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I n d e x

Page No. 129Small Savings Schemes

Page No.131Myanmar Democratisation

Economic Survey

BUDGET 2016-17

US Presidential Election Process

MAY 2016


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The Economic Survey 2015-16 was tabled in Parliament by the Union

Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley.Survey expects Indian economy to

perform well dispute the gloomy

picture of international economicenvironment. Survey says India stands

as a haven of stability and an outpost

of opportunity. Survey says Indian

economy will doing well because of

mainly two reasons; the government’scommitment to fiscal consolidation

and low inflation. The Survey also

praised reorientation of governmentspending toward needed public

infrastructure. Describing theseachievements as remarkable, the

Survey emphasizes that the task is

now to sustain them in an even moredifficult global environment.

The Survey further states thatthe country’s performance reflects

the implementation of number of meaningful reforms. Economicenvironment in country has been

helped by the government’scommitment towards reducing

corruption, which is imminent in

auctioning the assets. Survey alsopraised the government’s initiative to

liberalise the FDI across the boardand vigorous efforts have been

undertaken to ease the cost of doingbusiness.

Survey said agriculture being

the important section of Indianeconomy. Government’s initiative of

a major crop insurance programme

will help this sector. The Survey has

highlighted creation of bank

accounts for over 200 million peopleunder Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan

Yojana (PMJDY), the world’s largest

direct benefit transfer programme incase of LPG with about 151 million

beneficiaries receiving Rs. 29,000crore in their bank accounts has been

praised by Suvey. However, the

Survey has expressed concern over approval of GST Bill being elusive so

far, the disinvestment programmefalling short of targets and the next

stage of subsidy rationalization beinga work-in-progress. It adds thatcorporate and bank balance sheets

remain stressed affecting theprospects for reviving private

investments. It further says that

perhaps the underlying anxiety is thatthe Indian economy is not realizing

its full potential.Like previous year Survey again

states that the country’s long runpotential growth rate is still around 8-

10%. For that to achieve government

needs to work on three importantfields, India being pro-industry must

evolve into being genuinely pro-

competition. Similarly, skepticism

about the state must translate into

making it leaner. Secondly, the Survey calls for major investments in health

and education of people to exploit

India’s demographic dividend tooptimal extent. Third, survey says

government needs to put major emphasis on the Agriculture. On the

education front, the declining

educational outcomes reflected inlower reading levels in both public

and private sector schools are areasof concern.

According to Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2014,there is sharp decline between 2007

to 2014 in the number of children inStandard V who can read a textbook

of Standard II, in both government

and private schools. EconomicSurvey 2015-16 states that the

ECONOMIC SURVEY


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Gender Parity Index (2013-14

Provisional) however, shows an

improvement in girls’ education, withparity having been achieved

between girls and boys at almost all

levels of education. The Governmenthas taken several steps to provide

education to underprivileged, vulnerable and marginalized people

such as SCs, STs, other BackwardClasses (OBC) including Minorities

and other Economically Backward

Classes through various programmesof education. ‘Digital Gender Atlas for

Advancing Girl’s Education in India’ was launched last year to help identify

low-performing geographic pockets

for girls, particularly from

marginalized groups. A number of scho larshi p

schemes to encourage enrolment and

learning levels among different

groups are in operation. NationalScholarship Portal, a single window

system for various types of scholarshipschemes administered by different

Ministries/Departments has been

introduced under Direct BenefitTransfer (DBT) mode. During 2015-

16, about 90 lakh Minority studentsare to be benefited under the Pre-

matric, Post-matric and Merit-cum-Means scholarship schemes, whileabout 23.21 lakh SC students

benefited under Pre-matric, 56.30lakh under Post-matric and 3354

under the Rajiv Gandhi National

Fellowship including the Top ClassEducation scholarship scheme are to

be assisted.The Survey accepts that

external environment remains

unusually challenging and weak,government policy needs to be

designed to counter that. Major currency re-adjustment in the wake

of Chinese de-valuation is a major risk

for India according to survey. Another external risk is capital

controls taken to respond to curboutflows from large emerging market

countries. The Survey says that in

either case, foreign demand is likely

to be weak which requires to find and

activate domestic sources of demandto prevent the growth momentum

from weakening.

In the economic outlook, realGDP growth for 2016-17 is expected

to be in the 7% to 7.75% range.However, it cautions that if the world

economy remains weak, India’sgrowth will face considerable

headwinds. On the domestic side,

two factors can boost consumption,increased spending from higher

wages and al lowances of government workers if the seventh

pay commission is implemented and

return of normal monsoon. At the

same time, the Survey enumeratesthree down side risks – turmoil inglobal economy could worsen the

outlook of exports, contrary to

expectations oil prices rise wouldincrease the drag from consumption

and the most serious risk iscombination of the above two factors.

Another challenging are for the

Indian economy is the twin balancesheet problem – the impaired

financial positions of the PublicSector Banks (PSBs) and some

corporate houses. The twin balancesheet challenge is restraining full-fledged economic recovery and it

also reduces the private investmentin the Indian economy. Survey

provides four steps to resolve the

problem of twin balance sheet.• Recognition;

• Recapitalization;• Resolution and

• Reform.Banks must value their assets as

far as possible close to true value

(recognition) as the RBI has beenemphasizing; once they do so, their

capital position must be safeguarded vi a infusions of equi ty (re-

capitalisation)as the banks have beendemanding; the underlying stressed

assets in the corporate sector must

be sold or rehabilitated (resolution)

as the government has been desiring;

and future incentives for the PrivateSector and corporates must be set-

right (reform) to avoid a repetition of

the problem, as everyone has beenclamouring. The survey states that

overall exports declined by 18percent in last three quarters. In

order for country to realise India’s

medium term growth potential of 8-10 percent, proper growth of exports

is necessary. Major problem area for the growth of exports is India’s poor

competitiveness. Country needs to

develop competitiveness close toChina. On the issue of trade policy,

the Survey says that introspection isoverdue on issues which are –

providing support to farmers in lightof WHO rules.

The Survey underlines that

India’s position in agriculture haschanged, it has become more

competitive and relies relatively more

on domestic support. It suggestsIndia’s WTO obligations could

predominantly be based on thisdomestic shift away from border

protection to domestic support. It

further suggests that India couldconsider offering reduction in its very

high tariff bindings and instead seekmore freedom to provide higher

levels of domestic support.

Stating that the trade policy isunder stress also for reasons related

to the ongoing turmoil in theinternational environment and the

global demand is weak, the Survey

suggests that India should resist callsto seek recourse in the protectionist

measures, especially in relation toitems that could undermine the

competitiveness of downstream firms

and industries. It also suggests thatIndia should strengthen procedures

that allow WTO-consistent and hencelegitimate actions against dumping

(anti-dumping), subsidization

(countervailing duties), and surges inimports (safeguard measures) to be

taken expeditiously and effectively.


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Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17






BUDGET 2016-17

Union government presented

its second full budget in theparliament on 29th feb 2015. This

year’s budget gives special emphasisfor the development of rural India.

Although India has to go through

various external challenges but stillIndia is fastest growing major

economy in the world. Budget

continued the path setup in last

budget of improving the fiscal

discipline and making legislative andtax reforms. This was the first budget

presented after recommendation of pay commission has been accepted

and also government has

implemented One rank one pensionfor Armed forces. This will provide

additional burden on the governmentfinances. However government has

nicely maintained its fiscal discipline.

Al ong wi th rura l economy

government’s focus on improving theinfrastructure of the country hascontinued from last year’s budget.

Important decisions of budget

are given below sector wise:Rural Economy

• Allocation of 5500 crore under PM fasal Bima yojana. 28.5 lakh

hectares will be brought under irrigation under Pradhan Mantri

Krishi Sinchai Yojana.• 15000 crore al location for

interest subvention to reduceburden of loan repayments.

