Monthly Policy Review

September 2014
Highlights of this Issue
Parliamentary Standing Committees constituted for 2014-15 (p. 2)
Some subjects identified by the committees include DBT scheme, review of Electricity Act, 2003, Tax Reforms,
BPL survey and review of SEBI and IRDA.

Supreme Court cancels the allocation of all but four coal blocks (p. 2)
The coal blocks allocated to the Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs) of Moher and Moher Amroli, SAIL‟s Tarsa
mines and Pakri-Barwadih mines of NTPC have not been cancelled.

Rules for Land Acquisition Act, 2013 notified (p. 2)

The Rules outline the process of conducting a Social Impact Assessment, and obtaining consent from land owners.

Supreme Court declares the National Tax Tribunal as unconstitutional (p. 3)

The tribunal was declared unconstitutional as it differed from High Courts on issues relating to the seat of the
tribunal, executive role in the functioning of the tribunal, appointment and qualification of members.

CAD in first quarter of 2014-15 is USD 14 billion lower that last year(p. 4)
The Current Account Deficit (CAD) for the first quarter of 2014-15 stood at USD 8 billion, while capital account
surplus stood at USD 20 billion.

High Level Committee constituted to review five environmental laws (p. 6)

The laws to be reviewed include the Wild Life (Protection) Act, Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, Environment (Protection) Act, and Forest (Conservation) Act.

Draft Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 invites comments (p. 7)
The Bill establishes a new regulatory authority, creates a unified licensing system and increases penalties.

India notifies farm subsidies to WTO from 2004-05 to 2010-11 (p. 8)

The domestic support to farmers was USD 56.1 Billion for the year 2010-11. India has indicated that it does not
violate the 10% limit on domestic support to farmers.

Estimated production of Kharif crops falls by 6.9%, rainfall deficit at 11% (p. 8)
The estimated production of major crops is lower by 8.97 million tonnes as compared to 2013-14.

Cabinet approves Swachh Bharat Programme for Urban Areas (p. 9)

The Programme will provide for individual household toilets, community and public toilets, and municipal solid
waste management in statutory towns.

State visits with Japan, Australia, China and United States (p. 9)
Agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed with Japan, Australia and China on several issues,
including nuclear safety, customs offences, and city-to-city partnerships.

October 1, 2014
PRS Legislative Research  Institute for Policy Research Studies
3rd Floor, Gandharva Mahavidyalaya  212, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg  New Delhi – 110002
Tel: (011) 43434035-36, 23234801-02  www.prsindia.org
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
Parliament
Tanvi Deshpande (tanvi@prsindia.org)
Parliamentary Standing Committees
constituted for 2014-15
Standing Committees have been constituted in
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.1 A detailed list of
members on various Parliamentary Committees
can be found here.
Some Committees such as Finance, Agriculture,
Rural Development and Energy, have identified
topics that will be examined this year. These
include Financial Inclusion, Review of
performance of regulatory bodies like SEBI and
IRDA, Tax Reforms, Direct Benefit Transfer
Scheme, BPL Survey, Evaluation of the National
Food Security Mission, and a Review of the
Electricity Act, 2003.
Energy
Saumya Vaishnava (saumya@prsindia.org)
Supreme Court cancels the coal block
allocation of all but four coal blocks
On September 24, 2014, the Supreme Court
cancelled the allocation of all but four coal
blocks.
On August 25, 2014, the Supreme Court held as
illegal all coal block allocations made by the
central government since 1993.2 For details of
the August 25 judgment, see here. Of the coal
block allocations declared illegal, 40 coal blocks
are producing coal (two of which are Ultra Mega
Power Projects (UMPPs)). Another six coal
blocks are ready to start production.
Subsequently the Court was examining what was
to be done with these coal blocks. It decided:
 Of the 40 coal blocks in production, the
allocation of 37 coal blocks was cancelled.
The remaining three coal blocks are UMPP
projects in Moher and Moher Amroli, and
the Tasra mines with the Steel Authority of
India Ltd.
 Of the six coal blocks ready to produce, the
allocation of five blocks was cancelled. The
allocation of the Pakri-Barwadih coal block
of the National Thermal Power Corporation
was not cancelled.
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 The allocation of all other coal blocks was
cancelled.
 Coal blocks not covered by the August 25
judgment, and the four coal blocks not
cancelled, are to pay a compensatory amount
of Rs 295 per metric tonne of all coal
extracted. This payment is to be made by
December 31. In addition, coal extracted
between December 31, 2014 and March 31,
2015 will also attract this additional levy.
 As per the submission of the central
government, Coal India Limited will take
over the production of the mines currently
producing coal/ ready to produce coal. The
cancellation will take effect from March 31,
2015, giving Coal India Limited (CIL) and
coal block allottees time to manage their
affairs.
Land
Joyita Ghose (joyita@prsindia.org)
Rules for Land Acquisition Act, 2013
notified
The Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact
and Consent) Rules, 2014 were published on
August 8, 2014.3
The Act regulates the process of acquiring land
for public purpose.4 It requires that a Social
Impact Assessment (SIA) be conducted before
acquiring land. The Rules outline the process of
conducting an SIA.
The Act requires that the consent of land owners
be obtained prior to the acquisition of their land,
in some cases. Consent of 80% of land owners is
required for the acquisition of land for private
projects and 70% of land owners for public-
private partnerships. No consent is required for
acquisition for government projects. The Rules
outline the process of obtaining the consent of
land owners.
Social Impact Assessment:
 The government which is acquiring land
must establish an independent organisation
to conduct SIAs or to ensure that they are
conducted by organisations other than the
body requiring land. This organisation will
determine the SIA fee. A notification for
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
carrying out an SIA must be published
within 30 days of receiving the SIA fee from
the body requiring land.
 The SIA report (along with a Social Impact
Management Plan) must be published within
six months of its commencement. It must
include the nature and extent of the social
impact of the project.
 The SIA must be conducted in consultation
with the panchayat or municipality, and also
include a public hearing in affected Gram
Sabhas.
Consent:
 The consent of land owners must be
obtained while the SIA is being conducted.
The District Collector will be responsible for
obtaining consent. The government must
update land titles to identify land owners.
For information on the Act, please see here.
Supreme Court clarifies position on lapse
of land acquisition proceedings in certain
cases
In a judgment dated September 10, 2014 the
Supreme Court stated its position on the lapse of
land acquisition proceedings in certain cases,
with the enactment of the Right to Fair
Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement
Act, 2013.5
The new Act (2013) states that in case land
acquisition proceedings were initiated under the
Land Acquisition Act, 1894, and the award (to
land owners) was made five years before the
enactment of the new Act (2013) but physical
possession has not been taken, or compensation
has not been paid, the land acquisition
proceeding will lapse and will have be initiated
under 2013 Act.
The Court held that the five year period
mentioned above would include any delay due to
an order of stay or injunction by a court.
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Law and Justice
Prianka Rao (prianka@prsindia.org)
Supreme Court declares the National Tax
Tribunal as unconstitutional
On September 25, 2014, the Supreme Court held
that the National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005 was
unconstitutional and struck it down.6
The National Tax Tribunal Act, 2005 constituted
the National Tax Tribunal (NTT), a quasi-
judicial appellate tribunal. The NTT was vested
with the powers of deciding appeals arising from
orders passed by Appellate Tribunals constituted
by the Income Tax Act, the Customs Act, 1962,
and the Central Excise Act, 1944.
The Court held that:
(i) Transfer of judicial power permissible:
Transfer of judicial power vested in
superior courts to coordinate courts/
tribunals is permissible. But whenever
there is such transfer, all conventions and
practices of the court to be replaced must be
incorporated in the tribunal created.
(ii) Sections 5,6,7,8 and 13 of the NTT Act
unconstitutional: These provisions
demonstrated that the NTT differs from the
High Courts on issues related to:
 Efficacy and convenience of remedy
available, as the tribunal bench was
mandated to be located in the NCT of
Delhi;
 The central government has a role in
the constitution and functioning of the
tribunal, i.e. determining where the
benches would be set up, its
jurisdiction, composition and
constitution of the benches. This
could affect independence and fairness
of its members;
 Appointment and qualification of its
members, which includes Accountant
and Technical members. The
composition of the tribunal including
appointment and qualification of its
members would have to be on the
same parameters as that of the HC
judges.
In light of the fact that Sections 5,6,7,8 and 13 of
the NTT Act were held to be unconstitutional,
the Court held that the remaining provisions
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
were rendered worthless. Thus, the Act as a
whole was set aside.
Law Commission submits interim report
on obsolete laws that warrant immediate
repeal
The Law Commission submitted its interim
report on „Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate
Repeal‟ to the Law Ministry on September 12,
2014.7 This is the first report of the study on
„The Legal Enactments: Simplifications and
Streamlining‟ being undertaken by the
Commission.
In its report, the Law Commission noted that 253
laws, despite having been recommended for
repeal in earlier reports, still exist in the statute
books. The Commission has asked the
concerned Ministries for their observations on
why these laws still exist.
The Law Commission also made some specific
recommendations:
 So far, 72 statutes have been found to be fit
for repeal. This is because: (i) the subject
matter of the law in question is outdated, or
(ii) the law is no longer needed to govern that
subject, or (iii) there is newer law governing
the same subject matter.
 Only those Appropriation Acts that are older
than 10 years may be repealed. This would
result in the repeal of more than 700 laws.
Further, including a repeal clause in the
Appropriation Act every year would be
useful.
 34 laws which have already been repealed are
still available on the ministry websites.
These laws must be removed.
Law Commission submits report on the
Indian Succession Act, 1925
The Law Commission submitted its report on
„Sections 41 to 48 of the Indian Succession Act,
1925 - Proposed Reforms‟ to the Law Ministry
on September 12, 2014.8
The Indian Succession Act, 1925 deals with
succession of property by a will and intestate
succession (where no will exists).
The report examined provisions of the Indian
Succession Act, 1925 which deal with intestate
succession of property of a deceased person
without descendants. These provisions apply to
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Christians. The Commission noted that these
sections were discriminatory towards women.
Salient recommendations of the Commission
include:
 At present, the Act states that upon the death
of the person, his father would inherit his
entire property, and mother gets no share.
The law must be amended to ensure that the
parents of the deceased person inherit the
property in equal.
 Currently, the Act states that if the person‟s
father is dead, but mother and brother and
sisters are living, the mother and each living
sibling shall inherit the property in equal
shares. This provision should be amended to
state that if either of the parents is dead, the
other parent shall inherit the entire property.
 The Act provides for cases where the brother
or sister of the deceased person has also died,
but the mother is alive. Under these
circumstances, the child of the dead sibling
will inherit the sibling‟s share in the property
along with the mother of the deceased. This
provision should be amended to allow the
nieces and nephews of the deceased to inherit
a share of the property, only if both of the
parents of the deceased are also dead.
Macroeconomic Developments
Saumya Vaishnava (saumya@prsindia.org)
India’s Balance of Payments for January
to March 2014
In the first quarter (April-June) of 2014-15,
India‟s current account deficit (CAD) stood at
USD 8 billion, a decline of USD 14 billion from
its value in the first quarter of 2013-14.9
Table 1: India's Balance of Payments for
April-June 2014 (in USD billion)
Q1 : Q4 : Q1 :
Items
2013-14 2013-14 2014-15
A. Current
-22 -1 -8
Account
B. Capital
21 9 20
Account
C. Errors and
1 -1 -1
Omissions
Change in
reserves 0 7 11
(A+B+C)
Sources: RBI; PRS.
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
Capital account inflows increased in the first
quarter, after a sharp fall in the previous quarter.
Capital account surplus stood at USD 20 billion,
a fall of USD one billion from the first quarter of
2013-14.
Retail inflation decreases to 7.8% in June
The Wholesale Price Index inflation fell from
5.2% in July 2014 to 3.7% in August 2014. This
is driven by a decline in food inflation and fuel
inflation. The Consumer Price Index inflation
decreased from 8% in July to 7.8% in August.
However, food inflation increased marginally
from 9.1% to 9.2%. 10, 11
IIP increases by 1% in July 2014
The Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
increased by 1% in July 2014 (year-on-year), a
decline from 2% in June and 5% in May 2014.12
Manufacturing production (weight 75%)
declined 1% in July, after three months of
positive manufacturing production.
RBI keeps repo rate unchanged
Saumya Vaishnava (saumya@prsindia.org)
In its Fourth bi-monthly Monetary Policy
Statement from September 30, 2014, the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) took the following
decisions: 13
 The repo rate was kept unchanged at 8%.
The repo rate has been at 8% since January
28, 2014.
 The liquidity provided under the export
credit refinance (ECR) facility was reduced
from 32% of eligible export credit
outstanding to 15% from October 10, 2014.
RBI had previously reduced the ECR from
50% to 32% in June 2014.
Finance
Saumya Vaishnava (saumya@prsindia.org)
The Expenditure Management
Commission
The government has decided to constitute an
Expenditure Management Commission under the
chairmanship of Dr. Bimal Jalan.14 The
Commission will: (i) review major areas of
central government expenditure, the institutional
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arrangements (such as budgeting process), (ii)
suggest ways of meeting development
expenditure needs without compromising on
fiscal discipline, (iii) suggest a strategy to
improve allocative efficiency, to meet reasonable
proportion of expenditure on services through
user charges, etc, and (iv) consider any other
relevant issue concerning public expenditure
management.
The constitution of the Expenditure Management
Commission was announced in the Budget 2014-
15.15 The Commission is expected to submit its
interim report before the Budget 2015-16, and
the final report before the Budget 2016-17.
Task Forces for the FSLRC set up
The Ministry of Finance has, upon the
recommendation of the Financial Sector
Regulatory Reforms Commission, set up four
Task Forces to assist the Ministry in preparing
the roadmap for the establishment of new
agencies. The four Task Forces are
 Task Force on Public Debt Management
Agency (Ch: Mr. Dhirendra Swarup)16
 Task Force on Financial Sector Appellate
Tribunal (Ch: Justice N.K. Sodhi)17
 Task Force on Financial Data Management
Centre (Ch: Dr. Subir Gokarn) 18
 Task Force on Resolution Corporation (Ch:
Mr. M. Damodaran)19
The Task Force will complete its task within one
year.
Committee to examine unclaimed
amounts remained in PPF, Post Office
Saving Schemes, etc. constituted
Joyita Ghose (joyita@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Finance has set up a Committee
to examine unclaimed amounts of Public
Provident Fund (PPF), Post Office Saving
Schemes, etc., under the chairmanship of Dr.
H.R. Khan, Deputy Governor of the Reserve
Bank of India. 20
The Committee will: (i) estimate the amount
lying unclaimed under various schemes with Post
Offices and Public Sector Banks, (ii) determine
the procedure to bring such unclaimed deposits
to a common pool, and (ii) determine how this
unclaimed amount can be used to protect and
further financial interests of senior citizens.
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
The constitution of the Commission was
announced in the Budget 2014-15. The
Commission is to submit its report by December
31, 2014.
SEBI notifies regulations for Real Estate
Investment Trusts and Infrastructure
Investment Trusts
Joyita Ghose (joyita@prsindia.org)
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) notified regulations for Real Estate
Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure
Investment Trusts (InvITs) on September 26,
2014.21
REITs are trusts which collect money from
investors to invest in real estate projects. The
revenue that is generated is distributed to their
investors. Similarly, InvITs are trusts which
invest in infrastructure projects.
Through these regulations, SEBI has specified
the structure and size of these trusts, the
responsibilities of the various parties involved,
investment conditions and dividend policies.
More information on these trusts is available in
the PRS Monthly Policy Reviews for the months
of October 2013 and July 2014.
Environment
Joyita Ghose (joyita@prsindia.org)
High Level Committee to review five
environmental laws
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and
Climate Change has constituted a High Level
Committee (Chair: Mr. T.S.R. Subramanian) to
review five environmental laws.22 These laws
are:
 Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: The Act
seeks to protect wildlife and control
poaching and illegal trade in wildlife.
 The Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974: The Act seeks to
prevent and control water pollution and
establishes Boards to do so.
 Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980: The Act
provides for the conservation of forests and
restricts activities in certain forests.
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PRS Legislative Research
 The Air (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1981: The Act seeks to
prevent and control water pollution and
establishes Boards to do so.
 Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: The
Act provides for the protection and
improvement of the environment and gives
the central government certain powers in
order to do so.
The objectives of the Committee are to: (i) assess
the status of the implementation of these laws,
(ii) examine judicial pronouncements relating to
these laws, and (iii) recommend specific
amendments relating to these laws and draft the
proposed amendments.
The Committee must submit its report by
October 24, 2014.
MoEF proposes changes to environmental
clearance norms for buildings and
township projects
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and
Climate Change has invited comments on draft
amendments to the environmental clearance
norms for buildings, construction projects, area
development projects, and townships. 23
Suggestions on the draft notification have been
invited by November 10, 2014.
The following changes have been proposed:
 Types of projects covered and definition
of built up area for building and
construction projects: At present, buildings
and construction projects with a built up area
between 20,000 sq m and 1,50,000 sq m
require environmental clearance from the
State Environment Impact Assessment
Authority.24 Built up area is defined as built
up area for covered construction, and the
activity area for uncovered areas.
The draft notification: (i) proposes to change
the definition of built up area to the built up
or covered area on all floors including the
basement or other service areas, and (ii)
specifies the projects that will be covered.
These include residential and commercial
buildings, office blocks, etc.
 Clearance from central EAC not required
in some cases: Certain infrastructure and
manufacturing projects require clearance
from the Expert Appraisal Committee of the
central government in case they are wholly
or partially located within 10 km of the
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
boundary of a protected area, notified eco-
sensitive areas, etc. The draft notification
clarifies that this requirement will not apply
to buildings, construction projects,
townships, and area development projects.
Transport
Prachee Mishra (prachee@prsindia.org)
Draft Road Transport and Safety Bill,
2014 released
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
released the draft Road Transport and Safety
Bill, 2014 on September 13, 2014.25 The
Ministry is currently seeking comments on the
draft Bill. The draft Bill proposes to replace the
Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.
Key highlights of the draft Bill are as follows:
New regulatory authority
 Establishes the Motor Vehicle Regulation &
Road Safety Authority of India, which will be
an independent agency for vehicle regulation
and road safety. This authority will replace
the existing Regional Transport Offices.
 Establishes a National Road Transport &
Multimodal Coordination Authority which
will develop a National Road Transportation
Plan.
New policy
 Introduces a Goods Transport & National
Freight Policy for simplified permits and
single portal clearances.
 Creates a Motor Accident Fund for
immediate relief to accident victims.
Centralized database systems
 Creates a New Unified Driver Licensing
System that will use a unified biometric
system to avoid duplication of licenses.
 Establishes a New Unified Vehicle
Registration System that puts manufacturers,
owners, transport authorities, insurers,
enforcement agencies all under one system.
 Introduces a Unified Road Accident and
Offences System that uses a combination of
penalty and fines to enforce traffic rules.
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Penalties
 The penalties have been increased from those
in the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. For
example, under the general provision for
punishment of offences, fine for the first
offence will be increased to Rs 2,500 from Rs
100 and to Rs 5,000 from Rs 300 for
subsequent offences.
Amendment to Central Motor Vehicle
draft Rules, 1989 for E-Rickshaws
notified
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
notified amendments to the Central Motor
Vehicle draft Rules, 1989 on September 17,
2014. 26 The amendments seek to regulate E-
Rickshaws and bring them under the ambit of the
Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.
The new rules define an E-Rickshaw as a special
purpose battery operated vehicle having three
wheels and intended to provide last mile
transport connectivity. It specifies matters such
as:
 Number of passengers and the luggage
allowed;
 Power, speed and dimensions of the E-
Rickshaw;
 Form of driving licence and registration of
the E-Rickshaw;
 Form and manner of display of registration
marks on the E-Rickshaw.
Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways empowered to amend Model
Concession Agreement
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA) gave approval to the Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways to: (i) amend the Model
Concession Agreement (MCA) as may be
required from time to time, and (ii) to decide the
mode for execution of projects for National
Highways (e.g. Build, Operate and Transfer;
Engineering, Procurement and Construction). 27
Earlier proposals for amendments to the MCA
and the mode of delivery for projects had to be
approved by the CCEA. This approval is
expected to expedite the implementation of road
infrastructure projects in the country.
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014 PRS Legislative Research

