March Final Issue.pmd - CHANGE 'Gateway to All Competitive Exams'

MARCH 2012
Govt Appoints B K Batra as
Deputy MD of IDBI Bank
The Union government in January 2012 appointed B K
Batra as Deputy Managing Director of IDBI Bank. Prior
to being appointed as Deputy Managing Director of
IDBI Bank, he worked as Executive Director looking after
the corporate banking function and formulation of
corporate level policies and processes. He was also
discharging responsibility as chairman of credit
committee and systems and procedures and several
other committees. Batra served IDBI Bank in various
positions since 1983 till date. Batra shall hold office till
31 July 2016, the date of his superannuation or until
further orders. Currently, the bank’s management is
headed by Chairman and Managing Director R M Malla.
PERSON IN THE NEWS
Teen Sailor Circles Globe Solo
Dutch teeager Laura Dekker on 21 January 2012 became
the youngest sailor to complete a solo circumnavigation
of the world. The 16-year-old Dekker completed her solo
round-the-world journey when she sailed into harbour
on the Caribbean island of St Martin, which is shared by
Netherlands and France. Dekker, who left the island on
20January 2011 surpassed the previous record by eight
months. Dekker turns 17 on 20 September 20 and she
had to complete her journey before September 16 to beat
the record for the youngest sailor to make an unassisted
world tour.
Dekker had to fight the Dutch courts, who at first blocked
plans when she was just 14. The court ordered her placed
in the care of welfare officers on the grounds that she
was too young to guarantee her safety at sea. She had
then run away to St Martin, and police had to escort her
back. She finally won her court battle with Dutch child
welfare authorities in July 2010 and set sail, originally
from Gibraltar on 21 August 21 2010 in her yacht Guppy.
However, a change of her planned course led her to
make the starting point from her trip St Martin instead.
However, the 27,000-nautical mile feat will not be
recognised by Guinness World Records because the
youngest solo sailor category was scrapped after a series
of court cases brought by the Dutch authorities to try
to prevent Dekker setting off at 13 and at 14. The previous
record holder was Australian Jessica Watson, who
achieved the feat in May 2010, three days before she
turned 17.
Turkish Ex-army Chief Arrested
for Anti-govt Plot
Turkey’s former Army chief Ilker Basbug was arrested
on 6 January 2012 over an alleged attempt on part of the
chief to topple the Islamist-rooted government in the
country. Ilker Basbug, the 26th chief of staff of the
Turkish republic was placed in preventive detention for
setting up and leading a terrorist group and of attempting
to overthrow the government. General Basbug, who
served as Army chief from 2008 to 2010, was sent to a
prison at Istanbul’s Silivri prison.
Basbug is the first such high-ranking military commander
to be arrested as a suspect since a former chief of staff
in the 1960s. General Basbug, who retired in 2010, is the
senior most officer to be held in a massive investigation
into the so-called Ergenekon network that is accused of
plotting to topple Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and
Development Party (AKP).
Tensions between Turkey’s fiercely secularist military
and Erdogan’s government have been building for years.
Currently one-tenth of the Generals are in custody over
the alleged coup plots. The military, which considers
itself as the guardian of secularism in modern-day Turkey
and currently boasts a force of 515000 troops, carried
out three coups in the past- 1960, 1971 and 1980. The
military had ousted a coalition government led by an
Islamist Prime Minister in 1997.
Daniel Ortega Inaugurated as
Nicaraguan President
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PERSON RESIGNED
Harish Khare Quits as Manmohan’s
Media Adviser
Harish Khare resigned as media advisor to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on 19 January 2012 following the
appointment of television journalist Pankaj Pachauri as
Communication Advisor in the PMO. Pankaj Pachauri
will report to Pulok Chatterjee, Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister. Pachauri was given the rank of additional
secretary while Khare enjoyed the rank of special
secretary.
Khare (65) had replaced Sanjaya Baru in June 2009 soon
after the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance came
to power for the second term. As media advisor, Khare
held the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
Khare who completed his Ph.D. in Political Science from
Yale University in the United States was senior Associate
Editor and Chief of Bureau with The Hindu in New Delhi
before joining the PMO in 2009. He had also served as
Resident Editor of Times of India in Ahmedabad.
PERSON DIED
Veteran Pakistani actress Salma
Mumtaz Passed Away
Pakistani film actress Salma Mumtaz died in Lahore on22
January 2012 after battling diabetes for several years.
Mumtaz was born in Jallandhar in 1926. Her family moved
to Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. She made her debut
in films in the 1960s with the Urdu film Neelofar. An
accomplished dancer, she worked in some 300 movies,
mostly in Punjabi. Among her popular movies were Maan
Puttar, Puttar Dai Piyar, Sheran Di Jori, Mauj Mela, Dacchi
and Heer Ranjha. She also directed and produced
number of movies.
Legendary Blues Singer Etta James
Died
Pioneering US blues singer Etta James, who flitted
effortlessly from jazz, pop and love ballads to feisty R&B
and who plunged into drug addiction before resurrecting
her career to win six Grammys, died on 20 th January 2012
from complications of leukemia. She was 73.
Kerala Governor M O H Farook
Died
Kerala governor and former Puducherry chief minister
and MP, M O H Farook died in Chennai on 26 January
2012. Veteran Congress leader, Farook was born in
Karaikal on 6 th September 1937. He had participated in
the struggle for liberation of Pondicherry as a student,
during 1953-54 when Pondicherry was a French colony
and served as a member of the Central Haj Committee in
Mumbai from 1975 to 2000.
Farook was a three-time chief minister of Puducherry.
He served from 9 April 9 1967 to 6 March 1968; from 17
March 1969, to 3 January 1974 and from 1985 to 1990. He
also served as the speaker of the Puducherry legislative
assembly. He was thrice elected to the Lok Sabha from
Puducherry in 1991, 1996 and 1999 and served as a Union
minister of state for civil aviation and tourism between
June 1991 and December 1992 in the P.V. Narasimha Rao
Government.
He was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Saudi
Arabia in September 2004. He was appointed Jharkhand
Governor in 2010. He was sworn in as the 19th Governor
of Kerala in September 2011. Farook, a seasoned
politician and a senior Congressman was an able
administrator, who had the vision to develop Puducherry
to its full potential. He was the architect of modern
Puducherry. Farook had the distinction of being the
youngest Speaker of the Puducherry Assembly in the
late 1960s.
Ex-diplomat A K Damodaran
Died at 90
Freedom fighter and one of the doyens of Indian
diplomacy, Ambassador A K Damodaran passed away
in New Delhi on 31 January 2012. Born in Tripunithura,
Kerala in 1921, Damodaran was an IFS officer of the
1953 batch.
Damodaran had joined the Foreign Service in 1953 after
playing an active role in the freedom struggle and a brief
two-year stint at the Delhi University where he taught
English. He practiced the diplomacy of realpolitik without
surrendering national interests in the immediate years
after Independence and was one of the last surviving
diplomats of the Nehruvian era.
He was one of the towering personalities of free India’s
diplomatic community. Damodaran held several key posts
around the world. He was one of the architects of the
1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty. He also served in Sri Lanka
and China, and was India’s envoy to Italy and Sweden.
A committed Nehruvite, Damodaran was one of those
Indian diplomats, who was trained alongside their
Pakistani counterparts at the Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy in Boston before taking up full-fledged
diplomatic postings.
Veteran diplomat, eminent writer, and freedom fighter
Ambassador A. K. Damodaran worked on the Nehru
papers after retirement. He penned down and editing
several books on India’s foreign policy.
Film Critic Nikhat Kazmi
Passed Away
Nikhat Kazmi, noted film critic died on 20 January 2012
at 53. She had been suffering from a breast cancer. Kazmi
wrote for nearly 25years. She reviewed films for the
newspaper Times of India. She had also written books
on Bollywood - Ire in the Soul: Bollywood’s Angry Years
(1996) and The Dream Merchants of Bollywood (1998).
She also spearheaded compilations like the Times Guide
to Hollywood Blockbusters and Times Movie Guide
(2007). She had also written a play called If Shakespeare
was a gun.
Speaking the language of the young, Kazmi made
Hinglish (language that is a mix of two languages Hindi
& English spoken by youngsters) the preferred medium
of communication in film reviews. Her language made
her an instant favourite of the youth and her insight
was highly regarded by filmmakers. She was unsparing
in her criticism but also never found wanting in a word
of appreciation. She started the much-debated practice
of giving stars to films.
The last few films Nikhat reviewed were Sadda Adda,
Chaalis Chauraasi, Ghost and Hollywood flick Blitz.
Nikhat also had a blog called Pulp Friction on the TOI
website.
India’s First Woman
Photojournalist Died
India’s first woman photo-journalist Homai Vyarawala
died on 15 January 2012 in Vadodara, Gujarat. She was
the only professional woman photojournalist between
1939 and 1970. Homai Vyarawalla was commonly known
by her pseudonym Dalda 13.
Born at Navsari in south Gujarat in a Parsi family in
December 1913, Vyarawala had her education in Mumbai
and moved to Delhi in 1942. She had studied at the
Mumbai University and the J J School of Arts.
She shot to national fame as a woman photo-journalist
who photographed events leading to Independence as
an employee of the British Information Services.
Vyarawala was in the profession for nearly four decades
before retiring soon after her husband’s death and settled
down in Vadodara since 1973.
Some of the most momentous political events in India
Daniel Ortega has been sworn in for a controversial C. Jagannatha Rao Died were captured by her camera in Delhi during 1941-1970,
third term as Nicaragua’s president following his
which include unique image of the Dalai Lama crossing
landslide victory in November 2011 polls. Following his Senior congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister over into the Indian Territory in 1959, captured by her
inauguration, Ortega stressed on the need to substitute of Andhra Pradesh C. Jagannatha Rao died of a heart lens, are of immense historical significance. She also
a model of savage capitalism with a future determined attack in Secunderabad on 23 January 2012. Jagannatha captured the first flag-hoisting ceremony at the Red Fort
by the principles of solidarity, cooperation without Rao served as deputy Chief Minister in the Cabinet of on August 16 1947, the departure of Lord Mountbatten
conditions, fair exchange and the ending of applying Bhavanam Venkatram in 1982.He was member of the from India and the funerals of Mahatma Gandhi,
sanctions based on political orders. Ortega, leader of Legislative Council for one term and represented Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
the Sandinista movement which overthrew the USbacked
Somoza dictatorship in 1979 was elected as the times. He was Excise Minister earlier in the Cabinet of T. The former Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, was
Narsapur Assembly constituency in Medak district three
83rd Nicaraguan president in 2006 with 38% support. Anjaiah in 1980. He was also president of Narsapur one of her favourite subjects. She was awarded Padma
One of his first moves upon taking office in 2007 was to samithi in 1961. Jagannatha Rao was in the forefront of Vibhushan during the Republic day felicitations in 2011
enter his Sandinista government into the ALBA bloc. separate Telangana agitation in 1969.
in recognition of her contribution as a photo-journalist.
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Eminent Malayalam Writer
Sukumar Azhikode Passed Away
Sukumar Azhikode, award-winning Malayalam writer,
scholar and one of the most influential Gandhian
intellectual in Kerala, died on 24 January 2012. As an
intellectual giant, humanist, a cultural guru, a committed
secularist, a champion of human rights and a sentinel of
social values, he gave expression to his ideals through
more than 35 books, thousands of articles and countless
orations – all laced with grace, dignity and humour. As a
literary critic, he upheld the timeless values of the
classics. His range was wide, ranging from Indian
philosophy, Vedas and Upanishads to the subtly
nuanced pure literary criticism. His writings on poetry
gravitated towards sociological and cultural criticism.
Music Legend Anthony Gonsalves
Died
Anthony Prabhu Gonsalves, India’s first music ‘arranger
died on 18 January 2012. He was 84. Born in Majorda, in
Goa, Anthony Gonsalves’ love for music led him to merge
Goan melody with Hindustani music.
Gonsalves began his career with Bombay Talkies in 1943.
He worked alongside musicians which include Anil
Bishwas, Gulam Haidar, Shyam Sundar, Naushad, Sachin
Dev Burman, Ghulam Mohammed, Salil Chowdhary and
Madan Mohan. In the year 1958, he founded a 110-
musician strong Indian Symphony Orchestra featuring
Lata Mangueshkar and Manna Dey as soloists. The
orchestra was successfully premiered in the quadrangle
of St Xavier’s College in erstwhile south Bombay.
Gonsalves, was also a teacher and has taught music
legends that include RD Burman and Pyarelal Ramprasad
Sharma. The famous song ‘My name is Anthony
Gonsalves’, from the film ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ was
Pyarelal’s tribute to Gonsalves. During the International
Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2010, a documentary titled
“Anthony Gonsalves: The Music Legend” based on his
life and works won the Special Jury Award.
Former Macedonian President
Kiro Gligorov Died
Kiro Gligorov, the first democratically elected president
of Macedonia who served two terms at the helm of the
country in the 1990s as it became independent from
Yugoslavia, has died in Skopje on 1 January 2012. He
was 94.
Gligorov became president of Macedonia in January
1991, when it was still a Yugoslav republic. He led his
countrymen through a referendum, in which they voted
for independence. The territory of 2.1 million people
became the only republic to secede from Yugoslavia
without a war.
Born in the central Macedonian town of Shtip on May 3,
1917, Gligorov served two consecutive presidential terms,
leading the nation from January 1991 to November 1999.
PLACES IN NEWS
The Protests in Guatemala Against
Domestic Violence
Guatemala- The protests against domestic violence took
place. Guatemala is in Central America
Around 12,000 Guatemalans on 22 January 2012 climbed
an extinct volcano in a protest against domestic violence.
The protests were dubbed Walk for Life. The activists
formed the world’s longest human chain all the way to
the peak of the 12,352 feet Volcano de Agua known as
Water Volcano. The protesters are hoping to inspire a
change in attitude to violence in Guatemala. The Central
American country has one of the highest murder rates
in the world.
Union Home Ministry Launched
RICs at Porthrapur Village
Porthrapur village: The first batch of RICs was launched.
UN Resource Centre for the
North-East at Guwahati
Guwahati- United Nations Resource Centre was set up.
In Assam, a United Nations Resource Centre for the
North-East was set up at Guwahati on 2 January 2012.
The centre happens to be the first of its kind in the
country and third in Asia region. The centre was formally
inaugurated by the State Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
A Massive Forest Fire broke out in
the Torres del Paine National Park
in Chile
Torres del Paine National Park: A forst fire broke out.
The national park is located in Chile.
A massive forest fire broke out in Torres del Paine
National Park in southern Chile on 2 January 2012. Four
of the six areas that caught fire were brought under
control. About 230,000 hectares of forest were affected.
Chile is a nation located in southern hemisphere. This
hemisphere experiences high temperature in November,
December and January, which often causes forest fire.
India Asked Traders To Stay Away
From Yiwu
Yiwu: Major hub for commodities trading in Zhejiang
province in China
India on 3 January 2012 cautioned its businessmen in
dealing with traders in Yiwu, a major hub for commodities
trading in Zhejiang province in China. A trade advisory
posted on the Indian Embassy website stated that all
people who have business with Yiwu, are cautioned
against doing business there and all people who do not
have business with Yiwu, are requested to be careful
that they do not do business with Yiwu. The advisory
asked the Indian businessmen to stay away from Yiwu.
The advisory has been issued in the backdrop of illegal
detention of two Indian businessmen in the locality and
manhandling of an Indian Diplomat.
AWARDS|HONOURS
S.K. Singh Award for Nuclear
Trouble-shooter Venkatesh Varma
D Bala Venkatesh Verma, Joint Secretary Disarmament
in the Ministry of External Affairs was conferred with
the first S K Singh Award for excellence in the Indian
Foreign Service on 6 January 2012. The award was
presented to him by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in
recognition of his extradordinary efforts to strengthen
India’s position during the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Senior Indian diplomat D. Bala Venkatesh Varma, a key
member of the negotiating team that saw the Indo-U.S.
nuclear deal through from the first agreement of July
2005 to the Additional Protocol in 2010.
Varma, a 1988 batch officer of the Foreign Service, is an
expert in nuclear matters and is currently posted as Joint
Secretary (Disarmament and International Security
Affairs) at the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi.
He had earlier worked in India’s Permanent Mission in
Geneva and in the Prime Minister’s Office. It was as a
Director in the PMO that he was first associated with
the 2005 nuclear agreement with the U.S. during the tense
and often bitter negotiations with the American side
over the separation plan for India’s nuclear facilities as
well as the bilateral cooperation agreement, his
appropriate advice at key junctures helped secure a deal
that was within the parameters Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh promised parliament.
Following the adoption of the NSG’s decision in
September 2008, Verma played a crucial role in ensuring
that the text of an Additional Protocol was finalised to
India’s satisfaction. Also, Varma’s negotiating skills were
applied in concluding the India-specific Safeguards
Agreement with the IAEA.
Shehan Karunatilaka Awarded the
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
Singapore-based Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka
was awarded the DSC Prize for South Asia Literature
2012, at the Jaipur Literature Festival in Rajasthan on 21
January 2012. Karunatilka won $50,000 for his book
Chinaman. The novel explores cricket as a metaphor to
uncover a lost life and a lost history.
The title of the novel, published by Random House,
refers to a left-arm unorthodox spinner in cricket, often
described as the chinaman. The legend of a Sri Lankan
bowler Pradeep Sivanathan Mathew and the sport of
cricket form the crux of this book.
The jury for the 2012 $ 50,000 prize included renowned
literary figures Dr Alastair Niven, Dr Fakrul Alam, Faiza
S Khan and Marie Brenner.
DSC Prize for South Asia Literature
The prize was instituted in January 2010 to celebrate
writing that highlights the South Asian region, its people,
culture and Diaspora. Envisioned as a unique and
prestigious award, the award recognizes the literary
works of authors across the globe writing on South Asia.
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is one-of-itskind
in the region and aims at recognizing literary work
that is redefining the understanding of South Asia across
the globe. DSC Prize for South Asia Literature 2011 was
given to HM Naqvi for his debut novel Home Boy
(HarperCollins India).
Young Lieutenant Awarded Ashok
Chakra Posthumously
President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil conferred
the Ashoka Chakra on Lt. Navdeep Singh (posthumous)
on the occasion of the 63rd Republic Day Parade 2012 in
New Delhi. Lt. Navdeep Singh was awarded the Ashoka
Chakra for single-handedly eliminating four infiltrating
terrorists on 20 August 20 2011. Lieutenant Navdeep
Singh was Ghatak Platoon Commander of 15 Maratha
Light Infantry deployed in the High Altitude Area near
the Line of Control.
OTHER GALLANTRY AWARDS
Besides the President also approved the award of three
Kirti Chakra. Lt. Col. Kamaldeep Singh (Rajputana Rifles
/ 18TH Battalion the Rashtriya Rifles), Capt. Ashutosh
Kumar (5th Battalion the Rajputana Rifles) and Lt. Sushil
Khajuria (Army Service Corps / 18th battalion The
Grenadiers) were the three Kirti Chakra awardees. Of the
three, Lt. Khajuria was conferred the award
posthumously for his gallantry during an encounter with
terrorists in the Kupwara region of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sixteen persons were awarded the Shaurya Chakra, the
nation’s third-highest gallantry award in peacetime.
While most of the Shaurya Chakra awardees are
Armymen, the awardees also include a Jammu and
Kashmir Special Police Officer (SPO) Barket Ali, who
was conferred the award posthumously.
President Pratibha Patil approved conferring of 368
gallantry awards, including 28 Param Vishisht Seva
Medals and 45 Ati Vishisht Seva Medals. The Army’s
additional director-general (public information) Maj. Gen.
S.L. Narasimhan was awarded an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
for his leadership in relief and rescue efforts in the wake
of the Sikkim earthquake in 2010.
Amjad Ali Khan Presented
Mallikarjun Mansur Award
Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was presented the
Mallikarjun Mansur award in recognition of his
achievements on 3 January 2012. He has enthralled
audience worldwide with his unique style of playing the
instrument with his finger nails.
Khan is the first north Indian artiste to have performed
in honour of saint composer Thyagaraja at his birth place
at Thiruvaiyur in Tamil Nadu.
The award for excellence in the Indian Foreign Service
The home ministry of India launched the first batch of is named after the former foreign secretary and Governor, He is also a recipient of many awards like Sangeet Natak
RICs (Resident Identity Cards) at Porthrapur village in Shailendra Kumar Singh, a diplomat widely respected academy award, Tansen Award, UNESCO Award,
Andaman and Nicobar Islands on 21 January 2012. The within the IFS community for his acumen, UNICEF National Ambassadorship and International
RIC cards were distributed to all persons above the age professionalism and leadership. Varma was selected as Music Forum Award.
of 18 residing in the nine maritime states and four union the first recipient of the prestigious award by a topdrawer
jury consisting of Vice President Hamid Ansari, The award, instituted by the Karnataka government,
territories under the National Population Register (NPR)
scheme. The NPR scheme is aimed to provide valid National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, Foreign carries a cash prize of Rs one lakh and a citation. Vocalist
identity to all people in these areas to strengthen the Secretary Ranjan Mathai, Ms Gandhi and Congress M.P. Kishori Amonkar, Pandit Jasraj and Dr Balamuralikrishna
security along the country’s coastline.
Rahul Gandhi.
were the earlier recipients of the award.
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MARCH 2012
Infosys Prize Conferred on Six
Researchers from 5 Sc. Streams
Six researchers from five science streams were honoured
with the Infosys Prize-2011 by the former President, A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam in Bangalore on 9 January 2012.
The prize winners include Kalyanmoy Deb, Professor of
Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology-
Kanpur (engineering and computer science); Imran
Siddiqi, scientist, Centre for Cellular and Molecular
Biology, Hyderabad (life sciences); Kannan
Soundarajan, director, Mathematics Research Centre,
Stanford University, U.S. (mathematical sciences); Sriram
Ramaswamy, Professor, Centre for Condensed Matter
Theory, Indian Institute of Sciences–Bangalore (physical
sciences); Raghuram G. Rajan, Charles M. Harper Faculty
Fellow at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of
Business (social sciences-economics); and Pratap Bhanu
Mehta, president and chief executive of the Centre for
Policy Research, New Delhi (social sciences-political
science and international relations).
President of the Board of Trustees of Infosys Science
Foundation, T.V. Mohandas Pai, announced on the
occasion that a new award category in humanities would
be introduced from 2012. It would cover philosophy,
history, archaeology, linguistics and literary sciences.
INFOSYS PRIZE
The Infosys Prize, into its third year, carries a cash
component of Rs. 50 lakh, a gold medallion and a
citation. The Infosys Prize is amongst the highest in
terms of money given for any award in India. The noted
scientists were selected by the Foundation trustees and
the eminent jury panels comprising Nobel laureate
Amartya Sen for Social Sciences, Shrinivas Kulkarni
(physical sciences), Pradeep K. Khosla (engineering and
computer science), S.R. Varadhan (mathematical
sciences) and Inder Verma (life sciences). The
Foundation is funded by a corpus of Rs.100 crore (Rs.10
billion), contributed by the trustees and an annual grant
from the global software major.
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The 69th Annual Golden Globe
Awards
Hollywood movies The Artist and The Descendants have
topped the winners list of 69 th Annual Golden Globe
Awards 2011 by winning top honours. George Clooney,
Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Madonna also walked
away with the major honours at the awards ceremony
held at The Beverly Hilton hotel on 15th January 2012.
Actor Clooney Clooney bagged the Best Actor in a
Motion Picture - Drama award for his role in The
Descendants, beating superstars like Leonardo DiCaprio
and Brad Pitt, while Meryl Streep was awarded the Best
Actress in the same category for her performance in The
Iron Lady.
List of Winners of the 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards
is as follows:
Best Picture: Drama- The Descendants
Best Actor: Drama- George Clooney (The Descendants)
Best Actress: Drama- Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Best supporting Actor- Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Supporting Actress- Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Screenplay- Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
Best Picture: Comedy or Musical- The Artist
Best Actor: Comedy or Musical- Jean Dujardin (The
Artist)
Best Actress: Comedy or Musical- Michelle Williams
(My Week With Marilyn)
Best Director- Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
Best Foreign Language Film- A Separation (Iran)
Best Animated Film- The Adventures of Tintin
Best Original Score- Ludovic Bource, The Artist
List of Winners in Television:
Best Comedy Series- Modern Family
Best Drama Series- Homeland
Best Actor, Comedy- Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)
Best Actress, Comedy- Laura Dern (Enlightened)
Best Actor, Drama- Kelsey Grammer (Boss)
Best Actress, Drama- Claire Danes (Homeland)
The Dalai Lama Received Mahatma Gandhi International Award
Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama was presented the Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Peace and
Reconciliation on 4 January 2011, the fourth day of the ten-day Kalachakra initiations. The granddaughter of
Mahatma Gandhi, Ela Gandhi, presented the award, instituted in 2003, to the Dalai Lama at the Kalachakra ground.
Ela Gandhi, who is based in South Africa, is chairman of the Gandhi Development Trust that gives the award. The
Dalai Lama was supposed to have received the award in October 2011 as part of a much anticipated visit to South
Africa. The visit however had to be called off following a five-week wait for a visa to be issued. Former recipients
of the Mahatma Gandhi International Award include Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, South
African leader Nelson Mandela and Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere.
Ramnath Goenka Excellence in
Journalism Awards
Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism
2012 was held at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 16
January 2012. Vice President of India, Hamid ansari was
the graced the occasion as Chief Guest. 30 awards in
total were given away for outstanding work done in print
and broadcast media in various categories.
The Pioneer’s J Gopikrishnan and CNBC-TV18’s Udayan
Mukherjee were adjudged Journalist of the Year at the
5th Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism
At the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards
2012, CNN-IBN bagged three prestigious awards in
various categories. Journalists Anubha Bhonsle, Preeti
Singh and Arijit Sen of CNN-IBN were honoured with
the prominent award.
Anubha Bhonsle won the Best Political Reporter award
for her show Paisa Power Politics exposing the
relationship between those who fight elections and those
who fund it. Preeti Singh won Best on the spot Reporter
of the year for her coverage of the flood affected areas
inside the Karnool district of Andhra Pradesh. Arijit Sen
was awarded the Best reporter from North East for his
reports on fake encounters in Manipur and the plight of
people caught between militants and the state.
The Prakash Kardaley Memorial Award for Civic
Journalism went to Tripti Lahiri of Tehelka. The Indian
Express’ Raghav Ohri bagged the Priya Chandrasekhar
Memorial Award for Excellence in Editing, while Daksh
Panwar of The Indian Express won the Sanjiv Sinha
Memorial Award for Excellence in Editing.
Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism
The award celebrates the values that stand for good
journalism: excellence & enterprise, courage & fairness.
The awards will cover the entire gamut of Indian media,
Print & Broadcast, in English & Indian languages.
The Ramnath Goenka foundation was set up in 1992 in
the memory of late Ramnath Goenka, founder of The
Indian Express, freedom fighter and doyen of Indian
journalism, to encourage and propagate high-quality,
objective journalism. The Awards aim to celebrate
excellence in journalism, recognize courage and
commitment and showcase outstanding contributions
and individuals every year.
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BOOKS | AUTHORS
Bhutan Queen launched Diplomat
Pavan K Varma’s First Novel
Writer/diplomat Pavan K. Varma’s new book, When Loss
is Gain, set in contemporary India and in the Himalayan
kingdom of Bhutan, was launched in the New Delhi by
Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the Queen Mother of
Bhutan in January 2012. After the launch, passages from
the book were read by columnist Suhel Seth and theatre
personality Lushin Dubey. The book also marked the
launch of Rupa Publications’ new premium hardcover
imprint, Rain Tree.
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Loss Is Gain, is a powerful story dealing with life
and death, loss and gain, happiness and fulfilment, the
physical and the spiritual, the rational and the
inexplicable. The book stresses on perennial dialogue
between dukkha or sorrow, the key word in Buddhism,
and ananda or joy, which animates most of Hindu
philosophy. It is set in contemporary India and in the
Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
OTHER BOOKS
Varma’s other books include- Ghalib: The Man, The
Times, Krishna: The Playful Divine,The Great Indian
Middle Class. He has also translated into English the
poetry of Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
TiE Chennai Launched a book-
Dream to Destiny to Motivate
Entrepreneurs
TiE Chennai (The Indus Entrepreneurs) a non-profit
organisation, dedicated to promote entrepreneurship in
January 2012 launched a book Dream to destiny — the
driving spirit of Chennai’s entrepreneurs in January
2012 in Chennai. The book showcased 35 entrepreneurs
of Chennai such as Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala-Rural
Technology Business Incubator, IIT Madras, Saundarya
Rajesh-Avatar, Ranjini Manian-Global Adjustments,
Raghupathy BG-BGR Energy Systems, etc. The foreword
of the book is written by Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman &
Managing Director, TVS Capital Funds Ltd.
The coffee table book was launched by G. Srinivasan,
Chairman and Managing Director of United India
Insurance. The first copy of the book was presented to
V. T. Bharadwaj, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital.
The success stories of these entrepreneurs are an
inspiration. The stories published in here will motivate
entrepreneurs and professionals to embrace a positive
attitude and entrepreneurial mindset to build a better
nation.
TiE Chennai is a global non-profit organization that
helps budding entrepreneurs by enabling advice,
guidance and assistance from successful and
experienced entrepreneurs and professionals. Founded
in Silicon Valley in 1992 by successful entrepreneurs
and professionals with roots in the Indus region, TiE
has 57 Chapters across 14 countries, spread across 5
continents. The TiE ecosystem comprises 13000
members and over 2500 charter members, who are top
entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lawyers and
management professionals who have excelled in their
chosen field.
DISCOVERY|INVENTION
World’s First Hybrid Sharks
Found in Australia
Researchers discovered world’s first hybrid sharks in
Australian waters. It suggests that the species is adapting
to climate change for survival. The hybrid sharks were
found along a 2000 km stretch from Queensland to New
South Wales. The hybrid sharks are the result of crossbreeding
between the common black-tip shark and
Australian black-tip shark. It was unusual for sharks to
breed in such a manner.
New Maze Gene called Meg1
Discovered by the UK Scientists
Lost World of Unknown Species
Found
British scientists discovered a lost world of unknown
species 8000 feet deep on sea floor off the coast of
Antarctica. The lost world includes crabs, an octopus,
starfish and colonies of marine life. These species were
in fact found on top of undersea volcanoes called
hydrothermal vents. The temperature in this region rises
to 380 degree Celsius. There is complete absence of light
in this region.
The creatures break down highly toxic chemicals found
in the smoke to get energy. The crab which is found
here is known as yeti crab. It is around 16 centimeter
long. It has plenty of hair on its chest unlike other crabs.
Besides these animals, the scientists also discovered a
seven-armed starfish, clusters of snails, sea anemones
and barnacles.
Scientists developed a New
Wireless Device to Detect the
Presence of Termites
Scientists developed a new wireless device to detect
the presence of termites by hearing them chew through
timber. Once the new device detects the presence of
termites, it will immediately send an SMS or email to a
pest control firm. This device is made of a tiny sensor,
smaller than a fingernail. The tiny sensor is attached to
a piece of wood and kept around the house to detect
termite stations.
PLAN | PROGRAMME
Katra-Quazigund Railway Line
Project in Jammu and Kashmir was
Approved
The Union government of India on 4 January 2012
approved an additional fund of 19 thousand crore rupees
for completion of Katra - Quazigund Railway line project
in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was taken by the
Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure in New Delhi. The
railway line is to be completed by 2017.
REPORT | SURVEY
Dharmadhikari Panel Submits
Report on Air India Merger to Govt
Four-member committee on integration of thousands of
employees after the merger of two State-owned carriers
— Air India and Indian Airlines submitted his report to
the Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh on 31 January
2012. The committee was headed by former Supreme
Court judge Justice D. M. Dharmadhikari.
The Committee tried to bring the wage structure of the
merged organisation strictly under legal parameters, so
that it conformed with the guidelines of the Department
of Public Enterprises, which caters to other public sector
undertakings. The panel prepared the report after
interacting with all stakeholders, including various
unions and associations of both former companies and
their management.
THE REPORT
The report presented covered all the views of the pilots,
cabin crew and engineers on integration of about 29000
employees of Indian Airlines and Air India which merged
following the Government of India’s approval on the
merger received on 1 May 2007. The Dharmadhikari
Committee made several recommendations on critical
issues such as career progression, integration across
various cadres, rationalisation of their pay scale,
allowances and incentives and overall restructuring of
the entire staff of the erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air
India.
ISSUES THAT ROSE AFTER THE MERGER
As on 31 December 2011, the total staff strength of Air
India, which was merged in March 2007, stood at 28500.
Cash-strapped Air India which has 14 unions
representing all sections of its employees suffered three
strikes since its merger, including two by its pilots. The
employees ever since the merger in 2007 have
been agitating over disparities in their pay scales,
promotional avenues and areas of responsibilities. The
thorny issues rose during these agitations included pay
parity and career progression between the staffers of
the two erstwhile carriers. Delayed payments of salaries
and allowances were also critical issues which created
unrest among the employees.
India was Ranked Sixth most
Innovative Country in GE’s Second
Annual Global Innovation
Barometer
India was ranked the sixth most innovative country in
the world in multinational conglomerate GE’s second
Annual Global Innovation Barometer published on 18
January 2012. The report is based on a survey of 2800
senior business executives in 22 countries including
Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France,
Germany, India, Israel, Japan. US topped the list.
The survey identified the top enablers for innovation in
the country as talent (creative talent and people with
technical expertise), financial support from public
authorities and long-term support from investors.
When asked to identify the three countries they consider
innovation champions, 65 per cent of the global
respondents identified the US, followed by Germany (48
per cent), Japan (45 per cent), China (38 per cent), Korea
(13 per cent) and India (12 per cent).
Only 12 per cent of the global respondents identified
India as one of the top three innovation champions,
compared to 23 per cent of Indian respondents.
As per the survey, in terms of sectors, energy, followed
by healthcare, telecommunication and FMCG, were the
areas with the most innovation-driven growth potential.
The report indicated a balanced’ perception of the
environment for innovation in the country. The
respondents were observed to be more satisfied with
private investment and government support for
innovation.
However, intellectual property protection and research
and development partnerships with academic
universities were cited as the key challenges to creating
an innovation-friendly environment in the country.
INNOVATION IN DIFFERENT SECTORS
36 per cent of the Indian respondents in the survey
expected large business to drive most of the innovation
over the next decade compared to 27 per cent in an earlier
survey. 35 per cent of the Indian respondents believed
small and medium enterprises would be the most
innovative. A resounding 83 per cent of the Indian
respondents believed that innovation must meet local
market requirements.
WHAT INDIA THINKS
India respondents to the survey shared their global peers’
view that great innovation would address human needs
- rather than reaping profits. However only 78 per cent
of them mentioned that great innovation brings value to
society as a whole, compared to 84 per cent globally.
Furthermore, only 17 per cent of the Indian respondents
agreed that a combination of players partnering together
would drive innovation in the next decade, against the
global average of 38 per cent.
Coca Cola Placed at No.1 in
Interbrand’s List of the Top 100
Global Brands in 2011
US beverage maker Coca Cola retained its top position
in Interbrand’s list of the top 100 global brands in 2011.
Coca Cola was followed by another US based company,
IBM. Software Company Microsoft was placed third.
The company held on to the position it stood at in the
previous year despite a three per cent drop in brand
value. The top ten spots were held by US based
companies, including Google, GE, McDonald’s and Intel
at 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th places, respectively. Disney and
HP ended 9th and 10th, respectively, on the list.
The only change in the list of the top brands occurred at
the 8th position, which saw tech giant and makers of
popular iPad and iPhone devices, Apple, replace German
automobile manufacturer BMW. The highest ranked
company from outside US was Japanese Toyota, which
stayed unchanged at number 11.
A new gene, called Meg-1 was discovered in maize plants
by the UK scientists on 16 January 2012. The gene could
The companies were assessed by Interbrand on the basis
increase the crop yields by regulating the transfer of
of three key aspects- financial strength, role of the brand
nutrients from the plant to the seed. The Scientists from
in the purchase decision process and the strength of
the University of Warwick and Oxford University
the brand, or the ability of the brand to secure the delivery
identified the gene.
of expected future earnings.
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MARCH 2012
SUMMIT | CONFERENCE
15th World Sanskrit Conference Jointly Organised by
Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan & IASS in New Delhi
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Day | Week | Year
Pravasi Bhartiya Divas-2012 (The 10th Pravsi
Bhartiya Divas) held in Jaipur
Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and International Association of Sanskrit Studies jointly
organised the 15th World Sanskrit conference from 5 to 10 January 2012 at Vigyan
Bhavan in New Delhi. An announcement was made during the 14th World Sanskrit
conference held in Kyoto, Japan. The 15th conference would be held by Rashtriya
Sanskrit Sansthan in New Delhi.
The six-day event was attended by scholars and delegates from 32 countries. There
was deliberation on topics such as poetry, drama and aesthetics, scientific literature,
Buddhist studies, Jain studies, Sanskrit and regional languages and literatures and
Vedas.
The 15 World Sanskrit Conference operated in 18 thematic sections (with six sessions
running concurrently) chaired by the conveners specializing in their respective fields.
The proceedings of the conference included reading of papers in Sanskrit Language
under different heads ranging between the Vedas, linguistics, epics and puranas,
poetry, drama and aesthetics, history of religion, Pundit Parishad etc.
World Sanskrit Conference
World Sanskrit Conference is held every three years to promote the language that is
one of the earliest known languages to the civilization. Sanskrit influenced several of
other Indian languages and is a language that contains in its words most of the
written history of India. The World Sanskrit Conference aims at promoting and revering
the Sanskrit language and to familiarize Indians and the rest of the world with the
beauty of it.
The aims of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, through its regular
series of World Sanskrit Conferences, are to gather together scholars in Sanskrit and
related disciplines from all parts of the world and facilitate the establishment of closer
contacts between specialists in classical Indian Studies.
Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan
The Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan is a Deemed University that functions under Ministry
of Human Resource Development; Govt. of India. It is an apex body for propagation
and development of Sanskrit learning in the country through teaching, research,
publications, collections and preservation of Sanskrit Manuscripts, development of
curriculum for traditional Sanskrit teaching. Currently, Sansthan is the largest and the
only multi campus Sanskrit University all over the world.
The 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) was held on 7-9 January, 2012 at Birla
Auditorium, Jaipur. Highlights of the 10th PBD are as following:
• The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar was the
Chief Guest of the event.
• The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh inaugurated the event.
• Over 1900 delegates from about 60 countries were participated this year’s
PBD.
• The Global Indian: Inclusive Growth was the theme of the event and the
focus was on India’s Social Development and the Overseas Indian
community.
• Prime Minister announced a new Pension and Life Insurance Fund for
overseas Indian workers. The scheme will encourage, enable and assist
overseas workers to voluntarily save for their return and resettlement and
old age. It will also provide a low-cost life insurance cover against natural
death.
• Prime Minister also announced that pursuant to the law that was enacted to
enable non-resident Indians to vote in national elections, the Government
has issued notifications for registration of overseas Indians under the
Representation of People Act, 1950. This constitutes the first major step to
enable Indians resident abroad to participate in election processes.
• Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs announced that next Regional Pravasi
Bharatiya Divas-2012 will be held in Dubai for the Gulf region.
• A Protector of Emigrants (POE) office was inaugurated in Jaipur during the
event to facilitate overseas Indians and emigrating workers of this region.
• The Chief Minister of Rajasthan announced a new scheme, Know Rajasthan
for NRI’s. Under this scheme 50 NRIs from 18-28 years of age annually
would come on tour to the state. 90% expenditure of their Air Fare will be
borne by the state Government. The expenditure on internal transport and
residence will also be borne by the State Government.
Pravasi Bhartiya Divas
Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 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. 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.
As per our Readers Request
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GOVT & POLITY COVERAGE
Cabinet Approved National Policy
on NDPS
The Union Cabinet of India on 12 January 2012 approved
the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
(NDPS) policy, with the objective of checking illicit
production of psychotropic substances, curb drug abuse
and stop trafficking of such items. The new policy will
help in controlling the proliferation of black money. The
Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh. The NDPS policy will lead to reduction
in crime and improvement in public health. It aims at
social re-integration of victims of drug abuse.
The salient features of the policy are as follows:
(i) The policy recommends production of
Concentrate of Poppy Straw (CPS) in India by
a company or body corporate. This would
enable India to retain its status of a traditional
supplier of Opiate Raw Material (ORM) to the
rest of world, while remaining competitive.
(ii) The consumption of poppy straw by addicts
will be gradually reduced and finally stopped
in a time frame decided by the States.
(iii) On the illicit cultivation of poppy and cannabis,
the policy emphasizes use of satellite imageries
for detection of illicit crop and its subsequent
eradication and development of alternate means
of livelihood in respect of cultivators in pockets
of traditional illicit cultivation.
(iv) The private sector may be allowed production
of alkaloids from opium. At present alkaloids
from opium are produced only in Government
Opium and Alkaloid Factories (GOAFs).
(v) Non-intrusive methods of regulating the
manufacture, trade and use of such
psychotropic substances will be introduced,
(vi) Emphasis will be laid on adequate access to
morphine and other opioids necessary for
palliative care, a strategy to address street
peddlers of drugs, periodic surveys of drug
abuse to gauge the extent, pattern and nature
of drug abuse in the country, recognition of
de-addiction centers,
(vii) There will be a time bound plan of action,
detailing the steps to be taken by different
Ministries/ Departments/ agencies, in response
to the recommendations of the International
Narcotics Control Board.
The policy attempts to curb the menace of drug abuse
and contains provisions for treatment, rehabilitation and
social re-integration of victims of drug abuse.
Implementation of the provisions of the policy will lead
to reduction of crime, improvement in public health and
uplifting of the social milieu.
The NDPS Policy will serve as a guide to various
Ministries and organizations and re-assert India‘s
commitment to combat the drug menace in a holistic
manner.
BACKGROUND:
There are four broad aspects of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances –
(i) Administration of the NDPS Act and Rules
framed there under,
(ii) Legal production, manufacturing, trade and use
of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
for medical and scientific uses,
(iii) Drug (Illicit) supply reduction, and
(iv) Drug (Illicit) demand reduction.
Cabinet Cleared
Counter-Terrorism Centre
The Cabinet Committee on Security on 12 January 2012
approved the setting up of a National Counter Terrorism
Centre (NCTC) to counter terrorism effectively. The
NCTC was proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. It
will be a single window organisation that will gather and
disseminate intelligence to central and state security
organisations. A notification for the appointment of
Directors and other members of core team of the NCTC
will be issued soon.
