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Contents • Q. Some facts about 114th Constitution Amendment Bill 2010.

• Q. Coal Block Scam.

• Q. India’s Health care System

• Q. Recommendation of Shome Panel about GARR.

• Q. Higgs Boson Particle

• Q. Basell III – Facts

• Q. APEC Summit

• Q. ‘Super-spreading,’ Key in Dengue Transmission

• Q. Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.

• Q. 12th Planning Commission’s Target

• Q. Raid de Himalaya

• Q. Time Zone for India • Q. China Commissions First Aircraft Carrier Liaoning

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OCT 2012 : GIST OF THE HINDU

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Q. Some facts about 114th ConstitutionAmendment Bill 2010.• Constitution (114th Amendment) Bill

2010 to raise the retirement age of onlythe High Court judges from 62 to 65,which was tabled in Parliament inDecember 2011 but not as yet passed.

• One factor deterring a competent lawyerfrom accepting judgeship is the retiringage at 62. Increasing it to 65 may inducecompetent lawyers to seek appointmentas judges of the High Court.

• Secondly, with a larger tenure, judges mayacquire more maturity, learning andexperience so necessary for a judge.

• Thirdly, with retirement at 65, a judge maybe less anxious about looking foremployment after retirement, by way ofan appointment to a Tribunal orCommission by governments.

• Fourthly, today the Chief Justices andmost senior judges of the High Courts,nearing their retirement at 62, sometimesaspire unbecomingly to being selectedjudges of the Supreme Court not only forthe prestige of the post but also to obtainanother three-year stint in the SupremeCourt.

• If the retirement age is increased to 65on a par with that of Supreme Court

judges, senior judges may be content withremaining in their own High Court ratherthan seek an additional three-year stint,in the Supreme Court.

Supreme Courts abroad, the retirement age is above65. In the High Court of Australia (which is the apexcourt there) it is 70, in the Supreme Court of Canada75, in the Supreme Court of Ireland 70, in theSupreme Court of Israel 70, in the Supreme Court ofNew Zealand 68, in the Constitutional Court ofSouth Africa 70 or after 12 years of service, and inthe U.K. Supreme Court 75.

Q. Coal Block Scam.

The Rs.1.86 lakh crore coalgate scam exposed bythe Comptroller and Auditor General of India(CAG), which has dragged Prime MinisterManmohan Singh into its centre, shut downParliament and stirred up a raging national debate,will now be examined by the Public AccountsCommittee (PAC). The report has led to Dr. Singhfinally taking full responsibility for the decisions ofthe Coal Ministry, but only after rebutting theCAG’s observations as “clearly disputable andflawed.”

• (Moher, Moher-Amlohri Extension &Chhattrasal) allocated to ReliancePower for their Sasan UMPP were de-allocated from Northern Coalfields Ltd,a subsidiary of CIL.

• For end-user projects (EUP) for whichcaptive coal blocks are allocated, besides

THE HINDU

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coal through captive coal production.These are: (i) coal-linkages from CILbased on CIL base prices, (ii) e-auctionprices of CIL and (iii) imports. Since thesale price used for comparison in theCAG Report is the CIL base price, whichis far lower than the other twoalternatives, the CAG would argue thatits loss assessment borders onconservative.

• Additionally, the coal ministry has itselfadmitted that the CIL’s cost of production,given its social and legacy overheads, isactually higher than the figures used bythe CAG. Since costs differ across mines,the CAG report has used average CILcosts (and prices) for its calculations,while considering an additional financingcost of Rs.150 per tonne, indicating thatthe CAG’s profit per tonne of coalestimate is also rather conservative. Formineable geological reserves, the profitper tonne of coal has been multiplied bythe expected mineable geologicalreserves (GR) in each of the coal blocksto arrive at the total windfall gain.Wherever the mining plan had beenprepared, their GRs have beenconsidered. Where mining plans are notavailable, the CAG has usedconservative figures of 73 per cent foropen cast and 37 per cent for mixedmines as against the Coal Ministry’s ownnorms of 75-80 per cent for open castand 45-60 per cent for underground minesmentioned in its counter. The CAG islikely to encash these inadvertentadmissions.

• Chinese officials say the railway linkfrom Kashgar can, in the future, run up

to Gwadar if it is connected to thedomestic rail network.

