngoPotrykus and Peter Beyer on the so-called Goldenrice.

Improved taste, texture or appearanceof food

Modern biotechnology can be used to slow downthe process of spoilage so that fruit can ripen longeron the plant and then be transported to the con-sumer with a still reasonable shelf life. This alters




the taste, texture and appearance of the fruit. Moreimportantly, it could expand the market for farm-ers in developing countries due to the reductionin spoilage. However, there is sometimes a lack ofunderstanding by researchers in developed coun-tries about the actual needs of prospective benefi-ciaries in developing countries. For example, en-gineering soybeans to resist spoilage makes themless suitable for producing tempe which is a sig-nificant source of protein that depends on fermen-tation. The use of modified soybeans results in alumpy texture that is less palatable and less con-venient when cooking.

The first genetically modified food product was atomato which was transformed to delay its ripen-ing. Researchers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand,Philippines and Vietnam are currently workingon delayed-ripening papaya in collaboration withthe University of Nottingham and Zeneca.

Biotechnology in cheese production: enzymes pro-duced by micro-organisms provide an alternativeto animal rennet – a cheese coagulant – and analternative supply for cheese makers. This alsoeliminates possible public concerns with animal-derived material, although there are currently noplans to develop synthetic milk, thus making thisargument less compelling. Enzymes offer an ani-mal-friendly alternative to animal rennet. Whileproviding comparable quality, they are theoreti-cally also less expensive.

About 85 million tons of wheat flour is used ev-ery year to bake bread. By adding an enzyme calledmaltogenic amylase to the flour, bread staysfresher longer. Assuming that 10–15% of bread isthrown away as stale, if it could be made to stayfresh another 5–7 days then perhaps 2 million tonsof flour per year would be saved. Other enzymescan cause bread to expand to make a lighter loaf,or alter the loaf in a range of ways.

Reduced dependence on fertilizers,pesticides and other agrochemicals

Most of the current commercial applications ofmodern biotechnology in agriculture are on re-

ducing the dependence of farmers on agrochemi-cals. For example, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is asoil bacterium that produces a protein with in-secticidal qualities. Traditionally, a fermentationprocess has been used to produce an insecticidalspray from these bacteria. In this form, the Bt toxinoccurs as an inactive protoxin, which requires di-gestion by an insect to be effective. There are sev-eral Bt toxins and each one is specific to certaintarget insects. Crop plants have now been engi-neered to contain and express the genes for Bttoxin, which they produce in its active form.When a susceptible insect ingests the transgeniccrop cultivar expressing the Bt protein, it stopsfeeding and soon thereafter dies as a result of theBt toxin binding to its gut wall. Bt corn is nowcommercially available in a number of countriesto control corn borer (a lepidopteran insect), whichis otherwise controlled by spraying (a more diffi-cult process).

Crops have also been genetically engineered toacquire tolerance to broad-spectrum herbicide.The lack of cost-effective herbicides with broad-spectrum activity and no crop injury was a con-sistent limitation in crop weed management.Multiple applications of numerous herbicides wereroutinely used to control a wide range of weedspecies detrimental to agronomic crops. Weedmanagement tended to rely on preemergence thatis, herbicide applications were sprayed in responseto expected weed infestations rather than in re-sponse to actual weeds present. Mechanical culti-vation and hand weeding were often necessary tocontrol weeds not controlled by herbicide appli-cations. The introduction of herbicide-tolerantcrops has the potential of reducing the number ofherbicide active ingredients used for weed man-agement, reducing the number of herbicide ap-plications made during a season, and increasingyield due to improved weed management and lesscrop injury. Transgenic crops that express toler-ance to glyphosate, glufosinate and bromoxynilhave been developed. These herbicides can nowbe sprayed on transgenic crops without inflictingdamage on the crops while killing nearby weeds.

From 1996 to 2001, herbicide tolerance was themost dominant trait introduced to commercially




available transgenic crops, followed by insect re-sistance. In 2001, herbicide tolerance deployed insoybean, corn and cotton accounted for 77% ofthe 626,000 square kilometres planted totransgenic crops; Bt crops accounted for 15%; and"stacked genes" for herbicide tolerance and insectresistance used in both cotton and corn accountedfor 8%.

Production of novel substances in cropplants

Biotechnology is being applied for novel uses otherthan food. For example, oilseed can be modifiedto produce fatty acids for detergents, substitutefuels and petrochemicals. Potatoes, tomatoes,ricererere tobacco, lettuce, safflowers, and otherplants have been genetically-engineered to pro-duce insulin and certain vaccines. If future clini-cal trials prove successful, the advantages of ed-ible vaccines would be enormous, especially fordeveloping countries. The transgenic plants maybe grown locally and cheaply. Homegrown vac-cines would also avoid logistical and economicproblems posed by having to transport traditionalpreparations over long distances and keeping themcold while in transit. And since they are edible,they will not need syringes, which are not onlyan additional expense in the traditional vaccinepreparations but also a source of infections if con-taminated. In the case of insulin grown intransgenic plants, it is well-established that thegastrointestinal system breaks the protein downtherefore this could not currently be administeredas an edible protein. However, it might be pro-duced at significantly lower cost than insulin pro-duced in costly, bioreactors. For example, Calgary,Canada-based SemBioSys Genetics, Inc. reportsthat its safflower-produced insulin will reduce unitcosts by over 25% or more and approximates areduction in the capital costs associated with build-ing a commercial-scale insulin manufacturing fa-cility of over $100 million, compared to traditionalbiomanufacturing facilities.

Criticism

There is another side to the agricultural biotech-nology issue. It includes increased herbicide us-age and resultant herbicide resistance, "superweeds," residues on and in food crops, genetic con-tamination of non-GM crops which hurt organicand conventional farmers, damage to wildlife fromglyphosate, etc.

Biological engineering

Biotechnological engineering or biological engi-neering is a branch of engineering that focuses onbiotechnologies and biological science. It includesdifferent disciplines such as biochemical engineer-ing, biomedical engineering, bio-process engineer-ing, biosystem engineering and so on. Because ofthe novelty of the field, the definition of abioengineer is still undefined. However, in gen-eral it is an integrated approach of fundamentalbiological sciences and traditional engineeringprinciples.

Bioengineers are often employed to scale up bioprocesses from the laboratory scale to the manu-facturing scale. Moreover, as with most engineers,they often deal with management, economic andlegal issues. Since patents and regulation (e.g., U.S.Food and Drug Administration regulation in theU.S.) are very important issues for biotech enter-prises, bioengineers are often required to haveknowledge related to these issues.

The increasing number of biotech enterprises islikely to create a need for bioengineers in the yearsto come. Many universities throughout the worldare now providing programs in bioengineering andbiotechnology (as independent programs or spe-cialty programs within more established engineer-ing fields).

Bioremediation and Biodegradation

Biotechnology is being used to engineer and adaptorganisms especially microorganisms in an effortto find sustainable ways to clean up contaminated




environments. The elimination of a wide range ofpollutants and wastes from the environment is anabsolute requirement to promote a sustainabledevelopment of our society with low environmen-tal impact. Biological processes play a major rolein the removal of contaminants and biotechnol-ogy is taking advantage of the astonishing cata-bolic versatility of microorganisms to degrade/con-vert such compounds. New methodological break-throughs in sequencing, genomics, proteomics,bioinformatics and imaging are producing vastamounts of information. In the field of Environ-mental Microbiology, genome-based global stud-ies open a new era providing unprecedented insilico views of metabolic and regulatory networks,as well as clues to the evolution of degradationpathways and to the molecular adaptation strate-gies to changing environmental conditions. Func-tional genomic and metagenomic approaches areincreasing our understanding of the relative im-portance of different pathways and regulatorynetworks to carbon flux in particular environ-ments and for particular compounds and they willcertainly accelerate the development ofbioremediation technologies and biotransforma-tion processes.

Marine environments are especially vulnerablesince oil spills of coastal regions and the open seaare poorly containable and mitigation is difficult.In addition to pollution through human activities,millions of tons of petroleum enter the marineenvironment every year from natural seepages.Despite its toxicity, a considerable fraction of pe-troleum oil entering marine systems is eliminatedby the hydrocarbon-degrading activities of micro-bial communities, in particular by a remarkablerecently discovered group of specialists, the so-called hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria (HCCB).

Arihant Class Submarine

The Arihant class submarines are nuclear-pow-ered ballistic missile submarines of the Indiannavy. The lead vessel of the class, INS Arihant,was launched on July 26, 2009. The Arihant Classof submarines may carry the Sagarika submarine-

launched ballisitic missile (SLBM) or the BrahMossupersonic cruise missile.

The Arihant class vessels were designed as a partof the Advanced Technology Vessel project, India’sUS$2.9 billion project to design and build nuclear-powered submarines. The Arihant class is India’sfirst indigenously designed and built submarine.3 submarines of the class are expected to be incommission with the Indian navy by 2015.

Development

The Arihant class submarines were designed andconstructed as a part of the Indian navy’s Ad-vanced Technology Vessel (ATV) project. TheATV project started with the intent to designnuclear-powered fast attack submarines, thoughover time the project was re-aligned towards thedesign of a ballistic missile submarine in order tocomplete India’s nuclear triad.

The vessels are powered by an 80 MW pressur-ized water reactor (PWR) with enriched uraniumfuel. The initial design of the miniaturized naval-version of the reactor developed by the Bhabhaatomic research centre (BARC) had technical chal-lenges, after which Russian help was sought toresolve the design glitches. The final productionversion of the reactor was built at the IndiraGandhi center for atomic research (IGCAR) atKalpakkam.

The hulls for this class are built by L&T’s Hazirashipbuilding facility. Tata power built the controlsystems for the submarine. The systems for thesteam turbine integrated with the PWR were sup-plied by Walchandnagar Industries. Reports havesuggested that the hulls for two more vessels werecompleted at the L&T facility at Hazira and willbe transported to Visakhapatnam as INS Arihanthas been moved from the dry dock.

Description

A nuclear-powered submarine is a much morecomplex platform than any other vessel and India




building one on its own is a great achievement.What enhances the scale of the achievement isthat INS Arihant, India’s nuclear-powered sub-marine, will be fitted with India’s own K-15 bal-listic missiles that can be launched from underwater. The K-15 missiles, which are already un-der production, can carry both conventional andnuclear warheads. They have a range of 700 km.They are 10.4 metres tall and weigh 6.3 tonneseach.

It means India can launch missiles with nuclearwarheads from ground, drop nuclear bombs fromair and also fire them now from under water.Anuclear-powered submarine bestowed on Indiathe status of a nation possessing a blue-water navybecause the boat can travel far and wide.

In a nuclear-energy system used in a submarine,there is no emission of carbon-dioxide. It is a cleanform of energy. The turbine operating on enricheduranium in INS Arihant is a clean system. But adiesel-generator emits carbon-dioxide. It is can notdischarge it into the water. So the submarine hasto be brought up to the surface every day to ejectthe carbon-dioxide into the atmosphere.

India now joined a select group of five countries,which possess the capability to build a nuclear-powered submarine. That the construction of asubmarine was a highly demanding task in itselfwas known, but for a country to develop its firstnuclear submarine was a special achievement.

The formal launch for sea trials of the platformcalled a cryptic ‘S2’ lifted the secrecy around theAdvanced Technology Vessel Project cleared forimplementation by Indira Gandhi in 1984 andwhose first step in steel cutting commenced in1998. To date the project is estimated to have costRs. 30,000 crore.

India’s Per Capita GHG Emissions

India’s per capita emission of Greenhouse Gases(GHG) will continue to be low until the year 2030-31. In fact, it is estimated that India’s per capitaemissions in the year 2031 will be lower than the

per capita global emission of GHG in the year 2005.These significant findings were contained in aReport "India’s GHG Emissions Profile: Results ofFive Climate Modelling Studies" released on Sep-tember 02, 2009 by the Deputy Chairman of thePlanning Commission Shri Montek SinghAhluwalia. The Minister of Environment & For-ests Shri Jairam Ramesh presided over the func-tion. The Chairman of Unique Identity Author-ity of India, Shri Nandan Nilekani was also presenton the occasion.

What Said Report

As per the estimates of the five different studies,India’s per capita GHG emissions in 2030-31 wouldbe between 2.77 tonnes and 5.00 tonnes of CO2e(Carbon Dioxide equivalent). Four of the five stud-ies estimated that even in 2031, India’s per capitaGHG emissions would stay under 4 tonnes of CO2ewhich is lower than the global per capita emis-sions of 4.22 tonnes of CO2e in 2005. This wouldmean that even two decades from now, India’sper capita GHG emissions would be well belowthe global average of 25 years earlier.

In absolute terms, estimates of India’s GHG emis-sions in 2031 vary from 4.0 billion tones to 7.3billion tones of CO2e, with four of the five stud-ies estimating that even two decades from now,India’s GHG emissions will remain under 6 bil-lion tones. The key drivers of the range of theseestimates are the assumptions on GDP growthrates, penetration of clean energy, energy effi-ciency improvements etc.

All the five studies show evidence of a substantialand continuous improvement in India’s energyefficiency of GDP. India’s energy use efficiencyhas been steadily improving over the years whichis reflected in the decline of its energy intensityof GDP from 0.30 kgoe (kilogram of oil equiva-lent) per $ of GDP in 1980 to 0.16 kgoe per $ GDPin PPP (purchasing power parity) terms. This iscomparable to Germany and only Japan, UK, Bra-zil and Denmark have lower energy intensities inthe world. An Enhanced Energy Efficiency Mis-sion has recently been approved in principle un-




der the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

Of the five studies on GHG emissions profile inIndia, three were conducted by the NationalCouncil of Applied Economic Research (NCAER)-Jadavpur University, The Energy Research Insti-tute (TERI) and the Integrated Research and Ac-tion for Development (IRADe) with the supportof the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Twoother studies by TERI and Mckinsey and Com-pany were conducted with support from otheragencies. What is Greenhouse GasesGreenhouse gases naturally blanket the Earth andkeep it about 33 degrees Celsius warmer than itwould be without these gases in the atmosphere.This is called the Greenhouse Effect. Over the pastcentury, the Earth has increased in temperatureby about .5 degrees Celsius and many scientistsbelieve this is because of an increase in concen-tration of the main greenhouse gases: carbon di-oxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons.However, some scientists argue that the globalwarming we are experiencing now is a naturalphenomenon, and is part of Earth’s natural cycle.Presently, nobody can prove if either theory iscorrect, but one thing is certain; the world hasbeen emitting greenhouse gases at extremely highrates and has shown only small signs of reducingemissions until the last few years. After the 1997Kyoto Protocol, the world has finally taken thefirst step in reducing emissions.

Greenhouse Effect

The greenhouse effect is the heating of the Earthdue to the presence of greenhouse gases. It isnamed this way because of a similar effect pro-duced by the glass panes of a greenhouse. Shorter-wavelength solar radiation from the sun passesthrough Earth’s atmosphere, then is absorbed bythe surface of the Earth, causing it to warm. Partof the absorbed energy is then reradiated back tothe atmosphere as long wave infrared radiation.Little of this long wave radiation escapes back intospace; the radiation cannot pass through the green-house gases in the atmosphere. The greenhousegases selectively transmit the infrared waves, trap-ping some and allowing some to pass through into

space. The greenhouse gases absorb these wavesand reemit the waves downward, causing thelower atmosphere to warm.

Government’s Stance

India is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and fallsunder the non-Annexe I countries, or developingcountries group. This implies that India does nothave any binding commitments to reduce the levelof its carbon emissions. Recognizing that devel-oped countries are principally responsible for thecurrent high levels of GHG emissions in the at-mosphere as a result of more than 150 years ofindustrial activity, the Protocol places a heavierburden on developed nations under the principleof "common but differentiated responsibilities."This said India is currently one of fastest growingemitters of green house gasses (GHG) with a 65%increase in emissions between 1990-2005 and pro-jected increase of another 70% by 2020. Added tothat India is presently the fifth largest GHG emit-ter (absolute terms) and contributes 5% of globalemissions.

The Government of India has committed itself tovastly improving the country’s human develop-ment indices by 2031-2032. In order to do so, thecountry must average economic growth of at least8 percent per annum for the next twenty-fiveyears. According to a report released by the Plan-ning Commission of India, if India is to sustain an8 percent level of growth, then it will need to in-crease its primary energy supply by at least 3 or 4times and its electricity supply by a factor of 5 to7 by 2031-2032. Likewise, power generation ca-pacity will have to increase from 120,000 MW to780,000 MW.

The energy sector is already the biggest contribu-tor to GHG emissions in India and the above de-mands, while being a legitimate and necessary toimprove the quality of life of vast sectors of theIndian public and ensure economic and social de-velopment, will lead to an inevitable increase inGHG emissions in coming years. This is especiallyas the majority of the energy needs will be metthrough fossil fuel based sources and coal in par-ticular.




Given this rapid growth in emission rates and themagnitude of likely future emissions The UnitedStates of America and other countries from theWest are pressurizing rapidly developing coun-tries like India and China to accept binding emis-sion reduction targets. They claim that these coun-tries will soon overtake the developed world incarbon emissions and hence should also shoulderthe burden of reducing these emissions. They wantIndia and China to take on such commitments inthe post-Kyoto regime.

The arguments India uses to support this positionare centered around the principles of common butdifferentiated responsibilities (as is with theUNFCCC) and equity. These arguments can becategorized under three broad heads as HistoricalResponsibility, Per-capita emissions, Technologytransfer

Government Policies

This does not mean that the Indian Governmentis not doing anything about climate change. Indiais a signatory to both the UNFCCC and the Kyotoprotocol and takes active part in multi-lateral ne-gotiations on climate change. An example is India’smembership of the Asia-Pacific Partnership forClean Development and Climate 2005. Under thispartnership Foreign, Environment and EnergyMinisters from partner countries agreed to co-operate on development and transfer of technol-ogy, which enables reduction of greenhouse gasemissions. Ministers agreed to a Charter,Communiqué and Work Plan that outline a "pri-vate-public taskforces to address climate change,energy security and air pollution." In addition,India has submitted its first National Communi-cation on Climate Change (NATCOM I) and iscurrently working on NATCOM II.

Some key policies are: Remote Village Electrifi-cation Programme (RVE) 2001: Electrify all theremote villages and remote hamlets through non-conventional energy sources such as solar energy,small hydro-power, biomass, wind energy, hybridsystems, etc. The Programme aims at bringing thebenefits of electricity to people living in the most

backward and deprived regions of the country.

Energy Conservation Act 2001: The Indian Par-liament passed The Energy Conservation Act 2001,in September 2001. This Act requires large en-ergy consumers to adhere to energy consumptionnorms; new buildings to follow the Energy Con-servation Building Code; and appliances to meetenergy performance standards and to display en-ergy consumption labels. The Act also created theBureau of Energy Efficiency to implement theprovisions of the Act.

Integrated Energy Policy 2006: Released in Au-gust 2006 it addresses all aspects of energy, in-cluding energy security, access and availability,affordability and pricing, efficiency and the envi-ronment.

In relation to renewable energy, the policy pro-posed:» The phase-out of capital subsidies by the end ofthe 10th Plan linked to creation of renewable gridpower capacity;

» Requiring power regulators to seek alternativeincentive structures that encourage utilities tointegrate wind, small hydro, cogeneration and soon into their systems, and the linking of all suchincentives to energy generated as opposed to ca-pacity created;

» Requiring power regulators to mandate feed-inlaws for renewable energy, where appropriate, asprovided under the Electricity Act 2003.

Labelling Programme for Appliances 2006: A starrating based labeling programme has been intro-duced for four commonly used consumer goodsthat indicate their energy efficiency. The goodscovered as of now are; fluorescent tube-lights, airconditioners, refrigerators, distribution transform-ers.

Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC)2007: The ECBC was developed in 2006 and is-sued May 2007. It is not mandatory the first threeyears, and will become so in 2010, to allow the




necessary implementation capacity to be devel-oped. The code will be mandatory for all newbuildings (commercial buildings or complexes)with a connected load of 500kW or more, or acontract demand of 600 kVA or greater. It willalso apply to buildings with a conditioned floorspace of 1 000m2 or greater.

Solar Power Generation Based Incentive 2008:In January 2008, the federal minister responsiblefor renewable energy announced that the Indiangovernment would provide a subsidy for solarpower plants to help develop renewable energyinfrastructure. The incentives, for a period of 10years, will be over and above any financial assis-tance provided by the states.

Generation based incentives for wind power2008: In July 2008, the Ministry of New and Re-newable Energy (MNRE) launched a new genera-tion-based incentive scheme for wind power pro-duction. The scheme is designed to promote in-vestment in new and large independent windpower producers, to fulfil a target of securing 10500 MW of new wind power capacity by 2012.

Energy Conservation Awards: The Ministry ofPower instituted National Energy ConservationAwards, coordinated by the Bureau of Energy Ef-ficiency, to recognize industrial units that havemade special efforts to reduce energy consump-tion. In the first five years, the participating in-dustrial units collectively saved 2397 million unitsof electrical energy; 9067 kilo litre of furnace oil;2.76 Mt of coal and 11,585 million cubic metre ofgas per year, resulting in substantial reduction ingreenhouse gas emissions.

National Action Plan on Climate Change: On30 June 2008, India released its first National Ac-tion Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outliningexisting and future policies and programmes di-rected at climate change mitigation and adapta-tion. The plan outlines eight "national missions"running up to 2017, and ministries are directed tosubmit detailed implementation plans to the PrimeMinister’s Council on Climate Change by Decem-ber 2008. Several target energy use, promoting

energy efficiency and renewable energy, as wellas improved research capacity on climate changeissues. Other missions target water efficiency, ag-riculture, forestation, and ecosystem conservation.World’s First Market for Trading Credits for En-ergy Savings

India has planned to create the world’s first mar-ket for trading credits for energy savings. Gov-ernment expects to set mandatory energy-savingstargets by the end of 2009 for energy-intensivesectors such as cement, aluminum, steel, power,textiles, fertilizers, railway, paper and pulp. Thecountry’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency is workingon a program to establish credits for industrialplants that save energy beyond the governmentrequirement. The plan has been modeled afteremissions-trading markets at work in the EU.

Futures trading in carbon credits

In January 2009, Mumbai, India-based Multi Com-modity Exchange (MCX) launched futures trad-ing in carbon credits in India. Under the energy-savings plan, separate targets would be establishedfor each large industrial unit and plant in order totake into account the different sizes and type ofcompanies in each sector. The mandatory reduc-tions would then go into effect three years later.Companies surpassing energy savings require-ments would get credits that can be sold throughexisting power exchanges to companies that failto meet their targets. Companies failing to meettargets that do not buy credits would then be pe-nalized by the government. The energy-savingsmarket must be approved by the prime minister’sclimate council.

The move is part of India’s National Action Planon Climate Change. Because the country has loweremissions than industrialized countries, India hasdecided one of its best contributions could be touse less energy from polluting sources. India hasgenerated about 30 million carbon credits and isone of the largest beneficiaries in the carbon credittrade, according to MCX. Under the plan, privatecompanies would be responsible for measuringenergy reductions.




Carbon Trading Scenario

Parties with commitments under the Kyoto Pro-tocol (Annex B Parties) have accepted targets forlimiting or reducing emissions. These targets areexpressed as levels of allowed emissions, or "as-signed amounts," over the 2008-2012 commitmentperiod. The allowed emissions are divided into"assigned amount units" (AAUs). Emissions trad-ing, as set out in Article 17 of the Kyoto Protocol,allow countries that have emission units to spare- emissions permitted them but not "used" - tosell this excess capacity to countries that are overtheir targets. Thus, a new commodity was cre-ated in the form of emission reductions or remov-als. Since carbon dioxide is the principal green-house gas, people speak simply of trading in car-bon. Carbon is now tracked and traded like anyother commodity. This is known as the "carbonmarket."