Trade The production is expected to be lower than last

year because of the deficient and erratic rainfall
Tanvi Deshpande (tanvi@prsindia.org) in many parts of the country, which has lead to a
decline in the area covered by Kharif crops.30
India notifies farm subsidies to WTO
India notified its farm subsidy numbers to the Estimates of Kharif crop sowing
WTO on September 9, 2014 for the period of The estimated sowing of Kharif crops is about
2004-05 to 2010-11. The domestic support for 2.4% less than last year.31 The acreage of cotton
the year 2010-11 was USD 56.1 billion, as per has had an 11% increase from last year, whereas
newspaper reports.28 oilseeds and coarse cereals saw a decline of 8%
In August 2014, India had taken a stand to refuse and 7% respectively. Table 3 shows a
to join the consensus on the Trade Facilitation comparison of Kharif acreage for some of the
Agreement between the members of the WTO, major crops.
since it wanted to simultaneously discuss the Table 3: Cropped areas of major Kharif crops
issue of public stockholding of food grains for (lakh hectares)
the purpose of food security. 29 Area sown Area sown
Crop in 2013-14 in 2014-15 % Change
The notification of the farm subsidies will
Rice 374.3 374.9 0.2
address the complaints against India of not
Pulses 108.1 101.1 -6.5
complying with the WTO notification Coarse
requirements.28 196.1 182.3 -7.0
Cereals
Oilseeds 193.2 177.6 -8.1
Sugarcane 50.3 48.8 -3.0
Cotton 114.4 126.6 10.7
Agriculture Jute and
8.3 8.2 -1.2
Mesta
Tanvi Deshpande (tanvi@prsindia.org) Total 1044.7 1019.3 -2.4
Source: "Kharif Sowing Crosses 1019 Lakh Hectare Mark",
2014-15 Kharif crops production Ministry of Agriculture, Press Information Bureau,
September 29, 2014.
projected at 120.3 million tonnes, a
decline of 6.9%
Deficit of 11% in rainfall of current
The expected production of major Kharif crops season
(from June to October) in 2014-15 is 120.27
million tonnes against the production of 129.24 According to the India Meteorological
million tonnes in 2013-14, a decline of 6.9%.30, Department (IMD), the cumulative rainfall from
Table 2 shows the change in expected production June 1 to September 24, 2014 was 11% below
of Kharif crops from 2013-14. the Normal Rainfall (average rainfall during the
monsoon over the last 10 years).32 The
Table 2: First Advance Estimates of distribution of rainfall across regions is depicted
production of major Kharif crops for 2014-15 in Table 4.
Production
(million % Table 4: Rainfall distribution for the season
tonnes) 2013-14** 2014-15 change (June 1 – September 24)
Rice 91.7 88 -4.0 Actual Normal %
Rainfall Rainfall Departure
Pulses 6.0 5.2 -13.6 Regions (mm) (mm) from LPA
Coarse Cereals 31.5 27.1 -14.1 India 763.2 858.8 -11.1
All foodgrains 129.2 120.27 -6.9 Northwest
478.6 601.2 -20.4
India
Oilseeds 22.4 19.66 -12.2 Central India 877.1 949.4 -7.6
Sugarcane 350.0 342.79 -2.1 South
637.4 679.8 -6.2
Cotton* 36.6 34.62 -5.4 Peninsula
East &
* In million bales. Sources: Ministry of Agriculture; PRS.
northeast 1226.5 1385.1 -11.5
**Foodgrains production data for 2013-14 is as of 19th India
September 2014, Actuals for 2013-14 not yet available. Source: India Meteorological Department Weekly Press
Release, September 26, 2014; PRS.

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Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
Water level and storage capacity in major
reservoirs
According to data from the Central Water
Commission, the total storage in 85 important
reservoirs is 79% of the full reservoir level, at
123.26 Billion Cubic Meters 33. The water level
in the reservoirs is 93% of last year‟s storage.
Water stored in reservoirs during the monsoon
season is used to sow crops during the Rabi
sowing season (from November to April).
Urban Development
Prachee Mishra (prachee@prsindia.org)
Cabinet approves Swachh Bharat
Programme for Urban Areas
The Cabinet approved the „Swachh Bharat
Mission for Urban Areas‟ on September 24,
2014. 34 The programme is proposed to be
implemented over a period of five years from
October 2, 2014 onwards in 4,041 statutory
towns. A statutory town is any place with a
municipality, corporation, cantonment board or
notified town area committee, etc. The total
expected cost of the programme is Rs.62,009
crore, out of which the proposed central
assistance will be Rs.14,623 crore.
The Programme will provide for the following:
 Individual household toilets,
 Community and public toilets, and
 Municipal Solid Waste Management.
The programme will be monitored by a National
Advisory and Review Committee, headed by the
Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development. The
Committee will also comprise of representatives
of the Ministry of Finance and other concerned
ministries and will release funds for the
programme. A High Powered Committee
headed by the Chief Secretary at the State level
will steer the programme.
Government announces new scheme for
uplift of urban, rural poor
The central government announced the „Deen
Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY)‟ on September
25, 2014. 35 The scheme is for the urban and
rural poor and proposes to increase their
livelihood opportunities through skill
development.
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PRS Legislative Research
The new scheme will cover all 4,041 statutory
towns as compared to the previous schemes that
covered only 790 cities. An amount of Rs.1,000
crore has been provisioned for the urban
component of DAY during 2014-15. Out of this,
Rs.500 crore will be spent on skill development
of over 5,00,000 urban poor.
The urban component of the scheme will focus
on the following:
 Imparting skills with an expenditure of
Rs.15,000 to Rs.18,000 per person;
 Promotion of self-employment through
setting up individual micro-enterprises and
group enterprises with interest subsidies;
 Training urban poor by imparting market
oriented skills through City Livelihood
Centres;
 Enabling urban poor form Self-Help Groups
for meeting financial and social needs with a
support of Rs. 10,000/- per each group;
 Development of vendor markets; and
 Construction of permanent shelters for urban
homeless and provision of other essential
services.
External Affairs
Anviti Chaturvedi (anviti@prsindia.org)
State Visits to Japan, United States and
State Visits from Australia and China
The Prime Minister visited Japan and United
States, while the Australian Prime Minister and
the Chinese President visited India in September.
Details of these visits are given below:
Japan: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited
Japan from August 30 to September 3, 2014.
Japan promised $35 billion investment in India
over five years. MoUs and other agreements
were signed with regard to: (i) cooperation in
defence, (ii) partnership between Varanasi and
Kyoto, (iii) loan for a coal-fired power plant in
Uttar Pradesh, (iv) new and renewable energy,
(v) infrastructure development, (vi) healthcare,
(vii) transport, and (viii) cooperation in
humanities and social sciences research.36,37
United States, and the UNGA session: Prime
Minister Narendra Modi visited the United States
from September 26-30, 2014.38 He attended the
69th session of the United Nations General
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
Assembly in New York, and made a statement
before the General Assembly.39 He also
conducted bilateral meetings with the Secretary
General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon,
Prime Minister of Nepal, Sushil Koirala, Prime
Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina,
President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, and
Prime Minister of Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu
during the visit. He concluded the visit with a
meeting with the President of the United States,
Barack Obama.40
Australia: Prime Minister of Australia, Tony
Abbott, visited India from September 4-5, 2014.
An agreement on nuclear energy was signed
between the two countries which allows for
supply of uranium from Australia, among other
things. Three other MoUs were concluded
during the visit on cooperation in sports, water
resources management, and technical and
vocational education/ training.41, 42
China: Chinese President, Xi Jinping, visited
India from September 17-19, 2014. During this
visit, China promised $20 billion investment in
India in the next five years. The establishment of
two Chinese industrial parks, one each in Gujarat
and Maharashtra, was also announced. MoUs
and agreements were signed regarding bilateral
economic engagement in the next five years,
cooperation in railways, exchanges among
cultural institutions like museums, joint
production of films, and provincial (Gujarat-
Guangdong) and city-to city (Mumbai-Shanghai,
Ahmedabad-Guangzhou) partnerships.43
Health
Mandira Kala (mandira@prsindia.org)
Cabinet approves the National AYUSH
Mission
On September 15, 2014 the Cabinet approved the
launch of the National AYUSH Mission.44 The
proposed Mission seeks to support the state and
union territory governments in providing
AYUSH health services. The mission will
provide a higher allocation of resources for
vulnerable and far flung areas.
The core objectives of the mission are:
 Improvement of AYUSH education by
increasing the number of educational
institutions;
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PRS Legislative Research
 Better access to AYUSH services through
increase in number of AYUSH hospitals,
dispensaries, availability of drugs and
human resources;
 Improving availability of quality ayurvedic,
siddha, unani and homeopathy drugs
through increase in the number of
pharmacies and drug laboratories.
Women and Child Development
Apoorva Shankar (apoorva@prsindia.org)
Draft guidelines governing adoption of
children released
The Ministry of Women and Child Development
released draft guidelines governing adoption of
children on September 4, 2014.45
These guidelines seek to replace the Guidelines
Governing Adoption of Children, 2011 that are
currently in place. The Ministry states that the
guidelines need to be replaced due to the slow
progress in the number of adoptions in the
country, unusual delays in processes, restrictive
inter-country adoptions, etc.
Key features of the draft guidelines include:
 Eligibility: Eligibility criteria for
Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) have
also been specified, such as: (i) the PAPs
should be physically and financially capable
and motivated to adopt a child (not included
under the existing guidelines), (ii) any PAP
can adopt a child, irrespective of their
marital status, but a single male cannot
adopt a girl child, and (iii) under the existing
guidelines couples in live-in relationships
cannot adopt (no such provision exists in the
new guidelines).
 Procedures relating to children for
adoption: Any orphan, abandoned or
surrendered child declared legally free for
adoption by the Child Welfare Committee, is
eligible for adoption. The guidelines specify
different procedures for adoption of orphan
or abandoned children, and surrendered
children. The role and procedures for
registration of specialised adoption agencies
are also specified.
 Adoption procedure for Indians (resident
and non-resident): The specialised
adoption agencies will prepare a home study
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014 PRS Legislative Research

report based on which the PAPs shall be The following table highlights the new and old
declared eligible or not. Non-Resident rates of royalty for select minerals:
Indian PAPs will also be treated at par with
Table 4: Royalty rates for select minerals
Indians living in India in terms of priority
for adoption. Mineral Major users New rate Old rate
Rock
 Procedure for inter-country adoption: A Phosphate
Fertiliser, Chemicals 6.0-12.5% 6.0-11.0%
child can only be available for inter-country Bauxite and
adoption if he cannot be placed with an Aluminium production 0.60% 0.50%
Laterite * #
Indian or Non Resident Indian. As per the
Chromite Ferro-alloys, Refractory 15.00% 10.00%
existing guidelines, inter-country adoption
can only be done by citizens or residents of Copper ore # Copper production 4.62% 4.20%
those countries that have ratified the Hague Dolomite Iron & steel, Cement,
75 63
Convention on Inter-Country Adoption, (Rs/tonne) Glass/Ceramic, Paint
1993. Gold ore # Gold production 3.3-4.0% 2.0-3.3%
Refractory/crucible, Rs 25-
Graphite 2.0-12.0%
Battery, Iron & steel 225/tonne

