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Page No.6

I n d e x

Page No. 105Space Missions

Page No. 107Negotiable Instruments

(Amendment) Bill

OCTOBER, 2015Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and India

Skill Development

MOCK PAPER For GS Paper-II Preliminary Examination 2016—109

Current Affairs Objective Question — 123

Tribal Rights



Tribal RightsTribal RightsTribal RightsTribal RightsTribal Rights

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According to D N Majumdar “A tribe is a collection of families, bearing

a common name, members to which

occupy the same territory, speak thesame language and observe certain

taboos regarding marriage profession

or occupation and have developeda well assessed system of reciprocity

and mutuality of obligation.” In India

tribes are recognised by theConstitution of India. There are

va rious prov is ions re la ted toscheduled tribes in the Constitution

of India. The Census of 1971recorded 36,408,514 Scheduled

Tribes population in India which

increased to 104,545,716 in 2011Census. Majority of Scheduled Tribes

population are residing in rural areasof the country. Scheduled tribes

being primitive in nature also face

lots of problems. Human

development indices are often poor in tribal populations. Tribalpopulation also face various

exploitations like bonded labour,

indebtedness etc. Problem of inadequate infrastructure is also

present among the tribal population.Tribals have been displaced in large

numbers on account of various largedevelopment projects like irrigation

dams, hydro-electric and thermal

power plants, coal mines and mineral-based industries.Tribal population

has been provided safeguards within

the various articles of theconstitution. Government also in

order to take care of the tribal

population has enacted variouslegislations. Schedule tribes live

across India important among themare Bhil, Goudu, koya of Andhra

Pradesh; Abhor, Dafla, Mishmi of Ar unanchal pradesh; Chakma,

Dimasa (Kachari), Garo, Hajong of

Mizoram etc.The term Scheduled Tribes

apperas in the Constitution of Indiaunder Article 366 (25), which

defines scheduled tribes as “such

tribes or tribal communities or parts

of or groups within such tribes or tribalcommunities as are deemed under

Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes

for the purposes of this constitution”.

Article 342 says, The President may, with respect to any State or Union

territory, and where it is a state, after consultation with the Governor there

of by public notification, specify thetribes or tribal communities or parts

of or groups within tribes or tribal

communities which shall, for thepurposes of this constitution, is

deemed to be scheduled tribes in

relation to that state or UnionTerritory, as the case may be.

Parliament may by law include in or

exclude from the list of Scheduledtribes specified in a notification

issued under clause(1) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group

within any tribe or tribal community,but save as aforesaid, a notification

issued under the said clause shall not

be varied by any subsequentnotification.

Constitution through various Articles safeguard the interest of the

scheduled tribes. Under

fundamental rights Article 15 and 16

protect against discrimination. Article46 of the Directictive principles of the state policy says: The State shall

promote with special care the

educational and economic interestsof the weaker sections of the people,

and, in particular, of the ScheduledCastes and the Scheduled Tribes, and

TRIBAL RIGHTS



Tribal RightsTribal RightsTribal RightsTribal RightsTribal Rights

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shall protect them from social

injustice and all forms of exploitation.

Ar ti lce 330 pr ov ides fo r thereservation of seats for the scheduled

tribes. Article 330 states: Seats shall

be reserved in the House of thePeople for -

a. the Scheduled Castes;

b. the Scheduled Tribes exceptthe Scheduled Tribes in the

autonomous districts of Assam;and

c. the Scheduled Tribes in theautonomous districts of Assam.

Except this seats shall be

reserved for the scheduled tribes inthe legislative assembly of states.

Seats for Scheduled tribes are also

reserved in panchayati raj institutionsas well as the municipalities. Along

with that governor has been provided wi th the spec ia ls po wers in

administration of areas under schedule 5 and 6. The National

Commission for Scheduled Tribes

(NCST) was established by amending Art icle 338 and insert ing a new

Art icle 338A in the Consti tutionthrough the Constitution (89th

Amendment) Act, 2003. National

commission for ST look after the issues

and attrocities faced by the STpopulation.

In order to fullfill the objectives

provided in the various provisions of

the constitution parliament haslegislated various legislations.

Important among them includes:• Forest Rights Act 2006;

• PESA 1996;• SC/ST (Prevention of

Atrocities) Act, 1989;• Protection of Civil Rights Act,

1955;

• Vanbandhu kalyan yojanaStill working of these acts does

not bring confidence amongst thetribal population. Second ARC report

says “ for crimes committed againstmembers of the Scheduled Tribes

under the P.C.R. Act, of a total

pendency of 217 cases, trials were

completed in only 70 cases and only

2 cases ended in conviction in the

year 2006 and as many as 145 cases were pending trial, at the end of 2006.

For crimes committed against the

members of the Scheduled Tribesunder the provisions of the SC/ST

Prevention of Atrocities Act, out of 5621 cases pending trial, 40 cases

were compounded by thegovernment, only 255 ended in

conviction and as many as 4565 cases

were still pending trial in the courtsat the end of the year 2006.”

The Panchayats (Extension tothe Scheduled Area) Act, 1996

(PESA) is a landmark legislation that

ensures involvement of tribals in their

empowerment process not only asactive participants but also aseffective decision-makers,

implementors, monitors and

evaluators. Section 4 of the Actprovides for the establishment of a

Gram Sabha for every village. TheGram Sabha is empowered to

safeguard and preserve the traditions

and customs of the people, their cultural identity, community

resources and the customary modeof dispute resolution. The Gram Sabha

as articulated in PESA, has withinitself an inbuilt capacity for conflictresolution. For working of PESA,

Sercond ARC states “ A comparativeanalysis of PESA and the legislations

enacted by the States on this subject

reveals that the provisions of PESA have been highly diluted in the

process of ratification by the States

and most of the powers of the Gram

Sabha have been given to the districtadministration or to the Zilla Parishad.

The main objective in enacting PESA

was to enable the tribal society toassume control over livelihoods, have

a say in management of naturalresources and to protect the

traditional culture and rights of the

tribals. The information availableindicates that the main objective of

PESA has been diluted to thedetriment of the tribal population.

Critical issues such as access to

natural resources, especially thedefinition and rights over minor forest

products remain unresolved and, ingeneral, the objectives of PESA have

not been realized in any seriousmanner in any of the states with alarge tribal population.”

Recently in Mines and Mineralsdevelopment and regulation Act was

passed. District mineral foundation

body was created under the act. It ismentioned that objective and

functioning of the DMF should beguided by Constitutional provisions

as it relates to Fifth and Sixth

Schedules for governing tribal areas.It should also be guided by the

provisions of Panchayats (Extensionto Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 and

the Forest Rights Act, 2006 the

recommendation states. The Right toFair Compensation and Transparency

in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitationand Resettlement Act also looks after

the rights of local population. These

are welcome steps which will helpthe scheduled tribes of the India.



Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and IndiaMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and IndiaMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and IndiaMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and IndiaMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and India






Millenium DevelopmentGoals(MDGs) are the product of the

Millennium Summit of September

2000. At this summit world leadersadopted the UN Millennium

Declaration, committing their nations

to a new global partnership by adoption of Millennium Declaration

by the General Assembly of the

United Nations. This summit

committed to reduce extreme

poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets, with a deadline

of 2015. These “time bound targets”are now known as the Millenium

Development Goals (MDGs).

According to United Nations MDGare “quantified targets for addressing

extreme poverty in its many dimensions-income poverty, hunger,

disease, lack of adequate shelter, and

exclusion-while promoting gender

equality, education, andenvironmental sustainability. They arealso basic human rights-the rights of

each person on the planet to health,

education, shelter, and security.”TheMillennium Development Goals

(MDGs) have helped in bringing outa much needed focus and pressure

on basic development issues, whichin turn led the governments at national

and sub national levels to do better

planning and implement moreintensive policies and programmes.

MDG’s have played a big role in

improving the social indicators inIndia. India has achieved the target

of reducing countries poverty levels

by fifty percent by Dec, 2015.

The MDGs consists of eight

goals, all these goals target variousdevelopmental and human rights

issues. The eight (8) Goals are asunder:

• Goal 1: eradicate extremepoverty and hunger;

• Goal 2: achieve universalprimary education;

• Goal 3: promote gender equality and empower

women;

• Goal 4: reduce child mortality;• Goal 5: improve maternal

health;

• Goal 6: combat HIV/AIDS,malaria, and other diseases;

• Goal 7: ensure environmentalsustainability;

• Goal 8: develop a global

partnership for development.Goals of MDGs are inter-linked

with each other, like improving the

sanitation levels will reduce childmortality as well as improve the

maternal health; it will also help incombating the malaria etc. Similarly

improvement in education levels as

well as it will also improve gender

equality as well as help in

empowerment of women. Specialemphasis has been given to the

effectiveness of Statistics in

monitoring development process atnational and international levels, by

specifying measurable indicators for the targets in the Millennium

Development Goals. In India, the

national statistical system does nothave independent statistical

machinery exclusively focused onquantitative monitoring of the MDGs.

The Ministry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation (MOSPI)

which is entrusted with the statistical

tracking of the MDGs in India, ismonitoring the progress under MDGs

on the basis of data-sets available at

national level, generated by thesubject matter Ministries/

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS) AND INDIA








Departments. Currently the

monitoring is limited to the national

and State/ UT levels. Al though more than 200

countries has committed to MDGs

but success of MDGs is highly dependent upon how India will

perform. Since 2000 India has madeprogress in all the MDGs. However

the progress among the goals hasbeen mixed. In some indicators India

has performed exceptionally well,

while in other indicators lot moreneeds to be done. The nation has

already achieved the target of halvingthe poverty head count ratio,

eliminated gender inequality in

primary and secondary education,

achieved the required trend reversalin the fight against HIV/ AIDS,ensuring the achievement of target

of drinking water facility and

improving drastically the telephoneand internet penetration. The

Country is moderately on track, whileconsidering the targets of achieving

universal education, reducing child

mortality as the sharp decline in therecent years in Infant Mortality and

Under Five Mortality are likely to takeus very near to the target, trend

reversal has achieved in the fightagainst Malaria and TB, though there

was some fluctuations in between,

measures have taken to reverse theloss of environmental resources,

progress has been achieved in

improving the environment by improving the coverage of forest area,

protected areas, reducing CFCemissions. In spite of all these

successes, hunger and sanitation

remains a tough challenge for India.Maternal mortality rates have also not

dropped to the desired level.MDG 1: Eradicate extremeMDG 1: Eradicate extremeMDG 1: Eradicate extremeMDG 1: Eradicate extremeMDG 1: Eradicate extreme

poverty and hunger poverty and hunger poverty and hunger poverty and hunger poverty and hunger

Target: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, between1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion

of people whose income is lessof people whose income is lessof people whose income is lessof people whose income is lessof people whose income is lessthan one dollar a day than one dollar a day than one dollar a day than one dollar a day than one dollar a day

The all India Poverty HeadPoverty HeadPoverty HeadPoverty HeadPoverty Head

Count Ratio (PHCR)Count Ratio (PHCR)Count Ratio (PHCR)Count Ratio (PHCR)Count Ratio (PHCR) estimate was

47.8% in 1990. In order to meet the

target the PHCR level has to be 23.9%by 2015. In 2011-12, the PHCR at all

India level is 21.9%, which shows that,

India has already achieved the target well ahead of time.

Target: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, betweenTarget: Halve, between1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion1990 and 2015, the proportion

of people who suffer fromof people who suffer fromof people who suffer fromof people who suffer fromof people who suffer fromhunger hunger hunger hunger hunger

It is estimated that in 1990, the

proportion of underweproportion of underweproportion of underweproportion of underweproportion of underwe ightightightightightchildren below 3 yearschildren below 3 yearschildren below 3 yearschildren below 3 yearschildren below 3 years 52%. In

order to meet the target, theproportion of under-weight children

should decrease to 26% by 2015. The

National Family Health Survey shows

that, the proportion of under-weightchildren below 3 year declined from43% in 1998-99 to 40% in 2005-06.

At this rate of decline the proportion

of underweight children below 3 years is expected to reduce to only

33% by 2015,.Goal 2: Achieve UniversalGoal 2: Achieve UniversalGoal 2: Achieve UniversalGoal 2: Achieve UniversalGoal 2: Achieve Universal

Primary EducationPrimary EducationPrimary EducationPrimary EducationPrimary Education

TARGET: Ensure that by TARGET: Ensure that by TARGET: Ensure that by TARGET: Ensure that by TARGET: Ensure that by 2015, children everywhere,2015, children everywhere,2015, children everywhere,2015, children everywhere,2015, children everywhere,

boys and girls alike, will be ableboys and girls alike, will be ableboys and girls alike, will be ableboys and girls alike, will be ableboys and girls alike, will be ableto complete a full course of to complete a full course of to complete a full course of to complete a full course of to complete a full course of

primary education.primary education.primary education.primary education.primary education.The Net Enrolment RateNet Enrolment RateNet Enrolment RateNet Enrolment RateNet Enrolment Rate

(NER) in primary education(NER) in primary education(NER) in primary education(NER) in primary education(NER) in primary education (age

6-10 years) was estimated at 84.5 per cent in 2005-06 (U-DISE) and the

NER has increased to 88.08 per cent

in 2013-14 (U-DISE), and is unlikely to meet the target of universal

achievement.Goal 3: Promote Gender Goal 3: Promote Gender Goal 3: Promote Gender Goal 3: Promote Gender Goal 3: Promote Gender

Equality and Empower WomenEquality and Empower WomenEquality and Empower WomenEquality and Empower WomenEquality and Empower Women

Target: Eliminate gender Target: Eliminate gender Target: Eliminate gender Target: Eliminate gender Target: Eliminate gender disparity in primary, secondary disparity in primary, secondary disparity in primary, secondary disparity in primary, secondary disparity in primary, secondary

education, preferably by 2005,education, preferably by 2005,education, preferably by 2005,education, preferably by 2005,education, preferably by 2005,and in all levels of education,and in all levels of education,and in all levels of education,and in all levels of education,and in all levels of education,

no later than 2015no later than 2015no later than 2015no later than 2015no later than 2015

At present, in primary educationthe enrolment is favorable to females

as Gender Parity Index (GPI) of Gender Parity Index (GPI) of Gender Parity Index (GPI) of Gender Parity Index (GPI) of Gender Parity Index (GPI) of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) is

1.03 in 2013-14. In Secondary

education also gender parity has

achieved GPI of GER is 1 in 2013-14

and in tertiary level of education; theGPI of GER is 0.89 in 2012-13. As per

Census 2011, the ratio of female

youth literacy rate to male youthliteracy rate is 0.91 at all India level

and is likely to reach the level of 1 by 2015.

As in January 2015, India, the world’s largest democracy, has only

65 women representatives out of 542

members in LokSabha, while there are31 female representatives in the 242

member RajyaSabha and hencepresently the proportion of seatsproportion of seatsproportion of seatsproportion of seatsproportion of seats

in National Parliament held by in National Parliament held by in National Parliament held by in National Parliament held by in National Parliament held by

women women women women women is only 12.24% against the

target of 50%.Goal 4: REDUCE CHILDGoal 4: REDUCE CHILDGoal 4: REDUCE CHILDGoal 4: REDUCE CHILDGoal 4: REDUCE CHILD

MORTALITY MORTALITY MORTALITY MORTALITY MORTALITY

TARGET: Reduce by two-TARGET: Reduce by two-TARGET: Reduce by two-TARGET: Reduce by two-TARGET: Reduce by two-

thirds, between 1990 and 2015,thirds, between 1990 and 2015,thirds, between 1990 and 2015,thirds, between 1990 and 2015,thirds, between 1990 and 2015,the under-five Mortality Ratethe under-five Mortality Ratethe under-five Mortality Ratethe under-five Mortality Ratethe under-five Mortality Rate

Under Five Mortality RatioUnder Five Mortality RatioUnder Five Mortality RatioUnder Five Mortality RatioUnder Five Mortality RatioIn India, Infant Mortality RateInfant Mortality RateInfant Mortality RateInfant Mortality RateInfant Mortality Rate

(IMR) was estimated at 80 per 1,000

live births in 1990. As per SRS 2013,the IMR is at 40 and as per the

historical trend; it is likely to reach 39by 2015, against the target of 27 infant

deaths per 1000 live births by 2015.However, with the sharp decline inthe recent years, the gap between

the likely achievement and the targetis expected to be narrowed.

Goal 5: Improve MaternalGoal 5: Improve MaternalGoal 5: Improve MaternalGoal 5: Improve MaternalGoal 5: Improve Maternal

HealthHealthHealthHealthHealthTarget: Reduce by threeTarget: Reduce by threeTarget: Reduce by threeTarget: Reduce by threeTarget: Reduce by three

quarters between 1990 andquarters between 1990 andquarters between 1990 andquarters between 1990 andquarters between 1990 and2015, the Maternal Morality 2015, the Maternal Morality 2015, the Maternal Morality 2015, the Maternal Morality 2015, the Maternal Morality

RatioRatioRatioRatioRatio

In 1990, the estimated MMR was437 per 1,00,000 live births. In order

to meet the MDG target, the MMRshould be reduced to 109 per

1,00,000 live births by 2015. As per

the latest estimates, the MMR statusat all India level is at 167 in 2011-13.

As per the historical trend, MMR islikely to reach the level of 140

maternal deaths by 2015, however,









assuming the recent sharper decline

is sustained, India is likely to beslightly nearer to the MDG target.

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS,Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS,Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS,Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS,Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS,

Malaria and other DiseasesMalaria and other DiseasesMalaria and other DiseasesMalaria and other DiseasesMalaria and other DiseasesTARGET: Have halted by TARGET: Have halted by TARGET: Have halted by TARGET: Have halted by TARGET: Have halted by

2015 and begun to reverse the2015 and begun to reverse the2015 and begun to reverse the2015 and begun to reverse the2015 and begun to reverse thespread of HIV/AIDSspread of HIV/AIDSspread of HIV/AIDSspread of HIV/AIDSspread of HIV/AIDS

The prevalence of HIV prevalence of HIV prevalence of HIV prevalence of HIV prevalence of HIV

among Pregnant women agedamong Pregnant women agedamong Pregnant women agedamong Pregnant women agedamong Pregnant women aged15-24 years15-24 years15-24 years15-24 years15-24 years is showing a declining

trend from 0.89 % in 2005 to 0.32%in 2012-13. According to NFHS –III

in 2005-06, Condom use rate of , Condom use rate of , Condom use rate of , Condom use rate of , Condom use rate of

the contraceptive prevalencethe contraceptive prevalencethe contraceptive prevalencethe contraceptive prevalencethe contraceptive prevalencerate (Condom use to overallrate (Condom use to overallrate (Condom use to overallrate (Condom use to overallrate (Condom use to overall

contraceptive use amongcontraceptive use amongcontraceptive use amongcontraceptive use amongcontraceptive use amongcurrently married women, 15-currently married women, 15-currently married women, 15-currently married women, 15-currently married women, 15-

49 years,%)49 years,%)49 years,%)49 years,%)49 years,%) was only 5.2 % at allIndia level.

The Annu al Pa rasi te An nu al Pa rasi te Annu al Pa rasi te An nu al Pa rasi te Annu al Pa ra si te

Incidence (API) rateIncidence (API) rateIncidence (API) rateIncidence (API) rateIncidence (API) rate – Malaria hasconsistently come down from 2.12

per thousand in 2001 to 0.72 per

thousand in 2013, but slightly increased to 0.88 in 2014 (P) but

confirmed deaths due to malariadeaths due to malariadeaths due to malariadeaths due to malariadeaths due to malariain 2013 was 440 and in 2014 (P), 578

malaria deaths have been registered.

In India, TuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis

prevalence per lakh populationprevalence per lakh populationprevalence per lakh populationprevalence per lakh populationprevalence per lakh population

has reduced from 465 in year 1990

to 211 in 2013.Goal 7: EnsureGoal 7: EnsureGoal 7: EnsureGoal 7: EnsureGoal 7: Ensure

Environmental Sustainability Environmental Sustainability Environmental Sustainability Environmental Sustainability Environmental Sustainability

TARGET: Integrate theTARGET: Integrate theTARGET: Integrate theTARGET: Integrate theTARGET: Integrate theprinciple of sustainableprinciple of sustainableprinciple of sustainableprinciple of sustainableprinciple of sustainable

development into country development into country development into country development into country development into country policies and programmes andpolicies and programmes andpolicies and programmes andpolicies and programmes andpolicies and programmes and

reverse the loss of reverse the loss of reverse the loss of reverse the loss of reverse the loss of environmental resources.environmental resources.environmental resources.environmental resources.environmental resources.

As per assessment in 2013, the

total forest cover of the country forest cover of the country forest cover of the country forest cover of the country forest cover of the country is 697898 sq.km which is 21.23% of

the geographic area of the country.During 2011-2013, there is an

increase of 5871 sq. km in forest

cover. Per-capita Energy Per-capita Energy Per-capita Energy Per-capita Energy Per-capita Energy

ConsumptionConsumptionConsumptionConsumptionConsumption (PEC) (the ratio of the estimate of total energy consumption during the year to the

estimated mid-year population of

that year) increased from 6205.25KWh in 2011-12 to 6748.61 KWh in

2012-13, thus, the percentage annualincrease of 8.76%. In 2013, the

estimated CO2 emissionCO2 emissionCO2 emissionCO2 emissionCO2 emission (Million

Tonnes) for India is 1954.02. TheCarbon dioxide emission showed a

percentage increase of 235.57% in

2014 over 1990 for India.

Goal 8: Develop a globalGoal 8: Develop a globalGoal 8: Develop a globalGoal 8: Develop a globalGoal 8: Develop a globalpartnership for developmentpartnership for developmentpartnership for developmentpartnership for developmentpartnership for development

Target: In co-operationTarget: In co-operationTarget: In co-operationTarget: In co-operationTarget: In co-operation

wi th th e pr ivat e se ct or , make wi th th e pr ivat e se ct or , make wi th th e pr ivat e se ct or , make wi th th e pr ivat e se ct or , make wi th th e pr ivat e se ct or , makeavailable the benefits of new available the benefits of new available the benefits of new available the benefits of new available the benefits of new

technologies, especially technologies, especially technologies, especially technologies, especially technologies, especially information andinformation andinformation andinformation andinformation and

communication.communication.communication.communication.communication.

The overall tele-densitytele-densitytele-densitytele-densitytele-density in thecountry has shown tremendous

progress and is at 76% as on 31st July 2014. The internet subscribersinternet subscribersinternet subscribersinternet subscribersinternet subscribers

per 100 populationper 100 populationper 100 populationper 100 populationper 100 population accessing

internet through wireline and wireless connections has increased

from 16.15 in June 2013 to 20.83 in June 2014.

There are various initiative by Indian government during this period

which has led to the success in

achieving the targets set by MDGs.Initiatives like MGNREGA, ICDS,

Initiatives for HIV, making primary

education a right etc. have helpedIndian government in achieving the

above targets, still a lot more isneeded to be done to remove the

problem of hunger as well as still a lot

is desired in reducing the MMR.








India is one of the youngest

nations in the world with more than62% of its population in the working

age group (15-59 years), and more

than 54% of its total population below 25 years of age. Skill building is

absolutely necessary for such

population to the increase inproductivity of any nation, skill

development also helps in improvingthe quality of products. Skill

development will also lead to

increase in growth rate of economy. At the indi vidual leve l sk il l

development helps in economic as well as social empowerment of the

citizens. Focus on skill development

in India is necessary from the very reason that it has greater proportion

of working population vis-à-vis China, Western Europe, and North America.

Based on data from the 68th Round

of NSSO, it is estimated that only 4.69percent of India’s total workforce has

undergone formal skill training,compared with 52 percent in the

USA, 68 percent in the UK, 75

percent in Germany, 80 percent in Japan and 96 percent in South

Korea. This demographic profile

provides unique opportunity to India

for 20 to 25 years’ to reap the benefits which arre called as “demographic

dividend”. The demographic

dividend is essentially due to twofactors

(a) declining birth rates and(b) improvement in l i fe

expectancy.

The declining birth rate

changes the age distribution and

makes for a smaller proportion of population in the dependent ages

and for relatively larger share in theproductive labor force. The result is

low dependency ratio which can

provide comparative cost advantageand competitiveness to the

economy. The “demographicdividend” accounts for India having

world’s youngest work force with a

median age way below that of China

and OECD Countries.Demographic dividend can

only be made if the economy or state

has place to ansorb them. As per

estimates global economy isexpected to see a shortage of

manpower to the extent of around56 million by 2020, this will nicely

compliment the skill development

initiatives of India. Thus, the“demographic dividend” in India

needs to be exploited not only to

expand the production possibility frontier but also to meet the skilled

manpower requirements of in India

and abroad. Skill development is alsonecessary to bring the connection

between the education institutes andthe working atmoshphere. In order

to develop the skills of the people

governments have taken variousinitiatives like opening ITI’s, Creating

a seperate ministry for skilldevelopment etc. Recently

government has launched a skill

development mission to make theinitiatives time bound.

Va rious pl ans have takeninitiatives to To reap the benefits of

“demographic dividend”, the

Eleventh Five Year Plan had favoredthe creation of a comprehensive

National Skill Development Mission.Government has taken following steps

as a result of the eleventh five year

plan recommendation. A “Coordinated Action on Skill

Development” with three-tier

SKILL DEVELOPMENT



Skill DevelopmentSkill DevelopmentSkill DevelopmentSkill DevelopmentSkill Development






institutional structure consisting of

(i) PM’s National Council(ii) National Skill Development

Coordination Board (NSDCB),(iii) National Skill Development

Corporation (NSDC) wascreated in early 2008.

Whereas, Pr ime Minister ’sNational Council on Skill

Development has spelt outpolicy advice, and direction in

the form of “Core Principles”and has given a Vision to create

500 million skilled people by 2022 through skill systems.

Similarly twelth five year planrecommended the following:

• Involvement of industries in the

skill development of people;• Improve the management of

vocational institutes as well as

training institutes;• Amendment of the labor laws

to make it easier to hire theapprentices;

• Vocational training institutes

should be given greater

freedom in terms of resource

generation.Despite all these efforts along

with other efforts like the creation of the National Skill Development Fund

(NSDF) in 2009, the launch of the

NSDC in the same year, and creationof the NSDA in 2013, progress to date

has been sporadic. India continuesto face a skilling challenge of vast

proportions. Based on the Census

2011 and NSSO (68th Round) data,it is estimated that 104 million fresh

entrants to the workforce will requireskill training by 2022, and 298 million

of the existing workforce will require

additional skill training over the sametime period.

Recently government haslaunched an ambitious program

named as “Skill development

mission”. The National SkillDevelopment Mission will provide a

strong institutional framework at theCentre and States for implementation

of skilling activities in the country. The

Mission will have a three-tiered, high

powered decision making structure.

At its apex, the Mission’s GoverningCouncil, chaired by the Prime

Minister, will provide overall

guidance and policy direction. TheSteering Committee, chaired by

Minister in Charge of SkillDevelopment, will review the

Mission’s activities in line with thedirection set by the Governing

Council. Government has also

recently transferred the Training and Apprenticeship verticals, comprising

of the entire network of IndustrialTraining Institutes (ITIs) and

Apprenticeship Training schemes,

from the Ministry of Labour and

Employment to Ministry of SkillDevelopment and Entrepreneurship(MSDE). All these recent initiatives

will help in bringing down the gap

between the requirement of skillingand the present level of skilling in

India.



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National IssuesNational IssuesNational IssuesNational IssuesNational Issues





NATIONAL ISSUESArvind Panagariya to head

panel on caste data

• Amid the delay in release of

caste data collected by the

states under the Socio-

Economic and Caste Census

(SECC), 2011, the Cabinet on

Thursday approved setting up

of an expert group headed by

Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind

Panagariya to classify the data

and publicise it.

• However, no time line has been

set for release of the data on

caste/tribe as most of the statesare yet to submit their report to

the Centre on clubbing of

various sub-groups of castes.

• States have yet to complete the

consolidation of 46 lakh

castes,sub- castes,sub-caste

names, synonyms, surnames,

clan and gothra names

enumerated by the census.

• Other members of the

Panagariya committee would be

nominated by the ministries of

social justice & empowermentand tribal affairs.

• The Centre’s move comes after

opposition parties demanded

release of the caste data

immediately.

• The government has already

released the socio-economic

data generated by SECC on rural

areas on July 3. It showed that

almost 75% of households earn

less than R5,000 per month;

nearly 60% of them are deprived

in some way or the other; 56%

are landless and close to 36%

of the rural people are illiterate

even 68 years after

independence.