Govt Extends Visa on Arrival
Facility to Boost Foreign Tourist
Arrivals
In order to help double the foreign tourist arrivals,
government has decided to extend Visa-on-Arrival
facility to Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangaluru airports
within next one year. The decision to extend the facility
at four more airports was taken at the first inter-ministerial
coordination committee for tourism sector. Government
had set up an inter-ministerial coordination committee
for tourism sector under the chairmanship of the Principal
Secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chatterji to resolve
inter-ministerial and industry issues and promotes
tourism.
Currently, Visa-on-Arrival is extended to 11 countries
including Japan, Philippines, Singapore, New Zealand,
Vietnam and Finland. The facility is now available at
four international airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and
Chennai. There were 6.29 million foreign tourists in 2011,
out of which 12,761 had availed the scheme.
Chatterji said tourism should be pro-poor and focus on
employment creation. He emphasized the need to give
tourism a major fillip during the 12th Plan so as to more
than double the number of foreign tourists arriving in
India and further encourage domestic tourism.
Govt directed States to Tighten
Norms in Granting Licenses to New
Medical Institutes
The Union government of India on 14 January 2012
directed all the states to tighten norms in granting
licenses to open new medical institutes, and ensure fire
safety provisions mandatory, for launching any such
new ventures. The Home Ministry order came weeks
after a devastating fire at the Kolkata hospital, which
claimed more than 90 lives.
The states were directed to ensure that hospital building
bylaws provide for mandatory fire safety provisions and
without such provisions; no Licence should be given to
anyone for setting up any hospitals. The state
governments were asked to ensure that all hospitals and
nursing homes equip their institutions with the required
freighting gadgets, to avoid any untoward incident.
The Home Ministry also directed that mock drills should
be conducted in some of these hospitals and nursing
homes, to see how doctors and nursing staff respond in
case of an emergency, and their patient evacuation plans.
Election Commission Banned
Exit Polls
The Election Commission of India banned exit polls
during the entire period when elections to the five state
assemblies would be held, in accordance with the
relevant provisions of the Representation of the People
Act, 1951. Under the provisions, displaying any election
matter, including results of any opinion poll or any other
poll survey, in any electronic media, would be prohibited.
The election Commission notified the period between
7am on 28 January, 2012 and 5.30pm on 3 March, 2012 as
the period during which conducting any exit poll or
disseminating the result of any exit poll would be
prohibited. While 28 January 2012 is the first day of
polling in Manipur, 3 March 2012 is the last day of polling
in Goa and Uttar Pradesh.
Approval for funding Phase-Ill of
the UIDAI
The Cabinet Committee on Unique Identification
Authority of India related issues (CC-UIDAI) approved
commencement of Phase-Ill of the UID scheme at an
estimated cost of Rs.8,814.75 crore which subsumes the
earlier approval of Rs.3,023.01 crore, and comprises costs
for issue of 20 crore Aadhaar numbers through Multiple
Registrars upto March 2012, printing and delivery of 20
crore Aadhaar letters, technology and other support
infrastructure cost for creation, storage and maintenance
of data and services for leveraging the uses of Aadhaar
for the entire estimated resident population upto March
2017.
PM fast Tracks move on Private
Sector Investment in Inland
Waterway Transport
The Prime Minister has initiated a move to fast track the
development and use of Inland Waterways Transport
involving the private sector and Public Sector
Undertakings. The initiative will harness huge potential
of inland waterways in transporting bulk cargo like coal,
food grains, fertilizers, project cargo, fly ash, Over
Dimensional Cargo and containers at competitive cost
for the public and private sector companies. Adequate
use of waterways will also ease the burden on rail and
road infrastructure.
At a meeting of the inter-ministerial coordination
committee Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
informed that a tripartite agreement signed between the
National Thermal Power Corporation, Inland Waterways
Authority of India and a private developer has led to
competitive transportation rates for the NTPC while
private sector investment of about Rs 650 crore has been
committed. This agreement relates to the Farakka Power
Project.
The following decisions were also agreed upon in the
meeting:
• NTPC will provide long term cargo commitment
for 3 million metric tons of coal for Barh power
project once all its five units are operational by
2016-17.
• The execution of Coal handling facility at
Jogighopa and rail connectivity will be taken
up under the Non Lapsable Central Pool of
Resources (NLCPR) scheme.
• Food Corporation of India will expeditiously
provide long term cargo commitment for 3 years
for transportation of foodgrains to Tripura and
Assam from Kolkata and within Assam.
• MEA will try to extend the period of Trade and
Transit Protocol beyond March 2012 when it
comes for renewal to provide longer certainty
to vessel operators. Further, efforts shall be
made for early completion of Ashuganj multimodal
port by Bangladesh and its regular use
as a transit port.
• Ministry of Shipping will consider providing
additional money, if need be, to ensure night
navigation facilities on Indo-Bangladesh
Protocol route.
• ONGC and Oil India will convey a firm
commitment of cargo through IWT in two weeks
to IWAI.
• CONCOR will provide firm commitment for
transportation of part of their container cargo
from Pandu through IWT.
• The progress on these decisions will be
reviewed in two months time by the Principal
Secretary to PM.
India Post Signs MoU with Air India
for Logistics Post Air Service
India Post signed an MOU with Air India for carriage of
“Logistics Post Air” Service by Air India. This service
will help the customers to send their consignments to
different parts of the country, especially to the North-
Eastern region without difficulty. This MOU will meet
the huge demand for Logistics Post Air Service for hassle
free dispatch of consignments to different parts of the
country including the North East. India Post in
collaboration with Air India plans to start this service
from 15 cities initially to meet the demand from the
customers. These cities are Ahmedabad, Agartala,
Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad,
Imphal, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune
and Trivendrum. Of these, three are in the North East.
India Post will deliver the consignment of Logistics Post
Air to Air India at the point of delivery of the departure
station and will also collect it at the arrival station.
Booking, handling, packing, delivery etc. will be done
by the India Post. Air India will only transport the
consignment from one station to another station. This
service will be extended to other cities in a phased
manner.
Union Cabinet Renamed the Mana
Airport at Raipur as the Swami
Vivekananda Airport
The NCTC was created in the wake of 26/11 Mumbai
terror attack. It will work under the Union Home Ministry.
A senior IPS officer of the rank of Additional Director
General of Police and above will head the elite counterterror
body. The NCTC will also coordinate with relevant approved for incurring expenditure upto March 2017, renaming of the Mana Airport at Raipur in Chattisgarh
Out of amount of Rs.8814.75 crore that has been The Union Cabinet of India on 24 January 2012 approved
probe and intelligence agencies to ensure that the Rs.2412.67 crore would be towards recurring expenditure as the Swami Vivekanand Airport, Raipur. The decision
perpetrators of terror are brought to justice besides including IT operational cost and recurring was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime
maintaining a comprehensive data base of terrorists, their establishment cost and Rs.6402.08 crore would be Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi. Swami
associates and supporters.
towards non-recurring project related expenditure. Vivekanand, spent a major part of his life in Raipur.
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MARCH 2012
India Signs International Tax
Treaty to Deal with Tax Evasion
In yet another move that would help India in getting
information about the black money stashed abroad, India
has gone ahead and has inked the Multilateral
Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax
Matters, a multilateral agreement which promotes
international co-operation while respecting the rights
of taxpayers.
This would send a strong signal that India and the other
31 signatory countries have joined hands together to
ensure that individuals and multinational enterprises pay
the right amount of tax, at the right time and in the right
place. The Convention provides for administrative cooperation
between the parties in the assessment and
collection of taxes, with a view to combating tax
avoidance and evasion, according to an OECD
statement.
With taxpayers increasingly operating on a global basis,
tax authorities are moving from bilateral to multilateral
cooperation and from exchange of information on
request to other forms of co-operation. The convention
is an effective and practical tool to help tax authorities
in their everyday work. “India has moved very quickly
since its commitment to the Convention at the November
2011, G20 ceremony in Cannes and I expect it will be the
first non-OECD G20 country for which the updated
Convention is in force,’’ said Jeffrey Owens, Director of
the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.
Signatories to the amended Convention are: Argentina,
Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland,
France, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia,
Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Moldova,
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia,
Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine,
the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Convention was signed by Sanjay Kumar Mishra,
Joint Secretary, Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division,
Department of Revenue in the presence of Deputy
Secretary-General of OECD, Rintaro Tamaki. This
instrument hitherto available for the members of OECD
and Council of Europe were amended in 2010 and open
for all countries in June 2011.
The Convention was amended to respond to the 2009
G20 Summit call for developing a broader multilateral
approach to improve the effectiveness of exchange of
information, co-operation between the countries in the
assessment and collection of taxes, with a view to
combating tax avoidance and evasion. Many more
countries are expected to sign the Convention in future.
This provides for a wider network of countries cooperating
in exchange of information, assistance in tax
collection.
The salient features of this convention include:
• It is based on international standard of
transparency and exchange of information;
• This instrument is multilateral and a single legal
basis for multi-country co-operation as against
the DTAAs/TIEAs which are bilateral.
• It provides for an extensive network and there
will be consistent application of provisions
leaving limited scope for deviation;
• It provides extensive forms of co-operation
among the signatories on all taxes;
• It not only facilitates the exchange of
information, but also provides for assistance
in the recovery of taxes.
• This will give a fillip to the efforts of the
Government in bringing the Indian money
illegally stashed abroad.
The convention provides for simultaneous tax
examinations and participation in tax examinations in
other countries. It further provides for examination of
tax affairs of the taxpayers simultaneously in their own
territory and share the relevant information to each other.
This allows tax officials to entering into the territory of
the other country to interview individuals and examine
records. It also provides for automatic exchange of
information and spontaneous exchange of information
and also allows exchange of past information in criminal
tax matters.
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ECONOMY COVERAGE
Economic Growth Revised Down
to 8.4% for 2010-11
The Union government on 31 January 2012 revised the
economic growth rate for 2010-2011 financial year to 8.4
percent in comparison to the previous estimate of 8.5
percent. The Indian economy grew 8.4% in 2010-11, lower
than the previous estimate of 8.5%, on the back of strong
farm sector and services sector growth. The Indian
economy, Asia’s third-largest slowed in recent quarters
due to the impact of the global slowdown, high inflation
and high interest rates. Policymakers estimated growth
in 2011-12 to be close to 7%.
8.4% expansion in the gross domestic product (GDP)
during 2010-11 was achieved due to high growth in
transport, storage and communication (14.7%),
financing, insurance, real estate and business services
(10.4%), trade, hotels and restaurants (9%) and
construction (8%).
At constant prices, the primary sector- agriculture,
forestry and fishing, showed a high growth of 7% during
2010-11 as against 1% during the year 2009-10. The
growth rate of secondary sector stood at 7.2% and that
of the service sector is 9.3% during 2010-11.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at factor cost at constant
(2004-05) prices in 2010-11 was estimated at Rs. 4885954
crore as against Rs. 4507637 crore in 2009-10 registering
a growth of 8.4 per cent during the year which is same as
in the year 2009-10.
At current prices, GDP in 2010-11 was estimated at Rs.
7157412 crore as against Rs. 6091485 crore in 2009-10,
showing an increase of 17.5 per cent during the year.
Gross National Income
The Gross National Income registered a growth of 7.9
per cent in 2010-11 over 2009-10. India’s per capita income
grew by 15.6 per cent to Rs.53331 in 2010-11, crossing
the Rs.50000-mark for the first time.
In real terms based on 2004-05 prices, the per capita
income grew by a slower 6.4 per cent to Rs.35993 in
2010-11 as compared to Rs.33843 in 2009-10.
Private Final Consumption Expenditure
The per capita Private Final Consumption Expenditure
(PFCE) in the domestic market in 2010-11 was estimated
to be Rs. 36760 at current prices and Rs. 26,029 at
constant (2004-05) prices as against Rs. 31812 and Rs.
24379 respectively in 2009-10.
Gross Domestic Savings
The gross domestic savings at current prices in 2010-11
was estimated at Rs.24.81 lakh crore which constituted
32.3 per cent of the country’s GDP at market prices. Gross
domestic saving of India that has over 1.2 billion
population, increased by 32.3 per cent to Rs.2481931
crore in 2010-11 as compared to Rs.2182970 crore in 2009-
10.
The savings rate in 2010-11 declined from 2009-10. The
decline was attributed to decrease in the rates of financial
savings of household sector from 12.9 per cent to 10 per
cent and the private corporate sector from 8.2 per cent
to 7.9 per cent.
However, the rate of savings of the public sector
increased to 1.7 per cent in 2010-11 as compared to 0.2
per cent in the previous year.
Gross Domestic Capital Formation
The gross domestic capital formation, an indicator of
increase in physical assets, rose to Rs.292031 crore in
2010-11 at current prices as compared to Rs.2363670 crore
in 2009-10.
Pension Regulator PFRDA changed
the Incentive Structure to boost
National Pension System
The poor performance of National Pension System, or
NPS led the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority (PFRDA) to change the incentive structure
for the distributors from a fixed sum to a percentage of
the investment amount. So far the points of presence or
the distributors used to get a flat Rs 20 as initial
subscription charge and Rs 20 for any subsequent
investment.
PFRDA’s measure is poised to serve two purposesbringing
about a more equitable incentive structure and
incentivizing the distributors to push NPS. The regulator
proposed to lay down criteria for pension fund managers
and grant licences to anyone who qualifies. The NPS
has seven fund managers overseeing assets of Rs 10000
crore.
Measures as per Bajpai Recommendation
The pension regulator on the basis of the
recommendation of the G.N. Bajpai committee constituted
by PFRDA to review NPS, fixed the incentive at 0.25%
of the subscription amount. The committee had
suggested 0.50% of the investment, subject to a
minimum of Rs 20 and maximum of Rs 50000.
As per PFRDA’s measures announceds, a distributor
will get a flat Rs 100 on initial subscription and 0.25% of
the initial subscription amount. Every year on
subsequent investments, the point of presence will be
entitled to 0.25% of that amount. The minimum that a
point of presence can charge is Rs 20 and the maximum
Rs 25000.
Bajpai committee had observed that the earlier structure
of the pension system was amounting to the poor
subsidizing the rich—a person investing Rs 6000 and a
person investing Rs 1 lakh were both paying Rs 20. Also
the fixed sum was acting as a deterrent to sell NPS amid
better commissions-yielding products such as insurance
policies.
National Pension System
NPS was primarily targeted at the unorganized sector,
which does not have any form of social security.
However, so far only about 1 million people out of a
workforce of about 400 million in the unorganized sector
have joined NPS. Floated for civil servants in 2004, the
NPS was opened to all citizens in May 2009 to provide a
pension option to 360 million informal sector workers
bereft of any old-age income security.
What Finance Ministry has to Say
In order to raise the subscriber base of the New Pension
Scheme (NPS), the Finance Ministry is currently targeting
the employees of the various members of industry
bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FICCI), and the Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry. The Ministry wrote letters to
industry chambers, asking them to persuade their
members to subscribe to the NPS.
The government also favoured lower fee for NPS. It
proposed to slash the account maintenance fee by Rs
180 to make it more attractive to workers in the informal
sector. The finance ministry opposed a proposal for a
500-fold increase in the fee charged by fund managers
of the New Pension Scheme. The Ministry’s
representative on the board of interim pension regulator
PFRDA opposed the proposal to increase the fund
management fees up to 0.5% from the current 0.0009%.
The ministry also rejected PFRDA’s suggestion to relax
the norms for appointment of fund managers handling
the NPS, a retirement savings scheme launched initially
for government employees. The whole idea of the NPS
is that large sections of the unorganised sector should
avail the benefits. According to the Ministry, the
increase of fee will act as deterrent.
Railway Policy for Private Sector Participation
Facing a resource constraint, Railways has come up with a new draft policy which seeks increased private participation
for rail connectivity and opens the doors for foreign direct investors for expanding its network. The cash-strapped
public transporter has proposed six PPP models for project execution that include creating railway connectivity on
The information received under the convention can also private land and forming special purpose vehicles (SPV) for new line and gauge conversion. The policy has also
be used for other purposes besides those related to tax sought to attract the state government in playing a proactive role in development and implementation of rail
co-operation, for example to counter money laundering projects in their respective states. Foreign direct investors will also be allowed to participate in asset creation
with the approval of the supplying state.
pending clearances by Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
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MARCH 2012 Get Previous Issues Free of Cost on Our Website: www.changetabloid.com
Floor size of Portfolio for
Managers Raised
Market regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) on 28 January 2012 decided to enhance the
minimum investment amount per client managed by
portfolio managers to Rs.25 lakh from Rs.5 lakh at present
by amending the SEBI (Portfolio Managers) Regulations,
1993. Portfolio managers will thus post thr amedment
need to have a minimum portfolio size of Rs 25lakh per
client.
It will be applicable on a prospective basis for new clients
and for fresh investments by existing clients.The
amendment is to ensure segregation of holdings in
individual demat accounts in respect of unlisted
securities. SEBI also decided to exempt insurance
companies and mutual funds, which are broad-based
investment vehicles representing the interests of the
public at large, from the provisions of SEBI (Issue of
Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations.
As per the current norm, SEBI (ICDR) Regulations
preclude companies from issuing preferential allotment
to entities which have sold any of their holdings during
the six months prior to the relevant date. Further, the
allottees in the preferential allotment are required to lockin
their entire pre-preferential holdings for six months
from the date of the allotment. The lock-in on shares
allotted in the preferential issue will remain unchanged
post amendment.
Amendment to SEBI (Mutual Fund)
Regulations, 1996
SEBI approved changes in the SEBI (Mutual Fund)
Regulations, 1996, which ask the asset management
companies (AMCs) to ensure a fair treatment to all
investors, that is, to existing investors as well as to
investors seeking to purchase or redeem units of mutual
funds at all point of time in all schemes. The measure is
aimed to provide for fair valuation of securities/assets
of mutual fund schemes
If debt and money market securities are not traded on a
particular valuation day, the valuation through the
amortisation basis shall be restricted to securities having
residual maturity of up to 60 days (at present 91 days),
provided such valuation shall be reflective of the
realisable value/fair value of the securities.
Mutual fund regulations
While amending the mutual fund regulations relating to
its advertisement code, SEBI mentioned that AMCs
would be responsible for the accuracy, truthfulness and
fairness of the advertisement. The definition of
advertisement was also broadened to include all forms
of communication that may influence investment
decisions of any investor.
Reservation to convertible debt holders
On the issue of reservation to convertible debt holders
in rights/bonus issues, the market regulator decided to
clarify that reservation is to be available only to
compulsorily convertible debt holders, since conversion
in such cases is not at the option of the holders of these
instruments.
Govt Changes Duty Structure on
Gold and Silver
The Union government nearly doubled the import duty
on gold and silver by changing the customs and excise
duty structure on precious metals. The measure was
adopted by the government to arrest the widening
current account deficit.
The Finance Ministry by adopting this stand has moved
to a model where customs and excise will be charged on
the value of the metal instead of a flat charge, and will
vary with varying prices of the metal in the market.
Following the government’s decision, gold will now
attract an import duty on 2 per cent of its value on each
day as against the earlier flat levy of Rs 300 per 10 grams.
Silver will be charged 6 per cent of its value on each day
from the earlier Rs 1,500 per kilogram.
Excise on gold will be charged at 1.5 per cent of its value
on each day as against Rs 200 per 10 grams, and for
silver it will be 4 per cent as against Rs 1000 per kg.
Platinum and diamond would also cost more.
RBI Allows Commodity Hedging
but not in Gold Silver & Platinum
The Reserve Bank in 17 January 2012 allowed all
authorised banks to grant permission to companies to
hedge the price risk of of all commodities, barring gold,
silver and platinum, in the international commodity
markets.
“It has now been decided to permit all AD Category-I
banks to grant permission to companies to hedge the
price risk in respect of any commodity (except gold, silver,
and platinum) in the international commodity exchanges/
markets as specified under the delegated route,” the
Reserve Bank said in a circular.
It further said such banks can now grant permission to
unlisted companies to hedge the price risk on imports
and exports for all the commodities, barring the three, in
international markets.
“AD Category-I banks may submit an annual report as
on March 31 every year, within one month (before April
30th), giving the names of the corporates to whom they
have granted permission for commodity hedging and
the name of the commodity hedged,” the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) said.
It said before permitting corporates to undertake hedge
transactions, banks will have to ask for a brief description
of the hedging strategy proposed, including the
business activity and nature of risk and instruments
proposed to be used for hedging.
Besides, they will have to furnish information like names
of the commodity exchanges and brokers through whom
the risk is proposed to be hedged and the credit lines
proposed to be availed and the name and address of the
regulatory authority in the country concerned may also
be given.
Banks have also been asked to secure a copy of the
management policy of the companies covering risk
identification and their measurements, guidelines and
procedures to be followed with respect to revaluation
and monitoring of positions, and names and
designations of officials authorised to undertake
transactions and limits.
TRAI Proposes Rs.20 cr for
National Level Unified Licence
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on
17 th January 2012 proposed a fee of Rs.20 crore for a
national-level unified licence under the new regime,
which suggests that there will be only four types of
licence in future as against many across the
communication sector at present.
The telecom regulator’s draft guidelines for the new
unified licensing regime said: “The entry fee for different
types of unified licence shall be Rs.20 crore for national
level, Rs.2 crore for each Metro and ‘A’ category, Rs.1
crore for each B category, Rs.50 lakh for each C category
service areas levels and Rs.15 lakh for each district level
unified licence.” The draft guidelines have proposed
three levels of unified licence — at national level, service
area level and district level.
At present, telecom service providers hold Unified
Access Service Licence (UASL), which authorises them
to provide mobile, fixed line, Internet and long-distance
calls and other telecom services.
The UASL is given to companies with 4.4 Mhz spectrum
bundled with it. TRAI has, however, recommended that
the new licence regime will not have spectrum bundled
with it and the operators will have to bid for the spectrum
separately.
“Unified licence will be given without any spectrum.
Licensee has to separately apply/bid for obtaining
spectrum as per the prevailing policy,” the draft
guidelines said. The regulator has also proposed to have
no restriction on the number of players in a service area.
“Licence shall be issued on non exclusive basis, without
any restriction on the number of entrants in a licence
area,” the draft said.
These guidelines follows recommendations on
‘Spectrum Management and Licensing Framework’,
issued in May, 2010, in which the regulator had
recommended that the future licences would not be
bundled with spectrum. It has recommended that the
licences to be issued would be a unified licence covering
various access services, class licence covering VSAT
services, licensing through authorisation and
broadcasting licences.
Telcos Get Approval to Share
Spectrum but with Conditions
The apex decision-making body of the communications
ministry, the Telecom Commission decided to allow
mobile phone companies to share spectrum. The
Commission has however limited this facility to 2G
airwaves alone. Second generation (2G) spectrum is
largely used for offering vanilla voice services. The
telecommunication companies cannot therefore share
3G spectrums.
Incumbents such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel and
Idea Cellular took the government to court, after the
telecom department asked these companies to terminate
their 3G roaming deals. These companies had hoped the
Commission’s policy changes had hoped that policy
changes permitting the sharing of airwaves would put
an end to this controversy. The companies had signed
up 3G customers across the country riding on bilateral
roaming agreements that allow these firms to use each
other’s airwaves and offer high-end data services even
in regions where they do not have 3G spectrum.
The Commission also decided to introduce slew of riders
to govern spectrum sharing. The riders are as follows:
• Only those operators that have airwaves in a
particular region can share it. Spectrum can be
shared only between two spectrum holders. A
non-licensee or licensee who has not been
assigned spectrum as yet cannot be party to
spectrum trading.
• Two companies can share airwaves only if their
combined holdings do not exceed the limits
prescribed in the M&A norms. The Telecom
Commission had recently approved sector
regulator TRAI’s recommendation that during
mergers, the combined entity be allowed to
have up to 25% of the total airwaves in the
region.
• Spectrum sharing deals will also have to be
renewed every five years.
• When operators share spectrum, both
companies will have to pay usage charges on
the total airwaves held jointly. Currently,
operators share between 2% and 6% of their
annual revenues based on the quantity of
airwaves they hold.
• The Telcos sharing spectrum must pay the
government the commercial value of the
airwaves it is using. It essentially means, an
operator that has 4.4 MHz of airwaves, and is
sharing radio frequencies with another Telco
that has the same amount, must pay current
prices for additional 4.4 units of spectrum it is
using.
To ensure that payment of current price does not act a
disincentive, licensees may be permitted to pay the
current price applicable on the date of permission, on an
annual basis, instead of for five years at a time, and this
payment will cease if the sharing agreement is annulled
midway.
Cairn-Vedanta Deal Gets Final
Approval from Cabinet
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 24 th
January 2012 gave final approval to Vedanta Resources’
acquisition of a majority stake in Cairn India Ltd for $8.48
billion. The Cabinet gave its final consent to the $8.5-
billion Cairn-Vedanta deal after the companies met all
conditions set by the government to complete the
transaction.
Following the serious issues raised by the Home
Ministry the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry put up
the deal before the CCEA for a review. While giving
security clearance to Vedanta’s purchase of a majority
stake in Cairn India, the home ministry had on 25
November 2011 pointed to eight instances of the mining
group or its affiliates being involved in cases of default
of payment, human rights violations or environmental
damage.
The planned sale of a 40% stake held by Cairn Energy in
Cairn India to Vedanta was first considered by the CCEA
in April 2011 and approved in June 2011, with certain
preconditions. Cairn and Vedanta complied with all the
preconditions and concluded the transaction in Decembe
2011.
The final clearance for the controversial deal transfers
According to market experts any steep hike would boost
control of India’s largest onshore oilfield to London
smuggling and also added that the increase would not
listed Vedanta Resources. Vedanta thus acquired 58.5
impact consumers significantly as gold prices have 1-5
per cent in Cairn India for a total consideration of $ 8.67
per cent volatility on a daily basis.
billion.
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MARCH 2012
Government Notifies 100% FDI in
Single Brand Retail
Notwithstanding its inability to open multi-brand retail
for foreign investment, government on 10 th January 2012
notified 100 per cent FDI in single-brand retail, paving
way for global chains like Adidas, Louis Vuitton and
Gucci to have full ownership of their India operations.
“Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), up to 100%, under
the government approval route, would be permitted
in single brand product retail trading,” a press note
by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP) said.
However, in respect of proposals involving FDI beyond
51 per cent, the mandatory sourcing of at least 30 per
cent would have to be done from the domestic small and
cottage industries which have a maximum investment in
plant and machinery of USD 1 million (about Rs 5 crore).
The decision to increase FDI in single-brand retail was
taken by the Cabinet on November 24 along with opening
the gates for overseas investment in multi-brand retail.
However, the Government was forced to put on hold
FDI in multi-brand retail by several political parties,
including UPA ally Trinamool Congress.
At present, for single-brand retailers, 51 per cent FDI is
permitted. Removal of investment cap would help global
fashion brands especially from Italy and France to
strengthen their interest in the growing Indian market.
The government said the move which comes into effect
immediately would enhance competitiveness of Indian
enterprises through access to global design,
technologies and management practices.
According to the riders, however, the products by the
global chains should be of ‘single brand’ only and be
sold under the same brand internationally. Single brand
retailing would cover products which are branded during
manufacturing and the foreign investor should be owner
of the brand.
Though 51 per cent FDI in single brand was allowed in
February 2006, not much investment has come in the
sector. During last three and half years, FDI worth only
Rs 196 crore was received in the sector.
Private & Foreign Banks Cannot Pay
‘Excessive’ Salary to CEOs:RBI
The Reserve Bank on 13 th January 2012 said CEOs and
staff of private and foreign banks cannot draw
“excessive” salary, but it did not impose any cap on
their remuneration.
Issuing guidelines on compensation of CEOs and staff
of private and foreign banks, RBI said all private and
foreign lenders will have to obtain prior approval from it
for renumeration of CEOs and whole time directors as
per the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 which prohibits
excessive renumeration.
However, the guideline did not specify what would
constitute excessive renumeration. Banks are required
to ensure that the fixed portion of compensation is
reasonable, taking into account all relevant factors,
including the industry practice, it said.
While designing the compensation arrangements it
should be ensured that there is a proper balance between
fixed pay and variable pay, it said. Variable pay, however,
should not exceed 70 per cent of the fixed pay in a year.
The guidelines would be implemented from 2012-13. “As
hitherto, private sector and foreign banks operating in
India would be required to obtain regulatory approval
for grant of remuneration to whole time directors or chief
executive officers in terms of Section 35B of the Banking
Regulation Act, 1949,” RBI said in a notification.
“The approval process will involve an assessment
whether the compensation policies and practices are in
accordance with the Financial Stability Board (FSB)
Principles,” it said.
The principles are intended to reduce incentives towards
excessive risk taking that may arise from the structure of
compensation schemes. The principles call for effective
governance of compensation, alignment of compensation
with prudent risk taking, effective supervisory oversight
and stakeholder engagement, it said.
The principles have been endorsed by the G-20 countries
and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and
are under implementation across jurisdictions, it added.
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Corporate Sales to Grow 21.6%
Profits to Dip 7% in FY12: CMIE
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) estimated
Corporate India’s sales to grow 21.6% in 2011-12.
However, profits are expected to fall by 7.2% in the
financial year 2011-12. Excluding petroleum product
companies, India Inc is expected to see a 19% growth in
sales in March 2012 quarter.
As per the review, sales of the manufacturing sector are
expected to have expanded by 20.7% and that of the
non-financial services sector by 18.2. Income of the
financial service has grown by a strong 32% due to high
interest rates and healthy credit growth.
CMIE however expects corporate sales to drop to 16.8%
in the March 2012 quarter due to a sharp drop in
expansion of petroleum products.
Profits fell 13.2% in the first half of 2011-12 due to steep
rise in raw material and fuel prices, high interest rates
and delay in payment of cash subsidy to the oil
marketing companies (OMCs) by the government. Also,
a sharp depreciation in rupee since September 2011
brought mark-to-market (MTM) losses to firms and thus
further pulled down profits.
In a situation where high input costs and interest rates
continue to haunt Indian companies, the corporate affairs
ministry provided some relief by allowing capitalisation
of MTM losses on long-term loans taken for the
acquisition of fixed asset till March 2020.
The exemption was earlier available only till March 2012
and only to companies which had opted for it in 2008-
09. In spite of this, corporate India is expected to report
substantial amount of forex losses in the December 2011
quarter since major chunk of the Forex liabilities of
corporate India are short-term, CMIE noted.
Forex, however, expected to rise by 9.9% in the January-
March quarter riding on the back of robust 40.2% rise in
net profits of the banking industry. The net profits in
the banking industry were attributed to lower provisions
and low base.
Anti-dumping on 4 Items Imported
from China Extended for 5-yr
In the backdrop of widening trade gap with China, India
on 13 th January 2012 extended for five years anti- dumping
duty on import of four Chinese products, including silk
fabrics and a sweetener.
The duty is imposed to protect the domestic industry
from cheap imports. Import of certain type of silk fabrics
from China will attract anti-dumping duty of $1.82 to
USD 7.59 per metre, a notification of the Revenue
Department said.
The duty was first imposed on the fabrics in December
2006 till December 2011. India had a trade deficit of USD
16 billion against China during 2010-11. It has already
crossed USD 20 billion in the first seven months of the
current fiscal.
The Directorate General of Anti-Dumping (DGAD) had
carried a suo motu sunset review probe in December
2010 to examine whether cessation of the duty would
lead to continuation of dumping and injury to the
domestic players. Following the review, the DGAD had
recommended continuation and enhancement of the antidumping
duty.
“The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be levied for a
period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or
amended earlier)...,” the Revenue Department said.
It further said the duty on import of certain type of nylon
filament yarn from China, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia,
Thailand and Korea will be imposed at USD 0.20 to USD
1.51 per kilogram for another five years.
Notifications for extension of anti-dumping duty on
imports of cellophane transparent film and saccharin from
China for five years have also been issued. Saccharin is
a non-nutritive sweetener and considered to be low
calorie substitute for cane sugar.
Meanwhile, the government has also levied provisional
anti-dumping duty on import of phosphoric acid
(excluding agriculture/fertiliser grade) from Israel and
Taiwan. The duty at $116.25 to USD 260.26 per tonne
has been imposed for six months.
RBI cuts CRR to Spur Growth
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 24 January 2012 cut
the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points from 6
per cent to 5.5 per cent with effect from 28 January 2012.
RBI thus released Rs 32000 crore to banks through a
half percentage point cut in the cash reserve ratio. Home
loans and other loans to individuals and businesses
will become cheaper with the cut in CRR.
The RBI also kept the repo rate unchanged at 8.50 per
cent for the second consecutive time after raising it 13
times between March 2010 and October 2011. It lowered
its growth forecast to 7% from 7.6% earlier.
The cut marked RBI’s first reduction in CRR since
January 2009 when it had released funds to stimulate
demand in the wake of the Lehman Brothers crisis. As a
consequence, for the first time in over two months, the
rupee touched the 49-mark against the dollar in intraday
trade.
The central bank decided to reverse a two-year policy
of interest rate hikes because of decelerating growth
although inflation continued to remain a concern. RBI
was prompted to ease liquidity because of a structural
shortfall which was forcing banks to borrow anywhere
between Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh from RBI in January.
The RBI’s action is seen as an attempt to strike a balance
between risks to growth and inflation.
Cash Reserve Ratio
The CRR cut is a positive development for banks which
can earn interest income of over Rs 3000 crore on funds
which were hitherto locked with the RBI. CRR is the
percentage of deposits that commercial banks must keep
with the central bank. Repo rate is the rate at which
banks borrow from the central bank.
DIPP to Set Rules for FDI in
Power Exchanges
Union finance ministry urged the department of
industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) to design a FDI
policy for power exchanges on the lines of commodity
exchanges. The ministry stressed upon the urgent need
for clear FDI regime for power exchanges. since power
exchanges are akin to commodity exchanges, a similar
structure is to be followed while designing the FDI policy
for power exchange.
Currently, FDI in power exchanges is not explicitly
banned but the rules don’t provide for foreign investment
on the lines of commodity exchanges. FDI is permitted
in power exchanges up to 49%. Experts opined that a
clarification is required to provide certainty and also
emphasised on the need to relook at the negative list
concept followed in the FDI policy as the foreign
exchange management act works on positive list
concept.
A recent FDI proposal from Multiples Private Equity,
promoted by Renuka Ramnath, to pick up minority stake
in Financial Technologies-promoted Indian Energy
Exchange (IEX) prompted the ministry’s direction in this
respect. The proposal was put on hold.
Trading on the exchange is 100% physical delivery
based and only 2% of the total generation is traded
through any exchange. Currently, India has two power
exchanges- Indian Energy Exchange, National Stock
Exchange-promoted Power Exchange India.
Policymakers are of the view that FDI policy should be
rationalised and simplified to encourage overseas
investment in sectors as the country needs foreign capital
to support a 9% growth. Central Electricity and
Regulatory Commission were till date supervising the
inflows in the power sector.
Rs.6.25 Interim from ONGC
The board of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
declared on 4 January 2012 that it had approved
Rs.352.50-crore investment for producing oil from a
marginal field off the Mumbai coast.
The board also approved an interim dividend of Rs.6.25
per share of Rs.5 each for 2011-12. The total payout on
this account will be Rs.5,347.20 crore, out of which the
government will get Rs.3,964.36 crore.
The board had approved redevelopment of the B-
173A marginal field situated 50 km west of the Mumbai
coastline for improving its recovery factor. The field
was discovered in 1992. The field is currently
producing 1,870 barrels of oil per day. Till October 31,
2011, the field has produced about 2,076 million
tonnes. The board also approved a Rs.115-crore
investment in the Heera and South Heera fields,
situated 70 km South-West of Mumbai city.
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Moody’s Upgrades India’s Shortterm
Foreign Currency Rating
Moody’s has upgraded its credit rating on short-term
deposits in foreign currency from speculative to
investment grade.
Such an upgrade will help banks to attract foreign
currency deposits. The upgrade is in line with the
rating revision in three other instruments, which were
all placed in a higher category by the rating agency
on December 20.
According to the India’s external debt position, shortterm
external liabilities for commercial banks have
come down from $860 million to $763 million as of end
September 2011.
This amount was $898 million at the end of March
2011. The numbers highlight the increased
withdrawals from foreign currency accounts.
‘Not Prime’ to ‘P3’
A Finance Ministry statement said that the short-term
country ceiling on foreign currency bank deposits
has been increased from ‘Not Prime (NP)’ to ‘P-3’. P-
3 denotes prime and such a rating indicates acceptable
ability to repay short-term obligations.
Short-term here means deposits with maturities up to
one year. In December 2011 Moody’s upgraded the
ratings on long-term government bonds denominated
in domestic currency from ‘Ba1’ to ‘Baa3’, or from
speculative to investment grade.
Besides, the long-term country ceiling on the foreign
currency bank deposits was also upgraded from ‘Ba1’
to ‘Baa3’.
SEBI Allows Promoters for
Auctioning of Stakes through Stock
Exchanges
In a move that could kick-start the government’s
divestment programme as well as help promoters of
companies to sell a part of their holdings, the capital
market regulator SEBI on 3 rd January 2012 allowed
auctioning of securities through stock exchanges and
introduced a new method for institutional placement of
stocks.
As per the auctioning route, a special window can be
used by promoter stakeholders to sell at least 1% of the
paid-up capital of a company. This will be similar to the
block-deal mechanism for secondary stock market
transactions, but with lesser restrictions. Under the
institutional placement programme (IPP), shares can be
sold only to qualified institutional buyers.
Exchanges will provide a separate window for the offer
for sale of shares which will co-exist with the normal
trading hours. Promoter or promoter group of companies
however will not be allowed to bid for the shares.
Allotment will be done either on price priority or clearing
price basis proportionately and would be overseen by
the exchanges.
SEBI’s measure is considered to be very progressive
step towards creating an organised and effective
mechanism that will not only facilitate fund raising but
also assist companies to comply with the listing norms
in a non-disruptive manner.
There shall be at least 10 allottees in every IPP issuance.
No single investor shall receive allotment for more than
25% of the offer size.
For the purpose of compliance with public holding
norms, SEBI had earlier directed all such promoter
shareholders to dilute their equity stake to 75% or below
by June 2013 through public offering of shares. The
companies’ were also barred from using the qualified
institutional placement (QIP) route for diluting
promoters’ shares. However, the new institutional
placement route can be used for either fresh issue of
shares or dilution by the promoters through an offer for
sale.
The IPP method can be used to increase public holding
by 10% and could be offered to only qualified
institutional buyers with 25% being reserved for mutual
funds and insurance companies.
No Floating Interest Rates on Small
Savings Schemes: Finance Ministry
The Finance Ministry on 4 January 2012 clarified that
the rates applicable on small savings instruments
schemes would be announced on April 1 each year and
the rate would remain valid till the maturity of the scheme.
The Ministry stated that barring the Public Provident
Fund (PPF), the rates of interest on all small savings
schemes will remain fixed throughout the tenure of
investment.
To clear the confusion over the returns on investment
in small savings schemes, the Finance Ministry pointed
out that the rate prevailing at the time of investments
will remain fixed and unchanged till the maturity of the
investment. Any revisions in interest rates in the
subsequent years would only be applicable to the
investments made in the relevant period.
However, the rate of interest for the 15-year PPF scheme
would not remain fixed for the entire period as the interest
accruals in the PPF account each year would vary,
depending on the interest rate announced for that
particular year. For PPF, the interest rate fixed every year
will be applicable to all PPF accounts.
The government had hiked the interest rates on small
savings deposits schemes of various maturities with
effect from 1 December 2011 to channel the outflow of
funds from small savings schemes administered by the
National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) in view of the
investor preference for bank term deposits. The
clarification from the Finance Ministry came in the face
of fears that the revision of interest rates on small savings
schemes from 1 December 2011, are floating rates and
that the rates will undergo change in sync with
fluctuations in yields on government securities.
It had also hiked the interest rates on PPF deposits from
8 per cent to 8.6 per cent while raising the ceiling on
annual contributions to the fund to Rs.1 lakh from
Rs.70000. Interest rates on Post Office Savings Accounts
rose to 4 per cent from 3.5 per cent. Similarly, interest
rates on deposits of various maturities of one year, two
years and five years too were raised from December.
The sale of Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) has been
discontinued from November 30, 2011. The maturity
period of Monthly Investment Schemes (MIS) and
National Savings Certificates (NSCs) been reduced from
six years to five years.
IRDA Issues Uniform Norms to
Ensure Solvency of Insurance
Companies
Insurance regulator IRDA on 4 th January 2012 introduced
uniform asset-liability management norms for market
players to ensure their solvency and asked firms to
undertake stress tests to ascertain their ability to meet
financial obligations in the event of a crisis.
The Asset-Liability Management (ALM) norms, IRDA
said, are “critical for the sound management of the
finances of the insurers that invest to meet their future
cash flow needs and capital requirements.”
The guidelines, which would come into effect from April
1, 2012, make it mandatory for insurance companies to
prepare an ALM policy and have it approved by the
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority
(IRDA) by March-end.
With regard to stress-testing, IRDA has asked the
insurance companies to determine their ability to meet
financial liabilities after taking into account factors like
a 30 per cent fall in equity values and a one percentage
point decline in yields on fixed investments, among
others.
IRDA has issued these guidelines to bring about
uniformity in the ALM norms being followed by both
life and non-life insurance companies. Upon examination
of the extant norms being followed by insurance
companies, IRDA found they were “incomplete and
inconsistent. As the mandate by the authority was very
broad, each insurer had adopted their own measures in
reporting such details”.
SIDBI Inks Pact with IOB
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)
entered into a memorandum of understanding with Indian
Overseas Bank (IOB) on 6 January 2012 to extend
assistance to micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSME) customers of IOB. The MoU was signed by S.
Muhnot, Chairman and Managing Director of SIDBI,
and M. Narendra, Chairman and Managing Director of
IOB.
Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) received Rs 100 crore from
Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), as
part of refinancing agreement. SIDBI lined up Rs 2000
crore equity investment in the country’s micro, small
and medium enterprises (MSME).
As per the Agreement
SIDBI would initially provide a line of credit worth Rs.
100 crore to IOB for seven years. The amount is to be
utilised to provide growth capital to deserving MSMEs
for funding their growth requirements towards any
bonafide business purpose, including bridging the gap
in project funding, working capital margin, intangible
expenses.