Emissions Trading and CDM

An emission trading is a way of introducing flex-ibility into a system where participants have tomeet emissions targets. These participants may becountries (as in the case of the Kyoto Protocol),or companies (as in the case of a domestic emis-sions trading scheme). Participants can buy unitsto cover any emissions above their targets, or sellunits if they reduce their emissions below theirtargets. The presence of a market for these unitscreates a value for emissions reductions, whichstimulates investment in the most cost-effectiveareas. Emissions trading leads to a reduction incompliance costs compared to meeting the sametarget through domestic/internal means only.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of theKyoto Protocol allows projects in developing coun-tries to generate emission credits if they result inemission levels lower than would otherwise bethe case; these credits can be marketed and even-tually counted against a developed country’s emis-sion obligation. The IEA provides analysis on theeffectiveness of the different emissions tradingscheme options, both at international and domes-tic level.

RISAT-2 and ANUSAT SuccessfullyPlaced in Orbit

In its fifteenth mission carried out from SatishDhawan Space Centre SHAR (SDSC SHAR),Sriharikota on April 20, 2009 ISRO’s Polar Satel-lite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C12) successfullyplaced two satellites - RISAT-2 and ANUSAT inthe desired orbit.

RISAT-2 is a Radar Imaging Satellite with the ca-pability to take images of the earth during dayand night as well as cloudy conditions. At the timeof launch, RISAT-2 weighed about 300 kg and wasrealised by ISRO in association with Israel Aero-space Industries. The satellite was placed in anorbit of 550 km height with an inclination of 41deg to the equator and an orbital period of about90 minutes. This satellite will enhance ISRO’s ca-pability for earth observation, especially duringfloods, cyclones, landslides and in disaster man-agement in a more effective way.

First Experimental CommunicationSatellite Built by an Indian University

The 44 metre tall PSLV-C12 weighing 230 tonwas launched from the Second Launch Pad (SLP)at SDSC SHAR in the Core Alone configurationwithout the use of six solid strap-ons. In this mis-sion, in addition to RISAT-2, PSLV also carried A40 kg micro satellite named ANUSAT, built byAnna University, Chennai. ANUSAT is the firstexperimental communication satellite built by anIndian University under the over all guidance ofISRO and will demonstrate the technologies re-lated to message store and forward operations. Inthis flight, PSLV carried the indigenously devel-oped Advanced Mission Computers and AdvancedTelemetry System, which guided the vehicle fromlift-off till the injection of the two satellites inthe desired orbit.

The main payload, RISAT-2, was the first satel-lite to be separated in orbit at 1100 seconds afterlift-off at an altitude of 550 km. With this suc-




cessful launch, the versatility and the reliabilityof PSLV has been proved again underscoring itsimportance as the workhorse launch vehicle ofIndia. This launch was the fourteenth consecu-tive success for PSLV. In these launches, PSLVhas placed a total of sixteen Indian satellites andsixteen foreign satellites into Polar, Geosynchro-nous Transfer and Low Earth Orbits. It may berecalled that during its previous mission on Octo-ber 22, 2008, PSLV had successfully launchedChandrayaan-1 spacecraft, which is now explor-ing the moon from lunar orbit.

Features of PSLV, RISAT-2 andANUSAT

PSLV is a four-stage launchvehicle employing both solidand liquid propulsion stages.PSLV is the trusted work-horse launch Vehicle ofISRO. During 1993-2008 pe-riod, PSLV had fourteenlaunches of which thirteenwere consecutively success-ful. PSLV has repeatedlyproved its reliability and ver-

satility by launching 32 spacecrafts (16Indian and16 for international customers) into a variety oforbits so far. It may be recalled that during its pre-vious mission on October 22, 2008, PSLV had suc-cessfully launched Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft,which is now exploring the Moon from lunar or-bit.

In its standard configuration, the 44 m tall PSLVhas a lift-off mass of 295 tonne. It is a four-stagelaunch vehicle with the first and the third stagesas well as the six strap-ons surrounding the firststage using HTPB based solid propellant. PSLV’sfirst stage is one of the largest solid propellantboosters in the world. Its second and fourth stagesuse liquid propellants. PSLV-C12 was launchedwithout the six strapons in its ‘core alone’ con-figuration. PSLV-C12 weighs about 230 tonnes atlift off. It may be recalled that PSLV in its corealone configuration had launched AGILE andTECSAR during 2007 and 2008 respectively.

RISAT-2 is a Radar Imaging Satellite with allweather capability to take images of the earth. ThisSatellite will enhance ISRO’s capability for Disas-ter Management applications, ANUSAT (AnnaUniversity Satellite) is the first satellite built byan Indian University under the over all guidanceof ISRO and will demonstrate the technologiesrelated to message store and forward operations

ASTROSAT

India’s Astronomy satellite, ASTROSAT, whichwould facilitates study of a range of astrophysicalobjects, is likely to be launched in mid-2010.Thescientists have completed the developmental phaseof complex science payloads and have just begunintegrating them before delivery for the 1650 kgsatellite.

Salient Features

The challenges in the design of payloads and At-titude Control System have been overcome andin a recent review committee meeting, it was de-cided that the delivery of the payload to ISROsatellite Centre will begin from the middle of thisyear and continue till early next year to enablethe launch ASTROSAT in 2010 using ISRO work-horse PSLV.

The ASTROSAT will be in an equatorial orbit withinclination of about eight degrees or less. Two startrackers and gyros will be used for the pointingcontrol of the satellite. Orbiting at 600 km abovethe earth’s surface, the ASTROSAT satellite cost-ing about Rs 200 crore, will have a lifespan of atleast five years.

This would facilitate study of astrophysical objectsranging from nearby solar system objects to dis-tant stars and objects at cosmological distances.ASTROSAT project is a collaborative effort of anumber of research institutions, including theMumbai-based TIFR. Out of the five science pay-loads for this multi-wavelength satellite observa-tory, three X-ray instruments are developed byTIFR.




The Ultra-Violet Imaging Instrument has beendeveloped jointly by Indian Institute of Astrophys-ics, Bangalore and Inter-university canter for as-tronomy and astrophysics, Pune with the involve-ment of TIFR. The photon counting detectors ofthis instrument have been developed jointly bythe Indian team and the Canadian Space Agencyas a science collaboration. The fifth instrumentnamely X-ray Sky monitor is being made by ISROSatellite Center and is in advanced stages of fabri-cation and assembly.

The X-ray CCD used in X-ray imaging telescopeis not readily available and very expensive to pro-cure. Hence, instead of buying the costly X-rayCCD for ‘ASTROSAT’, the Indian side has optedfor a scientific collaboration with the British Uni-versity of Leicester.

Interceptor Missile

India has successfully conducted the test of aninterceptor missile to establish a ballistic missiledefence (BMD) shield as part of the network-cen-tric warfare on march 6,2009. The test was car-ried out from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) fromthe Wheeler Island near Dhamra off Orissa coast.The modified version of ‘’Dhanush’’ missile,known as naval version of Prithvi, a surface-to-surface missile acting as an enemy missile was testfired from a naval ship INS Rajput anchored in-side the Bay of Bengal at 1620 hours.When it ze-roed in on the wheeler island of Dhamara coast, aPrithvi Air Defence (PAD) missile, a ballistic mis-sile with a range of 1,500 km, similar to Pakistan’sGhauri, test fired from the Wheeler Island inter-cepted the incoming missile at an altitude of 70-80 kms.

DRDO sources said the ‘’crucial test’’ conductedfor the third time proved the efficacy of a host ofnew technologies. The interceptor PAD missilehas for the first time used the gimballed direc-tional warhead which has so far been used only inthe United States and Russia.

The first interceptor missile test was conductedon November 27, 2006 and waylaid an incoming

ballistic missile in the exo-atmosphere at 48-kmaltitude. The second test was carried out on De-cember 6, 2007 against a target missile at 15-kmaltitude in endo-atmosphere, intercepting the ‘’en-emy’’ missile at an altitude of 70-80 km. Theground tests of the missile have been done on thedirectional warhead

Notable Points

» It was for the first time the test was done onflight.

» Intercepting a missile at a higher altitude of 80km has the advantage as the debris will take longerto fall through the atmosphere before it hits theground.

» In a typical war scenario, this would reduce theeffect of any fallout of nuclear debris and the riskassociated with radiation.

» The third test would be part of India’s plan todeploy a two-layered ballistic missile defence(BMD) system in the coming years.

Wildlife Conservation in India

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants,animals, and other organisms. Domesticating wildplant and animal species for human benefit hasoccurred many times all over the planet, and hasa major impact on the environment, both positiveand negative. Wildlife can be found in all ecosys-tems, Deserts, rain forests, plains, and other areasincluding the most developed urban sites all havedistinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popu-lar culture usually refers to animals that are un-touched by human factors, most scientists agreethat wildlife around the world is impacted byhuman activities.

Indian wildlife

The wildlife of India is a mix of species of diverseorigins. The region’s rich and diverse wildlife is




preserved in numerous national parks and wild-life sanctuaries across the country. Since India ishome to a number of rare and threatened animalspecies, wildlife management in the country isessential to preserve these species. According toone study, India is home to about 60-70% of theworld’s biodiversity. India, lying within theIndomalaya ecozone, is home to about 7.6% of allmammalian, 12.6% of avian, 6.2% of reptilian, and6.0% of flowering plant species. Many ecoregions,such as the shola forests, also exhibit extremelyhigh rates of endemism; overall, 33% of Indianplant species are endemic. India’s forest coverranges from the tropical rainforest of the AndamanIslands, Western Ghats, and Northeast India tothe coniferous forest of the Himalaya. Betweenthese extremes lie the sal-dominated moist decidu-ous forest of eastern India; teak- dominated drydeciduous forest of central and southern India; andthe babul-dominated thorn forest of the centralDeccan and western Gangetic plain. ImportantIndian trees include the medicinal neem, widelyused in rural Indian herbal remedies. The papalfig tree, shown on the seals of Mohenjo-daro,shaded the Gautama Buddha as he sought enlight-enment.

Various Projects

Gir National Park in Gujarat is the only existenthabitation for the nearly extinct Asiatic Lions inIndia. The Kaziranga Sanctuary in Assam is a ma-jor example of good effort to save the endangeredRhinoceros. Similarly, Periyar in Kerala is doing agreat job to preserve the wild Elephants andDachigam National Park is progressing rapidly tosave Kashmiri Stag.

Wildlife Conservation in India occupies a total areaof about 3.29 million sq. km. that contains floraland faunal species, mammals, reptiles, insects andbirds. The Wildlife Conservation in India has be-come the most popular holiday destinations be-cause of its diverseness. In India there are 571 sanc-tuaries and reserve parks that are protected by theIndian Government, mainly meant for the pro-tection of the extinct species of animals and birds.Predators, Carnivores and Herbivores, - all areequally important to maintain the vital ecological

processes as nutrient and water cycling. India hasover 500 animal sanctuaries, referred to as Wild-life Sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV ProtectedArea). Among these, the 28 Tiger reserves aregoverned by Project Tiger, and are of special sig-nificance in the conservation of the tiger.Some of the important wildlife sanctuaries inIndia are:

» Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh» Corbett National Park in Uttar Pradesh» Gir National Park & Sanctuary in Gujarat» Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh» Kaziranga National Park in Assam» Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala» Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan» Sunderbans National Park in West Bengal» Dachigam National Park in Jammu & Kashmir» Manas Tiger Reserve in Assam

National Parks of India

India’s first national park (an IUCN category IIprotected area) was established in 1935 as HaileyNational Park, now known as Jim Corbett nationalpark. By 1970, India only had five national parks.In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Actand Project Tiger to safeguard the habitats of con-servation reliant species. Further federal legisla-tion strengthening protections for wildlife wasintroduced in the 1980s. As of April 2007, thereare 96 national parks. All national park lands en-compass a combined 38,029.18 km², 1.16% ofIndia’s total surface area. A total of 166 nationalparks have been authorized. Plans are underwayto establish the remaining scheduled parks.

Biosphere Reserves

The term ‘Biosphere Reserve’ should denote anarea:» Which is, set aside for the conservation of theresources of the biosphere and for the improve-ment of the relationship between man and theenvironment;

» Which is, to serve as sites for long term scien-




tific research as well as education all over theworld.

The programme of Biosphere Reserve was initi-ated under the ‘Man & Biosphere’ (MAB)programme by UNESCO in 1971. Biosphere Re-serves are areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosys-tems promoting solutions to reconcile the conser-vation of biodiversity with its sustainable use.They are internationally recognized, nominatedby National Governments and remain under sov-ereign jurisdiction of the states where they arelocated. Biosphere Reserves serve in some waysas ‘living laboratories’ for testing out and demon-strating integrated management of land, water andbiodiversity.

Biosphere Reserve Objectives

Each Biosphere Reserve is intended to fulfillthree basic functions, which are complemen-tary and mutually reinforcing:» A conservation function - to contribute to theconservation of landscapes, ecosystems, speciesand genetic variation;

» A development function - to foster economicand human development which is socio-cultur-ally and ecologically sustainable;

» A logistic function - to provide support for re-search, monitoring, education and informationexchange related to local, national and global is-sues of conservation and development.

The Indian government has established 15 Bio-sphere Reserves of India, (categories roughly cor-responding to IUCN Category V protected areas),which protect larger areas of natural habitat (thana national park or animal sanctuary), and ofteninclude one or more National Parks and/or pre-serves, along buffer zones that are open to someeconomic uses.

List of Biosphere Reserves

» Achanakmar-Amarkanta- Madhya Pradesh &Chhattishgarh

» Agasthyamalai- Kerala

» Dehang-Debang- Arunachal Pradesh

» Dibru-Saikhowa- Assam

» Great Nicobar- Andaman and Nicobar

» Gulf of Mannar - Tamil Nadu

» Khangchenjunga – Sikkim

» Manas- Assam

» Nanda Devi-Uttaranchal

» Nilgiri -Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka

» Nokrek-Meghalaya

» Pachmarhi -Madhya Pradesh

» Simlipal-Orissa

» Sunderbans-West Bengal




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The CCEA on January 02, 2009approved the implementationof a centrally sponsoredscheme to universalise access toand improve quality of educa-tion at Secondary stage, calledRashtriya Madhyamik ShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA) during the11th Five Year Plan.

As regards the Financing pattern and fund flow,Union Government shall bear 75% of the projectexpenditure during the 11th Five Year Plan, with25% of the cost to be borne by State Governments.Sharing pattern will be 50:50 for the 12th five yearplan. For both the 11th and 12th Plans, fundingpattern will be 90:10 for North Eastern States.Rs.20,120 crore has been allocated for the Schemeduring the 11th Five Year Plan.

The Objective of the Scheme

» To achieve a General Enrolment Ratio (GER) of75% for classes IX-X within 5 years by providinga secondary school within a reasonable distanceof every habitation;

» To improve quality of education imparted atsecondary level through making all secondaryschools conform to prescribed norms;

» To remove gender, socio-economic and disabil-ity barriers, Universal access to secondary leveleducation by 2017, i.e. by the end of 12th FiveYear Plan and Universal retention by 2020.

Broad physical targets include improving the en-rolment ratio for classes IX-X to 75% within 5years from 52.26% as in 2005-06, providing fa-cilities for estimated additional enrolment of 32.20lakh by 2011-12 through, strengthening of about44,000 existing secondary schools, opening 11,188new secondary schools, appointment of 1.79 lakh

Social Problems & Welfare SchemesRashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan

additional teachers and construction of 80,500additional classrooms.

Interventions approved include providing infra-structure in schools such as new classrooms withfurniture, library, science laboratory, computerroom, disabled friendly provisions etc, recruitmentof additional teachers with emphasis on Science,Mathematics and English teachers, in service train-ing of teachers, teaching aids such as ICT and spe-cial focus on SC/ST/Minorities Girls. Steps such aspriority for opening or upgradation of schools inareas of SC/ST/minority/weaker section concen-tration and enrolment drives and special coach-ing classes in those areas are also envisaged underthe scheme.

Implementation

The Scheme will be implemented in a Missionmode, with a National Mission headed by theUnion Minister for HRD and a Project approvalBoard headed by Secretary (School Education andLiteracy) to appraise and approve state plans. Simi-larly, State Missions under Chief Ministers of theStates/UTs will be set up.

The Scheme envisages development of State-spe-cific norms and District will be the unit of plan-ning. The district plan will be appraised and con-solidated at the State level and the State plan willbe appraised by the technical support group at-tached to the National Mission. The civil construc-tion will be through School Management andDevelopment Committee with representationfrom parents, Panchayati Raj Institutions and civilsociety.

Saakshar Bharat Mission

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singhlaunched on September 08, 2009, SAAKSHARBHARAT, one of the major new initiatives thatform part of the Government’s agenda for the next5 years as announced by the President in her ad-

Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : Social Problems & Welfare Schemes)



dress to the joint session of the Parliament. Thisprogramme will strive to create a Literate Societythrough a variety of teaching learning programmesfor non-literate and neo-literate of 15 years andabove.

The Saakshar Bharat Mission has 70 million tar-geted beneficiaries, of which 60 Million will bewomen and nearly 50% of the target group willcomprise of SCs/STs and minorities. Since illiteracyis far more widespread in rural areas, as comparedto urban areas, the programme will concentrateon rural areas, especially in the districts that havelow (50% and below) female literacy rate. Nearly1.70 lakh Gram Panchayats in 365 districts willbe covered. Residual illiteracy in urban areas willbe addressed through innovative partnership withNGOs, private sector convergence etc. The totalestimated cost of the Mission is Rs. 6502.70 croreof which 4993.02 crore would be central share.The sharing between the Centre and the Statewould be 75:25 except for the North-east whereit will be 90:10.

Prime Minister said that the launch of this mis-sion reaffirms national commitment to literacy.The Prime Minister underlined the importanceof literacy, especially female literacy. He said thatGovernment has started a number of progressiveprogrammes and legislations for the empowermentand welfare of the common person, the aam aadmi.The National Rural Employment GuaranteeScheme, the Right to Information Act, the RuralHealth Mission, the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and theNational Mid-day Meal Programme are all effortsin that direction. Literacy is central to the successof all these programmes and initiatives Female lit-eracy is especially so. Female literacy is a forcemultiplier for all action for social development.This is self-evident and does not require any elabo-ration. In fact, many observers have seen infra-structure development in the economic sector andfemale literacy in the social sector as two verycritical factors that impede India’s steady climb toa higher and sustainable level of growth and de-velopment. Female literacy is also absolutely nec-essary to empower the Indian woman in her ev-ery day struggle in dealing with multiple depri-vations on the basis of class, caste and gender.”

The Prime Minister expressed the sincere hopethat the Saakshar Bharat Mission will fully involvethe local community in its implementation, andutilize the potential and promise of the PanchayatiRaj Institutions and the women’s Self Help Groups.Expressing his happiness that the implementationof this programme has been entrusted to the GramPanchayats, he said he would also expect the mis-sion to make use of innovative strategies and tech-nology to impart sustainable literacy to millionsof non-literates in a reasonable period of time.

The Right of Children to Free andCompulsory Education Act, 2009

The “The Right of Children to Free and Compul-sory Education Act, 2009” has been notified, afterreceiving the assent of President. Article 21-A, asinserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amend-ment) Act, 2002, provides for free and compul-sory education of all children in the age group ofsix to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right insuch manner as the State may, by Law, determine.Consequently, the Right of Children to Free andCompulsory Education Act, 2009, has been en-acted by the Parliament. The Act received theassent of the President on 26th August, 2009.

The Right of Children to Free and CompulsoryEducation Act, which makes education a funda-mental right of every child in the age group of sixto 14 years, has come into force with the Presi-dential assent. The Bill was passed in both Housesof Parliament during the Budget session.

The Act, one of the flagship programs in the 100-day agenda of the UPA government, earmarks 25per cent seats to weaker sections in neighborhoodschools. The government would reimburse themoney at government rate towards these seats.

The law prohibits payment of donations or capi-tation fees or interviewing the child or parents aspart of a screening procedure. The financial bur-den to implement the Act will be shared betweenstates and Center. A school can be fined up to Rs100,000 if not recognized by a regulating body.




State of Education

India now has lesser number of single-teacherschools than it had a year ago. The latest govern-ment study on the state of elementary educationin India shows that percentage of single-teacherschools in the country has declined from 11.76 in2006-07 to 10.13 in 2007-2008, an improvementof 1.63 per cent. Among the States, Puducherry isranked first in both primary and elementary edu-cation, while Bihar, Arunachal, West Bengal andJhar-khand are at the bottom. Kerala is the firstin upper primary education, while Delhi andChandigarh are fourth and fifth, respectively. Thegovernment also lists Muslim students as a sepa-rate category saying the percentage of Muslimenrolment in primary classes increased to 10.49in 2008 as against 9.39 the previous year.

Pension Schemes for Widows and Se-verely Disabled

Indian government on Feb 19, 2009 launched thepension scheme for widows, Indira Gandhi Na-tional Widow Pension Scheme in the age groupof 40 to 64 and severely disabled persons, IndiraGandhi National Disability Pension Scheme above18 but below 65 and below the poverty line. Whilethe Centre will provide Rs. 200 a month, the Stateshave been requested to contribute at least a simi-lar amount to the beneficiaries, for a monthly as-sistance of Rs. 400.

44,04,289 widows and 15,56,004 disabled personswith at least 40 per cent severity would benefitfrom the two new schemes that would entail anexpenditure of Rs. 1057.03 crore and Rs. 373.44crore respectively. Government issued directivesthat the responsibility of identifying beneficiaries,enrolling and opening bank accounts would be thatof the authorities. As in the case of disabled per-sons, a team of doctors would have to be deputedat the block level to issue necessary certificatesimmediately.

The Centre has formulated two schemes, IndiraGandhi National Widow Pension Scheme andIndira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme

to cater to these two categories in addition to theexisting Indira Gandhi National Old Age PensionScheme, under which those who attained the ageof 65 are given a monthly pension of Rs. 200.Initiatives in Interim Budget-2009-2010

The UPA Government has launched many newschemes to provide steady monetary assistance toweak and downtrodden people of society. Empha-sis has also been given to the empowerment ofwomen as an abiding objective of the UPA Gov-ernment. To strengthen social and economic in-clusion of minority communities, Government hasalso announced the Prime Minister’s 15 pointprogramme for the welfare of the minorities. Ad-equate allocations are being made to support thisinitiative. The authorized capital of the NationalSafai Karamchari Finance and Development Cor-poration has raised from Rs 200 crore to Rs 300crore to enable it to effectively carry out its man-date. The scope of the pre-matric scholarship forchildren of those engaged in unclean occupationshas been expanded and the rates of scholarshipshave been doubled in 2008-2009. The annualadhoc grant has also been substantially increasedby almost 50 percent as compared to the earlierrates. Efforts of the Government and the financ-ing institutions have led to rapid growth of creditlinked Women Self Help Groups now numberingover 29 lakh. To give further fillip, the RashtriyaMahila Kosh will be strengthened by enhancingits authorized capital.

Referring to the “Priyadarshini Project”, a ruralwomen’s empowerment and livelihoodprogramme launched in U.P. with assistance ofIFAD in December 2008, Government announcedthat the project will be implemented as a pilot inthe district of Madhumani and Sitamarhi in Biharand Shravasti, Bahraich , Rai Bareli and Sultanpurin U.P. So far, 146 lakh persons belonging to Be-low Poverty Line (BPL) households have benefitedfrom the revised and modified scheme “IndiraGandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme”, whichwas launched on November 19, 2007.

In order to empower young widows in the agegroup of 18-40 and equip them to stand on theirown feet it is proposed to give them priority in




admissions to ITIs, Women ITIs and National/Regional ITIs for Women. Government will bearthe cost of their training and provide stipend ofRs 500 per month. In the 22 States and UnionTerritories have initiated the process to implementRashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana for BPL familiesin the Unorganised Sector and 60.32 lakh personshave been covered for death and disability underAam Aadmi Bima Yojana.