India Working With 27Countries on Earthquake Early-

Warning System

• Taking a lead, India is working

on an ambitious project withscientists, geophysicists, and

seismologists of 27 countries to

develop an early-warning

system for “prediction” of

earthquake.

• The warning could be the

issued some seconds before the

earthquake strikes. India is also

planning to launch a satellite to

track the changes that take

place on earth’s surface before

the tremors, a top official has

said.• Before earthquakes, some

chemical changes under the

earth’s surface and some

physical displacements on the

surface occur and hoped if

parameters are developed to

observe, study and analyse

these changes, the quakes can

be predicted.

• India has been conducting

experiments in the Koyna river

valley in the Western Ghats in

Maharashtra.

• In India, 22 states are prone to

earthquakes of various

intensities like severe, high,

moderate and low, and urban

explosion and densely populated cities with high-rise

buildings makes the quake

scenario worse.

India’s interest in Paris climate

conference

• India iiiiIhas reiterated its

demand and cautioned

developed nations to not to

make any changes or introduce

new agenda at last moments

and stick to the plan if the bigplayers want to make the crucial

climate change conference in

Paris to be held later this year a

“success”.

• Environment Minister Prakash

Jave dkar ap peal ed to th e

developed nations that the

meeting should not be

“rewritten”.

• “We should not forget that what

will lapse is the Kyoto Protocol

and not he United Nations

Framework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC). We

should not try to rewrite the

convention. Annexes are part of

the convention’s basic

structure stemming from

historical responsibility of

countries,” said Javedkar at the









Major Economies Forum on

Energy and Climate Change at

Luxembourg.

• He wants Paris event to be a

huge success where every

country would take their own

actions but in accordance with

the universal benefit.

• “Let Paris be an event for

celebration of a universal, yet

differentiated new agreement,

where every country takes

action which it determines on

its own. Such collective action

will address the challenge of

climate change

• His entire speech was focused

on the developed nations

introducing new agenda at last

hour. India wants all the

developed nations to adhere to

pre-2020 action plan that

enables developing countries

to contribute on their will along

with their plan for INDCs.

• On contribution of developing

countries, Javedkar said that

earlier the developing nations

weren’t authorized to take any

action, but the new climate

meet will allow all countries to

commit to some action.

examination has got about 53

per cent, thus showing the strict

pattern of civil services

examination conducted by the

Union Public Service

Commission for selecting

country’s top bureaucrats.

• The Commission has made

public the marks obtained by

the successful candidates. Themark sheets of the candidates

who qualified the civil services

(main) examination and those

who could not, have also been

put in public domain.

• The civil services examination

is conducted annually in three

stages—preliminary, main and

interview—to select candidates

for the elite Indian

Administrative Service (IAS),

Indian Foreign Service (IFS)

and Indian Police Service (IPS),among others.

• Ira Singhal, a physically

handicapped Indian Revenue

Service (Customs and Central

Excise) officer from Delhi who

topped the 2014 exam, got a

total of 1,082 marks (53.43 per

cent) out of a total of 2,025—

comprising 1,750 of main and

275 of interview.

• Second rank achiever Renu Raj,

a doctor from Kerala, got 1,056

marks (52.14 per cent) and

third-rank holder Nidhi Gupta

got 1,025 marks (50.61 per

cent), according to their marks

sheet.

Now its turn to Venus for ISRO

• Following the success of Mars

Orbiter Mission (MOM) and the

recent launch of five British

satellites, India plans next

possible ‘deep space

exploration’ missions to Venus,

Mars and even an asteroid.

• Besides the second Mars

mission, we are looking at Venus

and even an asteroid for

exploration. A project has to be

formulated for this before we

chart out a proper roadmap for

the explorations, ISRO

Chairman Kiran Kumar was

quoted as saying.

• “Venus is our neighbor and has

many scientific challenges and

aspects that need to be studied.

Exploring an asteroid is also

challenging task, he added.

• The Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) is now

embarking on a new planet-

hunting endeavour. There are

indications that the United

States of America will be

working with India in this ‘deep

space exploration’.

IAS topper got 53 per cent

• The topper of civil services








ISRO tests indigenous cryogenic

engine

• An indigenous cryogenic

rocket engine being developed

to power India’s most powerful

rocket system, the GSLV Mk III,

underwent a successful

endurance test for a duration of

800 seconds on July 16 atISRO’s propulsion complex at

Mahendragiri, ISRO reported

Monday.

• The cryogenic engine which

will power the upper stage of

the GSLV Mk III was fired for a

period that is 25 per cent longer

than required in a space flight

with a nominal thrust of 19

tonnes and its performance

matched prediction made

through computer simulation,

ISRO reported.• The cryogenic C25 stage

engine operates on Gas

Generator Cycle using

extremely low temperature

propellants Liquid Hydrogen at

20 Kelvin (-253 degree C) and

Liquid Oxygen at 80 Kelvin (-

193 degree C), ISRO stated.

• “The successful endurance hot

test of the first high thrust

cryogenic engine is the tenth

test in a series planned as part

of the development of theengine employing complex

cryogenic technology,’’ ISRO

said in an official release

announcing the successful tests.

“Mastering this complex, high-

performance cryogenic

propulsion technology will go a

long way in building self

reliance for the Indian space

programme,’’ ISRO said.

• The cryogenic engine is being

developed as part of plans to

enhance India’s capabilities in

space programmes by

providing more power to

launch heavier four tonne

category spacecraft. Indian

capabilites are currently in the

two tonne-plus range.

PM Modi to Release Vision 2050 for

Indian Agriculture on July 25

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi

will release ‘Vision 2050’ for

Indian agriculture prepared by

the country’s premier

agriculture research institute in

Patna on July 25, said Union

Agriculture Minister Radha

Mohan Singh today.

• This is also the first time thatcelebrations of the Indian

Council for Agricultural

Research (ICAR) foundation

day will be organised outside

Delhi.

• PM Modi will also inaugurate

three new projects - Farmers

First, Arya and Mera Gaon Mera

Gaurav (My village my pride),

and ask agriculture scientists

from all over the country to

speed up the process to

provide new technologies to

farmers, which will lead to a

quantum jump in agriculture

productivity.

• Assembly elections are due

Bihar in a few months. Chief

Minister Nitish Kumar is hoping

for some new announcements.

• Speaking to reporters in Patna,

Mr Kumar said, “There is not

much hope of PM announcing

anything new in the package he

is expected to announce.

• His announcement would be a

packaging of the existing ones

initiated by me and approved

by the UPA.”

• The country’s first agriculture

research and education

institute - ‘Indian Agricultural

Research Institute’, then known

as Imperial Institute of

Agricultural Research, was

established at Pusa in

Samastipur district here in 1905.RS panel backs majority of GST

Bill proposals

• Though the Opposition forced

adjournments in both Houses of

Parliament on Wednesday, the

chances of the Constitution

(122nd Amendment) Bill,

meant to introduce the Goods

and Services Tax (GST),

clearing Parliament in the

current session brightened,

with the Rajya Sabha Select

Committee endorsing almost all

its provisions.

• In its report submitted to the

House, the committee, headedby Bhupender Yadav of the BJP,

said that to start with, the GST

rate should not go beyond 20

per cent as standard rate and

14 per cent as reduced rate.

• It agreed with the demand of

parties such as the Trinamool









Congress for full compensation

from the Centre for any revenue

loss to the States during the

transition.

• It suggested that the provision

in the Bill that the Centre “may”

compensate the States for up

to five years for any revenue loss

be replaced with a

commitment of compensation

for five years.

• The committee’s report also

contained dissent notes from

the Congress, the AIADMK and

the Left parties.

• The Bill, which the Lok Sabha

has already approved, will now

have to be taken up for passagein the Rajya Sabha. As it is a

Constitution amendment Bill, it

will have to be approved by

two-thirds of the members in the

Upper House, where the ruling

BJP does not enjoy a majority.

• The government will have to

depend upon the support of

regional parties and allies.

RBI Governor might lose vetoPower

• In what looks like another sign

of increasing differences

between the government and

the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

governor, the revised draft of Indian Financial Code (IFC),

released by the finance ministry

on Thursday, proposed taking

away the chief’s authority to

veto the interest rate decision

of the Central bank’s monetary

policy committee.

• Besides, the draft proposed that

the all-powerful committee

would have four representatives

of the government and only

three from the Central bank,

including the ‘RBI chairperson’.

The draft talks of ‘RBI

Chairperson’ and not ‘RBI

Governor’.

• Currently, the governor consults

a technical advisory committee,

but does not necessarily go by

the majority opinion while

deciding on the monetary

policy stance.

• The first draft, submitted in

March 2013, too had talked

about the committee andmajority vote, but gave powers

to the RBI chairperson to

supersede the decision of the

panel.

• The IFC, which is conceived as

an overarching legislation for the

financial sector, proposes a

monetary policy committee

which will be entrusted with the

task of deciding the key policy

rate and chasing the annual

retail inflation target to be

decided by the government inconsultation with the RBI.

• “Inflation target for each

financial year will be

determined in terms of the

consumer price index by the

Central government in

consultation with the Reserve

Bank every three years,” said the

draft, on which the ministry has

invited comments till August 8.

• Further, the RBI “must

constitute a monetary policy

committee to determine by majority vote on the policy rate

required to achieve the inflation

target”.

• As per revised draft, there will

be three members from the RBI

side and four from the Central

government thus giving full

control to the government on

policy rate.

• The government and the RBI

had always disagreed over size

of the committee, its

composition and whether the

governor would have the final

say in the form of a veto.

Pachauri

Remove from TERI chief

• RK Pachauri, accused of sexual

harassment by a woman

employee, was on Thursday

sacked as the chief of The

Energy and Resources Institute

(TERI).

• R K Pachauri, facing sexual

harassment charges, was today

asked to step down from the

position of director general of

the The Energy and ResourcesInstitute (TERI), bringing an

end to his uninterrupted reign

at the Delhi-based organisation

he has been associated with for

over three decades.

• TERI’s governing council ,

comprising prominent

corporate names like Deepak

Parekh, Naina Lal Kidwai, Kiran

Mazumdar Shaw and Hemendra

Kothari, met in Bangalore today

and decided to replace

Pachauri with Ajay Mathur, whois currently director general of

the Bureau of Energy Efficiency

(BEE) that functions under the

power ministry.

• A press release issued on behalf

of TERI sought to give the

impression that the decision had








nothing to do with the sexual

harassment case.

• It said the search for a successor

began in September last year,

almost six months before

Pachauri was accused of sexual

harassment by a junior

colleague.

• The governing council is certain

that the 1,200 persons working

for TERI in different parts of the

world would welcome this

development and extend all

their support towards a smooth

transition,” said the press

release.

• Pachauri went on leave from

TERI after the sexual harassmentcharge became public in

February. Last week, a Delhi

court that had restrained him

from attending office allowed

him to visit TERI premises other

than the headquarters and the

office in Gurgaon where the

alleged victim is currently

posted..

• Today’s decision comes five

months after the alleged victim

filed a police complaint against

Pachauri. Following that,Pachauri had to resign from the

chairmanship of the

Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC), a global

body of scientists, months

before his second six-year

tenure was to come to an end.

• Pachauri also had to resign from

the membership of the Prime

Minister’s Council on Climate

Change. But he continued to

hang on to his position as

director-general of TERI andonly proceeded on leave when

the allegations became public.

Decision on net neutrality yet tobe take

• The recent report submitted by

the government on net

neutrality was not the final one,

and the final view is still

awaited, parliament was

informed on Wednesday.

• “The committee of officers

constituted by the Department

of Telecommunications on net

neutrality has submitted its

report. However, it is not thefinal report nor the government

has taken any final view,”

communications and IT minister

Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a

written reply to the Lok Sabha.

• The report, submitted by the

panel headed by technocrat

AK Bhargava, was made public

on JulRavi Shankar Prasad y 16,

and said it favoured an end to

the free call regime over the

internet.

• Prasad also mentioned that theTelecom Regulatory Authority

of India (TRAI) was engaged in

a consultation process covering

issues related to net neutrality,

whose recommendations were

awaited.

Javadekar non-committal on airpollution-induced deaths

• Air quality monitoring stations

will be installed in every state

and by every concerned

organisation, the Union

Environment Minister Prakash

Javdekar said.— Photo: Sushil

Kumar Verma

• Union Environment Minister

Prakash Javadekar on Friday

refused to take a stand on

whether air pollution in Delhi

was indeed causing 80 deaths

every day as per his earlier

submission to the Lok Sabha on

Tuesday.

• In a press conference outside

Parliament here, at the

conclusion of a review meeting

with National Capital Region

States – Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan, Delhi and Haryana,

he said the Union Environment

Ministry had set itself yet

another three-month deadline

to tackle air pollution in the

capital.

• Mr. Javadekar said action plans

will be formulated to tackle the

four main focus areas —

agriculture, construction waste,

demolition waste and vehicular

pollution. “Air quality

monitoring stations will beinstalled in every state and by

every concerned organisation,”

he said. The earlier three-month

deadline, set by the Ministry in

Apri l, to take proact ive

measures to tackle Delhi’s air

pollution ended on July 22,

prompting Friday’s review

meeting.

• Earlier this week, Mr. Javadekar

had cited a study

‘Epidemiological Study on

Effects of Air Pollution onHuman Health in Delhi’

published in 2008, to state that

80 deaths take place in Delhi

every day due to air pollution-

induced illnesses. He also cited

another study ‘Study on









Ambient Air Quality, Respiratory

Symptoms and Lung Function

of Children in Delhi’ to support

the claim in Parliament.

However, on Friday, the

Minister appeared non-

committal on the matter and in

a written submission to Lok

Sabha said “no conclusive

evidence exists that air pollution

led to loss of lives of patients

suffering from respiratory

diseases.”

• Environmental groups are

unhappy with the Ministry’s

measures to tackle the problem.

In February this year,

Greenpeace India conductedan air-quality monitoring survey

inside five prominent schools

across Delhi and found the

PM2.5 levels (particulate

matter) to be four times the

Indian safety limits and 10 times

that of the air quality safety

standards set by the World

Health Organisation.

• Mr. Javadekar said that the

detailed action plan on tackling

air pollution will only be

revealed on Monday.• Public sector agencies in the

strategic areas of aerospace and

defence on Friday said it may

be a tall order in the near term

to reverse the 70 per cent import

of military hardware. However,

they have started changing

production strategies to meet

the challenge.

• To meet the government’s ‘Make

in India’ mandate, public

defence manufacturing majors

are ready to source more fromsmall and medium industries

but suppliers are falling short on

facilities, quality and time lines,

was the refrain at the Aerospace

& Defence Manufacturing

Summit organised by

Bengaluru-based Society of

Indian Aerospace

Technologies and Industries

(SIATI).

• V. Udaya Bhaskar, Chairman &

Managing Director of Bharat

Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad, said

a paradigm shift would be

needed to get quality

components on time. Public and

private sectors must work in

tandem. In recent years, BDL

had outsourced up to 80 per

cent of the work for Akash and

other missiles. “Now we have to

outsource high-end sub-

assemblies. The private sector

must also gear up,” he said.• K. Tamilmani, DRDO Director

General (R&D Aero Systems),

stressed that its labs developing

aircraft and combat products

for the military badly need high-

end testing and other facilities.

Future military requirements

would be high but exist ing

facilities are grossly inadequate.

“For example, we must be the

only country doing intensive

aeronautical research and trying

to succeed without a proper wind tunnel [to test aircraft

systems]. How long can we

continue to take our products

to [Moscow’s testing facility]

TsAGI or Calspan in the U.S.?

We cannot take some of our

development products outside

the country — such as the

Advanced Medium Combat

Aircraft, Unmanned Combat Air

Vehicles and the UAVs for

reasons of security and

secrecy,” he said.

Highest farmer suicidesHP,NCRB

• Even as union agriculture

minister Radha Mohan Singh has

blamed love affairs and then

impotency for farmer suicides,

figures recorded by the

National Crime Records Bureau

(NCRB) completely contradict

him.

• According to the NCRB report,

released recently, 87.5% of

farmer suicides in Himachal

Pradesh were due to crop

failure in 2014 and the state alsotops the northern region in

absolute number of suicides by

farmers with 32 such cases. The

cause of 28 of these has been

listed as crop failure.

• In number of farmers suicides,

Punjab recorded 24, Haryana

had 14, Jammu and Kashmir had

12 while Delhi, Uttrakhand and

Chandigarh recorded nil, as per

the report.

• In Himachal, the only 4.7 %

farmers have committed suicidedue to ‘suspected/illicit

relations’ and 2.3% due to

‘cancellation/non settlement of

marriage’.

• In Punjab, Haryana and Jammu

and Kashmir there was no

suicide due to crop failure.

Punjab recorded 3 suicides due

to indebtedness which was due

to non-agriculture loan, while

there was no suicide in Haryana

and Jammu and Kashmir for

indebtedness.

• Most of the suicides in these

states are due to illness, drug

abuse/alcohol addiction and

property dispute.

• There were a total of 644

suicides ( any cause) in HP in








2014, where as in 2013 there

were 554. So, there is a jump of

16.2 %, which is the 4th highest

increase rate in the country.

Arun jaitely about P-notes & IFC

• Seeking to calm panic-stricken

investors,Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley today said they need notfear any “knee-jerk” reaction

from the government on the SIT

report, which had

recommended tough measures

to check investment flows

through P-Notes.

• He also assured investors that

the government will not take

any action that may jeopardise

investment climate even as the

benchmark BSE Sensex tanked

close to 500 points on fears of

action on the suggestions of theSupreme Court appointed

Special Investigation Team

(SIT).

Participatory NotesParticipatory NotesParticipatory NotesParticipatory NotesParticipatory Notes

• (P-Notes) are used by large

number of foreign investors to

invest in equity markets without

disclosing their identity to the

market regulator Sebi.

• The SIT had suggested Sebi to

put in place regulations to help

identify individuals holdingparticipatory notes or offshore

derivative instruments (ODIs),

and take other steps required

to curb black money and tax

evasion through the stock

market route.

• The BSE tanked 494.52 points

or 1.76% to 27,617.79 in

afternoon trade, while rupee

fell to 64.03 against the US dollar

in late morning deals.

• A similar recommendation in

2007 had triggered a major

collapse in the stock market,

prompting the then Finance

Minister P Chidambaram to

announce that no such

measures would be taken by the

government.

• Investments through P-Notes

into India’s capital market had

touched a seven-year high of Rs

2.85 lakh crore in May. It was Rs

2.75 lakh crore at the end of

June.• P-Notes make up mostly 15-20%

of the total FII investment in

India since 2009. However, it

used to be much higher — 25

to 40% — in 2008.

• Till a few years ago, P-Notes

used to account for more than

50% of total FII investment, but

their share has fallen over the

year s af te r Se bi ti gh tene d

disclosure norms and other

related regulations. The reading

was as high as over 50% at thepeak of stock market bull run in

2007.

• P-Notes, mostly used by

overseas HNIs (High Net Worth

Individuals), hedge funds and

other foreign institutions, allow

such investors to invest in Indian

markets through registered

Foreign Institutional Investors

(FIIs).

• This saves time and cost for

them, but on the flip side is the

route can also be used for round-tripping of black money..

• He said India has recently

signed FATCA with the US,

besides entered into multi-

lateral agreements on automatic

exchange of information and

double taxation avoidance

agreements.

Demise of APJ Abdul Kalam,

irreparable loss for nation

• Former President APJ Abdul

Kalam, the renowned missile

scientist who played a stellar

role in advancing India’s nuclear

programme, died on Monday after collapsing at an event in

Meghalaya.

• His body was flown to Guwahati

in Assam this morning and will

be brought to Delhi by a special

aircraft.


and all three service chiefs will

receive his body at the airport.

• Dr Kalam, 83, collapsed after a

massive cardiac arrest while

delivering a lecture at the Indian

Institute of Management in

Shillong last evening.

• The government has declared

a seven-day national mourning

as a mark of respect for the man

known and loved across the

country as the “People’s

President”. The Union Cabinet

will hold a special meeting in

New Delhi today to condole Dr

Kalam’s death. His funeral is

likely to be held in Rameswaram

in Tamil Nadu, where he wasborn. Paying tribute to Dr Kalam

last night, PM Modi had said,

“My mind is filled with so many

memories, so many interactions

with him. Always marvelled at

his intellect, learnt so much from

him.”









Indian Financial Code revised

draft

• Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

today said that the government

will take a view on the draftIndian Financial Code, which

proposes to dilute powers of

the RBI chief, after receiving

comments from stakeholders.

• The draft had proposed taking

away Reserve Bank chief’s

authority to veto the interest rate

decision of the central bank’s

monetary policy committee.

• The revised draft of Indian

Financial Code (IFC) also

proposed that the committee

would have four representatives

of the government and only

three from the central bank,

including the ‘RBI Chairperson’.

• The draft talks of ‘RBI

Chairperson’ and not ‘RBI

Governor’. RBI is headed by a

Governor, at present.

• The revised draft of IFC,

released by the Finance

Ministry last week, is based on

the recommendations of the

Financial Sector LegislativeReforms Commission (FSLRC),

headed by Justice B N

Srikrishna.

• The IFC, which is conceived as

an overarching legislation for the

financial sector, proposes a

monetary policy committee

which will be entrusted with the

task of deciding the key policy

rate and chasing the annual

retail inflation target to be

decided by the government in

consultation with RBI.

New adoption guidelines;

centralised database of children

• A centralised databank of

adoptive children, allowing

single parents looking to adopt,

and, treating non-resident

Indians (NRIs) on par with

Indian citizens are some of the

revamped guidelines of the

Central Adoption Resource

Authority (CARA) introduced

by the union ministry of women

and child development, on

Monday.

• The guidelines will be effectivefrom next month.

• Under the new guidelines, an

e-governance measure that will

hasten the adoption process,

and make it transparent by

putting up the data of the

adoptive children online, has

been brought up.

• The Central Adoption Resource

Information Guidance System

(CARINGS), a centralised

system that collates the data, will

be connected to the districtchild protection units.

• NRIs will be treated on par with

domestic adoptive parents, and

a child of below five years, will

be given up for adoption 60

days after being cleared for

adoption.

• A child of above five years will

be given up for adoption 30

days after clearance.

• The new guidelines have also

made it possible for single

parents to adopt. While single

mothers can adopt children of

either gender, single men can

only adopt male children.

• The minimum age difference

between child and parent

cannot exceed 25 years under

the new guidelines.

• The revamped guidelines were

originally mooted in the Juvenile

Justice (Care and Protection of

Children) Bill, 2014.

• But the Bill, introduced in the

Rajya Sabha, has been pending

for a year and a half. And WCD

minister Maneka Gandhi

wanted to a hass le -f re e

adoption process, said a ministry

official.

• In 2013-14, 3924 children were

given up for adoption within the

country, while 3988 children

were given up in 2014-15. There

were 42 2 in te r- co un try

adoptions in 2013-14, and 374in 2014-15.

Gujarat becomes first state to

ink mandatory voting rule

• It is official now. After dithering

for long, the Gujarat

government issued a notification

making voting in local body

elections compulsory under the

controversial Gujarat Local

Auth or it ies La ws

(Amendment), Act 2009

(2014).

• The notification dated July 17,

2015 will apply to over three

crore voters who are expected

to cast their franchise in theupcoming civic elections in six

municipal corprations, around

60 municipalities, 33 district

panchayats and more than 150

taluka panchayats.

• State has recorded 45-50 per

cent voting in local bodies








elections in the past. In 2010,

six municipals corporations had

recorded average voting of 44

per cent.

• Following this notification, any

citizen abstaining from voting in

civic elections will be

penalized — the punishment

could be monetary fine or non-

eligibility for certain civic

incentives — which will be

specified once the rules are

framed, officials said.

• Along with the compulsory

vo ti ng no ti fi ca ti on , st ate

government has also issued an

ordinance for the addition of a

clause the act for declaring theelected representatives

disqualified if they do not vote.

• In case of failure in voting the

registered voter will be

declared as the defaulter and

against whom the designated

authorities will take legal action

as prescribed in the rules which

will be declared shortly.

Centre returnscontroversial Gujarat Bill

• The controversial GujaratControl of Terrorism and

Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill,

2015, has been sent back to the

State following an objection by

the Information Technology

(IT) Ministry.

• The Home Affairs Ministry,

which sent the Bill for an inter-

ministerial consultation,

returned it with the objections

raised by the IT Ministry. This

means the Bill will not be sent

for Presidential assent and

cannot become law yet.

• Any Bill passed by an Assembly

on issues contravening Central

laws needs Presidential assent.

• The Gujarat House passed the

Bill again on March 31 this year,

after it was rejected thrice by

two former Presidents — the

late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2004

and Pratibha Patil in 2008 and

2009.

• The Bill was first introduced as

the GUJCOC Bill in 2003 —

when Narendra Modi was Chief

Minister — with provisions like

increasing the period to file

charge sheet from 90 to 180

days and strict conditions for

granting bail to an accused.

Last adieu to Kalam

• Thousands of people bid an an

emotional farewell to former

president APJ Abdul Kalam

who was la id to re st on

Thursday with full state honours

in his home town Rameswaram.

• The body of Kalam was buried

in the middle of a 1.5 acre piece

of land earmarked for the

purpose at Peikarumbu after

being brought from his family

mosque where special prayers

were offered.

• The “People’s President” was

accorded full military honours,

including gun salute and

playing of the Last Post as the

members of his family and local

Jamath lowered his mortal

remains into a trench as slogansof “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” rent the

air.

• The funeral of the “Missile Man”

was at te nd ed by seve ra l

leaders including Prime Minister

Narendra Modi who placed a

wreath, offered his final salute

and stood in silence in front of

Kalam’s body that was draped

in national flag. He also went

around the casket with folded

hands.

• The Prime Minister later went

up to Kalam’s eldest brother 99-

year-old Mohammed Muthu

Meeran Lebbai Maraicker, who

was seated nearby, and offered

his condolences.

• Around 30,000 jewellery shops

would also remain closed, while

petrol bunks would stop selling

for an hour between 10-11 a.m.

as a mark of respect for Kalam.

• Movie theatre owners too have

decided to shut down whilefishermen have decided not to

venture into the sea.

• Political parties like the DMK

and the AIADMK have

cancelled their functions.

• Kalam, 83, passed away on

Monday in Shillong after

suffering a massive cardiac

arrest while delivering a lecture

to students at the Indian

Institute of Management.

Sanjeev Chaturvedi and humanrights activist Anshu Gupta win

Magsaysay Award

• Whistleblower officer Sanjeev

Chaturvedi and human rightsactivist Anshu Gupta are among

the five winners of the Ramon

Magsaysay Award this year.

• Sanjeev Chaturvedi is a 2002-

batch Indian Forest Service

officer who is fighting a

protracted battle with the









Centre over alleged harassment

for his tough stance on

corruption during his tenure as

Chief Vigilance Officer of the All

India Institute of Medical

Sciences here.

• He has been technically

without an official assignment

for a year.

• The statement said Anshu

Gupta, founder of the non-

governmental organisation

Goonj, was being recognised

for “his creative vision in

transforming the culture of

giving in India, his enterprising

leadership in treating cloth as a

sustainable developmentresource for the poor, and in

reminding the world that true

giving always respects and

preserves human dignity.”

• Mr. Gupta left his corporate job

to start the non-profit

organisation in 1999.

Other winners

• Kommaly Chanthavong from

Laos has been recognised for

her efforts to develop the

ancient Laotian art of silk weaving, Ligaya Fernando-

Amilbangsa from the Philippines

for “her single-minded crusade

in preserving the endangered

artistic heritage of southern

Philippines”.

• Kyaw Thu from Myanmar, the

statement said, is being

recognised for “his generous

compassion in addressing the

fundamental needs of both the

living and the dead in Myanmar.”

First National Handloom

Day To be observed on 7 August2015

• Union Government on 31 July

2015 decided declared 7th

August as National Handloom

Day every year beginning from

year 20 15 th roug ho ut th e

country.

• The first National Handloom

Day will be launched by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi in

Chennai on 7 August 2015.

• On this occasion, Sant Kabir

Awards and National Awards for

the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 will be awarded and a new India

Handloom brand for better

market positioning of quality

handloom products would be

launched.

• The day will be observed to

generate awareness about the

importance of handloom

industry as a part of our rich

heritage and culture, promote

handloom products and lead to

increase in income of weavers

as well as enhance their confidence and pride.