Home Affairs Iron ore Iron & steel, Cement 15.00% 10.00%
Lead ore # Lead production 8.5-14.5% 7.0-12.7%
Anviti Chaturvedi (anviti@prsindia.org)
Limestone Cement, Iron & steel,
80-90 63-72
(Rs/tonne) Chemicals, Fertiliser
Task force for expediting and monitoring Manganese Manganese alloys, Iron &
the citizenship and visa application 5.00% 4.20%
ore steel, Battery
process constituted Zinc ore # Zinc production 9.5-10.0% 8.0-8.4%
Ministry of Home Affairs approved constitution Note: Royalty rates expressed as percentage of sales price
of a Task Force to monitor and expedite unless indicated otherwise; * For aluminium production
within India only; # Royalty is based on London Metal
processing of applications for citizenship and Exchange or London Bullion Market benchmark prices;
long term visas on September 5, 2014.46 Sources: Ministry of Mines; Indian Bureau of Mines; PRS.
The Task Force is mandated to: (i) complete
processing of applications with complete
documentation within two months; (ii) follow up
in cases which are pending before state 1
Rajya Sabha Parliamentary Bulletin II, 15th September,
governments; (iii) monitor applications filed 2014,
online, and track their progress; and (iv) http://164.100.47.5/BulletinPart2/bulletin2_dates_files/15_09
coordinate long term visa related matters. _2014.pdf.
2
Manohar Lal Sharma vs. The Principal Secretary & Ors.,
Write Petition (CRL.) No. 120 of 2012, Supreme Court of
India, September 24, 2014,
http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/imgs1.aspx?filename=41955.
Mining 3
The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Social Impact
Alok Rawat (alok@prsindia.org) Assessment and Consent) Rules, 2014, Ministry of Rural
Development, August 8, 2014,
http://dolr.nic.in/dolr/downloads/pdfs/RFCTLARR%20(SIA
Government notifies new rates of royalty %20and%20Consent)%20Rules%202014.pdf.
4
and dead rent for certain minerals The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,
The government notified the revised rates of Ministry of Rural Development,
royalty and dead rent on major minerals (except http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Recent%20Acts/LAR
R%20Act,%202013.pdf.
coal, lignite and sand) on September 1, 2014.47 5
Civil Appeal No. 8700/13, Sree Balaji Nagar Residential
A mine leaseholder has to pay a royalty linked to Association vs. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors, Judgment on
the mineral production. If no production is being September 10, 2014,
carried out, the leaseholder has to pay a dead rent http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/imgs1.aspx?filename=41900.
6
linked to the area of the lease. The central Madras Bar Association vs. Union of India, Transferred
Case (C) No. 150 of 2006, Supreme Court of India,
government can revise the rates of royalty and September 25, 2014,
dead rent for major minerals every three years. http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/outtoday/tc15006.pdf.
The last revision happened in 2009.48 7
““Obsolete Laws : Warranting Immediate Repeal”

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Monthly Policy Review – September 2014
(Interim Report), Law Commission of India, Report No. 248,
September 12, 2014,
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report248.pdf.
8
“Sections 41 to 48 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 –
Proposed Reforms”, Law Commission of India, Report No.
247, September 12, 2014,
http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/reports/Report247.pdf.
9
“Developments in India‟s Balance of Payments during the
First Quarter (April-June) of 2014-15”, Reserve Bank of
India Press Release, September 1, 2014,
http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?p
rid=31968#t1.
10
“Index Numbers of Wholesale Price in India (BASE: 2004-
05=100), Review for the Month of August, 2014”, Press
Information Bureau, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
September 15, 2014.
11
“Consumer Price Index Numbers on Base 2010=100 for
Rural, Urban and Combined for the Month of August, 2014”,
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation, September 12, 2014.
12
“Quick Estimates of Index of Industrial Production and
Use-Based Index for the Month of July, 2014 (BASE: 2004-
05=100)”, Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation, September 12, 2014.
13
“Fourth Bi-Monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2014-15”,
Reserve Bank of India Press Release, September 30, 2014,
http://rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=3
2197.
14
“Constitution of Expenditure Management Commission”,
Ministry of Finance Resolution, September 4, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_expenditure/notificatio
n/misc/Constitute_Expenditure_Management_Commission.p
df.
15
“Prime Minister approves the constitution of the
Expenditure Management Commission; Dr Bimal Jalan, ex
Governor, RBI to head Commission”, Ministry of Finance,
Press Releases, August 13, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/press_room/2014/Expenditure_Managem
ent_Commission13082014.pdf.
16
“Task Force on Public Debt Management Agency”, Office
Order, Ministry of Finance, September 30, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/TaskForce
PDMA.pdf.
17
“Task Force on Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal”,
Office Order, Ministry of Finance, September 30, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/TaskForce
FSAT.pdf.
18
“Task Force on Financial Data Management Centre”,
Office Order, Ministry of Finance, September 30, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/TaskForce
FDMC.pdf.
19
“Task Force on Resolution Corporation”, Office Order,
Ministry of Finance, September 30, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/TaskForce
RC.pdf.
20
“Setting up of a Committee to examine un-claimed amount
remained in PPF, Post Office Savings Schemes etc.”,
Ministry of Finance Notification, September 3, 2014,
http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/budget/co
mmittee_unclaimfund_PPF_POSS.pdf.
21
No. LAD-NRO/GN/2014-15/11/1576, Securities and
Exchange Board of India, September 26, 2014,
http://www.sebi.gov.in/cms/sebi_data/pdffiles/29272_t.pdf
and No. LAD-NRO/GN/2014-15/10/1577, Securities and
Exchange Board of India, September 26, 2014,
http://www.sebi.gov.in/cms/sebi_data/attachdocs/141172249
5005.pdf.
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PRS Legislative Research
22
No. 22-15/2014-IA.III, Ministry of Environment, Forests
and Climate Change, August 29, 2014,
http://envfor.nic.in/sites/default/files/OM-dtd-25.08.14.pdf.
23
S.O. 2319(E), Ministry of Environment, Forests, and
Climate Change, September 11, 2014,
http://envfor.nic.in/sites/default/files/SO2319(E)_Draft.pdf.
24
S.O. 1533, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate
Change, September 14, 2006,
http://envfor.nic.in/legis/eia/so1533.pdf/
25
“Draft: Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014”, Ministry of
Road Transport and Highways, September 13, 2014,
http://morth.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/RTSB%20BILL
-5241785876.pdf.
26
“Central Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Rules, 2014”,
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, September 17,
2014, http://morth.nic.in/showfile.asp?lid=1482.
27
“Empowering the Ministry of Road Transport and
Highways to decide on mode of delivery and amendments in
Model Concession Agreement in respect of national
highways projects”, Press Information Bureau, Cabinet
Committee on Economic Affairs, August 27, 2014.
28
“India notifies farm subsidies to WTO, claims no breach of
limits”, Live Mint, September 11, 2014,
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/pBjet28AanEFA2MKAO2
8mJ/India-notifies-farm-subsidies-to-WTO-claims-no-
breach-of-li.html; “India notifies WTO of $56 billion farm
support in 2010-11”, Reuters, September 10, 2014,
http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/10/india-agriculture-
wto-idINKBN0H51W820140910; “India‟s farm subsidy well
below WTO cap of 10%”, Economic Times, September 11,
2014,
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/
indias-farm-subsidy-well-below-wto-cap-of-10-
official/articleshow/42288827.cms.
29
PRS Legislative Research, Monthly Policy Review, August
2014,
http://www.prsindia.org/administrator/uploads/general/14096
40128~~MPR%20August%202014-%20Final.pdf.
30
“120.27 Million Tonnes of Foodgrains Production
Estimated 1st Advance Estimates of Major Kharif Crops
Released”, Ministry of Agriculture, Press Information
Bureau, September 19, 2014.
31
“Kharif Sowing Crosses 1019 Lakh Hectare Mark”,
Ministry of Agriculture, Press Information Bureau,
September 29, 2014.
32
India Meteorological Department Weekly Press Release,
September 26, 2014,
http://imd.gov.in/section/nhac/dynamic/weeklypress.pdf.
33
“Storage Status of 85 Important Reservoirs of the Country
as on September 25, 2014”, Ministry of Water Resources,
Press Information Bureau, 29 September 2014.
34
“Swachh Bharat Programme for Urban Areas”, Press
Information Bureau, Ministry of Urban Development,
September 24, 2014.
35
„Government announces „Deen Dayal Upadhyaya
Antyodaya Yojana‟- DAY for uplift of urban, rural poor‟,
Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation, September 25, 2014.
36
Tokyo Declaration for India- Japan Special Strategic and
Global Partnership, Ministry of External Affairs, September
1, 2014, http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-
documents.htm?dtl/23965/Tokyo+Declaration+for+India++J
apan+Special+Strategic+and+Global+Partnership .
37
Factsheet: India and Japan- Partners for Common
Development, Ministry of External Affairs, September 1,
2014, http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-
documents.htm?dtl/23967/Factsheet+India+and+Japan++Part
ners+for+Common+Development .
Monthly Policy Review – September 2014 PRS Legislative Research

38
Visit of Prime Minister to USA for UNGA and Bilateral
Summit (September 25- October 1, 2014), Ministry of
External Affairs, September 28, 2014,
http://www.mea.gov.in/outoging-visit-
detail.htm?24045/Visit+of+Prime+Minister+to+USA+for+U
NGA+and+Bilateral+Summit+September+25October+1+201
4.
39
English rendering of the Statement by Prime Minister, Shri
Narendra Modi at the General Debate of the 69th Session of
the United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister‟s
Office, Press Information Bureau, September 27, 2014.
40
Vision Statement for the U.S.- India Strategic Partnership
“Chalein Saath Saath: Forward We Go”, Prime Minister‟s
Office, Press Information Bureau, September 30, 2014.
41
Joint Statement on the State Visit of Prime Minister of
Australia to India, Ministry of External Affairs, September 5,
2014, http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-
documents.htm?dtl/23976/Joint+Statement+on+the+State+Vi
sit+of+Prime+Minister+of+Australia+to+India .
42
MoUs/Agreements signed during the visit of Prime
Minister of Australia to India (4-5 September, 2014),
Ministry of External Affairs, September 5, 2014,
http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-
documents.htm?dtl/23975/MOUsAgreements+signed+during
+the+visit+of+Prime+Minister+of+Australia+to+India+45+S
eptember+2014 .
43
Joint Statement between the Republic of India and the
People‟s Republic of China on Building a Closer
Developmental Relationship, Ministry of External Affairs,
September 19, 2014, http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-
documents.htm?dtl/24022/Joint+Statement+between+the+Re
public+of+India+and+the+Peoples+Republic+of+China+on+
Building+a+Closer+Developmental+Partnership .
44
Launching of National AYUSH Mission, Cabinet, Press
Information Bureau, September 15, 2014.
45
“Draft Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2014”,
Ministry of Women and Child Development, September 4,
2014.
46
“Task Force to Monitor and Expedite the Processing of
Citizenship and Long Term Visa Applications”, Ministry of
Home Affairs, Press Information Bureau, September 5, 2014.
47
Notification G.S.R.630(E), Ministry of Mines, Gazette of
India, September 1, 2014,
http://www.egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2014/160787.pdf.
48
“New Rates of Royalty & Deadrents-Press Release 17-08-
2009”, Ministry of Mines, August 17, 2009,
http://mines.nic.in/writereaddata/Contentlinks/55d312ae36db
4fd2b2108964879f5036.pdf.

DISCLAIMER: This document is being furnished to you for

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redistribute this report for non-commercial purposes in part
or in full to any other person with due acknowledgement of
PRS Legislative Research (“PRS”). The opinions expressed
herein are entirely those of the author(s). PRS makes every
effort to use reliable and comprehensive information, but
PRS does not represent that the contents of the report are
accurate or complete. PRS is an independent, not-for-profit
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UPSC DNA 5 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 6, 2014

INDIA - AUSTRALIA

WHITE REVOLUTION

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India is the Suicide Capital of SE Asia : WHO

In 2012 approx 8 lakh people committed suicide -- 2.5 lakh were indians (1.5 lakh
men and 1 lakh women)
There are indications that for each adult who die of suicide, more than 20 attempt
it, the report says
The report underlines that suicides are “preventable” -- so our government needs to
make an implement a coordinated plan to prevent suicide

SEBI Makes Whistleblower Mechanism mandatory for listed Companies

The new Companies Act also provides for certain classes of companies to establish a
vigil mechanism for their directors and employees
SEBI will now incorporate a provision in this regard in its new Corporate Governance
Code for listed firms.
Note : read Companies Act and Whistleblower protection Bill

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UPSC DNA, 6th September, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 7, 2014

Nataraj back home

Tony Abott returned two Chola era idols on his visit to India
First one was bronze idol of lord Nataraj whie second was ardhanareeshwar stone
sculpture(important for this year)
They were stolen from villages in Tamil Nadu and reached Australian museums through
USA from Hongkong in pieces, where they get fraud certificates of traditional handicraft

Who is SC Kapoor?(Watch movie Lootera if you can afford)

Smuggler of antique idols from India
has his own art gallery at Madison Square
Got arrested last year only and was lynchpin in the whole business of stealing and
smuggling antiquities

Pakistan Perennial crisis

Pakistan history with coups
1965, 1969, 1977, 1988 and 1999 respectively by Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Gen Yahya
Khan, Gen Zia-ul-haq and Parvez Musharaff
Transfer of power last year was the first time in history of Pakistan when civilian govt
was replaced by another elected civilian govt

What's happening in Pakistan?