Q. India’s Health care System

GENERIC DRUGS

An important low hanging fruit identified bythe High Level Expert Group (HLEG) onUniversal Health Coverage (UHC) set up by thePlanning Commission is to provide generic drugsthrough the public system. The HLEG alsorecommended in its report submitted in October2011 that health care should be available to allcitizens with a smart card and should be cashlessat the point of service. An UHC system shouldprovide a combination of preventive, promotive,curative and rehabilitative care through apackage of primary, secondary and tertiaryservices. An emphasis on prevention andpromotion at the primary level would be both costeffective and best in terms of health outcomes.HIGHER PUBLIC SPENDING

The HLEG called for stepping up publicinvestment in health to reach 2.5% of GDP by theend of the 12 Five Year Plan, and argued that astrengthened public sector must be the bedrockof reforms. But how to deal with the fact thatpublic facilities themselves ignore public health,often lack adequate staff and equipment, and treatpatients with scant respect? More investment mustbe backed up by the creation of a public healthcadre, the recognition of a three year medicalqualification in order to increase the availabilityof qualified professionals, and more staff at thelowest level. And a strong set of managementreforms to improve quality and performance ofpublic facilities must be urgently implemented.

The HLEG’s support for public investmentin health is backed by the experience of many



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countries — Europe, Canada, Brazil, Thailand,Mexico, to name a few. But one cannot ignorethe reality of the private health sector or the factthat it can and ought to be made to play its part inthe move towards universal health coverage.

At present, private facilities, under a veneerof respectful treatment, can be hugely expensive,and often do not provide appropriate or highquality clinical services. Ensuring that privatehealth providers play a responsible role requiresthat we move away from ad hoc and unregulatedpublic-private partnerships (PPPs) and also awayfrom the practice of giving subsidies and freebieslike land and tax-breaks to the private sectorwithout any effective mechanisms to ensureaccountability.

An important recommendation of theHLEG is to set up independent and effectiveHealth Regulatory and Development Authoritiesat both national and state levels that wouldsupervise the quality of services delivered by bothpublic and private sector providers. These bodieswould ensure among other things that standardtreatment guidelines form the basis of clinical careacross both sectors, with adequate monitoring toimprove the quality of care and control costs.

They would also ensure grievance redressmechanisms by linking up with measures to ensurecitizen participation and accountability. This hasbeen done very effectively in countries that areat the forefront of the move towards universalhealth care such as Thailand and Brazil, and mustbe implemented in India.Q. Recommendation of Shome Panel about

GARR.Advocates abolition of capital gains tax on

transfer of securities

In wide-ranging recommendations aimed atsoothing the hackles of investors and revive theinflow of foreign capital, the expert committee onGeneral Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR), headedby Parthasarathi Shome, has advocatedpostponement of the controversial tax provisionby three years till 2016-17 along with abolition ofcapital gains tax on transfer of securities.

In a further reassurance to foreigninstitutional investors (FIIs) operating through theMauritius route, the expert panel, in its draftreport submitted to the government on August 31and put in the public domain by the FinanceMinistry on Saturday for comments fromstakeholders, has suggested that the GAARprovisions should not be invoked to examine thegenuineness of the foreign investor entities’residency in the island nation.THRESHOLD OF TAX BENEFIT

Among its other major recommendationsfor amendment in the Act, for guidelines to beprescribed under Income-Tax Rules, 1962, and



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for clarifications and illustrations through circular,the Shome panel has suggested that GAARshould be made applicable only if the monetarythreshold of tax benefit is Rs.3 crore and more.

Alongside, while comments from allstakeholders have been sought by September 15for drawing up the final guidelines on GAAR, theFinance Ministry has also expanded the terms ofreference of the expert panel which was set upby Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July,mainly to bring about tax clarity and address theconcerns of foreign investors. Instead of only FIIs,the panel has been told to look into issues pertainingto all non-resident tax payers. On the need forpostponing implementation of GAAR, the Shomepanel in its draft report said: “The implementationof GAAR may be deferred by three years onadministrative grounds. GAAR is an extremelyadvanced instrument of tax administration — oneof deterrence, rather than for revenue generation— for which intensive training of tax officers,who would specialise in the finer aspects ofinternational taxation, is needed… Hence GAARshould be deferred for three years. But the year,2016-17, should be announced now. In effect,therefore, GAAR would apply from AssessmentYear 2017-18. Pre-announcement is a commonpractice internationally, in today‘s globalenvironment of freely flowing capital.”MAURITIUS ISSUE

Of particular concern for FIIs was the Mauritiusissue. To address their concerns, the expert panelsaid that while the provisions of GAAR should notbe invoked to “examine the genuineness of theresidency of an entity set up in Mauritius,” thegovernment should retain the provisions of theCBDT circular issued in the Year 2000 onacceptance of Tax Residence Certificate (TRC)issued by Mauritius. “...if the government cannotaccept it (proposal to abolish capital gains tax ontransfer of listed securities) on political economy

grounds, a second best alternative would be toretain...the Circular accepting Tax ResidenceCertificate issued by the Mauritius authorities,” itsaid. In this regard, the Shome panel said: “Thegovernment should abolish the tax on gains arisingfrom transfer of listed securities, whether in thenature of capital gains or business income, to bothresidents as well as non-residents. In order to makethe proposal tax neutral, the government mayconsider to increase the rate of SecuritiesTransaction Tax (STT) appropriately.”