State of World’s ChildrenReport- 2009

UNICEF released the State of World’s ChildrenReport- 2009 with some shocking findings regard-ing maternal mortality status in India. Avoidablecomplications during child birth are killing 78,000women in India every year. One woman dies fromcomplications related to pregnancy and childbirthevery seven minutes. One million children bornin India are dying every year even before theybecome 28 days old. A child born in India is 14times more likely to die during the first 28 daysthan one born in the US or UK.The maternalmortality rate of India stands at 301 per 100,000births. It is highest in Uttar Pradesh at 517 andlowest in Kerala at 110.For Bihar it is 371.An Indian woman is 350 times more likely to diein childbirth or from pregnancy –related compli-cations than women in America or England. Forevery mother who dies, 20 others suffer pregnancyrelated illness. Around 10 million women annu-ally experience such adverse outcomes. Despitean increase in institutional deliveries, 60% of preg-nant women still deliver their babies at home. InIndia more than 2/3 of all maternal deaths occurin a handful of states- UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar,Jharkand, Orissa, MP, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan andAssam. In UP one in every 42 women faces risk ofmaternal death compared to 1 in 500 women inKerala.

The main medical causes of maternal deaths are:» Abortion: 8%» Obstructed labor: 5%» Hypertensive disorders: 5%» Sepsis: 11%» Hemorrhage: 38%

» Other conditions: 34%

In India the states with the top five neonatalmor tality rates are:» Orissa- 52 deaths /1000 live births» Madhya Pradesh- 51/1000 live births» Uttar Pradesh- 46/1000 live births» Rajasthan- 45 /1000 live births» Chattisgarh- 43/1000 live births

Child Marriages

One more example of alertness of Indian admin-istrative machinery is evident with the report ofUNICEF, which said that more than 40 per centof the world's child marriages take place in India,even though the legal age for wedding is 18. A report by UNICEF highlighted India's high rateof child marriage as a major reason for the largenumber of maternal and infant deaths. UNICEFreport also revealed shocking figures about howIndia is still living the curse of child marriages,one of the major causes of the high maternal mor-tality rate. High rate of child marriages in India is perhapsone of the reasons why women in developingcountries like ours are 300 times more likely todie during childbirth than those in the developedworld. Evidence shows that those who becomemothers in their teens are five times more likelyto die in childbirth than women in their 20s.

Though India has emerged as a key economicpower globally and has even reached the moon,more than half of its population is struggling forbasic facilities like safe childbirth and care afterdelivery - simple measures that the state has failedto provide.

World’s Sanitation Report

Over 250 crore people across the world lack ac-cess to improved sanitation, with nearly 120 crorepractising open defecation, the riskiest sanitarypractice of all. According to a report releasedjointly by World Health Organisation (WHO) and




UNICEF, the poor sanitation situation is a bigthreat to children's survival as the faecal-contami-nated environment is directly linked to diarrhoealdisease, one of the biggest killers of infants underthe age of five.

The report is part of the WHO-UNICEF moni-toring programme for water supply and sanitation-the official UN mechanism tasked with monitor-ing progress towards the Millennium Develop-ment Goals (MDG) Target 7c on drinking watersupply and sanitation. Worldwide, the number ofpeople who lack access to an improved drinkingwater source that is protected from faecal andchemical contamination has fallen below one bil-lion for the first time since data were first com-piled in 1990.

Report Summary

According to the report, presently 87 per cent ofthe world population has access to improveddrinking water sources, with current trends sug-gesting that more than 90 per cent will do so by2015.The number of people practising open def-ecation dropped from 24 per cent in 1990 to 18per cent in 2006. The report also highlights dis-parities within national borders, particularly be-tween rural and urban dwellers. Worldwide, thereare four times as many people in rural areas-ap-proximately 74.6 crore-without improved watersources, compared to some 13.7 crore urban dwell-ers.

The report, however, said that the situation hasimproved with more people now using improvedsanitation facilities, which ensures that humanexcreta is disposed of in a way that prevents themfrom causing disease by contaminating food andwater sources. "Though the practice of open def-ecation is on the decline worldwide, 18 per centof the world's population, over 120 crore people,still practise it, " the report said. In southern Asia,some 77.8 crore people still rely on this risky sani-tation practice, it added.

Progress on drinking water and sanita-tion

The report, Progress on drinking water and sani-tation-special focus on sanitation, that comes half-way through the International Year of Sanitationassesses-for the first time-global, regional andcountry progress using an innovative "ladder" con-cept. This shows sanitation practices in greaterdetail, enabling experts to highlight trends in us-ing improved, shared and unimproved sanitationfacilities and the trend in open defecation. "Im-proved sanitation" refers to any facility that hy-gienically separates human waste from the envi-ronment. Similarly, the 'drinking water ladder'shows the percentage of the world population thatuses water piped into a dwelling, plot or yard, andother improved water sources such as hand pumps,and unimproved sources.

Alcoholism

It is now generally recognized that alcohol likethe opium products is a narcotic. But alcoholismconstitutes a special problem because of the wideruse of alcohol and because of its entrenchment inthe social customs. Alcoholism is a condition inwhich the individual has lost control over his al-cohol intake in that he is constantly unable to re-frain from drinking once he begins.

Definition

According to Adolf Meyer alcoholism is the de-velopment of an insistent craving for alcohol andits effects. It is also defined as that condition char-acterized by a relatively permanent, persistentdesire for alcohol for the sake of its anticipatedeffects upon body and mind. For Keller and Efronalcoholism is characterized by the repeated drink-ing of alcoholic beverages to an extent that ex-ceeds customary use or compliance with the so-cial customs of the community and that interfereswith the drinker’s health or his social or economicfunctioning.




Broadly speaking alcoholism has been charac-terized by four factors:» Excessive intake of alcoholic beverages» Individual’s increasing worry over his drinking» Loss of the drinker’s control over his own drink-ing» Disturbance in his functioning in the social world

Studies have been made only to throw scientificlight upon the question as to why people are ad-dicted to the immoderate use of alcohol. In thestudy of chronic alcoholics it was found that acertain percentage of inebriates are pathologicalindividuals referred as constitutional alcoholics.The industrialization of society and the mechani-zation of the industry have put strains upon indi-viduals to which the previous experience of therace has not adapted. The social conventions incite the formation of alcoholic habits. The pres-sure of social customs has exerted an importantinfluence in the production of alcoholism. Thereare certain persons who are unable to face theharsh realities of life and start drinking to over-come their inadequacy. Men engaged in manualwork have long been deluded in the belief thatalcohol furnishes added strength and vigour withwhich they can pursue their labour. Men drinkbecause their occupation has completely exhaustedthem. They look forward eagerly to the respitewhich intoxication affords after the heat of theblast furnace or the stench of the dockyards. Ex-cessive consumption of alcohol can make a per-son addicted to it.

An addict is one whose drinking habit causes sev-eral problems in one or more areas of his life forinstance his family relationships, jobs, financialstatus etc. And in spite of all these problems, hewill continue to drink alcohol because his bodygets so accustomed over a period of time to thepresence of alcohol that if its use is stopped sud-denly he will develop withdrawal symptoms liketremors, fits etc. Such a state is called physicaldependence. Alcohol becomes so central to histhoughts, emotions and activities that he is sim-ply unable to think of anything else. This condi-tion is called psychological dependence. Alcoholicaddiction is a disease rather than lack of will power

or moral weakness. Unless the person stops drink-ing, his/her condition will become worse over aperiod of time.

A drinker passes through various stages to be-come an alcoholic. These are:1. Blackouts in which the individual is not able tofind a solution to his individual problems.

2. Sneaking drinks in which he takes alcohol with-out being observed.

3. Increased tolerance, in which he tolerates theincreased effects of drinking.

4. Loss of control in which he fails to control thedesire of not taking alcohol.

5. Development of an alibi system in which hegradually starts neglecting his social roles.

6. Going on periodic benders

7. Regular drinking in which he starts taking al-cohol in the morning.

The problem of alcoholism in terms of personalmisery, family budget, discord, and loss of wages,failure of health, accidents and cost in damageclaims, cost of hospital treatment, cost in custo-dial treatment, inducement to crime are almostdisastrous. A good number of persons arrested forcrimes like rape, burglary, murder and theft arethose who committed them under the influenceof alcohol. Alcohol is a major factor in the high-way accidents. Since alcoholism affects the fam-ily members, friends and even the community, itaffects millions of people in the country. Drink-ing reduces one’s operational activities and effi-ciency to below the minimum level necessary forsocial existence.

There are various programmes and measures foralcohol treatment:» Detoxification in hospitals: Alcohols needmedical care and medical supervision. Tranquil-izers are used for treating their withdrawal symp-




toms like hallucinations. Vitamins and electrolytebalance are used for physical rehabilitation.

» Involving an alcoholic’s family in his treatmentand rehabilitation enhances the chances of suc-cess by 75 to 80%.

» One of the effective social therapies, which usegroup interactions, is Alcoholics Anonymous. Itis an organization of ex-alcoholics, which startedin USA in early 1940s. In this, the members share,their experience with other alcoholics and givethem strength and hope in an attempt to solvetheir common problems and recover from alco-holism. These associations are located in Delhi,Mumbai, and Kolkata etc.

» Treatment centres: These centres are devel-oped as alternative centres to hospital treatmenthaving 10-12 residents. Counselling and anti-drinking rules are observed.

» Changing values through education: Some vol-untary organizations undertake educational andinformation programmes to alert the alcoholics tothe danger of excessive drinking. Social workershelp the drinkers in coping with life and chang-ing the social values and attitudes about drinking.

Adolescent Reproductive and SexualHealth Programme

The govt has launched a Programme called theAdolescent Reproductive and Sexual HealthProgramme under National Rural Health Missionas a part of RCH.

This focus on ARSH and special interventionsfor adolescents was in anticipation of the fol-lowing expected outcomes:Delay age of marriage, Reduce incidence of teen-age pregnancies, meet unmet contraceptive needsand reduce the number of maternal deaths, re-duce the incidence of sexually transmitted diseasesand reduce the proportion of HIV positive casesin the 10-19 years age group.

Problems

One of the main problems during this phase ofgrowth is the inadequate calorie intake. Studieshave shown that girls in rural areas take a meanof 1355K.Cals/day in the 13-15 years and 1292K.Cals/day in the 16-18 years, which is much be-low the recommended age groups. The commonlyobserved health problems are vaginal discharge,hair lice, headache, painful menstruation, irregu-lar and excessive bleeding, dental problems andshort sight. Silent urinary tract infection, poormenstrual hygiene is some other additional prob-lems. Psychological problems also arise like emo-tional disturbances, depression, low self esteem,anxiety over inadequate or excessive secondarysexual development etc.

Some of the specific strategies undertaken by vari-ous govts are Kishori Balika scheme under ICDSby Dept of Women and Child Development.Weekly once 100 mg iron Folic Acid supplemen-tation of all adolescent girls through schools andanganwadi centers. Peer education and life skilldevelopment through education dept in TamilNadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, AP etc. There isneed for a service for providing counseling foradolescents within the district hospital and theCHC.In primary health centers and subcentres theskills to provide counseling both to adolescentsand also to newly weds must be available. Peereducator network is also one of the key strategiesto meet adolescents especially in marginalizedgroups like migrants ,rag pickers and certain oc-cupational categories, street children and evenlarger socially under privileged groups like theurban slums or in tribal areas.Helplines andinternet are some of the other way through whicheducated adolescent can access information. Thisis the period of life when there is maximal needfor nutrition.

What is Adolescence

The 11 to 19 year old age is called adolescence.This is the period of rapid change and maturation




when the child grows into the adult. This is oneof the most enjoyable stages of one’s life and ithas to be experienced with joy and friendship pav-ing the way for building a healthy society withgood social relationships.

The National Population Policy 2000 identifiedadolescents as an under served group for whichhealth needs and within this reproductive andsexual health interventions are to be designed. TheNational Youth Policy 2003 recognizes 13 to 19years as a distinct age group which had to be cov-ered by special programmes in all sectors includ-ing health. The National Curriculum Framework2005 for school education highlights the need forintegrating adolescent reproductive and sexualhealth messages into school curriculum. Based onthis the National Adolescence EducationProgramme of NACO along with the Ministry ofHuman Resources Development is developed.

India Registers 2 Million TuberculosisCases

The number of people infected with both tuber-culosis (TB) and HIV is twice what researcherspreviously thought. The World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO) annual report on TB, pre-sented in Rio, indicates that there were 1.37 mil-lion cases of people with both TB and HIV in 2007,the latest year for which statistics are available.Asia registered the most TB cases in 2007, with55%, while Africa had 31%. Among nations, In-dia had the most cases with two million; Chinahad 1.3 million and Indonesia 530,000.

Public Health System in India

Public health system in India suffers from manyproblems which includes insufficient funding,shortage of facilities leading to overcrowding andsevere shortage of trained health personnel. Thereis also lack of accountability in the public healthdelivery mechanisms. These are some of the rea-sons, which have placed India at the lowest rankin the Human Development Index.

India however holds top position in migration ofphysicians to developed countries like UK and theUS. According to Planning Commission the coun-try has a shortfall of six lakh doctors, 10 lakh nursesand two lakh dental surgeons. This has led to adismal patient-doctor ratio in the country. Forevery 10,000 Indians, there is just one doctor.

National Urban Health Mission

The much publicized National Urban Health Mis-sion is yet to see the light of day. The scheme plansto monitor and improve the health of 22 crorepeople living in urban slums in 429 cities andtowns. It was to be launched mid 2008 but themission is yet to become functional. NURM isaimed at providing accessible, affordable, effec-tive and reliable primary health care facilities es-pecially to urban poor. Even for NHRM there islimited progress due to lack of standardization ofmedical facilities.

India has banned tobacco consumption in publicplaces but only 12 states have started implement-ing the ban. More than 10 lakh people at presentdie in India every year due to tobacco consump-tion. At present more than 57% male and 10.9%female consume tobacco while 15% children con-sume tobacco.

Female feticide continues to tarnish India’simage.The child sex ratio (0-6 years) was 945 (1991census) and this declined to 927 girls per thou-sand boys (in 2001 census).The figures are alarm-ing in prosperous states like Punjab(798),Haryana(819),Chandigarh (845),Delhi (868),Gujarat (883)and Himachal Pradesh (896).

The Third Edition of the Tobacco Atlas

The third edition of the Tobacco Atlas released inDublin by the American Cancer Society and WorldLung Foundation says that more women in Indiaare turning smokers and oral users of tobacco. In-dia has the third highest number of female to-bacco users in the world. Of the estimated 11.9million female consumers of tobacco in India 5.4million smoke it and rest chews the leaves. To-




bacco in any form is life threatening and is con-sidered health hazard.

According to the report world wide tobacco con-sumption could kill six million people in 2010 andone third of those people would die of cancer.About 25% of smokers die or become ill duringtheir most productive years, adversely impactingfamilies as well as economies. Earlier Tobaccokilled more men than women but this is slowlychanging as smoking rates are increasing amongwomen in many countries including India andparticularly among young women. The gap be-tween tobacco death rates between men andwomen is closing. Female smokers in India aredying eight years earlier than their non-smokingpeer group.

Smoking creates health problems among womenespecially reproductive health .It not only ad-versely affect the health of eggs produced ;it couldcompromise the health of the expectant motherand the foetus.It is true for passive smokers as well.Tobacco consumers are more vulnerable to dis-ease especially cancer and particularly lung can-cer.

There are many factors leading to increase inwomen smoking. Smoking dulls the appetite andis seen as convenient and easy way of followingdiet plan to help weight loss. In rural areas bydefault women catch the smoking habit as theyare required to light their husband’s hukkas .Somewomen smoke beedis as past time.

Indian government should do more public aware-ness campaigns. The other ways would be morestringent legislation, high pricing and pictorialwarnings on cigarette packs.

On current trends the goal of halving hungerwould not be until 2035, 40 countries would haveequal enrolments for boys and girls until after 2025and current progress in cutting maternal mortal-ity rates was less than 1/5th of what was neededto meet the goal. The total number of HIV/AIDSinfections in 2007 was 33 million-the highest ever.According to Action Aid discussions at the UN

and this year’s meeting of the G-8 industrial na-tions in Japan would only succeed if they startedwith the recognition that the development emer-gency is first and foremost an emergency forwomen and girls. The lack of progress on mater-nal health shows people lives are at stake.

SD Tendulkar Report on Poverty

According to a recent Indian government com-mittee constituted to estimate poverty, nearly 38%of India’s population (380 million) is poor. Thisreport is based on new methodology and the fig-ure is 10% higher than the present poverty esti-mate of 28.5%.

Different Methodology

The committee was headed by SD Tendulkar hasused a different methodology to reach at the cur-rent figure. It has taken into consideration indi-cators for heath, education, sanitation, nutritionand income as per National Sample Survey Orga-nization survey of 2004-05.This new methodol-ogy is a complex scientific basis aimed at address-ing the concern raised over the current povertyestimation.

Since 1972 poverty has been defined on basis ofthe money required to buy food worth 2100 calo-ries in urban areas and 2400 calories in rural ar-eas. In June this year a government committeeheaded by NC Saxena committee estimated 50%Indians were poor as against PlanningCommission’s 2006 figure of 28.5%.

Poverty is Biggest Problem

Poverty is one of the main problems which haveattracted attention of sociologists and economists.It indicates a condition in which a person fails tomaintain a living standard adequate for his physi-cal and mental efficiency. It is a situation peoplewant to escape. It gives rise to a feeling of a dis-crepancy between what one has and what oneshould have. The term poverty is a relative con-cept. It is very difficult to draw a demarcation linebetween affluence and poverty.




Even after more than 60 years of Independence,India still has the world's largest number of poorpeople in a single country. Of its nearly 1 billioninhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are belowthe poverty line, of which 193.2 million are inthe rural areas and 67.1 million are in urban ar-eas. More than 75% of poor people reside in vil-lages. Poverty level is not uniform across India.The poverty level is below 10% in states like Delhi,Goa, and Punjab etc whereas it is below 50% inBihar (43) and Orissa (47). It is between 30-40%in Northeastern states of Assam, Tripura, andMehgalaya and in Southern states of TamilNaduand Uttar Pradesh.

Agreement with World Bank on Health ProjectIndia has signed a Financing Agreement of Na-tional Vector Borne Disease Control and PolioEradication Support Project with the World Bankon February 13th, 2009.

The agreement is for a total assistance of approxi-mately 518 million dollar as part of IDA alloca-tion to India. The agreement was signed by Dr.Alok Sheel, Joint Secretary, Department of Eco-nomic Affairs on behalf of Government of Indiaand. Rachid Benmesssaoud Operations Adviser,World Bank (India), signed on behalf of the WorldBank.The closing date of the project is December31, 2013.

Objective

The project aims at enhancing the effectivenessof government response to control malaria, elimi-nate Kala Azar and eradicate polio. This will beachieved by increasing the number of people ben-efiting from effective prevention, diagnosis andtreatment services for malaria and Kala Azar, andvaccination against polio.

The project will have four components including.,“Improving Access to and Use of Services for Con-trol of Malaria”, “Improving Access to and Use ofServices for Elimination of Kala Azar”, “Policy andStrategy Development, Capacity Building andMonitoring and Evaluation” and “Improving Po-lio vaccine availability”.

Supreme Court on Anti-RraggingNorms

The Supreme Court on 9 May 2009 added teethto its earlier stringent anti-ragging directions bymaking the head of the institution and thelocal police chief liable for disciplinary action ifany ragging incident takes place within their ju-risdiction.

The fresh directives were added to its earlier guide-lines, which among other punishments also pro-vided for rustication of the errant senior if he in-dulged in ragging, as the ragging-related death ofAmann Kachroo exposed the chinks in theirimplementation.

Pronouncing the elaborate measures, most ofwhich were suggested by the SC committeeheaded by former CBI director R K Raghvan, aBench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and A KGanguly directed a national level committee tosuggest remedial measures in the school curricu-lum to limit the ragging menace by studying theimpact of this physical abuse on students.

Major anti-ragging directions

Penal consequences and departmental proceedingsagainst institutions and departmental heads whoshow apathy towards complaints of ragging

Freshers to be divided into small groups and af-filiated to a teaching staff who would keep con-stant vigil on their welfare and protect them fromseniors

Round-the-clock vigil on hostel pre-mises

Departmental action against principal of RajendraPrasad Government Medical College (RPGMC),where Amann Kachroo died after ragging

SHO/SP, within whose jurisdiction a particularcollege falls, shall be responsible for ensuring that




no ragging takes place on the campus of the con-cerned colleges

Amann's father Rajendra Kachroo to assistRaghvan Committee to provide a linkage betweencommittee's efforts and the NGO anti-raggingmovement

De-addiction measures in RPGMC where alcohol-ism is rampant

Raghavan Committee

The Raghavan Committee on ragging, constitutedby the apex court to monitor implementation ofits omnibus order banning ragging in colleges,submitted its 'not so happy' latest status report on12 August 2008 to a Bench comprising justicesArijit Pasayat and Mukandakam Sharma.

Summarising its view after scanning of raggingincidents across the country till August 5, the com-mittee through additional solicitor general GopalSubramaniam told the Bench that "overall progressin the matter was slack, and more effort neededto be shown by regulatory bodies in the form ofregulations and directions" to achieve zero toler-ance towards ragging.

Expressing displeasure over the helplessnessshown by regulatory bodies like UGC, AICTE,MCI and DCI, the committee said unless the fi-nancial grant to the institutions was linked to theiraction against ragging, it would not be possible tocompletely stamp out the menace from the cam-pus. The Bench, taking the suggestions on record,said it would pass appropriate orders for effectiveimplementation of its order on the ban on rag-ging in educational institutions.

The committee stressed the need to "give exem-plary punishment, as directed by the SupremeCourt, to students found guilty of ragging" so thatthe seriousness with which the offence wasviewed by the authorities should sink in amongstudents.

Female Foeticide

Terming female foeticide as a "shame" on Indiansociety, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said tonation from the Red Fort on the 63rd Indepen-dence Day that the country cannot progress un-less women become equal partners in growth.

The Prime Minister announced the launch of aNational Female Literacy Mission with an aim toreduce female illiteracy by half. He said specialcare would be taken of needs of women and chil-dren and added that the Government has decidedto extend the benefit of ICDS to every child be-low the age of six years by March 2012.

Female Foeticide Scenario

The 2001 census of India reveals a decline in theoverall child sex ratio for the age-group 0-6 yearsfrom 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001.Contrary to thebelief that the malaise is typical to rural ,back-ward areas, urban centers more literate and lib-eral have shown a drop from 935 in 1991 to 906in 2001.

In Delhi, the national capital, the child sex ratiois an alarming 868.While the reasons for this varyfrom higher female mortality at a younger age asa result of neglect to infanticide and foeticide; thedismal numbers are a telling comment on the edu-cated society that refuses to rid itself of its regres-sive male bias.

The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques Regulationsand Prevention of Misuse Act came into force in1994 to curb selective sex determination. Withrapid improvements in diagnostic technology theAct was amended in 2003 in order that it becamemore comprehensive and was renamed the Pre-conception and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques(Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act.

