Insights Current Events OCT 2014

30 SEPTEMBER 2014
Komagata Maru centenary observed
A year-long centenary commemoration of the Komagata Maru was launched in the
presence of three granddaughters of Baba Gurdit Singh who was among the leaders
of the 376 immigrants aboard the ship that had been turned away from Canada and
forced to return to India.
The British imperial government saw the men on the ship as dangerous political
agitators, and sent the police to arrest Singh and others. While Singh escaped arrest,
19 men were killed in the firing.
About Komagata Maru incident:
A Japanese steam ship named Komagata maru, filled with Indian immigrants was
forced to return to India on September 29, 1914 from Canada when the passengers
were not allowed to land in Canada (only 24 out of 352 passengers were admitted to
Canada). This was due to the Continuous passage act enacted by the Canadian
government to check the immigrants and particularly from India.
In this incident, 19 Canada-bound Indian immigrants were killed in police firing and
many were arrested by the British police. This incident made the Ghadar Party
proclaim war and inspired thousands of Indian immigrants to come back and
organize an armed rebellion against British imperialism. However, this movement
was crushed by the British.
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their
Rehabilitation Act, 2013
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act,
2013 which came into force on 6th December, 2013, is an important tool for
achieving the governments objective of complete sanitation.
The Act addresses the twin problems of insanitary latrines and manual
scavengers in a very comprehensive manner. It provides for elaborate mechanisms
at the local, state and central level to ensure that the insanitary latrines which are the
root cause of manual scavenging are eliminated and the manual scavengers are
rehabilitated in alternative occupations on a sustainable basis.
Highlights
The act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, the manual cleaning
of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment, and the construction
of insanitary latrines.
It seeks to rehabilitate manual scavengers and provide for their alternative
employment.
Each local authority, cantonment board and railway authority is responsible
for surveying insanitary latrines within its jurisdiction. They shall also
construct a number of sanitary community latrines.
Each occupier of insanitary latrines shall be responsible for converting or
demolishing the latrine at his own cost. If he fails to do so, the local authority
shall convert the latrine and recover the cost from him.
The District Magistrate and the local authority shall be the implementing
authorities.
Offences under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailable, and may be tried
summarily.
As per the Act, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis has been mandated
to monitor the implementation of the Act. It states that the Commission shall
perform the following functions:
To monitor the implementation of the Act;
To enquire into complaints regarding contravention of the provisions of the
Act, and to convey its findings to the concerned authorities with
recommendations requiring further action; and
To advise the Central and the State Governments for effective implementation
of the provisions of the Act.
To take suo motu notice of matter relating to non-implementation of the Act.
In the discharge of its above mentioned functions, the Commission has been given
the powers to call for information with respect to any matter specified above from
any Government or local or other authority.
About NABARD
It is an apex development and specialized bank established on 12 July 1982 by an act
by the parliament of India.
Its main focus is to uplift rural India by increasing the credit flow for elevation of
agriculture & rural non farm sector.
It was established based on the recommendations of the Committee set up by the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the chairmanship of Shri B. shivaraman.
It replaced the Agricultural Credit Department (ACD) and Rural Planning and Credit
Cell (RPCC) of Reserve Bank of India, and Agricultural Refinance and Development
Corporation (ARDC).
It is one of the premier agencies to provide credit in rural areas.
It has been accredited with matters concerning policy, planning and operations in
the field of credit for agriculture and other economic activities in rural areas in
India.
NABARD is active in developing financial inclusion policy and is a member of the
Alliance for Financial Inclusion.
Its role and functions:
It looks after the development of the cottage industry, small industry and village
industry, and other rural industries.
The Bank has been given certain roles as follows:
It Serves as an apex financing agency for the institutions providing investment
and production credit for promoting the various developmental activities in
rural areas
It takes measures towards institution building for improving absorptive
capacity of the credit delivery system, including monitoring, formulation of
rehabilitation schemes, restructuring of credit institutions, training of
personnel, etc.
Co-ordinates the rural financing activities of all institutions engaged in
developmental work at the field level and maintains liaison with Government
of India, State Governments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and other national
level institutions concerned with policy formulation
It Undertakes monitoring and evaluation of projects refinanced by it.
NABARD refinances the financial institutions which finances the rural sector.
It regulates the institution which provides financial help to the rural economy.
It provides training facilities to the institutions working the field of rural
upliftment.
It regulates the cooperative banks and the RRBs, and manages talent
acquisition through IBPS CWE.
NABARD is also known for its SHG Bank Linkage Programme which encourages
Indias banks to lend to SHGs.
01 OCTOBER 2014
About Enforcement Directorate
Enforcement Directorate, established in the year 1956, is a law enforcement agency
and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and
fighting economic crime in India.
Directorate of Enforcement is a specialized financial investigation agency under
the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, which
enforces the following laws:
Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999 (FEMA) A civil law having quasi
judicial powers, for investigating suspected contraventions of the Exchange Control
laws and regulations with powers to impose penalties on those adjudged guilty.
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) A Criminal Law, with
the officers empowered to conduct investigations to trace assets derived out of the
proceeds of crime, and to provisionally attach/ confiscate the same, to arrest and
prosecute the offenders found to be involved in Money Laundering.
The other functions include:
To collect, develop and disseminate intelligence relating to violations of
FEMA, 1999, the intelligence inputs are received from various sources such as
Central and State Intelligence agencies, complaints etc.
To investigate suspected violations of the provisions of the FEMA, 1999
relating to activities such as hawala foreign exchange racketeering, non-
realization of export proceeds, non-repatriation of foreign exchange and other
forms of violations under FEMA, 1999.
To adjudicate cases of violations of the erstwhile FERA, 1973 and FEMA, 1999.
To realize penalties imposed on conclusion of adjudication proceedings.
To handle adjudication, appeals and prosecution cases under the erstwhile
FERA, 1973
To process and recommend cases for preventive detention under the
Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act
(COFEPOSA)
To undertake survey, search, seizure, arrest, prosecution action etc. against
offender of PMLA offence.
To provide and seek mutual legal assistance to/from contracting states in
respect of attachment/confiscation of proceeds of crime as well as in respect of
transfer of accused persons under PMLA.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.enforcementdirectorate.gov.in/.

Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as CVC
President Pranab Mukherjee has authorised Vigilance Commissioner Rajiv to act as
Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) until a regular appointment is made.
About CVC:
Established in 1964, it is the Main agency to address governmental corruption.
The CVC is not an investigating agency, and works through either the CBI or through
the Departmental Chief Vigilance Officers.
It was created by a resolution of the central government on the recommendation of
the Santhanam commission.
The CVC is headed by a Central Vigilance Commissioner who is assisted by two
Vigilance Commissioners. They are appointed by the President of India by warrant
under his hand and seal on the recommendation of a 3 member committee
consisting of Prime Minister, central Home Minister and the leader of the opposition
in the Lok Sabha.
The term of office of the Central Vigilance Commissioner and the Vigilance
Commissioners would be four years from the date on which they enter their office or
till they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier and they are not eligible for
further reappointment.

The Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance Commissioner can be removed
from his office only by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehavior or
incapacity after the Supreme Court, on a reference made to it by the President, has,
on inquiry, reported that the Central Vigilance Commissioner or any Vigilance
Commissioner, as the case may be, ought to be removed.

CVC is only an advisory body. Central Government Departments are free to either
accept or reject CVCs advice in corruption cases.
The Ordinance of 1998 conferred statutory status to the CVC and the powers to
exercise superintendence over functioning of the Delhi Special Police Establishment,
and also to review the progress of the investigations pertaining to alleged offences
under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 conducted by them.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, cvc.nic.in.

Rift between Hong Kong and China
China has failed to keep up the political commitments it made before taking control
of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. And hence protests are going on in Hong Kong
demanding Democratic elections.
About Hong Kong and its relationship with China:
Hong Kong is officially known as Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the
Peoples Republic of China and is an autonomous region on the southern coast of
China geographically enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea.
It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. It is also known for its
deep natural harbour.
Hong Kong became a colony of the British Empire after the First Opium War (1839
42). Hong Kong Island was first ceded to the UK in perpetuity, followed by Kowloon
Peninsula in 1860 and then the New Territories was put under lease in 1898. It was
occupied by Japan during the Pacific War (194145), after which the British resumed
control until 1997.
As a result of the negotiations and the 1984 agreement between China and Britain,
Hong Kong was handed over to the Peoples Republic of China and became its first
Special Administrative Region on 1 July 1997, under the principle of one country,
two systems.
As the last Crown Colony of the United Kingdom, loss of Hong Kong also represented
the end of the British Empire.
It has a different political system from mainland China. Hong Kongs independent
judiciary functions under the common law framework. The Hong Kong Basic Law,
the constitutional document drafted by the Chinese side before the handover based
on the terms enshrined in the Joint Declaration, governs its political system, and
stipulates that Hong Kong shall have a high degree of autonomy in all matters except
foreign relations and military defence.
Points of tension between the Mainland and the Special Administrative Region
(SAR), handed back to Beijing in 1997 after British rule ended, have been
demonstrated in terms of marked differences in public behaviour to business ethics,
as well as language and colloquialism barriers.
Recent protests:
The agreement signed by Britain and China allowed Hong Kong to retain its free-
market economy, a legal system with an independent judiciary and other rights,
including greater civil liberties than residents of the mainland. China also promised
free elections for Hong Kongs chief executive in 2017, but, in august 2014, Chinas
legislature called for limiting the candidates who would be allowed to run, among
other restrictions. With the government insisting on controlling the nomination
process, the protesters demand for fully democratic elections looked to be slipping
away, so they took to the streets.
China blocked moves by Hong Kong to move to full democracy, by ruling that only
three candidates could run for elections as leader in 2017, and they would not be
chosen by any process in Hong Kong, but by a nomination committee established by
China.
Hong Kongers will be able to vote for their next chief executive in 2017 elections but
only two or three candidates vetted by a pro-Beijing committee will be allowed to
stand something demonstrators have labelled a fake democracy that shows Hong
Kong cannot trust its mainland overseers.
Civil liberties have also been increasingly restricted, while the election of the regions
chief executive is largely seen as a farce puppet-stringed by Beijing.
The crisis is also raising concerns in Taiwan, a self-governing island that the Chinese
government insists is a province of China that must one day be reunited with the
mainland. After whats happened in Hong Kong, the Taiwanese will have no reason
ever to trust Chinas promise of one country, two systems.
Sources: The Hindu, www.nytimes.com, wiki.

Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
The Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), which came into force in
July 2005, is aimed at combating money laundering in India with three main
objectives
to prevent and control money laundering.
to confiscate and seize the property obtained from laundered money, and
to deal with any other issue connected with money laundering in India.
The Act provides that whosoever directly or indirectly attempts to indulge or
knowingly assists or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or
activity connected with the proceeds of crime and projecting it as untainted property,
shall be guilty of offences of money-laundering. For the purpose of money-
laundering, the PMLA identifies certain offences under the Indian Penal Code, the
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the Arms Act, the Wild Life
(Protection) Act, the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and the Prevention of
Corruption Act, the proceeds of which would be covered under this Act.
Special Court under Section 43 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
(PMLA) says that the Central Government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of
the High Court, shall, for trial of offence punishable under Section 4, by notification,
designate one or more Courts of Session as Special Court or Special Courts for such
area or areas or for such case or class or group of cases as may be specified in the
notification.
A person, who is accused of having committed the offence of money laundering, has
to prove that alleged proceeds of crime are in fact lawful property.
This act extends to the whole of India including the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
The Directorate of Enforcement in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance
is responsible for investigating the cases of offence of money laundering under
Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.
Financial Intelligence Unit India (FIU-IND) under the Department of Revenue,
Ministry of Finance is the central national agency responsible for receiving,
processing, analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspect financial
transactions to enforcement agencies and foreign FIUs.
For further reference:
http://www.enforcementdirectorate.gov.in/faqs_on_pmla.pdf.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, www.enforcementdirectorate.gov.in, fiuindia.gov.in.

Reserve Bank keeps policy rates unchanged
Repo rate unchanged : 8 per cent.
Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) : 4 per cent.
(The repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends money to banks. The CRR is
the portion of total deposits of customers, which commercial banks have to hold as
reserves either in cash or as deposits with the central bank).
Medium-term objective: inflation target of 6 per cent by January 2016.
Oct 2
New NATO head takes over
Former two-term Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg started to work as
NATOs Secretary-General, the 13th in the trans-Atlantic organisations 65-year
existence.
About NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 28 countries
from North America and Europe committed to fulfilling the goals of the North
Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. In accordance with the Treaty, the
fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member
countries by political and military means. NATO is playing an increasingly important
role in crisis management and peacekeeping.
NATOs essential purpose is to safeguard the freedom and security of its members
through political and military means.
POLITICAL NATO promotes democratic values and encourages consultation and
cooperation on defence and security issues to build trust and, in the long run,
prevent conflict.
MILITARY NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If
diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military capacity needed to undertake crisis-
management operations. These are carried out under Article 5 of the Washington
Treaty NATOs founding treaty or under a UN mandate, alone or in cooperation
with other countries and international organizations.
NATO provides a unique opportunity for member countries to consult and take
decisions on security issues at all levels and in a variety of fields.
A NATO decision is the expression of the collective will of all 28 member
countries since all decisions are taken by consensus.
All member countries that participate in the military aspect of the Alliance contribute
forces and equipment, which together constitute the integrated military structure of
the Alliance. These forces and assets remain under national command and control
until a time when they are required by NATO for a specific purpose (i.e. conflict or
crisis, peacekeeping). NATO, however, does possess some common capabilities
owned and operated by the Alliance, such as the AWACS early warning radar aircraft.
NATO against Terrorism:
NATOs work on counter-terrorism focuses on improved threat awareness and
preparedness, developing adequate capabilities and enhancing engagement with
partner countries and other international actors.
On 12 September 2001, less than 24 hours after the terrorist attacks against the
United States, NATO declared the attacks to be an attack against all the 28 NATO
member countries within the terms of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
This landmark decision was followed by practical measures aimed at assisting the
United States in different fields, in relation to its campaign against terrorism.
NATO and CYBER DEFENCE:
Against the background of increasing dependence on technology and on the Internet,
the Alliance is advancing its efforts to confront the wide range of cyber threats
targeting NATOs networks on a daily basis. The growing sophistication of cyber
attacks makes the protection of the Alliances communications and information
systems (CIS) an urgent task. This objective has been recognised as a priority in
NATOs Strategic Concept.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, www.nato.int.
National Green Tribunal (NGT)
The National Green Tribunal has been established under the National Green
Tribunal Act
2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental
protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including
enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and
compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.
It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle
environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal shall not be
bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but
shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
The Tribunals dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy
environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or
appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
Members:
The sanctioned strength of the tribunal is currently 10 expert members and 10
judicial members although the act allows for up to 20 of each.
The Chairman of the tribunal who is the administrative head of the tribunal also
serves as a judicial member.
Every bench of the tribunal must consist of at least one expert member and one
judicial member. The Chairman of the tribunal is required to be a serving or retired
Chief Justice of a High Court or a judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Members are chosen by a selection committee (headed by a sitting judge of the
Supreme Court of India) that reviews their applications and conducts interviews.
The Judicial members are chosen from applicants who are serving or retired judges
of High Courts. Expert members are chosen from applicants who are either serving
or retired bureaucrats not below the rank of an Additional Secretary to the
Government of India (not below the rank of Principal Secretary if serving under a
state government) with a minimum administrative experience of five years in dealing
with environmental matters. Or, the expert members must have a doctorate in a
related field.
Jurisdiction:
The Tribunal has Original Jurisdiction on matters of substantial question relating to
environment (i.e. a community at large is affected, damage to public health at
broader level) & damage to environment due to specific activity (such as pollution).
However there is no specific method is defined in Law for determining substantial
damage to environment, property or public health.
The powers of tribunal related to an award are equivalent to Civil court and tribunal
may transmit any order/award to civil court have local jurisdiction. The Act specifies
that an application for dispute related to environment can be filled within six months
only when first time dispute arose (provided tribunal can accept application after 60
days if it is satisfied that appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filling the
application).
Also Tribunal is competent to hear cases for several acts such as Forest
(Conservation) Act, Biological Diversity Act, Environment (Protection) Act, Water &
Air (Prevention & control of Pollution) Acts etc. and also have appellate jurisdiction
related to above acts after establishment of Tribunal within a period of 30 days of
award or order received by aggrieved party.
The Act says that decision taken by majority of members shall be binding and every
order of Tribunal shall be final. Any person aggrieved by an award, decision, or order
of the Tribunal may appeal to the Supreme Court within 90 days of commencement
of award but Supreme Court can entertain appeal even after 90 days if appellant
satisfied SC by giving sufficient reasons.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, http://www.greentribunal.gov.in/.
Punarjagaran- Mass Awakening Campaign for youth
It will be launched by The Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth
Affairs and Sports.
Punarjagaran aims at creating awareness among youth and empower them to
become active partners in nation building activities.
The yearlong Campaign also aims to make aware and educate youth on key issues in
thematic areas, provide information on the avenues for skill development, encourage
and empower them with the spirit of nationalism and volunteerism. The thematic
areas of the campaign are encouraging Nationalism, promoting Swachh Bharat,
Shramadaan and popularizing the recently launched Jan Dhan Yojana.
Sources: PIB.
PIO Card valid for Life Time
In pursuance of the announcement made by the Prime Minister of India, Shri
Narendra Modi at Madison Square Garden in New York on September 28, 2014,
now, Person of Indian Origin (PIO) Card shall be valid for life time and the PIO Card
holder shall be exempt from police reporting / registration.
It has been further clarified that all PIO Cards issued till September 30, 2014 are
automatically deemed to have life time validity.
About PIO card:
A PIO card allows visa free travel and several other benefits to the card holder.
All persons of Indian origin who are in possession of the passport of any other
country except Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Sri Lanka
or any other country specified by the government, are eligible for PIO Card if:
He/She had any time held an Indian passport.
He/She or either of his/her parents or grand parents or great grand parents
was born in India or permanent resident in India provided neither was at any
time a citizen of any other specific country.
He/She is a spouse of a citizen of India or a person of Indian origin covered
under 1 & 2 above.
Iranian nationals of Indian Origin can be granted PIO card after MHA
approval.
Sources: PIB, http://boi.gov.in/.

ECI Launches Video Game to Educate Voters
In a first of its kind effort, the Election Commission of India has developed a video
game titled Get! Set! Vote!
The game has been created to broadly engage citizens of all age groups to learn on
democracy and electoral process.
In a fun-filled and interactive manner, the video game gives out pieces of information
and interesting details in10 levels of mazes. With every successive level, the
information becomes more specific to subjects such as Indian democracy, registering
to vote, ethical voting, help from ECI and so on. The mazes also get more challenging
with the player clearing each level.
Under the Commissions SVEEP (Systematic Voter Education and Electoral
Participation) programme, the video game has been developed in collaboration with
UNDP India.
A series of edutainment materials including picture book Proud to be a Voter and
Garv se bane Matdata; Cartoon Strips Wah Election Wah; board game Ready!
Steady! Vote! and Vote kiBaazi; and radio programme Loktantra Express has
been developed for imparting voter education through entertainment.
Oct 3
Food Security Act: Odisha to digitise ration cards
Moving ahead in the implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA), the
Odisha government plans to take up digitisation for new ration cards.
About National Food Security Act, 2013:
It is also called as Right to Food act.
This is an act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized food grains
to approximately two thirds of Indias 1.2 billion people.
It extends to the whole of India.
Under the provisions of this act, beneficiaries are able to purchase 5 kilograms per
eligible person per month of cereals at the following prices:
rice at 3 Rupees per kg
wheat at 2 Rupees per kg
coarse grains (millet) at 1 rupee per kg.
Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for
daily free meals.
Salient features:
75% rural and 50% of the urban population are entitled for three years from
enactment to five kg food grains per month at 3 Rupees , 2 Rupees, 1 Rupee
per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains (millet), respectively.
The states are responsible for determining eligibility.
Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a nutritious take home
ration of 600 Calories and a maternity benefit of at least Rs 6,000 for six
months.
Children 6 months to 14 years of age are to receive free hot meals or take
home rations.
The central government will provide funds to states in case of short supplies of
food grains.
The state government will provide a food security allowance to the
beneficiaries in case of non-supply of food grains.
The Public Distribution System is to be reformed.
The eldest woman in the household, 18 years or above, is the head of the
household for the issuance of the ration card.
There will be state- and district-level redress mechanisms; and
State Food Commissions will be formed for implementation and monitoring of
the provisions of the Act.
The cost of the implementation is estimated to be $22 billion(1.25 lac crore),
approximately 1.5% of GDP.
The poorest who are covered under the Antodaya yojana will remain entitled
to the 35 kg of grains allotted to them under the mentioned scheme.

Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/ , Wiki.
United Nations Convention against Corruption
The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which entered into
force in December 2005, is the ever-first binding global anti-corruption instrument.
It obliges the States to prevent and criminalize different corrupt practices, promote
international cooperation, cooperate for the recovery of stolen assets and enhance
technical assistance and information exchange.
The Convention addresses both the public and private spheres and provides a set of
comprehensive agreed-upon obligations and provisions to criminalize corruption
and enhance transparency and accountability. In order to monitor the progress in the
implementation of the Convention, Member States have agreed to conduct peer-
review mechanisms among themselves, for which UNODC acts as a Secretariat.
It is the first global legally binding international anti-corruption instrument. And is a
multilateral convention negotiated by members of the United Nations.
UNCAC requires that States Parties implement several anti-corruption measures
which may affect their laws, institutions and practices. These measures aim at
preventing corruption, criminalizing certain conducts, strengthening international
law enforcement and judicial cooperation, providing effective legal mechanisms for
asset recovery, technical assistance and information exchange, and mechanisms for
implementation of the Convention, including the Conference of the States Parties to
the United Nations Convention against Corruption (CoSP).
UNCAC was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 31 October 2003
by Resolution.
Currently, there are 172 parties, including the European Union.
UNCAC covers five main areas: preventive measures, criminalization and law
enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, and technical assistance and
information exchange. It includes both mandatory and non-mandatory provisions.
In May 2011, the Indian Government ratified the United Nations Convention against
Corruption (UNCAC) convention.
Oct 4
Move to Deny Foreign Nationals Access to Surrogacy Draws Flak
The view among experts looking into the new Assisted Reproductive Technologies
(Regulation) Bill 2014 that single parents and foreign nationals should not be allowed to have
children through surrogates in India has come in for criticism.
Some experts opine that single men or women cant be deprived of the right to have children
through surrogacy. Any restriction on foreign parent, single or couple, may be questioned as
foreigners, irrespective of marital status, are allowed inter-country adoptions under Indian
law. Even, the Supreme Court allows religion and gender-free secular adoptions. Even
transgenders will have rights. A right to reproductive autonomy as part of Right to Life under
Article 21 is available even to foreigners as persons and cannot be unreasonably curtailed.
The view to disallow foreign nationals stems from the concern over citizenship rights of
children born to Indian surrogate mothers as several countries have banned surrogacy and do
not recognise the children born through assisted means as their citizens.
The Supreme Court had asked the government to clarify its stand on the citizenship of
children born via an Indian surrogate mother in India, but whose biological mother is a
foreign national. A Supreme Court Bench led by Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked: Under the
Constitution, a child born in India from an Indian surrogate mother is entitled to Indian
citizenship, but what happens if the biological mother is a foreign citizen and the child
applies for citizenship of that country. The Bench is looking into the larger issue of the need
for a comprehensive legislation dealing with all the issues and situations, including
citizenship of a surrogate child, created by the latest reproductive technology.
There has been an intense debate on the provisions of the ART Bill, with a majority of the
stakeholders favouring that only married Indian couples be allowed to hire surrogates. A
small section says it could be extended to couples where at least one parent is an Indian
national. It is now left to the government to take a decision and present the Bill in Parliament
Indian Council for Medical Research guidelines on Surrogacy:
The Indian Council for Medical Research has given Guidelines in the year 2005 regulating
Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures. The following observations have been made
by the Law Commission in its report:
Surrogacy arrangement will continue to be governed by contract amongst parties,
which will contain all the terms requiring consent of surrogate mother to bear child,
agreement of her husband and other family members for the same, medical
procedures of artificial insemination, reimbursement of all reasonable expenses for
carrying child to full term, willingness to hand over the child born to the
commissioning parent(s), etc. But such an arrangement should not be for
commercial purposes.
A surrogacy arrangement should provide for financial support for surrogate child in
the event of death of the commissioning couple or individual before delivery of the
child, or divorce between the intended parents and subsequent willingness of none to
take delivery of the child.
A surrogacy contract should necessarily take care of life insurance cover for surrogate
mother.
One of the intended parents should be a donor as well, because the bond of love and
affection with a child primarily emanates from biological relationship. Also, the
chances of various kinds of child-abuse, which have been noticed in cases of
adoptions, will be reduced. In case the intended parent is single, he or she should be a
donor to be able to have a surrogate child. Otherwise, adoption is the way to have a
child which is resorted to if biological (natural) parents and adoptive parents are
different.
Legislation itself should recognize a surrogate child to be the legitimate child of the
commissioning parent(s) without there being any need for adoption or even
declaration of guardian.
The birth certificate of the surrogate child should contain the name(s) of the
commissioning parent(s) only.
Right to privacy of donor as well as surrogate mother should be protected.
Sex-selective surrogacy should be prohibited.
Cases of abortions should be governed by the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act
1971 only.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki.

Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual property (IP) rights are the legally recognized exclusive rights to creations of the
mind. Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety
of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions;
and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property rights
include copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, trade dress, and in some
jurisdictions trade secrets.
IPR plays a key role in almost every sector and has become a crucial factor for investment
decisions by many companies.
INDIA and IPR Regime:
In todays globalised scenario of expanding multilateral trade and commerce, it has become
inevitable for any country to protect its intellectual property by providing statutory rights to
the creators and inventors and thus help them fetch adequate commercial value for their
efforts in the world market.
This innovative and creative capacity is protected under the intellectual property system of
WTO. Recognising this fact, India as a founder member of WTO has ratified the Agreement
on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). As per the agreement, all member
countries including India are to abide by the mutually negotiated norms and standards within
the stipulated timeframe. Accordingly, India has set up an Intellectual Property Right (IPR)
regime, which is WTO compatible and is well established at all levels whether statutory,
administrative or judicial.
TRI PS is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO),
which sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property (IP) regulations
as applied to the nationals of other WTO Members.
IPR-related issues in India like patents, trademarks, copyrights, designs and geographical
indications are governed by the Patents Act 1970 and Patent Rules 2003, Trademarks Act
1999 and the Trademarks Rules 2002, Indian Copyrights Act, 1957, Design Act 2000 and
Rules 2001, and The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act,
1999 and The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration & Protection) Rules 2002,
respectively. All these Acts and regulations are at par with international standards.
The very well-balanced IPR regime in India acts as an incentive for foreign players to protect
their Intellectual Property in India. This can be established by the very fact that
approximately 80% of patent filings in India are from the MNCs.
While the IPR regime in India consists of robust IP laws, it lacks effective enforcement, for
which least priority given to adjudication of IP matters is often quoted as a reason.
The key challenge is to sensitize the enforcement officials and the Judiciary to take up IP
matters, at par with other economic offences, by bringing them under their policy radar.
The IPR division tries to provide proactive business solutions through research, interactions
at the highest political level while facilitating global networking. Further, since the IPR
provides exclusive rights over assets, it is a major challenge for the country to balance the
interests of the innovators and the interests of the society at large.
In todays highly competitive global economy, IPRs are giving companies the cutting edge
and increasing their competitiveness.
American companies, particularly from the pharma sector, have alleged that Indian IPR laws
discriminate against U.S. companies and violate global norms.
In the report
titled special 301 report
brought out by the U.S., India has been classified as a priority watch list country. On the
report, India has said that the Special 301 process is a unilateral measure taken by the U.S.
under their Trade Act, 1974, to create pressure on countries to increase IPR protection
beyond the TRIPS agreement.
But, India has consistently pointed out that the intellectual property rights (IPR) legal regime
in India is fully TRIPS compliant and that any issues to be discussed have to be discussed in
bilateral forums such as the Trade Policy Forum (TPF),.
For further reference:
http://www.ficci.com/sector/24/Project_docs/IPR-profile.pdf.
Sources: The Hindu, www.ficci.com, http://business.gov.in/.
International Convention for the Control and Management of
Ships Ballast Water and Sediments (BWM)
Invasive aquatic species present a major threat to the marine ecosystems, and shipping has
been identified as a major pathway for introducing species to new environments. The
problem increased as trade and traffic volume expanded over the last few decades, and in
particular with the introduction of steel hulls, allowing vessels to use water instead of solid
materials as ballast. The effects of the introduction of new species have in many areas of the
world been devastating. Quantitative data show the rate of bio-invasions is continuing to
increase at an alarming rate.
The Ballast Water Management Convention, adopted in 2004, aims to prevent the spread
of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another, by establishing standards and
procedures for the management and control of ships ballast water and sediments.
Under the Convention, all ships in international traffic are required to manage their ballast
water and sediments to a certain standard, according to a ship-specific ballast water
management plan. All ships will also have to carry a ballast water record book and an
international ballast water management certificate.
The Convention will require all ships to implement a Ballast Water and Sediments
Management Plan. All ships will have to carry a Ballast Water Record Book and will be
required to carry out ballast water management procedures to a given standard. Existing ships
will be required to do the same, but after a phase-in period.
Parties to the Convention are given the option to take additional measures which are subject
to criteria set out in the Convention and to IMO guidelines.
General Obligations:
Under General Obligations, Parties undertake to give full and complete effect to the
provisions of the Convention and the Annex in order to prevent, minimize and ultimately
eliminate the transfer of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and
management of ships ballast water and sediments.
Parties are given the right to take, individually or jointly with other Parties, more stringent
measures with respect to the prevention, reduction or elimination of the transfer of harmful
aquatic organisms and pathogens through the control and management of ships ballast water
and sediments, consistent with international law. Parties should ensure that ballast water
management practices do not cause greater harm than they prevent to their environment,
human health, property or resources, or those of other States.
This convention also calls for Parties individually or jointly to promote and facilitate
scientific and technical research on ballast water management; and monitor the effects of
ballast water management in waters under their jurisdiction.
For further reference:
http://www.imo.org/About/Conventions/ListOfConventions/Pages/International-Convention-
for-the-Control-and-Management-of-Ships-Ballast-Water-and-Sediments-(BWM).aspx.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.imo.org/.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
It is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and
weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to
further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.
The Treaty entered into force in 1970.
More countries have adhered to the NPT than any other arms limitation and disarmament
agreement, a testament to the Treatys significance.
A total of 190 states have joined the Treaty. Four UN member states have never joined the
NPT: India, Israel, Pakistan and South Sudan. North Korea, which acceded to the NPT in
1985 but never came into compliance, announced its withdrawal in 2003.
The treaty recognizes five states as nuclear-weapon states: the United States, Russia, the
United Kingdom, France, and China. Four other states are known or believed to possess
nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan and North Korea have openly tested and declared that they
possess nuclear weapons, while Israel has had a policy of opacity regarding its nuclear
weapons program.
The NPT is interpreted as a three-pillar system, with an implicit balance among them: the
three pillars are:
non-proliferation,
disarmament, and
The right to peacefully use nuclear technology.
The NPT non-nuclear-weapon states agree never to acquire nuclear weapons and the NPT
nuclear-weapon states in exchange agree to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology
and to pursue nuclear disarmament aimed at the ultimate elimination of their nuclear arsenals.
The treaty is reviewed every five years in meetings called Review Conferences of the Parties
to the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Even though the treaty was originally
conceived with a limited duration of 25 years, the signing parties decided, by consensus, to
extend the treaty indefinitely and without conditions.
Several additional measures have been adopted to strengthen the NPT and the broader
nuclear non-proliferation regime and make it difficult for states to acquire the capability to
produce nuclear weapons, including the export controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and
the enhanced verification measures of the IAEA Additional Protocol.
Important articles in the Treaty:
Each nuclear-weapons state (NWS) undertakes not to transfer, to any recipient,
nuclear weapons, or other nuclear explosive devices, and not to assist any non-nuclear
weapon state to manufacture or acquire such weapons or devices.
Each non-NWS party undertakes not to receive, from any source, nuclear weapons, or
other nuclear explosive devices; not to manufacture or acquire such weapons or
devices; and not to receive any assistance in their manufacture.
Each non-NWS party undertakes to conclude an agreement with the IAEA for the
application of its safeguards to all nuclear material in all of the states peaceful
nuclear activities and to prevent diversion of such material to nuclear weapons or
other nuclear explosive devices.
Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the
Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for
peaceful purposes without discrimination.
All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in,
the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological
information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Parties to the Treaty in a position
to do so shall also co-operate in contributing alone or together with other States or
international organizations to the further development of the applications of nuclear
energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon
States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing
areas of the world.
The states undertake to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures
relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear
disarmament, and towards a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under
strict and effective international control.
Oct 6
National Investigation Agency
National Investigation Agency (NIA) is a federal agency established by the
Indian Government to combat terror in India. It acts as the Central Counter
Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency. The agency is empowered to deal with terror
related crimes across states without special permission from the states.
The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the National Investigation
Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament of India on 31 December 2008.
NIA was created after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as need for a central agency to
combat terrorism was realised.
NIA has concurrent jurisdiction which empowers the Centre to probe terror
attacks in any part of the country, covering offences, including challenge to the
countrys sovereignty and integrity, bomb blasts, hijacking of aircraft and ships, and
attacks on nuclear installations.
Other than offenses of terrorism, it also deals with counterfeit currency, human
trafficking, narcotics or drugs, organised crime (extortion mobs and gangs), plane
hijacking and violations of atomic energy act and weapons of mass destruction act.
Jurisdiction:
The Agency has been empowered to conduct investigation and prosecution of
offenses under the Acts specified in the Schedule of the NIA Act.
A State Government may request the Central Government to hand over the
investigation of a case to the NIA, provided the case has been registered for the
offenses as contained in the schedule to the NIA Act.
Central Government can also order NIA to take over investigation of any scheduled
offense anywhere in the India.
Officers of the NIA who are drawn from the Indian Revenue Service and the Indian
Police Service have all powers, privileges and liabilities which the police officers have
in connection with investigation of any offense.
Special Courts:
Various Special Courts have been notified by the Central Government of India for
trial of the cases registered at various police stations of NIA under the NIA Act 2008.
Any question as to the jurisdiction of these courts is decided by the Central
Government. These are presided over by a judge appointed by the Central
Government on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the High Court with
jurisdiction in that region.
Supreme Court of India has also been empowered to transfer the cases from one
special court to any other special court within or outside the state if the same is in the
interest of justice in light of the prevailing circumstances in any particular state. They
are empowered with all powers of the court of sessions under Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 for trial of any offense.
An appeal from any judgment, sentence or order, not being an interlocutory order, of
a Special Court lies to the High Court both on facts and on law. Such an appeal is
heard by a bench of two Judges of the High Court.
At present there are 38 Special NIA Courts. State Governments have also been
empowered to appoint one or more such special courts in their states.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.nia.gov.in/.
Mautana
Mautana or monetary compensation is a tradition where the victims family receive
a settlement when one of their own passes away from the accused family. It is a
custom started by a Tribal Community in Rajasthan. It is imposed as a social-
penalty, (mostly in accidental death-cases), heavy cash-fine is imposed on the
culprit/s in favor of family of victim and his community.
Mautana, for death, started with the noble intention of providing relief to the
victims family. The meaning of the word mautana is Money against Death.
This age-old tribal criminal justice system is being misused by unscrupulous
elements and this is causing law-and-order problem in the Mewar region of
Rajasthan. For moneylenders, it is good business since the compensation is often
huge, making the accused borrow from them. The money will be in the range of Rs.
5,000 to Rs. 15 lakh depending on the social status of the dead and the accused.
Though it is a Bhil tribal tradition, Mautana has been adopted by various
communities in the region. Among the Bhil tribes, a person or a family used to be
pronounced as an accused just because the body of the victim was found in their
property be it a house, farm or well even if it is a case of natural death, suicide or
accident. If a woman died in her natal house, her in-laws would demand Mautana
from her parents.
The family or the community would not cremate the body even for days together
until its demand was met. If the family was unable to pay, the victims side would
simply destroy its property, forcing it to migrate from the village in what is known as
Chadhotra.
Unfortunately, what was confined to tribal communities in remote areas, where there
is no interface with the government, has been adopted by other communities as well.
Most of these cases go unreported, or even if the police take cognisance of them,
Mautana and the legal system run parallel.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Essential Commodities Act
The Essential Commodities Act (ECA) was enacted by the Central Government in
1955 to control and regulate trade and prices of commodities declared essential
under the Act.
The Act empowers the Central and state governments concurrently to control
production, supply and distribution of certain commodities in view of rising prices.
The measures that can be taken under the provision of the Act include, among
others, licensing, distribution and imposing stock limits. The governments also have
the power to fix price limits, and selling the particular commodities above the limit
will attract penalties. Black marketing of essential commodities was a major problem
in the past and this has now been controlled to a large extent. The Drug Price Control
Order (DPCO) and such other orders have been issued under the powers of the ECA.
Some of the major commodities covered under the act are:
Petroleum and its products, including petrol, diesel, kerosene, Naphtha,
solvents etc
Food stuff, including edible oil and seeds, vanaspati, pulses, sugarcane and its
products like, khandsari and sugar, rice paddy
Jute and textiles
Drugs- prices of essential drugs are still controlled by the DPCO
Fertilisers- the Fertiliser Control Order prescribes restrictions on transfer and
stock of fertilizers apart from prices
The Act empowers the Centre to order states to impose stock limits and bring
hoarders to task, in order to smoothen supplies and cool prices. Generally the Centre
specifies upper limits in the case of stock holding and states prescribe specific limits.
However in case there is a difference between states and the Centre, the act specifies
that the latter will prevail.
Food and civil supply authorities execute the provisions of the Act.
Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/, consumeraffairs.nic.in.

Article 370
Under Part XXI of the Indian constitution, which deals with Temporary,
Transitional and Special provisions, Article 370 is a temporary provision granting
special autonomous status to J&K.
This implies that Concurrence of the state government is required in all matters
except for Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications and ancillary matters (matters
specified in the instrument of accession). Thus the states residents live under a
separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property,
and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians.
Similar protections for unique status exist in tribal areas of India including those in
Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Nagaland.
Article 370(3) says that:
Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President
may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or
shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date
as he may specify:
Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State
referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a
notification.
Jammu and Kashmir has no Constituent Assembly now. Hence the question arises as
to how the article can be amended or removed from the Indian Constitution.
Some argue that the President may, by public notification under article 370(3),
declare that Article 370 shall cease to be operative and no recommendation of the
Constituent Assembly is needed as it does not exist any longer. Others say it can be
amended by an amendment Act under Article 368 of the Constitution and the
amendment extended under Article 370(1).
Oct 7
New government advertisement norms
A Supreme Court-appointed panel headed by eminent legal expert N.R. Madhava
Menon has released a set of guidelines to prevent Funds misuse.
The panel said the issue of multiple advertisements by different departments and
public sector undertakings should be avoided in commemorative advertisement and
only one advertisement must be issued. As far as possible during the period prior to
elections, only those advertisements required by law such as public health and safety
advisories or job and contract advertisements alone should be released by the
government. The government should appoint an Ombudsman to receive complaints
of violations of guidelines and recommend action in accordance with the guidelines.
The guidelines include:
Government advertisement must not mention the party in government by
name.
Government advertisement must not directly attack the views or actions of the
Opposition.
It must not include party political symbol or logo or flag.
It must not aim to influence public support for a political party or candidate
for election.
It should not refer or link to the websites of political parties or politicians.
The panel also came to the conclusion that the existing Directorate of Advertising
and Visual Publicity (DAVP) guidelines did not govern the issues.
The panels guidelines are intended to prevent misuse of public funds on
advertisements to gain political mileage as distinct from legitimate government
messaging and would apply to all institutions of government; public sector
undertakings; and local bodies and other autonomous bodies or organisations
established under a statute.
The report makes it clear that the objects of these guidelines are to prevent arbitrary
use of public funds for advertising by public authorities to project particular
personalities, parties or governments without any attendant public interest.
Sources: The Hindu.





Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana
In order to attain National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) goal of
providing access to electricity to all rural households and electrification of all villages,
Government of India, in April, 2005 conceived Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran
Yojana (RGGVY) to electrify all un-electrified villages / habitations and to provide
access to electricity to all rural households in un-electrified and electrified villages in
the entire country.
The scheme covers electrification of all the villages in the country except the villages
under the programme of Ministry of Non-conventional Sources (MNES) for
providing electricity from non-conventional energy sources under their remote
village electrification programme. With the launch of this scheme the existing
Accelerated Electrification of One lakh Villages and One Crore Households and the
Minimum Needs Programme for rural electrification got merged with RGGVY.
The scheme has been launched to fulfil the commitment of the National Common
Minimum Programme (NCMP) of completing the household electrification in next 5
years and modernizing the rural electricity infrastructure.
The scheme is being implemented through the Rural Electrification Corporation
(REC) which has been designated as Nodal Agency by Ministry of Power.
The scheme provides for free of cost connection to all rural households living below
poverty line. The programme aims at a qualitative transformation of the rural
electricity infrastructure. It envisages that there will not be any discrimination
between urban and rural areas in respect of hours of supply. 24 hours supply of good
quality power would also enable dispersal of small industries, khadi and village
industries in the rural areas. It will also facilitate delivery of modern health care,
education and application of information technologies. This is aimed at accelerated
rural development, employment generation and poverty alleviation.
SALIENT FEATURES
The scheme has the following important features:
Ninety per cent capital subsidy is provided towards overall cost of the projects
under the scheme. 10% of the project cost is contributed by States through
own resources / loan from financial institutions.
Prior commitment of the States has been obtained before sanction of projects
under the scheme for:
Guarantee by State Government for a minimum daily supply of 6- 8 hours.
Free of cost service connection to all families Below Poverty Lines.
Sources: The Hindu, http://rggvy.gov.in/.
Big Data
Big data is an all-encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large and
complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional data processing
applications. Big data usually includes data sets with sizes beyond the ability of
commonly used software tools to capture, curate, manage, and process data within a
tolerable elapsed time. Big data size is a constantly moving target.
Advertising and marketing are a major source of revenue for many companies and
Big Data is quickly becoming one of the core priorities for advertisers and marketers.
Big Data is seen by marketers as a tool for creating targeted and effective advertising.
Big Data can drive an integrated marketing and business strategy like nothing else.
According to a recent IBM study, high-performing Chief Marketing Officers are
integrating internal and external data to garner deep insights which, in turn, provide
them with a much deeper understanding of their customers.
What is considered big data varies depending on the capabilities of the
organization managing the set, and on the capabilities of the applications that are
traditionally used to process and analyze the data set in its domain. Big data requires
exceptional technologies to efficiently process large quantities of data within
tolerable elapsed times.
Big Data and analytics technologies help marketers overlay offline transaction data
with all of these other online data types including data from various third-party
sources to gain insights and improve Returns On Investment. With the right
interpretation of data, advertisers can understand their customers as individuals,
know each customer in context and co-create authentic brand experiences.
A McKinsey study last year stated that companies using Big Data and data analytics
effectively show productivity rates and profitability that are 5-6 per cent higher than
competitors.
With Big Data technologies, advertisers can:
Conduct real time analysis of customer behaviour to produce tailored
experiences and targeted promotions
Measure the effectiveness of online advertising to fine-tune campaigns while
they are in progress
Adopt advanced content analytics solutions to mine social media posts and
call centre logs in order to assess customer sentiment and avoid churn
Analyse data continuously streaming in from to increase service uptime,
facilitate better planning
Implement predictive analytics solutions to anticipate future customer
behaviour.

The Big Data has been changing few (so called) market rules. First, it has
brought the customer back into focus, whether in terms of what they think of
products or how they react to marketing. Second, it seems to have queered the
pitch for big marketers. The spread of marketing automation systems and
database applications has taken all the customer data out of the technology
departments and into marketing cubicles.
One can also say the arrival of such complex data sets has changed the role of
the marketer from being largely creative to being slightly more technical, and
that at a macro level, small businesses and their larger counterparts can finally
compete on a level playing field.
Sources: http://www.business-standard.com/, Wiki.

The Electricity Act, 2003
It is an Act of the Parliament of India which covers major issues involving
generation, distribution, transmission and trading in power.
It is an Act enacted to consolidate the laws relating to generation,
transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity industry, promoting
competition therein, protecting interest of consumers and supply of electricity
to all areas, rationalization of electricity traffic, ensuring transparent policies
regarding subsidies, promotion of efficient and environmentally benign
policies constitution central electricity authority, regulatory commissions and
establishment of appellate tribunal and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto.
Before Electricity Act, 2003, the Indian electricity sector was guided by The
Indian Electricity Act, 1910 and The Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948. The
generation, distribution and transmission were carried out mainly by the State
Electricity Boards in various States. Due to politico-economic situation, the
cross-subsidies reached at an unsustainable level. For the purpose of
distancing state governments form tariff determination, The Electricity
Regulatory Commissions Act was enacted in 1998. So as to reform electricity
sector further by participation of private sector and to bring in competition,
Electricity Act was enacted in 2003.
The Act delicenses power generation completely (except for hydro-power
projects over a certain size).As per the Act, 10 per cent of the power supplied
by suppliers and distributors to the consumers has to be generated using
renewable and non-conventional sources of energy so that the energy is
reliable.
The Act delicenses distribution in rural areas and brings in a licensing regime
for distribution in urban areas. However, as per the Act, only 16 states in India
have notified what constitutes as rural areas and therefore the rural
distribution is yet to be freed up in nearly one third of the country.

The main features of the Act are as follows:

o Generation has been delicensed and captive generation freely
permitted, i.e. any generating company may establish, operate and
maintain a generating station without obtaining a licence under this
Act with the only exception that it should comply with the technical
standards relating to connectivity with the grid.
o No person shall
1. transmit electricity; or
2. distribute electricity; or
3. undertake trading in electricity,
Unless he is authorised to do so by a licence issued, exceptions are informed by
authorised commissions through notifications.
Transmission utility at the central and state level to be a government company
with responsibility of planned and coordinated development of transmission
network.
Open access in transmission with provision for surcharge for taking care of
current level of cross-subsidy, with the surcharge being gradually phased out.
The state governments are required to unbundle State Electricity Boards.
However they may continue with them as distribution licensees and state
transmission utilities.
Setting up State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) has been made
mandatory.
An appellate tribunal to hear appeals against the decision of (CERCs) and
SERCs.
Thrust to complete rural electrification and provide for management of rural
distribution by panchayat, cooperative societies, NGOs, franchisees etc.
Central government to prepare National Electricity Policy and Tariff Policy.
Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to prepare National Electricity Plan.
Oct 8
Alert in Rajasthan as polio strikes Pakistan
With Pakistan reporting the highest number of polio cases in the past 15 years, India
has stepped up surveillance along the international border, particularly in Rajasthan,
to check any spread of the infection.
While India was given the polio-free certificate by the World Health Organisation
this February, Pakistan has recorded 202 polio cases this year the highest in the
world accounting for 83 per cent of the cases reported globally until last week.
Other than Pakistan, neighbouring Afghanistan, and Nigeria, where polio is endemic,
outbreaks have been reported from Syria, Somalia, Iraq and several African countries
in the recent years. However, for India, the risk of transmission of this crippling and
potentially deadly disease is more from Pakistan because of cross-border population
movement both legal and illegal.
About POLIO:
Polio (also called poliomyelitis) is a contagious, historically devastating disease that
was virtually eliminated from the Western hemisphere in the second half of the 20th
century. Although polio has been around since ancient times, its most extensive
outbreak occurred in the first half of the 1900s until the polio vaccine was introduced
in 1955.
It is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. The virus
is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or,
less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and
multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can
cause paralysis.
Symptoms and Cure:
Although approximately 90% of polio infections cause no symptoms at all, affected
individuals can exhibit a range of symptoms if the virus enters the blood stream. In
about 1% of cases, the virus enters the central nervous system, preferentially
infecting and destroying motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness and acute
flaccid paralysis.
Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the
neck, and pain in the limbs. In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes
paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio, it can only be
prevented by immunization.
The focus of modern treatment has been on providing relief of symptoms, speeding
recovery and preventing complications. Supportive measures include antibiotics to
prevent infections in weakened muscles, analgesics for pain, moderate exercise and a
nutritious diet. Treatment of polio often requires long-term rehabilitation, including
occupational therapy, physical therapy, braces, corrective shoes and, in some cases,
orthopedic surgery.
Pulse Polio in India:
Pulse Polio is an immunisation campaign established by the government of India in
1995-96 to eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in India by vaccinating all children under
the age of five years against polio virus. This project deals with the ways to fight
poliomyelitis through a large scale immunisation programme, co-operating with
various international institutions, state governments and Non Governmental
Organisations, as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by
Rotary International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 1995, following the Polio Eradication Initiative of World Health Organization
(1988), India launched Pulse Polio Immunisation Program along with Universal
Immunisation Program which aimed at 100% coverage.
On 27 March 2014, World Health Organization (WHO) declared India a polio free
country with no case of disease being reported in last three years.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, www.unicef.org, www.who.int.

