Civil Services Mentor February 2015

Page No.
Index
Swachh Bharat Mission
FEB
& MARCH,
2015
AUGUST,
2012
Page No.
4
Insurance Sector In India
Page No.
5
Bharat Ratna Award
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SWACHH BHARAT MISSION

Throughout the world around
2.5 billion people do not have toilets
to use, out of those 250 crore people
65 crore live in India alone. In order
to solve this big challenge
government of India has launched
Swachh Bharat Mission on the birth
anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and
former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur
Shastri. Due to magnanimity of the
problem solving it will not be easy.
Government has to face the problems
associated with extremely poor
hygienic conditions and most
significantly government has to fight
with attitude towards cleanliness.
Poor sanitation is linked to various
social as well as economic factors like
extreme poverty, educational level,
religious affiliation and society which
does not challenge the unclean
behavior but there are some
infrastructural challenges as well like
lack of toilets, availability of pit and
flush. Effort of Swachh Bharat
Mission is two dimensional, one from
the government agencies and other
from the non-governmental
organizations. Government intention
is to increase the peer pressure and
make India open defecation free
by 2019.
Sanitation problem has serious
implications on the health. Poor
sanitation results to high rate of
morbidity and mortality with in India.
Poor sanitation is also responsible for
lot of diseases like cholera, typhoid,
pneumonia, worm infection etc.
Sanitation in India can be divided in
to two groups of urban sanitation and
rural sanitation. At the level of urban
area three major schemes are run by
the central government for the
improvement of sanitation.
2
Under JNNURM Basic services

to urban poor (BSUP) and Rajiv
Awas yojana(RAY).
National urban sanitation
policy,2008.
Integrated low cost sanitation
programme.
BSUP work for the development
of basic services for the urban poor
which includes water and sanitation,
while RAY work to make urban areas
slum free. National urban sanitation
policy attempts to make urban areas
a healthy place to live and provide
universal sanitation coverage for the
urban areas. While the main problem
in urban areas for sanitation is
increasing population which existing
infrastructure is not able to sustain but
in rural areas problem is mainly
associated with access to water and
sanitation services. At present 33
percent households have toilets in
rural areas which are major
improvement from 9 percent in 1991.
Major programs through which this
improvement has been achieved are Central Rural Sanitation
Programme(CRSP) launched in
1986
CRSP was restructured to
create Total sanitation
campaign in 1999, which was
a community led programme.
Finally Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan
was launched in 2012 in order
to make India nirmal by 2022.
Though lots of programs were
present in both urban and rural areas
but need for a better programme was
felt because results from previous
programs were not satisfactory. In
order to make India cleaner place to
live Swachh Bharat Mission was
launched important features of this

program are NBA will be restructured into
the Swachh Bharat Mission
with two sub-Missions Swachh Bharat Mission
(Gramin) and Swachh Bharat
Mission (Urban). Grant would
be through Ministries of
Drinking Water and Sanitation
(for Gramin) and Ministry of
Urban Development (for
Urban).
Enhance the Unit cost of the
Individual Household Latrine
(IHHL) from Rs. 10,000 to Rs.
12,000 so as to provide for
water availability, including for
storing, hand-washing and
cleaning of toilets.
Provision for Information,
Education
and
Communication (IEC) will be
at 8 percent of total project
cost.
Components of the NBA like
Solid
Liquid
Waste
Management (SLWM) and
Community
Sanitary
Complexes (CSCs) will
continue.
The strategy of implementation
of the Sanitation Programme
will focus on behaviour
change, triggering of the
population with regard to toilet
construction, and their use.
States shall prepare an
implementation strategy
(Annual Implementation Plan)
in consultation with the
Mission. States performing as
per their Plans will be
incentivized.
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The Mission will provide a list
of minimal acceptable
technologies for which
assistance
under
this
programme will be available.
According to the World Health
Organization, an average of Rs. 6500
per person was lost in India due to
lack of cleanliness and hygiene. The

goal becoming Swachh Bharat by
2019 would be a fitting tribute to the
Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th Birth
Anniversary. Swachh Bharat will not
become reality only by creating
infrastructure but by providing means
like water supply to maintain them.
As PM said that out of Gandhijis two

dreams Quit India, and Clean India,
the people had helped to ensure that
the first became a reality. However,
the second dream Clean India still
remained unfulfilled.
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INSURANCE SECTOR IN INDIA

Insurance sector is one the
most important financial intermediary
in India. This sector helps in
mobilizing savings of general public
to financial assets. Insurance sector
also act as a stabilizer and it helps
people in the situation of crisis.
Insurance penetration is very low in
India; it is well below the standards
of U.S.A. Before liberalization Public
sector insurance companies had the
monopoly over the market. Due to lot
of private sector Companys entry post
liberalization number of people with
insurance cover have improved
significantly but it still fall below the
satisfactory levels. Indian insurance
sector at present has 52 companies.
Insurance sector can be broadly
divide into two sectors; life insurance
and non-life insurance sector. Out of
these 52 companies 24 are working
in life insurance sector and 28 are
working in non-life sector. Private
sector entry in insurance sector was
allowed in 1999. Before that sector
had only public sector players like life
insurance cooperation, General
insurance cooperation etc.
Reforms of 1999 in insurance
sector can be divided as following: Opening of sector for private
companies.
Foreign direct investment up
to 26 percent was allowed in
this sector.
Insurance regulatory and
development authority was
created to regulate and
develop this sector.
After reforms first decade of 21st
century has been very good for the
insurance sector in India. Insurance
sector witnessed many remarkable
changes after the reforms. In the case
4
of general insurance industry the

premium had grown from Rs.9450 crs
in 1999-2000 to Rs.25,000 crs in
2006-07. The private sector has
acquired a market share of 40% and
most of it came by reducing the
percentage share of the public
sector. Insurance sector faces new
challenges of 21st century and it is in
dire need for another set of reforms.
Major problems in insurance sector
are: Rising cost of insurance
products.
Slowing
growth
and
insufficient penetration
throughout India.
No new major reforms for
almost a decade.
In order to remove the
shortcomings of insurance sector
government in 2012 announced 12point revival package for this sector.
Important among those are: IRDA to consider 30-Day norm
for clearing the product.
All banking correspondents
will be allowed to sell the
insurance products.
Reduction in service tax on first
year regular premium as well
as single premium policies.
Some insurance products will
be used for tax exemption.
Exemption of premium for
social security insurance
schemes from service tax.
IRDA to evolve and notify
guidelines for reduction in
arbitrage between UNITS and
traditional products.
Now new government has
promulgated the Insurance Laws
(Amendment) Ordinance 2014 to
amend the Insurance Act, 1938, the
General Insurance Business

(Nationalisation) Act, 1972 and the
Insurance
Regulatory
and
Development Authority Act, 1999, in
accordance with the Insurance Laws
(Amendment) Bill 2008. Important
features of this ordinance are;
Enhancement of the foreign
equity cap from 26% to 49%
with the safeguard of Indian
Ownership and Control is a
critical aspect of the
Ordinance, which will
potentially enhance capital
availability.
Allowed insurance companies
to raise capital through new
and innovative instruments.
Empowered IRDA to regulate
key aspects of Insurance
Company operations in areas
like solvency, investments,
expenses and commissions,
which is in keeping with global
best practices of regulation.
The Ordinance will also
substantially enhance penalty
provisions
to
ensure
compliance with Insurance
Laws by companies, which is
essential to uphold the
consumer interest.
The demand for insurance
products is likely to increase in the
future mainly due to the growth of
household savings, increase in
purchasing power, burgeoning
middle class and increase in
percentage of working population
and most importantly growth of the
financial industry as a whole.
Insurance sector should be well
equipped to deal with the challenges
and opportunities which are likely to
arise in the future.

BHARAT RATNA AWARD

Throughout the history of India,
we have seen lot of exceptionally
brave and talented persons who have
graced the Indian soil. Bharat Ratna
Award is one medium to provide
proper recognition to the sacrifices
and
talents
of
those
individuals. Bharat Ratna is a highest
civilian award which a person can
recieve in India. There is no restriction
of awarding the award only to citizen
and in past foreigners have also
recieved this award. The provision of
Bharat Ratna was introduced in 1954.
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was
the first ever Indian to be graced by
this highest award. Since then various
internationally and nationally
recognized personalities have
received this award. Important
personalities who have received this
award are C Rajagopalachari
(awardee: 1954), CV Raman
(awardee: 1954), S Radhakrishnan
(awardee: 1954,), Bhagwan Das
(awardee: 1955), Visvessaraya
(awardee: 1955), Govind Ballabh
Pant (awardee: 1957), DK Karve
(awardee: 1958), BC Roy (awardee:
19612), Purshottam Das Tandon
(awardee: 1961), Rajendra Prasad
(awardee: 1962), Zakir Hussain
(awardee: 1963) and PV Kane
(awardee: 1963). This award is given
for exceptional service towards
advancement of Art, Literature and
Science, and in recognition of Public
Service of the highest order. Certain
criterias are followed for this award: Any person without distinction
of race, occupation, position
or sex is eligible for these
awards.
It is awarded in recognition of
exceptional
service/
performance of the highest
order in any field of human
endeavour.
The recommendations for
Bharat Ratna are made by the
Prime Minister himself to the
President.
No
formal
recommendations for this are
necessary.
The number of annual awards
is restricted to a maximum of
three in a particular year.
In terms of Article 18 (1) of the
Constitution, the award cannot
be used as a prefix or suffix to
the recipients name. However
award winner may use the
following
expression
Awarded Bharat Ratna by the
President or Recipient of
Bharat Ratna Award.
The Award does not carry any
monetary grant.
This years Bharat Ratna award
has been given to Pandit Madan
Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) and
former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee. The announcement to give
them award was made on the birthday
of both the stalwarts. Pandit Madan
Mohan Malviya was a freedom fighter
and educationalist and social activist.
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya was
hindu nationalist within the Indian

national congress. Pandit Madan
Mohan Malaviya was an important
personality in the Non-Cooperation
Movement, he even participated in
the First Round Table Conference.
Malaviya ji will always be
remembered for his contribution in
formation of Banaras Hindu
University. He along with Annie
Besant led the foundation of this
temple of education in 1916. Pandit
Malviya will be the 12th person to be
honoured posthumously. Some
believe that Bharat Ratna should not
be awarded posthumously.
Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was
prime minister of the nation between
1998 and 2004. He is credited with
many national achievements like
Pokhran test and laying the
foundation for making India sufficient
in nuclear energy. He is also credited
with building a good quality road
network in the country. Mr. Vajpayee
will be the seventh Prime Minister to
receive the award. Former Prime
Ministers who have received the
award are Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira
Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Morarji Desai,
Lal Bahadur Shastri, along with first
Governor General of free India C.
Rajagopalachari.
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History
Solved Paper (2002-2012)
IS BN: 9 78-9 3-827 32-6 8-6
B ook Cod e: C13, ` 2 75

National Issues
NATIONAL ISSUES
Cannot close doors to
Telanganas plea on Krishna
water disputes says SC
The Supreme Court observed

that it cannot close its doors
on newly-formed Telanganas
plea for a fresh look at the interState sharing of Krishna river
water, even as Karnataka, one
of the beneficiary States,
strongly objected to the reopening of the five-decade-old
dispute.
Telangana has filed a fresh
petition in the Supreme Court,
contending that its interests
were not represented before
the Krishna Water Disputes
Tribunal II. It sought total reconsideration of the Tribunals
final award in December 2010
as it concerned only Karnataka,
Andhra
Pradesh
and
Maharashtra.
It said Telangana, which came
into existence only on June 2
this year, did not get an
opportunity to raise its
independent grievances.
In August this year, the
Supreme Court had prima facie
recognised Telanganas status
as an affected State with a
voice of its own.
SC directed to complete
Prosecution of account holders
by March 31
The Supreme Court directed
the Centre to complete
prosecution of black money
holders abroad under the
Income Tax Act by March 31,
2015.
A Bench of Chief Justice H.L.
Dattu and Justices Madan B.
Lokur and A.K. Sikri gave this
direction to the Centre after
senior counsel Anil Divan,
appearing for petitioner Ram
Jethmalani, said the defaulters
and evaders whose names had
been disclosed to the SIT
would be off the hook if the
income tax proceedings were
not completed by then.
Attorney General Mukul
Rohatgi said the Income Tax
Act had been amended to
extend the period of limitation
for launching prosecution.
He said if prosecution could not
be completed by the deadline,
the law would be suitably
amended or appropriate orders
passed. He said some people
had accepted that they had
accounts in foreign banks and
paid tax. Proceedings against
others were pending.
India a moderate-performing
country: report
India has been named a
moderate-performing country
in combating climate change
with Australia being the worst,
according to a report released
at climate negotiations.
India was ranked 31. India
climbs five places and
continues to profit from the
very low level of per capita
emissions, but overall CO2
emissions have risen constantly
over the past five years to about
40 per cent, said the Climate
Change Performance Index
2015 report by Germanwatch
and Climate Action Network
(CAN) Europe.
Australia was the worst
performing industrial country in
terms of climate change in
2014. The report by two NGOs
said the poor ranking was due
in part to policy changes made
by the current coalition
government.
N. Srinivasan must keep off
BCCI meetings: SC
The Supreme Court questioned

the rationale behind N.
Srinivasan stepping aside as
BCCI president but attending
its meetings as Tamil Nadu
Cricket Association president.
You even attend the meeting
of the working committee of the
BCCI to delay the BCCI
elections.
We understand your passion for

National Issues
the game, but dont be so
passionate, Justice T.S. Thakur
told Mr. Srinivasans counsel
Kapil Sibal.
RS agree for 49% FDI in
insurance
Chairman of the Rajya Sabha
Select Committee Chandan
Mitra tabled the report on the
Insurance Laws (Amendment)
Bill, 2008, recommending a
hike in FDI in insurance sector
from 26 to 49 per cent.
The report, carrying dissent
notes from four of the 15
members,
incorporated
Congress partys demand for a
composite cap on such
investments.
The dissenting parties include
the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool
Congress, Communist Party of
India (Marxist) and Janata Dal
(United). These parties are
opposed to further opening of
the insurance sector to foreign
investment.
The Union Cabinet that met late
in the evening approved the
incorporation of amendments
suggested by a Parliamentary
select panel in the Insurance
Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2008.
Following the Cabinets
approval, the Bill is expected
to come up for consideration
and passage in the Rajya Sabha
next week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin

held talks with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to further boost
cooperation between the two
strategic partners in crucial
sectors like defence, energy
and trade at a time when
Russian economy was facing
Western sanctions.
Mr. Putin, who arrived, is likely
to push for enhancing supply
of military hardware to India as
well as expansion of bilateral
economic engagement in a
range of areas.
It is the first annual summit
meeting between Mr. Putin and
Mr. Modi. The two leaders had
met on the sidelines of the
BRICS summit in Brazil in July
and during the G-20 summit in
Australia last month.
The bond between the
people of Russia & India is very
strong. Our nations have stood
by each other through thick
and thin, the Prime Minister
said in another tweet.
In his talks with Mr. Modi, both
in restricted and delegation
level formats, Mr. Putin is likely
to seek deeper economic
engagement with India with an
aim to minimise impact of
sanctions against Russia by the
US and its Western allies over
the Ukraine issue.
RS finalised its Draft report on
Insurance Bill
Modi talked with Putin,

discussed defence, energy
The Rajya Sabha Select

Committee finalised its draft
report on the Insurance Bill.

The report will be tabled in the
House, committee chairman
Chandan Mitra told.
The Bill seeks to raise foreign
direct investment in insurance
joint ventures from 26 to 49 per
cent. The committee has given
time for notes of dissent, if any,
to be submitted.
The Communist Party of India
(Marxist) and the Trinamool
Congress are likely to oppose
the report. The other two
parties which may differ are the
Samajwadi Party and the Janata
Dal (United).
The Select Committee has 15
members. It is expected that
with the three BJP members,
three Congress and one
member each from the
AIADMK, Shiromani Akali Dal
and Biju Janata Dal on board,
the report will be adopted by
majority vote.
States rejected Centres GST Bill
The States have rejected the
draft Bill for the Goods and
Services Tax (GST), dealing a
major blow to the Centres
resolve to roll it out at the
earliest.
The Centre-States stalemate
has put a question mark over
whether the government will
be able to introduce the GST
Constitution Amendment Bill
during the ongoing Winter
Session of Parliament.
Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley said in the Lok Sabha last
month that he would introduce
this Bill during the session. The
GST rollout has missed several
deadlines in the absence of a
Centre-States consensus.
At a meeting of the
Empowered Committee of

National Issues
State Finance Ministers, the

States opposed the draft Bill
and its proposal to extend the
GST to petroleum goods and
entry tax.
Consensus eludes the Centre
and the States on the three
main issues of compensation,
petrol tax and entry tax,
Empowered
Committee
Chairman Abdul Rahim Rather
told presspersons.
He said the Empowered
Committee would not support
the Centres Bill unless it
conceded the States three
demands. The GST will
subsume all excise and service
taxes.
The States want compensation
from the Centre for the
revenues they will lose over five
years from the shift to the GST
regime. They want a clause on
the compensation to be
inserted into the Bill, Mr. Rather
said.
The Centres proposed draft
does not have such a provision
at present. We were surprised
to know that the Centre has
only agreed to one of our
recommendations, said Mr.
Rather.
NGT stays MoEF clearance for

phase 1 of mini-hydel project
The National Green Tribunals

(NGT) south zone has stayed
the clearance given by the
Ministry of Environment and
8
Forests (MoEF) for phase 1 of a

mini-hydel power project.
The project was proposed by
Sri Maruthi Power Gen (India)
Pvt. Ltd., in the reserve forests
of
Kaginahare
and
Kenchanakumari in Sakleshpur
taluk. The State government
had forwarded the project
proposal to the MoEF, despite
clear opposition from the
Forest
Department
in
Karnataka.
Prashanth Y., a wildlife
conservation enthusiast of
Bengaluru, had moved the
tribunal challenging the MoEFs
clearance for the controversial
project.
The NGT, in its order dated
November 20, stated, The
tribunal is satisfied that a prima
facie case is made out for
granting an order of interim stay
of phase 1 clearance issued by
MoEF, and posted the next
hearing on the matter for
January 21, 2015. Justice M.
Chockalingam and expert
member R. Nagendran gave
this ruling.
The Karnataka government had
sent the proposal in February
2014 for diversion of 10.6897
ha of forest land in favour of the
private company to generate
18.9 MW of power.
Dipak Sarmah, the then
Principal Chief Conservator of
Forests, had recommended
rejection of the proposal.
However, Forest Minister B.
Ramanath Rai and Chief
Minister Siddaramaiah are said
to be in favour of the project.
Better to Make in India

primarily for India: Raghuram
Rajan
Reserve
Bank
Governor
Raghuram Rajan cautioned the

government on Prime Minister
Narendra Modis Make in India
mantra, suggesting that India
would have to look for regional
and domestic demand for
growth to make in India
primarily for India.
Dr. Rajan said that at this stage,

an exports-push strategy for
growth would be ineffective;
as the industrial world
stagnated, many emerging
markets were rethinking their
export-led growth model, he
said. He was delivering the
Bharat Ram Memorial Lecture.
There is a danger when we
discuss Make in India of
assuming it means a focus on
manufacturing, an attempt to
follow the export-led growth
path that China followed But
the world as a whole is unlikely
to be able to accommodate
another export-led China, Dr.
Rajan said.
Since the global economy was
still weak, he argued, it would
be much less likely to be able
to absorb a substantial
additional amount of imports in
the foreseeable future.
Export-led growth will not be
as easy for India as it was for
the Asian economies that took
that path before.
He also cautioned the Modi
government against picking a
particular sector such as
manufacturing
for
encouragement,
simply

National Issues
because it had worked well for
China.
Govt. introduced Bill in LS to
amend companies law
The government introduced a
Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend
the companies law to provide
stringent punishment for illegal
money pooling activities,
among other things.
The Companies (Amendment)
Bill, 2014, introduced by
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,
proposes as many as 14
changes in various provisions of
the new companies law, which
was passed by the previous
UPA regime.
The Bill proposes punishment
for illegal money pooling
activities, amid rising instances
of people getting duped by
such fraudulent schemes.
the draft legislation petered

out by the time the discussion
was wrapped up.
The Opposition strategy
appeared to be to force the Bill
to a Select Committee in the
Rajya Sabha, where it has the
strength to do so; using the Lok
Sabha merely to voice their
reservations, particularly on the
end use clause which has left
a door open for discretion.
With
the
Opposition
questioning the governments
haste in pushing the Bill
without scrutiny, Mr. Goyal said
such alacrity was needed
owing to the Supreme Court
order cancelling allocation of
204 coal blocks.
Electricity amendment Bill
focuses on renewable Energy
Lok Sabha passes coal mines

bill, 2014
The government assured the

Lok Sabha that Coal India Ltd.,
would not be denationalised.
We are in fact strengthening
it, said Union Minister of State
for Coal Piyush Goyal while
steering The Coal Mines
(Special Provisions) Bill, 2014,
through the Lower House with
a voice vote.
Though some Opposition
parties made out a case for
referring the Bill to the
Departmental
Standing
Committee, their resistance to
The Electricity Amendment Bill

2014, introduced in the Lok
Sabha, lays strong emphasis on
promoting renewable energy
generation in the country while
also aiming at increasing
accountability
and
transparency in the functioning
of regulatory bodies.
For the first time, the Bill,
introduced by Power Minister
Piyush Goyal, proposes to make
it mandatory for any company
establishing lignite and coalbased thermal power plants, to
generate renewable energy.
While the amount of
renewable energy to be
generated by such plants will
be decided later, the Bill

proposes it to be not less than
10 percent of the total installed
capacity of a thermal plant.
The Planning Commission had
in March 2011, constituted a
working group on power
sector reforms. The group had
recommended
several
amendments to the Electricity
Act 2003.
Government pushes historic
GST tax reform
The Government took the first
step towards switching to a
Goods and Service Tax (GST)
regime by introducing The
Constitution
(122nd
Amendment) Bill in the Lok
Sabha amid demands for
referring it to a Departmental
Standing Committee.
Though in favour of GST,
Trinamool Congress opposed
the introduction as some
concerns of West Bengal were
not addressed and the
AIADMK followed suit citing
irregularities and lacunae.
Introducing the Bill, Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
pointed out that the issue had
been discussed by a Standing
Committee in the past and was
non-committal on the
Opposition demand.
Assuring MPs that he would
not rush through the Bill, he
indicated that the Government
was prepared to wait till the
next session to get it passed.
Later, briefing mediapersons,
he said in his personal view
the Bill does not need to be
referred to a Standing
Committee as it had already
gone through the process. He
added that the Government
was hoping to roll it out in April
2016.

National Issues
Flagging key issues of concern,
Mr. Jaitley said: Service tax is
entirely the Centres domain
now. It is going to be shared
with States. Places like
Maharashtra, from where onethird of the national service tax
comes, will benefit.
State Cabinet approved draft
CRDA Bill
The State Cabinet approved
the draft Capital Regional
Development
Authority
(CRDA) Bill with four changes.
The Bill will be tabled in the
Assembly on December 19.
Besides giving nod to the
changes in CRDA Bill, the
meeting chaired by Chief
Minister N. Chandrababu
Naidu also discussed the Debt
Redemption Scheme and the
strategy to be adopted in the
Assembly.
The Cabinet approved transfer
of assets and liabilities of
Vijayawada-Guntur-TenaliMangalagiri
Urban
Development Authority to the
CRDA. The Chief Minister will
be chairman of the 14-member
CRDA and the Municipal
Administration Minister vice
chairman.
The CRDA will have Rs. 1000
crore as development fund and
Rs. 250 crore as working
capital. A detailed master plan
for the capital region will be
ready in six months.
It is learnt that the Cabinet also
approved
increase
in
retirement age of teachers in
aided colleges from 58 years to
60 years and from 60 years to
62 years in the universities.
Another important decision
taken by the Cabinet is to allow
intra-State sale of paddy and
10
also allow export to other States

if farmers themselves pay
Central Sales Tax.
The Cabinet which discussed
various issues during the fourhour meeting approved
proposals to fill 4,000 field
assistant posts under MNREGA
and 6,000 posts in Panchayat
Raj departments.
New maritime policy in a
month says N. C. Naidu
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu

Naidu announced that a new
maritime policy to develop the
974-km coastline in the State
would be unveiled in a month,
saying that the move would
give a fillip to industrialisation.
He was speaking on Andhra
talks business at the CEO and
investors conclave organised
by the Fortune India, in
partnership with the State
government at Hotel Novotel.
Over 100 CEOs, investors and
top officials attended the
programme.
The session began with the
launch of 2014 edition of
Fortune India 500 mega issue
by Mr. Naidu, along with
Managing Director & CEO of
ABP Pvt. Ltd D.D. Purkayastha
and Fortune India editor D.N.
Mukerjea.
Mr. Naidu said the government
was developing the State into
a mega trade and logistic hub,
benchmarked against the
business-friendly countries like
Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,

Singapore and Dubai and
outlined plans to transform AP
into a gateway to South East
Asia.
He said efforts were on to
develop
ports
at
Ramayapatnam, Nakkapalli,
Kalingapatnam and other
locations and mega cities at
Visakhapatnam
and
Vijayawada. He also referred to
fast-track growth focus in five
grids viz. power, gas, water,
road and fibreoptic.
In AP, we want internet
connection of 15-20 megabyte
per second in every household
in three years, he said, adding
that IT development would be
the
backbone
of
industrialisation.
India successfully test fires
GSLV Mark-III
India moved forward in rocket

technology with the successful
flight testing of its heaviest next
generation rocket and the crew
module.
Precisely at 9.30 a.m., the 630tonne
Geosynchronous
Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark
III (GSLV Mark-III), standing
43.43-metre tall, freed itself
from the second launch pad
and with a reverberating deep
throated roar, rose into the sky.
With a thick orange flame at its
tail, the expendable rocket
ascended towards the heavens
with one way ticket as its design

National Issues
life span is just around five

minutes.
The Rs.155-crore mission has
twin purposes. The main
purpose is to test the rockets
atmospheric flight stability with
around four tonne luggage.
The second and incidental
objective is to study the reentry characteristics of the
crew module called Crew
Module Atmospheric Re-entry
Experiment its aero braking
and validation of its end-to-end
parachute system.
According to an Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO)
official, it will be of the size of a
small bedroom and can
accommodate two to three
people.
Just over five minutes into the
flight, the rocket spat out the
giant cup cake shaped 3.7tonne crew module at an
altitude of 126 km.
States to get relief on GST Bill

Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley will seek the Cabinets
nod
for
the
122nd
Constitutional Amendment Bill
on the Goods and Services Tax.
The GST will subsume into one
levy all indirect taxes imposed
by the Centre and the States.
These include entry tax. The
Minister also proposes to
extend the GST to all petroleum
products and real estate
transactions.
At its last meeting, the
Empowered Committee of
State Finance Ministers had by
consensus rejected the
Centres draft Constitutional
Amendment Bill and its
proposal to bring petroleum
goods and entry tax within the
GST ambit.
The States have consistently

demanded that the GST regime
exclude real estate transactions
and stamp duties. On these
issues, the Finance Ministrys
new draft Bill does not reflect
the Empowered Committees
position.
The Ministry has, however,
inserted into its draft Bill a
provision
guaranteeing
compensation to States for
losses of revenues owing to the
transition to the GST.
Ancient university near Nalanda was founded during Kushan

Period
Excavation near the ancient

Nalanda Institution, Art and
Culture department secretary
Anand Kishore said, showed
that foundation of Tiladhak
University was laid during the
Kushan period in first century
AD and not the Gupta period.
This indicates that the Buddhist
mahavihara found at the site
may be older than the
mahavihara at Nalanda and
Vikramshila, director of State
Archaeology Atul Kumar
Verma, who is leading the
excavation, said.
The site came into light when
the former Bihar Chief Minister,
Nitish Kumar, toured the area
in 2009. Mr. Kumar, seeing the
prospect of its historical
importance, had directed Art
and Culture department to
begin excavation.
The site is located 33 km west

of Nalanda University and the
Mahavihara in Ekangalsarai
block of Nalanda district, the
former Chief Ministers native
place.
Chinese Traveller Hsuan-Tsang
referred to this mahavihara as
Tilakakiye in the 7th Century.
Literature discovered has
confirmed its identity as
Tiladhak or Tiladhakay.
However, officials said that
according to Calcutta
Universitys S. Sanyal, who
studied four monastery seals
found during excavation, the
mahaviharas name is Sri
Prathamshipur mahaviharey
bhikshu sanghas.
India is third on black money
list says report
As India continues its pursuit
11

National Issues
of suspected black money
stashed
abroad,
an
international think-tank has
ranked the country third
globally with an estimated USD
94.76 billion (nearly Rs 6 lakh
crore) illicit wealth outflows in
2012.
Russia is on the top with USD
122.86 billion, followed by
China at the second position
(USD 249.57 billion) in terms
of the quantum of black money
moving out of a country for
2012 the latest year for which
these estimates have been
made.
Telangana decided to declare
Dec.26 as public holiday
Government of Telangana has
issued an order declaring
December 26 as a public
holiday. Hitherto, it was an
optional holiday only.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar
Rao referred to Boxing Day
(December
26)
being
declared as a public holiday
when he addressed the
gathering after laying the
foundation stone for the
Christian Bhavan.
Govt. employees under Lokpal
Act have to disclose deposits in
foreign banks
Amending the rules for
voluntary disclosure of assets
and liabilities by government
employees under the Lokpal
and Lokayuktas Act, the
Department of Personnel and
Training (DoPT) has effected
some changes in the form,
making it mandatory for them
to disclose deposits in foreign
banks.
The deadline has been
extended by four months from
12
December 31. Details of

deposits in the foreign bank (s)
to be given separately, states
the DoPT order, adding that
government employees have to
file statements of movable
property separately for self,
spouse and dependent child.
While investments above Rs.2
lakh have to be reported
individually, amounts below
that can be reported together.
Apart from cash and bank
balance, government servants
would now be required to also
reveal details of other movable
assets including furniture,
fixtures, antiques, paintings
and electronic equipment.
However, this only if the total
current value of any particular
asset in any particular category
exceeds two months basic pay
or Rs. 1 lakh.
Another order amending the
previous Lokpal and Lokayuktas
(Removal of Difficulties) Order,
2014, gives six months more to
the government to make further
amendments to the rules
formulated thereunder.
While the government intends
to make all the declarations
public, many government
officials have expressed
concern that the information on
their assets could be misused.
The latest order does not have
any provision ensuring secrecy
of the disclosures made.
15 States ratified the National

Judicial Appointments
Commission Bill
The
National
Judicial
Appointments Commission
(NJAC) may soon become
active with Union Law Minister
D.V. Sadananda Gowda saying
that 15 States had ratified the
Constitution
(121st
Amendment) Bill, 2014, giving

Constitutional status to the
Commission.
I have received information

that 15 States have ratified the
Bill. Now the Rajya Sabha has
to receive authenticated letters
from the States, after which the
Bill will be sent to the President
for assent, Mr. Gowda told.
The NJAC Bill, passed by
Parliament in August, had to be
ratified by at least half the State
legislatures before it got the
Constitutional status.
The NJAC, once it came into
existence, is expected to usher
in transparency in judicial
appointments in the highest
courts and end the highest
judiciarys two-decade-old
grip over appointments of
judges through the collegium
system.
It further would restore an equal
role for the executive in higher
judicial appointments. Mr.
Gowda said he could not be
able to give a time frame within
which the commission would
start work, but said there were
judicial vacancies in the
Supreme Court and the High
Courts.
Law Ministry statistics show
there are 349 vacancies of
judges in 24 High Courts and
three in the Supreme Court as
on November 10, 2014.
The number of pending cases
as on December 31, 2013, in
the 24 High Courts is 4,462,705.
In the Supreme Court, 45,108

National Issues
cases have been disposed of,
while 65,970 are pending as on
June 30, 2014.
Once the commission is in
place, the government has to
within 30 days, intimate the
vacancies of judges to the
Supreme Court and the High
Courts. Vacancies to come up
within the next six months
should also be intimated to the
commission in advance.
The NJAC has the Chief Justice
of India (CJI) as chairperson
and two senior-most judges of
the Supreme Court as
members, apart from the Union
Law Minister and two eminent
personalities, of which one of
them would be nominated from
among the Scheduled Castes,
the Scheduled Tribes,
minorities, Other Backward
Classes or women.
Committee set up to make
suggestions on amendments to
2006 Act
These suggestions were placed
during a preliminary meeting.

The committee is headed by
Chief Secretary Kaushik
Mukherjee.
Offering a ray of hope to

professional course seat
aspirants in the State, the
committee set up by the
government to look into the
possible amendments to the
Karnataka
Professional
Educational Institutions
(Regulation of Admission and
Determination of Fee) Act,
2006, has suggested that more
seats should go to the
governments share.
The committee has also
reportedly drawn attention to
the fact that meritorious
students should not be
affected by a possible high fee

structure as individual colleges
will have separate fee
structures depending on
various parameters.
The probability of the Common
Entrance Test (CET) being
restricted to admissions to
government institutions and
there not being a common fee
structure for colleges have
been among the major
concerns about the Act in its
present form.
Higher Education Minister R.V.
Deshpande told that the Act
does not have the provision to
extend the CET for admissions
to private institutions. We have
to find a way out, he said.
Mr. Deshpande also said the
government had convened
meetings with private college
representatives and those from
minority institutions on January
3 after which the final
modalities would be decided.
13
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INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
Philippines braces for powerful
typhoon Hagupit
A wide swath of the

Philippines, including the
capital Manila, braced for a
dangerously erratic and
powerful
typhoon
approaching from the Pacific,
about a year after the country
was lashed by Typhoon Haiyan
that left more than 7,300
people dead.
Typhoon Hagupit Filipino for
smash
strengthened
overnight with its sustained
winds intensifying to 215
kilometres (134 miles) per hour
and gusts of 250 kph (155
mph). The local weather
agency PAGASAs forecasts
show the typhoon may hit
Eastern Samar province.
But a forecast by the U.S.
militarys Joint Typhoon
Warning Centre in Hawaii said
Hagupit (pronounced HAgoo-pit) may veer northward
after making landfall and
possibly threaten Manila, which
has population of more than 12
million people.
We have alerted the people
of Manila and were ready,
Mayor Joseph Estrada said,
14
while acknowledging these

typhoons change direction all
the time.
It is currently 450 kilometres
(280 miles) from the countrys
eastern coast in the Pacific
Ocean and moving slowly.
If the first forecast holds,
Hagupits path will send it
barrelling inland into central
Philippines along the same
route where Typhoon Haiyan
levelled villages and left more
than 7,300 dead and missing in
November last year.
Still, Hagupits erratic
behaviour prompted the
government to call an
emergency meeting of mayors
of metropolitan Manila to warn
them to prepare. Manila is north
of the path that Haiyan took.
Japans economy likely shrank

less than expected in Q3
Japans economy likely shrank

less than initially estimated in
the third quarter thanks to an
increase
in
capital
expenditure, underscoring
views that the country only
slipped into a shallow
recession.
The world third-largest
economy probably shrank an

annualised 0.5 percent in JulySeptember, compared with a
preliminary reading of a 1.6
percent contraction, according
to a Reuters survey of 24
economists.
Capital expenditure is seen to
have risen 0.8 percent for the
quarter from a preliminary 0.2
percent fall, the poll showed.
The data could offer relief for
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who
called a snap election for
December 14 after just two
years in office to seek voters
mandate on his Abenomics
strategy to reflate the economy
and his decision to postpone a
second sales tax hike originally
scheduled for next year.
But the expected upward
revision will unlikely be strong
enough to alter analysts view
that the economy remains
fragile after a sales tax increase
in April dampened consumer
spending.
Although the economy
continues rebounding from
falls after the sales tax hike,
there is no change to our view
that the pace of recovery will
be only moderate, said an
economist at Japan Research
Institute in the survey.
Takeshi Minami, chief
economist at Norinchukin
Research Institute, said the
economy will likely return to
growth in October-December,
but there is still a high chance
the economy will shrink for this
fiscal year.

The Cabinet Office will release
the revised GDP data, and the
finance ministry will announce
the current account balance
for October at the same time.
The current account balance
probably shows a surplus of
366.3 billion yen ($3.06 billion)
in October, helped by gains in
income balance which
includes earnings from overseas
subsidies. It would follow a 963
billion yen surplus in
September.
The nations leading indicator
of capital spending, which will
be released, is expected to fall
in October for the first time in
five months, but analysts said
the fall will be temporary as
firms strong earnings will help
their expenditure.
FBI warns U.S. of
Destructive cyber attack
The Federal Bureau of

Investigation warned U.S.
businesses that hackers have
used malicious software to
launch a destructive cyber
attack in the United States,
following a devastating breach
last week at Sony Pictures
Entertainment.
Cyber security experts said the
malicious software described
in the alert appeared to
describe the one that affected
Sony, which would mark first
major destructive cyber attack
waged against a company on
U.S. soil.
I believe the coordinated

cyber attack with destructive
payloads against a corporation
in the U.S. represents a
watershed event, said Tom
Kellermann, chief cyber
security officer with security
software maker Trend Micro
Inc. Geopolitics now serves as
harbingers for destructive
cyber attacks.
The five-page, confidential
flash FBI warning issued to
businesses provided some
technical details about the
malicious software used in the
attack.
It provided advice on how to
respond to the malware and
asked businesses to contact
the FBI if they identified similar
malware.
The report said the malware
overrides all data on hard drives
of computers, including the
master boot record, which
prevents them from booting up.
The overwriting of the data
files will make it extremely
difficult and costly, if not
impossible, to recover the data
using standard forensic
methods, the report said.
2014 could be hottest year on
record says WMO
is on track to be one of the

hottest, if not the hottest, on
record, according to its
preliminary estimates released
during the climate talks.
This was largely due to record
high global sea surface
temperatures, which will very
likely remain above normal until
the year-end.
High sea temperatures,
together with other factors,
contributed to exceptionally
heavy rainfall and floods in
many countries and extreme
drought in others.
The WMOs provisional
statement on the Status of the
Global Climate in 2014
indicated that the global
average air temperature over
land and sea surface for January
to October was about 0.09C
above the average for the past
10 years (2004-2013).
The statement says that if
November and December
maintain the same tendency,
then 2014 will likely be the
hottest on record, ahead of
2010, 2005 and 1998.
This confirms the underlying
long-term warming trend. It is
important to note that
differences in the rankings of
the warmest years are a matter
of only a few hundredths of a
degree, and that different data
sets show slightly different
rankings, the WMO pointed out.
Pak PM inaugurates ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor

project
The World Meteorological

Organisation (WMO) says 2014
China and Pakistan have kicked

off their multi-billion dollar
Economic Corridor project
that passes through Pakistanoccupied Kashmir (PoK) by
laying the foundation of a
15

fenced four-lane motorway,

setting in motion a mammoth
project connecting the two
countries.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif
performed
the
groundbreaking of a section of
the motorway in the countrys
northwest, signalling the
implementation of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC) agreement.
The 60-km-long, 4-lane fenced
Hazara Motorway in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province will cost
$297 million and will take two
years to complete.
During his China visit earlier this
month, Mr. Sharif signed deals
worth $45.6 billion that
included projects connected
with the Corridor, state-run
Xinhua news agency reported.
India has expressed its
reservations to China over the
project as it is laid through the
PoK.
But, China defended the
project saying it will help
regional
development.
Sceptics in both the countries,
however, point to the rising tide
of extremism in Pakistan which
makes its construction
extremely difficult.
The tenuous political and
security situation in Pakistan
prompted Chinese President
Xi Jinping to cancel his trip to
Islamabad in September
during which he visited the
Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.
seized swathes of territory in

Iraq and Syria.
The Authorisation for Use of

Military Force (AUMF) bill
allows the President to use
military force against ISIS for up
to three years.
But (it) limits the activities of
US Armed Forces from
participating in ground combat
operations except in defined
circumstances, said Senator
Robert Menendez, Chairman of
the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.
AUMF passed by a vote of 10
to 8. This AUMF would also
require a report on the
comprehensive strategy for this
campaign after 60 days and
sunset the 2001 al-Qaeda
AUMF after a period of three
years enactment, unless it is
reauthorized, he said.
Earlier, Secretary of State John
Kerry appeared before the
Committee urging Senators to
approve force authorization.
Worlds first handcrafted herbal
Holy Koran unveiled in Dubai
US passes bill to use of military

force against ISIS
A key US Congressional
committee has passed a bill
authorising use of military force
against the dreaded Islamist
State militant group that has
16
The worlds first handcrafted

herbal Holy Koran, made from
about 200 medicinal plants, has
been unveiled.
The Koran has been made by
the Islamic arts and calligraphy
company, Heddem Arts and
has been crafted over 23 years
from 1957 to 1979 by Turkish
Unani Doctor Hamdi Taher.
The Koran is made of high
potency herbal mixtures
prepared as per Unani medical
system.
Herbal sheets of the Holy
Koran have many therapeutic
properties when the reader
moves his fingers on the letters
or in and around the pages, the
herbal mixture seeps through
the pores in the fingers,
providing health benefits,
Heddem Arts said in a
statement.
The herbal-cream-written
Koran includes 606 pages and
weighs about 7.5 kg.
Patiently handcrafted over the
years, every word and design
in the Holy Koran is made
without using any printing
technology, tools or machinery
because of which it is truly one
of a kind, Abdul Azeaz Bin
Hassan, Islamic religious adviser
at Heddem Arts, said.
After Bullet trains success,
China wants to develop world
class nuclear technology
After successfully competing
for high-speed rail links abroad,
China now wants to develop
world class nuclear technology
a move that would not only
lighten its carbon footprint, but
also help it emerge as a major
exporter of atomic power.
Last week, China decided to set
up an undisclosed number of
shore-based nuclear power
plants, lifting the bar on new
ventures that was imposed in

the aftermath of the March

2011 Fukushima nuclear
disaster in Japan.
The London-based World
Nuclear News website
reported that days after the
Fukushima accident, Chinas
State Council decided to halt
approvals and licensing for
new reactors until a safety plan
was in place.
It also sought assurances that
existing
plants
were
adequately designed, sited,
protected and managed. Li
Pumin, the spokesman of the
National Development and
Reform Commission (NDRC),
Chinas top economic planner,
announced that all projects will
comply with the highest
international
security
standards.
Currently, China runs 21 nuclear
power reactors, generating
19,095 MW of power. An
additional 27 units are under
construction, which would
yield around 30,000 MW of
electricity, when completed.
Yet, it is estimated that China
would need to set up another
13 reactors, if it is to meet its
2020 target of generating 58
GW of atomic power.
The post-Fukushima drive for
nuclear energy has been
significantly spurred by the
clean-energy target set by
President Xi Jinping, who had
announced that China is
focusing on peaking its
emissions by 2030, before its
carbon footprint begins to
slide.
Nuclear power generation has
come into sharper focus
because of some of the
problems that China has
recently encountered with
renewables. Last year, China,

the worlds largest producer of
wind energy and solar power,
was unable to utilise 11 per
cent of wind power capacity
because of grid problems.
FIFA, Ebola among Facebooks
most discussed topics in 2014
The list Facebook released is a

testament to its global reach,
given that more than 80 per
cent of Facebook users live
outside the U.S. and Canada.
Worldwide topics the World
Cup soccer tournament and
the Ebola outbreak occupied
the top two spots. But No. 3
was the presidential election in
Brazil. Facebook says some 48
million people had 674 million
interactions status updates,
photos, videos, comments and
likes about the highly
contested event.
That made it the most talkedabout election of 2014 even
more than the congressional
midterms in the U.S. At its best,
social media makes the world a
smaller place and builds
community on a global level,
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebooks
chief operating officer, said in
an interview.
Ms. Sandberg saw it fitting that
the World Cup the worlds most
widely watched sporting event
was also the most widely
discussed event this year. More

than 350 million people had 3
billion interactions about the
tournament.
Cadila healthcare launches first
cheaper copy of worlds topselling drug
Cadila Healthcare said it
launched the first biosimilar
version of anti-inflammatory
medicine adalimumab, the
worlds top-selling drug, at a
fifth of its U.S. price.
The drugs branded version is
sold under the name Humira by
U.S. firm AbbVie Inc, and costs
$1,000 for a vial in the United
States. Humira had sales of
$3.26 billion in the quarter
ended September, accounting
for 65 per cent of AbbVies
total revenue.
A price of $200 a vial would
still keep the drug out of reach
for most people in India, where
more than 70 per cent of the
population lives on less than $2
a day and health insurance is
scarce.
Biosimilars are cheaper copies
of biotech drugs medicines
made from proteins and other
large molecules. Cadila
expects sales of between
Rs.100 crore ($16.16 million)
and Rs.200 crore from its
biosimilar of Humira in the
domestic market, Deputy
Managing Director Sharvil Patel
told Reuters.
The company will launch its
version under the name
Exemptia for treating diseases
such as rheumatoid arthritis,
juvenile idiopathic arthritis,
psoriatic arthritis, and
ankylosing spondylitis.
17

China setting the stage for Silk
Road Extension
China is setting the stage for
linking Southeast Asia with its
New Silk Road initiative,
through a railway corridor that
would connect the countrys
Yunan province with Thailand
and Laos.
Chinas visiting Prime Minister
Li Keqiang is expected to sign
an agreement with Thailand on
setting up two strategic dualtrack lines covering 734 km and
133 km. Once completed,
these lines will connect
Bangkok with Thailands Nong
Khai and Rayong provinces.
Mr. Li is in Thailand to
participate in the meeting of
leaders of Mekong River region
countries Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand and
Vietnam.
The new railway project will
offer a new channel for bilateral
trade, and also help form a
potentially-lucrative tourist
route starting from Chinas
Yunnan province, to Laos
Vientiane and Thailands
Bangkok, said Huang Bin of
Thailands Kasikorn Research
Center, as quoted by Xinhua.
Thailands Prime Minister Prayut
Chan-o-cha has earlier said that
the railway tie ups with Beijing
were meant to amplify Chinas
Silk Road Economic Belt and
the 21st Century Maritime Silk
Road initiatives.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
has been relentless in pushing
for a Silk Road Economic Belt
a giant project that would
connect Asia with Europe along
the Eurasian corridor through
rail, road, fiber optic highways
and energy pipelines.
Analysts point out that the
18
growing ties between China

and Thailand are not
accidental.
Beijing
is
apparently cashing on the
sourness that has developed
between Thailand and West
following a military coup on
May 22.
The military takeover in
Bangkok was apparently
prompted by the death of 30
people in sporadic violence
that encompassed protests
against former Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra. Gen.
Prayut is now expected to visit
Beijing next week.
Foreign office building in

Australia evacuated over
suspicious package
Australias Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade in the
capital, Canberra, was
evacuated after a suspicious
package was found in the
buildings canteen, police said.
Australia is on high alert after
heavily armed police stormed
a Sydney cafe early and freed
terrified hostages being held
there at gunpoint for 16 hours.
Two hostages and the gunman
were killed, police said.
Japanese auto Honda set for
record car sales in 2014
around 1.8 lakh units. The

company, which launched two
models mid-sized sedan City
and multi-purpose vehicle
(MPV) Mobilio during the year,
had sold 1.11 lakh units in 2013.
2014 was a very successful
year for Honda as it continued
its growth journey for the third
consecutive year, Honda Cars
India Ltd. (HCIL) Senior VicePresident, Sales & Marketing
Jnaneswar Sen said in a
statement.
During January-November
2014, the company sold 1.65
lakh units, up 61.8 per cent,
from 1.02 lakh units in the same
period of previous year. Mr. Sen
said Honda was set to end 2014
with a record sale of 1.8 lakh
units.
In line with business
expansion, the company also
made strong progress in
expanding its dealership
network during the year, and
crossed the milestone of 200
dealers in the country in
November 2014, he added.
The company plans to rope in
another 100 dealers by the end
of the next fiscal, and take the
total tally to 300 facilities by
March 2016.
Elaborating on the launches
during the year, he said that the
new Generation City, which
was launched in January, had
sold more than 71,000 units till
November 2014.
Reliance seeks immediate start

of KG-D6 cost recovery dispute
Riding on new launches,

Japanese auto major Honda is
set for over 62 per cent growth
in its sales in India this year at

With its KG-D6 cost recovery
arbitration stuck for three years,
Reliance Industries has sought
immediate start of the
proceedings
for
early
resolution of the dispute.
Naming former UK judge Sir
Bernard Rix as its arbitrator in
place of former Chief Justice of
India S. P. Bharucha, who quit
earlier this month, RIL through
its legal counsel has written to
the Oil Ministry seeking start of
the proceedings from next
month, sources privy to the
development said.
Bharucha was earlier RIL
nominee on a threemember
arbitration panel, which is to
decide if the oil ministry was
right in disallowing over $2.3
billion of KG-D6 cost as output
lagged targets.
He, however, recused himself
after
the
government
challenged his nomination
more than twoandhalf
years after his nomination.
The government felt he had not
disclosed all previous
associations with RIL and that
his arbitration could create
doubts
about
his
independence
and
impartiality. The company, in
the letter, expressed distress
at the attempts of the
government to remove Justice
Bharucha from the panel of
arbitration.
Bharucha, it said, has an
impeccable reputation and it
was unfortunate that the
government
chose
to
demonstrate, in the course of
an international arbitration, that
it did not have faith in a former
chief justice.
SpiceJet submits a revival plan
to govt.
Troubled budget carrier

SpiceJet submitted a revival
plan to the government on the
basis of a proposed investment
of $200 million from founding
promoter Ajay Singh and USbased JP Morgan Chase.
It was a constructive
meeting, the airlines Chief
Operating Officer Sanjiv
Kapoor told reporters after he
submitted the plan to Civil
Aviation
Secretary
V
Somasundaran at the Ministry
headquarters here.
He was accompanied by Mr.
Singh, the original promoter
who is reinvesting in the carrier.
Maintaining that there was no
outstanding as of now with any
oil marketing company, he said
with 18 operational Boeing
aircraft, Spicejet was currently
flying 230 flights a day.
Spicejet has many well
wishers including Ajay Singh,
the COO said. Besides Mr,
Singh, a fund managed by JP
Morgan Chase would also be
one of the investors.
The potential investors are
likely to buy stake from current
promoter Kalanithi Maran by
infusing USD 200 million within
a month to help the airline stay
afloat.
The airline has already
received Rs 17 crore from the
investors, official sources earlier
said, adding that it has wiped
off all its dues to the oil
companies.
19
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India & The World
INDIA & THE WORLD

India signs up for a Multi-crore Project
Union Minister for Science and

Technology Harsh Vardhan
signed a multilateral agreement
admitting Indias participation
in the development of the
Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT)
in Hawaii.
This project was rapidly cleared
by the Union Cabinet and India
has agreed to spend Rs. 1299.8
crores over the next decade for
this project.
Besides learning about the
universe, India will gain the
technology to manufacture fine
aspherical mirror segments from
the California Institute of
Technology (Caltech). This
technology, say experts, will
form the basis of the next
generation of spy satellites.
TMT will contain 492
hexagonal mirror segments of
82 different kinds. These will
behave like a single mirror with
an aperture of 30 metre
diameter.
20
This large collecting area of 650

square metres is thrice as sensitive as the Hubble Space Telescope. Indias role will primarily be to create the control systems and software that keep the
mirrors aligned and collects the
data.
The control system is an intricate process involving edge
sensorsthat detect the mutual displacement of mirrors,
actuators to correct their alignment, and the segment support
assembly.
Le Drian and his Indian

counterpart, Manohar Parrikar.
Both sides also decided to
expand strategic cooperation,
the official added.
Negotiations have been going
on since 2012 when India
selected Dassault Rafale from
among competing medium
multi-role combat aircraft.
Differences cropped up
between the two sides on
delivery guarantees and price.
The tender stipulates that the
first 18 jets should come in flyaway condition from France,
while the remaining 108 will be
manufactured by Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) in India
over seven years with Transfer
of Technology (ToT).
Dassault has refused to give
delivery guarantees for HALmade aircraft, which the Air
Force is insisting on. With the
ToT, the cost too escalated from
the initial estimate of $10 billion to almost $30 billion.
India very important player in
climate talks says the US
India and France agreed to fasttrack Rafale deal

Indian and France to overcome
differences and fast-track
ongoing negotiations for the
purchase of 126 Rafale fighter
jets from France, a Defence
Ministry spokesperson said.
The decision came during
discussions between visiting
French Defence Minister Yves
Terming India as a very

important player in the climate
change negotiations, the US has
said it is not involved in any
agreement on climate with

India & The World
India ahead of President Barack

Obamas Republic Day visit to
New Delhi.
Indias obviously a very
important player. We dont
have anything in the works of
the kind that we were involved
with China, U.S. State
Department Special Envoy on
Climate Change Todd Stern
said referring to the recent USChina climate agreement.
Expressing hope for a
productive
meeting
between President Obama and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
Mr. Stern said the U.S. had
done a lot of bilateral work on
energy with India.
Mr. Stern noted that the USChina agreement did not come
to fruition overnight. It took
several months of bilateral talks
to produce it and that there is
no such process going on at the
moment with India, he said.
He also said that U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry will be
arriving in Lima as part of a
larger regional trip and will
spend a few hours at the COP.
He is not expected to play any
role in the negotiations and that
Kerrys visit was slated earlier
and not in response to the slow
progress of talks, he said.
The draft elements text is
mostly done and will certainly
pass on to the next Co-Chairs
of the committee, he said.
Mr. Stern said the U.S. position
on Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions
(INDCs) was to not make it
complicated and just ask
countries for a limited set of
information like types of gasses
covered, sectors of the
economy and any assumptions
made
India advocates balanced

approach to cut global carbon
Emissions
India strongly advocated a

balanced approach in the
draft text of a new binding pact
to cut global carbon emissions
to make sure that polluting
countries pay and not the
poorest nations, as crucial U.N.
climate talks remained
deadlocked.
The negotiators from more than
190 countries, who have been
in the Peruvian capital for about
two weeks, have struggled to
prepare the elements of the
draft due to the logjam
between developing countries
and industrialised nations that
haggle over the formula of
sharing the burden for cutting
emissions, and who should pay.
Several developing nations
rejected a draft decision they
said did not make the
distinction between what rich
and poor countries were
expected to do.
The informal plenary regarding
the Ad hoc Working Group on
the Durban Platform (ADP)
again met here after breaking
at 4 a.m. Parties reviewed the
draft text and reconvened to
state their positions on it.
Environment Minister Prakash
Javadekar delivered Indias
statement, saying a balanced
approach in the draft text was
required to make sure polluting
countries pay and not the

poorest countries.
He began his statement by
saying that what the likeminded developing countries,
least developed countries and
the Africa group is saying must
be appreciated because they
are all speaking their heart.
India stuck to the consistent
position that all the elements of
adaptation, mitigation, finance,
technology, and capacity
building should be included in
the intended nationally
determined contributions
(INDCs).
At U.N. India may end support
to Palestine
In what could amount to a

tectonic shift in the countrys
foreign policy, the Modi
government is looking at
altering Indias supporting vote
for the Palestinian cause at the
United Nations to one of
abstention.
Two sources within the
government confirmed that the
change, which will be a
fundamental departure from
Indias support to the cause of
a Palestinian state, was under
consideration.
Like other foreign policy
issues, the Modi government is
looking at Indias voting record
at the United Nations on the
21

India & The World

Palestinian
issue,
a
government told. The change
only needs an administrative
nod.
Despite the growing defence
and diplomatic ties with Israel,
the UPA government, which
junked traditional ally Iran to
vote with the United States at
the International Atomic
Energy Agency in 2005, had
baulked at making any change
in Indias support to the
Palestinians.
22
Even former Prime Minister A.B.