The assistance to MSMEs could be through a variety of
instruments such as subordinate debt, mezzanine/
convertible instruments such as optionally convertible
debentures and redeemable preference shares. On a
selective basis, IOB would also provide equity funding
where business model or exit options would clearly
support such investments.
IOB in 2011-12
During 2011-12, the bank disbursed Rs 1983 crore to the
sector, which is a growth of 17 per cent compared 2010-
11. Total aggregate disbursements stood at around Rs
13822 crore and number of accounts 44871. IOB recently
received an award for its performance in MSME lending
during 2010-11 from the President.
Union Government Measures
Union Government had created the Risk Capital Fund
for MSMEs within SIDBI and SIDBI in turn, formed a
separate business unit, SIDBI Foundation for Risk
Capital. The objective was to develop and operationalise
appropriate risk capital products for MSMEs of different
sizes, constitution and in different industry segments.
Apart from direct funding by SIDBI, various delivery
channels such as banks and venture capital (VC) funds
is to be used for providing risk capital to MSMEs.
Reliance Enters Media by Opening
Purse Strings for Network18
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and the
nation’s biggest private sector company has finally
broken the ice and ended speculation regarding its entry
in the media and entertainment segment. RIL has now
entered into a major investment deal with the Raghav
Bahl-controlled Network18 Group. The company is one
of India’s largest broadcasters owning several news and
entertainment channels.
RIL will help Network18 in financing the purchase of a
leading regional language competitor, Eenadu. While
doing so, RIL will ensure a stake for itself in Network18’s
range of businesses. The deal will involve several stages
and have Reliance Industries invest about Rs. 1, 700
crore in the Network18 Group. Considering the monies
involved, this could easily turn out to become a landmark
transaction in India’s media and entertainment industry.
At present, Network18 is in a huge debt but with the
merger of Eenadu, it will emerge as a bigger and stronger
enterprise. Reliance will leverage its deep understanding
of Indian markets - consumer insights, technological
expertise and the ability to build and manage scale to
make this a win-win partnership. This will create value
and be accretive to the shareholders of RIL.
Eenadu
Eenadu is one of the country’s largest media companies
and operates several regional language news and
entertainment channels. It also operates the highly
successful Telegu language news and entertainment
channel.
The insurers would have to put in place effective
procedures for monitoring and managing their assetliability
positions to ensure that their investment RIL invested about Rs 2600 crore in Eenadu channels. It
Under the IPP, companies will have to announce the activities and asset positions are appropriate to their owns 100% economic interest in ETV Uttar Pradesh, ETV
ratio of buy-back, as is done in the case of rights issues liability, risk profiles and solvency positions. The ALM Madhya Pradesh, ETV Rajasthan, ETV Urdu and ETV
and fix a record date for determination of entitlements as policy should enable the insurers to understand the risks Bihar. It also owns 100% economic interest in ETV
per shareholding on record date. Besides improving they are exposed to and develop ALM policies to manage Marathi, ETV Kannada, ETV Bangla, ETV Gujarati and
efficiency, the revised buy-back process is expected to them effectively. In addition, the ALM can be used to ETV Oriya. In the Telugu channels, ETV Telugu and
give a fair deal to all shareholders.
measure the interest rate risk faced by insurers. ETV Telugu News, RIL’s economic interest is 49%.
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MARCH 2012
RBI Decided to Ease Liquidity by
Buying Back Gilts for an Amount of
Rs 10000 crore
The Reserve Bank of India on 3 January 2011 decided to
conduct an open market operation (OMO) to inject more
liquidity into the system. The RBI will buy up to Rs
12000 crore of government bonds via open market
operations on 6 January 2012, including the 10-year
paper which till recently was the benchmark paper.
The central bank has decided to ease liquidity by buying
back gilts for an amount of Rs 10,000 crore in the backdrop
of banks accessing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s
borrowing window for more than Rs1 lakh crore each
day.
RBI announced an auction for Rs 10, 000 crore worth of
bonds, otherwise known as open market operation
(OMO). The OMO announcement came after the market
trading hours. The Reserve Bank of India decided to
conduct open market operations consistent with the
stance of the monetary policy and based on the current
assessment of prevailing and evolving liquidity
conditions.
Banks have been borrowing in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore
a day from the RBI’s liquidity adjustment facility (LAF)
or repo window. The liquidity deficit in the system in
recent weeks has been way beyond the limit of 1% of
the net liabilities of the system, or around Rs 55000 crore.
The central bank, by conducting OMOs tries to balance
out liquidity and price stability in the bond market. The
yields are expected to come down to 8.75% levels
whenever the central bank announces OMOs while they
could rise to 8.90% ahead of the bond auction.
The central bank had earlier conducted a Rs 10000-crore
OMO on 24 November 2011 where it managed to
purchase Rs 9435 crore worth of bonds. Yield on the
benchmark bond had come off close to 10 basis points
after the RBI had announced an OMO on 14 November.
The yield on the benchmark treasury paper jumped
about 60 basis points since the government announced
on 29 September 2011, that it would need to borrow an
additional amount of around Rs 52, 900 crore in 2011-12.
Between October 2011 to March 2012, the government
will auction an average of Rs 13000 crore worth of new
paper every week. In addition to cash management bills,
treasury bills as well as state development loans will be
auctioned.
TRAI Directs Telecom Companies
to Block Pesky SMSes Originating
from Abroad
Tightening the noose around pesky SMS senders further,
the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today
issued a directive to telecom companies to block
international SMSes as per the rules applicable to SMSes
originating within the country.
The new regulations on unsolicited telemarketing calls
and SMS were not being properly followed, the TRAI
stated that there were several incidences of promotional
SMS being routed through the servers located at
international destinations and delivered to customers
registered for not receiving telemarketing calls.
TRAI observed that generally such SMSes originated
from locations within Germany, Sweden, Nauru, Fiji,
Cambodia, Bosnia, Albania, Grenada, the United
Kingdom, Jersey, Sint Maarten, Tonga, Vanuatu, Namibia,
Panama, and Antigua and Barbuda. These SMSes contain
the headers which are alphanumeric or starting with +91
or numbers with international codes.
The regulator thus ordered all telecom companies to
ensure that no international SMS containing an alphabet
header or alphanumeric header or +91 as the originating
country code is delivered through their networks. Also,
if any source or number from outside the country
generates more than 200 SMSes an hour with a similar
signature, these could not be delivered through the
network.
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Parliamentary Panel Favours
Doubling of Penal fee for Trading
Violations
The Parliamentary Standing Committee submitted its
report on a bill to amend the Forward Contracts
Regulation Act 1952. Parliamentary Standing Committee
on consumer affairs, food and public distribution,
chaired by Congress MP Vilas Baburao Muttemwar,
submitted its report on the FCRA (Amendment) Bill 2010
to Parliament on 22 December 2011.
The current department-related standing committee
(DRSC), set up in 2009, was asked by the Lok Sabha
speaker in December 2010 to prepare a report on the bill
and submit it to the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The committee
in its report recommended a doubling of the maximum
penalty for trading rule violations to Rs 50 lakh. The
standing committee report suggested raising the upper
limit on penalties for offences like insider trading to Rs
50 lakh from Rs 25 lakh stipulated in the Forward
Contracts Regulation Act (FCRA) Amendment Bill 2010.
Insider trading involves using unpublished price
sensitive information for personal gain.
The bill seeks to empower commodity futures market
regulator Forward Markets Commission on par with its
securities markets counterpart. It is seen as the singlemost
important reform in the eight-year-old commodity
exchange market.
The report recommended that options be introduced for
the benefit of stakeholders. The inclusion of the clause
was one of the reasons why the bill in its earlier avatar
during the UPA I regime faced resistance. Those who
had opposed the bill then especially the Left parties
argued that options would increase speculation in
commodities.
The report suggested that options will actually make it
easier for farmers and smaller users to participate in the
derivatives market as trading lot sizes will be lower than
in futures contracts, where the minimum traded quantity
for most farm products is 10 tonne.
Investing in an option also tends to minimise losses as
only the premium to buy (call option) or sell (put option)
is forgone in the event of prices moving adversely. a
futures position taken by a trader is on the other hand
marked to market daily. Marking to market involves daily
settlement of the difference between the prior agreed
price and the daily futures price. It can thus lead to huge
losses alongside supernormal profits.
Targeting Disinvestment Govt to
Incentivise PSU Listings
Running short of disinvestment target in the current
fiscal, the government will incentivise the unlisted PSUs
to come up with initial share offerings in the stock market
in 2012-13. At present, there are about 50 PSUs which
are listed and their shares are actively traded in the stock
market.
The government has already decided that unlisted PSUs
with no accumulated losses and having earned net profit
in three preceding years should come out with Initial
Public Offerings (IPOs) even as the state holding would
not come below 51 per cent.
One of the options to incentivise the PSUs for IPOs is to
put this task in the memorandum of understanding
(MoU) which an individual enterprise signs with its
administrative ministry. Under the MoU system, annual
targets are set for the PSUs and CEOs get personal
appraisal points if the tasks are achieved.
While about 50 PSUs including Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd and Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd which can
be listed on stock exchanges did not opt for the same.
The government had set a target of raising Rs 40,000
crore through stake sale in PSUs in the current fiscal.
With only three months remaining, it has been able to
mop up merely Rs 1,145 crore through disinvestment in
Power Finance Corporation. To achieve the mammoth
target, the Finance Ministry is working on several
methods including share buyback by cash-rich PSUs.
ADB Loan Cleared for Road Works
in Naxal-hit Villages
The Union government on 7 th January 2012 has cleared
an external loan to finance part of the programme
launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in left
wing extremism-affected villages. The clearance is for a
loan of $500 million from the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) to speed up construction of rural roads.
Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh
has urged Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to issue
directions for negotiating and early signing of the loan,
which his Ministry has cleared, to shore up resources
to give thrust to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY) that is way behind schedule.
The ADB, which has already extended a loan of $800
million, has been petitioned with a fresh proposal for
rural connectivity investment programme to construct
or upgrade 7,000 km of roads connecting eligible
habitations in Maoist-affected States of Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal,
besides Assam where too the PMGSY has progressed
with little to cheer.
Incentives to Locals
The demand for the loan was made in the backdrop of
the MoRD’s multi-winged programmes in the left wing
extremism-affected areas, under which Central forces
assist execution of welfare and development schemes
to wean the local people from the path of naxalism.
The MoRD has been providing incentives and
assistance to the local people, particularly tribals, to
reduce poverty and ensure economic growth of the
region. Rural connectivity is considered pivotal to the
success of this stratagem.
As per the programme proposed by the MoRD, the
Union government will supplement with a contribution
of $127.6 million, in addition to the $5000 million to
finance the project that includes setting up of training
and research centres pertaining to rural roads.
The programmewas supposed to have covered all
habitations with a population of 500 people (250 people
in the case of tribal and hilly areas) by 2007. Provision of
rural connectivity to habitations of 500 people in general
areas and 250 people in tribal areas need to be worked
upon on pririty basis.
Govt Approves RIL’s $1.5 bn
KG-D6 Satellite Field Plan
The Union government on 3 January 2012 approved
Reliance Industries’ (RIL) $1.529 billion investment plan
for developing four satellite fields in the flagging KG-
D6 block. RIL’s investment plan will boost falling output
in the Krishna-Godavari Basin KG-D6 block. The
investment proposal was signed by the three partners
in the block- RIL, UK’s BP Plc and Niko Resources of
Canada and the representative of DGH.
The KG-D6 block oversight committee, which includes
officials from the Oil Ministry and its technical arm, the
Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), met for the
third time in three months on 3 January to finally approve
the proposal.
The MC approval, which is the final approval an operator
needs before beginning work, put a cap on the cost of
developing the four fields that surround the currently
producing Dhirubhai-1 and 3 (D-1 & D-3) fields in the
KG-D6 block.
The cost cannot vary by more than 15%. The MC had at
its two previous meetings in November and December
2011 refused to approve the field development plan (FDP)
for the Dhirubhai-2, 6, 19 and 22 (D-2, D-6, D-19 and D-
22) fields after the government representative raised
certain objections. RIL agreed to cap spending on the
four fields at $1.529 billion, plus or minus 15%.
The four fields can produce 10 million cubic metres of
gas per day by 2016, which will help shore up output
from the block, which has seen a 35% decline in
production in the past 15 months.
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SOCIO ECONOMY MONTHLY
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SOCIAL COVERAGE
Total Number of Family
Planning Acceptors in
India increased by 3.5%
between 2010 & 2011
As per the latest official data, the total
number of family planning acceptors in
India increased by 3.5 per cent between
2010 and 2011. The data revealed that
condom is the most preferred method of
family planning while sterilisations the
least adopted means. The comparative
figures between April and September 2010
and 2011 put the number of couples
adopting some method for family
planning, including spacing methods was
found to be close to 24 million, with at
least 15 million preferring condoms to any
other means. Condom use was followed
by oral pill user — though the number in
this case came down to just over 5 million
in 2011. IUD (intrauterine device)
insertions by women was also another
significant birth control measure adopted.
Use of Condoms
According to the figures available with
the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, the highest jump of about 10 per
cent (comparative figures) was recorded
in the number of condom users while an
equal quantum of decline was noted in
oral pill users. The quantum of condoms
sold by the commercial companies
increased by 32.7%. The number of takers
of free condoms increased in Rajsathan
(though it was less compared to the
previous year), Punjab and Haryana.
Rajasthan has the largest number of oral
pill users, followed by West Bengal,
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Vasectomy
Only about 2 million people underwent
sterilisation during the period under
review. Sterilisations remained more or
less the same with a marginal decline of
1.2 per cent. Of the total sterilisations
conducted, vasectomy (male sterilisation)
comprised only 4.2 per cent. Only Sikkim
had 35 per cent men undergoing
vasectomy while in the neighbouring
Mizoram and Nagaland no vasectomy
was done. In Arunachal Pradesh the
number of vasectomy done stood at three.
IUD Insertions
At the national level, the number of IUD
insertions during April-September 2011
showed an increase of 5.1 per cent
against the same period in 2010. Among
the States showing increase in
performance are Bihar, Assam, Orissa,
West Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and
Gujarat while usage has gone down in
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala,
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
State-wise Study
Bihar showed a jump of 92 per cent
between 2010 and 2011 in sterilisations,
61 per cent in IUD users, 49 per cent in
condom users and 71 per cent in oral pill
users. Jharkhand on the other hand
showed an overall decline in all methods
used for family planning. Karnataka too
showed all-round decline as also Tamil
Nadu, except sterilisations, which showed
a 6 per cent increase. Densely populated
Uttar Pradesh indicated a 3.7 per cent
increase in sterilisation figures, 12.7 per
cent jump in IUD insertions, 17 and 18
per cent hike in condom use and oral pill
use respectively. In terms of sterilisations
per 10000 unsterilised couples exposed
to higher order of birth (3 and above),
Tamil Nadu showed the best performance
at 1834 sterilisations followed by
Karnataka (1197), Kerala (1101),
Maharashtra (857), Gujarat (510), Punjab
(501), Haryana (4170) and Madhya
Pradesh (342). The achievement in all
States is lower than the all India average
of 315 sterilisations per 10000 unsterilised
couples.
UN-DESA Data Revealed
Higher Female Infant
Mortality Rate in India
United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) data for
150 countries over 40 years showed that
India and China are the only two
countries in the world where female infant
mortality is higher than male infant
mortality in the 2000s.
India was found to be the most dangerous
place in the world to be a baby girl. The
data revealed that an Indian girl child aged
1-5 years is 75% more likely to die than an
Indian boy, making this the worst gender
differential in child mortality for any
country in the world.
Infant (0-1 years) and child (1-5 years)
mortality were noticed to be declining in
India and across the world. It was
observed that most of the world was
experiencing a faster fall in female infant
and child mortality than in male, on
account of well established biological
factors which make girls better survivors
of early infancy given equal access to
resources. India and China were
exceptions in this regard.
As per the report there are 76 male infant
deaths for every 100 female infant deaths
in China compared with 122 male infant
deaths for every 100 female infant deaths
in the developing world as a whole.
India was observed to have a better infant
mortality sex ratio than China, with 97 male
infant deaths for every 100 female.
However the figure was still not in tune
with the global trend, or with its
neighbours Sri Lanka (125) or Pakistan
(120).
India is the worst performer when it comes
to child mortality sex ratio. In the 2000s,
there were 56 male child deaths for every
100 female, compared with 111 in the
developing world. This ratio got
progressively worse since the 1970s in
India, even as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Egypt
and Iraq improved.
THE UN REPORT
The report explained high girl child
mortality by socio-cultural values.
According to the report, so strong is the
biological advantage for girls in early
childhood that higher mortality among
girls ought to be seen as powerful warning
that differential treatment or access to
resources is putting girls at a
disadvantage.
Higher female mortality from age 1 (one)
onwards indicated sustained
discrimination. Neglect and
discrimination was found to be in three
areas: food and nutrition, healthcare and
emotional wellbeing. Of these, neglect of
the healthcare of the girl child was
observed to be the most direct
determinant of mortality.
Earlier studies had shown that healthrelated
neglect may involve waiting
longer before taking a sick girl to a doctor
than a sick boy, and is also reflected in
lower rates of immunization for girls than
boys.
ILO’s Global Employment Trends 2012 Highlighted
Challenge of Creating 600 million Productive Jobs
The International Labour Organization
(ILO) issued the annual report on global
employment titled Global Employment
Trends 2012: Preventing a deeper jobs
crisis on 24 January 2012. As per the
report, the world faces the urgent
challenge of creating 600 million
productive jobs over the next decade in
order to generate sustainable growth and
maintain social cohesion. The ILO
highlighted that an estimated 900m living
with their families below the US$ 2 a day
poverty line, mostly in developing
countries.
THE REPORT
It was found three years of continuous
crisis conditions in global labour markets
and the prospect of a further deterioration
of economic activity, created a backlog of
global unemployment of 200 million. 400
million new jobs will be needed over the
next decade to absorb the estimated 40
million growth of the labour force each
year.
The report on global unemployment also
pointed out that the recovery that started
in 2009 was short-lived and there exists 27
million more unemployed workers than at
the start of the crisis. The fact that
economies are not generating enough
employment is reflected in the
employment-to-population ratio (the
proportion of the working-age population
in employment), which suffered the largest
decline on record between 2007 (61.2 per
cent) and 2010 (60.2 per cent).
There are nearly 29 million fewer people in
the labour force now than would be
expected based on pre-crisis trends. If
these discouraged workers were counted
as unemployed, then global
unemployment would swell from the
current 197 million to 225 million, and the
unemployment rate would rise from 6 per
cent to 6.9 per cent.
Three scenarios for the employment
situation in the future as pointed by the
report- The baseline projection shows an
additional 3 million unemployed for 2012,
rising to 206 million by 2016. If global
growth rates fall below 2 per cent, then
unemployment would rise to 204 million
in 2012. If there is a quick resolution of the
euro debt crisis, global unemployment
would be around 1 million lower in 2012.
EMPLOYMENT FOR THE YOUTH
Young people continue to be among the
hardest hit by the jobs crisis. Judging by
the present course, there is little hope for
a substantial improvement in their nearterm
employment prospects.
Global Employment Trends 2012
mentioned 74.8 million youth aged 15-24
were unemployed in 2011, an increase of
more than 4 million since 2007. Globally,
young people are nearly three times as
likely as adults to be unemployed. The
global youth unemployment rate, at 12.7
per cent, remained a full percentage point
above the pre-crisis level.
FINDINGS
The report’s main findings also include:
• Marked slowdown in the rate of
progress in reducing the number of
working poor. Nearly 30 per cent of all
workers in the world, more than 900 million
were found to be living with their families
below the US$2 poverty line in 2011.
About 55 million more than expected on
the basis of pre-crisis trends. Of these 900
million working poor, about half were living
below the US$1.25 extreme poverty line.
• The number of workers in
vulnerable employment globally in 2011
was estimated at 1.52 billion, an increase
of 136 million since 2000 and of nearly 23
million since 2009. Among women, 50.5
per cent were in vulnerable employment,
a rate that exceeds the corresponding
share for men (48.2).
• Favourable economic conditions
pushed job creation rates above labour
force growth, thereby supporting
domestic demand, in particular in larger
emerging economies in Latin America and
East Asia.
• The labour productivity gap
between the developed and the
developing world – an important indicator
measuring the convergence of income
levels across countries narrowed over the
past two decades, but remained
substantial. Output per worker in the
Developed Economies and European
Union region was US$ 72900 in 2011
versus an average of US$ 13,00 in
developing regions.
SUGGESTIONS
1. The report suggested targeted
measures to support job growth in the real
economy, warning that additional public
support measures alone will not be
enough to foster a sustainable recovery.
2. Policy-makers were advised to
act decisively and in a coordinated
fashion to reduce the fear and uncertainty
that is hindering private investment so that
the private sector can restart the main
engine of global job creation.
3. It also warned that in times of
faltering demand further stimulus is
important and this can be done in a way
that does not put the sustainability of
public finances at risk.
4. The report called for for fiscal
consolidation efforts to be carried out in a
socially responsible manner, with growth
and employment prospects as guiding
principles.
DEFINITIONS
1. A person who has decided to
stop looking for work because they feel
they have no chance at finding a job is
considered economically inactive (i.e.
outside the labour force) and is therefore
not counted among the unemployed. This
also applies to young people who choose
to remain in schooling longer than they
had hoped and wait to seek employment
because of the perceived lack of job
opportunities.
2. Vulnerable employment is
defined as the sum of own-account
workers and unpaid family workers.
For More Social Coverage
Read Our
SOCIO ECONOMY
MONTHLY
The UN data on child mortality indicated
that a campaign against female foeticide
alone is not a complete solution. The
report highlighted that pre-natal and postnatal
discrimination were complementarily
contributing to gender imbalance. As per
the UN study, while pre-natal
discrimination in the form of sexselective
abortions is more common among better
educated upper income households, postnatal
discrimination or neglect is more
common among poorer, less educated
rural households.
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MARCH 2012
2G case: SC Allows Swamy’s
Petition on Grant of Sanction
The Supreme Court on 31 January 2012 set aside the
Delhi High Court order refusing to pass any direction to
the Prime Minister for taking a decision on sanction of
prosecution in 2G case. The Supreme Court held that
filing of a complaint under the Prevention of Corruption
Act is a constitutional right of a citizen. It said the
competent authority should take a decision on giving
the sanction within a time frame.
In a case filed by Janata Party Chief Subramanian Swamy,
seeking a direction to the Prime Minister for sanction to
prosecute the then Telecom Minister A Raja, the two
judge bench of the Apex Court held that if the sanction
is not given within four months it would deem to have
been granted. The bench comprising justices G S Singhvi
and A K Ganguly held that Swamy had the locus standi
to seek sanction for Raja’s prosecution. The court,
however, said, it was not declaring as ultra vires, the
provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Apex Court had reserved its judgment on 24
November, 2010 on the petition filed by Swamy alleging
that there was delay in taking action on his plea seeking
sanction to prosecute A. Raja.
The PMO had, however, refuted all the allegations and
filed an affidavit before the apex court maintaining that
the request for sanction for prosecution of Raja was
considered by the Prime Minister and that he was
advised that evidence collected by CBI was necessary
before taking a decision. The government said as the
CBI probe was going on, it was necessary to wait for its
completion before taking any decision on granting
sanction.
Swamy had approached the Apex Court challenging the
Delhi High Court judgement that had refused to pass
any direction to the Prime Minister for taking decision
on sanction.
The Law Commission: Anti-Dowry
Law should be less Stringent
The Law Commission of India on 18 January 2012
recommended the dilution of Anti-Dowry law to make it
less stringent. The Commission, headed by Justice P V
Reddi, recommended the Government to make Section
498-A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with
harassment for dowry and cruelty to a woman in her
matrimonial home, a compoundable offence.
Compoundable offences are those which can be
compromised by the parties to the dispute. The
permission of the court is not necessary. This means
that those who would be booked in cases under this
section would find it easier to get bail.
The recommendation would allow the woman, involved
in the case, to withdraw it with the permission of the
court, provided she is not under any pressure.
Law Commission of India:It is an executive body
established by an order of the Government of India. Its
main function is to work for legal reform. The Commission
is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory
body to the Ministry of Law and Justice. The first Law
Commission was set up during the British rule in 1834
by the Charter Act of 1833. The Nineteenth and the
current Law Commission was established on 1 September
2009 under the Chairmanship of Justice P.Venkatarama
Reddy. Its tenure was fixed till 31 August 2012.
SC Criticized Govt for Delay in
Release of Foreign Prisoners
The Supreme Court of India on 24 January 2012 criticized
the Union government for total inaction in dealing with
the prolonged imprisonment of several foreign nationals
in Indian jails despite them having completed their
sentences. The court directed the government to
repatriate them within a month.
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LEGAL COVERAGE
SC Directed CBI to File Status
Report on 2G Scam to Central
Vigilance Commission
The Supreme Court on 2 February 2012 directed the CBI
to file status report on its ongoing probe into the 2G
spectrum allocation case to the Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC). The apex court refused to appoint
an SIT to oversee the probe in the 2G scam. It sought
the assistance of the Central Vigilance Commission
(CVC) to help it monitor the investigation done by
different agencies in view of involvement of several
influential persons in the scam. The apex court appointed
the senior vigilance commissioner under Section 3(2) of
the 2003 CVC Act to render assistance to the court in
effectively monitoring further investigation of the case.
The apex court directed the CBI, ED and other agencies
to give their status report in sealed envelopes to the
CVC which would give its suggestion to it on the probe
done by them. It passed the order on a plea by an NGO,
Centre for Public Interest Litigation, and Janata Party
chief Subramanian Swamy, seeking its direction to
appoint an SIT. The court, however clearified that its
order shall not in any manner be construed as a reflection
on the integrity of the investigation so far done by the
team of CBI and other investigating agency or which
may be done in future or their competence to effectively
perform the job in relation to 2G case.
The court’s decision came on a plea filed by Centre of
Public Interest Litigation led by Prashant Bhushan for
setting up a Special Investigation Team to look into the
case. The bench asked CBI to submit status reports on
further investigation to the CVC which will assist the
court. The appointment was made keeping in view the
nature of the case and involvement of large number of
influential persons.
SC: A Person cannot be Detained
under NSA without Valid Reasons
The Supreme Court of India in the first week of January
2012 ruled that a person cannot be detained under the
preventive detention law like National Security Act
(NSA) without justifiable reasons. If it happens, it would
impinge upon the individuals Constitutional right of
personal liberty. The apex court observed that the State
authorities have been granted the power to curb such
rights under criminal laws as also under the laws of
preventive detention. These laws are required to be
exercised with due caution as well as upon a proper
appreciation of the facts as to whether such acts are in
any way prejudicial to the interest and the security of
the State and its citizens, or seek to disturb public law
and order, warranting the issuance of such an order.
Important Information
Article 21 in the Constitution of India states that no
person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty
except according to procedure established by law.
Article 22 in the Constitution of India has provision
for protection against arrest and detention in certain
cases. This article consists of two parts. Clauses(1)
and (2) apply to persons arrested or detained under a
law otherwise than a preventive detention law while
clauses (4) to (7) apply to persons arrested or detained
under a preventive detention law.
Army Chief Age Row:
SC Dismissed PIL
The Supreme Court of India on 20 January 2012
dismissed a PIL seeking a direction to the government
to restore the Army Chief Gen V K Singh’s date of birth
as 10 May 1951 and not as 1950. A bench headed by
Chief Justice S H Kapadia ruled that the writ petition
filed at the behest of an association is not maintainable.
The court observed that this is purely a service matter.
The court further said it is not expressing any opinion
on the merits of the case.
CIS: All Information Possessed by
the Office of CJI not Completely
Exempt from Disclosure
The Central Information Commission (CIS) held in the
first week of January 2012 that all information in
possession of the office of the Chief Justice of India is
not completely exempt from disclosure under the Right
to Information (RTI) act. The CIC observed this while
directing the Supreme Court to disclose communication
exchange between Chief Justice of India and the Law
Ministry on the question of proposed changes in
appointment procedure for Judges.
Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra
ruled that, the procedure of appointment of judges or
any proposal for modifying that procedure should
necessarily be available in the public domain so that
citizens know what is transpiring among the major stake
holders. The order came on an appeal by RTI activist
Subhash Agrawal on this issue.
What is RTI Act
The RTI act (The Right to Information Act, 2005) of
Parliament received the assent of the President on the
15 June 2005. It is an act to provide for setting out the
practical regime of right to information for citizens to
secure access to information under the control of public
authorities, in order to promote transparency and
accountability in the working of every public authority,
the constitution of a Central Information Commission
and State Information Commissions and for matters
connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Delhi HC Directed FSSAI to Frame
Guidelines to make Healthy Food
Available in School Canteens
The Delhi High Court on 11 January 2012 directed Food
Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under
the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, to hold
deliberations with the experts and frame necessary
guidelines to make healthy food available in school
canteens. The court sought a compliance report from
FSAAI, along with the guidelines to be submitted on 25
July 2012.
During the hearing on 11 January, the ministry, through
its affidavit, submitted that FSSAI has set up eight
scientific panels and a committee to prescribe standards
of various items of food, including those containing
trans-fat acid residues, poisonous metals and
microbiological parameters.
The affidavit stated that junk food is not defined under
the Food Safety Act, and items like samosas, burgers,
etc, are classified as proprietary and novel food, which
is not unsafe per se. However these food items had to
conform to certain standards and safety parameters.
The Food Safety Act does not empower the authorities
to ban any particular category of food, and its
implementation rests with the state governments. The
decision to ban the sale of junk food in educational
institutions is therefore to be an administrative decision,
to be taken by the authorities in charge of running such
institutions.
According to experts, most junk food has high quantity
of trans-fat acids and is low in minerals, vitamins and
other essential food nutrients. They are also cited as a
reason behind obesity among children.
The Delhi High Court’s direction was issued in the
backdrop of a PIL filed by social group Uday Foundation,
seeking a complete ban on sale of junk food and aerated
drinks in schools and other educational institutions.
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A bench of the apex court noted that prolonged
detention of foreign nationals was violative of the
constitutional right of life and liberty granted under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India to every person The bench did not like that the PIL filed by the Grenadiers
in the country, including foreign nationals. It said Association annexed the opinions of former chief
violation of this right cannot be condoned by the courts. justices of India in the petition on the age row of Army
There are 365 foreign nationals lodged in different jails Chief when they themselves said it is not for being
including in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Madhya putting up before the court. The bench directed the apex
Pradesh who have completed their sentences ranging court registry not to accept any writ petitions in cases
from one to 10 years
where opinions of former chief justices are annexed.
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HRD Ministry’s Nod for Uniform
Accounting System in Educational
Institutions
Paving the way for uniform accounting system in
educational institutions, the HRD ministry has accepted
the recommendations of a committee of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
To evolve consensus, recommendations would be put
before the next state education ministers’ conference.
The ministry would be organizing consultations with
higher educational institutions and schools on the
recommendations of ICAI Committee. The accounting
standards would be made applicable to all Central
educational institutions, universities under the
regulatory ambit of UGC or receiving grants from UGC,
technical institutions under regulatory ambit of AICTE,
teacher education institutions under the regulatory ambit
of NCTE and schools affiliated to CBSE.
The panel, while stating that educational institutions
need an accounting system that presents a true and
correct picture, said all educational institutions should
be mandated to apply accrual basis of accounting. The
committee said accounting standards issued by the ICAI
should be made mandatory to educational institutions.
Fund-based accounting may be introduced for
earmarked/designated funds, all educational institutions
should follow a common format for presentation of its
general purpose financial statements to ensure proper
accountability, financial discipline, end-use of funds and
to meet the needs of stakeholders.
These recommendations would make accounting in
educational standards more transparent and
accountable. Though the new system is less intrusive it
would help in more effective regulation of the education
sector as well as help in preventing malpractices that
plague the sector.
Now, the accounting and financial reporting practices
of educational institutions in India are oriented towards
meeting the needs of the governing bodies running them
and educational institutions follow not only diverse
accounting practices, but also different basis of
accounting. The committee said the accounting
standards should enable the society, student and citizen
to define transparently the revenue earned through
various sources - tuition fees and other charges, income
from consultancy or from intellectual property owned
by the institution (for higher educational institutions).
MoU Signed between Power
Finance Corporation Ltd and
National Literacy Mission Authority
An MoU was signed on 18 th January 2012 between the
Power Finance Corporation Ltd (PFC) and the National
Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA)
As a part of this MoU:
• The Power Finance Corporation has agreed to
extend assistance to “Saakshar Bharat
Programme under their Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) initiative to upgrade 120
Adult Education Centres (AECs) at a cost of
Rs. 6.6. crore.
• PFC has decided to upgrade 120 AECs in Tamil
Nadu, Rajasthan, Manipur, Nagaland and
Himachal Pradesh.
An interactive meeting with CEOs of major Public Sector
Enterprises and Banks was held under the
chairpersonship of HRD Minister, on 19 May, 2010 at
Scope Convention Center, New Delhi. The purpose was
to arrive at an approach to further augment the flagship
programme of the government “Saakshar Bharat”
through active support of the CPSEs/Banks.
As a follow up, Container Corporation of India Ltd.
(CONCOR) was the first CPSE to extend support to
Saakshar Bharat Programme for upgrading 20 Adult
Education Centres (AECs) in Karnataka at a cost of
Rs. 65.00 lakhs during 2010-11. CONCOR has also
agreed to extend support to upgrade 50 AECs in
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh at a cost
of Rs. 2.5 crore during 2011-12.
EDUCATION COVERAGE
Ombudsman for Central
Educational Institutions
Union Ministry for Human Resource Development on
18 January 2012 announced that there would be
Grievance Redressal mechanisms in higher educational
institutions. UGC, AICTE and NCTE would be requiring
all Central Educational Institutions, institutions deemed
to be universities, technical and management institutions
under AICTE and teacher education institutions under
NCTE to establish a Grievance Redressal Mechanism
for Students and applicants for admission before the
commencement of the admission this academic year.
Every institution would be required to constitute an
Ombudsman; person with judicial or legal experience to
be appointed from a panel suggested by the affiliating
university for technical and management institutions,
by the Central Government for deemed universities and
by the regulator for non-degree granting institutions.
The concerned regulators would issue the detailed
instructions to the educational institutions shortly.
The Ombudsman shall have the jurisdiction to hear
grievances concerning denial of admission, nonobservance
of declared merit in admission, nonobservance
of applicable regulations for reservation,
with-holding of documents and non refund of fees in
case of withdrawal of admission, discrimination and other
such matters concerning students in pursuit of studies
in the institution. In case of matters concerning weaker
sections such as SCs/STs/OBCs or minorities, the
Ombudsman can co-opt a person of eminence from the
area coming from the weaker section to assist him/her in
arriving at a decision.
There are several grievances that arise relating to
students and applicants for admission in higher
educational institutions. These grievances require
prompt redressal in order to provide timely succor to
aggrieved students and applicants. The Parliamentary
Standing Committee, while examining the Bill to prohibit
and punish unfair practices, had recommended that proactive
steps be taken to constitute Grievance Redressal
mechanisms in higher education institution.
Applicants for admission and students can apply to the
Ombudsman for redressal of grievances and the
Ombudsman shall deliver his/her order within one month.
Although the order would not be binding on the
institution, the regulator would rely on the frequency of
non-observance to decide on continued recognition to
such institutions.
Indian Students Rank 2nd Last in
Global Test
Across the world, India is seen as an education
powerhouse - based largely on the reputation of a few
islands of academic excellence such as the IITs. But
scratch the glossy surface of our education system and
the picture turns seriously bleak.
Fifteen-year-old Indians who were put, for the first time,
on a global stage stood second to last, only beating
Kyrgyzstan when tested on their reading, math and
science abilities.
India ranked second last among the 73 countries that
participated in the Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA), conducted annually to evaluate
education systems worldwide by the OECD
(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development) Secretariat. The survey is based on twohour
tests that half a million students are put through.
China’s Shanghai province, which participated in PISA
for the first time, scored the highest in reading. It also
topped the charts in mathematics and science.
“More than one-quarter of Shanghai’s 15 year olds
demonstrated advanced mathematical thinking skills to
solve complex problems, compared to an OECD average
of just 3%,” noted the analysis.
The states of Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh,
showpieces for education and development, were
selected by the central government to participate in
PISA, but their test results were damning.
Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER) 2011
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), 2011
released on January 16 by Kapil Sibal, Minister of human
resource development, has come out with some shocking
revelations. In its key findings, while the student
enrolment in rural India has seen a rise (96.7%) in the
year 2011, there has been a decline in students basic
reading levels, arithmetic levels and academic levels.
STUDENT ENROLMENT
The percentage of girls in the age group 11and 14 years
who have been out of schools has seen a considerable
decrease in 2011. For example, in Bihar, the number of
girls out of school has dropped from 17.6% in 2006 to
4.3% in 2011. Rajasthan shows a decline from 18.9% in
2006 to 8.9% in 2011. Apart from this, enrolment of
students in private schools has seen a sharp increase.
From 18.7% of children between the age group 6-14 years
getting enrolled in private schools in 2006, it is 25.6% in
2011.
READING LEVELS
Nationally, reading levels are estimated to have declined
in many states across north India. The all India figure
for the proportion of children in class V able to read a
class II level text has dropped from 53.7% in 2010 to
48.2% in 2011. Such declines, however, are not visible in
the southern states. The unsatisfactory levels of basic
reading ability suggested by ASER and other studies
including PISA point to an urgent need to focus on basic
learning outcomes. Each state should define realistic,
measurable outcomes in reading and understanding that
can be understood by teachers and parents. The RTE
states that childrens progress has to be communicated
to parents. Textbook content too, needs to be reviewed.
ARITHMETIC LEVELS
Basic arithmetic levels estimated in ASER 2011 also
show a decline. Nationally, the proportion of class III
children able to solve a two-digit subtraction problem
with borrowing has dropped from 36.3% in 2010 to 29.9%
in 2011. Among children of class V, the ability to do a
similar subtraction problem has dropped from 70.9% in
2010 to 61% in 2011. This decline is visible in almost
every state; only Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu show improvements in 2011.
CHILDRENS ATTENDANCE
At the all India level, childrens attendance shows a
decline from 73.4% in 2007 to 70.9% in 2011 in rural
primary schools. In some states, childrens attendance
shows a sharp decline over time. For example, in primary
schools of Bihar, the average attendance of children was
59% in 2007, but down to 50% in 2011. In Madhya
Pradesh, this figure has fallen from 67% in 2007 to 54.5%
in 2011, while in Uttar Pradesh, from 64.4% (2007) to
57.3% (2011).
MULTIGRADE CLASSROOMS
Multiple classes sitting together are a real challenge in
Indian classrooms. During the school visits, ASER
focused on class II and class IV to observe whether
children in these classes were sitting together with
children from other classes. Nationally, for rural
government primary schools, data suggested that over
half of all classes visited were multigrade. Facilitated by
Pratham, ASER is an annual survey of children in rural
India and has completed seven years. It is undertaken
by local organisations and concerned citizens.
Wadhwani Foundation and Virginia
Foundation for Community College
Education Sign MoU
The Wadhwani Foundation (WF) and the Virginia
Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE)
USA signed a memorandum of understanding on 10 th
January 2012. The Wadhwani Foundation and Virginia
Foundation for Community College Education
partnership seeks to leverage the combined expertise of
Virginia’s Community College system in running industry
relevant professional education sharing technical and
organizational know-how, curriculum/courseware and
teacher training to enhance such programmes in India.
As part of the memorandum, the VFCCE and the WF will
together identify high-impact skill development
programs in India that need such support. These
NCPCR Asked the State Governments to Propose a System called Shiksha Samvad partnerships could be forged with government or private
initiatives and would involve vibrant exchange of ideas
National Commission for Protection of Child Right (NCPCR) on 9 January 2012 directed the state governments to and technology transfer, adapting U.S. expertise to
propose a system called Shiksha Samvad for holding regular dialogues between government officials and civil position Indian institutions to meet local needs. Virginia
society on the implementation of the Right to Education Act. In a letter, the commission, which is monitoring the Community College experts will serve as consultants,
Act, asked the state governments to institutionalize the system for regular reviews of the act. This will enable the sharing best practices. The Wadhwani Foundation will
local administration to keep a close watch on how the implementation of the Act is proceeding at the ground level. provide local support and co-funding for this capacity
It will also allow the people to seek speedy redressal by raising the issues directly with the government officials. building.
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MARCH 2012
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WOMEN & CHILDREN COVERAGE
Malnutrition Affects 42 Percent of
Children Under 5
The Hunger and Malnutrition Survey monitored over
100000 children in 112 districts across nine states in the
country from October 2010 to February 2011. The Hunger
and Malnutrition Survey report was released by Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 10 January 2012. The
survey stated that forty-two percent of children in India
younger than 5 are underweight and nearly 60 percent
are stunted.
India, with a population of 1.2 billion people, has the
largest number of children in the world. The survey
conducted by a group of non-profits was the largest
such study since 2004, when the Indian government
had surveyed child malnutrition. It was found that
though India’s economy boomed, with growth over the
last few years averaging about 8 percent, the country’s
development indicators continue to be abysmal.
THE FINDINGS
The report found that of the stunted children, about
half were severely stunted and about half of all
children were underweight or stunted by the time they
are two years. However, the number of underweight
children was to have decreased from 53 to 42 per cent
in the past seven years. The last study on the subject
was done in 2004.
The survey however noted that positive change for child
nutrition in India was happening, including in the 100
Focussed Districts. The 100 Focus Districts are located
across Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa,
Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – states which perform the
worst on child nutrition.
The prevalence of malnutrition is significantly higher
among children from low-income families. It found that
children from Muslim or SC/ST households generally
had worse nutrition indicators. According to the
report, birth weight is an important risk-factor for child
malnutrition. The prevalence of underweight in
children born with a weight below 2.5 kg is 50 per
cent, while that among children born with a weight
above 2.5 kg is 34 per cent.
Awareness among mothers about nutrition was found
to below. 92 per cent mothers had never heard the word
malnutrition. Also, the report stated that a negligent
appraoch was shown towards girl children even in their
early childhood. The nutrition advantage girls have over
boys in the first months of life gets reversed over time
as they grow older. According to the survey, the mothers’
education level also determines children’s nutrition.