To monitor the implementation of the PC & PNDTAct, the ministry of Health and Family Welfarehas set up a Central Supervisory Board as well asstate-level supervisory committees. A ministryreport indicates that there are 420 ongoing court/




police cases for violations of the law. Of these only65 cases relate to identification and revelation ofthe sex of the foetus, 43 are against people whohave advertised facilities for sex selection and therest are for non-registration of clinics/facilities.Apart from the nature of the Act, governmentinaction in most cases is due to the fact that thepatient, her family and the violators of the laware hand-in-glove. The Annual Report (2006) ofthe PC &PNDT division also identifies the non-availability of evidence or witnesses as the chiefhindrance to implementing the law. The unscru-pulous doctors and patients have developed theirown sex determination code language to circum-vent the law. For an instance if a doctor says col-lect the report on Monday the family is meant toinfer that the unborn child is a boy. Friday con-notes the girl child. Also signing a report in blueink indicates a boy while red ink is meant for babygirls. The Annual Report mentions the fact theCMO or CS is usually not empowered enough tobring violators to book. Also abortions to limitfamily size add to the difficulty of nabbing guilty.Despite the loopholes the government has exerteditself to advocate the girl child's right to live. Anew website has been launched www.pndt.gov.inwith the facility to file a complaint online againstdoctors, maternity homes and clinics. The orga-nizations like Sonological Society of India are alsosupporting the government initiatives.

Decrease in Employment Rate in India

The Centre's estimates have revealed a decline inoverall employment rate by more than a lakh inthe first quarter of the calendar year 2009 contra-dicting its own claims of insulating the economyfrom the global meltdown. There was a decline inemployment by 1.31 lakhs during the months ofApril to June 2009. Om a monthly basis, the em-ployment rate in April dropped by .38 lakhs and1.57 lakhs in May but fortunately saw a slight riseof 0.64 lakhs in June.

Worst Hit Sectors

Export oriented sectors like the IT/BPO, textilesand gems and jewellery are among the worst hit

sectors with decline in the employment for eachsector being 0.48 lakhs, 0.23 lakhs and 1.52 lakhsrespectively. In fact there seems to be a steadydecrease in employment rates on a monthly basisin the IT/BPO sector i.e. 0.24 lakhs loss of jobsincreasing upto 0.33 lakhs in May.

The Labour Bureau, on analysis of 3003 establish-ments which were previously covered in an analy-sis, disclosed estimates which made a report onthe effect of the global meltdown on employmentrates in India for the months April to June 2009.The report said that the government of India hasbeen keeping a close watch on the dwindlingemployment rates due to the slowdown ineconomy in all basic sectors. There has been how-ever reason to cheer in some departments such asthe leather and automobiles sectors as there was aslight increase in employment during this particu-lar period. The worst hit among all sectors thoughwas the textiles sector which was down by 1.54lakhs during this quarterly period. An importantobservation is the increase in employment in non-exporting sectors as compared to the simultaneousdecline in the exporting sector as there has beenan increase of 0.35 lakhs in the non exporting sec-tor.

Contract Employment Replaced Regu-lar Employment

A trend developing these days has been attrib-uted to the decline in the employment rate. It isthe increase in contract employment which hasreplaced regular employment. This can be particu-larly noticed in banks as all labour has been turn-ing computerised. This has been proved by the0.40 lakh increase in employment in contractualemployment. Another important observation inthe report by the Labour Bureau was that migrantworkers returned to their hometowns during thisparticular period resulting in the decline in em-ployment in export sectors.



http://www.pndt.gov.in


UNESCO Listed 196 Languages as En-dangered

With 196 of its languages listed as endangered,India, a nation with great linguistic diversity, topsthe UNESCO's list of countries having maximumnumber of dialects on the verge of extinction. In-dia is closely followed by the US which stands tolose 192 languages and Indonesia, where 147 arein peril.

Among the 196, 84 fall in the unsafe categorywhere children speak the language but it's re-stricted to certain domains some of these includeTulu, Konkani, Gharwali and Kumaoni. 103 areendangered as they're only spoken by grandpar-ents and the older generations sometimes partiallyand infrequently and nine are extinct where nospeakers are left.

The facts were revealed in the latest Atlas ofWorld's Languages in Danger of Disappearingunveiled by the UN's cultural agency UNESCOon the eve of International Mother Language Day.The atlas classifies around 2,500 of the 6,000 lan-guages spoken worldwide as endangered.

It further adds that nearly 200 languages havefewer than 10 speakers and 178 others have be-tween 10 and 50 speakers. It reveals that over 200languages used in the world have died out overthe last three generations, 538 are critically en-dangered, 502 severely endangered, 632 definitelyendangered and 607 unsafe.

The language of Manx in the Isle of Man died in1974 with the death of Ned Maddrell while Eyakin Alaska met its demise last year when MarieSmith Jones passed away.

According to the database, nearly one-third of allof the world's languages are spoken in sub-SaharanAfrica, and it is estimate that 10 per cent of themwill disappear during the course of the next cen-tury. However, the situation of languages is notequally dire worldwide. For example, Papua NewGuinea, the most linguistically diverse with over800 languages believed to be spoken there, has 88relatively few endangered languages.

Some languages classified as extinct, includingCornish in the UK and Ssh in New Caledonia, arebeing actively revitalised and could potentiallybecome living again. Still there is dishearteningnews.

There are 199 languages in the world spoken byfewer than a dozen people, including Karaimwhich has six speakers in Ukraine and Wichita,spoken by 10 people in the US state of Oklahoma.The updated data represents a multi-fold increasefrom the last atlas compiled in 2001 which listed900 languages threatened with extinction.More than 30 linguists worked on the Atlas, whichhighlights how the phenomenon of disappearinglanguages is evident in every region and in vary-ing economic conditions. The database, which iscontinually supplemented, corrected and updatedon user contributions, ranks the dying languagesas unsafe, definitely endangered, severely endan-gered, critically endangered and extinct.

Grading System in Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)

The Government on Aug 31, 2009 announced thatit will introduce grading system in all CentralBoard of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools andmake Class X board exams optional from comingacademic year (2010-11).

Union Human Resource Development ministerKapil Sibal said that Central Advisory Board ofEducation (CABE) supports making Class X ex-amination optional in CBSE system. The Class Xboard exams will become optional in all CBSEschools from the coming academic year (2010-11).The CBSE has prepared the format of an aptitudeexam which schools can use to test Class X stu-dents on their level of understanding in each sub-ject. The emphasis, however, will be on continu-ous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) throughthe year instead of a single public exam at the endof Class X.




12 New Central Universities

The government will issue an ordinance to create12 new central universities, it was announced onjan 12,2009. The new universities will be estab-lished in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand,Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan andTamil Nadu.

In addition, the Dr. Harisingh GourVishwavidyalaya at Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, theGuru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya at Bilaspur inChhattisgarh and the Hemvati Nandan BahugunaGarhwal University at Srinagar in Uttarakhandwould be converted into central universities. Theseinstitutions currently function as state universi-ties.

The proposed ordinance would contain all theprovisions of the Central Universities Bill, 2008pending in the Lok Sabha, with such changes asmay be necessary to implement the accepted rec-ommendations of the parliamentary standing com-mittee, which include, among others, droppingof the conversion of Goa University into a centraluniversity. The conversion of Goa University wasincluded in the bill on a specific request of thestate government.

Number of Female Post Graduates inUrban India Rises

According to the latest report of the NationalSample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the numberof post graduates in every 1,000 males surveyedhas increased from 28 in 2001-02 to 35 in 2006-07in urban India. The number of female post gradu-ates has increased from 19 to 26 during the sameperiod. The number of male and female graduatesduring the same period has increased from 97 and67 to 111 and 82, respectively. The incidence ofilliteracy in rural areas has declined from 39.5%in 2001-02 to 34.9% in 2006-07. In urban sector,the same has declined from 19.4% to 16.5% dur-ing the same period. What is significant is that inboth urban and rural sectors, the illiteracy rate of

female has declined at a higher rate than that ofthe male. Female illiteracy rate has declined by4.6 percentage points in rural areas and 3.4 per-centage points decline of the male illiteracy ratein rural and urban sector respectively, during2001-02 to 2006-07.

India Tops World Hunger Chart

India is failing its rural poor with 230 millionpeople being undernourished the highest for anycountry in the world. Malnutrition accounts fornearly 50% of child deaths in India as every thirdadult (aged 15-49 years) is reported to be thin (BMIless than 18.5). According to the latest report onthe state of food insecurity in rural India, broughtout by the United Nations World Food Programme(WFP), more than 1.5 million children are at riskof becoming malnourished because of rising glo-bal food prices. The report said that while generalinflation declined from a 13-year high exceeding12% in July 2008 to less than 5% by the end ofJanuary 2009, the inflation for food articlesdoubled from 5% to over 11% during the sameperiod. India ranks 94th in the Global HungerIndex of 119 countries, the report said. More than27% of world’s undernourished population livesin India.

Pradhan Mantri Adarsh gram Yojana

Government on sept 7, 2009 has proposed to takeup a new scheme on a pilot basis, called “PradhanMantri Adarsh gram Yojana” (PMAGY) for inte-grated development of 1,000 villages, each hav-ing more than 50% SC population.The scheme aims to implement various develop-ment projects in these villages, with an additionalfund of Rs 10 lakh per village to meet those re-quirements that cannot be met from existingschemes. If the pilot scheme is successful, it maybe expanded.

National Mission on Education

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs hasapproved a scheme, National Mission on Educa-tion, to use the Information Communication Tech-




nology (ICT) to provide personalized and interac-tive knowledge modules to students. The schemewill cost Rs 4,612 crore in the 11th Plan. Over18,000 colleges across India will get computer in-frastructure and connectivity, including all depart-ments in 419 universities, deemed universities andinstitutions of national importance. In anotherdecision, the Cabinet approved the RashtriyaMadhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan to increase enrol-ment rates in secondary education from 52.56 percent at present to 75 per cent in 2012. Under thescheme 11,188 new schools will be built and44,000 existing schools strengthened and 1.79 lakhadditional teachers will be appointed.

Use of Auto Disable Syringes madeMandatory

The Directorate General of Health Services hasmade it mandatory for all states to use Auto Dis-able (AD) syringes in all Government hospitals andhealth centres with reference to April 1, 2009.The action came in the wake of a national studyconducted by the Indiaclen Programme Evalua-tion Network on behalf of the Ministry of Health,Government of India, and World Bank, entitled'Assessment of Injection Practices in India' in 2002- 2005 which brought to light that in India nearlytwo thirds of the injections are administered inan unsafe manner and also all the injections ad-ministered in India, one third carry a potentialrisk of transmitting blood borne virus. AD syringeseliminate the possibility of reuse and hence therisk of infection through blood.

UNWFP Report

The United Nations World Food Programme(UNWFP) said that most rural Indians are victimsof malnutrition, despite the introduction of sev-eral government schemes to end the problem onFeb 21st, 2009.

A UNWFP with MS Swaminathan Research Foun-dation report said that 40 per cent of childrenunder the age of three are underweight and a thirdof all men and women suffer from chronic energydeficiency. It also stressed nutritional outcomes

and the associated factors which influence them.The report examined the effectiveness of some ofthe important food-based interventions like thePublic Distribution System, the Integrated ChildDevelopment Services and the Mid Day MealScheme and recommends measures for improvedperformance.

A survey by the Indian health ministry, backedby UNICEF, had found that almost 46 percent ofchildren under the age of three are undernour-ished.

2008 State of World Population Report

The United Nations Population Fund(UNFPA),launched the 2008 State of World Population Re-port in the Philippines in 2008 at EDSA Shangri-la Hotel.

The theme of the report is ‘Reaching CommonGround: Culture, Gender and Human Rights’. Thereport, which coincides with 60th anniversary ofthe Universal Declaration of Human Rights, isbased on the concept that the international hu-man rights framework has universal validity. Hu-man rights express values common to all culturesand protect groups as well as individuals. The re-port endorses culturally sensitive approaches todevelopment and to the promotion of humanrights, in general, and women's rights, in particu-lar. Cultural sensitive approaches are essential forreaching the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), including the fifth goal namely to im-prove maternal health.

The Constitution (109th Amendment) Bill 2009Parliamentary approval was accorded to a consti-tutional amendment bill extending the reserva-tion for Scheduled Castes (SC) and ScheduledTribes (STs) in parliament and state assemblies foranother 10 years, with the Lok Sabha passing themeasure on August 4th, 2009. The Constitution(109th Amendment) Bill 2009 had been adoptedby the Rajya Sabha.

The measure also extends nomination of membersof the Anglo-Indian community to the Lok Sabha




and the state assemblies by another 10 years. Thebill, moved by Law Minister M. Veerappa Moilypassed in a division vote with 385 of the memberspresent voting in favour, while one voted againstand one abstained.

Out of 543 Lok Sabha seats, 79 have been reservedfor SCs and 42 for STs and out of 3,961 assemblyseats, 543 are reserved for SCs and 527 for STs.

New Pension Scheme (NPS)

The New Pension Scheme (NPS) has beenlaunched on ‘Labour Day’ on May 1st, 2009 for allthe citizens. This followed the confirmation bythe National Interim Pension Regulator of thescheduled launch of the Mega Pension Plan.

According to the Pension Fund Regulatory andDevelopment Authority (PFRDA), the necessaryinfrastructure for the roll out of the NPS is nowready and it will be available to all the citizens.Under this scheme, the Central Government em-ployees who joined on or after Jan 1, 2004 are alsocovered under this.

Besides the government employees, bank branchesand post offices will be used to collect contribu-tions for all the citizens. Six pension fund manag-ers will plan schemes and manage funds. A cen-tral record-keeping agency has also been ap-pointed. All these institutions will be regulatedby an independent regulator, PFRDA.

Rs 22.6 Billion for Poor, Disabled Stu-dents

Indian government has approved two schemesworth Rs.22.6 billion to provide scholarship toneedy meritorious students and help 520,000 dis-abled students to pursue education at the second-ary level on Sep 18,2008.

In the first scheme, the cabinet committee on eco-nomic affairs gave its approval for implementa-tion of central sector scheme of scholarships forcollege and university students worth Rs.10 bil-lion during the 11th Five Year Plan period.

The scheme will help meritorious students belong-ing to poorer sections of the society to meet theirday-to-day expenses while pursuing college/uni-versity education, who are not benefited by anyother scholarship scheme.

As part of the second package, the committee gaveits approval for introduction of a new centrallysponsored scheme of 'Inclusive Education of theDisabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS)' at an expen-diture of Rs.12.6 billion.

All disabled children passing out of the Class VIIIstage (middle school) in government, local bodyand government-aided schools will be identifiedfor enrolment in the secondary stage (Class IX toXII). As part of this initiative an estimated 520,000disabled children will be provided education dur-ing the 11th Plan period.

Urban-India Led in Unemployment

Unemployment rates are much higher among edu-cated individuals, especially the ones in urban ar-eas, according to the Indian Labor Market Report2009 published by Tata Institute of Social Sciences(TISS) 07 April 2009.

Among emerging sectors, the retail sector is thelargest employer, followed by construction, thereport says. While the segments including hospi-tality, transport, communication and wholesaleand retail trade, have witnessed temporary recruit-ment. The case of temporary recruits is far lesspronounced in the segments such as financial in-termediation, mining and quarrying and real es-tate. The report is based on the survey conductedby the National Sample Survey Organisation(NSSO).

While Goa has the highest unemployment ratesof 11.4 percent, followed by Kerala at 9.1 percent,states, which enjoy the lowest unemploymentrates, are Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh - 0.5 per-cent and 0.8 percent, respectively, shows a state-wise analysis of the trend.




Gender-wise, urban women have the highest unemployment rates (9.2 percent) while the lowest is ac-counted for by rural women at 7.31 percent. It is desirable that the existing pattern of the Indian labormarket - a dichotomy in gender, region, social security, and education - must undergo significant changesto favor more human development.

The percentage of urban women, who are not part of the labor force, is higher than that of their ruralcounterparts. While in most states, the percentage of rural women, not part of the labor force, is nearly 60-70 percent, the corresponding figure for their urban counterparts is close to 80 percent.



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The much-awaitedA S E A N - I n d i aTrade in Goods(TIG) Agreementwas concluded in

Bangkok on 13 August 2009 after six years of ne-gotiations. The signing of the ASEAN-India Tradein Goods Agreement paves the way for the cre-ation of one of the world’s largest free trade areas(FTA) - market of almost 1.8 billion people with acombined GDP of US$ 2.75 trillion.

ASEAN-India FTA will see tariff liberalisation ofover 90 percent of products traded between thetwo dynamic regions, including the so-called “spe-cial products,” such as palm oil (crude and refined),coffee, black tea and pepper.

Tariffs on over 4,000 product lines will be elimi-nated by 2016, at the earliest. The ASEAN-IndiaTIG Agreement will enter into force on 1 January2010 once India and at least one ASEAN MemberState notify completion of their internal ratifica-tion process.

The ASEAN-India FTA is the fifth ASEAN-wideFTA. The signing marks the end of protracted ne-gotiations that spanned almost six years follow-ing the signing of the ASEAN-India FrameworkAgreement on Comprehensive Economic Coop-eration in 2003.

The Economic Ministers from ASEAN MemberStates and India signed the following agreementsto effect the free trade in goods among them whentheymet for their 7th AEM-India Consultationsin Bangkok, Thailand on 13 August 2009:

a) Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreementon Comprehensive Economic Cooperation be-tween ASEAN and India;

b) ASEAN-India Trade in Goods (TIG) Agreement;

c) Memorandum of Understanding on the Basel

EconomyASEAN and India Sign the Much Awaited Free Trade Area

Convention on the Control of Trans-boundaryMovements of Hazardous Waste and Disposal; and

d) ASEAN-India Agreement on Dispute Settle-ment Mechanism.

India-ASEAN Economic Relations

India-ASEAN relations have deepened and inten-sified significantly in recent years. India desiresto build on our centuries old historical, cultural,religious and economic ties with ASEAN to fash-ion a dynamic relationship that not only encom-passes trade and economic relations but all aspectsof human endeavour, bringing together our syn-ergies in a mutually beneficial manner.

India has been following a conscious “Look EastPolicy” since early 1990s. India’s interaction withASEAN is integral to this approach. There has beensteady progress in the India-ASEAN relationshipsince the policy was initiated in 1991. We becamesectoral dialogue partners of ASEAN in 1992. In1996, this was upgraded to full dialogue partner-ship.

India-ASEAN functional cooperation

India-ASEAN functional cooperation includes co-operation in sectors such as Science & Technol-ogy, Human Resource Development, Health andPharmaceuticals, Space Sciences, Agriculture, In-formation and Communication Technology,Transport and Infrastructure, Tourism and Cul-ture, and Small and Medium enterprises etc.ASEAN side specifically sought close collabora-tion with India in sectors such as S&T, ICT, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals, Health and Disas-ter Management. They have also expressed theneed to cooperate in developing traditional medi-cines and in the manufacturing of affordable drugs,particularly anti-retroviral drugs for Avian Influ-enza. The need was also expressed for India andASEAN to work together on the critical issue ofclimate change.

Section -6 (IAS Mains Special : ECONOMY)



Towards the new building blocks for the evolvingregional architecture for cooperation, we proposedseveral new measures. Among these are: realizingIndia-ASEAN trade target of US $ 50 billion by2010, simplification of visa regime forbusinesspersons travelling from India to ASEANand vice-versa, launching of an India-ASEANHealth Care Initiative with a focus to provide ba-sic drugs at low cost, setting up of an India-ASEANGreen Fund for undertaking pilot projects to tackleissues associated with Climate Change, an ex-panded Open Skies Policy with ASEAN, and a tar-get of 1 million tourists to India from ASEAN re-gion by the year 2010. Our thrust remains to cre-ate an “arc of advantage” linking India with SouthEast Asia.

Recently, India finalized text of Trade-in-GoodsAgreement under a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)with the ASEAN block, which will ensure lower-ing of duties and free flow of trade in goods. ThisTrade-in-goods (TiG) agreement is likely to besigned in near future. The agreement will create amarket of over 1.5 billion people in the region.India and ASEAN will also negotiate Agreementin Trade-in-Services and Investment as a singleundertaking as soon as possible.

India has a stake in ASEAN’s stability in deepen-ing economic integration and community build-ing. In this regard PM has announcedoperationalisation of the India-ASEAN Scienceand Technology Fund with an initial corpus fundof 1 million US dollars.

India-Egypt MoU for cooperation intrade and economic fields

Picking up the threads of a relationship that hadgone dry for almost a quarter of a century, Indiaand Egypt on November 18, 2008, took the highroad, setting up a strategic dialogue and signing arash of agreements during President HosniMubarak’s first visit to India in 25 years. India andEgypt signed five agreements, including an extra-dition treaty and one on cooperation in outer spaceand an MoU for cooperation in trade and economicfields.

Economic and Commercial Relations

Egypt has traditionally been one of India’s mostimportant trading partners in the Africancontinent. The India-Egypt Bilateral Trade Agree-ment has been in operation since March 1978 andis based on the Most Favoured Nation clause.India emerged as Egypt’s third largest trading part-ner behind the US and Italy in 2006. In 2007,India’s rank was fourth behind the US, Italy andSaudi Arabia. Both in 2006 and in 2007, India wasthe largest importer of Egyptian products, mainlyon account of oil and gas. India’s rank among thetop countries to Egypt improved from 19th in 2005to 14th in 2006 to 11th in 2007 and 9th in 2008.

Major Egyptian exports: oil and gas, coking coal,raw cotton, rock phosphate, and marble

Major Indian exports: frozen meat, cotton yarnand synthetic yarn, rice, diesel, tobacco, electri-cal machinery, soybean, chemicals, automobilesand components, sugar, pharmaceuticals and tea.

Bilateral Investment

India and Egypt signed the BIPA in April 1997,which entered into force in November 2000. Ac-cording to Egyptian sources, India is the 12th larg-est foreign investor in Egypt with a total invest-ment of approximately US$ 750 million in closeto 40 projects. Egyptian investments in India arelimited to a 10% stake of Orascom Telecom in thethen Hutchison-Essar which has since beenbought by Vodafone

Indian Projects in Egypt

Alexandria Carbon Black (ACB) set up by GrasimIndia Limited with TRENCO and ATC as Egyp-tian partners has been the leading successful jointventure. Established in 1994 in Alexandria with acapacity of 20,000 tonnes, its capacity has sincebeen increased to 180,000 tonnes. It exports 93%of its product generating foreign exchange rev-enue or savings of close to US$ 100 million forEgypt annually.




A new acrylic fibre plant, Alexandria Fibre Co.was also set up in Alexandria by the Aditya BirlaGroup in February 2006 with an initial investmentof $ 60 million and a capacity of 18,000 tonnesper year.

Other major investments include the JV betweenAsian Paints and SCIB Chemical, (OrascomGroup); in October 2004, HDFC facilitated thesetting up of EHDC (Egyptian Housing Develop-ment Company) by acquiring 10% equity and pro-viding technical as well as management assistance;IFFCO has signed an agreement with Al Nasrmines to establish a phosphoric acid plant in Up-per Egypt entailing an investment of over $ 550million; the Oberoi Group has been managing ahotel and Nile cruises; ESSEL of India has set up aJV for manufacturing laminated tooth paste tubesfor Proctor and Gamble in

Egypt; Dabur India Ltd. has established a 100%owned facility for the production of its cosmeticsline; Niletex, a 100% Indian company manufac-tures PVC water-storage tanks; M/s. Auto TechEngineering, another 100% Indian company,manufactures auto valves; Kirloskar Brothers as-semble diesel engines and irrigation pump sets inEgypt; Ranbaxy has an Egyptian subsidiary formanufacturing pharmaceutical formulations;Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki andMahindra & Mahindra are marketing their ve-hicles in Egypt, and Bajaj Auto dominated thethree-wheelers market. Marico, an Indian con-sumer goods company acquired ‘Fiancee’, a cos-metics line and ‘Hair Code’’, a hair care brand fromEgypt’s Ready Group. The Sanmar Group com-pleted acquisition of a caustic soda unit of TrustChemicals of Egypt, located at Port Said in 2007,at a cost of US$ 250 million. In June 2007, an agree-ment was signed between South Asia Petrochemi-cals Ltd. of India and ECHEM of Egypt to set upthe first PET resin plant in Egypt with a total in-vestment of USD 100 million. In November 2008,Kernex Microsystems were awarded a US$ 17.5million contract by the Egyptian National Rail-ways for modernization of 136 level crossings. InDecember 2008, KEC International Ltd. baggedan order valued at US$ 135 million awarded bythe Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company

for a turnkey project for the design, supply andconstruction of 196 km long 500 kV double cir-cuit line. The project is funded by the EuropeanInvestment Bank.