Vajpayees government, which
invited Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon to India in 2003,
did not amend Indias voting
record at the U.N.
Indias stance at the U.N. has
been an irritant in Indo-Israeli
relations, with Tel Aviv
frustrated that close bonds had
not resulted in any change in
the stance on Palestine.
A senior Israeli interlocutor told
a visiting Indian External Affairs

Minister some time ago that
New Delhi treated Tel Aviv like
a mistress by keeping the
bilateral relationship away from
the public gaze.
This re-examination of Indias
voting stance will come as
sweet music to Israeli ears just
as it will raise concerns in West
Asian capitals about the future
course of Indian foreign policy.
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Economy
ECONOMY
Mallya resigns from Mangalore
Chemicals Board (MCFL)
In a surprise move the UB

Group Chairman Vijay Mallya
has resigned from the Board of
Directors of Mangalore
Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd
(MCFL) with immediate effect.
What prompted this move is still
not known. The company has
intimated this development to
the stock exchanges. Soon
after the announcement MCFL
stock prices rose sharply on the
stock markets.
The prices moved from Rs. 80
range to around Rs. 92. The
volume was as high as nine lakh
shares in early morning trade.
MCFL is amidst a takeover battle
between
Deepak
Petrochemicals and Fertilizers
and Zuari Agro Chemicals and
Fertilizers. Mr. Mallya had sided
with Zuari to ward off the
takeover bid of Deepak
Fertilizers.
Recently, Deepaks bid to
acquire 26 per cent addition
stake had failed and Dr Mallya
had retained control over the
company.
Currently Deepak holds 32 per
cent stake in the company, Zuari
16 per cent, UB Group 22 per
cent and the rest by public

shareholders.
Nifty touches record high
A benchmark index of Indian
equities markets was trading
208.40 points or 0.73 percent
up as fast moving consumer
goods (FMCG) stocks surged.
All the sectors were trading in
green and good buying was
observed in FMCG, banking
and healthcare sectors.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index
(Sensex) of the S&P Bombay
Stock Exchange (BSE), which
opened at 28,616.93 points,
was trading at 28,651.11 points
(at 09.27 a.m.) in the early
session, up 208.40 points or
0.73 percent from the previous
days close at 28,442.71 points.
The Sensex has touched a high
of 28,808.78 points and a low
of 28,587.75 points in the trade
so far.
The S&P FMCG index gained
by 200.87 points, bankex went
up by 105.17 points and
healthcare index moved up by
67.73 points.
Reliance Industries signs
agreement with Mexican
company for oil and gas
Reliance Industries has signed

an agreement with Mexican
state-owned
company,
Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX)
for cooperation in upstream oil
and gas production as well as
in refining business.
As per the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) RIL will
cooperate with PEMEX for
assessment of potential
upstream oil and gas business
opportunities in Mexico and
jointly evaluate value added
opportunities in international
markets, a company statement
said.
RIL and PEMEX will also share
expertise and skills in the
relevant areas of oil and gas
industry, including for deep
water oil and gas exploration
and production.
The MoU envisages sharing of
RILs pioneering expertise in
deep-water development and
best practices in East Coast of
India and RILs experience in
shale gas in United States, it
said.
RIL will also provide technical
support and share experience
with PEMEX for refining value
maximisation and other
technical
optimisation
strategies.
RILs cooperation with PEMEX
is in line with its growth strategy
to explore opportunities to
expand its international asset
base in regimes having
internationally attractive
competitive terms.
The company hopes to
leverage its organisational
capabilities and expertise to
create long-term value for
23

Economy
Exploration and Production
Business and for RIL on the
whole, it added.
Govt. relaxed FDI policy for
investors in construction sector
To help attract foreign funds in
construction of townships,
hospitals and hotels, the
government relaxed the FDI
policy for this sector by easing
exit norms and reducing builtup area and capital needs.
The revised norms relating to
construction development
sector has been notified by the
Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion (DIPP). India
allows 100 per cent FDI in the
sector through the automatic
route.
The new policy has done away
with the three-year lock-in
period for repatriation of
investment.
The investor will be permitted
to exit on completion of the
project or after development of
trunk infrastructure, that is,
roads, water supply, street
lighting, drainage and
sewerage, a DIPP circular said.
It is to be noted here, the
official statement issued after
the October 29 Cabinet
meeting had mentioned that
the investor can exit on
completion of the project or
after three years from the date
of final investment, subject to
development of trunk
infrastructure.
Under the new policy, the
minimum
floor
area
requirement has been reduced
to 20,000 square metres from
50,000 square metres earlier.
It also brought down the
minimum capital requirement
to $5 million from $10 million.
24
In case of development of
serviced plots, the condition of
minimum land of 10 hectares
has been completely removed.
RBI comfortable on Current
Account Deficit: Khan
The Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) Deputy Governor H.R.
Khan said that the central bank
is reasonably comfortable with
the present Current Account
Deficit (CAD) position of the
country.
The central bank is reasonably
comfortable from the current
account point of view because
of prices of oil, which is
hovering at five-year lows, said
Mr. Khan while talking to
reporters on the sidelines of
National Payments Excellence
Awards 2014 function here.
The Government recently
scrapped the 80:20 rule on
gold imports, mandating
traders to export 20 per cent
of all gold imported into the
country. He said that a view has
been taken in this regard after
considering the CAD position
into account.
Mr. Khan also said that the RBI
is having concerns on ecommerce transactions and
would issue guidelines to
regulate these transactions.
National Payments Corporation
of India (NPCI), the umbrella
organization for all retail
payments system in the
country, has institutionalized
National Payments Excellence

Awards 2014 to recognize
outstanding achievements in
operating various payment
systems.
RBI keeps policy rates
unchanged
As is widely expected, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
kept the key policy rates
unchanged.
On the basis of an assessment
of the current and evolving
macro-economic situation, the
RBI has decided to keep the
policy repo rate under the
liquidity adjustment facility
(LAF) unchanged at 8.0 per
cent.
It has also kept the cash reserve
ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks
unchanged at 4.0 per cent of
net demand and time liabilities
(NDTL). And, it has said that it
will continue to provide
liquidity under overnight repos
at 0.25 per cent of bank-wise
NDTL at the LAF repo rate, and
liquidity under 7-day and 14day term repos of up to 0.75
per cent of NDTL of the
banking system through
auctions. Also, it has decided
to continue with daily one-day
term repos and reverse repos
to smooth liquidity.
As a result of these decisions,
the reverse repo rate under the
LAF will remain unchanged at
7.0 per cent, and the marginal
standing facility (MSF) rate and
the bank rate at 9.0 per cent
The headline inflation has
been receding steadily, and
current readings are below the
January 2015 target of 8 per
cent as well as the January 2016
target of 6 per cent, the RBI
said. The inflation reading for

Economy
November, which will become
available by mid-December, is
expected to show a further
softening.
Shome panel: Tax cash withdrawal
beyond limit in a day
A high-level official panel

proposed levying of banking
transaction tax on withdrawal
of cash beyond a specified
limit in a day to check black
money, and was not in favour
of the tax amnesty scheme.
A report by the Parthasarathi
Shome Committee, appointed
by the previous UPA
government, suggested taxing
farmers with large land
holdings in addition to a host
of measures to widen the net.
Taxpayers keep waiting for
amnesty schemes to be
announced
and
take
advantage of these schemes to
build their capital.
Amnesty schemes also cause
inequity among taxpayers, and
there is no proof that they
improve taxpayer behaviour
among evaders.
They, therefore, should not be
encouraged
through
amnesties, said the report of
the Tax Administration and
Reform Commission (TARC). It
was the third report in the
series.
Highlighting that there is no
instrument at present that
captures details of cash
withdrawals from bank

accounts, it said such
information would help the
Income Tax department widen
its information base on the use
of black money.
Making a case for banking cash
transaction tax (BCTT), it said:
...IT Act should be suitably
revised to include in its ambit
cash withdrawals exceeding
specified amounts in a day from
bank accounts other than
savings accounts.
Lower oil prices will boost
global economy: Christine
Lagarde
The recent decline in oil prices
will help boost global
economy, IMF chief Christine
Lagarde has said, as global oil
prices have tumbled to multiyear low.
It is good news for the global
economy, Ms. Lagarde said at
The Wall Street Journal CEO
Council annual meeting.
For the United States, low
energy prices would help
accelerate the economic
growth to a 3.5 per cent next
year from the October forecast
of 3. 1 per cent, she said,
adding that Europe is also
expected to benefit from lower
oil prices.
Ms. Lagarde, however, noted
that the Eurozone also faces a
risk of the new mediocre, and
described it as an economy
marked by slow growth, low
inflation
and
high
unemployment.
But at the same time, she
asserted that reluctant political
leaders need to adopt more
job-friendly labour market
reforms, aggressive and
innovative monetary policy and
other structural reforms.

Where they are at the moment
they need to use all available
tools. They have to get on with
it and do it, Ms. Lagarde said.
During the meeting, the
International Monetary Fund
Managing Director was highly
critical of Japan for being slow
on implementation of fiscal and
labour market reforms.
On Russia, Ms. Lagarde said
lower prices are adding to their
fragility and their vulnerability.
53% of Indians connected to
internet every hour, beat global
average
Fifty-three per cent of Indians
are connected to the internet
every waking hour, which is
higher than the global average
of 51 per cent, a new
international study has found.
The continuous online
connectivity is becoming a
phenomenon in India with 53
per cent of respondents in the
country saying they are
connected to the internet
every waking hour, said the
study conducted by the
London-based AT Kearney
Global Research.
That is higher than 51 per cent
global average, 36 per cent in
China and 39 per cent in
Japan, said the study titled
Connected Consumers Are
Not Created Equal: A Global
Perspective.
The study covered 10
countries involving 10,000
respondents in July 2014.
The results of the study found
that continuous connectivity is
having a big impact on online
retail in the country with social
networks becoming a major
influencing factor.
25

Economy
97 per cent of the
respondents from India said
they have a Facebook account
with 77 per cent saying they
logged in to the social network
daily, said the study.
According to the study, there
are three key motivations for
Indian people to be
continuously connected to
internet.
OnePlus expects India will be
its biggest market in next few
months
devices as possible in sync with

our production capacity.
Cumulatively, till mid-October,
we have already sold 500,000
devices (globally), he added.
This is the first time that OnePlus
has entered a new market with
local
presence
and
collaboration with a local
partner.
It has set up a local team in
India, led by Mr. Agarwal, for
marketing and sales. The
Chinese startup is also putting
together an engineering team
in Bangalore in the next few
months.
More steps to rationalise
subsidies: Jaitley
Bullish on the multi-billion

dollar opportunity in the Indian
smartphone segment, Chinese
handset maker OnePlus said it
expects India to become its
biggest market in the next few
months.
At present, China is the biggest
market for OnePlus, which
announced its foray into India
with the launch of its One
smartphone at Rs 21,999.
In the next few months, we
expect India to be our biggest
market, it will overtake China,
OnePlus India General
Manager Vikas Agarwal said.
In line with its global practice,
users in India will receive Indiaspecific invites through
OnePlus and Amazon.in.
The two platforms have been
integrated so that invites can be
used to purchase the device
exclusively on eCommerce
major, Amazon.in.
We will bring in as many
26
Assuring India Inc. of the

National Democratic Alliances
commitment to economic
reforms, Union Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said that the
government would announce
more steps to rationalise
subsidies.
I had a series of meetings with
the Expenditure Management
Commission. In the next few
months ... maybe earlier than
that, they will come out with
some interim recommendations
so that we can proceed with
rationalisation, Mr. Jaitley said.
Recalling the governments
decision to link the diesel price
with the market price, the
Minister told the India
Economic Conclave, organised
by the television channel ET
Now, it would help reduce the
subsidy burden.
The Centre had set up a
commission to suggest steps to
rationalise subsidies and bring
down the fiscal deficit. Mr.
Jaitley expressed confidence
that the government would be
able to push the Insurance and

the Goods and Service Tax
(GST) Bills in this session of
Parliament.
Mr. Jaitley ruled out the NDA
government tinkering with
the countrys federal structure
to help push economic reforms
faster.
The democratic process has
its own dynamics and that
should go on, the Minister said
when asked why the
government could not
straightaway convene a joint
session of both Houses of
Parliament to help pass key laws
(in the backdrop of the BJP not
having a majority in the Rajya
Sabha).
Mr. Jaitley said that even in the
past, legislation had been
passed in the Rajya Sabha on
the basis of a consensus among
the parties.
Indias manufacturing &
services growth outpaced China
in November: HSBC survey
Manufacturing and services

sectors in India expanded at a
faster pace than China in
November, even as emerging
market output slipped for the
second consecutive month to
a six-month low, a HSBC survey
said.
The HSBC Emerging Markets
Index (EMI), a monthly
indicator derived from PMI
surveys, slipped for the second
month running to 51.2,

Economy
signalling the weakest rate of

expansion since May.
The EMI remained well below
its long-run trend level of 53.7
as both manufacturers and
service providers in emerging
markets registered slower and
identical rates of output
expansion in November, HSBC
said.
2014 looks set to record the
lowest annual average for the
Index since its inception in
November 2005, the HSBC
report added.
Data for the four largest
emerging economies showed
contrasting activity trends in
November. China registered
growth for the seventh month
running, while India posted the
fastest growth since June.
Russia and Brazil, however,
registered sharper rates of
decline during November.
During November, the HSBC
composite index for India that
maps both manufacturing and
services, stood at 53.6, whereas
for China it was 51.1, Brazil
(48.1) and Russia (47.6).
An index measure of above 50
indicates expansion.
Downturns in Russia and Brazil
are intensifying to worrying
extents, and Chinas economic
growth rate continues to slow.
Only India saw an improvement
in November, Markit Chief
Economist Chris Williamson
said.
RBI has retained growth

estimate at 5.5% for 2014-15
The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) has retained its growth
estimate for 2014-15 at 5.5 per
cent.
The reiteration of growth
estimate is based on its
expectation of a normal
monsoon. Also, the apex bank
is hopeful that there will not be
any adverse supply or financial
shocks.
While keeping the policy rates
unchanged in its fifth bimonthly policy, the RBI said
conditions for a turnaround are
gathering. Nevertheless, it did
concede that activity appears
to have lost some momentum
in Q2, probably extending into
Q3.
The RBI pointed to the
softening of inflation, easing of
commodity prices/ input costs,
comfortable
liquidity
conditions, and rising business
confidence as well as
purchasing activity.
These conditions could
enable a pick-up in Q4 if coordinated policy efforts fructify
in dispelling the drag on the
economy emanating from
structural constraints, it said.
A durable revival of investment
demand continues to be held
back by infrastructural
constraints and lack of assured
supply of key inputs, in
particular coal, power, land
and minerals, it said.
The success of ongoing
government actions in these
areas wouldl be key to reviving
growth and offsetting
downside risks emanating from
agriculture in view of weakerthan-expected Rabi sowing
and exports given the
sluggishness in external
demand, it added.
The apex bank said some
easing of monetary conditions
had already taken place. The
weighted average call rates as
well as long-term yields for
government and high-quality
corporate issuances had

moderated substantially since
end-August, it said.
IBM signs multi-billion deal
with ABN Amro
IBM has signed a ten-year,

multi-billion dollar deal to
provide
computer
infrastructure services to Dutch
bank ABN Amro running on its
cloud systems, the U.S.
information technology firm
said.
The deal comes as IBM is trying
to gain momentum in the
market for Internet-delivered
computing services, known as
cloud computing.
IBM will provide fully managed
services for mainframe
computers, servers, storage and
end-user computing as well as
a help desk and other technical
support.
SEBI (research analysts) norms
to be effective from Dec. 1
The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) said the
SEBI (Research Analysts)
Regulations, 2014 (RA
Regulations), would come into
effect from December 1.
This was notified on September
1. No person shall act as
research analyst or research
entity or hold itself out as
research analyst unless he has
obtained a certificate of
registration from SEBI under
these regulations unless an
27

Economy
exemption
specifically
applies, SEBI said in a release.
Kisan Vikas Patra, re-launch
with very few justifications
Despite some criticism and

misgivings in certain quarters,
the government has decided
to re-introduce the Kisan Vikas
Patra (KVP), a savings
instrument
that
was
discontinued three years ago.
Positioned as a savings
instrument in line with other
continuing small savings
schemes such as the Public
Provident Fund (PPF) and the
National Savings Certificates
(NSCs), the new KVP, like its
predecessor, has certain
advantages as well as
disadvantages over these. Most
ordinary investors will compare
the new KVP with bank
deposits and other debt
instruments.
Broad features of the new
KVP
Interest: 8.7 per cent.
Tenure: eight years and four
months (100 months).
Investment doubles in 100
months.
Minimum lock-in period two
years and six months.
Liquidity
Can be encashed in eight equal
monthly instalments after the
lock-in period
Can be transferred to another
28
person by endorsement and

delivery
Can also be given as collateral
for loans by banks
Minimum investment Rs.1,000.
Thereafter, in denominations of
Rs.5,000, Rs.10,000 and
Rs.50,000. There is no
maximum limit.
Taxability: fully taxable
Mode of investment: cash or
cheque
Know your customer (KYC)
norms: PAN not required but
identity/address
proof
required
Will be sold initially through
post offices across the country,
but later through some
government-owned banks
also.
Taking three other relevant
traits liquidity, convenience
and tax advantage the new
KVP is reasonably liquid.
Investors can come out after
the minimum lock-in period in
eight equal instalments. The
KVP can also be given as
collateral. Unlike PPF and NSCs,
the KVP does not have a tax
advantage. Interest on it is fully
taxable.
Bank deposits are superior to
KVP in terms of returns three
year fixed deposits offer 9 per
cent and some banks even
more. The argument that
deposit rates are set to fall over
the medium-term is no doubt
valid, but one expects the
banks to safeguard their
depositors concerns by
floating innovative schemes.
It is also certain that the
corporate bond market will
revive and be a conduit for
infrastructure finance. This will
matter to senior citizens and
others who want a fixed, steady
return in the form of investment

in infrastructure bonds.
Bank deposits are liquid,
absolutely secure and highly
accessible to most middle-class
investors. They have a minimum
tax advantage practically
restricted to interest on savings
accounts.
Petroleum product prices
headed for further correction
Petroleum product prices are
headed for further correction
after the Organiztion of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) decided not to resort
to output cut to revive falling
Brent crude prices.
According to experts, petrol
and diesel prices may come
down by Rs.2 a litre as the
Indian basket price is different
and is higher than spot prices.
A sharp division among the oil
cartel members augurs well for
emerging countries like India
for at least the next 6 months
when OPEC would meet again
to take a call on restricting
production.
After the proposal to cut
production by 1 million barrels
a day was rejected, Brent
crude prices plunged to fouryear low of around $71 a barrel.
The impact could be much
more in the coming days and in
the December-January period
when fund houses would
reduce their exposure to
underperforming commodity
assets and allocate funds to
high yielding equities, said
analysts.
Most OPEC members decided
against production cut to
protect their market share. They
have deep pockets to afford a
price as low as $67 a barrel.

Economy
Even if the sales realisation comes, down OPEC members like Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, Iran and Libya have the longest holding power to continue
production.
Dubai will invest $32-billion to build worlds largest Airport
To further secure its position

as the worlds aviation hub,
Dubai Airports is building a
whopping USD 32billion
greenfield airport at the
upcoming Dubai World
Central, 30 km off the present
international airport which
already is the second busiest
in the world.
The proposed new airport will
become the worlds largest
aviation facility on completion
and will have five runways
which all will be simultaneously
operational, all A380compatible with a length of 4.5
km each.
We are planning a USD 32
billion brand new airport at the
Dubai World Central at Al
Maktoum, 30 km off the present
Dubai facility.
In the first phase, the new
airport will be able to handle
120 million passengers, which
will go up to 200 million by
2020, when the project is
completed, Dubai Airports

Corporate Communications
Head Julius Baumann told PTI.
On completion, the new
airport will be the worlds
largest airport, with each
concourse the size of seven
football fields and have five
runways which all will be
simultaneously operational, all
A380-compatible,
Mr.
Baumann said.
The other features include 200
aircraft stands for wide bodied
aircraft, four concourses
connected via six airport trains
to two terminals, which in turn
will be linked to the citys metro
network. When complete, the
mega-hub will have total annual
capacity exceeding 200 million
passengers and 12 million tonne
of freight.
The existing Al Maktoum
International opened its doors
to passengers on October 27,
2013 and three airlines are
operating from here.
Switzerland rejected plans to

hoard gold, limit immigration
Voters in Switzerland rejected
plans to protect the countrys
wealth by investing in gold and
drastically limit immigration,
according to polling firm
gfs.bern.
A proposal to require the Swiss
central bank to hold a fifth of
its reserves in gold was
opposed by 78 per cent of
voters and supported by 22 per
cent, projections based on
tallies provided by selected
voting districts indicated.
The plan would have forced
the Swiss National Bank to buy
massive amounts of gold within
five years and likely causing the
global price for the valuable
metal to jump.
The proposal to limit
immigration to 0.2 per cent of
Switzerlands population about
16,000 immigrants a year for a
country of 8 million received
the backing of 26 per cent of
voters, while 74 per cent
opposed it. Currently,
immigration is estimated at
around 80,000 a year.
The Ecopop initiative would
also have forced Switzerland to
devote a large chunk of its
foreign aid to programs aimed
at reducing population growth
in poor countries.
Earlier this year, Swiss voters
narrowly backed a proposal by
the nationalist Peoples Party to
reintroduce quotas for
immigrants.
The outcome has proved to be
a political headache for the
Swiss government as it now
needs to renegotiate bilateral
treaties with the European
Union, of which it isnt a
member.
29

Economy
RIL to transfer textile business
to new Joint Venture with
Chinese company
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL),
announced that it had entered
into a definitive agreement with
a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Chinas Shandong Ruyi
Group (Ruyi) to transfer its
founding textile business into
a newly incorporated joint
venture (JV) company.
RIL said that it would receive
cash consideration from the
deal. It will own 51 per cent in
the proposed joint venture,
while Ruyi will own the
balance. The proposed
transaction is subject to
requisite approvals.
In the 1970s, Reliance entered
into the textile business in a
small way, and since then, it has
grown to be a Fortune Global
500 company through
backward vertical integration.
The textile business of RIL operates under the brand Vimal,
which was popularised by the
Only Vimal campaign. This
business has a prominent presence in the domestic worsted
and synthetic suiting fabric
segments.
Ruyi, Chinas leading textile
company with revenues of $3
billion, has a global presence
with a portfolio of world-renowned brands. It operates in
India under the Georgia Gullini
brand in the worsted suiting
segment. This business operation would be realigned with
the joint venture.
Our joint venture will help
Reliance reposition its textile
business on a high growth path.
Our
partners
deep
commitment and global reach
30
in textile business will enable

this joint venture to harness the
growth potential of the Indian
market and emerge as a global
textile player, said RIL
Executive Director Nikhil
Meswani.
Essar group set to ink a deal to
import crude from Russia
The Essar Group will sign a

long-term crude oil import deal
with Russias Rosneft during
President Vladimir Putins visit
to New Delhi, government and
industry.
Essar will sign an MoU
(memorandum
of
understanding) with them
(Rosneft), two Indian
government sources said. The
deal will be for ten years, an
industry source familiar with the
matter said.
The Essar group operates the
405,000 barrels per day (bpd)
Vadinar refinery in Gujarat and
also the 296,000 bpd Stanlow
refinery in northwest England,
which is operating at below its
capacity.
Volumes, pricing and other
details of the deal with statecontrolled Rosneft, the worlds
largest listed oil firm by output,
were not immediately known.
Essar depends heavily on Iran
to feed its Vadinar refinery.
In January, sources told Reuters
that Russia and Iran were
negotiating an oil-for-goods
swap deal. Russian Economy
Minister Alexei Ulyukayev was

quoted on November 30 as
saying the deal with Iran might
be sealed soon.
India is on growth track: IMF
The International Monetary
Fund said the focus on
governance and financial
inclusion measures taken by the
government were positive signs
that India was back on the
growth track.
In India, the growth was stalled
for sometime, but the measures
taken by the new government
started showing signals of
growth, it said.
We see a positive outlook for
India. Last year, the growth rate
was 4.7 per cent, and in the
current year it would be around
5.6 per cent.
With the new governments
initiatives, we believe the
growth rate next year would be
even more, said Ratna Sahay,
Deputy Director (Strategy,
Planning and Coordination),
Monetary and Capital Markets
Department, IMF.
The IMF also said, in India lack
of infrastructure was a major
hurdle for developmental
activities,
which
the
government needed to address
for speedy growth.
Commenting on the Make in
India move by the government,
Ms. Ratna said, It will create
jobs, and will generate tax
revenues. This will help in
reducing the fiscal deficit. The
IMF also said the growth
outlook was good.
However, the country needed
more reforms to fuel the growth.
Though there are positive
signs, there are lot of reforms
needed to bring inflation and

Economy
budget deficit down, she
added.
Some of the reforms the
government should look at
would be to improve tax
administration, introduction of
GST, to get rid of subsidies on
fertilizers as well as food and
reduce corruption.
PSBs can issue equity with
differential voting rights:
Arundhati Bhattacharya
With the government indicating

that it would not continue to
fund public sector banks
(PSBs), State Bank of India
(SBI) Chairman Arundhati
Bhattacharya said they could
look at issuing shares with
differential voting rights to raise
funds to meet the Basel-III
capital adequacy norms.
The writing on the wall is very
clear...they (PSBs) have to think
of differential voting rights. It is
time to lay out some kind of
roadmap on how much the
banks need to do and how
much support it would get, she
said while talking to reporters
on the sidelines of a
conference.
The government allowed PSBs
to raise up to Rs.1.60 lakh crore
from markets by diluting
government holding to 52 per
cent in phases so as to meet the
Basel III norms.
Pitching for consolidation in

the banking sector, Ms.
Bhattacharya said it was
important to have 3-4 major
banks. According to Ms.
Bhattacharya, it is better to
merge good banks with good
banks.
The news that the government
has allowed PSBs to bring
down the government stake to
52 per cent kicks off the next
round of reforms... because for
the first time, clear signal has
been given (to PSBs) to source
capital from the market.
The big daddy back there is
not going to be around to give
them capital as and when they
need. If they need to be
competitive and want to grow,
then they definitely need to
look at other places for more
capital, Ms. Bhattacharya
added.
Civilised tax regime to attract

investors: Jaitly
India will soon raise the foreign
investment cap in the insurance
sector and work for making the
tax regime civilised to attract
overseas investments, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley said, while
exuding confidence of
achieving 6 per cent growth
next fiscal.
Mr. Jaitley was replying to a
debate in the Lok Sabha on
Supplementary Demands for
Grants for an additional
expenditure of over Rs. 12,500
crore. However, the actual cash
outgo would be Rs. 500 crore.
India likely to improve
economic growth in 2016: UN
Indias economic growth is
expected to improve to 6.3 per
cent in 2016 with the country
leading economic recovery in

South Asia, according to a
United Nations report.
The UN World Economic
Situation and Prospects 2015
(WESP) report, launched, also
said India is likely to make
progress in implementing
economic policy reforms and
help provide support to
business and consumer
confidence.
It said global economic growth
is forecast to continue
increasing over the next two
years, despite legacies from the
financial crisis continuing to
weigh on growth, and the
emergence of new challenges,
including geopolitical conflicts
such as in Ukraine, and the
Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
The global economy is
expected to grow 3.1 per cent
in 2015 and 3.3 per cent in
2016, compared with an
estimated growth of 2.6 per
cent for 2014, when the pace
of expansion has been
moderate and uneven.
It said India, which is estimated
to record a 5.4 per cent
economic growth in 2014, will
see GDP growth improving to
5.9 per cent next year and 6.3
per cent in 2016.
Economic growth in South Asia
is also set to gradually pick up
from an estimated 4.9 per cent
in 2014 to 5.4 per cent in 2015
and 5.7 per cent in 2016.
Inflation declined to 4.38% in

November
Declining for the fifth
consecutive month, retail
inflation dropped to 4.38 per
cent in November, the lowest
since the new series of data
was introduced in January,
31

Economy
2012, on the back of high-base
effect of last year and softening
of prices of food items.
The Consumer Price Indexbased inflation or retail inflation
stood at 5.52 per cent in
October, while it was 11.16 per
cent in November, 2013.
Industrial production measured
by IIP contracts by 4.2% in
October
The factory output as measured
by the Index of Industrial
Production (IIP) contracted by
4.2 per cent in October, on
account of de-growth in the
manufacturing sector and poor
demand for consumer goods.
The factory output had
declined by 1.2 per cent in the
same month last year. For
September, it was revised to 2.8
per cent from the provisional
estimates of 2.5 per cent
released last month.
During the April-October
period, the IIP rose 1.9 per cent
against 0.2 per cent in same
period of last fiscal.
The fall in manufacturing
growth in October is
disturbing, more so because it
is broad-based and not limited
to a few sectors, FICCI
President Sidharth Birla said.
It not only reflected slowdown
in investments but also the
deep rooted slackness in
consumer demand which
required bringing down the
interest rates urgently, he
added.
Industry experts expressed
concern over the fact that
despite being a festive month,
growth of consumer goods,
especially durables, has been
negative in October.
Sixteen of the 22 industries
32
registered negative growth

rates. It is disappointing more
so because October is one of
the peak spending months
when rural incomes increase
and two festivals should have
prompted consumer spending.
It does appear more was spent
on gold (imports have
increased), CARE Ratings said.
Manufacturing output, which
constitutes over 75 per cent of
the index, contracted by 7.6
per cent in October,
compared to a dip of 1.3 per
cent in the same month a year
ago.
TCS targets to exceed 55,000
hiring this fiscal
TCS, said it was undertaking a
performance-based workforce
restructuring, but it was not a
retrenchment exercise and
the company might exceed its
target of hiring 55,000 new
professionals this fiscal.
Without giving any specific
numbers for employees to be
affected by this continuous
restructuring process, the HR
head of the company also said
that it is not that everyone
being relieved is a bad
performer.
It is not a special process. It is
a continuous process, TCS
EVP and Head (Global) HR
Ajoyendra Mukherjee told
reporters.
His comments follow reports
about TCS undertaking a
significant performancerelated restructuring of its
workforce, which may also lead
to some employees being
asked to leave the company.
Downplaying it as a regular
exercise, Mr. Mukherjee also
said the company was on track
to meet its gross hiring target of

55,000 employees in the
current fiscal ending March 31,
2015, and may even exceed it.
He said that the company has a
campus offer target of 35,000
people and it has already made
over 31,000 offers and more
than 3000 offers would be
made during the fiscal. This
(restructuring) is nothing new
what we are doing.
Switzerlands gold exports to
India marked near Rs. 1 trillion
in 2014
Amid concerns of bullion trade
being used for routing of black
money, Switzerland s gold
exports to India have risen
further and fast approaching
Rs. 1 trillion mark for the entire
2014.
The Swiss gold exports to India
stood at over 2.8 billion Swiss
francs (over Rs. 18,000 crore)
in October, up from about 2.2
billion Swiss francs in the
previous month, shows the
latest data from the Swiss
Customs Administration.
This has taken the total Swiss
gold exports to India since
January this year to 14.2 billion
Swiss francs (nearly Rs. 93,000
crore), as per the data
compiled by Switzerlands
cross-border trade monitoring
agency.
This surge in gold shipments has
made India the largest
destination for the yellow metal
exports from Switzerland.
There are concerns that gold
trade could be a possible route
for laundering of unaccounted
wealth, suspected to be
stashed by Indians in Swiss
banks, although there has been
no official word from either

Economy
countries so far in this regard.
The
Supreme
Courtconstituted SIT, however, said
in its latest report on black
money that a dedicated
institutional mechanism needs
to be put in place to examine
mismatch between export/
import
data
with
corresponding import/export
data of other countries on at
least a quarterly, if not a monthly
basis.
The SIT said that this suggestion
has been made by the
Financial Action Task Force
(FATF), while citing the Data
Analysis and Research for Trade
Transparency System adopted
by US, to control over/under
invoicing to some extent.
Since the global economy was

still weak, he argued, it would
be much less likely to be able
to absorb a substantial
additional amount of imports in
the foreseeable future.
Export-led growth will not be
as easy for India as it was for
the Asian economies that took

that path before.
He also cautioned the Modi
government against picking a
particular sector such as
manufacturing
for
encouragement,
simply
because it had worked well for
China.
SpiceJet officials meeting the DGCA
Incentivise domestic savings to

boost economy: RBI Chief
Reserve Bank Governor
Raghuram Rajan cautioned the
government on Prime Minister
Narendra Modis Make in India
mantra, suggesting that India
would have to look for regional
and domestic demand for
growth to make in India primarily for India.
Dr. Rajan said that at this stage,
an exports-push strategy for
growth would be ineffective;
as the industrial world
stagnated, many emerging
markets were rethinking their
export-led growth model, he
said.
There is a danger when we
discuss Make in India of assuming it means a focus on
manufacturing, an attempt to
follow the export-led growth
path that China followed But
the world as a whole is unlikely
to be able to accommodate
another export-led China, Dr.
Rajan said.
SpiceJet has indicated that its

promoters are backing the
airline that is apparently facing
financial problems.
The airlines officials met the
Secretary, Civil Aviation, and
the Director-General of Civil
Aviation to pass this message.
This is the second time this
week that SpiceJet officials are
meeting the DGCA.
The low-cost carriers chief
operating officer, Sanjiv
Kapoor, refused to comment
on the meeting. On his Twitter
page, he posted the message:
@SKapoorSpiceJet:
Apologies again to all our
customers affected by our
temporary ongoing challenges.
We will do our best to win back
your loyalty and support.
The falling global crude prices

will work to our benefit if we
set things right soon, said a
source at SpiceJet, who
wished anonymity. We will
come back soon. We will come
out with an update in a day or
two.
On the other side, the Travel
Agents Association of India
(TAAI) sent out an e-mail to its
members saying its airline council was in touch with the
SpiceJet management.
This morning, we had a conference call with Shilpa Bhatia,
senior vice-president and head
of sales, TAAI said in an e-mail.
The airline management is
meeting DGCA officials this afternoon along with a plan and
insight of the airlines financial
status.
33

Economy
They have stated that there is a
financial crunch, but not
something that will shut down
the airline. When TAAI voiced
its concerns, SpiceJet assured
it that all refunds due to
cancellations and waivers
would be granted, looking at
the situation.
CII demanded clarity and
stability in tax policy
In pre-budget consultations
with Revenue Secretary
Shaktikanta Das and other
officers of the Finance Ministry,
the Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) emphasised the
need for the government to
implement steps for reviving
the economy.
It also demanded a bunch of
tax concessions. The CII
demanded simplicity, clarity
and stability in the tax policy
regime and technology based
e-governance initiatives on
procedural simplification at the
meeting, according to a press
release.
To boost the investor
sentiment, the CII demanded
that the government take the
Make in India initiative to a new
level and galvanise the
economy to a higher and
inclusive growth path.
The CII team was led by past
President Arun Bharat Ram. He
stated that the CII was
deliberating in a constructive
manner on the possible
solutions for fundamental
design issues on Goods and
Services Tax (GST) and asked
for opportunities for regular
interaction with the officials
dealing with the reform.
The industry chamber
recommended that the
34
government remove anomalies

in customs duty and halve the
Central Sales Tax rate from 2
per cent to 1 per cent to
compensate for the delay in the
implementation of the GST.
It also demanded that the
government extend the excise
duty concessions on certain
goods to March 15, 2015. In the
Union budget 2014-15, this
reduction in the range of 2 per
cent-6 per cent was provided
up to December 31, 2014.
It also demanded that
investment allowance should
be
extended
to
the
infrastructure sector to further
spur investment activity in the
economy.
Global demand for OPEC crude
in 2015 will be less
Global demand for OPEC
crude in 2015 will be less than
expected and far below its
current output, the group said,
pointing to a hefty supply surplus without OPEC output cuts
or a slowdown in the U.S. shale
boom.
In a monthly report, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecast demand for the groups oil
will drop to 28.92 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2015,
down 280,000 bpd from its
previous expectation and over
one million bpd less than it is
now producing.
The report follows OPECs
decision last month not to prop
up prices by cutting output.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia
urged fellow members to
combat the growth in U.S. shale,
which needs relatively high
prices to be economic and has
been eroding OPECs market
share.
OPECs November 27 decision

to retain its output target of 30
million bpd sent prices
plunging. Brent crude was
trading below $66 a barrel,
close to a five-year low and
down more than 40 per cent
since June.
The report cut its forecast for
growth in global demand in
2015 due to a weaker outlook
for Europe and Asia, and
predicted higher supply
growth from shale and other
non-OPEC sources, although it
said this may be slowed if
prices stay weak.
Should the current fall in crude
prices continue over a longer
period, it will impact the nonOPEC supply forecast for 2015,
especially anticipated growth
in tight crude, OPECs report
said, using another term for
shale oil.
For now though, OPECs report
indicates that, with OPEC
pumping 30.05 million bpd in
November, according to
secondary sources cited by the
report, there will be a surplus
of 1.13 million bpd in 2015, and
1.83 million bpd in the first half.
WTO rules against the U.S. in
steel dispute with India
The World Trade Organization

(WTO) has ruled against the
U.S. imposing high duty on
imports of certain Indian steel
products, an order hailed by
India as a significant victory

Economy
that will help domestic

manufacturers and exporters.
The Appellate Body of the
WTO has ruled that the high
duty imposed by the U.S. on
the certain Indian steel imports
was inconsistent with various
provisions of the Agreement on
Subsidies and Countervailing
Measures (ASCM).
India has achieved a
significant victory at the WTO,
as the Appellate Body held that
the Countervailing Duty (CVD)
measures imposed by the U.S.
against certain hot-rolled
carbon steel flat products are
inconsistent with various
provisions of the ASCM, an
official statement said.
The move would definitely
help domestic manufacturers,
which had been suffering due
to inconsistent practices by the
U.S. Department of Commerce,
it added.
The implication of this ruling is
that the U.S. has to amend its
domestic law to be WTO
compliant. It has significant
trade impact for India as out of
the current 10 products on
which U.S. has imposed CVD,
about seven products suffer
from the same inconsistency,
it said.
India sees clear pick-up in

growth momentum says OECD
Reflecting improved prospects,
India is the only major economy
seeing a clear pick up in
growth momentum while
mixed trends are predicted for
developed
countries,
according to Paris-based think
tank Organisation for Economic
Co-operation
and
Development (OECD).
The OECD said growth would
continue to lose momentum in

Europe. For other major
economies, the outlook is for
stable growth momentum.
The readings, for the month of
October, are based on
composite leading indicator
(CLI), which is designed to
anticipate turning points in
economic activity relative to
trend.
India is the only major
economy where the CLI points
to a clear pick-up in growth
momentum, OECD said in a
statement.
The countrys CLI rose to 99.6
in October from 99.4 in the
previous month. Last month, the
OECD said the Indian economy
was expected to see an
average growth of 6.7 per cent
over the 2015-19 period, while
a further boost would depend
on reform plans of the
government.
In October, the International
Monetary Fund and the World
Bank projected 5.6 per cent
growth rate for India this year,
citing renewed confidence in
the market due to a series of
economic reforms pursued by
the new government.
Reliance Group sells multiplex

business to Carnival
Anil Ambani led Reliance
Group has sold its multiplex
business to South India based
Carnival Group in the largest
ever deal in this space.
The transaction will reduce
Reliance Capitals overall debt
by Rs 700 crore and is part of
Reliance Capitals strategy to
exit minority investments.
The deal will make Carnival the
third largest multiplex operator
with nationwide presence and
over 300 screens, a statement

said. The firms did not disclose
the exact value of the deal.
The deal struck between
Carnival Cinemas and Reliance
MediaWorks, will exclude
IMAX Wadala (Mumbai) and
some other properties worth Rs
200 crore, the statement
added.
Reliance Capital is the parent
firm of Reliance MediaWorks,
which operates one of the
largest cinema chains, under
the brand BIG Cinemas with
over 250 screens pan-India.
Sam Ghosh, CEO, Reliance
Capital, said: We are delighted
to begin a long term
relationship with the rapidly
growing Carnival Group,
through the sale of the
multiplexes business of
Reliance Media Works to them.
Carnival Group is targeting to
achieve 1,000 screens by the
year 2017, said its chairman
Shrikant Bhasi. The proposed
transaction is subject to
necessary statutory and other
approvals and is expected to
be closed within the current
financial year.
Mid-Year Economic Review

projects 5.5% growth: Jaitley
Despite the sprouting of green
shoots, a robust recovery is still
to fully take hold, says the MidYear Economic Analysis for the
current year, tabled in
Parliament by Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley.
The Review projects 2014-15
growth will be 5.5 per cent.
India faces challenges that are
mostly domestic, says the
Review.
India grew at sub-5 per cent
for the last two years. Growth
35

Economy
36
bounced to 5.7 per cent in the

April-June quarter before
slipping again to 5.3 per cent
in the July-September quarter.
We see some signs of private
consumption stirring, Chief
Economic Advisor (CEA)
Arvind Subramanian told
reporters after the Review was
tabled.
What we are yet to see
decisively is private investment
picking up.
The Review says that overindebtedness in Indias
corporate sector is amongst the
highest in the world. This, it says,
exerts a drag on future
investment and spending. The
public private partnership
model has been less than
successful, the Review says.
First, the backlog of stalled
projects needs to be cleared
more expeditiouslyBut even
if the backlog is cleared, there
is going to be a flow challenge:
attracting new private
investment, especially in
infrastructure.
With private sector investments
uncertain, Dr. Subramanian
said, public investment itself
could be an engine of growth
over the medium-term but not
in the short run as governments
revenues are likely to fall short
of the budgets optimistic
targets.
The Review said too that the
Centre faces a major challenge
in achieving its fiscal deficit
target of 4.1 per cent of GDP in
the current year. Dr.
Subramanian, however, said
the government is committed
to achieving it and is
considering all measures
including spending cuts.
SpiceJet is all to change hands
Embattled airline company

SpiceJet is all set to change
hands.
With the Marans of Sun Group
not keen on investing more,
Ajay Singh, one of the original
co-promoters of SpiceJet is
understood to be doing due
diligence of the company with
a view to acquire a fresh stake
along with a couple of financial
investors.
An official privy to the
development said that the data
room had been opened for due
diligence.
GreenDust.com planning to
expend global presence
Refurbished goods retailer
Reverse Logistics Corps, which
operates GreenDust.com, is
planning to expand its global
footprint by entering Africa,
South Asia and CIS. It has
already started a pilot in Dubai,
the U.S., and Hong Kong.
We are planning to expand
our presence in the emerging
markets.
Returns
and
refurbished market are a $500billion opportunity worldwide,
and we want to be the Alibaba
of this space, said GreenDust
founder and CEO Hitendra
Chaturvedi.
Founded in 2008, GreenDust
refurbishes damaged or
defective products and sells
through its online channel and
offline franchisee. The

company sells products under
three categories such as end of
life products, factory seconds
and refurbished products at a
discounted price.
We started with consumer
appliances, mobile phones,
laptops and computers.
However, looking at the growth
of the e-commerce sector, we
believe that we can sell
anything that is sold through ecommerce, added Mr.
Chaturvedi.
The company had recently
partnered
e-commerce
companies such as Flipkart,
Snapdeal and Amazon to
manage their reverse supply
chain. The company, which
expects a revenue of over
Rs.1,000 crore this year, is
planning to expand its reach.
GoAir offers discount on fares,
lowest at Rs 1,469 for travel
next year
The Wadia Group-promoted
budget carrier GoAir said it has
put 1.7 million seats up for sale,
offering fares as low as Rs. 1,469
for travel next year with a fiveday booking period, to
stimulate demand during the
lean period.
The special offer is available on
flights across the GoAir network
for a travel period between
January 1 and March 31, the
airline said. The bookings under
the offer can be made
between December 21 and
December 25, it said.
The January-March quarter is
traditionally a lean quarter... The
purpose of introducing these
fares is to make air travel
affordable during the period,
GoAir chief executive Giorgio

Economy
De Roni told PTI in New
Delhi.
Stating that lowering of ticket
prices was not to trigger a fare
war in the domestic skies, Mr.
De Roni said, It is not an offer
on lowest price or the cheapest
price but to make it affordable
and more attractive during the
lean period.
GoAir is committed to offer the
affordable fares that allows it to
deliver a sustainable result, Mr.
De Roni said, adding we can
grow only when we are
profitable and develop our
network and the fleet.
The airline wants to be
consistent with its pricing
strategy, he said. The Mumbaibased airline operates across
22 destinations in the country
with a fleet of 19 Airbus A320s.
SEBI barred 260 entities for
suspected money laundering
In its biggest ever crackdown

for suspected tax evasion and
laundering of black money
through stock trading
platforms, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India
barred 260 entities, including
individuals and companies,
from the securities markets.
While SEBI would further
probe these cases, it has also
decided to refer the matter to
the I-T Department, the
Enforcement Directorate, the
Financial Intelligence Unit,
among other agencies, for
necessary actions on their part.