While recommending that GAAR shouldapply “only in cases of abusive, contrived andartificial arrangements”, the Shome panelsuggested that the I-T Act may be amended toprovide that only arrangements which have themain purpose (and not one of the main purposes)of obtaining tax benefit should be covered underGAAR. Highlighting that the objective of GAARshould be deterrence rather than revenue, thepanel has recommended that the Approving Panel(AP) for purposes of invoking GAAR provisionsshould consist of five members, includingChairman, who should be a retired judge of theHigh Court. Besides, two members should befrom outside government and persons ofeminence drawn from the fields of accountancy,economics or business, with knowledge ofmatters of income- tax, and two members shouldbe chief commissioners of income-tax or oneChief Commissioner and one Commissioner.

It also suggested that GAAR can beinvoked only with the approval of theCommissioner.

• China confidently coped with the globaleconomic crisis in 2008, and in 2010 itbecame the second largest economy inthe world. China’s per capita income rosefrom $1000 in 2002 to over 2500 now.Many events such as the BeijingOlympics and astronauts in spacemissions were major achievements.



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⇒ ABC of NAM & India’s point of view inthe context of 16th Summit.• Non Aligned Movement attracted more

interest than before with its 16th summitin Tehran last week.

It must have been disappointed. Iran’sbiggest international conference in several yearsdrew a full house, including Egypt’s firstdemocratically elected President MohammedMorsi; Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states also sentrepresentatives. And despite pressure by the U.Sand Israel not to attend, the United NationsSecretary-General was present too. It’s anothermatter that both President Morsi, who describedthe Assad regime as an “occupation” of Syria, andBan-ki Moon, who asked Iran to comply withU.N. demands or face isolation, did not play musicin President Mahmoud Ahamdinejad’s ears. StillIran came out looking better than it had before.For an Israel straining at the leash, this should besufficient discouragement against anyadventurism. Further, while western efforts toeffect regime change in Syria have divided theworld, and NAM’s members hold independentpositions on the situation there, this did not affectthe summit’s determination to press for equitable‘global governance’ — diplomatic argot for aninternational order more representative than thepresent Security Council.

For India, the summit was an importantoccasion to send out two timely messages. PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh’s assertion thatexternal intervention in Syria would only lead tomore problems for that country, and that a solutionhad to come from within, was New Delhi’sclearest statement of differences with the U.S.on this issue. India had voted for a UNSCresolution calling for sanctions against Syria in

July, but abstained from a General Assemblyresolution that included a reference to an ArabLeague demand for President Assad to stepdown. Second, Dr. Singh’s meetings with theIranian leadership were an opportunity todemonstrate that New Delhi’s relations withTehran would not be dictated by the U.S. Eversince the U.S stepped up its pressure on thenuclear front by threatening sanctions againstcountries buying Iranian oil, India has walked afine balance between the two countries.

The talks focussed on improving economicrelations; Iran recommitted to facilitating theChabahar route for India-Afghan trade. Foreignrelations are not the zero sum game some powerswould like it to be. India and Iran must now followup with quick action on the ground.⇒ TB Control: The Road Ahead.

India, with the highest TB burden in the world,even more serious, requiring urgent attention andnovel methods of intervention. It is within thiscontext that two major policy initiatives — to makeTB a notifiable disease and to ban serological tests— taken by the combined efforts of severalgovernment agencies are noteworthy, timely andlaudable.

The second policy decision to banserological diagnostic tests for TB is no lesssignificant. Serological or blood tests are basedon the successful detection of certain molecules(antigens) from the pathogen, or detection of thebody’s immune response to the pathogen(antibody response mostly). These are routinelyused for diagnosis of diseases like HIV/AIDS,malaria and hepatitis. In principle and in practice,when effective, these tests are economical, easyto use and quick in diagnosis of a diseasecondition.



