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DECEMBER 2011
Minimum Vote Limit Increased From
6 to 8 Percent
The Election Commission of India raised the cap of minimum
votes a political party must secure in election to get the status of
a State party or maintain it further. The new minimum limit is 8 per
cent of total valid votes polled in State Assembly or Lok Sabha
polls. Earlier, the limit was 6 per cent. In addition, the party must
have returned at least two members to the Legislative Assembly
in case of Assembly polls or at least one member in Parliament
from the State in case of Lok Sabha elections.
To make these changes, the Commission amended its Election
Symbols reservations and allotment order 1968 and issued a new
order on 16 September 2011, the Election Symbol reservations
and allotment amendment order 2011. The amended order was
sent to all States and Union Territories.
Jobs for Three Lakh Youth in
Naxal Hit Districts
The Union government of India prepared a blueprint to provide
jobs to three-lakh youths in 60 naxal affected districts in India.
The government will start a programme for placement-linked jobs
for unemployed youth in these districts by the end of 2016. They
will be trained and provided jobs. The government also decided
to start major developmental initiatives in these districts in a bid
to tackle the Naxal menace. These initiatives include Indira Awas
Yojana housing for people whose homes were destroyed and
construction of concrete roads.
The Rural Development Ministry also planned a Public Private
Partnership initiative for value addition in non-timber forest
produce in six districts of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh as a pilot project.
Jammu Kashmir Topped the List in
Utilizing the Fund for Minorities
The Minority Affairs Ministry on 20 October 2011 in its official
release stated that the 7 States have utilized over 60 percent of
the total Funds till September 2011, which was released to them
under Multi Sector Development Programme, MSDP, for the
Welfare of Minorities.
Jammu and Kashmir topped among them which has utilized over
74 percent of the allocated fund of about six crore rupees. Five
other States including Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand,
Karnataka West Bangal and Haryana have also reported over 60
percent expenditure of the fund released to them. The average
percentage of the expenditure of the 20 States under this
Programme is about fifty percent. MSDP is a Special Area
Development Programme for the welfare of the Minorities. It was
implemented in 90 Minority Concentration Districts identified on
the basis of substantial minority population and relative
backwardness.
GOVT & POLITY COVERAGE
Enforcement of Security Interest and
Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment)
Bill 2011 Approved
The Union Cabinet of India on 13 October 2011 approved the
introduction of the Enforcement of Security Interest and
Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011 in the winter
session of Parliament.
The Bill seeks to amend the Securitisation and Reconstruction
of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest
(SARFAESI) Act and Recovery of Debts due to Banks & Financial
Institutions (RDBF) Act so as to strengthen the regulatory and
institutional framework related to recovery of debts due to banks
and financial institutions through the Enforcement of Security
Interest and Recovery of Debts Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2011.
The proposed amendments would enable banks to improve their
operational efficiency, deploy more funds for credit disbursement
to retail investors, home loan borrowers, etc. without fearing for
recovery, thus bringing about equity. Further, mandatory
registration of subsisting security interest (equitable mortgages)
would promote innovation in credit information.
The suggested amendments would strengthen the ability of
banks to recover debts due from the borrowers, enhance the
ability of the banks to extend credit to both corporate and retail
borrowers, reduce the cost of funds for banks and their customers
and reduce the level of non-performing assets.
The banks and financial institutions (FIs) were facing numerous
problems in recovery of defaulted loans on account of delays in
disposal of recovery proceedings. The Government, therefore,
enacted the RDBF Act in 1993 and SARFAESI Act in 2002 for the
purpose of expeditious recovery of non-performing assets
(NPAs) of the banks and FIs. Although these two acts have
helped in reducing the NPAs, banks have sent certain
suggestions for further strengthening of the secured creditor
rights.
Govt Prepares Saranda Action Plan
for Naxal-Hit Districts
The Union Government of India finalised a developmental action
plan called Saranda Action plan for Naxal Affected districts in
Naxal affected districts particularly in eastern India. The Saranda
Action Plan was prepared by Rural Development Ministry. It will
be implemented firstly in Jharkhand’s Naxal-hit Saranda district.
Saranda district is in Jharkhand. According to the plan, immediate
priority is to distribute solar lanterns and bicycles, construction
of prefab houses for BPL families under the Indira Awas Yojana
and bridges with the help of Army and special water supply -
handpump schemes. Approximately, 4.5 crore rupees will be
needed for distribution of solar lanterns and bicycles and this
will be met out of the Integrated Action Plan funds.
creations
Cabinet Approves New Overseas Raw
Material Acquisition Policy
All central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) were on 13 October
2011 elegated with more powers for acquisition of raw material
assets abroad. The Union Cabinet approved a new policy for
acquisition of overseas raw material assets which would be
applicable to CPSEs in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and
power sectors with a three year track record of making net profits.
With an intention to address the issue of acquisition of raw
materials before global raw material assets were no longer
available or were available at exorbitant prices, the government
vested the CPSEs with the responsibility to acquire raw material
assets abroad.
Maharatna and Navratna entities were vested with enhanced
power to acquire raw material assets worth Rs.5000 crore and
Rs.3000 crore respectively from Rs.1000 crore without having to
consult the government.
The government also set up a Coordinating Committee of
Secretaries (CCoS) under the Cabinet Secretary to expedite
proposals which require approval of various ministries and
involve government funds. The government maintained that it
would consider constituting a dedicated Sovereign Wealth Fund
to go with the new policy to protect the long-term economic
interests of the country.
Cabinet Clears Digitisation of Cable
TV Services
The Union Cabinet of India on 13 October 2011 approved the
proposal of Information and Broadcasting Ministry to publicize
the Digitalisation of Analogue Cable Systems Ordinance. The
objective of the ordinance is the complete digitalisation of cable
television in the four metros by 31 March 2012. By the end of
2014, all parts of India are expected to have phased out analogue
cable TV.
India has started the process of a global transition towards
digitalisation. USA completed the process in 2009, China has set
the deadline of 2015 to phase out anologue transmission.
The approval of the ordinance means that all customers must
have a set top box whether they want to receive free-to-air or pay
channels. They could watch high quality channels of their choice
and will get access to internet and telephone through the same
digital cable. Broadcasters will generate more revenue directly
from subscribers, and it could reduce their dependence on TRPs
and advertisers.
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DECEMBER 2011
Draft National Policy on Electronics
2011 Released
Shri Kapil Sibal, the Union Minister of Communications and
Information Technology and Human Resource Development
released the draft National Policy on Electronics on 3rd Oct 2011.
Shri Sibal said that Information Communication Technologies
and Electronics have been contributing significantly to the
economic growth of the country and have the potential to script
India’s future across the economy, society and government. This
would epitomize what modern, resurgent and young India is
capable of accomplishing. Achievements in the recent past in
the IT and Telecom sectors have been spectacular and
unprecedented in India’s history. Yet, it is the future that holds
even more breathtaking possibilities, Shri Sibal said.
The Minister said that a combination of three interdependent
and synergistic policies for IT, Telecom and Electronics are being
formulated by the Ministry of Communications and Information
Technology. The proposed National Policy of Electronics, 2011
envisions creating a globally competitive Electronics Systems
and Design Manufacturing (ESDM) industry including nanoelectronics
to meet the country‘s needs and serve the
international market. The draft policy sets out to achieve a
turnover of about USD 400 Billion by 2020 involving investment
of about USD 100 Billion. It also aims at ensuring employment to
around 28 million in the sector by 2020.
This is a quantum jump from production level of about USD 20
Billion in 2009. This includes achieving a turnover of USD 55
Billion of chip design and embedded software industry, USD 80
Billion of exports in the sector. The policy also proposes setting
up of over 200 electronic manufacturing clusters. Another
important objective of the policy is to significantly upscale highend
human resource creation to 2500 PhDs annually by 2020 in
the sector. Of the three sectors – IT, Telecommunications and
Electronics - Electronics presents special challenges. The draft
policy seeks to address the major barriers which include lack of
a strong base, an adverse international environment and failure
to build an enabling eco-system.
Major strategies proposed in the draft policy include:
i. Providing attractive fiscal incentives across the value
chain of the ESDM sector through Modified Special
Incentive Package Scheme (M-SIPS).
ii. Setting up of Semiconductor Wafer Fab facilities and
its eco-system for design and fabrication of chips and
chip components.
iii. Providing Preferential Market Access for domestically
manufactured electronic products including mobile
devices, SIM cards with enhanced features, etc. with
special emphasis on Indian products for which IPR
reside in India to address strategic and security
concerns of the Government consistent with
international obligations in procurement.
iv. Providing incentives for setting up of over 200
Electronic Manufacturing Clusters with world class
logistics and infrastructure.
v. Creating an “Electronic Development Fund” for
promoting innovation, R&D and commercialization in
ESDM, nano-electronics and IT sectors including
providing support for seed capital, venture capital
and growth stages of manufacturing.
vi. To use innovation and R&D capabilities to develop
electronic products catering to domestic needs and
conditions at affordable price points.
vii. Setting up Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI)
specific Incubation Centres across country.
viii. Developing an India microprocessor for diverse
applications/ strategic needs.
ix. Creating a 10 year stable tax regime for the ESDM
sector.
x. Setting up a specialized Institute for semiconductor
chip design.
xi. Encouraging greater participation of private sector in
human resource development for the sector. Also
encouraging setting up of skill-oriented courses for
electronic designs along with hands-on laboratories
enabling graduates from other disciplines to migrate
to ESDM.
xii. Developing and mandating standards for electronic
products specific to Indian conditions of power,
climate, handling etc.
xiii. Creating linkages for long term partnership between
domestic ESDM industry and strategic sectors like
Defence, Atomic Energy and Space.
xiv. Setting up of Centres of Excellence in the area of
automotive electronics, Avionics, and Industrial
electronics.
xv. Adopting best practices in e-waste management
xvi. Setting up of a National Electronics Mission with
industry participation to advance the implementation
of various programmes in this policy.
xvii. The Department of Information Technology to be
renamed as Department of Electronics and
Information Technology (DeitY) to reflect the desired
focus on electronics.
Light and Sound Programme at Udaigiri Caves
Government of India has sanctioned ‘125.00 lakh to India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) to organize sound & light
show programme at Udaigiri caves in Orissa. ITDC implemented the project and the trial run was held in April, 2008. However, due
to conservation issues raised by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the show was not commissioned. ITDC has now submitted
a concept paper for an alternative sound & light show at Udaigiri. Development and promotion of tourism is undertaken primarily
by the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. The Ministry of Tourism extends Central Financial Assistance to the
State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for tourism related projects, which are identified in consultation with them,
under various tourism schemes of the Ministry, in accordance with the scheme guidelines, inter-se-priority and availability of funds.
SE
Amendment of the Election Symbols
(Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968.
1. Under the provisions of the Election Symbols
(Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, candidates put up by
registered unrecognized political parties at elections were hitherto
allotted election symbols by the Returning Officers of the
constituencies concerned after the last date for withdrawal of
candidature as per the choice of symbol given by the candidates
from the list of free symbols. If candidates of two political parties
opted for the same symbol in a constituency, the Returning Officer
decided by draw of lots. In this process, it may so happen that
the candidates set up by a political party in many constituencies
may get different symbols in different constituencies.
2. Registered un-recognized political parties have been
feeling aggrieved by the above provisions in the Symbols Order.
Some of these political parties have filed petitions before the
Hon’ble Supreme Court praying for allotment of common symbol
to their candidates.
3. In view of the above requests, and appreciating the
reasonableness of these prayers before the Hon’ble Supreme
Court, the Election Commission informed the Hon’ble Supreme
Court that it would consider the issue to make appropriate
modifications in the Symbol Order. The Commission has
accordingly made certain additional provisions in the Symbols
Order vide its notification dated 16-09-11 to provide for one time
concession of allotment of common symbol to candidates
sponsored by registered unrecognized political parties during a
general election. To avail of such concession, the newly formed
registered unrecognized parties will have to contest general
election from at least 10% of the constituencies in a State, subject
to minimum of 5 Assembly constituencies in a State having less
than 50 Assembly Constituencies, and 2 Parliamentary
Constituencies in a State having less than 20 Parliamentary
constituencies. The intimation of such constituencies should be
given to the Election Commission at least 3 clear days before the
date of issue of election notification along with the choice of 10
symbols from the list of free symbols.
4. The above concession of allotment of common symbol
to the candidates of a registered unrecognized party will be only
as a one-time facility either at a general election to the House of
the People or to a State Legislative Assembly, as the party may
choose, and a party that has availed of this concession once will
not be eligible for the concession in any subsequent general
election.
5. A political party which was a recognized party earlier
and which is not entitled now to the facility of allotment of any
particular symbol to its candidates, will also be granted a one
time facility of being allotted its earlier reserved symbol at a
general election either to the Lok Sabha or to legislative assembly
of a State, subject to fulfillment of the conditions mentioned
above. cont.....
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DECEMBER 2011
Recognition of parties as a State party
6. The Commission has also liberalized the criteria for
recognition of parties as State Parties. Under the existing
provisions of the Symbol Order, a registered party has to fulfill
any of the following conditions for recognition as a State Party:
(i) A political party should secure at least six percent of
the total valid votes polled during general election to a
State Legislative Assembly and should, in addition, win
at least two seats in that Assembly, or the party should
win at least three percent of the total number of seats or
three seats in the Legislative Assembly, whichever is
more;
(ii) Alternatively, a political party should secure at least six
percent of the total valid votes polled in a State during
a general election to Lok Sabha and win at least one
seat in the Lok Sabha from that State, or the party should
win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats
or any fraction thereof allotted to that State.
7. Under the liberalized criteria, one more clause has been
added to provide that even if a Party fails to win any seat in a
State in a general election to the Lok Sabha or Legislative
Assembly of the State, the party will still be eligible for recognition
as State Party if it secures 8% or more of the total valid votes
polled in the State.
India to Revamp Postal Department
The government will soon introduce a Bill in the Parliament
for the purpose which includes opening up some segments to
private players
A Bill for revamping the Postal Department, which includes
opening up some segments to private players, will be introduced
in Parliament soon.
The Bill also aims at registration of couriers by an independent
registration authority, Communications and IT Minister Kapil
Sibal said.
The minister added that a detailed project report on the setting
up of a Postal Bank of India will be finalised in the next six months.
“This will enable India Post to extend micro credit and other
loans through vast network of 1.55 lakh post offices, coupled
with other financial services like micro-remittance, microinsurance
and micro-pensions,” he said.
The revamped postal network will boast of over 1.55 lakh
computerised post offices, banking services through post offices
with ATM facility and delivery of banking, insurance and mailing
services in rural areas through hand-held devices.
India to Redraft Food Security Bill
The redrafted Bill will keep the option open for supplying more
than three kgs of subsidised foodgrains in case of increased
output
The government has decided to redraft the National Food Security
Bill to keep the option open for supplying more than three
kilograms of subsidised food grains to general households in
case of increased output.
Food Minister KV Thomas said persons that after receiving public
comments and views of state governments on the draft Food
Bill, the Centre has decided to make some changes while
finalising the Bill.
In the present form of draft Food Bill, the Food Ministry has
proposed that the government will supply 3 kilograms of rice
and wheat per person per month, falling under general
households’ category at a price not exceeding 50 per cent of the
Minimum Support Price (MSP).
The draft National Food Security Bill seeks to provide a legal
entitlement to subsidised food grains to 75 per cent of the
country’s rural population and 50 per cent of urban India.
The Minister said, the government has decided to remove the
condition of extending benefits to general households only in
states where the Public Distribution System, PDS, is modernised.
Thomas said, the cash-handout of 1,000 rupees per month for six
months to pregnant and lactating women will be extended to the
entire country instead of 52 districts.
India Launches e-Payment System
It is a part of government’s anti corruption initiative and it will
be implemented in all paid account offices of the various
Ministries.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee launched the e-Payment
system in New Delhi on 31 st Oct 2011. “It is a part of government’s
anti corruption initiative and it will be implemented in all paid
account offices of the various Ministries,” Mukherjee said.
He said that the challenge before the Civil Accounts Department
is to train human resources. Initially the system will cover eight
banks and at the end of this financial year, all the ministries will
come under its ambit. The Minister added once the system is
fully operational, it will be responsible for payment of Rs six lakh
crore.
The system will ensure greater efficiency, cost effectiveness and
better delivery of money. He said that the task force set up by
the government headed by Nandan Nilkeni will work out
modalities of direct transfer of cash subsidy of kerosene and
fertilisers. The e-Payment system has been developed by
Controller General of Accounts, Ministry of Finance in
collaboration with National Informatics Centre.
GEOGRAPHIA
Centre Approves Wage Board Report
The Majithia Wage Board report provides for an increase in
the salaries and allowances of journalists and non-journalists
Union Cabinet approved the recommendations of the Majithia
Wage Boards providing for an increase in the salaries and
allowances of journalists and non-journalists.
The revised wages will be applicable with effect from July 1, 2010
while the other allowances like Transport, House Rent and
Hardship shall be effective from the date of notification of the
awards in the Gazette, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said.
The revised pay scale is based on old basic pay plus DA
admissible upto June, 2010 plus 30 per cent of the interim relief
which has already been given.
The revised pay comprises variable pay at the rate of 35 per cent
for employees working in the first four classes of newspaper
establishments and 20 per cent for remaining classes of
newspapers. The variable pay should be added in the revised
basic pay for calculation of all allowances.
In the case of news agencies, the Cabinet note had recommended
similar parameters for the first two classes and the remaining for
the other two classes.
Kharge said that newspapers have been classified into eight
categories and news agencies into four on the basis of their
gross revenue.
Kharge said that the HRA would be applicable at the rate of 30,
20 and 10 percent respectively for the X, Y and Z cities, while the
same in the case of transport allowances will be at the rate of 20,
10 and 5 percent. Night shift allowances of Rs 100 per night will
be paid to employees of newspaper establishments in classes I
and II, Rs 75 per night in classes III and IV and Rs 50 per night for
V to VIII.
The employees of news agencies falling in classes I and II shall
be paid Rs 100 per night shift and those falling in classes III and
IV Rs 50.
Hardship allowance of Rs 1000 would be paid for the first four
classes of newspaper establishments and first two classes of
news agencies and Rs 500 for the remaining classes.
Similarly, medical allowance of Rs 1000 would be paid per employee
per month to top two classes of newspapers and news agencies
and Rs 500 for III and IV categories in newspapers.
He said that the proposal has been sent to Legislative Department
of the Law Ministry for notification. “We want the notification to
happen as soon as possible,” Kharge said.’
The minister said there is no hurdle in the implementation of the
government’s decision as there is no stay by the Supreme Court.
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DECEMBER 2011
On 4 October 2011 the credit rating of the State Bank of India was
downgraded by the Global ratings firm Moody’s. The ratings
agency took SBI’s grading to D+ from C-.
SBI had a shortage of capital to cushion bad loans or
contingencies and thus started weakening asset quality. High
interest rates in a slowing economy results in shorthand for loans
that do not yield interest. This led Moody’s to adopt a negative
view on SBI’s creditworthiness. As a result, the borrowing
companies suffer. Rating downgrades usually are caution signals
to bond investors. The Banking customers do not have encounter
risk.
After the downgrade, SBI shares slipped 4% to Rs 1,787 on the
Bombay Stock Exchange and the Sensex dropped 1.77% or 302
points to 15,685. As of June 2011, the Capital Adequacy Ratio
(CAR) of the SBI stood at 11.6 %. CAR is a measure of the backup
money a bank has to withstand loan uncertainties. Tier-I
capital stood at 7.6 % which was a little below the 8 % desired by
the government. Tier-I capital broadly refers to shareholder
equity.
ECONOMY COVERAGE
Moody's Downgrades SBI Credit Ratings Godrej Properties Enters Into
Agreement With Godrej & Boyce
100% FDI for New Pharma
Ventures to Continue
India on 10 October 2011 decided to continue with 100 percent
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for new ventures in the
pharmaceutical sector. The decision was taken at a high-level
meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss
the FDI policy in drugs and pharmaceutical sector held in New
Delhi. The move will facilitate addition of manufacturing
capacities, technology acquisition and development of the
pharmaceutical sector in the country.
However, in case of existing ventures in the pharmaceutical sector,
FDI will be allowed for a period of six months after approval from
the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). It was also
decided that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) will be
strengthened for effective oversight on mergers and acquisitions
to ensure that there is a balance between public health concerns
and attracting FDI in the pharmaceutical sector.
To Arrest Deficit Finance Ministry Ups
Tax mop-up Target by Rs 53000 cr
The finance ministry in October 2011 revised the Budget estimate
of direct tax collection upwards by Rs 53000 crore to Rs 5.85 lakh
crore. The higher target marked an increase of 31% over last
year’s collection of Rs 4.46 lakh crore. The Budget estimate of
direct tax collection was revised upwards to bridge the shortfall
that might occur due to reduction in customs duty on crude oil
to offset price rise.
The growth in net direct tax collection in the April-September
2011 period was only 7% or Rs 1.94 lakh crore. But the overall
gross collection rose by 23% to Rs 2.57 lakh crore. The collection
was 36% of the budget estimates of Rs 5.32 lakh crore for 2011-
12.
CBDT officials opined that the government will have to move
fast on increasing the strength of the department. There are 1,200
posts of additional commissioners, considered the backbone of
tax collection, of which there are at least 600 vacancies.
CBDT created several new investigative departments, including
a Directorate of Criminal Investigation with the mandate of
inducting a marine and armed unit to tackle white-collar crimes
and deal with tax evaders even on foreign shores. CBDT’s request
to enhance the manpower was personally vetted by finance
minister Pranab Mukherjee and the file was moved to DoPT for
final approval.
Trade Policy:
‘Niryat Bandhu’ Concept Introduced
The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) on 13 October
2011 announced introduction of a new Niryat Bandhu scheme
for international business mentoring for young turks in
international business enterprises. The officer (Niryat Bandhu)
would function in the mentoring’ arena and would be a
handholding experiment for the young turks in international
business enterprises. Under the scheme, officers of DGFT will
be investing time and knowledge to mentor the interested
individuals who want to conduct the business in a legal way.
The DGFT also announced that it became India’s first digital
signature enabled department. According to the new Foreign
Trade Policy (FTP) unveiled, a higher level of encrypted 2048 bit
Digital Signature has been introduced. Digital certificate provides
a high level of security for online communication such that only
intended recipient can read it. It provides authentication, privacy,
non-repudiation and integrity in the virtual world.
Also, import of radioimmunoassay kits was classified in the
restricted category as per ITC HS-Import Schedule. Since the
import item is intended for the diagnosis of disease/disorders in
humans and animals, the import policy regime for this item was
liberalised to free subject to prior permission of Atomic Energy
Regulatory Board.
The procedure for transfer or sale of imported firearms was also
simplified. For sale/transfer of imported firearms prior permission
from DGFT is not required after 10 years of import. Further, this
condition of 10 years would not apply if importer attains 60 years
of age. Local police licensing authorities or District Magistrates
can give permission of sale/ transfer directly. Even for Shooters
category, sale/transfer of imported weapons would not require
approval from DGFT.
For the first time in the history of foreign trade formulation, the
draft text for amendment of HBP v1 was uploaded on the website
of DGFT seeking suggestions on the draft.
Godrej Properties (GPL) announced that it has entered into an
agreement with Godrej & Boyce (G&B) whereby GPL will act as
development manager and be responsible for the
conceptualisation, sales, designs and marketing of all future
development on the G&B-owned land in Vikhroli in suburban
Mumbai. Godrej Properties is the real estate development arm of
the Godrej Group.
GPL will get a fee equal to 10 per cent of the total revenue
generated from the development for its services. The cost for
design and construction of the development will be incurred by
Godrej & Boyce in its role as owner-developer whereas the cost
for sales and marketing will be borne by Godrej Properties in its
role as development manager.
The project will be constructed in phases and the details on each
phase will be announced before the launch of the individual
phase. The development will have a mixed-use character. The
first project under this agreement will begin immediately with the
launch of Godrej Platinum.
Despite Protests
Rs 500 & Rs 1000 Notes to Stay
The Indian government in October 2011 decided not to
discontinue circulation of higher denomination notes of Rs 500
and Rs 1000 despite demands from civil society groups that big
currency notes made it easier for those with black money to
stash their cash and were the primary causes of inflation.
Of the total Rs 9.70 lakh crore worth currency notes in circulation
as on 30 June 2011, more than 80% are in the denomination of Rs
500 and Rs 1000. The total value of notes of Rs 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100
in circulation is less than Rs 2 lakh crore.
The demand to curb higher denomination notes was with an
objective to check the menace of unaccounted money, stop fake
currency circulation and curb anti-national and terrorists using
these counterfeit currency to destabilize the economy.
Civil society groups demanding withdrawal of higher
denomination notes pointed out that even US and European
countries where the per capita income is much higher than India’s,
the denomination used is much smaller in comparison. The largest
denomination note in the US is of $100.
Civil society groups’ demand had the support from revenue
intelligence agencies which have been grappling with the menace
of counterfeiting.
A recent report prepared by the Directorate of Revenue
Intelligence (DRI) in association with the Intelligence Bureau,
RAW and CBI had pointed out that fake Indian currency notes
in circulation in India could be as high as worth Rs 6000 crore
and it seriously undermined the credibility of the rupee.
Sebi Clears Insurance IPO Norms
Capital market regulator SEBI approved share sale guidelines for
insurance firms. The norms once cleared by the government will
ensure the entry of the insurance industry to revive the dormant
primary market as the novelty value of the sector could attract
more investors.
IRDA had earlier specified that insurers that have completed 10
years of operations are eligible to go for share sale. Prior to filing
of the draft document for making public offer with SEBI, the insurer
is required to take a formal approval from IRDA.
SEBI withdrew a major irritant for life insurance companies waiting
to hit the capital market with initial public offers. While clearing
IPO guidelines of life insurance companies, the regulator removed
the three-year profitability clause that is applicable for all
companies as a precondition for tapping the capital markets.
However, insurance companies will have to go for additional
disclosures as required by the Insurance Regulatory Development
Authority (IRDA) over and above the disclosure norms set by
SEBI. The move to remove the three-year profitability clause is
expected to bring some relief to the majority of life insurance
companies, as most of them are yet to underwrite any profits.
According to the draft guidelines, insurance companies, which
have completed 10 years of operations, will be allowed to tap the
capital market and the valuation would have to be based on the
embedded value to be calculated by a method designed by the
Institute of Actuaries of India.
Insurers planning IPOs will have to disclose their economic capital
as well as the embedded value to the regulator.
They have to first seek formal approval from IRDA and then the
final approval from SEBI. Typically, under the disclosure norms,
insurance companies will have to disclose their balance sheet,
premiums, commission expenses and operating expenses on a
quarterly basis.
Apart from this the guidelines are expected to follow the usual
norms, like individuals holding more than 10 per cent stake would
be considered as promoters and the company will have to maintain
a solvency ratio of 1.5.
IRDA will not have any mandate on the extent of dilution, and it is
up to individual companies to decide on the size of the issue.
SEBI guidelines mandate 25 per cent of the shares of a listed
company be retained by the public.
The IPO guidelines are considered important as a host of private
life insurance companies, such as Reliance Life, HDFC Life and
ICICI Prudential Life have expressed interest in tapping the capital
market.
Services Sector in Contraction Mode
Survey released on 5 October 2011 showed that activity in the
services sector shrank and overall economic activity was found
to be stagnating. Employment levels fell for the second successive
month in September 2011.
HSBC Purchasing Managers Index, which is based on a survey
of 350 private sector executives showed that the seasonally
adjusted Service Sector Business Activity Index fell to 49.8 from
53.8 in August2011. Any reading of less than 50 indicates
contraction, while economic activity is seen to be growing if the
index is over 50. This is the first time since April 2009 that the
services sector, that accounts for more than half the Indian
economy slipped into negative terrain.
The decline in services sector activity was attributed to lower
demand for offshoring and IT and IT-enabled services from the
US and Europe, where several economies are grappling with debt
problems. The decline in this sectorimpacted financial services
as banking activity slowed down on account of higher interest
rates and investors are wary of parking their funds in stock
markets.
Due to the sharper-than-expected global slowdown and the
impact of high interest rates on the domestic economy, the overall
growth was observed to be slowing down at a faster clip than
anticipated earlier.
The overall trend is in line with expectations that the Indian
economy will grow at less than 8% during 2011-12. The economy
expanded 8.5% in 2010 prompting the government to predict 9%
growth in 2011. However, as the global economic situation
deteriorated and higher interest rates slowed down the growth
momentum the government lowered its forecasts.
The survey also showed that employment fell as awell increasing
worries for policymakers, who want rapid economic growth to
take care of the growing population that is joining the workforce.
Home Loan Burden to Rise by Rs 6000 cr
According to a report by Crisil, increase in equated monthly
installments (EMIs) due to rising interest rates and reset of teaser
loans is expected to put additional annual burden of about Rs
6000 crore on home loan borrowers. Higher EMIs and slowdown
in economic growth is also likely to increase bad loans for lenders.
To check inflationary pressures, RBI hiked key policy rates 12
times in the past 18 months, leading to higher interest burden for
home loan borrowers. The reference floating rate for the industry
increased by 200-250 bps during the 18 month period, which
translates into an average increase of 15% in EMIs. banks and
housing finance companies reset their benchmark rates. However
the increase has not yet affected customers who opted for teaser
loan schemes launched in early 2009 to stimulate dwindling home
demand. For a teaser scheme customer, the rates are fixed for the
initial 2-3 years, and subsequently get linked to the prevailing
market rates.
According to the Crisil report, a large number of borrowers who
are on teaser loans will get hit with a sudden jump in rates when
the teaser rates reset to market rates. This shift is expected to
take place from April 2012. The difference between the teaser
rate and the reset rate is likely to be as high as 300-350 basis
points (bps).
The report highlighted that at the end of June 2011 quarter the
asset quality of industry players like HDFC, LICHFL and DHFL
deteriorated by 10-40 bps on a quarteron-quarter basis.
The report however mentioned on the positive side that yields
for financiers will improve in 2012-13 as teaser loans availed in
2009-10 get reset to market rates. The yields for a teaser loan
customer is expected to increase by 300-350 bps once they are
reset to market rates. This will have a net positive impact of
around 30 bps on the net profit margins of housing finance players
in 2012-13.
The impact of rising interest rates is best reflected on the EMI of
a borrower with a 15-year home loan for Rs 15 lakh. With the
current mortgage rates hovering around the 11%, the borrower’s
EMI would have risen by 15% from Rs 14771 to Rs 17049. If rates
were to go up to 13%, his EMI will rise to Rs 18979.
Economists who met RBI governor D Subbarao on 11 October
2011 suggested that central bank continue with its rate increases
as inflation continues to be high. However the bankers and
corporates have asked the central bank to halt rate hikes. While
bankers have pointed out to a moderation in demand, corporates
have highlighted the industrial slowdown as the need for
measures to revive the economy. Corporates specified that steep
inflation is owing to international factors and rate hikes will do
more harm than good to the Indian economy.
Sistema Shyam Tele Services Launched
High-Speed Net Connectivity
Sistema Shyam TeleServices on 12 October 2011 announced the
launch of High Speed Data (HSD) connectivity across the 350
km long Chennai-Bengaluru stretch of National Highway, one of
the business stretches in India. Sistema Shyam TeleServices
provides services under MTS with over 13 million wireless
subscribers.
Facebook Buys Start-Up Friend.ly
Social networking site Facebook acquired Friend.ly on 10 October
2011. Friend.ly is a social question and answer service. Friend.ly
designed an app for Facebook that helped users pose questions
to online friends.
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DECEMBER 2011
Govt Committed to Recapitalise SBI
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 16 October 2011
voiced the Finance Ministry’s decision to to recapitalise State
Bank of India (SBI). Funds would be provided to the PSU lender
to enable it to achieve compliance with capital adequacy ratio
(CAR) norms. Fresh capital is to be infused in SBI. The
government will inject Rs 3,000-4000 crore into SBI during the
current fiscal 2011-12 to help it achieve an 8 per cent capital
adequacy ratio (CAR). The government holds a 59 per cent stake
in the country’s largest bank, SBI.
Recapitalisation of banks is a continuing process and the
government will continue to provide funds to PSU lenders through
the Budget to ensure that they can meet solvency requirements.
According to estimates, SBI needs about Rs 20000 crore of fresh
capital to maintain the pace of growth without sacrificing
solvency margin norms.
Moody’s had recently downgraded the credit rating of SBI, citing
inadequate capital and poor asset quality as reasons. Following
the downgrade, major private sector lenders like ICICI Bank,
HDFC Bank and Axis Bank currently have a better standing than
SBI in terms of their credit rating.
TRAI Says 3G Roaming Deals Illegal
A probe by telecom regulator TRAI established that 3G roaming
agreements between telcos violated licence conditions. Mobile
phone companies had earlier explained to the regulator that the
telecom department, prior to the 3G auctions, had clearly specified
that roaming policy is applicable to licences and not specific to
spectrum bands. In their defence, telcos had also provided copies
of the clarifications provided by the department on this issue
before the 3G auctions. The clarifications quote the DoT’s
response to operators’ queries on this issue as stating that
roaming will be permitted.
The DoT had asked the regulator to examine the 3G roaming
agreements between telcos. With no telco bagging pan-India 3G
airwaves in 2010 auctions, the leading GSM operators - Bharti
Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular had entered into an
alliance that enables them to offer high-end data services on a
pan-India basis (except Orissa). Bharti, Vodafone and Idea had
won 3G airwaves in 13, 9 and 11 circles, respectively, and their
roaming pacts ensured that customers of these companies can
access high-speed data services even in the regions where they
don’t hold 3G airwaves.
The GSM operators had informed TRAI that 3G roaming
agreements would augment the customer experience by allowing
users to access high-speed data services on a pan-India basis,
while also ensuring better utilisation of national resources and
increased revenues to the government. Besides, they also added
that these deals would help improve broadband internet coverage.
If the government acts on the recommendations of the TERM
Cell of the DoT, these mobile phone companies will have to shell
out fines to the tune of 50 crore for every circle where they have
entered into 3G roaming agreements.
DPCC
SEBI Panel Rejects Plan to Raise
Mutual Fund Net Worth Cap
A SEBI-constituted panel on mutual funds in October 2011
retained the minimum capital requirement to start a fund house at
Rs 10 crore, rejecting a proposal to increase the net worth criterion.
The move was welcomed by smaller fund houses and firms
planning to enter the asset management business in Asia’s thirdlargest
economy, India.
A mutual fund advisory committee in 2010 had proposed to raise
the capital base of asset management companies to Rs 50 crore
from Rs 10 crore to ward off non-serious players and to ensure
higher safety for investors. SEBI however pointed out that higher
capital requirement will be a difficult barrier for smaller institutions
wanting to start the fund management business.
It was pointed out that even developed nations have lower capital
requirement than India. In the US, the base capital required to
start an asset management business is Rs 55 lakh, if converted
into Indian rupees.
The first guideline on base capital criteria, which mandated funds
to have a minimum capital of Rs 3 crore, came out in 1993. SEBI
increased the net worth criterion to Rs 6 crore and then to Rs 10
crore after CRB Mutual Fund collapsed in 1996-97.
The mutual fund advisory committee had in 2010 also
recommended a higher net worth requirement to protect investors
and funds from short-term liquidity stress. Well-capitalised
funds, the committee argued would be better placed to handle
unforeseen redemption and issues arising from lower market
liquidity.
Reserve Bank of India Eased Property
Transaction Norms for NRIs
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted Indians who have
non-resident accounts in the country to hold them in any
currency which is fully convertible. The move is expected to
help NRIs/Persons of Indian Origin as it will give them more
options in the holding of accounts, and lessen the risk from
fluctuations in major currencies. In another relaxation, the RBI
specified that any citizen who was earlier residing in a foreign
country can own or transfer property or other assets in that
nation if it was acquired during the time of his residence there.
Earlier, Foreign Currency (Non-Resident) Account (Banks)
(FCNR(B)) account holders were allowed to hold accounts in
only certain currencies such as the Pound Sterling, US dollar,
Japanese yen, euro, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar. The
central bank mentioned that Authorised Dealer banks in India
can accept FCNR (B) deposits in any permitted currency.
Permitted currency implies a foreign currency which is freely
convertible.
The Committee to Review the Facilities for Individuals under
Foreign Exchange Management Act recommended that FCNR(B)
accounts may be opened in any freely convertible currency.
Centre Announces Rs.900cr Package
for Exporters
Union Commerce and Industry Ministry on 13 October 2011
announced a Rs. 900-crore package for exporters taking the total
Diwali bonanza to Rs.1,700 crore with an objective to support
exporters exporters against slowdown in the U.S. and Europe.
The package was announced as part of the Foreign Trade Policy
(FTP) released by Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand
Sharma. The announcement of the 900 crore package followed
notifying the interest subsidy of 2 per cent for labour-intensive
industries such as handicrafts, handlooms, carpets and small
and medium exporters by the RBI. The benefits will largely accrue
to exporters of engineering goods, pharmaceuticals and
chemicals.
The policy announced reward for all those scouting for markets
in Latin America, Africa and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent
States). The new measures will be incorporated in the annual
supplement of the Foreign Trade Policy (2009-14). Around 50
products in engineering, pharmaceuticals and chemicals would
get special bonus of additional one per cent of export value
between October and March period of 2011-12 fiscal. Shipments
to Latin America, Africa and CIS regions will also be eligible for
additional one per cent duty credit besides three per cent already
being given. The policies are in sync with the export
diversification strategy in the wake of demand sluggishness in
the U.S. and European markets. The apparel sector was given
duty credit under Market Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS)
for export to the U.S. and Europe. The 2 per cent duty credit
would be available to exports made during 2011-12.
The Ministry decided to extend MLFPS benefit for exports of
agricultural tractors (over 1800 cc capacity) to Turkey. The list of
items under FPS was expanded to include 130 additional items
mainly in the chemical, pharmaceutical, textiles, handicrafts,
engineering and electronics sectors. The products covered under
FPS are entitled for 2 per cent duty credit scrip. The Ministry
declared Firozabad for glassware, Bhubaneswar for marine
products and Agartala for bamboo and cane products as town of
export excellence to boost shipments from these areas.
Tata Motors Unveils Manza
In South Africa
Tata Motors on 7 October 2011 announced the launch of luxurious
Tata Manza sedan and the international Tata Prima range of
premium commercial vehicles at the Johannesburg International
Motor Show 2011. It also displayed a wide range of other vehicles,
laden with latest technologies delivering better, convenience,
comfort, performance and environment protection. In passenger
vehicles, the Tata Vista is on display.
While In commercial vehicles, the debutants comprise the Tata
Venture, a multi-purpose vehicle, Tata Super ACE, the latest 1
tonne mini-truck, Tata LPO 1823 commuter bus, Tata Xenon 2.2 L
Cargo Box, Tata Xenon 2.2 L Double Cab 4x4, Tata LPO 1623
CNG bus and the Tata Xenon CNG.
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DECEMBER 2011
Hike in MSP of Wheat Proposed by
Agriculture Minstry
The Agriculture Ministry on 20 October 2011 proposed a hike of
Rs 115 per quintal in the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat
to Rs 1285 per quintal to cover rising farm input cost and
encourage farmers to increase acreage. The Ministry circulated
a CCEA note among various ministries recommending Rs 1285
per quintal as MSP for wheat for the 2012-13 marketing year
begining 1 April 2012.
Wheat’s support price for 2011-12 was Rs 1170 per quintal,
including a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal.
The government announced the support price for more than 20
crops just before the sowing season. The government buys wheat
and paddy from farmers at the MSP to ensure assured returns to
growers. The MSP also acts as benchmark price for the market.
The Ministry recommended a significant hike in wheat MSP in
view of rising input cost of labour, electricity, diesel and fertilisers.
Since the UPA government came into power in 2004, the MSP of
wheat has been raised from Rs 630 per quintal to Rs 1170 per
quintal.
Country’s wheat production touched an all-time of 85.93 million
tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year. According to experts, higher
support price played a big role in the record wheat output.
Centre Approves 21 New Textiles Parks
Union Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Textiles sanctioned
21 new Textiles Parks under the Scheme for Integrated Textiles
Parks with a project cost of 2100 crores rupees to be implemented
over a period of 36 months. The approval came in the 4th week of
October 2011. Among these 21 new Textiles Parks, 6 were
sanctioned in Maharashtra, 4 in Rajasthan, 2 each in Tamil Nadu
and Andhra Pradesh, 1 each in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tripura,
Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir and West
Bengal.
Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma as
Chairman of the Project Approval Committee under the Scheme
accorded approval. Earlier, Inter Ministerial Project Scrutiny
Committee which examined 55 proposals for new Textiles Parks
in the country gave its recommendations for the setting-up new
textiles parks. Proposals received were scrutinised by an inter
ministerial Project Scrutiny Committee on the basis of project
cost, land size, net worth of investors, employment generation
and value chain to be developed by the industry. Government
also sought to ensure balanced regional development, promote
textiles industry in North Eastern States and in States where the
industry is in a nascent stage of development and promote textiles
parks in cooperative & handloom sectors. Government received
a huge response to the roadshows held at Chennai, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Mumbai for seeking proposals for
Textiles Parks under the Scheme for Integrated Textiles Parks
for development of common infrastructure and the Technology
Upgradation Funds Scheme (TUFS).
Government enhanced the allocation under TUFS from Rs. 8000
crores to 15404 crores rupees under the 11th Five Year Plan. The
new Textiles Parks would leverage an investment of over 9000
crores rupees and provide employment to 4 lac textiles workers.
Government would finance common infrastructure with a subsidy
upto Rs. 40 crores per Textiles park.
Considerable demand for Textiles Parks in India and given the
success of the Scheme in the 11th Five Year Plan, Textiles Ministry
would be seeking a higher allocation under the 12th Five Year
Plan. Of the 40 textiles parks sanctioned under the 11th Five Year
Plan, 24 Textiles Parks have started operations and have attracted
investments of 18880 crores rupees, with a Government subsidy
of 1420 crores rupees.
About Textiles Parks
The product mix in these parks would include apparels and
garments parks, hosiery parks, silk parks, processing parks,
technical textiles including medical textiles, carpet parks,
powerloom parks. The focus of Government has been to ensure
value addition through aggregation to best utilize India’s raw
material surplus in cotton and cotton yarn for enhanced labor
employment and export earnings. The Scheme for Integrated
Textiles Parks seeks green field investments in textiles sector on
a public private partnership basis with the objective of setting
up world class infrastructure for Textiles industry.
GVK Airport Holdings Acquired
108000000 Equity Shares Worth Rs10
Each in MIAL
GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited, a subsidiary of GVK Power
& Infrastructure Limited (GVKPIL) on 18 October 2011 acquired
108000000 equity shares worth Rs10 each (amounting to a 13.5%
equity stake) in Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL).
The stakes were acquired from Bid Services Division (Mauritius)
Limited for a sum of US$231 million.
GVK bought the stake for $231 million (Rs 1,140 crore), valuing
MIAL at around Rs 8500 crore. After the acquisition, GVK’s stake
in MIAL stood at 50.5 per cent. While the Airports Authority of
India owns 26 per centin MIAL, Bid Services Division (Mauritius)
and the Airports Company of South Africa hold 13.5 and 10 per
cent, respectively.
The acquisition is the second-biggest by the GVK group to
consolidate its position in the airport business. In August 2011
the group had increased its stake in Bangalore International
Airport Ltd (BIAL) to 43 per cent, by acquiring 14 per cent stake
from Siemens for Rs 614 crore. The deal valued BIAL at Rs 4300
crore.
About MIAL
MIAL is executing an airport modernisation project worth Rs
9800 crore. The construction of the integrated passenger terminal
is underway and will be complete in mid-2013. In the first quarter
of 2011-12, MIAL made a net profit of Rs 57.8 crore, against Rs
40.1 crore in the same period in 2010. The airport handled 29
million passengers last year and sees around 700 flight movements
daily.
Airtel Launched Race Pack for F1 Fans
Bharti Airtel on 12 October 2011 announced the launch of its
special Formula One Race Pack for F1 fans in Bangalore. Bharti
Airtel is a leading global telecommunications company with
operations in 19 countries across Asia and Africa.
Bharti Airtel which is the title sponsor for the 2011 Formula One
Airtel Grand Prix of India introduced this pack as a prelude to the
forthcoming Grand Prix slated to be held in Greater Noida (Uttar
Pradesh) on 30 October 2011.
Any new Airtel pre-paid customer in Bangalore would receive a
30 days trial offer on F1 value-added services like watching free
Formula One race clips on mobile TV and playing exciting racing
games.
Local Airtel calls are priced at 30 paise per minute and the pack
would be valid for 60 days from the date of activation. Airtel prepaid
mobile customers subscribing to the pack would also get a
chance to win A-Ticket, an ultimate F1 experience for two. The
pack would also be inclusive of air travel and five-star hotel stay
to the Grand Prix on 28 October 2011.
Overnite Express Launched "Overnite
Priority" Service
Overnite Express launched a new premium service, Overnite
Priority on 17 October 2011 with an assured next business-day
delivery feature besides a money back guarantee attached to it.
The new service was launched in response to the market’s desire
for such an assured service platform. The latest service offering
is being considered to be a significant step in the direction of
customer satisfaction and innovation-leadership.
Overnite Express put in place a team of dedicated trained
executives who would be specially looking after this service
segment and would be tracking the movement of consignment
from receiving till final delivery. The client would be apprised of
the delivery by an SMS.
Overnite, over the years evolved from being a basic courier
service provider delivering documents and parcels to an
integrated door-to-door time-bound service provider. The express
delivery service (EDS) industry was valued at Rs.10,000 crore
and was growing at around 25 per cent annually.
Policy for Acquisition of Raw Material
Assets abroad by CPSEs
The Cabinet on 13 th October approved the policy for acquisition
of raw material assets abroad by Central Public Sector Enterprises
(CPSEs).
The main features of the policy are as under:
• The following will be applicable to CPSEs in Agriculture,
Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors having
a three year record of making net profits.
• CPSEs will examine proposals, undertake due diligence
and obtain approval of Board of Directors in a
transparent manner.
• Powers delegated to the boards of Maharatna and
Navratna proposed will be enhanced and enhanced
powers available only for acquisition of raw material
assets abroad.
• Coordinating Committee of Secretaries (CCoS) headed
by the Cabinet Secretary proposed to be constituted.
Proposals (i) where the administrative Ministry/CPSE
requests for a coordinated view and (ii) involve
Government funds to be put up before the CCoS.
• CCoS will facilitate quick and coordinated decision
making, coordinate grant of concessional credit to
foreign enterprise/Government, recommend
Government funding and decide about the nature of
the Government funding on case to case basis. The
CCoS to be serviced by the Department of Public
Enterprises (DPE).
• CPSE/Ministry will submit proposals to the DPE which
will convene a meeting of the CCoS. The CPSE/Ministry
to nominate a nodal officer. Recommendations of CCoS
will be placed before CCEA by the DPE.
• Existing Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS)
mechanisms shall continue to function. Ministries
presently not having ECS proposed will be authorized
to have an appropriate ECS mechanism.
• The Ministry of External Affairs and its Missions
abroad will be associated right from the beginning of
the process.
• The Government to, in due course, will consider
constituting a dedicated, Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The approval of the policy for acquisition of raw material assets
abroad by CPSEs is expected to significantly enhance the
capabilities of CPSEs to acquire raw material assets abroad and
thus protect long term economic interests of the country.
Background
The availability of adequate quantities of raw materials is a prerequisite
not only for the growth of the manufacturing sector in
particular and the economy as a whole, but also from a strategic
perspective. Some countries have already taken the lead in
acquiring sources of raw material assets globally. The acquisition
of raw material abroad will also help in improving the energy
security of the country. The matter requires a timely response
before global raw material assets are no longer available, or are
available at exorbitant prices.
It was, therefore, decided that in the long term interests of the
country, a policy statement in clear terms needed to be
pronounced to convey to all concerned the commitment of the
Government to take all necessary measures towards acquisition
of raw material assets abroad by CPSEs.
This policy emanates from the recommendations of
National Manufacturing Competitive Council and wide interministerial
consultations.
IVRCL Bag Orders Worth Rs 5.52 Bn
Infrastructure firm IVRCL Limited’s buildings, transportation and
water divisions bagged orders worth Rs 5.52 billion.
The building division won orders worth INR 418.51 crore, which
include construction of low cost housing for urban poor in Delhi,
civil and structural steel works at Bhilai steel plant in Chhattisgarh
and infrastructure for a reserve battalion Central Industrial
Security Force in Tamil Nadu.
The transportation division won orders for widening to 2-lane
and improvement in km 0.00 to km 45.535 of Govindapalli- Salimimahupadar
road awarded by Chief Engineer, Orissa. The water
division bagged INR 59.31 crore for the Muzaffarpur water supply
project in Bihar.
ICAR and CIMMYT Sign MoU to
set up Borlaug Institute for South Asia
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and International
Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) signed MoU
to set up Borlaug Institute for South Asia. The Institutes will be
established at Ludhiana in Punjab, Pusa in Bihar and Jabalpur in
M.P.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Shri
Sharad Pawar said that the establishment of Borlaug Institute for
South Asia in India will enable to harness the best of international
science in meeting food security challenges and will become an
agricultural hub for the South Asia region.
Shri Pawar said, “Ludhiana in Punjab is located in the agroecological
zone which can be safely called the “wheat bowl” of
India. This region had been at the forefront of Green Revolution
and has been the region of high productivity. However, the region
is facing problems of high ground water withdrawal and the
consequent water scarcity, and climate change effects such as
terminal heat. Agricultural productivity in the region has hit a
plateau. The Center of Borlaug Institute at Ludhaina will have to
concentrate on these issues and introduce newer verities that
will be high yielding, more water and nutrient-efficient, terminal
heat-resistant and, therefore, will produce more with fewer
inputs.”
About Borlaug Institute at Pusa in Bihar Shri Pawar said, this
center can concentrate on the research priorities of Eastern India
and Maize-based agricultural systems should be the focus of
research at this center. He said, Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh is
another strategically located agro-ecological zone of Central India
from where substantial productivity gains in agriculture,
particularly wheat and maize can come. This is also the region
with substantial Kharif and Rabi fallows which can be put to
cropping with judicious combination of crop, cropping system
machinery and inputs, Shri Pawar added.
The Institute will create state of the art research facilities to
support the maize and wheat R&D and broaden the range of
varieties and tools available to farmers. It will also strengthen
local crop breeding programmes to meet food production
challenges.
Proposal to Bring India Infrastructure
Finance Company Ltd. Approved
The Union Cabinet approved the proposals to bring India
Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL) under regulatory
oversight of Reserve Bank of India, to enhance its professional
capability and to increase its capital base.
The details are as follows:
1. IIFCL to be brought under the regulatory oversight of
RBI by registering it as an Non-Banking Finance
Company– Infrastructure Finance Company ( NBFC-
IFC).
2. To increase the authorized capital of IIFCL from Rs.2000
crore to Rs.5000 crore with a proviso that it may be
further increased to Rs.8000 crore with the approval of
the Finance Minister.
3. To broad base the Board of IIFCL.
4. Once IIFCL is brought under regulatory oversight of
RBI, to dispense with the Oversight Committee.
5. To modify the Scheme for Financing Viable Information
Projects (SIFTI).
Bringing IIFCL under the Regulatory Oversight of RBI with clearly
defined prudential norms would be financially prudent and would
safeguard the long term sustainability of the institution. Increase
in the authorized capital would enable IIFCL to expand its financial
assistance to the infrastructure sector and meet the needs of
increased CRAR. Inclusion of members with expertise in
accounting and audit, risk management infrastructure financing
etc. would strengthen its management and professional
capabilities.
Background
The performance of IIFCL was reviewed by the Economic
Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC to PM) and it has
made, the following recommendations:a)
Considering the systemic significance of IIFCL and its
linkages with other financial intermediaries, it is
important that it be placed under the regulatory
oversight of the RBI as a Financial Institution like
NABARD/SIDBI/EXIM Bank/NHB.
b) The IIFCL Board should be broad based and
professionals from the field of accounting and audit,
infrastructure finance, risk management etc. need to be
inducted in it. The membership should be increased to
14-16, in line with the practice followed for NABARD/
SIDBI etc.
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DECEMBER 2011
India Drafts National Tribal Policy
It is aimed to bring STs at par with rest of the population in terms
of their HDI, socio-economic conditions and basic infrastructure
facilities.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs has prepared a draft of the National
Tribal Policy. This is the first time the government has come out
with a policy to look at the issue of development of Scheduled
Tribes (STs) in an integrated and holistic manner. The proposed
policy will address the issues such as enhancement of human
development index of STs, improvement of infrastructure in STs
dominated areas, ensuring their control over the natural resources
base, displacement from their habitat and resettlement,
distribution of wealth and opportunities among tribals and
empowerment.
Releasing the Tribal Policy, Minister for Tribal Affairs and DoNER,
Kyndiah said that at a time when India has embarked on the path
of 8-9 per cent annual economic growth and opportunities are
expanding for improving living standards, the government is
alive to the need that the tribal community gets all opportunities
to improve their socio-economic conditions.
The objective of the policy is to bring STs at par with rest of the
population in terms of their HDI, socio-economic conditions and
basic infrastructure facilities in tribal areas. The policy provides
for regulatory protection, socio-economic and political
empowerment, development of infrastructure, increased
livelihood opportunities, improved governance and
administration, preservation of cultural and traditional rights and
traditional knowledge, protection of traditional knowledge in the
intellectual property rights regime and access to privileges.
Playgrounds for Tribal Youth in
IAP districts
Union Ministry of Rural Development cleared the proposal to
construct one playground in each village, falling under the 60
Integrated Action Plan (IAP) districts under the Mahatma Gandhi
NREGS works. The playground would be used for games like
football, volleyball, hockey and kabbadi. The Ministry of Rural
Development decided to revive sports for the tribal boys and
girls in the 60 left-wing extremist-affected districts where the
Integrated Action Plan (IAP) has been implemented.
The idea was not just to spread the scope of sports and games to
cover all the tribals but also to wean them away from being tapped
by the Naxalite outfits in these districts. It will be the
responsibility of the gram panchayat to provide the land and
execute the construction of the playground. For all villages under
the IAP districts, the ministry allowed cement concrete roads
within the residential habitations in the villages. The objective
was to clean up surroundings and improve hygiene and
sanitation in these villages particularly during the rainy season.
IMS
SOCIAL COVERAGE
Legal Empowerment of the Poor in India
A meeting was held on 5th October 2011 in New Delhi between
Union Minister for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA)
and Culture Kumari Selja and Mr. Hernando de Soto, Peruvian
Economist and President, Institute of Liberty and Democracy
(ILD), Peru to discuss a project focusing on the legal
empowerment of the poor in India.
The project will undertake a diagnosis to assess the extent of
insecure property titling, the reasons for it, its most common
practices and suggestions of ways in which this wealth can be
unlocked for the use and benefit of the poor. The project will
focus on three states (one city per state) for the diagnosis. In
particular a diagnosis report will be submitted by the project
containing a description of the sector, identification of legal and
institutional bottlenecks, stakeholders, identification, analysis,
description and categorization of the main informal practices,
that, in response to the legal obstacles, take place outside the
rule of law, and identification of relevant public sector ‘machinery’
and its impact on the institutional framework.
In addition, the project will also suggest an institutional reform
design building on the diagnosis facts and including
recommendations for:
(i) building incentives for people to record their property;
(ii) building incentives for informal businesses to abide by
and benefit from the rule of law; and
(iii) building consensus for reform.
It is expected that this project will propose institutional changes
and reforms from the diagnosis phase that will pave the road for
large-scale, national implementation of these reforms for a more
inclusive urban growth in India.
Nobel Peace Prize Shared by Three
Women
The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to three women
— Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, African activist Leymah
Gbowee and Yemen’s Tawakkul Karman.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first democratically elected
female president. Since her inauguration in 2006, she has
contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic
and social development, and to strengthening the position of
women, the Nobel website said. Leymah Gbowee mobilised and
organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to
bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s
participation in elections. She has since worked to enhance the
influence of women in West Africa during and after war. In the
most trying circumstances, both before and during the ‘Arab spring’,
Tawakkul Karman has played a leading part in the struggle for
women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.
Govt Considering Constitutional Status
for Lokpal
Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office V Narayansamy said
that government is considering giving Constitutional status to
Lokpal. Narayansamy said that government is waiting for the
recommendations of the Standing Committee on the issue.
Earlier, Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid said that the
Government intends to make the Lokpal, a powerful Constitutional
authority. He said that a Constitutional amendment Bill is to be
introduced for this purpose in the Winter session of Parliament
starting November 2011.
Khurshid expressed hope that the Lokpal legislation will be
adopted in the same session.
Khurshid confirmed that the move for a Constitutional body is a
follow-up to the proposal made by AICC General Secretary Rahul
Gandhi during the last Monsoon Session.
The Law Minister also said that the proposal was to have an 11member
body, at least 50 per cent of whom would have judicial
background, such as former judges of Supreme Court and High
Courts.
Skill-Training to Unemployed Minority
Youths
In order to provide skill training to unemployed minority youths
in the country who are a sizeable number, the Ministry of Minority
Affairs has taken up a number of Schemes. They include:
(i) Establishment of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)
and Polytechnics under Multi- sectoral Development
Programme (MsDP);
(ii) Free Coaching is provided under the Scheme “Free
Coaching and Allied Scheme for the candidates
belonging to minority communities”; and
(iii) Financial assistance / loan is provided by the National
Minorities Development and Finance Corporation
(NMDFC).
Besides these exclusive Schemes, the Government of India has
instituted a Coordinated Action on Skill Development with a
three–tier structure involving PM’s National Council on Skill
Development supported by the National Skill Development
Coordination Board and the National Skill Development
Corporation. The action aims at creation of a pool of skilled
manpower with adequate skills that meets the employment
requirement across various sectors of the national economy. The
emphasis is on inclusivity so as to deal with divides of gender,
rural/urban, organized/unorganized employment and traditional
/ contemporary work place.
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DECEMBER 2011
Central Board for Workers Education
The Central Board for Workers Education under the Ministry of Labour & Employment is providing
financial assistance for bringing awareness among the workers of organised and unorganised
sector in the country. The Board through its Grants-in-Aid Scheme extends financial assistance to
eligible Trade Union Organizations and Institutions to conduct workers Education Programmes.
During the last three years the financial assistance given by the board various to trade Unions/
Institutions is as under:
Years Grants-in-Aid provided to Trade Unions/Institutions (in Rupees)
2008-09 15,33,784/-
2009-10 6,33,762/-
2010-11 9,66,471/-
Also, during the last three years the Board organized a number of programmes for workers. The
detail of number of workers participated therein and expenditure incurred on conducting the
programmes is as under:
Year No.of No.of workers Expenditure Sector wise (in Rupees)
Programmes participated Organised Unorganised/ Rural
2008-09 6,802 2,30,816 26,04,809/- 5,62,15,975/-
2009-10 8,303 2,88,716 19,19,825/- 5,48,98,869/-
2010-11 8,480 2,96,734 34,60,909/- 7,47,30,729/-
The fund allocated and sanctioned by the Government to the Board (under Plan Scheme), during
last three years and current year, for conducting the programmes in organised, unorganised and
rural sectors, is as follows:
Year Fund Sanctioned ( Rupees in crore)
2008-09 9.50
2009-10 9.00
2010-11 9.50
2011-12 23.20
Moreover, the Government has appointed M/s Educational Consultants India Ltd. (Ed. CIL), a
Government of India Enterprises of the Ministry of Human Resources Development to assess the
impact of the programmes being implemented by the Central Board for Workers Education in 2008.
Ed. CIL in its report has appreciated the work of Central Board for Workers Education and
recommended for its expansion at all levels.
The Central Board for Workers Education (CBWE) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of
Labour & Employment, Government of India. It is registered under the Societies Registration Act,
1860. Started in 1958, the Workers Education Scheme in India has been playing a very significant
role in our national development; creating an enlightened and disciplined work force and bringing
about desirable behavioral changes in our workforce in the organized, unorganized and rural
sectors. It gets grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Labour & Employment to operate its activities.
The Scheme of Workers Education aims at achieving the objectives of creating and increasing
awareness and educating the workforce for their effective participation in the socio-economic
development of the country. To achieve these objectives, various training programmes are
conducted by the Board for the workers of formal and informal sectors at national, regional and
unit levels through a network of 50 Regional and 09 Sub-Regional Directorates spread all over the
country and an apex Training Institute viz. Indian Institute of Workers Education (IIWE) at Mumbai.
RTI can Check Corruption: Experts
Amid a debate on the Right to Information Act
(RTI) affecting governance, experts batted for
strengthening the transparency law, stressing
its potential to check corruption and redress
grievances.
Bibek Debroy of the Centre for Policy Research,
Maja Daruwala of the Commonwealth Human
Rights Initiative and G. Raghuram of the Indian
Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A)
felt that the RTI Act’s ‘potential for stemming
corruption and grievance redressal needs much
more obedience to proactive disclosure’.
They shared their views on the final day of the
two-day convention Oct 14-15 on
‘Transparency and Accountability with Special
Reference to Public Private Partnership
Projects’ .
While Daruwala maintained that the RTI Act ‘has
the potential and efficacy to curb corruption
and redress grievance’, Debroy was of the
opinion that ‘corruption comes down if
monopoly goes away and corruption comes
down if discretion goes away’.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also
addressed the meet, said Right to Information
is a basic right that underpins good governance,
democracy, poverty eradication and the practical
realisation of human rights. He requested the
CIC to organise an all India workshop on RTI as
is being implemented in Patna.
The controversy over the transparency law
arose after the prime minister, addressing the
6th Annual Convention of Information
Commissioners, said the act has been effective
but there were ‘concerns that it could
discourage honest, well-meaning public
servants from giving full expression to their
views’.