• As per Handloom Census of

2009-10, over 43 lakh persons

are engaged in handloom

weaving and allied activities in

India.

Parliamentary panel for single-window redressal to all investor

problems

• To ensure a single-window

clearancesystem for resolving

all investor problems, a

Parliamentary panel has

suggested bringing the

grievance redressal mechanism

under the proposed IEPF

Authority.

• The suggestion comes against

backdrop of rising instances of

investors getting duped by

fraudulent investment schemes

and dubious companies.

• The panel has also said that

setting up of the Investor

Education and Protection Fund

(IEPF) Authority, under the new

companies law, has taken an

“unduly long time”.• Under the Companies Act,

2013, the Corporate Affairs

Ministry is to set up the IEPF

Authority but it would not cover

redressal of investor grievances

in the proposed form.

• These observations are part of

the Standing Committee on

Finance’s report on action

taken by the government on the

recommendations made by the

panel on Demands for Grants

(2014-15).• According to the panel,

excluding investor grievances

from the mandate of IEPF

Authority “will do no justice to

the investors’ fraternity”.

• Regarding the Indian Institute

of Corporate Affairs (IICA), the

panel said the organisation

should redefine itself rather

than just being a training

institution.

Beware! NIA may snoop on youpersonal chat for terror links

• In order to keep a tab on the

increasing menace of

radicalisation of youth by

terrorist organisations through

social media and other online








platforms, National Investigation

Agency (NIA) has formed a

special cell.

• According to a report

published in a leading daily, the

special cell is equipped with

state of the art software tools to

single out conversations in

online chatter, which may be

specially significant from

terrorism or radicalisation point

of view.

• Until now, only intelligence

agencies like the Research and

Analysis Wing (RA&W) and

Intelligence Bureau (IB) were

in possession of such tool.

• But now NIA is also armed with

similar surveillance software. It

has been a long standing

demand of the agency to

cultivate its own intelligencecapabilities so that it can

generate information regarding

its ongoing investigations.

• A group of Indians left to fight

for ISIS after getting radicalised

through social media. One of

the most vocal proponents of

ISIS in the digital space, Shami

Witness was found out to be a

guy working in a software

company in Bengaluru. Earlier

too there have been several

instances where IndianMujahideen and Lashkar-e-

Taiba have used the internet to

attract youth cadres in their

ranks. Thus, NIA is looking to

keep a tab on such

conversations but in the process

personal privacy will

unfortunately be a cruel martyr.

• According to NIA officials,

terrorists have long changed

their modus operandi. They no

longer operate using phones

and are often taking recourse in

online mediums to pass on their

information. Hence, NIA is

looking to up the ante so that

they can beat terrorists at their

own game.

• However, terrorists are also no

longer merely using plain

messages. Often highly

encrypted messages are

passed, cryptic codes

exchanged.• So analysing the data to reach

to the proper conclusion is the

most key element. It is like

obtaining a needle from a

haystack and NIA is hoping that

it will be able to get lucky on

occasions to aid their

investigations.

India to host meeting of 14Pacific island nations

• After trying to keep pace with

China in relations with Africa

and Central Asia, India is now

trying to match it neighbour’s

growing footprint in the South

Pacific.

• On August 21, India will hostthe heads of 14 island nations

at the Forum for India-Pacific

Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), in

what is seen as a first step

towards greater engagement

wi th th e re gi on , whic h is

important from an economic

and geostrategic standpoint.

• The upcoming summit in Jaipur

is expected to pave the way for

agreements in agriculture, food

processing, fisheries, solar

energy, e-networks for

coordination in telemedicine

and tele-education, space

cooperation and climate

change, all of which were

mentioned as areas of potential

cooperation by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi during his visit

to Fiji in 2014.

China’s strong foothold

• Even as New Delhi has begun

charting out a plan for forging

bilateral and regional ties with

these island nations, China has

significantly expanded its

foothold in the region, from

increasing business and trade

ties to setting up diplomatic

missions in each of these

countries.

• In its report “The geopolitics of

Chinese aid: mapping Beijing’s

funding in the Pacific”, the Lowy

Institute of International Policy

says China is now the largest

bilateral donor in Fiji and the

second largest in the Cook

Islands, Papua New Guinea,Samoa, and Tonga.

• The report also says that

between 2006 and 2013, China

provided $333 million in

bilateral aid to Fiji, even more

than Australia ($252 million)

and almost three times that of









Japan ($117 million), while in

Samoa and Tonga, the sum of

Chinese aid is second only to

Australia’s.

• China’s foray into the South

Pacific, which began as a move

to offset Taiwan’s interests in

the region, is becoming a cause

for concern for India, which

now wants to have economic

and strategic engagements with

the 14 island nations.

Govt on backfoot over land

acquisition bill

• A joint parliamentary committee

has favoured restoring most of

the provisions of the UPA’s 2013land law into the land acquisition

bill the Centre wants to pass,

signalling a climb-down by the

government.

• Sources said that even the BJP

members on the 30-member

panel had favoured scrapping

the exemptions that the NDA’s

current bill provided from the

social impact assessment (SIA)

and consent provisions.

• They said the panel, headed by

BJP member S.S. Ahulwalia, haddiscussed the amendments

suggested by each party and

made the following

recommendations

• Switch back to “private

company” in the clause

stipulating the consent of 80

per cent landowners for

acquisition for private projects.

The bill, which mirrors the

currently enforced ordinance,

had replaced “private

company” with “private entity”

to make room for NGOs,

corporations, proprietorships,

etc.

• Make the SIA mandatory for all

projects except for acquisition

under the urgency clause

(mainly national security

projects), as provided under the

2013 law. The current bill

exempts national security

projects, rural electrification

and housing, industrial

corridors and public-private-

partnership (PPP) infrastructure

projects.

• Revoke the exemption given to

industrial corridor and PPP

projects from the (70 per cent)

consent provision.

• The panel will discuss the bill’s

provision to extend the

deadline for return of unutilised

land to any length of time

specified in the projectproposal. The 2013 law limits

the period to five years.

• The committee is expected to

hand in its report on August 7.

Its new bill will be placed

before Parliament.

• The Centre had been saying that

the 2013 law was stalling

development projects by

making land acquisition

extremely tough, and that

several states had sought

amendments to it.

Only 8.15% of Indians aregraduates, Census data

show

• Despite a big increase in

college attendance, especially

among women, fewer than one

out of every 10 Indians is a

graduate, new Census data

show.

• Over the weekend, the office

of the Census Commissioner and

Registrar-General of India

released new numbers on the

level of education achieved by

Indians as of 2011.

• They show that with 6.8 crore

graduates and above, India still

has more than six times as many

illiterates.

• While rural India accounts for

only a third of all graduates, the

rate of increase in graduates

was faster in rural than in urban

India over the last decade, and

fastest of all among rural women.

• From 26 lakh graduates 10 years

ago, nearly 67 lakh rural womenare now graduates. Rural Indians

are more likely to have non-

technical graduate degrees

than urban Indians, while urban

India accounts for 80 per cent

of all Indian technology and

medicine graduates.

• Among those with a graduate

degree or above, the majority

(over 60 per cent) are those

who have a no n- tech ni ca l

graduate degree.

Country’s largest solartelescope

• The Udaipur Solar Observatory

(USO), one of the six GONG(Global Oscillations Network

Group) sites in the world, has

now the country’s largest

telescope to observe the sun.

• After China, Udaipur is second

in the world to have the unique

multi-application solar








telescope (MAST) for the

detailed study of the solar

activities.

• Unlike other telescopes, the

MAST is capable of capturing

three dimensional aspects of the

solar magnetic fields, further

enabling the scientists to get a

better understanding of the

solar flares and eruptions taking

place in such twisted magnetic

fields.

• ISRO chairman AS Kiran Kumar,

who couldn’t make it to the

event, sent his message to

fellow scientists, congratulating

them for the major achievement.

• The observatory, situated on anisland in the middle of

Fatehsagar lake, is a part of the

PRL, an autonomous unit of the

department of space.

• The observatory’s strategic

location, with a large water

body surrounding the

telescope, decreases the

amount of heating of the surface

layers.

• This reduces the turbulence in

the air mass and thereby

improves the image quality.• The scientists here had got

many important results earlier

using data from other sources.

But those were looking at only

one layer of the solar

atmosphere.

• Using the MAST, they plan to

extend the studies to other

layers using multiple spectral

line diagnostics. In this way, they

would get 3D pictures of the

phenomena.

What is MAST

• The MAST is an off-axis

Gregorian-Coude telescope

with a 50 cm aperture and its

dome is a collapsible one made

of tensile fabric

• The scientists had proposed for

MAST in 2004 and preparations

had been going on since for its

installation.

• Built by the Advanced

Mechanical and Optical

Systems (AMOS) of Belgium,

the MAST was tested by

Udaipur Solar Observatory for

onsite acceptance

• The back-end instruments of

MAST, developed in-house at

USO, include an adaptive optics

system and a narrow band

imaging polarimeter

• The test results accumulated

over a year were examined by a

committee of experts and thetelescope has now been made

operational after 11 years

Strategic location of USO

• In most places, lakes are

associated with abundant

rainfall. However in Udaipur,

the wisdom of the administrative

bodies 500 years ago resulted

in a system of lakes which were

used to store water collected

during the monsoon.

• This water supply could last for several years during lean

monsoons. Because the rains

were scanty in general, Udaipur

site can boast of more than 250

days of continuous sunshine

which allows to observe the sun

properly during the day

• A milestone was added in the

Udaipur Satellite Observatory’s

history in October 1995 when

it appeared on the world map

after being included in the

GONG project.

• The other sites selected under

GONG are the Canary Islands in

Spain, CTIO in Chile, Hawaii and

Big Bear in USA and Learmonth

in Australia.

• A sophisticated 1.5 million

dollar, state-of-the-art

instrument was installed in

Udaipur under the project

whic h moni to rs th e su n

automatically and takes digital

velocity images of it every

minute

PM launch National Handloom

Day in Chennai


will on Friday inaugurate the first

National Handloom Day at a

function in Chennai.

• Prime Minister Modi will confer

the Sant Kabir awards and

National awards for the years

2012, 2013 and 2014 to

distinguished handloom

personalities.

• The program is being held in the

prestigious Centenary hall of

Madras University.

• The Prime Minister will also

launch ‘India Handloom’ Brand.

An ex hi bi ti on showca si ng

master creations of the

awardees is also being

inaugurated on the occasion in

the adjacent senate building of

Madras University.

• The Handloom Day will be

celebrated all over the country

in cooperation with state

governments.• The date August 7 has been

chosen due to its special

significance in India’s history; it

was on th is day that th e

Swadeshi Movement was

launched in 1905.









Uncertainty over Naga peace

accord

• The peace agreement with

Naga insurgent group

Nationalist Socialist Council of

Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) or

NSCN (IM)seems to have

created some confusion with

stakeholders knowing littleabout the “historic peace

accord” announced by Prime

Minister Narendra Modi on

August 3.

• The state governments, the

Army and the Ministry of Home

Affairs (MHA) are still not privy

to the terms of agreement

leading to uncertainty.

• Top government sources told

Mail Today that the Army has

wr it ten to MHA asking for

instructions on what is the statusand how they need to act on

ground.

• “MHA is expected to write back

saying since there is no change

in the ground situation, status

quo should be maintained and

the protocol that is followed

during a ceasefire with an

insurgent group should be

followed,”.

• Sources say that it is only a

framework agreement that has

been signed and the real accordmight take some time.

• Other than Nagaland, NSCN

(IM) has also been active in

neighbouring Assam, Arunachal

Pradesh and Manipur.

• The group’s objective was to

establish Nagalim or Greater

Nagaland comprising Naga-

inhabited areas of states

neighbouring Nagaland.

• Sources said following the

announcement made by the

prime minister of a “peace

accord” with NSCN (IM) there

has been simmering tension in

the states among those

opposed to the idea of an

accord without their demands

being met.

One-third of coal blocks up for

auction in wildlife habitats

• The latest survey conducted

using Global Information System

(GIS) by Greenpeace India

shows that of the 101 coal

blocks that are up for auction

this year, 35 are in the habitats

of tigers, leopards or elephants.

• Twenty of these blocks are

within 10 km of a protected

forest area or within 15 km of an

identified wildlife corridor.

• An order issued by the Ministry

of Coal on December 18, 2014,

had identified these 101 coal

blocks for auction/allotment.

• The blocks are spread across

eight States - Madhya Pradesh,

Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh,

Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and West

Bengal.

• Of the blocks up for auction, 39

critical blocks cover a total

forest area of more than 10,500

hectares. Greenpeace India

collected GIS data from five

States for 46 coal blocks spread

over 10 coal fields.

• Data for the remaining 55 blocks

of 101 was not available. In

addition, many village

boundaries overlap with the

areas of the listed blocks, which

call for approvals from grama

sabhas under the Forests Rights

Act, 2006, and prior to forest

diversion under the Forest

Conservation Act 1980.

• Several blocks are already

facing legal challenges in

various courts, the study notes.

As a result bidders are likely to

face challenges in

operationalising these blocks.India follows global trends

in taking on cyber attacks

• The number of cyber attacks in

the country stood at nearly

50,000 during the first five

months of 2015, with most of

these attacks on computer

networks of Indian organisations

originating from countries such

as the U.S., Pakistan, China and

Bangladesh, Parliament was

informed on Friday.• “The trend in increase in cyber

attacks is similar to that

worldwide. A total number of

22,060, 71,780, 1,30,338, and

49,504 cyber security incidents,

including phishing, scanning,

spam, malicious code and

webs ite in trus io n, were

reported to Indian Computer

Emergency Response Team

(CERT-In) during the years

2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (up

to May), respectively,” Telecom

Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

said in a written reply in the

Rajya Sabha.

• The Minister said a total of

27,605 and 28,481 websites

were hacked during the year








2012 and 2013, respectively. In

the year 2014 and 2015 (up to

May), the number was 32,323

and 9,057, respectively.

Centre plans to adopt new sandmining policy for forest areas

• Union Minister for Environment

and Forests Prakash Javadekar

said today the Centre plans to

adopt a new policy to allow

sand mining in forest areas to

stop flood waters from flowing

into forests.

• Javadekar made the

announcement here while

referring to recent deaths of 10

Asiatic lions and other wildanimals due to floods in Amreli

district in June.

• He said that sand mining in rivers

passing through protected

forest land has been banned by

the Supreme Court.

• The minister also claimed that

his ministry cleared at least 35

projects in Gujarat, which had

not been given clearance.

• Some of these projects which

received environmental

clearances include the 800 MW extension at Vanakbori thermal

power station, drilling of 103

wells in Vadodara by the ONGC,

development of Dholera SIR

and a limestone mining project

in Rangpur village of Junagadh,

Javadekar said.

Environment Ministrypushes for contentious

hydel projects

• With the appointment of thethird committee of experts by

the Union Environment Ministry

to review a few contentious

hydroelectric power projects in

Uttarakhand, activists see an

attempt to shift the debate away

from the danger they pose to

changing their design in tune

with the disaster-prone State.

• The Ravi Chopra Committee

and the Vinod Tare Committee

had warned against the

projects, including the six on

which the Supreme Court is yet

to give a decision.

• The Hindu reviewed the

minutes of the two meetings of

the newly formed committee

held in June and July. Lata

Tapovan (171 MW), Alaknanda

Badrinath (300 MW), Kotlibhel

1A (195 MW), Jhelum Tamak

(128 MW), Bhyundar Ganga

(24.8 MW), and Khirao Ganga

(4.5 MW) are the projects that will be reviewed again by the

new committee.

• At a meeting held in July, the

developers of the six projects

presented design

modifications to the new

committee, so that they could

be implemented once the

issues of muck disposal, impact

on biodiversity and disaster

mitigation plan were addressed.

The modifications were

discussed last year too, but thefirst committee rejected them.

Since the developers again

failed to present acceptable

modifications, the committee

has said they should come up

with the required modifications.

• In the latest affidavit filed in the

Supreme Court, the Ministry has

also underscored the

importance of design

modifications, almost ruling out

the possibility of cancellation of

the projects even if they don’tmeet the criteria.

• Environmentalists have been

objecting to the formation of

the new committee, suspecting

that the Ministry is forming

committee after committee to

get the green signal for the

contentious projects.

• On the formation of the third

committee, senior Supreme

Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan,

Himanshu Thakkar, coordinator

of the South Asia Network on

Dams, E. Theophilus of the

Uttarakhand-based Himal

Prakriti, and Bharat

Jh un jhun wa la , a form er

professor of the IIM-Bangalore,

had written to Union

Environment Minister Prakash

Javadekar.

‘A violation’

• “Not only is this a violation butalso a clear indication of your

ministry’s malafide intentions to

overwrite and compromise the

findings of previous

committees…It is hence clear

that till the time you [Mr.

Javadekar] do not get a report

that gives a green signal to these

hydropower projects you will

continue to form one

committee after another,

regardless of the reality on the

ground,” they said.

Aadhaar not

mandatory,govt cant shareany personal

information,SC

• Aadhar card will be optional for

availing various welfare

schemes of the government, the

Supreme Court on Tuesday said

and ordered that no personal









information of the holders of

such cards shall be shared by

any authority.

• A three-judge bench, which in

the forenoon referred to a larger

Constitution Bench a batch of

petitions challenging the

Aadhar scheme and the issue

whether right to privacy is a

fundamental right, recorded the

statement of Attorney General

Mukul Rohatgi that “no personal

information of Aadhar card shall

be shared by any authority”.

• The bench, headed by Justice

J Chelameswar, which issued a

slew of directions, said the

Centre shall give wide publicity through electronic and print

media that the card is not

mandatory to avail the

government schemes.

• The bench, also comprising

Just ices S A Bobde and C

Nagappan, said, “UIDAI/

Aadhar will not be used for any

other purposes except PDS,

kerosene and LPG distribution

system.” However, the court

made it clear that even for PDS,

kerosene and LPG distributionsystem, the card will not be

mandatory.

• It directed that the information

received by UIDAI shall not be

used for any other purposes,

except in criminal investigation

with the permission of the court.

• The court did not allow the

interim plea of petitioners,

challenging Aadhar scheme,

that the ongoing enrolment

process for the Aadhar card be

stayed.

India is biggest market for FBafter US

• Facebook on Tuesday

launched FB Start, a new

programme designed to help

early stage mobile startups in

India. FB Start provides startups

wi th excl us ive community

access, worldwide events,

mentorship and up to $80,000

worth of free tools and services.

• Ime Archibong, director of

strategic partnerships at

Facebook, said, “Outside the

US, India continues to be ahighly important region for

Facebook. Of the $50 million in

benefits distributed to Asia

Pacific startups through FB Start

since 2014, more than $21

million went to startups in India.”

• Facebook has more than 1,000

members as part of the FB Start

programme and it has held

events in London, New York,

Mexico City, Hong Kong, Seoul

and Taipei. In India, it is hosting

these events in Bangalore andGurgaon.

India,s voluntary emissionreduction targets soon

• India will announce its voluntary

emission reduction targets well

ahead of the deadline of

October 1, the Union Minister

for Environment, Forests and

Climate Change, Prakash

Javdekar, told Parliament on

Tuesday.

• It was agreed in the Lima

climate conference last year

that all countries would submit

their ‘intended nationally

determined contributions’

(INDCs) by October 1, 2015,

two months ahead of this year’s

climate conference, which will

be held in Paris from November

30.

• India has undertaken “an

elaborate, multi-stakeholder

consultation process for

finalising its INDC,” says a

government press release,

quoting the Minister.•Climate conferences

(negotiations) are held each

year under the auspices of the

United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change

(UNFCCC).

• This year’s conference is

expected to be epochal, given

the urgency of hammering out

an agreement to do something

before it is too late to halt and

reverse mankind-caused

climate change.• A major global deal is expected

to be negotiated which might

say what each country would

do and how the efforts will be

funded.

• “India has been advocating a

strong and ambitious outcome

in Paris in accordance with the

principle and provisions of the

United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change

CVC appointment underSupreme Court scanner

• The Supreme Court on

Thursday sought the Centre’s

response to a PIL challenging

the appointment of former

Central Board of Direct Taxes








head KV Chaudhary as chief

vigilance commissioner and ex-

CMD of Indian Bank TM Bhasin

as vigilance commissioner in the

Central Vigilance Commission

(CVC).

• A bench of Chief Justice HL

Dattu and justices Arun Mishra

and Amitava Roy also sought

response from Chaudhary and

Bhasin on the petition which

cast doubts over their “integrity

and reputation” and alleged

that clouds over their integrity

made them ineligible for the top

posts in the CVC.

• The petition, filed by NGO

‘Common Cause’ and members

of civil society including former

Navy chief Admiral L Ramdas,

said Chaudhary’s actions as

CBDT chief and adviser to the

SC-appointed SIT on black

money was under a cloud.

• The NGO also said Chaudhary’s

name had cropped up in the

Stockguru scam and also in the

controversy relating to visitors to

ex-CBI director Ranjit Sinha’s

official residence.

• Although government agencies

had given a clean chit to

Chaudhary in both cases, the

petitioners alleged that he did

not meet the “impeccable

integrity” requirement for the

CVC post and termed the

procedure to select him as

arbitrary and illegal.



What you will Get (?)

General Studies (Paper – I, II, III & IV) Online 100 % Reading Material of the

Syllabus (Which can be saved easily)

Slides (For Giving Summary of Each Topics)

Categorized Unit and Sub-Unit Wise Question Papers of General Studies

Current General Studies Magazine (Indispensable Magazine for General Studies)

Daily Answer Writing Challenge for IAS Mains Contemporary Issues

It is full of tips on areas of emphasis, caution while reading and writing , how to

write the answer (?) .

Model Test Question Paper for General Studies - I, II, III and IV for Mains Exam

2015

Online and Telephonic interaction with the course director, and continuous

evaluation through a regular online writing session in every chapter and topic.

http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/courses/ias-mains-gs-combo

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http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/answer-writing-challenge/ias-mains-gs/26-november-2014




http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/answer-writing-challenge/ias-mains-gs/26-november-2014




International IssuesInternational IssuesInternational IssuesInternational IssuesInternational Issues






INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

Facebook in

defensive mode on Internet.org

• Facebook has defended its

Internet.org initiative as a

“gateway” to provide low cost

access to the internet after a

government panel on net

neutrality opposed it saying that

the social networking giant was

playing the role of a gatekeeper.• “Internet.org acts as a gateway,

as opposed to a gatekeeper, to

internet access by breaking

down the cost, infrastructure

and social barriers that exist

today,” Facebook vice

president for Mobile and Global

Access Policy Kevin Martin said

in a statement.

• The government panel

discussed Facebook’s

Internet.org while preparing the

report and found that it

provided free access for only a

few websites until April 2015.

• Net neutrality implies that equal

treatment be accorded to all

internet traffic and no priority

be given to an entity or company

based on payment to content

or service providers such as

telecom companies, which is

seen as discriminatory.

• The neutrality debate gained

momentum in India after telecom operator Airtel

launched a platform, Airtel Zero,

that would allow free access of

some websites on it network.

The companies were asked to

pay Airtel for joining the

platform.

• Internet.org, on the other hand,

is a Facebook-led initiative

which aims to bring 5 billion

people online in partnership

with tech giants like Samsung

and Qualcomm as well as

mobile operators.

Taiwan to elect first womanPresident

• Taiwan’s top two political

parties have each nominated a

woman for President in 2016, a

historic first signalling

acceptance of femaleleadership.

• The ruling Nationalist Party on

Sunday picked as its candidate

Hung Hsiu-chu (in picture), a

former teacher and the current

deputy legislative speaker.

• Ms. Hung, who supports

friendly relations with China, will

run against Tsai Ing-wen, the

opposition Democratic

Progressive Party

chairwoman.Tsai leads in

opinion polls.

British monarchy’s comes

under attack

• When the famously ill-spoken

Prince Phillip, the present

British monarch’s husband,

recently visited a community

centre, he reportedly asked the

women “So whom are you

sponging on?” His hosts politely

ignored his comment.

• The public response to the

latest royal family controversy

however suggests that the

culture of monarchical

exceptionalism in this country

is changing.

• With the British media carrying

reports of a “livid” Queen

Elizabeth ordering an inquiry

into the source of the leak of

video footage dating back to

1933, showing her throwing the

Nazi salute as a child, the furore

over the publication of so-

called ‘private’ royal family

material is roiling public opinion

in Britain.

• The issue has thrown up issuesof media freedom vis-à-vis the

monarchy — an institution that

most Britons of a earlier

generation instinctively feel

must be shielded from the

darker aspects of its past, of

which its well-documented

links with fascism, and more

notably the Third Reich, are a

part.

• The Sun , owned by the

Murdoch empire, is a defiantly

sensationalist newspaper, whocritics say had an eye on the

circulation spurt that the

publication of such a report

would generate. It claims it

obtained the footage from a

‘legitimate source’ and

discussed its publication








editorially for weeks, and also

got it cleared from its lawyers.

Greek Banks Reopen after a

long gap

• Greeks queued outside banks

on Monday as they reopened

three weeks after closing to stop

the system collapsing under a

flood of withdrawals, the firstcautious sign of a return to

normal after a deal to start talks

on a new package of bailout

reforms.

• However capital controls will

remain and payments and wire

transfers abroad will still not be

possible - a situation which

German Chancellor Angela

Merkel said on Sunday was “not

a normal life” and warranted

swift negotiations on a new

bailout.

• The stock market will also

remain closed until further

notice.

• Queues formed outside bank

branches in central Athens as

people waited to take care of

business frozen during the three

week-long bank holiday.

• Limits on cash withdrawals have

been made slightly more

flexible, with a weekly limit of

420 euros in place of the daily 60 euro limit previously.

• Greeks will be able to deposit

cheques but not cash, pay bills

as well as have access to safety

deposit boxes and withdraw

money without an ATM card.

• Bankers said there may be minor

disruptions after the three-week

interruption to services but they

expected services to resume

largely as normal.

• The bank closures were the

most visible sign of the crisis that

took Greece to the brink of

falling out of the euro earlier this

month. But Tsipras is eyeing a

fresh start and swift talks on the

bailout that will keep Greece

afloat.

Greece braces for next vote

• Greek government said on

Tuesday that it wants to see a

final deal on its international

bailout hammered out by

August 20, as it presented

Parliament with more draft

legislation on the cash-for-

reforms agreement.• Lawmakers are due to vote on a

second batch of reforms

Wednesday in a fresh test of

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’

authority, after he suffered a

major rebellion in his radical-left

party Syriza during a vote on a

first tranche of bailout measures

last week.

• After Parliament has voted on

the second bill — which must

pass if Greece is to receive the

bailout worth up to •86 billion($93 billion) over three years —

the government “will

immediately resume

negotiations with the (lender)

institutions, EU, ECB and IMF,

which should take until August

20 at the latest,” said

government spokeswoman

Olga Gerovassili.

• Tsipras managed to push the

first series of unpopular reforms

through Parliament last

Wednes day — in cl ud ing

sweeping changes to Greece’s

taxes, pensions and labour rules

— but only with the help of pro-

European opposition parties.

• Within Syriza, 32 of the party’s

149 MPs voted against the

measures, including former

finance minister Yanis

Varouf ak is . A fu rt he r si x

abstained.

• The second bill includes an EUdirective, adopted after the

financial crisis in Cyprus in

2013, that guarantees bank

deposits up to 100,000 euros

($108,000), as well as civil

justice reforms designed to

speed up legal proceedings

and reduce their costs.

BRICS bank opens in Shanghai

• The Brazil-Russia-India-China-

South Africa (BRICS) grouping

has formally opened the New

Development Bank (NDB) as adedicated channel of alternate

finance, which will focus on

emerging economies and the

Global South.

• Top officials of the new bank,

which opened on Tuesday in

Shanghai, stressed that the NDB

would not rival but complement

the western backed

International Monetary Fund

(IMF) and the World Bank, born

out of the Bretton Woods

Conference of the forties.• However, the emergence of the

NDB and the Asian

Infrastructure Investment Bank

(AIIB) — a China-led initiative

to fund infrastructure in Asia —

was hastened by the reluctance









by the West, especially the United States, since 2010, to grant emerging

economies a greater say within the IMF.

Hotline for closer ties

adapt from the 20th century —

1944 was when they were

founded — but, you know, it’s

difficult to move these big

institutions, particularly

difficult.”

• The NDB will have an initial

capital of US$50 billion, which

will be raised to US$100 billion

within two years.