PREVIOUS REPORTS ON MALNUTITION
UNICEF’s latest data had also mentioned that onethird
of the world’s malnourished children younger
than 3 lives in India, a rate considered worse than
sub-Saharan Africa.The last Global Hunger Index
released in 2011 had put India as number 67 out of 84,
behind several African countries, including Sudan
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also
found that India has the highest rate of stunted growth
among children in the world.
National Girl Child Day Celebrated
24th January has been declared as National Girl Child
Day. To mark the occasion, Ministry of Women and Child
Development organised deliberations at IARI Campus,
Pusa on the theme of ‘Declining Child Sex Ratio: Issues
and Challenges’.The celebration was presided over by
MOS (I/C) Smt. Krishna Tirath.
The Minister shared that there has been an improvement
in social indicators such as literacy and the gender gap
in effective literacy rate. A disturbing fact is that in the
last decade, as many as 27 States and Union Territories
have experienced a fall in the child sex ratio. Sharp falls
in have been reported in child sex ratios in many States
reflecting a national trend that cuts across class and the
rural –urban divide. She said change of Minister towards
girl children is more important than legal enforcement.
The Minister also highlighted the flagship programmes
of the Government relating to survival, development and
protection of children, in general and for the girl child in
particular like Integrated Child Development Scheme
(ICDS), SABLA etc.
Childhood Poverty Remains a
Reality in India
The survey titled Impact of Growth on Childhood
Poverty in Andhra Pradesh was conducted by NGO-
Young Lives since 2002. It has collected data on 2,011
children aged between six to 18 months and 1008 children
aged between seven-and-half to eight-and-half years.
Findings from its third round of data collection were
released on 11 January 2012. The report was prepared
by Young Lives as part of an international study on
childhood poverty. In Andhra Pradesh, Young Lives
collects data in 20 sentinel sites across 3 geographic
regions — Central Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana.
According to the report, one-third of children in Andhra
Pradesh are stunted despite falling poverty, considerable
economic growth and the development of significant
policies. Stunting is believed to have serious long-term
implications for health, psycho-social well-being and
educational achievement. The report also pointed out
that despite higher enrolment, drop-out and school
quality remain critical issues.
THE REPORT
The report presented initial findings from the third round
of data collected by Young Lives in the State. The survey
was carried out from late 2009 to early 2010 with two
cohort (groups) of children. It provided a broad outline
of some of the key indicators of childhood poverty and
also cited the changes that took place in the children’s
lives between the earlier survey rounds in 2002 and 2006
and in the third round.
Around one in four (27 per cent of Younger Cohort [YC]
who were aged 6-18 months in 2001 and were 8 years in
2009) children were found to have low body mass index
for age, while almost one in three are stunted (low height
for age) at 8 years. In 2009, YC children in rural areas
were experiencing a higher prevalence of low BMI for
age (29 per cent) as well as stunting (34 per cent) than
children from urban areas (for whom the corresponding
figures were 22 per cent and 16 per cent).
Comparing the Older and Younger Cohorts at 8 years
suggested only slight decline in stunting rates between
2002 and 2009 (3 percentage points). The Older Cohorts
were 7.5 to 8.5 years of age in 2002. Various reasons for
the high prevalence of under-nutrition, including food
security, insufficient nutrient intake, diseases burden
and lately food inflation were given.
STUNTING AND THINNESS
Both stunting and thinness (BMI) were patterned by
caste or ethnic background. Comparison between the
two cohorts in 2002 and 2009 (when they were both
aged 8) suggested that stunting rates went down for
the other castes groups and backward classes but
hardly moved for Scheduled Castes and actually
increased for children from Scheduled Tribe
backgrounds. In 2006, 96 per cent of Younger Cohort
children (then aged 5 years) were enrolled in either
primary or pre-school and by 2010 this percentage had
gone up to 98 per cent. In case of the Older Cohort,
enrolment fell from 98 per cent in 2002 to 90 per cent in
2006 and further 77 per cent in 2010 — indicating a high
drop-out rate with more girls dropping out than boys.
OTHER FINDINGS
The findings revealed considerable shift to private
education. In 2002, 23 per cent of Young Lives children
were attending private primary schools at the age of 8
years. By 2009 the number went up to 44 per cent.
Though many families make substantial sacrifices to
afford private education, disadvantaged social groups
and girls are much less likely to go to a private school.
The study also found that 70% of the households
accessed NREGS in 2009, but only 13% accessed the
full 100 days’ employment. Alongside this, 83% of
the households (88% of the rural and 67% of the
urban) possess Rajiv Arogyasri cards but less than
4% of the families utilized them. The numbers in this
respect revealed that out-of-pocket expenditure on
health is high and so is one of the reasons that families
are unable to get out of the debt trap.
UGC Mulls 20 exclusive Univs &
800 Colleges for Women
Espousing the cause of women’s education, the 12th
Plan period document of the University Grants
Commission (UGC) has proposed 20 exclusive
universities for them and 800 constituent colleges under
the central varsities to ensure equity in access to quality
education. The UGC has also sought a four-time hike in
allocation during the Five-Year Plan period from Rs 46,632
crore to Rs 1,84,740 crore to achieve its proposed
initiatives. The initiatives also include upgrading of
autonomous colleges with potential of excellence,
enhancing intake capacity of institutes of higher
education and development of ‘college cluster
universities’. The plan document broadly emphasis on
achieving the triple objectives of access and expansion,
equity and inclusion, and quality and excellence, with
an emphasis on consolidation and optimal use of
infrastructure already created during the 11th Plan period.
Giving thrust to women’s education, the plan document
has proposed 20 universities facilitating their entry into
higher education even from traditional background and
rural and sub-urban areas. The Centre has proposed to
fund their establishment while the state governments
may provide the land and help to establish such
universities, the document states while holding the idea
was included “because the social dynamics of our
system”.
Stating that certain sectors of our population are still
not open to send girls to coeducational institutions, the
UGC document contends that exclusive institutes of
higher education in some pockets for women “may act
as a fillip to the participation of girls in higher education”.
In addition to the already proposed and partially
implemented 374 model colleges scheme, a new scheme
of constituent colleges has been proposed for the 40
central universities in the country. Under the scheme,
20 colleges each will be set up in the respective states in
the district headquarters, numbering to 800 new colleges
in all. This will balance the regional distribution of
colleges based on population density of the youth in
the age group of 18-23 years.
Survey: Women as Victims
Physical abuse is the most common form of abuse
reported by women, and husbands are the largest
respondents under the Protection of Women from
Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), 2005. Courts have
entertained complaints of emotional and verbal abuse
where no physical abuse has been alleged, and relief
has been granted in the form of protection order and
residence order. However, though protection orders are
being passed in favour of the aggrieved person, the
reason given is domestic violence and not sexual
violence, a survey has shown. It also suggests that man
not having sexual relation with his wife, too, has been
accepted as a form of sexual abuse as has been making
the woman forcibly watch pornography.
According to the Fifth Monitoring and Evaluation report
of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005, physical violence
(3215) along with verbal and emotional abuse (2726) are
the most common forms of violence reported by women,
followed closely by economic abuse (2938) and
dispossession. The Act was an innovation over the
conventional understanding of domestic violence as it
did not limit the protection against violence solely to
‘marital relationships’. It introduced the concept of
‘domestic relationship’ which included all relationships
based on consanguinity, marriage, adoption and even
relations which were in the nature of marriage. But, the
most important aspect of the Act is the ‘right to residence’
which protects women from being pushed out of the
house.
The report further said that while there was an increase
in positive attitudes on gender and domestic violence
of protection officers, confusion continued to prevail
around the definition of domestic relationship and
whether women could be the first respondents or not.
Protection officers are a mechanism to coordinate
between the victim and the court meant to assist women.
The report said courts had also passed protection orders
on prima facie evidence of domestic violence and the
most common form of relief granted to women who had
faced domestic violence was monetary relief and this
trend showed an increase. The report makes a specific
mention of two Supreme Court judgements: one on ‘live
in relationships’ which recognises such relationships
and the second that led to a controversy where women
in ‘live in relationships’ were referred to as ‘keep’,
betraying entrenched patriarchal mindsets and the
existence of negative stereotype.
ABOUT YOUNGLIVES
Young Lives is a long-term international research
study investigating the changing nature of childhood
poverty in four developing countries — Ethiopia,
India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam — over 15
Nutrition is critical for survival and growth. In life-cycle years, the timeframe set by the U.N. to assess progress
approach this is more important for children and towards the U.N. millennium development goals. It is
especially for the girl child. On this occasion a ‘Nutrition following two groups of children in each country-
Calendar’ of Food and Nutrition Board of Ministry of 2000 children who were born in 2001-02 and 1000
Women and Child Development (MWCD) was released. children born in 1994-95.
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HEALTH COVERAGE
2012: Year of Intensification of
Routine Immunization
India has declared year 2012 as the year of intensification
of routine immunization. The present full immunization
coverage of children is 61%. The key objective of this
campaign is to improve full immunization coverage and
reach all children, particularly in remote, inaccessible
and backward areas as well as in urban slums. The
strategies that are being deployed include:
• Updating of Micro plans to cover all villages
and hamlets in the country;
• Special immunization drives in pockets of low
immunization coverage;
• Intensification of immunization activity by
observing immunization weeks in low
performing states;
• IEC related activities for demand generation
towards immunization;
• Deployment of adequate number of Health
workers;
• Prioritization of areas with exclusive strategy
for 200 districts poor performing districts in the
country;
• And Special focus on migrant and mobile
populations.
Government of India has also expanded the Universal
Immunization Progranme (UIP) by introducing 2nd dose
of Measles, Hepatitis B and Pentavalent vaccination:
India has introduced second dose of measles vaccine in
UIP. The target is to vaccinate more than 12 crore children
through Supplementary Immunization Activity (SIA) in
14 states of which 3.4 crore children have already been
vaccinated. This will prevent an estimated 1 lakh measles
related death. Hepatitis B has been expanded and
universalized across the entire country. Pentavalent, a
combination vaccine against five diseases (Diphtheria,
Pertussis, Tetanus, Hepatitis B and Haemophilus
influenza B) has been introduced on pilot basis in 2
States – Tamil Nadu and Kerala – in mid December 2011.
The initial response of the community has been very
encouraging and more than one lakh children have been
successfully vaccinated within the 1st month.
In order to track every child for assured delivery of
immunization services, a web enabled name based
tracking system has been put in place with a database
of more than 10 million children. Parents are being sent
SMS alerts before the due date of vaccination and health
workers are also now receiving the list of children due
for vaccination through SMS. This is expected to
improve immunization coverage substantially within the
next one year and facilitate real time reporting on
immunization coverage.
Molecular Pathology Boon for
Prenatal Diagnosis: Expert
Around half a million newborns in India suffer from
congenital genetic disorders every year – the highest in
the world – but advances like molecular pathology have
helped detecting these disorders at early stages, an
expert said.
“The number of children born with genetic disorders in
India is highest in the world,” I.C. Verma, director, Sir
Ganga Ram hospital, said at International Symposium
on Molecular Pathology.
However, because of advancements like molecular
pathology, the cases of genetic disorders are being
detected at an early stage. “There has been an increase
in prenatal diagnosis in such cases and its success is
above 30 percent,” Verma said.
Molecular pathology is a discipline within pathology
which focuses on the study and diagnosis of disease
through the examination of molecules within organs,
tissues or bodily fluids.
India Declared itself Free from
Bird Flu, H5N1
India became free from bird flu, H5N1. The government
made a declaration to this effect on 4 January 2012. The
states were advised to have strict surveillance, especially
in the vulnerable areas bordering the infected countries
and in areas visited by migratory birds.
WHAT IS H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 is also known as bird
flu , A(H5N1) or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the
influenza A virus .It can cause illness in humans and
many other animal species.
HIV Drug now Available as Oral
Powder for Children
The HIV drug Viread will now be available in powder
form for HIV positive children after its approval by the
US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a biopharmaceutical
company said. The move is expected to
benefit millions of HIV positive children.
The FDA also approved a New Drug Application (NDA)
for an oral powder formulation of Viread for children
ages 2-5. The active ingredient in Viread, tenofovir
disoproxil fumarate, is currently the most-prescribed
molecule for adults receiving HIV therapy in the United
States.
In pediatric patients, the use of either the lower-strength
tablets or the oral powder formulation of Viread is based
on the patient’s age and weight. The safety and efficacy
of Viread has not been established in children less than
two years of age. For adults unable to swallow Viread
tablets, the oral powder formulation equal to 300 mg
may be used.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO),
there are approximately 2.5 million children under the
age of 15 living with HIV worldwide, and more than 90
percent live in sub-Saharan Africa.
WHO Recognizes Progress of Gulf
States for Adopting Regional
Strategy to Address Non
communicable Diseases
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), whose Ministers
of Health met in Muscat, Oman is the first regional entity
to respond, at a heads of state level, to the UN General
Assembly Political Declaration on the Prevention and
Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) by
developing a regional strategy to address diseases, such
as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and chronic
respiratory disease.
Putting Commitments into Action
The strategy outlines a plan to put into action the
commitments agreed upon in September in the UN
General Assembly’s Political Declaration on NCDs.
NCDs cause more than 60% of all deaths in GCC
countries, and are caused by shared risk factors like
tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.
“The regional strategy details what the six countries
(Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United
Arab Emirates) will be doing to tackle NCDs during the
next years in terms of reducing people’s exposure to
causative risk factors and improving services to prevent
and treat these leading health problems,” said Dr Ahmed
Al Saidi, Omani Minister of Health who chaired the
meeting. “It also highlights what the six countries will
do to set targets and measure results, advance
multisectoral action, and strengthen national capacity.”
Reducing Premature Deaths
The Oman meeting followed a two-day summit in
December where heads of state of the Cooperation
Council for the Arab States of the Gulf endorsed a
regional approach to reduce premature deaths from
noncommunicable diseases.
Welcoming the announcement, WHO Regional Director-
Elect of WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr Ala
Alwan said, “We have the knowledge of what works to
prevent and treat NCDs, a global public health and
development problem of increasing significance to many
countries. We are pleased to see the Gulf Cooperation
Council countries taking concrete action to implement
affordable best practices (called ‘best buys’) to curb
NCDs and we hope other regions will take similar action.”
“Up to 50% of people dying from these diseases in some
of the Gulf countries die prematurely, before the age of
60 years. This initiative by the GCC should be a major
landmark in stopping these premature deaths,” said
Alwan.
DRDO’s Rs.7 cr Tulsi Project finds
Anti Radiation Properties of Tulsi
Extracts in Animal Trials
There are more revelations coming to light about the
home grown tulsi plant’s medicinal values. In a recent
research conducted by scientists at DRDO’s (Defence
Research Development Organization) Institute of
Nuclear Medicines and Allied Sciences and Department
of Radiobiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal,
the scientists have successfully tested tulsi extracts on
mice for its anti-radiation and anti-cancer properties. The
DRDO is spending Rs.7 crore on the tulsi project.
Earlier, the research students at the department of
biotechnology of Vignan College in Guntoor, in Andhra
Pradesh, had also revealed that Tulsi extracts had useful
medicinal ingredients which can treat diabetics and
cancerous ailments in humans.
Now as the scientists have discovered one more
medicinal value in tulsi extract which can be used as an
anti-radiation agent, it is evidently proved that the
ancient Indian tradition of growing tulsi (Ocimum
Santum) in the backyard is not without scientific backing.
With this new revelation, it can be said that tulsi plant is
embedded with multiple medicinal values, as it can be
used not only to treat diabetics, but also can be used for
treating cancer and now as an anti-radiant substance.
Research shows that the tulsi or Indian basil contains a
chemical called glutathione which mitigates the ill-effects
of radiation and can protect cells in patients undergoing
radiation therapy for cancer. In fact when anybody is
subjected to radiation, it affects the bone marrow first
and thus the immunity level comes down. This will make
the human body vulnerable for contracting diseases
easily.
Initially the scientists used tulsi extract on mice and
they successfully found that the bone marrow of radiation
exposed rodents was not affected and their immunity
levels were intact. With this new success, the DRDO is
now preparing a herbal concoction from tulsi that will
serve to prevent and cure the ill-effects of radiation.
Dr W Selvamurthy, chief controller (research and
development) revealed that now DRDO is planning to
take up human trials. “We need to conduct a few more
tests and take up phase II trials before it is released for
general use,” said Dr Selvamurthy.
In fact, the research on the anti-radiation effect of tulsi
in animals has been going on in India since the past 40
years and it is only in the recent years that scientist
have been coming out with concrete evidence of tulsi’s
mythic medicinal values.
Health Scheme Approved for
Nepal-domiciled Gorkhas
The union cabinet approved the extension of the Ex-
Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) to
Nepal-domiciled Gorkha (NDG) pensioners in a decision
expected to benefit around one lakh Indian exservicemen.
There are about one lakh Indian exservicemen
and 2.17 lakh dependents domiciled in Nepal
who will benefit from the ECHS. They are so far entitled
to medical treatment under ECHS at polyclinics and
ECHS-empanelled civil hospitals in India.
Considering the practical difficulties being faced by
Nepal-domiciled Gorkha ex-servicemen in availing
treatment, the government has decided to provide
medical facilities to them in Nepal itself. The ECHS
provides comprehensive and quality healthcare benefits
to pensioner ex-servicemen residing in India. Extending
it to Nepal for Nepal-domiciled Gorkha ex-servicemen
would meet a long-standing need for providing
healthcare to them.
All other policies and procedures of ECHS which are
applicable in India will also apply to pensioner NDGs
ex-servicemen in Nepal.
Infotech can Improve Healthcare in India: Nasscom
Information technology (IT) can make healthcare accessible and affordable to more people in the country, industry
lobby the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) said. “IT can provide access to
healthcare facilities. Also, it can have a positive impact on affordability and effectiveness of healthcare in India,”
Som Mittal, president of the IT-BPO sector apex body, said at the ‘Health 2.02 conference.
Experts from the healthcare sector have come together for the first conference that emphasizes on innovation and
IT in health services. In the country’s 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017), the Planning Commission is likely to increase
the spending on healthcare to increase its affordability and accessibility.
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MARCH 2012
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ENVIRONMENT|WILD LIFE COVERAGE
UN Launched Unique Online
Database for Businesses
The UN has launched a new online database to showcase
successful strategies that businesses and communities
are using to adapt to climate change while
simultaneously increasing their profits and using their
resources more efficiently.
The database, which can be accessed through the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
website, features more than 100 examples from companies
such as Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Microsoft and Starbucks,
which share the details of their business-friendly
adaptation practices.
“By showcasing private sector adaptation success
stories, we intend to help both communities and
businesses become more climate-resilient and to put the
benefits and business sense of adaptation firmly on the
agenda of the private sector,” said UNFCCC Executive
Secretary Christiana Figueres at the World Economic
Forum in Davos.
“Climate risks which affect communities around the world
are always also business risks,” she added.
Examples of best practices in the database include efforts
to make drinking water clean and safe in developing
countries and efforts to improve the yield of coffee beans
in regions that are particularly vulnerable to climate
change. The database also covers activities such as the
development of climate-friendly goods and services and
climate proofing the supply chains of companies.
“The initiatives detailed in the database both show how
the private sector can secure early advantages by
adapting without waiting for absolute policy certainty
at the international level, and how governments and the
private sector can work together to respond to climate
change now,” she said.
“Public-private partnerships and cooperation with a wide
range of stakeholders is becoming increasingly important
to ensure successful implementation.”
Rudrasagar Development Scheme
Approved
Planning commission od India on 19 January 2012
approved investment clearance for the scheme –
Rudrasagar Drainage Development Scheme, Tripura.
The scheme is an estimated to cost of Rs. 14.8978 Crore
(Rs Fourteen crore, Eighty Nine Lakhs and Seventy Eight
Thousand Only). The project is to be completed by the
financial year 2012-13 and Plan account would be closed
by 31st March 2013.
The implementation of the scheme will restrict water
spread area of the lake during monsoon and maintain
water level of 13 m during winter and maintain water
level of 11 m for boosting the ecology of the area. An
area of 2200 ha with a population of 1000 will benefit
from the scheme.
IMD Installed Doppler Radar
System in New Delhi
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on its 137th
foundation day (15 January 2012), installed C-Band
Polarimetric Doppler Radar system at Mausam Bhawan,
New Delhi. This system uses advanced data to give
information in severe weather condition like rain,
hailstorms and dust storms.
With the installation of this radar, IMD will be able to
cover the entire NCR more accurately to give to the
residence of Delhi more accurate information about
rainfall, about wind, about heat, about dust storms about
hail storms. This will impact the traffic movement in the
city, it would avoid traffic jams, and people will know
exactly what is going to be happening into the course of
between 15 minutes to 2 hrs.
India has the most Toxic Air: Study
It is official: India has the world’s most toxic air.
In a study by Yale and Columbia Universities, India holds
the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air
quality with regard to its effect on human health.
India scored a miniscule 3.73 out of a possible 100 points
in the analysis, lagging far behind the next worst
performer, Bangladesh, which scored 13.66. In fact, the
entire South Asian region fares badly, with Nepal,
Pakistan and China taking up the remaining spots in the
bottom five of the rankings.
These rankings are part of a wider study to index the
nations of the world in terms of their overall
environmental performance. The Yale Center for
Environmental Law and Policy and Columbia’s Center
for International Earth Science Information Network
have brought out the Environment Performance Index
rankings every two years since 2006.
In the overall rankings — which takes 22 policy
indicators into account — India fared minimally better,
but still stuck in the last ten ranks along with
environmental laggards such as Iraq, Turkmenistan and
Uzbekistan. At the other end of the scale, the European
nations of Switzerland, Latvia and Norway captured the
top slots in the index.
India’s performance over the last two years was relatively
good in sectors such as forests, fisheries, biodiversity
and climate change. However, in the case of water —
both in terms of the ecosystem effects to water resources
and the human health effects of water quality — the
Indian performance is very poor.
The Index report was presented at the World Economic
Forum in Davos, where it’s being pitched as a means to
identify the leaders and the laggards on energy and
environmental challenges prior to the iconic Rio+20
summit on sustainable development to be held in Brazil
this June.
India Opposes UN Panel’s ‘back
door’ for Green Caps
A high-profile panel of the United Nation Secretary
General (UNSG) on Global Sustainability has
recommended that the world adopt sustainable
development targets. The move has been opposed by
India and several other developing countries as creating
a backdoor for caps on emissions and green targets,
while breaching the firewall between developing and
rich countries that is enshrined in the Rio declaration
and the UN convention on climate change.
The report, released on 30 January 2012, is seen as a key
input to the world leaders’ summit Rio+20 to be held in
Brazil later this year, which will review global efforts in
achieving ‘sustainable development’.
A proposal in the run-up to the Rio+20 meeting
suggesting that all countries adopt green targets to
achieve over a fixed time along the lines of Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) had been opposed by India.
The UNSG panel has supported a similar proposal.
While the earlier proposal had been more direct in
demanding standardized targets for all countries on
securing a percentage of renewable energy in the power
mix of countries and caps on emission and reduction of
subsidies to fossil fuels, the report does provide caveats
at other points.
But the reference to specific goals, which are universal
in nature, goes against the Indian position that the Rio
declaration countries signed 20 years ago enshrines the
principles of ‘common and differentiated responsibilities’
and such targets would override these. India is wary
that they impinge upon economic development and make
way for rich countries to force costly technology in the
name of green economy.
The panel also recommends that a post-2015 global
framework for sustainable development should
“incorporate near-term benchmarks while being longterm
in scope, looking ahead to a deadline of perhaps
2030”. The similarity of looking for a post-2015 global
environmental regime with a weakened firewall between
rich and poor countries - akin to the European Union’s
push in the Durban climate talks last year - has also not
gone unnoticed in the policy circles in India.
‘Extinct’ Monkey Rediscovered in
Indonesia Jungle
Scientists rediscovered a large grey monkey-the Miller’s
grizzled langur- in the dense jungles of Indonesia. The
monkey was believed to be extinct. The monkey has
black face framed by a fluffy, Dracula-esque white collar.
It has hooded eyes and a pinkish nose and lips. The
animal one roamed the north-eastern part of Borneo, as
well as the islands of Java and Sumatra and the Thai-
Malay peninsula.
The area once the habitat of these monkeys had been
destroyed by human encroachment, conversion of land
for agriculture and mining and fires.
Over 1.20 Lakh Migratory Birds
Descend on Pong Dam
In Himachal Pradesh, more than 1.20 lakh migratory birds
from Siberia and Central Asian countries descended on
Maharana Pratap Sagar, popularly known as Pong Dam
Lake, in Kangra district. Although, 415 species of
migratory birds had landed at different places of the
Pong Dam over the past 10 years, it is for the first time
that ‘salcaded duck’ has arrived in this wetland.
The migratory birds from trans-Himalayan regions had
started reaching the Pong Dam wildlife sanctuary in
October 2011. Besides a maximum of 25000 bar-headed
geese, various other species landed in good numbers,
including common pochard, ruddy shell ducks, Eurasion
wigeon and pintail.
The Wildlife department, in collaboration with the
Bombay National History Society, put 15 collar bands
and seven transmitters on 22 migratory birds with an
objective to get their location details, flying path and
breeding grounds to understand their migration routes.
New Earthworm Species
Discovered in Port Blair
The researchers identified a new species of earthworm
in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The species was named Moniligaster ivaniosi, after the
name of the college.
The new species has unique features, which includes
three pairs of genital apertures and a black line running
along the middle region. The unique morphological
features of the worm, especially the reproductive
structures were attributed to the geographical isolation
of Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean.
Moreover, the new species shows distinct differences
from the nearest related species, M. ophidioides M.
grandis and M. sapphirinaoide. The specimen of the
new species was deposited at the Zoological Survey of
India, Kozhikode.
‘The Hoff’ Crab is New Ocean Find
UK scientists discovered new crab species on the
Southern Ocean floor. The new crab species was named
the Hoff because of its hairy chest. The Hoff lives
around volcanic vents off South Georgia. The animal
has yet to be formally classified. It is, however, a type of
yeti crab.
Yeti crabs were first identified in the southern Pacific
and are recognised for their hairs, or setae, along their
claws and limbs that they use to cultivate the bacteria
which they then eat. However, the new species found
around the vents that fill the East Scotia Ridge are slightly
different in their appearance.
The novel types of starfish, barnacles, sea anemones,
and an octopus are also found in the region. There were
as many as 600 animals found per square metre. The UK
robotic submersible, Isis, was employed to investigate
the ridge near Antarctica.
The region is dotted with hydrothermal vents (cracks in
the volcanic rock where mineral-rich, hot waters flow
from below the seabed to sustain an extraordinary array
of organisms).
The data transmitted through this advanced radar
system is more accurate than the conventional radar,
and avoids the need to monitor radar parameters, and
its fine tuning. It also detects difficult aviation hazards
Vent systems in other parts of the world are occupied
such as bird flocks, aircraft and icing conditions. This
by animals like tubeworms, mussels, other types of crab,
facility will be installed in other 8 cities in due course
and shrimps. These animals were not found in the East
of time.
Scotia Ridge.
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SCIENCE & TECH COVERAGE
Mercury Influx into Eco-system
may have caused Extinction 250mn
Years Ago
In a new study, scientists have discovered a new culprit
that is likely to have been involved in the Earth’s greatest
extinction event that took place 250 million years ago
when rapid climate change wiped out nearly all marine
species and a majority of those on land.
According to the researchers, an influx of mercury into
the eco-system may have been responsible for the mass
extinction.
About 250 million years ago, a time long before dinosaurs
ruled and when all land formed one big continent, the
majority of life in the ocean and on land was wiped out.
The generally accepted idea is that volcanic eruptions
burned though coal beds, releasing CO2 and other
deadly toxins. Direct proof of this theory was outlined
in a paper that was published by these same authors
last January in Nature Geoscience.
The mercury deposition rates could have been
significantly higher in the late Permian when compared
with today’s human-caused emissions. In some cases,
levels of mercury in the late Permian ocean was similar
to what is found near highly contaminated ponds near
smelters, where the aquatic system is severely damaged,
say researchers.
‘Thin Graphene’s Completely
‘Invisible’ to Water
Graphene, which is the thinnest material known to
science, is not only transparent to eye but also to water,
a new study including Indian origin researcher has
revealed.
Engineering researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and Rice University coated pieces of gold,
copper, and silicon with a single layer of graphene, and
then placed a drop of water on the coated surfaces.
Surprisingly, the layer of graphene proved to have
virtually no impact on the manner in which water spreads
on the surfaces.
The findings could help inform a new generation of
grapheme-based flexible electronic devices.
Additionally, the research suggests a new type of heat
pipe that uses graphene-coated copper to cool computer
chips.
As the researchers increased the number of layers of
graphene, however, it became less transparent to the
water and the contact angles jumped significantly. After
adding six layers of graphene, the water no longer saw
the gold, copper, or silicon and instead behaved as if it
was sitting on graphite.
The study has been published in the journal Nature
Materials.
Mexico Rolls out Super Computer
Mexican scientists inaugurated Latin America’s No. 2
supercomputer by size and speed, with the ability to
process 24.9 trillion operations per second. The
computer, along with others at two major Mexican
universities, is part of the new high-performance network
Lancad.
The Lancad project will generate physical infrastructure
that will improve Mexico’s competitive position in the
world. Besides benefiting the academic sector, the
computer also will benefit the government and
businessmen. The government can accommodate critical
applications that require a high level of storage and
security, or push for education and distance-learning,
while the private sector can develop modeling
applications and simulation of processes or the
development of tools and teams.
Scientists for the First Time
Produced Mixed Embryo Monkeys
Scientists for the first time produced monkeys composed
of cells taken from separate embryos. They combined
cells from different embryos and implanted them into
female monkeys. The cells never fuse, but they stay
together and work together to form tissues and organs.
The animals, which contain genetically distinct groups
of cells from more than one organism, are termed as
chimeras. The three rhesus monkeys born are named
Chimero, Roku and Hex. These monkeys have tissues
made up of a mixture of cells, which represent as many
as six separate embryos.
Although Chimeras are essential for studying embryonic
development, research has largely been restricted to
mice. Initial efforts by the scientists to produce living
monkey chimeras by introducing cultured embryonic
stem cells into monkey embryos failed.
Scientists Produced Artificial
Human Semen to help Infertile Men
Scientists claimed to find a way to produce artificial
human semen that could help infertile men father their
own children. The scientists for the first time grew mouse
sperm in a laboratory. For this, they used few germ cells
in a laboratory dish. These cells produce semen in
testicles.
In fact, the scientists grew the sperm by enveloping the
germ cells in a special compound called agar jelly to
create a similar environment to that found in testicles.
The sperm produced thus were healthy and not
genetically damaged. The findings of the scientists are
published in the latest edition of the Asian Journal of
Andrology.
Scientists found Cells that can help
prevent Spread of Cancer
A team of scientists in the second week of January 2012
identified a group of cancer cells that play a main role in
preventing the development of the disease. This
scientific finding could lead to re-evaluation of common
cancer treatment for patients.
It pointed out that anti-angiogenic therapies that target
those tumour cells- called pericytes- inadvertently make
tumours more aggressive. The study was published in
the journal Cancer Cell. It underscores the need of more
research on tumour-cell composition to bring out more
effective therapies.
For the study, the team of scientists created genetically
modified mice to support drug-induced depletion of
pericytes in growing tumours. They then deleted
pericytes in their cancer tumours, decreasing pericyte
numbers by 60 percent.
Scientists claimed that Alcohol can
be used to treat Tremors
Scientists at the US National Institutes of Health claimed
that alcohol could be used to treat tremors, a brain
disorder that triggers exaggerated shaking and occurs
during movement. The octanol (a form of alcohol and a
colourless ingredient in perfume) can help treat tremor.
The tremor can affect people of all ages.
For their experiment, the scientists gave patients a single
dose of one milligramme of octanol for each kilogramme
of their weight, and found it significantly decreased
tremor for up to 90 minutes. In their second experiment,
people who had octanol had fewer symptoms of tremor
after five hours than those were given a placebo.
Doomed Mars Probe Lands in
Pacific Ocean
Russia’s Defence Ministry said a failed probe designed
to travel to a moon of Mars has crashed, showering
debris over the southern Pacific.
The Ministry said the fragments fell 1,250 kilometres
west of Wellington Island.
The Phobos-Grunt was one of the heaviest and most
toxic space junk ever to crash to Earth, but the risks
posed by its crash were minimal as the probe’s toxic
rocket fuel and most of the craft’s structure were to burn
up in the atmosphere anyway.
The $170-million Phobos-Grunt was Russia’s most
expensive and the most ambitious space mission since
Soviet times. The spacecraft was intended to land on
Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons, collect soil samples
and fly them back to Earth.
Genetically Modified Silkworms
can Spin Stronger Silk than Spiders
Scientists in America claimed to have genetically
modified silkworms to spin the much stronger silk that
spiders produce. Their work could lead to new material
for medicine and engineering. Their eventual aim is to
produce silk from worms that has the toughness of
spider silk. In weight-for-weight terms, spider silk is
stronger than steel. The scientists have been trying to
reproduce such silk for decades.
Australia detected Deadly Disease
Murray Valley Encephalitis
Health authorities in Australia are bracing against a
possible outbreak of a potentially deadly disease, Murray
Valley Encephalitis. The virus is transmitted by
mosquitoes and was recently found in chicken in
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales.
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain, usually
caused by a viral infection. Although rare, it is potentially
life-threatening, and may lead to permanent brain damage
or death. Symptoms may include a high fever and
headache, accompanied by a stiff neck, vomiting, light
sensitivity, and convulsions. It can also infect humans.
China Launched Asia’s Largest
Helicopter
China’s largest-ever civil helicopter got certification from
the civil aviation administration, the country’s civil
aviation authority said. The move marks the official
approval for the 13-tonne AC313, Asia’s largest
helicopter, to enter the market, said the Aviation Industry
Corp of China (AVIC), which developed and
manufactured the helicopter.
The aircraft focuses on designs of maintainability, life
reliability, indemnification and life cycle efficiency, and
meets international safety standards, underlining China’s
abilities in the research and development (R&D) of large
helicopters.
AC313 is also world’s first civil helicopter to receive an
A-category airworthiness certificate at an altitude of
4,500 meters. The aircraft can be deployed for emergency
rescue operations, forest fire prevention, transport,
offshore operations, medical aid, sightseeing and
business trips.
NASA Uncovers Moon’s Darker Side
New maps produced by the Lyman Alpha Mapping
Project (LAMP) aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter have revealed features of the Moon’s northern
and southern poles in regions that lie in perpetual
darkness. LAMP, developed by the Southwest Research
Institute (SwRI), uses a novel method to peer into these
so-called permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), making
visible the invisible.
Symptoms of Tremor
Tremor occurs during movement, but not at rest. It affects
The computer, dubbed Xiuhcoatl (“serpent of fire”), will not only the arms and hands but also the head, face and
allow the processing of information to solve problem in feet. In at least half of cases there is a family history as The LAMP maps show that many PSRs are darker at
health care, climate change and security, among many well. Other causes of similar tremor symptoms include far-ultraviolet wavelengths and redder than nearby
others. Using the computer a pharmaceutical firm can an over-active thyroid, anti-epileptic medication and surface areas that receive sunlight. They show many
undertake simulations of new medications, aerospace drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders. In fact, tremor permanently shadowed regions (PSRs), are darker at
simulations can be carried out and scientists can work is caused by spontaneous activity in nerve cells in the far-ultraviolet wavelengths (top) and redder than
with new proteins.
areas of the brain that control movement. One theory is nearby surface areas that receive sunlight (bottom).
that alcohol may help dampen this activity. It is known The darker PSR regions are consistent with having
The supercomputer, the largest in the region after a that alcohol has some effect on this kind of movement large surface porosities, indicating “fluffy” soils,
machine in Brazil, required an investment of some 18 because as well as reducing tremor. It can also cause it if while the reddening is consistent with the presence
million pesos ($1.3 million).
drunk excessively.
of water frost on the surface.
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MARCH 2012
CCS Clears 950 Million Euro Deal
for Missiles for Mirage 2000
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) on 4 th January
2012 cleared a 950 million euro deal to procure 490 air-toair
missiles from a French firm for IAF’s Mirage 2000
aircraft.
The missiles would be deployed on the 51 Mirage 2000
aircraft, which are already undergoing upgrades at
French facilities under a Euro 1.47 billion deal signed
earlier this year. Under the deal, MBDA will have to do
offsets worth 30 per cent of the deal meaning that they
will have to invest 315 million Euros back in the Indian
defence sector.
The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) mandates
that foreign vendors bagging deals worth over Rs 300
crore have to invest back at least 30 per cent of the
contract’s worth into Indian defence, civil aerospace and
homeland security sector.
India signed a deal with French companies Thales and
Dassault Aviation, which will take ten years to carry out
mid-life upgrade of IAF’s 51 Mirage-2000 fighters. Two
aircraft have already been flown to France for upgrades
and the remaining would be modernised in India at
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facilities in India.
The cost of the contract for upgrade of the Mirage 2000
with Thales is Euro 1,470 million while the cost of the
contract with HAL is Rs 2,020 crores(around 340 million)
Euro. The upgrade of the aircraft is expected to be
completed by mid 2021,” Defence Minister A K Antony
recently said.
French Company Dassault
Aviation’s Rafale has won the $10.4
bn MMRCA Deal
French major Dassault Rafale on 31 January 2012
bagged India’s biggest-ever multi-billion dollar deal for
procuring 126 combat aircraft for the air force.
In the tender, the French firm was declared as the lowest
bidder, who according to the Indian defence procurement
procedure is offered the deal.
The French firm Dassault Rafale has emerged as the L1
(lowest bidder) and cheaper than its European rival
EADS in the tender and will be offered to supply the
aircraft to the IAF.
According to the Request for Proposal (RFP), the winner
of the contract will have to supply 18 of the 126 aircraft
to the IAF in 36 months from its facilities and the
remaining would be produced at HAL facilities in
Bangalore.
Six companies including American F-16 and F-18,
Russian MiG 35, Sedish Saab Gripen along with
Eurofighter and Dassault Rafale were in the race in the
beginning. But in April last year, the Defence Ministry
evicted the American, Russian and Swede offerings and
shortlisted Dassault and Eurofighter for the final phase.
India and Eu Initiate Joint Military
Operations in the Indian Ocean
India and the European Union have decided to combat
piracy together and has launched joint military
operations in the Indian Ocean region. The imminent
threat of piracy in the Indian Ocean region and the recent
spate of attacks in the region has necessitated joint
military operations by India and the EU. To begin with,
EU has deployed four warships and supporting military
ships of EU member-countries. The Indian Navy and its
ships are also in the loop to create better interoperability
in the region.
The EU has indicated that a serious strategy is being
laid out for the Indian Ocean region and anti-piracy
operations are in full swing. The EU bloc has established
a very significant collaboration with India and its navy
and coast guard since December 2011 to avert piracy in
the Indian Ocean. Both India and the EU are developing
a concrete mechanism against counter-terrorism, cyber
security and counter-piracy and create means to share
terrorism-related intelligence.
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DEFENCE COVERAGE
India to Conduct About 20 War
Exercises This Year with Top
Nations and Neighbors
India is all set to enhance its military ties with top nations
and neighbors as it plans to hold around 20 bilateral
wargames in 2012. These multi-national military-tomilitary
exercises are aimed at sharpening the skills of
the troops for operational preparedness and increasing
interoperability. The wargames will involve top nations
such as US, Russia, France and Britain besides the
neighboring Indian countries.
Most of these wargames will focus on anti-insurgency
and anti-terrorism operations since India has
considerable experience in these areas. Besides, the
diverse terrain of India and its highly experienced armed
forces have always inspired other nations to indulge in
such wargames.
Indian Navy Takes Over Russian
Nerpa Submarine
India added teeth to its submarine fleet and became the
world’s sixth operator of a nuclear-powered submarine
when Russia’s K-152 Nerpa nuclear-powered attack
submarine was handed over to the Indian Navy in the
far Eastern Primorye territory of the Russian Federation
on January 23, 2012.
The submarine, with NATO codename Akula-II, will be
on a 10-year lease with Indian Navy till 2022 under a
contract that was signed between the two countries
worth over $900 millio.
The Project 971 Shchuka-B class vessel will be renamed
INS Chakra once it reaches the Indian shores — with
home base as Visakhapatnam — in February and a formal
commissioning ceremony will be conducted in March
this year.
Russian submariners had trained the Indian Navy
submariners for over a month in the Pacific Ocean on
how to steer the Nerpa.
Sino-Indian Military Ties Improve
as a Crucial Pact on the Border
Issue Gets Signed
With the objective of maintaining all-round cooperation
and strategic trust, India and China seem to be heading
for an amicable solution to the highly contentious border
issue. Both nations have signed a pact to establish a
“Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination
on India-China Border Affairs” which aims to resolve
border disputes and strengthen military cooperation. The
agreement was finalized in New Delhi recently, signed
by India’s ambassador to China Mr.S.Jaishankar and
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.
The working mechanism will create ways to strengthen
exchanges and cooperation between military personnel
and establishments of the two sides in the border areas.
Issues pertaining to the border and working towards a
congenial atmosphere between the nations will become
a priority as powerful and responsible countries in the
continent.
Italian Firm Selex Sistemi to
Provide Naval Radars
Selex Sistemi Integrati, part of the Italian major
Finmeccanica company, has inked a contract with stateowned
Cochin Shipyard Limited for the delivery of naval
radar for India’s indigenous aircraft carrier. As per the
contract, the Italian firm Selex will deliver the air
surveillance naval radar RAN 40L and IFF radar for the
40,0000 tonne warship INS Vikrant.
The Italian firm Selex Sistemi’s radar called RAN-40L is a
3D long range early warning radar with fully solid state
active phased array antenna which is capable of
detecting an aircraft up to 400 kilometers. The design of
the RAN-40L radar has been proven on the land based
3D RAT-31DL by the firm. The 3D RAT-31DL is the
famous long range surveillance radar provided
worldwide to the NATO Countries.
India may do $2 Billion Aerospace
& Defence Exports in 2011-12
India is expected to do $2 billion worth of aerospace and
defence exports the 2011-12 fiscal that ends on March
31, industry body The Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has said.
In a study, ASSOCHAM said with about 18 percent
growth in the first three quarters of 2011-12, aircraft
exports, including components, stood at about $1.31
billion against $1.11 billion in the corresponding period
of 2010-11.