Oil and Gas

Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has equityand management stake in two gas distributionventures in Fayoum and Cairo as well as in Natgas.OVL and its partner IPR Red Sea Inc. have an-nounced two oil field discoveries in the NorthRamadan Concession in the Gulf of Suez. GSPCof Gujarat has bagged two oil and gas explorationblocks in Egypt, one in the Mediterranean off-shore and the other in the Western Desert.IT: The Global Solutions Centre (GSC) of SatyamComputer Services was inaugurated in Cairo on 5March 2008. WIPRO has established a similar fa-cility in Cairo. TCS is also in negotiations withtheEgyptian Ministry of IT for setting up opera-tions in Egypt.

India and South Korea signed a CEPA

After more than three years of negotiations, In-dia and South Korea signed a Comprehensive Eco-nomic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on August9, 2009, covering trade in goods, services and in-vestment, and international property rights. Bothcountries agreed to gradually lower tariffs over a10-year period, once the South Korean NationalAssembly ratifies the agreement. The CEPA ne-gotiations had started in March 2006 and wereconcluded in September 2008.

The Cabinet had approved the pact in July 2009.Under the CEPA, India will eliminate duties on75 percent of products imported from South Ko-rea on a custom-value basis during the eight yearsafter the CEPA becomes effective. South Koreawill remove duties on 93 percent of products fromIndia during the same period.

South Korea first time made such deal with anemerging economy and India signed first time witha major developed country. India’s agreement withSouth Korea also allows for protection of vulner-




able industries, such as farming and forestry,which both countries have conceded to establisha lower level of market opening.

The CEPA comprises six agreements relatingmainly to opening up of trade in goods, servicesand customs. It would give a boost to the morethan USD 10 billion bilateral trade.

South Korea expects that agreement on CEPA willincrease exports and diversify investment, and alsopave the way for future agreements with otherSouth Asian nations. India, a more service-drivencountry, will benefit from the possibility of greaterhuman resource exchange, including allowingIndian software experts and engineers easier ac-cess to the South Korean market. Trade betweenthe two countries has been growing: it reachedUS$15.6 billion in 2008, and should grow by an-other US$3.3 billion in 2010 after the deal issigned. In 2007-08, India exported USD 2.85 bil-lion worth of goods to South Korea, posting a riseof 13.5 per cent over the previous year.

CEPA

The CEPA is similar to a free trade agreement(FTA), with a comprehensive coverage of trade ingoods and services and investments, as well as in-tellectual property rights.

India-Africa Business PartnershipSummit

A two-day India-Africa Business Partnership sum-mit in New Delhi on January 19-20, 2009 hasended successfully in which External Affairs Min-ister Pranab Mukherjee called for increased coop-eration and dialogue with African nations on cru-cial global issues, including Jihadi terrorism.Mukherjee also referred other issues like climatechange, food and energy security, health, marinepiracy and democratization of financial institu-tions. Addressing the global financial crisis, he saidthat the model of international financial architec-ture has come into question. He, however, gavean optimistic statement saying that India will growat seven percent and continue the upward trend.

Mukherjee urged industry leaders and the Afri-can continent to seek benefits from this opportu-nity.

The External Affairs Minister also laid emphasison agriculture and food security for cooperationbetween India and Africa, and said that Indiancompanies have started exploring opportunities inthe production of pulses, cereals and oil seeds. Thiswill directly affect the farming communities byproviding partnerships to undertake contracts inthis sector.

Mukherjee further advised the two regions to cre-ate a deep and wide economic engagement with afocus on investment and technical tie-ups. De-scribing India’s huge manpower as its biggeststrength, he called for cost effective and interme-diate technologies at par with the human re-courses.

He informed that the trade between India andAfrica has reached 30 billion US dollars and thereis a huge capacity to reach to greater heights.Mukherjee also finalized the framework agree-ment for professional trading with South AfricanCustoms Union.

On the other hand, Rwandas President, Mr. PaulKagame stressed on the need to have a compre-hensive strategy on Africas development chal-lenges. He agreed with Indias view to reform In-ternational financial institutions. He urged theAfrican business community to utilize financialsupport for effective strengthening of economicrelations. Commerce Minister Kamal Nath alsoexpressed his hope that India will come out of theglobal financial meltdown unharmed and will con-tinue growing. He said the inflow of the ForeignDirect Investments (FDI) is satisfactory and it isexpected to cross 30 billion dollars this year.

The business partnership conference includesmore than 250 delegates and 30 African countries,which has been jointly organized by the Ministryof Commerce and Industry and the Federation ofIndian Chambers and Commerce and Industry(FICCI).




Pan-African E-Network Project

One more significant and shining chapter in thehistory of India-Africa relationship was added,when the Pan-African e-Network Project wasinaugurated on 26th Feb 2009 by Hon'ble ShriPranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister atthe TCIL Bhawan in New Delhi, amidst the pres-ence of High Commissioners and Ambassadors ofAfrican countries.

With the commissioning of the Pan-African e-Network Project, former president Dr. A P J AbdulKalam vision of connecting India with all 53 coun-tries of the African Union with a satellite and fi-bre optic network for sharing India's expertise ineducation and health care, has been translated intoreality.

Describing the Pan-African e-Network Project asa shining example of South-South Cooperation,the External Affairs Minister Shri PranabMukherjee said that under this project India hasgifted a dedicated satellite hub for e-connectivityin Africa to help bridge the digital divide. TheProject aims to create significant linkages for tele-education and tele-medicine, making available thefacilities and expertise of some of the best univer-sities and super-specialty hospitals in India to thepeople of Africa. The Minister added that theproject is also equipped to support e-governance,e-commerce, infotainment, resource mapping andmeteorological and other services in the Africancountries, besides providing VVIP connectivityamong the Heads of State of the African countriesthrough a highly secure closed satellite network.He said that thirty three countries have alreadyjoined this Project and more are expected to joinin the course of the coming months. Eleven coun-tries have been covered in the first phase whereboth the Learning Centres for tele-education andPatient-end Hospitals for tele-medicine are ready.These include: Benin, Burkina Faso, Gabon, TheGambia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Nigeria,Rwanda, Senegal and Seychelles.

The External Affairs Minister assured that ninemore countries namely Botswana, Burundi,

Cameroon, Djibouti, Egypt, Malawi, Mozambique,Niger and Uganda would be covered in the sec-ond phase by March 2009. Another nine coun-tries, namely Comoros, Cote Dvoire, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Soma-lia, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia, would be cov-ered by the network as part of Phase-III by 30thJune 2009. The Pan-African e-Network Project was approvedby the Union Cabinet on 5th July 2007 at a bud-geted cost of Rs. 542.90 crores which covers thecost of supply, installation, testing and commis-sioning of hardware and software, end-to-endconnectivity, satellite bandwidth, O&M support,and providing the tele-education and tele-medi-cine services to 53 African countries for 5 years.The Ministry of External Affairs is the nodal min-istry for the project while TelecommunicationsConsultants India Limited (TCIL) is implement-ing the project on a turnkey basis.

The Project aims at providing tele-education ser-vices to 10,000 African students to undertake Post-Graduate, Under-Graduate, PG Diploma and Di-ploma and skill enabling certification courses insubjects such as Business Administration, IT, In-ternational Business, Tourism and Finance. Thefollowing seven leading universities and educa-tional institutions of India have been associatedwith the Project: Amity University, Noida; Uni-versity of Madras, Chennai; Indira Gandhi Na-tional Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi; BirlaInstitute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani;University of Delhi; IIT Kanpur and Indian Insti-tute of Science (IISc.) Benguluru.

As part of the tele-medicine services, online medi-cal consultation will be provided for one hour ev-ery day to each participating African country fora period of 5 years in various medical disciplinessuch as cardiology, neurology, urology, pathology,oncology, gynecology, infectious diseases/HIV-AIDS, ophthalmology, pediatrics etc. Twelve lead-ing Indian Super Specialty Hospitals have beenassociated with the Project. These are: ApolloHospital and Sri Ram Chandra Medical Collegeand Research Institute in Chennai; AIIMS, Escorts




Heart Institute and Moolchand Hospital in NewDelhi, Fortis Hospital in Noida, KEM Hospital inMumbai, Care Hospital in Hyderabad, Amrita In-stitute of Medical Sciences, Kochi; Manipal Hos-pital and Narayan Hrudayaylaya, Benguluru andSantosh Hospital, Ghaziabad. With the com-mencement of the tele-medicine services, someof the best medical specialists of India would beavailable for consultations online for the Africanpatients.

Another important element of tele-medicine ser-vices is the Continuing Medical Education (CME)in various specialties which is intended to updatethe knowledge and upgrade the clinical skills ofthe practicing physicians and paramedical staff inthe African countries. TCIL has established thenetwork with a data centre in TCIL Bhawan,which acts as a gateway to the hub station in Dakarfor connectivity of Indian institutions to the Af-rican sites.

Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with SACUSouth Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana andNamibia have formed the South Africa CustomsUnion (SACU) with a common Custom TariffPolicy. A Joint Working Group (JWG) consistingof Government representatives from both sideswas set up to examine the proposal to prepare adraft. Frame Work Treaty for the PreferentialTrade Agreement (PTA) between India and SACUcountries. In a meeting of JWG held in Namibiaon 6th-7th September 2004, the draft FrameworkAgreement was finalized. In the sixth session ofthe India-South Africa Joint Ministerial Commis-sion Meeting held in New Delhi on 5-6 Dec. 2005,both sides agreed that a comprehensive Free TradeAgreement within a reasonable time, and in theinterim, a limited scope agreement providing forexchange of tariff concession on select list of prod-ucts between India and SACU, would give fur-ther impetus to bilateral trade.

India and Southern African Custom Union (SACU)commenced negotiations for Preferential TradeAgreement (PTA) at Pretoria, South Africa on 5th-6th October, 2007. The 2nd round for PTA withSACU was held at Walvis Bay, Namibia on 21st-22nd February, 2008.

CECPA with Mauritius

During the visit of PM of India to Mauritius fromMarch 30-April 2, 2005 both the countries agreedfor a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation andPartnership Agreement (CECPA) to boost bilat-eral trade, investment and general economic co-operation. Accordingly an Empowered Negotia-tion Team consisting of representatives from boththe sides for working out the necessary modali-ties were constituted. Seven Round of talks onCECPA have been held so far. The 7th round oftalks was recently held in New Delhi on the 7thJuly 2006. During the visit of the Prime Ministerof Mauritius to India in October 2005 the follow-ing bilateral agreements/MoUs were signed be-tween two countries :i. Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in CriminalMatters;

ii. Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Per-sons;

iii. MoU for cooperation in the field of Hydrogra-phy;

iv. MoU for Harmonisation of Standards betweenconcerned agencies;160 India 2009

v. MoU for Cooperation on Consumer Protectionand Legal Metrology;

vi. MoU between Indian Institute of Public Ad-ministration (IIPA) and Governmentof Mauritius;

vii. MoU on Preferential Trade Agreement.

Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meetingwith Ethiopia

The Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meting is aninstitutional arrangement under the aegis of TradeAgreement to review the implementation of TradeAgreement and to identify bottlenecks is promot-ing trade between the countries. The 4th JTC




meeting with Ethiopia was held on 5th June 2006at New Delhi. Sh. Jairam Ramesh, Hon'ble Minis-ter of State for Commerce, Govt. of India and theH.E. Mr Ahmed Tusa, State Minister of Trade andIndustry, Govt. of Ethiopia co-charied this JTCmeeting.

Social Security Agreement to EnhanceCooperation

India and Switzerland signed a Social SecurityAgreement on September 03, 2009 in New Delhi,in presence of theVice-President of the Swiss Con-federation and Minister of Economic Affairs, Ms.Doris Leuthard. The Agreement was signed byShri. K.Mohandas, Secretary of Overseas IndianAffairs Ministry and Mr. PhilippeWelti, Ambas-sador of the Swiss Confederation in India. On theoccasion, Shri. Mohandas said that this is an im-portant agreement, which will further boost thefriendly relationship between the two countries.This Social Security Agreement will enhance co-operation on social security between the twocountries. It will facilitate the movement of pro-fessionals between the two countries. The de-tached workers sent by Switzerland- based com-panies to their Indian subsidiaries, or those sentby Indian companies to their branches in Swit-zerland will be exempt from social security con-tribution in the host country for a period of 72months. While working abroad, these employeeswill only be subject to the social security regula-tions of their home country. The Agreement pro-vides that an employed or selfemployed person,other than detached workers shall be subject onlyto the legislation of the host country.

The Agreement provides for refund of the contri-butions at the time of relocation. In so far as Swit-zerland is concerned, the person will be refundedthe contributions in accordance with the Swisslegislation. In so far as India is concerned, the per-son will be paid the withdrawal benefit or thepension in Switzerland or a third country, as thecase may be, in accordance with the Indian legis-lation at the time of relocation. The Agreementwill come into effect after the fulfillment of thenational requirements. There are over 11,000 In-

dians in Switzerland and there are over 800 Swissnationals working in India. There is potential forgreater movement of workers between the twocountries in future. This bilateral Social SecurityAgreement will enhance trade and investmentbetween the two countries. India has signed simi-lar agreements with Belgium, France and Germanyin the recent past.

Economic Scenario

Switzerland and India continue to be natural part-ners constantly working together to strengthentheir relationship in various fields. In the recentyears, economic relations between the two coun-tries have been hoisted to a higher level of impor-tance. This is reflected in the pace at which ourtotal bilateral trade has increased from SwissFrancs 1.16 billion in 2002 to Swiss Francs 2.62billion in 2006, reflecting an increase of 125 percent in four years. This positive trend in the lastyears is set to continue: In the first eleven monthsof 2007, Swiss exports to India have gone up by30 per cent whilst Indian exports to Switzerlandhave increased by 25 per cent, as compared to thesame period of the previous year.

In terms of foreign direct investments, Switzer-land has remained amongst the top 10 foreign in-vestors in India. About 150 Swiss companies haveformed joint ventures or subsidiaries, and manymore have representatives or agents in India. TheSwiss technology-driven companies, includingsmall and medium businesses, play a major role inthe trade and investment flows to India. As moreand more Indian companies are now venturingabroad, Switzerland is offering many attractiveadvantages as a business and investment location,especially for those Indian companies whichwould like to cover their European business ac-tivities from within Switzerland.

The Swiss Business Hub India (SBHI) which is partof Osec Business Network Switzerland and whichis located in the Consulate General in Mumbai andthe Swiss Embassy in New Delhi offers a widerange of services to assist small and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs) from Switzerland and




Liechtenstein in their efforts to penetrate the In-dian market.

The Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce (SICC)is a key actor in promoting Swiss-Indian bilateraltrade and investment. SICC is a bi-national, non-profit association with over 320 Swiss and Indianmembers. It has offices in Zurich, Delhi, Banga-lore, Mumbai and Chennai. The Chamber providesmembers in Switzerland and India access to first-hand information and expertise thanks to the res-ervoir of know-how offered by its board and ex-tensive partner network in both countries.

Recent years have also seen exchange of high-levelvisits, and intensification of the dialogue betweenthe two governments to ensure that together theycan explore new ways and means to furtherstrengthen the trade and investment ties. Nota-bly, India has been identified as a country of highimportance in the framework of Switzerland'sForeign Economic Strategy. The EFTA countries(Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland)and India will soon launch negotiations for abroad-based agreement on trade and investment.The Indo-Swiss joint economic commission meet-ing that used to be held every four years will nowbe held every year.

The instruments mentioned above and our bilat-eral agreements on the Double Taxation Avoid-ance, Promotion and Protection of Investmentsand an MOU on Intellectual Property Rights, willensure that an increasing number of Swiss andIndian companies will find a shared interest indoing business together. The future looks verybright, and both sides are continuing their effortsto deepen and widen the bilateral trade and eco-nomic ties.

India will Get the Equivalent of About$4.78 Billion

India will get the equivalent of about $4.78 bil-lion as its share of International Monetary Fund's(IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) worth $250billion to provide liquidity to the recession hit glo-bal economic system.

IMF will make the general SDR allocation on Aug28 following formal approval by its board of gov-ernors last week of the proposal to allocate SDRsequivalent to $250 billion to provide liquidity tothe global economic system by supplementing theFund's member countries' foreign exchange re-serves.

The SDR allocation was requested as part of a $1.1trillion plan agreed at the G20 summit in Londonin April and endorsed by the International Mon-etary and Financial Committee (IMFC) to tacklethe global financial and economic crisis by restor-ing credit, growth and jobs in the world economy.The equivalent of nearly $100 billion of the gen-eral allocation will go to emerging markets anddeveloping countries, of which low-income coun-tries will receive over $18 billion, IMF said Thurs-day.

The allocation will provide each participatingcountry with SDRs in amounts equivalent to ap-proximately 74 percent of its quota, and could in-crease Fund members' total allocations to anamount equivalent to about $283 billion, fromabout $33 billion (SDR 21.4 billion).

Separately, the fourth amendment to the IMF ar-ticles of agreement providing for a special one-time allocation of SDRs has now entered into force.The special allocation will be made to IMF mem-bers on Sep 9, 30 days after the effective date ofthe fourth amendment, and will raise the ratiosof members' cumulative SDR allocations to quotausing a common benchmark ratio as described inthe amendment.

The total of SDRs created under the special allo-cation would amount to SDR 21.5 billion (about$33 billion).

The special allocation will make the allocation ofSDRs more equitable and correct for the fact thatcountries that joined the Fund after 1981 -- morethan one fifth of the current IMF membership --had never received an SDR allocation, IMF said.The fourth amendment, which was proposed inSeptember 1997, required approval by three fifths




of the IMF membership with 85 percent of thetotal voting power. This threshold has beenreached following the recent approval by the US.The special and general allocations will bring Fundmembers' cumulative total of SDR allocation toSDR 204 billion (about $316 billion).

The general SDR allocation is a key example of acooperative multilateral response to the globalcrisis, offering significant support to the Fund'smembers in this challenging period, IMF said.

India-Singapore ink pact on tourism

On August 4, 2009, India and Singapore signed ajoint action plan on tourism cooperation. Minis-ter of Tourism Kumari Selja and Singapore SeniorMinister of State for Trade and Industry and Edu-cation S. Iswaran witnessed the signing by tour-ism officials of India and Singapore. The plan re-iterates provisions of cooperation enshrined in thebilateral agreement on tourism signed betweenIndia and Singapore on January 24, 1994.

India-US Economic Partnership

The growing economic partnership between theUS and India has been one of the pillars of thetransformed bilateral relationship. The USA hap-pens to be India’s largest export destination andalso one of the leading foreign investors in India.The complementarities between the two econo-mies have made the two sides to seek a strong eco-nomic engagement to leverage the advantagesavailable with each other.

Bilateral Trade and Investment: The India-USbilateral trade stood at US$ 33.9* billion in 2007-08.During the year 2007-08, merchandise exportsfrom India to US increased by 9.81% to US$20.7billion as compared to US$ 18.8 billion in 2006-07 and merchandise exports from US to India in-creased by 12.57% to US $ 13.2 billion in 2007-08as compared to US$11.7 billion in 2006-07.

Indian IT and IT enabled services including R&Dand Engineering services exports to the US wereapproximately US$ 24 billion in 2007. The total

FDI equity inflow to India from the US duringthe period April 2000- June 2008 was US$ 5.4 bil-lion. Trade and economic cooperation has emergedas an important pillar of India-US relations – evi-dent in the rising bilateral trade volume and anenhanced interest to strengthen this trend.

India is one of the faster growing export destina-tion for US exports. In 2007, the growth rate was75%. It has slowed down in the first six monthsof the current year but is still a healthy 26%. Ourmain imports from the U.S. are aircraft and avia-tion machinery, other machinery, precious stonesand metals, organic chemicals, optical and medi-cal instruments. In 2008, export of fertilizers fromthe US has increased significantly.

India’s exports to United States, though still sig-nificantly larger than our imports, are growing ata much slower pace. India’s major export prod-ucts include gems and jewelry, textiles, organicchemicals and engineering goods. The rise in thevalue of rupee, hike in transport costs, competi-tion from Bangladesh, Vietnam as well as someLatin American countries that have some dutyadvantages in textiles and apparel sector and thecontinuous bonding requirement imposed onshrimps since 2004 are the major factors contrib-uting to the decline.

US-bound investment from India has increasedsignificantly since 2002, growing by about 75%on average per year. The value in 2006 is estimatedto be about $2 billion and in 2007, the increasehas been very rapid with announced Indian in-vestments in US estimated at about $13 billion.The trend seems set to continue in 2008 with dealsreported upto May 31 totalling more than $ 8 bil-lion.

Trade Missions and Business Events

» High level trade Missions led by the Governorof Minnesota and the Governor of Utahvisited India in Sept-Oct 2007.

» An Infrastructure Summit was organized by the




CEOs forum in Mumbai in Oct 2007.

» Launch of Initiative- "Investing in America: TheIndian Story"

» September 2007 – New York, USA by FICCI-US India Business Council (USIBC)withsupport of Ministry of Commerce and Industry,Government of India

» An Indo-US SME Summit: Leveraging GlobalSupply Chains and Integrating the SMECommunity was held in Chicago in February 2008.

» An Indo-US Biopharma Summit was organizedin Boston in June 2008.

» A US pharma and medical devices delegationvisited Indian in September 2008.

» A renewable energy delegation from the USAled by Mr. David Bohigan, Deputy Assistant Sec-retary, and Department of Commerce visited In-dia in January 2008 and in September 2008.

India as the most promising overseasinvestment destination for Japan

Japan is currently India’s third largest source offoreign direct investment; Japanese companieshave made cumulative investments of around $2.6billion in India since 1991. The 2007 annual sur-vey conducted by the Japan Bank for InternationalCooperation ranked India as the most promisingoverseas investment destination for Japanese com-panies over the long term. In recent years, Japanhas assisted India in infrastructure developmentprojects such as the Delhi Metro Rail Project. Bothsides are also discussing the Delhi-Mumbai Indus-trial Corridor Project and Dedicated Freight Cor-ridor Projects on the Mumbai-Delhi and theDelhi-Howrah routes.

In October 2008, Japan signed an agreement withIndia under which it would provide the latter alow-interest loan worth US$4.5 billion to con-

struct a railway project between Delhi andMumbai. This is the single largest overseas projectbeing financed by Japan and reflect ed growingeconomic partnership between the two. India isalso one of the only three countries in the worldwith whom Japan has security pact, the other twobeing Australia and the United States.As of March2006, Japan was the third largest investor in Indiawith an estimated total investment of US$2.12billion.

Brazil–India trade in 2007 nearlytripled to US$ 3.12 billion

Brazil and India are large continental sized coun-tries with social diversity, democratic govern-ments, a multiethnic society, and a large popula-tion base. Both possess advanced technologies. Thetwo countries share similar perceptions on issuesof interest to developing countries and have co-operated in the multilateral level on issues suchas international trade and development, environ-ment, reformof the UN and the UNSC expansion.

In recent years, relations between Brazil and In-dia have grown considerably and co-operationbetween the two countries has been extended tosuch diverse areas as science and technology, phar-maceuticals and space. The two way trade in 2007nearly tripled to US$ 3.12 billion from US$ 1.2billion in 2004. Global software giant, Wipro Tech-nologies, also set up a business process outsourcingcentre in Curitiba to provide shared services toAmBev, the largest brewery in Latin America.

Britain lifts ban on N-exports to India

On November 10, 2008, Britain announced thelifting of a ban on exporting sensitive nuclear tech-nology to India for civilian projects giving mo-mentum to resumption of global atomic coopera-tion with New Delhi after the end of its over three-decade nuclear apartheid. The change in the po-sition of the British government, a strong sup-porter of the Indo-US nuke deal, followed theNuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver in Septem-ber 2008, that brought India back into the nuclearmainstream.