SAT upholds SEBI order against Angel Broking
The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has upheld the Securities and Exchange
Board of Indias order against Angel Broking in case related to violations of stock
broker norms and fraudulent dealings in shares of Sterling Green Woods.
About SAT:
Securities Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body established under the provisions of
Section 15K of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 to hear and
dispose of appeals against orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of
India or by an adjudicating officer under the Act and to exercise jurisdiction, powers
and authority conferred on the Tribunal by or under this Act or any other law for the
time being in force.
It covers the whole of India.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Memorandum of Understanding Between MoES and USA
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Earth System Science
Organization-Ministry of Earth Sciences (ESSO-MoES) and the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), USA was signed for cooperation in
Earth System Sciences.
This collaboration is expected to act as a step to bring together academia and
application scientists to come together.
The present MoU will provide a mechanism to jointly undertake research and
developmental work to address Earth System Science issues of common concern
through exchange of excellent scientific knowledge and technological know how
existing in the two countries.
Collaborations are expected to include aircraft and radar technology, now casting of
severe weather events, hydrometeorology, satellite data, oceanic and climate
research, urban flooding as well as capacity building through scientific lectures and
distance learning. A particularly important area is the long-range forecasting, which
has extreme value to the Indian economy and caters to the need of the farmers with
planting decisions and agricultural practices based on the projected intensity and
timing of the next monsoon season.
The MoU covers scientists from a range of institutions from India, to be coordinated
and funded by the ESSO-Ministry of Earth Sciences with the scientists from UCARs
104 member universities, as well as NCAR (National Centre for Atmospheric
Research). Through the MoU, the regional expertise available with Indian scientists
will be complemented by the domain expertise available with UCAR.
Sources: PIB.
Pashmina Promotion Programme (P-3) to be launched
Under Pashmina Promotion Programme, major provision has been made for
establishment of latest technology imported Pashmina Dehairing Plant at Leh with
total grant of Rs.19.35 crore including other machineries like Scouring, Drying, and
boiler along with construction of building for installation of these machineries at
Leh.
The existing Deharing Plant has obsolete Chinese dehairing machine and is not
sufficient to de-hair 45 ton of Pashmina wool produced here and with present
capacity it can only de-hair up to five ton pashmina, leaving 40 ton sold into the
market as raw which renders loss of value addition of Pashmina.
Under this new Programme, financial assistance would be provided under different
components like Creation of Common Pashmina Facilitation Centre for Wool testing,
Disease Surveillance Centre, Geographic Information System (GIS) Lab, Shelter for
Nomads, Portable Electric Units for Handloom Spinning/Weaving, Solarised
Community Centres, Open Fodder enclosures, establishment of Pashmina Dehairing
Plant, Distribution for Foundation Stock to farmers and construction of Shelter for
Housing of Pashmina Stock.
The Ministry of Textiles is implementing Pashmina Wool Development Scheme with
the help of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh from 10th Five Year
Plan for development of this Sector in Ladakh region. In the 12th Plan, this
programme has been expanded with enhanced financial assistance of Rs. 41.21 crore.
Ladakh region produces the finest Pashmina wool (specialty fiber) in the world,
which has high demand globally. Ladakh region grow about 45 ton of Pashmina wool
every year from the population of about 2.50 lakh Pashmina goats.
Sources: PIB.
The Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope
India recently launched an ingeniously manufactured microscope-that generates 3D
images of objects-under CSIR-New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership
Initiative (CSIR-NMITLI): A Unique Public -Private Partnership (PPP)
Programme. The Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope has several applications in
medicine and materials sciences. It uses an infrared beam which passes through a
patented photonic crystal fibre.
This project is an ideal and successful example of a hand in hand participation
programme of a private industry and a publicly funded CSIRs laboratory, that too in
a very highly advanced technology area. This is an effort launched by the CSIR over a
decade ago to develop technologies through collaborative efforts by research
laboratories and technology companies in India.
This is a humble beginning towards Prime Ministers Made in India and reach
Global strategy. This is a first of its kind in India and is designed to make it
affordable to the researchers. A few laboratories have already expressed their
intention to procure the developed product.
Confocal Microscopes are used to obtain three dimensional features at microscopic
level and play vital role in scientific understanding of nano-materials, biological
objects etc. At present, these are only available at limited number of science
laboratories in India due to their prohibitive cost. As science advances, Scientists
want to also understand the spectroscopic behavior of materials and this can be
achieved only using Broad Spectrum Confocal Microscope. It can also do resonant
scanning up to 10241024 pixels.
The unique nature of supercontinuum light makes spectral coverage for all forms of
confocal microscopy and for fluorescence imaging over wide range of wavelength.
Here, the confocal microscope is illuminated using a Supercontinuum Light Source.
At the global level, there are only a few Supercontinuum Source manufacturers as
well as Confocal Microscope manufacturers. While using the broadband source, the
optics has to be carefully designed to take care of chromatic aberrations too.
The Supercontinuum Source uses patented photonic crystal fiber technology
developed by CSIR-CGCRI,Kolkata. Only a handful all over the world has this
capability and facilities.
The optic fibre produces multiple wavelengths from the laser due to its surface which
has very small holes. This is similar to the way a peacocks feather scatters light. This
is projected on to the target object which allows us to see a three dimensional
structure of the object.
This is also cost effective since similar confocal microscopes cost about Rs. 4 crore to
import, these will be priced between Rs. 1.25 crore and Rs. 1.5 crore.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, PIB.

Fracking Technology
Fracking /Hydraulic fracturing (also called as hydrofracturing or fraccing) is a well-
stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a hydraulically pressurized
liquid. A high-pressure fluid (usually chemicals and sand suspended in water) is
injected into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which
natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure
is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing particles (either sand
or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures open once the deep rock achieves geologic
equilibrium. Some hydraulic fractures form naturallycertain veins or dikes are
examples.
The hydraulic fracturing technique is commonly applied to wells for shale gas, tight
gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas. Such well-stimulation is common throughout the
exploitation of the field to greatly increase the flow rate. Stimulation is intensified to
extend the period before production declines.
Hydraulic fracturing is highly controversial, proponents advocating economic
benefits of readily accessible hydrocarbons, and opponents concerned for the
environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing including contamination of ground
water, depletion of fresh water, degradation of the air quality, the triggering of
earthquakes, noise pollution, surface pollution, and the consequential risks to health
and the environment. This technology also results in methane emissions which is
cause of concern.
Increases in seismic activity following hydraulic fracturing are usually caused by the
deep-injection disposal of flowback and brine (which is produced from hydraulically
fractured wells). For these reasons, hydraulic fracturing is under international
scrutiny, restricted in some countries, and banned altogether in others. Some of
those countries, notably the U.K., have repealed bans on hydraulic fracturing in
favour of regulation. The European Union is drafting regulations that would permit
controlled application of hydraulic fracturing.
While the main industrial use of hydraulic fracturing is in stimulating production
from oil and gas wells, hydraulic fracturing is also applied:
To stimulate groundwater wells
To precondition or induce rock cave-ins mining
As a means of enhancing waste remediation, usually hydrocarbon waste or
spills
To dispose waste by injection deep into rock
To measure stress in the Earth
For electricity generation in enhanced geothermal systems.
To increase injection rates for geologic sequestration of CO2.
Environmental Concerns:
Hydraulic fracturing has raised environmental concerns and is challenging the
adequacy of existing regulatory regimes. These concerns have included ground water
contamination, risks to air quality, migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing
chemicals to the surface, mishandling of waste, and the health effects of all these. An
additional concern is that oil obtained through hydraulic fracturing contains
chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, which may increase the rate at which rail tank
cars and pipelines corrode, potentially releasing their load and its gases.
Concern has been expressed over the possible long and short term health effects of
air and water contamination and radiation exposure by gas production. Health
consequences of concern include infertility, birth defects and cancer.
Oct 9
Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE)
It is a National Programme implemented by the Ministry of Science & Technology for
attraction of talent amongst students to study science and pursue career with research.
INSPIRE is an innovative programme developed by the Department of Science &
Technology to attract talent to the excitement and study of science at an early age, and to help
the country build the required critical resource pool for strengthening and expanding the S&T
system and R&D base. It is a programme with long term foresight.
The programme was launched on 13th December 2008. The implementation started during
2009-10.
INSPIRE Programme covers students in the age group 10-32 years, and has five components:
INSPIRE Award (for 10-15 age group), INSPIRE Internship at a science camp with
opportunity for interaction with global science leaders (for 16-17 age group), INSPIRE
Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE) @ Rs 80000/ per year for continuing education at
B.Sc. and M.Sc. levels (for 17-22 age group), INSPIRE Fellowship for doctoral research (for
22-27 age group) and INSPIRE faculty for assured career opportunity (for 27-32 age group).
Sources: PIB, http://www.inspire-dst.gov.in/.
Digital India
Digital India is an initiative of Government of India to integrate the government departments
and the people of India and to ensure effective governance. It also aims at ensuring the
government services made available to citizens electronically by reducing paperwork. The
initiative also includes plan to connect rural areas under high-speed internet networks. The
project is stated to be completed by 2019. This is a two-way platform where both the service
offerers and the consumers stand to benefit through.
The scheme will be monitored and controlled by the Digital India Advisory group which will
be chaired by the Ministry of Communications and IT. It will be an inter-ministerial initiative
where all ministries and departments shall offer their own services to the public Healthcare,
Education, Judicial services etc. The Public-private-partnership model shall be adopted
selectively. The scheme has plans also to restructure the National Informatics Centre.

Sources: Wiki, PIB.
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
It is a law enacted by the Parliament of India aimed at effective prevention of unlawful
activities associations in India. Its main objective is to make powers available for dealing
with activities directed against the integrity and sovereignty of India.
The National Integration Council appointed a Committee on National Integration and
Regionalisation to look into, the aspect of putting reasonable restrictions in the interests of
the sovereignty and integrity of India.
Pursuant to the acceptance by Government of a unanimous recommendation of the
Committee on National Integration and Regionalism appointed by the National Integration
Council, the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, was enacted empowering
Parliament to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in the interests of sovereignty and
integrity of India, on the:
Freedom of Speech and Expression;
Right to Assemble peaceably and without arms; and
Right to Form Associations or Unions.
The Act makes it a crime to support any secessionist movement, or to support claims by a
foreign power to what India claims as its territory. It includes the following:
> Unlawful activity, in relation to an individual or association, means any action taken by
such individual or association (whether by committing an act or by words, either spoken or
written, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise),
which is intended, or supports any claim, to bring about, on any ground whatsoever,
the cession of a part of the territory of India or the secession of a part of the territory
of India from the Union, or which incites any individual or group of individuals to
bring about such cession or secession; or
which disclaims, questions, disrupts or is intended to disrupt the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of India; or
which causes or is intended to cause disaffection against India.
The Act has been amended to make the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 more
effective in preventing unlawful activities, and meet commitments made at the Financial
Action Task Force (an intergovernmental organization to combat money laundering and
terrorism financing).
For further reference: http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/the-unlawful-activities-prevention-
amendment-bill-2011-2159/.
Sources: The Hindu, PRSindia.org, Wiki.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Two Americans and a German scientist have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for finding
ways to make microscopes more powerful than previously thought possible by using glowing
molecules to peer inside tiny components of life, allowing scientists to see how diseases
develop inside the tiniest cells.
Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been equally divided among the Laureates Eric Betzig, Stefan
W. Hell and William E. Moerner for having bypassed a presumed scientific limitation
stipulating that an optical microscope can never yield a resolution better than 0.2 micrometres
(half the wavelength of light).
Their breakthroughs, starting in the 1990s, have enabled scientists to study diseases such as
Parkinsons, Alzheimers and Huntingtons at a molecular level. Due to their achievements
the optical microscope can now peer into the nanoworld. Using the fluorescence of
molecules, scientists can now monitor the interplay between individual molecules inside
cells; they can observe disease-related proteins aggregate and they can track cell division at
the nanolevel. The instrument opened a new window to studying living organisms non-
invasively.
Despite the advantages, the optical microscope suffers from a major drawback a physical
restriction as to what size of structures is possible to resolve. Ernst Abbe in 1873 said that
microscope resolution is limited by, among other things, the wavelength of the light (0.2
micrometres).
While Abbes microscope resolution limitation still hold true, the Laureates have successfully
demonstrated ways of bypassing the limitation. The three have taken optical microscopy into
a new dimension using fluorescent molecules. Two different principles have been able to do
this and they developed independently of each other.
Using fluorescence microscopy it was possible for scientists to see where a certain molecule
was located. But only clusters of molecules, like entangled strands of DNA, could be located.
The resolution was too low to discern individual DNA strings.
The smaller the volume allowed to fluoresce at a single moment, the higher the resolution of
the final image. Hence, there is, in principle, no longer any limit to the resolution of optical
microscopes.
About Nobel Prize:
The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by
Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The
will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895.
The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of
literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize
in Chemistry, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; the Nobel Assembly at
Karolinska Institute awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; the Swedish
Academy grants the Nobel Prize in Literature; and the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the
Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The various prizes are awarded yearly. Each recipient, or laureate, receives a gold medal, a
diploma and a sum of money, which is decided by the Nobel Foundation.
Posthumous
nominations:
Although posthumous nominations are not permitted, individuals who die in the months
between their nomination and the decision of the prize committee were originally eligible to
receive the prize.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Nobel Prize in Physics
This year the Nobel prize in physics goes to Isamu Akasaki, Meijo University and Nagoya
University, Hiroshi Amano, Nagoya University, and Shuji Nakamura, University of
California, Santa Barbara, for inventing the blue light emitting diode (blue LED) 20 years
ago.
Blue LED:
The blue LED forms the long-awaited third in the set (red, green were already produced) of
coloured LEDs that can together produce white light, in a way that is environment-friendly
and energy-efficient. The blue LED can also be made to excite a phosphor into emitting red
and green lights, with the mixture yielding white light.
LEDs basically consist of a junction of p-type (electron deficient or hole rich) and n-type
(electron rich) semiconductors. When a voltage is applied across this junction, the holes and
electrons flow across the junction and recombine, in the process, releasing light.
They do not use mercury or any such gas as is used in the fluorescent light. This makes them
environment friendly.
They do not require a filament to get heated and glow to shed light unlike the case of the
tungsten light bulb.
In contrast to the incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lamps, the LEDS directly convert
electricity to light particles.
As a result, there is greater efficiency; in the other two cases, a great part of the electricity
gets converted to heat.
The colour of the light emitted by the LED when voltage is applied may range from infrared
to ultraviolet. Red and green LEDs have been around since the late 1950s, and these have
been used extensively in digital displays and the like.
This application has advanced the technology for storing music, pictures and movies.
Today, LED lights are used in smart phones and lamps. White light from LEDs is more
power-efficient than from other sources: If the amount of light flux produced per unit of
power supplied is 16 for a tungsten bulb, and 70 for a fluorescent bulb, it is 300 for a LED
supplied source. This would drastically lower our power consumption if LED lights are used
more.
Solar-powered LED lights are also taking the world by storm. From providing illumination to
possible future applications such as generating UV light for treating bacteria-infested water,
the blue LED has come to stay.
Sources: The Hindu.
National Early Childhood Care & Education policy
The National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy reaffirms the commitment
of the Government of India to provide integrated services for holistic development of all
children, along the continuum, from the prenatal period to six years of age. The Policy lays
down the way forward for a comprehensive approach towards ensuring a sound foundation,
with focus on early learning, for every Indian child.
Early childhood refers to the first six years of life. This is acknowledged as the most crucial
period, when the rate of development is very high and foundations are laid for cumulative
lifelong learning and human development. There is growing scientific evidence that the
development of the brain in the early years is a pathway that affects physical and mental
health, learning and behaviour throughout the life cycle.
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is an indispensable foundation for lifelong
learning and development, And has critical impact on success at the primary stage of
education. It therefore becomes imperative to accord priority attention to ECCE and invest
adequately by providing commensurate resources.
The Government of India recognizes the significance of ECCE, which has been included as a
constitutional provision through the amended Article 45 (The Constitution Act, 2002) which
directs that The State shall endeavour to provide ECCE for all children until they complete
the age of six years.
The Vision of the policy is to promote inclusive, equitable and contextualised opportunities
for promoting optimal development and active learning capacity of all children below 6 years
of age. It envisages to improve pathways for a successful and smooth transition from care and
education provided at home to centre based ECCE and thereafter to school-age provision by
facilitating an enabling environment through appropriate systems, processes and provisions
across the country.
The key areas of this policy are universal access with equity and inclusion, quality in ECCE,
strengthening capacity, monitoring and supervision, advocacy, research and review.
The policy also includes standards like:
An ECCE programme for three-four hours
One classroom for a group of 30 children measuring at least 35 square meters and
with the availability of a minimum outdoor space of 30 square meters
Separate space for cooking nutritionally balanced meals and nap time for children
Caregiver and student ratio of 1:20 for children between three-six years and 1:10 for
under three years
Primary medium of instruction will be mother tongue or local language

The Big Picture Media, Activism in
Conflict Zones in West Asia and Middle
East
Summary:
Conflict zones have always created conflicts for the media itself about how to cover
them.
The major conflict zones like Middle East and West Asia have stretched not only the
resources but more importantly the imaginations of the media in covering such things.
Medias role has been crucial and controversial sometimes.
There have been dilemmas for the media where some have taken an activists role, in
contrast to the view of media as a passive and neutral reflections of existing social and
political world.
The advent of social media and its increasing usage in these conflicting zones has
added a new dimension to this.
The advent of social media has diversified the dimension of the media.
Each media defines a conflict in their own way and hence things are not so clear
sometimes.
There is rethinking required in the firmament. There is enough space for mainstream
media to contribute in an effective manner to the society.
Relationship between the state and media has always been symbiotic relationship.
We should not limit activism to the act of protesting. Activism is sensibility and is
also diversified.
Activism as far as the media is concerned is inevitable.
Experts say that Critical thinking is activism.
There is a strong case for public service media in India. And also is a strong case for
transparency and accountability of the corporate media.
Accountability to the citizens of the country is required from the media.