Problem with Pak's policies

Pakistan army policy tripod that includes emphasis on Islam as a national unifier,
hostility towards India as principle foreign policy and an alliance with the US
high expenditure over defence; macroeconomic issues and problems rarely gets
mention
To fulfill tall promises will be a challenge for Nawaz, carrying on the ideologies of past
simultaneously

Pendulum of Islamic State

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Ground reality of Islamic states

Cross border insurgent group(IS) has been challenging many such other groups of the
region such as Iraqi army, Syrian army, Army of Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga, PKK, Shiite
militias of Lebanon(Hezbollah) and Iraq and many others
Ground reality is that if US intervenes to stop IS, many of the banned groups will also be
benefited from such a move

US allies in the region

Turkey and Jordan, major allies of US in the region are also in a dilemma, whether to go
against IS or not
Jordan fears that Syrian refugees in its territories are sympathetic to IS and will be easy
for IS to strike in such a case while Turkey's trade depends very much on the IS
acquired regions of Syria and Iraq

Reason behind growth of IS

US pressured both Assad and Al-malliki to follow neo-liberal policies favorable to its
MNCs
This led to increase in inequity and despair especially among Sunnis of the region since
they were not in power positions in both nations
Without taking into account the socio economic reasons for rise of IS, peace will be
tough to achieve

Indo Aussies Nuclear deal

Nuclear deal between India and Australia signed after two years long discussions
Expert says that Indo US nuclear deal has paved the way for deal with Australia, India
has not signed NPT yet
Australia has also shown is support for NSG membership for India and even cleared
Adani group project in Queensland and has shown his support to increase in bilateral
investments

Rajanomics
Rajan has said that political stability, improved business and investment climate would
bring back GDP growth rate to above 7%
On SC judgment over coal block allocation Rajan said that it might bring uncertainty in
near future but would be a good judgment in long term
On inflation he said that supply side inflation is not under RBI's control, fiscal and CAD
would be under control in next financial year also
On banking he said that NBFC sectors should be promoted to complement baking
sector and he will come out with framework for NBFCs

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Also, he said wilful defaulter tag is powerful weapon in the hands of bank to prevent
such persons or groups from credit power

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UPSC DNA 7 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 7, 2014

Waterways

work has begun on this waterway

Length = 1620 m
World Bank is likely to support and will provide 50 million dollars
Cost of project is 4,200 crores as estimated by IWAI (inland waterways authority of India
-- the implementing agency)
This would be called National Waterways 1 and IWAI has plans to implement five more
such waterways.

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Need To Take Steps to Radicalisation of Youth

Why in NEWS?

Al Qaeda announced that they will spread Jihad in India

What we need to do?

Constant monitoring of ground situation

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Education and Skill Development

Sense of Normalcy -- not spreading the feeling that the nation is on high alert
Promotion and Preservation of Pluralistic Culture

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UPSC DNA, 8th September, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 9, 2014

Indo Aussies Nuclear deal

40% of world's Uranium reserve, Deal with Australia is an important landmark

Another reason for the deal was the pressure put by Australian mines owner, post
Fukushima crisis demand for Uranium fell through out the globe

New Highways to Economic growth

Involving state for increasing dialogues with foreign countries for investment and trade
Rise of Bangalore and Hyderabad were very much influenced by foreign investments
owing to the efforts of SM Krishna and Chnadra babu naidu when they were CM of
respective states, Mr Modi even tried the same when he was CM
States in US as well as in China follow same approach. Even few states in US have
started their offices where they carry out such operations
Opening Branches of Foreign Affairs ministry in each state to provide them(states)
assistance can be a good exercise in this direction
Problem is that whether such an approach should be kept limited to trade and Business
only or should be used to increase people to people contact also
Developing relations with Pakistan and Bangladesh would need special attention while
taking such an approach

Germany's great Green gamble

Energiewende: German term for current energy transition that the nation is going
through
Germany has used new innovative measures to increase proportion of renewable
energy sources in contribution
Target is to achieve 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050
Aim is to remove nuclear dependence completely

What's the innovation?

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Policy introduced by Merkel that investment in solar or wind energy will fetch you
guaranteed return
Grid operator has a legal obligation to connect the installation and to accept whenever it
is produced
Now close to 5 million and 6% of Germans are energy producers
However there are allegations that large scale renewable energy would require grid,
installations, storage and backup infrastructure which would be expensive

Indian Context
India has capacity of 13% share of its energy production however only 6% of energy
share is contributed by solar and wind energy
German experience shows that conversion is not that a bad bet especially the amount of
employment generated would compensate for loss in GDP, which is hardly .1-.15%

Pension reforms miss the wood for the tree

EPFO is the body that manages investment of provident funds for employees from all
sectors
Point to be noted that interest rates provided by EPFO this year is 8.75 and wobbles
around this range only which is much below than CPI
Two main problems pointed out here is that
its investment strategy is not at all good and is subjected to rigid and archaic
guidelines
Even private managers for investment failed to bring any good results
Also fund managers are selected on the price they bid not heir track record
As an alternative, though NPS provides good returns and have better investment policy
However the problem with them is that fund managers are only for 5 years term
If these glitches removed from NPS, it might come out as a default solution for pension
schemes

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UPSC DNA 9 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 10, 2014

Nehru in NEWS

its his 125th Birth Anniversary

Congress will celebrate it at party level on a year long basis
This is not imp -- but being in NEWS and being 125th year Nehru becomes important --
along with related topics like - Panchsheel, NAM, Socialist orientation of India and its
relevance today etc -- so prepare accordingly

Indo - Germany Talks Result

Obvious points

they praised Modi and his reforms in India

talks were overall constructive

Areas in which germans have shown interest include

Smart Cities
cleaning rivers
Renewable energy
vocational training
and obviously High technology and Manufacturing sector

Name to remember : German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Solar Net Meters

Concept

People who install grid connected solar energy systems in their homes can use the
required solar energy that they harness and export the rest to the grid
In case of shortfall they can import energy from the grid

Basis

Solar Energy Policy 2012, the State Government announced solar net meters for
domestic consumers

What is needed?

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Need to generate awareness about these meters so more people go for this option

Do you think Appointment of P. Sathasivam as Governor compromised Judicial Independence?

some arguments --

Against

Theoretically, the acceptance of such a view as affecting the independence of the judiciary
would mean actively disincentivising judges from adjudicating cases involving politicians, where
free and fair justice would be most required. The speculative insinuations made simply owing to
a judge hearing such a case, irrespective of the validity of judicial reasoning employed, have the
pernicious effect of tarnishing a judge’s reputation.

For

“Judicial afternoons and evenings are sensitive phases, the incumbent being bothered about
post-retiral prospects. The Executive plays upon this weakness to bend the integrity or buy the
partiality of the elderly brethren.”

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UPSC DNA 10th September, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 11, 2014

Some Action over Ganga !!!!

28 years of Ganga Action Plan, admonition by SC over lukewarm work and Modi's govt
all enthusiastic promises of bringing to its pristine state... what next?
Report by Ganga River basin Authority suggests that that numerous dams and
barrages have snapped is longitudinal connectivity and crippled it
quality of water is abysmal now and conventional methods are unable to help
National Mission for Clean Ganga envisions that by 2020, no untreated municipal waste
or industrial effluent will flow into Ganga
Another report by some other body suggests that Tehri dam has hindered the self
purifier nature of Ganga

Ebola
For details search previous UPSC DNA articles
Issue dealt in this article is that due to poor healthcare facilities in the nations having
major Ebola outbreak people are losing their faith in medical services and are not
approaching medical services
Because of which large number cases are going untraced which can be twice or thrice
of detected cases
However the good thing is that infection can be transmitted only through fluid exchange
as opposed to SARS or H1N1 influenza

Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent

Recently released Jawahiri's video has a mention of Gazwa-e-hind and also call for
Muslim youths from Indian subcontinent to join Jihad
Though Al-Qaeda in past also has mentioned its intention of extending deep into Indian
subcontinent but this time situation is different
Firstly, Pakistization of Al-Qaeda has been going on
Secondly, AQIS will provide it to remain active in South Asia
Thirdly, IS has quite been a phenomena in this region too
With lowering in its stature, analysts believe this might be a strategy to gain back
importance but complacency is not the luxury nations of Indian sub continent enjoy

What deters investment in India today?

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Corporate investment in India is moving towards short term high profit investment means
of investing in financial securities
RBI data shows that investment in industrial securities and physical assets have
declined sharply which can be attributed to the slow growth of industrial sector
key reason for such a tendency is that
Corporates have to maintain portfolio balance which is tough with investing in
industrial sector
further cost of credit is also high
Also, low risk appetite of the industrial securities and financial asset
Another report suggests a sharp decline in the asset growth rate of corporate sector

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UPSC DNA 11 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 11, 2014

Tea Gardens in North Bengal and Starvation

Few reports have come up and one of the reports suggested that 60 per cent of the
people had a Body Mass Index (BMI) lower than the critical value of 18.5 in a closed
garden
Workers are demanding appropriate raise in the wages

Related facts

According to WHO recommendations, any community that has more than 40 per cent of
its members with BMI levels below 18.5 should be considered as “a starving
community”
Soviet Union was the main buyer but even a quarter century after its collapse Tea
estates are a profitable business ( Personal opinion : I don't understand this argument ,
How will Collapse of Soviet Union lead to decline of tea exports? People wont stop
drinking tea because they are outside soviet --any Gs-today reader can explain this to
us????)
The workers are mandated to get a daily wage of just Rs.95 — much less than the daily
agricultural wage — on condition that the garden owners provide facilities such as
housing, education and health care

SCO Summit

Points to note:

Where is the summit being held? -- Dushanbe - Capital of Tajikistan

Russia will assume presidency after summit
attended by the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Russia, Tajikistan and
Uzbekistan, heads and senior representatives of observer states, international
organisations and other guests.
Pakistan, India, and Iran want to become full members of the SCO
Many other countries want observer status or dialogue partner status
planned joint celebrations of the 70th anniversary of victory in the Second World War
Dushanbe Summit will also formalise the legal, administrative and financial requirements
for admitting new SCO members ( This is important from Indian Perspective)

DIGITAL LOCKER

Concept :

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We need to give a lot of information and also supporting documents, which are inform of
photocopy of originals usually attested by a Gazetted Officer. Moreover various procedures
require is to get the original documents verified at some point of time. This is a lengthy process

The ‘digital locker’ -- an online repository for all certificates and documents
issued by the govt
Documents will be hosted over a cloud to be maintained by the govt
The project will address the issue of counterfeiting and also save on the cost
incurred in storing and maintaining physical documents
The govt will invite ideas through MyGov to build the architecture for the project
The issues of privacy and hacking fears remain key areas of concern

The Locker aspect (i.e. it will have to be Hack proof -- an extremely difficult task ) of digital
locker will have to addressed

Totalisers for counting votes -- asks SC

Current Practice:

Votes are counted separately for every polling booth

Problem

Candidates come to know that voters of which are have voted for which candidate
predominantly , thus exposing the voters to possible intimidations and also there is a chance
that voters may exercise his right to vote under a fear or against his will

Solution?

CJI Lodha has suggested while a hearing a PIL petition that we can use totalisers (mix votes
from all polling stations, instead of counting separately)can be used for counting votes to
prevent intimidation of voters by candidates

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UPSC DNA, 12th Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 12, 2014

Green Tribunal directs to draft national policy on stubble

burning
What is Stubble burning?
Setting fire of crop residues in agricultural fields
Practiced because of the belief that ashes will work as a manure and fire will kill all the
pests in the field
A/c to stats, 22,289 metric tonnes of rice straw surplus is produced in India every year,
of which 13,915 metric tonnes is burnt in the fields
Since the duration between cutting and cropping is also small so this practice is used to
get rid of residues

Negative effects
It emits huge amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and also large
amount of particulate matters which effects human health
Many states have already banned this practice but NGT has appealed to draft a national
policy especially for the states where this practice has been used uninterruptedly

Ozone layer showing signs of recovery: UN

UNEP with World Meteorological Organisation has come out with the report over Ozone
layer depletion, suggests sign of recovery
There has been substantial decrease in GHGs emission
After the adoption of Montreal Protocol emission has decreased by 90% compared to
1987(year of adoption)
Protocol have prevented around 2 million cases of skin cancer and other such damages,
according to estimates
However report also suggests increase in the emission of alternatives to GHGs

Strategic Networking in the Indo-Pacific

Abe and Modi: Nationalism and belief in Asian century
Special mention of defence deals with India in Tokyo declaration

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Points of confrontation
India's non signatory status of CTBT
India seeking to right to reprocess spent fuel with providing assurance of using it
only for peaceful purposes
Thirdly Japan wants India's acceptance of what India has agreed to with IAEA
Japan provide 400 MT of special steel Reactor pressure Vessels, for the Westinghouse,
GE and Areva nuclear power plants so good terms with Japan on nuclear issue
is necessary

How India can win Japan's confidence?

Accelerating process of entry into adhoc export regimes like NSG, MTCR, Australia
group and the Wassenaar Group
Japan will celebrate 70th anniversary of Hiroshima-Nagasaki nuclear bombings and
India's support to any such initiative for nuclear disarmament will be helpful

Shift with Australia

Post-98 nuclear test by India, Australia had put many sanctions
With Australia being one of the largest producer as well as owner of Uranium reserves,
nuclear deal with Australia was important
Julia Gillard opened the door for negotiations few years back only after NSG waiver to
India with US support(go into details of this if failing to remember )
Abott statements, few days back, definitely shows signal of shift in position of Australia

New Equations
Modi's upcoming high profile meetings with Xi jinping and Obama will also have nuclear
issue into focus
Further, US payed a crucial role in the NSG waiver for India in 2008 which opened the
gates for negotiations with France, US and Russia for th next generation LWR and
PHWR
Further Japan and Australia will bring back Look East policy of Narsimha Rao into radar

CBI its autonomy and its credibility

NK SIngh, former joint director of CBI, is the author of this article and shows his concern
regarding the decline in credibility over alleged wrong acts by Director of CBI
Singh argues that misconduct if proven correct will again bring back the debate over the
issue whether autonomy to CBI is right or wrong
He writes that at no place CBI is fully autonomous, either in investigation or supervision
Sec 4(2) of DSPE brings CBI under superintendence of central government and also for
conducting investigation, it requires help from different departments at each stage

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Even the Lokpal act provides for the appointment of director of CBI in the hand of
collegium and centrality of the Lokpal
Singh conclude by saying that autonomy and freedom from extraneous consideration
requires removal of sec 4(2) first and clearly laying down the role, jurisdiction and legal
powers of CBI

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UPSC DNA 13 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 13, 2014

Innovative Method to raise revenue

Chennai Metro Rail is considering auctioning the names of stations to companies or

brands
company’s name or brand would be attached to the station’s name
have taken their cue from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)
Delhi Metro Rail, this system will be introduced in nine stations

Scottish Referendum

There is a referendum going to be held on september 18 to decide if Scotland should

continue to be a part of UK.
The recent opinion polls have showed the opinion to be tilted in favor of Union

---Not much useful in NEWS today.