‘Even as we recognise and celebrate the efficacy
and the effectiveness of the Right to Information
Act, we must take a critical look at it,’ Manmohan
Singh said. ‘There are concerns that need to be
discussed and addressed honestly.’
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had accused
the prime minister of trying to dilute the law and
social activist Aruna Roy, also a member of the
Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council,
had criticised Manmohan Singh for ‘suggesting
dilution of the Act.’
Online Verification of UIDAI Project on Anvil
Successful operation of pilot project for online authentication would allow people to use their
ID numbers to access a host of services
The Unique Identification Development Authority of India (UIDAI) would launch a pilot project
for online authentication of Aadhar numbers on real-time basis in Jharkhand next month.
UIDAI Director General Ram Sevak Sharma said the operation of Aadhar numbers would be tried
in Jharkhand to know if the system was responding properly in case of transfer of money to
beneficiaries of social sector schemes including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) schemes.
The pilot project for real-time authentication would be launched in five blocks in consultation of
the State Government. “We have asked the State government to identify the blocks that saw the
launch of pilot project of original programme,” Sharma said.
The state government and banks would use Aadhar database to open bank accounts and transfer
funds for thousands of MGNREGA schemes beneficiaries. Besides, the authentication project
would help the authority build a case for more funds and wider scale of coverage. Sharma said that
the success of online authentication would enable the Aadhar number owners to use the same as
a single source of authentication for a host of public utility services. “The project also intends to
ascertain if Aadhar numbers could be used for opening bank accounts, issuance of driving licences,
and a number of other services like ration cards, passports, etc,” Sharma added.
The Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance have mandated the UIDAI number as a
valid “know-your-customer” document for opening bank accounts, but are yet to allow online
verification. So far, the agency has enrolled around 110 million people and is in talks with various
stakeholders, such as Telecom Department, to make ‘Aadhaar’ a valid document to access services.
It may be noted that the UIDAI’s demand for Rs 15,000 crore to scale-up coverage came in for
sharp criticism from various government departments and was rejected by the Expenditure Finance
Commission.
Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre is
the Realization of the Long Cherished Dream of the Deaf
Community
Shri Mukul Wasnik, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, inaugurated the Indian Sign
Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) at the IGNOU Campus. Shri Wasnik said that
ISLRTC is the realization of the long cherished dream of the deaf community in India. It is an
exclusive education project for teaching, learning, training and capacity building for the vast deaf
population. It will be a full time teaching and training center for Indian Sign Language combined
with distance teaching/learning opportunities. This research centre is the first of its kind in India
with centres attached to IGNOU. There will be zonal/regional centers in different geographic
regions of the country. The center would consist of short term, medium and full-fledged programmes
for both the un-trained and experienced teachers of the deaf schools.
Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment said that in India, as per 2001 census, the population
with hearing impairment was over 12.62 Lakhs and as per 58th round of NSSO the hearing impaired
population was 30.62 Lakhs. A significant number of deaf persons essentially depend on Sign
Language for communication; hence this is an historic occasion, depicting the commitment of the
Government to fulfill the needs of the deaf community in India. The inclusion of deaf people in the
larger development activity of the country depends significantly on promotion of Sign Language,
Shri Mukul Wasnik said. He further said that Sign Language in India is in nascent stage and
evolving. Even the reach of it also by far is limited to some pockets of the country. Therefore, we
need to think innovatively to reach out to the people who are in need. One such activity could be
having Sign Language Clubs. In USA, there is a concept of Sign Language Clubs. These clubs are
attached to colleges and universities. Shri Wasnik requested the Director, ISLRTC, to explore the
possibilities of having such clubs in India. European Sign Language Centre through the web
based computer tool www.spreadthesign.com created a web of itself in 10 European countries.
2011 Global Hunger Index Fact and Findings: Asia
South Asia has the highest regional 2011 Global
Hunger Index (GHI) score—22.6.
The 2011 GHI score fell by 25 percent in South
Asia compared with its 1990 score, and the 2011
GHI score in Southeast Asia decreased by 44
percent.
The South Asia region reduced its GHI score
by more than 6 points between 1990 and 1996—
mainly due to a large decline in underweight in
children under five, but the fast progress was
not maintained. South Asia has lowered its GHI
score by only one point since 2001 despite
strong economic growth. Social inequality and
the low nutritional, educational, and social status
of women, which is a major cause of child
undernutrition in the region, have impeded
improvements in the GHI score.
Bangladesh and Vietnam saw large gains in
improving their GHI score between the 1990 GHI
A representative of Dalit organisations sought
support for their version of the anti-graft bill,
claiming that the Jan Lokpal bill drafted by Team
Anna ‘will disturb the constitutional balance’.
‘The Jan Lokpal bill wants the executive, the
judiciary and the legislature should report to
the Lokpal. This will disturb the fine
constitutional balance,’ said All India
Confederation of SC/ST Organisations
chairman Udit Raj, seeking support for their
version of the proposed legislation called the
Bahujan Lokpal bill. He sought reservation for
Dalits and minorities in the proposed anticorruption
set-up through the Bahujan Lokpal
bill. ‘If Anna supports our demand, we will back
him.’
‘Dalits, including the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes and minorities, form a large
percentage of population and must be involved
in the Lokpal,’ Udit Raj said at the seminar on
various versions of the proposed legislation.
Udit Raj said even if the Lokpal bill was passed,
and the 2011 GHI. Vietnam reduced its score by
56 percent, and Bangladesh reduced its score
by 36 percent.
In Bangladesh—a country where 25 percent of
the population is ultra-poor (living on less than
USD $0.50 a day)—only about 7 percent of the
population has access to social protection or
safety net programs.
The GHI score for North Korea increased by 18
percent since 1990. A weak economy, high
military spending, weather-related crop failures,
and systematic problems in the agricultural
sector have hampered progress.
Cambodia is the only country to improve from
an “extremely alarming” to “serious” level of
hunger since 1990.
Bangladesh, India, and Timor-Leste have the
highest prevalence—more than 40 percent—of
underweight in children under five.
Dalits Push their Version of Lokpal Bill
Science and technology-based solutions only
can help fight poverty in the world’s poorest
nations, says an NGO that has taken precisely
this approach to tackle the problem in India.
The India800 Foundation, a charity that will
present its work at the House of Lords, argues
poverty should be tackled by identifying specific
problems and then by developing technologybased
solutions.
‘Our theme is Building One India, and our work
is always solutions-focused,’ said Krishna
Sarda, India8002 s chief executive, in a statement.
The organisation was launched jointly by the
Indo-British All Party Parliamentary Group and
EMF, a Social Justice Foundation.
It is currently working with India’s poorest
people and harnessing the power of science and
technology to improve their living conditions.
Their work includes solar powered lighting
systems to eliminate the use of kerosene lamps,
‘there is no guarantee it will be effective in
rooting out corruption’.
Swami Agnivesh, a former member of Team Anna,
also supported the demand for a quota for Dalits
and minorities in the proposed Lokpal set-up.
‘No legislation or movement will be successful
if it does not have social justice,’ said Agnivesh.
Shazia Ilmi, a member of Team Anna, said, ‘our
movement follows parliamentary procedures’
and ‘was not opposed to giving reservation to
the Dalits and minorities’.
‘We are basically against corruption and want a
strong Lokpal,’ said Shazia.
The parliamentary standing committee on law
and justice headed by Congress MP Abhishek
Manu Singhvi is looking into various drafts of
the Lokpal bill, including the Jan Lokpal bill.
The panel is expected to submit its
recommendations to parliament by the winter
session, which is usually held in November-
December.
Science Can Help Fight Poverty in India: NGO
development of cheap mobile phones and other
health related technologies.
Debates on whether aid works, how much aid
budgets should be and how they are spent ought
not to be the only focus, it noted.
The organisation believes this will help prevent
‘compassion fatigue’ and the feeling by many
that poverty issues are far too huge and complex
to actually be ever solved.
‘We are aware of the enormity of the challenge
we have set ourselves, but we must work to
ensure all emerging economies secure inclusive
growth. If we do not secure this we will have
wasted the opportunity to lift millions out of
poverty.’
To this end, the charity will call for the setting
up of a ministerial group on social justice from
the emerging BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia,
India and China) to share best practice on
inclusive growth and developments in science
and technology.
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DECEMBER 2011
World's Highest Webcam Brings
Everest to Internet
The world’s highest webcam was installed on Kala Patthar, a
smaller mountain facing the Everest. It is a solar-powered camera
and set at 18618 feet (5675 metres). The webcam can withstand
temperature as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius and operates
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Web cam will send live images of Mount
Everest back to scientists studying the effect of climate change
on the planet’s tallest peak. Earlier, scientists had set up a webcam
at the base camp of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. The German
surveillance firm Mobotix developed the device and it was
installed by the mountain research group, Giampietro Kohl of
EV-K2-CNR.
Hydroelectric Projects Harming Rivers:
Experts
A two-day national conference on the impact of climate change
on India’s rivers has called for discouraging the setting up of
hydro-electric projects to conserve water resources. ‘We have
prepared a comprehensive document and shaped it as a
memorandum which would be presented to the prime minister
and other concerned people,’ climate scientist from Indian
Institute of Science-Bangalore, Satyendra Tripathi, the organising
secretary of the conference said. Tripathi explained how climate
change was impacting India’s rivers. ‘The exploding population
has raised the pressure on river water resources, reducing the
quantity of usable water,’ he said. He added that by 2040, ‘most
of the green cover and forest in this region will be impacted by
climate change and the situation will become disastrous’
The conference was organised by Bhartiyam Science Society,
Manoyog and Save Ganga Save Heritage organisations. More
than 50 scientists from various institues and social workers
participated in the event. In a resolution, the conference
demanded that hydro-projects in future should be discouraged
and non-conventional sources of energy be harnessed.
‘All over the world, opinion is now veering around the belief that
the environmental costs of huge dams is too high. Micro-projects
should therefore be promoted,’ the resolution said.
Delegates also called for a ban on mining of sand in river basins.
‘River soil and silt help reduce pollution, absorb toxic and
hazardous substances that contaminate the water,’ the document
added.
ENVIRONMENT COVERAGE
Javan rhino is Extinct in Vietnam
India Is Committed to Low Carbon
Growth Strategy in Power Sector
India is actively pursuing a low carbon growth strategy in the
Power Sector to address climate related issues. This was stated
by the Minister of Power Shri Sushilkumar Shinde at the
International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial Meeting in Paris
on 19 th Oct 2011. Shri Shinde was making an intervention during
the session on “Accelerating the Transition to a Secure, Low
Carbon Energy Future” organised as part of the meeting. IEA
meeting was attended by energy ministers of IEA member
countries including USA, UK, France, Australia, Germany, Spain,
Norway, Turkey, and EU and 8 partner countries including India,
Russia, China, South Africa, Chille, Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico.
Pointing out that India’s future energy mix is likely to be coal
dominated due to endowment of domestic coal reserves, Shri
Shinde said that India is moving towards Super Critical
Technology in coal based thermal plants along with rapid
induction of other Clean Coal Technologies. He said that during
the 13th Five Year Plan (2017-2022), super critical technology
would dominate the power scenario in India.
The Minister highlighted that India has taken policy initiatives
for the development of renewable energy and the implementation
of energy efficient improvement programmes. He said the
Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM), which is
under implementation aims at adding 20,000 MW solar capacity
by 2022. He added that the State Electricity Regulatory
Commissions in India are mandating a minimum Renewable
Purchase Obligation (RPO) to the power distribution utilities of
their respective states. Shri Shinde informed that in order to
facilitate capacity addition based on renewable energy, a
mechanism of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) or “Green
Certificates” has recently been introduced in India.
Stating that the Indian Government has given due emphasis to
energy efficiency, Shri Shinde said that 37 ESCOs have been
accredited by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). He said a
National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency is under
implementation while a “Perform-Achieve-Trade” (PAT) Scheme
for energy intensive sectors has been launched recently.
Reaffirming that it is common responsibility to work for the
poorest of the poor, Shri Shinde said that the policy initiatives
taken by the Government of India and the Prime Minister’s
National Action Plan on Climate Change would guide low carbon
growth in India during the next decade.
The Javan rhino, one of the five species of endangered rhinoceroses worldwide, has become extinct in Vietnam, experts said. The
International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced this based on a study of 22 dung samples
collected during 2009-10 in the Cat Tien National Park in Vietnam. The dung belonged to dead rhinoceroses found in the park in
April 2010. Four other species of rhinos are the Black and White rhinoceroses found in Africa, the Greater One-horned rhino in India
and the Sumatran rhino.
SKYLIGHT
All Efforts Being Made to Address
Power Shortage
The power ministry is making all efforts to fix the problems related
to power shortage said minster of state for power KC Venugopal.
He added that the power situation is improving and hopefully
there will be no power crunch during Deepavali. The unexpected
rainfall at coal mining areas and strikes in some states caused
demand – supply gap.
According to the minister the NTPC Ramagundam plant which
was affected due to strike at Singareni Coal Fields has started
generation at full load. In addition NTPC has also been asked to
speed up the annual maintenance work at its Talcher plant in
Orissa.
Venugopal said that there is a need to increase efficiency of the
existing plants in order to reduce fuel consumptions and carbon
emissions. The state utilities are being persuaded to take up
renovation and modernisation programmes on priority basis. With
the adoption of new super critical technology the efficiency of
power generation will improve. Laying new transmission lines is
expected to improve the efficiency & over all viability of the
sector.
The government is presently engaged in improving the financial
health of discoms. He added that the state governments are being
advised to introduce system of automatic tariff revision to take
care of increasing costs.
Warming Oceans Killing Seaweed
Warming oceanic climate is gradually killing seaweed
communities on which marine species may survive, according to
latest research. Given future warming, up to one quarter of species
might become extinct, said Thomas Wernberg, assistant
professor at the University of Western Australia Oceans Institute,
who conducted the study.
The researchers studied a database of more than 20,000 herbarium
records of macro-algae collected in Australia since the 1940s.
They found changes in seaweed communities in both the Indian
and the Pacific oceans, consistent with rapid warming over the
past decades. Some species may be able to cope with natural
cooling and warming cycles, researchers believed.
But the predicted rate and strength of warming in the coming
decades is likely to force many retreating species beyond the
limits of available habitat, according to a statement from the
university. ‘The potential for global extinction is concerning
because one quarter of all macro-algal species in the world are
found off Australia and these marine habitats support equally
unique fish and invertebrate communities,’ Wernberg said.
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DECEMBER 2011
Indian Proposal on Neglected Issues for Durban Discussions
The Indian Government has submitted a proposal to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to include three contentious but very important issues
on ‘unilateral trade measures‘, ‘intellectual property rights‘ and ‘equitable access to sustainable
development‘ for inclusion in the provisional agenda of the 17th meeting of the Conference of
Parties (COP 17) to be held in Durban, South Africa in late November this year.
These issues have been neglected and not properly addressed in the 2010 Cancun decision on the
outcome of the Ad-hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention
(decision 1/CP 16) despite being raised by India and a large number of developing countries prior
to and in Cancun.
India requested that the 3 issues be included in the COP 17 provisional agenda and developing
countries in the Bonn talks that ended on 17 June objected to attempts to have these items
addressed by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) that has no mandate to provide
guidance (thereby influencing) the COP agenda.
The Indian proposal is for the inclusion of these issues as follows: (i) under the agenda item
‘Development and transfer of technologies‘, a sub-item on ‘Mitigation and adaptation actions and
technology related Intellectual Property Rights‘; (ii) under the agenda item ‘Review of implementation
of commitments and other provisions of the Convention‘, to include ‘Equitable access to sustainable
development‘ and ‘Unilateral trade measures‘.
The Indian submission provided the explanatory notes in respect of each additional agenda item
as proposed.
On the intellectual property rights (IPRs) issue, the Indian explanatory note states that “at
Cancun, Parties to UNFCCC agreed to set up a Technology Mechanism and Networks of Climate
Technology Centres with a view to promote cooperation amongst Parties for development and
transfer of technologies. While the Technology Mechanism will help build capacity for deployment
of existing technologies and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies, there is a
need to augment this arrangement in form of removal of constraints at the global level on the
development and availability of climate friendly technologies. An effective and efficient global
regime for management of (IPRs) of climate friendly technologies is critical to the global efforts for
development, deployment, dissemination and transfer of such technologies. In the absence of
such an arrangement, the objective of advancing the nationally appropriate mitigation and adaptation
actions at the scale and speed warranted by the Convention cannot be met effectively and
adequately. Such a regime should promote access to (IPRs) as global public good while rewarding
the innovator and enhance the capacity of developing countries to take effective mitigation and
adaptation actions at the national level. Conference of Parties should urgently decide on addressing
the issue of treating and delivering climate technologies and their IPRs as public good in the
interest of the global goal of early stabilization of climate and advancing developing country
efforts aimed at social and economic development and poverty eradication.”
On the issue of “equitable access to sustainable development”, the explanatory note states that
‘at Cancun, Parties agreed to a global goal for climate stabilization with a view to hold the increase
in global average temperature below 2 degree C above pre-industrial levels and decided that
urgent actions be taken to meet this long term goal consistent with science and on the basis of
equity. Parties also decided to work towards identifying a time frame for global peaking of green
house gas emissions based on the best available scientific knowledge and equitable access to
sustainable development. The decisions at Cancun imply that the global goal of climate stabilization
in terms of limiting the temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels should be
preceded by a paradigm for equitable access to sustainable development. The achievement of the
global goal must not compromise the sustainable development imperatives of developing countries
and must fully take into account the overriding priority of social and economic development and
poverty eradication in such countries. Keeping in mind the objective of identifying the suitable
timeframe for reducing the global emissions on the basis of equitable access to sustainable
development, the principle of equity must be defined so as to recognize that the global atmospheric
resource is the common property of all mankind and each human being has equal entitlement to
use of this resource in the interest of meeting the overriding priorities of developing countries.‘
On the issue of “unilateral trade measures”, the note states that, “at Cancun, Parties agreed to
promote a supportive and open international economic system. Parties decided, inter-alia, that
measures taken to combat climate change including unilateral ones should not constitute a means
of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade. Unilateral
Trade Measures (UTMs) include tariff, non-tariff, and other fiscal and non-fiscal border trade
measures that may be taken by developed country Parties, against goods and services from
developing country Parties. Recourse to UTMs on any grounds related to climate change, including
protection and stabilization of climate, emissions leakage and/or cost of environment compliance
would be tantamount to passing mitigation burden onto developing countries, and would clearly
contravene the fundamental principles and provisions of equity, common but differentiated
responsibility and respective capabilities, and the principle enshrined in Article 3 of the Convention.
Parties should expressly prohibit use of unilateral trade measures on such grounds, as they will
have negative environmental, social and economic consequences for developing countries and
compromise the principles and provisions of the Convention.”
Attempts were made to negotiate and amend the elements of the provisional agenda for COP 17
that included the new issues proposed by India, under the discussions on ‘arrangements for
intergovernmental meetings‘ (AIMs) in a contact group of the SBI. Developed countries, especially
the United States, are of the view that these issues have been settled in Cancun. However, most
developing countries are of the view that not all the issues were addressed in Cancun and are still
unresolved.
Arctic Ice Shelf Might have Broken up Before
Researchers think a Canadian ice shelf had
broken up 1,400 years ago, long before
industrialisation impacted the planet.
A study of sedimentary material on the bottom
of Disraeli Fjord in Canada turned up proof of
what the team from Universite Laval in Canada
described as a major fracturing event 1,400 years
ago.
They believe at least an ice shelf, Ward Hunt
north of Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, the
largest remaining ice shelf in the Arctic at 170
square miles, broke up and then re-froze 800
years ago, the journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences reports.
Ice shelves are thick ice crusts which have been
pushed out to sea by the pressure from glaciers.
They act as dams in fjords and result in sediment
building up at the boundary between fresh water
from the ice and salt water from the ocean,
according to the Daily Mail.
Researchers used carbon dating and other
techniques to examine the sediment and were
able to create a timeline of events.
They found the ice shelf appeared 4,000 years
ago staying whole for several thousand years
before fracturing 1,400 years ago. They said it
didn’t fully re-freeze until 800 years ago. It began
to shrink again almost 100 years ago and is
getting smaller every year.
Dermot Antoniadesa from Universite Laval said:
‘At this point, it doesn’t appear that the shelf
ice around Ellesmere Island is any smaller now
than it was during the previous period of
warming, but because it’s still shrinking, it’s
possible it could become, an unprecedented
event.’
Ice shelves in the Arctic lost more than 90
percent of their total surface area during the
20th century and are continuing to disintegrate
rapidly.
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BASIC Countries Meet in China for Climate Talks
With barely a month left for the global climate
change negotiations in Durban, ministers from
BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and
China) will hold a crucial meeting in Beijing to
discuss their perspectives on key issues.
China will host the ninth BASIC ministerial meet
Oct 31-Nov 1. A meeting of experts will be held
alongside this meeting to carve out a strategy
for the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of
Parties 17 (COP 17) to be held in Durban, South
Africa, Nov 28-Dec 9.
Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan will
be representing India in the China talks. She
said that BASIC countries are likely to carry
forward their discussions on the issues raised
during the last meeting in Brazil. India will raise
the issue of South Africa linking extension of
Kyoto Protocol (only legally binding agreement
that calls for mandatory emission cuts by rich
countries and voluntary cuts by developing
nations) with a legal pact that covers all
countries. India is also likely to discuss its recent
Scientists worldwide are looking for evidence
that the ozone layer is beginning to heal, but
this year’s data from Antarctica does not hint at
a turnaround.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and NASA use
balloon-borne instruments, ground instruments
and satellites to monitor the annual South Pole
ozone hole, global levels of ozone and the
manmade chemicals that contribute to ozone
depletion.
The ozone layer helps protect the earth from
harmful ultraviolet radiation, but environmental
factors punch a hole through it every year, for
India will engage 100,000 educated youths to
execute an ambitious Green India Mission (GIM)
which seeks to increase the country’s forest
cover to 33 percent from 20 percent within 10
years. The Rs.46,000 crore ($9 billion) plan is
one of the eight missions under the National
Action Plan on Climate Change announced by
the prime minister in June 2008.
The GIM document was prepared in June last
year and the countrywide consultation is now
on. With 2011-12 being the preparatory year,
GIM would be implemented by the Twelfth and
Thirteenth Five Year Plans (2012-13 to 2016-2017
and 2017-18 to 2021-22).
GIM also targets improvement of forest-based
livelihood for about three million households
living in and around forests. According to the
Washing machines are becoming a major source
of harmful microplastic pollution – bits of
polyester and acrylic smaller than a pinhead –
which is littering sea shores worldwide.
Mark Browne at Ireland’s University College
Dublin and colleagues explained that the
accumulation of microplastic debris in marine
environments has raised health and safety
concerns. ‘Designers of clothing and washing
machines should consider the need to reduce
the release of fibres into wastewater and
research is needed to develop methods for
removing microplastic from sewage,’ said
Browne, according to a university statement.
The plastic bits contain harmful ingredients
which go into the bodies of animals and could
be transferred to people who consume fish, the
journal Environmental Science and Technology
reported.
Ozone not Healing
proposal to the UNFCCC calling for including
three contentious issues that have been left out
during the Cancun, Mexico, talks last year. The
issues are unilateral trade measures, intellectual
property rights (IPR) and equitable access to
sustainable development.
The Joint Statement of Ministers issued at the
end of the Brazil meeting in August 2011
reiterated the importance of achieving ‘a
comprehensive, balanced and ambitious result
in Durban in the context of sustainable
development and in accordance with the
provisions and principles of the UNFCCC, in
particular the principles of equity and common
but differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities’.
Industrialised or developed countries have a
historical responsibility to cut emissions, since
they have been emitting greenhouse gases for
several years. The developing world, on the
other hand, insists on its right to industrialise,
and resists emission cuts. This is the key point
of disagreement between the two blocs.
several weeks.
The Antarctic ozone hole, which yawns wide
every spring, reached its annual peak on Sep
12, stretching 10.05 million square miles, the
ninth largest on record.
Other key ingredients are ozone-depleting
chemicals that remain in the atmosphere and ice
crystals on which ozone-depleting chemical
reactions take place.
Levels of most ozone-depleting chemicals are
slowly declining due to international action, but
many have long lifetimes, remaining in the
atmosphere for decades.
100,000 Community Foresters to help Green India
GIM document, on account of management of
shifting cultivation areas under different agrisystems,
the area under age-old ‘jhum’ or
shifting cultivation had come down from 1.87
million hectares in 2003 to 1.2 million hectares in
2005-06. Tribals in the hilly terrain of northeast
and other areas have for generations been
carrying out the traditional slash-and-burn
method of cultivation, which has resulted in
degradation of forest land and badly affected
soil quality.
GIM aims at enhancing carbon sinks in
sustainably managed forests and other ecosystems,
adaptation of vulnerable species and
eco-systems to the changing climate and
adaptation of forest-dependent locals in the face
of climate variability.
Washing Machines Polluting Sea Shores
Ingested microplastic can transfer and persist
in their cells for months. How big is the problem
of microplastic contamination? Where are these
materials coming from?
To answer the questions, the scientists looked
for microplastic contamination along 18 coasts
around the world and did some detective work
to track down a likely source of this
contamination, the statement said.
They found more microplastic on shores in
densely populated areas, and identified an
important source — wastewater from
household washing machines.
They point out that more than 1,900 fibres can
rinse off of a single garment during a wash
cycle, and these fibres look just like the
microplastic debris on shorelines.
Sea Levels will Rise by 60 cm by 2100
Sea levels will rise by 60 cm by the end of the century and by another 180 cm over the next four
centuries, submerging many low-lying and coastal areas worldwide, researchers have said.
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen and others arrived at these figures based on rates
of emission from greenhouse gases and pollution using climate models, the journal Global and
Planetary Change reports.
‘Based on the current situation, we have projected changes in sea level 500 years into the future,’
explains Aslak Grinsted, researcher at the Centre for Ice and Climate, University of Copenhagen.
Cutting edge advances and strong international cooperation to stop emission of greenhouse
gases would not reverse the rise of the sea, according to a statement from the university.
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DECEMBER 2011
Scientists Make Discovery About
Spread Of Viruses
Scientists gained fresh knowledge about how viruses such as
flu and HIV jumped between species, a finding that is expected
to help predict the appearance of new diseases. The research
carried out by Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities sought to
understand how viruses such as bird flu infected distant species
like humans.
The scientists found that the viruses were better able to infect
species closely related to their typical target species than species
that were distantly related. However, the research also suggested
that when diseases make a big leap they may then spread easily
in species closely related to the new victim, regardless of how
closely related these are to the original target species.
By infecting more than 50 species of flies with three different
viruses, the researchers showed that species closely related to a
virus’ usual target species were more susceptible than distantly
related flies. They also showed that groups of flies that were
closely related were similarly susceptible to the same viruses.
China’s Supercomputer Surprises
U.S. Experts
China has made its first supercomputer based on Chinese
microprocessor chips, an advance that surprised highperformance
U.S. computing specialists. The announcement was
made at a technical meeting held in Jinan, China, organised by
industry and government organisations. The new machine, the
Sunway BlueLight MPP, was installed in September at the
National Supercomputer Center in Jinan, the capital of Shandong
province in eastern China.
The Sunway system, which can perform about 1,000 trillion
calculations per second a petaflop will probably rank among the
20 fastest computers in the world. More significantly, it is
composed of 8,700 ShenWei SW1600 microprocessors, designed
at a Chinese computer institute and manufactured in Shanghai.
Currently, the Chinese are about three generations behind the
state-of-art chip making technologies used by world leaders such
as the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
“This is a bit of a surprise,” said Jack Dongarra, a computer
scientist at the University of Tennessee and a leader of the Top500
project, a list of the world’s fastest computers.
Last fall, another Chinese based supercomputer, the Tianhe-1A,
created an international sensation when it was briefly ranked as
the world’s fastest, before it was displaced in the spring by a
rival Japanese machine, the K Computer, designed by Fujitsu.
INSIGHT
SCIENCE & TECH COVERAGE
Establishment of a Regional Centre for
Biotechnology
The Union Cabinet approved the enactment of the requisite
legislation for establishment of the Regional Centre for
Biotechnology Training and Education under the auspices of
UNESCO.
Taking into consideration the fact that modern biotechnology
has been recognised globally as a rapidly advancing science
wherein molecular techniques and process are employed to
develop health care solutions for human and animal sector, for
agriculture and environment technologies, the Centre proposes
to engage students in research by integrating science,
engineering and medicine with a view to create high quality
human resource in disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas. Further
the Centre would also create physical infrastructure in critical
platform technologies to support interdisciplinary education
training and research in biotechnology for providing interface
between agriculture or veterinary sciences and engineers and
environmental biologists, ecologists and engineers for
agricultural and environmental technologies in order to help
molecular breeding, bio-energy and green technologies. Thus
the Centre would be able to produce human resources tailored to
drive innovation in biotechnology, particularly in areas of new
opportunities and also to fill talent gap in deficient areas. The
Centre would also cater to designing novel programmes for
education and training which could then be assimilated by the
Universities in India and in the region.
The Centre will work in collaboration with other Centres of
UNESCO and carry out is programmes through grants
provided by the Government. The Bill provides for laying the
annual report and annual accounts together with the audit
report in both Houses of the Parliament.
Genome Of Neem Analysed By Ganit
For the first time in India, the genome and coding parts of multiutility
neem plant, Azadirachta indica, was sequenced and
analyzed. The process was disclosed in Bangalore on 29
September 2011by Ganit Labs. The project funded jointly by
Government of India and Government of Karnataka, has helped
bare most useful biological information of Indian neem varieties
that has received prominence in our traditional medicines.
Scientists informed that understanding the molecular architecture
of neem genome and its various coding parts, will enhance the
knowledge of this wonder species further. They further noted
that they are currently building an information knowledge portal
to store, retrieve and share neem data. Scientists felt that open
information portal is key to sharing knowledge openly and
empowering young people to utilize the information and come
up with newer innovation.
India to Double Expenditure in Research
and Develpoment
Dr. Ashwani Kumar, Minister of State for Planning, Science &
Technology and Earth Sciences said that India has decided to
double the expenditure in Research and Develpoment (R&D)
and major initiatives were being taken by India in super
computing, material sciences, genomics, nano sciences and plant
breeding techniques and synthetic biology etc. Addressing the
Opening Plenary Session of the 8th Annual Meeting of STS
Forum on “Science & Technology for the future of Humankind”
at Tokyo on 2nd Oct. during his Japan visit, Dr Kumar further
said that India is inspired by the vision of Jawaharlal Nehru who
had said that the future belongs to Science and those who are
friends of science.
Talking to the Japanese Minister of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science & Technology, Mr Masaharu Nakagawa, Shri Kumar
assured the Japanese minister that the Government of India would
favorably consider the proposal dedicated to the idea of regional
and global endeavor to solve common problems. Japan is to
begin the East Asia Science and Innovation initiative which will
be a dedicated fund sought to be established under this initiative
to enable cooperation between East Asia, ASEAN and South
Asian countries to focus on solving the common challenges
faced by the region through the instrumentality of science,
technology and innovation.Dr. Kumar also expressed the hope
that India and Japan would further strengthen their engagement
so as to achieve the joint objectives of Global and Strategic
partnerships between the two countries.
During his meeting with the German Minister of Education and
Research, Ms. Annette Schavan , Dr. Kumar proposed a major
Indo – German programme for vocational skills up gradation. He
expressed the hope that German expertise and collaboration with
German industries and business would enable India to achieve
its ambitious programme of skilling 500 million Indians by 2022.
The German minister assured that the German industry would
give concrete proposals in this regard by early next year. Dr.
Kumar expressed the view that such a venture would be mutually
beneficial to both countries and would ensure employability of
lakhs of Indians in hi-tech manufacturing companies in India
and abroad particularly in Indian companies collaborating with
their German counterparts.
This is an International Conference dedicated to the theme of
‘Science & Technology in the Service of Human kind’. The
conference is hosted by STS Forum; a major NGO supported by
the Government of Japan and Chaired by Mr. Koji Omi, former
Finance Minister of Japan. The conference is attended at the
ministerial level by over 20 countries including Germany, Brazil,
Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Switzerland, Sweden,
Mongolia, the Czech Republic, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan
etc.
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DECEMBER 2011
Hot Rocks could help Trigger Earthquakes
The heat generated when rocks grind against each other during
earthquakes could be a major contributor to the weakening of
faults and setting the stage for a bigger tremor, scientists have
found.
When rocks scrap against each other, they produce extreme heat
at scattered microscopic bumps, called asperities, where they
make contact. This process is similar to producing heat by rubbing
your hands together, but on an extreme scale.
At major faults, such as the San Andreas in California, flashes of
heat from rocks shearing past each other melts the rock. This
makes the rocks slippery at those microscopic contact points,
lowering the friction between them enough to trigger a significant
amount of stress and setting the stage for an earthquake, the
researchers said.
To learn more about this flash heating, the scientists rubbed
together different types of rocks commonly found in faults, such
as quartzite and granite.
They simulated earthquake speeds of close to 1.6 feet per second
(0.5 meters per second). The bumps, or asperities, each had a
surface area of less than 10 microns wide, or about a tenth of the
diameter of a human hair.
The researchers, who detailed their study in the journal Science,
found that intense flash heating can heat asperities dramatically,
perhaps up to 3,270 degrees Fahrenheit (1,800 degrees Celsius),
enough to melt most rock types associated with earthquake faults.
Brain Tumour Culprit `Identified`
Scientists identified a new biochemical mechanism, which allows
brain tumours to survive and grow. This finding will pave the way
for new and effective treatments for some of the most aggressive
tumours. An international team, led by the University Hospital of
Heidelberg made the discovery. Scientists identified the major
role played by kynurenine, in favouring the brain tumour growth
and at the same time suppressing anti-tumour immune response.
Kynurenine is a by-product of metabolism of essential amino
acid tryptophan.
Google Earth Maps Typhoid
Outbreaks in Nepal
Scientists have for the first time accurately mapped typhoid
outbreaks in Nepal using Google Earth and new gene sequencing
technology
Scientists working in Nepal have tried out a combo of cutting
edge gene sequencing technology and global positioning system
(GPS) to map typhoid’s spread and trace its source. More than
150 years ago, John Snow mapped cholera cases in Soho,
London, tracing the source of the outbreak to a contaminated
water pump. Typhoid fever is caused by two bugs, Salmonella
typhi and Salmonella paratyphi. They are found in Kathmandu
and usually spread through water or food contaminated with
faeces. Symptoms include fever, abdominal pain and vomiting.
Recent advances in DNA sequencing help precisely track disease
spread by measuring mutations in the pathogen’s DNA, the
journal Open Biology reports. However, tracing the spread of
typhoid has proved challenging as these mutations are small in
number and not detectable by current techniques, according to
an Oxford University release.
Tracing outbreaks of typhoid in Kathmandu also carries its
own problem: street names are not used in Nepal, so capturing
the addresses of typhoid cases and accurately mapping the
outbreaks have proved challenging to health workers.
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme in
Vietnam and the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Nepal
have found a way to accurately map typhoid outbreaks in the
city. Their research combines DNA sequencing technology and
GPS signalling, and maps the data onto Google Earth. To capture
the information, health workers would visit a patient’s home and
use GPS to capture the exact location. They would also take a
blood sample from the hospitalised patient to isolate the organism
and to allow analysis of the typhoid strain’s genotype — its
genetic make-up. This genotyping used sequencing technology
able to identify single changes in the ‘letters’ of DNA — the A,
C, T and Gs that make up the code.
The study showed that people living near to water spouts, for
which these provide their main source of water, and people living
at a lower elevation, are at substantially greatest risk of
contracting the disease.
Humans are Just Modified Fish
Humans are just modified fish, say scientists who claim to have
discovered how the muscles controlling the pelvic fins of the
marine species have paved the way for the evolution of back
legs in higher animals. The scientists studied primitive
cartilaginous fish. Australia’s bamboo shark and its cousin, the
elephant shark; and three bony fish: The Australian lungfish,
the zebrafish and the American paddlefish. In fact, the scientists
used the fish species living today to trace the evolution of pelvic
fin muscles to find out how the load bearing hind limbs of the
tetrapods evolved. To find differences in pelvic fin muscle
formation, they compared embryos of the descendants of species
representing key turning points in vertebrate evolution.The
scientists genetically engineered fish to trace the migration of
precursor muscle cells in early developmental stages as the
animal’s body took shape. These cells in the engineered fish
emitted red or green light. The team found that the bony fish had
a different mechanism of pelvic fin muscle formation from that of
the cartilaginous fish, a mechanism that was a stepping stone to
the evolution of tetrapod physiology.
Dengue Genes 'Discovered'
Scientists identified two genes, which increase a person’s risk of
getting dengue. Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne
infection after malaria. It causes 100 million infections worldwide
annually.
For their research, the scientists conducted the first ever genomewide
association study to compare genomes of children with
severe dengue against population controls. Scientists found
changes in the DNA code located in two genes; MICB on
chromosome 6 and PLCE1 on chromosome10. This increases a
person’s susceptibility to dengue shock syndrome. MICB plays
a role in the human body’s immune system and any variation in
this gene can affect the activation of natural killer cells or CD8T
cells. These cells play a key role in combating viral infection.
PLCE1 contribute to the normal functioning of the vascular
endothelium, the thin layer of cells that lines interior surface of
blood vessels with some variants of PLCE1 predisposing an
individual to leakage from the blood vessels, the hallmark clinical
feature of dengue shock syndrome.
Initially, they compared 2008 patients against 2018 controls. They
then replicated the findings in an independent follow-up sample
of 1737 cases and 2934 controls, the latest edition of the Nature
Genetics journal reported.
World's First Drug that Could stop
Cataract Blindness
Australian Scientists created the world’s first drug which can
prevent blindness from cataracts. At present, the only treatment
available to prevent the blindness from cataracts is to remove
surgically the affected eye lens and replace it with a synthetic
lens. Cataracts are formed when a protein, known as calpain,
clouds the eye lens and impairs vision. This is for the first time
that a non-surgical cure for the debilitating condition was
discovered.
Black Death Bacteria Identified
Scientists claimed to have reconstructed the genome of the bug
that caused the bubonic plague (often referred as black death) in
Europe. The bug was discovered to be an ancient strain of a
bacterium called Yersinia pestis and not so much different from
today’s.
The discovery was made by scientists at McMaster University
in Canada, the University of Tubingen in Germany. The study
was published in the journal Nature on 12 October 2011.
The Scientists collected the ancient Y.pestis DNA from 46 teeth
and 53 bones excavated from the East Smithfield burial grounds
in London. Researchers reconstructed the bacterium’s genome
and made comparisons to the genomes of existing strains of
Y.pestis. They determined that the bug hadn’t changed much in
the more than 600 years since the plague swept Europe.
The study will help researchers track bug’s evolution. It could
improve scientists’ understanding of modern diseases as well.
Bubonic plague still strikes somewhere between 1000 and 3000
people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It
wiped out 30 million people in Europe (30 to 50 Percent of the
population in Europe) between 1347 and 1351.
Bubonic plague is a zoonotic disease, circulating mainly among
small rodents and their fleas, and is one of three types of infections
caused by Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis),
which belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae.
World’s Biggest Virus Found
A virus found in the sea off Chile is the biggest in the world,
harbouring more than 1,000 genes, surprised scientists reported
on October 10, 2011.
The genome of Megavirus chilensis is 6.5 per cent bigger than
the DNA code of the previous virus record-holder, Mimivirus,
isolated in 2003. Viruses differ from bacteria in that they are
usually far smaller and cannot reproduce on their own, needing
to penetrate a host cell in which to replicate. But M. chilensis is
such a giant that it surpasses many bacteria in size and is
genetically the most complex DNA virus ever described. It was
taken from sea water sample closed to the shore of Las Cruces,
Chile. Its host organism is unknown.
DNA viruses include pox viruses and herpes viruses, but
M. chilensis “doesn’t seem to be harmful for humans,” said Jean-
Michel Claverie, of France’s National Centre for Scientific
Research (CNRS). The study appeared in a U.S. journal,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
An App to Fight Crimes
A phone tracks your appointments, email and even your mood.
That is the usual stuff. Now, make your phone a crime-fighter
too, installing the International Justice Mission’s free iPhone
and smartphone application to fight human trafficking.
Created with leading application development firm Brushfire
Mobile, IJM Mobile is available on all smart phones and is
optimised for iPhone, Android and Windows phones. This
application works in 13 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin
America to rescue victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and
other forms of violent oppression.
This human rights agency believes that effective human
trafficking prevention is possible only when society, as a
whole, is aware of it and is empowered enough to take action
against this. IJM Mobile was created to enable everyone to
have the power to join the fight against human trafficking. A
free application, it enables users to contribute to the global
fight against slavery and violent oppression even if they are
thousands of miles away, directly from your mobile device.
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Tiny Planet has Water Ice’
Astronomers have discovered a mysterious dwarf planet, which
they believe is covered in ice and may sport the wispy remnants
of an atmosphere.
The planet, named “Snow White,” lies outside Neptune and is
orbiting the sun as part of the Kuiper belt — the ring of icy
bodies that orbit the sun beyond Neptune.
Officially known as 2007 OR10, it is actually red. Half of its surface
is covered by water ice that probably spewed from ancient
cryovolcanoes, researchers said.
It is believed that the planet’s reddish hue likely comes from a
thin layer of methane, last gasps of an atmosphere that has been
bleeding off into space for eons.
“You get to see this nice picture of what once was an active little
world with water volcanoes and an atmosphere, and it’s now just
frozen, dead, with an atmosphere slowly slipping away,” lead
scientist Mike Brown of California Institute of Technology said.
Defunct Satellite Hits Earth
A bus-sized defunct German satellite plunged to earth after
languishing in dead orbit for more than a decade, but space
officials are not sure if any of its debris has hit the planet.
The 2.7-tonne Roentgen Satellite, or ROSAT, slammed into the
earth’s atmosphere sometime between 01:45 GMT (6:15 IST) and
02:15 GMT (6:45 IST), but there is no information if its debris fell
on the planet, the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) said in a
statement.
“There is currently no confirmation if pieces of debris had reached
the earth’s surface,” the statement said.
However, DLR spokesman Andreas Schuetz said they would have
to “wait for data in the next days” to know when and where the
debris fell or could fall. Scientists were no longer able to
communicate with the dead satellite and it must have travelled
some 20,000 km in the final 30 minutes before entering the
atmosphere, he added.
Microsoft Launches Windows
Phone 7.5 in India
Microsoft India launched its latest version of windows phone
operating system in the country — the Windows Phone 7.5.
“With Windows Phone, we have looked at the consumer
experience in an absolutely fresh way. This operating system is
stylish, innovative and one that seamlessly integrates the most
sought after user experiences such as search, gaming, email and
social networks across Bing, Office, Xbox, LIVE, Facebook,
Twitter and more,” Microsoft India’s Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik
said.
“The conventional application icons have been replaced by Live
Tiles on the start screen which comes to life with real-time updates
from the web such as news, appointments or the status of friends,”
he added.
The firm also announced the launch of a smartphone in
partnership with handset manufacturer HTC, named HTC Radar,
which is based on the new operating system. Pramanik added
that companies like Acer and Nokia would launch their handsets
based on Windows Phone 7.5 in the Indian market. Samsung had
launched its Omnia W smartphone in the country, which comes
equipped with Windows Phone 7.5.
The key features of the operating system are threads which
enable users to switch between texts, Facebook chat and
Windows Live messenger linked inbox wherein consumers can
see multiple email accounts in one linked inbox. Built-in voiceto-text
and text-to-voice support system also enables handsfree
texting and chatting.
Neuronal Connections with Stress
Scientists for the first time discovered that neuronal connections
grow excessively under stressful conditions as the brain ages.
The finding could help scientists better understand
neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The scientists studied responses to stress in synapses in fruit
flies. Synapses is a structure that allows a neuron to pass signal
to another cell in the brain. The scientists discovered that under
stressful conditions, like neuro-degeneration, which results in
high-energy forms of damaging oxygen. This causes synapses
to grow excessively and potentially contributing to dysfunction.
The scientists made notes using a model of lysosomal storage
disease, an inherited incurable childhood neurodegeneration
where enlarged synapses were observed. However, the role that
growth has in disease progression and brain function is not yet
clear.
Linking Genetic Changes to Human
Diseases Becomes Easy
The parts of the human genome that control when and where
genes are turned on have been successfully identified. The map
created with this information will be a shot in the arm for
researchers trying to understand and interpret genetic changes
linked to human diseases. This has become possible by
comparing the sequences of 29 mammalian genomes. The
genomes of mammals studied include those of chimpanzees,
rhesus monkeys, mice, dogs, rabbits, rats, cats, squirrels, fruit
bats, horses, cows, and even elephants.
The results are published in Nature on October 13, 2011.
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DECEMBER 2011
Navy Inducts Fleet Tanker INS Shakti
The Indian Navy has commissioned the fourth fleet tanker INS
Shakti into the fleet which has been constructed by Fincantieri
Shipyard of Italy. INS Shakti will be a much needed boost for the
Indian Navy as it will help them to chart beyond the limits of the
Indian Ocean. INS Shakti has been fitted with an indigenous
Anti Missile Defence Chaff System and has a powerful self
defence capability.
INS Shakti has been constructed by the Italian Shipyard in less
than two years and is one the largest vessels with the Indian
Navy. The ship is 175 metres in length and 32 metres wide with a
full-load displacement of 27,500 tonne.
Before the induction of INS Shakti, the Italian shipyard Fincantieri
had delivered the first tanker INS Deepak earlier this year which
has also been inducted into the Indian Navy. Both these fleet
tankers will enable destroyers, frigates and other kinds of
warships to operate for long durations on the waters without the
need for returning to the harbor to replenish it. Hence, Indian
Navy will extend its scope well beyond the Indian Ocean region.
INS Shakti is equipped with four AK-630 guns each and it will
have an endurance of 10,000 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots.
RADIANT
DEFENCE COVERAGE
MoD Launches Two e-Gov Projects
The Ministry of Defence introduced two automation projects —
Vishwak and Bhawan— as part of e-Governance initiative in its
Defence Accounts Department. Launching the projects, the
Defence Minister AK Antony said, “The Ministry has taken
several initiatives to utilise information technology to the
maximum extent. The launch of two IT projects ‘Vishwak’ and
‘Bhawan’ reflects the resolve to provide user friendly services to
the client,”
Under Project Vishwak, Defence construction accounts will be
stored into a Centralised Data Base. This will provide for analysis
and control over progress of works and Budget so as to ensure
a better value for money. The Project links hundreds of Defence
Accounts Offices across the country.
Another project, Bhawan, is a multipurpose project. All
transactions affecting Defence Revenues, like newly created
accommodation, allotment, occupation, vacation, rent fixation
and revision are taken on to this Centralised data base in the
course of day-to-day functioning. Project Bhawan will lead to
computerisation of assets of armed forces and the license fee
will be recovered through a seamless integration with various
Pay and Accounts offices of the armed forces.
US AH-64D wins Indian Attack Chopper Deal while Mi-28N Loses
The outcome of the tender for 22 attack helicopters for the
Indian military has been revealed and the Russian Mi-28 N
Night Hunter has lost out to the American AH-64D Apache
helicopter. While the details of this outcome are yet to be
revealed, it has been ascertained the Russian Mi-28 N did not
meet several requirements posed by India in the tender. The
attack helicopter acquisition would strengthen India’s homeland
defence significantly and deter regional threat. Indian
Defence Ministry will be handing out the over $ 600 million
contract to the American Apache AH-64 D made by Boeing
for the delivery of 22 attack helicopters. An optional delivery
of additional 22 helicopters is also on the anvil. American AH-
64D Apache is one of the world’s most powerful combat helicopter
and it would add more teeth to India’s military might.
The Boeing Apache AH-64 D was placed above the Russian
Mi-28 N in its staff evaluation report submitted to the Indian
Ministry of Defence. Even the Indian Air Force (IAF) is said
to have marked the Apache AH-64 D consistently over the
Russian Mi-28 N contender in trials held mid-2010 at the desert
and mountain air bases in India. The Apache-AH 64 D did
have an upper hand since it was a matured and battle-proven
heavy weight gunship. The Apache AH-64 D can fulfill some
specific sniping purposes in air to ground warfare as well.
Earlier this year, a notice issued by the US Defense Security
Cooperation Agency (DSCA) estimated that a direct commercial
sale of 22 AH-64Ds, plus weapons, sensors, spares and training
would cost about $1.4 billion. This would include 50 General
Electric T700-701D engines, over 1,350 Lockheed Martin AGM-
114 Hellfire missiles, 245 Raytheon Stinger missiles, 12 Lockheed/
Northrop Grumman APG-78 fire control radars and 23 Lockheed
modernised target acquisition designation sight/pilot night vision
sensors.
As for Russia it is still taking part in two other Indian helicopter
tenders, namely the 12 heavy transport helicopters and 197 light
general-purpose helicopters. The first tender includes the Russian
Mi-26T2 and the American CH-47F Chinook helicopters, while
the second involves the Russian Ka-226T and the AS550 Fennec
helicopter developed by Eurocopter. Meanwhile, Russia
continues the deliveries of Mi-17-B5 transport helicopters to
India under a 2008 contract for the supply of 80 helicopters worth
$1.4 billion.
The Indian Defence Ministry plans to buy several new helicopters
and a more tenders are on its way. One of the upcoming major
tender is for the delivery of multipurpose helicopters for the
Indian Navy. According to estimates, India will assign some 700
new helicopters to the armed forces in the coming decade.
India Signs Rs 300 Cr Deal with Sri
Lankan Firm
India signed a deal with a Sri Lankan firm worth over 300 crore
rupees to procure 80 fast-interception craft (FIC). These FICs
will equip Navy’s Sagar Prahari Bal, SPB, which is being raised
after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. The boats are to be
delivered in the next three years.
FICs are small boats, with a crew of five to seven sailors at top
speeds of 40 to 50 knots, and are equipped with light machine
guns. These 80 FICs will be in addition to the 15 similar boats
being acquired from French shipyard Chantier Naval Couach,
three of which have already been inducted at Mumbai.
After 26 / 11, several steps have been taken to boost coordination
in intelligence-sharing and operational matters, with fullynetworked
joint operation centres being set up in different
locations. With 1,000 well-armed personnel, the SPB will be tasked
with the protection of naval and other assets, bases and harbours
on both west and east coasts.
India to Test 5000 Km Range Agni-V
Ballistic Missile in February 2012
After having successfully conducted three missile tests recently,
state-owned Defence Research and Development Organization
(DRDO) has revealed that India’s nuclear capable ballistic missile
Agni-V will be ready for demonstration in February 2012.
According to DRDO Chief Controller (R&D) W Selvamurthy, the
Agni-V missile with 5,000 kilometer capacity is an upgraded version
of Agni-III which has been handed over to the Indian Army.
According to DRDO, the Agni-V ballistic missile will greatly
enhance India’s nuclear capabilities. Agni-V missile is a threestage
solid propellant ballistic missile which has second-strike
capabilities. DRDO officials indicated that they have tested the
three stages of Agni-V independently and all ground tests are
complete. Currently, the integration process is in progress and
the Agni-V will be demonstrated in February 2012.
The Agni-V missile has a height of about 17.5 metres and a launch
mass of around 50 tonne and will have advanced technologies
involving ring laser gyroscope and accelerometer for navigation
and guidance. The three stage ballistic missile takes its first stage
from Agni-III, with a new modified all composite second stage
and a miniaturized third stage to ensure it can fly to distances of
5,000 kilometres. Unlike the earlier versions of the Agni missile,
the Agni-V missile can be easily stored and swiftly transported
by road since it’s a canister-launch missile system. Agni-V would
also carry multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles
(MIRV) payloads also being developed simultaneously which
will enable the delivery multiple warheads at different targets.
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DECEMBER 2011
India Contemplates Anti-Satellite Vehicle
Integration with Agni-III Ballistic Missile
India’s varied missile capabilities are catching up to be at par
with those of the US and China, as talks revolve around integrating
the Agni-III ballistic missile with a satellite kill vehicle. According
to DRDO Chief V K Saraswat, India is considering the feasibility
of developing an anti-satellite missile which will lend a superior
edge to India’s missile power. It would involve the development
of lasers and an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle.
Regarding DRDO’s upcoming challenges and defence projects,
DRDO Chief Saraswat touched upon the crucial issue of the
anti-satellite vehicle, a capability which hitherto lies with the
U.S, Russia and China. The development of an anti-satellite
vehicle is feasible if the Agni-III missile and the Ballistic Missile
Defence (BMD) kill vehicle are integrated. The DRDO Chief added
that the effective range, which is about 1400-1500 kilometers, is
sufficient to engage a satellite. India is known to have been
developing an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle that can be integrated
with the missile to engage satellites.
In the recent past India had all the building blocks necessary to
integrate an anti-satellite weapon to neutralize hostile satellites
in low earth and polar orbits. The Agni series of missiles already
contained the propulsion module and a kill vehicle already existed
in principle although it had not been formalized. According to
DRDO, the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program can
incorporate the anti-satellite weapon development. India purports
development of anti-satellite weapons for electronic or physical
destruction of satellites in both LEO or Low Earth Orbit (2,000
kilometers altitude above earth’s surface) and the higher GEOsynchronous
orbits.
In an earlier statement, Dr. Saraswat said that while work on
individual components of the system is going on, the anti-satellite
(A-Sat) weapon will be built and tested only if and when the
country needs it. He added that India must not lag behind in
terms of space security. In addition, India has conducted many
successful tests of its ballistic missile defence system wherein
an “attacker” ballistic missile at an altitude of 120 kilometers was
destroyed with an interceptor missile.
Besides discussing the issue of ant-satellite weapons, DRDO
Chief also talked of other crucial defence projects like the creation
of a new engine besides the upgradation of Kaveri engine. While
upgrade of Kaveri engine can continue, a new engine with variable
cycle can be developed for the indigenous Advanced Medium
Combat Aircraft (AMCA). He added that advanced integrated
controls, reduced infrared signatures, advanced avionics, stealth
materials such as radar absorbing paint, advanced composites
and hypersonic materials are some areas that need further
development. Besides, areas such as network centric warfare
need attention just as urgently as means of combating nuclear
biological warfare need to be developed.
India-Bangladesh First-Ever Joint
Military Exercise
A 14-day long India-Bangladesh joint military exercise started on
9 October 2011 at Jalalabad Cantonment in Sylhet division, some
240 km northeast of capital Dhaka. The military exercise between
the two nations was codenamed Op Sampriti. Under the joint
military exercise, counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency
operations will be practiced as per the UN mandate.
India fielded around 40 troops of its elite 21 Para (Special Forces)
battalion for the exercise while the Bangladesh Army deployed
one of its Para Commando battalions. Around 40 to 50 troops
took part in the exercise.
US to Sell India 6 more Super Hercules
Airlifters for $1.2bn
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has revealed the intention to go for
six more C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft from the U.S besides the
six already ordered. While India has already expressed the desire
for this additional acquisition to U.S, the Defense Security Cooperation
Agency (DSCA) of U.S has recently notified U.S. Congress
for a possible foreign military sale (FMS) to India. India is
keen on acquiring the six additional C-130 J and the deal could be
finalized as early as January 2012.
The acquisition of six more C-130 J Super Hercules will involve
Lockheed Martin and Rolls Royce Corporation as the prime
contractors. As per India’s requirement, the sale of six C-130 J
Super Hercules by Lockheed Martin must include 6 Rolls Royce
AE 2100D3 spare engines, 8 AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning
Systems with two spares, 8 AN/ALR-56M Advanced Radar
Warning Receivers with two spares, 8 AN/ALE-47 Counter-
Measures Dispensing Systems with spares, 8 AAQ-22 Star
SAFIRE III Special Operations Suites with spares and 3200 Flare
Cartridges besides other communications equipment and
services. The cost of deal is estimated to be $ 1.2 billion.
In September 2011, the Indian Air Chief Marshal Norman Anil
Kumar Browne had stated that the C-130 J Super Hercules aircraft
had performed well in the recent earthquake relief operations
and that IAF would utilize the multi-role capability of the aircraft
as required. The IAF had signed a deal for six C-130J aircrafts for
about $1.1 billion with the US military systems giant Lockheed
Martin on January 31, 2008, and five of these aircrafts have been
delivered with the sixth expected in November 2011. The Indian
government has already approved the acquisition of another six
C-130 J aircraft. The discussions with the US Government and
Lockheed Martin for the new batch are underway and the order
could be signed by January 2012.
As for the U.S, the possible sale of additional six C-130 J Super
Hercules will help strengthen Indo-US strategic relationship and
contribute to their foreign policy. India stands to benefit
significantly since C-130 J provides a major special operations
airlift capability to combat aggression and facilitate disaster relief.
The C-130J can land and take off from small unpaved fields and
enable support by ferrying large troops and equipment. Since
the C-130 J is a workaholic, it can provide the much-needed
muscle to react fast in varied situations.
IAF Ready to Induct Mi-17 V5 Helicopters
The plan to augment the chopper fleet of the Indian Air Force
(IAF) has been achieved as India received the first lot of advanced
helicopters Mi-17 V5 from Russia. As a part of the Indo-
Russian defence deal worth over $ 1.25 billion signed in 2008,
more than 80 Mi-17 V5 helicopters will be procured over a period
of next three years. In the first lot, four dismantled Mi-17 V5
helicopters have been received by IAF that will be assembled at
the 3 Base Repair Depot at Chandigarh Air Force Station.
According to IAF, the first batch of Russian-origin Mi-17 V5
helicopters will be inducted by mid October and by March next
year, IAF will have 26 of these choppers in its fleet. The Mi-17 V5
will aid the IAF’s transport operations and carry out humanitarian
and disaster relief missions. It can carry 15 fully equipped troops
and some of these choppers can be equipped with 57 mm rocket
pods and machine guns. The twin-turbine transport helicopter,
made by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and the Kazan
Helicopter Plant, can also act as a gun ship for offensive
operations. The first few helicopters would be sent to the
northeast sector and will be deployed at the Bagdogra air base
under the 156 helicopter Unit.
IAF have indicated that the Mi-17 V5 choppers would soon
replace Mi-8 helicopters which are planned to be completely
phased out by 2016. All of the newly received 80 Mi-17 V5
choppers are likely to be inducted by late 2013. The IAF is also
looking to induct another 59 such choppers for $ 1.9 billion to
replace the older Mi-17 variants and the Mi-8 choppers. The Mi-
17 V5 differs from the Mi-171V in having a protruding ‘dolphin’
nose rather than the glassed-in round noses other Indian Mi-17s
possess. The Mi-17 V5 has more powerful 2,200 hp engines with
new auxiliary power unit and an extra port door on the starboard
side.
Israeli European Firms in Race for
Indian Army’s USD 500 Loitering
Munitions Tender
Israeli and European firms are in race for supplying medium range
loitering munitions to the Indian Army under a deal worth over
USD 500 million to the Indian Army. European firm MBDA and
Israeli IAI have offered their products for the tender. IAI has
offered the ‘HAROP’ whereas the European MBDA has offered
its Fire Shadow munitions. The Army had earlier asked one of
the American firms L-3 also to provide information about its
products but it backed out from the race. The Army order will be
issuing a tender very soon for the missiles and place orders in
another couple of years. The trials of the two contenders are
likely to be held by the end of next year. The Army is looking for
the loitering munitions after the Indian Air Force (IAF) placed
orders for similar missiles from IAI in 2009 under a deal worth
over USD 100 million. The IAF had acquired the Harop, which is
in contention again for the Army requirement.
The RFI (Request for Information) in this regard was issued in
March last year and an announcement about India’s intention
was made by Defence Minister A K Antony in the Parliament. In
the RFI, the Defence Ministry has details sought about missile’s
cruising speed, the maximum range at which it can engage a
target, its loitering time, the range of its data link, its accuracy,
ability to attack from the top, and if it can abort after locking onto
a target and if it can be redesignated to a new target.
India Decides to Train Afghanistan’s
Army and Signs Other Bilateral
Agreements with Afghanistan
India has openly offered support to Afghanistan by formalizing
strategic partnerships even as it risks attracting hostility from
Pakistan. During a two day visit by Afghan President Hamid
Karzai to India, an agreement has been reached by the two
nations to increase training of Afghan army and other security
personnel. Besides finalizing the details of a strategic partnership,
the two nations signed a total of three bilateral agreements.
During the visit, President Hamid Karzai has indicated that regional
powers such as India are helping Afghanistan steer towards
peace. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that
India will support Afghanistan to assume the responsibility of
governance and security after the withdrawal of international
forces. India has also urged other neighboring countries to help
Afghanistan achieve stability. Afghanistan’s future and progress
will be complimented largely by the role of its neighboring
countries and India intends to extend its cooperation openly.
As for the Indo-Afghan partnership agreement, India has pledged
to train, equip and build capacity for Afghanistan’s Army and
Police and expand on the limited training it conducted for their
army in India four years ago. During the current two-day visit by
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan has requested for
150 Afghan Army officers to receive training at Indian defense
and military academies which India has agreed upon. India also
is expected to soon begin hosting training sessions for Afghan
police officers.
India trained Afghan Army in 2007 when two platoon-sized
infantry units took sessions in India. However, India has never
sent army units to Afghanistan since it would upset Pakistan.
India has also poured more than $1 billion in aid money into
Afghanistan in the past decade for various projects which had
perturbed Pakistan due to the presence of Indian paramilitary
forces in Afghanistan to oversee projects. However, this time
around, India will be steadfast in its support to Afghanistan due
to compelling national security reasons.