• The NDB planned to issue its

first loans in April next year, Mr.

Kamath, a former head of ICICI

Bank had announced earlier this

month. China will pitch in $41

billion to the NDB — the highest

wi th in the BR ICS group.

Consequently, it will have a 39.5

per cent share of voting rights.

• Brazil, India and Russia will each

pump in $18 billion, while South

Africa’s contribution would

stand at $ 5 billion. The bank is

expected to start operations atthe end of this year or early in

2016.

China begins assemblingworld’s largest radio telescope

• China today started assembling

the world’s largest radio

telescope, whose dish has the

size of 30 football grounds, in

the mountains of southwest

Guizhou Province to enhance

its ability to observe outer

space.

• China today started assembling

the world’s largest radio

telescope, whose dish has the

size of 30 football grounds, inthe mountains of southwest

Guizhou Province to enhance

its ability to observe outer

space.

• The Chinese technicians began

to assemble the telescope’s

reflector, which is 500 meters

in diameter and made up of

4,450 panels. Each panel is an

equilateral triangle with a side

length of 11 meters.

• Once completed, the single-

aperture spherical telescopecalled ‘FAST’ will be the world’s

largest, overtaking Puerto Rico’s

Arecibo Observatory, which is

300 meters in diameter, state-

run Xinhua news agency

reported..

• Wu Xiangping, director-general

of Chinese Astronomical

Society, said that for years

Chinese scientists have worked

on “second hand” data

collected by others and failed

to achieve breakthrough.

• With a perimeter of about 1.6

km, it will take about 40 minutes

to walk around the telescope.

The giant dish is built upon a

naturally-formed bowl-like

valley in the southern part of

• Rejecting the possibility of a

rivalry between the two newly

established banks, NDB’s first

President Kundapur Vaman

Kamath stressed that after a

meeting in Beijing with the AIIB,

the NDB had decided to

establish a “hotline” with the

AI IB to forg e cl oser ti es

between “new institutions

coming together with a

completely different

approach”.

• The AIIB and the

complementary $ 40 billion Silk

Road Fund are expected to

fund some of projects along

Beijing-proposed Belt and

Road initiative, aimed at the

integration of Eurasian

economies.

• Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz,

who along with economist

Nicholas Stern conceptualisedthe formation of a BRICS-led

bank, has said the NDB is “going

to try to be a 21st century

institution”. In an interview with

the website Democracy Now,

Mr Stiglitz observed: “The other

institutions have been trying to








Guizhou.

• The Karst formation in the local

landscape is good for draining

rainwater underground and

protecting the reflector, Sun

said.

• The construction of the

telescope began in March 2011

and is set to finish next year.

China;s Ambitious Search For

aliens

• China is currently in the process

of building the world’s largest

single-aperture telescope,

FAST, according to reports

emerging in its state media.

• Its reflector the size of more than

30 football fields, the telescope

is an attempt by China (under

the project Breakthrough Listen,

envisioned by American

physicist Stephen Hawking and

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner)

to find signs of alien life after

NASA’s groundbreaking

announcement that an ‘Earth

2.02 was discovered by its

planet-hunting Kepler

telescope.

• According to Xinhua, built in

the deep mountains of China’s

Guizhou province, the diameter

of the telescope’s reflector will

be 500 meters and will be madeup of 4,450 panels, easily

surpassing Puerto Rico’s Arecibo

Observatory, “only” 305 meters

in diameter.

• With a perimeter of more than

1.5 km, it will take about 40

minutes to complete one round

of the telescope.

• The valley in Guizhou has “radio

silence,” with no habitation in

the radius of five kilometers and

only one county in the radius of

25 kilometers

WTO strikes $1.3tn deal to wipe

out IT trade tariffs

• The World Trade Organisation(WTO) has agreed to eliminate

trade tariffs on more than 200

technology products, paving

the way for price cuts across a

range of IT offerings from 2016.

• These products include semi-

conductors, magnetic

resonance imaging machines,

manufacturing tools for printed

circuits, telecommunications

satellites, touchscreens and

more.

• Furthermore, the agreement

also sets out a commitment to

addressing other barriers to

trade in the IT sector, while

maintaining a roll-call of

products that could be

included on the list at a later

date.

• The move marks an expansion

of a similar deal waved through

by the WTO in 1996, which

benefited 81 of the

organisation’s members and saw prices fall across a range of

products.

• However, many of the

technology products that

consumers and businesses rely

on today weren’t covered by

the 1996 deal, so in 2012

members began work on

expanding it.

• As a result, the updated

arrangement will benefit all 161

members of the WTO, allowing

them to take advantage of duty-

free market access on the 201

listed products when

participating in trades with one

another.

• This latest deal was voted for by

54 of the WTO’s 161 members,

who now have until October to

draft guidelines that outline

how the terms of the proposals

will be met, in the hope of

having them officiated by

December 2015.• This, the WTO claimed, should

lead to tariffs being cut on some

of the listed products by 2016,

and all of them within the next

three years.

• Roberto Azevêdo, director-

general of the WTO, said the

“landmark deal” should open

up new economic

opportunities across the globe.

China and India top list of

nations whose millionairesmove abroad

• We may be in the midst of “the

Asian century,” but a new report

shows that many of the weal th iest ci ti zens of the

continent’s two fastest-growing

economies — China and India

— have chosen to leave their

countries and settle down

abroad.

• A total of 91,000 Chinese









millionaires left the country and

settled overseas in the past 14

years, while the exodus of

Indian millionaires ranked

second at 61,000, according to

a report by consultancies New

World Wealth and LIO Global.

• France, Italy, Russia, Indonesia,

South Africa and Egypt round

out the top eight.

• The study, released this month,

looked at immigration data from

2000 and 2014 indicating

applications for a second

citizenship or change of

domicile (permanent

residence).

• The U.K.—its capital city London, in particular—appears

to be the most popular

destination for the world’s rich

to settle down in, followed by

the U.S., Singapore, Australia

and Hong Kong.

• The report says Indians tend to

move to countries like Australia

and the United Arab Emirates,

while Singapore and Hong

Kong are popular destinations

for China’s wealthy.

• Despite the large-scaledeparture of millionaires, both

China and India still have plenty

of wealthy citizens who chose

to stay back — reflected by their

respective positions at fifth and

10th on the list of countries with

the most millionaires overall.

• They also remain the world’s

most populous nations, sharing

a third of the global population.

• Those who leave generally cite

reasons like “turmoil in home

country, security concerns andoptimizing education of

children,” the report said.

Winds ofchange in West Asia

• There has been no dearth of

hyperbole on the nuclear

agreement signed last week in

Vienna between Iran and the

P5+1 (the United States, the

United Kingdom, France, China,

Russia and Germany — along

with the European Union). U.S.

President Barack Obama was

the most restrained when he

said that the deal “offers an

opportunity to move in a new

direction”; Iranian President

Hassan Rouhani called it a good

agreement when he

announce(d) “to our people

that our prayers have come

true”.

• On July 20, the Agreement was

submitted to the U.S. Congress

for a mandatory 60-day review.

U.S. Speaker John Boehner

slammed it as “a bad deal” that

“paves the way for a nuclear Iran” and “vowed to do

everything possible to scuttle it”

even as Mr. Obama warned that

he would veto a negative

decision by Congress.

• Senator Lindsey Graham, a

Republican presidential

candidate, described it as “a

most dangerous irresponsible

step”, while a group of 60

former secretaries, national

security advisers, military

generals and ambassadors, led

by former secretary of state

Madeleine Albright and former

secretary of defence William

Perry issued a statement

welcoming it as “a landmark

agreement unprecedented in

its importance...” Russian

President Vladimir Putin said

that “the world heaved a sigh of

relief” while German Chancellor

Ange la Merkel ca lled it “a

hugely important success”.

‘Secularism’ will be vanish

from the new Nepal

Constitution

• The key term of ‘secularism’ may

be dropped in Nepal’s new

Constitution as it is not

considered “appropriate” by

many people, according to top

Nepali leaders.

• UCPN (Maoist) Chairman

Prachanda said on Monday that

the term ’secularism’ is not an

appropriate one and it would

be replaced by a suitable term

in the new Constitution.

• Earlier on Friday, CPN-UML

Chairman K.P. Sharma Oli had

also hinted that the term

‘secularism’ would be removed

from the new Constitution.

• “Over the past few days, a

campaign to remove the word

’secularism’ from the

Constitution has been gaining

momentum.

Animal sacrifice bannedindefinitely at Nepal’s 300 year

old Gadhimai Festival

• In a break from tradition,

Nepalese temple authorities on

Tuesday announced an

indefinite ban on a centuries-

old Hindu tradition of mass

animal slaughter that attracts








hundreds of thousands of worshippers.

• The 300 year old Gadhimai festival will go bloodless in its next edition

in 2019. More than five lakh animals get slaughtered during the festival.

Vladimir Putin said on July 30,

RIA news agency reported.

• Vladimir Kozhin, a presidential

adviser on military matters, said

the S-300 air defense missile

systems will be upgraded

before being delivered to Iran,

since the original contract was

signed a long time ago.

• He wouldn’t offer specifics or

say when the delivery would

take place.• Russia cancelled a contract to

deliver the advanced missile

system to Iran in 2010 under

pressure from the West.

• But Putin l ifted that self-

imposed ban in April following

an interim nuclear deal

between Iran and world

powers.

• Moscow is hoping to reap

economic and trade benefits

now that a more comprehensive

nuclear deal between Iran and worl d powe rs has been

reached, allowing for an easing

of sanctions on the Islamic

republic.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu has expressed

Israel’s “dismay” at Russia’s

decision to supply the S-300s

to Iran, and the United States

also has expressed concern.

UN urges concerted action tocombat human trafficking

• UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-

moon on Thursday urged every

country to join the fight againsthuman trafficking as the world

body’s agencies and their

partners vowed to work

together to support and protect

victims of this transnational

crime, while pursuing and

prosecuting criminals and their

networks.

• In his message on the World Day

against Trafficking in Persons,

the secretary-general flagged

the need to crack down on

criminal trafficking networks

that thrive in countries where the

rule of law is weak and

international cooperation is

difficult.

• The secretary-general also

applauded the donors who

have enabled the UN Voluntary

Trust Fund for Victims of

Trafficking in Persons to assist

thousands of people and called

for greater contributions to help

the many million other victimsof this crime move forward with

their lives.

• In 2013, the UN General

Assembly designated July 30 as

the World Day to “raise

awareness of the situation of

victims of human trafficking and

• The festival, held once every

five years, sees hordes of

devotees from Nepal and India

flock to a temple in the

Himalayan nation’s southern

plains to sacrifice thousands of

animals in the hope of

appeasing the Hindu goddess

of power, Gadhimai.

• In the last Gadhimai festival in

2014, despite a police

presence and a SC order tocheck the illegal smuggling of

animals from Indian borders,

people continued to cross the

Bihar border with live cattle.

70% animals are technically

smuggled from India.

Russia Is supporting Iran withMissiles

• Russia is modernizing its S-300

missile system to supply to Iran,

an adviser to Russian President









for the promotion and

protection of their rights.”

• In 2010, the UN General

Assembly adopted the Global

Plan of Action to Combat

Trafficking in Persons, urging

governments worldwide to take

coordinated and consistent

measures to defeat this scourge.

World’s Population Is Set To

Surpass 11 Billion

• The world’s population

reached 7.3 billion in the

middle of 2015, according to a

recent report released by the

United Nations.

• The annual pace of growth was

1.24 percent a decade ago and

this has now started to slow,

falling to 1.18 percent, or 83

million people each year.

• Over the course of the past 12

years, one billion people have

been added to the planet’s

population.

• Over the next 15 years, the

world’s population is projected

to increase by a further billion,

reaching 8.5 billion in 2030.

• In 2050, it will pass the 9.7

billion mark before topping 11.2

billion in 2100. Interestingly,

even though the planet’spopulation is projected to grow,

fertility rates are down across

the world. Much of the coming

growth will be attributed to

reducing child mortality and

raising life expectancy.

Britain, France Make New Push

to Block Migrants

• Britain and France said Sunday

it was a “top priority” for them

to block the onslaught of

thousands of migrants seeking

passage to England via the

Eurotunnel.

• In a joint statement publishedin British and French

newspapers, British Home

Secretary Theresa May and her

French counterpart, Bernard

Cazeneuve, called on other

European Union countries and

the international community to

help curb the flow of refugees

from Africa to Europe.

• The two officials said the

thousands of migrants who have

sought passage from Calais,

France on trains or trucks intoBritain in recent weeks have

often made their way there after

first landing in Italy and Greece

via Mediterranean boat trips

from Africa.

• May and Cazeneuve said the

crisis should not be addressed

by easing immigration policies,

but rather by “reducing the

number of migrants who are

crossing into Europe from

Africa.”

• At least 10 migrants have diedattempting the France-to-Britain

passage.

• Britain and France say they are

bolstering security at the French

entry to the Eurotunnel, adding

more police and private security

guards, more fencing and infra-

red detectors and floodlighting.

Obama to unveil ‘biggest step

ever’ in climate change fight

• US PRESIDENT Barack Obama

will on Monday local time unveil

what he called the “biggest,

most important step we’ve ever

taken” to fight climate change,a sensitive issue, central to his

legacy.

• The White House will release

the final version of America’s

Clean Power Plan, a set of

environmental rules and

regulations that will home in on

the pollution from the nation’s

existing power plants, setting

limits on power-plant carbon

emissions for the first time.

• Plants will have to reduce

carbon dioxide emissions by 32

per cent from 2005 levels by

2030.

• Laying out how climate change

is a threat to the economy,

health, wellbeing and security

of America, and adding that

time was of the essence, Obama

said in a video released early

Sunday: “Climate change is not

a problem for another

generation. Not anymore.”

• Power plants account for some40 per cent of US emissions of

carbon dioxide, the most

common greenhouse gas that

contributes to climate change.

• In the coming months, Obama

is expected to visit Alaska to

highlight the impact of climate









eradicating povertyand hunger,

achieving gender equality,

improving living standards and

taking urgent action to combat

climate change.

• The draft agreement reached

on Sunday evening outlines 17

goals with 169 specific targets

on issues ranging from ending

poverty “in all its formseverywhere” to ensuring quality

education and affordable and

reliable energy, and protecting

the environment. “We can be

the first generation that ends

global poverty, and the last

generation to prevent the worst

impacts of global warming

before it is too late,” Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon said on

Monday.

• The document cal led

“Transforming our World: The2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development” will be adopted

at a UN summit just before the

annual meeting of world leaders

at the General Assembly in late

September.

• The 17 new, non-binding goals

wi ll su cc ee d the ei gh t

Millennium Development Goals

adopted by world leaders 15

years ago. In his final report last

month on the Millennium

Development Goals, Ban said

the effort has helped lift more

than one billion people out of

extreme poverty over the last 15

years, enabled more girls to go

to school than ever before, and

brought unprecedented results

in fighting diseases such as HIV/

AIDS.

• Despite significant progress on

all the MDGs, the only original

goal that was achieved ahead

of time was cutting in half the

number of people living in

extreme poverty, and that was

due primarily to economic

growth in China.

• Ban stressed inequality remains,

with 80% of the people living

on less than $1.25 a day located

in southern Asia and sub-

Saharan Africa, and 60% in just

five countries, India, Nigeria,

China, Bangladesh and Congo.

• Agreement on the new goals isthe culmination of more than

three years of intense and

complex negotiations.

Icann Posts Proposal to End US

Oversight of Internet

• The overseers of the Internet on

Monday published a keenly

anticipated proposal to step out

from under US oversight.

• Under the plan, nonprofit

Internet Corporation for

Assigned Names and Numbers

(Icann) would create a separate

legal entity that would be

contracted to handle key

technical functions of theonline address system.

• Icann would remain based in

Southern California, and any

major structural or operational

changes to the foundation of the

Internet’s addressing system

would require approval of the

nonprofit organization’s board

of directors.

• The 199 page proposal was

posted online at icann.org,

where a note said that a public

comment period would end on

September 8.

• Icann president Fadi Chehade

said last month that the end of

the US role is now set for mid-

2016, with the transition pushed

back by a year to allow time for

input from the Internet

community and review by the

US government and Congress.

• Icann wil l become an

independent entity without US

government oversight for theInternet’s domain and address

system, Chehade said, noting

that the transition is likely to take

place between July and

September 2016.

• The US government in March

2014 outlined its plan to step

away from its oversight role and

fully privatize the functions of

Icann.

• Chehade noted that the

transition away from US

government oversight has beenin planning since Icann a

nonprofit corporation under

contract to the US government

was created in 1998.

Russia developed suits for saferspacewalks

• A gen-next l ightweight

spacesuit equipped with

climate control and unique

safety systems for astronauts








onboard the ISS has been

developed by a Russian

company.

• The unique new spacesuits for

Russian cosmonauts on ISS use

materials that substantially

extend the useful life of

spacesuits.

• The spacesuits will ensure that

astronauts, even when affected

by such aggressive environment

as open space, feel absolutely

comfortable and safe.

• They spacesuits have been fully

tested and are being sent to the

ISS this year.

• In case of depressurisation, due

to damage or otherwise thespacesuit has a system that can

maintain the required pressure

within a spacesuit for as long as

30-50 minutes, which is

sufficient for safe return to the

space station.

• The spacesuit was displayed at

the annual Innoprom

international industrial

exhibition held in Ekaterinburg,

Russia.

• It is the outcome of several years

of research and developmentby the engineering team at

Zvezda NPP.

North Korea will have Its OwnTime Zone

• North Korea, a country of

roughly 25 million people, is in

the midst of a severe drought,

which is contributing to food

shortages that are leaving more

than 10 million people without

enough food.

• Even those lucky enough to

have enough to eat have to

suffer the indignity of living

under a hereditary despotism of

men with ridiculous haircuts.

• But it’s not all bad news for the

folks living in this nation-sized

penitentiary.

• After all, on August 15th, North

Koreans will get to sleep in a half

an hour later.

• That’s right, according to a

report in the BBC, the North

Korean government announced

on Friday that it would be

setting up its own time zone,

which will be 30 minutes earlier than that which it currently uses.

• According to the report, the

government made the decision

to return to the time used in the

Korean peninsula before Japan

colonized it in 1910.

• Before that time, all of Korea was

8.5 hours ahead of GMT,

instead of the nine hours used

in Korea and Japan today.

New Suez Canal &Egyptian

President Still in DeepWater

• Completed two years ahead of

schedule, the new canal’s true

worth is as a national symbol.Even so, it can’t wash over

bigger troubles.

• Only a new opera was missing

from the dedication of the Suez

Canal’s younger and shorter

sister on Thursday.

• A balloon that read “Long live

Egypt” cruised aloft, huge

national flags fluttered and the

main streets were lit up. A

special video produced by the

army, which was screened on

television, depicted

China remains world’s largest

robot market

• China has retained its rank as the

world’s largest robot market for

the second successive year,

media reported on Friday.

Facebook campaigns for

Internet.Org in India

• Facebook campaigns for

Internet.Org in India -

Facebook completely

disagrees with a DoT panel’s

report in India which says that

Internet.Org does not follow the

net neutrality principle

• In justification, the company

explains that though the appprovides the users with access

to only some websites it does

not obstruct the other sites.

• Facebook is working hard to

gather maximum support of its

users for Internet.Org as now

there is very little time left in DoT









panel to present the public

opinion on its report.

• Once Facebook is able to gather

enough public support it would

move to the courts for keeping

Internet.Org functional in India.

• The DoT panel report on net

neutrality which says

Internet.Org is unsuccessful in

establishing is made available on

My Gov website for the people

to comment on.

• As of now, the report has got

very insignificant comments as

compared to the messages sent

as part of the campaign to

establish net neutrality in India.

• Facebook submits thatInternet.Org is introduced to

provide internet access even to

those who cannot pay for it; the

company has no intent to violate

the net neutrality principle.

• The Facebook users in India

have received messages from

Facebook in which they are

asked if they support free

internet in India for all the

people to use.

• The message further guides

them to comment to assert their support for the free basic

internet cause so that their

opinion could be presented at

the government level.

UN report,World population setto cross 11 billion in 2100

• There will be no end to world

population growth in this

century, says the UN, adding

that the world’s population will

increase from 7.3 billion people

to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 11.2

billion at the century’s end.

• Asia, with a current population

of 4.4 billion, is likely to remain

the most populous continent,

with its population expected to

peak around the middle of the

century at 5.3 billion and then

to decline to around 4.9 billion

people by the end of the

century.

• Developing countries with

young populations but lower

fertility like India face the

prospect of substantial

population ageing before the

end of the century.• The world population growth

will not stop in this century

unless there areunprecedented fertility

declines in those parts of sub-

Saharan Africa that are still

experiencing rapid populationgrowth.

• According to models of

demographic change derivedfrom historical experience, it is

estimated the global population

will be between 9.5 and 13.3billion people in 2100.• The primary driver of global

population growth is a

projected increase in thepopulation of Africa.

• The continent’s current

population of 1.2 billion peopleis expected to rise to between

3.4 billion and 5.6 billion

people by the end of this

century.

Nepal’s first transgender

passport issued to rights activist

• In what signals a long-overdue

respect for the country’s

transgender community, activist

Monica Shahi has made history

as Nepal’s first citizen to carry a

passport bearing a third gender.

• Nepal moved towards

recognizing a third gender

when the Supreme Court in

2007 ruled that individuals

should have their gender legally

recognized based on “self-

feeling” and that they should

not have to limit themselves to

“female” or “male.”

• Since then, activists have fought

successfully to have a third

category added to citizenship

documents, public bathrooms,

and even the federal census.

• For Shahi, this means her

passport is marked “O” for

“other” rather than the

traditional “F” for “female” or

“M” for “male.”

• Only a l imited number of

countries recognize more than

“male” and “female” on traveldocuments, which could pose

challenges for people like Shahi

as they travel.

• The United Nations special

rapporteur on the promotion

and protection of human rights

and fundamental freedoms

while countering terrorism

argued that “measures that

involve increased travel

document security, such as

stricter procedures for issuing,changing and verifying identity

documents, risk unduly

penalizing transgender persons

whose personal appearance

and data are subject to

change.”



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INDIA & THE WORLD‘India, Japan and U.S. canshape China’s peaceful rise’

• Coordination among India, Japan and the U.S. on security

cooperation and economic tiesare essential because they can

fundamentally talk about how

they can “shape China’s rise in apeaceful way”, said Nicholas

Szechenyi, Deputy Director and

Senior Fellow – Japan Chair at

the Centre for Strategic &International Studies (CSIS).

• “India has unique interests with

China, as does Japan and as

does the U.S. They may notalways align completely, but

fundamentally if we are goingto encourage China’s rise in a

wa y that favo ur s regi onal

stability, I think this element of

regional coordination amonglikeminded states is critical.

Therefore India, Japan and U.S.

have an important role to play,”

• The Japanese Cabinet on

Tuesday approved a defence

white paper for 2015 which

sounded alarm over China’s“one sided maritime activities”

in the South China Sea.

• China’s land reclamation in

South China Sea has increased

tensions in the resource rich

region which is contested by

several nations.

Africa sees opportunities inMake-in-India

• Making a strong pitch for attracting investment to their continent, African diplomats on

Thursday said that the Make-in-

India initiative could very well

be utilised to boost tradebetween the two countries.

• Keeping on a low key their

individual country interests, thethree diplomats – representing

Ghana, South Africa and

Tanzania – made a strong pitch

for the African continent saying

that the economy was now warning up and the 54 countries

together could offer vastopportunities in raw material

sourcing and product

marketing.• Stefanus Botes, Economic

Counsellor, South Africa High

Commission said that Africa was

now a huge market, which isprojected to expand to $1.4

trillion by 2020 from $860

billion in 2008. There were 52

cities with a population of over one million.

India, Bangladesh enclaveresidents get freedom after 68

years

• Ending a border dispute, the

much-awaited exchange of

enclaves (Chhitmahals)

between India and Bangladesh

came into effect at the stroke of

midnight on Friday-Saturday.

• Crackers were burst and people

rejoiced as India and

Bangladesh exchanged

enclaves, ending the 68 years

of stateless existence for over

51,000 enclave dwellers.

• Around 14,000 people living for

so long in 51 Bangladeshienclaves in the Indian territory,

and another 37,000 residing in

111 Indian enclaves in

Bangladesh, now have a country

of their own.

• The Bangladeshi enclaves are

now a part of India, while the

Indian enclaves join

Bangladesh.

• History was written as India gave

away to Bangladesh a total area

of 17,160 acres, covering the

111 enclaves and in returnreceived 7,110 acres

comprising 51 enclaves.

• As the clock struck 12, the

Bharat Bangladesh Enclave

Exchange Co-ordination

Committee (BBEECC) - an

organisation that fought for the

rights of the enclave dwellers

— celebrated the occasion in

Mosaldanga enclave of West

Bengal‘s Cooch Behar district.

• The 111 Indian enclaves are

located in the Bangladesh

districts of Lalmonirhat (59),

Panchagarh (36), Kurigram 12

and Nilphamari (4) while all the

51 Bangladeshi enclaves are

situated in Cooch Behar district

of West Bengal.









10-12 factories in India over the

next 10 years.

• So when Gou cancelled his

scheduled press conference in

Mumbai where he was to launch

the Foxconn Media Lab in

association with Whistling

Wo ods In te rn at io na l—an

institute for film, fashion and

communication founded by

filmmaker Subhash Ghai—on

Friday, many were

disappointed.

• The reason became apparent

on Saturday when Gou

announced a $5 billion

investment in Maharashtra in

addition to the agreement withGhai for media content creation.

India received $24 billion in FDI

from EU in last 3 years

• Despite the Free Trade

Ag reem ent ta lks wi th th e

European Union being in limbo,

India has received an

impressive $24 billion in foreign

direct investment from the 28-

nation bloc over the last three

years.

• As per official figures, India

received $6.23 billion in FDI

equity inflows from EU in 2012-

13 which increased to $9.06

billion the next year.• The FDI inflow was $8.20 billion

in 2014-15, which was a decline

of $862 million compared to the

year ago period. In 2015-16, the

amount in first two months of

current fiscal was $1.39 billion.

• In total, India received $24.91

billion in FDI equity inflows from

EU between April 2012 and

May 2015.

• The EU has been India’s largest

trading partner and the two-

way trade is likely to swell

significantly if the countries

could firm up the long-pending

Free Trade Agreement, officially

called the Broadbased

Investment and Trade

Agreement (BTIA).

• India had on Wednesday

deferred scheduled talks on the

proposed pact later this month

which was to resume after a gap

of two years after the EU

imposed a ban on around 700generic drugs which were

clinically tested by India’s GVK

Biosciences on the ground of

inaccuracy in data.

• In March, the EU had not

responded to India’s proposal

for a brief visit by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi to Brussels, the

headquarters of the bloc, during

his trip to France, Germany and

Canada in April.

• However, it recently invited him

for the India-EU summit justbefore or after the G-20 summit

scheduled to be held in

November in Turkey. The last

India-EU Summit had taken

place in 2012.

• The two-way commerce

between EU and India stood at

about USD 99 billion in 2014-

15 while it was USD 101.5

billion in 2013-14.

UN Kalam GlobalSat: Satellite

named in memory of APJ AdbulKalam

• Aproposal has been made to

name a global satellite after the

late former President Dr. APJ

Abdul Kalam who died on 27

July 2015.

• The step is being taken to pay

tribute to the Missile Man of

India. According to reports, a

global satellite called as

GlobalSat for DRR (a satellite for

observation of Earth and

Disaster Risk Reduction) will be

renamed as UN Kalam GlobalSat

in the memory of the world-

renowned rocket scientist.

• The decision to rename the

satellite after the late Missile

Mans of India was made by

Milind Pimprikar, Chairman of

CANEUS (CANada-Europe-US-

As ia ) he ad quar te re d in

Montreal, Canada.

• According to Pimprikar, this

step of renaming the satellite the

will be a tribute to the great man

who had contributed a lot in the

field science and spaceexplorations.

• He further added that this will

also symbolize his World Space

Vision-2050 in which nations

will join their hands in order to

find solution to major problems

of mankind including natural

disasters, energy, health-care,

education, water and weather

related problems.

• While explaining about the

satellite, Pimprikar said that the

‘GlobalSat for DRR’ is a UnitedNation-driven initiative for

sharing of technology and ideas

to prepare and control the risk

of natural disasters.