Through two separate interim
orders, SEBI said that these 260
entities would be restrained
from accessing the securities
market and from buying, selling
or dealing in securities, either
directly or indirectly, with
immediate effect till further
directions.
It has also asked stock
exchanges
and
the
depositories to ensure that all
its directions are strictly
enforced. While 152 entities
have been barred in one case
relating to an entity, named First
Financial Services Ltd, another
108 entities have faced the
action in a case related to
Radford Global Limited.
The action comes at a time
when the government has
sharpened its focus on
unearthing black money
stashed abroad and within the
country, while SEBI also
recently
tightened
its
surveillance of shell companies
In the first case, the suspected
dealings took place on the
stock market for almost two
years till March 31, 2014, while
the second case relates to a
period of little more than a year
starting January, 2013.
Petroleum products brought
under GST
Apart from subsuming various
Central indirect taxes and
levies and State taxes, the
Constitution (122 Amendment)
Bill, introduced in the Lok
Sabha, confers simultaneous
power to Union and State
legislations to legislate on
Goods and Service Tax (GST).
All goods and services, except
alcoholic liquor for human
consumption, will be brought

under the purview of GST.
Petroleum and petroleum
products have also been
constitutionally brought under
GST.
However, it has also been
provided that petroleum
products shall not be subject
to the levy of GST till notified at
a future date on the
recommendation of the GST
Council.
The present taxes levied by the
States and the Centre on
petroleum and petroleum
products, i.e., Sales Tax/VAT,
CST and Excise duty only, will
continue to be levied in the
interim period.
Responding to the concerns
aired by members, Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
took them down memory lane
to 2006 when it was mooted
by the UPA in its Budget and
also narrated efforts made by
the present government to
build a consensus on what he
has often billed as the single
most important tax reform after
1947.
Stating that GST was originally
conceived by Vajpayeeji, he
pointed out that it was pushed
by both the UPA Finance
Ministers. The object behind
the GST is to have a seamless
transfer of goods and services
across the country. Let there be
no tax on tax, Mr Jaitley said.
SEBI makes fresh bid to find

Sahara investors
In a fresh effort to locate Sahara
investors eligible for refunds,
regulator Securities and
Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) has asked bondholders
to submit their claims by
37

Economy
38
January along with necessary

proof of their investments.
The latest exercise follows a
similar attempt made by Sebi
in August, wherein the eligible
bondholders were asked to
submit their refund claims to
the regulator by September 30,
2014.
Sebi said it received 4,900
refund claims during that
exercise from the bondholders
of two Sahara companies
Sahara India Real Estate Corp
Ltd (SIRECL) and Sahara
Housing Investment Corp Ltd
(SHICL), which had raised over
Rs 24,000 crore from about
three crore investors.
In the interest of those
bondholders of Saharas who
could not submit their refund
claims before the last date, this
advertisement is being issued
to enable those bondholders to
submit their refund claims,
Sebi said.
The Supreme Court had asked
Sebi to facilitate refund to the
bondholders of the two
companies in connection with

a long-running dispute
involving raising of funds to the
tune of over Rs 24,000 crore
from investors across the
country.
Existing account enough to avail
Jan Dhan benefits: govt.
Government said persons

already having bank account
need not to open a fresh one
to avail benefits of the Pradhan
Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
(PMJDY).
A person who is already
having a bank account with any
bank need not have to open a
separate account under
PMJDY. He/she will just have to
get issued a RuPay card in his
existing account to get benefit

of accidental insurance, a
Finance Ministry statement
said.
The overdraft facility can be
extended in existing account,
it said. Accidental insurance of
Rs 1 lakh will be available to all
RuPay card holders between
18-70 years. They will need to
use their RuPay card once in 45
days of receipt of the card to
get the benefit.
The accidental claim intimation
should be given to bank within
30 days from the date of
accident, it added. For life
insurance coverage, one
person per family will get a
single cover of Rs 30,000 on
one card only despite having
multiple accounts/cards.
The claim of Rs 30,000 is
payable to the nominee of
account holder who need to
submit necessary documents
to the nodal branch of the
concerned bank, the Ministry
said.
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Science & Technology
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Worlds oldest computer is even
older than scientists thought
space capsule Orion for a test

flight around Earth was
delayed due to gusty winds at
the launch site.
Antikythera Mechanism, the

worlds oldest computer, is
even 100 years older than
scientists previously thought,
say Argentinian researchers.
Discovered from a Roman cargo
shipwreck off the Greek island
of Antikythera, the bronze
device was used to track the
movements of Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The device provides a wealth
of astronomical information and
offers practically the only
possibility for a close
astronomical dating of the
mechanism, the New York
Times reported.
The device was discovered in
a wooden box and consists of
bronze dials, gears and cogs.
The complex device, made up
of up to 40 bronze cogs and
gears, was used in ancient times
to track the cycles of the solar
system. On the back were two
further dials displaying
information about lunar cycles
and eclipses.
Delay in NASAs Orion
spaceship test flight
The launch of NASAs deep-
Liftoff of the United Launch

Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket
and Orion capsule from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida had been targeted for
7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT).
There is high optimism that
well be able to launch today,
said
NASA
launch
commentator Michael Curie.
Launch was delayed first by a
boat that wandered in the
restricted zone beneath the
rockets intended flight path
and then by gusty winds at the
seaside spaceport.
Google launches a new
application for SMBs
In a move to create easier
online presence for the small
and medium businesses
(SMBs), Google has launched
a new application, Google My
Business.
The new product is designed
to work across desktop and
mobile devices, and will enable
SMBs to create and update
their business info on various
Google products such as
search, maps and Google plus

from one place for free. The
users can use the service in
Hindi and English.
Commenting on the new
initiative, Google India Head
(SMB sales) Suryanarayana
Kodukulla said: India is a
strategic market for Google,
and we are committed to invest
in solutions that cater to the
needs of SMBs in India.
As part of our Digitising India
mission, we are introducing this
new mobile-based product
Google My Business that will
help Indian SMBs create and
manage their Internet presence
and help them connect with
potential customers online, he
added.
According to the company,
globally over two million
businesses use Googles
advertising platform to find
potential buyers on Internet.
On growth of Internet in the
country, he said, India is the
third largest Internet market.
To get the first hundred million
Internet users it took us ten
years, but the second hundred
million came in a span of two
years that was pretty fast, more
interesting thing is in the next
one one-and-half years we will
get the next hundred million
users.
Benefits from music for the

autistic: study
Paired with an impaired
language
development,
children with autism can have
39

a profound sensitivity to music:

a good melodic memory, a
superior ability at timbre
processing, and a distinctive
emotional response to song.
Taking this cue, neuroscientists
at the National Brain Research
Centre (NBRC) in Gurgaon set
out to see if music can rescue
speech deficits in children with
autism.
The results of neuroimaging
revealed that music and the
sung word lights up parts of
the right hemisphere of their
brain just as much as it do for a
child without autism.
Predictably, however, there
was a diminished response to
the spoken word, the
researchers report in the
journal Autism Research.
For the study scientists
mapped the brain activities of
22 children with autism as they
heard spoken words, sung
words and piano notes. They
then
compared
these
responses to typical children.
When typical children listen to
spoken words they primarily
activate two regions in the left
hemisphere the Inferior
Frontal Gyrus (IFG) and the
Superior Temporal Gyrus (STG)
that are involved in language
perception and understanding.
Ability of HIV to cause AIDS

slowing found study
A research study has found that

HIV and as a consequence
40
AIDS is slowly becoming

less aggressive in parts of Africa.
These are the significant
findings of a study conducted
by Professor Philip Goulder and
his team at the Nuffield
Department of Medicine at
Oxford University that have
been published in the journal
Proceedings of National
Academy of Sciences.
Based on a study of about 2,000
pregnant women in Botswana
and South Africa, the team has
demonstrated that the
weakening
of
the
immunodeficiency virus is due
to its rapid evolution and ability
to mutate over time.
In Botswana the epidemic took
off in the 1980s, a decade
before it hit South Africa.
Overall we are bringing down
the ability of HIV to cause AIDS
so quickly, Prof. Goulder told
Reuters.
Scientists were aware that a
gene known as HLA-B*57 in a
person acted as a protection
against the HIV virus. The new
study finds that the virus has
adapted to the gene, which
therefore no longer offers
protection.
Artificial intelligence could

eliminate human race:
Hawking
Efforts to develop artificial
intelligence to create thinking
machines pose a threat to the
very existence of human race,
famed British theoretical
physicist Stephen Hawking
warned.
The development of full
artificial intelligence could
spell the end of the human
race, the 72-year-old
cosmologist and author said
when asked about a revamp of

the technology he uses to
communicate, which involves
a basic form of artificial
intelligence (AI).
Hawking, who has a motor
neuron disease, is using a new
system developed by Intel to
speak.
Machine learning experts from
the British company Swiftkey
were also involved in its creation. Their technology learns
how the professor thinks and
suggests the words he might
want to use next.
Hawking says the primitive
forms of artificial intelligence
developed so far have already
proved very useful, but he fears
the consequences of creating
something that can match or
surpass humans.
Hayabusa2 launched to explore
how earth was formed
A Japanese space explorer was

launched on a six-year
roundtrip journey to blow a
crater in a remote asteroid and
collect samples from inside in
hopes of gathering clues to the
origin of earth.
The explorer is expected to
reach the asteroid in 2018 and
spend about 18 months
studying it before returning in
2020.
The research includes shooting
a projectile into the asteroid to
blast open a crater so the
explorer can collect rock
samples from inside.


Asteroids can provide
evidence not available on earth
about the birth of the solar
system and its evolution.
Japans space agency said
Hayabusa2 will explore the
origin of seawater and how the
planet earth was formed.
Slimmer & sleeker Google Glass
soon: report
The new version of Intelpowered Google Glass may
look slimmer and sleeker than
its earlier version.
The exteriors of the new
device also add a textured area
to the touch-sensitive side
panel where non-voice
interactions are performed,
according to media reports.
The new Google Glass is
expected to be unveiled next
year. The Google patent
describes a sleeker version of
Google Glass that should still
draw plenty of public attention.
Google Glass is presently
available for $1,500, though it
is speculated that the final retail
version will sell for a lot less.
Shela River route closed after
Sundarbans oil spill
The Bangladesh government

has closed Shela River route to
allvessels after the sinking of an
oil tanker that led to a massive
oil spill in the Sundarbans
mangrove forest.
Carrying 357,664 l of furnace
oil, the tanker OT Southern Star
7 went down after being hit

by another vessel on the Shela
at Mrigmari in the Sundarbans
Chandpai range three days ago.
The massive oil spill from the
sunken tanker has put the
biodiversity and ecology of the
worlds biggest mangrove
forest, a world heritage site
since 1997, at risk.
Forest officials suspect that all
of the furnace oil in the sunken
tanker has already spread into
the rivers and canals of the
Sundarbans.
Mosquito coils, incense sticks
contain carcinogens: expert
Inhaling smoke emitted by
mosquito coils and incense
sticks is not only harmful to the
lungs, but can also cause
cancer, said Sundeep Salvi,
director of Chest Research
Foundation, Pune.
Dr. Salvi, who spoke on Indoor
pollution and asthma at the
48th National Conference of
Indian College of Allergy,
Asthma and Applied Immunology at JSS Hospital, claimed
that research by the foundation
had shown that mosquito coils
and incense sticks contain carcinogens, while studies in Taiwan and China had established
their link with lung cancer.
Burning one mosquito coil in a
closed room amounts to
smoking
roughly
100
cigarettes, Dr. Salvi said.
While the emission from the
burning of incense sticks, used
commonly during religious
occasions in India, is toxic as it
contains lead, iron and
manganese, he said the
pesticide pyrethrin in
mosquito coils is harmful for the
lungs.
The no-smoke coils, marketed
by the companies, may have

less particulate matter, but they
emit a high level of carbon
monoxide, which is unsafe for
the lungs, he added.
Though studies are yet to be
conducted on mosquito
repellent mats and liquidators,
he said the gaseous pollution
they cause are a strong irritant
for the lungs.
Dr. Salvi said the foundation
had recently conducted
research in 22 villages near
Pune, which showed that 65
per cent of the households
keep both the doors and
windows closed while using
mosquito coils, which
accentuates the effect of
inhaling toxic fumes.
Stem cells in eye can restore
vision: scientists
In what promises to be an
alternative
to
corneal
transplantation in treating
blindness caused from
damage to cornea, scientists
from city-based L.V. Prasad Eye
Institute
(LVPEI)
in
collaboration with U.S.
scientists claimed to have
discovered potent stem cells in
the eye that possess the ability
to restore lost sight.
The findings were published
in Science Translational
Medicine. Dr. Sayan Basu,
LVPEI consultant corneal
surgeon, said he along with
other scientists at the
laboratory of Prof. James
L.Funderburgh, Professor of
41


Ophthalmology, University of
Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
tested stem cells obtained from
human
eyes
on
an
experimental model of corneal
scarring.
Satellite technology to assess
coral reef health
probability of bleaching.
Once they start bleaching, the
corals expel the symbiotic
organism (zooxanthellae) from
which they derive food and die
as a result. Corals act as
breeding and feeding ground
for a variety of fishes.
Corals are the forests of
oceans, said Dr. T. Srinivasa
Kumar, Head of the advisory
service
and
satellite
oceanography group.
Mountains of plastic waste
floating in worlds oceans
High-end satellite technology

is coming to the aid of
protecting earths largest
biological structures the
coral reefs which have taken
millions of years to form and are
declining at alarming rates
worldwide.
Coral bleaching is one of the
main reasons for increased
deterioration of reef health.
Corals are sensitive to changes
in temperature and this aspect
has come in handy for scientists
to forewarn about the
possibility of coral bleaching.
When exposed to higher
temperatures
over
an
extended period of four to five
weeks, the corals bleach and
this in turn affects the marine
ecosystem.
Scientists at the Indian National
Centre for Ocean Information
Services (INCOIS) are using
satellite technology to glean
data on Sea Surface
Temperatures (SST).
Based on an average
temperature for a particular
period, they assess if the coral
reefs are facing thermal stress
and forewarn about the
42
The results of a study by Marcus

Eriksen (the first author) from
the Five Gyres Institute,
California, are published
(December 11) in the
journal PLOS ONE.
The results are based on 24
expeditions
undertaken
between 2007 and 2013
across all the five sub-tropical
gyres North and South
Pacific Oceans, North and
South Atlantic Oceans and the
Indian Ocean coastal
Australia, Bay of Bengal and the
Mediterranean Sea.
Nine new frog species add to
Western Ghats inventory
Believe it or not, nearly 269,000

tonnes of plastic comprising an
estimated 5.25 trillion plastic
particles are floating in the
worlds oceans, including the
Bay of Bengal.
This estimate does not take into
account the amount of plastic
waste found in the shorelines,
on the seabed, suspended in
the water column and that
consumed by marine organisms.
The plastic particles are found
in three size ranges
microplastic (less than 4.75
mm), mesoplastic (4.75-200
mm) and macroplastic (above
200 mm). The microplastic particles alone are in two size
classes 0.33-1.00 mm and
1.01-4.75 mm.
Of the 269,000 tonnes of
floating plastic waste, the
larger plastic items are
predominant (an estimated
233,000 tonnes).
The inventory of amphibian

diverstiy in the Western Ghats
has just got longer with the
discovery of nine new species
of bush frogs in this mountain
range.
Some as tiny as a thumbnail,
other brightly coloured or plain
slimy, each of these creatures
adds important insights into the
evolutionary biodiversity of the
Western Ghats, says Kartik
Shanker of the Indian Institute
of Science and co-author of a
paper
published
in
international journal Zootaxa.
Researchers trekked through
the Western Ghats during the
rainy season (when bush frogs
are most active) training their
ear to tell tale bush frog calls
and scouring tree trunks for
them.


Bush frogs are miniature frogs
distributed throughout south
and southeast Asia.
They then used genetics,
geography, morphology and
acoustics to separate the frogs
into lineages (descendants of
a common ancestor that lived a
million or more years ago).
There could be at least 15 new
species of bush frogs waiting
to be discovered adding to the
over 50 species known from the
Western Ghats, said Dr.
Shanker.
India would have new
comprehensive climate
legislation: Javadekar
Union minister of state for

environment Prakash Javadekar
said that India would have new
comprehensive
climate
legislation in the next budget
session of Parliament.
Speaking at an event organised
by The Globe Legislators
Organisation (Globe India) , Mr
Javadekar said there is the real
issue of Climate finance.
While the world has realised
the dangers of climate change,
the main issue is that the Green
climate fund must become a
reality.
From 2012, it was expected to
start with $10 billion every year
to reach $100 billion by 2020
and then continue with $ 100
billion per year. But today its
just $9.7 billion.
He said funds will be a key

decision point in Lima and apart
from that there is the issue of
the Intended Nationally
Determined Contributions
(INDC)s.
Things are very different from
Kyoto when the world was
divided into the developing
countries or the non annexe
one and the annexe one
countries which was the
developed world.
Now things had changed, he
pointed out and every country
has to take action and
announce them. He predicted
heated debates on Climate
Finance, INDCs and other key
issues.
He referred to Indias targets for
solar power and the scaling up
of solar energy from 20
gigawatt(GW) to100 GW by
2022 for which an investment
of $ 100 billion was made.
Modi, Mukesh Ambani amongst
most searched personalities in
2014: Yahoo
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and industrialist Mukesh
Ambani feature amongst the
most searched personalities
online this year, according to
search engine Yahoo.
According to the seventh
edition of Yahoo Indias Year
in Review, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi led the list of
High and Mighty? the Political
Top 10 in 2014, followed by
his aides Arun Jaitley (Finance
and I&B Minister) and BJP
President Amit Shah.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh,
Congress President Sonia
Gandhi, Railways Minister
Suresh Prabhu and BJP General
Secretary Ram Madhav have
also been named in the list.

The review is based on users
daily search habits and an
editorial selection of what they
read, recommended and
shared most on Yahoo in India.
The slew of reforms and Modis
efforts to improve diplomatic
ties were of ongoing interest to
Yahoo users. Make in India
made it to the top of the list of
Biggest Financial Events of the
Year, Yahoo said.
Industrialist Mukesh Ambani
made a second appearance at
the No. 1 spot as the nations
most influential people,
followed by Tata Group boss
Cyrus Mistry and Gautam
Adani, Chief of Adani Group of
Industries.
This years top finance
newsmakers include Apple
CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft CEO
Satya Nadella, Infosys CEO and
MD Vishal Sikka, Flipkarts
Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal
and Snapdeals Rohit Bansal.
Google set to replace
CAPTCHAs with single click
feature
Google is set to get rid of
CAPTCHA that forced users to
confirm they are humans by
typing in barely legible words
and numbers, a report said.
The service will now be
replaced with a single click on
sites that use Googles
reCAPTCHA service.
The search engine giant is now
introducing a new API text that
will require users to just check
a box that says, Im not a
robot, reported Tech Crunch.
Google decided to trash the
old Captchas because they
werent that good at keeping
robots at bay. The advanced
43


robots today could solve
Captchas with 99.8 per cent
accuracy.
New evidence of water on
Mars, NASA report
Led by a team of scientists of
Indian-origin, NASAs Curiosity
rover has found new evidence
of water on Mars, indicating that
the planet most like Earth in the
solar system was suitable for
microbial life.
Pictures and other data
collected by NASAs Mars rover
Curiosity show that rivers once
flowed into a lake or lakes at
the bottom of Gale Crate, an
enormous dimple carved out
by an incoming space rock.
NASA said its interpretation of
Curiositys finds in Gale Crater
suggests ancient Mars
maintained a climate that could
have produced long-lasting
lakes at many locations on the
Red Planet.
The American space agency
said Marss Mount Sharp was
built by sediments deposited
in a large lake bed over tens of
millions of years.
If our hypothesis for Mount
Sharp holds up, it challenges
the notion that warm and wet
conditions were transient, local,
or only underground on Mars,
said Indian- American Ashwin
Vasavada, who is the Curiosity
deputy project scientist at
NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena.
The thickness of the rock
outcrops indicates that the lake
or lakes must have sloshed
around the bottom of 154-km
Gale Crater over the course of
millions of years, though the
lake probably dried up and
then reappeared a number of
times, the researchers said.
44
African Snail will make a

comeback says experts
The Giant African Snail, an

invasive species that has
established itself in large parts
of the State, could re-emerge
from its dormant state and pose
a greater menace before the
next wet spell, a consultative
workshop held warned.
The molluscs that have gone
into aestivation (period of
hibernation to escape summer
heat and dryness) could come
out in a big way during the
summer showers and go on to
expand their area of
distribution, according to T.V.
Sajeev, Entomologist and Head,
Forest Health division, Kerala
Forest Research Institute
(KFRI), Peechi.
Experts participating in the
workshop cautioned against
the use of chemicals to control
the snail that has ravaged crops
and posed a threat to native
ecosystems in parts of the State.
The workshop was organised
by the Kerala State Council for
Science, Technology and
Environment (KSCSTE) and the
Centre for Innovation in
Science and Social Action.
Highlighting the potential
ecological damage caused by
chemicals, speakers called for
organic methods to check the
biological invasion.
In his presentation, Mr. Sajeev
suggested nicotine-based
pesticides to keep a check on

snail populations. He said
studies had proved the efficacy
of tobacco decoction to quell
the marauding pest.
The KFRI, he said, had initiated
efforts to develop a plant
extract with molluscicidal
activity. It is important to
ensure that the control agent
used against a pest does not
become a problem in itself, he
said.
Responsibility of developed
Countries Stressed: Climate
Summit
Both India and the United

States stuck to their respective
stand on the differentiation of
countries according to the
Kyoto Protocol which had
clear divisions for the
developed countries as
annexe one and developing
countries as non annexe one.
Union Minister of State for
Environment Prakash
Javadekar
said
that
t h i s differentiation should
remain as it is.
India is not in favour of rewriting
the Protocol to change the
categorisation of countries, he
pointed out in a clear
indication that historical
responsibilities of the
developed countries would
continue to be a determining
factor in funding adaptation
and technology transfer. .
The BASIC or Brazil, South


Africa, India, and China group
of countries will meet this week
and he said the countries are
all on the same page on several
issues. They also agreed that the
intended
nationally
determined contributions
(INDCs) should have a strong
adaptation focus.
What carbon space have you
released for us to grow? Mr.
Javadekar asked, adding
that adaptation needs to be an
essential part of the INDCs of
developed countries. BASIC
also wants developed countries
to make more meaningful
financial contributions.
Mr. Javadekar said India was
opposed to an ex ante review
process and he said countries
needed the internal freedom
to determine their domestic
climate action needs.
however, using discarded

batteries could make the
approach far cheaper,
according to MIT Technology
Review.
The most costly component in
these systems is often the
battery, said Vikas Chandan, a
research scientist at the labs
Smarter Energy Group, who led

the project.
In this case, the most expensive part of your storage solution is coming from trash, Mr.
Chandan said. The IBM group
extracted individual storage
units called cells to recombine
them and form refurbished battery packs.
Bio-digester technology of
DRDO can give thrust to Swachh Bharat campaign
Discarded laptop batteries have

enough life to power slums: Study
Discarded laptop batteries still

have enough life in them to
power slums in India and other
developing countries, a new
study by IBM India has found.
The research presented at a
conference in San Jose, U.S.,
analysed a sample of discarded
batteries and found 70 per
cent had enough power to
keep an LED light on for more
than four hours a day for a year.
According to researchers at
IBM India, many of the
estimated 50 million lithium
ion laptop batteries discarded
every year could provide
electricity storage sufficient to
light homes in developing
countries.
It is possible to combine LED
lights with solar panels and
rechargeable
batteries,
A simple, low-cost technology

for treating human waste
developed by the Defence
Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) can aid
in putting an end to open
defecation and manual
scavenging in the country.
The bio-digester technology of
DRDO has the potential to give
a thrust to the ambitious Clean
India campaign, launched by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A recent report Progress on
Drinking Water and Sanitation,
update 2014, by WHO and
UNICEF, estimates that about
597 million people in India
resort to open defecation, the
highest in the world.
The target of Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan is to provide each
household in India a toilet, both

rural and urban, by 2019.
The numbers alone are of lesser
significance than the final
disposal of human waste
involved. At present the
DRDOs technology is the best
suited for Indian environment
both physical and social.
The technology, which uses
bacteria to treat waste, was
originally developed by the
Defence
Research
Development Establishment
(DRDE), Gwalior, to meet the
sanitation requirements of
soldiers serving in the high
altitudes of Ladakh and
Siachen.
The system is built to operate
from minus 20 degrees to plus
50 degrees and is highly
45


customisable as per the
requirements and local
conditions.
The best feature is that it totally
does away with manual
scavenging and is low on
maintenance and installation
cost. This is the best system of
decentralised waste treatment
which is made to withstand any
geo-climatic conditions of the
country.
Epidemic Outbreaks
Test Health Apparatus
Whenever there is an
epidemics outbreak, the health
apparatus is put to the test.
Most of the burden in tackling
epidemics falls on the State
since a majority of the
population flock to the
Government Hospitals and
Primary Health Centres as not
many can afford the huge costs
of hospitalisation in private
sector.
While the recent outbreak of
Avian Influenza or the bird flu
in the neighbouring State poses
little risk to men, since it does
not easily infect human beings,
the State Health Department
has put all PHCs on Kerala
border on alert. As it is a virusborne disease, it can spread
quickly and infect a lot of
people in a short time.
Coimbatore is no stranger to
epidemic outbreaks. Right from
Swine Flu to dengue and
diarrhoea, the city has seen it
all since its a major transmit
point and also has an
international airport.
S. Somasundaram, Deputy
Director of Health Services,
says while prevention measures
are given importance, the
department has also protocols
46
in place to contain outbreaks.

The foremost priority was
identifying the source of the
outbreak such as mosquito
breeding points for dengue.
These will be destroyed and
awareness programme will be
taken up among the public. The
health department has put in
place protocols for all diseases,
he adds.
Coimbatore Medical College
Hospital has created an
isolation ward to treat
epidemic outbreaks patients.
Further, another infectious
disease ward has been created
to quarantine patients with
deadle disease such as Ebola,
says the hospital Dean S.
Revwathy.
The bio-technology and
microbiology laboratories of
the CMCH were equipped to
detect most of the viral-borne
disease.
However,
complicated cases such as
ebola are sent to the National
Institute of Virology, Pune, for
confirmation, she adds.
Mental health programme to
focus on the elderly
Over the last few years, a lot of

the patients senior geriatrician
V.S. Natarajan has seen were in
need of mental health services.
Financial, health and social
problems these are the issues
the elderly have. With many
elderly citizens living alone in
both villages and cities as their
children migrate elsewhere for

work, cases of depression and
dementia are on the rise, he
said.
To take care of the mental
health needs of the elderly, an
expansion of the district
mental health programme
(DMHP) in Tamil Nadu has
been planned, under which,
psychiatrists in every district
will be trained to take care of
geriatric needs. Once a week,
a special clinic for senior
citizens will be held.
We already have psychiatrists
in 25 districts; in four others,
psychiatrists are being posted
and in the three others, the
process has begun. Since we
have the infrastructure and the
resources and have a geriatric
care policy in the State, we
decided to link them and meet
this essential need, a senior
health official said.
This apart, caregivers will also
be trained, said the official.
This is important as caregivers
too need to be trained in the
needs of the elderly.
This area is generally not looked
into as most caregivers are
family members, but we are
planning to focus on this, he
said.
There has been an increase in
longevity thanks to better
healthcare, but the aim of the
DMHPs geriatric care services
is to improve the quality of life
of senior citizens, said State
nodal
officer,
C.
Ramasubramanian.
NASAs Kepler spacecraft

discovers Super-Earth
NASAs planet-hunting Kepler
spacecraft, which is carrying
out a new mission, has made its


first exoplanet discovery a
super-Earth located 180 lightyears from Earth.
Lead researcher Andrew

Vanderburg, a graduate
student at the HarvardSmithsonian Center for
Astrophysics in Cambridge,
Massachusetts,
studied
publicly available data
collected by the spacecraft
during a test of the new K2
mission in February 2014.
This led to the discovery of a
planet, HIP 116454b, which is
2.5 times the diameter of Earth
and follows a close, nine-day
orbit around a star that is smaller
and cooler than our Sun, making
the planet too hot for life as we
know it. HIP 116454b and its
star are 180 light-years from
Earth, toward the constellation
Pisces.
The discovery was confirmed
with measurements taken by
the
HARPS-North
spectrograph of the Telescopio
Nazionale Galileo in the Canary
Islands, which captured the
wobble of the star caused by
the planets gravitational tug as
it orbits.
HARPS-N showed that the
planet weighs almost 12 times
as much as Earth. This makes
HIP 116454b a super-Earth, a
class of planets that does not
exist in our solar system. The
exoplanet discovery was made
after astronomers and
engineers repurposed Kepler
for its new mission.

Last summer, the possibility of
a scientifically productive
mission for Kepler after its
reaction wheel failure in its
extended mission was not part
of the conversation, said Paul
Hertz, NASAs astrophysics
division director at the agencys
headquarters in Washington.
Microsoft pitches for White-Fi

technology to provide last mile
broadband connectivity
Microsoft is looking at starting a

pilot project of its White-Fi
technology that uses the
unused
spectrum
in
frequencies
used
for
broadcasting of television
signals, and is likely to offer
solution to tackle the problem
of last mile broadband
connectivity in the country.
In a country of massive
change, digital divide can pose
serious challenge. In all the
initiatives by the government
Digital India, Swachh Bharat
or Jan-Dhan Yojna
technology has a role to play,
and we want to be part of it,
Microsoft India Chairman
Bhaskar Pramanik said, adding
that at present, the company
was talking to all stakeholders,
including the government, for
its White-Fi technology to
provide last mile connectivity.
We are waiting for licence to
start our pilot of the
technology. Where ever
spectrum
is
involved
government permission in
needed We will start with
IIIT, Bangalore. We may start
with the campus, but want to
take it to rural areas to see how
it works with all natural barriers,
he added.
The pilot, once started, is
expected to last for about
three months. Other countries
where Microsoft has helped
implement the technology are
Kenya, Singapore, the U.S. and
London.
The 200-600 MHz frequency is
used for TV channels to carry
data. In India, 93 per cent of
this spectrum is not utilised.
White-Fi will use this vacant
spectrum
to
provide
connectivity.
In technology parlance, these
unused spectrum spaces are
called White Space, and many
technology companies are
looking at using this to provide
free last mile internet access to
users.
Under the Digital India
initiative, the government plans
to use the national optic fibre
network project to deliver eservices to all corner of the
country.
INS Arihant (S2) may be of a

limited utility submarine
Indias first indigenous nuclear
submarine, INS Arihant (S2),
which made its first foray into
the sea for mandatory trials
ahead of induction into the
Navy, may in effect be a limited
utility submarine, if not just a
technology demonstrator.
The ballistic missile nuclear
submarine (SSBN), said to add
the third dimension of the
nuclear triad by giving India
47

48
the vital survivable secondstrike capability, falls short of

ensuring credible minimum
deterrence, sources said.
Worse, the capacity of the
reactor
suggests
that Arihant will hardly be
available for operational patrol
even for one-fifth of its lifespan,
having to spend great amounts
of time on transit to patrol areas.
The effective fuel inventory of
the submarine reactor is
insufficient for longer duration
deployment of the vessel far
away from Indian shores, as it
will necessitate frequent fuel
changes that are timeconsuming, said a Navy
veteran, who was previously
associated with the project.
Fuel change in a submarine
reactor, he said is a protracted
and cumbersome process
requiring the hull of the
submarine to be cut open.
The nuclear attack submarine
(SSN) that India operates on a
10-year lease from Russia, INS
Chakra (S1), for instance, is
said to have reactor with a
longer effective core life,
granting it more time on patrol.
T h e Arihant project the
first of the three SSBNs built by
India under its ATV [Advanced
Technology
Vessel]
programme under the
supervision the Prime Ministers
Office and involving agencies
and establishments such as the
DRDO, the Department of
Atomic Energy, the Submarine
Design Group of the
Directorate of Naval Design,
besides companies such as L&T
had been under wraps for
decades until its high-voltage
launch in 2009.
The 83-MW uranium reactor,
developed by the Bhabha

Atomic Research Centre
(BARC) with generous support
from Russia, went critical in
August last year. The submarine

should have entered service in
2012, as originally planned.
The pollutants causing discolouration of Taj Mahal identified
Finally, the specific pollutants

in the air that are responsible
for the discolouration of the
white marble of Taj Mahal have
been identified. Particulate
carbon and fine dust particles
that are deposited on the
marble are responsible for its
browning.
Carbon is of two types black
carbon and light absorbing
organic carbon or brown
carbon. The results from a study
were published a few days ago
in the journal Environmental
Science & Technology.
Besides studying air samples
collected from the area, the
authors used marble samples
on the building to collect the
pollutants. They also undertook
computer modelling to study
the colour change brought
about by reflectance of the
particles.
Both organic carbon and dust
particles have the ability to
preferentially absorb light in the
blue region of the spectrum.

The absorption of blue light by
these pollutants in turn gives
the marble surface a brown
hue.
There is one group of organic
carbon which absorbs light in
the blue region of the spectrum
and this is called brown carbon.
Discolouration is because of
what is happening to
reflectance, and reflectance is
in turn influenced by these
particles, said Prof. S.N.
Tripathi from the Department
of Civil Engineering and Centre
for Environmental Science and
Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Kanpur. He
is one of the authors of the
paper.
The ability of fine dust particles
to produce the brown hue is a
well known in North India.
According to him, it is the
presence of haematite in the
dust that is responsible for the
brown hue.


Coconut plucking, women take
high Wages
Even though Cuddalore district

abounds in coconut trees, the
price of coconuts is high. The
reason trotted out for such
market behaviour is the lack of
manpower to pluck coconuts
or the high wages the workers
demand.
It has created a situation in
which even the ripe coconuts
are left either to rot on the trees
or fall. It has become
consternation for the coconut
growers to find the workforce
on time to harvest, not to speak
of the plight of the households
having a few coconut trees in
their garden.
To overcome the problem, the
M.S. Swaminatan Research
Foundation (MSSRF) has
launched the Friends of
Coconut Tree programme for
farmers and the unemployed
youth.
R. Elangovan, Project Officer of
the MSSRF, told that the six-day
training programme organised
under the aegis of the MSSRF
Village Resource Centre at
Parangipettai was intended to
help the farmers and
unemployed youth learn to
climb trees to pluck the
coconut.
To start with, 20 persons,
including four women hailing
from Killai, Nochikadu,
Manikkollai and Parangipettai,
joined the programme

conducted recently.
It was conducted in
coordination with the Coconut
Development Board that
provided the device for
climbing the trees free of cost.
It was a sort of an in-house
training as the trainees would
stay at the Parangipettai centre
throughout the training
programme. Besides mastering
the tree climbing techniques,
they were also taught yoga and
pranayam.
Mr Elangovan said the Coconut
Development Board had made
it mandatory that 30 per cent
of the trainees ought to be
women. It was a surprise that
four women had come forward
to enroll their names in the
programme.
Remote powered solar
ploughing machine developed
by engineering students
And the next issue is the

vehicles availability to source
it on time. In some villages,
farmers book the vehicle in
advance since it would be busy
on rent for days together.
These things can change
seems to be the concept of a
group of engineering students
from Mailam Engineering
College,
Tindivanam,
Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu
which has devised a new solar
powered plougher to till fields.
Mr. I.Vetrivel, Mr.V.K.Arun, Mr.
K.Sivaraman
and
Mr.
V.Premnath comprise the
group of final year electronics
and
communication
engineering students who
developed this device.
Basically our college is situated
in an agricultural region and
there are plenty of fields
surrounding our campus. And
many of our students come from
agricultural families. As part of
annual project work these four
students wanted to try doing
something different.
DNA reveals history of horse
domestication: scientists
Ploughing is an arduous task. It

takes time and involves physical
labour. More farmers now use a
tractor for ploughing, than
those who still depend on
traditional bullocks.
But a tractor does not come for
free. The fuel charges, the
drivers wages all need to be
borne by the farmer who rents
it. And the charges easily work
out to anything between
Rs.3,000 to Rs. 3,500 for
ploughing an acre.
Speed, smarts, and the heart of

a champion: using genomic
analysis, scientists have
identified DNA changes that
helped turn ancient horses
such as those in prehistoric
cave art into todays
Secretariats and Black Beautys,
researchers reported.
49


Understanding the genetic
changes involved in equine
domestication, which earlier
research traced to the windswept steppes of Eurasia 5,500
years ago, has long been high
on the wish list of evolutionary
geneticists because of the
important role that taming wild
horses played in the
development of civilization.
Once merchants, soldiers and
explorers could gallop rather
than just walk, it revolutionized
trade, warfare, the movement
of people and the transmission
of ideas.
It
also
enabled
the
development of continentsized empires such as the
Scythians 2,500 years ago in
what is now Iran. It was all made
possible by 125 genes,
50
concluded the study in

Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
Related to skeletal muscles,
balance, coordination, and
cardiac strength, they
produced traits so desirable
that ancient breeders selected
horses for them, said geneticist
Ludovic Orlando of the Natural
History Museum of Denmark,
who led the study.
The result was generations of
horses adapted for chariotry,
pulling plows, and racing.
Genes active in the brain also
underwent selection. Variants
linked to social behavior,
learning, fear response, and
agreeableness are all more
abundant in domesticated
horses.
The discovery of the genetic

basis for horse domestication
was a long time coming
because no wild descendants
of ancient breeds survive.
The closest is the Przewalskis
horse.
By
comparing
domesticated species to their
wild relatives, scientists figured
out how organisms as different
as rice, tomatoes and dogs
became domesticated.
With no truly wild horses to
study, Orlandos team
examined DNA from 29 horse
bones discovered in the
Siberian permafrost and dating
from 16,000 and 43,000 years
ago, and compared it to DNA
from
five
modern
domesticated breeds.
General Studies Manual For Civil Services Pre Examination

(Paper -1) - 2015
BOOK DETAILS
Medium: English
Price: Rs. 1350
Pages: 1700
Publisher: Kalinjar Publications
ISBN: 9789351720355
TOPICS OF THE BOOK
Indian History
Indian Polity
Indian Economy
Geography
Part I (Indian Geography)

Part II (World Geography)
General Science
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Environment
General Knowledge

http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/books/gs-manual-for-ias-pre-exam-paper-1
CSAT Comprehensive Manual For Civil Services Pre Examination

(Paper -2) - 2015
BOOK DETAILS
Medium: English
Price: Rs. 850
Pages: 1000
ISBN: 9789351720362
TOPICS OF THE BOOK
SOLVED PAPER - 2014

SOLVED PAPER - 2013
SOLVED PAPER - 2012
1. Comprehension & English Language Comprehension
PART - I: Comprehension
PART - II: English Language Comprehension
2. Interpersonal & Communication Skills & Decision Making & Problem Solving
PART - I: Interpersonal & Communication Skills

PART - II: Decision Making & Problem Solving
3. General Mental Ability, Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
PART - I: General Mental Ability

PART - II: Logical Reasoning & Analytical Ability
4. Basic Numeracy
5. Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/books/csat-comprehensive-manual-paper-2

SPORTS
Indian Aces beat UAE Royals to top IPTL standings
teammate Abhijit Kunte, in the

second round of the South
Indian Bank-CMS College 52nd
National Premier Chess
championship at the CMS
College.
Meanwhile,
Deepan
Chakravarthy, who was the
quickest of the day with a 27move verdict over P.D.S.
Girinath, Deep Sengupta and
M.R. Lalith Babu posted wins.
Five players, with 1.5 points
each, are in the lead.
Varun Kakran set a new
National record
Indian Aces notched up its

third win on the trot with a 2820 victory over the UAE Royals
in the battle of two unbeaten
sides in an India Premier Tennis
League match.
After Sundays win, Indian
Aces topped the table after the
Manila leg to emerge early frontrunner in the high-profile
tournament.
The Indian side, however,
began with a loss with Ana
Ivanovic going down fighting
4-6 to Kristina Mladenovic in
the first womens singles.
The battle of the in-form
womens singles players was a
thrilling contest with Ivanovic
almost making a sensational
comeback from 1-5 down,
before eventually losing the
match.
Mixed doubles pair Sania Mirza
and Rohan Bopanna registered
a 6-3 second-set win over
Mladenovic and Nenad

Zimonjic, and Indian Aces took
the advantage with Bopanna
partnering the crowd-favourite
Gael Monfils to a 6-4 victory
over Zimonjic and Marin Cilic
in mens doubles.
An injury pulled Cilic out from
early in the set against Monfils,
but Malek Jaziri was a more
than capable substitute.
Quick win for Deepan in
National Premier Chess
Uttar Pradeshs Varun Kakran

cleared a height of 1.86 metres
to set a new National record in
the under-14 boys high jump
in the Jio junior National
athletics championship at
IGMC stadium here on Saturday.
Varun eclipsed Maharashtras
Anil Kumar Sahoos 1.85 metre
effort achieved in 2011.
Kerala and Haryana athletes
dominated the penultimate
day with Kerala runners
hogging the limelight in the
relays.
The results: Boys: U-14:
High Jump: 1. Varun Kakran
(UP) 1.86m NR (ONR & NMR
1.85), 2. Anil (Har) 1.70; 3.
Ravindra Reddy 1.56.
Chikkarangappa triumphs at CG
Open Golf 2014
Vidit Gujrathi, the highest-rated

player, was forced to a draw for
the second successive day, this
time by his Petroleum Board
S. Chikkarangappa defended
his title in style at the CG Open
Golf 2014, producing a final
51

Sports
round of four-under-66 at the
Bombay Presidency Golf Club
course.
The Bengaluru golfer totalled

17-under-263 in the PGTI
Super Series event and also
topped the Rolex Rankings.
Om Prakash Chouhan bettered
the course record with 10under-60 in the fourth round,

and was rewarded with the
second spot carding 16-under264.
Overnight
leader
C.
Muniyappa of Bengaluru
returned a card of 15-under265 for third place.
Chikkarangappa (67-66-64-66)
started with pars on the first
three holes, birdied the fourth,
fifth and seventh. Muniyappa
bogeyed the 11th, as the former
struck form to manage birdies
on 16th and 18th for the title.
East Zone reclaims Deodhar Trophy after a long gap
wicket.
After Bawnes dismissal, Jadhav
and local lad Suryakumar Yadav
took charge. Jadhav also
survived a strong appeal for legbefore off left-arm spinner
Shahbaz Nadeem and was
lucky to be dropped by Kumar
Deobrat at long-on off offspinner Saurasish Lahiri.
But once Odisha all-rounder
Biplab Samantaray bowled
Jadhav and Dinda dismissed
Yadav, Easts anxiety ended
and it went on to win the match.
Earlier, after electing to bat,
East was indebted to skipper
Manoj Tiwary his 75 led the
fight-back after early loss of
wickets and Samantarays
quick-fire half-century.
Indians subdue the Dutch in
Champions Trophy
East Zone proved to be a hard

nut to crack and won the
Deodhar Trophy after 11
seasons. The game swung back
and forth in a tantalising
manner, but East struck crucial
blows in the closing stages of
the match to beat West by 24
runs in the final.
Easts team work stood out in
stark contrast to some poor
bowling by Shardul Thakur and
Yusuf Pathan, and later some
poor batting chasing a tall target
of 270.
52
Wests chase suffered as

Ashoke Dinda, getting one last
chance to impress the selectors
before the World Cup
probables selection, induced
errors from Smit Patel, Sheldon
Jackson and Ambati Rayudu.
His effort earned him the manof-the-match award.
As the final drifted towards
East, Maharashtras Kedar
Jadhav and his Pune teammate
Ankit Bawne pulled their team
out of the woods with a solid
74-run stand for the fourth
After two morale-sapping

defeats, India finally regained
a lot of confidence by notching
up a 3-2 upset win over World
Cup silver medallist and
second-ranked Netherlands in
its final Pool B match of the
Champions Trophy hockey
tournament at the Kalinga
Stadium.
The home team, which opened
its account with three points
earned from this unexpected
victory, finished third in its pool
and will meet Pool As secondplaced side Belgium in the
quarterfinals.
The Netherlands frontline,
especially the trio of Jeroen
Hertzberger, Sander Baart and
Rogier Hofman, showed
tremendous understanding and
agility to invade the Indian
circle at lightning speed and
came close to taking the lead
on several occasions.