India and Myanmar Enhance
Military Ties
India and Myanmar have joined hands to chalk out ways
to enhance military ties as well as sort out the crucial
border issue to stop insurgencies. Myanmar’s foreign
minister Maung Lwin visited his Indian counterpart S.M.
Krishna and discussed ways to combat insurgencies
and have a clear perspective on the border issue. India
has suggested various steps including the setting up of
a committee under a three-star officer with Myanmar to
address the border issue.
The Indian side has indicated to Myanmar that the
committee which it proposes will have representatives
from the central armed police forces and the Ministry of
Home Affairs. India feels that this will enable coordination
between the Indian and Myanmar military in case of
militant trespassing. Besides, India has also offered road
construction equipment to Myanmar for improving
connectivity in bordering areas and across the border.
Meanwhile, defence ties between the two nations will
also be enhanced as India has also proposed to provide
bailey bridges to the Myanmar Army for improving
connectivity in hilly and jungle terrain. India has also
offered to increase the number of vacancies reserved
for Myanmar’s troops in the National Defence Academy
(NDA) at Khadakvasla in Pune. The current interaction
between Myanmar and India is limited to the Indo-
Myanmar Border Level Meetings held at battalion level
where the Commanding Officers meet in every three
months.
In November last year, Indian security forces were
looking at increasing military ties with Myanmar and
even possible joint operations to flush out separatist
guerrillas and the rising insurgencies. The significant
military interactions has paved the way for a greater
increase in arms sales and helped defence ties. In fact,
India has also offered to supply them critical defence
equipment so that defense cooperation is expanded.
Currently, Myanmar’s military-backed government,
which took office in March 2011, has relaxed its rules
and restrictions pertaining to political activity and
released political prisoners. The Opposition leader Aunt
San Sue Kyiv, who had been under house-arrest for over
15 years, is now a candidate in parliamentary elections.
Lakshya-II Pilotless Aircraft
Demonstrates Full Capability In
Flight-Test
The indigenously built advanced version of the
‘Lakshya’ Pilotless Target Aircraft has successfully
demonstrated its full capability at a DRDO test
conducted near Balasore in Orissa. The advanced
version of the pilotless aircraft called ‘Lakshya-II’ flew
at sea gliding at a height of 15 metres. During the flight
duration of over half an hour, ‘Lakshya-II’ managed to
dive down from an altitude of around 800 metres to just
12 metres whilst maintaining the required altitude for
the specified time followed by auto climb-out.
The Lakshya-II pilotless aircraft has been designed and
developed by the DRDO’s premier lab, the Bangalorebased
Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE)
which specializes in UAVs and flight control systems.
This was the 10th flight of Lakshya-II PTA and this was
the first time that the ultimate capability of the Lakshya-
II has been proven in accordance with the user’s
objectives. The entire flight was pre-programmed and
has been a complete success.
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SPORTS COVERAGE
LAWN TENNIS CRICKET FOOTBALL
100th Edition of the Australian
Open at Melbourne
The 2012 Australian Open tennis tournament was played
in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia from 16
January to 29 January 2012. 2012 marked the 100th edition
of The Australian Open which is the first Grand Slam
event of the year. The tournament consisted of events
for professional players in singles, doubles and mixed
doubles play. The host broadcaster of the event was
the Seven Network.
Australian Open Men’s Final Winner:
The 2012 men’s final went past the 2008 Wimbledon final
time record, finishing after 5 hours and 53 minutes of
play. It was the longest match in the history of the
Australian Open, and in fact, the longest ever singles
final in the Open Era in Grand Slam history.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic was the defending champion
in the Auatralian Open and won in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–
2, 6–7(5–7), 7–5 against Rafael Nadal of Spain. He thus
started the 2012 season as reigning World No. 1 for the
first time of his career. It marked the 5th grand slam of
his career and his 3rd Australian Open. It also marked
the first time that he had defended a grand slam title.
Australian Open Women’s Final Winner:
Belarusian Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova
of Russia to win first Grand Slam title. She over took
Caroline Wozniacki as the number one ranked player on
the WTA Tour. She became the latest World No. 1 by the
Women’s Tennis Association from 30 January 2012. It
was Azarenka’s 2nd title of the year and 10th of her
career.
Australian Open Men’s Doubles Winners: Leander
Paes (India) and Radek Štìpánek (Czech Republic)
Paes won his first mens doubles title at the Australian
Open and in the process completed a long-awaited career
Grand Slam in the doubles. Following is the list of
Leander Paes Grand Slam mens doubles triumphs:
1999 French Open (with Mahesh Bhupathi)
1999 Wimbledon (with Bhupathi)
2001 French Open (with Bhupathi)
2006 US Open (with Martin Damm)
2009 French Open (with Lukas Dlouhy)
2009 US Open (with Dlouhy)
Paes also won a total of 6 Mixed Doubles titles – 3
Wimbledon – 2 Australian Open – 1 US Open
Australian Open Women’s Doubles Winners: Svetlana
Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva (both from Russia)
Australian Open Mixed Doubles Winners: Bethanie
Mattek-Sands (USA) and Horia Tecãu (Romania)
Canadian Milos Raonic won the
ATP Chennai Open by defeating
Janko Tipsarevic
Canadian Milos Raonic won the ATP Chennai Open by
defeating world number nine Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 7-6 7-
6 in the final on 8 January 2012. Milos Raonic was named
the best newcomer in 2011 after he rose from 156 to 31 in
the rankings.
Raonic slammed 35 aces on the way to his second career
title in a rousing clash that lasted three hours and 13
minutes. The victory fetched Raonic his second tour
title on three final appearances after the triumph in San
Jose. The singles final match also turned out to be the
longest final in the history of the Chennai Open.
DOUBLES CATEGORY
Leander Paes lifted the Chennai Open doubles title on 8
January 2012. Paes partnered with Janko Tipsarevic to
defeat Israeli pair of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-4,
6-4 to claim his sixth trophy in the Nungabakkkam
Stadium.
Rajasthan Defeated Tamil Nadu to
win the 78th Ranji Trophy
Rajasthan coached by R R Jadeja won its second
consecutive Ranji Trophy title by defeating Tamil
Nadu at the MA Chidambaram stadium, Tamil Nadu
on 23 January 2012. Rajasthan won the 78th Ranji
Trophy on the basis of its mammoth 326-run lead in
the first innings. Rajasthan declared its second
innings at 204 for five at tea on the fifth day. V A
Saxena of Rajasthan was judged Man of the Match in
the 78th Ranji Trophy final.
Robin Bist of Rajasthan notched up 92 (185b, 13x4)
becoming the only batsman in the Ranji season to cross
1000 runs. The short right-hander became the first man
in three seasons to breach the 1000-run barrier in a Ranji
season, joining an elite club that now has 12 members.
Bist became the first Rajasthan batsman to aggregate
1,000 runs in a Ranji season. The previous was Hanumant
Singh’s 869 runs in 1966-67.
The Rajasthan Cricket Association announced a cash
award of Rs 1.31 crore for its triumphant State team. The
BCCI also announced a cash prize of Rs 2 crore for the
team.
Cricketers who scored 1000-plus runs in a Ranji season:
1415 – VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), 1999-2000
1280 - Vijay Bharadwaj (Karnataka), 1998-99
1260 - Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai), 2008-09
1089 – Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai), 2008-09
1075 - Sridharan Sriram (Tamil Nadu), 1999-00
1066 – Dheeraj Jadhav (Maharashtra), 2003-04
1037 – Jacob Martin (Baroda), 1998-99
1034 - Raman Lamba (Delhi), 1996-97
1034 – Robin Bist (Rajasthan), 2011-12
1033 – Ajay Sharma (Delhi), 1996-97
1018 - WV Raman (Tamil Nadu), 1988-89
1008 - Rusi Modi (Bombay), 1944-45
Australian Batsman Ricky Ponting
was Honoured with Austrlia’s
Highest Civil Honour
Senior Australian batsman Ricky Ponting was honoured
with Austrlia’s highest civil honour along with a host of
sportspersons of international repute. The former
skipper was appointed an officer (AO) in the general
division of the Order of Australia for distinguished
service to the sport of cricket as a leading player, and to
the community through the establishment of the Ponting
Foundation. In 2008, Ponting and his wife Rianna formed
the Ponting Foundation to help cancer patients.
Rugby players Stirling Mortlock and George Smith,
teenage sailor Jessica Watson and bowls great Steve
Glasson were also appointed Officers of the Order of
Australia for their services to the sport.
AWARD
Award to be Instituted in Memory
of G.V. Raja, Founder-president of
Kerala Sports Council
According to the draft sports policy of the Kerala
Government released on 11 January 2012, a special lifetime
achievement award, in memory of G.V. Raja, the
founder-president of the Kerala State Sports Council is
to be instituted. The award is to be instituted to recognise
contributions towards the overall development of sport
in the State.
The current prize-money of Rs. 1 lakh given to winner
the G.V. Raja award, the highest sporting honour of the
State is to be enhanced. The scope of the cash awards
now in vogue and given to medal winners of identified
competitions at the National level would also be
reviewed. A provision for disbursement of pocket money
on need basis to sportspersons attending National
camps from the State would be examined.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi voted
World’s Outstanding Footballer for
Third Consecutive Year
Argentina’s Lionel Messi was awarded the 2011 FIFA
Ballon d’Or on 9 january 2012 in Zurich. He won the
award for the third consecutive year for the world’s
outstanding footballer. Messi who plays for club
Barcelona won 47.88 per cent votes and finished ahead
of Cristiano Ronaldo (21.6)%) and Xavi (9.23%).
Messi becomes only the second player, after current
UEFA president Michel Platini, to win the award for three
consecutive years. He joined Platini, Johan Cruyff and
Marco van Basten as the only men to have won the
prize thrice.
Japanese midfielder Homare Sawa claimed the 2011 FIFA
Ballon d’Or in the women’s category. Japan’s women’s
team, known as the Nadeshiko had memorably claimed
their maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup with a thrilling
performance by defeating the USA on penalties after
extra time. Barcelona’s coach Pep Guardiola was named
FIFA Coach of the Year. Pep Guardiola was former
midfielder of Spain
The winners in other categories are as follows: Coach
of the Year (women): Norio Sasaki (Jpn); FIFA Puskas
Award: Neymar (Bra); FIFA Presidential Award: Sir Alex
Ferguson (Sco); FIFPro XI: Iker Casillas; Daniel Alves,
Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Nemanja Vidic; Andres
Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Xavi; Lionel Messi, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney.
TABLE TENNIS
Amalraj won Maiden National Title
TT Championships
A Amalraj won his maiden national title by defeating A
Sharath Kamal in the final of the 73rd Senior National
and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships in Lucknow
on 29 January 2012. After the two traded blistering shots,
Amalraj inched ahead from 7-all to lead 10-8.
It was a title double for Amalraj, as had won the men’s
doubles along with Sanil Shetty, defeating Harmit Desai
and Devesh Karia of Gujarat (3-2) 12-10, 8-11, 10-11, 11-
6, 12-10 in the final.
The victory was however marred by controversy. After
defeating the six-time national champion Achanta
Sharath Kamal, Amalraj in a fit of excitement leapt on to
the table and hurled his bat before pumping his fists.
His over the top celebration of his victory drew a yellow
and then a red card. Competition manager N Ganeshan
recommended to the Table Tennis Federation of India
(TTFI) deduction of 25 per cent of his prize money purse
of Rs 2.1 lakh as punishment.
In the women’s category Poulami Ghatak exacted
revenge of her 2011 loss in the final to K Shamini. Poulomi
defeated Shamini in four straight games for her seventh
national crown. Poulami exploited Shamini’s unforced
errors to the hilt to triumph 4-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7).
VOLLEYBALL
Kerala Men Emerged Winners at
the the 60th Senior National
Volleyball Championship in Raipur
Kerala men defeated Uttarakhand 25-22, 25-22, 25-13 to
win the National title for the fourth time, in the 60th
senior National volleyball championship, at the Balbir
Juneja Indoor Stadium, Raipur on 11 January 2012.
Kerala had last won its men’s title by beating Tamil Nadu
in 2001 in Raipur. It repeated the feat a decade later after
72-minute final.
Uttarakhand had first won the title in 2002. In 2012, lack
of bench strength and ageing players led to
Uttarakhand’s defeat. Serices ranked third ahter
defeating Tamil Nadu.
A State Sports Development Fund is to be set up to
assist sportspersons nearing international medal Tom Joseph was judged the Man of the Tournament
Paes had won the Chennai Open doubles title in 2011 winning standards by way of training abroad, while Terin Antony emerged Woman of the tournament.
with his now-estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi. engagement of dedicated specialised coaches and
other requirements. The Fund would also be utilised The Railway women extended their hegemony by
Paes-Tipsarevic split the winners’ prize-money of $21800 in the running of specialised training centers, winning the 27th title by defeating Kerala 25-12, 25-14,
besides earning 125 ATP points while Erlich-Ram took academies, Centres for Excellence, the establishment 25-16in a one-sided final in the women’s category. West
home $11480 and 75 points.
of the proposed State Institute of Sports and identified Bengal defeated Andhra Pradesh 25-23, 25-13, 25-18 to
infrastructure projects.
finish third in the women’s category.
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MARCH 2012
RAJASHTHAN
Rajasthan Government Decided to
Constitute Jaisalmer Fort
Development Authority
Rajasthan government decided to form Jaisalmer Fort
Development Authority to resolve the vexed and interconnected
problems relating to constructions and
encroachments within the Jaisalmer Fort. The authority
will be entrusted the responsibility of ensuring proper
coordination among various agencies of Central and
State Governments working in the Fort. Similar in concept
as the Amer Fort Development Authority, the Authority
will be chaired by Collector, Jaisalmer and will be fully
empowered to take suitable action against any violations
of prevailing rules and regulations. P.V. Deb, Additional
Chief Secretary, Urban Development and Municipal
Administration was entrusted the task of ensuring the
constitution of the Authority in the next 2-3 weeks. It
was decided that the Authority will also be notified as
the competent authority for grant of permissions for
repair and renovations etc., under the Central Act.
Located on a hill-top, the Jaisalmer Fort not only attracts
a large number of visitors from India and abroad but is
also a living Fort extensively inhabited by the local
people. Recently, a part of pitching wall had collapsed
owing to fragile nature of the rock on which the Fort
stands and adverse impact caused by seepage of water.
5-MW Solar Energy Plant at Phlodi
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on 11 January
2012 inaugurated a 5-MW solar energy plant by
SunEdison. SunEdiso is the leading solar energy services
provider, at Phalodi in Jodhpur district. The plant was
set up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission (JNNSM).
The 5-MW solar energy plant is situated over a sprawling
44 acres in the Thar desert. It will use thin-film PV
technology to generate 8000000 KWh of electricity in
its first year of operation. It is expected to offset carbon
emissions up to 3000 metric tonnes every year.
Connected to the national grid on 31 December 2011,
the plant is expected to supply electricity to NTPC Vidyut
Vyapar Nigam (NVVN), the nodal agency for augmenting
purchase and sale of power generated from solar energy
under the JNNSM mission. SunEdison also has put in
place a 33 KV transmission line from the project site to
the station situated at Bap.
Rajasthan Cabinet Approved the
Proposal to develop Rajiv Gandhi
Biosphere Reserve
The Rajasthan state cabinet on 4 January 2012 approved
the proposal to develop the Rajiv Gandhi Biosphere
Reserve. The biosphere reserve will link a dozen wildlife
sanctuaries and the prestigious Ranthambhiore National
Park. This will help in facilitating movement of tigers
and other wild animals. Moreover, it will also safeguard
any species from becoming genetic pools. The biosphere
is expected to have a budget of 300 crore rupees.
JAMMU & KASHMIR
Govt Sanctioned Seven More
Tourism Projects in J&K
The Union government of India on 6 January 2012
sanctioned seven more tourism projects worth 36.22
crore rupees to Jammu and Kashmir for up gradation of
tourist infrastructure in the state. These projects were
sanctioned for upgrading tourist infrastructure at
potential spots like Jammu, Akhnoor, Reasi Sonamarg,
Srinagar, Leh and Zanskar. The Indian government
released the first installment of 8.04 crore rupees for
taking up these projects.
Govt Approved Katra-Quazigund
Railway Line Project
The Union government of India approved an additional
fund of 19 thousand crore rupees for completion of Katra
- Quazigund Railway line project in Jammu and Kashmir.
The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on
Infrastructure in New Delhi on 4 January 2012. The railway
line is to be completed by 2017. The rail line from
Udhampur to Katra is in the final stage of completion.
The rail line from Jammu to Udhampur and Khazigund to
Baramulla are already in operation.
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STATES COVERAGE
MAHARASHTRA
ADB Approved Loan to Boost
Investment in Maharashtra
ADB (Asian Development Bank) on 18 January 2012
signed an agreement with Union government of India to
give a loan of 24.3 million US dollars to boost investment
in Maharashtra Agribusiness Infrastructure. The
agreement was signed for the second tranche (24.3
million US dollars) under the 170 million US dollars
Agribusiness Infrastructure Development Investment
Programme which is a multi-tranche financing facility.
The loan is to continue modernization efforts in
Maharashtra state’s horticultural industries and will
expand agricultural value chains and better integrate
small-scale farmers into value chains in Nashik and
Aurangabad-Amravati regions.
The programme will build physical and institutional links
along horticulture integrated value chains (IVCs), which
include farmers, processors, agribusiness entrepreneurs,
and service providers, a central goal of the Indian
government. This will help farmers, traders and other
value chain stakeholders to improve their products and
processes, become competitive and adapt to changes in
end markets.
MADHYA PRADESH
MP Cabinet Sanctioned
Construction of Health Centres
In Madhya Pradesh, the state Cabinet sanctioned
construction of buildings of 650 sub-health centres
using pre-fabricated technique. The buildings are
erected at a rapid pace by this technique.
Difficulties are faced in mobilizing building material like
cement, bricks, soil as well as skilled labourers for
construction of buildings of sub-health centers in
inaccessible and remote areas of the state. Keeping
these factors in the view the state government decided
to construct buildings of such sub-centers by prefabricated
technique. A sum of about one hundred ten
crore rupees will be spent on the construction of the
pre-fabricated buildings of 650 sub-health centers. Each
building will cost about seven lakh rupees.
MP Government Launched Panch
Parmeshwar Scheme
Madhya Pradesh government launched its Panch
Parmeshwar scheme on 9 January 2012. The objective
of the scheme is to further empower village Panchayats.
Under the scheme, funds for different schemes will be
provided to more than 23 thousand Panchayats in lump
sum. So far, funds under various schemes are being made
available to village Panchayats in piecemeal.
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Himachal Tourism Department
signed Pact with IRCTC for
Managing its Establishments
The Himachal Tourism Department on 16 January 2012
signed a pact with the Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corporation for managing its establishments in
the hill State as the department was unable to run its
restaurants and wayside eating joints.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by
Himachal Tourism and Civil Aviation Director Arun
Sharma and Chief Regional Manager of Railways Sohan
Singh.
The IRCTC would manage the restaurants at the
Himachal Tourisms Reception Centres in prime locations
in Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts. Except for a few
hotels and restaurants in the hill capital, majority of
establishments being run by the Himachal Tourism
Development Corporation are currently running in
losses. The tourism department of the state with the
consent of the Union Tourism Ministry plans to develop
about three dozen wayside amenities on various national
and State highways for the burgeoning tourism in the
State.
UTTAR PRADESH
CAG indicted UP Government of
Anomalies in Spending under
NRHM
The Controller and Auditor General, CAG indicted the
Uttar Pradesh Government of anomalies in spending
around 5000 crore rupees under the National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM). The CAG probing the NRHM scam,
submitted its report to the State Governor, saying it has
found anomalies under the scheme in about two dozen
districts of the state. The CAG report stated that the
state health department failed to give proper details of
spending of about 5000 crore rupees out of the 8657
crore rupees given to the state.
The entire amount was reportedly transferred through a
non-registered society. Contracts worth 1,170 crore
rupees were given against the open tendering process
and agreements flouted established norms.
ODISHA
The Odisha Government was
directed to Kill all the Birds to
Prevent Bird Flu
The Union Ministry of Animal Husbandry directed the
Odisha Government to kill all the birds in order to prevent
the spread of bird flu to other areas. In Odisha, all poultry
will be culled within a three kilometres radius of Keranga
in Khordha district following detection of bird flu. About
35000 birds including hens, chickens and ducks will be
killed in the process.
Meanwhile, the State Government also stopped supply
of eggs for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in primary schools
of Keranga and nearby areas and a ban was issued on
the sale of chicken.
TAMIL NADU
TN Govt decided to start Integrated
Urban Development Scheme
Tamil Nadu government on 15 January 2012 decided to
start an integrated Urban Development Scheme at a cost
of 6653 crore rupees with the objective of improving
basic infrastructure facilities in cities and urban areas in
the state.
Under this scheme, basic infrastructure like drinking
water, health, rain water drainage, solid waste
management, parking facilities, parks, solid waste
management and sewage water removal. In the first
phase, urban areas including corporations and
municipalities as well as town panchayats will be
improved at a cost of 757.28 crore rupees.
CHHATTTISGARH
The Ministry of Rural Development
Sanctioned 3 Road Projects in
Chhattisgarh
The Ministry of Rural Development sanctioned 3 road
projects using latest Polymer-based technologies, under
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in
Chhattisgarh. These roads will be constructed using the
latest soil stabilization techniques, which is an in-situ
method of stabilising the soil with Polymer in the liquid
form. The technology has been accredited by Indian
Road Congress and also laboratory tests have been
carried out at IIT, Kharagpur. The three projects costing
over seven crore rupees will be taken up in the districts
of Dantewada, Bijapur and Narainpur.
One of the main problems in the construction of roads
in remote forested areas is the non-availability of stone
aggregate and it was observed during the recent visit of
Minister of Rural Development Shri Jairam Ramesh to
Narainpur that the aggregate required for the road
construction is brought from at least 100 kilometers away.
The stone crushing units and quarries are not available
in these areas as most of the land is under forest category
and therefore, de-reservation procedures have to be
followed to divert forest land. These problems have
delayed the road construction works in these areas, apart
from increasing the costs. Resultant lack of good
connectivity has wide implications for the overall
development activities and inclusive growth, particularly
in such Naxal-affected areas. Moreover, the new
technology besides reducing the time for construction
will also save valuable forest area from being diverted.
The wayside establishments would be given to NGOs,
Co-operatives and village Panchayats for management.
These joints would have railway booking counters and
touch screen kiosks along with tourist reception centers.
Himachal is one of the most preferred and visited tourist
State after Kerala and Rajasthan in the country.
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INDIA & WORLD COVERAGE
India Japan and China entered into
a Pact called SHADE
India, Japan and China entered into a pact to share data
to achieve the most efficient use of Naval Forces present
in the Indian Ocean Region. The initiative is known as
the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE). The
initiative began functioning from 1 January 2012. China,
India, and Japan also agreed to carry out more effective
coordination by establishing a convoy coordination
working group as part of the Shared Awareness and De
confliction Mechanism.
China, India, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi
Arabia, South Africa and Yemen deployed ships and
aircraft to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean region.
They were working as independent forces in absence of
shared information. Other issues included a lack of
convoy coordination by countries outside the SHADE
mechanism that led to inefficient use of ships and
aircrafts deployed for the purpose. This was improved
with expanded interaction through the SHADE
mechanism and improved information sharing.
India & Bangladesh to Set up
Thermal Power Plant
India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), on
29 January 2012 signed an agreement with Bangladesh
Power Development Board (BPDP) for setting up a joint
venture 1320 MW thermal power plant. The joint venture
coal-based power plant will comprise of two units of 660
MW each and will be set up at Rampal in Khulna
Division of Bangladesh. The project is the first joint
venture power plant in Bangladesh. The project will be
completed by 2016. The joint venture thermal power
plant is one of the projects, which is part of Bangladesh’s
efforts to diversify its energy production process.
India signed Five Agreements with
Trinidad and Tobago
Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Kamla Persad
Bissessar visited India from 5 January 2012 to 14 January
2012. India and Trinidad & Tobago on 6 January 2012
signed five agreements during her visit. The agreements
are as following:
1. Memorandum of Understanding between India
and Trinidad & Tobago on co-operation in the
field of traditional Systems medicine.
2. Air Services agreement between India and
Trinidad & Tobago.
3. Technical Cooperation Agreement (In the field
of Education) between India and Trinidad &
Tobago.
4. Programme of Cultural Exchanges between
India and Trinidad & Tobago for the years 2012-
14.
5. Memorandum of Understanding between
Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic
Sciences( CCRAS) Department of Ayush,
Ministry of Health& Family Welfare, the
government of India and the University of West
Indies, Trinidad and Tobago.
India and Trinidad & Tobago issued a joint statement on
this occasion. Highlights of this joint statement are as
following:
• Both nations agreed to diversify trade and
investments to prospective areas such as
conventional and renewable energy, SMEs,
ICT, Pharmaceuticals & Medical equipments
and consumables, Health, Wellness Tourism,
Ayurveda, Entertainment, Shipping among
others.
• The Indian side agreed to encourage the Indian
IT sector, both public and private, to collaborate
with Trinidad and Tobago in its endeavour to
develop an efficient IT industry.
• The Indian side appreciated the decision of the
Government of Trinidad & Tobago for
according visa waiver facility to Indian citizens
for a period of 90 days.
• The Trinidad and Tobago side reiterated its
support for India’s permanent membership in
an expanded UNSC.
• Both sides recognised that the historical and
cultural linkages between the two countries are
being further strengthened through the
Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Cultural
Cooperation in Port of Spain set up in 1996.
• Both sides strongly condemned terrorism in all
its forms and manifestations and agreed to
cooperate in the international communities’
joint endeavour in eliminating the menace of
international terrorism.
• The two sides recognised that Climate Change
is a global challenge with strong economic,
India and Mali signed Three
Agreements and issued a Joint
Statement
The President of Mali, Amadou Toumani Toure visited
India on 11-12 January 2012. India and Mali signed three
agreements during this visit. The agreements are as
following;
1. MoU on Co-operation in the field of Geology
and Mineral Resources between the Ministry
of Mines of the Government of India and
Ministry of Mines of the Government of the
Republic of Mali.
2. Joint statement by India and Mali on the
occasion of the visit of the President of Mali.
3. India also extended Line of Credit of 100 million
US dollars for a power transmission project.
Highlights of the Joint statement issued by India and
Mali are as following:
• Both sides called for an early convening of the
first meeting of the Joint Ministerial
Commission following the signing of the
Agreement on Political, Economic, Scientific,
Technical and Cultural Cooperation between
India and Mali in October 2009.
• The Indian side thanked Mali for its support to
India’s candidature for permanent membership
in an expanded United Nations Security
Council.
• On the situation in the Middle East, the two
sides condemned any forms of violence and
urged the protagonists to resume dialogue and
reiterated their support for the “Road Map” of
the Quartet.
• The two sides strongly condemned terrorism
in all its forms and manifestations and resolved
to increase cooperation in the common efforts
of the international community in preventing
this scourge in a comprehensive manner. Both
sides agreed to closely cooperate for an early
finalisation of a Comprehensive Convention on
International Terrorism, for which India had
presented a draft at the United Nations in 1996.
India and Pakistan agreed to
Transit Fee Formula for Tapi Gas
Pipeline Project
In New Delhi, India and Pakistan on 25 January 2012
agreed in New Delhi to transit fee formula for
Tapi(Tajikistan, Pakistan and India) gas pipeline project.
On the Transit Fee, India and Pakistan agreed that the
negotiations would be conducted in a transparent
manner keeping in mind the overall economics of the
Project, keeping in mind the landed cost of gas, and in
accordance with the relevant international practices.
Since there is a need to expedite the signing of the Gas
Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA), both sides agreed to
settle the Transit Fee issue at the earliest. Pakistan agreed
in-principle that whatever fee formula is eventually
settled between India and Afghanistan would also be
acceptable to Pakistan subject to approval of their
competent authority. The two Ministers also discussed
other issues of bilateral interest such as trade in
petroleum products. Jaipal Reddy offered export of
Petrol, Diesel, Aviation Turbine Fuel and Fuel Oil besides
Sulphur, Polyethylene and Polypropylene since Pakistan
is importing these products currently. It was pointed
out that the main advantage for Pakistan will be the
savings in freight cost since several refineries in India
are located close to the India-Pak border.
The Indian side offered to export refined petroleum and
petrochemical products by road, rail and by sea. It was
also mentioned that Indian refineries would be willing
to look at the feasibility of constructing product pipelines
to Pakistan provided long-term guarantees for product
offtake can be given by Pakistan. Both sides noted that
India-Pakistan Joint Working Group (JWG) on Petroleum
& Petrochemical Products has been constituted recently
to go into the specific details of facilitating trade in this
sector, including infrastructure up gradation and
augmentation in respect of railways, customs facilitation,
setting up of banking channels, etc. Both Ministers
agreed to advise their respective officials to hold the 1st
meeting of the JWG at the earliest.
India and WB signed an Agreement
to Improve Livelihoods in NE
The Government of India and the World Bank on 20
January 2012 signed an IDA credit of 130 million US
dollars to finance the project called NERLP (North East
Rural Livelihoods Project), to empower rural communities
in the growth-deficient North East (NE) region to
improve their livelihood opportunities. The North East
Rural Livelihoods Project (NERLP) will enhance the
livelihoods of the rural poor, especially women,
unemployed youth and the severely disadvantaged in
eight districts of the four participating states- Aizawl
and Lunglei in Mizoram; Peren and Tuensang in
Nagaland; South, West and 15 Panchayat wards of East
District in Sikkim; and West and North Districts in
Tripura.
The Project seeks to develop an institutional platform
for the communities, which will help them link up with
the private sector, public sector, and civil society and to
acquire the institutional, technical, and financial capacity
needed for improving their livelihoods. Global
development experience shows that absolute poverty
can be overcome by equipping a member of the
household (especially a youth) with employable skills.
A separate activity for skills development and job
placement has thus been included in the project to
ensure that such opportunities are available to the rural
poor. Some livelihood opportunities envisaged under
the Project include natural resource management
activities such as forest management, non-timber forest
produce storage and processing, horticulture,
preservation of riverine fishes, water harvesting and
recharging of ground/surface water in the villages;
community-based infrastructure activities like upgrading
of small agricultural link roads, micro hydro-power
schemes, wind-cum-solar mills, to name a few.
The Project comprises four main components (i) Social
Empowerment; (ii) Economic Empowerment; (iii)
Partnership Development and (iv) Project Management.
The first component seeks to help rural communities to
create sustainable institutions so that they can manage
common activities around microfinance, livelihoods and
natural resource management. The second component
will provide funds to the community institutions to
undertake various livelihood activities, as well as provide
self-entrepreneurship opportunities to unemployed
youth. To enable this, the Project with help develop
partnerships with various formal financial intermediaries
- such as microfinance institutions, commercial banks,
development financial institutions such as National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and
Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI),
and specialized funding agencies such as North East
Development Finance Institution (NEDFI) – and with
the private sector and civil society to allow rural
communities to access technical and marketing support.
The project management component facilitates the
implementation, coordination, monitoring and
evaluation, learning and quality enhancement efforts of
the project.
India Signed MoU on Tourism
with ASEAN
India signed MoU with ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) at Manado, Indonesia on 12
January 2012. The main objectives of the MoU are to:
• Cooperate in facilitating travel and tourist
visits.
• Further strengthen the tourism partnership.
• Enhance mutual assistance and human
resource development for tourism sector
• Take necessary steps for exploring avenues of
cooperation and sharing of information.
• Exchange information pertaining to statistics
and development strategies, investment
opportunities and economic data in tourism,
travel and hospitality sectors relevant to each
other.
• Jointly organize seminars, workshops and faceto-face
meetings wherever possible, with a view
to exploring and discussing new opportunities
and avenues for the development and
promotion of tourism and
• Any other area of activity aiming at tourism
cooperation.
Prime Minister of India had announced during the 9th
ASEAN Summit held at Bali on 19 November, 2011 that a
Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening
tourism cooperation between India and ASEAN would
be signed preferably at the Meeting of ASEAN-India
Tourism Minister in early 2012. Consequent to the
announcement made by the Prime Minister the MoU
has been signed between India and ASEAN on
strengthening tourism cooperation.
Apart from G2G efforts, both sides agreed on the need
to activate industry and business associations in the
petroleum sector for confidence building. Jaipal Reddy
informed Hussain that India’s oil companies would be
participating in the India Show at Lahore on 11-13
February, 2012 being organized by the Govt of India and
FICCI to showcase the strength of India’s petroleum
refining sector and what India’s oil companies can offer
environmental and social dimensions. to Pakistan.
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MARCH 2012
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INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE
The Military Rulers declared
Partial Lifting of Emergency in
Egypt
In Egypt, the military rulers declared partial lifting of
emergency in the country. The move comes into effect
from 25 January 2012- the first anniversary of the 25th
January revolution which saw the overthrowing of the
decades long Mubarak regime in the country a year ago.
The emergency laws gave sweeping powers to the police
to arrest and prosecute anyone on charges of Thuggery.
The opposition and the activists who led 25th January
uprisings in 2011 in Egypt have been campaigning for
the total removal of emergency laws and release of all
civilians in military jails.
The ruling military Council announced a series of
measures on the first anniversary celebrations of the
revolution. The 25th January is now a national holiday.
The Armed forces will hold celebrations from the 25th to
the 28th of January 2012 in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court issued a
Contempt of Court Notice to Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on 16 January 2012 issued a
contempt of court notice to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani for failing to re-open graft cases against President
Asif Ali Zardari. The Apex Court also asked the Pakistan
Prime Minister to appear before it on 19 January 2012.
The order was issued by a seven-judge bench led by
Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk, that began hearing the case related
to the apex court’s orders against Zardari and over 8000
others.
The bench directed Gilani to personally appear in court
to explain why contempt proceedings should not be
initiated against him for deliberately disregarding the
court’s orders. A Supreme Court-appointed panel is also
probing the memo case. The Supreme Court had issued
the order against the premier after the government’s top
law officer informed it that he had received no
instructions regarding the order to reopen the corruption
cases.
The Bangladesh Army foiled a
Planned Coup to topple the Govt
The Bangladesh army foiled a planned coup in December
2011 attempt to topple the government of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina. Some officers in military service were
involved in the conspiracy to topple the system of
democratic governance. Two former army officers were
arrested and a manhunt was launched for the fugitive
officer while some 16 others were kept under strict military
vigil.
Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971
and has a history of coups since then. The country’s
first President Sheikh Mujibur Rahmanwas assassinated
during a bloody coup in 1975. Bangaldesh was ruled by
the military dictator again from 1982 to 1990. Democracy
was restored in 1991.
India & Japan Agreed to Enhance
their Cooperation in the
Infrastructure Sector
India and Japan agreed to enhance their cooperation in
the infrastructure sector. The decision was taken at a
meeting between Road Transport and Highways
Minister CP Joshi and his Japnese counterpart Takeshi
Maeda in New Delhi on 12 January 2012.
The two countries are in the concluding phase of
finalising a Memorandum of Cooperation to exchange
technical knowledge and expertise in the Road
Transportation and Highways sector including capacity
building and advanced technology for road transport
management system as well as intelligent transport
system.
Syria Rejected New Arab League
Plan to end Crisis
Syria on 23 January 2012 rejected the Arab League plan
for President Bashar al-Assad to hand over the power
to the Vice President. The Arab League in its meeting on
22 January 2012 in Cairo came out with a plan under
which President Assad hands over the power to the
Vice President and a national unity government is formed
within two months.
It called upon the Syrian Government to start a dialogue
with the opposition in two weeks. The Unity Government
should elect a council in three months to write a
constitution. It should also prepare for parliamentary
and Presidential elections. The Arab League Foreign
Ministers also asked the U.N. Security Council to
support the plan to resolve the crisis in Syria. The
proposal was on the lines of the GCC mediated power
transfer deal in Yemen. Lebanon opposed the move while
Algeria objected to taking the plan to the Security
Council.
The Arab Foreign Ministers had earlier decided to extend
the term of Observer’s mission by another month. Their
numbers would be doubled and they would be trained
by UN experts. Saudi Arabia announced it will pull out
its observers since Syria has not delivered on its
promises.
Australia announced that it would
Scale Back Sanctions against
Myanmar
Australia on 9 January 2012 announced that it would
scale back sanctions against Myanmar. Australia took
this decision in recognition of steps taken by Myanmar’s
military regime towards democracy and greater regional
engagement. Myanmar’s military junta held elections in
2010 and transferred power to civilians. However,
Myanmar has failed to meet expectations on the release
of political prisoners. In Australia, there is a blanket arms
embargo to Myanmar.
Maldives lifted Ban on Spas in the
Upmarket Tourist Destination
Maldives on 4 January 2012 lifted ban on spas in the up
market tourist destination following its verification that
these spas were not being used for prostitution. Earlier,
it was alleged that these spas were the hub of
prostitution. Following this, the tourism ministry ordered
all massage centers to close.
The tourism industry is an important foreign exchange
earner and employer in the Maldives and the ban on
spas could harm the industry. Maldives in 2011 received
more than 850000 tourists.
The Israel-Palestine talks ended
without any Breakthrough
The Israel-Palestine talks ended in the first week of
January 2012 with the international mediators from
Quartet (the United Nations, the United States, the
European Union, and Russia) and Jordan ended without
any breakthrough in Amman, capital of Jordan. The talks
and the outcome were positive and the two sides agreed
to carry forward the discussions.
The Amman round of peace talks may not have yielded
a breakthrough, yet it has broken the ice between the
Israeli and Palestinian sides to discuss resumption of
the stalled peace talks. Israel charged the Palestinians
with raging propaganda campaigns and unilateral
diplomatic initiatives against it while Palestine asked
Israel to stop settlement construction and accept the
1967 borders.
Photography Pioneer Eastman
Kodak Company filed for Chapter
11 Bankruptcy Protection
Photography Pioneer Eastman Kodak Company filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 19 January 2012.
The 132-year-old trailblazer is likely to become the most
storied casualty of a digital age. Eastman Kodak
Company filed for bankruptcy protection to re-organise
its businesses in order to survive intense competition.
Kodak and its US subsidiaries has filed voluntary
petitions for Chapter 11 business reorganisation in the
US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New
York.
Kodak which has been in existence for over 130 years,
has many firsts to its credit, including the invention of
cameras as well as the use of its technology for taking
the initial photographs of the moon’s surface.
The firm had been struggling to keep afloat and had
exited certain traditional operations, closing 13
manufacturing plants and 130 processing labs and
reducing its workforce by 47000 since 2003.
The company has obtained a lifeline of USD 950 million
from Citigroup Inc and expects to emerge from the
restructuring in 2013 as a lean, profitable, digital imaging
and materials science company.
Kodak expects that business reorganisation would
bolster its liquidity in the US and abroad, monetise nonstrategic
intellectual property, fairly resolve legacy
liabilities as well as enable the company to focus on its
most valuable business lines.
It has made pioneering investments in digital and
materials deposition technologies in recent years,
generating about 75 per cent of its revenue from digital
businesses in 2011.
European Union agreed in Principle
to ban Import of Iranian Crude Oil
The member states of European Union (EU) on 4 January
2012, agreed in principle to ban import of Iranian crude
oil to put pressure on Iran for its nuclear programme.
However, the time-frame to implement this was not
decided. The United States, which recently imposed
fresh sanctions on Iran, has welcomed the news.
Meanwhile, Iran has dismissed the threat of new
sanctions and denies Western claims that it is trying to
develop a nuclear weapons programme.
Western powers accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear
weapons under the cover of a civilian energy programme.
The EU is one of Iran’s biggest markets for oil. This
generates most of the Iranian government’s revenue.
China is the top buyer of Iranian oil.The EU is a political
and economical union of 27 member states.
IAEA:Uranium Enrichment in Iran
reached to the Level of 20 Percent
The UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA on 12 January 2012
confirmed that Iran started enriching uranium to 20
percent. The production is taking place at Fordo, a
nuclear facility 160 kilometers south-west of Tehran. The
Uranium enrichment to the level of 20 percent means it
can be upgraded more quickly for use in nuclear
weapons than the Iran’s main enriched stockpile at
Natanz plant. The level is much higher than the 3.5
percent at Iran’s main enrichment plant in Natanz and
can be turned into fissile warhead material faster.
India announced a Substantial
Increase in Educational Assistance
to Sri Lanka
India signed TIEA with Guernsey
India and South Africa agreed to
India on 18 January 2012 announced a substantial
increase in educational assistance, being given to Sri
Speed up Talks to conclude BIPA Lanka. The funding amounting to 2.5 billion Srilankan
India signed TIEA (Tax Information Exchange
Rupees will mark a threefold increase in the scholarships
Agreement) with Guernsey in the third week of December India and South Africa on 8 January 2012 agreed to speed and self-financing slots for undergraduate, masters and
2011. This is the 13th bilateral TIEA for Guernsey with a up talks to conclude a bilateral investment promotion doctorate-level courses. The new initiative was
G20 nation. The TIEA will help Indian tax authorities get and protection agreement in view of the increased trade undertaken as part of New Delhi’s commitment under
information on tax evasion cases. The Island of Guernsey between the two countries. Both nations reviewed the India-Sri Lanka Knowledge Initiative launched by
is located in the English Channel, 70 miles from the South commercial and economic relations in Bloemfontein, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sri Lankan
coast of London. Guernsey is a British crown South Africa. India and South Africa expressed President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Two new scholarship
dependency. Its defence is the responsibility of the satisfaction on the continued growth in two-way programmes called the Maulana Azad and Rajiv Gandhi
United Kingdom, but Guernsey is not part of the UK. investments and trade.
Scholarship Scheme were added to the existing list.
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MARCH 2012 Get Previous Issues Free of Cost on Our Website: www.changetabloid.com
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
Ratnakar Baral Replaced Y
Joykumar Singh as Manipur State
Police Chief
Union Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee Launched the Signature
Tune of the Indian Customs
Shiva Temple Supposed to have
been built in the 5th Century A.D.
during the Gupta Period Discovered
The Election Commission on 5 January 2012 decided to
change the DGP of Manipur, Y Joykumar Singh after the
Commission reviewed election preparations in the state.
Singh was then appointed as the Managing Director of
Police Housing.
The Assembly polls in Manipur are scheduled for 28
January 2012.