• The project was proposed at

the third UN World Conference

on Disaster Risk Reduction held








at Sendai in Japan in March

2015. More than 150 nations at

the UN session will adopt the

GlobalSat in New York in

September this year.

• Disaster Risk Reduction — DRR

is a systematic process of

identifying, analyzing and

reducing the associated with a

disaster.UN agencies explain

DRR as “The conceptual

framework of elements

considered with the

possibilities to minimize

vulnerabilities and disaster risks

throughout a society, to avoid

(prevention) or to limit

(mitigation and preparedness)the adverse impacts of hazards,

within the broad context of

sustainable development.”

Australia mine project: Adani,

StanC ties

• The Indian mining giant Adani

and the Standard Chartered

bank have severed their ties

after the federal court revoked

the environmental approval for

Adani’s controversial $16bn

coal mine project in Australia.

• The development puts the

Carmichael coal mine project in

Queensland into further doubt.

• This is the second big bank after Au st ra li a’ s la rg es t lend er ,

Commonnwealth Bank walked

away from Adani after the

approval was revoked barely a

week ago.

• Noting that the company valued

the partnership with Standard

Chartered, a statement by the

firm said that “as Standard

Chartered has noted, the delays

experienced by Adani in

receipt of its project approvals

informed the decision.”

• The project to build one of

world’s largest coal mines and

expanding a port on the Great

Barrier Reef- the largest coral

reef system - is opposed by

green groups and residents.

US,China,Russia,oppose India,s

bid for permanent seat at UN

• In a setback to India’s bid for a

permanent seat in an expanded

UN Security Council, the US,

along with Russia and China, has

opposed negotiations to reform

the powerful UN body, refusing

to contribute to a text that willform the basis for the long-

drawn reform process.

• UN General Assembly President

Sam Kutesa achieved a

breakthrough of sorts by

circulating a text to UN

members that will form the basis

for the negotiations on the

reform of the Security Council.

• Mr Kutesa had appointed

Jamaic a’ s Perm anen t

Representative Courtenay

Rattray to chair on his behalf theIntergovernmental Negotiations

on Security Council Reform.

• American Ambassador to the

UN Samantha Power said in her

letter to Mr Kutesa that the US is

“open in principle” to a

“modest” expansion of both

permanent and non-permanent

members but the condition that

“any consideration of an

expansion of permanent

members must take into account

the ability and willingness of

countries to contribute to the

maintenance of international

peace and security and to the

other purposes of the United

Nations.

• “Sources told the Press Trust of

India that the US opposition to

aspects of the reform process

can be perceived as a

“duplicity” since President

Barack Obama has reaffirmedhis support for a reformed UN

Security Council with India as a

permanent member.

• Russia, which has also

supported India’s candidacy as

permanent member, said in its

letter to Mr Kutesa that the

“prerogatives of the current

Permanent Members of the

Security Council, including the

use of the veto, should remain

intact under any variant of the

Council reform”.• India has maintained that the

process to expand the powerful

UN body “cannot be seen to be

an exercise ad infinitum” and a

results-based timeline is crucial

to achieve a concrete outcome.

• Sources said that India feels that

the 70th anniversary of the UN,

being commemorated this year,

is an appropriate milestone to

propel the reform process,

which should be completed

within the next one year.• Russia said that in the situation

when positions of the main

groups of states - those who

support the idea of the UN

Security Council’s expansion in

both categories and those who









do not - remain polar, one can

advance in the negotiating

process only by searching for a

compromise..

Yuan devaluation & Indianeconomy

• With China’s central bank

following up on Tuesday’s

devaluation of its tightly

controlled currency, yuan, by

1.9 per cent with another 1 per

cent cut on Wednesday, India

increased the import duty on

certain steel products by 2.5

per cent.

• The steel industry is facing

profit pressure as prices of

imported steel are up to 20 per

cent lower than those of

domestic products.



Economy Economy Economy Economy Economy





ECONOMYCentre eases foreign investmentrules, banks likely to gain most

• In a move that will attract more

overseas inflows and improve

the ease of doing business in

India, the government on

Thursday simplified foreign

investment rules by bringing

together different categories.

• The Cabinet Committee of

Economic Affairs (CCEA),

chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, introduced a

composite cap for all kinds of

overseas inflows, including

foreign direct investment (FDI),

foreign portfolio investment

(FPI) and investments by non-

resident Indians (NRIs).

• The decision, which was first

announced by finance minister

Arun Jaitley in the Budget,

boosted stocks of banks, which

will now find it easier to attract

foreign capital up to 74%. Banks

are already reeling under the

pressure of rising bad loans and

need billions of dollars to meet

capital requirements.

• Besides banks, credit

information firms, commodity

and power exchanges, and

defence and other retail

companies among others, will

also benefit from the policy.

Bullet train project: costly affair

for india

• India’s maiden bullet train

corridor between Mumbai and

Ahmedabad will cost nearly Rs

one lakh crore and the first train

can run in 2024 if work begins

in 2017, according to a final

feasibility report on the project

prepared by the Japanese

governmental agency.

• The Japan International

Cooperation Agency(JICA) in

its report submitted to the

Railway Ministy today envisages

a reduction in the travel time on

the 505-km long corridor

between the two western cities

to two hours from the existing

over seven hours.

• The report estimates that the

project where the bullet train

will run at a speed of over 300

km per hour will cost Rs 98,805crore. It also suggested that the

train fare could be higher than

that charged for First AC of

Rajdhani Express, a senior rail

ministry official involved with

the project said.

• Railways will examine the report

and decide the future course

of action, the official said.

• As a follow-up action, a Cabinet

note seeking approval for the

project with an outline of the

project feasibility and timelinesis likely to be prepared next

month.

• If work begins in 2017, the line

can be completed in 2023 and

made operational in 2024, it is

projected.

• After the study of the financial

feasibility of the line, the finalreport suggests the fare of the

bullet train between Mumbai

and Ahmedabad may besomewhere around one and

half times more than the fare of

the first AC of Rajdhani Express

and it would be around Rs2,800.

• It is estimated that by 2023

around 40,000 passengers are

expected to avail this serviceeveryday and accordingly it

would be a financially viableservice.

• The Mumbai-Ahmedabad

corridor is expected to enable

trains to run at a top speed of 350kmph.

• From the initial estimated cost

of Rs 65,000 crore, it has goneup after taking into account

va ri ous fact ors li ke pr ice

escalation and interest.

Apple grows faster in India thanChina

• India is proving to be quite a

strong growth engine for Apple,

the world’s most valuable

company that sells the iPhonesmartphones, iPad devices and

Mac line of computers.

• Growth rate in India hassurpassed that witnessed in

China.








announced that it would not cut

back on output. The group said

that the oil price dip was likely to be temporary and that

demand was likely to pick up.

• OPEC’s oil output faces

challenges and competitionfrom other energy sources,

including U.S shale, as well as

internal differences in opinion, with Iran and other smaller oil

producing members requesting

a cut back in supply in light of falling prices.

Cabinet to take up gold

monetisation scheme in fewweeks

• The Government is likely to

consider and approve gold

monetisation scheme in thenext few weeks, which

proposes to offer tax-freeinterest to individual on

depositing the yellow metal with banks.

• “Cabinet note on this (gold

monetisation scheme) has beencirculated. It will take couple of

weeks before approval comes,”

sources said.• Various proposals including

interest rate are at the discussion

stage, sources said. Sources said

that nod on issuance of

Sovereign Gold Bond couldtake a while.

IDFC gets banking licence fromRBI, to launch services by year-

end

• The Infrastructure

Development Finance

Company (IDFC Ltd) on Friday

declared on it’s website that

theReserve Bank of India (RBI)

had granted banking licence to

the financial company making

it the second lender after

Bandhan Bank to enter the

banking sector after more than

a decade.

• IDFC and Bandhan FinancialServices Pvt Ltd emerged

successful out of 25 contenders

for new bank licences issued by

the RBI in April last year.

Bandhan Financial got RBI’s

approval last month.

• IDFC’s executive chairman,Rajiv Lall after receiving the final

nof for the banking licence had

said that the company plans to

start operation from October 1 with an initial loan book of

around Rs 55,000 crore with anestimated 20 branches. Of these 15 are expected to be in

tier-VI cities with rest of the

branches in New Delhi andMumbai.

• YES Bank was the last bank to

be set up in 2004. Bandhan said

in June it would launch bankingoperations in August.

• Millions of people in India do

not have access to formal

banking services. The move to

grant new permits marked thestart of a cautious experiment

to create more competition in a

sector dominated by state

lenders many of which are

reluctant to expand into rural

areas or towns where banking

penetration is low.

Now RBI’s independence, is in

govt’s hand

• If indeed the second draft of

the Indian Financial Code,

released on Thursday for public

comments, is implemented in its

entirety, Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) governor will have no veto

power in the proposed seven-member Monetary Policy

Committee (MPC) that will have

a dominant say in setting interest

rates and that is not good news

for the economy.

• The matter of veto power is

highly critical given the

proposal is that four out of the

seven members in the MPC

should be from the

government’s side.

• This means the full control to

chart the course of monetary policy will be with the

government and not the RBI.

The monetary policy, as we

know it today, will cease to exist.

• This will effectively undermine

the independence of the

central bank — an institution

that has guarded the economy

well from the pre-independent

days, through multiple crisis-

phases.

• The RBI is probably among the

few public institutions Indiacan be proud of with

impeccable integrity and

proven track record. The

government shouldn’t do the

blunder of killing the RBI’s

power to have a final say on the

monetary policy.Reuters









demand hovering around 900

tonnes per year.

• The company said that with

Valcambi acquisition, REL will

become an integrated player

covering precious metal

refining and gold jewellery

making.

• Rajesh Exports said for the last

three years on an average per

ye ar Va lc ambi ge ne ra te d

revenues in excess of $38

billion (Rs 2,36,500 crore) by

refining and selling 945 tons of

gold and 325 tons of silver per

year, which is more than India’s

average annual gold demand.

Centre appoints R SSharma,new Trai chairman

• Ram Sewak Sharma is set to be

the new chief of the Telecom

Regulatory Authority of India

(Trai), taking charge at a time

when the regulator is deciding

on crucial matters such as net

neutrality and the way to deal

with the fast-growing eco-

system of over-the-top (OTT)

operators, who are

mushrooming over the mobile

and internet world. He replaces

Rahul Khullar, who retired from

the job in the second week of

May.• Sharma, a 1978-batch IAS

officer of Jharkhand cadre, is

currently the secretary in the

department of electronics and

information technology(Deity),

a job that makes him thorough

with matters related to the IT

sector and well-versed with

crucial telecom issues.

• A formal notification is

expected over the next few

days, sources said. “He is seen

as most experienced for the

job.

• There were a number of

applicants for the high-profile

job that regulates the issues

related to the telecom sector

and the broadcasting industry.

• There were over 75 applicants

for the position and apart from

Sharma, others vying for the post

included former defence

secretary R K Mathur,

information & broadcastingsecretary Bimal Julka, former

commerce secretary Rajeev

Kher and steel secretary Rakesh

Singh. Former RBI deputy

governor Subir Gokarn was also

in the fray.

• Sharma holds a Masters Degree

in Mathematics from IIT, Kanpur,

and a Masters in Computer

Science from the University of

California.

Mixed views on move to dilutepowers of RBI Governor

• The Reserve Bank of India’s

(RBI) Governors always had the

privilege of independentdecision-making on issues

related to monetary policies,

whic h he lp ed th e Indi an

economy for a long time.

• Even at times of major financial

crisis crippling the global

economy, the RBI Governor’s

decisions - sometimes in co-

ordination with the Government

and sometimes not in

consonance with the

government’s views - had

helped the Nation.

• As per the new draft of the

revised proposal for Indian

Financial Code (IFC), which

would replace the multiple laws

– some of them framed even

before the independent India -

governing the Indian financial

sector, the central bank

Governor will not have the veto

power over the interest rates.

• Moreover, the Government willhave the power to appoint a

majority of the members of the

proposed monetary policy

committee of the central bank.

• Though the government is trying

to clarify that the RBI’s

independent decisions on

monetary policies would not be

diluted, in short, the

Government is proposing a bill

to have greater say in RBI’s rate

decision-making.The new

financial code also proposes aframe-work for inflation-

targeting under which the

Government and the central

bank together will set the target.

• However, another school of

thought on markets believes

differently. “While foreign

investors are nervous about

politicians preferring loose

monetary policies instead of

tight policies of independent

RBI, I don’t see much problem

with a good balance betweenGovernment and RBI,” says

Samir Lodha, Managing

Director, QuantArt, a foreign

exchange advisory firm.

• According to him, the economy

needs a good booster of rate








cut to kick-start manufacturing,

capex cycle, infrastructure

investments, job creation etc

and also to compete in an

environment of slowing global

demand.

• He believes that the

Government is answerable for

employment and inflation and

hence “I do not see much

problem if there is a balance

between RBI and government

in monetary policy decision

making.”

Sebi cancels Sahara Mutual

Fund licence

• In a fresh crackdown on Sahara,

capital market regulator Sebi

today cancelled the

registration of Sahara Mutual

Fund saying it was no longer ‘fit

and proper’ to carry out this

business and ordered transfer

of its operations to another fund

house.

• The Sahara group has been

engaged in a long-running

regulatory and legal battle with

Sebi ever since the regulator

ordered refund of a massive

amount of over Rs 24,000 crore

by two Sahara entities.

Recently, Sebi had also

cancelled the portfoliomanagement licence of a

Sahara firm.

• In the latest order, Sebi

directed cancellation of Sahara

Mutual Fund’s certificate of

registration on expiry of a six-

month period from today.

• Sebi also directed Sahara Mutual

Fund and Sahara Asset

Management Company to stop

accepting subscription from its

existing or new investors with

immediate effect.

• Besides, Sahara MF has been

asked to “make efforts to transfer

the activities of Sahara India

Financial Corporation Limited

(Sahara Sponsor) and Sahara

Asset Management Company

Private Limited (Sahara AMC) to

a new Sponsor and a Sebi-

approved Asset Management

Company at the earliest.”

• If Sahara MF fails to complete

the process of transition withinfive months, it would have to

compulsorily redeem the units

allotted to its investors and

credit the respective funds to

its investors, without any

additional cost, within a period

of 30 days thereafter and wind

up the operations of the Mutual

Fund.

• Further, Sebi said that it was the

responsibility of the Board of

Trustees to recognise that

Sahara AMC did not fulfil thecriteria of ‘fit and proper’ person

and shift the responsibility of

managing the assets of the

Mutual Fund to another entity.

• Besides, non-reporting of the

material change in the

information and particulars

furnished have also has resulted

in violation of the MF

Regulations.

FinMin working for a

reasonable GST rate:RevenueSec

• A day after Cabinet approved

incorporation of changes in the

landmark Goods and Services

Tax (GST) Bill as suggested

aRajya Sabha Select panel,

Finance Ministry today said it is

work ing cl osel y on a

“reasonable” GST rate.

• The Union Cabinet last night

approved amendments to the

GST bill to compensate states

for revenue loss for five years on

introduction of the uniform

nationwide indirect tax regime,

as has been suggested by Rajya

Sabha Select Committee.

• The GST Constitution

Amendment Bill would now be

taken up for discussion in the

Rajya Sabha, where the ruling

NDAdoes not enjoy a majority,

for passage in the ongoing

session of Parliament.• The Government proposes to

roll out the new indirect tax

regime on April 1, 2016.

• After the bill is passed, the

Centre will prepare GST laws

and a GST Council would be set

up to decide on the rates as well

as to decide on exemptions and

thresholds.

• The Rajya Sabha Select

Committee has suggested that

the Goods and Services Tax

(GST) rate should not go beyond20 per cent as higher rates

could fuel inflation and erode

the confidence of consumers.

• Internationally, the GST rate

ranges from 16-20 per cent.

However, there are some

exceptions like Japan, Australia

and Germany, where the rates

are 8 per cent, 10 per cent and

23 per cent, respectively.

• A sub-committee of

Empowered Committee of

State Finance Ministers on GSThad earlier suggested 27 per

cent RNR.

• But the rate is being reworked

by the sub-committee in view

of taxation of petroleum

products as also the 1 per cent









companies ever make enough

money to justify the sky-high

valuations?

• But it appears Uber’s massive

expansion in over 300 cities

globally is at the cost of heavy

losses. Investors have given a lot

of money to Uber, and Uber is

burning this cash to buy market

share all over the world. An

Uber driver, on condition of

anonymity told Firstpost that

each Uber driver in India gets

an additional Rs 150 per ride as

well as more incent ive for

ferrying passengers during the

day and in the evening. Ola too

pays extra cash to drivers for doing more rides, but doesn’t

pay drivers to keep its app open

and nor do they get paid

additional money on every ride

they undertake.

LIC chief Roy elected chairman

of apex body of insurers

• Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)

chief S K Roy was today elected

Chairman of the Life Insurance

Council, the apex industry body

of insurers in the country.

• Roy was elected in a poll

conducted among the 24

members of the Council here.

He will head the three-member Executive Committee (EC), a

key body of the Council, for a

period of three years.

• The three members of the EC

elected today were Tarun

Chugh (PNB Met Life), Anup

Rau (Reliance Life) and

Sandeep Ghosh (Bharti AXA).

• Other contestants in the fray for

EC posts were Rajesh Sud (Max

NY), Arijit Basu (SBI Life) and

Deepak Mittal (Edelweiss

Tokio).

• Talking to PTI after his election,

Rau of Reliance Life said “EC is

now a well represented body.

It has got representation from

both bancassurance and non-

bancassurance partners. The

Council is now ready to take a

call on behalf of its various

stakeholders.”

• Life Insurance Council is a forum

that connects the various

stakeholders of the sector. Itdevelops and coordinates all

discussions between the

Government, regulatory body

and the public.

• It has representatives from the

24 insurance companies

currently operating in India.

Sebi warns to Investors

• Ready to regulate commodity

trading, Sebi has cautioned

small investors against coming

for quick gains throughspeculation in this market,

which is “risky” and requires a

lot of technical expertise.

• “People will come and tell you

that with a small margin, you can

make a lot of money. Do not fall

into the trap,” Sebi Chairman U

K Sinha said, even as he asserted

that the capital markets

watchdog was fully prepared to

begin regulating commodities

trading and all necessary

safeguards would be put in

place to keep the scamsters and

manipulators at bay.

• Sebi, which expects the merger

of commodities market

regulator FMC with it to be

completed by next month, will

soon put in place a new set of

regulations for this segment and

the restrictions, including for

trading lot sizes, would also be

implemented to ensure safety

of the small investors.

• Announced by Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley in his

Budget for 2015-16, FMC’s

merger with Sebi will help

streamline regulations and curb

wi ld sp ec ul at ions in

commodities market, while

facilitating participation of

domestic and foreign

institutional investors and

launch of new products.

• Besides, the high-profile NSELscam has rocked this market in

the recent past and the

subsequent regulatory and

government interventions in this

case eventually led to the

government announcing FMC’s

merger with Sebi.

• At present, there are three

national and six regional

bourses for commodity futures

in the country. Together, all the

exchanges clocked a turnover

of nearly Rs 60 lakh crore in2014-15, from over Rs 101 lakh

crore in the previous fiscal.

India’s should worried aboutCAD

• India’s current account deficit

(CAD) is likely to widen in the

June quarter to 1.8-2.0% of GDP

while for the current financial

year, it is likely to remain under

control, says a DBS report.

• According to the global

financial services major, though

the widening of CAD is likely to

raise concerns “briefly” over

wider trade imbalances, the

full-year CAD is likely to remain

within control. “India’s current

account deficit is likely to widen








anew in the June 2015 quarter,

but will not emerge as a flash-

point for the full-year FY15/16

(April 2015 to March 2016),”

DBS said in a research note.

• As per official figures, the CAD,

wh ich is th e di ffer en ce

between the inflow and outflow

of foreign exchange shrank to

1.3% of GDP ($27.5 billion) in

2014-15 from 1.7% ($32.4

billion) in 2013-14.

• The Reserve Bank of India and

the government have been

maintaining that the CAD level

is comfortable.

• The DBS report said that on

quarter-on-quarter basis importsrose 2.8% in the June quarter

while exports fell 5%.

E-commerce boosting Chinese

farmers incomes

• Internet aided by e-commerce

is boosting income ofChinese

farmers and helping in turning

the backwardagricultural sector

into a lucrative modern industry.

• For Zhang Guoqin, growing

crops sometimes simply needs

a few clicks of the mouse.

• In northeast China’s

Heilongjiang Province, he

monitors his rice fields on

computer screens.• He uses a system of sensors and

automatisation which takes a lot

of the toil and inefficiency out

of his business.

• Such innovation is a new trend

in Chinese farming, a welcome

change of direction for a rural

economy that has long been

seeking modernisation.

• Along with manufacturing,

agriculture was on the top of the

list.

• Farming in China has been

booming for over three

decades.

• The summer grain output

reached a record high of 141.07

million tonnes in 2015 after 11

consecutive years of increases.

• Though harvests were good,

inefficient sales channels, a

shrinking labour population and

lack of access to loans have

been squeezing farmers’

earnings and dragging downthe rural economy, the report

said.

• In 2014, the per capita

disposable income of rural

residents rose 9.2 per cent year

on year to USD 1,720 less than

half of that of urbanites, and

70.17 million rural Chinese

earned an annual sum less than

USD 385, the official poverty

line.

• By the end of 2014, nearly 30

per cent of China’s ruralpopulation were online.

• Taobao.com, China’s largest

online shopping platform, has

launched an agricultural

channel.

• Its internet conglomerate,

Alibaba, also ambitiously plans

to invest 10 billion yuan (USD 1

billion) into 100,000 new

service centres in Chinese

villages in the next three to five

years to help train farmers in

internet use.

India to produce at least dozenbillionaires among start-ups by

2020, says Assocham

• India is expected to produce

at least a score of billionaires

and many times millionaires

among the start-ups in the next

five years with e-commerce,

financial services and other

technology driven fields

generating the maximum

interest, an Assocham study on

start-ups has pointed out.

• It said the maximum of value

creation is expected in thefledgling e-commerce, music-

entertainment, payment gate-

ways and ci ty tr an sp ort

aggregators such as radio taxis.

• The travel arena, especially in

the ticketing and booking has

already gained some level of

maturity.

• The untapped areas for online

business include e-coaching,

medical consultations (with

fool-proof safety features) and

social networking in the cities, while in the rural landscape, the

initiative is going to be led by

the State sector.

• According to the study, even

though the Securities and

Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

is putting a friendly regime for

the start-ups to raise finance

from the bourses, it would take

some time before funds are

raised through this channel.

NBFCs prefer raising fundsthrough debt route

• Credit off take by non-banking

finance companies from the

banking system registered a rise

of only 1.6 per cent on a year-

on-year basis in June 2015, as









compared to a rise of as much

as 16.7 per cent in the same

period in the previous year,

according to a statement from

the Reserve Bank of India.

• The outstanding credit as on

June 26, 2015, stood at Rs.

3,11,800 crore against Rs,

3,06,900 crore as on June 27,

2014.

• Sequentially also, the growth

was less compared to 5.6 per

cent in the previous month.

Analysts say NBFCs prefer to

raise money through debt route

rather than relying on banks as

the cost of raising funds through

debt route is cheaper.• There was, of course, a modest

rise in personal loans by 16.5 per

cent in June 2015 as compared

to 15.2 per cent a year ago.

• Non-food credit growth of

scheduled commercial banks

registered a year-on-year

growth of 7.7 per cent in June

2015, against 13 per cent in

June 2014.

Finance ministry moves cabinet

note on gold monetisationscheme

• The finance ministry has moved

a cabinet note on the proposed

gold monetisation scheme that will enable depositors to earn

interest on their on their gold

accounts.

• The gold monetisation scheme,

which is proposed to be initially

introduced only in selected

cities, was announced in the

Budget this year by Finance

Minister Arun Jaitley.

• Under the proposed scheme, a

person or entity would be

allowed to deposit a minimum

quantity of 30 grams of gold in

any form, bullion or jewellery,

for one year in a gold saving

account. The banks will decide

the interest rate.

• To make the scheme attractive

to households, the interest

earned on it will likely be

exempt from income tax,

wealth tax and capital gains tax.

• Before depositing gold into a

metal account, customers will

have to get its purity checkedfrom the testing and collection

centres certified by the Bureau

of Indian Standards (BIS).

• They will be given a certificate

by the collection centre

certifying the amount and purity

of the deposited gold.

• When the customer produces

the certificate of gold

deposited at the Purity Testing

Centre, the bank will open a

‘Gold Savings Account’ for the

customer.• Under the scheme, both

principal and interest to be paid

to the depositors of gold, will

be ‘valued’ in gold.

• For example if a customer

deposits 100 gm of gold and

gets 1 percent interest, then, on

maturity he has a credit of 101

gm.

• Customer will have the choice

to take cash or gold on

redemption, but the preference

has to be stated at the time of deposit.

• The proposed scheme also

seeks to benefit jewellers who

can obtain loans in their metal

account. Banks and other

dealers would also be able to

benefit from the scheme.

• The scheme aims at reducing

dependence on import of gold

to meet the domestic demand

and provide a fillip to the gems

and jewellery sector in the

country by making gold

available as raw material on loan

from the banks.

• India is one of the largest

consumers of gold in the world

and imports as much as 800-

1,000 tonnes of the metal each

year.

• The stock of gold in India that is

neither traded nor monetised is

estimated to be over 20,000

tonnes.

Commerce Ministry MovesCabinet Note on Interest

Subvention Scheme

• To give a fillip to exports, theCommerce Ministry has moved

a Cabinet note on a proposal to

provide cheaper credit access

to exporters from various sectors

under the interest subvention

scheme.

• Under the interest subvention

scheme, exporters are provided

credit at subsidised rates by

banks which are later

compensated by the

government.

• Loans at subsidised rates willhelp exporters boost shipments

as the country’s exports stayed

in the negative zone in the past

seven months.

• Last week, Commerce Minister

Nirmala Sitharaman had told

Parliament that the interest








subvention scheme for various

sectors was under consideration

of the government.

• The previous interest

subvention scheme was

available up to March 31, 2014.

• For the seventh month in a row,

India’s exports fell 15.82 per

cent in June to $22.28 billion.

India on top in exporting beef

• India retains its top spot as the

world’s largest exporter of beef,

according to data released by

the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, and has extended

its lead over the next highest

exporter, Brazil. It must be

noted, however, that the U.S.

government classifies even

buffalo meat as beef.

• According to the data, India

exported 2.4 million tonnes of

beef and veal in FY2015,

compared to 2 million tonnes by

Brazil and 1.5 million by

Australia. These three countries

account for 58.7 per cent of all

the beef exports in the world.

India itself accounts for 23.5 per

cent of global beef exports. This

is up from a 20.8 per cent share

last year.

• Data from the Centre for

Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that most of

India’s buffalo meat exports go

to Asian countries — Asia

receives more than 80 per cent,

while Africa takes around 15 per

cent. Within Asia, Vietnam is the

largest recipient, at 45 per cent.

• India’s buffalo meat exports

have been growing at an

average of nearly 14 per cent

each year since 2011, and

fetching India as much as $4.8

billion in 2014. Last year, India

for the first time earned more

from the export of buffalo meat

than it did from Basmati rice.

• Several databases, including

the United Nations Food and

Agricultural Outlook, show that

meat consumption in India is

increasing. However, the data

also shows that beef

consumption has been falling

over the years, down -44.5 per

cent in 2014 from the level it was in 20 00 . Th is fa ll in

consumption has been taking

place regardless of the political

party in power. Chicken

consumption, however, was up

31 per cent in that period.

Cabinet cleared spectrumsharing by telcos

• The Cabinet cleared a proposal

on Wednesday that had

suggested allowing telcos to

share spectrum in the same

band in order to reduce call

drops.

• Telcos will now be able to share

their unused spectrum thereby enhancing network quality and

reducing operational costs.

• There was no decision on

spectrum trading norms, which

is expected to lead to greater

consolidation in the sector.

• Spectrum sharing would be

allowed only where both the

licensees have spectrum in the

same band and leasing of

spectrum will not be permitted,

the statement added.

• Besides, sharing may be

permitted where both entities

possess spectrum for which

market price has been paid.

Spectrum usage charge (SUC)

will be levied on the entire

spectrum holding in a particular

band and all access spectrum,

including traded spectrum, will

be sharable.

• According to the release, SUC

rate of each of the licensees

post-sharing shall increase by 0.5 per cent of aggregate gross

revenue.