Sports
But India remained unaffected
mainly due to some fabulous
saves by its brave goalkeeper
P.R. Sreejesh. V.R. Raghunath
and Rupinderpal Singh, who
were tested on numerous
instances, withstood the
nervous moments.
Against the run of play, India
grabbed the lead early in the
third quarter. Bubbling with
energy, young Gurjinder Singh
launched a long-range slap shot
and S.V. Sunil deflected it in to
trigger celebrations in the
stands. The Dutch lost a bit of
advantage as its referral
challenging the goal did not
yield the desired result.
for Germany, which had

struggled throughout the year
and came into this event with a
team which had several players
from the 2013 Junior World
Cup-winning squad, as it made
the final after 2009.
As expected, Pakistan used its
sharpened wings to cut
through the Indian defence
frequently and kept hitting into
the circle from the right.
IPTL & traditional tennis can coexist says Carlos Moya
Pakistan wins a thriller, makes

final in Champions Trophy
The blockbuster involving
India and Pakistan had
disappointment in store for the
passionate home fans as the
host lost 4-3 an evenlycontested, high voltage
semifinal clash of the
Champions Trophy hockey
tournament at the Kalinga
Stadium.
Incidentally, India had also lost
to the same opponent in the
last four of the 2012 edition in
Melbourne. The defeat also
meant that the third place finish
in 1982 remains Indias best
ever performance in the
Champions Trophy.
World No. 11 Pakistan, which
reached the final after 16 years
on the strength of Muhammad
Arslan Qadirs brace, will take
on Olympic champion and
nine-time winner Germany.
The world No. 3 edged past
five-time defending champion
Australia 3-2.
It was also a big achievement
The innovative rules and format

of the International Premier
Tennis League (IPTL) may have
struck a chord with the Asian
fans, generally starved of toplevel action, but former World
No.1 Carlos Moya believes the
traditional sport will stick to its
conventional rules, though the
inaugural tournament will coexist and thrive alongside the
existing order.
Mahalakshmi in sole lead in
National under-17 girls chess
Top seed M. Mahalakshmi
defeated second seed G.K.
Monisha to move into the sole
lead at the end of the seventh
round of the National under-17
girls chess championship at
Patna on Saturday.
With four rounds remaining, she
has six points, half-a-point
ahead of Tejaswini Sagar and
V. Varshini. In the boys event,
fifth seed Aradhya Garg
maintained his sole lead with

6.5 points, one point in front of
V. Pranavananda.
Indians just behind Brazilians
in goal-scorers list
Indian players have scored 23
goals, only three less than
Brazilian imports from all teams,
in the Indian Super League
football tournament that has
entered the knockout phase
now.
Brazilian players, led by eight
strikes from Chennaiyin FCs
sharp shooter Elano Blumer,
have notched up 26 goals
overall.
Indian players led by FC
Goas Romeo Fernandes and
Chennaiyin FCs Jeje Lalpekhlua
who have found the target
thrice each have tallied 23
in all.
Trishul Chinnappa wins in
Amateur Golf Championship
Trishul Chinnappa saw off Syed

Saqib Ahmed in a closelycontested final to win the Tata
Steel 114th Amateur Golf
Championship of India at the
KGA course.
Chinnappa laid the foundation
for his victory in the 36-hole
final with a splendid effort in
the first half, when he went five
up.
Notwithstanding a stutter on
the second 18, where his
advantage had shrunk to one
53

Sports
at the turn, Chinnappa held firm
to triumph 2 and 1.
Germany wins Champions
Trophy
Germany stifled the Asian

Games silver medallist with
some brilliant possession and
strong marking.
Germany, which shrugged off
a below-par start to beat fine
teams like England and
Australia in the knockout stage,
checked Pakistans freeflowing style.
Boxing India not
Recognized by IOA
Enjoying the strong backing of

a partisan crowd of 7,000 in a
city designed by German
architect Otto Konigsberger,
Olympic champion Germany
made itself at home to see
Pakistan off 2-0 in the final and
lift the Champions Trophy at the
Kalinga Stadium.
The World No.3 could not have
asked for more as it ended the
year by pocketing its 10th
Champions Trophy crown. It
had last won the tournament in
2007. A tired and lacklustre
India was beaten 2-1 by World
champion Australia in the battle
for third place.
This was the fifth Champions
Trophy final involving Germany
and Pakistan, and the previous
time they had met in the summit
clash was way back in 1994,
when Pakistan had emerged
champion through penalty
shoot-outs in front of home
supporters in Lahore.
In changed times, with both
teams seeking to groom the
youngsters in their squads in the
run-up to the 2016 Rio
Olympics, the duel assumed
importance for different
reasons.
Thanks to the plans of master
tactician Markus Weise,
54
N. Ramachandran, President of
the
Indian
Olympic
Association, has categorically
stated that the Indian Amateur
Boxing Federation (IABF) will
be the official body and not
Boxing India (BI). He added
that boxing affairs will now be
handled by IOAs ad-hoc
committee.
This matter was discussed at
length at the Executive
Committee.
The
EC
unanimously agreed that the
body that will be recognised
by the IOA will be IABF, said
Mr. Ramachandran at a press
conference, after attending the
IOAs executive committee
and the annual general body
meeting.
Explaining the rationale behind
the
decision,
Mr.
Ramachandran said IOA
refused to give official sanction
to BI because BI elections
were held without consulting
IOA.
When the dispute first arose

between IABF and Boxing
India, the IOA constituted an
ad-hoc committee. It is AIBA
which recognised Boxing
India and the latters elections.
Neither the Government of
India nor the IOA sent an
observer for the elections.
In fact, when the IOA took up
the matter with the President
of the International boxing
body (AIBA) and said that, in
the interest of the athletes, the
elections should be held under
the aegis of IOA and with
AIBAs observer present, the
latter did not accept these
suggestions and BI held its
elections under the supervision
of AIBA, he said, adding that
the IOA had received many
complaints of irregularities
during the elections.
He said the top three athletes
at the Commonwealth Games,
Asian Games and Beach Asian
Games, will receive a cash
award of Rs. 3 lakh, Rs. 2 lakh
and Rs. one lakh respectively.
He regretted that the
government funding for
National Sports Federations has
been reduced to a larger
extent.
79 Indians retained for IPL 2015
The eight IPL teams have

retained 123 cricketers in all
79 Indians and 44 overseas
players for the 2015 season.

Sports
According to a BCCI press
release, five Indian cricketers
were traded. The window to
extend player contracts on
existing terms closed.
The released players will have
the option to put their names
up for the player auction for the
2015 season.
The BCCI-IPL has said that
teams have a total salary purse
of Rs.63 crore for the 2015
season, a 5% increase over the
2014 season purse, and that the
salaries of the players retained
will be deducted from this
amount.
AIBA bans boxer L. Sarita Devi
Indian woman boxer L. Sarita
Devi was handed a one-year
ban by the International Boxing
Association (AIBA) for refusing
to accept her bronze medal at
the Asian Games but the
punishment is unlikely to hurt
her career too badly as she
would be available to compete
in the 2016 Olympic qualifiers.
Sarita, who had refused to
accept the medal to protest her
controversial semifinal bout
loss, has been banned
retrospectively from October 1,
2014 to October 1, 2015 and
fined 1000 swiss francs.
Although her repeated
apologies failed in getting her
AIBAs pardon, even this ban
is quite a relief for the
lightweight (60kg) boxer, who
is currently nursing a broken
right wrist.
Bindra wins bronze in National
Shooting championship
Indias sole individual Olympic
gold medallist Abhinav Bindra
bagged the 50-metre rifle
prone bronze medal, but the
gold went to Hariom Singh in

the 58th National Shooting
Championships in Pune.
Competing in the mens 50metre rifle prone event after a

gap of almost a decade, Bindra
shot 183.8 to finish third on the
podium at the Balewadi
Shooting Range.
Fellow Olympic medallist
Gagan Narang finished fourth
in the eight-man final, after
having finished third in
qualifying, marginally ahead of
Bindra, who qualified in fourth
position.
No FIH event till Pakistan
players are punished, decided
Hockey India
Taking strong exception to
FIHs weak censure to
Pakistani players for their
obscene behaviour after
beating India in the Champions
Trophy semifinal, Hockey India
decided that it would not host
any event sanctioned by the
world body until strong
punishment is handed out to
the offenders.
The Pakistani players made
obscene gestures towards
Indian fans and media after
their win last night but no action
was taken against them by the
International
Hockey
Federation (FIH) after their
coach Shahnaz Sheikh offered
an apology.
It was a shameless and
condemnable incident but the
FIH took a very weak and feeble

decision. It is not acceptable
to us.
We have made it clear to FIH
that such sort of behaviour from
sportspersons
is
not
acceptable to Indians, HI
president Narinder Batra told
PTI from New Delhi.
Tendulkar named for ICC World
Cup 2015 ambassador
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar

was named the ICC World Cup
ambassador for the second
successive edition. The
International Cricket Council
today announced Sachin
Tendulkar as the World Cup
2015 Ambassador.
It will be the second successive
time that the India maestro will
be the Ambassador of ICCs
pinnacle tournament, after he
fulfilled the role in the previous
event in 2011, the ICC said in
a statement.
In his role as ambassador,
Tendulkar will promote and
support a variety of ICC
initiatives to enhance the
profile of the tournament,
which is the third biggest
sporting event in the world and
will take place in Australia and
New Zealand from February 14
to March 29.
Tendulkar retired from
international cricket last year
after representing India in 200
Tests, 463 ODIs and one
55

Sports
Twenty20 International. In a
career spanning 24 years, the
41-year-old scored a total of
34,357 international runs and
100 centuries.
Gouramangi Singh is Bharat
FCs new catch for 2015
Defender Gouramangi Singh

has been roped in by new Ileague team, Bharat FC to firm
up its squad for the 2015
season which will kick off next
month.
Bharat FC, which will compete
in its inaugural I-League season
starting on January 17, snapped
up
Gouramangi
from
Chennaiyin FC on a season-long
contract.
I and Stanly have worked at
the national team and I know
how good he is. I have also
been speaking regularly to
Stuart and his vision for the
team is really exciting.
I am excited about my role
here, said Gouramangi, who
joined the Kalyani groupowned team during its preseason training camp at the
BharatiVidyapeeth football
ground on Tuesday.
I want to transfer my
experience of having played in
the I-League, help build the
team well and win lots of
football matches, he added.
The 28-year-old, who was a
India regular before Wim
Koevermans became India
56
coach, comes to Bharat FC on

the back of an impressive
showing in the Indian Super
League.
The centre-back made 11
appearances for Chennaiyin
FC, driving them to the
semifinals of the competition.
One of the most accomplished
players in India, Gouramangi
who is a graduate of the Tata
Football Academy, began his
professional football career
with Dempo SC in the 20042005 season making 40
appearances and scoring one
goal.
Srikanth is No. 4 in World
Badminton ranking
Young Kidambi Srikanth
continued his meteoric rise in
world badminton as he ended
the season by becoming only
the third Indian male shuttler
to break into the top-five,
reaching a career-high fourth
after hovering in the 40s in the
beginning of the year.
The 21-year-old Indian, who
clinched the China Super
Series Premier before reaching
the semifinals of back-to-back
tournaments in Hong Kong and
Dubai, jumped two places to
join the elite club which
comprises Prakash Padukone
and national chief coach Pullela
Gopichand, who were World
No. 1 and 4 respectively in the
past.
When I started the year, I was
in the 40s. Probably
somewhere around 45. So I
didnt expect that I will reach
world number four. But I am
really happy with my
performance this season, it has
been a great year, Srikanth
told PTI.
Use of bouncer is the right of a

fast bowler says Rackemann
He was struck on top of the

nose and he went crashing
down holding his face.
Actually, his face was split right
down
the
middle,
remembered the burly former
Australian fast bowler, Carl
Rackemann.
He was recalling a Sheffield
Shield contest between
Queensland and West Australia
at the lively Gabba in the early
90s. Mike Veletta, the batsman
who was hit by the Rackemann
lifter, was wearing a helmet
without a grill.
Rackemann, now 54, said,
Those were days when many
batsmen wore helmets that did
not have the grill. They felt the
grill affected their overall vision.
Mike (Veletta) went to hook a
bouncer and he missed.
The former Queensland
paceman said, I was really
concerned for him. It was really
bad. I feared the worst. He was
taken in an ambulance.
Thankfully, they, at the hospital,
were able to stitch his face
back. It was a scary moment.
A feared and respected
paceman in his time he
hustled batsmen with
disconcerting
lift
Rackemanns international
career was blighted by injuries.
He picked up 39 wickets in 12
Tests at 29.15. In the ODIs,

Sports
Rackemann scalped 82
batsmen in 52 matches at an
economy rate of 3.94.
Elano Blumer gets the Golden
Boot in Indian Super League
Chennaiyin FCs Elano Blumer
and FC Goas goalkeeper Jan
Seda (FC Goa) topped the list
for Golden Boot and Golden
Glove awards respectively as
the inaugural Indian Super

League concluded.
Elano scored eight goals in 11

matches, apart from one assist,
according to official website
www.indiansuperleague.com.
Be Safe wins Indian 2000
Guineas (Gr. I)
Mr. M.A.M.Ramaswamys Be
Safe (Suraj Narredu up) won
the ABV Nucleus Indian 2000
Guineas (Gr. I), the stellar
attraction of the races held. The
winner is trained by M.Narredu.
57
Current Affairs for IAS, Civil Services, SSC, IBPS & All
Other Examinations
BOOK DETAILS
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ISBN: 9789351720454
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Sports
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List of Awards & Honors
LIST OF AWARDS & HONORS

List of Awards & Honors 2014
chan - Indias
A mitabh Bach
Bachc
Global Icon of the Year
( Mi l k
Pr o duct
A mu l
Brand) - High Performance
Brand Award 2013
Anand Ku mar - Ramanujan
Mathematics Award 2014
Chandi Prasad Bhatt Gandhi Peace Prize (2013)
Cristiano Rona ldo - worlds
b est soccer player for the
2012/2013 season (FIFA)
Gabriela Isler Miss Universe
2013
Govind M ishra - Sarawasti
Samman (2013)
Gulzar - Dadasaheb Phalke
Award 2013
Jeev Mil kha Si n gh - Asian
Tours Player of the Decade
umpa Lahiri - Baileys Prize
Jh
Jhu
2014(Shortlisted)
yal Rana - Miss India 2014
Ko
Koy
La x m i ( an acid attack
vict
im
victim
im) - International Women
of Courage Award, US
Malala Yo usafzai - Childrens
Nobel Prize (Nominated)
M e b Keflez
Keflezii ghi - First U S
male athlete to win the Boston
Marathon
M eera Ch a ndras ekh ar Robert Foster Cherry Award for
Teaching 2014
o ni - UKs 2014 Asian
MS Dh
Dho
Award
58
Nadine A ngerer - B est

womens football player in the
world (2013)
ncis - Time Person
Pope Fra
Fran
of the year 2013
Pranab M ukher
ukherjj ee - Award
of Honor from Rotary
International
Prof C N R Rao - Bh arat Ratna
um
ar - 23rd G
Rajesh Gopak
opakum
umar
D Birla Award for scientific
research (2013)
Ratan T ata - Knight Grand
Cross
Richard Quest - UN WTO
A war d
fo r
Lifetime
Achievement 2013
Sachin T endu l kar - B harat
Ratna
Sankha Gho s h - Su nil
Gangopadhyay Memo rial
Award (2013)
Shigeru Ban - Pritzker
Architecture Prize 2014
ud hary Shubh
Shubhrr anshu Cho
Choud
Digital activism award
Sikk i m - National Tourism
Award
Sourav G anguly - Honorary
Docto r of Lette rs (D.Litt)
degree by BESUp
TCS - Top Employer in Euro
Vish wanath Tripathi - Vyas
Samman Awards (2013)
w anese poet) Yushi ( T ai
aiw
Thiruvalluvar award
Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
Awards 2014
M s. Sena tor Lisa M aria Sin

Kurian Varghese - Leading
Vasdev
C hanc
h lani
hanch
Entrepreneur
and
philanthropist based in Canada
R amakri
akriss hna M ission - Fiji
Bikas C handra San
ya l Sanya
Renowned educationist in
France
Satnara
Rab
Satnaraii nsing
Rabii n
Balde wsingh - Significant
contribution to p romoting
better understanding of India
in The Netherlands
Sasindr an M u thuvel - First
Member of Parliament of Indian
origin in Papua New Guinea
Shiha budeen V ava K unju Contributor to welfare of Indian
community in K ingdom of
Saudi Arabia
Ela
Gan
dhi
M s.
nd
Contributions in promoting ties
between India and cause of
freedom in South Africa South
Africa, and the
ya lil
Dr. Sh am s heer V aaya
Pa ra
mb ath - Con tribution in
ram
field of healthcare business and
fo r
promoting
better
understanding of India in UAE
Shailesh Lak
hm an V ara Lakhm
First Indian origin Govt. minister
for Conservative Party in UK
Dr. Parthasa
am el
Parthasarr athy Chir
Chira
Pillai - Contributions in field of
scienc relations between India
and USA
Dr. Re
n u Khator - one of the
Ren
first persons of Indian origin to
head, and fostering closer a
higher system and a research
university in America. President
and Chancellor of The
University of Houston.


61st National Film Awards
Winners List
Best Fi
Fill m ( Hind
Hindii ) : Jolly LLB
Best Actre
Actress s : Geeta njali
Thapa (Liars Dice, Hindi)
Best Actor : Raj Kuma r
(Shahid, Hindi) & Suraj
Venjaramoodu (Perariyathavar,
Malyalam)
Ac t o r
Support i ng
(F e m ale) : Aid a Elkashef,
Ship of Theseus and Amruta
Subash, Astu
Best Direct i o n : H ansal
Mehta for Shahid (Hindi)
Special Me ntion : Gaur i
Gadgil and Sanjana Rai for
Yellow (Marathi)
Special E ffects : Ja l idiya
Udh
Fict i o n
(N o n
Short
F e ature)
:
Mandrake!
Mandrake! (Hindi)
Non Fea
Featt ure Fi
Fill m on Social
Is sues : Gulabi Gang (Hindi,
Bundelkhandi)
Fi l m
Enviro nm ental
i nclud
ncludii ng Agri culture :
Foresting
Life
(Hindi,
Assamese)
Fea t ure
Fi l m
Non
:
Rangbhoomi (Hindi)
Best Bo o k o n C i n e m a :
Cinema Ga Cinema (Telgu) by
Nandagopal
Sound Design : Bishwadeep
Chatterjee, Madras Cafe
Choreogr a phy : Gan e sh
Aachary a, Havan Karenge
(Bha ag Milkha Bhaag)
Special J ury A w ard :

Yellow (Marathi) & Miss Lovely
(Hindi)
Best Chi l drens Fi l m :
Kaphal (Hindi)
Best
Fi l m on E nviro n me nt
C o n servati o n/ P reservation
: Perariyathavar (Malyalam)
Best Fi
Fill m on So cial Is sues
: T u h ya Dha r m a Koncha
(M arath i )
Nargis D utt A ward for Best
Fea t ure Fi l m o n Natio n al
Inte grati
o n : Thalaimuraigal
ratio
(Tamil)
Po
pular
Fi l m
Best
op
w holes
om e
p r oviding
holeso
E ntertai
n m e nt : Bhaag
ntertain
Milkha Bhaag (Hindi)
Indira Gandhi A w ard f o r
B est D ebut F il m of a
Direct
o r : Fandr y (Marathi)
Directo
u re Fi
Best Feat
Featu
Fill m : Ship of
Theseus
Pla yback Singer : B ela
Shinde Khura Khura
Best
Feat
ure Fi
lm
Featu
Film
lmss in Local
La nguag
e s (in alphabeti cal
nguage
orde r ) :
Best Feature Film in Assamese :
Aje yo
Best Feature Film in Bengali :
B akitar By aktigoto
Best Feature Film in English :
The Co f fin M aker
Best Feature Film in Hindi :
Jolly LLB
Best Feature Film in Kannada :
D ec e m ber 1
Best Feature Film in Konkani :
B aga Be ach
Best Feature Film in Malayalam:
North 2 4 Kaath
am
Kaatha
Best Featu re Film in Marathi :
A c ha Di
vaz M azha
Div
Best Feature Film in Tamil :
T h anga
Best Feature Film in Telugu :
N
aa Ba
n garu Talli
Na
Ban
List of 2014
Pulitzer Prize winners
Journalism
o Public Se r vice : The
Guardian U s And The
Washington Post
Reporr ting o Breaking Ne ws Repo
The Boston Globe Staff
o Investiga t ive R eport
eportii n g Chris Hamby Of The Center For
Public Integrity, Washington,
D.C.
n g - Eli
Reportin
o Ex planatory Reporti
Saslow Of The Washington Post
o Local Re p orting - Will
Hobson And Michael Laforgia
Of The Tampa Bay Times
o National Report
Reportii ng - David
Phil ipps Of The Gazette,
Colorado Springs, Co
o Internati o nal R e port i ng Jason Szep And Andrew R.C.
Marshall Of Reuters
o Feature W riting - No Award
o C om m en t ary - Stephen
Henderson Of The Detroit Free
Press
o Critici
Criticissm - Inga Saffron Of The
Philadelphia Inquirer
o Editorial Writi n g - The
Editorial Staff Of The
Oregonian, Portland
o ning - Kevin
Editorial Carto
Cartoo
Siers Of The Charlotte
Observer
N eew
ws
o Breaking
o graphy - Tyler Hicks Of
Phot
Photo
The New York Times
aphy - Josh
o Feature Ph otogr
otogra
Haner Of The New York Times
Books, Drama And Music
o Fiction - The Goldfinch By
Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)
ama - The Flick By Annie
o Dr
Dra
Baker
59


o History - The Internal Enemy:
Slavery And War In Virginia,
Taylor (W.W. Norton) 17721832" By Alan
o Biography - Margaret Fuller:
A New American Life By
Megan Marshall (Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt)
o Poetry - 3 Sections By Vijay
Seshadri (Graywolf Press)
o General Nonfict ion - Toms
River: A Story Of Science And
Salvation By Dan Fagin (Bantam Books)
o Music - Become Ocean By
John Luther Ad ams (Taiga
Press/Theodore Front Musical
Literature)
Film Fare
Awards 2014 Winners List
Best Fi l m - Bhaag Mil kha

Bhaag
Best Actor - Farhan Akhtar
(Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
but Actor - Dhanush
Best De
Deb
(Raanjhanaa)
Best Actre ss - Deepika
Padukone (Goliyon Ki Raslila
RamLeela)
but Actre
Best De
Deb
Actresss - Vaani
Kapoo r
(Shuddh
Desi
Romance)
Best Direc
Directtor - Rakeysh Om
rakash Mehra (Bhaag Milkha
Bhaag)
but Direc tor - Ritesh
Best De
Deb
Batra (The Lunchbox)
Best Fi l m ( Critics) - Ritesh
Batra (The Lunchbox)
60
Best Actor (Critics) Rajkumar Rao (Shahid)

Best Actre s s (Criti cs ) Shilpa Shukla (BA Pass)
e nplay - Abhishek
Scree
Best Scre
Kap oor, Chetan Bhagat,
Supratik Sen and Pubali
Chaudari (Kai PoChe)
Best Story - Subhash Kapoor
(Jolly LLB)
p porti n g
Best Actor (Su
(Sup
Rol
e) - Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Role
(The Lunchbox)
u ppor ting
Best Actre s s ( S
Su
R o le) - Supriya Pathak Kapur
(Goliyon Ki Raslila- Ram Leela)
A c hiev
e m e nt
hieve
Lifet i me
A ward - Tanuja
Best M us
usii c - Jeet Ganguly,
Mithoon a nd A nkit Tiwari
(Aashiqui 2)
Best Lyrics - Prasoon Joshi for
Zinda (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag)
yback S inger M ale
Best Pla
Play
- Arijit Singh ( Tum hi ho,
Aashiqui)
Pla
y back
S inger
Best
Play
F e m al e - Monali Thakur
(Sawaar loon, Lootera)
rm
an A ward - Sidharth
Burm
RD Bu
rman
Mahadevan
Best C horeogr aphy - Samir
and Arsh Tanna - Lahu muh lag
gaya (Goliyon Ki R aasleel RamLeela)
Best V FX - Tata E lxis
(Dhoom:3)
n d Sc
o re Best Bac k grou
groun
Sco
Hitesh Sonik (Kai Po Che)
Best Acti o n - Th o mas
Struthers and Guru Bachchan
(D Day)
a phy Best Cin em atogr
atogra
Kamaljit Negi (Madras Cafe)
Best Edit
Editii ng - Aarif Sheikh
(D-Day)
Trendsett e r of the y ea r Chennai Express
d uction Desi
gn Best Pro
Prod
Desig
A cropolis Design ( Bhaag
Milkha Bhaag)
m e - Dolly
Best Cos tu
tum
Ahluwalia (Bhaag Milkha

Bhaag)
u nd De s ign Best S o
ou
Bishwadeep Chatterjee and
Nihar Ranjan Samar (Madras
Cafe)
Complete List of 71st Golden
Globe Awards Winners 2014
Best
motion
picture,
drama : 12 Years A Slave
motion
picture,
Best
musical or comedy :
American Hustle
Best director for motion
picture : Alfonso Cuaron,
Gravity
Best actor in a motion
picture, drama : Matthew
McConaughey, Dallas Buyers
Club
Best actress in a motion
picture, drama : Cate
Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best actor in a motion
picture, comedy : Leonardo
DiCaprio, Wolf of Wall Street
Best actress in a motion
picture, comedy : Amy
Adams, American Hustle
Best supporting actor in a
motion picture : Jared Leto,
Dallas Buyers Club
Best supporting actress in
a motion picture : Jennifer
Lawrence
Best screenplay : Spike
Jonze, Her
Best foreign language film
: The Great Beauty
Best original score : Alex
Ebert, All is Lost
Best original song from a

Freedom otion picture :

Ordinary Love, from Mandela:
Long Walk to
Best animated feature film
: Frozen B
Best actor in a TV series,
drama : Bryan Cranston
Best actress in a TV series,
drama : Robin Wright, House
of Cards
Best actor in a TV series,
comedy : Andy Samberg,
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Best actress in a TV series,
Comedy : Amy Poehler, Parks
and Recreation
Best TV series, comedy or

musical : Brooklyn 99
Best supporting actor in a
TV series, mini-series or TV
movie : Jon Voight, Ray
Donovan
Best mini-series or TV
movie
:
Behind
the
Candelabra
Best actor in a mini-series
or TV movie : Michael
Douglas,
Behind
the
Candelabra
Best actress in a miniseries or TV movie :
Elisabeth Moss
Oscar Awards 2014 winners List
M ak eup
a nd
Best
Ha i rst
yli
n g - Dallas Buyers
rsty
lin
Club (A druitha Lee, Robin
Mathews)
Origii nal S core - Gravity
Best Orig
(Steven Price)
Best Orig
Origii nal S ong - Let It
Go - Frozen
d uction Desi
gn Best Pro
Prod
Desig
The Great Gatsby (Catherine
Martin, Beverley Dunn)
im
ated S hort Fi lm Best An
Anim
imated
Mr. Hublot (La urent Witz,
Alexandre Espigares)
Shorr t Fi
Fill m
Best Live Action Sho
- Helium (Anders Walter, Kim
Magnusson)
u nd Ed iting Best S o
ou
Gravity (Glenn Freemantle)
u nd M ixing - Gravit
Sou
Best So
( Skip Liev sa y, Niv Adiri,
Christopher Benstead, Chris
Munro)
u al Effec
Effectts - Gravity
Visu
Best Vis
(Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence,
Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould)
Best Orig
Origii nal Sc
Scrr een play 12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
Her (Spike Jonze)
Padma Awards Winners List for
the year 2014
Best Pictu r e - 12 Yea rs a

Slave
Best Actor i n a L ead i ng
Ro le - Matthew McConaughey
(Dallas Buyers Club)
Best Actre ss in a Le ading
R o le - Cate Blanchett (Blue
Jasmine)
o rting
Best Actor in a S upp
uppo
R ole - Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers
Club)
in
a
Actre s s
Best
Su p porting R ole - L upita
Nyongo (12 Years a Slave)
Best A n im ated F e atu
aturr e Frozen (Chris Buck, Jennifer
Lee, Peter Del Vecho)
a phy Best Cin em atogr

atogra
Gravity (E mmanuel Lubezki)
tu
me De sign - The
Best Cos
Costu
tum
Great Gatsby (Catherine Martin)
Best Direct i ng - Gravity
(Alfonso Cuarn)
um entary F eature
Best Doc
Docum
Fi l m - 20 Feet from Stardom
(Nominees to be determined)
Best D o c u m en
entt ary S hort
Fi l m - The Lady in Number 6:
Music Saved My Life (Malcolm
Clarke, Nicholas Reed)
n g - Gravity
Best Fi l m Editi
Editin
(Alfonso Cuarn, Mark Sanger)
ge
Best Forei gn La ngua
nguag
Fi
Fill m - The Great Beauty (Italy)
Padma Vibhushan
o Dr. Raghunath A. Mashelkar,
Science and Engineering,
Maharashtra
o Shri B.K.S. Iyengar, OthersYoga, Maharashtra
Padma Bhushan
o Prof. Gula m Moh a mme d
Sheikh, Art - Painting, Gujarat
o Begum Parveen Sultana, Art Classical Singing, Maharashtra
o Shri T.H. Vinayakram, Art Ghatam Artist, Tamil Nadu
o Shri Kamala Haasan, Art-Cinema, Tamil Nadu
o Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Public Affairs, Delhi
o Prof. Padmanabhan Balaram,
Karnataka
61


o Prof. Jyeshtharaj Joshi, Science
and Engineering, Maharashtra
o Dr. Madappa Mahadevappa,
Karnataka
o Dr. Thirumalachari Ramasami,
Delhi
o Dr. Vinod Prakash Sharma,
Delhi
o Dr. Radhakrishnan Koppillil,
Karnataka
o Dr. Mrity un jay Athreya,
Literature and Education, Delhi
o Ms. Anita Desai, Literature and
Education, Delhi
o Dr. Dhirubhai Thaker, Literature
and Education, Gujarat
o Shri Vaira muthu Ra masamy
Thev a r , Literature and
Education, Tamil Nadu
o Shri Ruskin Bond, Literature and
Education, Uttarakhand,
o Shri Pullela Gopichand, Sports
- Badminton, Andhra Pradesh
o Shri Leander Paes, Sports Tennis, Maharashtra
o Shri Vijayendra Nath Kaul, Civil
Service, Delhi
o Late Justice Jagdish Sharan
Verma, Public Affairs, Uttar
Pradesh
o Late Dr. Anumolu Ramakrishna,
Science and Engineeri ng,
Andhra Pradesh
o Prof. Anisuzzaman, Literature
and Education, Bangladesh
o Prof. Lloyd I. R udolph,
Literature and Education, USA
o Prof. Susanne H. Rudolph,
Literature and Education, USA
o Dr. ( Smt.) Neela m Kler ,
Medicine - Neonatology, Delhi
Padma Shri
o Shri Mohammad Ali Baig, Art Theatre, Andhra Pradesh
o Ms. Nayana Apte Joshi, Art,
Maharashtra
o Shri Musafir Ram Bhardwaj, Art
- Instrumental Music - Pauna
62
Manjha, Himachal Pradesh

o Ms. Sabitri Chatterjee, Art - Film,
West Bengal
o Prof. Biman Bihari Das, Art Sculptor, Delhi
o Shri Sunil Das, Art - Painting,
West Bengal
o Smt. Elam Endira Devi, Art Manipuri Dance, Manipur
o Shri Vijay Ghate, Art Instrumental Music - Tabla,
Maharashtra
o Smt Rani Karnaa, Art - Kathak,
West Bengal
o Shri Bansi Kaul, Art - Theatre,
Jammu and Kashmir
o Ustad Moinuddin Kha , Art Instru mental Music-Sarangi
Player, Rajasthan
o Ms. Geeta Mahalik, Art - Odishi
Dance, Delhi
o Shri Paresh Maity, Art - Painting,
Delhi
o Shri Ram Mohan, Art - Film
Animation, Maharashtra
o Shri Sudarsan Pattnaik, Art Sand Artist, Orissa
o Shri Paresh Rawal, Art - Cinema
and Theatre, Maharashtra
o Shri Wendell A ug ustine
Rodricks, Art - Fashio n
Designing, Goa
o Prof.
Kalamandala m
Sathyabh ama, Art - Mohini
Attam, Kerala
o Shri Anuj (Ramanuj) Sharma, Art
- Performing Art, Chhattisgarh
o Shri Santosh Sivan, Art - Film,
Tamil Nadu
o Ms. Supriya Devi, Art-Bengali
Cinema, West Bengal
o Ms. Sooni Taraporevala, ArtScript Writing, Maharashtra
o Ms. Vidya Balan, Art-Cinema,
Maharashtra
o Smt. Durga Jain, Social Work,
Maharashtra
o Dr. Rama Rao Anumolu, Social
Work, Andhra Pradesh
o Dr. Brahm Dutt, Social Work,
Haryana
o Shri Mukul Chandra Goswami,
Social Work, Assam
o Shri J.L. Kaul, Social Work, Delhi

o Shri Mathurbhai Madhabhai
Savani, Social Work, Gujarat
o Shri Tashi Tondup, Public
Affairs, Jammu and Kashmir
o Dr. Hasmukh Chamanlal Shah,
Public Affairs, Gujarat
o Shri Sekhar Basu, Science and
Engineering, Maharashtra
o Shri Madhavan Chandradathan,
Kerala
o Prof.
Sushanta Kumar
Dattagupta, Science and
Engineering, West Bengal
o Dr. Ravi Bhushan Gr over,
Maharashtra
o Prof. Eluvathingal Dev assy
Jemmis,
Science
and
Engineering, Karnataka
o Shri Ramkrishna V. H osur,
Maharashtra
o Dr. Ajay Kumar Parida, Science
and Engineering, Tamil Nadu
o Dr. Malap aka Yajneswara
Satyanarayana Prasad, Science
and Engineering, And hra
Pradesh
o Shri Kiran Kumar Alur Seelin,
Gujarat
o Dr. Brahma Singh, Science and
Engineering, Delhi
o Prof. Vinod K uma r Si ngh,
Science and Engin eering,
Madhya Pradesh
o Dr. Govindan Sundararajan,
Andhra Pradesh
o Ramaswamy R. Iyer, Science
and Engineering, Delhi
o Dr. Jayanta Kumar G hosh,
Science and Engineering, West
Bengal
o Shri Ravi Kumar Narra, Trade and
Industry, Andhra Pradesh
o Shri Rajesh Saraiya, Trade and
Industry, Maharashtra
o Ms. Mallika Srinivasan, Trade
and Industry, Tamil Nadu


o Shri Pratap Govindrao Pawar,
Trade
and
I ndustry,
Maharashtra
o Dr. Kiritkumar Mansukhlal
Acharya, Medicine - Dermatology, Gujarat
o Dr. Balram Bhargava, Medicine
- Cardiology, Uttar Pradesh
o Prof. (Dr.) Indra Chakravarty,
Medicine - Health and H ygiene, West Bengal
o Dr. R amak ant Krishnaji
Deshpande, Medicine - Oncology, Maharashtra
o Prof. (Dr.) Pawan Raj Goyal,
Medicine - Chest Disease,
Haryana
o Prof. Amod Gupta, Medicine Opthalmology, Haryana
o Prof. (Dr.) Daya Kishore Hazra,
Medicine, Uttar Pradesh
o Prof. (Dr.) Thenumgal Poulose
Jacob, Medicine - Vascular Surgery, Tamil Nadu
o Prof. (Dr.) Shashank R. Joshi,
Medicine - End ocrinology,
Maharashtra
o Prof.
Haki m
Sye d
Khaleefathullah, Medicine Unani Medicine, Tamil Nadu
o Dr. Milind Vasant Kirtane, Medic ine - E NT Surgeory,
Maharashtra
o Dr. Lalit Kumar, Medicine - oncology, Delhi
o Dr. Mohan Mishra, Medicine,
Bihar
o Dr. M. Subhadra Nair, Medicine
- Gyneacology, Kerala
o Dr. Ashok Panagariya, Medicine
- Neurology, Rajasthan
o Dr. Narendra Kumar Pandey,
Medicine - Surgery, Haryana
o Dr. Sunil Pradhan, Medicine Neurology, Uttar Pradesh
o Dr. Ashok Rajgopal, Medicine Orthopaedics, Delhi
o Dr. Kamini A. Rao, Medicine R eproductive
Medicine,
Karnataka
o Dr. Sarbeswar Sahariah, Medicine - Surgery, Andhra Pradesh
o Prof. Om Prakash Upadhyaya,
Medicine, Punjab
o Prof. (Dr.) Mahesh Verma, Medicine - Dental Science, Delhi

o Dr. J.S. Titiyal, MedicineOpthalmology, Delhi
o Dr. Nitish Naik, Medicine- Cardiology, Delhi
o Dr. Surbrat K umar Acharya,
Medicine- Gastroentrology,
Delhi
o Dr. Rajesh Kumar Grover, Medicine-Oncology,Delhi
o Dr. Naheed Abidi, Literature
and Education, Uttar Pradesh
o Prof. Ashok Chakradhar, Literature and Education, Delhi
o Shri
Chha kchhuak
Chhuanvawram, Literature and
Education, Mizoram
o Shri Keki N. Daruwalla, Literature and Education, Delhi
o Prof. Ganesh Narayandas Devi,
Literature and Education,
Gujarat
o Prof. Kolakaluri Enoch, Literature and Edu cation, Andhra
Pradesh
o Prof. (Dr.) Ved Kumari Ghai,
Litera ture and E ducation,
Jammu and Kashmir
o Smt. Manorama Jafa, Literature
and Education, Delhi
o Prof. Rehana Khatoon, Literature and Education, Delhi
o Dr. Waikhom Gojen Meeitei, Literature and E ducation,
Manipur
o Shri Vishnu Nar ay anan

Namboothiri, Literature and
Education, Kerala
o Prof. Dinesh Singh, Literature
and Education, Delhi
o Dr. (Mrs.) P. Kilemsungla, Literature and Education, Nagaland
o Ms. Anjum Chopra, Sports Cricket, Delhi
o Ms. Sunil Dabas, Sports Kabbad i, Haryana
o Shri
Love
Raj
Singh
Dharmshaktu, Sports - Mountaineering, Delhi
o Ms. Dipika Rebecca Pallikal,
Sports - Squash, Tamil Nadu
o Shri H. Boniface Prabhu, Sports
- Wheelchair Tennis, Karnataka
o Shri Yuvra j Singh, Sports Cricket, Haryana
o Smt. Mamta Sodha, Sports Mountaineering, Haryana
o Ms Parveen Talha, Civil Service,
Uttar Pradesh
o Late Dr. Narendra Achy ut
Dabholkar, S ocial W ork,
Maharashtra
o Shri Ashok Kumar Mago, Trade
and Industry, USA
o Dr. Siddharth Mukherjee, Medicine-Oncology, USA
o Dr. Vamsi Mootha, Medicine Biomedical Research, USA
o Dr. Sengaku Mayeda, Literature
and Education, Japan (ANI)
list of Nobel Prize Winners 2014

PhysicsJohn O'Ke efe;
Isamu Akasaki; Eric Betzig;
Kailash Sa tyarthi;
May-Britt Moser; Patrick Modiano
Jean Tirole
2014 Hiroshi Amano; Ste fan Hell;
Malala Yousafzai
Shuji Na kamura William Moerner Edvard Moser
An Comprehensive Guide
For
STATE BANK OF INDIA
Probationary Of? cer Recruitment Examination 2014
ISBN: 9 789 3827 329 07

` 235
63
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In the News
IN THE NEWS
Tabare Vazquez
Tabare Vazquez has won the

second round of the
presidential election in
Uruguay and will be taking
office on March 1, 2015.
It will be the Left-wing Broad
Fronts third consecutive term
in government and also the
largest margin of victory in a runoff.
Meanwhile, outgoing president
Jose
Mujica,
whose
management had the approval
of 65 per cent of the citizens
according to a poll last week,
said he would now have the task
of being the coordinator within
the ruling coalition.
so far as integrity is concerned,

it goes without saying that you
all would uphold it, was the
first message from Anil Kumar
Sinha to his officers, after he
took over as Director of the
Central Bureau of Investigation
at the agency headquarters.
The CBI Director holds an MA
in Psychology and M.Phil in
Strategic Studies. He has been
the recipient of several awards.
Mr. Sinha, who belongs to Bihar
and was inducted as an IPS
officer into his home cadre in
1979, is recipient of Police
Medal for Meritorious Services
in the year 2000 and
Presidents Police Medal for
Distinguished Services in 2006.
64
Shinzo Abe
Arun Majumdar
Anil Kumar Sinha
Do your duty without fear and
said.
An IIT-Bombay alumnus, Mr.
Majumdar is a material scientist,
engineer, who was President
Barack Obamas nominee for
the Under Secretary of Energy
between November 30, 2011
and May 15, 2012.
A top Indian-American
scientist from Stanford
University has been appointed
as one of the Science Envoys
of the U.S.
Arun Majumdar, a professor at
the prestigious university, along
with three others Peter Hotez,
Jane Lubchenco and Geri
Richmond would serve as U.S.
Envoys beginning January next
year, the State Department
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo

Abe won a comfortable reelection in a snap poll that he
had billed as a referendum on
his economic policies.
But a low turnout from
unenthusiastic voters beset by
a heavy snowfall across much
of the country could cast doubt
on the endorsement he will
claim for Abenomics his
signature plan to fix the
countrys flaccid economy.
Media exit polls shortly after
voting showed his ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) and its
junior partner Komeito had
swept the ballot, with an
unassailable two-thirds majority
in the lower house of
parliament that will give them
the power to override the
upper house.
Voter turnout is likely to be a

In The News
record low, but we still can call
it a landslide victory for Prime
Minister Abe, said Masaru
Kohno, a Politics Professor at
Waseda University in Tokyo.
M.C. Sampath
Anerood Jugnauth
But he never shied away from

expressing a forthright opinion
on issues that mattered. And as
a coordinator of editorials,
willing to put in long hours, he
was considered the safest pair
of hands any Editor could wish
for.
S. Narayanan
Mauritius President named

veteran politician Sir Anerood
Jugnauth as Prime Minister, after
the 84-year-old won a landslide
taking nearly three-quarters of
the seats in Parliament.
Mr. Jugnauth, a former
President and Prime Minister,
was handed his letter of
appointment at a meeting at
State House, a statement from
the office of President Kailash
Purryag said.
Mr. Jugnauths centre-right
Alliance Lepep swept 47 out
of 62 seats in the Indian Ocean
nations Parliament, after voters
rejected the ruling partys bid
to boost presidential powers.
Debate over constitutional
reform notably over a
divisive proposal to strengthen
presidential powers made
Wednesdays poll one of the
most crucial since the islands
gained independence from
Britain in 1968.
Mr. Jugnauth, previously PM
between 1982 and 1995 and
again between 2000 and 2003,
has promised he will boost the
economy.
M.C. Sampath, retired Senior

Associate Editor of The Hindu,
passed away here on Saturday
evening after suffering a
massive cardiac arrest. He was
78.
He retired from The Hindu in
2012 after serving the
newspaper for 50 years, not
counting the five years during
which he was the part-time
correspondent
in
Chengalpattu.
Joining the organisation in June
1961 as a Staff Reporter, he rose
to become an Editorial writer
and a Senior Associate Editor.
He was also in charge of the
Book Reviews for some years.
For long years, he was writing
the Religion column in the
newspaper.
In his later years with the
newspaper, as the seniormost
member of the editorial team,
Mr. Sampath assisted the Editor
in managing the editorials for
the day, finally seeing them off
on the page after scrutiny.
MCS was an old school
journalist who was meticulous
in his commitment to accuracy,
contextualising and fairness.
As an editorial writer, he was
clear-headed, sceptical about
big claims, nuanced, and able
to deal with complexity skilfully
and to present a persuasive
argument with ease.
S. Narayanan (89), chairman of

India Motor Parts & Accessories
Ltd (IMPAL), part of the TVS
group, passed away.
He was a doyen of the
automobile industry having
spent over seven decades in it.
He single-handedly nurtured
the spare parts industry in the
country and held top posts in
many industry associations.
Narayanan was on the Board of
IMPAL since 1965, served as its
managing director from 196979 and as Chairman from 2002.
He was instrumental in the
companys expansion all over
India.
He is survived by wife
Choodamani Narayanan and
two sons industrialist N. S.
Ramji and N. Krishnan,
Managing Director of IMPAL
and daughter-in-law Dr. Nalini
Krishnan of The Hindu.
Dineshwar Sharma
65

In the News
Dr. Radhakrishnan
Dineshwar Sharma, a Biharborn, Kerala-cadre Indian

Police Service officer of the
1979 batch, will be the new
chief of the Intelligence
Bureau. Mr. Sharma, and Ashok
Prasad, another Bihar-born IPS
officer currently in the IB, were
the front runners for the post.
Mr. Sharma, who succeeds
Syed Asif Ibrahim, who retires
on December 31, has a wide
range of experience from
handling separatism and
insurgencies to domestic and
regional politics.
He has served in Nagaland,
Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and
Lucknow in various capacities.
The unassuming officer is
known among his colleagues as
quiet, bright and savvy.
66
Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Chairman

of the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) is one of
the 2014 top ten scientists
chosen by the prestigious
journal Nature. This is the first
time in the recent past that the
journal has chosen an Indian
working in India.
He is listed along with other
people
like
Andrea
Accomazzo, the Rosetta flight
operations director, European
Space Agency. The reasons for
choosing Dr. Radhakrishnan are
pretty
simple
and
straightforward.
When Indias Mangalyaan

successfully settled into Mars
orbit on September 24, 2014,
the country became the first
and only nation to have done
so on its maiden attempt. India
also became the first Asian
country to reach Mars.
The space organisation
crossed two other major
milestones this year. In January,
the space organisation
achieved spectacular success
with the spaceflight of an
Indian cryogenic engine and
stage.
India has been striving hard for
some years to indigenously
develop a cryogenic engine to
improve the reliability of GSLV
rockets and to take the rocket
to greater heights.
The recent launch of the
heaviest and tallest GSLV Mark
III and the successful re-entry
of the unmanned crew module
were the other landmark
achievements.
Medium: English
Price: Rs. 840 Rs. 559
No. of Booklets: 12 (1 Year)
Publisher: IASEXAMPORTAL.COM
File Type: PDF File Only (No Hard Copy)
Gist of The Hindu
Gist of Yojana
Gist of Kurukshetra
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http://iasexamportal.com/civilservices/order-form/the-gist-subscription

Selected Articles from Various Newspapers & Journals
SELECTED ARTICLES FROM VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS & JOURNALS
Development as
a peoples movement
Development was a key issue in
the 2014 Lok Sabha election. In his
very first speech after taking over as
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi
asserted that his government is
committed to carrying on
development as a peoples
movement. This, he has asserted, will
draw upon Indias democratic,
demographic
and
demand
dividends. But are we genuinely
moving towards organising
development as a peoples
movement while building on these
strengths? To cater to Indias massive
population of consumers, people
should have adequate purchasing
power, such as that enjoyed by
people employed in the industries or
services sector. Unfortunately, as the
malnourishment statistics indicate, a
vast majority of Indians are poor, with
barely 10 per cent employed in the
organised sector. We are being
convinced that vigorous economic
growth is generating substantial
employment. But this is not so.
When our economy was
growing at 3 per cent per year,
employment in the organised sector
was growing at 2 per cent per year.
As the economy began to grow at 78 per cent per year, the rate of growth
of employment in the organised
sector actually declined to 1 per cent
per year since most of the economic
growth was based on technological
progress, including automation. At
the same time, the increasing
pressure of the organised sector on
land, water, forest and mineral
resources has adversely impacted
employment in farming, animal
husbandry and fisheries sectors.
People who are being pushed out of
these occupations are now crowding

in urban centres. This is in turn leading
to a decline in the productivity of the
organised industries and services
sector. Evidently, the ship of our
development is sadly adrift.
Undoubtedly, people aspire for
development. But what is
development? Joseph Stiglitz, a
recipient of the Nobel Prize in
Economics and one-time chairman of
Bill Clintons Economic Advisory
Council, offers an insightful analysis,
asserting that development should
result in an enhancement of the
totality of a nations four-fold capital
stocks: the capital of material goods,
natural capital such as soil, water,
forests and fish, human capital
including health, education and
employment, and social capital
comprising mutual trust and social
harmony. Our current pattern of
economic development is by no
means a balanced process resulting
in the overall enhancement of the
totality of these stocks.
Thus, for instance, mining in
Goa has severely damaged the States
water resources and caused high
levels of air and water pollution. The
ever-increasing content of metals in
drinking water reservoirs has
adversely impacted health. When
thousands of trucks were plying ore
on the roads of Goa, the resulting
chaos in traffic and accidents
seriously disrupted social harmony.
Evidently, the single-minded focus on
industrial growth is not leading to
sustainable,
harmonious
development, but merely nurturing a
money-centred violent economy.
In Chandrapur and Gadchiroli
districts of Maharashtra, both of which
are Naxal-torn, there are hopeful
examples emerging of how
development may be nurtured as a
peoples movement. A number of

tribal and other traditional forestdwelling communities of these
districts now have management
rights over Community Forest
Resources under the Forest Rights
Act. The state retains ownership over
such resources, and these cannot be
diverted to other purposes. But now
these resources are being managed
holistically with a fuller involvement
of the people. The citizens of
Pachgaon, for instance, have,
through two full-day meetings of their
entire Gram Sabha, decided upon
40-odd regulations. Tendu leaves are
a major forest produce, but their
harvest entails extensive lopping and
setting of forest fires.
So, Pachgaon has decided to
forego this income and instead focus
on marketing the edible tendu fruit.
By stopping the collection of tendu
leaves, the trees are healthier and
both fruit yield and income from its
marketing have gone up. Incomes
from bamboo harvest have also gone
up manifold, and for the first time the
people are moving out of the earlier
precarious existence. Notably, they
have on their own initiated protecting
part of these forests as newly
constituted sacred groves. Such
community management of forest
resources is the only sane way to
combat extremism, and I have every
hope that the new government, with
its commitment to making
development a peoples movement,
will wholeheartedly support these
initiatives.
Furthermore, Goa could revive
its currently stagnating mining
business through novel peopleoriented initiatives such as the
proposal from the tribals in Caurem
village in Goas Quepem taluka.
There, extensive community lands
67


that harbour a large sacred grove
lands that ought to have been
assigned as Community Forest
Resources have been encroached
upon by palpable illegal mining,
which has damaged water resources,
affected farming, and created social
dissonance. The mines are currently
closed because of the illegalities, and
the Gram Sabha has unanimously
resolved that if they are to be
restarted, this should be done through
the agency of their multi-purpose
cooperative society.
An imaginative deal
The 160-member World Trade
Organization (WTO) wrote history
last week when its General Council
approved its first major global trade
deal since its inception nearly two
decades ago. The WTO got into a
logjam when New Delhi put its foot
down, and refused to sign the trade
facilitation agreement unless a
solution was found to the food
stockpiling issue. The resultant
impasse had even put a question
mark over the very future of the
WTO. Sensing the disastrous
consequences of a WTO failure,
Washington swiftly went into a
bilateral huddle with India. Once
the two sides agreed on a solution to
the contentious issue, the decks
were cleared for the WTO to ink its
maiden
trade
agreement.
Quarantining the public food
stockpiling issue has ensured that
the members commitment for a
multilateral trading system remains
intact. India and others felt that the
Bali agreement put at risk their food
security policies.
The WTO General Council has
now agreed to keep the negotiations
for a permanent solution on public
stockholding
for
security
consideration independent of the
outcomes on talks on other issues. It
68
has also decided to let the peace

clause, agreed in Bali, to remain in
force until a permanent solution is
found. The agreement clearly
addresses Indias concerns. The
WTO has set for itself an accelerated
time frame of December 2015 to
arrive at a lasting solution to the
issue. A stricter deadline reflects a
sense of seriousness in not letting
the issue linger indefinitely. In a way,
it also assures the developed world
that its concerns over the tradedistorting food subsidies remain a
priority focus. With the General
Council adopting the Protocol of
Amendment, the process of
implementation of the Trade
Facilitation Agreement has finally
begun. Essentially, it is aimed at
modernising the trade infrastructure
and easing regulations to smoothen
global trade.
Since the Doha Round, the
WTO has been struggling to be
relevant in the midst of diverse
interest blocs. It is hoping to shore
up its image with the less-ambitious
but procedurally significant trade
facilitation agreement. The public
stockholding issue almost spoiled
the party for the WTO but now there
is no need to redo Bali. Significantly,
the WTO General Council has also
given itself a deadline of July 2015
to agree on a work programme to
implement the Bali Ministerial
Decisions. If it reveals a prudential
compromise, the historic deal also
underscores the acute anxiety
among members to work towards
strengthening the multilateral trading
system. Surely, the deal must spur
member-nations to discover ways
and means to deliver fast on the Bali
decisions. The moot question,
however, is: will the deal embolden
the WTO attempt liberalising the
more sensitive areas of trade as was
intended by the Doha Round?
No closure for Bhopal

For thousands of residents of
Bhopal, the disaster began the night
they choked on the air which smelt
of burnt chillies, and it hasnt ended
yet. The survivors got a pittance as
compensation, thanks to an out-ofcourt settlement by the Indian
government, and the late Warren
Anderson, then chief executive
officer of Union Carbide India Limited
(UCIL), was not extradited for trial in
India. Justice seemed remote then,
and 30 years later even more so.
Bhopal will be remembered for the
horrors of industrial negligence and
the havoc caused by methyl
isocyanate gas and other chemicals,
and equally so for its aftermath of
apathy and criminal callousness.
Recently, survivors appealed
against a court ruling to reverse the
decision that a U.S. firm could not be
sued for ongoing contamination from
the chemical plant. According to
official estimates, 3,787 persons died
and over 550,000 were injured, while
unofficial estimates put the death toll
much higher. The affected
population continues to suffer from
severe long-term health impact. The
plant, which has tonnes of toxic
waste, is yet to be cleaned up, and
various agencies are still wrangling
over whose responsibility it is and who
will pay. UCILs plant manufacturing
the pesticides Sevin and Temik was
dumping waste on 6.4 hectares on
the premises. Tests of the
groundwater and waste dumps have
shown the presence of mercury and
other toxic substances, and chemical
contamination has made water in the
tubewells around the plant unfit for
drinking.
According to the law of the
land, UCIL was fully responsible for
the wastes and for the clean-up. The
question of criminal liability was
never really settled, though in the
minds of the people there was no


doubt about it. Andersen and the
company were spared a trial while
thousands of survivors continue to
lead a life of pain and trauma. Some
UCIL employees and its former
chairperson Keshub Mahindra were
convicted of causing death by
criminal negligence and sentenced
to two years in prison in 2010, but
they were released on bail. If
anything, the disaster should have
taught some important lessons in
environmental protection and law,
compensation and criminal liability,
but it didnt.
Bhopal was not a tragedy, it
was a disaster waiting to happen.
What is tragic is the predictability of
events even after the gas leak: the
lack of sensitivity and concern for
the survivors, not even bothering to
clean up the mounds of toxic waste,
not attending seriously to the health
issues, and making people run
around for years for their rights. It is
farcical that the government should
enhance compensation for the
survivors after having shortchanged
them in the first place. Thirty years on,
it is time for some serious reflection
on the sensitivity of the state to such
disasters.
An economic
blueprint for Mr. Modi
Topping UPAs robust growth
would mean bettering the
performance of the preceding UPA
government. It was by no means
insignificant. The UPA period saw
the highest GDP growth rates in
Indias history. The annual growth
rates of close to 9 per cent between
2005-06 and 2007-08 have been
exceeded only once in 1987-88,
when growth shot up because the
previous year had seen an
unprecedented drought. During
UPAs decade in power, national
income almost doubled; income per

head went up 69 per cent. These
figures are supported by the rise in
consumer durable ownership shown
by National Sample Survey. The
boom witnessed under the UPAs
tenure has ended; growth in the past
two years has been under 5 per cent
a year. Industrial growth has
collapsed. Even to achieve
respectable growth, the NDA
government will have to do
something, which politicians like to
call reforms. But they will be nothing
like the reforms of 1991-93. The
economy was hobbled with such
controls then that all Narasimha Rao
had to do was to remove them.
Nara-indra Modi has no such easy
option. He needs to think out of the
box.
One idea he had was Make in
India. Make what? There is an
excellent new website; the
government certainly knows how to
make them. It opens with a contrived
lion made of racks and pinions. It lists
25 sectors 14 in industry, five in
services, four in transport, and two
vague ones, namely space and
biotechnology which are little
different from what the old
government would have prioritised.
It gives pride of place to the DelhiMumbai industrial corridor. For the
rest, it summarises industrial policy,
which repeats all the convolutions of
the UPA era. It is remarkable how
little it has changed. There is a
longing for revolution, but there is
no idea of where to go next and
how.
To
begin
with,
is
manufacturing worth bothering
about? Before the industrial
revolution, India was the worlds
most industrialised nation; after the
revolution, it fell far behind. That has
left a longing for lost glory. But the
share of manufacturing in GDP has

been falling everywhere. The only
exception is China, which achieved
outstanding growth in the past
quarter
century
through
industrialisation. The Chinese story is
complex, but some of its
components are well-known.
Beginning in the 1970s, China set
up an efficient steel industry, which
has kept its costs of engineering and
construction low. It built world-class
railways, highways and ports, which
took its manufactures cheaply across
the country and the world.
Indias Achilles heel is
electricity: it is expensive and
uncertain. My solution for it is twofold.
First, the Centre owns a quarter of
power generation capacity, and
supplies fuel for over two-thirds of
the power. It should give power only
to State electricity boards that charge
a single price for their power, which
must cover long-term costs of
generation. State governments must
corporatise state electricity boards;
if they want to give any consumer
subsidies, they must finance them
from State budgets. The same
principle of long-term viability
pricing must be applied to the
Centres coal, oil and power
enterprises. Second, the Centre must
buy floating thermal power plants like
those in the West Indies, anchor them
in ports, and use them to supply
power to those States whose
governments corporatise their
electricity boards. Finally, the Centre
must abolish all imposts on coal and
oil products and create a national
energy exchange where they are
freely bought and sold; that will
minimise the costs of energy. If it must
impose taxes, they must be the same
per Btu for all forms of energy and
only on energy consumed by final
users.
The financial industry is
overregulated and consequently
69


underdeveloped.
Financial
institutions are poorly designed. As a
result, there is too little capital for
small producers and traders, and too
little risk capital in general. SEBIs
enormous rulebook and its partiality
towards the so-called qualified
institutional investors have turned the
capital market into an oligopoly; and
restrictions on entry into banking and
competition have led to collusion
between banks and their larger
clients.
This is my initial list of reforms.
An economist can theorise and
imagine endlessly. But policy is not a
product of dreams; it emerges from a
bargaining process in which an
economist is only one participant. My
list would give an idea of how one
starts with a problem and applies
economic principles to it to draw
policy conclusions. Policy is made by
policymakers, brought into the public
sphere by media, administered by
civil servants, enjoyed or suffered by
common people and reshaped by
democratic processes. Those who are
elected may think they have arrived
and only have to wave a magic wand;
those who have elected them may
soar with hope. But good policy
requires a robust process of which
elections are a small part. The new
government still has to design the
process, let alone implement it.
Insecure and
insular in urban India
It is easy to see how in the past
20 years the idea of private ownership
has had a huge debilitating impact
on urban life. The city has changed
from being a congenial space of
shared amenities and relationships to
a fearful nightmare of private
strongholds and walled compounds
insecure, insular and isolated. As
the boundaries of the city have
expanded to take in more people,
the real boundaries around residents
have closed in. In Gurgaon outside
70
Delhi, Vastrapur in Ahmedabad, or

Whitefield in Bengaluru, the gated
community coaxes the home owner
into believing in the security of living
among people like each other. The
house comes now with greater realms
of private facilities: private parking,
private entertainment, private office,
private pool, private barbecue
when the home acts as a virtual city,
there is no need to go out.
In the 1970s, with little use for
a car, my parents opted to share the
expense of a car and driver with four
other homes in the neighbourhood.
Such efficient allocation ensured
that the shared car was fully
employed during the day within
selected time slots. Five houses
came together to share one car;
today, each of those houses has four
to five cars, mostly clogging the
driveway. At the time, the local
market had several lending libraries
with the latest books. The system of
short-term borrowing ensured that
every book was happily thumbed by
many interested readers, as were
magazines and later, videos.
The larger thrust of the shared
life also extended to living spaces
within and outside the home. The
absence of multiple TVs and fridges
allowed the family to share time
together; as did the community park,
where people met in the evening.
Throughout the world, cities are
attempting to create optimal
conditions for shared interactive
lifestyles. Suburbs in Washington and
Boston encourage carpooling by
creating special fast lanes into the
city. In a new scheme in Orlando,
tight-knit town houses open out into
a common garden, allowing an easy
mingling of all residents. Offices in
Bogot hire shared taxis to ferry their
staff into the city.
Other initiatives such as cohousing in Denmark support
communities planned and managed

by the residents who share
responsibilities of child care,
recreation and security along with
social activities. Some new Chinese
cities discourage any form of private
ownership whether house or car
so people live close to places of
work in rental housing. Stockholms
suburban ordinance even allows
private gardens to be used publicly.
Families without their own lawns are
encouraged to use someone elses as
their own. The worlds most liveable
cities are without doubt those that
encourage such shared patterns in
civic regulations.
Governments abroad have also
made conscious and consistent
efforts to eradicate the visible
hierarchy of their cities, ensuring that
everyone lives together, works and
shares a common pool of services and
facilities. Senators in Washington live
in standard suburban homes and
commute every morning like ordinary
citizens. In the Netherlands, Queen
Beatrix could be seen choosing
vegetables in the local market. Warren
Buffett, one of Americas richest men,
still maintains his old family home in
Omaha, and is often seen playing with
his grandkids on the sidewalk.
Naturally, a government that still
follows antiquated regulations and
by-laws is hardly capable of offering
thoughtful solutions in this direction.
Equally, it is a shameful sign of our
times that builders profiting from
construction, continue to lavish all
their efforts where none is needed.
As money and good times roll in,
developers begin a steady and
relentless marketing of luxury villas
and townships, privatising the city
further with high electrified
boundaries and yet more isolation.
Why is it then that these
fortress walls in suburban Delhi,
Bengaluru and Pune foster such
seclusion and despair, but the


narrow lanes of Mehrauli and Dharavi
despite the stigma of slum living
are welcoming and unrestrained?
In a society that has traditionally lived
on the ideal of dependence, a
return to a more egalitarian shared
existence is a certain possibility.
Now, more than ever, with the threat
of smart cities looming large, the
creation of a civic model needs
careful stating, design and
evaluation.
Beginning with the redesign
of the middle-class home, its relation
to its neighbours, the value of
community over privacy, shared
transport over the private car, the
compaction of distance between
home, workplace and recreation, the
abolishing of gated complexes, the
inclusion of common greens, the
reduction of private commerce, the
conversion of roads to parks and
walking tracks, can all be directed in
the thrust for a different type of city.
If private builders wish to apply any
such ideas in their projects, the
government should allow them a
slate clean of all local restrictions to
make it possible.
Rethink the death penalty
As India continues to stand in
favour of the death penalty, it is
increasingly finding itself in the
margins of world politics and
international standards on this issue.
On a UN General Assembly
resolution to establish a moratorium
on death penalty, a vast majority of
the countries have voted in favour of
abolishing the penalty. Although the
resolution does not have binding
value, it does carry considerable
moral and political weight. Amnesty
International reported that 114 of
the UNs 193 member-states voted
in favour of the resolution and 36
voted against it, while 34 abstained.
Around 140 countries worldwide

have abolished the death penalty in
law or practice, and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
is strongly against it. The
International Criminal Court
envisages life imprisonment even for
crimes against humanity such as
genocide. Customary international
law does not prohibit the death
penalty currently, but global opinion
is rapidly moving towards an
abolition.
Given this global trend, India
gave the following reasons for its
retentionist position: (a) the sovereign
right to determine its own laws; (b)
the death penalty is exercised in the
rarest of rare cases; and (c) India
guarantees rule of law and the
necessary procedural safeguards for
a fair trial. But this justification is
grossly inadequate. Abolition is now
firmly entrenched in the human rights
discourse and no longer limited to
national criminal justice policy,
making the sovereignty defence
much weaker. As far as the rarest of
rare jurisprudence is concerned, the
Supreme Court in Sangeeth (2013)
agrees that this principle laid down
in Bachan Singh (1980) has received
erroneous and inconsistent
interpretations in most judgments
since Machhi Singh (1983).
The court concedes that the
test has become arbitrary and judgecentric rather than principle-centric.
In an interview to Frontline, Justice
A.P. Shah said: Clearly, the two
prisoners in Ravjis case who were
wrongly sentenced to death were
executed as a result of these flawed
judgments, constituting the gravest
known miscarriages of justice... As
far as the due process of law is
concerned, the stealthy killings of
Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru, as well
as the undue delay in handling mercy
petitions, deftly spelt out in
Shatrughan Chauhan (2014), reflect
flawed executive action that cannot

always be corrected by judicial
intervention. Even if public opinion
in India currently favours the death
penalty, the move towards a more
enlightened approach can be
initiated in Parliament. As India
endeavours to play a stronger role in
world politics, it is time to rethink its
stand on the death penalty with more
clarity.
A welcome U-turn
In making it clear that his
government intends to move quickly
on the 2011 Protocol to the existing
1974 Land Boundary Agreement
with Bangladesh, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has made an
important and necessary correction
to the Bharatiya Janata Partys
neighbourhood vision. While in
opposition, the BJP had refused to
lend support to the constitutional
amendment
required
for
implementing the Protocol as it
involved ceding territory to another
nation. Led by its Assam unit, the BJP
was then of the view that it would
compromise the countrys territorial
integrity as India would cede more
land to Bangladesh than it would
get. In reality, the exchange involves
enclaves that are non-contiguous,
and deep inside Indian or
Bangladesh territory. There are 111
Indian enclaves totalling about
17,160 acres, or 70 sq km, in
Bangladesh; India has 51
Bangladeshi enclaves, totalling
7,110.02 acres, or about 28 sq km.
India does not govern the Indian
enclaves in Bangladesh, and vice
versa. As a result, these islands of
alien populations have had no
access to the development, job
opportunities, laws or rights of either
the country to which they belong or
the one that surrounds them.
Instead, they have become a law
71


and order and security challenge on
either side of the border. A second
part of the protocol envisages
formalising control of territory in
adverse possession, that is,
Bangladesh land contiguous with the
border, inhabited by its citizens and
de facto under its control, but falling
on the Indian side of the border, and
vice versa. Under this, India will get
formal control of about 2,777 acres,
or 11 sq km, and Bangladesh 2,267
acres, or 9 sq km.
With the BJP now ready for it,
the constitutional amendment can be
passed quickly. The Cabinet must
then ratify the Protocol before
implementation can begin. The
Protocol is essential to completing an
unfinished task left over from history,
that of properly demarcating the
border between India and
Bangladesh. Prime Minister Modi
sought to hard-sell the land swap to
his party as an instrument of internal
security and a means to prevent
illegal migration, perceived by the
BJP as two sides of the same coin.
As important is the humanitarian
aspect, as the Protocol can bring a
huge improvement in the lives of
thousands of people. When it is
implemented, the 14,000 or so
residents of the Bangladeshi
enclaves in India will have the option
of becoming Indian citizens. In
addition, at least some of the 37,000
or so Indians in the enclaves in
Bangladesh are expected to cross
over. Both New Delhi and Dhaka must
ensure that any population transfers,
and consequent changes to the
demography on either side, are
handled in a just, equitable, evenhanded and non-discriminatory
manner.
SAARCs make or break
moment
The most tangible outcome of
the 18th session of the South Asian
72
Association for Regional Cooperation

(SAARC) summit was the agonising
wait for the will they, wont they lastminute ice-breaker at a Nepalese
resort between Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif, leaders of the two
nuclear-armed nations. It resulted in
a rather contrived handshake and the
exchange of bonhomie. Inevitably,
this raises some serious questions
about the future of the 30-year-old
regional cooperation organisation.
Will it ever come of age or, as it seems
more likely, will it die prematurely?
Although the gesture sent a huge sigh
of relief across the subcontinent
living in the shadows of a looming, if
not inadequately perceived, nuclear
Armageddon, it has all but dashed
the hopes of a quarter of the worlds
humanity to live in peace and
prosperity.
While individual SAARC
countries, especially their affluent
sections, may have done well, the
region as a whole continues to be
mired in poverty, disease, illiteracy,
ignorance and religious, ethnic and
communal hatred the deeplyimprinted signatures of our colonial
heritage that the newly elected
national governments had promised
to remove at the time of
Independence. Instead of the
eradication of most of these
unwelcome tendencies and
characteristics, it is disappointing to
see their resurgence in most
countries of the region. If India is
perceived to behave like a hegemon
and Pakistan as obstructionist in
Indias ambitions to play a legitimate
role in world affairs, SAARC may
atrophy into smaller sub-regional
groupings
The intractable problem of
Kashmir which the British left as a
parting gift to the two estranged
nations gave the ruling elites of
India and Pakistan the excuse to

engage in a hostile arms race and
deflect their attention from the most
pressing problems they needed to
address after gaining freedom from
colonial rule. Of course, it may be a
bit unfair to blame the British for
everything even in Kashmir that
went wrong after they left.
However, the fact that military
command/control remained in the
hands of British generals in both
countries for some time, even after
Independence, does create
suspicions in this regard.
Undoubtedly, Indias record in
complicating, and its unwillingness
to amicably resolving, the issue in a
spirit of good neighbourliness is
much murkier than Pakistans, where
the dominant role of its military and
intelligence agencies in strategic
decision-making has been the main
cause of a lack of trust between the
two countries, often leading to
cross-border proxy wars and
violence.
In recent years, however,
there has been discernible progress
in the civilian governments attempt
to reclaim lost space in policymaking, especially in the fields of
security and foreign affairs. Pakistans
transition to democracy is still a work
in progress, rather than a mission
accomplished. A decrease in
tensions with India and some
tangible progress on a mutually
acceptable solution to the Kashmir
problem could greatly ease
Pakistans journey towards a stable
democratic polity. Such a
development could also allay Indian
fears about Pakistani irredentist
misadventures and terrorist attacks,
such as were witnessed in Mumbai
six years ago and with its anniversary
coinciding with the inauguration of
the SAARC summit in Kathmandu,


perhaps, accounting for Mr. Modis
sombre visage during the inaugural
session.
This point scoring by the two
major leaders of SAARC is likely to do
immense harm to the cause of the
poverty-ridden South Asian region,
where serious efforts at regional
cooperation could play a key role in
shaping its future development.
When SAARC was established three
decades ago in Dhaka, Bangladesh,
it was hoped that these problems
could be better addressed at a
regional level, helping countries to
progress and protect themselves
from positive and negative
externalities and foster regional
interdependence. It is true that in the
last 30 years, SAARC has hardly
achieved the kind of dynamism that
similar organisations have produced
in Europe, Latin America, East and
Southeast Asia by creating wellintegrated and connected regions.
But this has been mainly because of
the continuing spat between the two
largest countries in the region and
their reluctance to bury the hatchet
and move on.
However, even the slow pace
with which SAARC has moved is
preferable to there being no regional
framework to work under. In an age
when the destinations of global
capital and technology are
determined by the degree of
integration of the region where they
are located, including the availability
of infrastructure and access to a pool
of skilled labour with low transfer
costs and ancillary industries, regional
cooperation becomes a positive sum,
win-win game. Notwithstanding its
other failures, the 18th SAARC summit
did support a historic accord for
electricity sharing through a regional
grid, which should greatly relieve
shortages in many a member country.
Both India and Pakistan have
displayed increasing impatience
with the imperfections of the SAARC
process, which is undisputedly

moving at a snails pace, largely
because of their arrogance and
intransigence. If India is perceived
to behave like a hegemon and
Pakistan as obstructionist in Indias
ambitions to play a legitimate role in
world affairs commensurate with its
achievements and capabilities,
SAARC may atrophy into smaller subregional groupings, which would be
much less beneficial to the region as
a whole. It would be a pity if this
happens and the baby is thrown out
with the bathwater. That would mean
that South Asia would never be able
to overcome its socio-economic
dystopia and become part of the
Asian century spearheaded by China
and East Asia. Therefore, it is
imperative that the two countries get
their bilateral act together and let the
underdogs in the entire region reap
the benefits of regional cooperation.
In a way, India and Pakistan
are facing a moment of truth, akin to
(or the reverse of) the 1947
Independence moment in their
history. As many retrospective
histories of that moment have shown,
those who had to take the decision
whether to divide or to keep India
united, seem to have done so in a
rather hasty manner, without fully
weighing the pros and cons of
Partition. Similarly, any decision to
dismantle or dilute SAARC for the
expediency or convenience of the
two countries may prove costly and
irreversible.
Understanding inflation
targeting
Inflation targeting is back in the
news and this is welcome. I have
always held the view that the
dominant objective of monetary
policy is the maintenance of price
stability. Inflation targeting gives
precision to the concept of price
stability. In any monetary policy
framework, a key ingredient is an

enunciation of its objectives. This
aspect has assumed increased
significance in the context of the
stress being laid on the autonomy of
central banks. Autonomy goes with
accountability, and accountability in
turn requires a clear statement of
goals. The case of price stability as
the major objective of economic
policy rests on the assumption that
volatility in prices creates
uncertainties in decision-making.
Rising prices adversely affect savings
while making speculative investments
more attractive. These apart, there is
a crucial social dimension,
particularly in developing countries.
Inflation adversely affects those who
have no hedges against it, and this
includes all poorer sections of the
community. This is indeed a very
strong argument in favour of the
maintenance of price stability in
emerging economies.
A crucial question that arises
in this context is whether the pursuit
of the objective of price stability by
monetary authorities undermines the
ability of the economy to attain other
objectives such as growth. In short,
the question is whether there is a
trade-off between inflation and
growth. There is a general consensus
that over the medium and the long
term, there is no such trade-off and
an environment of low inflation is
most conducive to faster economic
growth. However, there could be
such a possibility in the short term. By
injecting greater demand and
thereby generating higher inflation,
higher growth may be achieved.
However, to sustain this growth, the
authorities may have to generate
higher and higher inflation. This will
end up as a self-defeating exercise.
What then is the tolerable level
of inflation? At very low levels of
inflation, there may not be any
73


adverse consequences on the
economy. However, in every
economy, given its structure, there is
always a certain level of inflation
beyond which costs of inflation begin
to rise steeply. It is this inflation
threshold which can provide
guidance to policymakers.
Interestingly, the Chakravarty
Committee, of which I was a member,
regarded the acceptable rise in
prices as 4 per cent. Several studies
in the Indian context have estimated
that the threshold level of inflation may
be around 6 per cent.
Does the focus on inflation
targeting by monetary authorities
mean a neglect of other objectives
such as growth and financial stability?
Hardly so. What inflation targeting
demands is that when inflation
exceeds the threshold level, the
primary focus of monetary policy
must be to bring it back to the desired
level. It is sometimes claimed that the
financial crisis of 2008 in the United
States and western Europe sounded
the death knell for inflation targeting.
There is continuing debate on
whether the crisis was precipitated
by monetary policy failure or
regulatory failure. Countries like
Canada and Australia, which were
committed to inflation targeting,
were not caught in the crisis.
Can the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) or for that matter any central
bank effectively implement an
inflation mandate? Do they have
enough instruments to achieve the
goal? The ability of the central banks
to control inflation when such inflation
stems from excess demand is normally
conceded. It is when inflation is
triggered by supply shocks that some
doubts are raised. Such supply shocks
are most common in countries like
India where agricultural production
is subject to the vagaries of nature.
Even when inflation is triggered by
food inflation, monetary policy and
fiscal policy have a role to play. If food
74
inflation lasts long, it gets generalised.

Wages rise leading to a general cost
push inflation. If head line inflation
exceeds the acceptable level,
monetary policy must act at least to
ensure that the return on financial
assets is positive in real terms. In a
situation of supply shocks, it may take
longer for monetary policy to bring
down inflation. The recent
experience with inflation in our
country is a good example of this. That
is why the inflation mandate must
provide for a range and a time frame
for adjustment which should not be
too short. Nevertheless, monetary
policy must act irrespective of what
triggered inflation. Obviously, supply
side management is needed in
situations of supply stock and that
should be the responsibility of the
government. The second issue relates
to an appropriate price index which
should be used to monitor inflation.
In India, we have monitored inflation
by mostly looking at the wholesale
price index. That was because of the
easy availability of this index. Until
recently, we have had no composite
retail price index. Since the objective
of inflation targeting is to minimise the
impact of price rise on people, the
appropriate index will be retail
inflation.
The third issue relates to
institutional arrangements within the
monetary authority to take policy
decisions consistent with an inflation
mandate. In several countries, a
technical monetary policy committee
is constituted with members drawn
from the central bank, from the
government and from outside
experts. My preference would be to
constitute a committee of the board
of the RBI to do this. This is what was
done when the Board for Financial
Supervision was set up. While
constituting the central board of the
RBI, this aspect of the work of the
bank must also be kept in view.
Inflation targeting re-emphasises the
primacy of price stability as the

objective of monetary policy. Given
the rigidities in the economy and the
lags in policy impact, it must be
operated with flexibility.
Unanswered questions
The key takeaway from the
meeting that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi had with State Chief
Ministers to discuss the contours of
the new body that will replace the
Planning Commission was this: that
power and planning should be
decentralised and States should be
empowered to plan, design and
manage schemes based on what fits
them best. This is a point on which
consensus appeared to have
emerged even as the Chief Ministers
diverged along party lines over
whether the existing body should
be revamped or be replaced with a
new one. The decision to offer a
greater say to States in planning and
managing schemes seems to have
been born from Mr. Modis own
experience as Gujarat Chief Minister
when he made presentations to the
Plan panel and felt the need for a
better platform to articulate the
views of his State. In line with this
consensus, Chief Ministers would be
included in the body on a rotational
basis to give it a federal character.
Mr. Modis remark on bottom to top
planning is a comment on how New
Delhi cannot tailor the development
plans of States as each State has
unique needs and problems. A
second point that appeared to have
gained recognition was that
expertise and knowledge resided as
much outside the government, if not
more so, and that these needed to
be tapped by roping in the private
sector into the new body.
There is, however, not much
clarity on the traditional role of the
Planning Commission, including its


job of sitting in on expenditure
committee meetings. Will it mean the
end of the planning process itself? If
not, who will formulate and monitor
the annual and five year plans as the
Commission was doing? Sundays
meeting also failed to tackle the
issue of who will allocate and transfer
funds from the Centre to the States
for Centrally-sponsored and Plan
schemes, with Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley stating that further
consultations would be held on this
issue. The Planning Commission has
also been a veritable think-tank
producing studies and policy
reports that different Ministries relied
upon in their decision-making. The
body was staffed largely by
academics and bureaucrats at the
top, and an attempt to enlist
expertise from the business sector
did not go very far. If the new body
has to be a public-private think-tank,
as the Prime Minister seems to want
it to be, it should have the ability to
attract top-drawer talent and also
network with research bodies and
universities in India and abroad.
Interestingly, unlike the existing
Planning Commission, the new body
is likely to have a statutory role,
giving greater weight to its functions
and powers. At this stage, many
unanswered questions remain, and a
great deal more of conceptual
thought needs to go into the making
of the new body that is to come into
being by the end of January.
New satellite takes wing
India has a new bird in the sky
the communication satellite
GSAT-16 that was successfully
launched aboard Europes Ariane 5
rocket in the early hours of Sunday.
GSAT-16 has 48 transponders, the
largest number thus far on a
communication satellite built by the
Indian Space Research Organisation.

It will join a constellation of 10
satellites that form the Indian
National Satellite (INSAT) system. Its
transponders, operating in various
frequency bands, will provide
much-needed augmentation of the
existing 188 transponders on the
INSAT system that broadcast
television programmes, provide
educational and tele-medicine
services,
carry
telephone
conversations, and relay data.
In addition, close to 95
transponders have been leased on
foreign satellites, principally to meet
the needs of Direct-To-Home (DTH)
television channels. Vikram Sarabhai,
who founded the countrys space
programme, had the farsightedness
in the 1960s itself to recognise how
important communication satellites
and the services they provide
would be to a developing nation. It
was a vision that his successors
turned into reality, with the first of
the indigenously-built INSAT
satellites being launched in July
1992.
After the Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV) became available in
the mid-1990s, the country has not
had to look abroad to launch its
remote sensing satellites. That
transition has yet to happen with
communication satellites. The current
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch
Vehicle (GSLV) has hitherto been
trouble-prone, and the version
equipped with an indigenous
cryogenic stage replacing an
imported Russian one made its first
successful flight only in January this
year. Even if the GSLV becomes a
reliable launcher like the PSLV, it can
only carry communication satellites
weighing up to about 2.2 tonnes.
ISRO has already launched
considerably heavier communication
satellites on the Ariane 5, including
the GSAT-16 that weighs close to 3.2

tonnes. Launching these satellites
abroad is expensive. The price tag
for the GSAT-16 comes to about
Rs.900 crore. Of this, the foreign
launch costs come to around Rs.560
crore not including insurance. Had
the next-generation GSLV Mark III,
which can take four-tonne
communication satellites, been
operational, that launch might have
cost only about half as much. But the
cryogenic engine for the upper stage
of the Mark III is still being developed.
The rockets first experimental
launch, scheduled for later this
month, will therefore be a suborbital
one to test its flight characteristics
through the atmosphere. ISRO
expects to have the Mark IIIs
cryogenic engine and stage ready in
two years time. The sooner that
happens, the better.
Moving ahead on railway
stations
In its first Railway budget, the
BJP-led NDA government had
focussed on passenger amenities and
inviting private participation in the
modernisation of infrastructure. While
putting Meghalaya on the Railway
map recently, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi spelt out a scheme to
privatise and modernise railway
stations. He said 10 to 12 stations will
be taken up under the programme to
significantly upgrade passenger
amenities and make them akin to
airport terminal buildings. The
thought is not new, nor is the attempt
to upgrade major stations. Similarly,
the plan to leverage the extensive
extent of railway land available has
been talked about for years, without
much progress being made.
Commercial utilisation of railway land
could be very profitable, but needs
to be done with caution to prevent
exploitation or corruption. Now that
the government has decided to allow
100 per cent FDI in Railway projects,
75


the Ministry, now under a new
Minister, the reform-minded Suresh
Prabhu, should work on the details to
roll out the programme.
The first step will have to be the
identification of stations across the
country, deciding on what exactly the
private sector or partner can do, and
the sensitive issue of levying user
charges. In any scheme of privatising
public space, the question of user
charges comes in, and it needs to be
addressed in conjunction with the
extent of investment and the kind of
facilities provided in these stations.
When Mr. Modi spoke of trains
running
underground
and
commercial buildings coming on top
of that space, the reference must be
to the metro rail and stations in major
metropolitan centres. What is more
pressing is raising standards and
facilities at existing railway stations in
key cities such as New Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata,
Hyderabad,
Bengaluru,
Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad,
Allahabad and Patna, to name a few
centres. These are the stations that
are old and call for urgent
modernisation. In a limited way, the
zonal railways have been enhancing
amenities such as display boards,
seating arrangements and catering
facilities, providing in some stations
even Wi-Fi. There is so much scope
for a significant leap forward in the
matter of amenities: these should
include retiring rooms, waiting
rooms, toilets, electric cars and
wheel chairs for the aged and
physically challenged, and, above all,
maintaining cleanliness. Even where
the Indian Railways has tried to
provide some of these facilities,
there is just no upkeep or
maintenance. The area of cleanliness
and maintenance is one to which
the Railways need to pay immediate
attention. The earlier the Railways
76
start finalising this scheme and

implementing it, the better. It should
not be allowed to go the way of
earlier plans.
Good intent not
enough for good policy
The Indian Civil Liability for
Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) of
2010 is a good example of how
good intentions alone do not lead to
good policy. After obtaining a
historic waiver from the Nuclear
Suppliers Group in 2008, which
enabled India to engage in
international civil nuclear commerce
and acquire new technology for Gen
3 nuclear power plants, India
adopted the CLNDA whose
ambiguous provisions have
adversely impacted expansion of
nuclear power generation capacity.
These provisions may be well
intentioned but the open-ended
liability law makes all vendors,
domestic and international, reluctant
to engage with the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL).
Since 2010, NPCIL has been unable
to launch any new nuclear power
project (Kudankulam 1&2 predate
the CLNDA) and faces difficulties
even in sourcing spares domestically
for its indigenously designed
Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors
(PHWR).
This reluctance has negative
consequences because to sustain
annual growth rates of 9 per cent till
2035, Indias power generation has
to grow 6 to 7 times. From 225 GW of
installed capacity today, covering
thermal, hydel and renewables, it has
to reach 1,200 GW by 2035. Nuclear
generation accounting for 4.8 GW
today could rise to 80 GW, which is
consistent with Indias three-phase
nuclear programme and the quest for
long-term energy security. To meet
this target, seven more indigenously
designed PHWRs are expected to

come on stream by 2017 taking
capacity to 9 GW.
In the second stage, with 10
Light Water Reactors set up with
international collaborations (the
United States, France and Russia),
another 10 PHWRs and the proven
prototype Fast Breeder Reactor,
Indian nuclear generation should
reach 30 GW, ready to transition to
the third stage, based on the thorium
generated U-233 cycle. However,
the nuclear installed capacity remains
static though capacity utilisation has
gone up, thanks to imported uranium
fuel.
A peculiarity about international
nuclear liability law is the concept of
channelling. In order to encourage
its private sector to enter the nuclear
power sector, the U.S. introduced
economic channelling through the
Price Anderson Act (1957) under
which victims can initiate lawsuits
against the power plant operator and
other parties (designer, equipment
vendors, etc.), consistent with tort
law. However, in order to make it
easier for victims to claim
compensation in case of an accident,
the operator bears the entire financial
liability burden and is obliged to take
out omnibus insurance, to indemnify
the vendors. The operator
nevertheless enjoys right of recourse
against designers, vendors,
constructors, etc. In 1979, following
the Three Mile Island accident, the
victims sued the operator, the
designer and the constructor. While
settlement was done by the operator,
the operator had sued the designer
and this suit was settled out of court.
Operators accepted economic
channelling but with a financial
ceiling and a limited time frame within
which liability claims would be
admissible. For the victim, the
advantage was strict liability (the
victim does not need to prove
negligence), a single forum and a


single applicable law. The key point
in legal channelling is that victims
can only sue the operator and no civil
suits can be initiated by the victims
or the operator against the vendors,
designers or contractors, and, the law
of torts is set aside. The rationale used
in the Harvard Report was that postdelivery, vendors lose control over
their products and services and
accidents could be caused on
account of poor management.
Incidentally, while the U.S. has been
a strong promoter of legal
channelling abroad, domestically, it
has maintained economic
channelling which retains
applicability of tort law albeit in a
modified manner.
There are two contentious
provisions in the CLNDA. Section 17
allows the operator (NPCIL at
present) to have right of recourse for
nuclear damage against a supplier on
three counts if it is provided in the
contract, if it is on account of
equipment having latent or patent
defects or provision of substandard
services, or if there has been intent
to cause damage. The first and third
counts are consistent with
international regimes; the second
provision raises questions. These
terms are neither defined nor is there
guidance as to what standards would
apply in an Indian court. Further,
analysis of reactor incidents has
indicated that it is impossible to
identify a particular component or
equipment as the defective one
which could lead to unending
litigation. However, in order to
safeguard the victims interests, the
operators right of recourse only kicks
in after payments for nuclear damage
have been made. In other words, the
CLNDA retains the strict and exclusive
liability principles associated with
channelling. Section 46 provides
that the provisions of the CLNDA are
in addition to, and not in derogation
of, any other law, which has the
effect of making the supplier subject

to Indian laws that apply to any
industrial accident including criminal
liability, tort law, etc, leaving potential
liability open-ended and insurance
difficult to manage. Under the
CLNDA, a set of Rules was
promulgated in 2011. Rule 24 was
intended to address these concerns
but failed to do so and generated
further questions. It limits the
operators right of recourse vis--vis
the supplier, both monetarily and in
terms of a time frame. However, while
it is clear that Rule 24 applies to the
first part of Section 17, there are
questions about its applicability to
the second part.
To resolve this, the Modi
government will need to follow
certain guidelines. First, the problem
needs to be identified as first and
foremost, a domestic vendor
problem and not misconstrued as
addressing foreign vendors
concerns. Second, it has to be
addressed in an open and
transparent manner involving all
stakeholders including civil society
and media, and not by stealth or
clever fixes which end up in
embarrassing dead-ends. The two
principles of safeguarding victims
interests, in terms of both strict and
exclusive jurisdiction, and prompt
redress of damage claims, have
already been accepted and are not
undermined by any redistribution of
rights and obligations between the
operator and the suppliers. Given
the slow pace of litigation in India,
channelling would be beneficial to
victims but cannot coexist with
general applicability of tort law.
Therefore, just as Rule 24 constrains
parts of Section 17, definitions of
new terms and rules have to be
developed to ensure that supplier
liability is neither open-ended nor
infinite. Second, cascading
insurance premiums should not

render nuclear power economically
unviable. Finally, we need to think in
the long term. Tomorrow, the
nuclear power sector could be
opened up to private operators as is
the case with other power
generation. As the repository of
power reactor technology, NPCIL
will then be the design provider and
would hardly like to be faced with
the CLNDA as it currently stands.
Good intentions need a vision to
translate into good policy.
Moving forward on
insurance
The
Insurance
Laws
(Amendment) Bill, which aims to
increase the flow of foreign
investment into the capital-starved
insurance industry, is now just a step
away from getting into the statute
books. The Bill was first introduced
in Parliament way back in 2008 but
failed to receive support from parties
across the political spectrum,
including from the BJP, which now
heads the government. The Rajya
Sabha select committee, which
went into the provisions in detail and
whose report was tabled in
Parliament on Wednesday, has
recommended a 49 per cent
composite cap on foreign
investment while retaining the
condition that management and
control of the company has to
remain in Indian hands. With the
Cabinet quickly adopting the
amendments suggested by the
select committee, the stage is now
set for the Bill to be introduced in
the Rajya Sabha where despite the
Congresss support the Bill is not
likely to have easy passage.
Political games aside, the
adoption of the Bill is expected to
open the tap for the flow of foreign
77


investments into the insurance
industry as foreign players have been
waiting for the increased limit.
Backed by a higher level of
ownership, foreign companies would
also be willing to share technical
expertise with their Indian partners.
The 49 per cent cap will include both
foreign direct investment (FDI) and
foreign portfolio investment. Though
this might disappoint those who
would have liked the entire limit to
be appropriated for FDI, the fact is
that there are not too many companies
that are profitable and mature to list
on the stock markets. The scope for
FII investment is therefore limited. As
the committee has rightly observed,
incremental foreign investment
should ideally be used to increase the
capital base rather than to buy out
local promoters who might want to
liquidate a part of their stake.
Segments such as health insurance
require sharp focus, and the market
is also big given that the social security
system is weak in the country. The
committee has done well in not
agreeing to lower the limit of paidup capital from Rs.100 crore for health
insurance players; a lower threshold
would have made it easy for nonserious players to enter the sector.
Expansion of the insurance industry
is also important for the development
of the infrastructure sector as the
industry is typically a provider of
funds for long-term investment. This
augurs well for the BJP governments
focus on developing infrastructure.
Testing times for IndiaRussia ties
With 20 agreements worth
billions of dollars signed in one day,
Russian President Vladimir Putins visit
to India was a productive one. The
deals touched most of the fields India
and Russia cooperate on, from oil,
energy and infrastructure to military
training, even as the two countries set
a bilateral trade target of $30 billion
78
between them by the year 2025. What

is more, the opening of Indias roughdiamond procurement policy by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will
mean Mumbai can dream of
becoming a worldwide hub for the
industry. Finally, President Putins
offer of 12 nuclear reactors is the
clearest and most welcome indicator
yet that Russia does not share the
concerns of other suppliers about
Indias liability laws. However, there
is no denying that the old lustre of
the India-Russia friendship has
dimmed somewhat, and many of the
affirmations in the Druzba-Dosti
joint statement of friendship they
issued seem problematic. The
problems seem evident: Russia has
watched with displeasure as India has
diversified its military imports,
especially when it comes to
helicopter and aircraft purchases.
The slide is not recent, and last
year a senior Russian official had made
the countrys displeasure clear when
he demanded India treat Russia as an
old partner, calling the decision to
buy fighter aircraft and missiles from
France, the U.S. and Israel illogical
and unfair. For its part, India was
outraged by the Russian decision to
lift its embargo on defence sales to
Pakistan, and the first-ever RussiaPakistan framework agreement that
was finalised last month. Given that
India still maintains about 70 per cent
of its defence inventory from Russian
hardware, and is one of Russias
biggest buyers, the unhappiness on
both sides may not change the
equations of dependence between
them, but it must be addressed. In
this context, it is significant that Mr.
Modi said the relationship with Russia
would remain Indias closest
relationship and it would be the
most important defence partner. It
is increasingly important for New
Delhi and Moscow to reassure each
other in spheres other than the
commercial ones of defence, energy
and trade. Given Russias growing

isolation from the West, and Indias
growing closeness to the U.S.
President Barack Obamas visit is
coming up in January 2015 their
relationship is bound to be
challenged in many ways.
For better signage on
the cyber highway
The IT Acts vagueness and
comprehensiveness are troubling at
many levels. Instances of Section
66As use have been infrequent but
arbitrary. Several prominent examples
date from 2012, such as a Jadavpur
University professor arrested for
disseminating a cartoon of Ms.
Mamata Banerjee, a businessman in
Puducherry charged for a supposedly
offensive tweet against a politician,
and the arrest of two young women
in Maharashtra over comments
related to Bal Thackerays funeral. Last
year, the IT Cell of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) compared the ostensibly
draconian nature of Section 66A to
the Emergency, with several leaders
urging that it be amended or watered
down. Just last week, the Supreme
Court requested clarity on Section
66A from the Centre, pointing to the
inadequacy of the law and the
arbitrariness of its use. The
government, in its reply, defended
the law: even a single unlawful/
illegal message or image has a
potential to tear the social fabric and
destroy peace and tranquility.
The inadequacies of Indias
Internet regime are not relegated to
this one particularly contentious
piece of legislation. In reality, the
Indian state, Indian society, and the
Indian economy confront a series of
interrelated dilemmas pertaining to
the future of the Internet. The
manner in which these dilemmas are
addressed will be crucial to
determining Indias future as an
open society, a secure state, and a


competitive economy. Internetrelated policy has been difficult to
address because of a set of
widespread misconceptions and
imprecise language. One cardinal
misconception is that the Internet is
a thing unto itself, to be discussed,
debated, and governed in a vacuum.
The term cyber whether used
on its own or as a prefix
simultaneously insulates these
matters from other aspects of public
policy while encompassing a
startlingly wide variety of issues
related to personal and national
security, economic development,
and global governance. As an
increasingly integral part of our dayto-day lives, the Internet is an
extension of the offline world, with
all its faults and features. And the
faults lie not in the cloud, but in
ourselves.
The Internet is also here to stay.
Mobile technologies have already
proliferated widely across the
country, a revolution whose
implications have yet to be fully
internalised. And despite constraints
on mobile and broadband
infrastructure, Internet use in India
continues to expand. The digital
revolution is now an integral part of
every Indians existence even the
poorest of the poor. At the bottom of
the pyramid, digital technologies are
enabling financial inclusion,
improving basic education, and
effecting revolutionary changes in
the distribution of welfare and social
services. At the top, such
technologies are advancing
commerce, travel, market access, and
research and development in
unprecedented ways. A stable and
open Internet will be inextricably
linked to the Indian economys ability
to grow, innovate, and compete in a
global environment. A further
misconception one that is
surprisingly widespread in the

corridors of power is that the
Internet remains an inherently public
space. Yet, as more and more
personal information is saved and
communicated online, the Internet
can no longer be treated in that
manner. Users increasingly have their
private correspondence, their
finances, their personal histories, and
their photographs on servers, not on
their person. As such, users expect
even if they are not necessarily
entitled to a level of privacy that
governments and businesses do not
always grant them. Personal violations
by other users incidents of hacking
are treated with opprobrium and
are subject to legal action. But there
remains a disconnect between
Internet users perceptions of their
own privacy and the ability, authority,
and willingness of governments and
online businesses to encroach upon
it.
Finally, some still believe that
the Internet can be or should be
a completely open and anarchic
space. The harsh reality is that, much
like the offline world, the Internet is
potentially dangerous. For all their
unquestionable benefits, digital
information and communication
technologies can facilitate
exploitation, criminality, hate speech,
and threats to national security just
as other modes of communication do
so in the offline world. The revelation
just days ago that Mehdi Masroor
Biswas, a Bengaluru-based engineer,
was behind the pro-Islamic State
Twitter handle @shamiwitness only
further reinforces the notion that the
Internet cannot remain completely
anarchic and ungoverned
untouched by the hand of the state.
India is at present poorly equipped
to deal with some of the dilemmas
thrown up by these realities.
Inadequate laws are but one part of
the picture. The IT Act was amended
in the wake of the 26/11 attacks in
Mumbai, and it was pushed forward

with minimal debate and in a climate
of insecurity. The end result is so poor
as to be simultaneously meaningless
and omnipotent, and thus erodes the
credibility of our laws and our
democracy. The Indian state is also
expanding its capability to monitor
communications online steps that
are necessary in the light of the very
real threats to civil and national
security in India but with little
public discussion as to its
implications, and even less thought
being given to appropriate oversight.
The Centralised Monitoring System
(CMS) is one such entity, but in fact
several different agencies and
ministries have the authority to
monitor communications online.
Fortunately, there are possible
solutions at hand to address these
challenges. Indias laws on freedom
of expression online specifically
Section 66A need to be brought
in line with the reasonable
restrictions on free speech
contained in our own Constitution.
Simultaneously, efforts must be made
to bridge the gap between public
perceptions of Internet use and
existing laws. This requires a better
understanding by legislators, jurists,
and members of the media of the
inadequacies of existing legal
frameworks. Second, the notion that
there is a trade-off between security
and freedom must be put to rest.
Given the potential for virulent hate
speech and digital communications
that compromise national security,
there will be a continuing need for
Indian security, intelligence, and
police forces to monitor online
communications and take action
when necessary in the form of
removing content and prosecuting
serious violators. Finally, Indias
economy dependent as it is on
services and entrepreneurship will
need all the help it can get from the
development of a vibrant online
79


marketplace. And yet, for an
economy with inherent strengths in
services, English language education,
and technical skills, India has been
remarkably weak in terms of digital
innovation. Indias most successful
online companies Flipkart,
MakeMyTrip, Rediff are essentially
variants of other online services that
have been geared toward the Indian
market, while other innovations have
essentially involved lowering costs. If
India is to compete globally, and if it
is to generate tens of thousands of
small businesses to ensure
employment and growth, incentives
and an infrastructure for radical
innovation are necessary. The
momentum is there in the form of the
governments Digital India campaign,
but a closer marriage with Make in
India one that results in a
meaningful innovation policy will
undoubtedly be required.
A step toward humanization
Finally, a ritualistic burial is to be
given to Section 309 of the Indian
Penal Code, 1860, the living-dead
law that has haunted Indias criminal
justice system for decades. Taking a
step towards a more humane law, the
Union government has decided to
repeal
Section
309
with
overwhelming favour from a majority
of the States. Under Section 309, an
attempt to commit suicide is
punishable with simple imprisonment
up to one year and/or a fine.
Anachronistic in its approach, this law
dealt with those in agony by holding
up medical help through procedural
delays and then penalising them
rather than rehabilitating them
through counselling and care. Over
the years, this law has seen a
tumultuous journey of contestations,
to and fro, between retention and
suspension. In an early attempt to
repeal it, the Rajya Sabha had passed
the IPC (Amendment) Bill, 1978, but
the Bill lapsed as the Lok Sabha was
80
dissolved in 1979. Later, the Supreme