• Soil health card to cover all theland holdings.

• Unified Agricultural marketing

platform for wholesale markets.• Farmer’s income to be doubled

by 2022.

• Dedicated Long Term IrrigationFund will be created in

NABARD with initial corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore.

• Rs. 9 lakh crore will be given as Agricultural credit in 2016-17.

• FCI wil l undertake onlineprocurement of food grains.

This will bring transparency andconvenience to farmers through

prior registration and monitoringof procurement.

• R. 2.87 lakh crore will be givenas Grant in Aid to Gram

Panchayats and Municpalities asper the recommendations of

the 14th FC. This translates toRs. 81 lakh per gram panchayat

and over Rs. 21 crore per Municipality.

• Every Block in drought and ruraldistress areas will be taken up

under Deen Dayal AntoyodayaMission.

• 300 Rurban Clusters wil lincubate growth Centres in

Rural Area.

• MUDRA – Loan target of 1,80,000 crore in 2016-17.

Social Sector

• Massive Mission to provide LPG

connection to poor households will be launched. 1.5 crore poor

households will benefit in 2016-17. Scheme will continue for

two more years to cover a totalof 5 crore BPL households. LPG

connection to be given in thename of woman member of the

family.• New Health Protection scheme

will be launched. Health cover up to Rs. 1 lakh per family and

additional Rs. 30,000 for senior citizens to be provided.

• A new Eco System for SC/STentrepreneurs will be set up.


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Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17Budget 2016-17





SC/ST Hub to be set up in

MSME Ministry.

Education

• An enabling regulatory

architecture will be provided to10 public and 10 private

institutions to emerge as worldclass teaching and research

institutions.• Higher Education Financing

Agency will be set up with aninitial capital base of Rs. 1,000

crore.

Skills

• 1500 Multi Skil l TrainingInstitutes will be set up under

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana

• Entrepreneurship educationand training will be provided in

2200 colleges, 300 schools, 500govt. it is and 50 vocational

training centres through openonline courses.

• Government of India will pay EPS contribution of 8.33% for

all new employees enrolling inEPFO for the first three years of

employment. Applicable tothose with salaries of Rs. 15,000

per month• Interl inking of State

Employment Exchanges withNational Career Service

Platform.• Small and medium shops to be

permitted to remain open all 7

days a week on voluntary basis.New jobs in retail sector.

Infrastructure Development

• Rs. 2,18,000 crore will be spenton capital expenditure of roads

and railways in 2016-17. ThisIncludes: Rs. 27,000 crore

PMGSY, 55,000 crore RoadTransport and highway, 15,000

crore NHAI Bonds, 1,21,000crore Railways.

• Unserved and underservedairstrips to be revived by AAI

and also in partnership withState Governments.

• Road transport sector

(passenger segment) to beopened up by removing permitsystem. This is a major reform

measure.• To promote private

participation in infrastructureprojects, Public Utility

(Resolution of Disputes) Bill willbe introduced.

• For the benefit of farmers, 100%FDI through FIPB route will be

permitted for marketing of foodproducts, produced and

manufactured in India.• Individual units of CPSEs can be

disinvested to raise resourcesfor investment in new projects.

financial sector

• A comprehensive Code on

Resolution of Financial Firms

will be enacted. Together willthe Bankruptcy and Insolvency

Law,• SARFAESI Act to be amended

to strengthen AssetReconstruction Companies. This

wi ll he lp in de al ing wi thstressed assets of Banks.

• Public Sector Banks (PSB) – (a)Recapitalisation of PSBs; (b)

roadmap to be spelt out for consolidation of PSBs; (c)

considering reduction of Government equity in IDBI Bank

to 49% of below; (d) DRTs tobe strengthened with

computerized processing of

court cases.• Comprehensive Central

legislation to deal with Illicit

Deposit Taking schemes will beenacted.

Fiscal Discipline

• Fiscal deficit target of 3.5% of

GDP in 2016-17

• Committee for review of FRBM Act.

• Removal of -/Non Planclassification from 2017-18

• Rationalisation of Central PlanSchemes. More than 1500

Central Plan schemes have beenrestructured to about 300

Central sector and 30 centrally sponsored Schemes.


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US Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election Process






An election for President of theUnited States occurs every four years

on Election Day, held the first

Tuesday after the first Monday inNovember. The 2016 Presidential

election will be held on November 8, 2016. The election process begins

with the pr imary elections and

caucuses and moves to nominating

conventions, during which political

parties each select a nominee to unitebehind. The nominee also announces

a Vice Presidential running mate at

this time. The candidates thencampaign across the country to

explain their views and plans to voters and participate in debates with

candidates from other parties.

During the general election, Americans head to the polls to cast

their vote for President. But the tally of those votes—the popular vote—

does not determine the winner.Instead, Presidential elections use theElectoral College. To win the

election, a candidate must receive amajority of electoral votes. In the

event no candidate receives the

majority, the House of Representatives chooses the

President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.

The US Presidential election

process runs for more than a year. Thetypical process follows this pattern.

Spring of the year before an election– Candidates announce their

intentions to run. Summer of the year

before an election through spring of

the election year – Primary and

caucus debates take place. January to June of election year – States and

parties hold primaries and caucuses.

July to early September – Parties holdnominating conventions to choose

their candidates. September andOctober – Candidates participate in

Presidential debates. Early

November election for the Presidenthappens. Electors cast their votes in

the Electoral College in December.US constitution provides some

necessary requirements for thePresidential candidates. Theserequirements include:

• Be a natural-born citizen of theUnited States

• Be at least 35 years old• Have been a resident of the

United States for 14 years

Any person who meets theserequirements can declare his or her

candidacy for President at any time.

In India qualifications are different.In India any citizen can be a

candidate of Presidential election.

Primary and Caucuses

Before the general election,

most candidates for President gothrough a series of state primaries and

caucuses. Though primaries and

caucuses are run differently, they both serve the same purpose—to

allow the states to help choose thepolitical parties’ nominees for the

general election. State primaries are

run by state and local governments. Voting occurs through secret ballot.

Caucuses are private meetings run by political parties. In most, participants

divide themselves into groups

according to the candidate they support, with undecided voters

forming into a group of their own.Each group then gives speeches

supporting its candidate and tries to

persuade others to join its group. Atthe end of the caucus, party

organizers count the voters in each

US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION PROCESS


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US Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election ProcessUS Presidential Election Process





candidate’s group and calculate how many delegates each candidate has

won. At stake in each primary or

caucus is a certain number of

delegates, or individuals whorepresent their states at national party

conventions. The candidate whoreceives a majority of his or her party’s

delegates wins the nomination. The

parties have different numbers of totaldelegates due to the complex rules

involved in awarding them.

2016 US presidential Election

In 2016, a Democratic

candidate must receive 2,383 of theestimated 4,765 delegates to

become the party’s nominee.Democratic candidates must win atleast 15 percent of the votes earned

in a primary or caucus to receive any “pledged” delegates. Candidates

generally receive pledged delegates

on a proportional basis. The 2016Republican candidate must receive

1,237 of the estimated 2,472

delegates to win the party’snomination. Depending on the state,

delegates may be awardedproportionally, on a winner-take-all

basis, or using a hybrid system. The

percentage of primary or caucus votesa candidate must win to receive

delegates varies from state to state.If no nominee has a party’s

majority of delegates going into its

convention, then the delegates picktheir Presidential candidate in a

brokered or contested convention.Pledged delegates usually have to

vote for the candidate they were

awarded to in the first round of voting, while unpledged delegates don’t.

Pledged delegates may be allowed

to choose any candidate insubsequent rounds of voting.

