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KASAB HANGED, WILLKASAB HANGED, WILLKASAB HANGED, WILLKASAB HANGED, WILLKASAB HANGED, WILLTERRORISM?TERRORISM?TERRORISM?TERRORISM?TERRORISM?

DEVELOPMENT ANDDEVELOPMENT ANDDEVELOPMENT ANDDEVELOPMENT ANDDEVELOPMENT ANDPOPULATION CONTROLPOPULATION CONTROLPOPULATION CONTROLPOPULATION CONTROLPOPULATION CONTROL

SEX EDUCATION IN INDIA -SEX EDUCATION IN INDIA -SEX EDUCATION IN INDIA -SEX EDUCATION IN INDIA -SEX EDUCATION IN INDIA -NEED OF THE HOURNEED OF THE HOURNEED OF THE HOURNEED OF THE HOURNEED OF THE HOUR

DOES WESTERNIZATIONDOES WESTERNIZATIONDOES WESTERNIZATIONDOES WESTERNIZATIONDOES WESTERNIZATION= MODERNIZATION?= MODERNIZATION?= MODERNIZATION?= MODERNIZATION?= MODERNIZATION?

CHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-A BLOT ONBLOT ONBLOT ONBLOT ONBLOT ONTHE FACE OF DEMOCRACYTHE FACE OF DEMOCRACYTHE FACE OF DEMOCRACYTHE FACE OF DEMOCRACYTHE FACE OF DEMOCRACY



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Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab,the Pakistani National and the lonesurviving terrorist of 26/11 MumbaiTerror Attacks, was hanged on 21November 2012 at Pune’s YerwadaJail at 7:30 am. The Home Ministerof Maharashtra R.R. Patil confirmedthat Kasab was hanged. It is quitesignificant to note that the PresidentPranab Mukherjee decided to rejectKasab’s mercy plea while 14 otherpetitions till October 2012 werepending and this also included Par-liament attack terrorist- Afzal Gurubesides other important names.Kasab was a Pakistani militant andbelonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba terror-ist group. He was born on 13 July1987 at Faridkot, Pakistan and is 25years old. Kasab was found guilty in80 offences which included murder,possession of explosives, waging awar against India and many more.The Supreme Court of India upheldthe death sentence of Kasab on 29August 2012. The defense lawyerson Kasab’s side are Defense lawyersAmin Solkar, Farhana Shah and

Abbas Kazmi. He was hanged fivedays before the fourth anniversaryof the brutal terror attack on Mumbaithat claimed 166 lives and siegedMumbai for continuous three days.In the top-secret operation, the solesurviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbaiterror attacks Mohammed AjmalAmir Kasab was hanged till death inYerwada jail, Pune, on 21 Novem-ber 2012. Kasab had killed 166people on 26 November 2008 alongwith 9 other terrorists from Paki-stan.

Kasab was the only terroristwho had been captured alive at thescene of the violence. The grainyimage of the young man, a gun inhis hand and a backpack slung ca-sually over his shoulder, has becomean icon of the attack.

Kasab’s death sentence hadbeen pronounced by a lower courtin Mumbai in 2008 and was subse-quently upheld by the Bombay HighCourt in 2011 and India’s top courtin August 2012. Earlier this month,his mercy plea — his last chance to

stay his sentence — was rejectedby President Pranab Mukherjee. “Itwas a very somber duty that we hadto perform,” Foreign MinisterSalman Khurshid said in a pressbriefing “It could have developedinto a simmering sore in our coun-try.”

Whether Kasab’s hanging willprove to be such a potent deterrentis a matter of much debate. As theinitial cheers faded, India was al-most immediately beset with ques-tions of what, apart from a sense ofreprisal for the victims and theirfamilies, the execution would ac-complish. Kasab was among 10 menwho carried out attacks on keyMumbai landmarks on Nov. 26,2008, including two hotels, a railwaystation and a Jewish center. Manyworry that unless the real master-minds of the attack — who are stillhiding in neighboring Pakistan —are brought to justice, Kasab’s hang-ing will achieve precious little. “Thisman came to die four years ago. Hislife for the last four years was an in-

KASAB HANGED, WILL TERRORISM?KASAB HANGED, WILL TERRORISM?KASAB HANGED, WILL TERRORISM?KASAB HANGED, WILL TERRORISM?KASAB HANGED, WILL TERRORISM?

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cidental footnote in the trajectory ofinternational terrorism,” says AjaiSahni, executive director of theDelhi-based Institute for ConflictManagement. “What he has doneand what has been done to him …has no impact whatsoever on thetrajectory of terrorism or on the bal-ance of power between the variousplayers, including the nonstate ac-tors and state sponsors.”

Indeed, some say Kasab’shanging may even invite more vio-lence from terror groups. Withinhours of his death, a senior com-mander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pa-kistani militant group accused ofmasterminding the Mumbai attacks,told Reuters that its former foot sol-dier is a “hero” whose death will “in-spire other fighters to follow hispath.”

If the worst were to come topass, is India better prepared todaythan it was in 2008 to handle a do-mestic terrorist attack? At leastsome in the government, includingformer Home Minister and currentFinance Minister P. Chidambaram,assert that it is not. “Have we doneenough to build capacity since theMumbai terror attacks?”Chidambaram told a gathering oftop police officials last year. “Theanswer is yes and no.”Chidambaram, after he took over asHome Minister following the 2008attacks, revamped the country’s se-curity architecture by plumping upthe police forces, arming them withsophisticated weapons and estab-lishing the National InvestigationAgency, a robust investigation bu-reau aimed at coordinating nationalefforts against terrorism. “Theamount of vulnerability remains thesame … The people we are talkingabout, with their ideologies, the

hanging of a man is not going to haveany kind of dampening or freezingeffect on them because these arepeople who are willing to die andkill.”

What is Terrorism?Terrorism is fundamentally an

attack on the state. It may be de-scribed as an act of violence, com-mitted against innocent people tocreate fear, with an underlying po-litical motive. This fear is an in-tended effect and not merely a by-product of terrorism. Terrorists aretherefore criminals and not so-calledfreedom fighters. International Ter-rorism has international or trans-na-tional consequences in which terror-ists strike targets outside and be-yond their country of origin such asthe 11th September World TradeCentre attack or the strikes by Paki-stan-based outfits in Jammu andKashmir (J&K). International Terror-ism also implies that such terroristgroups, e.g. JEI, Al Qaida, etc. havean organisation/ network/ linkage ina number of countries. For instance,we have identified terrorists who arenationals from 16 countries, cur-rently operating in J&K. The ques-tion is that if collateral damage andcasualties from terrorism are inevi-table, should the Government haveany qualms about swift and ruthlessretaliation?

THERE ARE two root causesfor the entire chaos and terrorism inthis world. One is the thirst for earn-ing money and the other is the reli-gious fanaticism. Due to money,people are quarrelling, whereas dueto religion, countries are quarrelling.Unless these two root causes areeradicated we cannot achieve worldpeace. The tree will not die by cut-ting leaves and branches. It dies onlyby cutting its roots.

There is no use in earning theextra money. Due to excess money,quarrels, mental worries and severalother problems arise. Finally, it endsin loss only and not in any profit. Youhave to leave all this extra moneyhere only and quit this world alone.Your children may lose that moneygiven by you. Such sinful extramoney brings problems not only toyou but also to your children. Nei-ther you, nor your children will behappy and peaceful. This entireworld is the property of God andtakes whatever is required from it.This is said in Gita, (“Yavanartha…”).

These days, buffet system isfollowed during feasts. Large vesselscontain various food items andpeople take food from these vesselsaccording to their requirement.Similarly, God created this entireworld and you can take the wealthfrom it according to your require-ment. People are not following thesame system when they are takingwealth from this world. The pecu-liarity is that most rich people fol-low this buffet system in the feastsbut do not follow the same when itcomes to earning the money.‘Esavasya Upanishad’ says that oneshould return back this extra moneyto the Lord. Otherwise, the Lord willgive the troubles.

In buffet system, if one takesextra food in his plate by over am-bition and ignorance for a moment,he returns back immediately beforestarting eating. Veda says that youmust return back the extra moneyfor the God’s work if taken by igno-rance. If you enjoy the extra money,God will punish you in several ways.

In this world, people belong-ing to any religion think that onlytheir religion is the true religion.They think that the God as described

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in their religion can alone give sal-vation and the worship of Godshould be according to their religiononly. They also condemn other reli-gions and allure people to convertto their religion. They do lot of workto establish their religion only in theentire world, which shows theirambition. It is just like Alexander’sambition to make the entire worldhis kingdom. Alexander wanted toextend his kingdom. But, even hereturned back after fighting withPorus (Purushotama) on seeing theloss of life in the battle. But, theambition of religious fanatics doesnot subside on seeing any amountof loss of life. Religion is backed byspiritual knowledge and religiouspeople are expected to be free fromambition. We can always excuseambition of any ignorant person likeAlexander.

International terrorism is not anew phenomenon to the world orto India in particular. The 11th Sep-tember incident has only demon-strated another facet of internationalterrorism – the tremendous potencyof technology and innovation – be-sides the globalisation of econo-mies, which have come to transcendnational boundaries. Multi-nationalcorporations and non-state playersnow have a worldwide reach. Thesehave compromised the authority ofthe state. Non-state players andblack money as well as narcoticstrade have acquired power, makingsome of the terrorist groups (JEI,LTTE & PLO) financially viable andindependent. The revolution in in-formation technology (IT) and com-munication also enables instanttransmission of ideas and informa-tion at a global level, by the terroristoutfits who can now exploit ‘cyber’terrorism as well as the deadly and

sophisticated Precision-Guided Mis-siles (PGMs), and other weapons ofmass destruction.

The rise of religious fundamen-talism has introduced a new ideol-ogy which sanctifies ‘Jehad’ (holywar) and ‘Fidayeen’ (suicide) at-tacks. This exploits the situation of‘backwardness’ and economic dis-parity of the frustrated youth of so-ciety. Terrorism today, therefore,has been transformed into a trans-national, high-tech, lethal and glo-bal phenomenon. The response toterrorism needs to be structuredaccordingly and the decision mak-ing process also needs to bemodernised.

WHAT INDIA SHOULD DO?

Long Term StrategyFollowing from the above un-

derstanding of the nature of inter-national terrorism that faces us to-day, it is clear that a long-term strat-egy is required to counter terrorism.It has to be comprehensively ad-dressed on all fronts, political, eco-nomic, social and military. This strat-egy needs to be evolved from ournational aims and objectives to pro-tect ‘core values’. These core valuesare:

Consolidate as a secular, fed-eral democratic state with freedomof speech, equality and justice.

Protect sovereignty and terri-torial integrity.

Promote socio-economicgrowth and development.

We must learn from the expe-rience of other nations. However, atthe same time, we need to realiseclearly that our situation is particu-lar to us and there are no direct les-sons to learn except a re-evaluationof our own experience. Our strategymust be realistic and cannot be simi-

lar to the US model of worldwidecapability or the Israeli strategy ofreliance on massive and immediateretaliation, as the respective envi-ronment and capabilities are differ-ent. While, we can take some usefullessons from the British dealingswith the IRA or even the Egyptianpolicy on eliminating the Jehadis,one principle is clear – that what-ever responses we adopt, they mustnot be ‘knee-jerk’ reactions orevolved in an ad-hoc manner.

Political / DiplomaticStrategy

International terrorism cannoteffectively be fought alone, as hasbeen our experience so far. All na-tions must join hands to combat it,as is being done for Osama binLaden and Al Qaida. SCR 1373 mustnot remain on paper, must be ap-plied and the defaulting nationspunished.

Pakistan sponsored ‘proxy’war must be exposed and interna-tional pressure applied. We musthighlight more aggressively, the just-ness of our cause and the supportto terrorism by Pakistan, boththrough state and non-state players,as well as strive to isolate Pakistanin the international community.

A strong message needs to beconveyed to Pakistan, that we meanbusiness, demonstrated by deeds/actions. All steps to convey thismust be implemented such as diplo-macy, trade, sports and military.

We also need to take all ‘covertmeasures’ to pay back Pakistan in itsown coin, by encouraging internalinadequacies in NWPF, Sind, andalong the Durand Line.

Internal StrategyOur policy of meeting political

/ economic aspirations has suc-

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ceeded in many cases through thecreation of new states and autono-mous councils with limited militarycontainment. However, it has notsucceeded where ‘internal support’has been potent. We, therefore,need to move from a policy of ap-peasement and accommodation tofirm action, before the problemspreads:

Adopt proactive policies toconfront the terrorists militarily, andat the roots of terrorist ideology –fundamentalists, social evils andsources of terrorism e.g. narcotics /drug trade.

Enact effective anti-terroristlaws and legal framework.

Modernise and enlarge intelli-gence networks.

Modernise state Police andPara Military Forces in training,equipment and ethos.

Economic DimensionSpread the fruits of develop-

ment more evenly throughout thecountry. Locate some of the PublicSector Units in the remote areaseven if they are non-profit making.

Put in a greater developmen-tal effort in the remote, weaker sec-tions of society – which, though astated policy is not visible atpresent.

Reduce demographic dis-placement resulting in social / eth-nic tension such as in Assam andTripura, through the joint develop-ment of sensitive border belts alongNepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Enhance our economic andmilitary capabilities so as to widenthe gap between India and Pakistansufficiently, and act as an economicand military deterrence for Pakistan,which would then realise the futil-ity of trying to catch up.

Social EnvironmentPromote moderate and secu-

lar polity by media, intelligentsia andreligious institutions. The path of de-veloping a composite culture as al-ready developed in the ArmedForces may serve as a useful rolemodel.

Address the outdated educa-tion system of Madrassas by qualitymodernisation and laying downguidelines for uniform syllabii. Wecannot continue to recognise reli-gious education such as those in theMadrassas as an entrance-system foruniversities. Suitable alternativeshave to be created.

Upgrade our communicationsystems so that television and tele-communication spreads to our re-mote and border areas, which arecurrently under constant reach ofPakistan propaganda.

There should be realistic psy-chological and information warfareso that the will of the anti-nationalelements is suffocated and thehearts of the populace are won.

Military StrategyWe need to clearly spell out

our counter terrorism strategy / doc-trine. This should tackle the causesand not just the symptoms. I muststress here that J&K is only a symp-tom of terrorism and NOT the cause.The direction of military strategiesshould be as under:

• The aim of military operationsshould be to create a secure andsuitable environment, so that so-cial, economic and political issuescan be addressed effectively.Seeking political solutions to ac-commodate the aspirations with-out fully eliminating the terrorists,their structure and support basesonly results in a ‘fire fighting’ situ-ation and actually prolongs terror-ism. This results in enormous

costs, militarily and economically.• The first step should be to build-

up the military forces and their ca-pabilities (which are not adequatecurrently), and thereafter consoli-dation of these capabilities and fi-nally destruction of the militants.

• A reactive response is not the an-swer. A reorientation of armed re-sponse is required so as to launchproactive and specific surgicalmilitary operations.

• An important element of a proac-tive effort is to increase the costsof proxy war to Pakistan, by un-dertaking ‘Hot Pursuit Strikes’across the LoC and into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).

• The evolution of a superior Intel-ligence System is imperative. Thisshould encompass human, tech-nical, electronic intelligence, asalso modernisation of data pro-cessing and dissemination – both external and internal.

• Effective surveillance and man-agement of the borders to checkinfiltration (International Border/Line of Control), is also necessary.This should be achieved throughtechnical means of surveillance,backed by highly mobile,specialised forces as ‘Reactioncapability’ rather than the presentsystem, which is manpower inten-sive.

• Foreign-based terrorists have tobe hit at their bases, trainingcamps and sanctuaries to end thesurrogate terrorism or the proxywar by Pakistan. We have to cre-ate the means and the will to dothis. Special Forces both overtand covert, need to be employedfor this task.

• Imaginative security of our vital in-stallations, nuclear assets and air-ports. Static posts or piquets arenot the answer. Electronic sensorsand effective intelligence is theneed.

• Preventive measures againstnuclear, biological and chemical(NBC) and cyber-terrorism.

• The Army is the ultimate weaponof the state and its over-employ-

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ment affects its operational role.The Police and the Para-militaryshould normally handle the inter-nal security. However, they areincapable of fighting a proxy warsuch as in J&K unless their capa-bilities are upgraded.

Ajmal Kasab’s ExecutionChronology

• 26 November 2008- Kasab as wellas 9 terrorists launched a com-mando raid in Mumbai

• 27 November 2008- Kasab caughtand arrested

• 30 November 2008- Kasab con-fessed before police

• 16 January 2009- Arthur Road Jailselected for trial of Kasab

• 20/21 February 2009- Kasab con-fessed before the magistrate

• 22 February 2009- Ujjwal Nikamappointed as the Special PublicProsecutor

• 20 April 2009- Prosecutioncharged Kasab on 312 counts

• 6 May 2009- Kasab was awardeddeath sentence by the trial court

• 21 February 2011- Bombay HighCourt upheld the decision of thetrial court

• March 2011- Kasab wrote to Su-preme Court challenging highcourt’ s decision

• 10 October 2011- Supreme Courtstayed execution of the death sen-tence

• 25 April 2012- Supreme Court re-served its verdict after goingthrough a lot of hearing over twoand a half months

• 16 October 2012- Union HomeMinistry recommended to presi-dent for rejecting mercy plea ofKasab

• 5 November 2012- President re-jected mercy petition of Kasab

• 8 November 2012- MaharashtraGovernment was informed aboutthe decision of President

• 21 November 2012- Kasab washanged at 7.30 A.M. in YerwadaJail, Pune

The heart of a religious fanaticwill not change by any amount ofkindness or love expressed in theappeals. Such appeals can onlychange the heart for a short while.Change in intelligence brought byknowledge based on logic is always

real and permanent. Intelligence(Buddhi) is considered to be thedriver of this body, which is like achariot running by the senses, whichare like the horses. If the driver isconvinced, the entire chariot alongwith the horses is in the correct path.The terrorist will not change by loveor kindness shown to him. He be-comes the terrorist due to the wrongknowledge that enters his brain. Hewas convinced by that knowledge.That knowledge can be changedonly by the right knowledge. A dia-mond can only be cut by anotherdiamond. Similarly, one type ofknowledge can only be replaced byanother type of knowledge. Thenonly, he will be convinced andchanged forever. So far, the trialsmade to change the terrorist are likebeating around the bush and there-fore, they do not have much effect.

Pankaj KumarPankaj KumarPankaj KumarPankaj KumarPankaj Kumar

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Usually when we talk about tra-ditional wushu’s relevance to mod-ern times, we concentrate on thequestion “how can it help us to im-prove ourselves and our society?” Ofcourse, those of us who love the arteasily have a lot to say about that.All we have to do is examine ourown experiences. Though detailsvary from person to person, basi-cally our stories would hit on thesame points: It’s a great exercise forhealth and fitness. It builds strengthof character and promotes innergrowth. It challenges us to awakenand develop those parts of our-selves in which creative abilities andexpanded thought exist. The out-come to our acceptance of this chal-lenge is the next chapter in everyperson’s story.

As an ethnic art, it providespractitioners a living experience ofEastern philosophy and wisdom.And let’s not forget the obvious: itteaches advanced techniques whichcan be used for high-level combat.Performed correctly, the move-

ments have a power, flow, anddepth that is beautiful to watch andfulfilling to perform. One could ac-curately say that traditional wushumassages the entire person: body(inside and out), mind, and spirit.

To an outsider, this must seemtoo good to be true. But, this isn’tthe whole story. Practitioners musthave the guidance of a true masterwho transmits the techniques of apure lineage. For their own part, theymust log in many hours of hardwork, be willing to face their ownerrors and limitations, and carry onin the midst of discomfort and un-certainty. They must endure physi-cal, emotional, and mental pain,persevere through frustrations, andstruggle with long, boring hours ofstance training, basics, and repeti-tive practice. They must discardmany old habits and learn to think,move, act, and react in ways that goagainst their natural, customary wayof doing things.

Traditional wushu is very old,as is the culture in which it was born.

It is the culmination of centuries ofwisdom, experience, testing, andmedical knowledge. In contrast, ourlives move at a machine-gun pace,with too many things to do, toomuch information to contend with,and too many changes which havecome too quickly. Today’s technicalinnovation makes yesterday’s inven-tion obsolete. And events half wayaround our shrunken globe can af-fect us with almost the same inten-sity as if they happened down theblock. In this context, a disciplinewith roots in a strong culture thatspans many centuries can be a life-line of stability, grounding, andpeace. But being old doesn’t auto-matically make something better inevery way. With the passing of eachgeneration, all areas of life—tradi-tions, arts, religions, science, fash-ion, etc.—are automatically reevalu-ated in the light of the current situa-tion and tastes. In addition, no mat-ter how ancient, traditional wushuis a living art. Quite naturally it mustcontinue to evolve and grow. In

DOES WESTERNIZATION = MODERNIZATION?DOES WESTERNIZATION = MODERNIZATION?DOES WESTERNIZATION = MODERNIZATION?DOES WESTERNIZATION = MODERNIZATION?DOES WESTERNIZATION = MODERNIZATION?

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other words, it must be modernizedor it will lose its vitality and die.

