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february - NammaKPSC
NammaKPSC is a one stop website to cater to all the needs of young graduates aspiring to enter government/public service in Karnataka. It is the only website that provides exclusive materials related to all the exams conducted by Karnataka Public service commission (KPSC) MAHITHI MONTHLY CHIEF EDITORS Dr ARJUN BOPANNA Dr SAHANA HADIMANI CONTACT: [email protected] Ph: +91-9632757615 KPSC is a constitutional body under the Indian Constitution, which conducts exams to recruit civil servants for the state of Karnataka, starting from Group A posts like Karnataka Administrative service (KAS) and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Medical Officers, Judicial Officers to all other related services like Teachers, FDAs and many more as and when required. Today there is increasing aspiration to enter the government service and walk the corridors of power has led to an increase in the competition. Further, there has been constant changes in the way exams are being conducted, making it even more challenging. This is where NammaKPSC comes in, to help the best to become better. Our aim is to reach out to the those whose access to expensive coaching institution is limited. We keep our services free to all the aspirants to ensure that society at large will get the brightest and the best. Some of the services we provide are: Mahithi Monthly: Monthly Magazine Monthly current events: Both in English and Kannada Materials related to conventional issues like Economy, Polity, History, Economy etc Important links download free material Tests for self evaluation Forum for the aspirants to interact with the NammaKPSC team and between themselves Sunday Manthan- Free current affairs classes We hope to be a part of your hard work All the very Best Team NammaKPSC CORPORATE OFFICE BSCS, No 18, 2nd Floor, Near Hebbal police Station, Bellary Main Road, Bangalore. To Advertise in Mahithi Monthly contact: 9632757615 FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Contents Highlights of Railway Budget ............................................................................................................................. 7 Strong objections to power tariff hike plan ..................................................................................................... 13 State misses revenue targets ........................................................................................................................... 13 LHB coaches on Chennai Express ..................................................................................................................... 13 Budget gives Bangalore short shrift ................................................................................................................. 14 Mysuru’s rail infrastructure all set to get a push ............................................................................................. 14 STP a must even for small apartment complexes ........................................................................................... 14 Snag forces two RTPS units to shut down ....................................................................................................... 14 Stay on bigger pictorial warnings on tobacco packs lifted .............................................................................. 15 Japan worried about safety of its students in Bangalore ................................................................................ 15 Fire in Bandipur tiger reserve .......................................................................................................................... 15 Karnataka women break into another male bastion ....................................................................................... 16 First blackbuck sighting in Cauvery wildlife sanctuary .................................................................................... 16 All district hospitals to have hearse van services from next month ................................................................ 17 First phase electrification of Konkan Railway route to start soon .................................................................. 17 Mysuru gets global attention........................................................................................................................... 17 Delay in clearing NIMZ proposal in kalburgi .................................................................................................... 18 Karnataka garners Rs. 9,700 crore investment during the Make in India Week ............................................. 18 Councillors elected for BMPC .......................................................................................................................... 18 Panel visits Hampi’s heritage tank ................................................................................................................... 19 Board to buy excess tobacco from growers .................................................................................................... 19 RTE seats: Karnataka schools want hike in fee reimbursed by govt. .............................................................. 19 Arogya Bandhu scheme scrapped.................................................................................................................... 20 Surveillance cameras at traffic signals in Mysuru ............................................................................................ 20 Helicopter tourism launched in Udupi............................................................................................................. 20 CII introduces ‘GreenCo’ rating for companies based on environmental performances ............................... 21 HC quashed Education department rules ........................................................................................................ 21 Bengaluru suburban rail may soon be a reality ............................................................................................... 21 Jayashree refuses State film award ................................................................................................................. 22 National Green Tribunal clears decks for Hubballi-Ankola rail line ................................................................. 22 Menace of solid waste in the city .................................................................................................................... 23 Bandipur and Nagarahole house half of state's tigers .................................................................................... 23 NIMHANS to unveil Urban Mental Health Plan ............................................................................................... 24 Prepaid meters for temporary connections by BESCOM ................................................................................ 24 Annual State film awards ................................................................................................................................. 25 Mega solar credit camp on Feb. 17 ................................................................................................................. 26 Easier way to talk the Kodava ‘takk’ ................................................................................................................ 26 Startups to get a slot in nanotech meet .......................................................................................................... 27 The Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016. ........................................ 27 Karnataka MobileOne bags award................................................................................................................... 28 Consortium of public institutes to focus on non-GM biotechnology research ............................................... 29 Karanth’s house being restored ....................................................................................................................... 29 Trial run of YTPS unit I successful .................................................................................................................... 30 Crop failure: Central team to visit State .......................................................................................................... 30 ‘Minority’ schools will be asked to furnish certificate ..................................................................................... 31 Ancient water supply system in Karnataka being mapped ............................................................................. 31 With onset of summer, annual elephant migration begins............................................................................. 31 ‘Sakala awareness in State low even after four years’ .................................................................................... 32 Nada Kusti makes it to cover page of international book ............................................................................... 32 1 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY State needs 1,725 new liquor stores ............................................................................................................... 33 Lok Adalat from Feb 13 .................................................................................................................................... 33 Lemon grass oil for pregnant women to fight Zika virus ................................................................................. 33 Fruit of 2 days' work: Rs 3L cr worth of biz proposals ..................................................................................... 34 Kannada films bag 5 awards at Biffes .............................................................................................................. 35 Governor okays additional chief secretary's name as CIC ............................................................................... 35 Screening for Zika virus at B'luru, Mangaluru airports .................................................................................... 36 MoU signed for new polymer research lab ..................................................................................................... 36 Cabinet extends panel's term to identify deemed forest areas ...................................................................... 36 205 new courts ................................................................................................................................................ 37 Survey of 1,000 madrasas from today ............................................................................................................. 37 Traffic police announce drive to evict transgenders ....................................................................................... 37 Train seized on court order .............................................................................................................................. 38 Setting up additional special courts for graft cases ......................................................................................... 38 Poet, writer, teacher Sa.Shi. Marulayya dead ................................................................................................. 39 100 acres handed over in Mysuru village for Film City project ....................................................................... 39 First-ever session on women entrepreneurship .............................................................................................. 40 Skill building programmes................................................................................................................................ 40 Fear of forest fires as heat escalates ............................................................................................................... 40 Major mineral mines to be rated for eco-friendly measures .......................................................................... 41 Proposals made by Karnataka’s Labour Department to amend the Factories Act ......................................... 41 Ministers to get 1,000 litres of petrol a month ............................................................................................... 42 Fund crunch hits Indian drug trial .................................................................................................................... 43 Prevent access to child pornography, Centre told .......................................................................................... 43 India rules out Siachen withdrawal ................................................................................................................. 44 Govt. in a fix over OCI cards for live-in partners.............................................................................................. 44 Jat quota stir erases bonhomie among communities in Haryana ................................................................... 44 In Kerala, a treasure trove of heritage............................................................................................................. 45 SC does U-turn, admits plea for Court of Appeal ............................................................................................ 45 Ammunition from private sector soon ............................................................................................................ 46 Now, e-visa for tourists from 37 more nations ............................................................................................... 46 EPFO tightens norms for withdrawal of funds................................................................................................. 46 Interest subsidy of 3 per cent may be granted for select merchant exports .................................................. 46 Cabinet nod to incentivise cashless transactions ............................................................................................ 47 Pilferage remains a problem for LPG subsidy scheme .................................................................................... 48 Make names of wilful defaulters public: panel ............................................................................................... 49 New range to test DRDO’s EW devices ............................................................................................................ 50 Leaders must pay for damage: SC.................................................................................................................... 50 SC questions Maharashtra guidelines for dance bars ..................................................................................... 50 Fiscal metrics remain weak: Moody's .............................................................................................................. 51 FII cap in state-run banks may increase to 49 per cent ................................................................................... 52 PSU stake sale policy soon ............................................................................................................................... 53 Government to unveil IPR policy in a fortnight ............................................................................................... 53 NTPC stake sale oversubscribed ...................................................................................................................... 54 Services asked to identify projects of contemporary relevance ..................................................................... 54 Prevent abuse by terror elements, Twitter told .............................................................................................. 54 Govt. softens stand on foreign trips by officials .............................................................................................. 55 ‘Civil liberties in danger, but India fighting back’ - Amnesty International ..................................................... 56 Rajasthan agrees to Jat demands .................................................................................................................... 56 Venkaiah panel meets Haryana CM ................................................................................................................. 57 2 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Arunachal ordinance tabled............................................................................................................................. 57 A-G declines consent for contempt petition ................................................................................................... 57 President spotlights welfare programmes ...................................................................................................... 57 Govt. to hike housing subsidy for beedi workers & miners............................................................................. 58 Kerala students to take digital literacy to the masses ..................................................................................... 59 Protection for men from false rape accusations: Court .................................................................................. 60 Clash between ministries over cost cutting ..................................................................................................... 60 GI tags for sweets from West Bengal .............................................................................................................. 60 IITs to hold entrance exam abroad for foreign students ................................................................................. 61 Scheme for projects in Naxal zones extended ................................................................................................. 61 NSSO survey on unemployment rates ............................................................................................................. 62 Mumbai picking up in organ doantion............................................................................................................. 63 Compalints against Kerala Coastal Zone Management Plan ........................................................................... 63 Govt. to tap CSCs for rural banking access ...................................................................................................... 64 ICRA may revise ratings of government-owned banks.................................................................................... 64 Banks require holistic cure ............................................................................................................................... 65 Experts want body to oversee budget ............................................................................................................. 65 Malayalam film wins Crystal Bear at Berlinale ................................................................................................ 66 Freedom 251 booking closed ........................................................................................................................... 66 No place to honour martyrs............................................................................................................................. 67 ‘Matribhasha Diwas' ........................................................................................................................................ 67 As near misses rise, DGCA mulls review of call signs....................................................................................... 67 ISRO's indigenous cryo engine passes test ...................................................................................................... 68 Resurgence of Maoists in AP ........................................................................................................................... 68 Congress rebel sworn in Arunachal CM ........................................................................................................... 69 Industry 4.0 - Is India ready for it? ................................................................................................................... 69 National Social Security Authority proposed ................................................................................................... 70 BAE Systems picks Mahindra as partner for artillery gun deal ........................................................................ 71 Translators to be honoured by Sahitya Akademi ............................................................................................ 72 Termites attack many trees in Adilabad forest ............................................................................................... 73 M.P. appeals against IPAB order on Basmati ................................................................................................... 73 Hover port work in Puducherry suspended ..................................................................................................... 73 Frame safety norms for events: HC to Maharashtra ....................................................................................... 74 Private sector will build fighter jets in India .................................................................................................... 74 Govt. clears proposal for gravitational wave detector .................................................................................... 74 e-platform for non tax receipts ....................................................................................................................... 75 PPP projects in Indian Railways ....................................................................................................................... 75 EPFO recommends 8.8% interest rate ............................................................................................................. 76 Provide names of defaulters above 500 cr- SC ................................................................................................ 76 Indigenously developed Anti-Radiation Missile .............................................................................................. 76 Notice to vodafone by tax authorities ............................................................................................................. 77 Let parliament decide on euthanasia: SC ........................................................................................................ 77 Wholesale prices decline for 15th consecutive month ................................................................................... 78 Exports shrink for 14th straight month in January .......................................................................................... 78 National Capital Goods Policy .......................................................................................................................... 79 Swachh Survekshan 2016 ................................................................................................................................ 80 SC rejects RTI plea to make data public ........................................................................................................... 81 Madras HC judge ‘stays’ his transfer ............................................................................................................... 82 Northeast’s first ‘smart village’ along Indo-Bhutan border ............................................................................. 82 Indian gravity wave detector 8 years away ..................................................................................................... 82 3 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Central nodal agency to curb human trafficking planned ............................................................................... 83 Aid for rescued bonded workers may increase ............................................................................................... 83 Strengthening PSBs .......................................................................................................................................... 84 RBI's monetary policy targetting...................................................................................................................... 84 Fiscal management far better this year than earlier: CGA .............................................................................. 85 Collegium recommends transfer of High Court judges ................................................................................... 85 Plastic cards may soon go out of fashion ........................................................................................................ 86 IIT-M, Nokia to harness unlicensed spectrum ................................................................................................. 87 Private companies must buy compost from municipal waste ........................................................................ 87 Himalayan griffon spotted in Goa .................................................................................................................... 87 In 5 years, detection of black money goes up by 15.5 times .......................................................................... 88 Interest rate on small savings may come down .............................................................................................. 88 Asset quality review (AQR) of banks by RBI causing slump in shares ............................................................. 89 New arbitration law to strengthen NBFCs ....................................................................................................... 89 SC for uniform compensation scheme for differently abled rape victims ...................................................... 90 ‘Can Governor intervene in Speaker’s disqualification powers?’ .................................................................... 91 Hike in reward for killing J&K militants raises concern ................................................................................... 91 States can use curfew powers to block mobile Internet access: Supreme Court ........................................... 91 Plan to eliminate malaria by 2030 ................................................................................................................... 92 Centre makes it mandatory for power firms to buy from solid waste plants ................................................. 92 Facebooks pulls out Free Basics from India ..................................................................................................... 93 Govt plans to set up 2,000 waterports; 30 on Ganga between Varanasi-Haldia ............................................ 93 In a first, IMD to bring out summer forecas .................................................................................................... 94 Gates Foundation on Centre’s radar ............................................................................................................... 94 Government to ease norms for real estate business ...................................................................................... 95 Govt. renews air safety contract with Wicks Group ........................................................................................ 96 TRAI rules in favour of Net neutrality .............................................................................................................. 96 Panel proposes mandatory vision and hearing tests for class 1 admissions ................................................... 97 Aditya gets ready to gaze at the sun................................................................................................................ 97 With Zika, Indian firm scales up trials for ‘GM mosquitoes’............................................................................ 98 NDRF trains 160 dogs for disaster response .................................................................................................... 99 India flags API issue to U.S. govt. ..................................................................................................................... 99 Chettinad cotton saree wins Indian Handloom tag ....................................................................................... 100 Project Sunrise ............................................................................................................................................... 100 U.S., India in talks to settle solar power trade dispute.................................................................................. 101 As customs duty exemption goes, 76 life-saving drugs to get costlier ......................................................... 101 Juvenile board to decide if suspect in two murders can be tried as adult .................................................... 102 Panel to finalise national afforestation fund plan by month-end ................................................................. 104 Panel to seek increasing ISRO outlay by 50 p.c. ............................................................................................ 105 Government may ask central bank to consider roads as a priority sector .................................................... 106 Co-optex’s handloom tag gets noticed abroad ............................................................................................. 107 States to get greater role in wetland management ...................................................................................... 107 Bajaj unveils bike with INS Vikrant metal ...................................................................................................... 108 N-plant parts to be made in India .................................................................................................................. 108 HAL’s import, assemble, supply ‘model’ ........................................................................................................ 109 Avalanche on the Siachen glacier .................................................................................................................. 110 IT services exports to cross $100 billion ........................................................................................................ 111 Government and Qualcomm announce contest for start-ups ...................................................................... 111 WHO certifies vaccine maker GreenSignal Bio .............................................................................................. 111 IS threat: Maharashtra rolls out deradicalisation plan .................................................................................. 112 4 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Indian firm files patent for Zika vaccine candidates ...................................................................................... 113 Steady rise in incidence of lung cancer .......................................................................................................... 113 IAF bases on western border put on high alert ............................................................................................. 113 GM mustard study to be out soon ................................................................................................................. 114 Defence PSUs profiting on advances ............................................................................................................. 114 Bharat Electronics Ltd .................................................................................................................................... 115 Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited ......................................................................................................................... 116 No mammography needed for women under 50: WHO ............................................................................... 116 Fuel tax rates result in two-wheeler owners paying more per litre than airlines ......................................... 116 India gears up to face Zika virus..................................................................................................................... 116 HAL rolls out first prototype of basic trainer ................................................................................................. 117 RBI relaxes FDI norms to boost start-ups ...................................................................................................... 117 Inter-ministerial meet to discuss measures to increase exports................................................................... 118 Govt. sets up Tax Policy Council headed by Finance Minister....................................................................... 118 Companies Law Committee submits report to Government ........................................................................ 119 Male, white documentary directors dominate Academy Awards: study ...................................................... 120 Bees are vanishing: U.N. report ..................................................................................................................... 120 Graphene set to revolutionise electronics .................................................................................................... 121 India moving U.N. to blacklist Masood .......................................................................................................... 121 Sunita’s visit to deepen space cooperation ................................................................................................... 122 Passive Wi-Fi .................................................................................................................................................. 122 Excessive time on facebook is like drug addiction......................................................................................... 123 Influenza can hide from human immune system .......................................................................................... 124 Brexit referendum campaign begins in U.K. .................................................................................................. 124 Assad regime agrees to Syria peace deal....................................................................................................... 125 Nepal lifts fuel restrictions ............................................................................................................................. 125 Obama pushes for Gitmo closure .................................................................................................................. 125 Indian delegation to visit Colombo ................................................................................................................ 126 Internet by light promises to leave Wi-Fi in the shade.................................................................................. 126 Vienna is world’s best city: survey ................................................................................................................. 127 NASA makes Apollo ‘moon music’ public ...................................................................................................... 127 India's risk of downgrade in Special 301 report ............................................................................................ 127 Berlin film festival .......................................................................................................................................... 128 Mini organs to produce insulin ...................................................................................................................... 129 New device for digital security ...................................................................................................................... 129 India, Nepal sign seven accords ..................................................................................................................... 130 A new way of healing large bone fractures ................................................................................................... 130 Bat-inspired micro vehicles that can fly over long distances ........................................................................ 131 Modi to attend summit of EU, India in Brussels ............................................................................................ 131 India-U.S. carrier group concludes second meet ........................................................................................... 132 Pak files case against an unnamed terrorist group ....................................................................................... 132 New sanctions slapped on North Korea ........................................................................................................ 133 Maldivian opposition leader in jail................................................................................................................ 133 Cabinet approved ratification for Trade Facilitation Agreement .................................................................. 133 Oli visit may help repair bilateral ties ............................................................................................................ 134 Oral bacteria linked to higher stroke risk: Study ........................................................................................... 134 Iran in the Belt and Road loop as first train from China arrives .................................................................... 135 Top global producers agreed to freeze oil output ......................................................................................... 136 Cobra Gold ..................................................................................................................................................... 136 Cancer researchers claim ‘extraordinary results’ using T-cell therapy ......................................................... 136 5 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY New 2D semiconductor discovered ............................................................................................................... 137 Creating a computer voice that people like................................................................................................... 137 Scientists at CERN recreate the universe’s ‘primordial soup’ ....................................................................... 138 Antarctica influencing weather in tropics...................................................................................................... 139 Indian may become U.S. apex court judge .................................................................................................... 140 U.S. sale of F-16 sale to Pak. .......................................................................................................................... 140 IISER's contribution in gravitational waves.................................................................................................... 141 Power generation from walking .................................................................................................................... 141 World Development Report (WDR) ‘Digital Dividends' ................................................................................. 142 The contrast with China - Digital divide ......................................................................................................... 143 Climate change helping Zika spread .............................................................................................................. 144 Moscow’s military action has changed the shape of Syrian conflict ............................................................. 145 India, UAE sign nine agreements ................................................................................................................... 145 Gravitational waves reach earth .................................................................................................................... 146 ‘Art of Living’ diplomacy next on MEA’s agenda ........................................................................................... 147 U.S. sends more troops to Afghanistan ......................................................................................................... 148 India-UAE ties: A roadmap for deeper cooperation ...................................................................................... 148 India near bottom of intellectual property index .......................................................................................... 149 Ninth session of the Joint Commission between India and Sri Lanka ........................................................... 150 U.S. considers re-merger of India, Pakistan desks ......................................................................................... 151 Russia encouraging Provinces to develop ties with India .............................................................................. 151 Army band performance in Dhaka scuttled by red tape ............................................................................... 152 Britain grants first licence for genetic modification of embryos ................................................................... 152 Indian likely to become CFO of AIIB............................................................................................................... 153 Julian Assange's detention illegal, says UN panel.......................................................................................... 153 Sri Lanka celebrates I-Day by rendering national anthem in Tamil too ........................................................ 154 Constitutional validity .................................................................................................................................... 154 Sexually transmitted Zika case confirmed in Texas ....................................................................................... 154 India, Thailand firm up maritime cooperation .............................................................................................. 155 Cobra Gold 2016 ............................................................................................................................................ 155 Bangladesh to ‘soon’ grant India access to Chittagong port ......................................................................... 156 Joint task force ............................................................................................................................................... 156 Pact on coastal shipping ................................................................................................................................ 156 India, Brunei discuss South China Sea dispute .............................................................................................. 156 U.S. tax authorities approve signing of bilateral APAs with India ................................................................. 157 6 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Highlights of Railway Budget Proposed an ambitious capital outlay of Rs. 1.21 lakh crore for 2016-17, a jump of 21 per cent over this year. Indicated a cut in freight tariffs Tapping new revenue streams and optimising expenses are part of a new structure Action has been initiated on 139 budget announcements made last year Passenger Services No hike in passenger fares on-board entertainment and travel insurance options at the time of booking. Swacch Bharat: 17000 biotoilets and additional toilets in 475 stations before the close of this financial year. Increased quota for senior citizens and women travellers this year. wifi at 100 stations this year and 400 stations next year. Enhanced capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets/min to 7,200/min. Supporting 1.2 lakh concurrent users now, as opposed to 40,000 earlier. Deen Dayal coaches for long distance trains for unreserved passengers. These coaches will include potable water and higher number of mobile charging points. IRCTC to manage catering service in phased manner. Local cuisine of choice will be made available to passengers. Cleaning of toilets by requests through SMS. Children's menu, baby foods, baby boards to be made available for travelling mothers. GPS-based digital display in coaches for showing upcoming stations. Will open cancellation facility through 139 helpline number. Introduce bar-coded tickets on pilot basis to tackle menace of t. Safety Eliminate all unmanned level crossings by 2020. All major stations to be brought under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner. On new projects to be implemented this year: 7 Overnight double-decker trains to be introduced on business travel routes. 1,600 km of electrification this year and 2,000 km proposed for the next year. Broad Gauge Lumding-Silchar section in Assam, connecting Barak Valley with rest of country. North-East India, especially Mizoram and Manipur, to be connected through broad gauge soon. Special purpose vehicle for the Ahmedabad-Mumbai high speed corridor registered this month ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Financing for railways budget The budget announced increasing investments by 21 per cent to Rs.1.21 lakh crore in 2016-17 – more than double the average investments made by the previous government in the 2009-14 period. There are obstacles for investment 1. Slow growth of our economy’s core sectors due to international slowdown 2. The looming impact of the 7th Pay Commission and increased productivity bonus payouts The budget factored in Rs.20,500 crore as impact of the recommendations of the 7Th Pay Commission in 2016-17; leading to a decline in the projection of the operating ratio to 92 per cent (the Railways will spend 92 paisa to earn a rupee). Operating ratio is a measure of financial performance of the Indian Railways and a lower ratio means better efficiency. In 2015-16, the operating ratio declined to 90 per cent from 91.3 per cent in 201415. The decline in operating ratio from 88 per cent to 90 per cent, and to 92 per cent for next year is along expected lines, with freight and passenger traffic remaining nearly flat, and expenses continuing to increase. 3. As both passenger and freight traffic declined, the revenue earned by the Indian Railways was hit. The total revenue declined by 8.9 per cent to Rs.1.72 lakh crore in 2015-16 compared with last year. The gross traffic earnings were 8.6 per cent less than the target of Rs.1.83 lakh crore in 2015-16. The freight earnings were hit due to poor performance by the core sector – which constitutes around 88 per cent of the goods transported by the Indian Railways. The share of railways in the total freight traffic (35 per cent at present) has been consistently declining over the years 4. Most of the state governments coffers are empty 5. Private players are currently not in a mood to pick up PPP projects. 6. While international agencies are open for investing in Indian projects, they demand more reforms and at faster pace In this context, how the increased investment target of Rs.1.2 lakh crore will be met, becomes more pertinent Positives - budget expectations 8 However despite the burden of Seventh Pay Commission, the operating ratio is projected to move up by two per cent. The government plans to raise Rs.20,985 crore in 2016-17 from institutional financing, a 119 per cent increase from the revised estimates of 2015-16. This year, Railways plan to control the working expenses. The savings from diesel and electrical energy account would be Rs.5,000 crore. We plan to increase freight by 50 million tonne. With the passenger initiatives, the passenger earnings will go up. The ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY non-fare box revenue will be doubled. So, increased revenue combined with reduction in working expenses will finance the Seventh Pay Commission burden. SPV has been formed and registered. National High Speed Rail Corporation is the name of the company.Initially, Rs.200 crore will be provided as equity to the SPV. The total authorised capital is Rs.20,000 crore for this company. The funding model is 81 per cent of the funds will come from Japan and the balance has to be a joint company between the government of India and the (governments of) two states. An incremental traffic of 50 million tonne in freight is expected in 2016-17 as the government is looking to bring down freight tariffs and look to increase the basket of freight goods. The total revenue is expected to grow by 10 per cent to Rs.1.89 crore in 2016-17 as the government is looking to tap other sources of revenue besides passenger and freight. Budget listed station redevelopment, monetising land along tracks, monetising soft assets, advertising as some of the means to shore up non-fare revenues. More powers to zonal railways for faster decision-making The Railway budget announced a radical overhaul of its organisational structure, more transparency and a hard look at the status quo on its operational parameters such as the average train speed. Significantly, more powers have been delegated to the zonal railways for faster decision-making. It also introduced accountability for officials - 1. This includes defining key result areas (KRAs) for general managers and divisional railway managers to evaluate their performance. 2. A single official would be made accountable for each train’s on-board experience to address passenger concerns 3. third party audit will be conducted to ensure the quality of services on trains and stations. 9 The Railways will work on ensuring reserved accommodation to travellers on demand Time tabled freight trains (for which a pilot will be started in 2016-17) Semi-high speed trains along the Golden Quadrilateral. It committed to expediting critical projects to connect the North-East and Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country. Also announced three new dedicated freight corridors to connect North-South (Delhi to Chennai), East-West (Kharagpur-Mumbai) and East Coast Corridor connecting Kharagpur to Vijayawada. The projects will be taken up on a priority basis. Among the new announcements, East Coast connectivity through Dedicated Freight Corridor is perhaps the most impactful, as it would contribute to India participating in global production networks in South East Asia, and to Make in India That new project announcements are limited indicates adherence to implementation focus, highlighted in the previous Budget ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Rail travel insurance on the cards The Railways has proposed an option to buy travel insurance for the passengers and said the government was working with the insurance companies on the issue. To minimise the financial loss to passengers from such events, govt is working with insurance companies to offer optional travel insurance for rail journeys at the time of booking While insurance companies welcomed the move, as it will increase insurance penetration, they also pointed out that delivery of services would be the key for the success of the plan. Four new categories of trains announced Budget announced four new categories of trains — one for unreserved passengers and three for reserved passengers. The Antyodaya Express, a long-distance, fully unreserved, superfast train service, for the common man, to be operated on dense routes. Two to four Deen Dayalu coaches will also be added to some long-distance trains for unreserved travel to enhance our carrying capacity for the masses A fully third AC train, called Humsafar - The Tejas category of trains will run at 130 km an hour, with entertainment, local cuisine, Wi-Fi and other amenities on board. Third AC is always a profit-making initiative. An added benefit will be that they will allow the Railways to target the subsidised prices towards these trains, so that they are not availed by higher income passengers The final category is UDAY (Utkrisht DoubleDecker Air-conditioned Yatri), which will be overnight trains plying on the busiest routes to increase capacity by 40 per cent.. Apps, wi-fi services in pipeline 10 From connectivity to safety, the Budget places its bets on technology to make train travel more comfortable for travellers. The Railways intends to bring out two mobile apps — one dealing with all ticketing issues and the other for receipt and redress of complaints and suggestions. A new service “Clean my Coach” service will also be introduced Pan-India through which a passenger will be able to request cleaning of his/her coach/toilets on demand through SMS. The budget also proposes to install information boards in trains enumerating onboard services along with GPS-based digital displays inside coaches to provide real time information regarding upcoming halts. The Railway Ministry, in partnership with Google, will start Wi-Fi services at 100 stations this year, increasing it to 400 more stations in the next two years, the Minister said. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY To keep boredom at bay onboard, Budget proposes a partnership with FM Radio stations and introduce Indian Railways bi-lingual magazine Rail Bandhu to all reserved classes of travellers in Mail/Express trains. The magazine will be made available in all regional languages. By 2020, the Railways would work towards meeting long-felt desires of the common man, including use of high-end technology to significantly improve the safety record, elimination of all unmanned level crossings and increasing punctuality to almost 95 per cent. Policies to promote freight transport through railways The 2020 vision clearly defines the special package to improve the freight ecosystem in India thus getting fresh revenue streams for IR 1. Indian Railways’ (IR) share of the freight market has been declining and the Railway Budget includes several measures to address this trend, including running timetabled freight trains “with credible service commitments” by 2020. Network capacity constraints have prevented the railways from running time-tabled services so far but IR will start running container, parcel and commodity trains on a pilot basis in 2016. 2. The country will get three new dedicated freight corridors, according to the Railway Budget 2016, in addition to the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata freight corridors that are due to be commissioned in 2019. The new projects are a North-South corridor, from Delhi to Chennai, an East-West corridor from Karaghpur to Mumbai and an East Coast corridor, from Kharagpur to Vijayawada. The projects will be financed through a PPP (public private partnership) mechanism and rolled out on a high priority basis 3. Expanding the freight basket, which is highly concentrated (10 commodities account for 88% of the mix) 4. Building terminal capacity to improve last mile connectivity 5. Rationalising tariffs structures so freight is competitive Tech friendly Budget 11 IR intends to use the latest drone and geo-spatial-based satellite technology for remotely reviewing the physical progress across major projects. Monitoring of dedicated freight corridor will be operationalised through this mode in 2016-17 The railways had already started using social media for resolving issues faced by the travellers, bringing transparency in its working. There will be extensive usage of this medium. The railway ministry has also set apart Rs.50 crore for providing innovation grants to employees, start-ups and growth-oriented small businesses to support internal and external innovation. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The minister also proposed to set up a R&D organisation for developing strategic technology and bringing in holistic advancement. Will set up a R&D organization, a Special Railway Establishment for Strategic Technology & Holistic Advancement, SRESTHA, The new R&D organisation—Research Design and Standards Organisation— will now focus only on day-to-day issues while SRESTHA would drive long-term research. The Indian Railways will also install 20,000 screens across 2,000 stations to provide real-time information to passengers. He also said the ministry will boost security at various stations through CCTVs and helplines. Public-private partnerships to fuel future growth of Indian Railways The Railway Budget has laid emphasis on Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to implement initiatives such as rail connectivity for ports, station-redevelopment, railside logistics parks and warehousing as well as satellite terminals. A committee appointed for the purpose of revamping the ministry’s PPP cell has submitted its report and the initiative is “under implementation. The cell will be strengthened as part of organisational restructuring process to improve ease of doing business with the Indian Railways The capital expenditure for the next financial year, pegged at Rs.1.21 lakh crore, calls for abandoning the “business-as-usual approach” and continually innovating to develop new frameworks for PPP Foreign investors from Spain and France were keen on dedicated freight corridors (DFC) projects provided they were structured properly in terms of financial returns and risk-allocation and mitigation, he said. Land acquisition for dedicated freight corridors could take a long time. The ministry would take up dedicated freight corridors and implement it in a time-bound manner through innovative financing mechanisms, including PPP. The corridors will to cater to rapid expansion of freight business Port connectivity was important for seamless logistics to boost imports and exports and as a part of the ongoing coastal connectivity program, the government plans to undertake implementation of rail connectivity for the ports of Nargol and Hazira under the PPP model during the next financial year. 12 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY KARNATAKA STATE ISSUES Strong objections to power tariff hike plan Domestic and commercial electricity consumers raised the issue of load-shedding at a public hearing on a proposed tariff hike by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company on Friday and told the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission to reject the proposal till the time that Bescom improves service quality and ensured uninterrupted power. The proposed tariff hike of Rs. 1.02 per unit was cited as essential to cover a revenue gap of Rs. 2,810 cr. for the financial year 2016-17. The company is also owed Rs. 524 cr. from the government as subsidy towards power supplied to irrigation pumpsets for financial year 2013-14. Around 60 objections were heard from trade bodies such as the FKCCI and the KASSIA and industries, farmers, domestic consumers and civic agencies. State misses revenue targets Ahead of the annual budget and with just one month to go for end of the financial year, the government falls short of realising the target it set for major revenue-earning departments such as commercial taxes, forest, transportation, mines and geology, revenue. The departments did not fare well if the figures are any indication. LHB coaches on Chennai Express 13 Soon, those travelling between Mangaluru and Chennai can travel in comfort with the Southern Railway introducing LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) coaches on Chennai Central-Mangaluru Central-Chennai Central Superfast Express. LHB coaches are passenger coaches being used by the Indian Railways which have been developed by Linke-Hofmann-Bush of Germany, which was renamed Alstom LHB GmbH after it was taken over by Alstom. The coaches are being produced at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. The coaches are designed for operating speeds up to 160 kmph and are said to be antitelescopic. These coaches weigh relatively lighter, enabling the train to attain more speed. They also have the advantage of providing more safety and better travelling comfort to passengers through improved cushioning effect. The superfast express leaving Chennai Central would be equipped with LHB coaches on February 29, while its pairing train from Mangaluru would run with LHB coaches from March 1 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Budget gives Bangalore short shrift The city was a footnote in Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s budget that was presented . While he acknowledged that the IT hub of the country was in need of a commuter rail system, there was little information on how it would be implemented apart from promises of ‘discussions with the State government’. Prominent citizens and groups that were campaigning for a mass transport system termed the budget ‘disappointing’. With a 19 per cent increase over the total outlay for Karnataka over last year, the Minister has allotted Rs. 2,779 crore to the State this year. Projects that will be taken up include doubling of the Netravati-Mangalore Central line as well as seven roadover-bridge and five road-under-bridge or subways. For the city, the budget has sanctioned Rs 3 crore to set up Byappanahalli terminal and approved the launch of a pilot project for automatic signalling between Cantonment and Whitefield. Mysuru’s rail infrastructure all set to get a push Six of the nine major projects for the State approved in the Railway Budget are in Mysuru division, which is all set to give a fillip to rail infrastructure in the long run. The new works for the Mysuru division include track-doubling of the 60-km Birur– Shivamogga stretch for Rs. 500 crore; a 236-km new line linking Nanjangud–Nilambur (in Kerala) at an estimated cost of Rs. 6,000 crore; Mysuru–Kushalnagar new line (Rs. 667 crore); new line between Talaguppa–Siddapura (Rs. 320 crore); another line linking Sakleshpur with Subramanya (Rs. 500 crore), and the Talaguppa–Honnavar stretch at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,500 crore. STP a must even for small apartment complexes Can sewage treatment plants (STPs) at almost every corner make a difference to a city overrun by sewage, and facing a shortage of water? The State government has notified that every new apartment complex with more than 20 housing units, or commercial spaces above 2,000 sqm, should have an STP and must reuse the treated water. Furthermore, any officer or civic authority found to have given permission to construct without an STP in their plans will be penalised, warns the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment that has issued the gazette notification. Snag forces two RTPS units to shut down 14 Units V and VI of Raichur Thermal Power Station (RTPS), with an installed capacity of 210 MW each, stopped power generation after they developed technical problem. Leakage in boiler tubes of both the units forced them to stop operation. With Unit VIII (with an installed capacity of 250 MW) also taken up for annual overhauling, only five of the eight units of the power station functioned. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY While Units II, III, IV and VII were functioning normally with each generating around 180 MW power against their installed capacity of 210 MW, Unit I was generating only around 90 MW against its installed capacity of 210 MW. Six functioning units of the power station added 28.64 million units of power to the State grid. Stay on bigger pictorial warnings on tobacco packs lifted The Karnataka High Court lifted the stay on enforcement of Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014 that was notified on October 15, 2014 The new rules enhanced the area for displaying health warning to 85 per cent from 50 per cent of the principal area on the packs of tobacco products. Earlier the High Court had stayed the rules on a petition filed by the Karnataka Beedi Industry Association, which had questioned the legality of the rules. However a direction had been issued by the Apex Court in 2009 asking the High Courts not to interfere in the implementation of Cigarette and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules, 2008, and the matter is still pending before the Supreme Court. Japan worried about safety of its students in Bangalore The Head of the Consulate of Japan in Bengaluru has expressed concern about the safety of Japanese students in India. It is one of the reasons why they do not pursue their higher studies here He did, however, say that Bengaluru was safer than most other cities in India, including Delhi. The Head of the Consulate of Japan said on the sidelines of the Japan Habba, 2016 organised by the Japan Habba Trust in association with Bangalore University. Recent events such as the attacks on international students and the violence against women had created a lot of buzz in Japan. Fire in Bandipur tiger reserve 15 A large swathe of Bandipur Tiger Reserve was ravaged by a fire that raged for two days but has been stomped out by the Forest Department.The fire was seen in Kembepurahaadi in the Moleyuru range of the tiger reserve. A departmental inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the fire and fix responsibility. It is suspected that about 350 to 500 acres of forest land may have been burnt. This is the first major fire reported from Bandipur, which has a history of fires ravaging forests, this year. The vegetation is bone-dry, water holes have dried up and there was very little moisture here The extent of devastation is speculative and will be known only after conducting a GPS survey. A similar survey had been conducted in 2013, when 1,500 hectares of forest were ravaged. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The Forest Department has begun steps to rope in villagers to keep an eye on those who may be causing these fires. Most forest fires are man-made, and often, the forest becomes the focal point of a grudge against the State government Karnataka women break into another male bastion With the Karnataka Janapada Academy (KJA) set to launch 60 all-woman folk teams representing signature arts of the State, Women’s Day will see hundreds of women artists making waves. On the day of launch on March 8, 60 troupes from 30 districts (two each) will present spectacular performances in Dollu Kunita, Veeragase, Kamsale, Tammate, Patakunita, Venu Kunita, Chittimela, Puja Kunita, Jaggalige Kunita, and other important folk forms. Considering the demand performances of artistes like Durgamma of Ballari (Dollu Kunita), Savitha Chirukunaiah of Mandya (Puja Kunita), Yashoda of Tumakuru (Tammate) and Shweta of Chikkamagaluru (Veeragase) have generated at national and international events, including at the Indian Premier League, there is hope of commercial gain as well. Though women have contributed significantly to enrich the folk culture, patriarchal society has limited their role to singing ‘Sobane’, ‘Beesukallu pada’ and devotional songs during marriages and other social gatherings. But, of late, some women artists have showed that conquering folk forms essentially dominated by men can have positive results. They have made a mark in art forms like ‘Dollu Kunita’ and ‘Veeragase’, which are widely considered a male bastion. KJA’s plan is being executed with a government funding of Rs. 1.3 crore. Training is on in five revenue divisions. Artists selected for training are being paid a stipend of Rs. 500 per day, besides being provided boarding facilities. First blackbuck sighting in Cauvery wildlife sanctuary 16 The Forest Department has reported the first-ever sighting and recording of the blackbuck, or Indian Antelope, in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollegal. It was recorded from Mambetta Reserve Forest area of the Hannur Wildlife Range, Hannur, on February 8. It was photographed by the field staff during their regular patrolling duty. This reporting of the blackbuck in the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary will add cheer to the conservation efforts of the Forest Department in the backdrop of the possible declaration of Cauvery wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve in the near future The blackbuck is a new addition to the existing list of ungulates in the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary and it definitely becomes an additional prey base to the top predators such as the tiger and leopard. The species has so far not been sighted and documented in the Cauvery-MM.Hills-BRT Sanctuary belt. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Incidentally, there is a proposal before the government to develop about 1,504.39 acres of land at Ummathur and Bagli villages in Chamarajanagar district to sustain the blackbuck population. At present, the blackbuck conservation reserves in the State are at Ranebennur in Haveri and Jayamanagali in Tumakuru. All district hospitals to have hearse van services from next month Shradhhanjali hearse van services will be provided in each one of the 30 district hospitals in the State from next month. The first such hearse van was sanctioned for the Government Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru in March 2015. Similar hearse vans would be provided for the remaining 30 district hospitals in the State. While a nominal fee would be charged for transporting bodies, the fee would be borne by the district hospital if the family was not in a position to bear the cost. First phase electrification of Konkan Railway route to start soon The project for electrification of the Roha-Thokur railway line on Konkan Railway had already been sanctioned and the first phase electrification work of 330 kilometres from Thokur to Verna will commence soon. On the Mangaluru end, the Southern Railway would be completing electrification up to Panambur. Hence electrification would have to begin from there as train locomotives would have to be changed. The cost of electrification from Thokur to Roha had been estimated at Rs. 709 crore. It would take over three years to complete the electrification this 740 kilometre stretch. In the first phase only 330 kilometres of electrification would be done. The doubling of railway line from Roha to Thokur would take more time. The first phase of doubling work of the 47-kilometre railway line from Roha to Veer had begun in November last year at a cost of Rs. 300 crore. In order to increase profits, the KRCL had already started the work of construction for siding for Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL). This will give the railways new business and more revenue. Mysuru gets global attention 17 After bagging the cleanest city tag for the second time in a row, Mysuru has drawn global attention with France and Singapore showing interest in funding development projects in the city. France has offered Rs. 19 crore for the solar energy project, road infrastructure, improvement of bus stands/stops, and traffic junctions. A Singapore agency has come forward to offer financial assistance to five Indian cities, including Mysuru, which have been selected for a pilot project. Vijayawada, Guntur, Jaipur, and Bhopal are the others identified under the programme for turning them into ‘sustainable cities’. Under the development of sustainable cities, initiatives will be launched in Mysuru with funding from Singapore. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Delay in clearing NIMZ proposal in kalburgi Inordinate delay of the State government to clear a proposal on establishing the National Investment Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in Chittapur taluk of Kalaburgi district and send to the Union government is causing consternation. The previous government had given an in-principle approval to set up NIMZ in Chittapur. But after nearly two years, the proposal is yet to take off. The only thing that was done by the State government was to sanction Rs. 45 lakh to the Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IIDC) to conduct a technofeasibility report of the proposed NIMZ. According to official sources, the IIDC submitted its report to the government long back. All that is required now is to place the report before the Cabinet and clear it to enable the Industries Department to place the proposal before the Union government. Karnataka garners Rs. 9,700 crore investment during the Make in India Week The State government received investment intentions of about Rs. 9,700 crore during the Make in India Week organised by the Union government in Mumbai. The announcement is the latest investment proposal received by the State after the success of ‘Invest Karnataka 2016’ where it attracted investments of around Rs. 1.33 lakh crore. As part of the event, the State government had organised a seminar to showcase potential offered by various sectors, including manufacturing, aerospace and defence, agri-business and food processing, biotechnology, and IT. Councillors elected for BMPC 18 The first step to realising a longstanding demand for a functional Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee (BMPC) was taken with the election of 18 councillors from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) as members. The last time councillors were elected to the BMPC was just over six months before the term of the last BBMP council came to an end in April 2015, rendering it a non-starter. The BMPC, chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, is not yet met once However, there is a lot riding on the current BMPC, as it will have a longer tenure of four-and-a-half years till August 2020, co-terminus with the term of the present BBMP council. Ideally, BMPC will have to now take over the larger planning of the city, including the Revised Master Plan 2031, that the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) is engaged in. However, civic activists have been resisting this approach from day one. A public hearing conducted by the BDA for the master plan last year ended up being a stormy affair, with activists questioning the locus standi of BDA to go ahead with the process. The activists have been arguing that the Master Plan, a blueprint for the city's development over the next 15 years, cannot be drawn up by bureaucrats without the involvement of elected representatives. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Panel visits Hampi’s heritage tank The controversial 2-km stretch of road being laid along the ancient Kamalapur tank near Hampi is back in the news with the committee constituted to advise the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority on implementing the Integrated Site Management Plan for Hampi visiting the place The visit assumes significance in the wake of serious concerns expressed by the officials of the ASI that the new road being laid would severely threaten and distort the character of the ancient tank built by the Vijayanagar emperors. The tank falls within the core zone of Hampi World Heritage Site. Board to buy excess tobacco from growers Tobacco growers in Mysuru and Hassan districts, the key growing areas in the State, can exult as the Tobacco Board will soon start purchasing excess Flue Cured Virginia tobacco for the 2015-16 season. Each registered grower has to pay Rs. 2 a kg and 7.5 per cent of the proceeds of the sale to the tobacco fund for the excess FCV produced by him or her to the extent of 10 per cent of the quota authorised for the crop season. Likewise, Rs. 2 a kg and 15 per cent of the proceeds of the sale should be contributed to the fund by an unregistered grower. All the auction superintendents have been directed to allow the sale and purchase of excess tobacco with immediate effect if growers agree to comply with the conditions. Importantly, registered and unregistered growers have been asked to file an application-cum-undertaking with details of stocks of the excess or unauthorised production and declare that they will not resort to excess/unauthorised cultivation and operation of their unregistered/unauthorised barns in future. The quota for sale of excess tobacco should be allowed only to growers whose stocks have been certified by the field staff concerned. The auction superintendents shall ensure sale of tobacco with 5 per cent variation as far as possible. Sale of unauthorised tobacco as excess tobacco by grower to avoid penalties shall not be allowed. Any major variations, resulting in financial loss to the government, will be viewed seriously RTE seats: Karnataka schools want hike in fee reimbursed by govt. 19 The High Court of Karnataka asked the State government to respond to a plea by the non-minority private unaided schools seeking an increase in the fee to be paid by the government to them for 25 per cent of the seats filled up under the Right to Education (RTE) Act quota. In its plea, the association pointed out that the government, on May 8, 2012, issued a notification stating that it would reimburse a fee of Rs. 11,848 for primary education (from Class 1 onwards) per child every year, and Rs. 5,924 for pre-school sections. The government had not increased the fee from the past four consecutive academic years even though private school managements had given representations seeking an increase, and added that it would be difficult to run the schools as the government had failed to reimburse the fee in full as per the 2012 notification. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY They questioned the rationale of fixing a “meagre” fee of Rs. 11,848 for primary section when the government recently published a draft fee of Rs. 11,500 for reimbursement for admissions under the RTE quota to pre-schools in Bengaluru city limits. Arogya Bandhu scheme scrapped The Health Department has decided to do away with the Arogya Bandhu scheme The govt under the scheme had partnered with NGOs, charitable trusts and private medical colleges to run 52 PHCs. It has decided to take the PHCs back into its fold. This follows a series of complaints of non-compliance of rules, misuse of funds, and failure to provide quality service to patients by the organisations running these PHCs. Surveillance cameras at traffic signals in Mysuru Forty surveillance cameras will be installed at traffic signals in different parts of the city under M-TRAC, a Mysuru Traffic Improvement Project. The surveillance cameras, which would be installed at vantage locations, would not only help the police detect traffic violations, including jumping the signal, helmetless driving and other offences, but also capture live feed that would be passed on to the Traffic Management Centre. The cameras would be installed at most of the traffic signals in the heart of the city. The cameras were being positioned strategically to capture violations by motorists, who often stop their vehicles on pedestrian crossings, obstructing the pedestrian’s path. Traffic police officials said the cameras, which rotate 180 degrees, could also be controlled from the Traffic Management Centre situated in the city Police Commissioner’s office. The surveillance cameras would also be used for law and order purpose and crowd control, whenever the need arose. However, the basic purpose of the cameras remained detection of traffic offences. Also, motorists, whose traffic offences were captured on cameras, would be sent a notice for payment of penalty by collecting their address from the Transport Department. Meanwhile, more than 35 cameras installed by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) about four years ago remain non-functional. The private agency entrusted with the annual maintenance contract of the cameras was apparently not responding to the complaint lodged by the MCC. Helicopter tourism launched in Udupi 20 Tourism in Udupi district, dotted with pristine beaches and pilgrim centres, is all set to get a major push with the launch of the helicopter tourism facility at Adi Udupi helipad The service, currently available for two weeks, could get extended if it becomes a hit. Tourists, VVIPs or businessmen wanting to visit Udupi or Kollur can hop into the chopper from Mangaluru and reach the pilgrim centres. The facility will also be available for the tourist destinations of Murudeshwar and Gokarna from Udupi. The helicopter can carry a maximum of six passengers apart from the pilot. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The Delhi-based chartered service provider Chipsan Aviation began its heli-tourism services here after getting the nod from the District Administration, which gets a request every week or 10 days for a helicopter landing. There are separate guidelines by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for aviation service. Presently, the administration provides police security and a fire tender at the Adi Udupi helipad. CII introduces ‘GreenCo’ rating for companies based on environmental performances The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has initiated the ‘GreenCo’ rating for companies based on their environmental performance across nine parameters, including energy efficiency, water conservation, use of renewable energy and waste management. Experts say it is a more advanced certification. Going green makes strong business sense. It is encouraging to note how Indian industry is gearing up to address ecological issues and concerns and in turn offering vibrant and robust solutions to the global community Adding increased impetus to this paradigm shift is the ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Union government, which intrinsically focuses on encouraging ‘green’ growth models and innovations HC quashed Education department rules Uncertainty looms large over continuation of service of nearly 4,000 assistant high school teachers, who have diploma course certificates in English. The High Court of Karnataka had squashed the appointment of teachers in 1993-94. The High Court, Dharwad Bench, passed an order on July 30, 2015, quashing the Karnataka Education Department Services (Department of Public Instructions) (Recruitment) (Amendment) Rules, 2002. The rules allowed the department to recruit English teachers, who acquired the nine-month diploma course certificate. These teachers were recruited in 1993-94 under special rules. At the time, there were very few candidates who had passed English as major subject Bengaluru suburban rail may soon be a reality 21 The State government has proposed a Bengaluru suburban railway system connecting Mandya and Kengeri, Tumakuru and Yeshwantapur, and Whitefield and Byappanahalli (in Bengaluru) in the first phase. The estimated cost of the entire project is Rs. 9,000 crore. The State has requested the Centre to take up first phase of the project, which would cost Rs. 1,000 crore. This would help ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru city, which has emerged as the country’s technology capital apart from being the leading IT hub. The State government had discussed the suburban railway project in the InvestKarnataka meet held recently. The project requires minimal intervention; it only needs upgrading of existing facilities and negates building from scratch. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The State is ready to take up the suburban railway project under cost-sharing formula with the Centre. Mr. Prabhu has suggested formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to execute the project,” Mr. George replied to a question. Jayashree refuses State film award Noted theatre and cine personality B. Jayashree has “refused to accept” the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor given for her performance in Koudhi . Ms. Jayashree, a Rajya Sabha member, told that “receiving Best Supporting Actor award for Koudhi is nothing but doing injustice to the Ambavva, the protagonist of the film.” “The film revolves around the central character Ambavva and accepting the Best Supporting Actor Award for the role is like denying the Best Supporting Actor Award to somebody in some other film. Ambavva is the main character, not the supportive character in the film,” Ms. Jayashree clarified. National Green Tribunal clears decks for Hubballi-Ankola rail line Decks have been cleared for the controversial Hubballi-Ankola railway line, cutting across the eco-sensitive Western Ghats in Karnataka, with the National Green Tribunal giving its nod to Railways to approach the State government. The project was conceived in 1998 primarily to transport iron ore from the BallariHospet mines Background The controversy in the present case relates to conversion of forest land to a non-forest activity (construction of broad gauge railway line) for which total land of 965 hectares falling in Dharwad, Yellapur and Karwar forest divisions in Karnataka was required. Under the provision of Section 2 of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 the State government has to issue an order permitting such conversion with prior approval of the Central government that is MoEF. In 2006, two Karnataka-based NGOs — Parisara Sanmrakshana Kendra and Wilderness Club — filed a petition in Supreme Court against the diversion of forest land for this project. Later, the apex court halted the construction. The apex court on October 5 last year transferred bunch of cases involving forest clearances and the CEC’s views on it to the green panel while asking it to decide them expeditiously. The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) last year had disapproved the 168-km rail link project and said that it would have “huge and irreparable” ecological impact on the forests, wildlife and biodiversity of the Western Ghats. The order 22 The green panel said that to apply for conversion of forest land to a non-forest activity was a right available to the project proponent and the State government which has to be dealt with in accordance with law ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The tribunal further said that if such an application is moved the State government shall deal with it expeditiously and they would seek prior approval of the Environment Ministry in accordance with law. Menace of solid waste in the city Nearly five years after segregation at source was made compulsory by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), more than half the city’s garbage remains unsegregated. Only around 40 per cent of waste in the city is being segregated. The most important element for successful implementation of waste segregation is the cooperation of the citizens and the councillor, and the BBMP’s willingness to act and penalise Commercial areas in and around the centre of the city such as Kalasipalya, Chickpet and K.R. Market continue to grapple with segregation issues, with houses atop shops posing the most problems. From March onwards, pourakarmikas have been instructed to not collect any mixed waste. There will be fining for non segregation too. After the closure of garbage landfills in Mandur and Mavallipura, the new processing plants are only designed for segregated garbage. Composting is also only reserved for wet waste. This leaves the BBMP with no choice but to reject mixed waste. Bandipur and Nagarahole house half of state's tigers 23 Just over half of Karnataka’s tigers roam amid the woods and shrubs of Bandipur and Nagarahole. The tiger census report, released early last year, showed the State topping the charts with the presence of 406 tigers. However, the yet-to-be-released reserve-wise list shows that 1,517 sq km of forest patches of Bandipur — which now houses the second largest population of tigers in the world — and Nagarahole Tiger Reserve have 221 tigers in their confines. In all, the enumeration of tigers in reserves where Project Tiger has been implemented shows that more than three-fourth of the State’s big cat population resides in the nearly 3,500 sq km area encompassed by the five reserves. There is a need to focus on tiger corridors to ensure that the forests do not reach a saturation point. Nagarahole and Bandipur are doing very well in terms of protection of tigers. But if saturation is reached, tigers will need corridors to move to other areas. The Nilgiri biosphere can absorb some of these tigers, but the key is to establish corridors northwards towards Bhadra and M.M. Hills. The need is already seen in the Nagarahole tiger reserve, where tiger sightings in coffee plantations near Madikeri have increased.. On the flipside, the presence of a relatively-verdant corridor between the BRT Reserve and M.M. Hills has seen migration between the reserves. Officials estimate that many of the 14 tigers in the M.M. Hills and Cauvery originated from Biligiri Ranganatha Temple. The more impressive increase has been seen at the BRT Reserve at Chamarajanagar, which now houses 68 tigers. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Activists have pointed out that the encouraging tiger populations in BRT and other areas will need declaration of more tiger reserves to sustain the populations — primarily M.M. Hills, Cauvery Wildlife sanctuaries and Kudremukh. NIMHANS to unveil Urban Mental Health Plan With heightened concern over the impact of excessive use of technology — especially social media addiction — on mental health in our cities, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) is planning to come up with an Urban Mental Health Plan. The current district mental health plan largely catered to issues of people in rural areas. Unlike in rural areas, the nature of life and addictions are different in urban areas. Apart from technology addiction, urban population has to deal with traffic jams, pollution, competition, and consumerism. The impact of these stress factors on the mental health of people need to be looked at Also, unlike in rural areas, the family support system is poor in urban areas. A different plan is needed to ensure that people who need care are not left alone The final report of the National Mental Health Survey, which is under way, would give a clear picture on the varying stress factors in urban and rural settings. The report would help NIMHANS in preparing an exclusive plan of action for mental health issues of people in urban areas. Prepaid meters for temporary connections by BESCOM Bescom has given out more than 53,000 temporary connections, including for new constructions, exhibitions, cinema tent houses and hoardings. Close to 3,000 connections are serviced every month. Consumers taking temporary connections from the power utility have been drawing power over the sanctioned load, causing losses to Bescom. While Bescom has not been able to quantify the losses, officials admit to a strain on the power supply mechanism. In the case of regular meters for temporary connections, this goes unrecorded, leading to monetary losses for Bescom. Sometimes, even the owner/builder won’t know what the required load is The solution 24 One of the solutions to this problem is installation of prepaid meters, which Bescom has successfully piloted in East Bengaluru, including areas like Indiranagar, Marathahalli and Whitefield. These meters record the over-shooting of sanctioned load. While the utility has been mulling extending these to ‘high-growth’ areas in South and North Bengaluru (including areas like Yelahanka which see a lot of construction activity), the high cost of prepaid meters is turning out to be a hindrance. In a bid to tackle this issue, Bescom has filed a petition with the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) seeking permission to get consumers to bear part of the cost. With a difference of Rs. 9,000 between a prepaid meter and a regular one, Bescom wants consumers to pay a monthly rental on prepaid meters. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY A regular meter would cost Rs. 930 for single phase and Rs. 1,900 for three phase. But the investment for prepaid meters is higher. A single-phase meter costs Rs. 10,000, while a three-phase meter costs Rs. 12,000. For the pilot, Bescom purchased the meters. In the case of regular meters, consumers buy them on their own after getting permission from Bescom Annual State film awards Various state awards bagged 25 The selection committee that chose film awards for 2014, seems to have tried to strike a balance between mainstream and independent film makers. Mainstream films like Gaja Kesari andAbhimanyu have made it to the awards list, just as independent films like Harivu and Naanu Avanalla Avalu too have. Basant Kumar Patil, who won the Dr. Rajkumar Award, has bagged a national award for all the seven films produced by him in recent years. His award winning spree commenced from Gulabi Talikies, produced by Girish Kasaravalli. Besides, Mr. Patil has acted in hundreds of films and headed the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. Suresh Urs, recipient of Dr. Vishnuvardhan Award, has edited over 500 films and 50 documentaries. Besides Kannada directors, Mr. Urs has worked with directors such as Mani Ratnam. He was awarded the National Film Award for Best Editing for Bombay . The Puttanna Kanagal Award this time has gone to Baragur Ramachandrappa, who has made a name for himself in the literary world. He has produced over 17 films and bagged 10 awards. Harivu , chosen as the best film, is the debut movie by visual artist-turned director Manjunatha Somashekara Reddy (Mansore).Abhimanyu directed by Arjun Sarja, which deals with crass commercialisation of education, has been adjudged as the second best film. Haggada Kone, directed by Dayal Padmanabhan, got the third best film. Actor Sanchari Vijay, who also secured the national award as best actor for his brilliant performance inNaanu Avanalla Avalu, directed by B.S. Lingadevaru, got the best actor ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY award for the same film at the State level. In what is being described as the first complete film on transgenders in Kannada, Sanchari Vijay essays the role of Madesha, who later transforms as Vidya. The film, which was screened at the 8th BIFFes got second prize in the Kannada competition section. Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, actor and classical dancer, secured best female actor award for her performance in Vidaaya directed by P. Sheshadri. The film is set against the backdrop of the issue of passive euthanasia. Ulidavaru Kandante, the most discussed film last year, directed by Rakshit Shetty, got the best debut film of a director award. Mr. Shetty -actually managed to deliver a good instance of the Rashomon effect (a film directed by Akira Kurosawa).Besides these films , Brahmashree Narayana Gurusway by Shekar Kotyan (Special Social Concern film), Gajakesari starring Yash directed by Krishna (Best popular entertainment film), Banadi directed by Nagaraja Kote (Best Children Film) and Vishada Maleby Atmashree (Best Karnataka Regional Language Award film) have bagged various awards for the year 2014 An eight-member selection committee, headed by K. Shivarudraiah, selected the films and personalities for awards Mega solar credit camp on Feb. 17 The Dakshina Kannada district administration in association with NABARD, banks and Mescom, has organised a mega solar credit camp to finance solar roof-tops, starting with Mangaluru taluk in the city on February 17. The target is to finance at least 5,000 installations and every bank branch is given the target of Rs. 1 crore. The camp is aimed at encouraging individuals in the taluk to opt for solar roof top panels to conserve conventional energy as the district has very high potential to produce solar power. The cost of solar power production has reduced drastically over the years due to improved technology, and it costs about Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 6 crore to produce 1 MW of power against Rs. 15 crore a couple years ago. Similarly, the cost of producing one KW rooftop power ranges from Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 1 lakh. Target to finance at least 5,000 installations in Mangaluru urban area Mescom buys power at Rs. 9.56 a unit without subsidy and Rs. 7.20 a unit with subsidy Quantum of subsidy hiked from 15 per cent to 30 per cent of the project cost Easier way to talk the Kodava ‘takk’ 26 A minority language unfamiliar to many in the State will finally have a comprehensive dictionary of its own with meanings in Kannada and English. Kodava vocabulary will be captured in Kodava Arivole, which will be published by Mangalore University in March. Boverianda C. Uthaiah (77) and wife B.U. Thangamma (66) joined forces and compiled the Kodava-Kodava-Kannada-English, which has about 11,000 words. According to the UNESCO, Kodava is a ‘vulnerable’ language. Though the latest statistics on how many speak Kodava takk is not available, according to the 2001 census, only 92,193 people speak the language. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY I.M. Muthanna’s Kodava Nudi Artha Kosha, the first dictionary published in 1988, gave the meanings of Kodava words in Kannada. In addition, Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy brought out a handbook Kodava-Kannada-English Kaipudi in 1988. Startups to get a slot in nanotech meet Bangalore India Nano-2016, Karnataka’s annual nanotechnology showpiece, will be held from March 3 to 5. The eighth edition of the event, which was started in 2007, will have a new feature called Nano Sparks to showcase path-breaking ideas of startups and young researchers. Forty-five exhibitors and 500 industry and academia delegates from nine countries are expected to participate Nano India will discuss the latest trends in nanotechnology and their uses in healthcare, clean water, energy and manufacturing. The Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016. The new rules for taxi aggregators issued by the government will mean that they will have to toe the line on passenger safety. But, for the moment, they have been given some leeway in pricing. However, this is likely to change at the end of the 30-day window for people to voice their objections to The Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016. What are the rules? 1. Police verification mandatory 2. Aggregators will have to ensure that all their taxis display a board showing the permit and details of the driver, such as photo, name, licence and badge number along with an ID card issued by the police. 3. Each cab must have a panic button, which can be used by the passenger without any interference by the driver. 4. In a bid to regulate the men at the wheel, the rules state that no driver can have a drunk driving violation or any other cognisable offence under the Criminal Procedure Code for a period of seven years before joining the aggregator. 5. Drivers will need a minimum experience of two years. In addition, they will have to prove that they have been staying in the State for a minimum of five years and can speak Kannada and another language, preferably English. 6. Aggregators will have to maintain exhaustive records for a period of one year of trips operated. This will include customer details and complaints, which will have to be made accessible to authorities, if necessary 7. A grievance redressal officer will have to be appointed for dealing with customer complaints. 27 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY 8. Under the current rates fixed by the government, surge pricing, which pushes the rates to more than Rs. 19.5/km will not be possible. Under the new rules, the fare cannot cross the fare fixed by the government. 9. Driver details will have to be displayed in the taxi after approval by police authorities. 10. Aggregators will have to immediately suspend the access of a driver to the platform on receipt of a complaint that the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The suspension cannot be lifted till an enquiry into the matter is completed by the aggregator. 11. Cabs will be fitted with a yellow-colour display board with the word ‘Taxi’ visible both from the front and the rear 12. Vehicles have to be less than 6 years old at the time a driver signs up with an aggregator 13. Fare shall be charged only from the point of boarding to the point of exit. 14. No passenger shall be charged for dead mileage 15. Permit holder can operate with multiple aggregators simultaneously 16. Aggregator to send photo of driver along with vehicle registration number and other details to customer’s mobile before boarding 17. Aggregator must publish policy on taxi fare, registration of taxis and drivers on its platform or app No surge pricing? While government officials had previously stated their opposition to the ‘surge pricing’ model adopted by aggregators, the rules simply state that the fare collected shall be as per the digital meter and cannot be more than the fares fixed by the government. Currently, the city taxi rules permit cab operators to charge up to Rs. 19.5 per km for an air-conditioned taxi. This means that for some aggregators, who charge up to Rs 9.75 per km, surge pricing is possible. Karnataka MobileOne bags award Karnataka MobileOne, the flagship application launched by the State government in 2014, bagged the Gold award at the World Governance Summit in Dubai Secretary, Department of e-Governance, Srivatsa Krishna, received the award on behalf of the State from Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdam bin Mohammed Al Maktoum and Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum MobileOne was adjudged the best m-government service in the world at the fourth edition of the summit attended by 125 countries The other shortlisted nominees were 'UK.Gov' and 'Kazakhstan.gov.' MobileOne was selected through online voting and the jury comprised experts from the United Nations, World Economic Forum and World Bank. About Karnataka MobileOne platform 28 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY It is a multi-modal e-governance platform through which citizens can access as many as 4,500 services on a mobile phone This is the first such initiative in the country and among one of the world’s largest mobile governance platforms. Called the Karnataka MobileOne platform, the facility can be used to pay utility bills, property tax, book railway and bus tickets or file income tax returns. Significantly, it has been designed to also cater to low-end phones as well. MobileOne also plans to integrate digital media and advertising in the future in order to enable a self-sustaining model through advertising revenue, user fees and subscription models. The MobileOne platform was developed in a public-private partnership mode with mobile value-added services provider IMI Mobile As many as 500 government-to-citizen services and over 4,000 business-to-consumer services have been integrated into the MobileOne platform. Besides, it will also employ geo-tagging for a government-citizen engagement initiative through which users can notify authorities of non-functioning public services through photographs. Consortium of public institutes to focus on non-GM biotechnology research Following lack of consensus on technology related to genetically modified (GM) crops, the Karnataka government is not only trying to aggressively push for research into non-GM biotechnology, but has also formed a consortium of reputed public institutions to take up this research. Announcing this at Bangalore India Bio 2016 here, Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda said the consortium comprised all the agricultural universities, National Centre for Biological Sciences, and the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. The consortium would take up research through non-GM biotechnology (markerassisted breeding) on developing drought-resistant and higher-yielding varieties in the crops of groundnut, pigeon pea, ragi, and jowar. The research would be completely funded by the State government Karanth’s house being restored 29 Restoration of the 80-year-old house in which Jnanpith Award winner K. Shivaram Karanth spent most of his life has begun at Balavana in Puttur, 90 km from Mangaluru. The work is being undertaken by the Bengaluru chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). This hilly area surrounded by trees had inspired Karanth to write many of his works. Following his death, the whole area, including his house, was named Balavana. The house is now a museum displaying rare photographs, articles of Karanth and his Jnanpith Award. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY As the house started showing signs of dilapidation, the district administration planned to renovate it. Karanth’s daughter and danseuse Kshama Rao had insisted that the structure built by her father should be retained and had asked the government to assign the task of restoration to INTACH. The district administration has moved valuable articles from the museum to a treasury. The Jnanpith Award, the Vagdevi statue, preserved in a bulletproof casing in the house, is now in the treasury. Among other articles are the Dadabhai Naoroji medal and Karanth’s walking stick, besides many photographs. Trial run of YTPS unit I successful The trial run first unit of the Yeramarus Thermal Power Plant (YTPS) near Raichur was successful The operation of the unit began at 2.59 pm and stopped at 4.01 pm. A total of 121 MW of power was generated during the 62-minute trial run. The trial run was taken up on February 1 using light diesel oil and heavy fuel oil. However, it was not successful due to technical snags. Sources at the YTPS said that they would soon conduct a test using coal as a fuel and the actual power generation would commence by March-end. The YTPS has been set up at a cost of Rs 9,000 crore by Karnataka Power Corporation and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). It comprises two thermal power units, each of 800-MW capacity Crop failure: Central team to visit State 30 With Karnataka being the first state to declare failure of winter crop this year, the Centre decided to send a high-level team there to assess the situation caused due to dry, warm winter. Karnataka has requested central assistance of Rs 1,417 crore after damage to rabi crops worth Rs 7,209 crore. The State sought Rs 1,290 crore for crop failure, Rs 74.67 crore for animal husbandry losses and Rs 52 crore to provide drinking water in rural areas The State - in its memorandum submitted to the ministry - said rabi crops sown in more than 24.64 lakh hectares mainly in 12 districts (Dharwad, Haveri, Vijayapura, Gadag, Bidar, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Ballari, Koppal, Raichur, Kalaburagi and Yadgir) had suffered damaged. Winter crops - jowar, sunflower, chickpea and linseed - suffered heavy losses while wheat, cotton and rice are partially affected. Rabi crops depend on moisture and Karnataka witnessed warm and dry weather this year ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY ‘Minority’ schools will be asked to furnish certificate With many private schools claiming to have ‘self-styled’ minority status to wriggle out of providing seats under the RTE quota, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has for the first time asked managements to produce the relevant certificate Since 2012 when the RTE Act was implemented in the State, many leading schools in the city were refusing admissions under the quota by claiming to have minority status, depriving many students of seats even after the selection process. Schools having minority status are exempted from providing 25 per cent reservation in private unaided schools. While around 1,900 schools have minority status, several others too had illegally claimed to have minority status, but produced a fake certificate, attracting the ire of Department of Public Instruction, which issued notices to over a dozen schools. However, the Department of Primary and Secondary Education on Monday issued an order asking schools to submit their certificates, which would be verified by the Director (Urdu and other minority language). As expected, the department revised the age criteria for admissions under RTE. The entry level for children at LKG will be between 3 years 10 months and 4 years 10 months, and between 5 years 10 months and 6 years 10 months for entry into class one, as of June 1.Also, unlike last year when the department allowed parents to apply for an RTE seat in adjoining wards, this year they will be allowed to apply only in their wards. In rural areas, parents should apply for seats in schools within a one kilometre radius of their residence. Ancient water supply system in Karnataka being mapped The innovative concept of underground water supply built centuries ago in Vijayapura city during the Adil Shahi regime is now being mapped with a view to restoring this ancient system. The dynasty that ruled between 1490 and 1686 constructed the complex and extensive subterranean tunnels to supply water to this ancient city. The tunnels, which pass through most part of the old city of Vijayapura, are now being mapped by the Indian Heritage Cities Network (IHCN), an agency hired by the district administration. With onset of summer, annual elephant migration begins 31 The annual migration of elephants from the Bandipur-Nagarahole landscape to the Kabini backwaters has commenced with the onset of summer and the forest fire season. Parts of Bandipur and Nagarahole, which are replete with elephants, are bereft of these gentler giants, as they have started their movement to the Kabini reservoir in search of water and fodder. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY This is an annual phenomena and India’s equivalent to the great migration of animals at Serengeti and Masai Mara in Africa. The elephants are in transit and a large number of the jumbos can be sighted at N. Begur, Kalkere, Moolehole ranges and other places which are on the forest route to Kabini backwaters, he added. With backwaters being a source of perennial water, elephant herds from Bandipur, Nagarahole, Mudumalai and Wayanad are known to congregate there during summer, when water holes and fodder dry up in the national parks. Bandipur and Nagarahole national parks harbour around 2,500 to 3000 elephants between them. ‘Sakala awareness in State low even after four years’ A status paper on Sakala, the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011 brought out by the Karnataka Sakala Watch, a group of citizens’ organisations monitoring the implementation of the programme, says that citizens’ hope of availing government services within a time frame remains a dream. Even after four years, more than 60 per cent of the citizens, particularly in rural areas, are not even aware of Sakala. The report mentions that although the government has estimated that over 3,000 services could be brought under Sakala, only 725 were offered by the end of 2015. Only 135 services were being offered online, the report adds. The pendency of overdue applications had risen to nearly 15,300 by the end of 2015. Not a single disciplinary action has been initiated under the Act so far. The report also states that citizens are entitled to demand compensation for defaulted service delivery. However, there was a steep fall in the number of cases in which compensatory costs were awarded — from over 250 in 2013 and 2014, to a mere 55 in 2015. Only Rs. 68,000 has been paid as compensation in four years, against the corpus fund of Rs. 5 crore. Nada Kusti makes it to cover page of international book A slice of Mysuru’s heritage — Nada Kusti (wrestling) — has made it to the cover page of an international publication, ‘Beyond the Body’, with 183 black-and-white pictures by renowned Polish photographer Tomasz Gudzowaty that document traditional games that are fading into oblivion. The cover page features two Mysuru-based wrestlers preparing for a bout, covered in mud, and taken in Mysuru under low-light conditions inside a garadi (traditional gym). The book has been edited by Nan Goldin, a well-known American photo journalist. Who are the wrestlers? 32 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The wrestlers featured are Shankar Chakravarthy (winner of the former Dasara Kesari Statelevel competition for three successive years, who is now employed with the City Armed Reserve Police) and Vinod (a former Mysore University wrestler now pursuing master’s in Physical Education.) Incidentally, the photography series on Nada Kusti was featured in the sports category of the World Press Contest in Amsterdam, and won the 3rd prize. State needs 1,725 new liquor stores Based on the 2011 census, the Excise department has estimated that 1,725 new liquor retail shops (CL-2) are required in the State The new licences would generate more revenue for the State exchequer and will also help curb the illegal sale of liquor. Previously, the CL-2 estimation was done based on the norms of the Excise Act, which permits one liquor shop for every 15,000 persons in rural areas and one shop for every 7,500 persons in urban areas. The government had granted more arrack shops in rural areas before 2007 (sale of arrack was banned that year). As there were more arrack shops the number of CL-2 lincences in rural areas was confined. The State issued 3,935 licences (CL-2) in 1992 based on the population data released in 1991. Though it has been two-and-half decades since then, the government has not issued any new licences in this category or for bar and restaurants (CL-9). On the other hand, the government has been issuing new licences in the categories of CL-4 (clubs), CL-6A (star hotels), CL-7 (hotels and boarding houses), CL-7D (hotels and boardings houses owned by SC and ST), CL-8 (military canteen stores) and CL-8A (bonded warehouse). It had put a ban on CL-2 and CL-9. A total of 9,871 liquor licences in various categories bring the State a good revenue. Increase in sales every year and additional tax impositions are also helping the government double liquor revenue. Lok Adalat from Feb 13 The Karnataka State Legal Services Authority will organise monthly National Lok Adalats from February to September 2016 across the State. The adalat will be held in 15 districts - Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chitradurga, Davangere, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Belagavi, Haveri, Bagalakot, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad and Gadag on February 21 and on February 13 in the remaining districts. Lemon grass oil for pregnant women to fight Zika virus 33 The State Health and Family Welfare department is making preparations to distribute lemon grass oil to poor pregnant women, to help prevent them from getting bitten by mosquitoes Lemon grass oil, a natural extract, acts as a mosquito/insect repellent. The department aims to provide the repellent to the beneficiaries in the next 10 to 15 days. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY This is one of the few measures the department has initiated after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared an ‘emergency’ over the explosive pandemic of Zika virus, which has put over 22 countries in the Americas on red alert. Also, the Centre too has issued guidelines to all the State governments to control the spread of the virus, which is especially dangerous to pregnant women. Mosquito repellent will be part of Madilu kit ‘Madilu’ kit The department has held talks with the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KS&DL) to distribute lemon grass oil, along with the 19 other products in the ‘Madilu’ kit, a scheme which was launched by the government in 2008 to provide postnatal care for poor pregnant mothers, and the child. The BPL card holders would be eligible for the oil. Pregnant women infected by the virus in the first trimester carry the risk of giving birth to children with a severe birth defect called microcephaly, who are born with abnormally small heads, underdeveloped brains and reduced life expectancy. Though there are several repellents available in form of oils or ointments in the market, the department has approached KS&DL to avoid any procedural delays Fruit of 2 days' work: Rs 3L cr worth of biz proposals The two-day Invest Karnataka -2016 Summit attracted investment proposals totalling Rs 3.08 lakh crore with a potential to create 6.7 lakh jobs. Invest Karnataka-2016: Proposed projects can create 6.7 lakh jobs in Karnataka 34 Speaking at the valedictory of the summit attended by top industrial captains of the country and around 4,000 delegates, Industries Minister R V Deshpande said 56 per cent of the investment (Rs 1.75 lakh crore) has already been cleared by State high power clearance committee and single window agencies of various departments during the last one year. At the same time, the meet witnessed the State government and entrepreneurs signing 121 new memoranda of understanding (MoU) and expressions of interest (EoI) entailing investment to the tune of Rs 1.33 lakh crore. The top investor in this edition of the investment summit turned out to be Adani Green Energy Limited, which pledged to invest Rs 18,000 crore for expanding its power station and and set up a solar project for renewable energy. Second in the list is JSW Steel which has agreed to invest Rs 12,396 crore for expanding its steel plant in the State. The Energy sector topped the list with an investment flow of Rs 26,456 crore followed by chemicals (Rs 23,961 crore) and iron and steel (Rs 20,459 crore). Interestingly, the information technology and biotechnology sector drew investment to the tune of only Rs 3,166 crore. Deshpande said the government would soon set up an agency comprising representatives from the industry and government officials to exclusively monitor and follow-up investments in the State. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY At the same time, a top-ranking official will be appointed to follow-up the new MoUs and EoIs and ensure that the projects are placed before various clearance committees by May 15 this year. the investments had come across all focus sectors including manufacturing, pharma, bio-technology, urban infrastructure, tourism among others. The investments have not been confined to Bengaluru but spread across tier-two and three cities including Ramanagaram, Ballari, Udupi, Dakshina Kannada among others. Invest Karnataka-2016 helped in establishing “new bridges, forge new partnerships” between the government and the industries. Kannada films bag 5 awards at Biffes Kannada films achieved a feat equal to other languages and international films, bagging five awards in the eighth edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes) ‘Thithi’, a Kannada film, directed by Ram Reddy, shared best film prize with ‘Under Heaven’, a film from Kyrgyzstan in the Asian film category. A total of 12 films were in the race, according to jury and filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli. Film critic Antony and curator Barbara Lorey were the other juries. Marathi film ‘The Silence’, directed by Gajendra Hadare was named the best in the Indian films category. The special jury awards were conferred on ‘The Eye’ in Malayalam, directed by Siddhartha Shiva and ‘Island City’ in Hindi, directed by Ruchika Oberoi. A total of 14 films were vying for the honour in the category In Kannada films category ‘Vidaya’, directed by P Sheshadri, and produced by Basanth Kumar Patil was adjudged the first best film, followed by ‘Naanu Avanalla Avalu’, directed by B S Lingadevaru, produced by Ravi Garani, as second best film. ‘Puta Thirugisi Nodu’, directed by Sunil Raghavendra, was the third best film, according to jury head Shaji N Karun, who had to watch 15 films to decide the best of the three. The net pack award for Kannada went to ‘Saalada Magu’, directed by Umashankar Swamy, said jury head K Y Narayan Swamy. Governor okays additional chief secretary's name as CIC 35 Governor Vajubhai Vala has given his assent to the appointment of the chief information commissioner and four information commissioners. Accordingly, the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms notified the appointments. The appointments were finalised by a select committee comprising Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister T B Jayachandra and Opposition leader in Assembly, Jagadish Shettar. The chief information commissioner and information commissioners have a tenure of five years or have to retire on attaining 65 years of age. They get salary and other facilities on a par with a high court judge. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Screening for Zika virus at B'luru, Mangaluru airports Following the advisory from the Centre, the State Health department will intensify screening for Zika virus carriers at the Kempegowda International Airport and the Mangalore International Airport The Health department, which is coordinating with the airport authorities, has decided to depute two doctors and paramedical staff each from Bengaluru Urban and Rural to the KIA to assist the airport doctors who are already on the job. Screening is already on for the ‘yellow fever’, which is one of the five diseases spread from the ‘aedes aegypti’ mosquito. The others are dengue, chikungunya, West Nile fever and Zika. The department has also asked the immigration officers to share details of all passengers who are coming into Bengaluru and Mangaluru from the 22 countries in the Americas where the virus has spread. The passengers with any of the symptoms, including fever, headache, chills, joint and muscular pain and red eye, will be quarantined and taken to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) for further medical investigation. The department has identified RGICD as the nodal hospital for the purpose. The passengers with symptoms will be kept under observation in mosquito-proof rooms, until they are certified to be free from infection District health officers had been directed to strengthen IEC (information, education and communication) about the disease, in their respective districts. Focus will be on educating pregnant women, who are more at health risk, to protect themselves from mosquito bites. A decision will be also be taken to provide mosquito repellents to the beneficiaries of Thayi/Madilu schemes MoU signed for new polymer research lab A multi-functional centre with specialisation in product development in the polymer sector will soon come up in Bengaluru. The centre is proposed to develop and conduct research in the areas of bio-polymers, bio-nano composites for packaging, bio-sensors for healthcare applications, natural fibre reinforced composites for automobile applications among others. The Centre will come up under the aegis of the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET), under the Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, at a cost of Rs 87 crore with 50 per cent cost sharing by the State government. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for setting up the research facility christened Advanced Polymer Design and Development Research Laboratory cum High Learning Centre was signed between Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology (CIPET) and the State government in the sidelines of the on-going Invest Karnataka, 2016 held in Bengaluru. Cabinet extends panel's term to identify deemed forest areas 36 The State Cabinet have decided to extend the term of a joint committee constituted to identify the total extent of deemed forest in the State by two months. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY At the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, it was decided that the panel comprising members of the forest and revenue departments be given time till March 31 to provide clarifications and submit the final report. An initial report prepared by an expert panel last year had categorised 9,94,881 hectares as deemed forest. However, a few departments, including the revenue, water resources and public works, did not agree with the parameters fixed by the expert panel to classify land as deemed forest. Land which had no features of forest had been classified as deemed forest, it was felt. The government was also under pressure from the public and legislators, especially from the Malnad region, against evicting “encroachers” from the deemed forest areas. A joint committee was then constituted to revisit the survey. The joint panel had recommended that the total extent of deemed forest in the State be reduced to 5,00,611 hectares. At the Cabinet meeting, it was decided that the joint panel should be given more time to clarify certain points. The State government will also have to file a status report on deemed forest before the Supreme Court soon. 205 new courts The Cabinet decided to establish 205 courts, including district, magistrate and civil courts, across the State at a cost of Rs 120.74 crore. The State government will bear the full cost as a request to bear 50 per cent of the expenditure had been turned down by the Centre, sources added. Survey of 1,000 madrasas from today The Islamic Educational Board of India (IEBI), Karnataka chapter, will undertake a survey of madrasas in the State and bring out a detailed database to provide students the best of mainstream education and religious learning. the board organised a special conference of ‘Ulema Mashaikh’ (Islamic spiritual scholars) from all districts of Karnataka, as a first step to compile the data. The board is expecting no less than 1,000 madrasas in different districts of the State to come under its fold. It also plans to train a number of teachers with the help of districtlevel committees of Islamic scholars and mosque administrators. In addition, there is a plan to offer online Islamic education to young students, housewives and all others who seek to obtain orderly and authentic sessions on the Qur’an and the Hadith. Traffic police announce drive to evict transgenders 37 A. Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), had announced on a social networking site that the traffic police would remove transgenders begging at traffic signals after February 5. Most transgenders are left with only two options to earn a living — begging or sex work ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) community has threatened an agitation against the move to evict transgenders from traffic junctions across the city even as the police are adamant about the decision that has drawn flak. Other members also termed the proposed eviction drive as being directed towards marginalised communities and said they would organise protests in case such a drive was conducted. Train seized on court order In an unprecedented incident, the District Principal and Sessions Court ordered seizure of the Harihar–Chitradurga–Bengaluru Passenger (train no. 56520) for the failure of the Railways to pay Rs. 1 crore as compensation to 50 farmers for acquiring their land for a project. There was much drama when, as per the court’s order, authorities came to the station and made alternative arrangements for more than 100 passengers to reach their destination before seizing the train. Davangere Railway Protection Force inspector Gouram Gober and Railway Additional Divisional Engineer Ramesh Mallapur rushed to the spot and appealed to the authorities to release the train in the interest of passengers. They also approached the court seeking some more time to pay the compensation. Timeline The Railways acquired land for Chitradurga–Rayadurga railway line project in 1986 Farmers approached court demanding more compensation in 1991 than what was awarded The court orders granting more compensation in November 2015, and asks the Railways to disburse money within two months On compensation not being paid, the court orders seizure of the train on January 25, 2015 The court authorities seize Harihar–Chitradurga– Benguluru train on February 4, 2016 The court gives another 45 days’ time for final settlement following an appeal Setting up additional special courts for graft cases 38 Expressing displeasure over delay on the part of the State government in setting up additional special courts for corruption cases in Bengaluru city and Tumakuru, the High Court of Karnataka asked the State to submit details on the Law Minister’s recent statement that 205 new courts would be set up in the State. Justice A.N. Venugopala Gowda issued the direction on noticing that the government has not finalised the proposal sent by the High Court’s administrative wing for setting up additional special courts for corruption cases way back in 2013. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Earlier, the court noted that three corruption cases were pending for trial from more than 20 years in the State while 35 cases were awaiting trial from more than 10 years, based on the statement produced by the Lokayukta police. Poet, writer, teacher Sa.Shi. Marulayya dead Noted Kannada writer and former president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat Sa. Shi. Marulayya (85) died of cardiac arrest at Jayadeva Institute of Cardio Vascular Sciences and Research The family will donate his body to JSS Medical College in Mysuru to fulfil the last wishes of the writer Born in Sasalu village of Tumakuru taluk on January 28, 1931, Marulayya created a place for himself in Kannada literature. He has about 90 works to his credit in genres such as poetry, novels, play, short story, ballets, criticism and research, biographies, portraits and edited works. He taught Kannada literature in various colleges across the State. He was honoured with several awards, including Karnataka Sahitya Academy and Rajyotsava awards. He headed Kannada Sahitya Parishat from 1995 to 1998. He is remembered for his poem ‘Suma Sundara Tarulategala Brindavana Leele’ rendered by Jayalakshmi P. Rao His important works Poetry: Shivatandava, Brindavana Leele, Chaitra Jyothi, Kengana Kallu Novels: Hemakoota, Mahaprasadi Play: Vijaya Vatapi Short story: Nelada Sogadu Ballets: Yenu Cheluvina Haadu, Shiva Leele Criticism: Vachana Vaibhava, Veerashaiva Katha Sahitya, Masti Kavya Ondu Sameekshe Doctorate thesis: Keladi Arasaru Mattu Kannada Sahitya Portraits: Jnanapeetha Prashasti Vijetaru Edited works: Seetha Vanavasa Sangraha, Hariharana Hattu Ragalegalu, Aniketana Others: Kannada Bhasheya Charitre 100 acres handed over in Mysuru village for Film City project 39 The long-cherished dream of Sandalwood — the Film City project — has cleared the first step with the State government handing over 100 acres of land at Immavu village, near Mysuru, to the Department of Information and Public Relations for establishing the facility. Plans are afoot to rope in experts and talented designers, including those from Hollywood, to conceptualise the Film City proposed to be developed as a “one-stop destination” for the A to Z of film- making. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY First-ever session on women entrepreneurship With exclusive industrial parks, higher subsidies and even a guidance cell specifically for women, the Karnataka government has gone all out to woo women entrepreneurs to invest in the State. At the first-ever session on women entrepreneurship, during the ‘Invest Karnataka 2016’ meet The State government launched the ‘Women Entrepreneur’s Guidance Cell’ as well as announced that a 100-acre women-specific tech park at Harohalli would be inaugurated on March 8 — International Women’s Day. Ratna Prabha, Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industries, unveiling a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the “sister city” of San Francisco, U.S. to facilitate exchange of experiences of women entrepreneurs in the two IT-intensive cities as well as a more than 50 per cent subsidy for women seeking entrepreneurship certificates in the U.S. According to the Industries Department, less than 10 per cent of businesspersons are women — a figure the government hopes will increase with the exclusive tech zones. Before, in government schemes, women used to be clubbed with backward classes and the physically challenged. While much has changed in the business world for women, finance continues to be a challenge Though welcoming the two women-specific tech parks — which are a part of a larger industrial complex — Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw cautioned against the exclusive park planned in Mysuru which would disconnect these enterprises completely from those run by men. Skill building programmes Representatives of Walmart, which is setting up 10 cash-and-carry stores in the State, as well as the furniture giant IKEA committed to skill-building programmes with emphasis for women here. Number of women-run enterprises in Karnataka: 1.03 lakh This is 9.7 per cent of the total industries and enterprises in the State Karnataka stands third in the country in terms of women-run enterprises Results of ‘women initiatives’ in five-year industrial policy Since 2014, aim was to establish 21,000 women enterprises In two years, 17,080 enterprises have been set up In the next three years, aim is to have 47,800 more enterprises Women-specific technology park at Harohalli, near Kanakapura, to be opened on March 8. Another planned at Hubballi Fear of forest fires as heat escalates 40 Nagarahole National Park reported its first fire of the current season, with a major incident reported at Veeranahosahalli range. This suggests the onset of summer, a season of forest fires. Both Nagarahole and Bandipur — as also other national parks — have a history of such fires wreaking widespread devastation. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Nagarahole witnessed massive fires in 2014, 2012 and 2009, as also Bandipur, which witnessed major conflagration. Though controlled burning is carried out to remove weeds and clear the jungles of deadwood to pave way for new growth after the first flush of rain, wildfires tend to destroy the ecosystem. A ground fire will destroy the reptilian creatures, which will perish in the heat, while the quality of top soil will degrade over a period of years Repeated fires will result in the proliferation of non-palatable grass and weeds, which cannot be consumed by herbivores. A consequence of this is that the herbivore population will abandon the degraded habitat and move in search of greener pastures. Once the herbivore population depletes, it has a direct impact on the carnivore population too, and will have a negative bearing on their population. Bandipur too has a history of severe fires and the threat has been exasperated by the proliferation of weeds like lantana, Eupatorium, Ageratum conyzoides, Parthenium etc. of which lantana has been identified as the most problematic as it not only proliferates fast, but is resistant to cutting and burning. It has covered more than 50 per cent of the national park area. Omkara, Beguru, Himmavad Gopalswamy Betta, Hediyala are among the areas prone to fires. Major mineral mines to be rated for eco-friendly measures The Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) is set to bring in a system of star rating for all major mineral mines in the country as a gauge of the eco-friendly measures adopted by them. Mines with low rating would face the music as they have to either improve the rating through effective environment-friendly measures within a stipulated time, or close down operations The rating process would begin with self-certification under which the miners themselves would fill up the details with the help of a mobile app to be launched for rating purposes. IBM officials will then visit the mining area to crosscheck the data. As the rating system would throw light on the status of eco-friendly measures taken up by each of the mines, those with low rating — such as one or two stars — would be told to either improve the rating by turning eco-friendly within a stipulated time or close down operations Meanwhile, Donimalai Iron Ore Mine in Ballari became the first mine in south India and second in the country to abide by the SDF, for constructing check dams to prevent soil erosion, setting up of effluent treatment plants, and turning the mined area into a green carpet. Proposals made by Karnataka’s Labour Department to amend the Factories Act 41 Among the several changes proposed through The Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2015, and submitted to the government are changes in the long-held rule that a labourer can work for a maximum of nine hours in a day on a factory floor. It is now modified to 10. This, the department says in its note, would help industries, especially multi-national companies with a five-day schedule, “meet the production targets” and have “flexibility”. When working hours exceed 48 hours in a week, workers are eligible for double wages. The maximum number of overtime hours allowed in a quarter has ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY doubled from the existing 50 to 100 so as to not affect the “continuous process of industries.” While the old definition of a “factory” was a unit that employs over 10 people (with the aid of power) or 20 people (without the aid of power), the new definition proposes to replace them with 20 and 40, respectively. This, in effect, means that those falling below this will be deemed small manufacturing units. One of the contentious sections deals with allowing women to work in night shifts. Subject to conditions, especially safety, the proposed amendments allow women to work on factory floors between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. While this is already allowed in some sectors, women were not allowed night shifts on factory floors. Ministers to get 1,000 litres of petrol a month 42 Ministers in the State government are eligible for 1,000 litres of petrol a month from February. Earlier, they were eligible for 750 litres a month. The legislature, just a year ago, passed the Karnataka Ministers Salaries and Allowances (Amendment) Bill, 2015, for doubling the price it paid elected representatives. It increased salaries, pensions, and perks of incumbent and past MLAs/MLCs. The monthly salary of the Chief Minister, Speaker, and Council Chairman has been increased from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 and Cabinet Ministers from Rs. 25,000 Rs. 40,000. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY NATIONAL ISSUES Fund crunch hits Indian drug trial Three years after the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said it would conduct a drug trial to test a novel drug-regimen for tuberculosis (TB), lack of funds is throttling the project, several officials involved with the project In January 2014, the Drug Controller General of India — the referee for drug trials in the country — approved a phase 2b trial (a limited test of a prospective drug in humans to prove its potency) to test a combination of three TB drugs to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The promise of this combination — called PaMZ (PA-824 + moxifloxacin + pyrazinamide) — is to cut treatment time by at least a third. Moreover, it was purportedly effective even when tested on HIV patients. The drug, developed in collaboration with the international Global Alliance on Tuberculosis, was to enter phase 3, or large-scale trials last year in South Africa. However, there are reviews that are reconsidering these trials on the grounds that it hasn’t worked as well as it was supposed to in HIV patients. According to the World Health Organisation, TB kills an estimated 1.5 million people annually, and is one of the world’s deadliest diseases. There were also approximately 190,000 deaths from MDR-TB in 2014 and more than half of these patients were in India, China and the Russian Federation. Currently, people with MDR-TB require 18 to 24 months of treatment, with several pills and daily injections for at least six months. Apart from the health benefits, the drug trial would have been the first such attempt by the CSIR-led Open Source Drug Development (OSDD) consortium — an initiative to discover and test new drugs for infectious diseases that are widespread in poor countries by using expertise outside the confines of traditional pharmaceutical companies — to test a new drug in India. Most drugs that are available in India are reverse-engineered versions of drugs developed in Europe or the United States. Since 2015, however, the OSDD has been shut down as a CSIR project. A senior doctor involved with the PaMZ trial said it was “uncertain” whether funds would be available next year. Prevent access to child pornography, Centre told 43 An anguished Supreme Court told the Centre to take steps and frame rules to stop access to websites featuring child pornography, classifying them as “obscene” and a threat to social morality. A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and S.K. Singh was reacting to a submission made by the Supreme Court Women Lawyers Association that there were instances where school bus drivers and conductors forced children under their care to watch porn and sexually assaulted them owing to easy and free access to porn, including child pornography, in the country. Hearing this, Justice Misra said, “freedom of speech is not absolute, liberty is not absolute” when such rights were misused to subject innocent children to such sexual ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY perversions. The court said technical glitches and jurisdictional niggles were not excuses for the Centre’s inaction in this regard. Referring to the exposure of children to pornographic material owing to free access to it on the Internet, the court said: “these moral assaults may bring physical disasters with them.” The court directed the Centre to file an affidavit on ways and means to curb free access to child pornography on the Internet and asked the government to reply whether there could be a ban on watching porn “of any form” in public places. The Supreme Court, however, said a clear distinction had to be made between art and obscenity India rules out Siachen withdrawal Notwithstanding the loss of 10 soldiers in an avalanche in Siachen recently, India ruled out withdrawal of the Army from the icy heights in Jammu and Kashmir, saying Pakistan cannot be trusted and it may occupy the strategic area if India vacates. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in the Lok Sabha that vacating Siachen could lead to loss of more lives and mentioned about the “experience” of 1984 when India evicted Pakistan from the strategically critical heights after a bloody fight. India occupies the highest point in the Siachen glaciers, the Saltoro Ridge which is located at 23,000 feet On February 3, an avalanche hit an Army post in a forward location in the Siachen glacier, burying 10 soldiers, including a JCO. One of them was found alive under a huge mass of ice after six days but died a few days later. The Minister said so far 915 people had lost their lives in the last 32 years in Siachen Govt. in a fix over OCI cards for live-in partners Applications by live-in partners of Indian origin people for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards have put the government in a fix as the facility is offered only to spouses. The Home Ministry is now examining the relevant rules and mulling over what to do with such applications. The rules are clear that OCI cards can be issued only to the spouse of an Indian origin person even if the spouse does not have any root in India. There is no mention of livein partners. Besides, there are no rules regarding children of such live-in couples Jat quota stir erases bonhomie among communities in Haryana 44 Post-Jat quota stir, life is limping back to normality in Haryana — but the agitation pushing for reservation in jobs and education has pitted Jats against non-Jats and embittered social ties which could take years to heal. People are furious and have been blaming both the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress for apparently the worst caste violence in recent times. After a peaceful start the Jat agitation took a violent caste turn, in which the non-Jats, mostly the OBCs had to face the fury of angry protesters. Soon after, the non-Jat communities united together under the banner of “35 Biradari” (35 castes). In Haryana, where 36 castes make its social mosaic, grouping of non-Jats against the Jats ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY points to the clear division between Jats and other communities, which mainly comprise Sainis, Banias, Brahmins, Yadavs, Punjabis, and Nais. Inter-community relations are severely strained and possibly might never be the same again even as many people across the State feel that political parties were only playing petty politics during the stir. In Haryana, Jats account for around 29 per cent of the population and are politically influential but until now, caste differences never led to such acute conflict. In Kerala, a treasure trove of heritage President Pranab Mukherjee will throw open over two dozen heritage museums, places of worship and other sites conserved at a cost of Rs. 104 crore in Muziris, a port believed to have fallen off the map in the 13th century due to a massive flood, an earthquake – or both. The port that played a key role in maritime trade is said to have been spread along North Paravur and Kodungalloor bordering Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. Excavation works here yielded innumerable relics from across the seas. The heritage footprints in the region, spread over 125 sq km, are so many that a discerning visitor may take at least a week to get a fair idea of the region’s history and cultural diversity. Muziris, whose legacy goes back to 3,000 years ago, is said to have been the largest port of the ancient times in the East and traded in everything from precious stones to spices. It served as doorway for various cultures and races to India SC does U-turn, admits plea for Court of Appeal The Supreme Court admitted a Chennai lawyer’s petition for setting up a National Court of Appeal with regional benches to act as the final courts of justice in criminal and civil cases. In doing so, the court has at one stroke questioned the past views of its own Chief Justices of India about bifurcation of judicial powers and a government order in 2014 that such a court of appeal is constitutionally impermissible. The proposed court is meant to act as final arbiter of appeals against decisions of the High Courts and tribunals in civil, criminal, labour and revenue cases. Law Ministry rejected proposal on three grounds The lawyer had approached the Union Ministry for Law and Justice for setting up a National Court of Appeal earlier In its order, the Ministry cited three grounds for rejecting the idea — 1. The Supreme Court always sits in Delhi as per the Constitution; 2. the Chief Justices of India in the past have “consistently opposed” the idea of a National Court of Appeal or regional Benches to the Supreme Court; 3. and the Attorney-General said a National Court of Appeal would “completely change the constitution of the Supreme Court.” 45 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Ammunition from private sector soon The Defence Ministry is working on proposals to further open up and streamline the defence procurement process. These include allowing the private sector to manufacture ammunition and longer tenures for Army officers in the acquisition wing to ensure continuation As the requirement for various types of ammunition by the Army keeps changing, the private sector will be given orders for 10 years to ensure financial viability As of now, only the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) is permitted to manufacture ammunition. Also the short duration of Army officers in the acquisition wing delays procedures as personnel are frequently replaced. Defence Ministry was planning to create a separate set-up for acquisition and OFB, both for capital and revenue streams. In addition to revising the Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) which is to be released soon there is need to tweak the Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) and the OFB procurement procedures to streamline the process and ensure transparency. Now, e-visa for tourists from 37 more nations Electronic tourist visas (e-TVs) will be extended to citizens of 37 more countries, taking the total number to 150. The new additions are Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d’lvoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Iceland, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe TVoA (tourist visa on arrival), enabled by electronic travel authorisation, popularly known as the e-tourist visa scheme, was launched on November 27, 2014. Since then, more than 7.5 lakh such visas have been issued. At present, on an average, 3,500 e-TVs are granted daily. EPFO tightens norms for withdrawal of funds Retirement fund body EPFO has tightened norms on withdrawal of provident fund as well investment of such amount in Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana for its over five crore subscribers. Now, the subscribers will not be able to claim withdrawal of their provident fund after attaining age of 54 years. They would have to wait till attaining the age 57 years. The ministry has notified new rules As per the earlier norms, the EPFO subscribers were allowed to claim 90 per cent of their accumulations in their PF account at the age of 54 year Interest subsidy of 3 per cent may be granted for select merchant exports 46 Merchant exporters, who procure goods from manufacturers for exports, are likely to be granted a three per cent interest subsidy on pre and post-shipment rupee export ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY credit in certain sectors such as handicrafts, farm products, processed food and carpets. These exporters are currently not included in the government’s Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES), previously termed as Interest Subvention Scheme. Since November 2015 Cabinet decision on IES did not include merchant exporters in the scheme, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) and the Commerce Ministry have taken into account the continued contraction in exports and is considering a proposal to include merchant exporters in certain sectors where manufacturers/producers do not directly deal in exports Though the DGFT and the commerce ministry were in agreement with the proposal, it now needs the finance ministry's consent and finally the Cabinet approval Interest Equalisation Scheme (IES) The scheme, announced in November last year, took effect from April 1, 2015 for a period of five years (till April 2020). The government had announced the IES to help certain identified export sectors to be internationally competitive and achieve higher level of export performance. The benefit of the IES is given to exporters based on a study by exporters’ apex body FIEO, according to which the rate of export credit in India is 11-12 per cent as against 2-3 per cent in the Euro area (except Greece), 2.6 per cent in Taiwan, 4.6 per cent in Thailand, 5.5 per cent in China and 6.2 per cent in Malaysia. The sectors currently covered in the IES include all exports of micro, small and medium enterprises and 416 tariff lines in sectors such as processed food, handicraft, carpets, handloom, coir, textiles, sports goods, stationary, cosmetics, leather, medical instruments, auto components, iron & steel, electrical, engineering and telecom. The annual financial implication of the scheme was estimated to be between Rs.2,5002,700 crore. The manufacturers normally depend on merchant exporters to export their products. Merchandise exports had contracted for the 14th consecutive month in January 2016, and exports of goods during April 2015-January 2016 this fiscal registered a negative growth of 17.65 per cent over the same period in the previous fiscal to $217.7 billion. Cabinet nod to incentivise cashless transactions 47 The Union Cabinet approved several steps to promote cashless transactions, which include mandatory card-based or electronic payments beyond a prescribed threshold. Some of the other major steps approved by the Cabinet include the withdrawal of any additional charge currently imposed on card or digital payments by various government entities and the introduction of the required infrastructure for digital payments in all government offices. The Cabinet also approved the rationalisation of the merchant discount rate (MDR) on card transactions and telecom service charges for digital financial transactions to promote mobile banking. With this decision, the government has completed its promise for such measures made in the previous Budget. However, the details of these incentives were not shared in formal communiqué of the Cabinet’s decision. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Advantages Will be instrumental in tax avoidance, migration of Government payments and collections to cashless mode, discourage transactions in cash by providing access to financial payment services to the citizens to conduct transactions through card/ digital means and shifting payment ecosystem from cash dominated to non-cash/less cash payments,” according to a government statement. Pilferage remains a problem for LPG subsidy scheme 48 The direct benefit transfer scheme (DBT) for LPG subsidy has resulted in considerable savings for the government. However pilferage still remains a problem, according to a study. by MicroSave, an international financial consultancy The survey, which covered over 100 LPG distributors and 6,000 consumers in Uttarakhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh Despite being a well-designed system accruing big savings for the government, we discovered that cylinders continue to be diverted to the commercial market. In he research, it was found that families, irrespective of income levels and family size consume 9.5-10.5 cylinders per year leaving 2-3 unutilised, subsidised cylinders per household. It was discovered, this design has led to a unique problem that we call the ‘March problem. It found that customers in these states said that they were approached by distributors to book the unused cylinders at the end of the financial year, in March. Once these extra cylinders are booked, the report found,the distributor sells them at market rates while the families receive the subsidy amount in their accounts in the following month. Back of the envelope calculations show that around Rs.1,800 crore-Rs.3,000 crore (based on a usage of 9.5-10.5 cylinders) out of the total amount transferred under PAHAL (as the LPG subsidy scheme is called) is being pilfered, assuming that only half the eligible population across all states indulged in such activities. That works out to 610.5 per cent of the total LPG subsidy payments through this scheme. The actual figure could be more. Government data shows that it has given out Rs.28,713 crore under the PAHAL scheme against a budgeted amount of Rs.21,140 crore. DBTs had led to a 23 per cent reduction in the number of gas connections, removing over 40 million ineligible consumers. Savings on these ghost customers can be as high as around $2 billion computed at the rates prevailing at the time of launch A per-cylinder approach to the subsidy payments could remove the incidence of pilferage.At the moment, the government gives a standard subsidy amount regardless of whether it is for the first cylinder consumed or the twelfth. The report recommends a graded approach where the first few cylinders used receive a high subsidy amount while the 10{+t}{+h}, 11{+t}{+h}and 12{+t}{+h}cylinders receive no subsidy at all. Using this method, the overall subsidy received by the families for cylinders used will remain the same. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Make names of wilful defaulters public: panel The Standing Committee on Finance recommended that state-owned banks make public the names of their respective top 30 stressed accounts involving wilful defaulters. Details Wilful defaulters owe PSU banks a total of Rs.64,335 crore or 21 per cent of total nonperforming assets, (NPA), according to the report. The sharpest increase in NPAs in the banking industry was observed in mid size corporates (Rs.25 crore—Rs.100 crore exposure to commercial entities) as they rose to 9.7 per cent in September 2015 from 6.4 per cent in March 2014. Retail loans saw an industry-wise reduction to 4.7 per cent from 8.8 per cent.The committee said it was alarming that as on September 2015, nearly Rs. 6.8 lakh crore worth of bank loans were in the ‘stressed category’ as against Rs.5.91 lakh crore in the previous year. The banks have “evidently failed” to notice the early signs of stress on the loans disbursed by them. There is an urgent need for banks to reduce their stressed assets and clean up their balance sheets lest they become a drag on the economy So it recommended that state-owned banks make public the names of their respective top 30 stressed accounts involving wilful defaulters. This will act as a deterrent and enable banks to withstand pressure and interference from various quarters in dealing with the promoters for recoveries or sanctioning further loans, the committee said in its report tabled in Parliament For this, the committee recommended the government amend the RBI Act and other laws and guidelines. The committee also recommended that specially-tasked committees be mandated to continually monitor the status of large loan portfolios and submit periodical reports to government and Parliament on the findings. Since diversion of funds by promoters to unrelated businesses and poor pre-sanction due-diligence have been cited as key reasons for bank loans turning toxic, the committee said it was of the view that forensic audits should be made mandatory for specific class of borrowers. Current status of NPA's 49 Total credit off-take of public sector banks as on December 2014 stood at Rs. 60,60,699 crore and as on September 2015, the net NPAs were Rs. 2,05,024 crore, according to the report. The gross NPAs were Rs. 3,69,990 crore. Certain estimates, the committee notes, indicate that the gross NPAs could reach Rs. 4 lakh crore by the end of this fiscal year. The stressed assets ratio (gross NPAs plus restructured standard advances to gross advances) for the system as a whole exceeded 11 per cent at the end of March 2015 compared to March 2014. Taking the gross NPAs and the restructured advances together, the stress on public sector banks is 13.03 per cent to total advances as on December 2014 and 8.71 per cent as on September 2015. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY New range to test DRDO’s EW devices The Defence Research & Development Organisation is setting up a large field, or outdoor test range, for indigenous electronic warfare (EW) devices that later get fitted on war planes, ships and army tanks. An EW test range is among the [national defence] priorities for the coming years. EW devices broadly include radars, transmitters, antennas, sensors and communication devices — the defence forces’ ‘ears and eyes’ for detecting enemy presence or to deter its intelligence gathering. DLRL, it is learnt, has more or less identified Orvakal in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh for this facility. DRDO has already chosen the place for its 2”,700-acre National Open Air Range for testing missiles. EW devices are now tested indoors in labs and are qualified for use in a year or two. An outdoor range will vastly cut this time DLRL and the Defence Avionics Research Establishment in Bengaluru are in an advanced stage of developing indigenous seekers and AESA radars. Some of the EW areas may not require imports in the near future The EW devices market was globally estimated at $30 billion, and nationally at Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 40,000 crore. Leaders must pay for damage: SC Agitations cannot hold the nation to ransom and be a reason to vandalise public property, the Supreme Court said Organisers of such agitations will have to pay the cost. The court’s resolve hit home after the widespread Jat quota agitation saw killings, burning and looting of shops, and mobs destroying canals supplying water to the National Capital. The Haryana government reeled under losses worth several thousands of crores and the Army was brought in to protect public property. A Bench of Justices J.S. Khehar and C. Nagappan said parameters should be laid down to pin the blame on organisers and make them pay compensation for agitations which slipped into uncontrolled mob violence against innocents and their property. Stressing that equal accountability should be applicable to all, the court said: “Whether it is the BJP or the Congress or whichever organisation or party, it may be asked to pay for the property damaged. They will collect the money and pay for the damage.” SC questions Maharashtra guidelines for dance bars Maharashtra government’s new guidelines for dance bars did not find favour with the Supreme Court. , The guidelines for the dance bars by high courts include 50 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Sending live recordings of CCTV feed directly to the police. The feed from the CCTV cameras is supposed to be displayed at the police control room according to the guidelines A“non-transparent” partition between the dance floor and the restaurant area Permission for only four dancers at one time Recordings up to 30 days would be preserved and placed before a competent authority in case of any dispute. Earlier judgement In October 2015, the Supreme Court had ushered dance back into the beer parlours and hotels of Mumbai by staying a legal provision in the Maharashtra Police Act prohibiting the entertainment. But the court also gave a free hand to the authorities to crack down on the performances if they were found to be “remotely expressive of any kind of obscenity.” Fiscal metrics remain weak: Moody's 51 India's economic growth at more than 7 per cent may be faster than that of its peers, but subdued rural demand and weak corporate profitability will contribute to hampering fiscal consolidation in the upcoming Budget, Moody's Investors Service said. Even if the February 29 budget shows deficit targets are being met or surpassed, fiscal metrics in India will remain on a weaker footing than other countries with similar sovereign credit ratings. This is because of the relatively high level of India’s state and central government deficits and debt. The fiscal weakness is partly due to structural factors Low per-capita incomes limit the tax base and raise pressure for subsidies and development spending, while high debt levels (63.8 per cent of GDP in 2015-16) restrict fiscal flexibility. India's credit rating will not just depend on the forecasts for fiscal management but the specific measures the Budget takes to expand the revenue base, at a time when tax collections are tapering off, and insulate government expenditure from economic shocks. Separately, cyclical and unanticipated developments would heighten fiscal pressures and any improvements in the fiscal deficit are ‘likely to be limited in the near-term,” the agency stressed, referring to a rise in food subsidy costs owing to a drought, revision of civil servant salaries next year and the need to recapitalise public sector banks. Economic Affairs Secretary indicated that the government would neither go overboard with public spending to jumpstart the economy as some people have suggested, nor stick ‘tightly’ to the fiscal deficit goalposts. India’s fiscal deficit stood at 4.1 per cent of GDP in 2014-15 and the government has committed to a target of 3.9 per cent for this fiscal and 3.5 per cent for 2016-17, deviating from an original target to bring the deficit down to three per cent of GDP by then. The shift in the roadmap made last year underscores the agency’s expectation that even with very modest deficit reduction goals, fiscal consolidation will be ‘difficult to achieve’ though the government is committed to it over the medium term. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY “While it may or may not be a part of the Budget speech, clarity on the Goods and Services Tax regime would provide insight into how revenues could evolve over the longer term. On the expenditure side, the Budget will reveal how the government allocates current and capital spending in the context of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission and , the still sluggish outlook for capital investment and efforts to strengthen state-owned banks’ balance sheets,” according to Moody’s statement. The rating agency did highlight one silver lining for India compared to its peers – lower reliance on foreign currency debt, even though its public debt to GDP ratio is higher than similarly rated countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Romania and Turkey. “This insulates government finances from gyrations in the exchange rate, which have been particularly severe in the last few years, and will continue to be so. Emerging markets with a higher reliance on foreign currency financing have witnessed sovereign borrowing costs rise as global risk appetite diminishes,” said the Moody’s note FII cap in state-run banks may increase to 49 per cent 52 The government is considering a proposal to increase the cap on foreign institutional investment in public sector banks to 49 per cent from 20 per cent. The move comes at a time public sector banks need equity capital while their stocks have taken a hammering after reporting huge losses in the third quarter due to a sharp rise in non-performing assets According to present regulations, a single non-banking institution cannot hold more than 10 per cent in a bank while one bank can hold maximum 5 per cent stake in another bank. These stipulations, however, may continue. The public sector banks will need to raise tier-I capital as their capital positions have depleted due to higher provisioning for bad loans. While the government has commited Rs.70,000 crore capital infusion in four years (starting from this financial year) that amount may be inadequate, several rating agencies had pointed out. Earlier, the government had estimated an amount of Rs.2.8 crore as capital infusion for the public sector banks by 2018. Public sector banks are constraint to raise equity capital from the markets as most of them are trading at a significant discount to their book value. For example, price to book value of State Bank of India is 0.68, while that is Canara Bank’s is 0.23, and Bank of India’s 0.17. Profitability of public sector will come under pressure in the Jan-March quarter bad loans will further rise. Most public sector banks reported weak earnings in Q3 after Reserve Bank of India (RBI), found in its asset quality review (AQR) that certain accounts needs higher provisioning and asked the lenders to classify those accounts as non-performing and gave the lenders two quarters – Q3 & Q4 – to complete the task. Most banks have classified 50 per cent of the RBI identified accounts in Q3 and remaining will be identified in Q4, which will result in further rise in NPAs. Apart from provisioning for bad loans, public sector banks will also require capital to comply with the Basel-III norms. The one of the biggest hurdle to increase the foreign shareholding cap in public sector banks was Reserve Bank of India, which was not in favour of higher limit due to concerns over stability. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY PSU stake sale policy soon The government will soon come out with a policy on strategic sale of state-owned companies and the disinvestment will not be confined to loss-making enterprises. Broadly, the strategic sale is that government is selling the equity of the company along with the controlling management. The previous NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had from 1999 to 2004 privatised about a dozen state—owned firms and hotels including Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd. (BALCO), CMC Ltd. and Hindustan Zinc (HZL). But the policy was buried after the UPA came to power and only minority stake sales was pursued since then Government to unveil IPR policy in a fortnight The government had in November 2014 said it has set up an IPR think-tank to draft the IPR policy. However, despite the think-tank submitting the final draft in April 2015, the announcement of the policy was delayed as the Cabinet note on it had to be circulated among 29 ministries for their suggestions The policy Will be entirely compliant with the World Trade Organisation’s agreement on Trade Related aspects of IPRs (TRIPS) Will have a special thrust on awareness generation and effective enforcement of IPRs Will provide encouragement of IP commercialisation through various incentives. As per Mr. Modi's suggestion, the IPR Policy will focus on creating IPR awareness at school/college level by making it a part of syllabus/curriculum, and promote organisations such as the National Research Development Corporation to help commercialise the inventions / patents developed at the level of educational institutes. The policy will also suggest incentives such as tax benefits and fee waivers to encourage R&D and IP creation to strengthen the Make In India/Start-up/Digital India initiatives. To protect 'small inventions' developed especially in the informal / unorganised sectors, the policy will promote 'utility patents' (with lower compliance burden and shorter period of protection, when compared to the normal patents) only for mechanical innovations. This 'utility patents' may not be extended to the pharmaceutical sector considering the sensitivities involved in ensuring the efficacy of the drugs. Compulsory Licencing 53 However, the policy will not suggest any changes in the existing Indian IPR laws or other related policies on the patent-disabling Compulsory Licencing (CL) and the provision-preventing 'ever-greening' of drug patents (done through minor modifications of an existing drug). The move to retain the provisions on CLs (in the National Manufacturing Policy and Section 84 of India's Patents Act) as well as Section 3(d) of India's Patents Act ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY (preventing ever-greening of drug patents) comes even as the European Union and the US have been pressing India to make changes in this regard to “boost innovation, research and development (R&D) and foreign investment in India”. According to Section 3(d), besides novelty and inventive step, improvement in therapeutic efficacy is a must for grant of patents when it comes to incremental inventions. As regards Section 3(d), the U.S. and EU firms had said the so-called 'additional filter' in the form of “improvement in therapeutic efficacy” for grant of patents was inconsistent with WTO's TRIPS agreement, a charge which India has denied. NTPC stake sale oversubscribed The government announced that the first round of its offer for sale of 5 per cent stock in NTPC reserved for institutional investors was oversubscribed 1.8 times. The 5 per cent stake in NTPC works out to 41.22 crore shares which is expected to earn the government Rs.5,029 crore. While 80 per cent of the shares were up for sale , the balance 20 per cent has been reserved for the retail investors in the second round on Wednesday. The government is committed to going ahead with minority stake and even strategic stake sale. The government would soon come out with a policy for strategic stake sale. Foreign institutional investor (FII) participation in the whole process was very encouraging, with them accounting for around 23 per cent of the bids. There has been a good response from all the segments FIIs bid Rs.925.45 crore while insurance companies bid the highest amount at a bid value of Rs.5,325.33 crore. With this divestment, the government’s stake in NTPC will come down to 69.96 per cent. Services asked to identify projects of contemporary relevance Conducting a comprehensive review in a meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). of defence procurements cleared in the last two years, Defence Minister has directed the armed forces to identify procurement projects of “contemporary relevance” in the next few months. The review comes as the Defence Ministry is in the final stages of formulating the new Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) expected to be released in the next couple of months. A contemporary review is particularly relevant as a large number of defence proposals in the pipeline have been pending for several years and even over a decade in many cases and are now irrelevant due to change in requirements of the forces and advancement in technology. Observing that despite concerted efforts to expedite procurements there still remain 314 cases which have not yet fructified. Out of these 86 schemes worth approximately Rs. 1.5 lakh crore are close to final stage of approval Prevent abuse by terror elements, Twitter told 54 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Telecom Minister asked Twitter to ensure that the social media platform was not abused for terrorism and extremism that posed a threat to India. Twitter said it recently suspended over one lakh accounts globally over such issues. He also raised the issue of Jammu having been shown as part of Pakistan by the microblogging site at the first official meeting between the NDA government’s brass and Twitter Govt. softens stand on foreign trips by officials A new notification by the Finance Ministry is more than willing to allow government officials to go on such trips. The office memorandum was issued on January 5 this year detailing instructions for foreign visits of government officers, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. In particular, Section 19 says “There shall be no objection in accepting international air travel costs and hospitality from an international body of which India is a member, if the visit abroad is covered under bilateral/multilateral agreement or under a regular exchange programme.” The O.M., as it is called has raised eyebrows in the Ministry of Home Affairs that has to clear such trips. Now, MHA says that the language of the memorandum when it comes to allowing foreign governments/agencies to pay for officers’ international travel is also “problematic” and can expose them to “being courted” by those agencies. It puts in explicit language that “Cash allowance and other allowances” could be accepted as offered by the “foreign government/sponsors.” While Finance Ministry officials explain this as a way of ensuring the government doesn’t have to reimburse officials especially where Indian allowances are higher than those of say the IMF/World Bank or UN agencies, the language of the new notification is in stark contrast to the past. The big worry is if an international lobby firm, NGO, or health or education agency that has a vested interest in Indian projects, could use this clause to “reach out to” or “lobby with” Indian officials through a foreign government programme. Issue 55 It is strange that the government is trying to be very strict on NGOs in this regard, and demanding accountability, while liberalising foreign-sponsored travel for government officials themselves The move is short-sighted when they encourage officers to travel abroad on trips paid for by foreign sponsors. Accepting hospitality except directly from bilateral or multilateral organisations “could easily constitute a conflict of interest. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Out of the total budget of the Central government, the amount spent on foreign travel by ministries not including the MEA, that needs to travel much more, the figure is paltry ‘Civil liberties in danger, but India fighting back’ - Amnesty International The report for 2015-16 It criticised the government for using archaic laws to suppress dissent in its report for 2015-16, The report included India among countries that have failed to match up to the “international standard” of freedom of expression and civil liberties. The report especially noted that over the past year, crackdown on freedom of expression by majoritarian groups linked to the government had intensified Censorship and attacks on freedom of expression by hardline Hindu groups grew. Scores of artists, writers and scientists returned national honours in protest against what they said was a climate of growing intolerance The annual report said India held at least 3,200 prisoners in various prisons without trial under executive order. The report said the country had failed to prevent “hundreds” of communal and ethnic riots in the past one year. Some politicians contributed to religious tensions by making speeches justifying discrimination and violence,” said the report, while noting that incidents of nonvegetarianism and cow slaughter had often been cited as justification for communal and mob violence. It criticised India for a negative gender justice environment, and for violating international legal obligations for the recent modifications in the juvenile justice system which “allows children aged 16 to 18 to be treated as adults in cases of serious crimes”. However, praising the collective spirit of resistance in India, the report also said “growing intolerance” had faced tough opposition from the people who contested the majoritarian attempts to curtail freedom. The report also made a special mention of Tripura, which was the first State to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Rajasthan agrees to Jat demands 56 After two days of talks with the agitating Jats, the Rajasthan government has agreed to the demands of the community The agitators had demanded that the OBC Commission must be given the status of a statutory body, and that after the Bill on Jat reservation was passed in the Rajasthan Assembly, the State government must enter into talks with the committee formed under Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu’s chairmanship to take up their concerns at the Central level. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Venkaiah panel meets Haryana CM The Venkaiah Naidu committee looking into the issue of Jat reservation in Haryana had its second meeting, this time in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister M.L. Khattar. The meeting went into several socio-economic and legal issues concerning granting quota for Jats in the State, including how the past Bhupinder Singh Hooda government had dealt with the issue in courts, since the reservation had been thrown out by courts last year. The issue is complicated by following factors The violence of the agitation Complicated legalese involved in it since the reservation had been thrown out by courts last year. There were threats of demonstrations by other 35 non-Jat communities in the State, against Jat reservations Arunachal ordinance tabled A copy of the proclamation imposing President’s rule in Arunachal Pradesh and another revoking it were tabled in the Lok Sabha Loksabha met briefly after President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament. The government also tabled a copy of the Ordinance to amend the Enemy Property Act promulgated on January 7. A-G declines consent for contempt petition Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi declined consent to a petition seeking the Supreme Court to initiate criminal contempt of court proceedings against JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and research scholar Umar Khalid, former Delhi University lecturer S.A.R Geelani, among others, for allegedly terming the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru a “judicial killing”. Under Rule 3 (c) of the Rules to Regulate Proceedings for Contempt of the Supreme Court, 1975, a petition filed by a third person alleging contempt should receive prior consent of the Attorney-General or the Solicitor-General in writing before the court takes action. This screening is part of a mechanism to avoid wasting the court’s time on frivolous contempt pleas.. President spotlights welfare programmes 57 In his address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, President Pranab Mukherjee dwelt on the government’s programmes, especially those aimed at financial inclusion and the agricultural sector, including the recently launched Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana The government had recently launched the farmer-friendly crop insurance programme The biggest-ever government’s contribution to crop insurance The lowest-ever premium rates for farmers 5 % for horticulture crops and 1.5 %,2 % for Rabi and Kharif crops respectively. National coverage of post-harvest losses due to inundation and unseasonal rains No capping on subsidy Use of technology for early and accurate settlement of claims Assistance to farmers affected by natural calamities has been increased by 50 per cent and eligibility norms have been relaxed Govt. to hike housing subsidy for beedi workers & miners Ministry for Labour and Employment has proposed a nearly four-fold increase in the housing subsidy for beedi workers and miners employed in non-coal mines, to align the benefits with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious ‘Housing for All’ scheme. For the current subsidy of Rs. 40,000 to such employees, the Ministry has mooted an increase to Rs. 1.5 lakh under the present Revised Integrated Housing Scheme of 2007. Revised Integrated Housing Scheme of 2007 As per the Revised Integrated Housing Scheme of 2007, a worker gets Rs. 40,000 as assistance from the Central government to build a house on his own land with an area of at least 60 square yards. Workers engaged in the beedi industry for at least a year and earning up to Rs. 6,500 per month can avail the subsidy to construct a house. Also, non-coal mine workers working in iron ore, manganese ore, lime stone ore, dolomite ore, mica ore mines earning up to Rs. 10,000 can avail these benefits. Further, co-operative society for construction of group housing colony for workers may also get the subsidy amount of Rs. 40,000 a tenement per worker. The subsidy amount will be released in two instalments. The first instalment of Rs. 20,000 will be given after a worker contributes Rs. 5,000 towards the construction of the house. When the construction of the house reaches roof level, the second instalment of Rs. 20,000 along with the workers’ contribution of Rs. 5,000 will be given by the Director General of Labour Welfare. In 2014-15, the government constructed 16,552 houses for beedi and non-coal mine workers, according to a reply given by Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya in the Rajya Sabha on July 29 last year. The objective is to give them benefits under the Prime Minister’s ‘Housing for All’ scheme ‘Housing for All’ project 58 The government’s ambitious ‘Housing for All’ project aims to build 2 crore houses in five phases till 2021-22. Under the scheme, a Central grant of Rs. 1 lakh would be available for a house under the slum rehabilitation programme and Central assistance of Rs. 1.5 lakh will be provided to economically weaker sections category households. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Kerala students to take digital literacy to the masses 59 The Kerala-wide Digital Empowerment Campaign, which seeks to bridge the digital divide and maximise the potential of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in day-today life, is all set to be rolled Student police cadets from as many as 280 schools in all 14 districts will be enlisted for the campaign, which is expected to help 3 million people in the State. Equipped with tablets preloaded with special software, the students will train at least one member in each family in the catchment area of a school extending up to a radius of 3 km. President Pranab Mukherjee is scheduled to launch the campaign on February 27 during his visit to the State. The Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM), the nodal agency for the project, is readying as many as 5600 tablets to be distributed to the cadets. Interestingly, one can monitor the training process on real time basis using the software. A programme monitoring unit will also be set up at KSITM. More than 10 lakh people will be digitally empowered in the first phase of the campaign over a period of four months. The initiative is aimed at making them capable of using e-mail, accessing online government services, making online utility payments and bank transfers and doing online shopping. The training will also cover mobile services and information security. The second phase will utilise the services of both NSS volunteers and NCC cadets to reach out to more citizens. Taken up under the Digital India initiative, the campaign seeks to build on the achievements registered through Akshaya and IT@School projects. High mobile penetration, internet subscription base, optic fibre network coverage, egovernance initiatives and the rise in e-commerce activities justified a higher level of digital empowerment in Kerala. Assuming that 50 per cent of the State’s population in the age group of 30 to 60 years has already been digitally empowered through Akshaya and IT@School programmes, the campaign seeks to reach out to the remaining 60 lakh people. The pilot phase of the campaign last year had utilised student police cadets from 10 schools in Thiruvananthapuram to train 10,000 citizens. The President is also expected to declare Kerala a ‘Digital State’ on the strength of its digital infrastructure and e-governance initiatives ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Protection for men from false rape accusations: Court Observing that it is high time that we take a stand on enacting a law to protect men from false rape charges, a court has acquitted a man of rape as the victim agreed to his plea for quashing the case. The prosecutrix has filed her affidavit where she gave her no objection to the present First Information Report (FIR) being quashed, stating that the physical relations with the accused took place with her free consent The victim in her complaint with the Ranhola police station in West Delhi had alleged that the accused had sexually assaulted her at her house in Mohan Garden in 2013 when she was alone. Clash between ministries over cost cutting A cost-cutting exercise by the Finance Ministry has sparked off a major interministerial battle with the Ministry of External Affairs The memorandum issued on January 5 stipulating new instructions for foreign travel which will need political clearances for officers travelling abroad. What does the memorandum say For the first time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal approval is required for more than 4 visits by seceretaries in one year Tele/ video conferencing preferred to actual travel Non officials can only travel on PM's approval not on MEA's discretion The memorandum insists that In an outgoing delegation there need not be any Ministry of External Affairs official from India. Instead, services of the Indian mission situated in the destination country could be utilised. When Mr. Modi had addressed the Indian communities in Shanghai, San Francisco and London in 2015, for example, MEA diplomats from the head office as well as other embassies had been flown in, especially to make arrangements for the Prime Minister’s address, a measure that will be constricted now Impact Will add to the red tape and cause delays. Will affect India's foreign representataions GI tags for sweets from West Bengal 60 The West Bengal government is planning to get Geographical Identification (GI) tag for four traditional sweetmeat delicacies of the State to help protect them from imitations. The four sweetmeats are ‘Moa’ of Jainagar, ‘Sarpuria’ of Krishnagar, and ‘Sitabhog’ and ‘Mihidana’ of Burdwan A GI tag is given to products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. ‘Jainagar-er moa’ is made of puffed rice and date palm jaggery at Jainagar in South 24 Parganas district ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Krishnagar of Nadia district is famous for ‘Sarpuria’ which is made of milk cream. ‘Sitabhog’ and ‘Mihidana’ are rice-based sweets from Burdwan. Significance It will prevent cheap imitations The Centre also has plans to export sweets from the State and the GI tags would be of immense help in that endeavour The necessity of maintaining quality of the sweets and their packaging which will help increase their shelf life. IITs to hold entrance exam abroad for foreign students In a bid to attract international talent, the prestigious IITs for the first time are planning to hold their entrance tests in Singapore, UAE, Ethiopia and SAARC nations next year to select foreign students for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Singapore and Dubai — have been zeroed in on for holding entrance tests for foreign nationals from next year onwards. The entrance tests held abroad for the IITs have been held till now only for Indian nationals. This is for the first time that it will be held for foreign students. It is aimed that the plan would be operationalised from the JEE/GATE exams to be conducted in 2017. The students will be selected through a common entrance exam, which would be conducted the IIT with the help of Indian missions in these countries. Officials, however, added that seats to be offered to foreign nationals would be supernumerary or additional in nature, and would not reduce those available to Indian nationals at the 18 institutions. Scheme for projects in Naxal zones extended 61 All projects require separate forest and environmental clearances, given the specific circumstances of a project. A scheme granting default Forest Department approval for public utility projects in Naxal-affected regions has been in place since 2011 in 117 districts, including those in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Telangana.The programme lapsed in Decembter 2015. The Environment Ministry has decided to extend to December 2018 The general approval was granted keeping in view the importance of creation of public utility infrastructure such as schools, dispensaries/hospitals, electric and telecommunication lines, drinking water projects, water/rainwater harvesting structures, minor irrigation canals, non-conventional sources of energy, skill upgrade/vocational training centres, power substations, rural roads, communication posts, police establishments like police stations/outposts/border outposts/watch towers in sensitive areas identified by the Ministry of Home Affairs. They also include underground laying of optical fibre cables, telephone lines and drinking water supply lines in Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas. However, this default approval is only eligible for projects that take up no more than five hectares. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Successful projects Some of the successes that have resulted from this scheme are, a government polytechnic at Bagodhar in Giridih, Jharkhand; the construction of a Kendriya Vidyalaya at Deogarh, Odisha; Sloni Kanya Ashram Project and Magarlodha Boys School Project in Dhamtari, Chhattisgarh; women ITI training centre in Kanker, Chhattisgarh; construction of a government medical college at Kudwa, Gondia, Maharashtra; Vocational Bamboo Research and Training Centre at Chandrapur, Maharashtra; and establishment of Telangana School of Horticulture in Medak, Telangana. NSSO survey on unemployment rates Unemployment rate is defined as the number of persons unemployed as a proportion of the labour force (persons who are either ‘working’ or ‘seeking or available for work’), not the total population. The unemployment rate in urban areas reduced from 4.5 per cent in 2004-05 to 3.4 per cent in 2011-12, new data from the National Sample Survey Office show. In rural areas, the rate has been stable at around 1.7 per cent during this period. According to the survey, which was conducted in 2011-12 and released recently, the unemployment rate across all the religious groups in rural areas was on the lower side than those in urban areas for both males and females. Christians have the highest rate of unemployment in both rural (4.5 per cent) and urban (5.9 per cent) areas in 2011-12. The rate in urban areas for Christians stood at 8.6 per cent in 2004-05 while the rural rate stays constant. Unemployment level in India is highest among those people who are richer and more educated. The reason is that poor people can’t afford to stay unemployed, and hence, opt for any kind of work, irrespective of the nature of the job. The better off have the capacity to be unemployed as they look for the right job. Christians are the most educated group, hence unemployment rate is higher among them. Among the persons of age 15 and above, the proportion of people who are not literates was the lowest for Christians. Also, the proportion of persons with educational level secondary and above is highest for Christians. While the unemployment rate in rural areas has decreased for Sikhs (from 3.5 to 1.3 per cent) — now the lowest across all religious groups — it has slightly increased for Muslims (from 2.3 to 2.6 per cent). At 3.3 per cent, Hindus have the lowest unemployment rate in urban areas. Self-employment is the major source of income for almost half the households, across all religious groups, in rural areas, followed by casual labour. In urban areas, the proportion of households deriving major income from regular wage or salary earnings is the highest. Half the Muslim households in urban areas have self-employment as major source of income, the highest among all religions, while regular wage or salary earnings was the highest for Christians with 45.8 per cent households. 62 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Mumbai picking up in organ doantion Mumbai's organ donation machinery is on a roll this year, inching close to Tamil Nadu, that has for years had the most robust organ donation system in place. Mumbai has so far recorded 11 cadaver donations, as compared to eight in the first two months of 2015. Not just that, the organs being harvested are no longer limited to kidneys. The total number of organs donated so far stands at 37. The developments in Mumbai are in tune with the Centre’s national initiative to boost organ donations . Factors enabling more donations include better awareness, proactive measures being undertaken by hospitals as well as high level of political support with the state Chief Minister Until now, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala have been doing good. Organ donation in Chandigarh is picking up Centre's support for organ donation Union Health Ministry was supporting the cause and as part of its national programme, it is giving up to Rs. 5 crore for setting up biomaterial centres to store tissues and bones that are harvested from cadavers. The money is for both setting up such centres in each region and upgrading the existing ones to international standards. Trends seen in organ donation Organ donations are being viewed positively. The earlier impression of kidney rackets until a few years ago is gone. The trust is coming back now Tier II cities like Aurangabad and Pune too were reporting cadaver organ donations The nature of donations were not limited to kidneys. Southern states are doing better Compalints against Kerala Coastal Zone Management Plan 63 The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) has received around 200 complaints on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) prepared for the coastal districts of the State. A four-member committee has been constituted to look into the complaints regarding the plan. Coastal communities have been complaining that the CRZ norms restrict the construction and even repair and reconstruction of the dwelling units. Several local bodies along the coast had demanded that they be excluded from the purview of the CRZ notification which would help them construct housing as well as commercial structures along the coast. They had also asked for reassessing the salinity test, which formed the basis for determining the CRZ. If salinity of five parts per thousand was recorded in a waterbody during the driest part of summer, the coastal area adjoining the waterbody would come under the ambit of the CRZ. Meanwhile, a move to identify the CRZ violations along Vembanad Lake have met with limited success. Though the authority had identified around 5,000 “land modifications” ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY along Vembanad Lake and asked the local bodies concerned to verify them, only a few responded to it. Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) The CRZ notification 2011 mandates that coastal States should have a plan in place, which will decide on the land use near waterbodies. The CZMP details the geo-morphological and ecological features of each coast while marking the high tide and low tide lines from where the CRZ regime begins. The specialities of each coast, including the presence of mangroves, intertidal zones, various other ecological and sensitive areas zones, and ‘no’ development zones would also be marked in the plan. Once the plan is approved, it would serve as the base document for identifying the areas in which the development activities would be regulated. Govt. to tap CSCs for rural banking access The government is looking to leverage its Common Services Centres (CSCs) to enable easy access to banking services, particularly in rural areas. The withdrawal facility has already been introduced at the CSCs whereas opening of accounts is being worked out with the banks and is likely to be rolled-out shortly. With the CSCs, the government aims to make one person in every family digitally literate in four years. Through CSCs the entrepreneurs have earned a total commission of Rs.438 crore till now on e-services such as pan cards. Officials should see to that the CSCs provided Internet connectivity on priority basis, Mr. Prasad said. The CSCs should take the lead role in spreading e-commerce in rural India and in promoting local artisans. To incentivise village level entrepreneurs, the minister said three best performing entrepreneurs would be rewarded Rs.2 lakh, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 each. CSCs play important role as an interface between the government and the beneficiaries of e-services, thus reducing corruption and delays ICRA may revise ratings of government-owned banks 64 Rating agency ICRA may revise the ratings of public sector banks as their credit profile has deteriorated significantly following a sharp rise in bad loans during the Oct-Dec quarter. Many public sector banks have suffered losses during the third quarter after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its asset quality review identified accounts in which banks have to make higher provisioning. Since most banks provided only 50 per cent that was mandated by RBI in Q3, similar provisioning will be required in Q4 too. Higher level of stress is likely to significantly impact earnings and solvency profile of PSBs over next 2-3 years. Additionally adverse capital markets conditions have reduced the prospects of mobilising capital from non-government sources, while there has been no material success in mobilizing capital through Additional Tier I (AT1) instruments ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY All these factors contribute to deterioration in credit profile of the PSBs, which may get reflected in ratings / outlook change announcements for some of the PSBs over next few days once the rating reviews are concluded. Banks require holistic cure Even as mounting bad loans have put Indian banks in a pincer-like situation, the idea of a government-backed ‘bad bank’ has kicked off quite a debate. ‘Bad bank’ concept allows a government-supported entity to buy bad loans from stressed banks at a fair price (discount). Such an entity will then be responsible for recovering the debt. The objective is simple – to help banks clean up their books, and use their capital resources (which are otherwise locked up in making provision for bad loans) for funding the growth in credit needs. The current debate also comes close on the heels of Italy and the EU inking an agreement to allow the Italian banks sell their NPA (non-performing assets) portfolios to private investors with government guarantee. A national asset re-construction company (ARC) or `bad bank’ – given its size and expertise - can fetch multiple advantages to stakeholders, and bring about a quicker resolution to the recovery problems posed by the NPA imbroglio. Issues with such an entity The NPA levels of these banks are over Rs.3 lakh crore. How much of these can be absorbed by such an ARC or `bad bank’? Even allowing for a discounted price for such purchases, the effort requires quite a funding from the Government. A resource-constrained Government will have difficulty in providing money for this. Elsewhere in the globe, national ARCs were funded by issuing long-term Governmentguaranteed bonds. It will also tantamount to condoning the mismanagement of banks It may breed a sense of laxity in the banking system. Is it right to throw more public money after failed money. These imponderables will significantly impact the decision-making process in this regard. More than anything else, the country needs an ecosystem – both in the banking and legal spheres – that fosters a framework that is just and fair to all stake-holders, and which helps in speedy resolution of the entire debt recovery process. Surely, ARC alone is not the cure for the ills of banks. Experts want body to oversee budget 65 Members of the XIV Finance Commission have questioned the government’s failure to act on its recommendation to constitute an Independent Fiscal Council that objectively evaluates budget announcements and forecasts, stressing that such an institution was critical to improve the government’s credibility on fiscal management. In the short and medium term, it will help allay fears of global credit rating agencies about the government’s commitment to fiscal targets. The Congressional Budget Office in the U.S. and the Office for Budget Responsibility in the U.K. performed similar functions. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY States have constraints in managing their finances as the RBI controls their deficit and cannot float a bond on a state’s behalf without the Centre’s approval. Since the 2003 FRBM law came into effect, there have been four pauses in the deficit targets enshrined in it and a few occasions where the targets have been flouted Finance commission recommendation The Commission had recommended a sharp increase in allocations to state governments in its report released last February, which the government accepted. It had also mooted an Independent Fiscal Council as an oversight body over the finance ministry. The council would report to the Parliament on how realistic government projections are, citing similar independent budget and fiscal management monitoring offices in 35 countries. The Auditor General has to monitor the FRBM Act but that’s a post-facto assessment. The Council can react after the budget comes out and give a view whether the intended purpose would be met or more funds should be provided, and the deficits are in line with projections. For example, in the Seventh Pay Commission it could assess if provisions are realistic In six of the last eight years, revenue forecasts of the government fell short by around 10 per cent, due to overestimation. Such an independent council could also weigh in on the debate over the fiscal deficit that the budget should strive for — that is currently being driven by only government officials, myriad commentators and the RBI Malayalam film wins Crystal Bear at Berlinale Malayalam film Ottaal (The Trap) won a prestigious Crystal Bear award at the Berlin film festival. An eleven-member youth jury (between 11-14 years of age) awards Crystal Bears to the best feature-length and best short films in the children’s category. Ottaal , directed by Jayaraj Rajasekharan, tells the story of a young boy and his grandfather. It is adapted from Anton Chekhov’s story Vanka . The jury said, “This exceptional movie touched us all with its irresistible images of nature, laid-back music and amazingly gifted actors. The unique way of filming certain details blew us away. We think it’s important that such a sad and serious topic be tackled in a movie, though the film also managed to capture the humour and joy of life.” Freedom 251 booking closed 66 Ringing Bells closed the booking for its ‘Freedom 251’ smartphone after receiving over 6 crore registrations for the device in just 2 days.The company which has attracted much controversy in the past few days over plans to sell the world’s cheapest smartphone at Rs. 251, said the response received far exceeded the number that they had expected and hence closed the invitation to bookings in this phase 1 On the other hand the Telecom Ministry has initiated internal inquiry to ascertain the “veracity of this venture”. Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) has been instructed to look into the whole issue in the backdrop of long-term implications.” ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY While the IT Ministry confirmed that the Ringing Bell is not registered with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for meeting the safety standards in the country, making the sale of such handsets illegal, the company president Ashok Chaddha said their application was under filing and they expected to have the certification in hand well before delivery commences. Besides, the firm has also come under the scanner of the Excise and Income Tax departments, with the I-T Department looking into the financial structure of the Noidabased company. No place to honour martyrs It is a tradition to give a ceremonial guard of honour to soldiers who have laid down their lives in line of duty. However, as the bodies reach Delhi, there is no fixed place to accord honour because the issue is stuck in a web of regulations and red tape. The armed forces are denied a permanent space in the name of security. In the recent Siachen tragedy, the bodies of the nine soldiers of 19 Madras Regiment killed in an avalanche were flown to Delhi in a military aircraft and taken to the Palam Air Force station. However the normal practice is to bring them on civilian flights to Delhi, accord them the honours, and fly them to their native places. A site close to the airport is needed as civil flights cannot be delayed. Military aircraft are not used regularly to fly bodies because it will be too expensive. A new site was to be identified after objections from the Civil Aviation Ministry to the existing unused site, but the process is yet to move forward. The Army had built Shradhanjali Sthal near the cargo terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport at a cost of Rs. 30 lakh in the area allotted by the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) in 2012. But since its completion in August 2014, the site has remained unused as the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), an independent body under the Civil Aviation Ministry, refused to give security clearance, citing regulations. ‘Matribhasha Diwas' ‘Matribhasha Diwas’ is otherwise observed as International Mother Language Day across the world falls on Feb 21. The theme for 2016 is ‘Quality education, language(s) of instruction and learning outcomes.’ As February 21 happens to be a Sunday, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has Universities to to observe the day on March 3 instead. The education institutions are expected to organise elocution, debating, singing, essay writing competitions, painting competitions, music and drama performances, exhibitions, online resources and activities as well as events exploring the cognitive, economic, social and cultural activities of multilingual society. These activitiescould be organised preferably in at least two languages, possibly more. As near misses rise, DGCA mulls review of call signs 67 Incidents of mid-air near misses between airplanes have prompted the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) to review the call signs given by air traffic controllers to all airlines in order to prevent confusion. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY A call sign refers to airline code and the number allotted to a particular flight. A committee headed by DGCA’s joint director has been formed which will have representatives from Airports Authority of India, domestic airlines and the Delhi airport. The Committee will review all the relevant regulations, international best practices and suggest measures for safety of aircraft operations. The committee is mandated to submit its report by end of March. ISRO's indigenous cryo engine passes test Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) conducted successful hotbed test of the cryogenic engine for the upper stage of the GSLV Mark 3 rocket. The long-duration test at the ISRO Propulsion Research Centre at Mahendragiri lasted 640 seconds. Using Liquid Hydrogen at -253 degrees C and Liquid Oxygen at -193 degrees C as propellants, the high-thrust cryogenic engine (CE20) generates power of approximately 2 MW. Developed at the Liquid Propulsion System centre (LPSC), the engine had already undergone two short-duration tests for engine ignition and steady state performance. Last year, the first developmental engine completed different hot tests in various operating regimes. The third engine identified for flight use will be vacuum tested in the high altitude test facility as part of the flight acceptance test. The first developmental flight of the GSLV Mark 3 in December 2016. The biggest rocket made in India, the Mk3 will be capable of launching four-tonne satellites into geosynchronous orbit. Resurgence of Maoists in AP 68 While the two ambitious projects of the State government — Polavaram and Bauxite — appear to have given a new lease of life for the Maoist movement on one hand, the resurgence of the leftwing extremism has become a cause of concern for the government. Projecting both the projects as ‘anti-people’, the Maoists have gained some of their lost ground both in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts, and this has become a headache for the police, especially after the depletion of its manpower, post bifurcation. Keeping both the projects in mind, the State government has made a request for sanction of more Central forces, including Border Security Force (BSF). The merger of seven mandals from Khammam has opened up the border for East Godavari district. The district today has 75 km of border with Odisha touching Malkangiri and 45 km of border with Chhattisgarh touching Sukma district. Both Malkangiri and Sukma are hotbeds for the Maoists. This apart, the district has about 40 km border with Telangana. Polavaram is located on the border and is easily accessible by the Maoists, both from Chhattisgarh and Odisha side. Maoists have been building their base and inciting people on rehabilitation and resettlement package. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Congress rebel sworn in Arunachal CM A few hours after President’s Rule was revoked in Arunachal Pradesh, the dissident Congress leader, Kalikho Pul, was sworn in as Chief Minister in the night. Prior to this, both factions of the Congress, one headed by Mr.Pul and the other by former Chief Minister Nabam Tuki, staked their claim to form a new government in the State. Dissident Congress leaders had 32 MLAs with them, including 11 MLAs of the BJP, and had the requisite numbers to form the government. The total strength of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly is 50 seats. Mr. Tuki, whose authority was challenged by the party rebels, however, questioned the formation of a government without his approval. He said that with the revocation of President’s Rule, power would have to be restored to him and the former government should be reinstalled. Mr. Tuki pointed out that 14 rebel MLAs had been disqualified by the Assembly Speaker. The Congress rebels, however, disputed Mr. Tuki’s argument. A dissident leader Chowna Mein said that the Gauhati High Court had stayed the disqualification of 14 MLAs, so they could support the new government. At present, the dissenting Congress faction consists of 21 leaders. Since they have the support of 11 BJP MLAs, they have the numerical majority in the 50-member Assembly. Industry 4.0 - Is India ready for it? Analysts conversing at Davos said that we have to be ready to approach a fourth industrial revolution, ‘Industry 4.0.’The question is whether the sector is capable of matching this global challenge. Points in favour 69 Figures released this month indicate that India’s average economic growth rate was 7.5 per cent in 2015. India grew at a greater rate than China in 2015 as the International Monetary Fund had predicted it would. Today, India is known for its pro-business administration and for its Prime Minister who is keen to bring leaders of great, developed economies into the fold. It is a country acting like an established power on the world stage and so it should. The openness to international collaboration is the measure of a great business nation and the groundwork has been laid with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s overhaul of foreign direct investment and annulment of retrospective taxes; but there is more to a modern business nation than services, which comprise 55 per cent of India’s GDP. In India, PM Modi aims to harness foreign direct investment into Indian manufacturing through his ‘Make in India’ campaign, thereby increasing the sector’s contribution to Indian GDP from 16 to 25 per cent. This is the age of advanced manufacturing, composite materials, quantum engineering, 3D printing and robotics – the new face of industries globally – and it is one that will disrupt established sectors, from transport to construction. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Points Against Rapid developments in global manufacturing suggest that India’s manufacturing companies could easily fall behind their global counterparts. New technologies and patents are enormously beneficial, but patents from the U.S. and the UK outnumber new Indian technologies over ten to one. The industries risk being trodden over by the stampede towards innovative new technologies. India does not have the scale of higher education and vocational training that the U.S. and Britain enjoy despite its Institutes of Technology, alma mater of the Google CEO, Sundar Pichai. To achieve this scale, India should open up its higher education sector and allow foreign universities to open campuses there. Does this mean that the next generation of economic capabilities in India will be foreign-owned or will Indians profit from Industry 4.0? Looking at the influence that Tata Industries has had on the industrial landscape in Britain, it would appear that Indian firms are ready to wield enormous power in the technological innovation of the future. Tata Steel and the Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover have regenerated the manufacturing sector in the UK’s industrial heartlands of the Midlands and the North. They are key partners in innovation for British universities, building the bridge between the previous industrial era and the industries of tomorrow with advanced steels research and automotive innovation. In Britain, Indian firms are key research partners. Indian manufacturers are without doubt capable of delivering large-scale orders and investing in the local supply chain’s R&D capabilities. The greatest matter of urgency is developing the skills to support manufacturing growth. Policy makers must also focus on encouraging universities and industry to work together in the area of research and development in the way that is a matter of course here in the UK. For example, Jaguar Land Rover works closely with the University of Warwick’s Warwick Manufacturing Group and Rolls-Royce works closely with the University of Birmingham on advanced engineering research and development. The world is captivated by the forthcoming developments in industrial techniques and if India’s leadership in this field continues, then its growth rates will be hard to compete with. With manufacturing increasing in value across the globe, India’s economy is on track to surpass PM Modi’s target. National Social Security Authority proposed The Labour Ministry has mooted the idea of forming a National Social Security Authority and a separate Social Security Department within the ministry to provide social security to the entire population Composition 70 Chaired by Prime Minister ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The authority may have all the ministers and secretaries of all ministries dealing with social security programmes along with state government officials as members. Functions Mainly to formulate the National Policy on Social Security To co-ordinate the central and state level programmes To ensure that the objectives of the policy are achieved within the time frame prescribed Proposed Social Security Department The proposed Social Security Department within the Labour Ministry will provide “policy inputs” and “secretarial services” to the body. Four-tier social security system It proposes a four-tier system to cover the entire population of the country, including both formal and informal sector workers, through a common Social Security Code 1. First tier- include the “destitute and people below the poverty line,” 2. Second tier - workers in the unorganised sector who may be covered under a subsidised scheme 3. Third tier - workers who can, with the help of employer, can make contribution to the schemes. 4. Fourth tier - people who “are comparatively affluent and can make their own provisions for meeting contingencies or risks as and when arise.” The social assistance programmes for the first tier shall be based on tax revenue The current social security programmes and schemes can be “strengthened” and universalised. BAE Systems picks Mahindra as partner for artillery gun deal 71 The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) delivered to the defence ministry a Letter of Acceptance (LoA), agreeing to supply 145 M777 ultra lightweight howitzers to India. The LoA spells out the contract price, terms of supply and options available. The vendor, BAE Systems, will supply the first batch of 155-millimetre, 39-calibre howitzers within six months of signing the contract. The remaining guns would progressively be built in India. BAE Systems has picked the Mahindra group as a partner for the deal Mahindra will build the guns in an "Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) facility", using components shipped to India from BAE Systems facilities in the UK. The facility is a fundamental part of the M777 production line Over the last three years, negotiations had apparently stalled, with successive defence ministers informing parliament that the cost was too high, and BAE Systems' offset proposal was inadequate. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY That impasse was broken last year when BAE Systems offered to assemble, integrate and test the M-777 in India. This brings the offer in conformity with the "Make in India" initiative. BAE Systems has also submitted a fresh offsets proposal. A domestic Assembly, Integration and Test facility will enable the Indian Army to access maintenance, spares and support for the M777 locally. The deal for 145 guns, which is expected to cost $700 million, is being discussed as a government-to-government deal under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The deal envisaged investing in 40 Indian defence suppliers across the country with an emphasis on the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) and the MSME (Medium, Small & Micro Enterprises) sector in addition to the AIT facility. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program The U.S. Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defense contractor; instead, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency serves as an intermediary, usually handling procurement, logistics and delivery and often providing product support, training, and infrastructure construction (such as hangars, runways, utilities, etc.) M777 The M777, which has seen extensive operational service with the US military in Afghanistan, is being acquired to support Indian army operations on the rugged Himalayan borders with China and Pakistan. Built of titanium components and weighing just four tonnes (compared to 10-tonne conventional 155-millimetre guns), it can be air-lifted to high altitude deployment areas by helicopters like the CH-47E Chinook, which India is buying separately. The gun can also be towed more easily on narrow, twisty mountain roads. The initial order for 145 guns could rise significantly once the M777 starts being built in India. This would equip just 6-7 artillery regiments, while the army actually needs new artillery for 50-plus artillery regiments in 16 mountain divisions. If India can offer a consolidated order for the 1,000-odd guns needed for 50 regiments, BAE Systems could be induced to offer far higher indigenisation India's 220-odd artillery regiments have received no new artillery since the 1980s, when it bought 400 FH-77B, 155 mm/39 calibre Bofors guns. An indigenous effort by the Ordnance Factory Board to develop a 155 mm/45 calibre gun is proceeding slowly, with a gun barrel bursting during trial firing in 2013. Simultaneously, the Defence R&D Organisation (DRDO) is developing a 155 mm/52 calibre artillery gun in partnership with the private sector. Translators to be honoured by Sahitya Akademi 72 Twenty four eminent authors writing in as many Indian languages were felicitated by the Sahitya Akademi at its annual Festival of Letters. The recipients were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh each for their "outstanding books of literary merit". ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The awarded literary works have been written in 24 Indian languages, including English, Hindi, Bengali, Urdu, Sanskrit, Bodo, Kashmiri, Manipuri, Nepali among others. Urging authors from across the country to write extensively in various regional languages, Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari said that Indian writing faces a threat from the effect of colonial thinking. He also said that Indian literature has perennially been written under the fearful shadow of western literature. All literature in Indian languages has been written under the fear of TS Eliot and Sigmund Freud. And this fear surfaces in the writing as well. Encouraging the authors, Mr Tiwari said it was imperative for writers to free themselves from the fear of "colonial thinking" and write uninhibitedly in their respective languages. Termites attack many trees in Adilabad forest Forests in Adilabad district, especially the vegetation in the core area of Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR), is currently under attack by termites. The stem of thousands of trees in the jungle is covered with mud layers. This has spread on an unprecedented scale and teak trees ( Tectona grandis ) seem to be the main target though trees of other species have also been attacked by termites. Though mature teak and other trees are sturdy enough to resist the attack, it is the trees with smaller girth which can succumb to the pestilence. An attack on this scale can result in serious damage to the local environment though there are no instances from the past to rely upon. The mud layer formation is also unusual because it extends beyond its normal 1-metre height on the tree stems Teak may be a tough species so far as succumbing to a termite attack is concerned. It is however, susceptible if the attack is by drywood termite, Neotermes tectonae. The change could be a result of the change in weather since the last few months. Termites attack trees when the weather is comparatively warmer. There is some rise in temperatures this year apparently owing to the deficit rainfall in Telangana State. The winter months of 2015-16 were much hotter when compared to previous years. Environment can be a fragile entity and the one in KTR cannot be any different. A scientific study is essential in order to take timely action to prevent any loss due to termite attack M.P. appeals against IPAB order on Basmati The Madhya Pradesh government has asserted that the recent order of the Intellectual Property Appellate Board, directing the Geographical Indications Registry to proceed with registration of a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for Basmati rice, according to the geographical demarcation conducted by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, is unscientific and erroneous. It has approached the Madras High Court to quash the order and direct the registry to hear the matter afresh. Hover port work in Puducherry suspended 73 Chief Minister announced that the works for construction of a hover port in the coastal hamlet of Veerampattinam had been temporarily suspended ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The fishermen had been agitating over the hover port citing that it would hamper their free movement and routine fishing activities. He sought to dispel their fears. The land for the proposed hover port had been acquired by the government and handed over to the Indian Coast Guard several years ago. The government would explore the option of shifting the project to an alternative site and till then the work would be kept in abeyance Frame safety norms for events: HC to Maharashtra Taking cognisance of the fire that interrupted at the Maharashtra Night gala at the Make In India Week, the Bombay High Court directed the state to frame guidelines for the safety of artists and technicians on stage during performances. A division bench was hearing a PIL petition filed by the Association For Aiding Justice which demanded that all those working on a production (set) or at an event should be given information that enables them to do their job safely. The court said if such guidelines have not been framed yet, then it is high time that a policy is framed or rules are drawn up immediately to ensure safety of artists and technicians on stage and also that of the audience. Private sector will build fighter jets in India India would select one or more fighter aircraft which will be manufactured locally by a private company under the Make in India initiative. The Air Force is expected to induct over 100 of the improved LCAs which will feature an Advanced Electronically Scanned Array radar, mid-air refuelling and improved electronic warfare suite in addition to other minor improvements. With this companies who lost out in the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft contest (MMRCA) have been pitching their aircraft in anticipation of a comeback into the race This is in addition to the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), the production of which is being scaled up. India and France are in advanced stage of talks to conclude an inter-governmental agreement for the direct purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets. This fighter aircraft will likely be other than the Rafale. Govt. clears proposal for gravitational wave detector 74 Days after an international team of scientists, including several from India, formally announced that it had detected gravitational waves from deep space, the Union Cabinet has “in principle,” approved a proposal to have a gravitational wave detector in India. It was an important development and marked the government formally acknowledging it but a final decision regarding the money, and how it would be spent, was still some time away. Current estimates suggest the project would cost at least Rs. 1,200 crore. The gravitational waves were detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) — a system of detectors in Washington and Louisiana. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY e-platform for non tax receipts With the Prime Minister's Office setting a target to switch at least 90 per cent of all official transactions to paperless mode by the end of 2016, Finance Ministry launched a new e-platform for non-tax receipts. NTPC made the maiden payment on the portal developed by the Controller General of Accounts, by remitting Rs.989 crore as an interim dividend to the government. This will reduce a lot of the manual work now and almost instantly enable the payment at the different categories The major sources of non-tax revenue for the government are from dividends paid by public sector companies, the Reserve Bank of India, etc. PPP projects in Indian Railways The Indian Railways has identified the first three projects to be taken up for development through the new build, operate, transfer (BOT) annuity model at an estimated cost of around Rs 2,450 crore. The three targeted projects are developing third line between Nagpur and Wardha (both in Maharashtra), Kazipet (Telangana) and Balharshah (Maharashtra) and, Bhadrak and Nergundi (both in Odisha). The total estimated cost of development of 357 km third line is around Rs 2450 crore. The Railways has received Rs 14,000 crore worth investment commitments since 2014 after it introduced new models for projects through public-private partnership (PPP) model. This is a sharp rise from roughly around Rs 4,000 crore investments generated in 2002-2012. BOT model Under the BOT annuity model for rail projects, the private developer gets a revenue guarantee of 80 per cent of projected revenue at the time of bidding. The developer gets a full right to revenue between 80 and 120 per cent and the Indian Railways do not take any share from it. It is only when the actual revenue is above 120 per cent, the additional receipts are shared with the Indian Railways in a staggered manner To attract private investments in railways, the government had framed five models – 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. non-government private line model, joint venture model, BOT model, capacity augmentation with funding provided by customers model and capacity augmentation through annuity model. While five projects to be developed through PPP model have got in-principle clearance, 27 other projects are under implementation Facing a resource crunch, Railways is focusing on raising funds through various channels, including the PPP route and forming joint ventures with the state governments. Recently, the Railways’ gross budgetary support was slashed by Rs 8,000 crore citing lack of spending by the national transporter. 