Balloting continues until onenominee receives the required

majority to win.

Electoral College

Citizens in US vote to elect

Electors for the President. Electors

are part of the Electoral College, the

process used to elect the U.S.

President and Vice President. TheElectoral College serves as a

compromise between election of the

President by a vote in Congress andelection of the President by a popular

vote of qualified citizens. The processbegins when political parties select

the people who will serve as electors,The electors meet to vote for

President and Vice President, and

then Congress counts the electoral votes.

There are a total of 538 electors. A candidate needs the vote of more

than half (270) to win the Presidential

election. Each state’s number of

electors is equal to the number of itsU.S. Senators plus the number of itsU.S. Representatives. In 48 states,

when a candidate receives the

majority of votes, he or she receivesall of the state’s electoral votes. Maine

and Nebraska are the only two statesthat use the congressional district

method.


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National IssuesNational IssuesNational IssuesNational IssuesNational Issues






NATIONAL ISSUESUnion government will assess

loss to the crop

• The Centre has sent teams toPunjab, Haryana and other northern and western States toassess the loss of winter-sown(rabi) crops, including wheat,due to untimely rains andhailstorms in the past few days.

• There are reports of damage to wheat crop in parts of Punjab,Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh as hail and rain,accompanied with strong

winds flattened the standing

crop at many places.• The current spell of rain andhailstorms in parts of Rajasthanhas also threatened the mustardcrop.

• On a conservative side, the wheat crop might have beendamaged in five per cent of thetotal sown area in these northernStates.

• Wheat has been sown onaround 29 million hectares thisseason across the country and

out of this, around half the wheat is sown in the northernand western States.

• Agriculture experts say thecurrent spell of rains isdetrimental for the early sown

varieties. However, the late-sown crops could survive

provided there is no wind or hailstorm in the coming days.

Supreme Court says Child’s

interest should be the focus

during adoption

• Noting that the interests shouldbe kept “first and foremost”during adoption, the SupremeCourt directed the Centre andthe States to frame regulationsunder the Juvenile Justice (Careand Protection) Act, 2015.

• SC also directed Centre and theStates to implement the newguidelines for in-country andinter-country adoption to makethe process transparent,friendly and fool-proof.

• The new juvenile law defines“adoption” as the processthrough which the adoptedchild is permanently separatedfrom his biological parents andbecomes the lawful child of hisadoptive parents with all therights, privileges and

responsibilities that areattached to a biological child.• Section 2 of the 2015 Act

mandates that adoptionregulations should be framed by the authority notified for thepurpose by the Centre.

• Terming the new law and itsguidelines “comprehensive”and in line with the U.N.Convention on the Rights of theChild of 1989, the SupremeCourt said it “puts in placesafeguards against trafficking of children in the name of adoption.”

• In 2011, there were 5,964 in-country adoptions and 589

inter-country adoptions. In2014-15, there were 3,988 in-country adoptions and 374inter-country ones.

• The Bench, however, refusedthe NGO’s plea for an omnibusCBI probe into such rackets inthe past in various parts of thecountry.

First payment under OROP sent

• The government said it had

credited revised pensionary benefits along with arrearsunder one-rank one-pension(OROP) scheme to more than 2lakh pensioners drawing serviceand disability pensions.

• As to the more than 1.46 lakhfamily pensioners, thegovernment will credit the newbenefits by the end of thismonth.

• Defence Pension DisbursingOffices [DPDOs] under the

Controller General of Defence Accounts have released revisedpensionary benefits to 2,21,224defence pensioners .

Government hopeful to bring

big bang reforms

• The National Democratic


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Alliance government hopes topress the accelerator on reformsand pass the landmarkConstitution (122nd

Amendment) Bill for a nationalGoods and Services Tax (GST)and a separate bill for Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code, 2015.

• The current session of Parliament has already seen thepassage of one landmarklegislation the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financialand other Subsidies andServices) Bill, 2016.

• The legislation meant to providestatutory backing to the uniqueidentification number.

• FM said “We are trying to havespecial emphasis now both interms of legislative changes and

resources being put tostrengthen the banking system.Next few months, in bringingabout structural change, aregoing to be extremely important.”

• Mr. Jait ley said that theconstituency within Indiasupporting reforms is muchbigger than its opponents. Healso said that exhibitingdetermination to move on thereforms path, India can providea significant amount of growthto the world.

• The GST Bill was passed by theLok Sabha but is stuck in theUpper House, where the rulingNDA does not have a majority and is dependent on the

support of the Congress for itspassage.

• The Constitution amendmentBill needs two-third majority or 162 votes in the 242-member Rajya Sabha. After it clears theRajya Sabha, the legislation willhave to be ratified by at leasthalf of the 29 States.

• Also speaking at theConference, IMF ManagingDirector Christine Lagarde saidthat the world had lots to learnfrom India’s Aadhaar initiativethat would affect revenuegeneration in a big way.

• Ms. Lagarde also told reporters

she didn’t see much of adownside from the globaleconomy to India’s growth ratesince the country has a “solid”growth model, a growingpopulation, scale of market and

was pursuing reforms.

RSS calls for end of caste basedreservation

• At its annual meeting, the RSS’shighest decision-making body,

Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha,made a pitch for social justice,passing a resolution on theneed to end castediscrimination.

• RSS general secretary Suresh(Bhaiyyaji) Joshi said that whileHindu thought was supreme,many discriminatory practiceshad come up over time for

which Hindus shou ld takeresponsibility.

• He added that harmony was amust and caste discriminationmust end.

• Taking a progressive yetcautious line on the recentcontroversy over temple entry for women in a Maharashtratemple, Mr. Joshi said thatregressive thinking of gender segregation needed to beaddressed, but throughdialogue rather than agitation.

Restrictions lifted from women

entry to Para military forces

• After declaring reservation for women in co ns tabu la ry inparamilitary forces, they cannow also be inducted asofficers in combat roles in all fiveCentral Armed Police Forces.

• The Union Home Ministry recently published new rulesallowing women to apply asdirect-entry officers in border guarding force Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP), the only paramilitary which hitherto didnot allow women to join insupervisory combat roles owingto its task of guarding thedifficult Sino-India border.

• Among five of the Central Ar med Po li ce Fo rc es , the

Central Reserve Police Force,the Central Industrial Security Force, the Border Security Force and the Sashastra SeemaBal have been allowing womento apply as direct-entry officers.

• Now, by allowing women to


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apply as direct-entry officers inITBP, all restrictions have beenlifted on women.

PM says India proves

democracy and high growth cango together

• Taking a swipe at China, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi said thatIndia’s growth rate of over sevenper cent was being achieved ina country that is also a vibrantdemocracy.

• Speaking at the Advancing Asiaconference here, he said Indiadispelled the myth thatdemocracy and rapideconomic growth could not gotogether.

• India’s rapid economic growth,

he said, was also very distinct in Asia, as the country had never tried to gain in trade at theexpense of partners, never undervalued its exchange rate;it rather added to the world and

Asi an de mand by runn in gcurrent account deficits.

• The IMF recently includedChina’s yuan into its reservecurrency basket.

• Amid global problems, Mr. Modisaid, India was a haven of

macro-economic stability.• In a diff icult external

environment and despite asecond successive year of weakrainfall, India has increasedgrowth rate to 7.6 per cent, thehighest among major

economies in the world.• India and the IMF also

announced the signing of aMemorandum of Understandingfor establishing the South AsiaRegional Training and Technical

Assistance Centre.• It is expected to become the

focal point for planning,coordinating, and implementingthe IMF’s capacity-development activities in theregion.