Ghatak Bricks to be Equipped with Snipers
Swiss, Russian and Israeli firms are in the fray for supplying over
2,000 sniper rifles to the Indian Army for equipping the ‘Ghatak bricks’
(strike force) in its more than 300 Infantry battalions. The sniper rifles
are being procured for the Ghatak bricks in the Indian Army after the
Government decided that they would also be used as counter-terrorist
grids while they are deployed in peace locations to tackle 26/11 type
attacks. After the attacks, the elite Para Special Forces battalions were
assigned the task of training these regular Infantry battalions to tackle
such attacks in an urban environment. Till now, these Ghatak Bricks
comprising of best soldiers in battalions were used only in Jammu and
Kashmir and the North Eastern states for taking on the terrorists there.
India Contemplates Anti-Satellite Vehicle
Integration with Agni-III Ballistic Missile
India’s varied missile capabilities are catching up to be at par
with those of the US and China, as talks revolve around integrating
the Agni-III ballistic missile with a satellite kill vehicle. According
to DRDO Chief V K Saraswat, India is considering the feasibility
of developing an anti-satellite missile which will lend a superior
edge to India’s missile power. It would involve the development
of lasers and an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle.
Regarding DRDO’s upcoming challenges and defence projects,
DRDO Chief Saraswat touched upon the crucial issue of the
anti-satellite vehicle, a capability which hitherto lies with the
U.S, Russia and China. The development of an anti-satellite
vehicle is feasible if the Agni-III missile and the Ballistic Missile
Defence (BMD) kill vehicle are integrated. The DRDO Chief added
that the effective range, which is about 1400-1500 kilometers, is
sufficient to engage a satellite. India is known to have been
developing an exo-atmospheric kill vehicle that can be integrated
with the missile to engage satellites.
In the recent past India had all the building blocks necessary to
integrate an anti-satellite weapon to neutralize hostile satellites
in low earth and polar orbits. The Agni series of missiles already
contained the propulsion module and a kill vehicle already existed
in principle although it had not been formalized. According to
DRDO, the Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program can
incorporate the anti-satellite weapon development. India purports
development of anti-satellite weapons for electronic or physical
destruction of satellites in both LEO or Low Earth Orbit (2,000
kilometers altitude above earth’s surface) and the higher GEOsynchronous
orbits.
In an earlier statement, Dr. Saraswat said that while work on
individual components of the system is going on, the anti-satellite
(A-Sat) weapon will be built and tested only if and when the
country needs it. He added that India must not lag behind in
terms of space security. In addition, India has conducted many
successful tests of its ballistic missile defence system wherein
an “attacker” ballistic missile at an altitude of 120 kilometers was
destroyed with an interceptor missile.
Besides discussing the issue of ant-satellite weapons, DRDO
Chief also talked of other crucial defence projects like the creation
of a new engine besides the upgradation of Kaveri engine. While
upgrade of Kaveri engine can continue, a new engine with variable
cycle can be developed for the indigenous Advanced Medium
Combat Aircraft (AMCA). He added that advanced integrated
controls, reduced infrared signatures, advanced avionics, stealth
materials such as radar absorbing paint, advanced composites
and hypersonic materials are some areas that need further
development. Besides, areas such as network centric warfare
need attention just as urgently as means of combating nuclear
biological warfare need to be developed.
France Offers Help in Kaveri Engine &
Co-Development of Short-Range Missile
with India
India and France are on the road to greater defence ties as French
Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppe visited India and held delegation-level
talks with his Indian counterpart S.M.Krishna in
New Delhi recently. While France discussed the issue of civil
nuclear safety having been awarded a multi-billion nuclear power
plant contract, both sides also discussed various military contracts
as well as co-development of new defence products. France
is also hoping to clinch the $ 10.4 billion MMRCA project whose
winner will be announced in November 2011
While France has assured greater cooperation from its nuclear
regulatory board as well as the reliability of its technology to
smoothen the nuclear power plant project, both nations also
discussed the status of ongoing as well as proposed defence
projects between India and France. One of the important
discussions revolved around the joint development of a shortrange
missile. The purpose of deployment of this short-range
missile will be to guard the vital installations from aerial threat.
The efforts to finalise the joint defence research and development
for short-range surface-to-air missile (SR-SAM) is underway. The
state-run Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO)
is seeking to co-develop technology in order to cater to the
requirement of the Indian armed forces. DRDO has been involved
in the Trishul point defense missile system as well as its
successor, the Maitri short-range surface to air missile (SR-SAM)
projects in the past and will apply its know-how on this latest
project for SR-SAM with France.
French Foreign Affairs Minister also discussed the issue of the
induction of French technology for the Kaveri engine. The Kaveri
aircraft engine is being indigenously developed by India but has
not yet lived up to the expectation of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
The Kaveri engine was to be used on the Light Combat Aircraft
(LCA) Tejas but the IAF has deemed it unsatisfactory. In addition,
DRDO is negotiating with French engine manufacturer Snecma
to co-develop high-end technology for the Kabini, which forms
the core part of Kaveri engine being developed for the LCA
Tejas. DRDO is in the last lap of negotiations with France. The
goal is for the Kaveri engine provides the required thrust without
affecting the size and weight.
As for the other crucial Indo-French defence deals, France has
recently bagged the contract to modernise 51 IAF Mirage 2000
aircraft. The $ 2.4 billion deal to upgrade was signed recently
with Dassault Aviation and Thales. The upgradation of the 51
Mirage-2000 aircraft will include a multimode Doppler radar,
modern glass cockpit, fully integrated electronic warfare suite
and beyond visual range capabilities. The overhaul of the fleet
will add 20-25 years to the life of the Mirage aircraft which were
introduced to the IAF in the mid-1980s.
India and France have also held their first ever joint army exercises
in India called ‘Shakti 2011’ in Octorber. The joint drill with the
Army is a debut event and the two countries already hold air and
naval exercises called ‘Garuda’ and ‘Varuna’ respectively. The
joint army drill will further enhance defence cooperation and
military-to-military relations between the two nations.
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DECEMBER 2011
ADB Approves $200m Loan For Assam
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) extended 200 million US
dollar loan to Assam to improve the water supply and other
urban services in two of the Assam’s major cities, Guwahati and
Dibrugarh. The projects were aimed to be completed by December
2017.
The funds were meant for providing clean piped water to about
3,50,000 residents in the capital city of Guwahati. Besides this,
major upgrades in sewerage and solid waste systems in the two
cities were also planned to be done.
The required water for the water supply scheme was set to be
drawn from the Brahmaputra. A water treatment plant was also
be set up in the Sunsali area on the banks of the river,
Brahmaputra.
At least seven to eight reservoirs were to be constructed on
elevated areas including the hillocks so that the advantage of
the natural elevation can be utilized to ensure free flow of water
to the households.
The drainage and solid waste management schemes of Dibrugarh
town, which were planned to be parts of the ADB scheme, were
also scheduled to be completed in five years.
Social Auditing Programme Of Gram
Panchayats
The Assam government launched the social auditing programme
of Gram Panchayats at Aamlokhi Gram Panchayat under Baajia
Development Block in Nagaon district on the occasion of Gandhi
Jayanti (2 October 2011). The government launched the
programme to ensure transparency and check corruption in
Panchayat Raj institutions. It is considered as a tool through
which Government Departments can plan, manage and measure
their functions, efficiency and consequences.
A total of 2202 Gram Panchayats under 219 Blocks will be covered
under the audit. On the first day one panchayat each in 219
Development Blocks will be audited at public meeting where
citizens can raise objections on implement of various rural
development schemes.
Tea Production goes up in Assam
In Assam, tea production increased by seven percent in August
2011. The tea production touched 85 million kg in August 2011,
compared to 78.63 million kg in August 2010. Assam produces
over 51 per cent of the total tea in the country and 13 percent to
the global tea production. The state has 64 thousand small tea
estates spread over 14 districts. The annual turnover of this
industry in Assam is Rs five thousand crore and it employs over
10 lakh workers.
OP
ASSAM ARUNACHAL PRADESH
STATES COVERAGE
Setting up of National Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports at Dirang in
Arunachal Pradesh
The Cabinet approved setting up of a National Institute of
Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS) at Dirang in Arunachal
Pradesh as an autonomous institute under the Ministry of
Defence, a Registered Society under Societies Registration Act.
The required land at Dirang for the Institute has been provided
by the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh. The expenditure
on construction of various buildings at the site of the institute
would be Rs. 81 crore. It will directly provide employment to 89
people, mostly in the middle and lower level. Besides, it will
generate further indirect employment in the region and will also
boost the economy of the common people who would be
providing day to day various services required to the Institute.
The Arunachal Pradesh government launched Agrisnet
(Agricultural Information System Network) project in order to
create a database for agriculture and allied departments and
facilitate effective communication of service delivery system in
the state. AGRISNET is a Mission Mode Project under National
e-Governance Plan of Government of India to strengthen and
promote agricultural informatics and communications. The
project will disseminate relevant information and services to the
farming community and private sector through the use of
information and communication technologies, to supplement the
existing delivery channels provided by the department. The Rs
138 lakh pilot project will be implemented in five districts of West
Kameng, Papumpare, lower Subansiri, East Siang and Changlang
district, State Agriculture Commissioner Hage Kojeen said after
launching the portal of the Agriculture Department.
BIHAR
Bihar Rolls out e-Pay Facility for Traders
The Bihar government has launched e-Payment service for the
commercial tax payers. For the purpose, the Department of
Commercial Taxes has signed an agreement with the State Bank
of India. Commercial Taxes Department Commissioner Rajnit
Punhani said now tax payers in Bihar can avail the service of the
State Bank of India for e-Payment of taxes.
“The bank has introduced for its customers to pay commercial
taxes to the Bihar government online,” SBI’s Zonal Manager K B
Jain said. He said a large number of account holders would benefit
from this latest initiative of the bank which has always strived to
make banking hassle-free. The Commissioner said that now the
tax payers don’t need to visit the department’s offices to pay the
tax.
PH. No. 9718028119, 9990664436
It would be a training institution for multifarious adventure
activities relating to land, air and aqua to attract adventure
enthusiasts. The systematical training in the activities will
increase the number of visitors from all parts of the country to
the remote areas of this border State and their interaction with
locals will result in development of the region.
This Institute would be first National Institute of its kind where
theoretical and practical training for activities relating to
mountaineering, aero adventure and aqua adventure would be
conducted. Trainees for the courses at the Institute shall be from
all parts of India and abroad. These would include personnel
from Defence Forces, Para Military Forces, NCC cadets, civilians
and students sponsored by State Governments.
Arunachal Launches AGRISNET Project
The pilot project once implemented properly would be gradually
extended and cover the 11 other districts. It aims to develop
farmer centric applications, improve information on government
programs within and between the state governments and between
state and centre for better collaboration, planning and
implementation of government schemes. It will also provide
advisory and extension service to farmers through computer and
Internet and improve information exchange. The activities of the
department can be now be accessed at and on hosted by NIC.
“This website will be very effective in smooth monitoring and
implementation of various schemes of the department.
Agricultural scientists, researchers, farmer and general people
of the state will also be immensely benefitted and make the food
deficit Arunachal to a food surplus state,” Kojeen said.
Website for Non Resident Biharis
The Bihar government has launched a website for the global
meet of non-resident Biharis to be held in Patna from February
17-19 next year. The global meet christened as ‘Changing Bihar—
Forgetting Partnership for Development—will be organised
under the aegis of Bihar Foundation, a registered organisation
with the Department of Industry, Government of Bihar. The Bihar
Foundation was set up in 2007 with an aim to provide a platform
to non-resident Biharis so that they could associate themselves
with the development of the state. “The website will also provide
a platform to interested persons to get them registered for taking
part in the event,” a Bihar Foundation member said. He said
suggestions have been sought to improve the website. “The
suggestions will be accepted till December this year,” he added.
While Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is the ex-officio Patron, Deputy
Chief Minister SK Modi is the ex-officio Chairman of the society.
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 17

DECEMBER 2011
GOA
Goa State Assembly Unanimously
Passed Goa Lokayukta Bill 2011
The Goa Legislative Assembly on 5 October 2011 unanimously
passed Goa Lokayukta Bill 2011. The bill is a modified version
of Goa Lakayukta Bill 2003. It was reintroduced in the state
assembly after the said clauses were amended. The bill had been
sent back to the state legislature by the centre sans Presidential
assent because of a couple of legal infirmities.
The bill empowers the ombudsman to even investigate the Chief
Minister. The bill states that Lokayukta’s term would be for three
years and he would be appointed by the Governor on the advice
of Chief Minister in consultation with the Chief Justice of the
High Court and the leader of opposition.
The bill further states that Lokayukta or Upa-Lokayukta, shall
not be removed from his office except by an order of Governor
passed after an address by the State Legislative Assembly
supported by majority of the House.
Moreover, the Lokayukta can investigate the complaint suo moto
or on complaint made to him. The Bill mentions that after
preliminary inquiry, if Lokayukta finds that there are reasonable
grounds for detailed investigation, he should forward the
complaint to the government and the concerned authority.
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Largest Water Supply Scheme in HP
Inaugurated
The largest ever water supply scheme in Himachal Pradesh was
inaugurated on 6 October 2011 in Kangehan area of Kangra
district. Constructed at a cost of 70 crore rupees, the scheme will
benefit a population of one lakh 31 thousand people. This will
cater to Changer area which was facing water scarcity.
This lift water supply scheme to be operated in full automation
will cover a population of more than 1.311 lakh scattered over 35
panchayats of Changar area of Tehsils Jaisinghpur, Dehra,
Khundian and Palampur. A provision of storing 91 lakh liters water
has been made under the scheme by constructing 15 storage
tanks.
Himachal Pradesh Government has accorded priority to provide
safe drinking water to the people of the State and all the efforts
are being made to construct new water supply schemes in the
remotest areas of the State, besides augmenting the existing ones.
Himachal makes e-Declaration
Mandatory from Nov 1
Come November 1 and physical checking of goods vehicles will
be passé in Himachal Pradesh, as the government’s Excise and
Taxation Department has made it mandatory for the goods dealers
to make e-Declaration of goods being brought into the state.
The initiative will help the inter-state tax barrier staff to access all
data regarding goods by scanning the printout of the e-
Declaration. The e-Declaration will help address the problem of
heavy traffic jams at tax barriers. Officials won’t be checking
check each vehicle personally. “They will get all details of goods
vehicles within two minutes on computers through e-
Declaration,” a taxation department said.
“All the data will be bar-coded and they will be easily detected
through the computer software. The goods vehicles will be
allowed to pass through as software will have the capability to
detect wrong declarations and physical checking will be required
only in handful of cases. It will make the work speedy and add
transparency to it,” the department added.
The switchover to e-Declaration will help reduce congestion at
inter-state barriers at Parwanoo, Baddi, Dherowal, Mehatpur,
Gagreet, Kala Amb, Behral and Swarghat in the state. Besides,
the excise and taxation department has also made it mandatory
for all dealers having an annual turnover of over Rs 1 crore to file
returns electronically.
JHARKHAND
Jharkhand Nulls Law to Check Road
Digging
The Jharkhand Government will soon have a law to check digging
of roads by public and private utility companies. The law, being
formulated by the Road Construction Department, will cover both
State and National Highways. As per the proposed law, all utility
service companies like telecom, electricity and water supply
bodies would require mandatory approval from the Road
Construction Department prior to digging any portion of roads.
It also envisages different slabs of fees to be paid for different
types of work. It has been observed that utility companies
indulge in damaging the roads for laying cables and pipelines as
there is no regulatory provisions to check it. Apart from causing
frequent inconvenience to the travellers, the State government
has to spend huge money on repair job.
Road construction Secretary NN Sinha said the government had
already tabled the Jharkhand Highway Amendment Bill 2011 in
the assembly. “The Law will give the state government the power
to check the menace of irrational digging of roads across the
state. All public utility companies will have to follow the norms
of laying cable or pipeline and in case of violation they will have
to face penalty as per the guidelines of the Indian Road
Congress,” Sinha said.
The State would adopt the rules laid by the Union Road
Transport and Highways Ministry. The state will charge 10 per
cent of the prevailing market value of the area of land required
for laying the utilities as one time licence fee charged at the time
of granting the permission. A surcharge of 15 per cent will be
levied every three years and the licence will be granted for 25
years. According to the central fee structure, the rate may vary
from Rs 250 per sqm in rural area to Rs 2,000 in cities like Ranchi
and Jamshedpur.
JAMMU & KASHMIR
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Launched in
Jammu and Kashmir
In Jammu and Kashmir, the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna,
jointly sponsored by the Centre and State governments was
formally launched by State Health and Family Welfare Ministry
in Srinagar on 13 October 2011. The scheme has been initially
launched in the twin capital districts of Jammu and Srinagar and
will be gradually extended to all the districts of the State. The
initial launch of the scheme will benefit around 66000 BPL families
in Srinagar and Jammu.
Entitled to cashless hospitalization coverage for most of the
diseases through the network of identified hospitals up to
expenditure of 30000 rupees per family per annum. This will cover
five members of a family which include the head of the household,
spouse and up to three dependents. The Central and State
Governments will pay the premium to the healthcare providers
(insurance companies) being selected by the State Government.
The contribution will be on 90-10 basis annually and the
beneficiary family has to pay only registration fee of 30 rupees
only. Data of every family will be stored in the computer and
head of the family will be provided with Smart Cards, which will
enable their admission in the designated hospitals.
MADHYA PRADESH
MP to Unveil New Policy on Small
Hydel Projects
Under the new policy any company can identify hydel project
sites in the state and come out with the proposal to set it up
The Madhya Pradesh government will soon come out with a
new policy for implementation of the projects for generating
power through small hydel power projects.
The installed capacity of small hydel power projects in the state
is expected to be 750 megawatts. Investors from within as well as
outside the state are estimated to invest about Rs 4500 crore in
the implementation of these projects.
Liberal provisions have been incorporated in the new policy in
view of ample potential of hydel power generation in the state
and its current use.
Under the policy, any company can identify hydel project sites
in the state. Due to this policy, available capacity can be speedily
realised in the years to come in view of provision for establishment
of projects by developers within stipulated time-limit.
UTTAR PRADESH
Age limit for Primary School Teachers
Recruitment Extended to 40 in UP
The state government issued an order to raise the age limit from
35 years to 40 years to fill around 70000 posts of primary school
teachers lying vacant. For BTC selection in 2007 and 2008 the
age limit of 40 years was made mandatory. The B.Ed degree holders
demanded to increase the maximum age limit for the appointment
of primary school teachers on the basis of that.
Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan
(RMSA) –Annual Plan for Uttar Pradesh
Approved
Under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, the Ministry
of Human Resource Development has approved the Annual Plan
Proposal of Uttar Pradesh (2011-2012) with a total outlay of RS.537
Crores. The details of the approved components are:
1. 449 New Schoolsto be set up with a total outlay of
Rs.26095.88 lakh
2. Strengthening of 233 existing secondary schools which
includes building additional classrooms, laboratory,
Library, Laboratory Equipment, water facility and toilet
block for Rs.6413.25 lakh
3. Salary for the Staff for 572 New Schools sanctioned in
the years 2009 & 2010 which includes 572 Headmasters
and 4004 teaching and Non-teaching staff to the tune
of Rs.19957.08 lakh
4. School Grant for 1135 government schoolswith an outlay
of Rs. 567.5 lakhs
5. Repair of existing 402 government schoolswith a
provision of Rs.100.5 lakhs
6. Capacity Building of existing teachers, principals and
new teachers which includes Induction Training of 2288
teachers of 318 schools approved in 2010-11, Inservice
Training of 26258 Mathematics, Science, Social Science
and English teachers and Leadership Training of 600
principals has been approved with an earmarked amount
of Rs.462.96 lakh
7. Guidance and Counselling Services for students with a
provision of Rs. 7.82 lakh
8. Training of 18160 School Management and Development
Committee (SMDC) Members has been approved at an
amount of Rs.108.96 lakh
UP Launches Portal for Entrepreneurs
Uttar Pradesh has launched a web based online facility —Nivesh
Mitra— for entrepreneurs desirous of setting up an enterprise in
the state. In the first phase, this system has been introduced in
18 districts and 12 government departments have been roped in
the system. This user- friendly, entrepreneur centric web
application enables existing and prospective investors and
entrepreneurs to get online clearances from concerned
department with ease and minimal “running around”. Nivesh
Mitra provides the facility of online submission and updating of
all forms required for various approvals by the entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs can make payments towards processing fee of
applications online by using Credit and Debit Cards; through
Internet Banking or by offline payment at specific bank branches.
Initially, the State Bank of India and the Punjab National Bank
have been selected as partners in this endeavour. State
government’s investment promotion agency— Udyog Bandhu—
is acting as a nodal agency for implementation of this project.
UTTARAKHAND
Uttarakhand Cabinet Clears
Lokayukta Bill
Uttarakhand state cabinet on 29 October 2011 cleared
Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill, 2011 with the objective of curbing
corruption in the state. The Chief Minister of the state, all ministers,
MLAs and lower judiciary will be under the purview of Lokayukta.
It is important to note that judges of the Uttarakhand High Court
will not be covered under the purview of Lokayukta. Former
chief ministers, former ministers and retired officers will also be
within the purview of the Lokayukta.
The Features of Uttarakhand Lokayukta Bill
As per the bill, the Lokayukta will have a chairperson and five
members. The number of members could be increased to seven
as per the requirement. The bill envisioned that the members of
Lokayukta should have legal background and should possess
integrity and outstanding ability. The term of the chairperson of
the Lokayukta would be of five years or upto the age of 70 years
whichever is earlier.
The bill says that once the investigations are over, the
chargesheet will be filed by the Lokayukta in a special court set
up under the Prevention of Corruption Act for a speedy trial. The
bill further adds that the period of investigation should not exceed
twelve months. The Lokayukta will be empowered to recommend
punishment of dismissal, removal or demotion against government
servants after giving them full opportunity of being heard. The
recommendation will be binding on the appointing or disciplinary
authority of the government. For any act of corruption, the
punishment will not be less than six months of rigorous
imprisonment and could be extended upto 10-year imprisonment.
In the rarest of rare case, the punishment could be extended upto
life imprisonment.
Micro Finance Project for Women
Launched
Delhi state government on 8 October 2011 launched a microfinance
project for women. The project aims at providing financial
support to over one-lakh vulnerable women in the capital. The
project will be implemented by the Samajik Suvidha Sangam(SSS)
in collaboration with Delhi chapter of SEWA. SSS is a Delhi
government entity set up to provide various services to the poor.
Under this project, loans will be given to women at a nominal
interest rate of 1.5 percent. The women from economically-weak
sections will be given access to funds and other financial services
through a cooperative society called Mahila Sewa Urban
Cooperative thrift and credit society limited.
Delhi Govt Decides to Hike
Monthly Pension
Delhi state cabinet on 17 October 2011 hiked monthly pensions
of senior citizens who are 70 years old and above from 1000
rupees/month to 1500 rupees/month. The hike in pension will be
effective from 1 October 2011.
The pension will be sanctioned under the Old Age Financial
Assistance Scheme of Social Welfare department. The hiked
pension is likely to benefit more than 1.6 lakh senior citizens in
the mentioned group. The government will release an additional
budget allocation of 34 crore rupees to implement the scheme.
Haryana to Conduct Satellite Land Survey
In a bid to keep a tab on the discrepancies in the land records
and to solve land related disputes, Haryana government has
decided to conduct satellite survey of land. The survey is the
part of the government programme on land records manual and
the whole Haryana will be covered under it. This exercise will
start from the Rewari district.
“The images and data obtained through the satellite land survey
will be tallied with the land records files, compiled since 1957. If
we find any anomalies then they will be removed immediately,”
Haryana Land Records Department said.
In the satellite surveys, all measurements of both commercial
and residential properties could be seen in inches. So far this is
done manually, leading to many disputes among residents and it
also led to rise in court cases. With the conduct of land
measurements through satellites, landowners would be
benefitted and the government’s tax revenue would also increase.
Haryana government has established a special cell, headed by a
Secretary-ranked official, in its Information Technology
Department, to oversee the working of satellite land survey. This
project is expected to be finished in the next six months.
Rajasthan Govt. Launches Online
Pension System
The Rajasthan Government launched a web based Social Security
Pension System on 19 October 2011 at Jaipur. This is an e-
Governance initiative for effective and timely disbursement of
pension and it would accelerate the whole process from sanction
to disbursal of the pension under various schemes. This online
system is a web-based solution to facilitate and maintain
information pertaining to application, verification, sanction and
disbursement of pension under various social security pension
schemes. The system would be used by all SDOs, BDOs,
Tehsildars, Treasury Officers and Sub Treasury Officers.
The state government is providing Social Security Pension to
aged people, widows and disabled persons of deprived and
weaker sections of the society. Currently in the state, more than
12 lakh pensioners are getting benefit of the Social Security
Pension scheme and 700 crore rupees are being disbursed to
beneficiaries. The pensioners in the age group of 75 years and
above are being provided 750 rupees while pensioner in the age
group of below 75 years is being given 500 rupees per month.
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 18
DELHI
HARYNA
RAJASTHAN

DECEMBER 2011
WOMEN & CHILDREN COVERAGE
One Crore Women Registered Under
Mother & Child Tracking System
The total number of pregnant women registered in Mother &
Child Tracking System(MCTS), an e-governance initiative of the
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has crossed the one crore
mark on 28 October, 2011. The Mother and Child Tracking System
(MCTS) is designed to collate information of all pregnant women
and infants so as to ensure delivery of maternal and child health
services from conception till 42 days after delivery in the case of
pregnant women and up to five years of age in the case of children
so as to ensure that all pregnant women and all new born receive
full maternal and immunization services. The number of children
registered in the system is also expected to cross 50 lakh by the
end of this month.
MCTS was started by the MoHFW last year. Union Minister for
Health and Family Welfare Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad remarked that
“MCTS marks a paradigm shift in the approach towards
monitoring health and family welfare programmes as it is aimed
at ensuring complete delivery of maternal and child health
services to all pregnant women and new born in an effort to
reduce maternal, infant and child mortality in the country”.
Through MCTS, Government of India is making efforts to
institutionalise the beneficiary based approach of monitoring
health and family welfare services’ delivery, the Minister added.
The Minister also made sample verification calls to registered
women under the MCTS database from the MCTS cell in the
Ministry to verify the database entries today.
Under MCTS, an online registration system has been developed
for the purpose, in collaboration with the National Informatics
Centre. A nationwide training programme had been organised
throughout the country to operationalise the system. In addition,
a call centre has been established in the Ministry of H&FW to
directly contact pregnant women and parents of the new born
registered under the system to verify the services that they have
received. MCTS is being implemented throughout the country
with active cooperation and involvement of State Governments.
The project is being implemented in the Mission Mode and a
dedicated unit has been established in the Ministry of Health
and Family Welfare for coordinating and collaborating with
States/Union Territories for the implementation of the project.
The information generated through the system is also being used
for planning maternal and child health services at the grass roots
level by the female health worker in association with village level
volunteers like ASHA and Aanganwadi Worker.
MCTS serves two vital purposes as it facilitates the service
provider at the grass roots level in delivering services to women
and children according to their specific needs besides supporting
health managers at different tiers of the system in monitoring
delivery of maternal and child health services. An innovative
feature of MCTS is the application of the information technology
tools for its implementation right up to the village level. The
information technology based innovative approach adopted in
the implementation of MCTS has resulted in the recognition of
MCTS as an innovative e-governance project by the high power
Committee constituted under the chairmanship of the Cabinet
Secretary, Government of India.
Africa’s Kids Deprived of Secondary
Education: UN
Two out of three children in sub-Saharan Africa are left out of
secondary school as governments are having trouble meeting
the increased demand, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organisation (Unesco) said in a report.
The report titled ‘Global Education Digest 2011: Comparing
Education Statistics Across the World’, which was launched at
the UN Headquarters, said that in sub-Saharan Africa, there are
enough school places for just 36 percent of children of age to
enroll.
Albert Motivans, head of education indicators and data analysis
at the Unesco Institute for Statistics, said secondary education
was ‘vital for development’ and was the bridge to the world of
work. Motivans said secondary education has important benefits
at the societal level to stimulate economies due to a more skilled
workforce. ‘We seek greater recognition of the role of secondary
education, as more countries near universal primary education,
this new report sets out how secondary education should be
recognised as a key element of post 2015 development agenda,’
he said.
Globally, secondary schools have been accommodating nearly
100 million more students each decade, said the report. With
increasing numbers of children attending and finishing primary
school education, the demand for places in secondary education
has increased exponentially, it said.
The report also said that a child in the last grade of primary
school only has at best a 75 percent chance of making the
transition into lower secondary school in about 20 countries
around the world, with an ‘overwhelming’ majority in sub-Saharan
Africa. ‘There can be no escape from poverty without a vast
expansion of secondary education,’ Unesco Director-General
Irina Bokova said in a press release.
‘This is a minimum entitlement for equipping youth with the
knowledge and skills they need to secure decent livelihoods in
today’s globalised world. It is going to take ambition and
commitment to meet this challenge,’ she said.
The report, which was produced by the Unesco Institute for
Statistics, showed a wide-range of indicators on the extent to
which girls and boys are enrolling and finishing secondary
education. Girls face the greatest barriers as the gender gap
widens, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, said the report. About
35 million girls were enrolled in lower secondary education in
2009, it said.
Hendrik van der Pol, director of the Unesco Institute for Statistics,
said: ‘All of these data underscore a central message — secondary
education is the next great challenge.’
Corporal Punishment cannot be Practiced
in the Name of Disciplining Child
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
Chairperson Prof. Shantha Sinha has stressed the need to
eliminate all forms of corporal punishment practiced in the name
of ‘disciplining’ a child.
“We need to understand that children, like adults, too have a
mind of their own and they do not enjoy having an unequal
relationship. Therefore, any kind of domination of children by
adults is unacceptable,” Dr Sinha opined. She also harped on
the need for different stakeholders to engage positively with
children.
Dr Sinha was speaking at the discussion forum on the report of
Working Group of NCPCR on Guidelines for Eliminating Corporal
Punishment in schools under section 17 of the Right to Education
(RTE) Act, 2009 held recently in national Capital.
The report enumerated some of the key strategies that could be
employed based on the levels of problem behaviour exhibited by
children. The discussion also stressed the need for institutional
reform and humanising school campuses so that they become
healing spaces for children. Later in the seminar, a dialogue on
eliminating corporal punishment from all settings was also
organised in collaboration with UNICEF.
According to a study on child abuse conducted in 2007 by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development it was found that
every two out of three school children reported facing corporal
punishment. The States of Assam, Mizoram and Uttar Pradesh
reported the highest rates of corporal punishment, while
Rajasthan and Goa had the lowest, the study revealed.
The Commission has, since its inception in March 2007,
responded to corporal punishment from across the country, held
public hearings on the matter, issued guidelines for prevention
of corporal punishment and appropriate action of schools,
education department, departments of women and child
development, social welfare and police.
Foetal Exposure to Chemical BPA
causes Problems in Girls
Foetal exposure to the chemical bisphenol A or BPA, used in
making plastic containers and other consumer goods, can cause
behavioural and emotional problems among young girls,
acccording to a study. BPA is found in many consumer products,
including canned food linings, polycarbonate plastics, dental
sealants, and some receipts made from thermal paper. Most
people living in industrialized nations are exposed to BPA, which
has been shown to retard growth in animals and cause
cardiovascular disease and diabetes in people.
In a 2009 study, Harvard School of Public Health researchers
showed that drinking from polycarbonate bottles increased the
level of urinary BPA. Joe Braun, research fellow in environmental
health at HSPH, who led the study and his colleagues found that
gestational BPA exposure was linked with more behavioural
problems at age three, especially in girls, according to a Harvard
statement.
The researchers collected data from 244 mothers and their threeyear-old
children in the Health Outcomes and Measures of the
Environment Study. Mothers provided three urine samples
during pregnancy and at birth that were tested for BPA; their
children were tested each year from ages one to three. When the
children were three years old, the mothers completed surveys
about their children’s behaviour. BPA was detected in over 85
percent of the urine samples from the mothers and over 96 percent
of the children’s urine samples.
‘None of the children had clinically abnormal behaviour, but some
children had more behaviour problems than others. Thus, we
examined the relationship between the mom’s and children’s BPA
concentrations and the different behaviors,’ Braun said.
World Bank-IFC Report Finds
Government Reforms Enhance Economic
Opportunities for Women
A new report from the World Bank and IFC released finds that
women still face legal and regulatory hurdles to fully participating
in the economy.
Women, Business and the Law 2012: Removing Barriers to
Economic Inclusion finds that while36 economies reduced legal
differences between men and women, 103 out of 141 economies
studied still impose legal differences on the basis of gender in at
least one of the report’s key indicators. The report also identifies
41 law and regulatory reforms enacted between June 2009 and
March 2011 that could enhance women’s economic opportunities.
Globally, women represent 49.6 percent of the population but
only 40.8 percent of the workforce in the formal sector. Legal
differences between men and women may explain this gap. The
report shows that economies with greater legal differentiation
between men and women have, on average, lower female
participation in the formal labor force.
“Competitiveness and productivity have much to do with the
efficient allocation of resources, including human resources,”
said Augusto Lopez-Claros, Director, Global Indicators and
Analysis, World Bank Group. “The economy suffers when half
of the world’s population is prevented from fully participating. It
is certainly no surprise that the world’s most competitive
economies are those where the opportunity gap between women
and men is the narrowest.”
The report measures such things as a woman’s ability to sign a
contract, travel abroad, manage property, and interact with public
authorities and the private sector. In all economies, married women
face more legal differentiations than unmarried women. In 23
economies, married women cannot legally choose where to live,
and in 29 they cannot be legally recognized as head of household.
Every region includes economies with unequal rules for men and
women, although the extent of the inequality varies widely. On
average, high-income economies have fewer differences than
middle- and low-income economies. The Middle East and North
Africa have the most legal differences between men and women,
followed by South Asia and Africa. In Africa, a notable exception
is Kenya, which leads globally with the most gender-parity
reforms during the past two years. Regionally, the most
improvements in gender parity occurred in Latin America and
the Caribbean, Europe and Central Asia.
About the Women, Business and the Law Project:
The project measures how regulations and institutions
differentiate between women and men in ways that may affect
women’s incentives or capacity to work or to set up and run a
business.Women, Business and the Law objectively measures
such legal differentiations on the basis of gender in 141 economies
around the world, covering six areas: accessing institutions, using
property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building
credit, and going to court. While the project provides a clear
picture of gender gaps based on legal differences in each economy,
it is a simple snapshot measuring only legal differentiation. It
does not capture the full extent of the gender gap, nor does it
indicate the relative importance of each aspect covered.
About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of
funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises
five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International
Development Association (IDA), which together form the World
Bank; the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
(ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to
fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the
developing world.
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DECEMBER 2011
Appoint Special Officers to Monitor
Juveniles: SC
The Supreme Court of India directed the states and Union
territories to appoint child welfare officers in every police station
for monitoring and extending better treatment to juveniles by the
police. The apex court, which is monitoring the implementation
of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, also
directed that state and national legal services authorities issue
appropriate guidelines for training and orientation of police
officers, who could be designated as child welfare officers.
A bench of justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik said that
the training and orientation should be done over a period of six
months to one year in every state and Union territory.
Voter Card No Proof of Tenancy: SC
The presence of a person’s name on the electoral roll would only
prove that he/she was residing at the premises at a certain point
of time but in no way would indicate his/her status as a tenant or
a licensee, the Supreme Court has said.
‘The electoral roll will not show whether a person is occupying a
premises as a tenant or as a licensee. It may at best show that the
person was residing in the premises,’ said Justice R.V. Raveendran
and Justice A.K. Patnaik in their ruling.
‘The fact that both respondents were residing in the premises
had never been disputed. If they represented that they were
husband and wife, the electoral roll will reflect the same,’ said the
court.
The case relates to Dnyaneshwar Ranganath Bhandare, who
allowed his maid servant Chhaya to stay in a room of a doublestorey
house in Sangli district of Maharashtra. Chhaya looked
after Bhandare’s mother but he allowed her to stay on in the
room even after his mother’s death. Chhaya later brought in Sadhu
Dadu Shettigar (Shetty), claiming he was her husband and
occupied another room as well. Bhandare approached the
Supreme Court against an Oct 7, 2008, Bombay High Court order
which had refused to interfere with the earlier Sangli district
court’s judgement that ruled the couple was tenants. Earlier, the
trial court had ruled in favour of Bhandare and asked the couple
to hand over the possession of premises to Bhandare.
Advisory Council Meeting of the
National Mission for Justice Delivery
& Legal Reforms
Shri Salman Khurshid, Minister of Law and Justice on 18th Oct
chaired the first meeting of the Advisory Council meeting of the
National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms.
Shri Khurshid said that the National Mission will ensure a well
coordinated response of the Executive and the Judiciary for
speeding up delivery of justice in the Country and to reduce the
delay in the disposal of cases by the courts. “ This”, he said
“ would reinforce faith of the people in the rule of law and secure
a social order in which the legal system of the nation promotes
justice and ensures that opportunity for securing justice is not
denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities.”
The Mission, spanning 5 years from 2011 to 2016, will focus on
two major goals as envisaged in the Vision Document, namely:
i) Increasing access to justice by reducing delays and
arrears in the system; and
ii) Enhancing accountability through structural changes
and by setting performance standards and capacities.
Secretary, Department of Justice, Smt. Neela Gangadharan,
who is the Convenor and the Mission Leader, gave an
overview presentation on the National Mission to Council.
The National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms
was approved by the Union Cabinet on 23rd June this year.
The broad areas covered by the National Mission are policy
and legislative changes, re-engineering of procedures, human
resource development, leveraging ICT and improve physical
infrastructure of subordinate courts. Infrastructure
development for the subordinate judiciary is the major thrust
area of the National Mission. Inadequacy of infrastructure
facilities in District and Subordinate courts has remained a
major bottleneck in the judicial system largely contributing to
the accumulation of arrears. In order to augment the resources
of the State Governments for development of infrastructure
facilities for the judiciary the Central Government outflow
would be around Rs. 5,500 crore over five years of the National
Mission.
SC: Centre Sole Authority on Telecom
Licensing Norms
The Supreme Court of India ruled that the Centre has absolute
powers to decide the terms and conditions for telecom operators
as neither the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, TRAI, nor
the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal, TDSAT,
can overrule it.
The apex court ruled, though TRAI was conferred with the
statutory power to recommend the terms and conditions of the
license and the Central Government was bound to seek its
recommendations, yet, the same was not binding on it. A Bench
of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patanaik passed the ruling
while upholding an appeal filed by the Union Government
challenging a TDSAT direction of 2007 to the Government to
prepare a revised term and conditions for the licensees vis-a-vis
adjusted gross revenue.
LEGAL COVERAGE
Chief Justice of India Releases
Restatements of Indian Law
Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice S.H. Kapadia on Octorber 11,
2011 released a set of Restatement of Indian Law in the presence
of legal luminaries. These Restatements of Indian Law relate to 3
subjects: 1. Legislative Privilege, 2. Contempt of Court and
3. Public Interest Litigation.
This Restatement of Indian Law would benefit the members of
Bar, Bench, Academia, Civil Servants and general public to map
the developments in the field of law and to comprehend its
current status as the march of Indian law in the last six decades
through judicial pronouncements, legislations and their
amendments, rules, regulations and other policy measures needs
to be restated with clarity of thought. With this objective the
Supreme Court Project Committee on Restatement of Indian Law
and the Indian Law Institute had taken up the task of restatement
of Indian law in important areas.
The process was initiated with three Pilot Projects on: i)
Legislative Privileges, ii) Contempt of Court, and iii) Public
Interest Litigation. Three Sub -Committees comprising of Judges
of the Supreme Court of India, High Court of Delhi, senior
advocates and distinguished academicians were constituted for
the purpose. The Pilot Project restated laws on:
(1) Legislative Privilege
This subject was chosen partly on account of the sharp focus it
brings to the principle of ‘checks and balances’ vis-a-vis the two
important organs of State - the Legislature and the Judiciary.
(2) Contempt of Court
The subject was chosen on account of the fact that the power of
contempt is a necessary concomitant of a court of record. It must
be exercised judiciously, in a manner that balances the need for
preserving and upholding the rule of law as well as the integrity
of the judicial system, while at the same time avoiding untoward
incursions into that precious right of freedom of speech and
expression.
(3) Public Interest Litigation
The Committee chose ‘Public Interest Litigation’ as the third
area for restatement on account of the unique contribution of
the Supreme Court of India in facilitating access to justice by
liberalizing the principle of locus standi. The circuitous journey
of PIL and associated discrete judicial thoughts necessitated a
clarion, which this restatement aims at.
SC: Provide Toilets in Government
Schools
The Supreme Court of India on 17 October 2011 directed all states
and union territories (UTs) to build toilets, particularly for girls,
in all government schools by the end of November 2011. A bench
headed by Justice D K Jain asked all the governments to take
immediate steps regarding this and file their compliance report
before the deadline fixed by it.
The bench ruled that in case of any problem, the governments
would at least provide temporary toilets for the students by
November-end and the permanent structure should be built by
the end of the year.
Special Law to Adopt Transgenders on
the Anvil
The National Legal Services Authority is working on a special
law to safeguard the interests and welfare of transgenders on
the lines of Special Marriage Act, Supreme Court judge Altamas
Kabir said.
‘Transgenders are in a most disadvantageous position, not of
their own making. Some of them are rejected not just by society,
but even by their parents,’ said Kabir at a day-long seminar on
‘Transgenders and the Law’, organised by the Karnataka State
Legal Services Authority and the Karnataka High Court Legal
Services Committee.
Regretting discrimination against transgenders’, Kabir said a
transgender who became a doctor was not allowed to practice in
hospital and had to give up the job as patients refused to be
treated by her.
‘We have public toilets for men and women but not transgenders
and they are not allowed to use either. Where should they go?
Do you want them to eke-out their livelihood by begging, dancing
or by sex work,’ Kabir asked, saying it was high time for providing
a public toilet for the third sex.
Similarly, for admission to schools/colleges or employment,
application forms have only two columns for male and female
but not for transgenders. ‘It’s not only male and female, but we
have to provide one more category – ‘Others’ to include
transgenders,’ he said.
Describing transgenders as men wrapped up in women’s body
and vice-versa, the executive chairman of the National Legal
Services Authority said it was both a physical and psychological
problem. ‘If society is not accepting transgenders, we have to
change its mindset, at least now,’ Kabir noted.
Karnataka High Court Acting Chief Justice Vikramajit Sen said
that the social stigma attached to transgenders should be
eradicated. ‘They should also be recognised and respected.
They should be provided a means for their livelihood and should
be treated on par with others,’ he said.
The transgenders’ population is about 1.2 million in the country.
The seminar threw light on social, medical, emotional and legal
issues relating to the community.
SC Suggests Fine in Cheque Bounce Cases
The Supreme Court has suggested that the Negotiable
Instruments Act, 1881, could be amended so that a convict in a
cheque bounce case is made to pay a fine from which the
complainant can be paid compensation.
“One other solution is a further amendment to the Act so that in
all cases where there is a conviction, there should be a
consequential levy of fine of an amount sufficient to cover the
cheque amount and interest thereon, at a fixed rate of 9 per cent
per annum, followed by award of such sum as compensation
from the fine amount,” the Apex Court bench of Justice RV
Raveendran (since retired) and Justice RM Lodha said in a recent
judgment.
Speaking for the bench Justice Raveendran said: “This would
lead to uniformity in decisions, avoid multiplicity of proceedings
(one for enforcing civil liability and another for enforcing criminal
liability) and achieve the object of Chapter XVII of the Act, which
is to increase the credibility of the instrument.”
“This is, however, a matter for the Law Commission of India to
consider,” the judgment said. The judges said that the Act
“strongly leant towards grant of reimbursement of the loss by
way of compensation”.
“The courts should, unless there are special circumstances, in
all cases of conviction, uniformly exercise the power to levy fine
up to twice the cheque amount (keeping in view the cheque
amount and the simple interest thereon at 9 per cent per annum
as the reasonable quantum of loss) and direct payment of such
amount as compensation”.
The apex court said that the compensation by way of restitution
on account of dishonour of the cheque should be “practical and
realistic”.
“Uniformity and consistency in deciding similar cases by different
courts not only increase the credibility of cheque as a negotiable
instrument, but also the credibility of courts of justice,” the
judgment said.
“In same type of cheque dishonour cases, after convicting the
accused, if some courts grant compensation and if some other
courts do not grant compensation, the inconsistency, though
perfectly acceptable in the eye of law, will give rise to certain
amount of uncertainty in the minds of litigants about the
functioning of courts,” the judgment said.
Citizens will not be able to arrange or regulate their affairs in a
proper manner, as they will not know whether they should
simultaneously file a civil suit or not. The problem is aggravated
since in spite of provisions for concluding such cases within six
months from the date of the filing of the complaint, these seldom
reach finality before three-four years, the judgment said. These
cases give rise to complications where civil suits have not been
filed within three years on account of the pendency of the criminal
cases.
“While it is not the duty of criminal courts to ensure that
successful complainants get the cheque amount also, it is their
duty to have uniformity and consistency, with other courts
dealing with similar cases,” the judgment underlined.
The court said this while dismissing an appeal challenging the
Kerala High Court’s verdict that the trial court verdict of imposing
fine and awarding compensation could not co-exist.
Rights Panel Handled over 10 lakh
Cases Since 1993
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has registered
over 10 lakh cases since its inception in 1993. A total of 1,094,113
cases of human rights violations, either through suo moto
complaints or intimation by the prison and police authorities,
were registered, said the NHRC, as the commission celebrated
its 19th anniversary on 12th October.
Out of the total registered cases, 1,077,622 were disposed of.
According to the commission, during the last 18 years, a total of
Rs.510,942,500 relief had been recommended in 2,604 cases for
the victims of human rights violation.
The highest number of complaints registered by the NHRC were
from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Delhi, Bihar, Haryana, Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and
Jharkhand.
The NHRC registered 20,604 cases of death in judicial custody
and 4,303 cases of death in police custody in different states.
Uttar Pradesh topped the list with the maximum number of
complaints regarding death in police and judicial custody.
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DECEMBER 2011
Chola MS Launches New Policy
Cholamandalam MS General Insurance Company Limited on 3
October 2011 announced the launch of its Chola Critical
Healthline Policy, which provides for a reasonable amount on
being diagnosed with any of the named critical illnesses. The
Company is a joint venture between the Murugappa Group and
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Japan. Some of the key features
of Chola Critical Healthline are as following:
• Entry upto 65 yrs
• No medical check-up upto 55 yrs
• Lifetime renewal facility.
This policy does not need any proof of hospitalization or even
treatment. The claim will be settled on the basis of the proof of
diagnosis of a critical illness and the necessary survival period.
The premium paid for Chola Critical Healthline Policy is eligible
for tax exemption up to 20000 rupees under section 80(D) of
Income tax act.
The list of diseases covered under the policy are, Stroke, First
heart attack, Open Chest CABG, Cancer, Kidney Failure, Major
Organ / Bone Marrow Transplant, Primary Pulmonary
Hypertension, , Multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Surgery
of Aorta and Motor Neuron Disease.
10 facts on Ageing and the Life Course
The ageing of the world’s population – in developing and
developed countries – is an indicator of improving global health.
The world’s elderly population – people 60 years of age and
older – is 650 million. By 2050, the “greying” population is forecast
to reach 2 billion.
Along with this positive trend, however, come special health
challenges for the 21st century. Preparing health providers and
societies to meet the needs of older populations is essential:
training for health professionals on old-age care; preventing and
managing age-associated chronic diseases; designing
sustainable policies on long-term and palliative care; and
developing age-friendly services and settings.
The world’s elderly population - people 60 years of age
and older - is the fastest growing age group
Ageing is a global phenomenon. By 2050 about 80% of older
people will be living in less developed countries. Population
ageing is occurring in parallel with rapid urbanization: in 2007
more than half of the world’s population live in cities. By 2030
that figure is expected to rise to more than 60%.
Population ageing is a triumph of modern society
It reflects improving global health, but also raises special
challenges for the 21st century in both developing and developed
countries. In 2005, life expectancy in countries like Japan and
France was already more than 80 years. Life expectancy is also
rising in developing countries. For example, a child born today in
Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Lebanon, Sri Lanka or Thailand can
expect to live for more than 70 years.
There are vast differences in life expectancy at
birth between countries
Vast health inequalities persist, as is clear from differences in life
expectancy at birth. For example, while Japan has the highest life
expectancy in the world at 82.2 years, in several countries in
Africa the figure is 40 years lower.
Within countries, health inequalities are also significant
In the United States of America, for example, higher
socioeconomic groups can expect to live up to 20 years longer
than people from lower socioeconomic groups.
By 2050, close to 80% of all deaths are
expected to occur in people over 60
Health expenditures increase with age but are concentrated in
the last two years of life, regardless of how old someone is. As
people live longer, it is important to ensure these added years are
healthy so that health-care costs can be kept manageable.
Investing in health throughout life produces
dividends for societies
Healthy older people represent a resource for their families,
communities and economies. It is rarely too late to change risky
behaviours to promote health: for example, the risk of premature
death decreases by 50% if someone gives up smoking between
60 and 75 years of age.
Effective, community-level primary health care for
older people is crucial to promote health,
prevent disease and manage chronic illnesses
In general, training for health professionals includes little if any
instruction about specific care for older people. However, they
will increasingly spend time caring for this section of the
population. WHO maintains that all health providers should be
trained on ageing issues, regardless of their profession.
Disasters and emergencies severely impact older people
For example, the highest percentage of fatalities caused by the
2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Indonesia was in people 60 years
of age and older, and the majority of the 2003 heat wave victims
in Europe were people 70 years of age and older. Policies to
protect older persons during emergencies are urgently required.
In older age, the risk of falls increases and
injuries are far more serious
This leads to significant health, human and economic costs. In
Australia, the average health system cost of one fall-related injury
for people 65 years of age and older was US$ 3611 in 2001-2002.
Elder abuse is on the increase as the population
ages and social dynamics change
WHO estimates that between 4% and 6% of older persons
worldwide have suffered from a form of elder abuse - either
physical, psychological, emotional, financial or due to neglect.
Elder abuse is an infringement of human rights.
HEALTH COVERAGE
India Bans Infertility Drug Letrozole
The union government of India decided to ban the use of
infertility drug Letrozole which is mainly recommended for
treating Cancer patients. The Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare issued a directive to ban the use of Letrozole completely
with immediate effect.
While banning the drug, the Ministry stated that harmful effects
were found in the use of Letrozole. Letrozole is used worldwide
for cancer patients but it was being used in India as an infertility
drug for a long time.
Recent Trends in Neurosciences
Over 400 neuro scientists from India and abroad deliberate on
latest advances in the field of neurosciences in an International
Symposium on “Recent Trends in Neurosciences”. Topics such
as neurodegeration and neuroprotection; herbal and antioxidant
therapies for neuroprotection; neurobiology of aging and
memory; natural solutions to brain dysfunctions and many others
are discussed during the conference. The topics address key
issues on improvement of “health care” and “human
performance”.
Understanding the biochemical and biophysical properties of
nerve cells have led to fundamental insights into an important
aspect of cognition and memory. However, with every new
discovery on the brain we realize how little we know about this
pulsating mass of neurons, thus leaving an unending scope for
future research. In this context, conference surely provide a
unique platform for the neuroscientists in India and abroad to
deliberate, discuss and collaborate in areas of mutual research
interests.
Neurophysiological changes under stressful environmental
conditions have been one of the thrust areas of DIPAS, as the
troops in India are exposed to variety of extreme environmental
situations. The lab has been working to elucidate the molecular
mechanisms involved in modulation of neurotransmitters under
stressful environment with special reference to behavior and
sleep deprivation. As countermeasures, both pharmacological
and non-pharmacological interventions are being explored to
improve the cognitive functioning of soldiers deputed at high
altitudes and pilots on long haul flights. Improving sleep quality
at high altitudes is another challenging area. Thus, the conference
also highlight the achievements and initiatives taken by DRDO
in this area.
Mass Diseases not being Fought
Properly: Expert
Diseases that account for 90 percent of the global disease burden
receive only 10 percent of all medical research worldwide, an
expert said.
Pneumonia, diarrhoea, tuberculosis and malaria, which account
for over 20 percent of the global burden of disease, receive less
than 1 percent of all public and private funds devoted to health
research.
This was stated by Yale University’s Thomas Pogge while
delivering the first Arjun K. Sengupta Memorial Lecture at the
O.P. Jindal Global University in Sonepat, H aryana. Global
institutional reforms are needed to eradicate poverty, he added.
Today human beings were unable to realize their human rights. A
third of all human deaths – about 50,000 daily – were due to
poverty related causes, easily preventable through better
nutrition, safe drinking water, vaccines and medicines, Pogge
said. Pogge added that the more powerful countries, corporations
and citizens violated human rights of the global poor.
Eating Fish Powers Brain
Eating fish, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, boosts blood
flow to the brain and improves its performance. New research
shows it can also quicken reaction times and reduce levels of
tiredness in the brain even after performing tough tasks.
British researchers say the findings could be particularly
important for the elderly as these have the potential to stave off
dementia. They conducted two studies to examine the effects of
oily fish. Volunteers were given fish-oil supplements rich in DHA,
an omega-3 fatty acid. Results of one showed that taking omega-
3 supplements during mental tasks boosted blood flow to active
areas of the brain.
Another study looked at the impact of giving two fish-oil
supplements to a group of volunteers aged 18-35 over three
months. Results showed little difference in blood flow to the
brain, but faster reaction times and lower levels of tiredness after
being given a task to complete.
World Mental Health Day 10 October 2011
World Mental Health Day raises public awareness about mental
health issues. The day promotes open discussion of mental
disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and
treatment services. The treatment gap for mental, neurological
and substance use disorders is formidable especially in poor
resource countries.
This year the theme is “Investing in mental health”. Financial
and human resources allocated for mental health are inadequate
especially in low resource countries. The majority of low- and
middle-income countries spend less than 2% of their health
budget on mental health. Many countries have less than one
mental health specialist per one million population. Even a
considerable part of the limited resources is spent on large mental
hospitals and not for services delivered through community and
primary health care. We need to increase investment for mental
health and to shift the available resources towards more effective
and more humanitarian forms of services.
Antimicrobial Resistance A Global
Problem
The Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri Ghulam
Nabi Azad inaugurated the “1st Global Forum on Bacterial
Infections: Balancing Treatment, Access and Antibiotic
Resistance” organized in New Delhi on 3rd Oct.
Shri Azad said “Antimicrobial Resistance poses a growing threat
to the treatment and control of infectious diseases. It is now time
to look into this problem more holistically. Resistance to microorganisms
leads to loss of lives, productivity and earnings, and
also threatens to undermine the effectiveness of health delivery
programmes in all Member States”. He said there is an urgent
need to formulate and implement effective strategies to prevent
and contain antimicrobial resistance and preserve the efficacy of
antimicrobial drugs.
The Minister noted that “For a large country like India where a
significant fraction lacks access to basic healthcare and
antibiotics, we have an urgent need to protect the effectiveness
of our most affordable drugs”. He informed that India has created
an antibiotics policy that will restrict access to new generation
antibiotics over the counter, restrict use for sub-therapeutic
purposes in the animal feed sector and will focus on various
measures to reduce the need for antibiotics.
Shri Azad asked the forum to debate the feasibility of a separate
schedule H1 under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules to rationalize
and regulate antibiotics in the market, keeping in view the ground
realities of particularly the rural India. The Minister acknowledged
that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has received
representations from various stakeholders and a balanced view
in the matter would be taken. Shri Azad said “although resistance
is global problem, shared by developing and developed
countries, our solutions must be local and sensitive to constraints
of respective health systems”.
2011 Crucial for India to Eradicate
Polio: WHO
With just one case of polio recorded till now this year, the World
Health Organisation (WHO) said 2011 will be crucial for the
country to eradicate the disease. ‘This year is extremely crucial
for India to capitalise on the remarkable progress made so far
and stop polio virus transmission forever,’ WHO representative
to India Nata Menabde said on World Polio Eradication Day.
‘The progress is attributed to the tireless efforts of the national
and state governments and all partners in polio eradication,’
Menabde said.
While 39 polio cases were reported last year, only one case —
from Howrah district in West Bengal — has been detected in the
country this year. According to the health ministry, for the first
time, no case of polio has been reported from Uttar Pradesh
(since April 2010) and from Bihar (since September 2010).
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, ‘We are close to
our goal but not taking any chances. Efforts will be intensified in
the country to stop residual polio virus circulation and also
prevent international importation.’
Pakistan is experiencing a spurt in polio cases, while the virus
has made a re-entry in China. ‘To mitigate the risk of importation
from Pakistan, immunisation has begun at the Wagah border and
Attari train station in Punjab since September and Munabo in
Barmer district of Rajasthan this month,’ Azad added.
HIV Project Saved 100,000 in India
from Infection: Study
An estimated 100,000 people in India may have been lucky in
escaping HIV infection due to a project that targeted high-risk
groups in six states, according to British medical journal The
Lancet. The study said the $258 Avahan project, launched in
2003 and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in
high-prevalence states like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland, was
instrumental in checking infections in the country in a five-year
span.
India has an estimated 2.4 million people living with the infection.
The programme was assessed from 2003-08 in six Indian states,
home to 300 million people and the country’s highest HIV rates
when it was launched. ‘Overall, we estimated that 100,178 HIV
infections were averted at the population level from 2003 up to
2008 as a result of Avahan,’ the study said.
Its estimate derives from HIV prevalence in key districts in the
six states. The focus of the project was on one-on-one safe-sex
counselling, free condoms, exchanging used needles for sterilised
ones, clinics to treat sexually-transmitted disease and advocacy
work within the community.
The study said that the campaign was most effective in districts
which received more resources. It also worked better in the
heavily-populated southern states rather than in the remote
northeastern ones, said the authors.
The project’s aim was to prevent infection among sex workers,
gays, injecting drug users and truck drivers. Also, to see that it
did not infect the general population. The project is going to be
integrated with the Indian government’s National AIDS Control
Programme.
The project was launched when there was a growing concern
globally about India’s growing HIV population. It was estimated
at that time that there could be as many as 25 million people
infected with the disease by 2010. But a systematic and detailed
study conducted by the Indian government showed that the
fears were unfounded. The estimate came down from 5.7 million
to 1.75-3.15 million living with the infection.
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DECEMBER 2011
Low Cost Tablet Aakash Launched
The World’s cheapest computer cum access device, Aakash was
launched on 5 October 2011. Aakash is a part of the Indian
Government’s National Mission on Education’s Sakshat Project.
It is one of the main agendas of the Mission which aimed to link
all higher education institutions in India.
Aakash has three fold purpose of access, equity and quality. It is
designed to revolutionize the education system in the country.
Open source materials from IITs are to be created by Aakash.
The government’s endeavour is to ensure that every student in
any part India has access to technology and they can access
lectures.
The software for the tablet was developed indigenously by the
Indian Institute of Technology, Rajasthan. The device is seven
inch touch screen, equipped with wi-fi Internet, media player, 3
hours battery power and several other multimedia applications.
This device is to be sold only through colleges and universities.
Primary Schools not Child Friendly:
Survey
Primary schools in India are not child-friendly, a survey said,
even as the right to education (RTE) is lauded for increasing
enrolment of students. The Annual Status of Education Report
(ASER) launched here, covers five states of Andhra Pradesh,
Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. It monitored
the education process in nearly 900 schools with around 30,000
students.
‘Around 850 hours of classroom observations demonstrate that
most primary schools are not child-friendly at all,’ said the ASER
report prepared in collaboration with UNICEF and UNESCO.
‘Teachers use some kind of teaching and learning material other
than the textbook in less than one out of every 10 classrooms,’ it
added.
Classroom absenteeism was found to be a major issue in the
longitudinal study that tracked the teaching methodology over
a period of 15 months in the academic year 2009-10. Infrastructure,
enrolment and attendance are taken into account, the report
stated.
‘In standard 4, less than one-fourth of all children could do a
numerical three-digit subtraction problem with borrowing. The
biggest challenge that surfaced in the survey was how to
guarantee age-appropriate education to children,’ the report
mentioned.
‘We seem to be going wrong with the dwindling headcount in
schools even though the enrolment is high on paper, and the
quality of education that is not considered,’ said R. Govinda,
vice chancellor of the National University of Educational Planning
and Administration. ‘There is a long-term engagement needed
with teachers to make the schools child-friendly in India,’ Govinda
added.
Of the over 11,000 children tested in standard 5, only 3 out of 10
children were able to fluently read a standard 3-level text. Twenty
percent of children surveyed were first generation school-goers,
while less than 50 percent of households had any study material
available for children.
UN Should Float Education Body
Students from over 20 countries as well as academics from Agra
have sought a world body to promote education. On the UN
Foundation Day celebration, speakers said that the new body
should be set up on the lines of WHO, ILO and UNDP, each of
which deals with a specific issue. A UN Education Body would
help standardise norms, promote understanding and help expand
educational infrastructure in developing countries, they said.
Students from many countries, including China, participated in
the event. ‘The UN has indeed been a great factor in promoting
understanding and cooperation in diverse fields and made the
world safer,’ a student from Sri Lanka said. Students from China,
Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, East European countries, Fiji and Trinidad
joined the celebrations, which included folk dances and a kathak
recital.
UN’s Eco-Heritage Awareness
Programme now in India
An eco-learning programme for 420 school students will be held
at the world heritage site of the Keoladeo National Park near
Bharatpur in Rajasthan Oct 7-10, Unesco announced.
The programme is a collaboration between Unesco and
Panasonic India.Earlier known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary,
the fresh water marsh spread over 29 sq km is a paradise for
water birds. Keoladeo draws 350 kinds of birds, some of whom
roost in the park while others migrate from central Asia and
Siberia.