• However, in respect of

spectrum in 800 MHz (CDMA)

acquired in the auction held in

March 2013, sharing of

spectrum shall be permitted

only if differential of latest

auction price and March 2013

auction price on prorata basis

on the balance period of right

to use the spectrum is paid.

• The shortfall of natural gas in thecountry is set to widen over the

next couple of years and then

stabilise by 2017-18, according

to data presented by the

Minister of Petroleum and

Natural Gas DharmendraPradhan to Parliament during

the ongoing session

• According to the Minister,

India’s natural gas production

would touch 46.3 billion cubic

metres (BCM) in 2017-18, up

from the 33.6 BCM achieved in

2014-15.

• However, the improvement

over this year is to be minimal,

with the Ministry projecting only

33.86 BCM to be produced in








• GMR Hyderabad International

Airport Ltd, the operator of

Hyderabad’s airport,

successfully implemented a

three-month e-boarding project

in collaboration with Jet

Airways.

• About 7,000 fliers travelling via

Hyderabad airport availed the

e-boarding facility during the

pilot.

• Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru

airports are also implementing

pilot projects using scanners

and e-gates.

• Implementation of full scale e-

boarding will be initiated

“soon” for domestic passengers,

GHIAL said in a statement.

• It would come at no additional

cost.

• A passenger needs a mobile e-

boarding card and an Aadhaar

number to complete the e-

boarding process.

• Passengers can check-in online

and use the QR code received

on their registered mobile

phones to access common use

self service (CUSS) machine at

the departure area of the

airport. They validate their

credentials by keying in their

Aadhaar number and doing a

fingerprint scan.

introducing a path-breaking

rehabilitation package for

evictees, has ventured into the

Solar PV sector during March

2013, by installing a 100 kWp

solar PV Plant on the roof top of

the Arrival Terminal Block.

Ex-BJP official named to Sebi

board

• The government has appointed

Arun P Sathe, a senior advocate

dealing in tax matters and a

former BJP national executive

member, as a part-time member

on the board of the Securities

and Exchange Board of India,

raising fresh concerns over

political interference on the

boards of regulatory and

financial institutions.

• Sathe’s appointment was made

late last month although he’s yet

to attend a Sebi board meeting.

• Under the law the government

can appoint two part-time

members on the Sebi board

with the second slot lying vacant

currently.

• The lawyer, who is Lok Sabha

speaker Sumitra Mahajan’s

brother, had contested against

Sunil Dutt from the Mumbai-

North constituency in the 1989

general elections and was theparty in-charge for Madhya

Pradesh and Assam. The Atal

Bihari Vajpayee government

had appointed him a member

of the JNPT board.

Coachin airport to be first airport operating on solar power

• Cochin International airport

limited (CIAL) is all set to

become the first airport in the

country which would be

operating on solar power, CIAL

official said today.

• Kerala Chief Minister Oommen

Chandy will inaugurate CIAL’sgreen initiative—a 12MWp solar

power project set up on the

premises of the airport on

August 18, Airport Managing

Director V J Kurien told

reporters here.

• When the photovoltaics (PV)

panels laid across 45 acres near

cargo complex become

functional, Cochin airport will

have 50,000 to 60,000 units of

electricity per day to be

consumed for all its operational

functions, which will technically make the airport “absolutely

power neutral”.

• CIAL, which has adorned many

firsts in its cap, like being the

pioneer in PPP model in

building an airport to



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Public Administrationhttp://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/study-kit/ias-mains-public-adminstration

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Science & Technology Science & Technology Science & Technology Science & Technology Science & Technology






SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYGenes help fish cope with

warming oceans

• In a first, the genetic mystery of why some fish are able to adjust

to warming oceans has been

unlocked.

• Higher levels of certain stress

and immune genes help fish

cope with warming

temperature in water over the

years, the findings showed.

• Researchers examined how the

fish’s genes responded after

several generations living at

higher temperatures predicted

under climate change.

• Using cutting-edge molecular

methods the research team

identified 53 key genes that are

involved in long-term, multi-

generational acclimation to

higher temperatures.

• The findings appeared in the

journal Nature Climate Change.

• The project involved rearing

coral reef fish at different

temperatures for more than four

years, and then testing their metabolic performance

New Technique Can Reveal Age

of Moon Rocks

• Researchers are developing

instruments and methods for

measuring the age of rocks

encountered during space

missions to the Moon and

planets.

•

Many of the techniques used todate rocks on Earth are not

practical in spaceflight, but a

technique called laser ablation

resonance ionisation mass

spectrometry can avoid the

need for sophisticated sample

preparation.

• A te am le d by Dr F Sc ot t

Anders on from So ut hwest

Research Institute, Boulder,

Colorado, US, has now

demonstrated that this

technique can successfully date an Earth rock - the Duluth

Gabbro - that is analogous to the

rocks that cover one-third of the

lunar nearside.

• Their results imply that events

from Solar System history that are

recorded on much of the visible

face of the Moon can one day

be dated directly by

instruments aboard a lunar

lander.• Dating the Duluth Gabbro was

approximately 30 times moreanalytically challenging than our previous experiment, dating theMartian meteorite Zagami, notedco-author Dr Jonathan Levine

from the Department of Physicsand Astronomy, ColgateUniversity, Hamilton, New York.

Archaeologists discovered two

human bones about 100,000years old in China

• Archaeologists announced that

they have discovered two

human bones about 100,000

years old in Central China’s

Henan province.

• The limb bones were

unearthed in May at the Lingjing

historical site in Xuchang, said

Li Zhanyang, a researcher at the

Henan Provincial Institute of

Cultural Relics and

Arch ae ology, who led the

excavation.• Li said the two fossils were

discovered not far from each

other. Both belong to a young

person, maybe even the same

person, Li said.

• There are several bite marks on

the fossils.

• So far, bone fossils from at least

nine people have been

discovered at the Lingjing

historical site, including old and

young, making it the largest site

of discovered human fossilssince the founding of the

People’s Republic of China.

• Fossils from “Xuchang Man”

were unearthed at the site, and

two almost complete human

skulls were dated back 100,000

years.



SportsSportsSportsSportsSports





tennis players Andy Murray and

Serena Williams.

• While compiling the list, LSM

researchers looked at the brand

value of the individuals, along

with their current income from

sponsorships and the

percentage of their total

earnings these accounted for.

It also considered their

presence on social media.

• Swiss tennis star Roger Federer

wa s na me d th e most

marketable sportsperson in the

world, followed by golfers Tiger

Woods and Phil Mickelson at the

second and third positions,

respectively.• Despite his loss in this year’s

Wimbledon fina l to Novak

Djokovic, Federer is considered

one of the most influential

sportspersons in the world. He

has 17 Grand Slam singles titles

to his credit.

• Tennis stars dominate the list,

with Djokovic seventh, followed

by Rafael Nadal. Maria

Sharapova and Serena Williams,

the only two women to make it

to the top 20, have been ranked12th and 20th, respectively.

India finish fourth in U-21hockey meet

• India finished fourth after being

thrashed 0-3 by England in the

men’s Volvo International

Under-21 hockey tournament

here on Saturday.

• Edward Horler (seventh and

47th minutes) and Samuel

Hatherley (68th minute) scored

for England as India struggled

throughout the match.

• India conceded the first goal

just seven minutes into the game

as Horler scored a field goal.

New professional league all set

to give wrestlers a leg-up

• The Wrestling Federation of

India joined the ‘league

bandwagon’ as it launched the

Pro Wrestling League (PWL) on

Monday.

• The PWL, scheduled from

November 8-29, will witness

worl d’ s top 66 wres tl er s

including eight current world

champions. Around 20 Olympic

medallists will represent six city-

based franchises.

• Wrestling icons of the country like two-time Olympic medallist

Sushil Kumar, World

Championship bronze medallist

Bajrang, the famous Phogat

sisters Geeta and Babita and

Commonwealth Games and

Asian Games medallist Geetika

Jakhar walked the ramp in

‘Spartan-like’ warrior outfits at

the launch of the league.

• Sushil later said that the league

would help country’s grapplers

by giving them ‘internationalexposure’ at home.

Women’s archery team makes

2016 Olympic cut

• India women’s recurve team

earned Olympic quota for 2016

Rio Games while the men’s trio

failed to advance after

squandering a handsome lead

at the archery World

Championships, in Copenhagen

on Tuesday.

• Pitted against seventh seed

Germany, Indian trio of Deepika

Kumari, Laxmi Rani Majhi and

Rimil Buriuly showed nerves of steel to bounce back from 1-3

to coast to a 5-3 win and make

the last eight, the yardstick for

making the Olympics cut.

• The experienced men’s team of

Rahul Banerjee, Mangal Singh

Champia and Jayanta Talukdar

however had heartbreak as they

squandered a 4-2 lead before

losing 26-29 to second seed

Italy in a thrilling tiebreaker.

• Banerjee, Talukdar and

Champia can still earn individualberths by finishing among 32

when the individual section that

gets underway on Wednesday.

• Coached by Poornima Mahto,

the women’s team on the other

hand showed tremendous

character after Karina Winter,

Elena Richter and Lisa Unruh

took away the first set 46-59.

• The Indian women’s trio

levelled the second 5-5 to make

it 3-1, while the Germans won

the third by a narrow 51-50

margin to make it 3-3.

Sports Ministry forms panel to

redraft NSDCI

• The Union Sports Ministry has

decided to redraft the








the Sendai plant in September

under stricter safety rules

imposed after the accident, the

worst since the 1986 Chernobyl

explosion. The plans call for the

second reactor to be restarted

in October.

• The Sendai No 1 reactor is

scheduled to start generating

power from Friday and reach full

capacity next month.

• Al l of Japan’ s ne ar ly 50

workable reactors have been

offline for repairs or safety

checks. Abe’s government

wants as many of them as

possible to be put online to

sustain the nation’s economy, which now relies on imported

energy.

• “We believe it is important for

our energy policy to push

forward restarts of reactors that

are deemed safe,” Chief

Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide

Suga told reporters.

• Under the basic energy plan

adopted by the Cabinet last year

to sustain nuclear power as a key

energy supply for resource-poor

Japan, the government earlier this year set a goal to have

nuclear power meet more than

20 percent of the country’s

energy needs by 2030.

• With its nuclear fuel recycling

program still stalled and

plutonium stockpiles triggering

international concerns, Japan is

under pressure to use as much

of the stockpiles as possible in

its reactors.• Despite the push by the

government and utilities for nuclear restarts, a majority of

Japanese are opposed to areturn to nuclear energy.Residents near the Sendai plantare also wary of the restarts,citing potential dangers from

active volcanos in the region.

Sania Mirza to be conferred

India,s highest sports award

• Sania Mirza is all set to become

the first woman tennis player to

be conferred India’s highest

sports award Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna, Times Now reported on

Tuesday.

•

Sania is only the second tennisplayer to get the coveted award

after Leander Paes in 1996-97.

• Earlier this month, the Sports

Ministry had recommended the

Wimbledon doubles champion

for the award but had also made

it clear that the final decision

rests with only the Awards

Committee.

• Sania won her career’s first ever

women’s doubles Grand Slam

title with Swiss partner Martina

Hingis in July. She also became worl d nu mb er one be fore

winning the Grass Court major.

• Sania, who has won three mixed

doubles Grand Slams in her

career, was reportedly

competing with squash player

Deepika Pallikal and discus

thrower Vikas Gowda for the

prestigious award.

• Sania also won the gold medal

and the bronze medal in the

mixed and women’s doubles

categories in the 2014 AsianGames.

• Sania had received the Arjuna

award in 2004 while two years

later she was awarded India’s

fourth highest civilian honour —

Padma Shri.

• Sania has also won the mixed

doubles titles at Australia Open

(2009), French Open (2012)

and US Open (2014) and is

currently the world’s No. 1

ranked doubles player.

Hockey: India lose to Spain

• The Indian men’s hockey team’s

winning streak in its ongoingtour of Europe came to an end

on Monday, with hosts Spain

beating the visitors 4-1 in the first

game of the three-match

series.\The score was tied 1-1

at half time, but in the second

half the home side gave a

sparkling performance by

scoring three more goals.

• Meanwhile, Veteran player

Gurbaj Singh was suspended

for nine months by Hockey

India after being charged with

creating disharmony within the

team. Coach Jude Felix had

levelled the charges against

Gurbaj in his report following

the conclusion of last month’s

Hockey World League

Semifinals in Antwerp, Belgium.

Rohit Sharma selected for

Arjuna award

• Sania Mirza today became only

the second tennis player to berecommended for the

prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel

Ratna, while star cricketer Rohit

Sharma and ace shooter Jitu Rai

were am ong the 17

sportspersons picked for this

year’s Arjuna awards.









· Sania, currently ranked world

number one in women’s

doubles, scripted history by

becoming the first Indian to

clinch a women’s doubles

Grand Slam when she partnered

Swiss great Martina Hingis for

the Wimbledon trophy earlier

this year.

• Sania is only the second tennisplayer after Leander Paes to be

named for the top award. Paes

had been bestowed the honour

way back in 1996 after his

bronze medal in the Atlanta

Olympics.

• The 28-year-old, who has won

three mixed doubles Grand

Slams in her career, beat

competition from squash player

Deepika Pallikal, discus thrower

Vikas Gowda, track and field star

Tintu Luka, rising shuttler P V Sindhu, and hockey captain

Sardar Singh for the coveted

honour.

• It is learnt that the committee

recommended 17 names for the

Arjuna awards, including those

of Jitu, Rohit, gymnast Dipa

Karmakar, hockey player P R

Sreejesh, wrestling duo of

Bajrang and Babita, athlete M R

Poovamma, shuttler K Srikanth

and boxer Mandeep Jangra.

• The recommendations will now

be sent to the Sports Minister

Sarbananda Sonowal, who will

take a final decision.

• The Khel Ratna carries a prize

money of Rs 7.5 lakh along with

a citation, while the Arjuna

awards come with a cash prize

of Rs 5 lakh and a citation.

• Rohit has been India’s batting

mainstay in the ODIs and

became the highest individual

scorer with a knock of 264

against Sri Lanka last year.

Pankaj Advani,s 13th title in

Snooker Championship

• India’s poster boy of cue sports

Pankaj Advani on Tuesday

clinched his 13th world title

after winning the World 6-Red

Snooker Championship in a

convincing manner.

• Defending champion Advani

outplayed Chinese Yan Bingtao

6-2, stamping his authority on the

green baize in the final.

• The final started off with a bang

with the Bangalore cueist racing

to a rapid 3-0 lead in the best-

of-11 final. But the Chinese

found his form and ran away

with the next two frames with

the aid of a 66 break.

• In no mood to give anything

away, Advani did not allow his

opponent to score a single point

in the next two. He fired in a

massive 71 break in the seventh

frame to be one frame away

from defending his title which

he won in Egypt last year.

•

In the final frame, Bingtao tooka healthy 28-5 lead before

missing what was going to be

his final shot of the tournament

as Advani cleared the table with

finesse. A 35 break saw the

Indian ace adding another

feather in his ever-glowing

crown.

India beat Spain by 4-2,win 3-match hockey series 2-1

• Riding on forward Ramandeep

Singh’s two spectacular goals,

that too within a minute, India

outplayed Spain 4-2 in the third

and last match of the European

Tour to win the three-game

series 2-1.

• The first quarter started with a

brisk pace as both the teams

competed to dominate in the

early stage of the game. After a

barrage of attacks in the

opening minutes, Spain

managed to earn a penalty








corner but an alerted PR

Sreejesh kept the ball away from

the net.

National Cricket Academy may

be moved to Dharamshala orMohali

• The Board of Control for Cricket

in India (BCCI)-run National

Cricket Academy (NCA) is

going north. Literally.

• A meet ing of th e NCA

committee in New Delhi

ye st erday deci ded to

recommend to the BCCI to

move the facility to one of the

centres in Punjab or Himachal

Pradesh.

• Meanwhile, the NCA Committee

has decided to appoint

specialist bowling and batting

coaches for academy.

• The BCCI website has put out

an advertisement and the

applications will be scanned

after August 15, the last date.

• The Sandeep Patilled national

selection committee, with

assistance from NCA director

Brijesh Patel, will shortlist the

names for the posts. It is learnt

that each post has attracted 10

applications.



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Selected Articles from Various Newspapers & JournalsSelected Articles from Various Newspapers & JournalsSelected Articles from Various Newspapers & JournalsSelected Articles from Various Newspapers & JournalsSelected Articles from Various Newspapers & Journals

7 87 87 87 87 8 http://www.iasexamportal.com





government and other stakeholders,

consider opening a channel to

factions associated with Taliban’s

Qatar office. Diplomacy is often

about picking the lesser evil to servethe national interest.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Breaking the ice andavoiding a refreeze

As Prime Minister NarendraModi is discovering, somewhat to his

discomfiture, managing relations withPakistan is one thing but managing

expectations about India-Pakistan

relations is a different cup of tea,because the two often adopt

divergent trajectories. Every IndianPrime Minister, from Jawaharlal Nehru

onwards, has had to deal with this

challenge. However, it has only become infinitely more difficult today

with the Indian media (and itsPakistani counterpart) seeking to

convert every summit encounter into

a limited-overs cricket match. A diplomatic negotiation only succeeds

if the outcome is perceived by both

sides as a win-win situation but thisrequires long-term planning and

careful management. If either sidemakes it a zero sum game by firing up

expectations for a quick victory, thedialogue quickly flounders.

The five follow-on steps

identified in the “Joint Statement” areprecise and modest — the National

Security Advisers (NSA) are to

discuss “all issues connected toterrorism”; meetings between the

chiefs of the Border Security Forceand Pakistan Rangers and Directors-

General of Military Operations;

releasing fishermen in each other’scustody; facilitating religious tourism;

and an agreement “to discuss waysand means to expedite the Mumbai

26/11 attack trial, including

additional information like providing[Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-

Rehman Lakhvi’s] voice samples”.Finally, Mr. Modi also accepted Mr.

Sharif’s invitation to visit Pakistan in

2016 for the South Asian Association

for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)

summit. From all accounts, themeeting between the two Prime

Ministers developed positively. Mr.

Modi had realised that not engagingPakistan was proving unhelpful.

Having abruptly called off the ForeignSecretary-level talks last August

meant that he had to find a way toget a dialogue going. The SAARC

summit in Kathmandu last November

came too soon after the cancellationof talks and the tit-for-tat shelling

across the Line of Control (LoC). After Indian Foreign Secretary S.

Jaishankar’s exploratory visit to

Pakistan early this year and a couple

of phone exchanges, the decks werecleared. However, the old formatcould not be restored because it

would signal business as usual. The

media and the Opposition woulddescribe Mr. Modi’s policy as “flip-

flop” or even worse, a climbdownunder (god forbid) U.S. pressure! So,

the resumed dialogue had to have its

focus on tackling “the menace of terrorism” and for this, India’s NSA Ajit

Doval would be the most suitableperson. Other issues such as religious

tourism and the release of fishermen were humanitarian issues and wouldresonate well. Mr. Modi had

emphasised the importance of “regional diplomacy” and even as he

notched up successful visits to

Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka andBangladesh, he realised that

resuming a dialogue with Pakistan,and where he could set the agenda,

was necessary for ensuring India’s

leadership in the region and imageas a responsible major power.

The Pakistani response waspredictable. It pointed out that

diplomatic phrases like “all

outstanding issues” and “terrorism in

all its forms” included Kashmir and

state sponsored terrorism. India had

sought the meeting (a victory for

Pakistan), Mr. Modi had committed

to visit Pakistan for the SAARC

summit (a victory for Pakistan), and

additional information was to be

provided by India regarding the

2008 Mumbai attacks (a victory for Pakistan). However, the genie

refused to go back into the bottle

and the Pakistan Army was unhappy.

Eventually, three days later,

Pakistan’s Foreign Policy and

Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz took the

stage to make it clear that the

outcome at Ufa did not mark the

beginning of a new dialogue

process, and that Kashmir tops the

list of outstanding issues. For good

measure, he added that Pakistan

would continue to provide moral,diplomatic and political support to its

Kashmiri brethren, the NSAs would

discuss Indian interference in

Pakistan particularly in Balochistan,

additional information would also

cover progress on the investigations

into the Samjhauta Express

bombings in 2007, and there was no

commitment on providing Lakhvi’s

voice samples. The Pakistani High

Commissioner’s Iftar with Hurriyat

leaders that had been postponed was resurrected as an Eid Milan

event and recent LoC firings have

again raised tensions. The chest-

thumping protagonists on either side

examined in terms of protocol how

many steps Mr. Modi and Mr. Sharif

each walked to greet the other. The

Ufa moment had become an “ouch”

moment for both sides. Instead of a

win-win, both sides retired hurt and

sulking.

Neighbourhood diplomacy for a large country like India needs a

lighter touch, and far more attention

to managing expectations than hasbeen in evidence during the last 12

months. We also need to understandthat as the larger power, the Indian

media resonates loudly in the region,

often reflecting an insensitivity which




http://www.iasexamportal.com 7 97 97 97 97 9




generates a backlash. Mr. Modi’s

media team has yet to understand this.

There will be more engagements withPakistan, and at different levels, but

New Delhi will have to change its

tone to ensure that well-crafteddiplomatic initiatives do not get

reduced to a farce. From Mr.Narasimha Rao onwards, I have

personally witnessed how he and hissuccessors and their senior

colleagues, used to keep key political

leaders, including the Opposition,fully briefed; in parallel, senior officials

used to provide backgroundbriefings to retired officials and

foreign policy commentators so that

expectations could be managed in

terms of media projection. Thisensured that both the pace and theoutcome of the dialogue was kept

under control, with an eye to the

domestic political environment whiletaking into account the larger games

being played on the geopoliticalcanvas. After last August, Mr. Modi

understood the need for a dialogue

with Pakistan. Hopefully, after Ufa, he will also understand the need to

manage it in a more productivemanner.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Stimulated economy,

sluggish investments

While there are signs that

economic growth is reviving, the

concern is that investments are not as

forthcoming as expected. During the

last year or so, the government has

put in place a comprehensive set of

measures to restore investor

sentiments, ranging across the tax

regime, ease of doing business,

Foreign Direct Investment limits, and

administrative and environmentalclearances. A number of large-scale

initiatives have been introduced to

act as magnets for investments,

including Make in India, the Smart

City mission, and Clean Energy.

Interest rates, too, are on the

downtrend with strong expectations

of further rate cuts, and the

macroeconomic environment has

turned benign, despite moderation

in global growth and trade. According to CI I’ s Investment

Tracker for May 2015, business

confidence stands at the highest

levels in the last three years, buoyed

by proactive reforms and positive

macroeconomic scenario. There has

been visibly strong improvement in

the project pipeline — new project

announcements almost doubled in

2014-15 as compared to the

previous year and the value of

projects completed went up from Rs

3.28 lakh crore to Rs 3.56 lakh crore. At the same time, the value of stalled

projects came down from Rs 3.63

lakh crore to Rs 2.44 lakh crore. As a

measure of global confidence in

India, FDI inflows went up from

$25.3 billion to $31.9 billion in 2014-

15 and Foreign Institutional Investors

(FIIs) put in $40.9 billion into Indian

companies as compared to $5 billion

in 2013-14. The investment data is

further substantiated by definitive

signs of improvement in capitalgoods production.

There are several reasons for

slow investment pick-up. Before the

global financial crisis, companies had

built up high production capacities

in anticipation of continued

demand. However, demand remains

muted in the country following three

years of high inflation. Additionally,

delays in land acquisition and

environmental clearances have led

to a bloated pipeline of stranded and

delayed projects. In turn, this has

resulted in stressed bank assets so

that banks are inhibited from

undertaking additional loan burden

for new projects. Further, the high

interest rates have been a big

deterrent to new investments as

projects are rendered unviable. Low

profitability of corporates also

reduces available resources. The

elevated level of stalled projects has

meant subdued demand down the value chain. A still-vulnerable global

economic environment has not

contributed to the overall investment

scenario in India, especially as

exports are contracting. Policy action

for reviving investments, growth and

employment must be continued at

an accelerated pace. To begin with,

there is need to drastically reduce

interest rates at one go by 1.5

percentage points. This would both

incentivise consumers to purchase

durables and make projectinvestments more attractive.

Infrastructure projects require

continued attention and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s monthly

interaction under Pragati would help

speed up infrastructure construction.Budget funds allocated for

infrastructure need to be speedily implemented, including for

programmes such as Smart Cities and

Digital India. A National AssetManagement Company may be

considered to take non-performingassets off banks’ balance sheets,

which would unlock lending for

investments. The financial sector should shift from a bank-dominated

system to a diversified regime withmultiple financing options,

particularly for long-term funding.

The 4 R’s — Regulation, Risk Al locati on, Renegotiat ion and

Resourcing — need to be addressedto revive projects. Given that 101

projects worth Rs. 25,399 crore are

stuck in disputes with the NationalHighways Authority of India, a

stronger dispute resolutionmechanism in the infrastructure

sector would help unblock funds.

On ease of doing business,there is need to shift from a sequential

to a simultaneous approval system.









Low-risk industries may be exempted

from certain clearances, while

provision of utilities to new factoriesshould be streamlined. Certain rules

and sections of the new Companies

Act impose additional burdens andneed to be reviewed carefully. The

NITI Aayog could be designated asthe coordination centre for central

ministries and States on administrativeprocedures. Special attention is

required for credit access for small

and medium enterprises (SMEs), and we recommend that 15 per cent of

priority sector lending should beearmarked for SMEs. Ease of doing

business needs to be tackled for

SMEs through single windows, self-

certifications and e-governance.Regarding manufacturing, certainfocus industries in labour-intensive

and advanced sectors should be

championed, including automotives,defence, and textiles. In particular,

incentives for Research andDevelopment and Information,

Communication Technology and

Electronics manufacturing wouldhelp reduce imports. A ‘Make in India

Technology Venture’ can be set upas a special purpose vehicle under

public-private partnership to investRs 1 lakh crore in building aknowledge economy. The Digital

India vision requires simplification of procurement process and a joint

government-industry task force to

address challenges. Start-ups shouldbe supported through a suitable

scheme.The government has takenmany positive steps for a progressive

tax policy. Dispute resolution

mechanisms, arbitration andconciliation can further help in

efficient and time-bound clearanceof funds in dispute.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ An unsound

recommendation

A big let-down amid an

otherwise progressive narrative in the

Department of Telecommunications’

recent report on net neutrality is its

recommendation to bring voice over

internet protocol-based (VoIP)domestic calling services, including

applications such as WhatsApp,

under licensing. The suggestion isthat such services be regulated

“through exercise of licensing powersavailable under section 4 of the

Indian Telegraph Act to ensure alevel playing field.” This does not

straightaway mean such calls will be

chargeable. The more obviousimplication is that such applications

can’t operate without thegovernment’s permission, which

might be granted only on the

fulfilment of certain conditions or the

payment of a fee, or both. The DoT’sreport is by no means final andbinding. Still, the stated logic behind

such a suggestion is open to question.

The report says telecom companies“may become reluctant to invest in

expansion of broadbandinfrastructure” in an environment

where apps that provide similar

calling services eat into their revenues. Don’t telecom companies

benefit from the apps that ride on whatever services they provide?

Doesn’t more app usage mean moredata consumed, which in turn meanmore revenues for telecom

companies?

The recommendation could

be flawed on multiple grounds. One,

there is a good chance that if the

suggestion is implemented the

consumer might be worse off for it.

But before that, there is a big

question mark over whether

differentiating a domestic VoIP call

from an international one is possible

at all. Bar this recommendation, the

report does seem to largely reflect a

nuanced understanding of the

complexities of today’s internet

world.

This is true even of its referencesto zero-rating schemes, under which

the user is offered data or access to

some sites free of cost. True, critics

have taken the report to task for notrecommending a ban on them. But

there are novel zero-rating schemes

where the user is given free data andnot a pre-selected bouquet of sites,

as Facebook’s internet.org does (thereport doesn’t seem to be in favour

of this).It’s heartening that the reportrepeatedly pitches for net neutrality,

the principle of data equality that is

important to ensure the internetremains a level-playing field. At the

same time, it shows pragmatism insaying that “enforcing net neutrality

principle is a new idea and may throw

up many questions and problems as

we go along,” and that this may require a process of oversight. Thereport is laced with quotes, including

this one from Archibald Putt:

“Technology is dominated by twotypes of people: those who

understand what they do notmanage, and those who manage what

they do not understand.” It is to be

hoped India doesn’t live up to this.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Yes to multi-stakeholderism

India declared its support for

multi-stakeholder governance of theInternet at the ICANN 53 meeting in

Buenos Aires and at the firstPreparatory Meeting for the U.N.