UNDP says marital rapes

criminalisation is commitment

under SDG

• Just days after government saidit wouldn’t criminalise “maritalrape,” a top U.N. official said thatthe issue is one of consent, notculture, suggesting that India

woul d be vi ol at ing th eSustainable DevelopmentGoals if it did not amend the lawaccordingly.

• UNDP made a significant pitchfor all countries that had notmade domestic abuse andmarital rape criminal offences to

do so at the earliest.• This is significant because the

United Nations DevelopmentProgramme is monitoring theimplementation of the SDGs by 2030.

• On March 10, in a written answer to a question by an MP,Government had submitted thegovernment’s position inParliament, saying that the“concept of marital rape, asunderstood internationally,cannot be applied in the Indiancontext due to level of education/illiteracy, poverty,customs and values, religiousbeliefs, mindset of society totreat the marriage as asacrament, etc..”

Some good news for Indian

students applying for US visa

• After al l the negativity associated with US education

in the recent months, here issome good news for Indianstudents.

• The US government has madecertain changes to non-immigrant visas that will nowallow the eligible students toobtain the Optional PracticalTraining (OPT) for three years.

• However, the facility will beextended only to the Science,Technology, Engineering andMathematics (STEM) students

who secure their degrees fromaccredited institutes and thecompanies that are part of theE-verify programme.

• Since most Indian students enrolin these courses, the new normsmay work to their advantagedespite the stringent normsattached to the changes.

• The new rule also says thatSTEM-OPT students should notreplace any American worker,

temporary or permanent andthe salary offered to the OPTstudents should be similar to the

American workers.• Students who prefer good

institutes in the US will gain wh il e th os e fr om no n-accredited institutions will notgain from the new rules.

• Another positive note may bethat OPT students will get moretime to apply for the H1B visasthat are capped at 65,000 every

year in addition to the 20,000meant for US-educatedstudents.

Kerala secures top ranking in

public affairs index

• Kerala and Tamil Nadu have


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acquired the first and secondrank in the public affairs index(PAI) of governance in States,

while Bihar, Jharkhand andOdisha lag behind, a latestsurvey by a think-tank, Public

Aff ai rs Ce nt re (PAC ),Bengaluru, has revealed.

• Karnataka secured the topposition among all States in thecategory of providing adequateand effective social protectionto its citizens. West Bengal andKerala secured the second andthird positions.

• The survey, which was based on10 themes, 25 focus subjects

and 68 indicators, said Mizoram,Himachal Pradesh and Delhisecured top three ranks amongthe small States (less than twocrore population).

• Karnataka, which ranked ninthin the ease of doing business inthe World Bank report releasedlast year, was placed at an overallrank three in the PAC survey.

• 'Education and health are saidto be the pillars of developmentand it is worth mentioning that

the State has performed welland has bagged the secondrank,” the survey said.

• Punjab, which secured overall6th rank, bagged top spot onthe infrastructure front,followed by Haryana andGujarat. Among small States,Delhi led, followed by Goa andHimachal Pradesh.

• In maintenance of law andorder, Tamil Nadu topped thelist followed by Gujarat and

Kerala.• Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha are

ranked low in social protection,economic freedom, delivery of

ju st ic e, wo men and ch il ddevelopment and essentialinfrastructure indicators.

RSS think tank wants education

and health should be prioritise

• BJP president Amit Shah spokeat the Akhil Bharatiya PratinidhiSabha, the RSS’s highestdecision-making body. Theconclave passed resolutions onaffordable education and health

care.• The meeting passed resolutionson affordable education, withsuggestions for more budgetary allocation for education and agreater community participation.

• "Inadequate al location for education and lack of priority for education in thegovernment policy during thepreceding years have left openthis field to institutions aiming

for profits,” the resolution said.• The resolution called for value-based, nationalistic,employment-oriented and skill-based education for each child.

• The health resolution called for medical facilities in small townsand villages and made a casefor more philanthropic healthcare efforts. It also called for medicines to be brought withinthe reach of the people.

PM glorifies India's culture atWorld Cultural festival

• Prime Minister Narendra Modibraved both the environmentalcontroversy and unexpectedrains to attend the World CultureFestival, organised by the Art of

Living (AoL) Foundation, led by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.

• Mr. Modi not only watched thecultural programme seatedbeside Ravi Shankar, but, in aspeech, praised the spiritualguru for taking Indian culture tothe world.

• In an apparent reference to thecontroversy surrounding theevent, taking place on the

Yamuna floodplains and itsimpact on the environment, hesaid, “If we keep criticisingeverything we have and do nottake pride in our cultural legacy,

why should the world look at

us?”• Earlier in the day, the NationalGreen Tribunal (NGT)accepted the AoL Foundation’sargument that it was a charitableorganisation which could not atshort notice raise Rs. 5 croreimposed by the NGT.

• The Tribunal, in an interimdirection, ordered theFoundation to pay Rs. 25 lakhbefore the commencement of the programme and granted

three weeks' time to pay theremaining Rs. 4.75 crore.

Government ordered audit oftelecom's after CAG report

• With the CAG report tabled inParliament on Friday indicatinga loss of Rs. 12,489 crore to theexchequer due tounderstatement of revenues by six telecom operators,


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including Airtel, Idea and Vodafone, the government hasordered a special audit of telecom companies for three

years.• Commenting on the findings,

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said special audit of theoperators’ books would bedone for three years from 2009,to check for under-reporting of revenues.

• Even though in terms of well-established parliamentary procedure, the report will go tothe Public AccountsCommittee.

• In conclusion, the audit foundthat even after 16 years of theintroduction of the revenueshare regime, the correctnessand completeness of revenueflowing into the consolidatedFund of India could not beassured by DoT.

• The CAG report said thefinancial impact on LF and SUCdue to understatement of grossrevenue stood at Rs. 1,507.25crore for Reliance

Communications, Rs. 1,357.68crore for Tata Teleservices, Rs.1,066.95 crore for Airtel, Rs.749.85 crore for Vodafone, Rs.423.26 crore for Idea and Rs.107.61 crore for Aircel.

• On the other hand, the twoindustry bodies representingtelecom operators in a jointstatement said that mattersrelating to interpretation of ‘Gross Revenue/Adjusted GrossRevenue’ of telecom

companies for the purpose of calculation of licence fees areunder litigation in various

judicial forums including theTDSAT, High Courts and theSupreme Court.

• The telecom operators had

earlier opposed auditing of their books by the CAG. However, aSupreme Court ruling in favour of the auditor in 2014 forced thecompanies to share theinformation.

• The report observed non-compliance with the licenceconditions by netting off of discounts/waivers granted topost-paid subscribers andunder-reporting of revenuefrom infrastructure sharing withother telecom operators, amongothers.

Satyameva Jayate word use is

not in violation of State Emblem

of India Act

• The Bombay High Court soughtresponses from actor Aamir Khan and Star TV to a publicinterest litigation plea by anactivist that objects to the useof the phrase Satyameva Jayate, the name of their popular TV programme, as it is a part of theemblem of India.

• Responding to the petition, theMinistry of Home Affairs (MHA)in its affidavit said the use of thephrase ‘Satyameva Jayate’ wasnot in violation of the StateEmblem of India (Prohibition

and Improper Use) Act andState Emblem of India(Regulation of Use) Rules.

• The Act and Rules prohibitimproper use of the StateEmblem of India as a whole.There is no provision which

prohibits the use of its part likeSatyameva Jayate , the lion, thebull, the horse and so on.

• Hence the use of the words‘Satyameva Jayate’ in a TV programme does not violate any provision of the Act and Rules,”the affidavit said.

• In his petit ion, activistManoranjan Roy said Satyameva

Jayate is a part of the Emblemof India, and their use for thename of a TV programme

violates laws governing its use.