The programme for participants from three schools – John Milton
Public School, DPS Mathura Refinery and St. Vivekananda Public
School – involves projects, presentation, discussion, eco-learning
session, collection of eco-picture diaries and selection of a India
contest winner from among the children.
Unesco’s World Heritage Centre and Panasonic announced the
Youth Education Strategic Partnership agreement to promote
environmental education for the GenNext. The two year
programme aims to raise awareness about the 40th anniversary
of Unesco’s World Heritage Convention. The program was
introduced in India after being successfully initiated in Brazil,
Indonesia, Japan, UAE and Britain.
EDUCATION COVERAGE
PMI signs MoU with SAEINDIA
Project Management Institute (PMI) on 7 October 2011 signed a
MoU( Memorandum of Understanding) with the Engineering
Society for advance mobility land, sea, air and space( SAEINDIA)
to collaborate in advancing the mutual objectives of promoting
the profession of project management by both these
institutes.The MoU was signed by SAEINDIA President and
Maruti Suzuki Executive Officer R. Dayal and PMI India Managing
Director Raj Kalady.
Under the MoU, the institutes agreed to utilise complementary
capabilities of both the organisations to advocate, promote and
institutionalise the profession of project management, across
organisations within the mobility sector.
Both organisations will work jointly towards identification and
development of training modules, designed to the requirements
of government departments, PSUs and corporates. Both
organisations would think about joint funding arrangements and
sponsorship of research projects of mutual interest at universities
and technical institutes in India. The institutes also agreed to
explore opportunities to support the development and expansion
of university programmes in project management.
India & US to have more
Educational Partnerships
India and United States agreed to explore new models for
educational institutions to take knowledge partnership to a higher
level. This will also help in further deepening the bilateral strategic
cooperation. In a Joint Statement issued at the end of the India-
US Higher Education Summit in Washington, the goals of the
partnership were outlined.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, during
discussions in the summit, made it clear that India is keen to
strengthen teacher exchange programmes to promote
development of human resources. India intends to sponsor
initially up to 1500 faculty and junior scholars to leading
universities and research institutes in the United States.
IGNOU Inaugurates 100 Foot High
Flag Post
A 100-foot-high flag post with special lighting arrangements was
inaugurated by the Indira Gandhi National Open University
(IGNOU). ‘The flag shall never be lowered. It is the first of its
kind in a university in the capital region. The flag post shall be lit
at night,’ IGNOU Vice Chancellor V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai said in
a statement. ‘The flag is of 30 feet by 40 feet dimension,’ the
statement added. A class room block for regular students was
also inaugurated.
IGNOU Signs Pact with Chinese varsity
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has signed
a pact with Honghe University in China to establish through
distance education a collaborative network in higher education.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) covers degree and
diploma programmes at the undergraduate and postgraduate
levels.
Emphasis will be placed on research and development with the
use of information and communication technology. ‘Three MoUs
have been signed earlier with Chinese Universities and there is
great potential of such collaborations in not only the economic
domain but tourism and culture as well,’ IGNOU Pro Vice
Chancellor P.R. Ramanujam said.
While emphasising the importance of close academic cooperation
between the two varsities, IGNOU has requested Honghe
University to provide a teacher to teach Chinese in the varsity.
‘We look forward to a teacher and student exchange programme
with IGNOU, focusing not only on English as a subject but
Chinese, Science and Management as well,’ Honghe University
Vice President Peng Qiang said.
IGNOU Gives India First Sign Language
Raining Centre
A first-of-its-kind sign language training centre for the deaf was
inaugurated along with a Sindhi language and cultural centre by
the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).
Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Mukul Wasnik and
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal inaugurated
the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC)
and the Centre for Sindhi Language and Culture (CSLC).
‘The approach to understanding 30 lakh hearing-impaired
population is very limited. We not only require enough trainers
in this field but interpreters too play a key role in the process,’
Wasnik said.
‘This centre is a first-of-its-kind in India offering full-time teaching
combined with distance learning for short-term and full-fledged
programmes,’ he added.
The ISLRTC will be established at an estimated cost of Rs.44
crore over five years. A committee, consisting of representatives
of national-level organisations of the deaf, will be responsible
for planning and managing it.
The CSLC will begin its session January 2012 and will offer
various programmes including certificate courses for reading,
writing and speaking the language, diploma and advanced
diploma, among others.
‘Among the modern Indian languages, Sindhi is the only language
which is stateless,’ said Sibal
NIFT & FIT New York Establishes
Academic Linkages
Dual Degree Programme Launched A Dual Degree (UG
Programmes) has been finalized between National Institute of
Fashion Technology (NIFT), India and Fashion Institute of
Technology (FIT), New York. This implies that selected
meritorious students from NIFT would avail the unique
opportunity to obtain a joint Degree awarded both by NIFT &
FIT. The association of two premier fashion institutes would
reap benefits which would be multifold in nature. This agreement
will be implemented at the earliest for the benefit of NIFT students.
In fact this year as NIFT celebrates 25 years of its existence, the
renewed alliance with the original partner institutes is being seen
as significant and mutually beneficial.
FIT, New York is an internationally acclaimed institute under the
aegis of State University of New York (SUNY) with an enviable
reputation in the field of fashion education for 67 years. In fact
NIFT was established in 1986 in collaboration with FIT, with the
assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
At the initial stage, NIFT entered into a decade long agreement
for academic and infrastructural support. In fact NIFT faculty
benefited from short-term training at FIT. Since then, NIFT has
seen tremendous growth with 15 centres and the expansion of
international and domestic linkages. Today NIFT has emerged
as a most reputed and largest institute in fashion education in
India. With the objective of forging a strong global connect and
to offer NIFT students and facilitating an opportunity of
international academic exposure and re-establishing academic
linkages.
Mrs. Monica S. Garg, Director General of NIFT has elaborated
that the visit of a NIFT delegation to FIT for one-on-one
deliberations was undertaken to encompass the common areas
of collaboration in design education. This involved a detailed
study of different undergraduate courses of both institutes.
Course Mapping of prospective areas of study was undertaken.
Since FIT has stringent standards for the intake of both national
and international students, the compatibility of the curriculum of
NIFT bachelor’s degree 3rd year programmes and with the one
year Associate Degree program of FIT was scrutinized in detail.
This exhaustive exercise revealed that the compatible departments
could be Fashion Design, Textile Design and Fashion
Communication.
Australia to end IELTS Monopoly for
Student Visas
Australia will end the monopoly enjoyed by International English
Language Testing System (IELTS) from Nov 5. Other English
language test providers have now been allowed to gain entry to
the Australian international education market. ‘It’s a positive
step in the right direction,’ says Jag Khairra, a Melbourne-based
education and immigration consultant.
Once the IELTS monopoly ceases, the Department of Immigration
and Citizenship (DIAC) case officers would start accepting
results from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL),
Pearson’s PTE Academic test and the Cambridge English
Advanced test.
Currently, the student visa applicants from the ‘high-risk’
countries such as India and China are required to provide IELTS
test score as evidence of English proficiency. IELTS, which is
jointly owned by Australia’s IDP and British Council, is also
used as a standard for all the work and skilled migration related
visas.
Australia’s Minister for Immigration Chris Evans had announced
the drastic changes to the English language test system in May.
DIAC has been working with other test providers to determine
various standards of English proficiency. The changes are likely
to impact the two largest international student source countries
– China and India.
The review of the English testing system was initiated by the
immigration department in 2008. Alan Olsen, a researcher,
commented in his study of overseas students who did not take
up an offer: ‘Australia might need to look at why it does not
accept TOEFL results for higher degrees by research students
from countries such as China, India and Iran.’
The international education industry in Australia has for long
been asking for opening up of English language testing system.
‘Students will now be able to sit for popular English language
tests like TOEFL and PTE. These tests have worldwide
acceptance and students will benefit from sitting for a test which
is accepted in many countries, not just Australia,’ says Khairra.
As the Nov 5 changes would apply to student visas only, there
is a demand to extend the changes to other visa sub-classes too.
‘These tests should be allowed for other visa streams like General
Skilled Migration and accepted by various skills assessment
authorities,’ adds Khairra.
Amjad Ali Khan to Teach at Stanford
University
Amjad Ali Khan, the sarod maestro, will be teaching for two and
half months at Stanford University, according to an
announcement from the university.
Khan will be in residence at Stanford from the beginning of April
2012 to the middle of June to teach a course titled ‘Indian classical
music: a way of life’. In this course, he will teach student
musicians to perform and appreciate North Indian classical music,
and will share with them his own experience as a classical musician
raised in the traditional system of music discipline.
Khan gave his first sarod recital at the age of six and quickly rose
to fame by the time he was a teenager. The Scottish Chamber
Orchestra premiered his sarod concerto, Samagam, in 2008, and
his ‘ancient sounds’ album with Iraqi oud musician Rahim AlHal
was released in 2009.
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DECEMBER 2011
Syria: Russia and China veto UN
Resolution
Russia and China on 5 October 2011 vetoed UN Security Council
draft resolution recommending sanctions against Syria for the
ongoing crackdown on Protesters.The resolution was moved by
EU (European Union) member countries and backed by USA.
There were nine votes in support of the resolution while two
votes were against of it. Four countries abstained themselves
from the voting. India along with other member countries of IBSA
(Brazil and South Africa) abstained from voting. Lebanon was
the fourth nation to abstain.
This was the second attempt by the western countries to bring a
resolution on the Syrian unrests. Russia and China opined that
the threat of sanction was not the best solution for the problem.
At present, there are five nations which have veto power at
present. These nations are Russia, USA, UK, France and China
(often referred as P-5 nations; they are the permanent members
of Un Security Council). Among these five, if any nation exercises
his Veto power on any resolution moved by Un security council,
it could not be implemented.
Syria Draft constitution to be Ready
in 4 months
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on 15 October 2011
announced the creation of an ad hoc committee tasked with
preparing a new Constitution within four months. President
Assad issued a decree establishing the national committee to
draft a new Constitution in a period not exceeding four months
from the date of its creation. The 29-member committee is headed
by former Justice Minister Mizhar al-Annbary.
A new Constitution has been a key demand of a protest
movement that erupted on 15 March 2011, initially calling for
greater freedoms and later demanding the ouster of the Assad
regime.
Russia Launches Space Freighter
Russia on 30th October launched a spacecraft carrying supplies
to the International Space Station (ISS), the Russia’s Federal
Roscosmos space agency said. The Soyuz-U carrier rocket with
Progress M-13M spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur Space
Centre at 11:11 GMT.
Progress will deliver food and a small satellite Chibis-M, to study
lightnings and thunderstorms in the Earth’s atmosphere,
Roscosmos said.
The ISS crew currently comprises NASA astronaut Michael
Fossum, Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, and Japanese
astronaut Satoshi Furukawa. They are expected to return to the
Earth aboard a Soyuz carrier rocket Nov 22.
It is the first launch of a Progress series cargo ship since a crash
on August 24, first in over three decades of the regular launches.
The probe revealed that the launch vehicle’s third-stage engine
shut down prematurely and later it was discovered that the
problem was caused by a low fuel feed, and all engines currently
in stock were returned to the manufacturer for inspection.
50.8 Billion Economic and Trade
Cooperation Between China and Russia
China became Russia’s biggest trading partner. The exports and
imports between these two nations touched 50.8 billion US dollars
from January to August 2011. The year 2011 marks the 10th
anniversary of the signing of China-Russia Good neighborly,
Friendly Relations and Cooperation Treaty.
On 7 October 2011, at a meeting on customs cooperation, Russia
and China agreed to seize the new opportunities for speedy
development of bilateral relations to achieve the bilateral trade
targets of 100 billion dollars before 2015 and 200 billion dollars
before 2020.
Egypt & Israel agree to Swap Prisoners
Egypt and Israel on 24 October 2011 reached an agreement to
swap an alleged Israeli spy for 25 Egyptians held in Israeli jails.
Egypt agreed to release Ilan Grapel and at Egypt’s request, Israel
agreed to free 25 Egyptian prisoners. Grapel is a former
paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces. Ilan Grapel was arrested
on 12 June 2011 on suspicion of spying.
Egypt Military Gives in to Parties:
Amends Election Law
Egypt’s military council on 8 October 2011 amended a contentious
election law to allow parties to contest a third of the seats in
Parliament reserved for independents. Egypt’s military decided
to cancel Article 5 of the election law, which reserved a third of
seats for independents. The three-round Parliamentary election
will start on 28 November 2011, which will be the first since an
uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February
2011.
The amendment to the election law was made after political parties
warned the military, that they would boycott the poll if the article
allowing only independent candidates to contest a third of seats
were not amended. Political groups feared the law could allow
supporters of Hosni Mubarak to return to power.
In September 2011, Egypt’s caretaker cabinet had announced that
three rounds of elections will start on 28 November and made
amendments to the contentious election law. This will be the first
parliamentary election since the overthrow of President Hosni
Mubarak in February this year.
Egypt’s military council is acting as a caretaker government until
the parliamentary elections are over.
INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE
US Military Chaplains Free to Perform
Same-Sex Marriages
US military chaplains are authorised to perform same-sex
marriages in jurisdictions that recognise such unions, the
Pentagon said.
The new guidance took effect Sep 20, when the ban on openly
homosexual or lesbian individuals serving in the armed forces –
known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – officially ended.
‘A military chaplain may participate in or officiate any private
ceremony, whether on or off a military installation, provided that
the ceremony is not prohibited by applicable state and local law,’
Under Secretary of Defense Clifford Stanley said in a memo
released.
‘Further,’ the memo added, ‘a chaplain is not required to participate
in or officiate a private ceremony if doing so would be in variance
with the tenets of his or her religion.’
Participation by military chaplains in a same-sex wedding ‘does
not constitute’ Defense Department support for gay marriage,
the Pentagon said.
Same-sex unions are legal in Vermont, Massachussets,
Connecticut, Iowa, New York, New Hampshire and the District of
Columbia.
With the end of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, gay rights activists have
set their sights on repeal of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act,
which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
US Issues Worldwide Travel Alert
The United States on 1 October 2011 issued a world-wide travel
alert to its citizens, warning of a heightened risk of violence in
the wake of the killing of key al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki.
The US-born radical Islamist cleric was killed by US drones in
Yemen on 30 September 2011. The state department has warned
that his death would provide motivation for retaliation against
US interests. US-born propagandist Samir Khan was also killed
in the drone attack.
US issues travel alert warning of terror attacks in India
The USA on 18 October 2011 issued a travel alert to its citizens in
India, warning them of possible terror attacks in the country
during the holiday season. The State department in its statement
urged the US citizens to maintain a heightened situational
awareness and a low profile and to be careful while visiting public
places. The places, such as markets, trains, buses, religious sites,
hotels and restaurants were defined as public places. The travel
alert will expire on 20 January, 2012.
Palestine Wins Full UNESCO
Memembership
Palestine won the membership of UNESCO (United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) on 31 October
2011 with 107 votes in favour and 14 votes against. There were
52 abstentions. Eighty-one votes were required for approval with
173 UNESCO member delegations present. The USA, Canada,
Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and the Czech Republic
voted against. Britain, Italy and many Pacific and Caribbean island
nations absented themselves from the voting. India, Russia,
Brazil, China, South Africa and France voted in favour.
UNESCO is the first UN agency Palestine has joined as a full
member. UNESCO protects historic heritage sites and works to
improve world literacy and cultural understanding. Its
headquarters are located at Place de Fontenoy in Paris, capital of
France.
In fact, Palestine is seeking full membership in the UN (United
Nations), but USA has threatened that it will veto it unless there
is a peace deal with Israel. Full membership of UNESCO is a small
but crucial step forward for the Palestine in its attempts to achieve
international recognition and statehood. However, the issues of
borders of an eventual Palestine state, security troubles and
other disputes remain unsolved.
Remains of 10000Yr Old Giant Sloth
found
Scientists have found bones in Brazil that belonged to a 20-foottall
sloth that lived some 10,000 years ago. The bones were
found in Minas Gerais state. The giant sloth probably lived in
the Holocene epoch. The fossil, which according to the experts
belonged to the species Eremotherium laurillardi, was
discovered by pure chance in the countryside by a farmer.
The experts have not been able to determine whether the fossil
was of a male or female. But it was a herbivorous adult that could
stand on its two hind legs and use its long claws to grab leaves
and fruit from high tree branches.
‘It’s an incredible discovery and of great value to science – a
prehistoric mammal that opens new and much wider perspectives
for study,’ said geologist Carlos Borges, director of the Dinosaur
Museum in Uberaba.
World’s Largest Gold Coin Unveiled In
Australia
The world’s largest gold coin, weighing a massive 1,000 kg has
been unveiled at the Perth Mint in Australia to mark the opening
of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
in the Western Australia capital. The Perth Mint produced it in
time for the Queen’s visit to the city in Western Australia for the
CHOGM meet. The giant coin weighs more than one tonne, is
99.99 per cent pure gold and is worth A$53.5 million (£35.1m). It
bears the image of The Queen on one side and a leaping kangaroo
on the other. It is nearly 80cm in diameter and 12cm thick.
Myanmar Amnesty to Free Thousands
of Prisoners
Myanmar on 11 October 2011 announced an amnesty for more
than 6,300 prisoners.This follows an appeal by the government
appointed Human Rights Commission in Myanmar to free
prisoners. Earlier, Myanmar’s National Human Rights Commission
chairman Win Mra had called for the release of prisoners.
The decision by the Government of Myanmar is aimed at
persuading the West to end sanctions that have hurt the regime.
The elections in 2010 brought a civilian-led government in place
of the military rule. Still, the military retains control of key positions
and most of the candidates who won in the election were justretired
members of the armed forces. It was alleged that the
election was rigged in the favour of the members of armed forces.
The government is intolerant to political dissidents in Myanmar
and according to an estimate, there are 2000 political prisoners,
which include pro-democracy activists, government critics and
journalists.
Hindu Temple in Pakistan Reopens
after 10 years
A historic Hindu temple has reopened after 10 years in Pakistan’s
Peshawar city after a woman devotee fought a long legal battle.
It was reopened due to the efforts of the Hindu community. The
Hindu community celebrated Diwali in the temple at Gor Khutthri
area.
Kamla Rani, granddaughter of a temple priest, was happy that
the temple was reopened for worshippers. ‘I am very happy that
my mother, though very old, fought legal battle to reopen this
temple for Hindu worshippers,’ she was quoted as saying.
Her mother Phool Wati had filed an application with the Peshawar
High Court to reopen the temple for worship. Peshawar High
Court ordered reopening of temple for worship only and the
archaeology department has control over it.
Chennai Transgender Model to Compete
in International Pageant
Chennai based transgender model Malaika, 28, will represent
India in the Miss International Queen 2011, a beauty contest for
members of the community to be held in Thailand in November
2011. The annual competition has been held every year since
2004 by Tiffany’s Show Pattaya Co. Ltd. in partnership with the
Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Malaika, who has done a catering and hotel management course,
said, ‘Today there are transgender community members who
have become role models and with the level of recognition they
are receiving from the society, many of them are excelling in
various fields ranging from arts to even entertainment.’
‘I wanted to show to the world that members of the transgender
community can perform the same way as any other female model,
which is why I decided to take part in this competition,’ Malaika
added.
Jaya, general manager at Sahodaran, an NGO working for men’s
sexual health, said, ‘Malaika, an active member of Sahodaran
since 1998, is the first transgender from India to participate and
represent the country in the beauty contest.’
Jaya said the aim of the beauty contest was to create a public
platform for the transgender community, create awareness about
the rights of sexual minorities, and change the perceptions of the
general community towards transgenders.
25300 Jobs in a Day! Mumbai Creates
Guinness Record
Mumbai based NGO Swabhiman Sanghatana on 13th October
said it has created a new Guinness World Record by giving jobs
to 25,300 unemployed youths, including physically challenged.
The appointment letters were issued on 12th Oct from various
private and cooperative banks, call centres, private companies,
trading and business organisations, malls and shopping plazas,
depending on the qualifications of the applicants.
The effort was recognised by Guinness World Records director
Rob Molroy, who awarded the coveted certificate to Swabhiman
Sanghatana head Nitesh Rane as thousands of youths cheered.
A Sanghatana office-bearer said that the preparations for the
NGO’s job fair started several weeks ago. This included tapping
various organisations for different types of jobs they could offer
to the youths, and then contacting several thousand unemployed
youngsters and asking them to submit applications for the same.
The starting salary for the jobs offered is around Rs.75,000 per
annum and above, depending on the merits and qualifications of
the individual, Sanghatana officials said.
Pact Signed to Sponsor 5000 Indonesian
Orphans
The UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) has signed an agreement
with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to jointly
sponsor 5,000 Indonesian children orphaned by various tsunamis
that have hit the island chain.
The pact was signed by Mohammed Khalifa Al Qamzi, Secretary
General of RCA and Ambassador Atta Al Manan Behkit, Assistant
Secretary General of OIC for Humanitarian Affairs.
Al Qamzi said the RCA will join programme of OIC partners to
sponsor the victims of tsunami, indicating that the two sides
also discussed setting up of a partnership to provide drinking
water to the victims of drought in the Horn of Africa.
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DECEMBER 2011
German Simulator Maker Sets Up
Indian Arm
Weiss Umwelttechink of Germany on 2 October 2011 launched
its Indian subsidiary Weiss Technik India Pvt. Ltd. with the
objective of catering to the growing needs of the Indian market.
Weiss Umwelttechnik GmbH is a subsidiary of the Shcunk Group
and a manufacturer of testing chambers and systems for
environmental simulation. The company already has over 700
installations in India.Weiss at present has a manufacturing facility
in China with technology from Germany. A facility in India would
focus on a different range of products.
The market size for environmental simulation chambers and
systems in India is about 100 crore rupees and Weiss has 45 per
cent market share in it. The company’s customers include DRDO,
ISRO, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki. The market size is likely to
reach Rs 200 crore in the next five years.
The products are used by vehicle manufacturers, pharmaceutical,
electronic, aviation, aerospace and defence industries. The
company has 450 customers in India. The company will have
branch offices at Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and
Kolkata with Hyderabad as its headquarters.
EU launches New Schengen Visa
System for Indians
European Union on 11 October 2011 launched a Visa Information
System (VIS) for Indians and other non-EU citizens applying for
a Schengen visa. It will help prevent fraud and process visa
applications faster due to the use of biometrics (fingerprints and
a digital facial image). The system will also help in quick and
effective exchange of data on short-stay visas among Schengen
countries. In addition, the new system will make the verification
process of visas a more efficient and secure.
It should be noted that Indian citizens need the Schengen visa
to visit the 25 countries in the Schengen area in European Union.
At present, approximately 13 million Schengen visas are issued
every year by the 25 countries of the Schengen area. The EU
said that it was not always easy to prevent frauds and abuses
and the application process was burdensome for those who seek
legitimately a short stay visa for travel within the EU.
The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five
European countries that have implemented the Schengen
Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in
1985.
India and Japan Agreed to Cooperate in
the Field of Tourism and Infrastructure
India and Japan on 10 October 2011 agreed to cooperate in the
field of tourism and infrastructure. The agreement was finalised
between Tourism Minister of India, Subodh Kant Sahai and
Japanese Tourism minister, Matsubara in Tokyo. India and Japan
also discussed opportunities for investment in tourism
infrastructure in India. The Japanese government showed desire
to invest in Buddhist and Medical Tourism in India.
Indian cultural troupe will participate in the festival of India in
Japan. It will be organised to celebrate the 60th year of
diplomatic relations with Japan and India. A Taj Mahal made
of ice will also be replicated in this festival.
India & Myanmar to Cooperate in
Oil & Gas
President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, HEU Thein
Sein visited India from 12 to 15 October 2011. This was the first
State visit of any political head from Myanmar to India following
the swearing in of a new government in Myanmar in March 2011.
During this visit, India and Myanmar agreed to step up
cooperation in oil and natural gas with discussions touching on
new gas pipelines. India also offered an additional 5oo million
US dollars line of credit. India agreed to resolve border issues
and step up energy and trade links.
In security, India and Myanmar agreed to increase the
effectiveness of coordinated operations on either side of the
border through better intelligence sharing. Both nations will
jointly work out a schedule for repairing boundary pillars in a
time-bound manner. India also agreed to increase training slots
for Myanmar students and establish more I.T. training centres.
India and Myanmar discussed the Moreh-Mae Sot road that
would connect India and Thailand via Myanmar. This will open
a direct road link between India and Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN). This direct road link will also accelerate
the plans of ASEAN for the Mekong-Ganga corridor. India
welcomed Myanmar’s progress towards an open and democratic
framework.
Why Myanmar is Important for India
The visit of Myanmar’s President takes place in a context when
Myanmar is no longer a pure military regime. Following elections
in November 2010, a civilian government took charge, with an
elected Parliament. Myanmar is important for India, because it is
a gateway to the ASEAN, it holds the key for the successful
implementation of India’s look east policy. India stood as
Myanmar’s fourth largest trading partner after Thailand,
Singapore and China with bilateral trade valued at 1.071 billion
US dollars in the year 2010-11.
Myanmar’s total export to India valued at 876.91 million US
dollars, while its import from India was amounted to 194.92 million
US dollars. Agricultural produce and forestry products are leading
in Myanmar’s export to India whereas medicine and
pharmaceutical products are the major import items from India.
India is a major buyer of Myanmar’s beans importing 70 percent
of the latter’s agricultural produce.
INDIA & WORLD COVERAGE
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India and Afghanistan Signed Strategic
Partnership Agreements
On 4 October 2011 India signed three agreements with
Afghanistan for both the countries greater strategic partnership.
The agreements were singed between Afghanistan President,
Hamid Karzai and India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in
new Delhi when President Karzai was on a two day visit to India.
Name of the Agreements
• Agreement on Strategic Partnership between India and
Afghanistan
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Development of
Hydrocarbons
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Mineral Resources
Development
The Three Agreements signed were to create an institutional
framework for our future cooperation in the fields of political
and security cooperation, trade and economic cooperation,
capacity building and education, and social, cultural, civil
society and people- to-people relations.
Both the countries agreed for Afghanistan’s economic
integration with the Indian economy and South Asia as a whole
to be in the national interest of the people of Afghanistan.
One of the ways to achieve this was agreed to be to promote
closer trade, investment and transit links.
The two countries discussed the recent spurt in violence in
Afghanistan and Pakistan’s role in fomenting terror in
Afghanistan.
India and Afghanistan took into account a proposed exit by
international forces in 2014 while signing the agreement. India
committed to stand by the people of Afghanistan as they
prepare to assume the responsibility for their governance and
security after the withdrawal of international forces in 2014.
The strategic agreement also comprised joint initiatives on
key international issues and support for UN reforms, including
permanent seat for India in the UN Security Council.
India-UK to work towards MoU for
Urban Development
Kamal Nath Minister of Urban Development, Government of India
and Gregory Clark, Minister of State for Decentralization and
Cities agreed to work towards a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) between India and UK on 14 October 2011 at London.
The MoU would aim at enhancing cooperation and deepen the
engagement between India and UK in the areas of capacity
building, land economics, heritage management, sustainable
master planning, transport planning etc. Another area of
cooperation would be the sharing of knowledge in the formulation
of Public Private Partnership Models.
Kamal Nath was in London on 14 October 2011 to participate
in the UK India Business Forum organised by the UKIBC, UK
Trade & Investment and Indian Chamber of Commerce.
India and Qatar Identify Areas for
Coopration in Oil & Gas Sector
Shri S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas has
sought additional quantities of crude oil and LNG from Qatar. He
also invited investments from Qatar in the upcoming
petrochemical projects of the oil sector PSUs. Shri Reddy
emphasised that such investments will be a win-win proposition
for both the countries. He pointed of that India is looking for
strategic investors for some of these project which include
petrochemical complexes at Dahej and Manglore, and LNG import
terminal at Ennore.
The Minister for Industry and Energy of Qatar, Dr. Mohammed
bin Saleh Al-Sada reiterated Qatar’s commitment to India to not
only supply LNG under existing contracts but also additional
quantities for which discussions are going on. He offered to
supply LPG and crude oil condensates which can be processed
to produce white fuels like Petrol, Kerosene, ATF and Naphtha.
The two Ministers stressed the need for expediting the process
of evaluating the present opportunities for mutual cooperation
in the hydrocarbon etc. Shri Reddy expressed the hope that some
of these deals would near fruition by the time of the World
Petroleum Congress at Doha in the month of December 2011.
India and Czech Republic Target $2
Billion Trade in 2012
India and the Czech Republic upgraded their economic
cooperation and fixed a target of bilateral trade volume of two
billion US Dollars by 2012. The current volume is 1.3 billion US
Dollars. The decision was taken on 10 October 2011 in New Delhi
between the visiting Czech Minister for Industry & Trade, Martin
Kocourek and Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
During the discussions, Anand Sharma stressed the need for a
liberal visa regime for business people and suggested that a
system of issue of long-term business visas on the
recommendations of the apex business chambers should be put
in place.
The Czech Minister agreed that the VISA regime needs to be
addressed more forcefully and informed the Indian side that their
government will discuss Investment Incentive Act for the Czech
Republic and corresponding resolution of VISA related issues
will form part of the discussion.
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India & Iran Agree To Set Up
Payment Mechanism For Trade
India and Iran on 5 October 2011 agreed to set up a mechanism
for payment of crude oil and ensure bilateral trade. Both sides
agreed that the mechanism will cover the payment to Indian
exporters and some other areas. The two countries have decided
to continue their dialogue on the issue. Earlier, Iran had threatened
to stop crude oil supplies to India if a mechanism to pay for
imports is not found quickly. India has to pay Iran 9 billion dollars,
which is now seven months in arrears.
Iran is second only to Saudi Arabia as an oil supplier to India,
while India is Iran’s second-biggest crude buyer after China,
accounting for about 20 per cent of its exports. India imports
40000 barrels of oil from Iran on daily basis. Nearly 12 percent
of India’s oil demand is met by oil supply from Iran. Indian
firms are finding it difficult to pay Iran because of international
sanctions imposed over Iran’s controversial nuclear
programme. The sanctions include banking restrictions.
The problem over payment to Iran happened after the Reserve
Bank of India on 23 December 2010 scrapped the Asian
Clearing Union (ACU). As an alternative to Asian Clearing
Union, India tried to make payments through countries like
the UAE, Turkey and Russia. However, these nations had
objections to routing big amount of 13 billion dollars which
India pays for Iranian oil annually. They wanted to route small
payment upto 6-7 million dollars.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals-a susidiary of ONGC- is
the biggest consumer of Iranian crude in India.
India and Vietnam Signed Six
Agreements Including Joint Oil
Exploration in South China Sea
India and Vietnam signed six agreements on 12 October 2011
during the visit of Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang to
India. The agreements are as following:
• India and Vietnam signed an extradition treaty
• Oil exploration agreement in South China Sea
• Friendship pact to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
diplomatic relations in 2012
• Agreement in the field of agriculture and fisheries
• Cooperation in sports and tourism
• Agreement on Cultural Exchanges
India and Vietnam also decided to launch a biennial Security
Dialogue between their home ministries. The two nations also
decided to increase the trade target to 7 billion US dollars by
2015 from the present mark of 2.7 billion US dollars. Both
nations also agreed to work towards early finalisation of the
India-Asean Free Trade Agreement in Services and
Investment. India and Vietnam also discussed the situation in
the Vietnamese Eastern Sea (South China Sea).
Vietnam’s Importance for India
This is the first visit by the Vietnamese President outside the
Asean region and shows the importance attached by both sides
to the relationship. Developing close relations with Vietnam is
an important component of India’s Look East Policy. The Chinese
claim on the South China Sea was rejected by both India and
Vietnam, saying as per the UN, the blocks belong to Vietnam.
India & South Africa to Cooperate on
Electoral Reforms
India and South Africa on 11 October 2011 signed a pact to
facilitate exchange of Knowledge and experience in the field of
election management and administration in New Delhi. It was
signed by the Chief Election Commissioner of India, SY Quraishi
and the Chairperson of the Electoral Coommission of South
Africa, Brigalia Bam.
The MoU also paves the way for promotion and implementation
of educational research and training programmes. The Election
Commission of India has so far signed eleven MoUs with Election
Management Bodies across the world including Brazil, Russia
Indonesia, Bhutan and Nepal.
India and Czech Republic to Cooperate
in Coal Mining
Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal, Minister of Coal, Government of India
met Mr. Martin Kocourek, Minister of Industry and Trade, Czech
Republic on 11th Oct. Both the Ministers led the respective
delegations and interacted about the scope for technical
cooperation in areas concerning development of coal mining in
India particularly underground coal mining.
Indian side impressed upon Czech Republic regarding the scope
for establishing manufacturing facilities in India for underground
mining machinery. The other areas of interests for India for
technical cooperation with Czech Republic include deep coal
mining, lignite mining, clean coal technologies including coal
mine methane extraction, underground coal gasification, etc. both
the sides evinced interest for increased participation in coal sector
and machinery manufacturing. Indian side requested Czech
industry to participate in the tenders floated by them for
development of coal, lignite and power generation.
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DECEMBER 2011
Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarai in India
The Prime Minister of Nepal, Baburam Bhattarai to extend the line of credit of US$ 250 million
visited India from 20 October 2011 to 23 October from EXIM Bank of India to the Government of
2011. During the visit, India and Nepal signed Nepal on similar terms and conditions as the
following mou/agreement:
earlier Line of Credit of US $ 100 Million extended
• Agreement between the two to Nepal.
Governments for the Promotion and
Protection of Investments
(iii) Agreement between the Government
• MOU between the two Governments of Nepal and the Government of India
regarding Indian Grant Assistance
for the Promotion and Protection of
for Goitre Control Programme in
Investments
Nepal
A Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
• Dollar Credit Line Agreement between Agreement between India and Nepal was
Govt. of Nepal and Export-Import Bank signed. Finance Minister signed the agreement
of India
on behalf of India and Anil Kumar Jha, Minister
for Industry on behalf of Government of Nepal.
Fact Sheet on MOU/Agreements
signed during the visit of PM of Nepal
(i) Memorandum of Understanding
between India and Nepal regarding
Indian grant assistance for the Goitre
Control Programme in Nepal
A Memorandum of Understanding between
India and Nepal regarding Indian grant
assistance for the Goitre Control Programme in
Nepal was signed on 21 October 2011. Foreign
Secretary Ranjan Mathai signed the
Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of
Government of India and Purushottam Ojha,
Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Supply,
Government of Nepal signed the agreement on
behalf of Government of Nepal.
Under the Memorandum of Understanding,
India will provide 1.875 Crores (Nepali Rs.3
Crores) to Nepal for the control of Goitre and
other Iodine Deficiency Diseases in Nepal under
the heads of Re-iodisation Subsidy, Packing
Subsidy, Transportation Subsidy and
Advocacy Subsidy. The Government of Nepal
shall procure iodised granular salt from India
for distribution in various parts of Nepal
focusing on 22 districts categorized by Nepal
as remote and inaccessible. The implementation
of the Programme will be monitored by a
Programme Monitoring Team of four members,
consisting of two representatives of
Government of India and two representatives
of Government of Nepal. During the period 1973-
2010, Government of India has provided grant
assistance of 41 Crores to Government of Nepal
for the control of Goitre and other iodine
deficiency disorders in Nepal. Iodine Deficiency
Diseases are a major health problem and it is
hoped that this assistance will help reduce
incidence of Goitre and other Iodine Deficiency
Diseases in Nepal.
(ii) Dollar Credit Line Agreement
between Government of Nepal and
Export-Import Bank of India
A US$ 250 million Dollar Credit Line Agreement
between Government of Nepal and Export-
Import Bank of India was signed today (October
21, 2011). Chairman and Managing Director of
Export-Import Bank of India, T.C.A.
Ranganathan and signed the Agreement on
behalf of Export-Import Bank of India and Lal
Shankar Ghimire, Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Finance signed the Agreement on behalf of
Government of Nepal.
The credit line will be used to finance
infrastructure projects such as highways,
airports, bridges, irrigation, roads, railways and
hydropower projects and carry a concessional
rate of interest of 1.75% p.a., with repayment
period of 20 years, inclusive of 5 years
moratorium.
It may be recalled that during the visit of the
President of Nepal, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav in
February 2010, Government of India has agreed
The Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and
Textiles Shri Anand Sharma has expressed
confidence that India and Italy will reach the
target of Euro 15 bn. Speaking at Ministerial
Forum: ‘Indo-Italian Cooperation: Addressing
Challenges, Strengthening Ties’ , on 31st
October , Shri Sharma emphasized that Trade
between our countries last year stood at US$
8.50 billion and the data till August 2011 “shows
an impressive growth and reflect optimism yet
doesn’t reflect our true potential which is far
greater.”
Shri Sharma also informed that India allows 51
per cent FDI in single brand retail and
government is considering the ways of raising
this limit. Shri Sharma said that the micro, small
and medium enterprises sector is the backbone
of Indian economy, contributing 8% of our gross
domestic product, 45% of manufactured output
and 40% of our exports. “Earlier, the SME sector
in India used to be protected and foreign
investment was restricted in this sector, but
recently we have liberalized this sector to enable
its modernization and now the SME sector is
open to foreign investment just like any other
sector. We view SMEs as incubators of
technology and innovation and would
encourage cooperative partnerships to develop
BABLAO SHRI BALAJI
The Agreement seeks to promote and protect
investments from either country in the territory
of the other country with the ultimate objective
of increasing bilateral investment flow. The
agreement requires each country to encourage
and create favourable conditions for investors
of the other country to make investments it its
territory and to admit investments in accordance
with its laws.
The term investment includes every kind of
asset including intellectual property rights in
accordance with laws and regulations of the
country in which the investment is made.
Principles of Most Favoured Nation Treatment
and National Treatment (NT) have been asserted
in the agreement. Investments from either
country in the territory of the other country are
to be accorded NT and MFN treatment which
means that the investment shall be provided
treatment which shall not be less favourable
than that provided by the country to
investments of its own investors or investors
from any other country. Besides, investors are
to be provided MFN treatment in respect of
returns on the investment.
Provisions have also been made in the agreement
for grant of compensation to the investors
whose investments suffer losses owing to war,
armed conflict, a state of national emergency,
etc. and such investors shall be accorded
treatment by the host country, no less than the
treatment accorded to its owns investors or
investors of any third state.
The Agreement provides that nationalisation or
expropriation of investments shall not be
resorted to except in public interest and in
accordance with law on a non-discriminatory
basis and against fair and equitable
compensation. The agreement also provides for
free repatriation of funds of an investor of either
country.
The Agreement provides elaborate dispute
resolution mechanism to guide settlement of
disputes between and investor and a host
Government as well as between the two
Governments. Dispute resolution mechanism
includes resource to negotiations, conciliation
and international arbitration.
The Agreement shall remain in force for a period
of ten years. Thereafter, it shall be deemed to
have been automatically extended unless either
Contracting Party gives to the other Contracting
Party a written notice. With respect to
investments made prior to the date of
termination of the Agreement, the provisions of
the Agreement shall continue to be effective for
a further period of ten years from the date of its
termination.
It is hoped that the Agreement would serve as a
catalyst in boosting investment flows between
the two countries.
India Italy Trade Cooperations Gains Momentum
between Indian and Italian SMEs” he added.
Shri Sharma said that the Indian design industry
is growing between 23 and 25 per cent every
years, and the economic rise of India has created
a strong consumption demand for various kinds
of clothing, textiles, home furnishings, leather
products, including footwear. In particular, there
is need designers in garment and leather – two
areas where Italy is a global leader. It is a step in
this direction that has prompted India and Italy
to organise a leather fair in Milan in 2012, he
said. In the field of industrial design, National
Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and Milan
Polytechnic Consortium have signed an MoU
for building synergies in design sensitization
and capacity building. in May 2011 after Shri
Sharma’s visit to Milan.
An MoU was signed between the two countries
which envisages that the India-Italy Business
Forum will foster cooperation between the two
countries in sectors such as automotive,
infrastructure, agro-food and agro-industry,
textile and leather, pharmaceuticals, design,
tourism, manufacturing, ICT and higher
education. It will also actively seek to promote
business interactions between SMEs of both
countries.
1 st Indonesia – India Biennial Trade Ministers’ Forum
1. The Minister of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of India, H.E. Shri Anand Sharma,
accompanied by an official and business delegation, visited Indonesia on 3-4 October
2011 and met the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Mari Elka Pangestu.
They discussed ways of expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation between
the two countries at the 1 st Indonesia – India Biennial Trade Ministers’ Forum.
2. The Ministers noted with satisfaction the Pre-Negotiation Consultations of Indonesia
India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (II-CECA), held in Jakarta, 3
October 2011. The Ministers emphasized the need to constructively engage in II-CECA
negotiations which would result in mutual and beneficial outcomes for both countries.
3. The Ministers expressed their satisfaction on the strengthening of bilateral cooperation
and hoped for increasing and diversifying bilateral trade as well as promoting and
stimulating bilateral investment flows. The Ministers hoped that these efforts would help
achieve the bilateral trade volume target of US$ 25 billion by 2015.
4. The Ministers reviewed the deliberations of the two Working Groups: (1) Working Group
on Trade and Investment Forum and (2) Working Group on Trade Facilitation and
Resolution.
5. The Ministers looked forward to the early operationalization of the Indonesia-India CEOs’
Forum.
6. The Ministers welcomed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the
Governor of East Kalimantan Province and National Aluminum Company of India on
Technical Cooperation on Aluminum Smelter Industry and Coal Based Thermal Power
Plant.
Indo Malawi Joint Working Group meets in New Delhi on
Mining Resources
The first meeting of the Indo Malawi Joint Working Group on Mining Resources was held on
19th October in New Delhi. The Joint Working Group was formed to implement the MOU
signed in November, 2010 during the visit of the Malawi President to India.
The Working Group discussed the issues relating to exchange of technical information on
mineral resources and mining law. The Indian side offered to the Malawi side; (i) capacity
building and training facilities in the area of geophysical and geochemical mapping,
geoinformatics, mining & other geoscientific areas in the form of long term collaboration; (ii)
joint exploration and development of mines.
The Malawian Government welcomed the Indian Government’ proposals and said that there is lot
of potential for cooperation between the Geological Surveys of both the countries. The technical
and financial investment from India will strengthen the business relationship between the two
countries. Both countries agreed to hold the next meeting as early as possible. The Malawi
Government also invited Indian delegation to visit Malawi at their earliest convenience.
India and Germany Sign Social Security Agreement
A comprehensive Social Security Agreement (SSA) was signed by the Minister of Overseas
Indian Affairs and Civil Aviation, Shri Vayalar Ravi and the Federal Minister of Labour and Social
Affairs of Germany, Dr. Ursula von der Leyen in Berlin. The Agreement which subsume the earlier
Indo-German agreement on Social Security on 8th October 2008 will enhance cooperation on
social security between the two countries. The Agreement with Germany will provide for the
following benefits to Indian nationals working in Germany:
a) For short term contract up to five years, no social security contribution would need to be
paid under the German law by the detached workers provided they continue to make
social security payment in India.
b) The above benefits shall be available even when the Indian company sends its employees
to Germany from a third country.
c) Indian workers shall be entitled to the export of the social security benefit if they relocate
to India after the completion of their service in Germany.
d) The self-employed Indians in Germany would also be entitled to export of social security
benefit on their relocation to India.
e) The period of contribution in one contracting state will be added to the period of
contribution in the second contracting state for determining the eligibility for social
security benefits.
This is the 60th year of diplomatic relationship between India and Germany. There are about 68,500
Indians in Germany most of whom are working as professionals and self-employed. During the
visit of German Chancellor to India in May 2011, both India and Germany reaffirmed that the
bilateral trade should reach US$ 20 billion by 2012. There is a huge potential for Indian for Indian
workers to take employment in Germany. As such, a bilateral Social Security Agreement with
Germany is a significant requirement from the futuristic point of view to take advantage of the
emerging employment opportunities and to strengthen the trade and investment between the two
countries.
India has signed similar agreements with Belgium, Germany (Social Insurance for detached workers),
France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary, Denmark, Czech Republic, the
Republic of Korea and Norway.
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DECEMBER 2011
MOTOR SPORT TENNIES
Sebastian Vettel Became
Youngest F1 Double
Champion
McLaren’s Jenson Button won the Japanese
Grand Prix in his adopted homeland, Japan on 9
October 2011. Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel who
stood third in the Formula 1 race became the
youngest double world champion with four
races to spare.
In seven years as a Honda driver, Button had
only once managed to win the race at the Hondaowned
circuit. In winning, Button denied Vettel
his third successive Japanese Grand Prix win.
Button’s victory cut Vettel’s overall lead over
the Briton to 114 points, an insurmountable
advantage with a total of 100 left to be won.
Fernando Alonso stood second. Mark Webber
was fourth for Red Bull ahead of McLaren’s
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ Michael
Schumacher, who was sixth. Ferrari’s Fernando
Alons had become the previous youngest
double world champion when he had won for
Renault aged 25 in 2006.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel made his way to the
record books as Formula One’s youngest
double world champion after finishing third in a
Japanese Grand Prix. Vettel had needed only a
point at Suzuka to clinch his second successive
crown. He was only the ninth driver to take
back-to-back championships and on the podium
for the 14th time in 15 races in 2011.
Vettel wins Korean Grand Prix
Red Bull sealed the constructors’ title at the
Korean Grand Prix on 16 October 2011. Red Bull
sealed the 2011 season with 558 points. McLaren
with 418 points was second and ferrari with 310
points was third. Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull
who won the world championship at the Suzuka
in Japan notched up his 10th victory of the 2011
season. McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was second
while another Red Bull driver Mark Webber
finished third.
Vettel, who started from second on the grid,
passed pole-sitter Hamilton on the first lap and
dominated the 55-lap race before crossing the
finish line in 1 hour, 38 minutes, 01.994 seconds,
12 seconds ahead of the McLaren driver.
McLaren’s Jenson Button and Ferrari driver
Fernando Alonso finished fourth and fifth,
respectively.
13th Raid-De-Himalaya
2011Motor Rally
Austrian Helmut Frauwallner and India’s Suresh
Rana won the extreme two-wheeler and extremefour
wheeler categories in the 13th Raid de
Himalaya motor rally which concluded on 17
October 2011. Rana and his navigator Ashwin
Naik driving a Maruti Gypsy were followed by
Harpreet Bawa with navigator Virender Kashyap
in second place, while Shakti Bajaj and
navigator Prakash finished third.
Of the 42 cars and 32 motorbikes which set out
from Shimla in the extreme category, only 26 cars
and 16 bikes made it to the finishing line, while
others withdrew or had vehicle breakdown. The
adventure trial had begun from Shimla via
Dalhousie, Srinagar and Zanskar before
finishing at Srinagar.
The annual rally which is an off-road racing
spectacle in the rugged, inhospitable Himalayan
terrain had begun on 9 October 2011 from Shimla
before ending at the Royal Springs Golf Course
on the banks of the Dal lake. The rallyists went
via Manali-Leh-Rangdum (Zanskar), which
comprises of one of the world’s most dangerous
roads. The results are subject to change if any
motorist or biker lodges a protest and is proven
right in the scrutiny.
BOXING
Mary Kom strikes gold at
National Championships
Five-time world champion MC Mary Kom won
gold in the 51kg category by defeating Pinki
Jangra in the summit clash on the final day of
the 12th Senior Women’s National Boxing
Championships in Bhopal on 16 October 2011.
In the feather weight division, bronze medallist
at the Women’s Youth World Championship,
Pwilao Basumatary of Assam settled settle for a
silver medal after losing to Mandakini Chann of
AIP who won gold.
In the light weight category, Neetu Chahal of
Haryana clinched gold after beating Preeti
Beniwal of the IABF team. Neetu won 12-5.
Kavita Goyat of Delhi defended her title taking
the gold in the middle weight division. She
defeated Pooja of Haryana 16:11.
Haryana bagged the overall title with three gold
medals, two silver and two bronze. Manipur
came second with two gold medals, a silver and
a bronze while Railways finished third with two
gold and three bronze medals.
SPORTS COVERAGE
Murray Wins in Shanghai:
Becomes World no. 3
Andy Murray retained his Shanghai Masters
title by defeating David Ferrer 7-5 6-4 in the final
on 16 October 2011. His victory moved him to
number three in the ATP rankings. He moved to
the top three for the first time since March 2010.
Murraywho was as high as No 2 in August 2009.
The win in China was Murray’s third title in as
many weeks, following victories in Bangkok and
Tokyo, where he beat Rafael Nadal in the final.
He claimed the biggest tournaments in Thailand,
Japan and finally the Shanghai Masters in China.
He won 25 of his last 26 matches showing
remarkable consistency.
Roger Federer dropped out of the top three in
the ATP rankings for the first time since June
2003. Roger Federer had won the first of his 16
Grand Slam titles in July 2003.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became
the First Frenchman to win
Austrian Open
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga became the first Frenchman
to win the Austrian Open with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4
defeat of Juan Martin del Petro on 30 October
2011. It was the seventh career title for Tsonga.
Juan del Potro had won all three of the pair’s
previous meetings. Tsonga’s victory sent him
past American Mardy Fish into provisional
seventh place for the ATP World Tour Finals in
London scheduled to take place on 20-27
November 2011.
CRICKET
India beat England in Fifth
and Final One-Day and Won
the Series by 5-0
India won 5 matches one-day series by 5-0 by
defeating England in 5th and final match played
in Kolkata on 26 October 2011. India scored a
challenging 271 for eight and stopped England
at 176 in 37 overs in the day-night match at the
Eden Gardens. Ravindra Jadeja grabbed 4-33 and
off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 3-28.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja of team India
was declared Man of the Match, while Indian
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was awarded
with Man of the Series. India achieved a 5-0
verdict in a bilateral One Day International series
only 3 times. The two earlier instances were
against England (2008-09) and New Zealand
(2010-11).
Result of other 4 ODIs of India-England five
matches series are followings:
• India won 4th ODI by 6 wickets (with
59 balls remaining). 4th ODI between
India and England was played at
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 23
October 2011.
• India defeated England to won 3rd ODI
of 5 matches series by 5 wickets (with
4 balls remaining). Match was played
at Mohali stadium, Chandigarh on 20
October 2011.
• India beat England by eight wickets in
2nd ODI. The match was played at
Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, Delhi on 17
October 2011.
• India won 1st ODI by 126-run in
Hyderabad on 15 October 2011.
CWG Gold-medallist Krishna
Poonia won Gold at Halloween
Throws Meet at Portland
Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Krishna
Poonia produced an impressive season’s best
effort of 62.25m to win gold at Halloween Throws
Meet at Portland, United States on 17 October
2011. In the process, she also crossed the A
qualifying standard for the London Olympics
(62m). Poonia had already qualified for the 2012
Games by attaining the B qualification standard
of 59.50m when she won gold at the Fling Throw
Meet at Portland with a throw of 61.12m.
Poonia has been training at the Throws Centre
at Concordia University at Oregon, Portland
since July 2011 and went all out and crossed the
magical mark of 62m in her last attempt. She had
two fouls and two other 60 plus efforts in the
process. Her last effort was though below her
personal best of 63.69m recorded in April in 2010
at Chula Vista in California, United States.
WRESTLING
Vinod Kumar Won the Gold
Medal
Vinod Kumar of RSPB (Railway Sports
Promotion Board) on 14 October 2011 won the
55 kg freestyle gold medal in the 56th Senior
National wrestling championships at
Nandininagar, Uttar Pradesh. Anil won the gold
medal in 60 kg Greco Roman category. Pradeep
Kumar captured RSPB’s second gold in 66kg
freestyle division.
FOOTBALL
FIFA Bans Myanmar For The
2018 World Cup
Myanmar was banned from taking part in
qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup and
fined 25000 Swiss francs (28000 US dollars) by
FIFA on 30 September 2011. FIFA (Fédération
Internationale de Football Association) banned
Myanmar because of the trouble caused by the
crowd in 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers
against Oman on 28 July 2011.
Myanmar was trailing 2-0 in the second leg in
its capital Yangon when the crowd became
violent just before the end of the first half. FIFA
immediately awarded Oman a 2-0 victory over
Myanmar. The game was stopped after the fans
threw rocks and glass bottles at the Oman
football coach Paul Le Guen and the Oman
players.
The matter was subsequently referred to the
FIFA Disciplinary Committee, and their decision
is as follows:
1. The Myanmar Football Federation is
regarded as having breached art. 65 b)
and c) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code
and being liable for the improper
conduct of supporters in violation of
art. 4 par. 5 lit a) and 6 par. 5 of the
Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup
Brazil and art. 65 b) and c) as well as
art. 67 par. 1 of the FIFA Disciplinary
Code.
2. The Myanmar Football Federation is
excluded from taking part in the
matches of the preliminary competition
for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
3. The costs of these proceedings of
2,000 Swiss francs are to be borne by
the Myanmar Football Federation.
Churchill Brothers defeated
Prayag United to win 2011
Durand Cup
The 2011 Durand Cup, the 124th edition of the
Durand Cup which is the third oldest
association football competition in the world
was won by the Churchill Brothers. Churchill
Brothers won the 2011 Durand Cup at the
Ambedkar Stadium with a 5-4 tie-break win over
Prayag United on 15 October 2011 by defeating
Prayag United.
Churchill Brothers won the Durand Cup 2011
defeating Prayag United in the finals 5-4 on
Penalties after the both team failed to score after
full time. In the tie-breaker, Churchill Brothers
scored through Lalrindika Ralte, M.P. Zakeer,
Bineesh Balan, Matthew Kouacic and Denzil
Franco. Kayne Vincent, Mohammad Rafique,
Belo Razaq and Maksawn Tluanga scored for
Prayag.
The Durand Cup was palyed from 24 September
to 15 October 2011. The tournament was
conducted in two stages. Stage 1 was the
Qualifying Knock Out Round and Stage 2 was
the Quarter Final League round.
I-League clubs Mohun Bagan, Dempo, Mumbai,
HAL and East Bengal skipped the tournament
for various reasons like having to play in other
tournaments, to prepare for the I-League.
COSCO Platina FIFA approved football was the
official ball of the tournament.
The cash award for the Winner, Runners up and
the 3rd positions was Rs. 20 Lakhs, 10 Lakhs
and 5 Lakhs respectively.
Dutchman Rob Baan
Appointed AIFF Technical
Director
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) on 11
October 2011 appointed Dutchman Robert Baan
as the Technical Director (TD) for a period of
two years.
Baan has a 46-year experience in football
management and was involved in a similar
capacity with the Australia Football Federation.
Baan is one of the most high profile coaches to
have worked in India having been an assistant
coach at PSV Eindhoven from 1995-98 and also
the TD at Feynoord Rotterdam from 1998-2004.
He has also served as the TD of the Netherlands
youth team. He was briefly appointed a caretaker
manager of the senior Dutch team for a match
against Cyprus back in 1981. He performed a
similar duty during Socceroos’ 1-0 win over
Nigeria in 2007.
As a TD he will drive the development of a
philosophy and style of playing. He will also be
the main link between the newly-planned
academies, the age-group and senior national
teams. Baan who will take charge from 1
November is expected to have a major say in
appointment of India’s next coach.
SAI & AIFF Ink Deal To
Develop JLN Stadium as
Football Hub
The Sports Authority of India and the All India
Football Federation signed an agreement to
develop the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium as the
football hub in India. According to the
agreement, SAI will permit AIFF to use the
stadium (including the main pitch) for a maximum
period of 40 days in a year.
Besides, SAI will provide AIFF the outside
practice ground of the stadium in addition to
other necessary facilities. These facilities will
be available to SAI for 50 days in a year for the
smooth conduct of national and international
football tournaments.
In exchange, AIFF will repair the turf on the main
pitch of the Nehru Stadium. AIFF will hold the
SAFF CUP in December, the Nehru Cup,
domestic tournaments and international matches
in the next one year. The agreement is valid for
one year and can be extended further for two
years on the basis of review and mutual
understanding.
SHOOTING
Olympic Champion Abhinav
Bindra won Air Rifle Silver
Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra won the air
rifle silver behind Asian Games champion Zhu
Qinan of China in the fourth Asian airgun
shooting championship in Kuwait 19 October
2011. shot 594 in qualification and 103.6 in the
final. He was 2.6 points behind the Chinese who
shot 598 in qualification. Bindra had outdone
Zhu Qinan in the Beijing Olympic Games by
grabbing the gold.
Satyendra Singh won the bronze, following 593
in qualification and the best score in the final
(103.7), Gagan Narang took the seventh spot at
694.5 following a preliminary score of 592.
In women’s air rifle, Indian shooters were below
par, as none of them made the final. Anjali
Bhagwat missed out on a berth in the final
following a shoot-off for two places among
three. She shot 50.4, while the other two from
Chinese Taipei and Singapore came up with 51.0
and 51.3 respectively.
Iran’s Narjes Emamgholinejad Andvari defeated
the reigning World champion Yi Siling of China
by 0.1 point for the gold, despite a 2-point deficit
before the final.
OTHERS
Govt To Set Up National
Institute Of Sports Science &
Medicine
The ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on 1
October 2011 announced the decision to set up
the National Institute of Sports Science and
Medicine (NISSM). NISSM will have its
premises at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium in
New Delhi. The institute will aim at fostering
disciplines like Physiology, Nutrition,
Psychology, Anthropometry, Nutrition,
Biochemistry and Sports medicine.
NISSM is modeled on the lines of China
Institute of Sports Sciences (CISS). The
decision to set up the institute was taken during
the visit of Indian President to China on 27 May
2010. NISSM will be registered as Society under
Societies Registration Act by 1 November 2011.
This institute will be headed by a Director
equivalent to a Vice- Chancellor of a Central
University. A search committee will be appointed
to identify and recommend the name of person
to Head this Institute. The NISSM will work in
close partnership with national and international
partners from USA, UK, China, South Korea,
Australia, Germany and South Africa.
NISSM will function under the Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports. It will also provide
evaluation, performance and assessment related
advice to sportspersons and start high quality
research in the field of sports medicine and
sports sciences.
Govt Launches Nationwide
Come and Play Scheme
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on 9
October 2011 launched the nationwide Come
and Play scheme in New Delhi. Through this
scheme, the ministry aims at opening SAI’s
sporting infrastructure for the youth across
India. The scheme is targeted at the 8-17 age
group. The main objective of the scheme is to
provide coaching primarily to sportspersons of
young age.
Under the Come and Play Scheme, competitions
related to various age categories would be
conducted twice a year and the top three
position holders in the relevant age group
would be permitted for admission to boarding
scheme in SAI (Sports Authority of India)
training centres.
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DECEMBER 2011
Bhanwari Devi Missing Case: Accused
Rajasthan Minister Mahipal Maderna
Sacked
Rajasthan Water Resources Minister Mahipal Maderna was
dropped from the Cabinet on 16 October 2011 after an official
recommendation sent to the Raj Bhavan for his dismissal. He
was dismissed in the wake of allegations about his involvement
in a case of mysterious disappearance of an auxiliary nurse
midwife, Bhanwari Devi.
Maderna, son of powerful Jat leader and Congress veteran
Parasram Maderna could not be persuaded to put in his papers,
following which Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot decided to
recommend his sacking to the Governor.
The State government announced his removal a day before a
habeas corpus writ petition filed by Bhanwari Devi’s husband
comes up for the next hearing in the Rajasthan High Court.
Maderna figures as an accused in the first information report
registered for rape, kidnap and murder of Bhanwari Devi, 36, who
has been missing from Jaliwada village in Jodhpur district since
1 September 2011. Maderna faces charges under Sections 376
(rape), 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian
Penal Code.
Save Sharmila Campaign Launched
from Srinagar
The Save Sarmila Campaign was flagged off by Magsaysay award
winner Sandeep Pandey on 16 October 2011. The campaign was
launched in Srinagar demanding the revocation of the Armed
Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from Jammu and Kashmir
and the northeast.
The campaign, in which 20 persons are participating with an
objective to express solidarity with Irom Sharmila, who has been
on fast for the last 10 years demanding revocation of the AFSPA.
The campaign is headed by noted social activist Medha Patkar.
The team started its march from Srinagar and will proceed to
Imphal to bring the demand into focus.
The demands in Kashmir and the northeast were almost the same
as far as political rights were concerned. However, in many
northeast States, demands varied. Some northeast States are for
autonomy and some want independence.
ARMED FORCES (SPECIAL POWERS) ACT (AFSPA)
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), was passed
on 11 September 1958, by the Indian Parliament of India. It
conferred special powers upon armed forces in what the act calls
disturbed areas in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. It was
later extended to Jammu and Kashmir as The Armed Forces
(Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990 in July 1990.
According to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in
an area that is proclaimed as disturbed, an officer of the armed
forces has powers to:
• Fire upon or otherwise use force, even to the causing
of death, against any person who is acting in
contravention of any law against assembly of five or
more persons or possession of deadly weapons.
• To arrest without a warrant and with the use of necessary
force anyone who has committed certain offenses or is
suspected of having done so
• To enter and search any premise in order to make such
arrests.
It gives Army officers legal immunity for their actions. There can
be no prosecution, suit or any other legal proceeding against
anyone acting under that law.
In 2004, in the wake of intense agitation that was launched by
several civil society groups following the death of Thangjam
Manorama, while in the custody of the Assam Rifles and the
indefinite fast undertaken by Irom Sharmila, Union Home Minister
Shivraj Patil visited Manipur and reviewed the situation with the
concerned state authorities.
The central government accordingly set up a five-member
committee under the Chairmanship of Justice B P Jeevan Reddy,
former judge of the Supreme Court. The panel had to review the
provisions of AFSPA and advisthe Government of India whether
(a) to amend the provisions of the Act to bring them in
consonance with the obligations of the government towards
protection of human rights, or (b) to replace the Act by a more
humane Act. The Reddy committee submitted its
recommendations on June 6, 2005. However, the government
failed to take any concrete action on the recommendations
IROM SHARMILA
Irom Sharmila Chanu known as the Iron Lady of Manipur or
Menghoubi (the fair one) is a civil rights activist, political activist,
and poet from the Indian state of Manipur. Since 2 November
2000, she has been on hunger strike to demand that the Indian
government repeal the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958
(AFSPA), which she blames for violence in Manipur and other
parts of India’s northeast.