Governor Gurbachan Singh Jagat following the Election
Commission’s (EC) directive replaced DGP Y Joykumar
Singh with Ratnakar Baral citing concerns that the top
cop was in a position where he could misuse his office
during elections. Baral is former ADGP (Intelligence)
Manipur. Qureshi claimed that the EC had received
intelligence inputs about Singh, who is believed to be
extremely close to Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi informed that
the People’s Democratic Front, an anti-Congress alliance
of five political parties and the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) had expressed concerns about Singh with the EC.
Qureshi also maintained that the transfer was necessary
to ensure free and fair elections.
National Capital’s Crime Graph
registered an Upward Trend for the
Third Consecutive Year
Delhi Police’s annual statistics on crime released in
January 2012 showed that with four per cent increase in
the number of criminal cases registered in 2011, the crime
graph registered an upward trend for the third
consecutive year. In 2010, the crime ratio was 313.06
cases per lakh population, which rose to 318.47 per lakh
in 2011.
For the third consecutive year, the National Capital’s
crime graph (mainly heinous and non-heinous crimes)
continued to be on the rise. Heinous crimes comprising
dacoity, murder, kidnapping for ransom and rape saw an
increase of 3.93 %. Non-heinous crimes such as theft,
abduction and molestation rose by 4.02%.
Smaller offences saw a dip. Snatching cases dropped
from 1671 in 2010 to just 1476 in 2011. Motor vehicle
thefts dropped from 14966 to 14668 cases. But rape cases
went up to 568 from 507 in 2010. Snatching incidents
came down by 11.67% in 2011. 1,592 snatchers were
arrested in 2010 and in 2011 the number went up to 1770.
The number of arrested auto lifters went up to 3988
against 3258 in 2010.
Delhi Police’s annual statistics on crime against women
stated that 2011 witnessed 568 cases of rape compared
to 507 in 2010, an increase of 12.03 %. 653 cases of
molestation were registered with the police last year
while in 2010 only 601 cases were reported. However,
cases of rape per lakh population have shown a steady
decline in Delhi, coming down from 4.42 per lakh in 2005
to 3.39 per lakh in 2011. The detection rate in rape cases
was high in 2011 at 98 per cent.
INITIATIVES TO CURB CRIME
Action was taken against 10800 police officers– ranging
from dismissal to seeking explanation on charges of
corruption and dereliction of duty. This was nearly a 10-
fold jump from 2010.
460 women constables were imparted commando
training with 25 being imparted advanced training by
the CRPF in 2011. The commissioner advocated a steep
hike in fines for traffic violations.
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 11 January
2012 launched the signature tune of the Indian Customs,
Pragati ki Dhadkan in New Delhi. The signature tune
composed by noted music director Adesh Srivastava
was launched to commemorate the Golden Jubilee
Celebrations of the Indian Customs Act, 1962.
Pragati Ki Dhadkan,a vibrant beat is evocative of this
dynamic force and symbolises the march of progress.
The signature tune is to be played alongside the tableau
of the Central Board of Excise and Customs during the
Republic Day Parade on Rajpath on 26 January 2012.
For the first time the Central Board of Excise & Customs,
on behalf of Ministry of Finance, will be participating in
the Republic Day Parade 2012 through a tableau- Indian
Customs - The Guardian of Our Economic Frontiers.
A tableau- Indian Customs - The Guardian of Our
Economic Frontiers showcases the myriad facets of
Indian Customs and its vigil at all frontiers.
Siddharth Varadarajan Succeeded
N. Ram as the Editor of The Hindu
N. Ram stepped down as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
of The Hindu , Business Line , Frontline , and Sportstar.
Siddharth Varadarajan succeeded Ram, with effect from
19 January 2012, as Editor of The Hindu responsible for
the selection of news under the Press and Registration
of Books (PRB) Act of 1867.
D. Sampathkumar, Editor, Business Line; R. Vijaya Sankar,
Editor, Frontline and Nirmal Shekar, Editor, Sportstar took
over with effect from 19 January 2012, as Editors
responsible for the selection of news under the Press
and Registration of Books (PRB) Act of 1867 in these
Group publications.
K. Balaji, Managing Director of Kasturi & Sons Ltd., the
public limited company that brings out The Hindu group
of publications succeeded Mr. Ram as Publisher of all
our publications.
President Pratibha Patil
inaugurated the New Mission
Control Centre at SHAR
President Pratibha Patil visited the Satish Dhawan Space
Centre (SDSC SHAR) at Sriharikota on 2 January 2012
and inaugurated the new Mission Control Centre.
Following the inauguration, she witnessed a simulation
of the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
at the Mission Control Centre.
The new centre has been developed with state-of-theart
facilities to meet the requirements for the launch of
the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III
and future missions of the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO).
The Mission Control Centre, situated six km away from
the launch complex, will monitor and conduct launch
operations during the pre countdown and countdown
phases until the injection of the satellite into orbit. The
launch preparations on the vehicle will be monitored
using a multichannel closed circuit television system.
The President on this occasion also presented ISRO
awards for the year 2008 and 2009. The lifetime
achievement award for contribution to the Indian space
programme was conferred on former ISRO chairman K
Kasturirangan.
Indians Constituted about 20 per cent of the Tourists to Sri Lanka in 2011
Amateur archaeologist discovered the remains of a Shiva
temple supposed to have been built in the 5th Century
A.D. during the Gupta period in dense forests 35 km
away from Bundi district town in Rajasthan. The temple
has a Shivalingam with the face of Lord Shiva engraved
on it. The temple is believed to belong to the era when
the concept of installing statues of deities in temples
was introduced.
DESCRIPTION
The five-foot long and two-foot thick Shivalingam is
reportedly the third of its kind from the Gupta era found
in India so far. Similar statues were earlier discovered at
Udaigiri in Vidisha and Bhumra in Satna district of
neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. The Shivalingam is built
of white sandstone, has embellishments like earrings
and ornaments with Lord Shiva’s face. The sanctum
where it was installed is encircled with hundreds of
undamaged and broken bricks. In the local parlance, this
statue is called Mukhling. There are traces of a covered
processional path in the temple for circumambulation,
which formed part of the worship ritual. A methodical
study of the Bhimtal temple could provide important
clues to various dimensions of early Hindu architecture
in ancient India. The temple, found near Bhimtal village
include the remnants of a square sanctum and pillared
porch. Built with bricks, the temple makes a significant
addition to the handful of sites in the country where the
remains of places of worship from the Gupta era have
been unearthed.
SIGNIFICANCE O F THE DISCOVERY
The latest discovery had confirmed the presence of the
thriving ancient empire in Hadoti region of Rajasthan
during the 5th Century, when magnificent temple
architecture was gradually evolving. the presence of
dilapidated Shiva temples amid thick vegetation in
surrounding areas such as Jalindri, Nathun, Deojhar,
Banganga, Umarthuna and Kheruna indicated that the
Shaivite religion held sway over much of the Hadoti
region for several centuries. The discovery also
demonstrated that Hadoti did not merely have a prehistoric
human habitation, but was also rich in
archaeological wealth which could throw a new light on
the evolution of Hinduism with the dissemination of
Vedic civilisation by Aryans.
GUPTA EMPIRE
The Gupta empire, that existed approximately between
320 and 550 A.D. was described by historians as the
golden age of ancient India. The Gupta dynasty covered
much of the Indian subcontinent and was marked by
scientific and cultural creativity, including the
outstanding architecture and sculptures, and
crystallisation of the elements of Hindu culture. Gupta
Architecture:The gradual evolution of the Gupta style
architecture led to the construction of shikhara (dome)
in the temples and ornamentation on the pillars and doorframe.
Decorative motifs like goblins, couples, flying
angels, door-keepers and a figure relief in the centre of
the lintel emblematic of the deity consecrated in the
temple were introduced.
School Reforms Panel Submits
Report
The Review Committee on the Delhi School Education
Act and Rules 1973 (DSEAR–73) submitted its report to
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on 30 January 2012. The
committee was chaired by former Delhi Chief Secretary
Shailja Chandra. The other members of the committee
were Abha Joshi and Manish Kumar Gaur, a legal expert.
The committee consulted a wide range of stake holders
and finalised its recommendations in three volumes after
taking into account the views presented by a large
number of persons associated with the field of school
education in Delhi. The committee’s report is aimed at
bringing about purposeful amendments to the Act and
related rules.
Indians constituted about 20 per cent of the tourists to Sri Lanka in 2011. The number was almost the same as that
in 2010. In the period from January to November 2011, Sri Lanka received just over 7.5 lakh tourists. Of this, over 1.5
lakh were Indians. In 2010, out of the total of about 6.5 lakh tourists, Indians accounted for over 1.2 lakh. According
to the Indian High Commission in Colombo, in 2011 the visa office issued about 2 lakh visas to Sri Lankan nationals
to facilitate travel to India. The numbers from India are expected to reach an all-time high in 2012 owing to the
International Cricket Committee’s Twenty20 World Cup being held in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan immigration requested
people travelling to make sure that they apply for the right kind of visa ahead of commencing journey to the
country. The country’s immigration authority mentioned that the online travel approval facility is exclusively meant
for tourists, and not for any other group of persons. Businesspersons, journalists, and persons coming for other
businesses are to approach the nearest Sri Lankan Mission and obtain an appropriate visa.
The committee, constituted in April 2011 was mandated
to examine all issues related to DSEAR-73. It had to study
the difficulties being faced because of the new
circumstances that emerged after implementation of the
Delhi School Education Act nearly 40 years ago. It was
entrusted with the responsibility to suggest a set of
steps to protect the interests of parents and teachers
and role of the school management. It suggested a new
concept of conducting school inspections with the
primary focus being on the learning outcomes of children.
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MARCH 2012
For More Current Coverage and Daily Updates Visit Our Website: www.changetabloid.com
EVENTS OF THE MONTH
National & International
The film, directed by Zoya Akhtar, which has bagged the Best
Film award at the 57th Filmfare Awards function on 29 Jan 2012
India’s per capita income as per the latest quick estimates
released by the Central Statistical Organisation is
The rank of India in 2012 Environmental Performance Index
released by Yale University of Davos
The European country which has approved a ban on facecovering
clothing, such as a burqa, a niqab etc.
The state which has added nine new districts on 01 Jan 2012
thus increasing the total number of districts from 18 to 27
The Indian tennis player who has become the first Indian to win
a career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open men’s
doubles title with Czech player Radek Stepanek in January 2012
(a career Grand Slam means winning all the four major
tournaments during a career)
The best marching contingent among the three services at the
Republic Day parade 2012
The best marching contingent among para-military forces and
other auxillary marching contingents at the Republic Day parade
2012
The Belarusian player who has won the Australian Open
Women’s title defeating Russia’s Maria Sharapova in the final
The billiards player who has retained the National Billiards
Championship crown at the 79th Senior National Billiards and
Snooker Championship being held at Pune
The Army officer who has been awarded Ashoka Chakra on 26
Jan 2012
The IAF Officer who for the first time in Indian history has led
the IAF contingent at the Republic Day parade on 26 Jan 2012
The Chief Guest at the 63rd Republic Day celebrations in New
Delhi, Mrs Yingluck Shinawatra is the Prime Minister of
The badminton player who has won the women’s title at the
76th Senior National Badminton Championship held in Bangalore
from 17 to 25 Jan 2012 defeating Neha Pandit in the finals
The badminton player who has won the men’s title at the 76th
Senior National Badminton Championship in Bangalore
defeating Sai Praneeth in the finals
The name of the train which has been chosen as the theme of
the Railway Tableau at the Republic Day parade 2012, for being
the first train to achieve distinction of entering its 100th year on
Indian Railways broad gauge network.
The joint winners of National Communal Harmony Award 2011
in the individual category
The golfer who has won the All India Amateur golf title defeating
Gagan Verma at the final in Chandigarh on 23 Jan 2012
The team which has retained the Ranji Trophy after winning it
for the first time in 2011. (The team defeated Tamilnadu on the
basis of first innings lead.)
The 7th State Level Philatelic exhibition of Delhi Circle being
held from 22 Jan to 24 Jan 2012 at Delhi is named
The Sri Lankan author who has been awarded the DSC Prize for
South Asian Literature 2012 for his book Chinaman
The village in Assam which has become first village in the
country to have full insurance coverage
The venue of India International Coffee Festival 2012 being
held from January 18
The new Swedish coach appointed to train Indian tennis
players, particularly juniors and sub-juniors
China’s first supercomputer built with “domestically-produced”
microprocessors and capable of performing around onethousand-trillion
calculations per second which became officially
operational in January 2012 is named
The theme of 5th World Future Energy Summit being held in
Abu Dhabhi
The venue of the 5th World Future Energy Summit which began
on 16 Jan 2012, India being represented by Union Minister for
Renewable energy resources, Dr. Farooq Abdullah
The year 2012 has been declared by the United Nations
Organisation as the year of
Zindagi Na Milegi
Dubara
Rs. 53,331/-
125
The Netherlands
Chhattisgarh
Leander Paes
Indian Air Force
Border Security
Force
Victoria Azarenka
Pankaj Advani
Lt. Navdeep Singh
Flt. Lt. Sneha
Shekhawat
Thailand
P.V. Sindhu
Saurabh Verma
Punjab Mail
Shri Khamliana
(Mizoram) and Shri
Md. Abdul Bari
Angad Cheema
Rajasthan
Dharohar-2012
Shehan
Karunatilaka
Rangati Misamara
New Delhi
Henrik Ekersund
Sunway Bluelight
Sustainable
Energy for All
Abu Dhabi
Sustainable
Development
The year 2012 has been declared by the Health Ministry of
Government of India as the year of
The Russian space craft which failed on its mission to Phobos,
(a moon of Mars) and crashed into the Pacific Ocean two months
after its launch in November 2011
The Italian cruise ship that ran aground off the island of Giglio in
the Mediterranean Sea on January 14 killing at least 5 people
The playback singer and classical vocalist who has been chosen
for the first Harivarasanam award of the Travancore Devaswom
Board (TDB), the statutory body that manages major temples in
south Kerala, including the famed Sabarimala hill temple
Homai Vyarawala who passed away on 15 Jan 2011 was a well
known
The Indian shooter who has won a gold medal in the Men’s 10-
metre Air Rifle event at the 12th Asian Shooting Championships
in Doha
The venue of 17th National Youth Festival - 2012, a festival
organised to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami
Vivekananda since 1995
The music director who has composed the signature tune of the
Indian Customs Department, launched on the ocassion of golden
jubilee of Indian Customs Act, 1962. The tune is named Pragati
ki Dhadkan.
The theme of India Post Calendar 2012 is
The Indian Nobel laureate on whoses works Raja Ram Mohan
Roy Foundation has compiled a web-bibliography, which was
launched by Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee in Jan
2012
Pixel, a new model of car has been unveiled at the 11th Auto
Expo in New Delhi by
The Serbian player with whom Leander Paes partnered to win
the Chennai Open Tennis Doubles title
The Canadian player who has won the Chennai Open Tennis
Tournament
The venue of 11th Auto Expo being held from 05 Jan to 11 Jan
2012
The place in Gujarat where new National Law University was
inaugrated by Vice-President Hamid Ansari
The Chess player from Andhra Pradesh who has become the
26th Indian chess player to become a Grandmaster
The scientist from Vietnam who was awarded the Kalinga Chair
Award at the 99th Indian Science Congress
The venue of 99th Indian Science Congress held from 02 Jan to
07 Jan 2012
Ms. Kamla Prasad Bissesar, the chief guest at the 10th Pravasi
Bhartiya Divas being held in Jaipur with the theme Global Indian-
Inclusive Growth is the President of
The place at which a nearly 400-year-old temple, which was
standing tilted for more than 100 years after it was damaged in an
earthquake, was rebuilt by the Indian National Trust for Art and
Cultural Heritage (INTACH)
The University in Uttar Pradesh which has been recognised as
Univeristy with Potential for Excellence
KJ Sarasa, the first woman nattuvanar, the guru of Ms Jayalalitha,
who died on 02 Jan 2012 was associated with
The first Indo-Italian co-production film based on a short story
by well-known writer Mahasweta Devi which has bagged the
NETPAC Jury award at the 10th Third Eye Asian Film Festival
2011 at Mumbai.(the film is directed by Italo Spinelli)
The tribal efforts to conserve biodiversity and develop climate
resilient farm practices of this place in Odisha have been
recognised by UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation as a
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS)
The category of foreign investors who have been allowed to
invest directly in India Equity market by government
The Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation fondly
known as Metroman who relinquished office on 31 Dec 2011
The first car of Bajaj Auto, India’s leading two-wheeler
manufacturer is named
Intensification of
Routine
Immunisation
Phobos Grunt
Costa Concordia
KJ Yesudas
Photographer
Abhinav Bindra
Mangalore
Adesh
Srivastava
India’s Sculptural
Heritage
Rabindranath
Tagore
Tata Motors
Janko Tipsarevic
Milos Raonic
Pragati Maidan,
New Delhi
Gandhinagar
M. Lalith Babu
Trinh Xuan
Thuan
KIIT University,
Bhubaneswar
Trinidad and
Tobago
Kangra,
Himachal
Pradesh
Banaras Hindu
University
Bharat Natyam
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative and Detailed Coverage Every Month 29
Gangor
Koraput
Qualified Foreign
Investor
E. Sreedharan
RE 60

MARCH 2012 Get Previous Issues Free of Cost on Our Website: www.changetabloid.com
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
WORLD: THAILAND INDIA : UTTAR PRADESH
Government : Constitutional Monarchy.
Geography: Thailand occupies the western half of the
Indochinese peninsula and the northern two-thirds of
the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid 14th
century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only
Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over
by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led
to a constitutional monarchy. In alliance with Japan
during World War II, Thailand became a US ally
following the conflict. Thailand is currently facing armed
violence in its three Muslim-majority southern most
provinces. On 19 September 2006, Thai Military leaders
orchestrated a coup in the country.
Name: Kingdom of Thailand
Capital: Bangkok
Government: Parliamentary democracy and
Constitutional monarchy-Monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej
(Rama IX)
Prime Minister: Yingluck Shinawatra
Governor: Banwari Lal Joshi
Chief Minister: Mayawati
Capital: Lucknow
Legislature: Bicameral
Lok Sabha seats: 80
Judicature: Allahabad High Court
Languages: Hindi
Population density: 689/sq km
No. of Districts: 70
Main crops: Sugarcane, wheat, rice, gram, barley,
cotton, tea, oilseeds, antibiotic plants
Rivers: Ganga, Yamuna, Gandak, Gomti,
Sarayu, Ramganga, Ghaghara
Minerals: Limestone, dolomite
Industries: Sugar, handlooms, woolen, textiles
Airports: Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi,
Allahabad, Agra, Jhansi, Gorakhpur,
Lalitpur
Day
February 2
February 4
February 5
February 6
February 12
February 12
February 14
February 20
February 21
February 22
February 23
IMPORTANT DAYS
Day’s Name
World Wetland Day
World Cancer Day
Kashmir Day
International Day against Female
Genital Mutilation
Darwin Day
World Day of the Sick
Valentine’s Day
World Day of Social Justice
International Mother Language Day
World Scout Day
World Peaces and Understanding Day
WORDS OF THE MONTH
1. N O V A T I O N:
the introduction of something new;
PHYSICAL FEATURES
innovation.
On the basis of its physiography, the main regions of 2. T R U S S:
Uttar Pradesh are the central plains of the Ganga and its to tie, bind, or fasten.
Official language(s): Thai
3. S O L E C I S M:
Area: 513,120 km2 (50th)
tributaries, the southern uplands, the Himalayan region,
and the submontane region between the Himalayas and
a breach of good manners or etiquette.
198,115 sq mi
4. F E T I A L:
the plains. The Gangetic Plain occupies about threefourths
of the total area of Uttar Pradesh. It largely
Population: 2011 estimate 66,720,153
concerned with declarations of war and
Currency: Baht (THB)
treaties of peace.
consists of a fertile plain which is featureless, and varies
5. G A S C O N A D E:
in elevation, rising up to 300 metres in the northwest, extravagant boasting; boastful talk.
ABBREVIATIONS
and 60 metres in the extreme east. It is composed of 6. S P R A T:
alluvial deposits which are brought down by the Ganga a small or inconsequential person or thing.
1. G.S.L.V. — Geosynchronous and its tributaries from the Himalayas. The southern 7. C I M M E R I A N:
uplands constitute a part of the Vindhya Range, which very dark; gloomy; deep.
Launch Vehicle
is rugged, largely dissected, and rises towards the southeast.
The elevation in this region reaches up to 300 reckless extravagance.
8. P R O F L I G A C Y:
The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (usually
known by its abbreviation, GSLV) is an expendable
metres. The submontane region consists of the Bhabar, 9. H E T E R O T E L I C:
launch system operated by the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO). It was developed to enable India
a narrow bed of alluvium and gravel, which along its having the purpose of its existence or
to launch its INSAT-type satellites into geostationary southern fringes joins into the Terai area. The Terai area, occurrence apart from itself.
orbit and to make India less dependent on foreign which previously consisted of tall grass and thick 10. P A R E G M E N O N:
rockets.
forests, is a marshy and damp tract. A definite portion of the juxtaposition of words that have a common
the Terai region has been subject to deforestation. The derivation, as in “sense and sensibility.”
topography of the Himalayan region is vastly varied. 11. E X P O S T U L A T E:
2. N.B.R.C. — National Brain There are deep canyons, turbulent streams, large lakes to reason earnestly with someone against
Research Center
and snowcapped peaks.
something that person intends to do or has
The National Brain Research Centre is a neuroscience
done.
research group, situated in Manesar, Gurgaon district, HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
12. B O N N Y:
Haryana, India. It is an Autonomous Government The history of Uttar Pradesh is recognised in the later pleasing to the eye.
Institute accredited with the deemed university status Vedic Age as Brahmarshi Desha or Madhya Desha.
13. V I S C I D:
and is a nodal center under Department of
having a glutinous consistency; sticky;
Many great sages of the Vedic times like Bhardwaja,
Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science and
adhesive.
Gautam, Yagyavalkaya, Vashishtha, Vishwamitra and
Technology, Government of India. NBRC was dedicated
14. D E S I N E N C E:
Valmiki flourished in this state. Several sacred books of
to the country on the 14th November, 1997 and it was
a termination or ending, as the final line of
formally inaugurated at its current campus in Manesar
the Aryans were also composed here. Two great epics a verse.
in December 2003 by then President of India, A. P. J. of India, Ramayana and Mahabharata, appear to have 15. O U T R A N C E:
Abdul Kalam. The center is dedicated to provide been inspired by Uttar Pradesh. In the Sixth Century BC the utmost extremity.
infrastructural facilities and a coordinated Uttar Pradesh was associated with two new religions- 16. P E R S P I C A C I O U S:
multidisciplinary team to work at the frontiers of Jainism and Buddhism. It was at Sarnath that Buddha having keen mental perception and
neuroscience research and network the existing groups preached his first sermon and laid the foundations of understanding; discerning.
and whenever required, create satellite units to catalyze his order. Several centres in Uttar Pradesh like Ayodhya, 17. A L A T E:
the overall growth of this discipline in the country. Prayag, Varanasi and Mathura became reputed centres having wings; winged.
Founder director Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath has been of learning. In the medieval period Uttar Pradesh passed 18. P E R S N I C K E T Y:
awarded Padmashri in the year 2010 by government of
under Muslim rule and led the way to new synthesis of overparticular; fussy.
India.
Hindu and Islamic cultures. Ramananda and his Muslim 19. S H I V:
disciple Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and many other a knife, especially a switchblade.
3. C.S.T.O. — Collective Security intellectuals contributed to the growth of Hindi and other 20. D E U C E D L Y:
Treaty Organisation languages. During the British rule in India, there were devilishly; damnably.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental
certain pockets in Uttar Pradesh that were governed by 21. R E M O R A:
military alliance which was signed on the English equity and common law. In 1773, the Mughal an obstacle, hindrance, or obstruction.
15 May 1992. On 7 October 2002, the Presidents of Armenia,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and to the East India Company. The East India Company nevertheless.
Emperor transferred the districts of Banaras and Ghazipur 22. N A T H E L E S S:
Tajikistan signed a charter in Tashkent founding the acquired the area of modernday Uttar Pradesh over a 23. SLIMSY:
CSTO. Nikolai Bordyuzha was appointed secretary general
of the new organization. On 23 June 2006, Uzbekistan
period of time. The territories occupied from the nawabs, flimsy; frail.
the Scindias of Gwalior and the Gurkhas were initially 24. E D U C E:
became a full participant in the CSTO; and its membership
was formally ratified by the Uzbek parliament on 28
placed within the Bengal Presidency.
to draw forth or bring out, as something
March 2008. The CSTO is currently an observer
potential or latent.
organisation at the United Nations General Assembly. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
25. B L E B:
a bubble.
1833: North-Western Provinces, was created as Agra 26. M E T T L E:
4. Q.I.P. — Qualified Institutional
Presidency
courage and fortitude.
Placement
1877: Kingdom of Awadh was united with the North- 27. C O N C I L I A T E:
QIP is a capital-raising tool, primarily used in India, Western Provinces, and was renamed North-
to overcome the distrust or hostility of;
whereby a listed company can issue equity shares, fully Western Provinces of Agra and Oudh.
placate; win over.
and partly convertible debentures, or any securities other 1902: The province was renamed, when it became 28. B I R R:
than warrants which are convertible to equity shares to ‘United Provinces of Agra and Oudh’.
force; energy; vigor.
a qualified institutional buyer (QIB). Apart from 1947: became an administrative unit of Independent 29. H O T C H P O T:
preferential allotment, this is the only other speedy
India
method of private placement whereby a listed company
the bringing together of shares or properties in
can issue shares or convertible securities to a select
1949: Autonomous states of Rampur & Tehri –
order to divide them equally.
group of persons. QIP scores over other methods Garhwal were incorporated into the Provinces. 30. I N T E R P O L A T I O N:
because the issuing firm does not have to undergo 1973: The name was shortened to ‘United Provinces’. the act or process of introducing something
elaborate procedural requirements to raise this capital. 2000: Uttarakhand was carved out from Uttar Pradesh. additional or extraneous between other parts.
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MARCH 2012
1. Scientists produced artificial human
semen to help infertile men. Consider the
following statements: i) The scientists
grew the sperm by enveloping the germ
cells in a special compound called agar
jelly. ii) The artificial human semen could
help infertile men father their own children.
Choose the right option:
a) Both i and ii are correct.
b) Only i is correct.
c) Only ii is correct.
d) Neither i nor ii is correct.
Answer: (a)
2. Health Authorities in Australia recently
detected Deadly Disease, Murray Valley
Encephalitis. The disease is caused by
the__.
a) Flies b) Mosquitoes
c) Birds d) Dogs
Answer: (a)
3. Kiro Gligorov, the former president of
Macedonia died in Skopje on 1 January
2012. Which facts about Gligorov given
below are not true?
1. Gligorov was the first
democratically elected president
of Macedonia.
2. He joined the partisan
movement fighting against the
Nazi occupation and was one of
the organizers of the Anti-
Fascist Assembly for the
People’s Liberation of
Macedonia, or ASNOM in 1945
3. Gligorov served four
consecutive presidential terms,
leading the nation from January
1991 to November 2009
4. The early days his presidency
were overshadowed by a bitter
dispute with Greece over the
newly independent nation’s
name, the dispute that continues
till date
a. Only 1 b. 1 & 2
c. Only 3 d. 2 & 4
Answer: (c)
4. Who was presented the Mahatma
Gandhi International Award for Peace and
Reconciliation on 4 January 2011, the
fourth day of the ten-day Kalachakra
initiations?
a. Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai
Lama
b. South African leader Nelson
Mandela
c. Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere
d. Burmese pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi
Answer: (c)
5. The scientists claimed that the
Meteorite, which fell in Morocco in July
2011, was from Mars. The event happened
for the first time in__ years.
a) 50 b) 100 c) 200 d) 150
Answer: (a)
6. Scientists found the Extinct Monkey,
the Miller’s Grizzled Langur in the forests
of___.
a) Indonesia b) Malaysia
c) India d) Africa
Answer: (a)
7. 10th PBD( Pravasi Bhartiya Divas) was
held at which one of the following Indian
cities?
a) Jaipur b) Patna
c) New Delhi d) Chennai
Answer: (a)
8. Planning Commission of India
approved Rudrasagar development
scheme. The scheme is related__.
a) Tripura b) Assam
c) Manipur d) Sikkim
Answer: (a)
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MCQs OF THE MONTH
10. Which French construction major
entered the Indian market by buying out
100 per cent stake in NAPC, a Chennaibased
construction company?
a. Sinopec Engineering
b. Uhde
c. Vinci
d. Snamprogetti
Answer: (c)
11. According to the draft sports policy
of this state Government released, a
special life-time achievement award, in
memory of G.V. Raja, the founderpresident
of the State Sports Council is
to be instituted. Which State is being
referred to?
a. Karnataka b. Kerala
c. Tamil Nadu d. Andhra Pradesh
Answer: (b)
12. Which team defeated Uttarakhand
25-22, 25-22, 25-13 in the men’s category
to win the National title for the fourth time,
in the 60th senior National volleyball
championship, at the Balbir Juneja Indoor
Stadium, Raipur?
a. Kerala b. Andhra Pradesh
c. West Bengal d. Tamil Nadu
Answer: (a)
13. Which team extended their
hegemony by defeating Kerala 25-12, 25-
14, 25-16 in a one-sided final in the
women’s category at the 60th senior
National volleyball championship?
a. Punjab b. Services
c. Railways d. Delhi
Answer: (c)
14. The Cabinet Committee on Security
approved the setting up of NCTC. What
is the full form of NCTC?
a) National Counter Terrorism Centre
b) National Trade Cooperation
c) National Central Terrorism Centre
d) National Council for Trade
Cooperation
Answer: (a)
15. Which of the following companies
infused Rs 520 crore equity into BSES
Delhi distribution companies as part of
Rs 5,100 crore financial package being
worked by IDBI
a. NTPC
b. RIL
c. Adani Power Ltd
d. Birla Group
Answer: (b)
16. Suzlon Energy signed a memorandum
of understanding with this State
Government as a part of the CII’s
Partnership Summit that concluded on 13
January 2012. As per the MoU, Suzlon
Energy will develop wind power projects
totalling 3,000 MW in Andhra Pradesh
over the next four years, involving
potential investment of up to Rs.18,000
crore. Name the state government with
which the MoU was signed.
a. Andhra Pradesh government
b. Gujarat governemnt
c. Orissa government
d. Arunachal Pradesh government
Answer: (a)
17. Union Cabinet of India renamed the
Mana Airport at Raipur as the___ Airport,
Raipur.
a) Swami Vivekananda
b) Ramakrishna Paramhamsa
c) Mahatma Gandhi
d) Jawaharlal Nehru
Answer: (a)
18. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance
Industries Ltd (RIL) entered the media and
entertainment sector by making a major
investment in one of India’s largest
broadcast companies. Name the
broadcast company.
a. Network18 Group
b. Adlabs Films
c. Balaji Telefilms
d. Bag Films
Answer: (a)
19. Union Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee launched the signature tune
of the Indian Customs Pragati ki Dhadkan
in New Delhi. The signature tune was
composed by which of the noted music
directors?
a. A. R. Rahman
b. Aadesh Shrivastava
c. Adnan Sami
d. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy
Answer: (b)
20. Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago
visited India from 5 January 2012 to 14
January 2012. Who among the following
is the Prime Minister of Trinidad &
Tobago?
a) Kamla Persad Bissessar
b) Hosni Mubarak
c) Manmohan Singh
d) Naresh Goyal
Answer: (a)
21. The fifth edition of the World Future
Energy summit began in__.
a) Abu Dhabi b) New Delhi
c) Tehran d) Dhaka
Answer: (a)
22. Memogate scandal is related to which
one of the following countries?
a) Pakistan b) Sri Lanka
c) China d) India
Answer: (a)
23. Name the world’s largest
biotechnology company, agreed to buy
Micromet in a $1.16 billion deal to gain an
experimental leukemia drug.
a. Celgene Drug
b. B B Biotech
c. Dechert
d. Amgen
Answer: (d)
24. Which channel developed a 52-week
special India: Wild Encounters to focuss
on India’s enchanting wildlife s well as
take viewers on an exploration spree?
a. Discovery India
b. Animal Planet
c. Sony
d. National Gepgraphy
Answer: (b)
25. Centre for Monitoring Indian
Economy (CMIE) estimated Corporate
India’s sales to grow by what per cent in
2011-12?
a. 21.6% b. 20.8%
c. 22 d. 23.7%
Answer: (a)
26. The influential 1950s rhythm-andblues
singer, Etta James died on 20
January 2012 from complications of
leukemia. Which of the following facts
about her is/are not true?
1. Etta James is best known for her
show-stopping hit At Last
2. Three-time Grammy winner hit
the R&B charts with 30 singles,
and placed nine of those songs
in pop music’s top 40
3. James’ last album, The
Wallflower, was released in 2011
4. James won her first Grammy in
1995 for her album, Mystery
Lady: The Songs of Billie
Holiday
5. She was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993
a. Only 5 b. Only 1
c. Only 3 d. 2 & 5
Answer: (c)
27. Whose record did Dutch teenager
Laura Dekker break when she became the
youngest sailor to complete a solo
circumnavigation of the world?
a. Jessica Watson
b. Alena Ladev
c. Christiana Notham
d. Bisht Jove
Answer: (a)
28. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and
International Asociation of Sanskrit
Studies jointly organised the 15th World
Sanskrit conference from 5 to 10 January
2012 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
Where was the 14th World Sanskrit
conference held?
a. Kyoto, Japan
b. Beijing, China
c. Colombo, Sri Lanka
d. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Answer: (a)
29. Identify this politicial with the help of
the following clues.
1. Leader of the Sandinista
movement which overthrew the
US-backed Somoza dictatorship
in 1979
2. After the Nicaraguan
Revolution resulted in the
overthrow and exile of the
Somoza’s government in 1979,
he became a member of the
ruling multipartisan Junta of
National Reconstruction.
3. He was elected as the 83rd
Nicaraguan president in 2006.
He had previously served as the
79th President, between 1985
and 1990.
4. He made alliances with fellow
Latin American socialists and
signed Nicaragua up to the
Bolivarian Alliance for the
Americas.
a. Enrique Bolaños
b. Arnoldo Alemán
c. Daniel Ortega
d. Hugo Chávez
Answer: (c)
30. The Bangalore-based pharmaceutical
major, Strides Arcolab, sold its 94 per cent
stake in Ascent Pharmahealth, a
subsidiary with operations in Australia
and Southeast Asia, to which of the
following U.S.-based pharma companies?
a. Watson Pharmaceuticals
b. Abbott Laboratories
c. Pfizer
d. Derma Sciences
Answer: (a)
31. The Israel-Palestine talks were held in
Amman. Amman is the capital of__
a) Jordan b) Syria
c) Iraq d) Iran
Answer: (a)
32. Maldives lifted ban on Spas in the up
market tourist destination. Consider the
following statements:
i) The tourism industry is an
important foreign exchange
earner in the Maldives.
35. Credit Suisse upgraded which
9. Pravasi Bhartiya Divas-2012 was held
company to neutral from underperforms,
in Jaipur. Jaipur is the capital of which
citing valuation comfort at current?
one of the following states?
a. Essar Energy
a) Rajasthan b) Bihar
b. Reliance Power
c) UP d) Bihar
c. Bajaj Auto
Answer: (a)
d. Tata Steel Answer: (d)
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ii)
Maldives in 2011 received more
than 850000 tourists.
Choose the right option:
a) Both i and ii are correct.
b) Only i is correct.
c) Only ii is correct.
d) Neither i nor ii is correct.
Answer: (a)
33. India signed MoU( Memorandum of
Understanding) on tourism with ASEAN.
The agreement took place in__.
a) Manado b) Jakarta
c) Malaysia d) Manila
Answer: (a)
34. Which PSU announced on 2 January
2012 that its board approved in a meeting
held on 30 December 2011 the switching
over to internationally-accepted Gross
Caloric Value-based pricing mechanism?
a. BHEL b. ISPAT
c. CIL d. IOC
Answer: (c)

MARCH 2012 Get Previous Issues Free of Cost on Our Website: www.changetabloid.com
36. Scientists discovered unknown
species off the coast of Antarctica.
Consider the following statements:
i) The temperature in this region
rises to 380 degree Celsius.
ii)
There is plenty of light in this
region.
Which of the above statements is/ are
correct?
a) Only i b) Only ii
c) Both i and ii d) Neither i nor ii
Answer: (a)
37. The world’s first hybrid sharks were
discovered by the researchers in
Australian waters. The hybrid shark is the
result of cross-breeding between which
one of the following set of shark species?
a) Common black tip Shark and
Australian black-tip shark
b) Indian black-tip Shark and
Australian black-tip Shark
c) Blue Whale and Common blacktip
Shark
d) Blue Whale and Australian
black-tip Shark
Answer: (a)
38. TiE Chennai (The Indus
Entrepreneurs), dedicated to promote
entrepreneurship launched a book Dream
to destiny — the driving spirit of
Chennai’s entrepreneurs in January 2012.
TiE Chennai is a _.
a. Non-profit organisation
b. Committee of Entrepreneurs
c. Multinational organisation
d. Entrepreneur arm of the Commerce
Ministry
Answer: (a)
39. State-run Northern Coalfields (NCL)
agreed to surrender land required to mine
two blocks attached to the Sasan ultra
mega power plant to which of the
following companies giving the
comapany the benefit of over Rs 6000
crore over the life of the venture?
a. Reliance Power
b. Adani Power
c. Birla Power Solutions
d. DLF Power
Answer: (a)
40. Which car took home the crown of
Indian Car of the Year 2012?
a. Toyota Etios Liva
b. Maruti Suzuki Swift
c. Hyundai Verna
d. Hyundai Eon
Answer: (b)
41. This footballer was awarded the 2011
FIFA Ballon d’Or in Zurich. He won the
award for the third consecutive year for
the world’s outstanding footballer.
Identify the footballer.
a. Cristiano Ronaldo
b. Xavi
c. Sergio Ramos
d. Lionel Messi
Answer: (d)
42. Prime Minister’s Office directed
cash-rich public sector undertakings
(PSUs) to invest around Rs.1.76 lakh
crore to act as a stimulus in the next fiscal
2012-13. What is the amount to be
invested domestically?
a. Rs.1.41 lakh crore
b. Rs 1.57 lakh crore
c. Rs 2.50 lakh crore
d. Rs 3.19 lakh crore
Answer: (a)
43. He was conferred with the first S K
Singh Award for excellence in the Indian
Foreign Service. Identify the diplomat.
a. Ranjan Mathai
b. Shivshankar Menon
c. D Bala Venkatesh Verma
d. K. Raghunath
Answer: (c)
45. Writer/diplomat Pavan K. Varma’s new
book set in contemporary India and in
the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan was
launched in the New Delhi by Ashi Dorji
Wangmo Wangchuck, the Queen Mother
of Bhutan in January 2012. The
protagonist Anand is wrongly diagnosed
with cancer. He quits his high-power job
and loses himself in a Bhutanese retreat.
Name the book.
a. When Loss is Gain
b. Ghalib: The Man
c. The Great Indian Middle Class
d. The Times
Answer: (a)
46. Identify the photographer with the
help of the following clues.
1. She was India’s first woman
photo-journalist and was the
only professional woman
photojournalist between 1939
and 1970
2. She was commonly known by
her pseudonym Dalda 13
3. She also captured the first flaghoisting
ceremony at the Red
Fort on August 16 1947, the
departure of Lord Mountbatten
from India and the funerals of
Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal
Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
4. The Padma Bhushan Awardee
breathed her last on 15 January
2012.
a. Ronika Kandhari
b. Asha Kochar
c. Prabuddha Dasgupta
d. Homai Vyarawala
Answer: (d)
47. Which PSU lender called off its
plans to set up a joint venture with Visa
Inc and Elavon Inc to enter the merchant
acquiring business over differences on
sharing technology?
a. Union Bank
b. State Bank of India
c. Syndicate Bank
d. Corp Bank
Answer: (b)
48. This company acquired Star more
than 500 films like blockbusters like Salman
Khan’s Dabangg, Ready, Golmaal 3, Tees
Maar Khan, Thank You, No One Killed
Jessica, Guzaarish, Kites and Raavan
from a general entertainment channel
owned by the Viacom 18 Group?
a. Sony b. UTV movies
c. Colors d. Sab TV
Answer: (c)
49. Union government raised the ad
valorem duty (export duty) on iron ore
exports to what per cent from 20 per cent?
a. 30% b. 33% c. 41% d. 43%
Answer: (a)
50. Union government approved
Reliance Industries’ (RIL) investment plan
for developing four satellite fields in the
flagging KG-D6 block. What was the
proposed sum to be invested for
developing the satellites?
a. $1.500 billion
b. $1.692 billion
c. $1.529 billion
d. $1.375 billion
Answer: (c)
51. Name the auto making company
which launched three new variants of the
Eon-D — Lite plus, Era plus and Magna
plus in the Indian market in January 2012.
a. Tata Motors
b. Hyundai Motor India
c. Volkswagen
d. Maruti Suzuki
Answer: (b)
52. The Government of which of the
following countries acquired 1.09 per cent
stake, currently worth about Rs.2500
crore, in Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance
Industries Ltd. (RIL), the company’s latest
shareholding data show?
a. Malaysia
b. Japan
c. Phillipines
d. Singapore
Answer: (d)
53. The Board of Approval (BoA) under
the Commerce Ministry approved the
proposal of this company to set up a
special economic zone (SEZ) at Indore in
Madhya Pradesh. Identify the company.
a. Reliance Industries
b. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
c. Hero Motors
d. Infosys
Answer: (b)
54. Researchers discovered new
earthworm species in Port Blair. What is
the name of the new species?
a) Moniligaster ivaniosi
b) Annelida
c) Nematoda
d) Onychophora
Answer: (a)
55. Which one of the following state
governments decided to constitute
Jaisalmer Fort development authority?
a) Rajasthan b) Bihar
c) Madhya Pradesh d) Gujarat
Answer: (a)
56. Noted film critic who reviewed films
for the Times of India died of breast cancer
at 53?
a. Nikhat Kazmi
b. Raja Sen
c. Subhash K. Jha
d. Pauline Kael
Answer: (a)
57. Inter-ministerial coordination
committee for tourism sector Headed by
Principal Secretary to the PM Pulok
Chatterjee in its meeting decided to extend
Visa-on-Arrival facility to Goa,
Hyderabad, Kochi and Bangaluru airports
to help double the foreign tourist arrivals.