Aadhaar Bill passed by lower

house

• The Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar Bill, providing statutory backing to the uniqueidentification number for transferring governmentsubsidies and benefits, as amoney Bill after the governmentoverruled the Opposition’sobjections.

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said thousands of crores of rupees would be saved by plugging leakages and

diversions as he rejected theOpposition demand for referring the Bill to a standingcommittee.

• Overruling the Congress’objections that the legislationhad been turned into a money Bill to avoid voting in the RajyaSabha where the governmentdid not have a majority, he said

Aadhaar was a money Bill in truedefinition.

• The Bill “will empower theStates to distribute resources todeserving people and save theresources that undeservingpeople get.

• Earlier, participating in thedebate, Tathagat Satpathy (BJD) said there were fears that


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the government might use theprovisions of the Bill for “masssurveillance” and “ethniccleansing.”

SC says states are not bound toprovide reservation in

promotion

• The Supreme Court refused aplea to order States tomandatorily collect data onScheduled Castes andScheduled Tribes (SC/ST) for fixing reservation in matters of promotions in government jobs,saying such a step would beequivalent to the Judiciary entering the domain of theLegislature.

• Bench held that Stategovernments were not bound

to make reservation for SCs/STsin matters of promotion, andthus, the Supreme Court couldnot compel them to undertakethe exercise of collecting thequalitative data of SC/STs.

• The collection of qualitativedata of the SC/STs was anecessary pre-condition tosetting aside a quota for the SC/ ST category as held in the M.Nagaraj judgment in 2006 by aConstitution Bench.

• The State is not bound to makereservation for ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes inmatter of promotions.Therefore, there is no duty. Insuch a situation, to issue amandamus to collect the data

would tantamount to asking theauthorities whether there isample data to frame a rule or regulation. The judgement held.

Real estate bill passed

• The Rajya Sabha passed alandmark Real Estate Bill with apromise to secure the interestsof homebuyers and developersin equal measure and removecorruption and inefficiency from the sector

• Real estate contributes nine per cent to the national GDP and theBill’s passagewas seen as crucialto ensuring better regulatory

over- sight and orderly growthin the industry.• The first draft was rejected last

year by the Rajya Sabha, withOpposition leaders saying itfavoured developers and didnot serve the interests of consumers.

• Compared to the previous version of the Bill , in whichconstructions below the sizeof 1,000 square metres or 12apartments were left out of the

accountability ambit, the newBill has reduced the size andexempts projects only below500 square meters.

• Previously, in the absence of aregulatory authority, real estatedeals were largely done on faithor based on the experience of friends and family

• one of the significant aspects of the Bill was the definition of “carpet area”. “Buyers will nowbe paying only for the carpetareaand not the super built-uparea which was fraught withconfusion earlier

• the developers will now haveto take consent of 66 per centof the homebuyers in case they have to increase the number of

floors or change the buildingplans. This will protect thebuyers from any ad-hocchanges that are a normpresently.

• If builders still cause delays intransferring properties tobuyers, the appellate tribunal

would intervene and slap fineson them within 60 days. In a

wors t ca se sc en ar io , th etribunals can send a developer found guilty of fraud to jail for three years.

• The builders would alsoberesponsible for fixingstructural defects for five years

after transferring the property toa buyer. In case consumers failto make payments todevelopers, the appellatetribunal can fine them, too.

Radio channels to smoothen

your drive

• The Union RoadTransport andHighways Ministry is working onan ambitious plan to broad- casttraffic updates through adedicated radio frequency across various nationalhighways.

• The Ministry is in talks with theInformation and Broadcasting

Ministry to get a frequency bandto disseminate among nationalhighway commuters travel tips,safety tips, traffic updates,including information onaccidents and diversions.

• The Ministry would also have to


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get the approval of theTelecom Regulatory Authority of India for voice broadcasting.

• A pilot project, the governmenton Thursday launched Highway

Advisory Services to give trafficupdates to commuters on the256-km Delhi-Jaipur NationalHighway-8.

• While on the Delhi stretch AllIndia Radio FM Gold will air theupdates, AIR in Alwar and

Jaipur would cover the stretchin Rajasthan.

• Doordarshan was planning toreturn its unused UHF band(ultra high frequency) to the

government and it had already asked the Information andBroadcasting Ministry to allocatethat frequency to the HighwaysMinistry.

• Another option was to get alicence for the unused 105.6MHz frequency which wasearlier allotted to Indira GandhiNational Open University (IGNOU) for its educationalradio channel Gyan Vani.

CBI knew about Vijay Mallya’sflight plan

• The Central Bureau of Investigation had prior knowledge that businessman

Vi jay Mallya, who is facingcharges of defaulting on aRs.900-crore loan from IDBIBank, was to board a London-bound flight at Indira GandhiInter- national Airport

• At this stage, there is norestriction on Mr. Mallya’sforeign visits. Therefore, legally,he is allowed to go abroad. Heis a non-resident Indian and hasto remain abroad for at least183 days every year to retain thestatus. He also has a 10-year British business visa.

• The information on his travelplans was provided to the CBIin response to a lookout circular,

valid for a year, the agency hadsent to the exit ports across thecountry on October 16, 2015.

• Under the circular that carriespassport details and other particulars of suspects, anagency can request theimmigration department toprovide information on thearrival or departure of theperson concerned; seize traveldocuments and send them tothe agency; prevent the personfrom entering India and inform

the agency; or detain and handover the person to the localpolice.

World Cultur e Fest

• Though the festival has comeunder fire for its ecologically-sensitive venue, it was giventhe go-ahead by the NationalGreen Tribunal (NGT)

• Nearly 36,000 artistes fromaround the world will performon what is possibly the world’s

largest stage.• before this carnival atmosphere

took over the floodplains, thesite was flanked by two bridgesconnecting the Trans-Yamunaarea to therest of Delhi.Farmersgrew vegetables at the site that

will now host a mega festival.• The farmers who had been at

the site for years were moved.The soil was compacted anddebris was added to give itsome stability. Vegetation wascompletely removed. It will take

years for the area to recover from the damage.

• While the NGT has said that thefloodplains have beendamaged, the Art of LivingFoundation has maintained that

it hasn’t done anything wrong.

Golden Jubilee of the historic

concert of M.S. Subbulakshmi

• It is 50 years since Carnaticmusic legend M.S.Subbulakshmi and her daughter, Radha Vishwanathan,

graced the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations. Thissignificant moment, when M.S.played a cultural ambassador, isall set to be recreated in thecourse of her centenary year celebrations

• On October 23, 1966, M.S. andRadha presented a Carnaticmusic concert — the first timeany Indian musician sang in thehallowed precincts as part of U.N. Day celebrations.

• To mark the Golden Jubileeof the historic concert, theperformance will be re-enactedsong-by-song by M.S.’s greatgranddaughters S. Aishwaryaand S. Saundarya on March 26as part of this year’s ClevelandTyagaraja Festival

• Every number of the U.N.concert was a smashing hit and

was set into an LP record.

Upper house to look after

Aadhaar Bill

• The question of whether or notthe Aadhaar Bill is a Money Billcontinues to vex Parliament,

with the Rajya Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC)meeting ending inconclusively.


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• Opposition demanded specificclauses of Article 110(1) of theConstitution that defines aMoney Bill to be part of Speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s certificationof it as such.

• The Aadhaar Bill seeks to givelegal backing to the uniqueidentification number programme as the means toidentify and disburse subsidiesto eligible sections of thepopulation.

• According to the Constitution,a Money Bill has to be returnedto the Lok Sabha after clearingthe Rajya Sabha within 14 days

of it being introduced in theUp- per House. If it is not, it willbe deemed as passed

• Government managers presentat the meeting, quoted clause(4) of the Article that states theSpeaker’s exclusive powers tocertify a Money Bill.