Court, in P. Rathinam (1994), stated
that the right to life under Article 21
of the Constitution included the right
not to live a forced life, thus holding
the provision unconstitutional. But
subsequently, in Gian Kaur (1996), a
five-judge bench overruled P.
Rathinam, upholding the validity of
Section 309. Gian Kaur stated that
sanctity of life was a significant aspect
of Article 21, and by no stretch of
imagination can extinction of life be
read to be included in protection of
life. Similarly, the Law Commission
of India in its 42nd Report (1971)
recommended the repeal of Section
309, while in the 156th Report (1997)
recommended retention, based on
Gian Kaur.
The Commissions 210th Report
(2008) again recommended a repeal
of the law, which was favourably
reiterated in Parliament and decided
upon recently. Globally, a significant
historical factor aiding the penal law
against suicide was perhaps the
condemnation of suicide by
institutional Christianity. St. Augustine
called suicide an unrepentable sin,
while for St. Aquinas, suicide was
unnatural. This ethic found its way
into English common law in the mid13th century, and suicide remained
an offence in England until 1961. No
wonder that the 42nd Report of the
Law Commission relied, inter alia, on
Manusmriti, that holds suicide
circumstantially permissible, to
recommend the repeal. In resisting
the repeal, Bihar urged caution,
saying suicide-bombers would no
longer be covered and deterred by
law. This is however a minor concern
because there are several anti-terror
laws to deal with such situations.
Madhya Pradesh believed that the
repeal would dilute Section 306
dealing with abetment to suicide. But
this claim overlooks the Gian Kaur
decision that stated that Section 306
enacted a distinct offence which is
capable of existence independent

of Section 309.
New wars on the Cold War relic
While the Indian Ocean Zone
of Peace (IOZOP), in its original form,
appears relevant in the present
context, the innumerable problems
India has faced on account of the
resolution and the U.N. Adhoc
Committee on the Indian Ocean
must be recalled before we take any
formal initiative in this regard. Sri
Lanka, our comrade in arms in the
IOZOP initiative, has played games
with us even in the happier days of
India-Sri Lanka relations and when
China was not in the picture. The
new narrative in the Indo-Pacific
may not be congenial to depending
on Sri Lanka or any other neighbour
to deliver on the IOZOP in
accordance with our interests. The
idea of IOZOP goes back to the days
of the 1964 Cairo Conference of the
Non-Aligned Movement, which had
expressed concern over the efforts
of the imperialists to establish bases
in the Indian Ocean and declared
that the Indian Ocean should not be
a battleground for the big powers.
The Lusaka Declaration (1970)
refined the idea further and it led to
the UNGA resolution, which
proposed the IOZOP strictly in the
context of the raging Cold War at that
time.
The UNGA resolution said:
the Indian Ocean, within limits to be
determined, together with the air
space above and the ocean floor
adjacent thereto, is hereby
designated for all times as a zone of
peace. It went on to define the
zone of peace not as one where
there was an absence of war or of a
state of peace and tranquillity, but
specifically about the great powers
halting and eliminating all bases,


military installations and logistical
facilities, and the disposition of
nuclear weapons and weapons of
mass destruction. It also envisaged
universal collective security in the
region without military alliances.
Ships would have the right to
unimpeded use of the zone, except
warships posing a threat to the littoral
and hinterland states of the region.
Till the end of the Cold War,
India stuck to the purist interpretation
of the zone as an area free of foreign
military presence, particularly bases
and other facilities, conceived in the
context of great power rivalry.
Implicitly, India did not object to the
movement of warships, as long as they
did not threaten the regional states.
Indira Gandhi reiterated this position
at a press conference in Moscow,
making the Soviet presence
legitimate, even though there were
reports that the Soviet Union was
seeking to establish bases in Somalia
and elsewhere. After a meeting of the
littoral and hinterland states in 1979,
India became acutely aware of a
hidden agenda on the part of Sri
Lanka and others to draw attention to
the increasing strength of India,
posing a threat to the smaller states in
the region. Sri Lanka was not loath to
have an American presence in the
Indian Ocean as a stabilising factor.
A fallout of the debate in the
Indian Ocean Committee was that
India and Australia had become
antagonistic to each other. Australia
began complaining about the growth
of the Indian Navy and also countered
India at disarmament forums,
particularly at the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) negotiations.
At one point, K. Subrahmanyam
maintained that the confrontation in
the Indian Ocean should be treated
as being triangular rather than bipolar
as he felt that the military presence
of the super powers was directed
against the autonomy of the Non-
Aligned countries. China had taken a

position of tactical support to the
zone, as its presence in the Indian
Ocean was not in focus. As a
proclaimed supporter of the
developing countries, China
expressed solidarity for the littoral
and hinterland states in seeking to
eliminate foreign military presence.
The focus on the Indian capabilities,
which emerged in this context, was
also a welcome development for
China. It claimed legitimacy for itself
as a permanent member of the
Security Council and as an Asian
power.
After the end of the Cold War,
the dynamics in the Committee
underwent a sea change, with India
itself shifting the focus of the zone of
peace from the elimination of foreign
military presence to one of
cooperation between the major
powers and the littoral and
hinterland states. The debate
became increasingly an embarrassed
ritualisation of the demilitarisation
effort. Indias joint exercises in the
Ocean with multiple partners
legitimised the presence of various
navies including that of the U.S. The
Adhoc Committee soldiered on
without a particular focus, merely
recalling the old resolution and
emphasising the need for the
permanent members and major
maritime users to join in an effort to
bring about a balance in the Indian
Ocean. From an arena of the Cold
War, the Committee became
ritualistic without a clear focus or
agenda. Naturally, new threats, such
as piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking,
etc were brought in, making it a
forum to combat non-state actors
rather than the great powers.
Revisiting the zone of peace
concept, which has led to the long
debates since 1971 may prove
hazardous in the present context,
because the rivalry that is taking

shape in the region is between the
U.S. and its allies, and China. With the
kind of support China demonstrated
in Kathmandu among the South
Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) countries, it is
possible that the zone of peace idea
will turn into a move to counter the
U.S. as a foreign presence and to
seek some balance between India
and China in the Indian Ocean.
China might well gain a status similar
to India and strengthen its
capabilities there. International focus
on Indias naval acquisitions, present
and future, may well become
counterproductive. According to
Admiral Arun Prakash, there are not
many navies, worldwide, which have
seen, in recent years, or are likely to
see such significant accretions to
their order-of-battle.
A strategy of enhancing
cooperation between the littoral
and hinterland states and external
powers without the reference to the
IOZOP may have a greater chance of
success. India has special strengths
in combating piracy, alleviating
natural disasters and trafficking. The
involvement of the U.S. in fighting
terrorism may be of an advantage.
China has already taken note of
Indias inclinations in the Asia-Pacific
and offered cooperation to avoid
the Asia Pivot and to adopt an
alternative Chinese vision. An
opportunity exists for us to develop
a third plan of engagement between
the regional countries and external
forces for fruitful cooperation in the
Indo-Pacific.
How to talk
climate change in Paris
The United States and China,
the two biggest emitters of
greenhouse gases, have recently
81


agreed on a timetable to limit their
emissions. Under the agreement, the
U.S. has agreed to emit 26-28 per
cent less carbon in 2025 than it did
in 2005 while China will peak its
emissions by 2030 and increase the
share of non-fossil fuels in its primary
energy mix to 20 per cent by 2030.
The U.S.-China agreement came soon
after a proposal by the European
Union (EU) the third largest emitter
to reduce its emissions to 40 per
cent below 1990 levels by 2030,
conditional on whether other
countries would make similar
commitments at the Paris summit in
December 2015. The EU also
proposes to raise its share of
renewable sources to 27 per cent in
total energy consumption by 2030.
Announcing a $3-billion contribution
to the U.N.-backed climate change
mitigation fund, the U.S. President,
Barack Obama said that the U.S.China agreement showed the way
forward.
A closer look at what the
agreement really means shows that,
first, it does not lay out a road map
for meeting the targets. Second, it is
bilateral and voluntary. Thus, there
are no penalties if either the U.S. or
China misses the targets. The fact
that Japan, Australia, Canada and
Russia are doing less than what they
had promised to do under the Kyoto
Protocol is a case in point. The 26-28
per cent reduction, now agreed
upon, from 2005 levels is less than
the 30 per cent reduction from the
2005 levels the U.S. had promised
earlier in compliance with the
Copenhagen Accord. Third, it allows
China unlimited emission expansion
until 2030. China had already set
itself a goal of raising the share of
renewables in its energy use to 15
per cent by 2020. Raising it by an
additional 5 per cent in the next 10
years is more or less a continuation
of an existing policy. The U.N.s
82
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change (IPCC) says a 2C pathway
seen by most scientists as
necessary
in
preventing
catastrophic climate effects
requires annual greenhouse gas cuts
of 40-70 per cent by 2050,
compared to levels in 2010 and to
zero or below by 2100. Thus the
pledges by the three biggest
emitters for 2025 and 2030 are not
sufficient for limiting climate change
to 2C above the preindustrial
average temperature and much less
than what they can or should do.
India has already committed
itself to a 20-25 per cent reduction
in intensity of carbon emissions
(tonnes of carbon dioxide divided
by GDP) below 2005 levels by 2020.
But the U.S.-China agreement may
put renewed pressure on India to
do more.
Does India really need to do
more? And what can it do to deflect
the focus away from it and back to
the three largest emitters who
indeed need to do more if climate
change is to be limited to less than
2C? Country-wise estimates for
annual emissions of the largest six
emitters vary depending on the
source and the year. But in 2012,
they were estimated to be roughly
8,500 million metric tons (MMT) for
China, 5,400 MMT for the U.S., 3,800
MMT for the EU, 1,900 MMT for
India, 1,800 MMT for Russia, and
1,300 MMT for Japan. These figures
reveal two striking facts. First, India
may be the fourth largest emitter, but
its emissions are less than a fourth of
China, about a third of the U.S., and
about half of the EU. Second, they
are roughly equal to those of Russia
and not a lot higher than those of
Japan. Russia and Japan are also
among the industrialised countries
which went back on the
commitments they made under the

Kyoto Protocol. Yet, the U.S.-China
agreement is expected to shift the
focus to India and not to Russia and
Japan. Nothing can be more wrong.
Indias emissions, even if it grows
robustly, are expected to be about
4,000-5,000 MMT by 2030 still
well below the emissions pledged
either by the U.S. or China under the
agreement. In fact, they will continue
to be so for a long time to come and
perhaps forever as Chinas
greenhouse gas emissions have been
estimated by the International
Energy Agency to further rise by 20
per cent by 2030 from 2012 levels.
India may be the fourth largest
emitter, but it is a relatively small
emitter despite having a large
population. Its cumulative emissions
have been low: less than a third of
China and a tenth of the U.S. Its per
capita emissions are roughly a tenth
of the U.S., less than a sixth of the EU,
less than a fourth of China, and about
a seventh of Russia. Thus, there is
absolutely no case for India to agree
to cut its emissions at the 2015 summit
in Paris. On the contrary, there is a
strong case for it to press the three
biggest emitters to do more as there
is still a huge gap between what the
three top emitters have pledged and
what is required by science and their
historical responsibilities (the
cumulative emissions). Though there
is absolutely no case for India to curb
its emissions, it is in its self-interest to
increase the share of renewables in
its primary energy mix which can
also be justified as its contribution
towards controlling climate change
and provide it greater energy
security. Given our low per-capita
energy consumption, we do need to
go out of our way to shore up energy
efficiency across the board and also
purposefully boost green energy.
What should Indias strategy be then


as it approaches the 2015 summit at
which a global climate treaty is
expected to be concluded?
First, India should insist that
there should be no reference to its
annual emissions reduction till it
achieves stabilisation as developed
countries did and China proposes to
do. Unlike China, India has a young
population and it can grow till after
2050 when its urban transition and
industrialisation will be almost
complete and its annual emissions
will stabilise. Thus, India may propose
to peak its emissions in 2050. Second,
India may commit itself to a 25-30 per
cent reduction in intensity of carbon
emissions below 2005 levels by 2025,
higher than the already promised 2025 per cent reduction in intensity
below 2005 levels by 2020. Third,
India may propose to raise its share
of renewable sources to 20 per cent
the same as China in its total
energy consumption by 2030. This
seems achievable as India will have
access to the same technologies as
China. The newly reconstituted
National Council on Climate Change
chaired by the Prime Minister can
accept this target and announce it as
Indias objective both domestically
and internationally. He may also
announce Indias plans to ramp up
solar power capacity fivefold to
1,00,000 MW by 2030. Third, India
should take the lead in securing
timelines and commitments on
finance and technology, both crucial
to addressing climate change. This
would help keep intact its support
among vulnerable developing
countries and the small island states,
which have been demanding that
more concrete action be taken rather
than efforts to just reduce emissions.
Finally, India must put renewed
pressure on the three biggest
emitters to cut their annual
greenhouse gas emissions by 40-70
per cent by 2050, compared to levels
in 2010.
The cost of convenience

Despite several committees
constituted by the Union government
highlighting the many problems
posed by thin, non-biodegradable,
single-use plastic bags, and a body
of evidence also indicating their illeffects, the government emphatically
stated recently that there would be
no ban on manufacture and use of
plastic bags in the country. But such
a ban is already in place in a few
States. Unfortunately, the other viable
alternative of levying charges or
raising taxes to curb its use was
overlooked. The stand taken by the
government is in stark contrast to the
European Unions decision. In a
commendable move, EU memberstates decided last month to cut the
number of lightweight plastic bags
consumed per person in a year. The
member-countries would either limit
the number of bags used to 90 per
person a year by 2019 and 40 bags
by 2025, or charge for all bags by
2018. Even in a country where plastic
manufacturers constitute a powerful
lot, in September this year California
decided to ban single-use plastic
bags from July 2015; though many
cities have a similar ban, California is
the first State in the U.S. to do so.
Several countries that have either
banned it or made it chargeable have
seen a precipitous drop within a short
time in the number of thin bags used.
For instance, in 2002, Ireland
witnessed a 95 per cent reduction in
plastic bag litter once tax on such
material was levied.
For a few minutes of
convenience, people mindlessly turn
to single-use plastic bags, apparently
oblivious to its persistence in the
environment, both on land and in
the oceans, for hundreds of years.
Besides ending up in landfills or as
litter in all possible places, they very
often clog drainage systems and
even prevent the recharge of
groundwater aquifers. The bigger

ramification is the death of cattle and
a huge number of marine animals
every year due to plastic bag
ingestion. The production process is
energy-intensive. It is for these
reasons that in 2012 the Supreme
Court observed that in the absence
of tough measures, the next
generation will be threatened with
something more serious than the
atom bomb. It is strange and
surprising that in a country where
reuse and recycling are part of the
ethos, the rampant use of disposable
plastic bags has become second
nature. At a time when solid waste
management
even
for
biodegradable waste is nonexistent, it is naive to think of ever
managing single-use bag waste.
A significant achievement
It has been a glorious year for
the Indian Space Research
Organisation. The successful launch
of Mangalyaan into Mars orbit on
September 24 on its maiden attempt
was the crowning glory. On
December 18, the space organisation
followed it up with another
stupendous success with the first
experimental launch of a GSLV Mark
III vehicle and the safe splashdown
of an unmanned crew module in the
Bay of Bengal off the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands after re-entry into the
atmosphere.
These
two
achievements best exemplify the
maturing of the Indian space
programme and its capability to take
the countrys space missions to
greater heights. The experimental
flight of Geosynchronous Satellite
Launch Vehicle Mark III carrying a
Crew module Atmospheric Reentry
Experiment (CARE) as its payload is
remarkable for a few reasons. Unlike
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
launches, GSLV launch history has
been trouble-prone. Making it all the
83


more challenging is the fact that the
GSLV Mark III vehicle is heavier, taller
and more advanced than others. The
rocket has the capability to put into
orbit communication satellites that are
as heavy as 4 tonnes twice as heavy
as the ones that are currently carried
by GSLV rockets. Once the new
vehicle becomes fully operational,
India may well stop relying on other
countries to launch satellites
weighing up to 4 tonnes. The space
organisation is confident of launching
in two years a developmental flight
of this vehicle with a fully operational
cryogenic engine. Thirty long years
after Rakesh Sharma became the first
Indian to travel into space aboard a
Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, India has
now come a step closer to realising
its long-held dream of sending
humans into space, with the
successful test flight of GSLV Mark III
and the safe splashdown of the
unmanned crew module. The
capsule performed as expected after
re-entry into the atmosphere and,
remarkably, decelerated to 7 metres
a second before splashing into the
Bay of Bengal. This is the first time
India had ever tested the
deployment of parachutes for
deceleration. But more than
understanding the re-entry
characteristics of the crew module,
the primary objective of the current
mission was to test the new design of
the rocket, particularly at the time of
lift-off and passage through the
atmosphere.
The fact that there was little
deviation from the flight path during
its entire course till it reached an
altitude of 126 km, was proof that the
two large solid boosters fired
simultaneously at take-off. Also, the
vehicle withstood the atmospheric
loading as it travelled through the
atmosphere. Tall and heavy rockets
encounter greater atmospheric
loading than smaller vehicles.
84
Rise in global inequality

The findings from the latest
International Labour Organisation
report on real wages point to a mix of
proactive initiatives and policy
paralysis in different contexts. The
study notes that continuing
deceleration in the growth of global
real wages and discriminatory pay
gaps based on gender and nationality
could sharpen household income
inequalities. A most striking finding is
that labour productivity growth
outstripped increases in real wage
between 1999 and 2013 in the
advanced
economies.
The
consequent flattening of wage rises
in these countries in the last two years
is therefore no surprise. Globally in
2013, wages adjusted for inflation
grew on average 0.2 per cent less a
month than in the year before, to 2
per cent. Dashing hopes of a return
to the pre-crisis rates of 3 per cent in
2007 are significant regional
variations in wage increases. The
world average for the preceding two
years drops by nearly a half if the
progress achieved by China is
discounted. The nearly 6 per cent
growth in real wages for Asia and
Eastern Europe, vis--vis the less than
1 per cent increase in Latin America
and the Caribbean, point to sharp
regional variations.
The distribution of wages also
significantly influences differing
levels of inequality. Wage gaps and
job losses accounted for a 90 and
140 per cent increase in inequality in
Spain and the United States
respectively. These are countries
among advanced economies with
the maximum increase in inequality
between the top and bottom 10 per
cent of the population. Conversely,
more equitable paid employment
accounted for 87 and 72 per cent
reduction in inequality between the
high-end and low-end segments in
Argentina and Brazil respectively.
Admittedly, an increase in wages

would impact on the cost of
production, profitability and
competitiveness of firms. But at the
macro-level, wage stagnation also
feeds into a decrease in domestic
consumption, investment and
exports. Clearly, the current cut off
your nose to spite your face
approach to policy-making has to
give way to more constructive
means of mitigating inequalities to
sustain economic growth. Based on
its effectiveness in the developing
and advanced countries, the ILO
recommends that a minimum wage
floor should be set in a manner that
balances the needs of workers and
their families with broader economic
factors. Collective bargaining is the
other key institution that has a
proven record of narrowing wage
inequalities, subject of course to the
extent to which employees are
covered under such bodies.
Moreover, the cumulative cost of
inequality to growth is by no means
insignificant. This has been borne
out by studies of educational
attainments among the economically
disadvantaged sections.
Cautionary signals
The Mid-Year Economic
Review for 2014-15 is realistic in its
projection of 5.5 per cent growth
during this fiscal. Economic data
released last week on industrial
output, trade deficit and inflation
clearly show that the growth impulse
is still weak and that the economy is
yet to attain a steady state. The 4.2
per cent fall in industrial output
recorded in October has raised
doubts over the strength of the
ongoing economic recovery.
October, being a festival-season
month, ought to have seen a rise in
manufacturing to meet demand for
goods, but output, especially of


consumer goods, dipped. However,
trade data for November showed a
rebound in non-oil, non-gold imports
machinery imports were up by
20.32 per cent indicating that the
dip in industrial output in October
may be an aberration and that
November could throw up better
numbers. Corroborating this
assessment is the fact that the auto
industry had a good month in
November with car sales rising by 9.52
per cent. But in the same month, the
trade deficit widened to an 18-month
high due to a surge in gold imports
driven by lower duties, a fall in
international prices and festival
season demand. Notably, the deficit
widened despite a contraction in the
crude oil import bill by $1.26 billion,
or 9.73 per cent.
Though export growth
recovered to 7.27 per cent in
November after a fall during
October, from hereon the going is
likely to be tough for exporters given
the uncertain global environment
caused by falling oil prices.
Petroleum products exports, which
account for a fifth of Indias total
exports, dipped by 14.15 per cent
in November, reflecting the difficult
market conditions abroad. Though it
is not time to worry yet, the
government and the Reserve Bank of
India need to monitor the trade data
closely and prepare to take
corrective action on gold. What
should worry policymakers is the fact
that fresh investment, which is critical
to the revival of growth, is just not
happening. The Review notes that
there is likely to be a revenue
shortfall of Rs.1.05 lakh crore during
this fiscal due to overestimation in
the Budget and slow revival. Indeed,
meeting the fiscal deficit target of
4.1 per cent is going to be rather
tricky in this backdrop. In the short
term, therefore, it is difficult to see
public investment as a saviour. It may

at best be an option to consider in
the medium term, and that is
assuming there are no setbacks in the
next year or two. The only way
forward now is to encourage and
support private investment for
which the government and the RBI
need to work together.
The entrepreneurs of
violence
On December 16, 2014, 145
people, including 132 children,
were executed by the Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP) in a terrorist
attack on an Army Public School in
Peshawar. Operation Zarb-e-Azb is a
massive
counterinsurgency
operation that was launched by the
Pakistani Army in June 2014 to wipe
out the Taliban from North Waziristan
a week after the TTPs attack on
Jinnah International Airport in
Karachi, which killed over 36 people
including the attackers. It involves
30,000 men, armoured battalions, air
support and drones. The operation
came in the wake of repeated failure
of talks between the Taliban and the
Pakistan government. With the
Pakistan government feeling as if the
Taliban was dodging the talks by
sending TTP sympathisers and not
actual TTP ranks, the airport attack
was the last straw. Between June
and December, approximately
1,200 reported insurgents have been
killed in the region and
approximately a million civilians have
been displaced.
To understand the TTP attack
in Peshawar, we need to first
understand the structure of the TTP.
It is an umbrella organisation of at
least 13 groups started in 2007 by
Baitullah Mehsud. Last year, the
leadership of the TTP came to
Maulana Fazlullah, also called the
FM [radio] Mullah, a man who has

violently opposed education for
children, most clearly evinced in his
instructions for the shooting of
Malala Yousafzai. When Fazlullah
assumed the TTPs leadership, four
splinter groups emerged (alongside
the pre-existing TTP Punjab) the
Ahrar-ul-Hind (February 2014), the
TTP South Waziristan (May 2014),
the TTP Jamaat-ul Ahrar (August
2014), and the TTP Sajna (May
2014). The groups emerged because
of sharp differences on insurgent
strategy between Fazlullah and
other competing insurgent chiefs
within the TTP, including the
remaining members of the Mehsud
clan.
First, as I have already
described, competition between
insurgent groups for dominance in
one piece of territory, leads to higher
levels of violence. Memorable (not in
a good way) violence of the type
undertaken by the TTP serves the
purpose of helping the group
develop a brand identity, i.e., it is
easily distinguishable from other
similar looking groups. Having an
easily distinguishable identity from a
pool of similar groups allows the TTP
to have an upper hand while
amassing recruits. So, insurgent
strategy and ideology helps in
branding and banding for an
insurgent group.
Second, we cannot look at the
TTPs actions in isolation.
Counterinsurgency, by definition, is
based on force as a default strategy.
However, when deals with insurgents
fail, the states tendency to use force
becomes more pronounced and in
some ways, is seen as more legitimate
by state actors. However,
counterinsurgency also dislocates
entire populations, who, if not
adequately resettled and policed,
serve as new recruiting grounds for
insurgent
groups.
The
85


counterinsurgency operations in
North Waziristan have been swift,
sustained and brutal. With ranks of the
TTP wiped out and the outfit
splintering, the Peshawar attacks
need to be seen as the TTPs way of
reasserting military dominance and
territorial control; only, they shifted
the target. Instead of a hard military
target, a soft target was picked.
Third, what is telling is that,
overall, the counterinsurgency
operations have been effective in
terms of putting the TTP out of
commission to the extent that they
currently find it difficult to attack a
hard military target.
Fourth, typically when
counterinsurgency operations are on
the verge of destroying an insurgent
group and are heavily coercive, the
insurgent group asks for talks or a
ceasefire. A cessation of hostilities
allows for both sides to regroup,
rearm, recruit, and move men, money
and materials around. This is more
important for insurgent groups than
the state because the state does not
immediately need the breathing
room as much as the insurgent groups
do.
When a group becomes
intricately bound to its own ideology
there is very little wiggle room left for
that group strategically. This is
because for an insurgent group to
have any local credibility, the groups
strategy needs to be commensurate
with its ideology. The TTPs ideology
binds it to a regressive ideal, for sure,
but it also does not lend itself well to
negotiation and pacting as a
strategy. To negotiate is to lose face.
With previous TTP leaders some talks
were possible.
His strategy has been simple.
Whatever policy the Pakistan
government attempts, decry it, stop
it, attack it. So, he has, for instance,
opposed everything from
womens education to polio vaccines
86
by calling these western implants

that do not belong in Pakistani society,
which must be governed by full sharia.
In many ways, if Fazlullah is the one
who picked the Army Public School
in Peshawar as the target, it falls in
line with his thinking. In both India
and Pakistan, the Army is one of the
few modern institutions where
military ranks matter more than
entrenched feudal hierarchies. The
Army also hangs on to colonial
traditions because many regiments
were set up during the British Raj.
These colonial traditions have in cases
become regimental traditions. Finally,
the Army runs schools to facilitate
personnel transfers without cost to
the family. Many civilian schools
refuse to take admissions in midsession. For a serving soldier who is
transferred in mid-session, the easiest
solution is to shift his child from one
Army school to another.
The only outcome that can be
guaranteed at this point is that
counterinsurgency operations will not
cease against the TTP, neither will the
focus be deflected to other matters.
This has been made clear by the
Pakistani Army chief, General Raheel
Sharif, and by most of the political
establishment. If the Pakistan
government were to think carefully
about this process, alongside
coercive counterinsurgency they
would also open dialogues with the
more approachable and perhaps
moderate Taliban splinter groups
those that do not accept Fazlullah as
their amir or chief and have deviated
sufficiently from conventional Taliban
ideology to not be constrained if it
comes to meaningful dialogue.
Honouring complex legacies
By conferring the highest
civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on
former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee
and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya,
who was president of the Indian
National Congress more than once
before Independence but was

better known as the founder of the
Banaras Hindu University, the
country has recognised the
contributions made by these leaders
to public life and Indias political
evolution. The decision of the
Bharatiya Janata Party government is
also indicative of a certain
resoluteness to emphasise its own
political tradition Mr. Vajpayee
was the first BJP Prime Minister of
India, for 13 days in 1996, and again,
from 1998 to 2004; Malaviya was
among the founding leaders of the
Hindu Mahasabha in the early 20th
century. Mr. Vajpayee, now ailing,
still retains appeal that cuts across
political divisions because he was
particularly mindful of seeking a
larger consensus on national issues.
As Prime Minister his tenure was
eventful, marked by a war with
Pakistan, a series of terror attacks
including the hijacking of IC-814
and the Parliament attack, and
Indias decision to go publicly
nuclear. Through all this, Mr.
Vajpayees statesmanship and his
ability to demonstrate strength and
large-heartedness simultaneously,
only got better. Freedom-fighter,
journalist, educationist and social
activist, Malaviya belonged to the
Hindu nationalist stream within the
Indian National Congress. He was
fiercely opposed to Congress
participation in the Khilafat
movement and disfavoured separate
electorates for different communities
proposed by the British government.
An important figure in the NonCooperation Movement, he was a
delegate in the First Round Table
Conference in 1930. But Malaviyas
living legacy is the BHU that he
founded in 1916 in the city of
Varanasi with the help and support
of Annie Besant.


Previous Bharat Ratna awards
have had their share of controversies,
and accusations that many
dispensations have used it to further
their own political interests and
negate those of opponents are not
unfounded. The fact that Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar was conferred the Bharat
Ratna only in 1990 when a
government in which his followers
had influence was in power is a telling
example. Historical figures often
leave mixed and complex legacies,
and Mr. Vajpayee and Malaviya are
no exceptions. Honouring a
personality is not necessarily an
endorsement of all of his politics, or
being blind to his failures and
shortcomings. It is also not about
jettisoning disagreements in our
public space. It would be
unfortunate if the highest civilian
award of the country becomes a
matter of political disagreement
rather than of collective celebration
and endorsement of those who have
contributed in significant measure to
the making of India as a diverse and
multifaceted nation.
Justice in slow motion
Even for a country known for
its tardy judicial processes, the fact
that the L.N. Mishra assassination case
remained in the trial stage for nearly
40 years after the Union Railway
Minister was killed in January 1975 is
an unconscionable blot on the
criminal justice system. It is
somewhat typical of the
administration of justice in the
country, but longer than normal, as
even long and protracted
proceedings move on from trial to
appellate stage within a decade and
a half. Undue delay, it is often noted,
amounts to denial of justice. The
accused have to bear the burden of
a pending criminal case for years,
often from their youth to a ripe old
age. The victims and their families
are left with a sense of dejection.

Delay may also lead to unjust
acquittals as many key witnesses are
unlikely to be available or have a
sufficiently good memory to testify
with confidence after the passage of
many years. In the Mishra case, four
men have been sentenced to life
imprisonment, but they are already
too old and infirm to suffer rigorous
imprisonment. There really cannot
be any acceptable justification for
the 35-year delay since the trial was
transferred from Bihar to Delhi in
1979.
The Law Commission, which
has gone into the issue more than
once, has pointed out that the
judiciary alone is not to blame for
processual delays, as the fault equally
lies with tardy investigators and
prosecutors. There are other factors
like lack of manpower and
insufficient use of technology. The
panel has suggested remedial
measures, both administrative and
legislative. One should not forget
that some trials, invariably those
involving public functionaries, have
been expedited at the intervention
of the higher judiciary. A perception
had gained ground that the languid
criminal justice system helped the
political class delay and undermine
prosecution for corruption. It was to
remedy this that the Supreme Court
fixed a time limit of one year after
framing of charges for the
completion of trials related to
legislators. The time has now come
for the judiciary to extend the
principle to all criminal cases. A
reasonable time limit, one that would
not compromise on due process,
may have to be fixed. Even now,
Section 309 of the Criminal
Procedure Code says once
examination of witnesses begins, the
court shall proceed on a day-to-day
basis until all witnesses are

examined. This provision has to be
enforced. As suggested by a Law
Commission report to the Supreme
Court in 2012, the law relating to
superintendence of the lower
judiciary by the High Courts may be
amended to provide recourse for
those affected by judicial delays to
approach the High Court for
expediting trials.
Making Make in India
happen
The theory behind Make in
India is as simple as it is compelling.
India must become a manufacturing
powerhouse in order to gainfully
employ its demographic dividend;
there is no choice here. Fortunately,
we have many natural advantages
including a big labour pool and a
large domestic market. In addition,
with Chinas competitive advantage
in manufacturing eroding, India has
the opportunity to take some share
of global manufacturing away from
China. All we have to do to improve
the ease of doing business in India
are these stop tax terrorism,
improve infrastructure, reform labour
laws, invest in skills development,
make it easier to acquire land,
implement Goods and Services Tax
(GST) and fast track approvals. Voila,
we will take our rightful place as the
worlds factory alongside China. To
become
a
manufacturing
powerhouse, India needs a
manufacturing strategy, otherwise
known as industrial policy. The idea
of an industrial policy is out of vogue
these days. It is seen as ineffective at
best and even retrograde, running
contrary to the idea of free trade. This
is patent nonsense. Japan, Korea,
China, Germany have all prospered
by having a clear industrial policy and
vigorously implementing it. The U.S.,
the United Kingdom, France and Italy
have seen themselves deindustrialise
87


by not having a clear industrial policy
and are trying hard to course-correct
this mistake. There is a successful
precedent even in India; our success
in IT services was not an accident. It
was the result of clear-eyed policies
driven by the Department of
Electronics, which included
reducing import tariffs on hardware
and software to zero, setting up
software technology parks with tax
incentives,
and
improving
connectivity. Policy has always
mattered and when it comes to
manufacturing competitiveness,
India must have a clear industrial
policy that spells out priority sectors
and how we will build competitive
advantage in a way that is consistent
with our obligations to the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
Indias industrial policy must
recognise where we have important
competitive advantages. India is
quite uncompetitive at low skill
manufacturing. On the other hand, it
is good at making complex things
which require skilled labour and
frugal engineering. Despite all its
shortcomings, India remains a very
competitive manufacturing location
for sophisticated things such as
construction machinery, cars and
automotive components and diesel
engines. We must focus on building
competitive advantage and global
scale in sectors where we have a large
domestic market and certain inherent
capabilities. Strategy is all about
making choices. Here, five priority
industries come to mind. Defence,
because we are the worlds leading
arms importer. Localising what we buy
as a condition for all defence deals
along with a willingness to allow
majority foreign ownership can
turbocharge our local defence
industry. The second critical industry
is electronics hardware. India imports
$45 billion of mobile phones,
computers and communications
hardware; by 2020, this is projected
88
to grow to $300 billion and exceed

our oil import bill. This is
unsustainable. We have to create
policy incentives to create a local
electronic hardware manufacturing
ecosystem. Since most component
suppliers, Original Equipment
Manufacturers and Original Design
Manufacturers are Chinese, this will
necessarily imply incentivising
Chinese companies to establish
factories in India. The size of our
domestic market should make this
possible. Concerns about security are
misplaced; all our personal
computers, cellphones and a lot of
switches and routers are already
made in China, so we are conceding
nothing. The third industry is
construction. India will invest a trillion
dollars over the coming years in
improving infrastructure. We need to
create incentives that not only spur
investment in manufacturing materials
such as cement and steel but also
construction
equipment,
locomotives, power generation
equipment and so on. Everything we
install should be made in India. The
fourth is health care. Indias generic
pharmaceutical industry is world
class. We must not concede on
intellectual property rights that
neutralise our advantage. India is also
exceedingly good at frugal
innovation in medical devices such
as low cost X-ray and ECG machines.
We have a real shot at being a world
leader in innovation and
manufacturing in this space.
To become a manufacturing
nation, India has to quickly move
beyond rhetoric to create a clear
strategy and favourable policy
environment for manufacturing to
take off. The government has chosen
to quietly dismantle the sclerotic
National
Manufacturing
Competitiveness Council (NMCC)
but it needs to foster a more vibrant
think tank in its place. A close dialogue
and
partnership
between
government and the private sector,

both domestic and foreign, is critical.
Indian companies along with
Chinese, Japanese, German,
American and Swedish companies
are all vital partners and we must
create an environment that is open
and welcoming. For this, the right
leadership of this vital mission is
critical. There is a clear and shortlived window of opportunity to
become a manufacturing nation. We
must not squander it.
Fencing the farmer out
On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata
Party government cleared the
proposed ordinance to amend the
Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition,
Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act
2013. This amendment, insofar as has
been made known to the public,
creates a separate category of
projects which shall be fast
tracked. The items covered under
this category include industrial
corridors, defence and defence
production, rural infrastructure
including electrification, housing for
the poor including affordable
housing, and infrastructure projects
including projects taken up under
Public-Private Partnership (PPP)
mode. The immediate and likely
impact of this amendment is that land
can now be acquired for these
projects without having to exhaust
the pre-acquisition processes that
had been put in place, namely the
Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and
the determination of prior informed
consent from affected families. A
cursory analysis of this amendment
shows why the same is not just
problematic but is also a serious step
backward.
First, there is a reason why the
consent and SIA process had been
hardcoded into the DNA of the law.
Acquisition had become a tool for the
use of brutal force by the state.


Acquisition was almost always
forceful, leading invariably to riots and
protests (often violent in nature). By
requiring the state to seek the
consent of 70 to 80 per cent of the
affected families, the law
empowered those who were to be
directly impacted against the
arbitrary exercise of the power by the
state.Second, the unamended law
was enacted after unprecedented
nationwide consultations which took
place over two years. Two all-party
meetings were convened. The Bill
was subject to 12 hour debates in
both Houses in which over 60
members took part. Third, under the
unamended Act, the only
exemptions to the consent and the
SIA clause were the 13 laws given in
the Fourth Schedule to the Act itself.
Mindful of the fact that some projects
were of greater national importance
than others, the framers had already
created this separate class of projects
which included acquisition for the
purposes of railways, national
highways, atomic energy, electricity,
etc. Acquisition for defence and
national security had also been
protected under the urgency clause.
And even these 13 laws had to be
amended within one year, i.e. by
December 31, 2014 to ensure that
compensation, rehabilitation and
resettlement clauses were brought
on a par with the new law (vide
section 105 of the unamended law).
With regard to this particular
amendment, the government is
attempting to make a virtue out of a
necessity prescribed by their
predecessors. Fourth, crafting a set
of categories which includes vague
items such as infrastructure projects
(including PPP projects) solely for the
purpose of exempting them from
consent requires enormous
application of mind. The exemptions
given in the unamended law were the
result of sustained public
consultation. In the case of the
ordinance, exemptions have been

created without any explanation as
to why these activities or sectors are
being placed in a class of their own.
Such lawmaking practices veer
dangerously close to arbitrariness in
administrative decision-making.
Supporters of the amendment
will undoubtedly argue that the law
does not dilute the provisions of
compensation, rehabilitation and
resettlement but instead only makes
the process for acquiring the land
easier. What they fail to realise is the
gap between the bargaining power
of the state and the lowest common
denominator is a very wide chasm.
The SIA process gave these people
(often farmers) the right to negotiate
fairer rates of compensation while
determining if the project was truly
in the public interest. It had also
removed the scope for the
subjective use of discretion by the
Collector and other representatives
of the government. Now, with the
SIA process being waived, the
Collector can once again determine
what constitutes a public purpose
and how soon can land be acquired.
It was this unchecked authority that
was at the heart of the multiple
abuses of the law chronicled over
the last 70 years. Discretion had
been replaced by verifiable systems
and processes to check capricious
decision-making. Now, this
safeguard stands eroded.
Also, the new law didnt
introduce the concepts of
rehabilitation and resettlement. It
merely put in place a process that
ensured
compliance
and
enforcement. The Supreme Court of
India had already mandated
rehabilitation and resettlement even
before the new law was enacted.
Another fear is that this new
ordinance will effectively undo the
implicit limits that had been placed

on the acquisition of agricultural or
multi-crop land by the unamended
Act (done to ensure continued
food security for our citizens).
However, the amendments seem to
allow such acquisitions without
restrictions. This gives rise to
worrying questions as to who is the
natural constituency of the party in
power.
The government should have
instead used this opportunity to
strengthen the legal regime
governing land titles in States where
it is now in power (since land is
primarily a state subject).
Knowledge asymmetry and an
active land mafia lead to the
purchase of land being a risky
proposition (and hence making
acquisition more attractive). In the
name of economic reforms and
development, the government has
taken a significant step backward in
Indias march to land justice. An
ordinance pushed through in this
manner violates all democratic norms
and is the shape of things to come in
the Modi sarkar. Given this cloakand-dagger approach becoming the
norm for lawmaking in our country,
we can only hope that in this era of
acronym-anchored governance,
Modi does not come to stand for
Murder of Democratic India.
Impropriety of ordinance
By promulgating ordinances
within days of the winter session of
Parliament coming to a close, the
Narendra Modi government has
shown that it is not averse to repeating
what his party would have
considered a constitutional
impropriety, had it been done by a
Congress government. The power to
issue ordinances is normally to be
exercised to bring in urgent
legislative measures when Parliament
89


is in recess. It is not one to be resorted
to merely because the government
of the day lacks a majority in the
Upper House or is unable to break a
deadlock in Parliament. However, it
is seen that inefficient floor
management, fear of facing a House
in which the incumbent party does
not have a majority, and a reluctance
to make pragmatic concessions
across the floor in the interest of
sticking to its legislative agenda are
the main reasons for prolonged
deadlocks. It is a situation rich in irony
as the BJP had often questioned the
United Progressive Alliance
governments promulgation of
ordinances in close proximity to a
parliamentary session. As in the case
of the impasse in the Rajya Sabha that
occasioned the ordinances recently
issued to make legislative changes in
the coal and insurance sectors,
logjams are often the result of the
90
governments aversion to resolving

issues raised by the Opposition. The
Bharatiya Janata Partys justification
for exercising the Presidents
legislative power is that it had to avoid
any further delay in the e-auction of
coal blocks; and that raising the cap
on foreign direct investment in
insurance from 26 per cent to 49
brooked no further delay. And it has
now approved yet another ordinance
to amend the land acquisition law
when there appears to be no urgent
need to do so.
On the flip side, it is a fact that
the combined opposition, which
outnumbers the ruling party and its
allies in the Rajya Sabha, was
determined to stall the proceedings
until the demand that the Prime
Minister himself make a statement on
the ongoing reconversion drive
organised by affiliates of the Sangh
Parivar was met. Mr. Modi could have

intervened at least once to clear the
air on allegations that his government
was conniving at the controversial
ghar vapsi programmes across the
country. For a government
committed to undoing the policy
paralysis of the previous regime and
revitalising economic reforms and
good governance, his regime has
shown notable reluctance to rein in
fringe Hindutva elements that do not
seem to care for the governments
growth and development objectives.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitleys claim
that the promulgation of the
ordinances signify the governments
commitment to reform is
questionable. An easier way to
demonstrate its commitment to
reform would have been to create
conditions conducive to getting the
Bills passed in the House.
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Delhi University FYUP Row
CYBERSPACE
Cyberspace word was
introduced by William Gibson in
Cotton and Oliver. It is defined as A
consensual
hallucination
experienced daily by billions of
legitimate operators, in every nation,
by children being taught
mathematical concepts A graphic
representation of data abstracted
from the banks of every computer in
the human system.. Lines of light
ranged in the nonspace of the mind,
clusters and constellations of data.
. In simple
Like city lights, receding..
terms it can be defined as the
notional environment in which
communication over computer
networks occurs. Cyberspace serves
as a platform for people to interact,
share ideas and aspirations, play
games, engage in political discussion
and so on inexpensively. It has
broken down the barriers between
the peoples and nations.
Once things happening in a
country or a small city used to be
confined to that particular city or
country and hardly known to others
for a quiet long time. But now the
scenario has totally changed with the
news spreading within a blink of eye.
Text messages were used to organize
massive protests which ultimately
became orange revolution which lead
up to 2004 presidential elections in
Ukraine. In 2005 in Lebanon, e-mail
and text messaging were used by
activists to coordinate and bring a
million demonstrators into the streets
to demand that the Syrian
government end nearly three
decades of military presence in

Lebanon by withdrawing its 14,000
troops. Result of 2009 Iran
presidential elections flooded not
only the streets of Iran with protesters
but internet, twitter opposing the
election results. Egypt spring 2012
gained its momentum through the aid
of cyberspace. This role played by
social media in Egypt revolution has
been applauded across the world as
success of cyberspace in bringing
active civic participation, mobilizing
popular protest for democracy. In all
these protests cyberspace was used
as a bridge to bring people, their
ideas together and provide much
needed space for communication.
Is cyberspace a new place for
protest? Are these protests for peace
or for terror. Many terrorist and
extremist organizations utilize
cyberspace for spreading its own
agenda. ISIS flooding internet with
video clips of its brutal acts and
people closely following these videos
and photos as a kind of reality show is
contributing as a great deal to the
organizations popularity. A few
Indian youth inspired by these left
India to join ISIS. A software engineer
based in Bangalore with fake twitter
account used to gather information
about ISIS and translate from Arabic
to English and post it on internet.
Cyberspace is slowly turning to a
cyber warfare. In order to counter the
threat which Cyber space poses
government has designed a cyber
security policy main features of the
policy are:-
This policy aims at facilitating

creation of secure computing
environment and enabling adequate trust and confidence in
electronic transactions and also
guiding stakeholders actions
for protection of cyber space.
Computers Security Policies,
Standard Operating Procedures and guidelines were formulated and circulated to all
Ministries / Departments for
implementation.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERTIn) issues alerts and advisories
regarding latest cyber threats
and countermeasures on regular basis.
The National Cyber Security
Policy document outlines a
road-map to create a framework for comprehensive, collaborative and collective response to deal with the issue
of cyber security at all levels
within the country.
Adopt a suitable posturing that
can signal our resolve to make
determined efforts to effectively monitor, deter & deal
with cyber crime and cyber attacks.
Facilitating monitoring key
trends at the national level such
as trends in cyber security
compliance, cyber attacks,
cyber crime and cyber infrastructure growth.
Focused actions at the level of
Govt., public-private partner-
91

Cybespace
ship arrangements, cyber security related technology actions,
protection of critical information infrastructure and national
alerts and advice mechanism,
awareness & capacity building
and promoting information
sharing and cooperation.
Cyber space does not only
provide problems related to political
unrest, it also poses major challenge
92
in economic front. With more and

more people coming into cyber
space this challenge is increasing day
by day. Indian National cyber
security policy is a good step in the
right direction but there is still a lot to
be done in order to contain the
challenges cyber space pose.
International coordination along with
proper awareness to youth in the
country is required to remove this
menace. Cyber space does not only

pose a challenge it also provides an
opportunity for the Government to
interact with its citizen. They can help
in every stage from policy formulation
to policy implementation. New
government has taken steps in the
right direction like initiatives of
myGov.in but still a lot can be
achieved.
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o

Cybespace
REGIONAL RURAL BANKS

Majority of Indian population
reside in rural areas but they have very
few formal channels of money supply. Due to reliance on informal channel of money like money lenders, rural population faces high hardship.
Over the time government has created few formal channels of finance
especially for the rural area. Regional
rural banks are one of the most important channels of money supply in
rural India. The Banking Commission
(1972) recommended for a particular institution for rural credit system
and finally Government of India established Regional Rural Banks as a
separate institution for rural credit.
Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) were
established in 1975 under the provisions of the Regional Rural Banks Act,
1976. They were formed with some
specific objectives like;
Develop the rural economy and
to create a supplementary
channel to the Cooperative
Credit Structure.
To enlarge institutional credit
for the rural and agriculture
sector.
The RRBs mobilise deposits primarily from rural/semi urban areas.
Provide loans and advances
mostly to small and marginal
farmers, agricultural labourers,
rural artisans and other segments of priority sector.
There are three stake holders in
regional rural banks. The Government
of India, the concerned State Government and the sponsored bank.
The share capital of RRBs is in the proportion of 50%, 15% and 35%, re-
spectively for Government of India,

Concerned State Government and
the sponsored bank. RRBs operational area is limited to districts which
are notified.
Over the years lot of RRBs has
come up, many of them are small
banks and face challenges because
of that. The RBI in 2001 constituted a
Committee under the Chairmanship
of Dr V S Vyas to look into the performance and viability of RRBs in rural
credit system. Dr. V S Vyas committee recommended for the consolidation of RRBs. First phase of consolidation of RRBs was started in 2005
and the second phase in 2012. As a
result of this two phase consolidation,
number of the RRBs have come down
from 196 to 64 on 2013. This consolidation process was done to provide
benefits like; better customer service,
better infrastructure, common publicity and marketing efforts etc. Amalgamation process also helped in increasing the credit limits of a RRB and
it also helped in increasing the number of branches for RRB. The number
of branches of RRBs increased to
17856 which covered 635 districts
throughout the country.
Still there are some pressing
challenges before the RRBs like;
High risk due to exposure only
to the target group.
Mounting losses due to non-viable level of operations in
branches located at resourcepoor areas.
Burden of government subsidy
schemes and inadequate
knowledge of customers lead-
ing to low quality assets.