Violations of Ceasefire: Why has it assumed
such dimensions?
Summary:
In the last couple of months the violation of ceasefire on INDO- PAK border in
Jammu and Kashmir has escalated.
The firing has targeted even villages with most casualties being civilians including
women and children.
Meanwhile the America is calling for talks between the two sides.
Political instability in Pak is escalating the problems.
Rationality and logic have not always been the reasons for attack on India.
Some experts term this as a covering fire to facilitate infiltration.
This is also an attempt to keep Kashmir issue internationally alert. And it is to gain
high moral ground.
This matter has to be handled in a sober and mature fashion.
There is no apatite in the international community for focusing on Kashmir in the
consistent manner.
Even we should not internationalize the issue.
No country allows separatists to meet. India has been allowing since 20 years.
The paradigm shift that India wants is not easy to achieve.
The Big Picture Vacancies in Key Posts:
What is the impact?
Summary:
For some time now concerns are being expressed in several quarters about the
vacancies in key posts in government institutions. Like Chief Information
Commissioner, Central Vigilance Commissioner, Vigilance Commissioner, High
Court judges and police department.
The post of CIC has been vacant since 5 weeks.
A question also had been raised in the Supreme Court about the transparency in the
methodology of shortlisting for various constitutional/non constitutional posts.
The selection is being delayed due to 2 issues. One is the composition of the selection
committee. Second is the procedure for shortlisting the eligible candidate.
There is considerable opacity in shortlisting of the eligible candidates.
It is being said that complacency in the government is the reason for all these delays.
Whatever might be the reason, the onus is on the government to quickly fill these
posts.
All these institutions are required for oversight, vigilance and scrutiny. Hence,
strengthening of these institutions is necessary.
These vacancies also create workload. And hence the justice will be delayed.
Some leaders say that since there is no leader of the opposition, appointments to
various key posts (which require the Opposition leader to be a part of the selection
committee) are delayed. But, experts opine that even the leader of the largest party in
opposition could fill the post of Opposition Leader in the selection committee.
The Big Picture Defying Election
Commission: How to handle it?
Summary:
Some of the influential leaders have always been defying the election commissions
Code of Conduct and its orders.
This is also said to be a corrupt practice and violation of law.
National parties are not paying much attention on this.
The best solution is to place the responsibility on political parties. Civil society can
only play a complimentary role.
Model Code of Conduct has been adopted by political parties.
There are 3 main stakeholders in this process; one, Election Commission; second, the
political parties; third, the people who are going to vote. All three have to play role to
maintain the order.
These are also the defiance and violation of Representation of People act.
Election commission should have some judicial powers to take direct action during
the times of elections on certain issues.
This is the time for the people of India to say NO to communal and non-secular
politics. The entire country must rise as one.
It is clear that Election Commission has not been very effective in dealing with such
cases. And hence, there is a need to empower the Election Commission to deal with
such cases.
The Big Picture Al Qaeda Vs IS: Can it
pose a threat to India?
For years the Al-qaeda has operated in many parts of the world with its biggest strike
in America among others in the last decade.
Meanwhile the breakaway group of Al-qaeda -the Islamic state- has been indulging in
deadly activities in Iraq and Syria. It has challenged its parent organization.
The recently released video by al-qaeda has shown that it is planning to launch attacks
on India and some of its neighbours.
In India terrorism has been mainly dominated by lashkar e taiba and its various
avatars.
IS has started attracting some Indian youth.
Real threat is the money which is attracting the youth.
India has to have its own investigation system dedicated to investigate Islamic States
roots in India.
What IS has done in the recent past is said to be the creation of mobile anarchy.
The terrorist organizations have been splitting up due to differences in ideologies.
The IS does not seem to be a western creation.
New modules are sprouting up to recruit new people.
Communal disturbances and alienation in India have been attracting Terrorist
organization to recruit people from India.
The funding sources for Terrorist organizations are also keeping an eye on the
marginalized sections of India.
Marginalization and lack of inclusiveness in economic and political processes are the
reasons for indulging and participating in such activities.
Studies conducted by some security agencies have shown that radicalization in India
is on the rise.
Minority representation in the Indian Parliament is very less.
There are home grown terror activities in India and these internal issues need to be
tackled immediately. And this can prevent external forces from coming to India.
Because of unemployment, poverty and ideologies, the youth is being attracted.
The funding to the terrorist organization should be cut.
Along with the measures to counter terrorism, several other things have to be looked
upon to ensure that Indians dont get attracted to these terrorist outfits.
Modis US Visit: Has it heralded a new
beginning?
The Indo -US relation which is going through a rough period needs to be restored. Prime
Minister Modis visit is expected to improve the bilateral relationship.
The US has also been showing some special interest in India in the recent years.
The PM did not discuss about Geopolitics.
The PM proposed make in India global initiative in US and asked the US companies to
come and invest in India.
He also expressed his willingness to make India as a link between east and the west.
It is necessary for India to play a balanced role to tap the opportunities from both the eastern
and western countries.
The PM has been trying to instil a new confidence in corporate industries in US. And the PM
has also been spreading the message of effective governance.
There seems to be certain similarity in the political trajectory of Narendra Modi and Barack
Obama. And in the American scheme of things, at least, it matters if there are personal
equations.
The US has also been modest in their estimation. They said that the deliverables are possible
in 3 areas: defence and security cooperation, clean energy and climate change.
This visit is not just about rebooting the hung relationship between the two countries but it is
also about imparting a fresh focused approach.
He also expressed Indias readiness to revive the relationship and realize the untapped
potential it has got.
After the visit of Indian PM, the investors and business community in US have found some
ground for confidence.
FDI in insurance: Will it kick-start
investments?
Summary:
The FDI in insurance sector has been raised from 26% to 49%. This proposal had been
pending since 2 years.
This proposal first came in 1998.
The insurance sector was thrown open to private players in the year 2000.
This move will be welcomed globally and would increase the investments in the country.
This is something which a lot of companies outside India were waiting to happen.
However, we have to be cautious seeing the current market situation and economic downturn.
We should not be too ambitious.
First 26% is through the automatic route and next upto 49% is through the FIPB route.
FIPB has much diverse set of people sitting there and it is possible to take a wholesome view.
Companies would have preferred to go through non FIPB route completely. And Companies
also wanted to get the option to have controlling stake in terms of the Board of Directors and
things like that. But the government is not willing to delegate such powers.
It is the fund which foreign companies bring into India, is of special interest
The previously set 26% cap had not attracted many companies.
The East Asian crisis, 2007 economic crisis and European Union crisis have exposed the
whole world to the kind of volatility and risks that exist in the financial sector.
The kind of reforms that had to be undertaken, post the crisis, were actually not undertaken.
The insurance cap will also apply to the pension sector. Hence there are risks associated with
it.
India performed reasonably well during the crisis because of the good regulatory structures in
place.
India, with 3.2% of the GDP, has one of the smallest penetration of insurance in the world.
This proposed increase would affect the general insurance public sector companies. But some
argue by saying that the problem of the public sector companies lies in the underwritten
policies.
Insurance funds are the long term funds which bring in foreign funds and provide capital to
the infrastructure sector. Infrastructure sector really needs the fund for a longer period of
time.
Insurance is the sector where there is a huge solvency requirement.
Insurance funds are basically subscriber funds.
We should look for a more competitive environment which requires a level playing field for
both Public Sector and Private Sector companies.
There are also chances of Indian market being exposed to the risks of Global financial market
due to opening up of the sector.
Jayalalithaa Conviction: How to hasten
justice?
Summary:
The conviction of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, after the case was made to drag on for
18 years, has brought to fore once again the laxity in the justice delivery system.
The influential and wealthy dragging the case at the cost of justice has much been discussed.
There are similar other cases which are dragging on in different Indian courts with similarly
alarming regularity.
Following a recent order of the Supreme Court that the cases against elected representatives
should be completed in one year, the government is drawing a plan to hasten up the justice
delivery.
Can these proposed changes to both-the role of court and the role of police-be effective?
The main reason for delay in cases is frequent adjournments. Another reason is transferring
of cases from one state to another.
There are many other factors which contribute in delaying the cases- like less number of
judges, lack of infrastructure, lack of effective policies etc.
It is said that our criminal justice system is on the rocks today.
In every case, the general tendency of the accused is to seek as many adjournments as
possible.
The prevention of corruption act contemplates day to day trial but then that doesnt take place
as a matter of rule. Therefore the whole system requires overhauling.
In our judiciary system, the accused is presumed to be innocent till he is convicted.
Rule of law postulates that punishment follows trial and not the other way.
Making someone accountable without giving them the freedom and autonomy to function can
become disastrous.
Police reforms are also needed to make our criminal judiciary system more efficient.
US strategy against ISIS: Will it work?
SUMMARY:
After having been recognised internationally as the most dangerous terrorist organisation,
Islamic State also known as ISIS is now facing a concerted attack from a global coalition led
by the United States.
The US forces have launched air attacks and held territories in Iraq and Syria.
Syria, which is worst affected, finds itself in a tricky situation. British PM has said that they
will not be supporting Syrian government and blames the Syrian government for the growth
of terrorism.
As things have evolved after June when IS terrorists smashed Iraqi army in central Iraq and
moved swiftly to capture various cities, the US president had very little options but to combat
it in a concerted way.
Obama had no other option when American journalists were beheaded. He has made it clear
that these actions are against terrorism and not against Islam.
It is interesting to note here that the US has not gone through UN route. It has been trying this
coalition outside the UN system. It is primarily because US doesnt want to appear as if it is
completely against Islam as a whole. It is also because US is looking forward for some
support from the Arab states.
There are 3 parties in Syria- the recognised Syrian government, the IS forces and the
opposition to the Syrian government. There is no general consensus in Iraq on how to combat
this problem.
Some experts opine that Jihadism can be fought militarily but eventually it should be fought
ideologically and theologically which has to come from within the Islamic world in general
and Arab world in particular.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq is said to be illegal since UNSC had not authorized it. Iraq has
become more fractured since then. Different groups like Sunnis, Shias and many others have
become more fragmented since then.
Genesis of the present crisis goes back to 2003 Iraq invasion, especially more intensely in
Sunni areas. Sunnis who have ruled Iraq for several centuries now feel that they are being
deprived of their powers by Shia led government.
US strategy of Degrade and destroy has 5 components: air strike, degrading the capacity of
terrorists, shrink their space and territory, prevent funds from flowing to them and block the
channels of recruitment.
Criticisms against the US strategy:
Some criticize the US strategy by saying that Instead of solving the problem, it is being
aggravated by sucking more and more new regional countries(for eg; Saudi, Jordan). This
will create much more extreme groups to emerge.
Some criticize the US strategy by saying it as a practice of mobile anarchy. And it is a
Gimmick.
The local governments can take care of this problem. If, Turks take control of their borders
this can be solved. Since closing of borders prevent funds flowing in to the IS. And hence US
strikes are not needed. But the IS has become fairly sophisticated organization with their own
ideals and their capacity has increased tremendously. And hence, it is not possible to destroy
by mere closing of the borders.
What India should do?
India should provide intelligent co-operation as it is a war against global terrorism. But we
must wait till the UN authorization comes.
Few Indians have also joined IS. Flow of recruits from India should be prevented.
So, as of now, it is better for India to remain neutral.
Regime change policy of the US must be abandoned.
Coal block allocation cancellations:
Implications and future?
SUMMARY:
SC has cancelled 214 of the 218 coal block allocations made since 1993.
The apex court had held that the allocations made by the various regimes at the centre since
1993 were illegal and were made arbitrarily.
The court has also directed the companies, which were allocated coal blocks but had not
operationalized, to pay compensation to the government for the loss to the exchequer.
The findings of the CAG had said that the loss of rupees 295 per ton was caused due to the
non- operation of the mines. It was also upheld by the court.
Few companies, which are already operating, are given a time- period of 6 months to wind
down their operations.
The government had urged the court to spare 44 blocks. But the court hasnt made any
exceptions. It has upheld the transparency and has taken the judgement holistically.
It will be a benchmark judgement which will enhance transparency in public dealing
involving all the natural resources.
This is a time for introspection for all the parties.
This judgement provides an equal platform for all the steel companies. Earlier, the companies
with captive coal blocks had an unfair advantage.
So far as coal is concerned, the mine and minerals act says that if it is for a private company
it has to be auctioned.
SC judgement on presidential reference on natural resource allocation says that auction is not
necessary in every natural resource allocation.
But when it is being given to any private company for commercial purpose then allocating
through any other methods except competitive method would fall foul of article 14 of the
constitution.
The SC in its 2G judgement held that two things are essential for competitive method. One is,
Fairness between the various competitors. Second is, the people of the country, who own the
resources, should get a fair compensation.
CBI: Should it be within the ambit of RTI
and Whistleblower laws?
Summary:
As many the controversial cases the CBI has been investigating it seems to be
involved in as many controversies itself.
The CBI director is accused of meeting the persons who are friends or relatives of
those accused under the cases being investigated.
According to a former CBI director, it is not appropriate to receive the people known
to accused or accused himself at the directors residence which is the unwritten law. It
is appropriate to meet such persons at the offices to avoid speculations.
The present CBI director has defended himself by saying that it was necessary for him
to meet those people to get to know whether his officers are doing the right thing or
wrong thing.
Question which arises is: Does a senior police officer need to meet the accused or his
representatives to find out whether his officers are doing the right thing or not?
CBI is now under Deptt. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public
Grievances, Government of India.
DoPT works like a secretariat of CBI but not the other way round.
CBI has the tendency of hitting the iron when it is hot.
CBI is an autonomous agency under the CrPC. Some sections under CrPC give
autonomous powers to the investigating powers to the officers under CBI.
Need of the hour is to remove the constraints on their functioning.
More and more cases are being handed over to CBI by not only the central
Government but also by the Supreme Court and High courts. And many posts in CBI
are kept vacant. So there should be functional autonomy and the Director should be
made accountable to the Courts directly.Functional autonomy include filling up of the
vacant posts by the director himself.
According to the RTI law, intelligence agencies and security agencies and
organizations under schedule 2 of the RTI act are outside the ambit of RTI. But many
argue that the CBI doesnt fit into either of these categories.
The question now is: why the CBI has been kept out of the ambit of the law as it is
neither the security nor intelligence organization? CBI defends itself by saying that
the RTI is impeding its investigations.
The government to protect itself from providing information on sensitive issues like
2G scam, granted blanket protection to the CBI.
Revelation of identity of whistleblower is not the right thing to do according to many
experts.
Scotland Vote: What does it imply?
Summary:
Why they demanded Independence ?
It is said that working class in particular demanded independence and upper class
was quite happy with the united system.
Growth of nationalism and assertion of identity politics has led to the demands
for smaller states wanting to rule themselves.
Many Scotts felt that they are being suppressed by the British. In the past Scotts
along with British have suppressed many countries
English too are demanding some special privileges since they form a bigger part of
the kingdom.
There is no colonial relationship between Scotland and England unlike between
England and Ireland
There is an ideological difference between conservative English and Scottish people
since the neo liberal policies of Tony Blair.
Why they voted against ?
With 55% voting against the independence Scotland will continue to remain with
United Kingdom.
As Richer people have greater links with England in particular and Europe in
general. Hence business people had many questions like which currency would
be used and how would they set up a central bank? This necessitated them to
vote against the independence in referendum.
Rise of English nationalism can be seen along with the Scottish vote.
Many scots felt that there should not be differentiated identity between scots and
British. And hence voted against.
European Union has brought Europeans together and decimated regional identities
and aspirations.
Scottish people are afraid of losing welfare measures like free university education
and national health services and hence most of them voted against the
independence.
Joining hands together and making economy more effective has won finally.
Economic interests played role in retaining the unity.
What Next ?
Prime Minister David Cameron who had made several promises to the people of
Scotland to avoid the divide has before him the tough task of walking the talk.
UK is going to devolve the powers at the regional level in a way that has never
done before.
Realignment of administrative system takes place. The UK will no longer
experience the centralised tendency.
Does this process hold good for India?
The process of nation making or unmaking has been attempted in a democratic way
for the first time without any violence. There is lot to learn for India from this. This
was a democratic referendum.
State of the Economy- with Gita Gopinath
SUMMARY :
The current video discusses the current global economy scenario and its effects on Indian
Economy. The guest i.e. Ms Gita Gopinath is a professor of economics at Harvard, US.
The discussion is more about the loopholes in Indian economy and talks about the causes and
remedies of current economic dip in Indian Economy.
According to the guest, current economic business cycle of US is second to the Great
Economic Depression of 1929. It has taken a long time for US Economy to recover after the
Lehman collapse in 2008. That recession had spill-over effect all over the world, due to the
globalised world.
But Indian financial sector was well insulated owing to tight guidelines/regulations and
strong fundamentals in banking sector. Add to this the progressive loosening of interest rates
by the RBI and fiscal stimulus provided by the government. All these ensured that the global
recession had minimal impact on India and much demand was preserved in India. On the
contrary, Indian economy grew at 9% in two consecutive fiscals.
But this medicine had hidden side effects for the economy of India. Also other precautions
and pre-emptive measures for the proper effect of the medicine to take place, were not taken
by the government.
Elaborating this , the government provided the needed stimulus to preserve demand. But
along with it, the necessary reforms in supply side to complement the increased demand were
not dismal. Not only this, but the government then also plunged into policy paralysis.
The result was a dip in the economy in the following fiscals years. Following closely was the
bad word INFLATION owing to mismatch between demand and supply. Rural incomes
increased culminated by big welfare programmes. Besides it, SPECULATIVE trends started.
The speculative volumes of many commodities increased multi-folds, especially for the ones
which can be stored. Real Estate ballooned the rates. All these forces, both domestic and
world, led to this debacle.
So the main argument which our guest underlines is that :
CREDIT BOOM IS THE MAIN CULPRIT BEHIND SPECULATIONS WHICH LED TO
INFLATION. Also the Supply side was not equipped to tackle such trends.
Now, the road ahead for India :
Our guest believes that India does not have to do much. Not any drastic reforms are needed,
but normal reforms will do the work (they are low hanging fruits).
India just needs to get the right INVESTMENT CLIMATE created. Clearances have to roll
faster. Policy Paralysis have to be reversed. Tax incentives need to be provided. Other
promising advantages to invest in India have to be showcased to domestic and world players.
And all this is not only to curb the inflation, by fixing supply side Infrastructure. The current
economic scenario is not sustainable. And not much time will elapse, before another round of
plunge will follow, if necessary steps are not taken now.
Manufacturing Sector is the engine of any economy. Growth without secondary sector is
Jobless and Unsustainable. More importantly, India has to satisfy its unique Demographic
Dividend i.e. large population in bracket of 18-60. Therefore, it is necessary that investment
climate becomes suitable in India. Both Political and Administrative will has be present for
this to happen.
Amendment to APMC Act- Will it Bring
Relief From Souring Prices?
Summary -
The debate is cornered around the proposed amendment by the UPA Government in the
APMC Act. This moves comes in order to bring relief from prevailing high prices of fruits
and vegetables. The high prices have affected the common man the most and also the
farmers.
Firstly, What is APMC Act? What was the purpose for which it was brought ?
In the early years after independence, the farmers had to deal with money lenders. Lack of
credit sources and supply alternatives, the farmer had to sell his produce to money lenders at
the latters whims and fancies. The money lender also fixed its selling price arbitrarily. Thus
both the farmer and consumers were at loss. In order to tackle this APMC Act was brought so
as to regulate the market for Agricultural Produce, mainly fruits and vegetables. Although
other items were also there. In this system every state setup its APMC i.e. Agricultural
Produce Marketing Committee. The role of it was similar to what FCI does in food grains.
APMC procures the fruits and vegetables of farmers and regulates its sale in regulated
markets.
This system was successful in eliminating the dependency of farmers on money lenders. But
another type of spoil system developed. The middlemen i.e. contractors,commission agents,
suppliers, transporters etc have made a mockery of the intended process. The result is large
cartels among them. New entrants find it extremely difficult to compete and negotiate so as
sustain in this business. Also the APMC staff is often found indulging in corrupt practices,
thus neglecting this foul system.
Thus, in the end, the main sufferers remain the same farmer and the consumers. A potato is
worth 20 rs in market to the consumers.Of this 20 rs , only 4 rs reach the farmer and the rest
is fed by the layers of middle men.
In order to hit on the current malpractice, recently the APMC Amendtment Act has been
brought. It seeks to take of fruits and vegetables from the list of products regulated by
APMC.
What the panelist in the debate have to say regarding this step :
Negatives :
1. The APMC Act should be scrapped altogether. Why ? Because the central premise because
of which it was brought has now been eliminated. Money lenders have been eliminated in
many forms. Plus there are credit institutions especially for Agriculture. The farmers are
having mobile phones, internet to have access to markets all over India now. They can be
contacted by the consumers too.. etc.
2. SAFAL, NAFED, AMUL are the some models which need to be thought of.
3. The intended amendments will not bear any results. Why ? Because the farmers lack the
negotiation power. They do not have any cold storage for these perishable items. They do not
have any source of value addition. So as a result, the current middlemen are bound to exploit
them even if the farmers are given a choice to sell their produce at other places also.
Positives :
1. The current move is step in right direction. If we have eliminated money lenders, it does
not mean they cannot revive. If a system has gained some defects, it does not mean that it
should be scrapped altogether. Rather its defects should be curbed selectively.
2. SAFAL, NAFED which were setup to procure and sell from cooperatives have not remain
effective. The cooperatives have failed upto the expectations. And the point regarding mobile
phones, technology is also flawed. The Government of India had setup a nationwide portal of
all markets. But that portal itself remains weak and outdated. Secondly, the fluctuations are
not in concordance with the practical supply of such goods.
3. The current amendments need to complemented by infrastructural reforms. Rithu Bazars
and Shetkari Bazars are running effectively in Andhra and Maharashtra. But this alternate
markets will bear fruits only if the farmer is empowered to take advantage of these facilities.
Firsly, all weather roads should be there. Secondly, he needs transportation (which also
collude with other middlemen). Thirdly, cold storage. Hence our panelist suggest that instead
of decrying these limitations, the government should work in these areas as well along with
amending APMC Act..
RESULT -
The proposed amendment is not out of the place. But it is not an end in itself. Many other
reforms in transportation, education and training, infrastructure and food processing have to
be brought along with it. The system of APMC is not a complete failure. Rather it needs
reforms and should not be removed altogether.
Make in India
Achievable Targets:
Target of an increase in manufacturing sector growth to 12-14% per annum over the
medium term.
An increase in the share of manufacturing in the countrys Gross Domestic Product
from 16% to 25% by 2022.
To create 100 million additional jobs by 2022 in manufacturing sector.
Creation of appropriate skill sets among rural migrants and the urban poor for
inclusive growth.
An increase in domestic value addition and technological depth in manufacturing.
Enhancing the global competitiveness of the Indian manufacturing sector.
Ensuring sustainability of growth, particularly with regard to environment.
Tapping Golden Opportunity:
Now let us look at the opportunity, the initiative can actually benefit India from the ground
reality, especially when the Chinese manufacturing leaps have come under strain. There are
already reports that several western manufacturing players operating in China want to move
away from the worlds largest manufacturing hub.
Analysts say, Chinese wages are going up and the labour market is getting more challenging
and that is driving away investors. Thus companies with operating factories in China should
look for other alternatives in the region, such as Vietnam, Indonesia and of course India.
What are the advantages Indian business and especially manufacturing sector actually offer?
The country is expected to rank amongst the worlds top three growth economies and
amongst the top three manufacturing destinations by as early as 2020. This is far more
ambitious scene than promised about 2050 sometime back in the context of Indias role at the
BRICS level. Indian manufacturing sector has positive elements like favourable
demographic dividends for the next 2-3 decades. The sustained availability of quality
workforce is another advantage.
Importantly again, in India, the cost of manpower is relatively low as compared to other
countries. There are responsible business houses operating with credibility and
professionalism. The country has a democratized polity vis--vis the rule of law and a strong
consumerism intake ability of the domestic market.
Various speakers on September 25 at the launch of Make in India programme also spoke
about robust technical and engineering capabilities backed by top-notch scientific and
technical institutes as other positive offerings on the table.
Favourable Milestones:
India has already marked its presence as one of the fastest growing economies of the
world.
The country is expected to rank amongst the worlds top three growth economies and
amongst the top three manufacturing destinations by 2020.
Favourable demographic dividends for the next 2-3 decades. Sustained availability of
quality workforce.
The cost of manpower is relatively low as compared to other countries.
Responsible business houses operating with credibility and professionalism.
Strong consumerism in the domestic market.
Strong technical and engineering capabilities backed by top-notch scientific and
technical institutes.
Well-regulated and stable financial markets open to foreign investors.
The government has also pledged other focused approaches. Among other things, it intends to
leverage the existing incentives/schemes to boost manufacturing.
A technology acquisition and development fund has been proposed for the acquisition of
appropriate technologies, the creation of a patent pool and the development of domestic
manufacturing of equipment used for controlling pollution and reducing energy consumption,
official sources said in New Delhi.
This fund will also function as an autonomous patent pool and licensing agency. It will
purchase intellectual property rights from patent holders.
In his speech at the launch of the campaign, the Prime Minister Shri Modi had a vital point to
make when he said incentives or tax-free announcements do not win over investors. It is
obvious theres need to create development and growth oriented environment.
The government has also to deal with an existing menace in bureaucratic functioning. The
bureaucratic bottle necks that hinder ease of doing business need to be removed.
Training of Workforce:
The manufacturing sector cannot develop on its own without skilled labour force and in this
context it is heartening to note the governments initiatives for skill development. The
creation of appropriate skill would definitely set rural migrants and the urban poor on a track
towards inclusive growth. That would be a vital step for boosting manufacturing.
The New Ministry for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has initiated the process of
revising the National Policy on Skill Development. It is significant to note that under the
Rural Development ministry, the Modi government has undertaken another new initiative for
skill development under a recast programme named after BJP icon Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya.

The new training programme envisages setting up of at least 1500 to 2000 training centres
across the country and the entire project would result in an estimated expenditure of Rs 2000
crore and will be run on PPP model.
The new training programme would enable the youths to get jobs in demand-oriented
markets like Spain, US, Japan, Russia, France, China, UK and West Asia. The government
proposes to train about 3 lakh youths annually in first two years and by the end of 2017, it has
set a target of reaching out to as many as 10 lakh rural youths.

Other steps:

As part of other steps, there is need to address other issues too like adequate development of
basic infrastructures the roads and the power chiefly. For long, MNCs and software service
companies have relished doing business in India due to a robust market with enhanced
purchasing ability of the citizens but in terms of building up manufacturing facilities, India
has been a case of also-ran. In this context it is worth pointing out that a strong political will,
business-like approach of bureaucrats and the entrepreneurs, skilled of workforce along with
investment friendly policies can unleash the nations potential.
It is in this context the governments efforts to develop an industrial corridor between Delhi
and Mumbai needs to be appreciated.
The government is also working on multi-pronged strategies like development of
infrastructure linkages including pioneer plants, assured water supply, high capacity
transportation and logistics facilities.
Carrying on the good works on these fronts, the government also has begun the process of
reviving five ailing Public Sector units (PSUs). Of the 11 PSUs, the government also feels
that for six other units that needs to be closed, it is working on one-time settlement involving
voluntary retirement scheme entailing a cost of Rs 1,000 crore VRS for employees.
The state-run units which have been identified by the government for revival include HMT
Machine Tools Ltd; Heavy Engineering Corporation; NEPA Ltd; Nagaland Paper & Pulp Co
Ltd; and Triveni Structurals.
Oct 10
Super Tuesday
In a unique move, the Karnataka government has decided to observe every Tuesday
as Super Tuesday to guarantee availability of medical treatment to mentally
challenged persons in taluk hospitals, community health centres and primary health
centres (PHCs) across the State.
In a first-of-its-kind scheme in the country, the State launched two major
programmes Manochaitanya and Manasadhara to provide free treatment,
counselling and medicines to people suffering from mental disabilities and their
rehabilitation. The World Mental Health Day is observed on 10
th
of October every
year.
According to the programme all psychiatrists of district hospitals must visit taluk
hospitals and community and primary health centres on that day and offer treatment
and drugs to people suffering from various mental disabilities.
Doctors of PHCs will provide guidance to people with mental disabilities. Resident
doctors, postgraduate students and teaching and non-teaching staff of medical
colleges would also participate in the programme. Doctors of respective hospitals or
health centres would be held responsible if there is dereliction of duty or non-
availability of medicines.
The programme is aimed at promoting social wellbeing of people suffering from
mental disabilities, and for rehabilitation to increase their economic productivity and
promote happiness among families.
Sources: The Hindu.

cyclones and their naming
Cyclones were usually not named. The tradition started with hurricanes in the
Atlantic Ocean, where tropical storms that reach sustained wind speeds of 39 miles
per hour were given names. ( hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones are all the same, just
different names for tropical storms in different parts of the world; Hurricane in the
Atlantic, Typhoon in the Pacific and Cyclone in the Indian Ocean). If the storms
wind speed reaches or crosses 74 mph, it is then classified into a
hurricane/cyclone/typhoon. Tropical storms are given names and they retain the
name if they develop into a cyclone/hurricane/typhoon.
Naming of cyclones in North Indian Ocean by India and other SAARC countries and
Oman and Thailand began 10 years ago for easy reference, documentation and
research. Naming of storms is done for effective forecasting and getting it circulated
through mass media. It is also useful for academic research
The latest storm Hudhud, which is expected to hit the odisha coast, is named by
Oman after Arabic word, Hoopoe, a blue-crested bird found in Afro Eurasia known
for its beautiful crest of feathers. The next is named by Pakistan as Nilofer. Phailin
was named by Thailand after the word, sapphire.
Naming of cyclones is done by turns in the following sequence after Nilofer by
Pakistan: Priya (Sri Lanka), Komen (Thailand), Chapala (Bangladesh), Megh (India),
Roanu (Maldives), Kyant (Myanmer), Nada (Oman) and Asiri (Sri Lanka).
International committee of World Meteorological Organisation and UN Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific play a key role in cyclone naming.
Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/phailin-how-are-cyclones-named-
what-does-phailin-mean/1/314282.html
Sources: The Hindu, indiatoday.

Nobel Literature Prize
Frances Patrick Modiano has won the Nobel Literature Prize for his enigmatic novels
rooted in the trauma of the Nazi occupation and his own loveless childhood.
The Swedish Academy said it wanted to celebrate Mr. Modianos art of memory in
capturing the lives of ordinary French people living under the Nazis during World
War II.
His first novel La place de letoile ( The Stars Place ), was a direct reference to that
mark of shame inflicted on the Jews.
It was the first of many recreations of wartime Paris stuffed with meticulous detail
street names, cafes, metro stations and real-life crime cases of the day earning him
the moniker of literary archaeologist.
Sources: The Hindu.
Japan Plus
The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has set up a special
management team to facilitate and fast track investment proposals from Japan. The
team, known as Japan Plus, will comprise representatives from Government of
India and METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), Government of Japan.
It is an outcome of the recently concluded visit of the Prime Minister of India to
Japan. The mandate of the Japan Plus team runs through the entire spectrum of
investment promotion research, outreach, promotion, facilitation and aftercare.
The team will support the Government of India in initiating, attracting, facilitating,
fast tracking and handholding Japanese investments across sectors. The team will
also be responsible for providing updated information on investment opportunities
across sectors, in specific projects and in industrial corridors in particular. In
addition, the Japan Plus team will identify prospective Japanese companies,
including, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and facilitate their investments in
India.
The Japan Plus team will also provide assistance to DIPP in undertaking regular
benchmarking studies, identifying bottlenecks and areas of concern in sectors of
interest to Japanese companies, and analyzing their impact on industrial
development production in India.
Japan is the 4th largest FDI contributor to India, with major interests in
pharmaceuticals, automobiles and services sectors and accounts for 7.46% of total
FDI equity inflows into India. Over the last decade, the number of Japanese
establishments in India have increased by 11 times, reflecting the positive sentiments
of Japanese investors for Indian market.
Sources: PIB.

