current affairs · pdf file15/12/2010 · a cache of u.s. diplomatic cables released...
TRANSCRIPT
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
Current AffairsDecember 15
2010
Praveenhttp://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
12/15/2010
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
POLITICS AND THE NATION
CVC seeks details of all major contracts of ministries
The Central Vigilance Commission has asked all the ministries to give details
of all the works carried out by them during the past three months for its
scrutiny.
Official sources said that the anti-corruption watchdog has sought details of
civil and electrical works done by the ministries besides other contracts
valued at Rs two crore or above. All the ministries, mainly dealing with
Information Technology, Electronics and Telecommunications works, have
been directed to comply with its order.
The probity watchdog has specifically sought details of high-value projects,
payment details, contractor details, third party examination report and tender
documents in the past three months.
SC moved for cancellation of 2G spectrum licences
A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court yesterday
seeking cancellation of new telecom licences and 2G spectrum allocated by
the Department of Telecom when A Raja was Telecom Minister between 2008
and 2009.
The petition was filed by a group of civil societies, including the Centre for
Public Interest Litigation.
In their joint petition, the civil societies have alleged that the allocations,
made by the DoT during the reign of Telecom Minister A Raja, were marred
by "multiple illegalities, corruption and favouritism".
Special teams to locate 31 Indian Mujahideen men
In an offensive against cadres of Indian Mujahideen, the Government has
formed special teams to locate 31 most wanted men of the banned outfit,
whose list has been circulated to all states and union territories.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
According to official sources, these special teams will make "concerted efforts"
to apprehend the absconding IM terrorists within the country and coordinate
with foreign countries where they are suspected to be holed in.
The Union Home Ministry prepared a complete set of the 31 absconding
Indian Mujahideen cadres and circulated it to all the states and union
territories for gaining more and more information about them.
The detailed dossiers about the IM militants along with photographs have also
been shared with a few Gulf countries as intelligence inputs suggested that
some of them were currently based there with Pakistani passports
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
WORLD AFFAIRS
Berlusconi survives confidence vote
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly survived a no-confidence vote
on Tuesday that left his centre-right government clinging to power and
provoked the most violent protests seen in Rome for years.
The result underlined Berlusconi's reputation as one of the great survivors of
Italian politics, but left him unable to ensure the stability of the government
at a time of major economic problems and a menacing euro zone debt crisis.
Though it is a positive outcome for Berlusconi given how things looked two
weeks ago, but the government will face severe difficulties passing its policies
with such a small and fractious majority according to analysts.
The no-confidence motion brought by the centre-left opposition was defeated
by 314 votes to 311.
Some of the most serious rioting Rome has seen in years broke out after the
vote, with dozens injured as protestors threw smoke bombs and firecrackers
and fought baton-wielding police in running street battles in the historic city
centre.
Islamabad rejects fears over its n-weapons
Pakistan yesterday insisted taht its nuclear weapons were fully safe and
secure and it would not accept any "discriminatory treatment" that
undermined its strategic deterrence.
A cache of U.S. diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks recently showed
widespread international concern about the safety of Pakistan's nuclear
arsenal. The cables said that the United States had been secretly trying to
convince Pakistan to allow it to remove the uranium because of fears the
nuclear material might be stolen or diverted, but Pakistan turned down the
request.
Pakistan's nuclear watchdog dismissed said that its security measures were
second to none. "These (safety measures) are fully compatible with
international best practices and global regimes -- and are acknowledged
internationally."
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
"As a nuclear weapon state, Pakistan is fully cognisant of its responsibilities,
and has established effective and robust command and control structures and
comprehensive export control and regulatory regimes," the Nuclear Command
Authority (NCA) said after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza
Gilani.
Pakistan, which tested its nuclear device in May 1998 days after similar tests
by rival India, is a major U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda and Taliban
but its western allies have repeatedly raised concerns over its stability.
Pakistan is pressing for a civilian nuclear agreement with the United States
similar to the U.S. agreement struck with India in 2008, but Washington has
been reluctant to do so partly because of concerns over the case of Pakistan's
top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, who transferred nuclear secrets to
North Korea, Iran and Iraq.
In a thinly veiled reference to the U.S.-India nuclear deal, the NCA expressed
concerns over "policies and trends of selectivity, exceptionalism and
discrimination relating to strategic export control regimes".
