Vol 111 17th January 2016 TO 23rd January 2016

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Page 1

NATIONAL EVENTS
Start-Up India and Stand-Up India plan unveiled
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to infuse more energy into Indias start-up ecosystem with a
bouquet of initiatives such as making tax-free the profits of these fledgling units for three years.
It also promised Rs. 10,000 crore of government funding over four years, no visits by labour inspectors
for three years, and quicker and subsidised patent clearances.
The Start-up India, Stand- up India action plan, unveiled, promises a new mobile app to enable startups to register themselves within a day and apply for clearances online, and easier exits for failed
ventures with a provision for winding them up within 90 days under a proposed bankruptcy and
insolvency law.
Stressing that it was important for start-ups to have ideas and an ability to take risks, Mr. Modi pointed
to Ubers solution for a commuting problem.
Promising easier access to more finance for budding entrepreneurs through a Rs. 2,500-crore fund of
funds annually over the next four years.
There will be tax incentives for government-recognised funds and they would be exempted from
capital gains.
The issue of fair market valuation and tax on investments would also be resolved.
A tax is currently levied on all funding provided by domestic angel and venture capital funds to startups, with income tax authorities having the power to determine the valuation at which such investments
are made on the basis of a fair market value.
Govt draws strategy to counter IS on social media
Investigating agencies are in the process of producing messages posted by individuals on Facebook,
Twitter and other social media platforms as evidence in court against those arrested for supporting or
joining the Islamic State (IS) or any other terrorist outfit.
According to agencies, 25 Indians have so far travelled to Syria or Iraq to fight for the IS.
The government has developed a blueprint on the social media strategy against the IS for effective
monitoring of the Internet and the dark Web, the hotspot of recruitment by the terrorist outfit.
Concerned over the growing influence of IS in neighbouring countries, Union Home ministry will use
provisions under Mutual Legal Assistance treaty for information about IS.
This treatys usefulness came into picture when India received excellent cooperation from UAE
regarding the arrest of Afsha Jabeen.
External affairs minister on Israel and Palestine visit
Beginning the first big diplomatic outreach of 2016, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj left on
a three-day visit covering Israel and Ramallah, the capital of the Palestinian Authority.
After landing at the Tel Aviv airport, Ms. Swaraj, will engage in talks with the Palestinian leadership,
in the first half of her trip.
She is scheduled to meet Palestinian President MahmoudAbbas over lunch.
However, the more intense part of the visit will take place on January 18 when Ms. Swaraj will be
welcomed officially in Jerusalem by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Page 2

Australia wants to join Malabar
Underscoring the importance of multilateral cooperation for stability and peace in the Indian Ocean
region, Australian Army Chief says Malabar naval exercises are among a spate of opportunities in that
regard.
Australia, which held its first bilateral naval exercise with the Indian Navy last year, has been long
keen on joining the Malabar exercises along with the U.S. and Japan.
The India-U.S. Malabar naval exercises, which began in 1992, have grown in scope and complexity,
acquiring geopolitical significance in recent times.
The bilateral format gave way to a trilateral one with inclusion of Japan as apermanent member in
2015.
In 2007, Australia joined the other three in a quadrilateral format for the exercises, but based severe
criticism from China which saw it as a containment strategy.
The Someswara temple
The Someswara temple is nature's bounty for sure, tucked away in the backwaters of the Srisailamdam
construction on which began in 1960 and 21 longy ears to be opened.
The dam was constructed across the Krishna river onthe border of Mahbubnagarand Kurnool district
and is the second largest capacity, working hydro-electric station in India.
The temple of Someswara (Lord Shiva), believed to have been originally constructed in the 7thcentury.
But the present temple structure is on a relocated site.
Of the temple per se, was built during the time of the Chalukyas, following the Vesara style that is
considered unique to what is now Telangana.
The main temple, with nine Shiva lingas was practically dismantled and relocated around the late 70s
to a higher location because it faced submersion in the backwaters
The exercise to relocate the massive structure was modelled after the way in which the Abu Simpel
temple was dismantled and re-constructed at a height of 600 to800 metres because it faced submersion
following the construction of the Aswandam across the River Nile in Egypt.
The Abu Simbel temple was originally constructed in 1257 BC around the time of the Pharoah Ramses
in Nubia on the West Bank of the River Nile and re-located once the dam came in place.
Endosulfan victims await relief promised
All are waiting in vain for the promised help from the State government, which included a detailed
medical survey and a financial package ensuring proper rehabilitation of affected families but nothing
happened so far.
Six years have passed since the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directed the State
government to conduct a health survey and economically empower the poor victims of the killer
pesticide, once sprayed indiscriminately in the mango orchards of Muthalamada
The order issued on December 31, 2010, directed the government to pay at least Rs. 5 lakh to the close
relatives of those who died because of the aerial spraying of the banned pesticide.
An equal mount was promised to those who became permanently bedridden and suffered from severe
deformities.
The NHRC also ordered payment of at least Rs. 3 lakh to all those who turned living victims of the
killer pesticide.
Now the families of the living victims are demanding an expert study at Muthalamada, Elavanchery,
Kozhinjampara, Velanthavalam, Vadakarapathi, Eruthempathy, Nenmara, and Nelliyampathygrama
panchayats.

Page 3

The Most Wanted
In the wake of the Pathankot terror attack, India has again raised its demand for action against Masood
Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The government is planning to formally demand that Azhar be handed over to India. It intends to
deliver to Pakistan another list of most wanted, people accused of terror attacks in India, who are
currently believed to be living in the neighbouring country, with Azhar on top of the list.
Azhar, who was one of three men released in exchange for 150Indians during the IC-814 hijack in
1999, activated his terror groups as soon as he reappeared in Pakistan, striking in quick succession in
2001 with the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly building bombing and the Parliament attack.
After the 1993 Mumbai blasts, India handed over a list of six more names, including Dawood Ibrahim
and his associates, that were regularly brought up in India-Pakistan talks. Indias first fully collated list
of 14 most wanted, modelled after the U.S.s FBI list,was handed over by the thenHome Minister
L.K. Advani
However, after the Parliament attack, Mr. Advanis new list hadAzhar on the top.
The next list of 20most wanted was handed over by India after the Mumbai attacks in 2008.
The handing over of the lists is a good debating point for India. Asking for Masood Azhar will not
change anything, nor will asking for Hafiz Saeed or anyone on the list.
But it is a good debating point, and shows to the rest of the world how Pakistan has not been helpful.
In 2011, India proffered a list of 50 names, which was then amended in 2012. The Multi Agency Centre
coordinated the two-week effort, to build the list after consulting the National Investigation Agency,
the CBI, Intelligence Bureau and R&AW.
It was further updated to 60 names by the sameteam when NSA Ajit Dovalwas due to meet his Pakistan
counterpart Sartaj Aziz in Au-gust 2015 but that meeting never took place
One thing, however, is clear, for the third time in the past decade and a half, Masood Azhar will no
longer be in the background, but right on top of that list, as Indias most wanted.
Expert committee to revisit National Policy for Farmers
An expert commit-tee will be set up to re-examine the National Policy for Farmers (NPF) amidst
growing number of suicides by farmers, the government has told the Supreme Court.
There is a need for an integrated approach and re-look at the present policy.
The present government recognises the need for supporting the farmers and has taken a number of
steps for increasing production, productivity, realise remunerative prices and risk mitigation.
It said that Minimum Support Price for various crops was as per the Commission on Agricultural Costs
and Prices(CACP) to promote de-risk farming and cut losses.
Start-up policy
The Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh governments are finalising the contours of a start-up policy to
attract young entrepreneurs to set up shop in their terrain, following half a dozen States that have
already announced measures for start-ups ahead of the NDA governments Start-Up India action plan
unveiled
Kerala was the first State to have a start-up policy that included the setting up of Kochi Startup Village
in partnership with the Union Science and Technology Ministry.
Since then, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have also formulated similar
policies for new-age businesses.
A few budding ventures are already being incubated in a Start-Up Oasis set up by the Rajasthan
government in Jaipur.

Page 4

Uttar Pradesh has emerged as Indias leading State in computers, electronics and optical products
manufacturing a few years ago.
The States IT department has recently invited inputs from industry bodies for formulating its own
startup policy.
While Karnataka has a policy for start-ups within its IT policy, it is now mulling a separate start-up
policy to facilitate new ventures
Make In India is focussed more on generating larger jobs in core engineering sectors, for which it
needs a lot more impetus to support ventures beyond IT, so the Start-Up India plan fosters ecosystems
to encourage entrepreneurship across sectors with the states,
University and Minister under loop after suicide of scholar in Hyderbad
On a day of high drama following the suicide of Dalit research scholar Rohith Vemula of the University
of Hyderabad (UoH), a case was filed against four persons, including Union Minister of State for
Labour Bandaru Dattatreya and University Vice-Chancellor P. Appa Rao.
Tension prevailed on the UoH campus ever since Rohith committed suicide on Sunday evening. On
Monday, police entered the premises and removed his body.
Before he took his life, the 25-year-old Ph.D. scholar and four others, who had been suspended 14
days earlier, were sleeping in the open after expulsion from their hostels.
The suicide triggered a social media storm forcing the Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD) into action. It has sent a two-member fact-finding team to Hyderabad.
India-EU held talks on proposed FTA
India and the European Union on Monday held a stock-taking meeting on outstanding issues
including duty cut on automobiles and wines/spirits as well as easier temporary movement of skilled
professionals which had stalled talks on the proposed bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
The FTA talks were launched in 2007 and around 16 rounds of negotiations were held till 2013.
Though after that, no negotiations have been held, India has moved ahead on many issues (that were
demanded by the EU) such as permitting 49 per cent FDI in insurance, 100 per cent FDI in telecom
and easing of foreign investments norms in the banking sector.
The main demands of the EU included duty cuts on automobiles, wines and spirits, while Indias
demands included data security status, easier temporary movement of skilled professionals, seamless
intra-corporate movement, real market access in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary (norms related
with plants and animals) and technical barriers to trade measures adopted in EU.
The talks were to be restarted in August 2015, but India deferred them expressing disappointment and
concern over the EU banning sale of around 700 pharma products clinically tested by GVK
Biosciences.

Page 5

SC for relooking the criteria of deciding the minority status
A Supreme Court Constitution Bench decided to examine whether a religious community should be
granted minority status in a State where they are both numerically strong and suffer no apprehension
of being dominated by others.
The case may see the Supreme Court take a re-look at the circumstances in which a State government
declares a community a religious or linguistic minority.
The five-judge Bench led by CJI Tirath Singh Thakur has appointed senior advocate T.R.
Andhyarujina as amicus curiae and asked the Centre to be impleaded in the case.
The case concerns a challenge by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC) of a Punjab
and Haryana High Court judgment of December 2007, stayed later by the apex court.
A Division Bench of the High Court had quashed notifications issued by the State government granting
minority status to SGPC-run educational institutions.
The notifications had allowed the SGPC to reserve 50 per cent seats in its institutions for students from
the Sikh community.
IMF cuts world growth forecast third time in a year
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth forecasts for the third time in less than a
year, as new figures from Beijing showed that the Chinese economy grew at its slowest rate in a quarter
of a century in 2015.
To back its forecasts, the IMF cited a sharp slowdown in China trade and weak commodity prices that
are hammering Brazil and other emerging markets.
The Fund forecast that the world economy would grow at 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 3.6 per cent in 2017,
both years down 0.2 percentage points from the previous estimates made last October.
IMF report says Near- term fiscal policy should be more supportive of the recovery, especially
through investments that would augment future productive capital.
The IMF maintained its previous China growth forecasts of 6.3 per cent in 2016 and 6.0 per cent in
2017, which represent sharp slowdowns from 2015.
The IMF projected 7.3 per cent GDP growth for India in 2015-16 and 7.5 per cent in 2016-17, levels
unchanged from its outlook released in October. In 2014-15, it estimates, GDP grew 7.3 per cent.
The Union Finance Ministry last November revised downwards its projection for the current financial
year to 7.5 per cent after estimates from the Central Statistics office showed that in the first six months,
real GDP grew 7.2 per cent, slower than the 7.5 per cent in the corresponding period last year.
In February 2015, it projected that growth would accelerate to 8.1-8.5 per cent. The RBIs forecast for
growth this year is 7.4 per cent.
IRCTC puts checks on ticket booking
The Indian Railways said it had put in various security checks to ensure there is no misuse of ticket
booking facility on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website.
Users will now have to wait for at least 35 seconds before he or she can book a ticket over the IRCTC
website to prevent faster booking of tickets through illegal software.