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SEROLOGICAL TESTING

However, it has not been possible to developan accurate serological test for TB so far. Themain reason for this is that in disease endemiccountries like India, where most of the populationhas been exposed to TB, these serological testsare completely ineffective. Although healthy, withno symptoms of pulmonary disease, most of usare likely to test positive for TB and ininexperienced hands will perhaps be started onTB treatment. The dependence on such unreliabletests can only do harm, especially serious, in caseof TB, because many will end up undergoing TBtherapy without any need for it. Several scientificstudies have clearly shown that serological testsfor TB are not only of no value but also add tothe gravity of the problem by resulting in multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. The World HealthOrganisation has already advised all TB controlprogrammes against the use of any of these. Thus,the ban by law in India has come not a day toosoon. However, it should be emphasised that theban is only on the serological tests that are usedcurrently for TB and not for serological tests perse. If in future, a reliable and accurate serologicaltest is developed, it will certainly be allowed tobe used once its efficacy is proved.DETECTING GENETIC MATERIAL

The obvious query in any thinking person’smind would be: does this ban on serological testsin any way hamper doctors from diagnosing andtreating those suffering from TB and requiringurgent attention? The short answer is a definite“no” because these tests are of no value.Moreover, highly efficient tests based on detectinggenetic material from the TB bug are nowavailable and in use in many TB endemic

countries. These tests are highly reliable, quickand, more significantly, also address the problemof detection of most forms of drug-resistant TB.The challenge seems to be the price of thetechnology.

There is hope that in the future, home-grownand locally manufactured technologies will bediscovered and made available for public use.

These two landmark decisions indicate thepositive energy that gets generated when variousagencies manage to work in harmonioussynchronisation. It is difficult to imagine that suchvital decisions could have taken place withoutcare, consultation and the coordinated efforts ofall stakeholders in the public sphere involved inthe control of TB, along with government agencieslike the office of the Drugs Controller General ofIndia, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare(Revised National Tuberculosis ControlProgramme), Ministry of Communications &Information Technology and Indian Council ofMedical Research. All these and several othersinvolved in advocacy to control the disease needto be congratulated. These efforts also reflect theseriousness with which government and healthproviders in the country have decided to approachone of the most serious health problems in thecountry. There is hope and every reason tobelieve that with the combined efforts of publicand private health providers, TB and MDR-TBcan be effectively managed.⇒ Bill of Sexual harassment.

• The Sexual Harassment of Women atWorkplace (Prevention, Prohibition andRedressal) Bill 2012, recently passed bythe Lok Sabha.

• Supreme Court that resulted in alandmark 1997 judgment which, relying



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heavily on international conventions, laiddown the so-called Vishaka guidelines —a framework for dealing with sexualharassment at the workplace.

• A drafting initiative by the NationalCommission for Women, and pressurefrom civil society that we are close tohaving a full-fledged law that attemptsto strengthen the right of women to asecure and non-threatening environmentat the workplace.

• The legal framework of the Bill is erectedon the mandatory constitution of InternalComplaints Committees in offices andthe creation of Local ComplaintsCommittees in every district, twinmechanisms for redressal of complaints.Its ambit is wide as it covers, in keepingwith the Vishaka guidelines, theunorganised sector, which in relation toa workplace means any enterpriseengaged in the production of goods orproviding service of any kind includingthose that employ less than 10 workers.The definition of the sexual harassmentis expansive as well, including sexually-coloured remarks and any non-verbalgesture of a sexual nature. Setting upInternal Complaints Committees, whichmust include one member from a NGO,in all offices and branches with morethan 10 employees will take some doing.

• And it remains to be seen how thesecommittees, which have been vestedwith the powers of a civil court, willfunction.

• The proposed law may have missed atrick in not being gender-neutral.

• Protection of Children from Sexual

Offences Act, 2012.The identity andprivacy of the child will have to beprotected and emergency treatment willhave to be given in the presence of theparent or guardian or any other personin whom the victim has trust andconfidence. The rules, drafted by theNational Commission for Protection ofChild Rights (NCPCR) and put up forcomments by the Ministry of Women andChild Development, make it mandatoryfor any medical practitioner of a healthfacility to attend on an abused child fortreatment of cuts, bruises and otherinjuries, sexually transmitted diseases,treatment for exposure to HIV, includingprophylaxis for HIV after consultationswith experts.

• The special court may, in appropriatecases, order an interim compensation tomeet the immediate needs of the childfor relief and rehabilitation at any stageafter registration of the First InformationReport. It shall be adjusted against thefinal compensation, if any.

• Compensation is to be paid by the Stategovernment, within 30 days of the courtorder, from the Victim CompensationFund or any other scheme or fundestablished by it for rehabilitating victims.