France to provide Euro 70 m soft loan to IREDA
India and France have signed an agreement for providing Euro 70 million soft
loan to the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) for
promoting development of sustainable energy in the country.
The French Development Agency (AFD) and IREDA signed the Euro 70-million
(Rs 4225 million) long-term soft loan agreement on Friday, a French Embassy
release said here.
The agreement aims to help IREDA to finance or refinance renewable energy
investments as well as energy efficiency investments, and give further
impetus to IREDA's mandate to promote the development of sustainable
energy in India, it added.
Turkmenistan offers India lead role in TAPI
Turkmenistan has offered India a lead role in the international consortia that
will build a USD 7.6 billion pipeline to transport natural gas from the former
Soviet republic to its South Asian neighbours.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
The offer was made by Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedov when Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora called on him on the
sidelines of a summit meeting on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India
(TAPI) gas pipeline in Ashgabat on December 11.
The Indian Petroleum Minister has conveyed that he will need a Cabinet
approval to take that kind of role.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the Lead Development Partner of the
project which envisages supply of gas from Turkmenistan's South Yoloten-
Osman field.
UK to launch HMS Ambush, a biggest ever nuclear submarine
British Navy is all set to launch its biggest ever nuclear submarine that can
fire guided-missiles to pulverise an enemy more than 1,600km away.
The 'super-sub, called HMS Ambush, has a huge nuclear reactor that can
power a city the size of Southampton and it will never need refuelling.
The killer submarine, which is more complex than the US space shuttles and
able to circumnavigate the globe without surfacing, is also able to make
oxygen and fresh water from seawater to keep the 98 crew alive in time of
crisis.
The awesome 7,400-tonne sub is 291 foot long, the same length as a football
pitch, as wide as four double-decker buses and 12 storeys high.
A true titan of the deep, the 1.2-billion-pound warship will be launched at
Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria tomorrow.
Court grants bail to WikiLeaks' Julian Assange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, arrested in Britain on Swedish allegations
of sex misconduct, was granted bail by a British court yesterday for
�240,000,.
However, he was not released immediately as the prosecution was given two
hours to appeal against the bail. According to initial reports, strict conditions
including a requirement for Mr. Assange to wear an electronic tag were likely
to be imposed in the event of his release.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
A large number of his supporters gathered in and outside Westminster
Magistrates Court burst into cheers as the verdict was delivered. Also present
in the court were several celebrities, including filmmaker Ken Loach and
Jemima Khan, wife of the former Pakistani cricketer, Imran Khan.
Assange asks his supporters to step up campaign
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has reportedly issued a plea to his
supporters, who are calling for his release, to step up their campaign as he
accused Visa, Mastercard and Paypal of being instruments of US foreign
policy.
Assange in a message through his mother, said he was determined to fight
for the future of WikiLeaks. "My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to
the ideals I have always expressed," he was quoted as saying by 'The Age'
from Wandsworth Prison in London.
"We now know that Visa, Mastercard and Paypal are instruments of US
foreign policy. It's not something we knew before. I am calling on the world
to protect my work and my people from these illegal and immoral acts," said
Assange.
'India may discuss Siachen if progress made in 26/11'
Indian interlocutors have demonstrated willingness to discuss the
demilitarisation of Siachen glacier and the resolution of the Sir Creek border
dispute if "reasonable" progress is made in prosecuting Pakistani suspects
linked to the Mumbai attacks, according to a report by The News daily.
The developments apparently occurred during a three-day Track-II diplomacy
meeting between Indian and Pakistani interlocutors held in Dubai during
December 3-6. Noted international experts too attended the meeting, said
report.
Indian participants acknowledged that the presence of troops on the Siachen
glacier played a key role in its melting, which is affected the agrarian
economy of Pakistan, the report claimed.
Experts of both countries will send to their governments their
recommendations on demilitarising the glacier and for joint watershed
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
management in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to revive the degraded
environment, the report said.
What is Sir Creek?
The Sir Creek is a 96 km (60 mi) strip of water disputed between India and
Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands. The creek, which opens up into the
Arabian Sea, divides the Kutch region of the Indian state of Gujarat with the
Sindh province of Pakistan.