With respect to this statement which of
the two statements given below are true?
1. Currently, Visa-on-Arrival is
extended to 11 countries
including Japan, Philippines,
Singapore, New Zealand,
Vietnam and Finland.
2. The Visa-on-Arrival facility is
now available at four
international airports at Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
a. Only 1 b. Only 2
c. Both 1 & 2 d. None of the above
Answer: (c)
58. The capital market regulator SEBI
on 3 January 2012 allowed auctioning of
securities through stock exchanges and
introduced a new method for institutional
placement of stocks. Which of the
following facts related to the above
statement is/are not true?
1. Under the institutional
placement programme (IPP),
shares can be sold only to
qualified institutional buyers.
2. There shall be at least 25
allottees in every IPP issuance.
No single investor shall receive
allotment for more than 25% of
the offer size
3. The IPP method can be used to
increase public holding by 10%
and could be offered to only
qualified institutional buyers
with 25% being reserved for
mutual funds and insurance
companies
4. Under the IPP, companies will
have to announce the ratio of
buy-back, as is done in the case
of rights issues and fix a record
date for determination of
entitlements as per shareholding
on record date
a. Only 1 b. Only 3
c. Only 2 d. Only 4
Answer: (c)
60. The poor performance of National
Pension System, or NPS led the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority (PFRDA) to change the
incentive structure for the distributors.
Which of the following statements in this
regard is/are not true?
1. The pension regulator on the
basis of the recommendation of
the G.N. Bajpai committee
constituted by PFRDA to review
NPS, fixed the incentive at
0.25% of the subscription
amount
2. As per PFRDA’s measures
announceds, a distributor will
get a flat Rs 50 on initial
subscription and 0.05% of the
initial subscription amount
3. Every year on subsequent
investments, the point of
presence will be entitled to
0.25% of that amount.
4. The minimum that a point of
presence can charge is Rs 20 and
the maximum Rs 25000.
a. Only 1 b. Only 2
c. Only 3 d. Only 4
Answer: (b)
61. India and Pakistan agreed to transit
fee formula for Tapi gas pipeline project
in New Delhi. Tasi gas pipeline project
comprises
a) India, Pakistan and Tajikistan
b) India, Pakistan and Russia
c) India, Pakistan and Iran
d) India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
Answer: (a)
62. The military rulers declared partial
lifting of emergency in Egypt. The move
came into effect from__.
a) 25 January 2012
b) 22 January 2012
c) 20 January 2012
d) 28 January 2012
Answer: (a)
63. B. D. Park was appointed the President
and CEO of this electronic major’s South
West Asia Operations and Managing
Director of its India operations. Which
electronic major is in question here?
a. Phillips b. Videocon
c. Samsung d. LG
Answer: (c)
64. Maldives authorities allowed Male
International Airport operator to collect
airport development and insurance
charges from passengers, nearly a month
after a local court barred the Bangalorebased
company from doing so. Name the
operator.
a. GMR Infrastructure
b. International Air Transport
Association (IATA)
c. Fraport AG
d. DIAL
Answer: (a)
65. Six researchers from five science
streams were honoured with this prize by
the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
in Bangalore. Name the prize in question.
a. Infosys Prize
b. India Science Prize
c. Rolls-Royce Science Prize
d. Young Scientist Award
Answer: (a)
4. Which one of the following state
governments launched Panch
Parmeshwar scheme?
a) Madhya Pradesh b) Bihar
c) UP d) Kerala
Answer: (a)
66. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the
cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis point.
The current CRR stands at what percent?
a. 5% b. 5.5% c. 6% d. 6.5%
Answer: (b)
59. India signed agreement with OECD (
44. Which Ministry prepared draft policy
Organisation for Economic Cooperation
67. The Reserve Bank of India kept the
seeking to increase private participation
and Development) to check both tax evasion
and avoidance. The headquarters of
repo rate unchanged for the second
and opens the doors for foreign direct
consecutive time after raising it 13 times
investors for expanding its network?
OECD are in___.
between March 2010 and October 2011.
a. Railways Ministry
i) Paris b) London
What is the present repo rate?
b. Ministry of Rural Development
c) New York d) Washington DC
a. 8% b. 7.5% c. 8.5% d. 9%
c. Ministry of Commerce and Industry
d. Defence Ministry Answer: (a)
Answer: (a)
Answer: (c)
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MARCH 2012
68. Which Photography Pioneer filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
making it likely for the 132-year-old
trailblazer to become the most storied
casualty of a digital age?
a. Eastman Kodak Company
b. Fuji
c. Nikon
d. Canon
Answer: (a)
69. Which company retained its top
position in Interbrand’s list of the top 100
global brands in 2011?
a. Apple
b. Coca cola
c. Microsoft
d. Google
Answer: (b)
70. Scientists recently developed a new
wireless device to detect the presence of
termites. Consider the following
statements:
i) when the new device detects the
presence of termites, it sends an
SMS or email to a pest control
firm.
ii)
The device is made of a tiny
sensor, even smaller than a
fingernail.
Choose the right option:
a) Both i and ii are correct.
b) Only i is correct.
c) Only ii is correct.
d) Neither i nor ii is correct.
Answer: (a)
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71. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued
guidelines on compensation of whole time
directors, chief executive officers and
other risk takers in private and foreign
banks. Which of the following facts
regarding the above statement is/are not
true?
1. The central bank’s directions are
aimed at preventing greed from
destabilising the institution.
2. The guidelines include
provisions to claw back pay if
transactions fail years after
origination
3. The norms provided also
include capping the variable
component of the
compensation at 48% of the fixed
pay in a year
4. As per the guidelines issued,
banks are permitted to exclude
the Employees Stock Option
Plan from variable pay
a. Only 2
b. Only 4
c. Only 3
d. 2 & 4
Answer: (c)
72. Which of the following bodies
unveiled rules for direct investment in
stocks by foreign investors, including
individuals to put curbs on opaque
structures to prevent routing of funds by
resident Indians?
a. IRDA b. FICCI
c. CCI d. SEBI
Answer: (d)
73. India and Japan agreed to enhance
their cooperation in the ___sector.
a) Infrastructure
b) Tourism
c) Road and Transport
d) Coal and Mining
Answer: (a)
74. Newly crowned Miss Belgium 2012,
Laura Beyne mentioned that she mostly
supports gay marriages. In which year did
Belgium become the second country after
the Netherlands to legalize gay marriage?
a. 2000 b. 2003
c. 2005 d. 2009
Answer: (b)
75. European Union agreed in principle
to ban import of Iranian Crude oil.
Consider the following statements:
i) The European Union( EU) is one
of Iran’s biggest markets for oil.
ii)
The EU is a political and
economical union of 27 member
states.
Choose the right option:
a) Both i and ii are correct.
b) Only i is correct.
c) Only ii is correct.
d) Neither i nor ii is correct.
Answer: (a)
76. Scientists identified a new gene in
maize plants called__.
a) Meg1 b) Meg2
c) Meg3 d) Meg4
Answer: (a)
77. What is the Finace Ministry’s
decision on the rates applicable on small
savings instruments schemes that would
be announced on April 1 each year?
a. rate would remain valid till the
maturity of the scheme
b. rate would change in the first
qurter of that respective year
c. rates would change depending
on different maturity period
d. rates would remainvalid for six
months post the maturity
Answer: (a)
78. Scientists for the first time produced
mixed embryo monkeys. Consider the
following statements:
i) Scientists produced monkeys
composed of cells taken from
separate embryos.
ii)
The cells stay together and
work together to form tissues
and organs.
Choose the right option:
a) Both i and ii are correct.
b) Only i is correct.
c) Only ii is correct.
d) Neither i nor ii is correct.
Answer: (a)
79. India extended for how many years
an anti-dumping duty on import of four
Chinese products like nylon filament
yarn, Saccharin, cellophane transparent
film etc?
a. 3 years b. 5 years
c. 10 years d. 12 years
Answer: (b)
SPECIAL COVERAGE
THE COMING OF EUROPEANS
TRADING COMPANIES TO INDIA
By PARAMPREET SINGH ( Academic Director : Creations IAS Academy)
The Age of Discovery, also known as the Age of
Exploration, was a period in history starting in the 15th
century and continuing into the early 17th century during
which Europeans engaged in intensive exploration of
the world, establishing direct contacts with Africa, the
Americas, Asia and Oceania and mapping the planet. In
the initial stages the pioneers of the Age of Discovery
were Portuguese and Spanish, who initiated the longdistance
maritime travels in search of alternative trade
routes to the Indies.
The Indies is a term that has been used to describe the
lands of South and Southeast Asia, occupying all of the
present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal,
Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and also Thailand, Cambodia,
Laos, Vietnam, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, East
Timor, Malaysia and Indonesia. In a more restricted
sense, the Indies can be used to refer to the islands of
Southeastern Asia, especially the Malay Archipelago.
The name “Indies” is derived from the river Indus and is
used to connote parts of Asia that come under Indian
cultural influence.
The Portuguese began systematically exploring the
Atlantic coast of Africa from 1418, under the sponsorship
of Prince Henry, reaching the Indian Ocean by this route
in 1488. In 1492, racing to find a trade route to Asia, the
Spanish monarchs funded Christopher Columbus plan
to sail west to reach the “Indies” by crossing the Atlantic.
He landed on an uncharted continent, then seen by
Europeans as a “new world”, America. To prevent
conflict between Portugal and Spain, a treaty was signed
dividing the world into two regions of exploration, where
each had exclusive rights to claim newly discovered
lands.
to the valuable “spice islands” in 1512, landing in China
one year later.
Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese explorer, one of the
most successful in the Age of Discovery and the
commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe
to India. Under new king Manuel I of Portugal, on July
1497 a small exploratory fleet of four ships and about
170 men left Lisbon under command of Vasco da Gama.
On 21 May 1498, they arrived at Calicut. The efforts of
Vasco da Gama to get favorable trading conditions were
hampered by the low value of their goods, compared
with the valuable goods traded there. Nevertheless, da
Gama’s expedition was successful beyond all reasonable
expectation, bringing in cargo that was worth sixty times
the cost of the expedition.
In 1595, the Dutch, French and English, who entered
the race of exploration shortly after learning of these
exploits, defied the Iberian monopoly on maritime trade
by searching for new routes, first to the north, and into
the Pacific Ocean around South America, but eventually
by following the Portuguese around Africa into the
Indian Ocean; discovering Australia in 1606, New
Zealand in 1642, and Hawaii in 1778. Meanwhile, from
the 1580s to the 1640s Russians explored and conquered
almost the whole of Siberia.
What attracted the Europeans trading
companies to India?
European trading companies ventured across the oceans
so as to look for new lands from where they could buy
goods at a cheap price, and carry them back to Europe
to sell at higher prices. The fine qualities of cotton and
silk produced in India had a big market in Europe. Indian
spices like Pepper (kaalee mirch), Cloves (laung),
Cardamom (Elaichi) and Cinnamon (Dalchini) too were
in great demand as European depended mainly on meat
which could only be preserved and its taste improved
with the use of spices. Hence, European trading
companies were attracted to India.
BEGINNING OF EUROPEAN
COMMERCE
The landing of the Portuguese under the leadership of
Vasco da Gama at Calicut, by the close of the fifteenth
century (May 21, 1498), is considered to be a landmark
in the history of India’s maritime trade. Their arrival on
the Indian soil was followed by the advent of other
European companies and the resultant monopolization
of India’s coastal and maritime trade by the Europeans.
India had maintained its trade relations with the foreign
merchants even during the earlier centuries. But there
was a great difference between the foreign merchants
who had earlier settled in and conducted brisk trade
from India, and the Europeans who came to India during
the Fifteenth and Seventeenth centuries.
The earlier foreign merchants had mere commercial
motives and had very little or no support from their native
governments. But the European merchants who came to
India during this period had the political and military
support of their respective governments. They were not
individual merchants but represented their respective
nations and tried to establish and safeguard their maritime
trade on the strength of their superior naval power.
Military superiority was the backbone of their commercial
enterprise and they established their fortified trading
settlements, called factories, on the coastal parts of India,
immune from the administrative control of the local power.
In 1498, a Portuguese expedition commanded by Vasco
No doubt, due to the participation of the Portuguese,
da Gama finally achieved the dream of reaching India by
the Dutch, the English, the Danes and the French India’s
sailing around Africa, opening up direct trade with
foreign trade grew phenomenally in the sixteenth and
“Asia”. Soon, the Portuguese sailed further eastward,
cont....
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seventeenth centuries, but in course of time the
commercial motives turned into territorial ambitions and
by the close of the eighteenth century India, from a bulk
exporter, turned into one of the biggest importers of
industrially manufactured goods.
1. THE PORTUGUESE
The first Portuguese encounter with India was on May
21, 1498 when Vasco da Gama landed at Kappad in
Calicut (now Kozhikode) in the present-day Indian state
of Kerala.
Vasco da Gama was sent in 1497 from Lisbon to find the
direct sea-route to India. Over the objections of Arab
merchants, Gama managed to secure a letter of
concession for trading rights from the Zamorin, Calicut’s
local ruler. Unable to pay the prescribed customs duties
(that Gama sought to be waived) and price of his goods
in gold (as was the practice then), the King’s officials
detained Gama’s Portuguese agents (who were released
later) as security for payment. This, however, annoyed
Gama, who carried a few Nairs and sixteen Mukkuva
fishermen with him by force. Nevertheless, Gama’s
expedition was successful beyond all reasonable
expectation, bringing in cargo that was sixty times the
cost of the expedition.
Calicut then, under the Zamorins, enjoyed a high degree
of prosperity. The Zamorin was kind to all classes of
merchants who came to his kingdom, tolerated all creeds
and allowed perfect freedom to all in commercial affairs.
He gave the newcomers a friendly reception. Though
the Arab merchants at Calicut, resented the appearance
of a commercial rival, but the armed guards of the Zamorin
protected the Portuguese. Vasco Da Gama returned to
Portugal in 1499
A second expedition, under Alvarez Cabral reached
Calicut in 1500. Cabral was of the opinion that, for the
safety of the Portuguese commercial interests in India,
he must force Calicut into submission and root out the
Arab trade of that place and therefore he secured the
friendship of the rulers of Cochin and Cannanore.
Some of the men Cabral left in India were massacred, so
King Manuel ordered da Gama to India again. A fresh
expedition under Vasco da Gama which started in 1501
demanded from the Zamorin the banishment of every
Muslim resident from Calicut. He strengthened the
factories at Cochin (present day Kochi in Kerala) and
Cannanore (present day Kannur in Kerala) and left a
squadron to supervise the Malabar Coast and to destroy
all Arab vessels coming to it from the Red Sea. He put
forward a definite claim to dominion over the Indian coast
and the Arabian Sea. On his departure the Arab
merchants and the Zamorin attacked the raja of Cochin
who bravely held out until relieved by the arrival of the
next Portuguese fleet in 1503.
The next Portuguese expedition under Lopo Soares
destroyed all the ports in which Arab influence prevailed
and prevented any ships from coming to or leaving
Cochin except their own.
THE PORTUGUESE MARITIME TRADE
AND SUPREMACY OVER THE INDIAN
OCEAN:
The Portuguese maritime empire acquired the name of
Estado da India (aggregate of Portugal’s colonial
holdings in India) which intended to monopolize the
pepper and spice trade of the East. On the basis of these
two commodities the Portuguese tried to found their
imperial ambitions. Besides controlling the whole of the
export trade to Europe, the Portuguese monopolized the
port-to-port trade on the Malabar Coast and the trade
from the Indian to the Persian coast on the one side and
to Malacca on the other.
Portugal’s initial objective was to seize the spice trade,
but after Cabral’s voyage she decided to divert to herself
all the trade of the East with Europe. It was now realized
in Portugal that command over the Eastern trade could
not be established by sending an annual fleet and
establishing a few isolated factories. Thus a new policy
was adopted in 1505: a Governor was to be appointed
on a three year term. The person first chosen for the
post was Francisco de Almeida who was invested with
full power to wage war, conclude treaties and regulate
commerce. He reached India in September 1505, built a
fort at Anjadiva (Karnataka) and settled, in Portuguese
interest, a question of succession to the throne of
Cochin.
The systematic assault of the Portuguese on the Muslim
(Mainly Arab) monopoly of trade in the Indian Ocean
and the Red Sea deprived Egypt and Turkey of the duties
on Indian goods passing through the sea-route and
across Egypt to Alexandria. Similarly, the Sultans of
Bijapur and Gujarat feared that the Portuguese would
extend their control from the southern (Malabar) ports
to the northern ports and encroach upon their interest.
This brought about an alliance between Egypt, Turkey
and Gujarat against the Portuguese intruders.
In a naval battle fought near Chaul, the combined Muslim
fleet won a victory over the Portuguese fleet under
Almeida’s son who was killed in the battle (January
1508). A year later, Almeida defeated the combined
Muslim fleet in a naval battle near Diu (February 1509).
This victory provided to Portuguese naval supremacy
in Asia and “turned the Indian Ocean for the next century
into a Portuguese sea”.
Chaul is a former city of Portuguese India, now in ruins.
It is located 60 km south of Mumbai, in Raigad District
of Maharashtra state in western India.
Albuquerque, the next governor, built up a great territorial
power in India. The plan of Albuquerque consisted of
three series of operations;
‣ The control of the Persian Gulf and the Red
Sea;
‣ The establishment of the headquarters of the
Portuguese power at a central port in the west
coast of India; and
‣ The destruction of Arab trade in the Malay
Peninsula and the Far East
The conquest of Goa from the Adilshahi Sultan of Bijapur
was Albuquerque’s first achievement (February 1510).
But as the city was quickly recaptured by the Sultan of
Bijapur, he had to undertake second expedition. He
recaptured the place and fortified it against any surprise
attack. The conquest of Goa put “the seal on Portuguese
naval supremacy along the south-west coast”.
Albuquerque thus enlarged and fulfilled the aims of
Almedia. He gave the Portuguese power a territorial base
in India. In view of the paucity of manpower in Portugal,
Albuquerque encouraged the lower class of the
Portuguese settlers to marry Indian women. He
maintained friendly relations with Vijayanagar and even
tried to secure the goodwill of Bijapur. He created regular
bodies of trained troops from among Indians. He died in
1515 leaving the Portuguese as the strongest naval power
in India.
Albuquerque’s immediate successor, Nuno da Cunha
(1529-38), established settlements at San Thome near
Madras and at Hughli in Bengal, and thus developed
commerce on the eastern coast. In 1534 the Portuguese
secured permission to build factories at Satgaon (Porto
Piqueno, little port) and Chittagong (Porto Grande, great
port) from the Sultan of Bengal. Chittagong continued
to be the ‘great port’, but Satgaon, the little port lost its
prosperity in the second half of the sixteenth century
and Hughli became the Porto Piqueno. Both Akbar and
Jahangir left the Portuguese in undisturbed enjoyment
of their rights and privileges at Hughli. In 1535 Cunha
got possession of Diu and Bassein from Bahadur Shah
of Gujarat.
By 1571 the Asiatic empire of Portugal was divided into
three independent commands, namely (a) a governorship
at Mozambique controlling the settlements on the
African coast; (b) a viceroyalty at Goa in charge of the
Indian and Persian territories; and (c) a governorship at
Malacca to control the trade of Java and the Spice
Archipelago.
Portuguese India (Portuguese: Índia Portuguesa or
Estado da India) was the aggregate of Portugal’s colonial
holdings in India. The government started in 1505, six
years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco
da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy
Francisco de Almeida, then settled at Kochi. Until 1752,
the name “India” included all Portuguese possessions
in the Indian Ocean, from southern Africa to Southeast
Asia, governed - either by a Viceroy or Governor - from
its headquarters, established in Goa since 1510. In 1752
Mozambique got its own government and in 1844 the
Portuguese Government of India stopped administering
the territory of Macau, Solor and Timor, being then
confined to Malabar.
WHY WERE PORTUGUESE SUCCESSFUL
The Portuguese landing in India “was fortunate both as
to place and time”. As the Mughal Empire was not yet
consolidated, there was no power, either in the North or
in the South of India, to effectively check the
establishment of the Portuguese dominion on the coast.
Moreover, the Malabar Coast, where they first placed
their foot (Calicut was situated on the Malabar Coast of
India) was then divided among petty Hindu chiefs, who
were at conflict with each other and were therefore too
weak to resist the Portuguese.
The use of artillery gave the Portuguese a great
advantage in sea warfare and was sufficient to coerce
all their Indian rivals. They crippled India’s shipbuilding
industry; Gujarat and Calicut were forced to abandon
the construction of fresh ships or even armed rowing
boats.
Even on land the Portuguese proved the better fighters
and were successful in establishing the fortified
factories, from Quilon and Cochin in the South, to Daman
and Diu in the North.
Through Cartaze system, the Portuguese introduced a
new concept to control exclusively the sea-routes and
the maritime trade of land-based states and empires of
Asia. Under it a tribute was demanded from Asian traders
and their ships. Every Indian ship sailing to a destination
not reserved by the Portuguese for their own trade had
to buy passes from the Portuguese viceroy of Goa or
the Portuguese captains of the seas; if it was avoided
the merchandise of the errant ship was seized and
confiscated.
THE DECLINE OF THE PORTUGUESE
POWER
The Portuguese monopoly of the Indian Ocean remained
unbroken till 1595, but in the first half of the seventeenth
century, the Portuguese naval ascendancy in the Indian
Ocean was successfully challenged by the Dutch and
the English.
In 1595 the first Dutch fleet rounded the Cape of Good
Hope and in 1603 they blockaded Goa itself. Soon after,
they made themselves masters of Java. They expelled
the Portuguese altogether from Sri Lanka in the years
1638-58. In 1641 they captured the great port of Malacca
and in 1652 got possession of the Cape of Good Hope
as well.
The English were also not far behind. In 1611 an English
squadron under Middleton defeated the Portuguese fleet
off Bombay. Four years later came their great victory
over the Portuguese, near Surat. In 1616 they entered
into direct commercial relations with the Zamorin of
Calicut. Two years later they began to trade in the Persian
Gulf. In 1622 they had captured Ormuz and finally in
1654 the Portuguese had to recognize the right of the
English to reside and trade in all their eastern
possessions.
Nor was it only from the hands of European rivals that
the final blow to the Portuguese power came. The
destruction of the Portuguese settlement at Hughli and
the conquest of Chittagong by the Mughal’s gave a
severe blow to the Portuguese presence in Bengal. In
1632 during the reign of the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan,
Qasim Khan (a Mughal Noble) completely destroyed
their settlement at Hughli and carried away, as prisoners,
more than a thousand of the Portuguese inhabitants.
Similarly, the Portuguese pirates who had established
themselves at Chittagong and raided the coasts of
Bengal and Arakan were easily defeated by the king of
Arakan. The descendants of these pirates, known as
the Feringhis who infested the whole of the Eastern
Bengal coast, were exterminated in about 1665, by
Shaista Khan (Mughal viceroy of Bengal). The Marathas
captured Salsette and Bassein from Portuguese in 1739.
In the end they were left only with Goa, Diu and Daman
which they retained till 1961.
THE REASONS BEHIND THE
PORTUGUESE DECLINE
The decline of Portuguese power in India was due to
several internal and external factors. Portugal was a small
country; it could not provide adequate manpower for
maintaining a far-flung colonial empire. Moreover the
journey to India was perilous; mortality on the crowded
vessels exceeded 40 per cent.
Religious intolerance was another negative facet of
Portuguese imperialism in India. Their fanatic desire to
convert all and sundry to their own faith, even at the
point of the sword, displayed an intolerant bigotry and
introduced all the horrors of the inquisition into India.
The Portuguese Indian Church was organized under the
guidance of St. Francis Xavier the Apostle of the Indies
who came to Goa with the Portuguese governor Martin
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Alfonso de Souza, in 1542. To St. Francis is due the
conversion of the Paravars, the fishermen tribe who lived
on the Coromandel Coast, as well as the Mukkuvas, the
fishermen of the Malabar Coast. Before his death in 1552,
the great Apostle of the Indies is said to have converted
some seven hundred thousand men, who belonged
mainly to the lowest classes of the population.
Their religious fanaticism absorbed a good portion of
their energies. Even before the time of Albuquerque,
priests and monks had flocked in large number to
Portuguese India. In 1538, Goa was made the seat of a
bishop; and other bishoprics were created at Cochin
and Malabar. After 1540, the Portuguese government in
India markedly came to be dominated by priests –
Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits. They established
at Goa, the hated inquisition which burnt or punished in
other cruel ways, unbelievers, relapsed converts and all
who were dangerous to the faith in the eyes of the
priests. They did not give freedom even to the ancient
Syrian Christians of the Malabar Coast. The chief results
of this intolerant policy were a practical denial of justice
to all non-Christians and the depopulation of Portuguese
towns. In 1552, a complaint was made that the
Portuguese towns in India were largely depopulated
owing to the forced conversion of Hindus and Muslims.
The old Goa Pourado (Golden Goa), whose glories were
sung by the Portuguese poets, was subsequently
depopulated and ruined.
The Portuguese failed to evolve an efficient system of
administration which is essential for success even in
colonial ventures. There was no continuity in Portuguese
government; Offices were sold to the highest bidders,
and there was much illicit private trade, corruption and
bribery. The lack of discipline and irregular pay turned
soldiers and sailors into dacoits and thieves.
The Estado da India was wholly a piratical and parasitic
state, which grew rich by ruthless plunder of unarmed
Asian merchant ships. After the discovery of the Cape
route, the Portuguese gave greater importance to the
coercive methods over those of normal peaceful
commerce. The Portuguese treatment of their native
subjects and opponents showed “a consistent and
systematic cruelty and barbarity no less than the
standards of a cruel age”. This provoked the hostility of
the Indian rulers and people.
FACTUAL ASPECTS ASSOCIATE WITH
PORTUGUESE CONTROL
• The Portuguese brought to India the
cultivation of tobacco.
• The Portuguese spread Catholicism in certain
regions on India’s western and eastern coasts.
• The first printing press in India was set up by
the Portuguese at Goa in 1556; the first scientific
work on Indian medicinal plants by a European
writer was printed at Goa in 1563.
• The Portuguese established their trading
stations at Calicut, Cochin, Cannanore, Daman,
Salsette, Chaul, Bombay, San Thome near
Madras and Hugli in Bengal
• Cochin was the early capital of the Portuguese
in India. Later the capital was transferred to
Goa by Nuno da Cunha.
• In 1661 the king of Portugal gave Bombay to
Charles II of England as dowry when he married
the formers sister.
2. THE DUTCH
Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie (VOC), popularly
known as, Dutch United East India Company was formed
in 1602. It was a national undertaking and was granted
an exclusive right to trade with India and the East Indies
for twenty-one years. The company was vested with
ample powers of attack and conquest by the state. The
skilful administrative system and the enthusiastic
national support which the company enjoyed enabled it
to monopolise the entire Spice trade to Europe.
DUTCH SETTLEMENTS IN INDIA
After an earlier abortive attempt to start trade at Surat
and on the Malabar Coast, Admiral Van der Haghen
opened up trade with the Coromandel Coast and set up
a permanent factory at Masulipatnam, Andhra Pradesh
(Early in 1605). Soon another factory was founded at
Devanampatnam (Tegnapatam), Tamil Nadu or Fort St.
David as it came to be called later (Under English
occupation).
In 1610, upon negotiating with the king of Chandragiri,
the Dutch found another factory at Pulicat, Tamil Nadu
named Fort Geldria in honour of the home province of
Van Berchem, the director-general of the Coromandel
factories. Till 1689, Pulicat was the chief centre of Dutch
on the Coromandel Coast, when it was superseded by
Negapatnam, Tamil Nadu acquired from the Portuguese
in 1659.
Textiles, woven according to special patterns
constituted the chief export of the Coromandel ports.
As early as 1612, the Coromandel trade was described
as the left arm of the Malaccas and neighboring islands,
since without the cottons from thence, trade would be
dead in the Malaccas. Other commodities exported by
the Dutch were indigo and saltpeter (the common name
for potassium nitrate. It is used to preserve food
especially meat in which it produces a characteristic
bright pink colour)
As regarding imports, apart from spices the chief articles
of import to the Coromandel were sandalwood and
pepper from the archipelago copper from Japan and
textiles from China.
Stimulated by the success of English efforts at Surat,
the Dutch also thought of establishing their settlements
at that port. In this context the Dutch governor of
Coromandel sent Van Ravesteyn, to secure a Farman
from the Mughal emperor for this purpose. However
even before Ravesteyn’s adverse report could be
received, Van Coen the governor-general of Batavia had
sent Pieter Van den Broecke to the Gujarat coast.
Broecke landed at Surat in August 1616, and got from its
governor permission to erect a provisional factory. The
indigo trade became as valuable at Surat and at Broach
as cotton, and the profits steadily mounted up. In the
following year factories were organized at Broach,
Bombay, Ahmedabad, Agra and Burhanpur.
In Bengal the Dutch first established a factory at Pipli,
but soon abandoned it for Balasore which was in turn
neglected when a firm footing was obtained at Chinsura
on the Hughli in 1653. The Dutch constructed Fort
Gustavus at Chinsura. Subsequently, they established
factories at Kasimbazar and Patna.
The profits of the Bengal trade were so great as to
overcome and counterbalance all losses arising from the
extortions and bribes taken by the Nawab’s officials.
The chief articles of export were cotton cloth, silk,
saltpeter and opium, the last of which was consumed in
Java and China and yielded enormous profits.
Since the pepper trade of Malabar was considered to be
less valuable than the Coromandel cloth trade, the Dutch
ignored the Malabar Coast. The only port belonging to
them on this side was Vengurla, to the north of Goa.
THE DECLINE OF THE DUTCH POWER
In the seventeenth century the position of the Dutch in
India rested on the superiority of their naval power. They
broke down the Portuguese monopoly by the open and
persistent use of force, capturing their ships and
supplanting them as the actual rulers of one stronghold
after another. However, against the English their naval
power was far less effective.
Over-centralisation and corruption, which weakened the
Company’s administration and the conflicts with the
Indian rulers also contributed to the decline of the Dutch
influence. Aurangzeb’s conquest of Golcunda marked
the decline of the Coromandel government. The profits
of trade fell in two years (1685-87) to one-fifteenth, and
all the establishments worked at a considerable loss.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DUTCH
TRADE
The Dutch on the one hand, dislodged the Portuguese
from India’s maritime trade, and on the other, they gave
a new direction and commodity structure to India’s
foreign trade. The credit for making Indian textiles the
premier export from India goes to the Dutch. The Dutch
instead of the spices greatly promoted the export of
textiles, which they considered more lucrative. Gradually
the Indian textiles found wide acceptance in far flung
parts of the world. By the third quarter of the seventeenth
century, the popularity of Indian textiles had become
sufficiently established as to extend their use to the luxury
end of the market.
FACTUAL ASPECTS:
• The first Dutch expedition which successfully
reached the East Indies was that of Cornelius
Houtman in 1596.
• The Dutch set up factories at Masulipatnam,
Pettapoli (Nizampatam), Devanampatnam
(Tegnapatam), Tirupapuliyur (Southern
Pataliputra), Pulicat etc
• The factories of the Dutch were more or less
fortified Two chiefs presided over each factory,
namely the first who had general supervision
and the second who kept the trading accounts
and was in charge of the warehouses. The
factors were graded as merchants of different
grades; assistant, junior, merchant proper, and
senior.
• Van Reede transferred the seat of the
government to Negapatam in 1689.
• The directorate of Surat proved to be one of
the most profitable establishments of the Dutch
Company.
3. THE ENGLISH
By the end of the seventeenth century the merchants of
England, jealous of the prospects of their Dutch rivals,
began preparations for a commercial voyage to the East.
Finally, through the charter granted by Queen Elizabeth
I on 31 December 1600 those interested in such a
venture were incorporated under the title of ‘The
Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading
into the East Indies’.
The immediate aim of the company was the acquisition
of the spices and pepper of the Eastern Archipelago
and therefore the first two voyages of the company,
between 1601-1606, were made, not to India, but to Achin
(In Sumatra), Bantam (in Java) and the Malaccas. Finally
with the third voyage in 1608, the English initiated the
process of the company’s trade with India and Captain
William Hawkins who had experience in such ventures
and could speak Turkish, was provided with a letter from
King James I to Jahangir.
ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS AT
WESTERN COAST
The English beginnings in India were not very promising
on account of Portuguese rivalry. William Hawkins
journeyed from Surat and arrived at the Jahangir’s court,
in 1609, but failed to get permission to erect a factory at
Surat. Jahangir though initially willing to grant
permission later refused due to Portuguese pressure.
However the victory of English under Captain Best over
Portuguese fleet at Swally (near Surat) in 1612 broke the
tradition of Portuguese naval supremacy and a Farman
was issued by Jahangir permitting the English to
establish a factory at Surat (1613). Sir Thomas Roe, the
royal ambassador from King James I to the Mughal
emperor, succeeded in getting two Farmans by 1618,
one of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, and the other of
the Prince Khurram granting the permission to trade and
erect factories in different parts of the Empire.
Surat was one of the chief centres of maritime trade and
caravans started from it for all the inland parts of India.
Indeed, it is from Surat that the English extended inland
their trading operations and by 1616 built subordinate
factories at Ahmedabad, Baroda, Broach and Agra. By
1630 the trade of Surat had grown to such dimensions,
that the directors constituted it into the headquarters of
the company on the West Coast. It was finally replaced
by Bombay as headquarter of the company on the West
coast in 1687.
What brought Dutch to India, in the first instance, was
In the middle of the 17
rather the requirements of the archipelago than of the
th century (1654) the English began
to emerge as a formidable colonial power. After 60-70
European market; in other words, it was a distinctly years of rivalry with the English, the Dutch power in
subsidiary interest. The spices of the archipelago were India began to decline by the beginning of the 18 th
exchanged for cotton goods from Gujarat and the century. Their final collapse came with their defeat by
Coromandel Coast.
the English in the battle of Bedara in 1759.
cont....
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In 1661, the Portuguese gave Bombay as a part of dowry
to their princess, Catherine of Braganza, on her marriage
with Charles II. The Company acquired Bombay from
Charles II on lease at an annual rent of ten pounds in
1668. The English secured Bombay at a very crucial moment
when Surat was being repeatedly attached by the
Marathas.
Gerald Aungier, who was the first governor of Bombay
(1669 to 1677), was the true founder of Bombay’s
greatness. He resolved to make Bombay completely safe
for shipping and trade, free from danger on the landside
from the Marathas and on the sea-side from the
Portuguese and the pirates of the coast.
Under Aungier, Bombay became a safe asylum for all
merchants and manufacturers. He established vigorous
and strict discipline over all the inhabitants of the city
and allowed every community to enjoy the free exercise
of its religion. During his governorship the old
Panchayat system was revived, so that justice was
actually brought to the door of the people in minor cases.
He saved English lives and properties during Shivaji’s
second sack of Surat in 1670
However under Aungier, successors began the general
decline of Bombay which continued till the close of the
first quarter of the eighteenth century. The peaceful and
orderly government of Aungier was in striking contrast
with the terror which prevailed under Sir John Child.
During this period interlopers (The individual English
merchants independent of the Company’s control)
created problems. At the close of the seventeenth
century, these interlopers took to open piracy. In 1686
two pirate ships captured several Mughal vessels in the
Red Sea, upon which the Mughal governor of Surat
violently reacted against the English, particularly at Sir
John Child, President of Surat and Governor of Bombay.
Though John Child punished the interlopers savagely
whenever they were caught, the evil grew more rampant.
These pirates and interlopers were the principal cause
of the disastrous war which the English subsequently
waged with the Mughal’s.
John Child got really frightened and hastened to assure
the Emperor Aurangzeb, who was then in the Deccan,
that he had really no hostile intention. But Aurangzeb
was not deceived by Child’s profession of friendship;
he issued orders that the English should be treated as
enemies. At last, John Child supplicated the emperor for
peace, whereupon the latter imposed the following
humiliating terms upon the English:
All sums due from the Company to the Mughal subjects
should be immediately paid;
Recompense should be given for such losses as the
Mughal’s had suffered; and
The hated Sir John Child should leave India within nine
months.
ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS AT
EASTERN COAST
The English were permitted to trade in Masulipatnam in
1611 and in 1630 secured the ‘golden farman’ from the
Sultan of Golcunda (1632) which ensured safety and
prosperity of their trade. Masulipatnam was the chief
sea port of the great inland kingdom of Golcunda and
largely traded in diamonds, rubies and textiles of that
region.
In 1639, Francis Day obtained the site of Madras from
the Raja of Chandragiri with permission to build a
fortified factory, which was named Fort St. George. It
was only with the foundation of Madras by the English
in 1639, their arrival at Hughli in 1650 and their
establishment of a factory at Balasore in north Orissa
that the position of the English on the eastern coast
became strong and permanent. Madras soon replaced
Masulipatam as the headquarters of the English on the
Coromandel Coast, and in 1641 all the English settlements
in eastern India (Bengal, Bihar and Orissa) and the
Coromandel were placed under the control of the
president and council of Fort St George.
ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN BENGAL
and Pipli. The English also succeeded to establish their
factory at Hugli in 1651, followed by those at Patna,
Dacca and Kasimbazar.
In 1667, Aurangzeb gave the English a Farman for trade
in Bengal, and five years later, in 1672, the Mughal
governor, Shaista Khan, issued an order confirming all
the privileges already acquired by the English.
In 1686, the hostilities broke out between the English
and the Mughal government in Bengal. In retaliation for
the sack of Hughli (October 1686) the English captured
the imperial forts on the east of the Midnapore district,
and at Balasore But the English were forced to leave
Hughli and to retire to an unhealthy place at the mouth
of the river.
After the conclusion of peace between the Company
and the Mughal government in February 1690, Job
Charnock returned to Bengal as agent, where he
established an English factory on February 10, 1691. On
the same day, an imperial order was issued permitting
the English “to contentedly continue their trade” in
Bengal on payment of Rs. 3,000 a year in lieu of all dues.
This marked the foundation of Calcutta, which was
destined to develop as one of the greatest Indian cities.
The rebellion of Sobha Singh a Zamindar in the district
of Burdwan, gave an opportunity to the English to fortify
their settlement at Sutanuti in 1696. They were permitted
by Azimush Shah Governor of Bengal, to purchase the
Zamindari of the three villages of Sutanuti, Kalikata and
Govindpur on payment of Rs. 1,200 to the old
proprietors.
In 1696, a serious rebellion occurred in Bengal under an
Afghan named Rahim Khan who plundered the whole
country along the Hughli. Alarmed by rebellion and the
inability of the Mughal viceroy to put it down, the
English at Calcutta as well as the Dutch at Chinsura
asked permission to fortify their factories and to raise
troops. The viceroy ordered them, in general terms, to
defend themselves; so the English began to build walls
and bastions round their factory 1697. This was the
origin of Fort William, named after King William III. Next
year they got the permission to rent, besides Calcutta,
the villages of Sutanuti and Govindpur. The security of
Calcutta, which began with the building of the fort, was
now completely assured.
In 1700, the directors constituted Bengal as a separate
presidency independent of Madras, and nominated Sir
Charles Eyre as its first president. In 1701, Aurangzeb,
who had often suspected the English of piratical acts
and was now confirmed in his suspicions by the two
rival English Companies accusing each other of piracy,
ordered the general arrest of all the Europeans in India.
Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 made the English at Calcutta
fear that their growing trade would be swept away by
the coming tide of civil war and anarchy. After protracted
negotiations, the English got confirmation of their
privileges from the new emperor Shah Alam and the de
facto ruler of Bengal Murshid Quli Khan. They looked
hopefully to peace and prosperous trade.
The period from 1708 up to the middle of the eighteen
century, saw the expansion of the Company’s trade and
influence in India. The most important event in the
history of the Company during these years was the
diplomatic mission led by John Surman in 1715 to the
court of the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar, resulting in
the grant of three famous Farmans addressed to the
officials in Bengal, Hyderabad and Gujarat. The Farmans
gave the Company many valuable privileges.
In Bengal it exempted the Company’s imports and
exports from additional customs duties, excepting the
annual payment of Rs. 3,000 as settled earlier. The
Company was allowed to rent additional lands around
Calcutta. In Hyderabad, the company’s old privilege of
freedom from dues in trade was retained, and it had to
pay only the existing rent for Madras. At Surat, the
Company was exempted from the levy of all duties for
its exports and imports in lieu of an annual payment of
Rs. 10,000; and the coins of the Company minted at
Bombay were to have currency throughout the Mughal
Empire. In the subsequent years, the English East India
Company began to extend its territorial claims; and by
the end of the eighteenth century, it succeeded in
establishing its Paramountacy
4. THE DANES
Danish India is a term for the former colonies of Denmark
in India. The colonies included the town of Tranquebar
in present-day Tamil Nadu state, Serampore in presentday
West Bengal, and the Nicobar Islands, currently
part of India’s union territory of the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands. The Danish colonies in India were
founded by the Danish East India Company, which was
active from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The Danish
colony’s capital was Fort Dansborg at Tranquebar,
established in 1620, on the Coromandel Coast. In 1779 it
was turned over to the government by the chartered
company and became a Danish crown colony.
In 1789 the Andaman Islands became a British
possession. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British
attacked Danish shipping, and devastated the Danish
East India Company’s India trade. In May 1801 - August
1802 and 1808 - 20 September 1815 the British even
occupied Dansborg and Frederiksnagore. The Danish
colonies went into decline, and the British ultimately
took possession of them, making them part of British
India: Serampore was sold to the British in 1839, and
Tranquebar and most minor settlements in 1845 (11
October 1845 Frederiksnagore sold; 7 November 1845
other continental Danish India settlements sold); on 16
October 1869 all Danish rights to the Nicobar Islands,
which since 1848 had been gradually abandoned, were
sold to Britain.
5. THE FRENCH
“Compagnie des Indes Orientales” popularly known as
the French East India Company was formed by Colbert
(the famous minister of Louis XIV), under state
patronage in 1664. In 1667 an expedition was sent under
Francois Caron, who established the first French factory
India at Surat. In 1669 Marcara founded another French
factory at Masulipatam by securing patent from the
Sultan of Golcunda.
In July 1672, French squadron under De La Haye
occupied San Thome near Madras, which the Sultan of
Golcunda had conquered from the Portuguese ten years
earlier. This led to an alliance of the Dutch and the Sultan
of Golcunda against the French. Faced with a critical
situation, De la Haye had to capitulate (September 6,
1674) and surrender San Thome to the Dutch who
allowed the Sultan of Golcunda to reoccupy it.