Modernization has to do withexamining something, to judge whatshould be preserved and what dis-carded. It brings things up to date,improves, and renews somethingthat was slipping away into an unin-tended “retirement.” At the sametime, modernization can be danger-ous. It can kill what it should haverevitalized. We’ve seen it happen.An older neighborhood, home tohard-working lower-income fami-lies, looks tired, rundown. So it’s “re-developed” into blocks of expensivecondos for busy professionals. Howdo we keep from crippling or kill-ing the very thing we are trying topreserve?

Before we examine communistChina’s experiment, the so-called“modern wushu,” it’s necessary toreview some background. As the

19th approached the 20th century,Western industry, commerce, sci-ence, politics, and warfare was onthe rise, dominating the world andbringing about changes to other cul-tures. China, an old civilizationwhich for centuries had isolatedherself from outside influence, wasbehind the times. Therefore she suf-fered greatly at the hands of West-ern countries and entered this cen-tury a cheated, badly beaten, anddemoralized nation. China’s re-sponse to this sad state of affairs wasto catch up through rapid modern-ization. Major efforts went intolearning from the West. Studentswere sent overseas for their educa-tion and, after their return, weregiven important positions in govern-ment and society. Western science,investment, technology, and thedemocratic political system werestudied and adopted. They rushed

to build railroads and freeways, andinstall electricity, plumbing, gas, andmodern conveniences to improvetheir standard of living. Theychanged their old military style infavor of modern armaments. Theyinstituted the Western educationalsystem and school structure—fromelementary school to Ph.D. pro-grams.

And like many other countries,in the midst of this enormousstruggle China went astray. Havinglost self-respect and confidence,they began not only to enjoy but alsoto imitate western music, painting,theater, and other arts. Baseball, ten-nis, western calisthenics, and otheractivities replaced their own sportsand recreation. They made the mis-take of believing that Western cul-ture and standards were superior totheirs. They confused moderniza-tion with Westernization.

by Marie Anthonyby Marie Anthonyby Marie Anthonyby Marie Anthonyby Marie Anthony


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CHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-ACHILD LABOUR-A BLOT ON THE FACE OF DEMOCRACYBLOT ON THE FACE OF DEMOCRACYBLOT ON THE FACE OF DEMOCRACYBLOT ON THE FACE OF DEMOCRACYBLOT ON THE FACE OF DEMOCRACY

“India is the largest child labourforce market in the world. The prob-lem of child labour is its roots ofcolossal proportions. The notionthat children are being exploitedand forced into labour, while notreceiving education crucial to devel-opment, concerns many people. In-dia is the largest example plaguedby the problem of child labour”.

Current figures of the numberof children engaged in child labourin India are not available. This diffi-culty is attributed to the fact that theIndian Government “has been neg-ligent in its refusal to collect andanalyze current and relevant dataregarding the brutal incidence ofchild labour. As of 1996, official fig-ures continue to be based on 1981census figures”. The 1981 Indiancensus reports that there were 13.6million child labourers in India. In-dian government extrapolations of1981 data place the current numberof child labourers at between sev-enteen and twenty million (HumanRights Watch 1996). This extrapola-

tion seems highly unlikely as “TheOfficial National Sample Survey of1983 reports 17.4 million childlabourers, while a study sponsoredby the Labour Ministry, concludedthat the child-labour force was 44million”. UNICEF “cites figures rang-ing from seventy-five to ninety mil-lion child labourers under the ageof fourteen”. A universal difficulty inobtaining accurate data maybe thatindividuals fail to report child labourparticipation during surveys for fearof persecution.

The figure for the number ofchild labourers varies a lot, they areall significantly high when consid-ering that the Child Economic Ac-tivity rate for 1980-1991 was 13.5%for males and 10.3% for females. Incomparison, other developingcountries such as Sri Lanka and Ma-laysia, have lower activity rates: 5.2%for males and 4.7% for females in SriLanka, and 8.9% for males and 6.6%for females in Malaysia. Historicalcensus data shows an overall childwork participation rate of 12.69% in

1961 and 7.13% in 1971 . This datais misleading because the defini-tions of child labour are different inthe two censuses , thus a compari-son cannot be completely valid Thedata shows that in a span of twentyyears (1961-1981), the proportion ofchildren has not changed signifi-cantly.

Child labour support thesource of income of the poor. Astudy conducted by the ILO Bureauof Statistics found that “Children’swork was considered essential inmaintaining the economic level ofhouseholds, either in the form ofwork for wages, of help in household enter prises or of house holdchores in order to free adult house-hold members for economic activ-ity elsewhere”. In some cases, thestudy found that a child’s incomeaccounted for between 34 and 37percent of the total household in-come. This study concludes that achild labourer’s income is importantto the livelihood of a poor family.

The fact that child labourers




are being exploited for the sametype of work, studies show they arepaid less than their adult counter-parts. Although 39.5% of employerssaid that child workers earn wagesequal to adults, if the percentage ofemployers admitting that wages arelower for children are added up, afigure of 35.9% is found. The per-centage of the population of Indialiving in poverty is quite high. Pov-erty has an obvious relationship withchild labour, and studies have re-vealed a positive correlation as such.Poor families need money to sur-vive, and children are a source ofadditional income.

The twin factors (1) povertyand (2) the lack of a social securitynetwork form the basis of even theworst type of bonded child labour.For the poor, there are few sourcesof bank loans, governmental loansor other credit sources, and even ifsources are available, few of themliving in poverty qualify or they hesi-tate to go for any loans for fear ofbribe may be demanded or fear ofpenalty if unable to pay the loan.Here enters the local moneylender;for an average of two thousand ru-pees, parents exchange their child’slabour to local moneylenders (Hu-man Rights Watch 1996). Since theearnings of bonded child labourersare less than the interest on theloans, these bonded children areforced to work, while interest ontheir loans accumulates. A bondedchild can only be released after his/her parents makes a lump sum pay-ment, which is extremely difficultfor the poor.

Though poverty is one of thebasic cause of child labour, it is notthe only factor but inadequateschools facility or even the expenseof schooling leaves them with little

else to do but work. The attitudesof parents also contribute to childlabour; some parents feel that chil-dren should work in order to de-velop skills useful in the job market,instead of wasting time in formaleducation.

Since independence, India hascommitted itself to be against childlabour. Article 24 of the Indian Con-stitution clearly states that “No childbelow the age of fourteen years shallbe employed to work in any factoryany factoryany factoryany factoryany factoryor mine or employed in any haz-or mine or employed in any haz-or mine or employed in any haz-or mine or employed in any haz-or mine or employed in any haz-ardous employment”. ardous employment”. ardous employment”. ardous employment”. ardous employment”. Article 39 (e)directs State policy such “that thehealth and strength of workers ...and the tender age of children arenot abused and that citizens are notforced by economic necessity toenter avocations unsuited to enter avocations unsuited to enter avocations unsuited to enter avocations unsuited to enter avocations unsuited to theirage or strength”. These two Articlesshow that India has always had thegoal of taking care of its children andensuring the safety of workers. TheBonded Labour System Act of 1976fulfills the Indian Constitution’s di-rective of ending forced labour. TheAct “frees all bonded labourers, can-cels any outstanding debts againstthem, prohibits the creation of newbondage agreements, and ordersthe economic rehabilitation of freedbonded labourers by the state” . Inregard to child labour, the Indiangovernment enacted the ChildLabour Act in 1986. The purpose ofthis act is to “prohibit the employ-ment of children who have not com-pleted their 14th year in specifiedhazardous occupations and pro-cesses”. This shows that the govern-ment of India can make laws againstany inhuman activities but cannotimplement because many politicalleaders running the Governmentthemselves own the factories wherechildren are exploited is a fact.

A recent advance in govern-ment policy occurred in August of1994, when the then Prime MinisterNarasimha Rao announced his pro-posal of an elimination of ChildLabour Programme. This programpledges to end child labour for twomillion children in hazardous indus-tries as defined in the Child LabourAct of 1986, by the year 2000. Theprogram revolves around an incen-tive for children to quit their workand enter non-formal schooling: aone hundred rupee payment as wellas one meal a day for attendingschool. Where the funds for thisprogramme will come from was un-known. The government needs eightand a half billion dollars for theprogramme over five years, and yet“about 4 percent of the five-year es-timated cost was allocated for childlabour elimination programmes in1995-1996”.

The problem of illiteracy is alsoone of the reason of the problem ofchild labour. It has been observedthat “the overall condition of theeducation system can be a power-ful influence on the supply of childlabour” . Dropout rates measured bythe Department of Education showthat 35% of males and 39% of fe-males dropout. The concept of com-pulsory education, where all schoolaged children are required to attendschool, combats the force of pov-erty that pulls children out of school.Policies relating to compulsory edu-cation not only force children to at-tend school, but also contributeappropriate funds to the primaryeducation system, instead of highereducation.

The problem of child labourstill remains even though all of thesepolicies are existent. Enforcementis the key aspect that is lacking in




the government’s efforts. No en-forcement data for child labour lawsare available: “A glaring sign of ne-glect of their duties by officialscharged with enforcing child labourlaws is the failure to collect, main-tain and disseminate accurate sta-tistics regarding enforcement ef-forts”. Although the lack of datadoes not mean enforcement is non-existent, the number of childlabourers and their work participa-tion rates show that enforcement isexistent, but ineffective.

The problem of Child labourhas social , economical and politi-cal faces. It cannot be eliminated by

focusing on one determinant, forexample education, or by brute en-forcement of child labour laws. Thegovernment of India must ensurethat the needs of the poor are filledbefore eliminating child labour. Ifpoverty is eradicated, the need forchild labour will automatically di-minish. No matter how hard Indiatries, child labour always will existuntil the political and bureaucraticsare honestly working in this direc-tion. The development of India as anation is being hampered by childlabour. Children are growing up il-literate because they have been work-ing and not attending school. A

cycle of poverty is formed and theneed for child labour is reborn afterevery generation. India needs toaddress the problem by tackling theunderlying causes of child labourthrough governmental policies andwith the coordination and coopera-tion of the NGO’s and the enforce-ment of these policies honestly intrue spirit. Without wiping out thecauses permanently, we cannoteradicate the typical problem ofchild labour, the half hearted mea-sures are not sufficient. If we coulderadicate poverty. Child labour willautomatically say good bye India.

Md. IsrarMd. IsrarMd. IsrarMd. IsrarMd. Israr

IAS PCS

K.UJJWALby

250 Probales a book on G.S. Available

E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.ujjwalias.in




Union Government issuedNew IT Guidelines to stopits Misuse

The Union government of Indiaon 29 November 2012 issued newguidelines to stop misuse of a par-ticular section of the InformationTechnology Act. Under the revisedguidelines, the cases dealing withspreading messages of reportedhatred by electronic medium will bedecided by a senior police officernot below the rank of DCP in ruraland urban areas. An IGP rank officerwill have to give prior approval forregistration of cases relating to sec-tion 66(a) of IT Act in metropolitancities. Communication and IT Min-istry sent an advisory to this effectto all the states.

The section 66[a] of IT Act pro-vides for a jail term of upto threeyears making it an offence to sendby means of computer resource orcommunication device any informa-tion which is grossly offensive, men-acing and causes annoyance or ha-tred.

Union Minister of FinanceP Chidambaram FinalisedGAAR Amendment

Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram on 18 November2012 disclosed that the Amend-ments to GAAR, the controversiallaw against tax avoidance throughforeign investments, had beenfinalised.Supporting the fact P.Chidambaram asserted that theamendments to the Chapter 10A ofthe Income Tax Act which dealswith taxation of investments werefinalized and it will be sent to thePrime Minister Office (PMO).

GAAR GAAR GAAR GAAR GAAR (General Anti-Avoid-ance Rules), which was proposed in2012-13 budgets with a view to pre-

NATIONAL ISSUESNATIONAL ISSUESNATIONAL ISSUESNATIONAL ISSUESNATIONAL ISSUESventing tax evasion, generated sharpreactions from foreign as well asdomestic investors who feared thatungoverned powers to taxmen isgoing to result in harassment of in-vestors.

To look into the concerns acommittee was appointed then bythe government which was headedby tax expert Parthasarthi Shome

Issue relating to retrospectivetax amendment on which theShome Committee had submitted itsreport, is also under considerationwith the drafting going on and it willgo to the PMO and then to the Cabi-net.

The government is keen to getthe investment engine ongoing andmeasures were being taken by thegovernment to create a better cli-mate.

President Pranab MukherjeeLaunched Low Cost AakashTablet 2

The Indian President PranabMukherjee on 11 November 2012 inNew Delhi launched the new tablet




Aakash -2 which is an improved ver-sion of India’s super- cheap tabletcomputer on the occasion of theNational Education Day which isobserved on 11 November 2012ever year. The new version Aakash2 come at a price of 1130 Rupeesfor students, and the first one lakhdevices is going to be made avail-able to students of engineering col-leges and universities.

Preceding its previous versionit is now powered by a processorrunning at 1 GHz, 512 MB Ram, 7Inch capacitative Touch Screen andbattery which have atleast threehour of working operation.

The new Aakash-2 Tablet wasdeveloped under the expertise guid-ance of IIT Bombay with the activesupport of C-DAC.

The company that is rolling outthe new Aakash 2 is Datawind andis selling it to government at a priceof 2263 Rupees and In turn, the gov-ernment is subsidizing it by 50 percent and is going to distribute to stu-dents at a price of mere 1130 rupees.

The Union Government is alsoextending its effort to encourage thestate governments to chip in bysubsidising it further so that the de-vice can eventually be available tostudents free of cost.

It is expected that around 22crore students are going to get thedevice across the country in the nextfive to six years. Some of the newtechnology-enabled educationalapplications that can run on AakashVersion 2.0 tablet include

♦ Ten Thousand Teachers Train-ing Programme - a live video in-teraction with participants,

♦ Clicker applications for realtime feedback in country-wideclassroom,

♦ Daisy Books for differently-abled students,

♦ NCERT content , GNU Khata-an accounting package forbarefoot accountants in ruralareas

♦ Scholarship Portal integratedwith Aadhar.The basic idea behind launch-

ing of cheap Aakash Tablet 2 is toachieve overall growth and devel-opment by understanding the im-portance of enhancing educationalparticipation by all sections of oursociety.

Supreme Court IssuedGuidelines to Curb EveTeasing At the Public Places

Supreme Court on 30 Novem-ber 2012 issued certain guidelinesin order to put a halt to eve-teasing.SC termed eve-teasing conse-quences disastrous and also di-rected the government that womencops in plain clothes should be de-puted at the public places.

The state governments as wellas the union territories are orderedby the Supreme Court to depute fe-male police officers in plain clothesat the public places such as metrostations, bus stands, railway sta-tions, shopping malls, beaches,parks, worship places, cinemas aswell as public service vehicles. This

has been done to monitor as well assupervise the incidents of eve-teas-ing.

This was important becausethere is no uniform law in order todeal with eve-teasing. The courtpassed 26-page judgement in whichit was mentioned that eve teasingcould be curbed with little effortsand the consequences could be di-sastrous in case it is left unchecked.Also, the court concluded that eveteasing could lead to violation of thefundamental rights which are guar-anteed under constitution.

The SC laid down these guide-lines in its judgement, setting asideverdict of Madras High Court. Ma-dras High Court had reserved thejudgement of Central AdministrativeTribunal in which it upheld the dis-missal of a police cop who misbe-haved with a married woman on 9July 1999. Apart from deputing fe-male police officers in plain clothes,the Union Territories and state gov-ernments will also have to install theCCTV in the strategic positions.

Also, the sign boards with cau-tion would be exhibited at the pub-lic places.

Union Governmentapproved an Anti-PiracyScheme in Audio-VisualSector

The Union Government of In-dia on 27 November 2012 approveda scheme under the 12th Five YearPlan for carrying out an anti-piracyinitiative in the audio-visual sectorwith an allocation of two crore ru-pees. The new scheme of Informa-tion and Broadcasting Ministryaimps to put special focus on piracyon the internet. Under the scheme,the campaign on piracy through au-dio-visual, internet and print mediawill be launched. The piracy contin-




ues to be a key challenge for the In-dian film sector and has been aprime reason for the decline of thehome video market in the country.The emerging threat to legitimateexhibition of films is illegal down-load of films available on websites.

Union Cabinet ClearedSetting up of 21 TextileParks

The Union Government on 8November 2012 approved the re-lease of funds for the establishmentof 21 integrated textile parks whichwas sanctioned in the 11th Five YearPlan. The cabinet committee on eco-nomic affairs (CCEA), in a meetingheld in New Delhi also had commit-ted the government to provide forliability beyond 200 crore Rupees.It was in October 2010 that theCCEA had approved a proposal forsetting up additional 21 integratedtextile parks utilising the Rs.200crore left in the 11th plan. The parkswere to be implemented during the11th Five Year plan (2007-2012) un-der the Scheme of Integrated Tex-tile Parks (SITP) aims at providingprivate sector investment, generat-ing employment and a create aneed-based and product-basedworld class infrastructure for theindustry. The establishment will ex-tend up to 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) and envisages a total investmentof 819 crore rupees.

The activists also said that thisjeopardized workers to risks of can-cer, leukaemia as well as certainother health issues.

The Coal Ministry issuedOrder for Deduction of BankGuarantees and de-allocation of Coal Blocks

The Coal Ministry of India on17 November 2012 issued orders fordeduction of bank guarantees of theD B Power and decided on de-allo-cation of some coal blocks follow-ing a decision made by an Inter Min-isterial Group. The Inter ministerialGroup after its decision recom-mended a deduction of the bankguarantee of D B Power to an ex-tent of 5.1 crore rupees. The calcu-lated bank guarantee of the coalcontroller is to be deducted anddeposited with the government.

TRAI issued a CAP of 100SMSs on Concession Rates

The Telecom Regulatory Au-thority of India (TRAI) on 5 Novem-ber 2012 issued a cap of 100 SMSsper day at concession rate. It alsofixed a rate of 50 paise per SMS be-yond the decided cap. TRAI alsoordered the service providers andoperators to place a technology tomake sure that the unregisteredtelemarketers are not able to sendmore than 200 SMSs per hour, fromtheir phone or computer.

About TRAI The Telecom Regulatory Au-

thority of India (TRAI) is an indepen-dent regulator of the telecommuni-

Controversy over Clean ChitGiven to Rajasthan AtomicPower Plant by IAEA

The International Atomic En-International Atomic En-International Atomic En-International Atomic En-International Atomic En-ergy Agency (IAEA) ergy Agency (IAEA) ergy Agency (IAEA) ergy Agency (IAEA) ergy Agency (IAEA) gave clean chittoRajasthan Atomic Power PlantRajasthan Atomic Power PlantRajasthan Atomic Power PlantRajasthan Atomic Power PlantRajasthan Atomic Power Plant(RAPP) (RAPP) (RAPP) (RAPP) (RAPP) in Rawatbhata. IAEA re-viewed the RAPP and gave conclu-sion of the review on 14 November2012 after visiting unit 3 and unit 4,leaving the controversial unit 6 ofRAPP, Rawatbhata.

Over 40 people working at thiscontroversial unit 6 of RAPP wereexposed to hazardous tritium on 23June 2012. 4 maintenance workersexposed themselves to the risks oftritium radiations when they wererepairing the faulty pipe inpressurised heavy water reactor(PHWR) of unit 4 on 19 July 2012. Itwas the same unit that IAEA mem-bers paid visit to during their in-depth safety review which tookplace from 29 October 2012 to 14November 2012.

The Operational Safety ReviewTeam, assembled by IAEA whichwas alleged by antinuclear activists,ignored the fact that heavy tritiumleak took place in unit 6 of RAPPplant in 2012. An OperationalOperationalOperationalOperationalOperationalSafety Review Team (OSART) Safety Review Team (OSART) Safety Review Team (OSART) Safety Review Team (OSART) Safety Review Team (OSART) wasled by Division of Nuclear Installa-tion Safety of IAEA. This team in-cluded experts from various coun-tries such as Belgium, Finland,Canada, Slovakia, Sweden, Ger-many, Romania and Slovenia.

Antinuclear activists expressedtheir doubts about safety review ofIAEA. These activists also includedgeneral secretary of People’s UnionPeople’s UnionPeople’s UnionPeople’s UnionPeople’s Unionfor Civil Liberties (PUCL)for Civil Liberties (PUCL)for Civil Liberties (PUCL)for Civil Liberties (PUCL)for Civil Liberties (PUCL). The issuesof risks of nuclear safety as well asabsence of autonomous regulationof atomic power production in In-dia were raised.




cations business in India. It cameinto existence by the Act of the Par-liament on 20 February 1997 and theact was named as Telecom Regula-tory Authority of India Act 1997. Itsconstitution came into effect in1994, when the Government consti-tuted the National Telecom Policy(NTP) to attract domestic and For-eign Direct Investment in the tele-communication sector.

The flooding of investors fromdomestic market and the interna-tional market players resulted in thedevelopment of the regulatorybody. As a result of this demand, theformation of the Telecom RegulatoryBody came up.