She was awarded the 2007 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights,
which is given for an outstanding person or group, active in the
promotion and advocacy of Peace, Democracy and Human
Rights. She shared the award with Lenin Raghuvanshi of People’s
Vigilance Committee on Human Rights, a northeastern Indian
human rights organization. In Addition the largest monetary prize
the first Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize was given to her in
2010 by the New Delhi IIPM. She was awarded the Sarva Gunah
Sampannah Award for Peace and Harmony aka the 12th Signature
Women of Substance award (Assam) also in 2010. she is the
recipient of the first Mayillama Award (Kerala). in 2010 she was
awarded in absentia a lifetime achievement award in Bangalore.
MISCELLANEOUS NEWS
Uphaar Tragedy: SC Slashes
Compensation for Victims
Supreme Court of India slashed the amount of compensations to
the Uphaar theatre fire tragedy victims awarded by the Delhi High
Court. A bench headed by Justice R V Raveendran reduced the
amount of compensation from 18 lakh to 10 lakh rupees to the
families of deceased where the victims were above 20 years of
age and for the victims below 20 years, it was reduced to 7.5 lakh
rupees from 15 lakhs. The bench also drastically reduced the
punitive damages to be paid by Uphaar Cinema owners, Ansal
brothers to the Centre from 2.5 crore rupees to 25 lakh rupees.
The court, however, retained the part of the High Court’s verdict
that mandated payment of 1 lakh rupees as compensation to those
injured in the incident. 59 people were killed and 103 injured
following a devastating fire in an electrical transformer during a
film show on 13 June, 1997 at the Uphaar theatre in South Delhi.
Bombay HC Confirms Death Sentence
for Four Youths
The Bombay High Court on 17 October 2011 upheld the death
sentence awarded to four convicts for murdering 10 people in
2003.
The judges described the offence as rarest of rare cases for giving
capital punishment and observed that the accused showed no
repentance for their acts. The four accused, including a selfstyled
godman Santosh, lured the victims saying that they would
multiply their money manifold using black magic. The accused
would ask the victims to come to a lonely plateau in Nandos for
prayers and then butcher them mercilessly.
On 29 September 2003, they murdered two persons. Then they
murdered four on 30 October 2003 and then on 14 November
2003, they murdered the entire Mali family.
The four convicts—Santosh Manohar Chavhan, Amit Ashok
Shinde, Yogesh Madhukar Chavhan and Mahesh Dhanaji
Shindemeticulously planned the murders. They acted as if they
are professional murderers. None of the accused has shown any
signs of reformation.
World’s Seven Billionth Baby ‘Nargis’
Born In UP INDIA.
A girl child named Nargis born in this village on 31st October
2011at 7:20 am has been declared the seven billionth baby of the
world based on the law of probability and an intricate set of
calculations by the UN.
Even though United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) has not
pinpointed where the landmark baby would be born, experts have
identified this village, near Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, as the
site of the momentous event. Ajay Kumar and Vinita, the proud
parents of the girl, are natives of Danaur village in the state.
A function was held at the Community Health Centre in
association with children welfare NGO Plan India and the health
department. Plan India is also marking the day to draw the world’s
attention to India’s seven million ‘missing’ girls, referring to
widespread female foeticide and infanticide in a society that
traditionally prefers male children.
Meanwhile, Philippines also welcomed the world’s symbolic
seven billionth baby. Weighing 2.5 kg, Danica May Camacho,
was delivered just before midnight on Sunday at Manila’s Jose
Fabella Memorial Hospital. The parents and the baby were met
by top United Nations officials in the Philippines, who presented
the child with a small cake. Local benefactors gifted the baby a
scholarship grant for the child’s study and a livelihood package
to enable the parents to start a general store.
But India needs to worry as the country is set to become the
world’s most populous by 2025 at the current growth rates.
Currently, India and China account for more than one-third of
the world’s population. But where China has made strides in
controlling population, India’s population growth continues to
be explosive and will overtake China’s population in 2025. China’s
population will decline around 2050, whereas India’s population
will only begin its decline by 2060.
Tribals Protest Non-Tribals Getting
Award
Tribal groups in Jharkhand are protesting against the award of
the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award 2011 to
activists Binayak Sen and Bulu Imama.
The Jharkhand Human Rights Movement and the Jharkhand
Indigenous People’s Forum have jointly written a letter to Binayak
Sen and Bulu Imama, asking them not to accept the award on the
behalf of tribals.
Both organisations have also written to Gandhi Foundation
president Richard Attenborough.
‘We have objections as the award will be given to non-tribal
people in the name of Adivasis. We want to know whether the
foundation did not get any tribal leader for the award,’ Human
Rights Movement general secretary Gladson Dundung said.
Echoing him, Zerom Z. Kujur, convener of the Indigenous People’s
Forum, said: ‘We request the Gandhi Foundation either to change
the name of the award or change the award winners.
‘We have no objection if Sen and Imam are conferred awards for
their own work. They do not belong to the tribal community, so
how could they be conferred award in the name of a tribal leader,’
he asked.
The awards ceremony will take place in Britain Nov 9.
Magsaysay Awardee to go on fast over
BPL Benchmark
Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey decided to observe a fiveday
fast from 22 October 2011 and observe a black Diwali in
protest against the Planning Commission’s definition of poverty
and setting a BPL benchmark of Rs 32 per person expenditure
per day in urban areas and Rs 26 per person in rural areas. Pandey
is to observe the fast at his ashram in Lalpur village of Hardoi
district.
Pandey decided to demand universalisation of the public
distribution system (PDS), withdrawal of the cash transfer scheme
as a substitute for PDS, Rs 250 as minimum wages under NREGS
with scope for upgradation with price rise and with every hike in
salaries of government employees.
Pandey’s NGO Asha Pariwar mentioned that demand that BPL
lists to be decided by Gram Sabhas and Ward Sabhas, and
common school system concept be included in the Right to
Education Act would also be placed.
It alleged that the government had not been able to check farmer
suicides, hunger deaths and malnourishment of children. Also,
the economic policy of the government is benefiting the well-off
sections of society at the cost of the poor.
Real-Time Info System for Trains
Launched
The Indian Railways on 19 October 2011 launched a real-time
train information system (RTIS) for 12 important trains through
which passengers can access the accurate train running
information. Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi launched the facility
at the Economic Editors’ Conference.
The GPS-based train tracking system was jointly developed by
the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO),
Lucknow and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur to
overcome the limitations of the existing Train Running Information
System.
Passengers will be provided with the information about the
location of the train, its running position — on time or late, next
stop, nearest approaching/crossed station and the speed.
This facility has been provided for :
12301 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express,
12302 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express,
12305 Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express,
12306 New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express,
12313 Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express,
12314 New Delhi-Sealdah Rajdhani Express,
12951 Mumbai Central-New Delhi Rajdhani Express,
12952 New Delhi-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express,
12953 Mumbai Central-Nizamuddin A K Rajdhani Express,
12954 Nizamuddin A.K.-Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express,
12003 Lucknow-Delhi Shatabdi Express and
12004 New Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi Express.
International Day for Disaster Reduction
Observed 12th Oct.
International Day for Disaster Reduction was observed on
12th October. This day is observed on the second Wednesday
of October to raise awareness about disaster risk reduction. It
encourages people and governments to participate in building
resilient communities and nations.
The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), the apex
National Institute of the Government of India with the nodal
responsibilities for human resource development, capacity
building, training, research, documentation, public awareness
and policy advocacy in disaster management observed the Day.
Various activities including competitions of posters, slogan and
paintings were conducted and awards were distributed.
“We need to work on decentralization of disaster reduction
and mitigation efforts, and to integrate the issues of disaster
management with development and inclusive growth” said
Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Mullappally
Ramachandran. He stressed the need for science-based
awareness of communities and strategies of risk perception
in the light of new and emerging challenges in particular of
climate-change. Shri Ramachandran also said that the National
Institute of Disaster Management needs to open regional
campuses in most vulnerable zones of the country.
Sri A E Ahmed, Secretary to the Government of India for Border
Management, who is also Secretary, Disaster Management
stressed the need for risk communication in the context of
climate-change and ecological degradation and impact of
exploitation of natural resources, resulting in new and more
serious effects in form of disasters.
Dr Muzaffar Ahmed, Member of the National Disaster
Management Authority of the Govt of India stressed on
learning the lessons from tragedies like Bhopal disaster. Rallies
of students were also organised at Delhi based Universities
and colleges to mark the initiatives of awareness for disaster
reduction.
Israeli-Palestinian Prisoner Swap
The first ever prisoner swap between Israelis and the radical
Palestinian group Hamas took place at the Rafah crossing on 18
October 2011. Israel’s abducted soldier Gilad Shalit was handed
over to Egyptian authorities and in exchange, 477 Palestinian
prisoners were released by Israel. Israel and the radical outfit
Hamas had signed the deal in the second week of October 2011.
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DECEMBER 2011
WORLD: PHILIPPINES
National name: Republika ng Pilipinas
Government : Republic.
Geography:
The Philippine Islands are an archipelago of over 7,000 islands
lying about 500 mi (805 km) off the southeast coast of Asia. Only
about 7% of the islands are larger than one square mile, and only
one-third have names. The largest are Luzon in the north,
Mindanao in the south, and Samar. The islands are of volcanic
origin, with the larger ones crossed by mountain ranges. The
highest peak is Mount Apo (9,690 ft; 2,954 m) on Mindanao.
Historical Background :
The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th
century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-
American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing
commonwealth. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese
occupation during WWII, and US forces and Filipinos fought
together during 1944-45 to regain control. On 4 July 1946 the
Philippines attained their independence. The 20-year rule of
Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986, when a widespread popular
rebellion forced him into exile and installed Corazon AQUINO as
president. Fidel RAMOS was elected president in 1992 and his
administration was marked by greater stability and progress on
economic reforms. In 1992, the US closed its last military bases
on the islands. Joseph ESTRADA was elected president in 1998,
but was succeeded by his vice-president, Gloria
MACAPAGALARROYO, in January 2001 after ESTRADA’s
stormy impeachment trial on corruption charges broke down
and widespread demonstrations led to his ouster.
MACAPAGAL-ARROYO was elected to a six-year term in May
2004. The Philippine Government faces threats from armed
communist insurgencies and from Muslim separatists in the
south. A typhoon sunk a ferry in June 2008, killing 865 passengers
and crew members. Another 500 people died during the storm.
FACTS & FIGURES
Name: PHILIPPINES
Capital: Manila
Government: Unitary presidential constitutional republic
Language: Filipino (based on Tagalog)English
Religion: More than 90% of the population are Christians:
about 80% belong to the Roman Catholic Church while 10%
belong to other Christian denominations
Area: 299,764 km2
Population: 2009 estimate 91,983,000
Currency: Peso (Filipino: piso)
GDP(PPP): 2009 estimate Total $324.692 billion
GDP(nominal): 2009 estimate Total $160.991 billion
Time Zone: PST (UTC+8)
NATIONAL SYMBOLS
National Emblem
The National Emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion
Capital of Ashoka.
The four smaller animals at the bottom of national emblem are
horse and bull (visible) and lion and elephant (not visible).
The National Emblem was adopted by the Government of India
on 26 January 1950.
‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below has been taken from the
Mundaka Upanishad.
National Anthem
The national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was first sung at Calcutta
session of Indian National Congress in 1911, 27 Dec.
It was adopted by the Indian constitution on 24 Jan 1950.
Its English rendering has been given by Tagore himself.
The song was composed originally in Bengali by Rabindranath
Tagore, the National Anthem is its Hindi version.
The complete song consists of five stanzas. The first stanza
contains the full version of the National Anthem.
The playing time for full version of the song is 52 seconds.
National Song
The national song Vande Mataram has been taken from Bankim
Chandra Chatterji’s Anand Math.
It was first sung at 1896 session of INC.Its English rendering has
been given by Shri Aurobindo.
National Calendar
The national calendar based on the Saka Era was adopted on 22
Mar 1957.
Chaitra is the first month of the year whose 1st day falls on 22
March normally and on 21 March in a leap year.
The national calendar also has 365/366 days Chaitra has 30
days normally and 31 days in a leap year.
National Flag
The design of the national flag was adopted on 22 July 1947.
The ratio of width of the flag to its length is two to three.
The design of the wheel at the centre is taken from the abacus of
the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.
The ‘Dharma chakra’ (wheel) at the centre has 24 spokes.
The display of the National Flag is governed by Flag Code of
India, 2002, which took effect on 26 Jan 2002.
As per the provisions of the Flag Code of India, 2002, there shall
be no restriction on the display of the National Flag by members
of general public, private organisations, educational institutions,
etc.,except to the extent provided in the Emblems and Names
(Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the Prevention of
Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 and any other law enacted
on the subject.
Other National Symbols
The national bird is Peacock (Pavo cristatus)
The national fruit is Mango (Manigifera indica)
The national flower is Lotus (Nelumbo Nucipera Gaertn)
The national tree is Banyan (Ficus benghalensis)
The national animal is Tiger (Panthera tigris)
The national aquatic animal is River Dolphin (Platanista
gangetica)
The national river is the Ganges
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
INDIA: NAGALAND
Governor : Nikhil Kumar
Chief Minister : Neiphiu Rio
Capital : Kohima
Legislature : Unicameral
Lok Sabha seats : 1
Judicature : Guwahati High Court
Languages : Nagamese,Angami, Ao, Konyak, Sema etc.
Population density : 120/sq km
No of Districts : 8
Main crops : Rice, wheat, maize, pulses
Rivers : Dansiri, Doyang, Dikhu, Barak
Minerals : Coal, limestone, petroleum, marble
Industries : None
Airport : Dimapur
PHYSICAL FEATURES
The State is mostly mountainous except those areas bordering
Assam valley. The Naga Hills run through this state. Mount
Saramati is the highest peak in Nagaland with a height of 3,840
metres and its range forms a natural barrier between Nagaland
and Myanmar.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Medieval chronicles of the Ahom kingdom of Assam talk of the
Naga tribes. The Myanmar invasion of Assam in 1816 was
followed by the establishment of British rule in 1826. By 1892,
British administration covered the entire Naga territory, with the
exception of the Tuensang area. After independence in 1947,
Naga territory initially remained a part of Assam, after which
there was a strong nationalist pressure for the political union of
the Naga tribes. In 1957, an agreement was signed between the
Naga leaders and the Indian government, following which the
Naga Hill districts of Assam and the Tuensang division to the
north-east were brought together under a single unit, directly
administered by the Indian government. However, unrest
continued and another accord was reached at the Naga People’s
Convention meeting of July I960. According to this accord, it
was decided that Nagaland should become a constituent state
of the Indian Union.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1957 - Agreement signed between the Naga leaders and the Indian
government. 1st December 1963 - Nagaland became a state of
Union. 1964 - democratically elected government took office
COURTS IN INDIA
High Courts with jurisdiction in more than
1 state/UT
High Court
Jurisdiction
Guwahati
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya,
Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram
Bombay
Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and
Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu
Calcutta
West Bengal, Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
Kerala
Kerala, Lakshadweep
Madras
Tamil Nadu, Puducherry
Punjab and Harayana Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh
High Court
Allahabad High Court
Bombay High Court
Calcutta High Court
Gauhati High Court
Madhya Pradesh High Court
Madras High Court
Rajasthan High Court
High Court
Chattisgarh
Gujarat
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Orissa
Rajasthan
Uttarakhand
Uttar Pradesh
High Courts and Benches
Bench
Lucknow
Nagpur, Panaji, Aurangabad
Port Blair
Kohima, Aizwal, Imphal,
Agartala, Shillong
Gwalior, Indore
Madurai
Jaipur
High Courts not in State Capitals
Location
Bilaspur
Ahmedabad
Kochi
Jabalpur
Cuttack
Jodhpur
Nainital
Allahabad
Union Territories - High Courts
Union Territory
Andaman & Nicobar islands
Lakshadweep
Puducherry
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Daman and Diu
Chandigarh
Delhi
High Court
Calcutta High Court
Kerala High Court
Madras High Court
Bombay High Court
Bombay High Court
Punjab & Haryana High Court
Delhi High Court
Points to Remember
• The Supreme Court of India came into existence on 28 Jan 1950
replacing Federal Court of India which had functioned from
1937 to 1950.
• The number of Judges in the Supreme Court is Chief Justice
and 28 other judges.
• A judge of the Supreme Court of India can hold office upto the
maximum age of sixty-five years.
• The total number of High courts in India is 21.
• The oldest High Court in India is the Calcutta High Court
which was set up on 01 Jul 1862. It is one of the three Chartered
High Courts to be set up in India, along with the High Courts
of Bombay, Madras.
• The upper age limit for appointment as a judge of High court
is sixty-two years.
First Recipients of Various Awards
BHARAT RATNA
1st Indian to be awarded the Bharat Ratna
1st Bharat Ratna Awardee to become the
President of India
1st person to be awarded the Bharat Ratna
posthumously
1st Scientist to be awarded the Bharat
Ratna
1st and only Industrialist to be awarded
the Bharat Ratna
1st women to be awarded the Bharat
Ratna
LITERARY AWARDS
1st Indian to be awarded the Nobel prize
in literature
1st recipient of Bhartiya Jnanpith award G Sankara Kurup
1st recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award
for English
RK Narayan
1st person to receive Nobel prize for
English literature
Rudyard Kipling
1st Indian to receive the Booker prize Salman Rushdie
1st Indian woman to receive the Booker
prize
Arundhati Roy
1st Indian to receive the Pulitzer prize
(Reporting category)
SPORTS AWARDS
Gobind Behari Lal
1st recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
Award
Viswanathan Anand
1st recipient of Dhyanchand Lifetime
Achievement Award
Aparna Ghosh
1st cricket player to be awarded the Arjuna
Award
Salim Durrani
AWARDS IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE
1st Indian scientist to be awarded the
Nobel prize
CV Raman
1st person to receive Nobel prize for
Physics
1st woman to receive the Nobel prize
GALLANTRY AWARDS
1st winner of Param Vir Chakra
1st and only Air Force person to receive
the Param Vir Chakra
1st and only woman to receive the Ashoka
Chakra
FOREIGN AWARDS
1st Indian to be awarded the Nishan-e-
Pakistan
1st Indian to be awarded Magsaysay
Award
FILM AWARDS
1st winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award
1st winner of Filmfare best actor award
1st winner of Filmfare best actress award
1st Hindi film to win the National film
Award
1st film to win the Best Film Academy
Award (Oscar)
OTHER AWARDS
1st recipient of Jawaharlal Nehru Award
for International Understanding
1st recipient of Indira Gandhi Prize for
Peace, Disarmament and Development
1st recipient of World Food Prize
instituted By Norman Brlaug (Father of
Green Revolution)
1st recipient of Communal Harmony
Award (Individual)
1st recipient of Communal Harmony
Award (Organisation)
1st Asian recipient of Hoover Medal
(America’s prestigious award for
outstanding extra-career services by
engineers to humanity)
1st recipient of VK Krishna Menon Award
(instituted by London based VK Krishna
Menon Foundation)
C Rajagopalachari
Dr. S.
Radhakrishnan
Lal Bahadur Shastri
CV Raman
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 28
JRD Tata
Mrs. Indira Gandhi
Rabindranath
Tagore
William K Roentgen
Madame Curie (1903)
Major Somnath
Sharma
Flying Officer
Nirmaljit Shekhon
Neerja Bhanot
(1987)
Morarjee Desai
Vinoba Bhave
Devika Rani
Dilip Kumar
Meena Kumari
Mirza Ghalib (1954)
Wings (1927-28)
U Thant (1965)
Parliamentarians for
Global Action(1986)
MS Swaminathan
(Father of Green
Revolution in India ),
1987
Asghar Ali Engineer,
1997
Quami Ekta Trust,
1997
APJ Abdul Kalam,
2008
Former CJI KG
Balakrishnan

DECEMBER 2011
PERSON IN NEWS
Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko Sentenced
to 7yrs in Jail
Ukraine’s former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was sentenced
to 7 years in prison on 11 October 2011 on charges of abuse of
office in signing a gas deal with Russia in 2009. Tymoshenko
currently the nation’s top opposition leader, denounced the trial
as rigged by president Viktor Yanukovych in order to get rid of a
popular political opponent.
Judge Rodion Kireyev declared Tymoshenko guilty of exceeding
her authority as premier when she signed a natural gas imports
contract with Russia in 2009. He also banned her from occupying
government posts for three years after the completion of her
prison term and fined her 1.5 billion hryvna ($190 million) for the
damages her actions cost the state. As a convicted criminal, she
would be unable to participate in Ukraine’s next presidential
elections in 2012. In May 2010, Ukraine’s state prosecutor
launched a criminal case relating to misuse by Tymoshenko’s
govt of about $290 million in cash received for selling carbon
quotas. Prosecutors mentioned that the deal saddled Ukraine
with an exorbitant price for supplies of Russian gas.
Yulia Tymoshenko born in November 1960 and was trained as an
engineer. In the mid-1990s she formed United Energy Systems,
which helped supply gas to Ukraine’s huge industrial base. Her
early involvement in the gas industry in the 1990s, after Ukraine
had gained its independence with the break-up of the Soviet
Union, earned her the nickname gas princess.
She shot to prominence when she led the Orange Revolution
street protests in Kiev in 2004-05. She entered parliament in 1996
and was made a deputy PM in charge of the energy sector in
2000 by PM Viktor Yushchenko. she became PM and Yushchenko
the president in 2005. She was however sacked after 8 months in
office. She was reappointed PM in September 2007. As PM,
Tymoshenko brokered the 10-year gas deal with Russian PM
Putin in January 2009. In 2010 Tymoshenko lost the presidential
election to Viktor Yanukovych.
Indian-born 100 year Old Fauja Singh
entered Guinness Book by setting
Marathon Record
Indian-born Fauja Singh, 100, was officially recognised as the
oldest person to complete a full-distance marathon after crossing
the finish line at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in eight hours,
25 minutes and 16 seconds. Singh made his way up the last few
hundred metres of the race and finished in 3850th place - ahead
of five other runners. He attributed his success to ginger curry,
cups of tea and being happy. The 100-year-old runner of Indianorigin,
set a Guinness record of being the oldest person to
complete a full-distance marathon.
Singh began running regularly 11 years ago after the deaths of
his wife and son. According to his translator he runs 16km every
day. Born in India on 1 April 1911, Singh a farmer in the Punjab
took the sport seriously only when he moved to Britain. He carried
the torch during the relay for the 2004 Athens Games. Singh,
who completed the first of his eight marathons as an 89-year-old,
has a personal best of five hours, 40 minutes, set back in 2003.
The 2003 record made him the world record holder at the distance
for a man aged 90 or over. Singh also holds eight sprint bests in
his age category.
The Guinness Book Denied A 100-Year-Old Marathoner A
World Record Because He Didn’t Have A Birth Certificate: A
100-year-old British man who completed the Toronto Marathon
will not be recognized by the Guinness Book because he
cannot produce a valid birth certificate. Fauja Sign is Indianborn
British citizen and has a British passport that says his
birthday is April 1, 1911, as well as a letter from the Queen
congratulating him on being the oldest man to complete a
marathon. But that’s not enough for the Guinness Book.
Bobby Jindal wins 2nd term as
Louisiana Governor
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal, won re-election on 22 October
2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Jindal won 66% of
the vote with his nearest challenger, Tara Hollis of the Democratic
party, got 18%. On 20 October, 2007, Jindal was elected governor
of Louisiana for the first time. Bobby Jindal is the first Indian-
American to occupy the post of a governor. His real name was
Piyush Jindal. He started calling himself Bobby from an early age
and converted from Hinduism to Catholicism as a teenager. He
was born in Baton Rouge, the capital of the southern state of
Louisiana, to Indian parents who had immigrated from the Punjab.
He is 37 years old. Louisiana is a state located in the southern
region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge.
Niira Radia Moves Out of
Communication Business
Niira Radia,Corporate lobbyist and provider of public relations
services for the Tata group and Reliance Industries on 30 October
2011 announced her exit from the business of communication
consultancy. She cited her personal priorities of family and health
behind taking the decision after much consideration. Niira Radia
had been in news related to the 2G controversy in the recent past
when leaked tapes of her conversations appeared in the media.
The 2G spectrum controversy involved officials in the government
of India illegally undercharging mobile telephony companies for
frequency allocation licenses, which they would use to create 2G
subscriptions for cell phones.
Nita Ambani Joins EIH as Additional
Director
East India Hotels inducted Nita Ambani on its board on 31 October
2011. Nita Ambani is the wife of Reliance Industries chairman
Mukesh Ambani. RIL had bought a 14.9 percent stake in EIH in
August 2010. East India Hotels runs the Oberoi Hotels chain.
Nita Ambani is the founder chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani
International School and co-owner of the Mumbai Indians cricket
team.
NEWS DIGEST
PERSON APPOINTED /
ELECTED
Former Colombian Rebel Elected
Mayor of Bogota
Gustavo Petro was elected mayor of the Colombian capital, Bogota
as Colombians voted in local elections. The elections concluded
on 30 October 2011. Petro won 32 percent of the votes. His main
opponent Enrique Penalosa was the favoured candidate of former
President Alvaro Uribe. He could manage only 25 percent of the
votes. Petro was a former guerrilla with the defunct M-19
Movement.
Petro helped uncover a bid-rigging scandal in Bogota in 2010
that sent its previous elected mayor, Samuel Moreno, to jail for
corruption charges. The voting in the capital was part of
nationwide regional and municipal elections, with 32
governorships and more than 1,100 mayoral and municipal council
post being contested.
What is M-19 Movement
The 19th of April Movement or M-19,was a Colombian guerrilla
movement. After its demobilization it became a political party,
the M-19 Democratic Alliance (Alianza Democrática M-19), or
AD/M-19. The M-19 traced its origins to the allegedly fraudulent
presidential elections of 19 April 1970.
Former SC Judge Katju Is New Press
Council Chief
Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju was appointed
as the new chairman of media regulator Press Council of India
(PCI) on 5 October 2011. The appointment of Justice Katju, who
retired from the apex court on 19 September 2011 was cleared by
a committee headed by Vice President Hamid Ansari and included
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar. In exercise of the powers
conferred by the sub-section (2) of section 5 of the Press Council
Act, 1978 (37 of 1978), the Central Government notified his
appointment as the Chairman of the Press Council of India. He
succeeded Justice G N Ray.
Justice Katju was first appointed a judge of the Allahabad High
Court in 1981. He delivered landmark judgements that included
favouring passive euthanasia, death penalty for honour killings,
capital punishment for policemen involved in fake encounters
and wanted the corrupt to be hanged from the lamp post.
Before his stint in the Supreme Court, Justice Katju served as a
Judge of the Allahabad High Court in 1991 and as its acting Chief
Justice in August 2004. He was then appointed as the Chief
Justice of Madras High Court in November 2004 and went on to
become the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court in October 2005.
He was appointed as the Judge of the Supreme Court in April
2006 and he retired on 19 September 2011.
Katju has written several books which include publications such
as Law in the Scientific Era and Interpretation of Taxing Statutes,
among others.
The Press Council of India (PCI) is the apex media regulator of
the country. The Press Council of India is a statutory, quasi
judicial body which acts as a watchdog of the media. Its chairman
by convention is a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
Gurbachan Singh New Chairman for
Agricultural Scientists Recruitment
Board
Union Agriculture Commissioner Gurbachan Singh was in october
2011 appointed Chairman of the Agricultural Scientists
Recruitment Board for a seven-year term until further orders or till
he attains the age of 65, whichever is earlier. The Board is crucial
to recruitment of farm researchers and policy formulation.
During the tenure of Dr. Singh as Agriculture Commissioner, India
achieved its highest foodgrain production including a record as
pulses output, has assumed charge of his new post.
Born in Bhaini Maraj village in Sangrur district of Punjab, Dr.
Singh holds a Ph.D. in Agronomy. He specialises in developing
alternate approaches to a sustainable use of soil resources. He is
the reviewing referee for several peer-reviewed international
journals including the Journal of Professional Association of
Cactus Development, US, Acta Horticulture and Geoderma.
He is the alumnus of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and
the founder-President of the Indian Society of Soil Salinity and
Water Quality.
PERSON DIED
Former Bihar CM Bhagwat Jha Azad
Dead
Former Bihar Chief Minister Bhagwat Jha Azad died on 4 October
2011 at the age of 89. He was a six-time member of the Lok
Sabha from Bhagalpur, Bihar. He was a veteran Congressman
who served as the Chief Minister of Bihar from February 14, 1988
and March 10, 1989. However, a little before his death he joined
the BJP.
Azad superceded the boards of three apex cooperative
institutions namely Bihar State Co-operative Bank, Bihar State
Co-operative Marketing Union and Bihar State Co-operative Land
Development Bank.
He appointed three IAS officers, B K Sinha, P K Basu and R K
Singh respectively as the administrators of these three apex
cooperative institutions. This troika became popular as the group
of BK, PK and RK that went on to create terror in the minds of the
cooperative mafia.
Jagjit Singh Passes Away
Veteran ghazal singer Jagjit Singh passed away on 10 October
2011 in Mumbai. He was 70. He was admitted in Lilavati Hospital
for more than two weeks. The singer had undergone an
emergency surgery for brain hemorrhage at the Hospital on 23
September 2011. The veteran singer, popularly known as the
Ghazal King had gained acclaim together with his wife Chitra
Singh in 1970s and 1980s. He had sung in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu,
Bengali, Gujarati, Sindhi and Nepali languages. Moreover, Jagjit
Singh is the only singer and composer to have composed and
recorded songs written by former Indian Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee, in two albums, Samvedna in the year 2002 and
Nayi Disha in the year 1999. His music became popular through
films such as Prem Geet, Arth and Saath Saath and TV serials
Kahkashan and Mirza Galib.
Jagjit Singh was awarded Padmabhushan, India’s third highest
civilian honour, in 2003. He was the voice behind Hazaron
Khwaishe aisi, Jhuki Jhuki si Nazar and Ye kaghaz ki kashti. Jagjit
Singh was born to Sikh parents in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan on
8 February, 1941. He sang the famous song tum jo intna muskura
Rahe Ho from Mahesh Bhatt’s film Arth in 1982.
Jagjeet Singh began his musical journey singing Shabads or
devotional songs in Gurudwaras. He studied in DAV college
Jalandar where his fee was waived off because of his voice. He
got a chance as a professional singer in Jalandar’s All India Radio.
He came to Mumbai in 1961 to try his hand in play back singing
but soon returned to Jalandar. He came again to Mumbai to fulfil
his dreams in 1965. His voice infused a new melody into Ghazals
and brought Ghazals into the mainstream. He also sang duets
with his wife Chitra Singh. He sang in Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and
Sindhi.
Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs Dead at 56
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. died at age 56 from
pancreatic cancer on 6 October 2011. Steve Jobs had stepped
down as Apple’s chief executive on 24 August 2011. Steve Jobs
co-founded Apple in 1976 along with Ronald Wayne and Steve
Wozniak. Steve also co-founded and was the CEO of Pixar
Animation Studios, which created animated films. He became a
member of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company in
2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. After leaving
Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985. Steve Jobs was
from California, USA.
Steve Jobs helped create the Macintosh, one of the world’s most
influential computers. He also reinvented the portable music
player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method
of selling music online with iTunes and reordered the cellphone
market with the iPhone.
Apple is leading the consumer technology world with its
revolutionary iPhone and App Store, its family of iPod media
players and iTunes media store, and its Mac computers and iLife
and iWork application suites. Apple recently introduced the iPad,
a breakthrough internet and digital media device, in addition to
iBookstore, alongside iTunes and the App store.
Gadhafi: Libya's Leader for 42Yrs Killed
Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for over 40 years, was killed
on 20 October 2011 while trying to flee from his hometown, Sirte.
Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya autocratically for 42 years after
coming to power in a coup.
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi was born to
nomadic parents in the desert region of Sirte in 1942. He went to
study history at the University of Libya in 1961 and then entered
the Benghazi Military Academy. He remained the autocratic ruler
of Libya from 1969, when he seized power in a bloodless military
coup that overthrew King Idris I until 2011 when his government
was overthrown in a civil war. His 42-year rule prior to the uprising
made him the fourth longest-ruling non-royal leader since 1900,
as well as the longest-ruling Arab leader.
He pinned several titles to himself- the Brother Leader and Guide
of the Revolution, in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers
bestowed on him the title King of Kings.
After seizing power in 1969, he abolished the Libyan Constitution
of 1951 and civil liberties enshrined in it. He imposed laws based
on the political ideology which he had formulated and called it
the Third International Theory. He also published The Green
Book.
The United Nations called Libya under Gaddafi a pariah state. In
the 1980s, countries around the world imposed sanctions against
Gaddafi. A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he
served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February
2009 to 31 January 2010.
2011 Libyan Civil War
Following revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia,
protests against Gaddafi’s rule began in February 2011. Soon an
uprising that spread across the country, with the forces opposing
Gaddafi establishing a government based in Benghazi named
the National Transitional Council (NTC). This led to the 2011
Libyan Civil War, which included a military intervention by a
NATO-led coalition to enforce a UN Security Council Resolution
1973 calling for a no-fly zone and protection of civilians in Libya.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants on
27 June 2011 for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and his brotherin-law
Abdullah al-Senussi, head of state security for charges,
concerning crimes against humanity.
In August, rebel forces engaged in a coastal offensive and took
most of their lost territory, and captured the capital city of Tripoli.
Gaddafi evaded capture and loyalists engaged in a rearguard
campaign. He remained in hiding until 20 October 2011, when he
was captured and killed in Sirte.
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 29

DECEMBER 2011
Malayalam Novelist Kakkanadan Dead
Eminent Malayalam novelist George Varghese Kakkanadan who
was one of the pioneers of modern Malyalam literature breathed
his last on 19 October 2011 in Kollam. Known simply as
Kakkanadan, he was one of the harbingers of modernism in the
genres of Malayalam novel and short story. Born on 23 April
1935 at Thiruvalla, Kakkanadan started his professional career
as a school teacher but he quit that job later to join the Southern
Railway.
His Style of Writing
Kakkanadan was a rebel, both in life and literature and his
rebellion extended from his selection of themes and use of
subversive language to his careful crafting of the philosophy of
angst into the writing. His violent style of writing shook the very
roots of the progressive literary sensibilities of the 1960s and
1970s and its innocent certainties. Each of his works was an act
of rebellion against accepted elitist social mores and codes. Sex,
like violence, was a leitmotif in many of his works.
George Varghese Kakkanadan’s works
He published his first work, Kachavadam, in 1963. Kakkanadan’s
major novels include Sakshi (1967), Ezham Mudra (1968), Vasoori
(1968), Ushnamekhala (1969), Kozhi (1971), Parankimala (1971),
Ajnathayude Thaazhvara (1972), Innaleyude Nizhal (1974),
Adiyaravu (1975), Orotha (1982), Ee Naaykkalute Lokam (1983)
and Barsaathi (1986).His most noted short story collections are
Yuddhaavasaanam (1969), Purathekkulla Vazhi (1970),
Aswathamaavinte Chiri (1979), Sreechakram (1981), Alwar
Thirunagarile Pannikal (1989), Uchayillaatha Oru Divasam (1989)
and Jaappaana Pukayila (2005). Two of his works, Parankimala
and Aniyara, had been made into films by (late) director
Bharathan.
Awards won by Kakkanadan
The first notable award he received was Malayala Nadu
Cherukatha Award in 1971. He was a recipient of several
prestigious awards including Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award
(2002), Kendra Sahitya Academy Award (2005), Balamaniamma
Award (2008) and Muttathu Varkey Award. He won the Central
Sahitya Akademi Award, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and
other awards. His work,Orodha won him the 1984 Kerala Sahithya
Akademi award. Ushnamekhala, Vasoori, Ajnathayude
Thazhvara, Japana Pukayila, which won him Kendra Sahitya
Akademi Award and Saakshi are some of his famous works.
Noted Economist Vishnudutt Nagar
known for Analytic Columns on the
General Budget died
Noted economist Vishnudutt Nagar passed away after suffering
a heart attack on 10 October 2011 at the ager of 82. Nagar was
born on December 16, 1930 at Chanchoda in Madhya Pradesh’s
Guna district. He played a prominent role in the establishment of
an economics department at the Vikram University at Ujjain.
Nagar’s analytic columns on the general budget in national dailies
were well received.
Days After Winning Jnanpith Shrilal
Shukla Passes Away
Renowned litterateur Srilal Shukla died at a hospital in Lucknow
on 28 October 2011 following prolonged illness. He was 86. Srilal
Shukla wrote Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj (1957), Agyaatvaas (1962),
Rag Darbari (1968), Aadmi Ka Zahar (1972), Bisrampur Ka Sant
(1998), Raag Viraag (2001) and many other novels. English
translation of his novel Rag Darbari was published under the
same title in 1993 by Penguin Books. The novel was also translated
and published by National Book Trust, India in 15 Indian
languages. A television serial based on this novel continued for
several months on the DD National in the 1980s.
He wrote many satires like Angad Ka Paanv, Yahaan Se Vahaan,
Meri Shreshtha Vyangya Rachnayein (1979), Kuchh Zameen Mein
Kuchh Hava Mein (1990), Jahaalat Ke Pachaas Saal (2003),
Khabron Ki Jugaali (2005) and many more. Yeh Ghar Mera Nahin,
Suraksha Tatha Anya Kahaaniyan, Iss Umra Mein, Dus Pratinidhi
Kahaaniyan are his short story collections. Mere Saakshaatkaar
(2002) and Kuchh Saahitya Charcha Bhi (2008) are his memoirs.
His detective novel entitled Aadmi Ka Zahar was serialised in
the weekly magazine Hindustan. His works throw light on the
falling moral values of society in post-independence era. Raag
Darbaari portrayed a feudal, crumbling Shivpalganj- the
archetypal village of the Hindi heartland with its politico-cultural
tensions and administrative neglect. Shukla delved upon almost
everything that was decadent in the system, but stopped short
of making a moral statement.
Shrilal Shukla was born in Atrauli village of Lucknow district on
31 December 1925. He had graduated from Allahabad University.
He began his career as a state civil servant (UPPCS) in 1949.
Later on, he was inducted into the IAS but in 1983 he left the
services and continued to pursue his literary dreams. Shrilal
Shukla was presented the India’s highest literary honour Jnanpith
award on his hospital bed by Uttar Pradesh Governor B L Joshi
on 18 October 2011. He and another Hindi author Amar Kant
were chosen on 19 September 2011 for the Jnanpith award for the
year 2009. He was honoured with the Sahitya Akademi Award for
novel Raag Darbari for the year 1969. He was also a recipient of
Vyas Samman (1999), Lohia Sammaan (1994) of Uttar Pradesh
Hindi Sansthaan, Sharad Joshi and Maithili Sharan Gupta
Sammaan of Madhya Pradesh Government. He was awarded with
civilian honour Padma Bhushan in 2008.
Veteran Congress Leader
KH Ranganath Dead
Veteran Congress leader and former Karnataka minister K H
Ranganath who was suffering from kidney disorder died in
Bangalore on 18 october 2011. Ranganath, a six term MLA from
Hiriyura assembly constituency in Chitradurga district, was also
a Lok Sabha member from Chitradurga during 1984-89. He had
served in the ministries of late D Devaraj Urs, Bangarappa and S
M Krishna. Ranganath was also the speaker of the Karnataka
state assembly.
AWARDS / HONOURS
Ratan Tata Gets Swiss Ambassador's
Award
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata was honoured with the Swiss
Ambassador’s award for exceptional leadership and his
contribution to strengthening bilateral ties between India and
Switzerland on 16 October 2011. Switzerland’s Ambassador to
India Philippe Welti conferred the award to Tata at a ceremony at
the Swiss embassy in New Delhi.
Ratan Tata had transformed Tata Group into a global conglomerate
while retaining its strong roots in the group’s traditions and
ethics. Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Sons in 1991. Under
the chairmanship of Ratan Tata, the group had acquired several
international brands like Land Rover, Jaguar, Tetley and Corus.
The first Swiss Ambassador’s award, founded in 2010, was
conferred on film-maker Yash Chopra for his contribution to
strengthening Indo-Swiss people-to-people relations through
his movies.
Indira Gandhi Award for Mohan Dharia
Environmentalist, lawyer and former Union Minister, Mohan
Dharia was selected as the winner of the 26th Indira Gandhi
Award for National Integration in October 2011. Mohan Dharia
was selected for the prestigious award for his yeoman’s service
in promoting and preserving spirit of national integration. It carries
a citation and cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh.
The 86-year-old Padma Vibhushan awardee currently runs the
Vanrai NGO in Pune. He was elected to Rajya Sabha and Lok
Sabha and has been Union Minister and Deputy Chairperson of
Planning Commission from December 1990 to June 1991.
The award was constituted by Congress in its centenary year to
give recognition to outstanding contribution to the cause by an
individual or institution.
Dhanvantari Award for Nephrologist
Dr M K Mani
Dr M K Mani, pioneer of nephrology in India and currently chief
nephrologist at the Apollo Hospital was on 20 October 2011
declared the winner of the 40th Dhanvantari Award. Mani
pioneered innovative techniques and new regimen in management
of kidney disorders.
He is the recipient of many awards including Padma Bhushan and
the Ravindranath Tagore award and has over 125 publications to
his credit. He was awarded honorary Doctorate of Science from
several universities. Mani became well-known after he gave a
fresh lease of life to Jairakash Narayan, who was suffering from
kidney ailment.
The prestigious award, which recognises contribution in medical
science, is being awarded annually since 1972. The other recipients
include Dr Denton A Cooley from Houston and pioneer heart
transplant surgeon Dr Christian Bernard from South Africa.
Aman Sethi Wins ICRC Award
The Hindu’s Chhattisgarh correspondent, Aman Sethi on 19
October 2011 was awarded the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) award for the best Indian print media article on
humanitarian issues at the India Islamic Cultural Centre. Sethi
took home a cash award of Rs. 50,000, the second and third prize
winners were given Rs.30,000 and Rs.20,000 respectively.
His article on three Chhattisgarh villages ruthlessly torched by
police commandos in March 2011 was selected as the best of
nearly 80 entries from across the country. About 300 homes and
granaries were burnt in the five-day police operation which left
three men dead, and three women sexually assaulted. Sethi’s
coverage initiated the local administration to probe the incident
and send aid to the affected villages.
Tehelka’s Umar Baba took the second place for his article Screams
from the Valley, while the third prize went to Reji Joseph of Rashtra
Deepika and the consolation prize to Anup Sharma of The Times
of India. Delhi-based Kashmiri journalist Mohammad Umar Baba
who writes under the byline Baba Umar bagged the best
humanitarian Reporting Award 2011 award in the All India
Journalist Competition for the best print media article on
humanitarian issues. It is for the first time that a Kashmiri journalist
has won this award.
About the Award
The awards are instituted by the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) and the Press Institute of India (PII) for articles
published in an Indian national or regional newspaper or
magazine in English or any of the Indian languages. ICRC is a
150 year-old international organisation working in more than
eighty countries to preserve a measure of humanity amidst
violence while PII is about fifty years old organisation working
in India for upholding the standards of journalism in India through
research and training programmes. In all, 100 entries were received
by the ICRC of which 44 were shortlisted for further consideration.
Partho 'Stanley' Gupte Wins Prestigious
Child Actors' Award
Actor/director Amol Gupte’s son Partho Gupte, who delivered
an excellent performance as the quick-witted Stanley in his father’s
Stanley Ka Dabba won the best actor award at the Schlingel
International Film Festival that concluded in Chmnitz, Germany
on 16 October 2011. Partho won the best actor award, beating
130 young contenders from all across the world.
Stanley Ka Dabba has been so far screened at four festivals,
including Mumbai Film Festival. Schlingel is the only film festival
in the world devoted to films for and about children. It’s a very
evolved film festival. The quality of films and principal
performances are at par with some of the most complex films for
adult audiences. There were over 130 films in the competition.
IPI India Journalism Award to Tehelka
and The Week
Tehelka and The Week were jointly chosen for the International
Press Institute (IPI) – India award for excellence in journalism,
2011for their outstanding journalistic work in 2010. The award
was declared by the Indian chapter of the International Press
Institute (IPI). The award comprises of a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh,
a trophy and a citation.
Led by Tarun J Tejpal weekly Tehelka was selected for its expose
of the rent a riot tactics of the Sree Rama Sene in Karnataka,
which admitted taking money to organise attacks on innocent
persons and institutions. The Week was selected for its sustained
investigative reporting on sham medical and dental colleges
which had no doctors, no patients and no facilities and yet were
permitted to award medical and dental degrees to thousands of
students.
The awardees were selected by a distinguished jury of editors
and publishers headed by the former Chief Justice of India, A. S.
Anand. The members of the jury included IPI-India Chairman
and The Hindu Editor N Ravi, PTI Editor-in-Chief M K Razdan,
Business Standard Chairman and Chief Editor T N Ninan and
Malyala Manorama Senior Assistant Editor Riyad Mathew.
The International Press Institute (IPI) is an active forum of editors,
publishers and senior executives of newspapers, magazines and
news agencies committed to promotion of free exchange of
accurate and balanced news among nations. The IPI was founded
in October 1950. Its members are spread in over120 countries.
BOOKS / AUTHORS
Julian Barnes wins the 2011 Man
Booker Prize
British novelist Julian Barnes was on 18 October 2011 declared
the unanimous winner of the 2011 £50,000 Man Booker prize for
his novella, The Sense of an Ending. The novel is about a 60something
man forced to confront buried truths about his past
after the unexpected arrival of a letter.
The book was hailed by critics as an exquisitemeditation on
growing old, the nature of memory and relationships. At 150
pages, The Sense of an Ending is his shortest novel. The judges
mentioned that the book was exquisitely written, subtly plotted
and reveals new depths with each reading.
Barnes, one of Britain’s most critically acclaimed novelists, was
previously nominated for Flaubert’s Parrot in 1984, England,
England in 1998 and Arthur and George in 2005.
Julian Patrick Barnes born on 19 January 1946 in Leicester,
England is a contemporary English writer. His first novel,
Metroland (1980), is a short, semi-autobiographical story of
Christopher, a young man from the London suburbs who travels
to Paris as a student, finally returning to London.
Julian Barnes had earlier won the Austrial State prize for European
literature in 2004 and the David Cohen prize for literature for his
lifetime achievement in literature. In France he is the only writer
to have won both the Prix Medicis (for Flaubert’s Parrot) and the
Prix Femina (for Talking It Over).
The record for the shortest book ever to win a Booker remains
Penelope Fitzgerald’s Offshore which won in 1979.
The other contenders were: Carol Birch (Jamrach’s Menagerie),
Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers), Esi Edugyan (Half Blood
Blues), and debut authors Stephen Kelman (Pigeon English) and
AD Miller (Snowdrops).
Former British spy chiefturned-thriller writer Stella Rimington
chaired the judging panel.
Controversy
Inspite of being nominted thrice before for the prize, Julian Barnes
never won it which had led him to famously describe the Booker
Prize as posh bingo.
Journalist's Book on Indian Political
History Released
Page from the Past-A journalist looks back: K P Srivastava
The book Page from the Past-A journalist looks back, a book
by veteran journalist K P Srivastava released on 19 October
2011. The book was released at a function in the Press Club of
India by veteran journalist Inder Malhotra. The book was
published by Daya Publications, Madurai.
In the book, Srivastava, who retired from PTI as Editor in the late
80s recalled his days as a journalist covering political
developments from the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru till coalition era.
K.P. Srivastava, a veteran journalist and media adviser to former
prime minister Chandrasekhar mentioned in his book the bygone
era of Indian journalism, politics and social life.
The book captured the essence of political developments and
the intricacies of manoeuvrings that took place in the corridors
of power since the times of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal
Nehru, his successor Lal Bahadur Shastri to Nehru’s daughter
Indira Gandhi.
The book is a collection of articles by Srivastava or K.P., as his
colleagues and friends called him. Srivastava, 86, retired as editor
of The Press Trust of India in 1987.
The book also offers anecdotes and experiences of the author
with politicians and the dilemmas of governance they faced in a
culturally, linguistically and politically complex India.
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DECEMBER 2011
PERSON ON VISIT
Afghan President Hamid Karzai Visit India
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was on a two-day visit in India
on 4 October and 5 October, 2011. The visit meant for both the
countries to consolidate their strategic partnership and discuss
bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.
On 4 October 2011 India signed three agreements with Afghanistan
for both the countries greater strategic partnership. The
agreements were singed between Afghanistan President, Hamid
Karzai and India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The strategic
pact was aimed at bolstering cooperation against international
terror. The Three arguments that were signed during the visit
were:
• Agreement on Strategic Partnership between India and
Afghanistan
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Development of
Hydrocarbons
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Mineral Resources
Development.
President of Myanmar Visited India
U Thein Sein, the President of the Republic of the Union of
Myanmar visited India from 12 October 2011 to 15 October 2011.
This was the first State visit of any political head from Myanmar
to India following the swearing in of a new government in
Myanmar in March 2011. Apart from his official engagement in
New Delhi, President U Thein Sein visited places of economic,
historical and religious interest, including Bodhgaya, Kushinagar
and Varanasi. During his visit, the President of Myanmar signed
several agreements with India including cooperation in Oil and
Natural gas. Apart from this, both nations also issued a joint
statement.
PLACES IN NEWS
IBSA Summit Concluded in PRETORIA
Pretoria: The fifth summit of IBSA was held here. Pretoria is a
city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa.
It is one of the country’s three capital cities, serving as the
administrative capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative
capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.
The fifth IBSA (India Brazil South Africa) summit concluded on
18 October 2011 in Pretoria. India, Brazil and South Africa, issued
a joint declaration at the end of the summit, which condemned
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
IBSA leaders described terrorism as one of the most serious threats
to international peace and security. At their summit meeting, the
IBSA leaders said the United Nations should play a central role in
co-ordinating international action against terrorism within the
framework of the UN Charter and in accordance with the
international law.
Goa Plans to Revive 60 Mines in
Sanctuary
Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary: It is located in Goa; 60 kms from
state capital Panaji. The state government of Goa gave its
approval to 60 non-operational mines in the Netravali Wildlife
Sanctuary under the Regional Plan 2021. The sanctuary is located
60 kms from Panaji. The Sanctuary is one of the five sanctuaries,
which are located in Goa. It is home to animals like slender loris,
deer, black panther and leopard. The environmentalists expressed
their concern over the state government’s decision as the mining
activities can have harmful effects on the animals in the sanctuary.
The 125th Assembly of the Inter
Parliamentary Union took place in Bern
Switzerland
BERN: The 125th Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union
was held here. The 125th Assembly of the Inter-parliamentary
union was held in Bern, Switzerland from 16 October 2011 to 19
October 2011. Bern was also the headquarters of the IPU from
1892 to 1911
ACCIDENT / INCIDENT
7.2 Richter Scale Earthquake Hits
Eastern Turkey
An earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale killed many
people in eastern Turkey on 23 October 2011. Approximately, 93
people died in Van province alone and 45 in the Ercis district.
The death toll is likely to increase. Serious damage and casualties
were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis. The US
Geological Survey initially measured the quake at 7.3 magnitude
but later downgraded it to 7.2. The earthquake struck at at a
depth of 20 kilometres with its epicentre 16 kilometres north-east
of Van in eastern Turkey. It was followed by a series of powerful
aftershocks, also centred north of Van, including two of
magnitude 5.6 soon after the quake and one of 6.0. Turkey is
particularly vulnerable to earthquakes because it sits on major
geological fault lines.
SUMMIT / CONFERENCE
India to Head UN South Asian
Regional Commission for Tourism
India took over as the Chairman of United Nations South Asian
Regional Commission for tourism. This was announced on 10
October 2011 at the ongoing United Nations World Tourism
Organisation (UNWTO) conference at Gyeongju in South
Korea.The chairmanship of the Commission was with Iran for
the last four years. It signifies the confidence of various countries
in India and the efforts of the Indian government in the promotion
of tourism in the country as well as across the globe in a
responsible and sustainable manner to achieve inclusive growth.
Parinam
DAY / WEEK / YEAR
World Mental Health Day 2011
The World Mental Health Day is anually observed on 10 October.
World Mental Health Day was observed on 10 October 2011 with
the theme, The Great Push: Investing in Mental Health. The
theme for 2011 World Mental Health Day invited a multisectoral
approach in removing barriers to mental healthcare, thereby
reducing the burden of neuropsychiatric disorders. It also
highlighted the long term cost effectivenes of investing in
interventions for prevention of mental disorders and promotion
of mental wellbeing. The day was celebrated in 2011 with an
intention to enhance discussions on mental disorders, and to
encourage investments in prevention, treatment and promoting
awareness of mental illnesses.
A separate day to acknowledge mental health was created by the
World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) in 1992 with a hope
to create public awareness on mental health related issues. The
day is significant in drawing attention to issues concerning not
only mental illness, but mental well being as well.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes mental health
as a state of well being in which the individual realises his or her
own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to
his or her community.
According to an estimation, around 450 million people worldwide
have a mental health problem. By the year 2020, the WHO has
projected that depression will be the second leading cause of
disability in the world. Mental health is an important factor in the
overall health of a person. Without good mental health, a person
will be unable to fulfill its full potential.
World Food Day Observed on 16 Oct
with Food Prices – From Crisis to
Stability as Theme
World Food Day is observed every year on 16 October. In 2011,
World Food Day was observed with the theme- Food Prices –
From Crisis to Stability. Food Priices-from Crisis to Stability
was chosen as the 2011 World Food Day theme to shed some
light on what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most
vulnerable. World Food Day 2011 was observed with an objective
to look seriously at what causes swings in food prices, and do
what needs to be done to reduce their impact on the weakest
members of global society. Price upswings represent a major
threat to food security in developing countries. According to
the World Bank, in 2010-2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70
million people into extreme poverty. World Food Day is
celebrated every year around the world on 16 October in honor
of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations in 1945. It is also the Food
Engineer day. World Food Day (WFD) was established by FAO’s
Member Countries at the Organization’s 20th General Conference
in November 1979. cont....
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DECEMBER 2011
Since 1981, World Food Day has adopted a different theme each
year, in order to highlight areas needed for action and provide a
common focus. Most of the themes revolve around agriculture
because only investment in agriculture together with support
for education and health can ensure food security.
The objectives of World Food Day are to:
• encourage attention to agricultural food production and
to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and nongovernmental
efforts to this end
• encourage economic and technical cooperation among
developing countries
• encourage the participation of rural people, particularly
women and the least privileged categories, in decisions
and activities influencing their living conditions
• heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in
the world
• promote the transfer of technologies to the developing
world
• strengthen international and national solidarity in the
struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and
draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural
development.
World Day for Audiovisual Heritage was
Celebrated on 27 October 2011
27 October 2011: World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2011
UNESCO decided Audiovisual Heritage: See, Hear, and Learn
as theme for celebration of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
2011. On the occasion of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
2011, the Radio Heritage Foundation released six new features
celebrating AFRS radio stations in India and Burma during the
1940’s at its global website www.radioheritage.com.
UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
adopted 27 October as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage
to better focus global attention on the issues at stake, in
cooperation with the Co-ordinating Council of Audiovisual
Archives Associations (CCAAA) and other partners.
All of the world’s audiovisual heritage is endangered. Through
initiatives such as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage and
the Memory of the World Programme, the precious work of
preservation professionals is given impetus to manage a range
of technical, political, social, financial and other factors that
threaten the safeguard of heritage.
Film, television and radio are our common heritage. They help to
maintain the cultural identity of a people but countless
documentary treasures have disappeared since the invention of
image and sound technologies that permit the peoples of the
world to better share their experiences, creativity and knowledge.
COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS
National Committee In Support Of
Jaitapur Struggle
A National Committee has been constituted to support the
struggle against the Jaitapur nuclear project in Maharashtra. The
people of the Jaitapur and the surrounding areas in Ratnagiri
district have been struggling against the setting up of the giant
nuclear project which will have six nuclear reactors bought from
the French Areva company. This project has displaced farmers
and uprooted lucarative mango orchards. The livelihood of
thousands of fishermen are threatened. There is a serious threat
to ecology and environment of the region. The Areva EPR reactors
have not been commissioned anywhere in the world, not even in
France. They are prohibitively expensive and the technology is
untried and untested. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan,
there are serious concerns about the safety and the health of the
people in the region.
The popular protests in Ratnagiri district have been met with
severe police repression and permanent restrictions on holding
protests. False cases have been instituted on many activists.
To extend support to the people’s struggle in Jaitapur and to
mobilise people’s suppa the country to demand a halt to the
Jaitapur project, it has been decided to set-up a National
Committee in Solidarity with the Jaitapur struggle. A 15-member
committee has been constituted consisting of political leaders,
members of Parliament, eminent scientists and leading activists.
The committee will organise a countrywide campaign against
the Jaitapur nuclear project.
INVENTIONS / DISCOVERIES
A New Species of 'Gigantic' Mollusc has
been Discovered
Spanish researchers discovered a rare mollusce in Antarctic waters
that looks the same as limpets but is bigger in size. The discovered
species was named Zeidora Antarctica. It is 14 milimetre long. It
was discovered at a depth of more than 600 metres in the
Bellingshausen Sea in Antarctica.
The discovery was made by a research team from the Ecology
and Zoology Department of the University of Vigo, Spain and
was published in The Nautilus.
The discovery provides more information on the members of the
Zeidora genus and their geographic distribution. The group is
made up of 14 species of which very few specimens were found.
New Albino Spider Species `Found'
Scientists found a new species of trap-door spider, the albino
spider, near Northam in Australia. The albino spider is whiteheaded
and the colour of its legs is black and brown. It is about
the size of a 50-cent piece. Scientists called it a new type of
spider because of subtle differences on the pedipalp and front
leg of the male. This new spider belongs to the family of Idiopidae.
These spiders make burrows in the soil that have tight-fitting
trap-door lid.
Drilling into Ice-Buried Lake in
Antarctica
A team of British scientists and engineers planned to drill three
kilometers through the ice in Antarctica to explore signs of life in
a lake called Ellsworth, which is buried under the glacial surface.
The buried lake has been isolated from the outside world for at
least 1 lakh 25,000 years. Scientists believe such lakes could give
important clues to development on earth and the pattern of climate
change in the region. The mission will use hot water to melt its
way through the 3-kilometer thickness of ice to reach Lake
Ellsworth.
The Planet with Water Ice Discovered
by the Astronomers
Astronomers discovered a mysterious little dwarf planet which
is believed to be covered in ice. The planet was nicknamed Snow
White. It orbits the Sun as part of the Kuiper belt( the ring of the
icy body that orbit the Sun beyond Neptune). The planet is
located outside Neptune. Officially known as 2007 OR10, it is
actually red, half of its surface is covered by water ice that
probably emitted from ancient cryovolcanoes. The official name
of the planet is 2007 OR 10. It is red in colour and half of its
surface is covered by water ice. The planet is red because of the
thin layer of the methane. Snow White had broken off long ago
from another dwarf planet, called Haumea.
Antarctic Ozone Hole 5th Largest on
Record
Scientists found the Ozone hole above Antarctica, which spans
about 25 million square kilometers and it is as big as North
America. The Ozone hole found by the scientists reached its
maximum annual size on 14 September 2011, becoming the fifth
largest on record. A spacecraft called POES discovered the
Antarctic Ozone hole for the first time in the late 1970s. POES
could measure Ozone and it was run by the National Oceanic
and Administration (NOAA). The largest Antarctic ozone hole
ever recorded occurred in 2006, at a size of 27.5 million square
kilometer. Scientists stated that intense cold in the upper
atmosphere of the Arctic activated ozone-depleting chemicals
and that resulted in ozone hole ever recorded over the high
northern regions.
What is Ozone?
Ozone is a pollutant on the earth’s surface. However, in the
stratosphere it forms a protective layer that reflects ultraviolet
radiation back out in space and protect us from the damaging
ultra-violet rays.
Numerical Pattern found in Ancient
Mexican City
Japanese archaeologist Saburo Sugiyama discovered that the
architects of the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan based their
designs on a numerical measure equivalent to 83 centimeters.
The researcher said that by making calculations based on the
measurements of the pyramids at Teotihuacan, he was able to
determine ‘the constant presence’ of the 83-centimeter unit.
Sugiyama said that the stairway, the roof beams and the distance
between the sculptures of snakeheads at the Quetzalcoatl
Pyramid all use this measurement.
SURVEY / REPORT
India Ranked 132 on Business-Friendly
Reforms
A new report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
and the World Bank titled- Doing Business 2012: Doing Business
in a More Transparent World was released on 20 October 2011.
Doing Business 2012: Doing Business in a More Transparent
World assessed regulations affecting domestic firms in 183
economies and ranked the economies in 10 areas of business
regulation, such as starting a business, resolving insolvency,
and trading across borders. Singapore topped the rankings on
ease of doing business for the sixth straight year. Hong Kong
SAR, China, held onto the second spot.
In the report, the World Bank and the International Finance
Corporation mentioned that between June 2010 and May 2011,
there were 245 business regulatory reforms worldwide, which
was 13 per cent more reforms than in the previous year.
China, India, and the Russian Federation were among the 30
economies that improved the most over time. Singapore led on
the overall ease of doing business, followed by Hong Kong,
New Zealand, the U.S. and Denmark. The Republic of Korea was
the new entrant to the top ten list that ranked countries according
to their business environment. India ranked low overall in the
Doing Business assessment, with its rank improving marginally
from 139 to 132 between the 2011 and 2012 reports. When India
dismantled a strict licensing regime controlling business entry
and production the benefits were greater in states that had more
flexible labour regulations. The report noted that the progressive
elimination of the licence raj led to a 6 per cent increase in new
firm registrations in India, and resulted in highly productive firms
entering the market larger increases in real output than less
productive firms.