Originally and locally it is called 'Baan Ganga'. Sir Creek is named after the
British representative. The long-standing dispute hinges in the actual
demarcation "from the mouth of Sir Creek to the top of Sir Creek, and from
the top of Sir Creek eastward to a point on the line designated on the
Western Terminus". From this point onwards, the boundary is unambiguously
fixed as defined by the Tribunal Award of 1968.
Dispute:
The dispute lies in the interpretation of the maritime boundary line between
Kutch and Sindh. Before India's independence, the provincial region was a
part of Bombay Presidency of British India. After India's independence in
1947, Sindh became a part of Pakistan while Kutch remained a part of India.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
Pakistan lays claim to the entire creek as per paras 9 and 10 of the Bombay
Government Resolution of 1914 signed between then the Government of
Sindh and Rao Maharaj of Kutch.
The resolution, which demarcated the boundaries between the two territories,
included the creek as part of Sindh, thus setting the boundary as the eastern
flank of the creek. The boundary line, known as the "Green Line", is disputed
by India which maintains that it is an "indicative line", known as a "ribbon
line" in technical jargon.
India sticks to its position that the boundary lies mid-channel as depicted in
another map drawn in 1925, and implemented by the installation of mid-
channel pillars back in 1924.
India supports its stance by citing the Thalweg Doctrine in International
Law. The law states that river boundaries between two states may be, if the
two states agree, divided by the mid-channel. Though Pakistan does not
dispute the 1925 map, it maintains that the Doctrine is not applicable in this
case as it only applies to bodies of water that are navigable, which the Sir
Creek is not.
India rejects the Pakistani stance by maintaining the fact that the creek is
navigable in high tide, and that fishing trawlers use it to go out to sea.
Several cartographic surveys conducted have upheld the Indian claim.
Another point of concern for Pakistan is that Sir Creek has changed its course
considerably over the years.
If the boundary line is demarcated according to the Thalweg principle,
Pakistan stands to lose a considerable portion of the territory that was
historically part of the province of Sindh. Acceding to India's stance would
also result in the shifting of the land/sea terminus point several kilometres to
the detriment of Pakistan, leading in turn to a loss of several thousand square
kilometres of its Exclusive Economic Zone under the United Nations
Convention on Law of the Sea(UNCLOS).
In April 1965, a dispute there contributed to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965,
when fighting broke out between India and Pakistan. Later the same year,
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson successfully persuaded both countries to
end hostilities and set up a tribunal to resolve the dispute. A verdict was
reached in 1968 which saw Pakistan getting 10% of its claim of 9,000 km�
(3,500 sq. miles).
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
The disputed region was at the center of international attention in 1999 after
MiG-21 fighter planes of the Indian Air Force shot down a Pakistani Navy
Breguet Atlantique surveillance aircraft over the Sir Creek on August 10,
1999, killing all 16 on board. India claimed that the plane had strayed into its
airspace, which was disputed by the Pakistani navy.
North Korea's Nuclear Programme
South Korea's foreign minister said on Tuesday authorities believed the North
had been secretly enriching uranium at new locations outside its main nuclear
site. Minister said the assumption was "based on what is still intelligence".
A Seoul daily, quoting an unidentified intelligence official, earlier said the
North was enriching uranium at three or four sites in addition to its main
nuclear facility in Yongbyon.
North Korean officials last month took foreign nuclear experts to what they
said was a uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon. U.S. expert Sigfried
Hecker was said to have been "stunned" by the sophistication of the North's
programme after seeing hundreds of centrifuges. A uranium enrichment
programme would give Pyongyang a second way to obtain fissile material for
making atomic bombs.
Washington has believed since 2002 that Pyongyang has such a programme
but the apparent sophistication of its effort could ignite fresh debate over how
to deal with North Korea's unpredictable leadership and whether to resume
talks aimed at ending its nuclear ambitions. A senior Obama administration
official declined to say last month whether what the experts saw confirmed
the existence of a uranium enrichment programme.
Following is a look at the North's nuclear arms programme:
THE YONGBYON FACILITIES
The Yongbyon complex is at the heart of the North's plutonium weapons
programme. It consists of a five-megawatt reactor, whose construction began
in 1980, a fuel fabrication facility and a plutonium reprocessing plant, where
weapons-grade material is extracted from spent fuel rods.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
The site, about 100 km (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, also contains a 50-
megawatt reactor whose construction was suspended under a 1994 nuclear
deal with the United States. The reactor is nowhere near completion.