Q. Higgs Boson Particle

Rolf Heuer, director general of the EuropeanOrganisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) saidhere on Monday that he believed that SatyendraNath Bose, the physicist in honour of whom a familyof particles in the Standard Model of particlephysics is named, should have been given theNobel Prize.

• “Higgs boson-like particle” in July this



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year was only the beginning of the workto be done on the particle.

• CERN authorities were eagerly awaitinga written application from India applyingfor associate membership of the CERNCouncil.

• At present, India has an observer statusat the CERN council.

Q. Basell III – FactsBasel III seeks to mitigate this externality

by identifying global systemically important banks(G-SIBs) and mandating them to maintain ahigher level of capital dependent on their level ofsystemic importance. The list of G-SIBs is to bereviewed annually. At present, no Indian bankappears in the list of G-SIBs.

• Banks in India are currently operatingon the Standardised Approaches of BaselII,” said Dr. Subbarao.

• The larger banks needed to migrate tothe Advanced Approaches, especially asthey expanded their overseas presence.The adoption of advanced approachesto risk management would enable banksto manage their capital more efficientlyand improve their profitability.

Q. APEC SummitMoscow attaches enormous importance to

its first ever chairmanship of the 21-membereconomic group, which represents 40 per cent ofthe global population and 54 per cent of theworld’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Russiahas poured a staggering $21 billion intopreparations for the September 8-9 summit —one and a half times as much as Britain spent onthe 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

• Russia’s emperor who moved the capitalfrom Moscow to Saint Petersburg.

• The European Union accounts for 50 percent of Russia’s foreign trade comparedwith less than 20 per cent for APECcountries, largely just four of them —China, the U.S., Japan and South Korea.

• The Kremlin’s probably most pressingmotive for wooing APEC business todevelop its Far East and East Siberia isto counterbalance China’s growinginfluence in the region.

• Its share of APEC trade does not exceed1.5 per cent. The situation may changenow that Russia has finally joined theWorld Trade Organisation after nearlytwo decades of talks, opening the wayfor free trade accords with APECmembers.

• A Russian think tank has estimated thatif the APEC countries invest $20-30billion in Russian transport infrastructure,they could save $600 billion by 2020.

OIL IS THE CRUX AT SUDAN DISPUTE

• South Sudan held a referendum and brokeaway from its northern neighbour.

• The division left land-locked South Sudanwith most of the region’s oil reserves;while Sudan retained the pipelines, mostof the refineries, and Port Sudan —where oil is loaded onto tankers andshipped across the world. Analystsestimate that the two countries havebetween 4.2 billion and 6.7 billon barrels— a fraction of the estimated globalreserve of 1,653 billion barrels.

• OVL has also financed and constructeda 741 km pipeline from the Khartoumrefinery in Sudan to Port Sudan on theRed Sea.



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• South Sudan unilaterally stopped oilproduction after a dispute over the transitfee demanded by the North for use ofits pipelines.

• The stalemate has affected bothcountries; the International MonetaryFund estimates that oil accounts for about90 per cent of Sudan’s exports and 98per cent of South Sudan’s state revenues.

• In August this year, the two countriesarrived at an agreement on oil transit feespursuant to a broader agreement onborder security along a 10 km widedemilitarised zone.

• A referendum on Abyei has beenpostponed indefinitely as both sidesdisagree over who should be allowed toparticipate in the referendum.

80% OF HUMAN

GENOME HAS AN ACTIVE ROLE OR FUNCTION

• The ENCODE project has found that notone per cent but 80.4 per cent of thegenome has an active role or function.For instance, it could be “promoter”regions where “proteins bind to controlgene expression” or “enhancer” regionsthat “regulate the expression of distantgenes.”

• The most important part is that genescomprise only 2 per cent of the genome.

• The regulatory regions are scattered inthe 98 per cent of the genome.

• A paper in Nature explains the importantfeatures of organisation and functioningof the human genome. It states that in95 per cent of the cases, the genes arein close proximity to the regulatoryswitches.

• To their amazement, the researchersfound that most genes are not controlledby just one switch. Instead, the genesare regulated by more than a dozenswitches. In other words, there is no one-to-one relationship between a gene anda switch.

• Genes are copied (transcribed) into RNAmolecules

• The ENCODE team found that 76 percent of disease-associated variants in thenon-gene regions are linked to theregulatory DNA.

• “ENCODE is a foundation data set forunderstanding the human genome.”

• ENCODE is a truly internationalcollaborative effort — 442 scientistsfrom 32 laboratories in the U.K., U.S,Spain, Singapore and Japan wereinvolved.

• They generated and analysed over 15terabytes (15 trillion bytes) of raw data.True to its international team effort, allof the data from the project is freelyavailable to the public.