General Assembly’s overall review of

the implementation of the WorldSummit on Information Society

outcomes earlier this month. This, incombination with the government’s

efforts at consultative policy-making

in the context of net neutrality, may signal the beginning of a more

discursive approach tocommunication policy. India’s

statements at both meetings have

drawn attention thanks to thecountry’s place in the decade-old

furious debate still raging over globalInternet governance. Countries such

as the U.S. and Germany have

advocated a ‘multi-stakeholder’









security arrangement. Mr. Abe

promised U.S. lawmakers to approve

a new defence bill package “by thissummer”. This explains why the Prime

Minister is in a hurry to get the bills

passed despite opposition. Second,the nationalist politician that Mr. Abe

is, sees it as a necessity to have anoutward-looking security policy to

contain China’s rise. He had earlier proposed to have a “strategic

diamond” of four maritime

democracies — Japan, the U.S., Australia and India — to counter

Chinese influence in the Pacific. Mr. Abe has criticised China’s territorial

ambitions in the South China Sea, and

Tokyo and Beijing have a dispute over

islands in the East China Sea held by Japan.

But the question is whether the

move to reorient the pacifist security

posturing, which ensured peace over the last seven decades when Japan

rose as an economic powerhousefrom the ruins of the Second World

War, would help Tokyo address its

security challenges, or lead to a flare-up of tensions in an already volatile

East Asia. If the latter happens, that would create wrinkles in East Asian

stability as the rivalry between Chinaand Japan, that has historicaldimensions, would worsen. That will

not be in the interest of either Japanor Asia. Japan should also be wary of

joining the great game between the

U.S. and China in the Pacific — onean existing super power and the other

a rising super power. Instead, itshould focus on solving its problems

with China bilaterally, and work

towards essential regional stability.For that to happen, the best way will

be to continue its acclaimed policy of renunciation of war.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Historic fly-by

History was made on July 14 when NASA’s New Horizons became

the first spacecraft to successfully fly

by the dwarf planet Pluto, the last

unexplored world in the Solar

System. This it did after travelling a

distance of nearly 5 billion kilometressince its launch in January 2006. The

scientific treasure that has been

returned since then by the baby grand piano-size spacecraft has

already “dramatically surpassed”expectations. A satellite carrying the

ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, theastronomer who discovered Pluto in

1930, confirmed Pluto’s pride of

place as the largest object in theKuiper belt: Pluto was demoted to

dwarf planet status in August 2006after the discovery of Eris, of similar

size, in the Kuiper belt. Contrary to

expectations, the first close-up image

revealed that the surface of Pluto wasnot riddled with any impact cratersformed by objects bombarding it.

Without doubt, the surface is very

young, probably less than 100 million years old, and the only way to explain

this is by rejecting the grand old theory of an inert Pluto made up of ice and

rock. Instead, the dwarf planet is

geologically active with an internalheat source that drives the engine,

and it has some yet-to-be decipheredmechanism that refreshes the surface

from time to time; tidal heating canbe ruled out as Pluto does not orbitany giant planet. Similarly, the

existence of high mountains, possible volcanoes, fault lines, rift valleys and

other features underlines the

presence of active tectonics. Similar to the crater-free surface, a mountain

range jutting out 3,500 metres aboveit is also less than 100 million years

old, and is one of the “youngest

surfaces seen in the Solar System”.Much like Pluto, its largest moon

Charon too has a young surface withgeologically diverse features. More

images are expected to be sent on

by the spacecraft until August next year , and these coul d contain

invaluable information about bothPluto and its moon, and other objects

in the Kuiper belt.

Getting as close as 12,500 km

of the dwarf planet after travelling for

nearly a decade and covering adistance of nearly 5 billion km is an

extraordinary achievement; scientist

Neil deGrasse Tyson likened it to “ahole-in-one on a two-mile golf shot”.

With explorat ion being secondnature to humans, it is expeditions

such as these that awaken curiosity and fire our interest in science. Unlike

other mega-science projects of equal

importance, space exploration hasalways had the power to hold

ordinary people under a spell. India’sm`oon mission Chandrayaan-1 and

the recent Mars Orbiter Mission

Mangalyaan, certainly rekindled

interest in science among students. At a time when basic science appearsto have become less attractive,

expeditions such as these could help

reverse the trend.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ A atonement gone too far?

It has often been heard during

discussions surrounding the 40thanniversary of the Emergency in the

last month, that the Supreme Courthad its darkest hour in this period. For

those not familiar with the history of

the Court, it might be instructive tounderstand why. In ADM Jabalpur,

the four judges in the majority, Chief Justice A.N. Ray and his successor

Chief Justices M.H. Beg, Y.V.

Chandrachud and P.N. Bhagwatihanded down a judgment that was

fatally flawed in law. Given that theconsequences of their error were

entirely to the government’s

advantage, it was widely viewed asthe death of an independent

judiciary. The excessively deferential,almost apologetic language used by

the judges confirmed this impression.

The legal question before the Court was whether as a consequence of a

presidential order suspending thefundamental right to life and personal

liberty (Article 21) during the

operation of the Emergency under








provision, which is presented

importantly as a restriction on an

enumerated right that is clear andspecific — not a restriction of a

general nature, namely, the

“sovereignty and integrity of India”or “public order,” “decency” or

“morality,” as is the case with the other constituent freedoms in Article 19.

Understanding the situation of tribalcommunities is key to understanding

the Constitution, its framework and

its possibilities in the fullest sense.Perhaps it is time to reinvigorate our

reading of the Constitution in thetroubled times we live in. We may find

answers to other questions as well

around an idea of justice that we

grapple with every day.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Give the RBI its

independence

A new era in monetary policy

formulation is set to start with the

Union Finance Ministry releasing the

revised draft of the Indian Financial

Code (IFC). It provides for the

setting up of a Monetary Policy

Committee (MPC) to debate on

monetary affairs and decide the

policy rate. This move is in line with

practices in many of the developing

countries where the central banks

have pursued the committee

approach to address monetary

policy issues. Currently, the Reserve

Bank of India (RBI), the monetary

policy regulator, goes by the views

of a Technical Advisory Committee

(TAC) on such issues. The TAC

comprises officials from the RBI

besides a few external experts. It

advises the central banker on the

monetary policy stance based onmacro-economic and monetary

developments. However, the RBI

Governor has the last word, and the

right to veto any decision of the TAC.

The draft IFC, submitted by the

Financial Sector Legislative Reforms

Commission (FSLRC) headed by

former Supreme Court judge B.N.

Srikrishna, has suggested that the

MPC members be appointed after

due consultations between the

government and the RBI. It has alsorecommended that the government

have three nominees in the seven-

member MPC. The FSLRC, however,

has recommended veto power for

the RBI Governor. The revised draft

circulated for public discussion by

the Finance Ministry, however, seeks

to vest in the government the power

to nominate four members to the

MPC. It proposes that no veto power

be given to the Governor, and that at

best he be allowed a casting vote to

use in the event of a tie.

In the context of the continuinguneasy relationship between the

fiscal and monetary bosses and in light

of the changing dynamics of thedomestic economy owing to assorted

factors falling outside policy controls,the importance of a cohesive action

plan should not be underestimated.

Given this, it is not incorrect to allow the government a say in matters of

monetary policy. The revised draft,

however, seems to be trying to push

too much of government intomonetary matters. Seen in tandem

with its earlier bid to remove from the

RBI the public debt management

function, this move only appearsintended to undermine the RBI’s

autonomy, which had actually succeeded in insuring the Indian

economy against the profligate

policies of successive governments,and the financial shenanigans in other

economies. If the government is tohave majority control in the MPC, what

is the point of giving the RBI Governor the right to a casting vote? Fiscalbosses have fixed tenures, unlike

institutions such as the RBI that arenot subject to electoral cycles.

Prudence suggests that RBI and like

institutions must be allowed tofunction independently.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ A subsidy and some

questions

The Central government’s

decision this week to extend the

interest subvention scheme on bankloans given to land-owning farmers

at 7 per cent is essentially a welcomemove. This is especially so in a context

where there is no real clarity on how the current monsoon will turn out to

be, running at a deficit of 7 per cent

as it does currently. With an additionalsubvention component of 3 per cent

to encourage timely repayment,farmers can effectively avail

themselves of up to Rs. 3 lakh at just 4

per cent interest. This scheme,

basically offering a sort of agriculturalsubsidy, has been in place since2006-07, with the subvention

component fluctuating between 1.5

and 3 per cent. With agricultural yieldlevels and incomes per acre falling or

languishing, the need to extend suchloans to farmers at low interest levels

admittedly exists.

However, what is less clear is thepurpose for which many of these

loans are being put to. The ReserveBank of India recently initiated an

investigation into the apparent

diversion of agricultural loans for unintended purposes. It would

appear that farmers’ existing debtsto money-lenders, weak supervision

of credit utilisation and the

categorisation of gold loans asagricultural loans are creating

significant grey areas and avenues for loan amounts to be used for purposes

other than farming. At certain points

of the cropping cycle farmers needlarge amounts of money and they turn

to money-lenders, who charge high

rates of interest and often insist ontheir loans being re-paid first — which

forces farmers to divert a part of thesubsidised bank loans to repay them.

Some farmers put the amounts infixed deposit accounts to earn higher

interest than what they pay. Most

farmers do not earn enough to meet








skilled and unskilled, are in demand

everywhere, the costs of migration

should be brought down to aminimum or to “zero cost of

migration”. Another problem is at the

destination where workers dependon the Indian Embassies. For instance,

in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which host about 20

lakh Indian migrants each, the directcontact for most workers on any issue

is the labour attaches affiliated to the

Indian Embassy. In both countries,only two labour attaches are available

in both the embassies and theconsulates. Assuming that each

attache has 20 workers to help them

handle labour issues, 40 aides per 20

lakh people is not only meagre, butunacceptable to take care of the

workers’ problems . The third

problem is the lack of a rehabilitation

policy when migrants return. Aneffective rehabilitation policy will

help migrants use their enhancedskills when they return home. Take

for instance, migrants who have

worked in the construction sector for about 10 years in Dubai where they

would have acquired skills that willbe in demand in fast-growing cities

such as Kochi. Do we encourage andoffer them re-employment? Do weeven know the exact numbers of

those who return to India?It is high time India gave its

migrants their share of rights in return

for the amount we receive inremittances. A strong migration policy

is the only way forward.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Winds of change in West

Asia

There has been no dearth of hyperbole on the nuclear agreement

signed last week in Vienna between

Iran and the P5+1 (the United States,the United Kingdom, France, China,

Russia and Germany — along with theEuropean Union). U.S. President

Barack Obama was the most

restrained when he said that the deal

“offers an opportunity to move in a

new direction”; Iranian President

Hassan Rouhani called it a goodagreement when he announce(d) “to

our people that our prayers have

come true”. On July 20, the Agreement was submitted to the U.S.

Congress for a mandatory 60-day review. U.S. Speaker John Boehner

slammed it as “a bad deal” that “pavesthe way for a nuclear Iran” and

“vowed to do everything possible to

scuttle it” even as Mr. Obama warnedthat he would veto a negative

decision by Congress. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican

presidential candidate, described it

as “a most dangerous irresponsible

step”, while a group of 60 former secretaries, national security advisers,military generals and ambassadors,

led by former secretary of state

Madeleine Albright and former secretary of defence William Perry

issued a statement welcoming it as “alandmark agreement unprecedented

in its importance...” Russian President

Vladimir Putin said that “the worldheaved a sigh of relief” while German

Chancellor Angela Merkel called it “ahugely important success”.

The nuclear dimension of theagreement is relatively

straightforward. Two years ago, Iran

was perceived to be just a few

months away from acquiring enough

highly enriched uranium to produce

a bomb. A covert cyber operation,

widely believed to be a joint U.S.-

Israeli effort, using the worm,

‘Stuxnet’, damaged a number of

centrifuges in 2009-10 but the

programme has rebounded since

then. There was no certainty that a

U.S.-backed military strike would

succeed in taking out Iran’s entire

nuclear capability. Collective

economic sanctions had worked up

to a point because these were

intended to give diplomacy a

chance. The U.S. was convinced

that under the circumstances,

negotiations were the only way

forward. Iran had to step back from

the nuclear threshold, from a lead

time of months to a year plus. Further,it had to accept intrusive

inspections to give out the

reassurance that it was not cheating.

The U.S. needed to be certain that

sanctions could snap back into

place in case Iran tried a breakout. It

was not an ideal solut ion but the

best under the circumstances.

While Iran could still sustain

the sanctions and survive, sanctions

relief was necessary for higher

growth. Equally important for Iran

was the narrative that it was within

its rights as a member of the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty to build an

enrichment capability for peaceful

purposes. Iran could accept more

intrusive verification provided this

right was conceded. That meant

retaining the capability while

accepting constraints on exercising

it for a period of time, which could

be negotiated. A deal would also

bolster Iran’s standing regionally.

Under the JCPOA, the number of centrifuges has been reduced by

more than two thirds and enrichment

will be restricted to a single facility at

Natanz. The remaining centrifuges

will be mothballed and the Fordow

enrichment facility will be converted

into a nuclear, physics, technology,

research centre where no fissile

material can be introduced. From its

existing stockpile of nearly 10 MT of

partially enriched uranium, Iran will

retain only 300 kg of uranium

enriched to a level of 3.6 per cent;

the rest will be shipped out. The

Arak heavy water reactor will be

redesigned and Iran will not

undertake any reprocessing activity.

While the duration of the agreement

is 10 years, the International Atomic








experimented in a few banks initially

before scaling up to many more.

Interestingly, efficient and

experienced officials from PSBs are

regularly poached by PRBs. Toensure that every employee is made

aware of the responsibility of their

collective action, regular wage-hike

fixation and incentives should not be

industry-wide but only restricted to

the performance of the respective

banks. Finally, the proposed

capitalisation of PSBs should not be

offered as a matter of routine but

made conditional on strict

performance criteria and a specific

roadmap for recovery, placed in

public domain to ensureaccountability. Since the first

nationalisation of State Bank of India

in 1955, followed by more in 1969

and 1980, PSBs were created to

pursue social objectives and focus

on banking the unbanked.

Consequently, PSBs have been at

the forefront in rural areas and have

been relentlessly pursuing

implementation of government

welfare schemes o in te rms of

priority sector lending, and pensionand insurance, including those

recently announced.

PSBs, admirably, despite

pursuing social objectives, arecompeting well on various financial

parameters with PRBs. But the

authorities need to consider that inthe absence of a level playing field,

should PSBs and PRBs be evaluatedon similar norms? Illustratively, to be

fair to the PSBs, the owner and

regulator should take cognisance of

the fact that in opening 16.5 crore Jan Dhan accounts within six months, without seeking additional man-

power, these PSBs would have

deployed all their resources at thecost of other activities. In contrast,

PRBs only opened 68 lakh Jan Dhanaccounts. Therefore, the norms and

benchmark for these unique financial

creatures typical to India have to be

designed, especially for PSBs, andcomparison and contrasts of

performance evaluated among

themselves. The incomplete growthand welfare-based agenda of the

new government, especially theMake in India campaign, will again

need active support of geographically widespread PSBs.

Therefore, comparison of socially

oriented PSBs with profit-oriented,citycentric PRBs needs to be

revisited. Further, given theacceptability of transparency in

operations, globally, should India not

offer an alternative set of benchmarks

for its time-tested and faithful PSBs? After all, the world does acceptdifferent standards, and the non-

implementation of the Basel banking

norms by the U.S. has not impactedfinancial markets, either.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Borders vulnerable

beyond J&K

The terror attack, on Monday,

July 27, by a three-member cross-border fidayeen unit on the

Dinanagar police station in Gurdaspur

district, Punjab, has reignitedconcerns about the revival of

terrorism in the Punjab region, after the Khalistan movement had been

effectively put down in the 1990s.

There are heightened concerns, as Jammu and Kashmir is again

witnessing a spike in militancy, after years of declining levels of violence.

This has raised the spectre of a

possible linkage between Khalistaniterrorists and jihadi outfits, previously

attempted but without success.Instead, as militancy in Jammu and

Kashmir intensified in the 1990s,

levels of violence in Punjab began todecline. The concerns are genuine

as both militant groups pay obeisance to a common master viz.,

Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence

(ISI). The latter, notwithstanding the

occasional shifts and changes seen

when a civilian government is in

power in Islamabad, remainsundeterred in its policy of “weakening

India through a thousand cuts”.

Hence, this attack outside

Jammu and Kashmir is a wake-up call

for India. Several months of relative

peace from terrorist attacks appear

to have lulled both the government

and the security apparatus into a

sense of complacency, subsumed in

the belief that the rhetoric and

aggressive mien of the new

government would act as a

deterrent to provocations from

Pakistan. Nothing could be further

from the truth. The ISI construct isessentially that of deviating from the

“theory of compellence” of

economist Thomas Schelling, and

involves initiating actions,

irrespective of the consequences of

such actions. Therefore, peace

moves and dialogues will not

constrain the ISI. Rather, it would

encourage further provocations.

Hence, calling off National Security

Advisor (NSA)-level talks would

hardly matter in so far as the ISI is

concerned. The ISI holds the key to

any change in Pakistan’s attitude

towards the conduct of relations

with India. However, there is no

evidence whatsoever of a change in

the ISI’s thought process. Rather, the

organisation seems to be further

hardening its approach, encouraged

by the statements of Pakistan’s Army

Chief of Staff, General Raheel Sharif,

that Kashmir is “the unfinished

business of Partition”, and the

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief, Hafiz Sayeed’scall for an “all out war” against India.

Consequently, speculation that

the ISI is working behind the scenesto actively foster close links and

cooperation between jihadi militants

and Khalistani elements cannot bedisregarded. As it is, there is









confirmed intelligence of increasing

cooperation and coordination among

Sikh radical groups abroad, specially in Europe and the United States.

There is also intelligence about their

growing “tilt” towards joining hands with other anti -India elements,

especially Kashmiri militants. TheBabbar Khalsa, the Khalistan

Liberation Front and the KhalistanTiger Force already have links with

Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba. The ISI is

also known to have undertaken thetraining of some of the Khalistani foot

soldiers, in addition to training andequipping Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-

e-Mohammad cadres and those

belonging to other pro-Pakistani

terrorist outfits. This apart, the ISIseems intent on exploiting what itperceives as an element of “strategic

confusion” that prevails in India on

what is the right approach to be takentowards Pakistan.

Punjab is the camphor neededto reignite the “jihad” in Jammu and

Kashmir, as also to enlarge the arc of

terrorist violence within the country.The modus operandi — terrorists

dressed in military fatigues, exploitingchinks in the international border (as

“distinct from the Cease Fire Line”/ Line of Control) in Jammu andKashmir and now in the Punjab, the

use of the Global Positioning Systemand modern gadgets to attack

preselected targets including police

stations, security installations andhigh profile targets, all carry the

hallmark of planned and properly calibrated actions drawn up by

counter intelligence specialists

belonging to the ISI. Hence, dealing with this will need a great deal of

heart-searching, on what can andneeds to be done. It would entail a

drastic overhaul of the existing

security system. In addition, it wouldcall for a major change in approach

on the part of the political leadershipand those in-charge of the

intelligence and security

establishment. The main imperative

should be to significantly upgrade

the ability of intelligence agenciesand security forces to detect, disrupt

and destroy sources of threat ahead

of any such action on their part. Inshort, we need a system with multi-

level indication and warning windows, accompanied by

considerable support from membersof the community — in short a citizen

intelligence network.

Better knowledge of

technology is important to enable

counter-terrorist agencies to deal

with the growing complexity of

communication methodologies

being exploited by terrorist groups.

The digital world has been both a

positive and a negative factor and it

is important that counter-terrorist

agencies remain ahead of the curve,

to deal with the current crop of

terrorists. This will include

interception and monitoring of

communications and analysis of

metadata. Border security has

become critically important. The

system that exists on the Jammu and

Kashmir border — including the

concept of an intelligence grid —needs to be extended to the other

border States like Punjab and

Rajasthan. Jammu and Kashmir has a

three-tier system in place, and while

it is not foolproof and may need

further strengthening, Jammu and

Kashmir is far better protected than

other border States. Instead of being

relegated to merely dealing with

infiltration, border guarding forces

also need to be involved to a greater

degree in the effort to garner groundlevel intelligence. This will provide

greater defence in depth. Police

stations, not only in the border areas

but also in the hinterland, should be

suitably mobilised and their

capacities enlarged, since they, in a

sense, provide intelligence and vigil

at the bottom of the pyramid.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Freedom after many

midnights

Even the sternest of critics of

Indian foreign policy will find it atough task to question some of the

diplomatic feats that New Delhi has

managed to notch up of late. Thesettlement of the dispute related to

the maritime boundary withBangladesh in July 2014, albeit after

an intervention by an international

tribunal, was one of these. And as if to mark its anniversary, the long-

running land boundary dispute wasburied in July. The enclaves on both

sides were exchanged quickly after

the required formalities by themidnight of July 31. Settlement of

inter-country disputes — especially those that involve sacrifice of territory

— are always the most remarkable of

achievements, howsoever cordialtheir relationships might be. So

settling a dispute that involved issuesthat ran counter to the very opening

lines of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights of the United Nations,that recognises ‘equal and inalienable

rights’ of the ‘human family’ to

‘freedom, justice and peace’, is acreditable achievement. Indeed, the

enclave issue involved the denial of the right to freedom and justice to

many. It had its roots in Partition. Now,as the national flags of the respective

countries fly in the 162 former

enclaves, it is time for the state to setup the infrastructure as quickly as

possible to mitigate the trauma of citizens who lived without a country

for decades. From now on, the

diplomats’ responsibilities are less

than those of the local administrativeauthorities.

The enclave question was

tossed around for too long and was

never seriously acted upon. Theobfuscation of justice helped none.

Now the questions of citizenship andlegality can be redefined. The ‘illegal








Bangladeshis’ of the enclaves —

predominantly those from the

minority community — have become‘legal’ because the states felt the time

was conduc ive to award the

‘inalienable right’ to the poorest of the poor. Perhaps if there were

different sets of political parties,leaders or diplomats in both the

national capitals, the enclave-dwellers would still have been

considered ‘a security threat’ and

arrested across the line, as was beingdone until just last week. There are

more people now crossing continentsand concertina wires for survival —

more often than not without state-

stamped papers — and thus it may

well be the time to recollect andrecord the memories of our nationals

who suffered just for being born in

the enclaves. Maybe what we need

now is not a powerful state or adiplomat, but a historian to document

the plethora of personal narratives onboth sides, which are otherwise

bound to be forgotten. For in the

words of Tolstoy, “Historians are likedeaf people who go on answering

questions that no one has askedthem.”

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Challenges of conflict

diplomacy

The abduction of four teachers

in Libya by militants is another

reminder of the dangers facingIndians working in crisis zones

abroad. India was one of the worst-affected by the chaos and instability

in the Arab world in recent times.

Thousands of Indians who were incountries such as Syria, Libya, Iraq and

Yemen were brought home followingcivil strife or wars. But a substantial

number of them are still there,

including in extremely dangerousplaces such as Sirte, where those

abducted last week were working,driven by their need for financial

sustenance. India clearly needs to be

more proactive in its conflict

diplomacy to ensure its citizens’

safety. To be sure, it is not easy to

sustain diplomatic and other security channels up and running in such

contexts. Libya is a case in point.

After Muammar Qadhafi, who was inmany ways a unifying force, it is under

the hold of different militias. The anti-Qadhafi rebellion in 2011 involved a

wide range of them, from seculariststo moderate Islamists to hardline

Salafists. Once the regime fell, they

turned against one another, and nocentral authority could exercise

control. This fractured politicallandscape makes Libya a dangerous

place for both work and diplomacy.

But such chaos should not hold

India back from opening andsustaining diplomatic and security channels. In the recent past, India

has done a commendable job in

evacuating its citizens from conflict-hit countries. But its track record in

rescuing its citizens from kidnappershas been a mixed one. While it

managed to bring back some 100

nurses who were held by IslamicState in Iraq a year ago, the fate of 39

other Indians abducted by militantsin June 2014 from Mosul is still

unclear. Two of those taken from theoutskirts of Sirte last week are still incaptivity. India cannot afford to leave

such cases unresolved as many of itscitizens will continue to work in

conflict zones abroad. It needs to

have a contingency plan to deal withsuch situations. It should frequently

and systematically update its citizens working overseas, particularly in West

Asia and North Africa (WANA), on

the security situation there throughadvisories. Even while being mindful

of the livelihood concerns involved,people living in extremely dangerous

areas such as Sirte and Mosul should

be persuaded to return, much thesame way those who were in Yemen

or Syria were brought back. Thenational security establishment

should actively cultivate ties with

influential actors in the region, to help

solve issues such as kidnappings.

More important, New Delhi shouldprudently stay out of the conflicts in

the Arab world. Its stakes are high as

millions of Indians are working in the WANA region.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Revampi g India’sscientific ecosystem

A newspaper headline, “The

Lament and the Lash”, made wavesrecently. Interestingly, it was a report

on how Chairman Emeritus, InfosysLtd., N.R. Narayana Murthy had

lamented, while delivering the

convocation address at the IndianInstitute of Science, on July 15, 2015,

that India has not produced a singleinvention that became a global

household name. “… let us pause and

ask what the contributions of Indianinstitutions of higher learning

particularly IISc and IITs [IndianInstitutes of Technology], have been

over the last 60-plus years to make

our society and the world a better place. Is there one invention from

India that has become a householdname in the globe? Is there one

technology that has transformed the

productivity of global corporations?Is there one idea that has led to an

earth-shaking invention to delightglobal citizens? Folks, the reality is

that there is no such contribution from

India in the last 60 years….,” were his words.

However, Mr. Murthy’s focus onthe value that could be created for

society by the outgoing class of 2015

is not misplaced. IISc’s founders, J.N.Tata and the Mysore Maharaja,

Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, had hopedthat the institute would contribute to

the “material benefit” of society. In

turn, Mr. Murthy asked the studentsto realise the ideals of the founders.

However, these ideals have evolvedbased on interpretations by the then

leadership; therefore, today, some

realignments may be needed. For









example, there is a massive wave of

entrepreneurial energy coursing

through the nation’s arteries. If wecould connect this enthusiasm with

excellence in basic and applied

research in our higher educationalinstitutions, the possibility of a new

growth engine that has moreenduring value seems within reach.

This synergy needs a new alignmentaround the theme of “translational

research” — a concept easy to

describe but hard to execute as itdisturbs the order. At SelectUSA

2015, Google executive chairmanEric Schmidt reasoned why the

United States continues to hold the

innovation advantage — its

outstanding centres of higher education and the clusters of enterprises around them. He talked

about Vannevar Bush, the engineer,

inventor, founder of Raytheon andscience administrator par excellence,

who had enabled this in the post- World War II era. President Roosevelt

had challenged Bush, as Director of

the Office of Scientific Research andDevelopment, to make a plan for the

post-war period. Bush then pennedthe now classical declaration,

“Science the endless frontier” in July 1945. He was not advocating“applied” over “basic” research. It

must be noted that basic researchleads to new knowledge and

provides scientific capital. New

products and processes do notappear in final form as if by magic,

but are painstakingly developed by scientific enquiry.

In post-Independent India too,

we have seen similar tasks beingpresented to Homi Bhabha, Vikram

Sarabhai, Meghnad Saha and C.V.Raman by Jawaharlal Nehru. For

example, in 1947, C.V. Raman

proclaimed that “vast powers areplaced in the hands of man by

successful research which opens upa vista of possibilities for its

beneficient application in the relief

of the fundamental ills of humanity,

namely hunger, poverty and disease.”

For perhaps the first three decadesafter 1947, India did experience a

great period of development driven

by the passion to create and innovatefor the “material advancement” of the

nation. This was manifested in thepublic sector undertakings as there

was no real capital available from theprivate sector for this kind of

institution building. Committed

leadership was present through those years. The image of IISc created by

scientist-engineer Satish Dhawan todrive important initiatives in space,

electronics, machine tools, aviation

and rural technologies remains its

legacy. Incidentally, the Indian ITindustry owes a great deal to

visionaries in the government in the

1960s and 1970s. The Department of

Electronics identified “software ledexports” as a segué for Indian export

promotion in 1972 and providedresources to buy computers and get

the private sector up to speed.