When fully operational, Yongbyon can produce enough fissile material for one
nuclear bomb a year, experts say. Yongbyon was being taken apart under a
disarmament-for-aid deal, but last year, in the face of U.S. hostility, the North
said it was restoring parts of the plant. Satellite images taken show increased
activity at the complex. There have been no signs, however, that the North
has restarted the reactor.
The North has also said it is building an experimental light-water reactor at
the site. It has tried to secure a light-water reactor for a number of years,
claiming such a project would be for peaceful energy purposes. The type of
reactor is considered relatively proliferation-resistant and unlikely to be
diverted for an arms programme.
URANIUM ENRICHMENT
North Korea last year said it was enriching uranium, giving it another path for
making atomic weapons. Uranium enrichment can be conducted away from
the prying eyes of satellites and the North can fuel it with its ample supplies
of natural uranium.
During their visit last month, experts said North Korean officials had told
them they had in operation 2,000 centrifuges, used in uranium enrichment.
But the foreign experts were unable to verify that.
The foreign experts said they were not able to establish whether the plant
was designed to produce only low-enriched uranium (LEU) needed to make
fuel for a power plant or the highly enriched uranium for bombs.
It is easier to design a nuclear bomb with highly enriched uranium (HEU) than
plutonium, but harder to make a nuclear warhead with HEU to mount on a
missile.
NUCLEAR TESTING
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
The North's first test in October 2006 produced a relatively low yield in its
explosive force, indicating problems with the bomb design or plutonium at its
core, experts said.
A second test, in 2009, was stronger, but experts believe it may have only
been about one-fifth to one-fourth as powerful as the plutonium bomb the
United States dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in 1945.
NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES
U.S. officials said prior to the North's 2009 test it had produced about 50 kg
(110 lb) of plutonium, which proliferation experts said would be enough for
six to eight nuclear weapons. The North has since said it extracted more
fissile material from spent fuel rods. This could be enough for one more
bomb.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Even though it has exploded nuclear devices, North Korea has not shown it
has a working nuclear bomb.
Experts say they do not believe the North can miniaturise an atomic weapon
to place on a missile, but it is trying to develop such a warhead. It needs
more nuclear testing to build one.
North Korea's ageing fleet of Soviet-era bombers would also have difficulty
evading the advanced air forces of regional powers to deliver a nuclear bomb
outside the country.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
BUSINESS/FINANCE/ECONOMICS
Govt to hike petrol prices, may follow with diesel
India's state-run oil retailers - Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and
Hindustan Petroleum - will raise petrol prices starting Wednesday by the most
in six months and New Delhi also plans to lift diesel prices, possibly stoking
inflation and adding to the government's political woes.
Petrol prices are expected to raise by about 5.6 percent due to surging global
crude prices. This would be the steepest rise since June when India freed up
petrol prices.
A BPCL spokesman said it would raise petrol prices by 2.95 rupees (7 cents) a
litre from today while sources at IOC and HPCL said their firms would raise
prices by 2.96 rupees a litre from Thursday. The increases would help the
firms protect their margins with crude oil hovering close to $90 a barrel.
However, this would also complicate monetary policymaking by the Reserve
Bank of India, which is focused on stamping down inflation that remains
above its comfort zone of around 5 percent, but is constrained by problems
such as tight liquidity.
November headline inflation at 7.48 pct YoY
India's wholesale price index rose an annual 7.48 percent in November,
government data showed on Tuesday. The figure was lower than the annual
rise of 8.58 percent in October.
Inflation is heading in the right direction, and today's number is probably
enough to keep the RBI on hold this week, in line with comments made by
Governor Subbarao back in early November.
However, Subbarao also noted last week that inflation is still above his
"tolerance level" and recent PMI survey data also suggest that price pressures
may remain stubbornly high in the months ahead.
This suggest that the RBI's policy bias remains firmly in favour of more policy
tightening, and we continue to expect more rate hikes in the new year."
UK names nine electric cars, including Tata Vista, eligible for subsidy
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
The British government yesterday revealed the first nine electric vehicles that
will be eligible for their purchasers to receive subsidies of up to 5,000 pounds
($7,935) under a plan to promote low-carbon transport.