• The study included 8 people who hadnever smoked and 24 smokers, 11 withnormal lung function and 13 people witheither chronic obstructive pulmonarydisease (COPD) or asthma.

PROPOSAL FOR SINGLE WOMEN IN 12TH PLAN

• The Planning Commission is pushing forspecial dispensation for single women,particularly those who are single bychoice, under various governmentschemes in the 12th Five Year Plan.

• In addition to reserving a certainpercentage of jobs for single women



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under Centrally sponsored schemes, thePlan panel has proposed promoting andstrengthening federations of singlewomen at the block and district levels.

• So far the recognised categories of singlewomen are widows and divorcees. Sofar the recognised categories of singlewomen are widows and divorcees. Sofar the recognised categories of singlewomen are widows and divorcees.

• So far the recognised categories of singlewomen are widows and divorcees.

⇒ Russia to Auction its Largest Gold-field• Russia will auction its largest unmined

gold deposit in the nearest future despitethe prohibitive cost of reaching theremote eastern Siberian field.

• Sukhoi Log’s estimated reserves of 2,000tonnes and 3,000 tonnes (64.3 million to96.4 million troy ounces) of gold and asmaller amount of silver make it into oneof the world’s largest untapped depositsof the precious metal.

• The field, located in the vast Irkutskregion of eastern Siberia, has beenlabelled ‘strategic’ by the RussianGovernment, and is not subject to bidsfrom foreigners.

• But Russia is now undergoing a newprivatisation campaign, and the businessdaily cited First Deputy Prime MinisterIgor Shuvalov as saying the auction termswould be announced ‘shortly’.

• Sukhoi Log (meaning ‘dry ravine’ inEnglish) suffers from a series ofdrawbacks that have been under studyfor some 50 years. Studies show that itsore has a low gold concentration, andneeds to be enriched.

• It also remains inaccessible by road, andhas no independent or outside supply ofthe water required for processing.

• The government’s own estimates say theproject would take 12 years to developat a cost of 49 billion rubles ($1.5 billion).

• The government’s own estimates say theproject would take 12 years to developat a cost of 49 billion rubles ($1.5 billion).

Q. Africa’s Initiative for Space Research• The space shuttle Icarus 13, with its

slender spires and massive flared base,is parked by the seafront a few blocksfrom downtown Luanda, the capital ofAngola.

• But the shuttle will never leave the oil-rich west African country for theweightless serenity of space — Icarus13 is not really a space ship, it is amausoleum, an art project, aconstructivist gesture in concrete.

• The Soviet-funded mausoleum ofAntonio Agostinho Neto, Angola’s firstPresident and Kremlin ally, became“Icarus 13” — a spaceship that wouldtake an all-African crew on a fantasticaljourney to the sun.

• At present, the entire continent has lessbandwidth than Norway; almost all ofwhich comes from 20-oddcommunication satellites, positioned overAfrica, that are owned by non-Africancompanies. “Space technologies…provide commercial opportunities andstrategic advantages for a tiny minorityof countries controlling them,” claims anAfrispace working paper.

• Space technologies can be divided intothe rocket science needed to put a

⇒



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satellite in space, and the earth stationknow-how necessary to make full useof the satellite once it is in orbit.

• “No African nation has the ability tolaunch a satellite even though Africa hasa massive advantage having land on theequator, meaning lower costs for gettinginto orbit,”.

• At present, countries like Ghana, SouthAfrica, and Nigeria are investing inground stations rather than rockets.While Ghana has set up the Ghana Spaceand Technology Centre that hopes tobecome a regional focal point for remotesensing, meteorological andcommunication technologies, Nigerialaunched three satellites last year.

• The NigComSat-1R communicationsatellite was built with Chinese support,while a British company built theNigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X imagingsatellites.

• Afrispace must build institutions toleverage scientific infrastructure intodevelopment gains, or metaphorically riskbecoming a mausoleum like Icarus 13.

• A pan-African space programme mayhave its detractors but the continent’spolicymakers believe that its benefits,including access to satellite data andbetter communications, far outweigh thecosts

Q. Aviation Sector opened up.The Cabinet Committee on Economic

Affairs, on Friday, approved 49 per cent foreigndirect investment (FDI) in the aviation sector,allowing foreign carriers to pick up stake indomestic airlines. This is likely to pave way forthe much-needed equity infusion into domestic

carriers, including loss- making KingfisherAirlines, which are passing through turbulenttimes as majority of them are crying for funds tosupport their operations. “Though FDI of up to49 per cent, 75 per cent and 100 per cent wasthere in the aviation sector, foreign airlines werenot allowed,’’ Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh toldreporters after the Cabinet meeting.CURRENT NORMS

• Current FDI norms allow foreigninvestors, not related to airline business,to directly or indirectly own an equitystake of up to 49 per cent in an Indiancarrier. Allowing foreign airlines to pickup stakes in Indian carriers has been along-pending demand of the aviationsector.