Bilateral Trade

Britain imports most of its tea from India, andthere are a number of words of Indian origin inthe English language. The UK has an ethnic In-dian population of over 1 million. Both countriesare full members of the Commonwealth of Na-tions.

India is the second largest foreign investor in theUK after the USA, and the UK is also a significantinvestor in India. There are many bi -lateral tradeagreements between the two nations designed tostrengthen ties. For example, in 2005, the JointEconomic and Trade Committee (JETCO) was in-augurated in New Delhi aimed at boosting two-way bilateral investments.

India–Russia Economic Relations

Bilateral trade turnover is modest and stood at US$ 3 bn in 2006-07, out of which Indian Exports toRussia were valued at US $ 908mn. Main Indianexports to Russia are pharmaceuticals; tea, coffee& spices; apparel & clothing; edible preparations;and engineering goods. Main Indian imports fromRussia are iron and steel; fertilizers; non-ferrousmetals; paper products; coal, coke& briquettes;cereals; and rubber. Indo-Russian trade is expectedto reach US$10 billion by 2010.

The India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commis-sion on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technologi-cal and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC) has had 13sessions so far and is co-chaired by the ExternalAffairs Minister from the Indian side and a DeputyPrime Minister from the Russian side. There aresix Joint Working Groups under the IRIGC,namely, WG on Trade and Economy, WG on En-ergy, WG on Metallurgy and Mining, WG on Sci-ence & Technology; WG on Communication andInformation Technology; and WG on Culture andTourism. The 13th of the IRIGC was held in Mos-cow on 12 October 2007. The two countries haveset-up India-Russia Forum on Trade and Invest-ment at the level of the two Commerce Ministersto promote trade, investment and economic co-

operation. The first Forum was held in New Delhion 12-13 February 2007 which was attended bythe Minister of Commerce and Industry and theRussian Minister of Economic Development andTrade, apart from a large number of business rep-resentatives from both sides. The Minister of Com-merce& Industry, Shri Kamal Nath participatedin the 11th Saint Petersburg International Eco-nomic Forum on 9-10 June 2007. In February 2006,India and Russia also set-up a Joint Study Groupto examine ways to increase trade to US $ 10 bnby 2010 and to study feasibility of a Comprehen-sive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).The Group finalized its report after its fourthmeeting in Moscow in July 2007. It has beenagreed that a Joint Task Force would monitor theimplementation of the recommendation made inthe Joint Study Group Report, including consid-ering CECA.

Ministerial meeting of theWorld Trade Organisation

The ministerial meeting of the World TradeOrganisation (WTO) in New Delhi has broken theimpasse and the Doha trade talks will resume inGeneva on September 14. Even as the 2010 dead-line remains a stretch, trade ministers re-affirmedthe need for development oriented talks.WTOmembers' chief negotiators will meet in Genevafrom September 14, in the run-up to the Pitts-burgh G20 summit, to grapple with outstandingissues in the talks, now in their eighth year, withthe aim of completing the round by 2010.Political leaders have called repeatedly in recentmonths to conclude the Doha round, launched in2001 to help developing countries grow by open-ing trade, to help pull the world out of the eco-nomic crisis and fight protectionism.

The Delhi meeting did not look at any of the spe-cific issues that remain open, such as a safeguardto help farmers in poor countries cope with a floodof imports, or proposals to eliminate duties en-tirely in some industrial sectors.That will be up tothe negotiators, but India expressed confidencethat such issues could be resolved around the ne-gotiating table if countries were willing.The talks




will resume on the basis of the draft negotiatingtexts issued in December 2008.

That should provide comfort to WTO membersfrom Brazil to the European Union who had fearedthat the United States wanted to unpick what hasalready been agreed over the past seven years,jeopardizing the emerging deal.Ministers also re-iterated that the talks had to be multilateral, sinceany deal must be signed off by all 153 WTO mem-bers.

Agreement in the Fields of Small-ScaleIndustries

India and the West African nation of Benin signedfive agreements on march 4,2009 in the fields ofsmall-scale industries, cultural and scientific co-operation and diplomatic exchange. The agree-ments were signed after delegation level talksheaded by the Prime Minister Dr ManmohanSingh and the visiting President of Benin, BoniYayi.

New Delhi also offered Benin a liberalised line ofcredit for its developmental needs.

Earlier, Yayi was accorded a ceremonial receptionat the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Talking to media, Yayi extended his support toIndia in the fight against terrorism. He alsofavoured New Delhi’s inclusion in the reformedUnited Nations Security Council to have a demo-cratic world order.

Yayi is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Patil,Vice President Hamid Ansari and the leader ofthe Opposition in Lok Sabha L K Advani.

During his five-day visit to India, he will also visitAgra, Mumbai and Bangalore.

Wednesday’s engagement was Dr. Singh first of-ficial one after undergoing by pass surgery fiveweeks ago. Dr. Singh underwent a ”redo” coro-nary artery bypass surgery to remove five block-ages in his heart at the All India Institute of Medi-

cal Sciences (AIIMS) on January 24, and has sincebeen recuperating.

Fact Sheet

Name and capital: Republic of Benin,Porto Novo (Administrative Capital) Cotonou (siteof most of the Administration and Ministries, eco-nomic capital)

Population: 7.1 million (2005)

Languages Spoken: French (official), Fon, Ge,Bariba, Yoruba, Dendi

Significant Economic Activities: Benin’seconomy is chiefly based on agriculture with cot-ton accounting for 40% of GDP and about 80% ofexport receipts. Other products include cashew,palm oil, high quality marble limestone and tim-ber.

Cotonou port is a major transit market for manyWest and Central African countries.

Global Trade and Investment

India is among the biggest export markets (cottonand cashews) while China is the main source ofimports.

Total imports with major exporting countries:US$ 866 million (2004) China, France, UK, Thai-land, Belgium, India

Total exports with major destinations of exports:US$ 670.9 million (2004) India, China, Thailand,Indonesia, Italy

ASSOCHAM –KCCI set up Groups toPromote Bilateral Trade

Welcoming the resumption of talks between In-dia-Pakistan, The Associated Chambers of Com-merce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and itscounterpart Karachi Chamber of Commerce &Industry (KCCI) have set up Special groups in re-spective countries to strengthen institutional links




for formulating concrete action plan to boost bi-lateral trade.

The Chamber has already been invited by KCCI,Pakistan for holding business-to-business initia-tives and a small group comprising its SAARCCommittee Chairman Mr. Ravi Wig and Secre-tary General D.S. Rawat are scheduled to visitshortly to carry on negotiations further.

Sajjan Jindal, President, ASSOCHAM said, “theChamber strongly believes that relations betweenthe two neighbours must improve and beginninghas to be made – both countries cannot afford tocontinue to carry past baggage at the cost of theirmutual growth and well being”.

In the past, ASSOCHAM has been participatingin Pakistan’s trade fair in Karachi every year, hosting Pakistani business delegations, undertak-ing special market survey and business studies onIndo-Pakistan trade ties and in March hostedformer Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf dur-ing his visit to India.

The proposed roadmap of ASSOCHAM–KCCIGroup contains:i. Creation of a dedicated freight transshipmentfacility along with the land route through Wagahborder – at present passenger traffic and freighttraffic is handled at single terminal leading todelays for goods traffic.

ii. Reduce overheads and delivery period to cre-ate attractive possibilities and incentives for thebusinesses on both sides to trade in many non-traditional items.

iii. People-to-people contacts need to be facili-tated which may create conditions of cordialityand goodwill in the first instance leading ulti-mately to more trading opportunities.

iv. Advocate relaxation in travel restrictions, morefor bona fide travelers

v. Increase frequency of train and bus servicesvi. Explore possibility for more patients from Pa-

kistan for specialized treatment in India under anew scheme

vii. Draw a new scheme of scholarship to fixednumber of Pakistani students and researchers forhigher courses, with minimum one-year duration.

viii. Allow more cultural groups from Pakistan :literary figures, musicians ghazal singers.

Concrete Items identified by ASSOCHAM &KCCI are :1. India could source commodity supplies, Sugarbeing prime item. Pakistan wheat cold be exploredin view of apprehended shortage of same in Indiathis year.

2. Tea : (Pakistani annual demand of 140 millionkg can be better met from India – current tea ex-ports from India only 5 million kg).

3. Medicines : India products most competitivein Pakistan.

4. Gems and Jewellery : Pakistani businessmenare keen to source these items from India, cur-rently being done via Dubai.

5. Indian Nano and other models would be verygood buy for average Pakistani customers in termsof (a). price (b) quality (c) after-sales-service.

6. Joint venture proposal could be submitted forassembly and manufacture of such vehicles in Pa-kistan.

7. From Pakistan : Apart from Sugar, cementwheat, dryfruits which are traditionally-identi-fied items for exports to India, ASSOCHAM feelsthat footwear, leather products, sports goods, plas-tic wares could also be sourced from Pakistan.

8. New areas of cooperation could include Educa-tion The educational institutions should enter intomutually beneficial tie-ups as Indian institutionsare doing with several institutions abroad.

9. There should be common understanding on is-sues like Environment, especially when it comes




to protecting our interests in international fora andmultilateral negotiations.

According to Chamber, Indo-Pak trade during lastfour years (2004-05,2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08) record growth of 74% , 39%, 97% and 19%respectively and the total volume reached $ 2 bil-lion in 2008 and therefore, tremendous potentialyet to be tapped. ASSOCHAM study (2008) pre-dicted 40-50% rise in bilateral trade as possibletarget.

Presently, more than 25% of total Pakistani im-ports of Indian origin goods take place throughDubai and Singapore. Facilitating direct tradewould be mutually beneficial to both sides, andthe trade level would jump dramatically.

India-France agreed to liberalise visaregime

The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singhand President Nicolas Sarkozy held a bilateral sum-mit in Paris on September 30, 2008 at which theyreaffirmed the importance attached by both coun-tries to their strategic partnership and their com-mitment to further strenghthening bilateral co-operation in a wide range of areas. Both sides re-iterated their intention to keep up the momen-tum of regular high level exchanges.

India and France agreed on the need for greaterinternational cooperation to deal with challengesfacing mankind. Both countries are committed tointernational peace and security, nuclear non-pro-liferation, the fight against terrorism and the needto ensure food security and energy for all coun-tries.

Both countries recognised the need to promotethe development of stable sustainable, efficient andaffordable energy sources, including nuclear en-ergy. In this context, they welcomed the agree-ments adjusting the international civil nuclearcooperation framework to enable collaborationswith India. India and France welcome the signa-ture of a bilateral agreement for civil nuclear co-operation, which will form the basis of wide-rang-

ing bilateral collaborations in energy and research.India appreciates French support for permanentmembership of India in the UN Security Council.Alongwith other developing countries India iscommitted to continue dialogue and collaborationwith the G8. France also believes the G-8 needsto be expanded over time to G-13 including In-dia. India and France agree on the need for im-proved global economic governance to ensure thatglobalization and interdependence work for thebenefit of all.

Both countries are fully committed to consolidat-ing their relationship in the field of defence byincreasing the range, level and frequency of theirmilitary exchanges, joint exercises, jointprogrammes and prospects in the fields of defenceindustry, research and technology.

This commitment is well evidenced between thetwo countries by the possibility of joint develop-ment, as early as feasible, of Short Range Surface-to-Air Missiles (SRSAM) and of the Kaveri enginefor Light Combat Aircraft. Discussions concern-ing the upgradation of Mirage-2000 aircraft arealso well under way and are expected to befinalised by next year.

Bilateral trade to reach 12 billion Euros by 2012In accordance with the commitment agreed uponby the two countries during President NicolasSarkozy’s State visit to India in January 2008, todouble bilateral trade to reach 12 billion Euros by2012, both sides will make sustained efforts in thisvital area of bilateral cooperation. Small, mediumand micro enterprises of both countries need tobe further encouraged to increase their coopera-tion. The two sides also agreed to further liberalisetheir visa regime to facilitate issuance of visas forbusiness purposes, particularly concerning stu-dents and young people working as trainee or asvolunteer in French companies and for people-to-people contacts. An agreement on Social Secu-rity for the benefit of business enterprises andprofessionals of the two countries has been con-cluded. This constitutes an important step forwardin facilitating two way investments. The two sideswelcome the creation of the High Level CEOs




Forum which would have its first meeting by theend of the year.

The two countries have agreed to hold dialogueon environmental issues and have set up a jointworking group on climate change and technologytransfers and their financing. The group shouldhold its first meeting by the end of the year.

Following the agreement of 25 January 2008 es-tablishing the Agence Française deDéveloppement (AFD - French DevelopmentAgency) in India, both sides welcome the signa-ture of the MoU between the AFD and the De-partment for Economic Affairs of the Indian Min-istry of Finance which will allow the AFD to startits operations in India.

It was agreed to work towards concluding a visafree agreement for diplomatic and official pass-port holders. The Agreements and MoUs signedreflect the wide range of bilateral interaction be-tween India and France and will provide signifi-cant impetus to realising the full potential of thecomprehensive strategic partnership between thetwo countries.

India Week and Food Festival” inAstana and Almaty

The Embassy of India in Kazakhstan has organizedan “India Week and Food Festival” in Astana andAlmaty from September 8 to 18,2008 in collabo-ration with the Rixos President Hotel Astana, In-tercontinental Hotel Almaty and Air Astana as partof its continued efforts to promote people-to-people contacts and strengthen bilateral relationsbetween India and Kazakhstan.

India’s Ambassador to Kazakhstan AshokSajjanhar, Kairat Sarybai, Assistant to KazakhstanPresident Nursultan Nazarbayev and AkanBizhanov, Member of Parliament (Senate) ad-dressed the gathering of about 100 specially in-vited guests.

In his inaugural address, Ambassador Sajjanharinformed the gathering that the week-long Food

Festival in Astana and Almaty are initiatives bythe Indian Embassy to further strengthen relationsbetween India and Kazakhstan and increase un-derstanding and cooperation between the twopeoples through the wonderful medium of goodfood.

He underlined that this year has been eventfuland momentous in India-Kazakhstan bilateral re-lations. Ambassador Sajjanhar expressed confi-dence that relations between the two countrieswill improve significantly as a result of these ini-tiatives.

He also welcomed a delegation of 12 leading touroperators from India who are presently inKazakhstan through the courtesy of Air Astanato promote relations in the area of tourism be-tween the two countries.

Kairat Sarybai underlined the importance of fur-ther improving the growing bilateral relationsbetween the two countries. He fondly recountedhis visit to India with President Nazarbayev inJanuary 2009. Senator Akan Bizhanov underlinedthe cultural relations between India andKazakhstan.

A graceful Odissi dance performance by Ms.Nurgul Amirbekova, a Kazakhstani artiste whostudied Indian classical dance in Delhi for threeyears under scholarship from the ICCR addedcolour and splendour to the event.

The Embassy also displayed Indian Objects d’Arts,tourist information materials, and Indian booksincluding recipe books at the venue. After theconclusion of the official function the guests weretreated to a variety of exotic Indian food delica-cies.

The Embassy has invited a team of four leadingchefs headed by Mr. Marut Sikka to organize theIndian Food Festival in Kazakhstan. They will bedelighting gourmands and connoisseurs of authen-tic Indian delicacies during the five-day long FoodFestival, both in Astana and Almaty. The inaugu-ral event was widely covered in the Kazakh me-dia.




The inauguration of India Week and Indian FoodFestival in Almaty will be held on September 14at Intercontinental Hotel and will last till Septem-ber 18.

India Expo-2009 in Kazakhstan

Business ties between India and Kazakhstan areset to receive a further fillip with captains andrepresentatives of Indian industry took part inthree international business expos in Astana andAlmaty which held on May 21-23, 2009. The pur-pose of India Expo-2009 was to demonstrate India’sindustry and seek long-term private-to-privatecooperation. The India Trade PromotionOrganisation and the Indian Embassy inKazakhstan has organised the event.

Small and medium businesses representing differ-ent sectors - energy, oil and gas, nuclear industry,auto-industry, IT-technologies, pharmacy, jew-elry, agriculture, metallurgical and steel-makingwill showcase their products and conducts meet-ing with their potential Kazakh partners.

Cooperation between India and Kazakhstan hasintensified over the years. Bilateral trade turnoverhas risen from 120 million dollars in 2005 to 368million dollars in 2008.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev visit toIndia in January 2009 has given a fresh impetus tobilateral relations in political and commercialspheres.

Recent Developments

A fresh impetus to bilateral trade and commercialrelations has been given as a result of the visit ofPresident Nazarbayev to India in January 2009.An agreement between ONGC Videsh Ltd. andKazMunaiGaz on Satpayev oil block and MoUbetween NPCIL and Kazatomprom envisagingcooperation including supply of uranium to Indiaamong others was signed during the visit. Amemorandum of understanding for cooperationin the field of Space; extradition treaty between

both countries and the protocol on the accessionof Kazakhstan to WTO was also signed during thevisit. In the joint declaration adopted during thevisit both sides agreed that the trade volume be-tween the two countries is far below potential andurged that the Governments and business enter-prises of the two countries should address the is-sue. Both sides also recommended a joint studyby designated agencies to identify products andprojects, which would deepen economic engage-ment.

Diversification of the areas of cooperation in thefields of Health and Medicine, space activities,Information Technology and Education was alsodiscussed during the visit. A large business del-egation accompanied the President representingvarious spheres and discussions between Indiancounterparts were held extensively. This was fol-lowed by a visit of MoS(Industry) Dr. AshwaniKumar to Astana with a Business delegation andthe visit of Sh. Murli Deora, MoPNG for the 7thIGC meeting both in March 2009. Discussions arecurrently underway for cooperation in fields offertilizers production, setting up of petrochemi-cal complex, thermal power plants, Entrepreneur-ship Development center etc. Agreements in thefields of Agriculture, Health, Culture, S & T, andEducation etc are currently under considerationby both sides.

India-Bahrain pact to protect workers

India and Bahrain have inked a key agreement toensure protection for Indian workers against un-scrupulous employers. The agreement includedhousemaids who were not covered by Bahrain’sLabour Law and was signed during the visit ofOverseas Affairs minister, Vayalar Ravi in June2009. As per the agreement, a committee will beconstituted to ensure that directives in the agree-ment are implemented and will consist of officialsfrom Bahrain’s Labour Ministry and Indian Over-seas Affairs Office. Employers who want to re-cruit Indian workers will now have to specify thenature of the work they will be doing and therequired professional skills. Other required detailsinclude the duration of contract, an agreed salary




and end-of-contract benefits, health services andholidays.

India to get Boeing’s maritime recceaircraft

The US administration has cleared the $2.1 bil-lion contract for US aviation major Boeing to sup-ply eight P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to India,the largest American arms sale to India to date.The deal surpasses an earlier $1 billion Lockheedsale of six C-130J Super Hercules military trans-port planes to the Indian Air Force (IAF). TheIndian Navy is Boeing’s first international cus-tomer for the P-8, a long-range maritime recon-naissance and anti-submarine warfare aircraft ca-pable of broad area, maritime and littoral opera-tions. The first flight test is scheduled in 2009 andinitial operational capability is slated for 2013.Boeing will deliver the first P-8I around 2013 andthe remaining seven by 2015.India to seek additional $5.2b from World Bank

As a contra-cyclical measure, India proposes toseek an additional assistance of $5.2 billion fromthe World Bank for recapitalisation of State-owned commercial banks and infrastructureprojects. India, at present, receives $3.2 billionannually from the World Bank. India also plansto increase its share in the quotas of multilateraldevelopment banks like the International Mon-etary Fund and Asian Deve-lopment Bank aftermajor stakeholders in these institutions bring for-ward the issue of quota review and expanding inaccordance with current realities that will giveproper representation to the emerging economies.However, there is no proposal to commit any ad-ditional resources towards the overall fiscal stimu-lus of $1.1 trillion announced by the G-20 sum-mit.

South Asia doing better due to India’s resilienceIndia’s economy is estimated to have grown by7.1 per cent in 2008, providing an anchor of eco-nomic stability in the region, concludes the Eco-nomic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific(ESCAP) 2009. It predicts 6 per cent economicgrowth for India in 2009. The ESCAP notes India’s

measures to improve the liqui-dity of the finan-cial sector and its relaxed monetary policy, andpredicts that the fiscal stimulus packages offeredby the government would soften the economicdownturn and further strengthen domestic de-mand.

Rs 10,000 crore project deal with Israel

The Union government has inked the Rs 10,000crore project deal with Israel to develop new-gen-eration medium range surface to air missile sys-tems, capable of detecting and destroying hostileaircraft and spy drones at a range of 120 km.

India, US ink $2.1 bn defence deal

The Union government has signed the biggest-ever defence deal with US—a $2.1 billion con-tract for eight Boeing P-8I Long-Range mari-timeReconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft for Navy. Indiawill get the first P-8I towards end 2012 or early2013, with the other seven following in a phasedmanner by 2015-2016. The contract also providesan option for India to order four to eight moresuch planes. Armed with torpedoes, depth bombsand Harpoon anti-ship missiles, the P-8I will alsobe capable of anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare. They will replace the eight age-ing and fuel-guzzling Russian Tupolev-142M tur-boprops currently being operated by Navy.

India to attend meeting on Turkish pipeline projectIndia has decided to attend a trilateral meetingalong with Turkey and Israel to join a pipelineproject that may help it access crude supplies fromCentral Asia and the Caspian region. The first legof the proposed pipeline will supply crude fromthe Caspian region to Ceyhan port on Turkey’sMediterranean coast. After the crude reaches theCeyhan port, it will be transported through anundersea pipeline to Israel from where it wouldbe connected to the Ellat port on the Red Sea. It isfrom here that India could take crude throughtankers and avoid the choke points of Suez Canal.




India-Oman $100-million fund forfinancing multi-sector projects

On November 8, 2008, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh left on a three-day visit to the Sultanate ofOman and Emirate of Qatar to further boost thebilateral ties between the countries. India andQatar signed two agreements on defence and se-curity during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’svisit. Accelerating efforts to prop up growth asthe global slump is threatening their ascendingeconomic trajectory, India and Oman put togethera $100-million fund for financing multi-sectorprojects in the two countries.

Australia India Institute in Melbourne

Australia has decided to provide more than 80 lakhdollars to set up Australia India Institute inMelbourne. A joint project of the University ofMelbourne, La Trobe University and the Univer-sity of New South Wales, the new Institute willhelp Australians to know and understand Indiabetter.

Global Development Finance 2009:Charting a Global Recovery

World Bank has published a report on globaleconomy “Global Development Finance 2009:Charting a Global Recovery” on June 22, 2009.Ac-cording to report amidst global economic reces-sion and financial-market fragility, net privatecapital inflows to developing countries fell to $707billion in 2008, a sharp drop from a peak of $1.2trillion in 2007. International capital flows areprojected to fall further in 2009, to $363 billion.Global Development Finance 2009: Charting aGlobal Recovery, warns that the world is enter-ing an era of slower growth that will requiretighter and more effective oversight of the finan-cial system. Developing countries are expected togrow by only 1.2% this year, after 8.1% growthin 2007 and 5.9% growth in 2008. When Chinaand India are excluded, GDP in the remainingdeveloping countries is projected to fall by 1.6%,causing continued job losses and throwing more

people into poverty. Global growth is also ex-pected to be negative, with an expected 2.9% con-traction of global GDP in 2009.

Global GDP growth is expected to rebound to 2%in 2010 and 3.2% by 2011. In developing coun-tries growth is expected to be higher, at 4.4 % in2010 and 5.7 % in 2011, albeit subdued relative tothe robust performance prior to the current cri-sis.