Under the scheme, the government has pledged 43 million pounds ($68.24
million) until the end of March 2012 to help British motorists shift to low-
carbon vehicles. They will receive up to 5,000 pounds towards the purchase
of a low-carbon car from January 2011 to the end of March 2012.
Eligible vehicles are Mitsubishi's iMiEV, Daimler's smart fortwo electric drive,
Peugeot's iON, Citroen's CZero, the Nissan Leaf, the Tata Vista electric
vehicle; the Toyota Prius Plug-in, Vauxhall's Ampera and General Motors'
Chevrolet Volt.
OFCs – Other Financial Corporations
Revenue Secretary Sunil Mitra commenting on OFCs
“There was an unmistakable trend showing that the Indian private sector had
shifted away from bank deposits to OFCs (other financial corporations).”
The share of Indian OFC deposits increased from 36.4 per cent of total
deposits in 1995 to 54.2 per cent in 2009.
The increasing recourse to OFC deposits relative to the banking system was a
matter of concern, as currently over 60 per cent of global trade was handled
by MNCs.
Quoting a recently-released report of Global Financial Integrity, a
Washington-based think-tank, Mr. Mitra said that the report highlighted that
the share of illicit flows from India increased from 0.5 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP) to 2.4 per cent over a four-year period beginning
2000, at a time when flows from China dropped.
What are OFCs?
OFCs, other than insurance corporations, pension funds and MFIs
a) corporations engaged in financial leasing;
b) corporations engaged in hire purchase and the provision of personal or
commercial finance;
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
c) corporations engaged in factoring;
d) security and derivative dealers (on own account);
e) specialised financial corporations such as venture and development capital
companies, export/import financing companies;
f) financial vehicle corporations, created to be holders of securitized assets;
g) financial intermediaries which receive deposits and/or close substitutes for
deposits from MFIs only;
h) holding corporations which only control and direct a group of subsidiaries
principally engaged in financial intermediation and/or in auxiliary financial activities,
but which are not financial corporations themselves
We request our members to throw more light on this, if they have any info.
Infosys wins Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise award
Indian IT major Infosys Technologies has been recognised as a winner of the
prestigious Global, Asian and Indian Most Admired Knowledge
Enterprises (MAKE) Awards for 2010, by Teleos, an independent research
firm based out of the UK, in association with The KNOW Network.
The 2010 MAKE Panels across the Global, Asian and Indian categories have
recognised Infosys as a leader in creating a corporate knowledge-driven
culture and a learning organisation, and transforming enterprise knowledge
into shareholder or stakeholder value, Infosys said.
This is the seventh year that Infosys has been ranked among the Global
MAKE winners, eighth time that it has bagged the Asian MAKE Award and
sixth time that it has won the Indian MAKE Award, it said.
Remember the other?
Wipro Technologies also inducted into the “2010 Global MAKE Hall of
Fame
On November 30th, Wipro Technologies, the global Consulting, System
Integration and Outsourcing business was announced that it has been
recognized as a winner of the Global MAKE (Most Admired Knowledge
Enterprises) Award 2010.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
This was the 4th time that the Company had been recognized among the top
global organizations that are creating shareholder/stakeholder wealth by
transforming new as well as existing enterprise knowledge into superior
products, services or solutions. Wipro has also been inducted into the 2010
Global MAKE Hall of Fame.
In addition, Wipro also won the Asian MAKE Award this year on October
16th, thus earning the distinction of being the only Indian IT Company to win
the award eight times in a row.
The 20 Global MAKE Winners are chosen by a panel of Global Fortune 500
business executives and leading knowledge management and intellectual
capital experts after several rounds of consensus building on key knowledge
performance dimensions amongst the panel.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
How Chinese and Indian economies stack up?
As Asia's growth titans China and India race to modernise and urbanise their
countries, ties between them could be increasingly tested as they compete to
realise their economic ambitions.
In both national and per capita income terms, the two countries were more or
less in a dead heat two decades ago, but a mixture of policy, demographics
and external factors has since catapulted China ahead.
Its economy is now nearly four times that of India's, and is widely
regarded by economists as the world's second biggest economy, compared
with India which was the eleventh biggest, according to World Bank figures
for 2009. But India's growth rate is now beginning to catch up to China's and
its younger population, if managed well, could provide the fuel for it to close
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
the gap in coming years.