Draft Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014
It is a Bill which aims to provide a framework for safer, faster, cost effective and
inclusive movement of passengers and freight in the country thus enabling the
mission of Make in India.
Highlights of the Bill:
2 lakhs lives to be saved in first 5 years due to reduction in road traffic accident
deaths
4% GDP improvement on account of increased efficiency and safety of road transport
sector
10 lac Jobs to be created with increase in investment in the sector
The bill proposes to include:
Motor Vehicle Regulation & Road Safety Authority of India
Independent agency for vehicle regulation and road safety
Dedicated institutional setup to save over 200,000 lives in first 5 years
Legally empowered & fully functional agency, accountable to Parliament
Innovative financing mechanism for funding safety programs
Unified Driver Licensing System
Simplified application and issuance procedures for driver licensing system
Unified biometric system to avoid duplication
Technology adoption for driver testing facilities
Transparent, single window driver licencing system. Automated driving test
for increased capacity with private sector participation.
Unified Vehicle Registration System
Unified registration in a dynamic information system
Integration of all stakeholders. Easy (online) transfer of vehicles across states.
Increased private sector participation in fitness testing to create more jobs
Manufacturer, owner, transport authority, insurer, enforcement agency all in
one eco-system
Private sector participation in establishing fitness certification centres
Road Safety & Traffic Management
Provision for enforcement of modern safety technologies
Creation of a motor accident fund for immediate relief to accident victim
Special emphasis on safety of school children and security of women
Electronic enforcement in urban clusters. Special emphasis for safety of
vulnerable road users
National Road Transport & Multimodal Coordination Authority
Single national authority for improving quality of road transportation
Focus on developing integrated transport systems & multi-modal hubs
Feeder system and last mile connectivity for people friendly mobility
Institutional setup to facilitate Make in India vision. Seamless movement of
goods and passengers across various modes
Goods Transport & National Freight Policy
Identification and development of freight networks
Address bottlenecks concerning trucking industry
Simplified permits and single portal clearances
The DRTSB also includes the setting up of a Highway Traffic Regulation and
Protection Force (HTRPF).
SANITATION:
A S anitation programme currently being widely implemented in low-income communities in
India significantly increases latrine coverage but does not actually improve health, a study
involving 100 rural villages, that will be published online in The Lancet Global Health on
Friday has found.
The sanitation intervention delivered under the terms of the centres Total Sanitation
Campaign the worlds largest sanitation initiative provided almost 25 000 individuals in
rural India with access to a latrine. However, it did not reduce exposure to faecal pathogens
or decrease the occurrence of diarrhoea, parasitic worm infections, or child malnutrition.
Worldwide, around 2.5 billion people lack access to basic sanitation facilities such as a
latrine, a third of whom live in India. Two-thirds of the 1.1 billion people who practise open
defecation and a quarter of the 1.5 million who die every year from diarrhoeal diseases
caused by poor hygiene and sanitation also live in India.
This cluster randomised trial involved 9480 households (50 951 individuals) in 100 rural
villages in Odisha, with a child younger than 4 years or a pregnant woman. Households in 50
villages were randomly assigned to receive the sanitation intervention in early 2011; control
villages received the intervention after a 14month surveillance period.
The intervention increased the average proportion of households in a village with a latrine
from 9% to 63%, compared an increase of 8% to 12% in control villages. However, the
researchers found no evidence that the intervention protected against diarrhoea in children
younger than 5 years: 7-day prevalence of reported diarrhoea was 8.8% in the intervention
group (data from 1919 children) and 9.1% in the control group (1916 children). What is
more, the intervention did not reduce the prevalence of parasitic worms that are transmitted
via soil and can cause reduced physical growth and impaired cognitive function in children.
There was also no impact on child weight or heightmeasures of nutritional status.
The programme is effective in building latrines, but not all households participate, explains
lead author Professor Thomas Clasen from Emory University, Atlanta, USA and the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the UK. Moreover, many householders do not
always use the latrines. This, combined with continued exposure from poor hygiene,
contaminated water, and unsafe disposal of child faeces, may explain the lack of a health
impact.
Researchers further said that studies are needed to identify why the intervention failed to
improve health, but suggest a number of possible explanations including insufficient
coverage and inconsistent use of latrines, or that a lack of handwashing with soap or animal
faeces could also be contributing to the disease burden.
Writing in a linked Comment, Dr Stephen Luby, Research Deputy Director at the Centre for
Innovation in Global Health, Stanford University in the USA says, This rigorous assessment
is important, because it provides the best evidence so far for the uncomfortable conclusion
that well -funded, professionally delivered sanitation programmes, even when they reach
coverage levels that are quite commendable for large scale interventions, do not necessarily
improve health.
He adds, This absence of sound data for the health effect of sanitation results in a paucity of
evidence to guide decisions about whether to invest scarce funds in the improvement of
sanitation. Might communities be healthier if the funds were instead invested in water
infrastructure, handwashing promotion, rotavirus vaccine, nutritional supplementation, or
improvement of clinical management of diarrhoea with oral rehydration and zinc treatment?
Oct 11
Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana
It is a village development project under which each Member of Parliament will take the
responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.
The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams or model villages by March 2019, of which one
would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be
selected and developed by 2024.
The Project to be launched on the occasion of birth anniversary of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash
Narayan aims to keep the soul of rural India alive while providing its people with quality
access to basic amenities and opportunities to enable them to shape their own destiny.
Inspired by the principles and values of Mahatma Gandhi, the Scheme places equal stress on
nurturing values of national pride, patriotism, community spirit, self-confidence and on
developing infrastructure.
The Scheme is unique and transformative as it has a holistic approach towards development.
It envisages integrated development of the selected village across multiple areas such as
agriculture, health, education, sanitation, environment, livelihoods etc. Far beyond mere
infrastructure development, SAGY aims at instilling certain values, such as peoples
participation, Antyodaya, gender equality, dignity of women, social justice, spirit of
community service, cleanliness, eco-friendliness, maintaining ecological balance, peace and
harmony, mutual cooperation, self-reliance, local self-government, transparency and
accountability in public life, etc., in the villages and their people so that they get transformed
into models for others.
The scheme will be implemented through a village development plan that would be prepared
for every identified gram panchayat with special focus on enabling every poor household to
come out of poverty. The constituency fund, MPLADS, would be available to fill critical
financing gaps. The planning process in each village will be a participatory exercise
coordinated by the District Collector. The MP will play an active facilitating role in this
exercise.
SAGY gives focus to community participation. Social mobilization of village community can
trigger a chain of other development activities in the village. For instance, reducing risk
behaviours like alcoholism, smoking, substance abuse (drugs/tobacco/gutkha etc) among all
age groups of population. Women participation in the decision-making process will be
encouraged.
Adoption and adaptation of technology and introduction of innovations are critical to this
programme. This will include use of space application and remote sensing for planning,
mobile based technology for monitoring, agriculture technology for increasing productivity
etc.
At the national level, a separate, real time web based monitoring system will be put in place
for the scheme covering all aspects and components. The Ministry will put in place a
specially designed capacity building programme for Government functionaries at different
levels including Gram Panchayats. At the state level there will be an Empowered Committee
headed by the Chief Secretary consisting of the relevant Departments and including experts,
as required with at least two Civil Society representatives. The district Collector will be the
nodal officer for implementing the SAGY. He will conduct a monthly review meeting with
representatives of the participating Line Departments. The Members of Parliament concerned
will chair the review meetings.
Sources: PIB.
National Optical Fibre Network
The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) is a project to provide broadband connectivity
to over two lakh Gram panchayats of India at a cost of Rs.20,000 crore.
The project provides internet access using existing optical fibre and extending it to the Gram
panchayats. The project was intended to enable the government of India to provide e-services
and e-applications nationally. A special purpose vehicle Bharat Broadband Network Limited
(BBNL) was created as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the Companies Act of 1956
for the execution of the project. The project will be funded by the Universal Service
Obligation Fund (USOF).
All the Service Providers like Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), ISPs, Cable TV operators
etc. will be given non-discriminatory access to the National Optic Fibre Network and can
launch various services in rural areas. NOFN has the potential to transform many aspects of
our lives including video, data, internet, telephone services in areas such as education,
business, entertainment, environment, health households and e-governance services.
National Optic Fibre Network uses Gigabit passive optical network (GPON) technology
indigenously developed by Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT). A passive
optical network (PON) brings fiber cabling and signals to the home using a point-to-
multipoint scheme that enables a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises. Encryption
maintains data security in this shared environment. The architecture uses passive
(unpowered) optical splitters, reducing the cost of equipment compared to point-to-point
architectures.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, www.bbnl.nic.in.
About UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATION FUND
The New Telecom Policy 1999 (NTP 99), approved by the Union Cabinet, sought to
achieve the following Universal Service Objectives:
Provision of Voice and Low speed data service to the balance 2.98 lakh uncovered villages,
Achieve Internet access to all district headquarters, and
Achieve telephone on demand in urban and rural areas.
The New Telecom Policy 1999 provided that the resources for meeting the Universal
Service Obligation (USO) would be raised through a Universal Access Levy (UAL), which
would be a percentage of the revenue earned by the operators under various licenses, to be
decided in consultation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
It envisaged that the implementation of USO Obligation for rural/remote areas would be
undertaken by all fixed service providers who shall be reimbursed from the USO Fund. Other
service providers would also be encouraged to participate in USO provision subject to
technical feasibility and would be reimbursed from the funds.
The Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003 giving statutory status to the Universal
Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was passed by both Houses of Parliament in December
2003.
The resources for implementation of USO are raised through a Universal Service Levy (USL)
which has presently been fixed at 5% of the Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of all Telecom
Service Providers except the pure value added service providers like Internet, Voice Mall, E-
Mail service providers etc. In addition, the Central Govt. may also give grants and loans.
The Fund is to be utilized exclusively for meeting the Universal Service Obligation. It has
been defined in the Act as the obligation to provide access to telegraph services to people in
rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable prices.
Support from the fund is being carried out by means of a bidding process on the least
quoted subsidy support basis (reverse auction).
Credits to the Fund are through Parliamentary approvals and the balance to the credit of the
Fund does not lapse at the end of the financial year. USOF activities fall under Plan Budget.
They were previously carried out under Non-Plan Budget till 2010-2011.
Sources:
http://www.usof.gov.in/.
Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1986 to
protect interests of consumers in India. It makes provision for the establishment of consumer
councils and other authorities for the settlement of consumers disputes and for matters
connected therewith.
Consumer Protection Councils are established at the national, state and district level to
increase consumer awareness.
Central Consumer Protection Council
It is established by the Central Government which consists of the following members:
The Minister of Consumer Affairs, Chairman, and
Such number of other official or non-official members representing such interests as may be
prescribed.
State Consumer Protection Council
It is established by the State Government which consists of the following members:
The Minister in charge of consumer affairs in the State Government Chairman.
Such number of other official or non-official members representing such interests as may be
prescribed by the State Government.
such number of other official or non-official members, not exceeding ten, as may be
nominated by the Central Government.
The State Council is required to meet as and when necessary but not less than two meetings
every year.
Consumer Disputes Redressal Agencies
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (DCDRF): Also known as the District Forum
will be established by the State Government in each district of the State. The State
Government may establish more than one District Forum in a district. It is a district level
court that deals with cases valuing up to 20 lakhs.
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC): Also known as the State
Commission will be established by the State Government in the State. It is a state level
court that takes up cases valuing less than 1 crore.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC): Established by the Central
Government. It is a national level court that works for the whole country and deals with
amount more than 1 crore.
For further reference:
http://dc-siwan.bih.nic.in/Consumer_Act.pdf.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, www.ncdrc.nic.in.


Countrys first ever Mental Health Policy

The Mental Health Policy was launched on the first ever National Mental Health Day
organised by the government.

The National Mental Health Policy outlines the prioritized agenda for extending within a
pragmatic time-frame basic mental health care facilities to all sections of the population
across the country by the year 2020. It also pushes for decriminalisation of attempted suicide.

The Policys objective is to provide universal access to mental health care by enhancing
understanding of mental health and strengthening leadership in the mental health sector at all
levels. It will have a pro-poor orientation because only the creamy layer of society presently
has access to mental healthcare in India today.

The Policy is backed up by the Mental Health Action Plan 365. It clearly spells out the
specific roles to be played by the Central government, the state governments, local bodies and
civil society organisations.

Earlier laws governing the mentally ill, the Indian Lunatic Asylum Act, 1858, and Indian
Lunacy Act, 1912, ignored the human rights aspect and were concerned only with custodial
issues.

The National Mental Health Policy is aimed at doing the greatest good to the largest
number through five interdependent and mutually synergistic strategies, to be implemented
in a phased manner over the next two decades

Extension of basic mental health care facilities to, the primary level.

Strengthening of psychiatric training in Medical Colleges at the undergraduate as well as
postgraduate level.

Modernization and rationalization of mental hospitals to develop them into tertiary care
centers of excellence.

Empowerment of Central and State Mental Health Authorities for effective monitoring,
regulation and planning of mental health care delivery systems.

Promoting research in frontier areas to evolve better and more cost-effective therapeutic
interventions as well as to generate seminal inputs for future planning.


For further reference:
http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/download/MH%20Policy%20rewrite.pdf.
Sources: PIB, http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/, The Hindu.
India, Pak. crusaders share Nobel
Kailash Satyarthi, 60-year-old child rights activist from Madhya Pradesh, and Malala
Yousafzai, who has risked her life to wage a campaign for girls education in Pakistan, are
the joint winners of this years Nobel Peace Prize.
It is an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a
common struggle for education and extremism.
Mr. Satyarthi showed great personal courage and maintaining Gandhis tradition, has headed
various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation
of children for financial gain. The peace prize winner has saved thousands of children from
bonded labour in factories through the Bachpan Bachao Andolan which he founded in 1980,
and other organisations. He is a member of the high-level group formed by UNESCO on
Education for All on which selected presidents, Prime Ministers and UN agency heads are
represented.
Despite her youth, Malala has already fought for several years for the rights of girls to
education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to
improve their own situations. Malala became a global symbol of the fight against extremism
after she was shot by Taliban militants two years ago in Swat.

Free Trade Agreements: Harmful or
Helpful to Build?
The debate over India entering into free trade agreements and opening up our
economy to other countries has been on this country for some time now.
While some are in favour of these agreements, on the other hand there are those who
want caution to be exercised when it comes to signing these FTAs as it would affect
not only the domestic industry and manufacturing sector but also results in significant
losses in the revenue of the exchequer.
Planning commission had held that more such agreements need to be signed as they
promote exports.
India has signed FTAs with about 20 countries and more are being negotiated.
We do have alternatives other than FTA.
FTA is good for building trade and for economic development.
Studies conducted by various institutions have revealed that the benefits of FTAs are
limited.
We have more number of inelastic imports.
By large, since we are globalising we should have more open trade. Having more
number of FTAs does not necessarily mean that we have lost out.
We must go ahead with FTA but it should be calibrated.
FTAs should not be limited to goods only. Our strength is in service sector and FTAs
should be extended to cover this sector too.
The SME sector feels that it is left out of the picture and is unhappy about FTAs.
The FTAs signed so far cover about a quarter of our total trade.
Bangladesh is our largest trading partner in South Asia.
The loss through these FTAs is not much.
It is vital for the government to analyse our strengths and weaknesses before signing
any FTA.
Transparent negotiations should be carried out. We should include more number of
experts and stakeholders in negotiations.
Manufacturing has been much affected by these agreements. Job creation has also
been affected.
Although some sectors are affected, Overall, FTA has tried to maintain the balance.
We also need cutting edge technology alongside.
The challenge before the government is to make these agreements more helpful than
harmful.
Changing GDP parameters: How will it
help?
The Indian GDP is poised to take an upward swing not because of any upward trend
in the economy but due to a decision by the government to broaden the parameters
that are used to calculate GDP.
Because of inaccuracies and exclusion of certain categories of the Indian economy all
these years it is felt that the real size of the Indian economy has been suppressed so
far.
Change in the estimation of national accounts is not new but it is routine a work. The
GDP indicator is more relevant to the current situation and it also helps to understand
the current behaviour of the economy, and hence the revision is necessitated.
This is not a change in the base year but shift in the production function itself wherein
new commodities will be brought in and some obsolete commodities will be
discarded.
Usually, there will be periodic revision of base year for every 5 years.
National accounts data is undercounting consumption data. There is also
inconsistency in sources. Data collection is inadequate. We do not have adequate
infrastructure to calculate the accurate GDP figures.
Our GDP enumerators are 1/3
rd
of the Chinese. Serious rethinking is required.
The problem lies in not covering the several parts of the economy.
We have large percentage of unorganized sector. And most of this sector is not
covered yet.
Without knowing the ground data producing data affects even policy making.
There is definitely a gap between data and policy.
Oct 13
Centre to set inflation targets for RBI
The Centre has given the go-ahead for a major overhaul of the current monetary policy
framework wherein the Centre will specify inflation targets for the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) to achieve.
Under the proposed new regime, the RBI will set inflation as its top priority in its policy
statements.
An expert committee of the RBI, appointed to examine monetary policy, headed by Reserve
Bank Deputy Governor Urjit R. Patel, had recommended that the monetary policy decision-
making should be vested with a monetary policy committee, chaired by the RBI Governor.
But this new decision of the centre departs from the recommendation made.
Inflation targeting is a monetary policy strategy used by central banks for maintaining
inflation at a certain level or within a specific range. In general, central banks normally
follow a policy of keeping inflation sufficiently low. However, in inflation targeting, there is a
preset, publicly declared target. Using methods such as interest rate changes, the central
bank and other monetary authorities are expected to guide inflation to a targeted level or
range.
The committee, headed by Urjit Patel, was constituted with the aim of making Monetary
policy framework transparent and predictable.
The key recommendations, related to inflation, made by the committee are ass follows,
CPI (combined) should be used as the nominal anchor for a flexible inflation targeting
framework.
Target range of inflation should be 4% with a tolerance band of 2% to be achieved in a 2 year
time frame.
The transition path to the targeted range should be graduated to bring down inflation from
the current level of around 10% to 8% over a period not exceeding 12 months and to 6%
over a period not exceeding 24 months.
Administered prices and interest rates should be eliminated as they as impediments to
monetary policy transmission and achievement to price stability.
The committee also suggested to use CPI headline inflation instead of core inflation.

Sources: The Hindu, Economic survey.


Huge response to crowd sourcing
Andhra Pradesh government, for the first time, is using space technology with the help of
ISRO and NRSC in disaster management.
Responding to tech-savvy Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers appeal, people from cyclone-hit
areas have uploaded over 3,000 photos for crowd sourcing on NRSC website using an
android app which allows mapping of neighbourhood in an easy manner.
Besides seeking the help of National Remote Sensing Centre, the Disaster Management
Department of AP government created a Facebook page. NRSC was directed to use GIS,
GPS and remote sensing technologies to spot the damage and put them on the satellite
through geo-tagging. This would enable the government to have data on damages on the map.
What is Crowdsourcing?
Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting
contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather
than from traditional employees or suppliers.
The process of crowdsourcing is often used to subdivide tedious work and to obtain real time
information.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki.
Green-rated buildings not keeping their promise, says CSE report
Green-rated buildings are falling below the minimum benchmarks of their official star rating
by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), says a report Building sense beyond the green
faade of sustainable habitat by the Centre for Science and Environment released
recently.
Data put out by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) on energy consumption of large
commercial buildings that were rated and awarded silver, gold and platinum ratings, under
the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-rating programme, show
they are grossly underperforming.
India started to mirror the global trends in green rating when the United States Green
Building Council (USGBC) began rating buildings in India.
In 2007, LEED India (Leadership in Energy and environmental Design-India) was adapted
from the USGBC LEED programme. This is a private initiative run by the IGBC.
India adopted the Green-rated Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) as the national rating
system for buildings in 2007.
About GRIHA:
GRIHA is a rating tool that helps people assesses the performance of their building against
certain nationally acceptable benchmarks. It evaluates the environmental performance of a
building holistically over its entire life cycle, thereby providing a definitive standard for what
constitutes a green building. The rating system, based on accepted energy and
environmental principles, will seek to strike a balance between the established practices and
emerging concepts, both national and international.
GRIHA attempts to minimize a buildings resource consumption, waste generation, and
overall ecological impact to within certain nationally acceptable limits / benchmarks. It
attempts to quantify aspects such as energy consumption, waste generation, renewable energy
adoption, etc. so as to manage, control and reduce the same to the best possible extent.
With over two decades of experience on green and energy efficient buildings, TERI has
developed GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), which was adopted as
the national rating system for green buildings by the Government of India in 2007.
This tool has been adopted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. This tool, by its
qualitative and quantitative assessment criteria, is able to rate a building on the degree of its
greenness.
The basic features of GRIHA:
The system has been developed to help design and evaluate new buildings (buildings that
are still at the inception stages). A building is assessed based on its predicted performance
over its entire life cycle inception through operation. The stages of the life cycle that have
been identified for evaluation are:

Pre-construction stage: (intra- and inter-site issues like proximity to public transport, type of
soil, kind of land, where the property is located, the flora and fauna on the land before
construction activity starts, the natural landscape and land features).
Building planning and construction stages: (issues of resource conservation and reduction in
resource demand, resource utilization efficiency, resource recovery and reuse, and
provisions for occupant health and well-being). The prime resources that are considered in
this section are land, water, energy, air, and green cover.
Building operation and maintenance stage: (issues of operation and maintenance of building
systems and processes, monitoring and recording of energy consumption, and occupant
health and well-being, and also issues that affect the global and local environment).

The benefits:
On a broader scale, this system, along with the activities and processes that lead up to it, will
benefit the community at large with the improvement in the environment by reducing GHG
(greenhouse gas) emissions, reducing energy consumption and the stress on natural resources.
Some of the benefits of a green design to a building owner, user, and the society as a whole
are as follows:
Reduced energy consumption without sacrificing the comfort levels
Reduced destruction of natural areas, habitats, and biodiversity, and reduced soil loss from
erosion etc.
Reduced air and water pollution (with direct health benefits)
Reduced water consumption
Limited waste generation due to recycling and reuse
Reduced pollution loads
Increased user productivity
Enhanced image and marketability
For further reference:
http://www.asci.org.in/eeibe/Resources/Presentations/Mr.%20Siva%20Kishan.pdf.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.grihaindia.org.