Union Government BodyCCEA lifted Export Ban onSome Milk Products

The Union Government body,Cabinet Committee on EconomicAffairs (CCEA) on 1 November 2012lifted the export ban on milk prod-ucts, especially on whole milk pow-der (WMP), dairy whitener, infantmilk foods and other milk productstill March 2013. I

n February 2011 to meet thedomestic supply of Milk Productsthe Union government had imposedban on export of all kinds of milkproducts that is skimmed milk pow-der (SMP), whole milk powder(WMP), dairy whitener, infant milkfoods, casein and casein products.However the ban was withdrawn infor Casein in April 2012 and forSkimmed Milk Powder (SMP) inJune 2012. The decision of with-drawing the export ban was takenin to consideration by CCEA afteracknowledging the flush season ofmilk that started in October whichhad improved the supply of milkwithin the country.

As per the Government Statis-

tics, there is a stock of 1.12 lakhtonnes of milk powder in the coun-try. As much as 300 lakh kilos of milkper day were procured in the coun-try in September 2012 while saleswere to the tune of only 260 lakhkilos per day.

EPFO (Employees ProvidentFund Organisation)launched its e-PassbookPortal

Employees Provident FundOrganization (EPFO) on 30 Novem-ber 2012 launched its e-Passbookportal for its members to accesstheir accounts online. The facilitywill be available on the website-www.epfindia.gov.in. The memberswill now be able to download theire-passbook each month, if they areactive and Electronic Challan-cum-Return is being uploaded by theiremployer.

The facility, however, will notbe available for members under ex-empted establishments under theEPF Scheme 1952 (as the fund de-tails are maintained by the Trust)and inoperative members. Underthe e-Passbook service, only oneregistration will be allowed againstone mobile number, and a membercan download the passbook for onlyone account number under one es-tablishment.

Costal Chain of StaticSensors Positioned alongthe Coast of AndhraPradesh

A coastal chain of static sen-sors positioned along the coast ofAndhra Pradesh was inaugurated byMinistry of Defence in a ceremonyheld at Coast Guard District Head-quarters in Visakhapatnam on 23November 2012. The event signifiedthe operationalisation of the net-work on the East coast.

A complete surveillancemechanism along the coast wasneeded post 26/11 incident. A chainof static sensors were planned tomonitor the high sensitive trafficdensity areas along the coast of In-dia. The coastal surveillance net-work will provide an integrated pic-ture of all the vessels traversingalong the coast. As part of thisproject, a chain of radar stationsalong the coast line of AndhraPradesh were installed by the Min-istry of Defence. The Chain of StaticSensors project being steered by theIndian Coast Guard, envisagesfitment of high end surveillance gad-gets on lighthouses and masts atvarious locations.

SC: Criminal Case can’t bedismissed because of Delay

The Supreme Court of India on2nd November 2012 ruled that acriminal case cannot be dismissedmerely because of delay in lodginga complaint if the delay has beenreasonably explained. A bench ofjustices P Sathasivam and RanjanGogoi noted, the prosecution casecannot be rejected merely on theground of delay since the complain-ant has reasonably explained thereasons for the delay.

The Supreme Court benchmade the observation while uphold-




ing the conviction and the life sen-tence given to two male and twofemale members of a Tamil Nadu-based Ashram (hermitage) for beat-ing a woman member to death. Themurder had taken place on April 8,2000 when the accused members ofthe Ashram had gathered togetherand had beaten the victim to deathand later cremated her body.

Prosecution had said thewoman was murdered as she hadthreatened to disclose the allegedlove affair between two senior mem-bers of the Ashram, affiliated to SriDevi Maha Sannathi Temple atGovardhan Garden in Trichy. Thecomplainant who had witnessed thebeating and had also heard thevictim’s cries for help had lodged acomplaint with the police nine daysafter the crime had taken place. Thecomplainant had submitted thatthere was a delay on his part in re-porting the incident as he himselfhad not seen the murder takingplace and had to verify whethersuch an incident had taken place.

220 FEMA Notices WereIssued By ED in Past ThreeYears

Enforcement Directorate is-sued 220 notices under Foreign Ex-change Management Act in pastthree years. From 2009 to 2012, Di-rectorate of Enforcement in the ac-tion of its investigation had issued220 show cause notices under theFEMA. These notices were issued incontext with the illegal funds trans-fer in India via illegal medium.

The Directorate of Enforce-ment did not register the cases as-sociated with illegal money flowfrom external sources in respect tothe state government, Minister ofState for Finance S SPalanimanickam wrote to Lok

Sabha. At present, the provisions ofFEMA are quite adequate as well asappropriate on the portion of pun-ishment or penalty.

About FEMA

In India, all the transactionswhich include foreign currency, alsoknown as foreign exchange wereinitially regulated by FERA or For-eign Exchange Regulations Act,1973. Eventually, economic reformsand liberalised scenario took place.The FERA was therefore replaced byFEMA, 1999. FEMA allows only theauthorised people to deal with for-eign security or foreign exchange.The definition of authorised peoplecan be found in the Act.

IGMRI and CWC Signed MoUfor Post HarvestManagement of Foodgrains

Department of Food & PublicDistribution under Ministry of Con-sumer Affairs, and Central Ware-housing Corporation (CWC) signeda Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) for creating a Centre of Ex-cellence focusing on capacity build-ing in the areas of post harvest man-agement of food grain by providingtraining on latest developments tothe aspirants internationally. TheMOU was signed by S. Gupta, Di-rector of Indian Grain Storage Man-agement and Research Institute(IGMRI), Hapur on behalf of Depart-ment of Food & Public Distributionand G. Mathialagan, Director ofCWC. As per the Memorandum ofUnderstanding, CWC is going to takeover the management of training

functions and related facilities ofIGMRI, and develop it as a centre ofexcellence for the purpose of train-ing in post harvest management offoodgrains and other agriculturalcommodities. The MOU was signedfor a period of five years which iseffective from 25th October, 2012.The MOU ideates that CWC will de-velop IGMRI, Hapur as an institutionof excellence to attract overseasparticipants from SAARC nations,neighbouring countries for trainingon post harvest management offood grain.

Autonomy for the HillsCouncil in Assam

Tripartite Memorandum ofSettlement (MoS) was signed forproviding autonomy for the NorthCachar Hills Autonomous Council inAssam and a special package forspeedier socio-economic develop-ment of the area. It was signed be-tween Centre, Assam governmentand both factions of Dima HalamDaogah(DHD). DHD used to be agroup with violent activities in thestate but gave up violence and re-sorted to peace for getting into themainstream of development. Underthe MoS, a committee will be con-stituted to deal with the matters re-lating to the 6th schedule councils.Under the agreement, the DHD willdissolve as an organization within areasonable timeframe as a precur-sor to the government initiating fur-ther process to implement theagreed decisions.

Global Hunger Report 2012The report on Global Hunger

Index for seventh year was releasedon 11 October 2012 by the Interna-tional Food Policy Research Institute(IFPRI), Welthungerhilfe, and Con-cern Worldwide. The basic themeof the report for the 2012 Global




Hunger Index — The Challenge ofHunger: Ensuring Sustainable FoodSecurity under Land, Water, andEnergy Stresses. IFPRI that calcu-lated the global hunger Indexanalysed the measures based uponmultidimensional angles. The pub-lished report have shown a propor-tional growth in hunger reduction ofpeople worldwide but recorded theprogress speed was tragically slowand alarming.

The report in its findings re-corded twenty countries across theworld mainly from South Asia andSub-Saharan Africa to be highlyalarming and have highest level ofhunger, and showcased the suffer-ings of millions of poor. As per thereport, the nations that had show-cased an absolute progress be-tween 1990 Global Hunger Index to2012 Global Hunger Index wereBangladesh, Angola, Malawi, Nica-ragua, Ethiopia, Niger, and Vietnam.Whereas there are 15 countries thathave managed to reduce it by 50percent or more. As per the report,India instead of its fast paced eco-nomic growth in past two decades

has lagged behind in improving itsrecord in Global Hunger Index chart.In the list of 79 countries in the glo-bal Hunger Index, India was ranked65th behind China that was placedat 2nd place position, Pakistan at57th and Sri Lanka at 37th position.

The report also points out thethree countries Bangladesh, Indiaand Timor-Leste constitutes to thehighest occurrence of underweightchildren under the age group of five

in this case. India’s investments inthe schemes are:

• Mid Day Meal - 11,937 crore ru-pees

• Food Subsidy - 60, 573 crorerupees

• ICDS (Integrated Child Devel-opment Services) - 15,850crore rupees

• MNREGA (Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act) - 33,000 crorerupeesWhereas the surveys done dur-

ing 2005-06 proved the health indi-cators of India to be poor with 36percent of Indian women duringtheir child bearing age were under-weight and 43.5 percent of the chil-dren under age of 5 were under-weight.

Decision of Cauvery RiverAuthority ruled out

Decision of the Cauvery RiverAuthority was ruled out by the PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh on 8 Oc-tober 2012. The Prime Minister or-dered Karnataka to release 9000cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu ev-ery day, till 20 October 2012. TheCauvery River Authority (CRA) com-prises of the Chief Ministers of ba-sin states namely Puducherry,Kerela, Tamil Nadu and Karnatakaand is chaired by the Prime Ministeritself. The Prime Minister in re-sponse to his meet with the Con-gress Union Ministers namely S.M.Krishna, M. Mallikarjun Kharge andK.H. Muniyappa along with 16 mem-bers of Parliament from BJP cameto a conclusion that the decision willbe made following the findings ofthe ground reality from the CauveryMonitoring Committee. The commit-tee is going to meet in the third weekof October. As the decision makinglies in the hands of the CRA, so thePrime Minister due to lack of mecha-

years, which records to more than40 percent in each country. Indiawas ranked second with 43.5 per-cent of the children less than fiveunderweight in the list of the 129countries compared for under-weight child, after Timor-Leste.Countries like Ethiopia, Niger, Nepaland Bangladesh followed the chart. The report also complained aboutthe lack and absence of an up-to-date data and information in case ofIndia for the ineffectiveness of In-dian Government’s nutrition rel-evant social programmes. India’sexpenditure on Nutrition-relatedschemes for 2012-13 states thatthere is not a problem of resources




nism cannot make any changes inthe award.

Rahul Gandhi AppointedHead of INC CoordinationPanel for 2014 Lok SabhaElections

Rahul Gandhi, the General Sec-retary of Indian National Congresson 15 November 2012 was made thehead of the Congress CoordinationCommittee for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.With the appointment of RahulGandhi, Senior leaders of CongressAhmed Patel, Janardan Dwivedi,Digvijaya Singh, Madhusudan Mistryand Jairam Ramesh also included inthe members list of the election co-ordination committee. The forma-tion of Election Coordination Com-mittee was announced by Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi in theSanvad Baithak at Surajkund inHaryana. She has also constitutedthree sub-groups keeping in viewthe Lok Sabha elections to be heldin 2014.

The three Sub-Groups are-The three Sub-Groups are-The three Sub-Groups are-The three Sub-Groups are-The three Sub-Groups are-The first sub group formed

look after the key issue of pre-pollkey issue of pre-pollkey issue of pre-pollkey issue of pre-pollkey issue of pre-pollalliances,alliances,alliances,alliances,alliances, is going to be headed byDefence Minister AK Antony.

The manifesto and govern-The manifesto and govern-The manifesto and govern-The manifesto and govern-The manifesto and govern-ment programmes sub group, ment programmes sub group, ment programmes sub group, ment programmes sub group, ment programmes sub group, isheaded by Antony, and has PChidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde,Anand Sharma, Salman Khurshid,Sandeep Dikshit, Ajit Jogi, RenukaChowdhary and P L Punia as itsmembers

The communications andThe communications andThe communications andThe communications andThe communications andpublicity sub-grouppublicity sub-grouppublicity sub-grouppublicity sub-grouppublicity sub-group is chaired byDigvijaya Singh and have former I&Bminister Ambika Soni, ManishTewari, Deepender Hooda,Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajiv Shuklaand Bhakta Charan Das as members.

Union Cabinet of Indiaapproved the NationalPharmaceutical PricingPolicy

The Union Cabinet of India on22 November 2012 passed the Na-tional Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy(NPPA). As per the new pricingpolicy declared by the Union Gov-ernment, 348 essential drugs wouldcome under price control policy ofthe nation, which would lead toprice reduction of the same. Thepolicy was approved by the UnionCabinet with an objective to bringin a regulatory framework to makesure that the pricing of essentialdrugs remains under control and aremade available in the market at rea-sonable prices. The approval camein as a response to the deadline of27 November 2012 set by the Su-preme Court of India for finalizationof a policy that to without alteringor hampering the mechanism forcost-based drug pricing policy inexistence. The move would bringdown the cost of the drugs to anaverage of 30 percent as the pricingnow would be fixed following thesimple average of the rates of all thebrands that have more than one per-cent of market share in the pharma-ceutical industry. Following therules of the policy, the companieswill have to take a clearance byNPPA to increase the prices beyond10 percent on all the 348 drugs en-listed in the new National Pharma-ceutical Pricing Policy.

The Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences Act,2012 came into Force

T h e Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences Act,2012 came into force on 14 Novem-ber 2012. The Act was passed in theIndian Parliament in May 2012. TheAct under its ambit defines child asa person below the age-group of 18and is gender neutral and have aclear definition for all types of sexualabuses like sexual harassment, pen-etrative or non-penetrative sexualabuse, and pornography. The Actalso has defined the punishmentsfollowing the kind and harshness ofthe offence that includes life timeimprisonment for heinous crimes ofsexual assaults and abuses. The Actunder its ambit has tried to set upthe standards of International ChildProtection rights and has made itmandatory to report the sexual of-fences against any child. Punish-ment against the person trying theallegedly defame any person thatalso includes a child via false infor-mation is mentioned in this Act. TheProtection of Children from SexualOffences Act, 2012 has defined theways to provide a child friendly pro-cess of offence reporting to evi-dence recording, trial and investiga-tions. Section 45 of the Act allowsthe Union Government to make thenecessary changes in the Act, when-ever and wherever applicable. TheAct has also defined the facts like




qualification and experience of thetranslators, interpreters, specialeducators, experts, arrangement forprotection and care at times ofemergencies and emergency treat-ment of child as well as the Com-pensation amount that is payable toany victim of sexual abuse.

All the rules have been struc-tured and framed relying upon theJuvenile Act, 2000 for making ar-rangements in regards to the careand protection of the child, the de-vised rules of the act also would payattention to the fact that the child isnot re-victimised at time of investi-gation as well as trial. The Act hasalso made it clear that under situa-tions in which the child who is be-ing taken for the medical facility onan emergency factor no documen-tation or magisterial requisitionwould be demanded before thetreatment. The Rules laid down inthe Act also had defined the crite-

rion of awarding the compensationsby the special court that includesloss of educational and employmentopportunities along with disability,disease or pregnancy suffered bythe subject as the consequence ofthe abuse. This compensationwould be awarded at the interimstage as well as after the trial ends.

Government Nod to GrantEx-Serviceman Status tothe Retired ParamilitaryStaffs

The Union Cabinet of India on1 November 2012 gave its nod togrant retired personnel of centralpolice and paramilitary forces thestatus of ex-Servicemen. The HomeMinister of India Sushil KumarShinde at an event of paramilitaryCISF in Delhi made this announce-ment making it clear that thehounour was given to the paramili-

tary forces as they put their life atrisk in the line of duty.

This announcement would en-able more than four lakh retired per-sonnel to avail the welfare benefitsavailable for the ex-servicemen tilldate. Retired personnel from CRPF,CISF, BSF, ITBP and SSB would becounted among the ex-central po-lice personnel equivalent to the ex-servicemen recognition of the retir-ees of the defence forces.

The retired personnel of theseforces would be reckoned as ex-central police personnel. The ex-servicemen status to the retired per-sonnel of these forces would bringthem the benefits in form of can-teens and hospital facilities that isrun by Government. These person-nel would also be recognised whileapplying for the jobs in Private Sec-tors as trained and suitable talent.


GEOGRAPHYfor

Civil Services Preliminary Examination





Barack Obama won the U.S.Presidential Elections 2012

International/World CurrentAffairs 2012. Barack Obama, theleader of Democratic Party on 7November 2012 was re-elected asthe President of USA. Obama de-feated the Republican Challenger,Mitt Romney in the U.S. PresidentialElections 2012 by winning over 332

57th quadrennial presidential elec-tion for the United States.

The two, Obama and Romneywon 50 percent and 48.1 percent ofvotes respectively. 53 members inthe Senate were from DemocraticParty, whereas 45 are from Republi-can Party. In the House of Represen-tatives, the lead went in the way ofRepublican Party with 232 seats andthe Democratic Party was success-ful in securing 191 seats. Mitt Rom-ney tied with the President Obamaat 49 percent of the Popular Votes.

After the win, Obama declaredthat the best is yet to come forAmerica and he to take care of thegreatest challenges faced by thecountry he also called for bipartisansupport (bipartisanship can be de-fined as a political situation, wherethe there exists a context of twopolitical parties, where one of theopposing party finds commongrounds by making compromises).

The Republican Party has lostfour Presidential elections of the sixPresidential contests and the twowon by them was just with narrow

votes as compared to the 206 votesof Mitt Romney of all the votes de-

clared by the Electoral College de-clared. Obama was successful ingetting around 74000 more votesthan the competitor, Mitt Romneyout of the eight million votes castedduring the Presidential Elections.The elections were conducted on6th November 2012 and this was the

INTERNATIONAL ISSUESINTERNATIONAL ISSUESINTERNATIONAL ISSUESINTERNATIONAL ISSUESINTERNATIONAL ISSUES




margins. At the same time, PresidentObama, by being back has provedthat in the period of austerity andcrisis also, an incumbent can sur-vive.

Swing StatesPresident Obama was success-

ful in winning over the eight of thenine swing states including Florida,Ohio, Wisconsin, New Hampshire,Virginia, Colorado and Nevada. Heonly lost from the seat of NorthCarolina.

Issues Apart from the sluggishness in

economic growth, witnessed by theAmerica in past few years therewere five main pointers on whichdebates were done and the Presi-dential Election was fought and itincluded Health, Women’s Right,Tax, Environment and Same SexMarriage. One major challenge thatlies behind the President, BarackObama to deal with is to get rid ofunemployment as; America regis-tered an unemployment rate of 7.9percent in October 2012.

IndiansAmi Bera- the third Indian-

American in the U.S. House of Rep-resentatives.

Dr. Ami Bera is third Indian-American ever to be elected to theU.S. House of Representatives. The45 years old Bera took a lead of 184votes against Dan Lungren, the Re-publican rival from the seventh Con-gressional District of California. Be-fore Bera, two Indians to be electedfor the US House of Representativesinclude Dalip Singh Saund in the1950s and Bobby Jindal was theHouse member before beingelected to be the Governor of Loui-siana from 2005 to 2008.

Except Dr. Bera, five more In-dian-Americans namely Dr. Syed

Taj, Dr. Manan Trivedi, UpendraChivukula and Jack Uppala andRicky Gill, were candidates, wholost from their seats in the US elec-tions. Except Ricky Gill all the otherfour were from Democratic Party.

Dr. Syed Taj, who was a repre-sentative from Democratic Party, isthe younger brother of SyedShahbuddin and he basically be-longs from Bihar. He lost in thetough fight against his opponent KBentivolio from the seat ofMichigan’s 11th Congressional Dis-trict.

Tulsi Gabbard-First Hindu-American to be in theHouse

Tulsi-Gabbard is the firstHindu-American to enter the U.S.House of Representatives. She de-feated the Republican rival K.Crowley from the Hawaii seat in theone-sided contest. Tulsi doesn’tbelong to the Indian Heritage and isnot an Indian. She is a daughter tothe Catholic Father Mike Gabbard,who at present is serving as theSenator from the Hawaii State andher mother Carol Porter Gabbard,who is a Hindu is an educator and abusiness owner in Hawaii.

Basic Facts♦ Before Obama, Bill Clinton was

the Democratic Party Repre-sentative to serve White Housefor continuous two terms afterWorld War II.

♦ Obama is the first Presidentafter the wars to be re-elected

in the office with an unemploy-ment rate of 7.4 percent in thecountry.

♦ Obama in the last PresidentialElections of 2008 won 349votes, which was higher thanthe votes he secured in thePresidential Elections of 2012.History of US elections of 223History of US elections of 223History of US elections of 223History of US elections of 223History of US elections of 223

years: years: years: years: years: In the 223 years history of USPresidential Elections only eightPresidents contesting elections be-ing in the White House lost the elec-tions

Presidential Elections inAmerica and its Process

Article 2 Section 1 of the USArticle 2 Section 1 of the USArticle 2 Section 1 of the USArticle 2 Section 1 of the USArticle 2 Section 1 of the USConstitutionConstitutionConstitutionConstitutionConstitution states that the execu-tive Power of the Nation is vestedin a President of the United Statesof America. He shall hold his Officeduring the Term of four Years, and,together with the Vice-Presidentchosen for the same Term, beelected, as follows:

In USA the executive power isvested on the President, who holdsthe office for a term of four yearswith a vice-President, who is electedalong with him for the same term.