Below are some statistics on how the two economies compare.
Gross domestic prodcut (GDP), at current prices for 1990, 2000, 2009
respectively
China $356.9 bln $1.20 trln $4.98 trln
India $317.5 bln $460.2 bln $1.31 trln
GDP per capita, at current prices for 1990, 2000, 2009 respectively
China $314 $949 $3,744
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
India $374 $453 $1,134
Annual GDP growth (percent) for 1990, 2000, 2009 respectively
China 3.8 8.4 9.1
India 5.5 4.0 7.7
Foreign direct investment inflows, at current prices for 1990, 2000, 2009
respectively
China $3.5 bln $38.4 bln $78.2 bln
India $236.7 mln $3.6 bln $34.6 bln
Net exports of goods and services as percentage of GDP for 1990, 2000, 2009
respectively
China 3 11 5
India -2 4 -5
Gross domestic investment as percentage of GDP for 1990, 2000, 2009
respectively
China 40 35 45
India 22 24 35
Developing nations agree tariff cut to boost trade
Led by Brazil and India, nearly a dozen developing countries will sign an
accord this week to cut tariff barriers and boost trade among themselves, a
senior Brazilian government official said on Monday.
Negotiations under the Global System of Trade Preferences among
Developing Countries were relaunched in 2005 in an attempt to diversify
developing countries' trade revenue and reduce their dependence on rich
countries.
Some important features
Around 43 countries are signatories to the original GSTP agreement from
1988, and 11 countries will sign the updated accord in southern Brazil this
week.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
Under the deal, countries will cut applied tariffs by 20 percent on 70 percent
of their products.
The agreement covers fast-growth economies with combined gross domestic
product of around $5 trillion and nearly one-third of the world's population.
The other signatories are Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Indonesia, Malaysia,
South Korea, Morocco, Egypt and Cuba.
But the accord's ability to generate large new trade flows is likely to be
limited, as countries are granted significant exemptions and tariffs could
remain prohibitive if they were high to begin with. In addition, some countries
do not have proper trade ties or adequate infrastructure to act on the new
incentives.
Carbon trading schemes around the world
Companies and governments around the world are turning to emissions
trading as a weapon to fight climate change and join a global carbon market
worth $144 billion last year.
Under cap-and-trade schemes, companies or countries face a carbon limit. If
they exceed the limit they can buy allowances from others. They can also buy
carbon offsets from outside projects which avoid greenhouse gas emissions,
often from developing countries.
Following is a list of established and proposed schemes:
ESTABLISHED SCHEMES
1. Kyoto Protocol: Mandatory for 37 developed nations, excluding the United
States which never ratified the pact.
Launched: 2005
Covers: All six main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4),
nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).)
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
Target: 5 percent average cut in 1990 emissions in 2008-2012 first phase.
How it works: Rich countries cut greenhouse gases at home or buy emissions rights
from one other -- if one country stays within its target it can sell the difference to
another emitting too much. Or they can buy carbon offsets from projects in
developing countries under Kyoto's clean development mechanism.
The present round of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 and U.N. climate talks in
Mexico last week put off decisions on cutting emissions to next year.
2. European Union Emissions Trading Scheme:
Launched: 2005
Covers: Nearly half of all EU carbon emissions. Mandatory for all 27 EU members.
Target: 21 percent cut below 2005 levels by 2020
How it works: Member states allocate a quota of carbon emissions allowances to
11,000 industrial installations. Companies get most permits free now but many
electricity generators will have to pay for all these from 2013.
Companies can buy carbon offsets from developing countries if that works out
cheaper than cutting their own emissions
3. New Zealand emissions trading scheme
Launched: July 1, 2010. Mandatory.
Covers: Forestry started first. Electricity, industrial process emissions and transport
pollution were included from July. Waste to start in 2013. Agriculture to start 2015.
Target: The government has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 10
and 20 percent by 2020 on 1990 levels.
How it works: Emissions units are allocated based on an average of production
across each industry. From July 1, 2010, to January 1, 2013, emitters have the
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
option of paying a fixed price of NZ$25 per tonne of carbon, and will only have to
surrender 1 unit for every 2 units of emissions. Such assistance will be gradually
phased out.