TFA implementation problem a shame
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has described the worlds inability to get across the
finish line with the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) as really, really a shame, adding
that the market would punish those who are putting their heads in the sand.
Trade Facilitation was one of the important elements of the outcome from the Bali ministerial
conference.
About TFA:
The Trade Facilitation Agreement forms part of the Bali Package agreed by members at the
Ninth Ministerial Conference in Bali.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement contains provisions for faster and more efficient customs
procedures through effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities
on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues. It also contains provisions for technical
assistance and capacity building in this area.
It is a trade protocol aiming to give a spur and do away with the stumbling blocks in doing
international trade between various countries. The deadline to sign the agreement is July 31
and the deal has to come into force fully by 2015.
It is being believed, especially by the proponents of the agreement that deal could add $1
trillion to global GDP and also can generate 21 million jobs by slashing red tape and
streamlining customs.
India and FTA:
India fears that agreeing to the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) could compromise its own
food security.
The problem with TFA runs in a clause that says farm subsidies cannot be more than 10% of
the value of agricultural production. If the cap is breached, other members can challenge it
and also go on to impose trade sanctions on the country.
The developing countries have a problem with the solutions offered by the developed
countries as without the subsidies the food security of the developing nations could be
seriously harmed. India agreed to the TFA in Bali only under the condition that interim relief
would be provided to the developing nations. It said no legal actions or sanctions would be
imposed on the developing nations till 2017, by which time a solution would be worked out
among the nations. However, this interim relief would not be applicable if such subsidies
would lead to trade distortions, by which one means, that prices of exports and imports
cannot be affected by this.
Indias Food Security Act, which is binding on the government by law now, implies that the
government will provide very cheap food to the most vulnerable part of the population at low
prices. Apart from providing subsidies to the consumers, through the public distribution
system, it also provides subsidies to the producers of food grains. So it buys food grains from
farmers at a minimum support price, and subsidises inputs like electricity and fertiliser.
Concerns expressed by India:
The 10% cap on subsidies which will not be possible for India to achieve. And the 10% cap is
calculated based on 1986-88 prices when the prices of food grains were much lower. So the
cap has to be updated taking into account the present prices of foodgrains.
India will have to open up its own stockpiling to international monitoring, even for providing
subsidised food.
The United States has been providing farm subsidies to its farmers to the tune of more than
$20 billion per year which seems unfair to the developing countries to not crack down on
that issue.
India which is home to about 25% of the worlds hungry, feels that it is a Governments
responsibility and duty to ensure availability of proper food to its people.
Oct 14
OP LEHAR
It is the rescue operation conducted under which The Defence Crisis Management Group has
nominated Indian Navy as the lead service for conduct of rescue and relief operations in
Andhra Pradesh and Odisha affected by Cyclone Hudhud.
Sources: PIB.
Strong Measures to be Introduced Against Female Foeticide
The Union Health Minister has decided to set up an expert group to examine the new
methods being used for gender determination of foetuses to get around the existing regulation
of ultra sound machines.
While misuse of ultra sound machines is still prevalent because it is cheap, newer medical
technologies are increasingly being used in the name of genetic testing.
The use of simple blood tests that give away the sex of the foetus represents a new dimension
to gender-specific foeticide. At IVF-ART clinics, couples are given the option of accepting or
rejecting a foetus depending on the sex. While rules are in place to prevent misuse of ultra-
sound machines, very little is known about recent innovations brought to bear on sex
selection. Therefore, it is necessary to form an expert group to identify the approaches and
formulate responses in the form of an Amendment to the Act.
About Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act:
It is an Act enacted in 1994 by the Parliament of India to stop female foeticides and arrest the
declining sex ratio in India. The act banned prenatal sex determination. It is an Act to provide
for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception, and for regulation of pre-natal
diagnostic techniques for the purposes of detecting genetic abnormalities or metabolic
disorders or chromosomal abnormalities or certain congenital malformations or sex-linked
disorders and for the prevention of their misuse for sex determination leading to female
foeticide; and, for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The main purpose of enacting the act is to ban the use of sex selection techniques before or
after conception and prevent the misuse of prenatal diagnostic technique for sex selective
abortion.
Sex selection is any act of identifying the sex of the foetus and elimination of the foetus if it is
of the unwanted sex.
Salient features:
Offences under this act include conducting or helping in the conduct of prenatal diagnostic
technique in the unregistered units, sex selection on a man or woman, conducting PND test
for any purpose other than the one mentioned in the act, sale, distribution, supply, renting etc.
of any ultra sound machine or any other equipment capable of detecting sex of the foetus.
Main provisions in the act are
The Act provides for the prohibition of sex selection, before or after conception.
It regulates the use of pre-natal diagnostic techniques, like ultrasound and amniocentesis by
allowing them their use only to detect :
1. genetic abnormalities
2. metabolic disorders
3. chromosomal abnormalities
4. certain congenital malformations
5. haemoglobinopathies
6. sex linked disorders.
No laboratory or centre or clinic will conduct any test including ultrasonography for the
purpose of determining the sex of the foetus.
No person, including the one who is conducting the procedure as per the law, will
communicate the sex of the foetus to the pregnant woman or her relatives by words, signs
or any other method.
Any person who puts an advertisement for pre-natal and pre-conception sex determination
facilities in the form of a notice, circular, label, wrapper or any document, or advertises
through interior or other media in electronic or print form or engages in any visible
representation made by means of hoarding, wall painting, signal, light, sound, smoke or gas,
can be imprisoned for up to three years and fined Rs. 10,000.
The Act mandates compulsory registration of all diagnostic laboratories, all genetic
counselling centres, genetic laboratories, genetic clinics and ultrasound clinics.
Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994 (PNDT),
was amended in 2003 to The Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques
(Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act (PCPNDT Act) to improve the regulation of the
technology used in sex selection.
The Act was amended to bring the technique of pre conception sex selection and ultrasound
technique within the ambit of the act. The amendment also empowered the central
supervisory board, state level supervisory board was constituted.
For further reference:
http://www.rajswasthya.nic.in/PCPNDT%2005.12.08/PCPNDT%20Act%20(2).pdf.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, http://www.rajswasthya.nic.in/.


Most Indian women engaged in unpaid housework
A recently released NSSO data shows that Close to two out of every three Indian women are,
in their prime working years, primarily engaged in unpaid housework. This phenomenon, on
the rise over the last decade, is least common in the southern and north-eastern States and
most common in the northern States, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in particular.
Observations made by the Report:
Over 60 per cent of adult women are primarily engaged in housework slightly more so
among urban women. The data shows that women, in both rural and urban areas, are
increasingly reporting domestic work as their main occupation.
Even though a majority of the women surveyed were engaged in productive activity
collecting firewood or rearing household poultry they could not be classified as workers
as the value added by and the number of hours spent on these actions were not sufficient to
constitute economically productive activity.
Among women who spend most of their time on domestic duties, over 60 per cent said they
did so because there was no other family member to help out with household chores. A third
of women doing domestic work said they would be willing to take up regular paid home-
based work, particularly of tailoring.

Democracy protests in Hong Kong
Democracy protests are going on in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong usually an orderly financial hub is in eruption.
Thousands of protesters have deployed umbrellas to protect themselves from tear gas
leading some to describe this protest as Umbrella revolution.
When Britain gave the reigns of HK back to China in 1997, Beijing had given certain
assurances. Under what was termed as One Country Two Systems, HK was allowed
to keep its common law system and was assured of greater rights than those prevalent
in mainland china.
The residents of HK had hoped that by 2017 they would be free to elect their own
Chief executive to run the HK special administrative region.
Now, China is saying that there would be no open nominations and only those names
cleared by Chinese Communist party would be able to contest.
These demonstrations have been turned into biggest protests in the region since
Chinese rule.
Under the existing system, political control in HK is vested with china.
This protest marks a revision of promises. China had earlier promised to provide
universal suffrage in elections.
But China is willing to conduct controlled elections rather than free elections. No free
choice has been provided to choose candidates in Hong Kong.
HK has a chrony capitalism much like Russia where huge wealth is dominated but
HK people do not have basic economic rights.
There are many groups fighting for the cause. The important feature of this movement
is that it is leaderless.
Youngsters have been playing a major role. The protest is spread across the classes.
The protesters along with demand for universal suffrage are also demanding for direct
elections.
Faith in the government is all time low.
The protests are in the nature of demand for democratization.
HK has always been seen as the gateway to china.
Hong Kongers feel that there specialness is being eroded due to Chinese mainland
suppression.
The idea of the protesters is to ensure that their voice is heard.
Studies have revealed that majority of the supporters are youngsters. People are
divided on this issue. The nature of the movement is complex.
China has been quite harsh in dealing with the protesters.
It seems that Communist Party is not willing to share its powers.

Gaza Crisis: Should India be neutral?
The fighting in the GAZA strip over the last few years have taken the lives of many
(of whom many are civilians).
As the international outrage against the incident has escalated, there seems to be no
easy solution to the crisis.
Since India has diplomatic ties with both nations, any negative reference to any of the
two countries would impact the friendly relations.
Given the hardening of the position, International community has to work hard to
bring about a ceasefire. Ceasefire is the 1
st
step to stop this chapter of violence.
The Politics in Arab world and Palestine has been complicating the issue amongst
other things.
Israelis have always come out very strong in the history.
The crisis is not between Hamas and Israel. The crisis is about the occupation of
Palestine.
Israel conquered West Bank and Gaza strip in 1960s.
There are two separate laws in Israel each for Palestanians and Israelis. And this
discriminatory treatment by the Israel has escalated the problem.
It is not the conflict between the people from both the countries but between the two
governments.
S. has stayed away from this matter.
HAMAS has been classified as the terrorist organization by the US.
Stand should be taken based on morality.
Secular regime in India requires it to maintain neutrality and take a balanced stand on
the issue.

Oct 15
Standards Compliance for Consumer Products to be Monitored
Strictly
The Government is working with Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to introduce the regime
of strict quality standards for consumer products and services. BIS Act will be amended soon
with this propose.
Why is it required?
Indian products should meet international quality standards in all respects. Compliance to
standards by industry will pave way for the success of recently launched Make in India
initiative by the Government.
The adoption of standards facilitates in providing a level playing field to all enterprises, helps
them to overcome the technical gaps to reach global markets and to improve quality of life
for all.
Govt. regulations are intended to provide fairness to all players to play by the same set of
rules.
Standards provide practical tools for tackling many of todays global challenges from
managing global resources.
BIS is playing a committed role at National and International level by developing standards
in tune with world trade and at the same time keeping in mind the requirements of our society
for standardization.
About BIS:
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national Standards Body of India working under
the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23
December 1986.
The organization was formerly the Indian Standards Institution (ISI), set up under the
Resolution of the then Department of Industries and Supplies. The ISI was registered under
the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
BIS is a founder member of International Organisation for Standardization (ISO). It
represents India in ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the World
Standards Service Network (WSSN).
Functions:
One of the major functions of the Bureau is the formulation, recognition and promotion of the
Indian Standards covering important segments of economy, which help the industry in
upgrading the quality of their products and services.
Product Certifications are to be obtained voluntarily. For some of the products like Milk
powder, Drinking Water, LPG Cylinders, Thermometers etc., certification is mandatory as
these products are concerned with health and safety.
All foreign manufacturers of products who intend to export to India are required to obtain a
BIS product certification license. Towards this, BIS launched its Product Certification
Scheme for overseas manufacturers in the year 1999. Under the provisions of this scheme,
foreign manufacturers can seek certification from BIS for marking their product(s) with BIS
Standard Mark. If or otherwise, the foreign manufacturer has not signed an MoU with BIS, it
has to set up a liaison office in India with the permission of Reserve Bank of India.
Otherwise, an authorized representative or agent needs to be appointed by the foreign firm.
Sources: PIB, Wiki, http://www.bis.org.in/.
skill development of urban poor
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) has convened a Conference
of about one hundred leading employers for assessing their skilled manpower requirements so
as to undertake necessary skill development programmes for urban poor under Deen Dayal
Antyodaya Yojana (DAY).
Under DAY, the Ministry of HUPA intends to undertake skill development of five lakh urban
poor per year based on identified market needs. An expenditure of up to Rs.15,000/-per
person is admissible under the Employment through Skills Training & Placement (EST&P)
component of DAY. First phase of DAY in urban areas is to be implemented till 2016-17.
The meeting with leading employers, particularly, in manpower intensive sectors will help in
identifying the different kinds of skills required by the different sectors, both qualitatively
and quantitatively. Thereafter, Ministry of HUPA, in association with the states would plan
for training and skill development programmes across the country.
For effective and time bound execution of quality training programmes, the Ministry of
HUPA has signed a Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) with National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC). As per the MoU, NSDC will assist in training of urban poor as per
market needs. NSDC will also help in identification of beneficiaries besides certification of
training programmes through 31 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs). SSCs are industry led bodies
that define the Occupation Standards and curriculum for different training programmes.
Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana DAY:
It is an overarching scheme for uplift of urban and rural poor through enhancement of
livelihood opportunities through skill development and other means.
If India is to emerge as the manufacturing base to meet global needs, the only certain way is
to empower every youth of the country with the necessary skills. Skill development has
multiple outcomes including enhancing employment opportunities, stimulating economic
growth and promoting self-worth of beneficiaries.
Under the urban component of DAY, focus will be on:
Imparting skills with an expenditure of Rs.15,000 Rs.18,000 on each urban poor;
Promotion of self-employment through setting up individual micro-enterprises and group
enterprises with interest subsidy for individual projects costing Rs.2.00 lakhs and Rs.10.00
lakhs for group enterprises. Subsidized interest rate will be 7%;
Training urban poor to meet the huge demand from urban citizens by imparting market
oriented skills through City Livelihood Centres. Each Centre would be given a capital grant of
Rs.10.00 lakhs.
Enabling urban poor form Self-Help Groups for meeting financial and social needs with a
support of Rs.10,000/- per each group who would in turn would be helped with bank
linkages;
Development of vendor markets besides promotion of skills of vendors; and
Construction of permanent shelters for urban homeless and provision of other essential
services.
Sources: PIB.
Malnourishment declined sharply among children in India:
survey
New provisional data from a survey conducted by the government and UNICEF shows that
Indias proportion of children underweight fell from 45.1 per cent in 2005-06 to 30.1 per cent
in 2013-14.
This makes the decline in one indicator of child undernourishment the sharpest in the 25
years.
Since 2005-06, there has been no new data on child and adult weights and heights, key in
determining malnutrition, because of a delay in the National Family Health Survey, Indias
official source of health data.
Ending what has been referred to as a data drought, these provisional numbers have
significantly altered Indias position in global health indices. Indias hunger status no longer
ranks as alarming in the International Food Policy Research Institutes (IFPRI) Global
Hunger Index, but has instead been reclassified as serious.
In the last decade, India has improved its health status faster than other South Asian
countries, the new data indicates, as opposed to the widespread belief that countries such as
Bangladesh had done a better job on reducing malnutrition than India despite Indias faster
economic growth.
IFPRI credits the governments push to extend nutrition schemes like the Integrated Child
Development Services along with better monitoring by a Supreme Court-appointed
committee, improve access to health under the National Rural Health Mission, provide access
to work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and strengthen the
implementation of the Public Delivery System for subsidised grain.
India still has the highest number of underweight children under five in the world and 70% of
children are anaemic. The proportion of undernourished people in the overall population has
fallen from 21.5 per cent in 2004-06 to 17 per cent in 2011-13, according to IFPRI estimates.
Moreover, State-wise differences are not yet known.
According to the survey, globally, two billion people are suffering from hidden hunger, a
lack of essential vitamins and minerals in their diet.

Sources: The Hindu.

U.S. wins WTO case against India
In a setback, India lost a case filed by the U.S. in the WTO against restrictions it imposed on
poultry imports from America.
Giving its ruling, the World Trade Organisations dispute panel said restrictions imposed by
India on imports of poultry from America were inconsistent with international norms.
In March 2012, the U.S. dragged India to the WTO against Indias ban on imports of certain
American farm products, including poultry meat and eggs. India had banned imports of
various agricultural products from the U.S. in 2007, as a precautionary measure to prevent
outbreaks of avian influenza in the country.
The ruling said that Indias Avian Influenza (AI) measures are inconsistent with several
articles of the SPS [sanitary and phyto-sanitary) Agreement because they are not based on the
relevant international standard.
SPS Agreement:
The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, also known as
the SPS Agreement, is an international treaty of the World Trade Organization. It was
negotiated during the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and
entered into force with the establishment of the WTO at the beginning of 1995.
Under the SPS agreement, the WTO sets constraints on member-states policies relating to
food safety (bacterial contaminants, pesticides, inspection and labelling) as well as animal
and plant health (phytosanitation) with respect to imported pests and diseases.
There are 3 standards organizations who set standards that WTO members should base their
SPS methodologies on. They are the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Secreatariat of the International Plant
Protection Convention (IPPC).
The SPS agreement is closely linked to the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, which
was signed in the same year and has similar goals.
The SPS agreement gives the WTO the power to override a countrys use of the
precautionary principle a principle which allows them to act on the side of caution if there
is no scientific certainty about potential threats to human health and the environment. Under
SPS rules, the burden of proof is on countries to demonstrate scientifically that something is
dangerous before it can be regulated.
Sources: The Hindu, Wiki, http://www.wto.org/.

New Bill for total ban on child labour
The proposed amendments in the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment
(CLPRA) Bill will for the first time ban employment of children below 14 years in any
occupation, bringing the law in consistency with the Right to Children to Free and
Compulsory Education Act 2009. The Bill prohibits employment of adolescents aged 14-18
years in hazardous occupations.
The Bill will regulate conditions of work for adolescents, and of children working in audio-
visual entertainment industry. In 1996, the Supreme Court had prescribed a penalty of Rs.
20,000 from employers and Rs. 5,000 from State government for every child worker rescued.
This will now be introduced in law and indexed to price rise.
The 1986 law prohibits employing children only in certain occupations such as mines, work
in hazardous process and with inflammable substances or explosives.
Minors working in middle class homes as domestic workers and those employed at hotels,
dhabas were included as a category of child labourers only after an amendment in 2006.
The Standing Committee on Labour and Employment under D.S. Chauhan had in its report
on CLPRA Bill, in December 2013, recommended that the Bill give details for regulation for
prescribing the conditions of work for adolescents criteria for wages, hours of work,
settlement of disputes. This was incorporated. It had suggested that adolescents should have
completed Class VIII before being allowed to join an occupation. It suggested the explicit
exception in the Bill granted to children helping their family after school hours be deleted.
Both suggestions were not accepted.
Despite the amendment, different Acts continue to define child differently. While the RTE
Act 2009 and CLPRA 2012 define a child as 14-year-old, the Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2000 considers this to be 18 years.
Other provisions in the Bill:
The Bill enhances the punishment for employing any child in an occupation. It also includes
penalty for employing an adolescent in a hazardous occupation.
The government may confer powers on a District Magistrate to ensure that the provisions of
the law are properly carried out.
The Bill empowers the government to make periodic inspection of places at which
employment of children and adolescents are prohibited.
The central government may add or omit any hazardous occupation from the list included in
the Bill.
The penalty for employing an adolescent in hazardous occupation is imprisonment between
6 months and two years or a fine of Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 or both.

Sources: The Hindu, prsindia.org.
India bans import of animal-tested cosmetics
Coming just a few months after implementation of a national ban on cruel cosmetics testing
in Indias labs, the import ban now makes India the first cruelty-free cosmetics zone in South
Asia and an example for other nations to follow.
The ban comes in the form of Rule 135-B that states, No cosmetic that has been tested on
animals after the commencement of Drugs and Cosmetics (Fifth Amendment) Rules, 2014
shall be imported into the country.
This is a huge achievement that could not have been possible without the compassion of
government, consumers and industry. If this vision is applied to other areas of product
testing, this can be a defining moment in the modernisation of Indias safety science, with
potentially hundreds of thousands more animals spared of pain and suffering.
After intensive efforts by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has made this announcement that will save millions
of animals from being blinded, poisoned and killed in cruel and useless tests for products sold
to Indias billion plus population.
Indias dual test and import ban mirrors that of the European Union and is the latest victory in
a string of achievements for the BeCrueltyFree campaign globally. Earlier this year
BeCrueltyFree campaigners in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Taiwan and the United States
have all celebrated the introduction of bills proposing national cosmetic animal test bans.
Efforts by BeCrueltyFree China also resulted in China removing mandatory animal testing
for many domestically-produced cosmetics.
Be Cruelty-Free India is part of the largest campaign in the world to end cosmetics animal
testing. Globally there are Be Cruelty-Free campaigns in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan and the U.S.where the campaign is led by
The Humane Society of the United States.
Sources: The Hindu, TOI.
J&K policewoman wins U.N. peacekeeper award
An inspector with the Jammu and Kashmir Police has bagged the International Female Police
Peacekeeper Award 2014 instituted by the U.N. for her exceptional achievements while
serving with the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.
It is a competitive award given to an outstanding female police peacekeeper serving in a U.N.
peace operation.
Shakti Devi, 38, currently deployed in the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA), was also cited for her efforts towards helping victims of sexual and gender-based
violence. The award is instituted by the U.N. Police Division.
The U.N. communication said Ms. Devi has contributed to the improvement of the status of
female police and has effectively helped the police of Afghanistan move towards achieving
their goals of fully adopting democratic principles of policing.
Sources: The Hindu.
U.K. Commons votes in favour of Palestinian state
In a political development that will have enormous symbolic importance for the cause of
Palestine, the British House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of recognising
Palestine as a state alongside Israel.
Although it is the government and not the House of Commons that recognises states, the
voting result at 274 to 12 will strengthen the moral case for Palestine internationally while
simultaneously isolating Israel for its illegal occupation of Palestine.
The United Kingdom had not recognised the state of Palestine, and was one of the 41
countries that abstained from voting at the U.N. General Assembly in 2012 when a majority
voted to upgrade the status of Palestine to that of a non-member observer state. Its current
policy on Palestine reserves the right to recognise a Palestinian state bilaterally at the
moment of our choosing and when it can best help bring about peace.
Sources: The Hindu.
New procuring model for e-governance apps from start-ups
The Kerala State government is mulling over the scope of introducing the Swiss challenge
model for procuring e-governance application software from startups under its new
Entrepreneurship and Innovation policy.
Swiss challenge is a public procurement model usually adopted by an agency or government
whereby the bid for a product or service is published inviting third parties to match or exceed
it.
As per the proposal, once a startup comes up with an e-governance application along with its
cost, the government would invoke the Swiss challenge mode.
Under the new proposal if no other bidder comes forward, then the bid would go to the
startup concerned. Even if a third party offers a bid, even then the startup would be given the
opportunity to match it and win the bid. Its a new thinking and would be a great
encouragement to the young startups.
The new policy, the draft of which was completed last week, is also expected to give a fillip
to m-governance initiative, as it would open up the possibility of government procuring
mobile phone applications developed by young startups.
Swiss challenge system:
Swiss Challenge System is a bidding process to help private sector initiative in core sector
projects. Its an offer made by the original proponent to the government ensuring his process
to be best (in terms of effectiveness including both the factors cost and time) by his initiative
as a result of his own innovative approach or on the demand of the government to perform
certain task.
The Swiss challenge system, like the bonus system, further allows third parties to make better
offers (challenges) for a project during a designated period with simple objective to
discourage frivolous project, or to avoid exaggerated project development costs. Then
accordingly, the original proponent gets the right to counter-match any superior offers given
by the third party.
The system basically works on two different patterns, it is up to the government to decide as
to which one they want to adopt. The two main ways are as follows:
The government can either purchase the intellectual property rights for a project concept
from the proponent or then award the project through a competitive bidding process in
which no bidder has a predefined advantage.
The government can offer the original proponent an advantage in a competitive bidding
process. In this case the government should create rewards that satisfy the original
proponent while still allowing a truly competitive process.

There are various attributes, which the government takes into account while dealing with the
Swiss challenge system it includes:
Offering cost reimbursement: Advantage of offering cost reimbursement maintains private
sector interest during the development phase of an infrastructure project, helps to ensure
that the source of ideas is not limited to large investors with deep pockets, and encourages
proponents to allocate the resources needed to ensure that projects are professionally
developed.
Setting time limits: Government often sets time limits on the approval and bidding phases.
Time constraints on counterproposals give an obvious competitive advantage to the original
project proponent.
However it has been observed that in both bonus and Swiss challenge systems it is not easy to
find the right balance between incentives to propose beneficial projects and incentives for
third parties to submit counter proposals.
The questions relating to legal validity of using the Swiss challenge system when a
counterproposal contains different specifications than the original proposal was always being
raised.
Finally system provides companies with considerable incentives to propose new ideas. If they
are able to propose a sufficiently innovative idea there is likelihood that the company gets the
contract. The system allows a competitive platform for every one and at the same time, it
protects the government from making expensive mistakes if the idea is not specific to the
originating company and other companies are able to provide the services at a lower price.
Oct 16
World Food Day
Every year 16th October is observed as World Food Day to mark the founding of the Food
and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). The intention of observing
this Day is to raise public awareness about the plight of the hungry and malnourished people
all over the world and initiate comprehensive action to tackle and mitigate the menace of
malnutrition and hunger.
The theme selected for this years World Food Day is Family Farming: Feeding the
World, Caring for the Earth.
Sources: PIB.
India and UK sign MOU to step up Cultural Cooperation over the
next five years
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two countries on Cultural
Cooperation which will form the bulwark of the India-UK cultural relations for the period
2014 to 2019.
The agreement envisages collaboration in the field of museums, libraries, archaeology,
performing arts, capacity building programs, skill development, joint publications, archives,
cinematography and literature.
The priorities set by the two governments include enhanced efforts for preservation of
monuments, preservation of Buddhist heritage, infrastructure development at archaeological
sites, enhanced people to people contact through Festivals of India abroad for projection of
Indias soft power diplomacy and promotion of tourism, improved records management in
Government and the National Missions on Libraries and Manuscripts.
Future areas of collaboration between India and the UK include collaboration between Indian
National Museum and British Museum, development of a conservation policy and applied
conservation techniques & training, digitization and improved records management practices
and conservation of built heritage.
Sources: PIB.




PFBR awaits clearance
Loading of the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) with liquid sodium awaits
clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
BHAVINI, a public sector undertaking of the Department of Atomic Energy, has built the
PFBR at Kalpakkam, 60 km from Chennai. The PFBR uses plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel
and liquid sodium as coolant.

About Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor:
It is a 500MWe fast breeder nuclear reactor presently being constructed in Kalpakkam, India.
The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is responsible for the design of this
reactor.
The reactor will use sodium as the coolant. It shall generate electrical power of 500MW. It
will make use of MOX fuel, a mixture of PuO
2
and UO
2
. A fuel burnup of 100GWd/t is
expected. It will have an operational life of 40 years.
The fact that PFBR will be cooled by liquid sodium creates additional safety requirements to
isolate the coolant from the environment, since sodium explodes if it comes into contact with
water and burns when in contact with air. Another hazard associated with the use of sodium
as a coolant is the absorption of neutrons to generate the radioactive isotope
24
Na.
The PFBR will use plutonium-uranium oxide as fuel, and liquid sodium as coolant. If sodium
comes into contact with water, it will catch fire. At Fukushima in Japan in March, four
reactors nuclear fuel core could not be cooled because the station suffered a black-out after
the tsunami, which also knocked out the pumps and the diesel generator sets. So water could
not be pumped for cooling the fuel core.
In the case of sodium fire in an open place, sodium bicarbonate a dry chemical powder
would be used to douse the fire. If sodium caught fire in an enclosed place, nitrogen would be
injected to extinguish it. Sodium fire is milder than oil catching fire.
After the Fukushima accident, two committees reviewed the safety at the Atomic Power
Station (MAPS) at Kalpakkam. Mobile power generation sets had been procured. MAPS
emergency core cooling equipment was relocated to a higher level after the 2004 tsunami.
About Atomic Energy Regulatory Board:
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board was constituted on November 15, 1983 by the President of
India by exercising the powers conferred by the Atomic Energy Act to carry out certain
regulatory and safety functions under the Act. The regulatory authority of AERB is derived
from the rules and notifications promulgated under the Atomic Energy Act and the
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The mission of the Board is to ensure that the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in
India does not cause undue risk to health and the environment.
Currently, the Board consists of a full-time Chairman, an ex-officio Member, three part-time
Members and a Secretary.
FUNCTIONS OF AERB:
Develop safety policies in nuclear, radiation and industrial safety areas.
Develop Safety Codes, Guides and Standards for siting, design, construction, commissioning,
operation and decommissioning of different types of nuclear and radiation facilities.
Grant consents for siting, construction, commissioning, operation and decommissioning,
after an appropriate safety review and assessment, for establishment of nuclear and
radiation facilities.
Ensure compliance of the regulatory requirements prescribed by AERB during all stages of
consenting through a system of review and assessment, regulatory inspection and
enforcement.
Prescribe the acceptance limits of radiation exposure to occupational workers and members
of the public and approve acceptable limits of environmental releases of radioactive
substances.
Review of the emergency preparedness plans for nuclear and radiation facilities.
Safety reviews for transport of large radioactive sources, irradiated fuel and fissile material.
Review of the training program, qualifications and licensing policies for personnel of nuclear
and radiation facilities and prescribe the syllabi for training of personnel in safety aspects at
all levels.
Take such steps as necessary to keep the public informed on major issues of radiological
safety significance.
Promote research and development efforts in the areas of safety.
Maintain liaison with statutory bodies in the country as well as abroad regarding safety
matters.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.aerb.gov.in/.



Euromoney award
Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has received the Euromoneys Central
Bank Governor of the Year Award 2014.
Euromoney is an English-language monthly magazine focused on business and finance.
Euromoney publishes the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, with an annual awards event
recognising the top banks in the world. It also publishes awards for Central Banker of the
Year and Finance Minister of the Year.

Ban sale of loose cigarette sticks
An experts committee, headed by Ramesh Chandra, constituted by the Union health ministry
to review the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, has come out with
various recommendations, including a ban on the sale of loose cigarette sticks, a ban on
advertisements of tobacco products at points of sale and heftier fines on violations of the Act.
Recommendations made by the committee:
The panel proposed the amended Act be called the COTPA, 2014.
It recommended the sale of loose cigarette sticks or tobacco products be banned, as
youngsters were finding it cheap and convenient to consume tobacco products.
It also recommended only those aged at least 25 be allowed to buy tobacco products,
against the current 18 years. If implemented, the move might hit the profits of major
cigarette companies in India, as a large number of their consumers are aged 18-25.
The panel recommended the penalty for not specifying nicotine and tar contents, under
section 20 of the COTPA, 2003, be increased from the current Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000 (for the
first conviction). For smoking in public places, the penalty shouldnt be less than Rs 200,
which could go up to Rs 1,000, the panel said.
For selling tobacco products to someone aged less than 18, the fine should be Rs 500-1,000,
the committee said.
The committee recommended deleting section 4 of the Act, which would result in hotels and
restaurants doing away with smoking zones in their premises.



About COTPA Act:
It is an Act of Parliament of India enacted in 2003 to prohibit advertisement and regulation of
tobacco business in India. The Act put restriction on tobacco products including cigarettes,
gutka, panmasala (containing tobacco), cigar, cheerot, Beedi, Snuff, chewing tobacco,
hookah, tooth powder containing tobacco.
It was enacted mainly to discourage the consumption of Cigarettes and other Tobacco
products through imposing progressive restrictions and to protect non-smokers from second
hand smoke.
The Key provisions under the Act include:-
Prohibition of smoking in public places
Prohibition on all forms of direct / indirect advertisement, promotion and sponsorship of
tobacco products
Prohibition and sale of tobacco products to minors (any person who is under eighteen years
of age)
Prohibition and sale of tobacco products in an area within a radius of one hundred yards of
any educational institution
Mandatory depiction of specified health warnings on all tobacco products

Sources: www.business-standard.com, www.mohfw.nic.in.

MIT questions feasibility of Mars One mission
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have questioned the
technical feasibility of the Mars One project that aims to establish the first human colony on
the Red Planet by 2025.
Mars One Project:
Mars One is a non-profit organisation based in the Netherlands that has put forward
conceptual plans to establish a permanent human colony on Mars.
The mission plans to initially send four astronauts on a one-way trip to Mars where they
would spend the rest of their lives building the first permanent human settlement.
The Mars One mission plan consists of cargo missions and unmanned preparation of a
habitable settlement, followed by human landings. In the coming years, a demonstration
mission, communication satellites, two rovers and several cargo missions will be sent to
Mars. These missions will set up the outpost where the human crew will live and work.
The mission design takes into account the expansion of the human colony where a new crew
will arrive every two years. Mars One will select and train the human crew for permanent
settlement.
Mars One has received a variety of criticism, mostly relating to medical, technical and
financial feasibility.
Sources: The Hindu, wiki, http://www.mars-one.com/.

ISRO successfully launches navigation satellite IRNSS 1C
ISRO successfully launched IRNSS 1C, the third member of the seven satellite constellation
of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
The satellite, which is similar in composition to its predecessors 1A and 1B, carries
navigation and ranging payloads. It will play a vital role in the IRNSS operations right from
guiding drivers on city roads to aerial navigation, disaster management, mapping and
surveillance activities.
The IRNSS with a 1500km range will make India self-reliant on navigation and surveillance
from outer space as it is expected to cover the Asian region. It will be utilized for two
services standard positioning service (SPS) extended to all users and restricted service
(RS) which will be encrypted.
About Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System:
IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is
designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the
region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area.
IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which
is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service
provided only to the authorised users. The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position
accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.
IRNSS comprises of a space segment and a ground segment. The IRNSS space segment
consists of seven satellites, with three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in
inclined geosynchronous orbit. IRNSS-1A, the first satellite of the IRNSS constellation, has
already started functioning from its designated orbital slot after extensive on orbit test and
evaluation to confirm its satisfactory performance.

IRNSS ground segment is responsible for navigation parameter generation and transmission,
satellite control, ranging and integrity monitoring and time keeping.
Applications of IRNSS:
Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
Disaster Management
Vehicle tracking and fleet management
Integration with mobile phones
Precise Timing
Mapping and Geodetic data capture
Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers
Visual and voice navigation for drivers
Whips Conference: Codifying conduct and
privileges
The increasing decline in the quality of the functioning of the parliament and state
legislatures has been a cause for serious concern for some years now.
A conference of whips, held recently, raised these issues.
The conference is also looking at whether the codification of the conduct of the
legislators and MPs as well as codification of privileges will help.
These things help in smooth functioning of the parliament and increase the credibility.
The need of the hour is to look at the problems from the fundamental point of view.
Parliament is all about conventions and precedence.
Supreme institution of India is the Parliament.
If the quality of the members who get elected to the house is maintained then there is
no need for codification.
There cannot be any whip on the content of the speeches made by the MPs on the
floor of the house.
Whip is recognised by the constitution.
Before codification the houses must be made functional. Some state legislatures are
not functional.
Lack of accountability of both the government and the opposition party to the
parliament is escalating the problem.
PPP
Problems-
1. Inflated costs of project eg CAG on KG-D6
2. Unclear Agreement allowed them extract huge benefits
3. Crony capitalism
4. increasing NPAs of PSU
5. Weak state control
eg: GMR in delhi extracted money by building hotels, malls etc in leased land.
private co levied development fee on users which is not mentioned in agreement
Need to do-
1. Clear agreement- defined role of private and public
2. proper regulation
3. Transparency in procedures in giving projects to private cos
4. reduce Rep Tapism to complete in time- reduce chances on cost overrun

War on Malnutrition and Poverty: Welfare
schemes helped?
The problem of hunger, poverty and malnutrition has been dogging our country for
years now.
Every successive government has attempted with varying degrees of success to tackle
these problems over the years.
The efforts to tackle these problems in the last 10 years seem to be bearing some fruits
now.
The latest GHI report has indicated that in India the malnutrition among children
below 5 years has dropped from 43.5% in 2005 to 30.7% 2014.
Though there is still lot to be done, this is a good news, especially for those who had
been advocating for the vigorous intervention by the government with different social
welfare schemes. However there have also been some criticisms against the schemes
introduced by the government.
However the latest report has shown that schemes like ICDS, NRHM, NREGA,
midday meals scheme and food security schemes have been helpful.
Intense monitoring along with the schemes has helped India achieve this success.
Inter departmental linkages issue is the thing where we are still falling back.
We have one more year to achieve the targets of MDGs.
The report says that the first 1000 days in a childs life are crucial. It has direct impact
on cognitive abilities and learning abilities of the children.
The report has also spoken about Hidden Hunger. Hidden hunger means micro
nutrients deficiency. Hidden hunger is unlike the hunger that comes from a lack of
food. It is a chronic lack of vitamins and minerals that often has no visible warning
signs, so that people who suffer from it may not even be aware of it
Southern Indian states are performing well compared to Northern states in achieving
the set targets by different welfare schemes.
State bureaucracies work entirely at the vision of the Chief Minister. Hence the
success of any scheme mainly lies on the nature of leadership at the state level.
Oct 18
Nirbhay
India`s first indigenously designed and developed long range sub-sonic cruise missile
Nirbhay was successfully flight tested.
About Nirbhay:
Nirbhay is an all-weather low-cost long-range cruise missile with stealth and high accuracy.
The missile has a range of more than 1000 km. It weighs about one tonne and has a length of
6 metres. Its relatively slow flight speed, just 1,000 km per hour, allows it to navigate its way
precisely to the target.
The Nirbhay cruise missile is an Indian version of the American Tomahawk, which became
an icon of high-tech warfare in the 1991 Gulf War through televised CNN footage of
Tomahawks flying through the streets of Baghdad and precisely entering target buildings
through open windows.
It carries a ring laser gyroscope for high-accuracy navigation and a radio altimeter for the
height determination. It is capable of being launched from multiple platforms on land, sea and
air and shall be inducted into Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force. In particular, Nirbhay is
being adapted for the Indo/Russian Su-30MKI. The missile is capable of carrying nuclear
warheads.
The two-stage missile Nirbhay is able to pick out a target and attack it among multiple
targets. The missile has a loitering capability, i.e., it can go round a target and perform
several manoeuvres and then re-engage it. Flying at treetop level and navigating its way
through heavily defended enemy airspace where a manned fighter would be quickly shot
down by anti-aircraft missiles and guns, the Nirbhay is better equipped to survive the flight to
its target.
The missile is capable of flying at different altitudes ranging from 500 m to 4 km above the
ground and can also fly at low altitudes to avoid detection by enemy radar.
A key hurdle to developing a long-range cruise missile like the Nirbhay is the Missile
Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which forbids signatory countries from assisting or
providing technology to any other country developing a cruise missile with a range of 300 km
or more. India and Russia legally collaborated in developing the Brahmos supersonic cruise
missile because its range was pegged at 295 km, just below the MTCR limit. In building the
Nirbhay, India has had to go it alone.
Sources: PIB, business-standard, wiki.


The National Air Quality Index
The National Air Quality Index which was inaugurated recently is One Number- One
Colour-One Description for the common man to judge the air quality within his vicinity. The
formulation of the index was a continuation of the initiatives under Swachh Bharat Mission
envisioned by the Honble Prime Minister.
The index constituted part of the Governments mission to introduce the culture of
cleanliness. Institutional and infrastructural measures were being undertaken in order to
ensure that the mandate of cleanliness was fulfilled across the country. As a part of the
process, clean air would be a part of Peoples campaign to take up the issue in a mission
mode.
Under the new measurement process, an effort has been made to include a comprehensive set
of parameters. While the earlier measuring index was limited to three indicators, the current
measurement index had been made quite comprehensive by the addition of five additional
parameters. The initiatives aim at balancing environment and conservation and development.
Traditionally, air quality status has been reported through voluminous data. Thus, it was
important that information on air quality is put up in public domain in simple linguistic terms
that is easily understood by a common person. Air Quality Index (AQI) is one such tool for
effective dissemination of air quality information to people. An Expert Group comprising
medical professionals, air quality experts, academia, advocacy groups, and SPCBs was
constituted and a technical study was awarded to IIT Kanpur. IIT Kanpur and the Expert
Group recommended an AQI scheme.
There are six AQI categories, namely Good, Satisfactory, Moderately polluted, Poor, Very
Poor, and Severe. The proposed AQI will consider eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2,
SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb) for which short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period)
National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
Based on the measured ambient concentrations, corresponding standards and likely health
impact, a sub-index is calculated for each of these pollutants. The worst sub-index reflects
overall AQI. Associated likely health impacts for different AQI categories and pollutants
have been also been suggested, with primary inputs from the medical expert members of the
group.
The AQI values and associated likely health impacts for the identified eight pollutants are as
follows:
AQI Associated Health Impacts
Good
(050)
Minimal Impact
Satisfactory
(51100)
May cause minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people.
Moderately
polluted
(101200)
May cause breathing discomfort to people with lung disease such as asthma,
and discomfort to people with heart disease, children and older adults.
Poor
(201300)
May cause breathing discomfort to people on prolonged exposure, and
discomfort to people with heart disease
Very Poor
(301400)
May cause respiratory illness to the people on prolonged exposure. Effect may
be more pronounced in people with lung and heart diseases.
Severe
(401-500)
May cause respiratory impact even on healthy people, and serious health
impacts on people with lung/heart disease. The health impacts may be
experienced even during light physical activity.

Sources: PIB, wiki.

Kachchh Mahotsav
As a first step towards promoting handloom and craft based textiles from the famous
Kachchh region of Gujarat, `Kachchh Mahotsav was launched.
The exhibition focuses on Kachchh crafts such as Soof, Mirror work, Rabari, Ahir,
Patchwork and other embroidered products, Ajrak, Tie & Dye, Batik and Block Printed
Textile products, Hand woven Embroidered Shawls, Wooden Lacquerware, Wood Carving,
Copper Coated Iron Bell, Embroidered Leather Accessories, Mud/ Clay Work, Rogan
Painting.
In an endeavour to promote Indian handicrafts and handlooms, the Union Government had
announced setting up of a Handicraft mega cluster in Kachchh. The mega cluster will focus
on handcrafted items and craft based textiles from the region.
Kachchh is known for its distinctive traditional crafts, from embroidery to jewellery-making
and carving. Using simple materials, the artisans create objects of great beauty. The
Mahotsav includes Kachchi crafts range from Block printing on textiles, Bandhni of the
Khatris, Patch work of Bhirandiyara, leather creations by Meghwal artisans, besides
traditional wood and lacquer work and Rogan, the extremely fine lacquer work on cloth
produced by the artisans of Chobari and Nirona villages, Ajrakh printing from Khavda village
to the exquisite beadwork of Rabari women. The folk embroidery of Kachchh is an ongoing
and dynamic tradition. Some of the villages and communities have specialised for
generations in certain crafts and thereby create masterpieces that delight a connoisseur.
Sources: PIB.

Scheme to check blindness under review
With 30,000 fresh cases of blindness being reported in the country every year, Union
Minister for Health and Family Welfare has announced a review of the National Programme
for Control of Blindness (NPCB).
A Centrally-funded scheme, the NPCB was launched in 1976 to reduce the prevalence of
blindness.
India has the largest burden of global blindness about 3.5 million with 30,000 new cases
being added each year.
National Programme for Control of Blindness:
National Programme for Control of Blindness was launched in the year 1976 as a 100%
Centrally Sponsored scheme with the goal to reduce the prevalence of blindness from 1.4% to
0.3%. As per Survey in 2001-02, prevalence of blindness is estimated to be 1.1%. Rapid
Survey on Avoidable Blindness conducted under NPCB during 2006-07 showed reduction in
the prevalence of blindness from 1.1% (2001-02) to 1% (2006-07). Various
activities/initiatives undertaken during the Five Year Plans under NPCB are targeted towards
achieving the goal of reducing the prevalence of blindness to 0.3% by the year 2020.
Main causes of blindness are: Cataract (62.6%) Refractive Error (19.70%) Corneal
Blindness (0.90%), Glaucoma (5.80%), Surgical Complication (1.20%) Posterior Capsular
Opacification (0.90%) Posterior Segment Disorder (4.70%), Others (4.19%) Estimated
National Prevalence of Childhood Blindness /Low Vision is 0.80 per thousand.
Goals & Objectives of NPCB:

To reduce the backlog of blindness through identification and treatment
of blind at primary, secondary and tertiary levels based on assessment of
the overall burden of visual impairment in the country.
Develop and strengthen the strategy of NPCB for Eye Health and
prevention of visual impairment; through provision of comprehensive eye
care services and quality service delivery.
Strengthening and upgradation of RIOs to become centre of excellence in
various sub-specialities of ophthalmology
Strengthening the existing and developing additional human resources
and infrastructure facilities for providing high quality comprehensive Eye
Care in all Districts of the country;
To enhance community awareness on eye care and lay stress on
preventive measures;
Increase and expand research for prevention of blindness and visual
impairment
To secure participation of Voluntary Organizations/Private Practitioners
in eye Care.
Oct 17
PM rolls out labour reforms
Prime Minister unveiled new measures for the youth, workers and employers to improve ease
of doing business for enterprises while expanding government support for training workers.

Details of the Schemes launched are as follows:
Apprenticeship Protsahan Yojna
The Apprentices Act 1961 was enacted for regulating the Apprenticeship Training Scheme in
the industry for imparting on-the-job training to apprentices. Presently, there are only 2.82
lakh apprentices undergoing training against 4.9 lakh seats.
Apprenticeship Scheme has huge potential for training the large number of young persons to
make them employable. If properly revamped, it could also significantly contribute to Make
in India Mission. Similar schemes have been highly successful in countries like Germany,
China and Japan where the number of apprentices are stated to be 3 million, 20 million and
10 million respectively.
The Apprentice Protsahan Yojana will support one lakh apprentices during the period upto
March 2017. Selected Apprentices and the Establishments ready to participate in this scheme
from various states will be invited and it is proposed that Prime Minister will give sanction
letters to these to mark the launch of the new scheme.
Present framework tightly regulates the number of apprentices trade-wise, and is not
attractive to youth because of low rate of stipend. Further the industry is averse to participate
because the scheme is not viable for the small industries. There are a large number of
establishments including MSMEs where training facilities are available but could not be
utilized so far.
A major initiative has been undertaken to revamp the apprenticeship Scheme in India after
extensive consultation with industry, states and other stakeholders with the vision of
increasing apprenticeship seats to more than 20 lakhs in next few years. There are four
components of this initiative, which are given below:
Making the legal framework friendly to both, industry and youth.
Enhancing the rate of stipend and indexing it to minimum wages of semi skilled workers.
Apprentice Protsahan Yojana which will support manufacturing units mainly and other
establishments by reimbursing 50% of the stipend paid to apprentices during first two years
of their training.
Basic training component (mainly class room training part) of the curricula is being
restructured on scientific principles to make it more effective, and MSMEs will be supported
financially by permitting this component in government funded SDI scheme.
Sources: PIB.

Universal Account Number (UAN) for Employees Provident Fund:
Under the scheme complete information for approximately 4 crore subscribers of EPF has
been centrally compiled and digitized and a UAN has been allotted to all. The UAN is being
seeded with Bank account and Aadhar Card and other KYC details for financial inclusion of
vulnerable section of society and their unique identification.
Camps are being organized to facilitate opening of bank account and Aadhar card for those
subscribers who have no bank account or Aadhar card as on date. This will ensure portability
of the Social Security Benefits to the labour of organised sector across the jobs and
geographic areas.
The EPF account of employee will be now be updated monthly and at the same time he will
be informed through sms. Finally it will ensure that each of the 4 crore or more EPF account
holders have direct access to their EPF accounts and will also enable them to consolidate all
their previous accounts .
The minimum pension for employees has been introduced first time so that employees
pension is not less than Rs. 1000 per month. The wage ceiling has been raised from Rs. 6500
to Rs. 15000 per month to ensure that vulnerable groups are covered under EPF Scheme.
Sources: PIB.

Labour Inspection Scheme:
To bring in transparency in labour inspection, a transparent Labour Inspection scheme is
being developed. The four features of the inspection scheme are:
Serious matters are to be covered under the mandatory inspection list.
A computerized list of inspections will be generated randomly based on pre-determined
objective criteria.
Complaints based inspections will also be determined centrally after examination based on
data and evidence.
There will be provision of Emergency List for inspection of serious cases in specific
circumstances.

A transparent Inspection Scheme will provide a check on the arbitrariness in compliance
mechanism.
Sources: PIB.

Shram Suvidha Portal
Ministry Labour & Employment has developed a Shram Suvidha Portal in central sphere to
create a conducive environment for industrial development. The 4 main features of this Portal
are:
Unique labour identification number (LIN) will be allotted to Units to facilitate online
registration.
Filing of self-certified and simplified Single Online Return by the industry. Now Units will only
file a single consolidated Return online instead of filing 16 separate Returns.
Mandatory uploading of inspection Reports within 72 hours by the Labour inspectors.
Timely redressal of grievances will be ensured with the help of the portal.

This will bring in the necessary ease in compliance of provisions related to labour and will be
a step forward in promoting the ease of doing business. The complete database available
centrally at unified portal will also add to the informed policy process. The portal will be
operative in 4 central organizations namely Chief Labour Commissioner, Directorate General
of Mines Safety, Employee Provident Fund and Employees State insurance Corporation. In
this endeavor of the Ministry, complete information of all 11 lakh units for these
organizations has been collected, digitized and de-duplicated reducing the total number to 6-7
lakh. It is proposed to allot LIN to all these 6-7 lakh units.
Sources: PIB.
World Food Prize
Sanjaya Rajaram, an eminent Indian scientist, has been awarded the World Food Prize in
recognition of his significant contributions to global wheat production.
Mr. Rajaram, currently a Senior Scientific Advisor at the International Centre for Agricultural
Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), has developed some 480 wheat varieties that have
been released in 51 countries across six continents and an estimated 58 million hectares. His
wheat improvement research has helped secure a 1.3 per cent rise in global wheat production
per annum in the last four decades.
About World Food Prize:
THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE is the foremost international award recognizing without
regard to race, religion, nationality, or political beliefs the achievements of individuals
who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of
food in the world.
The Prize recognizes contributions in any field involved in the world food supply food and
agriculture science and technology, manufacturing, marketing, nutrition, economics, poverty
alleviation, political leadership and the social sciences.
The World Food Prize emphasizes the importance of a nutritious and sustainable food supply
for all people. By honoring those who have worked successfully toward this goal, The Prize
calls attention to what has been done to improve global food security and to what can be
accomplished in the future.
Sources: The Hindu, http://www.worldfoodprize.org/.