Meanwhile, in 1673, Francois Martin, director of the
Masulipatam factory, obtained from Sher Khan Lodi,
governor of Valikondapuram, a site for a factory, which
latter developed into Pondicherry and its first governor
was Francois Martin. In Bengal, the French laid the
foundation of their famous settlement of Chandranagar
in 1690 on a site granted to them by Shayista Khan.
In 1701 Pondicherry was made the head-quarters of all
possessions of the French in the East, and Martin was
appointed director general of French affairs in India. It
has been held that Martin foresaw the decadence of the
Indian powers and planned the acquisition of Indian
predominance for the French “as the essential condition
of free commercial development”. He completed the
building of Fort Louis at Pondicherry, helped to
strengthen the Company’s position at Chandranagar in
Bengal and attempted to revive even the declining
French factory at Surat.
The death of Martin in December 1706 marked the
decline of French power in India, which persisted till
1719 and led to the reconstitution of the company in
1720. The reconstituted company named the United
Compagnie des Indes was formed by a royal edict and
entrusted with the whole of French colonial trade.
The French power in India was revived under Lenoir
and Dumas (governors) between 1720 and 1742. They
occupied Mahe in the Malabar, Yanam in Coromandel
(both in 1725) and Karikal in Tamil Nadu (1739). The
arrival of Dupleix as French governor in India in 1724
saw the beginning of Anglo-French conflict (Carnatic
wars) resulting in their final defeat in India, at the battle
of Wandiwash in 1760.
In England there was a growing demand for Bengal
goods, especially for silk and saltpeter; and the trade of
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the Bengal factories consequently increased. In 1633,
the Mughal governor of Orissa gave the English
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ARTICLES
Next stage of the Middle East Revolution in Egypt?
Understanding the Complete Picture by Rajat Sen ( Career Launcher Team)
By the end of 2010, world witnessed social uprisings in
the area which had been left out of democratic wave
that swept the world in the second half of 20 th century.
Starting from Tunisia, the revolution spread across the
region at an unprecedented rate. It had toppled
governments in many countries with a regional power –
Egypt, also falling in the wake of defiant protests by the
citizens across the country.
A HISTORICAL LOOK UP
Before we read the current stage of the crisis, we can
brush up our knowledge with chain of events that
brought Egypt in the current state of crisis.
Egypt is a country 0f 80 million people and has a long
history of human civilization which spans over 2,500
years. In the modern times, the nation got freedom from
the British in 1952. In 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser secured
the power. He is remembered as one of the greatest
leaders of the country. His biggest failure remained the
loss of crucial six day war with Israel.
Anwar Sadat followed Nasser in 1970. He is still
remembered for his successes against Israel in 1973 war,
which started the world energy crisis. He went a step
further after he signed the peace agreement with Israel
in 1978-79. This was not a historic moment in Egypt
only but rather in Israel and the whole Arab world. Egypt
was expelled from the Arab League. Till 1978, Egyptian
foreign policy was based on anti-Israel stand and public
in the Arab world including Egypt is against any link
with the Jewish country. But the peace deal formed a
unique moment in the international arena. Sadat paid for
the deal, as he was assassinated in a public rally by
some of his army officers who were against the peace
deal with Israel.
Hosni Mubarak followed Anwar Sadat, after latter’s
assassination in 1981. He was, also, a pro-Israeli and
continued healthy relation with Israel while maintaining
a close relation with the US. His regime has spanned for
30 years, making him the longest serving ruler of the
Egypt.
What was wrong in his rule that prompted widespread
protests, which eventually led to his ouster?
The rule of Hosni Mubarak continued with his National
Democratic Party (NDS) government maintaining oneparty
rule under a continuous state of emergency. In the
state of emergency police had special powers,
constitutional rights suspended, censorship is legalized,
government may imprison individuals indefinitely
without reason. It, also, limits any non-governmental
political activity, including street demonstrations, nonapproved
political organizations and any unregistered
donations. This made the regime a complete authoritarian.
On the other hand, regime maintained peace with Israel,
which made many people uneasy with the government.
Mubarak’s government earned the support of the West
and received annual aid from the US while continuing
suppression towards Islamic militants. This further
fuelled the fire against the government. Then corruption,
economic insecurity among the youth which was marred
by high unemployment rate and crony capitalism,
maintained a continuous level of frustration against the
regime.
Information Technology and social networking also
contributed in the large public gatherings and wide
success of the revolution.
ARAB SPRING AND EGYPT
Witnessing the success of revolution in Tunisia,
Egyptians vented out their frustration against the regime
in the form of a campaign of non-violent civil resistance,
which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts
of civil disobedience and labour strikes. Generally, the
protests were non-violent with many incidents of violent
clashes. Army maintained its presence in the
demonstration areas but stopped short of any
suppression of the protesters but continued to control
the situation within the limits.
Protesters primarily demanded the resignation of Hosni
Mubarak. Initially, Mubarak dissolved his government
and appointed a military figure and intelligence head
Omar Suleiman as Vice-President in an attempt to quell
dissent and asked his aviation minister to form a new
government. As the pressure mounted further, Mubarak
finally resigned and handed power to the Supreme
Council of the Armed Forces.
At present the protests are continuing with the concerns
about how long the military junta will last in Egypt, some
are afraid that the military will rule the country indefinitely.
Protesters have demanded a complete time table till the
transfer of power to a democratic government. They
considered the changes to be very slow and fear military
rule to stay for a long time.
WHERE NOW
When one analyses the chain of events and revolution,
it can be concluded that protests in Egypt were not
centered on religion-based politics, but nationalism and
a broad-based social consciousness. Till this day the
main theme behind the protests continue to maintain a
nationalistic theme but Islamic hues has often seen to
be mixed with the revolution. Before the uprising, the
most organized and prominent opposition movements
throughout the Arab world usually came from Islamist
organizations that relied on a conviction of faith, where
members were motivated and ready to sacrifice. But still
many, secular forces emerged from the revolution and
religious groups shared many principles with them like
freedom, social justice and dignity. Islamist
organizations also emerged with greater freedom to
operate. Till this day both the group has seen a cordial
march but there is a risk of increased power and influence
for Islamist forces in the country and the region at large,
as well as the difficulties of integrating the different
groups, ideologies, and visions for the country among
the population. Partisan politics could witness its
existence in future. Rise and growing popularity of
Muslim Brotherhood and its involvement in the new
democratic landscape, taking leading roles in
constitutional changes, voter mobilization and protests,
has also contributed in the rising concerns regarding
Islamisation of the new Egypt.
At the international level, world is certainly wary of the
rising Islamic ideology in the country and its first effects
are visible in the changing relation with Israel. A large
section of pubic never endorsed the peace deal with
Israel and this feeling has again started to creep up,
after the departure of Mubarak.
Looking at the role of military in the country, the armed
forces enjoy much better reputation with the public than
the police which has been accused of systemic
corruption and illegitimate violence. Military under the
name of Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) is
currently ruling the state. At present, military receives
more than a billion dollar aid from the US and buys a
large chunk of its arsenal from the US. Many of its officers
also receive training from the US. Thus, military council
is reform resistant as future councils are often assumed
to be not very US friendly due to the involvement of
Islamic forces. But in the wake of continuous protests
and current developments, military has very few options
and cannot prevent the reforms. In the parliamentary
elections which finally happened in November 2011 after
being postponed by 2 months. Muslim Brotherhood,
under the name of Freedom and Justice Party, emerged
as the largest party by securing 36.6% vote. This has
set a new tone in the political developments in the
country. Opinions of military rule and muslim
brotherhood has been conflicting. Muslim brotherhood
is looking for quick reforms and establishment of civilian
rule at the earliest whereas military is not very keen on
reinstating civilian rule until its secures its position the
new political picture.
Thus, Egypt is undergoing a transition. Best part is that
the transitional process is generally peaceful but this
could turn to a chaotic one in the future as both the
primary stakeholders have conflicting opinions. Muslim
Brotherhood is keen on reinstating the civilian rule as
early as possible with necessary reforms whereas military
wants to ensure its secure position, in the changing
political equations and social environment, before
pushing for complete reforms.
While one year has passed without polio caused by
natural poliovirus, we can claim complete eradication
only after we ensure the absence of wild and vaccine
polioviruses in the population.
Today, India passes one whole year without polio
caused by natural (wild) poliovirus — a major milestone
towards polio eradication. This spells relief from an
agonising decade of wild polioviruses refusing to
surrender. Many experts believed that India posed the
greatest challenge to polio eradication for
epidemiological reasons; our success proves it can be
achieved in other countries where the obstacles are more
programmatic than biological. For the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative (GPEI), this is a shot in the arm.
THE DECADE OF AGONY
A Major Milestone in Polio Eradication by T. Jacob John
transmission beyond 2005. In India, during the last
decade, over 95 per cent of cases occurred in U.P. and
Bihar — arguably the world’s most difficult spots for
eradication. In 2000 and 2001, there were 265 and 268
cases but in 2002 an outbreak occurred with 1600 cases,
mostly type 1. Then, the numbers dwindled to 225 and
134 in 2003 and 2004, and 66 in 2005. All hopes of success
were shattered by another polio outbreak in 2006, with
648 cases of type 1 and 28 of type 3 polio.
Since type 1 showed a cyclical nature of outbreaks every
fourth year — 1998, 2002 and 2006 — the next outbreak
in 2010 had to be averted at all costs. Type 2 had taught
us that sequential eradication of one type at a time was
realistic. So type 1 was targeted and the tactics paid off
— we had less than 100 cases each during 2007-2009, 18
in 2010 and just one case on January 13, 2011 — none
since.
2011, was reported not from U.P. or Bihar, but from
Howrah in West Bengal.
PROBLEMS & INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
By 1988, nearly 70 countries had achieved the elimination
of wild poliovirus transmission through their routine
national immunisation programmes, some using the
inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) but others using
the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV). For countries with
polio, the World Health Organisation recommended the
exclusive use of OPV for its low cost and ease of
inoculation by mouth — as two drops. On the flip side,
the very fact that many countries using OPV could not
control polio with routine immunisation indicated that it
was not as effective as in other countries. The difference
was clear: tropical/ subtropical countries with low
income, overcrowding, high birth rates, and high child
mortality faced low effectiveness of OPV, whereas those
with the opposites had high vaccine effectiveness.
The year 2000 was the target date for global eradication Type 3 cases were less than 10 in 2004 and 2005.
set by the World Health Assembly in 1988. Intense Unfortunately, while type 1 was singled out for attack,
efforts by countries, guided by GPEI, resulted in success type 3 outbreaks developed, first in Bihar (2007-08) and
in most countries and partial success in all countries. Of then in U.P. (2008-09). So in 2010, there was yet another
the 3 types of polioviruses, type 2 was globally change of tactic, now focussing on type 3 along with In India, the disparities of such factors spelt differential
effectiveness among States. Not only did some
eradicated in 1999 — with the last case in Uttar Pradesh. type 1. There were 24 cases of type 3 in 2010 and none in
communities exhibit lower vaccine effectiveness, they
But transmission of types 1 and 3 continued in six 2011. In U.P., the last wild virus polio was reported on
also had more intense wild virus transmission. The
countries. Later, two more succeeded, leaving India, April 21, 2010 and in Bihar on September 1, 2010 — both
conjunction of both problems made U.P. and Bihar stand
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria with continuing type 3. So we have now come 20 months without a case
in U.P. and 15 months in Bihar. The case of January 13,
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out as the most difficult regions for polio eradication.
Indian scientists had actually warned the GPEI of such
pitfalls but global leaders from rich countries couldn’t
believe that such extreme variations could exist with wild
virus epidemiology and vaccine effectiveness. Once that
lesson was learned, the progress was rapid.
Wild polioviruses exist in 3 types, and OPV also contains
attenuated strains of the 3 types. So it is called trivalent
OPV (tOPV). Among the 3 types, type 2 is the most
efficient; that was why type 2 wild virus disappeared in
1999, within a few years of national pulse vaccinations.
But type 2 in the tOPV also interferes with the others,
making them very inefficient. From 2000, the frequency
of campaigns with tOPV was increased in U.P. and Bihar,
but to no avail. Type 2 had to be removed from tOPV to
get the best out of types 1 and 3. In 2005 and thereafter,
a new monovalent type 1 OPV (mOPV-1) was used in
U.P. and Bihar — it is three times more effective than
tOPV. This was one factor of success. But gaps in
immunity were created against type 3; consequently,
type 3 outbreaks occurred in 2007-2009. Then, a bivalent
vaccine (bOPV with 1 and 3) was developed. It was noninferior
to mOPV-1 or mOPV-3. From early 2010, bOPV
has been widely used in U.P. and Bihar during
campaigns, while tOPV is used everywhere for routine
immunisation.
While the problem of “failure of vaccine” was being
addressed, there was also the problem of “failure to
vaccinate”. Seasonally, millions of families from U.P. and
Bihar migrate for work — some to Maharashtra or Punjab,
others within their States. Their children missed both
routine and campaign doses. The tactic of vaccination
in transit — in trains/buses and in stone quarries/brick
kilns — became the norm from 2005. As all bottlenecks
were cleared, success ensued.
TRIBUTE TO THE NATION
Many global experts marvel at the ability of Indians to
work with diligence and sincerity, and at India’s tenacity
in spite of pessimistic prophecies of failure. So a tribute
is due: to the families of children and all workers, district
managers — medical and administrative — State
leadership, the National Polio Surveillance Project
personnel, the Government of India staff working
alongside the global polio partners, WHO, UNICEF,
Rotary International and the U.S. Centres for Disease
Control, and the vaccine manufacturers who up-scaled
production on demand, and filled the prescriptions for
mOPV-1 and 3 and for bOPV. All of them deserve our
applause and gratitude.
In many other programmes in India, poor implementation
is the oft-repeated reason for failures and delays. The
success of implementation depends on the design of
the programme and proper supervision of activities. The
government must learn and apply this lesson in all other
faltering health projects — against TB, malaria, child
mortality and under-nutrition.
WHAT NEXT?
For certification of eradication, two more years should
pass without any case of wild virus polio. Polio virus
The Game of Water by Sanjay Kumar
Water: from Bilateral to Strategic Issue
The core issue of water is taking a new turn in regional
geopolitics be it India, Pakistan or China. The water
availability statistics pose a dire future and consequently
it is emerging as a critical resource. China and India are
especially vulnerable, for they have to cater to the
growing demands of industrialisation and agricultural
needs. The per capita availability of water in China and
India stands at respectively, 2100 and 1700 cubic metres.
By 2025, it is estimated that water availability will decline
below the threshold level of 1700 cubic metres as
stipulated by UN standards. Amidst this global shortage
of water, is the geographical feature where nearly 270
river basins are shared by more than one country. As
water shortage increases states are bound to invest in
water infrastructure. This may be in the form of dams,
both run of the river or storage. Dams have become one
of the singularly contending issues of development
debates. While at the national and regional level,
embarking of heavy water infrastructure projects like
dams may be beneficial, it is vehemently opposed at the
local level. In the case of trans-border basins they lead
to deterioration of relations between co-basin countries.
In the case of India-China, later is the upper riparian
state in the case of trans-border Rivers, therefore it
enjoys tremendous leverage. Further, the Chinese
unilateral damming of trans-border Rivers has raised
concerns in the lower riparian countries. Chinese control
over Tibet accrues it high advantages in terms of river
sharing.
Water has become an important issue of China-India,
diplomatic discourse. India as lower riparian state is
apprehensive of Chinese attempts at diverting, storage
and general opaqueness on water issues. If water issues
between India and Pakistan are a constant irritant, then
between China and India, it raises even a deeper anxiety
and portends an ominous future. Sino-Indian relations
on water reflect as much geopolitical distrust as
difference on the issues involved per se. China’s opaque
polity is reluctant to part with information and this is
evident especially with respect to water issues. China
has not entered into a single water sharing treaty with
any country. Besides that, its deliberate policy of holding
and releasing information in instalments and that too,
when challenged by hard evidence adds to other
country’s discomfort and speculation.
problems with almost all of its co-riparian countries,
Russia, Kazakhstan, Mekong River Co-riparian’s and
Myanmar.
India has apprehensions on Chinese activities on the
river Sutlej and its tributaries and Yarlung Tsangpo
known as Brahmaputra on the Indian side of the border.
China has built small dams on Sutlej, which it has, not
notified India of. India’s larger apprehensions however
relate to upstream diversion and damming of
Brahmaputra. Near Mountain Namcha Barwa the river
takes a ‘U’ bend involving steep gradient of around 5000
mtrs. The ‘U’ bend has hydropower potential of around
50,000 MWs. This is one of the deeper anxieties of the
government. The main issue of concern is the run of the
river dam at Zangmu a 540 MW power project. What is
even more disconcerting that feasibility studies have
been carried out for five more such projects further
upstream? Water diversion projects are part of Chinese
plan to feed its starving north through these major
diversion projects. As Syed Hussein contends China
has practically redeployed its entire labour force
responsible for construction of Lhasa Gyalmo railway
line on these projects.
What is worrying India is that China never shares any
data on these projects and acknowledged there existence
only when confronted by hard evidence such as sub
metric remote sensing images. It is generally assumed
that these are run of the river project. The new projects
on the pipeline propose to generate close to 40,000 MW
of electric power and their construction entails tunnels,
reservoirs etc. The issue of concern is that run of the
river dams do not involve construction of massive
storage facilities, rather they involve channelising of
potential energy of the falling water, in this case, steep
gradient of Tibetan geographical feature. It is obvious
that something is amiss and reassurances from the
Chinese government must not be taken at face value.
It needs to be underscored that even in the case of run
of the river schemes, though net storage of water may
not be involved, but river course needs to be altered or
managed so as to make exploiting of energy potential.
Therefore, India cannot take satisfaction from mere
sharing of hydrological data or sharing of technological
feature. Further, once a cascade of engineering projects
begins to take place on a trans-border river, is reduced
to the mercy of upper riparian. The cascade of proposed
projects will affect rivers at their will. As rivers are
environmentally living resources, they are bound to
effect river dependent populations downstream. For
example, in case of upstream activities on the river,
downstream rivers carry high silt content, fish catch is
reduced and other environmental effects also multiply.
The former was noticed in case of Nathpa Jhakri Power
Project, when it was feared that Chinese activities on
upper reaches of Sutlej in Tibet, was the cause of high
silt content. Similar problems are being observed in the
case of downstream Mekong River, affecting lower
Mekong delta countries, such as Vietnam and Cambodia
which are being are facing serious droughts and leading
to tensions between these countries and China.
can remain silently in circulation for short periods; so,
complacency must not set in. We must continue working
as if we still have poliovirus lurking somewhere, only to
show up when least expected. There is also the threat of
importation of wild virus from Pakistan, Afghanistan and
Nigeria.
Vaccine viruses by themselves can rarely cause polio;
the balance is roughly one case of vaccine-associated
paralytic polio (VAPP) replacing 200 cases of wild virus
polio. Yet, in the absence of wild virus polio, VAPP is
unacceptable. Moreover, vaccine viruses may gradually
revert to wild-like properties if allowed to circulate. Such
circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV)
cropped up in many OPV-using countries recently,
including India since 2009. If allowed to grow, they can
capture the niche vacated by wild viruses. We have to
stop OPV to stop VAPP, but some cVDPV may already
be in silent circulation to show up in outbreaks one or
more years later. The safest solution is to introduce IPV,
reach 90 per cent or more coverage and only then stop
OPV. That will pre-empt the evolution of cVDPVs. Only
after we ensure the absence of wild and vaccine
polioviruses in the population can we claim complete
success of polio eradication. That is the challenge of
the present decade.
(The author was professor of clinical virology in the
Christian Medical College, Vellore until retirement,
and has served on several Global and National
Committees on Immunisation and Polio Eradication.)
Most importantly, it is doubtful that on the Yarlung
Tsangpo only a power project with run of the river scheme
is attempted. Under South-North Water transfer scheme
which was visualised by Mao, in Fifties, seeks
gargantuan task of shifting of water from abundant south
to parched north. Southern China has comparatively
more water resources than northern China. Of the three
routes attempted Eastern, Central and Western, later
appears to be the chosen one for attempted shift of water
from Yarlung Tsangpo as mentioned above. The prospect
of water diversion raises a number of issues. First, is the
quantum of water will be affected by Yarlung Tsangpo
diversion? According to estimates, going around thirty
per cent of the flow comes from the China; balance is
from the catchment area mostly in India. Is this enough
to generate an alarm in the Indian policy circles? Or it is
something that can be ignored to maintain peace,
harmony and good relations with China. India is not the
only riparian state affected by the diversion; Bangladesh
too is equally affected, in fact, more so — as it is
dependent upon Faraaka Barrage for water during lean
season. In addition, taking cognisance of our own run
of the river projects for generating hydropower in the
Arunachal Pradesh, Chinese activities on the river cannot
be ignored. Arunachal Pradesh government has signed
more than hundred MOUs for setting up of hydropower
projects. Further, it is against convention to draw
projects on trans-border rivers, without consulting or –
informing the lower riparian states. What should be of
concern is the fact that China is one of the largest dam
builders in the world. From the available reports, it has
begun work on South- North Water Transfer Scheme,
where it is reported that population movement has begin
to take place. The question is whether this is technically
feasible. China is known to take technologically
gargantuan projects, be it Qinghai-Tibet Railway or
Three Gorges Dam. Third, the issue is of technological
feasibility. For, example amount of energy spent on lifting
the water and transferring it means energy gain will be
minimum or there will be a loss of energy. The argument
of technological feasibility is difficult to overturn.
Keeping in mind the scarcity of water in China, which is
bound to become acute in the long term horizons, the
project may become viable.
As the project’s completion date is 2050, perhaps, this
thinking makes Chinese spokespersons to say that
‘presently’ there are no plans on Brahmaputra. It is true
that presently China is defensive
on dams, as it has many projects going on at the same
China is in control of the Tibetan plateau from which
time and is receiving strictures for many of them.
around ten major rivers flow. Added to above are
Internally, on environmental unsoundness of the project,
concerns about how climate change is affecting the snow
even the latest Three Gorges dam is no exception.
pack and glacier mass in Tibet plateau, impacting the
Further, Chinese reluctance to recognise Arunachal
most crucial hydrological systems in the region with
Pradesh as Indian Territory, may have this aspect in mind.
great impact for Indian eco-system. As Syed Iqbal
In the past opposition by Asian Development Bank
Hasnain in an editorial in Times of India argues “China
(ADB) to give loan to India may be a tactical strategy
claims sovereign rights to control one of the world’s
with larger endgame in mind. China will pre-empt Indian
largest fresh water resources which are increasingly
objection on Yarlung Tsangpo, as it does not even
vulnerable to global warming and are critical to
recognise Arunachal Pradesh as part of India. At the
sustaining South Asia’s food and water security. The
moment many hydropower projects are going on in the
question is should China remain the sole arbitrator of
state, which is at the centre of concentred hydropower
the fate of Tibetan waters? What happens to the fate of
utilisation strategy. This could become a future source
downstream nations dependent upon these waters?” It
of friction and many projects planned could become
is not in Tibet alone; China is encountering similar
cont....
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MARCH 2012
SOCIOLOGY AS AN OPTIONAL: WHY?
Selection of a proper optional subject for the Civil Service
Exam is a difficult problem for the aspirants of Civil
Service in the present competitive scenario. It could be
decided only on the basis of proper information
regarding the subject. The basis for the selection of any
optional subject could be:
‣ Specially defined and comparatively small
syllabus,
‣ Easy availability of study material,
‣ Interesting and short subject, subject material,
‣ Scoring nature of the subject
‣ Availability of experienced guide.
The syllabus of Sociology is relatively short as well as
it is well defined. The study material is easily available
and compact in nature. It being a popular and scoring
optional subject has got easy availability of experienced
guidelines. The scientific and logical nature of the subject
helps to prepare the subject for main examination within
less time comparatively. This helps the candidates for
the preparation of Essay and General Studies papers
with “extra time” and ensures better performance and
marks in examinations. Thus the Sociology is a popular
and successful optional subject for the main examination
in Civil Service Examination.
The students of Political Science, Public
Administration & Psychology have got extra edge in
this subject as there are common Topics in the Syllabus.
The knowledge and concepts of Sociology are also used
in General Studies and Essay. It is, of course, more
scoring and has got concise syllabus than the other
subjects. The portion Indian Society is very much related
to the our day to day observation. So the study of
Sociology as an optional subject is very much helpful
for the Social Issues portion of General Studies in the
Preliminary and Main examination as well. Now a day
the questions of General Studies in the Mains
examination have got the applied and Sociological
nature and implications. The Sociology makes such
answers more relevant.
The study of Indian Society, specifically the units of
Population Dynamics, Challenges of Social
Transformation, Visions of Social Change in India,
Rural and Agrarian transformation in India,
Industrialization and Urbanisation in India, Politics
and Society, Impact of colonial rule on Indian society,
Tribal communities in India, Religion and Society etc,
help the candidates to prepare the Essay papers with
better understanding of problems and solution aspects
with practical approach with difference. Of course, the
practical understanding gives them an edge in interview
as well, which makes the space sure in the success list.
One of the most important aspect of Sociology is that it
has got relevance is the in interview (Personality Test).
The conceptual nature of the subject helps the
candidates accommodating and retaining the facts easily.
Similarly, the syllabus of main examination has got
only 25 UNITS in two papers. The strategic preparation
of the subject requires only 60-70% of the syllabus
prepared for the answers in the examination. The strategic
preparation with the proper and experienced guidance
make the candidates preparation comparatively effective
and easy.
The experienced guidance helps the candidates
analytical approach to prepare properly in right direction.
These help the candidates to score more in less
consumption of time and ensures the WONDER SPACE
in the final success list. As it has been well
said:”Winners do not do different things rather they do
things differently”
Last but not the least and most importantly, the study of
Sociology enables you and your performance more
SYSTEMATIC, PRACTICAL, ORGANISED, RELEVANT
AND WELL ARTICULATED, in every walk of your life.
As the study of Sociology is related to those
phenomenon which are commonly reflected in our lives.
So the study of Sociology brings the “difference
differently in you which is the REAL WIN. Your selection
is just the by product of your serious efforts with the
Sociology.
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Sociology with NEW APPROACH along with RIGHT KIND OF
NOTES and EFFECTIVE STRATEGY to catch the change in UPSC…
by Vikash Ranjan, CL (9911088482)
Author ‘Fundamentals of Sociology’ and
‘Applied Sociology’ the best seller for IAS Mains Exam
• Make your flashcard or one register in which
all STUDIES AND VIEWS are intact and you can revise
them anytime. Rather than simply collecting new fact
everyday, focus should be on revising what you have
with you. Only when that is memorized thoroughly move
on the new.
• Even when you are reading the new material,
keep in touch to the older study material as well. This
is very important, else during the examination, you will
remember that you have read something like this but
“what was it exactly” might not come to you mind
except a faint image. This has to be checked. The
ultimate success depends on not ‘what all you have
read’ but ‘how much you retain’. How far you have
practiced by making maps & diagrams as well organizing
the event in chronological manner. This is very crucial
and should not be neglected at all.
• Analyse the previous years UPSC question
papers thoroughly and try to chalk out the areas of the
question. Also write down these question topic wise
and keep going identify the mistakes, which you commit
while solving these question. Do not overlook them and
do not lie to yourself that “it was a careless mistake”.
Even if it was a careless mistake like overlooking the
word “not” in the question, be cautious that you should
not repeat it in the examination hall. Also analyse your
mistake thoroughly whether it was due to lack
conceptual understanding or it was forgetting the
studies. Master your weakness after analyzing them.
• Last but not the least, discuss with your friend.
Discussion helps a lot provided it is honest discussion
with the motive to help the other and in turn getting
help. Else it can be disastrous as well.
These are broadly some tips, which shall help you in the
basic preparation. However, what matters most is the
mental calmness and cool, which you maintain in the
examination hall. Do not panic if you do not know any
question. Apply your mind. Though not always, but
most of the times the question can be rightly solved if
one maintains cool and analyses it logically.
SCIENTIFIC APPRAOCH TO SOCIOLOGY
AT THE ADVANCE LEVEL
I would like to reiterate what I have said earlier also –
“Winners do not do different things, they do things
differently’.
The funda is putting you in the shoes of examiner. A
little understanding of the psychology of the examiner,
this can be done by putting yourself in the examiner’s
place. What you would like in any answer sheet? Clarity
of thought, lucidity, good content, well expressed
language. In short, good Communication Skill (Written
Communication) so that the answer script could speak
itself.
The reason why I began with writing skill is that it is
the most important in the preparation for the Mains
Examination. There are many intelligent students, well
versed with knowledge about their subject matter and
yet they do not score in the Main Examination. Why? Of
course, luck and destiny is there, but another reason is
faulty writing skill.
Thus Civil Services Examination requires a two-pronged
strategy to hit the target Content and Writing Skill.
Now I will take up both these components in detail.
Content involves the following:
Conceptual understanding
Facts
Writing Skills:
Be short and precise and effective.
Writing should be legible and neat.
Grammatical errors must not be committed.
Simple and expressive language
Neat diagrams and maps, whenever it is required
to give precision to your answer.
• Writing skill does not mean a decorative
language, having extra-ordinary vocabulary. It means
that the ideas should be well expressed in a lucid manner.
Simple but a speaking Language is the demand i.e. the
answer sheet should speak out everything for itself with
requisite words, depends on the nature of the subject
matter. There should be no ambiguity in the answers.
• Writing Skill comes through practice. Writing
skill is also based on your knowledge treasure and
conceptual understanding. This only can give flow and
lucidity to your answers. The conceptual understanding
will make you answer well organized and well integrated.
• Thus, writing skill and content both should
complement and supplement each other. Writing skill
has its base in content and content needs writing skill
to be well expressed.
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION (Principles) OF
ANSWERS
• Underline the Key words and the latest updates
that you have incorporated in your answer.
• Highlight the Reports, Commission, new
researches and approaches in the field, etc. if you have
quoted them in you answer.
• Make some lucid diagrams to make your
presentation effective. But remember that the diagrams
need to be well integrated WITH your answer. You can
do this by simply incorporating a statement like – this
can be diagrammatically represented as follows. Mind
it, the diagrams must be explained.
• Each topic has some key words and the
examiner expects you to write them.
• Another, crucial factor which many of us tend
to overlook is the selection of the first answer. Remember.
“FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE LAST IMPRESSION”,
hence your first answer should be your best answer, i.e.
one in which you have command and also have
SOMETHING NEW to give – in the form of linkages,
recent reports, diagrams, maps etc.
• Try to integrate the statement of the question,
somewhere in you answer. Either begin with it or end
with it. This makes your answer FOCUSSED and well
knit.
• Last, but not the least, just before your
examination give your precious three to four hours to
those things which are the dynamic aspects of your
preparation. This includes the latest SOCIAL ISSUES,
STUDIES, and REPORTS etc. Even glancing over these
things at the last moment makes them alive and fresh in
your memory (provided you have read them earlier) and
they can be reproduced more authentically in the
examination. This will definitely make the Difference.
These are the few RULES for fetching marks in
SOCIOLOGY. These are not merely to be memorized and
retold to others, these need to be applied in writing
answers. So the thrust should be on writing answer and
evolve and getting them evaluated. The more you
practice the better answers you would be able to write.
Now, I come to the question of reading list. But remember.
Manipulating the facts.
“It is not wide reading but useful reading that tends to
Something new, in terms of the knowledge base excellence”.
or linkages or diagrams
USEFUL READING FOR SOCIOLOGY
• Conceptual understanding – of the subject is • NCERT BOOKS
most important. Give a layman’s interpretation to the • FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY {golden
concepts and relate it with mundane example for long peacock publication}
term memory.
• APPLIED SOCIOLOGY {golden peacock
publication}
SCIENTIFIC APPRAOCH TO SOCIOLOGY • Facts – After conceptual understanding, the • IGNOU study material.
AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL
second step is memorizing the important facts. For example
– some important theoretical aspects are to be • INDIAN SOCIAL SYSTEM-RAM AHUJA
• SOCIOLOGY (HARLAMBOS)
• Read the basic (NCERT) books first, rather than
going for guide books journals and foreign authors etc. memorized to attempt any question related to the spatial • MODERNIZATION OF INDIAN TRADITION-
What is required as first step is the mastering of the analysis of the matter.
YOGENDRA SINGH
BASICS of the subject. So, first step requires mastering • Something New – New diagrams, new ideas,
• SOCIALCHANGE IN INDIA-M.N. SRINIWAS
these.
original ideas, new content, latest reports, inter linkages
• SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF INDIAN
• While reading focus has to be on etc. Must be provided. However, one has to be cautious
NATIONALISM-A.R. DESAI
CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING rather than simply that a balance is maintained and the ideas are not too
• INDIA AFTER INDEPENDENCE
memorizing the STUDIES AND VIEWS. The Facts are radical. Also it should be well integrated with the answer.
Note: Apart from the basic books other are just for the
easier to memorize if the concepts are clear.
reference.
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unviable. On trans-border watercourses transparent and cooperative policy is
imperative, as at times rhetoric overtakes substance. In case of former, Indian record
is good, seeing the number of water sharing treaties it has signed with its neighbours.
China is reluctant to share information even with its close allies, for example Myanmar
was surprised by the Chinese activities on the Salween River. China and India have
succeeded in signing of agreements on sharing hydrological information on Sutlej
(2005/2007) and Brahmaputra (2002). A meeting of expert group was held from 19-21
September 2007, where the two sides appraised each other of their position. It is not
enough, as it does not delineate sharing of waters, rather information on river flow in
flood season. But the fact that the issue is discussed at the bilateral meetings between
the two countries is a good beginning.
In conclusion, Sino-Indian relations as they are today, are as it is are marked by
sentimentalism, fear, diffidence, appeasement, and brinksmanship, with water becoming
one more contentious issue, the bilateral relations are likely to take a turn for the
worse. India is confronted with a Chinese intransigence to discuss issues, which is
central to their regional hydro-diplomacy. India has raised water issue consistently
with China, it is important that they are made a part of larger water sharing agreement,
which obviates much of the suspicion. The Chinese projects are still in incipient
stage, on which China can be asked to come out in the open. Once China unleashes
it engineering forces on the cross-boundary rivers, lower riparian countries like India
and Bangladesh can then only be left with the option of saving from their negative
repercussions of ‘bending of rivers’ whether for run of the river or storage dams. An
open and transparent agreement with clear delineation of rights and obligations will
save the three countries from mutual recrimination as the countries move towards a
time of global water crisis. India needs to push for the same.
(The writer is a Former Defence Correspondent for a National Security and Defence
Magazine. You can contact him on sanjaytwo@gmail.com.)
Telecom Sector – Growing from Strength to Strength
The Indian telecom sector has witnessed tremendous
growth over the past decade. Today, Indian telecom
network is the second largest in the world after China. A
liberal policy regime and involvement of private sector
has played important role in transforming this sector.
The total number of telephones has increased from
206.83 million on 31st March, 2007 to 917.35 million on
30 th November 2011 resulting in an increase in teledensity
from 18.31% to 76.18% during this period. This has been
possible due to phenomenal growth of wireless
connections, which has reached 884.38 million
connections at the end of November 2011 constituting
96.41% of the total telephones up from 80.29% at the
end of March, 2007.
The liberalization efforts of the government are evident
in the growing share of private sector in total telephone
connections which has increased to 86% in November
2011 as against a meager 5% in 1999. Liberalisation has
resulted in strong competition leading to substantial
reduction in tariffs.
Although there has been rapid increase in the number
of telephones, there has been relatively less penetrations
in rural areas with 310.92 million telephones by the end
of November, 2011 and teledensity of 37.02 % against
166.45% Urban teledensity. Besides huge gap between
urban and rural teledensity, Broadband has lagged
behind the growth of telephones in India.
Recognizing the potential of broadband services in
growth of GDP and creation of an enabling environment
for promoting knowledge based society, the government
had announced broadband policy 2004. Several
measures have since been taken to promote broadband
in the country. As a result, there are 12.98 million
broadband subscribers as on 31 st October, 2011 and 19.69
million internet subscribers at the end of March, 2011.
DRAFT NATIONAL TELECOM POLICY – 2011
The Draft National Telecom Policy 2011 proposes to
provide stable, rationale and objective policy regime over
next decade or so:
0 To make available secure, reliable and affordable
voice telephony and high speed broadband
services to every citizen in India with special
focus on rural and remote areas.
0 To improve the broadband experience by
enhancing the speed of delivery.
0 To make India a global hub of manufacturing
for all electronic products including telecom
equipment with substantial value addition
within the country and safeguard security
concerns of the nation.
0 For simplification and rationalisation of
licensing regime, transparent system for
allocation of spectrum and enable efficient
usage of spectrum.
0 For discovery of price of spectrum through
market related processes.
0 To achieve One Nation- Full Mobile Number
Portability.
0 To enable free roaming throughout the country.
0 To harness full potential of mobile phones for
enabling provision of citizen centric services
related to education, health, employment,
agriculture, entertainment, banking & insurance
services, skill upgradation, vocational training
etc.
0 To encourage indigenous manufacture of cost
effective mobile devices.
0 The faster roll out of high speed and reliable
broadband in rural and urban areas will enable
decentralised governance, participative
democracy and delivery of basic services such
as health and education to every citizen of the
country. The thrust on manufacturing will
promote entrepreneurship, create more job
opportunities, reduce imports and improve
security. Efficient usage of scarce resources
like spectrum will result in better quality of
service to the customers at affordable cost.
0 The new policy regime will be beneficial to end
consumers/citizens, Telecom Service Providers,
Value Added Service Providers, Government
and Manufacturers.
0 Policy is likely to be approved by the June,
2012.
NATIONAL OPTICAL FIBER NETWORK
Government has approved a project for National Optical
Fiber Network in October, 2011 for providing Broadband
connectivity to all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats at a cost of
Rs. 20,000 crore. The plan is to extend the existing optical
fiber network up to Panchayats. The Network will be
available to telecom service providers for providing
various services to the citizens in non-discriminatory
manner. The Network will provide a highway for
transmission of voice, data and video in rural areas. It
will enable the broadband connectivity upto 2 Mbps,
capable of providing various services like e-education,
e-health, e-entertainment, e-commerce e- governance etc.
to people and businesses. The people in rural areas,
students, entrepreneurs, various Government
Departments providing services under e-governance
projects will be benefitted. It will also provide
connectivity to various public institutions like Gram
Panchayats, Primary Health Centres (PHCs), schools etc.
in rural areas. It will also result in investment from the
private sector both for providing different services and
for manufacturing of broadband related telecom
equipment. The project will be funded by Universal
Service Obligation Fund (USOF). The project will be
executed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which will
be a company incorporated under Indian Companies Act
1956 and initially will be fully owned by Central
Government, with equity participation from Government
and interested Central Public Sector Units (CPSUs)
(BSNL, Railtel, Powergrid, GAILTEL, etc.) and action is
being taken to establish and operationalize a Special
Purpose Vehicle (SPV).
PROGRAMMES UNDER USOF
The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) was
established with the fundamental objective of providing
access to ‘Basic’ telegraph services to people in the
rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable
prices. Subsequently the scope was widened to provide
subsidy support for enabling access to all types of
telegraph services including mobile services, broadband
connectivity and creation of infrastructure like OFC in
rural and remote areas. Various schemes for taking
communication facilities to the rural and remote areas
with the support of USO fund under implementation are
0 5,79,814 villages i.e. about 97.68% of the Census
2001 inhabited revenue villages have been covered with
Village Public Telephone (VPT) facility as on November
30, 2011. VPT facility is likely to be provided in remaining
inhabited revenue villages by May, 2012.
0 Setting up and managing 7353 number of
infrastructure towers in 500 districts spread over 27 states
for provision of mobile services in specified rural and
remote areas. 7295 towers i.e. 99.21% towers have been
set up till November, 2011.
0 In order to provide broadband connectivity to
the rural areas, USOF signed an agreement with BSNL
on January 20, 2009 to provide 8,88,832 wire-line
Broadband connections to individual users and
Government Institutions and setting up of 28,672 Kiosks
over a period of 5-years. As on 30 th November, 2011,
3,35,290 broadband connections and 6426 kiosk have
been provided under this scheme in rural and remote
areas.
0 Another Scheme has been launched under
USOF to provide sufficient back-haul capacity to
integrate the voice and data traffic from the access
network in the rural areas to their core network by
strengthening the OFC network. This scheme considers
OFC Network augmentation between the blocks’ HQ and
Districts’ HQ to begin with. USOF, through this Scheme,
shall provide subsidy support for augmentation,
creation and management of intra-district SDHQ-DHQ
OFC Network on the condition that it will be shared with
other Telecom Operators at the rates prescribed in the
Agreement. Assam has been taken up first for
implementation.
0 Recognizing the vital role that Information
Communication Technology (ICT) can play in the
empowerment of rural women, a scheme called ‘Sanchar
Shakti’ has been launched in March, 2011 for pilot
projects aimed at facilitating access of Self Help Groups
(SHGs) to ICT enabled services. Financial support from
USO Fund is to be provided towards VAS subscription
for SHGs in accordance with the provisions of
underlying subsidy Agreements. At present MoUs have
been signed for Proof of Concept (PoC) for 9 mobile
VAS projects in the states of Tamilnadu, Kerala,
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra
Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of
Puducherry.
The Indian Telecom sector has proved to be an
international success story. The sector has witnessed a
commendable growth over the past two years. With an
overall subscriber base of 917.35 million and a teledensity
of 76.18%, the sector continues to grow from strength
to strength. With the urban teledensity reaching 166.54%,
the market has been showing signs of maturity. Rural
India is the key target market likely to drive the next
round of growth, particularly for voice based services.
3G and BWA are expected to reinvigorate the maturing
urban markets and help in bringing balanced growth of
economy. The aggressive growth observed by mobile
services is yet to be replicated in case of broadband
service, where the subscriber base currently stands at
13 million approximately . The successfully concluded
auction of the BWA/3G spectrum and National Optical
Fibre Network will enhance the wireless broadband
penetration across the country and help connect the
remotest locations across India. The government has a
vision to provide secure, reliable and affordable
telephone connection and broadband facilities on
demand across the country with special focus on rural
and remote areas as envisaged in National Telecom
Policy 2011.
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