The ProcessEvery state appoints in such a

manner that the legislature thereofmay direct a number of electors thatis equal to the whole number of rep-resentatives and senators to whichthe state if entitled in the congress.No Senator or Representative, hold-ing any office of Profit or Trust un-der United States can be appointedas an Elector.

The Electors meet in their re-spective state and vote for two per-sons via ballot of which one personmust not be an inhabitant of thesame state. A list of all persons votedfor must be made and the numberof votes to every person by signing




and certifying, the list is then sealedfor transmission to the Seat of theGovernment of United States, whichis directed to the Senate’s President.The President of the Senate opensall the certificates and the votes arecounted in presence of the Senatesand the House of Representatives.The person, who receives maximumvotes, is elected as a President onlywhen, the derived numbers meetsthe majority mark of the whole num-ber of the electors appointed. Incase the results bring out more thanone person with majority or an equalnumber of votes than the House ofRepresentatives can choose by bal-lot, one of them as the President thatto with immediate effect.

In case situation occurs, whennone of the members have beensuccessful in winning the majoritythan the House of Representativescan choose any one among the fivewith highest number of votes as thePresident. But in this situation, Votesneed to be taken by the states andthe representation of the states withone vote.

The quorum (gathering of theminimal number of members of anorganization to conduct business)made for this purpose comprises aMember/Members from two-thirdsof the States, along with the Major-ity of all the States is necessary to aChoice.

In case after election of thePresident, the Person with maxi-mum number of votes is elected asthe Vice-President, but in case oftwo or more persons remains avail-able with the same number of votes,then the Senate is responsible forchoosing the Vice–President fromthem but by the process of Ballot(In 12th Amendment the clause inparentheses was superseded). ANatural born Citizen of United States

or a Citizen of the United States attime of Adoption of the Constitutioncan only eligible to the President’sOffice and the person must haveattended the age of thirty-five years,with at least fourteen years of resi-dence in United States.

In U.S. the Presidential elec-tions are conducted after every fouryears and the count of this quadren-nial election process started from1972, on the Election Day that is onthe Tuesday that falls in between 2November to 8 November of theelection year. The Next U.S. elec-tions would be held on 8 Novem-ber 2016 i.e. the Tuesday.

Obama’sRe-election and its Effects

Re-election of Barack Obamaas the US President would surelyeffect the world economy by thedecisions which would be taken byhim to bring up employment oppor-tunities and take America out of theeconomic sluggishness. The mostprevalent questions that may occurby the time, dust of celebrations setsdown, is how Obama would dealwith the fiscal cliff and the federaldebt.

Will the group of policieswhich includes the increase on taxto cut the massive spending by theGovernment, which can come intoexistence by January 2013, in caseboth the parties, Democratic andRepublicans fails to arrive to a con-clusion of how to reduce the fed-eral debt. Finding a solution to thefiscal cliff would also be a big chal-lenge to the incumbent President ofUSA and in case the President failsto answer to the requirements itssure that the US economy that isimproving may be dragged back tothe mode of recession like the Eu-ropean crisis.

Japan’s Lower House ofParliament the House ofRepresentatives, dissolved

The Japanese Lower HouseJapanese Lower HouseJapanese Lower HouseJapanese Lower HouseJapanese Lower Houseof Parliament-the House ofof Parliament-the House ofof Parliament-the House ofof Parliament-the House ofof Parliament-the House ofRepresentativesRepresentativesRepresentativesRepresentativesRepresentatives was dissolved on16 November 2012, and paved theway ahead to general electionsscheduled on 16 December 2012. Takahiro Yokomichi, the Speaker ofthe House of Representatives readout the imperial decree signed byEmperor Akihito to parliament,which proclaimed the dissolution ofthe government. Campaigns of theelection scheduled for 16 Decem-ber 2012 would start from 4 Decem-ber 2012 and in case the rulingNoda’s Center-left Party Looses theelection, Japan would get its sev-enth Prime Minister after manyyears. The Lower House or theHouse of Representatives in Japanhas 480 seats and the party thatwould win over more than half ofthe seats in the upcoming electionswould lead the country ahead of thecrisis situation being faced by thenation and in case any of the partiesfails to win majority, Japan will haveto face the dramatic syndrome ofthe coalition government and thefuture of Japan would then dependon the decisions yet to come.

Elections in JapanNational Diet of Japan’s Bicam-

eral Legislature is formed with thetwo different houses namely thelower house and the upper house. The Upper House is called the




House of Councillors and LowerHouse is called as The House of Rep-resentatives. Parallel voting systemis used for electing the members ofboth the houses of the Diet in Ja-pan.

Article 6 Article 6 Article 6 Article 6 Article 6 of Japan states thatthe Emperor would appoint thePrime Minister of Japan that is cho-sen by the National Diet and he isalso responsible for appointment ofthe Chief Judge of Supreme Courtthat is chosen by the Cabinet.

Chapter V Chapter V Chapter V Chapter V Chapter V of the JapaneseConstitution states the formation ofthe Cabinet and resting of executivepowers to it, under Article 65Article 65Article 65Article 65Article 65. Italso mentions the process of elec-tion of the Prime Minister in the Na-tion under article 66 and 67 andpowers vested to him underthe Articles 68 to 75. Articles 68 to 75. Articles 68 to 75. Articles 68 to 75. Articles 68 to 75.

Article 66 Article 66 Article 66 Article 66 Article 66 of the JapaneseConstitution states that the Cabinetshould consist of a Prime Minister,who will be its head and a group ofministers of the state mentioned bylaw. Both the Prime Minister and theMinisters of State should be the Ci-vilians. To exercise the executivepowers, the Cabinet is collectivelyresponsible to the diet.

Article 67Article 67Article 67Article 67Article 67 states that the PrimeMinister would be chosen from themembers of the diet following theresolution passed by the diet andthis selection process would followto all other businesses.

The Article also explains thatin case any of the two houses, the

House of Representatives or theHouse of Councillors disagree onthe decision and if no agreementcan be reached by a joint commit-tee meet of both the houses, withinten days (that would not include therecess period), after the House ofRepresentatives (lower house) hasmade its decision, than under suchsituation the decision of the Houseof representatives would be consid-ered as the final decision of the Na-tional Diet.

The house of representativesincludes 480 members in total thatis elected for a term of four years.Out of these 480 members 300members are elected from thesingle-member constituencies andthe rest of the 180 members areelected from 11 multi-member con-stituencies using the party-list sys-tem of proportional representation.To Win majority and form the gov-ernment, a party needs 241 seats.

Articles that allowsdissolving of the Lowerhouse

Article 54.Article 54.Article 54.Article 54.Article 54. When the House ofRepresentatives is dissolved, theremust be a general election of mem-bers of the House of Representativeswithin forty (40) days from the dateof dissolution, and the Diet must beconvoked within thirty (30) daysfrom the date of the election.

When the House of Represen-tatives is dissolved, the House ofCouncillors is closed at the sametime. However, the Cabinet may intime of national emergency convokethe House of Councillors in emer-gency session.

Measures taken at such sessionas mentioned in the proviso of thepreceding paragraph shall be pro-visional and shall become null andvoid unless agreed to by the House

of Representatives within a periodof ten (10) days after the opening ofthe next session of the Diet.

Article 69. Article 69. Article 69. Article 69. Article 69. If the House ofRepresentatives passes a non-con-fidence resolution, or rejects a con-fidence resolution, the Cabinet shallresign en masse, unless the Houseof Representatives is dissolvedwithin ten (10) days.

Democratic Party ofDemocratic Party ofDemocratic Party ofDemocratic Party ofDemocratic Party ofJapanJapanJapanJapanJapan that was ruling the Govern-ment for past three years took thedecision of dissolving the house dueto its recent decision of doubling thetaxes and its inability to handle theFukushima Nuclear Crisis.

The decision of dissolving thelower house came at the time, whenJapan is struggling to prop-up itseconomy, plans to re-establish theenergy policies are on the way afterthe Fukushima Nuclear crisis, recon-struction of areas which were dev-astated by the Tsunami that hit Ja-pan in March 2011 are in process,and re-establishing good ties withChina that deteriorated due to terri-torial dispute on Diaoyu Islands.

Central Intelligence Agency(CIA) Director DavidPetraeus Resigned

CIA Director David Petraeus on9 November 2012 resigned as headof the leading US spy agency shock-ing the intelligence community. Hisresignation came on his personalchoice after he had engaged in anextramarital affair and acknowl-edged that he showed extremely




poor judgment. In his letter to theCIA workforce, David Petraeus hadasserted that he met with PresidentBarack Obama at the White Houseon 8 November 2012 and asked, heto be allowed for resignation forsome personal reason. The presi-dent of US Barack Obama had ac-cepted David Petraeus’ resignationand praisied him for his work at theCentral Intelligence Agency and forleading US troops in Iraq and Af-ghanistan. It was FBI who had a tipthat Petraeus was involved with hisBiography Writer, Paula Broadwelland investigated the alleged affair todetermine whether it posed a secu-rity risk. David Petraeus before tak-ing up as the CIA director post hadretired as an Army general afternearly four decades of military ser-vice in the United States Army. Heserved as a director of CIA for a pe-riod of 14 months only. He took overthe office as CIA Director on 6 Sep-tember 2011.

About Central IntelligenceAgency Director

The Director of the Central In-telligence Agency serves as the headof the Central Intelligence Agencyand reports to the Director of Na-tional Intelligence. The CIAdirector’s responsibilities include-

♦ Collecting intelligence throughhuman sources and by otherappropriate means, exceptthat he shall have no police,subpoena, or law enforcementpowers or internal securityfunctions;

♦ Correlating and evaluating in-telligence related to the na-tional security and providingappropriate dissemination ofsuch intelligence;

♦ Providing overall direction forand coordination of the collec-tion of national intelligence

outside the United Statesthrough human sources.

♦ Performing such other func-tions and duties related to in-telligence affecting the na-tional security as the Presidentor the Director of National In-telligence may direct.

Twenty first ASEAN Summitconcluded in Phnom Penh,Cambodia

The 21st ASEAN SummitPhnom Penh was held on 18 Novem-ber 2012 at Peace Palace, PhnomPenh in Cambodia. Prime Ministerof the Kingdom of Cambodia-Samdech Akka Moha Sena PadeiTecho Hun Sen was the Chairpersonfor the 21st ASEAN Summit PhnomPenh, Cambodia. The head of statesof the ASEAN members and theSecretary-General of ASEAN partici-pated in the 21st ASEAN Summitand discussed about things likeprogress of the Implementation ofASEAN Charter and Roadmap for anASEAN community.

Issues Discussed 1. Follow-up to the 20th ASEAN

Summit2. The Progress Report on the

Implementation of Master Planon ASEAN Connectivity

3. Signed Phnom Penh Statementon the Adoption of ASEANHuman Rights Declaration

4. Exchange of View on Regionaland International IssuesA Leaders’ Statement on the

establishment of an ASEAN Re-ASEAN Re-ASEAN Re-ASEAN Re-ASEAN Re-gional Mine Actiongional Mine Actiongional Mine Actiongional Mine Actiongional Mine ActionCenterCenterCenterCenterCenter (ARMAC) was also issuedduring the summit.

Document Signed andAdopted

1. Phnom Penh Statement on theAdoption of the ASEAN Hu-man Rights Declaration

2. ASEAN Human Rights Declara-tion (AHRD)

3. Concept Paper on the Estab-lishment of an ASEAN Re-gional Mine Action Centre(ARMAC)

4. ASEAN Leaders’ Joint State-ment on the Establishment ofan ASEAN Regional Mine Ac-tion Centre (ARMAC)

New Secretary General forASEAN

Le Luong Minh-Le Luong Minh-Le Luong Minh-Le Luong Minh-Le Luong Minh- the candidatefrom the Socialist Republic of VietNam was appointed asthe upcoming Secretary Generalupcoming Secretary Generalupcoming Secretary Generalupcoming Secretary Generalupcoming Secretary Generalfor ASEANfor ASEANfor ASEANfor ASEANfor ASEAN for the next five yearterm by the ASEAN Head of States.The nomination was done on thebasis of alphabetical rotation planfor next five year that would startfrom January 2013 and end in De-cember 2018.

ASEANASEAN (Association of South-ASEAN (Association of South-ASEAN (Association of South-ASEAN (Association of South-ASEAN (Association of South-

east Asian Nations)east Asian Nations)east Asian Nations)east Asian Nations)east Asian Nations) was created on8 August 1967 at Bangkok, Thailandafter ASEAN Declaration (alsocalled Bangkok Declaration) wassigned between the Founding Fa-thers of ASEAN, namely Malaysia,Indonesia, Singapore, Philippinesand Thailand. With time 5 moreSouth Asian countries joined thegroup namely Brunei Darussalamjoined on 7 January 1984, Viet Namon 28 July 1995, Lao PDR andMyanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cam-bodia on 30 April 1999. Today,




ASEAN is a 10-member group bynow. The group was formed witha basic idea of promoting socialprogress, economic growth and cul-tural development between themember nations and talk on the dif-ferences in a peaceful manner.

Bangladesh Opted out of D-8 Summit Scheduled to beHeld in Pakistan

Bangladesh opted out of thekey summit known as D-8D-8D-8D-8D-8SummitSummitSummitSummitSummit in Pakistan which is sched-uled to be held later in November,2012. Bangladesh opted out be-cause Pakistan refused to apologisefor the deeds committed during1971 war which eventually led toBangladesh’s independence. Bangladesh’s foreign minister in anearlier visit of Hina Rabbani,Pakistan’s foreign minister de-manded a formal apology to theBangladesh’s populace. This apol-ogy was demanded for the carnagecommitted by Pakistan Army andalso for putting the former politicalas well as military personalities ontrial in then-East Pakistan. Sincethen, Pakistan has not paid heed tothe demand. Now, Bangladeshclaims more clarity on this issue.

Nepal Elected as a BoardMember of the ECOSOC

Nepal was elected on 8 No-vember 2012 as a board member ofthe United Nations Economic andSocial Council (ECOSOC) for athree year term starting from Janu-ary 2013. Nepal along with seven-teen other countries was elected asboard members. Nepal was electedwith 131 votes out of the total 194in the UN General Assembly. Thefifty-four member ESOSOC is one ofthe principal organs of the UN whichcoordinates the economic, socialand related work of the UN and its

specialized agencies and institu-tions.

France recognised the newSyrian Opposition Coalition

France recognized the newSyrian Opposition coalition on 13November 2012. France has be-come the first major nation torecognise the newly formed SyrianNational Coalition of opposition andRevolutionaries as the legitimaterepresentative of the Syrianpeople. Arab League has grantedObserver status to the bloc whilethe six nation Gulf Co-operationCouncil has already recognized it.Britain and European Union havestopped short of recognizing thebloc. Britain stated that it wants tosee more evidence that the opposi-tion grouping has strong supportinside Syria. Meanwhile, Syrian op-position activist groups reportedthat 31 people were killed acrossSyria as airstrikes continued alongthe country’s northeastern borderwith Turkey.

Noor Inayat Khan’s Bust tobe Unveiled at London byPrincess Anne

Britain’s Princess Anne un-veiled the Bronze Bust of NoorInayat Khan in London, reckoned tobe a heroine of the World War II on8 November 2012 for the role thatshe played as a secret agent in thesecret mission against the Nazis. TheBronze Bust was unveiled at GordonSquare the place, where Noor Inayatlived at the time.

Noor Inayat Khan was world’sfirst lady radio operator, who wasinfiltrated in the then occupiedFrance and pass on the informationof the allies. She was caught atDachau Concentration Camp andkilled. The decision came up givingan end to the several years of cam-

paign that was run by the NoorInayat Memorial Trust and also byShrabani Basu, her biographer, forreviving the memory of the Warheroine, who by now was almostforgotten.

This campaign of winning rec-ognition to the forgotten heroine ofthe World War II was also supportedby several Parliamentarians, the Brit-ish Prime Minister David Cameronand John Bercow, the Speaker of theHouse of Commons. The rights ac-tivist Shami Chakrabarti and film-maker Gurinder Chadha also sup-ported this campaign.

Karen Newman, a Londonbased Artist has sculptured the bust.The Noor Inayat Memorial Trust wassuccessful in raising £60,000 asfunds from the Public.

About Noor Inayat KhanShe was a daughter of Ameri-

can mother, Ora Ray Baker and anIndian Father Hazrat Inayat Khan andwas born in Moscow, Russia. Shewas a descendent to the 18th cen-tury ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. At the age of six, she along with herfamily shifted to London and whenoccupation opportunities in Parisdeclined sharply, she being a vol-unteer joinedWomen’s Auxiliary AirWomen’s Auxiliary AirWomen’s Auxiliary AirWomen’s Auxiliary AirWomen’s Auxiliary AirForce (WAAF)Force (WAAF)Force (WAAF)Force (WAAF)Force (WAAF) and was in duecourse, was recruited bythe Special Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations ExecutiveSpecial Operations Executive(SOE)(SOE)(SOE)(SOE)(SOE) for secret operations.

She was the first women radiooperator infiltrate to the Nazi occu-




pied France as a secret agent. Shewas caught and killed at the DachauConcentration Camp and her lastword before the death was Liberte.She was posthumously awardedwith two awards from France andBritain the Croix de Guerre and theGeorge Cross respectively.

Rights of a film on NoorInayat Khan

Zafar Hai and Tabrez Noorani,the two producers have obtainedrights of the book Spy Princess: TheLife of Noor Inayat Khan by ShrabaniBasu in September 2012, in order tocreate a film.

The Review Meeting of theE-9 Countries concluded inNew Delhi

The three-day review meetingof Ministers of Education and headsof delegation of the E-9 countriescomprising India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, China, Brazil, Egypt,Indonesia, Nigeria and Mexicoended in New Delhi on 10 Novem-ber 2012 with the adoption of theNew Delhi Commitment. E-9 nationsdecided to expand their coopera-tion in Inclusive, Relevant QualityEducation for All. It took stock ofthe progress towards the Educationfor All goals and to renew coopera-tion in consolidating the gains andaddressing remaining challenges.

The member-states reaffirmedthe central role of education in alldevelopment endeavours and inpromoting peace and social cohe-sion. E-9 Countries decided to ex-pand their cooperation in the areaof Inclusive, Relevant Quality Edu-cation for All. They recognised rel-evance and equity as key dimen-sions of quality in their future effortsand resolved to address the sameby making their education systemsmore flexible and responsive.

T h e three-day reviewmeeting of Ministers of Educationand heads of delegation of the E-9countries comprising India, Paki-stan, Bangladesh, China, Brazil,Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria andMexico ended in New Delhi on 10November 2012 with the adoptionof the New Delhi Commitment. E-9nations decided to expand theircooperation in Inclusive, RelevantQuality Education for All. It tookstock of the progress towards theEducation for All goals and to renewcooperation in consolidating thegains and addressing remainingchallenges. The member-states re-affirmed the central role of educa-tion in all development endeavoursand in promoting peace and socialcohesion. E-9 Countries decided toexpand their cooperation in the areaof Inclusive, Relevant Quality Edu-cation for All. They recognised rel-evance and equity as key dimen-sions of quality in their future effortsand resolved to address the sameby making their education systemsmore flexible and responsive.

Immigration to BritainWitnessed Biggest Fall in 20Years

Immigration into Britain sawthe deepest dip in 20 years, the of-ficial figures revealed. In 2011,536000 foreigners migrated to livein UK, which is 42000 lower than in2010. This drop is said to be the big-gest and deepest because immigra-tion dropped down by 61000 dur-ing the recession of 1991.

Numbers of people enteringUK were lowest since the year 2004when thousands of European work-ers were permitted to work here.The basic reason why this numbersank was because of the dramaticreduction in the number of people

coming on student visas. In terms ofpercentage, the net immigration fig-ure went down by 25 percent from242000 to 183000. The number ofstudents who come for joiningcourses in UK colleges sank by 67percent. In the meanwhile, the stu-dents coming down for English Lan-guage schools dropped by 76 per-cent. Nevertheless, the foreign stu-dents who go to UK varsities in-creased by 1 percent.

Ministers of UK called this dropas a crucial step towards achievingthe aim of government in reducingimmigration to what it was in 1990s.

India Voted Against UNGeneral Assembly’sResolution to Ban DeathPenalties

India was one among the 39other countries that voted on 20November 2012 against the non-binding draft resolution of UN Gen-eral Assembly that proposed forputting an end to death penalty. In-dia voted on the grounds that eachand every nation has its own sover-eign right in order to determine thelegal system. 110 nations voted inthe favour, while 36 members with-drew.

The non-binding UN resolutioncalled for suspension on the capitalpunishment with a view to put anend to the death penalty. This wasadopted at Third Committee of theGeneral Assembly on 20 November2012 along with the deals with hu-manitarian as well as social issues.

The resolution of the draft ex-pressed deep concerns over contin-ued applications of death penalties,which is why it calls for establish-ment of cessation on capital punish-ment, viewing that the practicewould be abolished completely.The resolution called the nations to




gradually hamper the use of deathpenalty and not to impose them foroffences which are committed bypregnant women or people below18 years of age. The nations werealso called to decrease the offencesfor which capital punishment isimposed. In the explanation of thenon-agreeing vote, India said thatevery state has its autonomous rightfor determination of the legal sys-tem. Apart from India, other nationsthat voted against the resolution in-clude China, Korea, Bangladesh, Ja-pan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Ku-wait and US.