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UPSC DNA, 1st Oct, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 1, 2014

Rajanomics
RBI preferred to maintain status quo in the economic policy review
All indicators such as inflation, CAD foreign currency reserves are in a healthy position
However, the thing to worry them is lowering of credit offtake which is forcing banks to
go for lower deposit rates, in turn affecting senior citizens who live off interest incomes
RBI put emphasis over the fact that to maintain the GDP growth rate, resumption in
investment activity is necessary
Other important event required are completion of stalled projects and clearing off
disinvestment proceeds smoothly

Political courage needed to admit government cant deliver

promises
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty action lab located in MIT, conducted 568 field experiments in India
and came out with following observations:

J-PAL conducted experiments over MNREGA in Bihar, Schools in Haryana, smart cards
in AP and others
Indian govt are very cooperative while going for such experiments
State govts are not only allowing such experiments but even supporting financially and
are willing to change policies as per the result of the experiment
Job of public servant is enormous and there are lapses because of these enormities,
govt have to accept this first; on gnd level programmes are totally different from what
they are at paper level
Research suggests that many of RTE provisions are failing, especially the conditions
made over private schools is too tough for many of them to fulfill and many of them have
put down their shutters
Similarly, PDS system is ignoring the nutritional requirements of people failing whole
purpose and also the diesel subsidy is indirectly helping non-poors in place of poors

IR
Hongkong protest
'Occupy Central' is a movement started to pressurise the PRC Government into granting
universal suffrage and civil nomination in Hong Kong’s electoral reform in 2017 as

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promised under art 45 of Hongkong Basic law or its constitution since 1997
It was a non violent, peaceful, civil disobedience which later grown aggressive with the
increase in number of participating students

Afghan strikes deal with US to let troops stay

So, as a great shock to all aspirants, most important point in any IR question of Afghan
future after withdrawal of US army is no more available to serve them
New Afghan president signed a deal with NATO and US to extend the stay of US forces
US agreed, citing the issue of ISIS that 10,000 US troops are going to stay in
Afghanistan and will train and make Afghan forces capable atleast for some years more

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UPSC DNA 2 OCT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 7, 2014

Young European Girls Joining IS

1. Girls from Europe as young as 14 or 15 are traveling to Syria

2. France has the highest number of female recruits, with 63
3. Mostly they are recruited via social media

Why?

To marry Jihadis
To have their children
To fight alongside them

What is motivating them to do this?

Feeling of adventure
romantic feeling of war and warrior
brainwash by recruitors
at times push factors like low respect or low sense of self worth in their home countries
also leads to such steps as they feel they will be highly respected in Syria and will find
their 'true value'
some are naive enough to believe that this is an Humanitarian exercise

A new dimension to our Secularism ?

Bombay High Court recently held that government authorities cannot compel a citizen to
disclose her religion

It also declared that every individual has a right to claim she does not belong to any religion

Why the court said so?

An incident happened in which a municipality denied to issue birth certificate to a child

whose parents decided not to give the child a religion and let her/him choose hers/his
religion when she/he comes of age, so they left the column of religion in application form
blank. The Municipality forced them to tick one or the other column and point to be noted
is that there was no 'no religion' column -- so they ticked 'other'
The court felt that this is forcing the citizen to disclose his/her religion

moreover,

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Freedom of religion and conscience includes the freedom not to believe.

Fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, a person is allowed to say she
is an atheist.
The state is secular and has no religion. It cannot, therefore, compel citizens to fit into
one religion or the other.

This article Identifies four essential characteristics of a Secular State

1. no state-established religion
2. state is governed on secular, rather than religious, principles.
3. people enjoy freedom of religion and conscience
4. there is no discrimination on religious grounds in state action.

How is Indian Secularism Different from other countries (we know this but still lets see!)

US Supreme Court disallowed the displaying of the Ten Commandments in county court
houses
In India, it is normal for inaugurations of government buildings to be preceded by the
breaking of a coconut and other rituals identified with Hinduism.
Satyanarayan pujas are routinely conducted in government offices, including courts and
police stations.

IRNSS 3rd Satellite

To be launched on october 3

Lets Revise IRNSS --(Its very important)

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Swachh Bharat Mission

(image source : The Hindu)

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Scenario in Afghanistan

NOTE: There was no Hindu Published on 3rd October

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UPSC DNA 4 OCT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 6, 2014

RTI ACT in NEWS AGAIN

This is an insightful article -- we advise you to please read it in full. CLICK HERE

Surrogacy and Single Parents

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill 2014 is to be tabled in the winter

session (hence important for mains)
The question is whether the bill will allow foreign nationals and single parents in india to
have children through commercial surrogacy
the dominant opinion is against allowing them as claims have been made that this
practice leads to trafficking in women and also mistreatment of surrogate mothers
Lets see what the government decides -- but dont forget to read everything about
surrogacy before mains

Invasive Hitchhiker Species

UN-ESCAP report

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Rich poor gap is increasing in Asia Pacific Region

Relative Poverty is on the rise
The Gini coefficient – a measure of income inequality – between early 1990s and late
2000s increased from 30.8 to 33.9 in India; 32.4 to 42.1 in China and in Indonesia it
increased from 29.2 to 38.1, the report said.
Social implication : “This is particularly worrying for large multiracial countries with
significant regional variations, since it can trigger social and political instability,” the
report added.

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UPSC DNA, 6th Oct 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 6, 2014

Note: Sorry folks, pending DNA's will be uploaded soon. On few days li
ke Sunday, there are hardly any news worth covering, so we skipped tho
se. Any other relevant article and news will be covered soon. Friends,
due to shortage of time, other sections of GS-today is hard to contin
ue. We will try to resume them soon. Any help is welcome.

For Clarity on Hongkong

Issue of contention
On transition of power from Britain in 1997, PRC promised Hongkong to impart full
democracy by 2017
Promise was made for full democracy, that includes open nomination of candidates for
the post of Chief Executive of the territory in the elections scheduled for 2017
Promise was also made for universal adult suffrage
Now Beijing is planning to introduce law where the candidates for the post of Chief
executive of Hongkong will be selected by a committee
Protesters have a problem with this clause since there has been an increasing
settlement from mainland China and also real estate prices have skyrocketed. Such a
scenario have created fear among localite of their future under PRC dictated terms

Take way from Modi US visit

2008, US NIC report announced a multipolar world and predicted that US fated to be
wane
US foreign and security policy also indicates that it is directed towards a graceful demise
Three main strtegies of Obama
Outstrech hands to Iran
Strategic reassurance to China
reset to Russia
With growth of Islamic states, reluctance by China and Russia in their territorial disputes,
proves the decreasing clout of US
2010 visit of Obama was also based on this approach of laissez faire. Big talks only but
nothing is done to strengthen relations

Things left undone

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Mutual timidity forced things left undone

2005 defence framework was renewed but again, no mention of technology transfer as
well as developing projects in collaboration were made
No energetic support was made by US to India's permanent candidacy of UNSC or other
groups like NSG, MTCR, Wassenaar arrangement or Australia group
Contention over IPR issue and both nation draggin each other again and again into
WTO is a regular exercise
Contention over subsidies and biased treatment against US manufacturers was also not
discussed

This visit positive outcome was that it showed pragmatism and scope for future collaboration,
not as master slave relationship but on equal footing

Court verdict on Encounters

Detailed guidelines made on how police and administration should respond to a death in
an alleged encounter
firstly, an independent and impartial investigation in addition to the standard procedure
of CrPC
secondly, investigation by CID or a police station from another station-house,
establishing victim's identity,
preservation of evidence on the spot,
preparation of a rough sketch of scene, fingerprints
videography of autopsy
informing the kins of victim at the earliest
NHRC to be kept in loop, along with providing six monthly report to NHRC, giving details
of all such encouters and deaths

Why love is four letter word?

Nothing substantive in this article, other than the aspect that propaganda of 'Love Jihad'
and resurgence of Khap panchayat has been looked with an angle of patriarchal society
With Indian feminism on the rise, these are propaganda to bring fear among women and
regain legitimacy of men over them, according to author

Upgrading Indian Rocket

India's impeccable rocket launcher PSLV has again proved its strength
Next step will be bigger and more capable satellites, which would require more capable
rocket launcher, especially to carry out first stage ie to place satellite in orbit round the
earth
GSLV and GSLV mark3 are the next level rocket launcher, over which India is betting
upon
This will need cryogenic engine, although ISRO has tested liquid propellant engine for

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fourth stage of PSLV but testing of cryogenic engine is still not done for starting, shutting
down and restarting

Brain inner GPS system

John O' Keefe, Britt Moser and Edward Moser, an American and Norweignein Moser
couple have been awarded Noble this year for medicine field
They discovered the inner neural system of brain that helps us in creating map in our
mind, also called brain inner GPS system
Such technique is used to treat Alzheimer patient where they fail to interrelate things of
their day to day life.

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UPSC DNA, 7th Oct, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 8, 2014

Investigating the investigators

SC ruling for the PIL filed by PUCL against the cases of encounters is a welcome step,
especially to check a malpractice which is conducted unscrupulously and in the name of
justice sometimes
It will also help junior police officers with conscience to proscribe unethical conduct if
forced by senior officers or politicians, citing the ruling of SC to maintain
transparency(for details of ruling, go through yesterday DNA)

Why balanced view is required?

First of all, many encounters death are result of the poor implementation of criminal laws
and delays involved in bringing a criminal to justice. Labyrinth of the law that includes
arrest, chargesheet, interrogation and others, often kills the whole justice procedure
Secondly, many of such methods are also used with malafide intent for benefits of some
senior officers or influential politicians
Another case is that a large number of police officers have lost their lives in such
encounters

Electrified but without electricity

Definition of electrified village: Village with atleast 10% of homes electrified. A decade
back, this was a single electrified would define it as an electrified village
Passing the buck is visible here too. Under the RGGVY, annually 18k villages are being
electrified on an average noth on grid and off grid, however the onus to provide
electricity is on state govt
Load shedding is frequent phenomenon in rural areas
Rural areas under pump set irrigation have bigger problems, since pump set requires
three-phase supply while most state only supply single phase
There is a need to have a meaningful definition of electrification which should include
atleast 50% connectivity and 98% supply during peak hours of morning and evening
Feeder segregation should also be done for better supply and connectivity; Schools,
colleges and other such public places should be provided with better supplyor 24*7
supply and similar other provision for other categories

National laws for International citizens

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Modi's lifetime Indian visa to PIOs and OCIs, but this initiative is infructuous until
problem regarding outdated and archaic laws and rules are first solved
Issues relating to immigration, nationality, marriage, divorce, forced marriages, inter-
parental child removal, spousal maintenance, division of matrimonial property, inter-
country adoptions, succession and inheritance, tenancy of Indian property and
surrogacy arrangements have to be dealt if large chunk of Indians start returning to their
homeland
Indian laws dealing with these are five decade old and need amendments to match with
international practices

Confinement with Origin Web Labels

System developed for better and safe browsing
This works on Mozilla and Google chrome and prevents leaking of sensitive information
to unauthorised parties
This prevents computers from malicious or harmful bugs

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UPSC DNA 8 OCT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 8, 2014

Fracking and Climate Change

Fracking is a hydraulic fracturing method to extract natural gas from the ground ( used
extensively for Shale gas extraction in US)
Methane Gas ( a GHG ) is emitted due to this process
In March - Obama Administration has released a White Paper on 'Strategy to Reduce
Methane Emission'
Anti-fracking environmentalists have put methane leakage near the top of the list of their
reasons that fracking should be banned altogether.
A 50 per cent reduction in methane emissions is the equivalent to closing 90 coal-fired
power plants, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

Indian style of innovative fix or ‘jugaad’

India launched Indigenous Microscope

generates 3D images of objects

Connection with Peacock feathers : “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

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peacock’s feather scatters light." -- CGCRI Director Kamal Dasgupta

it costs almost 1/4 th of similar confocal microscopes (another example of Indian
Innovation or Jugaad)
It was developed by CSIR

Disaster Management through Technology

Rudraprayag disaster management department has launched three applications to help in

disaster management

These would include

1. Geographical Information System (GIS)-based mapping application for the district

administration to help Track pilgrims, cater to their food supply, and carry out timely
rescue operations
2. an android application for the locals,
3. a messaging service for the district administration to send emergency messages.

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UPSC DNA, 9th OCT, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 10, 2014

Corruption and the Courts

SC described corruption as violation of human rights that leads to systematic economic
crimes and serious malady undermining the very health of polity
Jayalalitha petition of conditional bail was rejected by HC on the line of the earlier ruling
that convicted public servant would be deemed convicted until exonerated by the
appellate court
Recent trends of such cases shows
Apex court has removed the protection from immediate disqualification of public
servants
fixed a time limit for grant of sanction for prosecution of public servants
directed early completion of trials involving lawmakers
struck down discriminatory practices for investigating cases involving senior
bureaucrats

Keeping Ebola at bay

Ebola infected patients have been detected in US and Spain
The screening and monitoring at West African nations infected by Ebola is very poor and
till now, not a single Ebola patient have been screened
Normally, it takes 21 days to show symptoms of Ebola
India have already estd screening of passengers coming from infected west African
nations

Including people in governance

Article discusses the factors for selecting new capital of AP
Vijayawada-Guntur region has been declared by Mr CM as the next capital of the state
Reasons of industrial location theory has been used here
However, that will be not much useful as many issues are confronting this decision
which include
rise in pollution level will indirectly farming in the region and since region has rich
agricultural land, revenue losses will be significant
energy required for the development of smart city will be around Rs 35,000
crore. PPP model will be utilised which will obviously favor elite and prosperous
part of society
ILT favors centralised development, decentralisation will be compromised
Developing cities like Vishakhapatnam, Prakasam and Rayalseema and empowering

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local bodies will take the burden of the state govt

Author also discusses the participative form of govt, that is being practiced at many
places in South America
Such form of weekly participation and budget forming process have shown enormous
improvement in efficiency of public services

Ensuring a healthy start to life

First 1000 days are the most crucial phase of life of any individual
Author argues that surveys and reports suggest that all schemes and policy in India
neglect the significance of 0-3 yrs development of child
ECCE policy, 2013, also does not take a holistic approach at ground level for 0-3 yrs
toddlers
half of the children in India are stunted in these age groups, which are crucial for
physical growth, brain development and healthy immune system
Six low cost nutrient are crucial during first 1000 days: iron and folate, breastfeeding,
appropriate complementary feeding, vitamin A, zinc and hygiene practices
Further, genetic and early experience play an important part in shaping of our cognitive
abilities; pace of brain development is most rapid in these ages
So, intervention in early childhood, combining nutritional supplementation with
psychosocial stimulation have a greater impact than at any other age

Nobel for Physics

The Nobel Prize for physics has been announced, and it has gone to three researchers
of Japanese origin for their work on blue light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.
Blue LEDs were invented decades after red or or green LEDs, which came out in the
1960s.
Once blue LEDs were developed by Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura
in the 1990s, a revolution in lighting and in personal electronics became possible, since
the three kinds of LEDs could together produce any colour - and also white light.