Indias new CEA
US-based economist Arvind Subramanian took charge as chief economic advisor (CEA) in
the finance ministry.
He is a former International Monetary Fund economist. His key task will be to work out a
new monetary policy framework in which the government will set the inflation target, to be
implemented by a policy panel of the central bank.
He heads a team who are to bring out the governments annual Economic Survey during the
Budget session, and the Mid-Year Analysis of the economy in the Winter Session of
Parliament in December. The challenge before him will be to defend policies and actions of
the government, such as Indias stand at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Chief Economic Adviser heads the Economic Division of Government of India. The main
functions of the Division are advisory in nature. The Division examines domestic and
international economic trends and undertakes research studies having a bearing on economic
policies and management of the economy and renders policy advice.
Main activities of the Economic Division include:
Monitoring of Prices and policies relating to price control.
Monitoring of trends in Agricultural and Industrial Production and related policy issues.
Monitoring of Production, Public Distribution and Stocks of food grains and related policy
issues.
Monitoring of Monetary and Credit Aggregates.
Monitoring of Public Finance.
Monitoring of Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms.
Monitoring of Foreign Trade and Balance of Payments.
International Economic Institutions: World Bank and IMF, ADB and G-20 related issues.
Preparation of Annual Economic Survey and Mid Year Review of the Economy.

Low Inflation: Is economy back on track?
There is some good news in the economy front. The WPI has touched a new low in
the past 5 years while the CPI has also come down.
Inflation which has been the biggest problem for some years now, which also hurt the
UPA government badly, is now softening.
The low and stable inflation rate which is a requirement for stability in growth is now
being seen.
The lower inflation has also been backed by drop in Petrol and diesel prices to be
followed soon.
All these have raised the hopes of better economic growth in the coming months.
This change in the inflation is said to be a result of global phenomenon which is due
to the decline in the pressure of international commodity prices (particularly oil).
WPI is no more an indicator at which policy makers are looking.
From the past few years food inflation was driving the overall inflation rate.
This decline indicates dipping in inflation rate and not a decline in prices.
Such declines were also observed in the past which were short lived.
Other indicators have not been good, particularly IIP.
Due to fall in inflation rate, the industrial sector has been demanding a cut in interest
rates.
Base effect is also being observed.
Sometimes, due the seasonal effect the prices of some food products tend to come
down.
Softening in the international commodity prices indicates that the world economy is
not in such a good shape.
The RBI checks if this drop in inflation rate is sustainable or not and then will go for
cut in interest rates.
Policy approaches have contributed to the inflation rather than counting it.
Irrigation is the major area for state governments to invest as a capital expenditure.
If food inflation is to be contained, efforts by the states are very much necessary.
Government has to be willing to intervene in the process in which distribution
happens to contain the food inflation.
19 October 2014
Write an essay on the following topic in not more than 2000 words:
1) The Rise of Asia and the Decline of America Analyse.

Oct 20
Productivity Linked Bonus for Railway Employees
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister gave its ex-post facto approval for the
payment of Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days` wages for the
financial year 2013-14 to all eligible non-gazetted Railway employees.
The PLB on Railway covers all non-gazetted Railway employees (excluding RPF/RPSF
personnel) throughout the country.
Background:
The Railways were the first departmental undertaking of the Government of India where the
concept of PLB was introduced. The main consideration at that time was the important role of
the Railways as an infrastructural support in the performance of the economy as a whole. In
the overall context of Railway working, it was considered desirable to introduce the concept
of PLB as against the concept of Bonus on the lines of the Payment of Bonus Act -1965.
Even though the Payment of Bonus Act does not apply to the Railways, yet the broad
principles contained in that Act were kept in view for the purpose of determining the
Wage/Pay Ceiling, definition of `Salary`/`Wage`, etc.
The PLB Scheme for the Railways came into force from the year 1979-80 onwards and was
evolved in consultation with the two recognised federations, the All India Railwaymen`s
Federation and National Federation of Indian Railwaymen and with the approval of the
Cabinet. The scheme envisages a review every three years.
Sources: PIB.

New domestic gas pricing policy
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, approved the
new domestic gas pricing policy.
The salient features of the new Gas Pricing Policy are follows:
Upward revision in gas prices will be approximately 75% less as compared to the price
arrived at using Rangarajan formula.
Approximately 80% of the additional revenue due to revision in gas price will go to the
Government companies.
Government will get additional revenue of approximately Rs. 3800 crore per annum on
account of higher royalty, higher profit petroleum and higher taxes.
The Committee, which was constituted to look into the matters relating to
the Domestic Natural Gas Pricing Guidelines, has recommended an approach for gas price
determination, which is based on the modification to the Rangarajan formula by:
Removal of both the Japanese and Indian LNG import components in the formula.
Consideration of Alberta Gas Reference price in place of Henry Hub Prices for Canadian
consumption.
Consideration of Russian actual price in place of National Balancing Point price for the
Russian consumption considered under Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries.
Consideration of appropriate deductions on account of transportation and treatment
charges, etc., for different hub prices.
The options of bi-annual and annual price revision instead of quarterly revision may be
considered.
The Committee also recommended applicability of the modified approach prospectively and
to apply it uniformly to all sectors of the economy, along with prevailing gas allocation
policy of the Government. The Committee was of the view that the National Oil Companies
(NOCs) may also get the same price as determined under the proposed dispensation,
including the gas from the nomination fields. In addition, the Committee also drew attention
to the fact that although in India gas is historically being priced on National Calorific Value
(NCV), the input prices being used in the Rangarajan formula are based on Gross Calorific
Value (GCV).
Sources: PIB.

Policy Framework for Relaxations, Extensions and clarifications
under PSC regime for early Monetization of hydrocarbon
discoveries
The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister approved the
proposal of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas regarding Policy Framework for
Relaxations, Extensions and clarifications at the Development and Production stage under
PSC regime for early Monetization of hydrocarbon discoveries.
Under the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), there is commitment on the part of the
contractor to carry out Minimum Work Programme (MWP) specified under each exploration
phase.
These are reform initiatives which would help in monetization of some of the pending
discoveries, lead to resolution of various long pending operational issues which are
hampering E&P operations and create better climate for investment. The salient features of
this Reform Measure are as follows:-
Extension of Appraisal period for submission of Declaration of Commerciality (DOC) in
respect of Hydrocarbon discovery.
Extension of time period for submission of Field Development Plan (FDP) after review of DOC
by the Management Committee.
Reduction in Minimum Work Program (MWP) in case a block or its part is not available for
exploration activities consequent to denial of permission by Government Agencies.
In cases where the committed Minimum Work Programme of any particular exploration
phase is not completed, entry into subsequent exploration phases, would be permitted after
paying cost of unfinished MWP of previous phases.
Condoning delays in submission of notice for entering into next phase.
Condoning delays in submission of Annual Work Programme and Budget and the Appraisal
work programme.
Permission for drilling of Appraisal Wells after submission of DOC.
Probing additional reservoirs during appraisal programme.
These changes do not change the basic structure of the PSC and have been approved in the
overall interest of the energy security of the country.
These proposals are expected to yield the following benefits:
Monetization of some of the discoveries which are struck because of expiry of timelines.
Additional discoveries in the appraisal period.
Improvement in investment climate because of resolution of disputes between the
contractors and the Government.
Enhancement of production of oil and gas from these blocks.
Preparation of a more robust FDP.

Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojana
Jammu Kashmir Arogya Gram Yojana was launched recently under which the CSIR
(Council for Scientific & Industrial Research), affiliated with the Ministry of Science &
Technology, will identify thousand villages in Jammu & Kashmir for the growth of aromatic
plants with active participation of local farmers and owners of the land. The Government will
initially spend over Rs.25 crores on this scheme in addition to technical support by a team of
CSIR scientists.
This scheme is a new concept whereby the agricultural land with the potential for growth of
aromatic plants will be identified and CSIR scientists as well as aroma experts from different
parts of the country will educate and train the local farmers to bring up this cultivation. This
will not only enable the local farmers to usher in a new area of cultivation but will also prove
economically beneficial to them since the net profit for the farmers through this venture has
been estimated to be Rs. 1 1.5 lakhs per hectare per annum.
one of the important reasons to start this new scheme from Jammu region was that the IIIM
(Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine), Jammu has been actively pursuing research and
production of aromatic medicinal and perfumery products for several decades and some of
the products produced from this laboratory are of international export quality. Nine varieties
of scientifically tested and commercially beneficial plant saplings will be provided by IIIM
Jammu and under the guidance CSIR experts.
The scheme is a part of the new innovative initiatives being under taken by CSIR and the
Ministry of Science & Technology. Once the new scheme gets going successfully from its
initial start in Jammu & Kashmir, the same will then be extended to other States and also
other parts of the country as well.
Sources: PIB.

Diesel deregulation
The Union Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister approved
the issues relating to the under-recovery on sale of diesel and its present status. The prices of
Diesel will be market determined at both Retail and Refinery Gate level.
Diesel prices will henceforth be market determined. This will facilitate greater competition in
the Auto Fuels Retail segment and enhanced efficiency in service delivery of the oil
companies. This is expected to benefit consumers due to greater competition among oil
companies and more choices. The competition is also expected to foster greater efficiency in
oil companies benefitting the consumers.
Some experts are also of the view that the Deregulation of Diesel will not only help in
controlling the fiscal deficit but also be advantageous for the consumers as they will now pay
market rates for the fuel which is lower by more than Rs. 3 per litre. This will also leave more
money with upstream companies for investment in the exploration and production sector,
thereby enhancing our efforts for energy security for the country.
Diesel deregulation will also bring the retail network of private oil marketing companies into
system. This will increase competition, benefiting the end consumer.
The governments decision to deregulate diesel prices is a step in the right direction as it will
help cut subsidies and balance the fiscal deficit in the long run. This was long overdue.
Sources: The Hindu, PIB.


U.N. Women launches campaign in India
U.N. Women launched a campaign called HeForShe, aiming at ensuring greater
participation of men in promoting womens rights and gender equality.
The goal is to engage men and boys as advocates and agents of change in the effort to achieve
equality. When women are empowered, the whole of humanity will be benefited.
HeForShe is a global solidarity movement to end gender inequality by 2030. It is a
campaign for gender equality initiated by UN Women. It aims to engage men and boys as
agents of change for the achievement of gender equality and womens rights, by encouraging
them to take action against inequalities faced by women and girls. Grounded in the idea that
gender equality is an issue that affects all people socially, economically and politically
it seeks to actively involve men and boys in a movement that was originally conceived as a
struggle for women by women.


Cabinet approves Iran port project

The Union Cabinet gave its approval to Indias participation in the Chahbahar port project in
Iran. This is a move that could offer significant geo-strategic advantage to India by way of
smooth access to Afghanistan.

An Indian Joint Venture (JV) company will lease two fully constructed berths the ports first
phase for a period of 10 years, with an investment of $ 85.21 million within 12 months.

Located along the Makran coast in the Gulf of Oman, Chahbahar is in close proximity to the
Strait of Hormuz which facilitates about 40 per cent of the worlds oil trade, and hence has
significant strategic implications for India.

The road or rail link from Chahbahar would provide India the shortest access to Pashtun areas
of Afghanistan, from the Nimroz province.

Not only would it allow India to gain easier access to Afghanistan and central Asia without
having to depend on Pakistan, it is also being touted as Indias answer to Chinese control
over Pakistans Gwadar port, just 76 km from Chahbahar.

Labour Issues and Need For Labour
Reforms in India
Background
Democratic developing countries always have challenge of development which
should benefit impoverished masses by way of providing employment and
decent standard of living .Universal adult Franchise which is landmark of
democracy gives voice to labor which is strong in numbers. These countries
cant ignore interest of labor in favor of industry and capital. Developed
countries on the other hand extended voting power to workmen
only after long period of industrial development. During this period capitalists
of the country amassed wealth and in latter period, mainly after numerous labor
movements, workers getting voting rights, activism of International Labor
Organization and New Deal of Roosevelt , western governments took up
responsibility of wealth redistribution. India at time of independence took up
dual of wealth creation and redistribution simultaneously.
For this they need investment which has to compete with developed countries.
Investment whether domestic or foreign will come, given there is low cost
advantage. In the starting phase this low cost advantage is derived through
relative lower wages of workers as there is surplus labor. As a result industries
start mushrooming and results in shortage adequate skilled labor and at same
time there is rise of trade unionism. By this time low cost advantage starts
waning and governments struggle to maintain balance between workers rights
and industrial growth by legislation. After this government tries to maintain low
cost advantages by easing Infrastructure bottlenecks, Tax concessions etc. This
is quite evident form developments in Chinese economy over last two decades.
Trade unions (like Bhartiya Majdoor Sangha or Centre for Indian trade Union)
are pressure groups which aim to protect interests of labor through collective
bargaining. As individual worker doesnt have much influence, they need to get
together to deal with capitalists. They bargain constantly for higher wages,
safety at work, social security, job security etc. For this they organize
demonstration, strikes and petitions to higher authorities. 1st organized strike
in India was in Great Indian Peninsular Railways in 1899. Sometimes some of
them indulge in violence, as it was seen recently A jute Mill in West Bengal and
Maruti udyog Ltd. They also constitute a separate class and vote bank and
political parties tries woo them before elections. But in last decade frequency of
strikes, lockouts and Man days lost have reduced significantly, so is their
behavior as separate vote bank. This indicates toward growing cordial relations.
To deal with trade unions and to present their consolidated viewpoint
employers too got organized and 1st such organization was All India
Organization of Employers, formed in 1932.
There are three parties in this cooperation 1) Government 2) Employer 3) Trade
Union. This is generally called Tripartite Cooperation System. Here government
acts as mediator between other two who generally have conflicting interests. But
in reality all three parties have a common interest that is industrial growth and
are dependent upon each other.
Legal Status
Our constitution has many articles directed toward their interests for eg. Article
23 forbids forced labor, 24 forbids child labor (in factories, mines and other
hazardous occupations) below age of 14 years. Further, Article 43A was inserted
by 42nd amendment directing state to take steps to ensure workers
participation in management of industries. (Gandhi ji said that employers are
trustees of interests of workers and they must ensure their welfare.)
Labor laws are under concurrent list. There are approx. 144 central and state
laws, most or all of which seek compliance from industries.
Important laws related to Industrial relations are
1. Employee state insurance Act ESI card is issued, insuring worker against
any accident at work. Theres also ESI corporation
2. Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous provisions Act Provident
fund is one in which employee pays part of his wage ( 12 % in most cases) and
equal contribution by employer. This is mandatory for establishment
employing more than 20 people
3. Factories Act ,1948
4. Child Labor (prohibition and regulation) Act prohibits children below age of
14 to work in hazardous jobs. There are demands for complete ban on child
employment
5. Industrial Disputes Act One important provision Industries employing
more than 100 people can not terminate employment before approval of
government. There is strong demand from industry to revise this limit, to
facilitate easy entry and exit.
6. Minimum Wages Act
7. Bonded Labor system ( Abolition) Act System in which onetime payment
was made by employer to supplier or leader of group and whole seasons or
years services of labor was taken. Still rampant in some businesses like Brick
Kilns
8. Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 Contract labor is
indirectly employed by an establishment through a contractor or agency. So
their relation with principal organization becomes ambiguous. They are
generally discriminated against direct employees in terms of wages, job
security, status etc. This act attempts to abolish it in certain circumstances
and to bring them at par with direct employees.
9. Apprentices Act, 1961

Institutions

Ministry of Labor is there at Centre with 4 attached offices, 10 subordinate
offices, 4 autonomous organizations and adjudication bodies and Arbitration
body.

Important ones are

10. Office of Chief Labor Commissioner It is an attached office. Its also known
as Central Industrial Relation Machinery. Is responsible for handling
Industrial Disputes, Implementation of laws for which ministry is responsible,
Settlements and awards, verification of membership of Trade Unions etc
11. Labor Bureau attached office
Collection, compilation and dissemination of labor statistics, construction and
maintenance of working class consumer price index numbers(WC-CPI) for
selected centers and all India basis for industrial workers, construction of CPI
numbers for agricultural and rural workers, maintenance of up to date data
relating to working conditions of industrial workers, undertaking research
into specific problems concerning labor with a view to supplying date and
information needed for the formulation of labor policy, publishing reports,
pamphlets and brochures on various aspects of labor
12. Employee State Insurance Corporation Autonomous Statutory Organization
The organization administers various benefits under the ESI Act, for
instance, sickness benefit, maternity benefit, dependents expenses, funeral
benefit, which are cash benefit s, and medical benefit. The medical benefit has
been made available to the family members of the insured employees.
13. Employee Provident Fund Organization Autonomous Statutory
Organization Administers various schemes under Employees Provident
Fund and Miscellaneous provisions Act. There are schemes like Employee
provident fund scheme, Employee Deposit linked Insurance Scheme, Pension
scheme etc.
14. Several Industrial Tribunal Cum labor courts are operating to adjudicate
under Industrial Disputes Act
15. Board of Arbitration is there to mediate between central government and its
employees

International Labor Organization

Founded in 1919 as result of Treaty of Versailles, it became first specialized agency
under United Nations in 1945. Its vision is to secure humane working conditions for
workers and to attain social justice for them universally. In short it carries Decent
Work Agenda.
It has produced about 189 legally binding conventions on member countries
and more than 200 non-binding recommendations. It is also global center for
research and study on work and labor.
It also gave 4 core standards on labor which are part of general human rights as
per UN declarations. These are
1. Freedom of Association, Right to organize and Right to Collective Bargaining
2. Abolition of forced labor
3. Minimum age of employment and abolition of child labor
4. Prohibition on workplace discrimination and Equal pay for men and women
for work of equal value

Issues

Labor protection legislation is one of the basic features of welfare state and aims at
providing social justice. The main aim of such laws should be to create more, safer,
and rewarding jobs for the labor. This includes standards on minimum wages,
working conditions, overtime controls, right against unjustified retrenchment,
strengthening of Labor unions, Right of worker to compensation in case of accident
at work place, post-retirement benefits, Personal progress , skill development ,Social
security and Dignified and respectful job etc. Issues which arise from point of
workers and industries


Simplification of procedures
For the fulfillment of above needs, there are numerous overlapping, rigid and
isolated acts( about 145), which are applicable to firms at any point of time. This
gives immense powers to public officials and results in harassment of employers. It
leaves room for corruption and increases compliance costs in terms of money and
time. This type of policy runs counter to above stated desirable objectives. This
makes our firms uncompetitive to foreign firms. It is quite apparent from the
perpetual dismal performance of Indian manufacturing sector.

Huge Informal Sector
India have about 85 -90 % of the workforce employed in informal sector on which
these laws are not applicable. These are micro firms employing as low as 5-10
persons. These employers are discouraged to expand their businesses, by such huge
number of regressive laws. Neither they have understanding of laws to that level and
services of Lawyers to ensure compliance is much expensive. Further, huge majority
of workforce get no formal training. This results in low productivity and low value
addition
7. Entry and exit Barriers for firms and Job security for workers
This issue is of retrenchment, Law for this provides that government approval
should be taken before retrenchment of the workers (in case industrial dispute
act apply). As a rule for good economic environment, there should least entry
and exit barriers for Firms in any business. But in addition, social security of
the workers is indispensable. It should be notice that a businessmen will scale
down his operations almost only in face of losses or in drive of modernization.

In first case Supreme Court in various cases has held that when choice is in
between Retrenchment and closure, then former should be preferred. In case
of Modernization, Industries should strive to increase numerator of the
production, instead of reducing denominator. For example If 1000 workers
are to be displaced by new technology, then company should attempt to
increase production by incrementally adding technology. So it could exploit
economies of scale while retaining same labor force.

Modernization is most of the time good for workers in long term. In case of
Telecom Revolution, few thousands lost jobs while shifting from manual
landline networks to digitized cellular. But now telecom sector is one of the
biggest employer in India with decent pays. There was similar backlash from
employees while introduction of computers in department and PSUs.

If they are forced to retain disproportionately large workers, anyway they will
go out of business gradually. This will hinder the whole economy when it
affects large number of firms and investor will include costs of these
exigencies in his calculations and result in turn is preference for capital
intensive production or lower production, lower employment and higher
prices. If on the other hand there is easy entry and exit, there will be
burgeoning Manufacturing firms, with more investment, more no. of factories,
more employment and lower costs. This overtime will result in a robust
manufacturing sector which will have capacity to absorb any retrenched
employees in productive employment.


Ease of doing Business: India ranked 134 out of 189 countries
Starting a business : 179 out of 189
Current reforms are expected to improve these rankings significantly
1. Social Safety Net for workers
In order to enable capacity building of workers so that they could withstand
any recession or retrenchment, they need to be provided some social security
by means such as Insurance Pensions, provident funds etc. Government ought
to increase its presence in this area, particularly in case of startups and small
scale industry. Because these units have low financial capacity to provide for
these expenses. Their growth too is extremely important for Industry. In UK
government provides safety net to employees of startups.

2. Disinvestment and FDI
Trade unions time and again have resented privatization. Government has
been ideal employer in pre liberalization era. PSEs one of the main objectives
was to provide employment even at cost of economy but this very policy was
result of demise of PSEs. Same is true for FDI.

3. Indias Demographic Dividend
India is expected to generate 51 million jobs till 2019, it is imperative to
streamline all laws, to facilitate manufacturing sector in India so as economy
could absorb new human resource inflow. Further, theres expected increase
in productivity of agriculture sector, which will result substantial shift to
industry

Last decades much resented jobless growth was due to its service sector
source. Within service sector it was based on services such as Finance, real
estate, business etc. These services have least employment elasticity. For
example 1% increase in Finance Services amount to far less than 1% increase
in employment. On the other hand manufacture sector have tendency to shift
to capital intensive technology which replaces labor with capital. Confusing
labor laws just speeds up this replacement. Construction sector have highest
employment elasticity (more than 1).

Recent Labor Reforms

There are amendments in

4. Apprenticeship Act In apprentice system, trade workers, engineers (both
diploma holder and graduates), 10+2 passed vocational students, need to
undergo training in industry to enhance their skill. On completion of this they
become regular workers. For this they get stipend in form of remuneration.
New amendment increases Stipend to 70 % of wage of regular unskilled
worker in first year, 80% in second year. Non engineers can also be appointed,
and their total number could be up to 10 % of the total workforce. Now
students other than engineering can also seek apprenticeship. About 500 new
trades are added.
It also removes the some penalties for Industry employer cant be jailed for
non-compliance.
5. Factories act Overtime ( normal hours increase) , better working conditions,
Allows women for overnight work provided there is adequate safeguards and
transport facility

6. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Shramev jayate Karyakaram

7. Employees Provident Fund Organization
In the Employees Provident Fund Organization about Rs 27,000 crore was
lying unclaimed. This was due to manual procedures and formalities to get the
amount released. When worker change city then it was not possible for him
get his balance from new city. Other reason is that some employers deposit his
contributions in name of ghost employees so that they can themselves claim
the amount. Universal Account Number would help addressing both problems
and in the money reaching the poor with the portability provided for
Employees Provident Fund Organization.

8. Self-certification of documents
This aims at elimination of troublesome submission procedures, under which
returns was to be certified by officials. Now by self-certification method,
compliance will be checked randomly through firms/employers selected by
computer.

9. Inspector Raj
A transparent Labor Inspection Scheme for random selection of units for
inspection would end undue harassment of the Inspector Raj, while
ensuring better compliance. Now officials have power to select units on their
discretion. This results in rent seeking and corruption.

10. Number of forms related to compliance with labor laws that employers have to
file will drop from 16 to 1.

11. Apprentice Protsahan Yojana
The Apprentice Protsahan Yojana and the Effective Implementation of
revamped Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) for labour in the
unorganized sector were also launched today.

12. Shramev Jayate
Skill development of youth would be created through initiatives under
Shramev Jayate. It is one of the most important elements of the Make in
India vision and aims to create an opportunity for India to meet the global
requirement of skilled labour workforce in the years ahead.

Labour reforms: Do they balance labour
and industry concerns?
The issue of labour reforms has been under debate for some years now.
The present government has come up with a set of new measures. After having
brought in amendments to the Factories Act and Apprenticeship Act, another set of
reforms have been initiated.
These reforms announced recently, like unified labour portal, universal account
number for EPF among others, are expected to help in doing business easily apart
from helping others.
If Make in India is to be realised, then we have to work on improving ease of doing
business in the country.
These initiatives are expected to end the Inspector Raj in the country. This is
expected to bring down the corruption and increase the Transparency and Cleanliness
within the system.
The measures announced are, in some ways, far reaching.
It becomes easier for the small and medium industries to cope with the regulatory
burden of the labour laws. Small firms can aspire to grow large now.
A large number of small firms do not become large because they dont have the man
power resources to handle the regulatory burden.
These initiatives mark a very strong communication campaign to see that what has
been announced is actually implemented immediately.
Workers are considered to be the stake holders. But they are often not taken into
account during the discussions.
We have Workers Aristocracy in our country. 8% workers are in the organized sector
while 92% of workers are in the informal sector.
To create more jobs, a genuine partnership should be created between labour and
management.