Over 2/3rd countries of theworld have completely abolisheddeath penalty. 97 countries of theworld have abolished death penaltyfor all the crimes.

Pakistan Cabinet Ratifiedthe Landmark Visa Pactwith India

Pakistan’s Cabinet on 31 Octo-ber 2012 ratified four recent agree-ments with India. The major ofwhich is landmark visa pact aimedat facilitating restrictions on severalcategories of travellers, includingsenior citizens and businessmen.The meeting was chaired by PrimeMinister of Pakistan M Raja PervezAshraf who also ratified three otheragreements that is going to promotetrade between the Pakistan and In-dia.

The visa agreement was signedby then external affairs minister S.M.Krishna and Pakistan’s interior min-ister Rehman Malik in Islamabad on8 September 2012. The pact wasready for signing in May 2012 butwas held up entirely due to opposi-tion from Rehman Malik, whowanted Indian External Affairs min-ister to come to Pakistan for signingit.

The agreement introduces newcategories for group tourist visasand pilgrim visas and relaxes restric-tions on travel by senior citizens,businessmen and persons of onecountry married to a citizen of theother. The two countries are alsodiscussing other measures aimed atboosting bilateral trade and coop-eration in new areas like opening ofbank branches and cross-border in-vestments. Both the countries as-serted they intend to increase bilat-eral trade to six billion dollars by2014.

US Military’s Ban on Womenin most Combat PositionsChallenged

The American Civil LibertiesUnion filed a constitutional chal-lenge in a federal court in San Fran-cisco to the US military’s ban onwomen in most combat positions.The Union argued that women werestill barred from more than two hun-dred thousand frontline roles de-spite recent relaxations.

Approximately, 14500 combatpositions had been opened towomen under the current defencesecretary. The possibility of open-ing additional roles for women in theUS military are being explored.Women have served in the UnitedStates Army since 1775. They nursedthe ill and wounded, laundered andmended clothing, and cooked forthe troops in camp on campaign;services that did not exist among theuniformed personnel within theArmy until the 20th Century. Womenare an integral part of the US Army.At present, women serve in 91 per-cent of all Army occupations andmake up about 14 percent of theActive Army. Women continue toplay a crucial role in current opera-tions and their sacrifices in this

noble effort underscore their dedi-cation and willingness to share greatsacrifices.

Death of SavitaHalappanavar IgnitedStrong Reactions forChange in Irish AbortionLaw

Indian origin dentist SavitaHalappanavar died in Ireland on 28October 2012 at the University Col-lege Hospital Galway after the doc-tors refused her abortion despitehers body being sick and weak dueto 17 weeks of pregnancy.

The doctors had refused herabortion on the basis of catholic te-nets. Eventually it led to septicemiaor blood poisoning that led to herdeath. Savita suffered miscarriageand when she went to UniversityCollege Hospital Galway, she wasrefused abortion saying that therewas still the fetal heartbeat.

The Irish Law on AbortionUnder the Offences against

the Person Act 1861, abortion in Ire-land has been made as a criminaloffense. The laws that govern abor-tion are undersection 58 and 59 o fOffences against the Person Act1861. However a person is free totravel to another state to abort theunborn child in case there is harmto the life of a mother. Abortionsabroad are also subject to stern con-ditions.

Abortion laws in IndiaAs per the laws in India, abor-




tion can only be performed by thequalified physician under stipulatedconditions. These laws are catego-rized underMedical Termination ofPregnancy (MTP) Act that was en-acted in 1971 by Indian Parliament.MTP was effective from 1972 andwas amended once in 1975.

The act clearly states condi-tions under which termination ofpregnancy is possible and this in-cludes performing abortion onwomen if life is endangered due topregnancy. Sex-selective abortionswhere males are favoured is illegal.

US Lifted the Ban Imposedon Imports from Myanmar,before President Obama’sVisit to the Nati

The decade old ban on mostof the imports from Myanmar in thethird week of November wasscrapped by the United States. Thestep of scrapping the bans on im-port of most of the products fromMyanmar came ahead of the land-mark visit of the U.S. PresidentBarack Obama scheduled on 20November 2012 to the long isolatednation. With this visit to Myanmar,Obama would turn-up to be the firstsitting President of U.S. to visit thecountry. The ban would still be inexistence, on the import of Gemsfrom the country as gems remaineda cause for the long race of violenceand corruption in m Myanmar.

The ban on imports fromMyanmar was imposed in 2003 bythe U.S. Congress and this scrappingof the ban by world’s largesteconomy may bring back a hugegrowth in the Garment industry ofMyanmar, as U.S. at a point of timeremained one of the largest buyersof cloths from Myanmar. Before thisstep of U.S. nations like Canada,Australia and the European Union

had already suspended virtually alltypes of sanctions from Myanmar.Japan has forgiven a 3.8 billion dol-lar debt waiver on the country.

IEA: US would becomeworld’s largest oil producerby 2017

The International EnergyAgency (IEA) in the second weekof November 2012 announced thatUnited States would takeover SaudiArabia as world’s biggest oil pro-ducing nation by 2017. The forecastcame up by the Paris based energyagency because U.S. has been drill-ing more crude oil by using the tech-nology based on hydraulic fractur-ing of underground shale forma-tions. This drilling activity wouldmake U.S. in times to come as aneconomy that is self-sufficient interms of energy within next fiveyears but down the line by 2023,North America would became a netoil exporter in the world. This fore-cast from the International EnergyAgency is a change on its previousprediction in which the agencystated that Saudi’s would be theworld’s leader in oil production upto 2035. At present U.S. importsabout 20 percent of oil to meet itsenergy needs.

UK Lifted Travel Advisoryon Jammu and Kashmir

The United Kingdom on 6 No-vember 2012 lifted its aroundtwenty years old travel advisory forits nationals against travel toSrinagar, Jammu and Ladakh, refer-ring improvements of the securitysituation in the State. The lifting oftravel advisory came to testimonythe fact that security situation inJammu and Kashmir is improved.The UK Foreign office declared ontheir website that they no longeradvise against travel to Jammu and

Kashmir or against travel on theJammu to Srinagar highway. The lift-ing of Travel Advisory came justbefore British foreign secretary Wil-liam Hague’s visit to India. The lift-ing of Advisory is going to encour-age more UK tourists to visit andprovide a platform for businesseswhich in turn benefit the localeconomy of Jammu and Kashmir.UK is the third country to lift the banon travel to these places in the stateafter Germany and Japan. Earlier theCountry of Japan on 19 October2012 lifted the advisory while Ger-many in July 2011 had relaxed travelrestriction to Jammu and Kashmirfor its National. The travel Adviso-ries were imposed as a result of theoutbreak of militancy in the state ofJammu and Kashmir after 1989 andwith the abduction of some foreigntourists

Parliament of Egypt PassedDraft of the NewConstitution

The Parliament of Egyptpassed draft of their new constitu-tion in which the duties, responsi-bilities and roles of the legislature,judiciary and executive have beendefined. 230 articles of this newconstitution were discussed as wellas voted upon by Salafist and Islam-ist MPs at the rushed session ofEgyptian Parliament which tookplace for 16 hours. This was alsofollowed by protests and boycott-ing. The secular, liberal as well asleftist opposition with the minorityCoptic Christians proscribed pro-ceedings of Parliament while discus-sions and voting was going on.

As per the law of Egypt, nowthe draft would be sanctioned bythe President of Egypt- Morsey. Itwould then be put for referendumfrom the nation within a month. It




was concluded that speeding uppassing of the draft was importantbecause constitution was the needof the hour urgently in order to haveproperly-elected Parliament, Presi-dent for execution of the law as wellas an independent judiciary. Presi-dent Morsey guarded his decisionson the grounds that his decisionswere a step for saving the revolu-tion which brought down the re-gime of Mubarak.

In the meanwhile, National Sal-vation Front- the umbrella of leftist,secular and liberal opposition aswell as youth revolutionary move-ments criticised this decision as ill-conceived and hastily moved. Presi-dent Morsey was blamed to imposethis constitution. The decision of theParliament is seen as the effort toblock the ruling of court whichcould have dissolved constitutiondrafting body completely. The rul-ing on dissolution of constitutionassembly as well as upper house ofParliament was outstanding by theSupreme Constitutional Court.

Consequently, possibly thiswould increase tiff between theopposition as well as the Govern-ment because the opposition is con-tinuously demanding fragmentingPresidential diktat which grantscomprehensive powers to the exist-ing President.

Tenth ASEAN-India SummitConcluded at Peace Palace,Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The tenth ASEAN-India Sum-mit that was held at Peace Palace,Phnom Penh, Cambodia concludedon 19 November 2012. The summitwas chaired by the Prime Ministerof the Kingdom of Cambodia-Samdech Akka Moha Sena PadeiTecho HUN Sen and attended by theleaders of the ten Member states of

ASEAN and the Indian Prime Minis-ter Manmohan Singh. During thesummit the discussions were heldon identifying the future course ofaction on the ASEAN-India relations.Success was achieved in decidingthe convening of the ASEAN-IndiaASEAN-IndiaASEAN-IndiaASEAN-IndiaASEAN-IndiaCommemorative Summit Commemorative Summit Commemorative Summit Commemorative Summit Commemorative Summit sched-uled to be held on 20 December to21 December 2012 at New Delhi,India, the summit will be held tocommemorate the 20th Anniver-20th Anniver-20th Anniver-20th Anniver-20th Anniver-sary of the ASEAN-India Dialoguesary of the ASEAN-India Dialoguesary of the ASEAN-India Dialoguesary of the ASEAN-India Dialoguesary of the ASEAN-India DialogueRelations.Relations.Relations.Relations.Relations.

During the 10th Anniversary ofthe ASEAN-India summit, 20th An-niversary of ASEAN-India DialogueRelations was also observed at thesame venue ofPeach Place, PhnomPeach Place, PhnomPeach Place, PhnomPeach Place, PhnomPeach Place, PhnomPenh.Penh.Penh.Penh.Penh. The ASEAN-India Summit forthe first time was observed in theyear 2002 at Phnom Penh.

Marked CommemorativeActivities

1. The meeting between Heads ofSpace Agencies

2. Ministerial level meetings intourism, environment, agricul-ture, new and renewable en-ergy,

3. The sending of the Sail Train-ing Ship “Sudarshini” on an ex-pedition to ASEAN countriesSome other commemorative

activities on which discussions wereheld included 2nd ASEAN-IndiaBusiness Fair and Business Con-clave, and the ASEAN-India CarRally, these would be held duringthe ASEAN-India CommemorativeSummit. Decisions were also madeon implementing the Plan of Actionand the ASEAN-India Partnershipfor Progress, Peace and shared Pros-perity (2010-2015). These imple-mentations would be followed bythe ministers of the ASEAN mem-bers and India to contribute in deep-

ening the dialogue relations be-tween the two sides.

Excellent works of the ASEAN-India Eminent Persons Group (EPG)in production of a good and con-cise report was also commended atthe summit. Recommendations forfurther advancements of the part-nership to next levels were alsoevaluated. Security, peace and sta-bility of the region, along withstrengthening of the maritime coop-eration via existing mechanism ofwere recognized and stressed upon.Strict management of the recom-mendations would bring back secu-rity, peace and stability in the regionat the time when security challengeslike sea piracy, vessel accidents, oilspills, terrorism and natural disastersare becoming a threat and challengeto the security of the region.

Trade between ASEAN andIndia in 2011

The trade between the ASEANand India grew by 43 percent in theyear 2011 that amounted to 74.9 bil-lion US dollar that also surpassedthe bilateral trade target of 70 bil-lion US dollar. Target for achievingthe 100 billion US dollar mark by2015 for ASEAN-India trade wasalso identified and set at thesummit. Foreign Ministers of all themember nations and India would beworking ahead to settle down thingand conclude the ASEAN-IndiaTrade in Services and InvestmentAgreements before the ASEAN-In-dia Commemorative Summit in De-cember in India. Before this thePrime Minister of India, ManmohanSingh in April 2012 welcomed theadoption of the Declaration onDrug- Free ASEAN 2015 by theASEAN Leaders at the 20th ASEANSummit in Phnom Penh.




India Agreed OnBoth the parties adopted of the

ASEAN Human Rights Declaration atthe 21st ASEAN Summit in PhnomPenh, on 18 November 2012. Thetwo parties also emphasized to con-tribute supports on realization of theASEAN Community based on thedecided rules of law, democracy,promotion and protection of humanrights and fundamental freedoms.India will be supporting the ASEANCommunity building efforts by Ini-tiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI)in which India will play a role in es-tablishment of the EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Centres (EDCs) andCentres for English Language Train-ing (CELTs) in Cambodia, Lao PDR,Myanmar, and Viet Nam. Indiamade a commitment of supportingthe Master Plan on ASEAN Connec-tivity (MPAC) and connectivity withthe wider East Asia Region for es-tablishment of the linkage betweenthe ASEAN and South Asia. Theannouncement also cleared that In-dia-Myanmar-Thailand highway thatis backed by the U.S., which wouldbe operational by 2016 and wouldact as the Gateway for North EastIndia to South-East Asia. The sameannouncement also cleared the factof the alternative route that wouldconnect the central or NorthMyanmar with Guwahati and Hanoi,on which the discussions weremade during the trilateral meet be-tween, India, U.S. and Japan. Boththe parties, ASEAN and India lookedforward for better connectivity ofthe region via highways and madedecisions on early construction ofnew India-Myanmar-Laos-Viet Nam-Cambodia Highway. It also decidedabout the extension of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral High-way to Laos and Cambodia.

Concerns towards ClimateChange and Environment

Both the parties during theTenth ASEAN-India Summit thatconcluded at Peace Palace, PhnomPenh, Cambodia agreed to work to-gether to respond to the issues ofclimate change and its impact. Theyalso agreed on strengthening stepsto respond to natural disasters thathas always remained a issue of con-cern in the region, like flood andearth quakes.

China State BroadcasterAuctioned Prime Time Slotat a Record Price

China’s main statebroadcaster, China Central Televi-China Central Televi-China Central Televi-China Central Televi-China Central Televi-sion (CCTV)sion (CCTV)sion (CCTV)sion (CCTV)sion (CCTV) in the month of No-vember raised a record 15.88 billionYuan (US$2.5 billion) by sellingprime-time advertising spots foryear 2013. As per News paper Glo-bal times, Revenue from the closely-watched auction by China CentralTelevision (CCTV) grew more than11 per cent from a similar auctionfor year 2012.Analysts is describingthe results as encouraging amid aslowdown in China’s overalleconomy. The results also high-lighted the fact, that the state broad-caster are still dominant in the coun-try despite the growth of social me-dia and the rise of local televisionstations that have captured viewerswith more entertainingprogrammes. With this, CCTV’s lead-ing position in the sector is going toremain unchallenged in the next twoto three years. Some Big spendersfor the year 2013 includes homeappliance giant GOME and spiritmakers Wuliangye Group andKweichow Moutai Co., who are pay-ing a total of more than 1.0 billionyuan for spots during the eveningnews. CCTV is also planning to list

its website as part of a group of do-mestic listings by state-owned me-dia giants. Since the 1990s, China ispropelling state-owned media tostop depending upon governmenthandouts and become profitablethrough subscriptions and advertis-ing, even though competition iseven fiercer with the internet. Socialmedia, such as microblogs similar toTwitter, as well as online news of-ferings, likes the website operatedby Chinese internet giant Sina, arechallenging the staid state media forviewers.

UN (United Nations) Panelpassed N Korea Resolutionby Consensus

The Social, Humanitarian Cul-tural Affairs Committee (Commonlyreferred as third committee of theUN General assembly) of UnitedNations on 27 November 2012, over-seeing human rights issues, unani-mously passed a resolution on NorthKorea. The committee asked NorthKorea to solve the abduction issueand address human rights abuses.

The resolution came before theThird Committee of the General As-sembly for the eighth year in a row,but the first time no vote was taken.

The Seventh East AsiaSummit concluded inPhnom Penh, Cambodia

T h e seventh East Asiaseventh East Asiaseventh East Asiaseventh East Asiaseventh East AsiaSummitSummitSummitSummitSummit(EAS) was held at PeacePalace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on19 November 2012. Prime Ministerof the Kingdom of Cambodia,Samdech Akka Moha Sena PadeiTecho Hun Sen chaired the meeting.The Leaders of East Asia Summitadopted a joint declaration for the7th East Asia Summit following theregional responses to control Ma-laria and address the resistance toanti-malarial medicines. The




Phnom Penh Declaration of the EastAsia Summit Development Initiativewas also taken on this occasion. Dis-cussions and exchange of views ondifferent regional and internationalissues was also done between theleaders of the member-nations. Apart from the 10 members of theASEAN representatives from eightdifferent countries namely Australia,China, India, Japan, New Zealand,Republic of Korea, Russia andUnited States of America also par-ticipated in the summit.

Issues Discussed The leaders of the East India

Summit discussed on a variety ofissues to seek mutual cooperation

for growth and to decide the futuredirection of the member nations.

Priority Areas 1. Environment and energy 2. Education3. Finance4. Global health issues and pan-

demic diseases5. Natural disaster mitigation 6. ASEAN connectivity

Phnom PenhPhnom Penh is the capital city

of Cambodia and the largest city ofthe country. It is located on the bankof River Mekong. Phnom Penh is thecentre for all types of economic andindustrial activities in the nation.

Other summits thatconcluded at Peace Palace

1. 4th ASEAN-U.S. Leaders’Meeting Peace Palace, 19 No-vember 2012

2. 15th ASEAN-ROK SummitPeace Palace, 19 November2012

3. ASEAN Plus Three Commemo-rative Summit Phnom Penh,Cambodia, 19 November 2012

4. 15TH ASEAN-JAPAN SUMMITPhnom Penh, 19 November2012

5. 15TH ASEAN-China SummitPhnom Penh, Cambodia, 19November 2012

6. 7th East Asia Summit (EAS)Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 20November 2012

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The 2nd India-ChinaStrategic economicDialogue held in New Delhi

The 2nd India-China StrategicEconomic Dialogue was held inNew Delhi on 26 November, 2012.During the 2nd meeting of the Dia-logue, India and China discussed awide range of topics includinggreater cooperation at the globallevel, strengthening communication

on macro-economic policies, deep-ening and expanding trade and in-vestment and promoting bilateral

in the current global economic situ-ation it was important to raise thelevel of economic engagement be-tween India and China. The agree-ments are as following:

(i)(i)(i)(i)(i) Cooperation at the globalCooperation at the globalCooperation at the globalCooperation at the globalCooperation at the globallevellevellevellevellevel: Exchanging views oncurrent global economic anddevelopmental challenges, In-dia and China recognized thatas major developing econo-mies, they needed to maintainclose coordination and com-munication to pursue theircommon interests. Amongthem is the reform of interna-tional monetary and financialsystems, stabilizing the volatil-ity in global commodity mar-kets, working towards sustain-able development and climatechange goals, and ensuringfood and energy security. Bothcountries believe that the on-going and future cooperationon existing and upcoming is-sues will greatly enhance mu-tual trust and expand commoninterests.

INDIA & THE WORLDINDIA & THE WORLDINDIA & THE WORLDINDIA & THE WORLDINDIA & THE WORLD

cooperation in the financial and in-frastructure sectors. The proposalsand recommendations made by thefive Working Groups were consid-ered during the 2nd Dialogue anddirections given for their future ac-tivities. India and China agreed that




(ii)(ii)(ii)(ii)(ii) Strengthening communicationStrengthening communicationStrengthening communicationStrengthening communicationStrengthening communicationon macroeconomic policies:on macroeconomic policies:on macroeconomic policies:on macroeconomic policies:on macroeconomic policies:Following detailed discussionson the global and national eco-nomic situations, the twocountries agreed that develop-ment growth trends globallyhave weakened as a result of anumber of factors since theonset of the global financialcrisis. This included weakeningdemand in the developed mar-kets, the ongoing Eurozonecrisis, lower business confi-dence, and growing inflation-ary trends. Both sides seek tomaintain continued economicgrowth while adjusting manu-facturing and services, upgrad-ing levels of technologies andskills, while developing thehard and soft infrastructure forencouraging economicgrowth. The two countriesagreed that they would regu-larly conduct joint studies onissues of mutual interest, fo-cusing on benefits of bestpractices and information ex-changes.

(iii)(iii)(iii)(iii)(iii) Deepening and expandingDeepening and expandingDeepening and expandingDeepening and expandingDeepening and expandingtrade and investment:trade and investment:trade and investment:trade and investment:trade and investment: With aview to promoting greater eco-nomic and commercial en-gagement, both sides recog-nized the need to explore po-tential synergies in areas wherethe two sides have mutualcomplementarities, improvetrade and investment environ-ments, work towards removingmarket barriers, enhance co-operation in project contract-ing, deepen business to busi-ness exchanges, improvetransportation links, encouragegreater bilateral investmentand work towards achieving amore balanced and sustainablebilateral trade.