The report claimed that at a time when persistent unemployment
and the need for job creation are in the headlines, governments
around the world continue sought ways to improve the regulatory
climate for domestic business. Small and medium businesses
that benefit most from these improvements are the key engines
for job creation in many parts of the world. The report noted that
Indonesia’s ranking on regulatory environments for local
entrepreneurs dropped three levels from 123 to 126. In spite of
the fall, Indonesia is still ranked better than India (132) and the
Philippines (136th).
Singapore and Hong Kong SAR, China, provide the friendliest
regulatory environments for local entrepreneurs. Indonesia is
left far behind other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand
(17), Malaysia (18) and Brunei Darussalam (86). Indonesia is even
behind Vietnam (98) and Papua New Guinea (101).
Study Showed Avahan Successfully
Slowed the Transmission of HIV Among
General Population
A study conducted jointly by the Institute for Health Metrics
and Evaluation, University of Washington, University of Hong
Kong and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) found
that Avahan successfully slowed the transmission of HIV among
the general population. Avahan managed to slow down
transmission of HIV by raising the coverage of prevention
interventions in high-risk groups like female sex workers, their
clients and partners, men who have sex with men (MSM),
intravenous drug users and truck drivers. About 100, 000 fresh
HIV cases among the general population were averted in India in
five years by targeting the most vulnerable section.
Avahan was launched in 2003 and received $258 million from the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It complemented the
government’s own efforts on HIV prevention. The programme
was implemented in four large states — Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu and two small
northeastern states of Manipur and Nagaland. These six states
were estimated to have the highest HIV prevalence in India in
2003, and a total population of 300 million.
The study, Assessment of population-level effect of Avahan, an
HIV-prevention initiative in India, published in the British Medical
Journal, The Lancet highlighted that interventions like safe-sex
counselling by peers, clinical services like treatment for sexually
transmitted infections, distribution of free condoms and needle
and syringe exchange programmes among the most-at-risk
population prevented the virus from spreading among the general
population.
Lead author of the study Professor Lalit Dandona from the PHFI
mentioned that HIV mainly spread in India through sexual
intercourse. According to Lalit, high-risk population like sex
workers would infect their clients who would then spread it to
other female partners like their wives. Similarly, MSMs infected
each other and then spread it within the general population
through unprotected sex. Avahan showed that by targeting highrisk
groups, the virus spread among the general population could
be controlled. India has an estimated 2.4 million living with HIV,
making it one of the largest infected populations in the world.
India & China have more Affluent
Families than European Nations
According to TNS Global Affluent Investors’ study, India and
China surpassed European countries in the number of affluent
households. India and China surpassed major European markets
like Germany and France. The US remained the most prosperous
country in the world, according to a research firm. India, China
and Brazil overtook many European countries in this measure of
consumer wealth with three million affluent households each in
these countries which have over USD 100000 investible funds.
While the US is ranked as the world’s most prosperous country,
with 31 million affluent households, UAE and India appear in the
top five countries where the affluent have more than USD 1
million investable assets on average, alongside Singapore and
Hong Kong. The only Europeans to feature in top five were the
Swedish. According to the study, UK and France were least likely
in Europe to have these levels of investable assets.
The study also highlighted that while incidence of affluence
would be higher in small, wealthy countries like Luxemburg (29
per cent) and Singapore (20 per cent), this falls to around (1 per
cent) in India and China.
The survey showed that there exists a great contrast in wealth
distribution within emerging markets, even where the actual
number of affluent households is high. The survey highlighted a
need for very precise marketing strategies to reach the right
audience.
ICMR Study revealed Doubling of
Incidence of Breast Cancer in
Metropolitan Cities
A landmark analysis of cancer cases among women in Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore from 1982 to 2005, conducted
by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed that
the incidence of breast cancer nearly doubled in metropolitan
cities. Breast cancer cases were found to be spiralling world
over, and urban India was no exception. On the other hand, cases
of cervical cancer, which is the most common form of cancer
among Indian women was found to be dipping in some cities by
almost 50%.
India’s National Health Profile 2010 predicted that by 2020, breast
cancer will overtake cervical cancer as the most common type of
cancer among women in India. Almost one in 20 women in
metropolitan cities are suffering from breast cancer. Cases have
almost doubled in the last decade, and nearly half of the patients
come for treatment at the final stage when curing it is difficult.
Currently 23 per one lakh women are diagnised with breast cancer
every year. In cities like Chennai, the figures are troubling with
the breast cancer ratio as high as 1:33.
10 leading types of cancer that women in urban cities suffered
from between 2006 and 2008 were looked at and it was found and
found that breast cancer accounted for a high percentage in
each city. In Mumbai, 30% of cancer cases among women were
that of the breast, in Delhi and Bangalore it was almost 26.9%
while the incidence in Chennai was marginally lower at 26.5%. In
Kolkata, it accounted for 27.2% of cancer cases among women
and in Pune it was 28.9%.
ICMR has also come out with the possibility of one in number of
people developing cancer of any site score. The calculation is
age specific—0-64 and 0-74 years. In Mumbai and Kolkata, one
in 14 women runs the risk of developing cancer before they reach
64 years. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Let’s
Pink is a movement to raise awareness on the disease and its
prevention.
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 32

DECEMBER 2011
CURENT COVERAGE MCQs OF THE MONTH
1. India and Iran agreed to set up a mechanism
for payment of crude oil. Consider the following
statements:
i) Iran is second only to Saudi Arabia as an oil
supplier to India.
ii) India is Iran’s second biggest crude buyer
after China.
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. Which one of the following countries issued
a worldwide alert to its citizens in the wake of
the killing of key al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-
Awlaki?
a) USA
b) India
c) China
d) Yemen
Answer: (a)
3. How many agreements were signed between
India and Afghanistan during the visit of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai to India on 4-5
October 2011?
a) Two
b) Five
c) Three
d) Six
Answer : (c)
4. Nobel peace prize winner and environmentalist
Wangari Maathai died on 25 September 2011.
She won the Nobel peace prize in___.
a) 2004
b) 2005
c) 2003
d) 2007
Answer: (a)
5. South Sudan recently chose __ as its official
language.
a) French
b) Arabic
c) English
d) Spanish
Answer: (c)
6. IBSA summit concluded in Pretoria, South
Africa. What is the full form of IBSA?
a) India Brazil South America
b) India Brazil South Africa
c) India Brazil Saudi Arabia
d) India Bangladesh South Africa
Answer: (b)
7. Syria announced the creation of a committee
tasked with preparing new constitution. Syria
is located in____.
a) West Asia
b) South Asia
c) East Asia
d) South America
Answer: (a)
8. China recently backed Pakistan for UN
Security Council seat. UN Security Council
consists of 5 permanent members and __ nonpermanent
members.
a) 10
b) 5
c) 15
d) 7
Answer: (a)
9. World Food Day was observed on which of
the following dates with the theme- Food Prices
– From Crisis to Stability?
a. 15 October
b. 16 October
c. 17 October
d. 18 October
Answer: (b)
10. Name the Indian-born Fauja Singh, 100 year
old person who entered the Guinness Book of
records as the oldest person to complete a fulldistance
marathon after crossing the finish line
at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8 hours,
25 minutes and 16 seconds, but was later not
recognized by the Guinness Book because he
cannot produce a valid birth certificate.
a. Fauja Singh
b. Milkha Singh
c. Veer Singh
d. Navjot Singh Ahluwalia
Answer: (a)
11. Who won the 2011 man Booker Prize for his
short novel The Sense of an Ending?
a. Carol Birch
b. Patrick deWitt
c. Julian Barnes
d. AD Miller
Answer: (c)
12. Delhi state government on 8 October 2011
launched Micro Finance project for women.
Consider the following statements:
i) The project aims at providing financial support
to over one lakh vulnerable women in New
Delhi.
ii) The project will be implemented by the
Samajik Suvidha Sangam in collaboration with
Delhi chapter of SEWA.
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)
13. Goa State Assembly Unanimously Passed
Goa Lokayukta Bill 2011. The bill is a modified
version of Goa Lakayukta Bill 2003.
a. 2002
b. 2004
c. 2001
d. 2003
Answer: (d)
14. Which one of the following launched the
social auditing programme of gram Panchayats?
a) Goa
b) Assam
c) UP
d) Bihar
Answer: (b)
15. The largest ever water supply scheme in
Himachal Pradesh was inaugurated in __
district.
a) Kangra
b) Kullu
c) Kinnaur
d) Sirmaur
Answer: (a)
16. The Supreme Court on 1 September 2011
ordered Delhi’s private hospitals to provide free
treatment to the poor. The bench asked the city
hospitals to reserve __ percent of their outpatient
department capacity and__ percent of
beds at the indoor level for free treatment of the
poor.
a) 25; 10
b) 35; 20
c) 10; 25
d) 25; 25
Answer: (a)
17. Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
on 16 October 2011 voiced the Finance
Ministry’s decision to to recapitalise which of
the following PSU lenders to help it achieve
compliance with capital adequacy ratio (CAR)
norms?
a. State Bank of India
b. United Bank of India
c. Punjab National Bank
d. Bank of Baroda
Answer: (a)
18. A panel constituted by which of the
following bodies on mutual funds in October
2011 retained the minimum capital requirement
to start a fund house at Rs 10 crore, rejecting a
proposal to increase the net worth criterion?
a. IRDA
b. SEBI
c. RBI
d. CCI
Answer: (b)
19. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi
collected what amont of tax as property tax in
the first half of 2011-12 fiscal, recording a Rs
75.16 crore jump compared to its collections
during the corresponding period in 2010-11?
a. Rs 900 crore
b. Rs 950 crore
c. Rs 912.54 crore
d. Rs 971 core
Answer: (c)
20. The Agriculture Ministry on 20 October
2011 proposed a hike of Rs 115 per quintal in
the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat to
what sum per quintal to cover rising farm input
cost and encourage farmers to increase acreage?
a. Rs 1251 per quintal
b. Rs 1293 per quintal
c. Rs 1285 per quintal
d. Rs 1233 per quintal
Answer: (c)
21. Scientists identified the bug, which caused
the Bubonic plague (Black Death) in Europe
between 1347 and 1351. Consider the following
statements on Bubonic plague:
i) Bubonic plague still strikes somewhere
between 1000 and 3000 people.
ii) Bubonic plague is caused by Yersinia pestis.
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 iii is correct.
Answer: (a)
22. Scientists identified the genes, which
increase a Person’s risk of getting Dengue.
Dengue is the most common mosquito-borne
infection after ____.
a) Malaria
b) Yellow Fever
c) Japanese encephalitis
d) West Nile Virus
Answer: (a)
23. Name the Rajasthan Water Resources
Minister who was dropped from the Cabinet on
16 October 2011 in the wake of allegations about
his involvement in a case of mysterious
disappearance of an auxiliary nurse midwife,
Bhanwari Devi.
a. Mahipal Maderna
b. Bharat Singh
c. Aimaduddin Ahmad
d. Bharat Singh
Answer: (a)
24. Union government of India decided to ban
the use of infertility drug Letrozole. Letrozole is
mainly recommended for treating ____.
a) Cancer
b) AIDS
c) Dengue
d) Malaria
Answer: (a)
25. Australian Scientists created the world’s first
drug, which can prevent blindness from
cataracts. Cataracts are formed when a protein,
known as calpain, clouds the eye lens and
impairs vision.
a) Hemoglobin
b) Keratin
c) Calpain
d) Myosin
Answer: (c)
26. The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)
upheld a regulatory order directing which of the
following group of companies to refund Rs
24000 crore - equivalent to the country’s secondbiggest
lender ICICI Bank’s deposit growth last
fiscal - for violating securities laws?
a. RIL
b. Tata Group
c. Sahara Group
d. Jindal Group
Answer: (c)
27. Overnite Express launched a new premium
service, Overnite Priority on 17 October 2011
with an assured next business-day delivery
feature besides a money back guarantee
attached to it. The express delivery service (EDS)
industry was valued at Rs.10,000 crore is found
to be growing by what percentage annually?
a. 23%
b. 25%
c. 27%
d. 28%
Answer: (b)
28. GVK Airport Holdings Private Limited, a
subsidiary of GVK Power & Infrastructure
Limited (GVKPIL) on 18 October 2011 acquired
108000000 equity shares worth Rs10 each
(amounting to a 13.5% equity stake) in which of
the following?
a. Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd
(MIAL)
b. Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL)
c. Kolkata International Airport Ltd (KIAL)
d. Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL)
Answer: (a)
29. The department of telecom (DoT) slapped
Rs 50 crore fine on which of the following cellular
companies for suppressing information,
violating licence agreement and renting out
more than 3,600 pre-activated post paid SIM
cards in bulk to a Delhi-based company that
further subrented them?
a. Bharti Airtel
b. MTNL
c. Idea Cellular
d. Vodafone Essar
Answer: (c)
30. Rajasthan government on 19 October 2011
launched a web based Social Security Pension
system. At which one of the following places
the system was launched?
a) Jaipur
b) Jodhpur
c) Bikaner
d) Ajmer
Answer: (a)
31. UP state government increased the age limit
for recruitment of Primary school teachers from
35 to __ years.
a) 40
b) 38
c) 45
d) 42
Answer: (a)
32. Scientists found the Ozone hole above
Antarctica, which is the fifth largest on record.
The size of this Ozone hole is___ square
kilometres.
a) 27
b) 25
c) 23
d) 29
Answer: (b)
33. The Save Sharmila Campaign was flagged
off by Magsaysay award winner Sandeep
Pandey on 16 October 2011. In which of the
following Indian cities was the campaign
launched?
a. Imphal
b. Srinagar
c. Guwahati
d. Shillong
Answer: (b)
34. Who was honoured with the Swiss
Ambassador’s award for exceptional leadership
and his contribution to strengthening bilateral
ties between India and Switzerland on 16 October
2011?
a. Anil Ambani
b. Rattan Tata
c. Narayan Murthy
d. G D Birla
Answer: (b)
36. Which of the following McLaren’s driver
won the Japanese Grand Prix in his adopted
homeland, Japan on 9 October 2011?
a. Sebastian Vettel
b. Max Webber
c. Jenson Button
d. Fernando Alonso
Answer: (c)
37. Sebastian Vettel who stood third in the
Formula 1 race became the youngest double
world champion with four races to spare on 9
October 2011. To which of the following teams
does he belong to?
a. Red Bull
b. McLaren
c. Ferrari
d. Mercedez
Answer: (a)
38. Which tennis player retained his Shanghai
Masters title by defeating David Ferrer 7-5 6-4
in the final on 16 October 2011?
a. Rafael Nadal
b. Roger Federer
c. Andy Murray
d. Novak Djokovic
Answer: (c)
39. Which Formula 1 team sealed the
constructors’ title at the Korean Grand Prix on
16 October 2011?
a. Mercedes
b. Ferrari
c. McLaren
d. Red Bull
Answer: (d)
40. Which football club/team won the 2011
Durand Cup at the Ambedkar Stadium with a 5-
4 tie-break win?
a. East Bengal
b. Churchill Brothers
c. Prayag United
d. Mohun Bagan
Answer: (b)
41. Bharti Enterprises, the parent company of
Airtel floated a new joint venture with Japanese
internet firm for offering mobile internet services
in India. Name the firm.
a. SoftBank Corp
b. Aichi Bank
c. Arc System Works
d. Bridgestone
Answer: (a)
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DECEMBER 2011
The venue of G-20 Summit, India to be represented by Dr. Manmohan
Singh
The Red Bull driver who has won the Indian Grand Prix held at Buddh
International Circuit on 30 Oct 2011
The drug used globally for treatment of breast cancer which has been
banned in India for its misuse in treatment of infertility among women
The renowned nephrologist from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai who has
been awarded the 40th Dhanvantari Award recently
The country in which a plaque of Rabindranath Tagore has been unveiled
in its parliament
The 37 tonne inter-continental nuclear-capable Bulava ballistic missile
were recently test fired by
The railway station which will be developed as the best station in the
country by the Indian Railways
The second of Kamorta-class Anti-Submarine Warfare corvetted launched
by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata is named
The venue of CHOGM Summit 2011, where India is being represented by
Vice-President Hamid Ansari
The type of helicopter which strayed into Pakistan occupied Kashmir
and was force-landed at Skardu while flying from Leh to Bhimbad was
The place at which the government has decided to set up National
Institute of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (NIMAS)
The Committee set up to prepare a comprehensive policy to deal with
corrupt practices in the private sector is headed by
The 1,000-year-old Lord Bhavanarayana Swami temple, constructed
during the reign of Chalukyas, whose tower collapsed on 23 Oct 11 is
located in
India’s first F1 race scheduled to begin on Oct 28 is being organised by
The Indian singer who has entered the Guiness Book of World Records
for the most single studio recordings
The four day joint exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the
Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) which was conducted at Air Force
Station Jamnagar was named
The military training exercise Shakti 11, which is being held in Ranikhet,
Uttarakhand is joint exercise of the armies of India and
SIMRAN (Satellite Imaging for Rail Navigation) based Real Time
Information System launched recently to provide train location and train
running position through SMS and internet has been jointly developed
by Indian Railways and
The venue of 5th IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa) Summit held on 18
and 19 Oct 2011.
The theme for World Food Day observed on 16 October 2011
The state which has launched web based Social Security Pension System
for effective and timely disbursement of pension to aged people, widows
and disabled persons of deprived and weaker sections of the society.
The British novelist who has been awarded the Man Booker prize, 2011
for his novella, The Sense of an Ending.
The 5.14 km Budh International Circuit which was inaugrated at Noida on
18 Oct 2011 was designed by
The actor who has been awarded NDTV Lifetime Achievement Award
The boxer from Manipur who has been adjudged the best boxer at the
12th Senior National Women Boxing Championships held in Bhopal in
Oct 2011
Recently President Thein Sein of Myanmar announced that the work on
Myitsone dam project was to be suspended during his tenure. The river
on which the dam is located is
The team which has won the 2011 Durand Cup defeating Prayag United
in the finals on 15 Oct 2011
Andha Yug, a play was recently staged in Delhi’s Firoz Shah Kotla after a
gap of about 50 years. Andha Yug is a famous play written by
The Nimoo Bazgo Hydro-electric Project to which Pakistan has recently
raised objections is located on river
South Asian Beach Games at which India topped the medals tally with 11
gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze were held at
The developer of C language and UNIX operating system, who died in
Oct 2011
EVENTS OF THE MONTH
(National & International)
Cannes, France
Sebastian Vettel
Letrozole
Dr. M.K. Mani
Iran
Russia
Habibgunj
INS Kadmatt
Perth, Australia
Cheetah
Dirang in Arunachal
Pradesh
Kiran Karnik
Bapatla, A.P.
Jaypee Sports
International
Asha Bhonsle
Ex Eastern Bridge -
2011
France
IIT, Kanpur
Pretoria, South
Africa
Food Prices – From
Crisis to Stability.
Rajasthan
Julian Barnes
Hermann Tilke
Dev Anand
Mary Kom
Irrawady
Churchill Brothers
Dharamveer Bharti
Indus
Hambantota (Sri
Lanka)
Dennis Ritchie
The Indian cities which have won the Environmentally Sustainable City
Awards (ESCA), 2011 at the 5th Euro-India Summit
The venue of 5th Euro-India Summit held on 13-14 Oct 2011.
Ai Weiwei, who has been named as the most powerful figure in the art
world by Art Review magazine belongs to
The activist who has been selected for Avicenna Leadership Award
constituted by Avicenna Academy for Leadership, Netherlands.
The ship Montecristo which was hijacked in the Indian Ocean by Somalian
pirates in Oct 2011 and rescued by the British forces belonged to
Yulia V. Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment
in Oct 2011 is the former Prime Minister of
The luxury tourism train run by Maharashtra Tourism which has resumed
operations earliet stopped following Mumbai terror attack
Odyssey Marine Exploration Inc has found the wreckage of another ship
laden with silver and torpedoed by the Germans in World War I, the
name of the ship is (SS Gairsoppa was the first ship whose wreck was
found last month)
The language which has become the first Indian language to join the
Unicode Consortium as a full member, paving the way for standardised,
user-friendly fonts and scripts for the language on computers. (Hindi
and Tamil are institutional members of the consortium).
The German Formula 1 driver who has become the youngest to win
Double F1 titles back to back (in 2010 and 2011).
The person who has been chosen for the 26th Indira Gandhi Award for
National Integration for his yeoman’s service in promoting and preserving
the 0spirit of national integration.
The noted Ghazal singer, who died on Oct 10, 2011. (He is known to have
composed and recorded the poetry written by former Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee)
The 1000 cr scheme launched by the Odisha government to construct at
least 400 bridges in next three years in order to provide connectivity to
all the villages in the state is named
The noted Malayalam writer who has been selected for the prestigious
Vayalar Rama Varma literary award for his novel “Jeevathathinte
Pusthakam (Book of Life). (The award is instituted in memory of eminent
poet and lyricist Vayalar Rama Varma)
The veteran actor who has been chosen to receive the Kalidas Samman
award by the Madhya Pradesh government
The first ever India Bangladesh military exercise scheduled to commence
from Oct 8 is named
Akash, the cheapest tablet PC in the world launched by the Union
Minister for HRD is manufactured by.
The Indian Double-trap shooter who has won the gold medal at the
World Cup finals at Al Ain in United Arab Emirates on 04 Oct 2011.
The Indian public sector bank whose rating has been downgraded from
C- to D+ by rating agency Moody’s.
The place at which country’s first Indian Sign Language Research and
Training Centre devoted to the hearing impaired has been set up
The typhoon which lashed Phillipines within a week after Typhoon Nesat
had devastated its island Luzon.
India’s first AC Double-decker train which was flagged off on 02 Oct
2011 by the Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi runs from Howrah to
The state which has been declared the first total banking state in India,
the declaration being made as every household in all the 14 districts in
the state has at least one bank account and the facility for need-based
credit.
The second of Deepak class tanker manufactured by Italy to be inducted
by the Indian Navy is named. (The India Navy also has two Jyoti class
fleet tankers, Jyoti and Aditya, thus taking the total number of fleet
tankers to four).
The theme for World Habitat Day 2011 to be observed on October 3rd,
2011
The day which has been designated as World Habitat Day by the UN
A 30 MW solar power plant, claimed to be the largest project of its kind
in Asia, was inaugurated by Chief Minister Narendra Modi in Oct at
Gunthawada in Banaskantha (Gujarat). The project has been set up by
India’s longest Railway Tunnel (10.96 km) from Quazigund to Banihal,
whose excavation was completed recently is under the
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China
Kiran Bedi
Italy
Ukraine
Deccan Odyssey
SS Mantola
Telugu
Sebastian Vettel
Mohan Dharia
Jagjit Singh
Biju Setu Yojana
K P Ramanunni
Anupam Kher
Op. Sampriti
Datawind
Ronjan Sodhi
State Bank of India
New Delhi
Nalgae
Dhanbad
Kerala
INS Shakti
Cities and Climate
Change
1st Monday of
October
Moser Baer Clean
Energy Limited
(MBCEL)
Pir Panjal mountain
range

DECEMBER 2011
SPECIAL COVERAGE: BASIC COMPUTERS
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE:
A computer programming language is a language used to write
computer programs, which involve a computer performing some
kind of computation or algorithm and possibly control external
devices such as printers, disk drives, robots, and so on. Some
languages are very popular for particular kinds of applications.
For example, COBOL is still strong in the corporate data center,
often on large mainframes; FORTRAN in engineering
applications; C in embedded applications and operating systems;
and other languages are regularly used to write many different
kinds of applications.
EKA (SUPERCOMPUTER):
EKA is a supercomputer built by the Computational Research
Laboratories with technical assistance and hardware provided
by Hewlett-Packard. When it was installed in November 2007, it
was the 4th fastest in the world and fastest in Asia. As of June
2010, it is ranked as the 33th fastest in the world and fourth
fastest in Asia. Eka is the Sanskrit name for number one. It was
reported to have cost $30 million dollars to build.EKA has 1,794
computing nodes and has a theoretical peak performance of 172.2
Teraflops (tflops or trillion floating point operations per second)
and a sustained performance of 132.8 teraflops based on the
LINPACK benchmarks which are used by the worldwide
community to rank supercomputers based on performance. EKA
follows a near-circular layout of the data center unlike the
traditional hot aisle and cold aisle rows. This near-circular layout
enables the building of densely packed supercomputers, and
this is the first time this architecture has been tried out on this
scale.
PARAM:
PARAM is a series of supercomputers designed and assembled
by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
in Pune, India. The latest machine in the series is the PARAM
Yuva, which reached no. 109 on the TOP500 in June 2009. Others
include PARAM 10000 and PARAM 9000/SS and the PARAM
Padma. The PARAM 10000 was India’s first Teraflop
supercomputer. Currently, C-DAC is developing a Petaflop
Supercomputer which is expected to be in operation by 2012.
The major applications of PARAM are in long-range weather
forecasting, remote sensing, drug design and molecular modelling.
PARAM is also used in many major scientific research institutes
in India and may also see use in India’s space programme. In
addition, collaborative research and experimentation is enabled
by a national computing grid known as Garuda which connects
45 institutions across 17 cities. As of 2008, 44 PARAM systems
have been deployed in India. An additional 8 systems are in
operation in Russia, Singapore, Germany and Canada.
COMPUTER CLUSTER:
A computer cluster is a collection of computers that are highly
interconnected via a high-speed network or switching fabric.
Each computer runs under a separate instance of an Operating
System (OS).
SUPERCOMPUTER:
A supercomputer is a computer that is at the frontline of current
processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.
Supercomputers were introduced in the 1960s and were designed
primarily by Seymour Cray at Control Data Corporation. The
term supercomputer itself is rather fluid, and today’s
supercomputer tends to become tomorrow’s ordinary computer.
Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks
such as problems involving quantum physics, weather
forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling (computing the
structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological
macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations
(such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of
the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear
fusion). A particular class of problems, known as Grand Challenge
problems, are problems whose full solution requires semi-infinite
computing resources. Supercomputers using custom CPUs
traditionally gained their speed over conventional computers
through the use of innovative designs that allow them to perform
many tasks in parallel, as well as complex detail engineering.
They tend to be specialized for certain types of computation,
usually numerical calculations, and perform poorly at more general
computing tasks. Their memory hierarchy is very carefully
designed to ensure the processor is kept fed with data and
instructions at all times — in fact, much of the performance
difference between slower computers and supercomputers is due
to the memory hierarchy. Their I/O systems tend to be designed
to support high bandwidth, with latency less of an issue, because
supercomputers are not used for transaction processing. Specialpurpose
supercomputers are high-performance computing
devices with a hardware architecture dedicated to a single
problem. This allows the use of specially programmed FPGA
chips or even custom VLSI chips, allowing higher price/
performance ratios by sacrificing generality. They are used for
applications such as astrophysics computation and brute-force
codebreaking. Historically a new special-purpose supercomputer
has occasionally been faster than the world’s fastest generalpurpose
supercomputer, by some measure. For example, GRAPE-
6 was faster than the Earth Simulator in 2002 for a particular
special set of problems. In general, the speed of a supercomputer
is measured in “FLOPS” (FLoating Point Operations Per Second),
commonly used with an SI prefix such as tera-, combined into the
shorthand “TFLOPS” (1012 FLOPS, pronounced teraflops), or
peta-, combined into the shorthand “PFLOPS” (1015 FLOPS,
pronounced petaflops.) This measurement is based on a particular
benchmark, which does LU decomposition of a large matrix.
“Petascale” supercomputers can process one quadrillion (1015)
(1000 trillion) FLOPS. Exascale is computing performance in the
exaflops range. An exaflop is one quintillion (1018) FLOPS (one
million teraflops).
SPAM:
Spam, or the unsolicited sending of bulk email for commercial
purposes, is unlawful to varying degrees. As applied to email,
specific anti-spam laws are relatively new, however limits on
unsolicited electronic communications have existed in some forms
for some time.
COMPUTER VIRUS:
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and
infect a computer. The term “virus” is also commonly but erroneously
used to refer to other types of malware, including but not
limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the
reproductive ability. The first PC virus in the wild was a boot
sector virus dubbed Brain, created in 1986 by the Farooq Alvi
Brothers in Lahore, Pakista. A true virus can spread from one
computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its
host is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user
sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable
medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive. Viruses
can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by
infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is
accessed by another computer. As stated above, the term “computer
virus” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include
all types of malware, even those that do not have the reproductive
ability. Malware includes computer viruses, computer worms,
Trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware and
other malicious and unwanted software, including true viruses.
Viruses are sometimes confused with worms and Trojan horses,
which are technically different. A worm can exploit security vulnerabilities
to spread itself automatically to other computers
through networks, while a Trojan horse is a program that appears
harmless but hides malicious functions. Worms and Trojan
horses, like viruses, may harm a computer system’s data or
performance. Some viruses and other malware have symptoms
noticeable to the computer user, but many are surreptitious or
simply do nothing to call attention to them. Some viruses do
nothing beyond reproducing themselves. In order to avoid detection
by users, some viruses employ different kinds of deception.
Some old viruses, especially on the MS-DOS platform, make
sure that the “last modified” date of a host file stays the same
when the file is infected by the virus. This approach does not
fool anti-virus software, however, especially those which maintain
and date Cyclic redundancy checks on file changes. Some
viruses can infect files without increasing their sizes or damaging
the files. They accomplish this by overwriting unused areas
of executable files. These are called cavity viruses. For example,
the CIH virus, or Chernobyl Virus, infects Portable Executable
files. Because those files have many empty gaps, the virus, which
was 1 KB in length, did not add to the size of the file. Some
viruses try to avoid detection by killing the tasks associated
with antivirus software before it can detect them. As computers
and operating systems grow larger and more complex, old hiding
techniques need to be updated or replaced. Defending a computer
against viruses may demand that a file system migrate
towards detailed and explicit permission for every kind of file
access. Many users install anti-virus software that can detect
and eliminate known viruses after the computer downloads or
runs the executable. There are two common methods that an
anti-virus software application uses to detect viruses. The first,
and by far the most common method of virus detection is using
a list of virus signature definitions. This works by examining the
content of the computer’s memory (its RAM, and boot sectors)
and the files stored on fixed or removable drives (hard drives,
floppy drives), and comparing those files against a database of
known virus “signatures”. The disadvantage of this detection
method is that users are only protected from viruses that predate
their last virus definition update. The second method is to
use a heuristic algorithm to find viruses based on common behaviors.
This method has the ability to detect novel viruses that
anti-virus security firms have yet to create a signature for.
FRAUD:
Computer fraud is any dishonest misrepresentation of fact
intended to let another to do or refrain from doing something
which causes loss. In this context, the fraud will result in obtaining
a benefit by: Altering computer input in an unauthorized way.
This requires little technical expertise and is not an uncommon
form of theft by employees altering the data before entry or
entering false data, or by entering unauthorized instructions or
using unauthorized processes; 1. Altering, destroying,
suppressing, or stealing output, usually to conceal unauthorized
transactions: this is difficult to detect; 2. Altering or deleting
stored data;3. Altering or misusing existing system tools or
software packages, or altering or writing code for fraudulent
purposes. Other forms of fraud may be facilitated using computer
systems, including bank fraud, identity theft, extortion, and theft
of classified information. A variety of Internet scams target
consumers direct.
CYBERCRIME:
Computer crime, or cybercrime, refers to any crime that involves
a computer and a network, where the computers may or may not
have played an instrumental part in the commission of a crime.
Netcrime refers, more precisely, to criminal exploitation of the
Internet. Issues surrounding this type of crime have become
high-profile, particularly those surrounding hacking, copyright
infringement, child pornography, and child grooming. There are
also problems of privacy when confidential information is lost or
intercepted, lawfully or otherwise. On the global level, both
governments and non-state actors continue to grow in
importance, with the ability to engage in such activities as
espionage, financial theft, and other cross-border crimes
sometimes referred to as cyber warfare. The international legal
system is attempting to hold actors accountable for their actions,
with the International Criminal Court among the few addressing
this threat. Computer crime encompasses a broad range of
potentially illegal activities. Generally, however, it may be divided
into one of two types of categories: (1) crimes that target computer
networks or devices directly; (2) crimes facilitated by computer
networks or devices, the primary target of which is independent
of the computer network or device. Examples of crimes that
primarily target computer networks or devices would include: 1.
Computer viruses 2. Denial-of-service attacks 3. Malware
(malicious code) Examples of crimes that merely use computer
networks or devices would include: 1. Cyber stalking 2. Fraud
and identity theft 3. Information warfare 4. Phishing scams A
computer can be a source of evidence. Even though the computer
is not directly used for criminal purposes, it is an excellent device
for record keeping, particularly given the power to encrypt the
data. If this evidence can be obtained and decrypted, it can be of
great value to criminal investigators. Drug traffickers are
increasingly taking advantage of the Internet to sell their illegal
substances through encrypted e-mail and other Internet
Technology. Some drug traffickers arrange deals at internet cafes,
use courier Web sites to track illegal packages of pills, and swap
recipes for amphetamines in restricted-access chat rooms. The
rise in Internet drug trades could also be attributed to the lack of
face-to-face communication. These virtual exchanges allow more
intimidated individuals to more comfortably purchase illegal
drugs. The sketchy effects that are often associated with drug
trades are severely minimized and the filtering process that comes
with physical interaction fades away. Furthermore, traditional
drug recipes were carefully kept secrets. But with modern computer
technology, this information is now being made available to
anyone with computer access. Government officials and
Information Technology security specialists have documented
a significant increase in Internet problems and server scans since
early 2001. But there is a growing concern among federal officials
that such intrusions are part of an organized effort by
cyberterrorists, foreign intelligence services, or other groups to
map potential security holes in critical systems. A cyberterrorist
is someone who intimidates or coerces a government or
organization to advance his or her political or social objectives
by launching computer-based attack against computers, network,
and the information stored on them. Cyberterrorism in general,
can be defined as an act of terrorism committed through the use
of cyberspace or computer resources. As such, a simple
propaganda in the Internet, that there will be bomb attacks during
the holidays can be considered cyberterrorism. As well there are
also hacking activities directed towards individuals, families,
organised by groups within networks, tending to cause fear
among people, demonstrate power, collecting information
relevant for ruining peoples’ lives, robberies, blackmailing etc.
CYBER WARFARE:
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) notes that cyberspace
has emerged as a national-level concern through several recent
events of geo-strategic significance. Among those are included
the attack on Estonia’s infrastructure in 2007, allegedly by Russian
hackers. “In August 2008, Russia again allegedly conducted cyber
attacks, this time in a coordinated and synchronized kinetic and
non-kinetic campaign against the country of Georgia. Fearing
that such attacks may become the norm in future warfare among
nation-states, the concept of cyberspace operations impacts and
will be adapted by warfighting military commanders in the future.
OBSCENE OR OFFENSIVE CONTENT:
The content of websites and other electronic communications
may be distasteful, obscene or offensive for a variety of reasons.
In some instances these communications may be illegal. Many
jurisdictions place limits on certain speech and ban racist,
blasphemous, politically subversive, libelous or slanderous,
seditious, or inflammatory material that tends to incite hate crimes.
The extent to which these communications are unlawful varies
greatly between countries, and even within nations. It is a
sensitive area in which the courts can become involved in
arbitrating between groups with entrenched beliefs. One area of
Internet pornography that has been the target of the strongest
efforts at curtailment is child pornography.
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE:
In computer science and computer engineering, computer
architecture or digital computer organization is the conceptual
design and fundamental operational structure of a computer
system. It’s a blueprint and functional description of requirements
and design implementations for the various parts of a computer,
focusing largely on the way by which the central processing
unit (CPU) performs internally and accesses addresses in memory.
It may also be defined as the science and art of selecting and
interconnecting hardware components to create computers that
meet functional, performance and cost goals.Computer
architecture comprises at least three main subcategories:
1. Instruction set architecture, or ISA, is the abstract image
of a computing system that is seen by a machine
language (or assembly language) programmer, including
the instruction set, word size, memory address modes,
processor registers, and address and data formats.
2. Microarchitecture, also known as Computer
organization is a lower level, more concrete and detailed,
description of the system that involves how the
constituent parts of the system are interconnected and
how they interoperate in order to implement the ISA.
The size of a computer’s cache for instance, is an
organizational issue that generally has nothing to do
with the ISA.
3. System Design which includes all of the other hardware
components within a computing system such as:
i. System interconnects such as computer buses
and switches
ii. Memory controllers and hierarchies
iii. CPU off-load mechanisms such as direct
memory access (DMA)
iv. Issues like multiprocessing.
Once both ISA and microarchitecture have been specified, the
actual device needs to be designed into hardware. This design
process is called the implementation. Implementation is usually
not consideredarchitectural definition, but rather hardware design
engineering. Implementation can be further broken down into
three (not fully distinct) pieces:
1. Logic Implementation — design of blocks defined in
the microarchitecture at (primarily) the register-transfer
and gate levels.
2. Circuit Implementation — transistor-level design of
basic elements (gates, multiplexers, latches etc) as well
as of some larger blocks (ALUs, caches etc) that may
be implemented at this level, or even (partly) at the
physical level, for performance reasons.
3. Physical Implementation — physical circuits are drawn
out, the different circuit components are placed in a
chip floorplan or on a board and the wires connecting
them are routed. For CPUs, the entire implementation
process is often called CPU design.
SPAMMING:
the act of sending unsolicited email, or posting many useless
messages in a forum or such website. (Possibly derived from a
Monty Python sketch, in which Vikings repetitively sing about
Spam, annoying the other customers.)
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SOFTWARE ENGINEERING:
Software engineering (SE) is a profession
dedicated to designing, implementing, and
modifying software so that it is of higher quality,
more affordable, maintainable, and faster to build.
Since the field is still relatively young compared
to its sister fields of engineering. “software
engineering” as the application of a
systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach
to the development, operation, and
maintenance of software, and the study of these
approaches; that is, the application of
engineering to software.
BLOGGING: using online “web logs”, or
blogs Googling: searching through the Google
search engine
EGOSURFER: someone who searches the
internet for references of himself
ID-10-T: clueless user; everybody giving a
hard time to (computer) administrators
MOUSE POTATO: someone who spends
a lot of time at the computer, in analogy to the
term ‘couch potato’ for TV-addicts. Also known
as “Comp Head” in relation to crack cocaine
addict’s, “coke head”.
TROLL: someone who attempts to gain
infamy in chat or on forums by use of but not
limited to: links to disturbing items, bashing
(fighting, put down) with others, copying or
mimicking other’s real posts into perverted
messages.
HTML: HyperText Markup Language, the
coding language used to create hypertext
documents for the World Wide Web. In HTML,
a block of text can be surrounded with tags that
indicate how it should appear (for example, in
bold face or italics). Also, in HTML a word, a
block of text, or an image can be linked to another
file on the Web. HTML files are viewed with a
World Wide Web browser.
PHP: PHP Hypertext Preprocessor, the coding
language to create interactive web pages and
so forth.
TRASHERS: someone who searches for
information via whatever means needed which
would compromise the security of a site. This
activity often includes searching trash or refuse
disposed on recycle bins of from the facility.
YOUTUBER: a person who produces video
content for the video sharing site Youtube.
TWEET: A term given to the small message
sent by a user of the website Twitter.
WEBOLUTION: A term used in providing
a solution to on-line marketing challenges with
opportunities to improve or evolve.
ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is
a technology for transmitting digital information
at a high bandwidth on existing phone lines to
homes and businesses. ADSL is asymmetric in
the sense that it uses most of the channel to
transmit downstream to the user and only a small
part to receive information from the user. This
means, high download rates and slower upload
rates. Generally if you see 2Mb ADSL
broadband, it refers to 2 Mbit/s Max d/load rate.
The upload rate will probably be around 256
kbit/s Max. (ADSL has a maximum download
rate of 8 Mbit/s, ADSL2 is capable of up to 16
Mbit/s and ADSL2+ is rated at 24 Mbit/s
maximum.)
CABLE MODEM: Primary competitor to
ADSL uses digital information transmitted over
a cable television infrastructure.
DIAL-UP: A method of connection to the
internet using existing copper phone lines using
a modem on the client’s end to send information
at a slow speed, normally reaching maximum
speed at about 56 kbit/s. This technology uses
the voice spectrum of the telephone lines to
transmit data using a system of sounds that only
the receiving modem or ISP understand.
ACCUMULATOR: a register in a CPU in
which intermediate arithmetic and logic results
are stored
BUS: a subsystem that transfers data between
computer components inside a computer or
between computers.
CACHE MEMORY: cache memory is a
small, but fast memory that transparently
improves the performance of a larger, but slower
memory or storage device
CD-ROM: compact disc read-only memory
is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data
accessible to a computer for data storage and
music playback. It is read in an optical disc drive.
CHIP: chip (integrated circuit) - a miniaturized
electronic circuit (consisting mainly of
semiconductor devices, as well as passive
components) that has been manufactured in the
surface of a thin substrate of Semiconductor
material.
CONTROL STORE: Control store is the
memory that stores the microcode of a CPU;
originally read-only memory was employed.
CORE MEMORY: core memory is
nowadays a synonym for main memory, dating
back from the time when the dominant main
memory technology was magnetic core memory.
CPU: Central processing unit is the portion
of a computer system that carries out the
instructions of a computer program, and is the
primary element carrying out the computer’s
functions.
DVD: (Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile
Disc) is an optical disc storage media format,
and was invented and developed by Philips,
Sony, TOSHIBA, and Time Warner in 1995. Its
main uses are video and data storage. DVDs are
of the same dimensions as compact discs (CDs),
but store more than six times as much data.
DASD: (Direct Access Storage Device) is
mainframe terminology introduced by IBM
denoting secondary storage with random
access, typically (arrays of) hard disk drives.
EXPANSION CARD: expansion card
(expansion board, adapter card or accessory
card) - a printed circuit board that can be
inserted into an expansion slot of a computer
motherboard to add functionality to a computer
system.
FIRMWARE: firmware is fixed, usually
rather small, programs and data structures that
internally control various electronic devices.
FLOPPY DISK: floppy disk - a data storage
medium that is composed of a disk of thin,
flexible (“floppy”) magnetic storage medium
encased in a square or rectangular plastic shell.
FLOPPY DISK DRIVE: (FDD) is a device
for reading floppy disks.
HDD: hard disk drive is a non-volatile storage
device that stores digitally encoded data on
rapidly rotating rigid (i.e. hard) platters with
magnetic surfaces.
HARDWARE: hardware is a multiple
physical components of a computer, upon which
can be installed an operating system and a
multitude of software to perform the operator’s
desired functions
INPUT DEVICE: any peripheral piece of
computer hardware equipment) used to provide
data and control signals to an information
processing system.
INPUT/OUTPUT: the communication
between an information processing system
(such as a computer), and the outside world
possibly a human, or another information
processing system
KEYBOARD: an input device, partially
modeled after the typewriter keyboard, which
uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act
as mechanical levers or electronic switches.
MAINFRAME: A powerful computers used
mainly by large organizations for critical
applications, typically bulk data processing
such as census, industry and consumer
statistics, enterprise resource planning, and
financial transaction processing.
MOTHERBOARD: the central printed
circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers
and holds many of the crucial components of
the system, while providing connectors for other
peripherals.
MEMORY: devices that are used to store
data or programs (sequences of instructions)
on a temporary or permanent basis for use in an
electronic digital computer.
MONITOR:
an electronic visual display for computers. The
monitor comprises the display device, circuitry,
and an enclosure.
MOUSE:
a pointing device that functions by detecting
two-dimensional motion relative to its
supporting surface.
NETWORK: a collection of computers and
devices connected by communications channels
that facilitates communications among users
and allows users to share resources with other
users.
OPTICAL DISC DRIVE: (ODD) is a disk drive
that uses laser light or electromagnetic waves
near the light spectrum as part of the process of
reading or writing data to or from optical discs
PEN DRIVE: another name for a USB flash drive
PERIPHERAL: a device attached to a host
computer but not part of it, and is more or less
dependent on the host. It expands the host’s
capabilities, but does not form part of the core
computer architecture.
PERSONAL COMPUTER (PC) - any
general-purpose computer whose size,
capabilities, and original sales price make it
useful for individuals, and which is intended to
be operated directly by an end user, with no
intervening computer operator.
RAID: (redundant array of independent disks)
is an umbrella term for computer data storage
schemes that can divide and replicate data
among multiple hard disk drives in order to
increase reliability, allow faster access, or both
RAM: (random-access memory) is a form of
computer data storage. Today, it takes the form
of integrated circuits that allow stored data to
be accessed in any order (i.e., at random)
ROM: (read-only memory) is a class of storage
media used in computers and other electronic
devices
SERVER: any combination of hardware or
software designed to provide services to clients.
When used alone, the term typically refers to a
computer which may be running a server
operating system, but is also used to refer to
any software or dedicated hardware capable of
providing services
SOFTWARE: a general term primarily used
for digitally stored data such as computer
programs and other kinds of information read
and written by computers. Today, this includes
data that has not traditionally been associated
with computers, such as film, tapes and records
TAPE DRIVE: a peripheral device that
allows only sequential access, typically using
magnetic tape
TERMINAL: an electronic or
electromechanical hardware device that is used
for entering data into, and displaying data from,
a computer or a computing system
TOUCHPAD OR TRACKPAD:
a pointing device consisting of specialized
surface that can translate the motion and
position of a user’s fingers to a relative position
on screen
USB: (Universal Serial Bus) is a specification
to establish communication between devices
and a host controller (usually personal
computers). USB is intended to replace many
varieties of serial and parallel ports.
USB FLASH DRIVE: a flash memory data
storage device integrated with a USB (Universal
Serial Bus) 1.1 or 2.0 interfaces. USB flash drives
are typically removable and rewritable, and
much smaller than a floppy disk.
BACKUP POLICY: an organisation’s
procedures and rules for ensuring that adequate
amounts and types of backups are made,
including suitably frequent testing of the
process for restoring the original production
system from the backup copies.
BACKUP ROTATION SCHEME:
a method for effectively backing up data where
multiple media are systematically moved from
storage to usage in the backup process and back
to storage. There are several different schemes.
Each takes a different approach to balance the
need for a long retention period with frequently
backing up changes. Some schemes are more
complicated than others.
BACKUP SITE: a place where business can
continue after a data loss event. Such a site
may have ready access to the backups or
possibly even a continuously updated mirror.
BACKUP SOFTWARE: computer
software applications that are used for
performing the backing up of data, i.e., the
systematic generation of backup copies.
BACKUP WINDOW: the period of time that
a system is available to perform a backup procedure.
Backup procedures can have detrimental effects to
system and network performance, sometimes
requiring the primary use of the system to be
suspended. These effects can be mitigated by
arranging a backup window with the users or owners
of the system(s).
COPY BACKUP: backs up the selected
files, but does not mark the files as backed up
(reset the archive bit). This is found in the
backup with Windows 2003.
CUMULATIVE INCREMENTAL
BACKUP: a differential backup used by
NetBackup.
DAILY BACKUP: incremental backup used
by Windows Server 2003.
DATA SALVAGE: the process of
recovering data from storage devices when the
normal operational methods are impossible. This
process is typically performed by specialists in
controlled environments with special tools. For
example, a crashed hard disk may still have data
on it even though it doesn’t work properly. A
data salvage specialist might be able to recover
much of the original data by opening it up in a
clean room and tinkering with the internal parts.
DIFFERENTIAL BACKUP:
a cumulative backup of all changes made since
the last full backup. The advantage to this is
the quicker recovery time, requiring only a full
backup and the latest differential backup to
restore the system. The disadvantage is that
for each day elapsed since the last full backup,
more data needs to be backed up, especially if a
majority of the data has been changed.
DIFFERENTIAL INCREMENTAL
BACKUP:
An incremental backup used by NetBackup.
DISASTER RECOVERY: the process of
recovering after a business disaster and
restoring or recreating data. One of the main
purposes of creating backups is to facilitate a
successful disaster recovery. For maximum
effectiveness, this process should be planned
in advance and audited.
DISK IMAGE: a method of backing up a
whole disk or filesystem in a single image. Since
the underlying data structures are what is
actually backed up, this method does not allow
for file level control over what is selected for
backup or restore.
FLASHBACKUP: a term used for raw
partition backup used by NetBackup Advanced
Client. In NBAC, support is limited to the VxFS
(Veritas), ufs (Solaris), Online JFS (HP-UX), and
NTFS (Windows) filesystem types. Similar to
the UNIX utility dump.
FULL BACKUP: a backup of all (selected)
files on the system. In contrast to a drive image,
this does not included the file allocation tables,
partition structure and boot sectors.
HOT BACKUP: a backup of a database that
is still running, and so changes may be made to
the data while it is being backed up. Some
database engines keep a record of all entries
changed, including the complete new value.
This can be used to resolve changes made
during the backup.
INCREMENTAL BACKUP: a backup
that only contains the files that have changed
since the most recent backup (either full or
incremental). The advantage of this is quicker
backup times, as only changed files need to be
saved. The disadvantage is longer recovery
times, as the latest full backup, and all
incremental backups up to the date of data loss
need to be restored.
MEDIA SPANNING: sometimes a backup
job is larger than a single destination storage
medium. In this case, the job must be broken up
into fragments that can be distributed across
multiple storage media.
MULTIPLEXING: the practice of
combining multiple backup data streams into a
single stream that can be written to a single
storage device. For example, backing up 4 PCs
to a single tape drive at once.
MULTISTREAMING: the practice of
creating multiple backup data streams from a
single system to multiple storage devices. For
example, backing up a single database to 4 tape
drives at once.
NORMAL BACKUP: full backup used by
Windows Server 2003.
NEAR STORE: provisionally backing up
data to a local staging backup device, possibly
for later archival backup to a remote store device.
OPEN FILE BACKUP: the ability to back
up a file while it is in use by another application.
See File locking.
REMOTE STORE: backing up data to an
offsite permanent backup facility, either directly
from the live data source or else from an
intermediate near store device.
RESTORE TIME: the amount of time
required to bring a desired data set back from
the backup media.
BLAWG: A law blog.
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SITE-TO-SITE BACKUP: backup, over
the internet, to an offsite location under the
user’s control. Similar to remote backup except
that the owner of the data maintains control of
the storage location.
SYNTHETIC BACKUP: a term used by
NetBackup for a restorable backup image that
is synthesized on the backup server from a
previous full backup and all the incremental
backups since then. It is equivalent to what a
full backup would be if it were taken at the time
of the last incremental backup.
TAPE LIBRARY: a storage device which
contains tape drives, slots to hold tape
cartridges, a barcode reader to identify tape
cartridges and an automated method for
physically moving tapes within the device.
These devices can store immense amounts of
data.
TRUE IMAGE RESTORE: a term used
by NetBackup and Backup Exec for the
collection of file deletion and file movement
records so that an accurate restore can be
performed. For instance, consider a system that
has a directory with 5 documents in it on Friday.
On Saturday, the system gets a full backup that
includes those 5 documents. On Monday, the
owner of those documents deletes 2 of them
and updates 1 of the 3 remaining. That updated
document gets backed up as part of The
Monday night incremental backup. On Tuesday
afternoon the system crashes. If we perform a
normal restore of the full backup from Saturday
and the incremental backup from Monday to
the fresh system, we will have restored the 2
documents that were intentionally deleted. True
image restore keeps track of the deletions with
each incremental backup and prevents the
deleted files from being inappropriately restored.
TRUSTED PAPER KEY: a machinereadable
print of a cryptographic key.
VIRTUAL TAPE LIBRARY (VTL):
a storage device that appears to be a tape library
to backup software, but actually stores data by
some other means. A VTL can be configured as
a temporary storage location before data is
actually sent to real tapes or it can be the final
storage location itself.
ATOM: Another popular feed format
developed as an alternative to RSS.
AUTOCASTING: Automated form of
podcasting that allows bloggers and blog
readers to generate audio versions of text blogs
from RSS feeds.
AUDIOBLOG: A blog where the posts
consist mainly of voice recordings sent by
mobile phone, sometimes with some short text
message added for metadata purposes. (cf.
podcasting)
BLEG: An entry in a blog requesting
information or contributions.
BLOG CARNIVAL: A blog article that
contains links to other articles covering a
specific topic. Most blog carnivals arehosted
by a rotating list of frequent contributors to the
carnival, and serve to both generate new posts
by contributors and highlight new bloggers
posting matter in that subject area.
BLOG CLIENT: (weblog client) is software
to manage (post, edit) blogs from operating
system with no need to launch a web browser.
A typical blog client has an editor, a spellchecker
and a few more options that simplify
content creation and editing.
BLOGGER: Person who runs a blog. Also
blogger.com, a popular blog hosting web site.
Rarely: weblogger.
BLOGGERNACLE: Blogs written by and
for Mormons (a portmanteau of “blog” and
“Tabernacle)”. Generally refers to faithful
Mormon bloggers and sometimes refers to a
specific grouping of faithful Mormon bloggers.
BLOGGIES: One of the most popular blog
awards.
BLOGROLL: A list of other blogs that a
blogger might recommend by providing links to
them (usually in a sidebar list).
BLOGOSPHERE: All blogs, or the
blogging community. Also called blogistan or,
more rarely, blogspace.
BLOGWARE: A category of software which
consists of a specialized form of a Content
Management System specifically designed for
creating and maintaining weblogs. The BOBs:
The largest international blog awards.
COLLABORATIVE BLOG: A blog
(usually focused on a single issue or political
stripe) on which multiple users enjoy posting
permission. Also known as group blog.
RETENTION TIME: the amount of time
in which a given set of data will remain available
for restore. Some backup products rely on daily
copies of data and measure retention in terms
of days. Others retain a number of copies of
data changes regardless of the amount of time.
COMMENT SPAM: Like e-mail spam.
Robot ¯spambots flood a blog with advertising
in the form of bogus comments. A serious
problem that requires bloggers and blog
platforms to have tools to exclude some users
or ban some addresses in comments.
DESKTOP BLOGGING CLIENT:
An off-line blog management (posting, editing
and archiving) tool Fisking: To rebut a blog entry
in a line-by-line fashion.
FLOG: A portmanteau of “fake” and “blog”.
A blog that’s ghostwritten by someone, such
as in the marketing department. A food blog;
sometimes, a blog dedicated to food porn.
J-BLOG: A journalist blog. A blog with a
Jewish focus.
MILBLOG: Term for blogs written by
members or veterans of any branch of military
service - Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. A
contraction of military and blog.
MOBLOG: A portmanteau of “mobile” and
“blog”. A blog featuring posts sent mainly by
mobile phone, using SMS or MMS messages.
They are often photoblogs.
MOMMY BLOG: A blog featuring
discussions especially about home and family.
MULTIBLOG: A blog constructed as a
conversation between more than two people.
PERMALINK: Permanent link. The unique
URL of a single post. Use this when you want
to link to a post somewhere.
PHLOG: Type of blog utilising the Gopher
protocol instead of HTTP. A Photoblog. A
portmanteau of “photo” and “blog”.
PHOTOBLOG: A blog mostly containing
photos, posted constantly and chronologically.
PINGBACK: The alert in the TrackBack
system that notifies the original poster of a blog
post when someone else writes an entry
concerning the original post.
PODCASTING: Contraction of ¯iPod and
broadcasting (but not for iPods only). Posting
audio and video material on a blog and its RSS
feed, for digital players.
POST: An entry written and published to a
blog. Post Slug: For blogs with common
language URLs, the post slug is the portion of
the URL that represents the post. Example: http:/
/domain.com/2008/01/this-is-the-post-slug
RSS: Really Simple Syndication is a family of
Web feed formats used to publish frequently
updated content such as blog entries, news
headlines or podcasts.
RSS AGGREGATOR: Software or online
service allowing a blogger to read an RSS feed,
especially the latest posts on their favourite
blogs. Also called a reader, or feedreader.
RSS FEED: The file containing a blog’s latest
posts. It is read by an RSS aggregator/reader
and shows at once when a blog has been
updated. It may contain only the title of the post,
the title plus the first few lines of a post, or the
entire post.
SPAM BLOG: A blog which is composed
of spam. A Spam blog or “any blog whose
creator doesn’t add any written value.”
SLASHDOT EFFECT: The Slashdot
effect can hit blogs or other website, and is
caused by a major website (usually Slashdot,
but also Digg, Metafilter, Boing Boing,
Instapundit and others) sending huge amounts
of temporary traffic that often slow down the
server.
SUBSCRIBE: The term used when a blogs
feed is added to a feed reader like Bloglines or
Google. Some blogging platforms have internal
subscriptions, this allows readers to receive
notification when there are new posts in a blog.
SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY
URLS: or, for short, SEF URLs, implemented
with a Rewrite engine.
TRACKBACK: A system that allows a
blogger to see who has seen the original post
and has written another entry concerning it. The
system works by sending a ‘ping’ between the
blogs, and therefore providing the alert.
TEMPLATES: Templates, used on the
“back end” of a blog that work together to handle
information and present it on a blog.
THEME: CSS based code that when applied
to the templates will result in visual element
changes to the blog. The theme, as a whole, is
also referred to as a blog design.
VLOG: A video blog; a vlogger is a video
blogger (e.g. someone who records himself
interviewing people of a certain field). Warblog:
a blog devoted mostly or wholly to covering
news events concerning an ongoing war.
Weblog: the unshortened version of ‘blog’.
OPERATING SYSTEM: An operating
system (OS) is software, consisting of programs
and data, that runs on computers and manages
the computer hardware and provides common
services for efficient execution of various
application software. For hardware functions
such as input and output and memory allocation,
the operating system acts as an intermediary
between application programs and the computer
hardware. Examples of popular modern
operating systems for personal computers are
Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS: Windows 7,
is the newest release of Windows. Microsoft
Windows is a family of proprietary operating
systems most commonly used on personal
computers. It is the most common family of
operating systems for the personal computer,
with about 90% of the market share. Currently,
the most widely used version of the Windows
family is Windows XP, released on October 25,
2001. The newest version is Windows 7 for
personal computers and Windows Server 2008
R2 for servers. It originated in 1981 as an addon
to the older MS-DOS operating system for
the IBM PC.
UNIX AND UNIX-LIKE
OPERATING SYSTEMS:
Ken Thompson wrote B, mainly based on BCPL,
which he used to write Unix, based on his
experience in the MULTICS project. B was
replaced by C, and Unix developed into a large,
complex family of inter-related operating
systems which have been influential in every
modern operating system (see History). The
Unix-like family is a diverse group of operating
systems, with several major sub-categories
including System V, BSD, and GNU/Linux. The
name “UNIX” is a trademark of The Open Group
which licenses it for use with any operating
system that has been shown to conform to their
definitions. “Unix-like” is commonly used to refer
to the large set of operating systems which
resemble the original Unix. Unix-like systems run
on a wide variety of machine architectures. They
are used heavily for servers in business, as well
as workstations in academic and engineering
environments. Free Unix variants, such as GNU/
Linux and BSD, are popular in these areas.
Mac OS X: Mac OS X is a line of partially
proprietary graphical operating systems
developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc.,
the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently
shipping Macintosh computers. The operating
system was first released in 1999 as Mac OS X
Server 1.0, with a desktop-oriented version
(Mac OS X v10.0) following in March 2001.
Since then, six more distinct “client” and
“server” editions of Mac OS X have been
released, the most recent being Mac OS X v10.6,
which was first made available on August 28,
2009. Releases of Mac OS X are named after big
cats; the current version of Mac OS X is “Snow
Leopard”.
LINUX AND GNU: Linux is the generic
name for a UNIX-like operating system that can
be used on a wide range of devices from
supercomputers to wristwatches. The Linux
kernel is released under an open source license,
so anyone can read and modify its code. It has
been modified to run on a large variety of
electronics. Although estimates suggest it is
used on only 0.5-2% of all personal computers
it has been widely adopted for use in servers
and embedded systems (such as cell phones).
Linux has superseded Unix in most places and
is used on the 10 most powerful supercomputers
in the world. The GNU project is a mass
collaboration of programmers who seek to create
a completely free and open operating system
that was similar to Unix but with completely
original code.
GOOGLE CHROME OS: Chrome is an
operating system based on the Linux kernel and
designed by Google. Chrome targets computer
users that spend most of their time on the
Internet—it is technically only a web browser
with no other applications, and relies on Internet
applications used in the web browser to
accomplish tasks such as word processing and
media viewing.
INTERRUPT: Interrupts are central to
operating systems, as they provide an efficient
way for the operating system to interact with
and react to its environment.
USER INTERFACE: Every computer that
receives some sort of human input needs a user
interface, which allows a person to interact with
the computer. While devices like keyboards,
mice and touchscreens make up the hardware
end of this task, the user interface makes up the
software for it. The two most common forms of
a user interface have historically been the
Command-line interface, where computer
commands are typed out line-by-line, and the
Graphical user interface, where a visual
environment (most commonly with windows,
buttons, and icons) is present.
KERNEL: A kernel connects the application
software to the hardware of a computer. With
the aid of the firmware and device drivers, the
operating system provides the most basic level
of control over all of the computer’s hardware
devices. It manages memory access for programs
in the RAM, it determines which programs get
access to which hardware resources, it sets up
or resets the CPU’s operating states for optimal
operation at all times, and it organizes the data
for long-term non-volatile storage with file
systems on such media as disks, tapes, flash
memory, etc.
VIRTUAL MEMORY: Many operating
systems can “trick” programs into using memory
scattered around the hard disk and RAM as if it
is one continuous chunk of memory called
virtual memory.The use of virtual memory
addressing (such as paging or segmentation)
means that the kernel can choose what memory
each program may use at any given time,
allowing the operating system to use the same
memory locations for multiple tasks. If a
program tries to access memory that isn’t in its
current range of accessible memory, but
nonetheless has been allocated to it, the kernel
will be interrupted in the same way as it would if
the program were to exceed its allocated memory.