• The Indian aviation industry and thedomestic carriers are suffering lossesbecause of high taxes on jet fuel, highairport fees, costlier loans, poorinfrastructure, and cut-throatcompetition. Except IndiGo, all airlineshave posted losses in the financial yearending March 31.

• Cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines, whichis burdened with a debt of over Rs.7,000crore, and is operating with a bareminimum fleet, has been the most vocalsupporter of allowing FDI in the sector.

• The opening of the sector to foreignairlines may, however, bring good newsfor passengers who would benefit frommore competitive fares, better productand services and better internationalconnectivity.

• Foreign carriers such as British Airwaysand Virgin Atlantic Airways have



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expressed interest in investing in Indiancarriers.

• However, Lufthansa Airlines said it hadno plans to make further investments inIndian carriers.

Q. 11 Countries to Strengthen Capacities toaddress autism.Bringing hope to families with autistic

children, 11 countries from the WHO SoutheastAsian Region at a recent meeting adopted aresolution on the distinct brain damage disorderthat produces a range of behaviouralabnormalities. The countries resolved tostrengthen national capacities and help mobiliseresources in Southeast Asia to address this issue.

Autism is a severely incapacitatingdevelopmental disability that happens in the firstthree years of life, but can be better dealt with ifdetected early. Statistics show that one in every150 births is autistic. India has over one croreautistic children, but treatment and rehabilitationfacilities are virtually non-existent.

The resolution impressed upon the memberstates to give appropriate recognition to autismspectrum disorders (ASD) and otherdevelopmental disabilities in policies andprogrammes related to early childhooddevelopment, and asked them to develop andimplement policies and plans — including publicawareness, stigma removal campaigns, supportedwith adequate human, financial and technicalresources — to address the issue.

The meeting called for development ofstrategies for early detection and community-based interventions for such children, therebyleading to the creation of appropriateinfrastructure for care, support, intervention,service and rehabilitation.

The WHO expressed deep concern overthe dramatic rise in the number of children withautism and developmental disabilities, and thegrowing cost involved in managing suchdisabilities in addition to the challenges of stigma,isolation and discrimination faced by familiesdealing with autism.

To begin with, the 11 countries have agreedto support the activities of autism-relatednetworks, including the South Asia Network(SAAN) — a concept that emerged from theDhaka Declaration on Autism SpectrumDisorders and Developmental Disabilities,adopted at the end of a conference organised lastyear by Bangladesh Prime Minister SheikhHasina’s daughter Saima Hossain, to discuss theneeds and challenges of the autism community inBangladesh and South Asia. The conference wasattended by United Progressive Alliancechairperson Sonia Gandhi.Q. World Divided, India Undecided As 193

Nations Gear to Decide the Future ofNet & MobileIn December this year, representatives of

193 governments will meet in Dubai to vote oncritical proposals that will decide how the Internetis governed from now on.

The discussion, to be held at the WorldConference on International Telecommunications(WCIT), will impact nearly six billion mobilephone users and two billion Internet users. Theseinclude 700 million mobile phone and 100 millionInternet users in India.

The subject has assumed controversialproportions for two reasons: the countries aredivided in their positions; and the issues have splitnational governments vis-à-vis their own telecomand Internet industry, civil society and academia



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in many cases. In that sense, the global divideamong nation states is worsened by the yawningdivide among stakeholders.

Between December 4 and 13, thegovernments will review a treaty known asInternational Telecom Regulations (ITRs) underthe aegis of a lesser known U.N. bureaucracy —the International Telecommunications Union(ITU). The ITRs were last reviewed in 1988,when phone companies worldwide weregovernment-owned and the Internet was notavailable for consumer use.

Today, a vast majority of networks andsubscribers are under private companies, and theInternet, which started with 16 million subscribersin 1995, has more than two billion users; nearlyhalf-a-million are added every day.