Software technology parks in the1980s and 1990s enabled industry to

import equipment at competitiveprices, avail tax holidays and access

free connectivity to the Internet. Theleg up that industry received in thesetwo decades is often overlooked in

the facetious praise of “benignneglect by the government” as the

reason for the IT sector’s success. The

truth is that the government providedthe right help at the right time and

did not over-regulate the sector — afine example of directed public

policy in technology.

In the late 1970s and 1980s,science and higher education in the

U.S. was going through a major realignment. The bets were on

translation and commercialisation of

federally funded research output.The Bayh-Dole Act (1980) allowed

individual researchers anduniversities “to leverage funded

research output as intellectual

property that could be taken forward,

licensed or commercially exploited

to create new products, solutionsand private companies”. Overnight,

professors transformed themselves

from “geeks into suits”, learned to hirelawyers, negotiate with universities,

attract investors, build companies andhand off to professionals to scale and

build value. For example, Boston andthe Bay Area in the U.S. began to

bustle with high technology

companies that sprouted at regular intervals. Clusters formed around the

hotspots of scientific research and“regional advantage” in Saxenian

terms took root. In contrast, India

chose a new alignment which might

be considered a conservative andalmost retrograde pivot. There was aculture of “singular focus on

excellence in research”. Institutes of

higher education were bound tightly to purist academic metrics —

“publish in high quality journals, place your postgraduate students in centres

of excellence and ensure that the

most tutored young scientists enteredthe campus”. We were promoted,

feted and given awards based onthese metrics. Some correction in the

quality of research may have been warranted. The National Centre for Biological Sciences and the

Jawaharlal Nehru Cent re for Advanced Scientific Research in

Bangalore were exemplary new

additions to the “Science City” and within proximity to IISc and the

Raman Research Institute. Over thelast three decades, many new IITs,

Indian Institutes of Science

Education and Research and IndianInstitutes of Management have come

up. Publications seem to be showinga hockey stick growth in numbers and

many young and senior doctoral

students in the diaspora are returninghome as universities improve.

The drumbeat on innovationand entrepreneurship has been

rolling for over a decade in India. The




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(PKK) and its Syrian affiliate, the

People’s Protection Units, known as

YPG, into direct conflict with the

terror group. Surprisingly, Kurdish

militias pushed IS back from severalborder towns. Their increasingly

effective resistance against IS even

forced U.S. Air Force cover being

offered to Kurdish militants. Turkey

was alarmed. Its decision to join the

war agains t IS should be seen

against this background.

It can be argued that there is a

realisation among the elites in Ankara

that IS poses a threat to Turkey’s

interests and that triggered its

participation in the war. After all, the

bombing of the Turkish city of Suruc

by IS last month killed at least 33

people. But Turkey did not just

decide to attack IS. It has started

bombing PKK centres, claiming that

both the Kurdish rebels and IS are

“two sides of the same coin”. This

makes the Turkish strategy a

dangerously complicated one.

Ankara might assume that by

launching a two-phase attack it

could weaken both enemies. Also,

the promised joint operations withthe U.S. would help it make sure no

future air cover is provided to Kurds.

But this strategy overlooks the fact

that the Kurdish rebels were the

most effective forces against IS on

the ground. Even the U.S. air strikes

were successful only when they

were supplemented by ground

attacks. By targeting Kurds, Turkey

runs the risk of weakening the battle

against IS. Any resumption of the

war against the PKK could take

Turkey back to violence. It ought to

have focussed on its military

operation against IS while taking

forward the ceasefire with Kurds in

order to build a sustainable peace

plan. That would have strengthened

the anti-IS war, while addressing

internal problems. The decision

instead to give up the peace process

and bomb the Kurds raises questions

about Turkey’s real intentions in the

war against IS.⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ A blueprint for

higher education

The National Policy on

Education (NPE) that was adopted

by Parliament in May 1986 andProgramme of Action (POA), 1986,

as updated in 1992, are perhaps thelast government policy statements on

higher education and which have

guided actions since the mid-1980s.Now that there are new moves on the

policy front, it is necessary to identify the key issues, build on the earlier

efforts (especially initiated after

studies by the University GrantsCommission) and then take a step

ahead. The last major initiative on thedevelopment of higher education

was during the 11th Plan (2007-12).

The problems that confronteducation today are low rates of

enrolment, unequal access, poor quality of infrastructure and lack of

relevance. The goals remain the same

— expansion with inclusion and

ensuring quality and relevanteducation. In this article, I discusssome of these issues and offer

suggestions. The first challenge to be

overcome is to increase the presentrate of enrolment of 20 per cent.

During the 11th Plan, a two-foldstrategy that was in place helped

ensure this to an extent — there was

an increase in the number of new institutions, and in the intake capacity

of existing institutions. But despitethis, our institutional capacity is still

low. We have only 722 universities,as against the National KnowledgeCommission recommendation of

1,500. The aim should be to arrive ata proper estimate of universities and

undergraduate institutions in order to

plan a strategy for the next 20 yearsor so.

There are also related issues to

grapple with. Given the low rate of

enrolment, we need more quality teaching institutions at the

undergraduate level. The influence

of academicians on policies and theobsession with a flawed notion of

excellence in terms of it being only about research have undermined the

focus of having good teachinginstitutions. Nobody denies the utility

of research in teaching, but it should

not be forgotten that impartingknowledge is equally important.

Another challenge that confrontsIndia is in the disparities in access to

education, especially in terms of

economic class, gender, caste and

ethnic and religious belonging. In2008, as against an all-Indiaenrolment rate of 17 per cent, the

break-up for these categories was 7

per cent for Scheduled Tribes (ST),11 per cent for Scheduled Castes

(SC), 28 per cent for Other BackwardClasses (OBC) and 47 per cent for

higher castes. In addition, it was 9 per

cent for Muslims, 18 per cent for Hindus and 30 per cent for Christians.

In a comparison of disparitiesbetween the poor and the affluent

and in terms of income levels, it was6 per cent for the bottom 20 per centof society as against 37 per cent for

the top 20 per cent. The expansionof the private, self-financing

education sector, with its aim of

commercial intent, has been another reason for the propagation of

disparities.Between 1996 and 2008,

private institutions expanded every

year at the rate of 10 per cent. Thecorresponding decline in

government and private-aidedinstitutions, by 1.65 per cent yearly,

resulted in the share of students in

the private, self-financing sector increasing from about 7 per cent in

1996 to about 25 per cent in 2008.For 2013, data from the Ministry of

Human Resource Development









⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Accountability

with autonomy

Discussions have shifted from

objectives of monetary policy to the

appropriate mechanism for formulating monetary policy. In

February 2015, the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India

entered into an agreement on a new monetary policy framework. Under

this framework, the inflation target is

set at 4 per cent with a band of +/- 2per cent beginning 2016-17. The

Reserve Bank of India under theagreement shall be seen to have

failed to meet the target if inflation is

more than 6 per cent for three

consecutive quarters for the financial year 2015-16 and all subsequent years and less than 2 per cent for

three consecutive quarters in 2016-

17 and all subsequent years. If theReserve Bank fails to meet the target,

it will have to send a report to thecentral government giving the

reasons for its failure to achieve the

target and the remedial measures that would be taken by the Reserve Bank.

Thus control of inflation has emergedas the dominant objective of

monetary policy. This is a welcome

step. The clarity with respect to theobjective establishes the

accountability of the central bank.This also implies that the government

will not interfere with any action that

Reserve Bank of India may take tokeep inflation within the limits.

What is the process of policy making currently in the Reserve Bank

of India? The Reserve Bank of India is

not an insular institution. It keeps itsears open. Before any major policy

decision is taken, it holds extensive

consultations with banks, industry associations, economists and various

market participants. It discusses the va rious al te rnat ives wi th the

Government. The Board of theReserve Bank of India is not involved

in the specific policy decisions.

However, the broad contours of

monetary policy are discussed at the

meetings of the Central Board. Since

2005, a technical advisory committeecomprising of experts, has been set

up to advise the Reserve Bank of India

on policy matters, particularly withrespect to changes in the policy rate.

The Committee remains advisory incharacter and the majority view is not

binding. Ultimately, the responsibility for the decision rests with the

Governor. The question that arises is

whether, in the context of the new policy framework, a change is called

for in the process of policy formulation. Even among central

banks across nations that have

adopted inflation targeting, there is

no uniform organisational structureregarding policy making. While many central banks have set up monetary

policy committees, there are

important exceptions. New Zealand,a pioneer in the adoption of inflation

targeting, which became the modelfor others to follow, has no committee

with external members. In fact, the

tenure of the Governor is at stake if the inflation target is violated.

On the composition andstrength of monetary policy

committees also, there aredifferences among countries thathave taken the route of instituting

such a committee. These committeesdo have external members i.e.

chosen from outside central banks.

The U.S. has not formally announcedan inflation target, even though the

Federal Open Markets Committeeplays a critical role. It is however, an

old institution and its membership

reflects the federal character of thecentral banking system. The

membership comprises of either representatives of the Fed Board or

the heads of the regional Feds. The

Financial Sector Legislative ReformsCommission in its report in 2013

recommended the setting up of aMonetary Policy Committee. The Urjit

Patel Committee endorsed the idea

but had a different view on its

composition. If we were to set up a

Monetary Policy Committee in India, what should be its composition? The

key issue is the proportion of external

members to Reserve Bank of Indiarepresentatives in the Committee.

There are three possible alternatives.First, the Committee could have a

majority of members nominated by the Reserve Bank of India. This will

help to fix the responsibility squarely

on the shoulders of the Reserve Bankof India for keeping inflation within

the agreed limits. The secondalternative is to have parity between

the members nominated by RBI and

the external members. If there is a

tie, the Chairperson who is theGovernor, can have a casting vote.Even in this set up, the accountability

of Reserve Bank of India holds good.

The third alternative is one in whichthe majority of the committee

comprises of external members. Inthis case, the accountability of RBI

can be established only if the

Governor is given the power of veto.If the veto power is not given,

accountability gets diffused. It canbe argued that even such a

committee can be held accountableand responsible for fulfilling theinflation mandate. But this would be

really difficult. The best option iseither alternative 1 or 2. The crux of

the issue is accountability. The

members can be either full time or part time. If they are full time, the

‘external’ character gets diminished.If they are part time, care has to be

taken in choosing members so that

they are not connected even distantly with any institution which can benefit

from policy decisions. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is identified

with its suggestions on the policy rate.

However, this does not really exhaustthe functions of the MPC. Changes in

policy rate do play an important role.They act as signals from the central

bank. They also affect the borrowings




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of banks from the central bank, which,

in turn, lead to changes in other rates.

Central banks cannot act as KingCanute. They cannot simply order the

interest rate. They must adjust the

liquidity in the system such thatchanges announced are effective.

Without corresponding action on theliquidity in the system, the rate

changes can at best have only anannouncement effect. That is why in

U.S., the Federal Open Markets

Committee (FOMC) becameimportant. In the earlier days any

announcement in the change in thebank rate by the Fed was

accompanied by suitable

instructions to the FOMC. Thus the

MPC must focus not only on policy rate but also other importantingredients of monetary policy. After

all, with policy interest rates hovering

near zero level in the developedcountries, central banks are more

focused on ‘quantitative easing’. Eventhough money supply does not figure

much in recent policy statements in

India, overall liquidity is a relevant variable. Ultimately, quantity and

price are interrelated.The recent monetary policy

framework, entered into between theReserve Bank of India and theGovernment, is an important land

mark in the evolution of monetary policy in our country. By clarifying the

objective of the Reserve Bank of

India, it has enhanced its autonomy.Nothing should be done to dilute the

authority that goes with thisresponsibility. There is some concern

whether the pursuit of the objective

of price stability compromises itsability to take care of other

objectives, most notably growth. Thisis not necessarily so. So long as

inflation stays within the agreed zone,

it becomes easy for the central bankto take care of other objectives. It is

only when inflation goes beyond thelimits, control of inflation becomes

the exclusive concern of the Reserve

Bank of India. In fact the agreed

inflation target of 4 per cent with a

band of ± 2 per cent is really liberal.If inflation is allowed to be at the

upper band of 6 per cent for 12 years,

prices will double. We shouldactually work towards a much lower

level of inflation. Imperceptibly, wehave moved away from ‘price stability’

to ‘inflation stability’ as the objective.However even this task is going to be

difficult because of many structural

features. Adopting inflation targetingdoes not make the task of formulating

monetary policy any easier. It is truethat when inflation stays outside the

comfort zone, the direction of policy

is clear. However, when inflation

stays within the comfort zone, thedirection and extent of change inpolicy rate depends on the

assessment of inflation trajectory and

the overall economic environment.On this, there can be differences of

opinion as we are witnessing today. Any mechanism that we create such

as a Monetary Policy Committee

should not weaken but, on the other hand, strengthen the hands of

Reserve Bank of India to dealeffectively with inflation.

⇒⇒⇒⇒⇒ Choice, identity and privacy

The Supreme Court has onceagain made it clear that the

government cannot insist on the

possession of an ‘Aadhaar’ card or number as a precondition for citizens

to avail of specified benefits andservices. The court has been forced

to reiterate its earlier order to this

effect as more and more entities aretrying to link their services with

Aadhaar. From the beginning it wasclear that making Aadhaar a

mandatory requirement would evoke

resentment and cause hardship to various sections. Some authorities

caused alarm by indicating thatpeople would stand to lose benefits

or be denied routine services unless

they enrolled themselves. There were

even reports that some police stations

asked for Aadhaar numbers before

registering first information reports,and that certain educational

institutions tried to make it a prior

requirement to apply for somecourses. By making it clear that no

person should be in a position of disadvantage on account of not

possessing an Aadhaar number, thecourt has protected the right of the

people to make their own choice in

the matter. It, however, has notbrushed aside the relevance of the

Unique Identification Number programme. It has allowed the

authorities to link the supply of goods

under the Public Distribution System

and cooking gas cylinders with Aadhaar numbers. For all its exertions,the government must be relieved that

to this extent its identification

programme has obtained the court’sapproval.

However, the question arisingout of the scheme is not limited to

whether it should be voluntary or

mandatory. In its pursuit of better management of and greater

efficiency in the delivery of services,it is natural that the government

would want an identi fica tionmechanism to authenticatebeneficiaries and consumers of its

services and welfare measures.Previously, such a mechanism would

have posed a technological

challenge. It has now become apolitical and moral question. Can a

government force citizens to enrol inan identification programme that

involves submitting personal

information and biometric data? Thequestion, which involves determining

the very validity of the scheme, hasnow been referred to a Constitution

Bench. The reference will also cover

the issue of the citizens’ right toprivacy. One of the key points in the

legal challenge is that collectingbiometric data without enabling legal

provisions and without clear norms



Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) BillNegotiable Instruments (Amendment) BillNegotiable Instruments (Amendment) BillNegotiable Instruments (Amendment) BillNegotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill






against the drawer of a cheque

in the court having jurisdictionunder the new scheme of

jur isdict ion, all subsequentcomplaints arising out of

section 138 of the NI Actagainst the same drawer shall

be filed before the same court,irrespective of whether those

cheques were presented for

payment within the territorial jurisdiction of that court;

• if more than one prosecutionis filed under section 138 of

the NI Act against the samedrawer of cheques before

different courts, upon the saidfact having been brought to the

notice of the court, the court

shall transfer the case to thecourt having jurisdiction as per

the new scheme of jurisdiction.• All cases regarding cheque

bouncing which are pendingin any court, before this Bill

comes into force, will betransferred to a court with

appropriate jurisdiction.



Mock Paper For GS Paper-II Preliminary Examination 2016






spend all our time and energyworrying about how it looks. Butmost of us ignore questions like is itenergy efficient, will it cause

pollution, or what will be its carbonfootprint. We prefer to leave thesethings for policymakers, bigcorporates or hotel chains. Also, wetend to think that being eco-friendlyis expensive. That is not necessarilythe case. If .you design a house that isenergy efficient and uses rainwaterharvesting, it will actually providebetter returns in the long run.

If you are building your ownhouse, use materials that are available

in the surroundings. Use mud fromthe construction site itself. Bricksmade of fly-ash - the residue fromcoal-based power plants - are asdurable as regular bricks. Similarly,fly-ash cement can be used for mosthouses. Whi le designing your home,make sure there are large windowsthat let in natural light and breezeand reduce your dependence onelectric lights, fans and air-conditioners. Also, check out

whether a flat roof or a sloping roof works best for your region. In ourtropical climate, large verandas andbalconies are extremely useful. Also,invest in a rainwater harvestingsystem, which can cost as little as110,000 for 1,000 litre.

Normal paints have volatileorganic compounds (VOC) that aretoxic. Use low-VOC paints that usewater instead of petroleum solventsand, therefore, more environment

friendly. While choosing fittings foryour home, take some time to pickefficient models. Low-flowshowerheads and dual-flush toiletsuse less water. Invest in energy-saving lighting like CFL. Install solarpanels that can stand in for electric

geysers at least when the sun isshining.

There are many more simpleways to make your home ecofriendly.

Grow a garden, especially with localvarieties, even i f you have just a tinybalcony or a window box. Housesparrows are fast disappearing fromurban centres. You can do your bit tohelp these little birds. Build a box fromwood slabs or plywood with a slopingroof and a small hole into which onlya sparrow can squeeze in. Turn yourvegetable waste into compost thatcan be used in the garden. Useretractable khas-khas curtains in your

balconies and verandas to keep youcool in summers, and save on yourpower bills as well! I f you are buyinga ready-to-move-in flat, it will be verydifficult to make eco-friendlyalterations to the structure. But youcan still do your bit by picking upfurniture that are certifiedenvironment-friendly. If that is notpossible, buy furniture made of recyclable material like rubber orbamboo. Go for furnishings made of

natural fibre like cotton or jute. Forcurtains, bedsheets and otherfurnishings, opt for fabric withnatural dyes.

34. With reference to the passage,consider the followingstatements:(i) Being eco-fri endly is

expensive,(ii) Being eco-friendly is not

expensive.

Select the correct option from

the codes given below:(a) Only(i)(b) Only(il)(c) Neither (i) nor (ii)(d) Can’t be Generalized

35. Which of the following is/areeco-friendly?.

(i) Sloping roof.(ii) Low-volati le organic

compounds,(i i i) House sparrows,

(iv) Large verandas andbalconies.

Select the correct answer fromthe codes given below:(a) Only (i),(ii) and (iv)(b) Only (ii), (iii) and (iv)(c) Only(iv)(d) Only (ii)

36. Which of the followingstatement(s) is/are correct?(a) It is the duty of pol icy

makers, to take care of the

environmental impacts of the buildingconstructions.

(b) A 100-li tre rain waterharvesting system willcostRs. 1000.

(c) Both are correct.(d) None is correct.

37. How one can achieve coolingin his house while being eco-friendly?(i) Having Large verandas

and balconies,(ii) Use of low-VOC paints(iii)Opt for fabric with

natural dyes for curtains.

Select the correct answer fromthe codes given below:(a) Only (i)(b) Only (ii)(c) (i), (ii) and (iii)(d) Only (hi)

38. With reference to the passage,

consider the followingstatements:(i) Low-VOC paints are

non-toxic(i i) Solar Panels can provide

water heating when thereis no electricity

http://www.iasexamportal.com/














49. With reference to the passage,consider the followingstatements:(i ) Women’s empowerment

is a multidimen-

sionalconcept.(ii) UN and World Bank

emphasize on ‘em-powerment to develop-ment’ relationship.

Select the correct answer fromthe codes given below:(a) Only (i) (b) Only (i i)(c) Both (i) and (ii)

(d)Neither (i ) nor (ii)

50. What does the “business case”

for women empowermentimply?(a) Equali ty between women

and men is a desirablegoal in itself.

(b) Empowerment of womenwould lead to economicdevelopment.

(c) Economic developmentwould lead to em-powerment of women.

(d) The meaning is not clear

from the passage.51. What are the

recommendations of UN andWorld Bank regardingempowerment of women?(i) Achieving millennium

development Goals.(ii) Emphasizing on

participation of womenin political process.

(iii)Maintaining a levelplaying field between

men and women.Select the correct answer fromthe codes given below:(a) Only (i) and (ii)(b) Only (ii) and (iii)(c) Only (i) and (iii)(d) (i), (ii) and (iii)

52. What is the essence of thepassage?(a) The concept of Women

empowerment is

multidimensional.(b) Relationship betweeneconomic developmentand .women’s em-powerment.

(c) Empowerment of women.

(d) None of the above.

PASSAGE - 2

Deconstruction is a philosophyapplied to li terary criticism, as wellas to criticism of the other arts, which

began to gain popularity in the 1980s.The field of deconstruction arosepartially in reaction to the literarytheories of structuralism.Structuralism posited that whenwords could be understood withinthe context of a society of readers,then one could point to the specificmeaning of a text.

Deconstruction eschewed theconcept of one possible meaning fora text, and instead suggested thatmeanings of a text are multiple andcontradictory. Underlying a text isthe subtext, a set of values that mustbe evaluated to see if the text is reallycontrary in nature and hencesomewhat without meaning.Deconstruction also evaluates theway in which texts in the traditionalliterary canon are taught to students,suggesting that traditional“readings” of a text often ignoreunderlying value structures in directopposition to what is taught. Manyli terary cri tics abhor deconstruction,stating that deconstructing a textdeprives the text of meaning andultimately dismisses the value of anything it touches. To those who usedeconstruction, the answer to this

criticism might be: “How does onedefine value? What is meaning?”Though this answer may frustratecrit ics of deconstruction, it points to

the way in which deconstructionistssee the text as a source of multiplemeanings, determined very much byeach reader’s own subtexts anddefinitions. To reduce and reduce themeaning of a work may ultimatelymake it purposeless, say some critics.At its best, though, deconstructioncan be helpful in unmasking hugecontradictions present in a text.

It is true that reading adeconstruction of a text can be

similar to attempting to decode asecret message. Deconstructionistslike Jack Derrida deliberately chooseconfusing and lengthy words toderive a multiplicity of meaningsfrom their interpretation. In someways, this makes deconstructionelitist and inaccessible to manyreaders. The deconstructionist caresnot, however, for those who areconfused. They believe thatconfusion should be the result of

reading a deconstruction of a text.53. With reference to the passage,

consider the followingstatements:(i ) Deconstruction is against

any specific meaning of aword,

(ii ) Structurali sm supportsone specific meaning of a word.

Select the correct answer fromthe codes given below:

(a) Only (i)(b) Only(ii)(c) Both (i) and (ii)(d) Neither (i) nor (ii)

54. Deconstruction is eli tist, itmeans that:(i) Only a few can















75. The line That was probablythe quietest and fastestbreakfast my family ever hadtells us that the wri ter and his

family(a) often talked while theyate

(b) ordered a lot of food eachtime they ate out

(c) often ate silently and thatday was no exception

(d) usually did not like to bedisturbed while they ate

76. The following statements aretrue except(a) the two customers did not

have to pay for their food(b) the writer and his family

ate then food without aword

(c) one of the wai tressescleared up the mess on thefloor

(d) many customers ran outof the restaurant withoutpaying

77. Which word describes theatmosphere at the restaurant

when the angry customerfound a dead fly in his food?(a) Sad (b) Tense(c) Happy (d) Distracted

PASSAGE-2

In this lawsuit, the lawyer whorepresents three different insurancecompanies against one plaintiff isseeki ng a settlement agreement,wherein the plaintiff agrees to dropthe lawsuit in exchange for a certainamount of money. The plaintiff hasagreed to accept Rs. 10,000. Now thelawyer must convince the thecompanies, none of which wants topay more than Rs. 3,000 that it is in

their interest to pay enough so thatthe total reaches Rs. 10,000. Thelawyer claims that this lawsuit is likea giant jigsaw puzzle.

78. The lawyer claims that “this

lawsuit is like a giant jigsawpuzzle” mostly because it(a) cannot be solved(b) is a source of frustration

and anxiety for the lawyer(c) has pieces that must fit

together in a certain way

(d) is too difficult for thelawyer to handle

79. Based on information in thepassage, it can be inferred that

the settlement agreement canbe reached i f (i) each of the three

companies agrees to paya little more money

(i i) one of the companies is

willing to pay an extra Rs.1,000.

(i i i) the plaintiff reduces theamount of money he orshe is willing to accept.

(a) Only (i)

(b) Only (i) and (ii)(c) Only (ii) and (iii)(d) (i),(ii), and (iii)

80. What do we mean by the word‘Plaintiff’?(a) A person who brings a

case against someone ina court of law.

(b) A party or someoneinvolved in litigation.

(c) a petitioner.

(d) All of the above.

An swe r s

1. (b) 2. (c) 3. (b) 4. (d) 5. (d) 6. (c) 7. (b) 8. (d) 9. (d) 10. (c)

11. (a) 12. (c) 13. (b) 14. (c) 15. (d) 16. (d) 17. (b) 18. (b) 19. (d) 20. (b)

21. (a) 22. (d) 23. (c) 24. (a) 25. (a) 26. (a) 27. (a) 28. (b) 29. (c) 30. (d)

31. (b) 32. (b) 33. (d) 34. (d) 35. (d) 36. (d) 37. (a) 38. (a) 39. (d) 40. (d)

41. (a) 42. (a) 43. (d) 44. (c) 45. (b) 46. (c) 47. (a) 48. (d) 49. (c) 50. (b)

51. (b) 52. (b) 53. (d) 54. (c) 55. (d) 56. (c) 57. (b) 58. (a) 59. (c) 60. (d)

61. (b) 62. (a) 63. (c) 64. (d) 65. (c) 66. (d) 67. (d) 68. (a) 69. (d) 70. (a)

71. (b) 72. (c) 73. (a) 74. (a) 75. (a) 76. (d) 77. (b) 78. (*) 79. (*) 80. (*)









Current Affair Objective Questions






suborging their narrowinterests to nationalinterests due todevelopment of nationalists spri t.

Code :(a) 1, 2, and 3 are correct(b) 2, 3 and 4 are correct(c) 1, 2 and 4 are correct(d) 1, 3 and 4 are correct

37. A Political Party in India canacquire the status of aregistered Party i f i t secures-(a) at least 2 per cent of votes

in state(b) at least one per cent of

votes in state(c) at least three per cent of votes in state

(d) None of the above.

38. Which one of the followingstatement about the Poli ti calParties in India is correct’?(a) It i s obli gatory for

Political Parties to getregistered under therepresentation of thePeoples’ Act

(b) A Political Party whichapplies for registrationhas to include a specificprovision in itsconstitution professingallegiance to theconstitution andprinciple of secularismand democracy

(c) the Political Pari ties inIndia register themselveswith the ElectionCommission

(d) All the Above.39. Recogniti on of a polit ical

party can be withdrawn by theElection Commission(a) on account of failure of

the party to observe themodel code of conduct

(b) on account of failure of the party to follow lawfuldirections aidinstructions of theElection Commission

(c) with the prior consent of the SC of India.

(d) Both (a) and (b)

40. Match the following:List-I List-II

Articles Provisionsfor Minorities

A. Article 26 1. Provides forfreedom tomanagereligions affairsto all majority as

well asmonitorycommunities

B. Article 29 2. Protects theinterests orminorities

C. Article 30 (1)3. Provides that all“ minorit ies,whether basedon religion orlanguage shallhave to right toestablish andadministereducati-onalinstitution of their choice

D. Article 15 4. Provisiondiscrimi-nationon grounds of religion, race,caste, sex, orplace of birth.

Codes :A B C D

(a) 2 1 3 4(b) 1 2 3 4(c) 3 2 4 1(d) 1 2 4 3

41. Which of the followingfunctions are correct aboutNational Commission for

minorities(a) evaluate the progress of

the development of minorities under the

union and states(b) monitor the working of the safe guards providedin the constitution

(c) conduct studies, researchand analysis on the issuesrelating to socio-economic and educationdevelopment tominorities

(d) All of the these.

42. Though originally the use of

English for official purposewas permitted for a period of 15 years from thecommencement of theconstitution, its use beyondthis period was permittedthrough(a) an amendment i n the

constitution(b) an act to Parliament(c) all ordi nance of the

President

(d) a Judgement of the SC.43. The members of Panchayat

Samiti are(a) directly elected by the

people(b) elected by the members of

the panchayat(c) nominated by the district

officers(d) recruited through an

open competition.

44. One of the following is not a

part of Panchayati Raj?(a) District Board(b) Town Area Committees(c) Village Block(d) Panchayat Boards

45. When was the Panchayati Rajintroduced in India?









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