Page 6

Earlier, the minimum waiting time for booking rail tickets online was kept at 10 seconds which was
more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Users need to enter CAPTCHA a series of numbers to distinguish between human and computers
thrice now.
This will be needed at the log-in, reservation and payment stages. With these checks, it is not possible
to book any opening tatkal ticket by any software being sold in the market earlier than 35 seconds.
National Family Health Survey-4 indicates improvement in health indicators
After 11 years, the much-awaited data on Indias health indicators were released by the Health
Ministry.
The Phase 1 results from the National Family Health Survey-4 for 2015-16, which covered 13 States
and two Union Territories (UTs), are a reason to smile.
In nearly every State, fewer children are dying in infancy, and across all States, more mothers are
getting access to skilled ante-natal care. The last round of NFHS data was released in 2005-06.
Other findings are that while anaemia is widespread, rates have declined. Currently, over half the
children in 10 States and over half the mothers in 11 States continue to be anaemic.
Consistent with the burden of non-communicable diseases in India, over-nutrition or obesity among
adults has emerged as a major concern.
At least three in 10 women are overweight or obese in the Andaman and Nicobar Is- lands, Andhra
Pradesh, Goa, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu.
A promising trend in the data shows that women are having fewer children.
Terrorist attack in Bacha Khan University
Armed militants stormed a university in volatile north-western Pakistan, killing at least 20 people and
wounding dozens a little more than a year after the massacre of 134 students at a school in the area.
The violence nevertheless shows militants retain the ability to launch attacks, despite a nationwide
anti-terrorism crackdown and a military campaign against their strongholds along the lawless border
with Afghanistan.
Death toll could rise to 40 at Bacha Khan University in Charsadda. The Army said it had concluded
operations to clear the campus six hours after the attack began, and that four gunmen were dead.
A spokesman for rescue workers said 19 bodies had been recovered, including those of students,
guards, policemen and at least one teacher, named by the media as chemistry professor Syed Hamid
Husain. Husain reportedly shot back at the gunmen with a pistol to allow his students to flee.
TRAI not happy with free basics of Facebook
A war of letters broke out between the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India and Facebook over what
the regulator called the social networking giants crude attempt at turning the consultation over
differential pricing of data services into an orchestrated opinion poll on its Free Basics product.
The social networking site hit back in a statement on Wednesday, stressing that the expression of
support for Free Basics is highly relevant to the debate. Facebook said it attempted to cooperate
with TRAI.
In a strongly worded communiqu uploaded on its website on Tuesday night, the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) slammed Facebooks approach to the consultation on differential pricing of
data services.
The irrelevance of template submissions from millionsof its users backing Free Basics and the nature
of consent it had obtained from these users.

Page 7

University revokes the suspension of students
Buckling under pressure from protests and the political backlash after the suicide of Rohith Vemula,
the University of Hyderabad (UoH) administration revoked the suspension of the four students who
have been camping out in the open for the last 18 days.
The withdrawal of the punishment came on a day when Chief Medical officer Captain Ravindra
Kumar, Controller of Examinations Prof. V. Krishna, Chief Warden Dr. G. Nagaraju and a dozen other
faculty members resigned from their administrative duties
They took exception to Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Iranis comments on the
suicide of the 26-year old research scholar.
To review decisions taken by cabinet PM calls cabinet meeting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of his Council of Ministers for January 27, a day
after Republic Day to seek a review of all decisions taken by the Cabinet, and the Cabinet Committee
on Economic Afairs (CCEA) in the last one-and-a-half years of the NDA government.
At the end of 2016, the government will be half-way through its five-year term, and this year is being
seen as a make-or-break one to deliver on governance and the economy.
Mr. Modi had earlier set up eight groups of secretaries to suggest innovative ideas to implement the
governments programmes, and this too is being seen as a way to keep his team on its toes.
The agenda has set of speculation that there could be a Cabinet reshuffle during the winter session of
the budget session of Parliament.
Indian classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away
Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away in Ahmedabad.

Mrinalini Sarabhai was one of the most celebrated Indian classical dancers proficient in Bharatnatyam,
Kathakali and Mohiniyattam.
Govt is setting committee to look for security preparedness of defence

instalments
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the Pathankot Air Force station, the government is setting up
a committee to review security preparedness of important defence installations across the country.
Six heavily armed terrorists from Pakistan stormed the airbase on January 2 and the ensuing encounter
went on for four days before the terrorists were killed while seven soldiers lost their lives.
This raised questions on how terrorists could breach such heavily guarded strategically located military
bases.
A specific team is being made. Maybe in another weeks time it will be active. It will visit [the bases]
and look into priorities like the risk factor, sensitivity and assets.
In addition, commanding officers of all military bases had been asked to conduct a thorough security
assessment and plug loopholes.
Responding to a question on his earlier comment of losing patience, Mr. Parrikar said security
measures being taken could not be discussed in the open. Losing patience does not mean that you
react instinctively. It means we are increasing our pro-active strength. It cannot be discussed in public.

Page 8

Crackdown across India over IS sympathisers
In a nationwide crackdown just days ahead of Republic Day, at least five recruits were arrested and
a dozen placed under watch on Friday for being Islamic State (IS) sympathisers.
The network, and four youngsters arrested by the Delhi police on Wednesday, were allegedly recruited
by a former Indian Mujahideen (IM) member, Mohammad Shafi Armar (29), who is suspected to be
based in Syria.
Armar is one of the key members of terrorist outfit Ansar-ul-Tawhid (AuT), formed by former IM
members who owe allegiance to the IS.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) and local police recovered low intensity explosives,
detonators, wires, batteries and hydrogen peroxide and other material that can be assembled into IEDs.
The raiding parties recovered 42 mobile phones, as well as jehadi literature.
The men received online training to prepare pipe bombs, a signature weapon that the IM has used in
the past to carry out multiple bomb blasts in various Indian cities.
HRD setup judicial commission to examine suicide of Hyderabad scholar
The Human Resource Development Ministry set up a judicial commission to examine what led to the
suicide of University of Hyderabad research scholar, Rohith Vemula, following a report submitted by
a two- member fact-finding committee.
The judicial panel will submit its report in three months.
Without blaming the university administration, it is learnt the fact-finding panel report hinted that
timely engagement with the students could have prevented the suicide.
The Human Resource Development Ministry has chalked out a series of measure to address issues
faced by the students from disadvantaged social economic and education background in higher
educational institutions comprehensively.
A press note from the Ministry said there will be zero tolerance to acts of dis- crimination on campus.
The Ministry has decided to set up a special mechanism for receiving and taking expeditious action on
the grievances from these students.
Shakti 2016 between India and France in Rajasthan
India and France are carrying out Shakti 2016 in Rajasthan which focusses on counter-terror and
counter-insurgency operations.
Commentators have pointed out that there are differences between the French and Indian experience
of handling terror, but both sides will benefit by exchanging ideas and strategies for a larger goal.
Terror threats to France are from Syria, Iraq and other such unstable spots faraway from French
borders. But the terror we face in India is of cross-border nature, from Pakistan.
That is why we need international collaboration so that financial channels and political supporters of
state- sponsored terrorism can be dealt with by using the United Nations.
Last year, Indias Permanent Representative to the United Nations spoke about the organisations
inability to give a robust response to international terrorism after the India-backed resolution against
26/11 plotter and LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi failed to go through the Security Council
because of Chinese opposition.
Greater French support for Indias decade-old anti-terror struggle would help India attain both regional
as well as global targets in the fight against terrorism.

Page 9

Mahamana express from Varanasi to New Delhi
In his fifth visit to his constituency, Varanasi, after assuming power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
on Fri- day flagged of a new train, Mahamana Express, connecting the city and New Delhi through
Lucknow in 14 hours.
The train, named after Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University, is
equipped with modern facilities such as bio- toilets in every coach and LED screens in air-conditioned
compartments.
The train will run thrice a week. Attending the Divyangjan Sashaktikaran Samaroh in the city, Mr.
Modi gave away electronic devices, artificial limbs, tricycles, Braille kits, hearing aids, teaching-learning material kit and other equipment to 9,296 divyangs, or specially abled persons.

Page 10
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INTERNATIONAL
Tsai Ing-wen elected as president of Taiwan
Taiwans independence-leaning opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen won a convincing victory in

presidential election and pledged to maintain peace with China, which claims the island as its own,
though vowed to firmly defend Taiwans sovereignty.
Ms. Tsai, leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), will be thrust into one of Asias toughest
and most dangerous jobs, with China pointing hundreds of missiles at the island, decades after losing
Nationalists fled from Mao Zedongs Communists to Taiwan in the Chinese civil war.
Support for the DPP has swelled since 2014, when hundreds of students occupied Taiwans Parliament
forweeks protesting against a China trade bill in the largest display of anti-China sentiment the island
had seen in years.
Ms. Tsai will have to balance the superpower interests of China, which is also Taiwans largest trading
partner, and the U.S. with those of her freewheeling, democratic home.
DSC Prize for south Asian literature, 2016 went to Anuradha Roy
Author Anuradha Roy on Saturday won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, 2016, for her novel
Sleeping on Jupiter, which deals with violence against women.
At the Fairway Galle Literary Festival, about 130 km south of here, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe handed Ms. Roy the prize. The award cash prize of $50,000 and a trophy, according
to a release.
AIIB and New Development Bank to redraw global financial architecture
The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was formally opened for business,
signalling the steady revamp of the global financial architecture, which will also soon incorporate the
New Development Bank of the Brazil- Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his inaugural address, saw the launch of the AIIB as a historical
moment. He said Asias financing needs for basic infrastructure are absolutely enormous.
He added that the bank would target investments in high- quality, low-cost projects. Analysts say
the AIIB is likely to lend anywhere between $10-15 billion a year during the first five or six years of
its existence.
The AIIB is expected to open a new channel of funding for the Global South, which was so far
dependent on the western backed International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), in which Japan plays a preeminent role.
Observers say the new lender will focus on infrastructure development in Asiaa move that is likely
to support the Eurasian connectivity initiative under the China-led Belt and Road framework.
The EBRD was set up in 1991 to aid infrastructure development in Eastern Europe. Since then, it has
broadened its area of operations to include central Asia, some Mediterranean and North African
nations, theBalkans and Southern Europe.

Page 11

After IAEA confirmation sanctions removed from Iran
After IAEA confirmation on nuclear stock, Sanctions were removed from Iran.
Lifting of sanctions allowed Iran to rejoin the international economy. Although Iran kept it low key
because of multiple disappointment and broken promises it has faced in past few years.
The end to the sanctions is a success for the government of President Hassan Rouhani, but comes at a
cost for Irans ruling system.
Since the deal was signed last July, Iran has had to put into storage more than 12,000 centrifuges, ship
out almost its entire stockpile of enriched uranium and remove the core of its heavy- water reactor.
Commentators have estimated a windfall of USD 100-150 billion for Tehran due to removal of
sanctions.
The removal of sanctions will tremendously help Indias plans in Iran, which are many and include the
Chabahar port, an Indian Oil petrochemical plant and the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas
pipeline.
Indias oil imports from Iran have been restricted by the sanctions and the recent forward movement
on Chabahar port was accommodated within the exemption granted for projects exclusively serving
commerce with Afghanistan.
The U.S. removed a wide range of sanctions against Iran after the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) confirmed that Tehran had met its commitments to roll back its nuclear programme, under an
agreement with China, France, Russia, the U.K., the U.S. and Germany on July 14 2015
The U.S. has only removed secondary sanctions that restrict the dealings of other countries with Iran.
Primary sanctions that bar U.S. citizens and companies from business with Iran will remain
However, the removal of restrictions on its oil, petrochemicals, banking, naturalgas and port sectors
will hugely benefit Iran and allow it to re-enter the global market.
Iran will be able to access the huge amount of cash it has accumulated overseas from restricted oil
sales during the sanctions. Most of this money is sitting in China, India, Japan, South Korea and
Turkey.
Apart from Iranian oil, India will also benefit from theremoval of restrictions onpayments to Iranian
companies that the sanctions had imposed. India reportedly owes Iran$6.5 billion for crude oil
purchases, the payment of which has so far been held up due to the sanctions.
U.S. allies in the region fear that the U.S. focus onthe nuclear threat distracts theUnited States from
the array ofother threats that Iran poses tothe region.
The U.S. will have to reassure Saudi and UAE andothers that that is not the case
The U.S. had also made itclear that it continued to treat Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism, and punitive
actions prescribed for promoting terrorism, human rights violations and missile tests would continue.
China will become the lynchpin of evolving world economic structure
New structural linkages between Europe and Asia through three developmental banks that have
emerged outside the post-war Bretton Woods framework are changing the global geopolitical
architecture, with Eurasia at the core.
China is the lynchpin of the evolving world financial architecture. Notwithstanding the focus on the
AIIB a 57-nation lender, in which India and Russia are also major partners China also quietly
became the 67th member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
With China on board, the EBRD is rapidly re-defining its role. In 1991, it was formed to reinforce the
unipolar world that had emerged following the Soviet Unions collapse. Its focal area of interest was