Under discussion are several proposals,including cybersecurity, data privacy misuse,fraud and spam, which could give the states morecontrol over content and access to networks; newpeering arrangements and impact on costs ofInternet traffic, which may increase the cost ofusers, especially in developing countries; “newtechnologies” regulation, which may open the wayfor censorship through technologies, like DNSfiltering, that fragment the global Internet; areview of Internet addresses leading to changein the global address registry and how usersaccess websites today; and, finally, government-regulated international mobile roaming tariffswhich may impact the use of international SIMcards, like Matrix, to lower costs.Q. An Excessive Remedy

The Supreme Court order on theappointment of Information Commissioners hashad an unsettling effect on the working of theRight to Information Act, an elegant seven-year

old law that has immeasurably empowered theaverage citizen. What was designed as an easy-to-use legal tool for the poor and weak may nowbe at risk of getting tangled in a web of complexity.The Court has, inter alia , ruled that thecompetent authority should prefer a person whois or has been a judge of the High Court forappointment as Information Commissioners, whilethe head of the Information Commissions at theCentre or State shall only be a person who is orhas been a Chief Justice of a High Court or aJudge of the Supreme Court.

The reasoning is that these bodies performjudicial and quasi-judicial functions and suchqualifications are essential to meet the ends ofjustice. The decision comes in the wake ofcomplaints that the system of appointingInformation Commissioners lacks transparency.That is true. Some States follow a closed-doorappointments process, packing Commissions withfavoured bureaucrats and political loyalists. Yet,the scale of the remedy is excessive. Byspecifying qualifications for appointments andinstituting new working methodologies forCommissions, which it wants legislated, the courtclearly intrudes into executive privilege.

The RTI Act has escaped many attemptsby the Centre to whittle down its scope, with civilsociety rising to its defence each time. Given theculture of secrecy and pervasive corruption, thelaw is a nightmare for many in authority. But ithas weathered the test of judicial scrutiny. Majorquestions on its scope have been decided by thecourts, including high profile issues such as thejudges’ assets case. Also, the majority of appealsbefore Information Commissions are those filedby citizens seeking simple information. Theexceptions on disclosure under Section 8 of the



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RTI Act are clear, and the law leaves all otherinformation held by public authorities open —there is little scope there for judicial interpretation.In any case, several orders of the Commissionsin favour of citizens are challenged by officials inregular courts. So far, the appellate process hasbeen refreshingly uncomplicated, as the applicantcan appear in person, without the need foradvocates, and the proceedings are in plainlanguage. If poor citizens have to appear beforea bench that has a judicial member and facelawyers employed by public authorities, theresulting asymmetry of power would clearlydefeat the purpose of the law. The Supreme Courtis correct in calling for due advertisement and arational basis for appointments to Commissions.But it should leave that task to Parliament toexecute.Q. Pakistan Tests Nuclear Capable Babur

MissilePakistan on Monday said it had successfully

test-fired an indigenously developed multi-tubecruise missile that can carry both nuclear andconventional warheads over a range of 700 km.According to the Inter Services Public Relations,the Babur (Hatf-VII) cruise missile can striketargets on land and at sea with “pinpointaccuracy”.

Armed with stealth features, Babur is low-flying and terrain-hugging. It is equipped withmodern cruise missile technology of TerrainContour Matching and Digital Scene Matchingand Area Co-relation. It was launched from aMulti Tube Missile Launch Vehicle in the presenceof the senior hierarchy of the Strategic PlansDivision.

In Monday’s test, the National CommandAuthority’s fully automated Strategic Command

and Control Support System was employed. Itenables robust command and control capability ofall strategic assets with round the clock situationalawareness in a digitised network-centricenvironment to decision makers at NationalCommand Centre (NCC), a statement put out byISPR said. “The system has the added capabilityof real time remote monitoring of missile flightpath”, it added.Q. Agni-IV Scores a Hit Yet again

• India on Wednesday successfully flight-tested the surface-to-surface Agni-IVmissile for its “full range of 4,000 km.”

• In a flawless flight that lasted 20 minutes,the nuclear-capable missile blasted offat 11.48 a.m. from a road-mobile launchpad on Wheeler Island off the Odishacoast and traced a parabolic path acrossthe sky. As its re-entry systems workedperfectly, the missile then plunged intothe Indian Ocean with its payload of onetonne of conventional explosives eruptingspectacularly.

• The payload systems withstood a searingtemperature of more than 3,000 degreesCelsius during the re-entry phase.

• This is the second consecutive successof Agni-IV: the missile scored a hit inNovember 2011, after the very first flightfailed in 2010.

• The Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO) hasdesigned and developed Agni-IV, whichis 20 metres long and weighs 17 tonnes.The two-stage vehicle, which uses solidfuel, can carry a one-tonne nuclearwarhead.

• Wednesday’s triumph caps a series ofsuccessful flights of Agni-V, Agni-I, Agni-



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