IAF short of aircraft to facewars

• At a time whenSouth Asia isseeing induction of advanced

fighter aircraft in largenumbers,the current fighter strength of the country is in-adequate to handle a two- front

war.• steps are being taken to address

the issue and the government-to-government agreement for 36 Rafale aircraft was agreed toin this regard.

• The Air Force has a sanctionedstrength of 42 squadrons but thenumbers are steadily dropping

wi th th e MiG se ri es be ingphased out and the squadronstrength is at its lowest at 33.

Another concern is the lowserviceability of various aircraft,especially the Su-30s, 272ofwhich will eventually be

fielded by the IAF.• This, at a time when Pakistan is

inducting JF-17 fighters in largenumbers and set to receiveeight more F-16 fighters fromthe U.S. China, meanwhile, islikely to receive the first of the24 Su-35jets from Russia by year-end even as its fifth generationaircraft programmes makeprogress.

• the Air Force has something tocheer as the indigenously developed Light Combat

Aircraft (LCA) is expected toget Final Operational Clearance

• The IAF has 120 LCAs on order,

of which 100 will be animproved variant. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which is manufacturing them isramping up production to 18aircraft per year and the firstaircraft with improvements isscheduled to be ready by 2018.

• This year’s Iron Fist exercises with the motto “demonstratingthe capability to punish” willfeature a series of firsts withindigenously developed

weapon systems getting ready to show their prowess.

• The Advanced Light Helicopter will fire rockets and the LCA willdemonstrate “swing rolecapability” by simultaneously firing a Beyond Visual Range(BVR) missile and precisionguided bombs. Theindigenously developed BVRmissile Astra will be fired from aSu-30 jet while Akash Surfaceto Air Missile (SAM) will perform

live firing for the first time.

Art of living event gets go aheadafter fine

• Imposing an initial fine of Rs. 5crore, the National GreenTribunal (NGT) gave the go-

ahead to the ‘World CultureFestival’, a three-day culturalextravaganza being organisedby Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation on the floodplains of the Yamuna.

• It also directed the Art of Livingto bear the cost of restoring thearea into a biodiversity park after the completion of the event,holding it responsible and liablefor the damage caused to theenvironment, ecology, bio-diversity and aquatic life of theriver.

• The green watchdog alsopulled up the Delhi PollutionControl Committee (DPCC) andthe Delhi Development

Authority (DDA), stating thatthey hadn’t discharged their

statutory functions.• The Tribunal directed Art of Living to give an undertaking by Thursday that enzymes will notbe released into the Yamunaand no further degradation of environment will happen.

• Art of Living said that it wouldfile an appeal in the SupremeCourt against the fine. A spokesperson said: “The festival

will go on as planned and since we have not violated any rules

we will appeal against the NGTorder.”

T20 World Cup match between

India-Pak shifted to Kolkata

• The uncertainty over the India-Pakistan World T20 match in


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Dharamshala was cleared whenICC CEO Dave Richardsonannounced that the match, tobe played on March 19, wouldbe shifted to Eden Gardens inKolkata.

• The decision has been taken for security reasons, followingconsultations with the BCCI, theState associations, the ICC andBCCI security consultants.

• The ICC and the BCCIunderstand the disappointmentthat is likely to be felt by many over the decision to move thematch.

• But the safety and security of the event is of paramountimportance to the ICC and wehave taken into considerationthe concerns shared with us by our security advisers as well asthe Pakistan Cricket Board.

• Chief Minister Virbhadra Singhhad opposed any India-Pakistanmatch as a mark of respect for the two martyrs from HimachalPradesh killed at the Pathankotairbase in January.

The Enemy Property

(Amendment and Validation)Bill, 2016 passed in lower house

• The Lok Sabha passed a Bill to

amend a 48-year-old law toguard against claims of succession or transfer of properties left by people whomigrated to Pakistan and Chinaafter the wars.

• The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation)

Bill, 2016, which amends theEnemy Property Act, 1968, waspassed by voice vote amid thegovernment’s assertion that themeasure should not be seenfrom the prism of religion or caste.

• It does not pertain to Pakistanalone, but also to those Chinese

who left India after the 1962China-India War. Even their property comes under the ambitof this Bill.

• In the wake of the India-Pakistan war of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people fromIndia to Pakistan and under the

Defence of India Rules framedunder the Defence of India Act.• The government of India took

over the properties andcompanies of such persons whohad taken Pakistani nationality.These enemy properties were

vest ed by the Un io ngovernment in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.

• The amendments include thatonce an enemy property is

vested in the Custodian, it shall

continue to be vested in him asenemy property irrespective of

whether the enemy, enemy subject or enemy firm hasceased to be an enemy due toreasons such as death.

• The new Bill ensures that thelaw of succession does notapply to enemy property; thatthere cannot be transfer of any property vested in theCustodian by an enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm

and that the Custodian shallpreserve the enemy property tillit is disposed of in accordance

with the Act.• The amendments are aimed at

plugging the loopholes in the Act to ensure that the enemy properties that have been

vested in the Custodian remainso and do not revert to theenemy subject or firm.

No labour inspection in Start-

ups for three years

• Start-ups will be exemptedfrom inspection by labour

inspectors for up to three yearsif they give a self-declarationthat they are complying withnine labour laws.

• The nine labour laws includeIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947,Trade Unions Act, 1926,Building and Other Constructions Workers’(Regulation of Employment andConditions of Service) Act,1996 and IndustrialEmployment (Standing Orders)

Act, 1946.• From the second year onwards

and up to three year from thetime they were set up, suchstart-ups would be required tofurnish self-certified returns.

• They would be inspected only if credible and verifiablecomplaint of violation was filedin writing and approval wasobtained from the higher authorities.

Banks seek travel ban on VijayMallya

• The Supreme Court agreed tourgently hear a plea by aconsortium of banks, led by SBI,for a restraint order to preventliquor baron Vijay Mallya, who


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owes them over Rs. 9,000 crore,from the leaving the country.

• A Bench, led by Chief Justiceof India T.S. Thakur, orderedthat the case be listed for hearing on March 9 after

Att or ne y- Gene ra l Muku lRohatgi sought an urgentaudience. The action followeda Karnataka HC decisionrefusing to grant them an ex-parte interim order against Mr.Mallya, the U.K.-based DiageoPlc and United Spirits Limited.

• The banks told the SupremeCourt that the threat to their financial interests were so

immediate and grave that theHigh Court should have passedthe interim order without firsthearing the embattledindustrialist and others,including the debtor firmKingfisher Airlines Limited.

• The banks want the SupremeCourt to pass an interim order to freeze Mr. Mallya’s passportor direct him not to leave the

jurisdiction of this country without the court’s permission.

• The banks had moved the DRTin the backdrop of Mr. Mallya’srecent resignation from thechairmanship of United Spirits.Diageo Plc, the current owner of the liquor company, hasagreed to pay Mr. Mallya $75million (roughly Rs 515 crore)in severance package.

SC says government shouldtake every measure to provide

voting right to soldiers

• The Supreme Court stood up for the constitutional right of soldiers to vote, noting that they risked their lives to protect theborders, from the icy Siachenglacier to the remote and harshterrains of Jammu and Kashmir

and the North-East.• The Centre should pull all stops

to ensure that the soldiers’ voices are heard loud and clear during election results, the courtsaid.

• SC directed the Centre tofinalise a fool-proof mechanismto ensure that their postalballots reached authorities intime so that these soldier do notfeel left out in the country’sdemocratic process.

IRNSS-1F navigation satellite

will be put into orbit on Mar 10

• The countdown for the launchof Polar Satellite Launch VehiclePSLV-C32 began at the SathishDhawan Space Centre atSriharikota in Nellore district.