(iv) (iv) (iv) (iv) (iv) Expanding cooperation in theExpanding cooperation in theExpanding cooperation in theExpanding cooperation in theExpanding cooperation in thefinancial and infrastructurefinancial and infrastructurefinancial and infrastructurefinancial and infrastructurefinancial and infrastructuresectorssectorssectorssectorssectors : Both sides haveagreed to intensify the coop-eration in the financial sectorby encouraging financial insti-tutions of the two countries toset up operations in eithercountry to support enterprisesof the two countries to estab-lish / expand commercial op-erations. Both sides agree toundertake studies in relatedareas including innovative fi-nancial methods to support therequirements of priority sec-tors particularly the infrastruc-ture sector having significantscope for furthering economicdevelopment.The main outcomes of the five

Working Groups are as follows: (a) In the Policy Coordination

Working Group, both countriesdiscussed plan priorities andways and means of achievingplan targets recently unveiledin their 12th Five Year Plans.They exchanged views on skillsdevelopment and industrialpark development. The twonations also submitted assess-ment reports on the invest-ment environments in eachother’s country based on theexperiences of the enterprisesof the two countries and dis-cussed possible solutions toimprove the investment envi-ronment. India and China alsoagreed to carry out joint stud-ies on planning cooperationand skills development foremployability, and enteredinto related MoUs.

(b) In the Infrastructure WorkingGroup, with its focus on en-hancing railway cooperation,both countries exchangedviews on the broad policies

and plans for railway develop-ment in each other’s country.The two countries also dis-cussed high-speed rail devel-opment programme, heavyhaul and station developmentand entered into an MoU toexchange views and other re-lated information in these ar-eas.

(c) In the Energy Working Group,India and China briefed eachother on the development ofthe power sector in the twocountries, the ongoing coop-eration in the power equip-ment sector, opportunities andchallenges in the wind energysector, the possibility of Chi-nese power equipment manu-facturers setting up servicecentres in India and relevantpolicy environment to supportthe ongoing cooperation, andreviewed the small hydropower workshop that was suc-cessfully held in Beijing in Oc-tober 2012.

(d) In the Environmental Protec-tion Working Group, the twonations agreed to enhance co-operation in the implementa-tion of energy efficiencyprojects through energy ser-vice companies (ESCOs), en-couraging visits to industrialand manufacturing centres ex-celling in energy efficient ini-tiatives, cooperate and jointlydevelop testing protocols andstandards and have enteredinto a related MoU. The twosides also exchanged views onenhancing cooperation in wa-ter-saving technologies cover-ing the areas of waste waterrecycling and water-efficientirrigation systems.

(e) In the Hi-Technology WorkingGroup, the two countries




agreed to enhance coopera-tion in the Information Tech-nology and Information Tech-nology Enabled Services (IT/ITES). Both sides also agreedto carry out / support jointstudies to better understandthe IT/ITES markets of eachcountry and have entered intoa related MoU in this area. Thetwo sides also reached a con-sensus to explore the possibil-ity of working together for de-veloping common standardsfor digital TV, audio and videocodec standards and mobilecommunication technology.India and China signed the fol-India and China signed the fol-India and China signed the fol-India and China signed the fol-India and China signed the fol-

lowing MoUs:lowing MoUs:lowing MoUs:lowing MoUs:lowing MoUs:(a) Memorandum of Understand-

ing between the Planning Com-mission of the Government ofthe Republic of India and Na-tional Development and Re-form Commission of the Gov-ernment of the People’s Re-public of China on Undertak-ing Joint Studies.

(b) Memorandum of Understand-ing between the Bureau of En-ergy Efficiency, Ministry ofPower, Government of the Re-public of India and NationalDevelopment and ReformCommission of the Govern-ment of the People’s Republicof China on Enhancing Coop-eration in the Field of EnergyEfficiency.

(c) Memorandum of Understand-ing between the Ministry ofRailways of the Government ofthe Republic of India and Min-istry of Railways of the Govern-ment of the People’s Republicof China on enhancing techni-cal cooperation in the railwaysector.

(d) Memorandum of Understand-ing between the National As-

sociation of Software and Ser-vices Companies (NASSCOM),India and the China SoftwareIndustry Association (CSIA) onEnhancing Cooperation in theIT/ITES Sector.India and China agreed that the

3rd India-China Strategic EconomicDialogue will be convened in Chinain 2013. They also agreed that priorto the 3rd Dialogue, the WorkingGroups would meet to implementthe consensus and decisions agreedto by the two sides at the 2nd Stra-tegic Economic Dialogue.

What is India-ChinaStrategic EconomicDialogue?

Established during the visit toIndia of Wen Jiabao, Premier of theState Council of the People’s Repub-lic of China in December 2010, theIndia-China Strategic Economic Dia-logue is aimed at improving macro-economic policy coordination, pro-moting exchanges on economic is-sues and enhancing India-Chinaeconomic cooperation. The 1st Dia-logue had been successfully held atBeijing in September 2011 wherethe two countries agreed to consti-tute five Working Groups on policycoordination, infrastructure, energy,environment protection and high-technology. A working level delega-tion from China visited New Delhiin March 2012 following which thefive Working Groups met in Beijingin the months of August and Sep-tember 2012. This preparatory workhas contributed immensely to thesuccessful deliberations in and out-comes of the 2nd Dialogue.

India and AfghanistanSigned Four CooperationPacts

India and Afghanistan on 12November 2012 signed four agree-

ments to cooperate in areas of so-cial welfare, fertilizer, coal miningand youth affairs. President of Af-ghanistan Hamid Karzai was in In-dia on a four day visit from 9 No-vember 2012 to12 November 2012.

During his visit a Memorandumof Understanding was signed byExternal Affair Minister SalmanKhurshid and Afghanistan ForeignMinister Zalmai Rassoul under whichIndia will provide grants to Afghani-stan to implement small develop-ment projects through local bodies,community organisations, charitabletrusts and educational institutions.

The three other Memorandumof Understanding ( MoU) signed canbe listed as

♦ The second MoU relates to fer-tilizer sector and was signedby Salman Khurshid and Af-ghanistan Minister of MinesWahidullah Shahrani.

♦ The third MoU aims at coop-eration in youth affairs whichwas signed by India’s externalaffairs minister and AghanistanMinister of Information andCulture Sayed MakhdoomRaheenis.

♦ The fourth MoU was on the de-velopment of coal resourcesand was signed by India’s CoalMinister Prakash Jaiswal andAfghanistan Minister of MinesWahidullah Shahrani.

Both the countries also de-cided to intensify the cooperationwith a special focus on deepeningtheir economic engagement in areas




ranging from agriculture and smallbusinesses to mining and infrastruc-ture.

India and Japan Signed TwoAgreements in Tokyo

The Governments of India andJapan signed the two agreements on16 November 2012 in Tokyo: Theagreements are as following: 1)Agreement between India and Ja-pan on Social Security 2) Memoran-dum between the Department ofAtomic Energy of India and the Min-istry of Economy, Trade and Indus-try of Japan on Cooperation in theRare Earths Industry in India.Theconclusion and signing of theseagreements will further enhance andstrengthen the India-Japan Strategicand Global Partnership.

India-Japan-US TrilateralDialogue held in New Delhi

Senior officials of the Inda, Ja-pan and USA held their third trilat-eral dialogue in New Delhi on 29October 2012 to enhance coopera-tion on combating maritime secu-rity, combating piracy and leverag-ing their strengths to shape the Asia-Pacific architecture. The trilateralmeeting was the third of its kind.

The first round of talks washeld in Washington in 2011 and thesecond round was held in Tokyo.

India Added 22 New Itemsto promote Indo-MyanmarBorder Trade

Indian Government in the

improved air, land and sea routes tostrengthen trade links with Myanmarand establish a gas pipeline. Thebilateral border trade agreement of1994 provides for border trade to becarried out from three designatedborder points, one each in Manipur,Mizoram and Nagaland.

India, Britain decided toenhance Cooperation inCyber Security

India and Britain on 8 Novem-ber 2012 decided to step-up coop-eration in Cyber Security during theForeign Minister level talks of boththe nations. Before, this during theForeign Secretary level talks, the is-sues discussed was nuclear energyand counter-terrorism.

The representatives of both thenations, William Hague the BritishForeign Secretary and SalmanKhurshid India’s External AffairsMinister after agreeing on the issuesof cooperation on cyber crimes,which included cooperation in de-fining the ways of tackling the cybercrime, bilaterally issued a joint state-ment on the issues discussed.

William Hague, during the bi-lateral discussions, also supportedIndian bid to the membership in fourexport control regimes looking for-ward to the time, when India wouldturn-up to be a permanent seat inthe UN Security Council. The For-eign Minister and the Foreign Sec-retary also discussed Syria Issue.

The London Conference onCyberspace of 2011 was attended

month of November added 22 com-modities such as agricultural tools,bicycle, coal and garments in the listof items for border trade withMyanmar to boost the two-waycommerce between the neighbours.The new items added and revisedin the list of 40 tradable items wasconfirmed in a public notice by Di-rector General of Foreign Tradewhich now make the list of 62 Con-solidated items. The other newitems included are edible oil, elec-trical appliances, steel products,medicines, tea, beverages, motorcycles and spare parts, semi pre-cious stone, sewing machines andthree wheelers/cars below 100 cc. As per Industry led Organisation CII,the bilateral trade between Indiaand Myanmar is expected to doubleby 2015 from the current level ofUSD 1.3 billion, on the back of freetrade agreement between NewDelhi and Asean region.Myanmar isa key member of the 10-nation blocAsean.

About Indo-Myanmar BorderTrade

It has been seen that bilateralrelations between Myanmar and In-dia is considerably improving since1993, overcoming strains over drugtrafficking the suppression of de-mocracy and the rule of the militaryjunta in Burma. The proximity of thePeople’s Republic of China givesstrategic importance to Indo-Bur-mese relations.

India is one of the largest mar-ket for Burmese exports, it is sup-ported from the fact that India isMyanmar’s 4th largest trading part-ner after Thailand, China andSingapore, and second largest ex-port market after Thailand, absorb-ing 25 percent of its total exports.

The Indian government had




at Ministerial level from the Indianside and following the results of theconference, both the countriesstarted its first dialogue on coopera-tion in October 2012. India & Brit-ain upgraded the relationship ofstrategic partnership in the year2004 and since then the foreign min-isters of both the nations have beenworking on the areas of commoninterest in the cyber domain. Haguealso supported the UnitedKingdom’s move of meeting theChief Minister of Gujarat NarendraModi, demonstrated it as the chanceof strengthening Britain’s ties acrossthe breadth of India.

Britain also allowed its citizensto visit Srinagar and Jammu by lift-ing the ban because of the changedground realities of the land.

Core principles based onTransparency, Freedom andLiberty

The officials from both the na-tions tried to create and define thecore principles through interactionsto carry on the cooperation on theprinciples of liberty, freedom of ex-pression, transparency and the ruleof law that is applied to the cyberspace. To tackle cybercrimes of alltypes and to boost the confidenceof cooperation, the dialogue tried tofind the facts of reducing risk ofthreats from cyberspace to interna-tional security.

India and Japan SignedEarths Pact on Rare EarthMinerals

India and Japan signed anEarths Pact on 16 November 2012that will enable the latter to importthe rare Earth minerals from India.These rare minerals are very impor-tant for the Tech-savvy industries ofJapan. The pact came as a conclu-sion despite postponement of India-

velopments, coordination in interna-tional fora and their bilateral coop-eration in the area.

The first meeting of the India-UK Joint Working Group (JWG) tookplace in 2004. The next and the 9thmeeting of the JWG will be held inthe UK in 2013 on mutually conve-nient dates.

India and Sweden SignedSocial Security Agreementin New Delhi

India and Sweden signed a so-cial security agreement in New Delhion 26 November 2012. This agree-ment will help both the countries inmore investment and work oppor-tunities for nationals of India andSweden. It will also encourage moreand more Indians to go to Swedenfor employment opportunities andvice versa. Approximately, 156Swedish companies are operating inIndia and expressed the hope thatthis agreement will encourageSwedish people to come in largenumbers to India. In fact, India is thefirst Asian country with which Swe-den has signed this type ofagreement. The Social SecurityAgreement will enhance coopera-tion on social security between thetwo countries. The Agreement willprovide following benefits to Indiannationals working in Sweden: (a) For short term contract up to

two years, no social contribu-tion would need to be paidunder the Swedish law by thedetached workers provided

Japan annual summit. As per thesigned pact, Japan will be able toimport 4000 tonnes rare Earth min-erals for a year from India. By sign-ing the pact, Japan has branched outits supply from China for metalswhich are used in their industries.

Japan now hopes that the pactwill reduce its dependency on Chinafor these rare minerals. It is impor-tant to note here that Japan is in tiffon the issue of Senkaku islands withChina.

Apart from this, India-Japanalso signed a social security pact.These two pacts which were des-tined to come into force on the now-cancelled Indian PM’s trip were re-inforced in Japan.

The 8th Meeting of theIndia-UK JWG on CounterTerrorism held in New Delhi

The 8th meeting of the India-UK Joint Working Group (JWG) onCounter Terrorism was held on No-vember 20, 2012 in New Delhi. Thediscussions of the JWG were heldin an atmosphere of trust and mu-tual understanding. The two coun-tries shared their respective threatassessments and informed eachother of the measures taken by theirgovernments to strengthen counterterrorism policies and structures.They also discussed the follow upon the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11. The two countries also ex-changed views on international de-




they continue to make socialsecurity payment in India.

(b) The above benefits shall beavailable even when the Indiancompany sends its employeesto Sweden from a third coun-try.

(c) Indian workers shall be en-titled to the export of the so-cial security benefit if they re-locate to India after thecompletion of their service inSweden.

(d) The self-employed Indians inSweden would also be entitledto export of social securitybenefit of their relocation toIndia.

(e) The period of contribution inone contracting state will beadded to the period of contri-bution in the second contract-ing state for determining theeligibility of social securitybenefits.

There are about 18000 Over-seas Indians in Sweden, most ofwhom are working as professionaland self-employed. However, thereis a huge potential for Indian work-ers to take employment in Swedenowing to the huge labour supply gapin the market.

As such, a bilateral Social Se-curity Agreement with Sweden is asignificant requirement from the fu-turistic point of view to take advan-tage of the emerging employmentopportunities and to strengthen thetrade and investment between thetwo countries.

India has singed similar agree-ments with Belgium, Germany,France, Switzerland, Netherlands,Luxembourg, Hungary, Denmark,Czech Republic, the Republic ofKorea, Norway, Finland, Canada andJapan.

RBI and the State Bank ofVietnam signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on 16 November 2012 signed aMemorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the State Bank of Viet-nam (SBV) for promoting greater co-operation and sharing supervisoryinformation, between the two su-pervisors. The MoU between thetwo banks was signed at Hanoi, Viet-nam in the Headquarters of StateBank of Vietnam and by the ChiefGeneral Manager-In-Charge, Depart-ment of Banking Supervision, RBI-G. Jaganmohan Rao and Chief In-spector, Banking SupervisionAgency, SBV- Nguyen Huu Nghia.The Deputy Governor, SBV- DangThanh Binh, and Indian Ambassadorto Hanoi- Ranjit Rae graced this oc-casion of signing the MoU.


http://upscportal.com/civilservices/books






National Cancer Instituteand a National Cardio CareCentre to be developed atJhajjar

The Union Government of In-dia on 24 November 2012 an-nounced to set up a National Can-cer Institute (NCI) and a NationalCardio Care Centre (NCCC) at thesecond campus of All-India Instituteof Medical Sciences (AIIMS) inBadhsa village of Jhajjar, Haryanaduring the inauguration of the Out-reach OPD of the AIIMS-II campusspread over 300 acres. This outreachOPD is well equipped with all thefacilities and has a capacity of 1000beds and the first OPD in the nationto provide free medicines to thepatients.

On this occasion, the UnionHealth Minister Ghulam Nabi Azadalso declared that the AIIMS-II, witha total capacity of 2,100 beds, wouldbe developed as a world-class in-stitute. International bids in form ofthe Expression of Interest for draft-ing the master plan was already

called on by the ministry. The Pro-posed National Cancer Institutewould be the country’s largest can-cer institute with a capacity of 600beds and facilities of treating almostevery form of cancer.

South African GovernmentRolled Out Nelson MandelaBank Notes

The South African ReserveBank on 6 November 2012 rolled outnew bank notes bearing the face of

the country’s first black PresidentNelson Mandela marking it as a trib-ute to him. The Note issued by theSouth African Reserve Bank, dis-played the 94-year-old anti-apart-heid icon’s smiling face. Also, theearlier images of one of the five biganimals featured on the old banknotes – lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo

and elephant – will be retained onthe reverse of the note. NelsonMandela is currently living out his

ECONOMYECONOMYECONOMYECONOMYECONOMY




retirement in his childhood rural vil-lage of Qunu in the Eastern CapeProvince. Nelson Mandela held of-fice between 1994 and 1999 and heis the first black face to appear onSouth African money.

Mallya gets lifeline, losesRoyal Challenge

Dealing a shot of good news,international liquor major Diageo, onFriday, announced its decision toacquire 53.4 per cent stake in VijayMallya-owned United Spirits Ltd.(USL) for Rs.11,166.50 crore.

Diageo announced from Lon-don that it had entered into agree-ments with United Breweries (Hold-ings) Ltd. and USL to acquire 27.4per cent stake in USL for Rs.5,725crore at Rs.1,440 a share. Shares ofUSL closed at Rs.1,343.25 on Thurs-day. UB Holding and associate com-panies will sell 19.3 per cent staketo Diageo and a large part of thismoney will directly go to UB Hold-ings, which will de-leverage its bal-ance sheet.

The board of directors of USLhas cleared a proposal to make apreferential allotment of USL shares,amounting to 10 per cent of thecompany’s enlarged share capital, toDiageo at Rs.1,440 a share. The pro-ceeds from this will go into clearinga part of USL’s debt of Rs.8,300crore. After this stake sale, the UBHoldings group’s shareholding inUSL will come down to 14.9 percent.

Following completion of theseagreements, Mr. Mallya will continueas Chairman of USL, and UBHL. Hewill work with Diageo to build theUSL business in India.

Open offer to buy 26 %stake

Since these agreements triggerthe Securities and Exchange Boardof India’s takeover code, Diageo willlaunch an open offer to buy 26 percent stake from the public atRs.1,440 a share.

The open offer will cost DiageoRs.5,441 crore. Shareholders needto approve this proposal.

On completion of this process,Diageo will hold a total of 53.4 percent stake in USL with an aggregatecost of Rs.11,166.50 crore.

“It is completely a win-win forboth. I am personally very happythat finally the dream has cometrue,” UB Group Chairman Mr.Mallya said in a conference call withjournalists from London. He madeit clear that the money generatedfrom this deal would not be utilisedto revive Kingfisher Airlines as hadbeen widely speculated.

“I have now done what I thinkis best for my spirits business and,of course, we will also address theneeds of Kingfisher Airlines, butthese will be done separately for thegood of the company and its stake-holders,” Mr. Mallya added.

“I have had a long associationwith Diageo and, therefore, I amconfident that this winning partner-ship with Diageo provides USL withthe best possible platform for futuregrowth,” he said. “I am delighted toremain part of that journey as Chair-man of USL as we work together tobuild continued value for the share-holders of USL and UBHL,” Mr.Mallya said.

Family jewel?He denied that he sold his fam-

ily jewel (USL) “I have not sold myfamily jewel, only embellishedthem,” he said.

Diageo’s COO Ivan Menezessaid the acquisition USL’sshareholding was fully aligned withthe company’s strategy to build itspresence in the world’s faster grow-ing markets besides enhancing itsposition as the world’s leading pre-mium drinks company.

He said UB group’s manufac-turing and distribution capabilitiesand Diageo’s marketing and brandbuilding capabilities would be aunique combination.

“As a result of the agreements,we will be well positioned to takethe growth opportunities presentedby a spirits market where growth isdriven by the increasing number ofmiddle-class consumers. The com-bination of USL’s strong businesswith the capabilities which Diageobrings as the world’s leading pre-mium drinks company will ensurethat USL continues to lead the indus-try in India,” Paul S. Walsh, ChiefExecutive of Diageo, said in a state-ment. Diageo has asked the UBgroup to release all security interestsover USL shares to be acquired byit.

Good NewsAnalysts said this was the best

Mr. Mallya could have done. “He ispushed to the wall to sell stake andthere is no other choice. The deal isin line with market expectation andhe fetched more money than ex-pected. It is good for the company,”said market analyst Ambarish Baliga.

The entire deal is expected tocomplete in early 2013. Diageo willfund the acquisition through exist-ing cash resources and debt.




Diageo and MR. Mallya haveentered into a MoU to form a 50:50joint venture which will own UnitedNational Breweries’ traditional sor-ghum beer business in South Africa.

They are also considering thepossibility of extending this jointventure to maximise opportunitiesin Africa and Asia (excluding India).USL shares closed with a gain of 1.22per cent at Rs.1359.70 on the BSE.

United Spirits’ brands includeRoyal Challenge, Directors Special,Signature whisky; Black Dog scotchand White Mischief in vodka.

Cabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs approved9.5 percent StakeDisinvestment in NTPC

The Cabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA) approvedthe disinvestment of 9.5 percentGovernment Stake in the MaharatnaPSU-National Thermal Power Cor-poration (NTPC) on 22 November2012 from its holding of 84.50 per-cent.

The disinvestment would bedone through the stock exchangesfollowing the SEBI Rules, via an of-fer for sales of the shares. The eq-uity disinvestment of NTPC wouldbring back a sum of about 13000crore rupees.

With this disinvestment thegovernments holding on NTPCwould fall down from present 84.5percent to 75 percent, which willadhere to the minimum publicshareholding norms that was stipu-lated by the Securities and Ex-change Board of India (SEBI), themarket regulators. The recordedpaid-up equity capital of NTPC onof 31 March 2012 under administra-tive control of the Ministry of Powerwas 8245.46 crore rupees.

NTPCNTPC-the National Thermal

Power Corporation is a Public Ser-vice Undertaking Company engagedin power generation that came intoexistence in the year 1975 to accel-erate the rate of power generationin India. In the Forbes Global 2000ranking list of the World’s biggestcompanies NTPC was ranked at337th position in 2012.

At present NTPCs generatingcapacity is 39674 MW and by 2032it is expected that the companywould have a capacity of 128000MW.

Oman Banned Import ofEggs and Chicken fromIndia

The Sultanate of Oman on 10November 2012 issued an officialdecree banning the import of eggsand chicken from India. Oman thatis the biggest egg export market ofIndia issued the ban following therecommendations of the WorldOrganisation for Animal Healthabout the outbreak of bird-flu wasconfirmed by the Government runTurkey Farm at Hesaraghatta,

Karnataka in the month of October. The Sultanate of Oman banned

import of eggs and chicken fromIndia for second time in 2012 andthis ban is going to affect the eco-nomic conditions of the poultryfarmers of India as this ban wouldhave an impact on a third of poultryexport from India. Oman resumedthe import of Poultry Products fromIndia after a ban that lasted for fivemonths in the last week of Septem-ber. The previous ban was made ineffect of reports of bird flu wit-nessed in Bihar.

GAIL and RSPCL signed anAgreement of Joint Ventureon Gas Supply PipelineProject

The GAIL Gas Limited and theRajasthan State Petroleum Corpora-tion Limited (RSPCL) signed anagreement of Joint Venture on 5November 2012 to lay down thenatural gas supply pipeline in thestate. Both the bodies will togetherformulate a long-term plan on com-mercial, domestic as well as indus-trial consumption of the gas. Theagreement was signed by GAIL GasLimited Chief Executive Officer J.Vasan and Ajitabh Sharma Manag-ing Director of RSPCL in presenceof C.K. Mathew, State Chief Secre-tary.

The joint venture would helpin supply of pollution free LPG, CNGand LNG to consumers of differentcategories and would also be re-sponsible for development of theCNG stations on the road sides ofthe state and national highways. Theproject would also supply the gasrequired by the industrial units thatis coming up on the Delhi-Mumbaiindustrial corridor. The transport,supply and distribution of gaswould be carried after getting ap-




provals from the Petroleum & Natu-ral Gas Regulatory Board.

Moody’s downgradesArcelorMittal rating tospeculative

Moody’s, on Tuesday, down-graded ArcelorMittal’s long-termcredit rating by one notch to Ba1,putting it into speculative or ‘junk’territory, saying the deterioration insteel markets means the companycan no longer reduce its debtenough to keep an investment grademark. “The downgrade reflects thedeterioration in global steel marketsover the last six months,’’ saidMoody’s, pointing to the companyposting its worst performance inthree years last quarter.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s topsteelmaker, had an operating lossand its gross debt rose in the thirdquarter.

“As a result, the amount of debtreduction the company must realisein order to hold a Baa3 rating is solarge as to be unachievable...’’ saidSteve Oman, Senior Vice-Presidentand lead analyst for the EMEA steelindustry at Moody’s. The Baa3 rat-ing is the lowest investment-graderating at Moody’s.

Air India on course for aturnaround

Air India’s (AI) performance inthe first half of the current fiscal in-dicates that the national carrier is ontrack to meet the various norms laiddown in the turnaround plan thatwere approved by the government

in April. Various financial and opera-tional restructuring currently under-way would accrue substantial ben-efits and the airline seems deter-mined to turn EBITDA positive byMarch 2013, said AI officials.

On-time performance in thefirst half improved to 85 per centfrom below 80 per cent in the firsthalf last year. For domestic, it was89 per cent (78 per cent) while in-ternational was 81 per cent (78 percent).

Passenger load factor im-proved to 70.9 per cent with thedomestic services contributing sub-stantially, the requirement being69.5 per cent. AI has achieved a net-work yield of Rs. 4.31 per passen-ger km, with domestic yield of Rs. 6and an international yield of Rs. 3.5,which is comparable with other fullservice carriers. On fleet utilisation,AI achieved an average utilisation of10.9 hours for its Airbus fleet ascompared to 10.50 hours set in theturnaround plan. The wide bodyfleet hit 13 hours utilisation asagainst 14 hours set in the turn-around plan.

The number of passengers inNovember showed a substantial in-crease, with an average of 46,300passengers flying daily, of which 66per cent were domestic passengers.

Productivity Linked Incentiveshave been abolished from July 1 andthe airline has taken steps tooperationalize the engineering andground handling businesses withthe appointment of SBI Caps as itsadvisors. Towards monetizing itsreal estate assets, DTZ has been ap-pointed as global real estate consult-ant. The objective is to monetize Rs500 crore a year with a target of Rs5,000 crore in 10 years. The IT sys-tem has been upgraded. A voluntary

retirement scheme (VRS) has beenfinalized at the board level and hasbeen submitted to the ministry ofcivil aviation for approval. VRS istargeted at 5,000 surplus employees.

With 20,000 employees to beshifted to the ground handling andengineering businesses, the effec-tive strength of the parent companywould come down substantially.“The objective is to have an aircraftto employee ratio of 1:100,” an offi-cial said.

“Route rationalisation contin-ues to be a significant part of ourstrategy to return to profitability.

“In the first half, domestic ser-vices contributed surplus of Rs.200crore as compared to Rs.57 croreloss in the first half of last year. 65per cent of the domestic routes con-tributed to higher yield,” said SVenkat, Director-Finance, Air India.

Through various cost reductionmeasures, AI has been able to bringdown cost by nearly Rs.600 crore inthe first half, officials said. The re-structuring of working capital loanand non-convertible debenture is-sue will bring down AI’s interestburden substantially. AI’s short termloans will come down to Rs. 4,500crore from Rs. 22,500 crore.

Reserve Bank of India askedBanks not to Provide Loansfor Purchase of Gold

The Reserve Bank of India, inits notification released on 19 No-vember 2012 directed banks not toprovide loans to its customers forpurchase of all types of gold, which




includes primary gold, jewellery,bullion, gold coins, units of GoldExchange Traded Funds (ETF) andunits of gold mutual funds. The or-der was directed for discouragingpeople from getting involved inspeculative activities. The notifica-tion from the Reserve Bank of Indiaalso directed the banks not to grantadvances against gold bullion totraders or dealers, as such advanceswould be utilised with the purposeof offering finance for gold purchaseat auctions and speculative holdingof stocks and bullion. This notifica-tion allowed the banks to providefinances to the jewelers for theirgeneral working capital require-ments.

The decision of RBI came upin response to the suggestion of theworking Group constituted after theannouncement if the MonetaryPolicy Statement of April 2012. Theworking group suggested that thebanks are not permitted to financepurchase of any type of gold otherthan the working capital. This de-cision of RBI came up in responseto the significant growth in the im-ports of the gold in past few yearsthat has created pressure on thecurrent account deficit. The Goldimports of India in 2011-12 stood upat 60 billion dollar.

Civil Aviation Ministryapproved New Traffic Rightsto Indian Carriers

The Civil Aviation Ministry inthe first week of November 2012approved new traffic rights to Indiancarriers for the next three seasonsto expand international air travel outof the country. The new cities in-clude Rome, Madrid, Barcelona,Sydney, Melbourne, Nairobi, AlNajaf in Iraq, Moscow, Zurich,Macau, Tashkent and Ho Chi Minh

City. Air India and its subsidiary AirIndia Express got their number ofweekly flights enhanced.Air India has also got the rights forthe first time to fly on sectors likeDelhi-Rome-Madrid/Barcelona,Delhi-Moscow, Delhi-Sydney/Melbourne, Mumbai-Nairobi andMumbai-Al Najaf. The allocation offlight traffic rights is expected togive a major boost to Indian carri-ers and spur growth in the civil avia-tion sector. The move will also en-hance connectivity from various In-dian cities to international destina-tions. It will also enhance competi-tiveness among airlines and is ex-pected to bring down fares. Open-ing of several new international sec-tors and progressive increase innumber of flights will also give a fil-lip to the domestic tourism sectorwhich will result in overall economicgrowth of the country.

Government decided todigitize Cable TV Networkin Thirty Eight Cities

The Union Government of In-dia on 6 November 2012 decided todigitise Cable TV network in thirtyeight cities, spread over 15 States,by 31 March 2013 in the secondphase of digitisation. Earlier, thedigitization was completed in Delhi,Mumbai and Kolkata on the 31Oc-tober 2012, while in Chennai thedeadline was extended till the 9November 2012 by the Madras HighCourt.

CAG hits back at RIL,British Gas

Upset at the repeated failure ofReliance Industries Limited (RIL) tosubmit for audit records and infor-mation relating to the KrishnaGodavari D6 block, the Comptrol-ler and Auditor-General has askedthe Petroleum Ministry to withholdall approvals to the Mukesh Ambani-owned company, except in emer-gency situations.

The government auditor hasalso asked the Ministry not to clearthe plans of British Gas (BG) for ex-ploration projects as it had alsofailed to submit information andrecords relating to the Panna-Mukta-Tapti gasfields.

Sources in the governmentsaid that soon after M. VeerappaMoily took over as Petroleum Minis-ter this month, following the “uncer-emonious” exit of S. Jaipal Reddy,the CAG wrote to the Ministry,pointing to the continuous failure ofthe two companies to submit therecords it had sought. “The CAG, inits communication, has pointed outthat every effort was being made tothwart the audit by the constitu-tional body, and one after anotherobstacle was created in the conductof a smooth audit till 2011-12. BothRIL and BG are shying away fromproviding information and haveadopted an ‘indifferent’ attitude tothe CAG, resulting in the audit com-ing to a standstill,” the sources said.

Furthermore, the sources said,the CAG asked the Ministry to im-mediately direct RIL to submit allrecords pertaining to the KG D6block for audit up to 2012, as anyincrease in capital expenditurewould have an adverse impact onthe government’s interest. “Till thetime RIL and BG submit the relevant




records for audit and cooperatewith the CAG, their approvalsshould be held back except in emer-gency circumstances,” it said.

Earlier this month, the CAGstrongly objected to the “restrictiveconditions” laid down by RIL for anaudit, which, it said, “impinge uponthe basic mandate, rights and obli-gations of the CAG” to conduct anaudit and report the results to Par-liament.

In a letter to Petroleum Secre-tary G.C. Chaturvedi on October 26,two days before Mr. Reddy wasshunted out of the Ministry, the CAGsaid the conditions were unaccept-able, and the CAG’s (Duties, Pow-ers and Conditions of Service) Act,1971, gave it unfettered right andwould override all conditionssought to be imposed on the auditprocess.

In it, the government auditorlisted the conditions laid down byRIL: audit be restricted to “account-ing books and records;” audit of theyears that were time-barred be sub-ject to the consent of the operator;audit report be submitted to theMinistry and not Parliament; audit besubjected to confidentiality arrange-ments between parties to the pro-duction-sharing contract; and theCAG be bound not to use the infor-mation acquired during the audit forany other audit under the Act.

“It would not be possible forus to conduct audit under such re-strictions imposed by the operator[RIL],” A.M. Bajaj, Principal Directorof Audit, Economic and ServiceMinistries, said in the letter.

The CAG said it reserved theright to undertake an independentaudit of the entire process of awardof hydrocarbon blocks by the Min-istry under Section 16 of the CAG’sAct “as profit petroleum is a non-tax

revenue credited to the Consoli-dated Fund of India, and this wouldinvolve examination of all records(including those of the operator)that are relevant to our audit. ThisSection… gives us an unfetteredright and will override all conditionssought to be imposed on our auditprocess.”

SEBI allows trading of ETFsin SLB segment

The Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (SEBI), on Thursday,allowed “liquid” Index ExchangeTraded Funds (ETFs) eligible fortrading in the Securities Lending andBorrowing (SLB) segment.

Earlier, SEBI had allowed onlysecurities traded in the Futures &Options (F&O) segment for lendingand borrowing of securities.

Securities lending is a loan ofsecurities by a lender to a borrowerfor an agreed period.

The lender earns lending feeon securities lying idle, and the ob-jective of the lender is to maximisereturns on the portfolio. Borrowers’objective would be to use SLB tocover shortages and reverse arbi-trage. SEBI has also stipulated thatposition limits for SLB in respect ofETFs would be based on the assetsunder management of the respec-tive ETF.

“ETF shall be deemed ‘liquid’provided the Index ETF has tradedon at least 80 per cent of the daysover the past six months and its im-

pact cost over the past six monthsis less than or equal to 1 per cent,”SEBI added.

With the introduction of theETFs in the SLB segment, therewould be wider participation aswell as increased volumes.

Further, SEBI has introduced aroll-over facility wherein the lender,who is due to receive securities inthe pay-out of an SLB session, mayextend the period of lending andsimilarly a borrower, who has to re-turn borrowed securities in the pay-in of an SLB session, may, throughthe same SLB session, extend theperiod of borrowing.

Roll-over shall be available forthree months, that is, the originalcontract plus two roll-over con-tracts. SEBI, however, said that net-ting between borrow and lend po-sition would not be permitted.

Core Sectors of IndianEconomy Grew By 6.5Percent in October 2012

Eight core sectors of the IndianEconomy grew by 6.5 percent, theeight-month high in October 2012-2013 in comparison to 0.4 percentin same time period last year, theofficial data revealed on 30 Novem-ber 2012. The sectors which weightapproximately 38 percent in Indexof Industrial Production (IIP) in-creased by seven-month high inSeptember by 5 percent and 2.3percent in August. However, thegrowth of core sector is not depen-dent on the data of industrial pro-duction. For instance, inspite of thehigher growth in core sector, theindustrial production contractedaround 0.4 percent in September. Alot of things are dependent on thecapital goods segment whichshowed consistent contraction. Theofficial data revealed that the eight




main industries of the Indianeconomy- steel, electricity, coal,crude, cement, natural gas, refineryproducts and fertilisers grew 3.7percent in initial seven months of2012-2013 fiscal year against 4.3percent in the same period in 2011-2012 fiscal year.

Output of the coal showedregular growth with 10.9 percent.However, on the monthly basis, itwas lower when compared with21.4 percent in September. Refineryproducts, steel as well as cementcontributed towards the strong eco-nomic growth with 20.3 percent, 5.9percent and 6.8 percent respec-tively.

Natural gas as well as crude oilremained in contractionary zone.Crude oil witnessed a fall in thegrowth consecutively for fifth monthat 0.4 percent in comparison to 1.7percent in September. Productionof natural gas on the other hand,decreased by 14.9 percent. In Sep-tember as well, it decreased 14.8percent. Production of natural gashas continued to contract for morethan a year now. Initially, in Febru-ary 2012, all these sectors grew at afaster speed of 6.9 percent. The pro-duction of cement decreased from13.8 percent in September to 6.8percent. Generation of electricity,on the other hand increased by 5.2percent after this segment saw adecrease in previous threemonths. Fertilisers indicated posi-tive growth of 2 percent after 5.7percent growth in September.

Income Ceiling for LIGraised by UnionGovernment of India

The Union Governmentof Indiaon 15 November 2012 decided toraise cap on the annual incomewhich is required for qualificationfor the benefits under the present

housing schemes for the Low In-come Groups (LIG) as well as Eco-nomically Weaker Sections (EWS).This step on the part of the govern-ment will provide benefit to 20 lakhpeople. The Ministry for Housingand Urban Poverty Alleviation(HUPA) raised the income criterionfor EWS housings from 60000 Ru-pees per year initially to 1 Lakh Ru-pees now.

This clearly indicates thatpeople with household income be-low 1 Lakh Rupees will be able toavail benefits of EWS housingscheme. Likewise, the income barfor LIG category has been raised to2 lakh Rupees now. This decisionwill be implemented during the 12thFive Year Plan. Instructions havebeen given to the state governmentsas well as the banks so that the de-cision could be implemented effec-tively. People will now be able toget benefits under the Rajiv AwasRajiv AwasRajiv AwasRajiv AwasRajiv AwasYogna (RAY)Yogna (RAY)Yogna (RAY)Yogna (RAY)Yogna (RAY)and EWS HousingEWS HousingEWS HousingEWS HousingEWS HousingSchemes.Schemes.Schemes.Schemes.Schemes. Additionally, the UnionMinister added that they have thetarget of including 20 lakh peopleunder this plan. It is the big stepbecause more people would qualifyfor the home loans now.

Definition of EconomicallyWeaker Sections (EWS)

People falling within the in-come limit set by the Ministry ofUrban Development fall under thecategory of Economically WeakerSections (EWS). Ministry of UrbanDevelopment revised this incomeceiling from Rs. 3,300 to Rs. 5,000.This income ceiling has been madeapplicable to loans for Interest Sub-sidy for Housing the Urban PoorScheme (ISHUP) as well as Housingand Urban Development Corpora-tion (HUDCO).

Government of Indiaannounced MinimumSupport Price for Cotton

The Union Government on 2October 2012 announced arevised Minimum Support Price(MSP) for cotton and this wouldhelp in inducing stabilisation in cot-ton price. Cotton has witnessed asharp decline in the past and re-mained operational round about itsminimum support price. After thereview meet conducted on 2 Octo-ber 2012, by the Union Textiles Min-ister, Anand Sharma the revisionswere done. The decided minimumsupport price of medium staple cot-ton has gone up to 3600 rupees perquintal from initial rate of 2800 ru-pees. Similarly, the MSP for longstaple cotton has gone up to 3900per quintal from 3300 rupees. Thisrate is fixed for the fiscal year 2012-13.

The Cotton AdvisoryThe Cotton AdvisoryThe Cotton AdvisoryThe Cotton AdvisoryThe Cotton AdvisoryBoardBoardBoardBoardBoard has declared that the esti-mated production of cotton in thecountry for this year would be about334 lakh bales, out of which the na-tional consumption would record to260 lakh bales. The surplous 70 lakhbales would be available for exportspurposes. The government has for-mulated a contingency plan to pro-cure 90 lakh bales of cotton underMSP operations in the season ofcotton production in the year 2012-13. To carry on with this procure-ment process, it has also




operationlised 288 procurementcenters across all the nine cottongrowing states of the nation. Theworking capital requirement wasraised to 15000 crore rupees by theCotton Corporation of India (CCI)for operationlisation of the MSPfixed. To control the MSP plan aspecial MSP cell has also been cre-ated at the CCI’s corporate officeand it is headed by the A.Chokalingam, Director Marketing.To alleviate the distress of farmersfrom NAFED and CCI, the govern-ment would be taking serious stepsfor price stabilization andoperationlisation of the MSP de-cided.

Criteria of Selection ofProcurement Centers

• Centers that would cross theexpected arrivals of 50000quintals of cotton

• It should have an existence ofmarket yard that is functional

• Weighbridge should be avail-able in the market

• Ginning and pressing factoriesmust be available in proximityto the center, with availabilityof facilities for fire fighting

Amul losesTRIX to U.S. giant

The Gujarat High Court has re-fused to set aside an order whichcancelled Amul’s registration of itstrademark ‘TRIX’, on which a U.S.firm has claimed its right.

In July this year, the Intellec-

tual Property Appellate Board haddirected Registrar of Trademarks tocancel Amul’s registration of TRIXtrademark.

A Division Bench of Chief Jus-tice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Jus-tice J. B. Pardiwala, in a recent judg-ment, dismissed the petition filed byKaira District Co-operative Milk Pro-ducers Union Ltd., owner of Amul,seeking cancellation of trademark‘TRIX’ registered in favour of U.S.food giant General Mills.

Amul, 35 years after registeringthe trademark and after GeneralMills’ entry into Indian market as lateas in 1995, had questioned the U.S.firm’s right over TRIX.

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Mar-keting Federation (GCMMFL), whichmarkets milk and milk products un-der Amul brand under a licencefrom the petitioner, registered TRIX(coined from the word TRICKS fromthe concept of appearing and dis-appearing tricks as in magic show)as a trademark in 1977.

“In 1986 we launched a choco-late under ‘TRIX’ trademark. We ad-vertised it in a manner that it was sotasty that the chocolate bar just dis-appears/melts in mouth quickly,”according to the petition.

However, Amul stopped usingTRIX in 1987. The U.S. food giant’ssubsidiary, General Mills India Pvt.Ltd., came into existence in 1995.

In 2005, it applied for registra-tion of trademark TRIX claiming thatin various countries it was holdingthe same trademark since 1910.

Since Amul already owned thetrademark, General Mills India’s ap-plication for registration was re-jected.