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UPSC DNA 15 Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu, hindu simplified

Date : September 16, 2014

Note: Sunday newspaper was not having any important article as per UPS
C candidate is concerned, so we left yesterday. Sorry for inconvenienc
e

Impact of Institutional decay

Editor tries to shed light over the fact that institutional working in our country is not upto
the mark and it is the most important cause of failure of India's university in international
rankings
At the university level, appointment of lecturers is made through NET, which is not upto
the mark, a/c to the editor and also the appointment made is on contractual for first few
years
Contractual appointment with constant fear of losing contract and widespread politics at
administration level, discourages any genuine contender
Another point made by editor, libraries are continuously declining in the to do list of
university administration and more important is being given to e-resources
Editor also points out that at school level also contractual appointment is being made on
more frequently. MP govt has ended all permanent appointments to govt schools

Outreach plans for scientists

Department of Science and Tech , Ministry of Earth Sciences and the CSIR has come
up with an outreach programme for school and college students interaction with eminent
scientists
6000 scientists have been involved in from these departments and have been agreed to
dedicate their 12 years per year for this programme
Motive of such approach is to motivate students to join research field, interest shown by
student in research has been on a decline

Why archaic citizenship laws must go

India has multiple legislations, which are conflicting many times, regulating citizenship
Acts like Passport(Entry into India) Act, 1920, Registration of foreigners Act, 1939 and
Foreigners Act, 1946 have their basis in colonial period and they even sometime fails
the law of natural justice
Columnist argues that these overlapping legislations that most of the time come in

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conflict with post independence legislations should be removed

Writing SAARC's incomplete chapter

Author argues that all intergovernmental groups around the globe follow unifying charter
or agreement wih regard to Human rights
However that is not the case with SAARC
Though each of the SAARC nation have certain legislation regulating HR violations and
also has ratified UN covenants over such issues
Upcoming Kathmandu meet can be good opportunity to move forward in this direction as
per the author

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UPSC DNA 16 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 17, 2014

Maritime Silk Road in News Again : Maldives

China has invited Maldives to actively participate in MSR

We know that India is being cautious about MSR , China has made a statement that
they are aware of our sensitivities and have clarified that MSR is not supposed to be a
'contain India Policy'

China Maldives Growing relations

Chinese tourists are flooding Maldives

President Xi has offered to work together with Male on climate change. (Maldives is
threatened by sea level rise)

Some concerns regarding Maldives

President Mohamed Nasheed claimed that up to 200 Maldivians were fighting for Islamic
State (IS) in Iraq and Syria (Total Population of Maldives is 330,000)

National AYUSH Mission (NAM)

AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy)

cabinet has given its nod to launch it

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INDIA- VIETNAM (President is on a 4 day visit)

joint communique issued -- the two countries said the freedom of navigation in the East
Sea/South China Sea should not be impeded
“They called for cooperation in ensuring security of sea lanes, maritime security,
combating piracy and conducting search and rescue operations,” the joint communique
said
called for collective commitment of the parties concerned to abide by and implement the
2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea
7 agreements signed including one on enhanced cooperation in oil sector

Gadkari's Statement on Waterways (he is union shipping minister)

India’s waterways could contribute at least two per cent to the country’s GDP
He said the government was planning to introduce sea-planes, water buses, hovercrafts
and floating hotels to connect coastal towns to boost waterway tourism. “We will turn all
water bodies… dams, lakes etc. to water ports [like airports],” he said.

eCABINET - first ever in India

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu presided over historic first ever paper-less
eCabinet meeting
Ministers carried iPads with eCabinet app in their hands instead of bundles of files and
papers they used to do earlier
For the eCabinet, a new file-sharing system has been put in place using the FileCloud
tool

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UPSC DNA, 17 Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 18, 2014

Obama's Syrian dilemma

Situation in Syria is as complex as scaling of optional marks in CSE(Mains)
Dilemma before Obama is whom should he support in order to stop movement of Islamic
states

Possible options before Obama

Supporting Kurdish fighters
Problem is, Kurdish fighters of Turkey(PKK) is red listed, both by US and Turkey
Taking help from Turkey
Erdogen govt wants two condition to be fulfilled in order to give support
first, end to Assad regime in Syria
Second, no condition to be created that would strengthen PKK
Supporting free Syrian Army
FSA are nothing but rebel faction of Syrian govt army
FSA are following practices of extortion and smuggling to generate income
Turkey is showing unwillingness to fight along with FSA
There are numerous moderate Islamist groups but they have affiliation to Al-Qaeda
Fighting territorial war is not an option available for US in such a volatile situation
IS has been taking benefit of such a dilemma US is facing

Federalism in Judicial Appointment

Article moot the lacunae in the proposed 99th amendment and NJAC Bill,2014
NJAC has powers to appoint judges of High Court also
No involvement from State executive or Judiciary have been proposed
Neither, the proposed amendment has been kept in under the provision of ratification
from at least 50% of state legislatures
Section 6(4) of the proposed bill though have mention of suggestion from State Judiciary
but their suggestion is not binding
Federalism has been held as the basic feature of constitution under SR Bommai case
Judgement
Also, author mentions about the binding over appointment to higher level Judiciary from
Judicial background, no parallel appointment is possible
Few practices that, columnist has mentioned, comparing UK vs Indian Judicial
appointment practices
There is provision for lateral appointment even to higher level Judicial positions

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Selection body is large such that democratic principles can be taken into account

Some IR
Ukraine ratifies landmark EU pact
Ukraine ratified deal with European Parliament, seen as first step toward membership to
28 member Eu
Simultaneously Ukrainian parliament has agreed to provide three year self rule to rebel
held regions of East Ukraine

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UPSC DNA 18 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 19, 2014

Victim Centric Approach in Trials

Sakshi Guidelines (2004) stipulate that in cases concerning children, the defence
lawyer must first submit the questions in writing to the judge, and the judge, at his/her
discretion, ask only those questions which are relevant to the incident. But these
guidelines are seldom followed.

Institutional Failures in Kashmir Flood Tragedy

Model Village OR Model Village Clusters

Modi in his Independence Day speech urged each Member of Parliament to make one
village of his or her constituency a ‘model village’ by 2016.

The author talks about the problems that are faced in programmes like PURA or Model Village

at the scale of village (small scale) providing services is uneconomical

professionals (doctors, engineers, teachers etc) are not willing to live in villages
Suppose you create a model villafe --> As villagers get educated and leave for towns,

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the so-called model villages may become half-deserted.

Hence that author suggests that we should focus on Model Village Clusters instead

HOW? -- " similar to what was done in Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh. In this
approach, for 100 or so villages in each tehsil , a central town with a population of
about 50,000 will be created with urban facilities. This town will accommodate
teachers, doctors, agricultural extension workers, agro-industries, etc. These will
be created on the lines of Special Economic Zones — with their own modern rules
on land, labour, transport, education, health, etc. The town will be managed by
rural communities that it will be serving along with representatives of the urban
community in the new town. The town’s infrastructure will be developed along
the principles of sound urban development before the inflow of residents begins."

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UPSC DNA 19th Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 19, 2014

Uneven recovery
Some stats and one should draw conclusions by him/herself
WPI down to 3.7%, minima of last five years
Retail price index is still 7.8%, just touching the upper limit decided by RBI
Industrial output growth down to .5%, five month low
Though automobile sector is giving mixed responses
Conclusions drawn by The Hindu
Efforts by RBI to attract investor not working(lowering interest rates)
Inflation downturn might be because of good show by monsoon in later half or
decline in global oil prices
Real test of economy will be on arrival of festival seasons later this year

Neither warmongers nor wimps

Article discusses about EU foreign policy
Crisis in Crimea has given tough moments for decision makers in EU

Policy review
MH17 crisis passengers were mostly from Netherland but Netherland is unable to take
any tough measures against Russia because Netherland is dependent on Russian
imports
Similar is the case with most of the European nations, most of them have negative BoP
with Russia
Dutches are making policy review and so is other European nations
EU has shown resilience on going militarily, rather they preferred sanctions and other
such measures to limit Russian adventure in Ukraine
However, there is growing case of right wing national parties coming to power in
European countries who are supporting Putin styles government
The good thing is twice-destroyed Europe preferred to go with German led peaceful
sanction on Russia rather on going militarily

Other Frozen conflicts

Novorossiya, term meaning New Russia given by Putin has many frozen conflict zones
like South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria eat
In Budapest memorandum, 1994, Russia had given assurance of non-aggression

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against Ukraine which they breached

Also, in Nato summit this september, the issue to containing Russia over influencing
Eastern Europe was discussed

Crippling cost of disparities

G20 meeting of respective labor ministers have come out with some topics to be
focused on
low employment ratio of women(more than 50% in countries like India and
Saudia)
Unemployment rate among youths(more than 10% in some of G20 nations)
Low fertility rate in developed world, as dependent population will increase so
women participation in workforce is necessity
Other issue discussed is the increasing number of occupational deaths and
industrial accidents(70% of global mishaps)
G20 targets at increasing the world GDP by 2% in next five years and above mentioned
issues will be part of policy formation
G20 accounts for nearly 2/3rd of world's population

Link between Sanitation and Schooling

Article discusses about maintenance of toilets and their functioning after their
construction

Toilet problems
Lack of toilet made teacher to lock them exclusively for their uses
Students going home for bio break often donot return and also there are large number of
cases students mess things in class and get punished
Bureaucrats of many states have even filed affidavit of completion of toilets as per RTE
norm, but the problem is with maintenance which is responsibility of MDWS
Providing water supply to these toilets for ensuring their working is also a problem

Whose responsibility to keep toilet clean?

SSA does not provide any specification about whose responsibility it should be keep
toilet clean
Later it was decided that to educate students of hygiene and sanitation, provision for
their cleaning should be left to them

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UPSC DNA 20 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 22, 2014

Whistle-blowing in India
What has happened?

Prashant Bhushan submitted the document against the CBI chief in the form of an
affidavit in the on-going investigations into the 2G scam
A secret informer who earlier gave the copy of the entry registers of the official
residence of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director, exposing his meetings
with 2G spectrum scam accused
SC has now asked for the identity of this secret informer in a sealed cover

What is basis of SC judgement?

The court gave the justification that court rules obligate every person filing an affidavit to
disclose the source of his/her information

Judicial Precedent

In 1998, a bench headed by J.S. Verma had not asked for the source of the 'Jain
diary' in the Hawala case and yet ordered an enquiry

Related ACT

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Scotland Referendum

Scotland has decisively voted against independence

The focus has now shifted towards 'devo max' - maximum devolution of power to
Scotland

Case for Under-trial Prisoners

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UPSC DNA, 22nd Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 23, 2014

Case of widows of Vrindavan

Vrindavan is also called "city of widows"
A/c to stats, there are around 35,000-40,000 widows in the city
Widows in Vrindavan do bhajans in bhajnashram 7-8 hrs a day, in exchange of a cup of
rice and a meagre sum of money
To supplement the earning for their survival, they do beggary
It has been mentioned in ancient Hindu texts that widows from upper caste can not
remarry and should spend their lives in praying
Few NGOs are working for their rehabilitation but due to disproportionately high number
of dependents, they are unable to solve the problem

Freeing the undertrials

Section 436A of CrPC
Cases other than death sentences are considered
If person undertrial spends more than half the period of maximum duration of detention,
he is subjected for the offence charged then he can be released by court on personal
bond
Introduced in 2005, to check the burgeoning number of undertrial detention

Case for 436 A

Proportion of undertrials in Indian prison is one of the largest in world, though India has
one of the lowest proportion of population to prisoners ratio
Further, the majority of undertrial detention belongs to minority and disadvantaged
proportion of population
2012 data shows that around 74% were illiterate or having studied upto class 10,
Muslims form 21% of undertrials while SC/ST communities were also overrepresented

Solution
Despite the act there has been very nominal changes in the number of undertrials
To re-articulate what is normatively acceptable lenght of pretrial detention may be a
solution but that too have its negative side
Since marginalised group is represented in such a proportion so there is a need to re-

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look at the Criminal Justice system and provide centrally sponsor public defender
programme to limit this

Indian Pivot in the Ebola fight

A rare disease, caused by one of the five virus found in several African nations
45,000 Indians are residing in the nations affected by Ebola
Outbreaking from Guinea, it reached neighbouring nations through porous borders
Panic is because of the high case fatality rate
The good thing is, Ebola virus spread only through direct contact with body fluid

Possible outbreak scenario in India

There is all certainty of spread of Ebola virus in India since many Indians have been
stranded up in Western African nation
Condition in India is not much different from Western African nations
Large slums, poor sanitary conditions, poor health coverage and rapid-action response
forces are some of the reason to worry, in case of possible outburst
With India, capable of large cadre of epidemiologists, nurses, doctors, scientists and
laboratory, can be a major player in containing Ebola epidemic

Putting Revenue before resources is wrong

Article written by former CEO of Cairn India, discusses the dilemma of exploration and
production of oil and petroleum resources in India
There are two models of including private in exploration process
One is Revenue sharing contract and other is production sharing contract
PSC will be more favorable to investors since it would encourage investors to take
higher exploration risks and in the event of success cost could be recovered
However, govt is likely to go for RSC model which introduces the concept of escrow
account, where risk capital of exploration before the revenue could be shared
Two problems with this form are 1) spirit of partnership and trust is gone wrt private
sector, and 2) there is a wrong assumption of certainty about discovery-to-delivery
periods and there is mentions of penalty also in case of failure in producing less than
25% of forecast
Exploration is often dependent over seismic datas which can be wrong many times and
can be confirmed only after drilling, which cost around 20-500 crore itself
He talks about five issues to be dealt first for making scenario favorable to investment,
as:
Building national depository(Only 26% of India's sedimentary bed has been
explored yet)
provide market determined oil price to ONGC and OIL to bring marginal oil fields
into production
certainty over oil prices

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announce PSC extension policy to remove uncertainty over production sharing

contract

For details over Revenue sharing and Production sharing ... Hit me

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UPSC DNA 23 & 25 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 25, 2014

WAR and PEACE -- notes some data for ESSAY

33 armed conflicts currently ongoing (Uppsala confict data programme)

MOM

First asian nation (2012 China attempted and failed, 1998 Japan attempted and failed)
done in maiden attempt
cheapest interplanetary mission ever - 450 crore ( 4 rs per person of india )
time taken 10 months

Whats next for ISRO

GSLV Mark 3 and Another IRNSS satellite are to be fired shortly

Chandrayaan 2 is planned for 2017 (2008-- India undertook its first mission to moon
Chandrayaan-1)

OLD Relevant Article

IRNSS

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GSLV MARK III CLICK HERE

Commercial Surrogacy

social activists are demanding that it should be regulated like organ donation

Issues involved

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rights of surrogate mothers are violated

due to economic compulsions woman are forced to undergo multiple surrogacies (they
have their kids too) thus compromising their reproductive health
at times women are coerced into being surrogates
Hindu says - “Multi-million dollar industry has turned women into breeders”

Better Growth, Better Climate: The New Climate Economy Report

report authored by Lord Nicholas Stern sounds as optimistic as his landmark 2006
study. It is possible to simultaneously prevent climate change and to augment economic
growth
basically the report talks about sustainable development in terms of figures and facts
we can use the name of this report to add weight to our answers

NOTE : some articles which are evolving daily are published only when some substantial
event has happened, if we skip some article its mostly for the reason to cover it in detail
in later DNAs. We try to keep up , in case we forget some article please point it out. Lets
all keep making efforts.