Serious undermining of the
Board by compulsions to look
up to sponsor banks, GOI,
NABARD and RBI for most decisions.
Under skilled staff and very less
orientation towards profit maximization.
New government has accepted
the amendment in the Regional Rural
Banks (RRBs) Act, 1976. Proposed
amendment will lead to increase of
authorized and issued capital which
in turn will strengthen the capital
base of RRBs. Amendment will also
fix the term of the non-official directors appointed by the Central Government, which should not exceeding two years. The proposed amendments will ensure financial stability of
RRBs which will enable them to play
a greater role in financial inclusion and
meet the credit requirements of rural
areas and the Boards of RRBs will be
strengthened. Still various other reforms are needed to ensure that
RRBs function to their potential and
provide the benefit to the rural population. Reforms like keeping the noninterest cost of credit to small borrowers as low as possible, due preference to the micro-credit scheme
and encouragement to the formation
of self-help group, A uniform pattern
of interest rate structure etc. are necessary. If new amendments along with
other reforms are executed properly
then it will help in providing the credit
facility to the rural population at a very
low cost and it also help in proper
functioning of the Regional Rural
banks.
93

The Mauryan Empire
THE MAURYAN EMPIRE

The Mauryan empire was the
first and one of the greatest
empires
that
were
established on the Indian
soil. The growth of Magadha
culminated
in
the
emergence, of the Mauryan
Empire.
Chandragupta
Maurya, who founded the
empire (321 BCE), extended
control as far northwest as
Afghanistan and Baluchistan,
and his grandson Ashoka,
arguably the most famous
ruler of early India,
conquered Kalinga (presentday
coastal
Orissa).
Chandragupta Maurya was
the first ruler who unified
entire India under one
political unit.
When historians began
reconstructing early Indian
history in the nineteenth
century, the emergence of
the Mauryan Empire was
regarded as a major
landmark. Also, some of the
archaeological
finds
associated with the Mauryas,
including were concluding
stone sculpture, sidered
were considered to be
examples of the spectacular
art typical of empires.
94
Asokan inscriptions very

different from that of most
other rulers, suggesting that
Asoka was more powerful
and industrious, as also
more humble than later
rulers
who
adopted
grandiose titles. So,we can
say that there are many
sources to know about the
Maryan Empire, they are:
Secular Literary Sources

Arthasastra:
It
was
authored
by
Kautilya(Chanakya
or
Vishnugupta) divided into 15
Adhikarnas (parts). Of
which, the first five deal with
tantra
or
internal
administration of the state,
eight deal with avapa or its
relations with neighboring
stales, and the last two are
miscellaneous in character.
It is the most important
literary source for the
Mauryas. It is a treatise on
government and economic
policy. The Arthashastra
gives us detailed information
about the administrative
system of the Mauryan
empire.
The treatise lays down
various rules that should be

formulated for a ruling
monarch. It laid down
strategies for a well-planned
state economy. The work is
concerned with all the topics
that deal with the internal
administration and foreign
relations.
Indica: It was written by
Megasthenes but it is not
available now. Megasthenes
was the ambassador of
Seleucus Nikator in the court
of Chandragupta Maurya.
His Indica is the foremost
among all the foreigners
accounts for Mauryans.
Indica has survived only as
quotations in the texts of
classical Greek writers, and
Latin writers. It refers to
Mauryan administration, 7caste system, absence of
slavery and usury in India,
etc. It has to be treated with
great caution.
Megasthenes mentions a
committee
with
six
subcommittees for coordinating military activity. Of
these, one looked after the
navy, the second managed
transport and provisions, the
third as responsible for foot-

The Mauryan Empire

soldiers, the fourth for
horses, the fifth for chariots
and the sixth for elephants.
The activities of the second
sub-committee were rather
varied: arranging for bullock
carts to carry equipment,
procuring food for soldiers
and fodder for animals, and
recruiting servants and
artisans to look after the
soldiers.
James Prinsep of the EICO

in 1837. Majority of them are
in the nature of Asokas
proclamations to the public
at large. Three languages but
four scripts were used in
these edicts (Prakrit in
Brahmi in mainland India,
Prakrit in Kharoshti in the
North-west, Greek and
Aramaic languages and their
scripts in Afghanistan).
Religious Literary Sources
Inscriptions:
Other
Nagarjuna
Hill
cave
Inscription of Dasaratha,
Jungadh Rock Inscription of
Rudradaman.
Puranas: They give us

chronology and lists of
Mauryan Kings.
Literature:
Buddhist
Jatakas reveal a general
picture of socio-economic
conditions of Mauryan
period. Digha Nikaya helps
in determining the influence
of Buddhist ideas on
Mauryan polity. Dipavamsa
and Mahavamsa describe the
part played by Asoka in
spreading Buddhism to Sri
Lanka.
ain
Literature:
Jain
Parisistaparvan talks about
the
conversion
of
Chandragupta Maurya to
Jainism.
Archaeological Sources
Asokan Edicts: There are
14 Major and 3 Minor Rock
Edicts, 7 Major and 3 Minor
Pillar Edicts, and 3 Cave
Edicts located at several
places in the Indian subcontinent.
Their
decipheration was done by
Remains:
Material
Potterya use of Northern
Black Polished Ware
(NBPW). Wooden palaces
and halls are the other
material remains.
Political History
King
Length of
reign-years
Date
BC
Chandragupta
24
321-297
Bindusara
Ashoka
25
44
297-272
272-228
Dasaratha
Samprati
8
9
228-220
220-211
Salisuka
Devavarman
13
7
211-198
198-191
Bhrihadratha
191-183
There were five major

political centres in the
empire the capital Patliputra
and the provincial centres of
Taxila, Ujjayini, Tosali and
Suvarnagiri, all mentioned in
Asokan inscriptions.
Chandragupta Maurya
(321-297 BC)
defeated Seleucus Nikator,

who surrendered a vast
territory. Megasthenese was
a Greek ambassador sent to
the court of Chandragupta
Maurya by Seleucus.
He occupied the region
north of the Narmada (d) But
305 BC saw him in the
campaign against Seleucus
Nikator with the treaty of
303 B. C. concluding the war
in favour of the Mauryas. By
the treaty, Chandragupta
made a gift of 500 elephants
to Seleucus and obtained the
trans-Indus region (the
territory across the Indus).
Chandragupta became a Jain
and went to Sravanbelgola
with Bhadrabahu, where he
died by slow starvation
(Sale/than).
Under
Chandragupta Maurya, for
the first time, the whole of
northern India was united.
Trade flourished, agriculture
was regulated, weights and
measures were standardized
and money came into use.
The
Junagarh
rock
inscription of Rudradaman
says that a dam on the
Sudarshana
lake
for
irrigation was constructed
by
Pushyagupta,
a
provincial governor of
Chandragupta Maurya. Later
Yavanaraja
Tushapha
excavated canals for
irrigation during Ashokas
reign.
In 305 BC Chandragupta
95

The Mauryan Empire

Bindusara (297-272 BC)
Bindusara extended the
kingdom further and
conquered the south as far
as Mysore. Bindusar asked
Antiochus I of Syria to send
some sweet wine, dried figs,
and a Sophist. Antiocus I sent
wine and figs but politely
replied
that
Greek
philosophers are not for
sale. Bindusar patronized
Ajivikus.
Bindusara, known to the
Greeks as Amitrochates
(derived from the Sanskrit
word Amitraghata or slayer
of foes), is said to have
carried his arms to the
Deccan, extending Mauryan
control in the peninsu-lar
region of India as far south
as Mysore.
From Divayayadana we
come to know that
Bindusara appointed his
eldest son Sumana (also
named Susima) as his
viceroy at Taxila and
Ashoka at Ujjain. It also tells
us that a revolt broke out at
Taxila and when it could not
be suppressed by Susima,
Ashoka was sent to restore
peace.
Asoka (268-232 BC)

According to the Buddhist
tradition, Asoka usurped the
throne alter killing his 99
brothers and spared Tissa,
the
youngest
one.
Radhagupta a Minister of
Bindusar helped him in
96
fratricidal struggle.
In 1837 James Prinsep deciphered an inscription
referring to a king called
Devanampiya Piyadas-si.
Later, many more similar
inscriptions
were
discovered. Initially these
records could not be
attributed to Asoka. But in
1915 was discovered Maski
inscription which speaks of
Asoka Piyadassi.
There was a struggle for the
throne among the princes on
the death of Bindusara. This
war of succession accounts
for the interregnum of four
years (272-268 BC), and only
after securing his position on
the throne, Asoka had
himself formally crowned in
268 BC.
Under Asoka. the Mauryan
Empire reached its climax.
For the first time, the whole
of the subcontinent, leaving
out the extreme south, was
under imperial control.
Asoka (ought the Kalinga
war in 261 BC in the 9th years
of his coronation. The king
was moved by massacre in
this war and therefore
abandoned the policy of
physical occupation in
favour of policy of cultural
conquest. In oilier words,
Bherighosha was replaced
by Dhammaghosha.
Ashoka is the first king in the
Indian history who has left
his records engraved on
stones. The inscriptions on
rocks are called Rock

Edicts, and those on Pillars,
Pillar Edicts. The Ashokan
inscriptions are found in
India, Nepal, Pakistan and
Afghanistan. Altogether, they
appear at 47 places.
However, the name of
Ashoka occurs only in copies
of Minor Rock Edict I found
at three places in Karnataka
and one in Madhya Pradesh.
Ashoka name is mentioned
in only four places- Gurjara,
Udgolan, Maski, and Nittur.
The inscriptions of Ashoka
were written in four different
scripts. In Afghanistan area
they were written in Greek
and Aramaic languages and
scripts, and in Pakistan area,
in Prakrit language and
Kharosthi script. Inscriptions
from all other areas are in
Prakrit language, written in
Brahmi script.
Asoka sent missionaries to
the kingdoms of the Cholas
and the Pandyas, and five
States ruled by Greek kings.
We also know that he sent
missionaries to Ceylon and
Suvarnabhumi (Burma) and
also parts of South East Asia.
According to tradition,
Asoka built the city of
Srinagar. The Mauryans had
closed connections with the
area of modern Nepal. One
of Asokas daughters
married a noble from Nepal.
The Ceylone ruler, Tissa,
modelled himself on Asoka.
The most important event of

The Mauryan Empire

Asokas reign seems to have
been his victorious war with
Kalinga (260 BC). Bhabru
inscription, states that after
a period of 2 1/2 years he
became an ardent supporter
of Buddhism under the
influence of a Buddhist
monk, Upagupta.
The find of Ashokan
inscriptions at Girnar hills in
Junagarh district (in Gujarat)
and at Sopara (Thane district,
Maharashtra) shows that
these areas formed part of
the Mauryan empire.
Ashokas inscriptions have
been found at Maski
Yerragudi and Chitaldurga in
Karnataka. Rock Edict II and
XIII of Ashoka mentions that
his immediate neighbouring
states were those of Cholas,
Pandyas, Satyaputras and
Keralaputras.
Sudarshana Lake
The Sudarshana Lake was an
artificial reservoir. We know
about it from a rock
inscription
of
Junagarh(second century
BC) in Sanskrit, composed to
record the achievements of
the Shaka ruler Rudradaman.
The inscription mentions that
the lake, with embankments
and water channels, was
built by a local governor
during the rule of the
Maurya. However, a terrible
storm
broke
the
embankments and water
gushed, out of the lake.
Rudradaman, who was then

ruling in the area, claimed to
have got the lake repaired
using his own resources,
without imposing any tax on
his subjects. The famous
inscription of Rudradaman
found at Junagarh mentions
that one of Chandraguptas
governors, Pushyagupta, was
responsible for building a
dam on Sudarshana lake
near Girnar in Kathiawad.
From an inscription of
Skandagupta we come to
know that this very dam was
repaired during his reign
almost 800 years after it was
built.
Asokas Dhamma
Asokas Dhamma cannot be
regarded as sectarian faith.
Its broad objective was to
preserve the social order it
ordained that people should
obey their parents, pay
respect to Brahmanas and
Buddhist monks and show
mercy to slave and servants.
Asokas Dhamma was
neither a new religion nor a
new philosophy. Rather it
was a way of life, conduct
and a set of principles to be
practised by the people at
large.
The message of Dhamma was
propagated in Aramaic and
Greek in the north-western
borderland
of
the
subcontinent. On the other
hand, the emperor chose to
issue a large number of
edicts in Prakrit in Brahmi

script for areas in the Deccan
which must have been better
acquainted with Dravidian
languages.
The Kandahar Greek edict,
the contents of which have
considerable similarities
with and correspondence to
REs XII and XIII, enlists the
virtues to be inculcated by
people for practising
Eusebeia, i. e. Dhamma.
Though Ashoka accepted
Buddhism as his main faith,
it would be wrong to think
that he forced Buddhist
ideals on his subjects. He
showed respect to all sects
and faiths and believed in
unity among ethical and
moral values of all sects.
In Rock Edict VII he says,
All sects desire both self
control and purity of mind.
In Rock Edict XII he
pronounces his policy of
equal respect to all religious
sects more clearly. He says,
that he honours all sects
and both ascetics and
laymen, with gifts and
various
forms
of
recognition.
Pillar Edict II Ashoka himself
puts the question: What is
Dhamma?
Then
he
enumerates the two basic
attributes or constituents of
Dhamma less evil and many
good deeds. He says such
evils as rage, cruelty, anger,
pride and envy are to be
avoided and many good
97

The Mauryan Empire
1.
2.
3.
4.
deeds like kindness,

liberality, truthfulness,
gentleness, self control;
purity of heart, attachment to
morality, inner and outer
purity etc. are to be
pursued vigorously.
While different Major Rock
Edicts talk about different
aspects of the Dhamma, the
Major Rock Edict XI contains
an elaborate explanation of
the Dhamma. The following
are the main features of the
Dhamma:
Prohibition of animal
sacrifices and festive
gatherings (M. R. E-I), and
avoiding expensive and
meaningless ceremonies and
rituals (M. R. E-IX);
Efficient organisation of
administ-ration (M. R. E-VI)
in the direction of social
welfare (M. R. E-II);
Consideration and nonviolence to animals and
courtesy to relations (M. R.
E-IV) and liberality to
Brahmins, Sramanas, etc. (M.
R. E-III);
Humane treatment of
servants by masters and of
prisoners by the government
(M. R. E-V) it also mentions
the appointments of
Dhamma-Mahamatras;
5. Tolerance among all the

sects (M. R. E-VII &II) (6)
Replacement of Bherighosa
(sound of wardrums)
Dhammaghosa (sound of
peace) i.e. conquest through
98
Dhamma instead of rough

war (M. R. E-XIII);
6. Maintenance of constant
contact with the rural
people through the system of
Dhammayatras (M. R. EVIII).
Mauryan Administration
The King
The Mauryan government

was
a
centralised
bureaucracy of which the
nucleus was the king. Asoka
declared: All men are my
children (Rock Edict VI).
The king was head of the
state. He had judicial,
legislative and executive

powers. The king issued
what were known as sasana
or ordinances. The edicts of
Ashoka are examples of
those sasanas.
The king was assisted in
adminis-tration by a Council
of
Ministers
(Mantriparishad). Besides,
there were some officers
known as Adhyakshas
(superintendents).
The Mauryan empire was
divided into provinces. The
important provinces were
directly under Kumaras
(princes).
The empire was divided into probably five provinces.

Area
Province
Capital
Northern province
Western province
Eastern province
Southernmost province
Central province
Uttarapatha
Avantipatha
Prachyapatha
Dakshinapatha
Magdha,
Taxila
Ujjain
Toshali (Kalinga)
Surarnagiri
Pataliputra (It was also the
headquarters of the entire kingdom)
Provinces were subdivided

into the districts, each of
these was further divided
into groups of villages and
the last unit of administration
was the village. The
Arthashastra mentions a
wide range of scales in
salary, the highest being
48,000 papas -and the lowest
60 panas.
Important officials
Amatyas
Sannidhata
Samaharta
Durgapala
Mantri Parishad
The king was assisted by Mantri
Parishad, whose members
included (i) The Yuvaraj, the crown
prince
(ii) The Purohita, the chief priest
(iii) The
Senapati,
the
commander-in-chief of the
army a few other ministers.
The Secretaries
Chief treasury officer
The collector general of Revenue
Governor of fort

The Mauryan Empire

Antapala
Akshapatala
Vachabhumika
Dhamma-mahamatras
Lipikaras
Kumaras
Governor of the frontier

Accountant General
Officer in charge of the rest houses, groves
and wells etc.
A new post created by Asoka, empowered
with the dual functions of propagating
Dhamma and taking care of the common folk
for their material well-being.
Scribes Prativedikas Reporters.
The viceroys in charge of a province.
Generally they were of regular though the
exceptions were also there. In order to check
the growing power of the viceroys the
They were the modern district magistrates
and in charge of district. They were to make
tours once in every 5 years to inspect the
entire administration of the areas under
control.
They were the later day Patwaris. They were
responsible for surveying and assessing the
land. In rural areas they were the judicial
officers.
A subordinate revenue officer of the district
level. He was responsible for the secretarial
work of accounting.
Responsible for accounts.
The tax collecting officer directly under the
control of the Pradesika.
Pradesikas
Rajukas
Yukta
Gopa
Sthanika
27 Adhyakshas
Some of them are:

Sitaadhyaksha
Panyaadhyaksha
Samsthadhyaksha
Pauthavadhyaksha
Navadhyaksha
Supervised agriculture.
Superintendent of commerce.
Superintendent of market.
Superintendent of weight and measures.
Superintendent of Ships.
Sulkadhyaksha
Akaradhyaksha
Lohadhyaksha
Collector of tolls.
Superintendent of mines.
Superintendent of Iron.
The state controlled almost

all economic activities. Tax
collected from peasants
varied from 5 to 1/6 of the
Produce. The state also
provided irrigation facilities
and charged water-tax. Tolls
were also levied on
commodities brought to
town for sale and they were
collected at gate. The slate
enjoyed monopoly in
mining, sale of liquor,
manufacture of arms etc
City Administration
A number of cities such as
Pataliputra. Taxila, Ujjain,
Toshali,
Suvarnagiri,
Champa, Isila, and Kausambi
are mentioned in the edicts
of Ashoka. The Arthashastra
has a full chapter on the
administration of cities.
Megasthenese has described
in detail the administration
of Pataliputra and it can be
safely presumed that similar
administrative system was
followed in most of the
Mauryan cities.
Megasthenese tells us that
the city of Pataliputra was
administered by a city
council comprising 30
members, which were
divided into five members
each of six boards. Each of
these boards had specific
responsibility towards the
administration of city.
99

The Mauryan Empire

First board
Second board
Third board
Fourth board
Fifth board
Sixth board
concerned with the industrial and artistic

produce. Its duties included fixing of wages,
check the adulteration etc.
dealt with the affairs of the visitors, especially
foreigners who came to Pataliputra.
concerned with the registration of birth and
death.
regulated trade and commerce, kept a vigil
on the manufactured goods and sales of
commodities.
responsible for the supervision of
manufacture of goods.
collected taxes as per the value of sold
goods.
The officer incharge of the

city was known as
Nagaraka. The tax was
normally one-tenth of the
sold goods
Village administration
Gramika Head of a village.
He was generally elected by
the people. He was not a
paid servant. Gramvriddhas
Village elders (To assist the
Gramika in his work). Every
village had its own
Panchayat to settle the
disputes. The village was the
smallest
unit
of
administration. The head of
the village was called
gramika who was assisted in
village administration by
village elders. The villages
enjoyed
considerable
autonomy. Most of the
disputes of the village were
settled by gramika with the
help of village assembly.
Army
The most striking feature of
100
Mauryan administration was

maintanence of a huge army.
They also maintained a
Navy.
According
to
Megasthenes
the
administration of Army was
carried by a board of 30
officers divided into six
committees, each committee
consisting of 5 members.
They are:
(i) Army
(ii) Cavalry
(iii) Elephants
(iv) Chariots
(v) Navy
(vi) Transport
Society and Culture

Megasthenese speaks of
Mauryan
society
as
comprising seven castes
Megasthenese could not
properly comprehend the
Indian society and failed to
distinguish between jati,
Varna and the occupation.
Megasthenes Division: He
mentions seven classes:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Philosophers
Cultivators
Soldiers
Herdsmen
Artisans
Magistates and
(g) Councillors.
The above division seems to
be economic rather than
social.
The urban way of life
developed. The residential
accommodation, its wealth
etc. were entered into
official records and rules
and regulation were well
defined
and
strictly
implemented.
The chaturvarna system
continued to govern the
society.
A married woman had her
own property in the form of
bride-gift (streedhana) and
jewels. These were at her
disposal in case of
widowhood. The widows
had a very honourable place
in the society. There are
frequent references to
women enjoying freedom
and engaged in gainful
occupation.
Megasthenese has stated that
slavery did not exist in India.
However, forced labour and
bonded labour did exist on
a very limited scale but were
not treated so harshly as the
slaves in the western world.
Economy
Land
Revenue:
Main

The Mauryan Empire

source of income; 1/4th to 1/
6th of the produce directly
collected by the kings
officials.
Industrial Crafts
The Mauryan state created a
machinery which governed
vast areas directly and to
enforce the rules and
regulations in respect of
agriculture,
industry,
commerce,
animal
husbandry, etc.
The vastness of Indias
agricultural and mineral
resources
and
the
extraordinary skill of her
craftsmen have been
mentioned with admiration
by Megasthenese and other
Greek writers. The state also
owned agricultural farms,
cattle farms, dairy farms etc.
Industry was organised in
various guilds. The trade
was regulated by the state.
India supplied the western
countries with indigo,
various
medicinal
substances, cotton and silk
Growth of Crafts:
(a) Metallurgy
(b) Wood-working
(c) Stone-cutting
(d) Textile-manufacturing
(e) Pottery.
The Mauryan State exercise
monopoly over certain
industrial activities like
mining,
armour
and
weapon-making, brewing of
liquor, ship-building etc.
Foreign trade was carried on

by land as well as by sea.
The trade had to get a license
to trade. The state controlled
and regulated the weights
and measures. The chief of
a guild was called Jesthaka.
The guilds settled the
disputes of their members. A
few guilds issued their own
coins. The guilds also made
donations to educational
institutions,
learned
Brahmans and to the
destitute.
The land tax was one-fourth
to one-sixth of the produce.
Toll tax was levied on all
items which were brought
for sale in the market. Tax
evasion was considered a
very serious crime and
offenders were severely
punished. The income from
the kings own land or estate
was known as sita.
Brahmans children and
handicapped people were
exempted from paying taxes.
Also no tax was levied in
areas where new trade
routes or new irrigation
project or new agricultural
land were being developed.
During Mauryan rule, though
there was banking system in
India. Yet usury was
customary and the rate of
interest was 15% per annum
on borrowing money. In less
secure transactions (like sea
Voyages etc) the rate of
interest could be as high as
60 % per annum. During
Mauryan period, the punch

marked coins (mostly of
silver) were the common
units of transactions.
Tamralipti m the Gangetic
delta was the most
prosperous port on the East
Coast of India.
Art and Architecture

The main examples of the
Mauryan art and architecture
that have survived are:
(i) Remains of the royal palaces
and the city of Pataliputra
(ii) Ashokan pillars and capitals
(iii) Rock cut Chaitya caves in the
Barabar and Nagarjuni hills
(iv) Individual
Mauryan
sculptures and terracotta
figurines
The famous city of
Pataliputra (modern Patna)
was described in detail by
Megasthenese, reference of
which is found in the
writings of Strabo. Arrian
and other Greek writers. It
was enclosed by a wooden
wall and had 64 gates. The
Mauryan wooden palace
survived for about 700 years
because, at the end of the
fourth century A. D. when FaHien saw it, it was
astounding. The burnt
wooden structure and ashes
have been found from
Kumrahar.
The Mauryas introduced
stone masonry on large
scale. The pillars and the
capitals were made of sand
stone, near Chunar in
101

The Mauryan Empire

Mirzapur district. Fragments
of stone pillars and slumps
indicating the existence of
an 80-pillared hall have been
discovered at Kumarhar on
outskirts of Patna. The pillars
represent the Masterpiece of
Mauryan sculpture. Each
pillar is made of single piece
of sandstone. Only their
capitals which are beautiful
pieces of sculpture in form
of lion or bulls are joined
with pillar on the top.
Single Lion capital at
Rampurva and Lauriya
Nandangarh.
Single bull capital at
Rampurva.
Four lion capital at Sarnath
and Sanchi.
A carved elephant at Dhauli
and engraved elephant at
Kalsi.
Seven rock-cut caves in the
show that the tradition of
rock-cut caves in India began
with the Mauryas. These
caves were caused to be
excavated by Ashoka and his
grandson Dasaratha for the
abode of Ajivika monks.
Some Yaksha and Yaskshini
figures have been found
from Mathura, Pawaya and
Patna. They are large sized
statues representing folk art
of the period. The Yakshi
figure from Didarganj, near
Patna shows a healthy female
figure with fully developed
body holding chorine in her
hand.
102
Later Mauryas
(232-184 BC)
Asokas death was followed
by the divisions of the
Mauryan Empire into two
parts - Western and Eastern.
The western part came to be
ruled by Kunala (probably
one of the sons of Asoka) and
then for a short while by
Samprati. It was later
threatened by the Bactrian
Greeks in the North-west and
by the Satava-hanas in the
norther Deccan.
The eastern part of the
empire, with Pataliputra as
the capital came to be rules
successively by Dasaratha
(probably one of the
grandsons of Asoka),
Samprati (who succeeded
both Kunala and Dasaratha in
the western and eastern parts
respectively), Salisuka,
Devavarman, Satadhanvan
and finally Brihadratha. The
last
Mauryan
ruler,
Brihadratha,
was
assasinated in 184 BC by his
Commanderin-chief,
Pushyamitra Sunga, who
established his own Sunga
dynasty.
Causes of Decline
The Mauryan Empire lasted
a little over a century and
broke up fitly years after the
death of Asoka. Slowly, the
various princes of the
empire began to break away
and set up independent
kingdoms. In 185 BC. the
Mauryan
king
was
overthrown by Pushyamitra
Shunga, an ambitious
Commander-in-Chief of
armed forces. He started the
Shunga dynasty in Magadha.
The Mauryan Empire ushered
in a dream that was to
survive and echo again and
again in centuries to come.
Some probable causes of
decline of the Mauryan
Empire:
1. Brahmanical reaction
2. Financial crisis
3. Oppressive rule
4. Neglect of north-west
frontier.
5. Weak successors
6. Pacific policy of Asoka
7. New knowledge in outlying
areas-Dissemination of
knowledge of manufacturing
Iron
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
1. The Buddhist sources like
Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa
describe Chandra-gupta
Maurya a scion of the
Kshatriya clan of the Moriyas
branch of Sakyas who lived
in
(a) Kusinara
(b) Pava
(c) Pipphalivana
(d) Alakappa
2. According to which of the
following sources it seems
that Chandragupta took
advantage
of
the
disturbances caused by the
invasion of Alexander and
his sudden death in 323

The Mauryan Empire

B. C. in Babylon
(a) Jain sources
(b) Buddhist sources
(c) Greek sources
(d) Both (a) and (c)
3. According to which source
was Chandraguptas father
killed in a battle and he was
brought up by his maternal
uncle and that. Chanakya.
found the signs of royalty in
the child Chandragupta
(a) Jain sources
(b) Buddhist sources
(c) Greek sources
(d) Archaeological sources
4. Who of the following writes
India after the death of
Alexander, had shaken, as it
were, the yoke of servitude
from its neck and put his
Governors to death. The
architect of this liberation
was Sandrocottas?
(a) Plutarch
(b) Justin
(c) Marshall
(d) Strabo
5. Which of the following
books describe that with the
help
of
Chanakya,
Chandragupta defeated the
Nanda king and captured
him?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Arthashastra
Parisistiparvan
Mudrarakshasa
Indica
6. Which of the Ashokan rock

edicts mention that his
immediate neighbouring
states were those of Cholas.
Pandyas, Satyaputras and
Keralaputras?
(a) Rock Edict I
(b) Rock Edict II
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
(c) Rock Edict XIII

(d) Both (b) and (c)
From Divyavadana we come
to know that Bindusara
appointed his eldest son
Sumana as his viceroy of
Taxila and Ashoka at
(a) Kashmir
(b) Varanasi
(c) Kalinga
(d) Ujjain
Who of the following
mentions that Ptolemy
Philadelphus of Egypt sent
Dionysius as his ambassador
to Bindusaras court?
(a) Ptolemy(b) Strabo
(c) Plutarch
(d) Pliny
According
to
which
tradition, Ashoka was very
cruel in his early life and
captured the throne after
killing his 99 brothers:
(a) Jain Tradition
(b) Buddhist Tradition
(c) Vaishnav Tradition
(d) None of the above
Who of the following kings
is the first king in the Indian
history, who has left his
records engraved on
stones?
(a) Chandragupta Maurya
(b) Bindusara
(c) Ashoka
Which of the following Rock
edicts describe vividly the
horrors and miseries of this
war (Kalinga) and its impact
on Ashoka?
(a) Rock Edict X
(b) Rock Edict XI
(c) Rock Edict XII
(d) Rock Edict XIII
12. Who of the following officers

were appointed by Ashoka,
who were vested with the
authority of not only
rewarding people but also
punishing. them if required?
(a) Nagaraka
(b) Pradeshikas
(c) Kumaras
(d) Rajjukas
13. The Greek writers dont give
details of the war but state
that a treaty (between
Seleucus and Chandragupta)
was concluded in which
Seleucus conceded the
territories
(a) Kandhar
(b) Kabul
(c) Herat and Baluchistan
(d) All of the above
14. Who of the following writes
Sandrocottas who had by
that time mounted the throne
overran and subdued the
whole of India with an army
of 6,00,000'?
(a) Justin
(b) Plutarch
(c) Pluto
(d) Strabo
15. Chandragupta established a
vast empire, extended from
Afghanistan in the west to
Assam in the east and from
Kashmir in north to
Karnataka in south, with the
exception of
(a) Ujjain (b) Kalinga
(c) Koshala
(d) None of these
historians say that Chanakya
outlived Chandragupta and
continued as a minister of
Bindusara?
103

The Mauryan Empire
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
(a) Hemachandra
(b) Taranath
(c) Megasthenese
(d) Both (a) and (b)
In which of the following
edicts did Ashoka say that
he had full faith in Buddha,
Dhamma and Sangha?
(a) Maski edict
(b) Gurjara edict
(c) Bhabru edict
(d) None of these
In which of the following
Rock Edicts did Ashoka say,
All sects desire both selfcontrol and purity of mind?
(a) Rock Edict VI
(b) Rock Edict VII
(c) Rock Edict VIII
(d) Rock Edict IX
Which among the following
officials were appointed by
Ashoka,
whose
sole
responsibility was to
propagate Dhamma among
the people?
(a) Rajjukas
(b) Dharmadhikarana
(c) Dharmamahamatras
Of the foreign kings, which
were the kingdoms to
receive the message of
Buddhism, and are mentiond
in the inscriptions of
Ashoka?
(a) Antiochus Theos of Syria
(b) Ptolemy of Egypt
(c) Antigonus of Macedonia
Which of the following Rock
Edicts is a moving document
which could have been
written only by a human
being as noble and as great
as Ashoka?
104
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
(a) Rock Edict VII

(b) Rock Edict VIII
(c) Rock Edict X
(d) Rock Edict XIII
The only king in the history
of human kind who
apologised to his conquered
subjects for having waged
war against them and caused
them misery and sufferings
was
(a) Alexander
(b) Ptolemy
(c) Ashoka
(d) Chandragupta Maurya
After the death of Ashoka,
the empire was divided into
an eastern and a western
part. The western part was
governed by
(a) Kunal
(b) Samprati
(c) Dasarath
Who among the following
officers were perhaps the
subordinate officer incharge
of the revenues of the king?
(a) Pradeshika
(b) Rajjuka
(c) Yukta
(d) None of these
A group of officials worked
in each district. Who among
the following was the head
of district administration
and toured entire district
every five years to inspect
the administration of areas
under his control?
(a) Gramika
(b) Yukta
(c) Pradeshika
(d) Nagraka
The Arthashastra mentions a
wide range of scales in
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
salary, the highest being 48.

000 panas and the lowest
(a) 10 panas
(b) 20 panas
(c) 60 panas
(d) 48 panas
Megasthenese tells us that
the city of Pataliputra was
administered by a city
council comprising
(a) 20 members
(b) 30 members
(c) 15 members
(d) 25 members
Who of the following laid
down penalties against
officials in charge of work
shops and prison who
misbehaved with women?
(a) Megasthenese
(b) Kautilya
(c) Vavupurana
(d) None of these
Which of the following were
specially protected by the
state and offences against
them
were
severely
punished?
(a) The Artisans
(b) Craftsmen
(c) Priest
Which of the following
inscriptions mention that
one of the carved gateways
was denated by the guilds of
ivory workers?
(a) Kalshi inscription
(b) Sarnath inscription
(c) Bhabru inscription
(d) Sanchi Stupa inscription
inscriptions mention that
two weavers guild gave
permanent endowments for
the maintenance of a temple?

The Mauryan Empire

(a) Bharti inscription
(b) Nagarjuna hills cave
inscription
(c) H a t h i g u m p h a
inscription
(d) Nasik Cave inscription
32. Who says A full treasury is
a guarantee of the prosperity
of the state and it is the most
important duty of the king to
keep the treasury full at all
the times for all works?
(a) Narada
(b) Brihaspati
(c) Kautilya
(d) Manu
33. W ho of the following
describe the palace in these
terms, whey the greatest of
all kings of India resided,
was marvel of workman
ship with which neither
Memnomian Susa with all it
costly splendour, nor
Ekbatan with all its
magnificence, can vie
(a) Megasthenese
(b) Strabo
(c) Arrian
(d) Ptolemy
34. Seven rock-cut caves in th
shop that the tradition of
rock cut caves in India began
with the
(a) Satavahanas
(b) Mauryas
(c) Guptas
(d) None of these
35. The caves were caused to be
excavated by Ashoka and his
grandson Dasaratha for the
abode of
(a) Buddhist monks
(b) Jain monks
(c) Hindu monks
(d) Ajivika monks
places figure shows a
healthy female figure with
fully developed body
holding chowrie in her
hand?
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Kalshi near Dehradoon

Didarganj near Patna
Chunar near Mirzapur
None of the above
ANSWERS
1. (c)
3. (b)
2. (d)
4. (b)
5. (b)
7. (d)
9. (b)
11. (d)
13. (d)
15. (b)
17. (c)
19. (c)
21. (d)
23. (d)
25. (c)
27. (b)
29. (d)
31. (d)
33. (c)
35. (d)
6. (d)
8. (d)
10. (c)
12. (d)
14. (b)
16. (d)
18. (b)
20. (d)
22. (c)
24. (c)
26. (c)
28. (b)
30. (d)
32. (c)
34. (b)
36. (b)
POST-MAURYAN
One major change in this
period was the transition
from the proto-historical to
the historical over a large
part of India. For example,
in the south the early
megalithic
culture
representing a tribal stage
was succeeded by the early
historical
which
accommodated elements of
culture from north India. The
provincial governors soon
asserted their independence

and numerous independent
principalities came into
existence. There were
numerous
dynasties
established in very short
span of time,We can say that
this period saw instability.
Sungas (184 75 BC)

The
Mauryas
were
succeeded by the Sungas
and they ruled for l12 years
from 187 B. C. to 75 B. C.
The first event of Pushyamitra
Sungas reign was his war
with Vidarbha which was
ruled by Yajnasena, a
relative of a minister in the
Mauryan Court.
Agnimitra,
son
of
Pushyamitra
defeat.
Yajnasena and brought
Vidarbha back to the fold of
empire. Pushyamitra had to
face invasion of the Yavanas
105

The Mauryan Empire

also. Pushyamitra Sunga
performed Ashvamedha
after this war.
Malvikagnimitram refers to
the defeat of Yavanas on the
bank of river Sindhu in the
hands of Vasumitra.
According to Divyavadana,
Pushyamitra persecuted
Buddhists. But in the light of
the fact that stupas at Sanchi
and Bharhut were enlarged
and provided with gates etc.
during the reign of
Pushyamitra, this allegation
does not seem to be true. The
Buddhists anger may have
been due to the killing of the
king by Pushyamitra.
Pushyamitra was succeeded
by Agnimitra in about 148 B.
C. , after a reign of 36 years.
Agnimitra had gained
experience in statecraft as
the governor of Vidisa under
his father. No events of his
reign are known, nor any
coin or inscription of his
reign are extant.
Agnimitra was succeeded by
Jethamitra and after him
came on the throne
Vasumitra, son of Agnimitra.
One of the rulers among the
later king was Bhagabhadra
in whose court Heliodorus,
the
ambassador
of
Antialkidas, stayed. The last,
king was Devabhuti.
Kanvas (75 28 BC)

Sunga dynasty was replaced
by another Brahmin dynasty.
Vasudev, the minister of the
106
last Sunga ruler murdered his

king and founded the Kanva
dynasty. Patliputra was the
capital of this dynasty.
The last Kanva king Susarman
was killed by the Satavahan
ruler Pulamayi I. So, Kanvas
dynasty declined due to
expansion of Satavahanas in
the Deccan, while in north
India foreign invaders were
the cause of decline of the
Kanvas.
Ganasanghas
We know about these
Gansanghas (republics)
through their coins on which
their names are found. Some
of these were Arjunayanas,
Malavas,
Audumbaras.
Kunindas, Yaudheyas etc.
Most of these, later on
became tributaries of the
Guptas and vanished
altogether after the fourth
century A. D.
Satavahanas of Deccan (2 nd
cent. BC 2 nd cent. AD)
The Satavahanas appeared in
the Deccan as the successors
of the Mauryas and ruled in
unbroken continuity for 460
years. They are mentioned in
the Puranas as Andhras.
Satavahana is a Prakrit form
of saptavahana which means
the solar origin of the
dynasty. Satakarni is the
surname borne by them. The
Andhras are an ancient
people and are mentioned in
the Ailareva Brahmana also.
Before the emergence of the
Satavahanas in Maharashtra
and Cholas, Cheras and
Pandyas in southern India,
the region was settled by
megalithic people.
The Greek writer Pilny
mentions that the Andhras
were powerful people who
possessed a large number of
villages and thirty towns, an
army of one lakh infantry,
two thousand cavalry and
one thousand elephants.
The founder of this dynasty
is known as Simuka and he
ruled from 235 B. C. to 213
B. C. He was succeeded by
his brother Krishna.
The third king Sri Satakarni I
was Simukas son. He
conquered large areas and
performed some Vedic
sacrifices including two
asvamedhayajna
and
rajasuya. His reign is well
known from the Nanaghat
inscription of his wife
Naganika. It appears that he
conquered western Malwa,
Vidarbha and Anupa
(Narmada Valley). He is also
referred to as the lord of
Dakshinapatha. His name
also occur s on one of the
gateways of Sanchi stupa. It
is well known that
substantial donations were
made by the Satavahanas for
the
renovation
and
decoration of Sanchi stupas
and monasteries.
The next important king was
Gautamiputa Satakani. Three
kings ruled in beaween of

The Mauryan Empire

whom Satakarni II ruled for
about 56 years. He wrested
Malwa from the Sungas.
After Satakarni II, the
expansion of Satavahana
Empire received a set back
and Nahapana seems to have
conquered
part
of
Satavahana territory. A large
number of coins of
Nahapana has been found in
Nasik area.
The Satavahanas became
powerful again during the
reign of Gautamiputa
Satakani. His achievements
are recorded in glowing
terms in the Nasik inscription
of Queen-mother, Gautami
Balasri.
This
inscription
was
engraved after his death and
in the nineteenth year of the
reign of his son and
successor Pulmayi II. In this
inscription he has been
described as one who
destroyed the Shakas.
Yavanas and Pahlavas. He
overthrew Nahapana and
restruck large number of his
silver coins. He also
recovered
northern
Maharashtra,
Konkan.
Vidarbha, Saurashtra and
Malwa from the Shakas.
Satakarni dedicated a cave
in Nasik in the eighteenth
year of his reign and granted
some land to ascetics in the
twenty-fourth
year.
Gautamiputa Satakani is the
first king bearing matronym
and this practice was
followed by nearly all his

successors.
collateral branch of the

Satavahanas.
Gautamiputa was succeeded

by his son Vasisthiputra Sri
Pulmayi in about A. D. 1300
and ruled for about twentyfour years. The coins and
inscription of Pulmayi have
been found in Andhra
Pradesh. This shows that
Andhra had become a part
of Satavahana Empire in the
second century A. D.
Pulmayi
married
the
daughter of Shaka ruler
Rudradaman. But this Shaka
king defeated the next
Satavahana ruler twice and
took from him Aparant
(Konkan) and Anupa
(Narmada valley). The old
stupa at Amaravati was
repaired and enlarged.
Sriyajna Satakani (A. D. 165195) was perhaps the last of
the great Satavahana rulers.
His inscriptions have been
found in Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra and Madhya
Pradesh. He regained the
land that the Shakas had
conquered
from
his
predecessors.
Hala, the seventeenth king,
composed Gathasaptasati
(also called the Sattasi), an
anthology of 700 erotic
verses in Maharashtri or
Paisachi Prakrit.
The Satavahana empire was
partitioned among five
minor dynasties. The
northern provinces came
under the sway of a
In the west the Abhiras

established themselves
around Nasik;
The Satavahana empire
collapsed when Abhiras
seized Maharashtra and
Ikshvakus and Pallavas
appropriated the eastern
provinces.
Meghavahanas of Kalinga
Kalinga rose to power under
Kharavela, the third ruler of
the Cheta dynasty. The only
source of information about
this king is the Hathigumpha
inscription on the Udaigiri
hills near Bhuvaneshwar. The
Kharavela inscription is
considered to be one of the
most unique historical
records. It gives a
biographical account of the
kings
life
and
his
achievements, not in general
terms but year-wise.
The inscription, for example,
says that after having
received his training in
writing, mathematics, law
and finance, necessary for a
crown prince, Kharavela
ascended the throne in his
twenty-fourth year.
Kharavela invaded the
kingdom of Magadha in the
eight and twelfth years of his
reign. During the second
campaign, Kharavela carried
home an image of the Jain
tirthankara from Magadha
which had been previously
107

The Mauryan Empire

taken away from Kalinga to
Magadha. The wealth he got
during this campaign was
used to built a magnificent
temple at Bhuvaneshwar.
Foreign Invasions
One of the most important
events of the reign of
Pushyamitra Sunga was the
invasion of Yavanas from the
west.
Patanjali,
a
contemporary
of
Pushyamitra, mentions this
invasion. Kalidasa also
mentions about Vasumitras
conflict with Yavanas, in his
Malavikagnimitram
Inability of the Central Asian
tribes like Sakas and
Kushans
to
sustain
themselves in their own
lands and their inability to
move into China due to the
Great Wall built by Shih
Huang Ti in 220 B. C. and
hence their invasion of
Bactria. The Greeks, thus
pressed by the Central Asian
tribes, were forced to
invade India.
Inability of the successors of
Asoka as well as the Sungas
and Kanvas (successors of
Mauryas) to offer stiff
resistance to the foreign
invaders was also a main
reason of establishment of
these foreign rule.
Indo-Greeks or Yavanas
(2nd cent. BC)
The Indo Greeks (Yavanas)
were the first ones to
108
establish foreign supremacy

on Indian soil; they were
succeeded by several
central Asian tribes who
invaded
India
and
established their political
authority.
About 250 B. C. Diodotus,
the governor of Bactria
revolted against the Greeks
and
proclaimed
his
independence.
Some
important Indo-Greek kings
were
Euthydemus,
Demetrius. Eucratides and
Menander.
Among all the Indo-Greek
rulers, Menander (165-145 B.
C.) was the most illustrious.
His capital was Shakala
(modern Sialkot) in Pakistan.
His territory extended from
Afghanistan to Uttar Pradesh
in east and Gujarat in the
west.
Menander was converted to
Buddhism by the Buddhist
monk Nagasena.
Menander asked Nagasena
many questions related to
philosophy and Buddhism
which
together
with
Nagasenas answers rare
recorded in Milindapanho or
the Questions of Milinda.
They were the first to issue
gold coins in India and also
the first to issue coins which
can he atributed to the kings
with definiteness. Before this
the coins in India did not
carry names or portraits of
the kings. Also they were the
first rulers who issued gold
coins. Introduction of
Hellenistic art features in the
north-western
India,
facilitating the rise of
Gandhara Art.
Sakas (1st Cent. BC to 4th

Cent. AD)
Sakas also known as
Scything, a people of Central
Asian
origin
who
established kindgoms in the
north-western and western
parts of the subcontinent,
derived revenues from longdistance trade. They
replaced the Indo-Greeks in
India.
After the construction of the
great wall of China in the
third century century B. C.
the tribes like Hiung-nu, Wusun and Yueh-chi had no
option but to move towards
south and west. The first
migrants were Yueh-chi who
displaced Shakas who in turn
invaded Bactria and Parthia
and then entered India
through the Bolan Pass.
The Sakas were divided in
five
branches
and
established themselves in
various parts of northwestern and northern India.
The earliest of them ruled
north western India, with
Moga being the first Saka
ruler in India. But the most
important was the one which
ruled in Western India till the
4th century AD. There were
two families, the Kshaharatas
and the Kardamakas.

The Mauryan Empire

Bhumaka and Nahapana
belonged to the Kshaharatas,
while Chashtana started the
Kardamaka family.
The most prominent ruler of
western India was Nahapana
whose reference is found in
various inscriptions found in
Maharashtra and in the
records of the Satavahanas.
The most famous Saka ruler
in India was Chashtanas
grandson, Rudradaman I
(130-150 AD), who was
famous not only for his
military
conquests
(particularly against the
Satavananas) but also for his
public works (he repaired
the famous Sudarsan lake of
the Mauryan period) and his
patronage of Sanskrit (he
issued the first-ever long
inscription in chaste.
The dynasty came to an end
with the defeat of the last
king in the hands of
Chandragupta II of the Gupta
dynasty, in about A. D. 390.
Parthians (1st cent.

BC 1st cent. AD)
The Parthians also known as
Pahlavas were Iranian
people. The earliest king of
this dynasty was Vonones
who captured power in
Arachosia and Seistan and
adopted the title of great
king of kings.
Gondophernes was the
greatest of the Parthian
rulers. He ruled from A. D.
19-45.
Soon
after
Gondophernes, the Pahlava

rule in India ended and the
Kushanas moved in.
Excavations at Begram in
Afghanistan have brought to
light a large number of coins
of Gondophernes but none
of his successors.
Kushanas (1st cent.

AD 3rd cent. AD)
The Kushana Empire was
certainly among the most
powerful political entities of
the Classical world (others
being the Roman empire in
the West, the Arsacid or the
Imperial Parthian empire in
Iran and China under the Ran
dynasty).
A sea-change in the Kushana
studies is in the offing with
the recent discovery of a
Bactrian inscription. The
inscription carved on a
whitish limestone, which
had been originally found
from Rabatak in Afghanistan,
was issued by Kanishka in
the first year of his reign. The
Rabatak inscription informs
us about the construction of
what would be the fifth
devakula in the Kushana
empire, the other four being
located at Mat (near
Mathura), Surkhkotal (in
Afghanistan), Airtam (in
Tazakistan) and DalverdjinTepe.
Colossal statues of Kushana
rulers have been found
installed in a shrine at Mat
near
Mathura
(Uttar
Pradesh). Similar statues

have been found in a shrine
in Afghanistan as well. Some
historians feel this indicates
that the Kushanas considered
themselves godlike. Many
Kushana rulers also adopted
the title devaptetra, or son
of god, possibly inspired
by Chinese rulers who
called themselves sons of
heaven.
The Yueh-chi were divided
into two groups - Little Yuehchi which migrated to Tibet
and great Yueh-chi which
finally came to India.
Further great Yuehhi were
divided into five branches.
According to the Chinese
sources, the first great Yuehchi king was Kujula
Kadphises also known as
Kadphises I who united all
the five groups and
established his authority
over Afghanistan. He called
himself great king. He is
also called dharmathida and
sachandharmathida
(steadfast in true faith) which
is taken to suggest that he
was a Buddhist.
Kadphises I was succeeded
by his son Wema Kadphises
or Kadphises II who
extended Kushana territory
upto Punjab, or perhaps
even in the Ganga-Yumuna
doab. Wima Kadphises
consolidated and promoted
trade particularly through the
famous Silk Route between
China and the Roman
109

The Mauryan Empire

Empire.
Kadphises II was succeeded
by the most famous of all the
Kushan rulers was Kanishka,
who is famous for starting
the Saka Era supposedly in
78 AD (Vikram Era began in
58 BC after the victory of the
Ujjain king, Vikarmaditya
over Sakas) and for his
pattronage of Mahayana
Buddhism. One of his capital
was probably Peshawar or
Purushapura in Pakistan.
Kaniskha ruled from A. D. 78101. After him came
Vasishka,
Huvishka,
Vasudeva and others.
Kanishkas court was
adorned by the presence of
such scholars as Parsva,
Vasumitra, Ashvaghosha,
Charaka, and Nagarjuna.
The last great Kushana ruler
was Vasudeva I. Kushanas
declined after Vasudeva, and
were replaced in India by
the Nagas and in NorthWestern India by the Sasanid
rulers of Persia. The loss of
Bactria to the Sasanid ruler,
Shapur I, in 262 AD virtually
signalled the beginning of the
end of the mighty Kushana
Empire.
Administration
The disintegration of the
empire also led to a change
in the institutions which
sustained it. While in some
cities of north India the
existence of autonomous
urban governments is
110
revealed by the coins they

struck, elsewhere the slow
formation of regional
bureaucracy instead of a
centralized bureaucracy is
indicated by the available
evidence. However, the
administrative structure on
the whole remain same as of
the Mauryan Period,but with
some minor changes.
Officials of the rank of
meridaskh and apracharaja
are mentioned in the
epigraphs of the Indo-Greek
period; in the ScythoParthian and Kushana
periods were introduced the
kshatrapas
and
mahakshatrapas.
Economic Condition
The period following the
decline of the Mauryan
Empire is often labelled as
one of the dark periods of
Indian history - a description
which assumes political
centralization to be the sole
criterion of civilization.
Otherwise, the period
presents some significant
developments in the socioeconomic and cultural
history of the country. The
period witnessed all round
development in the fields of
agriculture, industry and
trade. Agriculture was the
main occupation of a large
section of the people.
The literature refers to
eighteen type of guilds.
Guilds became an important
institution in the economy.