75 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The Railways face an additional burden of Rs 32,000 crore towards implementing the Seventh Pay Commission's recommendations. EPFO recommends 8.8% interest rate The board of trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recommended an 8.80 per cent rate of return on Rs.10 lakh crore of retirement savings under its watch for 2015-16. This rate was meant as “interim relief” for workers and the board would meet again later to discuss the possibility of a further interest rate hike. Although the rate for this year is a notch higher than the 8.75 per cent paid out in 2014-15, trade unions were disappointed as the Finance and Investment panel of the EPFO board had earlier recommended a higher interest of 8.95 per cent on EPF savings. However, the Finance Ministry that has decided to moderate the returns on small savings instruments from April 1, 2016, wanted the EPF rate to fall in tandem. The EPFO Board’s proposal would be vetted and ratified by the Finance Ministry, so it could still overrule the 8.80 per cent rate recommendation. There are as many as 8.5 crore EPF accounts. Provide names of defaulters above 500 cr- SC The Supreme Court directed the RBI to provide a list of companies, which had defaulted bank loans of over Rs. 500 crore while expressing serious concern over the rise in bad loans. The bench wanted to know how the state-owned banks and financial institutions were advancing large-scale loans without proper guidelines and whether there was adequate mechanism to recover them. The court made RBI party to a PIL filed in 2005 by an NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation, in which it has raised the issue of loans advanced to some companies by state-owned HUDCO. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for CPIL, submitted that about Rs. 40,000 crore of corporate debt was written off in 2015. Indigenously developed Anti-Radiation Missile Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) 76 Advanced State-of-the-art air-to-surface tactical missile will target the enemy’s air defence capabilities by attacking radars and communication facilities. Range - 100 to 125 km Will be mounted on combat aircraft Sukhoi (Su-30) and Tejas-Light Combat Aircraft. The missile picks up the radiation or signals of radars and communication facilities and homes on to the targets to destroy them. Being developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) Instead of thrust propulsion, the missile uses dual pulse propulsion system as in the case of LR-SAM. The dual pulse propulsion will widen the envelope as well as the ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY engagement capability of the missile. After coasting the missile for the required duration by firing the first pulse, the second pulse will be initiated just before interception of the target or during the terminal phase Test flights Captive flight trials the Anti-Radiation Missile (ARM) are planned for April-May this year, and the maiden flight test by year-end The entire missile is being developed indigenously, including the seeker. The missile will be inducted in about two years after conducting a number of developmental trials. According to DRDO sources, scientists will evaluate the performance of the seeker, navigation and control system, structural capability and aerodynamic vibrations during the captive flight trials. These will be followed by ground testing and the missile will be fired from Su-30 during the actual flight trial by year-end Only a few countries, including the U.S. and Germany, have ARMs at present The dual pulse propulsion system could be configured with other air-to-surface and air-to-air missiles Notice to vodafone by tax authorities Tax authorities have issued a reminder to Vodafone Group Plc asking the company to pay Rs. 14,200 crore of tax dues or risk having its assets seized. This dispute is currently the subject of international arbitration. The government stated in 2014 that existing tax disputes would be resolved through existing judicial process.” The notice, dated February 4, to Vodafone International Holdings BV pertains to its 2007 acquisition of Hutchison’s 67 per cent stake in a telecom venture in India for $11 billion. The deal was executed through companies that are not based in India. Let parliament decide on euthanasia: SC 77 Passive euthanasia is the act of withdrawing medical treatment with the deliberate intention of causing the death of a terminally-ill patient. The Supreme Court said Parliament or the “people's court” should be the final judge to decide the legality of passive euthanasia and “Living Will”. The Centre agreed with the apex court and illustrated the complexity of medically taking a person's life by pointing at how Formula One legend Michael Schumacher is “being kept alive for years in the hope he will wake up from his coma one day”. A Constitution Bench, led by Justice Anil R. Dave, said it will wait till July 20 for the government or Parliament will finalise a law on passive euthanasia On legalising the ‘Living Will’, the Bench asked whether the concept was fundamentally against a person's instinctive urge to live. Living Will’ is an advance directive to physicians for end-of-life medical care "A Living Will is valid if a person prepares it in his right mind when he is already a terminally ill patient and knows he has six months more to live. Such a Will is not stale. But a 90-year-old man is not bound to a Will he made when he was 18... So the narrow question is the level staleness,” Justice Nariman observed. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Wholesale prices decline for 15th consecutive month India’s wholesale prices continued to fall in January 2016 marking the fifteenth successive month of contraction in the wholesale price index for inflation. Experts said that the surge in the pace of price decline was driven by the global meltdown in commodity prices impacting energy and manufactured product costs. While food articles continued to see a rise in prices, the pace slowed down from 8.17 per cent in December 2015 to 6.02 per cent in January. Official data released also included a revision in the wholesale price inflation numbers for November 2015 from -1.99 per cent earlier to -2.04 per cent. Within primary articles, inflation accelerated in non-food articles from 7.7 per cent in December 2015 to 8.24 per cent in January 2016. The fuel and power segment continued to see a pullback in prices at the wholesale level, shrinking by 9.21 per cent in January compared to a negative growth of 9.15 per cent in December. The persistence of deflationary conditions indicate a continued moderation in demand. Combined with two consecutive months of negative growth in the index of industrial production it points to a strain in industrial activity The divergence in consumer price inflation and wholesale price inflation was driven largely by prices for pulses shooting up in January. Exports shrink for 14th straight month in January 78 Merchandise exports fell for the 14th consecutive month with shipments in January, 2016 contracting 13.6 per cent year-on-year to $21 billion due to weak overseas demand as well as fall in major export items such as engineering goods and petroleum products. Imports also fell during the month by 11 per cent to $28.7 billion, resulting in the trade deficit narrowing to an 11-month low of $7.6 billion. The gold imports recorded an 85.16 per cent increase in January to $2.91 billion. The trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies. The growth in exports have fallen for U.S.A. (-10.51%), European Union (-9.48%) and China (-7.01%) for November 2015 over the corresponding period previous year as per WTO statistics. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Details Seventeen of the 30 export sectors recorded a negative growth in January. These included major sectors such as engineering goods (-27.6 per cent to $4.98 billion), ready-made garments (-6.1 per cent to $1.4 billion) and petroleum products (-35.1 per cent to $1.9 billion). Non-petroleum exports in January 2016 fell 10.55 per cent to $19.1 billion. Merchandise exports during April 2015-January 2016 this fiscal registered a negative growth of 17.65 per cent over the same period in the previous fiscal to $217.7 billion. Over-valuation of rupee, after adjusting against the domestic retail inflation, is also eating into the competitiveness of the Indian exports. The fall in engineering exports will have a negative impact on jobs. Imports during April 2015-January 2016 recorded a negative growth of 15.46 per cent to $324.5 billion. When compared to the contraction in overall exports, the fall in non-petroleum exports during April 2015 - January 2016 was lower at (-) 9.6 per cent to $192.4 billion. Reflecting the fall in global oil prices, oil imports in January 2016 were 39 per cent lower year-on-year at $5 billion. However, non-oil imports during January, 2016 were only 1.4 per cent lower at $23.7 billion. The net export of services for April-December, 2015-16 was estimated at $54.8 billion, lower than $56.5 billion during April-December 2014-15. Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-January, 2015-16 was $52 billion, a fall of 17.6 per cent from $63 billion in same period the previous fiscal National Capital Goods Policy National Capital Goods Policy was introduced to spur capital goods sector and the Make in India initiative. It was unveiled during the Make in India Week programme Objective Increase production of capital goods from Rs. 2.30 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 7.50 lakh crore in 2025 Raising direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million. making India a net exporter of capital goods Aims 1. 2. 3. 4. 79 facilitating improvement in technology across sub-sectors, increasing skill availability, ensuring mandatory standards and promoting growth and capacity building of MSMEs ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Key policy recommendations include 1. Strengthening the existing scheme of the DHI (Department of Heavy Industry) on enhancement of competitiveness of capital goods sector by increasing budgetary allocation and increasing its scope to further boost global competitiveness in various sub sectors 2. Enhancing export of Indian made capital goods through a ‘Heavy Industry Export and Market Development Assistance Scheme (HIEMDA)’. 3. A Technology Development Fund, 4. Upgrading existing and setting up a new testing and certification facility, 5. Making standards mandatory in order to reduce sub-standard machine imports and at the same time providing opportunity to local manufacturing units by utilising their installed capacity and 6. Scheme for skill development for capital goods sector. 7. Some of the key issues addressed include availability of finance, raw material, innovation and technology, productivity, quality and environment-friendly manufacturing practices, promoting exports and creating domestic demand. Swachh Survekshan 2016 Swachh Survekshan-2016 was a sanitation survey conducted by the Ministry of Urban Development under the Swachh Bharat Mission comissioned in october 2015 The survey was conducted in 75 major cities, including 53 with a population of above 10 lakh each and State capitals. Since Kolkata and Noida will participate in the next round, the ranking this year is for 73 cities. Mysuru has emerged as the country’s cleanest city followed by Chandigarh and Tiruchi. New Delhi Municipal Council came in fourth while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi was ranked 65th among 73 cities. Dhanbad was at the bottom of the ladder The survey was “more participatory and evidence based” as all the featured cities were informed two months in advance about the methodology. Cities were asked them to put in place records of their efforts in support of infrastructure creation, deployment of men and machines, improvements made, expenditure, etc, In a year-long survey, the researchers studied 476 first-tier cities with two parameters: one, how ‘minimal’ open defecation was in the city; two, how robust the municipalities were with the solid waste management system. Out of the total marks of 2,000 for assessing the performance of efforts of 73 cities, 60 per cent were assigned for solid waste management related parameters, 30 per cent for construction of toilets and 5 per cent each for city level sanitation strategy and behaviour change communication. The Quality Council of India had conducted the survey by deploying 25 teams which visited 42 locations in each city Analysis 80 Mysuru had also topped the last cleanliness survey which was conducted in 2014 among 476 cities with a population of one lakh and above each. This was ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY commissioned by the Ministry under the National Sanitation Policy 2008, before the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission. Based on the comparison of the marks and ranks of the two surveys, Cities from South and West continue to do well over all but those in other parts of the country Of the cities surveyed, 32 have improved ranks since the last survey including 17 from the North. This is a clear evidence of enhanced efforts being made by the northern cities towards sanitation and new cities challenging the domination of cities from the South and the West. Swachh Bharat Mission : aimed at ensuring Door-to-door collection, transportation and scientific disposal of municipal solid waste - all the 83,000 wards in urban areas by 2019 Construction of one crore household individual toilets and over five lakh public and community toilet seats. SC rejects RTI plea to make data public Supreme Court of India dismissed an Appeal filed by RTI activist Mr. Lokesh Batra challenging an order of Delhi High Court which ruled that the Supreme Court Registrar cannot be directed under the RTI Act to maintain records relating to period for which judgments remain pending after being reserved. This would have addressed concerns among lawyers and litigants about undue delays in pronouncing judgements long after the case hearing has ended. The delay could be from a month to years together. Much of the delays are blamed on too many cases, leaving no time for judges to write judgements. Background 81 The CIC had on Aug 3, 2011, directed the Supreme Court to begin compiling this information so that people could access this information. The CIC had ruled that the top court was a public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005, and directed it to maintain its records so that the public could be relevant information on the number of pending judgements. The CIC maintained - Now that the benefit of computerization is available, placing such data in the public domain should not be particularly difficult. Therefore, if the Supreme Court is not maintaining such data, it should do so now in order to facilitate the citizens to learn about the status of pendency before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court registrar general had gone to the High Court single judge and lost the case. But a division bench set it aside on the ground on January 7, 2016, that the Commission lacked the jurisdiction to issue such directions, prompting the CIC to challenge it. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Madras HC judge ‘stays’ his transfer Justice C. S. Karnan of the Madras High Court ‘stayed’ the Chief Justice of India’s proposal to transfer him to the Calcutta High Court, forcing the Supreme Court to authorise a freeze on his functions as a judge. In an unprecedented development which threatened institutional esteem, Justice Karnan, had passed a “ suo motu judicial order” ‘staying’ the Chief Justice of India’s recommendation to transfer him. Justice Karnan’s “order” directly addressed the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Justice Karnan claimed he was being targeted because he was a Dalit. Northeast’s first ‘smart village’ along Indo-Bhutan border A remote nondescript, insurgency-ravaged village in Assam along Indo- Bhutan border has earned the distinction of being the area’s first smart village. Barsimaluguri, about 11 km from the Indo-Bhutan border, in Baksa district has been turned into a model smart village with 100 per cent toilets, solar power and pure drinking water, following an initiative taken by a few individuals under the aegis of Nanda Talukdar Foundation (NTF). Indian gravity wave detector 8 years away With the discovery of gravitational waves by the U.S.-based LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory),such a project in India might become a reality though it is at least eight years away This is not counting the time it will take the Central government to clear the proposal, estimated to cost around Rs. 1,200 crore, and is further premised on the project not running into environmental or State-level hurdles. Scientists associated with the India-LIGO project (called INDIGO), since 2009, done considerable work in identifying suitable sites in India and met officials in several States. All of north India is ruled out [as a potential site] because of its seismicity, as are the deserts of Jodhpur because of sandstorms. The Deccan Plateau is best suited. INDIGO will be a replica of the two LIGO detectors and many of its components have already been built and are ready to be shipped from the United States. The project was initially to be located in Australia but, since 2011, scheduled to be located in India. At least 25 sites were considered for the detector that will, most saliently, have two L-shaped four-kilometre-long arms. Other than the benefit of having a third detector, which will likely improve the chances of spotting gravitational waves, an India detector would improve the chances of novel, exciting discoveries being made out of India and being made by Indians. Indian contribution 82 Indian scientists have, over 30 years, contributed substantially to the gravitational wave discovery that was announced last week. C.V. Vishveshwara and Bala Iyer, formerly of the Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru, were among the first to solve Einstein’s equations to derive a mathematical model to explain how colliding blackholes would look and what tell-tale signals they emitted. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY In later years, Anand Sengupta of the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, developed methods to ensure that both the LIGO detectors — separated by 3,000 kilometres — have caught the same gravitational wave, and Sanjib Mitra of the IUCAA, has found ways to tell apart gravitational waves from various exotic stars. Central nodal agency to curb human trafficking planned To strengthen the fight against human trafficking, the Union government has decided to set up a central nodal agency The government was also mooting a law for the same. The legislation will be complementary to the nodal agency Sustained initiatives such as Operation Smile, a month-long campaign to rescue and rehabilitate those trafficked, had also been bearing fruit. The figures for just four States of Operation Smile II carried out in January this year pointed out that over 10,000 missing children had been rescued. Aid for rescued bonded workers may increase The central government has proposed a major revamp of the rehabilitation scheme for rescued bonded workers, raising aid from the present Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 3 lakh. The proposal is a three-tier rehabilitation funding scheme 1. A rescued transgender or disabled person will get Rs. 3 lakh, 2. Women or children - Rs. 2 lakh 3. Adult men - Rs. 1 lakh. To ensure a sustainable flow of money, a significant chunk of the rehabilitation sum will be credited to the bank accounts of the rescued persons in the form of fixed monthly deposits. For instance, of the total entitlement, transgender and disabled people will get Rs. 2 lakh in the form of monthly deposits signed by the District Collector. Background 83 A person becomes a bonded labourer when his or her labour is demanded as a means of repayment of a loan. It is estimated that 1.4 crore workers in the country are bonded labourers, one of the highest in the world, according to the Global Slavery Index of 2014 released by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation. However, official estimates show the State governments had rehabilitated 2.80 lakh workers till March 2015. Now, Rs. 20,000 goes towards rehabilitation of a bonded labourer with an equal contribution from both the Centre and the States. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Strengthening PSBs The Reserve Bank was in the process of strengthening the public sector banks. One of the measures was to strengthen the boards governing the banks. New board members would be brought in through a transparent process. Universal banking licences would be reopened soon The RBI has also initiated three major steps to improve transactions. These include a unified payment interface which would be facilitated by an e-mail-like identity of the persons involved; trade receivables exchanges, which would bridge the gap between payment by a company to a manufacturer and the latter’s working capital requirements and measures to create an alliance between Internet market places and financiers. On financial inclusion, the last mile problem still remained but the payment side was making big strides through the Prime Minister’s Jan Dhan Yojana. RBI's monetary policy targetting Less than a year ago — at the end of February 2015 — RBI entered into a historic agreement with the government on an inflation targeting monetary framework with clear and specified goals and timelines. The first target of limiting retail inflation to 6 per cent or below by January 2016 has now been met, with the government reporting CPI data that showed the headline number at 5.59 per cent. While the reading is a 17-month high, it has slowed considerably from the 11.15 per cent recorded in November 2013. It's the journey ahead to the next milestone of 5 per cent by March 2017 which is likely to challenge monetary policy makers. The target agreed by the government and the central bank is for inflation of 4 per cent, with a band of plus or minus 2 per cent. There are several factors that could contribute to roiling the RBI's inflation targeting plans. The first is the 7th pay commission proposals that have recommended a 23.5 per cent increase in salary, allowances and pension for serving government staff and pensioners. The impact of this hike was not factored in by the RBI while setting the 5 per cent retail inflation target for March 2017. The second is food inflation. Different food item prices in the inflation basket are showing varying trends. January inflation data shows retail food prices rose 6.85 per cent on the year in January, accelerating from a 6.40 percent pace in December. A deficient monsoon may exert further pressure on food prices. The headline inflation numbers are also being impacted by services inflation, which has been sticky since September 2015 across housing, transport and communications, medical and other services. And crude oil prices may not remain benign throughout the next financial year. The 5 per cent inflation target is set under the assumption of a normal monsoon this year and the current level of international crude oil prices, RBI had said at the sixth bi-monthly monetary policy review on February 2. 84 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Fiscal management far better this year than earlier: CGA The government’s fiscal management this financial year has been better than the previous years with expenditure being spread out as opposed to the usual bunching up toward the end of the year, according to Controller General of Accounts The normal trend in government expenditure over the years has been that expenditures increase in the last two quarters of the financial year, mainly Q4. The criticism is that this is wasteful expenditure and that government departments just spend money so as to exhaust the budget. But this year if you look at the trend of the spending, you’ll find that even up to the six-month period, expenditure was more or less 48-50 per cent of the budgeted amount This means the government has taken the right decisions to ensure that funds are released right upfront, in the beginning. Another factor that is helping the government better manage its finances is the increasing push towards e-payments, with the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme taking centre-stage. The PFMS (Plan Fund Management System) portal in in CGA's office has become the agency through which all DBT transfers take place in the country. This fiscal some seven crore beneficiaries have been added on the PFMS portal since April. Once this has happened, there was a lot of pressure from other ministries, state governments and union territories to onboard other schemes onto the portal The CGA has already completed the development of its non-tax portal, which will provide systematic, electronic data on the government’s non-tax revenue, which is around Rs. 2.1 lakh crore in this Budget. Issues However, before the DBT scheme can be expanded further through electronic payments, the software systems in place will need to be upgraded The CGA also expressed concerns about ramping up electronic payments as connectivity was poor across the country. We are dependent on the available backbone of connectivity in the country. the connectivity systemhas to be strengthened up to the district level in all 630 districts in India One of the key elements lacking in accounting in India is a timely report of the consolidated picture of government accounts.At present, there is a time lag of 2-3 years before the consolidated report can be presented. That lag is not good, it needs to be bridged. For the second time since independence, the financial statements of the Centre, namely the appropriation accounts and the finance accounts of the previous financial year were presented to the legislature on December 22 last year, which is in the same calendar year Collegium recommends transfer of High Court judges 85 The Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur has recommended the transfer of High Court judges across the country. The Ministry of Law and Justice will now process the current collegium recommendations. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Following the logjam created by the litigation on the National Judicial Appointments Commission laws, the judiciary is, at this point of time, battling rising vacancies in High Courts which have touched over 400. It is learnt that the Chief Justice of India has written to High Court Chief Justices to suggest names of persons suitable for appointing to the High Court Benches. CJI Thakur had said that filling up the 400 judicial vacancies in High Courts would be a “big challenge” in 2016. The collegium’s steps show urgency as the Union Law Ministry is still in the process of collecting feedback from the State governments and High Court Chief Justices for the preparation of a new Memorandum of Procedure for transfer and appointment of judges. Plastic cards may soon go out of fashion 86 Very soon, carrying multiple plastic cards may be unnecessary when you go shopping as your mobile phone would be all you need to transact. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and software product think-tank ISpirt are ready for the technical roll out of a new Unified Payment Interface, that would allow people to people or P2P transactions from any bank account to another, using a mobile phone app. Eventually the system would allow mobile to mobile payments (without any bank accounts involved) and payments to an Aadhaar number or a virtual address if people are not comfortable sharing their bank account details. The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) project was initiated last February by Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, and over the past year, the application program interface (API) has been developed that allows payments from any bank account to another. The technical introduction launch of the interface, built on an open source framework, is in Bengaluru. Over 500 representatives from start-ups, banks, and venture capital funds keen on exploring possibilities it throws up for new applications, are likely to attend. The UPI is a new layer on top of the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) that has been used by banks for electronic fund transfers for about five years. This will allow seamless, inter-bank connection using a mobile app that can be used to pay merchants as well as make other ‘proximity payments’ on an offline basis There is a very simple API that would provide for both push and pull payments. So one can send money to another or can send request another to pay, as merchants may do if buying. One has to approve the request on his phone This is a big leap from the old system for credentials, where one had to give his card to the merchant and there is a security risk. In this model, everything happens through one's own phone, credentials are established and payment is approved. Many new phones come with biometric iris or fingerprint scanners so Aadhaar authentication is possible on these devices. A billion people can use this, it’s completely open so it is critical for India’s digital independence. The UPI has a level playing field with no gatekeepers. We can use it to fundamentally change the way we do business or improve any government service or process ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY IIT-M, Nokia to harness unlicensed spectrum IIT-Madras and Nokia announced a three-year partnership to explore the possibility of using unlicensed radio spectrum to deliver broadband connectivity. Nokia would fund the project through its Corporate Social Responsibility research programme for rural development. Nokia will also provide technological expertise to IIT-M’s Centre of Excellence for Wireless Technology (CEWiT). The objective is to deliver broadband connectivity and complement govt.’s National Optical Fibre Network initiative The IIT-M project envisages a base station, connected to the National Optical Fibre Network, wirelessly providing broadband connectivity to villages maybe as far as 20 km away. Fourth generation LTE signals will be used to “haul” the connection over such large distances while WiFi technology will be used to provide broadband at the village. Apart from outdoor-use, Indian scientists will have to devise a way to “haul” the connection. It will also look at the possibility of targeting the signal, where particular villages will receive it instead of having to send blasts indiscriminately. Private companies must buy compost from municipal waste In an attempt to boost the NDA government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ministry of Urban Development has made it “mandatory” for private companies to buy compost that is extracted from municipal solid waste. Since solid waste management is a key feature of Swachh Bharat Mission, the Ministry is finding creative ways to turn mounting waste into a national asset. About 45 compost producing plants across the country were almost “defunct” because the private firms were not interested in marketing their products. In early January, the Ministry arrived at an agreement with the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers that private companies must promote the municipal compost and slowly reduce the market size of urea. Otherwise, serious fines would be imposed on them. The 45 plants had a capacity of generating 10 lakh tonnes of organic fertilizers, but they were producing only 1.5 tonnes due to the market monopoly of urea producing companies. The government is also weighing whether to offer a deal where subsidy would be granted if one bag of municipal compost is bought with every two bags of chemically rich urea. It will help farmers to nourish their soil with organic fertilizers and reduce their dependence on chemical urea which destroys the fertility of their lands and causes serious damage to groundwater Himalayan griffon spotted in Goa 87 Birdwatchers in south Goa have reported spotting the rare Himalayan griffon, also known as Himalayan vulture. The Himalayan griffon was previously believed to belong to the upper Himalayas and was presumed to stray till the Gangetic plains at the most. In 2013, however, “an exhausted juvenile” was rescued in Thrissur district of Kerala. In the same year, ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY multiple sightings of the species were also reported from Bangalore in Karnataka and Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Earlier this year, the same species was reportedly spotted in Kaiga in Karnataka Himalayan griffons do not breed in the first three years, and hence juvenile birds of the species do not remain in breeding grounds to avoid competition In 5 years, detection of black money goes up by 15.5 times Rise in undisclosed income over the years The nationwide crackdown on black money has meant a steady increase in detection of undisclosed income, which has jumped 15.5 times over the past five years. A comprehensive report of the Director General of Income Tax (Intelligence and Criminal Investigation) shows more and more prominent business houses, including diamond traders, steel magnates and the country’s leading pharma companies, coming under the taxmen’s scanner. National undisclosed income jumped from just Rs. 5,894 crore in 2011 to Rs. 90,391 crore in 2014. The undisclosed income detected in 2012 was Rs. 6,573 crore and Rs. 19,337 crore in 2013. The data for 2015 has not been fully collated, but the number stood at Rs. 1,900 crore in the first couple of months of the financial year, tax officials said. More and more companies are involved in making bogus entries in their accounts. Under this jamakharchi , paper entries are made in account books to facilitate cash movement. There's a concept called “Jama Kharchi”, which is about converting black money to white. Jama-kharchi , of “accomodating entry” companies which basically make two kind of entities meet: One that wants to reduce its profits (and thus, taxes) by showing purchase entries Two, that that wants to shore up sales because they will get higher credit The Jama-kharchi companies will “accomodate” accounting entries that help both these companies and charge a 2% to 4% commission to be the go-betweeen. Interest rate on small savings may come down 88 Interest rates for small savings schemes, such as Post Office Savings Account, Public Provident Fund and Post office Fixed Deposit Scheme, may be reduced by the government to align them more closely with the market rates The new rates would be applicable from April 1, 2016. The rates for the long-term schemes and those for the girl child and senior citizens will remain unaffected by the decision ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The Reserve Bank, over the last one year, has reduced interest rates by over a percentage point. At present, the small savings rates are linked to government securities and are readjusted every year. The decision is to start adjusting the rates on quarterly basis Broadly the underlying philosophy of the planned changes is to align the small savings rates more frequently and more closely to the market-aligned. The smalls saving schemes include Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (MIS), PPF, Post Office Fixed Deposit Scheme, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, Post Office Savings Account and Sukanya Samriddhi Accounts. While the rates for the girl child and senior citizen schemes will also be adjusted every quarter, the spreads they have over the G-Sec rates will be left unaltered Asset quality review (AQR) of banks by RBI causing slump in shares The RBI had conducted an asset quality review (AQR) of banks and identified specific accounts, which banks have to identify as non-performing in two quarters, OctoberDecember and January-March. As a result, bad loans have hit banks’ profitability in the third quarter with most of them posting heavy losses in Q3. While the profitability of some banks may be impaired in the short-run, the system, once cleaned, will be able to support economic growth in a sustainable and profitable way Private banks, which are in a much better shape on the asset quality front, saw their business growing much more than their public sector counterpart Non-food credit growth from public sector banks, the more stressed part of the system, grew at only 6.6 per cent over the calendar year 2015. In contrast, non-food credit growth in private sector banks was 20.2 %, per cent. This has been one of the reasons for the current decline in share prices of banks There are two polar approaches to loan stress. One is to apply band aids to keep the loan current and hope that time and growth will set the project back on track. An alternative approach is to try to put the stressed project back on track rather than simply applying band aids. This may require deep surgery. loan classification is merely good accounting — it reflects what the true value of the loan might be. It is accompanied by provisioning, which ensures the bank sets aside a buffer to absorb likely losses. If the losses do not materialize, the bank can write back provisioning to profits. The Indian banking sector is seeing rise in stressed assets over the last three years. According to RBI data, stressed asset, that is gross NPA plus standard restructured advances, as a percentage of advances moved up to 11.3 per cent as on September 2015 as compared to 9.2 per cent in March 2013. New arbitration law to strengthen NBFCs 89 The year 2016 appears to have begun on a positive note for non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) with the Centre notifying the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 on the first day of the New Year. The Act is deemed to have come into effect from October 23, 2015. It has brought in certain changes to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY NBFCs give secured loans. In case of defaults, borrowers use the court process to prevent these firms from taking possession of mortgaged assets. This will change now with the modifications to the Act. Empowering the arbitral tribunal to pass interim orders, fixing time-limit for passing an award and fast-tracking arbitral procedure, among others, are the salient features of the amended Act. Sec. 17 of the original Act has been strengthened. The amended Act now allows, rather empowers, an arbitral tribunal to pass interim orders. And, it has made it clear that the arbitral tribunal will have “the same power for making orders, as the court has for the purpose of, and in relations to, any proceedings before it.’’ Such orders should, however, reflect the orders of the court. This new provision will avoid costs, namely court fee and other expenses. Besides, it will also save undue delay Courts are still empowered to grant interim relief either before the commencement of an arbitration or even after the commencement if it is shown that an order from the arbitral tribunal was efficacious. The amended Act also provides for a time-frame to pass an award. A new section has been added to ensure that an award is passed within a year. This means that the arbitrators will not be able to grant much time to the parties, and are under an obligation to pass awards within a year. Nevertheless, the Act allows for a six-month extension. This will act as a deterrent against borrowers/guarantors who drag on the proceedings. The arbitral tribunal is empowered to fast-track the procedure in certain cases and decide the dispute based on documents and submission sans oral hearings within six months. Before the amendments, filing of an application for setting aside of the award itself operated as an automatic stay, preventing NBFCs from filing execution proceedings for recovery of the awarded amount . In the amended Act, there is no such automatic stay of the enforcement of the award upon filing of application by the borrower for setting aside an award. Stay can happen only if courts grant it, and on terms, including that of depositing part-sum of the award, set by them. This will provide scope for recovery as the courts may pass an order for stay subject to certain conditions, which may include a substantial payment, and may even discourage parties from challenging the awards SC for uniform compensation scheme for differently abled rape victims 90 Highlighting the plight of differently abled victims of rape and sexual exploitation, the Supreme Court ordered all States and Union Territories to formulate a uniform scheme for providing them compensation. It stressed that no amount of money can wipe away the tears of these women who have to battle both the social disadvantage of their disability and stigma of the crime committed against them. Compensation and rehabilitation expenses range from Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 1 lakh at the most, except in the State of Goa where victims were paid Rs. 10 lakh. In Jammu and Kashmir, a minor rape victim or a victim of custodial rape is paid a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh by the State. In Karnataka, a minor rape victim is paid Rs. 3 lakh while victims other than minors are eligible to a maximum of Rs. 1.5 lakh. In Kerala, minor rape victims are paid “50 per cent extra” of Rs. 3 lakh maximum ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY compensation awarded to rape victims and Rs. 1 lakh for rehabilitation costs. In the Union Territory of Puducherry, a rape victim is eligible for a maximum compensation of Rs. 3 lakh and Rs. 20,000 for rehabilitation. The court noted that in Maharashtra, no amount is given as victim compensation for the offence of rape. ‘Can Governor intervene in Speaker’s disqualification powers?’ The Supreme Court questioned Governor J.P. Rajkhowa’s authority to concern himself with the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker’s powers to disqualify legislators under the anti-defection law. “How can the Governor take away the constitutional powers of the Speaker to disqualify lawmakers on the grounds of defection? The Governor has no role to play in issues prescribed in the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection provision) of the Constitution,” a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar observed. It questionaed the Governor’s interventions in the wake of Speaker Nabam Rebia disqualifying 16 of the 21 rebel Congress MLAs The court questioned the Governor’s use of his “constitutional discretion” to advance the sixth session of the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly by over a month, asking whether it was backed by sound constitutional principles. The advancing of the session from its scheduled date of January 14, 2016 to December 16, 2015 in order to remove Speaker Nabam Rebia triggered the entire political crisis, leading to imposition of President’s rule on January 26 Hike in reward for killing J&K militants raises concern With the Jammu and Kashmir hiking the reward money for police personnel killing a militant by 25 per cent, human rights groups in the State have expressed the fear that there would be an increase in encounters rather than arrests. According to a J&KCCS survey, there was a sudden increase in the killing of militants from 1998 and decline in arrests, just months after the reward money for counterinsurgency policemen was increased by almost 50 per cent by the government. The revised policy on rewards, approved in November last year, enhanced the reward money from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.12.5 lakh for “A plus plus”, the highest category of a wanted militant. Similarly, there is a hike in the categories of militants of “A plus”, “A”, “B” and “C”. However, the complex categorisation, where a militant’s longevity and his armed actions are factored in before the Inspector General of Police assigns him a category, has further complicated this unaccounted kill money. States can use curfew powers to block mobile Internet access: Supreme Court 91 The Supreme Court agreed with a lower court decision that the State can use its curfew powers to block Internet access on personal mobile phones if there is apprehension that a public agitation can turn aggressive and disturb public tranquillity. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by law student Gaurav Sureshbhai Vyas against a September 2015 Gujarat High Court order upholding a clampdown on mobile Internet access under Section 144 of the ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) during the Patidar agitation as only “minimal restriction” and not a violation of free speech which extends to Internet access. The dismissal of this appeal gives full credence to the Gujarat High Court’s view that blocking of Internet mobile facility is an “appropriate action” in situations “prone to aggression.” The High Court had opined that the State should be left to figure out an “effective approach” like blocking Internet on mobiles in order to maintain law and order. Plan to eliminate malaria by 2030 The Union Health Ministry announced the much-awaited plan to eliminate malaria from the country by 2030. This will be the first time that the government’s policy intervention will have deliverables and time-bound targets. Under the new framework, India will be divided into three categories as per malaria prevalence — low, moderate and endemic States. By 2016 end, all States are expected to include malaria elimination in their broader health policies; by the end of 2017, all States are expected to bring down Annual Parasite Incidence [API] to less than 1 per thousand population; and by the end of 2020, 15 States/UTs under category 1 [elimination phase] are expected to interrupt transmission of malaria and achieve zero indigenous cases and deaths due to malaria. It is also envisaged that in States with relatively good capacity and health infrastructure, namely, Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra, accelerated efforts may usher malaria elimination sooner — within two to three years According to the Health Ministry statistics, 1.13 million cases and 287 deaths were reported in the provisional data. However, British medical journal The Lancet estimates that India reports at least 50,000 malaria-related deaths annually, making discrepancy in data the biggest challenge in elimination strategy. The gross underestimation of data is something officials of the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme have acknowledged. There is underestimation — especially since the cases that are treated in the private sector do not always get counted. Under the new framework, the Ministry will depend on civil society organisations to improve surveillance. Centre makes it mandatory for power firms to buy from solid waste plants 92 The Central government has issued a circular to all power distribution companies stating it was mandatory for them to buy electricity from power plants fuelled by solid waste. In case the companies brush aside the instructions, the government would impose severe penalties on them, an entitlement that comes from the recent amendment of the Electricity Regulatory Act (2013), the notice said. About four solid waste-run power projects across the country had to be shut down because power distribution companies would not buy electricity from them. The Centre now aims at generating 700 megawatts of electricity from solid waste-run plants in the next five years. Every day, about 1.68 lakh tonnes of solid waste is collected across the country ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY As State governments will have to build plants that can produce energy from solid waste, the ministry offered to cover “20 per cent” of the cost of each plant. This money would come from the Swachh Bharat Mission. Of its budget allocation of Rs. 62,000 crore, Rs. 38,000 crore would be spent on building solid waste management infrastructure across the country. The road to arriving at energy generation is still long but the ministry has made a significant progress in setting up an effective door-to-door collection and transportation of solid waste Facebooks pulls out Free Basics from India Social networking giant Facebook pulled the plug on its controversy-ridden ‘Free Basics’ programme in India, days after telecom regulator TRAI barred operators from charging discriminatory rates for Internet access based on content. The service was offered in India in partnership with Reliance Communications and was earlier known as Internet.org. Launched in 2014, Facebook is running the programme across 17 countries Govt plans to set up 2,000 waterports; 30 on Ganga between Varanasi-Haldia 93 Government plans to set up 2,000 waterports as well as "Ro-Ro" services at 5 select places to transport goods and vehicles Besides, there is a plan to develop 1,300 islands and 280 light houses as major attractions for tourists Government is also constructing waterways on a 1,620 kilometer stretch on the Ganga between Varanasi and Haldia and 30 water ports would be constructed there. Varanasi, Haldia and Sahibganj will be developed as multi-modal hubs with roadways, waterways and railways. Government will soon start Ro-Ro (Roll-on Roll-off) service at five places including Haldia, Patna, Varanasi and Sahibganj with the World Bank assistance. Once they are operational, trucks could be transported till the points leading to huge savings which in turn would boost economy Cargo transportation through river could bring the charges down to as low as 10 paise a km in comparison to Rs 1.5 per km for transportation through road and Rupee one through waterways. Government had initiated river traffic control system from Haldia to Farakka and the system will be introduced in next six months from Farakka to Patna and thereafter from Patna to Varanasi. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY In a first, IMD to bring out summer forecas For the first time in its history, the India Meteorological Department — best known for its monsoon forecasts — will issue a summer forecast for April, May and June Those involved say that though such a forecast may not be of much help to farmers — who rely on IMD’s rain forecasts to make sowing decisions and don’t plant their crops in these months — the information would be useful to power companies, several service-sector industries and state planners who’d like a heads-up on possible water shortages. In mid-March, the IMD will send out a colour-coded map of India, showing how temperatures in different regions of the country are likely to deviate from what’s normal, during summer months. These numbers would be updated every five days Businesses that have requested summer forecasts include manufacturers of refrigerators, air conditioners, ice cream and cold drinks The IMD’s initiative comes even as India bears the brunt of one of the longest and severest El Ninos ever experienced. Said to be responsible for two consecutive droughts as well awry winter patterns in North India, the El Nino — a meteorological phenomenon marked by an unusual warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean and associated with droughts — is likely to continue for a couple of months more. The IMD does give warnings about imminent heatwaves and dry weather but these are no more than five days ahead. The key factor to forecasting weather a few months ahead is in ensuring that the computerised weather models are consistently able to simulate the weather as it actually plays out. Last month, the IMD officially expunged the word “drought” from its vocabulary, months after it correctly forecast one of India’s severest monsoon deficits last year. Gates Foundation on Centre’s radar 94 The Indian government will closely scrutinise the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s (BMGF) methods of donations in India after an international report accused the world’s biggest philanthropist of influencing government policies in favour of multinational pharmaceutical companies. Unlike other international donors, the BMGF is not registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), leaving its funding out of the ambit of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the regulatory authority for NGOs and associations who receive foreign funds. The foundation instead operates as a “Liaison Office” under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) as approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Since it is not registered under the FCRA, the funding of NGOs doesn’t come under the government’s watch list. It is not clear where and what they are funding. It is a loophole and it can open gates for other NGOs as well to use this route to escape scrutiny ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY RBI allows “liaison offices” to operate in India and the central bank does not want to give up this power. This is being exploited by many foreign associations and organisations to route undetected foreign funds. Though the RBI gives LO permits, it does not regulate them as there are no such rules. No inspections can take place and thus no taxes are paid. The BMGF works as a marketing office for U.S. pharmaceutical vaccines pushing only WHO pre-approved manufacturers, all of whom are either USA or EU based In Ford Foundation’s case, MHA first put it under a “watch-list” category as it funded Gujarat-based activist Teesta Setalvad’s NGOs. Ford was neither registered as a society nor under FCRA. After the government’s crackdown, Ford registered itself under FEMA last month. Officials say the international NGO will soon be taken off the watch-list. In the health sector, the BMGF is accused of altering aid priorities by ‘legitimizing the role of multinational pharmaceutical companies’ by pushing for public-privatepartnerships (PPPs). According to Global Justice Now, both the BMGF-funded Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) and the GAVI Alliance, are PPPs and have questionable associations with the pharmaceutical industry. Government to ease norms for real estate business 95 The government is easing rules for granting construction permits around airports and monuments by developing colour-coded maps in a bid to give fillip to urban growth Developers have to get permits from Airport Authority of India (AII) in New Delhi to build projects around the country’s airports. “It took a hell lot of time,” At AII, the process of clearing such applications is manual. AII has now come out with colour-coded zonal map. The airspaces used by jetliners for landings and take offs are highlighted in the map. No construction will be allowed in such spaces. Construction would be allowed in those areas that fall out of “colour coded” zones Developers don’t have to come all the way to Delhi to get building height clearances among others. The government will soon empower urban local bodies to follow the colour-coded zonal maps and authorise real estate development accordingly In July 2015, Mr. Naidu had reached out to all the ministries, asking them to amend the laws that hamper the real estate growth across the country. The ministries had responded positively, agreeing to fix the gaps by the end of 2015. Jaipur International Airport is the first one to develop a colour-coded map. All the other civilian airports across India, including 28 defence airports that are being used for civilian purposes, will have their maps ready by December 2016. Ministry of Civil Aviation has also commissioned “improved version” of online NOCAS (No Objection Certificate Application System) to help applicants calculate permissible heights in airport zones. Similarly, the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with ISRO is developing colourcoded maps for 281 monuments that fall in construction zones. Ministry of Culture has launched a mobile app that enables online approvals for construction around monuments in just 72 hours. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Govt. renews air safety contract with Wicks Group The government has renewed a contract with the U.S.-based Wicks Group to help the country retain its air safety ranking. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had hired the firm on a one-year contract in 2014 after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had downgraded India’s safety ranking to Category-II based on a 2013 audit. The DGCA signed the agreement with the United States Technical Development Agency, which will be partially funding the project and share the cost of assistance with the Wicks Group, according to a Civil Aviation Ministry statement. The current contract is aimed at “sustaining efforts undertaken during 2014” for restoration of air safety rankings and “bringing in more systemic improvements in the area of operation, airworthiness and licensing.” The Wicks Group had assisted the DGCA and the FAA had in April last year restored India's safety ranking to Category-I, implying the country is meeting the international standards in terms of civil aviation safety oversight. The move comes close on the heels of a pending audit report from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which had conducted a comprehensive air safety audit in December last year. Although an ICAO downgrade will not have a direct impact on airline operations it may raise alarm bells among other aviation authorities. For instance, the ICAO audit in 2012 had prompted FAA to conduct its own audit which led to a downgrade in India’s air safety ranking. TRAI rules in favour of Net neutrality 96 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) barred telecom service providers from charging differential rates for data services, effectively prohibiting Facebook’s Free Basics and Airtel Zero platform by Airtel in their current form. No service provider can offer or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services on the basis of content. No service provider shall enter into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever name called, with any person, natural or legal, that the effect of discriminatory tariffs for data services being offered or charged by the service provider for the purpose of evading the prohibition in this regulation. Reduced tariff for accessing or providing emergency services, or at times of public emergency has been permitted. Financial disincentives for contravention of the regulation have also been specified TRAI may review these regulations after a period of two years. TRAI said a fine of Rs. 50,000 would be levied per day, subject to a maximum of Rs. 50 lakh, for any violation of these regulations by the service providers. An exemption, however, has been made for offering emergency services. Ruling out case-by-case approval for plans that might be priced differently, the regulator said a clear policy should be formulated. The TRAI said tariff for data services could not vary on the basis of the website/application/ platform/ or type of content being accessed. For example, a consumer could not be charged differently based on whether she was browsing social ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY media site A or B, or on whether she was watching streaming videos or shopping on the Internet, it added. It, however, said that to bring more users on the Internet, this prohibition would not apply to other forms of tariff differentiation that were entirely independent of content. For instance, providing limited free data that enables user to access the entire Internet is not prohibited What’s net neutrality? It is the principle that all traffic on the Internet must be treated equally by Internet service providers. Those advocating Net neutrality believe all bits of data are equal, and, therefore, should not be discriminated on the basis of content, site or user. This has largely been the default mode since Internet started. Who benefits from net neutrality? How? Every Internet user. Think through how you would like to browse the Internet. Wouldn’t you like to access the Web without worrying about how differently videos will be charged compared to other forms of content? Wouldn’t you like to access the Web without the telecom service provider getting to serve some sites faster than others? If yes for both, you are pro-Net neutrality. New ventures benefit too. In fact, one of the key reasons for start-ups to have come up in a big way in recent decades is the openness of the Internet. The Internet has reduced transaction costs and levelled the playing field. A start-up can come up with an app today, and can immediately attract a global audience. The likes of Googles and Facebooks could have struggled to grow if the Internet had not been open. Panel proposes mandatory vision and hearing tests for class 1 admissions If a proposal made by a vision committee is accepted, parents will have to submit a doctor’s report on the child’s hearing and vision. The technical committee set up by the State government to frame the State Vision Policy has proposed, among other things, a mandatory testing of vision and hearing ability of children at the time of admissions to class 1. Aditya gets ready to gaze at the sun 97 Aditya-L1, the Indian Sun mission due after three years, may turn out to be a unique formation of not one but two spacecraft looking at the Sun from two stable orbital points. That is if the Advisory Committee on Space Sciences, which is the brain behind the country’s extra-planetary missions, ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY has its way. Internal discussions have appare That is if the Advisory Committee on Space Sciences, which is the brain behind the country’s extra-planetary missions, has its way. Internal discussions have apparently been launched. Aditya is the nation’s third big extra-terrestrial outing after Moon and Mars, all conceived and designed by ADCOS, the multi-faculty body of the Indian Space Research Organisation. ISRO has started activities to send a 400-kg spacecraft to look at the Sun from a special stable orbital slot called L1 around 2019-20. L1 or ‘Lagrangian’ point # 1 is about 1.5 million km from Earth towards the Sun. There are four more Lagrangian points L2 to L5 for Sun and Earth where space objects can resist the pulls of both the celestial bodies and stay relatively stable in that orbit. ADCOS has designed the 2008 Chandrayaan-1; its future sequel; the 2013 Mars Orbiter Mission and is weighing the pros of either a second Mars mission or a Venus trip — the last of which is attracting other Space agencies as potential partners. The challenges The first task is to build a few ultra-sensitive instruments to accurately measure minute details about the Sun. The bigger challenge is to create an all-aluminium 20-metre-high magnetic test facility near Bengaluru to specially assemble and test the spacecraft and instruments in a magnetically clean manner with “not one electric material, not even a car, being nearby”. A satellite and a launcher each cost around Rs. 200 crore. With Zika, Indian firm scales up trials for ‘GM mosquitoes’ 98 A Maharashtra company is getting ready to scale up trials to find out whether genetically engineered mosquitoes can be a useful tool to check the growth of the insect. Gangabishan Bhikulal Investment and Trading Ltd. (GBIT), a sister company of the Maharashtra Hybrid Company (Mahyco) that first brought Bt cotton to India, has been breeding male mosquitoes. These mosquitoes contain genes which when passed on to its progeny render them unable to mature unless they have access to tetracycline, a compound that is not naturally available in the environment. The idea is that once enough of these laboratory-bred mosquitoes mate with the disease-carrying females in an open environment, they would reduce the region’s mosquito population. The technology — licensed from Oxitec, a University of Oxford company — is being tested in Malaysia and Brazil, which has seen the highest number of Zika cases. The strain of mosquito, called OX513A, is sourced from Oxitec and introduced into local sites. According to GBIT scientists, international evidence so far shows the strain can reduce the number of mosquitoes in a place by 90 per cent in three or six months. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY NDRF trains 160 dogs for disaster response In a maiden initiative, a squad of 162 dogs is being raised by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to aid its personnel in rescuing people trapped under debris in the aftermath of natural calamities like earthquake. The NDRF, which was involved in disaster rescue operations like the deluge in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Chennai and the earthquake that struck Nepal last year, has undertaken the exercise on a ‘mission mode’ The force is training a batch of 162 dogs for their specialised Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) tasks under which the NDRF teams have to sift through mounds of rubble to look for life trapped beneath. A number of them have finished their regime and are being subjected to drills and field exercises where they are made to sniff out life in a collapsed concrete structure. India flags API issue to U.S. govt. 99 India has sought clarity from the U.S. government on the ramifications of a recent adjudication, which gave rise to apprehensions that the medicines procured by the American government should be only from companies making even the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) either locally or in certain designated nations such as European Union (EU) members. India and China account for about 80 per cent of the U.S.’s requirement of API (drug raw materials). The ‘determination’ of the U.S. Homeland Security Department — which seemed to imply that the drugs that contained APIs imported from India and China are ineligible to be sold to the U.S. government — is likely to directly and indirectly hurt India’s API exports to the U.S., according to a preliminary assessment by India’s commerce ministry. The U.S. decision has major implications on generic drugs, affordability of medicines and on efficient sourcing The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (or CBP, which comes under the Homeland Security Department) that made the ‘determination’ in November 2015, said any party-at-interest may seek judicial review of this ‘final determination’ before the Court of International Trade. The matter relates to the U.S. CBP 'determination' that the API in Carlsbad Technology Inc’s drug Acyclovir was manufactured in India and China. The drug was meant for U.S. government procurement. It is used against herpes viruses. The matter came to the Indian government’s attention after Pharmexcil (a lobby group of the pharmaceutical industry) approached the commerce ministry earlier this month, asking them to intervene and help resolve the issue. The decision was taken as per the provisions under the U.S. Trade Agreements Act (TAA). The U.S. TAA applies America’s international trade agreements with other countries and the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) to the U.S. government procurements. As per the interpretation of the U.S. TAA, in cases of U.S. government procurement, medicines need to be made in the U.S., or in certain ‘designated countries’ (such as some EU-member countries and Japan, which are also signatories to the GPA) if they are to be given the benefit of waivers from “Buy American” restrictions. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY India and China are not in this list of ‘designated countries’. India is not a signatory to the GPA and does not have a free trade pact with the U.S. Chettinad cotton saree wins Indian Handloom tag The Chettinad cotton saree has won the ‘India Handloom’ tag for its unique designs and identity In this regard, the Textiles Committee, Union Ministry of Handlooms and Textiles, Mumbai, has registered the Chettinad cotton saree under the India Handloom Brand Scheme after checking various quality parameters stipulated by the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and offered a logo. The Chettinad saree inherits the intricacies of now out-of-vogue and over a centuryold‘ Kandangi’ pure silk sarees. The sarees are already popular in few North Indian states in the country and are also popular in other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. Project Sunrise 100 Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda recently launched Project Sunrise in Manipur. Project Sunrise is a five year programme aimed at complementing the ongoing National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) which is to primarily improve coverage, quality and scale of HIV interventions among People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) in eight North East States. Activities of the project are to be implemented through the existing system in close coordination with State AIDS Control Societies (SACS) in the North-Eastern states. National Human Resource reduction strategy will be a part of the project and will be implemented in five years. Approximate cost of the project is Rs 70 crore. In the entire North East States, the project will be implemented in 20 districts. The Central Government is funding the NACO projects and the amount would be transferred directly to the State AIDS Control Society through NACO. Project Sunrise will implement more customized flexible approach so as to increase the availability and accessibility to clean needles and syringes through secondary distributors such as Government health care facilities, preferred healthcare providers, non-traditional outlets and peer volunteers. The programme also includes lower threshold strategies to improve Opoid Substitution Therapy (OST), coverage and sensitization workshops for law enforcing officials. It also includes HIV intervention in prison settings. The programme also aims to strengthen linkage with Ministries and Government Departments, community mobilization, intervention among Female Injecting Drug Users (FIDU), Intervention Among Spouses of PWID, establishment of Real Time Monitoring (RTM) system, Implementation of innovative approaches such as community based HIV-testing, safe disposal of used needles and syringes etc. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY U.S., India in talks to settle solar power trade dispute The U.S. and India are in talks that could settle a long-running solar power trade dispute, delaying the announcement of a ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Washington filed the WTO challenge three years ago, claiming that India’s national solar power programme illegally discriminated against imported solar panels and related products through its domestic content requirements. The WTO, in recent weeks, has twice delayed the public announcement of a ruling in the case, rescheduling it for next Wednesday. Indian media reported last August that a WTO dispute settlement panel had confidentially notified Washington and New Delhi that it would rule against India in the case. S. Trade Representative Spokesman Andrew Bates declined to confirm any details of the WTO’s intentions but said the talks were aimed at reaching an out-of-court resolution before any public announcement by the Geneva-based trade body. The U.S. initiated this dispute for the purpose of advancing the rapid deployment of clean, affordable energy in India and around the world India has now asked to speak with the U.S. regarding the issue and in light of ongoing discussions, release of the WTO panel’s report ruling has been temporarily delayed The U.S. complaint in 2013 alleged that the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission subsidies were available only if developers used equipment produced in India, violating a key global trade rule. The programme is aimed at easing chronic energy shortages in India. The Obama administration argued that the rules are a barrier to solar products made in America and elsewhere but also effectively raised the cost of generating solar power in India and extended the country's dependence on fossil fuels. As customs duty exemption goes, 76 life-saving drugs to get costlier 101 In a move that could inflate the cost of essential life-saving imported drugs, the Finance Ministry has withdrawn exemption of 76 medicines from customs duties. The list includes 10 HIV drugs and at least four cancer drugs, but haemophilia patients are likely to be the most affected by the decision. Putting old HIV or cancer medicines out of the list makes no difference as the generic versions are available in India at cheaper rates. This is a move to boost domestic competition among Indian drug-makers. The pressure will be on patients who do not have an alternative source. They already pay out of pocket and piling duty on them seems a move that has not been well-thought out The Department of Revenue has issued a notification on January 28, withdrawing exemption from import duty on a number of drugs, including cancer and other ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY lifesaving drugs. This will result in excise/import duties to the extent of over 22 per cent, which will make these drugs more expensive There are over 75 drugs on this list. This will also impact the indigenous drugs being manufactured in SEZs, thus adversely impacting the government’s aim of making healthcare affordable and accessible to patients in India Haemophilia is a genetic disorder in which the patient tends to bleed excessively. Antihaemophilic factor concentrates (VIII & IX) that are given to patients to control the bleeding are off the list. These concentrates are proteins that help the blood clot Juvenile board to decide if suspect in two murders can be tried as adult A decision will soon be taken by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on whether a 17-yearold boy, who is accused of committing two murders in Delhi in five months to raise money for a reality show, will be tried as a juvenile or as an adult. As per the Juvenile Justice Act 2015, which came into effect in mid-January, the boy could be tried as an adult if the board assesses him mentally and physically capable of committing the heinous offences and as having the ability to understand their consequences. The boy, who will turn 18 next month, was first apprehended last September on charge of kidnapping a 13-year-old boy for ransom and killing him later. He was allegedly assisted in the crime by his juvenile girlfriend, who too aspired to make it big in a reality show. They needed the money to fund their aspirations. If he ends up being tried as an adult, his will be among the first such major case in Delhi after the much-debated law was passed in December and approved by the President on the last day of 2015. The JJB “shall conduct a preliminary assessment with regard to his mental and physical capacity to commit such offence, ability to understand the consequences of the offence and the circumstances in which he allegedly committed the offence”. For the assessment, the board may take the assistance of “experienced psychologists or psycho-social workers or other experts”. About JJ Act: The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 repealed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2015 was passed by Lok Sabha on 7th May, 2015; was passed by Rajya Sabha on 22nd December, 2015 and received Presidential assent on 31st December, 2015. The JJ Act, 2015 provides for strengthened provisions for both children in need of care and protection and children in conflict with law. Some of the key provisions include: 102 Change in nomenclature from ‘juvenile’ to ‘child’ or ‘child in conflict with law’, across the Act to remove the negative connotation associated with the word “juvenile”; Inclusion of several new definitions such as orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children; and petty, serious and heinous offences committed by children; ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Clarity in powers, function and responsibilities of Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) and Child Welfare Committee (CWC); Clear timelines for inquiry by Juvenile Justice Board (JJB); Special provisions for heinous offences committed by children above the age of sixteen year; Separate new chapter on Adoption to streamline adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children; Inclusion of new offences committed against children; Mandatory registration of Child Care Institutions. Child offenders: Under Section 15, special provisions have been made to tackle child offenders committing heinous offences in the age group of 16-18 years. The Juvenile Justice Board is given the option to transfer cases of heinous offences by such children to a Children’s Court (Court of Session) after conducting preliminary assessment. The provisions provide for placing children in a ‘place of safety’ both during and after the trial till they attain the age of 21 years after which an evaluation of the child shall be conducted by the Children’s Court. After the evaluation, the child is either released on probation and if the child is not reformed then the child will be sent to a jail for remaining term. The law will act as a deterrent for child offenders committing heinous offences such as rape and murder and will protect the rights of victim. Adoption: To streamline adoption procedures for orphan, abandoned and surrendered children, the existing Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is given the status of a statutory body to enable it to perform its function more effectively. Separate chapter (VIII) on Adoption provides for detailed provisions relating to adoption and punishments for not complying with the laid down procedure. Processes have been streamlined with timelines for both in-country and inter-country adoption including declaring a child legally free for adoption. Rehabilitation: 103 Several rehabilitation and social reintegration measures have been provided for children in conflict with law and those in need of care and protection. Under the institutional care, children are provided with various services including education, health, nutrition, de-addiction, treatment of diseases, vocational training, skill development, life skill education, counselling, etc to help them assume a constructive role in the society. The variety of non-institutional options include: sponsorship and foster care including group foster care for placing children in a family environment which is other than child’s biological family, which is to be selected, qualified, approved and supervised for providing care to children. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY New Offences: Several new offences committed against children, which are so far not adequately covered under any other law, are included in the Act. These include: sale and procurement of children for any purpose including illegal adoption, corporal punishment in child care institutions, use of child by militant groups, offences against disabled children and, kidnapping and abduction of children. Children Home: All child care institutions, whether run by State Government or by voluntary or nongovernmental organisations, which are meant, either wholly or partially for housing children, regardless of whether they receive grants from the Government, are to be mandatorily registered under the Act within 6 months from the date of commencement of the Act. S tringent penalty is provided in the law in case of non-compliance. Panel to finalise national afforestation fund plan by month-end The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Forests will finalise its suggestions on how to use the national afforestation fund of Rs. 38,000 crore that has been idling for 10 years The panel has been seeking views of public and private stakeholders across the country and met agencies concerned in the State The Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Bill, 2015 seeks ways to unlock the fund that has accumulated with the Compensatory Afforestation Management Planning Authority (CAMPA). Incentives to persons displaced from eco-sensitive zones and using CAMPA funds to acquire land in sensitive areas have been made to the panel Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015 104 The proposed legislation seeks to provide an appropriate institutional mechanism, both at the Centre and in each State and Union Territory, to ensure expeditious utilization in efficient and transparent manner of amounts realised in lieu of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose. This would mitigate impact of diversion of such forest land. The proposed legislation also seeks to provide safety, security and, transparency in utilization of these amounts, which currently are being kept in Nationalised Banks and are being managed by an ad-hoc body. These amounts would be brought within broader focus of both Parliament and State Legislatures and in greater public view, by transferring them to non-lapsable interest bearing funds, to be created under public accounts of the Union of India and each State. The proposed legislation will also ensure expeditious utilization of accumulated unspent amounts available with the ad hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), which presently is of the order of Rs. 38,000 crore, and fresh accrual of compensatory levies and interest on accumulated unspent balance, which will be of the order of approximately Rs. 6,000 crore per annum, in an efficient and transparent manner. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Utilization of these amounts, will facilitate timely execution of appropriate measures to mitigate impact of diversion of forest land, for which these amounts have been realised. Apart from mitigating the impact of diversion of forest land, utilisation of these amounts will also result in creation of productive assets and generation of huge employment opportunities in rural areas, especially in backward tribal areas. Expenditure of the National CAMPA is proposed to be met from the funds to be retained in the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) from the accumulated funds transferred to it by the ad-hoc CAMPA, and the funds to be transferred, on yearly basis, to the National CAF from a part of the funds credited by user agencies directly into State CAFs. The proposal, therefore, does not involve any additional expenditure on the Centre. The Bill provides for among other things: Establishment of the National CAF and the State CAFs to credit amounts collected by State Governments and Union Territory Administrations to compensate loss of forest land diverted for non-forest purpose. Constitution of a National Authority to manage and utilise amounts credited to the National CAF. Constitution of a State Authority in each State and Union Territory to manage and utilise the amounts credited to the State CAFs. Establishment of a Monitoring Group to assist the National Authority in monitoring and evaluation of activities undertaken from amounts released from the National CAF and State CAFs. Panel to seek increasing ISRO outlay by 50 p.c. 105 The Chairman of the visiting Parliamentary Committee on Science & Technology said the panel would recommend a 50 per cent higher budgetary outlay for the Department of Space (DoS) for the upcoming financial year. If it materialises, it could be the highest ever increase for the department and the total budget may surpass Rs. 10,000 crore. It got a 43 per cent hike two years ago, i.e. in 2013-14. In the budget presented in February 2015, the DoS received Rs. 7,388 crore, including about Rs. 1,400 crore for non-plan expenditure. The amount was a little more than what it was allocated the previous year (Rs. 7,238 crore for 2014-15), but this was later revised and became about 20 per cent lesser. Congress leader Ashwani Kumar chairs a 31-member MPs' team on S&T and Environment & Forests and was also in charge of the DoS in the erstwhile UPA government. At the end of two days of meetings related to space, forest and environment in Bengaluru, he told a news conference that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has contributed a lot to the social and defence needs of the country. It undoubtedly needs a bigger budget for new projects and a matching technical pool to complete them. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Government may ask central bank to consider roads as a priority sector 106 The government will soon approach the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan with a proposal to include road projects under the priority sector list for lending purposes and review the non-performing assets norms to revive Rs. 40,000-crore worth of highway projects that have not taken off due to bureaucratic delays and cost overruns. The Road Transport and Highways Ministry has decided to take up the priority sector route with the central bank,following a consultation with the Indian Banks’ Association earlier this month. The banks provide a certain portion of ‘priority sector’ lending in the form of small value loans to farmers for agriculture, micro and small enterprises, poor people for housing, students for education and low income groups and weaker sections. At present, 40 per cent of loans given by banks should go to priority sectors defined by the RBI. Out of this, 18 per cent should go toward agriculture lending. In a separate move, the Union government may ask the RBI to ease non-performing asset norms for bank loans to revive projects. It may ask the RBI to not classify bank loans as NPAs if the project has failed to take off beyond two years from its original date of commencement. At present, bank loans, extended for infrastructure projects, become NPAs if the project has been delayed for two years from its original schedule even for reasons beyond the control of promoters such as land acquisition approvals. This will, however, be done for road projects which are found viable after assessment. The government may also ask the RBI to allow banks to infuse more funds into projects facing cost overruns due to delays. At present, the RBI guidelines allow banks to fund additional interest during construction of projects and other cost overruns up to 10 per cent of the original project cost. The IBA has requested the government to increase the limit of 10 per cent to support stalled projects. The government is finding it hard to revive the 19 highway projects worth Rs. 40,000 crore and it recently met road developers and bankers to address the issues. One of the main reasons behind the delay in highway projects is shortage of funds. While the road contractors said banks were reluctant to fund projects due to mounting non-performing assets, the government officials said the ‘managerial inefficiencies’ of developers have stalled these projects. Last year, the government had taken several decisions to revive the stalled road projects. The Cabinet had approved a policy to allow National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to infuse one-time funds for completing public-private partnership (PPP) projects where 50 per cent work is done. However, the scheme has not found many takers as banks have not agreed to NHAI getting the first charge on the toll revenues from these projects. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Co-optex’s handloom tag gets noticed abroad After a gap of two years, surviving a recession that had hit even the handloom sector, Co-optex has bagged a sizeable business from overseas customers for its furnishing material. The Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society, known better as Co-optex, has a niche clientele in Europe and in the United States. The organisation participates in the annual fair held by the European Free Trade Association. For the past two years Co-optex had felt the heat of the recession that had hit the western market. Co-optex has hired a designer who qualified from the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design to develop these products. New products Among the new products that have sold well abroad and in North India are the double jacquard honeycomb design bedspreads, throws and quilts. Co-optex has so far bagged around Rs. 1 crore worth of business in its export segment The organisation has been chosen by the European Free Trade Association countries as its products comply with their norms of environmental standards in terms of dyeing, chemicals, effluents used, discharge of effluents into the ecosystem, non-use of child labour and fair wages to the weavers States to get greater role in wetland management 107 The Union government has begun revising the existing regulatory framework on wetlands across the country in a bid to enable a greater role and ownership by State governments in their management. the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) provides the policy framework and support to the States. The State Wetland Authorities will be tasked with managing wetlands within their jurisdiction in a strategic step towards increasing the capacity of wetland managers in integrated and holistic management, upgrading the existing Wetland Research and Training Centre of Chilika Development Authority at Barkul in Odisha into the National Capacity Development Centre for wetlands is also being envisaged by the Ministry. The theme of World Wetlands Day this year is ‘Wetlands for our Future – Sustainable Livelihoods’. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Bajaj unveils bike with INS Vikrant metal Bajaj Auto on Monday unveiled a 150-cc bike named ‘V’ that contains metal sourced from India’s first aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. INS Vikrant was commissioned as the first aircraft carrier of Indian Navy in 1961. After years of distinguished service, it was decommissioned in January 1997 and served as a museum till 2012. In November 2014, the aircraft carrier was dismantled and sold as scrap metal. N-plant parts to be made in India 108 In a move that could become a model for countries keen for a share of India’s civil nuclear energy pie, India and Russia have set up a working group to locally build components for nuclear power plants of Russian design. This is based on the Action Program signed between Rosatom and the Department of Atomic Energy of India during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Moscow in December last year. Based on the decision signed in December 2015, a fourth working group on the localization of production in India has already been established and is operating successfully Rosatom as part of its plans for expanding its global footprint is in the process of opening its regional office for South Asia office in Mumbai. The Action Program includes areas of cooperation in the field of joint machinery production, especially for nuclear power plants, as well as cooperation in the field of joint development, mastering and technological support of the implementation of endto-end production technologies of products for heavy and power engineering industries. The three joint working groups set up under the Indo-Russian Coordinating Committee on cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy established in December 2014 are on the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear energy and scientific-technical cooperation. The localization plans are part of the government’s efforts to build manufacturing in the country under its ambitions Make in India initiative Russia is currently building six reactors in Kudankulam of which the first unit was commissioned in autumn 2013. It was shut for the first scheduled preventive maintenance (SPM) and has now successfully restarted power generation. The assembly of the second unit assembly has been finished and the hot run stage was completed. The physical launch is scheduled by the Indian party for mid-2016 The permit for excavation works and foundation pit preparation for power units 3 and 4 has been obtained from the Indian regulatory body. The comprehensive delivery contract for reactor equipment for these units was signed in September last year. Russia is also scheduled to be allotted a second site most likely in the coastal state of Andhra Pradesh for setting up another six units as agreed in 2014. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY India is looking to majorly ramp up nuclear power generation to overcome power shortages as well as reduce carbon emissions under its global commitments. HAL’s import, assemble, supply ‘model’ 109 The Ravindra Gupta Task Force Report on Defence Modernisation and Self Reliance submitted its report in September 2012, officially recording that the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, India’s aerospace giant, has been importing most of its raw material from abroad, assembling them and supplying finished products to the Indian military. And that it has failed to create a robust supply network of domestic companies and R&D capabilities. Of the total raw material consumption of HAL, the import component has been going up over the years. Between 2000-01 and 2010-11, it was always above 77.3 per cent. And in 2009-10 and 2010-11 it went up further to 92.6 and 95.4 per cent respectively. Over the last decade, as HAL grew exponentially, its total raw material consumption was worth Rs. 12,280 crore in 2010-11. The indigenous component was just Rs. 565 crore, which was just 4.6 per cent of the total consumption as opposed to 15.8 per cent in 2000-01, the Task Force Report pointed out. Air Marshal Matheswaran’s report points out that the annual reports of HAL for 201112 and 2012-13 omit the details of imports after the Task Force report. The report pointed out that the figures available from the Task Force and other sources show that “These figures reiterate the window-dressing that ‘indigenisation’ actually has become in many DPSUs/PSUs.” “HAL has been an assembler, in essence, of SKD and CKD [semi knock down and completely knock down] kits for engines and aircraft for six decades. Much of this is dependent on component, sub component, engine and airframe assemblies manufactured under licence. Hence it could actually be thought of as a ‘licence raj’,” the Matheswaran report says. It points out that the import content of HAL for materials and spares amounts to a major portion of its turnover itself. HAL’s model has resulted in very little indigenisation, less than expected ancillary job and revenue generation within India, besides inadequate vendor development. Along with scanty vendor development in terms of true value and criticality of product to the aircraft itself, there is negligible impact on skill development within the DPSU/PSU Examining the 2010-11 performance of HAL, the report points out that the company’s turnover was Rs. 13,115.5 crore and the total consumption was Rs. 12,280.2 crore. Of the total consumption “Rs. 11,715.1 crore [i.e. 95.4 per cent] went abroad towards imports and can be said to be towards profits that foreign OEMs, vendors and MRO services would make there from,” the report says. “Although 10 Research and Development centres have been in existence for a long period of time at various divisions of HAL, their contribution towards self reliance is negligible,” the report says. Most of these centres spend most of their time resolving basic transfer of technology implementation issues. Resultantly, HAL has come to be fully dependent on imported items. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Avalanche on the Siachen glacier Ten soldiers have been buried under snow after their camp in the northern part of the Siachen glacier was hit by a major avalanche According to preliminary information, the avalanche struck the camp located in the northern Siachen Glacier, at a height of 19,600 feet The post was manned by a Junior Commissioned Officer and nine soldiers Rescue operations by specialised teams of the Army and the Air Force are under way, and are being coordinated from Leh and Udhampur. The incident highlights the extreme risks that soldiers face in manning the inhospitable terrain at heights of 21,000 feet under extreme weather conditions on the world’s highest battlefield. Over the years, India has invested heavily in procuring high-quality equipment. The Army has streamlined procedures for better acclimatisation, and this has helped to cut casualties. However, all that is no guarantee against the avalanche of the sort that hit the camp on Wednesday. On an average, India spends Rs. 5 crore a day for maintaining troops on the glacier. More soldiers have been killed in the Siachen glacier owing to weather than by enemy fire over the years. Over 870 soldiers have lost their lives due to climatic conditions and environmental factors since the Army launched Operation Meghdoot in 1984, pre-empting Pakistan’s attempt to occupy the strategic heights. The guns fell silent after India and Pakistan declared a ceasefire along the Line of Control Actual Ground Position Line in November 2003. The guns fell silent after India and Pakistan declared a ceasefire along the Line of Control Actual Ground Position Line in November 2003. The 10 soldiers trapped in ice after an avalanche on the Siachen glacier were declared dead However rescue efforts are still on to locate and retrieve the bodies Pakistan offers help: The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan tweeted an offer to help in the search mission. However the Indian Army, while appreciating the gesture, declined it as “adequate resources and 110 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY personnel have already been pressed into service.” The Indian Army has been controlling the dominant heights of the glacier, the world’s highest battlefield, since occupying it in April 1984 under Operation Meghdoot pre-empting Pakistan’s move which controls heights at the lower altitudes. IT services exports to cross $100 billion IT services exports would cross the $100 billion mark in 2015-16 and the sector would clock double digit growth in 2016-17 The optimism comes despite concerns about the impact of the election campaign in the United States, which accounts for half of India’s IT exports and the rise of protectionism in Europe and the U.K. The IT sector, which India’s largest private sector employer, is likely to add two lakh new jobs this year, taking its employeestrength to 3.7 million. It expects another two lakh new jobs in 2016-17 with an expected 10 per cent to 12 per cent growth in exports at the present currency valuations.The domestic growth is expected to be between 11 per cent and 13 per cent. While global economic growth slowing to 2.4 per cent in 2015, spending on ITbusiness process management (IT-BPM) grew by a mere 0.4 per cent though this was largely due to the impact of currency fluctuations. Yet, the industry expects total revenues to grow to $143 billion in 2015-2016 from $132 billion a year agowith exports rising at 12.3 per cent. The IT industry body, which has now began to include e-commerce businesses in its domestic IT-BPM industry assessment, said online retail is growing at 20 per cent and would hit $17 billion in 2015-16 compared to $14 billion in the previous year. Government and Qualcomm announce contest for start-ups In support of the forthcoming Make in India Week event to be held in Mumbai, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and Qualcomm Ventures announced India’s largest start-up contest — “QPrize Make in India”— awarding $3.5 lakh in equity investment as prize money for the winning company. The contest is to catalyse Indian entrepreneurs and start-up community to drive the entire value chain from innovation to manufacturing in India. Short-listed companies will be invited for the final pitch presentation during the grand finale on February 18. With over $5 billion worth investment in 2015 and three to four start-ups emerging every day, India has the third largest number of start-ups in the world. WHO certifies vaccine maker GreenSignal Bio 111 Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO) has accorded PQP (Pre-qualification of Medicines Programme) certification to the city-based GreenSignal Bio Pharma Pvt. Ltd., a BCG vaccine-making firm. GreenSignal is the second Indian company to get PQP certification from WHO. PQP certification helps GreenSignal to participate in the global immunisation pro ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY gramme, which is facilitated through international procurement agencies such as UNICEF and others. These global institutions go by the WHO’s list of pre-qualified products while making a decision on procurement for medicines for distribution in resource-limited nations. The WHO certification will provide GreenSignal access to 5-7 countries with UNICEF setting it year-wise allotment target for supply of BCG vaccine. IS threat: Maharashtra rolls out deradicalisation plan 112 Faced with the challenges of both home-grown extremism and the global Islamic State (IS) threat, Maharashtra has rolled out a deradicalisation programme for the minority community. The programme includes opening vyayam shalas in minority areas, making National Cadet Corps (NCC), Bharat Scouts and Guides (BS&G) compulsory in minority schools, and setting up an independent media outlet to deliver ‘mainstream thoughts and values’ to the minority youth in the State. The Union Home Ministry had asked three States to draw up a comprehensive counter-strategy in the wake of attempts by international terrorist outfits to propagate jihadi ideologies. Concurrently, the State Home Department has rolled out a 50-point socio-economic strategy with the aim of ‘bringing youth of the minority community into the mainstream’ and making coordinated efforts and policies in 13 sectors, including education, sports, urban planning, law and order, skill development, women and child, social justice, and health. The proposed responses drawn up against the threat of home-grown extremism include: plans to teach religious texts from all sects in minority schools and teaching merits of democratic States and demerits of dictatorships as a separate chapter in the Urdu textbooks. The State police, which has faced flak in the past for poor handling of communal rights, has been directed to deal with religious extremism ‘in the strictest possible manner.’ Individuals and organisations disturbing communal harmony, spreading propaganda on social websites and services, ‘must be dealt with strongly.’ The cops have been told to identify and reduce any feeling of communalism within the force and ‘reach out to the minority community and win their hearts at all costs.’ The plan aims to create an environment of solidarity and trust among the minority, and envisages different departments undertaking various schemes to reach out to the minority, implement a scheme a year, while setting aside 15% of their funds for the same As per the government resolution on ‘deradicalisation of youth and preserving communal amity’, the State Education Department will launch a mid-day meal scheme in Urdu schools, provide textbooks at subsidised rates, and teach ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Urdu as optional subject in 300 Marathi shalas (schools). Muslim scholars have already criticised the efforts to label the community as radicalised. Indian firm files patent for Zika vaccine candidates Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has filed for global patent of two vaccine candidates a recombinant vaccine and an inactivated vaccine - for Zika virus. The company announced that it could make available the inactivated vaccine in two years if the Indian Government fast-tracked the regulatory approvals once the preclinical trials proved to be successful. While the recombinant vaccine might take time, the pre-clinical testing of the inactivated vaccine in animals would be completed in five months. Zika is now present in 23 countries. Brazil, the hardest-hit country, has reported around 3,500 cases of the devastating birth defect called microcephaly. The Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes of the Aedes genus, which can breed in a pool of water as small as a bottle cap and usually bite during the day. Steady rise in incidence of lung cancer There has been a steady rise in incidence of lung cancer in India in the past decade, and it continues to top the list. While smoking and exposure to tobacco remains the leading causes of lung cancer, another emerging risk factor is the dangerous mix of air pollutants breathed in daily, especially among the urban population Lung cancer accounts for about 13 per cent of all new cancers in India and 10.8 per cent in Bengaluru. This cancer is gradually also on the rise among women, among whom breast cancer still tops the list. According to the Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) - 2013, an estimated 63,000 new lung cancer cases are reported annually with a slim five-year survival rate of 10 per cent. “There is little doubt that smoking is the leading instigator of lung cancer. However, urban air contains many known carcinogens (cancer causing agents) such as suspended particulate, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, among others. These components are believed to trigger cancerous mutation in the body’s cells IAF bases on western border put on high alert 113 In the aftermath of the terror attack on the Pathankot airbase, all Indian Air Force (IAF) bases on the western border are on high alert and shoot-at-sight orders are in effect to prevent wrongful entry. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY When a base is on alert, shoot-at-sight orders are issued against anyone trying to gain wrongful entry or scaling walls Precautionary boards had been put out warning public about the instructions Six terrorists breached the walls of the Pathankot airbase on January 2 and held their ground for four days before being killed. On the findings of the security audit, which was ordered after the attack, the officer said there were no major “weaknesses” but had identified vulnerabilities which would be addressed. As part of the process, perimeter security is being beefed up on a priority basis and procurement of equipment will be fast-tracked. These include smart fences, perimeter installation detection systems, video motion detection systems, thermal cameras and quad copters. The estimated cost per base is Rs. 100-150 crore and 54 major bases will be taken up in the first phase. In addition, officials said the stipulation for no constructions up to 100 metres outside bases and 900 metres outside weapon depots would be implemented. GM mustard study to be out soon The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), which examines the scientific merits of releasing genetically modified seeds into the environment, will consider making public, immediately, the results of tests and studies so far conducted to test the safety of transgenic (or GM) mustard. This comes even as several farmers’ groups and environmental activist organisations have alleged that the GEAC plans to allow GM mustard on farmer fields. Defence PSUs profiting on advances 114 Official studies have been conducted in recent years into India’s ambition to emerge as a major aerospace manufacturer that can design and build its own aircraft and related systems All those reports remain confidential, and the government has taken almost negligible action on them to improve the situation The studies show that the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bharat Dynamics Ltd and Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (MIDHANI) —all of them enjoying virtual monopoly in defence aerospace sector — have been booking profits over the years not from their businesses Instead, they take huge advances from the military against future deliveries, earn interest on them, and show them as profits. Then they award a significant part of the so-called profit to their majority shareholder, the government. With annual defence budget growing at a healthy rate, and defence forces under pressure to spend them within the financial year, it is now a well-established practice for them to give away significant advances to the defence PSUs, even if there is ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY significant delay in production, and products are not delivered for years. That cycle is adding to what is plaguing the DPSUs, the reports point out. Although, the profits have been increasing, a major portion of the profit has been from ‘other income’ not related to aircraft repair, maintenance, manufacture/overhaul. Significant portion of the other income comprises the ‘negative’ financing cost due to the interest accrual on advances from Defence Customer for the huge order book How it makes profit is an eye-opener. The HAL receives advance from the military, almost three times its annual turnover. In 2010-11, the financial turnover was a bit over Rs. 13,000 crore, but the order book was Rs. 68,265 crore, against which HAL took advance of Rs. 35,146 crore from its customers. On that advance, it earned an interest income of over Rs. 2,200 crore, and booked a profit after tax of Rs. 2,114 crore. That year, HAL paid the government, its majority shareholder, a dividend of Rs. 423.12 crore. With a captive customer base, and no government demand on performance improvement, HAL has become an predominant assembler of systems for the Indian military. Its exports have remained negligible: In 2012-13 it exported just Rs. 382 crore worth of systems, the report points out. Bharat Electronics Ltd With over 10,000 employees, BDL is a Navratna DPSU since June 2007 and has nine production units and 31 manufacturing divisions. It produces electronic warfare systems, avionics components etc. for aircraft. Like HAL, Bharat Electronics Ltd also enjoys assured orders and large advances from MoD. Its sales/turnover have been rising consistently along with profits More than 70 per cent of its income has been coming mainly from non-core activities. The report points out that BEL’s income from other sources, especially against advance taken from the military, almost doubled between 2010 and 2013. In 2012-13, other income of BEL stood at Rs. 723.35 crore. Bharat Dynamics Ltd 115 A manufacturing base for guided weapons systems, BDL has been the prime production agency for the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. Like other DPSUs, the profitability of the company is mainly due to heavy advances received from MoD. In fact, other income of BDL has been more than the profit of the company The report points out that the company has been making losses in its core activities and “has been showing profit only due to large order book & advances received from the Government.” In 2013, the company had a turnover of Rs. 1,074.71 crore, had taken an advance of Rs. 4,899 crore from the government and earned almost Rs. 522 crore on it, and booked it as other income. It also says that BDL is overbooked far beyond its capacity with the requirement of ATGM (anti-tank guided missile) and SAMs (surface to air missiles). It almost enjoys a monopoly in missiles production within India due to government restrictions. Against an annual turnover of just Rs. 1,100 crore the total value of AON (acceptance of necessity) with the company was over Rs. 35,000 crore. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited MIDHANI is equipped for metallurgical facilities to make super-alloys, titanium, special purpose steels etc. for aerospace, defence, atomic energy etc. The financial analysis of the company for the last two financial years indicates increase in sales revenue and net profit. The profitability of MIDHANI like other DPSUs has a significant contribution of other income generated by the interest accrued on advances received from its customers No mammography needed for women under 50: WHO Mammography has gained popularity globally, as well as in India, over the years with the rising incidence of breast cancer. The IARC, the specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organisation, recommends mammography for women aged over 50 as now there is scientific evidence that it is effective in reducing breast cancer mortality for women in the 50– 69 age-group, but has limited efficacy in the younger age band of 40 to 49. It states that the benefit of reduced mortality extends to women screened at age 70–74. Fuel tax rates result in two-wheeler owners paying more per litre than airlines Higher state taxes coupled with greater incidence of central excise duties has resulted in petrol becoming more expensive per litre than aviation turbine fuel (ATF), the cost of which is borne only by those who can afford to fly. All fuels are subject to several taxes, both at the central and state levels, resulting in their final market price being significantly higher than the price dealers pay for the fuel. One major reason for the mismatch between the prices of ATF, a highly refined fuel and petrol is the higher burden of central excise duties on the latter While oil prices in India fell from $50.2 per barrel at the start of February 2015 to $30.3 currently, the government absorbed most of this benefit by hiking excise duties on petrol five times in that period from Rs. 6.95 per litre to Rs. 9.48 per litre currently. State-level tax rates differ but the trend is one of higher rates for petrol compared to ATF. The central excise duty on ATF is at an ad valorem rate of eight per cent as opposed to a fixed amount for petrol. This greatly benefits airlines when oil prices fall, as is currently happening, since the quantum of tax payable by them will also fall proportionately. The excise duty on petrol remains fixed regardless of the price of oil. Another reason for ATF enjoying lower excise duties than petrol or diesel, apart from lobbying by airlines, is that aviation fuel can be freely imported. Hence, if the Indian government hikes the excise duty on ATF, airlines can simply import it from cheaper sources. Consumers of diesel or petrol don't have any such option. India gears up to face Zika virus 116 With Zika virus cases being reported from South America and the US, the Centre decided to constitute a technical group to monitor the situation even as it prepared to come out with an advisory soon. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY A day after WHO warned that Zika virus was spreading “explosively”, the government also decided to strengthen its surveillance system and asserted that it is taking all measures to ensure that it is “well prepared” in case of any eventuality. This mosquito also carries the viruses that cause Dengue and Chikungunya which are of great public health concern in tropical countries like India. The outbreak began in Brazil last year and has now spread to 24 countries in the Americas. HAL rolls out first prototype of basic trainer The first prototype of basic military trainer aircraft HTT-40, planned as the first of three-rung trainers for novice Air Force pilots, has just rolled out of the hangar, its maker Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd The made-in-India aircraft will next undergo ground runs and taxi trials followed by a maiden flight The twin-seater Hindustan Turboprop Trainer can be modified into a light attack aircraft, used for aerobatics, instrument flying, navigation, night flying and close formation. The HTT-40 project, touted as a symbol of capability to design and manufacture a trainer aircraft within the country, was almost aborted until the Defence Acquisition Council announced in March last year that 68 of them would be bought for the Air Force. The IAF has a total requirement of 181 basic trainers, the rest being filled by importing the Swiss-make Pilatus PC-7 Mark-II. The HTT-40 prototype was recently rolled out of the Aircraft Research & Development Centre's hangar using a remotely operated mini car. HAL said the team working on HTT-40 is the youngest on any of its prototype programmes. It will be powered by the Honeywell TPE 331-12B engine and produced at the Aircraft Division, Bengaluru. Seventy of the 90 LRUs or systems on the trainer are sourced from the Lucknow, Hyderabad and Korwa divisions. RBI relaxes FDI norms to boost start-ups 117 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed several rules including foreign direct investment norms to boost start-up activity in the country. To begin with, start-ups are allowed to receive foreign venture capital investment irrespective of the sector in which they operate. The new norms will enable transfer of shares from foreign venture capital investors to other residents or non-residents. The central bank also permitted, in case of transfer of ownership of a start-up enterprises, receipt of the consideration amount on a deferred basis as also enabling escrow arrangement or indemnity arrangement up to a period of 18 months. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The regulatory changes for easing the cross-border transactions, particularly relating to the operations of the start-up enterprises, are proposed to be made in consultation with the Government of India The central bank simplified the process of dealing with delayed reporting of foreign direct investment (FDI)-related transaction by building a penalty structure into the regulations itself. RBI also said certain proposals are been considered and consulted with the government. These proposals include, permitting start-up enterprises to access rupee loans under External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) framework with relaxations in respect of eligible lenders, issuance of innovative FDI instruments like convertible notes by startup enterprises and streamlining of overseas investment operations for start-up enterprises. RBI also said certain issues that are permissible under the existing regime shall be clarified like issue of shares without cash payment through sweat equity or against any legitimate payment owed by the company remittance of which does not require any permission under FEMA and collection of payments by start-up enterprises on behalf of their subsidiaries abroad. Inter-ministerial meet to discuss measures to increase exports Inter-ministerial talks will begin soon to consider measures to boost exports and improve the ease of doing business. The move comes in the backdrop of merchandise exports shrinking for the 13th consecutive month in December. As part of the discussions, the government will also look into the likely impact of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) on exports besides reviewing free trade agreements, including the one with Asean member-countries. Besides, the commerce ministry will soon approach the ministries of external affairs and finance on customs-related issues. Govt. sets up Tax Policy Council headed by Finance Minister 118 The Government has created a Tax Policy Research Unit (TPRU) and Tax Policy Council to be chaired by the Union Finance Minister with nine other members including Minister of State for Finance, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman, Commerce and Industry Minister Revenue Secretary and the Chief Economic Advisor. Finance secretary, Commerce Secretary and Industry Secretary will also be its members. The Council will be advisory in nature, which will help the Government in identifying key policy decisions for taxation. The TPRU will comprise of officers from both the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) as well as economists, statisticians, operational researchers, legal experts The decision is based on the recommendation of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) that have in its First Report, identified handling of tax policy and related legislation as one of the areas in need of structural modifications. Right now this is handled in the CBDT and the CBEC. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Independently of the two boards, the Tax Research Unit (TRU) and Tax Policy and Legislation (TPL) wings also send proposals to the union Finance Minister. To bring consistency, multidisciplinary inputs, and coherence in policy making, the TARC recommended that a Tax Council supported by a common Tax Policy and Analysis (TPA) unit should be established to cater to needs of both direct and indirect taxes. It also recommended that Comprising tax administrators, economists, and other specialists such as statisticians, tax law experts, operation research specialists and social researchers should be set up for both the the boards. The TPRU will be a multi disciplinary body with the objectives of carrying out out studies on various topics of fiscal and tax policies referred to it by CBDT and CBEC. It will provide independent analysis, prepare and disseminate policy papers and background papers on various tax policy issues. It will assist Tax Policy Council and liaise with State Commercial Tax Departments. Companies Law Committee submits report to Government 119 The Companies Law Committee — constituted in June 2015 to make recommendations on the issues related to implementation of the Companies Act, 2013 — submitted its report to the Government After extensive consultations with stakeholders and exhaustive deliberations, the Committee has proposed changes in 78 sections of the Companies Act, 2013 which, along with consequential changes, would result in about 100 amendments to the Act Approximately 50 amendments to the Rules have also been proposed. The recommendations cover significant areas of the Act, including definitions, raising of capital, accounts and audit, corporate governance, managerial remuneration, companies incorporated outside India and offences/ penalties. The Committee has endeavoured to reconcile the competing interests of the various stakeholders keeping in mind the difficulties and challenges expressed by them and also being mindful of the government’s objective of furthering ease of doing business, encouraging start-ups and the need for harmonising various laws, according to the statement. Some of the key changes proposed are regarding managerial remuneration to be approved by shareholders and modification of definition of associate company and subsidiary company.Private placement process should be substantially simplified and incorporation process made easier. The suggestions also include omitting provisions relating to forward dealing and insider trading from Companies Act. Companies may give loans to entities in which directors are interested after passing special resolution and adhering to disclosure requirement. Restriction on layers of subsidiaries and investment companies could be removed. Auditor will report on internal financial controls with regard to financial statements. Frauds less than Rs. 10 lakh could be compoundable offences Other frauds can be continued to be non-compoundable. Requirement for a managerial person to be resident in India for 12 months prior to appointment may be done away with ESOPs may be allowed to promoters working as employees/directors. The Committee was chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY INTENATIONAL ISSUES Male, white documentary directors dominate Academy Awards: study The new study gives credence to the #OscarSoWhite controversy that has surrounded this year’s awards ceremony Reflecting a persistent lack of diversity in the genre and the global film industry, a new study has claimed that best documentary feature category in the Oscars consistently favours white, male documentary directors. Released just days before the 88th Academy Awards 2016, which are set to be organised on February 28, the findings showed that 89 per cent of film directors shortlisted for the Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature have been white, and 77 per cent have been male, over the past three years. The researchers systematically gathered, archived, categorised and coded data for 45 films across 2014, 2015 and 2016 along the road to the Academy Awards. A total of 56 formally-credited directors were examined for this analysis, as several films had more than one credited director. With close investigation of the Oscar-shortlisted documentary films, the study brings to light what it takes to reach the highest level of achievement. The findings titled ‘Journey to the Academy Awards: An investigation of Oscarshortlisted and nominated documentaries (2014—2016)” showed that Academy Awards recognition of female documentary makers remain consistently rare. Bees are vanishing: U.N. report Many species of wild bees, butterflies and other insects that pollinate plants are shrinking toward extinction, and the world needs to do something about it before our food supply suffers, a new United Nations scientific mega-report warns. The 20,000 or so species of pollinators are key to growing fruits, vegetables and cash crops. Yet two out of five species of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, are on the path toward extinction Pollinators with backbones, such as hummingbirds and bats, are only slightly better off, with 1 in 6 species facing extinction. Reasons 1. the way farming has changed so there’s not enough diversity and wild flowers for pollinators to use as food; 2. pesticide use, 3. habitat loss to cities; 120 ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY 4. disease, parasites and pathogens; 5. and global warming. The report is the result of more than two years of work by scientists across the globe who got together under several different U.N. agencies to come up with an assessment of Earth’s biodiversity, starting with the pollinators. Everything falls apart if you take pollinators out of the game. If we want to say we can feed the world in 2050, pollinators are going to be part of that Graphene set to revolutionise electronics Graphene 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. A fine sheet of pure carbon the skinniest material known it is 100 times stronger than steel, hugely pliable and can conduct electricity and heat better than anything else physicist Kostya Novoselov first isolated graphene in 2004, Applications Bendable mobile phones, quick-charge batteries and unbreakable touch screens…technology firms are racing to harness the potential of graphene, a wonder material which scientists say could transform consumer electronics. Graphene is so pliable scientists predict it will one day make flexible phones possible.Graphene is so strong and thin that researchers believe they will one day be able to use it to make unbreakable screens for mobile devices. Samsung, the world’s number one smartphone maker, has taken out the most graphene patents — over 490 — followed by China’s Ocean’s King Lighting and IBM. The trade fair in Barcelona for the first time had a pavilion dedicated to graphene research centres and start-ups, a sign of the growing importance of the material to the mobile industry. India moving U.N. to blacklist Masood 121 In its biggest diplomatic move after the Pathankot attack, India will approach the United Nations to include the Pakistan-based terror mastermind Maulana Masood Azhar on the list of globally designated terrorists India will be moving the 1267 Sanctions Committee to also include the name of Masood Azhar on the sanctions list. Azhar remained unsanctioned though his group, though JeM, was included by the 1267 Sanctions Committee on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organisations in 2001. The decision is significant since it is the second time in less than a year that India will attempt to isolate an international terrorist through the anti-terror committee. In June 2015, India moved the committee in the United Nations, demanding an explanation from Pakistan for its decision to release the 26/11 attack plotter Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi from jail. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The attempt to isolate Pakistan, however, failed at the last moment because of China’s opposition. Officials said that this year too, China’s attitude would be watched. However, according to experts, the attempt to isolate Masood Azhar has a greater possibility to succeed at the 1267 Sanctions Committee. India has already given actionable intelligence and technical intercepts that connect Masood Azhar’s organisation to the Pathankot attack. The technical inputs are likely to be presented before the UN committee Pakistan’s recent action arresting individuals connected to the Pathankot attack might also be cited by India to strengthen the case against Masood. India also had a better chance of getting more support at the U.N. Security Council from members like France who might help in convincing Pakistan’s strategic allies to understand the global threat posed by individuals like Masood Azhar. 40 tonnes of relief material airlifted to cyclone-hit Fiji India extends $1 million in immediate assistance to Fiji after devastating Cyclone Winston hits India dispatched relief material to cyclone-hit Fiji as part of its humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts in the neighbourhood. A C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force took off from the Palam air station here to Fiji, via Chennai, with 40 tonnes of relief material. The consignment includes food, medicines and tents. Fiji was hit by the massive Cyclone Winston last Saturday, leaving at least 44 dead. The island nation has requested foreign aid. India has already announced aid in the aftermath of the disaster. Sunita’s visit to deepen space cooperation Captain Sunita Williams, Astronaut with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) of the U.S., will be in India on a two-day visit beginning even as a NASA team is holding discussions with their Indian counterparts to deepen space cooperation. In Delhi, Capt. Williams has a series of engagements addressing students on her journey as an astronaut and women’s empowerment through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education. Coinciding with the visit a NASA team lead by the Deputy Administrator Dava Newman is at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) headquarters in Bengaluru for the third face-to-face meeting of the ISRO-NASA Mars Working Group. The working group coordinates observations and science analysis between the NASA and the ISRO’s Mars spacecraft — including India’s Mars Orbiter Mission and the NASA’s MAVEN which arrived at Mars within days of each other in September 2014 – and explores potential cooperation on future missions to Mars Passive Wi-Fi 122 While it's become a necessity of modern life, Wi-Fi is also an energy hog, draining the batteries of all those connected devices surrounding us. That may change with the ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY recent demonstration by University of Washington (UW) researchers of Wi-Fi transmissions generated using 10,000 times less power than conventional methods. Known as Passive Wi-Fi, the system also uses 1,000 times less power than current energy-efficient wireless communication platforms, like ZigBee and Bluetooth LE. The Passive Wi-Fi system uses just tens of microwatts of power, and is able to transmit at up to 11 megabits per second – that's much less than the highest Wi-Fi speeds, but 11 times faster than Bluetooth. The discovery also has positive implications for the "Internet of Things," which would better enable connected devices and sensors in homes and on wearables without having to worry about a continual power drain. Wi-Fi transmissions have both a digital and analog component. The digital side has become very energy efficient over the years, scaling along with Moore's law, but the analog component continues to consume hundreds of milliwatts of power. To achieve their low-power results, the researchers assigned the power-hungry analog portion to a single device plugged into an outlet. The signal sent out is then reflected by the remote device with its own data added to it. It works something like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips using backscatter communication, and can communicate at a distance of up to 100 feet (30 m) in real-world conditions. Essentially, the networking and power-consuming parts of the process are handled by the device plugged into the wall, while the passive Wi-Fi devices only have digital base band (no analog) and are reflecting and absorbing the signal from the plugged in device to generate the Wi-Fi packets of info. The sensors can talk to any device with a Wi-Fi chipset, including routers, smartphones and tablets. The cool thing is that all these devices can decode the Wi-Fi packets we created using reflections so you don't need specialized equipment The research, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, UW and Qualcomm, will be presented in a paper next month at the USENIX Symposium on Networked Systems Design and Implementation. Source: University of Washington, UW Passive Wi-Fi Excessive time on facebook is like drug addiction 123 Can spending excessive time on Facebook or other social media be as dangerous as addiction to cocaine or gambling? Researchers from California State University, Fullerton, in the U.S. say yes. They say social media obsession may lead to something akin to classical addiction. Excessive use triggers two key parts of the brain associated with rewards: amygdala, which is the integrative place for emotions, behaviour and motivation and striatum, part of the forebrain and a critical component of the reward system. The findings, recently published in the journal Psychological Reports: Disability and Trauma showed that social media-related ‘addictions’ share some neural features with substance and gambling addictions. The meteoric rise of the Internet usage and emergence of various social media platforms has left many young Indians socially isolated and lonely. According experts, teenagers with Facebook addiction-like symptoms may “have a hyperactive amygdale-striatal system, which makes this ‘addiction’ similar to many other addictions. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Also preoccupation with social media leads to an interference in one’s social, occupational as well as other areas of functioning. Influenza can hide from human immune system Influenza, commonly known as “flu,” can hide itself undetected in an individual’s body by the person’s immune system, reveals a study. The influenza virus that affects mainly the nose, throat, bronchi and occasionally lungs contains a protein that helps in outsmarting the immune system — which can track viruses and alert the body of the entry of foreign virus into the human cells to multiply. The virus contains a protein that masks the virus entering the cell. In this way, the influenza virus can spread more easily before the immune system recognises that it is a virus and attempts to fight it The little protein that is able to mask the influenza virus from the immune system can be used to combat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis as well as the relatively rare disease lupus, which to a great extent affects young women. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks healthy cells and tissues and creates chronic inflammation The protein’s immunosuppressant effect can possibly be used to develop better treatments for these types of diseases, where the immune system is chronically overactive. By suppressing the immune system’s reaction, the symptoms can be reduced The study was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications . Brexit referendum campaign begins in U.K. 124 The campaign on Brexit has begun in the U.K., with Prime Minister David Cameron receiving early backing for his call for the country to remain in the European Union from opposite ends of British society. Even as the pound, which had taken a plunge in response to the Brexit uncertainty, slowly recovered ground, nearly 200 business leaders employing over 1.2 million people, and U.K.’s Trade Union Congress representing six million workers came out in support of the ‘Stay’ campaign. The ‘Stay’ campaigners say If the Brexit camp gets their way, many vital workplace benefits that the EU has given – paid holidays, extra maternity rights and better conditions for part-time workers – could be for the chop. That may prove attractive to unenlightened business leaders, but it will not win the hearts and minds of working people buckling under the strain of insecurity and reduced living standards. Leave campaigners allege that the business bosses – some of them Conservative Party funders – who have signed up to the letter comprise just a third of the FTSE 100 companies. Initiated by the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign and the Prime Minister’s Office, it includes heads of business houses like Marks and Spencer, British Telecom, Vodafone, and ASDA, although equally big businesses have not signed. The ‘in-out’ referendum on Britain’s future in the EU will be held on June 23. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Assad regime agrees to Syria peace deal Syria’s regime agreed to a ceasefire deal announced by the United States and Russia, but there were widespread doubts it could take effect by the weekend as hoped. The agreement, announced, does not apply to jihadists such as the Islamic State group and the al-Nusra Front, putting up major hurdles to how it can be implemented on Syria’s complex battlefield. The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the government would continue to fight both those groups as well as other “terrorists,” while agreeing to stop other military operations in accordance with the announcement. The deal calls for a “cessation of hostilities” between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and opposition groups that would take effect overnight Friday-Saturday in Damascus. The High Negotiations Committee — the leading Syrian opposition group — gave its conditional acceptance to the deal. But after several previous failed attempts, few had serious expectations for a lasting ceasefire. Nepal lifts fuel restrictions With significant improvement in fuel supplies from India, Nepal ended its five-monthlong rationing of petroleum products imposed after the turbulence over the new Constitution that saw a crippling blockade of key border trade points in the landlocked country. The move brought cheer to thousands of people in the Himalayan nation who, under the quota, were getting merely five litres of petrol for two-wheelers and 15 litres for four-wheelers at a time besides half-filled LPG cylinders. Motorists will now get any amount of fuel, while households can buy fully filled cooking gas cylinders. Supply of petroleum products from Indian Oil Corporation is increasing with every passing day Obama pushes for Gitmo closure 125 President Barack Obama presented a long-awaited roadmap to close the controversial U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, also referred to as Gitmo, saying it was time to shutter a facility that betrayed U.S. interests and values. Mr. Obama unveiled a plan that says the United States should continue to transfer lowrisk detainees to other countries and which describes how 13 possible replacement facilities could save the U.S. taxpayer millions of dollars each year. A total of 91 suspected jihadists remain at Guantanamo, a prison that once housed about 700 inmates at its peak and has become synonymous around the world with torture, indefinite detention and orange jumpsuits. Mr. Obama has pushed for Guantanamo's closure since taking office in 2009, but his efforts have been thwarted by Republican lawmakers, many of whom see it as a useful tool in combating terror. The U.S. President says the opposite is true, and that the facility feeds into anti-U.S., jihadist propaganda. Mr. Obama also has faced opposition from within his own administration, with the Pentagon accused of slow-pedalling transfers and overstating closure costs. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The Guantanamo Bay closure plan, which took months to produce, gives few specifics on where a U.S. facility would be, but military officials have previously listed Fort Leavenworth, Kansas or the U.S. Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina among the possible destinations for inmates. Those locations, however, face objections from local politicians. Mr. Obama has long argued that many Guantanamo prisoners should be transferred overseas and some tried by military courts Indian delegation to visit Colombo A delegation of officials from India will visit Colombo on March 4 to hold talks with Sri Lankan officials regarding the proposed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) During the discussion, the two countries would exchange their draft, and Parliament and all parties would be taken into confidence before finalising the agreement Unlike in the now-aborted Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), there would not be any provision in the ETCA for movement of natural persons [also known as Mode 4]. The new pact would cover areas such as financial services, promotion of trade and investment, e-commerce and tourism. The proposed pact would pave the way for generation of employment opportunities and investment, he added. Later, when members of the Opposition raised questions why an Indian firm was roped in for implementing the Emergency Ambulance Health Protection Service [a variant of the 108 Emergency Response Services] Internet by light promises to leave Wi-Fi in the shade 126 Connecting the smartphone to the web with just a lamp — that is the promise of Li-Fi, featuring Internet access 100 times faster than Wi-Fi with revolutionary wireless technology. French start-up Oledcomm demonstrated the technology at the Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest mobile fair, in Barcelona. As soon as a smartphone was placed under an office lamp, it started playing a video. The big advantage of Li-Fi, short for “light fidelity”, is its lightning speed. Laboratory tests have shown theoretical speeds of over 200 Gbps — fast enough to “download the equivalent of 23 DVDs in one second Li-Fi allows speeds that are 100 times faster than Wi-Fi” which uses radio waves to transmit data The technology uses the frequencies generated by LED bulbs — which flicker on and off imperceptibly thousands of times a second — to beam information through the air, leading it to be dubbed the “digital equivalent of Morse Code”. It started making its way out of laboratories in 2015 to be tested in everyday settings in France, a Li-Fi pioneer, such as a museums and shopping malls. It has also seen test runs in Belgium, Estonia and India. Dutch medical equipment and lighting group Philips is reportedly interested in the technology and Apple may integrate it in its next smartphone, the iPhone7, due out at the end of the year, according to tech media. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY With analysts predicting the number of objects that are connected to the Internet soaring to 50 million by 2020 and the spectrum for radio waves used by Wi-Fi in short supply, Li-Fi offers a viable alternative, according to its promoters. Li-fi has its drawbacks — it only works if a smartphone or other device is placed directly in the light and it cannot travel through walls. This restricts its use to smaller spaces Vienna is world’s best city: survey Austria’s capital Vienna is the best place in the world to live, according to an international survey on quality of life that has no Indian city in the top 100. According to the 18th Mercer Quality of Life study which examined socioeconomic conditions of 230 global cities, Vienna, a city of nearly 1.8 million people, is the world’s best city, followed by Zurich, Auckland, Munich and Vancouver. While famous cities such as London, Paris and New York failed to make a cut even in the top 30s, Baghdad was named the worst city in the world. Among Indian cities, Hyderabad topped the rankings at 139th position, followed by Pune at 144, Bangalore at 145, Chennai at 150, Mumbai at 152, Kolkata at 160 and New Delhi at 161. The study examined social and economic conditions, health, education, housing and the environment and is used by big companies to assess where they should locate and how much they should pay staff German-speaking cities dominate the rankings, with Vienna joined by Zurich, Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in the top seven. The social democratic government has a long tradition of investing in high-quality social housing, making Vienna almost uniquely affordable among major cities. According to the World Bank, Austria has one of the highest figures for GDP per head in the world, just behind the U.S. and ahead of Germany and Britain, the report said. The European migrant crisis, which has seen large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers pass through Vienna en route to Germany, has had little impact on the city. NASA makes Apollo ‘moon music’ public NASA has made public the recording of the mysterious ‘outer-space music’ that Apollo 10 mission astronauts heard as their spacecraft flew around the far side of the Moon in 1969. The transcript of the conversation between Apollo 10 astronauts Eugene Cernan and John Young mentioning the strange sound and the crew’s response to the phenomenon were released in 2008. However, the audio of the discussion and the sounds that the astronauts were referring to has just been made public. Out of radio contact with Earth and all alone on the far side of the Moon, the astronauts had not expected to hear anything on their instruments. India's risk of downgrade in Special 301 report 127 Hectic lobbying is underway by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) to prevent the risk of a downgrade in the Special 301 report ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Special 301 report identifies trade barriers to U.S. companies and products due to a foreign government’s intellectual property regime. The office of the U.S Trade Representative (USTR) prepares the report annually India,s current position is on the ‘priority watch list,’ which has ‘countries of major concern’ to the U.S. Government. There are two categories worse than this as per the Special 301 ranking and India’s faces the risk being downgraded. The lowest category will face U.S sanctions. India's stand The Government of India does not engage with the process as it considers it an infringement on the country’s sovereignty. India considers that the categorisation is arbitrary and mostly a political decision, in order to reward or punish a target country. The USIBC, which has 350 companies investing India as members, is also part of the US Chamber of Commerce. It is now trying to avert a potential setback at the USTR. USIBC efforts are to ensure that the India retains its current position. It submitted lists of a series of measures by the Indian government that strengthened the IP regime in the country. IP index The U.S Chamber of Commerce International IP Index released recently had India at the lowest but one among 38 countries ranked. Venezuela was the only country below India. Berlin film festival 128 Italian film Fuocoammare ( Fire at Sea) , a harrowing documentary about Europe’s refugee crisis, clinched the Berlin film festival’s Golden Bear top prize from a jury led by Meryl Streep . In other prizes, France’s Mia Hansen-Love won the Silver Bear for best director for her drama Things to Come . Tunisia’s Majd Mastoura won the Silver Bear for best actor for his role in Hedi , a love story set in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, which also won best debut feature. The Silver Bear for best actress went to Denmark’s Trine Dyrholm for her role as a wronged wife in Thomas Vinterberg's The Commune , a semi-autobiographical take on his 1970s childhood. Oscar-winning Bosnian director Danis Tanovic took the runner-up Grand Jury Prize among 18 contenders for Death in Sarajevo about the corrosive legacy of the 1990s Balkan wars. A more than eight-hour-long historical epic by Filipino director Lav Diaz, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery , claimed the Alfred Bauer Prize for a feature film that opens new perspectives in cinema. Best screenplay went to Polish filmmaker Tomasz Wasilewski, his portrait of the pivotal 1989-90 period in his country as told by four women, played by some of Poland's best-known theatre actresses, at crossroads in their lives. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Mini organs to produce insulin Scientists have successfully developed ‘mini-organs’ that produced insulin when transplanted into the mice, an advance that could lead to patient-specific therapy for diabetes. Details Researchers have spent decades trying to replace the insulin-producing pancreatic cells, called beta cells, that are lost in diabetes. Scientists, including those from Harvard University, have discovered that tissue from the lower stomach has the greatest potential to be reprogrammed into a beta-cell state. They took samples of this tissue from mice and grew them into “mini-organs” that produced insulin when transplanted back into the animals. The mini-organs’ stem cells also continued to replenish the insulin-producing cell population, giving the tissue a sustainable regenerative boost. The pylorus region connects the stomach to the small intestine. Cells in this area were the most responsive to high glucose levels, producing insulin to normalise mice’s blood sugar. Researchers destroyed the mice’s pancreatic beta cells, forcing them to rely on the altered stomach cells. Control animals, without tissue reprogramming, died within eight weeks. However, the experimental mice’s reprogrammed cells maintained insulin and glucose levels in their blood for as long as the animals were tracked, up to six months. New device for digital security Researchers have developed a digital “magic wand” hardware device to improve home healthcare and prevent hackers from stealing personal data. Details 129 Wireless and mobile health technologies have great potential to improve access to care, reduce costs and improve health. But these new technologies, whether in the form of software for smartphones or specialised devices to be worn, carried or applied as needed, also pose risks if they’re not designed or configured with security and privacy in mind One of the main challenges is that most people do not know how to set up and maintain a secure network in their home, which can lead to compromised or stolen data or potentially allow hackers access to critical devices such as heart rate monitors or dialysis machines. In the new Dartmouth-based project in US, the researches developed “Wanda”, a small hardware device that has two antennas separated by one-half wavelength and uses radio strength as a communication channel. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The solution makes it easy for people to add a new device to their Wi-Fi network: they simply pull the wand from a USB port on the Wi-Fi access point, carry it close to the new device and point it at the device. Within a few seconds, the wand securely beams the secret Wi-Fi network information to the device. The findings will be presented at the IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications in San Francisco in April. India, Nepal sign seven accords India and Nepal signed seven agreements at a summit meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart K.P. Sharma Oli Both sides were determined to avoid the disruption of Nepal’s transit facilities as experienced over the past five months. Though both the sides tried to address the grievances of the pro-blockade agitators by agreeing to build a road network in the Madhes region, the leaders of the Madhesis are planning more agitation. United Madhesi Democratic Front is planning re-launch economic blockade demanding constitutional amendments Meanwhile, more than two dozen Madhesi students from Nepal, arrested here on Friday night, were remanded in judicial custody in Tihar jail. The students were arrested by the Delhi police when they tried to reach the embassy of Nepal where Mr.Oli was attending a public reception. A new way of healing large bone fractures Researchers have successfully reprogrammed living bone cells that are implanted to treat large, non-healing bone fractures to enhance their capacity to regenerate even in harmful environment. To support bone generation, researchers worldwide are developing living implants, consisting of cells seeded on supporting structures made of biological material. Details 130 Human body can repair bone fractures by itself in most cases. However, the body’s repair capacity is not sufficient in large bone fractures or defects, which often fail to heal without help. Often, only 30 per cent of the implanted bone cells will survive the first days. A major reason is that the blood vessels around the fracture, which deliver oxygen and nutrients to the cells, are also damaged. The ingrowth of new blood vessels into the implant takes time and until then, the cells are out of fuel since oxygen and nutrient supply is insufficient At the same time, the starved bone cells produce harmful oxygen radicals and thereby disturb the natural balance between antioxidants and oxygen radicals. An excess of these oxygen radicals causes irreversible cell damage Reprogramming bone cells obtained from patients might increase their survival rate from 30 per cent to 60 per cent, which will ultimately lead to better bone regeneration Researchers tested in mice how they could better equip the bone cells for that crucial stage between implantation and ingrowth of the blood vessels. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY They managed to switch on a survival mode in bone cells by inactivating the oxygen sensor PHD2 before implantation. As a result, bone cells activate a dual defence mechanism. First, bone cells increase storage of an emergency fuel in the form of glycogen, which is in fact a sugar reservoir. In addition, bone cells start using glutamine — an amino acid — to produce more antioxidants to neutralise the increased production of harmful oxygen radicals These two adjustments allow bone cells to be self—supporting in terms of energy generation and to protect themselves against an increased level of oxygen radicals The oxygen sensor PHD2 can be inactivated via genetic engineering, and also by administering therapeutic molecules Bat-inspired micro vehicles that can fly over long distances Researchers led by an Indian-origin scientist have designed innovative membrane wings inspired by bats, paving the way for a new breed of unmanned Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that can fly over long distances and are more economical to run. One emerging trend among MAV developers is to draw inspiration from the natural world to design vehicles that can achieve better flight performance and that offer similar levels of controllability to small drones but use the efficiency provided by wings to fly much further. To inform and speed up the design process, they built innovative computational models and used them to aid the construction of a test MAV incorporating the pioneering ‘bat wings’ The findings were incorporated into a 0.5 metre—wide test vehicle, designed to skim over the sea’s surface and, if necessary, land there safely. Details The wings work such as artificial muscles, changing shape in response to the forces they experience and have no mechanical parts, making MAVs incorporating them easier to maintain The unique design of the wings incorporates electro-active polymers that makes the wings stiffen and relax in response to an applied voltage and further enhances their performance. By changing the voltage input, the shape of the electroactive membrane and, therefore, aerodynamic characteristics can be altered during flight. The proof of concept wing will eventually enable flight over much longer distances than currently possible. Uses of MAVs MAVs are increasingly used in a wide variety of civil and military applications, such as surveying remote and dangerous areas. Modi to attend summit of EU, India in Brussels 131 Prime Minister will travel to Brussels for the EU-India summit on March 30, which is being held after a long gap of four years that have also seen the suspension of talks on the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Officials hope that the visit by Mr. Modi will also see an announcement on the resumption of talks on the BTIA, as the free trade agreement (FTA) is known. Commerce will lead a delegation to Brussels on 23 Feb to meet her counterpart at the European Commission. There will be one more meeting on the FTA on March 30 at the level of Commerce Ministers on the sidelines of the PM’s visit. Obstacles to FTA India-EU FTA talks were suspended in 2013 after 16 rounds of negotiation. The EU have asked India to substantially bring down the “high” duties on automobiles as a pre-condition for resumption of the FTA negotiations. India’s import duty on cars range from 60-120 per cent as against the EU’s 10 per cent. India-U.S. carrier group concludes second meet The India-U.S. working group on aircraft-carrier technology co-operation has held its second meeting The group was one of the two constituted under the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to India in January last year. At this meeting, various aspects of cooperation were discussed and a joint statement was signed. The discussions were spread over three days from February 15 to 18. India envisages having a three-carrier Navy. It is carrying out feasibility studies for the second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-II), and the design is expected to be finalised by year-end. The U.S. has offered India the Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) — now being developed by General Atomics — to be installed on IACII. The second summit, between the PM of India and President of the US, was marked by a renewed 10-year defence partnership and the much-anticipated nuclear breakthrough. India US - Defence cooperation: India and the U.S agreed to extend the Defence Cooperation Agreement last year and identified four projects under the Defence Technology Trade Initiative (DTTI) for joint production and development and exploring cooperation for jet engines and aircraft carrier systems. DTTI is an initiative which is within the defence framework. The significant project under DTTI is the plans for joint development and production of next generation Raven Mini UAVs, a device which the Indian Army was eyeing. If the joint manufacturing of the UAV happens, then India would be able to get a slice of the multibillion order book for the world‘s most advanced hand-launched drone. Pak files case against an unnamed terrorist group 132 India welcomed Pakistan’s move to file a case against an unnamed extremist group suspected of executing the January 2 attack on the Pathankot airbase. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The Pakistani police filed a case against a suspected terror group under the strict Anti Terrorism Act and the Pakistan Penal Code. This is a clear hint of the two countries holding the Foreign Secretary-level talks soon Immediately after the attack, India pointed the finger at the Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has its headquarters in Gujranwala, but did not receive a favourable response even after providing technical evidence of the involvement of members of this group. The filing of the case under the Anti Terrorism Act has been interpreted by observers as a sign that the “actionable intelligence” given by India to Pakistan after the attack has begun to produce results. New sanctions slapped on North Korea U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law a piece of legislation imposing new sanctions on North Korea for refusing to stop its nuclear weapons programme. Maldivian opposition leader in jail Imran Abdulla, Opposition leader in the Maldives and chief of the Ahdaalath Party, has been sentenced to 12-year imprisonment. Mr. Abdulla was convicted by the Criminal Court for having “incited violence” at a demonstration on May 1 last year. Incitement to violence has been defined as an act of terrorism under Maldivian law The Ahdaalath Party is described by the government as “religiously conservative”. In March last year, former President Mohammed Nasheed was convicted for “ordering” the arrest of the chief judge of the Criminal Court and sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment. At present, he is on a “temporary leave” from prison for medical treatment in the U.K. U.S., U.K. express concern Both the U.S. and the U.K. have expressed concern over the arrest. This is the second conviction of an opposition party leader in the Maldives on terrorism charges in the last year. Both reiterated their governments’ call to the Maldives to end “politically motivated trials” and restore confidence in and commitment to democracy and human rights. Cabinet approved ratification for Trade Facilitation Agreement 133 The Cabinet has approved a proposal for ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of World Trade Organization (WTO) To facilitate domestic coordination and implementation of the TFA, the Cabinet also cleared the proposal to set up a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF) to be jointly chaired by the commerce and revenue secretaries. These objectives are also in consonance with India’s “Ease of Doing Business” initiative ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Trade Facilitation Agreement TFA is aimed at easing customs rules for expediting global trade flow of goods. The WTO member-countries in November 2014 adopted a “protocol of amendment” to incorporate the TFA on goods in the overall WTO Agreement. For the TFA to be operational, two-thirds (or 108) of the 162 WTO members will have to ratify it. However, only 69 countries have ratified it so far. The TFA also contains measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. Trade experts had said ratifying the agreement so early could lead to India losing a bargaining chip to secure its interests. That includes finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes and a mechanism to safeguard poor farmers from sudden import surge of farm products. Oli visit may help repair bilateral ties India and Nepal hope to begin repairing ties as Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli makes his first official visit to India on 19th of Feb. But as Mr.Oli lands in Delhi on the six-day visit, the two sides are unlikely to dwell too much on the past few months of strain, choosing instead to focus on the earthquake reconstruction effort, Indian power projects in the pipeline and future cooperation. In accordance with tradition, Mr.Oli is making India his first destination abroad after becoming Prime Minister in October 2015. He will meet his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and other leaders in Delhi besides visiting two of India’s worst earthquake-hit areas, looking at the hydropower station built in Tehri, Uttarakhand, and reconstruction projects in Bhuj, Gujarat. Issues over Nepal's constitution Equally clear is the desire on both sides to put events since August 2015 behind them, when India and Nepal fought a public and blistering battle over the new Constitution. India refused to welcome the Nepal Constitution passed in September 2015, as the statute ignored the concerns of groups in the southern Madhes region of Nepal that borders India, and demanded four amendments to be made: on reservations, constituency delimitation, demarcation of provinces and citizenship rights. Nepal’s government, first headed by Sushil Koirala, and then by Mr.Oli, refused to accept amendments under pressure, accusing India of enforcing an economic blockade that crippled the country, and taking the issue to the U.N. Oral bacteria linked to higher stroke risk: Study 134 In a study of patients entering the hospital for acute stroke, researchers have increased their understanding of an association between certain types of stroke and the presence of the oral bacteria (cnm-positiveStreptococcus mutans) The cnm-positive S. mutans bacteria is found in approximately 10 percent of the general population, and is known to cause dental cavities (tooth decay). ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Details Strokes are characterized as either ischemic strokes, which involve a blockage of one or more blood vessels supplying the brain, or hemorrhagic strokes, in which blood vessels in the brain rupture, causing bleeding. In the single hospital study, researchers at the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Osaka, Japan, observed stroke patients to gain a better understanding of the relationship between hemorrhagic stroke and oral bacteria. The authors hypothesize that the S. mutans bacteria may bind to blood vessels weakened by age and high blood pressure, causing arterial ruptures in the brain, leading to small or large hemorrhages. Significance This study shows that oral health is important for brain health. Multiple research studies have shown a close association between the presence of gum disease and heart disease, and a 2013 publication revealed how the bacterium responsible for gum disease worsens rheumatoid arthritis. Iran in the Belt and Road loop as first train from China arrives The first train from China’s trading hub of Yiwu has arrived in Tehran signalling Iran’s firm integration in the Beijing led-Belt and Road connectivity initiative along the New Silk Road. The train ferrying 32 containers completed its 14-day journey, covering over 10,399 km, after passing through the arid landscape of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in Central Asia. Compared to the railway option, cargo ships, setting sail from Shangahi take nearly 45 days to arrive at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. Analysts point out that by joining China on the railway map, Iran was establishing solid structural linkages with Eurasia along the Silk Road Economic Belt. Iran is currently in desperate need of investment for infrastructure construction. However, as oil prices are low now, Iran’s revenue in this sector has seen sharp decrease. At the same time, China is promoting the belt and road initiative. Iran is expected to become one of the major participants of that initiative Iran's strategic importance to China 135 Iran is strategically located underscored by its common borders with 15 nations, and sea channels on its northern and southwestern coasts The country is expected to play a crucial role in the Belt and Road as an energy hub and access to extensive delivery routes connecting to the Middle East and Eurasia. During the sanctions phase, China’s energy giants Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corporation had provided technical support to Iranian firms for the development of the giant South Pars gas fields and the oil fields of Yadavaran and North Azadegan China’s ongoing technical support is likely to further reduce the rail transit time between China and Iran. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY China-led consortium has started electrifying the rail track between Tehran and Mashaad, a major pilgrimage city. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Tehran last month appears to have energised Iran’s integration in the Eurasian fold Top global producers agreed to freeze oil output Top global producers Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to freeze oil output The announcement followed a closed-door meeting in Doha between Saudi Arabia — the de facto leader of OPEC — Venezuela, Qatar and Russia, which does not belong to the oil cartel. Following the meeting, all four countries are ready to freeze oil production at January levels, if other major producers do the same The announcement marked the first move between OPEC and non-cartel producers to stem the price fall since it began nearly 19 months ago. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC producers have been refusing to reduce output in a bid to drive less-competitive players, in particular U.S. shale oil producers, out of the marke This was done to shore up prices after a 70 per cent drop due to chronic oversupply since mid-2014. Further talks involving Iran and Iraq are due in Tehran Cobra Gold A 12-member team of the Indian Army is participating in the “Cobra Gold” multilateral exercises being hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from China and Pakistan. India has been invited to the exercises as an “observer plus” country. This is in keeping with the recent trend of India’s increasing regional interoperability with a series of multi-lateral exercises on land and sea. The theme of the exercise, involving 35 countries, is humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. The 35th edition of the exercises, considered Asia’s largest multinational drill, started on January 20 and will end on February 18. The Thai government has said that this year, 8,564 personnel from Thailand, the U.S., Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea and other nations are playing various roles in the exercises. These exercises come in the backdrop of increased tensions over China’s land reclamation in the South China Sea and informal discussions between India and the U.S. over joint naval patrols Cancer researchers claim ‘extraordinary results’ using T-cell therapy 136 Scientists are claiming “extraordinary” success with engineering immune cells to target a specific type of blood cancer in their first clinical trials. In one study, 94 per cent of participants with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) saw symptoms vanish completely. Patients with other blood cancers had response rates greater than 80 per cent, and more than half experienced complete remission. To administer the T-cell therapy, doctors remove immune cells from patients, tagging them with “receptor” molecules that target a specific cancer, as other T-cells target the flu or infections. They then infuse the cells back in the body ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY T-cells are a living drug, and in particular they have the potential to persist in our body for our whole lives Tests so far have only targeted certain blood cancers, and the researchers acknowledged they needed to work on tumours and track how long patients would remain in remission. Cancer cells can sometimes hide unnoticed by the body’s defences, or simply overwhelm them and throw the immune system into overdrive. T-cell therapy is often considered an option of last resort because reprogramming the immune system can come with dangerous side-effects, including cytokine release syndrome (sCRS) — and overload defence cells. Twenty patients suffered symptoms of fever, hypotension and neurotoxicity due to sCRS, and two died, but the researchers noted that chemotherapy had failed in all the patients who participated in the new trials. New 2D semiconductor discovered A team at the University of Utah led by an Indian-origin engineer has discovered a new kind of 2D semi-conducting material for electronics that opens the door for much speedier computers and smartphones that consume a lot less power. The semi-conductor, made of tin and oxygen or tin monoxide (SnO), is a layer of 2D material only one atom thick, allowing electrical charges to move through it much faster than conventional 3D materials such as silicon. This material could be used in transistors, the lifeblood of all electronic devices such as computer processors and graphics processors in desktop computers and mobile devices. Significance Transistors and other components used in electronic devices are currently made of 3D materials such as silicon and consist of multiple layers on a glass substrate. But the downside to 3D materials is that electrons bounce around inside the layers in all directions. The benefit of 2D materials is that the material is made of one layer the thickness of just one or two atoms. Consequently, the electrons can only move in one layer so it’s much faster. Because the electrons move through one layer instead of bouncing around in a 3D material, there will be less friction, meaning the processors will not get as hot as normal computer chips They will also require much less power to run, a boon for mobile electronics that have to run on battery power. This could be especially important for medical devices such as electronic implants that will run longer on a single battery charge. Creating a computer voice that people like 137 The challenge of creating a computer “personality” is now one that a growing number of software designers are grappling with as computers become portable and users with busy hands and eyes increasingly use voice interaction. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Machines are listening, understanding and speaking, and not just computers and smartphones. Voices have been added to a wide range of everyday objects like cars and toys, as well as household information “appliances.” A new design science is emerging in the pursuit of building what are called “conversational agents,” software programs that understand natural language and speech and can respond to human voice commands. However, the creation of such systems, led by researchers in a field known as humancomputer interaction design, is still as much an art as it is a science. It is not yet possible to create a computerized voice that is indistinguishable from a human one for anything longer than short phrases that might be used for weather forecasts or communicating driving directions. Most software designers acknowledge that they are still faced with crossing the “uncanny valley,” in which voices that are almost human-sounding are actually disturbing or jarring. The phrase was coined by the Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970. He observed that as graphical animations became more humanlike, there was a point at which they would become creepy and weird before improving to become indistinguishable from videos of humans. The same is true for speech Scientists at CERN recreate the universe’s ‘primordial soup’ Scientists have recreated the universe’s ‘primordial soup’ in miniature format by colliding lead atoms with extremely high energy in the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Details 138 The primordial soup is a so-called quark-gluon plasma and researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, among others, have measured its liquid properties with great accuracy at the LHC’s top energy. A few billionths of a second after the Big Bang, the universe was made up of a kind of extremely hot and dense primordial soup of the most fundamental particles, especially quarks and gluons. This state is called quark-gluon plasma. By colliding lead nuclei at a record-high energy of 5.02 TeV in LHC, the 27 km-long LHC at CERN in Geneva, it has been possible to recreate this state in the ALICE experiment’s detector and measure its properties. The analyses of the collisions make it possible, for the first time, to measure the precise characteristics of quark-gluon plasma at the highest energy ever and to determine how it flows The focus has been on the quark-gluon plasma’s collective properties, which show that this state of matter behaves more like a liquid than a gas, even at the very highest energy densities. The new measurements make it possible to determine the viscosity of this fluid with great precision. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Antarctica influencing weather in tropics Scientists at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement West Antarctic Radiation Experiment (AWARE) project are coming to grips with how weather in Antarctica is influencing climate as far away as the tropics. The study examines the physics of the clouds over Antarctica. The project gains importance as it studies the skies above Antarctica for answers to questions such as how climate change and associated atmospheric physics are affecting Antarctica and how the ripple effects of these phenomena are being felt thousands of miles away in the mid latitudes and the tropics. The project by the United States is located at Mc Murdo station in Antarctica. Details of the project: 139 The temperature gradient between the equator and the poles essentially drives the atmospheric circulation in the southern hemisphere in the form of three north-south systems: the polar cell, the mid-latitude Ferrel cell and the tropical Hadley cell. These cells are dynamically linked together. The project will observe how climate change affects the polar region as it has been determined that when the polar region warms, the location of the boundary between the polar and Ferrel cells will change, along with the strength of circulation in both cells. This in turn will influence the strength of tropical circulation on the other side of the Ferrel cell. These linkages between polar regions and mid- and tropical latitudes are known as teleconnections. During the study, scientists have observed that a change in Antarctic cloud properties that led to a warming of Antarctica weakened the Southern Hemisphere Ferrel cell, and allowed the Hadley Cell on the other side to strengthen, which in turn resulted in more rainfall due to increased latent heat release over Southern Hemisphere tropical regions. An expanding Hadley cell is generally expected to result from a globally warming atmosphere, so the Antarctic warming from cloud property change is a positive feedback on a warming climate. Another important feature being studied is the winds that traverse in the form of storm tracks across Antarctica’s atmosphere and their effect on Antarctica’s climate. However, one established trend due to global warming is the slight southward shift of the storms and the intrusion of warm air which led to the breaking away of a large iceshelf. Also, the frequency of warm and moist air intrusions over West Antarctica generated by storms in the Ross and western Amundsen Seas, is a hypothesis under study by AWARE. Antarctica acts as a global heat sink. Near the equator the Sun is highest in the sky and insolation (solar radiation reaching the surface) is larger than thermal radiation loss to space. At the South Pole during winter there is no insolation and the Antarctic continent loses energy to space. Energy and warmth transported over the Antarctic continent by global circulation patterns is lost to space by radiative cooling. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Indian may become U.S. apex court judge The death of a serving judge of the U.S. Supreme Court has set off acrimonious exchanges between the Democrats and the Republicans on whether President Barack Obama should nominate a new judge in the last year of his presidency. Mr. Obama has declared that he would nominate a replacement for Antonin Scalia who died on Saturday at 79, ending a controversial tenure through which he steered the court towards the right with a series of pronouncements. Srikanth Srinivasan, 49, whose family came to the U.S. from a village in Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu figures as the most probable choice to succeed Scalia, according to media reports U.S. sale of F-16 sale to Pak. U.S. has announced to sell eight more F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan The State Department’s contention was that the sale was in the U.S.’s “vital national security interests” The F-16 fighting Falcon is the most modern fourth generation aircraft in service, and over 4,400 aircraft have been produced so far and are in service with 25 countries. The Indian Air Force has a large number of fourth generation-plus Sukhoi-30 aircraft which can more than handle the F-16 The F-16 was in the race for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract but lost to the French Rafale. The U.S. has still been pitching the aircraft for the Indian Air Force under the Make in India initiative. Historical background The sale of the aircraft to Pakistan, a major cold war ally of the U.S. in South Asia, is not new. It dates back to 1982 when the Regan administration sold the first batch of aircraft when General Zia-ul Haq was the military ruler. Forty fighter jets were transferred when the Pressler amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act stalled further sales because of concerns over Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme. However, following the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S. and Pakistan emerging as the number one ally in the war on terror, the sales resumed. A deal for 18 F-16 Block C/D aircraft was signed in 2006 with an option for more. The US also gave 14 used F-16 aircraft free of cost in 2012. In 2013, Pakistan announced its decision to buy 13 second-hand F-16 from Jordan, and the delivery started last year. Compared with the older version, the latest F-16 Block C/D is an entirely new aircraft with significant new capabilities. Experts talk 140 The U.S. decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan will not alter the military balance in the region, but it will reinforce the centrality of Pakistan’s Army ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY India has consistently opposed the transfer of F-16s to Pakistan, as opposed to the transport planes C-130, because of their lethal capabilities, ever since the U.S. began supplying them to the neighbouring country in the 1980s IISER's contribution in gravitational waves Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram, who contributed to the historic discovery of gravitational waves from colliding black holes, are gearing up for a greater role in the international project that promises to open a new window to the cosmos. The Gravitational Wave Group at the School of Physics, IISER, Thiruvananthapuram, was part of the Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations (IndIGO) comprising scientists from nine institutions working under the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). The group, which focusses on novel gravitational wave detection algorithms, directly contributed in testing general relativity with the black hole binary termed GW150914. With extensive computational analysis, the study found that the emitted signal is consistent with the predictions of general relativity. The work is relevant now in the context of the discovery and with more advanced detectors scheduled to come up in the next few years, a press note issued by IISER said. The current LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) network that detected gravitational waves, confirming the prediction of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, consists of two U.S.-based detectors designed to detect tiny vibrations from passing gravitational waves. The data from the detectors was analysed by an international team of scientists. Power generation from walking Scientists have developed an innovative energy-harvesting technology that can capture the power of human motion to charge mobile electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops. The energy harvesting and storage technology developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (U-W Madison) in U.S. could reduce our reliance on the batteries in our mobile devices, ensuring we have power for our devices no matter where we are. The Technology - Reverse Electrowetting 141 Human walking carries a lot of energy. Theoretical estimates show that it can produce up to 10 watts per shoe, and that energy is just wasted as heat. A total of 20 watts from walking is not a small thing, especially compared to the power requirements of the majority of modern mobile devices Tapping into just a small amount of that energy is enough to power a wide range of mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptop computers and flashlights. For example, a typical smartphone requires less than two watts The new technology takes advantage of ‘reverse electrowetting’, a phenomenon that researchers pioneered in 2011. With this approach, as a conductive liquid interacts ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY with a nanofilm-coated surface, the mechanical energy is directly converted into electrical energy. The reverse electrowetting method can generate usable power, but it requires an energy source with a reasonably high frequency — such as a mechanical source that is vibrating or rotating quickly. Researchers developed a ‘bubbler’ method, which combines reverse electrowetting with bubble growth and collapse. The bubbler device — which contains no moving mechanical parts — consists of two flat plates separated by a small gap filled with a conductive liquid. The bottom plate is covered with tiny holes through which pressurised gas forms bubbles. The bubbles grow until they are large enough to touch the top plate, which causes the bubble to collapse. The speedy, repetitive growth and collapse of bubbles pushes the conductive fluid back and forth, generating electrical charge. Significance The technology could enable a footwear-embedded energy harvester that captures energy produced by humans during walking and stores it for later use Power-generating shoes could be especially useful for the military, as soldiers currently carry heavy batteries to power their radios, Global Positioning System (GPS) units and night-vision goggles in the field. The advance could provide a source of power to people in remote areas and developing countries that lack adequate electrical power grids. World Development Report (WDR) ‘Digital Dividends' 142 The World Bank’s recently released World Development Report (WDR) ‘Digital Dividends’ The WDR finds that digital technologies have spread rapidly throughout much of the world, but their digital dividends — the broader development benefits from using these technologies — have lagged behind. In many instances digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities, and improved service delivery. Yet their aggregate impact has fallen short and is unevenly distributed. The report argues that for digital technologies to confer their full benefit on society, it is vital to close the digital divide, especially in Internet access. But greater digital adoption will not be enough. To get the most out of the digital revolution, countries also need to work on its “analogue complements” — by strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, by adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that government institutions and others are accountable. Measuring the performance of India and China with the WDR metrics of connectivity and complements shows why India has not yet taken full advantage of the digital revolution. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The contrast with China - Digital divide 143 At the end of 2014, India had 227 million Internet users, compared to 665 million in China. Fewer than two out of every five Indian businesses had an online presence compared to almost two-thirds of firms in China. The cost of a 1 Mbit/s residential broadband service in India is 6-10 times higher than in China. And by most accounts, the digital divide across age, gender, geography and income within India is significantly higher than in China. Thanks to its successful digital ID programme, Aadhaar, India scores higher than China in digital adoption by governments, but the need now is to use the platform that Aadhaar provides more widely and effectively. Amartya Sen has written extensively on the idea of human ‘capability’. This concept has large applications in the digital world. Unfortunately, not only does India have a higher digital access gap, it also has a bigger digital capability gap. The capability gap, according to the WDR, arises from two main sources: the overall business climate and the quality of human capital. Despite some commendable improvements in cutting bureaucratic costs faced by small and medium enterprises, India scores considerably below China in doing business indicators. It is important for India to create space for creativity and enterprise and to promote competition. The slow pace of improvement of the quality of basic infrastructure — expressways, logistics, storage, postal delivery system and reliable supply of electricity — have also hampered the growth of e-commerce in India. And the excessively cautious approach of Indian regulators towards disruptive technological innovations such as mobile money or ride-sharing services has made it difficult for digital start-ups to enter new markets and achieve scale. While Indian technology workers and entrepreneurs excel in Silicon Valley in the United States, the skills level of the average Indian worker remains significantly behind his or her Chinese counterpart. India has made considerable strides in improving its human capital, but a vast majority of its population still lacks the skills to meaningfully participate in the digital economy. Around 25 per cent of India’s adult population cannot read and write compared to fewer than 5 per cent in China. There is also major difference in quality of education: The latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) test scores in rural India show that 10 per cent of children aged 16 and below cannot identify single-digit numbers consistently. Fewer than one in five can do a subtraction, performing considerably below their grade level. Clearly, India’s challenge to becoming a digital economy remains formidable. The government has announced a slew of new initiatives: Digital India; Make in India; Start-up India; and innovative applications of Aadhaar such as JAM (Jan-Dhan YojanaAadhaar-Mobile trinity) and Digital Lockers. Successful and accelerated implementation of these programmes can make up for some of the lost time. But India also needs to do more by strengthening the basic foundations of its digital economy. Making the Internet accessible, open and safe for all Indians is an urgent priority. The cost of mobile phone access is already low by international standards. And with a supportive policy environment involving smart spectrum management, public-private partnerships, and intelligent regulations of Internet markets, the same can be achieved for Internet access. Zero-rated services for mobile data access have become ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY controversial, though they could be an intermediate step to fully open and affordable Internet access for the poorest, provided that the choice of selecting services is transparent and inclusive. Basic requirements are utmost important Access, however, is only one part of the agenda. An important lesson from the WDR is that even the most sophisticated technologies are no substitute for tackling longstanding shortcomings in other areas — most importantly basic health, education and a regulatory ethos that encourages competition and enterprise. When the World Bank adopted in 2013 “shared prosperity” as one of its mission goals, it was the first time that combating inequality was being set up as a target. There was a lot of initial opposition because while the battling of poverty seems like a fairly impersonal goal, the goal of “sharing” makes many uncomfortable. Fortunately, the way the shared prosperity goal is formalised has deep conceptual roots. This goal is now increasingly being recognised as vital for a better world. The aim of ending the digital divide discussed in our most recent WDR stems from this same basic idea and is an urgent need of our times. India wrote one of the early success stories of the digital revolution when it became a global powerhouse for software development and information services. Its Aadhaar digital ID system has become a model for many other countries, helping governments to become more efficient and more inclusive in expanding services to those who had been left behind. Whether the new initiatives will generate even greater and more widely shared digital dividends — faster growth, more jobs, and better services — depends not only on expanding affordable access to all, but also on making long overdue progress on the analogue complements of digital investments. Climate change helping Zika spread 144 The outbreak of Zika virus in Central and South America is a glimpse of the sort of public health threats that will unfold due to climate change for some experts Whenever the planet has faced a major climate change event, man-made or not, species have moved around and their pathogens have come into contact with species with no resistance. It’s still not clear what role rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns have had on the spread of Zika, which is mainly spread by mosquitoes; the increased global movement of people is probably as great an influence as climate change for the spread of infectious diseases. But the World Health Organization (WHO), which declared a public health emergency over the birth defects linked to Zika, is clear that changes in climate mean a redrawn landscape for vector and water-borne diseases. According to WHO, a global temperature rise of 2-3 degree C will increase the number of people at risk of malaria by around 3-5 per cent, which equates to several hundred million. In areas where malaria is already endemic, the seasonal duration of malaria is likely to lengthen. Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that carries Zika and other diseases, is expected to thrive in warmer conditions. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY As climate change reaches almost every corner of the Earth’s ecology, different diseases could be unleashed. Increased precipitation will create more pools of standing water for mosquitoes, risking malaria and rift valley fever. Deforestation and agricultural intensification also heightens malaria risk while ocean warming, driven by the vast amounts of heat being sucked up by the oceans, can cause toxic algal blooms that can lead to infections in humans. We know that warmer and wetter conditions facilitate the transmission of mosquitoborne diseases so it’s plausible that climate conditions have added the spread of Zika Moscow’s military action has changed the shape of Syrian conflict For months now the U.S. has insisted there is no military solution to the Syrian civil war, only a political accord between President Bashar Al-Assad and the fractured, divided opposition groups that have been trying to topple him. But after days of intense bombing that could soon put the critical city of Aleppo back into the hands of Mr. Assad’s forces, the Russians may be proving the U.S. wrong. The Russian military action has changed the shape of a conflict that had effectively been stalemated for years. Suddenly, Mr. Assad and his allies have momentum, and the U.S.-backed rebels are on the run. If a ceasefire is negotiated here, it will probably come at a moment Mr. Assad holds more territory, and more sway, than since the outbreak of the uprisings in 2011. Mr. Kerry enters the negotiations with very little leverage: The Russians have cut off many of the pathways the CIA has been using for a not-very-secret effort to arm rebel groups, according to several current and former officials. Without a political solution or a stepped-up military effort, the U.S. is not only left with little influence over the course of the Syrian civil war, but without a viable strategy to bring all of the warring parties together to fight the Islamic State. An open breach erupted with the Turks, who charge that the U.S. is empowering the Kurds, with whom Turkey believes it is in an existential struggle. At the core of the U.S. strategic dilemma is that the Russian military adventure has been surprisingly effective in helping Mr. Assad reclaim the central cities he needs to hold power, at least in a rump-state version of Syria. India, UAE sign nine agreements 145 Following discussions held at the Hyderabad House between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the visiting Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed nine agreements covering cooperation in the fields of currency swap, culture, investments in the infrastructure sector, renewable energy, space research, insurance supervision, cyber security, skill development and commercial information sharing. However, the much anticipated agreement on India accessing UAE’s Sovereign Fund was not declared UAE requires India to carry out some structural changes in its economy to facilitate such an agreement.The structural changes the UAE government has been pressing for include single-window clearance and simplification of “cumbersome and complex processes”. The SWFs wanted the Indian government to be a “strategic partner for safety” of their investments, besides an assurance of a conducive business environment. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY India and the UAE had begun a dialogue that would firm up a Free Trade Agreement between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council. Gravitational waves reach earth The highly elusive ‘gravitational waves’ have finally been detected. Albert Einstein had predicted their presence exactly 100 years ago After decades of search for these ripples in space-time, scientists working with the gigantic optical instruments in the U.S. called LIGO [Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory], have detected signals of gravitational waves emanating from two merging black holes 1.3 billion light years away arriving at their instruments on the Earth. That is to say, this cataclysmic event of two black holes merging occurred 1.3 b yrs ago, when multi-cellular organisms were just beginning to form on the Earth, the gravitational waves from which are being received now on the Earth. The discovery 146 Although indirect evidence for the existence of gravitational waves had been seen from the decaying orbital period of objects called binary pulsars — which Russel Hulse and Joseph Taylor discovered in 1974 and for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1993 — a direct detection of gravitational waves had till now proved to be extremely difficult. This required enormous advances in technology to enable instruments with sensitivity sufficient to detect distortions of space-time as tiny as 10-18 m, which is a thousandth of the diameter of a proton, and less. That is like measuring the distance between the Earth and the nearest galaxy Andromeda, which is 2.5 million light years away, to hairwidth precision. This is what the upgraded or advanced LIGO, which began its first run only in September 2015, achieved and within days it made this spectacular literally earthshaking discovery. The gravitational wave signal struck the detector on September 14, 2015, and the signal had the unmistakable stamp of a black-hole binary merger, a phenomenon that has been extensively studied through simulations. The LIGO is the most precise instrument that has ever been built. It consists of two identical L-shaped laser interferometer systems, one at Hanford in Washington and one at Livingston in Louisiana. There are two systems to ensure that detection at both the instruments that are about 3000 km apart with the calculated time delay ensures that the detected signal is not due to any spurious seismic signal or any other local vibration. Each of the arms of the L is a 4 km tunnel in which laser beams bounce back and forth between two highly sensitive suspended mirrors. The laser beams are tuned to be perfectly in opposite phase so that there is total interference when the beams arrive at the intersection of the arms and no light passes through the beam splitter at the intersection into the photo-detector behind. But when a gravitational wave passes through the detector, the space-time gets distorted much like a squeezed ball, oscillating between the two states compressed in one direction and elongated in the other. So the effect of this oscillatory compression of one arm and elongation of the ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY other is that there is no total cancellation of the interfering laser beams and a net signal gets through to the photodetector. The total signal lasted for about 0.4 s with the “ringing down” that is characteristic of two orbiting black holes in-spiralling towards each other, shrinking of the orbit, merger of the two, coalescence and finally settling down as a single black hole The data is consistent with one black hole with 36 solar masses merging with another of 29 solar masses giving rise to a single black hole of 62 solar masses. A total energy of 1049 watts, equivalent to the missing 3 solar masses, has been radiated away as gravitational waves. This would be the most luminous astronomical source ever observed . The probability of it being a false alarm is less than 2x10-7. The announcement was beamed across all the laboratories of the world participating in the LIGO Science Collaboration (LSC). LSC comprises about 1000 scientists from 16 countries The announcement was received with thunderous applause here too because it was a proud moment for the Indian gravitational wave community as well. Groups at IUCAA and the Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore, have made significant contribution in the analysis of the LIGO data. As many as 34 Indian scientists are contributing authors in the landmark paper about the discovery The biggest victory for the Indian gravitational wave astronomy community as a result of Thursday’s discovery has been the in-principle approval from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for setting up of the Indian component of the advanced LIGO, which has been hanging fire for more than three years since the proposal was approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. ‘Art of Living’ diplomacy next on MEA’s agenda 147 After projecting yoga and Baba Ramdev through the International Day of Yoga, the government is now set to highlight the ‘Art of Living’ of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at a mega festival from March 11-13 in the Capital The collaboration between the Ministry of External Affairs and the Art of Living Foundation is unprecedented as the MEA has never supported an event of this scale by a single private party. Highlighting the ‘Art of Living’ has also raised questions about promoting more contemporary forms of spirituality, which are different from classical cultural traditions like Buddhism and yoga. The event — World Culture Festival — is also drawing criticism from those who oppose mixing diplomacy with new age spirituality. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s inclusion in the MEA’s agenda is backed by the international standing that he enjoys. The Art of Living founder recently met with Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal Kamal Thapa, which reportedly helped in creating a breakthrough between the leadership of India and Nepal. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also emerged as a unique connector between India and Pakistan because of the popularity of ‘Art of Living’ in Lahore and Islamabad. (Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz is reported to have attended Art of Living meetings in Pakistan.) Consultations have begun between the volunteers and the MEA officials on how to ensure an incident-free festival, which will feature CEO of Afghanistan Abdullah ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Abdullah, former President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, former Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani and a host of other dignitaries. U.S. sends more troops to Afghanistan Hundreds more U.S. troops are headed for Afghanistan’s strife-torn Helmand province to shore up security forces who have struggled in the face of sustained Taliban attacks The core of the new force will provide more security and act as advisers to the Afghan army’s 215th Corps Security forces in the southern province have been plagued by high desertion and casualty rates, corruption, and leadership problems, and the army corps recently saw more than 90 general officers replaced in a major shakeup The NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan declared its combat mission over at the end of 2014 the new troops in Helmand would be there “to train, advise, and assist our Afghan counterparts, and not to participate in combat operations Regular military advising is largely limited to the corps level and above, but coalition special operation advisers are still embedding at the tactical level with Afghan commandos, sometimes blurring the lines between advising and fighting. American Special Forces advisers on the ground in Helmand have found themselves increasingly drawn into combat, with one Green Beret killed in January during a heavy fire-fight with Taliban insurgents. U.S. warplanes conducted 12 air strikes during that fight. Roughly 9,800 U.S. troops remain in Afghanistan, but President Barack Obama’s initial plan to withdraw forces by 2017 has already been scrapped, and top commanders are calling for an increased presence for at least five more years. Helmand was one of the deadliest provinces for thousands of mostly British and American troops who fought there for more than a decade. Helmand was one of the deadliest provinces for thousands of mostly British and American troops who fought there for more than a decade. India-UAE ties: A roadmap for deeper cooperation 148 In a departure from protocol, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the airport as he arrived in New Delhi for a three-day state visit Hours after his arrival, Al Nahyan expressed his keenness to the strengthen strategic relationship between the two countries. The Crown Prince, who is an influential leader in the UAE and is also the country’s Deputy Supreme Commander of the armed forces, had received PM Modi at the Abu Dhabi airport, along with his five brothers, during the PM’s visit last August ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Hours before the Crown Prince’s arrival, India also announced its willingness to extend help to the UAE to achieve its Mars Mission in 2025. Al Nahyan is accompanied by three of his brothers, one of whom is the Interior Minister The delegation also includes several top ministers and over 100 business tycoons, along with CEOs of top companies During the dialogue, the two sides are touch upon sectors from security to space, defence to nuclear energy. Over a dozen pacts are also expected to be signed UAE has deported about a dozen Indians with suspected links to the terror group. Officials said that joint production of defence equipment is another focus area, and under this initiative, UAE may make investments for manufacturing in India. India to store oil for UAE The United Arab Emirates' national oil company - Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) - has in the first deal of its kind agreed to store crude oil in India's maiden strategic storage and give two-third of the commodity to it for free. India, which is 79 per cent dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs, is building underground storage facilities at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil to guard against global price shocks and supply disruptions. Adnoc is keen on taking half of the 1.5 million tonnes Mangalore facility It will stock 0.75 million tonnes or 6 million barrels of oil in one compartment of Mangalore facility. Of this, 0.5 million tonnes will belong to India and it can use it in emergencies. Adnoc will use the facility as a warehouse for trading its oil. The 1.33 million tonnes Visakhapatnam storage and 2.5 million tonnes Padur stockpile together with the 1.5 million tonnes Mangalore storage will be enough to meet nation's oil requirement of about 10 days. India near bottom of intellectual property index 149 India was ranked 37 out of 38 countries, with only Venezuela scoring lower, in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce-International Intellectual Property Index. The report, comes at a time when the government is close to finalising a National Intellectual Property policy to improve the IP regime, increase IP awareness and strengthen enforcement of rules. The U.S. was ranked first, followed by the UK, Germany, France and Sweden. India’s peers in the BRICS grouping were all ranked ahead with Russia ranked 20th, China (22nd), South Africa (26th) and Brazil (29th). The 38 economies benchmarked in the 2016 Index accounts for nearly 85 per cent of the global GDP. The Index -- produced by the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY -- is based on 30 criteria critical to innovation including patent, copyright and trademark protections, enforcement, and engagement in international treaties India remains at the bottom of the Index for the fourth year in a row It said patent protection in India remains outside of international best practices, adding that Indian law does not provide adequate enforcement mechanisms to effectively combat online piracy. India’s score would have increased if the government had not suspended implementation of Final Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions (CRI) The GIPC report found that among India’s key areas of weakness was the use of compulsory licensing (CL) for commercial and non-emergency situations, and the expanded use of CL being considered by the Indian government. CL relates to the government allowing entities to manufacture, use, sell or import a patented invention without the permission of the patent-owner. Another area of weakness was “poor application and enforcement of civil remedies and criminal penalties The report said Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and Russia introduced or maintained policies that tie market access to sharing of IP and technology. Such forced-localization policies tend to undermine the overall innovation ecosystem and deter investment from foreign IP-intensive entities, it said. Ninth session of the Joint Commission between India and Sri Lanka 150 India has come forward to host a workshop later this month in Colombo on the proposed Economic and Technological Cooperation Agreement to address concerns on the side of Sri Lanka. This was one of the outcomes of the ninth session of the Joint Commission Foreign Ministers of India and Sri Lanka, Sushma Swaraj and Mangala Samaraweera, were present. The workshop would also address issues concerning regulations and procedures, Renu Pall, Joint Secretary (Indian Ocean Region) in the Ministry of External Affairs of the Indian government The initiative of India was in response to criticism from certain quarters that the proposed agreement would take away jobs of Sri Lankan professionals In early December, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe informed Sri Lankan Parliament of his government’s reservations about allowing Indian professionals into Sri Lanka under any new agreement. Later that month, Commerce Secretaries of the governments of the two countries met in New Delhi and held preliminary discussions. Sampoor project: Ms Pall announced that the 500-MW Sampoor thermal power project, a joint venture involving Sri Lanka and India, was granted environmental clearance a few days ago. On the rehabilitation of the Kankesanthurai (KKS) harbour in the conflict-devastated Northern Province,four phases had been completed [by the Indian authorities] and the RITES would send a delegation to Sri Lanka very soon. The issue of setting up a special economic zone in Trincomalee for India was also raised, adding that the reconstitution of CEOs’ forum, a mechanism on trade and investment linkages between the two countries, was underway. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY U.S. considers re-merger of India, Pakistan desks Seven years after the State Department was restructured to ‘de-hyphenate’ U.S. relations with India and with Pakistan, it is considering a reversal of the move. De-hyphenating refers to a policy started by the U.S. government under President Bush, but sealed by the Obama administration, of dealing with India and Pakistan in different silos, without referring to their bilateral relations. It enabled the U.S. to build closer military and strategic ties with India without factoring in the reaction from Pakistan, and to continue its own strategy in Afghanistan with the help of the Pakistan military without referring back to India. A proposal to re-merge the office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) back with the Bureau of South and Central Asia (SCA) that handles India, the rest of the subcontinent and Central Asian republics is under “active” consideration The re-merger proposal is ostensibly timed with the international troops pullout from Afghanistan. The de-hyphenation policy of the U.S. was crystallised when the SRAP was set up in 2009 soon after President Barack Obama had taken over, with the appointment of Richard Holbrooke. At the time, Mr. Holbrooke had hoped to include India in his mandate, and even to discuss the resolution of Kashmir as a means to extract greater cooperation from Pakistan. India had strongly opposed the move. Russia encouraging Provinces to develop ties with India 151 In a bid to take ties with India beyond the defence sector, Russia is giving more freedom to its Provinces to engage with Indian States directly There is growing competition among Province like Astrakhan, Mordovia, and Bashkortostan to take advantage of the positive trend in India-Russia ties Russia under President Vladimir Putin has been showcasing developments taking place in its Provinces, said Mr. Mazov, highlighting that some of the recent initiatives like the July 2015 Ufa summit of the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Council (SCO) was aimed to attract attention to the Provinces far from Moscow. Moscow handles defence and strategic ties with India, but provinces have been given free hand to deal with India in the fields of agriculture, health, education, cultural cooperation India and Russia had, during the inter-governmental discussion in October 2015 agreed to ramp up bilateral investment from $15 billion to $30 billion by 2025. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Army band performance in Dhaka scuttled by red tape The 35-member martial band of the Army was all decked up, ready to impress foreigners in Dhaka on Indian Republic Day. With ceremonial dresses and musical instruments, the band reached Kolkata to cross into Bangladesh by road well in advance, and awaited the final clearance. The band kept waiting, as the bureaucratic red tape in New Delhi strangled yet another military diplomatic effort for better neighbourhood relations. The tradition of exchanging military bands was agreed upon as part of the military-tomilitary cooperation between the two countries and has been in effect at least since 2009. While an Indian band plays in Dhaka on January 26 as part of the celebrations hosted by the Indian High Commission there, a military band from Bangladesh plays at the mission in India on their national day. The three services take part on a rotation basis and it was the Army’s turn this year. The finance wing turned down the proposal saying that it was “too costly” and sent the file to the Defence Secretary on January 23 which took two more days, only to reject the proposal and returned the file on January 25. The band, comprising two officers, one junior commissioned officer and 32 jawans, was to reach Dhaka on January 24 and was positioned in Kolkata to be quickly transported by road. However, after the proposal was turned down, the team returned to Delhi. Important social event There was a break in 2014 when the Indian team was not sent due to technical issues following which the Indian High Commission in Dhaka wrote a letter to the Defence Ministry in October of the same year, stressing the importance of the ceremonial event. The letter had stated that the Indian Republic Day parade is a “much awaited and sought after social event in Dhaka” and attended by people from various walks of life. Following this, the Defence Ministry in December 2014 gave the approval for the practice to continue. Britain grants first licence for genetic modification of embryos 152 Britain granted its first licence for the genetic modification of human embryos as part of research into infertility and why miscarriages happen, in a move likely to raise ethical concerns. "Our licence committee has approved an application from Dr Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute to renew her laboratory's research licence to include gene editing of embryos," the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said in a statement. Niakan has said she is planning to modify the embryos using a technique known as CRISPR-Cas90. The embryos will not become children as they must be destroyed within 14 days and can only be used for basic research. She plans to find the genes at play in the first few days of fertilization when an embryo develops a coating of cells that later become the placenta. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The embryos to be used in the research are ones that would have been destroyed, donated by couples receiving In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment who do not need them. The project should "assist infertile couples and reduce the anguish of miscarriage," Indian likely to become CFO of AIIB India is likely to bag the post of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in the newly launched Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) — the multilateral bank, whose formation was steered by China in order to boost infrastructure development in Asia. The Vice-President from Germany would serve as the Chief Operating Officer, while his peer from India would become the bank’s first CFO. The Chief Administrative Officer would be from Indonesia, while the South Korean Vice-President would be handle risk affairs. The British Vice-President is expected to head the communications department. Analysts say that the Chinese have made a decision to run the bank according to international best practices, which include tapping into the experience of European bankers. The AIIB along with the upcoming New Development Bank (NDB) of the BrazilRussian-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) are likely to anchor funding for the Eurasian Land Corridor or the China-proposed Belt and Road connectivity initiative, along with opening up a new channel of financial flows for the Global South. The three institutions have been established outside the framework of the Bretton Woods Charter, which led to the post-war emergence of the western-back International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The run up to the formation of the bank opened cracks within the Atlantic Alliance. Despite U.S. objections, European countries including Britain, France and Germany joined the AIIB. Australia and South Korea — top U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific — also decided to participate in the development bank as its founding members. Julian Assange's detention illegal, says UN panel 153 A United Nations panel has ruled as ‘unlawful detention’ the three-year period of political asylum sought by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. The ruling by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that will be formally communicated to Mr. Assange tomorrow will be a major boost to the long fight mounted by Mr. Assange and his supporters against the Swedish and British governments’ efforts to arrest and extradite him to Sweden. The Australian human rights campaigner was arrested in London in 2010 under a European arrest warrant issued by Sweden on charges of sexual assault and rape. Assange sought political asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London in 2012 when the UK Supreme Court upheld the extradition orders. He has remained confined within the Embassy for the last three-and-a-half years with a posse of policemen on 24-hour vigil outside to arrest him if he stepped out. Assange has strongly denied the charges of which two were dropped but not that of rape. He refused to be tried in Sweden fearing that he would be extradited to the ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY United States, where he faces official secrecy charges for the publication by Wikileaks of thousands of classified documents The working group is the highest authority on detention in the UN, globally respected for their trials of high profile cases. The starting point is that the countries [Sweden and Britain] participated in the process and submitted evidence to the panel. Though decisions of the panel are not binding, it will affect the international credibility of both governments if they ignored the decision of the panel Sri Lanka celebrates I-Day by rendering national anthem in Tamil too Marked by symbolism of high degree, the 68th Independence Day of Sri Lanka was celebrated with an uncommon element - the rendering of the Tamil version of the national anthem at the government's main event of the day. As in the previous years, the might of security forces of the country was demonstrated at the event on the Galle Face Green which lasted nearly two and a half hours. According to several Ministers, this happened after a long gap and it exemplified the present government’s efforts towards national reconciliation and ethnic harmony The State-controlled English newspaper, "Daily News," in a report on its website, stated that the national anthem was sung in Tamil since 1949. Constitutional validity However, the government’s move has triggered a debate on its constitutional validity. Uday Gammanpila, leader of the Pivithuru Hela Urumaya, contends that there has to be a constitutional amendment in view of the provisions in Article 7 and the Third Schedule of the 1978 Constitution, dealing with the national anthem.According to him, only the Sinhala version can be rendered However, Vickramabahu Karunarathne, general secretary of the Nava Sama Samaj Party, counters his view that after the 13th Amendment of the Constitution in 1987, Tamil has become another official language. Sexually transmitted Zika case confirmed in Texas 154 A person in Texas has been infected with the Zika virus — the first case of the virus being transmitted in the U.S. during the current outbreak of Zika which has been linked to birth defects in the Americas. The Zika virus is usually spread through mosquito bites, but investigators have been exploring the possibility of the virus spreading through sexual contact. The CDC says it will issue guidance in the coming days on prevention of sexual transmission of Zika virus, focusing on the male sexual partners of women who are or may be pregnant. The CDC has already recommended that pregnant women postpone trips to more than two dozen countries with Zika outbreaks, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, including Venezuela. It also said other visitors should use insect repellent and take other precautions to prevent mosquito bites. 80% of infected never experience symptoms The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global emergency over the rapidly spreading Zika virus, saying it is an “extraordinary event” that poses a threat to the rest of the world. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY The declaration was made after an emergency meeting of independent experts called in response to a spike in babies born with brain defects and abnormally small heads in Brazil since the virus was first found there last year. WHO officials say it could be six to nine months before science proves or disproves any connection between the virus and babies born with abnormally small heads. Zika was first identified in 1947 in Uganda. It wasn’t believed to cause any serious effects until last year; about 80 per cent of infected people never experience symptoms. The most common symptoms are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting several days to a week. Symptoms usually start two days to a week after being bitten by an infected mosquito. India, Thailand firm up maritime cooperation India’s Vice-President Hamid Ansari told the leadership of Thailand that India-Thailand collaboration is necessary to ensure freedom of navigation and connectivity in the Southeast Asian region. “As maritime neighbours, we have a shared interest in the security of international sea lanes of communication and commerce. Our resolve to strengthen our bilateral engagement in the areas of security and defence will help the region as a whole and promote regional economic integration and connectivity,” Mr. Ansari said while addressing the state banquet hosted in his honour by the Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha. During the ongoing tour of Southeast Asia, the Indian delegation led by Mr. Ansari has expressed Indian concerns about freedom of navigation in the region due to growing maritime disputes between China and several other regional countries over South China Sea Cobra Gold 2016 155 India will participate in Cobra Gold 2016 [multilateral amphibious exercise] and Operation Maitri [counter-insurgency] operations India and Thailand recently held a joint task force meeting in Delhi to deepen maritime and defence cooperation which covers a range of issues, including ocean safety, disaster management and anti-terror drills. The delegations also confirmed that India and Thailand will soon hold naval exercises in the Andaman Seas. That apart, both sides agreed to fast track the ongoing trilateral land corridor project connecting Thailand-Myanmar and India. These bilateral and multilateral infrastructure and security projects will receive further boost in the coming months when the entire top brass of the Thai leadership, including Prime Minister Gen. Chan-o-cha, is expected to visit New Delhi. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY Bangladesh to ‘soon’ grant India access to Chittagong port Addressing a long pending demand by India, Bangladesh will “soon” grant India direct access to its Chittagong port even as both sides work on forward linkages. Bangladesh is working on a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) which will ensure India direct access to the port, which is significant in boosting bilateral and intraregional trade. India had been asking for a direct access to the Chittagong Port for nearly five years. Once approved, this will help Indian industry and exporters save millions of dollars by sending direct shipments to Bangladesh and by using the Chittagong port as a transit hub to access other Southeast Asian destinations. Last year, both neighbours had signed an MoU on use of Chittagong and Mongla ports. Joint task force India and Bangladesh are expected to discuss India’s access to the Chittagong port as part of their discussions under the joint task force set up to deepen maritime cooperation During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in June last year, the two countries had signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on “blue economy and maritime cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean” and on “use of Chittagong and Mongla ports”. Pact on coastal shipping Following this, the two countries signed a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in November to operationalise the agreement on coastal shipping. China had earlier offered to develop the Chittagong port, raising concerns in India which sees it as an encirclement move by Beijing under its “string of pearls” strategy. India, Brunei discuss South China Sea dispute 156 Brunei held discussion with an Indian delegation led by Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea which has the potential to affect free maritime traffic in Southeast Asia. “Brunei briefed us on the negotiation under way for the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea. India supports a negotiated settlement of Brunei’s maritime dispute with China,” said Mr. Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East), following the conclusion of a bilateral defence agreement between India and Brunei. The pact is aimed at ensuring uninterrupted energy lanes between India and Southeast Asia. An Indian military source in Brunei said the defence cooperation will provide both sides the institutional foundation for more collaborative work on maritime security and secure India’s energy lanes to Brunei. Brunei’s main port, Muara — one of the main ports in Southeast Asia through which the bulk of the country’s oil and gas exports to India take place — is in the South China Sea region and will become a major component of India’s growing maritime partnership with Brunei. ©www.nammakpsc.com FEBRUARY 2016 MAHITHI MONTHLY South China Sea that Brunei claims is largely “unexplored” and might contain hydrocarbon reserves vital for the country’s economy. U.S. tax authorities approve signing of bilateral APAs with India 157 The U.S. Internal Revenue Service announced that, starting February 16, its Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement office will begin accepting requests for bilateral advance pricing agreements between the U.S. and India. This marks a big step forward to ensure tax certainty between the two countries, according to experts. The U.S. has historically been slow to move on bilateral APAs, and so many companies chose the unilateral APA route. The fact that the US has agreed to begin accepting bilateral APAs with India is good news for Indian companies This hesitation to enter into bilateral APAs might have been due to the large number of pending transfer pricing cases between the US and India, according to some experts. The two countries had around 200 cases pending for the last 4-5 years, 100 of which were resolved recently, according to the Indian government. Real progress in resolving these cases was made following the signing of the framework agreement between the Indian and the U.S. tax authorities in January 2015 as part of the Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP) provision contained in the IndiaU.S. Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC). This is an important step forward in strengthening ties between the two governments in the area of taxation of multinationals, especially post the roll out of BEPS Action Plans by the OECD. Bilateral APAs provide the much needed certainty for doing business in each country ©www.nammakpsc.com