Page 12

Eastern Europe, which was no longer under Moscows shadow, and had to be rapidly integrated in the
western institutional web.
China, which was steering a Eurasian Silk Road connectivity initiative, was now a major pivot of
global economy. Chinas growing economic and political clout had been accomplished in little over
two decades of the Soviet Unions collapse.
Eastern Europe is an example of how the world has changed. Ten years ago, those countries would
have been looking for investors from Western Europe; they are now widening their portfolio and that
includes China.
In recent years because of signs of weakness in the Euro Zone and so on, those countries in Eastern
Europe have been trying to diversify their sources of investment.
They have looked at the Gulf, they have looked at Asia, looked at North America and China has started
investing much more in Eastern Europe.
Analysts point out that the launch of the AIIB is another example of the reinforcement of economic
bonds between Europe and Asia. In fact, the run-up to the formation of the bank opened cracks within
the Atlantic alliance.
Despite U.S. objections, European countries, including Britain, France and Germany, joined the AIIB.
Australia and South Koreatop U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacificalso decided to participate in the
development bank as its founding members.
Syria peace talks may be delayed due to undecided opposition
The United Nations said it was waiting for regional powers spearheading the Syria peace process to
agree on who will take part in talks starting in just one weeks time and raised the possibility of a delay.
The peace talks, the first between the Syrian government and the Opposition since 2014, are scheduled
to open in Geneva on January 25, but invitations have yet to be sent to the delegations.
The 17 countries pushing for a peace deal, including the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran,
have been struggling to agree on the list of opposition leaders who will have a seat at the negotiating
table.
Saudi Arabia last month hosted a meeting of armed factions and Opposition groups to agree on a
common platform in negotiations with the Damascus regime, but Russia has said that effort did not
include all players.
Moscow wants the moderate Opposition that is closer to President Bashar al-Assad to take part.
U.S. Supreme Court to look into power of U.S. President regarding

immigrants
U.S. Supreme Court has said to review whether U.S. President has power to protect illegal immigrants
from deportation.
More than four million people in the country illegally whose children are legal residents stand to
benefit from the Presidents orders, which would allow them to stay and work in the United States
while their legal status is being resolved.

Page 13

Determined to circumvent Congress, after it failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform, Mr.
Obama announced the measures in November 2014.
Governors of 26 Republican-led States challenged the orders as exceeding the Presidents executive
powers, and federal courts in Texas and Louisiana put them on hold.
The top U.S. court has not scheduled oral arguments in the case, but it is expected to render a decision
by mid- June, with the U.S. election season in full swing and less than a month before the Republican
and Democratic nominating conventions.
Srilanka ready to come up with new constitution
Even as Sri Lanka is preparing to come up with a new Constitution with devolution as one of the key
issues,the 13 th Amendment, which created provincial councils in the country, is again in the limelight.
While former President MahindaRajapaksa has argued that the proposed scheme of devolution should
not exceed the terms of the amendment, with no to any merger of provinces and the transfer of land
and police powers to provincial councils.
The amendment was an outcome of an agreement reached between India and Sri Lanka in 1987.
Pointing out that Sri Lanka is estimated to have 89,000 war widows, including around 54,000 in the
Northern Province, he says lack or absence of livelihood opportunities is the major problem being
faced by the women.
Pope Francis said elite should be more sensitive towards poor
Pope Francis has told members of the worlds wealthy political and economic elite that they should
not be deaf to the cry of the poor and must consider their own role in creating inequality.
New technologies such as robotics must also not be allowed to replace humans with soulless
machines, he said in a message to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Pope, who wrote a major encyclical on climate change and protection of the environment last
year, also urged business leaders to see to it that the planet does not become an empty garden.
The annual Davos meeting brings together many of the worlds wealthiest and most powerful people
to consider issues such as economics, climate change and war, with an eye to working on solutions to
them.
It has been criticised by anti-globalisation activists and others, however, as a forum for organisations
that have been responsible for the problems in the first place.
They are boosted by reports such as one from charity Oxfam estimating that 1 per cent of the worlds
population owns 99 per cent of the wealth.
Pope Francis, who has made the defence of the poor a hallmark of his pa- pacy and has in the past
called money the dung of the devil, said businesses and wealthy societies must acknowledge their
role in creating poverty.
U.S. report says Pakistan nuclear warhead to be in between 110-130
Pakistans nuclear warheads which are estimated to be between 110-130 are aimed at deterring India
from taking military action against it, a latest Congressional report has said.
The report also expressed concern that Islamabads full spectrum deterrence doctrine has increased
risk of nuclear conflict between the two South Asian neighbours.
Pakistans nuclear arsenal probably consists of approximately 110-130 nuclear warheads, although it
could have more.
Islamabad is producing fissile material, adding to related production facilities, deploying additional
nuclear weapons, and new types of delivery vehicles.

Page 14

CRS is the independent research wing of the U.S. Congress, which prepares periodic reports by
eminent experts on a wide range of issues so as to help lawmakers take informed decisions.
Re- ports of CRS are not considered as an official view of the U.S. Congress.
Pakistani and U.S. Officials argue that since the 2004 revelations about a procurement network run by
former Pakistani nuclear official A.Q. Khan Islamabad has taken a number of steps to improve its
nuclear security and to prevent further proliferation of nuclear-related technologies and materials.
Voice for Kurdish Independence goes louder in Iraq
The President of Iraqi Kurdistan has called on global leaders to acknowledge that the Sykes-Picot pact
that led to the boundaries of the modern West Asia has failed, and urged them to broker a new deal
paving the way for a Kurdish state.
Massoud Barzani, who has led the troubled countrys Kurds for the past decade, said the international
community had started to accept that Iraq and Syria in particular would never again be unified and that
compulsory co- existence in the region had been proven wrong.
The political map of northern Iraq has changed drastically in the 18 months since Islamic State overran
Iraqs second largest city, Mosul. Kurdish forces are now in full control of Kirkuk and Sinjar and have
claimed control of thousands more miles of land that had been under control of Iraqs central
government.
Now, four months before the centennial of the Sykes-Picot agreement under which Britain and France
carved spheres of influence from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, Mr. Barzani said maintaining the
status quo would ensure further regional disintegration and destruction.
India placed at 130th place in HDI
India is placed at 130th rank and Pakistan, 147th. As for the growth rate during 1990-2014, South
Asias figure was 1.38, the highest among all regions.
The UNDP took 1990 into account as it was from that year that the series of global HDI reports began.
Sri Lanka has maintained its high ranking in human development.
But the countrys performance in terms of average annual human development index (HDI) growth
rate during 1990-2014 was lower than many other South Asian countries.
These findings are among the highlights of the Global Human Development Report (HDR) 2015
released by the UN Development Pro- gramme (UNDP).
Sri Lanka has been placed at the 73rd rank with an HDI value of 0.757. In the previous years report,
it occupied the 74th place.

Page 15

INDIA AND THE WORLD

Solar alliance to be operational in 6 months
An International So- lar Alliance (ISA) is likely to be operational by the middle of 2016.
The initiative was announced by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, at the Conference of Parties in (COP
21) in Paris last November.
Mr. Modi and French President Franois Hollande would lay the foundation stone of the alliance at
the National Institute of Solar Energy in Gurgaon, Haryana on January 25.
The international alliance is expected to have 121 members.
It comprises of countries with land between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer which
typically have 300 or more days of sun- shine a year.
India to liberalise visa norms to China
India is all set to overhaul its security cooperation agreement with China and further liberalise visa
norms for the neighbouring country
If the agreement comes through, China will deport Indians accused of terrorist acts and operating in
Chinese territory after its agencies conduct an independent probe
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2005 between the Ministry of Home Affairs and
the Ministry of Public Security, Peoples Republic of China, is being revisited to expand its scope
The new agreement will also factor in contemporary global threats like the Islamic State, as many
Chinese nationals are also learnt to have joined the extremist outfit, especially those from the
Uighurregion who are fighting for a separate state
Even though India includedChina in the list of countries which have been extended thefacility of
electronic touristvisa on arrival, the neighboring country has pressed forlifting restrictions on
conference and research visas aswell.
However, China is yet torespond to Indias demand tooffer a similar arrangement for its citizens.
Despite opposition from the intelligenceagencies against extending e-visa facility for the
Chinese,Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his maiden visit tothe country in May 2015,
hadannounced it
China is among the top fivenations which have expressedinterest in doing business inIndia. According
to Ministryof Home Affairs data, eightChinese companies were given the green signal to startbusiness
operations in Indiaunder the Make in Indiapolicy.
Rupee slump worries investors in India
Indias benchmark equity indices fell to their lowest levels in 20 months as concerns about a global
economic slowdown amid slumping commodity prices and a weakening rupee spurred investors to sell
shares.
The rupee breached the 68a-dollar mark for the first time since August 2013. It closed at a record low
of 68.85 a dollar on August 28, 2013, just days before Raghuram Rajan took charge as RBI Governor.
The fall in the Indian indices was in line with that of the negative trend in the global markets. Among
the leading Asian indices, both Hang Seng and Nikkei lost more than 3 per cent each.
India is better placed to recover but will have to wait for an overall upturn. The markets will consolidate
at current levels and then will wait for cues from the budget.

Page 16

Equity markets globally have been witnessing weakness on account of an economic slowdown in
China. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has already cut its global growth outlook thrice in less
than a year.
Crude futures fell below $28 per barrel the lowest level since 2003over concerns of an oversupply
amidst falling demand on account of the bearish economic outlook.
Data as per the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) shows that foreign institutional investors
(FIIs) have sold Indian shares worth Rs.7,146 crore.
WB and Indian Railways to form Railway development fund
The World Bankand the Indian Railways will work together to create a Rail- way Development Fund
that will partly finance the $142 billion investment plans for the core infrastructure sector.
The size and nature of the fund was still under discussion and a formal announcement would follow
soon.
The IFC could help Indian Railways to monetize its huge assets.
Globally railways get 30-40 per cent of their income from non-railway operations. In India it is not
even two per cent.
India will look towards Africa for Oil and Gas
India is looking at Africa to spruce up its oil and gas imports as it seeks to diversify its energy basket
after Saudi Arabias decision to charge a premium for the oil it sells to Asian customers, according
to the government.
Africa already contributes around 15 per cent of Indias oil needs, with India having imported 32
million metric tonnes from the entire continent in 2014.
Last year, Nigeria overtook Saudi Arabia as the largest contributor to Indias oil imports for a short
period of time and currently remains one of the top providers of oil to India.
Saudi Arabias national oil and gas company, Saudi Aramco, recently announced that it would be
charging Asian customers 60 cents a barrel more for Arab Light crude oil during February compared
to the prices they would be paying in January.
India is currently the third- largest oil importer in the world, relying on imports for 76 per cent of its
oil needs.
The International Energy Agency projects that this would rise to around 90 per cent by 2030 as Indias
demand continues to increase.

Page 17

ECONOMY
Change in Bankruptcy law for start ups
In India entrepreneurship is no longer being looked down in the guise of a frugal or flexible innovation
and the government will take steps to make capital easily available and ease rules to enable startups
to flourish.
The government had introduced the Bankruptcy Bill in Parliament in the recently concluded winter
session but could not ensure its passage.
A simple and effective corporate insolvency law is important for expediting the winding up of a
company, selling its assets and also for revival of sick companies.
Easier entry and exit norms are important from the point of view of a startup, too, as there is a
likelihood of a good number of them failing.
Investors have often criticised the delays involved in the insolvency proceedings in India and the
consequent fall in the company's asset value.
The government has set up a fund-of-funds to help startups and it will not impose any conditions for
startups but only act as facilitator.
Cash and tax benefits may come for scrapping old vehicles
In the UnionBudget this year, the government may announce cash and tax benefits to owners of old
vehicles if they scrap and replace them and may also double the fleet of public transport buses to check
pollution.
The Road, Transport and Highways Ministry has requested at least 50 per cent rebate in excise duty to
people who, on purchase of new vehicles, give their old vehicles in exchange for scrapping.
A separate environment- friendly industry to scrap old vehicles is proposed to be set up.
Ministry has also requested accelerated depreciation of up to 50 per cent to auto industry on additional
investment for bringing environment- friendly vehicles.
According to the proposed cash-for-clunkers scheme, consumers would get an incentive, including
tax-exemptions, of up to Rs 30,000 for discarding passenger vehicles and up to Rs 1.5 lakh for
commercial vehicles.
For increasing profit Air India will not oppose abolition of 5/20 rule
National carrier Air India, marking a major shift in its stance, has dropped its resistance to abolish
five years and 20 aircraft norms, also known as 5/20 rule, for Indian carriers to be able to fly abroad.
According to the 5/20 rule, all airlines in India are permitted to fly abroad only if it has five years of
domestic flying experience and at least 20 aircraft in its fleet.
The Union government has drafted a civil aviation policy, that is yet to go to the Cabinet for which
its it approval, is evaluating in abolishing the 5/20 airlines rule.
The industry is divided over the issue of 5/20 rule. The private airlines which are allowed to fly
abroad IndiGo, Jet Airways, Spi- ceJet have all opposed the proposal to abolish the rule as it will
impact their market.
However, the new airlines vistara and AirAsia India are in favour of scrapping the decade-old rule
which is restricting them to fly to international airports from India.