Global integration and the expanding role of pri-vate actors in international finance have broughthuge benefits, but have also widened the scopefor turmoil. Today, developing countries relyheavily on private flows and many countries arebeing hit by a collapse in corporate finance, withbig companies and banks that were poweringgrowth now in distress.

The risk of balance-of-payments crises and cor-porate debt restructurings in many countries war-rant special attention, the report cautions.

Charting a worldwide recovery will require quickimplementation of detailed reforms and an even-tual shift away from governments having highstakes in the financial system to a resumption ofprivate sector control of the banking system, thereport says. In addition, the big expansion of themoney supply in advanced countries will need tobe unwound and fiscal deficits will need to be cutin the medium term, to maintain debtsustainability and avoid another debt crisis as seenin the 1970s and 1980s.

Outlook for the Developing Regions East Asia and Pacific The East Asia and Pacificregion has felt the full brunt of the crisis becauseof its close trade links with high-income coun-tries and because of declining investment as wellas a drop in exports and industrial production. Growth for the region is projected to be 5% thisyear, although several EAP countries are projectedto see GDP decline. Recovery across the region isexpected to begin in the second half of 2009 andinto 2010, reflecting substantial fiscal stimulus in




China and a modest recovery of export demand inrich countries. However, the turnaround is ex-pected to be gradual, with regional GDP forecastto increase by 6.6 percent in 2010 and 7.8 percentby 2011.

Europe and Central Asia has been the region mostadversely affected by recent developments, in largepart because many countries in the region enteredthe crisis period suffering from substantial imbal-ances. Large current account deficits and domes-tic overheating made many countries vulnerableto the abrupt reversal of capital flows and weakerexport demand that the crisis generated. GDP isprojected to fall by 4.7 percent in 2009, recover-ing to grow by about 1.6 percent in 2010. Latin America and the Caribbean entered the cri-sis supported by stronger fiscal, currency, and fi-nancial fundamentals than in the past. However,it too is feeling the crisis in part because of fallingcommodity prices, but also on the financial sideas foreign funds were withdrawn quickly. Flex-ible exchange rates in many countries in the re-gion were able to absorb much of the initial shockand avoid systemic problems even as equity mar-kets tumbled. Regional GDP is expected to de-cline by 2.3 percent in 2009, and to reach 2 per-cent growth in 2010. The Middle East and North Africa region has beenless directly affected by the credit crunch thanother regions, but local equity and property mar-kets have come under intense pressure, and de-veloping countries in the region have sufferedfrom much weaker conditions in the high-incomecountries in the region. Remittances, servicesexports and FDI flows from these countries andhigh-income Europe are expected to fall in 2009 –cutting into incomes. Growth is projected to halveto 3.1 percent in 2009, then edge up to 3.8 per-cent in 2010 and 4.6 percent in 2011, partly be-cause the slowdown has been less pronounced inMENA than in other regions and oil demand andprices are expected to remain low. South Asia has witnessed considerably diminishedcapital inflows and a falloff in investment growth.

GDP is projected to expand 4.6 percent in 2009,down from 6.1 percent in 2008. Regional outputis then expected to increase by 7 percent in 2010and 7.8 percent in 2011. However, threats to long-term growth include the possibility of heightenedfiscal pressures if the global recession is prolonged,and large fiscal deficits. Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit hard by reducedexternal demand, plunging export prices, weakerremittances and tourism revenues, and sharplylower capital inflows, notably FDI. Growth is ex-pected to decelerate sharply this year to 1 per-cent, down from 5.7 percent on average over thepast three years. By 2010, growth is forecast torise by 3.7 percent. Sharp cuts in remittances andofficial aid flows also represent a risk for the re-gion, because many Sub-Saharan countries rely onaid flows for budget support and because remit-tances are a vital cushion against poverty.

SEBI unveils norms for pledging ofshares

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)has spelt out the reporting norms for companieswhose promoters have pledged shares to a thirdparty. The market regulator has asked companiesto disclose details of the promoters’ pledged shareswithin seven days of the date of receiving infor-mation from the promoters. In a circular datedJanuary 28, 2009, SEBI said the promoters, whohave pledged shares, have to disclose the detailsto the company within seven days of such a trans-action. Further, the market regulator said thatcompanies should disclose all the details pertain-ing to the promoters’ share pledge, if at the end ofany quarter, the total number of such pledgedshares exceeds 25,000 or one percentage of thetotal shareholding, whichever is lower.

Government fiddle opens floodgates toFDI

The Union government has relaxed guidelines onForeign Direct Investment (FDI) for companiesowned and controlled by Indian citizens. This ef-




fectively means foreign investment in FDI-re-stricted sectors like telecom, defence productionand single-brand retail can cross set limits. Thenew guidelines also say that an investment madeby a non-resident entity into an Indian companywould be counted as foreign investment. Underthe existing norms, if a firm with, say, 40% for-eign equity and 60% Indian equity had investedRs 100 crore in another firm, Rs 40 crore of thisamount would be treated as FDI. Under the re-vised norms it will now be treated as zero FDI.Relaxation in foreign direct investment (FDI)norms would not apply to sectors such as multi-brand retail, gambling, atomic energy and lotterywhere the government prohibits foreign invest-ment.

Green energy investments in develop-ing nations rise 27%

The global economic crisis hasn’t deterred thedeveloping countries from their green energy in-vestments, which surged 27% in 2008 to $36.6billion. According to a recent report of UnitedNation Environment Programme (UNEP) on Glo-bal Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment,2009, global investment in clean energy witnesseda four-fold increase in 2008, compared to 2004.Of the $155 billion invested in 2008 in clean-en-ergy companies and projects worldwide, China,India, Brazil and African countries, among oth-ers, contributed almost a third of the amount.While China led investments in Asia with an 18%increase over 2007 to $15.6 billion, green energyinvestments in India grew 12% to $4.1 billion in2008.

However, growth in clean energy sectors stalledin developed countries, said the report, which isbeing jointly prepared by the UNEP and globalinformation provider New Energy Finance.

The total transaction value in the sustainable en-ergy sector—including corporate acquisition, as-set refinancing and private equity buyout— dur-ing 2008 was $223 billion, an increase of 7% over2007. However, the capital raised via stock mar-kets fell 51% to $11.4 billion as share prices of

clean energy companies lost 61% of their valueduring 2008.

According to UNEP estimates, the world needs$750 billion to finance a sustainable economic re-covery by investing in the greening of five keysectors: buildings, energy, transport, agricultureand water.

One billion go hungry world over

One in six people in the world or more than onebillion are now hungry, a historic high due largelyto the global economic crisis and stubbornly highfood prices, according to Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO). Compared with 2008, thereare 100 million more people who are hungry,meaning they receive fewer than 1,800 calories aday, FAO said. Almost all the worlds undernour-ished live in developing countries, where foodprices have fallen more slowly than in the richernations, the report said. Poor countries need moreaid and agricultural investment to cope, it said.

The silent hunger crisis, affecting one-sixth of allof humanity, poses a serious risk for world peaceand security, said the Director-General of FAO,Jacques Diouf. Soaring prices for staples, such asrice, triggered riots in the developing world in2008. Hunger increased despite strong 2009 ce-real production, and a mild retreat in food pricesfrom the highs of mid-2008. However, averageprices at the end of 2008 were still 24% higher inreal terms than in 2006.

Globally there are now about 1.02 billion peoplehungry, up 11% from 2008’s 915 million. The es-timates are based on analysis by the US Depart-ment of Agriculture. Asia and the Pacific, theworld’s most populous region, has the largest num-ber of hungry people at 642 million. Sub-SaharanAfrica has the highest hunger rate, with 265 mil-lion under-nourished, representing 32% of theregion’s population.




Third stimulus package

The Union government, on February 25, 2009,unveiled a Rs 30,000-crore stimulus package, thethird in a row to boost demand in an economythat has been feeling the heat of the global melt-down. The package includes a cut in the medianexcise duty and service tax rates by 2%. All prod-ucts that attracted an excise rate of 10% will nowbe subject to only 8% while service tax on all prod-ucts is down to 10%. On the other hand, thismeans the fiscal deficit of the government in 2009-10 will increase to Rs 3,61,935 crore, from Rs3,32,835 crore estimated in the interim budgetannounced on February 16, 2009, provided allother estimates remain the same. So, fiscal deficitwill again cross 6% of GDP as in 2008-09.

The policy brief for a Global Green New Deal,developed by economist and the UN ahead of theG-20 meeting of world leaders in London on April2, 2009, highlights the benefits of investing a sig-nificant amount of the $ 3 trillion-worth of glo-bal stimulus packages in five areas. The UN Envi-ronment Programme said these areas include rais-ing the energy efficiency of old and new build-ings, and more emphasis on renewable energysources. The three other areas are: sustainabletransport, including hybrid vehicles, high-speedrail and bus rapid transit systems; the planet’s eco-logical infrastructure, including freshwaters, for-ests, soils and coral reefs, and sustainable agricul-ture, including organic production.

New Direct tax code

Making the process of paying taxes simpler for thecommon man has always been on top of the UPA’sagenda. This was amply demonstrated today withthe government initiating radical tax reforms byreleasing the direct tax draft code that aims tomoderate tax rates and at the same time tries tomake it easier for a layman to understand and cal-culate his tax liability.

The reform of the tax regime introduced in 1961is based on the objective of having a tax systemthat is simpler, fairer, and easy to administer. The

specific objectives of the measures are to improvethe responsiveness of the tax system, that is, toenhance the automaticity in the increase in taxrevenues with increases in economic activity; im-prove tax administration by simplifying the taxsystem; and, lastly, promote tax compliance ob-jective as to reduce the scope for disputes andminimize litigation.

The goal of the new tax code is to consolidate andamend all direct taxes and simplify language toensure that the law can be reflected in the returnform. The aim is also to reduce scope for litigationand provide flexibility in accommodating changeswithout need for frequent amendments.

Gains

Deduction (the popular section 80C) increased toRs 3 lakh from present Rs 1 lakh. Thus, a personwith taxable income of Rs 10,00,000 is likely tosave approx Rs 1,20,000 annually.

» Corporate tax rates, including for foreign com-panies, reduced to 25% from 34%.

» Net wealth tax exemption limit increased to Rs50 crores from Rs 30 lakhs.

» Wealth tax rate cut to 0.25% from 1%.

» Indefinite carry forward of tax losses.

» Deduction for donation towards scientific re-search @ 125%.

» Agriculture income stays outside tax net.

» Deductions for Royalty income of authors whoare individual residents up to Rs three lakhs anddeduction for Royalty income on patents for indi-vidual residents up to Rs three lakhs.

» STT to be abolished.




» Cost inflation adjustment to be available fortransfers anytime after one year from end of yearin which asset is acquired (earlier 3 yrs, except forshares).

» Base date for capital gains tax shifted from April1, 1981 to April 1, 2000—capital appreciation upto 2000 not taxable.

» Maximum penalty down to two times taxamount (from three times tax)

Key pains

(a) Branch profit tax to be introduced @ 15%.

(b) Reintroduction of capital gains tax on listedshares & MF units.

(c) Tax saving schemes like PPF and retirementbenefit schemes to be taxed on withdrawal timeon “Exempt, Exempt, Tax” (EET) methodology oftaxation, for savings done after introduction of thenew code.

(d) Deduction for rent paid restricted to Rs 2,000per month.

(e) Profit-linked incentives dropped.

(f) Period consumed in recovering all capital andrevenue expenditure same as tax holiday.

(g) Area based exemptions given earlier to con-tinue.

(h) Definition of income to include all accrualsand receipts of revenue and capital nature unlessotherwise specified.

(i) Receipt of LIC policy taxable except for purelife insurance policy.

(j) Distinction between short term and long termassets done away with.

(k) Cost of acquisition/improvement nil if not de-terminable.

(l) Roll over benefits for capital gains tax exemp-tion trimmed to only one residential house.

(m) Profits on sale of business capital assets/un-dertaking no longer treated as capital gains, but asbusiness income.

(n) Loss on sale of business capital assets not al-lowable, to be only depreciable.

(o) Presumptive rent to be calculated at 6% p.a.of rateable value when higher than contractualrent to compute income from house property.

(p) For self occupied property, no deduction forinterest and principal loan repayment.

(q) Income from letting of machinery, plant, fur-niture included if letting of building is inseparablefrom the same.

(r) Rent free accommodation to govt employeesmade taxable.

(s) MAT linked to gross assets rather than bookprofit @ 0.25% for banking companies and 2% forothers.

(t) No carry forward credit for MAT in later years.

(u) In case of conflict between double tax treatyand code, the one that is later in point of timeshall prevail

Some new concepts have also been added to thecode. These are:(a) Tests for residency changed.

(b) Foreign companies, even if partly held/man-aged from India, will become “resident”.

(c) Concept of ‘resident but not ordinarily resi-dent’ dropped.

(d) Income from business to be computed sepa-




rately for each business.

(e) Income-expense model based on US, Canada,Australia and most Asian countries.

(f) Three types of biz expenses allowed: Operat-ing expenditure, permitted financial charges andcapital allowances.

(g) Scope of weighted deduction of 150% to beextended to all industries.

(h) ‘Scientific research’ to be defined.

(i) Presumptive taxation for certain business tocontinue.

(j) Separate income determination regimes pro-vided for hospitals, SEZ, infrastructure, etc.

(k) MF, VCF, Pension Fund etc. To be taxed aspass through entities.

(l) New tax regime for trusts, institutions carry-ing on charitable activities.

New Foreign Trade Policy

India has extended tax holiday and duty refundfor exporters, while allowing duty-free capitalgoods import under its Foreign Trade Policy toinsulate them from protectionism induced by re-cession abroad. The new five-year policy was re-leased on August 27, 2009 by Commerce MinisterAnand Sharma. It sets a target of $200 billionworth exports for 2010-11, a feat that India failedto achieve in 2008-09 due to a slump in globaldemand in the face of financial crisis.

Extension of income tax holiday for export unitsfor one more year and continuance of duty re-fund scheme till December 2010 and enhancedassistance for the scheme for development of mar-kets are among the measures in the FTP. The aimof the policy, which would be reviewed after twoyears, would be to "arrest and reverse decliningtrend of exports”.

Exports have been on a decline for the past 10months. Exports in FY'09 amounted to $168 bil-lion and the country hopes to maintain the samelevel in 2009-10.

The government would encourage exportsthrough a “mix of measures including fiscal in-centives, institutional changes, proceduralrationalisation and efforts for enhance market ac-cess across the world and diversification of exportmarkets”.The policy would provide a special thrust to theemployment-oriented sectors which have wit-nessed job losses in the wake of recession, espe-cially in the fields of textiles, leather and handi-crafts.

Highlights

» Aims annual growth of 15 pc in 2010-11.

» Double India’s exports of goods and services by2014.

» A high-level panel to look into dollar needs ofexporters.

» Six 'Made in India' shows to promote Brand In-dia.

» Directorate of Trade Remedy Measures to safe-guard exporters.

» Duty Entitlement Passbook Scheme extendedtill December 2010.

» A single window system for export of perish-able agri produce.Value addition norm for tea halved to 50 per cent.




International Yearbook of IndustrialStatistics 2009

According to recently released International Year-book of Industrial Statistics 2009 by United Na-tions Industrial Development Organisation(Unido), the share of developing countries in theworld’s manufacturing value-added output hasalmost doubled in the last 18 years due to the shiftof production units and outsourcing of servicesfrom developed nations. Developing countriesproduced almost 30% of world manufacturingvalue added (MVA) at the end of 2008 as com-pared to 16% in 1990. The per capita MVAdoubled as early as 2006, while the industrialisedworld achieved merely 30% increase. Amongindustrialised countries, Japan accounts for mostMVA per capita, followed by Switzerland,Singapore, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, USA, Ger-many and Austria. Luxemburg, Republic of Ko-rea, Denmark, Iceland, Canada, Belgium, UnitedKingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Italy and Francecome lower down the list.

For India, the growth rate of MVA output rosefrom 6.9% in 2000-2005 to 12.3% in 2005-2007.The MVA per capita grew 10.6 % in 2005-2007compared to 5.2% in 2000-2005. The share ofMVA in India’s gross domestic product (GDP)stood at 14.8% in 2006 compared to 13.8% in 2001.Manufacturing still contributes around 15% ofGDP in India. International Yearbook 2009 ranksIndia among the world’s leading 12 producers oftextiles (ranked 4th after China, the U.S. and Italy);electrical machinery and apparatus (5th); basicmetals (6th); chemicals and chemical products(7th); leather, leather products and footwear(10th); coke, refined petroleum products andnuclear fuel (10th); machinery and equipment(12th); and motor vehicles (12th), based on 2007figures. Among the leading developing countries,India figures among the top five.

RBI Policy Review

Announcing the first quarter policy review forFinancial Year 2009-10, RBI Governor D.Subbarao said the apex bank’s status quo on policy

rates would anchor interest rate expectations thatcould spur investment demand. With concernsover rising inflation, the RBI has decided to leaveCash Reserve Ratio at 5 per cent and the repo andreverse repo rates at 4.75 per cent and 3.25 percent, respectively.

The RBI has projected inflation at 5 per cent fromthe 4 per cent forecast earlier. India’s GDP is pro-jected to grow to 6 per cent in March 2010 “withan upward bias”. Export demand remains weak.The services sector is sluggish on lagged impact ofweak industry growth, but the business outlookhas turned positive.

According to the RBI, its policy initiatives sincemid-September 2008 aimed at providing amplerupee liquidity and ensuring continued flow ofcredit to all productive sectors has shown results.These actions have resulted in augmentation ofactual/potential liquidity of over Rs 5,61,700 crore.The liquidity situation has remained comfortablesince mid-November 2008 as evidenced by theLAF window where the Reserve Bank has beenabsorbing nearly Rs 1,20,000 crore on a daily av-erage basis during 2009-10.

Prime Minister’s Employment Genera-tion Programme

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSME) had launched on aug 15,2008 a new creditlinked subsidy programme called Prime Minister’sEmployment Generation Programme (PMEGP) bymerging the two schemes that were in operationtill 31.03.2008 namely Prime Minister’s RojgarYojana (PMRY) and Rural Employment Genera-tion Programme (REGP) for generation of employ-ment opportunities through establishment of mi-cro enterprises in rural as well as urban areas.PMEGP will be a central sector scheme.

The subsidy levels, the cost limit of projects orunits that could be established under PMRY whichwas extended to rural areas as well in 1994-95,were quite low and unattractive compared to thoseavailable to the beneficiaries in REGP. While themaximum subsidy admissible was Rs.12500 and




the maximum cost of project that could be estab-lished was Rs.5 lakh under PMRY, the maximumsubsidy that was admissible was Rs.4 lakh and themaximum cost of project that could be establishedwas Rs.25 lakh under REGP for a beneficiary be-longing to General category.

There were more attractive programmes for cre-ation of self employment opportunities being op-erated by many State Governments. Recoveryrates of loans under PMRY were also consider-ably less than those under REGP.

PMEGP improves upon the subsidy levels and costlimits of projects compared to those available sofar under PMRY and REGP, while simultaneouslystrengthening the selection process, implementa-tion and monitoring mechanism. Higher levels ofsubsidy have been proposed for beneficiaries be-longing to marginalized sections of the society likeSchedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, Other BackwardClasses, Minorities, Women, Physically Handi-capped, etc. to ensure inclusive growth.

The upper limit of the cost of project that couldbe setup in the manufacturing sector is Rs.25 lakhwhile that in the business/service sector is Rs.10lakh. There are no ceiling limits of annual incomein respect of beneficiaries while a minimum edu-cational qualification of VIII standard pass will berequired for beneficiaries in respect of projectscosting more than Rs.10 lakh in manufacturingsector and more than Rs.5 lakh in business/ser-vice sector. The beneficiaries would be identified,inter alia, with the help of Panchayats, SpecialAwareness Camps and will be provided with amandatory Entrepreneurship DevelopmentProgramme (EDP) training of a duration of twoto three weeks.

The scheme envisages electronic tracking of ap-plications, 100 per cent verification of projects/units that will be established and model projectprofiles have been updated in association withbanks. The scheme will be implemented at thenational level through Khadi and Village Indus-tries Commission (KVIC), an organization createdunder an Act of Parliament reporting to MoMSME

which will place the funds of Government sub-sidy with the participating banks which in turnwill disburse the same to the beneficiaries on re-ceipt of applications and their own contribution‘upfront’ in accordance with the guidelines of thescheme.

Budget Estimates 2008-09 have provided Rs.823crore for PMEGP which includes Rs.83 crore to-wards Backward and Forward linkages includingEDP training, publicity, marketing support, e-tracking of applications, physical verification ofprojects and so on. An estimated 6.17 lakh addi-tional employment opportunities are targeted tobe generated in 2008-09. The estimated total out-lay for subsidy under PMEGP is Rs.4485 crore inaddition to Rs.250 crore earmarked for providingBackward and Forward linkages to the micro en-terprises between 2008-09 to 2011-2012 leadingto an estimated generation of around 37.38 lakhadditional employment opportunities. The schemewill be got independently reviewed after two yearsof its implementation.

Lean Manufacturing Scheme

The government on July 29, 2009 launched 'LeanManufacturing Scheme' for the micro, small andmedium units to enhance the manufacturing com-petitiveness of the sector, battling the global de-mand recession.

Objective

The objective of this scheme is to enhance themanufacturing competitiveness of the micro, smalland medium enterprises (MSMEs) by applying leantechniques to identify and eliminate waste in themanufacturing process.

The scheme would be implemented initially in 100clusters (in the industries having potential forimprovement in competitiveness and productiv-ity) on pilot basis in one year.

Initially, under this scheme the government hasmade a provision of Rs 31 crore. The clusters, each a group of about 10 units, would




be selected from different parts of the country andwould undergo lean interventions for about ayear.

During the end of the first year, an impact assess-ment study would be carried out for these 100clusters and the outcome of the report will formthe basis for upscaling this programme to coveranother 300-500 clusters in the subsequent year. Consultants would be deployed to identify clus-ter- specific needs who will suggest specific leantechniques for intervention in the selected mini-clusters.

As engaging consultants is quite expensive forMSME units, the government will contribute upto 80 per cent of this fee while the remainingcharge will have to be borne by the beneficiaryunits as part of the scheme.

The purpose of the lean techniques would be toassist MSME units in reducing their manufactur-ing costs through proper personnel management,better space utilisation, scientific inventory man-agement, improved process flows and reducedengineering time.

Lean Manufacturing Programme will also lowercosts and improve the quality of products, whichwill enable these products to compete in nationaland international markets.

There are about 13 million MSME units in thecountry which employ over 42 million people. Thesector contributes over 45 per cent to the country'sindustrial production and 40 per cent to the totalexports.

C. Rangarajan committee on savingsand investment

A high-level panel headed by Rajya Sabha MP andformer Reserve Bank of India governor CRangarajan, has suggested a holistic overhaul ofthe methods used to arrive at national savings andinvestment aggregates, in a report submitted tothe Centre on march 16,2009.

Among the most significant changes mooted is to

use the online compliance facility launched by theministry of corporate affairs for all registered firms,the MCA-21, to calculate the actual savings andcapital formation in the private sector. Currently,savings and investment estimates of the corporatesector are estimated by culling out the savings,capital investments and paid up capital of the 5,000biggest firms and ‘blowing these up’ to arrive atoverall aggregates.

Companies are already complying under the MCA-21 programme, but are currently filing their bal-ance sheets and profit and loss accounts by simplyscanning them and uploading them.

The gross domestic savings rate shot up from29.8% in 2003-04 to 37.7% in 2007-08 largelythanks to corporate savings almost doubling overthe period. So a move to reflect India Inc’s savingsand investment numbers accurately is significantat a time when experts believe India’s savings andinvestment rate will be hit hard by the currentglobal slowdown. The domestic investment rateas a proportion of GDP increased from 27.6% in2003-04 to over 39% in 2007-08.