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UPSC DNA, 24 Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 25, 2014

NOTE: Sorry for the delay, it was due to some unavoidable reason. We w
ill post rest of the pending newspaper articles soon. Further, PIB has
published reports of each ministeries first 100 days working. Go thro
ugh it, especially if you are looking after writing mains.

Case for Whistle-blower anonymity

Series of events related to charges over CBI's director
CPIL, an NGO filed an affidavit, that includes along with other details, visitor's register to
the CBI director Ranjit Sinha
Visitor's register reveals that CBI director had meeting with many of the accused of 2G
case
SC asked CPIL under Order 9 Rule 13 of SC Rules, 2013 to reveal the identity of
whistleblower since identity of source is integral to a proper adjudication on genuineness
of the claims
CPIL filed another affidavit informing revealing detail of whistleblower might be
dangerous to involved peoples citing past events

Where SC is wrong?
Firstly in India, admission of evidences from illegal sources is acceptable unlike USA
Secondly, according to SC Rules act, it is not necessary to reveal the person identity
rather just checking authenticity of the evidence would suffice

Issue of morality!!!(GS Paper 4)

In democracy, even the meekest deserve protection from majority, ought to accord its
whistleblower the highest protection including safeguarding of anonymity

Shifting through the Himalayas

Article discusses Modi's foreign visits in perspective of Kautilya's principle of Mandala or
Rajmandala
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neighbouring smaller states and they use to work as a buffer

Diplomacy use to be followed during Mauryan times
However, both India's and Chinese mandala overlaps
Concept of Mandala and infinite relations in cosmic sense under the Asian thought was
completely destroyed by western science of cartography
Dalai lama has his own version of Buddha's mandala encompassing boundaries of both
China and India and has given option to follow chinese constitution for Tibetan in lieu for
preserving Tibetan culture
Columnist giving solution for India China border conflict as something that can be
achieved only through compromise
Buffer border can only solve this and developing border areas as cultural center and
decreasing army presence is only possible solution

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UPSC DNA, 26th Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 27, 2014

Article on Syria was just a repetition of article published few days b

ack... Use search tool on the menu bar

Made in India, by small enterprises

Contribution:
Nearly 8 percent of the country’s GDP,
45 percent of the manufacturing output
40 percent of the exports.
They provide the largest share of employment after agriculture.

Upper Limit of investment for MSMEs:goods=10 crore,services=5 crore

Problems being faced by MSME in India

Credit crunch:93% of MSME are still self-financed and same proportion is unregistered.
SIDBI has not been able to generate sufficient credits for this sector.
Taxation policy:is an incentive for MSME sector to deliberately restrict their expansion to
avoid crossing the taxation threshold.
Lacking Managerial and marketing skill:results in high expenditure and less profit
Lack of skill development plan:hence new entrepreneurs are not coming.

Steps by GoI to improve MSME sector:

In 1999, a separate ministry was established to look after MSME sector.
Recently, GOI set up 10000 crore rupees for venture capital for MSME sector
Skill India plan for providing skill to youths and making them employable
R&D investment
Redefinition of MSME
Partnering with private sector to provide skill training, managerial and marketing skill.
Recent collaboration with Flipkart to provide a marketing platform for traditional
handicraft products.

Current government’s focus on increasing domestic manufacturing and creation of need jobs,
recent activity like “Make in India” offers good opportunity for MSME sector to grow. GoI needs

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to ensure that they are not being swayed away in competition. As this sector provides
employment to 8 cr people, second largest after Agriculture.

National Taxation tribunal law unconstitutional: SC

SC declared National tax tribunal act as unconstitutional
NTTA allows setting up of National tax tribunal to deal cases related to tax which was
earlier under the jurisdiction of High courts
CJI wrote that it is against the basic feature of constitution to transfer Judicial powers to
Executive suo moto without taking parliament into confidence
Another Judge wrote in his judgement that tax disputes quite often involves civil laws too
and it would be wrong to transfer such cases in hand of tribunal
Tribunals in India can be constituted under Art 323 A and 323 B of constitution of India

Delhi Resolution
3rd meeting of SAARC cultural ministers convened in New Delhi came out with following

Bamiyan has been selected as the cultural capital of SAARC nation for a yr starting
2015 and next year this position will be transfered to Dhaka
All SAARC nations have agreed for India's initiative of Project Mausam(Google it) for
developing maritime routes with Arab nations
Literatures of the region to be translated in all SAARC nations languages to promote
them in the region

'Bash' bug, Linux users protect yourself

'Bash', a new bug found in Linux, used to control command prompt
Hackers can use this bug to take complete control of targeted systems, securities
Heartbleed bug found in April, allowed hackers to spy on computers but not take control
of system

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UPSC DNA 27 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 29, 2014

Lateral Entry in Civil Services

Govt is deliberating on the idea of allowing induction of the executive of a private firm into
government through the lateral entry process

Points 'for' Lateral entry

Civil servants are stability-oriented so they cant respond to dynamic social and
technological changes as fast as they should
People who have worked in private sector have faced immense competition and are
efficiency oriented -- this can help our government structures
Lateral entry can be 'need based' i.e. people can be recruited based on what type of
people are needed rather than current system in which people have to be appointed
from a current pool of available civil servants

Points 'against' lateral entry

might dampen the Morale of the civil servants as they might have to face bosses who
are from outside civil services
in extreme cases there can be chances of excessive influence of business interests in
govt activities
implications for civil services neutrality
excessive focus on efficiency might lead to compromise on equity
Govt schemes aim at social change and helping the marginalized rather than merely
attaining efficiency
there is no defined process for lateral entry , hence the recruitment is mostly ad-hoc and
done by political executive . This leads to other civil servants perceive the lateral entrant
as the politician's agent -- this diminishes any room for cooperation --if any!

Which committees/commissions have favored it?

2nd ARC, 6th CPC (central pay commsion) -- though both have prescribed certain cautions too.

Which countries already have such systems?

Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US

but all of them restrict it to 10-14 %

Conclusion

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though induction of private professionals in positions like secretaries to govt have been resisted
by the civil servants but in certain areas they have been welcomed -- these include

advisory positions to the government

niche areas where the expertise with bureaucracy is absent or inadequate

Bagore ki Haveli

History

Built in 1751, by the then Prime Minister of Mewar Amachand Badwa

It was handed over to the West Zone Cultural Centre (under the Ministry of Culture) in 1986

What it is?

Its a museum of puppets and is an attempt to preserve the dying art of puppetry in India

Note : Ready Puppetry for culture

List of issues in India US Relations

Internet governance and cyber security cooperation

Nuclear liability bill
NSA surveillance
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), currently
under negotiation, exclude India
Afghanistan withdrawal
IPR

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UPSC DNA 29th September, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified, Uncategorized

Date : September 30, 2014

Kashmir keeps turning up

Article suggests that reference of plebiscite in Kashmir by Nawaz Sharif in his UNGA
speech was more an act of defence rather than offence
Sharif is surrounded by attacks from all sides, Imran khan and Imam Qaudari protesting
and demanding his resignation
Army is also not in good terms with Sharif because of his adamancy to punish Parvez
Musharraf for 1999 coup and his willingness for better relations with India
Amid all these criticisms, bringing Kashmir issue back is the best option available to
Sharif

Tracking China on Climate change

Jayaram Ramesh discusses some of the innovative and substantial steps taken by
China to control its emissions and possible lessons for India
US has introduced state wise emission control measure with special focus on controlling
emission through power plants
China has become the largest emitter of the world but efforts taken by them to control is
commendable
On HFC, US wanted to take some decision under Montreal protocol for their control
since their global warming effects are much worse other green house gases
India and China wanted talk over HFC under UNFCCC since they are green house
gases not ozone depleting(though developed as an alternative to CFC and HCFC)
Meanwhile China has start talking about plateau to its emission curve, projecting by
2030-35
Also China is planning to estb six emissions trading centers by 2016
India has taken measures in this direction under National Action plan on climate change,
2008

A food system for future

article on importance of sustainable development reiterating same fears
Some important points made by the author which can be helpful:
1 of 9 still hunger
162 million children suffer stunted height due to lack of nutrition
2 billion are anaemic and 250 million suffer from Vitamin A deficiency
half a million child go blind by a year and half of gone blind children die within a
year

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Harvard report on climate change suggests that due to increasing CO2 staple
foods are being stripped of important nutrients
Amid all those paranoiac stats, some suggestion author has made are:
supporting small holder farmers and reclaiming degraded lands as well as
fortifying staple foods with iron and zinc
Good governance funda of multiple actor system with equal roles for state,
market and civil society

Pricing row hits pharma industry

There was a confrontation between NPPA and pharma companies over drug pricing

What's the procedure for drug pricing control?

DPCO was introduced last year which has capped the prices of 352 essential drugs
National List of essential medicine was made, taking into account the morbidity factor of
that particular disease and affordability of common man

What's the problem now?

NPPA, authority for deciding pricing of drugs has capped prices of 108 drugs which
were not included in the negative list
NPPA sights the para of DPCO 2013 which says it is acceptable under extraordinary
circumstances
NPPA said that there are more diseases which are under its radar for pricing control of
their drugs because of their high level presence and equally high cost of medication

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UPSC DNA 30 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 1, 2014

Komagata Maru Incident

- in which 19 Canada-bound Indian immigrants were killed in police firing on September

29, 1914 near Kolkata
-Komagata Maru = Japanese Steamship that sailed to
Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers
from Punjab, India. Of them 24 were admitted to Canada, but the 352 other passengers
were not allowed to land in Canada, and the ship was forced to return to India.
--This was one of several incidents in the history of early 20th century involving
exclusion laws in both Canada and the United Statesdesigned to keep out immigrants of
only Asian origin
The Komagata Maru arrived in Calcutta on September 27. Upon entry into the harbour,
the ship was stopped by a British gunboat, and the passengers were placed under
guard. The government of the British Raj saw the men on the Komagata Maru not only
as self-confessed lawbreakers, but also as dangerous political agitators. When the ship
docked at Budge Budge, the police went to arrest Baba Gurdit Singh and the 20 or so
other men that they saw as leaders. He resisted arrest, a friend of his assaulted a
policeman and a general riot ensued. Shots were fired, 19 of the passengers were killed.
This incident became known as the Budge Budge Riot.

Links with Ghadar Party

the inflamed passions in the wake of the incident were widely cultivated by the Indian
revolutionary organisation, the Ghadar Party, to rally support for its aims
In a number of meetings ranging from California in 1914 to the Indian diaspora,
prominent Ghadarites including Barkatullah, Tarak Nath Das, and Sohan Singh used
the incident as a rallying point to recruit members for the Ghadar movement

Note : Ghadar Party is already important this year, this makes NRI/PIOs also important
(although Ghadar came in Prelims )

Morality and Legality

It has become “a fashion” in recent years for trial courts to convict those accused in criminal
cases on the moral grounds and individual perceptions of the presiding officers rather than
strictly on the sound legal principles,--- Madras High Court Bench

To understand this statement lets take a look at the case in background of which this observation was made

1. An individual was convicted and 10 years rigorous imprisonment imposed on him by a

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Mahila Court in Tiruchi district.

2. What charges were framed on him? Cheating a woman by not marrying her after falling
in love, and abetting her to commit suicide.
3. Madras HC said : “Merely having a love affair without crossing the Lakshman Rekha
shall not amount to cheating,”
4. HC further Added -- trial court had been “carried away” by the prosecution case

Renewable Energy Deal With US ( Not signed Yet!)

1. $1 billion agreement between US Exim Bank and IREDA

2. IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) : develops and extends
financial assistance for renewable energy projects
3. Aid to buy equipment for renewable projects from the US
4. Projects need to have 30% locally sourced equipment
5. The projects financed though this will have a mix of all types of renewable energy but
Major impetus will be to solar power as solar panels are largely imported from the US
6. Why imp : our solar capacity is 2600 MW, we want to add 4500MW this year and our
solar instrument manufacturing capacity is only 1500 MW -- so a gap exists

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UPSC DNA 10 OCT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 12, 2014

Learning from the Dutch

Netherlands = literal meaning = 'low country' -- as only 50% of the country is one meter
or more above sea level
They have constant danger of flooding due to their low topography and have protected
themselves so far using an elaborate system of dikes
Now they have also deployed 'flood simulation softwares' and have strengthened their
barriers to flood by strengthening the permanent barriers and also having provision of
'off the shelf' barriers that can be deployed in matter of hours
Further they are also experimenting with houses that float on water and an effective
early warning system has been installed
The above noted points from the Dutch Lesson of flood management can prove effective
in managing disasters (and also writing answers in UPSC) as they are a judicious mix of
'hard' and 'soft' solutions.

Connect Between 'Building Toilets' and 'Improving Health'

Team of Researchers led by Thomas Clasen published a paper in medical journal

LANCET after conducting a study in 50 villages in Odisha's Puri District -- which were
undergoing a mission mode project under 'Total Sanitation Campaign' to build toilets (
and compared it with 50 other villages where Campaign has not yet started)
Interestingly ( or Sadly) they found that increased toilet coverage did not lead to any
significant improvements in the occurrence of child diarrhoea, prevalence of parasitic
worm infections, child stunting or child mortality.

Possible explanation

- Improper implementation ( ex. building toilets but no provision of water)

-uneven rates of use of toilets even after they have been built ( note 12th FYP emphases on
'Behavior Change Communication' i.e. our sanitation problems are as Behavioral as they are
infrastructural)

- usage of toilets was substantially lower among men than among women

-finally non-usage of toilets is 'one of the many' factors of bad health - others include - lack of
safe drinking water, food habits, general hygiene etc. etc.

--This post is not yet complete. More Coming....

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UPSC DNA 11th Oct, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 12, 2014

Public funds and image-building

Issue here is of govt advertising for schemes and policies and in guise of that
disseminating politically loaded message
lack of guidelines have resulted into two dimensional impacts: firstly, public funds are
used in a politically partisan way and secondly, media houses are favored who works in
connivance with govt of the day
SC appointed three member committee to at this last April
Panel recommended that such advertisements should be objective and not directed at
promoting ruling party in power or vice versa for opposition
Name, logo, members or flags or links related to party should not find place in such
advertisements

Private cleanliness amid public squalor

Article cover some interesting practices being followed in India
First is the liveability index of Indian cities, four metros finds places along with west
African cities
Poor sanitation and air quality have led to exponenial increase in diseases such as lung
problems, water-borne diseases, mental health problems, reduced eyesight and shorter
lifespan
Practices around the world
urban farming in Kampal
congestion tax in UK
cycling tracks in Copenhagen and pedestrian facility in Spain
litter fines in Singapore are some of them
Possible steps that can be taken by Municipalities in India:
cars parked on roads in night can be used as night shelter
Long distance daily commuting person should be charged and made to use
public transport
Houses and offices with larger carbon footprint than average, should be charged

Nobel Peace Prize

Kailash Satyarthi, social activist from MP, founder of Bchpan Bachao Andolan, has been
nominated as the winner of Nobel Peace Prize along with Malala Yusufzai
He has been second Indian to win a Nobel Peace Prize after Mother Teresa and has
been acting in more than 144 countries around the world freeing around 1 Lakh children

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from labour abuses

Along with his own organisation of BBA, he worked with many other such non profitable
bodies and campaigns which include UNESCO, UN MDG, Global campaign for for
Education and others

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UPSC DNA 13 OCT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 15, 2014

Not so 'Green' Buildings

The total green-rated built-up area is not even three per cent of the built-up area in the country.