(See section on memory management.) Under
UNIX this kind of interrupt is referred to as a
page fault.
MULTITASKING: Multitasking refers to
the running of multiple independent computer
programs on the same computer; giving the
appearance that it is performing the tasks at the
same time. Since most computers can do at most
one or two things at one time, this is generally
done via time-sharing, which means that each
program uses a share of the computer’s time to
execute.
DEVICE DRIVERS: A device driver is a
specific type of computer software developed
to allow interaction with hardware devices.
Typically this constitutes an interface for
communicating with the device, through the
specific computer bus or communications
subsystem that the hardware is connected to,
providing commands to and/or receiving data
from the device, and on the other end, the
requisite interfaces to the operating system and
software applications.
NETWORKING: Currently most operating
systems support a variety of networking
protocols, hardware, and applications for using
them. This means that computers running
dissimilar operating systems can participate in
a common network for sharing resources such
as computing, files, printers, and scanners using
either wired or wireless connections. Networks
can essentially allow a computer’s operating
system to access the resources of a remote
computer to support the same functions as it
could if those resources were connected directly
to the local computer. This includes everything
from simple communication, to using networked
file systems or even sharing another computer’s
graphics or sound hardware. Some network
services allow the resources of a computer to
be accessed transparently, such as SSH which
allows networked users direct access to a
computer’s command line interface.
REAL-TIME OPERATING
SYSTEM: A real-time operating system
(RTOS) is a multitasking operating system
intended for applications with fixed deadlines
(real-time computing). Such applications include
some small embedded systems, automobile
engine controllers, industrial robots, spacecraft,
industrial control, and some large-scale
computing systems.
.NET: The domain name net is a generic toplevel
domain (gTLD) used in the Domain Name
System of the Internet. The name is derived from
network, indicating its originally intended
purpose for organizations involved in
networking technologies, such as Internet
service providers and other infrastructure
companies. However, restrictions were never
enforced and the domain is a general purpose
name space. It is still popular with network
operators, and is often treated as an alternate to
com. net is one of the original top-level domains
(the other five being com, edu, gov, mil, and
org). As of 2009, it is the fourth most popular
top-level domain, after com, cn, and de.
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DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM: The
Domain Name System (DNS) is a distributed
hierarchical naming system for computers,
services, or any resource connected to the
Internet or a private network. It associates
various information with domain names assigned
to each of the participants. Most importantly, it
translates domain names meaningful to humans
into the numerical (binary) identifiers associated
with networking equipment for the purpose of
locating and addressing these devices
worldwide. An often-used analogy to explain
the Domain Name System is that it serves as the
“phone book” for the Internet by translating
human-friendly computer hostnames into IP
addresses.
WWW: The World Wide Web, abbreviated as
WWW and commonly known as the Web, is a
system of interlinked hypertext documents
accessed via the Internet. With a web browser,
one can view web pages that may contain text,
images, videos, and other multimedia and
navigate between them by using hyperlinks.
“The World-Wide Web (W3) was developed to
be a pool of human knowledge, and human
culture, which would allow collaborators in
remote sites to share their ideas and all aspects
of a common project.” English engineer and
computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee
developed it.
PROCESSOR REGISTERS: are
located inside the processor. Each register
typically holds a word of data (often 32 or 64
bits). CPU instructions instruct the arithmetic
and logic unit to perform various calculations
or other operations on this data (or with the
help of it). Registers are technically among the
fastest of all forms of computer data storage.
PROCESSOR CACHE: is an intermediate
stage between ultra-fast registers and much
slower main memory. It’s introduced solely to
increase performance of the computer. Most
actively used information in the main memory is
just duplicated in the cache memory, which is
faster, but of much lesser capacity. On the other
hand it is much slower, but much larger than
processor registers.
NON-VOLATILE MEMORY: Will
retain the stored information even if it is not
constantly supplied with electric power. It is
suitable for long-term storage of information.
Nowadays used for most of secondary, tertiary,
and off-line storage. In 1950s and 1960s, it was
also used for primary storage, in the form of
magnetic core memory.
VOLATILE MEMORY: Requires
constant power to maintain the stored
information. The fastest memory technologies
of today are volatile ones (not a universal rule).
Since primary storage is required to be very fast,
it predominantly uses volatile memory.
DYNAMIC RANDOM ACCESS
MEMORY: A form of volatile memory which
also requires the stored information to be
periodically re-read and re-written, or refreshed,
otherwise it would vanish.
STATIC MEMORY: A form of volatile
memory similar to DRAM with the exception
that it never needs to be refreshed as long as
power is applied. (It loses its content if power is
removed).
LATENCY: The time it takes to access a
particular location in storage. The relevant unit
of measurement is typically nanosecond for
primary storage, millisecond for secondary
storage, and second for tertiary storage. It may
make sense to separate read latency and write
latency, and in case of sequential access
storage, minimum, maximum and average latency.
DIRECT-ATTACHED STORAGE
(DAS): is a traditional mass storage that does
not use any network. This is still a most popular
approach. This term was coined lately, together
with NAS and SAN.
OPTICAL STORAGE: the typical optical
disc, stores information in deformities on the
surface of a circular disc and reads this
information by illuminating the surface with a
laser diode and observing the reflection. Optical
disc storage is non-volatile. The deformities may
be permanent (read only media), formed once
(write once media) or reversible (recordable or
read/write media).
MAGNETIC STORAGE: uses different
patterns of magnetization on a magnetically
coated surface to store information. Magnetic
storage is non-volatile. The information is
accessed using one or more read/write heads
which may contain one or more recording
transducers. A read/write head only covers a
part of the surface so that the head or medium
or both must be moved relative to another in
order to access data.
SOCIAL NETWORK SERVICE:
A social network service is an online service,
platform, or site that focuses on building and
reflecting of social networks or social relations
among people, e.g., who share interests and/or
activities. A social network service essentially
consists of a representation of each user (often
a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of
additional services. Most social network
services are web based and provide means for
users to interact over the internet, such as email
and instant messaging. Popular methods
now combine many of these, with Facebook,
Bebo and Twitter widely used worldwide;
MySpace and LinkedIn being the most widely
used in North America; Nexopia (mostly in
Canada); Bebo, Hi5, Hyves (mostly in The
Netherlands), StudiVZ (mostly in Germany),
iWiW (mostly in Hungary), Tuenti (mostly in
Spain), Nasza-Klasa (mostly in
Poland),Decayenne, Tagged, XING, Badoo and
Skyrock in parts of Europe; Orkut and Hi5 in
South America, India and Central America; and
Friendster, Mixi, Multiply, Orkut, Wretch, renren
and Cyworld in Asia and the Pacific Islands and
Orkut and Facebook in India. Social impacts:
Web based social network services make it
possible to connect people who share interests
and activities across political, economic, and
geographic borders. Through e-mail and instant
messaging, online communities are created
where a gift economy and reciprocal altruism
are encouraged through cooperation.
Information is particularly suited to gift
economy, as information is a nonrival good and
can be gifted at practically no cost. Facebook
and other social networking tools are
increasingly the object of scholarly research.
Scholars in many fields have begun to
investigate the impact of social networking sites,
investigating how such sites may play into
issues of identity, privacy, social capital, youth
culture, and education. Several websites are
beginning to tap into the power of the social
networking model for philanthropy. Such models
provide a means for connecting otherwise
fragmented industries and small organizations
without the resources to reach a broader
audience with interested users. Social networks
are providing a different way for individuals to
communicate digitally. These communities of
hypertexts allow for the sharing of information
and ideas, an old concept placed in a digital
environment. The relative freedom afforded by
social networking services has caused concern
regarding the potential of its misuse by
individual patrons. In October 2006, a fake
Myspace profile created in the name of Josh
Evans by Lori Janine Drew led to the suicide of
Megan Meier. The event incited global concern
regarding the use of social networking services
for bullying purposes.
SKYPE: Skype is a software application that
allows users to make voice calls over the
Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype
service are free, while calls to both traditional
landline telephones and mobile phones can be
made for a fee using a debit-based user account
system. Skype has also become popular for its
additional features which include instant
messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing.
The network is operated by a company called
Skype Limited, headquartered in Luxembourg
and partly owned by eBay.
ORKUT: Orkut is a social networking website
that is owned and operated by Google Inc. The
service is designed to help users meet new
friends and maintain existing relationships. The
website is named after its creator, Google
employee Orkut Büyükkökten. It is one of the
most visited websites in India and Brazil.
BING: Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows
Live Search, and MSN Search) is the current
web search engine (advertised as a “decision
engine”) from Microsoft. Bing is the third largest
search engine on the web by query volume after
its competitor Google and Yahoo.
3GPP: The 3rd Generation Partnership Project
(3GPP) is a collaboration between groups of
telecommunications associations, to make a
globally applicable third-generation (3G) mobile
phone system specification within the scope of
the International Mobile Telecommunications-
2000 project of the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU).
APPLE INC: Apple Inc. is an American
multinational corporation that designs and
markets consumer electronics, computer
software, and personal computers. The
company’s best-known hardware products
include the Macintosh line of computers, the
iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple software
includes the Mac OS X operating system; the
iTunes media browser; the iLife suite of
multimedia and creativity software; the iWork
suite of productivity software; Aperture, a
professional photography package; Final Cut
Studio, a suite of professional audio and filmindustry
software products; Logic Studio, a
suite of music production tools and its iOS
Mobile Operating System. Steve Jobs (Cofounder,
Chairman and CEO) of this company.
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE: An assembly
language is a low-level programming language
for computers, microprocessors,
microcontrollers, and other integrated circuits.
It implements a symbolic representation of the
binary machine codes and other constants
needed to program a given CPU architecture.
CAD: Computer-aided design (CAD), also
known as computer-aided drafting and design
(CADD), is the use of computer technology for
the process of design and designdocumentation.
Computer Aided Drafting
describes the process of drafting with a
computer. CADD software, or environments,
provide the user with input-tools for the purpose
of streamlining design processes; drafting,
documentation, and manufacturing processes.
COBOL: COBOL is one of the oldest
programming languages. Its name is an acronym
for COmmon Business-Oriented Language,
defining its primary domain in business, finance,
and administrative systems for companies and
governments. The COBOL 2002 standard
includes support for object-oriented
programming and other modern language
features.
COMPILER: A compiler is a computer
program (or set of programs) that transforms
source code written in a programming language
(the source language) into another computer
language (the target language, often having a
binary form known as object code). The most
common reason for wanting to transform source
code is to create an executable program. The
name “compiler” is primarily used for programs
that translate source code from a high-level
programming language to a lower level language
(e.g., assembly language or machine code).
DBASE: dBase II was the first widely used
database management system (DBMS) for
microcomputers. It was originally published by
Ashton-Tate for CP/M, and later on ported to
the Apple II and IBM PC under DOS. On the PC
platform in particular it became one of the bestselling
software titles for a number of years.
DIASPORA: Diaspora is an open-source
personal web server that implements a
distributed social networking service. The
developers aim for it to be a decentralized
alternative to social network services like
Facebook.
EBAY INC. is an American Internet company
that manages eBay.com, an online auction and
shopping website in which people and
businesses buy and sell a broad variety of
goods and services worldwide. Founded in
1995, eBay is one of the notable success stories
of the dot-com bubble; it is now a multi-billion
dollar business with operations localized in over
thirty countries.
FACEBOOK: Facebook is a social
networking website. It is operated and privately
owned by Facebook, Inc. with more than 500
million active users in July 2010, which is about
one person for every fourteen in the world.
Users can add people as friends and send them
messages, and update their personal profiles to
notify friends about themselves.
DOS: DOS, short for “Disk Operating System”,
is a shorthand term for several closely related
operating systems that dominated the IBM PC
compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or
until about 2000 if one includes the partially
DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98,
and Millennium Edition.
FORTRAN: Fortran (blends derived from
IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System)
is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative
programming language that is especially suited
to numeric computation and scientific
computing. Originally developed by IBM
FRIENDSTER: Friendster is a social
networking website. It is in the top 500 global
websites based on web traffic.
FOXPRO: FoxPro is a text-based
procedurally-oriented programming language
and DBMS, originally published by Fox
Software and later by Microsoft, for MS-DOS,
MS Windows, Apple Macintosh, and UNIX.
Although FoxPro is a Database Management
System (DBMS) and it does support
relationships between tables, it is not
considered a Relational Database Management
System (RDBMS), lacking transactional
processing.
GOOGLE: GOOGLE INC:
is a multinational public cloud computing,
Internet search, and advertising technologies
corporation. Google hosts and develops a
number of Internet-based services and products,
and generates profit primarily from advertising
through its AdWords program. The company
was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin,
often dubbed the “Google Guys”
GOOGLE TALK: Google Talk (GTalk) is a
freeware Windows web-based application for
instant messaging and voice over internet
protocol (VOIP) client offered by Google Inc.
The Google Talk client is only available for
Microsoft Windows but Google Chat (voice and
video chat) is now available for PCs and Intelbased
Macs.
GOOGLEBOT: Googlebot is the search bot
software used by Google, which collects
documents from the web to build a searchable
index for the Google search engine.
THROUGHPUT: The rate at which
information can be read from or written to the
storage. In computer data storage, throughput
is usually expressed in terms of megabytes per
second or MB/s, though bit rate may also be
used. As with latency, read rate and write rate
may need to be differentiated. Also accessing
media sequentially, as opposed to randomly,
typically yields maximum throughput.
MAGNETO-OPTICAL DISC
STORAGE: is optical disc storage where the
magnetic state on a ferromagnetic surface stores
information. The information is read optically
and written by combining magnetic and optical
methods. Magneto-optical disc storage is nonvolatile,
sequential access, slow write, fast read
storage used for tertiary and off-line storage.
MOLECULAR MEMORY: stores
information in polymer that can store electric
charge. Molecular memory might be especially
suited for primary storage. The theoretical
storage capacity of molecular memory is 10
terabits per square inch.
C SHARP: C# is intended to be a simple,
modern, general-purpose, object-oriented
programming language developed by Microdoft.
The most recent version is C# 4.0
TROLLING: A common misuse of social
networking sites such as Facebook is that it is
occasionally used to emotionally abuse
individuals. Such actions are often referred to
as trolling. It is not rare for confrontations in
the real world to be translated online. Trolling
can occur in many different forms, such as (but
not limited to) defacement of deceased
person(s) tribute pages, calling “Australians”
“Austrians”, playing online pranks on volatile
individuals and controversial comments with
the intention to cause anger and cause
arguments.
TWITTER: Twitter is a website, owned and
operated by Twitter Inc., which offers a social
networking and microblogging service, enabling
its users to send and read other users’ messages
called tweets. Users may subscribe to other
author tweets—this is known as following and
subscribers are known as followers. Since its
creation in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Twitter has
gained notability and popularity worldwide and
currently has more than 100 million users
worldwide. It is sometimes described as the
“SMS of the Internet.”
BEBO: Bebo is a social networking website,
like orkut, facebook. It is owned by Criterion
Capital Partners.
COMPASS: COMPASS is an acronym for
COMPrehensive ASSembler. COMPASS is a
macro assembly language.
COLDFUSION: ColdFusion is a commercial
rapid application development platform.
Originally designed to make it easier to connect
simple HTML pages to a database. Current
versions of ColdFusion, sold by Adobe
Systems, include advanced features for
enterprise integration and development of rich
Internet applications (RIA).
COBRA: Cobra is an object-oriented
programming language. Cobra is designed by
Chuck Esterbrook, and runs on the Microsoft
.NET and Mono platforms. It is strongly
influenced by Python, C#, Eiffel, Objective-C,
and other programming languages. It supports
both static and dynamic typing.
ICQ: an instant messaging service.
GOOGLE SEARCH: Google Search or Google
Web Search is a web search engine owned by
Google Inc. and is the most-used search engine
on the Web. Google receives several hundred
million queries each day through its various
services. The main purpose of Google Search is
to hunt for text in webpages, as opposed to
other data, such as with Google Image Search.
Google search was originally developed by Larry
Page and Sergey Brin.
GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE:
A graphical user interface (GUI), often
pronounced gooey, is a type of user interface
that allows users to interact with programs in
more ways than typing such as computers;
hand-held devices such as MP3 players,
portable media players or gaming devices;
household appliances and office equipment with
images rather than text commands. A GUI offers
graphical icons, and visual indicators, as
opposed to text-based interfaces, typed
command labels or text navigation to fully
represent the information and actions available
to a user.
HOTMAIL: free email service, now part of
MSN. Founder Jack Smith got the idea of
accessing e-mail via the web from a computer
anywhere in the world.
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Hi5: Hi5 is a social networking website. The
compny wa founded by Ramu Yalamanchi. Hi5
has used controversial email address import
methods to gain more users - which may be
considered a form of spam.
HYPERTALK: HyperTalk is a high-level,
procedural programming language created by
Dan Winkler and used in conjunction with
Apple Computer’s HyperCard hypermedia
program.
COOKIE: A packet of information that
travels between a browser and the web server.
GNU: a project with an original goal of creating
a free operating system.
LOTUS SOFTWARE: Lotus founder
Mitch Kapor got the name for his company from
‘The Lotus Position’ (‘Padmasana’ in Sanskrit).
Kapor used to be a teacher of Transcendental
Meditation technique as taught by Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi.
MOZILLA: a web browser and successor
to Netscape Communicator.
PERL: an interpreted scripting language, Larry
Wall is the creator of Perl.
PHP: a server-side scripting language,
Originally called “Personal Home Page Tools”
by creator Rasmus Lerdorf, it was rewritten by
developers Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans who
gave it the recursive name “PHP Hypertext
Preprocessor”.
PING: computer network tool used to detect
hosts
TROJAN HORSE: a malicious program
that is disguised as legitimate software.
WIKI: or WikiWiki a hypertext document collection
or the collaborative software used to
create it.
WORM: a self-replicating program, similar to
a virus.
ZIP: a file format now also used as a verb to
mean compress
MP3: MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer 3 (or
III), more commonly referred to as MP3, is a
patented digital audio encoding format using a
form of lossy data compression. It is a common
audio format for consumer audio storage, as well
as a de facto standard of digital audio compression
for the transfer and playback of music on
digital audio players. MP3 is an audio-specific
format that was designed by the Moving Picture
Experts Group as part of its MPEG-1 standard
and later extended in MPEG-2 standard.
MSN: MSN (originally The Microsoft Network)
is a collection of Internet sites and services
provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft
Network debuted as an online service and
Internet service provider.
MPEG-2: MPEG-2 is a standard for “the generic
coding of moving pictures and associated
audio information”. It describes a combination
of lossy video compression and lossy audio
data compression methods which permit storage
and transmission of movies using currently
available storage media and transmission bandwidth.
.NET FRAMEWORK: The Microsoft
.NET Framework is a software framework that
can be installed on computers running
Microsoft Windows operating systems. It includes
a large library of coded solutions to common
programming problems and a common language
infrastructure that manages the execution
of programs written specifically for the
framework. The .NET Framework supports multiple
programming languages in a manner that
allows language interoperability, whereby each
language can utilize code written in other languages;
in particular, the .NET library is available
to all the programming languages that .NET
encompasses.
QUANTUM COMPUTER: A quantum
computer is a device for computation that makes
direct use of quantum mechanical phenomena,
such as superposition and entanglement, to
perform operations on data. Quantum computers
are different from traditional computers based
on transistors. The basic principle behind quantum
computation is that quantum properties can
be used to represent data and perform operations
on these data. Although quantum computing
is still in its infancy, experiments have
been carried out in which quantum computational
operations were executed on a very small
number of qubits (quantum bit). Both practical
and theoretical research continues, and many
national government and military funding agencies
support quantum computing research to
develop quantum computers for both civilian
and national security purposes, such as
cryptanalysis.
ONLINE COMMUNITY: An online
community is a virtual community that exists
online whose members enables its existence
through taking part in membership rituals. An
online community can take the form of an
information system where anyone can post
content, such as a Bulletin board system or one
where only a restricted number of people can
initiate posts, such as Weblogs. Online
communities have also become a supplemental
form of communication between people who
know each other primarily in real life. Many
means are used in social software separately or
in combination, including text-based chat rooms
and forums that use voice, video text or avatars.
Significant socio-technical change may have
resulted from the proliferation of such Internetbased
social networks. Online communities are
used for a variety of social and professional
groups interacting via the Internet. It does not
necessarily mean that there is a strong bond
among the members. An email distribution list
may have hundreds of members and the
communication which takes place may be merely
informational (questions and answers are
posted), but members may remain relative
strangers and the membership turnover rate
could be high. This is in line with the liberal use
of the term community. Some of the earliest forms
of online community websites included
TheGlobe.com (1994), GeoCities (1994), and
Tripod.com (1995). These early communities
focused on bringing people together to interact
with each other through chat rooms, and share
personal information and ideas around any
topics via personal homepage publishing tools
which were a precursor to the blogging and
social networking phenomenon. These
communities can be organizational, regional or
topical depending on the business. From a
technical perspective, software tools abound
to create and nurture these communities
including BigTent, Yahoo! Groups, Google
Groups, LISTSERV, Microsoft SharePoint and
IBM Lotus Connections. Most online
communities grow slowly at first, due in part to
the fact that the strength of motivation for
contributing is usually proportional to the size
of the community. As the size of the potential
audience increases, so does the attraction of
writing and contributing. This, coupled with the
fact that organizational culture does not change
overnight, means creators can expect slow
progress at first with a new virtual community.
As more people begin to participate, however,
the aforementioned motivations will increase,
creating a virtuous cycle in which more
participation begets more participation.
PASCAL: Pascal is an influential imperative
and procedural programming language,
designed and published by Niklaus Wirth as a
small and efficient language intended to
encourage good programming practices using
structured programming and data structuring.
A derivative known as Object Pascal was
designed for object oriented programming.
ìTorrent: ìTorrent is a freeware, closed source
BitTorrent client by BitTorrent, Inc. It is available
for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Both
versions are written in C++. It gets the “ì” in its
name from the SI prefix “micro” meaning one
one-millionth and it refers to the program’s small
footprint. The program is designed to use
minimal computer resources. The program has
received consistently good reviews for its
feature set, performance, stability, and support
for older hardware and versions of Windows. A
report showed that ìTorrent is the second most
popular BitTorrent client (after the Chinese
Xunlei).
VBSCRIPT: VBScript (Visual Basic Scripting
Edition) is an Active Scripting language
developed by Microsoft that is modelled on
Visual Basic. It is designed as a ¯lightweight
language with a fast interpreter for use in a wide
variety of Microsoft environments. VBScript
uses the Component Object Model to access
elements of the environment within which it is
running; for example, the FileSystemObject
(FSO) is used to create, read, update and delete
files. VBScript has been installed by default in
every desktop release of Microsoft Windows
since Windows 98.
VISUAL BASIC .NET: Visual Basic .NET
(VB.NET) is an object-oriented computer
programming language that can be viewed as
an evolution of Microsoft’s Visual Basic (VB)
which is generally implemented on the Microsoft
.NET Framework. Microsoft currently supplies
Visual Basic Express Edition free of charge.
VISUAL BASIC: Visual Basic (VB) is the
third-generation event-driven programming
language and integrated development
environment (IDE) from Microsoft for its COM
programming model. VB is also considered a
relatively easy to learn and use programming
language, because of its graphical development
features and BASIC heritage.
TCL: Tcl is a scripting language created by
John Ousterhout. It is commonly used for rapid
prototyping, scripted applications, GUIs and
testing.
UNIX SHELL: A Unix shell is a commandline
interpreter or shell that provides a traditional
user interface for the Unix operating system and
for Unix-like systems. Users direct the operation
of the computer by entering command input as
text for a command line interpreter to execute or
by creating text scripts of one or more such
commands. The most influential Unix shells have
been the Bourne shell and the C shell.
VBA: Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is
an implementation of Microsoft’s event-driven
programming language Visual Basic 6, and
associated integrated development environment
(IDE), which is built into most Microsoft Office
applications. VBA enables developers to build
user defined functions, automate processes,
and access Win32 and other low level
functionality through DLLs.
WEBQL: WebQL is a software platform
produced by QL2 Software, that is used to
automate data integration and collection from
unstructured and structured sources including
the Web, PDF and Word documents,
spreadsheets, email repositories, corporate data
stores and more.
XML: Extensible Markup Language (XML) is
a set of rules for encoding documents in
machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML
1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and
several other related specifications, all gratis
open standards. XML’s design goals emphasize
simplicity, generality, and usability over the
Internet. It is a textual data format with strong
support via Unicode for the languages of the
world. Although the design of XML focuses on
documents, it is widely used for the
representation of arbitrary data structures, for
example in web services.
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi
Alliance that manufacturers may use to brand
certified products that belong to a class of
wireless local area network (WLAN) devices
based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. 802.11 the
most widely used WLAN technology. Because
of the close relationship with the underlying
standards, the term Wi-Fi is often used as a
synonym for IEEE 802.11 technology. IEEE
802.11 devices are installed in many personal
computers, video game consoles, MP3 players,
smartphones, printers, and other peripherals,
and newer laptop computers. Internet use: A
Wi-Fi enabled device such as a personal
computer, video game console, smartphone or
digital audio player can connect to the Internet
when within range of a wireless network
connected to the Internet. The coverage of one
or more (interconnected) access points called
hotspots can comprise an area as small as a few
rooms or as large as many square miles.
Coverage in the larger area may depend on a
group of access points with overlapping
coverage. Wi-Fi technology has been used in
wireless mesh networks, for example, in London,
UK. City wide wi-fi: In the early 2000s, many
cities around the world announced plans for
city-wide Wi-Fi networks. Sunnyvale, California
became the first city in the United States to offer
city-wide free Wi-Fi. Campus-wide Wi-Fi:
Carnegie Mellon University built the first
wireless Internet network in the world at their
Pittsburgh campus.
SEARCH ENGINE: A web search engine
is designed to search for information on the
World Wide Web and FTP servers. The search
results are generally presented in a list of results
and are often called hits. The information may
consist of web pages, images, information and
other types of files. Some search engines also
mine data available in databases or open
directories. Unlike Web directories, which are
maintained by human editors, search engines
operate algorithmically or are a mixture of
algorithmic and human input. The web’s first
and second search engines are respectively
World Wide Web Wanderer & Aliweb. Some
popular search engines are Magellan, Excite,
Infoseek, Inktomi, Northern Light, and AltaVista
yahoo, google, bing, netscap, opera, Mozilla. A
search engine operates, in the following order
Web crawling, Indexing, Searching. Web search
engines work by storing information about
many web pages, which they retrieve from the
html itself. These pages are retrieved by a Web
crawler (sometimes also known as a spider) —
an automated Web browser which follows every
link on the site. When a user enters a query into
a search engine (typically by using key words),
the engine examines its index and provides a
listing of best-matching web pages according
to its criteria, usually with a short summary
containing the document’s title and sometimes
parts of the text. The index is built from the
information stored with the data and the method
by which the information is indexed.
YAHOO!: Yahoo! Inc. is an American public
corporation, that provides Internet services
worldwide. The company is perhaps best known
for its web portal, search engine (Yahoo!
Search), Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo!
News, advertising, online mapping (Yahoo!
Maps), video sharing (Yahoo! Video), and social
media websites and services. Yahoo! was
founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo.
WIRELESS LAN: A wireless local area
network (WLAN) links two or more devices
using some wireless distribution method
(typically spread-spectrum or OFDM radio), and
usually providing a connection through an
access point to the wider internet. This gives
users the mobility to move around within a local
coverage area and still be connected to the
network. Wireless LANs have become popular
in the home due to ease of installation, and the
increasing popularity of laptop computers.
Public businesses such as coffee shops and
malls have begun to offer wireless access to
their customers; sometimes for free.
WEB CRAWLER: A Web crawler is a
computer program that browses the World Wide
Web in a methodical, automated manner or in
an orderly fashion. Other terms for Web crawlers
are ants, automatic indexers, bots, or Web
spiders, Web robots, or especially in the FOAF
community Web scutters. This process is called
Web crawling or spidering. Many sites, in
particular search engines, use spidering as a
means of providing up-to-date data. Web
crawlers are mainly used to create a copy of all
the visited pages for later processing by a search
engine that will index the downloaded pages to
provide fast searches.
WIRELESS APPLICATION
PROTOCOL: Wireless Application Protocol
(WAP) is an open international standard for
application-layer network communications in a
wireless-communication environment. Most use
of WAP involves accessing the mobile web from
a mobile phone or from a PDA. A WAP browser
is a commonly used web browser for small mobile
devices such as cell phones or PDAs, developed
to allow a realistic browsing experience to users.
Given then, the inherent physical and technical
limitations of these devices such as size and
data transfer speeds, new code was created, and
the WAP browser accesses websites written in,
or dynamically converted to, WML (Wireless
Markup Language).
XQUERY: XQuery is a query and functional
programming language that is designed to query
collections of XML data.
VISUAL J++: Visual J++ was Microsoft’s
specific implementation of Java. Syntax,
keywords, and grammatical conventions were
the same as Java’s.
VISUAL J#: Visual J# (pronounced “Jay
Sharp”) is a Microsoft language whose syntax
is close to Java, part of the .NET Framework.
Visual J# is part of the Microsoft Visual Studio
.NET product suite and is designed to help
developers and programmers migrate from J++
(or Java) to the .NET Framework.
VISUAL C++: Microsoft Visual C++ is a
commercial integrated development
environment (IDE) product engineered by
Microsoft for the C, C++, and C++/CLI
programming languages. It has tools for
developing and debugging C++ code, especially
code written for the Microsoft Windows API,
the DirectX API, and the Microsoft .NET
Framework.
SCALA: is a multi-paradigm programming
language designed to integrate features of
object-oriented programming and functional
programming. The name Scala stands for
“scalable language”, signifying that it is
designed to grow with the demands of its users.
MACHINE CODE: Machine code or
machine language is a system of instructions
and data executed directly by a computer’s
central processing unit. Machine code may be
regarded as a primitive (and cumbersome)
programming language or as the lowest-level
representation of a compiled and/or assembled
computer program. Programs in interpreted
languages are not represented by machine code
however, although their interpreter (which may
be seen as a processor executing the higher level
program) often is. Machine code is sometimes
called native code when referring to platformdependent
parts of language features or
libraries. Machine code should not be confused
with so called “bytecode”, which is executed
by an interpreter.
MACINTOSH: The Macintosh or Mac, is
a series of several lines of personal computers
designed, developed, and marketed by Apple
Inc. it was the first commercially successful
personal computer to feature a mouse and a
graphical user interface rather than a commandline
interface. The company continued to have
success through the second half of the 1980s,
only to see it dissipate in the 1990s as the
personal computer market shifted towards IBM
PC compatible machines running MS-DOS and
Microsoft Windows. The modern Mac, like
other personal computers, is capable of running
alternative operating systems such as Linux,
FreeBSD, and, in the case of Intel-based Macs,
Microsoft Windows. However, Apple does not
license Mac OS X for use on non-Apple
computers.
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VISUAL FOXPRO: Visual FoxPro is a datacentric
object-oriented and procedural
programming language produced by Microsoft.
It is derived from FoxPro (originally known as
FoxBASE) which was developed by Fox
Software.
MICROSOFT WINDOWS: Microsoft
Windows is a series of software operating
systems and graphical user interfaces produced
by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an
operating environment named Windows in
November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in
response to the growing interest in graphical
user interfaces (GUIs). Microsoft Windows
came to dominate the world’s personal computer
market, overtaking Mac OS, which had been
introduced in 1984. As of October 2009,
Windows had approximately 91% of the market
share of the client operating systems for usage
on the Internet. The most recent client version
of Windows is Windows 7; the most recent
server version is Windows Server 2008 R2; the
most recent mobile OS version is Windows
Phone 7.
BEANSHELL: a scripting language whose
syntax is close to Java.
FORTRESS: a language designed by Sun
as a successor to Fortran, mainly for writing
parallel scientific computations.
PIZZA: a superset of Java with function
pointers and algebraic data types.
X10: A IBM language designed for highperformance
heteregenous clusters and parallel
scientific computations. Syntax of X10 is based
on Java, and optimizing compiler targets JVM
or C++.
JVM LANGUAGES: comprises computer
programming languages that are used to
produce software that runs on the Java Virtual
Machine (JVM). Some of these languages are
interpreted by a Java program, and some are
compiled to Java bytecode and JITted during
execution as regular Java programs to improve
performance.
CLI LANGUAGES: are computer
programming languages that are used to
produce libraries and programs that conform to
the Common Language Infrastructure
specifications. With some notable exceptions,
most CLI languages compile entirely to the
Common Intermediate Language (CIL), an
intermediate language that can be executed
using an implementation of CLI such as the
Common Language Runtime (CLR), a part of the
Microsoft .NET Framework, Mono, or
Portable.NET.
INSTANT MESSAGING: Instant
messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct textbased
communication between two or more
people using personal computers or other
devices, along with shared software clients. The
user’s text is conveyed over a network, such as
the Internet. More advanced instant messaging
software clients also allow enhanced modes of
communication, such as live voice or video
calling.
HYPERLINK: a hyperlink (or link) is a
reference to a document that the reader can
directly follow, or that is followed automatically.
The reference points to a whole document or to
a specific element within a document. Hypertext
is text with hyperlinks. Such text is usually
viewed with a computer. A software system for
viewing and creating hypertext is a hypertext
system. To hyperlink (or simply to link) is to
create a hyperlink. A user following hyperlinks
is said to navigate or browse the hypertext. A
hyperlink has an anchor, which is a location
within a document from which the hyperlink can
be followed; that document is known as its
source document. The target of a hyperlink is
the document, or location within a document,
that the hyperlink leads to.
EMAIL: Electronic mail, commonly called
email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital
messages across the Internet or other computer
networks. Originally, email was transmitted
directly from one user to another computer. This
required both computers to be online at the
same time, a la instant messenger. Today’s email
systems are based on a store-and-forward
model. Email servers accept, forward, deliver and
store messages. Users no longer need be online
simultaneously and need only connect briefly,
typically to an email server, for as long as it
takes to send or receive messages. An email
message consists of two components, the
message header, and the message body, which
is the email’s content. The message header
contains control information, including,
minimally, an originator’s email address and one
or more recipient addresses. Usually additional
information is added, such as a subject header
field. Problems attached with Emils are
Ø Attachment size limitation
Ø Spamming and computer viruses
Ø E-mail spoofing Ø Information overload
Ø E-mail bombing Ø Privacy concerns
Ø Tracking of sent mail
INTERNET: The Internet is a global system
of interconnected computer networks that use
the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP)
to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a
network of networks that consists of millions of
private, public, academic, business, and
government networks, of local to global scope,
that are linked by a broad array of electronic
and optical networking technologies. The
Internet carries a vast range of information
resources and services, such as the inter-linked
hypertext documents of the World Wide Web
(WWW) and the infrastructure to support
electronic mail. The origins of the Internet reach
back to the 1960s with both private and United
States military research into robust, faulttolerant,
and distributed computer networks.
The funding of a new U.S. backbone by the
National Science Foundation, as well as private
funding for other commercial backbones, led to
worldwide participation in the development of
new networking technologies, and the merger
of many networks. The commercialization of
what was by then an international network in
the mid 1990s resulted in its popularization and
incorporation into virtually every aspect of
modern human life. As of 2009, an estimated
quarter of Earth’s population used the services
of the Internet.
The Internet has no centralized governance in
either technological implementation or policies
for access and usage; each constituent network
sets its own standards. Only the overreaching
definitions of the two principal name spaces in
the Internet, the Internet Protocol address space
and the Domain Name System, are directed by a
maintainer organization, the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Modern uses: The Internet is allowing greater
flexibility in working hours and location,
especially with the spread of unmetered highspeed
connections and web applications. The
Internet can now be accessed almost anywhere
by numerous means, especially through mobile
Internet devices. Mobile phones, datacards,
handheld game consoles and cellular routers
allow users to connect to the Internet from
anywhere there is a wireless network supporting
that device’s technology. Within the limitations
imposed by small screens and other limited
facilities of such pocket-sized devices, services
of the Internet, including email and the web,
may be available. Service providers may restrict
the services offered and wireless data
transmission charges may be significantly
higher than other access methods. Educational
material at all levels from pre-school to postdoctoral
is available from websites. Examples
range from CBeebies, through school and highschool
revision guides, virtual universities, to
access to top-end scholarly literature through
the likes of Google Scholar. In distance
education, help with homework and other
assignments, self-guided learning, whiling away
spare time, or just looking up more detail on an
interesting fact, it has never been easier for
people to access educational information at any
level from anywhere. The Internet in general and
the World Wide Web in particular are important
enablers of both formal and informal education.
The low cost and nearly instantaneous sharing
of ideas, knowledge, and skills has made
collaborative work dramatically easier, with the
help of collaborative software. Not only can a
group cheaply communicate and share ideas,
but the wide reach of the Internet allows such
groups to easily form in the first place. An
example of this is the free software movement,
which has produced, among other programs,
Linux, Mozilla Firefox, and OpenOffice.org.
Internet “chat”, whether in the form of IRC chat
rooms or channels, or via instant messaging
systems, allow colleagues to stay in touch in a
very convenient way when working at their
computers during the day. Messages can be
exchanged even more quickly and conveniently
than via e-mail. Extensions to these systems may
allow files to be exchanged, “whiteboard”
drawings to be shared or voice and video contact
between team members.
Version control systems allow collaborating
teams to work on shared sets of documents
without either accidentally overwriting each
other’s work or having members wait until they
get “sent” documents to be able to make their
contributions. Business and project teams can
share calendars as well as documents and other
information. Such collaboration occurs in a wide
variety of areas including scientific research,
software development, conference planning,
political activism and creative writing. Social and
political collaboration is also becoming more
widespread as both Internet access and
computer literacy grow. From the flash mob
‘events’ of the early 2000s to the use of social
networking in the 2009 Iranian election protests,
the Internet allows people to work together
more effectively and in many more ways than
was possible without it. The Internet allows
computer users to remotely access other
computers and information stores easily,
wherever they may be across the world. They
may do this with or without the use of security,
authentication and encryption technologies,
depending on the requirements. This is
encouraging new ways of working from home,
collaboration and information sharing in many
industries. An accountant sitting at home can
audit the books of a company based in another
country, on a server situated in a third country
that is remotely maintained by IT specialists in
a fourth. These accounts could have been
created by home-working bookkeepers, in other
remote locations, based on information e-mailed
to them from offices all over the world. Some of
these things were possible before the
widespread use of the Internet, but the cost of
private leased lines would have made many of
them infeasible in practice. An office worker
away from their desk, perhaps on the other side
of the world on a business trip or a holiday, can
open a remote desktop session into his normal
office PC using a secure Virtual Private Network
(VPN) connection via the Internet. This gives
the worker complete access to all of his or her
normal files and data, including e-mail and other
applications, while away from the office. This
concept has been referred to among system
administrators as the Virtual Private Nightmare,
because it extends the secure perimeter of a
corporate network into its employees’ homes.
XHTML: XHTML (eXtensible Hypertext
Markup Language) is a family of XML markup
languages that mirror or extend versions of the
widely used Hypertext Markup Language
(HTML), the language in which web pages are
written. While HTML (prior to HTML5) was
defined as an application of Standard
Generalized Markup Language (SGML), a very
flexible markup language framework, XHTML
is an application of XML, a more restrictive
subset of SGML. Because XHTML documents
need to be well-formed, they can be parsed using
standard XML parsers unlike HTML, which
requires a lenient HTML-specific parser.
W3C: The World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) is the main international standards
organization for the World Wide Web
(abbreviated WWW or W3). Founded and
headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is
made up of member organizations which maintain
full-time staff for the purpose of working
together in the development of standards for
the World Wide Web. W3C also engages in
education and outreach, develops software and
serves as an open forum for discussion about
the Web.
WEB PAGE: A web page or webpage is a
document or resource of information that is
suitable for the World Wide Web and can be
accessed through a web browser and displayed
on a monitor or mobile device.This information
is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may
provide navigation to other webpages via
hypertext links.
BLOG: A blog (a blend of the term web log)is
a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are
usually maintained by an individual with regular
entries of commentary, descriptions of events,
or other material such as graphics or video.
Entries are commonly displayed in reversechronological
order. Blog can also be used as a
verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a
blog. Most blogs are interactive, allowing
visitors to leave comments and even message
each other via widgets on the blogs and it is
this interactivity that distinguishes them from
other static websites. Many blogs provide
commentary or news on a particular subject;
others function as more personal online diaries.
A typical blog combines text, images, and links
to other blogs, Web pages, and other media
related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave
comments in an interactive format is an
important part of many blogs. Most blogs are
primarily textual, although some focus on art
(Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos
(video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio
(podcasting). Microblogging is another type of
blogging, featuring very short posts.
Types of Blogs: There are many different types
of blogs, differing not only in the type of
content, but also in the way that content is
delivered or written.
Personal blogs: The personal blog, an ongoing
diary or commentary by an individual, is the
traditional, most common blog. Personal
bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts,
even if their blog is never read. Blogs often
become more than a way to just communicate;
they become a way to reflect on life, or works of
art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality.
Few personal blogs rise to fame and the
mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly
garner an extensive following. One type of
personal blog, referred to as a microblog, is
extremely detailed and seeks to capture a
moment in time. Some sites, such as Twitter,
allow bloggers to share thoughts and feelings
instantaneously with friends and family, and are
much faster than emailing or writing.
Corporate and organizational blogs: A blog can
be private, as in most cases, or it can be for
business purposes. Blogs used internally to
enhance the communication and culture in a
corporation or externally for marketing, branding
or public relations purposes are called corporate
blogs. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are
called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar
names; typical use is to inform members and
other interested parties of club and member
activities.
By genre: Some blogs focus on a particular
subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs
(also known as travelogs), house blogs fashion
blogs, project blogs, education blogs, niche
blogs, classical music blogs, quizzing blogs and
legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or
dreamlogs. Two common types of genre blogs
are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring
discussions especially about home and family
is not uncommonly called a mom blog. While
not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the
sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog.
By media type: A blog comprising videos is
called a vlog, one comprising links is called a
linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches
is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos
is called a photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts
and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.
Blogs that are written on typewriters and then
scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs.
A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher
Protocol is known as a Phlog.
By device: Blogs can also be defined by which
type of device is used to compose it. A blog
written by a mobile device like a mobile phone
or PDA could be called a moblog. One early
blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online
shared diary of a person’s personal life
combining text, video, and pictures transmitted
live from a wearable computer and EyeTap
device to a web site. This practice of semiautomated
blogging with live video together
with text was referred to as sousveillance. Such
journals have been used as evidence in legal
matters.
Consumer generated advertising in blogs:
Consumer generated advertising is a relatively
new and controversial development and it has
created a new model of marketing
communication from businesses to consumers.
Among the various forms of advertising on
blog, the most controversial are the sponsored
posts. These are blog entries or posts and may
be in the form of feedbacks, reviews, opinion,
videos, etc. and usually containS a link back to
the desired site using a keyword/s. Blogs have
led to some disintermediation and a breakdown
of the traditional advertising model where
companies can skip over the advertising
agencies (previously the only interface with the
customer) and contact the customers directly
themselves. On the other hand, new companies
specialised in blog advertising have been
established, to take advantage of this new
development as well. However, there are many
people who look negatively on this new
development. Some believe that any form of
commercial activity on blogs will destroy the
blogosphere’s credibility.
BLOG SEARCH ENGINES: Several
blog search engines are used to search blog
contents, such as Bloglines, BlogScope, and
Technorati. Technorati, which is among the
most popular blog search engines, provides
current information on both popular searches
and tags used to categorize blog postings. The
research community is working on going
beyond simple keyword search, by inventing
new ways to navigate through huge amounts
of information present in the blogosphere, as
demonstrated by projects like BlogScope.
BLOGGING AND ADVERTISING:
It is common for blogs to feature advertisements
either to financially benefit the blogger or to
promote the blogger’s favorite causes. The
popularity of blogs has also given rise to “fake
blogs” in which a company will create a fictional
blog as a marketing tool to promote a product.
THE BLOGOSPHERE: The collective
community of all blogs is known as the
blogosphere. Since all blogs are on the internet
by definition, they may be seen as
interconnected and socially networked, through
blogrolls, comments, linkbacks (refbacks,
trackbacks or pingbacks) and backlinks.
Discussions “in the blogosphere” are
occasionally used by the media as a gauge of
public opinion on various issues. Because new,
untapped communities of bloggers can emerge
in the space of a few years, Internet marketers
pay close attention to “trends in the
blogosphere”
PDH: The Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy
is a technology used in telecommunications
networks to transport large quantities of data
over digital transport equipment such as fibre
optic and microwave radio systems. The term
plesiochronous is derived from Greek plesio,
meaning near, and chronos, time, and refers to
the fact that PDH networks run in a state where
different parts of the network are nearly, but not
quite perfectly, synchronised. PDH is typically
being replaced by Synchronous Digital
Hierarchy (SDH) or Synchronous optical
networking (SONET) equipment in most
telecommunications networks. PDH allows
transmission of data streams that are nominally
running at the same rate, but allowing some
variation on the speed around a nominal rate.
EGP: The Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) is
a now obsolete routing protocol for the Internet.
EGP is a simple reachability protocol, and, unlike
modern distance-vector and path-vector
protocols, it is limited to tree-like topologies.
CHANGE THE ONLY CONSTANT THING : We Bring You More Informative And Detailed Coverage Every Month 40

DECEMBER 2011
UPSTREAM: In computer networking,
upstream refers to the direction in which data
can be transferred from the client to the server
(uploading). This differs greatly from
downstream not only in theory and usage, but
also in that upstream speeds are usually at a
premium. Whereas downstream speed is
important to the average home user for
purposes of downloading content, uploads are
used mainly for web server applications and
similar processes where the sending of data is
critical. Upstream speeds are also important to
users of peer-to-peer software. ADSL and cable
modems are asymmetric, thereby rendering the
upstream speed to be much lower than that of
its downstream. Symmetric connections such
as SDSL and T1, however, offer identical
upstream and downstream speeds.
TCP: The Transmission Control Protocol
(TCP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet
Protocol Suite. TCP is one of the two original
components of the suite, complementing the
Internet Protocol (IP), and therefore the entire
suite is commonly referred to as TCP/IP. TCP
provides the service of exchanging data directly
between two network hosts, whereas IP handles
addressing and routing message across one or
more networks. In particular, TCP provides
reliable, ordered delivery of a stream of bytes
from a program on one computer to another
program on another computer. TCP is the
protocol that major Internet applications rely
on, applications such as the World Wide Web,
e-mail, and file transfer.
T CARRIER: In telecommunications, Tcarrier,
sometimes abbreviated as T-CXR, is the
generic designator for any of several digitally
multiplexed telecommunications carrier systems
originally developed by Bell Labs and used in
North America, Japan, and South Korea. The
basic unit of the T-carrier system is the DS0,
which has a transmission rate of 64 kbit/s, and
is commonly used for one voice circuit.
SYNCHRONIZATION: Synchronization
is timekeeping which requires the coordination
of events to operate a system in unison.
Systems operating with all their parts in
synchrony are said to be synchronous or in
sync. Some systems may be only approximately
synchronized, or plesiochronous. For some
applications relative offsets between events
need to be determined, for others only the order
of the event is important. Today,
synchronization can occur on a global basis due
to GPS-enabled timekeeping systems.
SDSL: Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line
(SDSL) can have two meanings: In the wider
sense it is a collection of Internet access
technologies based on DSL that offer symmetric
bandwidth upstream and downstream. It is
considered the opposite of Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL) technologies where the
upstream bandwidth is lower than the
downstream bandwidth. In the narrow sense
SDSL is a particular DSL variant that supports
data only on a single line and does not support
analog calls.
ROOTKIT: rootkit is software that enables
continued privileged access to a computer, while
actively hiding its presence from administrators
by subverting standard operating system
functionality or other applications. Typically, a
hacker installs a rootkit on a computer after first
obtaining user-level access, either by exploiting
a known vulnerability or cracking a password.
Once a rootkit is installed, it allows an attacker
to mask his intrusion and to gain privileged
access to a computer by circumventing normal
authentication and authorization mechanisms.
Although rootkits can serve a variety of ends,
they have gained notoriety primarily as malware,
appropriating computing resources or stealing
passwords without the knowledge of the
administrators or users of affected systems.
Rootkits can target firmware, a hypervisor, the
kernel or most commonly, user-mode
applications.
BASIC RATE INTERFACE: Basic Rate
Interface (BRI, 2B+D, 2B1D) is an Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN) configuration
intended primarily for use in subscriber lines
similar to those that have long been used for
plain old telephone service. BRI stands in
contrast to the Primary Rate Interface (PRI)
configuration which is also used in the access
network but uses more robust transmission lines
to carry a higher bit rate. BRI is defined in the
physical layer standard I.430 produced by the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
BANDWIDTH: In computer networking
and computer science, bandwidth, network
bandwidth, data bandwidth or digital bandwidth
is a bit rate measure of available or consumed
data communication resources expressed in bits/
second or multiples of it (kilobits/s, megabits/s
etc). In textbooks on data transmission, digital
communications, wireless communications,
electronics, etc, bandwidth refers to analog
signal bandwidth measured in hertz - the original
meaning of the term.
WiMAX: WiMAX (Worldwide
Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a
telecommunications protocol that provides fixed
and fully mobile Internet access. The current
WiMAX revision provides up to 40 Mbit/s with
the IEEE 802.16m update expected to offer up to
1 Gbit/s fixed speeds. The name “WiMAX” was
created by the WiMAX Forum, which was
formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and
interoperability of the standard. The forum
describes WiMAX as “a standards-based
technology enabling the delivery of last mile
wireless broadband access as an alternative to
cable and DSL”
3D SCANNER: A 3D scanner is a device
that analyzes a real-world object or environment
to collect data on its shape and possibly its
appearance (i.e. color). The collected data can
then be used to construct digital, three
dimensional models useful for a wide variety of
applications. These devices are used
extensively by the entertainment industry in the
production of movies and video games. Other
common applications of this technology include
industrial design, orthotics and prosthetics,
reverse engineering and prototyping, quality
control/inspection and documentation of
cultural artifacts.
ARCNET: ARCNET (also CamelCased as
ARCnet, an acronym from Attached Resource
Computer NETwork) is a local area network
(LAN) protocol, similar in purpose to Ethernet
or Token Ring. ARCNET was the first widely
available networking system for
microcomputers and became popular in the
1980s for office automation tasks.
ASCII: The American Standard Code for
Information Interchange is a character-encoding
scheme based on the ordering of the English
alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in
computers, communications equipment, and
other devices that use text. Most modern
character-encoding schemes are based on
ASCII, though they support many m o r e
characters than did ASCII. US-ASCII is the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
preferred charset name for ASCII.
AS: Within the Internet, an autonomous system
(AS) is a collection of connected Internet
Protocol (IP) routing prefixes under the control
of one or more network operators that presents
a common, clearly defined routing policy to the
Internet.
BGP: The Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is
the protocol backing the core routing decisions
on the Internet. It maintains a table of IP
networks or ‘prefixes’ which designate network
reachability among autonomous systems (AS).
It is described as a path vector protocol. BGP
does not use traditional Interior Gateway
Protocol (IGP) metrics, but makes routing
decisions based on path, network policies and/
or rulesets. For this reason, it is more
appropriately termed a reachability protocol
rather than routing protocol. BGP was created
to replace the Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP)
routing protocol to allow fully decentralized
routing in order to allow the removal of the
NSFNet Internet backbone network.
DATA LINK LAYER: The Data Link Layer
is Layer 2 of the seven-layer OSI model of
computer networking. It corresponds to, or is
part of the link layer of the TCP/IP reference
model. The Data Link Layer is the protocol layer
which transfers data between adjacent network
nodes in a wide area network or between nodes
on the same local area network segment. The
Data Link Layer provides the functional and
procedural means to transfer data between
network entities and might provide the means
to detect and possibly correct errors that may
occur in the Physical Layer. Examples of data
link protocols are Ethernet for local area networks
(multi-node), the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP),
HDLC and ADCCP for point-to-point (dualnode)
connections.
LAN: A local area network (LAN) is a computer
network that connects computers and devices
in a limited geographical area such as home,
school, computer laboratory, office building,
closely positioned group of buildings, or an
airport. The defining characteristics of LANs,
in contrast to wide area networks (WANs),
include their usually higher data-transfer rates,
smaller geographic area, and lack of a need for
leased telecommunication lines. ARCNET, Token
Ring and other technologies have been used in
the past, but Ethernet over twisted pair cabling,
and Wi-Fi are the two most common
technologies currently in use.
ISDN: Integrated Services Digital Network
(ISDN) is a set of communications standards
for simultaneous digital transmission of voice,
video, data, and other network services over
the traditional circuits of the public switched
telephone network. communications standards
for simultaneous digital transmission of voice,
video, data, and other network services over
the traditional circuits of the public switched
telephone network.
DOWNSTREAM: In information
technology, downstream refers to the transfer
speed (usually that of an internet connection)
by which data can be sent from the server to the
client. The process by which downstream is
utilized is known as downloading.
E-CARRIER: In digital telecommunications,
where a single physical wire pair can be used to
carry many simultaneous voice conversations
by time-division multiplexing, worldwide
standards have been created and deployed. The
European Conference of Postal and
Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT)
originally standardized the E-carrier system,
which revised and improved the earlier American
T-carrier technology, and this has now been
adopted by the International Telecommunication
Union Telecommunication Standardization
Sector (ITU-T). This is now widely used in
almost all countries outside the USA, Canada
and Japan.
ETHERNET: Ethernet is a family of framebased
computer networking technologies for
local area networks (LANs). The name came from
the physical concept of the ether. It defines a
number of wiring and signaling standards for
the Physical Layer of the OSI networking model
as well as a common addressing format and
Media Access Control at the Data Link Layer.
Ethernet is standardized as IEEE 802.3.
HSPA+: also known as Evolved High-Speed
Packet Access is a wireless broadband standard
defined in 3GPP release 7.
IMAGE SCANNER: In computing, an
image scanner—often abbreviated to just
scanner— is a device that optically scans
images, printed text, handwriting, or an object,
and converts it to a digital image. Common
examples found in offices are variations of the
desktop (or flatbed) scanner where the
document is placed on a glass window for
scanning. Hand-held scanners, where the
device is moved by hand, have evolved from
text scanning “wands” to 3D scanners used for
industrial design, reverse engineering, test and
measurement, orthotics, gaming and other
applications. Mechanically driven scanners that
move the document are typically used for largeformat
documents, where a flatbed design would
be impractical.
HTTP: The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP) is a networking protocol for distributed,
collaborative, hypermedia information systems.
HTTP is the foundation of data communication
for the World Wide Web. HTTP functions as a
request-response protocol in the client-server
computing model. In HTTP, a web browser, for
example, acts as a client, while an application
running on a computer hosting a web site
functions as a server. The client submits an
HTTP request message to the server. The server,
which stores content, or provides resources,
such as HTML files and images, or generates
such content as required, or performs other
functions on behalf of the client, returns a
response message to the client. A response
contains completion status information about
the request and may contain any content
requested by the client in its message body. A
client is often referred to as a user agent (UA).
A web crawler (spider) is another example of a
common type of client or user agent. The HTTP
protocol is designed to permit intermediate
network elements to improve or enable
communications between clients and servers.
High-traffic websites often benefit from web
cache servers that deliver content on behalf of
the original, so-called origin server to improve
response time. HTTP proxy servers at network
boundaries facilitate communication when
clients without a globally routable address are
located in private networks by relaying the
requests and responses between clients and
servers.
HTTPS: https is a URI scheme that is, aside
from the scheme token, syntactically identical
to the http scheme used for normal HTTP
connections, but which signals the browser to
use an added encryption layer of SSL/TLS to
protect the traffic.
IP ADDRESS: The Internet Protocol (IP) is
the principal communications protocol used for
relaying datagrams (packets) across an
internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite.
Responsible for routing packets across network
boundaries, it is the primary protocol that
establishes the Internet. IP is the primary
protocol in the Internet Layer of the Internet
Protocol Suite and has the task of delivering
datagrams from the source host to the
destination host solely based on their
addresses. For this purpose, IP defines
addressing methods and structures for datagram
encapsulation.
FTTx: Fiber to the x (FTTx) is a generic term
for any broadband network architecture that
uses optical fiber to replace all or part of the
usual metal local loop used for last mile
telecommunications.
ISP: An Internet service provider (ISP), also
sometimes referred to as an Internet access
provider (IAP), is a company that offers its
customers access to the Internet. The ISP
connects to its customers using a data
transmission technology appropriate for
delivering Internet Protocol Paradigm, such as
dial-up, DSL, cable modem, wireless or dedicated
high-speed interconnects.
JAVA SCRIPT:
JavaScript is an implementation of the
ECMAScript language standard and is typically
used to enable programmatic access to
computational objects within a host
environment. It can be characterized as a
prototype-based object-oriented scripting
language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has
first-class functions. It is also considered a
functional programming language like Scheme
and OCaml because it has closures and supports
higher-order functions. JavaScript is primarily
used in the form of client-side JavaScript,
implemented as part of a web browser in order
to provide enhanced user interfaces and
dynamic websites. However, its use in
applications outside web pages is also
significant.
DSL: Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) is a family
of technologies that provides digital data
transmission over the wires of a local telephone
network. DSL originally stood for digital
subscriber loop. In telecommunications
marketing, the term Digital Subscriber Line is
widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line (ADSL), the most commonly
installed technical variety of DSL. DSL service
is delivered simultaneously with regular
telephone on the same telephone line. This is
possible because DSL uses a higher frequency.
These frequency bands are subsequently
separated by filtering.
EXTENDED ASCII: The term extended
ASCII (or high ASCII) describes eight-bit or
larger character encodings that include the
standard seven-bit ASCII characters as well as
others. The use of the term is sometimes
criticized, because it can be mistakenly
interpreted that the ASCII standard has been
updated to include more than 128 characters or
that the term unambiguously identifies a single
encoding, both of which are untrue.
INTERNET PROTOCOL SUITE: The
Internet Protocol Suite is the set of
communications protocols used for the Internet
and other similar networks. It is commonly also
known as TCP/IP, named from two of the most
important protocols in it: the Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol
(IP), which were the first two networking
protocols defined in this standard. Modern IP
networking represents a synthesis of several
developments that began to evolve in the 1960s
and 1970s, namely the Internet and local area
networks, which emerged during the 1980s,
together with the advent of the World Wide Web
in the early 1990s.
OSI MODEL: The Open Systems
Interconnection model (OSI model) is a product
of the Open Systems Interconnection effort at
the International Organization for
Standardization. It is a way of sub-dividing a
communications system into smaller parts called
layers. A layer is a collection of conceptually
similar functions that provide services to the
layer above it and receives services from the
layer below it. On each layer an instance
provides services to the instances at the layer
above and requests service from the layer below.
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DECEMBER 2011
The draft Approach Paper of the 12th Plan was approved by the
cabinet and presented to the National Development Council on
October 22, 2011. The paper, which projects a growth rate of 9%
for the 12th Plan, envisages that inclusiveness, an idea carried
over from the 11th Plan, should lead to poverty reduction, increase
in health outcomes and universal access of children to schools.
It further states that inclusiveness should include providing
opportunities for wage employment and livelihoods, and improved
provision of water, sanitation and housing. All these have
implications for improving child health and reducing childhood
poverty.
HEALTH
The observation of the paper that the National Rural Health
Mission (NRHM) focused on child health and pre-natal care and
that it was now necessary to expand to a wider range of conditions
gives the impression that targets in child health have already
been achieved and therefore we can move on. Though offering a
broader set of services is important given our changing
epidemiological profile, the focus on child health cannot be
diminished as India still accounts for the highest proportion of
child deaths in the world.
The Approach Paper states that central and state government
expenditure on health has increased to 1.4% of GDP in 2011-12
from less than 1% at the beginning of the 11th Plan. This
calculation is based on Budget Estimates of 2011-12, whereas
actual expenditures would be lower. Even otherwise, the estimated
increased expenditure on health mentioned in the paper is way
below the UPA government’s commitment to raise it to 3% of
GDP. The paper agrees only to a rise of up to 2.5% of GDP, that
too by the end of the 12th Plan, ie 2017.
The paper mentions the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on
Universal Health Coverage constituted by the Planning
Commission but does not give any clear commitment on the
provision of universal healthcare. It says instead that the
recommendations of this group will be an input for defining a
“comprehensive health strategy for the next 10 years”.
The accountability matrix defining the responsibilities of
functionaries of the health, women and child development, water
and sanitation departments at the block and habitation levels is
a welcome step towards convergence of health and related
services. However, to make it functional there must be a
convergence in the performance of various functions at the state
and district levels also.
On the positive side, the 12th Plan does envisage a convergence
of health and childcare services; but it is aimed at the lower
levels of health and nutrition services, ie the anganwadi centre
and sub-centre. In operational terms it will amount to having one
ARTICLES
1. 12th Five year Plan and the Health
Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) positioned at every
anganwadi centre (AWC), who will connect the AWC to the
Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) at the sub-centre. The idea to
have a sub-centre in every panchayat does not appear to be
offering anything new as a sub-centre is anyway supposed to
exist for every 5,000 population in the plains and for every 3,000
population in the tribal and hilly areas, which works out to one
for every panchayat already.
The paper also promises to set up sub-centres and Integrated
Child Development Services (ICDS) centres in all slums to provide
primary healthcare to the urban poor, which is lacking at present.
This step is welcome, but the provision of primary healthcare in
urban areas requires a broader urban primary healthcare system
and not just sub-centres and ICDS centres.