The Rangarajan Committee, appointed in Decem-ber 2007, has segregated its recommendations tocapture better savings and investment data fromthe private sector, public sector and households.The idea is to capture the rapid structural changesin the income levels and saving behavior in theIndian economy in recent years.

To calculate household savings better, regulatorslike the Insurance Development Regulatory Au-thority, the Pension Fund Regulatory Develop-ment Authority, Securities Exchange Board ofIndia and the National Bank for Agricultural andRural Development have been asked to furnishdata with as little time lag as possible on savingsdeposits under their ambit from life insurance sav-ings, pension funds, stocks and mutual funds andco-operative banks.

Most importantly, to get a clearer asset-liabilityprofile of Indian households, the Rangarajan com-mittee has asked the CSO to present total house-hold savings differently. Currently, only the net




financial savings are reported by deducting grossfinancial liabilities from gross financial assets andphysical assets.

To get more data on deposits with non-bankingfinance companies, the panel has suggested that acensus be undertaken by the MCA and the RBIevery five years. At the same time, unregisteredfirms’ deposits need to be estimated throughsample surveys.

Global Innovation Index 2008

The Second Global Innovation Index 2008 (GII)jointly published by Confederation of Indian In-dustry and INSEAD Business School, has onceagain placed United States at the top of the GlobalInnovation Rankings on Jan.7,2009. India, on theother hand, is ranked a lowly 41.The GII that hasstudied 130 countries has ranked Germany in thesecond position, followed by Sweden, the UnitedKingdom and Singapore.

The European economies including the Nordicones continued to do well in 2008. Switzerland,Denmark and the Netherlands figured in the top10 apart from Germany, Sweden and UK that fig-ure in the top 5. However, France was the biggestloser slipping from the 5th to 19th position.Singapore and South Korea are two Asian coun-tries figuring in the top 10. However, Japan hasslipped to the 9th position from the 4th and Indiaits last year’s ranking of 23rd to the 41st position.With China ranked at 37th, most BRIC countrieshave been ranked lower than last time. Israel andQatar from West Asia and Middle East find placesin the top 25. There are other countries from theMiddle East just below this quartile.

The GII results have revealed that innovation iscorrelated with income levels in a country. Forexample, the innovation levels in the OECD coun-tries are much more than non-OECD countries.There are few countries from Africa that are in-cluded in the rankings with only South Africacoming in at the 43rd position. Over the years,through its own research, INSEAD has examinedthe many factors enabling national economies toachieve sustained and higher innovation capabili-

ties. The goal has been to provide benchmarkingtools for business leaders and policymakers to iden-tify obstacles to improved innovation and com-petitiveness and stimulate discussion on strategiesto overcome them. This time and earlier in 2007,INSEAD based its innovation analysis on the Glo-bal Innovation Index (GII) and Framework, ahighly comprehensive index for measuring globalinnovation, which captures the microeconomicand macroeconomic parameters and variables.

CII has over the years, taken a pioneering role inbuilding a culture of innovation in Indian indus-try and society. It is CII’s belief that the only wayfor Indian industry to have sustainable and inclu-sive growth is to adopt innovation as a businessstrategy. With this belief, a number of initiativeshave been taken by CII in the area of innovation.To make a successful plan and roadmap for ac-tion, there is a need for India to align the mea-surement gauge with similar benchmark practicesadopted globally.

Innovation is no longer restricted to the verticalstructures of R and D laboratories and universi-ties. Therefore an approach that goes beyond thenumber of patents registered, number of articlespublished in research journals and percentage ofGDP spending on R and D measuring innovationis needed. This is the key assumption behind theapproach used in this study.

The GII while arriving at the results has made adistinction between inputs and outputs whilemeasuring innovation in an economy. Inputs areaspects that enable an economy to stimulate in-novative and outputs are the results of innovativeactivities within the economy. The input pillarsinclude Institutions and Policies, Human Capac-ity, General and ICT Infrastructure, Market So-phistication and Business Sophistication.The output pillars that provide evidence of theresults of innovation within the economy areKnowledge Creation, Competitiveness and WealthCreation.




The data for the GII was collected from reputedinternational organizations such as the WorldEconomic Forum, the World Bank and the Inter-national Telecommunications Union. In particu-lar, a combination of qualitative and quantitativedata is used for the computation of the GII. Thequalitative data is obtained from the ExecutiveOpinion Survey, a global CEO survey conductedby the World Economic Forum.

Challenge Fund

A Challenge fund for Export Promotion Activi-ties by Indian Missions abroad, has been set- upwith a corpus of Rs. 5 crore, under the MarketAccess Initiative (MAI) scheme on 14 Jan 2009.The MAI scheme of the Department of Commerceis an export promotion scheme envisaged to act asa catalyst to promote India's export on a sustain-able basis. Since, Indian Missions abroad are alsoeligible for assistance under the scheme, a "Chal-lenge Fund" has been created under the same.The MAI will focus on the markets which in turnwill focus upon product export promotion activi-ties including innovative market promotionprojects to showcase the Indian export capabili-ties. Projects relating to only market promotionactivities shall be considered; export promotionof new items in India's export baskets by way ofmarket development and market penetration andexport promotion initiatives for Micro, Small andMedium enterprises (MSME) with a stress on re-gions and countries where India has a small bilat-eral trade profile (Africa and Latin America), shallbe given priority; duplication of projects alreadyimplemented under the MAI/ MDA scheme of theCommerce Ministry is prohibited.

The fund shall be used to finance specific exportpromotion schemes and projects which envisageintroduction of new items of export towards di-versification of the Indian export basket in the hostcountry. These projects shall be proposed by In-dian Missions abroad. Each individual project hasbeen assigned a budget of Rs. 10 lakh. Priority shallbe given to focused, specific projects with tangibleresults. The project proposals received shall be

subjected to compete for funding on their merits.

Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme

The UK Government’s Department for Interna-tional Development (DFID) is soon going to be-gin the second phase of the PACS Programme.The second phase of PACS will be a five yearprogramme and will build on the momentum ofthe first phase. This phase, to be launched later in2009, will focus on the poorest areas across sevenstates of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh,Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Orissa.It aims to enhance the rights and entitlements ofpoor, particularly the most excluded groups, in theimplementation of Government’s policies andprogrammes.

The first phase of the programme, which endedin April 2008, covered over 19,564 villages in 94districts of 6 states. It reached over 6 million peopleand helped poor access benefits from governmentprogrammes estimated Rs.106 crores. It strength-ened and improved panchayati raj (Local Govern-ment) institutions, making them more responsiveto the needs of the poor and increased represen-tation of women.

The Indian Forum for Inclusive Response and So-cial Transformation (IFIRST), a consortium of civilsociety organisations led by Christian Aid, alongwith the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, Caritas,Financial Management Services Foundation andACCESS Development Services, has been selectedby DFID to manage the second phase of the PACSprogramme.

India’s population may touch 2 billionby 2101

India’s future population could be much more thanwhat is currently estimated. The latest demo-graphic projections by the Population Foundationof India (PFI) and the Population Reference Bu-reau (PRB), USA, predict that India may have apopulation of two billion by 2101, posing hugechallenges in terms of distress migration, pressures




of the numbers on land, employment and environment, prolonged poverty and changes in the demo-graphic balance.

The study makes two more alarming conclusions: the population of 60 plus would exceed that of thoseaged between 0 and 14 years, leading to substantial future ageing in India by 2051. Further, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan would account for almost half of the country’s population by 2101.These four States, with their high fertility rate, currently account for 40 per cent of the country’s numbers,and are characterised by low literacy levels and low health indicators such as high infant and maternalmortality.

There is, however, a difference between population projections of India by the Registrar General of India(RGI) and those by the PFI/PRB. Contrary to the RGI’s projection of 1,399 million population of India by2026, the PFI/PRB projections indicate 1,464 million by the said year. The new demographic study putsthe country’s population at 1825 million in 2051, reaching up to 2181 (crossing the two billion mark) by2101.

These differences stem mainly from the assumed total fertility rates (TFRs) in the country’s four mostpopulous States—UP, Bihar, MP and Rajasthan. Whereas the PFI study concludes that TFR of 2.1 will beachieved in UP between 2051-56; Bihar (2061-66); MP (2041-46) and in Rajasthan between 2051-56, theRGI assumes these States would achieve the TFR targets much earlier.

As per the PFI, India, with the final TFR of 1.85, will achieve two billion population by 2101; growth willpeak in 2081-2086, after which the population decline will start. The population of Kerala and Tamil Naduwould start declining in 2041-2051; that of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal would do so around 2061.

The study adds: “The priority for India should be to contain the unacceptably high numbers of maternaland infant deaths, improve quality health services for institutional deliveries; meet the unmet needs offamily planning services and focus on adolescents and youth (10 to 34 years) to make them productivethrough gender-sensitive education.”

Global Gender Gap Report 2008 released by Geneva-basedWorld Economic Forum (WEF) in 2008. With 113th po-sition among 130 countries in the annual list, India amongthe 20 countries where the gender gap is the widest, whilethe country is sixth in economic inequality between menand women. Though, India has improved its overall rank-ing by one position from 114th in 2007, primarily due toimprovement in better than average performance in po-litical empowerment space.

Norway moved to the top from its third position in 2007.The rankings are based on four parameters-economic par-ticipation and opportunity, education attainment, politi-cal empowerment and health and survival. Norway, re-placed Sweden at the first position, is followed by Fin-land, Sweden, Iceland, New Zealand, Philippines, Den-

mark, Ireland, Netherlands and Latvia in the top ten. The Nordic countries have occupied all the four toppositions in the list.




In its overall ranking, India is ranked lowest amongthe four BRIC countries. The neighbouring Chinahas jumped 17 places to 57th rank in 2008 on theback of narrowing gender gaps in educational at-tainment, economic participation and politicalparticipation. Nepal ranked 120, Pakistan 127,Bangladesh 90 and Sri Lanka 12 in 2008. The Phil-ippines at 6 and Sri Lanka 12 remain distinctivefor being the only Asian countries among the top20.In terms of economic participation and opportu-nity, India has been ranked 125th. The country isplaced at 25th rank in terms of political empow-erment, while it is ranked 116th and 128th interms of educational attainment and health andsurvival, respectively.

Happy Planet Index

India is way ahead of many developed economies,including the US and the UK, in terms of happylives and eco-friendliness, with the country cor-nering the 35th spot among 143 nations. The‘Happy Planet Index (HPI)’ compiled by UK-basedNew Economics Foundation has placed India atthe 35th position while the list is topped by CostaRica.

Going by the report, the US is at the 114th spotwhile the UK is better placed at 74th position.Among the BRIC nations, Brazil and neighbouringChina are ranked higher at ninth and 20th places,respectively. Russia is a distant 108th.

The survey noted that “the countries that aremeant to represent successful development aresome of the worst-performing in terms of sustain-able well-being. The index provides a measure ofthe ecological efficiency with which happy andhealthy lives are supported.

According to the report, ecological footprint of aperson is a measure of the amount of land requiredto provide for all the resource requirements forthat person, plus the amount of vegetated landrequired to absorb his CO2 emissions and the CO2emissions embodied in the products he consumes.The survey covered the countries that account for

nearly 99 per cent of the world’s population. Thereport said that in an age of uncertainty, societyglobally needs a new compass to set it on a path ofreal progress. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) pro-vides that compass by measuring what truly mat-ters to us, our well-being in terms of long, happyand meaningful lives and what matters to theplanet, our rate of resource consumption.

The survey noted that there is actually a negativecorrelation between GDP growth and change inHPI scores between 1990 and 2005. The index isbased on high life expectancy, high life satisfac-tion and ecological footprint a measure whichtakes into account carbon emissions by individu-als.

Visit India 2009

In an effort to boost the confidence of visitors andtourists after the Mumbai attacks, the Union Min-istry of Tourism, India has launched a new scheme'Visit India 2009' offering various incentives toforeign tourists and tourism industry. These valueaddition services will be offered to tourists visit-ing the country during the period April 2009 -March 2010. The incentives would offer one complimentaryinternational air passage for traveling companion,one night complimentary stay in the hotel bookedby the traveler, complimentary sightseeing in anyone city of their choice and a complimentary ru-ral eco holiday. The idea is to provide one addi-tional service for every service paid for, by thetourists with the help of top airlines and organi-zations like Hotel Association of India (HAI) andIndian Association of Tour Operators (IATO). All three major airlines of the country — Air In-dia, Jet Airways and Kingfisher —have joined thisendeavor of the government by providing the ad-ditional air passage for traveling companions. Fur-thermore, all member hotels of the HAI will beoffering the service of complimentary night stayin the hotel booked by the tourist. Members ofthe IATO, an organization recognized by the Min-istry of Tourism, will offer one complimentary




local sightseeing tour in any one of the cities vis-ited by the tourist. The Department of Tourism also has plans to or-ganize road shows in countries like Singapore,Canada, UK, Japan and Australia, in joint venturewith the IATO. The ongoing year will see a risein the advertisements and marketing throughtrade fairs and exhibitions to draw the attentionof foreign tourists from across the world. More-over, there are possibilities of constructing heli-pads in various places to introduce the helicopterservices for the tourists.

Report of the Task Force for Exports ofPharmaceutical Products

The Task Force to recommend measures for in-creasing exports of pharmaceutical products wasconstituted in July, 2006.This Task Force submit-ted its report on December 12, 2008.The Task forceenunciated a vision for Indian pharmaceuticalR&D as:To provide intellectual capital to make availablesafe, cost-effective, contemporary, quality thera-peutics to the people of India and help reducepercentage of mortality and morbidity whileemerging as a significant player in the global mar-ket place."

In consonance with this vision, a grand dream forproduction, export and investment in pharmaceu-tical R&D was evolved. This report suggests themeasures by which such a dream and vision couldbe realised.

Priority areas for Indian pharmaceutical R&D havebeen identified. India’s expertise in developingnew and innovative processes for known mol-ecules needs to be exploited in a greater measure.While India forged ahead in conventional phar-maceutical technologies, it lagged behind in com-plex technologies, specialty pharmaceuticals andnew drug delivery systems. Investment impetusrequired in these areas has been specified.

Priority needs to be given for initiation of newdrug development for diseases of relevance to the

Indian population, while at the same time seizingopportunities to become a global player by intro-ducing globally competitive products based on newmolecules. Currently India is at a nascent stage indrug discovery and the industry is focusing onstrategies to earn while learn. Key building blocksin the value chain could be focused to facilitatethe drug discovery. These have been discussed.

A key factor to retain competitiveness is low costof innovation and process management. In thecurrent context of rapidly rising wages for selectskilled population, efforts to widen the skill baseand strategies to generate the skill base have beendiscussed.

To achieve such objectives, the existing humanresources in conventional methods of drug discov-ery need refurbishing alongside acquisition ofnewer tools of drug discovery. A larger team ofexperts comprising chemistry, biology, biotech-nology, etc., need to find select viable strategiesfor India in drug discovery. Drug discovery is aproduct of strong efforts at universities, publicinstitutions and industry. The direction of efforthas been specified.

Citing the unique opportunity for India to becomea leading centre for clinical trials, the report sug-gests basic changes in the legislation allowing im-port of animals, contract research and a legal sta-tus for institutional animal ethics committee. Es-tablishment and operationalisation of a cGMP,GLP and GCP monitoring authority has been rec-ommended.

The Prevention of Money Laundering(Amendment) Act, 2009

A Bill aimed at effectively combating money-laun-dering, terror financing and cross-border economicoffences was passed by Parliament and has comeinto force with effect from June 01, 2009.

The Prevention of Money Laundering (Amend-ment) act, 2009 seeks to ensure a legal frameworkto check such crimes. The new law seeks to checkuse of black money for financing terror activities.




Financial intermediaries like full-fledged moneychanger, money transfer service providers such asWestern Union and International Payment gate-ways, including VISA and MasterCard have alsobeen brought under the ambit of The Preventionof Money-Laundering Act.

Consequently, these intermediaries, as also casi-nos, will be brought under the reporting regimeof the enforcement authorities. It would also checkthe misuse of promissory notes by FIIs, who wouldnow be required to furnish all details of theirsource. The Act would check misuse of “proceedsof crime” be it from sale of banned narcotic sub-stances or breach of the Unlawful Activities (Pre-vention) Act.

Prevention of Money Laundering (Amendment)act will enable India’s entry into Financial ActionTask Force (FATF), an inter-governmental bodythat has the mandate to combat money launder-ing and terrorist financing. The Act will addressIndia’s international obligation and empower theenforcement directorate to search the premisesimmediately after the offences are committed andpolice have filed a report.

Satyam Scam

Ramalinga Raju, the politically-connected pro-moter-chairman of Hyderabad headquarteredSatyam Computers was lying for years to share-holders, employees and the world at large, build-ing up to India’s largest corporate fraud of over Rs7,000 crore. India’s fourth largest IT company—after TCS, Infosys and Wipro—was for years cook-ing its books by inflating revenues and profits, thusboosting its cash and bank balances; showing in-terest income where none existed; understatingliability; and overstating debtors position (moneydue to it). This wasn’t some fly-by-night operatorthat had been caught out. Satyam is listed on theNYSE, boasts 185 Fortune 500 companies and theUS government among clients and employs 53,000people. The Union government has entrusting theprobe to the Serious Fraud Investigations office,or SFIO.

Cabinet okays Rs 25,000 cr for NBFCs

The government has set in motion the process ofproviding liquidity support of up to Rs 25,000 croreto cash-strapped Non-Banking Finance Companies(NBFCs) to enable them to pay existing liabilitiesas was announced in the second stimulus packageto spur sagging economic growth. A Stressed As-set Stabilisation Fund, set up for acquiring thestressed assets of IDBI, would function as a Spe-cial Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to provide money tonon-deposit taking systemically important NBFCs.The SPV would issue government guaranteed se-curities, subject to a total amount of securities notexceeding Rs 20,000 crore with an additional Rs5,000 crore, if needed. The funds will be used byNBFCs only to repay existing liabilities he said,adding the RBI would issue guidelines for pricingand lending in consultation with the Departmentof Financial Services.

Maha-navratna status

The Planning Commission had recommendedMaha-navratna status to BHEL, Bharat Petroleum,Hindustan Aeronautics, Hindustan Petroleum,Indian Oil, NMDC, Power Grid Corporation, RECand SAIL. Maha-navratna status would give thesecompanies freedom to make investments up to50% of their net worth, while the investment capon a single project would go up to 25% of theirnet worth. The tag will also have given themgreater functional autonomy for forming jointventures.

Union government to infuse capital inthree PSU banks

In order to strengthen the Public Sector Banks,the Union government has decided to infuse Rs3,800 crore into three State-run banks—CentralBank of India will get Rs 1,400 crore, while UCOBank and Vijaya Bank will get Rs 1,200 crore each.

The capital infusion would be done in twotranches—the first tranche would be made avail-able during 2008-09 and the remaining in 2009-10. The capital infusion will help these banks to




raise capital adequacy over 12%, much above theBasel II norms of 9%. The government holding inCentral Bank of India currently stands at 80.2%cent, in UCO bank 76%, while in Vijaya Bank it is53%.

Steps to boost exports

During 2008-09, India did achieve an exportgrowth of 30.9 per cent till September 2008, butsince then there has been a setback due to theglobal recession. The following sops have beenannounced by the Union government to boostexports: Customs duty under export promotioncapital goods scheme cut to 3 per cent from 5 percent; Special incentive of Rs 325 crore for varioussectors like handmade carpets, leather and tech-nical textiles from April 1, 2009; Threshold limitfor recognition as premier trading house reducedto Rs 7,500 crore; Benefit of 5 per cent under “fo-cus product, focus market scheme for export ofhandmade carpets; Authorised persons of gemsand jewellery units can personally carry importedgold of up to 10 kg; Obligation under export pro-motion capital goods scheme extended till 2009-10 for sops availed during 2008-09; Opening of anindependent office of DGFT at Srinagar.

Unique ID project

Marking the beginning of the Herculean task ofproviding every Indian citizen with a NationalIdentity Card, the UPA government has ear-marked Rs 100 crore for setting up the UniqueIdentification Authority of India (UIAI) in theannual plan of 2009-10. The project is aimed atestablishing citizenship, addressing security-re-lated issues and containing frauds, especially ingovernment run schemes. The UIAI will be re-sponsible for creating and maintaining the coredatabase and laying down all necessary proceduresfor issuance and use of the unique ID card, in-cluding arrangements for collection, validation andauthentication of information, proper security ofdata and rules for sharing and access of data. Ini-tially, the UID number will be assigned to all vot-ers by building on current electoral roll data. Pro-gressively, other persons, including those below

18 years, will be added to the list.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) andstamp duty

Developers of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) willnow get a blanket exemption from stamp duty onland purchases within the notified area for non-core activities such as building hotels, housingcomplexes, shopping malls and golf courses. Forthe developers of the 500-odd SEZs in the coun-try, slated to bring in investments of over Rs100,000 crore, this ends the uncertainty that hadcropped up after some States had voiced theiropposition. The exemption, however, will beavailable only after formal approval of the zone.For land bought after in-principle approval, theState government may either give the exemptionupfront or collect the duty and refund it after thezone has been set up. If under some circumstances,notification of a zone is cancelled, the State gov-ernment will be entitled to withdraw the conces-sion and recover the same from the developer.

India ranks low in publichealth spending

As per a WHO study, India ranks 171 out of the175 countries in the world in public health spend-ing. This is less than some of the sub-Saharan Af-rican countries. For a country of one billion, In-dia spends 5.2% of the GDP on healthcare. While4.3% is spent by the private sector, the govern-ment continues to spend only 0.9% on publichealth. When the economic growth index is mov-ing forward, the wellness index is dipping.

While India ranks among the top 10 countries forcommunicable disease, it is, today, world leaderof chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension andcoronary artery disease.

One of the key findings of the commission wasthat by improving the health condition, theeconomy of the country will improve. But it hasbeen reverse in India. There is growth in GDPbut there has been no increase in healthcare spend-




ing. This inadequate public health spending hasforced the public to depend on private sector.

India’s health scenario currently presents a con-trasting picture. While health tourism and pri-vate healthcare are being promoted, a large sec-tion of Indian population still reels under the riskof curable diseases that do not receive ample at-tention of policy-makers.

Best E-Governed State

Tamil Nadu is the best e-governed State in India,according to a study by IDC India. Apart from itshigh IT spends, the southern State has also scoredhigh on parameters such as citizen and businesssatisfaction. The other States in the top five in-clude: Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana andAndhra Pradesh.

India’s per capita income

Rising by almost 60 per cent since 2003-04, India’sper capita income, which indicates what an aver-age person earns, has increased to Rs 33,283 in2007-08, as per the quick estimates of nationalincome released by the Central StatisticalOrganisation (CSO). The per capita income, in-creased by 12.7 per cent (at current prices) during2007-08, while country’s population inched up by1.4 per cent to 1.38 billion by the end of the fis-cal.

Change in base year of the WholesalePrice Index

The Union government has decided to change thebase year of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) se-ries from 1993-94 to 2004-05. The move is aimedat tracking changes in price level accurately.

FDI Norms for Foreign Firms

Giving scope to foreign firms to increase equity intheir Indian joint ventures, the government on11 Feb 2009 changed FDI policy and excluded in-direct investment through domestic companies

from overall sectoral ceilings. The decision tochange the FDI policy guidelines was taken bythe Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA).

According to new guideline foreign investmentthrough investing Indian company would not beconsidered for (calculating) the indirect foreigninvestment in case of Indian companies 'ownedand controlled' by resident Indian citizens andIndian companies owned and controlled ultimatelyby resident Indian citizens.

In another amendment, the CCEA decided thatgovernment approval would be required for trans-ferring the ownership of an Indian company thathas a joint venture with a foreign firm in any sec-tor covered by FDI caps.

The CCEA approval of changes in FDI norms fol-lows the recommendations of a group of minis-ters headed by External Affairs Minister PranabMukherjee.










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