Center for science and environment (CSE) has published a report report says --- the claims
that buildings rated by the IGBC and GRIHA save 30-50 per cent energy and 20-30 per cent
water was not supported by data or evidence of compliance and performance of each rated
building.

Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) - a non gov , not for profit organisation which
awards silver, gold and platinum ratings, under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) green-rating programme

GRIHA - India adopted the Green-rated Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) as the
national rating system for buildings in 2007

One more foreign visit : Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird is coming
Why?

2nd Indo-Canadian strategic dialogue

Background!

Canadian Parliament endorsed helping US in strikes on IS targets recently so its natural that
'anti-terrorism' measures will be high on his agenda

What more will be discussed?

nuclear energy, space cooperation as well as the CEPA agreement (economic partnership
agreement)

John Baird says fighting terrorism is the ‘biggest test of our generation.’

INFLATION TARGETING

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given green signal for major overhaul of monetary
policy in which centre will set inflation targets for RBI to achieve
Inflation controlling will be RBI's top priority
This is different from Urjit R. Patel, the committee which had recommended that the
monetary policy decision-making should be vested with a monetary policy committee,

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chaired by the RBI Governor.

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UPSC DNA, 14th Oct, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 15, 2014

Adding up the nickels and dimes

India criticized US stand on following grounds
US led Iraq invasion have ended in a total disaster but still US is not going for
conciliation against the IS
Modi criticized US move in failing to include Syria and Iran for the drive against
IS
Another major disagreement was the WTO deal
India's adamant on not signing the deal if subsidies leniency are not going to
clear, is making US restless on the issue
Further, India's wish list that remained unfulfilled
Govt step to uncap the prices of drugs failed to elicit any excitement from US
side
IPR joint statement by both nations has been criticised by advocacy groups
India recently removed anti dumping law in hope of support from US side on
renewable energy front but got very little in return
On Visa side also, relaxation provided by Idia of 10 yrs visa to US nationals
failed any response form US side, especially with H1-b visa
The biggest gain of the visit was revival of talks after the nadir that was reached over
Khobragade episode

Dengue Control
Dengue cases have been rising through out the South Asia region, with 10 11 South
Asian countries have dengue as endemic
Good news is that deaths due to dengue have decline but the cases have grown
exponentially
Reason for growth in cases are global warming, unplanned globalisation, consumerism,
poor solid waste management, population explosion and population movement without
adequate measures to prevent vector breeding
Accumulation of non biodegradable products provide adequate ground for vector
breeding
Dhaka declaration made on vector borne diseases which encourages "whole of
government" approach
Community empowerment is also necessary for control of dengue and other vector
borne diseases
Community can be involved in preventing accumulation of material which are habitat for
vector breeding

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Also basic precautions can help them in preventing them from getting infected
Vaccines for dengue control are in their testing phase and will be available very soon

Patrick Madiano
French author awarded nobel, has been largely unknown because of his shyness to
media
Most of his works are in french language and very few of them have been translated yet
His characters has remained always mysterious and this has led to the origin of french
term "modianesque" used to describe mysterious person or character
Nobel committee has defended their choice by saying that it is their work bring the
unknown diamond hidden from purview of the world

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UPSC DNA 23 & 25 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 25, 2014

WAR and PEACE -- notes some data for ESSAY

33 armed conflicts currently ongoing (Uppsala confict data programme)

MOM

First asian nation (2012 China attempted and failed, 1998 Japan attempted and failed)
done in maiden attempt
cheapest interplanetary mission ever - 450 crore ( 4 rs per person of india )
time taken 10 months

Whats next for ISRO

GSLV Mark 3 and Another IRNSS satellite are to be fired shortly

Chandrayaan 2 is planned for 2017 (2008-- India undertook its first mission to moon
Chandrayaan-1)

OLD Relevant Article

IRNSS

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GSLV MARK III CLICK HERE

Commercial Surrogacy

social activists are demanding that it should be regulated like organ donation

Issues involved

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rights of surrogate mothers are violated

due to economic compulsions woman are forced to undergo multiple surrogacies (they
have their kids too) thus compromising their reproductive health
at times women are coerced into being surrogates
Hindu says - “Multi-million dollar industry has turned women into breeders”

Better Growth, Better Climate: The New Climate Economy Report

report authored by Lord Nicholas Stern sounds as optimistic as his landmark 2006
study. It is possible to simultaneously prevent climate change and to augment economic
growth
basically the report talks about sustainable development in terms of figures and facts
we can use the name of this report to add weight to our answers

NOTE : some articles which are evolving daily are published only when some substantial
event has happened, if we skip some article its mostly for the reason to cover it in detail
in later DNAs. We try to keep up , in case we forget some article please point it out. Lets
all keep making efforts.

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UPSC DNA, 24 Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 25, 2014

NOTE: Sorry for the delay, it was due to some unavoidable reason. We w
ill post rest of the pending newspaper articles soon. Further, PIB has
published reports of each ministeries first 100 days working. Go thro
ugh it, especially if you are looking after writing mains.

Case for Whistle-blower anonymity

Series of events related to charges over CBI's director
CPIL, an NGO filed an affidavit, that includes along with other details, visitor's register to
the CBI director Ranjit Sinha
Visitor's register reveals that CBI director had meeting with many of the accused of 2G
case
SC asked CPIL under Order 9 Rule 13 of SC Rules, 2013 to reveal the identity of
whistleblower since identity of source is integral to a proper adjudication on genuineness
of the claims
CPIL filed another affidavit informing revealing detail of whistleblower might be
dangerous to involved peoples citing past events

Where SC is wrong?
Firstly in India, admission of evidences from illegal sources is acceptable unlike USA
Secondly, according to SC Rules act, it is not necessary to reveal the person identity
rather just checking authenticity of the evidence would suffice

Issue of morality!!!(GS Paper 4)

In democracy, even the meekest deserve protection from majority, ought to accord its
whistleblower the highest protection including safeguarding of anonymity

Shifting through the Himalayas

Article discusses Modi's foreign visits in perspective of Kautilya's principle of Mandala or
Rajmandala
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neighbouring smaller states and they use to work as a buffer

Diplomacy use to be followed during Mauryan times
However, both India's and Chinese mandala overlaps
Concept of Mandala and infinite relations in cosmic sense under the Asian thought was
completely destroyed by western science of cartography
Dalai lama has his own version of Buddha's mandala encompassing boundaries of both
China and India and has given option to follow chinese constitution for Tibetan in lieu for
preserving Tibetan culture
Columnist giving solution for India China border conflict as something that can be
achieved only through compromise
Buffer border can only solve this and developing border areas as cultural center and
decreasing army presence is only possible solution

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UPSC DNA, 26th Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 27, 2014

Article on Syria was just a repetition of article published few days b

ack... Use search tool on the menu bar

Made in India, by small enterprises

Contribution:
Nearly 8 percent of the country’s GDP,
45 percent of the manufacturing output
40 percent of the exports.
They provide the largest share of employment after agriculture.

Upper Limit of investment for MSMEs:goods=10 crore,services=5 crore

Problems being faced by MSME in India

Credit crunch:93% of MSME are still self-financed and same proportion is unregistered.
SIDBI has not been able to generate sufficient credits for this sector.
Taxation policy:is an incentive for MSME sector to deliberately restrict their expansion to
avoid crossing the taxation threshold.
Lacking Managerial and marketing skill:results in high expenditure and less profit
Lack of skill development plan:hence new entrepreneurs are not coming.

Steps by GoI to improve MSME sector:

In 1999, a separate ministry was established to look after MSME sector.
Recently, GOI set up 10000 crore rupees for venture capital for MSME sector
Skill India plan for providing skill to youths and making them employable
R&D investment
Redefinition of MSME
Partnering with private sector to provide skill training, managerial and marketing skill.
Recent collaboration with Flipkart to provide a marketing platform for traditional
handicraft products.

Current government’s focus on increasing domestic manufacturing and creation of need jobs,
recent activity like “Make in India” offers good opportunity for MSME sector to grow. GoI needs

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to ensure that they are not being swayed away in competition. As this sector provides
employment to 8 cr people, second largest after Agriculture.

National Taxation tribunal law unconstitutional: SC

SC declared National tax tribunal act as unconstitutional
NTTA allows setting up of National tax tribunal to deal cases related to tax which was
earlier under the jurisdiction of High courts
CJI wrote that it is against the basic feature of constitution to transfer Judicial powers to
Executive suo moto without taking parliament into confidence
Another Judge wrote in his judgement that tax disputes quite often involves civil laws too
and it would be wrong to transfer such cases in hand of tribunal
Tribunals in India can be constituted under Art 323 A and 323 B of constitution of India

Delhi Resolution
3rd meeting of SAARC cultural ministers convened in New Delhi came out with following

Bamiyan has been selected as the cultural capital of SAARC nation for a yr starting
2015 and next year this position will be transfered to Dhaka
All SAARC nations have agreed for India's initiative of Project Mausam(Google it) for
developing maritime routes with Arab nations
Literatures of the region to be translated in all SAARC nations languages to promote
them in the region

'Bash' bug, Linux users protect yourself

'Bash', a new bug found in Linux, used to control command prompt
Hackers can use this bug to take complete control of targeted systems, securities
Heartbleed bug found in April, allowed hackers to spy on computers but not take control
of system

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UPSC DNA, 26th Sept, 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : September 27, 2014

Article on Syria was just a repetition of article published few days b

ack... Use search tool on the menu bar

Made in India, by small enterprises

Contribution:
Nearly 8 percent of the country’s GDP,
45 percent of the manufacturing output
40 percent of the exports.
They provide the largest share of employment after agriculture.

Upper Limit of investment for MSMEs:goods=10 crore,services=5 crore

Problems being faced by MSME in India

Credit crunch:93% of MSME are still self-financed and same proportion is unregistered.
SIDBI has not been able to generate sufficient credits for this sector.
Taxation policy:is an incentive for MSME sector to deliberately restrict their expansion to
avoid crossing the taxation threshold.
Lacking Managerial and marketing skill:results in high expenditure and less profit
Lack of skill development plan:hence new entrepreneurs are not coming.

Steps by GoI to improve MSME sector:

In 1999, a separate ministry was established to look after MSME sector.
Recently, GOI set up 10000 crore rupees for venture capital for MSME sector
Skill India plan for providing skill to youths and making them employable
R&D investment
Redefinition of MSME
Partnering with private sector to provide skill training, managerial and marketing skill.
Recent collaboration with Flipkart to provide a marketing platform for traditional
handicraft products.

Current government’s focus on increasing domestic manufacturing and creation of need jobs,
recent activity like “Make in India” offers good opportunity for MSME sector to grow. GoI needs

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to ensure that they are not being swayed away in competition. As this sector provides
employment to 8 cr people, second largest after Agriculture.

National Taxation tribunal law unconstitutional: SC

SC declared National tax tribunal act as unconstitutional
NTTA allows setting up of National tax tribunal to deal cases related to tax which was
earlier under the jurisdiction of High courts
CJI wrote that it is against the basic feature of constitution to transfer Judicial powers to
Executive suo moto without taking parliament into confidence
Another Judge wrote in his judgement that tax disputes quite often involves civil laws too
and it would be wrong to transfer such cases in hand of tribunal
Tribunals in India can be constituted under Art 323 A and 323 B of constitution of India

Delhi Resolution
3rd meeting of SAARC cultural ministers convened in New Delhi came out with following

Bamiyan has been selected as the cultural capital of SAARC nation for a yr starting
2015 and next year this position will be transfered to Dhaka
All SAARC nations have agreed for India's initiative of Project Mausam(Google it) for
developing maritime routes with Arab nations
Literatures of the region to be translated in all SAARC nations languages to promote
them in the region

'Bash' bug, Linux users protect yourself

'Bash', a new bug found in Linux, used to control command prompt
Hackers can use this bug to take complete control of targeted systems, securities
Heartbleed bug found in April, allowed hackers to spy on computers but not take control
of system

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UPSC DNA 30 SEPT 2014

Categories : hindu simplified

Date : October 1, 2014

Komagata Maru Incident

- in which 19 Canada-bound Indian immigrants were killed in police firing on September

29, 1914 near Kolkata
-Komagata Maru = Japanese Steamship that sailed to
Vancouver , British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers
from Punjab, India. Of them 24 were admitted to Canada, but the 352 other passengers
were not allowed to land in Canada, and the ship was forced to return to India.
--This was one of several incidents in the history of early 20th century involving
exclusion laws in both Canada and the United Statesdesigned to keep out immigrants of
only Asian origin
The Komagata Maru arrived in Calcutta on September 27. Upon entry into the harbour,
the ship was stopped by a British gunboat, and the passengers were placed under
guard. The government of the British Raj saw the men on the Komagata Maru not only
as self-confessed lawbreakers, but also as dangerous political agitators. When the ship
docked at Budge Budge, the police went to arrest Baba Gurdit Singh and the 20 or so
other men that they saw as leaders. He resisted arrest, a friend of his assaulted a
policeman and a general riot ensued. Shots were fired, 19 of the passengers were killed.
This incident became known as the Budge Budge Riot.

Links with Ghadar Party

the inflamed passions in the wake of the incident were widely cultivated by the Indian
revolutionary organisation, the Ghadar Party, to rally support for its aims
In a number of meetings ranging from California in 1914 to the Indian diaspora,
prominent Ghadarites including Barkatullah, Tarak Nath Das, and Sohan Singh used
the incident as a rallying point to recruit members for the Ghadar movement

Note : Ghadar Party is already important this year, this makes NRI/PIOs also important
(although Ghadar came in Prelims )

Morality and Legality

It has become “a fashion” in recent years for trial courts to convict those accused in criminal
cases on the moral grounds and individual perceptions of the presiding officers rather than
strictly on the sound legal principles,--- Madras High Court Bench

To understand this statement lets take a look at the case in background of which this observation was made

1. An individual was convicted and 10 years rigorous imprisonment imposed on him by a

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Mahila Court in Tiruchi district.

2. What charges were framed on him? Cheating a woman by not marrying her after falling
in love, and abetting her to commit suicide.
3. Madras HC said : “Merely having a love affair without crossing the Lakshman Rekha
shall not amount to cheating,”
4. HC further Added -- trial court had been “carried away” by the prosecution case

Renewable Energy Deal With US ( Not signed Yet!)

1. $1 billion agreement between US Exim Bank and IREDA

2. IREDA (Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency) : develops and extends
financial assistance for renewable energy projects
3. Aid to buy equipment for renewable projects from the US
4. Projects need to have 30% locally sourced equipment
5. The projects financed though this will have a mix of all types of renewable energy but
Major impetus will be to solar power as solar panels are largely imported from the US
6. Why imp : our solar capacity is 2600 MW, we want to add 4500MW this year and our
solar instrument manufacturing capacity is only 1500 MW -- so a gap exists

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