The Approach Paper promises to make healthcare delivery more
consultative and inclusive of the community by increasing users’
participation through institutionalised audits, again a welcome
move. But we should not forget that the community monitoring
exercise under NRHM in the 11th Plan was carried out only in a
few areas with strong civil society presence.
A reduction of regional disparities in maternal and child health,
in particular in the 264 high-focus districts, is also a programme
focus already. The offer to provide funds for upgradation of
primary healthcare centres (PHCs) and community healthcare
centres (CHCs) to IPHS norms is also an already existing
commitment of the government.
The Approach Paper also mentions making district hospitals
district knowledge centres for training health workers like nurses,
mid-level health workers and offering courses like Bachelor of
Rural Healthcare/Primary Practice. This would help provide a
cadre of qualified health professionals to attend to a defined set
of basic healthcare services. This is one way to get qualified
practitioners in allopathy to reach India’s remote rural areas.
Several examples of NGOs providing community healthcare using
trained rural health workers have shown the effectiveness of
such an approach.
It should be implemented across the spectrum for all levels of
health functionaries including medical professionals and applied
to men from these communities also.
In terms of financing healthcare, the paper acknowledges the
high out-of-pocket health expenses of Indians and offers a twopronged
approach of expanding public provisioning of
healthcare and public financing of care using the private sector,
but subject to appropriate regulations and oversight. Once the
government becomes a buyer of a set of services from the private
sector it will be in a commanding position to ensure that the
private sector functions according to state regulations.
In addition to expanding public provisioning and bringing publicly
financed private players under a regulatory regime, the paper
also envisages establishing a health insurance plan for every
citizen. The details in this regard are likely to emerge from the
report of the HLEG which is due in November.
NUTRITION
The need to restructure the ICDS focusing on the 0-3 age-group,
promoting decentralisation of administration, ensuring quality,
participation of women’s/mother’s groups and strengthening
convergence with related schemes is clearly articulated in the
paper, though the roadmap is not spelt out. The paper states that
the recommendations of the inter-ministerial working group on
ICDS constituted under the PM’s Nutrition Council are awaited.
A shift towards family- and community-based interventions such
as breastfeeding is also mentioned. In this regard a national
campaign on universal breastfeeding linked to a programme for
wider and enhanced provision of nutrition to breastfeeding
mothers, should be taken up on a scale comparable to the
erstwhile family planning programme, as this intervention is
crucial for the survival of 0-6-month- old children.
CONCLUSION
The paper points out that India’s labour force will increase by
32% in the next two decades, while that of industrialised countries
and China will decline by 4% and 5% respectively and that
therefore we should reap the benefits of this demographic
dividend. This would however demand that we ensure the health,
nutrition and education of children who will form the labour force
The paper’s emphasis on local production of drugs is a very for the coming decades. On the contrary we find that the Infant
important measure as public sector drug companies have not Mortality Rate, a key indicator of health status, is at 50/1,000 live
been given encouragement for several years. Drug self- births according to Sample Registration Survey (SRS) 2009,
sufficiency is important in the context of the IPR regime and a published in early-2011 and is still higher at 70 and 66
declining public sector in this field, coupled with the fact that respectively in UP and MP according to the recent Annual Health
several Indian private sector giants have been taken over by Survey (AHS) 2010-11. The AHS was conducted in the nine states
foreign multinationals.
of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Assam. These states
The paper also deals with training and hiring women from alone account for 70% of infant deaths, 75% of under-5 deaths
marginalised communities in the healthcare workforce. But this and 62% of maternal deaths in India, which demand urgent
approach should not be only for ASHAs, ANMs and AWWs. attention. �
2. Euro Zone Crisis Clouds Recovery in Europe & Central Asia
Economic recovery is underway in the Emerging Europe and
Central Asia (ECA) region, but at a slow pace and is at risk from
the troubled Eurozone, according to the World Bank at a press
briefing during the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings 2011.
“Most countries in Emerging Europe and Central Asia have
recovered from the global economic crisis, but growth has
returned at lower rates than pre-crisis trends in most of the
region. The region is expected to record a real growth rate of 4.3
percent in 2011, which is one of the lowest of any developing
region,” said Philippe Le Houérou, World Bank Vice President
for the Europe and Central Asia Region. ”The slow recovery in
the region may be establishing a ‘new normal’ of lower economic
growth rates in many of the region’s countries.”
Le Houérou cautioned, ”The sovereign debt problems in
Western Europe pose challenges to the sustainability of this
relatively tepid recovery. The Eastern Europe and Central Asia
region is especially dependent on Western Europe as an export
market and a source of finance and migrant remittances, so slower
growth in the West will hurt. The region’s strong financial
linkages to Western Europe, which were a source of growth during
the boom years in Central and Eastern Europe, are now a source
of vulnerability for some countries.”
According to the briefing, most countries in the region have
recovered the output losses suffered during the 2008-9 global
economic crisis. In fact, GDP remains below its 2007 level in
only eight out of 30 ECA countries. Helped by high commodity
prices, the countries farther to the east in the region have done
much better since the crisis than those to the west.
But ECA’s recovery signals a lower growth gradient than the
pre-crisis rates. There has been a noticeable reduction in growth
prospects: countries in the region may need to prepare for growth
rates that are 2 percentage points of GDP less than what they
were before the global crisis.
Job losses remain a concern throughout the region
Unemployment increased significantly during the crisis ¯ in 2008
it was about 10 percent, while as of about early 2011, the overall
unemployment rate for the region is at 13 percent. Meanwhile,
youth unemployment remains a particular concern at 27 percent.
To address this, governments have been trying to limit the effects
of the crisis on labor markets through a wide range of employment
programs. Some jobs are returning and unemployment has
dropped since the early 2010 peak, with only a few exceptions
(Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Moldova, and Hungary). But the
job turnaround will remain gradual even if the economic recovery
is sustained. Increases in output per worker are driven by
increases in hours worked, but these are still below their precrisis
levels. Therefore, the room for further increases in
productivity and hours worked could delay the recovery in
employment.
Public finances have weakened, especially in the west
The global crisis has had a severe negative impact on public
finances. During pre-crisis times, structural fiscal imbalances were
masked by revenue over-performance, as buoyant economies
yielded more taxes than governments often expected. During
the crisis, there was sharp fiscal deterioration in most countries
in the region. Public debt has gone up in many countries, leaving
governments less room to counter any economic slowdown than
they had in 2007.
Fiscal adjustment has often been in the form of ad hoc expenditure
cuts. The immediate challenge in many countries is to begin
more systematic fiscal consolidations that are socially sustainable
and growth-friendly. Most countries in the region have to
prepare for aging populations, which are adding to the fiscal
pressures in health care and pension expenditures even as the
economic turbulence over the last three years has left
governments deeper in debt.
Banking flows have been stable in the west but have
fallen in the east
According the briefing, financial flows have been stable in
Central and Southeastern Europe, but have not been
growing. Western European banks have so far maintained
operations in the member and candidate countries of the European
Union. In the countries further to the east, including oil and
commodity exporters, there have been pullbacks, with the
developments in these economies mimicking those in East Asia
during the 1997-98 crisis.
The decline in credit to firms and households from pre-crisis
levels was sharp, but necessary in some countries. While credit
has been slow to recover, there are encouraging signs in most
countries in the region. Only five countries in the region are still
experiencing contractions in credit.
Risks are rising again
The main risk is that of spillovers from the sovereign debt crisis
in some of the Euro area economies. The rescue packages have
not assured markets, and uncertainty has spread to larger
economies. The sovereign debt problems in southern Europe
and Ireland can affect the region in both direct and indirect ways,
operating through both financial and nonfinancial transmission
channels.
Given the importance of Greek banks in the Balkans and Italian
banks in Central Europe, any problems they have would have
direct effects in those countries. Some of the banks most active
in emerging Europe ¯ especially those based in Austria and
Sweden ¯ have limited exposure in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal,
and Spain, but interconnectedness on funding markets could
result in adverse consequences.
Western European countries are the most important trade partners
for most countries in the region, and weaker economic prospects
in Europe will dampen their recovery. There are already signs of
declines in export demand. Export levels in 2011 were expected
to be above those reached in 2008, but recovery of exports has
so far been sluggish. Now a slowdown in global activity has
increased the downside risks, most sharply for countries with
close economic linkages with the Eurozone.
According to Indermit Gill, World Bank Chief Economist for
the Europe and Central Asia Region, ”Governments in Emerging
Europe have to again become fiscally resilient. Public debt
buffers have shrunk in most of the region. With the sovereign
debt crisis in advanced economies, markets are paying more
attention to fiscal vulnerabilities. They have to do this now, both
to prepare for a possible economic slowdown and to deal with
the rising fiscal burden of pensions and healthcare of aging
populations. Much of the region needs to make transparent plans
for reforming public expenditures, and begin implementing them
soon.”
Gill emphasized that, “The most pressing problem facing many
countries is persistently pervasive joblessness. The private
sector has to be freed to generate economic growth and jobs ¯ the
rules and regulatory structures for doing business can be greatly
improved with no additional expense for taxpayers. With almost
a third of all young adults out of work, governments in the region
should put the modernization of labor market regulations and
social welfare systems at the top of their reform agenda. Such
structural reforms to increase entrepreneurship and inclusion
are simultaneously an immediate, medium-term, and long-run
priority.”
The World Bank is supporting the recovery
World Bank support reached $6.1 billion this fiscal year, including
$5.5 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD) and $650 million from the International
Development Association (IDA). Turkey ($1.4 billion), Romania
($1.1 billion), and Poland ($1.1 billion) were the largest borrowers.
The sectors receiving the most funding were energy and mining
($1.9 billion), public administration ($1.7 billion), and health and
social services ($1.2 billion).
Along with funding, the Bank provides over 180 economic and
technical reports every year in the Emerging Europe and Central
Asia region to inform government reform efforts and prioritize its
own financial support. It offers analytical support and
encouragement to governments to improve labor market and
social security systems and expand selected social safety net
programs. The Bank is advising governments on how to fix less
efficient public programs and improve social services so that
their benefits reach those who need them most. �
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DECEMBER 2011
3. The Truth About the Situation in Libya
Libya is a small country of just over six million people, but it
possesses the largest oil reserves in all of Africa. The oil produced
there is especially coveted because of its particularly high quality.
As of writing US Air Force along with Britain and France has
carried out 7,459 bombing attacks since March 19. Britain, France
and the United States sent special operation ground forces and
commando units to direct the military operations of the so-called
rebel fighters – it is a NATO-led army in the field.
The troops may be disaffected Libyans, but the operation is
under the control and direction of NATO commanders and
Western commando units who serve as “advisors”. Their new
weapons and billions in funds come from the US and other NATO
powers that froze and seized Libya’s assets in Western banks.
Their only military successes outside of Benghazi, in the far east
of the country, have been exclusively based on the coordinated
air and ground operations of the imperialist NATO military forces.
In military terms, Libya’s resistance to NATO is of David and
Goliath proportions. US military spending alone is more than 10
times greater than Libya’s entire annual Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) which was US$74.2 billion in 2010, according to the
CIA’s World Fact Book.
In recent weeks, the NATO military operations used surveillancecollecting
drones, satellites, mounting aerial attacks and covert
commando units to decapitate Libya’s military and political
leadership and its command and control capabilities. Global
economic sanctions meant that the country was suddenly
deprived of income and secure access to goods and services
needed to sustain a civilian economy over a long period.
“The cumulative effect [of NATO’s coordinated air and ground
operation] not only destroyed Libya’s military infrastructure but
also greatly diminished Colonel Gaddafi’s commanders to control
forces, leaving even committed fighting units unable to move,
resupply or coordinate operations,” according to the New York
Times in a celebratory article on August 22.
A FALSE PRETEXT
The United States, Britain, France, and Italy targeted the Libyan
government for overthrow or “regime change” not because these
governments were worried about protecting civilians or to bring
about a more democratic form of governance in Libya.
If that were the real motivation of the NATO powers, they could
start the bombing of Saudi Arabia right away. There are no
elections in Saudi Arabia. The monarchy does not even allow
women to drive cars. By law, women must be fully covered in
public or they will go to prison. Protests are rare in Saudi Arabia
because any dissent is met with imprisonment, torture and
execution.
The Saudi monarchy is protected by US imperialism because it is
part of an undeclared but real US sphere of influence and it is the
largest producer of oil in the world. The US attitude toward the
Saudi monarchy was put succinctly by Ronald Reagan in 1981,
when he said that the US government “will not permit” revolution
in Saudi Arabia such as the 1979 Iranian revolution that removed
the US client regime of the Shah. Reagan’s message was clear:
the Pentagon and CIA’s military forces would be used decisively
to destroy any democratic movement against the rule of the Saudi
royal family. Reagan’s explicit statement in 1981 has, in fact, been
the policy of every successive US administration, including the
current one.
LIBYA AND IMPERIALISM
Libya, unlike Saudi Arabia, did have a revolution against its
monarchy. As a result of the 1969 revolution led by Muammar
Gaddafi, Libya was no longer in the sphere of influence of any
imperialist country. Libya had once been an impoverished colony
of Italy living under the boot heel of the fascist Mussolini. After
the Allied victory in World War II, control of the country was
formally transferred to the United Nations and Libya became
independent in 1951 with authority vested in the monarch King
Idris. But in actuality, Libya was controlled by the United States
and Britain until the 1969 revolution. One of the first acts of the
1969 revolution was to eliminate the vestiges of colonialism and
foreign control. Not only were oil fields nationalised, but Gaddafi
also eliminated foreign military bases inside the country.
In March of 1970, the Gaddafi government shut down two
important British military bases in Tobruk and El Adem. He then
became the Pentagon’s enemy when he evicted the US Wheelus
Air Force Base near Tripoli that had been operated by the United
States since 1945. Before the British military took control in 1943,
the facility was a base operated by the Italians under Mussolini.
Wheelus had been an important Strategic Air Command base
during the Cold War, housing B-52 bombers and other front-line
Pentagon aircrafts that targeted the Soviet Union.
Once under Libyan control, the Gaddafi government allowed
Soviet military planes to access the airfield. In 1986, the Pentagon
heavily bombed the base at the same time it bombed downtown
Tripoli in an effort to assassinate Gaddafi. That effort failed, but
his two-year-old daughter died along with scores of other
civilians.
THE CHARACTER OF THE
GADDAFI REGIME
The political, social and class orientation of the Libyan regime
has gone through several stages in the last four decades. The
government and ruling establishment reflected contradictory
class, social, religious and regional antagonisms. The fact that
the leadership of the NATO-led National Transition Council is
comprised of top officials of the Gaddafi government, who broke
with Gaddafi and allied themselves with NATO, is emblematic of
the decades-long instability within the Libyan establishment.
These inherent contradictions were exacerbated by pressures
applied to Libya from the outside. The US imposed far-reaching
economic sanctions on Libya in the 1980s. The largest western
corporations were barred from doing business with Libya and
the country was denied access to credit from Western banks. In
its foreign policy, Libya gave significant financial and military
support to national liberation struggles, including in Palestine,
Southern Africa, Ireland and elsewhere.
Because of Libya’s economic policies, living standards for the
population had jumped dramatically after 1969. Having a small
population and substantial income from its oil production,
augmented with the Gaddafi regime’s far-reaching policy of social
benefits, created a huge advance in the social and economic
status for the population.
Libya was still a class society with rich and poor, and gaps
between urban and rural living standards, but illiteracy was
basically wiped out, while education and health care were free
and extensively accessible. By 2010, the per capita income in
Libya was near the highest in Africa at US$14,000 and life
expectancy rose to over 77 years.
Gaddafi’s political orientation explicitly rejected communism and
capitalism. He created an ideology called the “Third International
Theory,” which was an eclectic mix of Islamic, Arab nationalist
and socialist ideas and programs. In 1977, Libya was renamed
the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. A great deal
of industry, including oil, was nationalised and the government
provided an expansive social insurance program or what is called
a welfare state policy akin to some features prevalent in the Soviet
Union and some West European capitalist countries. But Libya
was not a workers’ state or a “socialist government”. The
revolution was not a workers’ and peasant rebellion against the
capitalist class per se.
As in many developing, formerly colonised countries, state
ownership of property was not “socialist” but rather a necessary
fortification of an under-developed capitalist class. State property
in Iraq, Libya and other such post-colonial regimes was designed
to facilitate the social and economic growth of a new capitalist
ruling class that was initially too weak, too deprived of capital
and too cut off from international credit to compete on its own
terms with the dominant sectors of world monopoly capitalism.
The nascent capitalist classes in such developing economies
promoted state-owned property, under their control, in order to
intersect with Western banks and transnational corporations and
create more favourable terms for global trade and investment.
The end of the Soviet Union and the socialist bloc governments
of central and Eastern Europe in 1989-91 deprived Libya of an
economic and military counter-weight to the United States, and
the Libyan government’s domestic economic and foreign policy
shifted towards accommodation with the West. In the 1990s,
some sectors of the Libyan economic establishment and the
Gaddafi-led government favoured privatisation, cutting back on
social programs and subsidies and integration into western
European markets.
The earlier populism incrementally gave way to the adoption of
neo-liberal policies. This was, however, a long process. In 2004,
the George W Bush administration ended sanctions on Libya.
Western oil companies and banks and other corporations initiated
huge direct investments in Libya and trade with Libyan
enterprises. There was also a growth of unemployment in Libya
and in cutbacks in social spending, leading to further inequality
between rich and poor, and to class polarisation.
But Gaddafi himself was still considered a thorn in the side of the
imperialist powers. They want absolute puppets, not simply
partners, in their plans for exploitation. The Wikileaks release of
State Department cables between 2007 and 2010 show that the
United States and Western oil companies were condemning
Gaddafi for what they called “resource nationalism”. Gaddafi
even threatened to re-nationalise Western oil companies’ property
unless Libya was granted a larger share of the revenue for their
projects.
As a recent article in the New York Times business section
said honestly: “Colonel Gaddafi proved to be a problematic partner
for the international oil companies, frequently raising fees and
taxes and making other demands. A new government with close
ties to NATO may be an easier partner for Western nations to
deal with.”
Even the most recent CIA Fact Book publication on Libya, written
before the armed revolt championed by NATO, complained of
the measured tempo of pro-market reforms in Libya: “Libya faces
a long road ahead in liberalising the socialist-oriented economy,
but initial steps – including applying for WTO membership,
reducing some subsidies, and announcing plans for privatization
– are laying the groundwork for a transition to a more marketbased
economy.”
The beginning of the armed revolt on February 23 by disaffected
members of the Libyan military and political establishment
provided the opportunity for the US imperialists, in league with
their French and British counterparts, to militarily overthrow the
Libyan government and replace it with a client or stooge regime.
Of course, in the revolt were workers and young people who had
many legitimate grievances against the Libyan government. But
what is critical in an armed struggle for state power is not the
composition of the rank-and-file soldiers, but the class character
and political orientation of the leadership.
CHARACTER OF THE NATIONAL
TRANSITION COUNCIL
The National Transitional Council (NTC) constituted itself as
the leadership of the uprising in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest
city. The central leader is Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who was Libya’s
Minister of Justice until his defection at the start of the uprising.
He was one of a significant number of Western-oriented and
neo-liberal officials from Libya’s government, diplomatic corps
and military ranks who joined the opposition in the days
immediately after the start of the revolt.
As soon as it was established, the NTC began issuing calls for
imperialist intervention. These appeals became increasingly
panicked as it became clear that, contrary to early predictions
that the Gaddafi-led government would collapse in a matter of
days, it was the “rebels” who faced imminent defeat in the civil
war. In fact, it was only due to the US/NATO bombing campaign,
initiated with great hurry on March 19, that the rebellion did not
collapse.
The last five months of war have erased any doubt about the
pro-imperialist character of the NTC. One striking episode took
place on April 22, when Senator John McCain made a “surprise”
trip to Benghazi. A huge banner was unveiled to greet him with
an American flag printed on it and the words: “United States of
America: You have a new ally in North Africa.”
Similar to the military relationship between the NATO and Libyan
“rebel” armed forces, the NTC is entirely dependent on and
subordinated to the US, French, British and Italian imperialist
governments. If the Pentagon, CIA, and Wall Street succeed in
installing a client regime in Tripoli, it will accelerate and embolden
the imperialist threats and intervention against other independent
governments, such as Syria and Venezuela. In each case we will
see a similar process unfold, including the demonization of the
leadership of the targeted countries so as to silence or mute a
militant anti-war response to the aggression of the war-makers.
�
4. Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force: A Force Par Excellence
Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBPF) was raised on 24 th
October 1962 after the Indo-China conflict to guard the northern
borders of the country. Incredible though it may appear, ITBP
which took off as a micro outfit with just 4 battalions has grown
to gigantic proportions with 45 service battalions and 4
specialized battalions. This month the Force enters golden jubilee
year of its formation. The raison d’etre of the ITB Police is
guarding and policing the Indo-Tibet Border, providing a sense
of security to the border populace, VIP security and internal
security duties, disaster management etc.
A solid 3488 km of staggering mountains with an astounding
variety of shaky heights ranging between 9000 to 18700 feet
from mean sea level (MSL), chilly locales where mercury plummets
to 45 degree C below zero, bottomless gorges, enchanting ravines,
tempestuous rivers, perfidious glaciers, craggy steeps, lurking
natural hazards-that is the typical theatre of operation ITBP men
and officers spend a lion share of their services career in. It
extends from Karakorum pass (old trade route to Tibet in J&K) to
Diphu La in Arunachal Pradesh.
Role of the Force
The Force saw action in the Indo-Pak conflicts in 1965. It fought
the enemy away from the designated theatre of a war, conducted
combing operation to annihilate Pakistani infiltrators and
paratroopers and guarded vital installations. In the 1971 war,
two of its battalions performed the special tasks of sealing certain
areas/gaps detection and destruction of infiltrators’ bases in the
Srinagar valley and Poonch sector, a maiden mission which earned
plaudit.
National imperatives in 1978 redefined the Force’s role and what
followed was a change in its basic nature. Multifarious tasks
were handed over to it making it a multi dimensional force.
ITBP protects the IB in its area of responsibility, joins them in
controlling trans-border crime and intelligence collection,
interrogates smugglers and infiltrators and conducts joint
patrolling along the international border/LAC. ITBPF functions
in close synchronisation with army in sensitive areas. In peace
time, it attunes and gears itself professionally to meet the real
challenges as and when they are put to face.
The borders guarding duties in the Eastern sector is more challenging
and harsh than in the western and middle due to scanty
road connectivity. Apart from border guarding, the Force is also
performing Internal security duties in the north eastern states.
ITBP has its forward posts much ahead of the other Forces, in
higher altitudes. ITBP personnel have to constantly fight against
blizzards, avalanches, and land-slides.
Additional Responsibilities
Till 1982, this Force kept its activities confined to the Himalayas,
but sensing the pulse of the time and setting the sights high, the
personnel of this force were also trained and suitably equipped
to take on other challenges as well. The ITBPF performed the
most delicate yet high risk security duties during the ASIAD
1982 wherein its personnel were engaged in providing fool proof
security cover to the various stadia, contingents of different
countries as well as Games village Complex and to various VVIPs.
ITBP Ethos
ITBPF ethos are succinctly expressed in its logo i.e. chivalry,
steadfastness commitment. An ITBPean is true to his salt,
steadfast in duty, and undeterred by adverse conditions, manmade,
or nature-made. His creed: improvisation and maximum
utilisation of resources at hand.
ITBP has made an epoch making entry into the North-East as it
was assigned the responsibility of the Eastern Sector of Indo-
China Borders in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, in 2003 in
pursuance to GOM’s recommendation, i.e. ‘One Border, One
Force.’
Training Personnel for Tough Tasks
By virtue of the role assigned to this Force at initial stages, the
area of its activities remained in the wild and vertical world of the
Himalayas where mighty forces of the nature rule supreme.
Though policing the frontier against the hostile elements from
across the border was not much of the problem with adequate
training to the personal, but the most challenging task was to
survive in such inhospitable places.
cont....
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DECEMBER 2011
Accordingly, before deployment to the higher reaches of
Himalayas, the force personnel are given extensive training in
rock climbing, mountaineering and mountain warfare with more
thrust towards guerrilla operations to make them highly proficient
soldiers.
HAMTS
High Altitude Medical Training School (HAMTS) was
conceptualised and formally inaugurated at Leh on 17 th July 2009.
The main idea was to train paramedics in the diagnosis and
management of various high altitude ailments and diseases and
their management. ITBP being a paramilitary force deployed at
high attitudes in large numbers, it was considered very pertinent
and apt to have a training centre which would impart practical
training to paramedics and doctors in diagnosis, treatment and
management of high attitude ailments and update them on the
various equipments available and the use thereof. High altitude
medicines as such is not covered in the MBBS curriculum in
India as a result of which even doctors are not aware of the
various high altitude ailments and may at times find themselves
in a difficult situation when asked to treat such patients in high
altitude forward posts. Since its inception in July 2009, two main
courses run by HAMTS are: Basic HA course for medics – 2
week duration; and Induction course for medical officers – 1
week duration
Till date eight batches of basic high altitude course for medics
and 3 induction courses for medical officers have been completed,
with a total strength of 193 trainees trained so far. Till recently
this institute was being run by pooling the resources from the
available Bns, whether in the form of trainers, medical officers or
infrastructure etc. But with the formal sanction of dedicated staff
for this training institute now, one can look forward to a very
ambitious expansion plan in the future. This institute is the only
KEY FACTS
§ Polio (poliomyelitis) mainly affects children under five
years of age.
§ One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis.
Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their
breathing muscles become immobilized.
§ Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988,
from an estimated 350 000 cases then, to 1 349 reported
cases in 2010. The reduction is the result of the global
effort to eradicate the disease.
§ In 2011, only four countries (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria
and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more
than 125 in 1988.
§ Persistent pockets of polio transmission in northern
Nigeria and the border between Afghanistan and
Pakistan are the current focus of the polio eradication
initiative.
§ As long as a single child remains infected, children in
all countries are at risk of contracting polio. In 2009-
2010, 23 previously polio-free countries were re-infected
due to imports of the virus.
§ In most countries, the global effort has expanded
capacities to tackle other infectious diseases by building
effective surveillance and immunization systems.
§ Success hinges on financing the next steps of the global
eradication initiative.
POLIO AND ITS SYMPTOMS
Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades
the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of
hours. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies
in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache,
vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs. One in 200
infections leads to irreversible paralysis (usually in the legs).
Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing
muscles become immobilized.
PEOPLE MOST AT RISK
Polio mainly affects children under five years of age.
PREVENTION
There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. Polio vaccine,
given multiple times, can protect a child for life.
GLOBAL CASELOAD
Polio cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988, from an
estimated 350 000 cases in more than 125 endemic countries then,
to 1349 reported cases in 2010. In 2011, only parts of four countries
in the world remain endemic for the disease – the smallest
geographic area in history – and case numbers of wild poliovirus
type 3 are down to lowest-ever levels.
THE GLOBAL POLIO ERADICATION INITIATIVE LAUNCH
In 1988, the forty-first World Health Assembly, consisting then
of delegates from 166 Member States, adopted a resolution for
the worldwide eradication of polio. It marked the launch of the
Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by WHO, Rotary
International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). This
followed the certification of the eradication of smallpox in 1980,
progress during the 1980s towards elimination of the poliovirus
in the Americas, and Rotary International’s commitment to raise
funds to protect all children from the disease.
PROGRESS
Overall, since the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was
launched, the number of cases has fallen by over 99%. In
2011, only four countries in the world remain polio-endemic.
Persistent pockets of polio transmission in northern Nigeria
and along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan are
key epidemiological challenges. In 1994, the WHO Region of
the Americas (36 countries) was certified polio-free, followed
by the WHO Western Pacific Region (37 countries and areas
including China) in 2000 and the WHO European Region (51
countries) in June 2002. In 2010, the European Region
suffered its first importation of polio after certification.
In 2011, the WHO Western Pacific Region also suffered an
importation of poliovirus. In 2009, more than 361 million
children were immunized in 40 countries during 273
supplementary immunization activities (SIAs). Globally, polio
surveillance is at historical highs, as represented by the timely
detection of cases of acute flaccid paralysis.
of its kind in our country and the first one to help train doctors
and paramedics in high altitude maladies.
A Welfare Face
Spending better part of their service career in intractable
Himalayan heights at the mercy of stark elements and away from
family takes its toll. The Force shares the concerns of the jawans
and ensures they do not lose their sleep over them. Battalions
are rotated from hard to soft medical check ups, speedy
evacuation and a good tide-up with Army hospitals helps,
jawans’ families can avail medical aid from nearby ITBP units.
Civic Action Programs
To provide a sense of security to the border population and win
there hearts and minds, ITBPF construct/repairs roads and
bridges in remote border areas, help them at times of natural
disaster and run medical and veterinary camps. Throughout its
place of deployment, ITBPF maintains a cordial relationship with
the local a benevolent force to the border populace.
ITBP has launched a massive programme to develop villages in
the remote and inaccessible areas of the Indo-China border for
undertaking essential development activities and extending basic
medical amenities. ITBP is involved in diverse areas such as
public hygiene and sanitation, adult and child education, setting
up of periodic medical camps, addressing problems of drinking
water, electrification and building basic structure with
‘shramadan’ and support of the local official.
ITBP has opened many rural telephone exchanges in Ladakh
and many of its forwards posts are interconnected with satellite
telephones. The ITBP personal as well as the local population of
the area can avail this facility at nominal rates. During landslides
5. Polio Cases Have Decreased
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are:
§ to interrupt transmission of wild poliovirus as soon as
possible;
§ to achieve certification of global polio eradication;
§ to contribute to health systems development and
strengthen routine immunization and surveillance for
communicable diseases in a systematic way.
STRATEGIES
There are four core strategies to stop transmission of the wild
poliovirus in areas that are affected by the disease or considered
at high risk of re-infection:
§ high infant immunization coverage with four doses of
oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) in the first year of life;
§ supplementary doses of OPV to all children under five
years of age during SIAs;
§ surveillance for wild poliovirus through reporting and
laboratory testing of all acute flaccid paralysis (AFP)
cases among children under fifteen years of age;
§ targeted “mop-up” campaigns once wild poliovirus
transmission is limited to a specific focal area.
Before a WHO region can be certified polio-free, three conditions
must be satisfied:
§ there are at least three years of zero polio cases due to
wild poliovirus;
§ disease surveillance efforts in countries meet
international standards; and
§ each country must illustrate the capacity to detect, report
and respond to “imported” polio cases.
Laboratory stocks must be contained and safe management of
the wild virus in inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) manufacturing
sites must be assured before the world can be certified poliofree.
The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) will evaluate on
a quarterly basis the progress towards each of the major
milestones of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative Strategic
Plan 2010-2012, determine the impact of any ‘mid-course
corrections’ that are deemed necessary, and advise on additional
measures when appropriate.
COALITION
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) is spearheaded by
WHO, Rotary International, CDC and UNICEF. The eradication
of polio is about equity in health and the moral imperative of
reaching every child with an available health intervention.
The polio eradication coalition includes governments of
countries affected by polio; private sector foundations (e.g.
United Nations Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation);
development banks (e.g. the World Bank); donor governments
(e.g. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg,
Malaysia, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Oman, Portugal, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, the Russian
Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States
of America); the European Commission; humanitarian and
nongovernmental organizations (e.g. the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent societies and the Global Poverty Project) and
corporate partners (e.g. Sanofi Pasteur and Wyeth). Volunteers
in developing countries also play a key role: 20 million people
have participated in mass immunization campaigns.
PRIORITIES FOR POLIO ERADICATION
As long as a single child remains infected with polio, children in
all countries are at risk of contracting the disease. To stop
transmission of the wild poliovirus and optimize the benefits of
polio eradication, the global priorities are:
STOPPING WILD POLIOVIRUS TRANSMISSION
IN ENDEMIC COUNTRIES
Polio today is more geographically restricted than ever before.
The highest priority is reaching all children during SIAs in the
four countries which have never stopped transmission of polio.
To succeed, high levels of political commitment must be
maintained at national, state/provincial and district levels. In 2010,
a new strategic plan was launched, based on lessons learned in
the past years and an independent evaluation of the major barriers
to stopping polio transmission. This strategic plan is based on
district-specific planning to address the unique challenges of
and flash floods in Leh last year, ITBP was among the first who
came forward for rescue and rehabilitation work in the affected
areas. It set up relief camps and make shift medical camps to
provide succour to those in distress. ITBP’s effort earned the
praise of locals in these endeavours.
Sports
ITBP personnel have also excelled in various sports. The Force
is a byword for international mountaineering. It has hoisted the
Indian tricolour atop more than 165 world- class mountains
including Everest (5 times) and Kanchenjunga. India’s highest
peak, Nanda Devi, Mount Kamet in the Himalayas and those in
the Alps, Iran and USA also figure in the list. The crowning glory
was achieved by the Force when it created history by putting 8
climbers including one lady police officer atop Mount Everest
on 10 th and 12 th May 1992.
Skiing is its forte. National Champions for years, ITBP recorded
the first ever ski down from Kamet peak in 1981. Earlier ITBP
skiers had skied down from Trushul (23360 ft.) in May 1997 and
Kedar Dome (24410 ft.) in April 1978. Regaining National
Champions in Skiing, ITBP has defended the title several times
and has represented India twice in the Winter Olympics Games
and Asian Winter Games.
River rafting is yet another field where ITBPeans have made
their singular mark. They have negotiated a 1100 km long stretch
of the ferocious white waters of the turbulent and mighty river
Brahmputra in 1991 from Gelling in Arunachal Pradesh upto the
border of Bangladesh. None had dared to achieve such a feat in
the last 200 years. Its personnel also hold rare distinction of
being part of scientific expedition to Antarctica. Each year, ITBP
trains members of all scientific expedition to Antarctica. �
each of the infected areas, fully exploiting new tools such as
bivalent oral polio vaccine and strengthening health systems.
PUTTING AN END TO RE-ESTABLISHED TRANSMISSION
Three countries – Angola, Chad and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo – are classified as having ‘re-established
transmission’ because they have had ongoing transmission for
over 12 months. These countries are treated with the same level
of priority as the endemic countries. In early 2011, all three
countries initiated emergency action plans to address the
situation and fill operational gaps.
PREVENTING NEW OUTBREAKS
Poliovirus has a habit of finding pockets of inadequately
vaccinated children. As China, Congo, the Russian Federation
and Tajikistan have learned, the poliovirus does not respect
national borders. To minimize the risk of outbreaks from
importation, countries must maintain high population immunity
levels.
CLOSING THE FUNDING GAP
Substantial financial resources are required to support polio
eradication. However, in addition to the obvious humanitarian
benefits, economic modelling has demonstrated the financial
benefits of polio eradication to be at least US$ 40-50 billion.
Success in carrying out the necessary vaccination campaigns
and surveillance hinges on sufficient funds from financial
stakeholders.
IMPACT OF THE INITIATIVE
More than eight million people who would otherwise have been
paralysed are walking today because they have been immunized
against polio since the initiative began in 1988.
By preventing a debilitating disease, the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative is helping reduce poverty, and is giving children and
their families a greater chance of leading healthy and productive
lives.
By establishing the capacity to access children everywhere, more
than two billion children worldwide have been immunized during
SIAs, demonstrating that well-planned health interventions can
reach even the most remote, conflict-affected or poorest areas.
Planning for SIAs provides key demographic data – “finding”
children in remote villages and households for the first time, and
“mapping” their location for future health services.
In most countries, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has
expanded the capacity to tackle other infectious diseases, such
as avian influenza or Ebola, by building effective diseasereporting
and surveillance systems, training local epidemiologists
and establishing a global laboratory network. This capacity has
also been deployed in health emergencies such as the 2010 floods
in Pakistan and the 2011 drought in the Horn of Africa.
Routine immunization services have been strengthened by
bolstering the cold chain, transport and communications systems
for immunization. Improving these services helped to lay the
groundwork for highly successful measles vaccination campaigns
that have saved millions of young lives.
Vitamin A is often administered during polio SIAs. Since 1988,
more than 1.2 million childhood deaths have been prevented
through provision of vitamin A during polio SIAs.
On average, one in every 250 people in a country has been
involved in polio immunization campaigns. More than 20 million
health workers and volunteers have been trained to deliver OPV
and vitamin A, fostering a culture of disease prevention.
Through the synchronization of SIAs, many countries have
established a new mechanism for coordinating major cross-border
health initiatives aimed at reaching all people – a model for regional
and international cooperation for health.
FUTURE BENEFITS OF POLIO ERADICATION
Once polio is eradicated, the world can celebrate the delivery of
a major global public good that will benefit all people equally, no
matter where they live. Economic modelling has found that the
eradication of polio in the next five years would save at least US$
40-50 billion, mostly in low-income countries. �
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DECEMBER 2011
6. Reinventing Mobility: The Automotive Industry in India
India has come a long way from the days when the automotive industry in India was characterized
by limited choice, old technology, obsolete designs and endless waiting period to be a proud
owner of a vehicle. In sharp contrast, today, India is the seventh largest vehicle manufacturer, the
second largest two wheeler manufacturer and the fifth largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in
the world. The Indian auto industry today churns out a large number of new model and variant
launches every year and exports almost 12% of the vehicles produced by it to the most competitive
auto markets globally. Even the bravest analyst could not have taken the risk of making such a
bold forecast not so far back in time.
The past ten years have witnessed a six fold increase in the auto industry turnover and the
automotive exports have grown by almost twenty times. As a result, the automotive industry
today contributes 22% to the manufacturing GDP and 21% of the total excise collection in the
country. In 2010-11, the total turnover and export of the Automotive Industry in India reached new
pinnacle of US $ 73 billion and US $ 11 billion respectively with the cumulative announced
investments reaching US $ 30 billion. This sector truly represents a shining example of an effective
Industry-Government collaboration and the kind of results that can be achieved in a relatively
short span of time with the right kind of support from the Government, combined with the
entrepreneurial skills and managerial talent that the Indian Industry has to offer. Although there
seems to be a bit of a slowdown of growth of the auto industry in the recent past, this is just
transient and now the industry is fully back on track for achieving the Auto Mission Plan targets
for 2016, which were unveiled by the Prime Minister in 2007.
The growth of the transportation sector also brings with it the challenges associated with rapid
depletion and the rising cost of fossil fuels, the impact of vehicles on the environment and climate
change. These are areas of grave concern not only to the Governments around the world but also
to industry experts and automobile leaders alike.
In order to bring about a paradigm shift in transportation, the reinvention will need to happen from
the individual firm level to the industry level as a whole duly supported by the Government. Each
individual organization will need to continuously strive to offer completely new products and
solutions. However, inertia and resistance to change, especially when times are good, is the
gravest threat as nothing stops an organization faster than people who believe that the way you
worked yesterday is the best way to work tomorrow. The Indian automobile industry will need to
pay greater focus on R&D and invest more for sustainable transportation through developing or
acquiring newer & better technologies. This will include the introduction of alternate drives and
fuels, especially electric mobility, to lessen the dependence of fossil fuels and also to mitigate the
impact of vehicles on the environment and climate change. In order to help the industry meet these
challenges, the government will continue to play a key facilitative and supportive role.
In this regard, the required enabling mechanisms for meeting these future challenges are being set
up. In this regard, two very significant initiatives for the automotive sector are being presently
undertaken by the Government. For spurring greater adoption of electric mobility and manufacture
of electric vehicles, including full range of hybrid vehicles, the Government has approved the
“National Mission for Electric Mobility”. In order to take this key initiative ahead, the National
Council for Electric Mobility (NCEM), with the Union Ministers of all stakeholder Ministries and
leaders from the Industry, academia and research institutes as members has already been set up. In
addition, the National Board for Electric Mobility (NBEM), which will assist the National Council,
with secretaries of the stakeholder ministries, industry and academia as its members, has also been
created. This structure will bring on a common platform all the key stakeholders, thereby helping
achieve greater synergy, setting common priorities, vision, objectives and also leading to high
level ownership for this key future initiative. The Board has already met once and is likely to meet
again soon to finalize their recommendations for setting the National Mission targets for 2020 and
the various interventions, investments, policies, programmes, subsidies, incentives and projects
that will be required in this regard.
Globally it is seen that Governments have to play a key catalytic role in spurring research and
development for creation and adoption of newer technologies. Effort made globally for R&D in the
area of electric mobility is one such clear example. Therefore, one of the most important objectives
before the Government today is to facilitate collaborative R&D initiatives by bringing together the
industry, research institutes and the academia. The Government of India, with the continued and
unflinching support of the Planning Commission, is in advance stages of making available “state
of the art” automotive R&D facilities through the flag ship “NATRIP” project. In order to leverage
and maximize the benefits from the huge investments made in setting up of these facilities; it is
essential that proper structure is created not only for monitoring & coordinating the synergistic
functioning of the various automotive testing centres created and upgraded through NATRIP but
also to ensure that these facilities are available for the industry for their developmental needs. For
this purpose, the Government is in the advanced stages of creating the National Automotive
Board (NAB). The NAB will also be the catalyst that will spur collaborative automotive R&D
activities by bringing together and crating consortia involving the academia, industry, government
automotive testing centres and other research and development facilities in India and abroad for
various projects.
The NAB will be a single umbrella agency, comprising technical & domain experts and having
representation from all key stakeholders. It is envisaged to be the repository of knowledge, data
and domain expertise relating to the automotive sector and will also help, aid and advise the
various government departments in formulating their strategies, future policies and regulations
for the auto Industry. This agency will play a key role in the transformation of the Indian automotive
sector. �
7. India Post on The Move : Leveraging Postal Network
Discarding its traditional image India Post is emerging as a socially
committed, technology driven and forward looking organization.
The huge network of 1, 55,015 Post Offices across India of which
1, 39,144 are in rural areas is the largest postal network in the
world. India Post has so far introduced 850 franchised outlets to
cater to the demand where it is not possible to open departmental
post offices. This network not only helps meet the social
obligation of providing essential postal services to all citizens
but also provides the necessary infrastructure for providing
economic activities in these areas. Progressive use of computers
and thus connected network of post offices on a single integrated
platform presents an opportunity to India Post to retail products
and services of other service providers. Changed mail profile has
substantially increased volume of mail in Business-to-Customer
and Business-to-Business segments. Changing economic
scenario has enhanced expectations of common man in terms of
services and facilities. The Governments and corporate sector
have decided to use credibility and huge network of India Post
to reach out to the masses.
Some of the services being rendered through post offices are:
NATIONAL RURAL EMPLOYMENT GUARANTEE SCHEME
(NREGS)
The Department of Posts has been given the responsibility to
disburse the wages to NREGS beneficiaries through Post Office
Savings Bank account. Starting with Andhra Pradesh Postal Circle
in 2006, the payment of wages under NREGS is currently
operational in 19 Postal Circles comprising 21 States. The scheme
is operational through 1, 00,000(one lakh) post offices. Nearly
4.9 crore(5.04) NREGS accounts have been opened up to March
2011(July2011), and the amount disbursed in this financial year
(20010-11) alone amounts to Rs. 7300 crore.
TIE-UP WITH SBI
India Post has tied up with State Bank of India to sell its assets
and liability products through identified post offices. Initially,
the scheme was started in five states; the scheme was later
extended to 23 States and Union Territories. The total number of
different kinds of accounts opened is 1.04 lakhs and total assets
sold up to Rs.17 crores.
TIE-UP WITH NABARD
The Department of Posts in collaboration with NABARD is
providing the facility of micro-credit to Self Help Groups (SHGs)
through identified post offices on agency basis. The corpus fund
for implementing this project is given by NABARD. The pilot is
in operation in five districts involving seven divisions of Tamil
Nadu Circle. The revolving fund assistance has been raised to
Rs.3 crores. There are 1200 SHGs benefitting from the scheme.
SALE OF GOLD COINS -As a tie-up with Reliance Money
Limited, sale of gold coins has been launched in October 2008 in
selected post offices. Scheme is available in 672 Post Offices in
21 States.
OLD AGE PENSION -Old Age Pension is being paid through 20
lakh Post Office Savings accounts in Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand and
North East, and through Money Order in J&K, Karnataka,
Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
ON LINE ACCEPTANCE OF RTI APPLICATIONS -
The Department of Posts has been assisting other public
authorities under the Central Government in implementing the
Right to Information Act (RTI) by providing services of its
designated Central Assistant Public Information Officers
(CAPIOs). Sub Post Masters at Tehsil level act as the CAPIO for
accepting RTI requests and appeals. The Department has
designated 4000 Post offices as receipt points for RTI applications
and forwarding to public authorities. An RTI software has been
got developed to deal with such applications.
RAILWAY TICKET RESERVATION -
The scheme for sale of railway tickets through post offices is
presently operative at 170 locations, and will be extended to rural
areas also.
COLLECTION OF RURAL PRICE INDEX DATA -
Ministry of Statistics and program implementation (MOSPI) has
entrusted the job of collecting statistics for ascertaining the Rural
Price Index from 1183 post offices across the country with effect
from October 2009. Branch Post masters collect prices of 185 to
292 commodities on fixed week days. The data so collected is
electronically transmitted to MOSPI. Department of Posts has
earned revenue of Rs. 7.33 crores from this activity.
UNIQUE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER
Department of Posts is striving to provide complete solution for
delivering the Unique Identification Number to all the residents
in the country. The Department of Posts with its vast network of
post offices is the only organization in the country that can
provide an end to end comprehensive solution to the requirements
of the UIDAI in this regard. The mandate of Unique Identification
Authority of India (UIDAI) is to provide a Unique Identification
Number to each and every resident of the country. With a to
leverage this vast network which touches each and every resident
of the country, Department of Posts and UIDAI came together
and signed the first Memorandum of Understanding on 30th
April, 2010. This MOU provides for printing of communication
carrying UID Number addressed to the resident at Department
of Posts ‘Print to Post’ facility at Kolkata GPO, transmission of
these UID communications to the addressee by the fastest means
and delivery of the UID communication to the addressee through
the vast network of post offices across the country. Subsequently
the second Memorandum of Understanding was signed on
September 18, 2010 wherein Department of Posts agreed to act
as Registrar to UIDAI. Enrolment Agencies shortlisted by UIDAI
will manage the Enrolment Stations in the identified post offices.
More than 3700 post offices across the country have been
identified for providing enrolment stations facility. These stations
will facilitate in capturing of demographic and bio-metric data of
each and every resident and updating of resident’s data on
periodic basis.
POSTAL RETAIL SERVICE
India Post and Fabindia partnered to benefit customers in a first
of its kind Public- Private Partnership. With the opening of first
postal retail extension counter at Fabindia’s flagship store, India
post will now offer customers hassle free postal retail service
which would enable the customers to buy, pack and dispatch
Fabindia products not only within India but also to international
destinations. To help the customers in booking consignments,
Delhi Postal Circle staff will man postal retail extension counter
at Fabindia store. This comes as an expansion of the existing
postal retail service earlier introduced at the Jawahar Vyapar
Bhawan (Cottage Emporium), New Delhi, where customers can
avail Speed Post Services & Registered Parcel booking within
the premises of the shopping complex.
VISA RELATED SERVICES
India Post has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
VFS Global to provide visa related services for different
countries through Post Offices. Memorandum signed on
30.08.2011 sets out broad understandings and intentions of
both the parties to provide visa related services at places
where they are not currently available. Post Office counters
will be used for fee collections, providing visa applications
forms, dissemination of visa information, biometric enrollment
and other visa application process related services. India Post
and VFS are also planning to cooperate in utilizing India Post’s
courier service, Speed Post for movements of passports to
VFS offices and concerned embassies, and their delivery back
to the applicants. Both the parties will also explore to provide
any other service that India Post may want to provide through
VFS global network on mutually accepted terms.
SALE OF COOLERS -
India Post in Tamilnadu has tied up with Godrej & Boyece
Mfg.Co. Ltd for booking “Chotukool” a thermo electric cooler
through all post offices in the state. The scheme was launched
on 12th August 2011.
PARTNERING INDIA POST: 2012 AND BEYOND -
A Round Table Conference of all stakeholders was held recently
to deliberate upon “Partnering India Post: 2012 and Beyond”.
The conference was organized to enable vast postal network to
play a bigger and effective role in the socio and economic
development of the nation. This will also help department of
posts to develop the future business model and its integration
with the technological architecture of India Post 2012 Project.
About seventy representatives of Key Stakeholders from
Banking/ Insurance/ Telecom/ FMCG/ IT/ e-Commerce/ Logistics/
Publications/ Financial Institutions/ Government Ministries &
Departments/ Industry Associations/ Academic sector
participated in the Round Table conference and engaged into
discussions to give shape to the India Post 2012 Project and
explore strategic tie-ups with India Post. India Post with its vast
network of 1.5 lakh Post-Offices and the huge bouquet of services
including mails, logistics, finance, deposits, insurance, savings
and retailing, have the potential to play an extremely vital role in
accelerating economic growth.
By Changing look and feel of Post Offices under Project Arrow,
acquiring three leased dedicated freighter aircraft, setting up 162
Mail Business Centres and plans to set up Automatic Mail
Processing System at Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and
upgrade the existing automatic mail processing centers at Mumbai
and Chennai, India Post is trying to transform the challenge in to
an opportunity to serve the masses brisker and better. �
8. Where will the Information revolution lead?
Twenty years from now, by the year 2020, the information revolution will have altered life on this planet even more dramatically than in the last 20 years, according to the experts. Even if they hesitate
to specify exactly what the technological changes might be over the next two decades, the experts offer even more intriguing insights into how those technological changes could, in turn, change us
as people, as nations, and as a global web of human thought and action. With regard to technological breakthroughs, the fear of forecasting the future is forgivable. Back in 1980, a mere 20 years ago,
almost no one could have predicted the explosive growth of the World Wide Web. But in 1980 there was still no hypertext language for navigating from web site to web site, still no graphical interface,
nothing like today’s chat rooms, no laptop computers, and no cell phones, let alone cell phones that could deliver e-mail via satellite. Conversely, predictions that once seemed reasonable now appear
naïve in retrospect. With regard to overall technological trends, on the other hand, efforts to anticipate the future are more than exercises in futility. While it is risky to predict the future in detail, it may
be even more foolish not to prepare for it at all, especially when the future promises to bring changes as swift and pervasive as those made possible by the information revolution. �
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DECEMBER 2011
9. A Journey of Economic Reforms
With progressive liberalisation of the Indian economy, initiated in July 1991, there has been a
consistent shift in the role and functions of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotions
(DIPP). From regulation and administration of the industrial sector, the role of the Department has
been transformed into facilitating investment and technology flows and monitoring industrial
development in the liberalised environment.
Evolution of Policy
The Government of India embarked upon major economic reforms since mid-1991 with a view to
integrate with the world economy, and to emerge as a significant player in the globalization process.
As part of this process, the FDI policy was liberalized progressively, through review on an ongoing
basis and allowing FDI in more industries under the automatic route. In the year 2000, Government
allowed FDI up to 100% on the automatic route for most activities and a small negative list was
notified where either the automatic route was not available or there were limits on FDI. Since then,
the policy has been gradually simplified and rationalized and more sectors opened up for foreign
investment.
Recent Changes
In February 2009, a new paradigm was introduced under the FDI policy, by incorporating, for the
first time, the twin concepts of ‘ownership’ and ‘control’, as a central principle in India’s FDI
regime, were recognized for calculation of direct and indirect foreign investment. This ensured
application of simple, homogenous and uniform norms for as also to clarify the need for obtaining
government/FIPB approval (or otherwise) for foreign investment into Indian companies and for
such Indian companies in the eventuality of their making downstream investments.
1 Government liberalised the induction of FDI in Micro and Small Enterprises by clarifying
that FDI in MSE was now permitted, subject only to the sectoral equity caps, entry routes
and other relevant sectoral regulations.
2 All payments for royalty, lumpsum fee for transfer of technology and use of trademarks/
brand names, were brought under the automatic route, without the need for Government
approval.
3 In 2010, Government announced that recommendations of FIPB, only proposals with a
total foreign equity inflow of more than Rs. 1200 crore, would henceforth be placed for
consideration of CCEA, as against the earlier limit of cases with a total investment of Rs.
600 crore. It also exempted a number of other categories of cases from the requirement of
obtaining prior approval of Government.
4 The most recent and major exercise undertaken by Government has been the
consolidation/integration of all existing regulations on FDI, contained in FEMA, RBI
circulars, various Press Notes etc., into one consolidated document, so as to reflect the
current regulatory framework. Such consolidation is intended to ensure that all information
on FDI policy is available at one place, which is expected to lead to simplification of the
policy, greater clarity and understanding of foreign investment rules among foreign
investors and sectoral regulators, as also to bring in greater predictability of policy. The
final document in this regard was released on 31 March, 2010, as Circular 1 of 2010. It has
further been decided that the consolidated circular would be issued every six months to
ensure that FDI policy is kept updated. Accordingly, the second edition of the Circular
(Circular 2 of 2010) has also been released, effective from 1 October, 2010. This edition
has clarified a number of aspects of FDI policy, including, interalia, the aspect of
downstream investments by Indian companies with foreign investment, made through
internal accruals, being on the automatic route; 100% foreign owned NBFCs, with a
minimum capitalization of $ 50 million, being permitted to set up subsidiaries for specific
NBFC activities, without bringing in additional capital towards minimum capitalization;
inclusion of share premium received along with face value of the shares only when it is
received by the company upon issue of the shares to the non-resident investors towards
Minimum Capitalization etc.
5 The Government has also initiated stakeholder consultations, by inviting suggestions
on various aspects of FDI policy, including sectoral policies. Discussion papers on five
areas of FDI Policy, including FDI in Retail and Defence sectors, FDI in Limited Liability
Partnerships, Issue of shares for considerations other than cash and approval of foreign/
technical collaborations in case of existing ventures/ tie-ups in India have been released
for public consultation.
10. The Ozone Crisis
For India the particulate matter pollution is not the only concern; secondary pollutants such as
Ozone are the emerging threats for the fast developing nation. In the last two decades, India has
shown tremendous economic growth and has correspondingly witnessed a rapid increase in
energy consumption patterns.
While the population of India has grown three times during 1951-2006, industrial production has
grown 28 times. Economic growth of the country has fueled the demand for mobility. Hence,
vehicles have grown 328 times during the same phase, with most of them in the private (twowheelers
and cars) segment. This has led to the rise in greenhouse gas emissions and also air
pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds,
and more.
Most of the Indian cities show violation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards in terms of
particulate matter concentrations. While introduction of advanced vehicular emission norms have
attempted to arrest the growth of particulate matter emissions in India, nitrogen oxide emissions
have not been controlled effectively.
Pollutants like nitrogen and non-methane volatile organic carbon (NMVOCs) react in the presence
of sunlight to produce Ozone at ground levels which is not only injurious to human health, but
could also damage the agricultural yields. As India is exposed to higher photo-chemical activity, it
is bound to have a higher production rate of Ozone and the presence of significant emission
sources helps in its formation. In India while there is extensive monitoring of pollutants like sulfur
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter, the Ozone is monitored in a very limited manner.
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Japan, initiated a project in 2008 with a view to reduce energy
consumption and improve air quality in East and South Asia. This was a multi-institutional study
with partners from Japan (Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Central R&D Labs), China (Tsinghua
University), Austria (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis), and India (The
Energy and Resources Institute).
The main objectives of the project were to assess the energy con-sumption, emissions and air
quality in East and South Asia, to project future energy scenarios and predict air quality based on
simulations for the year 2030, and to plan for reduction of energy con-sumption/carbon dioxide
emission and improvement of air quality.
Quotable Quotes of Mahatma Gandhi
• The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
• Service is not possible unless it is rooted in love or ahimsa.
• Voluntary service of others demands the best of which one is capable, and must take
precedence over service of self.
• The platform of services is as big as the world. It is never overcrowded.
• My creed is service of God and therefore of humanity.
• For me, humanitarian service, or rather service of all that lives, is religion. And I draw
no distinction between such religion and politics.
• Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.
• My nonviolence bids me dedicate myself to the service of minorities.
FDI Inflows
1 The total FDI that has flowed into India since the onset of the liberalisation process
(August, 1991-August, 2010) is nearly US$ 141.35 billion. This represents only the equity
capital component of FDI. Under international practices of reporting, i.e. including equity
capital, reinvested earnings and other capital, the figure comes to US $ US$ 172.11 billion,
for the period April, 2000 to July, 2010.
2 There has been a tremendous growth in the FDI inflows to India since 2003-04. FDI
equity inflows have risen nearly thirteen-fold, from US $ 2.23 billion in 2003-04 to US $
27.31 in 2008-09 and US $ 25.89 billion in 2009-10.
3 FDI, as per international practices of reporting, includes equity capital, reinvested earnings
and intra company loans. According to the international practices of reporting, total FDI
was US $ 6.13 billion in 2001-02; US $ 5.04 billion in 2002-03; US$ 4.32 billion in 2003-04,
US$ 6.05 billion in 2004-05; US$ 8.96 billion in 2005-06, US$ 22.83 billion in 2006-07, US$
34.84 billion in 2007-08, US $ 35.18 billion in 2008-09 and US $ 37.18 billion in 2009-10.
4 As such, while the FDI inflows have somewhat flattened out over the course of the last
three years, the pace of inflows has been stable, including during 2009-10. This is despite
the fact that, as per UNCTAD’s World Investment Report, 2010, the global economy
witnessed a 16 percent decline in FDI inflows in 2008 (from over $ 2.099 Trillion in 2007 to
$ 1.771 Trillion in 2008) and further witnessed 37 percent decline in 2009 (to 1.114 billion)
National Manufacturing Policy
The manufacturing sector has kept pace with the overall growth rate of the economy, based on its
strengths of a diversified base and a large pool of scientific and technical manpower, but
contributing at just over 15 percent of the GDP, the sector has not yet reached its full potential in
India.
To address this situation, the government aims to bring out a new National Manufacturing Policy
that will create the macro environment needed to accelerate industrial growth and promote critical
sectors of manufacturing to address employment and strategic concerns of the nation. Good
physical infrastructure, a progressive exit policy, structures to support acquisition & development
of technology, including green technologies, and business friendly approval mechanisms will be
the cornerstones of this new initiative.
The objectives of the policy will be to: Promote investment in the manufacturing sector and make
the country a manufacturing hub for both domestic and international markets; Increase the sectoral
share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% by 2022; double the current employment level in the sector;
Enhance global competitiveness of the sector. A discussion paper on the Policy has been hosted
on the DIPP website on 31 st March, 2010 to elicit views from stakeholders. The concept is being
discussed with various agencies, including concerned government departments and will be finalized
shortly.
E-biz project
The e-Biz project is one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under the National e-Governance
Plan (NeGP) of the Government being implemented by the Department of Industrial Policy &
Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry. It is a major initiative of the Government of India to
create a business and investor friendly regulatory regime in India. The project aims to create an
online single window for all licences, approvals and payments required by investors and
businessmen and eliminate the need for multiple visits by the business users to central, state and
local government offices.
The project will be implemented in phases over 10 years in the PPP mode with the first three years
being the pilot and roll out phases. During the 1st year, 18 Central services and 11 State services
are being made available online in 5 pilot states, namely AP, Haryana and Delhi.
The beta version of the e-Biz portal was launched in December 2009 to demonstrate the ergonomics
and workflow of the portal. Process documents are nearing completion for all the services for the
pilot phase. The required hardware is in the process of being operationalized and the project is
expected to be ready to go live by the end of 2010. �
As part of the study, India’s The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) assessed the energy and
emissions scenarios for the year 2005 to 2030 for various states and union territories of India
fordifferent pollutants like particulate matter, oxides of sulfur, and nitrogen oxides. TERI also
prepared an inventory of NMVOCs emissions for the country.
The energy mix of the country shows that biomass in the domestic sector and coal in the power
generating sector is the dominating fuels. The overall inventories for India show that the industrial
sector dominates the particulate matter emissions whereas the transport sector has a major share
in nitrogen oxides while power plants contribute more to the sulfur dioxide emissions. Biomass
burning has the maximum share in NMVOCs emissions.
The modeling results show prominent regional scale concentration of pollutants like particulate
matter over the country, especially in the winter months. However, Ozone shows higher concentrations
during summers due to higher photochemical activity. Urban centers show very high
concentrations of nitrogen oxides due to rise in vehicular activities (lesser Ozone was observed in
such cities due to titrating reaction of nitrogen oxides with Ozone).
Based on the baseline assessment, future scenarios were developed till the year 2030, considering
the Current and alternate policies in different sectors. Future predictions for these pollutants
depict high concentrations in the business as usual scenario for 2030. These concentrations are
likely to impact human health in many ways and there could be a substantial decline in the yield of
various food crops due to the rise in Ozone-concentrations.
The alternate scenario takes into account aggressive renewable energy penetration, improved
energy efficiencies in various sectors, and the move towards public transport, cleaner fuels and
technologies. The scenario shows an improvement in the levels of air quality. However, there is
still a lot of action required to bring air quality within the permissible limits.
The research is a step forward in the direction of evaluation of air quality with advanced tools
which not only improve the accuracy of prediction, but are also able to present regional scale view
of the problem. While primary pollutants can be controlled through straightforward strategies,
secondary pollutants like Ozone require understanding of different roles played by various
precursors and meteorological conditions in formation. �
• Human body is meant solely for service, never for indulgence.
• That prince is acceptable to me who becomes a prince among his people’s servants.
• God took and needed no personal service. He served His creatures without demanding
any service for Himself in return.
• Ahimsa must express itself through acts of selfless service of the masses.
• Renunciation made for the sake of service is an ineffable joy of which none can deprive
one, because that nectar springs from within and sustains life.
• The safest rule of conduct is to claim kinship when we want to do service and not to insist
on kinship when we want to assert a right.
• Men’s triumph will consist in substituting the struggle for existence by the struggle for
mutual service.
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DECEMBER 2011
KSG
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DECEMBER 2011
RAHUL
R.N.I. No. DELENG/2010/36901
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