The guilds implemented well
defined rules of work and
controlled the quality of the
finished product and its
prices to safeguard both the
artisans and the customers.
The guilds also acted as a
banker, financier and a
trustee. These functions were
carried out by a different
category of merchants
known as sresthies in north
India and chettis in south
India.
Loans were given on security
of gold and other things.
Money was lent for interest
on promising rates to be
renewed every year. The
Nasik cave inscription refers
to the interest rates on
money deposited to guilds.
The usual rate of interest was
between 12% and 15% per
annum.
The opening of the remote
parts of the country and the
discovery of new channels
of communication. The
discovery by Hippalus of the
monsoon sea-route to India
from West Asia around 45
AD and the establishment of
the Silk-route from China to
Europe through India and
sea-route to South East Asia
from India.
The discovery of monsoon
facilitated to reduce the
distance between the
western ports of India to the
ports of Alexandria in Egypt.

The Mauryan Empire
Indias trade with Rome

increased enormously by sea
as well as by land route
which is generally known as
the silk route. This connected
the world from China to
Rome and served as a
transmitter of not only the
trading commodity but the
culture, idea and religions
etc.
About
the
trading
commodities, the author of
Periplus of Erythrean Sea,
accounts
of
Roman
historians like Pliny, Ptolemy
etc. Indian literature, both in
Tamil and Sanskrit, refer to
the trading establishments
and items of trade like Indian
spices, sandalwood and
other variety of woods,
pearls, textiles of various
types, sea products, metals,
semi-precious stones and
animals.
Arikamedu was an important
Roman settlement and
trading station. It was
located close to a port and
was excavated in 1945.
The Roman, historian, Pliny,
laments that Indian trade
was a serious drain on the
wealth of Rome, when 550
million sesterce went to
India each year on luxury
items.
The increasing organisation
of trade with through guilds,
increased monetization of
trade with the increase in the
number of coins, etc.
Trade seems to have been

conducted in luxury items
and not in necessary goods
Favourable balance of trade
for India as is evident from
the complaints of Roman
writers like Pliny that bullion
was flowing out of their
country to India.
Maritime trade and activities
during his reign are
indicated by depiction of
ship with a fish and conch
on his coins.
Several cities which had
appeared around the sixth
century BC continued and in
fact reached their most
prosperous phase.
Relations with the outside
world
The diplomatic relationship
between India and the West
are recorded in the Rock
Edict XIII of Ashoka also, in
which five Greek rulers are
specifically named and it is
claimed that on account of
the activities of Ashokas
missionaries his dhamma
spread to these countries.
People from India and the
West visited each others
country. The contacts are
recorded in detail in the
works
of
Strabos
Geography, Arrians Indica,
Pliny the elders Natural
History, the Periplus of
Erythraen sea and Ptolemys
Geography.
A number of Indian kings sent
embassies to Rome. The best
known Indian embassy was

sent to Rome about 25 B. C.
It took about four years to
reach Rome. It presented
animals and other gifts to the
Roman king, Augustus.
In the field of religion both
influenced each other as is
shown in the philosophical
development of GreecoRoman world. Christianity
reached India as early as
first century A. D. through
these commercial and
cultural contacts.
Social Conditions
The
most
significant
development on the varna
system is the increase in the
number of mixed jatis. The
influx of various ethnic
groups in large numbers
necessitated
some
restructuring in social
thought and organization
which were in any case
reshaping
themselves
because of the emergence of
new historical centres within
the country.
The tendency of the law
makers was to assign a low
rank to the new entrants, but
this did not materially affect
the process of assimilation.
In reality, the wielders of
political
power,
the
Yavanas, the Sakas and
Kushanas were as much
beyond pure kshatriya
status as their Indian
counterparts,
the
Satavahanas.
111

The Mauryan Empire

The Buddhist texts show that
jatis were not rigidly tied to
craft in those days. They tell
of a Kshatriya working
successively as a potter,
basket-maker, reed-worker,
garland-maker and cook and
also of a Settle (Vaishya)
working as a tailor and a
potter without loss of
prestige in both cases.
According to Manusmriti,
the origin of the numerous
mixed (sankara) varnas is in
the marriage between
different varnas. These were
called anuloma
e.g.,
marriage between the male
of higher varna and female
of lower varna, or pratiloma
- marriage between male of
lower varna and female of
higher varna.
Types of marriages
Endogamy refers to marriage
within a unit - this could be
a kin group, caste, or a
group living in the same
locality.
Ecogamy refers to marriage
outside the unit.
Polygyny is the practice of a
man having several wives.
Polyandry is the practice of
a woman having several
husbands.
Family Life
The joint family system
characterised the society.
Family was considered as
the unit of the social system.
Obedience to parents and
112
elders was held as the

highest duty for children.
Marriage between the
members of the same jatis
was also preferred though
intermarriage between
different jatis was prevalent.
The marriage in the same
gotra and pravara was
restricted.
Eight forms of marriage are
mentioned
in
the
Dharmasastras. These are
brahma, daiva, arsha,
prajapatya,
asura,
gandharva, rakshasa, and
paisacha. Among these the
last one is condemned by all
the Dharmasatras.
Two classes of women
students are mentionedBrahmavadin or lifelong
student of sacred texts and
Sadyodyaha who pursued
their studies till their
marriage.
We find the reference to the
practice of Sati also.
Succession of wealth
For men, the Manrusmriti
declares, there are seven
means of acquiring wealth:
inheritance,
finding,
purchase,
conquest,
investment, work, and
acceptance of gifts from
good people.
Unfortunately, a large
number of Dharmasastras
reject the right of women to
inherit but Yajnavalkya lays
down a list of priority in
inheritance which places
wife followed by the

daughters, immediately after
sons.
For women, there are six
means of acquiring wealth:
what was given in front of the
fire (marriage) or the bridal
procession, or as a token of
affection and what she got
from her brother, mother or
father. She could also
acquire wealth through any
subsequent
gift
and
whatever her affectionate
husband might give her.
Religions
The period witnessed an
efflorescence of new ideas
leading to the rise of new
philosophical schools and
religious
sects.
i.e.,
Vaishnavism,
Saivism,
Buddhism and Jainism.
Vedic Religion
Vedic religion changed a lot
through all these centuries.
This was the time when the
Vedic religion assumed
features which today are
recognised as Hinduism.
This
new
religious
development was based on
the philosophy of the
Upanishads with its concept
of the absolute or universal
soul. This concept also
helped to develop the idea
of the Trinity of Gods at this
time -Brahma as the creator,
Vishnu as the preserver, and
Shiva (also known as Rudra
and Mahesh) as the God who

The Mauryan Empire

eventually destroys the
universe when it is evil
ridden.
Vaishnavism
One form of Vaishnavism is
Bhagavatism. The supreme
deity of Bhagavatism was
Vasudeva Krishna, son of
Devaki, of the Vrishni
family. The famous Besnagar
(district Vidisa, Madhya
Pradesh)
inscription
mentions that Heliodorus,
the Greek ambassador of
King Antialcidas, called
himself. Bhagavata and
erected a Garudadhavja in
honour of Vasudeva at
Besnagar.
The
philosophy
of
Bhagvatism is described in
the Bhagavad-Gita.
Other early inscriptions
related to Bhagavatism
came from Ghosundi
(Rajasthan), Mathura (Uttar
Pradesh)
and
Nasik
(Maharashtra).
Saivism
Saivism seems to have
evolved from the Vedic God
Rudra and the Harappan
deity known as Pasupati. The
worship
of
Shiva
incorporated a number of
fertility cults such as those
of phallic emblem (lingam),
the bull (Nandi) etc. and was
also associated with Shakti
cult. The most common cult
object of the Saivas is
lingam,
the
earliest
specimens of which have

been found in the Harappan
period.
One of the important schools
of Saivism was Pasupata
sect, founded by Lakulin or
Lakulis around second
century B.C.
Saivism also attracted the
foreigners.
Wema
Kadphises, the second king
of the Kushana dynasty was
a Saiva. The reverse of some
of his coins depict the
figures of Shiva with a long
trident and bull and the
legend refers to him as a
devotee of Shiva.
Buddhism
The group of foreign
invaders accepted Buddhism
in large numbers. One of
these the Greek king
Menander lived in the
Buddhist tradition as raja
Milinda.
Greatest name among the
foreign patrons of Buddhism
is that of Kaniskha. His fame
in the Buddhist world is only
second to that of Ashoka.
During his time Buddhism
spread to central Asia,
China, South East Asia and
West.
Like Ashoka, Kanishka
called a Buddhist council the fourth council in Kashmir
under the joint presidentship
of
Vasumitra
and
Ashvaghosha. The convening
of this council led to the
division of Buddhism into
two broad sects - the

Hinayana and the Mahayana.
While the Hinayana followed
the older order and
philosophy of Buddhism, the
Mahayana introduced many
new elements in the older
order.
Buddha began to be
worshipped in the icon form
with elaborate rituals
instead of symbols. To
Hinayanists, Buddha was a
great teacher and the
Mahayanists considered him
as God. The introduction of
a belief in the Bodhisttavas
being those who were in the
process of obtaining but had
not
yet
obtained
Buddhahood.
Hinayanists believed in the
salvation of individual as the
goal
of
life
while
Mahayanists believed in the
salvation of all beings.
Sanskrit was adopted as the
language of the religious
literature and a new cannon
was developed differing
from the old in many
essential respects.
Jainism
Jainism also flourished
during this period. The group
of Jain monks began to
settle in different parts of the
country. One group from
Magadha moved towards
west and settled in
Saurashtra while the other
group settled in Kalinga
where it enjoyed royal
113

The Mauryan Empire

patronage
Kharavela.
under
king
In south India their main

concentration was in
Karnataka and in Tamil
Nadu. Sravanabelagola in
modern Karnataka became
the great centre of Jainism.
Christianity
It was in the first century A.
D. that Christianity was
introduced in India by the
traders from the west. The
coming of Christianity is
associated with the legend
of St. Thomas who
according to the Catholic
Church of Edessa, came
twice on mission of India.
Language and Literature

In the field of language and
literature, this period saw
the
development
of
Dravidian languages and
literature in the South. In the
north there was progress in
the Sanskrit language and
literature and various forms
of Prakrit with a distinctive
literature of its own.
The most remarkable
compilations of the period
are the two great Epics, the
Ramayana
and
the
Mahabharata. Some of the
Dharmasastra works were
also composed in this
period.
Smritis define the religious
duties, usage, laws and
social customs. In general,
the smritis may be regarded
114
as the expanded and

contemporary version of the
Dharmasutras
which
covered the period from
about sixth century to third
century, B. C.
The Manava Dharmasastra or
Manusmriti is also the most
well known and has its hold
even today all over India.
This was composed in about
the first century B. C.
Some other important smritis
are
Naradasmriti,
V i s h n u s m r i t i ,
Yajnavalkyasmriti, Brihus
patismriti
and
Karyayanasmriti.
The most outstanding work
in the field of grammar.
Mahabhasya written by
Patanjali in the second
century BC, is a commentary
on Paninis Asthadh-yavi.
After Patanjali the centre of
Sanskrit grammar learning
shifted to the Deccan where
the
Katantra
school
flourished in the first century
A. D. Sarvavarman a scholar
of great repute in the court
of the Satavahana King Hala
composed the grammar of
Katantra.
An important literary figure
of
the
period
was
Asvaghosha. He was not
only a play writer and a poet
but a great Buddhist
philosopher. He wrote
S a u n d r a n a n d a ,
Buddhacharita, Vajrasuchi
and a number of other
works.
Buddacharita is a complete
life of Buddha written in the
form of Mahakavya. This
work has been translated
into many languages of the
world.
Fragments of Asvaghoshas
plays have been recovered
from Turfan in central Asia.
Bhasas Svapnavasavadatta
is another famous Sanskrit
play of the period.
The art of dance and drama
had already been codified
by Paninis time and
mentioned by Kautilya and
Patanjali. All these early
forms of art contributed to
the
development
of
Natyashastra written by
Bharata.
Art and Architecture

Sanchi, Amaravati, Bharhut
and Sarnath stupas are the
best examples of Buddhist
art and architecture that
flourished during this
period.
The most wonderful ancient
buildings in the state of
Bhopal are at Sanchi
Kanakhera, a small village
under row of a hill some 20
miles north-east of Bhopal.
Sanchi was discovered in
1818, three of its four
gateways were still standing,
the fourth was lying on the
spot where it has fallen and
the mound was in good
condition. Even so, it was
suggested that the gateway

The Mauryan Empire

be taken to either Paris or
London; finally a number of
factors helped to keep
Sanchi as it was, and so it
stands.
The early stupas at Sanchi
and Bharhut were plain
except for the stone railings,
which resembled a bamboo
or wooden fence, and the
gateways, which were richly
carved and installed at the
four cardinal points.
Worshippers
entered
through the eastern gateway
and walked around the
mound in a clockwise
direction keeping the mound
on the right, imitating the
suns course through the sky.
Later, the mound of the
stupas came to be
elaborately carved with
niches and sculptures as an
Amaravati, and Shahjiki-Dheri in Peshawar
(Pakistan).
The relics were generally
kept in a casket in a smaller
chamber in the centre of the
base of the stupa. The stupa
has a fenced path called
pradakshinapatha.
Another form of architecture
is represented by rock-cut
caves. These rock-cut caves
are of two types. The one
with
a
stupa
and
worshipping hall called
chaitya and monastery
called vihara.
The famous cave of Karle
consists of a fairly
complicated structure, all
cut into the rock. The ceilings

of a few of these caves show
an imitation of a barrel vault
with wooden ribs. This
indicates the impact of
wooden construction in
stone.
Sculpture
The post-Mauryan period is
an age of great sculptural
activity. Bharhut, Sanchi,
Bodh Gaya, Mathura,
Amaravati, Gandhara were
the important centres of art
activities.
The Mathura and Gandhara
schools flourished during the
Kushana period.
The Mathura school has the
distinction of having
produced the first image of
the Buddha: Mathura also
produced
many
fine
specimens of sculptures that
include,
image
of
Brahainanical, Jain and
Buddhist deities and the life
size sculptures of yakshas,
yakshini and portraits of
kings.

Indian
astronomers
developed much more
elaborate astronomical
system after modifying and
adopting the more accurate
values by counting the
periods of revolution of the
sun, the moon, the five
planets and two nodes
known as Rahu and Ketu.
Eclipses were also predicted
with accuracy. All these
observations have been

described by Varahamihira
in Pancha Siddhantika
which gives the summary of
five schools of astronomy
present in his time.
One of the most remarkable
structures that has been
excavated is a complex of
four water tanks at
shringaverapura which
shows a very advanced
level
of
hydrolic
engineering. The tanks are
built of millions of bricks
and water brought from the
river Ganga through a canal.
Ayurveda has its origin in
Atharva Veda. The school at
Varanasi specialised in
surgery and Sushruta
Samhita is an encyclopaedia
of surgery compiled by the
great surgeon Sushruta.
OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
1. The first event of Pushyamitra
Sungas reign was his war
with Vidarbha which was
ruled by
(a) Sarvavarman
(b) Nagasena
(c) Asvamitra
(d) Yojnasena
2. Which of the following kings
performed the Ashvamedha
sacrifice?
(a) Vasumitra
(b) Pushyamitra Sunga
(c) Bhadrak
(d) None of these
3. Malvikagnimitram refers to
the defeat of Yavanas on the
bank of river Sindhu in the
hands of
115

The Mauryan Empire
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
(a) Pushyamitra Sunga

(b) Agnimitra
(c) Vasumitra
(d) None of these
monuments were enlarged
and provided the gate etc.
during the reign of
Pushyamitra?
(a) Stupas of Sanchi
(b) Stupas of Bharhut
(c) Stupas of Sarnath
Apart from some important
dynasties ruling in postMauryan north India we have
number of republics ruling
over smaller states. Some of
these were
(a) Arjunayas
(b) Malwas
and
Audumbaras
(c) Kunindas
and
Yaudheyas
Who of the following
mentions that the Andhras
were powerful people who
possessed a large number of
villages and thirty towns?
(a) Strabo (b) Plutarch
(c) Pliny (d) Justin
performed
the
Ashvamedhayajna?
(a) Krishna
(b) Simuka
(c) Satakani I
(d) None of these
was also referred to as the
lord of Dakshina-patha?
(a) Gautamiputa Satakani
(b) Pulmavi II
(c) Satakani I
(d) Satakani II
116
9. Gautamiputra Satakamis
achieve-ments are recorded
in glowing terms in the
(a) Nashik inscription
(b) H a t h i g u m p h a
inscription
(c) Varanasi inscription
(d) None of these
10. Who of the following is the
first king bearing matronym
and this practice was
followed by nearly all his
successors?
(a) Pulumavi II
(b) Satakami II
(c) Gautamiputa Satakani
(d) Krishna
11. Who of the following kings
married the daughter of Saka
ruler Rudradaman?
(a) Vasisthiputra Pulumavi
(b) Satakani I
(c) Satakani II
(c) Yajna Satakani
12. Which of the following were
the first ones to establish
foreign supremacy on Indian
soil?
(a) The Kushanas
(b) The Shakas
(c) The Indo-Greeks
(d) None of these
13. Which of the following rulers
were the first ones, whose
coins carried the portraits of
kings and, their names (in
the history of India)
(a) Indo-Greeks
(b) The Shakas
(c) The Parthians
(d) The Kushanas
14. At which of the following
places, excavations have
brought to light a large
number of coins of Gondophernes?
15.
16.
17.
18.
(a) Ghaligai(b)Sarai Khala

(c) Kapisa (b) Begram
Rudradamanas
rule
extended over a vast
territory including the areas
of
(a) Gujarat and Sindh
(b) Saurashtra and north
Konkan
(c) Malwa and parts of
Rajasthan
On which of the following
rulers coins, Shiva holding
a trident and bull are shown?
(a) Nahapana
(b) Kujula Kadphises
(c) Wema Kadphises
(d) None of these
Smritis is not only the oldest
work of this class, but is also
the most well known and has
its hold even today all over
India?
(a) Narada Smriti
(b) Vishnu Smriti
(c) Manu Smriti
Fragments of Asvaghoshas
play have been recovered
from Turfan in Central Asia.
Which of the following plays
is another famous Sanskrit
play of this period
(a) Mudrarakshasa
(b) Malvikagnimitram
(c) Svapnavasavadatta
(d) None of these
ANSWERS
1. (d)
4. (d)
7. (c)
10. (c)
13. (a)
16. (c)
2. (d)
5. (d)
8. (c)
11. (a)
14. (d)
17. (c)
3. (c)
6. (c)
9. (a)
12. (c)
15. (d)
18. (c)
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MODEL PAPER G.S. PAPER I

1. Under the Guptas period in
eastern India there was and
intermediate level of
administration between
Vishaya (districts) and
villages identify that
(a) Bhukti
(b) Pradesa
(c) Vithi
(d) Ahara
statements is not correct
about the status of women
during AD. 800-1200?
(a) Women were generally
considered mentally
inferior and they had to
obey their husbands
blindly.
(b) The Matsya Purana
authorizes the husband
to beat his errant wife
with a rope
(c) Smriti writers say that
girls were to be given
away by their parents
between the age of six
and eight or between the
eight
year
and
attainment of puberty
(d) Remarrige of widow is
universally favoured by
law makers
3. Which one of the following
was not one of the popular
methods of land revenues
assessment under the Delhi
Sultans?
(a) Sharing the crop

(b) Method of measurement
(c) Kankut
(d) Qabuliat or contract
4. Which one of the following
statements is not correct
about the religious policy
under the Delhi Sultante?
(a) Hindus have to pay
pilgrimage tax for
visiting their holy places
and fairs as also for
bathing in their sacred
tanks or rivers.
(b) Hindus were not
permitted
(c) In the reign of Sikandar
Lodhi a nrahmin named
Bodhan was put to
death for the offence of
saying that there was
truth in itinduism as slos
Islam
(d) Muhammad Tuglaq,
though rational and
liberal, did not permit to
build new temples
5. According to Islamic
practice, one used to expand
the Laco and the other used
to deliver judgement. Who
were they respectively
(a) Mufti and Qazi
(b) Qazi and Mufti
(c) Qazi and Sadar
(d)Qazi and mufti
6. Who were the tarafdars?
(a) Military commanders
stationaed in different
directions in the
Bahmani kingdom.
(b) Provincial governors
under the Bahmani
Sulatns
(c) Revenue officials of the
districts in the Bahmani
splinter states
(d) Officials in charge of
enforcement of islamic
law in the Bahmani
kingdom and later in its
splinter states
7. Who among the following
wer saints of the nirguna
schools?
1. Dadu dayal2. Nanak
3. Raidasa 4. Kabir
5. Sundardasa 6.
Dharnidasa
Select the answer form
the codes given below;
(a) 1, 2, 3, and 4 (b)
2, 3, 4 and 5
(c) 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6
(d)All of them
foreign travelers vistited the
Vijayanagar empire during
the time of Krishana Devea
Raya?
1. Nicolo de conti
2.Domingo paes
3. Ferna o Nuniz 4.
Marco-polo
5. Duarte
edwardo
barbosa
Select the answer from
given codes
117


(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2 and 5
(c) 1, 2, and 5
(d) All the them
9. What was Jajmani system of
the Mughal period?
(a) A revenue system in
which revenues of
different units of land
were assigned to official
in lieu of salaries
(b) An
administrative
system in which ranks in
terms of numbers were
assigned to nobles,
military commanders
and other prominent
people for placing them
in the official hierarchy
(c) A reciprocal system that
existed in rural India
between the peasantry
and other occupational
groups
(d) A commercial system
that developed in urban
India for facilitating
c o m m e r c i a l
transactions on a large
scale
10. Mughal architecture was
marked by
1. Combination of the
Persian elements of
grandeur and originality
with Indian elements of
grace and decoration
2. Uniformity in the
structural principles and
architectural character
all over the empire
3. Construction of tombs
in the centre of large
parks on high platforms
4. Construction of a
double-dome, the outer
and the inner one
5. Cupolas standing on
slender pillars at the
118
corners, magnificent
palace- halls,
Select the answer codes
given below
(a) All the them
(b) 1, 2, 3 and 5
(c) 2, 3, 4 and 5
(d) 1, 3, 4 and 5
11. Akbars
enlightened
religions policy was based
on his philosophy of sulh-ikul which meant
(a) Universal tolerance
(b) Universal peace
(c) E n l i g h t e n e d
benevolence
(d) Unity of godhead
statements about the revenue
reforms of Sher Shah Sur are
true?
1. Assessment of land
revenue on the basis of
measurement of land
2. Introduction of a new
unit of measurement
called illahi gaz
3. Classification of land in
to three categories on
the basis of their yield
ie. Good, bad and
middle
4. Calculation of average
produce three kinds of
land and fixing 1/3 rd of
it as land revenue
5. Issues of title deeds to
peasants
and
acquisition
of
acceptance deeds from
them
Choose the answer from
the codes below:
(a) All to them
(b) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 3, 4 and 5
(d) 1, 2 ,3 and 5
13. Peshkashi zamindars in
Mughal period were
(a) Territorial zamindars

who rendered military
service to the king
(b) Territorial zamindars
who rendered military
service to the state
(c) Primary zamindars who
maintained law and
order
(d) Intermediary zamindars
who collected taxes of
the state
statements about Vasco da
gama are true?
1. He discovered the new
and all sea route from
Europe to india
2. He reached the port of
cochin on may 17, 1498.
3. He was given a hostile
reception by the ruler of
cochin
4. He made a second trip
to India in 1502
the cods below:
(a) 1 and 2(b) 2 and 4
(c) 1 and 4
(d) 1 and 3
15. Aurangzeb discontinued the
practice of inscribing kalma
on the coins because
(a) It was a practice
borrowed from Turks
(b) It would have been
dishonored by coming
under the feet of the
people
(c) It hampered the smooth
functioning of ht escheat
system
(d) It was an irreligions
practice
16. Mughal school of painting is
characterized by
1. Miniature painting
2. Keen appreciation of
nature

17.
18.
19.
20.
3. Courtly and aristocratic

in content
4. Spiritual and mystic
Select the correct
statement from codes
given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2, and 3
(d) All of above
Which of the following were
the main item of export of
india durning ht mughal
priod?
1. Cotton textiles
2. Indigo and saltpeter
3. Opium and pepper
4. Raw silk and sugar
the codes below
(a) Only 1 and 2
(b) Only 2 and 3
(c) Only 3 an
The only type of Jagir which
could not be transferred was
the
(a) Khidmati Jagir
(b) Watan Jagir
(c) Milkiyar jagir
(d) Tan Jagir
Who were the harkarasof the
Mughal period?
(a) Enforcers of public
moral
(b) News writers and
reporters
(c) Secret letter writers and
informers
(d) Spies and special
couriers
Pick out the main features of
the Mansab system of the
Mughals form among the
following
1. All sawar rank holders
are necessarily holders
of zat ranks aj well, but
not vice-versa
21.
22.
23.
24.
2. The zat rank was always

preceded by the sawar
rank
3. The zat rank was
normally either
4. the contingents of the
big Mansabdars were
usually formed by
adding those of the
smaller are
Select the correct from
codes given below
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(b) All of them
(c) 2, 3 and 4
(d) 1, 3 and 4
Which of the following is not
a Sanskrit work?
(a) Lalitavistara
(b) Divyavadana
(c) Milind panto
(d) Mahavastu
Who might have issued the
largest number of copper
coins in the post-mauryan
period?
(a) Satavahanas
(b) Sakas (c) Kushanas
(d) Indo-greeks
Where do we have life-like
portrait images of the
pallava kings and queens?
(a) Kailasnath temple at
Kanchi
(b) Vrihadesvara temple at
tirrutani
(c) V a i k u n t h a p e r u m a l
temple at Kanchi
(d) Isvara
temple
at
mahabalipuram
During whose time did
hiuedn
Tsang
visit
Kanchipuram the capital of
the pallavas?
(a) Narasimhvarmna I
(b) Narasimhavarmna II
(c) Mahendravarman I
(d) Mahendravermin II

revenue systems were
Akbars own innovation?
1. Batai 2. Kankut
3. Nasaq 4. Zabti
5. Dahsala
the codes below
(a) 1 and 4
(b) 2 and 5
(c) 3 and 4
(d) 4 and 5
26. What was a Tanab in the
Mughal Period?
(a) A revenue circle of the
smallest size
(b) A uniform medium size
unit of measurement
(c) A measuring instrument
made of bamboo sticks
joined by iron rings
(d) A register containing
information
about
cultivators, their lands
and assessed revenue
27. How many mughal provinces
were there under Akbar and
Aurangzeb respectively?
(a) 15 and 21
(b) 17 and 19
(c) 14 and 20
(d) 16 and 19
28. Which was the second
capital of Vijaynagar empire
(a) Kampili
(b) Kandavidu
(c) Penukonda
(d) Addanki
29. Who said God is the breath
of all breath ?
(a) Nanak (b) Kabir
(c) Mirabai
(d) Chaitanya
30. Who founded the Varakari
sect in Maharastra?
(a) Namdeva
(b) Tukaram
(c) Eknatha
(d) Ramdas
119


31. Consider the following
statements:
1. Gran pantanal of mato
Grosso state in Brazil is
the worlds largest and
most pristine wetland.
2. A geyser is a spring that
throws forth intermittent
jects of heated water
and steam.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. Ecosystem
is
an
example of biosphere.
2. Ecosystem of any given
space-time-unit
represents the sum of all
living organisms and
physical environment.
3. Ecology is a science
that
studies
the
interdependent,
mutually reactive and
interconnected
relationships between
the organisms and their
physical environment on
the one hand and among
the organisms on the
other hand.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1 and 2
(b) only 2 and 3
(c) only 1 and 3
(d) All the above
statements:
1. India is one of the mega
biodiversity centres in
the world and has three
120
of the worlds 18
biodiversity hotspots
located in western
ghats,
Eastern
Himalayas and western
Himalayas.
2. The thar desert and the
Himalayas are two
regions
rich
in
biodiversity in India.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements in context of the
Red List of threatened
Animals (IUCN):
1. India ranks second in
terms of the number of
threatened mammals.
2. India is sixth in terms of
countries with the most
threatened birds.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. Beta diver refers to
diversity within a
particulars
area,
community
or
ecosystem and is
measured by counting
the number of taxa
within the ecosystem.
2. Gama diversity is a
measure of the over all
diversity for different
ecosystem within a
region.
Which of the above

statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. Chilean winter rainfall
valdivian forests is a
biodiversity hotspot in
South America.
2. T u m b e s - C h o c o Magdolena
is
a
biodiversity hotspot in
Europe.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1 (b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements in context of the
Ramsar list of wetlands:
1. Deepor Beel wetland is
located in Assam.
2. Tsomoriri wetland is
located in Sikkim.
3. Kanjli wetland is
located in Punjab.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1 and 2
(b) only 1 and 3
(c) only 2 and 3
(d) All the above
statements:
1. 2nd February celebrated
as world wetland Day.
2. It marks the date of the
adoption
of
the
convention on wetlands
on 2nd February 1981,in
the Iranian city of
Ramsar.


Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1 (b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. Samun is a warm local
wind of Saudi Arabia.
2. Levanter is a cold local
wind of France.
3. Khamsin is a warm
local wind of Egypt.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1 and 3
(b) only 1 and 2
(c) only 2 and 3
(d) All the above
statements:
1. Jet Streams are narrow
meandering bands of
swift winds that are
embedded in
the
prevailing westerlies
and en circle the global.
2. In the mid-latitudes Jet
Streams below from
west to east in the upper
troposphere near the
tropopause.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) All the above
statements:
1. The pressure of the air
falls
when
its
temperature rises.
2. The temperature of air
falls when its pressure
falls.
Which of the above

statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1 Air pressure at sea level
is higher than it is at the
top of a mountain.
2. 90
percent
of
atmospheric mass is
concentrated below 32
km.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. The difference between
the mean temperature of
any place and the mean
temperature of its
parallel is called the
temperature anomaly.
2. The anomaly is said to
be negative when the
temperature at a place
is less than the
expected temperature of
the latitude.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. An air mass is a large
body of air where
physical properties like
temperature
and
moisture content are
relatively
uniform
horizontally.
2. Most of the major
weather changes in the
middle and higher
latitudes are a result of
advance and interaction
between the air masses.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1
(b) only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
1. Asia covers about 30
percent of the worlds
landmas.
2. Red sea and Bering
straits separates it from
North America.
3. Ural mountain and Black
sea separates it from
Europe.
Which of the above
statements
is/are
correct?
(a) only 1 and 2
(b) only 1 and 3
(c) only 2 and 3
(d) All the above
statements about NHRC.
(National Human Rights
Commission)
1. NHRC is a constitutional
body.
2. It is established on
October 12 1993.
Which of the above
statement is/are true?
(a) Both 1 & 2
(b) Only 1
(c) Only 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2
121


statements
1. Chairperson of the
NHRC appointed by the
chief Justice of India.
2. NHRC (National Human
Rights Commission)
chairperson holds office
for a term of five years.
3. Currently
K.G.
Balaksishnan is the
chairperson of NHRC.
Which of the above
statement is/are?
(a) All of the above
(b) 1 & 2
(c) 1 & 3
(d) Only 2 & 3
statements about Rights to
information.
1. Sweedon was the first
country in the world to
introduce the right to
information.
2. Government of India
enacted RTI Act in 2005.
3. The RTI is available to
the Indian citizens only.
Which of the above
statement is/are?
(b) 1 & 2
(c) 2 & 3
(d) 1 & 3
statements about Right to
Education (RTE)
1. 86th
constitution
Amendment is related to
RTE.
2. It makes compulsory for
private aided and
unaided schools to take
25 percent children
belonging to the
schedule castes & tribes
& other backward
classes.
122
3. The school management

committee to have 50
percent
women
members.
Which of the above
statement is/are?
(b) 1 & 2
(c) 2 & 3
(d) 1 & 3
statements about 42nd
constitution Amendment.
1. High court cannot
pronounce invalid any
control law.
2. The Supreme Court shall
not pronounce a state
law as unconstitutional
unless a central law has
been challenged.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 1.(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2
statements
1. In the Minerva mills
case the Supreme Court
stated that only limited
powers
of
the
parliament to amend the
constitution without
altering the basic
structure.
2. The Indian constitution
has recognized the
doctrine of separation
of powers in its
absolute form.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 2
(b) Only 1
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) both 1 & 2
statements
1. The Central Industrial

Security Force (CISF) is
responsible for the
protection of the
industries from any
damage or security.
2. The National Security
Guard is a contingency
development force to
tackle all facets of
terrorism.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2
statements
1. The
ministry
of
environment & forest is
the nodal ministry for
tackling the situation
during
natural
calamities.
2. The
National
Investigation Agency
came into existence in
2008.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Both 1 & 2
(b) Only 1
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) Only 2
statements about NDC:
1. National Development
Council (NDC) was
born on August 1952.
2. National Development is
an statutory body
(NDC).
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2


55. Sixth schedule to the
constitution refers to the
administration of tribal
areas in the states. Which
state is not in the list?
(a) Assam
(b) Manipur
(c) Mizoram
(d) Meghalaya.
statements:
1. Article 30 of the
constitution is related to
the minorities.
2. Hindus are a religious
minority within the state
of J & K, Mizoram,
Meghalaya
&
Lakshadweep.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2
statements
1. Article 330 provides
reservation for SCs &
STs in the state Vidhan
Sabha.
2. Article 332 provides
reservation for SCs &
STs in the Lok Sabha.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 & 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2
statements about sehedule
casete com
1. The
National
Commission
for
Scheduled castes has
been constituted under
Article 338 of the
constitution.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
2. Currently P.L. puni is the

chairman of S.C.
commission.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Both 1 & 2
(b) Only 1
(c) Only 2
(d) neither 1 nor 2
Consider the following
statements
1. The
National
commission
for
protection of child rights
was set up in 2007.
2. India is not the signatory
to the UN child rights
charter (1999)
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 2
(b) Only 1
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) both 1 & 2
A condition when the
government grants pardon,
in general way to criminals
& imprisoned is called
(a) Apartheid
(b) Arbitration
(c) Armistice
(d) Amnesty
A situation of agreement
between two or more nation
who were at war is called
(a) Chauvinisms
(b) Consuls
(c) Armistice
(d) Confederacy.
Profits of the economic
development shall be shared
by all and not appropriated
by a few is called
(a) Distributive Justice
(b) Democratic Justice
(c) Pluralism
(d) Ratification.
Limiting the membership of
council of ministers to fifteen

percent of the total
membership is related to
(a) 89th
constitution
Amendment
(b) 90th
constitution
Amendment
(c) 91st
constitution
Amendment
(d) 92nd
constitution
Amendment
statements Rajya Sabha
1. The
Rajya
Sabha
consists of a maximum
of 250 members
2. The president nominates
14 members in Rajya
Sabha
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Both 1 & 2
(b) Only 1
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) Only 2
statements about the special
powers of the speaker of the
Lok Sabha.
1. If the speaker is a
member
of
any
committee he is the exofficir chairman of such
a committee.
2. Whether a bill is money
bill or not, is certified
only by the speaker and
his cisiom is final &
binding.
Which of the above
statements is/are?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Neither 1 nor 2
(d) both 1 & 2
statements with regards to
Hindu Rate of Growth
123


(1) It is in the range of 3-4
percent.
(2) It is related to the
predominance
of
agricultural sector in
India.
(3) It is related to the fimid
character of the Hindu
as a race.
Select the correct
answer from the codes
given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
statements:
(1) Rs.1000 per month
honorarium is given to
cook-cum-helper under
mid day meal scheme.
(2) T r a n s p o r t a t i o n
assistance is given for 11
special category states.
Which of the statement
given above is/are
correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statement:
(1) India launched a Rolling
plan after the Third Five
year plan.
(2) The
congress
Government launched
the Rolling plan in the
backdrop of a severe
economic crisis.
Which of the above
statement is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
124
(1) NABARD refinance the

Regional Rural Banks.
(2) It takes Loans from
World Bank, IMF etc.
Which of the statements
given above is/are
correct?
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
70. For the Indian economy
depreciation of rupee with
respect to dollar will
(a) Increase the foreign
debt-service burden.
(b) Decrease the foreign
debt- service burden.
(c) Not affect the foreign
(d) First decrease and then
increase the foreign
statements:
(1) Priyadarshini project is
rural
womens
employments
and
livelihood programme.
(2) It is implemented in
Bihar and UP.
given above is/are
correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
(1) The first five year plan
successfully achieved
the targeted GDP growth
rate.
(2) The second five year
plan could not achieve
the targeted GDP growth
rate.
Which of the above
statement is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
(1) Pradhan Mantri Adarsh
Gram Yojana was
launched with an
allocation of Rs.100
Crore.
(2) Initially it targeted 1000
village with 50% and
above SC population.
given above is/are
correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
statements:
(1) Indian economy could
not achieve the targeted
GDP growth rate during
the tenth five year plan.
(2) Both the savings and
investment
rates
achieved during the
tenth five year plan were
beyond the targeted.
given above is/are
correct?
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 and 2
statements:
(1) National Agriculture
Insurance Scheme was
launched since Rabi
1999-2000.
(2) It is being implements in
22 states and 2 UTs.
given above is/are not
correct?

76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Tropical forest situated in
India mostly in state:
(a) Jammu & Kashmir
(b) Madhya Pradesh
(c) Kerla and Assam
(d) Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Transitional zone between
two different vegetations of
aregion is called:
(a) Ecotone
(b) Ecodine
(c) Ecoline
(d) Ecodomb
If the decomposers become
ectinct, the most severally
affected would be:
(a) Cycling of minerals
(b) Damage of nitrogen
fixation
(c) Bio magnification occur
(d) Carnivores will be
starved.
Nitrates are transformed into
nitrogen by
(a) Ammonifying bacteria
(b) Nitrifying bacteria
(c) Denitrifying Bacteria
Importance of ecosystem lies
in:
(a) Cycling of minerals
(b) How of energy
(c) Both (a) and (b)
(d) None of these
Which of the following is an
example of mutualism
between two plant species?
(a) Two types of fungi uving
together
(b) Root modules of a
leguminous plant with
bacteria
(c) Single called flagellates
inhabithing the digestive
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
tract of wood-eating
termites
(d) Aphid and dairy rats.
Flow of energy in the
biosphere is
(a) Unid irectional
(b) Multi directional
(c) Diffuse
(d) Linear
The Lion lies at the apex of
food chain because
(a) Lion has maximum
biomass
(b) Lion feeds on a number
of herbivorus which
feeds on a number of
plants
(c) Lion is omnivorus
(d) Lion not maximum
energy
The relationship between
edge and fungi in lichen is:
(a) Symbioss
(b) Parasitism
(c) Convenint
(d) Commensalism
In which year UNESCO
launched
a
research
programme called man and
biosphere?
(a) 1971 (b) 1972
(c) 1993 (d) 1994
i)The Group of Ministers
(GoM) has cleared the draft
bill for the creation of a state
of Telangana by bifurcating
Andhra Pradesh.
ii) The rural tele-density of
India is one of the highest in
the world at present.
Which of the above
statement/statements is/are
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
(d) Neither i nor ii
87. i)The U.N. Security Council

has authorized increased
military action by France and
African troops to try to end
near-anarchy in the Central
African Republic.
ii)The ADIZ is not a territorial
claim, but a pre-defined area
beyond a countrys territorial
airspace within which it
tracks or monitors aircraft.
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
88. i)India is the most preferred
destination this winter
season with more than 76
per cent respondents willing
to take their year-end
holidays within the country.
ii)Personal income tax,
corporate taxes and wealth
tax, are kinds of indirect
taxes.
Which of the above
NOT true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
89. i)A Rs. 100-crore nano park,
complete with an incubation
centre and an institute for
nano science, will be set up
in the city of Hyderabad.
ii)The National Tiger
Conservation Authority is
the coordinating agency of
an elaborate assessment to
examine the status of tigers
in the states of Kerala,
125


Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
and Tamil Nadu.
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
90. i)Late Nelson Mandela, has
been awarded the 2013 UN
Human Rights Prize, in
recognition
of
his
outstanding achievement in
human rights.
ii) The prize is awarded
every three years .
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
91. i)As per the guidelines for
Phase-III of FM Radio
Broadcasting issued on
July 25, 2011 all cities
with a population of more
than one lakh could have an
FM radio station.
ii)A cyclonic storm named
Madi is to hit Indian states
of Karnataka and Kerela in
the near future according to
the Indian Meteorological
Department .
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
92. i)Thailand Prime Minister
Yingluck Shinawatra has
126
recently
dissolved
Parliament in the face of
mass demonstrations against
her government that showed
no sign of being called off.
ii)North Korea is the second
country to have expanded its
Air Defence Identification
Zone (ADIZ) in an apparent
response
to
Chinas
November 23 decision to set
up its first such zone over
disputed parts of the East
China Sea.
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
93. i)The trade deal reached at
the
Bali
Ministerial
Conference is bound to
benefit Indias exports and
shift the focus away from
preferential
trade
arrangements.
ii)Air India has finalised a
deal to sell its five widebody Boeing 777 aircraft to
Etihad Airways by signing an
agreement with the Abu
Dhabi-based carrier.
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
94. i)In view of its growing
cyber security concerns,
India has decided to
challenge
the
U.S.
governments control over
the Internet and ensure that

the trio of the U.S., Russia
and China does not ignore
Indias concerns while
developing an international
regime
for
Internet
governance.
ii)Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) is the
first
drug
that
has
demonstrated safety and
efficacy to treat certain types
of HCV infection without the
need for co-administration of
interferon.
Which of the above
false?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
95. i)Fonetwish,
an
app
developed by Singaporebased mobile solutions
provider U2opia, is a USSDbased solution, which works
on any mobile phone
without
an
Internet
connection.
ii)Nelson Mandela who was
a Bharat Ratna awardee in
1990, is the second nonIndian to receive the honour.
Which of the above
false?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
96. i)Feminisation of poverty
refers
to
women
representing
a
disproportionate share of
the worlds poor.
ii)It was Delhi that polled


the largest number of none
of the above (NOTA) votes
an option available for
the first time to voters to
reject all the candidates.
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
97. i)The new South Korean zone
covers a submerged reef that
South Korea controls but that
China also claims, and it
enlarged parts of airspace
also included in the Chinese
zone.
ii)U.S. Secretary of Defense
Chuck Hagel recently met
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
and stressed on the
importance of keeping the
ground supply routes out of
Afghanistan open.
Which of the above
true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
98. i)In a major sign of
transformation
of
manufacturing-dominated
Chinese economy, annual
output of its service sector
may exceed that of the
manufacturing sector for the
first time ever in 2013.
ii)Banks need to maintain
cash reserve ratio or
statutory liquidity ratio on
FCNR deposits.
Which of the above
NOT true?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
99. i)Scientists have found
evidence of an ancient
freshwater lake on Mars well
suited to support microbial
life.
ii)Scientists have produced
hydrogen by accelerating a
natural process found in
rocks deep below the Earths
surface, a short-cut that may
herald the wider use of what
is a clean fuel.
Which of the above
false?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
100.i)Human Rights Day is
observed across the World
on 10 December .
ii)Jaimini Bhagwati has
taken over as the countrys
next High Commissioner to
the UK.
Which of the above
false?
(a) Only i
(b) Only ii
(c) Both i and ii
Answers with Explantions

1. (c) Vithi was an intermediate
level
2. (d) In 800 AD to 1200 the
status of women are very
bad and not all law makers
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
support the remarriage of

widows
(d) contract system in not so
famous or popular under
Delhi sultans
(d) option (d) is incorrect
(a) they were multi and dazi
(b) tarafdars were provincial
governers
(d) all given saints were from
Nirguna school
(b)
(c) A reciprocal system that
existed in rural india.
(a) All features are included
in mughal Architecture
(b) it meance universal peace
(c) statement (i) and (v) are
not true
(a) they were territorial
zamindara rendered military
service to the state
(c) option (ii) and (iii) are
not true
(b) option (b) is correct
(c) Spiritual and mistic
character are not found in
mughal painting
(d) all items are exported
form india
(b) Watan Jagir could not
transfar
(d) Harkaras were spies and
special couriers
(d) (i) (iii) and (iv)
statements are correct
(c)
(c)
(a)
(a)
(d)
(c)
(a)
127


28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
(c)
(b)
(b)
(c)
(b) Biosphere is an example
of ecosystem.
(b) India is one of the mega
biodiversity centers in the
world and has two of the
worlds 18 biodiversity
hotspots located in the
western Ghats and in the
eastern Himalayas
(c)
(b) Beta diversity is species
diversity
between
ecosystems; this involves
comparing the number of
taxa that are unique to each
of the ecosystems.
(a)
Tumbes-chocoMagdalena is biodiversity
hotspot in South America.
(b) Tsomoriri wetland is
located in Jammu and
Kashmir.
(a) It marks the date of the
adoption of the convention
on wetlands on 2nd
February, 1971 , in the
Iranian City of Ramsar.
(c) Samun is a warm local
wind of Iran
(c)
(c)
(a)
90
percent
of
atmospheric mass is
concentrated below 16 km.
(c)
(c)
(b) Red Sea and Suez Canal,
separate it from Africa, while
Bering Strait separates it
from North America.
128
46. (c) NHRC is a statutory body.

47. (d) NHRC chairperson
appointed by president.
48. (a)
49. (a)
50. (c)
51. (b) Constitution has not
recognized the doctrine of
separation of powers.
52. (c)
53. (d) Ministry of home affairs
is the modal Agency.
54. (a) NDC is a statutory body.
55. (b) 4 states are, Assam,
Meghalaya, Tripura &
Mizoram.
56. (c)
57. (d) Article 330 Reservations
for SC, ST, IN Lok Sabha, 332
58. (a)
59. (b) India is signatory to the
UN child rights
60. (d)
61.(c)
62. (a)
63.(c)
64. (b) President nominates 12
members in Rajya Sabha.
65. (d)
66. (b) [The Hindu rate of growth
refuse to low annual growth
rate of socialist economy of
India before 1991. Which
stagnated around 3.5% from
1950 to 1980]
67. (c) [Midday meal scheme is
the popular name for school
meal prog. In India which
started in the 1960s].
68. (d)
69. (a) [NABARD does not take
loan from IMF. It takes loans
from World Bank and Asian
Development Bank].
70. (a)
71. (c) [The program is being

implemented by NABARD on
pilot Basis in 7 district of
country (5 in UP and2 in
Bihar)].
72. (c)
73. (c) [PMAGY: is a rural
development
prog.
Launched by central govt. in
the financial year 20092010]
74. (c)
75. (b) [National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme was
launched in 25 states and 2
UTs]
76. (c)
77. (a) Ecotone is transitional
zone between different
vegetation of a region.
78. (a) Decomposers mostly
help in cycling of minerals
79. (c) Denitrifying Bacteria
transformed Nitrates into
Nitrogen.
80. (c) In any ecosystem both
cycling and flow of energy
occurs.
81. (b) Root nodules with
bacteria is a fine example of
mutualism.
82. (a)
83.(b)
84. (c) Relationship is called
convenient.
85. (a) In 1971 UNESCO
launched programme man
and biosphere.
86. (a)
87.(c)
88. (b)
89.(b)
90. (d)
91.(a)
92. (a)
93.(c)
94. (d)
95.(b)
96. (a)
97.(c)
98. (b)
99.(d)
100.(b)
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What candidate will get:
1. All the relevant and required materials of subjects mention in the GS syllabus like:
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History of India and Indian National Movement.
Indian and World Geography - Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.
Indian Polity and Governance - Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights
Issues, etc.
Economic and Social Development -Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics,
Social Sector initiatives, etc.
General issues on Environmental Ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change - that do not require
subject specialisation
General Science.
Current Affairs.
2. Home assignment: where Multiple Choice Questions of the learned chapters will be
given for self evaluation.
3. Important current affairs materials for civil services preliminary examination will be
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4. Online Tests will be conducted after the end of each subject.
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Civil Services Mentor February 2015

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Page No.

Swachh Bharat Mission

Selected Articles from

Regional Rural Banks

The Mauryan Empire

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Project Mausam and Maritime Silk Route

SWACHH BHARAT MISSION

Under JNNURM Basic services

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As PM said that out of Gandhijis two

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BHARAT RATNA AWARD

hindu nationalist within the Indian

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The Supreme Court observed

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The Rajya Sabha Select

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State Finance Ministers, the

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Raghuram Rajan cautioned the

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Ancient university near Nalanda was founded during Kushan

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December 31. Details of

15 States ratified the National