Page 18

Like Brazil and US India may have a flex fuel policy
India can soon expect a policy on flexible-fuel cars, cars that can run on bio-ethanol and petrol, or a
blend of both.
The move to flex-fuels will decrease pollution and encourage a diversion in the sugar industrys output
away from sugar and towards ethanol.
Biofuel production would helpfarmers by supporting the diversification of agriculture into energy,
power and bio-plastics.
A policy on flex-fuel vehicles is likely to affect the automotive industry in several ways.
Flex-fuels are widely used in several countries, famously Brazil and the United States, where they are
available at the pump; examples include E10, E15, E85, the number reflecting the proportion of
ethanol.
The technology for the engines that can take these fuels is certainly not new but making the engines
available in India will take the greater part of a year at least.
It requires modifications along the supply chain and calibrating the engine for Indian conditions.
Additionally, such a policy will give manufacturers who are already in flex-fuel markets an advantage
over indigenous producers.
Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Ford, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai are among those who have a presence in
Brazil and manufacture flex fuel cars.
While a regular vehicle not especially made for biofuels could run on these fuels for a few years, this
is not a feasible strategy in the medium to long-term for several reasons.
One of the reasons is that ethanol, unlike petrol, is prone to oxidation and this can cause gum- like
sediments to accumulate in various engine parts.
Ethanol also reacts with other materials in the car, such as rubber, and this causes degradation.
Consequently, if flex fuels are to be rolled out, engines will have to be built for them and this will
mean an additional variant for manufacturers production plants.
Merchandise export continues to shrink
Indias merchandise exports shrank for the 13th consecutive month in December 2015 during which
trade deficit in goods increased the maximum since August 2015 following 179 per cent jump in gold
imports.
However, according to the government, the silver lining was the services exports recording a 54.5 per
cent rise during April-November 2015 to touch $179 billion, leading to less worry regarding the current
account deficit.
Merchandise exports during April-December this fiscal had contracted by 18.06 per cent to $196
billion as compared to $239.9 billion during the same period in the previous financial year.
Of the 30 main items, the exports of 15 of them, including petroleum products and engineering goods,
fell in December resulting in the overall merchandise exports contracting 14.75 per cent over the same
month in the year earlier period to $22.3 billion.
However, this was the best showing on the export front following the contraction by 10.3 per cent
since July and the third best this Merchandise imports meanwhile contracted by only 3.88 per cent to
$33.96 billion due to the 179 per cent increase in gold imports to $3.8 billion (the highest since $4.95
billion in August 2015).

Page 19

Increase in renewable energy share would also boost GDP
A 36 per cent share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030 would increase global gross
domestic product by nearly $1.3 trillion, generating millions of jobs and helping countries like India
dependent on importing oil and gas, a new study says.
Renewable Energy Benefits: Measuring the Economics, released during the International Renewable
Energy Agencys (IRENA) sixth assembly session, provides the first global estimate of the
macroeconomic impacts of renewable energy deployment.
Specifically, the report highlights the benefits that would be achieved under the scenario of doubling
the global share of renewable energy by 2030 from 2010 levels.
Beyond finding that global GDP in 2030 would increase by up to $1.3 trillion the report also analyses
country-specific impact.
Japan would see the largest positive GDP impact (2.3 per cent) but Australia, Brazil, Germany,
Mexico, South Africa and South Korea would also see growth of more than one per cent each.
According to the report, improvements in human welfare would go well beyond gains in GDP thanks
to a range of social and environmental benefits.
The impact of renewable energy deployment on welfare is estimated to be three to four times larger
than its impact on GDP, with global welfare increasing as much as 3.7 per cent.
Employment in the renewable energy sector would also increase from 9.2 million global jobs today,
to more than 24 million by 2030, the report said.
A transition towards greater shares of renewables in the global energy mix would also cause a shift in
trade patterns, as it would more than halve global imports of coal and reduce oil and gas imports,
benefiting large importers like Japan, India, Korea and the European Union.
Fossil fuel exporting countries would also benefit from a diversified economy.
The report builds on previous IRENA analysis on the socio-economic benefits of renewable energy
and on REmap 2030, a renewable energy roadmap to doubling the global share of renewable energy
by 2030.
New growth figures indicates China on the path of economic shift
Chinas economy grew by 6.9 per cent last year, in line with the official projection of around 7 per
cent.
The numbers signalled that the government was on track of transitioning the economy from
manufacturing to the lower growth new normal path, where consumption and services would
dominate.
Though last years growth was the slowest since 1990, it nevertheless calmed nerves in the global
market, which had feared that the Chinese economy was on the brink of a hard landing following
the recent mayhem in the stock market and spurts of currency volatility.

Page 20

Consequently, the data emerging from Chinas National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) triggered a
significant rally in industrial commodities, in anticipation that Chinese demand may not be falling as
sharply as feared.
Brent crude, the international energy benchmark, which had on Monday dropped to $27.67 a barrel
a 12- year intra-day low firmed up by 5.5 per cent to reach $30.12, following data from Beijing.
Copper also rose to $4,447 a tonne, after dropping last week nearly to a seven- year low of $4,318.
The NBS figures revealed that Chinas GDP stood at around $10.3 trillion. Significantly, the services
sector the indicator of an economic shift from inefficient manufacturing accounted for 50.5 per
cent of the GDP.
This was the first occasion that services sectors contribution had breached the 50 per cent mark.
Unemployment rate in major cities stood at around 5.1 per cent.
Yet, the figures showed that major hurdles had to be cross- ed before the economy settled along the
planned new normal path. For instance, industrial output growth slowed to 6.1 per cent year on year
from 8.3 per cent in 2014.
In order to promote renewable energy new tariff policy approved by cabinet
The Union Cabinet has approvedseveral amendments to the national power tariff policy with a viewto
promote renewable energy andimprove the ease of doing businessfor developers in the sector.
In a major shift, power companies are allowed to pass costs on toconsumers arising out of any changes
in taxes, cesses and levies levied on them.
The policy also seeks to create a win-win between the generator,utilities and consumers by allowing power generators to sell theirsurplus power on the power ex-change and sharing the proceedswith
the state government.
The amendments are based on four Eselectricity for all, efficiency that will ensure affordable tariffs,
the environment, and ease of doing business to attract greater investment in the sector
The amended tariff policy also imposes a renewable energy obligation on new coal or lignite-based
thermal plants, requiring them to establish or purchase renewable capacity alongside their own
generation units.
The new policy also mandates that no inter-state transmission charges will be levied until a time to be
specified by the government.
The costs and business models fordifferent renewable alternatives such as rooftop solar or gridconnected sources are constantlyevolving so the decision wont be top-down any longer,
To encourage efficiency, the policy allows power producers to expand up to double their capacity
through the automatic route, at their existing unit locations.
This automatic approval was earlier limited to 50 per cent capacity expansions.
Further, the tariffs for multi-state power projects will be deter-mined by the Central
ElectricityRegulatory Commission, thereby removing a major point of uncertainty to do with such
projects.
The amended policy also said that the power regulator has to come up with a clear action plan to ensure
24x7 power supply to all consumers by 2021-22 or earlier.
Towards the power for all initiative, the policy enables the creation of micro-grids in remote villages
as yet unconnected to the grid, and also says that these micro-grids can sell their surplus power to the
grid when it reaches those areas.

Page 21

Government may surpass solar projects target in FY 16
The government is confident of receiving bids for 3,000 MW of solar projects this financial year
against the set target of 2,000MW.
This financial year, that is up to March 31, it have to commission 2,000 MW of solar projects and we
will actually do 3,000 MW.
Next year onward, the target is 12,000MW, 15,000 MW and 17,000MW for each subsequent year.
Solar tariff fell to a historic low of Rs.4.34 per kilowatt-hour following the auction of a 70MW project
in Rajasthan, with the winning bid going toFinnish solar power companyFortum Energy.
India, Australia still hopeful on FTA
Despite missing the deadline set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australias then-Prime
MinisterTony Abbott for December 31,2015, negotiators are still hopeful that the India-Australia free
trade agreement(FTA) or Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will be cleared.
the talks were stuck due to several outstanding issues re-lated to market access in services and goods,
with an add-ed complication on tariff reduction.
While Australia wanted India to significantly lower or eliminate tariffs on several agricultural and
industrialgoods.
New Delhi asked Canberra to ease rules on temporary movement of skilled professionals and intracompany transfers.
Commerce ministry backs measures to boost SEZs
The CommerceMinistry is in the process of identifying reasons for the slowdown in the Special
Economic Zones (SEZ).
It has al-so asked the Finance Ministry to consider steps to ensure greater investment and employment
generation in these enclaves to boost exports from SEZs.
The commerce ministry has taken up with the finance ministry issues raised by theSEZ developers and
units including removal or reduction of Minimum Alternate Tax(MAT) and Dividend Distribution Tax
(DDT) on SEZs.
It is also looking into the developers opposition against a proposal considered by the finance ministry for abolition of all direct tax benefits for SEZs not operationalised before April,2017.
Finance ministry has been asked to extend the Sun-set Clause (provision relating to the expiry of the
benefits toSEZs) on SEZs up to 2023.
Opposing the proposal that was being considered by theCentral Board of Direct Taxes for abolition of
all direct tax benefits for SEZs not operationalised before April, 2017,EPCES said it would create
uncertainty in the minds of investors and lead to an in-crease in the number of applications for denotification of approved SEZs.
World economic forums annual meet at Davos
Blood-letting in global markets is dominating corridor talk as business leaders and policymakers meet
in Davos, although so far the view is that it doesnt signal a financial crisis.
As the World Economic Forums annual meeting in Switzerland wrestled with topics ranging from the
impact of robots on jobs to gender and wealth inequality, the MSCI World equity index fell to its
lowest level since July 2013.

Page 22

If sustained, the 9.9 per cent fall in the index in January would be the worst monthly loss since 2009,
towards the end of the global financial crisis.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth forecasts for the third time in less than a
year to 3.4 per cent, as new figures showed that the Chinese economy grew at its slowest rate in a
quarter of a century in 2015.
Chinas rapid slowdown, combined with a dramatic fall in the price of oil, has spooked investors
around the globe.
IMF chief says Chinese economic communication should be better
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Chris- tine Lagarde said China should communi- cate better
with its financial market.
The remarks were made at a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, seen in a video feed
monitored by Reuters.
Ms. Lagarde said China is going through a list of transitions. There is a communication issue, which
markets do not like.
Responding to a question on the outlook for reform of Chinas State-owned enterprises, she said that
despite the size of the challenge, she believed Beijing would deliver such reforms.
The yuan was admitted into the SDR in November last year after the organization said it had met the
criteria.
Industry recommendations asked to increase growth
The Prime Ministers office has sought industry recommendations on reviving and sustaining the
growth momentum in the core sectors of manufacturing and infrastructure, ahead of the Budget.
The exercise is separate from the pre-Budget consultations that the Finance Ministry held with the
chiefs of industry chambers like CII, FICCI and Assocham, CEOs and chairmen of large industrial
conglomerates and IT industry representatives over January 6 and 7.
Industry had urged finance minister Arun Jaitley to spur domestic demand in the Budget in order to
revive private sector investments.
The PMO often seeks inputs from industry bodies for ideas to sustain the reforms process in specific
sectors and assess policy issues beyond the short-term imperatives which can be addressed in the
Budget.
Though industrial output has grown at 3.9 per cent from April to November 2015, compared to 2.5 per
cent over the same period in 2014, it remains volatile.
After surging 9.8 per cent in October last year, the index of industrial production fell by 3.2 per cent
in November its worst performance since October 2011.
Government will pay 2.5 percent commission to banks for unlocking gold
The Indian government will pay banks a 2.5 percent commission to unlock the country's massive stash
of gold under a new monetisation scheme, the central bank said, as the ambitious plan received a poor
response from banks and customers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gold Monetisation Scheme to lure an estimated 20,000
tonnes of gold hoarded in households and temples into the banking system and trim the import bill of
the world's second biggest gold consumer after China.
But only a few kilograms trickled in over the last two months as banks showed little interest in
popularising the scheme because of negligible returns for them.

Page 23

Now the government has decided to pay the participating banks a total commission of 2.5 percent,
including 1.5 percent handling charges, for the first year.
Support from banks is crucial to the success of the scheme. Similar programmes in the past have failed
as they were not profitable for the banks.
Under the current scheme, Indians are encouraged to deposit jewellery, bars or coins with banks so it
can be refined to meet fresh demand and cut the need for imports.
Banks, however, were saying they could not ofer attractive rates unless the government compensated
them for the loss from higher rates.

Page 24
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SCIENCE AND TECH

Lancet and London school hygiene to start a campaign against preventable
stillbirths
Concerned over the slow rate at which stillbirths have reduced across the world, the journal, The
Lancet, has launched a series of five papers about ending preventable stillbirths and kick-started a
campaign along with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
An estimated 2.6 million third trimester stillbirths occurred in 2015 across the world, or as one of The
Lancet articles in the series says. Most stillbirths (98 per cent) occur in low and middle income
countries, The Lancet paper shows.
While the estimates for the causes of stillbirths are often frustrated by various classification systems,
in 18 countries with reliable data, congenital abnormalities account only for a median of 7.4 per cent
of stillbirths.
Many disorders associated with stillbirths are potentially modifiable and often coexist maternal
infections, non-communicable diseases, nutrition, lifestyle factors and maternal age older than 35
years.
Prolonged pregnancies, when the baby is not born after 42 weeks of gestation, contribute to 14 per
cent of stillbirths.
Causal pathways for stillbirth frequently involve impaired placental function, either with growth
restriction, or preterm labour or both.
The journal points out that less than 5 per cent of neonatal deaths and even fewer still births are
registered.
Notably, it was in 2011, that The Lancet began its first series on stillbirths, highlighting the rates and
causes of stillbirth globally, exploring cost-effective interventions to prevent stillbirths (as well as
maternal and neonatal deaths), and setting key actions to halve stillbirth rates by 2020.
One of the papers notes that some progress has been made in the measurement of stillbirths since the
2011 The Lancet Still- births Series.
Stillbirths are increasingly counted, which might be partly related to more visible estimates.
India continues to be at the top of the table in the rank for numbers of still-birth in 2015, recording
5,92,100, followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Ethiopia.
Cultural taboos and superstitions often take the blame in the case of stillbirth in a recent study, 36
per cent of respondents blamed the mother for her lifestyle or diet, 29 per cent said the baby was
never supposed to live and 25 per cent blamed it on witchcraft or evil spirits.
PSLV C-31 put fifth IRNSS-1E satellite in orbit
In yet another textbook launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched IRNSS-1E,
the fifth of the seven-satellite Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) into space.
ISROs workhorse PSLV C-31 rocket lifted the 1,425 kg satellite from the second launchpad of the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre and placed it in the intended orbit some 19 minutes later. This is ISROs
first launch for this year.
IRNSS-1E with a mission life of 12 years was launched into a sub geosynchronous transfer orbit with
a 284 km perigee (nearest point to Earth) and 20,657 km apogee (farthest point from Earth) with an
inclination of 19.2 degree with reference to the equatorial plane.
IRNSS-1E carried navigation and ranging payloads, including a rubidium atomic clock, C-band
transponder and corner cube retro reflectors for laser ranging.

Page 25

The signal-in-space of four satellites has already been validated by various agencies within and outside
the country.
Second Indigenous Aircraft Carrier by year end
By the end of the year, India expects to freeze the design for the largest battleship ever built for the
Indian Navy. It will also be one of the largest carriers across the world after the U.S. super carriers,
which weigh about 1,00,000 tonnes.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-II) would be of 65,000 tonnes, and will be capable of carrying
over 50 aircraft. In comparison, displacement of INS Viraat is only 28,500 tonnes and INS
Vikramaditya is 45,400 tonnes
both of which are of foreign origin and currently in service with the Indian Navy. The first indigenous
aircraft carrier INS Vikrant weighing 40,000 tonnes is currently under construction at Kochi.
Given that this the first timea ship of such size will be built in India which involves development of
several new technologies, design consultancy will be sought from foreign companies with expertise in
carrier design and construction.
Five countries have been identified for the purpose the U.S., Russia, France, the U.K. and Italy
all of which currently operate carriers.
2015 temperature was 0.9 Celsius more than 20th century margin
Last year was the planets hottest in modern times by the widest margin on record, setting a troubling
new milestone as the climate warms at an increasing pace, U.S. scientists.
During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 [0.90 Celsius]
above the 20th century average.
This was the highest among all years in the 1880- 2015 record. This is also the largest margin by which
the annual global temperature record has been broken.
The report, which was confirmed by a separate analysis from NASA scientists, marks the fourth time
a global temperature record has been set this century.
The latest finding adds to a steady rise in heat across land and sea surfaces that have seen records
repeatedly broken over the years.
Ice found at the surface of comet 67P
Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have identified two large patches of water ice on the
surface of comet 67P, perhaps the most studied comet in history.
The elusive ice was detected, using data collected by the European Space Agencys Rosetta spacecraft,
on the bottom part of the main lobe of the dumbbell-shaped comet, in a region called Imhotep.
It appeared as noticeably bright patches in visible light and was located on cliff walls and debris falls.
Data collected by Rosettas Visible Infrared and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) showed
that the water ice grains in the Imhotep region came in different sizes.
Some of the grains were tiny, just tens of micrometres across, which were probably formed as a result
of the comets 12-hour rotation.

Page 26

PSLV-C31 launch in two days
The 48-hour countdown to the launch of PSLV-C31 rocket carrying IRNSS-1E satellite commenced
at Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
IRNSS-1E is the fifth of the seven-series Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS),
which India is hoping to put in place by the end of this year.
The regional navigation satellite system is aimed at providing accurate position information service to
users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary.

Page 27

SPORTS
Delhi won premier badminton league final
Delhi Acers calculated gamble paid of as its British- import Rajiv Ouseph pulled of his trump match
against a des- perate R.M.V. Gurusaidutt of Mumbai Rockets in the tie-decider of the Premier
Badminton League final.
The 4-3 triumph for Delhi was worth Rs. 3 crore. Mumbai settled for Rs. 2 crore out of the total prize
fund of approximately Rs. 6.5 crore.
India might consider conditional use of DRS
India may consider conditional use of the Decision Review System after consultation with the team
management on its return from Australia.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said that India was not convinced the system was foolproof but it might
be inclined to consider its use if leg-before decisions were left out of the ambit of the DRS.
The ICC, meanwhile, reaffirmed its commitment to the Spirit of Cricket and bringing about positive
social change through the sport, by launching Cricket for Good, its CSR programme, in association
with UNICEF.
Nadal out of Australian open in First round
Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep went out of the Australian open in the first round.
Nadal was sent packing by fellow spaniard Fernando Verdasco in a five set thriller.
Women no. 2 Halep was defeated by the Chinese qualifier Zhang Shuai.
Federer gets 300th grand slam win
Novak Djokovic underlined his supremacy in mens tennis on Friday as he marched unstoppably into
the Australian Open fourth round along with Serena Williams, who raced through in just 44 minutes.
As Roger Federer reached a landmark 300th Grand Slam win, Djokovic still looked like the man to
beat as he weathered a strong challenge from Andreas Seppi to reach the first weekend without
dropping a set.
Maria Sharapova also weathered a fightback when she beat pint-sized American Lauren Davis 6-1, 67(5), 6-0, helped by a strategic break and change of dress, for her 600th career win.

Page 28

Important Articles From Various

Newspapers
Turkeys failed double game (The HIndu)
The January 12 suicide bombing in Istanbul that killed 10 people is yet another violent reminder that
something is terribly wrong with Turkeys regional and security policies. This is the third bombing in Turkey
by suspected Islamic State (IS) militants in six months. In July 2015, a suicide bomber killed more than 30
people in Suruc, a Kurdish town on the Turkish-Syrian border. In October, in one of the deadliest terror attacks
in the country, suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the central railway station in the capital, Ankara,
killing more than a 100 people and injuring over 400. If the attacks in Suruc and Ankara primarily targeted
Kurds, the victims of the Istanbul bombing were tourists, mostly foreigners. Over the past few years, the
security situation in Turkey has steadily deteriorated. The ceasefire with the Kurdish rebels has broken and a
full-fledged war is taking place in the border areas.
Much of the blame should lie with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After becoming Prime Minister in 2003,
Mr. Erdogan adopted an assertive foreign policy. He opposed the Iraq war, grew critical of Israels atrocities
on the Palestinians, and presented Turkey as a regional power in West Asia. But his approach also pandered
to sectarian Sunni sentiments and to Islamist Turkish nationalism, which counterposed the Kemalist secular
order. When the dictators in Tunisia and Egypt were overthrown by popular protests in early 2011, Mr.
Erdogan found it an opportunity to expand Turkish influence. In both countries, the direct beneficiaries of the
regime change were the Muslim Brotherhood or its offshoots, the brethren of Mr. Erdogans Justice and
Development Party. He expected the Arab Spring would radically change the political landscape of the Arab
street.
But his calculations went wrong. In Egypt, the Brotherhood rule was crushed by the army. In Tunisia, the
Islamist Ennahda party is competing with the secularists for political power. Libya, which Mr. Erdogan visited
and hailed the advent of democracy soon after Muammar el-Qaddafi was overthrown, is at war with itself.
Mr. Erdogans biggest mistake yet was Syria. He expected Syria to follow Egypt and Tunisia. He was among
the first global leaders to call for President Bashar al-Assad to quit. Ankara wanted to replace Mr. Assad, an
Alawite and an ally of Iran, with a Sunni ruler, possibly from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. That would not
only strengthen the Turkish influence in the region, but also help the Sunni bloc to curtail Irans rise.
Hard-core jihadists, particularly the IS and Jabhat al-Nusra militants, were the biggest beneficiaries of this
open door policy. Russia has also accused Ankara of having deep ties with the IS. There were several
independent reports about Turkish middlemen being involved in people smuggling and oil trade along the
Syrian border. Despite international outcry, Ankara didnt do much to seal the border or act tough against the
jihadists, as Mr. Erdogan was ready to go to any extent to see the fall of President Assad.
This approach, however, had an undesirable outcome. The Syrian government had withdrawn its troops from
the Kurdish-populated border regions in the initial phase of the civil war. When IS militants, after capturing
Raqqa, moved towards border towns, Kurdish rebels took out a strong resistance. The Peoples Protection
Units, the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdistan, defeated the IS in Kobane and Tal Abyad. The YPG is closely
associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, the insurgent group which has been fighting the Turkish army
for years over autonomy. Their glorious resistance did not just bring the Kurdish cause once again to global
attention, but also prompted the U.S. to coordinate with them in the fight against the IS. On the Syrian border,
Page 29

Kurds, after throwing the IS out of their towns, formed autonomous enclaves, which created a new nightmare
for Turkey.
On the other side, Turkey was under enormous international pressure to do more against the IS and other
jihadists in Syria. The pressure mounted from domestic quarters as well after the Suruc bombing. It was against
this backdrop that Mr. Erdogan declared war against the IS. Though his government took some steps to control
movements across the border and let the U.S. use its Incirlik airbase to bomb IS targets, the focus of Ankaras
bombing campaign remained on the Kurds. But Ankaras increased collaboration with the American coalition
and the domestic crackdown on jihadist networks seem to have angered the IS, which established a strong
logistical and organisational network within Turkey, thanks to Mr. Erdogans open door policy.
Turkey is now trapped in a complex tri-directional war. If Ankara acts firmly against the IS, it would
undermine its own Syria policy. If it doesnt act, the threat from the IS to domestic security will grow as will
the international efforts to co-opt the Kurds in a larger fight against extremism. There are no easy ways out.
Ideally, President Erdogan has to resume peace talks with the Kurds, step up attacks against the IS and pave
the war for a larger anti-IS coalition by including the Kurds to take on the jihadists on the ground. But for that,
he has to give up his neo-Islamist regional ambitions and sectarian tendencies and start thinking like a
statesman. This is something unimaginable, given Mr. Erdogans recent record.
Starting up to stand still? (The Hindu)

Two lakh passes were sought for the Start Up India workshop at New Delhis Vigyan Bhawan with a seating
capacity of 1,350, a good indicator of the interest in the action plan for start-ups unveiled by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi after a nine-hour talkathon between Silicon Valley honchos, financiers, Indian unicorns and
top government officials. Amidst the euphoria, at least one Silicon Valley CEO, B.J. Arun of July Systems,
warned that India was witnessing a bubble similar to the heady dot-com rush of 1999-2000 in Silicon Valley
with too much money chasing too few ideas. The high demand for passes to the event is probably a sign of
that growing bubble. India, Mr. Arun warned, wont recover as easily as the U.S. did after the bubble bursts,
only to be told by his Indian counterparts that there is no bubble and even if there is, the fittest would survive.
That confidence is refreshing, coming from under-40 first generation entrepreneurs. The governments action
points seem laudable for starters, if not deep enough. They include Rs. 10,000 crore of funding for the next
four years, tax-free and labour-inspection-free existence for start-ups for the first three years, speedier patent
clearances with the exchequer footing most of the bill, and promises to fix taxation hurdles that deter domestic
and global financiers from bankrolling new ventures in the coming Budget. That the government must
intervene less for start-ups to succeed Mr. Modis core message drew the loudest cheers, followed by
the tax breaks on start-up profits. The tax breaks fly in the face of the corporate tax reform being pursued to
lower rates and phase out exemptions; but it is a headline-grabbing measure that wont hit revenues as few
start-ups would make profits in the first three years.
A bigger issue is the attempt to define the start-ups eligible for the sops, support and funding announced by
the Prime Minister: firms set up in the past five years with an annual turnover below Rs. 25 crore, working
towards innovation, development, deployment or commercialisation of new products, processes or services
driven by technology or intellectual property. The mere act of developing products or services that do not
have potential for commercialisation or have no or limited incremental value for customers would not be a
start-up. Moreover, a start-up shall be eligible for tax benefits only after it is certified by an inter-ministerial
board. Slotting something like innovation into a template may not click and until more details emerge, it just
sounds like more red tape to clear to avoid some red tape. Smarter ventures would seek funding on their own
and work without official sops, but the government must not lose sight of the need to fix Indias overall
business climate. Failing that, even with tax sops, start-ups will continue to quit India and list or register
elsewhere. Bubble or not, thats one issue Indian unicorns are unanimous about.
Page 30

A new beginning with Iran (The Hindu)

It was a remarkable moment in international diplomacy. Until last year, it was unimaginable that there would
be a peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. Even when a deal was reached in July, critics continued to
attack the efforts, questioning the operating challenges of the accord and Irans dubious nuclear record. But
proving its critics wrong again, Iran quickly acted to rein in its nuclear programme. It decommissioned its
enrichment centrifuges, removed the core of its heavy-water reactor and shipped out most of its low-enriched
uranium stockpile all in months. On Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran had
complied with its commitments. Within hours, nuclear sanctions were removed, signalling Irans reintegration
with the global economy. The implementation of the deal demonstrates the willingness of both the U.S. and
Iran to move past their history of hostilities and begin a new future of cooperation. U.S. President Barack
Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani deserve credit for their visionary determination. It was
not easy to effect structural changes in the thinking of their respective foreign policy establishments and chart
a new course of constructive engagement. Both faced criticism at home. There were regional challenges as
well, such as the steadfast opposition from Israel. Still they stuck to the path of diplomacy which brought new
hopes to a region that is otherwise tormented by conflicts.
Over the past few months, U.S.-Iran ties have substantially improved. Though both sides maintain that
cooperation is limited to the nuclear deal, in actuality it is much broader. Tehran and Washington are engaged
in Syria and Iraq. They share common interests in Afghanistan. The quick release of American sailors whose
patrol boats drifted into Iranian waters signalled the shift in ties. The prisoner swap deal, announced just hours
before the sanctions were lifted and under which Iran released four Americans and the U.S. seven Iranians, is
another indicator. But the question is whether these changes are sustainable and, if so, what effects they can
have on the troubled West Asian geopolitics. In Iran there appears to be a consensus on enhanced engagement
with the West. Despite the anti-American public posturing, often from the hard-line quarters of the
establishment, Irans political elite remains largely supportive of President Rouhanis moves. But its not the
case in the U.S., where the Republican front runners for the presidential election are highly critical of the deal.
It is not clear what could happen to the Iran-U.S. dtente if a Republican is elected to the White House. But if
both nations overcome these challenges and sustain the momentum, it can transform the region for the better
in the long run. India should take the cue from the deal. A peaceful, stable Iran is vital for its interests,
particularly for energy security and connectivity. New Delhi should get Tehran on board, again.
A tale of two economists (The Hindu)

Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian started 2015 on an over-optimistic note. He is likely to
have ended it in disappointment. The economy is slowing down: in the first six months of the financial year,
real GDP grew 7.2 per cent, slower than the 7.5 per cent in the corresponding earlier-year period. In 2016-17
too, GDP growth will not be significantly greater unless some specific steps are taken, the CEA has said.
Thankfully, there are few takers in the government for the main measure he is suggesting: a further pause on
fiscal deficit reduction.
The brave outlook underestimated the weakness in the exports sector. It relied on the Rs. 70,000 crore of
public investment that was earmarked in the years budget as suggested by him for building
infrastructure to stimulate private investments. The stimulus he had designed was implemented. It proved
insufficient to generate the growth impulses needed to kick-start the over $2 trillion economy and rekindle
animal spirits gone numb in the dying years of the United Progressive Alliances 10-year stint due to policy
paralysis and corruption scandals.
A government not shy of its business-friendly credentials should have picked up these stress signals early on
and administered the remedies, but its mandarins were too excited: international agencies had declared that

Page 31

2015 was going to be the year in which India would race past China (the Chinese economy is about five times
as large as Indias) to be the fastest growing economy in the world.
In the boom years during the UPA governments tenure, four engines had powered the economy. Of those,
just two are still running: government investments and private consumption. Exports and private investments,
the other two, are out of steam. The UPA years saw an investment boom, which was bound to turn sooner or
later, and has.
Lower borrowing costs could restart the investments cycle but the hands of the Reserve Bank of India
Governor, Raghuram Rajan, are tied. An agreement that the government and the RBI signed a year ago has
made controlling inflation the main objective of monetary policy. The agreement formalised a policy goal that
the central bank has always pursued anyway, except that it set the targets in terms of consumer price inflation.
Moreover, government-owned public sector banks have been slow to pass on to borrowers the rate reductions
that Dr. Rajan has announced. Banks are a cartel and keep interest rates high because higher interest rates
mean bigger profits.
Dr. Rajan is well on course to bring inflation within the 6 per cent target that the government set around the
same time the CEA made his cheery growth forecast. In fact, the rock star Governor, with whom the CEA
has worked closely earlier in the International Monetary Fund, has had an excellent year. India was still one
of the fragile five economies when the year began. Yet, it is the only one to have come out of the phase of
heightened currency volatility and current account deficit instability that characterised the group. Besides, the
purse-string managers of the governments budget in North Block, who havent yet let its fiscal deficit slip,
Dr. Rajan too deserves credit for restoring Indias macroeconomic stability, which the government hasnt quite
leveraged to push growth, just as it has been caught sitting on its hands despite the favourable global trends in
oil and commodity prices.
On growth, Dr. Rajan has been spot on. By the end of the summer, he had cut the Reserve Banks GDP growth
projection for the year not once but twice. In July, even as Dr. Subramanian was sticking to 8.1-8.5 per cent,
Dr. Rajans call was 7.4 per cent. The overconfidence in Delhi lasted till the last day of November, when new
official data released, revealed a slowdown instead of the promised smart recovery. Within hours, the
government cut its growth projection to 7.5 per cent.
Abandoning the committed path for fiscal rectitude now will put macroeconomic stability at risk. It might end
up hurting growth rather than supporting it with the government and the RBI working at cross purposes. How?
To fund a wider deficit, the government will have to borrow more, which could push up interest rates and
crowd out private borrowers. Inflation might have been tamed but the Reserve Banks key interest rate, despite
cuts adding up to 125 basis points in 12 months, is still high for a revival in investments and growth. Although
higher public investments are desirable, the government needs to do all it can to create the environment for
lower interest rates, not higher.
Public investments can be increased without deferring deficit reduction, though. There is a perceptible
improvement in the quality of government spending with a shift towards capital expenditure. This can be built
upon. Savings from efficiency in spending remain an underrated resource. The government ought to cross the
political hurdles for strategic disinvestment. If the governments fiscal consolidation would distract from the
demand in the economy, much of its spending will also add to it. Government employees salaries and
pensions are set to rise as the Seventh Pay Commission award is accepted and disbursed. The hikes are bound
to result in a surge in demand for goods and services. So are other transfers from the government.

Page 32

Ancient prejudice, modern inequality (The Hindu)

On Sunday, January 17, Rohith Vemula (25), a doctoral student at the University of Hyderabad, reportedly
committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in a friends hostel room. The conflicts in both the
University of Hyderabad and the IIT-M illustrate a deep fracture between the Hindu Right and Dalit-Bahujan
ideologies, particularly those of the Ambedkarite strain, a fault line that cannot be papered over by electoral
alliances of convenience and occasional instances of power-sharing between the two sides.
In the Mahabharata, Ekalavya, a talented archer prince of the forest tribe of the Nishadas, goes to Dronacharya,
the master who teaches young men of the Pandava and Kaurava clans how to wield their weapons. Drona will
not admit Ekalavya on account of the tribal status that makes him an outsider to the caste system. Ekalavya
goes away, makes an image of Drona, secretly watches him give lessons to Arjuna and the other royals, and
teaches himself archery, treating the mud-and-clay Drona as a stand-in for the recalcitrant guru.
When Ekalavya turns out to be a better bowman than the Kshatriya prince Arjuna, Drona asks for his right
thumb as tuition fee. Ekalavya agrees, but not without understanding that he is being discriminated against yet
again. Ekalavyas initial disobedience (which makes him a secret apprentice) as well as his later compliance
(which costs him his thumb) shame both Drona and his favourite pupil, the supposed beneficiary of this blatant
act of prejudice, Arjuna. The story of the Nishada prince shows Drona up as a caste bigot whose classroom
reeks of nepotism, even if he knows how to teach his students well, at least the high-born ones he favours.
Ekalavyas dismembered digit, a bloody and visceral embodiment of caste consciousness, has haunted the
Hindu schoolyard from time immemorial. It can be read as quite literally a thumb in Dronas eye, a jab at our
conscience that is as painful for us to experience as it must have been for Ekalavya to lose the very source of
his hard-earned skill. He is denied access at every stage: he cannot become Dronas pupil, but neither is he
allowed to become a great archer through his own efforts.
The story of Satyakama Jabali from the Chandogya Upanishad is more complex. Satyakama has no father,
and takes his mother Jabalas name. He goes to the hermitage of the sage Gautama, and wants to be admitted.
When asked about his parentage, he acknowledges honestly that he does not know his fathers name or caste.
Gautama admits him nevertheless, and performs the initiation ritual to pronounce him a twice-born Brahmin,
after which his education begins in earnest.
In the ancient text of the Upanishad , Gautama is willing to entertain Satyakama as a potential pupil because
of his honesty: he takes the boys love of truth (which is the literal meaning of his name, satya-kama ) as proof
of his essentially Brahmin nature. Once the teacher has assessed the applicants innate worth, he then translates
his positive assessment into an upanayana (bestowal of the sacred thread on the boys body), naming
Satyakama a proper Brahmin and proceeding to educate him accordingly.
Satyakamas Brahmin identity is clearly attributed to him; it cannot be proven to be intrinsic, since his mother
Jabala cannot identify his father. Gautama seems to suggest that Brahmin is as Brahmin does, i.e., Satyakama
has the lakshana (characterising feature) of a Brahmin (because he speaks the truth), even though he does not
have the gotra (lineage) of a Brahmin (because his mother was unmarried).
For a modern reader, this is a confusing account. Does Gautama make an exception and admit a non-Brahmin
pupil into his hermitage, or does Gautama accept Satyakama because he thinks he recognises him, despite
appearances, to be a genuine Brahmin? The exchange between Satyakama and Gautama at the threshold of
the ashram , as it were, raising fundamental questions about identity (Who are you? Who am I?), about rights
to entry into the portals of the academy, about rule and exception in the caste system, and about the entailments
Page 33

of caste in the strongholds of knowledge and seats of power, is again a moment that has not left our collective
conscience for two millennia. Dr. Ambedkar himself reminds us of both these characters, Ekalavya and
Satyakama, who for him are damning evidence of the stubborn longevity of caste in Indian history.
Ekalavya did not die and neither did Satyakama, but Rohith did. This sad fact could lead to various
conclusions. It is a reflection on the unexpected cruelty and the adamantine ideologies undergirding the
modern state and its institutions of higher learning. Drona and Ekalavya, Gautama and Satyakama could to
some extent negotiate the terms of their relationship. Rohith ostensibly had the might of the Indian
Constitution behind him his fundamental rights as a citizen, reservations policy for students of his
socioeconomic background, and the empowering discourses of the Ambedkarite student group which gave
him a certain political awareness and the radical energy to fight for the equality he fully expected and deserved,
but never got.
His heartbreaking suicide note states the piercing truth, the skewer that caste ideology drives into every heart
filled with hope: My birth is my fatal accident. Yes, this is the human condition: our birth, all birth, is an
accident. We do not choose our father or mother, our group or community. But only in India, only in caste
society, and only for Dalits does this accident of coming into an unequal life become the fatality of either
living with relentless inequality and enduring its cruelties, or dying a terrible, unfair, premature and
unredeemed death.
Dealing with the slowdown (The Hindu)

The International Monetary Fund has added to the prevailing economic gloom by cutting the global growth
forecast. It now expects the world economy to expand by 3.4 per cent in 2016. This is 0.2 percentage points
below its forecast of October last year. The revision has come just as Beijing released numbers that showed
China posting the slowest growth yet in 25 years. Though it reported a growth of 6.9 per cent in 2015, the year
saw turbulence in the Chinese economy, with heavy capital outflows and stock market volatility. The IMF has
kept its growth forecast for China unchanged at 6.3 per cent in 2016, and the fear is that Chinas economic
slowdown could have a trigger effect on others. Reading the China factor in tandem with weak commodity
prices, the Fund has chosen to pare its global growth forecast. The latest IMF growth numbers no doubt reflect
the unfavourable ground conditions around the globe. Yet, they also underscore a sense of urgency in putting
in place an action plan that would catalyse and hasten the economic recovery process. Not surprisingly, the
IMF has emphasised the need for supportive measures in the near term to assist a recovery.
While ringing the slowdown alarm, the IMF, however, finds India better-placed vis--vis other large
economies. It has kept its growth forecast for India in 2016-17 unchanged at 7.5 per cent. Coming as it does
at a time when global political and business leaders make a beeline for Davos, the IMFs prediction could be
seen to be a shot in the arm for Indian leaders to hard sell the country at the World Economic Forum. At best,
it could give India a psychological edge over others. But that alone may not be sufficient to pull India to a
higher growth orbit. In an inter-connected environment, global headwinds cannot be wished away. Oftentimes,
there have been comparisons between India and China in the global investing community. Managing the
China factor is very crucial for India to stay its course on the growth path. Containing the spillover effects
of volatility in Beijing could, however, prove a big challenge for monetary and fiscal planners in India in the
coming days. Given that Indian exports have been contracting month after month, the developments on the
Chinese currency front are bound to pose fresh worries for the economy. Though India is relatively betterplaced, the economic slowdown is as much a concern for the country as it is for others. Even as the IMF
forecast provides India a comparative edge in wooing the global investor community, it is essential for the
government to coherently address the growing anxiety among domestic consumers and stem, if not fully
reverse, the demand slump. The budget will provide the NDA government an opportunity to announce a plan
Page 34

to mitigate economic distress, especially in the farm sector, and show the political will to push job-creation as
a central objective. It is a task the government must not dodge.
The case for going universal (The Hindu)

Since the National Food Security Act (NFSA) was passed in 2013, policy circles have been buzzing with talk
of reforms in the public distribution system (PDS). Less well appreciated is the NFSAs potential to call
attention to, and help address, poor maternal nutrition an aspect of food security that is extremely important
for health, well-being, and productivity.
Indian women are unhealthily thin when they begin pregnancy the 2013-2014 Rapid Survey on Children
finds that a little less than half of the women aged 15-18 are underweight. Further, women gain too little
weight during pregnancy to nurture healthy babies. Maternal nutrition is so poor that Indian women actually
weigh less at the end of pregnancy than sub-Saharan African women do at the beginning. As a result, Indias
neonatal mortality rate is high, birth weight is low, and far too many children suffer the consequences of being
undernourished in the womb.
According to the NFSA, Every pregnant and lactating mother is entitled to a free meal at the local Anganwadi
(during pregnancy and six months after child birth) as well as maternity benefits of Rs. 6,000, in instalments.
Unfortunately, except for laudable efforts in Odisha and Tamil Nadu, and a small pilot programme called the
Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) which is active in only 53 of Indias 676 districts, maternity
entitlements have not been implemented.
The government should put new emphasis on educating women and their families about weight gain during
pregnancy. It should combat the common, though false, notion that women should eat less, not more, during
pregnancy. It should talk to people about the fact that pregnant women are often treated poorly by their own
families; they are expected to work hard and eat little. Despite clear difficulties of addressing entrenched
gender and age hierarchies with government action, maternity entitlements are a good way to signal to families
just how important a time pregnancy really is.
IGMSY is a conditional cash transfer, which means that mothers only receive benefits if they meet certain
requirements. Recipients must register pregnancies with a village health worker, receive ante-natal check-ups,
take iron-folic acid supplements, receive immunisation, attend infant-feeding counselling sessions, breastfeed
for six months, and begin complementary foods at six months. These are steps to raising healthy children, but
making them conditions for receiving benefits makes little sense.
Conditional cash transfers have been successful in Latin America, where health systems are well-developed.
In India, though, major deficiencies in the provision of health services mean that conditional transfers will not
work similarly. Conditional transfers solve demand problems, but India chiefly faces supply problems.
Conditions that have to do with mothers behaviour rather than participation in services are nearly impossible
to verify. Verifying behaviour which occurs in private, at home, constitutes an undue burden on health
workers. Further, the need to document the fact that conditions have been met invites corruption: many health
workers demand to be paid for producing paperwork that verifies the unverifiable.
Although the NFSA clearly legislates a universal entitlement, IGSMY, which MWCD proposes to expand,
restricts benefits to the first two births. This position appears to be based on the ill-conceived notion that
universal transfers increase fertility. Certainly, people respond to incentives. But a Rs. 6,000 transfer is not
large enough to persuade parents to raise a child they dont want. Children are expensive: the 2011 India
Human Development Survey found that parents spend an average of Rs. 4,207 per year educating each 5-18year-old child, not to mention what they spend on food, clothing, and medicines.
Page 35

Some recent research, casually cited in media reports, claims that Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) incentives
for institutional birth have slowed fertility decline. The basis of this claim is that between 2001 and 2008,
fertility decline was slower in States with high JSY incentives than in those with low incentives. This
argument, however, overlooks the fact that NFHS data show that this pattern was applicable even before JSY
was launched.
No social-scientific evidence supports the idea that families would be motivated to raise another child by JSY
incentives of Rs. 1,400, or maternity entitlements of Rs. 6,000. Regrettably, social biases may be at play when
government officials baulk at universal entitlements: the Centre for Equity Studies finds that restricting
participation to the first two births would disproportionately exclude mothers from poor and minority
backgrounds.
Maternity entitlements are an important policy tool for encouraging better maternal health. But a welldesigned programme would not merely scale up the IGMSY. It would be, as the law already requires, a
universal programme, and it would do away with conditionality in favour of educating families about the
importance of investing in healthy pregnancies.
The unmet health challenge (The Hindu)

The first set of data from the National Family Health Survey-4 for 13 States and two Union Territories should
be seen as a report card on how effectively India has used its newly created wealth to alter a dismal record of
nutritional deprivation, ill-health and lost potential among its citizens, particularly women and children. Given
the steady growth in real per capita GDP since the 1980s, and the progress made since Independence in
overcoming severe undernourishment, enlightened policy approaches could have brought about a giant leap
from 1992-93, when the first NFHS was conducted, ensuring that no child or woman was left behind in the
quest for health for all. Evidently, the Indian state has not viewed the situation even at the height of a
prosperous phase of economic growth a decade ago of 39 per cent of children under the age of five
remaining underweight as constituting a national crisis. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that this failure to
assume responsibility for child nutrition has left 34 per cent of children in that age group underweight today.
There is also a lot of evidence to show that the deprived sections of Indias children have low weight even at
birth due to the general neglect of womens nutrition and well-being.
It is imperative that the data coming out of NFHS-4 lead to the charting of a new policy course that makes
access to nutrition and health a right for all. Asserting this right would require the strengthening of the
Integrated Child Development Services scheme in all States, particularly those with a higher proportion of
underweight and stunted children. In the first set of data, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh bring up the rear on these
crucial metrics of child development. It deserves mention that even within the ICDS, there is a clear deficit in
caring for the needs of children under three. Nutrition in the first two or three years of a childs life has a
lasting impact on her development; care given in later years, including freshly cooked meals at school, cannot
undo the setback caused by neglect during this foundational phase. Other key areas requiring intervention are
access to antenatal care, reduction of high levels of anaemia among women, and immunisation; it is a cause
for concern that a State such as Tamil Nadu with an active public health system recorded a reduced rate of full
child immunisation compared with NFHS-3 data. Overall, there is a need to assess the health of citizens more
frequently than the current NFHS cycle of seven to 10 years allows. Data gathered every two or three years
would help make timely policy corrections. A fuller picture of the health of urban and rural Indians will emerge
later in the year when data for all States become available. They should send out the message that sustained
economic growth is not possible without state support to achieve the well-being of the population, especially
women and children.
Page 36

No longer shy (Indian Express)

It is in the fitness of things that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajs first trip to West Asia is taking her
to Israel and Palestine. If the bane of Indian foreign policy has been the neglect of the strategically important
Middle East even the Gulf states much energy has been expended in keeping the bilateral relationship
with Israel discreet and emphasising Indias equidistance from Israel and Palestine. Swarajs visit is only
the third Indian foreign ministerial trip since the establishment of full diplomatic ties in January 1992. Yet,
coming close on the heels of President Pranab Mukherjees October 2015 visit the first by an Indian head
of state and Home Minister Rajnath Singhs November 2014 trip, Swarajs visit assumes additional
significance, also given the likelihood of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu coming to India this
year and Prime Minister Narendra Modis return trip.
The bilateral relationship had almost come out in the open in 2003, during then Israeli PM Ariel Sharons trip
to India, only to be put firmly back in the closet by the UPA that didnt dare to talk about it in public. However,
that the momentum picked up over the years was undeniable, and its effect could be felt beyond the primary,
albeit unpublicised, defence and security cooperation. The Modi governments intent, evident since Indias
historic abstention from the anti-Israel UNHRC resolution in July last year, appears to be to stop being shy
about Delhis partnership with Tel Aviv Modi and Netanyahu had an important meeting in September
2014, on the sidelines of the UNGA even as the NDA has found it just as necessary to tread carefully on
Palestine. Modi met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York in September 2015 and, like
Mukherjee, Swaraj too will begin her visit with Palestine, where Indias continued political support and
developmental assistance will be re-emphasised.
This year is expected to be the breakout year for the India-Israel partnership, coming out of the closet formally.
An indicator is the growing tendency to talk more openly about defence collaboration. Israel is a top
technology and innovation hub, whose prowess in agriculture and water treatment is already making a
difference in Indian states in terms of meeting the challenge of food and water security. Swarajs visit should
give another push to the pending bilateral FTA, with its potential to treble the bilateral trade of approximately
$5 billion, and also bring the industrial ecosystems of both countries closer. Israel, the Start-up Nation, is
an ideal partner for Make in India.
For the farmer (Indian Express)

The Narendra Modi governments new Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is worth commending
for bringing crop insurance centrestage. Farmers, unlike most other economic agents, are exposed to
production (weather) as well as price (market) risks. Given the extent of risk involved in growing any crop
ranging from prolonged dry spells and pest attacks to price crash at the time of harvesting no insurer would
normally want to enter this segment. Even if they do, most farmers cannot afford to fork out the huge premiums
based on actuarial or statistical risk assessment. There is a case, therefore, for the government to subsidise
crop insurance premiums that will ultimately also encourage farmers to invest in productivity improvements
and new technologies. Such subsidy is any day preferable to those on fertiliser, electricity or water, which
only promote inefficient resource use. The fact that even farmers in a country like the US pay just 35 per cent
of the average premium on crop insurance policies entailing annual federal subsidies of $10 billion only
proves the point.
Under the PMFBY, farmers would pay only 2 per cent premium for all kharif crops, while it would be 1.5 per
cent for rabi and 5 per cent for horticultural crops. The gap between the premiums they would pay and actuarial
rates will be met by the government without any upward limit on this subsidy. From a farmers perspective,
this represents significant improvement over the existing Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme.
Page 37

Under the latter, the government subsidised a maximum of 75 per cent of the actuarial premium. Moreover,
the premium rate on which the sum insured was calculated was itself capped, so as to limit both the farmers
claim and the governments outgo. But now, there will be no such indirect capping of the sum insured.
The question that naturally arises is, what would be the fiscal implications of the new scheme? The Modi
government is planning to launch it from the coming kharif season, which, going by statistical probability,
should be relatively better for agriculture, following two back-to-back monsoon failures. But in a drought year
like the current one, the outgo from the PMFBY assuming it is implemented in the manner proposed
may not be small. That price may still be worth paying for a country where only a fifth of farmers have crop
insurance coverage. Subsidised premiums and prompt claims settlement enabled by remote sensing and GPS
technology as opposed to patwaris and crop-cutting experiments should help substantially expand
coverage. An increase in the area insured should also bring down premium rates, through spreading of risks
across more farmers. That would also help contain the governments subsidy burden.
Start and go
(Indian Express)
The governments new initiative for start-ups promises swift approvals for starting enterprises, easier exits,
tax and fiscal incentives, faster registration of patents and protection of intellectual property rights. It signals
a possible end to the inspector raj that has sapped the energy and spirit of many young entrepreneurs in the
country.
Unlike Indias large business groups, small entrepreneurs find it difficult to navigate the complex bureaucratic
and regulatory maze. From that perspective, these supply-side reforms are welcome. What makes this initiative
especially welcome is the fact that start-ups hold the potential of creating more jobs at a time when the
manufacturing sector is facing a slump that may last longer given global economic prospects and the slowdown
in China, which has been one of the engines of global growth. And with growing automation, the
manufacturing sector may no longer be in a position to create jobs. The fact is that there is a fundamental
problem of demand and the real challenge for the Indian economy now is to fund several large projects be
it roads, highways or railways. Thats why it is heartening to see the government attempting to provide an
enabling policy environment for start-ups, which are job creators much like the large number of self-employed
who form a significant part of the countrys labour force.
But should the government, which says it wants to be more of a facilitator, get into the funding of start-ups?
There has been enough capital chasing start-ups in India, including e-commerce firms, with a predominant
share coming from overseas investors, unlike in the US or China, which are ahead of this country in terms of
the number of new-age firms. Tax breaks do help, but global experience shows that what is more critical is an
enabling regulatory and business environment that will foster innovation and have a cascading impact on
entrepreneurship. Indian policymakers appear to be grasping this imperative but the funding now on offer
could perhaps be directed more towards entrepreneurs who find it tough to raise capital in segments such as
food processing, rather than mobile-based applications or e-commerce firms, for whom raising money isnt a
major problem.
The governments approach of targeting start-ups to power growth over the next decade is well judged. But
the easing of rules and creation of a conducive policy environment should not be restricted just to start-ups. It
should be extended to all businesses. That will be the real test, along with getting more Indian firms domiciled
overseas because of rules here to move back. Otherwise, the losers will be the government and local investors.