• The 54-hour countdown willconclude on March 10 at 4 p.m.

when the PSLV will be launchedto put the 1,425-kg IRNSS-1Fnavigation satellite into orbit.

• SHAR director P. Kunhikrishnanand other space scientists areclosely monitoring the progressof the countdown.

• With this, the ISRO is movingcloser to the task of completingthe Indian Regional NavigationSatellite System with seven

satellites.

Civil society and governmentwill come together on

Conference on South-SouthCooperation

• Almost all the major civil society

organisations of India willparticipate in the March 10-11“Conference on South- SouthCooperation”, being organisedby the Research andInformation System for Developing Countries (RIS) of the MEA, to showcase theexpanding space for civilsociety organisations in thescheme of the External AffairsMinistry.

• This comes after the Ministry of External Affairs displayed theachievement of the civil society organisations in the field of sustainable development and

renewable energy during theCop21 Paris climate changeconference and the India AfricaSummit of 2015.

• New South-South cooperationis needed in view of theshrinkage of resources in thedeveloped North and theemergence of South as a newcentre of economic activity.

• The conference, to beattended by at least 100 expertsfrom the field of international

affairs and developmenteconomics, will be a platformfor the Government's long termplan to use developmentassistance as a tool for India’sdiplomacy.

• The Ministry of External Affairshas been showcasing civilsociety initiatives at theinternational level and also usedorganisations like the BarefootCollege of Tilonia to highlightIndia's commitment to the

sustainable development goals(SDGs).

• In addition to the civil society connection, the conference willalso launch the Network of Southern Thinktanks (NeST)

which will connect think tanks


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across Africa, Southeast Asia,Central and South Americas.

Government takes action

against Vijay Mallya

• In a setback to businessman Vijay Mal lya , the BengaluruBench of the Debt Recovery Tribunal on Monday temporarily restrained U.K.-based DiageoPlc from paying $75 million tohim as per the reportedagreement signed with him

• the sum would stand attachedtill further orders on theproceedings initiated by thebanks to recover money

borrowed by the Mallya-ownedKingfisher Airlines Limited

• According to the banks, thetotal outstanding is now nearly Rs. 10,000 crore

• The tribunal also directedDiageo and Mr. Mallya to provideparticulars of their agreement tothe banks led by the State Bankof India, which have sought agarnishee order claiming firstright over the $75 million thatMr. Mallya is to get from Diageo.

• It was reported that Diageo hadoffered to pay $75 million to Mr.Mallya in a five year period for stepping down from the post of Chairperson of United SpiritsLtd, which Diageo had acquired,and agreeing not to compete inbusiness with it for a certainperiod

• The ED has received a copy of the CBI case of corruption andcriminal conspiracy registeredin October 2015 against Mr.Mallya as director of Kingfisher

Airlines• The ED will soon summon Mr.

Mallya and the other accusedto record their statements

• The Directorate’s move toinvestigate money-laundering

charges comes in the backdropof the Karnataka High Courtorder to issue notice to Mr.Mallya and nine others based ona petition filed by SBI and 12other banks.

Reduced disolved oxygen kills

fishes in Karnataka

• Garden city’s famed Ulsoor Lakebecame a graveyard.Thousands of fish were founddead, floating on the lake’s

waters, all victims of the early summer heat and soaringtemperature

• Fish kill in the city’s lakes havealmost become an annualphenomenon, during the onsetof summer. It is usually a direct

result of reduced dissolvedoxygen level in the water.• While algae in the lake release

oxygen into the water duringdaytime, it uses up dissolvedoxygen during night time along

with the fish creating a big dropin the dissolved oxygen levels.So, most fish kills are observedin early mornings.

• Raw sewage let into the lake willbe thick during summer compared to the rainy season,

leading to a higher concentration of nutrients inthe lake, which also causesdrop in dissolved oxygen levels.

• The water temperature of thelake will also shoot up,leadingto such fish kills

India's first test tube baby born

• Born at Jaslok Hospital to India’sfirst test tube baby Harsha

• Harsha Chawda is India’s first

test tube baby, a feat that hadmade IVF specialist IndiraHinduja a household name inthe country

Palaeolithic hand-axe found innorth Kerala

• Belying 19th century Britishgeo-archaeologist Robert BruceFoote’s argument on prehistorichabitation in the State, northKerala is fast emerging as thesite of fresh discoveries of

remnants of Stone Age cultures.• Findings include the typical

Palaeolithic hand-axe from Vanimel river basin (Kozhikode)and pointed choppers and sidescrapers from Anakkayam andCheerkkayam river basin of Chandragiri (Kasaragod) aresome of the first-time evidenceof Palaeolithic implements inthese districts.

• This revealed that handaxefabrication technique in quartz

was also familiar among theprehistoric settlements in thearea

• The evidence includes blackand red ware pottery, eaglehead-like figures made of clay,iron chopper and dagger, black

ware, smoke pipe, iron knife,iron sickle and several ironingots. The well-polishedsymmetrical shaped Stone

Adzes made of quartz showedthe high expertise in quartz

fabrication of Neolithic peoplein Kozhikode.

Indians could face a higher riskof diabetes-induced lung

ailments

• Diabetes may be impeding the


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normal functioning of lungs andcommon medicines that areused to treat insulin resistancemay actually be exacerbatingconditions such as asthma,report a team of Indian,European and Americanscientists in a forthcomingedition of the AmericanPhysiological Society Selectjournal.

• There is a suspect link betweendiabetes — a conditioncharacterised by the hormoneinsulin failing to regulate bloodsugar in the body — andimpaired lung function that

makes Indians particularly vulnerable to respiratory disease• Recently, there have been a

number of studies showing that when adjusted for body size,Indians have among the smallestlungs in the world or nearly athird smaller than a whiteEuropean of similar size.

• This means a reduced efficiency to filter oxygen from ingestedair, an accelerated decline inlung function with age as well

as an increased propensity tocontract respiratory diseases

• The International DiabetesFederation showed that nearly 6.9 crore people in India weresufering from diabetes in 2015and their ranks are expected toswell to 12.5 crore by 2040.

• Human lung tissue that weretreated with excessive insulinand saw an abundance of twokinds of tissue — primary humanairway smooth muscle (ASM)

cells and induced collagen —that are known to indicatedeteriorating lung quality

• Most medicines to treatdiabetes attempt to control theexcess blood sugar by pumpingin everincreasing quantities of

insulin into the body. That only makes matters worse. There’s nosolution to this other thanexercise and a diet that strikesa balance between protein andcarbohydrates

Terror alerts across the country

• Gujarat and the national capital were on high alert with severalteams of National Security Guard commandos on standby in the wake of intelligenceinputs suggesting that a groupof 8 to 10 terrorists may havesneaked into India fromPakistan.

• The alert came on the eve of Shivratri festival on Monday.• National Security Adviser Ajit

Doval told the Gujarat policetop brass about the input on ateam of 10 terrorists sneakinginto the State to carry out terror strikes.

• Senior officials in the Stateclaimed that Pakistan’s NationalSecurity Adviser Naseer Khan

Janjua informed his Indiancounterpart about the group of

fidayeen from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e Muhammedon a major mission in the State.

• Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel told the mediain Delhi that the authorities hadtaken all measures, so there wasno need to worry.

• Meanwhile, all public functionsto celebrate Shivratri at thehistorical Somnath temple havebeen cancelled.

• Police have also heightenedsecurity at another historicalpilgrimage centre, Dwarka, andBhavnath in Junagadh where ahuge fair is organised onShivratri.

• The national capital went intoalert mode on Sunday, after

some inputs suggested that theterrorists could have movedfrom Gujarat to Delhi.