4. Northeast U.S. states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
Launched: January 2009
Covers: carbon from power plants in 10 northeast states. Allows offsets from five
different types of clean energy projects including capturing methane from landfills
and livestock manure.
Target: 10 percent cut below 2009 levels by 2018
5. Japan: Tokyo metropolitan trading scheme
Launched: April 2010
Covers: Around 1,400 top emitters
How it works: Tokyo city sets emissions limits for large factories and offices to
meet by using technology like solar panels and advanced fuel-saving devices.
Target: Japan aims to cut emissions by 25 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels. The
government hopes to pass a climate bill in parliament early next year that would
include a national trading scheme, starting 2013 at the earliest. Details are still being
debated.
Japan is also pushing ahead with a bilateral offsets scheme by promoting emissions
reduction projects in developing countries.
PROPOSED
India: Perform, Achieve and Trade system.
Launch: April, 2011. Trading from 2014.
A mandatory energy efficiency trading scheme covering more than 700 companies in
nine sectors responsible for 65 percent of India's industrial energy consumption.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
How will it work? Details are being finalized but, based on historical performance,
annual efficiency targets will be allocated to firms according to individual baselines or
performance bands. Firms that beat their targets will be credited for their reductions.
Those that don't will pay a penalty or buy credits from firms that are more efficient.
Target: India has pledged a 20-25 percent reduction in emissions intensity from
2005 levels by 2020.
Other proposed systems
Australia: Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS)
Californian climate change law
Western Climate Initiative (WCI)
South Korea emissions trading scheme
Taiwan.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
NASA’s Voyager 1 nearing edge of solar system
NASA's long-running Voyager 1 spacecraft is barreling its way toward the
edge of the solar system.
Since 2004, the unmanned probe has been exploring a region of space where
solar wind, a stream of charged particles spewing from the sun at 1 million
miles (1.6 million kilometres) per hour slows abruptly and crashes into the
thin gas between stars.
NASA said yesterday that recent readings show the average outward speed of
the solar wind has slowed to zero, meaning the spacecraft is nearing ever
closer to the solar system's edge to a boundary known as the heliopause.
ICRISAT to promote agricultural innovation
India-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT), based in Hyderabad, has mapped out a new strategy to
self-sustain the development of drylands that are usually propped up by
external aid for economic growth.
Anchored on the concept of "Inclusive market-oriented development"
(IMOD), the new strategy with the goal 'to end poverty and not just alleviate
it', will help dry land farmers improve their produce through agricultural
innovations and better access to markets and other support services.
IMOD is the moving spirit of ICRISAT's new strategic plan to 2020 that was
launched during its 38th anniversary celebrations this week.
Unveiling the new strategy with Prof M S Swaminathan, ICRISAT Director
General William Dar said, "Our strategy draws poor dryland communities
into the mainstream to reap the benefits of development" to pursue this
pathway to prosperity.
US firm interested in DRDO's explosive detection kit
An American firm has shown keen interest in the explosive detection kit
(EDK) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
(DRDO) and an agreement for transferring technology is likely to be signed
soon.
The EDK, developed by the DRDO's Pune-based High Energy Materials
Research Laboratory (HEMRL), comes packed in a box the size of a vanity
case, which contains four reagents capable of detecting even traces of
explosives.
“The American firm is soon to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the DRDO, which has patented its EDK," a Defence Ministry
release said. The Americans have their own ED kits but the foreign technology
has certain drawbacks. For example, they lack confirmatory test.
http://indiancurrentaffairs.wordpress.com
ENTERTAINMENT
A.R. Rahman gets Golden Globe nod for '127 Hours'
Indian music’s genius A.R. Rahman garnered his second Golden Globe
nomination in three years yesterday for his score in British filmmaker Danny
Boyle's "127 Hours".
Rahman, 44, had won the Golden Globe and two Academy Awards for his
score in Boyle's film "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008).
"127 Hours", based on the true story of mountaineer Aron Ralston, is also up
for the "Best Screenplay" and "Best Actor" honours in nominations announced
on Tuesday.
The Golden Globe awards will be handed out on Jan 16 in Beverly Hills. The
Golden Globe Awards are given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press
Association. They are closely watched for clues as to which films might vie for
the Oscars, the world's top movie awards given out by the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences.