19thFebruary
Issue-8/2013 (19th February to 25
February)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 19 Feb - 25 Feb, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
19 February 2013
NTPL signs pact for
1000-MW Power Project
financing with multiple
banks
A group of various banks agreed to
loan 937 crore Rupees for 1000-
MW NTPL power project. NTPL
power project is the joint venture of
Tamil Nadu Power Generation and
Distribution Corporation as well as
Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC).
The project will come up at
Tuticorin.
NLC Director (Finance) as well as
the Bank of India Deputy General
Manager (Mumbai) signed an
agreement on 18 February 2013.
The estimated cost of the project
would be 4909.54 crore Rupees
having debt-equity ratio of 70:30.
The group of various banks
included Indian Bank, the Central
Bank of India as well as the Bank of
India. In the meanwhile, it is
important to note that NTPL had
tied up with another group of banks
earlier. The group was led by Bank
of Baroda. NTPL had tied up with
other group of banks for the debt
which amounted to 2500 crore
Rupees.
After the pact was signed, NTPL
sealed the debt component for this
project which amounted to 3437
crore Rupees in all.
As of now, 70 percent of the overall
project was completed. First unit of
the 500 MW would go on stream in
December 2013. The second unit,
which would have almost similar
capability, will start operating in
March 2014.
For the fuel, NTPL signed the deal
with Mahanadhi Coal Fields Ltd,
which is a subsidiary of Coal India
Ltd.
The power which would be
generated from this project will be
shared among the states of
Puducherry, Kerala, Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu. For this purpose,
JTS Institute
- 25 February 2013
power purchase agreements were
signed with Tangedco as well as
respective State Electricity Boards.
President confers the
2011 Indira Gandhi Prize
for Peace, Disarmament
and Development Award
on Ela Bhatt
The President of India Pranab
Mukherjee on 18 February 2013
conferred 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize
for Peace, Disarmament and
Development Award to Ela Ramesh
Bhatt, a renowned Women social
worker. The award was given away
at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi.
Ela Bhatt was given away the
award for life time achievements in
women empowerment, promotion
of grassroot level entrepreneurship
as well as contribution towards
promotion of equitable
development and peace. Ela Bhatt
has her organisation SEWA (Self-
Employed Women’s Association).
President Pranab Mukherjee while
giving away the award announced
that SEWA was a vehicle of self
employment and self reliance for
the Indian women, while at the
same time being synonymous with
the rural inclusiveness.
Ela Bhatt
• Ela Bhatt is the founder of more
than 1 million SEWAs in India.
• Since years, Ela Bhatt has been
working for women empowerment
and bringing women out of poverty
through promotion of Self Help
Groups.
• SEWA has empowered women
with freedom as well as financial
self- reliance.
India given a green signal
on Kishanganga Project
The Court of Arbitration, chaired by
Stephen M. Schwebel in its orders
stated that India can move ahead
with the diversion of water plans of
Kishanganga that is a tributary of
Jhelum, for generation of hydro-
electric power. But it restrained
1 Current Affairs Notes
India from adoption of the
drawdown technique of flushing for
clearing the sedimentation of the
run-of-the river project that had
been designed and asked it to
adopt a different technique for
generation of 330 MW power
facilities. The Court had also
demanded the environmental flows
statistics of the project.
Pakistan initiated the arbitration
against India with a charge that
India violated the provisions of the
Water Treaty between the two
countries. But India denied the
charges forced on to it by explain
that the country reserved its rights
to divert the water from one of the
tributaries of Jhelum to another.
Issues for Pakistan from
its Perspective:
Pakistan on 17 May 2010 raised
objections on the making of the
Kishanganga Hydro-power project
for which it demanded setting up of
the Court of Arbitration.
The issues raised by
Pakistan in the Court of
Arbitration:
• The project is being developed at
the downstreams of Kishanganga
River that is known by the name
Neelam in Pakistan and is a
tributary of Jhelum. India is
diverting the waters of the river from
the dam site to Bonar Madmati
Nallah that is another tributary of
Jhelum.
• India planned to use modern
drawdown flushing technique for
sedimentation management in the
dam. The technique requires
waters to be brought below the
dead storage level (as per the
treaty the water can be reduced
below the dead storage level only
in cases of unforeseen emergency)
and was this plan was accepted by
the neutral expert during the
Bahlihar dispute with Pakistan.
In June 2011, the members from
the Court of Arbitration, The Hague
visited India as well as Pakistan for
inspection of the site.

Brief Provisions of Indus
Waters Treaty 1960
i. The Indus system of rivers
comprises three Eastern Rivers
(Ravi, Beas and Sutlej and their
tributaries) and threes Western
Rivers (Indus, Jhelum and Chenab
and their tributaries).
ii. The Indus Waters Treaty 1960
was signed on 19.09.1960
between India and Pakistan. It is
however effective from
01.04.1960.
iii. Under the Treaty, the waters of
Eastern Rivers are allocated to
India. India is under obligation to
let flow the waters of the Western
Rivers except for the following
uses:
(a) Domestic Use
(b) Non-consumptive use
(c) Agricultural use as specified
(d) Generation of hydro-electric
power as specified
ix. The Commissioners of the
Indus Waters may discuss the
questions arising under the Treaty
under Article IX of the Treaty related
to Settlement of Differences and
Disputes and in the case of non-
resolution, take further action under
this Article for resolution through a
Neutral Expert, negotiators or Court
of Arbitration.
Articles under Consideration:
• Article III (2): Let flow all waters of
the Western Rivers and not permit
any interference with the water
• Article IV (6): Both the countries
require use of the best endeavors
at each other’s end for
maintenance of natural channels of
the rivers and should avoid all the
steps that may obstruct the flow of
these rivers creating a material
damage at the end of any of the two
parties.
As per Pakistan, the diversion of
the water of Kishanganga as well
as implementation of the
drawdown flushing technique at
Kishanganga project as well as
other hydro-electric plants were the
violation of the Treat signed in
1960, named Indus Water Treaty.
Kishanganga Project
Kishanganga hydro-electric power
project is a 330 MW project under
its construction phase on the
Kishanganga River and is
developed by the National Power
Corporation in Gurez Valley, near
Bandipura in North Kashmir. The
work on the project started in the
year 1992. The Kishanganga
hydro-electric project is a 3600
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
crore project. Kishanganga is
called Neelam in Pakistan.
Permanent Court of
Arbitration
The Permanent Court of Arbitration
(PCA) was established during the
First Hague Peace Conference
1899 by a treaty. It is an
intergovernmental organization
(IGO) that provides a variety of
dispute resolution services to the
international community. It provides
resolution to the disputes related to
intergovernmental organizations,
states, state entities and private
parties. PCA is located in The
Hague, Netherland.
PCA provides services for the
resolution of disputes involving
various combinations of states,
state entities, intergovernmental
organisations, and private parties.
The PCA can assist in the selection
of arbitrators, and may be called
upon to designate or act as
appointing authority.
Sikkim to get the First
Wildlife Skywalk of India
in Maenam Wildlife
Sanctuary
The first wildlife skywalk of India
will be coming up in Maenam
wildlife sanctuary, Sikkim. The State
Government of Sikkim proposed to
construct 22 km rope-way from
Maenam sanctuary to skywalk
which would be built on edge of
Bhalleydhunga steep face.
This will also have rain shelter as
well as public conveniences.
Maenam wildlife sanctuary in
Sikkim is 65 km south from
Gangtok, the capital of the state. It
is a popular tourist destination as
well.
The environment ministry too has
approved the proposal of Sikkim
government for the first wildlife
skywalk of India proposal that
would cost 500 crore Rupees. This
skywalk would be like the one in
Grand Canyon in North America.
The skywalk in Grand Canyon in
North America gets more than
300000 visitors every year, inspite
of opposition from the wild-lifers.
India and the UAE agrees
to take their Trade
Relations to a higher
Level
India and the UAE agreed to
improve their trade and investment
relations during the first meeting of
India-UAE High Level Task Force
on Investment in Abu Dhabi on 18
2 Current Affairs Notes
February 2013. UAE decided to
invest 2 billion dollars in
Infrastructure sector projects in
India and the two countries decided
to work for and support Strategic Oil
Reserve in India. The meeting was
co-chaired by the Union Minister of
Commerce, Industry and Textiles,
Anand Sharma and Sheikh Hamid
Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of
the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court.
As a part of the bilateral agreement,
Five high level sub committees will
be set up to promote investment in
infrastructure and energy, trade and
investment, manufacturing and
technology, Information and
communications technology and
aviation sectors. India and UAE
also decided to work together for
third country projects, including
Africa aimed at collaborating in the
infrastructure sector and oil and
gas exploration. The two countries
also agreed to put in place Bilateral
Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreement (BIPA).
Viswanathan Anand won
Grenke Chess Classic
Trophy
Viswanathan Anand, the World
Champion in Chess from India
won the Grenke Chess Classic
trophy of 2013 after defeating
Arkadij Naiditsch from Germany on
17 February 2013. To secure his
win in the Grenke Chess Classic,
Anand also defeated Fabiano
Caruana from Italy. This was his
first title of the year.
The 43 years old Anand, managed
to take a 49 move win against
Arkadij with his black pieces to
claim the title for his all-play-all
tournament title in five years. Anand
last won a title in March 2008 at
Linares, when he topped the field
with 8.5 points in the eight player
field. In January 2013, Anand
finished at third position in the Tata
Steel at Wijk aan Zee in although
he lost the first round to Wang Hao
from China.
Standings of Players Point wise:
1. Viswanathan Anand from India
(6.5/10)
2. Fabiano Caruana from Italy
(6/10)
3. Michael Adams from England
(5/10)
4. Georg Meier from Germany
(5/10)
5. Arkadij Naiditsch from Germany
(4/10)
6. Daniel Fridman from Germany
(3.5/10)
Kai Po Che, Movie based
on Chetan Bhagat’s Novel
Premiered
Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che

based on the novel of Chetan
Bhagat- 3 Mistakes of My Life was
premiered on 18 February 2013.
Produced by Sidharth Roy Kapur,
the movie premier witnessed some
Bollywood stars such as Vidya
Balan, Hrithik Roshan and his wife
Sussanne Roshan as well as
Ranveer Singh.
Kai Po Che is the Bollywood debut
of Sushant Singh Rajput as well as
Amit Sadh. The plot of the movie
revolves around three friends, the
characters of whom are played by
Sushant, Amit and Rajkumar Yadav.
Kai Po Che will release on 22
February 2013. In the third week of
February 2013, the movie attracted
many at Berlin Film Festival.
Meaning of the phrase Kai Vulture population rises
Po Che
Kai Po Che is actually a Gujarati
phrase which means I have cut. It
relates to the kite competition
where a competitor after cutting
others’ kite shouts Kai Po Che.
It is a held according to the Hindu
calendar, but it has long crossed
the boundaries of religion.
Irrespective of anyone’s
background, if one is in Gujarat,
they are part of it.
Mritunjay Singh is the
Joint COO of Persistent
Systems
Mritunjay Singh was appointed as
the new joint Chief Operation
Officer (COO) of the Persistent
Systems, a software product and
technology service providing
company. At this post, Mritunjay had
been made responsible for
managing the operations of the
company and work alongside the
Executive Director and COO, Nitin
Kulkarni.
Mritunjay Singh had joined
Persistent Systems from Infosys,
where he served as the delivery
head for the financial services and
insurance application development
and maintenance unit. He was also
the head of Infosys Pune
development centre.
Persistent Systems
Persistent Systems is a company
of global repute, with an employee
base of about 6000 employees.
The company specializes in
software product and technology
services and serves customers in
the global market, with services like
Mobility, Analytic’s and
Collaboration, Cloud Computing
and others.
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
Afghan Government
against aking Air Support
from International Forces
The order came after the death of at
least ten civilians, including women
and children in an air strike by the
International Forces in the north-
eastern Kunar province of
Afghanistan recently.
The Afghan government on 18
February 2013 prohibited its
security forces from taking any air
support from the International
Forces during security operations
in residential areas of the country.
The government also instructed the
security forces to respect human
rights during the security
operations.
The good news is that the fall of
vultures in South Asia, particularly
India, has stopped and is even
reversing in the case of some
species such as the white-backed
vulture.
A research paper in journal Science
, titled “Pollution, politics and
vultures,” says the 2006 ban on
manufacture, import and sale of
painkiller diclofenac for veterinary
use, a cause for
vulture mortality, and the timely
response of the governments in
India have helped.
But the increase in the number of
birds has been miniscule, after
almost 99 per cent of them in the
wild dying. The situation remains
precarious, and vulture
conservationists say the increase
is too little to mean much.
As against a population of 40
million vultures of different species
in the 1980s, a rough estimate by
the Bombay Natural History Society
(BNHS) in 2011 put the count at
fewer than a lakh in India. This is
up from the 40,000 or so
documented by it in 2007. Oriental
white-backed vulture, long-billed
vulture and slender-billed vulture,
all resident varieties, have been the
most affected.
The research paper by Andrew
Balmford of Cambridge University,
while giving a perspective on the
progress of vulture conservation in
South Asia, documents the
turnaround story of vultures and
praises India for timely action in
saving the species from extinction.
It goes on to say that in
comparison, the response of
western governments was much
slower in banning pesticide
organochlorides and DDT 40 years
ago. The pesticide effect in the
3 Current Affairs Notes
West continues to cause grave
damage to non-target organisms.
But in South Asia, the fact that the
decline has significantly slowed
and possibly even reversed has
been directly attributed to prompt
action over the past decade.
Dr. Balmford says, “The vulture
collapse is an immense problem
— in its sheer extent as well as in
its significance for people. So news
that the declines are beginning to
slow and even reverse is extremely
welcome and a testament both to
the tremendous hard work of all the
NGOs in the SAVE consortium and
to the responsiveness of
governments in the region.”
Though diclofenac, which is said to
be as fatal for vultures as cyanide
is for humans — just one meal on
a contaminated carcass is enough
to kill a bird — has been banned for
veterinary use, the emerging
challenge is the misuse by vets of
multi-dose vials meant for human
use. Vibhu Prakash, Head of the
BNHS’s vulture conservation
programme, says, “We have been
pressing the Union Health Ministry
to ban the production of multi-dose
vials of diclofenac sodium, which
are generally of 10 ml to 30 ml, and
enough for one cattle dose.
The other problem is that other
veterinary drugs like acyclofenac
and ketoprocin, which are also fatal
for vultures, are still in use.”
Since even the 2006 ban on
diclofenac took about three years to
be effective, he reckons that it will
take another five years or so before
significant numbers of this
scavenger bird can be seen in the
wild. The alternate pain killer,
meloxicam, is expensive and not
as effective, which is why
veterinarians sometimes use the
ones meant for humans. Just 0.05
per cent of diclofenac in a carcass
is enough to kill a vulture, which
dies of kidney failure, within days of
ingesting the contaminated meat
The lack of vulture safe zones
where diclofenac does not linger in
the food chain, in the country is
also the reason why the BNHS is
unable to release its captive bred
vultures into the wild as yet. Some
300 birds, including 46 chicks,
have been bred in the three BNHS
breeding centres, Pinjore in
Haryana, Rani in Assam and in
West Bengal.
The BNHS has set 2016 as the
target year to begin releasing its
captive vultures subject to the
availability of vulture safe zones till
then.

Some States like Punjab,
Maharashtra and West Bengal also
set up vulture restaurants in the
last few years, to provide diclofenac
free carcasses but the experiment
has not been very successful. Says
Dr. Prakash, “This concept does
not work in India because here
there is no dearth of food for
vultures. It will work only if the
authorities can ensure that for at
least a 100 kilometre radius no
carcass is available, so that the
vultures eat only at the ‘restaurant.’
Only 5 per cent of the Indian cattle
bear traces of the drug, but even
this has proved enough to
decimate the vulture population.
20 February 2013
Researchers discovered
water on the oldest rocks
of moon obtained through
the Apollo missions
Researchers in the third week of
February 2013 detected water
traces inside the crystalline
structure of one of the oldest lunar.
As per the study conducted by
University of Michigan, the lunar
highlands represent original crust
which is actually crystallised from
Magma Ocean that was found
mainly on the molten early Moon.
Researchers made use of the
Infrared spectroscopy for analysing
water content in a part of
plagioclase feldspar from lunar
anorthosites. Plagioclase feldspar
from lunar anorthosites are
basically the lunar rocks which are
formed of over 90 percent
plagioclase.
It is believed that these bright-
coloured highlands rocks formed
early in the history of the moon
when plagioclase crystallised from
the magma ocean and came up to
the surface. The infrared
spectroscopy work found out about
the presence of 6 parts per million
of water in lunar anorthosites.
The water content that was
measured is not actually liquid
water but hydroxyl groups which
were distributed in mineral grain.
These hydroxyl groups that were
detected are evident that the
interior of the Moon contained water
during the early molten state of it.
Later the crust was solidified and
played a crucial role in lunar
basalts developments.
Because there are some oldest
rocks from the Moon, therefore it is
believed that water would have
been there in the Moon when it was
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
formed. Earlier theories revealed
that Moon was formed when the
Mars-sized body bumped into the
young Earth. Eventually the debris
broke off and combined into new
body. It was believed that a lot of
water would have been evaporated
in the space, leaving Moon arid.
Rafael Nadal wins Brasil
Open 2013 defeating
David Nalbandian
This was the second tournament
for the former world number 1
Spanish tennis star after returning
back from to the game after seven
months. He was absent from the
game due to the knee injury that he
suffered from. Rafael Nadal on 17
February 2013 won the finals of
Brasil Open 2013 by defeating
Argentinean David Nalbandian in
straight sets by 6-2, 6-3 in Sao
Paolo. He won the tournament for
the second time; he won it for the
first time in 2005.
His next event is Mexican Open that
is scheduled to start on 25
February in Acapulco.
Brasil Open
The tournament is a part of ATP
World Tour 250 Series and is held
annually in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This
is a one of the important
tournaments held in Brazil and is
played on the South American Clay
Court circuit since 2004.
Judicial Probe in
Allahabad Railway
Station stampede
The State Government ordered a
Judicial Probe into the incident that
occurred on the day of Mauni
Amawasya 10 February 2013 at the
Allahabad Railway Station during
Kumbh Mela.
The State Government of Uttar
Pradesh on 18 February 2013
appointed Onkareshwar Bhatt, the
retired Justice of Allahabad High
Court to conduct Judicial Probe into
the Allahabad Railway Station
Stampede that occurred during
Kumbh Mela. The constituted
committee that will probe into the
matter is a one-man committee
and was directed to submit its
report in two months.
Note:
• Earlier, the state Government
appointed Jagan Mathews,
Chairman of the UP Board of
Revenue to conduct an inquiry and
submit its report within one month.
• Railways have also appointed an
Inquiry Committee being headed by
the Additional member traffic
4 Current Affairs Notes
Railway Board, to look into the
matter
FIFA confirmed use of
Goal-Line Technology at
the 2014 World Cup
Fédération Internationale de
Football Association (FIFA) on 19
February 2013 confirmed the use of
goal-line technology during the
2014 FIFA World Cup to be
organised in Brazil. It also stated
that the technology could be
introduced in the next season’s
Premier league.
FIFA had invited tenders from more
service providers of the technology
to conduct an official bidding ahead
of the Confederations Cup to be
held in June 2013.
Introduction of the technology in
football is being insisted to provide
a high-tech aid to the World Cup
referees to rule on the disputed
incidents. IFAB, the rule making
panel of FIFA in July 2012 decided
to approve the goal-line technology
for the competitive matches after it
passed an extensive test
conducted by the body.
The decision by FIFA was expected
once its rule-making panel, known
as IFAB, decided last July to
approve goal-line technology at
competitive matches after two
systems passed extensive tests.
Goal-Line Technology
(GLT)
Goal-line Technology is a
technology that is used to
determine the fact that has the ball
passed the goal-line or not with the
support of an electronic-device to
help the referee decided to take a
call that either it was a goal or not.
Milos Raonic beats
Tommy Haas to win third
consecutive SAP Open
2013 Singles Title
Milos Raonic on 17 February 2013
won SAP Open 2013 at San Jose
defeating Tommy Haas in the
championship match. Milos Raonic
completed the tournament with 6-4,
6-3 victory over Haas.
Raonic won third straight SAP
Open singles titles. With this
victory, he became first player to
grab the trophy for three years
consecutively, since Tony Trabert in
1953-55.
On the other hand, in SAP Open
2013 doubles final, Xavier Malisse
and Frank Moser beat Lleyton

Hewitt and Marinko Matosevic 6-0,
6-7(5), 10-4 to lift the trophy.
About Milos Raonic
• Milos Raonic has the 13th world
ranking.
• After this victory, he has four
career titles out of which three
came from San Jose only. Before
winning the SAP Open 2013
singles titles, he has also won SAP
Open 2011 and SAP Open 2012
singles titles.
• Milos Raonic is basically a
Canadian professional tennis
player.
About SAP Open
• SAP Open commenced in 1889
and it was called Pacific Coast
Championships at the Old Del
Monte Lodge in California.
• SAP Open is the second-oldest
tennis tournament in US.
• SAP Open 2013 was last
tournament held in Bay Area. Future
tournament will have Rio de
Janeiro as the venue.
• In SAP Open 2013, highest
ranked player was Milos Raonic
who ranked number 13th.
India and Sri Lanka
signed agreements on
combating Terrorism and
Avoiding Double-Taxation
India and Sri Lanka on 22 January
2013 signed two agreements for
fighting against international
terrorism as well as avoiding
double taxation. The agreements
were signed after 8th India-Sri
Lanka Joint Commission meeting
which was held in New Delhi.
Discussions held during
8th India-Sri Lanka Joint
Commission meeting
• The agreements were signed
after discussions on cooperation
on various areas such as civil
nuclear energy and many more.
External Affairs Minister led the
Indian side in the meeting, while
the Sri Lankan side was led by G L
Peiris.
• Issue of the fishermen as well as
rehabilitation process of the Tamils
in Sri Lanka was also discussed
during the meeting.
• Apart from this, 13th Amendment
of the Lankan constitution which
provides autonomy to the provinces
was also discussed.
It is important to note that India and
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
Sri Lanka are the largest trade
partners of each other in South
Asia.
After the meeting, it was agreed
that a dialogue between the
Commerce Secretary of India and
Secretary of the Ministry of Finance
and Economic Development of Sri
Lanka would be initiated to
progress the framework for special
economic partnership between
these two nations.
Tzipi Livni enteres a
coalition deal with
Benjamin Netanyahu,
Prime Minister of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime
Minister of Israel on 19 February
2013 announced a coalition deal
with the rival centrist Hatnua Party
Chairwomen and the former Israeli
Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, at
Jerusalem. Under the deal
agreement, Livni will serve as the
new Justice Minister and will
oversee the peace efforts with the
Palestinians.
NIPFP report states that
Black Money generated in
India would exceed 10
percent of GDP
A 1000 page report submitted by
the National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy (NIPFP) to the
finance ministry estimated that
unlawful wealth would exceed 10
percent or more of GDP, i.e., above
10 lakh crore Rupees as per the
size of the economy. The study was
commissioned by NIPFP in last
week of December 2012 in order to
quantify the black money that was
generated in India.
The study conducted by NIPFP was
headed by the head of NIPFP’s tax
policy and research and also
included former director general of
income tax investigation. The report
presented a sector-wise division of
the scope of black money in India,
for example, telecom sector, mining
sector and real estate sector.
A similar study like this was
conducted last time by NIPFP in
1984 where it was estimated that
black money generated in India
was 19 percent to 21 percent of
GDP, i.e., up to 36000 crore
Rupees.
The government, in order to combat
this had also selected three
thinking tanks in March 2011 in
order to estimate the quantum of
black money. These three thinking
tanks were-National Institute of
Financial Management (NIFM),
5 Current Affairs Notes
National Council for Applied
Economic Research (NCEAR) and
National Institute of Public Finance
and Policy (NIPFP).
Before this, NIPFP had also carried
out the studies in 1976 and 1981
where it was estimated that black
money in India was around 15-18
percent of GDP and 18-21 percent
of GDP respectively.
The previous estimated of
black money generated in
India, as per the study of
NIPFP are as follows:
• 1975-76: 15-18 percent of GDP,
i.e., 9958 to 11870 crore Rupees
• 1980-81: 18-21 percent of GDP,
i.e., 20362 to 23678 crore Rupees
• 1983-84: 19-21 percent of GDP,
i.e., 31584 to 36784 crore Rupees
About National Institute
of Public Finance and
Policy (NIPFP)
• National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy (NIPFP) is the
centre for research in public
finance and public policy. It was
established in 1976.
• Primary aim of NIPFP is
contributing to policy making in
areas which are related to public
economics.
• The annual grant-in-aid is
received by NIPFP from Ministry of
Finance, Government of India and
from various State Governments.
World’s first Mercury
Treaty adopted by 140
countries at Geneva
An international treaty that legally
binds the nation to limit the use of
health hazardous mercury was
adopted by 140 nations in the third
week of January 2013 at Geneva.
The treaty would be signed in
Minamata, Japan, in October 2013
to honour the inhabitants of town
who have suffered the
consequences of serious mercury
contamination for decades
The treaty that was
reached after four years
of difficult negotiations
will aim at
• Reduction of global emission
levels of the toxic heavy metal or
the quick silver
• Reduce the production and the
use of mercury in industrial
processes and product production

• To cut mercury pollution from
utility plants, mining, a host of
products and industrial processes,
and set enforceable limits as well
as to encourage alternatives where
mercury in not used or released
Making of the treaty
Switzerland and Norway pushed
forward for making of an
international treaty to limit the
emission of Mercury in the
atmosphere. The two nations came
up with the plans of reducing the
emission of mercury decades ago
and it was finalized after a long
conference in Geneva held in
February 2013.
Impact of Mercury on
Human Being
The natural element Mercury
cannot be created or destroyed, but
is released in air, water and land
from different activities like coal
powder plants, gold mining
activities as well as electrical
goods and other consumer
products. Mercury enters the food-
chain via fish and poses a threat to
the living being more likely to
pregnant women and children. As
per the data released by the World
Health Organisation intake of
mercury or any of its compounds to
any limit is not safe and it may lead
to memory loss, language
impairment and kidney damage.
Trade Deficit of Japan Hit
a new high in January
2013 as Yen Weakens
The monthly trade deficit of Japan
hit record in January 2013 after the
aggressive monetary policy
weakened Yen, its currency
considerably.
The exports increased in January,
which was the first increase in 8
months time. Exports of Japan
increased because the goods
became affordable for the foreign
buyers. However, because of the
weakened Yen, the import bill also
increased which eventually led to a
monthly trade deficit of 1.6tn yen or
17.1 billion US dollars. This was
the 10 percent increase from 2012.
The deficit of Japan was also
affected because of an increase in
the fuel imports. Japan is the third
largest economy of the world and
there was an increase in the fuel
imports because most of the
nuclear reactors of the country
remained shut down.
The imports of the country
increased 7.3 percent in January
2013 from January 2012. The
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
highest jump was in import of
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
which increased over 28 percent. In
the meanwhile, exports also
increased 6.4 percent. The exports
were driven considerably by
shipment of the manufactured
goods.
Factors affecting Japan’s
export
• The exports of Japan are crucial
factors that drive its economic
growth. Exports of Japan were
affected because of various factors.
These factors are as follows:
• Demand from the biggest
markets of Japan, Eurozone, was
hurt because of ongoing debt crisis
of the region.
• Territorial dispute with the biggest
trading partner of Japan, i.e., China
hit the sales of goods produced by
Japan over the duration of past
certain months.
• The exports also declined to the
European Union during January
2013.
NASA loses
communication with ISS
for 3 hours
The ground controllers of NASA re-
established its contact with
International Space Station in just
less than 3 hours after the
computer failure had blocked their
communication.
The flight controllers of Houston
were updating the ISS software
when the data relay system broke
down. But ISS was able to
irregularly contact NASA through the
Russian stations. Usually, NASA
communicates to ISS from
Houston through three
communication satellites.
Interruptions like these have
happened certain times in past.
The main problem was that the
primary computer that has the
responsibility of controlling the
critical functions of the ISS
defaulted to the backup computer.
But it did not allow the ISS to
communicate with the Tracking and
Data Relay Satellites of NASA.
Malaysia lifted the Ban on
public screening of
Vishwaroopam
The Malaysian Authorities on 19
February 2013 lifted the ban
imposed on the screening of the
Tamil movie Vishwaroopam,
directed and produced by Kamal
Haasan for public screening.
6 Current Affairs Notes
Earlier on 24 January 2013 the
authorities approved the
screening of the movie in
Malaysia but following the
directives released by the
Home Ministry that the content
of the movie portrayed Islam
in a negative light, the approval
was withdrawn.
The movie received a go-ahead
in Malaysia after the Malaysian
Islamic Development
Department (Jakim) and the
National Censorship Board
studied the movie from all
aspects including religious
and security fronts and gave a
green signal to its screening.
Government of Bulgaria
resigned because of
protest against high
electricity prices
The Government of Bulgaria
resigned from the office on
20 February 2013 on grounds of
protests in the nation against the
high electricity prices. The
Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Boiko
Borisov earlier tried to bring peace
by sacking the finance minister
and assured cutting the power
prices as well as punishing the
foreign-owned companies.
Cause of resignation of
Bulgaria’s government
Bulgarians held protests in the
country because of concerns over
higher energy costs, lower living
standards, power monopolies as
well as corruption.
The Boiko Borisov on 20 February
2013 announced his resignation.
While announcing his resignation,
Boiko Borisov did not mention
anything about the parliamentary
elections which are scheduled for
July 2013.
Important Facts:
• Bulgaria is located in
Southeastern Europe.
It is the 14th largest country
of Europe.
• Prime Minister of Bulgaria,
Boyko Borisov belonged to the
Citizens for European
Development of Bulgaria party,
which is abbreviated as
GERB (Grazhdani za
Evropeysko
Razvitie na Balgariya).
• It is the center-right political party
of Bulgaria which was established
in 2006. It has remained a ruling
party in Bulgaria since 2009,
headed by Boiko Borisov.

21 February 2013
CCI approves the
proposal for North
Karanpura Super Thermal
Power Plant in Jharkhand
The Cabinet Committee on
Investment (CCI) on 20 February
has cleared the proposal of the
Power Ministry to set up the North
Karanpura Super Thermal Power
Plant (NKSTPP) (3 x 660 MW) near
Tandwa town in Chatra district of
Jharkhand by the National Thermal
Power Corporation, NTPC.
The CCI also agreed for restoring
the original coal linkage for the
project and declared that the project
will be based on environment
friendly super-critical technology.
This supply will be made available
in the 13th Five Year Plan.
The safeguards of the project was
recommended by the Chaturvedi
Committee were accepted by the
Group of Ministers that was chaired
by the Finance Minister of Indian
Union.
The power project is being
developed for generation of 1980
MW power. The Plant is expected to
generate electricity for a period of
about 35 years.
Kerala Government raises T. S. Vijayan, the Former
LIC Chief takes charge as
age limit for buying and
selling liquor from 18 to 21 the new Chairman of
IRDA
The State Government of Kerala on
20 February 2013 approved Kerala
Abkari Act Amendment Ordinance
2013 that envisaged raising age
limit for buying or selling liquor
from 18 years to 21 years.
The new policy was announced in
2012, according to which Congress
had committed to raise liquor
buying and selling age from 18 to
21 years. This was aimed at
bringing down the consumption of
liquor in Kerala.
Apart from this, the Kerala Abkari
Act Amendment Ordinance 2013
would obligate showing statutory
warnings for movies and television,
against the consumption of liquor.
Tunisian Prime Minister
Hamadi Jebali, resigns
Hamadi Jebali resigned from the
office of the Prime Minister of
Tunisia on 19 February 2013 after
his attempt to end a political
standoff by formation of a
Government of Technocrats failed.
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
22 February 2013
Hamadi Jebali was trying to create
coalition because of the political
crisis which took birth by killing of
Chokri Belaid, the opposition
leader.
A cabinet of apolitical technocrats
was proposed by Jebali to
suppress the disorder created after
the assassination of the secular
opposition politician Chokri Belaid
on 6 February 2013. Belaid, an
outspoken critic of the government
and a leading lawyer was shot
dead and his death created a
situation of mass protests across
the nation. Assassination of Chokri
Belaid on 6 February 2013 led to
mass protests as well as
resignations from the coalition
government of Tunisia.
About Hamadi Jebali
Hamadi Jebali is the Tunisian
Islamist politician, who remained in
office as the PM from December
2011 to 19 February 2013. He was
also the Secretary-General of the
Ennahda Movement which is the
Islamist party in Tunisia. He
belonged to the Ennahda
Movement political party of Tunisia.
He is a member of the Islamist
Ennahda party.
T. S. Vijayan, the former LIC chief
took over as the Chairman of the
Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA) on 21
February 2013. Vijayan will
succeed J. Hari Narayan. J. Hari
Narayan completed the five-year
term on 20 February 2013.
The tenure for IRDA chairman is
five years or till 65 years.
T. S. Vijayan will take over as the
Chairman of IRDA when the entire
industry is facing meltdown. The
challenges which will be faced by
him include taking the insurance
industry to rural areas as well as
simplifying the insurance products.
Two blasts in Hyderabad
claims 14 lives leaving 119
injured
Two bomb blasts took place in
Dilsukhnagar, the busy shopping
area of Hyderabad, the Capital City
of Andhra Pradesh on 21 February
2013. 14 people were reported
dead and 119 were critically injured
7 Current Affairs Notes
in the serial blasts that rocked the
city around 6:50 pm. The blasts
were triggered using the
Improvised Explosive Devices
(IED), which were placed on two
different bicycles at a distance of
100 meters from each other near
Konark and Venkatadri theatres.
The area of blasts lie on the
Hyderabad-Vijaywada National
Highway within Cyberabad police
limits.
Investigations were ordered by both
the Central Government and the
State Government to find out the
group involved in the blast. The
State Government of Andhra
Pradesh appointed a probe team
into the matter.
Dilsukhnagar
Dilsukhnagar is a commercial and
educational hub of Hyderabad. The
market of Dilsukhnagar is packed
with shops, restaurants,
educational institutions, exam
preparation centers and theaters.
Blasts in recent past in
Hyderabad
A bomb blast occurred at the Mecca
Masjid in Hyderabad in May 2007
claiming lives of 9 people.
TRAI releases
pre-consultation paper
on nation-wide Mobile
Number Portability
Telecom Regulator Authority of
India (TRAI) started the pre-
consultation process for the
country-wide mobile number
portability services which will
enable the users to have the same
number even if they change their
service area.
As of now, mobile number
portability (MNP) services were
available in one service area only.
But with the help of country-wide
MNP services, the users would be
able to have same number even if
they change their location state-
wise.
TRAI announced that it would seek
views from the stakeholders on
certain issues through the pre-
consultation paper. TRAI asked the
stakeholders to offer their views by
7 March 2013 on methods or
techniques that needed to be used
for implementation of full MNP,
number portability from one service
area to another as well as
amendments needed in the
existing regulation.
At present, TRAI announced, that
there were two MNP service

providers which catered to 22
service areas. Implementing
complete MNP service would have
issues associated with processing
of these porting requests,
charging, routing, testing as well
as much more. Also, there would
be a need to ensure connectivity
between the MNP service
providers.
As per the present MNP
regulations, the time required for
completing porting for North East,
J&K as well as Assam is 15
working days. In other service
areas, this time is 7 working days.
Transit-Oriented
Development (TOD)
projects receive a nod
The UTTIPEC (Unified Traffic and
Transportation Infrastructure
Planning and Engineering Centre)
on 21 February 2013 started efforts
for developing vision as well as
strategy for successful
implementation of the plans for
mass-rapid transport system in
Delhi. Already, pilot projects along
the four metro corridors as well as
Karkardooma have got in-principal
approval for first phase of transit-
oriented development (TOD).
UTTIPEC is the division of Delhi
Development Authority. It has plans
for conducting around 25
workshops in coming months
which would focus on metro
corridors between Chattarpur to
Arjangarh and Peeragarhi to Teekri
Kalan. The aim of these
workshops is to create awareness
about TOD policy. Also, the
workshops will include concerns
raised by stakeholders such as
NGOs, RWAs, DTC, DMRC, private
transporters, DTC as well as other
experts.
UTTIPEC planners on 21 February
2013 emphasised on the fact that
TOD system would help in making
the transport system friendly to
women, cyclists and walkers.
Aim of TOD
The aim of TOD is building mass-
rapid transport hubs which will
have inner zone of 300 metres
radius that would be called
intense-zone. This intense-zone
will give preference to non-
motorised transport, pedestrians
as well as high-density mixed use
development.
Two other concentric zones of 800
metres and 2 km will be built with
equal road-space distribution and
high-density street network.
The workshops would create
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
strategies as well as plans which
would have nine themes and these
are:
• visualising of the TOD-based
development
• economic feasibility and market
testing
• strategy for sustainable
infrastructure
• transferring development rights
as well as its implementation
• strategy for incentivising
redevelopment
• strategy for sustainable transport
infrastructure
• strategy for effective parking
• strategy for rolling out the TOD
In order to select the models for
retrofitting, green-field development
and redevelopment, design
competitions will be held.
Ratan Tata awarded the
life time achievement
award 2012 by E&Y
Ratan Tata, the former head of Tata
Group was awarded the life time
achievement award 2012 by Ernst
& Young on 21 February 2013. He
was given away the award for
displaying great role for the Indian
businessmen on global business
level.
The entrepreneur of the year (2012)
award was given away to Adi
Godrej, Godrej Group Chairman. It
is important to note that
entrepreneur of the year award is
an only business award which is
based on self-nomination.
Also, Ernst & Young announced
names of successful
entrepreneurs in various
categories and these awards were
given away to TT Jagannathan,
Chairman, TTK Group; Francisco
D’Souza, Chief Executive Officer,
Cognizant Technology Solutions;
Cyrus S Poonawalla, Managing
Director, Serum Institute of India
and Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman
and Managing Director, Apollo
Tyres.
Bharat Heavy Plate &
Vessels Ltd. (BHPV) to be
a subsidiary of BHEL
The Union Cabinet of India
approved merger of Bharat Heavy
Plate & Vessels Ltd. (BHPV)
Vishakhapatnam with Bharat Heavy
Electricals Limited (BHEL) on 21
February 2013. After the merger,
BHVP will be a unit of BHEL.
Post-merger, BHVP will be able to
participate in the tenders as well as
obtain the orders.
8 Current Affairs Notes
Bharat Heavy Plate &
Vessels Ltd. (BHPV)
Bharat Heavy Plate & Vessels Ltd.
(BHPV) is the engineering and
heavy fabrication company which
was established back in 1966 in
Andhra Pradesh. The company had
suffered immense loss because of
various reasons.
Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited (BHEL)
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited
(BHEL) acquired BHPV in 2008 as
100 percent subsidiary. However,
because BHVP was a separate
company, therefore it was not able
to derive complete benefits.
23 February 2013
Justice Usha Mehra
commission submitted its
report to the Union
Government of India
Justice Usha Mehra Commission
on 22 February 2013 submitted its
report to on the 16 December 2012
Delhi gang-rape incident to the
Union Government of India. The
report was received by the Union
Minister of Law and Justice
Ashwani Kumar and the Union
Home Secretary R.K. Singh.
Major findings of the Usha
Mehra Commission
• Lack of Coordination between the
Police and the transport
department
• Lack of cooperation between the
police of National Capital Territory
and National Capital Region plays
a great role in escape of the
criminals from one place to another
• Lack of PCR vans and public
transport facility in Delhi
Akhilesh Yadav, Chief Minister of
Uttar Pradesh Presented Budget for
Fiscal Year 2013-14
Uttar Pradesh Budget
2013-14: 221201.19 crore
rupees Budget Planned
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
on 19 February 2013 presented a
budget of 221201.19 crore rupees
for the fiscal year 2013-2014 in the
Vidhan Sabha. The budget
presented for the upcoming fiscal
year is 10.5 percent more than the
budget presented in the 2012-13
fiscal year. The budget has not
presented any new tax.
The state finance ministry of Uttar

Pradesh is led by the Chief Minister
of the State Akhilesh Yadav himself.
The new budget had levied no new
taxes but estimated a deficit of 2.94
percent in the new financial year.
Important points of the
state budget 2013-14
• People with annual income less
than 36000 Rs will be provided free
houses in the state
• Free education for girls in degree
colleges, both in government and
government aided colleges
• 750 crore rupees was allocated
for a loan waiver for farmers.
Budgetary Allocation of
Money
• 32886 crore rupees for Education
• 20292 crore rupees for Social
Welfare Schemes
• 10,654 crore rupees for Health
• 26,641 crore rupees for
developing Infrastructure and
Value-Addition on Bridges, Roads,
Flyovers, Expressways, this is 25
percent more than the allocation
made in 2012-13 budget
• 17,774 crore rupees for
Agriculture
• 1,200 crore rupees for
unemployment allowance
• 100 crore rupees for the
development of Poorvanchal
• The state Government have
allotted a sum of 350 crore rupees
for its scheme Hamari Beti Ushka
Kal
• 20292.92 crore rupees have been
allocated for uplifting of SCs, STs,
OBCs, physically handicapped,
Minority groups as well as BPL
families of general category
The budget has displayed a
revenue loss of 3 percent (24000
crore rupees) in the GDP. The
budget has assured construction
of 313 junior schools and 1200
primary schools in the 2013-14
fiscal year.
RBI announced
guidelines for licensing
of new banks in private
sector
The Reserve Bank of India
released the Guidelines for
Licensing of New Banks in the
Private Sector. The guidelines
issued by the Apex Bank have
opened gates for private players as
well as the finance firms to enter
into the strictly regulated banking
sector of India. The guidelines for
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
the Licensing of New Banks in the
Private Sector were finalized after
amending the Banking Regulation
Act, 1949 in December 2012.
Key Features of the
issued Guidelines:
(i) Eligible Promoters: Entities /
groups in the private sector, entities
in public sector and Non-Banking
Financial Companies (NBFCs)
shall be eligible to set up a bank
through a wholly-owned Non-
Operative Financial Holding
Company (NOFHC).
(ii) Fit and Proper criteria: Entities /
groups should have a past record
of sound credentials and integrity,
be financially sound with a
successful track record of 10 years.
For this purpose, RBI may seek
feedback from other regulators and
enforcement and investigative
agencies.
(iii) Corporate structure of the
NOFHC: The NOFHC shall be
wholly owned by the Promoter /
Promoter Group. The NOFHC shall
hold the bank as well as all the
other financial services entities of
the group.
(iv) Minimum voting equity capital
requirements for banks and
shareholding by NOFHC: The initial
minimum paid-up voting equity
capital for a bank shall be ‘5 billion.
The NOFHC shall initially hold a
minimum of 40 percent of the paid-
up voting equity capital of the bank
which shall be locked in for a
period of five years and which shall
be brought down to 15 per cent
within 12 years. The bank shall get
its shares listed on the stock
exchanges within three years of the
commencement of business by the
bank.
(v) Regulatory framework: The
bank will be governed by the
provisions of the relevant Acts,
relevant Statutes and the Directives,
Prudential regulations and other
Guidelines/Instructions issued by
RBI and other regulators. The
NOFHC shall be registered as a
non-banking finance company
(NBFC) with the RBI and will be
governed by a separate set of
directions issued by RBI.
(vi) Foreign shareholding in the
bank: The aggregate non-resident
shareholding in the new bank shall
not exceed 49% for the first 5 years
after which it will be as per the
extant policy.
(vii) Corporate governance of
NOFHC: At least 50% of the
Directors of the NOFHC should be
independent directors. The
9 Current Affairs Notes
corporate structure should not
impede effective supervision of the
bank and the NOFHC on a
consolidated basis by RBI.
(viii) Prudential norms for the
NOFHC: The prudential norms will
be applied to NOFHC both on
stand-alone as well as on a
consolidated basis and the norms
would be on similar lines as that of
the bank.
(ix) Exposure norms: The NOFHC
and the bank shall not have any
exposure to the Promoter Group.
The bank shall not invest in the
equity / debt capital instruments of
any financial entities held by the
NOFHC.
(x) Business Plan for the bank:
The business plan should be
realistic and viable and should
address how the bank proposes to
achieve financial inclusion.
(xi) Other conditions for the bank:
The Board of the bank should have
a majority of independent Directors.
• The bank shall open at least 25
per cent of its branches in
unbanked rural centres (population
up to 9,999 as per the latest
census)
• The bank shall comply with the
priority sector lending targets and
sub-targets as applicable to the
existing domestic banks.
• Banks promoted by groups having
40 percent or more assets/income
from non-financial business will
require RBI’s prior approval for
raising paid-up voting equity capital
beyond ‘10 billion for every block of
5 billion.
• Any non-compliance of terms and
conditions will attract penal
measures including cancellation of
licence of the bank.
(xii) Additional conditions for
NBFCs promoting / converting into
a bank: Existing NBFCs, if
considered eligible, may be
permitted to promote a new bank or
convert themselves into banks.
Sania Mirza and
Bethanie-Mattek Sands
won the 2013 Dubai
Tennis Championship
India’s Sania Mirza and her
American partner Bethanie-Mattek
Sands won the Dubai Tennis
Championship on 23 February
2013. The Indo-American duo
defeated the second seeded
Russian-Slovenian combination of
Nadia Petrova and Katarina
Srebotnik, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7.

24 February 2013
Meanwhile, Czech Republic’s Petra
Kvitova yesterday clinched the
Women’s Singles trophy. In the
finals, she defeated Sara Errani of
Italy, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 to win her
career’s 10th title.
Assam became the first
Indian state to produce
over 500 million kilos tea
for 2 Years in a row
Assam became the first state in
India to produce over 500 million
kilogram tea for two years in a row.
Assam produced five hundred 88
million kilogram of tea in 2012,
which is 53 percent of the country’s
total tea production. Earlier in 2011,
589 million kilogram teas was
produced in the state.
According to an estimate, over
seven thousand five hundred crore
rupee as turn-over was recorded in
Assam tea sector in 2012. It may
be recalled that around seven lakh
workers are engaged in the tea
sector. Fifty percent of them are
women.
NASA Scientists spots
the youngest Black Hole
W49B in our Milky Way
NASA scientists spotted the
youngest black hole yet in the Milky
Way galaxy called W49B, which is
just 1000-years-old and only 26000
light-years away from Earth. New
data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray
Observatory suggested a highly
distorted supernova remnant may
contain the most recent black hole
formed in the Milky Way galaxy.
NASA explained that W49B appears
to be the product of a rare
explosion in which matter is
ejected at high speeds along the
poles of a rotating star. Laura
Lopez, who led the study at the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, said that W49B is the
first of its kind to be discovered in
the galaxy. Usually when a massive
star runs out of fuel, the central
region of the star collapses,
triggering a chain of events that
quickly culminate in a supernova
explosion.
Most of these explosions are
generally symmetrical, with the
stellar material blasting away more
or less evenly in all directions.
However, in the W49B supernova,
material near the poles of the
doomed rotating star was ejected
at a much higher speed than
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
material emanating from its
equator. The remnant now glows
brightly in X-rays and other
wavelengths, offering the evidence
for a peculiar explosion. By tracing
the distribution and amounts of
different elements in the stellar
debris field, researchers were able
to compare the Chandra data to
theoretical models of how a star
explodes.
A careful search of the Chandra
data revealed no evidence for a
neutron star. The lack of such
evidence implies a black hole may
have formed.
African Leaders signed
UN-Brokered Accord in
DR Congo
Regional African leaders from
Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania,
South Africa, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Congo Republic and
South Sudan signed UN-brokered
accord which aims to bring peace
to the troubled eastern region of the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
The deal was signed in the
presence of UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon in Addis Ababa,
capital of Ethiopia.
As many as 800000 people were
displaced since rebel group M23
revolted against the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s government in
May 2012.The agreement, signed
by leaders of the Great Lakes
region, will result in setting up of a
special UN intervention brigade in
eastern Congo.
M23 Rebels
As per the statement made by M23
rebels, they want to better the
conditions for the people of eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo;
however UN says they are
supported by Rwanda who is
responsible for the country’s
genocide in 1994.
Bosco Ntaganda set up M23. He
was an officer in the Rwandan
army earlier. Afterwards, he left to
join a rebel movement in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. He
is accused of using child soldiers
and he controls several mines in
the east of the country. The M23
group briefly seized control of the
city of Goma in November 2012
after carving out an area for
themselves in North Kivu province.
Congo’s government and rebels
are holding talks in Uganda aimed
at reaching an agreement on a
range of issues. In January 2013,
the rebels declared a unilateral
ceasefire.
An earlier attempt to reach a deal
10
ended up in failure in December
2012 after the rebels accused
President Joseph Kabila of failing
to honour a deal to integrate rebels
into the army.
The region’s mineral resources
have been exploited by numerous
groups and countries over the past
15 years and little has been aimed
at improving the Democratic
Republic of Congo’s infrastructure.
Bumblebees can detect
electric fields of flowers- A
study
Scientists discovered in their study
that Bumblebees (Bombus
terrestris) can detect flowers’
electric fields. Scientific study
indicated that floral electric fields
improve the bees’ ability to
discriminate between different
flowers. When used with visual
signals, electrical cues can
increase the bee’s memory of floral
rewards. Scientists hinted that this
method of signalling provides
speedy and dynamic
communication between plants
and pollinators. Flowering plants
provide pollinators with nectar and
pollen in exchange for their
assistance in the flowers’ sexual
reproduction.
Usually, Flowers attract pollinators
using cues such as bright colours,
patterns and enticing fragrances
but this study for the first time
revealed the significance of
electrostatic information as an
additional cue. The investigation
done by the scientists put
emphasis on the possible
importance of electrostatic forces.
Discovery of the deepest
Hydrothermal Vents in the
world by UK Scientists
UK scientists in January 2013
discovered a set of hydrothermal
vents, the deepest anywhere in the
world while exploring the ocean
floor in the Caribbean islands.
Scientists used ROV (Remotely
operated vehicle) in the Cayman
Trough to make this discovery.
They stumbled across a
previously-unknown site nearly
5000m below the surface.
In the huge pressure of the sea
three miles down, the ROV, which
is also known as ISIS, was gently
steered around the vents, to take
pictures and gather samples.
Hydrothermal vents are among the
strangest features of the deep
ocean and their existence was
hidden until the 1970s. Since then
they have been discovered at about
Current Affairs Notes

200 sites across the globe which
includes the Southern Ocean and
the Atlantic.
However it was in 2010 that vents
were first detected in the Cayman
Trough, a deep trench formed by
the boundary between two tectonic
plates. One set of vents, known as
Beebe, was considered as the
deepest on record prior to the
recent discovery made in the
Ocean floor of Caribbean islands.
25 February 2013
Consecutive victory again
for ISRO’s PSLV-C20
rocket with its 22nd
successful launch
carrying SARAL and six
other satellites.
Six foreign micro and mini
spacecrafts as well as the Indo-
French oceanographic study
satellite, SARAL (Satellite for
Argos-3 and Altika) were launched
successfully by ISRO’s PSLV-C20
rocket on 25 February 2013 from
the spaceport at Sriharikota.
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV) of Indian Space Research
Organization’s (ISRO) flew from
first launch pad of Satish Dhawan
Space Centre and was
successfully put into the orbit. The
President of India, Pranab
Mukherjee witnessed this launch
from mission control centre at
Sriharikota.
Satellites launched by
PSLV-C20 rocket
• 410-kg SARAL with payloads -
Argos and Altika
JTS Institute
19 February - 25 February 2013
• Two micro-satellites UniBRITE About Marina Erakovic:
and BRITE from Austria
• AAUSAT3 from Denmark • With this victory, Erakovic became
the first women from New Zealand
• STRaND from United Kingdom to win WTA Title since Belinda
• Micro-satellite (NEOSS at) Cordwell in Singapore in 1989.
• Mini-satellite (SAPPHIRE) from • This is her first career victory
Canada
CBI Registered Case
Importance of SARAL
against Airtel and Tata
• SARAL is said to be a very unique
satellite which serves the research Communications for
community. violating DoT Norms
• This satellite will assist the The Central Bureau of Investigation
researchers in oceanographic registered a case on 22 February
studies. 2013 against Bharti Airtel Ltd and
• SARAL will study the sea surface Tata Communications Ltd, the giant
heights and ocean currents. telecom companies for having link
• ARGOS-2 will help in collecting up with the Singapore Telecom for
the data, while Altikameter will be the purpose of international calls,
responsible for measuring the thereby violating norms of
height of sea surface. Department of Telecom (DoT).
• SARAL will also assist CBI on 24 February 2013
researchers in studying about the announced that the two companies
climatic developments. were charged for causing a loss of
around 48 crore Rupees to the
• Its practical applications include
study of migration of the marine Union Government of India since
2004 because of illegal
animals, continental ice studies,
protection of biodiversity and arrangement. CBI filed an FIR in
the local court in Delhi after
coastal erosion.
complaints of Communications
Marina Erakovic Won the and IT Ministry.
2013 US National Indoor
Tennis Championship
making it her first WTA
title
Marina Erakovic won her first
Women’s Tennis Association title,
US National Indoor Tennis
Championship 2013 after beating
Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in
Memphis on 23 February 2013.
The match merely took place for
one set with Marina Erakovic
winning 6-1 and Sabine Lisicki
unable to begin due to illness.
11 Current Affairs Notes
 12thFebruary
Issue-7/2013 (12th February to 18
February)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 12 Feb - 18 Feb, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
12 February 2013
Vulture population
stabilising in Moyar Valley
The population of vultures, a
critically endangered species, is
stabilising in the Moyar Valley in
The Nilgiris North Forest Division in
the State, thanks to the efforts of
non-governmental organisations
and the State Forest Department.
S. Bharatidasan, Director,
CareEarthArulagam, the non-
governmental organisation involved
in the vulture conservation in the
Moyar Valley, told The Hindu that
through systematic protection
measures the number of the forest
scavengers’ nests had increased
to 50 in January this year. Similarly,
the number of vultures sighted also
had also gone up.
The vulture nests were found in
Semmanatham, Jallikadavu and
Siriyur in the Nilgiris North Forest
Division.
A year ago, when the organisation
began its work in the region, the
local people had reported that only
about 20 nests of vultures were
spotted in the area.
The area is habitat to four species
of vultures – Oriental White-backed,
Indian, Red-headed and White
Scavenger vultures.
Use of diclofenac, a drug, which
directly affected the vulture
population, is virtually absent in the
Moyar Valley, which could be one of
the reasons for the stabilisation of
the four species of vulture
population in the region. The State
Forest Department on its part to
help the conservation effort, has
appointed nearly half a dozen
vulture watchers.
These watchers were selected
from the local tribal community,
who regularly monitor the nests
and breeding of the forest
scavengers.
JTS Institute
- 18 February 2013
Kaziranga Park to be
separated into four
divisions, says minister
With a view ‘to strengthen the
management system and boost
operation efficiency’ in the
Kaziranga National Park (KNP), the
Assam government has decided to
divide the park into four divisions
with separate Divisional Forest
Officers (DFOs) for each park.
“As part of the Intensification of
Management and Restoration of
the Kaziranga National Park
programme, we have decided that
from one division encompassing
the whole park, we will now have
four divisions with each one having
its own DFOs,” Minister for
Environment and Forest Rockybul
Hussain said in Guwahati on
Saturday.
He said the existing Burapahar and
Bagori ranges will together form a
new Kaziranga West Division with
head quarters at Bagori, while the
Kohora and Agratuli ranges would
form the Kaziranga East Division
head quartered in Bokakhat.
The Biswanath range in the
northern bank of Brahmaputra river
would be converted into a separate
North Zone which will have its
headquarters in
BishwanathChariali.”Besides, we
will have a separate Division for
Eco Development and Eco
Sensitisation outside the park
area. This Kaziranga Eco
Development division will be
headquartered in Bokakhat,”
Mr.Hussain said.
“A committee which includes the
Assam Principal Chief Conservator
of Forests and other senior officials
have been told to have the project
implemented within one month,”
he added.
‘Shoot-at-sight could be
considered’
The government is taking all steps
and shoot-at-sight orders could be
considered in the Kaziranga
National Park (KNP) to deal with
poaching, the minister added.
1 Current Affairs Notes
“Some of the demands made
recently by the All Assam Students
Union (AASU) are sound ones,
including deployment of army and
shoot-at-sight orders,” he told
reporters.
Extremist groups are reportedly
present in the area around the park
and forest department personnel
cannot deal with them, he said,
adding that “Poachers now use
sophisticated weapons and we are
trying to match them, “Assam is the
only State where forest personnel
have been given power to use such
sophisticated arms against
poachers,” he said.
Another 200 staff is likely to be
added to the park after the new
divisions are created, Mr. Hussain
said. He, however, refused to
provide details regarding current
staff strength by citing security
issues.
RBI Governor warns of
widening CAD
The Reserve Bank of India
Governor D. Subbarao, on
Monday, warned the country
against widening Current Account
Deficit (CAD), which is
expected to be higher than last
year.
“Today, the external sector is
vulnerable. Last year, the CAD was
4.2 per cent of gross domestic
product (GDP). This year, in
2012-13, we expect the CAD to be
significantly higher than that,
historically, the highest CAD
measured as a proportion of the
GDP,” said Dr.Subbarao while
speaking at the convocation of
Indira Gandhi Institute of
Development Research (IGIDR),
here.
At present, the CAD is at 5.3 per
cent of GDP in the second quarter
of the current financial year.
In his review of third quarter policy
in January-end, Dr.Subbarao had
highlighted the issue of widening
CAD, which would disturb policy
actions.
Rupee has depreciated by about

20 per cent in the last two years.
“We expect the rupee depreciation
to be a natural counter-force to
increasing CAD, but we have the
rupee depreciating and still CAD is
high.”
“We would not worry so much if the
CAD is high … if it was due to
import of capital goods … but
because of import of oil and gold.”
The other concern is that the way
India is financing the CAD which is
increasingly through volatile flows
instead of getting much of foreign
direct investment (FDI).
On reducing the rate in the last
policy review, Dr.Subbarao said that
“the dilemma we faced in making
our monetary policy in the context of
the CAD was that we reduced rates
at a time when CAD was so high
because one would expect that if
the CAD is going to go up, the
central bank would keep a tight
policy. On the other hand RBI
reduced rates.”
The RBI Governor said that the
country was dismayed by the
growth number put out by the CSO
(5 per cent advanced estimate) as
it was the lowest in the last decade.
Growth was slow because
consumption had fallen, net
exports had fallen, and, most
importantly, investments had
declined.
“This is a matter of concern
because today’s investment is
tomorrow’s production capacity. So,
if investments are not taking place
today, then our growth potential on
the way forward is going to be hurt
Arbitration Court to give
verdict on Kishenganga
hydro project
India and Pakistan are bracing
themselves for the final order of the
Court of Arbitration at The Hague in
their dispute over the construction
of the Rs. 3,600 crore Kishenganga
hydro-electric project in North
Kashmir.
Highly placed sources told The
Hindu on Monday that the court,
chaired by Stephen M. Schwebel,
has asked the two ambassadors to
be present when it hands out its
judgment on February 18.
The 330 MW run-of-the-river power
project is under construction by the
National Hydro Power Corporation.
Pakistan had sought a stay on it
while the dispute was being heard.
However, the court only restrained
India from certain activities of a
permanent nature.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
The arbitration was initiated by
Pakistan against India on the
charge that it had violated the
provisions of the bi-lateral Indus
Waters Treaty of 1960 that
regulates the use of Indus rivers.
India denied the charge and said
the project was in conformity with
the treaty.
The project is under construction
on Kishenganga (called Neelam in
Pakistan), a tributary of the Jhelum
river. It diverts waters from a dam
site to Bonar MadmatiNallah,
another tributary of Jhelum.
For management of siltation/
sedimentation in the project, India
proposes to use the modern
drawdown flushing technique that
requires waters to be brought
below the Dead Storage Level — a
technique accepted by the neutral
expert in the Baglihar dispute with
Pakistan.
Concept:
The Kishanganga Hydroelectric
Plant is part of a run-of-the-river
hydroelectric scheme that is
designed to divert water from the
Kishanganga River to a power
plant in the Jhelum River basin. It
is located 5 km (3 mi) north of
Bandipore in Jammu and Kashmir,
India and will have an installed
capacity of 330 MW. Construction
on the project began in 2007 and is
expected to be complete in 2016.
Construction on the dam was
halted though by the Hague’s
Permanent Court of Arbitration in
October 2011 due to Pakistan’s
protest of its effect on the flow of
the Kishanganga River (called the
Neelum River in Pakistan).
Development minus
green shoots
In early February, the Ministry of
Environment and Forests partially
revoked a crucial order it had
issued in August 2009, which
made the consent of gram
sabhasmandatory for projects
seeking diversion of forest lands
for non-forest purposes. Now, the
ministry has exempted “projects
like construction of roads, canals,
laying of pipelines/optical fibres
and transmission lines etc.
[sic] where linear diversion of forest
land in several villages are
involved” from obtaining the
consent of the gram
sabhas concerned. The
requirement for gram
sabha consent, in the 2009 order,
was provided to uphold the rights of
forest-dwelling communities, in
keeping with the Scheduled Tribes
and other Traditional Forest
2 Current Affairs Notes
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006 (or Forest Rights
Act) and duly incorporated in
guidelines issued by the Ministry of
Tribal Affairs in July 2012.
Rejecting bauxite mining
The 2009 order had empowered
forest-dwelling communities to
reject projects harming the local
environment, livelihoods and
culture. The best example comes
from the affected gram sabhas of
the DongariaKondh and
KutiaKondh tribes in Odisha
refusing their consent to Vedanta’s
bauxite mining project in the
Niyamgiri hills. Until the recent
order, the Forest Rights Act and its
requirement of gram
sabha consent had been publicly
supported by both the ministers for
Environment and Forests, and
Tribal Affairs even in the face of
sustained pressure from more
powerful quarters in government
and the Prime Minister’s Office
(PMO).
In December 2012, the Tribal
Affairs Minister wrote to Ms
JayanthiNatarajan, his colleague in
ParyavaranBhavan. The emphatic
letter stated: ”... the consent of
the gram sabha, with at least a 50%
quorum (as stated in the Rules and
in the 2009 order) is the bare
minimum that is required to comply
with the Act before any forest area
can be diverted, or destroyed.” A
handwritten postscript said: “any
dilution of the above mentioned
circular of 2009 will have an
adverse impact on the ‘Vedanta
case,’ which is sub-judice.” One
can imagine the pressures when
the same Tribal Affairs Minister,
weeks later, in a letter to the Power
Minister, was forced to set aside
this requirement of gram
sabha consent for power lines.
Following this, the environment
ministry revoked the requirement
for an even broader range of linear
projects.
Dangerous consequences
When two central ministries, one
tasked to protect the environment
and forests, and the other to
empower tribal and forest peoples,
are strong-armed into relinquishing
even the “bare minimum” required
to implement the government’s
flagship forest rights law, it utterly
discredits the United Progressive
Alliance’s commitment to
“inclusion” in its proclaimed
agenda of inclusive economic
growth. Further, the consequences
of this single action go well beyond
the intents of those who embark on
it.

Linear infrastructure projects, such
as roads and power lines, while
often integral to growth and
development, can also have
negative effects. A 2010
background paper, prepared at the
initiative of the National Board for
Wildlife (NBWL), lists a range of
ecological impacts caused by
linear infrastructure intrusions in
natural areas: habitat loss and
fragmentation, the spread of
invasive alien species, fires,
animal mortality (e.g., roadkills,
electrocution), disruption of animal
corridors, increased developmental
and hunting pressures, and an
increase in pollution and other
disturbances. Social impacts may
include insensitive developments
in tribal areas, encroachments and
land-grabbing along roads
(witnessed recently in the Aravallis
around New Delhi), changes in
local communities due to the entry
of a large workforce from other
regions, and an increase in
tourism, and garbage. It is
therefore important
thatgramsabhas and rural
communities retain their right to
provide consent after due
consideration of how such projects
may benefit or affect them.
The recent order also appears
unjustified and arbitrary because
the criteria for arriving at exemption
for linear projects and what is
meant by “several villages” are
unclear. No evidence is provided as
to whethergramsabha consent was
in fact hindering vital development
projects. Arguably, for large projects
that involve a large number of gram
sabhas, a situation where dissent
from one or a few gram
sabhas holds up a project that
most other gram sabhas want, may
be undesirable.
Yet, revoking the requirement for
local consent is an undemocratic
step that also removes
opportunities for critical exploration
of alternatives, such as
realignments, or other ways of
mitigating a project’s ecological
and social impacts. Instead of
viewing local consent as impeding
development, it needs to be seen
as a legitimate avenue for collective
bargaining and peaceful action,
vastly preferable to situations
where forest communities are
forced to turn to violent protest. In
ways that an exclusively
bureaucratic clearance process
can never achieve, gram
sabha consent can ensure that
citizens are truly made partners in
development and its benefits
actually flow to the poorest.
The recent order of the environment
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
ministry also conflates projects
such as roads, power lines, and
canals (not to mention the ominous
‘etc.’). Bundling them together just
because they are all linear is a
serious error as the effects of
roads or canals on the environment
or forest cover and on local
communities are substantially
different from the effects of power
lines. For example, roads through
forests can lead to soil erosion and
wildlife deaths through collision
with vehicles. Roads and canals
can change hydrological and
agricultural patterns, unlike power
lines. While some social or
environmental effects may be
common to different kinds of linear
projects, the distinctions are
serious.
For more balance
Another danger in the order is that
it weakens and vitiates the process
of settling rights under the Forest
Rights Act, which, as many rights
groups have pointed out, has not
been progressing smoothly,
especially in areas where
economic interests vie with the
claims of forest dwellers. The
ministry’s exemption affects rights
settlement processes and may
lead to an unfair rejection of
claims. An overarching concern is
the issue of precedent. If the Forest
Rights Act can be diluted of its most
crucial provision for some
categories of projects, what is to
prevent a cascade of claims for
other exceptions, as are already
emerging in the case of mining
projects? This leads to a slippery
slope that can ultimately defeat the
entire spirit and intent of this rights-
enabling legislation. In the words of
the previous Environment Minister,
Mr.Jairam Ramesh, “The question
before the country is very, very
simple. Are these laws to be
enforced or are they to just adorn
the statute books, honoured more
in their breach than in their
observance?”
The gains of economic growth
frequently carry environmental and
social costs. Instead of denying
their existence or making arbitrary
exemptions for projects, the trade-
offs need to be acknowledged,
making them explicit and
transparent to citizens,
strengthening the democratic
foundations of decision-making,
and creating more efficient and
faster processes so that projects
that further inclusive growth and
development are not unduly
hindered.
India’s remaining forest cover,
particularly natural forests with
3 Current Affairs Notes
native species (in contrast to
planted forests of alien species
such as eucalyptus), has declined
in the last few decades. Remnant
natural forests continue to be
threatened by loss, degradation
and conversion. Conserving
remaining forest tracts is critical to
safeguard India’s threatened
biodiversity, watersheds, and
minimise conflicts between people
and wildlife, besides providing for
vital livelihood and resource needs
of forest-dwelling communities.
When large infrastructure projects
such as roads and canals run
roughshod over rural communities
without paying heed to social and
environmental costs, society will
only stand to lose in the long run. In
that sense, even the term
‘infrastructure’ for such projects is
a misnomer, as roads and canals
are merely superstructures built
upon the real infrastructure
represented in human and natural
capital.
The present order of the ministry,
masterminded by the PMO, to dilute
legal requirements meant to
safeguard forest dwellers and the
environment, is a move towards
greater opacity and central control,
favouring corporate-industrial
interests over local people and
marginalised communities. Where
the government could be working to
reconcile the needs of
development and environment, it is
instead driving further wedges
between the two.
Amazon pushes for FDI in
retail e-commerce
Global online retail giant
Amazon.com, on Tuesday, sought
opening of foreign direct
investment (FDI) in the
e-commerce sector as present
policy restricts such companies
from offering services directly to the
consumers.
The issue came up for discussion
during a meeting between
Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma and Amazon Global
vice-president, Paul E. Misener,
here. Currently, 100 per cent FDI is
allowed only in business to
business (B2B) e-commerce, and
not in retail trading. “We talked
about it,” Mr. Misener told
newspersons, when asked
whether he had sought a change in
the policy for retail e-commerce
during his meeting with the
Commerce Minister.
“We talked to the government
officials on all kinds of issues. We
are trying to find a better way to
serve our Indian customers, both

sellers and buyers. We have nearly
9,000 employees here in the
country, and we are looking ways to
better serve our customers. The
Government has been very kind to
Amazon.com, and we continue to
grow here,” he added.
India allows 100 per cent FDI in
single-brand retail stores and 51
per cent FDI in multi-brand retail,
subject to sourcing conditions.
Space laser could help
detect counterfeit food
post life on Mars
The European Space Agency (ESA)
has revealed that a laser device
developed to measure carbon on
Mars could soon be used here on
Earth to detect counterfeit food.
Today’s equipment is large, bulky
and stationary. Samples of, say,
polluted soil must be collected in
the field, put in a flask and brought
to the lab for testing – clearly
unsuitable for space testing.
But the new laser ‘isotope ratio-
meter’ from RAL Space could
change that.
Thanks to its small, lightweight,
robust, highly accurate lasers, the
device could be sent into space to
look for trace amounts of gas in
very small samples.
“You take a laser, whose optical
frequency or ‘colour’ can be
continuously adjusted, beam it at a
gas sample, and detect the level
passing through the gas,”
explained Dr Damien Weidmann,
Laser Spectroscopy Team Leader
at RAL Space.
As the laser colour changes, the
light passes straight through the
sample until it reaches a particular
frequency, specific to the isotopic
gas, that is partially blocked.
“Each molecule, and each of its
isotopic forms, has a unique
fingerprint spectrum. If, on the other
hand, you know what you are
looking for, you can simply set the
laser to the appropriate frequency.”
Through an ESA program,
Weidmann and his colleagues
have been able to demonstrate that
the laser can quickly root out
counterfeit food. Fake honey made
using sugar, for example, would be
detected by the laser by scanning
the carbon dioxide released from
burning only a few milligrams of the
product. Likewise, counterfeit olive
oil and chocolate could also be
detected.
Though Weidmann said it was
important for his project to attract
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
interest from industry, sending the
laser to Mars is his real goal.
“I wanted to develop this to help
gather evidence as to whether or
not there was life on Mars,” said
Weidmann.
Weidmann stated that using the
laser to measure carbon isotopic
ratios in methane on Mars could
help determine where the
hydrocarbon came from.
“If it’s bacterial in origin, it would
mean a form of life occurred on
Mars,” he added.
Supervolcano forming
under the Pacific could
wipe out life
Life on Earth could be facing threat
from a catastrophic “supervolcano”
which seismologists believe is due
to erupt in 200 million years’ time.
At least two “piles” of rock the size
of continents are crashing together
as they shift at the bottom of
Earth’s mantle, 2,900 km beneath
the Pacific Ocean, researchers say.
“What we may be detecting is the
start of one of these large eruptive
events that - if it ever happens –
could cause very massive
destruction on Earth,” said
seismologist Michael Thorne, the
study’s principal author and an
assistant professor of geology and
geophysics at the University of
Utah.
However, disaster is “not
imminent,” he adds, “This is the
type of mechanism that may
generate massive plume
eruptions, but on the timescale of
100 million to 200 million years
from now. So don’t cancel your
cruises.”
The new study, published in the
journal Earth and Planetary
Science Letters, said the activity is
creating a Florida-sized zone of
partly molten rock that may be the
root of either of two kinds of
massive eruptions far in the future.
Hotspot plume supervolcano
eruptions like those during the past
2 million years at Wyoming’s
Yellowstone caldera, which covered
North America with volcanic ash.
Gargantuan flood basalt eruptions
that created “large igneous
provinces” like the Pacific
Northwest’s Columbia River
basalts 17 million to 15 million
years ago, India’s Deccan Traps
some 65 million years ago and the
Pacific’s huge Ontong Java Plateau
basalts, which buried an Alaska-
sized area 125 million to 199
million years ago.
4 Current Affairs Notes
“These very large, massive
eruptions may be tied to some
extinction events,” Thorne said. The
Ontong eruptions have been
blamed for oxygen loss in the
oceans and a mass die-off of sea
life.
Since the early 1990s, scientists
have known of the existence of two
continent-sized “thermochemical
piles” sitting atop Earth’s core and
beneath most of Earth’s volcanic
hotspots – one under much of the
South Pacific and extending up to
20 degrees north latitude, and the
other under volcanically active
Africa.
Using the highest-resolution
method yet to make seismic
images of the core-mantle
boundary, Thorne and colleagues
found evidence the pile under the
Pacific actually is the result of an
ongoing collision between two or
more piles.
Where they are merging is a
spongy blob of partly molten rock
the size of Florida, Wisconsin or
Missouri beneath the volcanically
active Samoan hotspot.
The study’s computer simulations
“show that when these piles merge
together, they may trigger the
earliest stages of a massive plume
eruption,” Thorne said.
Indian region moved to
Australia when splitted
100 million years ago
The present size and form of Indian
Ocean came into being after parts
of the Indian region shifted back to
the Australian plates during
Gondwana split more than 100
million years ago, a new research
claimed.
An Australian scientist, Ana
Gibbson who collaborated with
Indian National Institute of
Oceanography and Australian
National University show that after
the continental split, some Indian
regions moved back to the
Australian plate.
Roughly the size of Tasmania, they
remained sunk in the seafloor
roughly 500-1000 kilometers from
the western coast of Australia.”It’s a
bit like doing a really big 3D jigsaw
puzzle,” she said.
Using the magnetic data from the
seafloor provided by the institutes,
she has been able to reconstruct
the movement of the tectonic
plates.
Her findings are giving scientists
new insights into the age and
nature of Australia’s western
margins.

Ana attributed the success of the
project to its international reach.
She said, “being able to work with
open-minded, enthusiastic
professionals from all over the
world has helped a lot.
The study has been supported by
Australia-India Strategic Research
Fund, a statement said.
13 February 2013
India opts to side with
Nasheed
Caught in a cleft stick, India has
opted to side with the former
Maldives President, Mohd.
Nasheed, who entered the Indian
High Commission in Male on
Wednesday after a court sought his
appearance in a case.
India admitted Mr.Nasheed had
sought refuge in its Male mission
and in a message to the Maldives
government asked it not to take any
steps that would bar candidates
from recognised political parties
from contesting elections. It also
indicated that Maldives President
Mohd. Waheed is on watch by
asking him to ensure that the
elections were free, fair and
credible.
While New Delhi was confident of
resolving the situation (by late
evening the court had cancelled its
order seeking Mr.Nasheed’s
appearance), Maldives hit back by
asking India to respect its country’s
judicial independence. At the same
time, the Maldivian government
gave the assurance that it would
uphold and respect its obligations
under international law with regard
to diplomatic immunities and
privileges granted to resident
diplomatic missions.
Ironically, the Nasheed drama
unfolded at a time when an Indian
warship arrived in Maldives to
conduct a five-day anti-piracy and
maritime domain awareness
exercises with the Maldivian Nation
Defence Force (MNDF).
Sources familiar with the events
drew attention to a Ministry of
External Affairs statement that
named Mr.Nasheed as a
presidential candidate and its
subsequent exhortation not to
disqualify candidates between now
and the elections to assert that
New Delhi shares the former
President’s apprehension of the
court case being a ploy to fix him.
Mr.Nasheed has been charged
under Article 81 of the penal code
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
which carries a maximum
sentence of three years in jail or
exile or a fine. He would be barred
from contesting the upcoming
Presidential elections if sentenced
for more than one year in jail.
India is piqued at the current
dispensation in Maldives
cancelling a contract to an Indian-
Malaysian consortium for
modernising and operating the
airport at Male despite Mr.Waheed
assuring Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh that his
Government would avoid such a
course. It is also upset over the
free hand to minor but rabid
politicians and religious figures
who railed against India over the
contract and sought the return of
the Indian High Commissioner.
Mr.Nasheed was in India and had
missed the court’s order to appear
before it on Sunday due to this
reason. The sources pointed out
that while Mr.Nasheed and his
predecessor Maumoon Abdul
Gayoom were granted
appointments with senior officials
here, feelers for official interactions
with the current government have
been ignored.
Many States express
reservations about Food
Security Bill
Even as the Centre hopes to
introduce and pass the National
Food Security Bill in the coming
budget session of Parliament,
several States have expressed
reservations on the Bill.
At a consultation meeting of State
Food Ministers here to evolve a
consensus on the
recommendations of the
Parliamentary Standing Committee
to which the government Bill was
referred on Wednesday, many
States differed on crucial
provisions, particularly the ones
relating to identification of
beneficiaries, sustained availability
of grains, proposed cut in individual
entitlement and additional
expenses to be borne by them.
According to Minister of State for
Food K.V. Thomas, the Bill will be
revised.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh
sought a universal public
distribution system.
Saying there was “no procedural
clarity,” Tamil Nadu sought to be
completely exempted from the
purview of the Bill.
A majority of the States categorically
5 Current Affairs Notes
opposed cash transfers in lieu of
grains. Some of them cautioned
the Centre against rushing through
the Bill without adequate level of
preparedness and availability of
grains. Several consuming States
such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu
expressed the apprehension that
their share of food grains allocation
would decline under the new
dispensation.
The States said they were utterly
confused about how to identify the
beneficiaries so that they could fit
into the UPA’s eligibility criteria for
67 per cent of the population.
Moreover, with the socio-economic
caste census (SECC) — which will
determine the eligibility and
entitlement of rural households for
different programmes and
schemes — still not complete, the
States pointed out that the
government was “hurrying through”
the process.
Seeking a “credible road map,”
Gujarat cautioned about the “level
of preparedness” and sought
careful evaluation of
resources.Odisha said there was
“utter confusion” about
identification of beneficiaries. It
asked the Centre to bear the
additional cost of setting up a State
food commission, grievance
redress mechanism and operating
the system.
Seeking a revised Bill, Bihar
bemoaned that while the Centre
exercised its power for fixing the
number of beneficiaries, criteria for
eligibility and the schemes, it
“unilaterally” put all financial
burden on the States.The subsidy
bill for mandatory distribution of 5
kg of rice, wheat and coarse
cereals at Rs. 3, Rs. 2 and Re. 1 a
kg respectively under the TPDS for
67 per cent of the population is
estimated at Rs. 1.17 lakh crore.
The government Bill proposed a
coverage of up to 75 per cent rural
population with at least 46 per cent
as “priority” (BPL) and up to 50 per
cent of the urban population with at
least 28 per cent as “priority.” It
suggested monthly entitlement of 7
kg a person.
As against this, the Standing
Committee recommended
coverage of 67 per cent total
population with 75 per cent in rural
areas and 50 per cent in the urban
areas as a single (inclusion)
category with uniform entitlement of
5 kg a person. This would exclude
separate entitlement for existing
Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY)
households.

Mr. Thomas, who chaired the
consultation meeting, said except
Tamil Nadu all States welcomed
the Bill albeit with certain
reservations. “We cannot satisfy all
states. We will present a revised
Bill in Parliament.”
The Bill was introduced in
December 2011 in the LokSabha
and referred to the Standing
Committee.
Setback in TB war
The efforts to win the war against
tuberculosis using an efficacious
vaccine candidate (MVA85A) in
infants aged 4-6 months have
returned a disappointing verdict
despite showing great promise in
pre-clinical trials. Though it fulfilled
the primary objective of safety and
despite inducing modest immune
responses, the efficacy of the
vaccine was just 17.3 per cent, and
hence considered insufficient to
protect the infants against TB,
notes a paper published recently
in The Lancet. This is the first
vaccine trial to be conducted after
the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin
(BCG) vaccine was introduced in
1921. The vaccine was given to
infants in South Africa who had
already received the BCG vaccine.
The rationale was to prime the
immune system with BCG and
then boost it with the candidate
vaccine to enhance the protective
efficacy of BCG. It will take a while
to know the reasons behind its
failure. Meanwhile, there is still
some hope that the vaccine, which
is being tested in HIV positive
adults, will be successful. An
efficacious and safer vaccine that
would replace BCG is urgently
required for HIV positive
individuals; BCG being a live-
attenuated vaccine is “not
recommended” for immune-
compromised people. While only
5-10 per cent people who are
infected with TB develop active
disease over their lifetime, the
conversion rate dramatically
shoots up to 5-10 per cent per year
in the case of HIV positive people,
notes a 2012 paper inPLoS
Pathogens.
There is still optimism as a dozen
vaccines are being tested in
clinical trials. But these are not
designed to prevent infection or rid
the body of the bacteria; they are
aimed at boosting protection
against the disease. There are
several other challenges too.
Unlike in the case of other
pathogens, protection against TB
does not lie in neutralising
antibodies; it is the cell-mediated
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
immunity that is important. We still
do not know the protective antigens
that will stimulate protective
immune responses. For instance,
we know that antigen 85A complex
elicits strong immune response,
but whether it will translate to
protective effect in humans is not
known. The AVA85A vaccine is the
best example of this — it induced
modest immune responses but the
protective effect was low. Hence, it
will take a while to produce
vaccines that are effective. But
meanwhile, across the world, every
year, nearly 9 million people will
develop active TB and about 1.5
million will die. Worse, fighting the
killer disease is getting more
complicated with the rapid
emergence of drug-resistant
bacteria. It took WHO’s declaration
of TB as a global emergency for the
world to shed its indifference and
complacency. Now, it is a race
against time.
Trade deficit soars to
$20 b
India’s exports barely inched into
the positive zone, after a gap of
eight months, recording a meagre
0.82 per cent growth at $25.58
billion in January. The growth,
however, is unlikely to help in
reaching the $350 billion export
target for 2012-13.
The positivity in exports has come
mainly on account of better
performance by sectors such as
engineering goods, textiles and
gems and jewellery. Exports have
been contracting since May 2012.
The trade deficit also continues to
be a cause of concern, soaring to a
three-month high of $20 billion. “I
hope with exports growing
marginally in January, it should help
India in narrowing the trade gap at
the close of the fiscal,” Commerce
and Industry Minister, Anand
Sharma said in a statement here.
The country’s exports stood at
$25.37 billion in January, 2012.
Imports, too, rose by 6.12 per cent
to $45.5 billion in the month under
review. However, during the April-
January period of 2012-13, the
country’s overseas shipments
shrunk by 4.86 per cent to $239.6
billion.
Commerce Secretary S.R. Rao told
journalists here that the export
performance in January had shown
marginally better resultsand
cumulative exports too had shown
a slight arrest. Mr Rao said he
hoped that the incentive package,
which came into force in January,
would help the country’s exports
6 Current Affairs Notes
improve significantly in the coming
months. “In the last couple of
months, there has been an arrest
in the fall of exports,” he said.In
October 2012, India’s exports
declined to 1.63 per cent from 11
per cent in September. In
December, shipments declined by
1.9 per cent from 4.17 per cent in
November 2012. Imports during the
10-month period rose by 0.01 per
cent to $406.8 billion. Trade deficit
during the period stood at $167.16
billion. “The most worrying aspect
as usual is the widening trade
deficit. Figures show that there is a
substantial increase in the imports
of petroleum and crude oil which is
widening the trade deficit,” Mr.Rao
said.
Since April 2012, petroleum and
crude oil imports too have shown
an increase. While in August the
imports grew by 3 per cent, in
September it jumped by 30 per cent
and in October by 31 per cent. In
November, December and January,
petroleum and crude oil imports
went up by 16.8 per cent, 23.6 per
cent and 7 per cent respectively.
Mr.Rao said these imports were
increasing mainly because of its
high use in power generation.
“Unfortunately, at least in 3-4 states
power situation is adverse. In Tamil
Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, power
cuts are very distressing and it is
close to 16 hours,” he said.
The export sectors, which
registered positive growth,
cumulatively include rice, tobacco,
oil meals, carpet, pharmaceuticals
and drugs. Fall in the exports of
engineering, textiles and gems and
jewellery, the main contributors,
have also been arrested.
Engineering exports declined by 4
per cent, while gems and jewellery
and textiles exports shrunk by 0.6
per cent and 8 per cent during April-
January. Oil imports in January
grew by 6.91 per cent to $15.89
billion from $14.87 billion in the
corresponding period last year.
Non-oil imports, too, increased by
5.71 per cent during the month
under review to $29.68 billion.
During April-January 2012-13, oil
imports grew by 11.56 per cent to
$140.42 billion from $125.87 billion
in the corresponding period of
previous fiscal year. However, non-
oil imports during the period
declined by 5.17 per cent to
$266.43 billion.
Water from the cold
underworld
Water samples retrieved on
January 28 from Lake Whillans, a

sub-glacial lake about 800 metres
beneath the western edge of the
Antarctic ice-shelf, have shown
possible signs of life. The
announcement came from an
American expedition that gained
access to the 3.1-sq kilometre
water body after boring through the
shelf using a special hot-water
drill.
The retrieved samples are
significant because they come from
a lake that has been isolated from
the rest of the world for thousands
of years. Moreover, due to the
weight of the massive glacier
above it, the lake exists under
immense pressure (which shifts
the freezing point of its water to a
lower temperature).
The expedition, dubbed WISSARD
(Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial
Access Research Drilling), was
undertaken to look for the presence
of and investigate life in such an
isolated and extreme sub-glacial
environment. Researchers will also
study the influence of such
environments on the stability of
continental ice-shelves.
As a first step in the hunt for life, a
common dye was added to some
samples to illuminate the DNA of
microscopic organisms. When an
affirmative bright green glow was
observed in response, researchers
knew that the water indeed
harboured life.
Upcoming studies on the samples
will throw light on how these
organisms exist in such extreme
conditions.
Dr. Ross Powell, one of the lead
scientists on the expedition noted,
in an email to this Correspondent,
that the organisms “would most
likely be chemolithotrophs because
of the setting under the ice sheet.”
Chemolithotrophs are
microorganisms capable of getting
their energy from inorganic
compounds, such as elemental
sulphur, hydrogen sulphate,
thiosulphates, etc. This is in
contrast to other life-forms, like
humans, which depend on organic
compounds as food.
Because of their unorthodox needs,
chemolithotrophs can survive
harsh environments.
As Brent Christner, team member,
told National Geographic, “The
conditions faced by organisms in
Lake Whillans are quite parallel to
what we think it would be like on
those icy moons,” referring to
natural satellites of Jupiter and
Saturn.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
The full analyses will take at least
a year, Dr. Powell added, “but we
are starting to get some results
now, showing there is viable life in
this environment. We will be
studying the cores we have
collected after they arrive in our
U.S. labs and they, [together with]
any organisms they may house,
could shed more light on [their
environment’s] history.”
Lake Whillans itself is part of a
densely interconnected network of
streams that carry water into and
out of sub-glacial pockets. As a
result, researchers will also study
the lake for its role in stabilising
Antarctic ice-shelves.
Describing Whillans
Lake Whillans was first described
by Dr. Helen Fricker, a glaciologist
at the Scripps Institute of
Oceanography and principal
investigator of the Whillans team,
in 2007.
She and her colleagues studied
satellite data of the ice surface
above the Whillans Ice Stream from
2003 to 2006 and noticed a
periodic rising and falling of the
surface that hinted at the presence
of a lake.
In order to get beneath the ice
sheet, a custom-designed hot-
water drill was used to reduce
chances of contamination by the
equipment itself.
The drill works by blasting a jet of
scalding water into the ice to bore a
hole. The water then freezes
because of the low temperatures
and is removed as ice before
another jet of water is blasted.
Once the surface of the lake was
breached, the researchers inserted
a probe to collect water samples
from different points as well as
some sediment from the lakebed.
Raising the bogey of
radiation
The cell phone industry has
registered phenomenal growth in
India. Cell towers have
mushroomed all over the country
and led to growing concerns about
the health effects of radiofrequency
radiation. Agents who
masqueraded as ‘experts’ and
started selling radiation ‘protective’
screens, fanned the fire. They told
that cell tower radiation can cause
“sleep disturbances, headaches,
fatigue, joint pains, memory loss,
increased heart rate.”
“...Prolonged exposure to cell tower
radiation increases the risk of
7 Current Affairs Notes
neurological disorders and cancer,”
they said, creating a phobia among
the public.
They did not agree that since the
energy of RF radiation from cell
phone towers is not enough to
break chemical bonds in DNA
molecules, it cannot cause cancer.
While most countries accepted the
guidelines of the International
Commission on Non Ionizing
Radiation Protection (ICNIRP),
India enforced one tenth of the
ICNIRP guidelines from Sept 1,
2012, based on the advice from an
Inter Ministerial Committee. India’s
guidelines have a safety factor of
500. The over conservative
approach of the IMC also helped to
fan the fire.
Though it argued that safety
standards should be rational and
should avoid excessive safety
margins, the IMC lowered the
radiation levels on highly
speculative reasons. The
committee did a great disservice by
listing selectively a number of
reports which showed adverse
effects while ignoring many reports
which did not show any adverse
impact. IMC unwittingly gave a
handle to scare mongers who are
now demanding lower levels as
standard.
An agent claimed that Mumbai with
too many cell towers is like an
open microwave oven. He claimed
that by accepting the ICNIRP
guidelines we are accepting that a
child can be safely kept in a
microwave oven for 19 minutes a
day! Actually, the possible
temperature increase of a human
body at ICNIRP level will be 0.1Deg
C; at DOT levels, 0.01 Deg C.
They claimed that Specific
Absorption Rate (SAR) limit for cell
phones — a safety standard of 1.6
W per kg — is actually for six
minutes per-day usage! So do not
use phones for more than 18-20
minutes daily, they asserted .
Many reporters publicized these
scary sound bites. A cell phone kept
near the ear will cause a small
increase in temperature in regions
close to the phone. The more
regulatory mechanisms such as
blood flow remove the heat
establishing equilibrium in about
six minutes.
Thereafter, there will not be any
increase in temperature. The six-
minute interval is the time the
body’s defence takes to reach
equilibrium temperature. So, it is
patently absurd to say that using a

phone longer multiplies the risk.
• “Experts” claimed cell tower
radiation cause several health
problems, including cancer
• Energy of RF radiation from cell
phone towers is not enough to
break chemical bonds in DNA
molecules to cause cancer
• India’s guidelines have a safety
factor of 500. Over-conservative
approach of IMC helped fan the fire
Dr Kari Jokela, a member of the
International Commission on Non
Ionizing Radiation Protection
(ICNIRP) and Research Professor
at the Radiation and Nuclear Safety
Authority, Finland in an e-mail
message to this writer stated that
such interpretations are incorrect.
On January 4, this year The
Hindu quoted the District Health
and Family Welfare Officer (DHO) of
Dakshina Kannada as saying:
“enough” number of cases of
cancer and mental retardation have
been found among people residing
within a 500-metre radius of cell
phone towers.”
The WHO is aware of such
misunderstanding and noted thus
in its Fact Sheet No 304:
“Media or anecdotal reports of
cancer clusters around mobile
phone base stations have
heightened public concern. It
should be noted that
geographically, cancers are
unevenly distributed among any
population. Given the widespread
presence of base stations in the
environment, it is expected that
possible cancer clusters will occur
near base stations merely by
chance. Moreover, the reported
cancers in these clusters are often
a collection of different types of
cancer with no common
characteristics and hence unlikely
to have a common cause.”
DOT levels are very safe and
enforceable. If they are enforced
effectively, there will not be any risk
from cell tower radiation.
Middle East has lost 144
cubic km of water
The Middle East has lost 144 cubic
km of water between 2003 and
2010, nearly equal to the
staggering volume of the Dead
Sea, show data provided by NASA
satellites.
Four countries of the region along
the Tigris and Euphrates — Turkey
upstream to Syria, Iran and Iraq
below — alone account for the
unprecedented loss.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
University of California-Irvine
scientists and colleagues say the
Tigris-Euphrates watershed is
drying up at a pace second only to
that in India.
“This rate is among the largest
liquid freshwater losses on the
continents,” they say, the journal
Water Resources Research
reports.
Water management is a complex
issue in the Middle East, “a region
that is dealing with limited water
resources and competing
stakeholders,” says Katalyn Voss,
water policy fellow with the
California’s Centre for Hydrologic
Modeling at Irvine, who led the
study, according to a California
statement.
Turkey has jurisdiction over the
Tigris and Euphrates headwaters,
as well as the reservoirs and
infrastructure of its Southeastern
Anatolia Project, which dictates
how much water flows
downstream into Syria, Iran and
Iraq.
Unable to conduct measurements
on the ground in the politically
unstable region, researchers used
data from space, provided by
NASA’s Gravity Recovery and
Climate Experiment (GRACE)
satellites, to uncover the extent of
the problem.They found that
depletion was especially striking
after a drought struck the area in
2007. Researchers attribute the
bulk of it — about 60 per cent — to
pumping of water from
underground reservoirs.
“For political, economic or security
reasons, neighbours don’t want
each other to know how much
water they’re using.In regions like
the Middle East, where data are
relatively inaccessible, satellite
observations are among the few
options,” he said.
Integrated aquaculture for
improving productivity
The farmers of Sonmar in Sarai
Ranjan block, Samastipur district,
Bihar have shown a way for
productive utilization of water
bodies (called chaurs) into an
integrated aquaculture model.
The chaurs are spread over 44
hectares and about 43 farmers
control their ownership. Till 2008,
these chaurs were being utilized
for capture of wild fishes.
Training
About six young farmers from the
area were trained by the Indian
Council of Agriculture Research
8 Current Affairs Notes
(ICAR), Research Complex for
Eastern Region, Patna through
Central Institute of Fisheries
Education Regional Station,
Kakinada by the State Fisheries
Department, Government of Bihar.
The State Fishery Department,
Govt. of Bihar with the help of a
local bank called KshetriyaGramin
bank and
RastriyaKrishiVikasYojana
constructed a series of about 50
ponds for increased fish
production.
About 43 farmers came together
and formed Sonmar Chaur Matsya
VikashSamiti to monitor these
activities, facilitate the resources,
inputs and market the fishes.
Due to delayed rainfall, tubewells
were sunk in several locations and
a solar operated pump was also
established with the help of fishery
department.
Participatory mode
ICAR joined the farmers to work in
participatory mode to boost the
economic status and nutritional
security of the farmers by
enhancing the aquaculture /
agriculture production from the
chaurs.
Since, farmers were finding it
difficult to feed the fishes properly
due to high cost of concentrate,
the Council integrated duck, goat
and cattle with fish to facilitate
the supply of organic wastes to
improve the overall productivity.
Fruits and vegetable crops were
planted on the pond bunds to give
additional income to farmers.
Several demonstrations for fish
farmers for monitoring water quality
in the pond were also done at
periodical intervals by the scientist
team.
A programme was organized to
bring in awareness and encourage
more farmers to take up this
vocation.
Concept:
Aquaculture, also known as
aquafarming, is the farming of
aquatic organisms such as fish,
crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic
plants. Aquaculture involves
cultivating freshwater and saltwater
populations under controlled
conditions, and can be contrasted
with commercial fishing, which is
the harvesting of wild fish.
Mariculture refers to aquaculture
practiced in marine environments
and in underwater habitats.
The reported output from global

aquaculture operations would
supply one half of the fish and
shellfish that is directly consumed
by humans; however, there are
issues about the reliability of the
reported figures. Further, in current
aquaculture practice, products from
several pounds of wild fish are
used to produce one pound of a
piscivorous fish like salmon.
Particular kinds of aquaculture
include fish farming, shrimp
farming, oyster farming, algaculture
(such as seaweed farming), and
the cultivation of ornamental fish.
Particular methods include
aquaponics and Integrated multi-
trophic aquaculture, both of which
integrate fish farming and plant
farming.
Tamil-Brahmi script
discovered on
Tirupparankundram hill
Young archaeologists M. Prasanna
and R. Ramesh like to climb the
hills around Madurai, which have
pre-historic rock art, Tamil-Brahmi
inscriptions on the brow of natural
caverns, beautiful bas-reliefs of
Jaina “tirthankaras” and beds cut
on the flat rock surface for the Jaina
monks to sleep on. These hills
include Mankulam, Keezhavalavu,
Tiruvadavur, Varichiyur, Mettupatti,
Anaimalai, KongarPuliyankulam
and Muthupatti.
The duo aspired to discover a
Tamil-Brahmi script on the hills.
While Prasanna is an assistant
archaeologist in the Archaeological
Survey of India, Ramesh works in
the University Grants Commission-
Special Assistance Programme
under Professor K. Rajan of the
Department of History, Pondicherry
University.
On January 20, 2013, they climbed
the Tirupparankundram hill, where
three Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions,
datable to the first century BCE,
were discovered many decades
ago. As they climbed the several
hundred steps leading to the
KasiViswanathar temple, they
wondered whether they would be
lucky this time. Behind this temple
are bas-reliefs of Jainatirthankaras
on the rock surface. There are also
recently carved images of Ganesa,
Muruga, Bhairava and others. Near
the temple, there is a pond and a
shrine dedicated to Machchamuni
(matsya muni), meaning fish god.
The pond is full of fish. There are
steps cut on the rock, leading to the
pond.
As they were scanning the rock
surface, their eyes fell on the steps
leading to the pond and they saw
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
what looked like a Tamil-Brahmi
script in two lines. Excited, they
turned the pages of the book titled
“Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions,”
published by the Tamil Nadu
Archaeology Department in 2006.
They read the pages on the earlier
discoveries of the Tamil-Brahmi
script at Tirupparankundram and
found that this was a new
discovery. They rang up Dr.Rajan
who confirmed that it had not been
documented earlier.
The lines, each having four letters,
read as, “Muu-na-ka-ra” and “Muu-
ca-ka-ti.” The first line has a trishul-
like symbol as a graffiti mark at its
end. The first letter “muu” can
mean “three” or being ancient or
old. “In the present context, the
meaning of ancient is more
probable,” Ramesh and Prasanna
said. The na-ka-ra/na-kar-r
represents a town or city. So the
first line could be read as “ancient
town,” probably meaning Madurai,
they suggested. In the second line,
the first letter “muu” again stands
for “ancient or old.” The remaining
three letters, ca-ka-ti/ca-k-ti may
represent a “yakshi,” they said.
(Yakshis are women attendants of
the 24 Jainatirthankaras). “So the
inscription can be read as goddess
of the ancient city. But it is open to
different interpretations,” they said.
V. Vedachalam, retired senior
epigraphist, Tamil Nadu
Archaeology Department, said the
first line stood for an elderly Jaina
monk and the second one could
mean “motcha/moksha gadhi.” So
the script could stand for a Jaina
monk who, facing north, went on a
fast unto death there. That is, he
attained nirvana. This is the first
time that a Tamil-Brahmi script,
referring to a Jaina monk who
fasted unto death, had been
discovered. Other Tamil-Brahmi
inscriptions referred to donors who
cut beds on rocks for Jaina monks
or sculpted rock-shelters for them.
A. Karthikeyan, Professor,
Department of Tamil Studies in
Tamil University at Thanjavur,
suggested that the inscription
could be read as “the attainment of
liberation or salvation (moksha) of
a female monk (saadhvi), namely
elderly naakaraa. “Moksha gadhi”
could be changed into muccakati.
“It is difficult to assign a date to this
inscription but it can be dated prior
to the first century BCE,” said
Dr.Rajan.
14 February 2013
UN report rings alarm on
water scarcity in India
India needs to formulate new
indices to measure available water
9 Current Affairs Notes
resources as the calculations per
capita water availability do not
include disparity in water allocation
and access. This disparity is
identified as a major determining
factor for water access and use.
“The validity of the per capita water
availability index needs to be re-
thought in the light of social and
economic disparities in water
usage that exist. On the same
grounds, putting forward the
argument that increase in
population leads to water scarcity
needs rigorous debate,” a report
‘Water in India: Situation and
Prospects’ brought out by UNICEF
and Food and Agriculture
Organisation has said.
Pointing out that a farmer’s need of
water for basic livelihood support
often gets mingled with wasteful
water uses of high-end
consumers, the report — a first of
its kind by UNICEF — suggests
developing new indices which are
able to capture the underlying
differences in water access.
India has about 16 per cent of the
world’s population as compared to
only 4 per cent of its water
resources. With the present
population of over 1,000 million, the
per capita water availability is
around 1.170 cu m/person/year.
Severe water shortages have led to
a growing number of conflicts
between users in the agricultural
and industrial sectors, as also the
domestic sector. The lack of water
availability and poor management
practices have also manifested in
poor sanitation facilities, one
among the biggest environmental
and social challenges India faces
today.
Lack of access to safe drinking
water and sanitation can be related
to economic, political and social
power imbalances, and
discrimination against certain
groups or communities.
The report further says it is
imperative to initiate efforts for
designing an appropriate industrial
water use by this sector. Multiple
uses of water and the traditional
allocation priorities and quantities
also need to be revisited. “The
concept of scarcity and surpluses
of water must look beyond State
boundaries, as with a more
disaggregated assessment, these
comparisons will surely change.”
It points out that myopic
approaches in attaining food
security are risking agricultural
sustainability by encouraging
increased use of water. The water
demand from agriculture is set to
increase tremendously and will
have to be met to ensure food
security in a high consumption
scenario. The concept of inter-State

virtual water transfer also needs
emphasis, according to the report,
as the States with lower availability
resources end up being the net
exporters of virtual water to water
surplus States. With the current
rate of industrial expansion in the
country, the water demand from
this sector will also escalate in
future.
On inter-relation between gender
and water in India, the report says
any analysis would be incomplete
without taking this into
consideration. In India, gender
intersects with class and caste and
produces layered social
hierarchies that impinge on one’s
access to, and control over, this
precious resource. Gender and
water issues remain at the level of
rhetoric for the want of a broad
based and shared understanding,
without any support from the
ground data on changing gender
and social relations.
The issue of gender disaggregated
data needs to be taken up as
priority by the state for any
progress to be made in
mainstreaming gender in water
resources management. Another
major issue is about how to tackle
gender mainstreaming at the
organisational level. The
bureaucratic set up that manages
water also suffers from serious
inadequacies with respect to
gender mainstreaming. “Without
addressing these issues, well-
meaning gender inclusion efforts
will not lead to logical and intended
outcomes.”
Importantly, the report points out
that water quality issues in India
have reached an alarming
proportion. Augmenting water
supply to achieve millennium
development goals (MDGs) will not
suffice until its quality is ensured.
There is no model in India that
shows best ways to tackle the
waste water generated through the
industrial and domestic sectors.
The economic implications of poor
sanitation in urban India and its
impact on water quality are
profound. The agencies
responsible for checking industrial
pollution have failed, the report
says while adding that pollution
contributes to water scarcity by
polluting freshwater resources.
The report attempts to provide a
comprehensive analysis of the
state of water resource
development and management in
India, based on secondary
information. It maps the current
challenges and suggests feasible
alternatives amidst increasing
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
water scarcity and
disenfranchisement of resource
bases for the poor and the
marginalised. The issues
consolidated using secondary data
are backed by consultations with
major stakeholders.
The focus is to evolve an
environment where water is
available for all in a sustainable
manner – safe drinking water for
basic needs, adequate water for
agriculture, water for industry and
for the ecosystem. Thus, it
encompasses both a depiction of
the state of freshwater resources
and potential problems and
progress towards identified goals,
including workable solutions.
“The report becomes more
important as the 12th Five-Year
Plan will be implemented shortly,”
Satya Priya, National Programme
Coordinator (Land and Water),
FAO-India, said.
No arms cut till new
START: Russia
Russia has poured cold water on
U.S. President Barack Obama’s
pledge to pursue new cuts in the
U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals
even as it voiced its readiness to
study American proposals.
Moscow made it clear that it would
say ‘no’ Washington’s proposal to
slash nuclear weapons by 60 per
cent, from the current goal of 1,550
deployed warheads by 2018 —
outlined in the New START the two
countries signed in 2010.
After Mr. Obama announced in his
State of the Union Address on
Tuesday that the U.S. would
“engage Russia to seek further
reductions in our nuclear
arsenals”, White House officials
said they were looking to cut
deployed nuclear weapons to “just
above 1,000”.
However, a spokesman for the
Russian Foreign Ministry said that
Moscow to will not agree to further
nuclear arms reductions with the
U.S. until the two countries have
“fully implemented” the New START
and unless Washington shifts its
stance on missile defence, nuclear
tests, weaponisation of outer
space, and conventional arms in
Europe.
“Once the [New START] Treaty has
been implemented, we would be
ready to discuss possible further
steps in the sphere of nuclear
disarmament,” Foreign Ministry
spokesman Alexander Lukashevich
said in comments posted on the
Ministry’s website on Thursday. “In
10
doing that, we will take into
consideration all factors affecting
strategic stability, including plans
for the deployment of a U.S. global
missile defence, lack of progress
in ratification of the Comprehensive
Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty by the U.S.
and 44 more countries…,
unwillingness to renounce the
deployment of weapons in space,
imbalances in the quantity and
quality of conventional weapons in
Europe and other factors.”
Dhaka, New Delhi to
consolidate ties
India and Bangladesh are set to
review and consolidate their
relations by holding the high-level
second meeting of the Joint
Consultative Commission in
Dhaka on Friday.
External Affairs Minister Salman
Khurshid and his Bangladeshi
counterpart Dipu Moni will lead the
respective sides in the high-level
exchanges that are expected to
contribute to the deepening and
strengthening of bilateral relations,
said diplomatic sources.
Landmark pact
Mr. Khurshid will visit Bangladesh
for two days from February 16, at
the invitation of Dipu Moni to attend
the meeting of the commission —
established under the landmark
Framework Agreement on
Cooperation for Development
signed by the two Prime Ministers
in September 2011.
The maiden Bangladesh visit of Mr.
Khurshid as External Affairs
Minister, diplomatic circles said, is
likely to lay a concrete positive
ground for Sheikh Hasina’s visit to
New Delhi later this year.
Authoritative sources told The
Hindu that the Commission’s
meeting would review progress in
various sectors, identify thrust
areas and give directions for further
growth of the bilateral partnership.
Mr. Khurshid is scheduled to call on
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and
other Ministers.
In a welcoming development, the
two countries had last month
signed two landmark agreements
— an extradition treaty to facilitate
transfer of criminals and terrorists
and an agreement to liberalise the
visa regime. Home Minister Sushil
Kumar Shinde and his
Bangladeshi counterpart
Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir signed the
treaties.
Independent analysts said the two
accords would give impetus to
widening the scope for taking up
Current Affairs Notes

other long-standing problems like
formalising the border demarcation
agreements, sharing of Teesta
waters and putting an end to the
border killings by the BSF.
Tejas to be subjected to
field conditions soon
Set to demonstrate its ‘swing-role’
capability by firing both missiles
and laser-guided munitions at the
Air Force firepower demonstration
‘Iron Fist’ in Pokhran later this
month, the long-delayed Light
Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas will
face its biggest ever challenge
once it receives complete initial
operational clearance, IOC-2 as it
is called, hopefully by the end of the
year.
From a guarded and secured
environment, where it has been
flying with a brilliant track record of
2,000 flights without an incident,
Tejas will then move into an
operational environment, where it
will be subjected to field
conditions.
It would be a test of Tejas’
capabilities, an official associated
with the development of the LCA
told The Hindu. “No matter how
much care you have taken, some
issues will always crop up when it
gets exposed to the field, but the
earlier we get these inputs, the
quicker we can fix them,” he added.
Tejas — whose seventh Limited
Series Production aircraft (LSP-7)
is flying now — will soon be joined
by the eighth, and the last, after
which series production of 40
aircraft ordered by the Air Force will
commence. LSP-8 has begun
engine ground run and is expected
to take to the skies in March.
Meanwhile, cutting of metal is
under way for the series production
aircraft.
In the run-up to complete initial
operational clearance, the aircraft
would continue weapon trials in
Pokhran to better its accuracy of
delivery of ammunition. Besides
test-firing laser-guided bombs, it
would drop ‘dumb bombs,’
unguided munitions, with this aim,
said the official.
“The phase between full IOC and
final operational clearance, likely by
2015, will see the aircraft
incrementally expand its flight
envelope with a higher angle of
attack — indicative of its agility and
manoeuvrability without
compromising on safety — and
take on additional weapons like
those beyond visual range [Derby,
in this case] and an air-to-air gun
[still not decided].”
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
“It is an aircraft intentionally
designed to be unstable, so to
speak, for better agility. So unless
we exercise utmost care while
taking it to a higher angle of attack,
it could well depart from a
controlled flight…” cautioned an
ace test pilot.
“The LCA has had limited
environmental trials in extreme hot
and cold conditions, at sea-level
and at high-altitudes in Leh. Every
programme goes through this
rigour, but being an indigenous
programme that has come under
fire time and again, the period
between IOC-2 and FOC will be
decisive for the LCA,” he said.
Wing Commander (retd.) P.K.
Raveendran, group director (flight
test) of the National Flight Test
Centre that test-flies the LCA,
during a chat at the recent Aero
India 2013 at Bangalore, said
weapon integration on LCA did not
pose a challenge, given the
aircraft’s modular avionics, open
architecture and other anti-
obsolescence features. “Adding a
new weapon on the LCA is easy, as
we know everything about the
aircraft. It is entirely ours. It
facilitates you to plug a new system
in without hassles,” he said.
Futuristic thinking at the time of
design, he said, had taken care of
issues such as weapon suite
change, upgrade of avionics,
effortless maintenance, and
reduction of turnaround time.
“While its aerodynamics is almost
plateaued, you are free to change
the weapons and avionics. This is
what gives an edge to the platform.”
Separately, it is learnt that handling
flight of the LCA by the Air Force
pilots will soon begin. “Once the
aircraft is certified for induction, it
will get detached from the
umbilical. It will then become an Air
Force fighter,” said an official of the
Aeronautical Development Agency
(ADA), which designed and
developed the aircraft.
Pak successfully tests
nuclear-capable Hatf-II
missile
Pakistan on Friday successfully
tested the nuclear-capable Hatf-II
ballistic missile with a range of 180
km, marking the second test of a
missile system in four days as part
of measures to evaluate the
capabilities of its Strategic Forces.
The test of the Hatf-II or Abdali short
range surface-to-surface ballistic
missile was part of the “process of
validation of land-based ballistic
11
missile systems”, the military said
in a statement.
It described the test as successful
but did not say where it was
conducted.
The missile can carry nuclear or
conventional warheads with “high
accuracy”, the statement said.
“The weapon system with its varied
manoeuvrability options provides
an operational level capability to
Pakistan’s Strategic Forces,” it
said.
On February 11, Pakistan tested the
nuclear-capable Hatf-IX tactical
missile with a range of 60 km.
The military had said the weapon
system was specially designed to
defeat anti-tactical missile defence
systems.
Analysts say the short-range Hatf-IX
missile is primarily aimed at
deterring India’s Cold Start military
doctrine, which envisages quick
thrusts by small integrated battle
groups in the event of hostilities.
Friday’s test was witnessed by
Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee
Chairman Gen Khalid Shameem
Wynne, Strategic Plans Division
Director General Lt Gen (retired)
Khalid Ahmed Kidwai, Army
Strategic Forces Command chief Lt
Gen Tariq Nadeem Gilani, senior
officers from the Strategic Forces
and scientists and engineers of
strategic organizations.
The President and Prime Minister
congratulated the scientists and
engineers on the test “which
consolidates Pakistan’s deterrence
capability both at the operational
and strategic levels”, the statement
said.
Meteorite falls in Russian
Urals, 100 injured
A meteorite streaked across the sky
over Russia’s Ural Mountains on
Friday morning, causing sharp
explosions and reportedly injuring
around 100 people.
Fragments of the meteor fell in a
thinly populated area of the
Chelyabinsk region, the Emergency
Ministry said in a statement.
Interior Ministry spokesman Vadim
Kolesnikov said 102 people had
called for medical assistance
following the incident, mostly for
treatment of injuries from glass
broken by the explosions.
Kolsenikov also said about 600
square meters of a roof at a zinc
factory had collapsed.
Current Affairs Notes

Reports conflicted on what exactly
happened in the clear skies. A
spokeswoman for the Emergency
Ministry, Irina Rossius, told The
Associated Press that there was a
meteor shower, but another
ministry spokeswoman, Elena
Smirnikh, was quoted by the
Interfax news agency as saying it
was a single meteorite.
Amateur video broadcast on
Russian television showed an
object speeding across the sky
about 9-20 a.m. local time (0320
GMT), leaving a thick white contrail
and an intense flash.
After Higgs Boson,
scientists prepare for next
quantum leap
Seven months after its scientists
made a landmark discovery that
may explain the mysteries of mass,
Europe’s top physics lab will take a
break from smashing invisible
particles to recharge for the next
leap into the unknown.
From tomorrow, the cutting-edge
facilities at the European
Organisation for Nuclear Research
(CERN) will begin winding down,
then go offline on Saturday for an
18-month upgrade.
A vast underground lab straddling
the border between France and
Switzerland, CERN’s Large Hadron
Collider (LHC) was the scene of an
extraordinary discovery announced
in July 2012.
Its scientists said they were 99.9
percent certain they had found the
elusive Higgs Boson, an invisible
particle without which, theorists
say, humans and all the other
joined-up atoms in the Universe
would not exist.
The upgrade will boost the LHC’s
energy capacity, essential for
CERN to confirm definitively that its
boson is the Higgs, and allow it to
probe new dimensions such as
supersymmetry and dark matter.
“The aim is to open the discovery
domain,” said Frederick Bordry,
head of CERN’s technology
department. “We have what we
think is the Higgs, and now we
have all the theories about
supersymmetry and so on. We
need to increase the energy to look
at more physics. It’s about going
into terra incognita (unknown
territory),” he told AFP.
Theorised back in 1964, the boson
also known as the God Particle
carries the name of a British
physicist, Peter Higgs. He
calculated that a field of bosons
could explain a nagging anomaly:
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
Why do some particles have mass
while others, such as light, have
none?
That question was a gaping hole in
the Standard Model of particle
physics, a conceptual framework
for understanding the nuts-and-
bolts of the cosmos.
“Initially we thought we’d have the
long shutdown in 2012, but in 2011,
with some good results and with
the perspective of discovering the
boson, we pushed the long
shutdown back by a year. But we
said that in 2013 we must do it,”
said Bordry.
Unlike the LEP, which was used to
accelerate electrons or positrons,
the LHC crashes together protons,
which are part of the hadron family.
“It’s about recreating the first
microsecond of the universe, the
Big Bang. We are reproducing in a
lab the conditions we had at the
start of the Big Bang,” Bordry said.
Five billion collisions yielded
results deemed worthy of further
research and data from only 400
threw up data that paved the road to
the Higgs Boson.
More thorough dialysis
may reduce deaths
A more thorough dialysis technique
may help prevent deaths due to
heart conditions and infections in
people with advanced kidney
disease, according to a new study.
Known as hemodiafiltration, that
method is better able to clean the
kidneys of larger toxins than
standard dialysis, which mainly
removes small molecules. When
not removed from the kidneys,
larger toxins could play a role in
inflammation and cholesterol
buildup, researchers said.
People on dialysis are most likely
to die of complications such as
heart disease and infection,
according to Dr. Francisco Maduell,
the study’s lead author from the
University of Barcelona in Spain.
Maduell said hemodiafiltration has
been available in Europe for almost
two decades and more recently in
Asia and Canada as well. The
Food and Drug Administration gave
the okay for the first
hemodiafiltration devices to be
marketed in the United States less
than a year ago.
About 350,000 people in the U.S.
are on dialysis. Dialysis machines
do the work of healthy kidneys for
people with end-stage renal
disease, filtering clean fluid into the
kidneys and toxins out. Many
12
people stay on dialysis for months
or years while waiting for a kidney
transplant.
For the new study, Maduell and his
colleagues randomly assigned 906
people currently on dialysis in
Spain to remain on their normal
regimen or switch to
hemodiafiltration.
Over the next two years, just under
40 percent of those participants left
the study because of a kidney
transplant, a change in dialysis unit
or another reason.
Of the remaining kidney disease
patients, 207 died.
Death rates over three years were
27 percent among patients on
standard dialysis, compared to 18
to 19 percent for those on the more
thorough filtration method.
In particular, people getting
hemodiafiltration were less likely to
die of infections. That group also
had fewer deaths from
cardiovascular disease, although
the finding could have been due to
chance, the researchers wrote
Thursday in the Journal of the
American Society of Nephrology.
They calculated that eight people
would have to switch from regular
dialysis to hemodiafiltration to
prevent one death each year.
Dr. Katrin Uhlig, a kidney disease
researcher from Tufts Medical
Center in Boston, said she
welcomed the new research.
“Our survival numbers are not great
for this population,” said Uhlig, who
wasn’t involved in the new
research.
Hemodiafiltration “has some
benefits in terms of the size of the
molecules that you can remove, so
there is some theoretical benefit
that you might be removing stuff
that might otherwise be harmful,”
she told Reuters Health.
However, she said, the cards may
have been stacked against the
group of people getting standard
dialysis in the study, in that those
patients were a bit older, on
average, and more of them had
diabetes.
Standard dialysis costs between
$200 and $250 per session in the
U.S., and even for younger adults is
covered by Medicare. Maduell said
hemodiafiltration is usually slightly
more expensive, but not by much.
Patients in his study tended to feel
better, and had fewer symptoms
such as low blood pressure during
treatments with that technique.
Current Affairs Notes

“The tolerance is equal or better
with hemodiafiltration,” he told
Reuters Health.
Currency wars come to
Moscow as G20 spars
over yen
It may not be hand-to-hand combat,
but ‘currency wars’ came to
Moscow on Friday as finance
officials from the Group of 20
nations sparred over Japan’s
expansive policies that have driven
down the value of the yen.
The G20 forum, which put together
a huge financial backstop to halt a
market meltdown in 2009, is back
in the spotlight after a week in
which the Group of Seven rich
nations tried, and spectacularly
failed, to speak on currencies with
one voice.
The G7 has long been the
powerhouse of financial diplomacy.
But tension between Washington
and Tokyo has risen over new
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s bid to
end two decades of deflation.
The G7 issued a joint statement on
Tuesday reaffirming “our
longstanding commitment to
market determined exchange
rates”. Yet the show of unity was
quickly undermined by off-the-
record briefings critical of Japan.
Hosts Russia say the G20 - which
includes leading emerging
markets and accounts for 90
percent of the world economy - will
back the thrust of the G7 text when
they issue their communique on
Saturday.
Russia’s finance “sherpa”, Deputy
Finance Minister Sergei Storchak,
said the drafting discussion was
proving “difficult”, but the final text
would not single out Japan for
criticism.
“There is no competitive
devaluation, there are no currency
wars,” Storchak told reporters.
“What’s happening is market
reaction to exclusively internal
decision making.”
When the G20 last met in
November, its statement contained
a call to “refrain from competitive
devaluation of currencies” that was
omitted by the G7 this week in what
Tokyo took to mean its policies had
won a free pass.
“As the G20 meeting in Moscow
gets underway, the battle lines are
drawn - it isn’t ‘G6 against Japan’
as much as it is ‘G7 against G13’,”
French bank Societe Generale
wrote in a note.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
The United States, G20 delegation
sources said, was blocking
attempts to agree on a
commitment to cut borrowing to
replace a collective pledge to halve
budget deficits agreed at the G20
Toronto summit in 2010. The so-
called Toronto goal expires this
year.
The euro zone’s largest economy,
Germany, and the European
Central Bank, want a new
borrowing pledge - in line with their
own tough medicine for the
currency bloc’s ailing periphery.
BACK TO THE ’80S
The maneouvring on currencies is
reminiscent of the 1980s, when the
Plaza and Louvre accords sought
to manage first the excessive
strengthening, and then
weakening, of the U.S. dollar.
But, with the collapse of
communism in eastern Europe
and China’s adoption of its own
brand of capitalism, the world has
changed.
Emerging markets, as exporters
and reserve holders, now demand
a greater say in global financial
management.
One senior G20 source said late
on Thursday that there would be no
separate statement on currencies.
A passage would be inserted into
the main communique, but it would
not repeat the G7 line that “we will
not target exchange rates”.
This, the source said, would not be
acceptable to China - which is now
the world’s second-largest
economy and holds much of its
$3.3 trillion in foreign reserves in
U.S. Treasury bonds.
DEFLATION, REFLATION
Japan’s embrace of ‘Abenomics’
entails a huge round of fiscal and
monetary expansion aimed at
raising the inflation rate to 2 per
cent.
The yen has fallen by around 20
percent since November, triggering
a rally in Japanese stocks that, the
government hopes, will kick-start
growth by encouraging savers to
spend and companies to invest.
With the United States, Britain and
euro zone all running ultra-loose
monetary policies, some emerging
market exporters have sounded the
alarm over ‘currency wars’ that they
say will devalue their foreign
reserves and hit their
competitiveness.
But not all: Mexico’s central bank
governor Agustin Carstens said
13
that while he backed the G7’s
commitment to market driven
exchange rates, it was important to
refrain from rash rhetoric.
“If we enter into a real currency war
what will end up happening is
adding a lot of volatility to markets,
pushing up risk premiums and no
one would end up winning,”
Carstens said.
Russian officials note that Japan
has not intervened on currency
markets to weaken the yen,
suggesting that Tokyo would not be
singled out as a miscreant.
Before flying to Moscow, Bank of
Japan Governor Masaaki
Shirakawa defended the monetary
expansion, saying it was aimed at
reviving the economy - which
shrank in the fourth quarter - and
not at weakening the yen.
15 February 2013
Meteor rattles Siberian
city, nuclear, chemical
facilities safe
A major Russian city in Siberia had
a miraculous escape on Friday
when a meteor streaked above it,
shattering windows, shaking the
ground and injuring hundreds of
people.
Amateur videos taken in and near
Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains
captured an incredibly bright
fireball speeding across the sky
shortly after 9 a.m. local time,
leaving a thick white smoke trail,
followed by several powerful blasts.
Eyewitnesses said the fireball was
brighter than the Sun, hurting vision
and causing headaches.
The Russian Academy of Sciences
estimated that a 10-tonne meteor
entered the atmosphere over
Siberia at a speed of 15-20 km a
second and exploded into
fragments at a height of about 50
km above the Earth.
The fragments hit several regions
of Siberia and Kazakhstan, with
Chelyabinsk, a city with a
population of 1.12 million people
about 1500 km east of Moscow,
suffering largest damage. Meteor
shock waves blew out windows in
hundreds of multi-storeyed
apartments, hospitals, schools and
sports facilities and damaged
several industrial plants in the city.
No fatalities have been reported so
far, but the number of injured
people reached 1,000 by Friday
Current Affairs Notes

evening, including 200 children, in
Chelyabinsk alone. Most injuries
were caused by flying glass. The
authorities declared a state of
emergency in Chelyabinsk region
and deployed 20,000 emergency
response personnel to ascertain
the damage and help the injured
people. Municipal services
struggled to replace 100,000
square metres of smashed
windows as temperatures in
Siberia are well below zero degree
Celsius.
Fortunately for Chelyabinsk, the
fragments of the meteor missed it
and crashed in a thinly populated
area about 200 km away. The
military found three meteor impact
sites, including a six-metre crater
near Lake Chebarkul and a large
hole in the ice on the lake.
Chelyabinsk region has several
nuclear and chemical industry
facilities, including the Mayak fuel
reprocessing factory and a huge
nuclear waste storage. Emergency
officials said the facilities were
safe and background radiation
levels remained low. Mayak was
the site of a nuclear catastrophe in
the 1950s, when a blast in a liquid
waste tank caused massive
radioactive contamination in the
region.
Astronomers did not rule out that
the meteor was part of the 2012
DA14 asteroid, which was due to
pass close by the Earth later on
Friday.
Concept:
A meteor or “shooting star” is the
visible streak of light from a
meteoroid or micrometeoroid,
heated and glowing from entering
the Earth’s atmosphere, as it
sheds glowing material in its wake.
Meteors typically occur in the
mesosphere at altitudes between
76 km to 100 km (46–62 miles).
Millions of meteors occur in the
Earth’s atmosphere daily. Most
meteoroids that cause meteors are
about the size of a pebble. Meteors
may occur in showers, which arise
when the Earth passes through a
stream of debris left by a comet, or
as “random” or “sporadic” meteors,
not associated with a specific
stream of space debris. A number
of specific meteors have been
observed, largely by members of
the public and largely by accident,
but with enough detail that orbits of
the meteoroids producing the
meteors have been calculated. All
of the orbits passed through the
asteroid belt.The atmospheric
velocities of meteors result from
the movement of Earth around the
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
Sun at about 30 km/s (18 miles/
second), the orbital speeds of
meteoroids, and the gravity well of
Earth.
EC disqualifies 2,171
candidates for not filing
returns in time
The Election Commission has
disqualified 2,171 candidates who
contested by-elections/general
elections to the LokSabha and
Legislative Assemblies and
Councils for failing to submit their
poll expenditure accounts within
the stipulated 30 days from the
date of announcement of results.
These persons, most of them non-
serious contestants, will be barred
from contesting any election
conducted by the EC for three years
from the date of its disqualification
order, issued under Section 8A
read with 11 (A) (2) and 10A of the
Representation of the People Act,
1951.
Some of the candidates have been
disqualified till January 2016.
Maharashtra tops the list with 260
contestants, followed by
Chhattisgarh (259) and Haryana
(197). In Delhi, 29 candidates have
been disqualified.
Though some of the contestants
filed their returns within time, it was
not done in the proper format,
informed sources said.
The EC, in a letter sent to the Chief
Electoral Officers, asked them to
furnish a copy of the list of
disqualified candidates to the
respective returning officers. The
list is also posted on the
Commission’s website
www.eci.nic.in under the heading
judicial reference-list of
disqualified persons.
Before disqualifying them, notices
had been issued to the candidates
and the order was passed only
against those who failed to give
satisfactory reasons for the delay/
failure.
Though the State Election
Commissions (SEC) normally
adopt the EC’s rules and
procedures, the disqualification
order could not restrain these
contestants from contesting the
local body/civic polls. For, the SEC
is independent of the EC and the
disqualification order would not
apply automatically to local polls, it
is said.
The disqualified candidates who
wish to go in for an appeal will have
to submit a petition to the EC with
proper reasons for their failure to
submit accounts/delay.
14
The plate is full (Finance
commission)
The Fourteenth Finance
Commission has recently been
constituted under Article 280 of the
Constitution, with a former
Governor of the Reserve Bank of
India, Y.V. Reddy, as its chairman.
The primary task of the FFC is the
same as that of its predecessors:
to make recommendations
regarding the sharing of Union
taxes, the principles governing
grants-in-aid to States and transfer
of resources to the States. Its
period of reference is five years
commencing April 1, 2015 and it is
expected to submit its report by
October 31, 2014. Over the recent
past, successive Finance
Commissions have been saddled
with a large, onerous agenda that
has gone well beyond their main
tasks of correcting fiscal
imbalances between the Centre
and the States on the one hand,
and among States on the other. The
Thirteenth Finance Commission
was given the important, but still
out of the way, job of preparing a
fiscal consolidation road map. The
FFC will look into the deficit of the
States keeping in view its
predecessor’s report. It has also
been asked to suggest measures
to raise the tax to GDP ratios of
both the Centre and the States,
tackle challenges in ecology,
environment and climate change.
The FFC’s other terms of reference
include such omnibus items as the
need for making public sector
enterprises competitive,
divestment, and listing and
relinquishing ownership of non-
priority enterprises. A few other
tasks such as calculating the level
of subsidies needed and figuring
out how to insulate the pricing of
public utilities from policy
fluctuations can be contentious.
Most of these issues do impact
public finance but the FFC need not
be burdened with some of these
lest its primary function is diluted.
Recently, after much delay and
protracted discussions among
State finance ministers at
Bhubaneswar, a breakthrough in
terms of compensating States for
possible revenue losses post the
implementation of the Goods and
Services Tax appears to have been
made. The FFC might still have a
say in the final GST format, which
however is not expected to roll out
until April 2014 at the earliest. Two
other core issues need to be
addressed by the FFC. The
widening inequality in growth and
consequently, in per capita income
across States have increased
Current Affairs Notes

inequalities in fiscal capacity.
Second, the uniform fiscal deficit
targets that States have opted for
under their fiscal responsibility
legislations have most probably
resulted in — and the FFC will
confirm this — compressed
development expenditure. It is
hoped that the FFC will
recommend steps to safeguard the
autonomy of States in fiscal matters
and specifically suggest ways to
overcome the restrictions imposed
by stiff fiscal targets without, of
course, sacrificing fiscal prudence.
Gold ETFs allowed to
invest in Gold Deposit
Schemes
The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) on Friday
allowed Gold Exchange Traded
Fund schemes (Gold ETFs) to
invest in Gold Deposit Schemes
(GDS) of banks, as the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) changed the
maturity period of gold deposits,
from six months to seven years
instead of three to seven years
making the product more attractive
for investors.
“The total investment in GDS will
not exceed 20 per cent of total
asset under management of Gold
ETFs,” said SEBI in a circular to
asset management companies
(AMCs).
Before investing in GDS of banks,
mutual funds shall put in place a
written policy with regard to
investment in GDS with due
approval from the Board of the
AMCs and the Trustees.
Further, SEBI said that this policy
would be reviewed by mutual
funds, at least once a year.
“Gold certificates issued by banks
in respect of investments made by
Gold ETFs in GDS shall be held by
the mutual funds only in
dematerialized form,” it added.
While changing the maturity period
of GDS on Thursday the central
bank said that banks would not be
required to obtain prior approval of
RBI for introducing the scheme.
Banks, however, asked to inform
the details of the scheme including
names of branches operating the
scheme to the Reserve Bank of
India Banks would be required to
report the gold mobilised under the
scheme by all branches in a
consolidated manner on a monthly
basis.
2012 DA14 will miss
Earth, but it will be a close
fly-by
A 45-metre (150-foot) asteroid on
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
Friday hurtled toward the Earth’s
backyard, destined to make the
closest known fly-by for a rock of its
size.
NASA said the asteroid would miss
the Earth by 17,150 miles (27,600
km). But that’s still closer than
many communication and weather
satellites are to the planet.
Scientists insisted those, too,
would be spared.
Scientists at NASA’s Near-Earth
Object programme at California’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory estimate
that an object of this size makes a
close approach like this every 40
years. The likelihood of a strike is
once every 1,200 years. The fly-by
provides a rare learning opportunity
for scientists eager to keep future
asteroids at bay.
‘We are in a shooting gallery’
“We are in a shooting gallery, and
this is graphic evidence of it,” said
former Apollo astronaut Rusty
Schweickart, chairman emeritus of
the B612 Foundation, committed to
protecting the Earth from
dangerous asteroids.
Asteroid 2012 DA14 is too small to
be visible to the naked eye even at
its closest approach, which will
occur around 1925 hours GMT
(0055 IST Saturday), over the Indian
Ocean near Sumatra.
The best viewing locations, with
binoculars and telescopes, are in
Asia, Australia and eastern Europe.
Even there, all anyone can see is a
pinpoint of light as the asteroid
zooms by at 17,400 mph (28,000
kph).
As asteroids go, DA14 is a shrimp.
The one that supposedly wiped out
the dinosaurs 65 million years ago
was 6 miles (9.6 km) across. But
this rock could still do immense
damage if it struck, releasing the
energy equivalent of 2.4 million
tonnes of TNT and wiping out 750
square miles (1,950 square km).
Most of the solar system’s
asteroids are situated in a belt
between the orbits of Mars and
Jupiter, and remain stable there for
billions of years. Some
occasionally pop out, though, into
the Earth’s neighbourhood.
Mr.Schweickart noted that while
500,000 to 1 million sizable near-
Earth objects, asteroids or comets
were out there, yet, less than 1 per
cent — fewer than 10,000 — have
been inventoried.
DA14, which was discovered by
Spanish astronomers last
February, is “such a close call” that
it is a “celestial torpedo across the
bow of spaceship Earth,”
15
Mr.Schweickart said in a phone
interview.
Astronomers have organised
asteroid-encounter parties.
BJP for SIT probe into
chopper deal monitored
by SC, Parl panel
Charging Congress with misusing
the CBI, the BJP today demanded a
probe into the VVIP chopper deal by
a Special Investigation Team
monitored either by the Supreme
Court or a parliamentary
committee.
With accusing fingers also being
pointed at itself, the main
Opposition party said it had no
problems with the probe covering
the period when it was in power at
the Centre.
“Congress is notoriously known for
misusing CBI for partisan political
ends. That’s why for BJP the
suggestion of a CBI inquiry is not
acceptable. Because, CBI has no
credibility and the government’s
intention is also doubtful,” senior
BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told
reporters.
He said the government talked
about a CBI inquiry only after a
case was filed over the issue in
Italy and the “revelations” came to
light that “payments were made to
Indian middlemen also”.
He wanted to know why the
government acted belatedly despite
the issue being raised in
Parliament in 2011 and BJP MP
PrakashJavadekar writing to the
Defence Minister.
“We do not have confidence in CBI.
Because we have seen how the
CBI, the governor’s institution, the
Income Tax department, the
Enforcement Directorate and all
other organisations are being
misused by the government. One,
to harass political opponents,
second, to keep its allies under
control and third, to win over
neutrals,” he alleged.
In New Delhi, BJP Secretary
BalbirPunj told reporters: “The
details coming out indicate a very
serious conspiracy hatched at the
top level which includes the
bureaucracy, armed forces and
most importantly the political
leadership who were a part of it. All
efforts are now being made to
cover-up this conspiracy”.
He maintained that while the Indian
government has been silent on this
issue for so long, it is the Italians
who took the initiative to uncover
the scam.
Current Affairs Notes

No capital gains tax on
Sanofi for Shantha deal:
HC
In what showed the limitation of
India’s recent retrospective
amendments in tax laws
concerning indirect transfers
abroad of Indian assets, the Andhra
Pradesh High Court on Friday ruled
that notwithstanding the bolstered
law, French drug multinational
Sanofi need not pay capital gains
tax in India for its acquisition of
Hyderabad-based vaccine
manufacturer Shantha Biotech in
2009.
The court said Sanofi, which is
liable to pay tax in France for the Rs
3,800-crore deal, won’t have to pay
tax in India also thanks to the
protection afforded by the India-
French double taxation avoidance
agreement (DTAA). Indian tax
authorities had asked Sanofi to pay
over Rs 650 crore as capital gains
tax.
Sanofi Aventis, as it was then
known, had bought out
ShanthaBiotechnics through
acquisition of ShanH, which held a
majority stake in Shantha. ShanH,
the French subsidiary of Merieux
Alliance, had earlier bought out
Shantha in November 2008. The
court held that ShanH was a
company with commercial
substance and so the deal was
eligible for treaty protection.
The government is likely to
challenge the order in the Supreme
Court.
The HC ruling have positive
implications for at least a couple of
similar cross-border deals where
the buyers face Indian tax
demands, including British brewing
giant SAB Miller, which bought out
Foster’s Group for $10.2 billion in
September 2011. SAB Miller claims
that the transaction enjoyed
protection of the India-Australia
DTAA.
Rajiv Chug, partner, direct tax, Ernst
& Young said: “As long as the entity
in the treaty-partner country has
commercial substance and is not a
sham entity or mere nominee, the
treaty protection is bound to be
there.”
However, Friday’s court ruling will
have little effect on the high-profile
Vodafone case, as the relevant deal
did not enjoy any duty protection.
The government is apparently
having a rethink on the
retrospective amendments of
Section 9 of the Income Tax Act
meant to tax deals similar to
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
Vodafone involving offshore transfer
of shares, which have derived value
substantially from assets located in
India. Separately, informal talks are
on with Vodafone on reaching an
amicable settlement over the Rs
11,000-crore tax demand raised. As
the law stands today, the
amendment covers all such
offshore transactions.
The ParthasarathiShome
committee has voted against
retrospective applicability of the law
on indirect transfer of assets
brought in through the Finance Act,
2012, but proposed some
clarifications that would
substantially reduce the irritant
nature of the law, regardless of
whether past cases remain within
its domain.
It said the government should apply
the provision only to the taxpayer
who earned capital gains (the
seller) and suggested that no
taxpayer in such cases be asked to
pay interest and penalty on the tax
computed.
The Sanofi case came up for
hearing on Friday and law firm
Economic Laws Practice appeared
for the petitioners. Rohit Jain,
partner, Economic Laws Practice,
said: “This is a good judgment and
sets out the law as applicable by
the Indo-French treaty which
continues even after retrospective
amendments.”
According to the counsel, the
transaction of the sale of shares of
ShanH by the French company
Sanofi is not a design for tax
avoidance. The transaction is
chargeable to tax in France, in
terms of the provisions of the DTAA,
and retrospective amendments to
the Income Tax Act have no impact
on the DTAA.
Earlier also, the Andhra Pradesh
High Court had dismissed the plea
of the tax authorities against the
Authority for Advanced Rulings
(AAR) admission of Sanofi’s
application regarding the Shantha
Biotech deal.
FCRA Bill to develop the
commodities futures
market could be passed in
Budget session: K V
Thomas
The FCRA Bill to develop the
commodities futures market could
be passed in the forthcoming
Budget session of Parliament,
Food and Consumer Affairs
Minister K V Thomas said here
today.
16
“I believe the Forward Contract
Regulation Act (FCRA) Bill will be
passed in the coming session of
Parliament,” the Minister said while
addressing an Assocham event on
the commodity futures market.
“There are apprehensions about
futures trade that it is leading to
price rise in commodities. But a
number of studies have indicated
there is no evidence to prove it,” he
added.
The FCRA Amendment Bill, 2010
aims at developing the
commodities futures market by
arming the regulator Forward
Markets Commission (FMC) with
financial autonomy and facilitating
the entry of institutional investors,
among others.
On reports that government was
mulling imposing commodity
transaction tax (CTT), the Minister
said: “When the issue of CTT came
before us in October last year, we
immediately discussed it with
stakeholders and an independent
view has been passed on to the
Finance Ministry.”
“This is a goose (commodity
market) that lays the golden eggs.
When the issue (CTT) comes, we
should not take a partisan view,” he
said.
Thomas had recently written a letter
to the Finance Minister saying that
any move to impose CTT would
affect the nascent market, sources
said.
Speaking on the occasion,
Financial Technologies Director
(Research and Strategy)
MadhooPavaskar said, “The market
is gripped with fear of CTT.”
Financial Technologies is the
promoter of leading commodity
bourse, MCX.
“Introduction of CTT would divert
hedgers and speculators to
rampant dabba trading. The tax
would also impact the volume and
liquidity of commodity exchanges,”
Pavaskar said.
While the stock markets are to
channelise investments for capital
formation, commodity markets are
price discovery and risk
management platforms, he said,
adding that the commodity, before it
comes for trading on the exchange
platforms, is already taxed heavily.
The CTT of 0.017 per cent on
commodity derivatives was levied
in the 2008-09 Budget, but was not
operationalised and was kept in
abeyance.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs
Current Affairs Notes

regulates the commodities market
through the FMC.
Currently, there are 21 commodity
bourses with a combined turnover
of Rs 136.51 lakh crore as on
January 15 of the current financial
year.
16 February 2013
Freak rains, hailstorm in
northern India
Freak rains accompanied by gusty
winds and hailstorm that lashed
parts of the State on Friday night
claimed 10 lives, besides causing
extensive damage to standing rabi
crops and mango trees which are
at a flowering stage.
Weathermen at the Met Office here
said such freak weather
phenomenon was normal at the
advent of summer on the close of
winter due to a variety of factors,
including sudden troughs of erratic
winds in the atmosphere.
Thang-Ta
Thang-ta or huyen lallong is a
weapon-based Indian martial art
created by the Meitei of Manipur. In
the Manipuri language, thang
means sword and ta means spear.
As its name implies, the sword and
spear are the primary weapons in
thang-ta. The spear can be used in
its non-missile form while in close
or thrown from afar. Other weapons
used include the shield and axe.
Because of Manipur’s cultural
similarity, geographic proximity and
ethnic ties with Myanmar, thang-ta
is closely related to banshay. Both
can be practiced in three different
ways: ritual, demonstration and
combat. The first way is related to
the tantric practices and is entirely
ritualistic in nature. The second
way consists of a spectacular
performance involving sword and
spear dances. These dances can
be converted into actual fighting
practices. The third way is the true
combat application.
Persistent drought in wet
State
Ever since her childhood, Monderal
Dohling, a mother of six who lives
in Umdingpoh close to Sohra
(previously known as Cherrapunji),
remembers her village and nearby
ones facing acute water shortage
during winter despite heavy rainfall
during monsoon. “Sohra gets
soaked in heavy rain. Yet there is
not a single drop of water in winter
as if this is a desert,” she says.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
A village water supply scheme
ensures that each family gets a
bucket of water once or twice a
week, but the daily requirement is
40 to 50 buckets, she says.
Sohra (56 km from Shillong) and
Mawsynram (68km from Shillong)
in East Khasi Hills district of
Meghalaya take turns in recording
the heaviest rainfall on the planet.
Yet for the parties, candidates as
well as voters in a number of
constituencies the water shortage
has become a poll issue with the
water crisis season coinciding with
the current elections.
While top soil erosion,
deforestation are cited as key
culprits behind the water running
off to Bangladesh where it causes
much hardship, in Jaintia hills,
indiscriminate coal mining has
polluted water sources.
The United Democratic Party, a
partner in the Congress-led
coalition government but fighting
against each other in this poll, has
promised in its manifesto that it will
go all out to tap all rivers flowing to
Bangladesh, Assam and other
areas. The Congress has
promised to tap the rain water
running off the hills to the plains of
Bangladesh and neighbouring
Assam by using the natural gorges
and creating multilevel waterbodies
along the river basins. This, the
party said in its manifesto, will
recharge the critical catchment
areas, recharge ever depleting
underground water tables and
ensure the availability of water for
irrigation and drinking water in a
sustained manner.
The Greater Sohra Water Supply
Scheme that was commissioned at
an estimated cost of Rs 4.13 cr in
December 2010 is catering to the
Sohra town and adjacent villages
but yet to cover thousands of
people living in greater Sohra
region — falling under Sohra and
Shella assembly constituencies.
“When the parties and candidates
came to our village for
campaigning we tell them whoever
gets elected must solve the
problem of water crisis. For it is the
most important issue among all
other issues raised by them.
However, in every election they
make promises to solve it but
conveniently forget them,” Ms.
Dohling says.
Treat the water better
Unabsorbed pharmaceuticals in
the human body find their way to
wastewater streams after being
excreted, they develop drug
17
resistance in bacteria and their
presence in water may cause
mutation in the human DNA. This
fact was highlighted by bio-scientist
P.P. Bhakre at a national conference
on water quality management in
Jaipur recently.
Pointing out that 50 to 90 per cent
of administered pharmaceuticals
are released into waste water, Dr.
Bhakre especially warned about
the non-metabolised part of
chemotherapy drugs that are used
for treatment of cancer patients.
Such drugs reach wastewater and
may kill the normal cells of people
who use this water after treatment
from water bodies such as rivers
and lakes — calling for the
development of an alternative
system to dispose of the unused
pharmaceutical drugs.
The three-day conference
discussed the challenges of
supplying clean and adequate
water to the people of Rajasthan as
well as the scope for development
of new technologies for purification
of water for domestic use. Ninety
per cent of the total groundwater in
the desert State is used in the
agricultural sector and the rest 10
per cent is used for domestic
supply.
The event was organised jointly by
the Malviya National Institute of
Technology (MNIT), Jaipur and the
Communication & Capacity
Development Unit (CCDU) of the
State’s Water Resources
Department. The State government
has decided to use perennial
sources of water for civic water
supply because of the presence of
fluoride in groundwater.
Representatives of the
Environmental Management
Centre, Mumbai, emphasised the
need for developing new
technologies for water purification,
while pointing out that a dollar
invested in water quality
management has returns of at
least three times in the State’s
economic development.
The deliberations covered
chemical and biological aspects of
water quality management,
contamination in distribution
system, domestic devices for water
and wastewater treatment.
Paediatrician Sunil K.Gupta
discussed the health aspects of
fluorosis and nitrate toxicity from
drinking water and threw light on
hazardous effects of nitrates and
fluoride content present in water.
In a presentation on membrane-
base technologies for water and
wastewater treatment, the example
Current Affairs Notes

of Dubai was cited in the context of
seawater being treated there using
a sequential process of
conventional and membrane-
based methods. Since membrane-
based technologies are not based
on chemical treatment, they can
rightly be termed green
technologies.
The keynote address on “water
purification technologies”, delivered
by P.K. Tiwari, head, desalination
division, Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre, Mumbai, pointed out that
water treatment segment in India
was estimated to be of the size of
$15 billion and was growing at the
rate of 18 per cent every year. The
gross wastewater generated in the
country is 35,000 million litres per
day (MLD) and is predicted to reach
83,000 MLD in 2050. Looking at its
potential reuse, there is a vast
scope for research in wastewater
treatment.
The Rajasthan government has
invited technical education
institutions as knowledge partners
if they have expertise to investigate
and deliver right solutions for water
quality problems. The MNIT plans
to reuse 70 per cent of its treated
wastewater on the campus to
reduce the requirement for fresh
water.
A reference to the traditional source
of water supply to the Walled City of
Jaipur — Ramgarh Lake — drying
up was also made at the
conference, while the participants
suggested the use of membrane
thermal desalination for the
purification of water in the rural
areas which lack adequate power
supply.
Presenting the Rajasthan
perspective of the national rural
drinking water quality monitoring
and surveillance, CCDU director
Hemant Joshi highlighted the
plans for maintaining water quality
in the State and said the quality had
been affected because of
overexploitation of ground water
sources.
Pankaj Mathur of Rajasthan office
of UNICEF said the World Health
Organisation and UNICEF had
chalked out a joint monitoring
programme for water supply and
sanitation.
According to the 2011 Census data
on drinking water access, five out of
20 persons do not have access to
improved drinking water sources in
the country. Besides, open
defecation results in direct
contamination of sources of water
supply.
A panel discussion at the
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
conference led to a view that the
technical institutions such as
Indian Institutes of Technology,
National Institutes of Technology
and engineering colleges must join
hands to fill up the knowledge gaps
to resolve the issue of water quality.
Reduction in salt intake
could prevent deaths
The United States could prevent up
to half a million deaths over the
next decade if Americans cut their
salt intake to within national
guidelines, according to a new
study.
That finding — which comes the
week New York City announced
success toward its goals of cutting
salt levels by one-quarter by 2014
— is based on computer
simulations using data from
various studies on the effects of
extra sodium on blood pressure
and heart risks.
The Institute of Medicine
recommends most healthy people
get 1,500 milligrams (mg) of
sodium per day, with an upper limit
of 2,300 mg. But the average
American eats more like 3,600 mg
each day, largely through
processed food.
“Reducing sodium intake is
important for everyone, not just a
small subset of people who are
salt sensitive,” said Pamela
Coxson, the study’s lead author
from the University of California,
San Francisco.
Although the health effects of a salt
cutback may be small for the
average person, she said, the
results show they add up when
projected across millions of
Americans.
Still, one blood pressure
researcher not involved in the new
study said the models don’t reflect
the full picture of health
consequences tied to too little or
too much salt.
Coxson and her colleagues ran
three salt-reduction scenarios
through models that predicted how
a lower-sodium diet would impact
a person’s risk of having high
blood pressure or dying of
cardiovascular disease.
The most realistic scenario was a
gradual decline in Americans’
average sodium intake over ten
years to about 2,200 mg per day.
That goal would be “optimistic but
potentially achievable,” the
researchers wrote in the journal
Hypertension.
Based on their calculations — and
18
taking into account uncertainties
about sodium’s direct effect on the
heart — Coxson and her
colleagues calculated 280,000 to
500,000 fewer Americans would
die over the next decade as a result
of that reduction.
A more dramatic and immediate
decline to 1,500 mg of salt per day
across the U.S. population could
prevent up to 1.2 million deaths,
largely from heart disease or
stroke, the researchers calculated.
But that isn’t very realistic, policy-
wise.
“The gradual reduction is
something that many countries
around the world are working on in
various ways,” Coxson told Reuters
Health.
For example, she said, some
countries have worked with bakers
to cut back on sodium in bread,
and others have focused on meat
and canned goods. “The big
majority of our intake of sodium is
coming from those types of
processed foods,” Coxson said.
“The individual at home with their
salt shaker only controls maybe 20
to 25 percent of their intake.”
TOO LITTLE SODIUM?
Dr. Michael Alderman from the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
in Bronx, New York, said the
researchers’ calculations are
missing data on how too little
sodium can also raise heart risks,
through its effect on blood fats and
insulin.
“They begin with the hypothesis
that lowering sodium intake,
because it will lower blood
pressure - and nobody debates
that - will inevitably translate into a
reduction in cardiovascular events,”
he told Reuters Health. But in
reality, he said, “The net effect of
these conflicting consequences of
reducing sodium will be the health
effect.”
Alderman said there’s no evidence
eating less than 2,000 mg of
sodium per day is beneficial for the
average person. “Like every other
essential nutrient that I know of, too
little is not good for you, and too
much is not good for you,” he said.
For people who do want to cut back
on their sodium, Coxson said diet
changes are possible despite the
influence of the country’s salty,
processed food environment.
Swine flu claims 23 lives
in Gujarat; 82 under
treatment
Swine flu has claimed 23 lives in
Gujarat since the onset of winter
Current Affairs Notes

and 82 patients are being treated,
the government said today.
“There have been 23 deaths due to
swine flu in the state since the
latest outbreak of the disease this
season. Eighty- two people are
being treated in various hospitals,”
Nitin Patel, Health Minister and
Gujarat government spokesperson,
told media persons here.
The disease, he said, has
aggravated because of the
prolonged winter. “The test kit of
swine flu costs Rs 5,000. This kit is
being provided free in both state-
run and private hospitals,” he said.
Seven patients in the age bracket of
1-14 years, 43 in 15-45 years and
32 patients above 45 years have
been admitted in various hospitals,
Patel said.
Concept:
Swine influenza, also called pig
influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig
flu, is an infection caused by any
one of several types of swine
influenza viruses. Swine influenza
virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza
virus (S-OIV) is any strain of the
influenza family of viruses that is
endemic in pigs. As of 2009, the
known SIV strains include influenza
C and the subtypes of influenza A
known as H1N1, H1N2, H2N1,
H3N1, H3N2, and H2N3.
Swine influenza virus is common
throughout pig populations
worldwide. Transmission of the
virus from pigs to humans is not
common and does not always lead
to human flu, often resulting only in
the production of antibodies in the
blood. If transmission does cause
human flu, it is called zoonotic
swine flu. People with regular
exposure to pigs are at increased
risk of swine flu infection.
During the mid-20th century,
identification of influenza subtypes
became possible, allowing
accurate diagnosis of transmission
to humans. Since then, only 50
such transmissions have been
confirmed. These strains of swine
flu rarely pass from human to
human. Symptoms of zoonotic
swine flu in humans are similar to
those of influenza and of influenza-
like illness in general, namely
chills, fever, sore throat, muscle
pains, severe headache, coughing,
weakness and general discomfort.
In August 2010, the World Health
Organization declared the swine flu
pandemic officially over.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
17 February 2013
High-power panel to
review Sachar panel
report, 15-Point
Programme
Ahead of the next general elections
in 2014, the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance government
has proposed constitution of a
high-power committee to review
and assess the implementation of
Justice Rajinder Sachar
Committee’s recommendations
and Prime Minister’s 15-Point
Programme. This comes after a
barrage of complaints from the
Muslim community and a
perception widely shared by people
inside and outside the government
that minority welfare schemes have
failed to reach the intended
beneficiaries.
Talking to The Hindu, Union
Minority Affairs Minister K. Rahman
Khan said the Committee was
needed as there was criticism from
the community that the
implementation of the Sachar
Committee recommendations was
actually an “eyewash.”
“Even though the government has
implemented almost all the Sachar
Committee recommendations, I
honestly feel that the benefits have
not reached the intended
beneficiaries. So there should be
an independent review by people
outside the government,” he said.
Mr. Khan said the committee, which
is expected to be announced soon,
would be given a timeframe to
submit its report in. It will suggest
ways to improve the delivery
mechanism. Experts like Dr.
Amitabh Kundu from the
Jawaharlal Nehru University and
Dr. Manzoor Alam from the Institute
of Objective Studies have been
approached by the government to
be a part of the committee.
While highlighting the
government’s attempt to reach out
to more members of the minority
community, Mr. Khan said that in
the 12th Five-Year Plan the
government has made blocks and
not districts as the unit of planning
for implementation of the Multi-
Sectoral Development
Programmes (MSDP). As many as
776 minority-concentrated blocks in
196 districts have been identified
for coverage under MSDP which
aims to improve the socio-
economic standards of the minority
communities.
19
Sources in the Congress said the
government came up with the
proposal of constituting the
committee after numerous
delegations led by Muslim groups
met Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, Congress president Sonia
Gandhi and party vice-president
Rahul Gandhi to make a point
about the minority welfare
schemes being ineffective.
The minority community’s
argument about the need for
restructuring of minority schemes
was strengthened, they said, by
several research reports, including
one by former National Advisory
Council member Harsh Mander,
whose Center for Equity Studies
(CES) has termed the flagship
programme — MSDP — “blunt and
ineffective”. However, the
government had rubbished the
CES report.
“The scale of government
intervention is too small to touch
even the fringes of the numbers
who live with these deprivations,”
the CES report had stated, while
underlining the institutional failure
in dealing with the development
deficit which was highlighted by the
Sachar Committee report.
The immediate trigger for the
proposal for the committee was
another well-publicised research
paper by chief scholar at the U.S.-
India Policy Institute Abusaleh
Shariff in which he argued that
there was no perceptible
improvement in the status of
Muslims.
The health of nations
The United Nations has been
drawing attention in recent years to
the growing burden of non-
communicable diseases, which
have been adding to morbidity and
premature deaths in most
countries. In a declaration issued
at a high-level meeting in 2011, the
U.N. argued that low and middle
income countries should actively
pursue public health policies that
will reduce the incidence of NCDs
arising from diabetes,
hypertension, high cholesterol, and
a high body mass index. One of the
countries that is at the epicentre of
these health concerns is India, due
mainly to weak public health
policies and changing lifestyles.
As The Lancet points out in recent
commentary, much of the burden of
non-communicable diseases is
linked to the consumption of
tobacco, alcohol, and ultra-
processed food and drink (which
are energy dense but nutrient
poor). The public health community
Current Affairs Notes

now unanimously accepts the link
between these and a higher
burden of NCDs. Neglect of chronic
diseases by India has, according to
the World Health Organisation, cost
the country $9 billion in 2005 due to
premature deaths caused by heart
disease, stroke and diabetes. Over
a 10-year period, the losses are
projected to rise to a colossal
aggregate of $237 billion.
While tobacco and alcohol are
receiving close scrutiny as key
factors influencing disease
burdens, including cancer, the role
of ultra-processed packaged food
is not getting the attention it
deserves. The makers of all forms
of packaged food see India as a
gigantic emerging market — and
source of profit growth. Moreover,
advanced markets are saturated. It
is here that regulation of unhealthy
food holds the key. The primary
goal should be to use taxation,
labelling and awareness creation
to make high-energy, low nutrition
foods unattractive to the consumer.
There is a deplorable trend among
food manufacturers to push less
harmful packaged food as being
actually ‘healthy’. This travesty
must be reversed through
determined policy intervention, and
consumption of wholesome, fresh
meals high in vegetable and fruit
content must be encouraged. It is
relevant to point out here that the
biscuit industry has been lobbying
in India to displace fresh-cooked
food in the school noon meal
programme, with its own packaged
products, drawing sharp criticism
from nutritionists and development
experts. Packaged meals high in
calories, sugar and salt are no
substitute for fresh food and
actually cause harm. They can only
add to the risk of death by
cardiovascular disease, estimated
to be about five million by 2020. By
contrast, a dramatic decline in
death due to infectious diseases is
projected. The agenda for social
and political action is clear.
Meteorites strike Earth
every few months
A meteor exploded in the sky above
Russia on Friday, causing a
shockwave that blew out windows
injuring hundreds of people and
sending fragments falling to the
ground in the Ural Mountains.
Here’s a look at those objects in
the sky — what’s the difference
between a meteor and a
meteorite?
Meteors are pieces of space rock,
usually from larger comets or
asteroids, which enter the Earth’s
atmosphere. Many are burned up
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
by the heat of the atmosphere, but
those that survive and strike the
Earth are called meteorites. They
often hit the ground at tremendous
speed up to 30,000 km an hour,
according to the European Space
Agency. That releases a huge
amount of force.
Experts say smaller strikes happen
five to 10 times a year. Large
impacts such as the one Friday in
Russia are rarer but still occur
about every five years, according to
Addi Bischoff, a mineralogist at the
University of Muenster in Germany.
Most of these strikes happen in
uninhabited areas where they don’t
cause injuries to humans.
WHAT CAUSED THE DAMAGE IN
RUSSIA?
Alan Harris, a senior scientist at
the German Aerospace Centre in
Berlin, said most of the damage
would have been caused by the
explosion of the meteor as it broke
up in the atmosphere. The
explosion caused a shockwave that
sent windows and loose objects
flying through the air in a radius of
several kilometres. By the time the
remaining fragments hit the ground
they would have been too small to
cause significant damage far from
the site of impact, he said.
IS THERE ANY LINK TO THE
ASTEROID FLYBY TAKING PLACE
LATER FRIDAY?
No, it’s just cosmic coincidence,
according to European Space
Agency spokesman Bernhard von
Weyhe, who says Asteroid
2012DA14 is unrelated to the
meteorite strike in Russia.
WHEN WAS THE LAST
COMPARABLE METEORITE
STRIKE?
In 2008, astronomers spotted a
meteor heading toward Earth about
20 hours before it entered the
atmosphere. It exploded over the
vast African nation of Sudan,
causing no known injuries. The
largest known meteorite strike in
recent times was the “Tunguska
event” that hit Russia in 1908. Even
that strike, which was far bigger
than the one that happened over
Russia on Friday, didn’t injure
anyone. Scientists believe that an
even larger meteorite strike may
have been responsible for the
extinction of the dinosaurs about 66
million years ago. According to that
theory, the impact would have
thrown up vast amounts of dust that
blanketed the sky for decades and
altered the climate on Earth.
WHAT CAN SCIENTISTS LEARN
FROM THE URALS STRIKE?
20
Mr. Bischoff says scientists and
treasure hunters are probably
already racing to find pieces of the
meteorite. Some meteorites can be
very valuable, selling for up to •500
($670) per gram depending on
their exact composition. Because
meteors have remained largely
unchanged for billions of years
unlike rocks on Earth that have
been affected by erosion and
volcanic outbreaks scientists will
study the fragments to learn more
about the origins of matter. Mr.
Harris, of the German Aerospace
Centre, says some meteorites are
also believed to carry organic
material and may have influenced
the development of life on Earth.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A
METEORITE HIT A MAJOR CITY?
Scientists hope never to find out,
but they’re still trying to prepare for
such an event. Von Weyhe, the
European Space Agency
spokesman, says experts from
Europe, the United States and
Russia are already discussing how
to spot potential threats sooner and
avert them. But don’t expect a
Hollywood style mission to fly a
nuclear bomb into space and blow
up the asteroid.
Studies confirm cosmic
rays originate in the
aftermath of exploding
stars
Hundred years after Victor Hess
discovered cosmic rays in 1912,
astronomers have finally found
proof of what they had always
suspected — but could not find
direct evidence — that these highly
energetic particles, which are
constantly bombarding the Earth’s
atmosphere from all directions,
originate in the aftermath of
exploding stars, or supernovae as
they are called, which are the most
energetic events in the galaxy.
Importantly, the proof is doubly
strengthened as the evidence has
come from two different
experiments — one space-based
and the other ground-based —
which have looked at different
supernova remnants (SNRs) in
different parts of the sky and
interpreted their observations from
different physical perspectives. The
results of both experiments have
been published in the latest issue
of Science.
The first is based on years of data
from two 10,000-year-old SNRs
IC443 (which is 5,000 light years
away in the constellation Gemini)
and W44 (which is 10,000 light
years away in the constellation
Current Affairs Notes

Aquila) gathered by NASA’s Fermi
Gamma Ray Telescope (launched
in June 2008). The experiment is
led by scientists of the Kavli
Institute for Particle Physics and
Cosmology at the SLAC National
Accelerator laboratory.
The second is based on detailed
observations of the remnants of a
1,000-year-old supernova SN1006
with the Very Large Telescope (VLT)
of the European Southern
Observatory (ESO) in Chile. The
research was carried out by
astronomers from the Max-Planck
Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg.
Supernovae occur in our galaxy 2 to
3 times a century when a massive
star explodes. While the star’s core
remains as a neutron star, or a
black hole, the rest is ejected into
the space in the form of rapidly
expanding debris behind a
powerful shockwave. As the
remnant expands, it gathers the
low density interstellar gas (about
one particle/cm3) and gradually
decelerates but the imprint
remains in the sky for thousands of
years which is what astronomers
study to solve the mystery of
cosmic rays.
Cosmic rays mostly comprise
protons (about 90%), electrons and
other nuclei. The two experiments
claim to have found tell-tale
evidence of the protons being
accelerated to nearly the speed of
light by the shockwave that
precedes the ejecta from the
supernovae. This acceleration
occurs due to a mechanism
proposed in 1949 by Enrico Fermi
— after whom the space telescope
has been named — in which
protons are trapped in the fast-
moving shock region by magnetic
fields that travel with the shock front
and are boosted to high speeds
when they are repeatedly reflected
in the magnetic field.
With each round trip, protons gain
energy by about 1 per cent. After
several tens to hundreds of such
round trips, the protons are
travelling at nearly the speed of
light when they are able to break
free from the shockwave front. But
because protons get deflected by
any magnetic field they encounter
on the way to the Earth, and their
paths are totally scrambled, tracing
them back to their source becomes
impossible. It is for this reason that
one could not unambiguously say
cosmic rays are produced in the
SNRs.
So scientists look for indirect
signatures of this acceleration. One
such signature is the production of
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
gamma rays (high-energy
photons), when these speeding
protons meet slow-moving protons
in the surrounding clouds of gas or
dust in the debris. These proton-
proton collisions create chargeless
particles called neutral pions. The
pions, in turn, decay quickly into
two gamma ray photons. Unlike
protons, photons, being neutral,
are unaffected by intervening stellar
magnetic fields and travel in
straight lines, which can be traced
back to the source.
The problem is that there are
different processes in the universe
that produce gamma rays. But the
energy of gamma rays from pion
decays have a characteristic energy
range arising from the fact that the
pion has a rest mass of 135 MeV
(in energy units through E=mc
relation) which is divided between
the two photons. Accordingly, the
gamma ray spectrum declines
steeply toward lower energies.
Detecting the lower-end cut-off
would be clear proof that the
gamma rays observed by the Fermi
Telescope are from the decaying
pions formed by protons
accelerated within the SNRs.
The SLAC team analysed four
years of data collected by the Fermi
observatory’s Large Area
Telescope (LAT), whose efficiency
is just right to look at gamma rays
in this distinctive energy band, from
the two SNRs, IC 443 and W44
and, by measuring photons down
up to 60 MeV, found that the
gamma ray photons did have the
low energy cut-off.
But such gamma rays can also
come from another competing
source: ‘electron bremsstrahlung’
where high energy electrons emit
gamma rays because of
deceleration when they pass
atomic nuclei, which can occur
within the SNRs.
But the authors, Stefan Funk and
colleagues, have modelled the
observed gamma ray spectrum
based on both the possible
processes but find that while the
pion decay mechanism fits the
spectrum without any further
assumptions, electron
bremsstrahlung requires an ad hoc
assumption to be made with
regard to the electron energy
spectrum in a way that is not
consistent with the radio astronomy
observations on the synchrotron
radiation from such electrons. This
has led them to conclude that the
observed gamma ray spectra
provide direct evidence for the
acceleration of protons in the
SNRs.
21
“The arguments are persuasive,
but not yet conclusive,” said
Professor Sunil Gupta, a cosmic
ray scientist at the Tata Institute of
Fundamental research (TIFR).
The other ground-based
experiment using the VLT has
attempted to actually see the
presence of fast-moving protons in
the shock region through a different
signature. The team, led by
Sladjana Nikoloc, has used the
instrument called Visible Multi
Object Spectrograph (VIMOS) on
the VLT to look at the remnant of
SN1006 — designated so because
it was seen in the south-western
skies in the year 1006 in various
parts of the world — in more detail
than ever before. The scientists
wanted to study what exactly
happens where the high-speed
ejecta is ploughing into the
expanding high-velocity shock front.
For the first time, the team has not
just obtained information about the
shock front but also built up a map
of the properties of the gas, and
how these properties change
across the shock front.
In particular, they have looked at the
characteristics of a particular
emission line of hydrogen (protons
are nuclei of hydrogen atoms)
called H-alpha Balmer line, which
dominate the spectra of hydrogen
in the environments of shocks
surrounding SNRs. This directly
probes the proton populations in
the pre-shock and post-shock
phases and the broadening of the
spectral line is a measure of the
velocity distribution of the protons.
Discharge-free transport
The year 2013 started on a green
note with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh launching the
National Electric Mobility Mission
Plan 2020 (NEMMP), under which
the government plans to spend at
least Rs. 13,000 crore to Rs.
14,000 crore in the next eight years
to promote electric and hybrid
vehicle on Indian roads.
The NEMMP document claims that
the subsidies would reduce carbon
dioxide emission up to 1.5 per cent,
eliminate the need for up to 2.5
million tons of fuel, and add six to
seven million electric vehicles to
the roads by 2020.
Again, auto-major Mahindra
announced the launch of its new
model electric vehicle e20. That
was a good enough beginning for
India’s nascent electric vehicle (EV)
market.
Frost & Sullivan forecasts the
market for electric passenger
Current Affairs Notes

vehicles in India to reach 20,400
units by 2014-15 from 810 units a
year in 2009-10. Similarly, the two-
wheeler EV market will grow from
0.14 million units in 2009-10 to
0.45 million units in 2015-16.
In India, the major players in the
electric bike segment include Hero
Electric, Yo bikes, Lohia Auto
Industries and TI Cycles’ BSA
Motors. Mahindra Reva is the only
domestic electric car brand
currently.
However, almost all the
companies are finding it difficult to
sell EVs to the Indian consumers
who show reluctance to pay a
premium to go electric.
A recent TERI report says that the
growth in EV market needs to be
fuelled with organic consumer
demand rather than being
incentivised by the government to
buy electric vehicle, which is
currently the case.
“The Indian consumer is price, fuel
economy and style conscious and
will therefore appreciate the long
term savings of EV versus Internal
Combustion Engine (ICE). In
which case, growth of the EV value
chain must be fuelled by organic
consumer demand, and not
pushed by unsustainable
government subsidies for
consumers, to drive purchases,”
says the report.
The running cost of an electric two-
wheeler is one-tenth of a
conventional petrol-driven scooter
at Re. 1 per 100 km, which is just
the cost of charging the battery. An
electric vehicle needs eight hours
to fully recharge. Nevertheless, it
always carries the fear of battery
running out.
The TERI report points to the need
to invest in public charging point
for the electric vehicle that would
besides providing much relief
against low battery life of these
vehicles, will also give visibility to
electric vehicles and comfort
potential buyers.
Rising price of crude in the
international market, rapid
urbanisation, impending public
transport infrastructure breakdown
and rising number of vehicles on
road — all point to the need for
green mobility options and EVs
can fill that vacuum.
Sebi seeks overhaul of
securities laws for greater
powers
Market regulator Sebi has sought
major overhaul of the securities
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
laws including greater authority to
nail manipulators by way of powers
to conduct ‘search and seizure’
operations and to demand
information from any person in
relation to its probes.
It has also proposed the recovery of
monetary penalties through
Income-Tax arrear mechanism,
setting up of special courts to deal
with criminal prosecution for
violation of securities laws and
recognition of Sebi’s counsels as
public prosecutors.
The proposals have been
discussed by the Sebi board and
are being sent to the Ministry of
Finance for necessary
amendments to the relevant
securities laws, a senior regulatory
official said.
Sebi has decided to pursue these
proposed amendments in view of
the challenges faced by it in areas
such as the recovery and
realisation of monetary penalties
and regulation of pooling of monies
from public by schemes including
those in the nature of collective
investments, among others.
The market regulator has been
facing impediments on its
investigation and enforcement
powers with regard to protecting
investments by attachment of
assets. It has also faced
challenges to enforcement and
implementation of its orders, the
official said.
In addition, Sebi has been facing
restrained in taking necessary
actions against market
manipulators as it lacks an effective
power of search and seizure, and
due to limited sharing of
information with overseas
regulators as well as lack of power
to call for information from any
person in relation to inquiry or
investigation.
Sebi had last sought amendments
to the Securities Laws in 2009 and
had sent its recommendations to
the Finance Ministry.
However, the Ministry later informed
it that Sebi should pursue only
critical amendments for the time
being, as the government had set
up a Financial Sector Legislative
Reforms Commission (FSLRC) to
rewrite and harmonise the entire
gamut of financial sector laws.
Accordingly, Sebi in 2011 forwarded
a proposal conaining only critical
amendments to securities laws,
which it felt cannot wait long and
must be perused independent of
the recommendation of the FSLRC.
22
The Finance Ministry in December
had sought certain clarifications
with regard to the proposed
amendments, pursuant to which
Sebi has now decided to limit its
proposals to the “most important
and critical amendments” and
keeping the others for
consideration after FSLRC
recommendations.
18 February 2013
China takes control of
Gwadar Port
China on Monday took control of
Pakistan’s Gwadar Port located at
the mouth of the Persian Gulf just
outside the strategically important
Strait of Hormuz. The official
transfer of Concession Agreement
from the Port of Singapore Authority
(PSA) to the China Overseas Port
Holding Company was carried out
in the presence of President Asif Ali
Zardari.
Mr. Zardari described the
development as another
manifestation of growing Pakistan-
China relations. About the project’s
strategic importance, the President
said nearly 60 per cent of China’s
crude oil was imported from the
Gulf countries. The proximity of the
Gulf countries to Gwadar would
facilitate the oil flow to it, he pointed
out.
Last month, the federal Cabinet
had approved the transfer of
Gwadar Deep Sea Port to the
Chinese. Billed as Pakistan’s
biggest infrastructure project, the
port has failed as a business
venture till date because the
security situation in Balochistan
discouraged PSA from investing in
the development of the port and off-
shore infrastructure. Add to this the
government’s failure to transfer
584 acres under Navy’s
possession to the port.
Though China — which had
invested in the construction of the
port — had been a contender for
running the port, PSA bagged the
contract for 40 years during the
Musharraf era. While PSA won the
bid, the widely held perception is
that former President Pervez
Musharraf awarded the contract to
the Singapore entity to keep the
U.S. happy as Chinese control over
the port on a major shipping route
not only facilitates access to oil
producing countries but also
provides a major gateway for
Chinese goods.
In August last year, the federal
government announced that PSA
Current Affairs Notes

had been allowed to quit the 40-
year management, operation,
maintenance and development
contract in view of the failure to
transfer the 584 acres. This issue
remains unresolved despite the
federal and provincial governments
offering land elsewhere in lieu to
the Navy
4G spectrum holders can
provide call facility
Inter-ministerial body Telecom
Commission on Monday approved
a recommendation that allows
companies having ISP licences
and holding 4G spectrum to offer
phone calls services by paying a
fee of Rs 1,658 crore each, a
decision that left industry bodies
divided.
The Telecom Commission
decision, if finally approved by
Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal, will
allow companies such as Mukesh
Ambani-led Reliance Jio Infocomm
(RJI), Augere, Tikona Digital, if they
want, to offer mobile phone service
using BWA spectrum that they won
in 2010 auction.
“The Commission broadly
endorsed recommendation of DoT
committee with regard to Unified
Licensing regime...The ISP
(Internet service provider) licence
holder who hold BWA spectrum if
they wish to provide using that
spectrum then an additional fee of
Rs 1,658 crore will be levied for
migration to unified licences (UL),”
Telecom Commission Chairman R
Chandrashekhar, who is also the
Telecom Secretary, said here.
The framework for new licences
will be ready by end of this financial
year, he added.
For companies who wish to
continue to “provide limited
services like only Internet services
under cafeteria approach they can
do so with a lower entry fee which
will be same as present,” Mr.
Chandrashekhar said.
Telecom service providers who
want to provide any additional
services apart from their current
offerings, will have to go for unified
licence. In case of mergers and
acquisitions also, the companies
need to go for unified licence.
“UL (Unified licence) does not
include any spectrum. Grant of UL
including migration to UL does not
include any spectrum,” Mr.
Chandrashekhar said.
Industry divided
Reacting to the development, GSM
industry body COAI said that it had
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
recommended the Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) to
charge ISP companies amount
equivalent to what companies
mobile phone service providers
paid for licences.
“This is the cost if you want to enter
voice telephony business. We
support government not bundling
spectrum with this payment,”
Cellular Operators Association of
India’s Director General Rajan S
Mathews said.
The Association of United Telecom
Service Providers of India (Auspi),
however, said the charge of Rs
1,658 crore is minuscule
compared to the amount that
companies paid for 3G spectrum.
“Telecom Commission’s reported
action will allow BWA licencees to
offer Pan India Voice after paying a
paltry incremental amount of Rs 83
crores per MHz. Given that the
difference between the prices of 3G
and BWA on a per MHz prices was
Rs 1,033 crores per MHz,” Auspi
Secretary General Ashok Sud said.
Internet Service Providers
Association of India’s President
Rajesh Chharia criticised the
decision and said:
“This is not at all a level-playing
field. These charges are
abnormally high without spectrum.”
In 2010, six private players — RJI,
Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Qualcomm,
Tikona Digital and Augere — had
won BWA spectrum.
The Telecom Commission
deferred decision on single entity
providing both telecom and
television services like mobile
calling services, DTH, cable TV that
would charge customers for all
these services through a single bill.
“We are putting framework in place
to enable this model but it will
require recommendation from TRAI
and can be done in phase 2 of UL,”
Mr. Chandrashekhar said.
Decision on IP-1 deferred
The TC also deferred decision on
bringing telecom tower companies,
called IP—1, under licences.
“Issue of IP—1 operators under UL
regime was deferred and it was
decided that this required further
study of certain aspects,” Mr.
Chandrashekhar said.
Companies such as Bharti Infratel,
GTL Infrastructure, Indus Towers
are involved in IP—1 business. The
DoT committee had recommended
bringing IP—1 companies under
licence regime.
23
Telecom regulator TRAI has
recommended a charge of 8 per
cent licence fee to IP—1
companies once they are brought
under licences.
Concept:
In telecommunications, 4G is the
fourth generation of mobile phone
mobile communications
standards. It is a successor of the
third generation (3G) standards. A
4G system provides mobile ultra-
broadband Internet access, for
example to laptops with USB
wireless modems, to
smartphones, and to other mobile
devices. Conceivable applications
include amended mobile web
access, IP telephony, gaming
services, high-definition mobile TV,
video conferencing, 3D television
and Cloud Computing.
Two 4G candidate systems are
commercially deployed: the Mobile
WiMAX standard (at first in South
Korea in 2006), and the first-
release Long Term Evolution (LTE)
standard (in Oslo, Norway since
2009). It has however been
debated if these first-release
versions should be considered to
be 4G or not, as discussed in the
technical definition section below.
In the U.S., Sprint Nextel has
deployed Mobile WiMAX networks
since 2008, and MetroPCS was the
first operator to offer LTE service in
2010. USB wireless modems have
been available since the start,
while WiMAX smartphones have
been available since 2010, and
LTE smartphones since 2011.
Equipment made for different
continents are not always
compatible, because of different
frequency bands. Mobile WiMAX are
currently (April 2012) not available
for the European market.
In Australia, Telstra launched the
country’s first 4G network (LTE) in
September 2011 claiming “2–100
Mbps” speeds and announced an
“aggressive” expansion of that
network in 2012.
How to balance growth
and contain inflation?
All the macroeconomic numbers
are in, but barring headline inflation
based on the wholesale price index
(WPI), which is only mildly positive,
none of the other indicators provide
any level of comfort or confidence to
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
in preparation of his budget for the
new fiscal.
Having committed to investors at
home and at recent road shows
abroad on presenting a
Current Affairs Notes

“responsible” Budget, adhering to
the path of fiscal consolidation to
contain the fiscal deficit at 5.3 per
cent of the GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) in 2012-13 and bring it
down to 4.8 per cent in 2013-14,
particularly irksome for Mr.
Chidambaram — possibly a rude
shock — was the CSO’s (Central
Statistics Office) Advance Estimates
projecting a mere 5 per cent GDP
growth in 2012-13.
No wonder, in separate
statements, the Finance Ministry as
well as Mr. Chidambaram himself
questioned the CSO’s projection,
arguing that the GDP growth this
fiscal would be in the region of 5.5-
5.7 per cent. It was also pointed out
that the 5 per cent growth forecast
was a gross underestimate as the
CSO had failed to factor in the
“green shoots” in the economy.
North Block’s protests on GDP
growth were not without reason.
For, it was only in late January
during his road show in Hong Kong
that the Finance Minister had
exuded confidence on economic
recovery setting in. Having buried
the “ghost of GAAR” (General Anti
Avoidance Rules) which had
scared away foreign investors, Mr.
Chidambaram had said: “At the
end of this year, we will achieve the
target of 5.3 per cent of fiscal deficit
and next year I will budget for fiscal
deficit no more than 4.8 per cent.”
Predictably, his optimism stemmed
from the data Mr. Chidambaram
had on GDP growth. “The
projection I have received is that
[the] economy will grow above 6 per
cent [in 2013]. My own assessment
is it will be between 6 and 7 per
cent. Will be happy if it is closer to 7
per cent, but we should be happy if
it is 6 to 7 per cent,” he had said.
To North Block’s chagrin, the
controversy over GDP growth
estimates has been set at rest by
the dismal factory output figure as
measured by the IIP (Index of
Industrial Production). As per the
data, also released by the CSO,
industrial output contracted by 0.6
per cent in December, the second
such consecutive monthly decline,
owing to poor shows by the entire
manufacturing sector — including
capital, intermediate and consumer
goods — and mining coupled with
a deceleration in the services
sector growth. In effect, the recovery
process still remains illusive as the
cumulative IIP growth for the nine-
month period (April-December)
works out to a mere 0.7 per cent as
against a 3.7 per cent growth in the
year-ago period with just the last
quarter (January-March) left for a
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
likely transformation as a result of
the reforms initiated thus far.
Surely, the CSO’s growth estimate
has turned out to be a major
setback to Budget formulation. For
the simple reason that the fiscal
deficit at 5.1 per cent of the GDP —
later eased to 5.3 per cent owing to
economic uncertainties — and
other targets pegged in the Budget
presented by the then Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee were
based on a higher GDP growth
assumption. Now, with GDP growth
in 2012-13 projected way lower at 5
per cent is likely to upset the
budgetary arithmetic as the twin
deficits on the fiscal side and
current account deficit (CAD) are
designated as a percentage of the
GDP and both are burgeoning wide
off the target. In effect, adhering to
the fiscal deficit target in a
shrinking GDP will turn out to be a
much more challenging task.
Not just that. With low
manufacturing output and subdued
consumer demand, tax realisations
are tepid and the overall revenue
collection target set for 2012-13 is
unlikely to be met as the mop-up
on the indirect taxes front. To make
up the shortfall, aggressive
measures are afoot to add
whatever is possible to the revenue
kitty. If this was not bad enough, the
trade gap is also widening — at
last count it was at $ 20 billion in
January — following a steep rise in
imports of oil and gold while
exports have largely remained
muted owing to downturn in
markets abroad. As a
consequence, the CAD is widening
beyond sustainable levels,
adversely impacting the exchange
rate of the rupee.
So, we have a macroeconomic
situation where the GDP growth
rate is faltering and needs a dose
of adrenalin, industrial growth is
straying almost to negative territory
and needs steps to kick-start
investment, fiscal deficit is way up
and needs to be contained and the
CAD needs to be tamed by either
higher exports or larger foreign
capital inflows. Unless these ills
are effectively tackled, India runs
the risk of a rating downgrade, as
threatened by global rating
agencies.
The only silver lining is the decline
in WPI inflation, despite the fact that
food inflation at the retail level is
almost near 11 per cent. The
Finance Minister thus is faced with
an exercise in contradiction. While
food inflation can be brought down
by looking into the supply-side
problems in the long term — and is
24
not particularly a budget initiative
per se — interest rates need to be
eased to induce consumer
spending as also kick-start
investment by corporates at a time
when there is not much space for
either fiscal or monetary stimulus.
The current gloomy scenario thus
calls for a fine balance between
growth spurs and steps to contain
inflation with effective measures to
wean away investment from idle
gold assets to the equity markets.
Apart from high oil imports, a major
reason for a widening CAD is the
increased investment in gold, not
just as a hedge against inflation,
but also as a speculative
commodity to make a fast buck.
From all accounts, the Finance
Minister has a challenging task on
hand, possibly the toughest one
among his earlier Budget
presentations. The irony is that this
is the UPA II government’s last full-
fledged budget before the Lok
Sabha elections in 2014 and party
constituents would be duly looking
forward to a presentation by Mr.
Chidambaram on February 28
tinged with some “populist”
measures to woo the electorate.
But does the Finance Minister have
the scope? Precious little.
Another wet spell likely
over Delhi, north-west
India
Delhi and other parts of north-west
India could be in for another wet
spell later this week, making it one
of the wettest Februarys for the
region.
According to the India
Meteorological Department,
another western disturbance was
on its way and it could bring in
more rain or thundershowers to
Delhi and States adjoining it during
the weekend – February 23 and 24.
“The rainfall over Delhi is likely to
commence in the early morning of
23rd and continue till 24th
morning,” a statement from IMD
said.
Besides Delhi, the system is
expected to affect north Rajasthan,
Punjab, Haryana and West Uttar
Pradesh. Thunderstorms
accompanied by hail storms may
occur at one or two places in the
region during the two days.
In addition, Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand could receive heavy to
moderate rain or snowfall between
February 21 and 24.
The upcoming event is the third
Current Affairs Notes

spell of western disturbance to
affect the north-west India since the
beginning of this month.
Noting that western disturbances
were not unusual for February –
normally five such systems affect
the region during this month, a
spokesperson of the IMD said what
was significant about this year was
that the quantity and spatial
distribution of the precipitation has
been much more than normal both
over the plain and the foothills of
the Himalayas.
This was because the induced
systems associated with western
disturbances this year were in the
form of depression or a low
pressure areas instead of the
usual upper air cyclonic
circulations and this led to
moisture incursions from both
Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal
and their convergence over the
region.
Following the first two spells – the
first from February 4 to 6 and the
second from February 15 to 17,
some meteorological stations in
the region have already broken old
records for rainfalls for the entire
month of February.
Lucknow, for instance, has
recorded a total rainfall of 135.7
mm, an all time record for the
month, while at Dehra Dun, the
precipitation recorded so far is the
highest after 1961 and at Barmer in
Rajasthan it is highest after 1939.
In Delhi, the meteorological station
at Safdardjung has recorded a total
rainfall of 93 mm, which is the fifth
highest since 1901 for the entire
month of February after 143.2 mm
in 1915, 128.2 mm in 1942, 123.5
mm in 1990 and 96.6 mm in 1954.
The spokesperson said the
ensuing rains could be the last wet
spell of the current winter season.
Concept:
Western Disturbance is the term
used in India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Nepal to describe
an extratropical storm originating in
the Mediterranean that brings
sudden winter rain and snow to the
northwestern parts of the Indian
subcontinent. This is a non-
monsoonal precipitation pattern
driven by the Westerlies. The
moisture in these storms usually
originates over the Mediterranean
Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Extratropical storms are a global,
rather than a localized, phenomena
with moisture usually carried in the
upper atmosphere (unlike tropical
storms where it is carried in the
lower atmosphere). In the case of
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
the subcontinent, moisture is
sometimes shed as rain when the
storm system encounters the
Himalayas.
Western Disturbances are
important to the development of the
Rabi crop in the northern
subcontinent, which includes the
locally important staple wheat.
Over 300 million years old
asteroid impact zone
found in Australia
Scientists in Australia have found a
major ancient asteroid impact zone
on Earth in the country’s outback,
dating back to over 300 million
years. The impact zone, which
centres on the East Warburton
Basin in north-eastern South
Australia, was caused by an
asteroid up to 20 kilometres-wide
that slammed into the planet
between 298 and 360 million years
ago, researchers at Australian
National University (ANU) and
University of Queensland have
claimed. Terrain around the impact
site shows evidence of changes
caused by shock-wave related
deformation and heating of the
ground by an impact event, Andrew
Glikson of ANU was quoted as
saying by Australian Broadcasting
Corporation. “This shock
metamorphic terrain covers an
area of over 30,000 square
kilometres making it the third-
largest site of
its kind ever discovered on Earth,”
Glikson said. To confirm the area
was an impact zone, Glikson and
colleagues studied quartz grains
retrieved from drill holes. Optical
and electron microscopic
examination revealed tiny fractures,
which indicate the quartz grains
had been shocked by an asteroid
or meteor impact.
“This is the only way these features
are formed,” he said. Follow up
observations detected deep
seismic anomalies below the
terrain where the samples were
taken.
“This allowed us to determine the
scale of the impact site which is
buried under four kilometres of
younger sediments,” he said. He
said that there is a link between
this impact site and three or four
other large impact sites of the
same age scattered around
Australia. “Asteroid impacts
commonly occur in clusters of two
or more projectiles,” he said,
adding “Where impacts are near-
contemporaneous they’re usually
fragments of a larger body broken
apart by the gravitational effect of
25
the Earth-Moon system. “This new
discovery is a twin for one we
reported on last year in the
Eromanga Basin in south-western
Queensland called the
Tookoonooka Crater. “It looks like
both impacted at the same
time.”He also said that there is a
link between this site and a nearby
potential impact site on the South
Australian/Northern Territory border
known as the West Warburton
geophysical anomaly, and another
site at Woodleigh in Western
Australia.
Astronomers detect
breakthrough cosmic dark
matter filament
For the first time, astronomers have
found direct evidence that the
Universe is filled with a giant web-
like structure of dark matter,
arrayed in vast filaments between
the galaxies.
A team including Kavli Institute for
Particle Astrophysics and
Cosmology (KIPAC) researchers
Norbert Werner and Aurora
Simionescu and led by Jorg
Dietrich of the University of
Michigan, has presented evidence
for the first detection of the
presence of a cosmic web filament.
The filament in question stretches
between two large galaxy clusters,
known as Abell 222 and 223. The
team’s evidence for a filament is
two-fold, according to the study
published in the journal Nature.
On one hand, they were able to
reconstruct the mass distribution of
the two clusters and the region in
between them using the technique
of weak gravitational lensing.
Weak lensing is where a
concentration of mass subtly
distorts the observed shapes of
background objects because of the
way matter bends light.
In the case of the current
measurement, weak lensing
observations revealed that the
mass distribution included an
overdense filament between the
two clusters.
From the X-ray data, they estimate
that the mass of this collection of
hot ordinary matter in the filament
is about 6 trillion times the mass of
the Sun.
Even so, it is only a tiny fraction of
the total mass of the filament,
which they estimate from the
measurements to be ten or more
times that, so that 90 per cent or
more of the filament mass is in the
form of dark matter, consistent with
Current Affairs Notes

predictions that the cosmic web
filaments are entirely dominated by
dark matter, according to KIPAC
statement.
“Actually observing the structure of
the cosmic dark matter web would
be a stunning confirmation of our
current understanding of dark
matter and dark energy over the
history of the Universe, and could
open the door to much deeper
understanding going forward,”
researchers said.
Any observation of the web has
evaded astronomers, until now.
This observation is confirmation
that a filament of dark matter exists
between two massive galaxy
clusters.
In the past 15 years, a remarkable
consensus has emerged that the
Universe is completely dominated
by unseen dark matter and dark
energy.
Linear filaments of dark matter
stretch across the enormous
distances between galaxy clusters,
and where the filaments intersect
mass is concentrated and galaxy
clusters form and grow from
ordinary matter.
The cosmic web structure arises
due to the way that dark matter
particles swarm together because
of their gravitational attraction
combined with the pull of the ever-
expanding Universe.
JTS Institute
12 February - 18 February 2013
Scientists discover water
on Moon’s oldest rocks
Researchers have detected traces
of water within the crystalline
structure of one of the oldest rocks
obtained from the Apollo missions
on Moon. The new findings indicate
that the early Moon was wet and
that water there was not
substantially lost during the Moon’s
formation.
The lunar highlands are thought to
represent the original crust,
crystallised from a magma ocean
on a mostly molten early Moon,
according to a University of
Michigan study.Researchers used
Infrared spectroscopy to analyse
the water content in grain of
plagioclase feldspar from lunar
anorthosites - highland rocks
composed of more than 90 per
cent plagioclase. The bright-
coloured highlands rocks are
thought to have formed early in the
Moon’s history when plagioclase
crystallised from a magma ocean
and floated to the surface. The
infrared spectroscopy work
detected about 6 parts per million
of water in the lunar anorthosites.
“The surprise discovery of this work
is that in lunar rocks, even in
nominally water-free minerals such
as plagioclase feldspar, the water
content can be detected.
“It’s not ‘liquid’ water that was
measured during these studies but
26
hydroxyl groups distributed within
the mineral grain,” researcher
Youxue Zhang said in a statement.
“We are able to detect those
hydroxyl groups in the crystalline
structure of the Apollo samples,”
said study’s first author Hejiu Hui
from the University of Notre Dame.
The hydroxyl groups the team
detected are evidence that the lunar
interior contained significant water
during the Moon’s early molten
state, before the crust solidified,
and may have played a key role in
the development of lunar basalts.
The results also contradict the
predominant lunar formation theory
that the Moon was formed from
debris generated during a giant
impact between Earth and another
planetary body, approximately the
size of Mars.”Because these are
some of the oldest rocks from the
Moon, the water is inferred to have
been in the Moon when it formed,”
Zhang said.”That is somewhat
difficult to explain with the current
popular moon-formation model, in
which the Moon formed by
collecting the hot ejecta as the
result of a super-giant impact of a
martian-size body with the proto-
Earth.
“Under that model, the hot ejecta
should have been degassed
almost completely, eliminating all
water,” Zhang said.
Current Affairs Notes
 Issue-6/2013 (5 th February to 115thFebruary
February)- 11 February 2013
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 5 Feb - 11 Feb, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
5 February 2013
Tsunami hits Solomon
Islands
1. A powerful earthquake off the
Solomon Islands generated a
tsunami of about 5 feet that
damaged dozens of homes in the
South Pacific island chain on
Wednesday, but authorities
cancelled warnings for tsunamis
on more distant coasts.
2. Solomons officials reported two
4 foot, 11-inch) waves hit the
western side of Santa Cruz Island,
damaging around 50 homes and
properties, said George Herming, a
spokesman for the Prime Minister.
There were no reports of injuries or
deaths. Villagers were heading for
higher ground as a precaution,
Mr.Herming said.The tsunami
formed after an 8.0-magnitude
earthquake near Lata in Temotu
province, the easternmost province
of the Solomons.
3. The Pacific Tsunami Warning
Centre said a tsunami of about 3
feet was measured in Lata wharf,
in the Solomon Islands. The centre
said an 11-centimetre wave was
observed in neighbouring
Vanuatu.The centre cancelled
earlier warnings for tsunami waves
further away.”There was no
immediate report of damages or
any accidents,” said George
Herming, a spokesman for the
Prime Minister. “We’ve been hoping
that reports will come in from the
responsible authorities ... very
soon.”
4. The tsunami warning is in effect
for the Solomons, Vanuatu, Nauru,
Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New
Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati,
Wallis and Futuna. A tsunami watch
is in effect for American Samoa,
Australia, New Zealand and
eastern Indonesia.The US
Geological Survey said the quake
struck 81 kilometres west of Lata,
at a depth of 5.8 kilometres.More
than 50 people were killed and
thousands lost their homes in April
JTS Institute
2007 when a magnitude-8.1 quake
hit the western Solomon Islands,
sending waves crashing into
coastal villages.
Concept:
The Pacific Ring of Fire, or just
Ring of Fire for short, is an area
where a large number of
earthquakes and volcanic
eruptions occur in the basin of the
Pacific Ocean. In a 40,000 km
(25,000 mi) horseshoe shape, it is
associated with a nearly
continuous series of oceanic
trenches, volcanic arcs, and
volcanic belts and/or plate
movements. The Ring of Fire has
452 volcanoes and is home to over
75% of the world’s active and
dormant volcanoes. It is
sometimes called the circum-
Pacific belt or the circum-Pacific
seismic belt.
About 90% of the world’s
earthquakes and 81% of the
world’s largest earthquakes occur
along the Ring of Fire. Also, many
of the world’s volcanoes are
located here. The next most
seismic region (5–6% of
earthquakes and 17% of the
world’s largest earthquakes) is the
Alpide belt, which extends from
Java to Sumatra through the
Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and
out into the Atlantic. The Mid-Atlantic
Ridge is the third most prominent
earthquake belt.
The Ring of Fire is a direct result of
plate tectonics and the movement
and collisions of lithospheric
plates. The eastern section of the
ring is the result of the Nazca Plate
and the Cocos Plate being
subducted beneath the westward
moving South American Plate. The
Cocos Plate is being subducted
beneath the Caribbean Plate, in
Central America. A portion of the
Pacific Plate along with the small
Juan de Fuca Plate are being
subducted beneath the North
American Plate. Along the northern
portion, the northwestward-moving
Pacific plate is being subducted
beneath the Aleutian Islands arc.
Farther west, the Pacific plate is
1 Current Affairs Notes
being subducted along the
Kamchatka Peninsula arcs on
south past Japan. The southern
portion is more complex, with a
number of smaller tectonic plates
in collision with the Pacific plate
from the Mariana Islands, the
Philippines, Bougainville, Tonga,
and New Zealand; this portion
excludes Australia, since it lies in
the center of its tectonic plate.
Indonesia lies between the Ring of
Fire along the northeastern islands
adjacent to and including New
Guinea and the Alpide belt along
the south and west from Sumatra,
Java, Bali, Flores, and Timor. The
famous and very active San
Andreas Fault zone of California is
a transform fault which offsets a
portion of the East Pacific Rise
under southwestern United States
and Mexico. The motion of the fault
generates numerous small
earthquakes, at multiple times a
day, most of which are too small to
be felt. The active Queen Charlotte
Fault on the west coast of the
Haida Gwaii, British Columbia,
Canada, has generated three large
earthquakes during the 20th
century: a magnitude 7 event in
1929; a magnitude 8.1 in 1949
(Canada’s largest recorded
earthquake); and a magnitude 7.4
in 1970.
SARAL launch between
February 22 and 25
1. The launch of SARAL satellite
that will study the ocean currents
and sea surface heights by a Polar
Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV C-
20)0 from Sriharikota in Andhra
Pradesh will take place any time
between February 22 and 25. The
vehicle will put six other satellites
also into orbit.
2. As per earlier plans, a PSLV-20,
with the seven satellites, was to lift
off on February 13/14 from the first
launch pad at the SatishDhawan
Space Centre at Sriharikota.
3. The PSLV core-alone version
was “fully stacked up” in the launch
pad and “the vehicles and the
satellites are all right,” he said. All
the seven satellites had arrived at

Sriharikota but they have not been
integrated with the rocket.It is the
VSSC which has built the PSLV-
C20. It is the nerve centre of the
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO).
‘SMALL DELAYS’
1. Asked whether fresh glitches had
arisen during the testing of SARAL,
he said there were “no problems.”
There were “small delays” but there
was always “a cushion” for the
launch and so the PSLV-C20’s lift-
off had now been rescheduled
between February 22 and 25,
Mr.Ramakrishnan said.
2. SARAL stands for Satellite for
Argos-3 and Altika. French space
agency CNES contributed the two
payloads to the 400-kg SARAL:
Argos-3 for data collection and
Altikameter for measuring the
height of the sea surface.
As glaciers melt in
Himalayas, new lakes
crop up
1. Indicating the impact of global
warming, glacier melting over a
47-year period has led to formation
of seven new glacial lakes in
Chandra-Bagha Basin of western
Himalayas.
2. Preliminary findings of an on-
going study by researchers from IIT,
Bombay, showed that glacier lakes
underwent continuous changes
between 1963 and 2010.
Geographical Information System
(GIS) tools and high resolution
remote sensing technology were
used to delineate glacier lakes
situated in inaccessible Himalayan
terrain. In all, 15 large glacier lakes
situated at an elevation between
4069 meters to 5252 meters were
chosen for monitoring the changes
that occurred.
3. Continuous ice-melting due to
glacier recession (loss of ice due
to excess melting) caused the
formation of seven new lakes near
the mouth of the glaciers. These
were formed as moraine-dammed
lakes and the glacier-lake area
was estimated to have increased
approximately by 2591 sq.meters
during the 47-year period. Moraine
is a depositional feature of glacier.
As the glacier starts moving, it
accumulates small rocks, debris,
ice fragments and soil.
4. There was no significant change
in the area of eight other glacier
lakes which were situated at a
higher altitude and not created by
melting. According to Farjana
Sikandar Birajdar, lead author of
the study, the melting of glaciers
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
would reduce the ice mass
balance even as it resulted in
formation of new lakes with loose
moraine. This in turn could lead to
a sudden breach of the unstable
moraine dams and the
phenomenon of glacial lake
outburst floods (GLOF), posing a
serious hazard to settlements
downstream. She said many
previous studies in the Himayalan
region revealed that the rate of
melting was increasing. If the
same trend continued, glaciers
would vanish in the long-term,
adversely impacting the storage of
freshwater resources as also
hydro-power generation.
5. In a bid to overcome any future
problem, she suggested that
foundations of such moraine-
dammed lakes should be
strengthened. Besides by studying
the rate of glacier melting, it could
be predicted when a lake would
burst and the people living
downstream could be forewarned,
she added.
India-Latin America
1. External Affairs Minister Salman
Khurshid began an official visit to
Chile and Argentina on Tuesday
night. This is the first ever visit of an
Indian Foreign Minister to Santiago.
The fact that Mr.Khurshid will be
there less than four months since
taking charge is hopefully a sign of
evolving priorities towards the
region.
2. On January 27-28, Chilean
President SebastiánPiñera, pro
tempore President of the
Community of Latin American and
Caribbean States — CELAC —
hosted leaders from the region in
Chile. This was preceded by the
First CELAC Summit — planned
biennially — with the 27 nations of
the European Union. Mr.Piñera
welcomed Prime Minister Mariano
Rajoy of Spain, struggling with 25
per cent unemployment, and a
mountain of debt, “to a better
world.” The irony, accentuated by
the self-confidence of the Latin
American and Caribbean leaders,
was not lost on the former colonial
power. The CELAC Summit, aiming
to “unite our continent as never
before,” revealed the distance the
region has come from its troubled
past.
Towards regional consensus
3. Communist Cuba was
simultaneously hosting peace talks
between the conservative
government of Colombia and the
ultra-left guerrilla force, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of
2 Current Affairs Notes
Colombia or FARC. Its President,
Raúl Castro took over the
Presidency of CELAC for 2013 in
Santiago. Cuba remains outside
the Organisation of American
States, which includes all CELAC
members, plus the United States
and Canada, since its expulsion in
1962. Bolivia, which does not have
diplomatic relations with host Chile
on account of an ongoing territorial
claim by the former, was
represented by its President. The
commitment to democracy was
emphasised. Paraguay did not
attend the summit, under pressure
from the five-nation MERCOSUR,
and the 12-nation UNASUR (The
Union for South American Nations)
— the sub-regional South American
organisations from which it was
suspended after a “legislative
coup” deposing former Paraguayan
President Lugo in June 2012.
4. The deliberations and ancillary
events revealed fundamental
differences in political and
economic orientation, principally
between the left-leaning regimes
and the hosts and their supporters.
The CELAC-EU Declaration
maintains a balance between the
EU’s insistence on protection of
investment and the assertion of
overriding sovereign policy by the
left in Latin America. Mr.Piñera
admitted that “within CELAC we
have learnt to live with our
differences.” The Santiago
Declaration, adopted by the CELAC
Summit, orchestrates regional
consensus on incandescent
issues such as security, narco-
trafficking, multilateral negotiations
on disarmament, sustainable
development, etc. and reveals the
region’s collective determination to
make up for lost time.
5. The stakes for India are high in
this region five times its territory,
with a population of 600 million
producing over $10,000 on average
annually per capita. Political
relations are cordial, while bilateral
trade crossed $32 billion in 2011-
12 (30 per cent compound growth
over the past decade). The
Commerce Ministry has negotiated
an amplification of a preferential
tariff agreement with Chile and is
preparing to negotiate similar
agreements with other LAC
countries. Indian enterprise is
increasingly aware of, and present
across, the region.
Focus on India
6. August 2012 saw the most
significant development in India’s
relations with LAC countries. The
Chilean presidency, clearly with the
tacit approval of the entire region,

identified India as its first port of
call, followed by China. The Ministry
of External Affairs (MEA)
reciprocated the initiative with
alacrity. The Joint Declaration
issued after the meeting of the
External Affairs Minister with his
counterparts from Chile, Venezuela
and Cuba (the Troika of CELAC)
signalled the start — or at least the
definition — of a new era.
7. Mr.Khurshid’s visit should largely
fulfil the commitment to annual
meetings, even though Chile has
handed over the presidency. The
identification of specific areas for
collaboration — business, science
and technology, agriculture, energy,
culture and education — on
separate platforms, provides a
road map. Steps to implement
these have been initiated by the
MEA and should find resonance
among stakeholders on both
sides. A worthwhile return on
diplomatic investment is
guaranteed.
8. In the 1990s, the MEA convinced
the Government of India of the need
to “Look East,” after having virtually
ignored Asean and our relations
with that vital part of the world. A
similar exercise was carried out the
following decade with Africa. Both
were focused programmes, funded
and executed with determination by
the ministry in concert with other
stakeholders. The results and
benefits are evident.
9. The time has now come to carry
out a similar exercise with the 33
nations of Latin America and the
Caribbean. The complexity of the
diplomatic challenge cannot be
underestimated. To the geographic
distance and magnitude, we must
add the difficulties of
communication, a lack of cultural
appreciation, historic proclivities to
Europe and the U.S., and the deep
inroads already made by others,
notably China. A CELAC-China
Cooperation Forum finds mention
in the Santiago Declaration.
10. Mr.Khurshid’s visit comes at a
crucial juncture. It must be utilised
to emphasise our determination to
engage Latin America in all
aspects of the relationship. An
important catalyst will be the
business community, which will
require official patronage to elevate
the economic relationship to the
next level. India needs to accelerate
and upgrade its political and
diplomatic exchanges with the
region. More frequent visits at all
levels, including by the Prime
Minister, and a conscious effort to
invite more leaders from Latin
America, will help convince our
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
friends across the South Atlantic of
our sincerity.
Green with Manush
An enthusiastic bunch of people
and plenty of hard work — this is
what it took to create a bird
sanctuary on a lakebed in Tamil
Nadu. At 6 a.m. every Sunday, for
seven consecutive months, about
150 men, women, and children
gathered at the polluted Mookaneri
Lake in Salem. Excavators were
employed to dig out soil from the
58-acre lake and heap it to form
islands on the surface.
The people planted saplings that
included naaval, neem,
aalamaram, arasamaram and
vetiver on the islands. Soon, the
skies opened up and the plants
thrived. Curious birds flew in to
check out the new green spot.
Mookaneri came alive.
Today, the Mookaneri is an example
that wetland conservationists
across Tamil Nadu want to
emulate. The mammoth task was
possible because of an ordinary
young man who sells bamboo
furniture for a living — Piyush
Manush.
Vitamin D levels could
halve diabetes risk
1. Adequate levels of vitamin D
during young adulthood may halve
the risk of adult-onset Type 1
diabetes, according to a new
research.The findings by the
Harvard School of Public Health
(HSPH) could lead to a role for
vitamin D supplementation in
preventing this serious auto-
immune disease in adults, when
the immune system starts
damaging tissues.
2. “It is surprising that a serious
disease such as Type 1 diabetes
could perhaps be prevented by a
simple and safe intervention,” said
KassandraMunger, research
associate at HSPH, who led the
study, the American Journal of
Epidemiology reports.
3. In Type 1 diabetes, the immune
system attacks and permanently
disables the insulin-making cells
in the pancreas. About five per cent
of the estimated 25.8 million
people in the U.S. suffer from this
condition, according to the
American Diabetes
Association.Although it often starts
in childhood, about 60 per cent of
Type 1 diabetes cases occur after
age 20, according to a Harvard
statement.
4. Identifying 310 individuals
diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes
3 Current Affairs Notes
between 1997 and 2009, the team
examined blood samples taken
before onset of the disease, and
compared the samples with those
of 613 people in a control group,
not having the disease.
Summit to focus on
adolescent health
1. India will launch a strategic
roadmap with focus on adolescent
health at the upcoming national
meet on “India’s Call to Action:
Child Survival and Development
Summit” in Tamil Nadu later this
week.
2. Entitled “Strategic Approach to
Reproductive Maternal Newborn
Child and Adolescent Health
(RMNCH+A),” the meet is aimed at
accelerating reductions in
preventable child deaths through
sharper national plans and
improved monitoring and
evaluation.
3. “It will engage with all partners to
arrive at actionable goals and
commitments for high-burden
States aimed to reduce the deaths
of children from preventable
causes,” Anuradha Gupta,
Additional Director and Mission
Director National Rural Health
Mission, told reporters here on
Monday.
4. Though the child mortality rate in
India has dropped by almost 50 per
cent since 1990, it is still among
the top four nations that account for
50 per cent of global under-five
mortality.
5. India accounts for the largest
number of under-five deaths —
nearly 1.5 million, of which close to
0.8 million die within 28 days of
birth.
6. Ms. Gupta said neonatal
mortality was very high in the
country. “The big step forward for
the summit is sharing of strategic
approach,” she said. The strategy
is to develop peer educators who
can give out “very critical
information” to adolescent girls
through counselling so that when
they get married they will have “very
good understanding of basic
things” such as birth control.
7. The government will unveil a
national iron plus initiative targeting
13 crore adolescent girls. A strategy
for strengthening the nursing
profession will also be launched at
the summit.
8. During 2005-10, India’s decline
in under-five mortality rate has
accelerated to an average of 7.5
percent each year. Even though the
average under-five mortality rate

has been always lower in urban
areas, the rate of decline has been
much faster.
Healthcare for all, through
an overhaul
As Kerala aspires to move towards
Universal Health Coverage (UHC),
as envisaged in the 12 Plan, the
government is preparing to
strengthen the primary healthcare
system of the State by revamping
the structure, reworking the role of
healthcare providers, and by
envisaging a greater role for local
communities.
If the project proposal, included in
the Plan Implementation
Programme of the National Rural
Health Mission (NRHM) this year,
gets the Centre’s approval, Kerala
could be the first State in the
country to pilot an experiment in
UHC.
The Health Department has
selected three institutions in
Thiruvananthapuram district to pilot
the UHC project — the primary
health centres (PHC) of Kallikkad
and Chemmaruthi and the
community health centre (CHC) of
Venpakal.
Technical support
The project will have the technical
support of the National Health
Service (NHS) of U.K. The
department is being assisted by
Mala Rao, Professor of
International Health, University of
East London, who has a wealth of
experience in strengthening public
health systems, having been the
Director of Public Health, NHS, for
several years. Dr.Rao has been
working with a group here for a
while now.
“The concept of UHC cannot
happen unless there is a well-
functioning primary healthcare
system — the friendly
neighbourhood PHCs — where a
chunk of the healthcare needs of
local communities will be met.
Good, quality care at the primary
healthcare-level alone can bring
down the healthcare costs. The
focus will be on better
infrastructure, more staff, and a
total revision of the traditional roles
played by our health workers,” says
Dr.Rao.
Three tiers
The current three-tier primary
healthcare system consists of sub-
centres, PHCs and CHCs. While
the sub-centres are inadequately
staffed, the PHCs have just one
doctor who ends up doing clinics,
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
field work, immunisation, and a
host of other administrative jobs.
CHCs too have no takers among
the public.
The UHC pilot project envisages
sub-centres as service delivery
centres more involved in screening
programmes, and delivery of
elderly care and palliative care
through trained field workers and
ASHAs.
The PHCs are to be equipped with
more facilities and manpower to
deliver most of the healthcare
requirements of the community.
Every PHC will have at least three
doctors and four staff nurses.
Nurses will have a more pro-active
role, on the lines of ‘nurse-
practitioners’ of U.K.’s NHS. Team
work, multi-tasking, skill
development and a better use of
technology are some of the watch
words here.
A shift is being envisaged in the
role of CHCs, with these becoming
training centres and also offering
rehabilitative care.
Training
Training is to be a crucial area. The
Community Medicine Department
at Thiruvananthapuram Medical
College is thus being primed as a
Primary Healthcare Department,
which will give academic inputs for
training doctors and nurses to be
posted at PHCs. It will chart out the
guidelines for CHCs, draw up
clinical protocols, take up primary
care research, and develop care
pathways and curriculum for
doctors and nurses.
e-health initiative
The State has already received
approval for a Rs.96 crore e-health
initiative from the Centre, to support
the pilot project. Utilisation of
information technology to build up a
health database of communities;
equipping field workers with tablets
or PDA devices for data collection;
and creating portable workstations
with Wi-Fi connectivity to ease
workflow are being envisaged
under the project
“A lot of ground work needs to be
done before we can achieve the
vision of UHC. We will have to work
on building the infrastructure as
well as the professional
competency of doctors and nurses.
Within a regulatory framework, the
State can also rope in private sector
healthcare providers,” points out a
senior Health Department official.
Pilatus: Wonderful Wings
for Perfect Pilots
With induction of Pilatus PC-7
4 Current Affairs Notes
Mark-II trainer aircraft, the Indian Air
Force trainee pilots will now get a
new set of wings to learn their
basic flying skills. Swiss made
Pilatus also knows as ‘Astra’ would
fill the void in basic flying training
after indigenous HPT-32 Deepak
was grounded around two years
back.
Pilatus would also draw a lot of
attraction during Aero India-2013,
Asia’s premier Air Show being held
at Air Force Station, Yelhanka,
Bangalore between February 6-10,
2013. “It is an excellent training
aircraft. Flying in new aircraft is
always a fine experience. I enjoyed
my flight from Hyderabad to
Yelhanka “, said squadron leader
SushantMitra of Indian Air Force
after landing at Yelhanka in the
Pilatus. His co-pilot Stefan Greub,
who came from Switzerland as a
test pilot described Pilatus as a
superior training aircraft. He said
that “safety, instruments, controls
systems and flexibility of avionics
configuration are key features of the
Pilatus”
Pilatus named after a mountain in
central Switzerland is an improved
version of the PC-9‘s airframe and
avionics, fitted with the PC-7‘s
smaller turbine ensures lower
operating and maintenance costs.
“It would provide Stage-I flying
training and also help streamline
flying training of Stages II and III
which had to be modified earlier in
absence of the basic trainer.” said
a Senior Officer of IAF during
interaction on condition of
anonymity. He said that “Pilatus
would provide even better
preparation during Stage-I flying
training so that training for
operational pilots can take place in
quicker time frame.”
Pilatus would thus lay the
foundation for future generations of
Indian Air Force pilots. While being
the smallest aircraft in the IAF
inventory, the Pilatus would
shoulder a much heavier
responsibility in building future
generation of the IAF pilots.
From ‘Moth’ to ‘Master’
1. Air Force Station yelahanka
displays an amalgamation of two
generations of aircraft during Aero
India-2013. One, the vintage Tiger
Moth and other the latest to join the
Indian Air Force(IAF), C -17
Globmaster III, the largest strategic
heavy lift aircraft.
The Tiger Moth aircraft resurrected
recently as part of the IAF vintage
flight will fly for the first time in the
Aero India 2013. This would

showcase the spectrum of
technological advancement
between the ‘Moth’ and the
‘Master’.
While, the ‘de Havilland DH82
‘Tiger Moth‘ is a two-seat, single
bay biplane powered by a 145 hp
GYPSY MAJOR four cylinder
inverted air-cooled engine. It was
the primary trainer aircraft for the
Royal Air Force during the Second
World War and was also the basic
trainer aircraft in the IAF right from
1940. Training schools in the IAF
operated the Tiger Moth and later it
was replaced by the HT-2.The Tiger
Moth has no electric system and
has to be started manually. Even it
is refueled manually by pouring fuel
in the tank above on the biplane.
The Indian Air Force is procuring
this latest heavyweight from the US.
Globemaster is capable of carrying
a maximum payload of 77.5 tones,
including combat vehicles, artillery
guns and battle-ready troops and
will strengthen India‘s strategic
capabilities. The four-engine
aircraft is capable of take-off and
landing on makeshift runways,
barely 3,500-feet long and 90-feet
wide.
The skies of Air Force Station
Yelhanka would treat the spectators
with the flight of these to aviation
marvels representing different era.
New Strategy for
Promoting Farm
Mechanisation during
12th Five Year Plan
Dedicated Sub-Mission
on Agricultural
Mechanisation Proposed
1. Ministry of Agriculture is
promoting a new strategy for farm
mechanization through its various
schemes and programmes. A
dedicated Sub-Mission on
Agricultural Mechanization has
been proposed for the XIIth Plan
which includes custom-hiring
facilities for agricultural machinery
as one of its major components.
The Sub-Mission aims at catalyzing
an accelerated but inclusive growth
of agricultural mechanization in
India. Its focus is on increasing the
reach of farm mechanization to
small and marginal farmers and to
the regions where availability of
farm power is low.
Custom hiring of farm machinery
envisages promoting
establishment of farm machinery
banks for custom hiring by way of
providing financial assistance to
individual self-help groups or
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
farmers’ co-operatives since the
prohibitive cost of hi-tech and high
productive equipments renders it
difficult for individual ownership..
The other major components
included in the Sub-Mission, apart
from custom hiring facilities for
agricultural machinery are
promotion and strengthening of
agricultural mechanisation through
training, testing and demonstration;
post-harvest technology and
management (PHTM); financial
assistance or procurement subsidy
for agriculture machinery and
equipments; establishment of farm
machinery banks for custom hiring;
enhancing hi-tech, high productive
equipment hub for custom hiring;
enhancing farm productivity at
village level by introducing
appropriate farm mechanisation in
selected villages; and creating
ownership of appropriate farm
equipments among small/marginal
farmers in eastern/north eastern
region.
6 February 2013
Apex court pulls up SEBI
for not freezing Sahara’s
accounts
1. The Supreme Court on
Wednesday issued notice to the
Sahara group, asking why
contempt proceedings should not
be initiated against it for not
implementing the August 31, 2012
directions of the court on refund of
Rs. 24,000 crore to depositors.
2. A Bench of Justices K.S.
Radhakrishnan and J.S. Khehar
was acting on a contempt petition
filed by the Securities and
Exchange Board of India, which
complained that the Sahara group
had flouted the court’s directions
and had not submitted documents
to it (SEBI).
3. While seeking its response in
four weeks, the Bench exempted
the contemnors — the managing
director and directors of the Sahara
India Real Estate Corporation and
the Sahara Housing Investment
Corporation, and the companies as
well — from personal appearance
at the next hearing. Justice
Radhakrishnan told
counselPratapVenugopal,
appearing for the SEBI: “Our
directions were very clear. Our
judgment provided for
consequences. What steps are you
taking? You are not taking any
action. The judgment tells you what
you should do but you are not doing
it.”
5 Current Affairs Notes
Concept:
What are optionally fully-convertible
debentures (OFCD)?
These debentures can be
converted into shares, when debt
holder (investor) wishes. But the
“rate”, will be decided by the
company
Five books shortlisted for
The Hindu Literary Prize
A collection of short stories, Difficult
Pleasures, and four novels — Bitter
Wormwood, Narcopolis,Em and the
Big Hoom and The Extras — have
been shortlisted for The Hindu
Literary Prize.
Nilanjana Roy, a member of the
jury, which also comprises Susie
Tharu, Pradeep Sebastian, Anita
Nair and Paul Zachariah,
announced the shortlist on
Wednesday on the New Delhi leg
of The HinduLit for Life.
“From Goa to Bangalore, Europe to
Shillong, this collection of short
stories reminds us of the power of
craft and voice and our first
nominee is AnjumHasan
for Difficult Pleasures, published by
Penguin Viking,” Ms. Roy said.
The second nominee,
EasterineKire for Bitter Wormwood,
published by Zubaan Books, has
written about “a neglected part of
Indian history.” “As the introduction
of the book says, it is about
‘ordinary people whose lives were
completely overturned by the Naga
struggle’,” Ms. Roy said.
“The third book on the list starts
with a sentence that I am not going
to quote in its entirety: ‘Bombay,
which obliterated its own history’ is
the hero or heroin of this story. For
his unusual city story, JeetThayyil
for Narcopolis (Faber and Faber).”
The jury member termed the fourth
book on the list as an “unusual”
love story. “It concerns an entire
family — not just one or two people.
The family is described by the
author as a family of ‘survivors —
shipwreck survivors’. Our fourth
nominee is Jerry Pinto for Em and
the Big Hoom from Aleph Book
Company.”
The fifth book on the shortlist, The
Extras by KiranNagarkar, published
by Fourth Estate, is a sequel to his
1994 novel Ravan and Eddie. “His
fans waited for decades to see
these two back: Ravan, a taxi-driver,
and Eddie, a bouncer and
bartender,” Ms. Roy said.
Pak calls for OIC probe
into LoC violations
Seeking to internationalise

tensions along the Line of Control,
Pakistan has called for an
investigation into the recent
incidents there by the Organisation
of Islamic Cooperation.
“We would also welcome an OIC
fact-finding mission to investigate
the recent incidents of ceasefire
violations along the LoC,” Foreign
Minister HinaRabbaniKhar said
while addressing a meeting of the
OIC contact group on Kashmir in
Cairo on Tuesday.
She reiterated that Pakistan is
ready to work with the United
Nations Military Observer Group for
India and Pakistan to carry out an
independent inquiry into the
ceasefire violations.Earlier,
Pakistan’s attempt to rope in the
United Nations by demanding a
probe by UNMOGIP was foiled by
India, which rejected it saying the
matter can be settled bilaterally.
Clashes between Indian and
Pakistani troops last month were
among the worst violations of the
ceasefire that was put in place
along the 742-km LoC in late
2003.One Indian soldier was
beheaded while the body of
another jawan was mutilated by
the Pakistan army men in
ceasefire violations in Mendhar
sector in Poonch last month.
Pakistan claims three of its
soldiers were killed in Indian firing.
Ms.Khar again contended that
there were “negative and hostile
statements emanating from the
Indian leadership” during the
ceasefire violations.She said
Pakistan chose to “exercise
restraints to keep the Pakistan-
India peace process on track.”
“Pakistan has entered into
dialogue with India in good faith to
amicably resolve the Kashmir
dispute. We are earnestly
implementing the cross-LoC
confidence-building measures to
bring relief to the divided families
and reduce the sufferings of the
Kashmiris on both sides of the
LoC,” she said in her address.The
CBMs had contributed towards
creating a “congenial environment
between the two countries to
address the issue of Jammu and
Kashmir”, she said.
Islamabad is committed to finding
a peaceful solution in line with UN
Security Council resolutions and
aspirations of the Kashmiris, she
said.
Concept:
The Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation is an international
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
organisation consisting of 57
member states. The organisation
attempts to be the collective voice
of the Muslim world and to
safeguard the interests and ensure
the progress and well-being of its
member countries in an
atmosphere of international peace.
The OIC has a permanent
delegation to the United Nations.
The official languages of the OIC
are Arabic, English and French.
“Infant mortality an area
of concern”
1. Despite significant efforts to
improve child healthcare, the infant
mortality rate in the country was still
an area of grave concern, said UPA
chairperson Sonia Gandhi on
Wednesday.
2. She was speaking at the launch
of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya
Karyakram (RBSK) — an initiative of
Child Health Screening and early
intervention service at Palghar in
Maharashtra’s Thane district.
3. Expressing satisfaction at
Maharashtra’s fund utilisation of the
National Rural Health Mission
(NRHM), she said the UPA
government had given a total of Rs.
90,000 crore to the States over a
period of seven years to firm up
their health apparatus.
4. As the thrust was on bolstering
healthcare in remote areas,
Palghar, a predominantly tribal belt,
was chosen by the UPA government
for launching the Rs. 130-crore
RBSK under the NHRM, Ms. Gandhi
said.
5. The initiative aims to provide a
comprehensive healthcare
package for all children up to 18 by
conflating earlier programmes
where children up to six years of
age were examined in anganwadis
by a medical officer, while those
from six to 18 years were covered
under the School Health
Programme.
6. The programme would soon be
extended to all districts of the
country in a phased manner. This
ambitious scheme, when
implemented, is expected to benefit
approximately 27 crore children
across the country.
7. In Thane district, more than
4,600 schools are proposed to be
covered under the scheme with
more than 12 lakh children up to 18
years of age expected to be the
beneficiaries with the long-term
aim of stemming instances of child
morbidity.
8. The district has a high infant
6 Current Affairs Notes
mortality rate as manifested by the
common prevalence of child
deaths and malnutrition in areas
such as Jawhar and Mokhada.
9. As per the scheme, dedicated
five-member teams will be
established at the taluka level,
comprising two medical officers,
one auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM)
and one pharmacist. Around three
teams are to be provided for every
block.
10. Medical teams will carry out
screening of all the children up to
six years enrolled at anganwadi
centres at least twice a year
besides screening all children
enrolled in government and
government-aided schools.
11. A set of 30 common ailments
have been identified for screening
and early intervention, including
birth and heart defects, deficiency
conditions, developmental delays
and disabilities such as hearing
impairment and vision impairment.
12. As part of the programme,
District Early Intervention Centres
are to be made operational in all
districts to treat cases referred
from block levels. Tertiary health
services would also be made
available for cases requiring
surgery.
Dropped from the agenda
1. The National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
claims to have been “stunned to
see that its submissions to the
Standing Committee on Food,
Consumer Affairs and Public
Distribution (2012-14) on critical
issues of children’s food and
nutritional security have not found
place in the Committee’s 27th
Report — The National Food
Security Bill, 2011 (NFSB) which
guarantees some legal
entitlements to the population at
large”.
2. The NCPCR has noted that it is
widely acknowledged that 46 per
cent of the country’s children in the
age group of below six years are
malnourished: “It was hoped that
the Standing Committee would
seize the opportunity of drafting the
NFSB to remedy the bane of
malnourishment in the country.
Instead, even the entitlements
provided for children in the NFSB
were dropped.”
3. “More specifically, the universal
and unconditional maternal
entitlements enabling exclusive
breast-feeding to babies for the
first six months of life that was
provided for in the NFSB is now

withdrawn,” said NCPCR
chairperson ShantaSinha, adding
that ignoring the importance of
exclusive breast-feeding would only
perpetuate child mortality and
malnutrition. “This is unjust and
violates the fundamental right to
equality.”
4. She said: “On the contrary, the
Committee imposed the two-child
norm denying entitlements to the
third born and higher order of
babies in ‘order to encourage
stabilisation of population’.”
5. Further highlighting the
shortcomings in the report of the
Committee, the NCPCR has noted
that the group has imposed that the
maternity benefits are to be availed
by the pregnant woman after ‘three
months into pregnancy’. “This will
prevent these entitlements from
coming into play for the entire
period of six months post-delivery,”
pointed out Ms.Sinha.
6. Meanwhile for children under two
years, the Committee has
recommended that no ‘Take Home
Rations’ may be needed as they
recommend replacement with food
grains to the family. Stating that this
is clearly an irrational withdrawal
from existing entitlements under
the Supreme Court rulings in the
Right to Food Case, the NCPCR
has pointed out: “Experience of the
Integrated Child Development
Scheme (ICDS) program clearly
shows that food for children is not
the same as for adults. The
provisions for quality food as exist
in the ICDS policy are to be made
available through law.”
7. The NCPCR claimed to have
made specific recommendations to
the Committee on facility and
community-based entitlements for
malnourished children, legal status
for ICDS, honouring Supreme
Court rulings pertinent to children,
inclusion of pulses and oils in
entitlements, etc. but “these have
not found reflection in the
Committee’s Report”.
8. “We had hoped that this Bill
would deliver serious legal
underpinnings to efforts being
made to ensure children’s right to
food and nutrition. However, the
recommendations of the
Committee do not even
accommodate existing
entitlements in law and policy,
leave alone create a vision for the
future,” said Ms.Sinha.
9. “We feel that the country’s
children, especially in the 0-6 years
age group, have largely been
uncovered in terms of legal
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
entitlements in the report/
recommendations of the
Committee on NFSB. We now
hope that Parliament will give
serious consideration to these
issues,” she noted.
DNA as an information
storage device
1. Since time immemorial,
mankind has wanted to share and
use information for later use. First,
it was through the caveman
paintings and symbols. Then we
invented the alphabets, ideograms,
numbers and other symbols.
Using these, books were written
and stored for future generations,
in palm leaves, papyrus sheets or
paper. The invention of printing
brought the Gutenberg revolution,
making multiple copies easily and
spreading education to millions of
people.
2. Printed books occupy space.
Libraries and archives are bursting
at the seams. Enter the computer
age and digitization using the
binary code of combining zeros
and ones (0,1) for alphabets and
other such symbols, and reading
them using the on-off electrical
signals, which has made
electronic storage possible, cutting
down the size and space for ‘hard
copies’. Integrated circuits,
processors and related electronic
wizardry have shrunk the size of
computers and storage devices
from room-size to finger nail size.
3. But even so, the amount of
information storable in a given
‘hard drive’ (from a printed book to
an Amazon or Kindle e-book, or the
Encyclopaedia Britannica to
Google) is growing exponentially.
“That means the cost of storage is
rising but our budgets are not”, as
Dr. Nick Goldman of the European
Bioinformatics Institute at Hinxton,
UK told The Economist (in its
January 26, 2013 issue). Goldman
(together with 4 colleagues at
Hinxton and 2 from Agilent
Technologies, California, U.S.)
decided to use DNA (yes, the
molecule which stores the code to
make life possible) as the
information storage device, rather
than electronics. Their paper titled
“Towards practical, high-capacity,
low maintenance information
storage in synthesized DNA” has
just been published in the
journal Nature two weeks ago
(doi:10.1038/nature 11875).
4. Why DNA? Indeed the question
should be ‘why not DNA”. It is a
long chain, consisting of 4
alphabets (chemical units called
7 Current Affairs Notes
bases and referred to as A, G, C
and T) put together in a string of
sequence — similar to what the
English language does with its 26
alphabets and punctuation marks,
or digital computers with the
combination of zeros and ones in
chosen sequences. DNA has been
used since life was born over 2
billion years ago to store and
transfer information right through
evolution. It is small in size — the
entire information content of a
human is stored in a 3 billion long
sequence of A, G, C and T, and
packed into the nucleus of a cell
smaller than a micron (thousandth
of a millimetre). It is stable and has
an admirable shelf life. People
have isolated DNA from the bones
of dinosaurs dead about 65
millions ago, read the sequence of
bases in it and understood much
information about the animal. The
animal (shall we say the ‘host’ of
the DNA) is long since dead but the
information lives on.
5. DNA is thus a long-lived, stable
and easily synthesized storage
hard drive. While the current
electronic storage devices require
active and continued maintenance
and regular transferring between
storage media (punched cards to
magnetic tapes to floppy disks to
CD...), DNA based storage needs
no active maintenance. Just store
in a cool, dark and dry place!
6. The Goldman group is not the
first one to think of DNA as a
storage device. Dr E.B. Baum tried
building an associative memory
vastly larger than the brain in 1995,
Dr C.T. Clelland and others ‘hid’
messages in DNA microdots in
1999, JPL Cox wrote in 2001 on
long-term data storage in DNA,
Allenberg and Rotstein came up
with a coding method for archiving
text, images and music characters
in DNA, and in 2012 Church, Gao
and Kosuri have discussed the
next-generation digital information
storage in DNA.
7. What is novel in the Hinxton
method is that they moved away
from the conventional binary (0 and
1) code and used a ternary code
system (three numerals 0, 1 and 2
using combinations of the bases A,
G, C and T) and encode the
information into DNA. This novelty
avoids any reading errors,
particularly when encountering
repetitive base sequences. Also,
rather than synthesize one long
string of DNA to code for an entire
item of information, they broke the
file down to smaller chunks, so that
no errors occur during synthesis or
read-out. These chunks are then

read in an appropriate manner or
protocol, providing for 100 percent
accuracy.
8. How much information can be
stored in DNA? Goldman and co
have been able to store 2.2
petabytes (a peta is a million billion
or 10 raised to power 15) in one
gram of DNA (and as The
Economist says “enough, in other
words, to fit all of the world’s digital
information into the back of a
lorry”). What about the speed? And
how does one read the files?
9. Today, the speed is slow and the
reading using DNA sequencers is
expensive, but in time both the
speed will improve and the cost
come down considerably. Recall
that it took $3 billion to read out the
entire human genome a decade
ago, and months to do so. Today,
the speed has improved, and it is
predicted that in a couple of years,
the human genome can be read for
$1000. But even today, DNA–based
information storage is a realistic
option to archive long-term,
infrequently accessed material.
10. What did Goldman and group
store in DNA? For starters, they
stored all 154 sonnets of
Shakespeare (in ASCII text), the
1953 Watson-Crick paper on the
DNA double helix (in PDF format), a
colour photograph of Hinxton (in
JPEG) and a clip from the “I have a
Dream” speech of Martin Luther
King (in MP3 format).
Natural selection and evolution
have used DNA to store and read
out to make our bodies. And we are
now using DNA to store and archive
the products of our brains. What a
twist!
Researchers stumble
upon new gene with Delhi
hospital’s input
Quick to realise that a two-year-old
girl admitted with them for problem
of seizures and for getting started
on touch was suffering from
hyperekplexia and not epilepsy, the
doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
here sent her samples for further
study abroad and these have now
become part of a path-breaking
research that has led to the
discovery of a new gene.
The events that led to it
As per senior consultant in the
Department of Genetics at SGRH,
Dr.RatnaDuaPuri, when the child
was brought in, the clinical
diagnosis had led them to confirm
hyperekplexia. “The genetics of this
disorder is known and can be
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
inherited. We sent her samples,
along with our findings, for a
molecular analysis to a research
group which was working on the
genetics of this disease. “At that
time four years ago, there were
only two known genes for it and we
did not have mutation in the known
genes. However, as it turned out,
this child had a unique disorder
and similarly around nine other
patients across the world had
similar mutations which led the
research group to identify a change
and the new gene is now called
GLRB,” says Dr.Puri.
Rare disorder
Stating that this was a rare disorder
in which the child used to get
startled at even a small touch,
Dr.Puri said it can run in families
and can occur again. So, she said,
the discovery of the new gene
offers greater hope of better
treatment to such patients.
The patient, who is now six, was
prescribed medication and her
condition has improved with it. “But
she still has episode trips and we
are confident that our work would
lead to better understanding of her
disorder and its treatment,” Dr.Puri
adds.
Research on in premier institutes
As per the research, GLRB is the
third major gene-of-effect in
hyperekplexia. The main research
in the subject has been done by a
group of premier medical institutes
while the “corresponding author” is
Dr.Seo-Kyung Chung of Institute of
Life Sciences College of Medicine,
Swansea University, United
Kingdom.
Hyperekplexia is a severe
paroxysmal neuromotor disorder
that typically presents soon after
birth or in the first week of life. It
involves exaggerated startle
response upon tactile or auditory
stimulus.
Giant collision may have
formed Moon from Earth
Moon could have indeed been born
from the compositionally similar
Earth, following a giant collision,
new models have indicated.
The giant impact theory the idea
that a catastrophic collision about
4.5 billion years ago between Earth
and aprotoplanet about half Earth’s
size created a disk of molten rock,
gas and debris that consolidated to
form the Moon was first set forth in
the mid-1970s.
In the 1980s, computer modelling
of the physics of such a collision
8 Current Affairs Notes
suggested the Moon would have
formed mainly from the remnants
of the pulverised foreign body, not
from pieces of Earth, ‘Earth’
magazine reported.
However, newer analytical evidence
has since shown that the Moon’s
chemical composition closely
matches that of Earth’s mantle.
Whereas all other known
extraterrestrial bodies in the solar
system today have different isotopic
ratios than Earth, the Moon has
almost identical isotopic ratios.
“This seemed to create a problem:
the match of lunar and Earth
material is too perfect,” says
William K Hartmann, senior
scientist at the Planetary Science
Institute (PSI).
The perfect isotopic match called
the giant impact theory into
question and suggested the Moon
likely formed from Earth material,
but how remained unknown.
Now, two new models suggest
different ways a giant impactor
could produce a Moon chemically
similar to Earth.
In one model, Robin Canup, an
astrophysicist at the Southwest
Research Institute in Boulder,
suggests a larger impactor than
previously considered possible,
about the same size as the early
Earth.
A collision with a similar-sized
impactor would leave in its wake a
mixture of debris from Earth and
the impactor. After the planet
consolidated, the remaining debris
would produce a chemically similar
Moon, Canup reported.
Advance Estimates of
National Income, 2012-13
The Central Statistics Office (CSO),
Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation has
released the advance estimates of
national income at constant (2004-
05) and current prices, for the
financial year 2012-13.
2. These advance estimates are
based on anticipated level of
agricultural and industrial
production, analysis of budget
estimates of government
expenditure and performance of
key sectors like, railways, transport
other than railways,
communication, banking and
insurance, available so far. The
advance estimates at current
prices are derived by estimating the
implicit price deflators (IPDs) at
sectoral level from the relevant

price indices. The salient features
of these estimates are detailed
below:
ADVANCE ESTIMATES
OF NATIONAL INCOME,
2012-13
Estimates at Constant (2004-05)
Prices
Gross Domestic Product
3. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
at factor cost at constant (2004-05)
prices in the year 2012-13 is likely
to attain a level of Rs.55,03,476
crore, as against the First Revised
Estimate of GDP for the year 2011-
12 of Rs. 52,43,582 crore, released
on 31st January 2013. The growth in
GDP during 2012-13 is
estimated at 5.0 percent as
compared to the growth rate of 6.2
per cent in 2011-12.
4. The sectors which registered
growth rate of over 5 percent are
‘Construction’, ‘trade, hotels,
transport and communication’,
‘financing, insurance, real estate
and business services’, and
‘community, social and personal
services’. There may be slow
growth in the sectors of
‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’
(1.8%), manufacturing (1.9%) and
electricity, gas & water supply
(4.9%). The growth in the mining
and quarrying sector is estimated
to be (0.4%).
Agriculture
5. The ‘agriculture, forestry and
fishing’ sector is likely to show a
growth of 1.8 per cent in its GDP
during 2012-13, as against the
previous year’s growth rate of 3.6
per cent. According to the
information furnished by the
Department of Agriculture and
Cooperation (DAC), which has
been used in compiling the
estimate of GDP from agriculture in
2012-13, production of foodgrains
is expected to decline by 2.8 per
cent as compared to growth of 5.2
per cent in the previous agriculture
year. The production of cotton and
sugarcane is also expected to
decline by 4.0 per cent and 6.5 per
cent, respectively, in 2012-13.
Among the horticultural crops,
production of fruits and vegetables
is expected to increase by 3.5 per
cent during the year 2012-13 as
against 5.1 percent in the previous
year.
Industry
6. The manufacturing sector is
likely to show a growth of 1.9
percent in GDP during 2012-13.
According to the latest estimates
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
available on the Index of Industrial
Production (IIP), the index of
manufacturing and electricity
registered growth rates of 1.0
percent and 4.4 percent,
respectively during April-November,
2012-13, as compared to the
growth rates of 4.2 per cent and 9.5
per cent in these sectors during
April-November, 2011-12. The
mining sector is likely to show a
growth of 0.4 per cent in 2012-13
as against negative growth of 0.6
per cent during 2011-12. The
construction sector is likely to show
a growth rate of 5.9 per cent during
2012-13 as against growth of 5.6
per cent in the previous year. The
key indicators of construction
sector, namely, cement production
and steel consumption have
registered growth rates of 6.1 per
cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively
during April-December, 2012-13.
Services
7. The estimated growth in GDP for
the trade, hotels, transport and
communication sectors during
2012-13 is placed at 5.2 per cent
as against growth of 7.0 percent in
the previous year. This is mainly on
account of decline of 3.4 per cent
and 4.8 per cent respectively in
passengers and cargo handled in
civil aviation and decline of 3.1 per
cent in cargo handled at major sea
ports during April-November, 2012-
13. There has been an increase of
4.3 per cent in stock of telephone
connections as on November
2012. The sales of commercial
vehicles witnessed an increase of
0.74 per cent per cent in April-
December 2012. The sector,
‘financing, insurance, real estate
and business services’, is
expected to show a growth rate of
8.6 per cent during 2012-13, on
account of 11.1 per cent growth in
aggregate deposits and 15.2 per
cent growth in bank credit as on
December 2012 (against the
respective growth rates of 17.2 per
cent and 16.0 per cent in the
corresponding period of previous
year). The growth rate of
‘community, social and personal
services’ during 2012-13 is
estimated to be 6.8 per cent.
National Income
8. The net national income (NNI) at
factor cost, also known as national
income, at 2004-05 prices is likely
to be Rs.47,64,819 crore during
2012-13, as against the previous
year’s First Revised Estimate of
Rs. 45,72,075 crore. In terms of
growth rates, the national income
registered a growth rate of 4.2 per
cent in 2012-13 as against the
9 Current Affairs Notes
previous year’s growth rate of 6.1
per cent.
Per Capita Income
9. The per capita income in real
terms (at 2004-05 prices) during
2012-13 is likely to attain a level of
Rs.39,143 as compared to the First
Revised Estimate for the year 2011-
12 of Rs. 38,037. The growth rate in
per capita income is estimated at
2.9 per cent during 2012-13, as
against the previous year’s
estimate of 4.7 percent.
Estimates at Current Prices
Gross Domestic Product
10. GDP at factor cost at current
prices in the year 2012-13 is likely
to attain a level of Rs. 94,61,979
crore, showing a growth rate of
13.3 per cent over the First Revised
Estimate of GDP for the year 2011-
12 of Rs. 83,53,495 crore.
National Income
11. The NNI at factor cost at current
prices is anticipated to be Rs.
83,68,571 crore during 2012-13, as
compared to Rs. 73,99,934 crore
during 2011-12, showing a rise of
13.1 percent.
Per Capita Income
12. The per capita income at
current prices during 2012-13 is
estimated to be Rs. 68,747 as
compared to Rs. 61,564 during
2011-12, showing a rise of 11.7
percent.
II ESTIMATES OF EXPENDITURES
ON GDP, 2012-13
13 Alongwith the Advance
Estimates of GDP by economic
activity, the CSO is also releasing
the Advance Estimates of
expenditures of the GDP at current
and constant (2004-05) prices.
These estimates have been
compiled using the data on
indicators available from the same
sources as those used for
compiling GDP estimates by
economic activity, detailed data
available on merchandise trade in
respect of imports and exports,
balance of payments, and monthly
accounts of central government. As
various components of expenditure
on gross domestic product,
namely, consumption expenditure
and capital formation, are normally
measured at market prices, the
discussion in the following
paragraphs is in terms of market
prices only.
Private Final Consumption
Expenditure
14. Private Final Consumption

Expenditure (PFCE) at current
prices is estimated at Rs.
57,05,857 crore in 2012-13 as
against Rs. 50,56,219 crore in
2011-12. At constant (2004-05)
prices, the PFCE is estimated at
Rs. 34, 72,980 crore in 2012-13 as
against Rs. 33,34,900 crore in
2011-12. In terms of GDP at market
prices, the rates of PFCE at current
and constant (2004-05) prices
during 2012-13 are estimated at
56.9 per cent and 59.7 percent,
respectively, as against the
corresponding rates of 56.3
percent and 59.2 percent,
respectively in 2011-12.
Government Final Consumption
Expenditure
15. Government Final
Consumption Expenditure (GFCE)
at current prices is estimated at
Rs. 11,86,726 crore in 2012-13 as
against Rs 10,42,677 crore in
2011-12. At constant (2004-05)
prices, the GFCE is estimated at
Rs. 6,60,630 crore in 2012-13 as
against Rs. 6,34,559 crore in
2011-12. In terms of GDP at market
prices, the rates of GFCE at current
and constant (2004-05) prices
during 2012-13 are estimated at
11.8 percent and 11.4 percent,
respectively, as against the
corresponding rates of 11.6
percent and 11.3 percent,
respectively in 2011-12.
Gross Fixed Capital Formation
16. Gross Fixed Capital Formation
(GFCF) at current prices is
estimated at Rs. 29,93,873 crore in
2012-13 as against Rs. 27,49,072
crore in 2011-12. At constant (2004-
05) prices, the GFCF is estimated
at Rs. 19,44,279 crore in 2012-13
as against Rs.18,97,309 crore in
2011-12. In terms of GDP at market
prices, the rates of GFCF at current
and constant (2004-05) prices
during 2012-13 are estimated at
29.9 per cent and 33.4 per cent,
respectively, as against the
corresponding rates of 30.6
percent and 33.7 percent,
respectively in 2011-12. The rates
of Change in Stocks and Valuables
at current prices during 2012-13
are estimated at 3.0 percent and
2.4 percent, respectively.
17. Estimates of gross/net national
product, gross/net domestic
product and per capita income,
alongwith GDP at factor cost by
kind of economic activity and the
Expenditures on GDP for the years
2010-11 and 2011-12 and 2012-13,
at constant (2004-05) and current
prices are given in Statements 1 to
6.
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
Rashtriya Bal Swasthya
karyakram launched
With the launch of the Rashtriya Bal
Swasthya Karyakram, regular
health screening of children in
public health facilities,
Aanganwadis and Government and
Government aided schools for
defects at birth, diseases,
deficiencies and development
disorders will be done now. This
programme will cover 25 crore
children all over the country in a
phased manner and provide for
free follow up management and
treatment at the district hospitals
and at tertiary levels. She hoped
that all State Governments would
march in step with the Central
Government and take proactive
steps to roll out the screening and
intervention services at the earliest
to improve the survival, health and
overall development of children.
A new health initiative “Rashtriya
BalSwasthya Karyakram” was
launched by Smt. Sonia Gandhi,
Chairperson, UPA from Palghar, a
Tribal Block in Thane district,
Maharashtra today. The initiative is
to provide comprehensive
healthcare and improve the quality
of life of children through early
detection of birth defects, diseases,
deficiencies, development delays
including disability.
7 February 2013
10 new species of
freshwater earthworms
discovered in Thailand
1. Scientists have discovered an
astonishing 10 new species of
semi-aquatic freshwater
earthworms in river systems in
Thailand.
2. According to a report published
in the journal ZooKeys, the
earthworms in the genus
Glyphidrilus occur in a wide range
of natural freshwater habitats,
including rice fields, where they
might play an important role in the
development of organic farming.
3. The newly-discovered worms
have a rounded body tip, while the
end is square shaped. When
twisted, the posterior end, which is
normally above the soil surface,
forms U-shaped channels. These
are used to allow water circulation
down the burrow.
4. This is probably an evolutionary
adjustment that ensures oxygen
transport to the deeper surface of
the worms, while their bodies
remain in the burrows.
10
5. Another peculiar feature are the
so-called “wings”, or the expanded
part of epidermis near the body tip.
The function of the wings is still
unknown to scientists, but it has
been suggested that they evolved
to assist breathing in such aquatic
habitats.
6. Since the wings will be located
deep in the burrow at a low oxygen
supply and are absent in sexually
immature juveniles, a more
conventional explanation might be
that they are used to aid copulation
rather than respiration.
7. The worms turn out to play an
important role in the development
of rice farming, being a facilitator in
the decomposition of organic
matter to be a natural fertiliser, as
well as improving the soil
properties for better rice root
system.
8. The species also assist the
release of essential minerals in
some chemical fertilisers, though
not in pesticides, which prove to be
lethal to the worms.
9. “The worms will survive in areas
using chemical fertilisers but not
those using chemical pesticides,”
said the author of the report,
Dr.SomsakPanha, from the Animal
Systematics Research Unit,
Chulalongkorn University in
Bangkok, Thailand.
10. “However, the worms did well in
areas of organic farming and so
are likely to be sensitive to modern
agrochemical contamination of the
environment. They may play an
important role in organic rice
farming,” he said in a statement.
Notes on nutrition
1. “Food is not just about weight
management. There are people
who say, ‘I didn’t gain weight, even
after eating junk food everyday. So
why should I bother?’ But, instead
of waiting for something to happen,
it’s important to prevent problems,”
says Samantha Lzzy, scientist and
researcher. A pharma major,
Samantha got interested in
nutrition when her friend was
diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. “I
realised nutrition was fairly
important to bring diseases under
control; and that made me switch
my major. I also understand that
people now have a greater desire
to educate themselves about
nutrition. In the U.S., it’s an
obsession; and I think it’s making
its way around the world.”
2. Women, in particular, need to be
armed with nutritional information,
says Samantha. “Women are
Current Affairs Notes

traditionally the backbone of the
family, and they can influence
healthy eating. If she slips,
everybody slips,” she reasons.
3. During the course of her
research, Samantha studied the
biochemical processes in the body,
and the way nutrients affect it.
Nutrition, she says, affects
everything from appearance to
anaemia. “Omega-3 is a wonder
nutrient. There are nearly 18,000
publications in support of it. It’s very
important for the brain development
of babies, and so pregnant and
lactating mothers should ensure
they get their daily dose of it.”
Seafood, she says, is an excellent
source; and vegetarians can rely on
vegetable oils and flax seeds.
4. Good nutrition also goes a long
way in preventing debilitating
conditions. “Take osteoporosis;
statistics say it affects 200 million
women worldwide. But if you
exercise, get enough calcium and
vitamin D while you’re young, you
can prevent loss of bone density
later.” You get your daily dose of
calcium, if you have three glasses
of milk, says Samantha. But if you
happen to be lactose intolerant, you
can always take supplements.
Use of supplements
5. Besides filling in the gaps in the
diet, supplements can also target
specific issues like anaemia or
menopause. “The roots of black
cohosh can help relieve
menopausal troubles in women; it
is, in fact, the most commonly used
herb in the USA and Europe.” With
longevity on the rise, Samantha
stresses on the importance of
adopting a healthy lifestyle early. “If
there’s emphasis on good
nutrition, then long life can be
accompanied by vitality.”
Traditional treasures
Modern nutritional research or
ancestral wisdom?
1. It’s true. Clarified butter sounds
more 21st Century than nei. “Take
circumin as a supplement” sounds
more like health advice than
“Add manjalpodi”. “A medley of
multi-coloured mixed root
vegetables in a coconutty broth”
sounds fancier and healthier
than avial.
2. But let me tell you this —
traditional cuisine rules! They are a
result of thousands of years of
experimentation and research.
They have been tried, tested and
proven on millions of humans.
They are not marketed or sold.
They don’t contain additives or
preservatives. They don’t promise
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
outrageous results in ridiculous
periods of time. They were created
with only one thing in mind —
sustainable long-term health.
3. One must realise that the
majority of health
recommendations that make their
way from developed countries
originate from traditional cuisines.
Be it Indian or Mediterranean or
Mexican or Ethiopian, all traditional
cuisines have in them a plethora of
nutritional wisdom.
4. Today, nutrition experts start off
with an aim to create a diet plan
that is satiating, sustainable, tasty
and health promoting and end up
learning (or in some cases,
borrowing) from traditional
cuisines.
Take South Indian cuisine for
instance.
5. Turmeric (manjal), which we add
to pretty much everything, is rich in
circumin which is now known to
combat cancer. Coconut, again a
regular in South Indian cooking, is
abundant in lauric acid which is
antimicrobial.
6. Dairy products and red meat are
a great source of conjugated
lineolic acid which is shown to
protect against high blood
pressure, cardiovascular diseases,
high cholesterol, various types of
cancers and promote optimal body
composition. Lentils (paruppu) are
rich in magnesium which is a
natural calcium channel blocker
and protects against heart disease.
I can keep going but you get the
idea.
7. All this applies not only to the
South Indian diet. Every traditional
cuisine has such elements of
health in different forms and
proportions. Based on what the
rest of the diet looks like, such
protective and health promoting
elements are incorporated
accordingly.
8. The South Indian diet is, by
design, high in starch
(carbohydrates) and hence is more
inflammatory than a diet that is low
in starch. In order to protect against
such inflammation, our diet is rich
in spices that are anti-inflammatory
by nature (ginger, cardamom,
coriander, clove, turmeric).
9. The point here is that though
we’ve been saying that we
understand nutrition for many
decades now, it is a science that
isn’t fully understood by modern
man yet.
10. For example, leptin, a hormone
which is now thought to be a key
11
player in regulating appetite and
metabolism and hence an integral
factor in obesity research, was only
discovered in 1994 but diet
programmes that claimed to be the
best fat loss solution and nutrition
experts who claimed to have all the
answers have been in existence for
much longer.For the thousands of
researchers and nutritionists trying
to crack the health and obesity
code the answers are right in front
of us.
11. What we need to do now is to
merely break down our traditional
diet and understand the
importance of the different
elements there in. Once we do that,
it is just a matter of customising
our traditional cuisine to suit our
unique needs.
Aravallis being gobbled
up by land developers
Two decades ago when Sunil’s
parents sold off 25 acres of their
family’s share of land in the Mangar
forests of Faridabad, they and other
villagers thought the buyers were
fools to buy it up because they were
assured that they could continue to
use it for grazing cattle and
firewood. Today, 25-year-old polio-
stricken Sunil has dropped all his
other dreams and moves with
lightning speed on his crutch,
across the forest, in government
offices and with fellow activists “to
save the forests from a determined
State government that wants to
open it for colonisation.”
What he does not know is that it is
not only his village and its 740
acres of sacred MangarBani grove,
where for centuries not even a twig
was cut, that is under threat, but
thousands of acres of
gairmumkinpahar (uncultivable
forested hills) in Gurgaon and
Faridabad face the same prospect
ever since they were designated as
agricultural zones under the
MangarBani development plan -
2031, the Sohna master plan -
2031 and the Gurgaon Manesar
Master plan - 2031 — drawn up last
year.
The land of some 25 villages from
these master plans fall in the
Aravalli hills, which are not only a
natural recharge zone for several
fresh water lakes in the vicinity, but
are identified by the Central Ground
Water Board as the last source for
recharging depleting ground water
reserves that are already
inadequate to meet the drinking
water needs of the population of
Delhi, Gurgaon and Faridabad.
‘Identify forest areas’
Current Affairs Notes

In 1996 and then in July 2011, the
Supreme Court directed all States
to “identify areas which are forests
irrespective of whether they are so
notified, recognised or classified
under any law” and irrespective of
whether they were once forests and
now stand denuded, degraded or
cleared for other use.
Despite the efforts of civil society
and environment activists, who
have pointed out that these natural
forests come under the definition of
forests and need to be protected as
deemed forests, this has not been
done. On the other hand, Haryana’s
town planning department is
pushing through its real estate
zoning plans on these natural
forests by designating them as
agricultural zones. Result: The
Aravalligairmumkinpahar, which
are not recorded as forests to be
protected under the Forest
Conservation Act 1980, or any other
protective mechanism, so far, have
been bought up by realtors,
politicians, bureaucrats in
anticipation of the urbanisation as
envisaged in the new master
plans.
In the MangarBani plan for
instance, the Aravalli hills have
been included as an ‘agricultural
zone,’ which permits 22 kinds of
real estate activities, including
mega recreational zones. Mangar
village alone has 3595 acres of
gairmumkinpahar and nine Aravalli
villages form part of the plan.
About one-third of the Aravalli hills
are protected under Section 4 and
5 of the Punjab Land Preservation
Act (PLPA) 1900 and, as Haryana’s
Principal Chief Conservator of
Forests C.R. Jotriwal told The
Hindu, the government presently
recognises only these areas as
forests. Some area that comes
under the Aravalli Plantation
Scheme is also protected.
In December 2011, the Deputy
Commissioner of Faridabad, after
a site visit, opposed the Mangar
development plan and
recommended that the whole of the
Aravaligairmumkinpahar zone
should be excluded from the
agriculture zone and delineated as
a water recharge and forest
conservation zone. He also pointed
out that it is critical to preserve this
area because the district of
Faridabad depends on
groundwater for its domestic water
supply and had recommended that
the entire gairmumkinpahar-
deemed forests of Aravallis should
be brought under PLPA to protect it.
These suggestions were not
accepted.
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
The Aravalli hills are not only rich in
floral biodiversity, but are an
important wildlife corridor between
the AsolaBhatti wildlife sanctuary in
Delhi and the Rajasthan Aravallis.
They are also the catchment for
several lakes like Badhkal,
Surajkund, Dhauj and Peacock,
some of which have turned
seasonal in the last decade.
Concept:
The Aravalli range are the oldest
fold mountains in India.The
northern end of the range
continues as isolated hills and
rocky ridges into Haryana state,
ending in Delhi. The famous Delhi
Ridge is the last leg of the Aravalli
Range, which traverses through
South Delhi and terminates into
Central Delhi where raisina hill is
its last extension . It is one of the
world’s oldest mountain ranges.
It’s dates back to pre-Indian
subcontinental collision with the
mainland Eurasian Plate. The
southern end is at Palanpur near
Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The highest
peak is Guru Shikhar in Mount Abu
in Rajasthan. Rising to 5650 feet
(1722 meters), it lies near the
southwestern extremity of the
range, close to the border with the
Gujrat District. The city of Udaipur
with its lakes lies on the south
slope of the range in Rajasthan.
Numerous rivers arises amidst the
ranges including, Banas River, Luni
River, Sahibi, Sakhi, Sabarmati
River.
Strong aftershock
disrupts Solomon Islands
aid efforts
A 6.6-magnitude aftershock has
forced an aid flight to turn back on
its way to Lata in the Solomon
Islands, local news reported.The
relief flight was carrying supplies
and the Solomon’s Prime Minister
from Honiara to the worst affected
areas.
The delay in aid efforts comes as
officials discover the tsunami
damage is much worse that
originally indicated.The shallow
aftershock southeast of Kirakira
follows a powerful 8.0 earthquake
on Wednesday, which sent a
devastating tsunami over the island
of Lata.The 1-metre wall of water
swept away whole villages in the
flat region and killed at least nine
people.
The area of destruction is much
larger than first thought with up to
20 villages badly damaged or
destroyed.Prime Minister Gordon
Lillo is declaring a state of
12
emergency for the areas around
Lata in the Santa Cruz area.
An aerial reconnaissance team
from Australia is surveying the
damage.
Concept:
An aftershock is a smaller
earthquake that occurs after a
previous large earthquake, in the
same area of the main shock. If an
aftershock is larger than the main
shock, the aftershock is
redesignated as the main shock
and the original main shock is
redesignated as a foreshock.
Aftershocks are formed as the crust
around the displaced fault plane
adjusts to the effects of the main
shock.
Agrawal sworn in High
Court judge
Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal was
on Thursday sworn in Judge of the
Madras High Court. Since he is the
senior-most Judge of the Madras
High Court, he will be the acting
Chief Justice, as per a notification.
The strength of the court has now
increased to 49 against the
sanctioned strength of 60. Mr.
Justice Agrawal was hitherto a
Judge of the Allahabad High Court.
At a brief function in Durbar Hall,
Raj Bhavan, the Governor K.
Rosaiah administered the oath of
office to Mr. Justice Agrawal. The
Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, Justice
Elipe Dharma Rao and other
Judges of the Madras High Court,
and the Chief Secretary,
SheelaBalakrishnan, were present.
The Chief Secretary read out the
notification of appointment of the
new Judge. Ms.Jayalalithaa
greeted Mr. Justice Agrawal by
presenting a bouquet.
As per the notification of the
Ministry of Law and Justice, “Mr.
Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal
would perform the duties of the
office of the Chief Justice of the
Madras High Court with effect from
the date of assuming office in the
High Court.”
Doping widespread in
Australian sport, finds
probe
1. Australian sport is awash with
peptides, hormones and other
banned drugs with whole teams
believed to be doping, an official
report said on Thursday.
2. Some professionals were taking
substances not yet approved for
human use, the Australian Crime
Current Affairs Notes

Commission said in its report
delivered after a year-long
investigation.
3. The commission also alleged
that criminal elements might have
infiltrated professional sports and
fixed matches to manipulate betting
markets.
4. It found dope being administered
by sports scientists in cahoots with
coaches, doctors and pharmacists.
5. Justice Minister Jason Clare
said the findings were “shocking
and would disgust Australian
sports fans.” But he did not reveal
which clubs and which sports stars
were fingered by the investigators
because that might impede
criminal charges being laid.
6. Sports Minister Kate Lundy said
administrators should set up
“integrity units” that would work with
the Australian Sports Anti-Doping
Agency (ASDA) and the police to
root out doping.
7. “If you want to cheat we’ll catch
you. If you want to fix a match we’ll
catch you,” Ms. Lundy said.
8. Australia’s John Fahey, president
of the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA), said the report “tells us
how wide, how deep, this problem
is in a country that prides itself on
fair play.”
9. Former ASDA head Richard Ings
welcomed a promise from the
government of enhanced powers
for agency sleuths, describing the
revelations as “the blackest day in
Australian sport.” He said some
had turned a blind eye to the use of
performance-enhancing
substances because “we’ve been
seduced by the romantic nature of
sport. There’s been a belief with
some sports and even with some
officials that doping just would not
take place in Australian sport and if
it did it was isolated and sporadic.”
Bhutan-Indian equation
Cash, rather than China, tops the
agenda of Bhutan Prime Minister
Jigmi Y. Thinley, who arrived here
on a three-day visit. With elections
due in Bhutan towards the middle
of this year, Thimphu is keen that
its development plans and hydel
projects being constructed by India
are not affected by the Finance
Ministry’s move to reduce fiscal
deficit, said government sources.
Mr.Thinley was a surprise winner in
Bhutan’s maiden parliamentary
polls and his group is keen to
repeat the performance in the next
elections as well. Showcasing
ongoing road, hydel and other
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
development projects and ensuring
they are not affected are said to be
one of the keys to his party
repeating the showing when
elections are held in June this year.
Mr.Thinley’s focus on economic ties
with India is not surprising. During
its years of good economic growth,
India contributed generously to
Bhutan’s Tenth Plan as well as
maintained the flow of funds for
three ongoing mega hydel projects
— the 1,200-mw Punatsangchhu-I,
the 1,020-mw Punatsangchhu and
the 720-mw Mangdechhu.
This smooth flow of funds now
appears to be in danger of being
curtailed after Union Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram indicated
his intention to take a closer look at
the allocation for Bhutan as part of
his overall drive to compress
allocation of budgetary resources
to most Ministries including the
Ministry for External Affairs which
channels India’s external
assistance.
Mr.Thinley is also keen to know the
status of seven other major hydel
projects that have a generation
potential of over 7,000 MW. The
clearance schedule of all these
projects has been pushed back by
four to six months amid
apprehensions that some of them
involving central public sector
enterprises may get further
delayed.
As for China, sources close to
Thimphu said the top leadership,
including King
JigmeKhesarNamgyalWangchuk,
are kept acquainted about the
situation on his country’s borders
by India’s Research & Analysis
Wing. So far, Beijing’s activities
have not been an area of concern
though middle ranking Chinese
officials have visited Bhutan to test
the waters on the prospect of
establishing diplomatic ties.
Bhutanese sources also refer to
the general aversion to the
Chinese among middle level
officials as one reason why the
opening up towards China will not
take place soon. During 10 years
between the mid 60s to the mid
70s, when many of the officials
were in their formative years, they
were witness to the pitiful state of
Tibetan refugees as they sought
shelter in their villages along the
route to India.
These memories still live with them
and frequent reports of Tibetan
monks immolating themselves has
led them so far to politely stall
China’s probes for a diplomatic
13
presence in Bhutan. The dispute
with China over what some
Bhutanese regard as traditional
grazing pastures for their cattle
around the Sikkim-Bhutan-China
tri-junction also dissuades them
from getting too close to China.
Basically at the back of Mr.Thinley’s
mind is the nervousness every
politician suffers from before an
election. Between now and June,
when the elections are likely to be
held, they don’t want a slowdown in
Indian assistance for Bhutan’s
budget or the hydel projects to
become a factor, said official
sources here.
Growth estimates ‘below
expectations’: FinMin
The Central Statistics Office (CSO),
on Thursday, projected a slide in
the country’s GDP (gross domestic
product) growth to a decade low of
5 per cent in 2012-13, which marks
a sharp drop from the 6.2 percent
expansion witnessed in the
previous fiscal year.
The CSO, in its advance estimates,
pegged the expected growth in
agriculture and allied activities
much lower at 1.8 percent for the
fiscal year (2012-13) which is just
one-half of the 3.6 per cent
expansion achieved in 2011-12.
Likewise, the growth rate in the
manufacturing sector is also seen
as slipping to 1.9 percent from 2.7
per cent in the previous fiscal. Also,
owing to external turbulence and
subdued demand at home, the
robust services sector, which used
to make up for the slide in other
sectors, is witnessing a growth
deceleration.
Needless to say, the Finance
Ministry is disappointed and has
termed the growth estimates as
“below expectations”. The silver
lining is that the growth estimates
for the entire year are extrapolated
based on data for April-November
and do not take into account the
reform measures put in place by
the government and its likely
impact in the remaining months of
2012-13.
Reacting to the GDP numbers, the
Finance Ministry, in a statement,
said: “The CSO’s growth estimate,
no doubt, is below what we had
expected it to be. We are keeping a
watch on the situation. We have
taken and we will continue to take
appropriate measures to revive
growth…As per practice, this
projection is based on
extrapolation of numbers till
November 2012. Since then,
leading indicators have turned up,
Current Affairs Notes

suggesting some hope that we will
end the year on a better note. Also,
sectors such as trade and
transport, which are related to
industry, would tend to get revised
upwards, if growth outcomes are
better,” the ministry said in a
statement.
In a similar argument, Planning
Commission Deputy Chairman
Montek Singh Ahluwalia sought to
point to what could be a statistical
fallacy. “I am not certain that
whether they [CSO] have done it in
a correct way. In the past also, the
quarterly [GDP] data was very
frequently adjusted… I get the
impression that they have not
actually addressed the question...
could it be that the economy
bottomed out, in that case straight
forward linear projection would not
be right,” he said, indicating
thereby that the CSO ignored the
growth uptrend seen towards the
second-half of the fiscal year while
computing the data for the entire
financial year. As per the CSO data,
the slide to 5 per cent growth would
mean that the pace of expansion, in
fact, tended to decelerate during
the second-half of the fiscal, for the
simple reason that GDP growth in
April-September stood pegged at
5.4 percent.
The advance estimates reveal that
the services sector, is anticipated
to grow by 8.6 per cent this fiscal
as compared to 11.7 percent in
2011-12. The only plus points are
that the mining and quarrying
sector is expected to return to
positive territory with a growth of 0.4
per cent as compared to a 0.6
percent contraction a year ago and
the growth in construction is also
likely to be slightly higher at 5.9
percent against 5.6 percent.
8 February 2013
Venezuela devalues its
currency by nearly half
Venezuela’s government
announced on Friday that it is
devaluing the country’s currency, a
long-anticipated change expected
to push up prices in the heavily
import-reliant economy.
Officials said the fixed exchange
rate is changing from 4.30 bolivars
to the dollar to 6.30 bolivars to the
dollar.
The devaluation had been widely
expected by analysts in recent
months, though experts had been
unsure about whether the
government would act while
President Hugo Chavez remained
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
out of sight in Cuba recovering from
cancer surgery.
It was the first devaluation to be
announced by Chavez’s
government since 2010, and it
brought down the official value of
the bolivar by 46.5 per cent against
the dollar. By boosting the bolivar
value of Venezuela’s dollar-
denominated oil sales, the change
is expected to help alleviate a
difficult budget outlook for the
government, which has turned
increasingly to borrowing to meet
its spending obligations.
Planning and Finance Minister
Jorge Giordani said the new rate
will take effect Wednesday, after the
two-day holiday of Carnival. He said
the old rate would still be allowed
for some transactions that already
were approved by the state
currency agency.
Venezuela’s government has had
strict currency exchange controls
since 2003 and maintains a fixed,
government-set exchange rate.
Under the controls, people and
businesses must apply to a
government currency agency to
receive dollars at the official rate to
import goods, pay for travel or cover
other obligations.
While those controls have
restricted the amounts of dollars
available at the official rate, an
illegal black market has flourished
and the value of the bolivar has
recently been eroding. In black
market street trading, dollars have
recently been selling for more than
four times the official exchange rate
of 4.30 bolivars to the dollar.
The announcement came after the
country’s Central Bank said annual
inflation rose to 22.2 per cent in
January, up from 20.1 per cent at
the end of 2012.
The oil-exporting country, a
member of OPEC, has consistently
had Latin America’s highest
officially acknowledged inflation
rates in recent years. Spiralling
prices have come amid worsening
shortages of some staple foods,
such as cornmeal, chicken and
sugar.
Seeking to confront such
shortages, the government last
week announced plans to have the
state oil company turn over more of
its earnings in dollars to the
Central Bank while reducing the
amount injected into a fund used
for various government programs
and public works projects.
It was the fifth time that Chavez’s
government has devalued the
currency since establishing the
14
currency exchange controls a
decade ago in an attempt to
combat capital flight.
Mr.Giordani said at a news
conference that the government
also decided to do away with a
second-tier rate that has hovered
around 5.30 bolivars to the dollar,
through a bond market
administered by the Central Bank.
That rate had been granted to
some businesses that hadn’t been
able to obtain dollars at the official
rate.
UNMOGIP
The senior official who reportedly
asked whether the United Nations
Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan, UNMOGIP existed, was
not serious, just a bit facetious. For,
not very far from his office lie those
of the UNMOGIP. The Protocol
Division of the Ministry of External
Affairs annually publishes the
Diplomatic List. It lists “U.N.
Offices; International organisations
and other Foreign Agencies.”
UNMOGIP’s address is helpfully
mentioned — 1AB, PuranaQila
Road; its phone numbers, and
names of three personnel besides
the “Head of Mission/Chief Military
Observer” are provided. All enjoy
diplomatic status. It has offices in
Srinagar and Muzaffarabad also.
India knows that if the UNMOGIP is
expelled, the U.N. Security Council
would be activated with predictable
consequences. It chose, instead, in
1972, to prevent it physically from
undertaking probes into complaints
on the Indian side.
Pakistan’s aggression in 1965
The Group could have played a
useful role last month, when
charges of violations of the Line of
Control were traded. In 1965, it
played a crucial role in establishing
Pakistan’s aggression, a fact few
care to recall. The U.N. Secretary
General’s Report to the Security
Council was based on the Report
of Lt. Gen. R.H. Nimmo, head of
UNMOGIP. “Gen. Nimmo has
indicated to me that the series of
violations that began on 5 August
were to a considerable extent in
subsequent days in the form of
armed men, generally not in
uniform, crossing the CFL
[Ceasefire Line] from the Pakistan
side for the purpose of armed
action on the Indian side.” He
reported artillery fire and shelling
“from the Pakistan side”. On
September 1, “one and a half
Pakistan tank squadrons crossed”
the CFL supported by artillery. The
Council’s Resolutions fixed August
Current Affairs Notes

5 as the date of casus belli. We
won a big moral and political
victory.
India has no use for such verdicts
now. It will be judged in its own
cause despite the clear legal
position. A ceasefire in Kashmir
went into effect on New Year’s Day,
1949. On January 15,
representatives of the two armies
signed an agreement on
consolidating the ceasefire. The
Notes made that day by Lt. Gen.
Maurice Delvoie, Military Adviser to
the U.N. Commission for India and
Pakistan and later head of
UNMOGIP, make sad reading: “On
my request, both Commanders-in-
Chief agreed to restore the
communications by road between
Srinagar and Rawalpindi, and to
rebuild the necessary bridges. In
addition, telephonic liaisons
between these two localities will be
restored.” On July 27, 1949, the
parties signed at Karachi an
Agreement defining the ceasefire
line in Kashmir. “A cease-fire line is
established”. The U.N. Military
Observers’ say on disputes was
“final”. By November 1, the line was
demarcated on the ground.
Definition of breaches was settled.
The UNMOGIP derived its authority
from the Security Council
Resolution of April 21, 1948 that
empowered the United Nations
Commission for India and Pakistan
to establish “such observers as it
may require.” India-Pakistan
accords merely fortified it.
Professor Rosalyn Higgins, later a
Judge of the International Court of
Justice, opined in 1970 that “this
resolution would seem clearly to
fall within the terms of Article 40 of
the U.N.’s Charter even though that
Article was not specifically
mentioned. The authority for
establishing UNMOGIP thus
stemmed from Chapter VII rather
than Chapter VI.” Article 40
authorises the Council to “call upon
the parties to comply with such
provincial measures as it deems
necessary.” Chapter VI pertains to
disputes on which the Council can
make “recommendations.” Chapter
VII deals with acts of aggression on
which it “decides.”
All doubt was removed when the
UNCIP was replaced by a Special
Representative, Sir Owen Dixon, on
March 30, 1951 when the Council
“decides that the Military Observer
Group shall continue to supervise
the cease-fire in the State”. As a
result “the authority for UNMOGIP
was thus confirmed.”
It functions under the control and
supervision of the Secretary-
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
General. After the 1965 war, India
wanted its mandate to extend to the
international border. Since Pakistan
opposed this, the U.N. Military
Observer Group in India and
Pakistan was set up. The United
Nations India-Pakistan Observation
Mission soon vanished; UNMOGIP
survived. The Tashkent Declaration
of January 10, 1966 bound the
parties to withdraw “to the positions
they held prior to August 5, 1965,
and both sides shall observe the
ceasefire terms on the ceasefire
line.”
What followed is very relevant. On
January 29, 1966, Lt Gen.
Harbaksh Singh and Lt. Gen.
BakhtiarRana signed an
agreement at Lahore on their
troops’ withdrawals. It said: “Both
forces will withdraw 1,000 yards
from the line of actual control” in
specified sectors. The LoC did not
coincide with the CFL. But it was
always open to the parties to vary
the line. If they did so, the line
changed, but the agreement did
not.
‘Adjustments in the ceasefire line’
New Delhi decided to use the 1971
war to settle Kashmir. The Security
Council adopted a resolution on
December 21, 1971 calling for
return of troops to their former
positions. On the same day,
Foreign Minister Swaran Singh
spoke meaningfully of “some
adjustments in the ceasefire line in
order to make it more stable,
rational and viable. This we
propose to discuss with Pakistan.”
The U.N. Secretary General
reported on May 12, 1972 that India
has stopped complaining to the
UNMOGIP; flag meetings of both
sides sufficed to resolve disputes.
Pakistan disagreed. On May 17,
1972, even before the Simla pact,
Swaran Singh told the LokSabha
that the CFL “was violated by
Pakistan in December 1971 and no
longer exists. A new ceasefire line
came into existence on 17
December 1971”. The UNMOGIP
worked under the 1949 agreement
but now “there is no subsisting
agreement for this”. The absurdity
is palpable. Violations do not
destroy a CFL or anLoC. The
UNMOGIP received a mandate
from the Security Council. The 1949
Agreement merely abided by it.
On October 13, 1972, C.V.
Narasimhan, the Under-Secretary
General of the U.N., said in New
Delhi: “there has been no written
request from New Delhi to
withdraw U.N. Observers from the
Indian side of the old ceasefire line
in Jammu and Kashmir.” He added
15
that they were there under a
Security Council resolution
followed by an India-Pakistan
agreement. They could not be
withdrawn as long as the
resolution remained. This was said
after the Simla pact of July 3, 1972
which simply stated that “in Jammu
and Kashmir, the line of control
resulting from the ceasefire of
December 17, 1971 shall be
respected by both sides without
prejudice to the recognised
position of either side.”
An accord on August 29, 1972
amplified that the LoC “will be
delineated along its entire length.”
That was done at Suchetgarh on
December 11, 1972. It did not
rescind the terms of the Agreement
of 1949 on the ceasefire line,
concluded under the U.N.
auspices.
Starke’s International Law, an
authoritative work, cites various
“modes of terminating hostilities”
— by Armistice Agreements, truce
accords or ceasefire, etc. No matter
what the language, each case
yields an “LoC resulting from
cessation of hostilities.” The
Secretary-General’s spokesman,
Martin Nesirky, said on January 23
that “the Secretary-General’s
position has always been that the
UNMOGIP can only be terminated
by a decision of the Security
Council.” India’s Permanent
Representative to the U.N. Hardeep
Singh Puri’s assertion in the
Security Council on January 22, that
the UNMOGIP’s role has been
overtaken by the Simla Agreement
is belied by the records. So, is his
colleague Manish Gupta’s plea that
the CFL is replaced by the LoC —
ergo the UNMOGIP’s role “has
been overtaken by these
developments.”
Obstruction of the UNMOGIP began
well before the Simla Pact and the
LoC.
India would do well to reflect on a
sad fact of life — protesting
Kashmiris do not go to Ministers’
offices; they invariably head for the
office in Srinagar of the UNMOGIP.
We have travelled a long way on the
bilateral route, with some
achievements en route. Kicking the
U.N.’s agency like the UNMOGIP in
the teeth is not the best way to
secure a permanent seat on its
Security Council, nor for that matter
is doggedly avoiding a settlement
of the Kashmir problem.
It carries passengers as
well as choppers
At an altitude of about 6,000 ft. a
Current Affairs Notes

sudden, brief turbulence left some
of us scrambling for support when
the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III hit
an air pocket somewhere over
Bangalore.
We were ambling around the
aircraft’s innards, studying its finer
details when we were jolted back
to, well, the air.
“There’s lot of cloud, that is why
there’s some turbulence.
Otherwise the aircraft flies
smoothly,” said technical sergeant
Jerome Thomas, a loadmaster on
board, minutes after the aircraft
demonstrated a steep landing at
the Air Force Station, Yelahanka.
Deal with Boeing
“On our missions, we have carried
a lot of stuff — vehicles and
helicopters among others on the C-
17,” said Mr. Thomas, who has
been on missions to Iraq and
Afghanistan, providing details on
the Globemaster that will equip the
Indian armed forces. In 2011, India
signed a $4.1 billion deal with
Boeing to supply 10 aircraft.
During the half-hour demonstration
flight, Maj. Kenneth Kirkpatrick and
co-pilot Captain Chris Ross
conducted manoeuvres, including
a couple of 360 degree turns, steep
landing and backing among others.
The Globemaster has a modest
seating arrangement for 54 people,
leaving a huge space in the centre
where the floor can be flipped to
make changes — either to move
cargo and reconfigure seats.
Loadmaster Thomas
demonstrated the operation of the
ramp. “The aircraft has a capacity to
carry 77 tonnes of cargo and has a
range of 5,000 to 7,000 km,
depending on wind, temperature
and weight. The cruise speed of
the aircraft is .76 Mach,” said Marc
E. Caudill. The seating capacity can
be reconfigured up to 184
depending on the need.
‘Honour to fly it’
Captain Angela Kimler, another
pilot on board, said: “It is an honour
to be flying the Globemaster and
it’s doing a great job. It is also
giving [us] many opportunities to
participate in various missions.”
The young captain has been flying
the C-17 since 2007 and has been
on missions in Iraq and
Afghanistan that included medical
evacuation, cargo and movement of
people. “At least 10 per cent of the
flying crew of Globemaster are
women,” she added.
The Globesmaster has been flown
down here by a demonstration
team of the Pacific Air Force based
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam,
Hawaii, led by Maj. Kenneth
Kirkpatrick of 535th Airlift Squadron.
It is one of the nine Globemasters
at the base. It took the 16-member
team nearly 20 hours to reach
Bangalore after a stopover at
Kadena Air Base in Okinawa,
Japan. The flight has a call sign
“Reach” on international missions
and “Slew” at the home station.
Boeing, in a release, said the C-
17’s unique ability to fly long
distances, and land in remote
airfields in rough terrains and
landlocked regions, makes it the
premier transporter for military,
humanitarian and peacekeeping
missions.
Blizzard threatens north-
eastern United States
The mayor of Boston ordered all
vehicles off the city’s streets from
12 noon (1700 GMT) on Friday as
the north-eastern US braced for a
blizzard.
The storm was expected to form
just off the southern coast of
Massachusetts when two weather
systems — one approaching from
the south and the other from the
west — combine.
The National Weather Service said
on Thursday a “major and
potentially historic winter storm”
was expected to impact an area
encompassing all of New York
State, most of the state of
Pennsylvania and all of New
England, Friday into Saturday.
New England consists of the states
of Maine, New Hampshire,
Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, and Connecticut.
“Use common sense. Stay off the
streets of our city. Basically, stay
home,” Mayor Thomas Menino said
at a news conference at city hall.
New York City also was bracing for
the storm. It could get as much as
30 centimetres of snow, the
weather service said. In addition to
snow, the storm will pack wind
gusts as high as 100 kilometres
per hour.
More than 1,000 flights were
cancelled as of Thursday. The
weather service said the storm
also was likely to take out electrical
power to thousands of homes.
Concept:
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm
characterized by strong sustained
winds of at least 56 km/h (35 mph)
and low temperatures lasting for a
prolonged period of time — typically
16
three hours or more. A severe
blizzard has winds over 72 km/h
(45 mph), near zero visibility, and
temperatures of “12 °C (10 °F) or
lower. Technically, the difference
between a blizzard and a
snowstorm is not the amount of
snow but the strength of the wind.
FinMin confident of
upward GDP revision
Shrugging off the Central Statistics
Office’s (CSO) dismal projection on
GDP (gross domestic product)
growth for the current fiscal as an
underestimate, the Finance
Ministry, on Friday, expressed
confidence that subsequent
revision in estimates — as is the
norm — would peg the economic
expansion figure higher at 5.5 per
cent or more.
In a statement here, the Finance
Ministry pointed out that while the
CSO’s advance estimates on GDP
growth for 2012-13 at 5 per cent
was ‘indeed disappointing’, such
advance estimates had been
revised more than once in the past
years as more data is available to it
in the months ahead.
Churning out CSO data on various
estimates of GDP growth since
2005-06 which showed upward or
downward correction in the final
projection, the statement said: “It
is, therefore, likely that the advance
estimates of 5 per cent will be
revised and the final estimate will
be closer to the government’s
estimate of a growth rate of 5.5 per
cent or slightly more.”
The Finance Ministry argued that
since the CSO bases its advance
estimates on the data till November
or December, depending on
availability, “this makes its
estimates accurate when GDP
growth is following a trend, but not
when it is turning. So, for example,
growth was overestimated as the
economy slowed in 2008-09 and
2011-12, while it is probably
underestimated now.”
To prove that there was still room
for cautious optimism, the
statement also drew attention to
certain indicators which point to
“early sign of an upturn” in the
economy. The first such sign is the
Purchasing Manager’s Index
(manufacturing) which started
moving up since October 2012 and
is accompanied by a seasonally
adjusted stabilisation of the IIP
(Index of Industrial Production) from
the same month onwards.
Moreover, while the year-on-year
growth in excise duty at 16 per cent
and 33 percent in service tax in
Current Affairs Notes

April-December, 2012, is yet
another indicator of a turnaround,
the moderation in inflation to 7.2
per cent, particularly core inflation
to 4.2 per cent in December, 2012,
and the Reserve Bank’s decisions
to reduce policy rates by 25 basis
points will also help in spurring
growth, it said.
Meanwhile, in his lecture at a
symposium organised by Citi-
Sloan here, Chief Economic
Advisor Raghuram G. Rajan noted
that the CSO estimate for the fiscal
year was “below potential” and the
government would have to pursue
policies to push growth to at least 8
per cent.
“CSO’s estimate of 5 per cent or
5.5 per cent growth [for 2012-13] is
way below potential. We do need to
up growth, we need to undertake
policies that will enable us to reach
at least to 8 per cent, which people
think is lower bound for our
potential growth,” Dr.Rajan said.
As in the Ministry statement,
Dr.Rajan also pointed to some
problem in CSO’s estimate of GDP
growth. “One of the problems with
the CSO estimate is that it is based
on past data, and at turning points
in GDP growth...Looking at past
data, underestimates change,” he
said.
The CEO also underscored the
need to contain the fiscal deficit.
“We need to fix the fiscal deficit. We
can’t keep running large fiscal
deficit and borrowing to finance it,”
he said. This is where Finance
Minister has made a firm
commitment that this year’s fiscal
deficit will be 5.3 percent,” he said.
Co-op banks told not to
give loans for gold
purchase
The Reserve Bank of India, on
Friday, directed State and Central
co-operative banks not to grant
loans for purchase of gold in any
form to check the significant rise in
import of the precious metal in
recent years.
“In view of the concerns..., it is
reiterated that State and Central co-
operative banks should not grant
any advance for purchase of gold in
any form, including primary gold,
gold bullion, gold jewellery, gold
coins, units of gold exchange
traded funds (ETF) and units of
gold mutual funds,” the RBI said in
a notification.
At present, these banks are
permitted to grant loans against
pledge of gold ornaments, but not
permitted to grant any advance for
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
purchase of gold in any form.
NASA’s new mission to
estimate impact of
asteroids on Earth
NASA plans to launch a new
mission in 2016 to find potentially
hazardous asteroids and predict
their impact threat to Earth.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid
sample return mission will arrive at
RQ36 in 2018 and orbit the
asteroid until 2021. By
communicating continuously with a
spacecraft in orbit around RQ36,
the team will get a much better idea
of the asteroid’s orbit.
“We expect OSIRIS-REx will enable
us to make an estimate of the
Yarkovsky force on RQ36 at least
twice as precise as what’s
available now,” says Jason
Dworkin, OSIRIS-REx project
scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space
Flight Center in Greenbelt.
The Yarkovsky effect happens
simply because it takes time for
things to heat up and cool down.
Objects tend to be coldest just
before dawn and warmest at mid-
afternoon, after hours of
illumination by the high Sun.
The team will use what it learns
about the Yarkovsky effect on RQ36
to help estimate the effects on
other asteroids, NASA said in a
statement.
The key to all these strategies is to
discover the asteroid well in
advance of its impact date and
attempt to deflect it early, according
to Edward Beshore of the University
of Arizona, Tucson, deputy principal
investigator for OSIRIS-REx
asteroid sample return mission.
One of the first things that would be
done if an asteroid appeared to be
on a collision course with Earth is
to send a probe to the asteroid that
might look very much like OSIRIS-
REx, said Beshore.
OSIRIS-REx will determine if RQ36
is actually a rubble pile by orbiting it
and revealing the subtle effects on
the orbit from the gravity of any
large and dense lumps within the
asteroid.
A probe like OSIRIS-REx could map
the internal structure of an asteroid
this way, providing valuable
information on where to target the
deflection mechanism.
OSIRIS-REx will also determine the
composition of RQ36 using remote
measurements from both visible
light and infrared spectrometers,
and by collecting a sample of
17
material from the asteroid’s
surface and returning it to Earth for
study.
Since the Yarkovsky effect may vary
depending on the type of material
and its distribution, a probe with
OSIRIS-REx’s capability to map the
surface composition will enable a
more precise estimate of the effect
on the asteroid’s orbit.
The mission will also provide
critical experience navigating
around asteroids.
According to NASA’s Near-Earth
Object (NEO) programme, there
are more than 1,300 “Potentially
Hazardous Asteroids” (PHAs) ¿
objects at least 150 yards across
with a very small chance of
impacting us someday because
their orbital paths take them close
to Earth’s orbit.
India working on Agni-VI
missile, to be in world’s
elite nuclear club
India today said it is developing a
long-range nuclear-capable Agni-VI
ballistic missile that would carry
multiple warheads allowing one
weapon system to take out several
targets at a time.
“Agni-V is a major strategic defence
weapon. Now we want to make
Agni-VI which would be a force
multiplier,” DRDO chief V K
Saraswat said here.
Refusing to divulge the range of the
new under-development missile,
he said the force multiplier
capability of the missile would be
because of its Multiple
Independently Targetable Re-entry
Vehicle (MIRV) capability.
The Agni-5 ballistic missile, which
was test-fired in April last year, has
a range of upto 5,500 kms and it is
believed that the Agni-6 would have
a range longer than its
predecessor.
“It will have force multiplier
capability by the MIRV approach
which would enable us to deliver
many payloads at the same time
using only one missile. Work is on
in this area and designs have been
completed. We are now in the
hardware realisation phase,” he
said.
DRDO officials said once the Agni-
6 is developed, it would propel
India into the elite club of nations
with such a capability including the
US and Russia.
The DRDO chief said his
organisation was also working
towards developing a cruise
Current Affairs Notes

missile defence programme which
would enable the armed forces to
defend against low-flying cruise
missiles and enemy aircraft.
World’s largest prime
number discovered with
17 million digits, prime
search continues
Researchers have identified the
world’s largest prime number yet,
beating the previous record by over
four million digits.
The number has now shot up to 2
multiplied by itself 57,885,161
times minus 1, breaking a four-year
dry spell in the search for new,
ever-larger primes.
Curtis Cooper from the University of
Central Missouri in Warrensburg
made the finding as part of the
Great Internet Mersenne Prime
Search (GIMPS), a distributed
computing project designed to hunt
for a particular kind of prime
number first identified in the 17th
century, the ‘New Scientist’
reported.
“It’s sort of like finding a diamond,”
says Chris Caldwell at the
University of Tennessee, Martin,
who keeps a record of the largest
known primes.
“For some reason people decide
they like diamonds and so they
have a value. People like these
large primes and so they also have
a value,” said Caldwell.
All prime numbers can only be
divided by themselves and 1.
The rare Mersenne primes all have
the form 2 multiplied by itself p
times minus 1, where p is itself a
prime number.
The new prime, which has over 17
million digits, is only the 48th
Mersenne prime ever found and the
14th discovered by GIMPS. The
previous record holder, 2 multiplied
by itself 43,112,609 times minus 1,
which was also found by GIMPS in
2008, has just under 13 million
digits.
All the top 10 largest known primes
are Mersenne primes discovered
by GIMPS. Until today, the most
recent addition to the list was found
in 2009, but it was smaller than the
2008 discovery.
Though there are an infinite
number of primes, there is no
formula for generating these
numbers, so discovering them
requires intensive computation.
GIMPS uses volunteers’ computers
to shift through each prime-number
candidate in turn, until eventually
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
one lucky user discovers a new
prime.
GIMPS software runs on around a
thousand university computers,
one of which spent 39 days straight
proving that the number was prime,
which was then independently
verified by other researchers.
9 February 2013
Mark-2 to be powered by
GE F-414 engine
The LCA Navy programme would
go it alone in the development of its
Mark-2 version with a GE F-414
engine. It will be a lighter aircraft
with better manoeuvrability, whose
concept design, done over nine to
12 months, will kick off in March.
EADS Cassidian will be the
consultant.
Once the detailed concept design
is done, preliminary design review,
in consultation with the Navy, will
be carried out. The process of
procurement of raw material would
have already got under way then,
mainly to ensure no time is lost for
cutting metal after the critical
design review gets over and the
project is sealed.
The global standard of building and
equipping an aircraft is 36 months
from the time its design is frozen.
In all, it would take eight years from
now for the first flight of LCA Navy
Mark-2, which will come equipped
with an anti-ship missile, an
addition on the Mark-1 variant. The
Mark1, currently being developed,
will be optimised for an air defence
role with the same weapons as on
its Air Force counterpart.
Tier-2, 3 cities to boast of
no-frills airports
A study on creating no-frills airports
in the country has been completed
and the Civil Aviation Ministry is
looking at the feasibility of
generating an environment for a
new kind of aviation, said S.
Machendranathan, Additional
Secretary in the Ministry, here on
Saturday.
Speaking at an interactive session
on ‘Aviation Cargo Industry: A Vital
Link in Logistics’, organised by the
Southern India Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (SICCI),
Mr. Machendranathan said that the
no-frills airports would be created
in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The idea
was to create connectivity for
regional and remote areas. The
airports would boost economic
activity and smaller aircraft could
be operated.
18
To upgrade the skills of personnel
in the industry, the Ministry
proposed to start an Aviation
University and had appointed a
consultant. It was in the process of
creating a Civil Aviation Authority,
which would replace the
Directorate General of Civil Aviation,
the regulatory authority. A draft bill
had been prepared, which would
ensure that the authority had more
powers and acted as a better
regulatory agency.
The Ministry was concentrating on
four important aspects —
connectivity to remote areas by
promoting tier 2 and tier 3 cities;
upgrading manpower skills
required for the industry;
strengthening the regulatory body
and modernisation.
Yeshwant Bhave, Chairman,
Airports Economic Regulatory
Authority (AERA), justified the
introduction of user development
fee at the new terminals here. The
Airports Authority of India had
created the facility and incurred
expenditure, which it was
recovering.
Mr Bhave said that the Chennai
airport had a good air cargo
terminal. The airport could emerge
as a hub not only for passenger
movement but also cargo
transportation. Space was not a
constraint for the cargo terminal.
The demand for air cargo
transportation has increased
significantly over the last few years,
said JawaharVadivelu, president of
the SICCI. This was due to the
increase in demand for rapid
delivery of products. Changing
business models such as ‘Just-in-
time’ manufacturing and global
outsourcing had contributed to the
rapid growth of air cargo logistics.
Historically, sea cargo has been
the most dominant form of
shipping cargo from and to India,
while air cargo accounted only for a
negligible proportion of the total
cargo trade within the country. The
main goods transported by air are
perishables, pharmaceuticals,
garments, textiles, electronics and
vulnerable cargo besides express
mail items with the time definite
delivery, he said.
9 new cases of swine flu
Nine new cases of swine flu were
reported in the Capital on Saturday.
Health officials said the number of
cases so far this season now
stands at 73.
An official of the Delhi Health
Service said nine people tested
positive for swine flu, but there
Current Affairs Notes

were no deaths on Saturday. There
were 39 cases and one death in
January, and 25 cases and two
deaths so far in February. In 2012,
a total of 78 cases and one death
were recorded.
The Delhi Health Minister has
directed 17 government hospitals
and five private hospitals to gear up
for swine flu treatment in the wake
of a spurt in the number of cases.
Symptoms of swine flu include
high-grade fever, respiratory
problems, chest pain
The role of Pranab
Mukherjee
The execution of two convicts on
charges of terror in less than three
months — a record of sorts in
recent times — has unwittingly put
the spotlight on President Pranab
Mukherjee, who took office last July.
His quick rejection of the mercy
petitions of AjmalKasab, the only
survivor among the perpetrators of
26/11, and Mohammad Afzal Guru,
the main accused in the case of
attack on Parliament in 2001, has
helped the Congress-led UPA
government neutralise its critics
who say this is an administration
that is soft on terror.
Of course, publicly, through the day,
government managers sought to
delink the hanging of Afzal Guru
from any politics. “Unlike the
BharatiyaJanata Party, we don’t
politicise decisions that pertain to
national security,” Information and
Broadcasting Minister Manish
Tewari said, adding, “When you are
dealing with a process under
criminal jurisprudence, you see
that the law is followed rigorously.”
Union Minister of State for Home
R.P.N. Singh’s tone was equally
sombre: “This is not a time for
politics but calm, restraint and
sobriety.”
But government sources told The
Hindu that their task had been
made easier by having a Home
Minister — SushilkumarShinde —
and a President who were agreed
on speedy disposal of the Afzal
Guru case. They pointed out that
A.P.J Abdul Kalam, during his
tenure as President, indicated to
the then Home Minister ShivrajPatil
— shortly after he cleared
DhananjoyChatterjee’s execution in
2004 — his lack of enthusiasm for
the death penalty. His successor,
PratibhaPatil, commuted as many
as 35 death sentences to life
imprisonment before she demitted
office — and was seen as
opposing the death penalty in
principle.
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
Sources close to Mr. Mukherjee
take a more nuanced view of his
rejection of these two mercy
petitions: they say he viewed the
two cases differently — while he felt
that there were no two views on
Kasab’s guilt, he was aware that in
Afzal Guru’s case, there had always
been a question mark on the extent
of his involvement in the attack on
Parliament — and made that
distinction in private conversations
after the execution of the 26/11
accused last November. However,
these sources added, Mr.
Mukherjee also believed that the
attack on Parliament was an attack
on Indian democracy and a
message needed to be sent out
that such assaults would not be
tolerated.
Though Afzal Guru’s mercy petition
file came to RashtrapatiBhavan on
August 4, 2011 (when Ms.Patil was
in office), Mr. Mukherjee, after taking
charge, sent the file back on
November 15, 2012 to the Home
Ministry for a fresh look. The Home
Ministry returned the file to the
President on January 23 this year,
and he sent it back, rejecting the
petition, on February 3, paving the
way for Saturday’s execution.In
short, Mr. Mukherjee did send back
the file for reconsideration once.
However, he could have sat on the
file — as there is no time limit for
the President to take a decision.
The Congress line for a while has
been that the Supreme Court
verdict must be executed. General
secretaryDigvijay Singh, while
articulating this view last year, cited
two reasons: that the attack on
Parliament was a serious terror
attack and that the highest court in
the land had handed the death
penalty to Afzal Guru.
Repeating that view on Saturday
to The Hindu , he said, “Any kind of
mercy shown to the perpetrator of a
terror attack on Parliament would
not have been the right thing to do.”
To a question on the timing of the
hanging, he said, “The timing had
to be decided by the government,
keeping the ground situation in
mind and ensuring that all the
reports were ready... the Home
Ministry had not recommended the
case earlier as it had to consult the
State [J&K] government.”
With these two executions,
government sources said, the
Congress-led UPA sent out a
signal that it was prepared to take
the harshest possible steps to deal
with acts of terror. This would also
strengthen Mr.Shinde’s hands, they
added, in dealing with acts of terror
committed by Hindu organisations.
19
Concept:
Clemency
The Indian Constitution grants
clemency powers to the President
and the Governors of States,
respectively through Articles 72 and
161 of the Constitution of India,
respectively. The purpose was to
add a humane approach by means
of a reprieve or mercy. Forgiveness,
as we all know, is considered to be
divine. In matters pertaining to
public welfare, it becomes
necessary to see whether granting
pardon overturns the intention of
the conviction.
The Constitution of India permits
any convict who is sentenced to
death to appeal for mercy. However,
the President and the Governors
are not obliged to accept every
mercy plea. They are supposed to
take their decisions on the basis of
the advice given by the cabinet.
Constitution of India: Scope of
Clemency Powers and Their
Judicial Review
According to the Constitution of
India, the President and the
Governors of State are bound to act
on the advice of the Union council
of ministers while deciding on
mercy petitions. The exercise of
these powers can be granted
under Articles 72 and 161, but they
are subject to judicial review.
However, the scope of this judicial
review is limited to examining
whether the clemency powers have
been used with reasonable
application of mind or on the basis
of extraneous or malafide
consideration.
When a decision is made on
application of mind, the court will
take no action over it but if the
pardon appears to be based on
malafide or extraneous
considerations, it can set aside the
decision of the President or the
Governor.
A clear instance of this principle
was evident in a court judgment
that set aside the decision of
Andhra Pradesh Governor, Sushil
Kumar Shinde to remit the
sentence of a Congress activist.
GouruVenkata Reddy. Reddy was
undergoing a ten-year prison
sentence for killing two persons
including a TDP activist.
Constitution of India: Identifying
Extraneous and Malafide
Consideration
The Constitution of India mandates
that the rule of law is essential for
all considerations. When the
President of Governor, considers
the mercy petition or clemency
Current Affairs Notes

petition on the basis of caste,
religion or political loyalty, it
becomes a case of extraneous
consideration. The President and
the Governors can also exercise
their power to pardon on the
ground that they do not feel justice
was done or the sentence passed
by the court is too harsh.
Civil Aviation Minister
launches ShubhYatra
Magazine
Civil aviation minister, ShriAjit
Singh today released ShubhYatra,
an exclusive monthly bi-lingual
(Hindi & English) inflight magazine
of Air India, It covers travel, lifestyle,
culture and entertainment in all
colour and spice. This is the new
name of the inflight magazine.
Handing over of ALH Mk-
IV “Rudra” – A Milestone
An Advanced Light Helicopter Mk-IV
army version ‘Rudra‘ was handed
over by Dr RK Tyagi, Chairman,
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL) to Lt Gen Narendra Singh,
Deputy Chief of Army Staff (P & S),
Indian Army during AERO India
2013 at Yelahanka Air Base,
Bangalore today.
At the outset of the ceremony, Shri
P SoundaraRajan, Managing
Director said “Rudra, first armoured
helicopter - is the Mk IV variant of
the Advanced Light Helicopter
(ALH) designed and manufactured
by HAL. This helicopter is fitted with
Day and Night Targeting systems
and can carry a mix of weapons (70
rockets, anti-tank missiles, air to
air missiles and 20 mm turret gun),
providing the required capability to
search and destroy any targets”.
‘Rudra’ is designed indigenously at
the Rotary Wing Research and
Design Center (RWR & DC) to
meet the mission specifications
and tested extensively over varied
terrains and firing ranges in India.
Regional Center for Military
Airworthiness has provided Initial
Operational Clearance for the
project facilitating delivery of
helicopters to Indian Armed Forces.
‘Rudra’ is all set to redefine battle
tactics in modern day conflicts.
Water Resources Ministry
to Organize “India Water
Week-2013
Ministry of Water Resources is
organizing the “India Water Week-
2013 from 8th-12th April, 2013 here
at VigyanBhawan, New Delhi with
the theme “ Efficient Water
Management: Challenges and
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
Opportunities”. The event will have
two major components namely,
Multi-disciplinary Dialogue in form
of a Conference and a concurrently
running exhibition enriching the
theme and showcasing the
technologies in water sector. The
theme for India Water Week- 2012
was “Water, Energy and Food
Security - Call for Solutions” which
from 10-14 April, 2012.
In this connection, Union Minister
for Water Resources, Shri Harish
Rawat today issued, a Curtain
Raiser Function of “India Water
Week”-2013 at Central Soil &
Materials Research Station, New
Delhi. Secretary(WR), Chairman,
CWC, Senior Officers from MoWR,
Head of Departments under MoWR
and various Central Govt. Ministry/
Departments/ Public Sector
Undertakings/ Private Industries/
NGOs and individuals were
present during the issuance of this
curtain raiser. On this occasion the
Minister highlighted the importance
of organizing IWW-2013
considering the limited availability
of Water Resources of the country.
He stressed on the need of
conservation, equitable distribution
and adoption of most rational and
scientific approach for judicious
use of Water Resources.
Organization of event will help in
sharing the experience of
professional working in the Water
Resources Sector World over for
better management of Water
Resources. He also launched the
Second Information Bulletin of
IWW-2013.
Dr. S.K. Sarkar, Secretary, Ministry
of Water Resources in his remarks
highlighting the vital role of water in
all spheres of life, stressed on the
need of better management and
planning for prosperity through
efficient and optimal use of water
resources at the National level and
International level. The
Organization of “IWW 2013” by
Ministry of Water Resources will
give a splendid opportunity for the
stakeholders from all over the
world to come together and
exchange views, discuss topics of
contemporary relevance
technologies in Water Sector and
deliberate on challenges being
faced the Water Sector. He
expressed the hope that Curtain
Raiser Function/ Road Show will
create awareness about the
organization of IWW-2013.
Director General, NWDA, made a
detailed presentation covering the
objectives and organizational
details. He informed that the event
has generated considerable
interest amongst water resources
20
professional community and 1008
registrations from 53 countries
have already taken place. The
technical themes have been well
received with 245 papers likely to
be presented at the Conference.
Large segments of industry are
participating in the exhibition and
showcasing their products. Similar
functions are proposed to be
organized at Chennai on 19th
February, at Ahmedabad on 22nd
February and at Kolkata on 1st
March, 2013.
10 February 2013
Nigeria wins Africa Cup of
Nations
Nigeria returned to the top of
African football on Sunday by
beating Burkina Faso 1-0 in the
Cup of Nations final for its first
continental title in nearly two
decades.Sunday Mba’s goal in the
40th minute delivered another
triumph for coach Stephen Keshi
after he captained Nigeria to its last
African Cup crown in 1994.
Mba decided the game in front of
around 87,000 fans at Soccer City
with a left-foot volley into the far
right corner after he expertly
controlled a rebound and clipped
the ball over a defender.Burkina
Faso fell short of what would have
been a surprising triumph in its
first final, having progressed
beyond the group stage for only the
second time at the African
championship.
Argo wins top Bafta prize
Iran hostage drama Argo continued
its journey from awards season
outsider to favourite on Sunday,
winning three prizes, including best
picture, at the British Academy Film
Awards.
Ben Affleck was named best
director for the based-on-reality
story of a long shot plan to rescue a
group of American diplomats from
Iran after the 1979 Islamic
Revolution, and the film also took
the editing trophy.Affleck dedicated
his directing prize for “anyone out
there who’s trying to get their
second act.”
Daniel Day-Lewis won his
universally expected best actor
trophy for Lincoln the only prize out
of 10 nominations for Steven
Spielberg’s historical
biopic.Emmanuelle Riva was
named best actress for Michael
Haneke’s poignant old-age
portrait Amour.
French revolutionary musical Les
Current Affairs Notes

Miserables won four prizes,
including best supporting actress
for Anne Hathaway. James Bond
adventure Skyfall spied some
elusive awards recognition,
winning trophies for music and
best British film.Kathryn Bigelow’s
Osama bin Laden thriller Zero Dark
Thirty was shut out of the prizes,
despite five nominations.This
season’s movie with momentum is
crowd-pleaser Argo, which has
been building steam with big prizes
at ceremonies such as the Golden
Globes, the Producers Guild and
the Directors Guild of America
Awards.
It is now considered a front—
runner for the best picture award at
the Oscars on Feb. 24, even though
Affleck was not nominated for best
director.The early prizes were
shared widely, with Les Mis taking
trophies for sound and makeup/
hair and Life of Pi receiving the
honour for cinematography.
Quentin Tarantino picked up the
original screenplay award
for Django Unchained, and
Christoph Waltz was named best
supporting actor for playing a
loquacious bounty hunter in
Tarantino’s slave-revenge thriller.
Winter Olympics on thin
ice?
Russia has launched the one-year
countdown to its first ever Winter
Olympics amid fears that the
games will be too high on costs
and too low on snow.
Giant timers, set up in Moscow, St.
Petersburg and six other biggest
cities of Russia, started on
Thursday counting down the days,
hours, minutes and seconds left to
the opening of the 14th Winter
Olympic Games in the health resort
of Sochi on February 7, 2014.
President Vladimir Putin and head
of the International Olympic
Committee Jacques Rogge
marked “one year to Olympics” in
Sochi on Thursday.
A day earlier, Mr. Putin inspected
the Olympic facilities, which are
two-third ready, voicing concern
over skyrocketing construction
costs. According to the Russian
government, the games will cost
$51 billion, five times the original
price tag and 15 times more than
Canada spent on the 2010 Winter
Olympics in Vancouver.
Even considering that all facilities
and infrastructure for the Sochi
games had to be built from scratch,
experts find it hard to explain why
the Russian Winter Olympics will
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
cost $7 billion more than the
costliest 2010 Summer Olympics
in China, given the fact that
summer games are far more
expensive to prepare.
Russian media said corruption
was the main reason for the huge
cost escalation. At a meeting with
officials responsible for Olympic
construction Mr. Putin warned them
to ensure “that no one steals
anything and there are no
unexplained [further] increases in
costs.” He personally sacked a
deputy president of the Russia
Olympic Committee over delays
and cost overruns in the
construction of a ski jumping
venue.
Lack of snow may be another
headache for organisers. While
Russia as a whole is having its
snowiest winter in 100 years, with
more than two metres of snow
falling in Moscow, Sochi is woefully
short of snow. Some slope-style
skiing events had to be cancelled
in Sochi this week because of
heavy rain. Subtropical Sochi, one
of Russia’s warmest health resorts
sitting on the Black Sea, basked in
19 degrees Celsius on Thursday,
and though mountains above the
city are covered with thick snow,
organisers take no chances. They
are busy hoarding snow for the next
year’s Olympics.
Several hectares of snow are being
covered with a 40-centimetre
blanket of sawdust to keep it from
melting during summer months.
Officials say they plan to save a
total of 150,000 cubic metres of
snow for the next winter — just in
case.
Mercy pleas need to be
settled within a time
frame: Minister
Union Minister for Law Ashwani
Kumar on Sunday warned against
any attempt to politicise the
hanging of Afzal Guru, who was
convicted for his involvement in the
December 13, 2001 terrorist attack
on Parliament. He, however,
agreed that there was a need to fix
a timeframe, within which
Presidential pardon could be
granted to those on death row,
Talking to The Hindu here, the
Minister said hanging Guru was a
decision in the right direction to
uphold the law as well as for the
security of the Indian state. He
sought to dispute all suggestions
that the execution of the death
sentence had any political
consideration as Guru went to the
gallows after three courts
21
unanimously upheld the death
sentence. Subsequently, following
the legal course, the President also
rejected the mercy petition.
Responding to questions related to
various issues being thrown up by
the incident, especially the timing
that had been preceded by delays,
Mr. Kumar said the processes for
exercising the sovereign power to
pardon, on the advice of the Home
Ministry, were well established and
reviewed from time to time.
However, Mr. Kumar agreed that
there was a case for fixing a time
frame in which power to pardon
should be exercised, taking into
consideration the exigencies of the
situation and a variety of factors
that must be brought to the
knowledge of the President before
a final decision was taken.
The Minister said India had arrived
at a moment in which all political
parties needed to commit
themselves to a constructive
discourse that was anchored in the
spirit of contestation of ideas and
ideologies rather than remaining
restricted to conflict-ridden rhetoric
on all issues. “There are far too
many grave challenges before the
nation, which require a broad and
sustainable political consensus to
facilitate complex policy decisions,
particularly considering the need
for a harmonious engagement
between the States and Union,” he
said.
Reacting to concerns from various
quarters, Mr. Kumar said the recent
ordinance for amending the
criminal law was just the first step
towards revising and fine-tuning
the relevant legal provisions to put
in place an effective deterrent
against crime, especially targeting
women and children. He said the
amendment would be discussed
by Parliament and the government
was completely responsive to any
constructive suggestions to reduce
the scope for abuse of power by the
law-enforcing agencies.
He expressed satisfaction that the
UPA government had risen to the
challenge in bringing the ordinance
in record time to respond to the
sensitivities of a nation that had
been shocked by the horrific
incident in Delhi.
Indo-French satellite set
for launch
Indo-French space cooperation is
all set to soar to new heights with
the scheduled launch of a satellite
to study changes in the
environment soon after the visit of
Current Affairs Notes

French President Francois
Hollande here next week.The
SARAL-Altika satellite, a joint
project of the space agencies of
India and France, will complement
the observations of the seas made
by current satellites.
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) has identified
a launch window between
February 22 and February 25 for
putting the 450 kg Indo-French
satellite into orbit from its
spaceport at Sriharikota, official
sources said here.India’s
warhorse rocket, Polar Satellite
Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will put the
satellite into orbit.
SARAL is short for Satellite with
ARgos and ALtiKa, the two main
devices on it which have been
provided by French space agency
CNES. Besides building the
spacecraft, ISRO will launch and
operate it through its life.SARAL
would be one of the very few
ocean-centric satellites and a vital
cog in studying sea surface
heights and other aspects.
Earlier, the launch was scheduled
for December last year but it had to
be put off to complete a few tests
and validations.AltiKa is anKa-
band altimeter system, dedicated
to accurate measurement of the
rise in the sea levels.
The satellite would be useful in
studying the sea state, light rainfall
climatalogy, mean sea level and
coastal altimetry.The satellite
would help ocean scientists gather
accurate data on the rise in the
sea level which could threaten the
low lying and coastal areas of the
country.
Banks yet to comply with
norms on dormant
accounts
Several banks are yet to comply
with the Reserve Bank of India
norm to furnish details of accounts
which have been remaining
inoperative for a decade. The RBI
had asked all public sector and
scheduled commercial banks to
provide the details of dormant
accounts online by June 30 last
year.
As on December 31, 2011, a total
amount exceeding Rs.2, 481
crore was lying as unclaimed
deposits in 1.1 million accounts of
various banks in the country,
according to the RBI. On a modest
estimate, at least Rs.100 crore
could be remaining idle in banks
operating in Kerala.
RBI officials said the apex bank
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
had not extended the deadline, but
a circular was issued as a follow-
up to all banks to review the
position by September 30, 2012.
Most banks have complied with the
norms, an official said.
State Bank of Travancore, one of the
major public sector banks
operating in Kerala, maintained that
the process of furnishing the
account details was underway. The
delay was on account of the large
number of inoperative accounts, a
senior official of the bank said. The
bank has initiated steps to trace
accounts holding low balance and
follow-up measures have been
initiated.
“The RBI directive has prompted
Union Bank of India to contact many
dormant account holders and about
40-50 per cent of them have been
reactivated,” a top official of the
bank said. Some of the accounts
are operated by government
departments and involve litigations.
The total amount of unclaimed
deposits is being mentioned in the
balance sheets regularly, he said.
Federal Bank and South Indian
Bank, scheduled commercial
banks based in Kerala, are among
banks which have already
published the details of the dead
accounts in their websites. Federal
Bank had over 82,000 inoperative
accounts holding Rs.13.9 crore as
deposits, as on December 31,
2010. South Indian Bank has over
1,4600 dormant accounts with Rs.
84 lakh; Dhanlaxmi Bank had
54,247 inoperative accounts with
Rs.1.19 crore; Catholic Syrian Bank
had over 1.79 lakh dormant
accounts with Rs.4.15 crore. State
Bank of Travancore had over 63,900
inoperative accounts with Rs.8.16
crore in them, as on December 31,
2010, according to information
available from RBI.
Carelessness, migration, death of
the account holder and failure of the
legal successors to submit
evidence are among reasons
behind the existence of inoperative
accounts. The RBI wanted the
banks to adopt a customer-friendly
policy with a view to helping the
account holders or their
successors to revive the accounts.
Subbarao warns of record
current account deficit
Reserve Bank of India Governor
DuvvuriSubbarao today cautioned
the country was headed for the
highest ever current account deficit
this fiscal, after it rose to 5.3 per
cent of GDP in the second quarter.
“Last year, CAD was 4.2 per cent of
22
GDP, but this year we expect it
would be significantly higher than
that. It’s going to be historically the
highest CAD measured as a
proportion of GDP,” the Governor
said, though he refrained from
giving any figure.
He also expressed concern over
the way the CAD, which is the gap
between forex gained and forex
spent, is being financed by volatile
inflows instead of more foreign
direct investments.
Subbarao was addressing the
convocation ceremony of the RBI-
set up Indira Gandhi Institute of
Development Research (IGIDR)
here.
The trade gap is widening mainly
because of higher import of oil and
gold. The third quarter numbers are
expected later this week.
Flagging his concerns over CAD,
which was the overriding theme of
the third quarter monetary policy
announced on January 29,
Subbarao said these were
regarding its level, quality and the
way it is being financed.
“We would not worry if the widening
CAS is on account of import of
capital goods, but here it is high on
account of import of oil and gold.
“The other concern is the way we
are financing it. We are financing
our CAD through increasingly
volatile flows. Instead, we should
ideally be getting as much of FDI
as possible to finance the CAD. On
the other hand, what we are getting
is a lot of volatile flows to finance
it,” Subbarao said.
In FY12, after hitting a high CAD of
4.3 per cent, which was then a
record, CAD had declined to 3.9 per
cent of GDP, though it was 10 bps
above the year ago period.
France runs into German
wall on EU growth drive
French efforts to divert Europe from
economic austerity have foundered
twice in a week due to German
resistance, underlining a growing
policy divide that is hobbling the
core partnership.
Berlin rejected President Francois
Hollande’s call on Tuesday to set a
mid-term target for the euro, a
move he hoped would bring the
single currency down to a level that
would make it easier for French
industry to sell its goods abroad.
Three days later, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel joined
forces with Britain’s David
Cameron at a Brussels summit to
Current Affairs Notes

push through the first ever cut in
the 27-nation’s budget, taking an
axe to spending on infrastructure
projects backed by Paris.
“Is it the budget I would have liked if
it was just up to me? No. But the
problem with Europe is that there
are others involved,” a resigned
Hollande told reporters after all-
night talks secured a deal on EU
funding from 2014-2020.
Both Hollande and Merkel have
insisted that the Franco-German
motor is still driving EU integration
50 years after the friendship pact
between the former World War Two
foes.
But while they say achievements
such as last year’s deal on EU
banking supervision show that
Paris and Berlin can still overcome
their differences to forge
compromises, the French voice is
increasingly struggling to make
itself heard.
“EU budget: Hollande left out of
pocket”, ran the headline of the left-
leaning Liberation newspaper on
the roughly three-percent cut in EU
spending, mainly at the expense of
transport, energy and telecoms
projects which Paris has argued
would foster growth and make
Europe’s economy more
competitive.
“Cameron and Merkel impose
austerity on Hollande” was how the
conservative Le Figaro summed up
the meeting.
PRE-SUMMIT HUDDLE
Hollande could have expected a
hero’s welcome in Brussels for his
handling of his first war in the
African state of Mali, where French
forces have driven al Qaeda-linked
rebels out of its main northern
towns and into the hills.
Moreover, with Cameron having put
Britain’s EU membership on the
line by promising a referendum on
it if re-elected, last week’s summit
could have offered France and
Germany the stage to rally together
in a demonstration of European
solidarity.
But in the budget wrangling that
ensued, it was Hollande who
looked isolated as his efforts to
forge a coalition of southern and
eastern European states
demanding more generous
spending were quashed by
Germany, Britain and other northern
countries.
EU officials were mystified when
Hollande, citing other
engagements, chose not to attend
a pre-summit huddle with
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
Cameron, Merkel and EU President
Herman Van Rompuy on Thursday
afternoon where key details of the
deal were hammered out.
From then on, what Cameron
called the band of “like-minded
budget disciplinarians” including
Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden
and Finland had the upper hand
and for France, it was a matter of
salvaging what it could from the
summit.
While the overall EU farm spending
of which France is the main
beneficiary will fall sharply from its
2007-2013 level, Hollande
managed to limit the damage to
French farmers with a small rise in
related funds for rural development.
But he had to concede that Britain’s
cherished 29-year-old rebate from
EU spending, about which he had
noisily complained in the run-up to
the summit, would have to remain
untouched.
“We are seeing the Germans
extending a hand more and more
often to the British than to us,”
French political analyst Eric
Zemmour said, suggesting
Merkel’s priority was to give
Cameron ammunition at home to
defend Britain’s membership in the
EU.
WIDENING GULF
Ultimately, cuts to an EU budget
which in total represents barely one
percent of the region’s economic
output are unlikely to influence how
quickly it comes out of the current
downturn.
However the clash between Paris
and Berlin on the level of the euro
currency points at deep-rooted
differences in the national interests
of the two countries that may prove
more telling in the long run.
A study by Deutsche Bank last
month calculated that France’s
exporters start being priced out of
world markets when the euro rises
above 1.22-1.24 dollars - a level it
has already long left behind to
trade at $1.33 now.
Germany’s higher value-added
export products, however, only start
to be disadvantaged when the
exchange rate is above $1.54. Until
that point, there is little damage to
the German economy and indeed
some benefit in a strong euro
because it keeps the prices of
imported goods and hence inflation
in check.
“We do not agree on economic
policy and a number of other
areas,” Jean-Dominique Giuliani,
head of the Robert Schuman
23
Foundation, a French think tank on
Europe, told Europe 1 radio.
“The gulf between France and
Germany is widening somewhat
and that worries me.”
Colours of exoplanets
could reveal signs of life
One way to find whether exoplanets
would contain life forms would be
by looking at their distinctive
colours, say scientists.
When seen from space, Earth
gives off a large amount of near-
infrared light, which is reflecting off
the chlorophyll in plants.
It is possible that we might see a
similar “red edge” on distant
exoplanets if they also host green
vegetation.
But SiddharthHegde and Lisa
Kaltenegger of the Max Planck
Institute for Astronomy in
Heidelberg, Germany, think that
many rocky worlds will possibly
have extreme heat, dryness or
acidity, and that hardier life forms
will dominate their surfaces,
according to the New Scientist.
To find out what would these
organisms look like from a
distance, the pair looked at the light
reflected by some of Earth’’s more
extreme life forms: lichens in arid
regions, bacterial mats in very hot
water and red algae in acid mine
drainage.
They calculated that seen from afar
each type of organism would create
a unique colour pattern. Lichens,
for instance, appear more yellow
than the algae or bacteria.
Finding these patterns could help
narrow down exoplanets for more
detailed searches, the scientists
said.
It’’s an attractive idea, said Nicolas
Cowan of Northwestern University
in Evanston, Illinois.
But he noted that the work has its
limits.
For instance, he said that
atmospheres on other planets may
be very different from our own and
could scatter light in ways we
wouldn’’t expect.
UN Security Council
looms for Iran as IAEA
tries again
Iran faces possible referral to the
UN Security Council in early March
unless Tehran and the UN atomic
agency defy expectations in talks
Wednesday and reach a deal on
Current Affairs Notes

enhanced inspections.
Iran has consistently rejected as
unfounded what the International
Atomic Energy Agency calls “overall,
credible” evidence that until 2003
and possibly since, it conducted
nuclear weapons research.
The Vienna agency closely
monitors Iran’s declared nuclear
facilities but wants Iran also to
grant access to sites, scientists
and documents involved in these
alleged military activities.
Iran accuses the IAEA of basing its
conclusions on faulty intelligence
from foreign spy agencies —
intelligence it complains it has not
been allowed to see.
A series of meetings over the past
year, the latest in January, have
failed to overcome the differences,
and “hopes are not high” at agency
headquarters for these next talks,
one Vienna diplomat told AFP.
“It doesn’t seem as if any of the
areas of difficulty have been
resolved,” the envoy said. The
consequences of another failure
could be serious.
In November, Washington warned
that if there was no progress, it
would push for the IAEA board at its
next meeting from March 4-8 to take
the rare step of referring Iran to the
UN Security Council.
“The impression is that (China and
Russia) are increasingly frustrated
with Iran. It is an open question but
there is some optimism” that they
will join Western countries in
supporting such a procedure, the
diplomat said.
This will do little to improve the
already frosty ambience in parallel
diplomatic efforts between Iran and
six world powers, due to resume in
Kazakhstan on February 26 after an
eight-month hiatus.
Iran has spurned calls from the
P5+1 — the US, China, Russia,
Britain, France and Germany — to
scale back parts of its nuclear work
because it was not offered
sanctions relief in return.
The tone of comments Thursday by
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei suggested that Tehran
is in no greater mood to
compromise, spurning an offer of
bilateral talks with Washington.
“You (Americans) want to negotiate
when you are pointing the gun at
Iran. The Iranian nation will not be
intimidated by such actions,” the
73-year-old said.
“Some rejoice at the offer of
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
negotiations ... (but) negotiations
will not solve anything.”
11 January 2013
February
U.S. sure India will go
with it again in new Sri
Lanka resolution
The United States is sure that India
will support a country-specific
resolution sponsored by it in the
coming session of the United
Nations Human Rights Council in
Geneva.
The U.S. representatives revealed
here that it had “decided to sponsor
a procedural resolution at the
March 2013 session of the U.N.
Human Rights Council along with
international partners”.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State James Moore told select
media here that “the resolution will
be straightforward; it will be a
procedural resolution, and it will
build on the 2012 resolution which
called on Sri Lanka to do more to
promote reconciliation and
accountability. The resolution will
ask the government of Sri Lanka to
follow through on its own
commitments to its people,
including the implementation of the
LLRC [Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission]
recommendations.” Responding to
a question, a transcript of which
has been posted on the U.S.
Embassy website, Mr. Moore said
he was sure that India and all the
countries that voted with the U.S.
last year would follow the same
lead this year: “And the reason
there would be another resolution
this coming March is because we
and the other 23 members of the
Human Rights Council who voted
for the resolution in 2012 believe
that the government of Sri Lanka
needs to fulfil the commitment that
it’s already made through the LLRC
to its people,” he said.
“So this new resolution would
reflect our support for those
commitments, our continued
support. And for the people of Sri
Lanka as they continue to face
these important issues,” he said.
Official confirmation of the Indian
stand was not available. But it is
reliably learnt that the issue did
figure in all the recent high-level
engagements. Sri Lanka has
responded to the U.S.
announcement, saying that it will
defend its rights record. Significant
progress has been made, it
contended, in implementing the
24
recommendations of the LLRC,
which went into the causes of the
war with the Tamil Tigers.
Concept:
Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission
The Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission
(LLRC) was a commission of
inquiry appointed by Sri Lankan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa in
May 2010 after the 26-year long civil
war in Sri Lanka. The commission
was mandated to investigate the
facts and circumstances which led
to the failure of the ceasefire
agreement made operational on 27
February 2002, the lessons that
should be learnt from those events
and the institutional, administrative
and legislative measures which
need to be taken in order to prevent
any recurrence of such concerns in
the future, and to promote further
national unity and reconciliation
among all communities. After an 18
month inquiry, the commission
submitted its report to the
President on 15 November 2011.
The report was made public on 16
December 2011, after being tabled
in the parliament.
The commission concluded that
the Sri Lankan military didn’t
deliberately target civilians but the
rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) repeatedly violated
international humanitarian law.
According to the commission the
military gave the “highest priority” to
protecting civilians whereas the
Tamil Tigers had had “no respect
for human life”. The commission
admitted that civilians had been
killed by the Sri Lankan military,
albeit accidentally, contradicting the
government’s line that there were
zero civilian casualties. The
commission did however receive
some eyewitness evidence
alleging abuse by the military which
warranted further investigation and,
if necessary, the prosecution of
perpetrators. The commission
acknowledged that hospitals had
been shelled, resulting
“considerable civilian casualties”,
but it did not say who was
responsible for the shelling. The
commission blamed Sinhalese
and Tamil politicians for causing
the civil war: the Sinhalese
politicians failed to offer a solution
acceptable to the Tamil people and
the Tamil politicians fanned militant
separatism.
The commission has been heavily
criticised by international human
rights groups, the UN Panel of
Experts and others due its limited
Current Affairs Notes

mandate, alleged lack of
independence and its failure to
meet minimum international
standards or offer protection to
witnesses. They believed that the
Sri Lankan government was using
the commission as a tool to
prevent an independent
international investigation of
alleged abuses. As a consequence
of this Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch and the
International Crisis Group refused
to appear before the commission
More banks cut lending
rates
Syndicate Bank, on Monday,
announced a cut of 25 basis points
in its base rate to 10.25 percent
with effect from February 13. The
bank also revised downward its
benchmark prime lending rate
(BPLR) by a similar margin to
14.50 percent.
Tamilnad Mercantile Bank reduced
its base rate by 25 basis points to
10.75 percent from 11 per cent, and
prime lending rate (PLR) to 16.50
per cent from 16.75 per
centeffective February 11, S. Selvan
Rajadurai, General Manager,
(Business Development), said in a
statement.
Concept: Base Rate Vs BPLR
In banking parlance, the BPLR
means the Benchmark Prime
Lending Rate. However, with the
introduction of Base Rate
(explained below), BPLR has now
lost its importance and is made
applicable normally only on the
loans which have been sanctioned
before the introduction of Base
Rate (i.e. July 2010).
The BPLR system, introduced in
2003, fell short of its original
objective of bringing transparency
to lending rates. This was mainly
because under the BPLR system,
banks could lend below BPLR. For
the same reason, it was also
difficult to assess the transmission
of policy rates of the Reserve Bank
to lending rates of banks
Thus, BPLR was / is the interest
rate that commercial banks
normally charge (or we can say
they were expected to charge) their
most credit-worthy customers. [
Although as per Reserve Bank of
India rules, Banks were free to fix
Benchmark Prime Lending Rate
(BPLR) for credit limits over Rs.2
lakh with the approval of their
respective Boards yet BPLR was to
be declared and made uniformly
applicable at all the branches. The
Asset-Liability Management
Committee (ALCO) of respective
bank fixed interest rates on
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
Deposits and Advances, subject to
their reporting to the Board
immediately thereafter. The banks
were also to declare the maximum
spread over BPLR with the
approval of the ALCO/Board for all
advances]. The Base Rate is the
minimum interest rate of a Bank
below which it cannot lend, except
in cases allowed by RBI.
The Base Rate system has
replaced the BPLR system with
effect from July 1, 2010. Base Rate
shall include all those elements of
the lending rates that are common
across all categories of borrowers.
Banks may choose any benchmark
to arrive at the Base Rate for a
specific tenor that may be
disclosed transparently. There can
be only one Base Rate for each
bank. However, banks have the
freedom to choose any benchmark
to arrive at a single Base Rate but
the same needs to disclosed
transparently.
As per RBI guidelines (as in July
2012), the following categories of
loans could be priced without
reference to Base Rate :-
(a) DRI Advances;
(b) Loans to banks’ own
employees including retired
employees;
(c) Loans to banks’ depositors
against their own deposits
GST rollout:
Chidambaram to meet
state FMs on Feb. 14
Union Finance Minister P
Chidambaram will meet state
finance ministers here on February
14 to seek their approval on design
of GST so that a broad outline of
the indirect tax regime can be
included in the next Budget.
After holding discussions with
states, sources said, Mr.
Chidambaram is likely to
recommend certain changes in the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill
to the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Finance.
Mr. Chidambaram had recently told
state finance ministers that he
would include a broad outline of the
Constitution Amendment Bill on
GST in his Budget speech if there
was a consensus.
The Union Budget is scheduled to
be presented on February 28.
Last month in Bhubaneshwar, the
Empowered Committee of State
Finance Ministers had reached a
broad consensus on the design of
GST, under which the states will be
free to decide on the time of its
introduction.
25
The Empowered Committee also
decided to suggest to the Finance
Ministry incorporation of provisions
for allowing states to opt out of the
GST fold, thereby making it
optional.
Moreover, states had agreed to a
lower payment of Rs 34,000 crore
for phasing out the Central Sales
Tax, a pre-condition for rollout of the
GST.
Besides, they had agreed that
instead of a single rate for GST
there would be a floor rate with a
band, giving freedom to states to fix
their own rates.
The meeting also assumes
significance as the Centre is in the
process of firming up indirect tax
proposals for the Budget.
Double tax avoidance
pact with Colombia may
be delayed
The ratification of the Double
Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) between India and
Colombia will take a “little more
time” due to procedural delays by
the South American nation.
This was conveyed to India by the
visiting Colombian Vice-Minister of
Entrepreneurial Development,
Carlos Andres de Hart Pinto, when
the matter was raised by India
during the second meeting of the
Joint Committee of Business
Cooperation. “In Colombia, the
Constitution procedure takes a little
bit longer than it takes in India,” Mr.
Pinto told reporters after the
meeting. The two sides had signed
the treaty in 2011 in a bid to give a
big boost to investment. The pact is
yet to be ratified by Colombia.
“The ratification is likely to happen
in the first-half of this year, “ he
said.
The Colombian side also raised
the issue of high tariffs in the coffee
sector. “Their request is for opening
up the domestic sector for
Colombian coffee. And, we have
agreed to examine the request after
doing consultation with the
stakeholders,” Additional Secretary
in the Commerce Ministry
Madhusudan Prasad said.
In a bid to boost trade and
investments between the two
countries, both sides agreed to set
up five joint working groups (JWGs)
on pharmaceutical/bio-technology,
IT, FMCG, automobile and textiles.
Concept:
Double taxation
Current Affairs Notes

Double taxation is the levying of tax
by two or more jurisdictions on the
same declared income (in the case
of income taxes), asset (in the case
of capital taxes), or financial
transaction (in the case of sales
taxes). This double liability is often
mitigated by tax treaties between
countries.
The term ‘double taxation’ is
additionally used, particularly in the
USA, to refer to the fact that
corporate profits are taxed and the
shareholders of the corporation are
(usually) subject to personal
taxation when they receive
dividends or distributions of those
profits. This use of the term ‘double
taxation’ is politically freighted
since it selectively concatenates,
out of all describable sequences of
taxation, two particular taxes on two
particular transactions.
North Korea conducts
third nuclear test
North Korea on Tuesday said it had
conducted a “successful” third
underground nuclear test, in a
move that brought quick
condemnation from the United
Nations and the North’s
neighbours and is set to heighten
regional tensions.
The State-run Korean Central News
Agency (KCNA) said a
“miniaturised” nuclear device had
been detonated successfully at the
test site.
The test was reported to have taken
place at a test site in the North
Hamgyeong province, where the
Punggye-ri nuclear complex that
conducted tests in 2006 and 2009
is located. The previous nuclear
test in 2009 resulted in fresh
resolutions aimed at the North from
the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC), tighter sanctions and
increased tensions with South
Korea and Japan.
UN, South Korea deplore test
Tuesday’s test brought quick
condemnations from the United
Nations and the North’s neigbours.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon in a statement condemned
the test as “a clear and grave
violation of the relevant Security
Council resolutions”. “It is
deplorable that Pyongyang defied
the strong and unequivocal call
from the international community to
refrain from any further provocative
measures,” he said.
South Korea described the test as
a violation of U.N. resolutions and
as an “unacceptable threat”, the
Seoul-based Yonhap news agency
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
reported. “North Korea won’t be
able to avoid grave responsibility,”
said the statement, which was
issued shortly after President Lee
Myung-bak convened an
emergency National Security
Council meeting.
South Korea has requested the
UNSC to hold an emergency
meeting on Tuesday evening, an
official toldYonhap.
In Tokyo, Japanese officials said
they would deploy military jets to
survey the radiation levels following
the test. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
said the country was considering
imposing “unilateral sanctions” on
the North.
News of the test first emerged early
on Tuesday morning, when a
magnitude 5.1 “artificial
earthquake” was reported near a
nuclear test site at 11.57 am local
time (8.27 am IST). Tremors were
also felt in parts of northeastern
China near the border with North
Korea. A South Korean defence
ministry official told Yonhap the
nuclear device had, according to
initial estimates, yielded 6-7
kilotons, suggesting Tuesday’s test
had exceeded the yields reported in
tests in 2006 and 2009.
A third nuclear test was expected by
Chinese and Western officials
sometime this week, with Saturday
– the birthday of former leader Kim
Jong-il – earlier seen as a likely
date. The North had notified the
United States and China a day
earlier, according to South Korean
officials quoted by Yonhap.On
Monday, Kim Jong-il’s son and
successor Kim Jong-un, who took
over as the new leader following
his father’s death in December
2011, had signalled that the North –
officially the Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea (DPRK) – would
continue with conducting long-
range rocket tests despite recent
warnings from the UNSC and even
China, the North’s only ally.
Call for tougher approach
In recent weeks, Chinese officials
in Beijing have said they had
cautioned the North against going
ahead with the test. While Beijing
has continued to support the
regime as it fears instability on its
northeastern borders, Chinese
analysts and State media have
recently called on the country to
take a tougher approach in dealing
with the North.
The Communist Party-run Global
Times said in an editorial last
week, “if North Korea insists on a
third nuclear test despite attempts
26
to dissuade it, it must pay a heavy
price”. “The assistance it will be
able to receive from China should
be reduced,” the newspaper
said.”The Chinese government
should make this clear beforehand
to shatter any illusions Pyongyang
may have.”
However, China, which is the
North’s only ally and biggest
source of financial and food aid,
views the country as a crucial
strategic buffer against the U.S.
and its allies in the region, and has
shown no signs of rethinking its
close strategic ties following the
previous nuclear tests in 2006 and
2009.
An abomination called
AFSPA
At an institute that is virtually
owned, funded and run by the
Ministry of Defence (MoD), Union
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram
did the unthinkable the other day.
He virtually attacked the Army for
refusing to review and amend the
draconian Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act (AFSPA), if not repeal it
altogether.
Like a clever politician, he tossed
the issue squarely into the lap of
the Army and the MoD, saying they
were unambiguously opposed to
any change and that “you should
ask the question to the armed
forces and ask why are they so
opposed to even some
amendment to AFSPA which will
make [it] more humanitarian. We
have [the] Jeevan Reddy
Committee report but yet if the Army
takes a very strong stand against
any dilution or any amendment to
AFSPA, it is difficult for a civil
government to move forward.”
This raises a startling issue about
democracy, the rule of law and of
civilian control over the military.
Now that the most powerful figure
in the Cabinet after the Prime
Minister has spoken, perhaps
someone will take notice. But the
problem is far more complex than it
appears to be.
After all, the Minister did not say
why the Government of India has
refused to publish the Reddy
Committee’s report or even table it
in Parliament eight years after it
was submitted. It remains
accessible on The Hindu’s website,
the place where the report was first
leaked and published verbatim in
2005.
It is not that the question is simple,
stark and frightening: who runs the
north-east or Jammu & Kashmir or
Current Affairs Notes

any area that is affected by
insurgency? AFSPA is put in place
after the area has been declared
“disturbed” under the Disturbed
Areas Act, the enabling provision of
law, which facilitates the
summoning of the Army to the aid
of civil authorities who are unable
to control armed insurrection. This
is the call of the State government
or the Centre.
No prosecution in over 50 years
Passed in 1958 when the Naga
movement for independence had
just taken off, AFSPA is a bare law
with just six sections. The most
damning are those in the fourth
and sixth sections: the former
enables security forces to “fire
upon or otherwise use force, even
to the causing of death” where laws
are being violated. The latter says
no criminal prosecution will lie
against any person who has taken
action under this act. In 54 years,
not a single army, or paramilitary
officer or soldier has been
prosecuted for murder, rape,
destruction of property (including
the burning of villages in the 1960s
in Nagaland and Mizoram). In the
discussions over the past days, no
one has even mentioned the
regrouping of villages in both
places: villagers were forced to
leave their homes at gunpoint,
throw their belongings onto the
back of a truck and move to a
common site where they were
herded together with strangers and
formed new villages. It is a
shameful and horrific history, which
India knows little about and has
cared even less for.
Impact of Verma report
A year ago, two judges of the
Supreme Court, intervening in a
case where the Central Bureau of
Investigation was seeking to
prosecute army officers accused of
murdering five villagers in Jammu
& Kashmir, in what is known as the
Pathribal incident, declared clearly
that AFSPA’s protection was limited
to acts conducted in the line of duty.
“You go to a place in exercise of
AFSPA, you commit rape, you
commit murder, then where is the
question of sanction? It is a normal
crime which needs to be
prosecuted, and that is our stand,”
declared the bench of Justices
Swatanter Kumar and B.S.
Chauhan.
It’s simple: you don’t rape or
murder “in the line of duty.” These
are aberrations to the law of
military conduct with civilians. And
the Army is upset that the Justice
J.S. Verma Committee even
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
suggested that military men
accused of sexual assault should
be tried under normal law and not
be protected by the law that
guarantees absolute protection:
Immunity.
A retired general came on a TV
programme the other day and
fumed that reviewing AFSPA was
not the mandate of the Verma
Committee. Sorry sir, you’ve got it
completely wrong. The question of
life and death in a “disturbed” area
where, according to a case now
before the Supreme Court 15,000
people (men, women and children)
have disappeared from the killing
fields of Manipur is everyone’s
concern.
Army circles are worried that
soldiers and officers will be
dragged to civilian courts and that
frivolous cases will be filed against
them. This is a real matter of
concern but it cannot be the
rationale for blocking efforts to
repeal or amend AFSPA. Come up
with an alternative instead. But the
MoD has not or is perhaps unable
to do so. A former general even
said publicly that 97 per cent of all
cases against army men were
found to be false. The question I
will put is simple: how far back are
you going? Do you forget those
murdered, raped and tortured, their
homes and granaries burned and
their places of worship
desecrated? Should these crimes
go unpunished? Remember too
that the Indian Air Force, in March
1966, bombed Aizawl and civilian
targets in the Lushai Hills (now
Mizoram) to repulse an insurgent
attack that had almost overrun the
district headquarters.
Many in Mizoram do not even talk
about those days. They are simply
spoken of as “the troubles” and no
discussion takes place, such is the
trauma that has been inflicted on
people. And are we merely
supposed to forget all this, to
sweep it under the carpet and
“move on”? Why should the victims
continue to pay the price? Why not
those who inflicted the devastation,
who gave the orders and who
carried them out?
Nagaland is peaceful now
We need to remember two points
here about AFSPA and the place
where it all began — Nagaland, in
1958. Nagaland today is peaceful.
It is not free of intimidation,
extortion or factional killings, but
not a single Indian solider has
fallen in combat here for the past
five years. The State government
has been asking, since 2005, for
27
the removal of the Disturbed Areas
Act. The Government of India
refuses to listen.
What is the greater abomination
then? Is it that the Army, which is
easy to blame and always in the
line of fire, is stuck in a thankless
task? Or is it that the civilian
government which first sent them
there is unable to take the political
decision that will bring the boys
home? Fifty-four years is a long
time to have a law as revoltingly
brutal and obscure as AFSPA. Now,
both sides are stuck. The army
says it is like its “Bible” and that if
the Act is removed it will face the
prospect of fighting “with one hand
tied.” The central government says
that it can’t persuade the Army to
back down.
What will it take to close this sad,
ignominious and bloody chapter in
our nation’s history? We will need
to go beyond Mr. Chidambaram’s
remarks — for what he was doing
is to lay the blame at the door of the
Army. That is not right for the civilian
government is equally complicit in
this. He is seeking to show that the
“civilian” government is opposed to
a doctrinaire securitised approach
and that the MoD and the Army are
isolated. But this approach doesn’t
work. Instead, it shows that the two,
even when isolated, are more
powerful than the rest of the
government put together. They
have, after all, successfully stalled
any effort to dilute or amend the Act.
Why did the “civilian” government
not have the courage to act in 2005
when the Reddy Committee gave
its report, which not only
recommended AFSPA’s repeal but
also proposed a legal mechanism
by which the Army could be used in
extraordinary situations involving
national security? Our essential
recommendation was that no one
could be above the law; everyone
must be equal before and under it.
Display statesmanship
The Centre has lost more than
seven years in coming to no
decision on the recommendations.
Yes, internal wrangling is difficult to
resolve but how long should
anyone have to wait for a
resolution? Today, the situation has
become much more complex
because the window of opportunity
provided by the Reddy Committee
has virtually closed. The Army has
bolted it because it does not want
to be seen as the villain of the
piece. It did not ask to go anywhere.
It was sent to Nagaland and
Manipur. But now it must, in its own
interests and that of the country, get
out of places where threats to
Current Affairs Notes

national security simply do not
exist, and when the central
government thinks it should leave.
After all, if required, the security
forces can always be summoned
again.
The situation calls for
statesmanship of a very high order.
AtalBihari Vajpayee showed this in
2003 on his maiden visit to Kohima
when he reflected, as Prime
Minister, on the suffering that both
sides had faced and sought to
reach out and seek reconciliation:
“Let us leave behind all the
unfortunate things that happened in
the past. For too long this fair land
has been scarred and seared by
violence. It has been bled by the
orgy of the killings of human beings
by human beings… Each death
diminishes us … The past cannot
be rewritten. But we can write our
common future with our collective,
cooperative efforts.”
The present situation demands
measures no less significant from
the current Prime Minister, who
decided that AFSPA must be
reviewed. But he did not follow this
up because the opposition from the
Defence Ministry was just too
strong.
So, we must ask, as we rest and
wrestle with this tortuous story: how
many more deaths, how many
more naked protests, how many
more hunger strikes, how many
more committees, how many more
editorials and articles and
broadcasts before AFSPA goes?
Provisions in Code of
Canon
Canon Law makes provision for the
resignation of a Pope. However,
that has not happened since 1415
and all successive Pontiffs have
died in office.
Canon 332§2 of the Code of Canon
Law states: “If it happens that the
Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it
is required for validity that the
resignation is made freely and
properly manifested but not that it
is accepted by anyone.”
However, there is no further
elaboration on the subject in the
Code of Canons and it is quite
likely that the Pope will promulgate
such a law before he steps down
on 28 February, sources close to
The Vatican told The Hindu.
When he has stepped down, Pope
Benedict XVI will revert to his
former name Joseph Aloisius
Ratzinger and will no longer be
addressed as His Holiness. The
Vatican has announced that he will
not participate in the Conclave of
JTS Institute
5 February - 11 February 2013
Cardinals that will name his
successor.
The Conclave of Cardinals meets
in the famous Sistine Chapel under
a frescoed ceiling painted by
Michelangelo, depicting Man’s fall
from the Garden of Eden and The
Last Judgement.
There are 209 cardinals in all but
only 118 of these are allowed to
vote. Cardinals aged 80 years and
above are not allowed to vote.
The voting system was first
established in 1059. The system
has become increasingly
complicated over the centuries and
voting for oneself was outlawed in
1621.
Election in March
The next conclave will take place at
the end of March, probably during
Holy Week which ends on Easter
Sunday on March 31.
The cardinals are housed in private
rooms in what is known as the
House of Santa Maria and are cut
off from the outside world during
the electoral process. There can be
several rounds of voting and the
used ballots are burnt in the
chimney.
When the result is inconclusive the
ballots are burnt with damp straw,
helped along by chemicals to emit
a thick dark smoke.
When a Pope is finally selected, the
ballots that are burnt send up a
distinctive white smoke from the
chimney which announces to the
world that a new Pope has been
chosen.
There is tremendous speculation
on the name of the next Pope.
Europe is in a favoured position
with a total of 115 Cardinals. Latin
America comes next with 30
cardinals (Brazil has nine and
Mexico has four).
Asia has 20 cardinals — India
leads with seven followed by the
Philippines with three. Africa has 18
cardinals whereas the United
States has 19 and Canada
three.The Australia-New Zealand
region boasts a total of four
cardinals.
Most Popes have been Italian and
there is speculation on whether the
office will return to Italy. Latin
American church officials as well
as cardinals from Africa are
pushing hard for a non European
Pope since it is in Africa and the
emerging economies that
Catholicism is growing the fastest.
The odds appear to be stacked in
28
Italy’s favour — Europe will be
reluctant to let go of its hold over
the Papal office — and after two
non-Italian Popes, many in the
Vatican feel the next Bishop of
Rome should in fact come from
Rome or somewhere close by.
In order to be elected Pope a
Cardinal must receive two-thirds
plus one vote from the Conclave.
After the cardinal deacon
announces “HabemusPapam” to
the crowds outside — Latin for “We
have a pope”, the new Pontiff
appears on the balcony of the
Vatican to give his first message to
the world.
Pakistan successfully test
fires nuclear-capable Hatf-
IX missile
Pakistan today successfully tested
the nuclear-capable Hatf-IX tactical
missile with a range of 60 km,
designed to defeat all known anti-
tactical missile defence systems.
The test consisted of “successive
launches of two missiles from a
state-of-the-art multi-tube
launcher”, the military said in a
statement describing the test of the
short range surface-to-surface
missile as successful.
The Hatf-IX or Nasr, which has
“inflight manoeuver capability”, can
carry “nuclear warheads of
appropriate yield with high
accuracy”.
“This quick response system,
which can fire a four missile salvo,
ensures deterrence against threats
in view of evolving scenarios.
Additionally Nasr has been
specially designed to defeat all
known anti-tactical missile defence
systems,” the statement said.
The test was witnessed by Joint
Chiefs of Staff Committee
Chairman Gen Khalid Shameem
Wynne, Strategic Plans Division
chief Lt Gen (retired) Khalid Ahmed
Kidwai, Army Strategic Forces
Command chief Lt Gen Triq
Nadeem Gilani, senior officers
from the armed forces and
scientists and engineers of
strategic organisations.
The statement did not say where
the test was conducted. Addressing
scientists and military officers of
strategic organisations, Wynne
congratulated them for a high
standard of proficiency in operating
the Nasr weapon system.
He said the armed forces were
“fully capable of safeguarding
Pakistan’s security against all
kinds of aggression”. The
Current Affairs Notes
 5 February - 11 February 2013
successful test was appreciated by At present, 115 countries of the north zone was 54.7 and 56.4
the President and Prime Minister, world cultivate sugarcane for tonnes/hectare in comparison to
who congratulated the scientists sugar production and produce 81.9 and 80.8 tonnes/hectare in
and engineers. about 133 million tonnes of sugar tropical south zone (2009-10 and
which is three fourth of the total 2010-11, respectively).
The first test of the Hatf-IX was
sugar production (169 million
conducted in April 2011. At that
tonnes) of the world. Remaining
time, experts and analysts said the
sugar comes from sugarbeet.
short-range nuclear-capable
Sugarbeet cultivation and
missile was primarily aimed at
processing is highly subsidized in
deterring India’s Cold Start military
the European Union, which
doctrine, which envisages quick
contributes nearly 21.5 percent of
thrusts by small integrated battle
groups in the event of hostilities. world sugar. With the WTO
agreement in place, sugarbeet
Experts said the Hatf-IX would be cultivation may not remain a
deployed with a mobile multi-barrel profitable proposition in European
launch system that has “shoot and Union due to drastic reduction in
scoot attributes”, or the ability to fire subsidies on its production and
at a target and immediately processing. In this situation, the
relocate to another position to avoid shortfall in sugar may be
enemy counter-fire. compensated by sugarcane
producing countries like Brazil,
Sugar production and India, China, Pakistan, USA,
scenario in India and Australia, Thailand, Philippines,
world: etc. India is a major producer as
well as consumer of the sugar in
Indian Sugar Industry at a glance the world and during 2009-10, it
produced 18.9 million tonnes of
Sr. Particulars Crushing
sugar, which was nearly 11.8
Season
percent of the total sugar
2010- 2009-
production of the world. In India,
2011 2010
there are two distinct zones for
1 Number of Sugar sugarcane cultivation, tropical-
Factories in south and subtropical north.
Operation 527 490 Subtropical north whilecomprising
2 Crushing Capacity 60 per cent of total cane area
(million TCD) 24.171 23.625 contributes only 48 percent to total
3 Sugarcane Crushed cane and 37 per cent to total white
(million tons) 239.807 185.548 sugar production in the country. The
4 Sugar Produced lower cane productivity and sugar
(million tons) 24.394 18.912 recovery in subtropical north zone
5 Recovery % Cane 10.17 10.19 is the main cause of variation
6 Yield of sugarcane between the zones. The average
(tons per hectare) 68.6 70.0 cane productivity in subtropical

JTS Institute 29 Current Affairs Notes

 Issue-5/2013 (29 th January to 4th29 January - 4 February 2013
February)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 29 Jan - 4 Feb, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
29 January 2013
China gives go-ahead for
three new Brahmaputra
dams
1. China has given the go-ahead
for the construction of three new
hydropower dams on the middle
reaches of the Brahmaputra river,
ending a two-year halt in approving
new projects on the river amid
concerns from India and
environmental groups.
2. The three new dams have been
approved by the State Council, or
Cabinet, under a new energy
development plan for 2015 that
was released on January 23,
according to a copy of the plan
available with The Hindu.
3. China has, so far, only begun
construction on one major
hydropower dam on the main
stream of the middle reaches of the
Brahmaputra or YarlungZangbo as
it is known in China – a 510 MW
project in Zangmu in the Tibet
Autonomous Region (TAR), which
began to be built in 2010.
4. One of the three approved new
dams is bigger than the Zangmu
project.
5. A 640 MW dam will be built in
Dagu, which lies 18 km upstream
of Zangmu. Another 320 MW dam
will be built at Jiacha, also on the
middle reaches of the
Brahmaputura downstream of
Zangmu. A third dam will be built at
Jiexu, 11 km upstream of Zangmu.
The capacity of the Jiexu dam is, as
yet, unconfirmed.
6. The three projects were listed in
the State Council’s energy plan for
the Twelfth Five Year Plan period
(2011-15), which was released on
January 23.
Vigorous push
7. The plan said the government
“will push forward vigorously the
hydropower base construction” on
the middle reaches of the
JTS Institute
YarlungZangbo. In the Twelfth Five
Year plan period (2011-15), the
government will begin construction
of 120 million kilowatt of
conventional hydropower.
Feasibility study
8. A pre-feasibility study report for
the 640 MW Dagu dam passed
review in November, according to
the Huadong Engineering
Corporation, a hydropower
company that was tasked with
conducting the study by the local
government.
9. A notice posted on its website
said a two-day review conference
for the pre-feasibility study of the
dam was held in November,
organised by the Tibet Autonomous
Region government’s Development
and Reform Commission. The
notice said the study successfully
passed review, adding that the dam
would be located 18 km upstream
of the already in-construction
Zangmu dam.
10. The catchment area at the dam
site, according to the Huadong
Engineering Corporation, is
157,400 square kilometres, and
the average annual discharge is
1010 cubic metres per second.
11. The dam will be built with a
height of 124 metres and 640 MW
capacity. The construction of the
Zangmu dam in 2010 triggered
concerns in India regarding
possible impact on downstream
flows. Chinese officials, however,
assured their Indian counterparts
that the project was only a run-of-
the-river hydropower station, which
would not divert the Brahmaputra’s
waters. The government has also
built at least six smaller
hydropower projects on the Yarlung
Zangbo’s tributaries, which,
officials say, will have no impact on
downstream flows.
Diversion plan shelved
12. The government has, for now,
shelved a long-discussed plan to
divert the YarlungZangbo’s waters
to the arid north, citing technical
difficulties. The plan is part of the
proposed Western route of the
1 Current Affairs Notes
massive South-to-North diversion
project, on which construction is yet
to begin. Chinese officials and
analysts say a diversion plan is
very unlikely, considering the
difficult terrain and technical
problems.
13. However, with the three new
approvals under the energy plan,
four hydropower projects will now
be built — all located within a few
dozen kilometres of each other —
on the main stream of the middle
reaches of the Brahmaputra.
Fresh concerns likely in India
14. While they are run-of-the-river
projects, they will be required to
store large volumes of water for
generating power. Their
construction is likely to trigger fresh
concerns in India on how the flows
of the Brahmaputra downstream
will be impacted.
Leprosy continues to
haunt India, social stigma
remains
1. While India celebrates its near
victory over polio, another dreaded
disease, leprosy, that was
overpowered in 2005 continues to
haunt the government. Those
affected by the disease continue to
face social stigma and
discrimination.
2. In addition to the 12,305 child
cases detected during the past
year, 16 States and Union
Territories have also shown an
increase in the number of cases.
3. Though in 2005 leprosy was
eliminated (having less than 1
patient per 10,000 population), now
it has the world’s highest burden of
disease, accounting for close to 58
per cent of the cases in the world. A
total of 1.27 lakh new cases were
detected in 2011-12 which gives an
Annual New Case Detection Rate
(ANCDR) of 10.35 per 100,000
population, which is marginally
less than that of 10.48 in 2010-11.
4. Leprosy is a chronic infectious
disease caused by Mycobacterium
leprae. It usually affects the skin

and peripheral nerves, but has a
wide range of clinical
manifestations. The disease is
characterised by long incubation
period generally 5-7 years and is
classified as paucibacillaryor
multibacillary, depending on the
bacillary load. Leprosy is a leading
cause of permanent physical
disability. Timely diagnosis and
treatment of cases, before nerve
damage occurred, is the most
effective way of preventing disability
due to leprosy.
1.26 lakh new cases
5. Of the total of 1.26 lakh new
cases deleted from record, a total
of 1.16 lakh completed their
treatment within the specified
period. However, only 69.5 per cent
people were able to complete their
treatment in Delhi, 66.7 per cent in
Tripura, 67.7 in Meghalaya and
32.4 per cent in Himachal Pradesh
6. According to the latest figures
released by the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare on the eve of
the Anti-Leprosy Day, a total of 0.83
lakh cases are on record giving a
prevalence rate of (PR) of 0.68 per
10,000 population though only 530
districts out of the 640 have
achieved the elimination level.
Chhattisgarh (1.69 per 10,000
population) and Dadra and Nagar
Haveli (2.93 per 10,000) have the
prevalence rate between 1 and 3
per 10,000. Although Bihar has
reached the PR of less than 1 in
2011-12, the government is still
keeping an eye over it.
7. “I would say leprosy is effectively
cured in India with MDT (multi drug
therapy) since 1985. It is not an
infectious or a contagious disease
any more but the stigma
associated with it is unacceptable,”
says P.K. Gopal, who for over four
decades has championed efforts to
help eradicate leprosy and to
further the cause of those who are
affected by this disease.
700 leprosy colonies
8. Dr.Gopal, International President
of the International Association for
Integration, Dignity and Economic
Advancement (IDEA), which he
helped to set up in 1994, says
there are 700 leprosy colonies in
the country where over 2 lakh
people live marginalised lives.
9. “Even if they do not have the
disease, merely the address of a
leper colony is reason enough for
disqualification for applying to a job
or being denied admission in a
school,” Dr.Gopal told The Hindu
while citing a recent case of Bihar,
where a child was denied
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
admission merely because
someone in the family had the
disease.
10. Despite being part of a panel
that is now busy preparing a new
official programme for leprosy with
on early detection and removal of
stigma, Dr.Gopal feels that there
has been some complacency in
the implementation of the National
Leprosy Eradication Programme
launched in 1983. “There is some
kind of lack of interest because the
disease is believed to have gone.
But there is a steady flow of new
cases,” he explains.
11. With the introduction of MDT,
India with help from the World Bank
and the World Health Organisation
(WHO) started providing MDT free
of cost to affected people from
1993 until 2004. India took over the
programme in 2005 after it
pronounced that the disease was
eliminated.
Reduction in funds
12. “There has been a huge
reduction in the funds ever since
leprosy was eliminated that has
adversely impacted the non-
governmental organisations and
civil society activists working for the
uplift of the leprosy-affected and
cured people,” says V. Narasappa
of the National Federation of
Leprosy Cured People in India.
“People in the rural areas do not
even know MDT is available free
and importantly they keep away
from health facilities for fear of
stigma,” says Mr.Narasappa. The
burden of the disease is highest
among the Scheduled Castes
(18.40 per cent) and Scheduled
Tribes (15.83 per cent).
13. Under the 11th Five Year Plan,
leprosy services were being
provided through the PHC with
general health staff. However, a
component called District Nucleus
was kept at the district-level under
the District Programme Officer with
persons from the erstwhile vertical
staff under NLEP. As against 642
districts, there are only 369
sanctioned posts of District
Leprosy Officers, remaining
districts are managed by the
District Programme Officer, who
also works for other programmes.
Concept: Leprosy
Leprosy is a disease that has been
known since biblical times. It
causes skin sores, nerve damage,
and muscle weakness that gets
worse over time.
Causes, incidence, and risk
factors
2 Current Affairs Notes
Leprosy is caused by the bacterium
Mycobacterium leprae. It is not very
contagious and it has a long
incubation period (time before
symptoms appear), which makes it
hard to know where or when
someone caught the disease.
Children are more likely than adults
to get the disease.
Leprosy has two common forms:
tuberculoid and lepromatous. Both
forms produce sores on the skin.
However, the lepromatous form is
most severe. It causes large lumps
and bumps (nodules).
Leprosy is common in many
countries worldwide, and in
temperate, tropical, and subtropical
climates. About 100 cases per year
are diagnosed in the United States.
Most cases are in the South,
California, Hawaii, and U.S.
islands.
Effective medications exist.
Isolating people with this disease
in “leper colonies” is not needed.
Drug-resistant Mycobacterium
leprae and an increased numbers
of cases worldwide has led to
global concern about this disease.
Symptoms
Skin lesions that are lighter than
your normal skin color
Lesions have decreased sensation
to touch, heat, or pain
Lesions do not heal after several
weeks to months
Muscle weakness
Numbness or lack of feeling in the
hands, arms, feet, and legs
Signs and tests
Lepromin skin test can be used to
tell the two different forms of
leprosy apart, but it is not used to
diagnose the disease
Skin lesion biopsy
Skin scraping examination
Treatment
A number of different antibiotics
(including dapsone, rifampin,
clofazamine, fluoroquinolones,
macrolides, and minocycline) are
used to kill the bacteria that cause
the disease. More than one
antibiotic is often given together.
Aspirin, prednisone, or thalidomide
is used to control inflammation.
Loans to become cheaper
as RBI cuts policy rate
1. For the first time in nine months,
the Reserve Bank of India on
Tuesday cut the indicative policy

rate (repo) by 25 percentage points,
from 8 percent to 7.75 percent, and
the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by
25 percentage points, from 4.25
per cent 4 percent.
2. The step is likely to benefit retail
borrowers, as lending rates are
likely to come down. After meeting
RBI Governor D. Subbarao,
bankers said they would pass on
the benefit to borrowers.
3. The RBI first cut the repo rate in
the current fiscal in April 2012, with
a reduction of 50 percentage
points, from 8.5 per cent to 8 per
cent. It reduced the CRR from a
peak of 6 percent to 4.25 till mid-
December 2012.Repo is the rate at
which banks borrow funds from the
central bank. CRR is the portion of
deposits banks must keep with the
RBI.
4. In its third quarter review,
Dr.Subbarao said: “While the
series of recent policy initiatives by
the government has boosted
market sentiment, it will take some
time to reverse the investment
slowdown and reinvigorate
growth.”The RBI has scaled down
the projection for GDP growth for
the current year, from 5.8 per cent
to 5.5 per cent, and for the
wholesale price inflation in March
2013, from 7.5 percent to 6.8
percent.
5. “This provides space, albeit
limited, for monetary policy to give
greater emphasis to growth risks,”
Dr.Subbarao said.However, the RBI
has warned that retail inflation is
still at a higher level.
Agro-conference teems
with vested interests,
group tells Centre
1. The Ministry of Agriculture has no
intentions of keeping off a
conference it has supported
despite the Coalition for GM-free
India having taken umbrage at the
government associating with an
event organised by the
agrochemical industry to be
addressed by speakers known for
being promoters of genetically
modified (GM) crops as an answer
to food security.
2. In a letter written to Agriculture
and Food Processing Minister
SharadPawar, the group urged the
government not to go ahead with
the conference scheduled for next
week, saying it would provide a
platform to hazardous industries
and waste precious public funds in
support of their cause.
3. Quoting from the Parliamentary
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Standing Committee
recommendations on Agriculture,
the group said that the panel had
clearly warned the government
against the “facilitative
benevolence” of opening the
agriculture sector up to private
prospectors as done in
communications, pharma, mineral
wealth and other sectors… “If the
shortcomings in the food sector are
addressed, there would not be any
compelling need for adopting
technologies which are yet to be
proven totally safe for biodiversity,
environment, human and livestock
health and which will encourage
monoculture — an option best
avoided,” the panel had observed.
4. The coalition said the conference
had “a predominance of vested
interests behind it promoting the
conference with full-page
advertisements in newspapers
such as the Pesticide
Manufacturers and Formulators
Association of India, the biotech-
lobby group [Association of
Biotechnology Led Enterprises]
and the National Seed Association
of India. It has included
controversial speakers who are
known for their support to GM crops
without supporting scientific facts
or evidence.”
5. “It is unethical for the Ministry to
blatantly promote technologies
such as genetically modified crops,
when India is trying to come out of
the pesticide treadmill and make
its production, farming and
farmers’ livelihood sustainable,
safe and remunerative,” it added.
6. The coalition has objected to the
Ministry, which is “answerable to
the larger public, acting at the
behest of these industries who
stand to profit from these
unneeded and hazardous
technologies”.
7. The conference, ‘Doubling Food
Production in Five Years’, is slated
to be inaugurated by President
PranabMukheree with Mr.Pawar as
a key speaker.
Concept: GM crops
Genetically modified crops (GMCs,
GM crops, or biotech crops) are
plants, the DNA of which has been
modified using genetic engineering
techniques, to resist pests and
agents causing harm to plants and
to improve the growth of these
plants to assist in farmers
efficiency.
Genetic engineering techniques
are much more precise[1] than
mutagenesis (mutation breeding)
where an organism is exposed to
3 Current Affairs Notes
radiation or chemicals to create a
non-specific but stable change.
Other techniques by which humans
modify food organisms include
selective breeding; plant breeding,
and animal breeding, and
somaclonal variation.
In most cases the aim is to
introduce a new trait to the plant
which does not occur naturally in
this species. Examples include
resistance to certain pests,
diseases or environmental
conditions, or the production of a
certain nutrient or pharmaceutical
agent.
Critics have objected to GM crops
per se on several grounds,
including ecological concerns, and
economic concerns raised by the
fact these organisms are subject to
intellectual property law. GM crops
also are involved in controversies
over GM food with respect to
whether food produced from GM
crops is safe and whether GM
crops are needed to address the
world’s food needs.
Iron, folic acid tablets to
be given to 13 crore girls
every week
1. In an effort to prevent anaemia,
the government will soon launch an
ambitious programme to provide
Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablets every
week to 13 crore adolescent girls in
the age group of 10-19 years
across the country.
2. Health Ministry will roll out the
programme across the country in
the next three months under which
girl students will be administered
the tablets every Monday. “This is a
programme wherein we will give
the tablets to 6 crore girl students
in schools and another 6 to 7 crore
who are outside schools. The
tablets will be given to them after
the mid-day meals,” Anuradha
Gupta, Mission Director, National
Rural Health Mission, said on
Tuesday.
3. She also said the adolescent
girls will be given six monthly dose
of Albendazole (400 mg) tablet for
deworming.The aim of the
programme is also to inform
adolescent girls of the correct
dietary practices for increasing iron
intake, she said.
4. Briefing reporters about the
India’s Call to Action Summit for
Child Survival and Development in
Chennai from February 7,
organised in collaboration with
UNICEF, she said, since 1990, the
child mortality rate in India has
dropped by 45 percent.

5. She also admitted that there has
been no progress in neo-mortality
rate but hoped that the situation will
improve in the coming years.India
is still among the top four that
account for 50 per cent of global
under-five mortality. In this context,
India co-convened the June 2012
Global Call to Action on child
survival along with Ethiopia and
United States of America.
Reproductive Tourism in
India
Expansion and proliferation of
assisted reproductive technologies
(ART) has been facilitated by
economic globalisation wherein
reproductive tissues like sperm,
ova, and uteri are traded like any
other commodity to make profit,
says a new study, adding that India
has emerged as the surrogacy
outsourcing capital of the world.
Titled ‘Reproductive Tourism in
India: Actors, Agencies and
Contemporary Transnational
Networks’, the study was
conducted by the Centre of Social
Medicine and Community Health,
JNU, Sama-Resource Group for
Women and Health and King’s
College London.
The study focuses on the scenario
in New Delhi where a large number
of private hospitals and
government institutions offer ART. It
was found that public sector
institutions offer only altruistic
surrogacy services which are
medically indicated. Leading
obstetricians and gynaecologists
from a top government-run hospital
admitted that they have performed
in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in some
cases where they were not sure if it
was altruistic surrogacy.
One doctor said that she once had
a patient, a doctor by profession
who bore a surrogate baby for her
sister-in-law who was also a
doctor, married to a doctor, since
they could not have their own
biological baby. “We do counsel
about adoption, but the urge to
have their own child is very strong
here,” she said. She gets about five
to six surrogacy cases a year and
they are all Indian couples.
According to the doctor, the
surrogates are clearly doing this to
educate their children and get
ahead in life.
At trust hospitals, the focus is on
infertility and IVF and not on
surrogacy. They handle about two
to three surrogacy births and about
a hundred IVF cases a year. The
commissioning couple brings the
surrogate and the doctors ask no
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
questions, but makes sure that the
papers are in order. The hospital
does not cater to foreign clients,
but has had NRI customers. Their
charge is same whether for IVF or
surrogacy, which is Rs. one lakh
per cycle. The doctors in these
institutions feel that sensational
media coverage has boosted the
industry that sorely needs
regulation.
At the only private hospital that
agreed to be interviewed for the
study, the doctor said that she had
been providing IVF services since
the early 1990s. She did have
some clients seeking surrogacy,
but she did not like the issues
attached to it and so had stopped
catering to such clients. She has
restarted offering this service of
late since she knows a reliable
third party agency that handles all
legal and other issues. She deals
only with the medical aspect, till a
pregnancy is successful, after
which an obstetrician takes over.
All the doctors were aware of some
doctors running hostels for
surrogates where they could be
monitored and supervised. This
was, of course, against ICMR
guidelines. On the other hand,
surrogates clearly need such
institutions since they need to stay
away from home for a long period
and then return claiming that they
had been away on work, so that
their neighbours do not find out
about their pregnancies.
Many of the commissioning
couples also prefer the surrogate
to stay in a hostel so that they could
be in regular contact with the
surrogate, and indeed bond with
her, even as the doctor keeps an
eye on her and supervises her diet
and medication. The surrogate’s
husband and children are
permitted to visit her regularly.
All the doctors interviewed are
highly qualified specialists. They
have been in this field for 20 years
or more and all of them are
members of Federation of Obstetric
and Gynaecological Society of India
(FOGSI) and the Indian Society for
Assisted Reproduction (ISAR). In
the public sector institutions, post-
graduates are trained in assisted
reproduction. The other doctors
interviewed, one from the trust
hospital and the other from a clinic,
are also involved in training
workshops as members of ISAR.
It was found that due to severe
shortage of qualified
embryologists, medical and ethical
rules are flouted with aplomb.
While untrained doctors pass off as
4 Current Affairs Notes
embryologists, there are no
standard guidelines for facilities
required or uniform rate of charges
and payment. The harvesting of up
to 20 eggs, the insertion of any
number of embryos and the
widespread practice of embryo-
sharing are the unethical practices.
The study observed that immediate
passage of the ART (Regulation)
Bill in Parliament is the need of the
hour; it will create transparency
because ART banks, and not
clinics, will deal directly with
surrogates. The registration of
such banks would also mean that
middlemen, who now thrive, would
be weeded out.
FAQ’s about surrogacy laws in
India:
What claims does a surrogate
have over the child?
In India the surrogate is not
considered as the legal mother. As
per ICMR Guidelines 2005, a
surrogate mother cannot be
genetically related to the child . She
is legally and psychologically
counselled that she will not be
having any rights over the child. Her
rights and obligations towards the
intended parents as well the child
are formulated in the gestational
surrogacy agreement. Moreover, a
child born through surrogacy shall
be presumed to be the legitimate
child of the intended parents/s
and shall have all the legal rights
to parental support, inheritance
and all other privileges which a
child born naturally to the intended
parents/s would have had.
Who is the legal mother of the
surrogate child under Indian
law?
As per the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR
Guidelines) the surrogate mother
should not be biologically
connected to the child (Guideline
1.2.33).The Indian Law recognises
the Intended mother only as the
legal mother in surrogacy
arrangements. Also Guidelines
3.10.1 and 3.16.1 make it very
much clear that the intended
parents only would be the legal
parents of the child with all the
attendance rights, parental
responsibility etc. Also Guideline
3.5.4 states that the surrogate
mother shall not be the legal
mother and the birth certificate
shall be in the name of the genetic
parents. 3.5.5 Provides that the
surrogate mother shall relinquish
in writing all the parental rights over
the child. India is very soon going
to enact its legislation on the field

of Assisted Reproductive
Technology. The Proposed act also
has the same favourable
provisions.
Who is the legal father of the
surrogate child under Indian law
given that the surrogate mother is
widowed and the sperm derives
from the intended father.
Indian law doesn’t put any bar on
opting for donor sperm or eggs. In
cases where the child is
biologically related to the intended
father the intended father only
would be the legal father provided
the child so born should not be
biologically connected to the
surrogate mother. In such a
scenario the donor egg should be
used and the donor under
guideline 3.5.5 shall be bound to
relinquish all the parental rights
over the child so born, thus making
the intended father only as the legal
father of the child as per Indian
law.
Is there are any requirement for a
court application to be made in
India for a pre-birth order and a
post-birth order such as is
required in some other nations?
No, there is no requirement to
make a court application for pre-
birth order or post-birth order in
India. However there are some
countries which require us to
obtain the declaration decree for
the intended parents. In case the
country of intended parents
requires obtaining a court decree
getting themselves declared as the
legal parents the same can be
obtained by applying to Indian
Courts under the Code of Civil
Procedure 1908.
What would be the legal position
under Indian law if the surrogate
mother changed her mind upon
birth and refused to hand over the
child to intended parents?
However such instances have not
been witnessed in the Indian
scenario but still if a situation like
this arises then the surrogacy
contract can be the saviour. The
contract must clearly state that the
child /children born out of surrogacy
shall be the legal children of the
intended parents and that the
surrogate shall have no rights over
the child/children. The said contract
can then become the basis of legal
action against the surrogate
mother also the law pertaining to
surrogacy i.e. ICMR Guidelines
also support the intended parents
only as the legal parents.
Lack of free pill bleeds dry
haemophiliacs
1. A small cut will bleed
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
haemophiliacs in the district dry as
they will have to shell out at least
Rs. 24,000 to buy blood clotting
agent in private hospitals.
2. Even a year after registering their
names with the Karunya
Benevolent Fund, haemophilia
patients here are yet to get blood
clotting factors free of cost.
3. The Karunya Benevolent Fund
was set up by the government to
provide financial assistance to
under-privileged people suffering
from acute ailments.
4. Persons who lack blood factor
that helps clotting need immediate
treatment with externally supplied
factor for every bleed. Haemophilia
is a genetically-transmitted
disease that impairs the body’s
ability to help blood clotting.
5. The quantity of the clotting factor
required for a haemophiliac during
bleeding depends on the weight of
the patient’s body.
6. As a unit of the factor costs Rs.
12, a patient on average may
require up to Rs. 24,000 for treating
a small bleed. (See graphic)
6,500 HAEMOPHILIACS
7. The State has about 6,500
registered haemophiliacs. But
there could be a lot more in the
population that go undetected, said
N. Vijaykumar, medical officer in-
charge of Regional Blood
Transfusion Centre, Aluva.
8. In the open market, the blood
factor is expensive. The World
Federation of Haemophilia
Societies provides the blood
clotting factors only to registered
societies.
9. There are 860 haemophilia
patients registered with the
Haemophilia Society, Angamaly,
which is among the most active
societies in mid-Kerala region.
‘DEADLY DISEASE’
10. Chronic shortage of the factor,
high cost of treatment and poor
financial capacity of patients make
this genetically transmitted
disorder a deadly disease.
11. Karunya Fund was expected to
issue identity cards for all
registered patients so that they can
access the factor free of cost from
medical colleges and district
hospitals. However, neither have
the identity cards come through nor
has the government started making
the blood factor available at the
district hospitals. In
Thiruvananthapuram, the blood
clotting factor is available free of
5 Current Affairs Notes
cost under the Karunya scheme.
12. A judicial intervention about two
years ago had made the factor
available at all medical colleges in
the State.
HAEMOPHILIA CENTRE
13. A full-fledged haemophilia
centre proposed at the Regional
Blood Transfusion Centre at a cost
of Rs. 3.5 crore is also in limbo.
While the State had given its nod for
starting the centre, construction
work is yet to begin. Such a centre
would be the first in the State and
third in the country after CMC
Vellore and St. John’s Hospital,
Bangalore.
14.The district panchayat will
provide Rs. 40 lakh for setting up
the centre, panchayat president
EldoseKunappilly said. “The project
has been approved and tendering
process is on”, he said.
15. The National Rural Health
Mission and Kerala State Medical
Services Corporation are also
expected to chip in. According to
Dr.Vijayakumar, equipment worth
Rs. 8 lakh is ready but there is no
building to house it.
Asteroid to come close to
earth on Feb 15
An asteroid will come close to the
earth on February 15, according to
Birla Science Centre here.
“This is the first near-earth asteroid
to pass so close to the earth”, said
B M Birla Science Centre Director
Dr B G Sidharth said in a release
here.
The asteroid ‘2012 DA 14’
measures about 50 metres and
would swoop to about 27,000 km
near earth or roughly about one
tenth the distance to moon, he
said.
Antarctic drillers reach
lake buried beneath ice
1. US scientists have successfully
drilled into Lake Whillans, a body of
water buried almost one kilometre
under the Antarctic ice.
2. Scientists reported that sensors
on their drill system had noted a
change in pressure, indicating
contact had been made with the
lake.
3. A camera was then sent down to
verify the breakthrough, ‘BBC
News’ reported.
4. The Whillans project is one of a
number of such ventures trying to
investigate Antarctica’s buried
lakes. In December, a British team

had abandoned its efforts to get
into Lake Ellsworth after
encountering technical difficulties.
5. The Russians have taken water
samples from Lake Vostok,
although they have yet to report any
big discoveries, the report said.
6. Lake Whillans is situated in the
west of Antarctica, on the
southeastern edge of the Ross
Sea. It is less of a lake and more of
a dense system of streams, almost
like a delta, that covers some 60
square kilometre. The liquid body
is quite shallow - just a few metres
in depth.
7. The Whillans Ice Stream
Subglacial Access Research
Drilling (Wissard) team has been
using a hot-water drill to melt a
30cm-diameter hole through the
overlying ice.The intention, now that
the hole is secure, is to lower
various sampling tools and
sensors into the lake to study its
properties and environment.
8. Samples will be assessed
onsite at the ice surface in
temporary labs, and others will be
returned to partner universities for
more extensive analysis.
9. The thickness of the overlying ice
was measured to be 801m, which
agreed well with the estimates
from seismic imaging, the Wissard
blog said. More than 300 large
bodies of water have now been
identified under the White
Continent.
‘Significant number of
unknown bugs living
above the clouds’
Scientists have discovered a
significant number of bugs living in
the middle and upper troposphere,
the airy layer eight to 15 kilometres
above the Earth’s surface.
The microbes could have a
previously unrecognised impact on
cloud formation, according to the
research.
Long distance travel by the airborne
organisms may also help spread
infections around the world,
researchers believe.
The bugs were discovered in air
samples scooped up by a DC-8
aircraft flying over both land and
sea across the US, Caribbean and
western Atlantic, the ‘Daily Mail’
reported.
Samples were collected at
altitudes of eight to 15 kilometres
before and after two major tropical
hurricanes in 2010.
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Scientists are still unsure whether
the bacteria and fungi they found
routinely inhabit the sky, living off
carbon compounds, or are
continually borne aloft by winds and
air currents.
“We did not expect to find so many
micro-organisms in the
troposphere, which is considered a
very difficult environment for life,”
lead researcher Dr Kostas
Konstantinidis, from the Georgia
Institute of Technology in the US,
said.
“There seems to be quite a
diversity of species, but not all
bacteria make it into the upper
atmosphere,” Konstantinidis said.
DNA analysis revealed that bacteria
made up 20 per cent of particles
previously thought to consist of
nothing but sea salt or dust.
Marine bacteria were mostly found
over the ocean, while their
terrestrial cousins tended to occupy
the air above land.
There was strong evidence that
hurricanes affected the distribution
and dynamics of microbial
populations.
Around 17 different families of
bacteria were detected.
The bugs can help trigger cloud
formation by supplying the particles
around which ice crystals form.
“In the absence of dust or other
materials that could provide a good
nucleus for ice formation, just
having a small number of these
micro-organisms around could
facilitate the formation of ice at
these altitudes and attract
surrounding moisture,” said co-
author Professor Athanasios
Nenes, also from the Georgia
Institute of Technology.
30 January 2013
SBI cuts Base Rate
marginally
State Bank of India surprised the
markets with a cut of only 0.05
percentage point in its Base Rate
on Wednesday from 9.75 percent to
9.70 percent with effect from
February 4.
SBI cut rates following a 25 basis
point cut in policy rate (repo) by the
Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday
in its third quarter review of
monetary policy from 8 percent to
7.75 percent. The RBI has also cut
Cash Reserve Ratio by 25 basis
points from 4.25 per cent to 4
percent to cushion the rate cut
6 Current Affairs Notes
helping banks to transmit the rate
cut to customers immediately.
HDFC Bank reduced its auto loan
rates by up to 0.5 percentage point.
The interest rate on car loans will
be lower by 0.25 percentage point
ranging from 10.50 per cent to
11.50 per cent (from 10.75 per cent
to 11.75 per cent). The new rates
would be effective from February 1.
In the two-wheeler segment, loans
will be cheaper by 0.5 percentage
point. The bank reduced the
interest rate on commercial vehicle
loans by 0.25 percentage point.
With regard to commercial
vehicles, rates for heavy
commercial vehicles loans will be
down to 11 percent, while that on
light commercial vehicles to 13.75
percent from 14 per cent.
Among the old private sector
banks, Federal Bank slashed its
interest rates on auto loans to
10.45 percent from 11.20 per cent.
Concept:
Base Rate vs BPLR Rate
BPLR is the Benchmark Prime
Lending Rate and is the rate at
which banks in the country lend
money to their most credit worthy
customers. Till now, RBI had given
a free run to the banks to fix their
BPLR and different banks do have
different BPLR causing resentment
among customers. Add to it the
practice of banks to provide loans
at a much higher rate than their
BPLR and it completes the misery
of the common people. Keeping all
this in mind, RBI has suggested
the use of a Base Rate in place of
BPLR from July 1, 2011 that will be
applicable to all banks across the
country. Let us understand the
differences between BPLR and
Base rate in detail.
Though all banks have a BPLR, it
has been seen that they charge a
higher rate of interest on home
loans and car loans from
customers. In some cases, the
difference between BPLR and the
rate of interest charged by the bank
is as much as 4%. There is no
mechanism at present to educate a
customer about BPLR and the rate
at which he is being offered a loan
and why there is a difference
between the two rates. Though
BPLR, also known as prime
lending rate or simply prime rate,
was originally meant to bring
transparency in the system of
loaning, it was seen that banks
began to misuse BPLR as they
were at a liberty to set their own
BPLR. It became difficult for a
customer to compare BPLR of

different banks as all had different
BPLR. Another point of resentment
is that when RBI reduced its prime
lending rate, banks did not
automatically followed suit and
continued to lend money at a
higher rate of interest.
It became clear to RBI that BPLR
system was not functioning in a
transparent manner and
complaints of consumers were
increasing in an exponential
manner. This is why, RBI, after
studying the recommendations of a
study group has decided to enforce
a Base Rate instead of BPLR from
July 1, 2011. The difference
between BPLR and Base Rate is
that now the banks are given
parameters like cost of funds,
operational expenses, and a profit
margin that banks have to provide
to RBI as to how they arrived at
their base rate. On the other hand,
though there were similar
parameters in case of BPLR also,
they were in less detail and also
RBI did not have the power to
scrutinize BPLR of the banks. Now
the banks will be forced to follow a
consistent method of calculation as
against arbitrary methods they
chose while calculating BPLR.
Earlier banks gave loans to blue
chip companies at rates even lower
than their BPLR and compensated
by giving loans at higher rates to
common consumers but now they
have been asked not to give loans
at a rate lower than the Base Rate.
All this obviously means the
system of Base Rate will be more
transparent than BPLR system.
In brief:
BPLR Rate vs Base Rate
• BPLR is Benchmark Prime
Lending Rate which is set by banks
to lend money to customers.
• Banks gave loans at even lower
than BPLR to blue chip companies
while charged higher rate of
interest from common people.
• This is why RBI has decided to
scrape the BPLR system and
introduced a Base Rate that will be
applicable from July 1, 2011
• Base rate will bring transparency
in the loan segment as banks
cannot give loans at rates lower
than Base Rate.
Arunachal tribe helps in
TB research
breakthrough
1. A small Arunachal sub-tribe has
helped U.S. scientists made a
major breakthrough in tuberculosis
research, giving them new insight
on how TB remains a global
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
epidemic causing 1.9 million
deaths every year.
2. Studies carried on the people of
Arunachal’s Idu-Mishmis tribe,
suffering from this dreaded
disease, have discovered a
possible reason for the resistance
of tuberculosis, said the scientists
from the Stanford University and
Forsyth Institute.
3. According to results of the study
published in the prestigious
“Science Translational Medicine”
journal, this is because of the
ability of the tuberculosis bacteria
to infiltrate and settle down in a
particular class of stem cell in the
bone marrow.
4. By doing so, the bacteria take
advantage of the body’s own
mechanisms of self-renewal.
5. “Cancer scientists have noted
that self-renewing stem cells like
these in the bone marrow have
properties — such as natural drug
resistance, infrequent division and
a privileged immune status — that
make them resistant to many types
of treatment,” said Dean Felsher,
MD, PhD, professor of oncology
and of pathology.
6. Not only did the scientists find
genetic material from the bacteria
inside the stem cells, they were
also able to isolate active bacteria
from the cells of human patients
with tuberculosis who had
undergone extensive treatment for
the disease.
7. “We now need to learn how the
bacteria find and infect this tiny
population of stem cells, and what
triggers it to reactivate years or
decades after successful treatment
of the disease,” said postdoctoral
scholar Bikul Das, from the
Stanford University, and lead author
of the study.
8. The researchers and doctors
conducted free general medical
camps in five villages of Arunachal
Pradesh in India and gave free
medicines to all patients belonging
to the Idu-Mishmis sub tribe.
9. This effort led to identification of
individuals who had TB, and
successfully completed drug
treatment.
10. From these individuals, the
team isolated the CD271+ stem
cells, and found evidence of
dormant TB bacteria in those stem
cells.These results supported
Das’s laboratory and Campos-
Neto’s animal study evidence that
dormant TB hide in the CD271+
stem cells, the press statement
said.
7 Current Affairs Notes
11. The findings raise the
possibility that other infectious
agents may employ similar “wolf-
in-stem-cell-clothing” tactics.
12. And, although any new human
treatments are likely to still be
years away, they suggest a new
possible target in the fight against
tuberculosis, which infects nearly
2.2 billion people worldwide.
13. The study as to “why TB treated
patients remain sensitive to TB
tests for life” made a breakthrough,
“the results now will have direct
implications in anti-TB drug
development and explain why it is
so difficult to treat active and latent
TB” said the RIWATCH
release.This medical research has
brought the Idu-Mishmi people and
Arunachal on the world map.
India slides down in press
freedom index
1. India has dropped nine places to
140 in the list of 179 countries in
the 2013 World Press Freedom
Index, which its authors, Reporters
Without Borders, said was the
lowest for the “world’s biggest
democracy” since 2002.
2. “In Asia, India (140th, — 9) is at
its lowest since 2002 because of
increasing impunity for violence
against journalists and because
Internet censorship continues to
grow,” Reporters Without Borders
said.
3. China (173, +1), it said, had
shown no sign of improving. “Its
prisons still hold many journalists
and netizens, while increasingly
unpopular Internet censorship
continues to be a major obstacle to
access to information.”
4. As last year, the list is topped by
three European countries —
Finland, Netherlands and Norway.
Turkmenistan, North Korea and
Eritrea continue to be at the bottom
of the list as has been in the last
three years.
5. “The Press Freedom Index
published by Reporters Without
Borders does not take direct
account of the kind of political
system, but it is clear that
democracies provide better
protection for the freedom to
produce and circulate accurate
news and information than
countries where human rights are
flouted,” Reporters Without Borders
secretary-general Christophe
Deloire said. “In dictatorships,
news providers and their families
are exposed to ruthless reprisals,
while in democracies news
providers have to cope with the

media’s economic crises and
conflicts of interest. While their
situation is not always comparable,
we should pay tribute to all those
who resist pressure whether it is
aggressively focused or diffuse,” he
said.
6. According to the report, in almost
all parts of the world, influential
countries, including India, that are
regarded as “regional models”
have fallen in the index.
7. Observing that there was a
general decline in freedom of
information in South Asia, the report
said the Indian subcontinent was
the region in Asia that saw the
sharpest deterioration in the
climate for those involved in news
and information in 2012.
‘Run-of-the-river dams
won’t affect inflows into
India’
1. Amid concern in India over
China’s plans to construct dams
upstream on the Brahmaputra, a
senior government official said
here on Wednesday that the run-of-
the-river projects would not affect
inflows into India.
2. Reacting to the news that China
plans to construct three new
hydropower dams in the middle
reaches of the Brahmaputra (or
YarlungZangbo as it is known in
China), Union Water Resources
Secretary Dhruv Vijay Singh
told The Hindu that the Indian
government was aware of the
dams being constructed/proposed
by China. “We are keeping a close
watch. These are run-of-the-river
dams with no storage and will not
affect inflows into India,” he said.
3. However, the South Asia Network
on Dams, Rivers and People, an
NGO, said these being run-of-the-
river projects, there may not be any
change in the annual flows of the
river, but the flow patterns may
change and concern about flooding
and erosion could not be
overlooked.
4. The Hindu reported on Tuesday
that the Chinese State Council had
approved the construction of three
new dams on the Brahmaputra
under a new energy development
plan for 2015.
5. In India, the National
Hydroelectric Power Corporation is
constructing the Upper Siang
Hydroelectric Project on the Siang
tributary of the Brahmaputra in
Arunachal Pradesh and the 2000
MW Lower Subansiri project on
Subansiri, another tributary of the
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Brahmaputra on the Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam border.
U.S. fears over
compulsory licence for
anti-cancer drug allayed
1. India, on Wednesday, conveyed
to the U.S. that it had not violated
any multilateral trade agreement by
issuing compulsory licence for
Bayer’s patented anti-cancer drug
Nexavar to a local firm so as to
make it affordable.It also asserted
that such a move should not be
seen as routine by the U.S.
2. The message was conveyed by
Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma to U.S. Under
Secretary for Economic Growth,
Energy and Environment
RoberHormats, who raised
concerns over the matter during a
meeting here, according to an
official.
3. Mr. Sharma has assured him
that the move was totally compliant
with multilateral agreements. The
compulsory licence (CL) was
issued after a due adjudication
process, so it should not be seen
as routine,” the official added.
4. In March last, Hyderabad-based
NatcoPharma was allowed to
manufacture and sell cancer-
treatment drug Nexavar at a price
that was just a fraction of that was
charged by patent-holder Bayer
Corporation, under CL. The
German firm has already filed an
appeal against the Indian Patents
Office’s order with the Intellectual
Property Appellate Board.
5. Mr. Hormats raised the U.S.
pharmaceutical industry’s concern
over issuance of CL by India and
said that patent holders should be
assured that it should not be a
routine thing, the official said.
6. “The Minister informed him that
India is a responsible state and it
will not do anything which will
hamper innovation in the pharma
sector,” the official added.
7. As per the WTO agreement, a CL
can be invoked by a national
government, allowing someone
else to produce a patented product
or process without the consent of
the patent owner in public interest.
Drug price
8. Natco was allowed to sell the
drug at a price not exceeding
Rs.8,880 for a pack of 120 tablets
required for a month’s treatment as
compared to a whopping Rs.2.80
lakh charged by Bayer for its
patented Nexavar drug.
8 Current Affairs Notes
‘Vodafone issue will be
resolved shortly’
9. Finance Minister P
Chidambaram has exuded
confidence that the Rs.11,200-crore
Vodafone tax dispute will be
resolved within a month.
10. “They (Vodafone
representatives) are being invited
to a third round of discussions this
week....they (the Central Board of
Direct Taxes) expect them to come
any time this week and I am
looking forward to a resolution of
the Vodafone issue. And I’m
confident we will resolve that
issue,” he told the Financial
Times in an interview.
11. When asked whether the issue
would be resolved in the next
month or so, the Minister said, “I
am trying to resolve it even sooner
than that.’’
12. British telecom major Vodafone
was slapped with an income tax
demand notice of Rs.11,200 crore
on its 2007 acquisition of Hong
Kong-based Hutchison
Whampoa’s stake in its Indian
telecom business. The liability
arose following the then Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee
amending the Income Tax Act,
1961, with retrospective effect to
undo the Supreme Court judgment
that had ruled in favour of the
company.
13. Mr. Chidambaram said he was
“happy that Vodafone has formally
written to the government offering to
engage senior government officials
to find a way out of the problem.
They have held two rounds of
discussions with my Revenue
Secretary and the Chairman of the
CBDT.’’
14. The Minister said he was
confident about resolution of the
dispute soon because “for the first
time, Vodafone has offered to
engage the government in a
discussion to find a solution rather
than persist with its Notice of
Arbitration.’’
15. The Indian government is
working towards a solution based
on recommendations of the Shome
panel, which suggested that either
the government should withdraw
the retrospective tax amendment or
waive the penalty in case it had to
recover the taxes.
16. Withdraw spectrum guidelines
17. Meanwhile, Vodafone India has
sought withdrawal of the recently
issued guidelines for the second
round of spectrum auction, terming

them “illegal, discriminatory and
benefiting one set of players”.
18. Vodafone said the guidelines
were “discriminatory” in nature, as
they fix the reserve price of 900Mhz
at three times the price of 800Mhz,
while The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (TRAI) had
recommended both these bands to
be treated on a par.
19. “Fixing reserve price of 800 MHz
band at comparatively low levels
benefits a certain set of telecom
operators,’’ it said in a letter to
Telecom Secretary R.
Chandrashekhar, while seeking
withdrawal of the guidelines.
20. Vodafone also said auction of
900MHz spectrum included the
spectrum which was now being
used by the company for Mumbai,
Delhi and Kolkata circles and since
the same spectrum was already
being used in its networks, it could
not be put out for auction.
NASA launches
communication satellite
NASA on Thursday launched a new
communication satellite to stay in
touch with its space station
astronauts and relay more Hubble
telescope images.
An unmanned Atlas V rocket
blasted into the starry night sky
carrying the Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite.This is the 11th
TDRS satellite to be launched by
NASA.The space agency uses the
orbiting network to communicate
with astronauts living on the
International Space Station.
The first TDRS spacecraft flew in
1983; it recently was retired along
with No. 4. The second was lost
aboard space shuttle Challenger in
1986; Monday marked the 27th
anniversary of the launch
disaster.This newest third-
generation TDRS carries the letter
K designation. Once it begins
working, it will become TDRS-11.
It will take two weeks for the
satellite to reach its intended
22,300-mile-high orbit. Testing will
last a few months.NASA estimates
the satellite costs between $ 350
million and $ 400 million. Another
TDRS spacecraft, L in the series,
will be launched next year.NASA
wants at least seven TDRS
satellites working in orbit at any
one time. The one launched today
will make eight.
Pulsar behaviour defies
theories
Unlike pulsars that emit either at
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
X-ray or radio frequencies, a pulsar
located 3,500 light years away has
been found emitting both radio and
X-ray radiation in sync
When a star heavier than our Sun
by eight to 50 times runs out of
hydrogen, it blows away its
outermost layers of gas in a
supernova explosion and
undergoes a gravitational collapse.
The remnant of this is a core of
neutrons called a neutron star —
usually around 20 km across,
densely compacted and highly
magnetised.
When the neutron star is spinning,
it emits strong radiation from its
poles which can be detected only
when it is pointed towards the
Earth. Because of the spin, these
emissions point at Earth
periodically, making it appear as
though the neutron star is
pulsating. For this reason, spinning
neutron stars are called pulsars.
In a paper published in Science
journal on January 25, an
international team of scientists
working on the LOFAR telescope in
the Netherlands and the GMRT
telescope near Pune, India,
announced a strange behaviour of
a pulsar PSR B0943+10.
Located 3,500 light years from
Earth, PSR B0943+10 has been
known since the 1980s to emit
radiation in the radio frequency.
Pulsars usually emit radiation at
radio or X-ray frequencies
exclusively, although ones emitting
purely gamma radiation have also
been found.
Some other pulsars also switch
modes, emitting brightly for some
time and weakly for the some other
time, within seconds. While this
behaviour has been known for
some time, a self-consistent theory
to explain it still eludes
astrophysicists.
However, for the first time ever, a
pulsar, PSR B0943+10, has been
observed switching between two
different modes of radiation – X-ray
and radio – within a second. The X-
ray mode showed itself when the
radio mode had weakened. Also,
anomalous weak radio signals
were observed when the pulsar
was in the bright X-ray mode.
As Dr.WimHermsen, the lead
author of the study, in an email to
this Correspondent noted: “The
details of our findings were totally
surprising, and cannot be
explained with the different
presently prevailing theories.”
Dr.Hermsen is associated with the
Netherlands Institute for Space
Research.
9 Current Affairs Notes
Dr.DipanjanMitra, from the National
Centre for Radio Astrophysics
(NCRA), Pune, led the Indian effort
of the study, working with the Giant
Meterwave Radio Telescope
(GMRT). Alongside Dr. Joanna
Rankin of the University of Vermont,
Dr.Mitra continuously monitored the
pulsar in 2009, and laid the
foundation for the published paper.
Spotting the anomaly
The X-ray emissions were tracked
using the European Space
Agency’s XMM-Newton orbiting
space telescope, and the radio
signals were studied using the
Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) near
Exloo, the Netherlands, and GMRT.
While LOFAR can detect only at a
fixed frequency, GMRT can sweep a
range of frequencies.
First, the radio and X-ray emissions
were recorded simultaneously over
several days. The times at which
the “flips” occurred were first noted
in the radio data. Then, the
scientists studied the behaviour of
the X-ray mode during these flip
times.
They found that the radio and X-ray
modes were perfectly synchronised
with each other. While the radio
signals were strong and highly
organised, the X-ray signals were
weak and disorganised, and vice
versa. Also, each mode lasted
typically for seven hours, although
over the course of the study, they
also observed that the X-ray mode
sometimes lasted for only half-hour
or so, making it unpredictable.
As Dr.Mitra said, “It’s as if the
pulsar has two personalities. We
knew about this behaviour in the
radio, but now we see it in the X-
rays as well.”
The team also found that the X-ray
emission seemed thermal in
origin. This suggests that a
temporary “hotspot” appears close
to the pulsar’s magnetic pole which
switches on and off as the pulsar
flips.The scientists will go on to
analyse the data further to see if
they have missed out anything,
such as how much of an influence
the pulsar’s plasma-atmosphere
has on such emissions.
At last, hideout of
dormant TB bacteria
found
The hiding place of dormant
tuberculosis bacteria in humans
has been finally found. The bacteria
are present in a nonreplicating,
dormant but viable state, and can
get reactivated to cause active TB in
people who have been
successively treated earlier. The

remarkable study published today
(January 31) in the Science
Translational Medicine journal
unequivocally demonstrates that a
particular kind of bone marrow
mesenchymal stem cells
(CD271CD45) provide a safe
shelter for the dormant TB bacteria.
Recurrence of TB after successful
drug treatment remains a big
challenge in controlling the
disease. Recurrence could
happen either due to reactivation of
the dormant TB bacteria residing
somewhere inside the body or
through reinfection.
Several studies have shown that
more than reinfection, it is the
reactivation that causes disease
recurrence. Hence management to
prevent reactivation is essential.
But the precise location where the
bacteria hides was not known. But,
no longer.
The first step adopted by Bikul Das
from Departments of Medicine and
Pathology, Stanford University, and
the lead author of the paper, and
others was to study bone marrow
stem cells. There was a reason to
target these cells — they provide a
safe haven for the dormant TB
bacteria to hide from the immune
system; the bacteria are not
exposed to TB drugs either. In fact,
the stem cells have an efficient way
of removing TB drugs that can kill
the bacteria, thus providing the
bacteria a perfect environment to
remain viable for extended periods
of time.
The germ of an idea to look for TB
bacteria in bone marrow samples
occurred to Dr. Das way back in the
mid 1990s when he was doing
biopsies of bone marrow samples.
“In those biopsies I saw AFB
[stained] positive bugs in bone
marrow [samples], and
occasionally inside progenitor
cells. I was not sure if they were
stem cells, as a biopsy cannot
confirm those cells to be stem
cells or progenitor cells,” noted Dr.
Das in an email to this
Correspondent (see box item). “An
idea came to my mind that if TB
bugs indeed reside inside bone
marrow stem cells, it could explain
why it is so difficult to treat TB.”
So they started off by studying
different bone marrow stem cells
from healthy humans to know if the
bacteria could infect specific stem
cells in vitro. They solved the first
piece of the puzzle when they found
that the bacteria could infect a few
BM stem cells in vitro. Of them, the
CD271/CD133 stem cells proved
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
to be the “most permissive” for TB
bacteria infection.
After infection, the bacteria
multiplied just twofold to threefold
within four days and then remained
“unchanged.” Also the bacteria
remained viable inside the cells for
about two weeks. Differentiation of
the stem cells was the only factor
that could affect the long-term
viability. The viability reduced
fourfold when the stem cells
differentiated to form specific cell
types.
The stem cells contain both
haematopoietic and mesenchymal
stem cells. On further scrutiny, they
found that the bacteria
“preferentially infects” only the
mesenchymal stem cells (CD271).
Mesenchymal stem cells are
capable of becoming any of the
specialised cells in the body. They
are essentially found in the bone
marrow but can migrate to the
lungs.
They then performed several
experiments using mice. First, they
demonstrated the ability of the TB
bacteria to migrate to the
mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) of
mice once the animals were
exposed to a low dose of
aerosolised virulent TB bacteria.
Four weeks after infection, the
animals were killed and the
presence of TB bacteria in MSC
studied. They did find the bacteria
in the bone marrow cells. By
performing another kind of
experiment, they found that TB
bacteria “retained viability” in the
mice mesenchymal stem cells.
Besides bone marrow
mesenchymal stem cells, they
found viable nonreplicating TB
bacteria in lung mesenchymal
stem cells too.
They progressed to the next stage
of studying the infectious nature of
the nonreplicating bacteria hiding in
the stem cells. To do this, they
retrieved the dormant bacteria from
the lung mesenchymal stem cells
of some mice and injected them
into other healthy mice. The
recipient mice did develop lung
granulomas.
The final piece of the puzzle was
solved by looking for the presence
of dormant TB bacteria in humans
who were successfully treated
using anti-TB drugs. Nine
individuals who had undergone
complete treatment and a control
group of six healthy people from
non-endemic regions were chosen.
While all the six healthy people in
the control group did not “exhibit
measurable” dormant TB bacteria,
10
eight of the nine people who had
successfully undergone treatment
did have the bacteria in the CD271
BM mesenchymal stem cells.
“Our work is only a basic research
and does not provide any therapy
for patients with tuberculosis,”
stated Dean W. Felsher of Stanford
University in an email to this
Correspondent. “We do hope that
our work will provide potentially
new scientific approaches that may
lead to new treatments for TB.”
‘Habitable Zone’ for alien
planets redefined
Scientists, including one of Indian
origin, have redefined the
boundaries of the habitable zone
for alien planets, kicking out some
exoplanets that were thought to fall
within it, and allowing a few others
to be included in the zone.
“This will have a significant impact
on the number of exoplanets that
are within habitable zone,” said
research team leader Ravi Kumar
Kopparapu of Penn State University.
One of the most important
characteristics of an alien planet is
whether or not it falls into what’s
called the habitable zone - a
Goldilocks-like range of not-too-
close, not-too-far distances from
the parent star that might allow the
planet to host life.
The habitable zone defines the
region where a planet might be
able to retain liquid water on its
surface. Any closer to the star and
water would vaporise away; any
farther, and it would freeze to ice,
Space.com reported.
But water in its liquid state is what
scientists are after, since that is
thought to be a prerequisite for life.
The new definition of the habitable
zone is based on updated
atmospheric databases called
HITRAN (high-resolution
transmission molecular
absorption) and HITEMP (high-
temperature spectroscopic
absorption parameters), which give
the absorption parameters of water
and carbon dioxide - two properties
that strongly influence the
atmospheres of exoplanets,
determining whether those planets
could host liquid water.
The scientists cautioned that the
habitable zone definition still does
not take into account feedback
effects from clouds, which will also
affect a planet’s habitability.
The previous habitable zone
definitions were derived about 20
years ago by Penn State researcher
Current Affairs Notes

James Kasting, who was also part
of the team behind the updates.
The new definition isn’t radically
different from the old one. For
example, in our own solar system,
the boundaries of the habitable
zone have shifted from between
0.95 astronomical units (AU, or the
distance between Earth and the
Sun) and 1.67 AU, to the new range
of 0.99 AU to 1.7 AU.
“It’s a surprise that Earth is so
close to the inner edge of the
habitable zone,” said astronomer
Abel Mendez of the University of
Puerto Rico at Arecibo, who was
not part of the team behind the
redefinition.
“Right now as I see it as a
significant change. Many of those
planets that we believe were inside
are now outside. But on the other
side, it extends the habitable
zone’s outer edge, so a few planets
that are farther away might fall
inside the habitable zone now,”
Mendez said.
He mentioned one planet in
particular, Gliese 581d, was
thought to lie at the outer edge of
its star’s habitable zone. With the
new definition, though, it falls
almost smack in the middle,
making it perhaps a better
candidate for extraterrestrial life.
The new habitable zone definition
will be published in the
Astrophysical Journal.
Ties with Latin America to
deepen further
Like Look East Policy of the Indian
Government, “Focus on Latin
America” has been the recent
emerging policy and will get further
boost when external affairs
minister Salman Khurshid leaves
on a ten-day visit to that region.
Khurshid, who returns Thursday
after a four-day visit to Germany
and Belgium, will leave on Friday
for Argentina, Colombia and Chile.
India and Chile are close to
formalizing a Comprehensive
Economic Partnership Agreement
(CEPA), an arrangement equivalent
to a free trade agreement, which
would help reduce or eliminate
duties on maximum number of
products they trade in.
Chile is also considered to be the
gateway to Latin America in the
areas of investment and trade
opportunities.
With the bilateral trade at $2.6
billion in 2011-12, India has been
pushing for a Double Taxation
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Avoidance Agreement with Chile
and has asked that country to
further liberalise its visa regime to
help the movement of
professionals and businessmen.
Chile’s main export to India is
copper, and with the inking of the
new trade agreement the product
is expected to reach India with zero
tariffs. Chile also exports paper
pulp among other things to India.
The two countries are seeking
cooperation in areas like
information technology,
oceanography, science and
technology, agriculture and food
processing and engineering and
infrastructure.
India and Colombia have a
Bilateral Investment Promotion and
Protection Agreement (BIPPA)
which came into effect in June
2012.
India has also urged Colombia to
expedite ratification of a Double
Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) to boost investor
confidence.
Earlier this month, ONGC Videsh
Ltd (OVL), has discovered oil on an
on land block, CPO-5, in Colombia.
OVL holds 70 percent participating
interest in the block located at the
Ilanos basin of Colombia.
The project was under phase-1 of
exploration, with a commitment of
drilling two exploratory wells.
Argentina, a leading agricultural
economy, has invited farmers from
India to purchase land there and
cultivate it. India is also a major
importer of Argentine soybean oil,
importing $1.8 billion in 2010.
Indian companies have a major
presence in Latin American
countries. Indian IT companies in
Chile include TCS. While in
Argentina, there are over 15 Indian
companies, with many being in the
IT and IT-enabled services sector,
employing thousands of people.
The others are in various
manufacturing areas, from pharma
to cosmetics to agro chemicals.
India-Latin American trade stood at
$20 billion in 2010, way below the
$140 billion trade between China-
Latin American.
Khurshid to visit
Germany, Belgium to
push EU accord
External affairs minister Salman
Khurshid will visit two important
European Union countries —
Germany and Belgium —from
11
Monday to push the long-pending
India-EU trade accord.
Khurshid will hold discussions with
German foreign minister Guido
Westerwelle and would call
onchancellor Angela Merkel during
his two-day visit on January 28-29.
Germany is India’s largest trading
partner in Europe.
31 January 2013
‘Look-East’ policy bring
India into Asia Pacific:
Hillary
1. Lauding India’s “Look East”
policy, outgoing U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton has said that
America supports New Delhi’s
move to weave it into the fabric of
Asia Pacific region.
2. “We’ve encouraged India’s ‘Look
East’ policy as a way to weave
another big democracy into the
fabric of the Asia-Pacific,” Ms.
Clinton said on Thursday in her last
foreign policy speech as the
Secretary of State at the Council on
Foreign Relations (CFR), a
Washington-based think-tank.
3. This was the only place in Ms.
Clinton’s speech that mentioned
India as she described America’s
expanding engagement in the Asia
Pacific region.
4. “Now, much attention has been
focused on our military moves in
the region. And certainly, adapting
our forces posture is a key element
of our comprehensive strategy. But
so is strengthening our alliances
through new economic and security
arrangements,” she said.
5. “We responded to the triple
disaster in Japan through our
government, through our
businesses, through our not-for-
profits, and reminded the entire
region of the irreplaceable role
America plays.
6. First and foremost, this so-called
pivot has been about creative
diplomacy, like signing a little-
noted treaty of amity and
cooperation with ASEAN that
opened the door to permanent
representation and ultimately
elevated a forum for engaging on
high-stakes issues like the South
China Sea,” she said.
7. Referring to the agenda of the
next four years and beyond, she
said the U.S. would have to keep
pushing forward on this agenda:
consolidate its engagement in the
Asia-Pacific without taking eyes off
Current Affairs Notes

the Middle East and North Africa.
8. She also called for keep working
to curb the spread of deadly
weapons, especially in Iran and
North Korea; effectively manage the
end of combat mission in
Afghanistan without losing focus on
al-Qaeda and its affiliates and
pursuing a far-ranging economic
agenda that sweeps from Asia to
Latin America to Europe; and keep
looking for the next Burmas.
Lesson on diplomacy,
from an Iranian
1. Track II meetings can be useful
when participants express their
views candidly, without worrying
about offending the sensitivities of
others. When the event is held in
India, visiting think tankers take
pain not to upset their hosts. Since
most foreigners have rightly
concluded that Indians are not only
flattery prone but credulous as well,
they are usually complimentary
about India’s role in various
situations such as in Afghanistan,
Syria, Middle East, etc.
2. It is therefore refreshing when a
visiting participant in a Track II
meeting gives free rein to his views
about India’s foreign policy as was
the case when an Iranian expert,
familiar with the official thinking of
his government, spoke his mind at
an event in Delhi some time ago.
Other Iranian participants at the
same meeting spoke in a similar
vein.
3. ‘Inclined towards U.S.’
4. India, he said, was anxious not
to make the United States unhappy.
“Your ‘qibla’,” he said, “is
Washington.” India was much
inclined towards the U.S. and
should reconsider striking a
balance in its foreign policy; India
had some shortcomings and
should reconsider its relations with
Iran; India was not being pragmatic
but opportunistic. Traditionally,
India enjoyed huge social capital in
Iran; it was hugely popular with the
Iranian people. All that had been
destroyed for generations in one
stroke because of India’s anti-Iran
vote in the International Atomic
Energy Agency. India could not vote
against Iran and claim, at the same
time, that Iran was important for
India; it just did not make sense. A
little later in the interactive session,
he reiterated his view that India
could not vote against Iran and, at
the same time, say it wanted to
work with Iran. “I repeat this
because it was a very harmful act
and it is very hard for any friend of
India in Iran to accept this.”
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
5. Some Indian participants,
evidently upset and taking
advantage of this candour,
reminded the Iranian gentleman
that Iran had always sided with
Pakistan and asked him what it
was that Iran had done for India,
that Iran was buying wheat from the
U.S. but was not willing to buy it
from India, that Iran was spreading
radicalisation among the Shia
community in India, that India says
Iran is important for India but Iran
never says India is important for
Iran, etc. Someone pointed out that
Shiite Iran supported the Taliban in
Afghanistan, which was a diehard
Sunni movement.
6. The Iranian friend — we have to
describe him as a friend since
friends are supposed to talk frankly
without worrying about offending
anyone — was not nonplussed. It
was not Iran which placed
obstacles for Indian wheat sales in
Iran; this was a matter of business
considerations. He added that
India could not have an unfriendly
attitude towards Iran and, at the
same time, expect special
consideration. Iran was a land of
moderation, not a land of
extremism; it never exported Shia
extremism to India. If there is Shia
extremism in India, there is also
Hindu extremism, he added for
good measure. As for supporting
Pakistan, he said Iran had to, since
Pakistan was a neighbour and a
friendly country, but Iran had never
done anything against India and
wanted to be helpful to both. He
rubbished the reports about
supporting the Taliban and added
that India had been in touch with
the Taliban.
7. On the nuclear issue, the Iranian
expert said Iran was not asking for
anything more or less than the
rights and obligations under the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran had always been in full
compliance with its treaty
obligations. No section of Iranian
society saw nuclear weapons as a
matter of privilege or security.
Islamic jurisprudence specifically
forbade intentionally polluting the
atmosphere. Nuclear weapons did
not provide security to nuclear
weapon states; the U.S. and Nato
had nukes but of what use had they
been in Afghanistan? Had India
been able to use them against
Pakistan? As for some ‘evidence’
contained in a laptop revealed in
Vienna, it was fabricated and a
cheap argument.
8. The ‘friend’ used the very
point raised by the Saudis and
others; India, he pointed out, could
12
easily get oil from other sources,
Iran was not really important for
India as an energy source.Instead
of taking offence at his remarks, we
ought to draw some lessons from
them.
9. Unlike Iran, which never says
India is important for it, Indian
strategic community never tires of
repeating how crucial Iran is to us
for its energy resources, for
alternative access to Afghanistan
and for the northern corridor to
Central Asia. For good measure,
we often remind ourselves of the
fact that there is a large Shia
community in India, the
assumption being that the Shias in
India expect the government to be
mindful of their religious
sentiments while deciding on the
policy towards Iran. Such talk only
strengthens Iran’s attitude of being
somewhat contemptuous or
dismissive of India. It further makes
people in Iran and India conclude
that India needs Iran much more
than Iran needs India, if at all.
10. As of today — and this must be
emphasised — Iran certainly
needs India’s friendship. It is true
that our anti-Iran vote in IAEA has
harmed our relations with Tehran,
but international relations cannot
forever be held hostage to past
actions. We ourselves have long
forgotten even the fact that many
countries had voted against us in
the United Nations at the time of
Bangladesh’s war for
independence in 1971.
11. The Iranian friend was right;
there are other sources from where
India can buy oil. Saudi Arabia
would be delighted if we were to
turn to it to make up the shortfall,
since it would clearly be interpreted
as India siding with it in the
undeclared politico-sectarian war
against Iran. (This is one reason
why India would not want to do so.)
But the number of buyers of Iranian
oil is dwindling fast and Iran is
hard put to find alternative buyers,
even at discounted prices. Contrary
to what our friend said, his Oil
Minister has publicly acknowledged
that Iran’s oil exports fell by 40 per
cent last year.
Iran needs India’s friendship
12. The Prime Minister paid an
official visit to Iran last year for the
non-aligned summit, no doubt
upsetting the Americans. The fact
that he was ‘granted an audience’
by the supreme leader should not
flatter us. Iran certainly needs
friends like India. Would the
supreme leader have ‘received’ the
Prime Minister if his country did not
Current Affairs Notes

face sanctions? Iran surely knows
that India has not joined in the
unilateral sanctions imposed by
the West. If Iran, in the face of these
facts, has convinced itself that
India’s ‘qibla’ is in the direction of
Washington, there is nothing we
can do to disabuse it of its thinking.
13. The above analysis is not an
argument for downgrading Iran’s
importance for us and for the
region of which it is a part. Rather, it
is meant to keep in mind what
Harish Khare, the respected
columnist, recently observed:
Appeasement policy does not
serve national interest, in domestic
politics or in international relations.
His advice is aimed at the
government but is equally true at
the non-governmental level.
International relations must be
conducted on the basis of
reciprocity and mutuality of
interests. We also have to keep in
mind that countries which at
present have strained, even hostile
relations with Iran, can and will
change their policy at a time of their
choosing; we should not be left
surprised.
Modified DTC soon, says
Shome
A modified Direct Taxes Code
(DTC) Bill is to be placed in
Parliament for approval after
incorporating changes as per the
suggestions made by the Standing
Committee on Finance.
“[We] will come out with [a]
modified DTC [Bill] in response to
Standing Committee suggestions,”
Advisor to Finance Minister
ParthasarathiShome said at a
FICCI event here. Dr.Shome
informed industry leaders that the
Finance Ministry was looking at the
Bill, and working on the tax
structures, as was suggested by
the Parliamentary panel.
In its report on the DTC Bill
submitted to Parliament in March
last year, the standing panel on
finance headed by former Finance
Minister and senior BJP leader
YashwantSinha had suggested a
hike in the income tax exemption
limit to Rs.3 lakh as against Rs.2
lakh proposed in the original DTC
Bill. The Bill, tabled in August,
2010, was referred to the standing
panel for scrutiny.
Among other things, the committee
had also suggested that
subsequent tax slabs be
accordingly adjusted to provide
relief to the taxpayers who were
already burdened under the impact
of inflation.
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
“We are trying to see what could be
the best in terms of transparency
so that issues that are hurting
industry could be covered
adequately,” Dr Shome said while
noting that the Finance Ministry was
also engaged in addressing the
issue of expenditure control which
remained a major challenge.
GDP growth for 2011-12
lowered to 6.2 percent
1. The government, on Thursday,
announced a downward revision in
GDP (gross domestic product)
growth to 6.2 percent for fiscal year
2011-12 from the earlier provisional
estimate of 6.5 per cent.
2. Alongside, however, the GDP
growth for 2010-11 fiscal stands
revised upwards to 9.3 percent
from 8.4 percent, as per the first
revised estimates of ‘National
income, consumption expenditure,
saving and capital formation’,
released here by the Central
Statistics Office (CSO) for 2011-12
along with second revised
estimates for 2010-11 and the third
revised estimates for 2009-10.
3. “GDP at factor cost at constant
(2004-05) prices in 2011-12 is
estimated at Rs.52.43 lakh crore
as against Rs.49.37 lakh crore in
2010-11, registering a growth of 6.2
per cent during the year as against
a growth of 9.3 per cent in the year
2010-11,” a CSO statement said.
4. As per the statement, the GDP in
2011-12 at current prices is
estimated at Rs.83.53 lakh crore
as against Rs.72.67 lakh crore in
2010-11, marking an increase of 15
per cent as against an increase of
19 per cent in the previous fiscal
year.
5. The per capita income in real
terms (at 2004-05 prices), the CSO
said, is estimated at Rs.38,037 for
2011-12 as against Rs.36,342 in
2010-11, which works out to an
increase of 4.7 per cent during the
fiscal as against an increase of 7.2
per cent in the previous year.
6. However, the per capita income
at current prices is estimated at
Rs.61,564 in 2011-12 as against
Rs.54,151 in the previous fiscal to
mark a lower growth of 13.7 per
cent as compared to an increase of
17.1 per cent posted in 2010-11.
7. Standard of living
8. As a measure to assess the
standard of living, the per capita
income on a monthly basis works
out to Rs.5,130 during the fiscal as
compared to Rs.4,513 in 2010-11.
9. According to the CSO data, the
13
expansion in GDP during 2011-12
was mainly on account of growth in
sectors such as financing,
insurance, real estate and
business services by11.7 percent,
transport, storage and
communication (8.4 per cent),
electricity, gas and water supply
(6.5 per cent) and trade, hotels and
restaurants (6.2 per cent).
10. As for gross domestic savings
(GDS), the growth in 2011-12 at
current prices fell to 30.8 percent of
the GDP at market prices and is
estimated at Rs.27.65 lakh crore
during the year as compared to an
increase of 34 percent to Rs.26.52
lakh crore in 2010-11
Deceleration
11. The deceleration in GDS growth
in 2011-12, the statement said,
was mainly owing to declines in
household financial savings from
10.4 percent to 8 percent, in private
corporate sector savings from 7.9
percent to 7.2 per cent and in public
sector savings from 2.6 per cent to
1.3 per cent as compared to a year
ago.
12. Among other major indicators,
the gross national income at
constant (2004-05) prices and at
factor cost in 2011-12 is estimated
at Rs.51.97 lakh crore as
compared to Rs.48.82 lakh crore in
2010-11, which works out to an
increase of 6.4 percent during the
year and marks a decline from the
previous year’s growth figure of 8.8
per cent. On the other hand, the
GNI at current prices in 2011-12 is
estimated at Rs.82.77 lakh crore
as compared to Rs.71.85 lakh
crore in 2010-11, an increase of
15.2 percent which is lower than
the 18.4 percent growth achieved in
the previous year.
Household sector
13. Household sector savings in
absolute terms, the data showed,
increased from Rs.18.33 lakh crore
in 2010-11 to Rs.20.04 lakh crore in
2011-12 to pose an increase of 9.3
percent while private corporate
sector savings rose by 4.1 percent
from Rs.6.19 lakh crore in 2010-11
to Rs.6.44 lakh crore in 2011-12.
14. Savings of the public sector,
however, fell by a hefty 41.4 per
cent from Rs.1.99 lakh crore in
2010-11 to Rs.1.17 lakh crore in
2011-12.
15. As per the data, gross domestic
capital formation increased from
Rs.28.72 lakh crore in 2010-11 to
Rs.31.41 lakh crore in 2011-12 at
current prices.
16. At constant prices (2004-05), it
increased from Rs.21.20 lakh crore
Current Affairs Notes

in 2010-11 to Rs.21.32 lakh crore in
2011-12.
17. Accordingly, the rate of growth of
gross capital formation at current
prices stood at 35 per cent in 2011-
12 as against 36.8 per cent in
2010-11 and at 37.9 per cent and
40.0 per cent during the two years
at constant prices.
Environment and
developmental agendas
linked: PM
The global environmental agenda
and the global development
agenda were interlinked, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh said on
Thursday while stressing that
resource efficiency was a
necessary condition for
sustainable development.
A global growth model, which is
inclusive and sustainable, would
assist developing countries pursue
their objectives, Dr. Singh said at
the inauguration of the Delhi
Sustainable Development Summit
(DSDS) in New Delhi.
“Resource-efficiency is a
necessary condition for
sustainable development, and a
key element of the economic pillar
of sustainability. The global
environmental agenda and the
global development agenda are
now inter-linked,” he said.
“India is committed to meeting its
domestic mitigation goal of
reducing the emissions intensity of
GDP by 20-25 per cent by 2020.”
“What is required are regulatory
regimes that are transparent,
accountable and subject to
oversight and monitoring. I would
like to mention that protection of the
environment and promoting
development need not amount to a
zero sum game,” he said.
“We in India are fully conscious of
the need to conserve our resources
through their utilization in a
sustainable manner,” he added.
“We need to re-engineer our
economies in ways that are both
frugal and innovative in their use of
resources,” Dr. Singh said.
The 13th edition of the DSDS
focuses on the theme The Global
Challenge of Resource-Efficient
Growth and Development. It
provides an efficient platform for
thought leaders and policymakers
to discuss effective policy
mechanisms to reduce energy and
resource footprint, a statement
from the organisers The Energy
Research Institute (TERI) said.
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Tobacco use accounts $
502 mn as indirect costs,
says a Journal
1. The country suffers a huge loss
of about $ 502 million a year as the
“indirect cost” of tobacco-induced
morbidity, says an article published
in a medical journal.
2. While $ 398 million is estimated
to be the indirect morbidity costs on
smoked tobacco, smokeless
tobacco products results in $ 104
million, says a review paper carried
in the recent issue of Indian
Journal of Medical and Paediatric
Oncology.
3. “Indirect morbidity costs” are
explained as costs on caregivers
and value of work loss due to
illness.
4. This is apart from the direct
medical costs of treating tobacco-
related diseases, which for the year
2004 was $ 907 million for smoked
tobacco, and $ 285 million for
smokeless tobacco.
5. The paper is authored by Dr
Gauravi A Mishra of Tata Memorial
Centre, Mumbai, with Dr Sharmila A
Pimple and Dr Surendra S Shastri.
6. The total economic cost of
tobacco use in India in 2004 was
calculated to be 16 per cent more
than the total excise tax revenues
from all tobacco products during
the year.
7. The total economic cost includes
direct health care expenditure for
inpatient hospitalisation or
outpatient visits, expenditures
incurred for transportation other
than ambulance and lodging
charge of caregivers and wage
income lost to the whole
household due to inpatient
hospitalisation or outpatient visits.
8. The paper also underlines the
need for adequate tobacco
cessation services in the country.
Lack of cessation services may
lead to an additional 160 million
global deaths among smokers by
2050. Cessation centres in India
have reported quit rates of around
16 per cent, six weeks after
intervention, the paper notes.
Green tribunal bans
dumping of debris on
Yamuna banks
The National Green Tribunal (NGT)
on Thursday issued an order
restraining all individuals,
companies as well as public
authorities from throwing any
debris or solid waste on the
14
Yamuna river bank or water bodies
near it. It also ordered the
governments of Delhi, Uttar
Pradesh and their agencies to
immediately start removing the
debris and dumping it at
appropriate sites.
“We hereby issue an injunction
restraining anybody, any person,
authority from throwing any debris
of any kind including solid wastes
on the river bank of Yamuna or the
water body near the river. State of
UP, DDA, Government of NCT Delhi
and East Delhi Municipal
Corporation shall forthwith start
removing debris from the river bank
of Yamuna and the water body,”
NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter
Kumar said.
The green panel directed the
authorities to communicate this
order to all, “primarily the builders
who are involved in huge
construction in and around NCT of
Delhi”.
According to the order, all municipal
solid wastes will have to be taken
to the MCD’s dumping site in
Ghazipur while construction
material and similar waste shall be
removed to other identified sites.
‘May fall short of stake
sale target’
(disinvestment)
In a challenge for the fisc, the
finance ministry on Thursday
conceded that it may fall short of
the estimated target of Rs 30,000
crore from disinvestment proceeds
during the current fiscal.
“Rs 30,000 crore disinvestment
target may be difficult to reach. My
calculation is Rs 25,000 or Rs
26,000 crore. We will try to cover Rs
27,000 crore,” disinvestment
secretary Ravi Mathur said on
Thursday.
The department of disinvestment
has raised about Rs 6,900 crore
from stake sales of in state owned
NMDC Ltd and Hindustan Copper
Ltd. On Friday, it is scheduled to
auction 10 per cent stake in Oil
India Ltd (OIL) that is likely to raise
about Rs 3,065 crore.
The government has fixed the floor
or the minimum offer price for OIL
stake sale at Rs 510 a share,
which is a discount of 5.41 per cent
over Thursday’s market price of Rs
539.20. “We expect a good
response (to the OIL issue). It (Rs
510) is at a good discount,” Mathur
said.
The government is also planning to
sell 9.5 per cent stake in NTPC Ltd
Current Affairs Notes

and has already begun roadshows
in five countries, including the US,
the UK and Japan, for promoting
the proposed Rs 13,000 crore
issue. “NTPC roadshows are going
on. As soon as roadshows are over
we will fix a date for share sale,”
Mathur said.
The DoD plans to divest stake in a
host of bluechip PSUs in the
current fiscal, including SAIL,
NALCO and MMTC. The
government has already identified
10 PSUs for divesting stake.
Fiscal deficit at 78.8% of target
The Centre’s fiscal deficit during
the April-December period stood at
Rs 4.04 lakh crore or 78.8 per cent
of the Budget Estimate of Rs 5.14
lakh crore, according to data
released by the Controller General
of Accounts.
During the same period in the
previous fiscal year, the deficit was
92.3 per cent of the target.
The improvement has been
brought about by a strict tightening
of the expenditure since September
and some fruition of the efforts to
arrest the fall in tax revenue growth.
The government is aiming to
contain fiscal deficit at 5.3 percent
of the GDP during current fiscal,
despite a difficult economic
environment that has resulted in
less than anticipated level of
growth in tax and non-tax revenue.
The latest data signal the need for
further aggressive measures to
meet the revised target to reduce
the fiscal deficit to 5.3% of the GDP,
including a focussed push to
disinvestment. FE
Faking magnitude 8 in the
Himalayas, to handle
earthquakes better
Rather than wait for an earthquake
to happen in the high-risk
Himalayan region, disaster
managers will simulate the
aftermath of one of magnitude 8 on
the Richter scale.
“Since there is no method of
forecasting an earthquake — the
most instantaneous natural
disaster — we need to be better
prepared,” said Prof Harsh K
Gupta, member of the National
Disaster Management Authority.
The imagined earthquake will have
its epicentre at Sundarnagar in
Mandi, Himachal Pradesh. It will
have struck at 11.30 am on
February 13 and ruptured an entire
200-km faultline, causing tremors
of varying intensities and affecting
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
15 spots in Haryana, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab and the Union
territory of Chandigarh.
The NDMA and Delhi’s DDMA had
conducted the largest ever mock
disaster drill on February 15 last
year. The Delhi exercise will be the
benchmark for the upcoming one.
Eventualities such as a chemical
explosion, a bridge collapse, fire, a
gas leak and building collapses
will be simulated at flyovers,
markets, offices, government and
private schools and colleges,
hospitals, railway stations, bus
stands, airports and residential
areas.
“There are three aspects to it — to
develop realistic scenarios to know
the vulnerability and preparedness
of state machinery as well as the
public’s response; to make the
government machinery more
knowledgeable about such
scenarios; and to conduct
awareness campaigns and mock
drills,” Gupta said.
“We have estimated the population
that will be exposed to the risk as
against the total population density,
and, considering topography and
other surface features, the human
loss that such a scenario can lead
to,” Gupta said. Factoring in the
aftershocks that come 20-30
seconds after the first earthquake
impact, the NDMA has projected
that 231.8 lakh people will be
exposed to intensities X-IX on the
MSK scale, 323.6 lakh to intensities
IX-VIII, and 251.6 lakh to intensities
VIII-VII.
“The idea is to first bring about
participation of various
stakeholders, and check how all
the emergency support
functionaries — police control
room, fire brigades, ambulances,
hospitals, administration, disaster
management, volunteers —
respond, and to calculate their
response time,” an NDMA official
said. “The drills are likely to be held
at bus stands, markets, colleges,
schools, administrative offices,
railway stations... The Army will be
requested for observers to conduct
a third-party assessment.”
Over the last four months,
authorities in the areas to be
covered have mapped their
resources, prepared scenarios for
the mock drill, identified venues,
and trained volunteers as
dummies (dead, critically injured,
minorly injured). DDMA officials
said the process of laying the
groundwork began six months ago
in a series of meetings initiated
between NDMA vice chairman
15
Shashidhar Reddy and other
officials, the chief ministers of
Punjab, Haryana and Himachal
Pradesh, and the Chandigarh
governor.
The Himalayan region was counted
among the most vulnerable on the
global seismic hazard map
prepared during the International
Decade on Natural Disaster
Reduction during 1991-2000. And
experts say the number of deaths
due to natural disasters during the
first 12 years of the 21st century
has already crossed the total of the
20th century, despite
advancements in science and
sociology.
“Risk assessment and
preparedness can mitigate effects
of disasters to a great extent,”
Gupta said. Gupta, a seismologist
and a member of the Integrated
Research on Disaster Risk
programme as well as the UN
International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction, is credited with
developing India’s tsunami
warning system.
In 1977, a cyclone caused 20,000
deaths on the east coast of India. In
the years that followed, an early
warning system was established,
complete with meteorological
radars and emergency plans. As a
result fewer lives were lost — about
1,000 — when the same area was
hit by a cyclone of similar strength
in 1996, and again in 2005, when
the death toll was just 27.
1 February 2013
Gates emphasises
“quality metrics”,
technological firepower
1. What links the efforts to reduce
maternal and child mortality in
Bihar, the battle against cassava
plant diseases in Brazil and
tuberculosis interventions in South
Africa?
2. While one would be tempted to
assume these are United Nations
or World Bank initiatives, it is a
‘purely private sector’ supported
organisation that drives these
projects — the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation.
3. Bill Gates, the Foundation’s
head and Chairman of Microsoft
Corporation, commands the kind of
attention among global policy
makers that World Bank executives
would envy. Releasing his annual
letter to policymakers this week, he
said in an India-exclusive interview
with The Hindu that one word
Current Affairs Notes

summed up the guiding principle of
his foundation in pursuing its
broad, multi-pronged agenda:
measurement. At a time of
shrinking aid and development
budgets in many Western
economies, Mr. Gates’ emphasis
on ‘measurement’ is timely. Not
only is it rooted in an urge to ramp
up project efficiency across the
developing world but it is also, as
he admits in his letter, a response
to “governments... rightfully
demanding effectiveness in the
programs they pay for”.
Quality metrics
4. Apart from the sheer scale of
resources — the Foundation, with
an asset base of $32.6 billion, tops
104 of the 190 nations ranked
according to nominal GDP by the
World Bank — Mr. Gates said a
sharp focus on “quality metrics”
and keenness to deploy
technological firepower set his
approach apart from standard
public-sector strategies.
5. “Measurement is something that
comes naturally to the private
sector, because they have to have a
theory about how their business
works,” said Mr. Gates. Though
governments and philanthropic
groups had not done much
measurement “the good news is
that measurement is easier to do
in a world of satellite photos, cell
phones, cheap software and
databases”, he added.
6. His point resonates well in India,
which has seen the breathtaking
effectiveness of the polio
eradication campaign. Earlier this
year, the nation marked two years
since a child was crippled by polio
— an impossible outcome had it
not been for millions of volunteer
vaccinators fanning out across the
nation during immunisation weeks.
7. Lavishing praise on one of
India’s “biggest accomplishments
in the last decade” in his letter, Mr.
Gates points to the importance of
micro-level delivery mechanisms
the country adopted.
8. However, India has a long way to
go in other areas, according to him.
“The quality of execution is a
limiting factor,” he said. But he cited
Kerala as an example of a State
that achieved “great health results
not so much by putting in a lot more
money than other places”.
9. When pressed on specifics
regarding challenges to India’s
policy implementation, Mr. Gates
revealed as much about his
familiarity with the signs of failure
as he did about his impatience to
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
bring technology on board to
mitigate the situation.
Going digital
10. “Does grain for the poor get
diverted corruptly?” he asked, “Do
teachers show up? Are health-
worker jobs filled? Are they properly
trained? Why don’t kids get
vaccinated? We should be able to
register them digitally and follow up
digitally.”
11. This last innovation of “digital
vaccines”, Mr. Gates said, had
actually taken root in Bihar after the
Foundation ran the project in pilot
districts and then handed it over to
the government to propagate. But to
ask whether the Foundation can
boost effectiveness of government
policy implementation is to raise an
even bigger question: Is it possible
to harmonise private and public
sector strategies when they are
often driven by different motives
and represent varied
stakeholders?
12. Mr. Gates, at least, is
unequivocal about this. “A lot of
what we are able to do... is hire
what we call strategy units...
analytical-type personnel, create
the right tools and salary structures
for them and connect them up with
a government activity like
vaccination coverage or spending
or getting contraception out and
make sure that the increased
government investment is actually
being used appropriately.”
13. Sure enough, the Foundation
works with an impressive analytical
arsenal. Convinced by the data on
the financing of their worldwide
polio eradication drive, the
organisation keeps a steady eye on
the year-on-year requirement of $1
billion. Any less, warns Mr. Gates,
and “hundreds of thousands of
polio cases” will start cropping up.
Nigeria and Pakistan
14. Similarly, the Foundation
soldiers on to meet vaccination
targets in the two countries that
have proved the most dangerous
for vaccinators — Nigeria and
Pakistan. Nigeria witnessed a
crisis due to religion-based
objections to vaccines and fears
and misinformation about negative
effects. In December, militants in
Pakistan “stalked and killed” nine
women polio workers prompting
the United Nations to suspended
its anti-polio drive and risk a public
health crisis.
15. When queried about this,
Mr. Gates praised his staff’s
bravery, saying, “I am afraid of
unrest and instability... But it
doesn’t mean we are not going to
do our best to eradicate polio and
16
partner with our government to try to
save those million lives. By
persevering we honour the people
in Pakistan who died. The benefits
of getting rid of these things are so
clear.”
16. This points towards the core
debate on large-scale philanthropic
interventions that sit beside
government policies: can the
private sector model be applied
anywhere to developmental issues
without severe modifications to suit
local idiosyncrasies?
17. In Mexico, for example, where
Mr. Gates argued that the status
quo in the education sector was
“highly defended by the teachers’
unions”, is there some way that the
Foundation mantra of “personnel
system reform and technology”
could assuage concerns over
employment, equity and poverty?
18. While it may sound like the
perfect blueprint for a profit-driven
firm such as Microsoft, Mr. Gates
believes both the model and the
skills behind it ought to be
deployed more widely in
development policy.
Giving pledge
19. Indeed, along with Co-Chair
and wife Melinda, he has launched
what is called the ‘Giving Pledge’
(GP), Mr. Gates said with a twinkle
of pride in his eyes. GP is a fund-
raising drive aimed at tapping the
resources and skills of billionaires
across the world for the express
purpose of philanthropy.
20. Until 2013, it was focused on
ultra-high-net-worth individuals in
the U.S. and there were at least 91
dollar billionaires who had pledged
to give the majority of their wealth
away during their lifetimes or
through their wills.
21. Mr. Gates appeared enthused,
holding firm to the view that
philanthropy ought not to be “a
passive thing that you should do
through your will but... an enjoyable
thing that you do with the same
skills that helped you make the
money”.
22. “Just this year we are recruiting
internationally... but it will be a long
time before there are as many
non-U.S. GP members as U.S.
members, even though there are
more international billionaires than
U.S. billionaires,” he explained.
While there were “wonderful, giving
people, such as Azim Premji in
India”, Mr. Gates said, “it is just
less of a tradition”.
Current Affairs Notes

Rangarajan sees growth
rate moving closer to
about 6 p.c. this fiscal
1. Chairman of the Economic
Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister C. Rangarajan on Friday
expressed optimism that the
economy had the resilience to
bounce back to eight to 9 percent
growth rate and asserted that firm
action would be taken on the
macro-economic and sectoral
fronts to achieve this goal.
2. While the macro-economic
issues that needed to be tackled
were inflation, fiscal consolidation
and the balance of payments
deficit, the sectoral concerns that
urgently required attention were
those governing agriculture and
infrastructure, he said.
3. Dr.Rangarajan was addressing
the Chamber Day celebrations of
the Hindustan Chamber of
Commerce.
4. Some recent actions by the
Centre, especially in improving the
investment sentiment, clearly
indicated a commitment to taking
this road to achieve higher growth
rates, he said.
5. According to Dr.Rangarajan, the
new economic policy had nothing
that took away the role of the State;
it only redefined its charter. The
thrust of the policy was on
removing entry barriers to improve
domestic and international
competitiveness of industry.
6. In his estimation, the growth rate
would move closer to about 6 per
cent this fiscal, with manufacturing
expected to shift gears in the
January-March period. “The next
fiscal is going to be much better
when the full impact of the change
in investment sentiment that we are
seeing now will manifest and result
in private investment picking up,”
he said.
7. N. Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice
Chairman, Cognizant, who was a
special guest, said that while
medical technology saw amazing
advances over the years, the cost
factor remained prohibitive. He
called for applying technology for
cost targeting, especially in the
diagnostics sector that had a
pronounced electronic component.
Dr.Rangarajan presented the
‘Champion of Humanity’ awards
instituted by the Chamber to G.S.K.
Velu, Managing Director of Trivitron
Group of Companies, and
RadhikaSanthanakrishnan,
founder of Penn Nalam, an NGO
that works with women cancer
patients.
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Oil India share over-
subscribed
1. The disinvestment initiative of
the UPA Government gather pace
with Oil India Limited (OIL) stake
sale getting an over-whelming
response from the markets and
getting over-subscribed even
before the closure of market hours.
2. The government is estimated to
get a minimum of Rs. 3,100 crore
from the third divestment this fiscal.
The auction, which started in the
morning, got bids for over 7.50
crore shares by noon against an
offer of over 6.01 crore as per data
on National Stock Exchange. The
indicative price, which is the
weighted average price of all valid
bids, was Rs. 518.04 a share. At
this price, the government would
garner at least Rs. 3,100 crore. The
government had fixed the floor price
for the 10 per cent share auction of
OIL at Rs. 510 apiece. Shares of
OIL were quoting at Rs 527.8 on
NSE.
3. Bids for over 4.94 crore shares
were with 100 percent margin
which meant that if the bidder
decides to withdraw later they can
do so. The government is selling
6.01 crore shares or 10 percent of
its stake in OIL through the offer for
sale route. The government holds
78.43 percent stake in the company
which would come down to 68.43
per cent after disinvestment. OIL
got listed on stock exchanges in
2009. As on March 31, 2012, the
company had employee strength of
8,096.
4. The government has fixed a
disinvestment target of Rs 30,000
crore for the current financial year.
With the OIL issue going through
successfully, the receipts from PSU
stake sale are set to cross Rs.
10,000 crore while two more
months are remaining in the
current financial year.
‘Steps on to boost
investor trust’
1. Back from his road shows in
East Asia and Europe to allay
investor concerns over India’s
taxation policies for attracting
foreign investment and laying down
the contours of the reforms
agenda, Finance Minister P.
Chidambaram, on Thursday,
reiterated the government’s
commitment to fiscal consolidation
along with efforts to boost investor
confidence to get back to the high
growth path.
2. Addressing the country’s
financial sector regulators here as
17
part of pre-Budget consultations,
Mr. Chidambaram highlighted the
efforts being made to turn the
economy around and create a
more investor-friendly climate.
3. In his address while chairing the
sixth meeting of the Financial
Stability and Development Council
(FSDC), Mr. Chidambaram,
according to an official statement
here, reiterated the government’s
firm resolve on “observing the path
of fiscal consolidation and
imposition of fiscal targets and
policies that will make necessary
fiscal correction needed for the
economy and take the economy
back to the path of higher growth.”
4. The Finance Minister also
informed members that to
encourage foreign flows into India
and offer reassurance on the
positive investment climate, he had
recently held discussions with a
cross-section of international
investors at Singapore, Hong Kong,
London and Frankfurt last month
and “hoped to get positive results.”
5. The FSDC meeting was
attended by RBI Governor D.
Subbarao, SEBI Chairman U. K.
Sinha, PFRDA Chairman
YogeshAgarwal and IRDA
Chairman J. Hari Narayan. The
Finance Ministry was represented,
among others by Finance Secretary
R. S. Gujral, Economic Affairs
Secretary ArvindMayaram, Revenue
Secretary Sumit Bose,
Disinvestment Secretary Ravi
Mathur, and Chief Economic
Advisor Raghuram G. Rajan.
Ozone thinning has
changed ocean circulation
1. A hole in the Antarctic ozone layer
has changed the way waters in the
southern oceans mix, which
scientists say could impact global
climate change.The situation has
the potential to alter the amount of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
2. In a study, published in the
journal Science, Darryn W. Waugh
and his team show that subtropical
intermediate waters in the southern
oceans have become “younger” as
the upwelling, circumpolar waters
have gotten “older” - changes that
are consistent with the fact that
surface winds have strengthened
as the ozone layer has thinned.
3. “This may sound entirely
academic, but believe me, it’s not,”
said Mr. Waugh of the Morton K.
Blaustein Department of Earth and
Planetary Sciences at Johns
Hopkins’ Krieger School of Arts and
Sciences. “This matters because
the southern oceans play an
Current Affairs Notes

important role in the uptake of heat
and carbon dioxide, so any
changes in southern ocean
circulation have the potential to
change the global climate,” he said
in a statement.
4. Researchers used
measurements taken from the
early 1990s to the mid-to-late
2000s of the amount of a chemical
compound known as
“chlorofluorocarbon-12,” or CFC-
12, in the southern oceans.
5. CFC-12 was first produced
commercially in the 1930s and its
concentration in the atmosphere
increased rapidly until the 1990s
when it was phased out by the
Montreal Protocol on substances
that deplete the ozone layer.
6. Researchers were able to infer
changes in how rapidly surface
waters have mixed into the depths
of the southern oceans. Because
they knew that concentrations of
CFCs at the ocean surface
increased in tandem with those in
the atmosphere, they were able to
surmise that the higher the
concentration of CFC-12 deeper in
the ocean, the more recently those
waters were at the surface. The
inferred age changes - “younger” in
the subtropics and “older” nearer
the South Pole - are consistent with
the observed intensification of
surface westerly winds, which have
occurred primarily because of the
Antarctic ozone hole, suggesting
that stratospheric ozone depletion
is the primary cause of the
changes in ocean ventilation.
New technique to measures mass
of black holes
1. Scientists have developed a new
technique of measuring the mass
of Supermassive black holes which
they say could revolutionise our
understanding of how they form
and help to shape galaxies.
2. The method, developed by a
team including Oxford University
scientists, can spot the tell-tale
tracer of carbon monoxide within
the cloud of gas (mostly hydrogen)
circling a supermassive black hole
at the centre of a distant galaxy. By
detecting the velocity of the
spinning gas they are able to
‘weigh’ (determine the mass) the
black hole.
3. Detailed information is scarce on
supermassive black holes, thought
to be at the heart of most galaxies.
The problem is that most other
supermassive black holes are too
far away to examine properly even
with the Hubble Space Telescope.
4. The new method, when
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
combined with new telescopes
such as ALMA (Attacama Large
Millimetre/submillimetre Array),
promises to extend this black hole
‘weigh-in’ to thousands of distant
galaxies.
5. It will also enable the study of
black holes in spiral galaxies
(similar to our own Milky Way),
which are hard to target using
currently available techniques.
6. Technique exhibited
7. The team demonstrated the new
technique on the supermassive
black hole at the centre of a galaxy,
NGC 4526, in the constellation of
Virgo. NGC 4526 was chosen as a
test because it has been widely
studied but the team believes the
technique will work on a wide
range of different galaxies.
8. “We observed carbon monoxide
molecules in the galaxy we were
monitoring using the Combined
Array for Research in Millimetre-
wave Astronomy (CARMA)
telescope. With its super-sharp
images we were able to zoom right
into the centre of the galaxy and
observe the gas whizzing around
the black hole,” Tim Davis of the
European Southern Observatory,
lead author of the paper, said in a
statement.
9. “This gas moves at a speed
which is determined by the black
hole’s mass, and the distance from
it. By measuring the velocity of the
gas at each position, we can
measure the mass of the black
hole,” Davis said.
10. “Because of the limitations of
existing telescopes and techniques
we had run out of galaxies with
supermassive black holes to
observe,” said Dr. Michele
Cappellari of Oxford University’s
Department of Physics, another
author of the paper.
11. “Now with this new technique
and telescopes like ALMA we will
be able to examine the relationship
between thousands of more distant
galaxies and their black holes
giving us an insight into how
galaxies and black holes co-
evolve,” Cappellari said.
Zebrafish stem cells could
heal human retinas
1. Stem cells from zebrafish, the
staple of genetic research, could
regenerate damaged cones in
retinas and restore eyesight to
people.
2. Rods and cones in the eyes are
the most important photoreceptors.
In humans, rods provide night
18
vision, while cones offer a full-
colour look at the world during the
day.
3. It was not known, says University
of Alberta researcher Ted Allison,
whether stem cells could be
instructed to only replace the cones
in its retina. This could have
important implications for human
eyesight, the journal Public Library
of Science ONE reports.
4. Almost all success in
regenerating photoreceptor cells to
date had been limited to rods, not
cones. Most previous experiments
were conducted on nocturnal
rodents, animals that require good
night vision and have far more rods
than cones, according to an Alberta
statement.
5. “This is the first time in an
animal research model that stem
cells have only repaired damaged
cones,” said Allison. “For people
with damaged eyesight, repairing
the cones is most important
because it would restore day-time
colour vision.
6. Researchers say this shows
some hope for stem cell therapy
that could regenerate damaged
cones in people, especially in the
cone-rich regions of the retina that
provide daytime/colour vision.
Long live your liver
1. As the largest single organ in our
bodies and one of the most
complex, the liver is very difficult to
replace or replicate artificially. And
while diseases that affect the liver
can be treated, they can hardly be
cured. So never make the mistake
of ignoring this life sustaining
organ until it is too late.
2. It’s as soft as a rose petal and
doctors refer to it as the chemical
factory of our bodies. But while the
heart gets star billing, many of us
tend to completely ignore the life
sustaining liver, mostly because
we’re not aware of how it tirelessly
strives to ensure our good health.
“The liver has a multitude of
functions,” says Dr A.R NitinRao,
consultant gastroenterologist and a
specialist in hepatopancreatobiliary
surgery (treating diseases
associated with the liver, pancreas
and bile) at MS Ramiah Memorial
Hospital, Bangalore. “It produces
bile (and other enzymes) which
help in digestion of food; it also
aids in the storage of fats,
eliminates poisonous substances
from our bodies and provides us
with better immunity. It is important
that we take some simple steps on
a daily basis to care for this organ
better.”
Current Affairs Notes

3. Don’t overdose: There are many
ways in which we unknowingly
abuse our liver but drinking
excessive alcohol is just one of
these. Ensuring that your alcohol
intake is regulated in small doses
should be the first step to
maintaining a healthy liver. Also,
never overdose on any medication,
especially over-the-counter drugs.
Many of us tend to get careless
about dosage, but if you take
medication often for chronic
ailments, then this is something
you need to approach with caution.
“Every medicine you ingest is full of
chemicals that are finally
processed in the liver,” says Dr
NitinRao. Too many chemicals can
cause the liver to harden and can
result in permanent damage.
“Paracetamol in particular (the
most commonly prescribed fever
medication) can be very damaging
to your liver if taken in excessive
amounts.” So use medication
judiciously and the next time you’re
tempted to pop pills for a mild head
or body ache, spare a thought for
the health of your liver.
4. Beware of a fatty liver: When
you eat a diet that is rich in
calories, your liver will work over-
time to process all that extra fat.
“While some amount of fat in the
liver is normal, when it makes up
more, that 5-10% of the weight of
the liver, it could lead to serious
complications. “An overload of iron
in the diet, obesity, excessive
alcohol consumption—all this can
cause a fatty liver. A fatty liver is
undesirable because it produces a
thicker bile solution,” explains Dr
Prof. N. Rangabashyam, a pioneer
in pancreatic hepatobiliary surgery
in India and former Head of the
Department of Surgical
Gastroenterology and Proctology,
Madras Medical College and
Government General Hospital,
Chennai. “This can cause stones
to form in the gall bladder which
require surgical intervention to
remove.”
5. Avoid food traps and go
green: Your diet plays an important
role in keeping your liver sound, but
what you don’t eat is as important
as what you do. “There is a species
of wild mushroom that can cause
liver failure immediately upon
consumption,” warns Dr Rao.
“While button mushrooms and
most other species are harmless,
one must avoid mushrooms grown
in the wild, because the poisonous
variety can be sold unknowingly in
rural areas.”
6. “Many vegetarians don’t
consume enough protein,” says
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Dr Rangabashyam. “A chronic
protein deficiency can cause
hardening and sclerosis of the liver,
resulting in permanent damage.
For instance, we tend to eat more
carbohydrate rich food like idli-dosa
for breakfast, accompanied by a
sambhar that is devoid of
vegetables. To ensure adequate
protein intake, make chick-peas
(sundal), dhal, and soybean a
regular feature in your menu. A
vegetable dish with breakfast (for
instance, spinach, drumstick or
ladies finger) is a must as it adds
more fibre, aids digestion and
prevents other complications such
as constipation and piles.”
Traditional herbs like keezhanelli
have long since been used to treat
a malfunctioning liver. “These
herbs are effective in enhancing
liver function and can be used as a
preventive aid, but studies are yet
to prove that they can cure liver
diseases,” says Dr Rao.
7. Stock up on antioxidants: Foods
that are rich in antioxidants are
especially good for the liver. “The
paan leaf (vethilai) taken plain
without the supari is an excellent
source of antioxidants and has a
protective effect. The curry leaf is
good source as well, but though it
is used in cooking, it is
unfortunately discarded when we
consume the food. Garlic and
turmeric also help enhance liver
function,” says Dr Rao.
8. Stay away from plastic: Drinking
a water bottle that lies in the sun,
placing food in a flimsy plastic
take-away carton and reheating it at
home— plastic is a part of our daily
lives. “But cheap plastic has
several layers and when this melts
and is consumed, it can pose a
serious hazard to the health of our
liver, even causing liver cancer,”
says Dr Rao.
9. Regular check-ups and
vaccinations: Today, vaccinations
are available to prevent two of the
most dreaded liver diseases—
Hepatitis A and B. These viral
infections, when unchecked, can
lead to severe jaundice and have
the potential to destroy the liver.
However there is no vaccine to
provide protection against Hepatitis
C, though research is ongoing.
Every year, after the age of 35,
doctors recommend that you take a
liver function test that can help
ascertain whether the liver is
functioning normally. An ultrasound
is also essential. “The liver has the
remarkable power to regenerate
itself, so no matter what abuse you
have subjected it to, there exists a
miraculous power of healing and
19
restoration,” says Dr
Rangabashyam.
Geographic mapping
services log $3 billion
sales, 1.35 lakh jobs in
2011
Geographic mapping and location-
based services (geo services)
generated $3 billion in revenue and
created 1.35 lakh jobs in 2011 in
the country, a study by Google has
said.
According to the Boston Consulting
Group (BCG) report commissioned
by Google, the impact of geo
services industry is valued at
approximately 15 times of the
current size.
“In India, geo services help Indian
businesses drive $40-45 billion in
revenue, save $70-75 billion in
costs and affect 8-9 million jobs in
India,” it said.
The Indian geo services industry is
comprised of companies that
process location data, produce
geo-enabled software, and expert
industries that use geospatial data
to generate insights.
The report also found that Indian
consumers are also willing to
spend $1.5-2 billion more than they
currently do for geospatial services
like online maps, navigation
systems and local searches.
“Geo services helped generate $2
billion in revenue within the Indian
accommodation and food services
industry alone. Users benefit as it
makes it easier for them to find the
information on local offerings and
creating valuable efficiencies in
their day-to-day lives,” Google India
Head Product LaliteshKatragadda
said.
Geo services like Google Maps are
helping to grow the Indian economy
by enabling job opportunities, and
paving the way towards future
innovation, he added.
“To enable continued growth,
governments, companies,
researchers and consumers all
need to encourage mapping
innovations and investments in
India,” Katragadda said.
A variety of other industries like
transportation use geo services for
making their businesses more
efficient and productive.
“Currently, geo services represent
0.2 per cent of India’s GDP and
affect 2 per cent of the national
workforce. However, there is
tremendous room to grow this
Current Affairs Notes

industry and create a lasting
source of competitive advantage for
India,” said PrashantAgrawal, one
of the BCG consultants who
worked on the report.
Executive Committee on
Climate Change
constituted
The Prime Minister has decided to
constitute an Executive Committee
on Climate Change to assist the
Prime Minister’s Council on
Climate Change. The Executive
Committee on Climate Change
would focus on the following tasks:
1. Assist the PM’s Council on
Climate Change in evolving a
coordinated response to issues
relating to climate change at the
National level.
2. Regularly monitor the
implementation of the eight
national missions and other
initiatives on Climate Change.
3. Advise the PM’s Council on
Climate Change on modifications
in the objectives, strategies and
structure of the missions, as may
be necessary.
4. Co-ordinate with various
agencies on issues relating to
climate change.
The Chairman of the Executive
Committee on Climate Change will
be the Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister and Secretary,
Ministry of Environment and
Forests will be the Member-
Convenor. Other members of the
Committee include Cabinet
Secretary, Finance Secretary,
Secretary, Planning Commission,
Secretary, Ministry of Power,
Secretary, Ministry of New &
Renewable Energy, Secretary,
Ministry of Urban Development,
Secretary, Water Resources,
Secretary, Department of Science &
Technology, Secretary, Department
of Agriculture & co-operation,
Secretary, Department of
Agricultural Research & Education,
Secretary, Department of Earth
Sciences, Secretary, Ministry of
Coal, Secretary, Ministry of
Petroleum & Natural Gas,
Secretary, Department of Economic
Affairs. The Chairman of Executive
Committee on Climate Change
may invite any other officer/Expert to
the meetings as may be necessary.
The PM’s Council on Climate
Change and the Executive
Committee on Climate Change
would be serviced by Ministry of
Environment and Forests.
The Prime Minister’s Council on
Climate Change was constituted in
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
2007, in order to co-ordinate
National Action for Assessment,
Adaptation and Mitigation of
Climate Change. The National
Action Plan of Climate Change
(NAPCC) was released by the
Prime Minister in June 2008. Under
the NAPCC, with the approval of
PM’s Council on Climate Change,
eight national missions are being
implemented.
2 February 2013
NREGS: national award
for Vizag
The Steel City has received a
national award for successfully
implementing the Mahatma Gandhi
NREGS and thereby improving
social equality.
Collector V. Sheshadri received the
award from Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh at a function held
in New Delhi on Saturday.
A beneficiary K. Ramanamma
shared her experiences at the
meeting in the presence of Dr.
Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia
Gandhi
Quake rocks Japan
island; no tsunami
A 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck
off Japan’s Hokkaido island late on
Saturday, but there was no tsunami
warning.
Concept:
A tsunami is a series of water
waves caused by the displacement
of a large volume of a body of water,
typically an ocean or a large lake.
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions
and other underwater explosions
(including detonations of
underwater nuclear devices),
landslides, glacier calvings,
meteorite impacts and other
disturbances above or below water
all have the potential to generate a
tsunami.
Tsunami waves do not resemble
normal sea waves, because their
wavelength is far longer. Rather
than appearing as a breaking
wave, a tsunami may instead
initially resemble a rapidly rising
tide, and for this reason they are
often referred to as tidal waves.
Tsunamis generally consist of a
series of waves with periods
ranging from minutes to hours,
arriving in a so-called “wave
train”.[4] Wave heights of tens of
metres can be generated by large
events. Although the impact of
tsunamis is limited to coastal
20
areas, their destructive power can
be enormous and they can affect
entire ocean basins; the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami was among
the deadliest natural disasters in
human history with over 230,000
people killed in 14 countries
bordering the Indian Ocean.
The Greek historian Thucydides
suggested in 426 BC that tsunamis
were related to submarine
earthquakes, but the
understanding of a tsunami’s
nature remained slim until the 20th
century and much remains
unknown. Major areas of current
research include trying to
determine why some large
earthquakes do not generate
tsunamis while other smaller ones
do; trying to accurately forecast the
passage of tsunamis across the
oceans; and also to forecast how
tsunami waves would interact with
specific shorelines.
LED lights on roads in
added city areas soon
1. The civic body has initiated a
programme to improve lighting with
energy-saving lamps in the added
areas of the city.
2. In the first phase of the proposal,
1.1 lakh streetlights will be
installed. The Chennai Corporation
has floated tenders for over 9,000
LED fittings in eight zones.
3. The work will begin in the third
week of February. The LED
streetlights will be commissioned
in 45 days.
4. The initiative of the civic body is
expected to help residents in the
added areas of Tiruvottiyur, Manali,
Madhavaram, Ambattur,
Valsaravakkam, Alandur, Perungudi
and Sholinganallur.
5. The LED lights will considerably
improve lighting in the added zones
as they last five times longer than
sodium-vapour lamps.
6. The initiative is also expected to
bring down the level of energy
consumption by 25 per cent and
save power in the coming year. The
civic body was also impressed by
the aesthetic value of the LED
streetlights.
7. The 426 sq. km. of the city have
over 2.2 lakh streetlights and the
expanded areas have 88,000
streetlights.
8. Even though roads in the seven
zones of Tondiarpet, Royapuram,
Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar,
Teynampet, Kodambakkam and
Adyar in the old city limits have
superior illumination with a very low
percentage of faulty streetlights, the
added areas continue to have the
Current Affairs Notes

old system of illumination put in
place by many erstwhile
panchayats in the region.
9. The civic body has divided the
work to install LED fittings into 68
packages in order to speed up
work.
10. The new streetlights will be put
up 25 metres apart from each
other.
11. As many as 1,000 roads in the
added areas will be illuminated by
the LED streetlights. Many of the
roads are bus routes. The
streetlights will have underground
cables.
12. The LED streetlights have
advantages such as improved
night visibility due to higher colour
rendering and higher colour
temperature.
13. The significantly longer
lifespan, lower energy
consumption, reduced
maintenance costs, absence of
disposal hazards and lower carbon
footprint has made the civic body
opt for LED streetlights.
NH-5 to be widened
The National Highway Authority of
India (NHAI) will widen the National
Highway (NH)-5 between
Vijayawada-Gundagolanu. A 3G
notification has been issued in The
Hindu on January 20. The farmers
who claim ownership on the lands
will have to produce relevant
documents — registration, link,
pattadar passbook — before RDO
Vijayawada. The farmers of
Gollapudi will have to appear on
Monday, while Jakkampudi and
Ambapuram farmers will have to
appear on Tuesday. Nunna farmers
(February 6) and K.V. Kundrika,
Pathapadu and P. Nainavaram
(February 7). The farmers will have
to bring both original and
photocopy of the documents.
Iran develops fighter jet
Iran has trumpeted military, space
and nuclear advances in a series
of announcements coinciding with
a new bid by world powers to revive
stalled talks with Tehran over its
atomic ambitions.
Unveiling it on Saturday, President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a
futuristic-looking fighter jet he said
ranks among the most
sophisticated aircraft, media
reports said. Code-named the
Qaher (Conqueror) F-313 and
shaped similar to stealth bombers,
the grey warplane was designed
and built domestically, Mr.
Ahmadinejad told an audience of
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Defence Ministry brass.
It “is among the most advanced
fighter jets in the world”, he said
while insisting the F-313 was “a
deterrent” meant to send a
“message of peace” — despite its
aggressive name.
Low radar signature
Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi
was quoted in media as saying the
plane boasted a very low radar
signature, and that “advanced
materials” were used to build it.
The unveiling comes as Iran marks
the 34th anniversary of the 1979
revolution, which replaced the U.S.-
backed Shah with an Islamic
regime. On January 28, Iran said it
sent a monkey into space to an
altitude of 120 km for a sub-orbital
flight, challenging UNSC sanctions
against development of its ballistic
programme. — AFP
SEBI plans colour-coded
MF products
1. In a bid to caution people about
the risks associated with a certain
mutual fund product, SEBI is
planning to introduce colour- coded
mutual fund products to depict the
level of risk involved with the
instrument, according to a senior
official of the capital market
regulator.
2. Addressing a conference here, S
V MuralidharRao, executive director
, SEBI said that a SEBI
subcommittee had been set up to
deal with the introduction of product
labelling for MF schemes.
3. He also said that SEBI was
working on a long-term policy for
the MF sector.
4. Mr Rao felt that sound business
models, better distribution
networks and increased investor
awareness about mutual funds
could propel a sustainable growth
path for the industry, which now
commands an asset under
management of Rs 7.5 lakh crore.
Of the 45 million folios, 97 percent
was with retail investors.
5. D. Chatterjee, the managing
director and CEO of SBI Funds
Management Pvt Ltd felt that for the
sustainability of AUM, the MF
industry should earn the trust of
investors.
Cancer cuisine
Red Meat: It’s more tempting than
white meat but various studies
suggest that it increases the risk of
cancer death by 10 per cent. It also
increases risk of breast, colon and
prostate cancers. To be on the safe
21
side, limit intake to 300 gm a week.
French fries and chips: The
process in making French fries and
potato wafers creates acrylamide,
which has been linked to cancer.
This is a carcinogen that is present
in foods that have been baked, fried
or grilled at temperatures higher
than 120°C.
Doughnuts: Doughnuts increase
risk of cancer in more than one
way. First, they are made with white
flour, sugar and hydrogenated oils.
Then they are deep-fried at high
temperatures. The high sugar
content influences the production of
insulin, encouraging growth and
division of cancerous cells,
especially in the pancreas.
Pickles: Everyone loves pickle
because it enhances the taste of a
boring dish. Unfortunately pickled
foods may increase risk of cancer
of the stomach, particularly if they
are very salty.
Sodas and soft drinks: These
contain chemical additives, sugar
and caffeine. Having just two soft
drinks a week appears to nearly
double the risk of getting pancreatic
cancer.
White bread and rice: Anything that
is white is unhealthy because white
means processed food. White
bread comes from bleached flour
but even unbleached white flour is
processed and contains a high
level of saturated fats, which are
closely linked to breast cancer.
White rice has a high sugar content
compared to brown rice.
To balance this out, there are other
foods that can help reduce the risk.
Include the following foods with
cancer-fighting benefits in your diet:
Cruciferous vegetables: Broccoli,
cabbage, and cauliflower contain a
chemical component called indole-
3-carbinol that can combat breast
cancer by converting a cancer-
promoting oestrogen into a more
protective variety.
Organic green tea: This is one of
the most well studied foods and
has been on the health charts for
many years because of its cancer
fighting properties. It contains
antioxidants that help prevent
damage to cells and help in cases
of bladder cancer, breast cancer,
and even skin cancer. Green tea
also modulates blood sugar levels.
Mushrooms: Many mushrooms
contain compounds that can help
the body fight cancer. Shitake,
maitake, reishi and even the
inexpensive button mushrooms all
have immunity-boosting properies
Current Affairs Notes

that help prevent cancer. Reishi
mushrooms have been shown to
inhibit the growth of malignant
tumours. Maitake mushrooms help
reduce blood sugar levels and
thereby reduce cancer risk.
Garlic: Garlic contains a powerful
plant phytonutrient called allicin
that protects the body against
cancer. Studies show that Allicin
has the power to kill tumour cells.
Garlic also releases a powerful
antioxidant effect that helps protect
against free radicals, which can
cause cancer.
Grapefruits: Like orange and other
citrus fruits, grapefruits contain
monoterpenes that help prevent
cancer by sweeping carcinogens
out of the body. They also contain
vitamin C, beta-carotene, and folic
acid.
Tomato: The antioxidant lycopene,
which gives it the red colour, plays
an important role in reducing risk of
many cancers. They are also a vital
source of vitamin C antioxidant that
can prevent cellular damage
leading to cancer.
Turmeric: Turmeric possesses
medicinal properties because it
hampers production of the
inflammation-related enzyme cyclo-
oxygenase 2, whose levels are
abnormally high in certain
inflammatory cancers, especially
bowel and colon cancer.
Reducing mortality
1. Lung cancer is hard to treat.
According to the World Health
Organisation statistics, lung cancer
accounted for 18.2 percent of
cancer mortalities in 2010. Survival
rates are poor partly because it
goes undetected till it is in an
advanced state.
2. As the lung does not contain
nerve endings, the occurrence of a
tumor does not cause direct pain.
This is experienced when the
tumor reaches the pleura or the
tissues surrounding the lungs, or
when it presses on nerve
structures in proximity. The tumor
can also compress or invade other
organs and cause other
symptoms.
3. A clinical examination followed by
a chest x-ray or a CT scan are the
first steps in diagnosis. This is
then confirmed by a biopsy. A PET-
CT is the best to pick up distant
metastases in lung cancer as it
can detect tumors as small as 3-4
mm in any part of the body except
the brain.
4. There are two main types of lung
cancers classified according to the
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
size and appearance of malignant
cells, namely, non-small cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) and small-cell
lung cancer (SCLC).
5. Traditional treatment options are
surgery, chemotherapy and
radiation therapy. New
developments in imaging and
radiation techniques have helped
treatment of lung cancers. One
such innovation is the
Radiosurgery-CyberKnife
technique. Little known in India, it is
an advanced method of robotic
radiosurgery for lung tumors,
whether primary and early stage,
recurrent, or secondary, central or
peripheral. The technology delivers
high doses of radiation with great
accuracy with minimal radiation
exposure and side effects as
compared to traditional
radiotherapy procedures.
6. Because of their anatomical
location, lung tumors “move a lot”
with respiration. The new
technique’s image guidance
capability, coupled with software
that predicts the tumour’s location
according to the respiratory cycle,
allows for a correction of the
radiation beam during the
sessions, unlike other image-
guided conventional radiation
techniques.
7. Compared to invasive surgical
methods, the healing process
involves fewer complications. The
system’s advanced technology
enables treatment to be tailored for
the needs of the individual.
8. Early detection is the best
defence against cancer. According
to the National Cancer Registry
Project, India, more than 60 per
cent of patients are diagnosed late
due to poor awareness of
symptoms.
Symptoms
Chronic cough, abnormal
shortness of breath, repeated lung
infections, coughing up blood,
change in voice, persistent thoracic
pain and permanent swelling of
neck and face.
Lung cancer can also manifest
through general symptoms such
as fatigue, weight loss, prolonged
fever, headache, nervous
disorders, progressive swelling of
fingers.
Causes
Chronic exposure to tobacco
smoke, including passive smoking.
Other risk factors include
occupational hazards, exposure to
contaminated drinking water,
breathing polluted air and a family
history of the disease.
22
Earthquake hits the coast
of the Solomon Islands
A 6.6-magnitude quake hit the
Solomon Islands, Australian
seismologists said, but there were
no reports of damage and a
tsunami threat was also ruled out.
The quake struck today near the
Santa Cruz islands about 623
kilometres (387 miles) from the
capital Honiara and was followed
by a series of smaller aftershocks,
according to Geoscience Australia.
The US Geological Survey initially
measured the quake at 6.7-
magnitude but later revised it down
to 6.3 at a depth of 19 kilometres.
“We’ve got it at 6.6,” Geoscience
Australia seismologist Jonathan
Bathgate said, adding that the
quake was “very unlikely” to have
generated a tsunami.
A separate bulletin from the the
Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center also ruled out the
threat of a Pacific-wide destructive
tsunami.
The Solomon Islands are part of
the “Ring of Fire”, a zone of tectonic
activity around the Pacific Ocean
that is subject to earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions.
In 2007 a tsunami following an 8.1-
magnitude earthquake killed at
least 52 people in the Solomons
and left thousands homeless.
Bathgate said the latest tremors
follow two 6.1-magnitude quakes
and one 6.4-magnitude in the
same area over the past few days.
“There’s been four quakes over six
(magnitude) in the last three days
in that area. It doesn’t necessarily
indicate that there’s anything bigger
to come. There could be some
more to come or there could be
nothing. We just don’t know.”
Global warming leading to
extreme rainfall
In the most comprehensive review
of changes to extreme rainfall ever
undertaken, researchers from the
University of Adelaide, evaluated
the association between extreme
rainfall and atmospheric
temperatures at more than 8000
weather gauging stations around
the world, the telegraph reported.
“The results are that rainfall
extremes are increasing on
average globally. They show that
there is a 7 percent increase in
extreme rainfall intensity for every
degree increase in global
atmospheric temperature,” lead
Current Affairs Notes

author Dr Seth Westra said.
“Assuming an increase in global
average temperature by 3 to 5
degrees Celsius by the end of the
21st century, this could mean very
substantial increases in rainfall
intensity as a result of climate
change,” he said.
Dr Westra, a Senior Lecturer with
the University of Adelaide’s School
of Civil, Environmental and Mining
Engineering and member of the
Environment Institute, said trends
in rainfall extremes were examined
over the period from 1900 to 2009
to determine whether they were
becoming more intense or
occurring more frequently.
“The results show that rainfall
extremes were increasing over this
period, and appear to be linked to
the increase in global temperature
of nearly a degree which also took
place over this time.
“If extreme rainfall events continue
to intensify, we can expect to see
floods occurring more frequently
around the world.” Dr Westra
added.
The strongest increases occurred
in the tropical countries, although
some level of increase seems to
be taking place at the majority of
weather gauging stations.
“Most of these tropical countries
are very poor and thus not well
placed to adapt to the increased
risk of flooding, which puts them in
a larger threat of devastation,” he
said.
3 February 2013
Long after Lepers Act is
gone, discrimination still
stays on statute
1. The draconian Indian Lepers Act,
1898 that sought to shun people
afflicted with the disease, may have
gone long ago but there are more
than a dozen laws discriminating
against them despite its being
curable and non-contagious now.
2. Several petitions have been filed
before the Centre, including the
RajyaSabha, seeking amendments
to the discriminating clauses. A
draft Bill for The Leprosy Affected
Persons Welfare is also in
circulation. It seeks to create a
separate body for the welfare of
leprosy affected people (LAP), on
the lines of the Disability
Commission, in addition to
reservation in educational
institutions and employment. There
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
is also a provision for monthly
pension for those unable to work.
3. Amendments have been sought
to Section 56 of the Indian Railways
Act 1989, which empowers the
Railways to refuse to carry a
person suffering from leprosy;
Section 13 (IV) of the Hindu
Marriage Act, Section 27 (1) (g) of
the Special Marriage Act, the
Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act,
the Indian Christian Marriage Act
and the Indian Divorce Act, under
which the spouse can seek
separation if his/her partner is
suffering from a “virulent and
incurable form of leprosy.”
4. “There are misperceptions about
leprosy and LAP. With the
advancement of science, the
disease is curable and non-
contagious now. In this changed
scenario, it is necessary to review
and amend nearly 16 Acts,”
Brahmdutt, president, Federation of
Leprosy Organisations, told The
Hindu.
5. “Leprosy affected persons are
not allowed to get driving licence in
Maharashtra due to certain
discriminatory provisions.”
Therefore, an amendment has
been sought in the Maharashtra
State Road Transport Corporation
Act, 1980.
6. An amendment also has been
proposed in the Life Insurance
Corporation Act, in which people
with infectious diseases are made
to pay a higher premium; the
Persons with Disabilities Act, the
Industrial Disputes Act, the Bombay
Municipal Corporation Act (Section
419), the Hindu Adoption and
Maintenance Act (Section 18), the
Rehabilitation Council of India Act
and the Prevention of Begging Act
(in Maharashtra, Gujarat and
Karnataka).
7. The now annulled Indian Lepers
Act, enacted by the British, sought
to segregate the affected persons
by creating asylums at least 10 km
away from main cities. The affected
persons had no property rights or
even marriage rights. It was
repealed in 1985 after leprosy was
declared curable with multidrug
therapy (MDT).
The rice is right
1. For many generations, the
tribesmen of the Wayanad district
of Kerala have employed a
traditional method called
“Moodakettal” to preserve nearly 35
varieties of indigenous rice seeds.
These include aromatic rice seeds
such as Gandhakasala, Kayama
and Jeerakasala; short-term rice
23
varieties such as
Thonnuramthondy and Palthondy;
medicinal varieties such as Navara
and Chennellu; and drought-
resisting varieties such as
Chenthadi and Chenthondi. This
process, which goes on for up to
two months, helps in the event of a
crisis. If the long-term seeds are
destroyed in climatic vagaries, the
short-term seed varieties are used
to avoid famine.
2. The process of “Moodakettal”
takes place seven to 15 days after
harvest. For preparing each Mood,
different varieties of seeds are
dried separately for nearly 15 days
in an open place, day and night.
Later, each species of rice seeds
are wrapped in a layer of dry hay or
plantain sheaths with bamboo
plinths. Eachmooda can hold 10 to
60 kg of rice seeds. The seeds
preserved in a mooda can be
conserved for a longer period
without fear of pest attack or
moisture loss. Besides
preservation, the tribesmen
(including Kurichya and Kuruma)
have been propagating the seeds
by disbursing them to other
farmers showing interest in
cultivating rice.
3. As far as the tribesmen are
concerned every stage of paddy
cultivation is a divine activity as well
as a ritual. Hence, the occasions
such as the sowing of paddy seeds
on the field and the transplanting of
paddy and harvest are celebrated
with religious fervour. From the
sowing of seeds to the harvest,
they consider the advice
of Nikal (the spirit of their
ancestors) or a shaman, the
representative of the vegetation
cults.
4. Cheruvayaltharavadu
(homestead), near Kammana in
Wayanad district, is a treasure
house of indigenous rice seeds
and the members of the tribal
homestead have preserved a rare
collection of 29 varieties. “A few
generations ago, our ancestors
had cultivated more than 150
varieties of rice seeds, but most of
them were lost over time,” says
Raman of Cheruvayal, who owns
2.5 hectares of land and is yet to
get any assistance from
governmental agencies.
5. The Edathana Kurichiya
tharavadu, at Edathana near Valad,
also has a rare collection of germ
plasm. Every year, the members of
this homestead have been
cultivating different varieties of
seeds on 5.6 hectares of land
owned by the joint family. “I fear that
the traditional practice may vanish
Current Affairs Notes

in the near future as the number of
experts in ‘Moodakettal’ is very few
now,” says AchappanVaidyar, 87,
the chieftain of the homestead and
traditional tribal healer. “The new
generation has lost interest in
‘Moodakettal’, as they prefer to
store seeds in gunny or plastic
bags.”
6. “All the work, from sowing to
harvesting, is being done by my
family and we have no practice of
purchasing rice from shops,” says
AchappanVaidyar. “Now, many
farmers in the district are showing
interest in traditional rice
cultivation, thanks to the various
afflictions suffered by the hybrid
varieties recently. We are giving
them seeds from our gene bank.”
7. Instead of selling seeds for
cash, they follow a type of barter
system: for every pothi
(approximately 60 litres) of rice
seeds purchased, the buyer should
return 70 litres of seeds after
harvest. AchappanPeruvadi, a tribal
chieftain near Vellamunda in
Wayanad, says, “I plan to set up a
gene bank of traditional rice seeds
to preserve the remaining seeds
for our future generation, even
though it is not a remunerative
business.”
Eat millet and steer clear
of disease
1. To hundreds of women gathered
at the Tamukkam Auditorium, it was
a message that brought cheer.
When the chairperson of
Kalanjiam, a confederation of
women’s self-help groups,
Chinnapillai, recommended the
consumption of millet on a daily
basis, they cheered. Millet is the
staple diet in many households.
2. The message was ‘boycott junk
food; go back to small millets.’ The
women and children had
assembled at the Tamukkam
Ground at the culmination of
‘Walkathon 2013,’ organised by
Dhan Foundation with the theme —
‘Food security through agricultural
biodiversity: relevance of small
millets.’
3. Outside the venue were posters
carrying information on the
nutritious value of each variety of
small millets such as ‘kezhvaragu’
(ragi) and ‘panivaragu’ (common
millet).
4. Their samples were kept on
display. Several speakers,
including Lakshmikanthan of
VayalagaIyakkam, explained how
consumption of small millets
controlled the spread of diabetes,
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
high and low blood pressure, and
anaemia. Exclusion of ‘God’s
grain,’ the small millets, and
overdependence on rice and wheat
had accelerated the spread of
urban ailments into the hinterland.
5. Palanichamy, the convenor of
Walkathon 2013, showcased the
potential of small millets to prevent
malnutrition among women and
children.
6. Pandiammal from Peraiyur
recalled how food made from small
millets provided them with the
strength and stamina to labour in
agricultural fields from dawn to
dusk. The absence of millet in the
daily diet was sending people to
hospital, she noted.
7. M. P. Vasimalai, Executive
Director, Dhan Foundation,
speaking on the sidelines of the
meet, said that the objective of
organising the walkathon in 26
district headquarters in five States
was to promote agricultural
biodiversity through small millets.
The Dhan Foundation had come
out with a 10-point strategy to
encourage cultivation of rain-fed
millet. The strategy includes
creation of farm ponds,
preservation of oorunis (used for
drinking water) and kanmais (used
for irrigation) and development of
orchards and seed farms.
8. Food processing centres to
come out with value-added
products such as cookies using
small millets would be started in
Peraiyur in Madurai district, and
Anjatti and Javvadu Hills in
Krishnagiri district. Research
conducted by the Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University showed that
millets facilitated slow release of
sucrose and glucose and helped in
controlling diabetes.
National Awards for
E-Governance
1. The Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances,
Government of India, in association
with the Department of Electronics
& Information Technology,
Government of India and the
Department of Information
Technology & Communication,
Government of Rajasthan,
is organizing 16th National
Conference on e-Governance on 11
- 12 February, 2013 in Jaipur,
Rajasthan.
2. The National Conference on e-
Governance has been providing a
platform to policy makers,
practitioners, industry leaders and
academia to deliberate, interact
24
and recommend actionable
strategies. In this scenario, the
16th National Conference on e-
Governance based on the theme of
“Towards an Open Government”
seeks to explore effective
strategies for social, financial &
digital inclusion and transformation
in governance through innovation
and technology.
a. To recognise and promote
excellence in implementation of e-
Governance initiatives, the
Department of Administrative
Reforms and Public Grievances,
Government of India, presents
National Awards for e-Governance
every year.
3. Category of Awards are:
A) Excellence in Government
Process Re-engineering
B) Exemplary Horizontal Transfer of
ICT-based Best Practice
C) Outstanding Performance in
Citizen-Centric Service Delivery
D) Innovative Usage of Technology
in e-Governance
E) Exemplary Usage of ICT by
PSUs
F) Best Government Portal
G) Sectoral Award (Focus Sector –
Social Sector Programs)
4. Gold, Silver and Bronze icons will
be awarded in each
category. State-wise award are as
follows:Assam-01, Karnataka-01,
Gujrat-04, Jharkhand-01, Andhra
Pradesh -02, Odisha- 02,
Rajasthan-01, Madhya Predesh-
02., Jammu & Kashmir -01, Bihar-
01, Govt. of India -01.
Category 1 - Excellence in
Government Process
Re-engineering
GOLD:
“Computerisation of Registration
(Panjeeyan) Project in
Assam”, Revenue and Disaster
Management Department,
Government of Assam
SILVER:
“Transformation of Mineral and
Administration through e-
Governance (Geology and
Mining)”, Department of Mines and
Geology, Government of Karnataka
BRONZE: “Online Voting System
(OVS)”, State Election
Commission, Gujarat
Category 2 - Exemplary Re-Use of
ICT Based Solutions
GOLD: “XLN–Xtended Licensing
& Laboratory Node of SALES”,
Food & Drugs Control
Administration, Gujarat
SILVER: “Electronic Benefit
Transfer through BC Model
Current Affairs Notes

at Pragya Kendras”, Jharkhand
Agency for Promotion of IT,
Department of IT, Government of
Jharkhand
BRONZE: “IT enabled services
in Gurukulam institutions”, APTWREIS
(Gurukulam), Tribal Welfare
Department, Government of Andhra
Pradesh
Category 3 - Outstanding
performance in Citizen-Centric
Service Delivery
GOLD: “Students Academic
Management System (SAMS)”,
Department of Higher Education,
Government of Odisha
SILVER: “Mail Network
Optimization Project”, Department
of Posts, Government of India
BRONZE: “Use of ICT for
Delivering Mechanized
Agricultural Implements” &
“Effective Monitoring of Input
Delivery System through ICT”,
Directorate of Agriculture & Food
Production, Government of Odisha
Category 4 - Innovative use of
Technology in e-Governance
GOLD: “iBHUGOAL”, Information
Technology Department,
Government of Bihar and National
Informatics Centre, Bihar
SILVER: “Measuring Physical
Accessibility to Healthcare
Network and Population Coverage
Modeling in J&K State using Geo-
informatics”, Directorate of
Environment & Remote Sensing,
Government of J&K
BRONZE: “MAGIC: Mineral
Administration and Governance
Using ICT”,Commissionerate of
Geology and Mining, Government of
Gujarat
Category 5 - Innovative use of ICT
by PSUs for Customer’s Benefits
GOLD “Integrated System for
Online Generation of Electrical
Specifications for Transformers”,
Informatics Center (IFX), Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL),
Bhopal
SILVER “EPIMRS”, IT Wing,
Eastern Power Distribution
Company of A.P. Limited.
BRONZE“iMINE (IT Intervention for
Managing Integrated Networked
Enterprise)”, Information
Technology Department, Gujarat
Mineral Development Corporation
Limited (GMDC)
Category 6 - Best Government
Portal
GOLD: “RPSC e-Governance”,
Rajasthan Public Service
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
Commission, Ajmer
Category 7 -
Specific Sectoral Award - Focus
Sector – Social
Sector Programmes
GOLD:
“SPARSH – Special Project for
Assistance, Rehabilitation &
Strengthening of Handicapped – A
healing touch for disabled, old age
and destitute”, Directorate Social
Justice, Government of Madhya
Pradesh and National Informatics
Center, Madhya Pradesh
BHEL and GAIL Granted
Maharatna Status
The Union Government of India
gave the Maharatna status to two
PSUs- BHEL and GAIL on 1
February 2013. Granting Maharatna
status to BHEL and GAIL will
provide them with better functional
and financial freedom and will also
guarantee them with better
valuation of the shares.
Ideally any Maharatna firm has a
capacity to take investment
decision of around 5000 crore
Rupees without taking assistance
from the government. On the other
hand, forms with Navratna status
have the capability of 1000 crore
Rupees.
However, both BHEL and GAIL do
not have enough non-official
directors on the board, which is
why they cannot exercise their
Maharatna powers. Even though all
other conditions of Maharatna
status were met by both these
PSUs but their boards do not have
requisite number of board
members. While GAIL is short of 4
independent directors, BHEL, on
the other hand is short of 6 non-
official directors.
In terms of turnover, networth as
well as net profit, both these
companies meet all the eligibility
criterions.
Eligibility of a company to get a
Maharatna status
• For any company to qualify for
Maharatna status, the annual
turnover should be over 20000
crore Rupees in past three years,
as per the guidelines issued by
Department of Public Enterprises.
• The net worth of the PSU should
be more than 10000 crore Rupees
in past three years.
• The net profit should be over 2500
crore Rupees during past three
years.
At present, there are five Maharatna
companies - ONGC, Indian Oil,
25
SAIL, NTPC and CIL and 16
Navratna companies, including
RashtriyaIspat Nigam Limited and
NMDC.
ShanuLahiri, a great
Bengali Painter Died at 85
ShanuLahiri, the renowned painter
of Bengal School died on 1 Febru-
ary 2013 following a brief illness at
the private hospital in Kolkata. She
was 85 years of age. She is
survived by daughter Damayanti
and son Arnab. She was cremated
at the Keoratala Crematorium on 1
February 2013.
Different ways to tell age
of a person:
1. School Records
2. Methods like Orchodometry
which measures testicular volume.
The test is available in India.
3. Teeth (Forensic experts check
teeth first. All molars are up by 18.)
4. X-Ray of elbow, hip, knee, wrist,
shoulders and collar-bones are
taken for bone ossification
(hardening) test. Bone age is
correlated to chronological age.
5. TW3 Test (Tanner-Whitehouse
Tests) or Bone Maturation Test –
Has been introduced by BCCI to
check age fraud in junior cricket. It
works out skeletal maturity from
hand and wrist bones.
6. Telomeres Age determination
based on the length of telomeres,
the protective cap of
chromosomes. Telomere length
varies with age.
At 105, Ustad Abdul
Rashid Khan is the oldest
to get Padma Award
Hindustani vocalist Ustad Abdul
Rashid Khan (105) has become
the oldest person to be chosen for
this year’s Padma Shri award.
Previously, in 2011, India’s first
woman photo-journalist
HomaiVyarawala was honoured
with the Padma Vibushan at the
age of 97. She passed away in
2012.
Khan is also a poet who has
penned around 2000 compositions
under the pseudonym ‘RasanPiya’.
Iran claims to have sent
monkey into space
Iran has claimed that it has
successfully sent a monkey into
Current Affairs Notes

space, boasting the launch as
another step toward Tehran’s
aspirations of a manned space
flight.
As per reports, the rocket dubbed
Pishgam (Farsi for ‘pioneer’),
reached a height of 120 km. The
monkey is learnt to have returned
to earth safely.
The west is worried that Iran’s
advancements in this technology
from the space program could
also be used to develop long-
range missiles that could possibly
be armed with nuclear warheads.
Iran aims to place its own
satellites into orbit to monitor
natural disasters in the
earthquake-prone nation, improve
telecommunications and expand
military surveillance in the region.
The country has a key satellite
launch complex nearSemnan,
about 200 km east of Tehran. It
also has a satellite monitoring
facility outside Mahdasht, about 70
km west of the Tehran.
4 February 2013
Agni-VI all set to take
shape
Agni-VI with multiple nuclear
warheads, which can reach targets
6,000 km away, is all set to be
developed by the Defence
Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO).
Only in April last, it carried out the
maiden launch of Agni-V, which
has a range of more than 5,000
km.
So far, all the strategic missiles
developed by the DRDO — Agni-I,
II, III, IV and V, and the submarine-
launched K-15 and its land-based
version Shourya — can carry only
single nuclear warhead. The
DRDO’s tactical missiles and
supersonic cruise missile
BrahMos can carry one
conventional warhead each.
“We have started working on the
multiple independently targetable
re-entry vehicles [MIRV] version
[Agni-VI]. It will carry four or six
warheads depending upon their
weight,” DRDO missile
technologists said. “The constraint
is the vehicle’s mass.”
Although the Union government is
yet to sanction Agni-VI project, the
DRDO has done all the enabling
studies, finalised the missile’s
design and started working on the
engineering part. It had also
figured out how to anchor four or
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
six warheads in the vehicle, how to
disperse them and the pattern of
their dispersal. The warheads
could be released in an order, one
after another. If one warhead were
to hit a place, another could fall 100
km away from it, the technologists
said.
Both Agni-V and Agni-VI have three
stages, all powered by solid
propellants, and their diameter is
two metres. And the comparison
ends there.
While Agni-V weighs 50 tonnes and
is 17.5 metres long, Agni-VI
belongs to the 65-70-tonne class
and will be 20 metres long. “Agni-VI
will be a massive vehicle,” the
technologists said. It was too early
to say when its first launch would
take place. It would be road-mobile
and blast off from trucks with
launching platforms.
Green calculations
At the Delhi Sustainable
Development Summit, Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
introduced a much-needed
corrective to the GDP-focused
development debate by
underscoring the problem of
replacing environmental resources
consumed at a rapid pace. His
reference to the depletion of
freshwater in particular, and the
likelihood of alarming scarcities
arising from a demand-supply
mismatch in the future should give
pause to stakeholders who are
mindlessly extracting it. What he
should also have emphasised is
the need for users, especially
industries, to meet the actual cost
of mitigating the pollution that is
degrading this precious asset.
Given its life-sustaining role, and its
importance to agriculture, water
should be treated as a vital part of
the commons and protected from
pollution through a strong legal
approach. A model Bill has been
circulated to the States to regulate
groundwater, and it should help end
the ineffectual approach of pollution
control authorities towards the
issue. The broader discussion on
development, however, goes well
beyond water and needs to
encompass the idea of
sustainability in its entirety.
The definition of sustainability is far
from settled, and economists and
environmentalists have not
achieved convergence on the
metrics to be included. What is
important, however, is to recognise
that progress has been made in
narrowing down metrics that are
important to assess future well-
being. Forward-looking economists
26
have argued that a credible
measurement of sustainability
should include not just natural
resources, such as wetlands,
forests, coastlines, mountains and
their biodiversity, but other
components. These should provide
future generations a set of
opportunities as large as the one
available to the present. It is critical,
therefore, to also factor in human
capital and account for public
expenditures on education and
health as productive rather than
consumptive. India has visibly
failed on these counts. While the
country is consuming scarce
resources rapidly, it is investing
little in real terms in the key social
areas. Now that the Prime Minister
has acknowledged the need to
adopt green accounting, it would be
good to start the exercise of
creating baseline knowledge on
the contribution of the environment
to many sectors of the economy.
Natural systems, after all,
represent the GDP of the poor. This
can lead to greater legal protection,
and help arrive at the real prices
that commercial sectors must pay
for these resources. The
unfortunate reality is that in the
absence of any attempt at monetary
quantification, nature is often seen
by industry as inherently worthless.
A more enlightened approach
should set the balance right.
SEBI revises rules for
amalgamation of
companies
The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) on Monday
revised rules for merger and
amalgamation of companies,
which requires stricter valuation of
entities.
In the recent past, SEBI said it
“received applications seeking
exemption from certain entities
containing inadequate disclosures,
convoluted schemes of
arrangement, exaggerated
valuations, etc.”
SEBI is of the view that granting
listing permission or exemption
from the requirements based on
such applications would not be in
the interest of minority
shareholders. At the same time, if
listing permission or such an
exemption is delayed or denied, it
would add to the uncertainty and
would deprive shareholders of an
exit opportunity.
SEBI asked listed companies to
place before its audit committee
the valuation report obtained from
an independent chartered
accountant.
Current Affairs Notes

The audit committee would furnish
a report recommending the draft
scheme, taking into consideration
of the valuation report.
SEBI has also said that one of the
stock exchanges, having
nationwide trading terminals,
would be the designated stock
exchange for the purpose of
coordination.
The entities were asked to include
the observation letter of the stock
exchanges in the notice sent to the
shareholders seeking approval of
the scheme and bring the same to
the notice of the High Court at the
time of seeking approval of the
scheme.
The stock exchanges were asked
to forward the draft scheme to the
capital market regulator within 3
working days.
The stock exchanges were also
asked to process the draft scheme
(including seeking clarifications
from company and/or opinion from
an independent chartered
accountant) and forward their
“objection/no-objection” letter on
the draft scheme to SEBI. SEBI
also asked exchanges to disclose
the draft scheme and all the
documents on its website. It shall
also disclose the observation letter
of the stock exchanges on its
website within 24 hours of
receiving the documents.
Mega cities should review
FSI policy to boost
affordable housing: Ajay
Maken
There is a need to review the FSI
(Floor Space Index) policy and
make appropriate changes to
boost affordable housing in mega
cities like Mumbai, according to
Ajay Maken, Union Minister for
Housing and Poverty Alleviation.
“The state is the responsible
authority to do so, and, in our
opinion, it should consider this
option,” Mr.Maken said, while
addressing an international
conference on ‘Governance of
Megacity Regions in India,’
organised by the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) here on
Monday. At the central level, the
policy for providing ‘infrastructure
status’ to affordable housing
schemes was on the cards to
improve the urban housing
scenario, the minister said, adding,
“this can be treated as a sub sector
of real estate and at least this sub
sector can be given infrastructure
status.”
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
“About 50 per cent of the population
in Mumbai stays in slums. In cities
like Delhi also, about 84 per cent of
homeless people are self-
employed. Since they are an
integral part of India’s urbanisation
story, irrespective of location
categories, we need to create
affordable housing even in the
premium locations of mega cities.
It is required to bring these service
providers nearer to service
consumers,” Mr.Maken said.
Adi Godrej, President, CII, said that
with increased urbanisation, “India
would need $800 billion in the
coming years towards urban
development, and out of this, $350
billion would go towards building
roads.”
According to K.C.
Sivaramakrishnan, Chairman,
Centre for Policy Research,
“megacities contribute 14-36 per
cent of GDP of their respective
states and the urban centres have
also become critical in deciding the
political leadership at the state and
central levels.”
New TB vaccine doesn’t
protect infants: study
The world’s most advanced
tuberculosis vaccine failed to
protect babies against the
infectious disease, according to a
new study in South Africa.
The vaccine, MVA85A, was
designed to improve protection
from the only existing tuberculosis
vaccine, BCG, which is routinely
given to newborns. Though the new
vaccine appeared safe, scientists
found no proof it prevented
tuberculosis, an airborne disease
that kills more than 1 million
people worldwide every year.
Previous tests of the vaccine in
adults had been promising and
researchers said the trial provided
useful data to inform future studies.
There are a dozen other TB
vaccines currently being tested.
Some health officials were
discouraged by the results. “It’s
pretty disappointing,” said Dr.
Jennifer Cohn, a medical
coordinator at Doctors Without
Borders, who was not part of the
study. “Infants are at really high risk
of TB but this doesn’t seem to offer
them any protection.”
MVA85A was developed at Oxford
University and was tested in nearly
2,800 infants in South Africa who
had already been given a BCG
shot, between 2009 and 2011.
About half of the babies got the new
27
vaccine while the other half got a
placebo.
They were followed for up to three
years. In the group that got the
vaccine, there were 32 cases of TB,
versus 39 cases in the group that
got a placebo. The vaccine’s
efficacy rate was about 17 per cent.
No serious side effects related to
the vaccine were reported.
The study was paid for by Aeras,
the Wellcome Trust and the
Oxford—Emergent Tuberculosis
Consortium. The results were
published online Monday in the
journal Lancet.
“There is much that we and others
can learn from the study and the
data it has produced,” said Helen
McShane of the University of Oxford,
one of the study authors, in a
statement. She and colleagues are
further analyzing the samples from
the trial to better understand how
humans become infected with TB
bacteria.
McShane and her co-authors wrote
that the vaccine could potentially
protect adolescents or adults
against TB since their immune
systems work differently from those
of infants. The shot is also currently
being tested in people with HIV.
“If this vaccine is effective in adults,
that would be hugely valuable
because the majority of TB disease
and deaths are among adults,”
said Richard White, an infectious
diseases expert at the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical
Medicine. “But no one knows the
answer to that right now.”
“A vaccine is likely to be a cost—
effective way of preventing TB,” he
said, comparing the $650 million
that has been invested into vaccine
development in the past decade
versus the more than $4 billion it
currently costs to control the
disease every year, according to the
World Health Organization.
White also warned the world
couldn’t afford to ignore the spike
in TB and its drug—resistant forms.
“There are certain boroughs of
London that have higher rates of TB
than parts of Malawi,” he said. “TB
is such a big problem that we really
need to throw the book at it.”
Indian economy’s growth
slashed to 5.6% in 2012-
13 by NCAER
Indian economy will grow 5.6 per
cent in the current fiscal, lower than
5.9 per cent projected earlier but
will be higher in 2013-14,
Current Affairs Notes

economic think-tank NCAER said
today.
“Based on quarterly model
estimates, the GDP growth for
2012-13 is projected at 5.6
percent... Our preliminary
estimates show GDP growth in
constant 2004-05 prices (to be) at
6.1 percent in 2013-14,” National
Council of Applied Economic
Research (NCAER) said its report
on Quarterly Review of the
Economy.
It said economic slowdown is
evident not only on the production
side of the economy but also on the
demand side.
JTS Institute
29 January - 4 February 2013
The estimates show downward
revision of GDP growth rate in the
final two quarters, as compared to
the previous estimate in October, it
added.
“This is mainly due to contraction of
output in all three sectors —
agriculture, industry and services.
While lower agricultural output is
explained by high deficit in rainfall,
lower industrial and services output
growth are a result of decline
in...growth and decline in
government expenditure.”
However, in 2013-14, it expected
that all these sectors would
28
perform better than the previous
fiscal.
The manufacturing sector alone, in
the first half of 2012-13 declined
steeply to 0.49 per cent, which is a
record decline and acts as a severe
pull-down factor for the growth of
GDP, the report said.
It said services sector has been
slowing down and there are
indications that the sector will
register low growth in the current
fiscal.
Investment and private
consumption were significantly
contracted during the first half of the
fiscal.
Current Affairs Notes
 Issue-3/2013 (22 nd January to 2815
th January - 21 January 2013
January)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 22 Jan -28 Jan, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
22 January 2013
India committed to
implementing TAPI
Project by 2017
President Pranab Mukherjee said
India is fully committed to
implementing the Turkmenistan-
Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI)
Project by August 2017.
During his interaction with Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov at
RashtrapatiBhavan here on
Monday, Mr. Mukherjee said India is
deficient in energy resources,
whereas Turkmenistan is rich in
hydrocarbon resources.
Concept: TAPI The Trans-
Afghanistan Pipeline (also known
as Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–
Pakistan–India Pipeline, TAP or
TAPI) is a proposed natural gas
pipeline being developed by the
Asian Development Bank. The
pipeline will transport Caspian Sea
natural gas from Turkmenistan
through Afghanistan into Pakistan
and then to India. The abbreviation
comes from the first letters of those
countries. Proponents of the project
see it as a modern continuation of
the Silk Road. The Afghan
government is expected to receive
8% of the project’s revenue. GAIL
India may become a part of TAPI
project.
Bangladesh is also keen to join the
TAPI project.
Govt to auction 700Mhz
spectrum for 4G services
next year
1. The government on Monday said
it will auction spectrum in 700 Mhz
band, which is used for offering
high-speed Internet services
through fourth generation
technologies, in 2014.
2. The 700-Mhz spectrum band
ranges from 698 Mhz to 806 Mhz
and has been identified by the
International Telecommunication
JTS Institute
Union for telecom services.
3. “We have set up a lab in the
country so that mobile phones can
be tested here for electromagnetic
radiations,” Mr.Sibal said.
4. He added more such labs will be
set up across the country starting
with Mumbai.
5. The Telecommunication
Engineering Centre SAR lab, which
has been commissioned at a cost
of Rs 2.5 crore, is the first lab in the
country for independent audit of
SAR value, self-certified by mobile
handset manufacturers and
importers in India.
6. The lab is capable of making
SAR measurement for CDMA, GSM
2G and 3G mobile handsets in the
frequency band of 800 MHz, 900
MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz.
7. The lab is also capable of
making measurement of SAR value
against the International
Commission on non-Ionising
Radio Protection (ICNIRP) limit of 2
Watt per kg measured over 10
gram of tissue as well as the
recently adopted 1.6 watt per kg
measured over 1 gm of tissue.
8. Mr.Sibal also commissioned a
Next Generation Network (NGN) lab
in TEC, which serves the objectives
of testing and certification as well
as network related study for any
Internet Protocol (IP) based
equipment.
Concept: 4G
In telecommunications, 4G is the
fourth generation of mobile phone
mobile communications
standards. It is a successor of the
third generation (3G) standards. A
4G system provides mobile ultra-
broadband Internet access, for
example to laptops with USB
wireless modems, to
smartphones, and to other mobile
devices. Conceivable applications
include amended mobile web
access, IP telephony, gaming
services, high-definition mobile TV,
video conferencing and 3D
television.
Two 4G candidate systems are
1 Current Affairs Notes
commercially deployed: the Mobile
WiMAX standard (at first in South
Korea in 2006), and the first-
release Long Term Evolution (LTE)
standard (in Oslo, Norway since
2009). It has however been
debated if these first-release
versions should be considered to
be 4G or not, as discussed in the
technical definition section below.
Alarm in China over high
gender imbalance
1. The gender imbalance in China
has remained at an alarmingly high
ratio of 117 newborn boys for 100
girls in 2012, officials said on
Tuesday.
2. The imbalance, which has
remained far higher than the
normal 103 to 107 ratio, has
prompted renewed promises from
the government to crack down on
illegal selective abortions, while
also triggering strong calls for
China to discard its unpopular
family planning restrictions.
3. According to census data
released on Tuesday by the
National Bureau of Statistics, the
gender ratio was 117.7 newborn
boys for every 100 girls in 2012, the
official Xinhua news agency
reported.
4. The report said China’s gender
imbalance had widened after
ultrasound examinations were
widely available in the 1980s. The
ratio reached a record 120.56 in
2008, the report added.
5. In 2011, the government had
punished 13,000 people following
a campaign to monitor selective
abortions, she said. The
government has announced a
target to bring down the imbalance
to 115, from the current 117, by
2015.
6. The widening gender imbalance,
coupled with concerns over
China’s ageing labour force, has
renewed calls for the government
to relax family planning policies.
Enforced in the early 1980s, and
known widely as the “one-child
policy” although the rules are more

complex, the measures have been
seen as a major reason behind the
fast-widening gender imbalance.
7. Ma Jiantang, head of the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS),
said at a press conference on
Friday that the government would
need to come up with “an
appropriate and scientific” family
planning policy to address the
ageing labour force.
8. The government says the policy
prevented 400 million additional
births since the 1980s, and spared
China a burden on resources it
could not afford to bear. The policy
now covers two-thirds of the
population. In rural areas, families
can have a second child if their
first-born is a daughter, while
members of China’s 55 minority
groups are also exempt from the
restrictions.
1 in 6 cases of adult asthma
caused by workplace environments
There are many occupations that
are thought to cause asthma in
adults, according to researchers.
In a new study, the start of asthma
in adulthood was clearly linked to
18 types of job, and the strongest
evidence seems to be for jobs
involving cleaning or cleaning
agents.
The researchers base their
findings on the job histories up to
the age of 42 of almost 7,500
British adults born in 1958, all of
whom were taking part in the
National Child Development Study,
which is tracking the long term
health of more than 11,000 people
living in Britain.
‘Ugly’ cholesterol may
triple risk of heart
disease: study
1. People with high levels of ‘ugly’
cholesterol face three times
increased risk of developing
ischemic heart disease, the most
common cardiovascular disease.
2. Cholesterol is divided into ‘the
good’ HDL cholesterol, ‘the bad’
LDL cholesterol and ‘the ugly’
cholesterol. It is the so-called ‘ugly
cholesterol’ - also called ‘remnant
cholesterol’ - that can be really
harmful.
3. “LDL cholesterol or ‘the bad
cholesterol’ is of course bad, but
our new study reveals that the ugly
cholesterol likewise is the direct
cause of atherosclerosis resulting
in ischemic heart disease and
early death,” said Professor Borge
Nordestgaard from the
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
University of Copenhagen.
4. “By examining 73,000 persons,
we found that an increase in the
ugly cholesterol triples the risk of
ischemic heart disease, which is
caused by lack of oxygen to the
heart muscle due to narrowing or
blocking of the coronary arteries,”
he said.
5. “I hope that this new knowledge
will lead to better preventive
treatment including lifestyle
changes, as more than one in five
individuals in affluent countries
suffers from high ugly cholesterol,”
he said.
6. “We also hope that the
pharmaceutical industry will
develop new drugs targeted
specifically at raised ugly
cholesterol levels,” he
emphasises,” he added.
7. “High ugly cholesterol is the
result of high blood levels of
normal fat (triglycerides). The most
important cause of high ugly
cholesterol is overweight and
obesity. Persons with high ugly
cholesterol should therefore be
advised to lose weight, but drugs
such as statins and fibrates may
also lower levels of ugly cholesterol
in the blood,” says
BorgeNordestgaard.
Auroras also occur
outside our solar system:
scientists
1. Auroras occur on several planets
within our solar system, and the
brightest on Jupiter are 100 times
brighter than those on Earth.
2. However, no auroras have yet
been observed beyond Neptune.
3. A new study led by University of
Leicester lecturer Dr Jonathan
Nichols has shown that this
phenomenon is not limited to our
solar system.
4. Researchers found that
processes strikingly similar to
those which power Jupiter’s
auroras could be responsible for
radio emissions detected from a
number of objects outside our
solar system.
5. In addition, the radio emissions
are powerful enough to be
detectable across interstellar
distances - meaning that auroras
could provide an effective way of
observing new objects outside our
solar system.
6. Auroras occur when charged
particles in an object’s
magnetosphere collide with atoms
in its upper atmosphere, causing
2 Current Affairs Notes
them to glow. However, before
hitting the atmosphere, these
particles also emit radio waves into
space.
7. It found that the radio emissions
from a number of ultracool dwarfs
may be caused in a very similar, but
significantly more powerful, way to
Jupiter’s auroras.
8. “We have recently shown that
beefed-up versions of the auroral
processes on Jupiter are able to
account for the radio emissions
observed from certain “ultracool
dwarfs” - bodies which comprise
the very lowest mass stars - and
“brown dwarfs” - ‘failed stars’ which
lie in between planets and stars in
terms of mass,” Nichols said.
9. “These results strongly suggest
that auroras do occur on bodies
outside our solar system, and the
auroral radio emissions are
powerful enough - one hundred
thousand times brighter than
Jupiter’s - to be detectable across
interstellar distances,” Nichols said
in statement.
10. The radio emission could
provide key information about the
length of the planet’s day, the
strength of its magnetic field, how
the planet interacts with its parent
star and even whether it has any
moons, researchers believe.
Mars mission to boost
India’s global credentials
1. India’s proposed Mars mission
in November would boost New
Delhi’s credentials to become a
partner in international ventures of
such kind in the future besides
achieving its scientific objectives
and demonstrating capability,
veteran space scientist
K Kasturirangan said.
2. Planning Commission Member
Kasturirangan, who was also
former Chairman of Indian Space
Research Organisation, said while
the mission is indeed a logical
extension of the country planetary
exploration programme, it more
than just a “technical bonanza.”
3. “Once you show an affordable
scale of the activity, then you qualify
yourself to be a partner of
international programme. So, when
future manned missions or even
future important missions to Mars
take pace, India would be part of
the global community because you
have already demonstrated that you
have reached the place (Mars),”
Kasturirangan he said.
4. According to ISRO officials, the
proposed mission to demonstrate

India’s capability to reach Martian
orbit is planned to be completed by
2015-2016. The Mars orbiter is
planned for launch using India’s
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV-XL) from Satish Dhawan
Space Centre, Sri harikota. It will be
placed in an orbit of 500 x 80,000
km around Mars and will have a
provision for carrying nearly 25 kg
of scientific payloads onboard, they
said.
5. On concerns in sections of the
Indian space establishment about
China “forging ahead” in the area of
space, with New Delhi “lagging
behind”, Kasturirangan dismissed
suggestions of a space race
between the two countries. “We
have never been at competition
with China. We have our own pace.
We have our own priorities. There
are many things in which we have
scored very high in terms of
international reckoning, the use of
space for socio-economic sectors,
and we are one of the well
organised systems in the world in
terms of getting mission benefits
out a shoe-string budget”, he said.
6. Kasturirangan underlined that
India’s space programme is
guided by the country’s own
requirements and the nation has
world-class remote sensing and
communication satellites and
rocket developments are
contemporary in nature.
Scientists discover new
type of underwater
volcanic eruption
Scientists have uncovered a
previously undocumented type of
eruption in underwater volcanoes -
by looking at tiny original bubble
spaces trapped in volcanic rocks.
Volcanic eruptions are commonly
categorised as either explosive or
effusive but researchers from the
UK and New Zealand have
uncovered a new type of eruption in
underwater volcanoes.
Inside volcanoes, gases are
dissolved in the molten magma as
a function of the very high
pressures and chemistry of the
magma.
In the same way that gases
dissolved in carbonated drinks
bubble up when the lid is taken off,
when magma is erupted as lava,
the pressure is relieved and the
gases exsolve to form small gas
bubbles or so-called “vesicles”.
In explosive eruptions these
vesicles expand so quickly they
fragment the magma, violently
ejecting lava, which cools and
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
degasses to form solidified pumice
that can be sufficiently light to float
on water.
In air pumice is obviously
associated with violent, explosive
eruptions. Consequently
underwater volcanoes flanked by
highly vesicular pumice have, to
date, also been interpreted as
having erupted explosively.
But the results of the new study by
Victoria University, Wellington and
the National Oceanography Centre
in Southampton indicate that there
is a third eruptive style unique to
underwater volcanoes, which is
neither effusive nor explosive.
“By documenting the shape and
density of bubbles in pumices
generated by an underwater
caldera volcano in the southwest
Pacific Ocean - the Macauley
volcano - we found large
differences in the number and
shape of ‘bubbles’ in the same
pebble-sized samples, different to
anything previously documented,”
said Professor Ian Wright of the
National Oceanography Centre,
who co-authored the paper.
“This range of bubble densities
distinct in these pumice samples
indicates that the lava erupting from
the caldera was neither vigorous
enough for an explosive eruption,
nor gentle enough for an effusive
flow,” Wright said in a statement.
The study proposes that rather than
exploding in the neck of the
volcano, the formation and
expansion of bubbles in the
magma created a buoyant foam,
which rose to the seafloor and then
buoyantly detached from the
volcano as molten pumiceballoons
but with chilled margins.
During its ascent to the sea
surface, the vesicles within the
molten interior would have
continued to expand as the
pressure reduced.
“These processes explain the
unique bubble structure seen in the
samples analysed, which could
have only occurred with an
intermediate eruption style and in
an underwater setting,” said Wright.
The authors proposed that this
style of eruption be named
Tangaroan, the Maori god of the
sea, and name of the research
vessel used to collect the samples.
UK scientists to mimic
plants to make zero-
carbon fuel
British scientists seeking to tap
more efficient forms of solar power
3 Current Affairs Notes
are exploring how to mimic the way
plants transform sunlight into
energy and produce hydrogen to
fuel vehicles.
They will join other researchers
around the world studying artificial
photosynthesis as governments
seek to cut greenhouse gas
emissions from fossil fuels.
The research will use synthetic
biology to replicate the process by
which plants concentrate solar
energy to split water into hydrogen
and oxygen, which is then released
into the atmosphere.
“We will build a system for artificial
photosynthesis by placing tiny solar
panels on microbes,” said lead
researcher Julea Butt at the
University of East Anglia (UEA).
“These will harness sunlight and
drive the production of hydrogen,
from which the technologies to
release energy on demand are
well-advanced.”
Hydrogen is a zero-emission fuel
which can power vehicles or be
transformed into electricity.
“We imagine that our
photocatalysts will prove versatile
and that with slight modification
they will be able to harness solar
energy for the manufacture of
carbon-based fuels, drugs and fine
chemicals,” she added.
The 800,000 pound ($1.3 million)
project will be undertaken by
scientists from UEA and
Cambridge and Leeds universities.
The scientists believe copying
photosynthesis could be more
efficient in harnessing the sun’s
energy than existing solar
converters.
CUTTING CO2
Many countries have deployed at
least one kind of renewable energy,
such as solar, wind power or
biofuels, or use a mixture to see
which becomes most competitive
with fossil fuels.
But as carbon dioxide emissions
continue to rise, some experts
argue more extreme methods are
needed to keep the average rise in
global temperatures below 2
degrees Celsius this century, a
threshold scientists say would
avoid the most harmful effects of
climate change.
“Many renewable energy supplies,
such as sunlight, wind and the
waves, remain largely untapped
resources. This is mainly due to
the challenges that exist in
converting these energy forms into

fuels from which energy can be
released on demand,” said Butt.
Some of the more extreme
methods which are being studied
are controversial, such as
removing large amounts of carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and
geo-engineering techniques such
as blocking sunlight using artificial
clouds or mirrors in space.
Such technology is far from being
employed on a large scale and the
costs are enormous.
Critics argue these techniques
manipulate the climate, are too
costly, take too long to prove and
governments should concentrate
on more mainstream renewable
energy sources.
23 January 2013
Nowcasting of Weather
The Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD) under the
Ministry of Earth Sciences has
operationalised its location specific
nowcasting weather services
through Earth System Science
Organization (ESSO)-IMD across
the country. This includes the web
based inputs. Under this service
activity, that covers 117 urban
centres currently on experimental
basis,nowcast of severe weather
(Thunderstorms; heavy rainfall from
lows/depressions over the land) in
3-6h range is issued. Origin,
development/movement of severe
weather phenomena are regularly
monitored through all available
observing systems (Automatic
Weather Stations-AWSs; Automatic
Rain Gauges-ARGs; Doppler
Weather Radars-DWRs; Automatic
Weather Observing Systems-
AWOS; satellite derived wind
vectors, temperature, moisture
fields etc.) are assimilated to
generate predictions (prepared
both in text as well as in graphical
form) on 3h time range. Web GIS
rendering of the nowcast products
is implemented for enhanced
spatial representation of the severe
weather intensities associated with
warnings.
With the commissioning of the
state-of-the-art observing (675 Nos.
of AWSs; 955 Nos. of ARGs; 15-
DWRs), monitoring/early warning
and data visualization/information
processing and communication
technologies under the Phase-I of
the modernization of IMD, several
manual operations have been fully
automated. All the manpower that
was engaged earlier for such
manual operations have been
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
provided due orientation, training
and skill development
opportunities not only to attain
appropriate operating skills of
advanced technological platforms
but also contribute efficiently to the
quality enhancement through
customization of sector specific
warning and forecasting services.
Commissioning of the High
Performance Computing (HPC)
system at the ESSO-National
Centre for Medium Range Weather
Forecasting (NCMRWF) and ESSO-
IMD has provided opportunity to
assimilate satellite radiance data
in to the global/regional forecast
systems and to enhance the
spatial resolution of the global
forecast systems from about 50km
grid scale to about 22km grid
scale. The performance evaluation
of the new global forecast system
has demonstrated enhanced
forecast skill quantitatively.
In order to capture the
characteristics of the severe
weather in real time, state-of-the-
art 24X7 monitoring system
comprising 14-DWRs, located at
Agartala, Chennai, Delhi-Airport,
Delhi-Lodi Road, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Kolkata, Machilipatnam,
Nagpur, Patna, Visakhapatnam,
Lucknow, Patiala and Mohanbari is
made functional. DWRs at Mumbai
and Bhuj are undergoing site
acceptance tests while it is under
commissioning at Bhopal. DWRs
commissioning is put on hold at
Goa, Paradip and Karaikal for the
want of clearances from the
Ministry of Defence that is under the
consideration of Committee of
Secretaries (COS).
Commissioning of DWR network
covering the whole country would
have to happen in a phased
manner in view of the various
factors such as site selection; site
survey for height of line of sight of
locating the antenna; available/
emerging technology variants for
their suitability as per terrain
variability based frequency of
operation over hill states and NE
States etc. Despite the above, the
Government is committed to set up
and enhance gradually its
observational network of DWRs,
AWSs, ARGs, etc. for monitoring
abnormal weather patterns and
upgrading its forecasting
capabilities, so that advance
warning can be provided to
National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA), Ministry of Home
Affairs, and Ministry of Agriculture to
tackle the impacts of the adverse
and extreme weather phenomena.
4 Current Affairs Notes
Measure to Increase
Availability of Pulses
In order to increase the availability
of pulses, especially for the people
living under the low poverty line, the
government has resumed import of
pulses through State Governments
for distribution under Public
Distribution System. The centre will
provide subsidy for this import to
the states. The thrust of the
scheme is to make pulses
available to the BPL card holders at
least one kg. per month. An
increase availability of pulses
would also have a controlling effect
on prices.
Imported susidised pulses will
also be provided to youth hostels,
homes for poor and other such
institutions which house people
belonging to low income groups in
large numbers.
Besides this the centre has taken a
number of steps recently to control
prices of pulses which include-
• Reduced import duties to zero
for pulses.
• Banned export of pulses (except
Kabuli chana and organic pulses
and lentils up to a maximum of
10000 tones per annum).
• Imposed stock limits from time
to time in the case of pulses.
• Suspended Futures trading in
urad and tur.
Several measures have also been
taken to increase domestic supply
of pulses. The National Food
Security Mission (NFSM)-Pulses is
under implementation in 468
districts. The Accelerated Pulses
Production Programme (A3P) has
been launched under the NFSM-
Pulses from Kharif 2012 for
demonstration of production and
protection technologies on village
level compact Blocks for enhanced
production of pulses as well as
motivating farmers. To compensate
the losses of production of Kharif
pulses, a programme on additional
area coverage of pulses during
Rabi/Summer 2012-13 has been
sanctioned with an allocation of Rs.
100 crore to increase production of
Rabi/summer pulses through area
expansion of Rabi pigeon pea,
gram, pea and lentil during Rabi
and green gram and black gram
during summer. Besides, under the
Macro Management of Agriculture
(MMA) scheme, assistance is also
provided for pulses development in
the states which are not covered
under NFSM-Pulses.

Initiatives to Boost
Manufacturing Growth
The Global economic turmoil has
impacted the overall economy in
general and industry in particular.
This is quite evident from the
deceleration witnessed in the
performance of industrial sector in
the recent past.
During 2011-12 industrial growth in
terms of the Index of Industrial
Production (IIP), released by the
Central Statistics Office (CSO),
showed a low growth of 2.9%
compared to 8.2% growth
registered in 2010-11. The
moderation in the industrial growth,
however had started in 2008-09.
The IIP growth rate was 2.5% in
2008-09 which improved slightly to
5.3% in 2009-10 compared to the
peak growth rate of 15.5% achieved
in the year 2007-08.
Manufacturing Growth
During 2011-12, a low growth in
manufacturing (3.0%) was a main
reason for moderation in IIP
growth. The cumulative growth of
manufacturing sector was 1.0 per
cent during April-October, 2012-13
compared to its 3.8 per cent growth
during corresponding period of the
previous year. Similar to the overall
industrial growth, the reasons for
moderation in the growth of
manufacturing include global
slowdown, moderation in domestic
demand, hardening of interest
rates etc.
Amongst the manufacturing goods
the moderation in its growth rate is
largely accounted by the
performance of capital goods and
intermediate goods which has
been in the negative trajectory for
most part of the year. Capital goods
witnessed a sharp decline in
growth during 2012-13 (April-
October) with growth rate of –
11.4%. Items such as Boilers;
Grinding Wheels; Cement
Machinery; Sugar Machinery; Textile
Machinery; Plastic Machinery Incl.
Moulding Machinery; Transformers
(Small); Earth Moving Machinery;
Computers has shown a
consistent negative growth.
Measures to Boost Manufacturing
The future trajectory of the index of
industrial production (IIP) depends
largely on the revival of investment.
Low economic activity due to weak
investment sentiments and global
slowdown is well reflected in
National Accounts Statistics. Gross
Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) as
a measure of addition in productive
capacity of the economy grew at 5.5
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
percent in 2011-12 compared to 7.5
percent in 2010-11. The GFCF as a
percent of GDP at 2004-05 prices
moderated to 32.0 % in 2011-12
compared to 32.5 % in previous
year. Gross Fixed Capital
Formation grew at 4.1 percent in
the second quarter of 2012-13
against 0.7 percent in the first
quarter.
The Government has been taking
confidence building measures for
improving the industrial climate
and manufacturing in the country.
Three important initiatives taken in
this regard are announcement of
National Manufacturing Policy
(NMP), implementation of Delhi
Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)
Project and policy reforms to
promote Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI).
National Manufacturing Policy
(NMP)
The National Manufacturing Policy
(NMP) was approved by the
Government in October, 2011. The
major objectives of the policy are
for enhancing the share of
manufacturing in GDP to 25% and
creating additional 100 million over
a decade or so. Other quantitative
and qualitative changes that are
envisaged by the policy include
creation of appropriate skill sets
among the rural migrant and urban
poor to make growth inclusive;
increasing domestic value addition
and technological depth in
manufacturing; enhancing global
competitiveness of Indian
manufacturing through appropriate
policy support; ensuring
sustainability of growth, particularly
with regard to the environment
including energy efficiency, optimal
utilization of natural resources and
restoration of damaged/ degraded
eco-systems etc.
The Policy also provides special
focus to the industries that are
employment intensive, those
producing capital goods, those
having strategic significance, small
and medium enterprises, public
sector enterprises besides
industries where India enjoys a
competitive advantage etc.
In addition, specific instruments
have been conceptualized under
NMP to achieve its stated
objectives. Accordingly the policy
envisages among others -
rationalization and simplification of
business regulations; simple and
expeditious exit mechanism for
closure of sick units while
protecting labour interests;
financial and institutional
mechanisms for technology
5 Current Affairs Notes
development, including green
technologies; industrial training
and skill up gradation measures;
incentives for SMEs, clustering and
aggregation support through
National Investment and
Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs),
trade policy etc.
Promoting clustering and
aggregation, especially through
creation of NIMZs is a major policy
instrument of NMP. NIMZs as key
instruments to catalyze the growth
of manufacturing are envisaged to
be developed in the nature of green
field industrial townships,
benchmarked with the best
manufacturing hubs in the world.
The Zones are expected to help in
meeting the increasing demand for
creating world class urban centres
in India, while absorbing surplus
labour by providing them gainful
employment opportunities. These
NIMZs will seek to address the
infrastructural bottleneck which has
been cited as a constraining factor
for the growth of manufacturing.Ten
NIMZs have been announced, eight
of which are along the Delhi
Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor
(DMIC) Project
The Delhi – Mumbai Industrial
Corridor (DMIC) Project is being
implemented on both sides of the
1483 km long Western Dedicated
Rail Freight Corridor between Dadri
(UP) and JNPT (Navi Mumbai).
The project seeks to create a
strong economic base with a
globally competitive environment
and state-of-the-art infrastructure to
activate local commerce, enhance
investments and attain sustainable
development. The DMIC Project
covers the six States of Uttar
Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and
Maharashtra. The DMIC
Development Corporation
(DMICDC) was incorporated in
January 2008 for project
development, coordination and
implementation of the numerous
projects.
Looking at the magnitude and
diversity of the project, it is planned
to be implemented in phases.
Initially, eight industrial cities have
been taken up for development.
So far the overall perspective plan
for the entire DMIC Region has
been completed. The Master
Planning for the Investment
Regions and Industrial Areas taken
up initially to be developed as New
Cities in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,
Haryana, Rajasthan and
Maharashtra have been completed

and Master Planning in Uttar
Pradesh has started. The State
Governments have initiated the
process of obtaining land for the
new industrial regions/areas as
well as for the Early Bird Projects.
Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) Studies have been initiated for
five industrial cities. DMICDC had
initiated development of Smart
Communities or Eco-Cities that
can contribute to improving the
sustainability of the DMIC region.
Japanese technology and expertise
is being made available under
collaboration with METI,
Government of Japan for the Smart
Community projects. Significant
progress has been reported by
DMICDC in the development of
Smart Communities or Eco-Cities.
Along with the planning of each city,
preparation of feasibility studies for
Early Bird Projects has been taken
up on the recommendation of the
State Governments. These projects
are in the sectors of water supply,
transport connectivity, logistic hubs,
mega industrial parks, knowledge
cities etc.
As the Master Plans progressed, it
was felt necessary and essential
that new industrial cities must be
created on the back of world class
trunk infrastructure i.e. drainage,
sewage, solid waste, water supply,
internal roads. Without the trunk
infrastructure the development of
PPP projects in greenfield cities
was not feasible and it was felt that
this may lead to real estate
development without trunk
infrastructure and a developed
backbone.
Accordingly the project was
restructured in September, 2011
with an Implementation Fund of
Rs.17,500 crore to be utilized over
a period of five years and an
additional project development
Fund of Rs.1000 crore for project
development. The land for the new
industrial cities will be the
contribution of the State
Government.
The ‘DMIC Project Implementation
Fund’, is a revolving fund, and has
been set up as a Trust. It will be a
repository of Government of India
financial assistance. The funds will
flow from the Trust to the SPVs and
the Trust will receive upside from
bidding and monetization of land
values. The Trust will also provide
resources to DMICDC for project
development activities.
The Japanese Government has
also announced their financial
support for DMIC project to an
extent of US $ 4.5 billion in the first
phase for the projects with
Japanese participation.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Policy
Domestic savings in India have not
been adequate to meet the
investment requirement of the
country. The ratio of domestic
savings to GDP has generally been
lower than the ratio of GCF to GDP.
During 2008-11 share of Gross
Domestic Capital Formation in the
GDP was 35.3% whereas share of
domestic saving during the period
was only 32.7%. Capital inflow
from other countries, particularly of
an investment nature, therefore
adds to the domestic investment. It
also brings in new management
practices and technologies,
besides subsequently contributing
to enhancement of the export
potential/earning of the country.
India’s attractiveness as an
investment destination has to be
seen in the context of major
economic reforms embarked upon
by the Government of India since
mid-1990s, the objective being the
achievement of a greater level of
integration with the world economy
and the emergence of India as a
significant player in the
globalization process. The larger
and ultimate goal however is to
step up the scale of development of
the economy. As a part of this
process, the FDI policy is being
liberalized progressively on an
ongoing basis in order to allow FDI
in more industries under the
automatic route.
Some recent changes in the FDI
policy, besides consolidation of the
policy into a single document
include FDI in Multi-Brand Retail
Trading up to 51% subject to
specified conditions; increasing
FDI limit to 100% in Single-Brand
Retail Trading; FDI up to 49 percent
in Civil Aviation and Power
Exchanges; FDI up to 49 percent in
Broadcasting sector under the
automatic route and FDI beyond 49
percent and up to 74 percent under
the Government route both for
Teleports and Mobile TV.
The advantages of India as an
investment destination rest upon
strong fundamentals, which
include a large and growing
market; world-class scientific,
technical and managerial
manpower; cost effective and highly
skilled labour; abundant natural
resources; a large English
speaking population; independent
judiciary, etc. This is now
recognized by a number of global
investors. Ongoing initiatives, such
as further simplification of rules
and regulations, improvements in
6 Current Affairs Notes
infrastructure are expected to
provide the necessary impetus to
increase FDI inflows in future.
The Government continues to
make efforts to increase economic
cooperation with the developing as
well as developed countries
through different fora such as Joint
Commissions/Joint Committees,
other bilateral channels like
interaction with the delegations
visiting the country and organizing
visits abroad for discussions on
issues of mutual interest and
business/ investment meets
between Indian and foreign
entrepreneurs to stimulate foreign
investment into India. It has
announced the setting up of ‘Invest
India’, a joint venture company
between the Department of
Industrial Policy & Promotion and
FICCI, as a not-for-profit, single
window facilitator, for prospective
overseas investors and to act as a
structured mechanism to attract
investment.
In addition, the Government has
initiated implementation of the
e-Biz Project, a Mission Mode
Project under the National
e-Governance Plan (NeGP) for
promoting an online single window
at the national level for business
users. The objectives of setting up
of the e-Biz Portal are to provide a
number of services to business
users, covering the entire life cycle
on their operation. The project aims
at enhancing India’s business
competitiveness through a service
oriented, event-driven G2B
interaction.
Indian Railways Covers
New Grounds in 2012
The total approximate earnings of
Indian Railways on originating
basis during 1st April to 31st
December 2012 were Rs.
89906.46 crore compared to Rs.
75009.17 crore during the same
period last year, registering an
increase of 19.86 percent. The total
goods earnings have gone up from
Rs. 49868.95 crore during 1st April
– 31st December 2011 to Rs.
62413.41 crore during 1st April –
31st December 2012, registering
an increase of 25.15 percent. The
total passenger revenue earnings
during 1st April – 31st December
2012 were Rs. 23025.34 crore
compared to Rs. 20999.01 crore
during the same period last year,
registering an increase of 9.65
percent. In the calendar year 2012,
Indian Railways has achieved
scrap sale of Rs. 3903.84 crore till
Nov. 2012. For the corresponding
period in 2011 sale achieved by

Railway was 3748.68 crore.
The total approximate numbers of
passengers booked during 1st April
– 31st December 2012 were
6422.29 million compared to
6210.12 million during the same
period last year, showing an
increase of 3.42 percent. Indian
Railways have carried 735.10
million tonnes of revenue earning
freight traffic during April-December
2012. The freight carried shows an
increase of 31.33 million tonnes
over the freight traffic of 703.77
million tonnes actually carried
during the corresponding period
last year, registering an increase of
4.45 percent.
In a path breaking initiative taken by
the Ministry of Railways, a formal
Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) was signed in February
2012 for setting up a Special
Purpose Vehicle (SPV) namely
“Indian Railway Stations
Development Corporation Limited”
(IRSDL) to take up work of
redevelopment of railway stations
along with station maintenance
across India in a dedicated
manner. Under new SPV, it is
proposed to provide the identified
stations with well designed
concourses, high quality waiting
spaces, easy access to the
platforms, congestion free
platforms, modern ‘State of the art’
Catering facilities, Hotels and other
facilities. After conducting
preliminary studies & holding
consultations with zonal railways,
five stations, Bijwasan (Delhi)
Habibganj (Bhopal), AnandVihar
(Delhi), Chandigarh, Shivaji Nagar
(Pune), have been identified for
implementation through IRSDC in
the first phase.
As a major initiative to further
facilitate the travel of bonafide and
legitimate passengers and to
reduce the scope for misuse of
reserved ticketing system by
unscrupulous elements/
middlemen, the Ministry of
Railways has now made it
compulsory to carry prescribed
original proof of identity cards
during train travel on all reserved
classes of tickets. Those travelling
without an original identify proof
shall be treated as without ticket
and charged accordingly. This new
change of policy is aimed at
facilitating the travel of bonafide
and genuine passengers and
simultaneously checking the scope
for travel on transferred tickets. It is
also considered that this policy
provision shall also be useful from
the security point of view.
The year 2012 saw a big push for
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
the key infrastructure projects of
Railways. After a review meeting
on infrastructure held by the Prime
Minister in the last week of
November 2012, deadline has
been set for such important
infrastructure projects like the
elevated rail corridor in Mumbai,
setting up of locomotive factories
on public private partnership, rail
tariff authority and Dedicated
Freight Corridors. A time bound
action plan has since been initiated
by the Railway Ministry on these
issues.
Mumbai has one of the most
crowded and overloaded suburban
systems in the world. Concerned
about the capacity constraint on the
Corridor, Ministry of Railways has
decided to augment the system
capacity and has accordingly
envisioned a two track elevated
corridor along Churchgate-Virra
section. This new Elevated Rail
Corridor (ERC) will be between
Oval Maidan and Virar of Western
Railway in Mumbai area. The
indicative cost of 63.27 km-long
ERC project is approximately
Rs. 21,000 crore. Under this
corridor, 26 stations are proposed,
out of which 5 stations would be
underground, 19 elevated and 2 at
grade.
The Indian Railway has achieved
one more milestone in
transportation sector with the
completion of Banihal-Qazigund
section of ambitious and
challenging Udhampur-
Baramullah-Srinagar Rail link
Project. Trials by running trains
have started in the section by
Railways with the arrival of first
Track Tamping machine at Banihal
on 24th December 2012 from
Qazigund. All the major works have
been completed and finishing
touch is being given. This section
will be ready for opening shortly the
17.729 km long section consists of
only one tunnel of 11.215 km length
known as PirPanjal Tunnel, which
is the longest transportation tunnel
in India and second longest in Asia.
Opening of Banihal-Qazigund
railway section will be a turning
point not only in the history of
Jammu & Kashmir State only, but
for the Indian history.
Indian Railways’ ambitious project
of ‘Dedicated Freight Corridor’
(DFC) continued its
implementation momentum during
this year. There has been progress
on both the corridors namely 1499
km long Western DFC from
JawaharLal Nehru Port (JNPT) in
Mumbai to Dadri/Tughlakabad
(Near Delhi) and 1839 km long
7 Current Affairs Notes
Eastern DFC from Ludhiana
(Punjab) to Dankuni (Near Kolkata).
Land acquisition is progressing
well and as on November 2012, out
of total land of 10703 hectares to
be acquired for both corridors,
7768 hectares i.e. 73% has been
acquired. Initial funding
agreements for Western DFC
through JICA and part of Eastern
DFC (Ludhiana-Khurja-Kanpur-
Mughalsarai) through World Bank
have already been formalized while
remaining Dankuni-Sonnagar
section of Eastern DFC is
proposed to be implemented
through PPP and Mughalsarai-
Sonnagar section of Eastern DFC
is being implemented through the
resources of the Ministry of
Railways.
A Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) on ‘Campaign Clean India’
was signed between the Ministry of
Tourism and the Ministry of
Railways. Under the MOU, the two
Ministries will work together
towards a sustained sensitization
campaign to train travelers and
service providers under the
Capacity Building for Service
Providers scheme of Ministry of
Tourism and for consultations and
discussions with the stake holders
including the travel trade to evolve
strategies for the up-keep and
cleanliness of the stations and
coaches. Meanwhile, the Ministry
of Railways has issued a
notification containing rules on
prohibition of activities affecting
cleanliness and hygiene in the
Railway premises alongwith
penalties for contravention of these
rules. Whosoever contravenes any
of the provisions of these rules or
fails to comply with such provisions
shall be punished with a fine which
shall not exceed five hundred
rupees.
Indigenously designed, developed
and manufactured Air conditioned
double decker train was introduced
for the first time between Howrah
and Dhanbad. This year, an
improved design of the train has
been developed and its services
between Jaipur and Delhi and
Ahemdabad and Mumbai have
been introduced. Such services are
also planned between Habibganj-
Indore and Chennai-Bangalore in
near future. AC double decker train
with improved passenger friendly
design is having capacity of 120
passengers per coach and are
becoming popular among
passengers.
Continued efforts and constant
persuasion by Railway Board and
energy conservation initiatives by

Zonal Railways have resulted into
bagging highest ever 11 National
Energy Conservation Awards by the
Indian Railways out of total awards
of 87 from 773 applications during
2012, which were awarded by the
President of India during National
Energy Conservation Day on 14th
December 2012.
Indian Railways continued its thrust
on enhancing safety. Train
Protection & Warning System
(TPWS) was extended on pilot
basis on main line operations on
Hazrat Nizamuddin – Agra Section
of Northern/North Central Railway
(200 Route Kilometres) where work
is under progress. Based upon
experience gained from ACD &
TPWS systems, Indian Railways
has now taken up development of
Train Collision Avoidance System
(TCAS). TCAS shall be a fusion of
functionalities of TPWS & ACD and
shall prevent Signal Passing at
Danger as well as Collisions. After
invitation of Expression of Interest,
six Indian firms have been
shortlisted. One of the firm has
developed the Prototype which
underwent field trials in Oct’2012
over South Central Railway.
To bring further convenience to the
rail users, Indian Railways through
Indian Railway Catering & Tourism
Corporation (IRCTC), a Public
Sector Undertaking under the
Ministry of Railway, is offering the
service of booking e-ticket over the
mobile phone. After initial
registration and downloading of
suitable software on the mobile
handset with internet facility, it is
quite easy for the mobile users to
book a reserve ticket through their
own mobile. After booking, the
passenger l receives a reservation
message with full details of the
ticket including PNR, Train No, date
of journey, class etc. This virtual
message is treated at par with the
print-out of the e-ticket.
With a commitment to provide
hygienic environment to its
passengers and staff, Indian
Railways, along with Defence
Research & Development
Organization (DRDO) have
developed Environment Friendly
Bio-toilets for its passenger
coaches. In these bio-toilets, the
human waste is treated by bacteria,
which is benign to the humans.
This bacteria converts human
waste into water and gases
(methane and CO2). The gases
escape to atmosphere and treated
waste water is discharged after
chlorination. Human waste thus
does not fall on the tracks. Eight
trains are running with 436 bio-
toilets and in the year 2012-13,
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
2500 more bio-toilets are planned
to be introduced. A complete
switch-over to bio-toilets in new
coaches has been planned by
2016-17 and the Indian Railway
has targeted elimination of direct
discharge passenger coach toilet
systems by the end of the
Thirteenth Five Year Plan i.e., 2021-
22.
The travel distance from l00
kilometres has been extended to
150 kilometres under IZZAT
scheme. There is no change in
other terms and conditions. This
extension of travel distance from
100 kms to 150 kms is admissible
on IZZAT Monthly Season Tickets
(MST) purchased on and after June
1, 2012. IZZAT is a scheme of
uniformly priced MST of Rs. 25/-
inclusive of all surcharges issued
up to distance of 100 Kms to
persons working in unorganised
sector with monthly income not
exceeding Rs. 1500/-. This
distance has now been increased
from 100 km to 150 km.
Supervision and monitoring of
catering services both in trains and
at stations has been strengthened,
as a result of this the number of
complaint cases has reduced by
4.82 % (approx.) during the
calendar year (up to October, 2012)
as compared to the corresponding
period of last year. About 26860
inspections have been carried out
during January, 2012 to October, 20
12 by Zonal Railways for ensuring
quality in catering. In order to make
catering services effective, a
Standard Bid Documents (SBDs)
have been prepared for award of
tenders for various catering
services over Indian Railways.
To provide accurate train running
information to the public, the Indian
Railways has expanded the train
running information facility. Now the
information on the running of all
trains is available at
www.trainenquiry.com. Similarly
this facility is available through
SMS on 139. Earlier, train running
information of only selected 36
important trains (Shatabdi,
Rajdhani & Duronto) were available
at website www.simran.in and
through SMS on 9415139139.
Indian Railways is adopting a multi
pronged strategy to provide a safer,
faster, cleaner, and comfortable
passenger trains. Firstly, seven
corridors have been identified for
conducting pre-feasibility studies
for running high speed trains
(popularly referred as) at speeds
above 350 kmph. These corridors
will be set up through PPP route.
Initially, Mumbai- Ahemdabad
8 Current Affairs Notes
corridor has been taken up for
which pre-feasibility has been
completed. Secondly, a study is
also being done on Delhi-Mumbai
route with Japanese help to raise
the speed of passenger trains from
160 kmph to 200 kmph being
referred to as Semi-High Speed.
Thirdly, Indian Railways is working
on the concept of acquiring
Electrical Multiple Units (EMU)
Train sets for intercity journeys for
operating speed ranging from 130-
160 km/hour. With high pick-up
and increased acceleration &
deceleration characteristic, these
proposed modern distributed
powered EMU train sets will
provide faster and safer movement
and will substantially reduce run
time.
Continuing with the Indian
Railways and State Government
partnership model, a MOU for the
development of rail corridors in
Chhatisgarh state was signed.
The three rail corridors meant for
both passengers and freight would
be developed in northern region of
Chhatisgarh state, approximately
452 kilometres in total length..
These are:- 1) East Corridor:
Bhupdevpur-Gharghoda-
Dharamjaygarh up to Korba with
spur from Gharghoda to Donga
Mauha to connect mines of Gare-
Pelma block, approximately 180
kilometres in length, 2) North
Corridor: Surajpur-Parsa-Katghora-
Korba, approximately 150
kilometres in length and 3) East-
West Corridor: Gevra Raod to
Pendra Road via Dipka, Katghora,
Sindurgarh, approximately 122
kilometres in length. These
corridors will be implemented
through specific Special Purpose
Vehicles (SPVs).
Filling up of vacancies is a matter
of priority and is being actively
pursued by Railways Recruitment
Boards. In 2012, fourteen written
examinations have been held for
271 categories, covering 50515
vacancies. Panels of about 15,838
candidates mainly for safety
category posts have been supplied
to Zonal Railways/Production Units
during the last 11 months period
i.e. 1st January 2012 to 30th
November 2012. Five centralized
notifications have been issued in
2012 covering 27,038 vacancies in
138 categories. Examinations
against 4 notifications, out of five
issued in 2012, have already been
held in this year itself for 26,213
vacancies.
Railway sportspersons were
felicitated by the Railway Ministry
for their remarkable performance in
the London Olympics – 2012. They

were presented with a shawl, a
memento and the cheque of the
award amount. Sushil Kumar, who
won silver medal in wrestling (66
kg. Free Style) event in London
Olympics was given a cash award
of Rs. 75 lakh. JoydeepKarmakar
who got 4th position in the final in
Shooting (50m Prone) and Ms.
Krishna Punia who got 7th position
in the final in Discuss Throw were
given Rs. 25 lakh cash award each.
In a momentous recognition of the
role and contribution of the Indian
Railways in promoting sports in the
country, Railway Sports Promotion
Board (RSPB) of Ministry of
Railways has bagged “Rashtriya
Khel Protsahan Puraskar”, for the
year 2012 which is a part of
National Sports Awards,
announced by the Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports.
Bilateral cooperation in Railway
sector with foreign countries is an
ongoing process. India and China,
among others, signed a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) on Technical Cooperation in
Railway Sector. Under this MoU,
both the countries will enhance
mutual cooperation across various
areas of rail technology including
High Speed Rail, Heavy Haulage
and Station Development. A MoU
was also signed between Indian
Railways and Belgium on bilateral
co-operation for the effective
development and modernization of
railway sector of both the countries.
Another Memorandum of
Understanding was signed
between the Government of India
and Government of Spain on
technical cooperation in the field of
Railway sector. Delegation level
talks were held separately with
Switzerland and Germany on
bilateral cooperation in the railway
sector.
Indian firms to supply
parts for billion-dollar
telescope
1. Several Indian companies are
gearing up to play a major role in
the construction of the $1.2 billion
Thirty Metre Telescope, which will
be the world’s most advanced
ground-based observatory that will
be operating in optical and mid-
infrared wavelengths.
2. The Indian companies will be
supplying high-end components
such as edge sensors, actuators,
segment support assemblies and
provide services such as polishing
of the mirror segments, and
software to control the operations
of the telescope, the mirror, and
telescope dome, its Project
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Manager Gary Sanders told
newspersons here at the end of a
meeting of the Project’s Governing
Board.
3. Edge sensors and actuators, in
particular, would play a key role in
the working of the telescope. Since
the primary mirror of the telescope
would be made of an array of 492
identical mirror segments, the
main challenge in its working
would be to ensure that the
segments remained aligned
properly all the time. The edge
sensors and the actuators would
help in this task.
4. Work on producing prototypes of
these have already been initiated.
While Pondicherry-based General
Optics Asia Limited [GOAL] has
been asked to produce 25
prototype edge sensors, Avasarala
Technologies of Bangalore, has
been engaged to produce 20
prototype actuators, Dr. Sanders
said.
5. Programme Director for the India
component of the mega science
project, Eswar Reddy noted that
Indian companies have been
selected following a very stringent
process, said the telescope would
be 81 times more sensitive and
resolve objects by a factor of 3
times better than the largest
ground-based telescopes that are
available at present across the
world.
6. “The unprecedented light
gathering capability and angular
resolution of the telescope is
expected to help shed new light on
many unsolved and challenging
problems in astronomy and
astrophysics’’.
7. The telescope is being
constructed by a consortium
consisting of US, China, Japan,
Canada and India. India is making
a contribution of 10 per cent – 70
per cent of it in kind and 30 percent
in cash.
8. India presently has a status of an
observer and it is in the process of
becoming a permanent member. A
note for approval of the Union
Cabinet in this regard is currently
under preparation. Indian funding
will be done through the
Department of Science and
Technology and the Department of
Atomic Energy.
Border States on high
alert after bird flu in
Bhutan
1. The Centre on Wednesday
sounded ‘high alert’ in border
States against avian influenza after
9 Current Affairs Notes
outbreak of the dreaded poultry
disease in Bhutan.
2. Thousands of birds have been
culled in Bhutan after the outbreak,
which is yet to be controlled. Earlier
this month, samples of affected
birds were sent to India’s High
Security Animal Disease Lab in
Bhopal and they tested positive.
Concept: Avian influenza
Avian influenza is flu infection in
birds. The virus that causes the
bird infectin can change (mutate) to
infect humans. Such mutation
could start a deadly worldwide
epidemic.
Causes, incidence, and risk
factors
The first avian influenza virus to
infect humans occurred in Hong
Kong in 1997. The epidemic was
linked to chickens and classified
as avian influenza A (H5N1).
Human cases of avian influenza A
(H5N1) have since been reported
in Asia, Africa, Europe, Indonesia,
Vietnman, the Pacific, and the near
East. Hundreds of people have
become sick with this virus. Slightly
more than 60% of those who
became ill have died.
The more the avian flu virus
spreads, the greater the chances of
a worldwide outbreak in humans.
There is a tremendous concern
that H5N1 poses an enormous
pandemic threat.
The following people have a higher
risk for developing the bird flu:
• Farmers and others who work
with poultry
• Travelers visiting affected
countries
• Those who touch an infected
bird
• Those who eat raw or
undercooked poultry meat, eggs, or
blood from infected birds
Health care workers and
household contacts of patients with
avian influenza may also be at an
increased risk of the bird flu.
The avian flu virus (H5N1) has
been shown to survive in the
environment for long periods of
time. Infection may be spread
simply by touching contaminated
surfaces. Birds who were infected
with this flu can continue to release
the virus in their feces and saliva
for as long as 10 days.
Symptoms
Symptoms of avian flu infection in
humans depend on the strain of
virus.

Infection with the H5N1 virus in
humans causes typical flu-like
symptoms, which might include:
• Cough (dry or productive)
• Diarrhea
• Difficulty breathing
• Fever greater than
100.4°F (38°C)
• Headache
• Malaise
• Muscle aches
• Runny nose
• Sore throat
U.S. calls for due process
in 1971 war trial
The U.S. has extended support to
the trial of the people who
committed crimes against
humanity during the Bangladesh
Liberation War in 1971.
Washington, however, stressed the
need for holding the trial in a free
and fair way. Victoria Nuland,
spokesperson of the U.S.
Department of State, spoke at a
press briefing in Washington DC
on January 22, a day after
Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal
passed its maiden verdict ordering
giving death sentence to an
Islamist leader, Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, on charges of
genocide, killing, rape and arson
as the local cohorts of the
Pakistani army during the war. The
press statement was posted on its
website.
“As Bangladesh addresses the
legacy of atrocities committed
during the Liberation War and as
we await further verdicts by the
International Crimes Tribunal, the
U.S. urges the government of
Bangladesh to adhere to the due
process standards that are part of
its treaty obligations, and to fully
respect the rule of law,” the
statement said. “However, we
believe that any such trials must be
free, fair, and transparent, and in
accordance with domestic
standards and international
standards Bangladesh has agreed
to uphold through its ratification of
international agreements,
including the International
Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights”.
Concept: Due process
Due process is the legal
requirement that the state must
respect all of the legal rights that
are owed to a person. Due
process balances the power of law
of the land and protects the
individual person from it. When a
government harms a person
without following the exact course
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
of the law, this constitutes a due-
process violation, which offends
against the rule of law.
Due process has also been
frequently interpreted as limiting
laws and legal proceedings (see
substantive due process), so that
judges - instead of legislators -
may define and guarantee
fundamental fairness, justice, and
liberty. This interpretation has
proven controversial, and is
analogous to the concepts of
natural justice, and procedural
justice used in various other
jurisdictions. This interpretation of
due process is sometimes
expressed as a command that the
government must not be unfair to
the people or abuse them
physically.
Due process is not used in
contemporary English law, though
two similar concepts are natural
justice (which generally applies
only to decisions of administrative
agencies and some types of private
bodies like trade unions) and the
British constitutional concept of the
rule of law as articulated by A. V.
Dicey and others. However, neither
concept lines up perfectly with the
American theory of due process,
which, as explained below,
presently contains many implied
rights not found in the ancient or
modern concepts of due process in
England.
Due process developed from
clause 39 of the Magna Carta in
England. When English and
American law gradually diverged,
due process was not upheld in
England, but did become
incorporated in the Constitution of
the United States.
Don’t allow Armymen to
take cover under AFSPA,
says Verma
The Justice J.S. Verma Committee,
set up to suggest amendments to
laws relating to crimes against
women, has recommended review
of the continuance of the Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act
(AFSPA) in the context of extending
legal protection to women in conflict
areas.
“There is an imminent need to
review the continuance of the AFSPA
and AFSPA-like legal protocols in
internal conflict areas as soon as
possible,” it said. “This is
necessary for determining the
propriety of resorting to this
legislation in the area(s)
concerned.”
In its report submitted to the Union
10
Home Ministry on Wednesday,
committee member
GopalSubramaniam said going by
the testimonies of the people from
Jammu and Kashmir,
Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra
Pradesh and the North-East, it was
evident that there was a pressing
need to try armed forces personnel
guilty of sexual offences in conflict
areas under the ordinary criminal
law.
Taking cognisance of the
complaints and reports of sexual
assaults on women by men in
uniform and the civil society’s
demand for repeal of the AFSPA,
the committee recommend an
immediate resolution of
“jurisdictional issues.” Simple
procedural protocols must be put in
place to avoid situations where the
police refuse to register cases
against paramilitary personnel.
Concept: AFSPA
The Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act (AFSPA), was passed
on September 11, 1958, by the
Parliament of India. It grants
special powers to the armed forces
in what the act calls “disturbed
areas” in the states of Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland
and Tripura. It was later extended to
Jammu and Kashmir as The
Armed Forces (Jammu and
Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990
in July 1990. This act has been
regarded as a shameful act, which
perpetuated all the ills in India and
hampering the development of the
country.
According to the Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in an
area that is proclaimed as
“disturbed”, an officer of the armed
forces has powers to
• Fire upon or use other kinds of
force even if it causes death,
against the person who is acting
against law or order in the
disturbed area for the maintenance
of public order, after giving such
due warning.
• Destroy any arms dump,
prepared or fortified position or
shelter or training camp from which
armed attacks are made by the
armed volunteers or armed gangs
or absconders wanted for any
offence
• To arrest without a warrant
anyone who has committed
cognizable offences or is
reasonably suspected of having
done so and may use force if
needed for the arrest.
• To enter and search any
Current Affairs Notes

premise in order to make such
arrests, or to recover any person
wrongfully restrained or any arms,
ammunition or explosive
substances and seize it.
• Stop and search any vehicle or
vessel reasonably suspected to be
carrying such person or weapons.
• Any person arrested and taken
into custody under this Act shall be
made over to the officer in charge of
the nearest police station with the
least possible delay, together with
a report of the circumstances
occasioning the arrest.
• Army officers have legal
immunity for their actions. There
can be no prosecution, suit or any
other legal proceeding against
anyone acting under that law. Nor is
the government’s judgment on why
an area is found to be disturbed
subject to judicial review.
• Protection of persons acting in
good faith under this Act from
prosecution, suit or other legal
proceedings, except with the
sanction of the Central
Government, in exercise of the
powers conferred by this Act.
• For declaring an area as a
‘disturbed area’ there must be a
grave situation of law and order on
the basis of which Governor/
Administrator can form opinion that
an area is in such a disturbed or
dangerous condition that use of
Armed Forces in aid of civil power
is necessary
A different kind of
experiment at CERN
1. At the Large Hadron Collider
(LHC) at CERN, near Geneva,
Switzerland, experiments are
conducted by many scientists who
don’t quite know what they will see,
but know how to conduct the
experiments that will yield answers
to their questions. They accelerate
beams of particles called protons
to smash into each other, and study
the fallout.
2. There are some other scientists
at CERN who know approximately
what they will see in experiments,
but don’t know how to do the
experiment itself. These scientists
work with beams of antiparticles.
According to the Standard Model,
the dominant theoretical framework
in particle physics, every particle
has a corresponding particle with
the same mass and opposite
charge, called an anti-particle.
3. In fact, at the little-known AEGIS
experiment, physicists will attempt
to produce an entire beam
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
composed of not just anti-particles
but anti-atoms by mid-2014.
4. AEgIS is one of six antimatter
experiments at CERN that create
antiparticles and anti-atoms in the
lab and then study their properties
using special techniques. The
hope, as Dr. Jeffrey Hangst, the
spokesperson for the ALPHA
experiment, stated in an email, is
“to find out the truth: Do matter and
antimatter obey the same laws of
physics?”
5. Spectroscopic and gravitational
techniques will be used to make
these measurements. They will
improve upon, “precision
measurements of antiprotons and
anti-electrons” that “have been
carried out in the past without
seeing any difference between the
particles and their antiparticles at
very high sensitivity,” as Dr. Michael
Doser, AEgIS spokesperson, told
this Correspondent via email.
6. The ALPHA and ATRAP
experiments will achieve this by
trapping anti-atoms and studying
them, while the ASACUSA and
AEgIS will form an atomic beam of
anti-atoms. All of them, anyway, will
continue testing and upgrading
through 2013.
Working principle
7. Precisely, AEgIS will attempt to
measure the interaction between
gravity and antimatter by shooting
an anti-hydrogen beam horizontally
through a vacuum tube and then
measuring how it much sags due
to the gravitational pull of the Earth
to a precision of 1 percent.
8. The experiment is not so simple
because preparing anti-hydrogen
atoms is difficult. As Dr.Doser
explained, “The experiments
concentrate on anti-hydrogen
because that should be the most
sensitive system, as it is not much
affected by magnetic or electric
fields, contrary to charged anti-
particles.”
9. First, antiprotons are derived
from the Antiproton Decelerator
(AD), a particle storage ring which
“manufactures” the antiparticles at
a low energy. At another location, a
nanoporous plate is bombarded
with anti-electrons, resulting in a
highly unstable mixture of both
electrons and anti-electrons called
positronium (Ps).
10. The Ps is then excited to a
specific energy state by exposure
to a 205-nanometre laser and then
an even higher energy state called
a Rydberg level using a 1,670-
nanometre laser. Last, the excited
11
Ps traverses a special chamber
called a recombination trap, when it
mixes with antiprotons that are
controlled by precisely tuned
magnetic fields. With some
probability, an antiproton will “trap”
an anti-electron to form an anti-
hydrogen atom.
Applications
11. Before a beam of such anti-
hydrogen atoms is generated,
however, there are problems to be
solved. They involve large electric
and magnetic fields to control the
speed of and collimate the beams,
respectively, and powerful
cryogenic systems and ultra-cold
vacuums. Thus, Dr.Doser and his
colleagues will spend many
months making careful changes to
the apparatus to ensure these
requirements work in tandem by
2014.
12. While antiparticles were first
discovered in 1959, “until recently, it
was impossible to measure
anything about anti-hydrogen,”
Dr.Hangst wrote. Thus, the ALPHA
and AEgIS experiments at CERN
provide a seminal setting for
exploring the world of antimatter.
13. Anti-particles have been used
effectively in many diagnostic
devices such as PET scanners.
Consequently, improvements in our
understanding of them feed
immediately into medicine. To
name an application: Antiprotons
hold out the potential of treating
tumors more effectively.
14. In fact, the feasibility of this
application is being investigated by
the ACE experiment at CERN.In the
words of Dr.Doser: “Without the
motivation of attempting this
experiment, the experts in the
corresponding fields would most
likely never have collaborated and
might well never have been pushed
to solve the related interdisciplinary
problems.”
China confers top science
award on noted scientist
Dr C N R Rao
1. Noted Indian scientist Dr C N R
Rao has been conferred with
China’s top science award for his
important contributions in boosting
Sino-India scientific
cooperation.Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) yesterday gave its
2012 Award for International
Scientific Cooperation to three
scientists from India, Germany, and
Russia.
2. Rao, 79, founder of Jawaharlal
Nehru Centre for Advanced
Current Affairs Notes

Scientific Research (JNCASR),
Bangalore, shared the 2012 award
with Herbert Jaeckle of Germany’s
Max Planck Society and Russian
space physicist G AZherebtsov.
3. The awards are given every year
by the CAS, which is China’s top
academic and research institution
for natural sciences.It has so far
honoured 17 international
scientists for their contributions in
Sino-Foreign research cooperation,
since the prize was instituted in
2007.
4. “Rao is devoted to the research
of solid-state and structural
chemistry. He was awarded for his
important contributions in boosting
scientific cooperation between
China and India, as well as raising
the scientific capabilities
ofdeveloping countries”, state-run
Xinhua news agency quoted CAS
as saying in a statement.Rao has
won various prestigious awards.
He is currently the Head of the
Scientific Advisory Council to the
Indian Prime Minister.German
scientist Jaeckle specialised in the
fields of molecular developmental
biology. He has actively promoted
scientific cooperation between
China and Germany, CAS said.
5. He has explored and put into
practice approaches thatintegrate a
Max Planck management model
with the CAS’s scientific research
system, as well as set up an
international team of researchers, it
said.
6. Zherebtsov has actively
promoted the construction of a
Sino-Russian weather research
centre and is currently working to
get Russia involved in a CAS space
science programme, the CAS said.
Supergiant star nearest to
Earth on its way to
spectacular explosion
New image from ESA’s Herschel
space observatory has revealed
multiple arcs around Betelgeuse,
the nearest red supergiant star to
Earth, and scientists analysing the
image have suggested that the star
and its arc-shaped shields could
collide with an intriguing dusty
‘wall’ in 5000 years.
Betelgeuse rides on the shoulder
of the constellation Orion the
Hunter. It can easily be seen with
the naked eye in the northern
hemisphere winter night sky as the
orange-red star above and to the
left of Orion’s famous three-star
belt.
Roughly 1,000 times the diameter
of our Sun and shining 100,000
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
times more brightly, Betelgeuse’s
impressive statistics come with a
cost.
For this star is likely on its way to a
spectacular supernova explosion,
having already swelled into a red
supergiant and shed a significant
fraction of its outer layers.
The new far-infrared view from
Herschel shows how the star’s
winds are crashing against the
surrounding interstellar medium,
creating a bow shock as the star
moves through space at speeds of
around 30 km/s.
A series of broken, dusty arcs
ahead of the star’s direction of
motion testify to a turbulent history
of mass loss.
Closer to the star itself, an inner
envelope of material shows a
pronounced asymmetric structure.
Large convective cells in the star’s
outer atmosphere have likely
resulted in localized, clumpy
ejections of dusty debris at
different stages in the past.
An intriguing linear structure is
also seen further away from the
star, beyond the dusty arcs. While
some earlier theories proposed
that this bar was a result of
material ejected during a previous
stage of stellar evolution, analysis
of the new image suggests that it
is either a linear filament linked to
the galaxy’s magnetic field, or the
edge of a nearby interstellar cloud
that is being illuminated by
Betelgeuse.
If the bar is a completely separate
object, then taking into account the
motion of Betelgeuse and its arcs
and the separation between them
and the bar, the outermost arc will
collide with the bar in just 5,000
years, with the red supergiant star
itself hitting the bar roughly 12,500
years later.
Super-TIGER smashes
‘cosmic-ray’ balloon
record in Antarctica
Super-TIGER, the balloon carrying
the cosmic-ray detector, has set a
new record by floating in the air 45
days serenely in the Antarctica.
It shattered the previous record of
42 days set by Cream I, another
cosmic ray experiment that flew
during the winter of 2004-2005.
The team celebrated by thanking
everyone involved in a long series
of tweets — including the balloon’s
maker, Raven Aerostar, and NASA’s
Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility,
which tracks and controls the
balloon.
12
The Super-TIGER was launched
from the Ross Ice Shelf on Dec. 9,
2012, and has circled the South
Pole two and a half times at an
altitude of about 130,000 feet, three
or four times higher than
passenger planes cruise.
The team hopes it will complete the
circuit in another 8 to 10 days,
coming back round to McMurdo
latitude, or at least close enough
that it can be retrieved.
New venture ‘to mine asteroids’
for metals within two years
A US company plans to mine
asteroids for metals, useful ores
and minerals as they hurtle past
the Earth using the first rock-
prospecting spacecraft by 2015.
Deep Space Industries says it
wants to start sending miniature
scout probes, dubbed “Fireflies,”
on one-way missions to near-Earth
asteroids as soon as 2015.
Company CEO David Gump said
larger probes, “Dragonflies”, that
will bring back 50-to 100-pound
samples from prospective targets
could be on their way by 2016, CNN
reported.
The goal is to extract metals, water
and compounds that can be used
to make spacecraft fuel from the
chunks of rock that float within
about 50 million kilometres of
Earth.
Gump said the ability to produce
fuel in space would be a boon for
NASA, as the US space agency
shifts its focus toward exploring
deeper into the solar system.
As much as 90 percent of the
weight of a prospective months-
long Mars mission could be fuel -
and it costs between USD 5,000
and USD 10,000 per pound to put
anything into space.
“If NASA can launch just the
hardware and tank up in orbit,
where the fuel is cheap, that
means we could get to the Red
Planet a lot sooner than we
currently expect,” Gump said.
It could also allow commercial
satellite companies to extend the
life of hardware that’s now written
off when fuel for manoeuvring
thrusters runs out.
“If you give it one more month of
active work in orbit, it’s worth about
USD 5 (million) to USD 8 million to
the owner of that satellite,” Gump
said.
The announcement comes nine
months after the unveiling of a
similar project by Planetary
Current Affairs Notes

Resources, a company backed by
investors such as filmmaker
James Cameron and Google
executives Larry Page and Eric
Schmidt.
The group says it hopes to get its
first unmanned probes into space
by the end of 2013.
Since the retirement of its space
shuttles, NASA has outsourced
supply missions to the
International Space Station to the
private rocket company Space X.
Deep Space Industries said it can
build its first class of probes largely
with off-the-shelf parts and book
them on other launch vehicles,
such as the French-built Ariane
rockets or the Falcon boosters
developed by SpaceX.
Its executives said the company is
also developing a foundry
designed to produce metal parts
from nickel, an element abundant
in asteroids, and operate in space,
and a class of “Harvestor” craft to
extract valuable material from the
asteroids.
24 January 2013
GoM set up to review urea
pricing policy
1. The Centre has constituted a
Group of Ministers (GoM), which
will look into the modified new
pricing scheme (NPS) III for urea
as well as consider earlier
proposals for de-regulating the
sector.
2. The GoM is likely to be headed
by Agriculture Minister
SharadPawar. Apart from Mr.Pawar,
the GoM is likely to include Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram,
Chemical and Fertilizer Minister M.
K. Alagiri and Petroleum and
Natural Gas Minister
VeerappaMoily.
3. Urea is the only fertilizer that
remains under full price control. Its
current retail price is Rs.5,360 a
tonne. The proposal to hike urea
prices was made to redress
imbalanced use of soil nutrients
and reduce government’s subsidy
burden.
Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme
for Fertilizers
In the context of Nation’s food
security, the declining response of
agricultural productivity to
increased fertilizer usage in the
country and to ensure the balanced
application of fertilizers, the
Government has introduced the
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS)
Policy with effect from 1.4.2010 for
decontrolled P & K fertilizers (w.e.f.
1.5.2010 for SSP). As per this
policy, the fertilizers namely DAP,
MOP, NPKS complexes, MAP, TSP,
Ammonium Sulphate (AS) and
Single Super Phosphate (SSP) are
provided to the farmers at the
subsidized rates based on the
nutrients (N, P, K & S) contained in
these fertilizers. Additional subsidy
is also provided on the fertilizers
fortified with secondary and
micronutrients as per the Fertilizer
Control Order such as Boron and
Zinc. NBS has been announced for
2010-11 on annual basis based on
prevailing international prices and
price trends. Since this scheme
has just been launched about 3
months ago, therefore at present,
Government is not considering any
change in the NBS. Subsidy under
the NBS is being released through
the manufacturers/importers.
Reserve Bank eases rules
for FII investment in debt
1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI),
on Thursday, notified the enhanced
limit of investing in government
securities (G-Secs) by foreign
institutional investors (FIIs) and
long-term investors by $5 billion to
$25 billion from $20 billion.It also
hiked the investment limit in
corporate bonds by these entities
by $5 billion $50 billion from $45
billion.
2. Long-term investors include
SEBI-registered sovereign wealth
funds (SWFs), multilateral
agencies, endowment funds,
insurance funds, pension funds
and foreign central banks.The RBI
also relaxed some investment
rules by removing the maturity
restrictions for first time foreign
investors on dated G-Secs. Earlier
it was mandated that the first time
foreign investors of G-Secs must
buy securities with at least three-
year residual maturity. “But such
investments will not be allowed in
short-term paper like Treasury
Bills,” the RBI added.
3. Further, the central bank has
also restricted foreign investors
from buying certificates of deposits
and commercial paper.
4. In the total corporate debt limit of
$50 billion, the RBI stipulated a
sub-limit of $25 billion each for
infrastructure and other than
infrastructure sector bonds. In
addition, qualified foreign investors
(QFIs) would continue to be eligible
to invest in corporate debt
securities (without any lock-in or
residual maturity clause) and
13
mutual fund debt schemes, subject
to a total overall ceiling of $1 billion.
5. “This limit of $1 billion shall
continue to be over and above the
revised limit of $50 billion for
investment in corporate debt,” the
RBI added.
6. As a measure of further
relaxation, it has been decided to
dispense with the condition of one
year lock-in period for the limit of
$22 billion (comprising the limits of
infrastructure bonds of $12 billion
and $10 billion for non-resident
investment in IDFs) within the
overall limit of $25 billion for foreign
investment in infrastructure
corporate bond.
7. The residual maturity period (at
the time of first purchase)
requirement for the entire limit of
$22 billion for foreign investment in
the infrastructure sector has been
uniformly kept at 15 months. The
five-year residual maturity
requirement for investments by
QFIs within the $3 billion limit has
been modified to three years
original maturity.Maturity
restrictions for first time foreign
investors on dated G-Secs
removed. Removal of rules
requiring FIIs to hold infrastructure
debt for at least one year
Definition of ‘Gilt-Edged Securities’
High-grade bonds that are issued
by a government or firm. This type
of security originally boasted gilded
edges, thus the name. In the case
of a firm, a gilt-edged security is a
stock or bond issued by a company
that has a strong record of
consistent earnings and can be
relied on to cover dividends and
interest.
Antibiotic resistance’s
‘apocalyptic’ threat
1. Britain’s most senior medical
adviser has warned MPs that the
rise in drug-resistant diseases
could trigger a national emergency
comparable to a catastrophic
terrorist attack, pandemic flu or
major coastal flooding.
2. Dame Sally Davies, the chief
medical officer, said the threat from
infections that are resistant to
frontline antibiotics was so serious
that the issue should be added to
the government’s National Risk
Register of Civil Emergencies.
3. She described what she called
an “apocalyptic scenario” where
people going for simple operations
in 20 years’ time die of routine
infections “because we have run
out of antibiotics.”
Current Affairs Notes

4. The register was established in
2008 to advise the public and
businesses on national
emergencies that Britain could face
in the next five years. The highest
priority risks on the latest register
include a deadly flu outbreak,
catastrophic terrorist attacks, and
major flooding on the scale of
1953, the last occasion on which a
national emergency was declared
in the U.K.
5. Speaking to MPs on the
Commons science and technology
committee, Davies said she would
ask the Cabinet Office to add
antibiotic resistance to the National
Risk Register in the light of an
annual report on infectious disease
she will publish in March.
6. Davies declined to elaborate on
the report, but said its publication
would coincide with a government
strategy to promote more
responsible use of antibiotics
among doctors and the clinical
professions. “We need to get our
act together in this country,” she
told the committee.
7. The issue of drug resistance is
as old as antibiotics themselves,
and arises when drugs knock out
susceptible infections, leaving
hardier, resilient strains behind.
The survivors then multiply, and
over time can become unstoppable
with frontline medicines. Some of
the best known are so-called
hospital superbugs such as MRSA.
8. “In the past, most people haven’t
worried because we’ve always had
new antibiotics to turn to,” said Alan
Johnson, consultant clinical
scientist at the Health Protection
Agency (HPA). “What has changed
is that the development pipeline is
running dry. We don’t have new
antibiotics that we can rely on in the
immediate future or in the longer
term.” Changes in modern
medicine have exacerbated the
problem by making patients more
susceptible to infections. For
example, cancer treatments
weaken the immune system, and
the use of catheters increases the
chances of bugs entering the
bloodstream.
9. “We are becoming increasingly
reliant on antibiotics in a whole
range of areas of medicine. If we
don’t have new antibiotics to deal
with the problems of resistance we
see, we are going to be in serious
trouble,” Johnson added. The
supply of new antibiotics has dried
up for several reasons, but a major
one is that drugs companies see
greater profits in medicines that
treat chronic conditions, such as
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
heart disease, which patients must
take for years or even decades.
“There is a broken market model
for making new antibiotics,” Davies
told the MPs.
10. She has met senior officials at
the World Health Organisation and
her counterparts in other countries
to develop a strategy to tackle
antibiotic resistance globally.
Powerful drugs losing efficacy
1. Drug resistance is emerging in
diseases across the board. Davies
said 80 per cent of gonorrhea was
now resistant to the frontline
antibiotic tetracycline, and
infections were rising in young and
middle-aged people. Multi-drug
resistant TB was also a major
threat, she said.
2. Another worrying trend is the rise
in infections that are resistant to
powerful antibiotics called
carbapenems, which doctors rely
on to tackle the most serious
infections. Resistant bugs carry a
gene variant that allows them to
destroy the drug. What concerns
some scientists is that the gene
variant can spread freely between
different kinds of bacteria, said
Johnson.Bacteria resistant to
carbapenems were first detected in
the U.K. in 2003, when three cases
were reported. The numbers
remained low until 2007, but have
since leapt to 333 in 2010, with 217
cases in the first six months of
2011, according to the latest figures
from the HPA. — © Guardian
Newspapers Limited, 2013
Malaria-causing parasite
found in Andamans
Researchers have located a new
malaria-causing parasite —
Plasmodium Knowlesi — for the
first time in humans in India.
A team of researchers, consisting
of Manoj Kumar Das of the National
Institute of Malaria Research
(NIMR), Shiv S. Singh of G.B. Pant
Hospital, Port Blair, Rupesh K.
Tyagi and Yagya D. Sharma of the
All India Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS), have made this
discovery. They located the
plasmodium in tribal people in the
Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Mr. Das, during his visit to the city,
said monkeys, especially crab-
eating ones found in the islands,
served as hosts for this parasite.
Mr. Das, who has spent 16 years of
research as officer-in-charge of the
field unit of the malaria research
centre in the Car Nicobar island,
received the ICMR award for senior
bio-medical scientists for the year
14
2012-13 for his research.
From the infected monkeys that
serve as its hosts, this parasite
gets transmitted to humans
through the Leucosphyrus group of
Anopheles mosquitoes that serve
as vectors, Mr. Das said.Till date
there has been no confirmatory
report about any Plasmodium
Knowlesi infection in the mainland.
It is likely that the parasite migrated
to the islands from neighbouring
south-east Asian countries, which
have similar flora and
fauna.Poachers from Thailand and
Indonesia are said to secretly visit
the islands. “Probably this new
malaria-causing parasite has been
introduced to Indian islands
through poachers,” Mr. Das said.
Verma report for
parliamentary panel
The Union government is planning
to send the Justice Verma
Committee report to the
Parliamentary Standing Committee
on Home Affairs for consideration
even as Law Minister Ashwani
Kumar on Thursday hinted that it
would not be possible to
implement all recommendations,
particularly on review of the Armed
Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA)
and disqualification of tainted
lawmakers.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)
was studying the report and
whatever fresh recommendations
were found, would be flagged and
forwarded to the parliamentary
committee, a senior government
official said.
Notably, the committee, headed by
the former Chief Justice of India,
J.S. Verma, has recommended
harsher punishment for rape
convicts besides bringing stalking,
marital rape and other women
related issues within the purview of
criminal law.
According to government sources,
many of the recommendations
given by the three-member
committee on ‘Amendments to
Criminal Law’ had been
incorporated in the Criminal Law
Amendment Bill, 2012, which was
introduced in Parliament during the
winter session. The MHA has set
no time frame to introduce the
proposed amendments in
Parliament as suggested by the
panel, they said.
Justice verma report
reccomendations:
1. The equality of women, being
integral to the Constitution, its
Current Affairs Notes

denial is a sacrilege and a
constitutional violation. Sustained
constitutional violations mean that
governance is not in accordance
with the Constitution. A fortiori, all
limbs of the State - the executive,
the legislature as well as the
judiciary -must respect women’s
rights and must treat them in a
non-discriminatorymanner.
2. As a primary
recommendation, all marriages in
India(irrespective of the personal
laws under which such marriages
are solemnised) should
mandatorily be registered in the
presence of a magistrate, which
magistrate will ensure that the
marriage has been solemnised
without any demand for dowry
having been made and that the
marriage has taken place with the
full and free consent of both
partners.
3. The manner in which the rights
of women can be recognised can
only be manifested when they have
full access to justice and when the
rule of law can be upheld in their
favour. The proposed Criminal Law
Amendment Act, 2012, should be
modified as suggested, and to
secure public confidence, be
promulgated forthwith. Since the
possibility of sexual assault on
men, as well as homosexual,
transgender and transsexual rape,
is a reality the provisions have to
be cognizant of the same.
4. In respect of certain categories
of cases, such as those where the
victim is in custody of persons in
authority including police and
armed personnel, certain statutory
presumptions must apply under
Section 114A of the Indian Evidence
Act, 1872. Every complaint of rape
must be registered by the police
and civil society should perform
its duty to report any case of rape
coming to its knowledge.
5. Any officer, who fails to register
a case of rape reported to him, or
attempts to abort its
investigation, commits an offence
which shall be punishable as
prescribed. We have also taken
into account offences of eve
teasing, voyeurism, stalking as well
as sexual assault and unsolicited
sexual contact.
6. A special procedure for
protecting persons with
disabilities from rape, and
requisite procedures for access
to justice for such personsis also
an urgent need. Amendments to
the Code of Criminal Procedure,
which are necessary, have been
suggested.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
7. The protocols for medical
examination of victims of sexual
assaulthave also been suggested,
which we have prepared on the
basis of the best practices as
advised by global experts in the
fields of gynaecology and
psychology. Such protocol based,
professional medical examination
is imperative for uniform practice
and implementation.
8. The insensitivity of the police to
deal with rape victims is well
known. The police respect a
patriarchal form of society, and
have been unable to deal with
extraordinary cases of humiliation
and hardship caused by the
khappanchayats, as is evident from
various judgments of the Supreme
Court. The police are involved in
trafficking of children (including
female children) and in drug trade.
To inspire public confidence, it is
necessary that there must not
only be prompt implementation of
the judgment of the Supreme
Court in Prakash Singh case, but
also police officers with
reputations of outstanding ability
and character must be placed at
the higher levels of the police
force.
In the present context, and in view
of the facts revealed to us, it is
necessary that every police
commissioner and director general
of police of this country must be
selected in accordance with the
directions of the Supreme Court in
Prakash Singh’s case, who can
lead by example. The leader
makes all the difference. As
such, all existing appointments
need to be reviewed to ensure
that the police force has the
requisite moral vision.
9. It is settled law that every
policeman is bound to obey the law
and any order of a superior officer,
which is contrary to law, is no
defence for his illegal action, which
may be a punishable offence.
Accordingly, any political
interference or extraneous
influence in the performance of the
statutory duty by a policeman
cannot be condoned.This principle
has to be clearly understood by
every member of the police force -
their accountability is only to the
law and to none else in the
discharge of their duty. Dereliction
of this duty has to be punished
according to the service rules and
applicable law.
10. Authentic figures of missing
children in India are not available
for obvious reasons of the
complicity of law enforcement
15
agencies. Children have been
driven into forced labour, sex
abuse, sexual exploitation as well
as made victims of illegal organ
trade. Our report includes the
testimonies of children (whose
identities have been concealed for
their safety) to verify facts from their
personal experience. As a small
gesture, this Committee has (at its
own cost) taken necessary steps
for proper rehabilitation and
education of one of these children,
payment of the minimum wages
due to the said child, her safe
passage and reintegration with her
family, psychotherapeutic
intervention, and to fulfil her
educational aspirations.The
Committee expects similar
treatment by the State of all such
deprived children.
11. Every District Magistrate is
responsible for carrying out a
census of missing children
within his district. Having regard to
the apathy shown by the district
magistrates and the police in the
matter of missing children, evident
from advisories issued by the
Ministry of Home Affairs as late as
on 30th January 2012, this issue
needs immediate attention. This is
necessary also for the credibility of
the political establishment.
12. The judiciary has the primary
responsibility of enforcing
fundamental rights, through
constitutional remedies. The
judiciary can take suomotu
cognizance of such issues being
deeply concerned with them both in
the Supreme Court and the High
Court. An all India strategy to deal
with this issue would be advisable.
The Chief Justice of India could be
approached to commence
appropriate proceedings on the
judicial side. The Hon’ble Chief
Justice may consider making
appropriate orders relating to the
issue of missing children to curb
the illegal trade of their trafficking
etc. Social activists involved in
curbing this menace could assist
the court in the performance of this
task. The question of award of
compensation and rehabilitation
could also be considered in such
cases by the court.
13. Juvenile homes in the country,
i.e. child homes, and observation
homes, are not being run in a
manner consistent with the spirit of
the Juvenile Justice Act. To ensure
that the constitution of the Child
Welfare Committee, Juvenile
Justice Board, the infrastructural
facilities in a home, the quality of
food, the quality of counselling and
psychotherapy required for a child
Current Affairs Notes

to wipe out the scars of abuse and
deprivation in early childhood and
to mainstream him/her in society
and to educate him/her fully
requires a deeper and profound
engagement of the State and civil
society. This is the primary duty of
the State, which is found wanting.
We are shocked to note that so
many of these children have been
forced into bonded labour and
beggary, which is in violation of
Article 23 of the Constitution. India
should not permit cheap child
labour to be an incentive for foreign
investment to boost our economy.
14. It is time for the judiciary to
step in to discharge the
constitutional mandate of
enforcing fundamental rights and
implementation of the rule of law. In
performance of this obligation, the
Chief Justice of the High Court in
every State could devise the
appropriate machinery for
administration and supervision of
these homes in consultation with
experts in the field. For the safety
and physical security of children,
women, persons with disabilities,
inmates of mental homes and
widows, monitoring by the judiciary
is necessary. The immediate and
ultimate guardianship of such
persons has to be with the court,
founded on the principle of
parenspatriae.
15. To augment the police force,
there is a need to develop
community policing by involving
the local gentry, which would also
motivate them to perform their duty
as citizens. Respectable persons
in each locality could also be
appointed Special Executive
Magistrates under Section 21,
Cr.P.C. and invested with powers to
deal with the traffic offences and
other minor offences. In addition, to
assisting the maintenance of law
and order in the locality, their
presence would inspire greater
confidence of safety in the locality.
16. Street lighting
everywhere would provide more
safety since dark areas are more
prone to facilitate crimes. There is
great wisdom in the words of the
American Judge Louis Brandeis,
that “Sunlight is said to be the best
of disinfectant; electric light the
most efficient policeman”.
17. Street vending should be
encouraged to make the bus stops
and footpaths safe for communities
and pedestrians, in addition to
providing street food for the
common man.
18. We recommend the creation of
a new constitutional authority akin
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
to the Comptroller and Auditor
General for education, non-
discrimination, in respect of
women and children.
“Coal allocation is none
of your business”
The right vests with States,
Supreme Court tells Centre
1. The Supreme Court on Thursday
made it clear to the Centre that it
had no power to allocate coal
blocks to private companies and
sought legal explanation from
Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati for
making the allotments.
2. A Bench of Justices R.M. Lodha
and J. Chelameswar told the AG
that there was absolutely no power
given to the Centre under the Mines
and Minerals (Development and
Regulation) Act, 1957. It was vested
only with the States.
3. The Bench was hearing a
petition filed by a group of
prominent citizens and Common
Cause, a non-governmental
organisation, seeking cancellation
of the allocation of captive coal
blocks made from 1993 and a
probe by a special investigation
team. The petitioners included
T.S.R. Subramanian, former
Cabinet Secretary; N
Gopalaswami, former Chief
Election Commissioner;
Ramaswamy R. Iyer, former
Secretary, Government of India;
Admiral (retd.) R.H. Tahiliani;
SushilTripathi, former Secretary,
Government of India; and Admiral
(retd.) L. Ramdas.
4. They said that according to the
CAG’s conservative estimates, the
allocation between 2004 and 2010
caused a windfall gain of Rs. 1.86
lakh crore to private companies,
making it a bigger scandal than the
‘2G scam’. There was a related
loss to the public exchequer.
“Various political and commercial
vested interests joined forces to
block competitive bidding
[auction].”A petition by advocate
M.L. Sharma was tagged with this
plea.
5. The Bench wanted to know from
the AG whether the Centre derived
any power to allocate coal blocks to
private companies under the Coal
Mines (Nationalisation) Act. Justice
Lodha told Mr.Vahanvati: “You are
required to give a lot of legal
explanation. The question is: does
the Centre have power under the
MMDR Act and does it have the
power to undermine the entire
statutory mechanism? Can you
override the statutory provisions of
16
the Act? It is very doubtful, legally
perhaps.”
6. Mr.Vahanvati said he did not want
to give off-the-cuff answers. “I need
time to go into these issues.”
Justice Lodha told the AG: “From
your affidavit itself, it appears that
minerals and mining lease has to
be executed by the State and not by
the Centre. It strikes at the root of
all allocations.” Referring to
counsel PrashantBhushan’s
submission that the Coal Secretary
had filed an affidavit on how the
blocks were decided by a
Screening Committee, Justice
Lodha observed: “This seems to
be extra legal.”
25 January 2013
Norms revised for offer
for sale mechanism
1. The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI), on Friday,
revised the offer for sale (OFS)
mechanism as the deadline is
approaching for the promoters of
listed companies to offload their
stake to meet the minimum public
shareholding norm of 25 per cent
by June 2013.
2. “Based on past experience of
sale of shares through OFS, the
mechanism of OFS has been
found to be useful by market
participants and popular for
offloading shares of promoters in
listed companies in order to
achieve minimum public
shareholding,” said SEBI in a
circular to all sock exchanges.
3. The revised norms would be
“more economical, efficient and
transparent,” it added.
4. The cumulative bid quantity will
be made available online to the
market throughout the trading
session at specific intervals in
respect of orders with 100 per cent
upfront margin and separately in
respect of orders placed without
any upfront margin.
5. The indicative price shall be
disclosed to the market throughout
the trading session. This is also
calculated based on all valid bid /
orders.
6. Institutional investors have an
option to pay either upfront 100 per
cent margin in cash or without
margin. However, non-institutional
investors have to pay 100 per cent
upfront margin in cash.
7. Orders with 100 per cent margin
paid upfront by institutional
investors and non-institutional
investors can be modified or
Current Affairs Notes

cancelled at any time during trading
hours. Orders without paying
upfront margin by institutional
investors can not be modified or
cancelled except make upward
revision in the price or quantity.
Institutional investors who placed
orders / bids with 100 per cent
margin upfront, custodian
confirmation would be within
trading hours and settlement shall
take place on T+1 (trading plus one
day) and without upfront margin it
will be on T+1 and settlement will
be on T+2 as it is now followed in
secondary market transactions.
8. The extended half-an-hour time
after trading hours given to the
custodians earlier has been done
away with.
Recycle grey water
1. UN-Habitat has commenced a
new global consultation to reiterate
the crucial role of wastewater
management in the water cycle and
explore policy options for a
sustainable future. These
consultations have also become
necessary to set a future goal for
water use, particularly for the years
following 2015, which is the target
year for the Millennium
Development Goals. For India — a
severely water-stressed region —
this offers an opportunity to reflect
on its policies and draw lessons
from best practices across the
world. The core challenge facing
the country is the yawning gap
between demand for water and the
severely constrained supply. From
813 billion cubic metres — the
figure for 2010 — demand is set to
reach 1,093 BCM by 2025.
Conventional resources alone
cannot meet this steep increase.
There is a pressing need to explore
alternative sources. In this context,
policymakers have done well to
promote water harvesting to
improve supply. But they have
utterly failed when it comes to
reusing water. Industrial scale
recycling would help, but it could be
expensive. On the other hand, the
often overlooked building level
reuse of grey water — wastewater
from kitchen sinks, showers and
laundry fixtures — is a more
effective strategy to pursue.
2. According to a Centre for Science
and Environment estimate in 2011,
kitchen use, shower and laundry
consume more than 70 per cent of
the 920 litres of water supplied per
household per day. Building
systems seldom trap this
wastewater for non-potable use
such as toilet flushing, fire fighting
and gardening. Instead, they drain
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
it out along with sewage, burdening
the system. More important, the
precious water is lost. In contrast,
countries such as Japan
extensively recycle water and
successfully tide over their water
deficit. Through a combination of
strategies involving small treatment
plants and closed loop water
supply at building level, Japan
reuses more than 53 million litres
of water every day. In addition,
innovative bathroom fixtures
conduct used sink water directly to
the flush tank of the toilet and save
about 22,000 gallons every year.
Recycling needs changes to
plumbing arrangements in a
building, but it is not hard to
implement or monitor. What is
missing is the will and regulatory
framework. Cities such as Nanded
have amended their building rules
to make wastewater treatment in
large buildings compulsory, but
such provisions are present more
on paper than in practice. If
policymakers are serious about
increasing water use efficiency
through recycling — a goal set by
the National Water Mission —
buildings should be compelled to
meet most of their non-potable
water requirement through grey
water reuse.
Immediate priority to poll
reforms, says new Law
Commission chief Jain
1. Justice D.K. Jain, retired judge of
the Supreme Court, took charge as
Chairman of the 20th Law
Commission of India at a brief
ceremony here on Friday.
2. He laid down office as judge on
the evening of Thursday when he
was given a warm farewell by
members of the Bar and the Bench
at a function held on the Supreme
Court lawns.
3. Justice Jain had been a judge of
the Supreme Court from April 2006
and during the over six-year tenure
he had delivered several landmark
judgments and he endeared
himself to the members of the Bar.
4. Speaking to The Hindu soon
after assuming office as Law
Commission Chairman, he said
his immediate priority would be to
look into electoral reforms, which,
the government had asked him to
do. In particular, the Commission
would look into state funding of
elections and preventing
criminalisation of politics etc. There
were many outdated laws and the
Commission, in consultation with
other members, would see
whether these could be taken out of
17
the statute or amended or
repealed.
Cutting down delays
5. Another area that needed urgent
attention would be amendments to
the civil procedure code to cut down
procedural delays, viz whether
appeals could be cut down. He
suggested that instead of
legislation, the Supreme Court,
after discussion with various
stakeholders, could come out with
guidelines on cutting down delays
on account of arguments.
6. Asked about the Law
Commission’s earlier report on
rape laws and the Justice Verma
Committee’s report, he said he
would look into both reports. A large
number of issues were pending
with the Commission and would be
examined.
7. On the government not acting on
the Law Commission’s report, he
said the Supreme Court had been
using these reports in judgments
and “I am sure these reports will
get the attention they deserve.”
Godhra cases
8. Justice Jain, heading a three-
member Bench, monitored the
Special Investigation Team probe
into the Godhra and post-Godhra
cases in Gujarat and the Gulberg
Society case in which the court
directed the Ahmedabad
magistrate to decide on the closure
report. Last week, the magistrate
was restrained from pronouncing
final orders on the report.
9. Justice Jain was heading the
Benches on sensitive Mullaperiyar
and Cauvery disputes cases.
Election commission of India:
A Constitutional Body
India is a Socialist, Secular,
Democratic Republic and the
largest democracy in the World.
The modern Indian nation state
came into existence on 15th of
August 1947. Since then free and
fair elections have been held at
regular intervals as per the
principles enshrined in the
Constitution, Electoral Laws and
System.
The Constitution of India has
vested in the Election Commission
of India the superintendence,
direction and control of the entire
process for conduct of elections to
Parliament and Legislature of every
State and to the offices of President
and Vice-President of India.
Election Commission of India is a
permanent Constitutional Body.
Current Affairs Notes

The Election Commission was
established in accordance with the
Constitution on 25th January 1950.
The Commission celebrated its
Golden Jubilee in 2001. For details,
please click here
Originally the commission had only
a Chief Election Commissioner. It
currently consists of Chief Election
Commissioner and two Election
Commissioners.
For the first time two additional
Commissioners were appointed
on 16th October 1989 but they had
a very short tenure till 1st January
1990. Later, on 1st October 1993
two additional Election
Commissioners were appointed.
The concept of multi-member
Commission has been in
operation since then, with decision
making power by majority vote.
Appointment & Tenure of
Commissioners
The President appoints Chief
Election Commissioner and
Election Commissioners. They
have tenure of six years, or up to
the age of 65 years, whichever is
earlier. They enjoy the same status
and receive salary and perks as
available to Judges of the Supreme
Court of India. The Chief Election
Commissioner can be removed
from office only through
impeachment by Parliament.
Transaction of Business
The Commission transacts its
business by holding regular
meetings and also by circulation of
papers. All Election
Commissioners have equal say in
the decision making of the
Commission. The Commission,
from time to time, delegates some
of its executive functions to its
officers in its Secretariat.
The Setup
The Commission has a separate
Secretariat at New Delhi,
consisting of about 300 officials, in
a hierarchical set up.
Two or three Deputy Election
Commissioners and Director
Generals who are the senior most
officers in the Secretariat assist the
Commission. They are generally
appointed from the national civil
service of the country and are
selected and appointed by the
Commission with tenure. Directors,
Principal Secretaries, and
Secretaries, Under Secretaries and
Deputy Directors support the
Deputy Election Commissioners
and Director Generals in turn.
There is functional and territorial
distribution of work in the
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Commission. The work is
organised in Divisions, Branches
and sections; each of the last
mentioned units is in charge of a
Section Officer. The main functional
divisions are Planning, Judicial,
Administration, Systematic Voters’
Education and Electoral
Participation, SVEEP, Information
Systems, Media and Secretariat
Co-ordination. The territorial work
is distributed among separate
units responsible for different
Zones into which the 35 constituent
States and Union Territories of the
country are grouped for
convenience of management.
At the state level, the election work
is supervised, subject to overall
superintendence, direction and
control of the Commission, by the
Chief Electoral Officer of the State,
who is appointed by the
Commission from amongst senior
civil servants proposed by the
concerned state government. He is,
in most of the States, a full time
officer and has a small team of
supporting staff.
At the district and constituency
levels, the District Election Officers,
Electoral Registration Officers and
Returning Officers, who are
assisted by a large number of
junior functionaries, perform
election work. They all perform their
functions relating to elections in
addition to their other
responsibilities. During election
time, however, they are available to
the Commission, more or less, on
a full time basis.
The gigantic task force for
conducting a countrywide general
election consists of nearly five
million polling personnel and civil
police forces. This huge election
machinery is deemed to be on
deputation to the Election
Commission and is subject to its
control, superintendence and
discipline during the election
period, extending over a period of
one and half to two months.
Budget & Expenditure
The Secretariat of the Commission
has an independent budget, which
is finalised directly in consultation
between the Commission and the
Finance Ministry of the Union
Government. The latter generally
accepts the recommendations of
the Commission for its budgets.
The major expenditure on actual
conduct of elections is, however,
reflected in the budgets of the
concerned constituent units of the
Union - States and Union
Territories. If elections are being
held only for the Parliament, the
18
expenditure is borne entirely by the
Union Government while for the
elections being held only for the
State Legislature, the expenditure
is borne entirely by the concerned
State. In case of simultaneous
elections to the Parliament and
State Legislature, the expenditure
is shared equally between the
Union and the State Governments.
For Capital equipment, expenditure
related to preparation for electoral
rolls and the scheme for Electors’
Identity Cards too, the expenditure
is shared equally.
Executive Interference Barred
In the performance of its functions,
Election Commission is insulated
from executive interference. It is the
Commission which decides the
election schedules for the conduct
of elections, whether general
elections or bye-elections. Again, it
is the Commission which decides
on the location polling stations,
assignment of voters to the polling
stations, location of counting
centres, arrangements to be made
in and around polling stations and
counting centres and all allied
matters.
Political Parties & the
Commission
Political parties are registered with
the Election Commission under the
law. The Commission ensures
inner party democracy in their
functioning by insisting upon them
to hold their organizational
elections at periodic intervals.
Political Parties so registered with
it are granted recognition at the
State and National levels by the
Election Commission on the basis
of their poll performance at general
elections according to criteria
prescribed by it. The Commission,
as a part of its quasi-judicial
jurisdiction, also settles disputes
between the splinter groups of
such recognised parties.
Election Commission ensures a
level playing field for the political
parties in election fray, through
strict observance by them of a
Model Code of Conduct evolved
with the consensus of political
parties.
The Commission holds periodical
consultations with the political
parties on matters connected with
the conduct of elections;
compliance of Model Code of
Conduct and new measures
proposed to be introduced by the
Commission on election related
matters.
Advisory Jurisdiction & Quasi-
Judicial Functions
Current Affairs Notes

Under the Constitution, the
Commission also has advisory
jurisdiction in the matter of post
election disqualification of sitting
members of Parliament and State
Legislatures. Further, the cases of
persons found guilty of corrupt
practices at elections which come
before the Supreme Court and
High Courts are also referred to the
Commission for its opinion on the
question as to whether such
person shall be disqualified and, if
so, for what period. The opinion of
the Commission in all such
matters is binding on the President
or, as the case may be, the
Governor to whom such opinion is
tendered.
The Commission has the power to
disqualify a candidate who has
failed to lodge an account of his
election expenses within the time
and in the manner prescribed by
law. The Commission has also the
power for removing or reducing the
period of such disqualification as
also other disqualification under
the law.
Judicial Review
The decisions of the Commission
can be challenged in the High
Court and the Supreme Court of the
India by appropriate petitions. By
long standing convention and
several judicial pronouncements,
once the actual process of
elections has started, the judiciary
does not intervene in the actual
conduct of the polls. Once the polls
are completed and result declared,
the Commission cannot review any
result on its own. This can only be
reviewed through the process of an
election petition, which can be filed
before the High Court, in respect of
elections to the Parliament and
State Legislatures. In respect of
elections for the offices of the
President and Vice President, such
petitions can only be filed before
the Supreme Court.
Media Policy
The Commission has a
comprehensive policy for the
media. It holds regular briefings for
the mass media-print and
electronic, on a regular basis, at
close intervals during the election
period and on specific occasions
as necessary on other occasions.
The representatives of the media
are also provided facilities to report
on actual conduct of poll and
counting. They are allowed entry
into polling stations and counting
centres on the basis of authority
letters issued by the Commission.
They include members of both
international and national media.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
The Commission also publishes
statistical reports and other
documents which are available in
the public domain. The library of the
Commission is available for
research and study to members of
the academic fraternity; media
representatives and anybody else
interested.
The Commission has, in co-
operation with the state owned
media - Doordarshan and All India
Radio, taken up a major campaign
for awareness of voters. The
Prasar Bharti Corporation which
manages the national Radio and
Television networks, has brought
out several innovative and effective
short clips for this purpose.
Voter Education
Voters’ Participation in the
democratic and electoral
processes is integral to the
successful running of any
democracy and the very basis of
wholesome democratic elections.
Recognising this, Election
Commission of India, in 2009,
formally adopted Voter Education
and Electoral participation as an
integral part of its election
management.
‘First past the post’ not
real victory in polls:
Ansari
1. Vice-President Hamid Ansari on
Friday initiated a fresh debate on
electoral reforms by suggesting
introduction of the “right to reject” in
the voting system, and discussing
the increasing number of
candidates winning polls (to the
LokSabha/Assemblies) with
“minority votes” — getting elected
by securing less than 50 per cent of
the total votes polled in their
constituencies.
2. Addressing a function of the
Election Commission, to celebrate
the “third voters day” (to enrol new
voters in the country), Mr. Ansari,
who is also Chairman of the
RajyaSabha, said there was need
for taking corrective steps relating
to the “first-past-the-post system”
in which the successful candidate
wins on the plurality, rather than the
majority, of votes cast.
3. Its limitation was evident from
factual data. In the first general
election in 1952, the percentage of
successful candidates who
secured less than 50 per cent of
the total votes cast in their
constituencies was 67.28. This
figure went down to 58.09 per cent
in the 1957 election. In the general
elections held in 1999, 2004, and
19
2009, it was 60.03, 75.87 and
82.68 respectively — more
candidates got elected to the
LokSabha by securing less than 50
per cent of the total votes polled in
their constituencies.
4. “The conclusion is inescapable
that a majority of elected members
of the LokSabha in recent years,
and even earlier, won on a minority
of votes cast in their
constituencies. The situation is no
better, perhaps worse, in the
Assembly Elections with the
percentage of the returned
candidates on minority of votes
cast going above 70 in several
cases.”
5. “When this percentage is
considered alongside the average
voter turnout, it would suggest that
the elected representative may not
be, often is not, representative of
his/her electoral constituency.
Furthermore, this system
encourages candidates to focus on
securing votes of a segment of the
electorate and thereby accentuate
or reinforce social divisions based
on narrower considerations that
derogate from inclusiveness and
promote divisive tendencies and
social conflict,” Mr. Ansari said.
6. The Vice-President also called
for a fresh debate on the “right to
reject” (the candidate during the
polls by voters). It was argued “in
terms of the democratic theory, that
the right to vote carries with it an
obligation to exercise the franchise
in favour of a candidate of choice. A
corollary of this would be the right
to reject if none of the candidates
on the list found favour with the
voter. Such a conscious rejection
would be preferable to abstention
from voting. The procedural
modality for bringing this about can
be worked out on the model of
some of the democracies where it
is in vogue.”
7. Law and Justice Minister
Ashwani Kumar said the
government remained irrevocably
committed to electoral reforms in a
major way.
First past the voting system:
A first-past-the-post (abbreviated
FPTP or FPP) election is one that is
won by the candidate with more
votes than any other(s). It is a
common, but not universal, feature
of democratic political systems with
single-member legislative districts,
and generally results over time with
a two-party competition.
Governor may ask Shettar
to prove majority in House
Chief Minister JagadishShettar may
Current Affairs Notes

be directed by Governor H.R.
Bhardwaj to prove his majority on
the floor of the Legislative
Assembly ahead of the joint
session of the Legislature provided
there is prima facie evidence that
the government has been reduced
to a minority.
Mr. Shettar called on the Governor
at the Raj Bhavan on Friday and is
said to have conveyed that his
government enjoys a majority.
Should there be a need, he would
prove his majority on the floor of the
House. As is customary, the Chief
Minister invited the Governor to
address the joint session.
No directive
Meanwhile, the Governor has said
that there appears to be a split in
the BharatiyaJanata Party, and the
relative strength, if required, may
have to be established in the
Assembly. There is, however, no
directive issued by the Raj Bhavan
calling upon the Chief Minister to
face a vote of confidence.
The two Houses of the legislature
are scheduled to meet on February
4, and the Chief Minister, who holds
the Finance portfolio, is scheduled
to present the State Budget on
February 8. It is evident that the
Governor will wait for Speaker K.G.
Bopaiah to accept the resignations
of the 13 legislators in the
Yeddyurappa camp.
With the expectation of a trust vote
coming into play, the political
atmosphere in the State,
particularly in the BJP, is
surcharged, and efforts are on to
shore up numbers. There is also
the talk of a Ministry expansion to
win over legislators who may be
tempted to cross over to the
Karnataka JanataPaksha led by
B.S. Yeddyurappa. The Governor on
Friday accepted the resignations of
two Ministers, ShobhaKarandlaje
and C.M. Udasi, which were
forwarded to him by the Chief
Minister.
The KJP, which already enjoys the
support of 13 legislators, is
expected to receive the support of a
few more legislators and two more
Ministers prior to the
commencement of the legislature
session.
The Congress and the Janata Dal
(Secular) have made it clear that
they will vote against the
government if it comes to a
confidence vote. With elections
round the corner, they would not
like to be seen as aligning with the
BJP.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Padma Vibhushan:
The Padma Vibhushan is the
second highest civilian award in
the Republic of India. It consists of
a medal and a citation and is
awarded by the President of India. It
was established on 2 January
1954. It ranks behind the Bharat
Ratna and comes before the
Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
It is awarded to recognize
exceptional and distinguished
service to the nation in any field,
including government service.The
first recipitants of this award were
SatyendraNath Bose, NandLal
Bose, Zakir Hussain,
BalasahebGangadharKher, Jigme
Dorji Wangchuk, V. K. Krishna
Menon in the year 1954
Padma Shri:
Padma Shri (also Padmashree) is
the fourth highest civilian award in
the Republic of India, after the
Bharat Ratna, the Padma
Vibhushan and the Padma
Bhushan. It is awarded by the
Government of India.
It is awarded to citizens of India to
recognize their distinguished
contribution in various spheres of
activity including the Arts,
Education, Industry, Literature,
Science, Sports, Medicine, Social
Service and Public Affairs. However
it has also been awarded to some
distinguished individuals who were
not citizens of India and who did
contribute in various ways to India
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third
highest civilian award in the
Republic of India, after the Bharat
Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan,
but comes before the Padma Shri.
It is awarded by the Government of
India.
26 January 2013
News Analysis - RBI in a
fix as growth concerns
rise
1. While inflation and inflationary
pressures are major concerns of
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),
bankers and the market expect a
rate cut of 25 basis points to
balance growth and inflation as
envisaged by the government.
2. The RBI had asked the
government to cut subsidies and
help fiscal consolidation but
coalition politics made the
decision-making difficult for the
government for some time. Now a
20
determined government, since the
change of guard at the Finance
Ministry, has taken some bold
decisions. The government expects
that the measures announced by it
and the central bank will stimulate
the economy and reduce fiscal and
current account deficits (CAD).
3. Since Mr. Chidambaram took
over the Finance Ministry last
August, he was able to cheer up
the stock market substantially. The
benchmark 30-share sensitive
index (Sensex) shot up from
17257.38 on August 1, 2012, to
20103.53 on January 25, 2013. In
this period, more than $16 billion
foreign institutional investor (FII)
inflow was recorded. A rate cut by
the RBI would provide an essential
euphoria in the market. The
departure of SubirGokarn, the
former Deputy Governor of RBI,
who guided the policy rates, has
raised expectations of a cut much
before the end of the fourth quarter.
Dr.Gokarn had always maintained
that inflation was a major worry for
the central bank as he had said
“Runaway inflation could be much
worse in the long-run.”
Rate cut hopes
4. Inflation rate, especially the
wholesale price index (WPI), is not
in the comfortable level of 5-5.5
percent which the central bank was
anticipating for a long time. This is
at present hovering around a
“stubbornly high” level of 7-7.5
percent. Retail inflation (based on
consumer price index) is above 10
per cent.
5. The recent statement of the RBI
Governor D. Subbarao that
“inflation remained too high” hit the
hopes of a sharp cut of 50 basis
points in policy rate, after nine
months.
6. The RBI’s last rate cut was in
April 2012 when it reduced the repo
rate by 50 basis points from 8.5 per
cent to 8 percent. Meanwhile, the
RBI had brought down the Cash
Reserve Ratio (CRR) from a high of
6 per cent to 4.25 percent pumping
liquidity to the banking system.
7. The repo rate is the rate at which
banks borrow funds from the
central bank. Cash Reserve Ratio
is the portion of deposits banks are
required to maintain with the
Reserve Bank of India. The RBI had
forecast — which was unusual and
surprised market participants — in
the second half of monetary policy
review in October that there was a
“reasonable likelihood of further
policy easing in the fourth quarter
of this fiscal year”.
Current Affairs Notes

8. The central bank reiterated that
in its mid-quarter review in
December “Inflation patterns and
projections provide a basis for
reinforcing our October guidance
about policy easing in the fourth
quarter.” The yield of benchmark
10-year Government Securities (G-
Sec) has fallen below 7.9 per cent
from above 8 per cent prevailed in
mid-December in anticipation of a
rate cut.
9. However, the RBI said risks to
inflation remained. Even though it
said that “the policy emphasis
shifts towards growth”, the policy
stance would remain sensitive to
two risks: falling growth and rising
inflation.
NASA joins probe to
solve ‘dark energy’ puzzle
1. NASA has teamed up with the
European Space Agency to probe
one of the most fundamental
questions in modern cosmology —
the existence of dark matter.
2. ESA’s Euclid mission, a space
telescope designed to investigate
the cosmological mysteries of dark
matter and dark energy will launch
in 2020, NASA said.
3. Euclid will spend six years
mapping the locations and
measuring the shapes of as many
as 2 billion galaxies spread over
more than one-third of the sky.
4. It will study the evolution of our
universe, and the dark matter and
dark energy that influence its
evolution in ways that still are
poorly understood.
5. The telescope will launch to an
orbit around the Sun-Earth
Lagrange point L2 — the location
where the gravitational pull of two
large masses, the Sun and Earth in
this case, precisely equals the
force required for a small object,
such as the Euclid spacecraft, to
maintain a relatively stationary
position behind Earth as seen from
the Sun.
6. “NASA is very proud to contribute
to ESA’s mission to understand
one of the greatest science
mysteries of our time,” said John
Grunsfeld, associate administrator
for NASA’s Science Mission
Directorate, in a statement.
7. NASA and ESA recently signed
an agreement outlining NASA’s role
in the project. The US space
agency will contribute 16 state-of-
the-art infrared detectors and four
spare detectors for one of two
science instruments planned for
Euclid.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
8. “ESA’s Euclid mission is
designed to probe one of the most
fundamental questions in modern
cosmology, and we welcome
NASA’s contribution to this
important endeavour, the most
recent in a long history of
cooperation in space science
between our two agencies,” said
Alvaro Gimenez, ESA’s Director of
Science and Robotic Exploration.
9. In addition, NASA has nominated
three US science teams totalling
40 new members for the Euclid
Consortium. This is in addition to
14 US scientists already
supporting the mission.
10. Euclid will map the dark matter
in the universe. Matter as we know
it — the atoms that make up the
human body, for example — is a
fraction of the total matter in the
universe.
11. The rest, about 85 per cent, is
dark matter consisting of particles
of an unknown type. Dark matter
first was postulated in 1932, but
still has not been detected directly.
12. It is called dark matter because
it does not interact with light. Dark
matter interacts with ordinary
matter through gravity and binds
galaxies together like an invisible
glue.
13. While dark matter pulls matter
together, dark energy pushes the
universe apart at ever-increasing
speeds. In terms of the total mass-
energy content of the universe, dark
energy dominates. Even less is
known about dark energy than dark
matter.
14. Euclid’s observations will yield
the best measurements yet of how
the acceleration of the universe has
changed over time, providing new
clues about the evolution and fate
of the cosmos, researchers said.
India to launch sub-sonic
missile next month
India would flight test sub-sonic,
medium range cruise missile
Nirbhay, next month, a key defence
official said on Friday.
Nirbhay is being developed by
Aeronautical Development
Establishment (ADE), a Defence
Research and Development
Organisation lab based here, V K
Saraswat, Scientific Advisor to
Defence Minister, told a press
conference here.
“This is in the final stage of
integration and we expect to launch
it next month”, Mr.Saraswat, also
Secretary in the Department of
21
Defence (R&D) and DRDO Director
General, said.
He said Nirbhay has good loitering
capability, good control and
guidance, high degree of accuracy
in terms of impact and very good
stealth features.
Indo-Pak water talks put
off
Talks between the Water
Secretaries of India and Pakistan,
scheduled to begin in Islamabad
on January 28, have been put off in
the wake of tensions over ceasefire
violations along the LoC . The two
sides were scheduled to discuss
the Tulbul navigation project-Wullar
Barrage issue .
Tulbul project:
The Tulbul Project is a “navigation
lock-cum-control structure” at the
mouth of Wular Lake. According to
the original Indian plan, the barrage
was expected to be of 439 feet (134
m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide,
and would have a maximum
storage capacity of 300,000 acre
feet (370,000,000 m3) of water.
One aim was to regulate the
release of water from the natural
storage in the lake to maintain a
minimum draught of 4.5 feet (1.4
m) in the river up to Baramulla
during the lean winter months. The
project was conceived in the early
1980s and work began in 1984.
There has been an ongoing
dispute between India and
Pakistan over the Tulbul Project
since 1987, when Pakistan
objected that the it violated the
1960 Indus Waters Treaty. India
stopped work on the project that
year, but has since pressed to
restart construction. The Jhelum
River through the Kashmir valley
below Wular Lake provides an
important means of transport for
goods and people. To sustain
navigation throughout the year a
minimum depth of water is needed.
India contends that this makes
development of the Tulbul Project
permissible under the treaty, while
Pakistan maintains that the project
is a violation of the treaty. India
says suspension of work is
harming the interests of people of
Jammu and Kashmir and also
depriving the people of Pakistan of
irrigation and power benefits that
may accrue from regulated water
releases.
Solar cities
1. Fifty-four cities across India have
received in-principle approval to be
developed as ‘solar cities’ by the
Current Affairs Notes

Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy. The draft Master Plans
have been prepared for 28 cities, of
which eight have been approved by
the Ministry for implementation; the
development of projects is in
progress in Agra and Moradabad
(Uttar Pradesh), Thane and Kalyan-
Dombivli (Maharashtra), Indore
(Madhya Pradesh), Kohima
(Nagaland), Aizawl (Mizoram) and
the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
2. An amount of Rs. 19.23 crore
has been sanctioned for
preparation of Master Plans, solar
city cells and promotional activities
for 41 cities, out of which Rs. 4.22
crore has been released. Further,
an amount of Rs.11.98 crore has
been sanctioned for execution of
renewable energy projects in five
cities, out of which Rs. 3.87 crore
has been released.
3. According to New and
Renewable Energy Minister Farooq
Abdullah, the criteria set by the
Ministry for the identification of
cities include a city population
between 50,000 to 50 lakh (with
relaxation given to special category
States, including the north-eastern
States), initiatives and regulatory
measures already taken along with
a high level of commitment in
promoting energy efficiency and
renewable energy. Dr. Abdullah
said renewable energy has the
potential to be cost effective with
advancement in technologies and
economies of scale. Power
generation from renewable is at
present generally more expensive
than that from conventional
sources. While cost of power
generation from wind, biomass
and small hydro are comparable
with cost of power from
conventional sources, solar power
may take some more time to
achieve grid parity. The total
installed capacity of renewable
energy-based power in the country
is 26,267 MW. A capacity addition of
30,000 MW is proposed from
renewable energy during the 12th
Plan period. The Ministry is
supporting research in various
renewable energy technologies for
improvement in efficiency, reduction
in cost and to develop new
applications. Meanwhile, global
venture capital (VC) investments in
the solar sector have touched a
five-year low — down by nearly 50
per cent in 2012 to $992 million
involving 103 deals compared to
$1.9 billion raised from 108 deals
in 2011.
4. “The slowdown in VC funding
can be attributed to the grim
prospects for thin-film,
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
concentrating solar and
concentrating PV technologies,”
Mercom Capital Group managing
partner Raj Prabhu said.
5. The thin-film companies saw the
largest amount of VC funding in
2012, although the total fell by 47
per cent to $314 million compared
to almost $600 million in 2011.
During the past three years, thin-
film companies have received the
most VC funding, with almost $1.5
billion. “The diminished funding
activity is not a true reflection of the
health of the solar sector, because
the demand side of global solar
installations has continued to
grow,” Mr.Prabhu added.
6. Corporate merger and
acquisitions (M&A) activity in solar
industry amounted to $6.7 billion in
52 transactions compared to $4
billion in 65 transactions in 2011. “It
was a buyer’s market in 2012 —
acquirers were targeting
distressed companies with the
goal of buying technology or
equipment on the cheap. More than
half the 52 M&A deals in 2012
involved solar manufacturers and
equipment makers,’’ he said.
7. VC funding in Q4 2012 came in
at $220 million in 27 deals
compared to just $72 million in 14
deals in Q3. Twenty-five investors
participated in the 27 deals in Q4,
and no investor was involved in
multiple deals. About 35 solar
companies filed for insolvency or
bankruptcy protection over the
course of 2012. More than 70 per
cent of these companies were
active in manufacturing and all but
a few were based in Europe and
the U.S. Thin-film manufacturers
accounted for nearly 40 per cent of
the bankruptcies.The ‘solar cities’
project, however, may help to boost
investment in the sector.
Mercosur to unblock
trade talks, hurdles
remain
EU leaders won a promise from
Argentina and Brazil on Saturday to
revive stalled talks on a free-trade
deal that would be a major prize for
Europe as it emerges from crisis,
but disputes over key issues mean
a breakthrough appears distant.
At a summit in Santiago, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel led the
Europeans in a new push in the
negotiations with the South
American trade bloc Mercosur that
is made up of Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay, Venezuela and Uruguay.
In a region whose economies are
in markedly better shape than
22
Europe’s, Merkel’s persistence
appeared to pay off after she met
her Brazilian and Argentina
counterparts and warned them not
to revert to the kind of protectionism
of the 1930s that deepened the
Great Depression.
“A tremendous effort has been
made to install new momentum
into the discussions,” the EU’s
Trade Commissioner Karel De
Gucht told Reuters during the
summit. Asked if there had been a
breakthrough, he said: “I think we
have to be careful with that word.
It’s moving on the political front.”
Five years after the global financial
crisis and with the euro zone in its
second recession since 2009, the
European Union needs Latin
America’s buoyant economies. But
it is frustrated by Brazil and
Argentina’s policies to protect local
industry.
Both sides have now agreed to
exchange offers by the end of the
year on how far they are willing to
go in opening up sectors ranging
from services to agriculture and De
Gucht said the European Union will
reciprocate Mercosur’s offers.
“We need to have open markets in
terms of free trade and not
protectionism,” Merkel told a
meeting of business leaders.
“History taught us that in the ’20s
and ’30s,” she said, flanked by the
pro-free trade presidents of Mexico
and Chile.
Negotiations on a trade pact with
Mercosur began in the 1990s and
were relaunched in 2010. If
successful, the accord would
encompass 750 million people
and $130 billion of annual trade.
But talks have yet to make real
progress due to disputes over
European farm subsidies and
moves by Brazil and Argentina to
shield local industry from cheaper,
foreign-made imports.
In a further complication, Venezuela
became a member of the bloc last
year. Its president, Hugo Chavez, is
an outspoken critic of free trade.
In the meantime, Brussels has
signed free-trade deals with a
number of Latin American
countries, including Mexico, Peru
and Chile, exposing a split
between the free-trade advocates
on the Pacific side and the more
closed economies, such as Brazil,
Argentina and Venezuela, on the
other side of the continent.
Standing out in orange among
other leaders’ dark suits, Merkel
shared a joke with Brazilian
Current Affairs Notes

President DilmaRousseff and
Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez as
about 60 leaders posed for a
summit photo.
“Within Mercosur, those in favor of
this agreement have won the
battle,” said Gianni Pittella, vice
president of the European
Parliament, which has to approve
the EU’s trade pacts.
‘LATIN AMERICA’S DECADE’
1. Europe wants to retain its
influence in a region it conquered
500 years ago and where it
remains the biggest foreign
investor as China steps up its
investment in mining and energy.
2. After decades of hyperinflation
and financial crises, Latin
America’s economic fortunes are
now better than Europe’s. Latin
America’s economic output is
expected to grow almost 4 percent
this year, while the 17-nation euro
zone will probably contract.
3. Latin America’s per capita gross
domestic product could double by
2030, according to the Inter
American Development Bank,
meaning Europe will have more
potential buyers of its cars, luxury
goods, banking services and
pharmaceuticals.
4. Gathered at a luxury hotel in a
part of the Chilean capital dotted
with newly built glass skyscrapers,
Colombian President Juan Manuel
Santos declared it was “Latin
America’s decade.”
5. But differences with Argentina
and Brazil represent a new hurdle
to a Mercosur deal, one that
Germany as Europe’s top exporter
is especially keen to see resolved.
6. Argentina’s fiery, left-leaning
Fernandez, slapped sweeping
controls on imports in February
2012 in a bid to prop up the trade
surplus and keep industry
competitive as labor costs soar.
7. According to Global Trade Alert,
an independent body monitoring
commerce, Argentina is the world’s
worst offender when it comes to
protectionist measures because
the policies affect so many
industries and sectors all over the
world.
8. Neighboring Brazil - Latin
America’s largest economy - has
also raised import barriers on
goods ranging from European
steel to powdered milk. In the first
10 months of 2012, Brazil opened
47 trade defense cases, more than
double the number in all of 2011.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Voters’ day
25th January is also the foundation
day of the Commission, which
came into being on this day in
1950. The Commission’s objective
through NVD is to increase
enrolment of voters, especially of
the newly eligible ones, to make
universal adult suffrage a complete
reality. The National Voters’ Day is
also utilized to spread awareness
among voters regarding effective
participation in the electoral
process.
National Communal
Harmony Award 2012
The National Communal Harmony
Awards were instituted in 1996 by
the National Foundation for
Communal Harmony (NFCH), an
autonomous organization set up by
the Government of India, Ministry of
Home Affairs, for promoting
communal harmony and national
integration. The ward has been
instituted with a view to
demonstrating due appreciation
and recognition of the efforts of
individuals and organisations for
promotion of communal harmony
and national integration in a
sustained manner over a
sufficiently long period of time. In
addition to a citation, the award
carries a cash prize of Rupees five
lakh for the Organisation.
27 January 2013
India successfully test-
fires underwater missile
India on Sunday successfully test-
fired the underwater ballistic
missile, K-15 (code-named B05),
off the Visakhapatnam coast,
marking en end to a series of
developmental trials.
In its twelfth flight trial, the 10-metre
tall Submarine-Launched Ballistic
Missile (SLBM) lifted off from a
pontoon, rose to an altitude of 20
km and reached a distance of
about 700 km as it splashed down
in the waters of the Bay of Bengal
near the pre-designated target
point.
According to scientific advisor to
the Defence Minister V.K. Saraswat,
the missile was tested for its full
range of 700 km and the mission
met all its objectives. He said the
impact accuracy of the medium
range strategic missile was in
single digit.
With the completion of
developmental trials, the process
23
of integrating K-15 missile with INS
Arihant, the indigenously-built
nuclear submarine, will begin
soon. As many as 12 nuclear-
tipped missiles, each weighing six
tonnes will be integrated with
Arihant, which will be powered by
an 80 MWt (thermal) reactor that
uses enriched uranium as fuel and
light water as coolant and
moderator.
India is only the fifth country to have
such a missile — the other four are
the United States, Russia, France
and China.
Meanwhile the reactor has been
integrated with the submarine and
it was expected to go critical in May/
June 2013. Once that was done,
the harbour trials will begin.
Besides Arihant, three other
nuclear-powered submarines were
being constructed — one at
Visakhapatnam and two at
Vadodara. India is also developing
K-4 missile with a range of 3,000
km.
Farmers of the forests
Bangalore to Beijing and Baghdad
to Bangkok there will be no
husband worth his weight in gold
when compared to the hornbill. A
bird blessed with immense
patience and perseverance in the
world of bird brain — a definition
with which human beings tend to
delight in describing other
creatures. Taking this into
cognisance, recently the
Environment Ministry declined a
proposal to set up a RADAR
installation on a secluded Island in
the Andamans — thus saving the
remaining 300 wild Narcondam
Hornbills from extinction.
Hornbills are a group of birds
distinguished by very large bulky
curved beaks. If that is not enough,
most Hornbill species have an
extra projection known as casque
on the upper beak and the precise
use of this outcrop has yet not been
deciphered by scientists. The utility
of such an enormous beak in these
birds is intriguing because it is
almost half the size of its body.
Watching hornbills in the Silent
Valley and Periyar Sanctuary of
Kerala and in the jungles of Digboi,
Kaziranga and Namdapha national
parks in the north east, I wondered
whether the birds topple forward
with their oversized beaks.
However, I learnt that the big beak
is not as heavy as it looks since it
contains perforated spaces to
make it lightweight. Perfectly built
and suitably streamlined, the beak
of the bird is designed to fly like an
Current Affairs Notes

airbus with a “nozzle nose” in front.
The big beak is, however,
dexterously deployed to pluck
ripened fruits and berries from tree-
top canopies.
Scientists at the San Diego Safari
Park, USA, explain that hornbills
are the only birds in which the first
two neck vertebrae (the axis and
atlas) are fused together. This
probably provides a stable platform
for carrying big beaks with ample
agility even while airborne.
While most hornbills inhabit thick
jungles of the north-east and
south-west India, Indian Grey
Hornbill, the smallest, is sighted
even in Allahabad, Chandigarh and
Delhi due to availability of tree
canopy. Basically arboreal, all
hornbills are sighted in pairs as
they tend to be life-long couples. As
the birds grow older, their feathers
turn black and yellow from grey. The
beaks also obtain grey, yellow to
orange and all hues in-between as
they mature.
The most exceptional aspect of all
hornbills is that they nest in
naturally ‘prefabricated’ cavity of
large trees that are refurbished with
love and care. A peculiar
characteristic of this bird during
nesting is that the female stays
inside the nest and is literally
imprisoned. The male, assisted by
the female from inside, seals the
nest entrance leaving only a small
opening for feeding the female. By
this clever modus operandi, the
eggs and hatchlings are protected
from possible predators and
vagaries of nature as well. The
entire process takes about three to
four months depending upon
specific species.
Inside the nest, the female uses its
own feathers to line up the nest
bottom to cushion the delicate
eggs and the chicks as they hatch.
All the while, the male feeds the
female and the fast growing chicks
even as it itself becomes
emaciated with the toil. The fresh
growth of feathers on the female
hornbill corresponds with maturity
of the young chicks at which point
the nest entrance is broken open
and the mother escapes from its
captive tree hollow. Now both
parents feed the perpetually hungry
chicks in the nest until they grow
big enough to flutter away to
freedom. As hornbills are
omnivorous, they feed on fruits,
occasionally crunchy insects,
lizards; even rodents and small
snakes are also relished.
Unfortunately, most of the 10
hornbill species in the
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
subcontinent are now endangered
due to fragmentation of forests,
vanishing woodlands and
mushrooming concrete jungles.
These birds cannot live and
procreate without the help of large
trees. While the tree provides
space to make a home in its
wooden lair, the birds provide bird
excreta rejected from the nest
serving as manure for the tree.
They are also excellent at
dispersing seeds from the canopy
to various locations propagating
forest growth. A perfect example of
interaction between two different
organisms that is beneficial to both
species, hence scientists the world
over acknowledge that hornbills as
the farmers of the forests.
In December last year, a Hornbill
Festival was held in Nagaland to
enhance the understanding of
hornbills through tourism and a
variety of cultural activities. The
event used rock concerts, motor
races, trekking, painting
competitions, dance and drama to
spread the message of nature
conservation and to discourage
tribal hunters who use hornbill
beaks as decorative headgear for
their rituals.
Chidambaram to launch
RGESS in Mumbai
Aiming to attract first-time stock
market investors, Finance Minister
P. Chidambaram will launch the
much-awaited Rajiv Gandhi Equity
Savings Scheme (RGESS) in
Mumbai on February 9.
“He (Chidambaram) is going to
Mumbai next month and will
formally launch the Rajiv Gandhi
Equity Scheme there,” sources told
PTI.
The RGESS, which was
announced in the Budget for 2012-
13, seeks to provide tax benefits to
first-time investors in stock
markets.
Under the scheme, an individual
with an income of less than Rs 10
lakh would get tax incentives for
investing up to Rs 50,000 in the
stock market.
As per the notification issued by the
Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) on the RGESS, there
would be a lock—in period of one
year on investments made under
the scheme.
For transactions undertaken by
investors through their RGESS
designated Demat account,
depositories would be required to
seek necessary transactional
details from stock exchanges for
enforcing lock-in.
24
The mutual fund houses have
already started lining up mutual
fund schemes focused on the
RGESS. Two state-owned fund
houses SBI and IDBI and one
private fund house DSP Blackrock
have filed draft offer documents for
such schemes with the market
regulator SEBI, while others may
soon follow suit.
The scheme was notified by the
Department of Revenue, Finance
Ministry on November 23 last year.
Internet tax, a flawed idea
A levy will not work as 99.5 % of
traffic exchange on the Net
happens for free
“We’ve become the bad
gatekeepers,” lamented Sunil
Mittal, CEO, BhartiAirtel. “When
somebody watches YouTube on a
mobile and ends up [with a] big bill,
he curses under his breath at
telecom operators. But YouTube is
consuming a massive amount of
resources on our network.
Somebody’s got to pay for that.”
What Mittal suggested at the Mobile
World Congress in Barcelona last
year, and is gaining rapid popularity
with service providers around the
world, was an “inter-connect
charge”, an effective Internet tax
that would force companies such
as Google and Facebook to pay
network operators a levy similar to
the termination fee that networks
pay one another to complete a
voice call.
This growing clamour for an
Internet tax was obliquely backed
by the Government at a U.N
conference, held last month.
The advantages for both telecom
operators such as Airtel, and the
Government (which too might look
to levy a similar tax) are immediate
and obvious. Telcos, which dole out
huge investment for spectrum and
network infrastructure, will be able
to get a bigger slice of what goes to
companies such as Google. This
is exactly the new source of
revenue that operators, which are
suffering from shrinking revenue
and rising costs, have been waiting
for.
Gated highway
If this is put into practice, service
providers would be able to
essentially prioritize certain types of
traffic, and the “sending party”—
Facebook, YouTube— would have
to pay Airtel and BSNL for the
privilege of reaching consumers.
It’s glaringly obvious to see where
this idea, where the “sending party
Current Affairs Notes

must pay”, originates from however.
Data inter-connections in the
phone world work this way— where
if Rajesh in America, a customer of
AT&T, wanted to call Lata in India, a
customer of Airtel, Rajesh would
first pay AT&T. AT&T would then pay
Airtel a little for their efforts in
connecting the call. The principle of
allowing the ‘sending party’ to pay
is a good, and natural fit for the way
phone networks work.
This will not work on the Internet
though, for the simple reason that
99.5 percent (OECD statistics) of
the exchange of traffic between
Internet networks typically happens
for free. This method, which is
known as the ‘peering system’, has
benefited both content providers
and telcos.
It is also what has directly led to the
rapid growth of the Internet over the
past fifteen years — if a telephony
inter-connection model would be
imposed on the Internet, it would
create big problems; for content
networks and ISPs would have to
use massive resources to bill each
other. A customer would also have
to think twice before jumping onto
Google to make a quick search,
lest he rack up his bill too much.
Other disadvantages would surface
– unregulated markets for Internet
service have proved to work
exceedingly well. Even in places
with limited broadband
competition, for instance, the
amount of bandwidth that
consumers get for their money has
increased at rates far beyond those
of any other industry.
Lowest common denominator
Having an inter-connection pricing
model for a better quality service
would also unwittingly create
strong incentives for ISPs to let
their current service get worse than
what it is today. It is similar to how
the less-than-average quality of
‘general-compartments’ on trains
has led to the popularity of the
more expensive air-conditioned
compartments.
This tiered- Internet, where one
must pay more and more for better
service, will only result in the
lowest denominator reaching rock-
bottom—a result that will have
devastating consequences for a
country where its population can
hardly afford the basic package.
While most of this talk of an
Internet tax was mere wishful
thinking on the part of telcos, the
recent International
Telecommunication Union
conference in Dubai has shown
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
that the Indian Government is only
too willing to jump on board.
The conference, which sought to
bring the Internet under the
framework of the U.N agency, saw
a proposal from the Indian
Government which said: “Member
States are free to levy fiscal taxes
levied on collection charges for
international telecommunication
services...in accordance with their
national laws.”
Another section of the proposal
stated: “Member States should
endeavour to take measures to
ensure that an adequate return is
provided on investments in network
infrastructure. If this cannot be
achieved through market
mechanisms, then other
mechanisms may be used.”
These two statements point to the
fact that the Government is indeed
eager to cash in on a time when
public finances have been
stretched thin. The funds collected
from this tax could, ostensibly, be
used for the development and
laying of fibre optic throughout the
country, something the Government
is planning.
Not that easy
However, a recent study shows that
the “sending party pays” principle
may not result in the growth of
Internet-related development
infrastructure – as it hasn’t worked
for telecommunication networks.
A study from the Mercatus Centre at
George Mason University charted
international billing rates against
four statistics that measure the
development of telecommunication
networks: fixed telephone lines per
1090 people, mobile subscribers
per 100 people, Internet users per
100 people and broadband
subscribers per 100 people.
The author, Eli Durado, found little
correlation between long distance
rates and fixed telephone line
construction. For the other three
variables – he found a negative
correlation.
“My results contradict the
hypothesis that the ability to charge
more for international Internet traffic
is all that is needed to build out
telecommunications infrastructure
in poor countries,” Dourado
concludes.
No chest-thumping
“High international telephone
collection rates have not led to
greater build-out and adoption of
telecommunications infrastructure
in the past two decades. It seems
unlikely, therefore, that adopting a
25
sender-pays model for Internet
traffic would increase build-out of
Internet infrastructure today.”
Therefore, it becomes clear that the
development of the
telecommunication/fibre optic
network depends on the quality of
domestic institutions, rather than
collection of external funds which
are often misused. The curious
part, however, is that there are
solutions with far less political
implications and make more
economic sense. Taxing Internet
advertising, for instance, is
something that can be done easily
and legally.
An additional tariff could be placed
on the purchasers of ads being
shown to Indian residents. This
would have nearly the same effect
as taxing Internet companies
directly, minus the political fuss.
Vint Cerf, Vice-President of Google,
Special Services and founder of the
TCP/IP protocol, feels that the move
to tax Internet firms is strongly anti-
competitive, and does not bode
well for the spread of Google’s
services in India.
“I don’t deny that if Governments
and telcos collect the money, they
might do something with it. But for
that, I might as well go rob a bank
and justify myself, saying, I am
robbing the bank and getting this
money and doing something good
with it. I see this proposal as a gun
to the head,” he said.
“If you are building a piece of
infrastructure, and we are building
applications on top of that – there’s
nothing wrong with your
Government and companies
building applications to compete
with us. But when you oppose
network neutrality and inhibit other
people from using that pipe – it is
anti-competitive and it is wrong.”
Home-grown GPS ‘Gagan’
likely by 2014
India will launch this year the first of
its series of navigation satellites
required to provide regional
navigation service, independent of
the U.S.-controlled GPS (Global
Positioning System), said S.
Ramakrishnan, Director, Vikram
Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
He said that now we rely on the
GPS for the navigation service.
Europe, Russia and China were
either having or evolving their own
navigation services independent of
the GPS. The Indian Space
Research Organisation too was
planning to evolve indigenous
navigation service to provide
Current Affairs Notes

enhanced and more precise
navigation. To provide this service,
to be christened ‘Gagan,’ India
needed to launch a number of
satellites and the first of this
series, the Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System
(IRNSS), would be launched by the
PSLV C-22 rocket, probably in the
second half of this year. After all the
required satellites were launched,
India would be in a position to
provide navigation service through
‘Gagan’ probably in 2014,
Dr.Ramakrishnan added. He was
speaking to reporters on the
sidelines of an international
conference on “Bio energy,
Environment and Sustainable
Technologies” (BEST 2013), a four-
day event, organised by the Arunai
Engineering College here.
To a question on Chandrayaan-II,
he said the moon mission was
getting delayed since Russia,
partner of the programme, was
completely reviewing the spacecraft
design after the failure of its own
mars mission.
Earlier, delivering the inaugural
address at BEST 2013, he said
space science was playing a
crucial role in surveying and
assessing environmental damage
like depletion of the ozone layer,
shrinking of the polar ice cap and
pollution of coastlines.
G-20 and RCEP will
redefine contours of
Indian, global economy,
says Ansari
Batting for advanced and emerging
economies working in tandem to
prepare a roadmap for global
recovery, Vice-President Hamid
Ansari on Sunday said
partnerships would redefine the
contours of the Indian economy.
Delivering the inaugural address at
the Global Partnership Summit-
2013 here, organised by the CII, Mr.
Ansari said the emerging
economies leveraged each other’s
strengths and comparative
advantages to create a new
economic world order.
“Partnerships, such as the G-20,
whose member countries account
for two-thirds of the world’s
population, 90 percent of world’s
GDP and 80 per cent of world trade;
and the recently launched Regional
Comprehensive Economic
Partnership (RCEP) — a group of
16 countries comprising ASEAN
member-states and six countries
with which they have free trade
agreements — will redefine the
contours of the global economy,” he
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
said. The audience comprised
trade ministers, diplomats and
CEOs who descended here for the
annual summit.
The RCEP is an ASEAN-led trade
agreement, linking the economies
of 16 Asia-Pacific countries.
The grouping, which includes more
than 3 billion people, has a
combined GDP of about $17 trillion
and accounts for about 40 percent
of world trade.
Mr. Ansari said the global market
place would change with the
formation of new trading blocks
and enlarged markets and
companies must gear themselves
to meet the new requirements.
“Innovation and creativity will play
an important role in reviving growth,
especially in emerging economies
that often struggle with limited
resources and dated technology,”
he said.
Restore trajectory
He said the challenge before India
was to restore as soon as possible
the high growth trajectory, along
with adequate employment
generation, in a sustainable and
inclusive manner.
This would be the necessary
condition for addressing the
primary challenges of poverty
alleviation and socio-economic
development confronting us.
“As the new economic order
emerges and the weight of the
global economy moves towards
Asia, I invite countries from across
the globe to partner with India so
that we move together towards a
better economic future for all our
people,” he concluded.
NABARD scraps
controversial scheme for
corporate warehousing
The National Bank for Agriculture
and Rural Development (NABARD),
whose funding of corporate
warehousing projects on terms far
softer than those offered to poor
and often suicidal farmers
was highlighted by The Hindu last
month, has withdrawn its
controversial scheme with
retrospective effect under pressure
from the Reserve Bank of India.
The minutes of a meeting of the
sub-committee of the NABARD
Board held last month confirm that
the RBI had advised the NABARD
on September 27, 2012, to refund
the amount refinanced to banks in
the year 2011-12 with interest at
applicable rates under the Rural
26
Infrastructure Development Fund
(RIDF) to contributing banks “in
proportion to their contribution to
the warehousing fund, alleging
violation of RBI Interest Rate
Directives and also that funds
under RIDF could not be used for
providing refinance to banks.”
The RBI reiterated its objections on
December 17, 2012 — a week
after The Hindu’s expose — and
advised the NABARD “to either
refund the entire amount to banks
or treat the deposits used for
refinancing as our own commercial
borrowings from the depositing
banks, by paying interest rate at
which NABARD raises money from
open market through non-SLR and
Non-Priority Sector bonds/
debentures for an equivalent tenor
of RIDF deposits,” the board’s
minutes note.
The RBI’s unrelenting stance has
forced the NABARD management
to change tack. “In view of the
above, the following proposals are
made: NABARD (Warehousing)
Refinance Scheme 2011-12 will be
withdrawn with retrospective effect
in view of the RBI advice. Banks
which availed [themselves of]
refinance during 2011-12 would be
advised either to refund the entire
amount drawn by them at the
contracted rate (i.e. 8% pa) or carry
the entire amount as per the
repayment schedule prescribed by
us at the prevailing rate of General
Refinance (i.e. 10% pa for RRBs/
SCBs/PUCBs and 10.25% for
Commercial Banks).”
Further, “NABARD would refund the
entire amount of Rs. 759.09 crore
drawn under RIDF XVII to the
contributing banks with interest as
applicable.” This implies a loss of
Rs. 125.86 crore of losses will be
booked by the NABARD in the
present financial year.
Finally, the management has also
decided “NABARD (Warehousing)
Refinance Scheme 2012-13 would
be withdrawn with immediate
effect.”
Chairman, NABARD,
PrakashBakshi, did not respond to
a detailed questionnaire emailed
by The Hinduon January 14,
including on whether any enquiry
had been initiated to probe the
matter.
Two loans compared
Investigation reveals that under the
same scheme, NABARD
refinanced Federal Bank at 8% for
onward finance to a small
entrepreneur Abdul Kareem for a
small Rs. 60-lakh loan as well as
Current Affairs Notes

for a Rs.100-crore loan to Emmay
Logistics of the over $4.5-billion
Middle East retail giant EMKE
Group (the parent company of the
famous Lulu hypermarket chain).
However, Federal Bank lent to
Emmay Logistics at 10.65%
(effective rate after rebate of 1.5%
for prompt repayment is only
9.15%), with a grace period of 2
years. EMKE has so far claimed
only Rs. 573.30 lakh as refinance.
In contrast, Mr. Kareem, the ideal
target group for such welfare
schemes, was charged 13.22%
interest (eventual interest burden of
11.72%) with a grace period of just
6 months on a small Rs.60-lakh
loan. In effect, the rate of interest
charged is inversely proportional to
the amount of loan sanctioned
culminating in the powerful Emke
Group paying 2.57% less interest
than the aamaadmi. The Managing
Director, EMKE Group, Yusuf Ali MA,
did not respond to questions about
its funding or whether the
warehouse is used to stock
material for the Hypermarket or for
some other purpose.
While active in supporting rich
corporates, the NABARD has been
found to be choking the credit flow
to farmers throughout the country
by systematically withdrawing
support to cooperative banks.
From its inception, the NABARD
was refinancing State Co-operative
Agriculture and Rural Development
Banks (SCARDBs) by way of
contributions to debentures floated
by them. Following advice from its
freshly appointed consultant the
Boston Consulting Group (BCG), in
September 2011, the NABARD,
without prior warning to the State
governments or SCARDBs,
replaced this with a loan system.
The NABARD also insisted on
executing a revised guarantee
deed as a pre-condition for
refinance. According to Chairman,
National Cooperative Agriculture &
Rural Development Banks’
Federation Ltd, K. Sivadasan Nair,
the NABARD delayed
disbursement of refinance to most
of the SCARDBs up to 9 months by
placing additional conditions
throughout the year. Moreover, the
NABARD imposed a second audit
on the banks to be conducted by
chartered accountants empanelled
by it in addition to the statutory audit
undertaken by the SCARDBs.
“NABARD has never at any time in
the past, ever pointed out any
shortcomings in the audits
conducted by the CAs empanelled
by the States. This second audit
results in the doubling of
expenditure — with Rs. 8 lakh
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
being the lowest rate quoted by
CAs empanelled by NABARD —
and can only be viewed as a
deliberate move to delay release of
refinance and make these
institutions unviable,” Mr. Nair
told The Hindu.
Data bears out this claim. Though
the NABARD’s refinance business
grew 208% over a decade from Rs.
7,418.77 crore to Rs. 15,471.20
crore in 2011-12, the share of
commercial banks grew from
16.73% to 54.68%, while the share
of SCARDBs declined by from 63%
in 2002-3 to 15.86% in 2011-12.
28 January 2013
Genome sequence of 90
chickpea lines decoded
1. In a breakthrough that promises
improved grain yields and quality,
greater drought and disease
resistance and enhanced genetic
diversity, a global research team
has completed high-quality
sequencing of not one but 90
genomes of chickpea.
2. Nature Biotechnology featured
the reference genome of the CDC
Frontier chickpea variety and
genome sequence of 90 cultivated
and wild genotypes from 10
different countries as an online
publication on January 27.
3. The paper provides a map of the
structure and functions of the
genes that define the chickpea
plant. It also reveals clues on how
the sequence can be useful to crop
improvement for sustainable and
resilient food production.
Global partnership
4. The global research partnership,
led by the International Crop
Research Institute for Semi Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT) based here,
succeeded in identifying an
estimated 28,269 genes of
chickpea after sequencing CDC
Frontier, a kabuli (large-seeded)
chickpea variety. This will help
chickpea farmers become more
resilient to emerging challenges
brought about by the threat of
climate change. The genome map
can also be used to harness
genetic diversity by broadening the
genetic base of cultivated chickpea
gene pool.
5. Chickpea is the second largest
cultivated grain food legume in the
world, grown in about 11.5 million
hectares mostly by resource poor
farmers in the semi-arid tropics. It
contributes to income generation
27
and improved livelihoods of
smallholder farmers in African
countries such as Ethiopia,
Tanzania and Kenya, and is crucial
to the food security in India.
6. “ICRISAT and its partners have
once again demonstrated the
power of productive partnerships by
achieving this breakthrough in
legume genomics,” says William
Dar, Director General of ICRISAT.
7. “In the face of the growing global
hunger and poverty amid the threat
of climate change, the chickpea
genome sequence will facilitate the
development of superior varieties
that will generate more income and
help extricate vulnerable dryland
communities out of poverty and
hunger for good, particularly those
in the drylands of Asia and sub-
Africa for whom ICRISAT and our
partners are working,” Dr. Dar said.
8. “This study will provide not only
access to ‘good genes’ to speed
up breeding, but also to genomic
regions that will bring genetic
diversity back from landraces or
wild species to breeding lines,”
said Dr. Rajeev Varshney,
coordinator of ICGSC and Director
— Center of Excellence in
Genomics, ICRISAT.
9. Renowned agricultural scientist
and RajyaSabha member M.S.
Swaminathan said chickpea
occupied a pride of place in the
struggle against protein hunger. “I
am confident that the knowledge
provided by this study will help
accelerate the improvement of this
crop through marker-assisted
breeding.”
AshishBahuguna, Secretary, Union
Ministry of Agriculture, said the
development was of great
importance to India, the largest
producer and consumer of
chickpea.
Foodgrains output
may drop
1. After a record run in two
consecutive years, foodgrains
production is likely to decline this
year owing to the deficient
southwest monsoon during the
2012-13 kharifseason. This
adversely impacted the output of
pulses, coarse cereals and
oilseeds, with a bearing on their
price levels.
2. But what may bring down the
overall output is the slightly lower
area sown under rabi wheat, rice,
coarse cereals and minor
oilseeds. The crops that are under
stress include minor oilseeds,
jowar and bajra, while pulses
Current Affairs Notes

remain an area of concern.
3. With rabi sowing complete, the
picture has become clearer now
and it is expected that against an
output of 257.44 million tonnes last
year, the country will be lucky if it
can reap a harvest of 250 million
tonnes this year.
4. Kharif production was lower by
12.6 million tonnes this year. Rabi
crops will be harvested in March-
April.
5. The States that have suffered the
most due to rain deficit are
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
6. Rice output will be hit in Tamil
Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
because of water deficiency, while
rabi sowing is down in
Maharashtra and parts of Andhra
Pradesh, official sources said.
7. The good news is that the
estimate of the highest ever
foodgrains production of last year
at 257.44 million tonnes may be
better by about one per cent in the
final estimates that will be released
shortly. “The loss in kharif output
will be lower than the initial
estimate of nearly 10 per cent,”
Agriculture Secretary
AshishBahuguna told journalists
here on Monday.
8. The last rabi wheat output was
an all-time record of 93.9 million
tonnes. “This year, it may be close
to that,” he said, adding that the
fine weather available for wheat in
January-March of 2012 was the
“best ever” in the last 22 years.
According to him, the area under
rabi wheat this season is 0.4
hectares lower than last year, but
higher by 4.1 lakh hectares if the
average of the last five years is
taken into account.
Mullaperiyar dam row: SC
final hearing from April 9
1. The final hearing on the legal
battle between Tamil Nadu and
Kerala over the controversial
Mullaperiyar dam will be held from
April 9 in the Supreme Court.
2. A five-judge Constitution Bench of
justices R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu,
C.K. Prasad, Madan B. Lokur and
M.Y. Eqbal directed both the states
to exchange all documents and
findings of the expert committee by
March 15 and posted the matter for
final day-to-day hearing from
April 9.
3. There has been tension between
the two states over the safety of the
dam. While Tamil Nadu contends
that the dam is safe and its water
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
level has to be raised from 132 ft to
136 ft, Kerala says the structure is
weak and it has to be replaced with
a new one.
4. As tension rose between the two
states in December 2011, a two-
member technical team of apex
court-appointed Empowered
Committee visited the site and
concluded that recent tremors in
that region did not have any impact
on the dam and that it was safe.
5. The committee, set up in
February 2010 to look into all
aspects of the dam, had submitted
its report to the apex court in a
sealed cover on April 25.
6. The five-member committee
headed by former Chief Justice of
India A.S. Anand, which had
finalised the report, is understood
to have examined all aspects of the
119-year-old dam, including its
safety.
7. Earlier, the apex court had
directed the registry to digitise the
50,000-odd page report so as to
enable it to examine it.
8. The Bench is hearing a suit filed
by Tamil Nadu questioning the law
enacted by Kerala in 2006 to
restrict the water level in the
Mullaperiyar dam at 136 ft though
the Supreme Court had permitted
Tamil Nadu to raise the water level
up to 142 ft.
Concept: The Mullaperiyar Dam is
a masonry gravity dam on the
Periyar River in the Kerala state of
India. It is located 881 m (2,890 ft)
above mean sea level, on the
Cardamom Hills of the Western
Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of
Kerala, South India. It was
constructed between 1887 and
1895 by the British Government to
divert water eastwards to the
Madras Presidency area (present-
day Tamil Nadu). It has a height of
53.6 m (176 ft) from the foundation,
and a length of 365.7 m (1,200 ft).
The Periyar National Park in
Thekkady is located around the
dam’s reservoir. The dam is
located in Kerala on the river
Periyar, but is controlled and
operated under a period lease by
neighboring Tamil Nadu state.
Although the Periyarriver has a total
catchment area of 5398 km2 with
114 km2 in Tamil Nadu, the
catchment area of the Mullaperiyar
dam itself lies entirely in Kerala.
The control and safety of the dam
and the validity and fairness of the
lease agreement have been points
of dispute between Kerala and
Tamil Nadu states. Supreme court
judgment came in 27 February
2006, allowing Tamil Nadu to raise
28
the level of the dam to 152 ft (46 m)
after strengthening it. Responding
to it, Mullaperiyar dam was
declared an ‘endangered’
scheduled dam by the Kerala
Government under the disputed
Kerala Irrigation and Water
Conservation (Amendment) Act,
2006.
Consensus over key
issues of GST
1. States have agreed to the
compensation formula suggested
by the Centre for their CST (Central
Sales Tax) revenue loss for
implementing the Goods and
Services Tax (GST), said Sushil
Kumar Modi, Chairman of the
Empowered Committee of State
Finance Ministers, and Deputy
Chief Minister of Bihar, here on
Monday.
2. “States will be given 100 per cent
compensation of their claims for
2010-11, 75 percent for 2011-12
and 50 percent for 2012-13. The
compensation formula has been
prepared on the basis of the August
22, 2008, guideline,” Mr.Modi said.
3. He said, “States are not
responsible for the delay in
introduction of GST. They have lost
heavily on account of gradual cut in
the Central Sales Tax (CST). GST
was scheduled to be launched on
April 1, 2010. The Parliamentary
Standing Committee has not given
its views on the 115th
Constitutional Amendment Bill,
2011.”
Payment schedule
4. “According to initial estimates,
the total compensation which the
States will receive, comes to
around Rs.34,000 crore. The
provision for CST compensation
could be reflected in the
forthcoming budget,” Mr.Modi said.
5. The Empowered Committee has
asked the Centre to prepare a
payment schedule. Some States
are of the view that they should
revert to the earlier 4 per cent CST
to make up for the huge losses in
case there is a delay in introduction
of GST beyond April 1, 2014.
6. States having manufacturing
base and mineral export are the
worst sufferers. States that have
lost more than Rs.1000 crore due
to gradual cut in CST include
Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West
Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and
Haryana.
Critical finances
7. For the year 2010, States had
demanded a compensation of
Current Affairs Notes

Rs.19,000 crore-, but the Centre
could pay only Rs.6,000 crore
owing to the critical financial
position.
8. Mr.Modi said States would
continue to lose even after rolling
out of GST. “States are afraid of
incurring heavy losses in the initial
years of the GST regime. We have
asked the Centre to evolve a
mechanism to compensate States
for subsequent five years as was
done in the case of value added
tax.”
9. Mr. Modi said all the States were
in favour of introducing GST. The
Empowered Committee would
discuss the GST design on
Tuesday.
eBiz portal launched
1. As part of the UPA Government’s
National eGovernance Plan, the
Commerce and Industry Ministry,
on Monday, announced the launch
of an eBiz portal aimed at providing
Government-to-Business (G2B)
services for India’s investor and
business communities.
2. The portal was launched by
Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma at the CII
Partnership Summit here. The
portal was developed by Infosys in
a public-private partnership (PPP)
mode. Infosys has been selected
as the concessionaire/ project
implementation partner, and is
responsible for the design,
development, implementation and
maintenance of the eBiz solution.
3. The online single-window
concept was visualised to enable
businesses and investors to save
time and costs and improve the
business environment. “The project
aims to create a business and
investor-friendly ecosystem in India
by making all business and
investment-related regulatory
services across Central, State and
local governments available on a
single portal, thereby obviating the
need for an investor or a business
to visit multiple offices or a plethora
of websites,” he said.
4. eBiz will create a 24x7 facility for
information and services, and will
also offer joined-up services where
a single application submitted by a
customer, for a number of
permissions, clearances,
approvals and registrations, will be
routed automatically across
multiple governmental agencies in
a logical manner.
5. An in-built payment gateway will
also add value by allowing all
payments to be collected at one
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
point and then apportioned, split
and routed to the respective heads
of account of Central / State /
parastatal (a quasi-governmental
organisation, corporation,
business, or agency) agencies
along with generation of challans
and MIS (management information
systems) reports.
Forget 3D as 4K TVs are
now the latest must-have
1. With the endless upgrades to
high definition and screens that
could show 3D images it seems it
could all have be in vain as the
technology is already out of date
through the arrival of the 4K picture.
2. The ultra-high quality definition is
four times as sharp as standard
quality high definition and is close
to that viewed only in an Imax
cinema.
3. However, for those wishing to
view the latest picture in their own
living room, they must have plenty
of room available for the 84inch
screen and plenty of spare cash,
the Daily Mail reported.
4. Sony has brought out a model
that is more than 7ft wide and can
play the new technology. Costing
25,000 pounds, only Harrods in
central London currently sells the
television.
5. The giant screen can convert
ordinary television into 3D, and
comes with five pairs of glasses for
viewing the pin-sharp images.
6. Even without 3D, the ultra-high
definition images are 16 times
sharper than those on a normal
television.
7. According to experts, the
television’s picture is so
technologically advanced that few
broadcasters can yet take
advantage of its full potential.
City heat affecting
temperatures thousands
of kilometres away
1. Heat generated by everyday
activities in major cities affects
temperatures across thousands of
kilometres, significantly warming
some areas and cooling others,
according to a new study.
2. The ‘waste heat’ generated from
buildings, cars, and other sources
in major Northern Hemisphere
urban areas causes winter
warming across large areas of
northern North America and
northern Asia, US scientists found.
3. The impact on temperatures may
explain a climate puzzle of sorts:
29
why some areas are experiencing
warmer winters than predicted by
climate models, researchers said.
4. The study found that
temperatures in some remote
areas increase by as much as 1
degree Celsius. At the same time,
the changes to atmospheric
circulation caused by the waste
heat cool areas of Europe by as
much as 1 degree Celsius.
5. The net effect on global mean
temperatures is nearly negligible -
an average increase worldwide of
just 0.01 degrees Celsius. This is
because the total human-produced
waste heat is only about 0.3 per
cent of the heat transported across
higher latitudes by atmospheric
and oceanic circulations.
6. The waste heat is also changing
atmospheric circulation,including
jet streams - powerful narrow
currents of wind that blow from
west to east and north to south in
the upper atmosphere, LiveScience
reported.
7. In the new study, the researchers
looked at “urban heat”, produced
directly by transportation, heating
and cooling units, and other
energy-consuming activities.
8. “The burning of fossil fuel not
only emits greenhouse gases, but
also directly affects temperatures
because of heat that escapes from
sources like buildings and cars,”
said study researcher Aixue Hu, of
the National Center for Atmospheric
Research (NCAR).
9. “Although much of this waste
heat is concentrated in large cities,
it can change atmospheric patterns
in a way that raises or lowers
temperatures across considerable
distances,” Hu said.
10. The team studied the energy
effect using the NCAR model and
ran it with and without the input of
human energy consumption, to see
whether it could account for large-
scale regional warming.
11. When man-made energy was
included in the model, it led to
winter and autumn temperature
changes of up to 1 degree Celsius
in mid- and high-latitude parts of
North America and Eurasia.
12. “The energy consumption in
highly populated areas can cause
changes in wind patterns, and that
causes climate change far away
from the heating source,” said
meteorologist and study author
Ming Cai of Florida State University.
Current Affairs Notes
 Issue-3/2013 (15th January to 2115
st January - 21 January 2013
January)
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 15 Jan -21 Jan, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
15 January 2013
As pollution concerns
rise, China pledges
emission curbs
Rising public concerns over
hazardous pollution triggered by
intense smog that blanketed
Chinese cities for much of the past
week has prompted the govern-
ment to pledge fresh emission
curbs and to suspend work in 58
factories.
The Chinese capital has been
shrouded under a cloud of smog
since Saturday, when pollution
readings went off the charts. The
readings for PM 2.5 particles –
airborne particulate matter with a
diameter of 2.5 microns or less
which can cause health problems
when inhaled – soared to a record
993 micrograms per cubic meter
on Saturday night.
According to the World Health
Organisation, a reading above 100
is unhealthy for sensitive groups,
while the air quality scale index
itself has a maximum reading of
500. By Tuesday morning, the
smog in the capital had lifted a
little, with air readings falling to
less than 200.
According to the Environmental
Performance Index at Yale
University, China ranks 116th
overall, and 128th when it comes to
air pollution.
India, however, fares even worse,
ranking 125th overall and 132nd on
air quality.
The official Xinhua news agency
went as far as saying “in jeopardy
are the efforts of the Communist
Party of China and government
authorities to advance ecological
progress and their new promise to
build a ‘beautiful China’. “A country
with a brown sky and hazardous air
is obviously not beautiful,” the
commentary said.
Concept: Photochemical smog
Photochemical smog was first
described in the 1950s. It is the
JTS Institute
chemical reaction of sunlight,
nitrogen oxides and volatile organic
compounds in the atmosphere,
which leaves airborne particles and
ground-level ozone. This noxious
mixture of air pollutants can include
the following:
1. Aldehydes
2. Nitrogen oxides, such as
nitrogen dioxide
3. Peroxyacyl nitrates
4. Tropospheric ozone
5. Volatile organic compounds
All of these chemicals are usually
highly reactive and oxidizing.
Photochemical smog is therefore
considered to be a problem of
modern industrialization. It is
present in all modern cities, but it
is more common in cities with
sunny, warm, dry climates and a
large number of motor vehicles.
Because it travels with the wind, it
can affect sparsely populated
areas as well.
India among key ‘Red
October’ victims
1. India and many other countries
across the world have fallen victim
to an unprecedented cyber
espionage attack — uncovered, but
not yet neutralised by Russia’s
leading internet security company.
2. Unidentified criminals have been
siphoning off secret data from
hundreds of computer systems
used by government agencies,
nuclear, aerospace and military
institutions and private companies,
in dozens of countries for the past
five years, said the Kaspersky Lab
in a report released in Moscow.
3. While Russia tops the list of
countries with 38 detected
infections, India ranks fifth with 14
infections, after Kazakhstan (21);
Azerbaijan (15); and Belgium (15).
The United States is also on the list
with six attacks.
4. Termed ‘Red October’ or Rocra
for short, the cyber spying
campaign was launched in 2007
and is still active, the report
warned.
1 Current Affairs Notes
5. “It is quite possible there are
other targeted sectors which
haven’t been discovered yet,”
Kaspersky cautioned. Kaspersky
Lab detected the attack in
November 2012 thanks to its
security network. What makes this
campaign different is that it uses
the most sophisticated and
elaborate modular structure yet
with unprecedented number of spy
codes,” said VitalyKamlyuk of the
Kaspersky Lab.
6. The expert believes the attack
could have Russian roots, while
the bulk of servers the spy network
uses are in Germany and Russia.
The majority of servers were used
as proxies, in order to hide the
command server at the core of the
operation.
7. The Rocra malware, called
Backdoor.Win32.Sputnik, has been
stealing data both from computer
workstations, removable disk
drives and smartphones, including
iPhones, Nokia and phones
running on Windows mobile.
8. It is capable of regaining control
of computers cured of the malware
and has even stolen documents
encrypted with classified software
‘Acid Cryptofiler’ used by NATO and
the European Union and the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization since
2011.
Health Ministry’s healing
touch to non-BPL poor
1. There is something to cheer
about for poor people who do not
fall under the Below the Poverty
Line (BPL) category as the
eligibility criterion of annual income
to avail themselves of the Health
Minister’s Discretionary Grant
(HMDG) has been raised from
Rs.75,000 to 1,00,000, as also an
increase in the financial limit for
treatment.
2. The Union Ministry has also
expanded the list of diseases for
treatment of which financial help is
given.
3. Under the HMDG scheme, a
maximum assistance of Rs. 50,000
was given to the poor and needy as

part of the expenditure incurred on
hospitalisation for major surgical
interventions and treatment of
major diseases including heart
ailments, kidney transplant, hip and
knee replacement, cancer, AIDS,
hepatitis and tumour.
4. As per the existing guidelines,
assistance is granted up to Rs.
20,000 if the cost of treatment is
Rs. 50,000; up to Rs. 40,000 if the
cost is above Rs. 50,000 and up to
Rs. 50,000 if it is above Rs.
1,00,000.
5. As per the new guidelines,
approved by Health and Family
Welfare Minister GhulamNabi Azad
last week, the entitlement will now
be Rs. 50,000 if the estimated cost
of treatment is Rs. 1,00,000;
Rs. 75,000 (above Rs. 1,00,000
and up to 1,50,000) and Rs
1,00,000 (above Rs 1,50,000).
6. The new areas covered under
the scheme are urology,
nephrology, gastroenterology, liver
transplant and surgery for portal
hypertension, cases of complicated
diabetes which require one-time
treatment such as amputation or
renal transplant. BPL families are
covered under the Rashtriya
ArogyaNidhi (RAN), where financial
assistance is provided for treating
life-threatening diseases and
medical aid is received in
government hospitals. The
financial assistance is released in
the form of a “one-time grant”.
Expanding trade ties with
Vietnam
1. The ongoing visit of
Vice-President, Hamid Ansari to
Vietnam may be largely ceremonial
in nature but the two sides are also
using the opportunity to push trade
and business ties and indeed the
larger bilateral relationship.
2. While a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for
cooperation in the field of micro,
small and medium enterprises
(MSME) was signed between the
two countries on Tuesday, the
Vietnam’s Vice-President
NguyenThiDoan, made a strong
pitch for development of ties in the
fields of information technology,
biotechnology, pharmaceuticals
and space research.
3. Speaking at the closing
ceremony commemorating 40
years of friendship and 5 years of
strategic partnership between the
two countries, Ms. Doan said: “We
believe… India will continue to
share with Vietnam your valuable
experience in… information
technology, biotechnology,
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
nanotechnology, nuclear
technology for peaceful purposes,
satellite and space technologies,
pharmaceutical industry… and oil
extraction.”
4. She invited Indian companies to
invest in Vietnam’s infrastructure
development projects such as
construction of ports, power
generation and steel production.
5. Speaking at the event, Mr. Ansari
said that greater awareness
needed to be generated about
mutually beneficial business
opportunities. “India is also
prepared to continue extending
lines of credit on concessional
terms, especially for infrastructure
development,” he said.
6. The MoU signed on Tuesday will
focus on developing policy and
institutional frame work through
exchange of experts for the
development of MSMEs and
conducting industrial surveys and
feasibility studies to identify thrust
areas and opportunities for
development of MSMEs in Vietnam.
7. Meanwhile, it is understood that
direct air services are likely to take
off later this year once the legal
formalities regarding renewing the
air services agreement are
finalised. Though an agreement
was reached between the two
countries in 2011, direct air
services have not commenced yet.
Answering a question on this,
India’s ambassador to Vietnam,
Ranjit Rae, pointed out that viability
and sustainability of flights need to
be considered.
OVL and petro Vietnam have a
joint venture for oil exploration in
Phu Kahn basin
Tax-free bonds from IRFC
The company has an option to
retain oversubscription up to
Rs.8,886cr
Indian Railway Finance
Corporation Ltd (IRFC) is launching
a tax-free bond issue to raise
Rs.8,886 crore to augment
resources for buying rolling stock
for the Indian railways.
As per Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT) notification, IRFC
has been authorised to issue
bonds up to Rs.10,000 crore during
2013 financial year.
Out of this, the company had
already raised Rs.1,114 crore
through private placement of
bonds.
This trench issue by the company
is of bonds aggregating Rs.1,000
crore with an option to retain
2 Current Affairs Notes
oversubscription of up to Rs.8,886
crore.
The public issue of tax-free,
secured, redeemable, non-
convertible bonds in the nature of
debentures will open on January
21 and close on January 29. The
face value of each bond is
Rs.1,000, and an applicant can
apply for a minimum of five bonds.
However, there is no upper limit.
The bonds have a tenure of 10
years and 15 years and have an
interest rate of 7.18 per cent and
7.34 per cent per annum
respectively.
RATING
The bonds, proposed to be issued,
have been rated AAA/stable by
Crisil, CARE AAA by Care and AAA
by ICRA. These ratings are
considered to have the highest
degree of safety with regard to
timely servicing of financial
obligation and carry lowest credit
risk.
“We are a zero NPA (non-
performing assets) company and
have been growing at a
compounded annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 21 per cent. We buy
rolling stocks, including
locomotives, coaches and wagons
and lease them out to the Indian
Railways for 30 years. Our income
is the lease rentals from these
assets and Indian Railways pays
us twice a year and there has never
been a default,” said Rajiv Datt,
Managing Director, IRFC.
UTILISATION
He said the funds raised through
this issue would be utilised
towards financing the acquisition of
rolling stock which would be
leased to the Ministry of Railways in
line with the present business
initiatives. As per the last Railways
budget, IRFC was to finance rolling
stocks worth Rs.15,000 crore in
financial year 2012-13.
The bonds will be listed on the BSE
and NSE within 12 working days of
the issue closing date.
Concept: How do firms determine
share price for an IPO?
In stock markets, numbers speak
louder than words. Whether it is
quarterly results of companies or
price discovery mechanisms in an
initial public offering (IPO),
numbers are our trusted signposts.
But numbers don’t fall from the sky.
There are well-known price
discovery mechanisms in case of
an IPO. Our friend Johnny thinks
that one should clearly understand

these mechanisms before
investing in IPOs. So let’s try to
understand how the book-building
price discovery method is different
from the fixed-price method.
How is the price discovered during
IPOs?
Well, discovery of price in an IPO is
both a science and an art. The
issuer companies have two
options for fixing the price. They
can either fix the price themselves
or they can let the investors
determine it. The first method, in
which the company itself fixes the
price, is known as the fixed-price
method and the second, in which
investors determine the price, is
known as the book-building
method. It is important to keep in
mind that even in the fixed-price
method, the prices are not
determined randomly and the
company has to disclose all the
quantitative and qualitative factors
that justify the fixed price.
But the fixed-price method has one
drawback. It does not take into
account investor demand into price
discovery. If you want to sell a piece
of gold at its intrinsic value but
there is no demand in the market,
your piece of gold will not be able
to fetch that price. Fixed-price
issues also face a similar problem.
The issuers arrive at the fixed price
after taking into consideration the
reasonable value of their company
but if there is no demand in the
market, the shares will fail to
generate subscription. In the
opposite scenario, if the demand in
the market is high, the price fixed
by the issuer may not reflect the
true market value and the shares
may get sold at a low price. To
overcome these kinds of problems,
issuers use the book-building
method. It helps in matching the
price of shares with the demand.
How does the book-building
method work?
In the book-building method, the
issuers indicate either a floor price
or a price band within which the
investors can place their bids. For
executing the whole process, the
issuers appoint the lead merchant
banker as a book runner. The book
runner appoints syndicate
members who collect bids from
investors. Both retail and
institutional investors can take part
in the bid. The bids received from
investors are recorded in a book in
electronic form. The book runner, in
consultation with the issuer
company, evaluates the bids and
decides the final price, which is
also known as the cut-off price. The
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
cut-off price is the price at which
the demand for the shares meets
the price. In case your bid is below
the cut-off price, you will not receive
any allotment.
However, you can avoid this
situation by submitting your bid
without indicating any price. You
have to simply indicate in your bid
that you are ready to accept the
offer of shares at whatever cut-off
price the company fixes in the
book-building process. This option
is available only to retail investors
and most of them submit their bid
at the cut-off price.
If all investors start submitting their
bid at the cut-off price, the price
discovery would become a
discovery without surprise.
FIPB
The Foreign Investment Promotion
Board (FIPB) is a government body
that offers a single window
clearance for proposals on Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in India that
are not allowed access through the
automatic route. FIPB comprises of
Secretaries drawn from different
ministries with Secretary, Depart-
ment of Economic Affairs, MoF in
the chair. This inter-ministerial
body examines and discusses
proposals for foreign investments
in the country for sectors with caps,
sources and instruments that
require approval under the extant
FDI Policy on a regular basis. The
Minister of Finance, considers the
recommendations of the FIPB on
proposals for foreign investment up
to 1200 crore. Proposals involving
foreign investment of more
than 1200 crore require the
approval of the Cabinet Committee
on Economic Affairs (CCEA).
FIPB is mandated to play an
important role in the administration
and implementation of the
Government’s FDI policy. It has a
strong record of actively
encouraging the flow of FDI into the
country through speedy and
transparent processing of
applications, and providing on-line
clarification. In case of ambiguity or
a conflict of interpretation, the FIPB
has always stepped in with an
investor-friendly approach.
President Presents Krishi
Karman Awards to States,
Farmers for Outstanding
Performance in
2011-12
Shri Pawar Reiterates Resolve to
Achieve 4% Farm Growth in 12th
Plan
3 Current Affairs Notes
President, ShriPranab Mukherjee
today presented Krishi Karman
Awards to eight States for their
achievements in foodgrains
production in 2011-12. Ten States
were given commendation awards.
Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Manipur and Nagaland received the
awards for special contribution to
total foodgrains production. Bihar
received the award for contribution
to production and productivity of
rice, Haryana for wheat, Jharkhand
for pulses and Uttar Pradesh for
coarse cereals. Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Assam, West Bengal,
Tripura, Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and
Himachal Pradesh received
commendation awards.
The awards were received by Chief
Ministers of Madhya Pradesh,
Haryana and Manipur and
Agriculture Ministers/ Agriculture
Secretaries of other States.
For the first time one female and
one male farmer from the eight
award winning States were also
given awards for their outstanding
performance.
Background
Krishi Karman Awards were
instituted in 2010-11 for recognizing
the meritorious efforts of States in
foodgrain production. The awards
announced now - for 2011-12 - will
be presented by the President
tomorrow to Chief Ministers or
Agriculture Ministers of these
States.
The awards are given to best
performing States in two broad
sets, one for the total foodgrain
production and the other for
individual foodgrain crops of rice,
wheat, pulses and coarse cereals.
States for total foodgrains category
are further divided into three
categories based on total foodgrain
production capacity of the State.
Award winning States get a trophy,
a citation and cash award. The
cash award is Rs. 2 crores for total
foodgrain production and Rs. 1
crore for each of the four individual
crops. Commendation award
winners get a cash prize of Rs. 25
lakh. Individual farmers get Rs. one
lakh besides a trophy and citation.
A selection committee headed by
Secretary (Agriculture and
Cooperation) assessed the
performance of States against
criteria that took into account
production outcomes,
implementation of crop production
programs and innovative

approaches adopted for effective
service delivery.
Jeevan Raksha Padak
Jeevan Raksha Padak series of
awards are given to a person for
meritorious act of humane nature in
saving the life of a person. The
award is given in three categories,
namely, Sarvott am Jeevan Raksha
Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak,
and Jeevan Raksha Padak. Persons
of either sex in all walks of life are
eligible for these awards. The award
can also be conferred posthumously.
The decoration of the award (medal,
certificate signed by the Home
Minister and demand draft for lump
sum monetary allowance) is
presented to the awardee in due
course by the respective State
Government to which the awardee
belongs. The lump sum monetary
allowance is given at the rate of
1,00,000, Rs.60,000, and Rs. 40,000
to the Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha
Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha
Padakand Jeevan Raksha Padak
awardee respectively.
BRICS Delhi
Communique on Health
Issues
1. The BRICS countries,
represented by the Ministers of
Health of the Federative Republic of
Brazil, the Russian Federation,
India, People’s Republic of China
and Republic of South Africa, met in
New Delhi on 11 January 2013 at
the Second BRICS Health
Ministers’ Meeting.
2. The meeting recalled the Delhi
Declaration of 29 March 2012
during the BRICS leaders summit
and the Joint Communiqué of the
BRICS Health Ministers at Geneva
of 22 May 2012 including specific
areas of work under the BRICS
Health Platform for each Member
State, focussed on the theme
“BRICS Partnership for Global
Stability, Security and Prosperity” to
address emerging health threats.
3. The Ministers recalled that
BRICS is a platform for dialogue
and cooperation amongst
countries representing 43% of the
world’s population. The Ministers
reiterated their commitment to the
Beijing Declaration of July 2011 for
strengthened collaboration in the
area of access to public health and
services in BRICS States including
implementation of affordable,
equitable and sustainable
solutions for common health
challenges. The Ministers
committed to strengthen intra-
BRICS cooperation for promoting
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
health of the BRICS population.
The BRICS Health Ministers
resolved to continue cooperation in
the sphere of health through the
Technical Working Group.
4. The Ministers drew attention to
the current global threat of non-
communicable diseases and
noted that in 2008, around 80% of
all NCD deaths occurred in low and
middle income countries. The
Ministers recognized the significant
role of BRICS countries in the
global process of prevention and
control of NCDs including the
Moscow Declaration of April 2011,
the WHA Resolution 64.11 of May
2011 and the Political Declaration
of the UN General Assembly of
September 2011.The Ministers
recognized the need for more
research into the social and
economic determinants leading to
occurrence of non-communicable
diseases, amongst the BRICS
countries. They resolved to
collaborate and cooperate to
promote access to comprehensive
and cost-effective prevention,
treatment and care for the
integrated management of non-
communicable diseases, including
access to medicines and
diagnostics and other
technologies.
5. The Ministers also recognized
the need to combat mental
disorders through a multi-pronged
approach including the World
Health Assembly Resolution 65.4,
consideration of a Comprehensive
Mental Health Action Plan through
sharing of innovations in the field of
Mental Health Promotion,
diagnosis and management,
exchange of best practices and
experiences amongst BRICS
countries.
6. The Ministers renewed their
commitment to the WHO
Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control and stressed the
importance of research and study
by WHO and other stakeholders
into the social and economic
determinants of tobacco use and
its control.
7. The Ministers recognized that
multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is
a major public health problem for
the BRICS countries due to its high
prevalence and incidence mostly
on the marginalized and vulnerable
sections of society. They resolved
to collaborate and cooperate for
development of capacity and
infrastructure to reduce the
prevalence and incidence of
tuberculosis through innovation for
new drugs/vaccines, diagnostics
4 Current Affairs Notes
and promotion of consortia of
tuberculosis researchers to
collaborate on clinical trials of
drugs and vaccines, strengthening
access to affordable medicines
and delivery of quality care. The
Ministers also recognized the need
to cooperate for adopting and
improving systems for notification
of tuberculosis patients, availability
of anti-tuberculosis drugs at
facilities by improving supplier
performance, procurement
systems and logistics and
management of HIV-associated
tuberculosis in the primary health
care system.
8. The Ministers called for renewed
efforts to face the continued
challenge posed by HIV. They
committed to focus on cooperation
in combating HIV/AIDS through
approaches such as innovative
ways to reach out with prevention
services, efficacious drugs and
diagnostics, exchange of
information on newer treatment
regimens, determination of recent
infections and HIV-TB co-infections.
The Ministers agreed to share
experience and expertise in the
areas of surveillance, existing and
new strategies to prevent the
spread of HIV, and in rapid scale up
of affordable treatment. They
reiterated their commitment to
ensure that bilateral and regional
trade agreements do not
undermine TRIPS flexibilities so as
to assure availability of affordable
generic ARV drugs to developing
countries.
9. The Ministers committed to
strengthen cooperation to combat
malaria through enhanced
diagnostics, research and
development and committed to
facilitate common access to the
technologies developed or under
development in the BRICS
countries.
10. The Ministers renewed their
commitment for effective control of
both communicable and non-
communicable diseases through
cooperation in sharing of existing
resource information, development
of risk assessment tools, risk
mitigation methods, referral
systems, life course approaches,
community empowerment,
monitoring health impact
assessments of all public policies
at national and international levels.
11. Recognizing that an effective
health surveillance, including injury
surveillance, is the key strategy for
controlling both communicable and
non-communicable diseases, that
surveillance is also the

cornerstone around which the
implementation of the International
Health Regulations (2005) is
based and further recognizing that
the countries may be using
different models for surveillance
based on different realities and
best practices, the Ministers
committed to strengthen
cooperation in the mechanisms for
planning, monitoring and
evaluating disease prevention and
control activities and capacity-
building for effective health
surveillance systems.
12. The Ministers urged focus on
the unique strength of BRICS
countries such as capacity for R &
D and manufacturing of affordable
health products, and capability to
conduct clinical trials. The
Ministers called for strengthened
cooperation in application of bio-
technology for health benefits for
the population of BRICS countries.
13. The Ministers emphasized the
importance of child survival through
progressive reduction in the
maternal mortality, infant mortality,
neo-natal mortality and under-5
mortality, with the aim of achieving
the Millennium Development
Goals. They confirmed their
commitment to a renewed effort in
this area and to enhance
collaboration through exchange of
best practices.
14. The Ministers discussed the
recommendations of the
Consultative Expert Working Group
on Health on coordination and
financing of R & D for medical
products and welcomed the
proposal to establish a Global
Health R&D observatory as well as
the move on holding regional
consultations to set up R&D
demonstration projects. The
Ministers urged that the entire
process, including priority setting,
should be driven by WHO Member
States and should be based on
public health needs, in particular
those of developing countries, with
the cost of R & D delinked from the
final products.
15. The Ministers reiterated their
support to the continued
discussions on the process of
reform of WHO, to better respond to
global challenges in programmatic,
organizational and operational
terms, including the future
financing of WHO, and welcomed
the proposal to establish a
financing dialogue based on
priorities collectively set by WHO
Member States in a structured and
transparent process.
16. The Ministers acknowledged
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
the value and importance of
traditional medicine and need of
experience and knowledge-sharing
for securing public health needs.
They urged for cooperation
amongst the BRICS countries
through visits of experts,
organization of symposia to
encourage the use of traditional
medicine, in all spheres of health.
17. The Ministers confirmed their
support for the United Nations
General Assembly Resolution on
universal health coverage and
committed to work nationally,
regionally and globally to ensure
that universal health coverage is
achieved.
18. The Ministers recalled the
Beijing Declaration of the 1st
BRICS Health Ministers’ Meeting in
2011, emphasizing the importance
and need of technology transfer as
a means to empower developing
countries. In this context, they
underlined the important role of
generic medicines in the realization
of the right to health. The Ministers
renewed their commitment to
strengthening international
cooperation in health, in particular
South-South cooperation, with a
view to supporting efforts in
developing countries to promote
health for all and resolve to
establish the BRICS network of
technological cooperation.
19. The Ministers acknowledged
the need of use of ICT in Health
services to promote cost-effective
treatment in the remote areas. They
encouraged to strengthen
cooperation amongst the BRICS
countries to share their
experiences in e-Health including
tele-medicine. 20. The Ministers
agreed to cooperate in all
international fora regarding matters
relating to TRIPS flexibilities with a
public health perspective.
16 January 2013
‘ManaBiyyam’
(Andhra Pradesh)
1. The formal launch of
‘ManaBiyyam’ scheme by Chief
Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to
give good quality raw rice to white
cardholders at Rs.1 a kg ended
with the government getting
brickbats from fair price shop (FPS)
dealers for its failure to announce
promised sops.
2. Thousands of FPS dealers from
all over the State, mobilised in
special buses, turned up at Lalitha
Kala Thoranam, for the launch of
5 Current Affairs Notes
‘ManaBiyyam’ here on Wednesday,
all in anticipation of the much
awaited ‘boons’.The Chief Minister
sought the cooperation of FPS
dealers for the success of the
reforms being brought about in the
PDS to check pilferages.
Reaching consensus
on GST
Even as Finance Minister P.
Chidambaram sought to induce
consensus among States on
issues that still stand in the way of
progress towards implementation
of the much delayed Goods and
Services Tax (GST), they reiterated
their demand for a higher
compensation on account of
reduction in the Central Sales Tax
(CST) from four to two per cent.
Alongside, the two committees
which were set up — one to sort
out the CST compensation issue
and the other to look into the GST
design network — are expected to
submit their reports to the Centre
on January 21.
Highlights of New Proposed
Goods & Service Tax (GST)
1. The basic principal governing
behind GST is to have single
Taxation System for Goods and
Services across the country.
Currently Indian economy has
various taxes on Goods and
services such as VAT, Service Tax,
Excise, Entertainment Tax, Luxury
Tax Etc. now in the new Proposal of
GST; we will be having only two
taxes on all goods and Services as
follows:
a. State Level GST(SGST)
b. Central Level GST (CGST)
2. In case of Central GST, following
Taxes will be subsumed with CGST
which are at presently levied
separately on goods and services
by Central government:
a. Central Excise Duty
b. Additional Excise Duty
c. The Excise Duty levied under
Medicinal and toiletries
preparation Act
d. Service Tax
e. Additional Custom Duty (CVD)
f. Special Additional Duty
g. Surcharge
h. Education Cess and Secondary
and Higher Secondary education
Cess
3. In case of State GST, following
taxes will be subsumed with SGST;
which are priestly levied on goods
and services by State
Governments:
a. VAT/ Sales Tax

b. Entertainment Tax (unless it is
levied by local bodies)
c. Luxury Tax
d. Tax on lottery
e. State Cess and Surcharge to the
extend related to supply of
goods and services.
4. The basic principal for
subsuming of taxes in GST is
provided as follows:
a. Those taxes which commences
with import / manufacture /
production of goods or provision of
services at one end and the
consumption of goods and
services o other end.
b. The taxes, levies and fees which
are not related to supply of goods &
services should not be subsumed
under GST.
5. Taxes on items containing
alcohol and petroleum product are
kept out of GST. They will continue
to be taxed as per existing
practices.
6. Tax on Tobacco products will be
subject to GST. But government can
levy the extra Excise duty over and
above GST.
7. The Small Taxpayer: The small
taxpayers whose gross annual
turnover is less than 1.5 Crore are
exempted from CGST and SGST.
8. Input Tax Credit (ITC): Taxes Paid
against CGST allowed as ITC
against CGST. Taxes paid against
SGST allowed as ITC against
SGST.
9. Cross utilization of ITC between
the Central GST and State GST
would not be allowed. Exception:
Inter State Supply of goods and
services.
10. PAN based identification
number will be allowed to each
taxpayer to have integration of GST
with
Direct Tax.
11. IGST Model and ITC:
a. Center would levy IGST levy
( CGST + SGST)
b. The ITC will be allowed in this
transaction will be SGST, IGST,
CGST as applicable.
c. Appropriate provision will be
provided for consignment or Stock
transfer.
12. GST Rate Structure:
a. Two Rate Structure
b. A lower rate for necessary items
and goods of basic importance
c. Standard rate for goods in
General
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
d. Special Rate
13. Exports are fully exempted with
Zero rates.
Training & teacher
1. The failure of the vast majority of
candidates in the Central Teacher
Eligibility Test is convincing proof
that the system of teacher
education is in urgent need of
repair. In this case, trainees with a
B. Ed degree could not pass the
examination designed to test their
fitness for appointment as teachers
in Central government schools,
and some Central Board of
Secondary Education institutions.
The overall system of teacher
training in the country has been
found wanting for decades and
many recommendations have been
made by expert panels for
improvements. A good critique of
what ails the various B. Ed
programmes, as well as diplomas
in education is to be found in the
National Curriculum Framework for
Teacher Education. Demand for
greater numbers of teachers has
led to massive quantitative
expansion of the number of
institutions and courses at various
levels in recent years, but without
the necessary emphasis on
infrastructure, faculty qualification
and learning resources. A key point
the Framework makes is that state
provisioning of elementary
education is marked by an attitude
of resignation towards the existing
system of pre-service and in-
service training, which leaves little
inspiration for the practitioners to
improve.
2. The gamut of issues
surrounding teacher education
needs a fresh look. The imperative
to raise the entry-level qualification
for training of teachers from Plus
Two, and make it a well-rounded
degree programme has been
underscored by the NCFTE. It
would be worthwhile to invest in a
four-year degree programme after
senior secondary, or a two-year
programme after acquiring a
Bachelor’s degree. The J.S. Verma
Commission appointed by the
Supreme Court has also
highlighted the importance of
making teacher education a part of
the higher education system to
introduce the necessary rigour and
exposure to various integral
disciplines. It is the poor
preparation in both the disciplinary
and pedagogical domains that
produces trainees who are found
wanting. Making it compulsory to
have a dedicated school attached
to a pre-service teacher education
institution, as the Verma panel
6 Current Affairs Notes
suggests, could be one way to
ensure that graduates acquire the
necessary competence and skills.
Such a system would naturally be
far superior to distance learning
courses. The poor performance of
teacher-trainees in recruitment
examinations is a clear indicator of
the failed assembly-line system of
training that exists today. It is also
important to note that 90 per cent of
the pre-service teacher education
courses are in the non-government
sector and the state needs to play a
more active role in improving
institutional capacity especially in
the East and Northeast.
Archaeology needs
support
The recently inaugurated exhibition
— Rediscovering India: 1961-2011
— in Delhi was a fitting finale to the
year-long celebrations of the 150th
anniversary of the Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI). This exhibition
displayed the achievements of ASI
in the past five decades. The list is
long and impressive: discoveries of
existence of Harappan culture in
places such as Kalibangan in
Rajasthan and Dholavira in
Gujarat; excavations at Buddhist
sites in Kanaganhali in Karnataka
and Boxanagar in Tripura; salvage
operations at Nagarjunakonda,
Andhra Pradesh, and conservation
efforts in Hampi, Karnataka, are
some of its remarkable projects.
The ASI protects 3,677 monuments
and has copied more than 74,000
inscriptions. It has shaped the
discipline of archaeology, history
and heritage conservation in the
country through these significant
contributions. Despite all this, the
fact remains that the ASI has not
institutionally innovated to meet
emerging challenges. State apathy
and poor financial support have
added to its woes. The question is
how to continue the good work and
secure the past better for the future.
Art and culture received only a
meagre 0.16 per cent of the total
Central Plan of the government in
the Eleventh Five-Year plan
allocation. As a result, the Ministry
of Culture, which the ASI is a part
of, received only a fraction of what it
needed. This poor funding pattern
is unlikely to improve. For the year
2012-13, the government has
sanctioned only one-third of the
requested Rs. 2,916 crore. Of the
scant funds that the ASI receives in
turn, less than one per cent is
spent on excavations (2011-12).
This would neither help expand the
investigation of the unexplored
historical landscape nor lead to
greater investment in

archaeological science. The casual
approach to publication of reports
also reflects the declining
importance of excavation. Despite
the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Transport, Tourism
and Culture reminding the ASI to
speed up the publication of 56
pending excavation reports five
years ago, progress has been
tardy. In 2007, the Working Group
on Art and Culture for the Eleventh
Five-Year plan recommended that
more historical structures should
be protected and the ASI should
notify every year about 70
unprotected structures as
monuments for better care.
Biased, unscientific report
on electromagnetic
radiation
The recently released BioInitiative
Report 2012 (BIR-2012) on
standards for electromagnetic
radiation is a perfect clone of a
similar report published in 2007.
According to many responsible
agencies it is biased and
unscientific. BIR-2012 claimed that
the evidence for risks to health from
wireless technologies and
electromagnetic fields (EMFs) has
substantially increased since 2007.
The studies alleged a link between
cell phone radiation and brain
tumours. Agencies such as the
World Health Organization, UK
Health Protection Agency and the
International Commission on Non
Ionizing Radiation Protection
(ICNIRP) do not support the
conclusions.
A self appointed group
1. The BioInitiative Working Group
which prepared the report
originated as a self appointed
group from a mini symposium
during the annual meeting of the
Bioelectromagnetic Society in 2006
and has no official status.
2. BIR 2012 gave a shot in the arm
of anti cell phone tower radiation
enthusiasts and sellers of
protective screens, and ‘talisman’
against electromagnetic radiation!
3. Dr David Carpenter and Ms
Cindy Sage, the editors of the
report clarified that each author is
responsible for his/her own chapter
in BIR 2012.The views are that of
individual authors. It is a very
unusual procedure.
Critique of BIR
1. Responsible agencies roundly
criticized the report. The European
Initiative EMF-NET noted that the
‘Summary for the public’ is written
in an alarmist and emotive
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
language and its arguments have
no scientific support from well-
conducted EMF research. There is
a lack of balance in the report; no
mention is made in fact of reports
that do not concur with authors’
statements and conclusions.
2. The Committee on Man and
Radiation (COMAR) Technical
Information Statement stated that
BIR has many weaknesses and is
a selective, rather than a
comprehensive, review of the
literature in various topical areas.
3. According to the German Federal
Office for Radiation Protection, the
report has clear scientific
weaknesses including selection
bias in several research areas.
4. The Health Council of
Netherlands highlighted the fact
that [WHO’s and ICNIRP’s]
multidisciplinary weight-of evidence
method leads to a scientifically
sound judgment that is as objective
as possible.
5. The BIR report did not follow this
procedure. The Council asserted
that “(The report) is not an objective
and balanced reflection of the
current state of scientific
knowledge and does not provide
any grounds for revising the current
views as to the risks of exposure to
electromagnetic fields.” The
Australian Centre for Radio-
frequency Bioeffects Research
(ACRBR) concurred.
6. This writer received from Dr Mike
Repacholi, Chairman-Emeritus,
ICNIRP, a list of 95 statements from
Governments and expert panels
concerning health effects and safe
exposure levels of radiofrequency
energy (2000-2012). Their
conclusions were similar to those
of ICNIRP and WHO—“that there is
no established evidence that EMF
exposure within the internationally
accepted limits causes any
adverse health effects.”
International guidelines at 4500
mW per sq.metre have a safety
factor of 50. Indian guideline at 450
mW per sq.metre has a further
safety factor of 10. BIR proposes an
additional factor of 900!
7. Though BIR is not based on
sound science, cell tower radiation
scare mongers selling protective
shields and RF measuring
instruments (complying with BIR
2007 recommendations) love to
uphold BIR values. They can then
scare the public further and make
hay while the sun shines!
After cancer, India starts
stroke registry
After its successful operation of
7 Current Affairs Notes
cancer registries for the last 20
years, the government has taken
the plunge to start a stroke registry
at Bangalore — National Centre for
Disease Informatics and
Research.
According to Dr. A. Nanda Kumar,
the Director of the Centre,
registries for cardiovascular
diseases and diabetes would be
started in the future.
It is pertinent to note that chronic
diseases like cancer, stroke,
cardiovascular diseases and
diabetes are growing at an
alarming rate in India, and the
number of people who either die or
suffer from morbidity is quite high.
Despite knowing that a number of
people suffer from stroke, precise
information on prevalence and
incidence is lacking. The registry
has been started with the sole
intent of providing this vital
information.
Objectives
The Centre has two major
objectives: “To generate reliable
data on the magnitude and
incidence of stroke, and to know
the patterns of care in patients with
stroke,” notes the NCDIR website.
These objectives are expected to
“generate researchable data bases
and thereby lay a strong foundation
for epidemiological, clinical and
control research in stroke. This
would be supplemented constantly
and steadily.”
According to a news piece in
the British Medical Journal (BMJ),
“this data could be used to plan
and implement future programmes
on management, prevention, and
rehabilitation and to monitor
patterns of care for patients who
have had a stroke.”
“It is a challenging task,” said Dr.
Nanda Kumar. “It will take a while
before we know the exact
prevalence and incidence of
stroke.” In the absence of such
information, he refused to provide
even a ballpark figure of the
number of stroke patients in India.
From January 1, 2013
The registration is only for all newly
diagnosed patients with stroke
diagnosed on or after January 1,
2013. It is also restricted to those
patients who are registered and/or
diagnosed/treated in that
respective institution/individual
specialist. “For purposes of
calculation of incidence rates, only
those patients who are residents of
the registry area for at least one
year is required,” the website notes.

“It has been estimated that the
combined annual cost to India of
stroke, coronary heart disease, and
diabetes will be about $54bn by
2015, about six times the $8.7bn
lost through these diseases in
2005,” notes BMJ.
“The modus operandi of collecting
stroke data is quite similar to that
of cancer, and hence simpler,” he
said. But what makes it simpler
compared with cardiovascular
diseases and diabetes? “In the
case of cancer, microscopic
analysis is done, and in the case of
stroke MRI [and] or CT is required.
Hence hospitalisation or diagnostic
requirement is necessary,” he said.
“In the case of cardiovascular
diseases or diabetes testing is
easy and treatment can be started.”
“The NCDIR is the custodian of a
given centre’s/individual’s data.
Neither centre’s or individual’s data
would be provided to another
centre nor access provided,” it
states. “The NCDIR–ICMR has the
obvious strength of clinically
neutrality and will act accordingly.
Patient identity would be
immediately encrypted on data
entry.”
Arunachal Pradesh voted
favourite upcoming
tourist destination
Arunachal Pradesh has added
another feather to its wings after
being voted the ‘Favourite
Upcoming Destination’ by a travel
magazine.
Tourism Parliamentary Secretary
P.D. Sona produced a letter sent by
Outlook Traveller president
AlokSrivastava to the state’s
tourism secretary SonamChombay.
Informing that the outcome was the
result of a survey conducted in
2012 by an IPSOS poll of readers
through the magazine and its
website, he said the survey “is an
authoritative benchmark of
consumer preferences in travel and
tourism across 18 categories,
including hotels, airlines and
holiday destinations.”
Dengue is fastest-spreading
tropical disease, World
Health Organization says
Dengue is the world’s fastest-
spreading tropical disease and
represents a “pandemic threat”,
infecting an estimated 50 million
people across all continents, the
World Health Organization (WHO)
said on Wednesday. Transmitted
by the bite of female mosquitoes,
the disease is occurring more
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
widely due to increased movement
of people and goods - including
carrier objects such as bamboo
plants and used tyres - as well as
floods linked to climate change, the
United Nations agency said.
The viral disease, which affected
only a handful of areas in the
1950s, is now present in more than
125 countries - significantly more
than malaria, historically the most
notorious mosquito-borne disease.
The most advanced vaccine
against dengue is only 30 percent
effective, trials last year showed. “In
2012, dengue ranked as the fastest
spreading vector-borne viral
disease with an epidemic potential
in the world, registering a 30-fold
increase in disease incidence over
the past 50 years,” the WHO said in
a statement.
Late last year, Europe’s suffered its
first sustained outbreak since the
1920s, with 2,000 people infected
on the Portuguese Atlantic island of
Madeira. Worldwide, 2 million
cases of dengue are reported each
year by 100 countries, mainly in
Asia, Africa and Latin America,
causing 5,000 to 6,000 deaths,
said Dr. Raman Velayudhan, a
specialist at the WHO’s control of
neglected tropical diseases
department.But the true number is
far higher as the disease has
spread exponentially and is now
present on all continents, he said.
“The WHO estimates that on
average about 50 million cases
occur every year. This is a very
conservative estimate,” Velayudhan
told Reuters, adding that some
independent studies put the figure
at 100 million.”Dengue is the most
threatening and fastest spreading
mosquito-borne disease. It is
pandemic-prone, but it is a threat
only.Definitely a bigger threat now
than ever,” he saidMalaria caused
more deaths but was on the
decline, affecting fewer than 100
countries.
SILENT EXPANSION: Speaking to a
news briefing after the WHO
released a report on 17 neglected
tropical diseases affecting 1 billion
people, Velayudhan said: “The
mosquito has silently expanded its
distribution. “So today you have
(the) aedes mosquito in over 150
countries. The threat of dengue
exists all across the globe.”In
Europe, the aedes mosquitoes that
cause both dengue and chikungya
disease have spread to 18
countries, often via the importation
of ornamental bamboo or second-
hand tyres, he said.”But we are
trying to address this in a more
8 Current Affairs Notes
systematic way, by controlling entry
of vectors at points of entry
seaports,airports, as well as the
ground crossings,” Velayudhan
said, noting that it was hard to
detect mosquitoes and their
eggs.Dengue causes flu-like
symptoms that subside in a few
days in some sufferers. But the
severe form of the disease
requires hospitalisation for
complications, including severe
bleeding, that may be lethal.
But researchers said it did show for
the first time that a safe vaccine
was possible. The WHO also said
aims to eliminate globally two
neglected tropical diseases,
dracunculiasis, known as guinea
worm disease, in 2015, and yaws,
or treponematoses, in 2020.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay;
Editing by John Stonestreet)
In vitro fertilisation
treatment may raise risk of
life-threatening blood clots
1. Women who become pregnant
through In vitro fertilisation (IVF)
may be more likely to develop life-
threatening blood clots, scientists
have found in a first-of-its-kind
study.
2. The risk rose fivefold in early
pregnancy compared with women
who conceived naturally,
researchers found. IVF is linked to
more cases of pulmonary
embolism, in which a blood clot
causes a blockage in the main
artery of the lung, and venous
thromboembolism - blood clots
which form elsewhere but can
break off and become life
threatening.
3. The researchers believe doctors
should be aware of thedanger,
saying the number of cases
remains small but blood clots on
the lung are a leading cause of
death in pregnant women, the
‘Daily Mail’ reported.
4. They suggest the reason may be
a huge rise in oestrogen levels
triggered by IVF drugs, with the
effect diminishing later in
pregnancy. Hormonal drugs are
widely used in IVF to stimulate the
ovaries, allowing up to 15 eggs to
mature and be removed from a
woman’s body at the same time.
5. In the latest study, researchers
from the Karolinska Institute in
Sweden compared the risk of both
pulmonary embolism (PE) and
venous thromboembolism (VTE) in
almost 24,000 women having an
IVF pregnancy and 117,000 women
having a normal pregnancy.

Women were matched for age, with
an average of 33. The study found
the proportion of IVF women
diagnosed with VTE was 4.2 in
1,000 compared with 2.5 in 1,000
for those who had a natural
pregnancy.
6. The proportional risk for those
who had had IVF compared with
those who had not was highest in
the first three months of pregnancy:
1.5 in 1,000 compared with 0.3.
7. There was no difference in risk
before pregnancy or during the year
after delivery. Researchers
identified 19 women with potentially
nlife-threatening artery blockages
in the IVF group (a rate of 0.08 per
cent) compared with 70 women (a
rate of 0.05 percent) having natural
pregnancies.
8. The risk in the IVF women was
increased during the whole
pregnancy and particularly in the
first trimester. Absolute risks for
pulmonary embolism were low
however, with two to three
additional cases per 10,000 IVF
women, found] the study. Study
leader Professor Peter Henriksson
said it was not clear why IVF
mothers were more at risk, but
hormonal drugs were a plausible
cause.
9. “During the IVF procedure
hormonal drugs are given to
stimulate the egg follicles to grow
more eggs. This increases
oestrogen levels in the body
between ten and 100-fold and is
likely to impact on the coagulation
of the blood and increase blood
clot formation,” he said. “It is
highest during the first third of
pregnancy.
17 January 2013
Even non-member can
move Speaker for
disqualification of
defectors, rules SC
Not only an MLA but any interested
person is entitled to bring to the
notice of the Speaker the fact that a
member has incurred
disqualification under the Tenth
Schedule of the Constitution (anti-
defection law) and the presiding
officer is bound to take action on
the complaint, the Supreme Court
held on Thursday.
A three-judge Bench of Chief
Justice AltamasKabir and Justices
J. Chelameswar and
VikaramaitSen said: “On receipt of
such information, the Speaker
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
would be entitled to decide under
paragraph 6 of the Tenth Schedule
whether the member concerned
had, in fact, incurred
disqualification and to pass
appropriate orders on his findings.”
Writing the judgment on an appeal
filed by Odisha Speaker, the CJI
said: “In a case such as this, where
all four members elected from the
Nationalist Congress Party had
changed their allegiance to the Biju
Janata Dal, there would be no one
to bring the fact to the notice of the
Speaker and ask for their
disqualification.”
After the four MLAs crossed over to
the BJD, the president of the NCP,
Utkar Keshari Parida, who was not
an MLA, filed an application to the
Speaker seeking their
disqualification. As no action was
taken on the complaint, he moved
the Orissa High Court, which held
that the writ petition was
maintainable.
Dismissing the Speaker’s appeal
against this order, the Supreme
Court said: “Although disqualified
under paragraph 2(1) (a) of the
Tenth Schedule, in the absence of
any application for disqualification
to the Speaker, they [the four MLAs]
would continue to function as
members of the Assembly, which
was not the object sought to be
achieved by the 52nd Amendment,
by which the Tenth Schedule was
introduced in the Constitution.”
The Bench said: “The Statement of
Objects and Reasons of the Bill,
which finally became the
Constitution [52 Amendment] Act,
1985, indicated that the evil of
political defection had become a
matter of national concern and if it
was not checked, it could very well
undermine the very foundation of
our democracy and the principles
which sustain the same. In such an
event, if the provisions of the Tenth
Schedule are interpreted to exclude
the right of any person interested to
bring to the notice of the Speaker of
the House the fact that any or some
of its members had incurred
disqualification on any of the
eventualities indicated in
paragraphs 2 and 4 therein, it
would render the inclusion of the
Tenth Schedule in the Constitution
otiose and defeat the objects and
intent of the 52nd Amendment.”
ISRO lines up SARAL for
February, restored GSLV
for April
SARAL will study sea surface
heights and have an altimeter
9 Current Affairs Notes
The Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) has slated its
first launch of the year — ocean
study spacecraft SARAL — for
February 14.
It will herald the 8 to 10 missions,
including satellites and launch
vehicles, which ISRO has planned
this year,
Flights of the GSLV rocket would be
resumed and the first of the
navigational spacecraft would be
sent up, an ISRO official told The
Hindu.
Along with the 450-kg Indo-French
SARAL, the Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV) will put into orbit six
small experimental satellites built
by western universities for a fee.
SARAL would be one of the very few
such ocean-centric satellites and a
vital cog in studying sea surface
heights and other aspects, the
official said.
It would be similar to ISRO’s
Oceansat-2, but with an altimeter
(named ‘Argos’ here) to measure
heights.
In October 2012, NASA relied on
Oceansat-2 to get finer details of
Hurricane ‘Sandy’ that wreaked
havoc on the eastern U.S.
SARAL is short for Satellite with
ARgos and ALtiKa, the two main
devices on it which have been
provided by French space agency
CNES. Besides building the
spacecraft, ISRO will launch and
operate it through its life.
SARAL will come up two months
later than the earlier planned fancy
date of 12-12-12.
The December launch was put off
to complete a few tests and
validations, the official said.
Around April this year, ISRO expects
to resume flying the GSLV rocket.
The GSLV-D5 will lift the
communications satellite GSAT-14
into orbit.
ISRO had put the GSLV programme
on hold after it suffered two
successive failures in April and
December 2010. The lapses were
analysed and corrections made,
the official said.
NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE
May will see the first of the national
navigational satellites or navsats —
the IRNSS-1 — which will fly on a
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
IRNSS or the Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System with its
seven satellites is tipped to be
India’s own regional Global
Positioning System.

“We hope to complete the
navigation constellation during
2015-16,” by following this up with
two more navsats in 2014 and the
remaining a year later, the official
said.
“For all these launches from the
Sriharikota launch centre, we
normally need an interval of 45
days between two launches since
we have two launch pads,” he said.
GSAT-7, a dedicated satellite for
the Navy, is also set to be launched
around May on a European Ariane
rocket. Two other larger satellites,
INSAT-3D and GSAT-10, will also
use ‘procured’ or foreign launches
on separate Ariane vehicles in the
second half of this year.
Making a mockery of
domestic gas pricing
Price sensitivity
The report recognises the price
sensitivity of gas demand in India,
yet, like most government
documents, it presents
indefensible demand and supply
numbers completely independent
of gas prices. The report confirms
that most Indian natural gas
producers are currently guaranteed
a well head price of at least $4.2 to
$5.25/MMBTU. However, it does not
clarify if this is the price for dry or
wet gas thereby forgetting the
economic value of natural gas
liquids extracted by producers
before selling the dry gas as feed
stock and/or an energy source.
More importantly, the report
suggests that the above price is
not sufficiently remunerative to
encourage domestic natural gas
production but fails to provide any
evidence to support such a
conclusion. Can the Committee
identify any significant independent
conventional gas field in the world
that receives or has received this
high a well head price for dry
natural gas year after year on an
arms-length basis?
The Committee justifies the
formula approved for pricing
natural gas from KG Basin’s D-6
field, overlooking the objections
that the then Cabinet Secretary and
I had raised against the proposed
formula. Here too, the Committee
fails to point out that India is the
only country in the world that
adopted a formula by which the
gas price rises exponentially with
the price of crude between its floor
price and its cap. The rest of the
world follows formulae by which
such linkage is a linear function,
with a more gradual slope
between the floor price of gas and
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
its cap. Under the approved
formula, the floor price of KG Basin
gas determined at a crude price of
$25/barrel is $2.50/MMBTU but it
rises exponentially to $3.50/MMBTU
at a crude price of $26/barrel
yielding a 40 percent increase in
the price of gas for a 4 per cent
increase in the price of crude. In the
then relevant range of crude prices
between $50/barrel and the cap
determined at $60/barrel, the price
of gas varies very narrowly between
$4.1 and $4.2 per MMBTU. In
essence, the approved formula
violated international practice to
ensure that, under prevailing
market conditions, the KG Basin
gas receives a price that was well
beyond the price at which the same
gas was bid out under an
international tender or its cost of
service. Fortunately, KG basin
produces dry gas thereby negating
any additional bonanza from natural
gas liquids. Suffice it to say that
despite the CAG’s report, the full
extent of the KG Basin scam is far
from being completely exposed.
The Rangarajan Committee,
nevertheless, finds the KG Basin
gas price, that also triggered an
increase in the gas prices
approved for ONGC, not sufficiently
remunerative.
The above shortfalls, I dare say, are
minor oversights when compared
to the indefensible formula
recommended for determining the
well head price of conventional
natural gas produced in India. The
recommended formula estimates
the price by averaging some
numbers derived from foreign gas
markets even though those
numbers neither represent well
head price of conventional natural
gas anywhere in the world nor
reflect the cost of service for
producing conventional natural gas
in India.
In layman terms, the suggested
formula establishes the fair price of
carrots based on some imputed
prices of bananas, apples and
oranges. Let me explain this in
more detail.
As a first step, the Committee
recommends estimating, on a
monthly basis, what it calls the
“Average Producer Net Back for
Indian Imports” for the trailing 12
months by deducting $3 to $4 from
the prices paid by India for import of
LNG from different sources over the
same period. It is recommended
that all LNG imports, including spot
purchases and term contracts, be
included. The $3-$4 number
representing current cost estimates
of liquefaction, transportation and
10
sweetening natural gas would be
updated regularly. Surely, such an
exercise would yield a number.
What this number represents,
though, is anybody’s guess.
Certainly, it is not the average well
head price of conventional natural
gas in the countries exporting LNG
to India; nor is it relevant to
determining fair well head prices
for Indian producers of
conventional natural gas.
Next, the Committee recommends
that we estimate, on a monthly
basis, something that it calls the
“Weighted Average Price to
Producers in the Global Markets”
during the trailing 12 months. To
calculate this number it uses the
Henry Hub spot index as the price
for all U.S. gas sales, the NBP spot
index of U.K. for all gas sales in
every country comprising Europe
and the Former Soviet Union and
the “Average Producer Net Back” for
all Japanese LNG imports
(computed on the same basis as
recommended above for India);
over the same period. Again, it is
recommended that total volume of
all gas contracts in the respective
jurisdictions be included
irrespective of their differences.
This exercise too will yield a
number but what it represents or its
relevance to Indian gas producers
is beyond comprehension.
Finally, the Committee
recommends that the average of
the two numbers calculated above,
based on hitherto unknown
concepts in the global gas
markets, be used to compensate
producers of conventional natural
gas in India.
I cannot lay bare all the
complexities of the regionally
fragmented global gas markets
here but let me simply state that
natural gas varies widely in its
characteristics across different
sources and the three regions
covered have distinctly different
pricing mechanisms for gas. The
ownership structures in the
industry make it difficult to fathom
at what point in the value chain is
the profit being booked and how
much. Gas contracts vary from spot
purchases to long term with widely
varying basis for pricing. The
structure of the regional gas market
and the related gas infrastructure in
the relevant jurisdiction impact gas
prices significantly. Finally, non-
price elements that are not
transparent, geo political
considerations and security of
supply concerns play an important
role in the pricing of gas. The Henry
Hub benchmark index is available
Current Affairs Notes

for next day delivery and up to 108
months in the future. Similarly, the
more recent NBP benchmark index
permits trading of gas as a
commodity on spot and longer term
basis. However, importantly, the
physical trade occurring at the
typically quoted Henry Hub or NBP
price is minuscule compared to the
global trade in gas.
Disequilibrium
Unlike oil, natural gas does not
have a fungible global market
thereby exacerbating the above
complexity. The resulting
disequilibrium is illustrated by the
fact that in 2011 the reported
average dry gas price per MMBTU
at Henry Hub was $4.01 while at
NBP it was $9.03 and the
Japanese LNG imports averaged
$14.73 cif — which, based on the
Rangarajan Committee’s
definition, would yield an “Average
Producer Net Back” of $10.50 –
11.50/ MMBTU for Japanese
imports. IEA projects that such
disequilibrium will continue at least
for the coming 10-15 years.
Given above market realities and
the current state of the gas industry
in India, a well regulated cost of
service would be the preferred
option for determining the well
head price of Indian gas. And as
the original proponent of price
discovery through limited sectoral
competition, let me reiterate that, if
done properly, it too deserves a far
more serious consideration than
that given by the Rangarajan
Committee. Both these
approaches have been
successfully implemented in
markets at a stage of development
similar to India. The diffidence of
the Committee in recommending
these two approaches perhaps
reflects its lack of confidence in
India’s governance and regulatory
capacity/capability. Recommending
a Mickey Mouse formulation as a
substitute to improving such
governance and regulatory
capacity/capability is, however,
clearly undesirable.
As long as the PMO keeps
appointing “acceptable” babus and
academics to such important
committees and specialised
positions of governance and
regulation, it will be the blind
leading the blind and we will
stumble from one blunder to
another under historical myths that
pervade India’s energy and other
key sectors. This ruling clique’s
inability to deal with well informed
and well intentioned professionals
who raise fundamental questions
is evident in more arenas than just
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
energy. The forbidden citadel must
open its gates to such
professionals if India is to move
forward.
Pushing Africa aside
in Mali
French jets are zipping past
northern Mali, bombing the region
and with it, a participatory
framework that had thus far
allowed African states to
troubleshoot what is first and
foremost a regional political crisis.
France’s aerial assault and
imminent deployment of ground
troops is a volte face from its
original plan to offer “logistical aid”
to African peacekeepers in Mali. For
all of French President François
Hollande’s promises to treat Africa
as a partner and friend, his
government’s military intervention
in the Sahel is proof that
Françafrique is alive and well. Its
monopoly over the rapid
deployment of military force allows
France to sustain a relationship of
dependency with the continent, at a
time when governments in North,
West and Central Africa are
struggling to control armed rebels.
In the last few months, the U.N.
Security Council had placed Mali at
the centre of its agenda, while co-
opting the concerns and counsel of
West African states along the way.
Last year, the council adopted
Resolutions 2056, 2071 and 2085
— each facilitating progressively
tough measures — to tackle this
conflict. The U.N.’s efforts, which
France has now upended, were
aimed at bringing African
stakeholders on board. In July
2012, the UNSC emphasised
dialogue between various
stakeholders in Mali, while
acknowledging the sovereign
authority of Mali’s interim
government. The Economic
Community of West African States
(Ecowas) mediated this dialogue,
often interacting with fringe
elements such as Ansar Dine, the
Islamist group that has now
coalesced with other Tuareg outfits
in northern Mali.
For a regional-led force
Negotiating and sustaining an
agreement is feasible only if there
is a mechanism to enforce its
terms. The Ecowas and the African
Union (AU) had therefore
requested the Security Council’s
blessings for an African-led
stabilisation force in Mali. Where
was France’s enthusiasm then to
train or provide non-lethal support
to this force? No one is suggesting
African forces can overrun the
11
Tuareg militia — after all, some in
the latter’s ranks were trained by
American troops — but France
could have facilitated the adoption
of preventive measures early on in
the crisis’s timeline. No such
support was forthcoming.
In late 2012, the AU and Ecowas
made repeated appeals to the
council to help deploy the African-
led International Support Mission to
Mali (AFISMA). In pursuit of their
endeavour, African states drew up a
Strategic Concept for the
Resolution of the Crises in Mali as
well a Concept of Operations that
dealt with logistics, intelligence
gathering, and even issues of
internal displacement and
humanitarian aid. The Security
Council considered this blueprint,
along with the U.N. Secretary
General’s ground report which
highlighted the importance of a
political settlement in Mali. As an
important and responsible supra-
regional actor, France could have
helped bridge differences among
Ecowas members and provide
financial assistance as well as
training to AFISMA at this stage, as
the UNSC urged members to do.
Then, Defence Minister Jean-Yves
Le Drian advertised a hands-off
approach, specifically suggesting
France would not be directly
involved in the intervention. Now, he
is contemplating a troop
deployment that could reach 2,500
in number.
The result
The military intervention in Mali is
France’s desperate attempt to
rejuvenate its waning clout in the
Sahel, an area that Paris considers
to be within its “sphere of
influence.” Mr.Hollande could have
harvested the many chances that
came his way to not only engage
this crisis, but also promote
African-led conflict resolution.
France now bombs Mali knowing
that its actions will be met with no
resistance — and maybe even
support — among other permanent
members of the U.N. Security
Council. African states, playing
catch-up, need to support the
intervention or struggle to stay
relevant in this conflict. The
collateral damage from all this
remains the same: local or
regional armed forces stay ill-
equipped to tackle such crises
without training or financial
support; U.N. peacekeepers
continue to play second fiddle as
they are delegated to clean up the
trail of destruction left in the wake
of this assault; militarised
alliances like NATO strengthen
Current Affairs Notes

their grip as the world’s policemen.
As in the past, the cure to Africa’s
ungovernable malaises will come
from foreign shores. Which is
another way of saying that there will
actually be no cure.
If anything, French intervention in
Mali is likely to exacerbate regional
conflict and strengthen the hands
of extremists in the Maghreb. The
Tuareg rebels have shown little
inclination to surrender. With an
increase in civilian casualties,
public sentiment towards the
already fragile Malian government
could turn hostile, only to be
cultivated by separatist elements in
the northern provinces and
extremists elsewhere. If NATO’s
Libyan intervention spawned
armed militants who have now
joined their kinsmen in northern
Mali, this assault too will have a
ripple effect. A vicious cycle has
been set in motion.
It is no revelation that political
violence in Africa comes at the cost
of institution-building, without
which many states are forced to
rely on resource rents. Connect the
dots between intervention in a
conflict, the ensuing political
instability, and the adoption of open
door policies in commodity-driven
economies, and it is clear who
profits most from Africa’s wars. Vive
la France, vive la Françafrique!
National Investment Fund
gets nod to buy PSU
shares
Aimed at taking the disinvestment
exercise forward at a faster clip, the
Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA), on Thursday,
authorised the National Investment
Fund (NIF) to buy shares of public
sector undertakings (PSUs),
including banks and insurance
companies.
As per the string of approvals given
by the CCEA at its meeting chaired
by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
to align the NIF operation to
enhance the disinvestment policy,
the NIF will also be used to
recapitalise public sector banks
(PSBs) and state-owned insurance
companies.
According to an official release
here, the disinvestment proceeds
with effect from the fiscal year
2013-14 will be credited to the
existing ‘public account’ under the
head National Investment Fund
(NIF), and they would remain there
until withdrawn/invested for the
approved purposes.
The NIF, the release said, will be
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
used for “subscribing to the shares
being issued by the Central public
sector enterprise (CPSE) including
public sector banks (PSBs) and
public sector insurance
companies, on a rights basis so
as to ensure that 51 per cent
ownership of the government is not
diluted.”
Alongside, the Fund will also be
utilised for issuing “preferential
allotment of shares of the CPSE to
promoters as per the Securities
and Exchange Board of India SEBI
(Issue of Capital and Disclosure
Requirements) Regulations, 2009,
so that government shareholding
does not go down below 51 per
cent, in all cases where the CPSE
is going to raise fresh equity to
meet its capital expenditure
programme.” Fund managers now
managing the NIF will stand
discharged of their responsibility
from the date the funds and the
interest income are transferred to
the NIF, it said.
Set up in 2005, the NIF is being
hitherto managed by three fund
managers — UTI Asset
Management Company, SBI Funds
Management Company and LIC
Mutual Fund Asset Management
Company.
Essentially, while about 75 per cent
of the income from NIF is being
used to fund select social sector
programmes, the balance amount
is utilised to meet the capital
investment requirements of
profitable PSUs and revival of sick
state-owned units. However,
following the global meltdown and
its impact on the domestic
economy, the government, in
November, 2009, decided to utilise
the disinvestment proceeds only
for social sector spending.
Companies can’t trade in
ESOS, ESPS shares:
SEBI
The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) has
amended its Employee Stock
Option Scheme (ESOS) and
Employee Stock Purchase Scheme
(ESPS) Guidelines, 1999, by
prohibiting companies from
dealing in their own shares in the
secondary market under these
schemes, with immediate effect.
“No ESOS / ESPS shall involve
acquisition of securities from the
secondary market,” said the capital
market regulator while adding a
new clause in the guidelines.
“In order to address the concerns
over acquisition of shares by
12
employee welfare trusts from the
secondary market, it has been
decided to prohibit the listed
entities from framing any employee
benefit schemes involving
acquisition of own securities from
the secondary market,” SEBI
added.
SEBI said that some listed entities
have been framing their own
employees benefit schemes
wherein Trusts have been set up to
deal in their own securities in the
secondary market, “which was not
envisaged within the purview of
SEBI (ESOS and ESPS) Guidelines
1999.”
“It is apprehended that some
entities may frame such schemes
with the purpose of dealing in its
own securities with the object of
inflating, depressing, maintaining
or causing fluctuation in the price of
the securities by engaging in
fraudulent and unfair trade
practices,” said SEBI in a
notification.
“Such dealing in the company’s
shares by the Trusts may also
raise regulatory concerns
regarding compliance with SEBI
(Prohibition of Fraudulent and
Unfair Trade Practices relating to
the Securities Market) Regulations,
2003, and SEBI (Prohibition of
Insider Trading) Regulations,
1992,” SEBI warned.
In respect of those companies,
which have already framed and
implemented before the date of this
circular any employee benefit
schemes involving dealing in the
securities of the company and are
not in accordance with SEBI (ESOS
and ESPS) Guidelines, the
regulator directed those
companies to inform the details of
their schemes to the stock
exchanges within 30 days from
date of this circular.
They were also asked to align any
existing employee benefit schemes
with SEBI (ESOS and ESPS)
Guidelines on or before June 30,
2013.
Constitutional
amendment must for GTA
Act: Centre
The Centre on Thursday informed
the Calcutta High Court that a
constitutional amendment is
essential to validate the Gorkha
Territorial Administration (GTA) Act
and for which it has asked the West
Bengal government to hand over
the draft of the Bill.
SomnathBasu, representing the
Centre, said the constitutional
Current Affairs Notes

amendment was required for a
technical purpose otherwise there
was no illegality in the Act. To
which, Justice DipankarDutta
asked whether the GTA Act was
introduced before amending the
Constitution. Bose said yes.
SubashGhising, president of
Gorkha National Liberation Front
and former chairman of Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council, had filed a writ
petition in June 2012, challenging
the legal validity of the GTA Act
which was passed in the state
Assembly in September 2011. The
Act paved the way for the formation
of the GTA as agreed in the tripartite
agreement between the Centre,
state and GorkhaJanmuktiMorcha.
The case will come up for hearing
next week.
Fresh petition against teacher
hiring drive
A petition was moved on Thursday
urging the Calcutta High Court to
stop the recruitment process
initiated by the West Bengal School
Service Commission (WBSSC) by
an advertisement issued in
December 2011. The written test
has been held, although the
interview process is yet to start.
Several candidates who appeared
in the examination challenged the
recruitment process on the ground
that the WBSSC could not put the
candidates, who have not received
training, with the trained ones. The
petition contended that only BEd
candidates could be recruited as
per NCTE Act and Right to
Education Act. The next hearing is
on January 28.
18 January 2013
NCDEX in talks with
States for mandi
modernisation project
The National Commodities and
Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) is
in active consultation with various
States, including Maharashtra and
Andhra Pradesh, for replicating its
mandi modernisation project.
The exchange is implementing a
pilot project in Karnataka, covering
15 major mandis out of the 54
agricultural produce market
committees and trading in eight
commodities. The first phase of
automating the mandis has been
completed, and inter-linking them
is in progress.
The second phase of the project,
launched in 2010, involves
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
standardisation of products,
including quality assessment, and
the third phase comprises
development of technology and
infrastructure for web-based
mandis facilitating national trading.
“It is a fairly large pilot aimed at
switching an entire State into the
model. We are confident of rolling
out full-fledged services, primarily
aimed at providing better prices to
farmers, within a year.
Concept: Derivatives
A security whose price is
dependent upon or derived from
one or more underlying assets.
The derivative itself is merely a
contract between two or more
parties. Its value is determined by
fluctuations in the underlying asset.
The most common underlying
assets include stocks, bonds,
commodities, currencies, interest
rates and market indexes. Most
derivatives are characterized by
high leverage.
Futures contracts, forward
contracts, options and swaps are
the most common types of
derivatives. Derivatives are
contracts and can be used as an
underlying asset. There are even
derivatives based on weather data,
such as the amount of rain or the
number of sunny days in a
particular region.
Derivatives are generally used as
an instrument to hedge risk, but
can also be used for speculative
purposes. For example, a
European investor purchasing
shares of an American company off
of an American exchange (using
U.S. dollars to do so) would be
exposed to exchange-rate risk
while holding that stock. To hedge
this risk, the investor could
purchase currency futures to lock in
a specified exchange rate for the
future stock sale and currency
conversion back into Euros.
India has jurisdiction to
try Italian marines, says
SC
The Supreme Court on Friday
affirmed India’s jurisdiction to try
the two Italian marines, accused of
killing two fishermen off the Kerala
coast in February last year, after
underlining that a criminal act
cannot be said to be an “incident of
navigation”.
It ruled that the two marines will be
tried in a special court to be set up
by the government after
consultation with the Chief Justice
of India (CJI), while dismissing
Italy’s plea to quash all criminal
13
proceedings in view of lack of
jurisdiction by any state in India to
make its marines stand the murder
trial.
A Bench of CJI AltamasKabir and
Justice J Chelameswara also
clarified the bail conditions of the
marines, MassimilianoLatorre and
Salvatore Girone, who had been
released on bail by the Kerala High
Court, which lost its jurisdiction
following the apex court judgment.
The Bench said the two marines
will be shifted to Delhi and will be
considered to be under the custody
of the Supreme Court till the Centre
constitutes the special court. It
asked them to report to
Chanakyapuri police station once
every week and directed that their
passports be handed over to the
Ministry of Home Affairs.
Marines Latorre and Girone were
part of a military security team
aboard cargo ship ‘EnricaLexie’
when they opened fire on a fishing
boat, killing two fishermen. They
said they mistook the boat for a
pirate craft. They were
subsequently charged for murder
and a Kerala court initiated their
prosecution.
In its verdict, the Supreme Court
Bench held that Kerala had no
jurisdiction to conduct the trial
because the incident occurred in
the Contiguous Zone. Since the
government of India extended the
application of the penal laws to the
Contiguous Zone — that extends
up to 24 nautical miles from the
baseline — only the Centre could
take cognizance of, investigate and
prosecute persons for any crime,
the court said.
However, the court also made it
clear that its judgment was
confined to the limited aspects and
that the marines as well as the Italy
government will be at liberty to
invoke pertinent provisions of the
United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) during
the trial.
Article 100 of the Convention
obligates all countries to co-
operate in the repression of piracy
on the high seas or in any other
place outside the jurisdiction of any
state. Article 97 of the Convention
says no penal or disciplinary
proceeding can be instituted
against the Master or any other
person in service of the ship,
except before the judicial or
administrative authorities, either of
the Flag State or of the State of
which such person is a national.
“I am also of the view that till such
Current Affairs Notes

time as it is proved that the
provisions of Article 100 of the
UNCLOS apply to the facts of this
case, it is the Union of India which
has jurisdiction to proceed with the
investigation and trial of the
petitioners. It is also made clear
that nothing in this judgment
should come in the way of such
reconsideration, if such an
application is made,” noted the
court.
Significantly, the Supreme Court
order leaves the marines and the
Italy government with yet another
opportunity to re-agitate the issues
relating to the lack of jurisdiction by
the Indian courts, now before the
special court, which will adjudicate
it on the basis of the evidence and
other records.
However, while authoring a
concurrent but separate judgment,
Justice Chelameswar held that
“Article 97 of UNCLOS has no
application to the Exclusive
Economic Zone, of which the
Contiguous Zone is a part, and that
is the area relevant, in the context
of the incident in question.”
The judge also the dismissed the
contention of the marines that the
sovereignty of India did not extend
beyond its territorial waters and
therefore, the extension of the IPC
beyond the Indian territorial waters
was impermissible.
The marines and the Italy
government had moved the SC,
saying no court in India had
jurisdiction to try them since the
incident occurred in international
waters. Seeking to get all criminal
proceedings quashed in India,
Harish Salve, appearing for them,
had assured the court they will be
properly tried as per the law of Italy
for their alleged offences.
Jharkhand brought under
President’s Rule
Ten days after it plunged into
political crisis, Jharkhand was on
Friday brought under President’s
Rule for the third time since its
formation 12 years ago.
President Pranab Mukherjee, who
is on a visit to Kolkata, signed the
proclamation imposing the Central
rule in the state which is known for
political instability and has seen
eight governments since 2000,
RashtrapatiBhawan sources said.
The Union Cabinet had yesterday
recommended imposition of
President’s Rule, where Chief
Minister ArjunMunda has resigned
after his government was reduced
to a minority.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
The Cabinet discussed the report
of Jharkhand Governor Syed
Ahmed who has suggested
imposition of President’s Rule
while keeping the 82-member state
Assembly in suspended animation.
The state was placedunder
President’s Rule in 2009 and 2010.
The present political instability
erupted on January 8 when BJP’s
ruling coalition partner JMM, in a
letter to the governor, formally
withdrew its support to the
28-month-old government pushing
it into a minority.
Munda had resigned the next day
and sought dissolution of the state
Assembly.
Concept: President’s rule
What is President’s rule?
Article 356 of the Constitution of
India deals with the failure of the
Constitutional machinery of India.
In layman’s language, this means
when the government in a state is
not able to function as per the
Constitution, the state comes
under the direct control of the
central government, exercised
through the governor.
What happens to the legislative
assembly?
When President’s rule is imposed,
the assembly is either dissolved or
kept in suspended animation.
How is President’s rule imposed?
After Governor recommended
President’s rule, the decision was
taken by the central government.
The United Progressive Alliance
government in New Delhi, in turn,
needed the President’s assent on
imposing President’s rule. The
Constitution says there should not
be a gap of more than six months
between the end of the last
session of the assembly and the
start of the new one.
Who approves President’s rule?
Parliament needs to approve
President’s rule, which is for a six-
month period and can be extended,
again subject to Parliament
approval.
In the case of Bihar, with both the
Congress and BJP, the two largest
parties in the LokSabha, quite keen
to approve President’s rule,
Parliamentary approval should not
be a problem.
Does politics play a part in
imposing President’s rule?
It sure does.
14
In fact, to many observers, it is
usually a case more of politics and
less of Constitutional crises.
The complaint against President’s
rule is that the words ‘constitutional
crisis’ have often been interpreted
to suit the interests of the ruling
party at the Centre, especially if the
parties in power at the Centre and
in the state were different.
When then prime minister Indira
Gandhi was in power dismissing
state governments run by non-
Congress parties almost became
government policy.
The Justice R S Sarkaria
Commission, set up to look into
Centre-state relations, had
recommended that President’s rule
be imposed only as a last resort.
And if recent years have seen a
decline in the once common trend
of dismissing state governments, it
is because regional parties have
become powerful at the Centre and
thus, national parties can no longer
ignore their sentiments.
What is the Bommai judgment all
about?
The judgment, delivered by the
Supreme Court on May 11, 1994,
defined the use of Article 356 and
imposition of President’s rule.
When the then Congress
government at the Centre
dismissed the S R Bommai
government in Karnataka in 1993,
Bommai challenged the dismissal.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme
Court held that a state government
could be dismissed only under
extenuating circumstances, and
laid down guidelines for such a
dismissal.
Though political parties have
flouted the Supreme Court norms,
the Bommai case has made
dismissing state governments and
imposing President’s rule a little
more difficult.
How long will President’s rule
continue?
President’s rule is for six months,
but can be extended, subject to
Parliament’s approval. The length
of President’s rule in Bihar
depends on the political situation. If
any party/alliance can show it has a
majority or is in striking distance of
such majority, then the governor
can invite the party/alliance to form
the government and prove its
majority, thus ending President’s
rule in the state.
If no party/alliance can cobble
together majority within the next six
months, then the central
Current Affairs Notes

government will have no choice but
to extend President’s rule for
another six months and get
Parliament’s approval for the
same.
Gini coefficient shows
China’s wealth gap at
warning mark
The Gini coefficient, which reflects
the wealth gap between rich and
poor, was at 0.474 level for China in
2012 — well above the warning
levels, a report has said.
Known as the Gini coefficient, the
index has been retreating gradually
since hitting a peak of 0.491 in
2008, dropping to 0.49 in 2009,
0.481 in 2010 and 0.477 in 2011,
against the warning level of 0.4 set
by United Nations, state-run Xinhua
news agency quoted Ma Jiantang.
The index stood at 0.479 in 2003,
when the present administration
led by Hu Jintao took power in 2003
and gradually climbed up as
Chinese economy opened up to
private investment and reforms.
The Gini coefficient has stayed at a
relatively high level of between 0.47
and 0.49 during the past decade,
indicating that China must
accelerate its income distribution
reform to narrow the rich-poor gap,
Ma said.
Concept: GINI Index
A measurement of the income
distribution of a country’s
residents. This number, which
ranges between 0 and 1 and is
based on residents’ net income,
helps define the gap between the
rich and the poor, with 0
representing perfect equality and 1
representing perfect inequality.
The index is named after its
developer, CorradoGini, an Italian
statistician of the early 20th century.
It is typically expressed as a
percentage, so a 20 coefficient
would be shown as 20%.
Don’t mistake the measurement of
income distribution with the
measurement of wealth. A wealthy
country and a poor country can
have the same Gini coefficient,
even if the wealthy country has a
relatively equal distribution of
affluent residents and the poor
country has a relatively equal
distribution of cash-strapped
residents.
The Gini index is only as accurate
as the gross domestic product
(GDP) and income data that a
country produces. Many developing
nations do not produce accurate or
trusted economic data, so the index
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
becomes more of an estimate.
There is also a generally negative
correlation between Gini
coefficients and per-capita GDP,
because poorer nations tend to
have higher index figures.
Sebi tweaks OFS norms;
abolishes 25% margin
requirement
To make it easier for companies to
comply with public shareholding
norms, Sebi today decided to
abolish the 25 per cent margin
money requirement for entities
bidding through the auction route.
The market regulator has also said
that indicative prices during Offer
for Sale (OFS) or auction route,
should be disclosed throughout the
trading session.
Sebi said these decisions would
make the OFS mechanism “more
economical, efficient and
transparent”.
OFS route is being introduced
because many participants have
expressed their difficulty in
following 25 per cent minimum
margin requirement at the bidder
stage, he added.
Sebi said that institutions may
place orders/bids with 100 per cent
upfront margin and modification/
cancellation of such orders/bids
shall be permitted.
“Custodian confirmation shall be
within the trading hours. However,
the settlement of funds and
securities shall take place on T+1
(next day after transaction) day,” it
added.
Further, institutions can place
orders without upfront margin in
line with secondary market
practice. “However such bids/
orders cannot be modified /
cancelled, except upward revision
in the price or quantity,” Sebi said.
“Indicative price shall be disclosed
to market throughout the trading
session. The indicative price shall
be calculated based on all bids/
orders,” Sebi said.
Sebi noted that OFS mechanism
has been found to be useful by
market participants and popular for
offloading shares of promoters in
listed companies to achieve
minimum public shareholding.
Regarding OFS, the regulator said
that cumulative bid quantity of 100
per cent margined orders as well
as non-margined but non-
cancellable orders would be made
available to the market throughout
the trading session.
The order book shall display two
15
sets of orders — cumulative
orders/bids with 100 per cent
margin and cumulative orders/bids
without margin.
Concept: Offer for sale route:
In February, the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
created two new routes for raising
public money and diluting promoter
shareholding to meet the minimum
public shareholding norms before
the deadline.
The two routes—OFS and
institutional placement
programmes (IPPs)—allow all
companies to pare the promoter
stake through an auction of shares
on stock exchanges during normal
market hours to comply with
minimum public holding norms.
World’s most complex 2D
laser beam created
Researchers, including one of
Indian origin, have demonstrated
the most complex 2-D optical
phased array ever that can
generate high-resolution beam
patterns.
The new 2-D optical phased array
technology will enable advanced
Light Detection And Ranging
(LADAR) and other defence
applications.
LADAR provides a more detailed
level of information that can be
used for applications such as rapid
3-D mapping.
The array, which has dimensions of
only 576 micro metre x 576 micro
metre, roughly the size of the head
of a pin, is composed of 4,096 (64 x
64) nanoantennas integrated onto
a silicon chip.
Key to this breakthrough was
developing a design that is
scalable to a large number of
nanoantennas, developing new
micro-fabrication techniques, and
integrating the electronic and
photonic components onto a single
chip.
“Integrating all the components of
an optical phased array into a
miniature 2-D chip configuration
may lead to new capabilities for
sensing and imaging,” said Sanjay
Raman, program manager for
DARPA’s Diverse Accessible
Heterogeneous Integration (DAHI)
program.
“By bringing such functionality to a
chip-scale form factor, this array
can generate high-resolution beam
patterns - a caapability that
researchers have long tried to
create with optical phased arrays.
“This chip is truly an enabling
Current Affairs Notes

technology for a host of systems
and may one day revolutionise
LADAR in much the same way that
ESAs revolutionised RADAR.
Beyond LADAR, this chip may have
applications for biomedical
imaging, 3D holographic displays
and ultra-high-data-rate
communications,” said Raman.
Radio frequency (RF) waves travel
through the atmosphere, reflect off
of a target, and return to the RADAR
system to be processed.
The amount of time it takes to
return correlates to the object’s
distance. In recent decades, this
technology has been revolutionised
by electronically scanned arrays
(ESAs), which transmit the RF
waves in a particular direction
without mechanical movement.
Each emitter varies its phase and
amplitude to form a RADAR beam
in a particular direction through
constructive and destructive
interference with other emitters.
Similar to RADAR, laser detection
and ranging, or LADAR, scans a
field of view to determine distance
and other information, but it uses
optical beams instead of RF
waves.
National Innovation
Council Launches the
First Public Lecture
Series on the National
Knowledge Network
The National Innovation Council is
launching a Public Lecture Series
where it will host eminent
individuals from diverse fields to
talk to students across the country
via the National Knowledge
Network (NKN). The first public
lecture on ‘Democratising
Information, Justice, Equality and
the Rule of Law’ will be delivered by
Professor Michael Sandel, from
Harvard University, author of ‘What
Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits
of Markets’, and ‘Justice’, and Mr
Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime
Minister of India on Public
Information Infrastructure and
Innovation on 23rd January 2013.
The lecture will be broadcast on
NKN from Delhi University, from
10am to 11.30am, to at least 3 lakh
students across India. The lecture
will be followed by an interactive
Q&A session with students at NKN
connected locations. Questions
can also be submitted via Twitter
(@pitrodasam). Live webcast of the
lecture will be streamed at
www.webcast.gov.in/nkn
The NKN is a multi gigabit pan
India network, built by the
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Government of India to connect all
education and research institutions
in the country and is being
implemented by the National
Informatics Centre. Currently, NKN
has connected over 900 nodes in
the country with a dedicated
bandwidth of 1Gbps/ 100mbps.
The National Innovation Council
has been constituted by the Prime
Minister, under the Chairmanship
of Mr Sam Pitroda, to outline policy
recommendations and
interventions to boost innovation
performance in the country, with a
focus on inclusive growth.
Aligning ‘National
Investment Fund’
operation to enhance
‘Disinvestment Policy’
The Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs today approved
the following:
(i) The disinvestment proceeds
with effect from the fiscal year
2013-14 will be credited to the
existing “public account” under the
head National Investment Fund
(NIF), and they would remain there
until withdrawn/invested for the
approved purposes.
(ii) The NIF will be used for the
following purposes:
(a) Subscribing to the shares being
issued by the Central Public Sector
Enterprise (CPSE) including Public
Sector Banks (PSBs) and Public
Sector Insurance Companies, on
rights basis so as to ensure that 51
percent ownership of the
Government is not diluted.
(b) Preferential allotment of shares
of the CPSE to promoters as per
Securities and Exchange Board of
India SEBI (Issue of Capital and
Disclosure Requirements)
Regulations, 2009 so that
Government shareholding does not
go down below 51 percent, in all
cases where the CPSE is going to
raise fresh equity to meet its capex
programme.
(c) Recapitalization of PSBs and
Public Sector Insurance
Companies.
(iii) Fund Managers presently
managing the NIF will stand
discharged of their responsibility
from the date the funds and the
interest income are transferred to
the fund.
The NIF was constituted by the
Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs on 27th January 2005. The
objectives structure and
administrative arrangements,
investment strategy were notified in
16
November, 2005, and the NIF
started functioning from October,
2007. As on 31st August 2012 the
corpus in the NIF consisted of
Rs.1814.45 crore, comprising the
disinvestment proceeds of Power
Grid Corporation of India and the
Rural Electrification Corporation
Limited done during 2007-08. This
corpus is presently invested
through three Public Sector fund
managers (SBI, LIC and UTI Mutual
Funds).
19 January 2013
Aadhaar-linked DCT for
job scheme workers
launched
The Aadhaar-linked Direct Cash
Transfer (DCT) scheme, under
which wages of Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MNREGA) workers
are transferred directly to bank
accounts, was launched here on
Saturday.
Job cards of beneficiaries will be
linked to the Aadhaar card. A.H.
Vishwanath, Mysore MP, launched
the programme.
‘No middlemen’
About 1,64,000 beneficiaries under
the MNREGA in the 235 gram
panchayats in Mysore would be
brought under the purview of the
DCT scheme soon, Chief Executive
Officer of the zillapanchayat, M.N.
Ajay Nagbhushan said.
Dr.Nagbhushan stated that if five
members of a family were involved
in the job scheme, the wages
would be transferred to one
account. If the beneficiaries
demanded that their accounts
remain separate that could be
done, he said. There were over
50,000 beneficiary accounts in post
offices in Mysore district,
Dr.Nagbhushan stated.
Concept
Aadhaar: The UID brand name and
logo
The brand name of the Unique
Identification number (UID) will be
Aadhaar. The name and logo for
the unique numbers to be issued
by the UIDAI have been developed
keeping in mind the
transformational potential of the
program. Together, they
communicate the essence and
spirit of the UIDAI’s mandate to
people across the country.
The UIDAI’s mandate is to issue
every resident a unique
identification number linked to the
Current Affairs Notes

resident’s demographic and
biometric information, which they
can use to identify themselves
anywhere in India, and to access a
host of benefits and services. The
number (referred to until now as
the ‘UID’) has been named
Aadhaar, which translates into
‘foundation’, or ‘support’. This word
is present across most Indian
languages and can therefore be
used in branding and
communication of the UIDAI
program across the country.
Anand Sharma to woo
global investors at WEF
Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma will woo global
investors at the World Economic
Forum (WEF) in Davos from
January 23 to 27 by offering them
investment opportunities in the
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor,
new manufacturing zones and
foreign direct investment (FDI) in
multi-brand retail which has been
opened up for big retail chains.
Mr. Sharma will also host a Global
Investment Roundtable.
Around 20 global business
leaders, including those from
TESCO, Standard Chartered,
Diageo, Novartis, Merck, Unilever
and Philips, will meet Mr. Sharma
to discuss and apprise him of their
business plans in India.
The World Economic Forum (WEF)
is a Swiss non-profit foundation,
based in Cologny, Geneva. It
describes itself as an independent
international organization
committed to improving the state of
the world by engaging business,
political, academic and other
leaders of society to shape global,
regional and industry agendas. The
Forum is best known for its annual
meeting in Davos, a mountain
resort in Graubünden, in the
eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
The meeting brings together some
2,500 top business leaders,
international political leaders,
selected intellectuals and
journalists to discuss the most
pressing issues facing the world,
including health and the
environment.
The organisation also convenes
some six to eight regional
meetings each year in locations
such as Latin America and East
Asia, as well as undertaking two
further annual meetings in China
and the United Arab Emirates.
Beside meetings, the foundation
produces a series of research
reports and engages its members
in sector specific initiatives.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Reliance closes share
buyback programme
Reliance Industries on Saturday
announced the closure of buyback
of equity shares of the company,
with effect from January 19. The
company had announced its
buyback programme on January
23, 2012.
Concept: Share buyback
The repurchase of outstanding
shares (repurchase) by a company
in order to reduce the number of
shares on the market. Companies
will buy back shares either to
increase the value of shares still
available (reducing supply), or to
eliminate any threats by
shareholders who may be looking
for a controlling stake.
A buyback allows companies to
invest in them. By reducing the
number of shares outstanding on
the market, buybacks increase the
proportion of shares a company
owns. Buybacks can be carried out
in two ways:
1. Shareholders may be presented
with a tender offer whereby they
have the option to submit (or
tender) a portion or all of their
shares within a certain time frame
and at a premium to the current
market price. This premium
compensates investors for
tendering their shares rather than
holding on to them.
2. Companies buy back shares on
the open market over an extended
period of time.
Financial bridges
Bridge loans are for the period
between sale of an existing house
and purchase of a new one. A look
by BALAJI RAO
Apart from offering regular new
home loans and house renovation
loans, housing financial institutions
offer the facility of bridge loans too.
Consider the example given below
to understand the same in a
perspective.
Manoj and Roopa were living in
their own house in Ramamurthy
Nagar along with their daughter
Surabhi. Since their work place
was in J.P. Nagar, travelling to and
fro on an everyday basis to their
respective offices was
cumbersome. Also, Surabhi was
ready for her schooling stint which
prompted them to contemplate
moving out from their current house
to the vicinity of J.P. Nagar.
It was through Manoj’s colleague
that an apartment being
17
constructed in J.P. Nagar was
found attractive enough for
investing and the 3-BHK seemed
good enough. The problem
seemed to be the immediate cash
required for payment.
The compulsions
The compulsion of arranging the
immediate substantial payment to
the builder was the deciding factor
for the choice of loan. And the
couple opted for a bridge loan from
a housing finance institution.
Home bridge loans are specially
designed to meet such
requirements for the interim period
between sale of the existing house
and purchase of a new one. The
HFI will lend approximately 80 per
cent of the value of the new
property.
This is useful when you do not
want to take a long-term home
loan. It gives you enough time to
sell your existing property and
make payment for the new house
and also pay off the loan quickly.
How to go about it
The loan will be sanctioned only
upon entering into a formal sale
agreement with the builder of the
new house.
The documentation process will be
similar to that of taking a loan on a
new house/flat but the duration of
the loan will have to be defined,
which usually will be for a period of
two years. What is to be noted
importantly is that the interest rates
for these types of loans are higher
than the normal long-term loans
since the duration of bridge loans
are shorter.
Strong muscles for strong
bones
It’s true that stronger muscles
mean stronger bones. Not long
ago, there was a study of women
who went through early
menopause (that increases the
risk for osteoporosis) and then
adopted a workout routine
combining a range of physical
activities from lifting weights to
jumping rope. After two years of
cross-training, the women’s
muscle strength and bone mass
increased.
Another recent study confirms that
increasing muscle mass makes
the spongy insides and the hard
outsides of bones stronger. For
women it is particularly effective in
developing stronger, load-bearing
bones, such as the hip, lumbar
spine and thigh bone.
Current Affairs Notes

The fats in your blood
Almost everyone knows that the
build-up of cholesterol in the
arteries is harmful for the heart. But
what many don’t know is that this
build-up can occur anywhere in the
body and might lead to lower limb
gangrene and kidney damage in
addition to heart attack and stroke,
collectively referred to as CVD
(cardiovascular disease) by
doctors. CVD has a number of risk
factors, most important of which
are diabetes, high blood pressure
(BP), smoking and abnormal lipid
levels or ‘dyslipidemia’.
Lipids are types of fats in the body.
The two main forms are cholesterol
and triglycerides. Both travel in the
blood in the form of lipoproteins,
which are of three types: low-
density lipoprotein (LDL) which
carries 60-70 per cent of the total
blood cholesterol; high-density
lipoprotein (HDL) which carries 20-
30 per cent of the total blood
cholesterol and very low-density
lipoprotein (VLDL), which is rich in
triglyceride and carries 10-15 per
cent of the blood cholesterol. Any
imbalance or abnormality in their
levels is known as dyslipidemia.
Although dyslipidemia can occur
because of genetic causes, it is
more often due to lifestyle factors
such as diabetes, smoking, a
sedentary lifestyle and obesity.
Certain medicines (steroids and
some hormones) and disease
conditions (thyroid problems) can
also cause dyslipidemia.
LDL, better known as the ‘bad
cholesterol’, is the most important
lipid element responsible for
cholesterol build up. At any given
LDL level, every 1 mg/dl increase
leads to a one per cent increase in
heart attack risk. Although, there is
no ‘normal’ range of LDL, the risk
of heart attacks increases
particularly rapidly when the LDL
levels increase above 100 mg/dl.
However, more recent data
suggests that among those with a
heightened risk of heart attacks
and strokes (such as those already
having heart disease), it is good to
have even lower levels i.e. less
than 70 mg/dl of LDL.
It is better to start lowering LDL
levels at a younger age. For
example, a 10 mg/dl reduction in
LDL level at the age of 40 is likely
to reduce the life-time risk of heart
attacks by 50 per cent whereas the
same reduction achieved at 70
years will lead to only 20 per cent
reduction. LDL levels as low as
less than 40 mg/dl have been
shown to be safe, and even
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
beneficial to some patients with a
history of heart attacks.
HDL, better known as ‘good
cholesterol’, removes cholesterol
from blood vessels and returns it to
liver where it is broken down. Thus,
HDL appears to protect against the
development of atherosclerosis. A
low level of HDL has been
consistently shown to be
associated with an increased risk
of CVD and seems to be a stronger
reason for heart attacks than
increased LDL. Ideally, the HDL
levels should be maintained above
40 mg/dl in men and above 50 mg/
dl in women.
Increased triglyceride levels point
only towards coming
cardiovascular risk, rather than
being the cause of CVD itself.
However, newer evidence has
clearly shown that raised
triglyceride levels on their own also
increase the risk of heart attacks. A
triglyceride level of less than 150
mg/dl is considered ideal.
Dyslipidemia can be managed in
simple ways, like being active,
balancing your calorie intake and
expenditure. Manage your weight,
stop smoking and take precautions
if you are a diabetic. As always,
your doctor is the best judge to
monitor your condition.
Wetland in search of a
‘Salim Ali’
It first caught our attention on a
Google Earth image as a markedly
unusual geographical feature,
located along a pronounced
meander in the river Yamuna. Later,
a reference to the road map of Uttar
Pradesh confirmed that it is a
major riparian wetland called the
AlwaraTaal in the district of
Kaushambi, some 90 km west of
Allahabad.
Impressed by its aquatic expanse,
we assumed that it must be a
notified bird sanctuary teeming with
birds of all kinds. And we were not
really disappointed with its bird life
when we could find time on
December 19 to visit and briefly
survey it. More than 1,200 birds of
55 species, including 57 sarus
cranes, could be counted during
mid-day over a period of some four
hours. A number of birds flying in
formation and out of counting
distance certified to the wetland’s
richness.
But we were certainly disappointed
by the fact that the wetland, despite
its size, had not yet received the
kind of official or non-official
attention and patronage that it
rightly deserves. This is all the
18
more disconcerting in the light of a
recent TEEB (The Economics and
Ecosystems and Biodiversity)
report which states that the world
has lost almost half of its wetlands
in the last 100 years.
Surrounded by around 10 villages
and a rural ring road, the
AlwaraTaal — named after the
bordering village of Alwara — is a
natural but shallow depression
lying within the meander of the
river; it gets filled with rain water
each monsoon. With a recorded
spread of some 3,000 bighas (700
hectares) and a maximum depth of
about five metres, its watery spread
fluctuates with season, over the
year. We were informed by the
locals that the high floods in the
Yamuna in 1978 had flooded the
entire expense of the natural
depression right up till the raised
ring road.
As we tried to approach, in a small
country boat, the ramshackle
bamboo lookout located
approximately at the centre of the
wetland, we came across not only
the wetland’s aquatic richness, but
many alarming signs of its
possible destruction, if requisite
protective steps are not taken with
a sense of urgency.
There were signs of rampant
poaching of birds, coots in
particular, and alarming spread of
weeds like water hyacinth
(besharam) and acacia (babool)
plants. High input (chemical
fertiliser and pesticides) farming on
its fringe must be in form of run-off
adding to the pollution load of the
wetland.
Green energy
1. In a pre-budget exercise, the
Climate Parliament group of
Members of Parliament asked the
Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram
to incorporate a series of financial
measures for renewable energy in
the Budget 2013-14, so that the
targets set in the National Action
Plan of Climate Change (NAPCC)
and in the draft 12 Plan document,
presented recently to the National
Development Council, are met fully.
2. The MPs emphasised that
sufficient budget allocation is
crucial for a time bound
development of transmission
network and grid infrastructure for
renewable energy absorption and
supply, in tandem with the
renewable energy capacity addition
plans in the country.
3. The Climate Parliament group of
MPs had recently met Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and
Current Affairs Notes

submitted a memorandum. Dr.
Singh had assured the MPs to
positively look into the demands of
viability gap funding for
encouraging private sector
investments in the enhancement of
transmission infrastructure for
renewable energy, additional
central assistance to such States
that install progressively higher
infrastructure for feeding renewable
energy based electricity to the
grids, establishing a partial risk
guarantee fund for renewable
energy projects and implemen-
tation of the Estimates
Committee’s 13 Report with
respect to increasing the
allocations of Renewable Energy
Ministry to one per cent of the total
national budgetary allocation.
4. The MPs also asked the Finance
Minister to implement the
assurances given by the Prime
Minister in the coming Budget. The
letter submitted to the Finance
Minister stated that the actual
budget allocated to the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy
(MNRE) in 2012-13 was only 50 per
cent of the budget suggested by the
Planning Commission and 25 per
cent of the budget proposed by the
MNRE. Thus, some of the key
programmes of the Ministry under
the first phase of the National Solar
Mission have faced serious
setbacks due to the lack of
adequate budget. According to the
Climate Parliament, the
achievement of 15 per cent
renewable energy in the total
electricity mix of the country by 2020
under the NAPCC and the target of
achieving 30,000 MW by 2017
(more than the double of the
capacity addition targeted in the
last five year plan) are challenging
ones.
5. Thus, in the forthcoming Budget,
there must be an adequate
allocation to the Ministry of Power,
specifically for strengthening the
transmission network for
renewable energy in light of the
report “Green Corridors” carried out
by Power Grid Corporation of India
Limited where it estimates a
requirement of Rs. 42,000 crore for
establishing the intra and inter-
state transmission for renewable
energy.
Gray winter mornings explained
1. In New York, early January
mornings seemed darker than ever
while at the same time, the sky was
clearly lighter around 5 pm. The
answer to this mystery lay in the
Equation of Time, a grandly name
formula relating to the fact that not
all days are 24 hours, if you track
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
noon by the position of the sun
instead of on a clock.
2. We’ve all seen readout of the
Equation of Time. It’s that uneven
figure ‘8’ that can be found on
globes in a deserted part of the
Pacific, a shape known as an
analemma. If Earth’s axis were
perpendicular to its orbit instead of
tilted, and if its orbit were a circle
instead of an ellipse, the sun would
appear in the same spot in the sky
each day and clocks and sundials
would always match. Instead, they
can be as much as 16 minutes
apart, and that’s where things get
complicated.
3. As Earth moves toward winter
solstice, you have “different things
going on at the same time,” said
Jay M. Pasachoff, a professor of
astronomy at Williams College.
Earth’s tilt means that every day
during the fall, the angle at which
we view the sun changes. It
appears farther south and travels a
shorter arc across the sky, affecting
sunrise and sunset equally, and
making the day shorter.
4. The changes in the solar time
follow a different cycle. In the early
1600s, Kepler discovered that
planets move faster at the part of
their orbit that is closest to the sun,
the perihelion. For Earth, perihelion
comes after the winter solstice, so
from November on, Earth is
accelerating.
5. That increased speed means we
reach the sun’s maximum a little
earlier each day, which pushes
solar noon backward against clock
time. That shift is amplified
because the sun is travelling a little
south each day, while clocks only
count its east to west traverse.
6. Add it all together and you get
sunrise and sunset times that are
not symmetrical. In the weeks
before the winter solstice, sunrise
is being pushed later by both the
changing angle of the sun and the
slowing of solar time. But sunset is
being pushed in both directions.
7. The result is more darkness in
the morning and less in the
afternoon. That’s why the earliest
sunset of 2012, at 4:29 pm, in New
York fell as soon as November 30,
while mornings continued to stay
dark later. “It’s is really a figment of
our timekeeping system,” said
Joseph Gangestad, a PhD in
orbital mechanics, Purdue
University. That is, we would never
notice it if we all just used
sundials.
19
20 January 2013
Arunachal Pradesh gets
Pawan Hans helicopter
The Pawan Hans Helicopters
Limited has delivered an Mi-172
helicopter on wet lease to the
Arunachal Pradesh government for
resumption of passenger services
that were suspended after the
helicopter accident on April 30,
2011, that killed the then Arunachal
Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee
Khandu.
An official of Arunachal Pradesh
Civil Aviation Department told The
Hindu on Sunday that Chief
Minister NabamTuki would take the
final decision on routes and
timings for the Pawan Hans
helicopter services once the
necessary safety clearance was
obtained. The government had
invited bids for twin engine large
helicopter (Mi-172/Mi-171 or
equivalent) not older than five
years.
The Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) suspended the
Pawan Hans service in the
northeast region from May 5, 2011
to June 6, 2011 after two helicopter
crashes —one on April 19, 2011 of
an Mi-172 and the second on April
30, 2011 of an AS 350 B3.
In the first accident, the Mi-172
helicopter with 23 persons on
board flying on the Guwahati-
Tawang sector crashed at the
Tawang helipad while landing,
killing 19 persons, including two
crew members.
Soon, India to have
common emergency
response number
Finally, India seems to have woken
up to the urgency of having a single
emergency response number on
the lines of America’s 911. This
number may be called for any
emergency — police, fire or
ambulance.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India (TRAI) is planning to bring a
consultation paper in this
connection soon to kick-start the
process of having a single
emergency helpline where a call
centre will receive all distress calls
and then accordingly alert
departments or agencies
concerned depending upon the
type of emergency.
“Today, various states have
separate emergency response
numbers and in some states even
Current Affairs Notes

police helpline 100 does not work
properly. The Ministry of Home
Affairs has also been pushing for a
single helpline number in its bid to
prepare better for police, fire,
medical and other kind of
emergencies,” said a senior TRAI
official.
“We need a number that could be
reached by all types of
technologies be it landline, GSM or
CDMA. Within next couple of
months we will seek opinion from
various stakeholders, including
Central and state government
bodies and private telecom
operators, in this connection,” the
official said.
Pointing out that the current
emergency response system was
not appropriate, a senior Ministry of
Home Affairs official said it has
been observed that people call up
emergency number, normally
police helpline 100, only to get
diverted to other departments,
which delays response time.
“Having a single emergency
number will ensure that a person in
distress does not gets diverted to
other department or agency…the
person manning the emergency
number would take the call and
then alert the department
concerned, say police, fire, medical
or disaster management. It will
also help fix responsibility if
someone is found guilty of any kind
of laxity,” the official added.
He further noted that today, there
were separate emergency
numbers and helplines in most
states. For instance, for police a
person dials 100 and 101 for fire
emergency. Similarly, for medical
emergency the helpline is 102 or
108 in many states. “But there is no
single helpline as in the U.S. where
a person just needs to dial 911 to
get immediate help. Interestingly, if
someone dials 911 and then
hangs up, the call centre person
calls that number back to check if
everything was ok…We also need
to have a similar system in India,”
he added.
“We want to make the new
emergency mechanism a hi-tech
one where all calls would be
registered in a computerised
system that would track the
geographic location of the caller
and then alert the closest PCR, fire
or ambulance fitted with GPS
system to reduce response time.
All this would have to be completed
within a standard response time,”
he said.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
The politics of good
economics
The government’s decision to allow
oil companies to increase pump
prices of diesel in small
increments will help it kill many
birds with one stone. Ministers and
bureaucrats may not want to call it
deregulation given the political
implications but the fact is it is
indeed that, for oil companies can
now charge market prices to bulk
consumers of diesel.
While there are obvious positive
economic implications, the most
important gain for the government
from this move will be on the
political front. How can an increase
in prices be politically gainful?
Part of larger political game-plan
Simple. The gradual increase in
pump prices of diesel will ease the
subsidy burden on the government
and free up precious funds for its
social programmes, increasing
food subsidy and providing for the
cash transfer scheme. Importantly,
all this can be done without
attracting the disapproval of the
rating agencies or the central bank.
The total subsidy on petroleum
products in 2011-12 was close to
Rs 70,000 crore. With petrol prices
already marked to market, cooking
gas subsidy pruned by capping the
number of subsidised cylinders per
connection and now gradual
elimination of diesel subsidy, the
government has probably freed up
at least Rs 50,000 crore in the
coming fiscal for spending on its
social programmes which are
politically more rewarding. Imagine
the ballast that this will provide for
the government to dish out the
lollies in the approach to elections
in 2014!
If the economy picks up, as is the
general expectation, then the
government will have greater elbow
room to spend on the social sector
programmes that proved so
rewarding for the UPA in the last
general elections in 2009. So, there
is obviously a larger game-plan
that is being played out; diesel
deregulation is only one part of
that. Of course, there is going to be
the inevitable political opposition to
the move in the short-term which
can be managed. We should also
not forget that the government has
attempted to mollify consumers by
increasing the number of
subsidised cooking gas cylinders
per connection to 9 a year from 6
and by reducing petrol prices by a
marginal 25 paise a litre.
20
Prudent economic decision
Even so, the fact is that the
decision couldn’t have come at a
better time for the economy. The
Reserve Bank of India has been
impatient with the government for
not carrying out necessary fiscal
corrections and the ratings
agencies have put India on watch
for a possible downgrade. The twin
deficits have kept the markets
nervous and the rupee under
pressure. Small wonder then that
on Friday the rupee shot up by 69
paise to close at a two-month high
versus the dollar.
The RBI will announce its quarterly
monetary policy later this month but
it will be interesting to note how it
views the diesel price adjustment.
Will it be seen as a step towards
fiscal consolidation (and hence
add to the argument for cutting
rates) or will it be seen as an
inflationary move (and hence work
against a rate cut)?
Though it might not help prune the
fiscal deficit this year materially, the
decision to free diesel prices will
be seen by rating agencies as a
signal of the government’s
determination to rein in the fisc.
And hopefully, put off any chances
of a downgrade too.
Competition in oil industry
In the oil industry, the move is likely
to unleash competitive forces. This
is of course assuming that the
government does not chicken out
from its policy of gradually
increasing retail pump prices till
the subsidy is wholly eliminated.
There have been at least two
occasions in the past when
deregulation of petroleum products
were announced but not carried
through.
For a start, we could begin to see
competition in the bulk consumers
segment where the oil companies
now have the freedom to charge
market prices. Reliance Industries
and Essar, the two large private
players, can charge a price lower
than that of the oil companies and
cut into the bulk supplies business.
These two companies own large,
state-of-the-art refineries that can
process crude oil of inferior grades
which are cheaper than that used
by the national oil companies.
There is also Shell which has the
licence to retail petroleum products
and has been keeping a symbolic
presence the last few years. The
real competition, of course, will
begin when retail prices are fully
linked to the market. That is when
the national oil companies will feel
Current Affairs Notes

the full impact and consumers
begin to reap the benefit.
Fuel-pricing flaw
Finally, the decision will also
correct a serious flaw in fuel pricing
because of which the upper
classes that drive high-end
saloons and SUVs powered by
diesel engines enjoyed subsidy
while the middle-classes driving
petrol cars and two-wheelers
ended up paying free-market
prices. The elimination of artificial
price difference between petrol and
diesel will probably be the biggest
gain from the government’s
decision. And it will, hopefully,
restore the balance between petrol
and diesel passenger cars which
was tilted towards the latter.
U.R. Rao to join Satellite
Hall of Fame
Prof U R Rao, former Chairman,
ISRO and Secretary, Department of
Space is being honoured by the
Society of Satellite Professionals
International (SSPI) by inducting
him as a Member of the highly
prestigious “Satellite Hall of Fame”,
Washington. Since 1987, the SSPI
Hall of Fame has been recognising
the invaluable contribution of the
visionaries who have transformed
life on planet earth for the better
through satellite technology.
Members of the Hall of Fame are
recognised pioneers in
communications, satellite related
aerospace scientific research or
development and delivery of
applications for business,
institutions and government via
satellite.
As a honoured member of Hall of
Fame, Prof Rao joins over 40 past
illustrious space scientists such as
Sir Arthur C Clarke, Dr James Van
Allen, Dr William Pritchard, Dr
Harold Rosen, Dr Fredric d’Allest,
Dr Takayashi Yoshida, Dr Peter
Jackson and Dr Olof Lundberg.
The induction of Prof Rao into the
Satellite Hall of Fame is scheduled
to take place on March 19, 2013 at
a gala function to be held in
Washington, D.C. USA.
Could it be an infection?
Restless, confused, flagging
appetite or even dullness… all
these may not be signs of aging;
but might indicate an infectious
disease. After the age of 70,
infections become very common. In
fact, they happen to be one of the
most important causes of hospital
admission and mortality among
senior citizens. “But often,
physicians are not able to make an
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
early diagnosis because elderly
persons show atypical and
confusing symptoms, compared
with the symptoms these diseases
would produce in the young, and
also because many symptoms of
infection in the elderly get
camouflaged by general age-
related symptoms and behaviour,”
remarks veteran geriatrician Dr. V.
S. Natarajan.
In young persons, the temperature
rises following an infection; but, in
the elderly, it may not shoot up as
much. Again, in the elderly, there
may not be much of a cough
following a respiratory infection,
compared to younger persons.
Meanwhile, because lung function
is not optimum in the elderly, there
is insufficient oxygen supply to the
brain, leading to symptoms like
restlessness and confusion rather
than cough or fever. “Some
physicians attribute the patient’s
restlessness to ‘elderly behaviour’
and prescribe sedatives rather than
drugs to fight infection. This is
dangerous and might result in the
patient falling into a semiconscious
state, coma or even dying,” says
Dr.Natarajan. Other atypical
symptoms of infection in the elderly
are falls, incontinence, loss of
appetite and weight, vomiting,
dullness and lethargy.
Inconclusive diagnosis
In the young, tuberculosis leads to
cough, phlegm, blood in the
sputum, fever, chills, and loss of
appetite; however, in the elderly, it
presents no gross symptom. The
individual may feel run down,
experience a low-grade fever, dull
appetite, cough and loss of weight,
and the Mantoux test (for
diagnosing TB) might be
inconclusive. “White blood cells
generally increase following an
infection; but in the elderly, this may
not happen; hence, the blood count
may not be conclusive. An X-ray can
reveal a chest infection. Sputum
tests might not yield a definite
diagnosis, as the elderly person
many not be able produce enough
saliva; and may pass urine only in
dribbles, making it difficult to collect
a sample. So, how does one
proceed? If the diagnosis is
inconclusive, physicians can
suspect infection and start
treatment; if there is improvement,
the treatment can be continued,”
suggests Dr.Natarajan.
Immunity compromised
Infection occurs more often in the
elderly because their immunity has
been compromised, or because
they get less-than-adequate
21
nutrition due to loss of appetite.
“There may also be comorbid
illnesses such as cardiovascular
disease or diabetes, which makes
them vulnerable to infections,”
explains Dr. S. Ramani, general
physician.
Prostate enlargement is common
in elderly men, which predisposes
them to urinary infections. “In
elderly women, urinary infection is
even more common. Elderly
persons who had urinary
catheterisation are at increased
risk for infections too. They can
also develop pneumonia and other
respiratory infections,” says Dr. R.
Magesh, consultant geriatrician,
Apollo Hospitals. In old age,
dormant TB can become resurgent.
Possible skin infections include
cellulitis (with painful legs that feel
warm), fungal infections, diabetic
boils, painful skin lesions because
of resurgent herpes zoster (chicken
pox virus) that had been dormant
for long. Possible gastro-intestinal
infections in the elderly include
food poisoning, amoebic infection,
typhoid and gall bladder infection,
especially following consumption
of outdated/hotel food. Heart valve
infection is also possible.
A PREVENTIVE MEASURE
Elderly persons can benefit from
vaccination, especially those with
co-morbid illness. In fact, a section
of the medical community
recommends a vaccination
programme for the elderly, like the
one that exists for infants. Influenza
vaccine can be taken annually, as
new strains emerge every year.
Pneumonia vaccine may be taken
after age 60, especially by those
with asthma, diabetes, kidney
disease, history of smoking/alcohol
consumption. Pneumonia vaccine
gives lifelong immunity. But, if
necessary, repeat this vaccination
once every 10 years. Tetanus
vaccination may be taken once
every 10 years (as the elderly are
prone to falls and wounds) and
following any injury. Oral typhoid
vaccine may be taken once in three
years.
Bridging the gap in HIV-
AIDS treatment in private
hospitals
While government and non-
government agencies are keen on
pulling out all stops to ensure that
children are no longer born with
HIV-AIDS infection, lack of
information pertaining to patients
seeking treatment in private
hospitals stands in the way, believe
authorities concerned. Roping in
more hospitals and doctors in
Current Affairs Notes

private health sector can
strengthen public-private
partnership.
While more than one lakh persons
across the State are taking anti-
retroviral (ART) treatment in
government hospitals, there are an
undisclosed number seeking care
in private hospitals, clinics, and
nursing homes.
Various meetings held in the
district have issued a call to private
hospitals to share this information
as not only does this help in
arriving at absolute figures, but
also ensures that treatment is
standardised and uniform for all
patients in the State.
300 private hospitals
The Public Private Partnership
(PPP) Programme initiated by
Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control
Society (TANSACS) is being
strengthened by including more
private hospitals and nursing
homes under the programme,
according to A.Sathishkumar,
coordinator, SAATHI, an NGO that
acts as a technical advisor for
TANSACS. While the programme
kicked off in 2009 with 76 hospitals
in the State, the number has risen
only to 100 in 2012. But things are
set to change with 300 hospitals to
be included by March this year,
says Mr.Sathiskumar. The PPP
encompasses Integrated
Counselling and Testing Centre
(ICTC) and Prevention of Parent to
Child Transmission of HIV Centre
(PPTCT) services in private
hospitals.
In simple terms, the programme
hopes to plug gaps in HIV-AIDS
treatment in the private sector by
providing free HIV-AIDS testing, and
care for pregnant HIV-positive
women.
Among the four common methods
of transmission of HIV, mother to
foetus transmission is one.
The importance of screening all
pregnant women for HIV-AIDS on
their first visit to the gynaecologist
is what the agency advocates to all
doctors in the private sector.
Women who test positive after
voluntary testing in private
hospitals will be linked to the
Prevention of Parent to Child
Transmission Programme to
ensure HIV virus is not transmitted
to infants.
Ante-natal care
“The main focus of the programme
is to track women receiving ante-
natal care,” says Selvakumar,
district supervisor, District AIDS
Prevention and Control Unit. “While
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
we keep track of those in primary
health care centres and
government hospitals, there is no
information on children born to HIV-
positive mothers in private
healthcare sector.” Public-private
partnership also enables providing
free triple drug ARV ART to all HIV-
positive pregnant women which in
turn would ensure that infection is
not transmitted to infants.
The PPP programme also makes
testing easily accessible for
persons who are reluctant to visit
an ICTC centre. Free testing kits
are provided by TANSACS to
hospitals enrolled in the
programme. If a person tests
positive in the preliminary test, he
or she is referred to ICTC centres
for confirmatory tests. “The
partnership will help us track
persons reporting to private
hospitals and ensure they continue
treatment,” says Mr.Sathishkumar.
“When a private hospital enters the
PPP programme, they can
coordinate with doctors at
government hospitals to ensure
that patients they refer have turned
up for testing or treatment.” SAATHI
will be engaged in the sensitisation
of private hospitals and
practitioners, which it has been
doing in 800 hospitals across four
States. Recently, a similar
programme was organised by
TRIOGS and IMA for city doctors
here.
Mercury treaty adopted in
Geneva by 140 countries
Delegations from some 140
countries have agreed to adopt a
ground-breaking treaty limiting the
use of health-hazardous mercury,
the Swiss foreign ministry said
today.
The world’s first legally binding
treaty on mercury, reached after a
week of thorny talks, will aim to
reduce global emission levels of
the toxic heavy metal also known
as quicksilver, which poses risks to
human health and the environment.
“The new treaty aims to reduce the
production and the use of mercury,
especially in the production of
products and in industrial
processes,” the Swiss foreign
ministry said in a statement.
Countries will be asked to sign the
treaty next October in Minamata,
Japan, in honour of the town’s
inhabitants who for decades have
suffered the consequences of
serious mercury contamination, the
statement said.
“The adoption of the mercury treaty
22
shows the vitality of international
environmental politics and the will
of states to together find solutions
to world problems,” head of the
Swiss delegation to the talks, Franz
Perrez, said in the statement.
Mercury is found in products
ranging from electrical switches to
thermometers to light-bulbs, to
amalgam dental fillings and even
facial creams, and large amounts
of the heavy metal are released
from small-scale gold mining, coal-
burning power plants, metal
smelters and cement production.
Serious mercury poisoning affects
the body’s immune system and
can lead to problems including
psychological disorders, loss of
teeth and problems with the
digestive, cardiovascular and
respiratory tracts.
It also affects development of the
brain and nervous system and
poses the greatest risk to foetuses
and infants.
Indian government
pushes banks to go rural
Working out of a tiny rented room
furnished with a wooden table,
small biometric authentication
machine and shelf stacked with
passbooks, Ganesh Dangi is a
one-man bank for a village of 650
people in northwestern India’s
desert state of Rajasthan.
A business correspondent, or local
representative, for State Bank of
Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) in
Ranchhodpura village, 40 km (25
miles) east of Udaipur city, Dangi is
racing to sign up villagers to new
“no frills” plans to meet a
government target that every family
in the district should have a bank
account.
New Delhi plans to directly transfer
cash payments for subsidies into
these accounts, a move aimed at
tackling graft in India’s creaky,
corruption-ridden public distribution
system.
If successful, the initiative could
also bring modern banking to the
doorstep of rural India, a goal
towards which progress has so far
been fitful despite mandatory
targets set by the government and
Reserve Bank of India.
Banks fear early pain - the move
could burden them with 250 rupees
to 500 rupees ($4.5-$9) of
additional costs per account
annually, while profits may remain
elusive for at least 2 years.
Still, they see a huge opportunity
even if only a quarter of these new
Current Affairs Notes

accounts were to turn into regular
customers, demanding loans,
mutual funds and other products.
The programme could help banks
and business correspondents earn
about 40 billion rupees ($735
million) as fee income, Mumbai-
based brokerage AnandRathi, said
in a note this month.
GAME OF PATIENCE
Banks are currently losing money
in most of their rural operations, hit
by highs costs, poor connectivity
and low savings in areas where
average per capita income is
around 16,000 rupees, compared
with 44,000 rupees in urban areas.
Earth constantly crashes
through dark matter walls
Earth is constantly crashing
through huge walls of dark matter,
scientists claim adding that the
universe may be filled with a
patchwork quilt of force fields
created shortly after the Big Bang.
Observations of how mass clumps
in space suggest that about 86 per
cent of all matter is invisible dark
matter, which interacts with ordinary
matter mainly through gravity.
The most popular theory is that
dark matter is made of weakly
interacting massive particles
(WIMPS). However, years of
searches for WIMPs have been
coming up empty, New Scientist
reported.
“So far nothing is found, and I feel
like it’s time to broaden the scope
of our search. What we propose is
to look for some other signatures,”
said Maxim Pospelov of the
University of Victoria in Canada.
Pospelov and colleagues have
been examining a theory that at
least some of the universe’s dark
matter is tied up in structures
called domain walls, akin to the
boundaries between tightly packed
bubbles.
The idea is that the hot early
universe was full of an exotic force
field that varied randomly. As the
universe expanded and cooled, the
field froze, leaving a patchwork of
domains, each with its own distinct
value for the field.
Having different fields sit next to
each other requires energy to be
stored within the domain walls.
Mass and energy are
interchangeable, so on a large
scale a network of domain walls
can look like concentrations of
mass - that is, like dark matter,
said Pospelov.
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
If the grid of domain walls is
packed tightly enough, say, if the
width of the domains is several
hundred times the distance
between Earth and the Sun - Earth
should pass through a domain wall
once every few years.
“As a human, you wouldn’t feel a
thing. You will go through the wall
without noticing,” he said.
But magnetometers, devices that
measure magnetic fields, could
detect the walls, said Pospelov and
colleagues in a new study.
Although the field inside a domain
would not affect a magnetometer,
the device would sense the change
when Earth passes through a
domain wall.
Dark matter walls have not been
detected yet because anyone using
a single magnetometer would find
the readings swamped by noise,
Pospelov said.
Finding the walls will require a
network of at least five detectors
spread around the world, Pospelov
said.
His colleagues in Poland and
California have already built one
magnetometer each and have
shown that they are sensitive
enough for the scheme to work.
Domain walls wouldn’t account for
all the dark matter in the universe,
but they could explain why finding
particles of the stuff has been such
a challenge, Pospelov said.
21 January 2013
India for winding up UN
mission on Kashmir
1. India has suggested the winding
up of the United Nations Military
Observer Group in India and
Pakistan (UNMOGIP) because its
“role has been overtaken by Indo-
Pak Shimla Agreement in 1972.”
2. Participating in a debate on U.N.
peacekeeping operations, India’s
Permanent Representative
HardeepPuri reiterated India’s call
for more effective utilisation of
resources. In this context, he felt
the U.N. should consider whether
money being allocated for
UNMOGIP could be allocated to
another mission which required
beefing up.
3. Mr.Puri pressed home the point
about the U.N. mission having
outlived its utility. The Shimla
Agreement which enjoins India and
Pakistan to bilaterally sort out their
23
disputes was “signed by the heads
of the two governments and ratified
by their respective parliaments”, he
pointed out.
4. “In times of austerity, we need to
address the question, whether the
resources being spent on
UNMOGIP would not be better
utilised elsewhere,” he added.
5. India has two main complaints
against the U.N. peacekeeping
architecture. One, manpower
providers such as India must be
kept in the loop while taking a
decision on the mission and
keeping everyone informed when it
changes character.
6. The second grouse is about
resource allocation failing to keep
pace with the mandate expansion.
As a result peacekeeping missions
are called upon to do more and
more with less and less.
7. This has added to operational
challenges faced by peacekeepers
and missions are overstretched
due to shortage of personnel and
equipment.
Chandrayaan-2: India to
go it alone
1. India has decided to go it alone
in its second lunar mission, the
Chandrayaan-2, which was
originally proposed as an Indo-
Russian venture.
2. This was disclosed here on
Monday by S.V.S. Murty of the
Planetary Exploration Group of the
Physical Research Laboratory
(PRL), an institution under the
Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) here.
3. Dr.Murty was speaking on India’s
lunar and Mars missions at the
ongoing workshop on exoplanets
at the laboratory.
4. According to an agreement
signed on November 12, 2007
between ISRO and Roskosmos,
the Russian Federal Space Agency,
ISRO had the primary responsibility
to provide both the orbiter and the
rover, while Roskosmos was to
design and build the lander for this
combined orbiter-rover-lander
mission.
5. However, following the failure in
December 2011 of Roskosmos’
Phobos-Grunt mission, there was
a delay in the construction of the
Russian lander.
6. The mission had a lander to
return soil sample from the Martian
satellite Phobos. This resulted in a
complete review of technical
aspects connected with the
Current Affairs Notes

Phobos-Grunt mission, which were
also used in the lunar projects
such as the lander for
Chandrayaan-2. Due to this, as
well as financial problems, the
Russian agency apparently
expressed its inability provide the
lander to meet even the revised
time frame of 2015 for the
Chandrayaan-2 launch.
7. The design of the indigenous
lander and the preliminary
configuration study was completed
by the Space Applications Centre
(SAC), Ahmedabad, he
said.Chandrayaan-2 will have five
primary payloads on the orbiter, two
of which will be improvements on
instruments that were onboard
Chandrayaan-1.
8. In addition, the rover too will carry
two additional instruments.
Chandrayaan-2 will be launched by
a GSLV powered by an indigenous
cryogenic engine.
9. However, PRL director Jitendra
Goswami clarified that this did not
mean that the Indo-Russian
collaboration on planetary
exploration had ended.
Supreme Court bans
tourists from taking trunk
road passing through
Jarawa area in Andamans
1. The Supreme Court on Monday
banned tourists from taking the
Andaman Nicobar Trunk Road that
passes through the area where the
Jarawas live. The road is used to
reach the Limestone Cave.
2. The court has already banned all
commercial and tourism activities
within a five-km radius of the
Jarawa Tribal Reserve on the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
3. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi
and H. L. Gokhale passed the
order, taking on record the
Andaman and Nicobar
Administration’s January 17
notification to comply with the court
directives issued last year.
4. Except 30 villages notified in the
schedule, the notification declares
a buffer zone of an area up to a five-
km radius, adjacent and
contiguous to the Jarawa Tribal
Reserve Area — starting from the
Constance Bay in South Andaman
to Lewis Inlet Bay in Middle
Andaman. No person shall operate
any commercial or tourist
establishment directly or indirectly
in the buffer zone. Furthermore, no
one shall carry out any activity,
which may be prejudicial to the
safety, security and interests of the
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
Jarawas in any of the settlement
villages.
5. The Bench directed that only
government officials, persons
residing in the reserve and vehicles
carrying essential commodities for
the Jarawas would be allowed on
the Trunk Road.
6. Justice Singhvi told counsel,
“You provide helicopter service to…
tourists to reach the cave as there
is a total ban in the buffer area.”
“File affidavit”
7. The Bench directed the Andaman
and Nicobar Administration to file
an affidavit, along with a detailed
map indicating the areas of
Jarawas and settlement of others.
It posted the matter for further
hearing on February 26.
8. The October 30, 2007
notification, imposing the ban, was
quashed by the Calcutta High
Court.
9. On an appeal, the Supreme
Court, stayed the order and asked
the administration to strictly enforce
the notification till it was
considered by the court. This was
followed by the January 17
notification.
Diluting GAAR
1. In postponing the General Anti-
Avoidance Rules (GAAR) of taxation
to April 2016 and reducing its
rigour, the United Progressive
Alliance government has accepted
most of the ParthasarathiShome
Committee’s recommendations.
2. Since GAAR has been
incorporated in the Finance Act
2012, its deferment can be
formalised only during the
forthcoming budget. To justify the
postponement, the Committee had
cited, among other reasons, the
need to train tax officials in the finer
aspects of international taxation.
Days after the government’s
announcement, the stock markets
that have, of late, been driven by
foreign institutional investors (FII)
reached new highs.
3. The GAAR decision, coming just
weeks before the Union budget,
ought to be seen as one of the
many signals the government has
been sending to revive the ‘animal
spirits’ of foreign investors,
domestic entrepreneurs and
rentiers, in this case specifically to
assure them of the continuance of
a less onerous tax regime. Some
of its other decisions, such as the
hike in railway fares before the
railway budget and the permission
to public sector oil marketing
24
companies to hike diesel prices in
a graded manner, are meant to
reinforce the perception of a
government not loath to take tough,
unpopular decisions.
4. Yet the important takeaway from
the modified GAAR is that it is
meant to please the FIIs and
portfolio managers even if, in the
process, sound principles of public
finance are diluted.
5. A significant change is to have a
multi-member panel comprising
just one senior tax official to
determine the applicability of GAAR
to specific transactions. The
expectation is that the inclusion of
a judicial and an academic
member will ease concerns over
possible high-handed behaviour by
the tax authorities in their desire to
maximise tax revenue.
6. However, only the tax official in
the GAAR panel will be accountable
to the income tax department and
the government. In another
important clarification, it has been
decided that GAAR will cover only
those transactions whose main
purpose—as opposed to one of the
main purposes—is to get a tax
benefit. As a result of this change,
the onus of proof on the tax
authorities rises exponentially. The
status of double taxation avoidance
agreements in a post-GAAR
regime is still a matter of
conjecture. Perhaps the most
controversial decision is to exclude
offshore derivative instruments, the
so-called participatory notes or PN,
from GAAR. This is a retreat from
the government’s stated position of
wanting to know the identity of PN
holders, and is a serious setback
to anti-money laundering efforts.
Once again, as so often in recent
times, the government has opted
for short-term expediency to
support the external sector.
Import duty hiked on gold,
platinum
The government on Monday hiked
the import duty on gold and
platinum from 4 to 6 per cent with
immediate effect in an urgent bid to
curb imports of the precious metals
and contain the widening current
account deficit (CAD).
In a twin-policy remedial package
aimed at checking the runaway rise
in gold imports, which has been
adversely impacting the CAD since
last fiscal, the government also
announced its decision to link the
Gold ETFs (Exchange Traded
Funds) with Gold Deposit schemes
as a measure to increase the
supply of physical gold in the
Current Affairs Notes

market without resorting to imports.
“The government has decided to
increase import duty on gold and
platinum from 4 percent to 6
percent with immediate effect,”
Department of Economic Affairs
Secretary ArvindMayaram said here.
The government, Dr.Mayaram said,
would effect consequential
changes in the additional customs
duty and excise duty on gold ‘dore’
bars, gold ores and refined gold.
Concept:
Anti-Dumping duty (ADD) Anti-
dumping-duty is imposed to
provide protection to Community
industry against the dumping of
goods from non-Community
countries at prices that are
substantially lower than the normal
commercial value. Goods are
considered to be dumped if it is
established that their export price
to the Community is less than the
price of the same or similar goods
on the domestic market of the
exporting country.
Countervailing duty
(CD)Countervailing duty is levied on
goods which have received
Government subsidies in the
originating or exporting country,
thus enabling the goods to be
imported into the Community at
prices substantially lower than the
normal commercial value.
Import duty:A tax collected on
imports and some exports by the
customs authorities of a country.
This tax is used to raise state
revenue. It is based on the value of
goods called ad valorem duty or the
weight, dimensions, or other
criteria of the item such as its size.
Also referred to as customs duty,
tariff, import tax and import tariff.
BIPA talks put on hold
1. In a significant development, the
Union Government has ordered a
freeze of all Bilateral Investment
Protection Agreements (BIPA)
negotiations till a review of the
model text of BIPA is carried out and
completed. This follows a spate of
show cause notices on the
Government by foreign companies
seeking to recover their
investments under the agreement.
2. The freeze will continue till the
Government reviews the model text
of BIPA is completed. The issue
has figured in summit meetings
with Russian President Valdimir
Putin having raised the issue in his
annual meeting with Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh last month.
3. The spate of notices under BIPA
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
began with the Vodafone case but
the Supreme Court’s cancellation
of the 2G licenses led to more
companies following suit with firm
backing from governments where
they are headquartered. The
adverse experience with BIPA with
an estimated $5 billions hanging in
balance could dampen the Foreign
Office’s enthusiasm of inking the
pact with a large number of
countries.
4. Fearing the Government could
be flooded with more notices in
future, the Ministries of Finance and
Commerce & Industry felt it was
time India carried out a review of
the model text of BIPA and therefore
decided to put on hold all
negotiations pertaining to BIPA till a
thorough review is carried out. “It
has been decided to review the
model text of BIPA in the light of
arbitration notice[s] received under
different BIPAs. Therefore, pending
review of the model text, all BIPA
negotiations have been kept on
hold. The government will proceed
to negotiate BIPA agreements
expeditiously once the review is
complete,’’ said a communication
by the Department of Economic
Affairs.
5. Vodafone was first off the blocks
with a notice to the government
stating that it was covered under
BIPA as an investor defined under
Article 1(d) of the treaty. Its Dutch
subsidiary Vodafone International
Holdings BV served the notice. This
was soon followed by another
round of notices issued in the
aftermath of Supreme Court
cancelling 122 telecom licenses
resulting in companies like
Russian telecom giant Sistema,
Norwegian telecom company
Telenor and UAE-based Etislat.
6. Till date, India has signed BIPAs
with 82 countries of which 72
treaties have been enforced. The
first BIPA was signed in 1994 with
UK. Besides, India has signed 17
Free Trade Agreements,
Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement (CEPA),
Comprehensive Economic
Cooperation Agreement (CECA)
and Preferential Trade Agreements
(PTAs).
7. Among the companies that have
served notices under BIPA are
Devas Employees Mauritius [BIPA
with Mauritius]; Sistema Joint Stock
Financial Corporation [Russia];
Telenor Asia [Singapore]; Capital
Global Limited and Kaif Investment
Limited [both Mauritius based-
investors in Loop Telecom Limited
under BIPA with Mauritius];
Vodafone International [the
25
Netherlands]; and, the Children’s
Investment Fund Management [the
UK and Cyprus].
8. Following outcry by foreign
investors and show cause notice
issued by Vodafone on the issue,
the government had last year
constituted an inter-Ministerial
Group (IMG) to look into the issue.
The IMG had concluded that
international taxation issues don’t
come under BIPA. The IMG had
also concluded in the Vodafone
case that the issue was not
covered under the India and the
Netherlands BIPA. In fact, the
feedback to the IMG from all the
Ministries had indicated that
taxation issues were not covered
under BIPA. The group headed by
Revenue Secretary also included
Secretaries of the Department of
Economic Affairs, Law and Justice
Ministry, Telecom Ministry and the
Ministry of External Affairs.
‘Mars may have been
inhabited by
microorganisms’
All the ingredients that support life
was present just below the surface
of Mars for much of the red planet’s
history, a new study has claimed.
However, instead of hosting little
green men, our celestial neighbour
was likely inhabited by simple
microorganisms.
The study led by the Natural History
Museum, with the University of
Aberdeen, found that all the
ingredients for life were present
just below the planet’s surface for
much of its history, the Daily
Mail reported.
When meteorites strike the surface
of Mars, they act like natural
probes, bringing up rocks from far
beneath the crust.
Looking at data from NASA’s Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA’s
Mars Express spacecrafts, they
analysed rocks and found they
contain clays and minerals whose
chemical make-up has been
altered by water.
With up to half of life on Earth
consisting of simple micro-
organisms that lives in below the
surface, scientists have suggested
that the same may have been true
for Mars.
“All the ingredients were there for
life, but only small single-cell
organisms could have survived in
those conditions,” Dr. Joseph
Michalski, lead author and
planetary geologist at the Natural
History Museum said.
Current Affairs Notes

“But I would now be more
surprised if there was never any life
on Mars, than I would be if we did
one day discover that simple life
lived in that environment. And if life
existed then, there is a chance it
could still exist now,” Michalski
said.
Some deep craters on Mars also
acted as basins where
groundwater likely emerged to
produce lakes, which contain clay
and carbonate minerals.
The fluids that formed these
minerals could one day tell us
more as to whether there was life
beneath the surface, and also carry
clues to how life developed on
Earth.
Eurogroup bids farewell
to mercurial Jean-Claude
Juncker, heralds new era
1. It started as an informal dinner
among European finance ministers
more than 14 years ago and has
steadily gained prominence under
its veteran president, Jean-Claude
Juncker.
2. But on Monday the grey-haired
Juncker, 58, handed the reins of the
Eurogroup to a polished 46-year-
old Dutchman, promising a new
approach to how economic policy
among the 17 euro zone countries
is shaped and decided.
3. After a 16-1 vote, the finance
ministers named
JeroenDijsselbloem, an Irish-
educated social democrat with
flawless English, to succeed
Juncker, a Luxembourger who had
headed the group for eight years.
Only Spain opposed the
appointment.
4. Juncker’s departure signals the
end of an era during which policy -
including some of the most critical
decisions of the debt crisis - was
frequently discussed until the early
hours of the morning over dinner
and wine in a smoke-filled room.
‘Indian banks may face
hurdles to raise funds
under Basel III
1. Banks from the Asia-Pacific
region as a whole were better
placed to meet the higher capital
requirements under Basel III
norms, but Indian and Chinese
banks may find it difficult to raise
funds to meet the new norms due
to their rising bad assets, ratings
agency Standard & Poor’s said
today.
2. “We expect banks in high-growth
systems such as India and China
JTS Institute
15 January - 21 January 2013
to face challenges in maintaining employment and in reducing
or raising capital ratios to keep inflation, it would negatively affect
pace with growth in risk assets,” small retailers and SMEs.
S&P said in report. It estimated that 7. Further, the survey said, factors
capital shortfall of major Indian and affecting business were poor
Chinese banks could reach about infrastructure, high cost of credit
USD 100 billion by 2019 though, as and increasing raw material prices.
a whole, it said that Asia Pacific
banks were better placed than their 8. It also noted the concerns of the
peers elsewhere. respondents over the precarious
fiscal deficit scenario of the
3. “Asia-Pacific banks are poised to government.
take the global lead in implemen-
ting Basel III in 2013. Most 9. “Rising fiscal deficit has been a
countries in the region have major cause of concern not only for
published their final set of Basel III the policy makers but also for the
capital reform regulations effective industry,” Assocham Secretary
from January 2013 and these General D S Rawat said.
banks will adopt the new capital
regulations ahead of their global 10. The survey showed that
majority of the respondents firmly
peers,” Standard & Poor’s credit believed that the fiscal deficit target
analyst Naoko Nemoto said. set by the government is not
achievable in the current scenario,
4. However, the Reserve Bank of he said.
India had last month rescheduled
the starting date for implementation 11. The government hopes to
of the Basel III norms to April 2013. restrict fiscal deficit at 5.3 percent
As per the agency, while the US of the GDP in the current fiscal year
has delayed the implementation in view of savings on certain
and timetable of the Basel-III expenditure and the likelihood of
capital reforms, a final draft is garnering budgeted proceeds from
under discussion in the European disinvestment and spectrum sale.
Union.
12. The government had earlier
Economic scenario likely enhanced the fiscal deficit target
from 5.1 percent to 5.3 percent.
to improve: Survey
1. India’s economic situation is
expected to change for better in the
coming months, although the fiscal
deficit target set by the government
seems to be unachievable in the
current scenario, a survey has said.
2. The mood, as captured by the
Assocham Business Confidence
Survey for December 2012, seems
to be improving at both the
economic and industry levels, the
chamber said.
3.“The latest round of the survey
connotes that economic situation
has somewhat turned better in the
last six months.
4. Further, there is an expectation of
situation to be much better in the
short to medium term horizon at
both industry as well as firm level,”
it said.
5. Majority of respondents said they
expect their sales volumes to be
higher in the following quarter and
investments are also expected to
be somewhat constant in the
coming six months, the survey
said.
6. In reference to the recent
approval given to multi-brand retail,
it stated that the industry believes
that while the measure would have
a positive impact on farmers,
consumers, rural youth,
26 Current Affairs Notes
 Issue-2/2013 (7 January to 14th 7January)
January - 14 January 2013
CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 7 Jan -14 Jan, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
8 Janaury 2013
Moderate earthquake hits
North-east
An earthquake of moderate
intensity on Wednesday rocked the
entire north eastern region, but
there was no report of any injury to
people or damage to property.
The quake, measuring 5.9 on the
Richter scale, hit the region at
around 7.12 AM with its epicentre
being 89 km underneath the
earth’s crust along the Indo—
Myanmar border, officials at the
Regional Seismological Centre
here said.
The quake lasted a few seconds
and rocked all major towns in the
region, they said. The epicentre
was in Phek district of Nagaland.
Dr.Lallenmawia said the technical
information about the quake was
received from the seismological
centre of the North East Institute of
Science and Technology, Jorhat in
Assam.
Extra Terrestrial life
Kepler Mission Scientific
Objective:
The scientific objective of the
Kepler Mission is to explore the
structure and diversity of planetary
systems. This is achieved by
surveying a large sample of stars
to:
1. Determine the abundance of
terrestrial and larger planets in
or near the habitable zone of a
wide variety of stars;
2. Determine the distribution of
sizes and shapes of the orbits
of these planets;
3. Estimate how many planets
there are in multiple-star systems;
4. Determine the variety of orbit
sizes and planet reflectivities,
sizes, masses and densities of
short-period giant planets;
5. Identify additional members of
JTS Institute
each discovered planetary system
using other techniques; and
6. Determine the properties of
those stars that harbor planetary
systems.
The Kepler Mission also supports
the objectives of future NASA
Origins theme missions Space
Interferometry Mission (SIM)
and Terrestrial Planet Finder(TPF),
• By identifying the common
stellar characteristics of host
stars for future planet
searches,
• By defining the volume of space
needed for the search and
• By allowing SIM to target
systems already known to have
terrestrial planets.
The Transit Method of
Detecting Extrasolar
Planets:
When a planet crosses in front of
its star as viewed by an observer,
the event is called a transit.
Transits by terrestrial planets
produce a small change in a star’s
brightness of about 1/10,000 (100
parts per million, ppm), lasting for
1 to 16 hours. This change must be
periodic if it is caused by a planet.
In addition, all transits produced by
the same planet must be of the
same change in brightness and
last the same amount of time, thus
providing a highly repeatable signal
and robust detection method.
Once detected, the planet’s orbital
size can be calculated from the
period (how long it takes the planet
to orbit once around the star) and
the mass of the star using Kepler’s
Third Law of planetary motion. The
size of the planet is found from the
depth of the transit (how much the
brightness of the star drops) and
the size of the star. From the orbital
size and the temperature of the
star, the planet’s characteristic
temperature can be calculated.
Knowing the temperature of a
planet is key to whether or not the
planet is habitable (not necessarily
inhabited). Only planets with
1 Current Affairs Notes
moderate temperatures are
habitable for life similar to that
found on Earth.
At least one in seven ‘exoplanets’
are flying close-in orbits around
their suns much like Earth’s orbit
around its sun, the scientists say.
And the group’s leader says the
number is probably more like half
—which means there may be a
staggering number of them within
their stars’ so-called ‘habitable
zones’, where temperatures would
be just right for water to exist.
Their analysis included only
planets roughly the size of Earth,
and with orbits around their stars
that are closer than the orbit of
Mercury to our sun. But by factoring
in the exoplanets discovered by
Kepler to date, a team of scientist
headed by Francois Fressin of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for
Astrophysics say there could be at
least 17 billion exoplanets in the
Milky Way.
Unlike the comets of our own night
sky like Haley’s, that fly around the
sun and past the planets of our
solar system, objects are flying
past stars where planets haven’t
formed yet, although the
ingredients for planets do exist in
clouds of gas and dust.
Like the comets in Earth’s night
sky, those objects that astronomers
now call ‘exomets’, are icy
remnants of a time—billions of
years ago—when all planets must
have formed from clouds of frozen
rocky rubble.
“Interstellar dust under the
influence of gravity becomes blobs,
and the blobs grow into rocks, the
rocks coalesce and become bigger
things—planetesimals and comets
—and finally, you get planets,” said
Mr. Welsh at a press conference
during a meeting of the American
Astronomical Society.
The discovery of ‘exomets’
suggests they are just as common
as ‘exoplanets’ in other distant
solar systems, and that might
mean a ‘staggering’ number of
planets.

Issue of hunting of rare
India-bound birds in
Pakistan
1. A leading environmental group
working for conservation of flora
and fauna has sought intervention
of the External Affairs Ministry to put
pressure on Pakistan to ban
hunting of rare birds, Houbara
bustards, which has drastically
reduced India’s share of their
annual winter migration and
affected the desert eco-system.
2. The hunting of Houbara
bustards, taxonomically classified
as Clamydotisundulata, through
falconry in Pakistan has led to an
alarming decline in their numbers.
The poaching mainly in Sindh
province along the international
border is not only a cause of
serious concern for India but also
in violation of wildlife protection
laws and international conventions.
The species has been declared
vulnerable due to a more than 60
per cent decline in its global
population even as India’s share in
the Houbara’s migration is
“bagged” in the neighbouring
country.
3. The Arab royals also used to
visit Iran and Afghanistan for
falconry till late 1970s. Since the
fall of the Shah of Iran and the
prolonged war in Afghanistan,
Pakistan became a favourite
destination for the bird hunters.
Though Pakistan banned hunting
of birds in 1972, it is not enforced
against the royal guests from the
West Asian countries who believe
that the Houbara meat has mythical
aphrodisiac qualities.
4. Even as Houbara bustard is
regarded as the provincial bird of
Balochistan, the Federal authorities
in Pakistan reportedly issue
permits during the “hunting
season” in Sindh province every
year, with each permit allowing 100
birds to be hunted by the holder.
Most of the permits go to royalty,
rulers and influential people from
countries such as Qatar, Bahrain,
the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia.
5. Named “Taloor” in Sindhi
language, the Houbara bustards
migrate from the cold northern
regions of Siberia to the warmer
regions of the world, including the
Indian sub-continent. Bird-lovers
describe it as a beautiful bird with a
black stripe down the sides of its
neck. It is usually 60 cm long with a
140 cm wingspan and is brown
above and white below.
6. The Houbara bustard is listed
in the Convention on Migratory
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Species of Wild Animals, also
known as the Bonn Convention.
Because of its increased hunting
especially in its winter habitats, the
Convention of the International
Trade in Endangered Species has
classified it as an endangered
migratory bird.
Concepts:
Bonn Convention
1. The Convention on the
Conservation of Migratory Species
of Wild Animals (also known as
CMS or the Bonn Convention, not to
be confused with the Bonn
Agreement) aims to conserve
terrestrial, marine and avian
migratory species throughout their
range. It is an intergovernmental
treaty, concluded under the aegis of
the United Nations Environment
Programme, concerned with the
conservation of wildlife and
habitats on a global scale. Since
the Convention’s entry into force, its
membership has grown steadily to
include over 100 Parties from
Africa, Central and South America,
Asia, Europe and Oceania. The
Convention was signed in 1979 in
Bonn (hence the name) and
entered into force in 1983
Houbara Bustard:
1. The Houbara bustards migrate
from the cold northern regions of
Siberia to the warmer regions of
the world, including the Indian sub-
continent. Bird-lovers describe it as
a beautiful bird with a black stripe
down the sides of its neck. It is
usually 60 cm long with a 140 cm
wingspan and is brown above and
white below.
2. Under IUCN it is classified as
vulnerable.
Fitch Threatens to
downgrade India
The Finance Ministry on Tuesday
said it is not worried about the
threat of ratings downgrade by
global agencies like Fitch as it is
moving on the right track and will
restrict fiscal deficit to 5.3 percent
of the GDP in 2012-13.
Reasons for downgrade:
1. Low growth rate.
2. High Fiscal deficit
3. No policy initiatives
4. High subsidies
5. Political Logjam
6. Diminishing exports
7. Sluggish industrial sector
a) In view of rising expenditure
and subdued growth in revenue
collection, the Finance Ministry has
already raised the fiscal deficit
target to a more acceptable level of
2 Current Affairs Notes
5.3 percent of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), as against 5.1
percent estimated earlier.
b) Fitch as well as Standard &
Poor’s have assigned the lowest
investment grade rating to India
and any downgrade would push it
to the ‘junk’ grade making it difficult
for corporates to raise finances
from overseas markets at
competitive rates.
c) India’s economic growth during
2012-13, according to RBI, is
estimated to slip to around 5.8
percent, which would be the lowest
in the last decade.
d) The government is also looking
into the various recommendations
of the Kelkar Committee which had
suggested a road map for fiscal
consolidation.
e) The Committee had suggested
that slew of measures like phased
elimination of LPG, kerosene,
diesel and food subsidies to deal
with the deteriorating fiscal
situation.
f) The government has taken
various tough measures such as
raising diesel prices, capping
subsidised LPG cylinders and
pruning non-Plan expenditure with
a view to curtailing government
expenditure and containing fiscal
deficit.
Credit Rating: An assessment of
the credit worthiness of individuals
and corporations. It is based upon
the history of borrowing and repay-
ment, as well as the availa-bility of
assets and extent of liabilities.
WEF rates India lowest on
tackling risks
WEF: The World Economic Forum
(WEF) is a Swiss non-profit
foundation, based in Cologny,
Geneva. It describes itself as an
independent international
organization committed to impro-
ving the state of the world by
engaging business, political,
academic and other leaders of
society to shape global, regional
and industry agendas. The Forum
is best known for its annual
meeting in Davos, a mountain
resort in Graubünden, in the
eastern Alps region of Switzerland.
The meeting brings together some
2,500 top business leaders,
international political leaders,
selected intellectuals and
journalists to discuss the most
pressing issues facing the world,
including health and the
environment.
India was ranked lowest among

the world’s major economies for its
preparedness to tackle global
environmental risks and second-
lowest for economic risks, while
Switzerland is on the top, a report
said on Tuesday.
a. As per the annual Global Risks
Report published by Geneva-based
World Economic Forum (WEF), the
biggest global risk in terms of
likelihood would be ‘severe income
disparity’ for the next 10 years and
‘major systemic financial failure’
will be the top-most risk before the
world in terms of impact.
b. The report said that Switzerland
is best placed among the world’s
10 major economies for adapting
to or recovering from global
economic and environmental risks.
While India is ranked ninth in terms
of its ability to tackle global
economic risks and comes last at
tenth position for environmental
risks. Italy is ranked lowest at tenth
position for economic risks.
c. The rankings of the 10 major
economic of the world-Brazil,
China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,
Switzerland, Russia, the UK and
the US - are based on Global Risks
Perception Survey of over 1,000
experts from across the world.
d. India fared relatively better at
sixth position in terms of the
government’s risk management
effectiveness, although it ranks
second-lowest in terms of its
global competitiveness index
score.
e. The survey on risk manage-
ment effectiveness found that
Germany, Switzerland and the UK
are perceived by business leaders
to have highest risk-management
effectiveness, while Russia was
seen as having the least effective
risk management. The US and
China were ranked fourth and fifth
respectively, while those positioned
below India on this metric included
Italy, Brazil, Japan and Russia.
f. Surveys were conducted
across a total of 139 countries.
g. Taking into account the scores
of all the countries, India was
ranked 38th in terms of its risk
management effectiveness and
32nd for its resilience to global
risks. Singapore was ranked on
top in both these surveys.
Among the top-five global risks in
terms of likelihood are: severe
income disparity, chronic fiscal
imbalances, rising greenhouse
emissions, water supply crises
and mismanagement of ageing
population.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Health-related risks:
1. Greatest risk of hubris to
human health comes in the form of
antibiotic resistant bacteria. Many
people take for granted that
antibiotics will always be available
when we need them, but soon this
may no longer be the case. Every
dose of antibiotics gives an
advantage for those small
numbers in a bacterial population
that are resistant to the drug
2. The more a particular antibiotic
is used, the more quickly bacteria
resistant to that antibiotic will be
selected and increased in
numbers.
3. For India, the report said that
within four years (from 2002 to
2006) the antibiotic-resistance
bacteria went from 7 drugs to 21
drugs. It further said the “pharmacy
sales of strong antibiotics which
should be a last line of defence
increased nearly six-fold from 2005
to 2010” in India.
4. A national task force in India
had recommended ending over-
the-counter sales of antibiotics, but
the proposal was rejected as it
would deny access to antibiotics to
patients in rural areas where there
are no physicians to prescribe the
drug, the WEF report said.
ShibuSoren-led
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha
formally withdraws
support from BJP-led
Arjun Munda govt.
Deepening the political crisis in the
state, Jharkhand’s ruling coalition
partner JMM submitted its letter to
Governor Syed Ahmed today
formally withdrawing support to the
28-month-old ArjunMunda
government pushing it to a minority.
The JMM action came even as the
Jharkhand Cabinet decided to
recommend dissolution of the
state assembly to prevent any
“horse trading-like situation”.
Jharkhand Cabinet decision not
binding on Governor: Congress
New Delhi: Jharkhand Cabinet’s
decision recommending
dissolution of the Assembly was
“not binding” on the Governor as it
was done by the ArjunMunda
Government after being reduced to
a “minority”, Congress said today.
“It is not binding on the Governor to
accept the recommendation of a
minority government. It was crystal
clear that the BJP-led government
had been reduced to a minority
after withdrawal of support by the
3 Current Affairs Notes
JMM”, senior leader Shakeel
Ahmed said.
Ahmed, who is in-charge of
Congress affairs in Jharkhand,
said that the party would await the
decision of Governor Syed Ahmed
before deciding its future course of
action.
Earlier in the day, Munda submitted
to the Jharkhand governor the
Cabinet decision recommending
dissolution of the Assembly and
also his resignation.
Concept regarding dissolution of
legislative assembly by the
governor: Please refer to S.R
Bommai’s case
The language of Bommai is plain.
“In all cases where the support of
the Ministry is claimed to have been
withdrawn by some legislators,”
Justices Sawant and Kuldip Singh
held, “the proper course for testing
the strength of the Ministry is
holding the test on the floor of the
House.” “The assessment of the
strength of the Ministry is not a
matter of private opinion of any
individual be he the Governor or the
President” (emphasis added).
Justices Jeevan Reddy and
Agarwal underlined the floor test
procedure: “Whenever a doubt
arises whether the Council of
Ministers has lost the confidence of
the House, the only way of testing it
is on the floor of the House”
(emphasis as in the original). The
sole exception to this will be a
situation of “all-pervasive violence
where the Governor comes to the
conclusion - and records the same
in his report - that for the reasons
mentioned by him, a free vote is not
possible.”
FDI policy made more
friendly, rational: Anand
Sharma
Seeking to encourage foreign direct
investment (FDI) into the country,
the policy has been made friendlier,
rational and simple, Union Minister
for Commerce and Industry Anand
Sharma said today.
Steps Taken:
1 ‘India’s Growth: Greater Oppor-
tunities’, he said investment limit
has been raised from Rs 600 crore
to Rs 1,200 crore for projects that
need cabinet approval.
2 At present, the national invest-
ment rate is around 33-34 percent
and by the end of 12th Plan, the aim
was to increase this to 36 percent,
he said.
3. Market diversification was

India’s strategic decision, he said,
adding the country had success-
fully found new markets in Africa
and other neighbouring countries.
4. Encouraging long term FDI
flows would be more fruitful as the
Government had decided to borrow
as little as possible, he said.
5. We have continued to receive
considerable remittances from the
Indian Diaspora which is our
underlying strength. In 2012, we
received USD 80 billion leaving
China behind with USD 76 billion
Engineered bacteria make
fuel from sunlight
1. In a bid to find a substitute to
fossil fuels as raw material for the
chemical industry, scientists have
engineered bacteria which could
help grow chemical precursors for
fuels and plastics.
2. Most chemical feedstocks
come from petroleum and natural
gas, and we need other sources
3. Biological reactions are good at
forming carbon-carbon bonds,
using carbon dioxide as a raw
material for reactions powered by
sunlight,called photosynthesis, and
cyanobacteria, also known as “blue
-green algae,” have been doing it
for more than 3 billion years.
4. The challenge is to get the
cyanobacteria to make significant
amounts of chemicals that can be
readily converted to chemical
feedstocks.
5. The researchers, working a
step at a time, built up a three-step
pathway that allows the cyano-
bacteria to convert carbon dioxide
into 2,3butanediol, a chemical that
can be used to make paint,
solvents, plastics and fuels.
9 Janaury 2013
Rajiv Takru is new Financial
Services Secretary
Rajiv Takru, now Additional
Secretary and Financial Advisor in
the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, has been appointed as
Financial Services Secretary in the
Finance Ministry.
Structure of the Finance Ministry:
The ministry of Finance consists of
5 departments, namely:
1. Department of Economic Affairs
2. Department of Expenditure
3. Department of Revenue
4. Department of Disinvestment;
and
5 Department of Financial
Services.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Meerut scissors
registered for GI tag
1. For the first time, a handmade
tool from micro and small and
medium enterprises in India has
been registered for a geographical
indicator (GI) tag, an official of a
body promoting this sector said on
Wednesday. The tool is a pair of
scissors made of metal scrap by a
community in Meerut, which is “the
only scissor cluster in India” and
which has been making the
product for more than three
centuries.
2. The tag would enable the
crafters to make scissors of
standard sizes and of high quality,
he said. At present, the size varies,
from six inches to 14 inches, and
the scissors are sold at a price
ranging from Rs.20 to Rs.500.
3. Known for their sharpness, the
scissors are used at home and by
industrial garment manufact-
urers.They can be repaired, unlike
other scissors that are thrown out
after use.
4. The Meerut scissors are made
of carbon steel blades sourced
from scrap metal found in cars,
buses, trucks and railways. The
handles are made of plastic,
aluminium or alloys, which are
sourced from old utensils. All the
parts are pre-used. The first pair
was made 360 years ago by Asli
Akhun.
5. Meerut has 250 small-scale
scissors-making units, employing
70,000 people directly and
indirectly. Both the Central and
Uttar Pradesh governments have
helped the industry.
6. While men make scissors,
women do the tasks that require
handwork and pack the products.
7. They are sent only to the
domestic markets, but the makers
find it tough to meet the demand at
home.
8. Mr.Saluja said the GI tag was
given to products based on certain
information submitted to the
Geographical Indication Registry,
Chennai: proof of origin, the GI
map, the statement of case and the
history of the product.
Concept: GEOGRAPHICAL
INDICATORS
Geographical Indications of Goods
are defined as that aspect of
industrial property which refer to
the geographical indication
referring to a country or to a place
situated therein as being the
country or place of origin of that
4 Current Affairs Notes
product. Typically, such a name
conveys an assurance of quality
and distinctiveness which is
essentially attributable to the fact of
its origin in that defined geo-
graphical locality, region or country.
Under Articles 1 (2) and 10 of the
Paris Convention for the Protection
of Industrial Property, geographical
indications are covered as an
element of IPRs. They are also
covered under Articles 22 to 24 of
the Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPS) Agreement, which was
part of the Agreements concluding
the Uruguay Round of GATT
negotiations.
India, as a member of the World
Trade Organization (WTO), enacted
the Geographical Indications of
Goods (Registration & Protection)
Act, 1999 has come into force with
effect from 15th September 2003.
Giant ring of gas and dust
spotted around Milky
Way’s black hole
1. Researchers have captured
new images of a ring of gas and
dust seven light-years in diameter
surrounding the supermassive
black hole at the center of the Milky
Way, using the Stratospheric
Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
(SOFIA).
2. The telescope also captured
images of a neighbouring cluster of
extremely luminous young stars
embedded in dust cocoons.
3. Ryan Lau of Cornell University
and his collaborators studied the
galaxy’s circumlunar ring (CNR),
while Matt Hankins of the University
of Central Arkansas in Conway is
lead author of the other paper,
regarding the quintuplet cluster
(QC).
4. The images were obtained
during SOFIA flights in 2011 with
the FaintObject Infrared Camera for
the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST)
instrument built by a team with
principal investigator Terry Herter of
Cornell.
5. FORCAST offered astronomers
the ability to see the CNR and QC
regions and other exotic cosmic
features whose light is obscured by
water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere
and interstellar dust clouds in the
mid-plane of the Milky Way.
Saturn’s moon Titan’s
lakes covered with
hydrocarbon ice blocks
1. Scientists on NASA’s Cassini
mission have claimed to have

found blocks of hydrocarbon ice
decorating the surface of existing
lakes and seas of liquid
hydrocarbon on Saturn’s moon
Titan.
2. The presence of ice floes might
explain some of the mixed
readings Cassini has seen in the
reflectivity of the surfaces of lakes
on Titan.Titan is the only other body
besides Earth in our solar system
with stable bodies of liquid on its
surface.But while our planet’s cycle
of precipitation and evaporation
involves water, Titan’s cycle
involves hydrocarbons like ethane
and methane.
3. Ethane and methane are
organic molecules, which
scientists think can be building
blocks for the more complex
chemistry from which life arose.
Cassini has seen a vast network of
these hydrocarbon seas cover
Titan’s northern hemisphere, while
a more sporadic set of lakes be-
jewels the southern hemisphere.
4. Up to this point, Cassini
scientists assumed that Titan
lakes would not have floating ice,
because solid methane is denser
than liquid methane and would
sink.But the new model considers
the interaction between the lakes
and the atmosphere, resulting in
different mixtures of compositions,
pockets of nitrogen gas, and
changes in temperature.
5. The result, scientists found, is
that winter ice will float in Titan’s
methane-and-ethane-rich lakes
and seas if the temperature is
below the freezing point of methane
—minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit
(90.4 Kelvins).
6. We now know it’s possible to
get methane-and-ethane-rich ice
freezing over on Titan in thin blocks
that congeal together as it gets
colder—similar to what we see with
Arctic sea ice at the onset of winter.
Titan:
Titan (or Saturn VI) is the largest
moon of Saturn. It is the only
natural satellite known to have a
dense atmosphere, and the only
object other than Earth for which
clear evidence of stable bodies of
surface liquid has been found.
Titan is the sixth ellipsoidal moon
from Saturn. Frequently described
as a planet-like moon, Titan has a
diameter roughly 50% larger than
Earth’s moon and is 80% more
massive. It is the second-largest
moon in the Solar System, after
Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, and it is
larger by volume than the smallest
planet, Mercury, although only half
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
as massive. Titan was the first
known moon of Saturn, discovered
in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer
Christiaan Huygens, and was the
fifth moon of a planet apart from the
Earth to be discovered.
Titan is primarily composed of
water ice and rocky material. Much
as with Venus prior to the Space
Age, the dense, opaque atmos-
phere prevented under-standing of
Titan’s surface until new
information accumulated with the
arrival of the Cassini–Huygens
mission in 2004, including the
discovery of liquid hydrocarbon
lakes in the satellite’s polar
regions. The surface is geologically
young; although mountains and
several possible cryovolcanoes
have been discovered, it is smooth
and few impact craters have been
found.
The atmosphere of Titan is largely
composed of nitrogen; minor
components lead to the formation
of methane and ethane clouds and
nitrogen-rich organic smog. The
climate—including wind and rain—
creates surface features similar to
those of Earth, such as dunes,
rivers, lakes and seas (probably of
liquid methane and ethane), and
deltas, and is dominated by
seasonal weather patterns as on
Earth. With its liquids (both surface
and subsurface) and robust
nitrogen atmosphere, Titan’s
methane cycle is viewed as an
analogy to Earth’s water cycle,
although at a much lower
temperature.
The satellite is thought to be a
possible host for microbial extra-
terrestrial life or, at least, as a
prebiotic environment rich in
complex organic chemistry with a
possible subsurface liquid ocean
serving as a biotic environment.
Cassini:
Cassini–Huygens is a Flagship-
class NASA-ESA-ASI robotic
spacecraft sent to the Saturn
system. It has studied the planet
and its many natural satellites
since arriving there in 2004, also
observing Jupiter, the Heliosphere,
and testing the theory of relativity.
Launched in 1997 after nearly two
decades of gestation, it includes a
Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric
probe/lander for the moon Titan
called Huygens, which entered and
landed on Titan in 2005. Cassini is
the fourth space probe to visit
Saturn and the first to enter orbit,
and its mission is ongoing as of
2012.
It launched on October 15, 1997 on
a Titan IVB/Centaur and entered
5 Current Affairs Notes
into orbit around Saturn on July 1,
2004, after an interplanetary voyage
which included flybys of Earth,
Venus, and Jupiter. On December
25, 2004, Huygens separated from
the orbiter at approximately 02:00
UTC. It reached Saturn’s moon
Titan on January 14, 2005, when it
entered Titan’s atmosphere and
descended to the surface.
It successfully returned data to
Earth, using the orbiter as a relay.
This was the first landing ever
accomplished in the outer Solar
System.
900 foot-wide asteroid
Apophis to pass by Earth,
‘may hit’ in 2036
Apophis, a 900 foot-wide asteroid
named after an Egyptian demon is
set to pass by Earth has no
chances of a cataclysmic collision,
according to scientists.
The asteroid will not get closer than
around nine million miles to Earth
tonight (January 10th, 2013).
Scientists will use this encounter to
improve their estimate of just how
dangerous the space rock really is,
the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.
In 2029, Apophis is expected to
come uncomfortably close,
brushing past the Earth at a
distance of just 30,000 kilometres.
That will put the asteroid inside the
orbit of communication satellites.
However, there remains a non-
negligible chance of the asteroid
smashing into Earth in 2036.
Asteroids are a class of small
Solar System bodies in orbit
around the Sun. They have also
been called planetoids, especially
the larger ones. These terms have
historically been applied to any
astronomical object orbiting the
Sun that did not show the disk of a
planet and was not observed to
have the characteristics of an active
comet, but as small objects in the
outer Solar System were
discovered, their volatile-based
surfaces were found to more
closely resemble comets, and so
were often distinguished from
traditional asteroids. Thus the term
asteroid has come increasingly to
refer specifically to the small
bodies of the inner Solar System
out to the orbit of Jupiter, which are
usually rocky or metallic. They are
grouped with the outer bodies—
centaurs, Neptune Trojans, and
trans-Neptunian objects—as minor
planets, which is the term preferred
in astronomical circles.

Temi Tea – The Flavor of
Sikkim
Amidst the backdrop of picturesque
and mighty Mt. Khanchan Dzonga
refreshed by the gentle breeze of
river Teesta brews the morning sip
of Sikkim – the Temi tea. Spread
over 180 hectares of gentle slope
with altitude ranging from 4500 to
6316 feet, the Temi tea garden
produces one of the finest orthodox
tea that promises the appreciation
of tea connoisseur.
The Temi Tea estate was
established in 1969 during the
erstwhile regime of Chogyal and
the commercial production started
in the year 1977. In the year 1974
Tea board was formed to govern
the day to day functioning of the
estate and later it went on to
become the subsidiary of
Industries Department under
Sikkim government. Temi Tea
which apart from providing direct
employment to over four hundred
labors and thirty personnel, also is
a major employer in the
Government sector.
The gentle slopes that originate
from the Tendong hill range has
loamy soils condition with slope of
30–50% that suits best for tea
plantation and produces nearly 100
tons of tea annually. Although the
quantity of produce may seem
insignificant in terms of major tea
producing estates, the quality and
the flavor it produces has been
able to win the heart of tea
aficionados within India and the
world.
The tea produced by the Temi Tea
estate is packaged under many
brand names like “Temi Tea” which
is of the best quality consisting of
pure tea golden flowery orange
pekoe. The next in quality is the
popular brand of ‘Sikkim Solja’
followed by ‘Mystique’ and
‘Kanchanjunga Tea’. It is also sold
in the form of ‘Orthodox dust tea’.
While nearly 70 percent of the
produce is sold in public auction at
Kolkata through its authorized
broker, the rest is converted into
retail packets and sold in the local
market.
The geographical location and the
young plantation supplemented by
organic method of production have
further added to the value and flavor
of tea leaves produced from this
estate. Temi Tea garden closely
followed the guidelines issued by
IMO, Switzerland and with the
completion of observation period;
Temi Tea Estate was certified 100
percent organic by IMO India, a
member group of IMO Switzerland
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
in 2008. In addition, it is also a
HACCP certified estate as per ISO -
22000 standard under Food Safety
Management System ensuring
finest of quality product reaching
the market. It may be noted that
Temi tea garden is also the
recipient of All India Quality Award
from Tea Board of India for the two
consecutive years.
Educating Children in
Naxal Affected Areas
One piece of good news on the
educational front from left wing
extremist affected (LWE) districts
in the country is that many areas
have witnessed a declining
trend in the dropout rates since
the inception of Sarv Shiksha
Abhiyan as was stated by the
Minister of State for Human
Resource Development,
ShriShashiTharoor while replying
to a question in Parliament during
the just concluded winter session
A number of steps have been taken
over the years by the centre and
the concerned state governments
to enroll children in schools in
LWE affected areas and most
importantly to retain them in
schools and thus arrest the high
rate of drop outs that these schools
have been witnessing for many
years .
Central Government Initiatives and
Assistance
1. The opening of residential
schools has been quite effective in
retaining children in schools. Accor-
ding to official figures there are 77
residential schools/ hostels in LWE
districts with intake capacity of
31650 children. 889 Kasturba
Gandhi Vidalaya residential
schools for girls have been opened
in the affected districts for class VI
to VIII.
2. Under the provisions of a
scheme of the Ministry for Tribal
Affairs 100 percent central assis-
tance is provided for construction of
all Scheduled tribe girls’ ashram
schools and boys’ ashram schools
in naxal-affected districts identified
by Ministry of Home Affairs from
time to time.
3. The Coordination with Ashram
Shalas and other SC/ST depart-
ment schools by giving free text
books, the mid-day meal, teacher
training school maintenance grant
and teacher grant for teaching aids
has also helped.
4. Multi Lingual Education in early
grades in tribal districts of Odisha,
Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
is another step that can improve
6 Current Affairs Notes
learning comprehension and
retention of children in schools.
5. The centre has also sanctioned
special training for drop outs or
never enrolled children. Over 33280
lakh rupees have been sanctioned
for 6,59,668 out of school children
for age appropriate admission in
regular schools.
6. Transportation/ escort facility for
total of 47,909 children has been
provided in 2011-12 and 2012-13 in
LWE districts.
7. LWE districts are treated as
Special Focused districts for need
based planning and sanctions.
KG to PG Educational
Hubs in Maharashtra
The Maharashtra government is
planning an initiative towards
starting “KG to PG” educational
hubs for tribal students in areas
affected by Naxalite violence. These
residential schools are meant to
impart education to students from
kindergarten to postgraduate level
and are aimed at letting tribal
communities enter the main-
stream.
Portable Cabin Schools in
Chhattisgarh
In Chhattisgarh the state
government there has installed
pre-fabricated structures, porta
cabin schools in all the districts of
Bastar region. While it takes a long
time to build permanent infra-
structure for schools, the Pre-
fabricated structures can be moved
to areas where Naxalites have
destroyed schools or where ever
they are required. The porta cabin
school scheme in Chhattisgarh
has been implemented with the
help of UNICEF and the state of
Jharkhand has also approved
funds for such schools.
Balbandhu Programme of
National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
• An innovative Balbandhu
scheme initiated by the National
Commission for Protection of Child
Rights (NCPCR) in strife torn areas
two years back too has started
making an impact. The scheme
has been introduced in nine
districts affected by civil strife in
Sukhma in Chhhatisgarh,
Gadchiroli in Maharashtra,
Khammam in Andhra Pradesh,
East Champaran, Sheohar,
Jammui and Rohtas in Bihar and
Kokrajhar and Chirang in Assam.
Balbandhus are young people
recruited from within the

community to oversee the children
in such areas go to school, return
to schools if they have dropped
out and trace and restore the
missing children to their families.
While these balbandhus may not
have the power to enforce imple-
mentation but they can put
pressure on the authorities by
involving the community and the
Panchayats towards this end An
evaluation report on the Balbandhu
programme says that these young
recruits have given a distinct
confidence to the children in these
areas specially the school going
ones.
• Among many other suggestion,
recommendations, that the Bal-
bandhu programme should be
extended for at least two years in
the same block and a new block
should be opened up in the neigh
bouring district where the existing
resource person and balbandhu
can give basic operational training
• The self-help groups and Bal-
bandhu committee should monitor
Midday meal scheme and send
regular reports.
• Students should be encoura-
ged to form self-help groups where
the students good in studies could
help weak children.
National Electric Mobility
Mission Plan Launched
The Hon’ble Prime Minister
unveiled the National Electric
Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP)
2020.
The principal end objectives of the
National Mission for Electric
Mobility (NMEM):
1. National energy security
2. Mitigation of the adverse impact
of vehicles on the environment and
growth of domestic manufacturing
capabilities.
3. The NEMMP 2020, the mission
document for the NMEM that was
approved by the National Council
for Electric Mobility (NCEM) on 29th
August, 2012, sets the vision, lays
the targets and provides the joint
Government – industry vision for
realizing the huge potential that
exists for full range of efficient and
environmentally friendly electric
vehicle (including hybrids)
technologies by 2020.
The NEMMP 2020 is a well-
researched document and relies
on in-depth primary data based
study conducted jointly by the
Government and the Industry which
indicates that high latent demand
for environmentally friendly electric
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
vehicle technologies exists in the
country. As per these projections,
6-7 million units of new vehicle
sales of the full range of electric
vehicles, along with resultant liquid
fuel savings of 2.2 – 2.5 million
tonnes can be achieved in 2020.
This will also result in substantial
lowering of vehicular emissions
and decrease in carbon di-oxide
emissions by 1.3% to 1.5% in 2020
as compared to a status quo
scenario.
The NEMMP 2020 projections also
indicate that the savings from the
decrease in liquid fossil fuel
consumption as a result of shift to
electric mobility alone will far
exceed the support provided
thereby making this a highly eco-
nomically viable proposition.
Therefore on all counts encoura-
ging the faster adoption of hybrid &
electric vehicles and their manu-
facture in India is a wise invest-
ment for our future generations.
NMEM is amongst the most
significant interventions of the
Government that promises to
transform the automotive paradigm
of the future by lessening the
dependence on fossil fuels,
increasing energy efficiency of
vehicles and by providing the
means to achieve ultimate
objective of cleaner transportation
that is compatible with sustainable
renewable energy generation. This
Intervention will also help encou-
rage the Indian Automotive Industry
to shift to newer, cleaner techno-
logies so that it builds its future
competitive advantage around
environmentally sustainable
products, high end technologies,
innovation and knowledge.
The implementation and roll out of
the NEMMP 2020 will be done
through various specific schemes,
interventions, policies that are
currently under formulation and will
be considered by the Government
in the near future.
Industrial Clusters in
North Eastern Region
The Ministry of Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSME) has
adopted the cluster development
approach as a key strategy for
enhancing the productivity and
competitiveness as well as
capacity building of Micro and
Small Enterprises (MSEs) and their
collectives in the country. Clust-
ering of units also enables
providers of various services to
them, including banks and credit
agencies, to provide their services
more economically, thus reducing
costs and improving the availability
of services for these enterprises.
7 Current Affairs Notes
Objectives of the Scheme:
i. To support the sustainability
and growth of MSEs by addressing
common issues such as improve-
ment of technology, skills and
quality, market access, access to
capital, etc.
ii. To build capacity of MSEs for
common supportive action through
formation of self-help groups,
consortia, upgradation of associ-
ations, etc.
iii. To create/upgrade infrastruc-
tural facilities in the new/existing
industrial areas/ clusters of MSEs.
iv. To set up common facility
centres (for testing, training centre,
raw material depot, effluent
treatment, complementing
production processes, etc).
Cluster Development Programme
has facilitated growth and
promotion of MSMEs in NER under
various trades. A Regional
Resource Centre (RRC) for cluster
development has been set up at
Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship
(IIE),Guwahati, with 7 Sub-
Centres in all the North Eastern
States. 4,135 enterprises have
been created through clusters,
besides scaling up of 1,760
enterprises in developed clusters
through efforts of IIE, Guwahati.
Recommendations of the
Conference of Chief
Secretaries and DGsP
The conference of the Chief
Secretaries and Director Generals
Police held in New Delhi on
January 04, 2013 has suggested
increase in punishment for gang
rape, setting up of Fast Track
Courts, National data base for
sexual offenders and amendments
to Cr PC, IPC and Juvenile Justice
Act. The conference also came out
with the suggestions for gender
sensitization of police force, more
recruitment of women in police,
deployment of women police in
every Police Station, single help
line for women across the country,
strengthening of forensic
capabilities and community
Policing.
Some of the important suggestions
made by the participants at the
conference are as follows:
CRIME PREVENTION
Prevention is most important.
There should be zero tolerance for
petty offences as the offender can
escalate in the crime ladder and
especially for cases u/s 509.
Community policing should be
introduced. National data base of

sexual offenders should be
initiated. Preventive sections of Cr
PC should be used more and
coordination between police and
citizens needs to be ensured.
CHANGES IN LAW
Cr PC needs to be amended to aim
at speedy trials. Section 509 of IPC
needs to be amended. When there
is presumption of offence having
been committed, discretion in grant
of bail should be done away with.
Punishment for gang rape should
be higher. Amendment to Juvenile
Justice Act to lower the age to 16
years and grading based on the
magnitude of offence is necessary.
Placement agencies need to be
brought under law.
ORGANISATION
Accountability of police is essential.
Gender sensitization to be made a
part of the curriculum, if not done in
Police Training Schools and
Colleges. Awareness programmes
are necessary. Expansion of civil
Police is necessary and reluctance
of women to join should be
reduced by reserving posts for
them in Police. Dy. SP should be
the nodal officer for crime against
women in every district. One Addl.
DG of Police should be designated
as nodal officer in every state.
WOMEN SAFETY
There is a need to increase the
number of response vehicles
(PCR) and Women PCRs could be
started. Mahila help desk need to
be established if not done in all
Police Stations. Women help line
should be toll free. Security of
women in the trains should be
ensured. GPS system should be
fixed in transport buses. There
should be single helpline number
across the country. More women
Police Stations need to be opened.
Care centers for women who have
no place to go at night should be
started with the help of NGOs.
INVESTIGATION PROCESS
Investigation process is delayed
mainly because of delay in forensic
science reports and hence forensic
capabilities needs to be streng-
thened. There is need for more
Standard Operating Procedures
(SOPs) for investigation.Depending
on the crime, investigation should
be completed within 30 to 90 days
and a time frame for filing charge
sheet should be defined. Prose-
cution needs to be supported.
Cases need to be registered as
and when women reach a Police
Station. Recording of information
should be only by women and if
necessary by audio/video
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
recording. Medical practitioner who
examines a rape victim must be a
woman. Police protection for the
victim till the trial ends should be
given.
TRIAL
Fast Track courts are necessary
and need to be supported. Court
procedure should prevent humi-
liation of the victim and character
assassination must be stopped.
There should be no adjournments
once trial starts with day to day
hearing. Rights of the victims
should be defined. Judges and
prosecutors should be women.
Discretion in grant of bail for
heinous offences should be
removed. Prosecutor should be of
the choice of the victim.
The one day conference was
attended by Union Home Minister
Shri Sushilkumar Shinde, Union
Women & Child Development
Minister Smt. Krishna Tirath, Union
Minister for Social Justice &
Empowerment KumariSelja, Union
Ministers of State for Home Shri
RPN Singh and Shri M Rama
chandran and senior officers from
the Center and State Governments.
10 Janaury 2013
National waterway
number 6, for northeast
The 121-km stretch of Lakhipur-
Bhanga of the Barak River will soon
become a national waterway, the
sixth in the country.
Approving the proposal, the Union
Cabinet on Thursday decided to
enact a law for the purpose and
cleared Rs. 123 crore for providing
infrastructure on this stretch.
The Inland Waterways Authority of
India will execute the project in two
phases. The first will be completed
by 2016-17 and the second by
2018-19, integrating the waterways
in the northeast and helping cargo
transport through Assam,
Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur,
Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
Vernacular Report, 2012
According to the Vernacular Report,
2012, of the Internet and Mobile
Association of India (IAMAI):
1. A higher percentage of rural
people are aware of regional
language content than urban
users.
2. In India, 45 million users
access content in the local
language. Around 64 percent of
8 Current Affairs Notes
rural Internet users (24.3 million
active users out of a total 38
million) use the Internet in the local
language. But only 25 per cent of
the total 84 million urban users
browse the Net in regional
languages (20.9 million).
3. By and large, the applications
that are most used by regional
language users include emails,
search engines and news content,
text chat, matrimonial services and
online banking services. In rural
areas, the report shows a bias in
favour of sites offering government
services, land records and private
initiatives such as eChoupal, which
provides aggregated information of
interest to farmers and facilitates
sale of farm produce.
4. According to the IAMAI report,
Internet non-users have mentioned
that lack of content in local
language as one of the major
reasons, along with lack of infra-
structure.
5. With a low working knowledge
of English in India (according to the
National Readership Survey, 2006,
only 18.2% of the population is
English-literate; 34.2% in urban
and 11.1% in rural areas), Internet
penetration in India is only 12%,
since content is primarily available
in English.
6. The reading problem was
resolved long ago, at least for
Tamil,” says N. Chokkan, one of the
first-generation users of Tamil on
the Internet. “With the introduction
of Unicode to regulate the way
Tamil is being used on the Net,
things have changed dramatically.
Today, there are about 15 applica-
tions for the PC and five or six
mobile apps purely for typing.
7. The study covered the top
metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai
and Kolkata, the cities of
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmeda-
bad, and Pune, and 12 smaller
cities. Five non-metro towns and 10
small towns were also included in
the study. It was conducted by the
e-Technology group of the Indian
Market Research Bureau and the
IAMAI, an industry body represen-
ting the online and mobile industry
in India.
The Afghanistan’s turmoil
The Issue = American troops to
leave Afghanistan by 2014, and the
Taliban issue has still not been
resolved.
The Obama angle: Obama needs
to show some concrete results that
have been achieved by the US-
Afghan war; hence America is

speeding up the political
dialogues. The realisation, two
years ago, that defeating the
Taliban was impossible triggered
cautious efforts at exploring ways to
deal with them politically. As 2014
approaches, those efforts have
picked up speed, with the Obama
administration keen to leave
behind an arrangement that can
help it claim a semblance of
political achievement from the
military intervention.
Through the facilitation of a French
think-tank, representatives of the
Karzai government’s High Peace
Council met Taliban represen-
tatives in France last month.
The position that the Taliban
representatives took at the
meeting contained:
1. They denounced the
Constitution.
2. They do not want the 2014
elections to be held, and
3. Believe their Islamic Emirate,
ousted by U.S. forces after 9/11,
was the best thing that happened
to Afghanistan.
4. There was no renouncing of
ties with al-Qaeda. With the
underlying tone one of contempt
towards the Karzai government.
Hence it is hard to escape the
impression that the Taliban are not
so much interested in negotiation
with Kabul as a deal with the U.S.
for a return to power.
Given this, the High Council’s
“Peace Process Roadmap to 2015”
sounds unrealistic. It visualises a
deal based on respect for the
Constitution—a ceasefire with the
Taliban and other armed groups by
the end of 2013, their transfor-
mation into political parties and
participation in the following year’s
elections. In reality, it makes a
huge pragmatic concession to the
Taliban by envisaging “non-elected”
positions in the “power structure.”
This has already raised concern
within and outside Afghanistan, not
least because it is no secret that
Pakistan has been working both
sides of the table. Pakistan’s
stakes are understandable: post-
2014, any instability in Afghanistan
is most likely to first wash across
the Durand Line, adding to its
existing woes. But it is not clear if it
realises that any attempt to use its
influence with the Taliban to create
instability in the neighbourhood
after 2014 would rebound on it.
Locked out of the process after all
the talk of a ‘regional’ solution,
The Indian Angle:
India’s primary worry is Pakistan’s
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
intentions, as recently cross-border
tensions have increased. Moreover
India has invested its time, money
and people in Afghanistan hence it
would be injurious to Indian
interests that Taliban regime
comes back into power.
Woman in Indian
workforce
The labour participation rate of
women = it is the number of
women in the labour force as a
proportion of the total female
population.
1. In 2008, the labour participation
rate in India was only 33 percent for
females as compared to 81
percent for males.
2. By way of comparison, it was
68 percent for females in China.
3. Among Indian States, the
female labour participation rate is
one of the lowest in Delhi, a region
also known for its harsh treatment
of women.
The labour force includes not only
the employed but also unemplo-
yed persons who are actively
seeking jobs.
In India, substantial numbers of
women who are not counted in the
labour force are, as described in
the official statistics, ‘attending to
domestic duties’ in their own
households.
1. National Sample Survey reports
tell us that, in 2009-10, out of every
1,000 females (all ages) in India’s
rural areas, 347 were attending to
domestic duties.
2. In the case of urban females,
this number was even bigger: 465
per 1000. Compare this to the
number of rural and urban men
who were attending to domestic
duties: only 5 per 1,000 and 4 per
1,000 respectively.
A woman’s work in her own
household is not counted as an
economic activity, and does not get
reported in the national income
statistics. This is unlike the case of
services by a paid domestic help,
which is considered an economic
activity and is counted in the
national income. As is well known,
women’s domestic duties include
childbirth, caring for the young and
old, cooking, and a range of other
activities that are crucial for the
upkeep of the family.
In rural areas, women periodically
enter and exit from agricultural
work. Quite often, women’s partici-
pation in agricultural activities as
self-employed workers is to
9 Current Affairs Notes
supplement the falling incomes of
their families during times of
agrarian distress. This is what
seemed to have happened in India
between 1999-2000 and 2004-05.
During this five-year period, the
growth of agricultural incomes in
the country was stagnant, yet the
number of self-employed female
workers engaged in agriculture and
related activities increased by 17
million, possibly indicating
‘distress employment’.
On the other hand, between 2004-
05 and 2009-10, the number of
self-employed female workers
engaged in agriculture and related
activities decreased by 19 million in
India.
This decline in employment could
be attributed to a modest revival in
the growth of agricultural incomes
and to the positive impact on rural
employment and wages created by
the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act). Thus, it appears
that in India, during the 2000s,
female employment in agriculture
was not driven by any real opportu-
nities for income generation, but
was part of a last-ditch effort to
escape impoverishment.
Urban, Educated Women
1. In India, social factors play a
significant role in reducing
women’s labour participation.
2. In 2009-10, the proportion of
those attending to domestic duties
(and therefore out of the labour
force) was 57 per cent among
urban females with graduate
degrees or higher, compared to
just 31 percent among rural
females with primary or middle
school education.
3. What are the reasons for such
a massive withdrawal of educated
women from the work force? Lower
wages than men could be one
reason. But then female-male
wage disparities exist in Japan and
South Korea as well, but female
labour participation has been high
in these countries.
4. Within Indian manufacturing,
women’s employment is increa-
singly in the low-paid, vulnerable
sectors. Between 1999-2000 and
2004-05, women accounted for 3.7
million of the 9.7 million new
manufacturing jobs created in the
country. A large proportion of these
women were employed in the
export-oriented sectors such as
garment-making.
5. However, by 2009-10, India’s
manufacturing sector was suffering

from a variety of problems,including
power shortage and a slowdown in
export demand from western
countries. Between 2004-05 and
2009-10, 3.7 million manufacturing
jobs were lost in the country, and
more than 80 per cent of those who
lost their jobs were women.
6. During the post-1990 years, the
major source of employment for
women has been in the services
sector, mainly in low-paid services
such as domestic help.
In Myanmar’s transition,
shades of Indonesia
There are many parallels between
Myanmar and Indonesia as:
1. The militaries of both nations
are inheritors of the legacies of
Japanese occupation, are obse-
ssed with law, order, discipline,
unity and territorial integrity
2. Gave high premium to
intelligence agencies in main-
taining regime survival; debilitated
their civil societies; acquired
stakes in the country’s economy,
and legitimised the political role of
the armed forces through
constitutional provisions.
3. Both are multi-ethnic states are
haunted by the twin spectres of
racial tension and a separatist
periphery. And, both have inflated
views of their importance to
national survival.
4. As in Indonesia, nationalism
flowered in Burma during World
War II and Burma’s post-indepen-
dence leadership had been closely
associated with the anti-colonial
Burma Independence Army (BIA)
recruited and trained by the
Japanese.
5. In both Burma and Indonesia,
the military had played a prominent
part in the achievement of indepen-
dence. In both countries, having
intervened decisively, the military
consolidated its position by expan-
ding into civilian administration and
business and by establishing a
military-dominated political party.
Despite minor differences, the
pathology, the ideological outlook
and the experiences of the two
countries are so similar that
Myanmar is likely to follow the
same trajectory in its movement
towards democracy—a guided
political system with a certain role
for the armed forces till the
economy grows to accommodate
both the security and economic
interests of the armed forces
through an expanded defence
budget, and creates a middle class
demanding greater transparency
and accountability from the
government.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Soon MSMEs can buy,
sell licences for patented
products online
MSMEs will get concessional rates
for trading on the portal
An online portal where micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSME)
can trade licences for patented
products will be launched in April,
said Karamjeet Singh Saluja,
Deputy Director, Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR), Federation of
Indian Micro and Small and
Medium Enterprises (FISME),
Intellectual Property Facilitation
Centre (IPFC).
There are different IPR
instruments, and entrepreneurs
should know which instrument
should be used when, some of
them are; patents, copyrights,
trademarks, geographical
indication (GI) tags.
Maharashtra’s SEZ exit
policy may not be
successful: CREDAI
Raising doubts about the success
of the new industrial policy for
Maharashtra, developers’ apex
body CREDAI on Wednesday said
integrated industrial parks may not
be successful as Special Eco-
nomic Zones have failed to take
off.
The new policy allows an exit route
for special economic zone (SEZ)
developers, whose projects have
got stuck due to issues like land
acquisition or changes in tax laws
by the Union government.
It is heartening to note that state
government is trying to give some
incentives to generate higher
employment. The new industrial
policy is welcome in that sense.
However, the policy on conversion
of SEZ seems to be going no-
where. Government needs to
understand as to why and how
SEZs have failed.
Vitamin-D and its
importance
1. Sunshine vitamin or Vitamin D,
which is manufactured in our body
when our skin is exposed to the
sun, is popularly known for its
muscle strengthening and bone
building properties.
2. Getting appropriate Vit D (or
sunlight) reduces risk of heart
diseases and diabetes, protects
against and betters prognosis for
colorectal cancer and TB, multiple
sclerosis, schizophrenia and even
wards off the flu!
10
3. The 25-hydroxy Vitamin D blood
test can tell you if you are deficient
or not. Levels over 30 nanograms/
millilitre are termed sufficient. (One
nanogram is one billionth of a
gram).
VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY
RISK GROUP
1. Even though the body can
make Vitamin D from sunlight, very
few people actually expose them-
selves to direct sunlight, what with
all the sunscreens, staying indoors
or covering up to protect the skin
against the sun or harsh cold.
2. Those who are especially
prone to deficiency are the elderly.
People over 65 years make only a
quarter of the vitamin than those
who are in their twenties. Obese
people who have BMI (body mass
index) of over 30 too don’t make
enough.
3. Those with dark skin tones and
those who have fat malabsorption
due to cystic fibrosis, celiac or
Crohn’s disease, or bowel
surgeries are prone to Vit D
deficiency. Patients with liver or
kidney disease, those taking gluco-
corticoids, who are home bound or
live in a/c rooms (glass panes
block UVB rays) and those who live
in the northern latitude fall into the
risk group. Vegetarians too run the
risk of deficiency as animal foods
are a major source of Vitamin D.
4. Just 10 to 15 minutes of
exposure to the direct sun on our
limbs will provide us most of the
required Vitamin D. Unfortunately,
pollution, cloudy sky and seasons
with less sunshine could act
against acquiring sufficient
ultraviolet B (UVB) rays that create
Vitamin D in our body.
HOW VITAMIN D AFFECTS OUR
HEALTH
The Health Professional Follow up
Study of 50,000 healthy men
monitored the Vitamin D level over
a span of 10 years. It was found
that those who had low level had
twofold the risk of heart disease
than those with adequate levels.
Separate studies on the same
have shown sudden cardiac
arrests, stroke and death in people
with deficient levels of the vitamin.
Children who play under the sun
seem to have lesser incidence of
respiratory infections. Adults who
don’t, seem to catch a cold more
often.
A study on Finnish children over a
span of 30 years found that those
with Vitamin D deficiency were 90
Current Affairs Notes

per cent more at risk of developing
Type 1 diabetes. Vitamin D defici-
ency is linked to both insulin
resistance and impaired pancreatic
secretion of insulin.
Concept:
There are 3 types of UV rays:
UVA: A stands for Aging.
UVA radiation penetrates deep into
the skin and is responsible for
premature aging of the skin and
skin cancer. Tanning beds can emit
2 to 5 times more UVA radiation
than the sun.
UVB: B stands for Burning.
UVB radiation is stronger than UVA
radiation. It mainly affects the outer
layers of the skin, causing
sunburns, premature aging of the
skin, and skin cancer. These rays
are strongest during the summer
months – especially between 11
am and 4 pm.
UVC: UVC radiation is the stron-
gest, most dangerous form of UV
light. However, they are stopped by
the earth’s atmosphere and do not
reach earth’s surface.
Criteria for SAT chief selection
modified
The Union Cabinet, on Thursday,
approved the modified norms for
expanding the eligibility criteria for
presiding officer of the Securities
Appellate Tribunal (SAT), a post that
has been lying vacant since
November, 2011.
Under the modified norms, the
eligibility criteria stands slightly
diluted in that a retired judge of a
High Court with seven years of
experience would now be eligible
for appointment as SAT chief.
As per the earlier norms, only a
retired judge of the Supreme Court
or a former Chief Justice of a High
Court could be appointed as SAT
presiding officer.
The post has been lying vacant
since November 2011 as the gover-
nment could not find a willing judge
meeting the eligibility criteria.
NASA to send aircraft in
stratosphere to study
climate change
1. NASA will send a remotely
piloted research aircraft 65,000 feet
over the tropical Pacific Ocean this
month to probe unexplored regions
of the upper atmosphere and
detect how a warming climate is
changing Earth.
2. The first flights of the Airborne
Tropical Tropopause Experiment
(ATTREX), a multi-year airborne
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
science campaign with a heavily
instrumented Global Hawk aircraft,
will take off from and be operated
by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research
Center at Edwards Air Force Base
in California.
3. Water vapour and ozone in the
stratosphere can have a large
impact on Earth’s climate. The
processes that drive the rise and
fall of these compounds, especially
water vapour, are not well under-
stood.This limits scientists’ ability
to predict how these changes will
influence global climate in the
future.
4. ATTREX will study moisture and
chemical composition in the upper
regions of the troposphere, the
lowest layer of Earth’s atmos-
phere.The tropopause layer
between the troposphere and
stratosphere, 12 km to 17 km
above Earth’s surface, is the point
where water vapour, ozone and
other gases enter the stratosphere.
5. Studies have shown even small
changes in stratospheric humidity
may have significant climate
impacts. Predictions of stratos-
pheric humidity changes are
uncertain because of gaps in the
understanding of the physical
processes occurring in the tropical
tropopause layer.
6. ATTREX will use the Global
Hawk to carry instruments to
sample this layer near the equator
off the coast of Central America.
7. “The ATTREX payload will
provide unprecedented measure-
ments of the tropical tropopause,”
said Eric Jensen, ATTREX principal
investigator at NASA’s Ames
Research Center in Moffett Field,
California.
Spacetime more like clear
whisky than frothy beer
Space-time continuum may be less
like a frothy quantum beer and
more like a sipping Einsteinian
whiskey, a scientist has claimed.
a. Astrophysicist Robert Nemiroff
of Michigan Technological
University and NASA Goddard,
reached this conclusion after
studying the tracings of three
photons of varied wavelengths that
were recorded by NASA’s Fermi
Gamma-ray Space Telescope in
May 2009, the ‘Science Daily’
reported.
b. The photons originated about 7
billion light years away from Earth
in one of three pulses from a
gamma-ray burst. They arrived at
the orbiting telescope just one
millisecond apart, in a virtual tie.
11
c. Gamma-ray bursts are short-
lived bursts of gamma-ray photons,
the most energetic form of light.
They can originate far across the
universe, and astronomers believe
many are caused by giant stars
collapsing, often billions of years
before Earth was formed.
d. “Gamma-ray bursts can tell us
some very interesting things about
the universe,” Nemiroff said.
e. In this case, those three
photons recorded by the Fermi
telescope suggest that spacetime
may not be as bubbly as some
scientists think.
f. Some theories of quantum
gravity say that the universe is not
smooth but foamy – made of funda-
mental units called Planck lengths
that are less than a trillionth of a
trillionth the diameter of a hydrogen
atom.
g. Planck lengths are so small
that there’s no way to detect them,
except via photons like those that
make up gamma-ray bursts.
h. The reason the wavelengths of
these photons are some of the
shortest distances known to
science – so short they should
interact with the even smaller
Planck length. And if they interact,
the photons should be dispersed-
scattered-on their trek through
Planck length-pixelated spacetime.
i. In particular, they should
disperse in different ways if their
wavelengths differ, just as a ping
pong ball and a softball might take
alternate paths down a gravely
hillside.
j. Also, one wouldn’t notice the
scattering over short distances, but
across billions of light years, the
Planck lengths should disperse the
light. And three photons from the
same gamma-ray burst should not
have crashed through the Fermi
telescope at the same moment.
FII inflows through
P-Notes rise to
Rs 1.77 lakh cr
1. Investments into Indian shares
through participatory notes (P—
Notes), a preferred route for HNIs
and hedge funds from abroad, hit
9—month high of Rs 1.77 lakh
crore (about $32.4 billion) in
November.
2. According to the latest data
released by the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the
total value of P—Note investments
in Indian markets (equity, debt and
derivatives) rose to 1,77,164 crore
Current Affairs Notes

at the end of November after falling
to a near three year low of Rs
1,28,895 crore in May.
3. The November figure has
reached highest level since
February, when the cumulative
value of such investments stood at
Rs.1,83,151 crore.
4. P—Notes, mostly used by
overseas HNIs (High Networth
Individuals), hedge funds and other
foreign institutions, allow them to
invest in Indian markets through
registered Foreign Institutional
Investors (FIIs), while saving on
time and costs associated with
direct registrations.
5. Market analysts say investment
through P—Notes has been raising
in the past three months on policy
reform measures taken by the
government and its initiatives to
address tax related issues.
6. Besides, value of P—Notes
issued with derivatives as under-
lying, was at an Rs 94,658 crore at
the end of November.
7. The quantum of FIIs invest-
ments through P—Notes, however,
declined to 13.7 percent in
November, from 14.4 percent in the
previous month.
8. P—Notes have been accoun-
ting for mostly 15—20 per cent of
total FII holdings in India since
2009, while it used to be much
higher—in the range of 25—40 per
cent in 2008. It was as high as over
50 per cent at the peak of Indian
stock market bull run during a few
months in 2007.
9. Their share has fallen after
SEBI tightened disclosure and
other regulations for such invest-
ments.
10. FIIs, the key driver of Indian
markets, poured in $24 billion
(around Rs 1.28 lakh crore) into
Indian equities in 2012—second
highest net inflows since 1993
when India opened up its door for
foreign investors.
India not to be part of
extended IT pact of select
WTO members
India will not be party to the second
instalment of the IT agreement that
a number of World Trade Organi-
sation members are negotiating as
it would lead to zero import tariffs
on a number of sensitive electronic
and consumer products including
mobile phones, i-pads, washing
machines and refrigerators.
New Delhi would be part of the
trade facilitation agreement that
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
seeks to upgrade infrastructure at
ports and customs stations on its
own terms, the official added.
“The developed countries including
the EU and the US are trying to
cherry-pick areas where they want
to have plurilateral agreements
totally by-passing the Doha round
so that they can have some early
gains. We are fighting against it,”
the official said.
Developed nations are trying to use
the next ministerial meeting of the
WTO scheduled in December in
Bali to sign a number of plurilateral
agreements as the on-going Doha
round of talks has not reaped
results.
India said that it had lost heavily
after signing the first instalment of
the IT agreement that involved
eliminating duties 217 items like
parts of microscope, semi-
conductor equipment, spraying
appliances and still image video
cameras.
11 Janaury 2013
KAU scientists challenge
studies on impact of
endosulfan
Two scientists from Kerala
Agricultural University (KAU) have
come out with a report highlighting
serious flaws and inconsistencies
in two independent epidemio-
logical studies carried out in the
endosulfan-affected areas in
Kasaragod.
Authored by K.M. Sreekumar,
entomologist at the College of
Agriculture, Padannakkad, and K.D.
Prathapan of the College of Agricul-
ture, Vellayani, the report,
published in the latest online
edition of the Current Science
journal of research, alleges major
lapses in the analysis of endo-
sulfan residues, lack of clarity in
the incidence of physical disability,
biased findings about change in
sex ratio, and absence of data to
substantiate higher incidence of
cancer.
SOCIAL REALITIES
1. The report said the inferences
on reproductive health events in
women had not taken social
realities into account and there was
no statistical comparison between
the data generated during the
period of pesticide application
(1980 to 2000) and the period after.
2. It also highlighted the inconsis-
tencies in the data generated by the
12
two surveys on the prevalence of
mental retardation and cancer
3. The published report said no
criterion, clinical or biochemical
was applied for the selection of
victims of endosulfan spraying.
“Persons with all types of common
diseases and those living 10 to 15
km away from the cashew estates
are included in the list of victims to
avail of free medical aid and
financial benefits.”
4. The report called for a compre-
hensive, multidisciplinary study to
bring out the true picture of the
issue that shook the conscience of
the whole world.
Sri Lankan parliament
impeaches Chief Justice
The Sri Lankan parliament impea-
ched Chief Justice Shirani Bandara
nayake on Friday, effectively
throwing the judiciary into disarray
and signalling a breakdown of the
Constitution.
A host of procedural issues
delayed the debate on Thursday,
and the vote on Friday. But Speaker
Chamal Rajapaksa, a brother of
President Mahinda Rajapaksa,
allowed the vote to go ahead late
on Friday. He later announced that
the President will be informed that
the impeachment motion was
passed with 155 votes for the
motion and 49 against.
Despite the impeachment,
Ms.Bandaranayake is still some
distance away from being thrown
out. The President has to make a
formal proclamation to this effect;
and he has said that he would first
consult a panel of eminent persons
ahead of taking such a decision.
Also, since the PSC report itself is
void, the judiciary cannot accept the
impeachment. In effect, Ms.Banda-
ranayake can continue as CJ till the
executive implements the orders of
the legislature.
Concept: the judicial impeach-
ment in India:
What is impeachment?
A member of the higher judiciary,
which means the Judges and Chief
Justices of the Supreme Court of
India and the state High Courts,
can be removed from service only
through the process of impeach-
ment under Article 124 (4) of the
Constitution on grounds of proven
misbehaviour or incapacity. In India,
there is no other process by which
a Judge can be removed from
office before his term comes to an
end. However, the process is very
cumbersome.
Current Affairs Notes

Who decides if a Judge should be
impeached?
As per the Judges Inquiry Act, 1968,
a complaint against a Judge has to
be made through a resolution
either by 100 members of the Lok
Sabha or 50 Rajya Sabha
members. After the MPs submit a
duly signed motion to this effect to
their respective presiding officers
—Chairman of the RajyaSabha or
Speaker of the LokSabha—the
presiding officer constitutes a
three-member committee
comprising two Judges—one from
the Supreme Court and one Chief
Justice of a High Court if the
complaint is against a HC Judge;
and two Supreme Court Judges if
the complaint is against a sitting
Judge of the apex court—and a
jurist to probe the complaint and
determine if it is a case fit for
initiating the process of impeach-
ment.
This team can involve any indepen-
dent agency, either from the govern-
ment or the private sector, to
investigate the charges, before
making a recommendation to the
House. Thereafter, if the committee
has concluded that impeachment
proceedings be launched, the
matter is debated in both Houses
of Parliament. The Judge who is
facing impeachment is also given
the opportunity to rebut the
charges, either in person or
through his representative.
However, the entire process—
debate onwards—has to be
completed within a single session
of the House, failing which the
motion is deemed dropped and
can only be taken up if the entire
process is repeated afresh in any
subsequent session.
What is the majority needed to
pass the impeachment motion?
After the debate ends and the
Judge has been heard, if the
House decides to put the motion to
vote, the resolution has to be
passed by two-thirds majority in
both Houses in the same session.
The resolution is then sent to the
President, who orders removal of
the Judge.
Has any Judge ever been
impeached since Independence?
None till date. The only time,
Parliament came close to impea-
ching a Judge was in the case of
former Punjab and Haryana High
Court Chief Justice V Ramaswami
for corruption in 1991. However, the
move failed as the then Congress
government headed by Rajiv
Gandhi asked all Congress MPs to
abstain from voting, thus defeating
the motion.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Last year, 58 MPs of the Rajya
Sabha moved a motion for
impeachment of Calcutta High
Court Judge SoumitraSen for his
involvement in financial misappro-
priation before he was appointed
as a Judge. The matter is pending
before a three-member committee
constituted by the RajyaSabha
Chairman.
On Monday, 75 MPs of the Rajya
Sabha submitted a signed motion
for impeachment of controversial
Karnataka High Court Chief Justice
P D Dinakaran on 12 counts. Once
the signatures are verified, the
matter will be referred to a
committee to be constituted by the
Chairman of the RajyaSabha.
Among other things, Dinakaran is
accused of encroaching upon
government and village common
land, amassing assets much
beyond his known sources of
income and causing loss to the
exchequer.
Is there any other way to punish
errant Judges?
No. In most cases, transfer is the
only course of action followed by
the Supreme Court collegium if it
feels that the offence of the Judge
is not so grave so as to attract the
penalty of impeachment. Ironically,
in a large number of cases, the
highest court of the land has ruled
that transfer is no punishment.
Is the government mulling a new
law to rein in and punish errant
Judges?
Yes, Union Law Minister M Veera-
ppa Moily has already announced
on the floor of the Parliament that a
new law in this regard could be
introduced in the ongoing Session
of Parliament itself.
Two judges are:
(1) Justice V. Ramaswami: He
was the Punjab and Haryana high
court chief justice of in the year
1993 when he was impeached by
the LokSabha by 196 votes
because of his incapacity to do
work; the supreme court had
charged Justice V. Ramaswamias
failed “TO DO COMPLETE
JUSTICE”.
(2) Justice SoumitraSen: He was
the Calcutta high court chief justice,
the chief justice of India K.G
Balakrishnam had recommended
him for impeachment to the
parliament because he had mis-
appropriating Rs. 22.83 lakh .than
on 2009 a three members
commitee was set up and investi-
gation was started and he was
found guilty and finally on 17 August
2011 he was impeached by Rajya
Sabha.
13
CONCLUSION: The impeachment
process is levied on the official who
is unable to do his or her work
properly or who had done the un-
constitutional work which harms
the country.
The impeachment is the process
to stop the corruption in the higher
level officials and to remove them
from their offices because as we
had studied we were came to know
that by impeachment only the
higher level officer is removed from
the office.
Judicial over Activism
The judgment delivered on
September 13, 2012 by Justice
Swatanter Kumar, on behalf of
himself and Justice A.K. Patnaik,
belongs to an impressive lineage
of Supreme Court rulings which
create havoc and confusion in
institutions—and even in the
conduct of examinations—of which
its judges were blissfully unaware.
That this one called for a complete
overhaul of the system of the
Central Information Commission
(CIC) and the many States’
Information Commissions is the
least of its blemishes. What is of
graver import and long-term
consequence is that it is a wanton
and reckless assault on
parliamentary democracy.
INTEMPERATE COMMENTS
Proceedings for its review had to
be halted because its author
Justice Swatanter Kumar retired
last month and was immediately
appointed Chairman of the
National Green Tribunal; but not
before delivering intemperate
comments during the review
proceedings.
Like almost all Supreme Court
judgments, this one is rich in florid
prose, disdainful of brevity and is
animated by a desire to legislate. A
good copy editor would have
reduced its 107 pages to one-third.
The issue before the court was
simple. Section 12 (5) and (6) of
the Right to Information Act, 2005
prescribe, respectively, qualifica-
tions and disqualifications of the
CIC and Information Commissio-
ners. S. 15 (5) and (6) replicate
them for their counterparts in the
States.
Briefly, the petition contended that
the criteria for eligibility did not
specify the qualifications or
consultation with the judiciary. They
perform judicial or quasi-judicial
functions and should, therefore,
have judicial experience. The Act
must also prescribe a mechanism
for consultation with the judiciary
for such appointments.
Current Affairs Notes

S. 12 (6) of the Act which states the
disqualifications is simplicity itself.
“The Chief Information Commissio-
ner or an Information Commissio-
ner shall not be a Member of
Parliament or Member of the
Legislature of any State or Union
Territory, as the case may be, or
hold any other office of profit or
connected with any political party or
carrying on any business or
pursuing any profession.” How
anyone can possibly object to
these bars passes
comprehension.
Judge Swatanter Kumar’s
objection takes one’s breath away
as does his “reading down” of its
terms.
He holds it to have “an element of
uncertainty” and indefiniteness. “It
is difficult to say what the person
eligible under the provision should
be doing and for what period. The
section does not specify any such
period. Normally, the persons
would fall under one or the other
unacceptable categories. To put it
differently, by necessary
implication, it excludes practically
all classes while not specifying as
to which class of persons is
eligible to be appointed to that
post. The exclusion is too vague,
while inclusion is uncertain.”
One would have thought that the
exclusion of legislators, holders of
office of profit, politicians, busine-
ssmen and professionals leaves
open an entire range of persons to
select from. The statute book
abounds with bars such as these.
The judge says that it debars “all
persons” and asks “if anyone, who
is an elected representative, in
government service, or one who is
holding an office of profit, carrying
on any business or profession, is
ineligible in terms of Section 12 (6),
then the question arises as to what
class of persons would be eligible.
The Section is silent on that
behalf.”
But the criteria for eligibility is set
out in S. 12 (5) and disqualification
is S. 12 (6).
The judge finds a way out to save
S. 12 (6) from being struck down as
bad in law — by wrecking it. “We
would prefer to interpret the
provisions of Section 12 (6) as
applicable post-appointment rather
than pre-appointment of the Chief
Information Commissioner and
Information Commissioners. In
other words, these disqualifica-
tions will only come into play once
a person is appointed as Chief
Information Commissioner/
Information Commissioner at any
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
level and he will cease to hold any
office or profit or carry any business
or pursue any profession that he
did prior to such appointment.”
This perverse misreading of the
provision subverts the entire
scheme of the Act and flouts the will
of Parliament so clearly expressed.
By Judge Swatanter Kumar’s logic,
it would be open to the government
of the day to pack the Information
Commissions, Central and State,
with legislators from the ruling
party, party officials, civil servants
and others, provided only that they
resigned from their jobs to fill these
plum postings. Such people do not
turn Becketts. The object clearly
was to exclude this category, not
include it after its purification by
resignation.
The statute book abounds with
such sensible bars. Parliament
was justified in laying them down.
Judges Kumar and Patnaik subvert
its will and do so by a reasoning
which is shockingly absurd. The
strictures by Lord Chancellor
Simonds on a similar excess by
Lord Demmings are apt—“a naked
usurpation of the legislative
function under the disguise of
interpretation.”
The ruling is no better on the
provision for eligibility. S. 12 (5)
says: “The Chief Information
Commissioner and Information
Commissioners shall be persons
of eminence in public life with wide
knowledge and experience in law,
science and technology, social
service, management, journalism,
mass media or administration and
governance.”
‘UNCERTAIN TENOR’
The Bench holds, however, that “the
terminology used by the legislature,
such as ‘mass-media’ or
‘administration and governance,’
are terms of uncertain tenor and
amplitude. It is somewhat difficult
to state with exactitude as to what
class of persons would be eligible
under these categories. The
legislature in its wisdom has
chosen not to provide any specific
qualification, but has primarily
prescribed ‘wide knowledge and
experience’ in the cited subjects as
the criteria for selection.”
Indeed it holds that the
qualifications prescribed [S. 12 (5)]
conflict with the disqualifications in
sub-section (6). To sustain their
constitutionality, the bar is thus
judicially modified to apply after
appointment, and the qualifications
themselves are modified — to plant
judges on the Commissions. The
14
right to do so is boldly stated: “The
Courts can also bridge the gaps
that have been left by the
legislature inadvertently”.
Gaps are detected where none
exist and are filled in by an
improper exercise of judicial power,
in breach of the fundamentals of
parliamentary democracy. Piling
error upon error, the judges
themselves venture to lay down
qualifications — “a basic degree in
the respective field” practice in law
for 20 years and a procedure for
consultation with the Chief Justice
of India and the Chief Justices of
the High Courts. Twelve directions
are given. The Almighty was content
with 10.
Parliament could have laid down
that the CIC and the ICs be
presided over by judges. It chose
consciously and wisely not to do
so. What have the judges to show
for themselves as they ran
Commissions of Inquiry and the
Press Council? The Kudal
Commission on the Gandhi Peace
Foundation, the Thakkar
Commission on Indira Gandhi’s
assassination, the J.S. Verma and
the M.C. Jain Commissions on
different aspects of Rajiv Gandhi’s
assassination, the
RanganathMisra Commission on
the Delhi rots, the Wadhwa
Commission on the Staines
murders and the Lieberhan
Commission on the demolition of
the Babri Masjid?
Consultation with the CJI is no
safeguard. Justice R.S. Pathak,
CJI, was consulted on the
appointment of judges to the
Fairfax Commission. He opted for
Judges M.P. Thakkar and S.
Natarajan, a safe pair of hands.
How have successive judges of the
Supreme Court conducted
themselves on the Press Council
of India? At least six CJIs left office
in the last quarter century under a
cloud.
On November 22, hearing the
petition for review, “the bench” — as
correspondents timidly reported,
probably for Justice Kumar — said
that the CIC and ICs “are persons
who have been in the government’s
good books”. However, on
September 19, a day after the
Centre moved to appoint Judge
Swatanter Kumar as head of the
National Green Tribunal, another
Bench comprising Justices G.S.
Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhyay
remarked that appointments to
tribunals, including the NGT, had
“raised serious issues relating to
integrity of judges” and that “there
is a competition among the judges
to get those appointments.”
Current Affairs Notes

This is one aspect of the
unfortunate ruling; another is its
obstruction of the democratic
process. The crux of the matter is
that Parliament is entitled to lay
down the criteria and the
government, accountable to it, is
entitled to choose persons who
meet the criteria. The courts have
no business to impose their views.
IIP growth at 4-month low
(Nov 2012)
Shaking the growing optimism over
an on-going recovery while giving
clear signals of a bottoming out,
the growth in industrial output
contracted to a four-month low of
0.1 percent in November, 2012,
mainly owing to poor shows by
manufacturing, mining and capital
goods sectors, which have been
the laggards for most part of the
year.
With the slump in industrial growth,
as measured by the Index of
Industrial Production (IIP), coming
immediately after a robust 8.3 per
cent expansion in October and way
below the 6 per cent growth
witnessed in November, 2011, the
dismal performance prompted the
industry chambers to clamour yet
again for a rate cut by the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) in its quarterly
review on January 29. The IIP data
released here on Friday revealed
that the major culprit responsible
for the contraction in overall growth
was the manufacturing sector,
which makes up for over 75 per
cent of the index. It grew by a mere
0.3 per cent in November last year
as compared to a healthy 6.6 per
cent increase in the same month a
year ago.
Accordingly, the cumulative growth
in industrial production during the
April-November period this fiscal
stood pegged at a paltry one per
cent, a marked pull-down from the
healthier 3.8 per cent expansion
notched up in the same period in
2011-12. Partly responsible for the
poor show thus far this fiscal was
the performance in July, 2012,
which saw a contraction of 0.1 per
cent.
Meanwhile, the growth in the
industrial production during
October last year has been revised
to 8.3 percent from the provisional
estimates of 8.2 percent.
Analysing the IIP numbers and
attributing the slump in factory
output in November to statistical
reasons, Planning Commission
Deputy Chairman Montek Singh
Ahluwalia argued that the economy
has already bottomed out and the
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
government’s efforts will now show
results in the coming months.
“This data does not contradict the
proposition that the economy has
bottomed out. It now needs to move
upwards...you need to wait to see
what December is like…In this
particular case, we have to keep in
mind that the base effect has
operated in two different ways,” he
said.
Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory
Council Chiarman C. Rangarajan
viewed that the situation would
improve in the coming quarters of
the fiscal. “I certainly think in the
first quarter of next year or the last
quarter of this fiscal, we can see a
definite positive growth in
manufacturing,” he said.
However, on the possibility of a rate
cut by the RBI, Dr.Rangarajan said:
“The RBI will look at a number of
factors. Wholesale Price Index will
be an input into the decision
making…The RBI will have to see
about an appropriate action being
taken in order to contain the fiscal
deficit ...Trends are in the right
direction perhaps. But let us wait.”
Concept:
IIP: Every month the stock markets
wait with bated breath to hear the
IIP numbers. These numbers
decide the market movement. But
what is IIP? What is its relationship
to the stock markets? Let us
understand more about IIP.
IIP, the key tracker of industrial
production
IIP or the index of industrial
production is the number denoting
the condition of industrial
production during a certain period.
These figures are calculated in
reference to the figures that existed
in the past. Currently the base used
for calculating IIP is 2004-05
Importance of IIP
As IIP shows the status of
industrial activity, you can find out if
the industrial activity has
increased, decreased or remained
same. Today it is important
because with the news of
recession hovering over the
horizon, better IIP figures indicate
increase in industrial production. It
makes investors and stock
markets become more optimistic.
Its relation with stock markets
The optimism amongst the stock
markets and investors translates
into the markets going up. This is
because the markets expect the
companies’ performance to
increase. This ultimately leads to
15
the growth in the country’s GDP. It
implies improvement in country’s
economy, thus making it an
attractive investment destination to
foreign investors.
Computation of IIP
The first time IIP used the year
1937 as its reference point. It
contained only 15 products. Since
then, the criteria for the base year
as well as the number of products
have been revamped 7 times.
Currently, IIP uses 2004-05 as the
reference year and includes items
whose gross value of output is at
least Rs 80 crores and Rs 20
crores at gross value added level.
The products included are the ones
used on consistent basis and can
comprise of small scale sector as
well as unorganized production
sector.
They are segregated into 3
sections: manufacturing, mining
and electricity. They are also
classified on the basis of usage:
capital goods, basic goods, non-
basic goods, consumer durables
and consumer non-durables.
The numbers for IIP are released
within 6 weeks after the end of the
month. This data is collated from
15 different agencies like
Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion, Indian Bureau of Mines,
Central Statistical Organisation and
Central Electricity Authority. But at
times, the entire data may not be
easily available.
Hence some estimates are done to
generate provisional data, which is
then used to calculate provisional
index. Once the actual data is
available, this index is updated
subsequently.
Though IIP does indicate the
condition of the country’s economy,
it should not be taken as the sole
basis for investment. This is
because some sectors may show
higher performance as compared
to others. This was evident in the
recent past when realty sector
showed higher performance,
pharma sector lagged behind.
NHRC unveils ‘Code of
Ethics’ for Indian industry
Refraining from projects that would
be detrimental to locals, respecting
whistleblowers’ rights and allowing
equal opportunities to qualified
employees regardless of their
caste or religion are among the
‘Code of Ethics’ propagated by
NHRC for Indian Industry.
The NHRC came up with the 12-
point Code after a panel appointed
Current Affairs Notes

by it submitted a report and said
Indian industry’s criteria for social
and ethical aspects are yet to reach
the desired level of sophistication.
“The agitation and the mass uproar
surrounding the Lokpal movement
suggest that there is need for
creating accountable entities. This
aspect should be incorporated in
business ethics.
“As per this tenet, companies must
conform to trade procedures,
including licensing, documentation
and other necessary formalities, as
applicable,” the study ‘Developing
Code of Ethics for Indian Industry’
said.
Noting that inclusion is one of the
key deterrents to growth in the
country, the study said, the first
tenet to ethical behaviour has to be
inclusiveness.
“All companies must refrain from
undertaking projects or activities
that would be detrimental to the
wider interests of the communities
in which they operate. This implies
that companies should respect the
local culture, customs and
traditions in which they operate,” it
said.
In a statement, NHRC said the
Code of Ethics for Indian Industry
strongly advocates for equal
opportunities to all qualified
employees, regardless of their
race, caste, gender, religion etc for
their inclusive growth and welfare.
“It is required that companies strive
for providing a safe, healthy, clean
and ergonomic working
environment for their employees
and indirect workers,” the
Commission said.
The Code of Ethics was formulated
after an exhaustive study based on
data collected from 20 industries in
diverse sectors, including Tata, Yes
Bank and ITC Ltd.
“Code of Ethics emphasises upon
the implementation of policies
consistent with the laws, develop-
ment of an atmosphere, wherein
whistle-blowers’ rights are
respected and employees are
allowed to raise their concerns to
the top management without fear
and intimidation,” the Commission
said.
Concept: NHRC
The National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) of India is an
autonomous public body
constituted on 12 October 1993
under the Protection of Human
Rights Ordinance of 28 September
1993. It was given a statutory basis
by the Protection of Human Rights
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Act, 1993 (TPHRA). The NHRC is
the national human rights
institution, responsible for the
protection and promotion of human
rights, defined by the Act as “rights
relating to life, liberty, equality and
dignity of the individual guaranteed
by the Constitution or embodied in
the International Covenants”.
Since late 2011, the organization
has been embroiled in a controversy
where leading jurists have sought
the resignation of its Chairman, ex-
Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan,
pending investigation into charges
of assets disproportionate to his
income. In response, NHRC has
uploaded details of Justice
Balakrishnan’s assets.
Functions of NHRC
TPHRA mandates the NHRC to
perform the following functions:
1. proactively or reactively inquire
into violations of human rights or
negligence in the prevention of such
violation by a public servant
2. by leave of the court, to intervene
in court proceeding relating to
human rights
3. visit any jail or other institution
under the control of the State
Government, where persons are
detained or lodged for purposes of
treatment, reformation or protection,
for the study of the living conditions 1. Leading a group of
of the inmates and make
recommendations
4. review the safeguards provided
by or under the Constitution or any
law for the time being in force for the ceiling in the insurance sector to 49
protection of human rights and
recommend measures for their
effective implementation
5. review the factors, including acts
of terrorism that inhibit the
enjoyment of human rights and
recommend appropriate remedial
measures
6. study treaties and other
international instruments on human
rights and make recommendations
for their effective implementation
7. undertake and promote
research in the field of human rights
8. engage in human rights
education among various sections
of society and promote awareness
of the safeguards available for the
protection of these rights through
publications, the media, seminars
and other available means
9. encourage the efforts of NGOs
and institutions working in the field
of human rights
10. Such other function as it may
consider it necessary for the
protection of human rights.
16
Composition
The NHRC consists of:
1. A Chairperson who has been a
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
of India
2. One Member who is, or has
been, a Judge of the Supreme
Court of India
3. One Member who is, or has
been, the Chief Justice of a High
Court
4. Two Members to be appointed
from among persons having
knowledge of, or practical
experience in, matters relating to
human rights
5. In addition, the Chairpersons of
four National Commissions serve
as ex officio members.
The 4 national commissions’
chairperson who serve as ex-
officio members are:
1. National Commission for
Minorities
2. National Commission for
Scheduled Castes
3. National Commission for
Scheduled Tribes
4. National Commission for
Women.
MNC insurers pitch for
hike in FDI cap to 49 p.c.
multinational insurers, former
Ambassador of the US to India
Frank Wisner on Friday pitched for
raising foreign direct investment
per cent to help insurers raise
capital necessary to fuel business
growth.
2. Currently, the FDI limit in the
insurance sector at 26 per cent.
3. Emphasising that foreign
companies are the long term
players in the insurance business,
he said raising foreign investment
limit will give them confidence and
help them bring in higher capital
which is required for the growth of
the business.
4. Entry of foreign companies in
the insurance market has resulted
in expanding the product basket,
Mr. Wisner said, adding the sector
has generated about 3 million
direction and indirect employment
and modern practices introduced in
the sector post liberalisation.
5. India’s own national insurance
company has grown by leaps and
bounds as a result of introduction
of competition, he said.
6. “It’s timely for a number of
reasons...India has huge demand
Current Affairs Notes

for capital both foreign and
domestic. Since 2009, it has been
receiving less capital,” he said.
7. “Capital today is looking for the
market which offers best and good
corporate governance, predictable
returns and assured policy,” he
added.
8. The Insurance Amendment Bill,
which seeks to raise the FDI cap in
the private sector insurance
companies to 49 per cent from 26
per cent, is now expected in the
upcoming Budget.
9. The Insurance Laws
(Amendment) Bill has been
pending in the RajyaSabha since
December 2008.
10. The Union Cabinet had cleared
the draft Bill on October 4, 2012 as
part of slew of measures to allow
FDI in various sectors.
11. The Standing Committee
headed by senior BJP leader
YashwantSinha, which had
scrutinised the Bill, was against
raising the ceiling on FDI in the
sector arguing that it would expose
the sector to global vulnerability.
12. At present, there are 52
insurance companies operating in
India; of which 24 are in the life
insurance business and 27 are in
general insurance business.
Shrinking Sunderbans
threat to Bengal Tiger
Fast-disappearing mangrove
forests of the Sunderbans pose a
question mark over the future of the
Royal Bengal Tiger, an endangered
species, and say scientists.
Rapid deterioration in mangrove
health is causing as much as 200
metres of the vegetation-rich coast
to disappear annually in the
Sunderbans, according to
zoologists.
Nathalie Pettorelli, from the
Zoological Society of London (ZSL)
and senior study author, said: “Our
results indicate a rapidly retreating
coastline that cannot be accounted
for by the regular dynamics of the
Sunderbans. Degradation is
happening fast, weakening this
natural shield for India and
Bangladesh.”
Sunderbans is the largest block of
continuous mangrove forest in the
world, native to nearly 500 species
of reptile, fish, bird and mammals,
including the world famous Royal
Bengal Tiger, the journalRemote
Sensing reports.
Thriving human development,
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
rising global temperatures, degra-
dation of natural protection from
tidal waves and cyclones is inevi-
tably leading to species loss in this
richly biodiverse part of the world,
according to a ZSL statement.
President presents
Census Medals
President Pranab Mukherjee
presented the Census Medals for
extraordinary performance at a
function in VigyanBhavan here on
Friday.
The President congratulated all the
Census Medal winners and said
informed decision-making has to
be based on empirical data and
census is the only source of data
that provides information on
various individual characteristics
right up to the village level for rural
areas and the ward level for urban
areas.
The President said census in India
was a very challenging task in view
of its multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and
multi-cultural society.
Ever since the first Census of India
after Independence, it has been the
tradition with the Census Organi-
sation to award silver and bronze
medals and certificates of honour
from the President to various
census functionaries, including
enumerators, supervisors, charge
officers in recognition of their work.
Concept: 2011 Census
The Indian Census is the most
credible source of information on
Demography (Population charac-
teristics), Economic Activity, Literacy
and Education, Housing & House-
hold Amenities, Urbanisation,
Fertility and Mortality, Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes,
Language, Religion, Migration,
Disability and many other socio-
cultural and demographic data
since 1872. Census 2011 will be
the 15th National Census of the
Country. This is the only source of
primary data in the village, town
and ward level, It provides valuable
information for planning and formu-
lation policies for Central and the
State Governments and is widely
used by National and International
Agencies, Scholars, business
people, industrialists, and many
more.
The Delimitation/reservation of
Constituencies- Parliamentary/
Assembly/Panchayat and other
Local Bodies is also done on the
basis of the demographic data
thrown up by the Census. Census
is the basis for reviewing the
country’s progress in the past
17
decade, monitoring the on-going
Schemes of the Government and
most importantly, plan for the
future. That is why the Slogan is “
Our Census - Our Future”.
National Population Register:
Introduction
The National Population Register
(NPR) is a Register of usual
residents of the country. It is being
prepared at the local (Village/sub-
Town), sub-District, District, State
and National level under provisions
of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the
Citizenship (Registration of
Citizens and issue of National
Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. It is
mandatory for every usual resident
of India to register in the NPR. A
usual resident is defined for the
purposes of NPR as a person who
has resided in a local area for the
past 6 months or more or a person
who intends to reside in that area
for the next 6 months or more.
Objectives
The objective of the NPR is to
create a comprehensive identity
database of every usual resident in
the country. The database would
contain demographic as well as
biometric particulars.
Demographic Particulars
3. The following demographic
details of every individual are
required for every usual resident:
Name of person
Relationship to head of household
Father’s name
Mother’s name
Spouse’s name (if married)
Sex
Date of Birth
Marital status
Place of birth
Nationality (as declared)
Present address of usual
residence
Duration of stay at present address
Permanent residential address
Occupation/Activity
Educational qualification
LPG portability launched
1. Online booking, tracking and
delivery introduced across country
2. The UPA government on Friday
launched portability of LPG connec-
tions in Chandigarh. Online
booking, tracking and delivery of
gas, and booking of new connec-
tions through mobile and web
portal have been introduced across
the country.
Current Affairs Notes

3. Launching gas connection
portability, Petroleum and Natural
Gas Minister VeerapaMoily said the
service would be extended to 25
more districts in the next fiscal.
However, unlike mobile services
where you could change the
service provider or the mobile
company, an LPG consumer will
have the option to change the
dealer within the same distribution
company but not the oil company.
4. For example, a consumer of
Indane of the Indian Oil Corporation
(IOC) will have the option to choose
from other Indane dealers but will
not be able to switch to dealers of
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
Limited (HPCL) or Bharat
Petroleum Corporation Limited
(BPCL). “A pool of two to three
dealers will be cleared for every
locality in the district. Consumers
will have the option of choosing
from this cluster,” Mr.Moily added.
5. “Dealer portability has been
launched to provide better services
to 13.5 crore customers and end
the monopolistic practices of the
cooking gas distributors,” he said.
6. No inter-company change
7. Officials said the inter-company
change was not possible at this
moment as the law did not permit
it. The government was looking at
changing the law or creating a
situation where a cylinder belon-
ging to one oil company could be
returned to or re-filled by another oil
company.
8. Mr.Moily also launched new IT/
web-enabled initiative, ‘Lakshya’ to
enable consumers book and track
refills online as well on mobile
phone. It would enhance transpa-
rency in distribution of cylinders.
Under the new initiative, customers
can rate their distributors on
service and anybody found wanting
could possibly face termination of
dealership. Now each distributor is
being automatically rated from 5
stars to no star on a graded scale
using transaction data. The
distributor who supplies 85 percent
of cylinders booked in less than
two days is rated 5 stars and the
distributor who supplies 85 percent
of cylinders beyond 10 days is
rated with no star.
9. Others are rated in between
according to their delivery pattern.
The rating will help consumers
select distributorships once
portability is available.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Ballastless tracks to
facilitate operation of
high-speed trains
The Indian Railways will switch to
ballastless tracks on seven routes,
including the Chennai-Bangalore
sector, identified for operating high-
speed trains, said A.P. Mishra,
Member, Engineering, Railway
Board, on Friday.
“Ballastless tracks that allow
operation of high-speed trains and
have the benefits of lower mainte-
nance requirements and increased
service life are the choice by default
for these high-speed rail corridors,
tunnelling projects and tracks near
platforms,” Mr. Mishra said.
Feasibility studies are at various
stages of completion on the high-
speed routes, including Chennai-
Bangalore, Delhi-Mumbai and
Delhi-Chandigarh sectors.
According to Mr. Mishra, new tracks
would have to be laid for the
Chennai-Bangalore route where
the plan is to operate trains at
speeds in excess of 250 km per
hour. The average speed on the
Delhi-Mumbai route, where existing
tracks are being used for trials of
high-speed trains is about 200
kmph.
Concept: Advantage of ballastless
track over traditional tracks:
A disadvantage of traditional track
structures is the heavy demand for
maintenance, particularly surfacing
(tamping) and lining to restore the
desired track geometry and
smoothness of vehicle running.
Weakness of the subgrade and
drainage deficiencies also lead to
heavy maintenance costs. This can
be overcome by using ballastless
track. In its simplest form this
consists of a continuous slab of
concrete (like a highway structure)
with the rails supported directly on
its upper surface (using a resilient
pad).
There are a number of proprietary
systems, and variations include
continuous in situ placing of a rein-
forced concrete slab, or alterna-
tively the use of pre-cast pre-stre-
ssed concrete units laid on a base
layer. Many permutations of design
have been put forward.
However ballastless track is very
expensive in first cost, and in the
case of existing railroads requires
closure of the route for a somewhat
long period. Its whole life cost can
be lower because of the great
reduction in maintenance require-
ment. Ballastless track is usually
considered for new very high speed
18
or very high loading routes, in short
extensions that require additional
strength (e.g. rail station), or for
localised replacement where there
are exceptional maintenance
difficulties, for example in tunnels.
Govt moves to make
three key cancer drugs
cheaper
In a move that will benefit thous-
ands of cancer patients but is likely
to upset pharma MNCs, the
Department of Pharmaceuticals
has started the process of issuing
compulsory licences for three
commonly used anti-cancer drugs,
Trastuzumab (or Herceptin, used
for breast cancer), Ixabepilone
(used for chemotherapy) and
Dasatinib (used to treat leuka-
emia).
The first drug to be issued a
compulsory licence in India was
Bayer’s Nexavar (sorafenibto-
sylate), a drug for liver cancer, last
August. After the CL, Nexavar is
available for Rs 8,880 per pack of
120 tablets (a month’s dose), over
95% cheaper than its pre-CL price.
Trastuzumab, Ixabepilone and
Dasatinib are all more expensive
that Nexavar, costing Rs 50,000,
Rs 70,000-80,000 and Rs 15,000
respectively for a month’s dose.
Officials at the Department of
Pharmaceuticals said it was too
early to predict the post-CL price of
these drugs. Dr ShyamAggarwal,
consultant oncologist at Sir Ganga
Ram Hospital, said, “Even after the
recent cut in the prices of Trastu-
zumab and Dasatinib, they are still
way too expensive for the common
man. It is a very good move and will
not just benefit Indians but possibly
also bring down cancer drug prices
in countries where the pharma
market is not controlled by the US
and western European nations.”
Concept: compulsory licensing
Compulsory licensing (CL) by the
government allows a domestic
company to manufacture and sell a
generic version of a patented drug
with or without the consent of the
patent-holder. Sections 84 and 92
of the Indian Patents Act, 1970,
provide for CL in cases where the
patented drug is unavailable,
unaffordable, or if there are
problems with its supply in India.
CL reduces the price of a drug
manifold, and is a practice in many
developing countries.
Ion beam hope for cancer patients
West Bengal may soon get
cheaper and cost effective cancer
treatment facilities with the help of
Current Affairs Notes

proton ion beam as a team of Saha
Instititute of Nuclear Physics is now
working on a research project indi-
genously on how ion beams could
be used in treating cancer patients.
A team of 20 scientists of molecular
mechanism of disease branch of
SINP has initiated the research
recently. The therapy is likely to be
made available in Bengal next year.
Milan Sanyal, director Saha Institute
of Nuclear Physics, said till now
cancer treatment through proton
ion beam for treating cancer is
used in Germany and parts of UK
and if proton ion beams could be
indigenously created in Bengal, it
can help in treating millions of
cancer patients.
“Till now in Bengal radiotherapy is
used for treating cancer cells and
as a result, apart from cancer cells
many other cells get damaged.
With the help of ion beams we can
give radiation to only cancer
affected cells” Sanyal added.
Experts on radiation therapy are of
the opinion that radiation through
proton beam therapy will be more
localised and the cost of treatment
will be 1/4 th less than the original.
Dr JaydipBiswas, director of
Chiittaranjan National Cancer
Institute (CNCI) said that if proton
beam therapy is used in treatment
of cancer patients, it’s main
advantage would be that normal
cells of the patient will not get
affected.
“In most of the cancer cases,
surgery cannot be conducted in
critical areas, especially in the
prostate gland or blood vessels
connecting main organs like liver
and lungs. Proton beam therapy
will be helpful in such cases,”
Biswas said.
12 Janaury 2013
Polio Free India:
It is two years since India has had
a polio case. One more before the
country can say ‘Goodbye, Polio!....’
The battle against the wild polio
virus is poised interestingly in the
nation that not long ago, in 2009,
accounted for nearly half the
world’s polio cases.
To prevent polio from re-emerging,
the government has planned to
keep up intensive campaigns,
especially in high-risk areas. Two
nationwide campaigns and four
sub-national polio campaigns will
take place in 2013. High-risk areas,
including blocks in Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar, and migrant popula-
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
tions, are being targeted. A mapp-
ing system has been develo-ped to
ensure that all newborns in these
areas are vaccinated, and that no
one slips through the net. While the
success of the polio campaign is a
model of focussed attention, the
attention is now being turned on
increasing routine immunisation
coverage, according to those
involved in public health admini-
stration.
A joint statement from the WHO, the
CDC, the UNICEF, the End Polio
Now campaign, and the Central
government, indicates that the
sensitivity of surveillance in India
now surpasses the globally reco-
mmended standards.
Credit is being accorded to the
commitment of the Centre for
pushing ahead with the progra-
mme in the face of major hurdles.
However, equally important is the
seamless partnership between the
government, and the Rotary Inte-
rnational, the WHO, the UNICEF
and private paediatricians – for it
was the scale of this alliance that
managed to mobilise vast
quantities of field-level workers. In
the final call, this probably swung
the balance in favour of humans
over the wild polio virus.
Poliomyelitis
Polio; Infantile paralysis; Post-
polio syndrome:
Poliomyelitis is a viral disease that
can affect nerves and can lead to
partial or full paralysis.
Causes, incidence, and risk
factors:
1. Poliomyelitis is a disease
caused by infection with the polio-
virus. The virus spreads by:
2. Direct person-to-person contact
3. Contact with infected mucus or
phlegm from the nose or mouth
4. Contact with infected feces
5. The virus enters through the
mouth and nose, multiplies in the
throat and intestinal tract, and then
is absorbed and spread through
the blood and lymph system. The
time from being infected with the
virus to developing symptoms of
disease (incubation) ranges from 5
- 35 days (average 7 - 14 days).
Most people do not develop
symptoms.
Risks include:
1. Lack of immunization against
polio
2. Travel to an area that has
experienced a polio outbreak
3. Outbreaks can still occur in the
19
developed world, usually in groups
of people who have not been
vaccinated. Polio often occurs after
someone travels to a region where
the disease is common. As a result
of a massive, global vaccination
campaign over the past 20 years,
polio exists only in a few countries
in Africa and Asia.
Symptoms
1. There are three basic patterns
of polio infection: subclinical
infections, nonparalytic, and
paralytic. Most people have
subclinical infection, and may not
have symptoms.
2. SUBCLINICAL INFECTION
SYMPTOMS
3. General discomfort or
uneasiness (malaise)
4. Headache
5. Red throat
6. Slight fever
7. Sore throat
8. Vomiting
9. People with subclinical polio
infection might not have symptoms,
or mild symptoms may last 72
hours or less.
10. Clinical poliomyelitis affects the
central nervous system (brain and
spinal cord), and is divided into
nonparalytic and paralytic forms. It
may occur after recovery from a
subclinical infection.
Indian Action:
Pulse Polio is an immunisation
campaign established by the
government of India in 1995-96 to
eradicate poliomyelitis (polio) in
India by vaccinating all children
under the age of five years against
polio virus. This project deals with
the ways to fight poliomyelitis
through a large scale immuni-
sation programme, co-operating
with various international institu-
tions, state governments and Non
Governmental Organisations.
The Pulse Polio Initiative (PPI)
aims at covering every individual in
the country. It aspires to reach even
children in remote communities
through an improved social mobili-
sation plan.
1. Not a single child should miss
the immunisation, leaving no
chance of polio occurrence.
2. Cases of Acute Flaccid Paral-
ysis (AFP) to be reported in time
and stool specimens of them to be
collected within 14 days. Outbreak
Response Immunisation (ORI) to
be conducted as early as possible.
3. Maintaining high level of surve-
illance.
Current Affairs Notes

4. Performance of good mop-up
operations where polio has dis-
appeared.
5. India to be polio-free by 2005.
Steps involved
1. Setting up of booths in all parts
of the country.
2. Initialising walk-in cold rooms,
freezer rooms, deep freezers, ice-
lined refrigerators and cold boxes
for ensuring steady supply of
vaccine to booths.
3. Arranging employees, volun-
teers and vaccines.
4. Ensuring vaccine vial monitor
on each vaccine vial.
5. Immunising children with OPV
on National Immunisation Days.
6. Identifying missing children
from immunisation process.
7. Surveillance of efficacy.
India free of polio 2012
The last reported case of polio in
India was in West Bengal on
January 13, 2011. On 25 February,
2012, India was officially struck off
the list of polio-endemic countries
by the World Health Organization
(WHO).
Green Tribunal halts all
construction activity in
Noida and Greater Noida
In an order that is expected to bring
to a halt all construction activity, the
National Green Tribunal has rest-
rained all builders in Noida and
Greater Noida from extracting any
quantity of underground water for
purposes of construction or other-
wise till the next date of hearing.
Concept:
National Green Tribunal Bill, 2009
In order to provide quick clearance
for cases related to environmental
damage, this Bill sets up the
National Green Tribunal. The
tribunal will hear cases related to
major environmental damage as
well as appeals under various
environmental Acts.
Highlights of the Bill
The National Green Tribunal Bill,
2009 aims to set up specialised
environmental courts in the
country.· The Bill replaces the
existing National Environmental
Appellate Authority and has wider
jurisdiction than the NEAA. It will
hear initial complaints as well as
appeals from decisions of autho-
rities under various environ-mental
laws. The Tribunal shall consist of
both judicial and expert members.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Judicial members must have been
judges of the Supreme Court or
High Courts. Expert members
have to possess technical qualifi-
cations and expertise, and also
practical experience. The Tribunal
shall hear only ‘substantial ques-
tion relating to the environment’.
Substantial questions are those
which (a) affect the community at
large, and not just individuals or
groups of individuals, or (b) cause
significant damage to the environ-
ment and property, or (c) cause
harm to public health which is
broadly measurable.
Key Issues and Analysis
The criteria to determine what a
‘substantial question related to the
environment’ are open to interpre-
tation. The Bill may reduce access
to justice in environmental matters
by taking away the jurisdiction of
civil courts. All cases under laws
mentioned in the Bill will now be
handled by the Tribunal which will
initially have benches at only five
locations. The Bill does not give the
Tribunal jurisdiction over some
laws related to the environment.
The qualifications of judicial mem-
bers of the Tribunal are similar to
that of the NEAA. The government
has been unable to find qualified
members for the NEAA for the past
three years. The Green Tribunal
Bill gives an explicit option to the
government to appoint members
with administrative experience as
expert members. The Bill does not
specify the minimum number of
members the Tribunal and also
does not mention of the compo-
sition of the Selection Committee
for selecting members. Some other
laws that establish tribunals
specify the persons who shall
decide, or be consulted.
Renowned poet gets
Assam Literary Award
Renowned Assamese poet
Sameer Tanti has been awarded
the prestigious Assam Valley
Literary Award for the year 2012.
The award, instituted by Williamson
Magor Education Trust, is given to
preserve and promote the rich
literary heritage of Assam, said a
release issued by the trust here on
Saturday.
Fifty-eight-year-old Tanti has to his
credit 12 collections of poems, four
critical and literary essay collec-
tions, two translations of African
poems and love songs and Japa-
nese love poetry and two story
collections.
20
Use of alternative materials
mooted for road projects
Several road projects in the country
are facing constraints such as in-
adequate funds and non-availa-
bility of materials, Director-General
(Road Development) and Special
Secretary, Ministry of Road
Transport and Highways C.
Kandasamy said here on Saturday.
The annual session of the Indian
Roads Congress (IRC), which
concluded here on Friday,
highlighted that roads should be
designed not just for vehicles but
for people, safety and services. “We
are trying to effect policy changes.”
The IRC would do pilot projects on
road safety – and the government
would facilitate these projects
through the required guidelines.
The Chamber president R.R.
Balasundaram said that the
bypass road connecting Tiruchi
Road and Mettupalayam Road in
Coimbatore should be taken up
immediately. The four-lane work on
NH 47 from Chengapalli to Walayar
should be expedited and comple-
ted within the stipulated time. The
NH 67 stretch from Sulur to Coim-
batore should be made into a four-
lane one on a priority basis.
Concept: what can be used to
make roads?
1. Fly Ash: Fly ash a finally divided
mineral residue of burning of coal
exhibits excellent geotechnical as
well as pozzolanicproperties that
make it very suitable for all constru-
ction activities including roads,
embankments andreclamation of
low lying areas. Fly ash based
construction materials including
cement, concrete, bicks, blocks,
tiles, pavers, kerb stones, pre-
fabricated door frames, window
frames, beams, slabs are becom-
ing favourite of construction
industry, being durable, economi-
cal, eco-friendly, easy to use & of
consistent quality. Fly ash also
holdspotential to improve the
socio-economic status of rural
areas by generation of employment
& business through manufacture of
fly ash based products, their
usages in rural development
schemes,development of fly ash
supply chain, improvement of
agriculture yield and land resource
management, etc. with fly ash.
2. Other materials include:cement
and lime kiln dust, steel slag, rice
husk ash, baggase ash
3. Jute geotextiles are used in
reinforcing roads in India.
Current Affairs Notes

Provisioning norms for
NBFCs will hit
profitability: Assocham
The Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India
(Assocham) has suggested to the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that the
proposed norms on prudential
regulatory framework of non-
banking finance companies
(NBFCs) could have a negative
impact on overall profitability of
NBFCs due to higher provisioning
requirements for standard assets
and revision in non-performing
assets (NPA) norms.
As a liquidity coverage requirement,
the industry organisation sugge-
sted the RBI to treat bank deposits
with maturity period beyond 30
days, where pre-mature refunds
are allowed without any penalty, as
good as bank balances for all
practical purposes.
Provisioning on standard assets
Further, the panel has proposed to
raise the provisioning on standard
assets from 0.25 percentage
points to 0.40 percentage points of
the outstanding amount with effect
from March 31, 2014, for all NBFCs.
The chamber has also suggested
to the RBI that the time limit of three
years may be considered instead
of implementing it from March 31,
2014.
“This is important in the case of
factoring companies which have
just been governed by the Factoring
Bill passed by Parliament.”
The operational cycle for most of
the infrastructure projects is more
than three months, and conside-
ring the difficulties related to imple-
mentation, operational and other
issues raised by IFCs, three
months’ period for the declaration
of NPA may be inadequate.
“So far as infrastructure companies
are concerned, the period should
be kept as 180 days,” Assocham
added.
Further, it said that NBFCs do not
enjoy the same benefits as provi-
ded to banks under the Income-tax
Act. Therefore, it was suggested by
the industry that given the objective
to bring parity with banks, NBFCs
should be provided the same
benefits under SARFAESI (Securiti-
sation and Reconstruction of
Financial Assets and Enforcement
of Security Interest) Act and Income-
tax Act and benefits under Debt
Recovery Tribunals.
“Income tax benefits should also
be brought on a par with banks for
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
NBFCs. Banks get benefits on their
entire provisioning while NBFCs
get that benefit on written-off books
only. NBFCs are to be considered
on a par with banks and financial
institutions for availing of refinance
and take-out finance from IIFCL to
ensure level-playing field,” the
chamber added.
Concept: NBFC’s in India
QUES -1. what is a Non-Banking
Financial Company (NBFC)?
ANS -1. A Non-Banking Financial
Company (NBFC) is a company
registered under the Companies
Act, 1956 and is engaged in the
business of loans and advances,
acquisition of shares/stock/bonds/
debentures/securities issued by
Government or local authority or
other securities of like marketable
nature, leasing, hire-purchase,
insurance business, chit business
but does not include any institution
whose principal business is that of
agriculture activity, industrial activity,
sale/purchase/construction of
immovable property. A non-banking
institution which is a company and
which has its principal business of
receiving deposits under any
scheme or arrangement or any
other manner, or lending in any
manner is also a non-banking
financial company (Residuary non-
banking company).
QUES 2. NBFCs are doing
functions similar to banks. What is
difference between banks &
NBFCs?
ANS 2. NBFCs are doing functions
akin to that of banks; however there
are a few differences:
1. an NBFC cannot accept
demand deposits;
2. an NBFC is not a part of the
payment and settlement system
and as such an NBFC cannot
issue cheques drawn on itself; and
3. deposit insurance facility of
Deposit Insurance and Credit
Guarantee Corporation is not avai-
lable for NBFC depositors unlike in
case of banks.
QUES-3. Is it necessary that every
NBFC should be registered with
RBI?
ANS 3. In terms of Section 45-IA of
the RBI Act, 1934, it is mandatory
that every NBFC should be registe-
red with RBI to commence or carry
on any business of non-banking
financial institution as defined in
clause (a) of Section 45 I of the RBI
Act, 1934.
However, to obviate dual regulation,
certain categories of NBFCs which
21
are regulated by other regulators
are exempted from the requirement
of registration with RBI viz. Venture
Capital Fund/Merchant Banking
companies/Stock broking compa-
nies registered with SEBI, Insur-
ance Company holding a valid
Certificate of Registration issued by
IRDA, Nidhi companies as notified
under Section 620A of the Compa-
nies Act, 1956, Chit companies as
defined in clause (b) of Section 2 of
the Chit Funds Act, 1982 or Hous-
ing Finance Companies regulated
by National Housing Bank.
QUES 4. What are the different
types of NBFCs registered with
RBI?
ANS 4. Originally, NBFCs
registered with RBI were classified
as:
1. equipment leasing company;
2. hire-purchase company;
3. loan company;
4. investment company.
However, with effect from
December 6, 2006 the above
NBFCs registered with RBI have
been reclassified as
(i) Asset Finance Company (AFC)
(ii) Investment Company (IC)
(iii) Loan Company (LC)
AFC would be defined as any
company which is a financial insti-
tution carrying on as its principal
business the financing of physical
assets supporting productive/
economic activity, such as automo-
biles, tractors, lathe machines,
generator sets, earth moving and
material handling equipments,
moving on own power and general
purpose industrial machines.
Principal business for this purpose
is defined as aggregate of
financing real/physical assets
supporting economic activity and
income arising therefrom is not
less than 60% of its total assets
and total income respectively.
The above type of companies may
be further classified into those
accepting deposits or those not
accepting deposits.
Uses of proteins in
Humans
Protein is essential for your body to
build hormones, enzymes, antibo-
dies and every cell.
After age 40 your body has to work
harder to maintain muscle mass,
so it’s important to make sure you
get enough muscle-building
protein in a steady supply through-
out the day. Our recommendation:
Aim for a minimum of 46-56 grams
of protein per day.
Current Affairs Notes

And most important, protein
doesn’t mean saturated fat! Stay
clear of all red meats. Opt for fish
and lean poultry if you aren’t
vegetarian. But everyone should
rely on lean, protein-packing
beans, hummus, low-fat dairy, 100
percent whole grains, soy foods
and egg whites.
How our bodies use protein:
The body doesn’t have a large
storage depot for protein, as it does
for carbohydrate and fat. The
protein we eat from food has to be
handled as we eat it. Like rookies
sitting on the bench waiting for their
chance to play, the amino acids in
the pool are ready and waiting to be
utilized. Either the amino acids are
used within a limited time to build a
body protein, or they are
transformed.
If amino acids in the pool aren’t
needed to become a protein, the
body is equipped to reconfigure
them either back to glucose to be
used as energy or into fat. To
transform an amino acid, the liver
strips off the nitrogen, which may
then be incorporated into DNA,
RNA, or a nonessential amino acid.
Excess nitrogen may also be
incorporated into urea, or ammo-
nia, both of which are excreted in
the urine. In order to eliminate
these, water is needed, so a high
protein intake can result in excess
fluid loss. The remaining part of the
stripped-down amino acid may be
reconfigured into glucose, and it is
burned for energy.
BRICS countries agree to
collaborate on health issues
Recognising that multi-drug resis-
tant tuberculosis (TB) is a major
public health problem in Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South
Africa (BRICS) due to its high
prevalence and incidence mostly
among the marginalised and
vulnerable sections of society, the
health ministers of these countries
on Friday agreed to collaborate and
cooperate for development of
capacity and infrastructure to deal
with the disease.
Adopting Delhi Communique at the
end of the two meeting of BRICS
nations, the health ministers resol-
ved to reduce the prevalence of TB
through innovation for new drugs/
vaccine, diagnostics and promotion
of consortia of tuberculosis resea-
rchers to collaborate on clinical
trials of drugs and strengthening
access to affordable medicines
and delivery of quality care.
The Ministers also agreed to adopt
and improve systems for notifiction
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
of TB patients, availability of anti-TB
drugs at facilities by improving
supplier performance, procurement
systems and logistics and mana-
gement of HIV-associated tuber-
culosis in the primary health care.
They resolved to share experience
and expertise in the areas of surve-
illance, existing and new strategies
to prevent the spread of HIV, and in
rapid scale up of affordable treat-
ment. These nations will also focus
on the research and development,
manufacturing of affordable health
products and capability to conduct
clinical trials while emphasising on
the importance of child survival
through progressive reduction in
the maternal mortality, infant
mortality, neo-natal mortality and
under-five mortality, to achieve
Millennium Development Goals.
BRICS is a platform of nations with
developing economies represen-
ting 43 percent of the world’s
population.
BRICS, originally “BRIC” before the
inclusion of South Africa in 2010, is
the title of an association of emer-
ging national economies: Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South
Africa. With the possible exception
of Russia, the BRICS members are
all developing or newly industria-
lised countries, but they are distin-
guished by their large, fast-growing
economies and significant
influence on regional and global
affairs. As of 2013, the five BRICS
countries represent almost 3 billion
people, with a combined nominal
GDP of US$14.9 trillion, and an
estimated US$4 trillion in
combined foreign reserves.
Presently, India holds the chair of
the BRICS group.
‘Wrong to consider India a
single economic entity’
Sanjaya Baru,columnist and senior
fellow at the Centre for Policy
Research in New Delhi, has said it
will be wrong to consider India as a
single economic entity, in the case
of which a uniform strategy can be
adopted for inclusive growth.
Delivering a lecture on ‘reviving the
Indian economy: problems and
prospects’, organised by the State
Planning Board here on Friday, he
said due to historical reasons, the
forces that drove the economy in
different parts of the country were
different. The foundation on which
growth happened differed
drastically from region to region. All
industry leaders in the country
wanted to have their presence in
Gujarat, while they were all running
away from West Bengal. It was not
the policy at the Centre alone that
22
spurred economic activity. He said
that, in the current scenario, the
nation was caught in a situation
where, due to fiscal constraints,
ensuring sufficient public
investment to facilitate the 12th
Plan annual growth target of above
eight per cent had become difficult.
The challenge was to find
resources for public investment
and, at the same time, roll out
policy initiatives that would change
the private investor sentiment. He
said it would be very difficult for a
government to build credibility after
it had lost it. The Centre had set in
motion a slew of policy initiatives
over the past six months to get the
economy on the path of accelerated
growth.
13 Janaury 2013
Kendu Leaves (Tendu)
Kendu leaf is also a nationalized
product like Bamboo and Sal seed.
It is called green gold of Odisha.
Botanical name of Tendu (Kendu)
leaf is DiospyrosMelanoxylon.
Tendu leaf is one of the most
important non-wood forest
products of Odisha. The valuable
leaves are used for wrapping Bidis,
popular smoke especially among
poor natives. The states producing
BIDI leaf in India comprises mainly
MP, Chhatisgarh, Odisha, AP,
Jharkhand, Gujarat and
Maharastra.
Odisha is the third largest producer
of kendu leaf next to M.P. and
Chatisgarh.The annual production
of Bidi Leaf in Odisha is around 4.5
to 5 lakhs quintal, which is about
20% of the countries annual
production.
Retail inflation rises to
10.56 percent
1. Rising for the third consecutive
month, retail inflation breached the
double-digit mark at 10.56 percent
in December, driven by higher
prices of vegetables, edible oil,
pulses and cereal.
2. The retail inflation was 9.90
percent in November and 9.75
percent in October.
3. The vegetables basket in
December recorded the highest
inflation of 25.71 per cent among
all the constituents that make the
Consumer Price Index (CPI).
4. Vegetables were followed by
the oil and fats segment at 16.73
percent. Sugar turned more
expensive by 13.55 percent.
5. Pulses and cereals became
dearer by 13.46 percent and 13.70
Current Affairs Notes

percent on an annual basis. Meat,
fish and egg rose becoming 11.64
percent more expensive.
6. Clothing and footwear witne-
ssed 10.74 percent increase in
prices.
7. In urban areas, retail inflation
rose to 10.42 per cent in December
from 9.69 per cent in the previous
month. The CPI for rural population
increased to 10.74 percent during
the month from 9.97 percent in
November.
8. All India provisional General (all
groups) CPI numbers of December
2012, for rural, urban and combi-
ned are 126.8, 124 and 125.6,
respectively.
9. The Reserve Bank of India(RBI)
is expected to take into account the
double-digit retail inflation when it
comes out with its third-quarter
policy review later this month.
10. Wholesale price based inflation
for November was at 7.24 percent,
much higher than the RBI comfort
level of 5-6 percent.
11. Concerned over the persistent
inflation, the RBI has kept key
interest rates unchanged since
April, 2012.
12. Industrial output growth rate
had contracted by 0.1 percent in
November, from a robust 8.3
percent in October.
New CPI (consumer price index):
launched with base year 2010
The index—which uses 2010 as
the base year with a starting value
of 100—read 106 for January, the
Ministry of Statistics and Progra-
mme Implementation said. The
reading for urban areas was 104
and that for rural areas 107.
The move is part of a wider effort by
the government to address ineffici-
ent and archaic data-collection
processes and outdated inputs that
have hampered obtaining timely
and accurate readings of price
trends essential to central bankers,
government officials and financial
market participants.
Economists expect the new index
to help ease difficulties in assess-
ing price situation in India’s diverse
economy, where consumption pre-
ferences vary vastly across regions.
The new index also analyses price
trends in services, which account
for about 60% of India’s gross
domestic product but aren’t
covered in the existing consumer
price index, said Sujan Hajra, chief
economist at Anand Rathi
Securities.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
The index monitors a wider sample
set than the prevailing archaic CPI
issued by the Ministry of Labor,
which the new gauge ultimately
seeks to replace. The government
hasn’t said when it will stop
issuing the old set of CPI data, but
analysts said they will likely
continue for about a year until the
new data suffice to analyze year-
earlier trends.
Currently, the wholesale price index
is the most widely watched inflation
gauge in Asia’s third-largest
economy as the government
reports producer price data more
comprehensively than consumer
prices.
The new consumer price index
has five major groups.
1. Data showed the group of food,
beverages and tobacco, which has
almost a 50% weight in the index,
was at 108.
2. The index for miscellaneous
items like education, transport and
medical care with a weight of
26.31%, was at 104.
3. The housing index was at 100,
while the group for fuel and light
read 106. Both carry a weight of
about 9.5%.
4. Clothing and footwear, the
smallest group with a 4.7% weight,
was at 107.
Amid volatile rupee, NRI
deposits nearly double,
says RBI data
1. Continuing rupee fall and
higher interest rate have seen NRI
deposits nearly doubling in the first
eight months of 2012-13 to $ 11.24
billion from $ 6.39 billion a year
ago, according to the Reserve Bank
data.
2. However, the non-resident
(ordinary) rupee accounts and
foreign currency non-resident
accounts saw an outflow this year
as against an inflow last year,
according to the central bank data.
3. It can be noted that the rupee
had hit an all-time low of 57.32 to
the dollar on June 14. However, last
Friday, the rupee ended at 54.76 to
the dollar, which is 4.67 percent
stronger from its all-time low.
4. Even though the currency has
appreciated from its all-time low,
inflows into NRI deposits continue
on the back of higher interest rates.
5. It can be noted that, following
the rupee fall in December 2011,
the RBI had deregulated interest
rates on NRI deposits, forcing
banks to hike rates of such
23
deposits sharply, which now hover
over 10 percent, while banks were
lowering rates for domestic
deposits.
6. Following the steep fall in the
rupee, which began with the down-
grade of the US rating by S&P in
August 2011, in November, the RBI
had raised maximum interest rates
on NRE accounts for one-year-plus
to Libor plus 275 bps.
7. Non-resident external and non-
resident (ordinary) accounts are
two different types of rupee-deno-
minated bank accounts allowed by
the government for the diaspora.
8. While NRE funds are repatri-
able, NRO money cannot be remi-
tted abroad. On the other hand,
FCNR accounts are denominated
in forex and the funds are fully
repatriable.
Different types of NRI accounts:
a. The Non Resident External
(NRE) Savings Account is meant
for Indians residing abroad. It
allows you to transfer foreign
earnings easily to India.The
following are the few important
points regarding the NRE account.
1. NRE account can be opened
as Savings and Fixed deposit
accounts.
2. There is no tax on interest
earned from these accounts. Also
there is no wealth tax.
3. That the above tax exemptions
are available only for an NRE
Account held by an individual and
not for those maintained by OCBs
(Overseas Company Bodies)
4. The currency maintained in this
account is Indian Rupee.
5. Can open Joint account with
any Non-Resident Indian. Cannot
open Joint account with Indian
Resident .
6. You can easily transfer money
to India.
7. Nomination is allowed in NRE
Accounts.
8. Cannot deposit Indian Currency
in to this account.
b. NRO Savings Fixed Deposit
Account
1. The following are the key points
on NRO account.
2. NRO account can be opened
as the Savings or Fixed Deposit
account.
3. Currency maintained in this
account is Indian Rupee.
4. Can open this account with any
Indian Resident.
5. Interest earned in this account
Current Affairs Notes

is 30% taxable and surcharge and
education cess will be included. It
is applicable for both savings and
fixed deposit accounts.
6. You can use this account to pay
any bill and expenses in India.
7. Enjoy the convenience of
banking at any of our branches in
India.
8. Nomination is allowed in NRO
Accounts.
9. Can deposit Indian Currency in
to this account.
c. The following are the key
points for Foreign Currency
Non-Resident (FCNR) Fixed
Depositbank account:
1. Earn Indian Interest Rates on
your Foreign Currency deposits
with our Foreign Currency
Non-Resident Fixed Deposit.
2. The entire deposit (principal
and interest) is exempt from tax
3. Open the deposit jointly with
any other NRI
4. Get an overdraft on your
Savings / Current account against
your FCNR Fixed Deposit
5. Nomination Facility available
6. Joint accounts with Indian
Residents not allowed.
7. Following currencies are
allowed in this account:
a. US Dollars
b. Pounds Sterling
c. Euro
d. Japanese Yen
e. Australian Dollars
f. Canadian Dollars
8. Can not deposit Indian
Currency in this account.
9. Minimum 1 year and maximum
5 years is allowed.
Two years without polio
In 1988, India joined the global
movement for polio eradication—at
a time when we had not even
succeeded in bringing polio under
control. Control status required at
least 95 per cent reduction. In
1978, India launched the Expanded
Programme on Immunisation (EPI)
with BCG and DPT vaccines. The
oral polio vaccine (OPV) was
introduced the next year. Natural
polioviruses are called ‘wild’ to
distinguish them from vaccine
polioviruses that constitute OPV.
Vaccine viruses are ‘attenuated’
from wild viruses—which means
they have lost most of their
‘virulence,’ the ability to cause
paralysis and the ability to spread
fast among children. These two are
the dreaded qualities of wild
polioviruses.
By 1988, diphtheria, whooping
cough and neonatal tetanus had
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
declined to control levels as a
result of EPI’s efforts. But polio did
not come under control—showing
that OPV was not as effective in
India as in the West or in China.
There, just three or four doses
protected all children. In India, we
had to give many more doses for
equal effect. From 1994, India
began nationwide OPV campaigns
(called pulse immunisation)—two
per year—to give additional doses
to all under-five children irrespec-
tive of the number of doses already
given. That resulted in effectively
controlling polio by 2000. One of
the three types of polioviruses, wild
type 2, was even eradicated by
October 1999 when the average
number of OPV doses had reached
six per child. The type 2 component
of OPV was not only more effective
against that type, but it also inhibi-
ted the effect of types 1 and 3.
That left India with the struggle to
eradicate wild types 1 and 3 using
a blunt weapon, the trivalent OPV
(tOPV), containing types 1, 2 and 3,
which is necessary to attack all
three viruses simultaneously. In the
Gangetic plain States, particularly
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, 9-10
pulse immunisation campaigns
were conducted annually from
2004 to 2010. We then developed
OPV containing just type 1 to make
the tool sharper against the type 1
wild virus. That is called
‘monovalent OPV’ (mOPV-1).
Eventually, India made ‘bivalent
OPV’ (bOPV) with types 1 and 3.
Remember, we did not have wild
type 2 virus since 1999. With new
tools and covering almost100 per
cent children in their homes, while
travelling, in brick-kiln and sugar-
cane fields where temporary
migrant labour set up homes, wild
polioviruses had no place to hide.
We succeeded in stopping the
transmission of type 3 in 2010 and
type 1 in 2011. The last child with
wild virus polio was detected in
Howrah, West Bengal, with the
onset of paralysis on January 13,
2011. Since then, only bOPV has
been used for immunisation
campaigns in U.P. and Bihar, while
tOPV is used in routine EPI and
national pulse immunisation
campaigns twice each year.
How sure are we that wild polio-
viruses have been totally bani-
shed? There is a solid body of
evidence to show this. All hospitals
and clinics that attend to sick
children have been networked to
report any illness that even
remotely resembles polio. Such
illness is called ‘acute flaccid
paralysis’ (AFP). Stool samples
from every child with AFP are
24
collected and tested for the
presence of polioviruses. Every
poliovirus so detected is further
tested to distinguish wild poliovirus
from vaccine poliovirus. When a lot
of OPV is given to children, many
with AFP would have vaccine polio-
viruses. That is to be expec-ted.
Sewage samples are collected
every week from several wards of
Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Patna.
During 2011 and 2012, all sewage
samples were consis-tently
negative for wild polioviruses (but
with plenty of vaccine viruses). In
northern India, the last footholds of
wild polio-viruses, the second half
of each year was the season of
high wild virus transmission. We
passed two ‘high seasons’ in 2011
and 2012 without a single case.
India has truly succeeded, silen-
cing the many prophets of failure.
Highly contagious
Wild polioviruses are highly
contagious—illustrated by some 50
episodes of international impor-
tations to countries that had once
eliminated them using OPV. We
had exported wild viruses to Nepal
and Bangladesh in our neighbour-
hood, and to Bulgaria, Angola,
China and Tajikistan, to name
some distant ones. Now India is
polio-free and vulnerable to
importation from Pakistan,
Afghanistan and Nigeria — the
three countries that have not yet
eliminated wild polioviruses. We
cannot lower our guard and must
continue pulse immunisations as
though importation is imminent.
India has five points of border-
crossing with Pakistan: two in
Jammu-Kashmir, two in Punjab,
and one in Rajasthan. At every
point, individuals are given one
dose of tOPV when they enter India.
What was very remarkable was that
India’s money went into the lion’s
share of expenditure for polio
eradication in the country, thus
easing up global funds for use in
other countries that needed them
more than we do. India spent about
Rs 1000 crore every year since
2000.
The rationale
Many have questioned the wisdom
of spending such large amounts
on one childhood disease. Was
polio worth eradicating? From a
humanitarian viewpoint as well as
human rights angle no child
deserved to be paralysed by a
preventable disease. We know the
struggle we had to go through
merely to keep polio under control.
Eradication is the best form of
control. Once affected with polio,
many children are neglected, do
Current Affairs Notes

not complete high school, take up
simple jobs like bicycle repair,
managing telephone booths, etc.
The disability-determined
productivity loss may be taken as
about half of the gross domestic
product per capita. That amounts to
approximately Rs 50,000 per year;
cumulated over 30 years of
productive life, India was losing
Rs. 15 lakhs per person—for a
staggering Rs 45,000 crore per
annum loss to the domestic
economy from just one disease,
polio, that affected 300,000 children
each year. Controlling diseases
that affect productivity is indeed a
development activity. Eradicating
polio is an investment. The
absence of polio is both a measure
of, and a means to, development.
Oscar nomination, a high
note for Carnatic music
Carnatic vocalist Bombay
Jayashri who has been nominated
for an Oscar along with Mychael
Danna in the Original Song”
category for “Pi’s Lullaby” — in the
film “Life of Pi” — tells K.T.
Jagannathan that she hopes this
will make more people listen to
Carnatic music. Excerpts.
Carnatic music is a system of
music commonly associated with
the southern part of the Indian
subcontinent, with its area roughly
confined to four modern states of
India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. It is one of
two main sub-genres of Indian
classical music that evolved from
ancient Hindu traditions; the other
sub-genre being Hindustani music,
which emerged as a distinct form
because of Persian and Islamic
influences in North India. In
contrast to Hindustani music, the
main emphasis in Carnatic music
is on vocal music; most
compositions are written to be
sung, and even when played on
instruments, they are meant to be
performed in gâyaki (singing) style.
Searching for Earth’s twin
The recent announcement at the
American Astronomical Society
meeting in California dramatically
increases the possibility of finding
Earth-sized extra-solar planets, or
exoplanets, and in particular, those
that are in a habitable ‘Goldilocks’
zone—neither too close nor too far
from a star, so liquid water might
be present on the surface. One
study looked at the number of
habitable Earth-sized exoplanets
(those one-half to twice the size of
the Earth) orbiting the smaller and
cooler M dwarf stars. By studying
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
about 3,600 of the 5,000 M dwarf
stars present in Kepler’s field of
view, researchers calculated that
each of these stars had an 87
percent possibility of having Earth-
sized exoplanets, and nearly six
percent of the M dwarfs studied
could be in the habitable zone. M
dwarfs account for about 75
percent of the stars in the Milky
Way. “The chance of discovering a
habitable-zone super Earth
transiting [passing] a low-mass
star in the immediate future is
tremendously high,” notes a 2010
paper. Another preliminary study
estimated that one in six stars in
our galaxy has an Earth-sized
exoplanet, increasing the abun-
dance to an astronomical 17billion.
But not all are in the habi-table
zone. With the addition of 461 new
candidate exoplanets identified by
Kepler during the last 22 months,
the total number of candi-dates has
shot up to 2,740. Of these, 105
have been confirmed as planets.
Advanced and sophisticated
methods have helped in not only
discovering exoplanets orbiting
sun-like stars and M dwarfs but
also in studying their atmospheric
composition, accurately calculating
their size and mass, and also the
temperature at different altitudes
(gradient). The launch in 2018 of
the James Webb Space Telescope
increases the possibility of study-
ing the atmospheres of a few M
dwarf stars. Having succeeded in
studying the atmospheres of
exoplanets, scientists have moved
on to get a deeper understanding
of their atmospheric biosignatures
to ascertain the possibility of life.
But the search for alien life has
traditionally been based on our
knowledge of living forms on Earth,
which are carbon based. But can
silicon-based life be completely
ruled out? Similarly, should oxygen
be present for life to exist? After all,
the earliest life forms on Earth
existed well before oxygen became
dominant. Extremophiles on Earth
have been found in hostile environ-
ments—extremely hot, cold, acidic,
alkaline, dry and desiccating
conditions, deriving energy from
hydrothermal vent chemicals and
certain elements found in rocks.
Hence there is a possibility of alien
life on exoplanets. The only limita-
tion in identifying them, if they exist,
is our technological capability. And
sense of imagination.
Concept: Stellar classification:
Most stars are currently classified
using the letters O, B, A, F, G, K,
and M, where O stars are the
hottest and the letter sequence
25
indicates successively cooler stars
up to the coolest M class. Useful
mnemonics for remembering the
spectral type letters are “Oh Be A
Fine Girl Kiss Me” or “Oh Boy An F
Grade Kills Me”. According to
informal tradition, O stars are
called “blue”, B stars are called
“blue-white”, A stars are called
“white”, F stars are called “yellow-
white”, G stars are called
“yellow”, K stars are called
“orange”, and Mstars are called
“red”, even though the actual star
colors perceived by an observer
may deviate from these colors
depending on visual conditions
and individual stars observed. The
current non-alphabetical scheme
developed from an earlier scheme
using all letters from Ato O; the
original letters were retained but
the star classes were re-ordered in
the current temperature order when
the connection between the stars’
class and temperatures became
clear. A few star classes were
dropped as duplicates of others.
First world atlas on
renewable energy launched
The International Renewable
Energy Agency (IRENA) on Sunday
launched the world’s first atlas on
clean energy which will offer open-
access information on countries’
renewable energy potential.
“The Global Atlas is the largest ever
initiative to help countries assess
their renewable energy potential,
and companies bringing together
data and maps from leading
technical institutes and private
companies worldwide,” IRENA
said.
“It currently charts solar and wind
resources, and will expand to other
forms of renewable energy over
2013 and 2014,” the agency annou-
nced as it began its two-day annual
general assembly in Abu Dhabi.
Site
The online atlas is available on
www.irena.org/GlobalAtlas
MoEF sets deadline to
declare eco sensitive
zones around national
parks, sanctuaries
1. A decade after the National
Board for Wildlife envisaged
declaring areas within 10 km of the
boundary of national parks and
sanctuaries as eco-sensitive
zones, the Union Ministry of
Environment and Forests (MoEF)
has given one last opportunity to all
the States to submit site-specific
proposals by February 15.
Current Affairs Notes

2. As per the guidelines, commer-
cial mining, setting up of industries
causing pollution, commercial use
of firewood, establishment of all
hydroelectric projects, use or
production of any hazardous
substances, tourism activities like
flying over the national park area by
any aircraft or hot-air balloons and
discharge of effluents and solid
waste in natural water bodies or
terrestrial area are prohibited.
3. The need for site-specific
proposals has arisen as many of
the existing protected areas have
already undergone tremendous
development in close vicinity to
their boundaries with some like
Guindy National Park lying in the
urban set up, MoEF officials said.
4. Likewise, the eco-sensitive
zones could extend beyond 10 km
width in cases of sensitive corri-
dors for connectivity of ecolo-gically
important patches crucial for
landscape linkage, officials
emphasised.
5. As per procedure, the forest
department would first consider the
requirement for an eco-sensitive
zone to act as a shock absorber,
suggest best methods for manage-
ment and broad based thematic
activities to be included in the
master plan of the region while
demarcating the eco sensitive
zones. Based on this, the Chief
Wildlife Warden would have to
group the activities under three
heads—prohibitive, restricted with
safeguards and permissible—that
could be taken up.
Six years after Sachar
report, Muslim lot no better
In 2006 RajinderSachar Committee
placed the socio-economic and
educational status of Muslims
below that of the Scheduled
Castes.
“Six Years After Sachar: A Review of
Inclusive Policies in India,” by
economist and chief scholar at the
U.S.-India Policy Institute Abusaleh
Shariff.
The paper said there was no
perceptible improvement in the
status of Muslims since the Sachar
Committee made its recommen
dations: “Despite the government’s
publicised support for the Sachar
Committee Report’s recommen
dations to increase diversity in
public spaces and to ensure the
minorities’ proportionate benefits
from mainstream institutions, the
government’s record is notably
lacklustre.”
The paper said Muslims had
almost no presence in the
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme
and they continued to be excluded
from formal development credit
regimes despite specific guide-
lines and circulars from the
Reserve Bank of India.
Coordinating body
Mr.Shariff recommended the
establishment of a coordinating
body under the Prime Minister’s
Office to monitor implementation of
socially inclusive development
programmes. He also controver-
sially argued that socially inclusive
development efforts needed to
move away from special purpose
vehicles—such as the National
Commission for Minorities and the
National Minorities Financial
Development Corporation—so that
they could be integrated into
mainstream ministries. The
suggestion was strongly opposed
by participants who felt this would
amount to “snatching away” what-
ever little Muslims got by way of
welfare. The research for the paper
was partially funded by the Institute
of Objective Studies.
Muslims have almost no
presence in MGNREGS, says
paper
Community’s education growth
rate remains lowest between
2004-05 and 2009-10, it says
Sachar committee highlights:
1. Setting up an Equal Opportunity
Commission (EOC) to look into
grievances of deprived groups like
minorities.
2. Working out nomination proce-
dure to increase participation of
minorities in public bodies.
3. Providing legal mechanism to
address complaints of discrimina-
tion against minorities in matters of
employment, housing, schooling
and obtaining bank loans.
4. Establishing a delimitation
procedure that does not reserve
constituencies with high minority
population for SCs.
5. Initiating and institutionalising a
process of evaluating contents of
textbooks to purge them of explicit
and implicit material that may
impart inappropriate social values,
especially religious intolerance.
6. Creating a national data bank
where all relevant data for various
socio-religious categories are
maintained.
7. Setting up an autonomous
assessment and monitoring
authority to evaluate the extent of
development benefits which accrue
to different socio-religious catego-
ries through various programmes.
8. Encouraging the University
26
Grants Commission to evolve a
system where part of allocation to
colleges and universities is linked
to diversity in student population.
9. Facilitating admissions to the
most backward amongst all socio-
religious categories in regular
universities and autonomous
colleges and evolving alternate
admission criteria
10. Designating Arzals Muslim
group as most backward classes
as they need multifarious
measures, including reservation.
11. Increasing employment share
of Muslims, particularly where there
is great deal of public dealing.
12. Working out mechanisms to
link madrassas with higher
secondary school board.
13. Recognising degrees from
madrassas for eligibility in defence,
civil and banking examinations.
14. Opening high quality Urdu
medium schools wherever they are
in demand and ensuring high
quality textbooks for students in the
Urdu language.
15. Setting up a national Wakf
Development Corporation with a
revolving corpus fund of Rs 500
crore.
16. Creating new cadre to deal with
specific Wakf affairs.
14 Janaury 2013
Indian scientists devise 16
disaster management drugs
1. Preparing to deal with any
future chemical, biological, radio-
logical and nuclear (CBRN)
incidents, Indian scientists have
devised 16 drugs that can be used
for disaster management. These
include an anti-cyanide drug, an
anti-nerve gas drug and an anti-
toxic gas drug.
2. Several radioactive decorpo-
ration agents and drugs for anti-
cyanide, anti-nerve gas and toxic
gas injuries have been approved by
the Drug Controller General of India
as trial drugs.
3 Developed by scientists at the
Defence Research and Develop-
ment Organisation (DRDO)
Institute of Nuclear Medicine and
Allied Sciences (INMAS) here, the
drugs have passed the efficacy test
and will be cheaper than those
currently available in the market.
4 “Sixteen new drugs have been
approved by the Drug Controller
General of India (DGCI) as trial
drugs for disaster management.
These include an anti-cyanide
drug, an anti-nerve gas drug, an
Current Affairs Notes

anti-toxic gas drug and several
radioactive decorporation agents,”
AseemBhatnagar, in charge of the
project at INMAS, told IANS.
5 These will be used as samples
for the users, including the armed
forces, the paramilitary, the
National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA), the Department
of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the
Ministry of Health.
6 “Batch production of these
drugs is being undertaken in colla-
boration with the pharmace-uticals
industry through contract manu-
facturing. About 50,000-200,000
doses (licensed for human use)
are expected to be manufactured by
March 2013,” Bhatnagar said.
7 Several of these drugs have
been patented by the defence
ministry.
8 INMAS previously made and
supplied drugs against nuclear,
biological and chemical (NBC)
incidents during the 2010 Common
wealth Games and to meet an
emergency requirement of the
Indian Navy.
9 “We also plan to keep some
with the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation (DMRC) for usage
during any disaster,” Bhatnagar
said.
10. Scientists say that research
and development and coordination
will enhance the shelf life of NBC
drugs by 60-100 percent and this
project is planned in coordination
with other government agencies.
11. “A mission mode project is
planned to establish nuclear
security in the national capital
region by way of drugs, equipment
and training to six echelons of
medical services around Delhi
under a project for seven years,”
Bhatnagar added.
12. INMAS had developed a skin
radioactivity decontamination kit
(shudhika) that was given for
production to a company in Pune.
Stopping the Floods
using vetiver
In July 2008, Shantanoo Bhatta-
charyya was erecting a Bailey
bridge in flood-ravaged Lakhimpur,
Assam. Walking back to his
quarters that night, the executive
engineer with the Public Works
Department was stopped by a
retired school teacher. “Every year,
you come to help during the floods.
Why can’t you create a system that
can be replicated by the common
people?” he asked.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
That question changed
Shantanoo’s life. He realised that
all the technology used to help
people during calamities was
proprietary. And, as a result, very
expensive. “We provided people
readymade solutions, but never
transferred the knowledge,” says
this bio-engineering volunteer who
was in town to take part in the
Indian Roads Congress.
He read up on the Internet for flood
prevention solutions and chanced
upon the name vetiver—a hardy,
native Indian grass known for its
extensive root system. In 2009,
armed with enough material about
vetiver, he tried using it to prevent
erosion and flooding along the
Kolong and Pagla (‘mad’ river—
called so because it is unpredic-
table and prone to flash floods)
rivers in Assam. It was a colossal
failure. That’s when the need for a
customised solution, based on
topography, struck him. “Failure
and poverty are great teachers,” he
says. So, Shantanoo went back to
reading and research. He saw the
limitations of the methods he used.
“No tool is magic. It works in
certain cases, and does not in
others.” He applied the vetiver
system on NH 39 (the Nagaland
stretch) and NH 40 (Guwahati-
Shillong) in partnership with other
organisations. The root worked its
magic.
Varied uses
In just three years, he has used
millions of vetiver plants to prevent
soil erosion, strengthen river banks
and stabilise hills slopes in
Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
Sikkim and Orissa. In Orissa, he
worked with the Tatas to tackle
mine overburden (waste from
mining that is piled up, sometimes
as high as 100 metres.) “They look
like scars on the hills. We used
cow dung and panchagavya,
sourced from Coimbatore, to raise
the vetiver. Now, the piles are
stable and green. And, many
companies nearby have stared
using vetiver in their mines too,” he
says.
Today, Shanthanoo is sought after
by many countries, including
Vietnam and Nepal, to help them
combat Nature’s fury using natural
methods. “You could call it bio-
engineering. We use a green tool
in combination with new-age
technology. These systems have
been around since ages. We just
need to tap into that native
knowledge and prove their use,
scientifically,” he says.
He continues to work extensively in
27
the North East. “The region
receives heavy rainfall and has a
high precipitation rate. Cloud
bursts are common. Then, there
are the rain cuts, where the water
cuts a swathe through the slopes.
They drag everything down.” Among
his success stories using vetiver
are strengthening the high
embankment in Majuli (the largest
river island in the world), and a
500-metre stretch of the
Brahmaputra, said to be the most
difficult river to tame.
Flash rules the memory
world
Sandisk is working with new
technologies to succeed NAND
flash memory
Sandisk Corporation, which
produces flash memory, the device
that goes into the USB memory that
is ubiquitous among computer
users, is the largest manufacturer
of such devices.
Judy Bruner, chief financial officer
and an executive vice-president of
administration, SanDisk
Corporation, spoke to The
Hindu about the new technologies
the company is working on, the
performance of the company’s
different lines of business and
about the plans the company is
making to move away from NAND
memory, the staple technology
since Toshiba introduced it in the
late 1980s. Sandisk, the leader in
the flash memory business,
earned revenues of $5.7 billion in
2011. Excerpts:
What is the kind of memory that
Sandisk makes for the computing
business?
There are two major categories in
the computing solid-state drives
(SSD) market—clients and
enterprises. A lot of the enterprise
SSDs are going into data centres,
which is the main driver of demand
for flash memory in the computing
segment. In the client side, growing
demand for SSDs in notebooks,
which enable instant-on capability,
longer battery life, and are more
rugged and lighter, is the main
driver.
What are the alternative
technologies you are investing in
to move to a post-NAND flash
memory world?
I will give you an example. In 2006,
we acquired Matrix Semiconductor,
a start-up that had developed three
dimensional resistive RAM
technology. The technology
basically tries to build vertically on
the wafer, potentially having eight
Current Affairs Notes

different levels on the wafer. After
developing the technology further
we believe that it is a prime
contender to succeed NAND flash
memory when it can no longer
scale up any further. We have
developed the technology in
association with Toshiba and we
believe the technology can come
into play before the end of the
decade. We are the only flash
memory company that does chip
design in India, in Bangalore,
where we employ 350 employees.
Flash memory is an electronic (i.e.
no moving parts) non-volatile
computer storage device that can
be electrically erased and
reprogrammed.
Flash memory was developed from
EEPROM (electrically erasable
programmable read-only memory).
There are two main types of flash
memory, which are named after the
NAND and NOR logic gates. The
internal characteristics of the
individual flash memory cells
exhibit characteristics similar to
those of the corresponding gates.
Whereas EEPROMs had to be
completely erased before being
rewritten, NAND type flash memory
may be written and read in blocks
(or pages) which are generally
much smaller than the entire
device. The NOR type allows a
single machine word (byte) to be
written or read independently.
Tread FDI path cautiously,
Stiglitz tells India
Also think before opening markets
to financial products, says the
Nobel laureate
India, with its abundance of
entrepreneurs, must tread the path
of foreign direct investment with
caution, in the light of the “over
whelming” evidence other
countries have to offer on the issue,
economist and Nobel laureate
Joseph Stiglitz said here on
Monday.
He was giving a lecture on
‘Rede-fining Capitalism,’
organised here by the Asian
Development Research Institute.
Professor Stiglitz said he was not
against FDI as it was “an important
instrument of economic growth.”
However, its purpose was to reap
“capital, technology, access to
markets and training.”
Without naming the supermarket
giant Walmart, Prof.Stiglitz said,
“One retailer, which has been
widely discussed, has the
reputation for bad labour relations,
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
discrimination on the basis of
gender, not providing adequate
health benefits, and more recently
bribery, particularly in the context of
Mexico.”
In the case of India, it was “unclear”
what it was hoping to get from this
foreign investor. India’s situation
was “particularly interesting and
different from other countries.”
“Right now India is exporting
capital. It needs to increase its
savings rate more. India has a very
large supply of entrepreneurs. It is
exporting entrepreneurs to America
and countries all over the world.
Within the country too there is
strong entrepreneurship.”
Moreover, retail technology was
widely available. “And one of the
successes of India’s entrepre-
neurs is they know how to apply our
technology. Companies in
Bangalore know how to improvise
systems, do operations research,”
Prof.Stiglitz pointed out.
“The evidence that despite this
company [Walmart], there have
been benefits to small producers is
lacking and this is telling,” he said.
In the area of financial products
too, the Nobel laureate had a word
of caution for India.
“India has to ask before opening its
markets to financial products, what
they are going to do for promoting
growth. The evidence is so over-
whelming that these instruments
will promote instability that a lot of
caution is needed.”
Prof.Stiglitz called for a greater role
for the state in promoting and
regulating capitalism, and restruc-
turing the economy.
In the context of corporate gover-
nance, “failure of the U.S. govern-
ment to play that role led to the
economic crisis… Between 1929-
1933, farm incomes fell drastically.
The economy could not restructure
itself until the U.S. government
restructured it by moving people
from agriculture to manufacturing.
Markets don’t develop on their own,
they need governments to create
them,” he said.
According to him, the problem
before the U.S. today was moving
towards a service sector economy.
A balance between capitalism,
State and civil society was vital for
success and growth based not on
the obsession with GDP or the
“metrics of success”, but taking into
account issues of sustainability,
distribution and general well-being.
“Governments have to undertake
policies which are people-friendly.
28
Growth cannot be based on crony
capitalism.”
The role of the state in providing
social protection and social justice
was all-important, he said.
Financial responsibility
report by RBI
The latest Financial Stability Report
(FSR) of the Reserve Bank of India,
the sixth in the series, is a half
yearly assessment by an expert
committee of the outlook for the
stability and resilience of the
financial sector. The report also
suggests policy actions that are
needed to contain the risks to
stability. Compared to the previous
report, the threats to financial
sector stability have increased.
While the environment of global
and domestic macroeconomic
instability remains unchanged,
there is a realisation that the highly
unconventional tools relied upon by
governments and central banks
across the world at the beginning
of the crisis are losing some of
their edge and effectiveness. The
space for fiscal and monetary
action is getting squeezed.
Besides, some of the unintended
consequences of the policy tools
employed, such as the ultra soft
monetary policies of the U.S., have
started manifesting themselves in
countries like India. For instance,
the accretion to global liquidity has
pushed up commodity prices, and
with it the threat of imported
inflation in India. Global uncer-
tainties, notably the delay in
resolving the euro-debt crisis and
domestic policy uncertainties, have
caused a deceleration of economic
growth in recent quarters. There
has been a noticeable fall in the
level of domestic savings, inflation
has remained persistently high and
these along with regulatory and
environmental issues have caused
a fall in investment demand and
moderation in consumption
spending.
Despite all of this, financial
markets in India have remained
largely stable. But the corporate
sector’s ability to service its debt
has been falling since 2009-10.
Some infrastructure companies
have substantially increased their
leverage. These and a few other
factors are responsible for the
increased stress on the asset
quality of the banking system. A
large number of loans have been
restructured recently. The banking
sector on the whole has remained
resilient to credit, market and
liquidity risks and is capable of
withstanding macroeconomic
Current Affairs Notes

shocks given their comfortable
capital adequacy. However, new
provisioning norms require banks
to tie up a larger amount of capital
to take care of distressed assets.
In the context of the imminent shift
to Basel III norms, some banks
may face challenges in mopping
up additional capital. Financial
inclusion, financial literacy and
consumer protection are
interconnected threads in the
pursuit of financial stability. Given
the strong linkage between stability
and inclusion, it is only right that
the FSR should highlight, for the
first time, the several regulatory
initiatives taken and the progress
achieved so far.
India wants rollback of
piracy zone
Following increasing cases of
piracy near Somalia that
occasionally extended as far as
Lakshadweep, industry bodies
working in tandem with
International Maritime Organisation
(IMO) and the Contact Group on
Piracy off the Coast of Somalia
(CGPCS)—constituted in 2009
following a U.N. resolution with
States and international bodies as
members to work together to rid the
seas of piracy—decided to move
the longitude marking off the high-
risk area in the Arabian Sea from
65 degrees to 78 east. The new
classification extended the high-
risk area much closer to the Indian
coast barring the nation’s territorial
waters of 12 nautical miles. The
guidelines for ships advise them
on evasive action against piracy.
Shipping experts say that the
changed classification resulted in
ships hugging the Indian coast and
often cruising in Indian territorial
waters—from Mangalore to
Kanyakumari—while transiting the
Arabian Sea. Many of these
merchant vessels have armed
guards as allowed by IMO.
Initially, India wanted the longitude
to be moved back to 65 degree but
members of CGPCS balked. As a
result, on Tuesday, at a meeting of
a sub-group of Working Group-3
(WG3) of the CGPCS, India will
make a fresh plea for exemption of
its fishing zones from the ‘danger
zone’ listing in ‘Best Management
Practices for Protection against
Somalia-based Piracy’, an industry
document endorsed by IMO and
CGPCS.
Global agencies cool
India’s proposal that seas close to
its western coast be removed from
the list of High Risk Areas (HRA) for
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
piracy has not been met with
warmth by global agencies.
After the piracy menace spread to
near Lakshadweep, the Indian
Navy and the Coast Guard had
embarked on a sustained anti-
piracy campaign in the East
Arabian Sea. A top Coast Guard
officer is categorical in pointing out
that false piracy alarms received at
the Mumbai-based Maritime
Rescue Coordination Centre
(MRCC) at the rate of one every
fortnight not counting, there has
been no incident of piracy in the
region over several months in the
past.
Buoyed by the let-up in piracy, India
unsuccessfully demanded a
revision of HRA delimitation (return
to west of 65 degree east longi-
tude) at the Maritime Safety
Committee of the IMO. But, BMP4 is
an industry document, “not a matter
for IMO per se,” said Natasha
Brown, IMO’s External Relations
Officer, in an e-mail to The Hindu.
A key official at India’s Directorate
General of Shipping rues that
notwithstanding an advisory it
issued cautioning ships against
mistaking frenetic fishing activity up
to 50 nautical miles from the
country’s coastline for acts of
piracy, cargo ships continue to
transgress fishing zones, raising
concerns. At least two recent
incidents—the first, some 17
nautical miles off Vizhinjam in
Kerala in November last when a
cargo vessel resorted to firing to
force a fishing boat alter course
and the second, at the mouth of the
Cochin Port in December when
flares were shot in the air to
distract a boat—point to the fact
that conflict between fishermen and
merchant vessels has sadly
become the order of the day.
The reason: the region is still
designated a ‘High Risk Area’ as
per BMP4.
Jiyoung Kim, Foreign Affairs official
of South Korea that chairs the
CGPCS’ WG3, which worked
closely with the industry in
completing the BMP4 guideline,
maintained that the appeal of India
and Egypt for a revision of the
scope of HRA would be discussed
on an objective and transparent
basis at Tuesday’s meeting.
“It is industries, as editors of the
BMPs, that define and revise the
scope of the HRA… At the latest
WG3 meeting, industries expre-
ssed that they do not consider the
revision of the BMP4 including the
scope of the HRA, in spite of the
proposal of India and Egypt. WG3
29
chair suggested holding a meeting
on the HRA within parties
interested in order to continue the
discussions on the scope of HRA,”
he replied in an email
communication.
Separately, the Indian National
Shipowners’ Association’s plea to
the Joint War Committee, a forum
of insurance undertakers based in
London, for a review of the ‘Listed
Areas’ for insurance set by Lloyd’s
and the Joint War Risk Committee
has not received a positive
response. “The situation is being
monitored but the area is
unchanged for now,” Neil Roberts,
senior executive-underwriting of
Lloyd’s Market Association,
confirmed in an email.
The fallout of the classification was
an exorbitant hike in insurance
premiums of vessels bound for
zones with enhanced risk. The
premiums came down following
deployment of armed guards on
their ships, as most providers of
security collaborated with
insurance groups. “It is paradoxical
that the short-term expedient, which
has helped thwart pirate attacks, is
posing other challenges, including
legal issues,” said an industry
observer.
Jharkhand Governor
recommends President’s
rule
Jharkhand is all set for a spell of
President’s rule with no party or
combination of parties in a position
to form a government in the wake of
fall of the BJP-led coalition last
week.
Governor Syed Ahmed is learnt to
have recommended President’s
rule in the State by keeping the
Assembly under suspended
animation.
The recommendation was made in
his second report to the Centre on
the political situation in the wake of
the resignation of Chief Minister
ArjunMunda who also sought
dissolution of the Assembly after
JMM withdrew support to his
government, official sources said.
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar
Shinde, who is away from the
capital in the last two days, is
expected to study the report after
his arrival on Monday night.
Concept:
President’s rule (or central rule)
is a term used in India when a
state is placed under direct federal
rule. The former name comes from
the fact that the President of India
Current Affairs Notes

governs the state through the
Governor with the help of the Union
Government, instead of a Council
of Ministers headed by an elected
Chief Minister accountable to the
state legislature.
President’s rule is enabled by
Article 356 of the Constitution of
India, which gives authority to
impose it if there has been failure
of the constitutional machinery in
any state of India. During
President’s rule, the Governor
appointed by the President
assumes executive authority. Since
such appointments are made on
the advice of the central
government, the state’s policies
become de facto controlled by the
federal ruling party. During
President’s rule, the Governor
appoints advisors, usually retired
civil servants, to assist him in the
administration. The advisors take
the functions of state ministers.
When is President’s Rule
imposed?
In practice president’s rule has
been imposed under different
circumstances such as these:
• State Legislature is unable to
elect a leader as Chief Minister
• Breakdown of a coalition
• Irretrievable breakdown of law
and order
• Rebellion or insurgency in a
part of India
• Elections postponed for
unavoidable reasons
Most often, until the mid-1990s, it
was imposed in states through
abuse of the authority of Governors
in collusion with the federal
government. However, following a
landmark judgment by the
Supreme Court of India in March
1994, such abuse has been
reduced drastically.
GAAR will come into force
from April 2016
Seeking to set at rest the concerns
expressed by worried investors at
home and abroad, the government
on Monday announced the post-
ponement of the implemen-tation
of the controversial GAAR (General
Anti Avoidance Rules) by two years
to April 1, 2016.
The postponement and other
modifications in GAAR provisions
marks the acceptance of the
recommendations of the
ParthasarathiShome Committee,
which was set up by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh following
concerns expressed by investors
on the Budget provision in this
regard and the subsequent
withdrawal of portfolio investment
by foreign investors.
JTS Institute
7 January - 14 January 2013
That the market is elated by the
much-awaited relief is clear from
the fact that investors gave a
thumbs-up to the Centre’s decision
and the Bombay Stock Exchange’s
Sensex soared by 243 points to a
two-year high of 19,906.41.
Clearing the air on the applicability
of the GAAR provisions at a press
conference here, Finance Minister
P. Chidambaram said: “The
modifications that we have done
are fair, non-discriminatory, just,
and strike a balance between
interest of revenue and interest of
investors. So, all apprehensions
should now be set at rest.”
“Having considered all the circum-
stances and relevant factors, the
government has decided that
provisions of Chapter 10A of the I-T
Act [dealing with GAAR] will come
into force from April 1, 2016 as
against April 1, 2014,” he said.
Students produce power
with biogas from poultry
waste
Five students from BCM Arya Model
Senior Secondary in Shastri Nagar
have successfully been able to
produce electricity from biogas
made from poultry waste. The
project was recently showcased at
the 20th National Children’s
Science Congress held at Banaras
Hindu University in Varanasi.
Adjudged outstanding with grade A
among 22 projects out of a total of
616 projects presented, the depart-
ment of science and technology
has also selected the project for
the fellowship programme.
One of the project guidance
teachers, AnujaKaushal, talking to
Ludhiana Newsline, said: “It was a
research-based project worked on
by Lovedeep Singh, Aishwarya
Verma, Sanpreet Singh, Sharabh
and Tanya, all Class X students.
The theme given to us was energy
harnessing exploration and what
was unique in our project was that
students were successful in
producing energy from the biogas
produced using poultry waste. It is
a landmark achievement for poultry
farm owners and shows a way for
energy production from poultry
waste.”
New gas that triggers
ozone destruction found
Scientists have found that a gas
released from the oceans on Earth
may play a significant role in the
destruction of ozone layer.
Researchers at the Universities of
York and Leeds found that the
principal source of iodine oxide can
be explained by emissions of
30
hypoiodous acid (HOI) - a gas not
yet considered as being released
from the ocean - along with a
contribution from molecular iodine
(I2).
Since the 1970s when methyl
iodide (CH3I) was discovered as
ubiquitous in the ocean, the
presence of iodine in the atmos-
phere has been understood to
arise mainly from emissions of
organic compounds from
phytoplankton - microscopic
marine plants.
The new research, published in
Nature Geoscience, builds on an
earlier study which showed that
reactive iodine, along with bromine,
in the atmosphere is responsible
for the destruction of vast amounts
of ozone – around 50 per cent more
than predicted by the world’s most
advanced climate models – in the
lower atmosphere over the tropical
Atlantic Ocean.
The scientists quantified gaseous
emissions of inorganic iodine
following the reaction of iodide with
ozone in a series of laboratory
experiments. They showed that the
reaction of iodide with ozone leads
to the formation of both molecular
iodine and hypoiodous acid.
Using laboratory models, they
show that the reaction of ozone with
iodide on the sea surface could
account for around 75 percent of
observed iodine oxide levels over
the tropical Atlantic Ocean.
“Our laboratory and modelling
studies show that these gases are
produced from the reaction of
atmospheric ozone with iodide on
the sea surface interfacial layer, at
a rate which is highly significant for
the chemistry of the marine
atmosphere,” Professor Lucy
Carpenter said.
“Our research reveals an important
negative feedback for ozone – a
sort of self-destruct mechanism.
The more ozone there is, the more
gaseous halogens are created
which destroy it. The research also
has implications for the way that
radionucleides of iodine in sea
water, released into the ocean
mainly from nuclear reprocessing
facilities, can be re-emitted into the
atmosphere,” Lucy said in a
statement.
“This mechanism of iodine release
into the atmosphere appears to be
particularly important over tropical
oceans, where measurements
show that there is more iodide in
seawater available to react with
ozone,” Professor John Plane, from
the University of Leeds’ School of
Chemistry, said.
Current Affairs Notes
 1 January - 7 January 2013
Issue-1/2013 (1 January to 7th January)

CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 1 Jan -7 Jan, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)

Dear Student,
Starting this week we are offering you , notes on all important Current Issues which are
relavent for the IAS exam. This is a compilation of notes based on news items appered in 11
national English Newspapers, 7 magazines and some important websites.
Once you finish reading this notes, you may attempt an online test based on this notes. This
helps you assess, how much you have grasped from this material.
Online test is available free of cost at www.JTSinstitute.com.
So, now onwards you can update and evaluate your knowledge on current affairs, every
week, that too absolutely free of cost.
All the best
Academic Director
JTS Institute

5.Now, from here space explorers increased risk of blood clots in

1 Janaury 2013
NASA to transform
asteroid into space
station
For the first time in history of space
endeavours, a celestial object
would be moved by humans.
NASA scientists are planning to
capture a 500,000 kg asteroid,
relocate it and turn it into a space
station for astronauts to refuel at on
their way to Mars.
An allocation $2.6 billion will be
considered by the White House’s
Office of Science and technology as
it prepares to set its space
exploration agenda for the next
decade.
How this would be achieved?
1.An old Atlas V rocket will be used
to attach and ‘asteroid
capture capsule’.
2.It will then be launched towards
the asteroid b/w the Earth and the
Moon.
3.On reaching closer, the asteroid
capsule would release a 50 ft.
diameter bag that would wrap
around the spinning rock using
drawstrings.
4.The craft would then turn on its
thrusters to stop the asteroid in its
tracks and tow it into a
gravitationally neutral spot.
would have a stationary base from
which to launch trips deeper into
space in future.
6.It would also be possible to mine
other asteroids for their metals and
minerals.
Scientists Identify Cause
of Widespread Eye
Disease
As per latest findings, the most
probable cause of widespread eye
disease Branch retinal vein
occlusion (blockage of the blood
vessels that channel blood from
the retina) has been identified.
Scientists have shown that it is
highly probable that thickening of
the arterial walls is behind the
disease which is a type of blood
clot in the eye that blocks the
vessels that transport blood from
the retina. The disease leads to
reduced vision and affects more
than 14 million people worldwide.
The earlier known causes behind
the disease were vague and
unclear.
What could be possible benefits
of the findings?
The findings makes it crucial for
doctors to treat patients diagnosed
with the disease with medicine to
lower blood pressure in order to
prevent blood clots from forming in
the heart and brain. Branch retinal
vein occlusion is often a sign of
other parts of the body. Disease
prevention and treatment of these
patients should be targeted at
hypertension, diabetes and
atherosclerosis, while doctors can
save patients from unnecessary
treatment with anticoagulants.
Turkey lifts veto against
NATO’s non-military
cooperation with Israel
NATO member Turkey is ready to lift
veto on non-military cooperation b/
w the alliance members and Israel.
It had imposed the veto following
Israeli attack on Turkish
humanitarian aid ship to Gaza in
2010.
In a quid pro quo, several NATO
allies of Israel agreed to withdraw a
veto against cooperating with
Turkey-friendly countries, mainly in
the Arabian region.
However, Turkey still maintains its
ban on joint military activities and
also reserves the right to bar
activities with Israel on its own soil.
The relations b/w the two nations
strained after the Gaza ship raid.
The latest agreement has come in
the backdrop of NATO’s consent to
install Patriot anti-aircraft missiles
along the Turkish border with Syria.

JTS Institute 1 Current Affairs Notes


Studying Bats to get
clues to immunity,
longevity in man
A team of researchers at
the Australian Animal Health
Laboratory (AAHL) conducted an
extensive research into bats and
bat borne viruses, and their
potential effects on the human
population. Their study provides an
insight into the evolution of the
bat’s flight, resistance to viruses,
and relatively long life. The team
in collaboration with the Beijing
Genome Institute led a team that
sequenced the genomes of two bat
species.
Why Bats are being studied?
Bats are known to have survived for
65 million years against all
adversities. They are widespread
and one of the most abundant
creatures. They have longer lives
compared to animals of similar
size and are known as natural
reservoir for several lethal viruses ,
such asHendra, Ebola and SARS,
but they often don’t succumb to
disease from these viruses. They
adapt themselves to these odds. A
deeper understanding of these
evolutionary adaptations in bats
may lead to better treatments for
human diseases, and may
eventually enable us to predict or
perhaps even prevent outbreaks of
emerging bat viruses. They may
also hold clues about immunity
and longevity.
West Antarctic Ice Sheet
warming rapidly
As per a new study, the western
part of Antarctica is experiencing
nearly twice as much warming as
previously thought. The
temperature record from Byrd
Station, a scientific outpost in the
centre of the West Antarctic Ice
Sheet (WAIS), recorded a marked
increase of 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit
(2.4 degrees Celsius) in average
annual temperature since 1958 —
that is, three times faster than the
average temperature rise around
the globe. This finding places West
Antarctica among the fastest-
warming regions on Earth.
Its melting currently contributes 0.3
mm to sea level rise each year —
second to Greenland, whose
contribution to sea level rise has
been estimated as high as 0.7 mm
per year.
What is Byrd Station?
It is an important scientific outpost
in the centre of the WAIS which is
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
the indicator of climate change
throughout the region. It is located
some 700 miles from the South
Pole and near the centre of the
WAIS.
Pakistan recognizes
Kosovo as an
Independent State
Pakistan became another country
to officially recognized Kosovo as
an independent state. Kosovo had
declared independence from
Serbia in 2008. With this Pakistan
became the 98thsovereign state
among 193 UN-member states to
recognize Kosovo.
In September 2012, Kosovo
declared full independence after
the western powers supervising
Kosovo declared the end of their
supervision.
EU encourages potato as
a replacement of rice in
Asia
The EU is increasingly promoting
potato as crop which can replace
rice as a staple in the Asian rice-
consuming countries.
As per researchers:
>Potato, which is a ‘tuber crop’,
requires less amount of water to
grow as compared to other basic
food products, without
compromising the nutritional value.
>It is the fourth largest consumed
food in the world after maize, rice
and wheat.
>Contains fewer calories than
pasta, rice and bread.
>Consumes about 30 % less water
to grow than rice
>It is being projected as a crop that
can contribute to weight loss if
prepared and consumed healthily.
> It can provide a solution for
meeting the increased food
demand for an estimated 6 billion
world population by 2030.
Investment slumps in
textiles; “R-TUFS”
scheme to promote
investments in sector
In 2012, the textile and clothing
industry in the country has made
minimal investment in expansions
and new projects.
In 2011, the Union Ministry of
Textiles had announced
the Restructured Technology
2 Current Affairs Notes
Upgradation Fund Scheme (R-
TUFS) with subsidy cap for each
value adding segment, such as
spinning, weaving and processing.
The total subsidy amount provided
for 2011-2012 was Rs. 1,972 crore.
It was anticipated to leverage total
investment of Rs. 46,900 crore.
The subsidy claimed was only Rs.
362 crore. Though 3,542
applications were received,
proposing a total investment of Rs.
35,892 crore (April 2011 to
November 2012), implementation
of the projects are delayed.
What is R-TUFS?
It is a scheme introduced by Govt.
of India, Ministry of Textiles, to
channelize investments towards
hitherto low investments segments
to facilitate a balanced growth
across the value chain.
Objectives of the Scheme:
> Addressing the issues of
fragmentation and promoting
forward integration by providing 5%
interest reimbursement for
spinning units with matching
capacity in weaving/knitting/
processing/garmenting
> Promoting investments in sector
with low investment like processing
> Technology up gradation in
weaving by providing higher capital
subsidy for establishment of new
shuttle-less looms
> Ensuring greater participation of
SSI (Small Enterprises) units by
increasing the limits under this
category
Benefits from poultry
manure — no chicken
feed (Important)
Cheap, effective: At present India
produces about 6.25 to 8 million
tonnes of poultry manure annually.
“Except a few, there are many
farmers in the country who do not
show interest in testing their soil
for micronutrient deficiencies.
In general, farmers apply
micronutrients only when crops
show deficiency symptoms, while
micronutrient deficiencies
decrease yields before symptoms
appear,”
Several research
“Based on several research works
and surveys, the World Bank and
the Asian Development Bank have
stated that enriching the soils with
micronutrients, by using organic
fertilizers, not only impacts plant
deficiencies, but also on humans

and animals, through the food
chain,” says Prof.Narahari.
Even in the case of those who use
chemical fertilizers and sprays,
farmyard manure or vermicompost
forms the basic input for their fields
before sowing and is a long
standing practice.
Soil rejuvenation
For centuries now,farmers accept
that organic manures of cattle,
poultry and green leaves wastes
(mulching) rejuvenates their soil
physically, chemically, and
biologically.
“Farmers in developed countries
are now more aware and are
switching over to organic manures
resulting in more than 10 per cent
drop in chemical fertilizer
production.
On the contrary, we in India are
ignoring the benefits of organic
fertilizers and importing huge
quantities of chemical fertilizers,”
says Prof.Narahari.
Confined to pockets
Though cattle compost manure is
known to our farmers not many are
familiar with poultry manure;
because modern poultry farms
have emerged in India just four
decades back, though confined to a
few pockets.
Most crops, especially paddy, sugar
cane, plantation crops, floriculture
and horticultural crops respond
well to poultry manure.
However, it is not that advisable for
leguminous crops. Crops absorb
the nitrogen in poultry manure
similar to urea.
So they need lower doses and
proper irrigation.
Poultry manure is a more
concentrated source of crop
nutrients, especially NPK and
calcium. Being naturally organic, it
does not need composting and can
be applied directly to the fields from
the farm.
“The fertilizer value of one tonne of
dried cage poultry manure is
equivalent to 100 kg urea, 150kg
super phosphate, 50kg potash,
125kg calcium carbonate, 30 kg
sulphur, 12 kg sodium chloride,
10kg magnesium sulphate, 5kg
ferrous sulphate, 1kg manganese
sulphate, zinc sulphate and other
trace minerals each and is
available at a cheaper rate than
other market available inputs,”
explains Prof.Narahari.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
How plants survive
droughts
When drought-tolerant plants
detect dry conditions, they
synthesize abscisic acid, which
causes changes from root tips to
leaves and flowers. Plants under
the influence of this hormone begin
to conserve water. Their seeds lie
dormant in the ground. Their leaves
close microscopic pores to stop
water loss. They slow their own
growth, and they signal numerous
genetic changes, reprogramming
themselves to accomplish their
single most pressing goal -
survival. “Abscisic acid triggers an
array of plant drought-tolerance
mechanisms,” said co-investigator
Julian Schroeder of UC San Diego.
Such improvements would be a
boon for agriculture, which is the
single largest use for water in most
of the world, consuming up to 90
percent of available water in some
of the hottest and most arid parts of
the world, which are often prone to
drought.
One possible way to translate this
research to agricultural products
would be to design chemicals to
mimic the action of abscisic acid,
according to Getzoff. Such
chemicals would then be sprayed
on crops to protect them in the face
of looming drought.
NarendraModi loses
Lokayukta battle, SC
upholds appointment of
Guv’s choice Justice
Mehta
In a setback to NarendraModi, the
Supreme Court today upheld the
appointment of Justice (retd) R A
Mehta as state Lokayukta by
Governor KamlaBeniwal, saying it
was done in consultation with the
Chief Justice of the High Court.
A bench of justices B S Chauhan
and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla
dismissed the Gujarat
government’s plea that the
appointment was illegal as it was
done without consulting it.
The bench said that the Governor is
bound to act under the advice of the
Council of Ministers, but the
appointment of Justice Mehta is
right as it was done in consultation
with the Chief Justice of the Gujarat
High Court.
Missing the deadline
Pakistan has missed the promised
deadline for normalising trade
relations with India by the end of
3 Current Affairs Notes
December. Has the most
consequential agreement between
the two countries in many decades
been too good to be true? Has the
Pakistan army decided to torpedo
the only positive dynamic in
relations with India? Few in official
Delhi would want to proffer
definitive answers at this stage. For
the moment, India has no choice
but to accept the word from
Islamabad that the delay in
granting the MFN status is merely
procedural.
Defying the widespread disbelief in
India, Zardari delivered a roadmap
for normalising trade relations. As
the first step, Islamabad started
trading with India on the basis of a
negative list rather than a small
positive list. India reciprocated by
addressing Pakistani concerns
about non-tariff barriers. Pakistan
was to take the next step, by the
end of October, by lifting the current
restrictions on the number of items
that India could export through the
Attari-Wagah border in Punjab.
Islamabad’s inability to deliver on
that front has been followed by the
delay in the complete phasing out
of the negative list by December 31.
Delhi was to respond to these
moves by immediate unilateral
reduction of its sensitive list of
imports from Pakistan. While India
must give the benefit of doubt to the
Zardari government, it cannot
ignore the mounting political
mobilisation of the conservative
forces in Pakistan against normal
trade ties with India. If the internal
balance in Pakistan shifts away
from the elected civilian leaders,
the hopes for normal trade will be
dashed. That, in turn, could signal
that a new negative phase in
bilateral relations is at hand.
Cosmic radiation can
cause Alzheimer’s in
astronauts: study
Space travel may harm the brain in
astronauts as exposure to galactic
cosmic radiation could trigger
Alzheimer’s, a new study has
claimed.
The Earth’s magnetic field
generally protects the planet and
people in low earth orbit from these
cosmic radiation, but once
astronauts leave orbit they are
exposed to constant shower of
various radioactive particles, the
‘Daily Mail’ reported.
“Galactic cosmic radiation poses a
significant threat to future
astronauts. The possibility that
radiation exposure in space may
give rise to health problems such

as cancer has long been
recognised,” senior author of the
study, Professor Kerry O’Banion
from the University of Rochester
Medical Centre (URMC)
Department of Neurobiology and
Anatomy said.
“However, this study shows for the
first time that exposure to radiation
levels equivalent to a mission to
Mars could produce cognitive
problems and speed up changes
in the brain that are associated with
Alzheimer’s disease,” O’Banion
said.
Tests on mice with models of
Alzheimer’s showed that after they
were exposed to various doses of
radiation, including levels
comparable to what astronauts
would be experience during a
mission to Mars, they were far
more likely to fail these tasks -
suggesting neurological
impairment – earlier than these
symptoms would typically appear.
The brains of the mice also
showed signs of vascular
alterations and a greater than
normal accumulation of the protein
‘plaque’ that accumulates in the
brain and is one of the hallmarks of
the disease.
Govt mulls steps to
reduce gold import:
Chidambaram
The government is considering
steps to reduce gold import by
making it more expensive, Finance
Minister P. Chidambaram said on
Wednesday.
“Demand for gold must be
moderated... We may be left with no
choice but to make it more
expensive to import gold. The
matter is under government
consideration,” he told reporters in
New Delhi.
Gold import is a major constituent
of India’s rising Current Account
Deficit (CAD). The CAD widened to
a record high of 5.4 per cent of
GDP, or $ 22.3 billion, in the July-
September quarter.
In value terms, gold imports stood
at $ 20.2 billion in the April-
September period of the current
fiscal, a decline of 30.3 per cent
over the corresponding period a
year ago.
For the entire 2011-12 fiscal, gold
imports stood at $ 56.2 billion.
In his Budget proposal, the then
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
had doubled the basic customs
duty on standard gold bars to four
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
per cent and on non-standard gold
to 10 per cent.
He also imposed one per cent
excise duty on unbranded jewellery,
which was subsequently rolled
back after protest from jewellers
across the country.
Currently, the government is also
making efforts to channelize
investor money into equities and
other financial instruments to
reduce demand for the yellow
metal.
Concept: people invest in gold, but
gold is a dead investment, so the
money would better serve the
purpose if deviated to industries
through equities.
India’s triumph in rice
India has emerged the world’s
largest rice exporter, displacing
Thailand from its leadership
position, with rice exports in
marketing year 2011/12 (October-
September) placed at a record 10.4
million tonnes. This rise to the top
follows the Indian government’s
decision in February 2011 to lift a
four-year ban on exports of non-
basmati varieties of rice paving the
way for a rise in exports. That rise,
however, was favoured by a
decision in the same year of the
Thai government, under Prime
Minister YingluckShinawatra, to
improve the lot of its farmers by
introducing a Rice Pledging
Scheme under which it procured
stocks at an enhanced price of
15,000 baht (US$420) per ton - a
60 percent increase over 2010.
This obviously raised the domestic
price of Thai rice. If India had not
entered the market, the Thai
government’s decision to buy rice
at prices exceeding the world price
would have temporarily reduced its
sales to the world market. By
increasing stocks with the Thai
government and reducing global
tradable supplies quite
significantly, this would have
pushed up global rice prices and
allowed Thailand to return to the
export market. But India’s entry and
increased exports from Vietnam at
the prevailing price prevented that
rise, resulting in a fall in Thai
exports and the loss of its position
as the world’s leading rice exporter.
Thailand’s “loss” was India’s gain,
as Indian non-basmati rice turned
internationally competitive.
India’s exports proved price
competitive despite the fact that the
government had raised the
minimum support price quite
significantly. Higher support prices
had in fact resulted in an increase
4 Current Affairs Notes
in stocks with the government. But
this did not affect open market
availability adversely, because of a
record production104.32 million
tonnes of rice in 2011 due to a
good monsoon.
The fact that export surpluses are
being mobilised from the open
market by the private trade implies
that export prices being received by
India are higher than domestic
procurement and open market
prices. Exporters can access
supplies in the open market only by
offering prices higher than the
procurement price. And they would
not offer these prices and choose
to export if the export price was not
higher than the domestic open
market price.
SEWA model shows cash
transfers work
While meaning well, the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) is
putting at risk the great idea of
cash transfers by designing them
primarily as substitutions for
subsidised consumer goods. That
may be a laudable longer-term
aim; the Public Distribution System
(PDS) is in a mess. But
strategically, cash transfers must
boost economic growth and be a
progressive measure to reduce
income inequality and poverty, both
at the outset and in the longer-term.
They can be both. The reduction of
cheating, repeatedly mentioned by
government spokesmen, must be
a secondary gain, not the main
one.
Pilot scheme
This is why SEWA and Unicef have
been implementing a cash transfer
pilot scheme in which the cash
provided has been a small top-up
to existing subsidies. As a result,
nobody in the villages is worse off
than before. There have been
teething problems associated with
opening bank accounts and with
learning how to use the cash. But
these have taken place in an
atmosphere of net gain for the
recipients. As people have learned
to adapt, support has grown not
only for the idea of cash transfers
but for substitution for rationed
items. As a result, planners could
now implement a substitution
scheme in those villages that
would be welcomed, would
improve welfare and save
government money.
An example
Let me give an example to illustrate
the fiscal point. Suppose one were
to provide everybody with Rs.200

per month on top of the value of the
PDS and other subsidies, with the
proviso that within three months of
starting to receive that cash they
had to receive it in a bank account
or obtain the Aadhaar. This would
give people time to deal with the
practicalities, while nobody would
actually lose in the short-term.
At the end of the first year, the cash
transfer amount could be
increased to, say, Rs.300 while
some subsidy worth Rs.100 were
removed, again leaving nobody
worse off. In that second year, the
fiscal saving would be well above
the Rs.100 because we know the
cost of transferring Rs.100 to any
recipient is actually about Rs.350.
The Ministry of Finance has told us
that, and the Deputy Chair of the
Planning Commission has said
that only 16 per cent of spending on
subsidised item reaches the poor.
So any removal of a subsidy would
save the government much more
than the value of it to the consumer.
And it must always be remembered
that a government can afford short-
term costs that low-income citizens
cannot tolerate without acute
discomfort.
This way of substituting cash for
subsidies would be strategically
2 Janaury 2013
Organic fertigation
What fertigation is?
Fertigation, a practice of
conjunctive application of fertilizers
and water to crop plants is an
inevitable component of modern
day scientific agriculture.Soluble
fertilizers like urea, potash and a
wide variety of fertilizer mixtures
available in the market could be
well mixed with irrigation water,
filtered and then passed through
the irrigation unit.
In the normal sense it refers to the
conjunctive application of chemical
fertilizers and water
Organic fertigation = application
of organic manures with water
The scope for “Organic Fertigation”
is very large. However, there are
many hurdles to overcome, in
making organic fertigation a reality.
The major hurdles in Organic
Fertigation
1. Solubility of organic manure.
2. Solid residues are more in
organic manures. The best filtering
mechanism will be required to
screen out the solid wastes. (so
that sprinkler system doesn’t gets
clogged)
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
wise and redistributive, since it
would leave scope for increasing
the value of transfers to low-income
groups while saving money fiscally,
since the saving on any reduction
of a subsidy could be shared
between the government coffers
and the citizen recipient. After all,
both the citizen recipient and the
government would gain revenue.
Concept: The major issue in all
social schemes is the cost of
transfer, i.e. how much money is
to be spent to transfer 1 rupee to
the beneficiary.
Example: to transfer 1 rupee
under MGNREGA government has
to spend 3.60 rupees.
This leads back to the most
important point of all. Cash
transfers must be understood
primarily as a way of reducing
inequality and poverty, while being
fiscally sustainable. Other
considerations must be secondary
to that objective. This is why we
should all plead with the politicians
to go against their nature and
depoliticise the transformation of
social policy as much as they can.
Well, we should try.
Research works are going on to
standardize the filtration techniques
for other organic manures.
Work is presently being carried out
to fabricate a portable organic
fertigation with a multitier filtration
mechanism unit suitable for
homes.
Why health
communication is
important
Health communication: it’s the
process of communication with the
audience who have vested interest
in health issues. It involves
dissemination of relevant
information.
Poor strata of the society suffer
from diseases mainly because of
dearth of information and facilities.
In India, two examples of
successful health communication
that had considerable impact are
polio and HIV
Polio messaging for example was
built on simple idea — two drops
that could save your child’s life.
This message was everywhere —
from print, TV and radio from the
more urban and semi-urban
audiences and on roadsides, on
the back of buses and Lorries and
in small village fairs.
5 Current Affairs Notes
S. Ramakrishnan took
over as Director of Vikram
Sarabhai Space Centre
A senior Scientist from ISRO, S.
Ramakrishnan took over as the
Director of the Vikram Sarabhai
Space Centre (VSSC),
Thiruvananthapuram in the first
week of January 2013.
Ramakrishnan carries a four
decades of experience in rocketry
and headed the Liquid Propulsion
Systems Centre (LPSC) at ISRO.
He replaced P S Veeraraghavan.
S. Ramakrishnan
• He is an expert in aerospace
propulsion, launch vehicle systems and
project management
• Before Liquid Propulsion Systems
Centre he served as director (project)
at VSSC and Chairman of Flight
readiness review panel
• He played a major role in
accomplishing the PSLV C-11/
Chandrayaan Mission
• He was hounoured with a Padma
Shri in 2003
• He served as the Mission Director
for PSLV C1, C2, C3 and C4 flights
• He played a major role in helping
India accomplish its first satellite
Launch Vehicle SLV-3
HIV was perhaps India’s most
complex disease communication
exercise. In a society with ingrained
double standards, limited women’s
rights and a complete lack of
conversation on sexuality and
sexual diversity talking about HIV
may have been impossible.
The HIV campaign used every
possible medium and celebrities to
transmit messages on prevention,
on treatment and on stigma. An
important aspect of this campaign
was it consciously focused on
being entertaining and connecting
with the audience. It also
consciously avoided being
judgmental of lifestyle choices. HIV
programming in particular was
relevant as it emphasized the
notion of choice — an idea that was
empowering to an audience used
to directive messaging.
Oils and Heart diseases
COOKING OILS
Cooking oils containing saturated
fats can elevate bad cholesterol or
LDL cholesterol levels which block
arteries and increases risk of heart
disease, insulin resistance, and
obesity.
Cooking oils are of various types:
saturated like ghee and coconut oil,
and unsaturated oils are further

classified into monounsaturated
and polyunsaturated oil apart from
transfats.
The main culprit: TRANSFATS
Trans fat is the common name for
unsaturated fat with trans-isomer
(E-isomer) fatty acid(s). Because
the term refers to the configuration
of a double carbon-carbon bond,
trans fats are sometimes
monounsaturated or
polyunsaturated, but never
saturated. Trans fats do exist in
nature but also occur during the
processing of polyunsaturated fatty
acids in food production
Transfats are found in
hydrogenated oils or vanaspati or
vegetable shortening which are
present in pastry products, pizzas,
and burgers. Transfats increase
the LDL levels of the body and
decrease the HDL levels of the
body.
Why we should not reheat
cooking oil?
Reusing of oil is a cause for worry
as reheating oil has been linked
with cancer. The practice is
prevalent due to rise in prices of
essential commodities like oil and
cap on subsidised gas cylinders.
Reheated oil gets denatured
chemically and is not fit for
consumption.
Bone banks in India soon
The setting up of bone banks in
India will become a reality soon,
said S.K.S. Marya, president-elect,
Indian Orthopaedic Association
(IOA) on Wednesday.
Addressing the inaugural function
of 57th Annual Conference of IOA
(IOACON 2012), he said the
association had submitted its
recommendations to the Centre to
have some kind of law for setting
up bone banks on the lines of eye
banks. Besides, the legislation
would define how to use spare
bones legally.
Violin maestro M.S.
Gopalakrishnan dies at 82
Legendary violinist M.S.
Gopalakrishnan, known for his
sound knowledge of both, Carnatic
and Hindustani music, passed
away.
A recipient of several honours
including the Padma Bhushan,
Padma Shri and the
SangitaKalanidhi title awarded by
The Music Academy, MSG was a
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
classic example of an artiste who
was always open to new ideas and
influences. His style can be seen
as a seamless blend of the
classical and Hindustani idioms.
His musical contributions spanned
over 75 years.
Fiscal deficit in indian
economy
The reason for the rise of fiscal
deficit is primarily:
1. Rising oil prices.
2.Global slowdown
3.Investments in gold and gold
imports
4.Dipping manufacturing sector.
5.Rising external debt (majorly due
to NRI deposits).
6.Faulty exim policies
7.Lack of capital
Concepts:
1. Revenue deficit-: it is the
difference between revenue
expenditure and revenue receipts
when revenue expenditure ids
greater than revenue receipts.
RD= RE- RR, where RD= revenue
deficit, RE is revenue expenditure
and RR is revenue receipts when
RE>RR.
2. Fiscal deficit-: it is the difference
between total expenditure (revenue
and capital expenditure) and total
receipts (revenue and capital
receipts) other than borrowings
when total expenditure (TE) is
greater than total receipts (TR).
FD(fiscal deficit) = TE-TR, other
than borrowings when>TR.
3. Primary deficit-: it is the
difference between fiscal deficit
(FD) and interest payments (IP).
PD (primary deficit)=FD-IP
Indo-Paknuclear
exchanges
India and Pakistan exchanged their
nuclear units’ lists on 1 January
2013, as it is customary since 20
years. The list which contains the
names of nuclear units of two
countries, are exchanged between
India and Pakistan as a custom
and part of an agreement which
prevents them from aiming the
nuclear installations of each
other’s nations.
The exchange of the list of nuclear
units has been going on, on 1
January every year since 1992. This
6 Current Affairs Notes
is a customary action as a part of
Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks
against Nuclear Installations and
Facilities which was signed in
December 1988.
The external affairs ministry of India
announced that the two countries
exchanged the list of nuclear
installations through their
diplomatic channels at Islamabad
and New Delhi.
Apart from this list, the two nations,
as a part of another bilateral
agreement signed back in 2008,
share the list of each others’
prisoners in the jails of two
countries. The bilateral agreement
was signed between India and
Pakistan in May 2008, according to
which a complete list of the citizens
of both the countries living in the
jails of other country should be
exchanged two times every year on
1 January and in July.
Severe cold wave continues to
grip north India
People across India face the wrath
of dipping mercury, as the cold
wave further intensified in several
parts of the country.
“The bone chilling wind is coming
from western side, north western
side. We are receiving cold wind
from Pakistan and Afghanistan and
that is why the temperature has
dipped a lot to 9.8.
An unabated cold wave swept
through Kashmir valley with further
decline in night temperature in
Srinagar.
Jammu region is facing bone-
chilling cold coupled with foggy
conditions.
Concept: the reason for cold
waves is the inflow of cold winds
from North West direction. As the
north east side is protected by the
Himalayas. Sometimes westerlies
drag atmospheric disturbances
occurring over the Mediterranean
Sea and cause showers in the
Himalayan region. They are called
as western disturbances.

3 Janaury 2013
Veerapandiya
Kattabomman
The 254 birth anniversary of
VeerapandiyaKattabomman, one of
the first freedom fighters in India to
oppose the British, was celebrated
with fervour (January 2013)
Kattabomman, a legendary
chieftain from Panchalakurichi,
fought against the British by
refusing to pay tax. He was hanged
to death by the British in 1799 at
Kayathar in Tuticorin district and
now a memorial stands at the
place where Kattabomman died.
Galactic space geysers
Outflows of charged particles from
the centre of our galaxy, stretching
more than halfway across the sky,
have been detected and mapped
with CSIRO’s 64-m Parkes radio
telescope in eastern Australia.
These outflows contain an
extraordinary amount of energy -
about a million times the energy of
an exploding star.
The energy streams are caused by
“star-power” and not by a “black
hole accretion disc” spinning in the
centre of the Milky Way.
Alaska is getting colder
New study by Alaska Climate
Research Center shows that
temperatures in Alaska are actually
getting colder since the beginning
of the 21st century - contrary to
global warming concerns.
A study by the University of Alaska
Fairbanks shows the state has
cooled by 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit
since 2000.
Researchers credit an ocean
phenomenon, called the Decadal
Oscillation, with bringing colder
surface water temperatures and
thus beginning the overall cooling
effect.This oscillation has brought a
weakening of the Aleutian Low, the
breeding ground for storms that
end up regulating weather systems
in the rest of the 48 states.With a
less active Aleutian Low, cold winter
storms have been sticking around
Alaska longer and keeping the
temperatures chilly.
Before the 2000s, the warming
trend in Alaska has actually been
twice the overall warming rate.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
NASA eyes one of the
flattest galaxies in
universe
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space
Telescope produced a beautiful
image of the spiral galaxy IC 2233,
one of the flattest galaxies known,
the US space agency said.
Lying in the constellation of Lynx, IC
2233 is located about 40 million
light-years away from Earth. This
galaxy was earlier discovered by
British astronomer Isaac Roberts
in 1894.
The image was taken with the
Hubble’s Advanced Camera for
Surveys, combining visible and
infrared exposures. The field of
view in this image is approximately
3.4 by 3.4 arcminutes.
IC 2233 is far from being typical.
This object is a prime example of a
super-thin galaxy, where the
galaxy’s diameter is at least ten
times larger than the thickness.
These galaxies consist of a simple
disk of stars when seen edge on.
The bluish colour along the disk
gives evidence of the spiral nature
of the galaxy, indicating the
presence of hot, luminous, young
stars, born out of clouds of
interstellar gas.
Typical spiral galaxies like the Milky
Way are usually made up of three
principal visible components: the
disk where the spiral arms and
most of the gas and dust is
concentrated.
Selection and
appointment of judges in
India:
What is the collegium system?
It is a system under which
appointments and transfers of
judges are decided by a forum of
the Chief Justice of India and the
four senior-most judges of the
Supreme Court. It has no place in
the Indian Constitution.
What does the Constitution
actually prescribe?
Article 124 deals with the
appointment of Supreme Court
judges. It says the appointment
should be made by the President
after consultation with such judges
of the High Courts and the
Supreme Court as the President
may deem necessary. The CJI is to
be consulted in all appointments,
except his or her own.
Article 217 deals with the
appointment of High Court judges.
It says a judge should be
appointed by the President after
7 Current Affairs Notes
consultation with the CJI and the
Governor of the state. The Chief
Justice of the High Court
concerned too should be
consulted.
How and when did the Collegium
system evolve?
The collegium system has its
genesis in a series of three
judgments that is now clubbed
together as the “Three Judges
Cases”. The S P Gupta case
(December 30, 1981) is called the
“First Judges Case”. It declared
that the “primacy” of the CJI’s
recommendation to the President
can be refused for “cogent
reasons”. This brought a paradigm
shift in favour of the executive
having primacy over the judiciary in
judicial appointments for the next
12 years.
How did the judiciary come to get
primacy?
On October 6, 1993, came a nine-
judge bench decision in the
Supreme Court Advocates-on
Record Association vs Union of
India case — the “Second Judges
Case”. This was what ushered in
the collegium system. The majority
verdict written by Justice J S Verma
said “justiciability” and “primacy”
required that the CJI be given the
“primal” role in such appointments.
It overturned the S P Gupta
judgment, saying “the role of the
CJI is primal in nature because this
being a topic within the judicial
family, the executive cannot have an
equal say in the matter. Here the
word ‘consultation’ would shrink in
a mini form. Should the executive
have an equal role and be in
divergence of many a proposal,
germs of indiscipline would grow in
the judiciary.”
How final was this?
Justice Verma’s majority judgment
saw dissent within the bench itself
on the individual role of the CJI. In a
total of five judgments delivered in
the Second Judges case, Justice
Verma spoke for only himself and
four other judges. Justice Pandian
and Justice Kuldip Singh went on
to write individual judgments
supporting the majority view. But
Justice Ahmadi had dissented and
Justice Punchhi took the view that
the CJI need not restrict himself to
just two judges (as mentioned in
the ruling) and can consult any
number of judges if he wants to, or
none at all.
For the next five years, there was
confusion on the roles of the CJI
and the two judges in judicial
appointments and transfers. In
many cases, CJIs took unilateral

decisions without consulting two
colleagues. Besides, the President
became only an approver.
What was done to deal with the
confusion?
In 1998, President K R Narayanan
issued a presidential reference to
the Supreme Court as to what the
term “consultation” really means in
Articles 124, 217 and 222 (transfer
of HC judges) of the Constitution.
The question was if the term
“consultation” requires consultation
with a number of judges in forming
the CJI’s opinion, or whether the
sole opinion of the CJI constituted
the meaning of the articles. In reply,
the Supreme Court laid down nine
guidelines for the functioning of the
Coram for appointments/transfers;
this came to be the present form of
the collegium (see box).
Besides, a judgment dated October
28, 1998, written by Justice S P
Bharucha at the head of the nine-
judge bench, used the opportunity
to strongly reinforce the concept of
“primacy” of the highest judiciary
over the executive. This was the
“Third Judges Case”.
What are the arguments against
the collegium system?
Experts point to systemic errors
such as:
* The administrative burden of
appointing and transferring judges
without a separate secretariat or
intelligence-gathering mechanism
dedicated to collection of and
checking personal and
professional backgrounds of
prospective appointees;
* A closed-door affair without a
formal and transparent system;
* The limitation of the collegium’s
field of choice to the senior-most
judges from the High Court for
appointments to the Supreme
Court, overlooking several talented
junior judges and advocates.
What moves were taken to
correct these?
The Law Commission in its 214th
Report on ‘Proposal for
Reconsideration of Judges cases I,
II and III’ recommended two
solutions:
* To seek a reconsideration of the
three judgments before the
Supreme Court.
* A law to restore the primacy of the
Chief Justice of India and the
power of the executive to make
appointments.
What is the suggested alternative
to the collegium?
A National Judicial Commission
remains a proposal. The
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
Constitution (98th Amendment) Bill
was introduced in the LokSabha by
the NDA government in 2003. It
provided for the constitution of an
NJC to be chaired by the CJI and
with two of the senior-most judges
of the Supreme Court as its
members. The Union Law Minister
would be a member along with an
eminent citizen to be nominated by
the President in consultation with
the Prime Minister. The
Commission would decide the
appointment and transfer of judges
and probe cases of misconduct by
judges, including those from the
highest judiciary.
SC guidelines on appointments
1 The term “consultation” with the
Chief Justice of India in Articles 124
(2), 217(1) and 222 (1) requires
consultation with a plurality of
judges in the formation of the
opinion of the CJI. The sole,
individual opinion of the CJI does
not constitute consultation.
2 The CJI can only make a
recommendation to appoint a
judge of the Supreme Court and to
transfer a Chief Justice or puisne
judge of a High Court in
consultation with the four senior-
most judges of the Supreme Court.
As far as the High Courts are
concerned, the recommendation
must be made in consultation with
the two senior-most judges of the
Supreme Court.
3 Strong cogent reasons do not
have to be recorded as justification
for a departure from the order of
seniority in respect of each senior
judge who has been passed over.
What has to be recorded is the
“positive reason for the
recommendation”.
4 The views of the judges
consulted should be in writing and
should be conveyed to the
Government of India by the CJI
along with his views to the extent
set out in the body of this opinion.
5 The CJI is obliged to comply with
the norms and the requirement of
the consultation process in making
his recommendations.
6 Recommendations by the CJI
without [such compliance] are not
binding upon the government.
7 The transfer of High Court judges
is judicially reviewable only if the
CJI took the decision without
consulting the other four judges in
the Supreme Court collegium, or if
the views of the Chief Justices of
both High Courts [involved in the
transfer] are not obtained.
8 The CJI is not entitled to act
solely in his individual capacity,
without consultation with other
8 Current Affairs Notes
judges of the Supreme Court, in
respect of materials and
information conveyed by the
Government for non-appointment of
a judge recommended for
appointment.
9 The CJI can consult any of his
colleagues on the appointment of a
HC judge to the Supreme Court or
transfer of a puisne judge. The
consultation need not be limited to
colleagues who have occupied the
office of a judge or Chief Justice of
that particular High Court.
(The above note is based on the
article by Mr.Katju published in the
Hindu.
DNA profiling bill
What is DNA profiling?
It involves collection of a few skin
cells, muscle tissues, a hair root or
a tiny amount of blood or saliva etc.
body fluids. Then, DNA strands are
extracted from the sample. DNA
profiling is useful for solving
crimes, confirming if people are
related to each other, paternity
testing, identifying dead bodies,
missing persons etc.
Why DNA profiling?
1.DNA profiling is the best method
to identify a person.
2.DNA can be collected from body
fluids, hair or even from a glass or
spoon you just used.
3.An individual gets 50% of one’s
DNA from each of one’s parents
hence it can be used to identify
parents, siblings and relatives of
an individual.
4.Can help to trace people who are
suspected of committing a crime.
5.Can exonerate (free) the
suspects who are innocent.
DNA Profiling & India
CBI has urged the Government to
pass the DNA profiling bill quickly,
citing following reasons:
Countries like china and USA have
a well-established network of
laboratories and databases of DNA
based profiles, which could be
used in solving criminal cases.
Salient Features of DNA profiling
Bill
1.Provides for a national database
of DNA profiles.
2.The DNA database will be used
forcrime detectionas evidence in
judicial proceedings for
admissibility of evidence.

3.Bill legalises collection and
analysis of the DNA samples
forRepeat
offenders,suspects,missing
persons,unknown deceased
persons& volunteers for forensic
purposes.
4.DNA profiling in cases related
tomurder, miscarriage (abortion),
dowry deaths, sexual assault,
paternity suits etc.
5.Using these profiles, Bill creates
indexes within every databank
including: crime scene indexes,
suspects index, offender’s index,
missing persons index, unknown
deceased persons’ index,
volunteers’ index etc. This will help
searching particular entry very
quickly.
6.The DNA profile of an individual
will be deleted if that person were
to be acquitted after the trial.
7.DNA profiles can be shared with
other countries for cases related to
terrorism, narcotics, illegal human
organ sale etc.
Structure
The Bill establishes following
organizations:
1.DNA Profiling Board at the
National and State levels. To
laydown laboratory
standardsprocedures for collection
analysis of DNA samples etc. It will
be headed by molecular biologists
& members from legal, police,
biology etc. fields.
2.National DNA Data Bank, State
DNA labs will collect samples and
feed the data to National DNA
Database which can be accessed
anywhere.
Arguments against the Bill:
1.It doesn’t increase crime-
detection necessarily.
For, e.g. When UK police created
DNA database, did not help to solve
more crimes, despite millions of
profiles being added to the
database.
2.Misuse for Caste identification:
Screening potential suspects on
basis of caste. Can be used to
brand certain individuals and
communities as people with
‘criminal traits’. Furthermore, using
caste for forensic purposes and to
develop DNA databases could far
too easily be abused and result in
the profiling of individuals, and
identification errors.
3.Bill ignores the possibility of false
matches, cross-contamination, and
laboratory error.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
Protection against misuse:
DNA Profiling Bill provides
penalties for misuse of data as jail
up to three years and a fine of up to
10,000.
Timeline
2007:draft Human DNA Profiling Bill
was made public but it had many
shortcomings, led to lot of
opposition from NGOs, activists
etc. hence this bill was never
introduced in parliament.
2010: Tamil Nadu State
Government sought to amend the
Prisoners Identification Act 1920 to
allow for the establishment of a
prisoners’ DNA database
2012: DNA data bank for armed
forces personnel is setup. It’ll help
identification of mutilated dead
bodies during war etc. This is
unique as so far only USA and
Israel have such facilities. Uttar
Pradesh government ordered
mandatory sampling for DNA
fingerprinting of dead bodies.
Feb 2012: New version of bill is
sent to various ministries for their
comment and feedback.
Dec 2012: CBI urges the
Government, to quickly pass this
bill.
(Article Courtesey: The Indian
Express)
The SEBI-SAHARA issue
Explained:
Two firms of Sahara Conglomerate:
1.Sahara Housing Investment
Corporation
2.Sahara India Real Estate
Corporation. (aka Sahara
Commodities)
These two companies Issued
OFCD to collect money from
investors.
Nearly 23 million people, mostly
from villages and small towns
subscribed to this scheme. They
invested over 24,000 crores rupees
in these OFCDs of SAHARA.
2011: SEBI questions
According to the OFCD’s rules
SAHARA was supposed to collect
the money within the time limit
specified, however SAHARA
continued to call in offers for more
than 2 years.
In reply, SAHARA made a statement
that the offer was a type of private
placement and not a public offer
hence SEBI cannot question the
validity of the process.
9 Current Affairs Notes
PUNCH LINE: in private placement
only less than 50 people can
invest, and in SAHARA’s scheme
much more people had invested.
Hence SEBI orders SAHARA to
return the money with 15% interest.
After that SAHARA Pleads before
SAT (securities appellate tribunals),
but the SAT also rules the verdict in
SEBI’s favour.
After the SAT verdict, SAHARA
pleads before the Supreme Court,
2012: Supreme Court hearing.
SAHARA’s proposition was based
on the fact that the two companies
in questions were not listed hence
the case was outside the purview
of SEBI (SEBI only governs the
listed companies), however the
Supreme Court ruled that the
instrument OFCD’s were used and
the investors were not fully aware
about the scheme, hence SEBI’s
jurisdiction was unquestionable.
Government has decided to fix this
ambiguity in the new Companies
Act.
According to Companies Bill 2012
(passed in LokSabha): SEBI will
haveundisputed jurisdiction over
any investment scheme involving
more than 50 investors-It doesn’t
matter whether you’re a listed
company or an unlisted company.
Concepts from the whole issue:
Debentures: It’s a type of debt
instrument that is not secured by
physical assets or
collateral. Debentures are backed
only by the
general creditworthiness and reputation
of the issuer. Both corporations and
governments frequently issue this
type of bond in order to secure
capital. Like other types of bonds,
debentures are documented in an
indenture.
Types of debentures:
Based on ‘convertibility’ the
Debentures are of two types
namely convertible and non-
convertible.
Convertible debenture: debentures
which can be converted into
shares/equity.
Non-convertible: debentures which
cannot be converted into shares/
equity.
Optionally fully-convertible
debentures (OFCD)
·These debentures can be
converted into shares, when debt
holder (investor) wishes (for
example after expiry of pre-decided
date).

·But the “rate”, will be decided by
the company e.g. 20 debentures
=>1 share.
Chhattisgarh food
security Act:
Salient features of the act:
People who are excluded:
Following families have been
excluded from the benefits of
Chhattisgarh Food security Bill:
1.Those who pay income tax or
property tax
2.Those who own over 4 hectares
of irrigated or 8 hectares of non-
irrigated land in non-scheduled
areas
Given these conditions, only 10% of
Chhattisgarh residents will be
excluded, and 90% of the public will
get the benefits of Food security.
The Beneficiaries:
·Everyone who doesn’t fall in above
category, is covered under Food
security bill.
·The people are then classified into
three categories and given benefits
accordingly
Cost estimates to the State
treasury= Nearly Rs 2,500 crore.
That is almost 6% of Chhattisgarh
state’s GDP.
Other Features:
1.covers the public distribution
system, school meals,
anganwadis (including take-home
rations for pregnant/lactating
women and children under three
2.Free meals for the destitute and
homeless.
3.It provides for not just food grain
(what, rice etc.) but also gram,
iodized salt.
4.Plus the food given to children
(under mid-day meal) pregnant
Household Antyodaya
Food grain 35 kg for Rs.1/kg
iodized salt free
black gram 2 kg for Rs.5/kg
Pulses 2kg for Rs.10
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
women and lactating mothers, will
have additional nutritional
standards like calorie and protein
value.
5.Ration cards would be issued on
the name of the eldest woman in a
family. (Women empowerment)
6.Panchayat and Municipalities will
be responsible for implementation
of the Act.
7.Entitlements will be given on the
basis of per household and not on
per person.
8.Going beyond the Centre’s
definition of Antyodaya, the
Chhattisgarh Government has
declared as “Antyodaya
households” as all families of
“vulnerable social groups”
including tribal groups, widows or
single women, terminally ill
persons, physically challenged
persons, elderly-headed
households with no assured
means of subsistence and
persons freed from bonded labour.
To prevent such leakage and
corruption, the Bill provides for
1.Computerisation of records and
publication of all beneficiary and
benefits given to them.
2.Gram Panchayat will be allowed
to run ration outlets.
3.Officials will be punished for non-
compliance, under Essential
commodities act.
4.Vigilance committees
5.Social audits by Gram Sabha etc.
priority General
35kg for Rs.2/kg Rice @9.50,
Wheat @Rs.7.50,
Max 15 kg
free NO
2kg for Rs.5kg NO
2kg for Rs.10/kg NO
10
Internet completes 30
years of its evolution
On January 1, 2013 Internet turned
30. It was on this day in 1983 when
Internet Protocol was launched
which replaced vulnerable Network
Control Program (NCP) used
previously, thereby making sure the
network was not susceptible to a
single point of failure. This meant a
single attack could not bring it
down, making it safer and more
reliable.
On this day, it was the first time the
US Department of Defence (DoD)
commissioned Arpanet network
fully switched to use of the Internet
protocol suite (IPS)
communications system.
Later, British computer scientist
Tim Berners-Lee used it to host the
system of interlinked hypertext
documents he invented in 1989,
known as the World Wide Web.
Bhakti Sharma: World’s
youngest to cross seven
seas
22-year old Bhakti Sharma from
India is the youngest in the world to
have crossed seven seas,
including four oceans. Besides,
she is only the third person in the
world to have swum across the
Arctic Ocean, and is now targeting
the Antarctic Ocean to become the
youngest to swim in all five oceans.
Bhakti, who belongs to Udaipur
(Rajasthan), has also been
conferred with the Tenzing Norgay
National Adventure Award 2012 for
water adventure, by the President.
Current Affairs Notes

4 Janaury 2013
China unveils “Beidou
Navigation Satellite
System (BDS)” in Asia-
Pacific
China launched Beidou Navigation
Satellite System (BDS), a kind of
global positioning system, in the
Asia-Pacific from its Beidou
satellite network with an aim to
gain up to 20 % of global market
share by 2015.
What would it do? The system
would initially provide positioning,
navigation, timing and short-
message services in China and
the Asia-Pacific region. It is
compatible with other global
positioning systems and could
provide positioning accuracy of 10
metres, velocity accuracy of 0.2
metres per second and one-way
timing accuracy of 50
nanoseconds. It would provide both
open and authorized global
navigation services worldwide by
2020 and will eventually use 35
satellites.
STI policy
PM Manmohan Singh inaugurated
a new science policy, the Science,
Technology and Innovation Policy
(STI) 2013 that lays greater
emphasis on innovation, setting up
research institutes and
encouraging women scientists with
an aspiration to place itself among
the top five scientific powers in the
world by 2020.
The policy is a revision of the 2003
policy which sought to bring
science and technology together
and stressed on the need for
greater investment into R&D to
address national problems.
Aim: To accelerate the pace of
discovery, diffusion and delivery of
science-led solutions for serving
the aspirational goals of India for
faster, sustainable and inclusive
growth.
Key objectives of STI Policy 2013:
1Modify the intellectual property
regime to provide for marching
rights for social good when
supported by public funds and co-
sharing of patents generated in the
public private partnership mode.
2Create a policy environment for
enhanced private sector
collaboration in research and
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
innovation and to form international
alliances to fulfill the national
agenda.
3Increasing gross expenditure in
R&D to 2% of GDP from the current
1% in this decade by supporting
increased private sector
participation.
4Expedite the pace of discovery
and delivery of science-led
solutions for faster, sustainable
and inclusive growth.
5Engender an atmosphere for
innovative abilities to flourish by
leveraging partnerships among
diverse stakeholders and by
encouraging and facilitating
enterprises to invest in innovations.
6Make careers in science,
research and innovation lucrative,
setting up world-class
infrastructure for R&D for gaining
global leadership in some select
frontier areas of science.
7Linking contributions of science,
research and innovation system
with the inclusive economic growth
agenda and combining priorities of
excellence and relevance.
8India introduced its first Scientific
Policy Resolution in 1958 which
was directed to “foster, promote
and sustain” the cultivation of
science and scientific research in
all its aspects.
9It focused on the need to attain
technological competence and
self-reliance.
Economic statistics of
India at year end:
At the beginning of the New Year,
there has been a succession of
bad news concerning the external
sector. The Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) released its quarterly report
on balance of payments (BoP)
covering the period July-September
2012,
1.The second quarter of the current
fiscal year. The report showed the
current account deficit (CAD)
spinning out of control to reach a
record 5.4 per cent of gross
domestic product (GDP). This is
sharply higher than the 4.2 per cent
recorded during the same period
last year. In absolute terms, the
CAD worsened to $22.3 billion in
the second quarter from $16.4
billion in the preceding quarter
(April-June 2012) and $18.9 billion
a year ago.
2.EXTERNAL DEBT: On the same
day, the finance ministry released a
report on India’s external debts on
September-end. India’s external
debt stood at $365.3 billion, up by
$20 billion over the level of March
11
2012. These figures by themselves
do not mean anything but the
finance ministry’s explanation for
the jump is telling. According to the
report, the rise in external debt is
largely due to higher non-resident
Indian (NRI) deposits, short-term
debt and commercial borrowings.
3.Long-term External debt, at
$280.8 billion at end-March, was up
by 5.1 per cent over end-March.
4.Short-term external debt,
accounting for 23 per cent of the
total external debt, increased by 8.1
per cent to $84.5 billion.
5.Exports have declined month
after month this year, the reason
being that the principal markets for
India’s exports, the developed
countries, have not yet recovered
from the recession. There is not
much that the Government of India
can do to reverse the decline
beyond export promotion
measures targeted at specific
sectors. Recent foreign trade
policies have sought to diversify
foreign trade away from traditional
markets and products. This is a
strategy worth pursuing even if it is
going to pay dividends only in the
long haul.
6.Imports have decreased but not
at the level of decline in exports.
The two significant contributories to
imports are petroleum and gold.
During 2011-12, gold imports were
of the order of $56 billion.
7.PORTFOLIO FLOWS: For the
overall balance of payments, the
implications of the trade and
current account deficits are clear.
The dependence on portfolio and
other capital flows through foreign
institutional investors (FII)
continues. Recent months have
seen a bounty of such flows into
the stock markets, boosting their
valuation. Exactly a year ago, the
situation was very different as the
FII pulled out and the indices
tumbled.
8.Adding to the problem, certain
other categories that would help in
reducing the trade deficit have been
coming in at a slower pace. For
instance, net receipts under private
transfers and other earnings from
“invisibles” such as software
exports have grown at a more
modest pace than a year ago.
Diesel price de-regulation
Diesel, kerosene and cooking gas
LPG prices may be hiked soon as
the government considers Vijay
Kelkar Committee
recommendations on cutting fiscal
deficit.
The Kelkar Committee, which was
appointed by Finance Ministry to
Current Affairs Notes

suggest a roadmap for fiscal
consolidation, has suggested
immediate hike in fuel prices and
complete deregulation of diesel
prices by start of 2014-15 fiscal. It
also suggested raising kerosene
and LPG rates.
State-owned oil companies
currently sell diesel at a loss of Rs
10.16 per litre, kerosene at Rs
32.17 a litre and LPG at Rs 490.50
per 14.2-kg cylinder.
ICDS scheme has not
reached half the eligibla
children in Bihar’s Dalit
hamlets, reveals study
In Bihar’s Dalit hamlets, the
Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS) has not reached
over half of the eligible children in
the stipulated age group of zero to
six years, a survey conducted by the
NGOs Bihar LokAdhikarManch
(BLAM) and Child Rights and You
(CRY) has revealed.
The survey was conducted in 20 of
Bihar’s 38 districts. It covered 200
of the 45,381 ICDS centres in Dalit
and Mahadalit hamlets of these
districts. There are 91,677 ICDS
centres in Bihar, as per the 2011
census. The survey found that only
45 per cent of the total child
population in the zero to six years
category were not covered by the
ICDS, and the ICDS centres were
not up to the mark.
About Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS)
Scheme
Launched on 2nd October 1975,
today, ICDS Scheme represents
one of the world’s largest and most
unique programmes for early
childhood development. ICDS is
the foremost symbol of India’s
commitment to her children –
India’s response to the challenge
Services
Supplementary Nutrition
Immunization*
Health Check-up*
Referral Services
Pre-School Education
Nutrition & Health Education
*AWW assists ANM in identifying the target group.
Three of the six services namely Immunisation, Health Check-up and Referral Services
delivered through Public Health Infrastructure under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
of providing pre-school education
on one hand and breaking the
vicious cycle of malnutrition,
morbidity, reduced learning
capacity and mortality, on the other.
1. Objectives: The Integrated Child
Development Services (ICDS)
Scheme was launched in 1975
with the following objectives:
i.to improve the nutritional and
health status of children in the age-
group 0-6 years;
ii.to lay the foundation for proper
psychological, physical and social
development of the child;
iii.to reduce the incidence of
mortality, morbidity, malnutrition
and school dropout;
iv.to achieve effective co-ordination
of policy and implementation
amongst the various departments
to promote child development; and
v.to enhance the capability of the
mother to look after the normal
health and nutritional needs of the
child through proper nutrition and
health education.
2. Services: The above objectives
are sought to be achieved through
a package of services comprising:
i.supplementary nutrition,
ii.immunization,
iii. health check-up,
iv. referral services,
v.pre-school non-formal education
and
vi.nutrition& health education.
The concept of providing a package
of services is based primarily on
the consideration that the overall
impact will be much larger if the
different services develop in an
integrated manner as the efficacy of
a particular service depends upon
the support it receives from related
services.
Target Group Service Provided by
Children below 6 years:Pregnant Anganwadi Worker
& Lactating Mother (P&LM) and Anganwadi Helper
Children below 6 years:Pregnant ANM/MO
& Lactating Mother (P&LM)
Children below 6 years:Pregnant ANM/MO/AWW
& Lactating Mother (P&LM)
Children below 6 years:Pregnant AWW/ANM/MO
& Lactating Mother (P&LM)
Children 3-6 years AWW
Women (15-45 years) AWW/ANM/MO
12
5 Janaury 2013
“Black beauty” meteorite:
Mars
A 2-billion-year-old dark lump of
rock that landed in Sahara desert is
actually a new type of Martian
meteorite, containing 10 times
more water than usual.
This new class of meteorite was
found in 2011 in the Sahara Desert.
Designated Northwest Africa (NWA)
7034, and nicknamed “Black
Beauty,” it weighs approximately
320 grams.
After more than a year of intensive
study, a team of US scientists
determined the meteorite formed
2.1 billion years ago during the
beginning of the most recent
geologic period on Mars, known as
the Amazonian.
“The age of NWA 7034 is important
because it is significantly older
than most other Martian
meteorites,” said Mitch Schulte,
program scientist for the Mars
Exploration Program at NASA
Headquarters in Washington.
NWA 7034’s composition is
different from any previously
studied Martian meteorite. The
research is published in journal of
Science Express.
“These findings also present an
important reference frame for the
Curiosity rover as it searches for
reduced organics in the minerals
exposed in the bedrock of Gale
Crater,” he said
NWA 7034 is made of cemented
fragments of basalt, rock that forms
from rapidly cooled lava. The
fragments are primarily feldspar
and pyroxene, most likely from
volcanic activity.
Current Affairs Notes

Concept: how Martian rock
reaches earth?
When comets or meteorites strike
the Martian surface some of the
rocks are dislodged and thrown
away, some of those reach earth
and they are called Martian
meteorites (not to be confused with
meteors found on the Martian
surface)
Mars and Plate tectonics:
Mars is at a primitive stage of plate
tectonics. It gives us a glimpse of
how the early Earth may have
looked and may help us
understand how plate tectonics
began on Earth,” said An Yin, a
UCLA professor of Earth and space
sciences and the sole author of the
new research.
Yin made the discovery during his
analysis of satellite images from
THEMIS (Thermal Emission
Imaging System), an instrument on
board the Mars Odyssey
spacecraft, and from the HIRISE
(High Resolution Imaging Science
Experiment) camera on NASA’s
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
“Earth has a very broken ‘egg
shell,’ so its surface has many
plates; Mars’ is slightly broken and
may be on the way to becoming
very broken, except its pace is very
slow due to its small size and,
thus, less thermal energy to drive
it,” Yin said. “This may be the
reason Mars has fewer plates than
on Earth.”
Mars has landslides; a fault is
shifting the landslides, moving
them from their source.
Bilateral investment treaty
(BIT) and India
What is a BIT?
BITs are international treaties
between two countries which seek
to create a stable investment
environment by giving investors
rights against States’ abuse of
sovereign powers.
A bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is
an agreement establishing the
terms and conditions for private
investment by nationals and
companies of one state in another
state. This type of investment is
called foreign direct investment
(FDI). BITs are established through
trade pacts. A nineteenth-century
forerunner of the BIT is the
friendship, commerce, and
navigation treaty (FCN).
Most BITs grant investments made
by an investor of one Contracting
State in the territory of the other a
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
number of guarantees, which
typically include fair and equitable
treatment, protection from
expropriation, free transfer of
means and full protection and
security. The distinctive feature of
many BITs is that they allow for an
alternative dispute resolution
mechanism, whereby an investor
whose rights under the BIT have
been violated could have recourse
to international arbitration, often
under the auspices of the ICSID
(International Center for the
Settlement of Investment
Disputes), rather than suing the
host State in its own courts.
The world’s first BIT was signed on
November 25, 1959 between
Pakistan and Germany. There are
currently more than 2500 BITs in
force, involving most countries in
the world. Influential capital
exporting states usually negotiate
BITs on the basis of their own
“model” texts (such as the US
model BIT).
BIT cases worth remembering:
1.The White Industries award
against India which granted close
to Australian $10 million as
damages for delays by Indian
courts in the enforcement of an
earlier arbitration award has
brought India’s Bilateral Investment
Treaty (BIT) regime into focus.
White Industries, an Australian
company, which had undertaken to
supply equipment and develop the
Pipawar Mine for Coal India Ltd.
(CIL) initiated arbitration against
CIL over some disputed payments
in 1999. Though White Industries
won the case in 2002, the award
was not enforced even by 2010.
Hence, it initiated an investment
claim against the Government of
India under the Australia-India BIT.
2.Since the White Industries case,
Vodafone has issued a notice
under the India-Netherlands BIT
against India for its proposed
retrospective amendment to the tax
code.
3.This is not an isolated instance
as other companies such as the
Russian conglomerate Sistema,
Norwegian company Telenor, and
the British hedge fund Children’s
Investment Fund, have reportedly
initiated arbitration proceedings
against India for various regulatory
actions.
DUE TO POLICIES LIKE
RETROSPECTIVE TAXATIONS AND
LICENCE CANCELLATIONS THE
INDIAN GOVERNMENT HAS COME
IN THE LINE OF FIRE GLOBALLY.
NEED FOR REFORM
1.So, a case can be made out to
pursue an aggressive BIT policy for
13
a country like India. The UNCTAD
2012 World Investment Report also
confirms the need for reform in the
existing BIT regime by expanding
the role of the State.
2.India has done so by allowing for
State-initiated arbitration in its
Model BIT. Though India is in a
position to push for major BIT
reform, the lacunae in India’s legal
regime may defeat such efforts.
3.The Indian Arbitration and
Conciliation Act, 1996, cannot be
applied to investment awards,
which would mean that an
investment award cannot be
enforced in India. This
inapplicability results from
strictures in the Act that requires
arbitration agreements to comply
with the Indian Contract Act, 1872.
4.Since ITA finds its roots in
international law, more often than
not, investment awards will be
incompatible with Contract law.
Further, India’s abstinence from the
ICSID Convention will result in
difficulty for a hypothetical Indian
investor to enforce an investment
award in its favour.
5.The changing dynamic of the
global economy has led to a
transformation in the role of
developing countries as both
capital importing and exporting
States. There is an urgent need to
redefine the global BIT regime to
reflect this changing paradigm
rather than rejecting it altogether,
an exercise that India’s BIT policy
seems to be following to fruition.
China’s anti-satellite
weapon:
Amid reports that China is gearing
up to conduct one more anti-
satellite weapons test (ASAT)
putting US Global Positioning
System (GPS) at risk, Chinese
state media today asserted that
Beijing had the right to carry out the
test as it is a “trump card” against
Washington.
This ability to reach Medium-Earth
Orbit (MEO) could theoretically put
the constellation of US Global
Positioning System navigational
satellites at risk, a report in
Space.Com said.
“But there are good reasons for
China not to destroy a satellite at
this orbit, including that China
plans to use this part of space,”
Kulacki wrote.
“Creating debris, as it now
understands, would threaten its
own satellites. Over the next
several years, China plans to place
more than 20 new navigational
satellites in MEO,” he wrote.
Current Affairs Notes

Plans to reintroduce
NilgiriTahr in two ranges
NilgiriTahr, the State animal of
Tamil Nadu, is likely to be spotted
again on the Glenmorgan
Mountains in The Nilgiris and
Thirukurungudi ranges in the
Kalakad — Mundanthurai Tiger
Reserve (KMTR), both original
habitats of the Tahr until it went out
of sight some years ago.
Acting on the suggestion of the
Standing Committee of the National
Board for Wildlife (NBW), the
Ministry of Environment and
Forests has written to the State
Forest Department for the
reintroduction of the NilgiriTahr in
these two ranges, MoEF officials
said.
It was A.J.T. Johnsing, former
Director of Wildlife Institute of India,
who suggested that the Tahr be
first introduced in Glenmorgan
Mountain from Mukuruthy National
Park, a known habitat of the Tahr in
the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, and
thereafter plan reintroduction in
KMTR.
Both Thirukurungudi and
Glenmorgan were original habitats
of NilgiriTahr.
6 Janaury 2013
The impeachment of
Chief Justice
ShiraniBandaranayake
The DiviNeguma Bill was
published in The Sri Lanka Gazette
on 27 July 2012.The bill
established the Department of
DiviNeguma Development by
amalgamating the Samurdhi
Authority of Sri Lanka, Southern
Development Authority of Sri Lanka
and the Udarata Development
Authority, and created numerous
community organisations, banks
and banking societies. The
Department of DiviNeguma
Development would be controlled
by the Ministry of Economic
Development headed by the
President.
In August 2012 the Sri Lankan
government laid the bill
before parliament. The bill’s
constitutionality was consequently
challenged by four petitioners on
three petitions in the Supreme
Court. The court (Bandaranayake,
PriyasathDep and Eva
Wanasundera) met on 27 and 28
August 2012 to hear the petitions.
Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa,
another brother of President
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
NilgiriTahr:
The Nilgiritahr, known locally as the
Nilgiri ibex or simply ibex, is an
ungulate that is endemic to the
Nilgiri Hills and the southern
portion of the Western Ghats in the
states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in
southern India. It is the state
animal of Tamil Nadu. Despite its
local name, it is more closely
related to the sheep of the Ovis
genus than the ibex and wild goats
of the Capra genus.
Direct Tax Collection
Led by strong growth in personal
income tax collections, gross direct
tax collections increased by 8.01
per cent to Rs.4.28 lakh crore in the
first nine months of the current
fiscal from Rs.3.97 lakh crore in the
same period in the previous year,
according to a Finance Ministry
statement.
Personal income tax collections
grew at a healthy rate of 14.57 per
cent as gross collections from this
segment increased to Rs.1.44 lakh
crore during the review period from
Rs.1.26 lakh crore in the same
period last year. Gross collections
of corporate taxes showed an
Rajapaksa, announced the
Supreme Court’s determinations to
Parliament on 18 September 2012:
the bill was in respect of matters
set out in the provincial council list
and therefore cannot become law
unless it has been referred to every
provincial council.TheUnited
People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA),
President Rajapaksa’s party,
controlled eight of the nine
provincial councils and between 25
September 2012 and 3 October
2012 all eight approved the
DiviNeguma Bill. The ninth
provincial council, Northern, had
not been functioning as an elected
body since it was established in
2007. The bill was approved by
the Northern
Province’s Governor G. A.
Chandrasiri who had been
appointed by President Rajapaksa.
The bill then returned to Parliament
and a further eleven petitions were
placed before the Supreme Court
challenging the bill’s
constitutionality. Amongst these
petitions was one filed on 4
October 2012 by opposition
MP MavaiSenathirajah challenging
the legality of Chandrasiri
approving the bill.
The Supreme Court’s
determinations were passed to the
president on 31 October
14
increase of 4.94 per cent at Rs.2.83
lakh crore (Rs.2.70 lakh crore).
Growth in net collections of wealth
tax was 1.55 per cent at Rs.656
crore (Rs.646 crore). However, net
Securities Transaction Tax (STT)
collections declined by 12.46 per
cent to Rs.3,294 crore (Rs.3,763
crore). Despite slowdown in
economic activities, the
government had said it was
confident of meeting the Rs.5.70
lakh crore direct tax collections
target for the current fiscal.
NET DIRECT TAX
Net direct tax collections (gross
minus refunds) were up by 13.7 per
cent to Rs.3.68 lakh crore (Rs.3.24
lakh crore). Faced with widening
fiscal deficit, the government had
earlier issued stern warning to tax
evaders and had asked them to
disclose their correct income and
pay advance tax by due date or be
prepared to face action. The
government had also warned
evaders of excise, Customs and
service tax to pay their dues or face
penal action which could include
arrest, prosecution and property
attachment.
2012.Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa
announced the Supreme Court’s
determinations to Parliament on 6
November 2012: clause 8(2) was
unconstitutional and needed to be
approved by a referendum; twelve
other clauses were inconsistent
with the constitution and needed to
be passed by special majority (two-
thirds) of Parliament; the governor
of the Northern Province does not
have the power to endorse the bill
and therefore Parliament needed to
be pass the bill by special majority.
An impeachment motion against
Chief Justice Bandaranayake
signed by 117 UPFA MPs was
handed to Speaker Chamal
Rajapaksa on 1 November 2012,
the day after the Supreme Court’s
determinations were passed to the
president.
Vivekananda’s 150th Birth
Anniversary
Swami Vivekananda, (12 January
1863–4 July 1902), born
NarendraNathDatta, was an Indian
Hindu monk. He was a key figure in
the introduction of Indian
philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga
to the western world and was
credited with raising interfaith
awareness, bringing Hinduism to
the status of a major world religion
Current Affairs Notes

in the late 19th century. He was a
major force in the revival of
Hinduism in India and contributed
to the notion of nationalism in
colonial India. He was the chief
disciple of the 19th century saint
Ramakrishna and the founder of
the Ramakrishna Math and the
Ramakrishna Mission. He is
perhaps best known for his
inspiring speech beginning with
“Sisters and Brothers of America,”
through which he introduced
Hinduism at the Parliament of the
World’s Religions in Chicago in
1893.
Bancassuranceguidelines:
IRDA
Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA) is
likely to come up with
‘Bancassurance’ guidelines by the
first week of February, Chairman J.
Hari Narayan said on Friday.
The ‘Bancassurance model’
In the bancassurance model,
banks sell products of insurance
companies and the present law
allows a bank to sell insurance
product of one company as an
agent.
However, some banks want to
convert into a “broker”, beyond the
present role as “agents”, which will
allow them to hawk the offerings of
more than one insurer.
So far, the IRDA has sounded
positive on the demand, but the RBI
wants banks to restrict to one
single company and continue
being an ‘agent’.
New bank licences
RBI is preparing final guidelines for
issuance of new bank licences
after Parliament approved Banking
Laws (Amendment) Bill last month
Dec, 2102.
Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill:
Salient features:
The Bill, now approved, aims at
strengthening banking regulation. It
allows RBI to supersede boards of
private banks and increase the cap
on voting rights of private investors
in public sector banks to 10 per
cent, from 1 per cent now.
As per the draft guidelines on new
bank licences, business houses
with successful track record and a
minimum capital of Rs 500 crore
will be allowed to set up
commercial banks. Currently, the
minimum capital requirement for
opening a bank is Rs 300 crore.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
The draft guidelines said
companies which are primarily
engaged in the real estate
business or stock broking will not
be eligible for promoting bank.
“Entities or groups having
significant (10 per cent or more)
income or assets or both from real
estate, construction and broking
activities individually or taken
together in the last three years will
not be eligible to set up new
banks,” the draft said.
On foreign holding, it said the
aggregate non-resident
shareholding in the new bank
should not exceed 49 per cent for
the first five years.
At present, the foreign
shareholding in private sector
banks is allowed up to 74 per cent
of the paid-up capital.
India - cyber-attacks
1India is under the grip of cyber-
attacks and there is an obvious
peak in the growth of malware and
their modifications on mobile
devices, especially on the Android
platform, according to a report.
2Though PC is still the prevalent
target for malware authors, there is
an obvious peak in the growth of
malware and their modifications on
mobile devices, especially on the
Android platform, The Quick Heal
Annual Windows and Mobile
Malware Report, 2012, released by
Quick Heal Technologies.
3As per the findings, there has
been a persistent increase in the
number of malware attacks on the
Google Android platform and
mobile applications have become
the easiest way to compromise
devices, the report said.
4According to the Report, social
engineering still remains one of the
most coveted ways of spreading
malware. Cyber criminals continue
to use it as a convenient way of
exploiting human behaviour and
platform vulnerabilities.
5The report reveals that India is
under the grip of cyber-attacks with
increase of almost 90 percent in
Windows malware and a mind-
boggling increase of 170 percent in
its modifications and the bad guys
are also winning the war in the
mobile platform.
6Virus attacks in the mobile space
have started soaring at a rapid
pace with 30 percent growth
registered in 2012 and 80 per cent
increase in its modifications.
“Windows is still the most attacked
Operating System. 2012 saw
15
numerous attacks that were
devised for windows vulnerabilities.
Cyber criminals have leveraged
zero-day exploits even more
effectively with new software
patterns and business models”.
7The web is still the most
conventional way of targeting
victims and our efforts should be
driven to educate the end users
and create awareness.
World’s largest solar
telescope to be set up in
Ladakh
It will help in understanding the
process of creation and decay of
sunspots
1Work on the world’s largest solar
telescope is likely to commence in
the Ladakh region of Jammu and
Kashmir by the end of this year.
2The telescope, with an aperture of
two metres, is expected to be of
great help in understanding the
process of creation and decay of
sunspots, apart from furthering
cutting edge research on other
fundamental processes taking
place on Sun. The telescope could
come up either at Hanle or Merak
village near Pangong Lake in
Ladakh.
3Once ready, it would be one of the
few solar telescope facilities in the
world with a capability to do both
day and night astronomy. It would
also fill the longitude gap between
Japan and Europe.
4The innovative design and
backend instruments would further
enable observations with an
unprecedented high spatial
resolution that would provide
crucial information on the nature of
magnetic fields in the solar
atmosphere.
5 . A better understanding of how
and why of the formation and decay
of sunspots assumes importance
as they pose a threat to the
communication system on earth as
well as satellites orbiting in the
outer space.
6. Increased sunspot activity
frequently accompanies an
increase in the outflow of matter
from the Sun in the form of solar
wind. Charged particles in this
wind can interfere with the
operation of satellites by
introducing what is called
background static and also interact
with atoms in the upper part of
earth’s atmosphere and thus
wreaking havoc with the
Current Affairs Notes

communication systems on
ground.
7Satellites in low earth orbit face
greater risk as during periods of
heightened solar activity, the
earth’s upper atmosphere swells
up slightly in response to the extra
heating, which in turn increases the
rate of decay of these satellites.
Bone tests can only
estimate, not determine,
one’s age.
Medical tests to “determine” one’s
age actually give only an estimate
in terms of an age range. And the
younger the person whose age is
being estimated, the higher the
likelihood of accuracy, says
forensic experts.
It involves X-rays of all major limb
bones, including pelvic, shoulder,
elbow, knee, ankle, thigh and wrist.
“At birth, most of the middle part of
the bone, known as the shaft, is
bony tissue, and the ends are
cartilaginous, as a person grows
and goes through puberty, the
cartilaginous portions are
converted to bone tissue. Every
bone completes this process at a
specific age, which is defined in
forensic textbooks. This conversion
is a process known as
ossification.”
It can only give the age within a
range of two to three years.
After the age of 22, determination
becomes less accurate, as most of
the cartilage ends are converted to
bone. An expert says, “Sometimes,
we may even give an age range of
25-40.”
About dental tests, experts say
various teeth erupt at various ages,
and a person’s age can be
estimated according to that.
“Important teeth like the first and
second molars and wisdom teeth
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
have different, predetermined ages
for eruptionWhen a range rather
than a specific age is given, the
lower age limit is considered as
per the Juvenile Justice Act. “When
the age determination is
inconclusive, or when there is
doubt about the exact age and a
range is given, the advantage of
being a juvenile is granted to the
accused,”
Bone test
Most conclusive of all
examinations. X-rays of limb bones
(pelvic, shoulder, elbow, knee,
ankle, thigh, wrist) are used to
check how much of the
cartilaginous ends of bone have
converted into bone
Dental test
Whether various teeth have
erupted, or much these have
developed; there is a standard age
for each type of tooth
Ranges
One as narrow as 1-2 years is
possible after bone tests in young
people; ranges are much wider for
older people
Mars Orbiter Mission:
ISRO
India’s bid to explore Mars will be a
scaled-down affair with the Indian
Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) launching experimental
payload of less than 15 kg as
against 25 kg planned originally.
The Mars Orbiter Mission, expected
to be launched in mid-October this
year, will carry five experimental
payloads with a total weight of
14.49 kg. The Methane Sensor for
Mars, which will be capable of
scanning the entire Martian disc
within six minutes, will weigh 3.59
kg, it was revealed at a
presentation made by planetary
scientists at the 100th Indian
16
Science Congress here. Earlier
missions to Mars had detected
Methane in the thin Martian
atmosphere, but the discovery is
yet to be corroborated. Methane is
known to be released by some
microbes as part of their digestive
process.
The Mars mission will propel India
to the elite club of five nations
comprising the US, Russia,
Europe, China and Japan which
have launched similar missions.
Another instrument —Thermal
Infrared Spectrometer — weighing
4 kg will be used to map the
surface composition of Mars. The
Mars Colour Camera has a mass
of 1.4 kg, while the Lyman-alpha
photometer, weighing 1.5 kg, will
measure atomic hydrogen in the
Martian atmosphere. The Mars
Exospheric Neutral Composition
Analyser (MENCA) which will study
the Martian atmosphere weighs
about 4 kg.
The Mars orbiter will go around the
planet once in three days. Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh had
announced the Mars Orbiter
Mission in his Independence Day
address last year.
The Mars Mission:
The Mangalyaan (Hindi: Mars-craft)
mission is a planned Mars orbiter
to be launched in November 2013
by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO). The mission
is a “technology demonstrator”
project aiming to develop the
technologies required for design,
planning, management and
operations of an interplanetary
mission.
The Mangalyaan Mars probe will lift
off from ISRO’s launch site at
Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, using
a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle
(PSLV) rocket; this will be India’s
first mission to Mars
Current Affairs Notes

7 Janaury 2013
11thPravasiBharatiya
Divas begins in Kochi:
PravasiBharatiya Divas (English:
Non-resident Indian Day), is
celebrated in India on 9 January
each year to mark the contribution
of the overseas Indian community
to the development of India. The
day commemorates the arrival of
Mahatama Gandhi in India from
South Africa. Established in 2003, it
is sponsored by the Ministry of
Overseas Indian Affairs of the
Government of India, the
Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) and the Ministry of
Development of the North Eastern
Region of India. A celebratory event
is held on 7–9 January each year in
an Indian city: a forum for issues
concerning the Indian Diaspora is
organized and the
PravasiBharatiyaSamman Awards
are given.
In 2013, 11th PravasiBharatiya
Divas will be held at Kochi from
January 7-9 where Indo-Canada
Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) is
organizing partner of the
summit.Mauritius President
RajkeswurPurryag would be the
chief guest at the official inaugural
session.
What’s new in the
11thPravasiBhartiya divas?
1.Giving a platform to Keralites in
the Gulf to air their grievances, an
exclusive session on NRIs in that
region was held as the 11th
Pravasi Divas began on Monday.
2.In his keynote address, Kerala
Chief MinisterOommenChandy
said providing the NRIs with voting
rights were the biggest
achievement for those living
abroad.
3.Kerala minister for Non-Resident
Kerala Affairs, K C Joseph said the
government has plans to permit
NRIs exercise their voting rights in
panchayat and local body polls too.
A bill in this regard would be tabled
soon, he said.
4.The theme of the session is to
boost economic and social
engagement with the diaspora in
the Gulf region. The full day
session is also expected to
discuss significant issues that
impact NRIs such as repatriation,
labour mobility, partnership
agreements in the Gulf region and
relief and rehabilitation of Indian
nationals affected by recent
uprisings.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
would formally inaugurate the
PravasiBharatiya Divas meet on the
9th January.
RBI permits Credit Default
Swaps in unlisted
corporate bonds
What is a CDS?
A swap designed to transfer the
credit exposure of fixed income
products between parties. A credit
default swap is also referred to as
a credit derivative contract, where
the purchaser of the swap
makes payments up until the
maturity date of a contract.
Payments are made to the seller of
the swap. In return, the seller
agrees to pay off a third party debt if
this party defaults on the loan. A
CDS is considered insurance
against non-payment. A buyer of a
CDS might be speculating on the
possibility that the third party will
indeed default.
What RBI did?
1. In order to better the manage
credit risk by the fund managers,
the RBI allowed Credit Default
Swaps (CDS) for unlisted rated
corporate bonds in addition to
listed ones.
2. Users shall be allowed to
unwind their CDS bought position
with original protection seller at
mutually agreeable or FIMMDA
price, it said.
3. If no agreement is reached, then
unwinding has to be done with the
original protection seller at FIMMDA
(Fixed Income Money Market and
Derivatives Association of India)
price.
4. CDS shall be permitted on
securities with original maturity up
to one year like Commercial
Papers, Certificates of Deposit and
Non-Convertible Debentures with
original maturity less than one year,
it said.
Why CDS markets?
1. The CDS market was introduced
for corporate bonds to provide
market participants a tool to
transfer and manage credit risk
through redistribution. CDS as a
risk management product offers
the participants the opportunity to
hive off credit risk and also to
assume credit risk, which
otherwise may not be possible.
17
2. Since it helps enhance
investment and borrowing
opportunities and reduces
transaction costs while allowing
risk-transfers, such products are
expected to increase investors’
interest in corporate bonds.
3. In order to develop the corporate
bond market, RBI through a
separate notification revised
downward the haircut rate for
bonds. The haircut rates are
different for different rated bonds.
4. Haircut is the difference between
prices at which a market maker can
buy and sell a security.
5. For AAA rated bonds, the revised
minimum haircut is at 7.5 per cent
from 10 per cent; 8.5 per cent (12
per cent) for AA+ rating and 10 per
cent (15 per cent) for AA rating.
India-Bhutan, Energy ties:
India will push for increased
access of energy companies in
Bhutan during the forthcoming visit
of the external affairs minister to
Bhutan next week.The move is
aimed at countering China that of
late has increased its presence in
the neighbouring country.
Why India needs to be Pro-active
towards Bhutan?
a. Power:
1. At present, practically, India is the
only country to have major footprint
in Bhutan’s hydropower sector. But
as a policy matter, “Now we have
decided to open up our hydropower
sector at global level. Being
situated at strategic location
encircled with large economies
and a liberalized FDI policy in hand,
Bhutan is now keen and ready to
expand its hydropower horizon to
ensure best possible global level
utilization of its potential,”
according to Consul General of
Bhutan DashoTseringWangda.
2. However, under an Indo-Bhutan
power sector agreement of 2006,
India was to receive 5000MW Extra
hydropower from Bhutan by the
year 2020. It had been
subsequently increased to 10,000
MW “This commitment to India is
still our first priority. Bhutan will
explore fresh foreign investment
possibilities in hydropower sector
only after fulfillment of that,” added
Wangda.
Current Affairs Notes

3. Bhutan is now exporting entire
amount of its excess hydropower of
over 1500 MW out of its total
production of around 2000MW to
India. The trade makes India as the
largest importer of Bhutan produce
while significantly contribution to
Bhutan’s economic growth of over
20% per annum.
b. Chinese angle:
1 India is also concerned that
presence of Chinese companies
especially in the power sector
could increase the prospects of
such entities making backdoor
entry into India’s critical infra sector.
2 With an eye towards Chinese
moves, India has already injected
some Rs 10,000 crore into
Bhutan’s 10th five-year plan and is
building multiple economic
leverages into existing close
bilateral relationship.
3. Minister of state for external
affairs E Ahamed responded to a
related query raised in Parliament
in late August 2012 on the Sino-
Bhutan relationship by stating that
“the government keeps a constant
watch on all developments having
a bearing on India’s security.”
4. Recent advances in the Sino-
Bhutanese relationship have
clearly been multi-faceted, touching
on cooperation in political and
economic matters, which link to
India’s regional strategic interests
and its relationship with Bhutan,
where India has traditionally been
the “guiding” partner of Bhutan’s
foreign affairs.
5. Bhutan and China have some
470 kilometers of unresolved
borders. Bhutan, India and China
constitute a “tripartite” strategic
triangle in the Eastern Himalayan
region. The Chumbi Valley, located
in the Yadong county of Tibet
Autonomous Region, is close to
the Siliguri corridor of India’s
northeast.
Widely spaced binary
stars can create problems
in planetary systems
Planetary systems with very distant
binary stars are particularly
susceptible to violent disruptions,
more so than if they had stellar
companions with tighter orbits
around them, astrophysicists have
found.
What are Binary Stars?
A binary star is a star system
consisting of two stars orbiting
around their common center of
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
mass. The brighter star is called
the primary and the other is its
companion star, comes or
secondary.
How they affect their planetary
systems?
1. Two stars orbit one another –
and these stars’ planetary systems
can be altered by the gravity of their
companion stars.
2. The orbits of very distant or wide
stellar companions often become
very eccentric – ie less circular –
over time, driving the once-distant
star into a plunging orbit that
passes very close to the planets
once per orbital period. The gravity
of this close-passing companion
can then wreak havoc on planetary
systems, triggering planetary
scatterings and even ejections.
3. “The stellar orbits of wide
binaries are very sensitive to
disturbances from other passing
stars as well as the tidal field of the
Milky Way.”
4. When a wide binary orbit
becomes very eccentric, the two
stars will pass very close together
once per orbit on one side of the
orbital ellipse, while being very far
apart on the other side of the
ellipse.This can have dire
consequences for planets in these
systems since the gravity of a
close-passing star can radically
change planetary orbits around the
other star, causing planets to
scatter off of one another and
sometimes get ejected to
interstellar space.
5. This process takes hundreds of
millions of years if not billions of
years to occur in these binaries.
Consequently, planets in these
systems initially form and evolve as
if they orbited an isolated star.
6. It is only much later that they
begin to feel the effects of their
companion star, which often times
leads to disruption of the planetary
system
7. This is a telltale signature of
past planetary scattering events,
and that those with eccentric orbits
are often interpreted to be the
survivors of system-wide
instabilities.
8. This observational signature
could only be reproduced well
when they assumed that the typical
planetary system extends from its
host star as much as 10 times the
distance between the Earth and the
Sun. Otherwise, the planetary
system is too compact to be
affected by even a stellar
companion on a very eccentric
orbit.
18
Static electricity may be
key to predicting
earthquakes
A rise in static electricity below the
ground could be a reliable indicator
that an earthquake is imminent,
say scientists who are now
launching an experiment to predict
quakes well in time to save
thousands of lives.
How it happens?
1. Theory is that, when an
earthquake looms, activity below
ground goes through a ‘strange
change’, producing intense
electrical currents.
2. They’re on the order of 100,000
amperes for a magnitude 6
earthquake and a million amperes
for a magnitude 7. It’s almost like
lightning, undergroundIn a typical
day along the San Andreas fault,
you might see ten pulses per day.
The fault is always moving,
grinding, snapping, and crackling.
3. Before a large earthquake, that
background level of static-electricity
discharges should rise.
4. The number of pulses, he
added, seems to surge about two
weeks before the earthquake then
drop back to background level until
shortly before the fault slips.
5. There are hitches to the project,
though - magnetic pulses could be
caused by a lot of other things,
ranging from random events within
the Earth to lightning, solar flares,
and electrical interference from
highway equipment.
6. Charged particles from deep
below the earth migrate to the
surface and impair the accuracy of
the equipment, so special ion
sensors have been added to the
equipment.
7. The ion count can also be
magnified by wet weather, so
humidity sensors have also been
added to rule out the possibility of
false alarms.
Kilogram now weighs
heavier
The humble kilogram — the
standard measure of weighing —
has become heavier, according to
experts from a British university.
The original kilogram is likely to be
tens of micrograms heavier than it
was when the first standard was
set in 1875, experts using a state-
of-the-art Theta-probe XPS
machine — the only one of its kind
in the world — have said.
Known as the International
Prototype Kilogram or the IPK, it is
Current Affairs Notes

the standard against, which all
other measurements of mass are
set, the Journal of
Metrologia reports.
How it became heavier?
But the kilogram has become
heavier as contaminants have built
up on its surface. The IPK and its
40 replicas were made in 1884 and
distributed globally in a bid to
standardise mass. Britain holds
replica 18 at the National Physical
Laboratory (NPL). The original is
stored in the International Bureau
of Weights and Measures in Paris.
Cure:
By exposing the surface to a
mixture of UV and ozone, we can
remove the carbonaceous
contamination and potentially bring
prototype kilograms back to their
ideal weight
Scientists link stomach
bugs to storms
1. Rain and bigger storms could be
the cause of more stomach bugs in
certain countries, according to new
research.
2. Torrential rain leads drains to
overflow, releasing germ and virus
riddled water into waterways and if
this water is swallowed while
engaging in watersports for
example, it can make people sick.
3. According to research, it is more
likely to be viruses that cause
people to be ill rather than the
germs.
4. The research was carried out as
part of a project called Viroclime,
which aims to improve tools for
tracking harmful viruses from
human sewage in European
waters.
5. It looked at viruses from five
European sites including Spain,
Hungary, Sweden, and Greece and
one site in Brazil.
6. There are two types of virus,
which could act as a signal to more
serious water-based diseases.
Note: 1. You may take print out of this material on A4 size sheets
2. Once you finish studying this material attempt an online test at www.JTSinstitute.com.
There is an online test based exclusively on this material (Jan 1-7)
3. All the questions in the online test have been designed according to the UPSC Prelims
Pattern.
JTS Institute
1 January - 7 January 2013
Cervical cancer drug
trials risky
The Supreme Court on Monday
issued notice to the Centre on a
public interest writ petition against
licensing of and trials with the
unproven human papillomavirus
(HPV) vaccines, ostensibly to treat
cervical cancer.
The petition, by Kalpana Mehta and
other health activists, cited the
Drugs Controller-General of India
(DCGI), the Indian Council of
Medical Research and others as
respondents. It said Gardasil and
Cervarix were hazardous HPV
vaccines marketed in India by MSD
Pharmaceuticals Pvt. Ltd. (a
subsidiary of Merck) and
GlaxoSmithKline Ltd.
The petition, before a Bench of
Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and
DipakMisra, said the DCGI had
granted licence for the vaccines
without adequate research on their
safety and efficacy, and the Health
Ministry too did not inquire into their
licensing as ordered by a
Parliamentary Standing Committee
in April 2010.
The petitioners said: “Though both
vaccines are claimed to prevent
cervical cancer, the truth is cervical
cancer takes twenty or more years
to develop. The vaccines have just
not been around that long to prove
their efficacy… If these vaccines are
given to women who already are
infected with the virus, then they will
raise the incidence of cervical
cancer.”
What are Genital warts?
Human papilloma virus (HPV)
1. Genital warts are soft growths on
the skin and mucus membranes of
the genitals. They may be found on
the penis, vulva, urethra, vagina,
cervix, and around and in the anus.
2. Genital warts are a sexually
transmitted infection (STI).
19
3. Causes, incidence, and risk
factors
4. The virus that causes genital
warts is called human papilloma
virus (HPV). More than 70 different
types of HPV exist. Certain types of
HPV can lead to precancerous
changes in the cervix, cervical
cancer, or anal cancer. These are
called high-risk types of HPV.
5. Not all types of HPV cause
genital warts. Other types of HPV
cause warts on other parts of the
skin, such as the hands. This
article focuses on warts on the
genitals.
6. HPV infection around the
genitals is common. Most people
have no symptoms. In women, HPV
can spread to areas inside, on the
walls of the vagina and cervix. They
are not easy to see without special
procedures.
Important facts about HPV:
1. HPV infection spreads from one
person to another through sexual
contact involving the anus, mouth,
or vagina. You can spread the warts
even if you do not see them.
2. You may not see warts for 6
weeks to 6 months after becoming
infected. You may not notice them
for years.
3. Not everyone who has come into
contact with the HPV virus and
genital warts will develop them.
Current Affairs Notes