Rotavirus vaccine will be

launched through the nationalimmunisation programme

• The Indian Council of Medical

Research will be launching therotavirus vaccine through thenational immunisationprogramme by the month-end.

• The vaccine will be initially provided to all children in

An dh ra Pr ad esh, Hary an a,Odisha and Himachal and later expanded across the country.

• ICMR would soon beundertaking the first phase of trial of malaria vaccine.

• The challenges in India were

different from the West andhence the Western ideas couldnot be copied here.

• We need to step up treatmentoptions for malaria, tuberculosis,kala azar – diseases that theWest did not have to worry about.

• The University awarded sixhonorary doctorate degrees oneminent professionals in thefield of engineering, science,medicine, social science and

theology.

Modi says go beyond women

development to women leddevelopment

• Prime Minister Narendra Modistressed the importance of


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women-led development andsaid a nation was alwaysempowered by its women.

• Mr. Modi, addressing the va ledi ct or y se ss io n of th eNational Conference of WomenLegislators in the Central Hall of Parliament here, said: “We mustthink beyond “womendevelopment,” and movetowards “women-leddevelopment.”

• “A country is alwaysempowered by its women. It isshe who in different roles — asa mother, a sister and a wife —nurtures citizens and these

empowered citizens then play a role in building up anempowered society andcountry,” said Mr. Modi.

• Mr. Modi said that multi-tasking, which is considered to be a very important element of modern-day management, comesnaturally to women.

• Women representatives fromboth Houses of Parliament, StateLegislative Assemblies andCouncils are attending the two-

day.• Mr. Modi urged the women

legislators to engage with their constituents using technology.

After backlash from salariedclass EPF proposal likely to be

taken back

• All options on the controversialbudget proposal to tax EPFsavings are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s table and adecision, even on a completerollback, is expected at thehighest level in the governmentsoon.

• A senior official of the FinanceMinistry conceded that the“entire” proposal was under review.

• The Ministry’s original intent wasto promote the New PensionScheme that had failed to takeoff even over 10 years after it

was laun ch ed , as th e EP Foffered better tax benefits.

• Finance Ministry has introducedinto the debate by saying that:only 60 per cent of the interestincome from EPF savings wouldbe taxed or the entire EPFcorpus at retirement would betax-free if an employee buys anannuity with 60 per cent of hisEPF account balance.

Pak minister says Pakistan

team will play only after

security clearance

• Pakistan’s Interior Minister saidthat the Pakistani Cricket team

would not take part in the March19 Dharamshala League matchof the ICC T20 World Cup seriestill “security clearance” wasgranted by his government.

• His statement comes a day after Home Minister Rajnath Singhoffered paramilitary security for the Pakistani cricket team for theDharamshala match.

• Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Boardspokesperson said that a mere

verbal assurance would not

suffice and strong security measures were needed. We want a guarantee that can begiven at the government level.

• Meanwhi le, the PCB hasstopped the India tour of its

women’s team unti l it gets written security assurances.

President wants parties to clear

Women’s bill

• President Pranab Mukherjeehas appealed to all political

parties to clear the Constitution(108th) Amendment Bill to setaside one-third of seats in

Assemblies and Parliament for women.

• Addressing women lawmakers,he said this would be the naturalfulfilment of the ideals of thePanchayati Raj Act.

Madras HC makes in

mandatory to include Nationalanthem singing in curriculum

• The Madras High Court hasordered that private schools inthe State must follow singing of national anthem as part of their curriculum, keeping in mind themandate of the Constitution of India, the respect for nationalanthem and the national flag.

• The Bench passed the order ona Public Interest Litigation (PIL)petition moved by N.Selvathirumal, who claims to be

an ex-service.• The petitioner submitted thatmost of the schoolchildren wereof the opinion that the nationalanthem was a movie song.

• He brought the court’s attentionto Article 51A of theConstitution which envisagesevery citizen of the country toabide by the Constitution andrespect the national flag and thenational anthem.

Four States and one UT to go onpoll from April 4

• The Election Commission of India announced the schedulefor Assembly elections in four States and one Union Territory

which will be conducted in


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multiple phases from April 4 toMay 16.

• Elections in Tamil Nadu, Keralaand Puducherry will be held ina single phase on May 16, saidChief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi.

• In West Bengal, owing tosecurity issues, polling will beheld in six phases, the firstphase on April 4 and 11, andthe rest on April 17, 21, 25, 30and May 5. Assam will go to thepolls in two phases on April 4and 11.

• Asked whether action wouldbe taken if any reference was

made on the Tamil Nadugovernment’s decision to remitthe life sentence of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination caseconvicts, Mr. Zaidi said: “As and

when the reference comes, theCommission will take anappropriate view to ensure thatour voters are not influenced.”

• The votes will be counted onMay 19. The model code of conduct immediately comesinto effect.

• The electronic voting machines,for the first time, will carry aNOTA (none of the above)symbol created by the NationalSchool of Design.

• Photographs of the candidates will also be featured alongsidethe voting buttons.Identification of voters through

voter card at polling booths hasbeen made mandatory, but if required, use of additionaldocuments will be allowed.

Supreme Court looking forways to make legal profession

better

• The Supreme Court decided toset up a Constitution Bench toevolve a filtering mechanism to

“once and for all” clean up thelegal profession.

• I also looks to prevent anti-socialelements from becominglawyers, who resort to “fighting,agitating, stone-throwing andabuse” instead of arguing incourt.

• A Bench, led by Chief Justiceof India, said it was time to raisethe benchmark for theprofession.

Former Lok Sabha speaker

P.A.Sangma passes away

• Purno Agitok Sangma, apolitician from the Northeast,died of a heart attack here onFriday at the age of 68.

• The Lok Sabha, of which he wasSpeaker two decades ago, was

adjourned for the day.• He was elected to the Lower

House nine times. Mr. Sangma, who wa s bo rn in 19 47 atChapahati in West Garo Hillsdistrict of Meghalaya, earned anMA in International Relationsfrom Dibrugarh University in

Assam and studied law.

Manoj Kumar will getprestigious Dada Saheb Phalke

Award

• Veteran actor Manoj Kumar, who played the patriotic Indianin most of his films, and had thesobriquet ‘Bharat Kumar’bestowed on him, has beenchosen for the prestigious DadaSaheb Phalke Award.

• The award is the highest officialrecognition in Indian cinema.The 78-year-old actor becamethe 47th recipient of the award,

which consists of a golden lotus,a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and ashawl.

• Kumar was born as HarikrishnaGiri Goswami in Abbottabad,

wh ich was a pa rt of pre-Independent India.

• At the age of 10, his family shifted to Delhi. He graduatedfrom Hindu College anddecided to make a career inshowbiz.

PM says government is

working to improve

infrastructure

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi

said that the government wasputting in all efforts to buildinfrastructure, especially ruralroads, in a comprehensivemanner.

• PM Said “Veins give strength toour body. Similarly,infrastructure will give speedand strength to thedevelopment of India.”

• There will be progress if wefocus on building road andrailway networks, optical fibre

network, water, grid andelectricity connectivity, along

with electricity supply.• Rs. 50,000 crore Setu Bharatam

project was launched by PrimeMinister. The project aims tomake all national highways free


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from railway level-crossings by 2019 to ensure road safety.

• Under the project, 208 railoverbridges and underbridges

will be built at a cost of Rs.20,800 crore. Also, 1,500decade-old bridges will bereconstructed and revamped,spending Rs. 30,000 crore.

• The country, PM said, needsboth highways and i-ways(information ways), referring todigital connect.

Tamil Nadu wants centre’s

advice on releasing convicts in

Rajiv Gandhi assassination

• In yet

civil services mentor may 2016 www.iasexamportal.com

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