Page 38

Right track (Indian Express)

Agartala was the second northeastern city to get on Indias metre-gauge railway map in the 1990s, but only
now can it look forward to joining the mainstream. The first broad-gauge locomotive has rolled into the capital
of Tripura on a trial run, gaily decorated, like a New Years present. Following further safety inspections,
passenger services will commence in March, and travellers will be able to ride directly to Kolkata and points
west and south. A bus service already connects the two cities, which are joined in spirit by a long history of
communist rule, but the route cuts through Bangladesh.
This excludes travellers without passports, which means most Indians on the move. For non-passport holders
who cannot afford airfares, the new rail link will be crucially important.
It marks the first step in a long overdue project, deadlined for 2020, to connect the capitals of all the
northeastern states to the rest of India which, politically incorrectly, is spoken of as the mainland. Even
before that, by 2017, a line will be laid to Akhaura in Bangladesh, which will offer through connectivity all
the way to Chittagong. In about the same time, another line to the Bangladesh border through the South district
of Tripura will be laid. These lines will assume significance in the coming decades, when international rail
links through Asia are expected to play large roles in trade and tourism, leaching traffic away from air and
road networks.
The political impact could be even more valuable than the efficiencies offered by rail transport. The railway
system has served India as a great unifier, binding together diverse cultures in a web of steel. Now, the fact
that travellers to and from Agartala will not have to change lines at Lumding, the old metre gauge terminus,
will reduce the psychological distances which seem to sequester the Northeast.

Page 39
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NITI Aayog
NSSO 71st Round Same Data, Multiple Interpretations
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) recently published the key fi ndings of the 71st round of household
survey entitled Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health. An analysis of the preliminary results
of the survey has recently been presented by T Sundararaman and V R Muraleedharan (S&M) in Falling
Sick, Paying the Price: NSS 71st Round on Morbidity and Costs of Healthcare (EPW, 15 August 2015). We
wholeheartedly agree with the authors on the need to factor in the evidence from such large-scale household
surveys into our policy-making process. However, we are in disagreement with some of their inter pretations
of the data and even more so with the policy conclusions they draw from the evidence presented. In this
comment, we propose to show that a differing but equally plausible interpretation is possible on the basis of
the same data set and this differing interpretation leads to an altogether different policy perspective than the
one suggested in their article.
In the 71st round data, it is seen that private doctors were the single-most significant source of treatment in
both the rural and urban sectors. In fact, more than 70% (72% in the rural and 79% in the urban areas) spells
of ailment were treated in the private sector. Survey results show that there is an increased overall share of the
public sector in outpatient care provision between the 60th and the 71st rounds from 22% to 28.3% in rural
areas and from 19% to 21.2% in urban areas.
in nine out of the 21 states, the share of public sector facilities in outpatient care has decreased; in six states it
has improved marginally while there have been impressive gains in six states. Even in the Empowered Action
Group (EAG) stateswhich have been the focus of the National Health Mission (NHM)the outcome has
not been uniform. The best results are from Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand which
suggest that investments in public healthcare facilities are likely to yield far better results in those areas where
there is a dearth of private healthcare facilities due to paying capacities, terrain or other factors; whereas in
areas where such inhibiting factors are absent, such investments are only marginally successful or have no
impact at all. Hence a one-size-fi ts-all approach is uncalled for; rather this suggests the need for a far more
nuanced approach factoring in interstate (and also intra-state) differences.
The picture is even more dismal for inpatient care, with 12 out of 20 states in rural areas and 17 out of 21
states in urban areas registering a decline in the share of the services provided by government-owned facilities.
One very signifi cant change in healthcare behaviour of the households observed in the 71st round is the
substantial increase in the proportion of institutional deliveries. One cannot ignore the remarkable success of
National Rural Health Mission in ensuring that 80% of all deliveries in the rural areas are now happening in a
hospital or a health centre compared to 36% a decade ago. This is all the more creditable since government
hospitals account for about 70% of the overall institutional deliveries in the rural areas. In urban areas, the
public facilities account for only 46.7% of the overall institutional deliveries, while 89.2% of all deliveries
take place in hospitals.
While we celebrate this remarkable turnaround story, one sobering thought is that incentive-based change in
healthseeking behaviour of households will have limited replicability. The maternity incentive programmes
like Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK)offering cash incentives
to women and ASHA workers for incentivising institutional deliveries in government hospitals may not apply
and might not even be fiscally prudent or sustainable for a wide range of healthcare services.

Page 40

The second tempering consideration is to pose the counterfactual: Would we have been able to attract these
pregnant women to our public facilities without such incentives? The Government of Gujarat is running a
maternity voucher scheme called Chiranjeevi which permits private facilities to provide maternity services.
The 71st round data for Gujarat affi rms that 64% of institutional deliveries in rural areas are happening in
private clinics and hospitals as compared to only 30% at the national level. One is by no means suggesting
that a voucher-based scheme is free from defects; it has its own set of problems. But it does suggest the major
role of a monetary incentive in the sudden spurt in institutional delivery. Moreover, it also raises a concern:
can our public system not generate enough trust and confidence in our people on the strength of their reliability
and performance alone that it requires incentives to attract the patients? While demand-side fi nancial
incentives have been shown to improve healthy behaviour and certain health outcomes, they also lead to
creation of perverse incentives.

Page 41

MCQs
INTERNATIONAL
Ques- Which of the following statements are correct regarding IAEA?
1. Only UN members can become the members of IAEA.
2. The IAEA serves as an intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the
peaceful use of nuclear technology and nuclear power worldwide.
3. It has head quaters at Vienna.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1, 2 only
2, 3 only
2 only
All
Ans B
INDIA & WORLD

QUES- Where is Chabahar port located?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Pakistan
Iran
Iraq
Syria
ANS B
Ques- Which of the following were millennium development goals?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty

Achieve universal secondary education
Reduce child mortality
Ensure environmental sustainability
A.
B.
C.
D.
1, 2
2, 3
1, 2, 3
1, 3, 4
Ans D
Ques- Which countries are part of solar alliance announced by India in COP 21?
A. Countries above equator
B. Countries Between tropic of cancer and capricorn
Page 42

C. Countries between equator and Tropic of Cancer
D. Countries between equator and Tropic of Capricorn
Ans C
NATIONAL
Ques- Which of the following is part of start-Up India programme?
1. 10000 crore fund every year
2. Easier exit for failed ventures
3. Tax break from profits for three years
A.
B.
C.
D.
1, 2
2, 3
1, e
All
Ans B
QUES- Consider the following statements:
a)Srisailamdam is across the Krishna river
b) It is the second largest capacity, working hydro-electric station in India.
Which of the above statements are correct?
A.
B.
C.
D.
a only
b only
both a and b
neither a nor b
Ans C
Ques- Which of the following articles protects rights of minority in India?
1. Article 15
2. Article 338
3. Article 30
A.
B.
C.
D.
1 and 2
2 and 3
1 and 3
All
Ans C

Page 43

Ques-Which of the following are findings of National family health survey-4?
1. Infant mortality rate has been steady since National family health survey-3
2. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttarakhand has sex ratio of more than 1000
A.
B.
C.
D.
1 only
2 only
Both
None
Ans D
Ques- Which of the following statements are correct regarding judicial appointment?
1. Present collegium system was created in Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union
of India case
2. Collegium system is only for the appointment of judges in Supreme court.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1 only
2 only
Both
None
Ans D
ECONOMY
Ques- Arrange the following in decreasing contribution towards the exports of India?
1. Pharmaceuticals
2. Petroleum products
3. Agriculture
A.
B.
C.
D.
1> 2> 3
2> 3> 1
1> 3> 2
3> 2> 1
Ans B
Ques- Which of the following organizations brings out the publication known as World Economic
Outlook?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The International Monetary Fund

The United Nations Development Programme
The World Economic Forum
The World Bank
Ans A

Page 44

Ques- Which of the following statements are correct?
1. IFC is part of world bank group
2. IFCs offerings are designed to meet the specific needs in different industries, with a special focus on
infrastructure, manufacturing, agribusiness, services, and financial markets.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1 only
2 only
Both
None
Ans C
Ques- The price of any currency in international market is decided by the
1. World Bank
2. demand for goods/services provided by the country concerned
3. stability of the government of the concerned country
4. economic potential of the country in question
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 and 4 only
(d) 1 and 4 only
Answer (b)
Ques- Gini coefficient represents which of the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Income distribution
Malnutrition
Poverty
None
Ans A
Ques- Which of the following is correct regarding HDI?
1.
2.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Human development index ranking is prepared by World Bank

Life expectancy at mean age is one of the parameters
1 only
2 only
Both
None
Ans D

Page 45

Ques- Which of the following is correct regarding gold monetisation scheme?
1. Under this scheme interest is returned in monetary terms
2. Minimum tenure for the scheme is one year
3. recently RBI gave 2.5 percent commission to banks for this scheme.
A.
B.
C.
D.
1, 2
2, 3
1, 3
All
Ans B
SCIENCE & TECH

Ques- In which of the following activities are Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites used?
1. Assessment of crop productivity
2. Locating ground water resources
3. Mineral exploration
4. Telecommunications
5. Traffic studies
Select the correct answer using the code given below
a) 1, 2 and 3 only
b) 4 and 5 only
c) 1 and 2 only
d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
Ans a
Ques- INS Vikrant and INS vikramaditya are name of which of the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Aircraft carrier
Frigates
Nuclear powered submarine
Patrol vessels
Ans A

Page 46

Ques- Which of the following given joint millitary exercises are correctly matched with country?
1. INDIRA :
2. Garuda :
3. Shakti
:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Russia
France
US
1, 2
2, 3
1, 3
All
Ans A

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Vol 111 17th January 2016 TO 23rd January 2016

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Online Coaching for IAS Exam

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Govt draws strategy to counter IS on social media

External affairs minister on Israel and Palestine visit

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Australia wants to join Malabar

The Someswara temple

Endosulfan victims await relief promised

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The Most Wanted

Expert committee to revisit National Policy for Farmers

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University and Minister under loop after suicide of scholar in Hyderbad

India-EU held talks on proposed FTA

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SC for relooking the criteria of deciding the minority status

IMF cuts world growth forecast third time in a year

IRCTC puts checks on ticket booking

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National Family Health Survey-4 indicates improvement in health indicators

Terrorist attack in Bacha Khan University

TRAI not happy with free basics of Facebook

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University revokes the suspension of students

To review decisions taken by cabinet PM calls cabinet meeting

Indian classical dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away

Padma Bhushan recipient Mrinalini Sarabhai passed away in Ahmedabad.

Govt is setting committee to look for security preparedness of defence

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Crackdown across India over IS sympathisers

HRD setup judicial commission to examine suicide of Hyderabad scholar

Shakti 2016 between India and France in Rajasthan

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Mahamana express from Varanasi to New Delhi

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Taiwans independence-leaning opposition leader Tsai Ing-wen won a convincing victory in

AIIB and New Development Bank to redraw global financial architecture

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After IAEA confirmation sanctions removed from Iran

China will become the lynchpin of evolving world economic structure

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Syria peace talks may be delayed due to undecided opposition

U.S. Supreme Court to look into power of U.S. President regarding

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Srilanka ready to come up with new constitution

Pope Francis said elite should be more sensitive towards poor

U.S. report says Pakistan nuclear warhead to be in between 110-130