Meanwhile, the U.S. firm madea foray into the Indian market by in-troducing a snack under the trade-mark ‘DIP-TRIX’.

At the same time, Amul alsoplanned a re-launch of its TRIXbrand for a wafer-chocolate, whichwas introduced in 2007. This led toa legal battle between the two gi-ants.

Amul objected tounauthorised use of TRIX by Gen-eral Mills.

The U.S. giant challengedAmul’s claim over TRIX by filing arectification application with Intel-lectual Property Appellate Board(IPAB), Ahmedabad.

On July 16, 2012, the IPAB di-rected the Registrar of Trademarksto cancel Amul’s right over thetrademark.

The dairy brand challenged theboard’s verdict in the HC, arguingthat IPAB had erred in its ruling.

“Rectification applicationcould not have been allowed asthere was use of its registered trade-mark ‘TRIX’ in December 2005 byAMUL leading to sale in May 2007(of wafer chocolates) — that is dur-ing the statutorily required period ofnon-use for a period of five yearsand three months before the dateof rectification application,” it said.

However, the Bench did notfind any error with the board’s con-clusion.

India, China to step upinfrastructure cooperation

Chinese officials said on Tues-day that next week’s Strategic Eco-nomic Dialogue (SED) in New Delhi




would help both countries deepencooperation on investment and in-frastructure projects, with one of thelargest-ever delegations of Chineseofficials set to travel to India for theNovember 26 talks.

Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Hua Chunying toldreporters that representatives fromChinese “government agencies, en-terprises and financial and researchinstitutions” will travel to New Delhi,with a view to “stepping up com-munication and coordination ofmacro-economic policies, anddeepening and expanding mutuallybeneficial cooperation in invest-ment, infrastructure, high technol-ogy, energy conservation and envi-ronmental protection”.

The delegation will be led byZhang Ping, who heads the NationalDevelopment and Reform Commis-sion (NDRC), the top planning body.He will chair the talks along withMontek Singh Ahluwalia, DeputyChairman of the Planning Commis-sion. Officials said close to 200 Chi-nese officials will travel to India, in-cluding representatives from theNDRC, Ministry of Commerce, theForeign Ministry, Ministry of Rail-ways and State-run companies.

Rail corridorsAt the first round of the SED in

Beijing in September 2011, bothsides discussed cooperation in rail-ways, which might pave the way forChinese involvement in India’s plansto set up high speed-rail corridors.Sources said top officials from CNR,one of China’s biggest railway com-panies that has played a key role inChina’s high-speed rail expansion,will travel to New Delhi next week.

Besides railways, separateworking groups on infrastructure,energy, environment and high-tech

sectors will meet during the Novem-ber 26 dialogue in New Delhi. Offi-cials said the idea behind the SEDwas to go beyond trade issues andlook at the bigger picture andmacro-level cooperation. Trade is-sues will not be the focus of the SED— a separate Joint Economic Groupdialogue headed by Commerce Min-isters of both countries discussesbilateral trade issues, officials said.As a new leadership in China takesover, officials here have stressedtheir desire to expand trade andcommercial engagement with India— an issue that found prominenceat Monday’s meeting between PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh and Chi-nese Premier Wen Jiabao in Cambo-dia.

Ms. Hua, the Foreign Ministryspokesperson, said both leadershad agreed to “seize the opportuni-ties of development” and to “step-up cooperation in infrastructure”.“The Chinese government,” she said,“will continue to encourage repu-table Chinese enterprises to investin Indian projects”.

Chinese officials stress that theleadership transition will not affectties with India, and that there willbe continuity in all areas, whetherrelated to political, military or tradeissues. Government officials whohandle foreign policy and trade havenot stepped down at the recentlyconcluded National Congress, dur-ing which the Communist Party’s topleadership retired.

Officials in government willcontinue serving until March, whenthe Parliament meets to appoint newofficials. Mr. Wen, the Premier; Mr.Zhang, head of the NDRC; and StateCouncillor Dai Bingguo, the “SpecialRepresentative” on boundary issues,will all continue in office untilMarch.

Union Coal Ministrydecided to deallocate FourCoal Blocks allotted to 15Firms

The Union Coal Ministry in thefourth week of November 2012 de-cided to deallocate four coal blocksallotted to 15 firms, including JSWSteel and Bhushan Steel and Strips. The four coal blocks are as follow-ing:- Gourangdih ABC coal block inWest Bengal, New Patrapara coalblock in Orissa, the Lalgarh coalblock in Jharkhand and north Dhaducoal bloack. The ministry also askedthe Monnet Ispat to deposit a bankguarantee of 62 crore rupees. TheGourangdih ABC coal block in WestBengal was allotted to HimachalEMTA Power Ltd and JSW Steel Ltd.The Coal Ministry in its letter to thecompany stated that it has decidedto forfeit 50 per cent of the BankGuarantee related to the develop-ment of coal block as per the rec-ommendation of Inter-MinisterialGroup.

The Ministry also decided todeallocate New Patrapara coalblock in Orissa and to return the fullbank guarantee amount without anydeduction.The Coal Ministry in an-other letter to Monnet Ispat said thatthe Bank Guarantee as calculated byCoal Controller is to be depositedby the allottee company within onemonth from the date of letter failingwhich the block may bedeallocated. In case of Domco




Smokeless Fuels, the Ministry de-cided to deallocate the Lalgarh(North) coal block in Jharkhand.With regard to North Dhadu coalblock jointly allocated to four firms,the Ministry has decided todeallocate the North Dhadu coalblock in addition to the forfeiture offull bank guarantee.

Union Cabinet of Indiacleared Proposal forSpectrum Sharing

The Union Cabinet of India on8 November 2012 approved levy ofabout 31000 crore rupees as one-time spectrum charge to be imple-mented on all incumbent telecomoperators like Bharati Airtel,Vodafone, Idea and others. The pro-posed charges had been imple-mented to create a level groundbetween the old players and thenew players of the telecom sector. The Finance Minister of India PChidambaram declared that the rec-ommendations of the EGoM (Em-powered Group of Ministers) wascleared and the GSM operatorswould have to pay for the airwavesthat they hold beyond the 4.4 Mega-Hertz, the price determined at theauction and the operators holdingmore than 6.2 mega hertz airwaveswould have to pay a retroactive feefrom July 2008 onwards. The CDMAoperators would have to pay for theairwaves that they hold beyond 2.5Mega-Hertz as per the validity of thepermits offered to them.

Retail Inflation in Indiarose to 9.75 percent inOctober 2012

The data on retail inflation wasreleased by the Government of In-dia on 11 November 2012. The re-tail inflation in India rose to 9.75percent in the month of October2012 after being measured on the

scale of Consumer Price IndexConsumer Price IndexConsumer Price IndexConsumer Price IndexConsumer Price Index(CPI).(CPI).(CPI).(CPI).(CPI). The retail inflation was mar-ginal as it witnessed a rise of 0.02percent of the noted rise of 9.73percent in the month of September2012. The rise in rural India the con-sumer price inflation rose to 9.98percent from the 9.79 percent re-corded in September 2012. The in-flation in urban India was recordedto be 9.46 percent in October from9.72 percent recorded in the previ-ous month. Reaching close to thedouble digit mark, the inflation wit-nessed the maximum price rise onSugar that rose at 19.61 percent peryear and was followed by edible oiland fat which saw a rise of 17.92percent, whereas pulses and cerealgrains witnessed a rise of 14.89 per-cent. Prices of vegetable grew by10.74 percent in October 2012, andthe rates of meat, eggs and fishedwent up by 12.18 percent. Costs ofcloths, beds and footwear went upby 10.47 percent year after year. AllIndia Provisional General (allgroups) the CPI numbers for themonth of October 2012 for urban,rural and combined level were re-corded as 122.6, 126.7 and 124.9respectively.

Japan to fund multi-billiondollar CBIC project soon

Japan has said it will soon an-nounce funding for the multi-billiondollar Chennai-Bangalore IndustrialCorridor (CBIC), the third megaproject that will be quarter-backedby Tokyo. The other two projects

that Japan is backing are the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)and the Dedicated Freight Corridor(DFC).

The announcement of the CBICproject has led to considerable en-thusiasm among most south Indianstates with Andhra Pradesh wantingits extension to Krishnapatnam portand Karnataka asking for the inclu-sion of Chitradurga with the Stategovernment planning to set up amanufacturing hub betweenChitradurga and Tumkur. Kerala isthe only south Indian State whichhas so far not expressed a desire tobe included in the project, accord-ing to government sources.

The feasibility study for theCBIC is likely to be financed from a184 billion yen Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) from Japan whichwill also fund the second phase ofthe DFC. This was conveyed byJapanese Prime Minister YosihikoNoda during his second meeting inas many days with Prime MinisterManmohan Singh on the sidelines ofthe Association of South East AsianNations (ASEAN) summit and re-lated meetings with its dialoguepartners, including India.

New Delhi is putting immensefaith in CBIC, heralding a renewedround of industrialisation in thesouth, with T. K. A. Nair, Adviser toDr. Singh, regularly reviewing itsprogress.

The project was first madepublic during the India-Japan annualsummit in 2010.

The project will initially focuson Phase-II of the Chennai OuterRing Road, Chennai-Bangalore Ex-pressway, modernisation of airportsin Chennai, Bangalore andSriperumbudur and ports in Chennaiand Ennore, in addition to a high-speed rail link between Chennai,




Bangalore and the Avadi rail link.Simultaneously, State governmentsand the Centre will deliberate oneasing customs procedures and en-hanced use of IT and automation.

According to official sources,the Prime Minister welcomed theongoing projects under the ODA butemphasised that India’s priority wasinvestment by Japanese business ininfrastructure projects such as theDelhi Metro which other citieswanted to emulate. This is the samemessage he gave to Chinese PrimeMinister Wen Jiabao on Monday.

Rare earthsAfter Dr. Singh’s visit was put

off, the two countries on November16 signed an MoU on rare earths andinked a pact on social security. Thepact of rare earths too was first pub-licly aired during the 2010 summit.

It is a fall-out of tensions be-tween Japan and China which ledto Beijing clamping down on rareearth exports to Tokyo.

India signed 70 million USDollar loan agreement withWorld Bank

Government of India on 22November 2012 signed a 70-millionUS Dollar loan agreement withWorld Bank for financing theKarnataka Health Systems Develop-ment as well as Reform Project. Primary objective of this project isimprovisation of public-private col-laboration, health services deliveryand financial aid for vulnerablegroups and underserved inKarnataka. The agreement wassigned by the Joint Secretary, De-partment of Economic Affairs andIndia Operations Advisor of WorldBank in New Delhi.

The components of theThe components of theThe components of theThe components of theThe components of theproject include:project include:project include:project include:project include:

as well as trade showed slow paceat 5.5 percent in comparison to 9.5percent last year in the same quar-ter.

The construction sectorshowed signs of improvementwhere the growth was 6.7 percentas against 6.3 percent last year.Apart from this, the rate of growthin certain service sectors such as realestate and insurance was 9.4 per-cent as against 9.9 percent in lastyear’s quarter.

Finance Minister of India P.Chidambaram concluded that theonly way to overcome the situationwas through increased productionas well as innovation.

Petrol Price in India slashedby 95 Paise due to fall ofPrices in InternationalMarket

Petrol Prices in Indian marketon 15 November 2012 was slashedby 95 paise per litre. The decisioncame up as a result of the fall in oilprices in the International Market.The Indian market witnessed a sec-ond slash in the rates of petrol since9 October 2012, in October therewas a cut of 56 paise per liter in theprice of petrol. This slash in thepetrol prices would bring down theprices of petrol in different states ofthe country and would vary fromstate to state due to the differencein the state and local taxes of differ-ent states. With this fall in rates ofpetrol in Delhi went down to 68.19

• Strengthening present healthprograms of the Governmentof India

• Innovations in the health fi-nancing as well as service de-livery

• Project management, evalua-tion as well as monitoringAdditional financing of this

project is scheduled to be imple-mented till 31 March 2016.

Economic Growth Declinedin July-September Quarterof 2012-2013 Fiscal Year

The economy of India grewjust by 5.3 percent in July-Septem-ber quarter of fiscal year 2012-2013,revealed the Central StatisticalOrganisation. The economydropped down the rate of growthbecause of poor performance of theagriculture as well as manufacturingsectors and it is persistently indicat-ing slowdown signs.

In the previous fiscal year, thegross domestic product (GDP) hadgrown by 6.7 percent in the samequarter. In the first quarter of 2012-2013, the economy had grown by5.5 percent.

By the end of the July-Septem-ber quarter, i.e., on 30 September2012, the manufacturing sector hadgrown marginally by just 0.8 percentin comparison to 2.9 percent in thesame quarter last year, the CentralStatistical Organisation revealed.

The output of the farm sectorexpanded merely 1.2 percent in thisquarter in 2012-2013 financial yearin contrast to 3.1 percent in samequarter last year. The economicgrowth for the time period of April-September in this financial year is5.4 percent in contrast to 7.3 per-cent in previous fiscal year. In thisquarter in the present fiscal year,hotels, transport, communications




rupees to 67.24 rupees per litre. InMumbai the price went down by1.20 rupees and the petrol therewould cost 73.53 rupees per litre,in Chennai the price went down to70.57 rupees from 71.77 rupees.Kolkata saw a slash of 1.19 rupeesper litre in the petrol prices and itwould be available to the consum-ers at a rate of 74.55 rupees per li-tre. Global Gasoline Rates helps increating a benchmark in fixing theprice of petrol in the domestic mar-ket.

The gasoline rates also wit-nessed a fall in rates globally butdeclined and non-stagnant value ofRupees against the US dollar andwould have an impact on the petrolprices in the coming future. Thevolatility of Rupees against the valueof exchange rates of US dollar isbeing closely monitored to get outof the uncertainties about the direc-tion in which future decisions wouldhead towards. The Union Govern-ment of India in June 2010 deregu-lated the prices of petrol by offer-ing freedom to the oil companies forfixing the petrol rates following thecosts prevalent in the internationalmarket. But this deregulation in thepetrol prices also had no impact ingetting the Indian Oil Companies ingetting out of the losses with whichthey are overburdened and this hap-pened because of the buckling po-litical pressure on the oil companiesto have a check on curbing growinginflation in Indian market.

Retail Inflation in Indiarose to 9.75 percent inOctober 2012

The data on retail inflation wasreleased by the Government of In-dia on 11 November 2012. The re-tail inflation in India rose to 9.75percent in the month of October

2012 after being measured on thescale of Consumer Price IndexConsumer Price IndexConsumer Price IndexConsumer Price IndexConsumer Price Index(CPI).(CPI).(CPI).(CPI).(CPI). The retail inflation was mar-ginal as it witnessed a rise of 0.02percent of the noted rise of 9.73percent in the month of September2012. The rise in rural India theconsumer price inflation rose to 9.98percent from the 9.79 percent re-corded in September 2012. The in-flation in urban India was recordedto be 9.46 percent in October from9.72 percent recorded in the previ-ous month. Reaching close to thedouble digit mark, the inflation wit-nessed the maximum price rise onSugar that rose at 19.61 percent peryear and was followed by edible oiland fat which saw a rise of 17.92percent, whereas pulses and cerealgrains witnessed a rise of 14.89 per-cent. Prices of vegetable grew by10.74 percent in October 2012, andthe rates of meat, eggs and fishedwent up by 12.18 percent. Costs ofcloths, beds and footwear went upby 10.47 percent year after year. AllIndia Provisional General (allgroups) the CPI numbers for themonth of October 2012 for urban,rural and combined level were re-corded as 122.6, 126.7 and 124.9respectively.

RBI revises definition ofinfra lending

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)on Tuesday revised the definition of

‘infrastructure lending’, whichwould make sectors and sub-sec-tors eligible for infrastructure lend-ing by banks and financial institu-tions with immediate effect. Theexposure of banks to projects un-der sub-sectors which were in-cluded under the RBI’s previousdefinition of infrastructure — as perthe circular of November 30, 2007,but not included under the reviseddefinition, will continue to get thebenefits under ‘infrastructure lend-ing’ till the completion of theprojects. However, “any fresh lend-ing to those sub-sectors from thedate of this circular will not qualifyas ‘infrastructure lending’, the RBIsaid in a notification to all banks andfinancial institutions. The Govern-ment of India had notified a masterlist of infrastructure sectors/sub-sec-tors in March 2012 to avoid multi-plicity of definitions among variousregulators which gives rise to con-fusion and difficulties. The sectorsand sub-sectors come under revisedinfrastructure lending are:

Transport:Transport:Transport:Transport:Transport: Roads and bridges,ports inland waterways, airport, rail-way track, tunnels, viaducts,bridges, including supporting termi-nal infrastructure such as loading/unloading terminals, stations andbuildings, urban public transport(except rolling stock in case of ur-ban road transport).

Energy:Energy:Energy:Energy:Energy: Electricity generation,electricity transmission, electricitydistribution, oil pipelines and oil/gas/liquefied natural gas (LNG) stor-age facility (including strategic stor-age of crude oil) and gas pipelines,including city gas distribution net-work.

Water and sanitation:Water and sanitation:Water and sanitation:Water and sanitation:Water and sanitation: Solidwaste management, water supplypipe lines, water treatment plants,




sewage collection, treatment anddisposal system and irrigation(dams, channels, embankments andthe like) and storm water drainagesystem.

Communication: Communication: Communication: Communication: Communication: Telecommu-nication (fixed network) including

optic fibre/cable networks whichprovide broadband / internet andtelecommunication towers.

Social and commercial infra-structure: Educational institutions(capital stock), hospitals (capitalstock), including medical colleges,

para medical training institutes anddiagnostics centres and three-star orhigher category classified hotels lo-cated outside cities with populationof more than one million.


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A Biological Battery

Plugging into sources of energywithin our body — such as heat, in-ternal motion or metabolites — topower implanted medical deviceshas long been the goal of biomedi-cal engineers. Now researchersbased in Cambridge, Massachusettshave demonstrated that a sensingdevice embedded in the ear can bepowered by the ear’s own electro-chemical battery. Our auditorymechanism picks up externalsounds and sends information to thebrain in the form of neural signals.When the sound wave hits the ear,the eardrum vibrates in response.This mechanical energy must to be

extract current from the ear, keep-ing in mind the many physiologicalconstraints. In the prototype, theharnessed power drives a wirelesssensor that can monitor the value ofthe EP. A radio transmitter relaysdata to the clinician who uses thenumbers to gauge the ear’s condi-tion. Though our ear functions on EPranging from 70-100 millivolts, thisvoltage is not enough for electronicimplants. “Since the power from thesource is so small, we accumulateenergy on a capacitor. Once the ca-pacitor fills up, it can drive a higherpower electronic circuit,” saysChandrakasan. “We power a 2.4 Gi-gahertz radio in this case.” But tran-sistor-based electronics need hun-dreds of millivolts to start. A wire-less receiver on the integrated cir-cuit gets a short burst of radio wavesto kick-start the system. The setup,implanted in the ear of a guinea pig,could transmit data for five hourswithout compromising normal hear-ing. Design optimization and moretesting lie ahead.

converted into an appropriate elec-trochemical impulse. Deep insidethe ear, the cochlea perceives thefrequency of the vibration. It main-tains a gradient of potassium andsodium ions across a delicate mem-brane via a system of pumps andchannels. This natural battery, whichmakes neurotransmission of soundpossible, generates a net positivevoltage. Researchers have knownabout the existence of thisendocochlear potential (EP) for de-cades, but had not devised ways ofusing this voltage without interfer-ing with the mammal’s hearing, saysKonstantina Stankovic, otologic sur-geon at Massachusetts Eye and EarInfirmary, medical lead of the col-laborative team. “What we have isboth a conceptual and technologi-cal breakthrough. New electrodesand new electronics had to be de-veloped to make safe harvestingpossible,” she says.

Prof. Anantha Chandrakasan’sgroup at Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology designed the chip to

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYSCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY




“Thus far, we have demon-strated feasibility of sensing the EP,powered by the EP,” says Stankovic.“But we are eager to couple this en-ergy-harvesting chip to a variety ofmolecular and chemical sensors tosense the inner ear and its environ-ment and identify the most promis-ing biomarkers relevant for the ulti-mate human application.” The de-vice cannot power multichannelcochlear implants or hearing aids asyet. But Charley C. Della Santina,professor of Otolaryngology andbiomedical engineering at JohnsHopkins University, who is uncon-nected to the research team, pointsout that there is a real need for asystem that can monitor the EP inanimal models of Meniere’s disease— an inner ear disorder that affectsbalance and hearing. And, this de-vice, he says, may just fit the bill.Plus, the data collected invivo could transform our under-standing of how the mammalian earworks, says Stankovic. The paperthat describes the findings appearsin the latest issue of Nature Biotech-nology.

Farmers can save and earnmore through vermitechnology

Whatever be the crops, afterharvesting the residue left in thefield poses a major problem as re-moving it requires manpower andmoney. In some places farmers sim-ply burn the dried leaves, stalk in the

field itself as it is an easy option. Butover time this practice makes theland barren and kills several benefi-cial organisms that aid good growth.

Cost reduction“And today with the cost of

fertilizers hitting the roof it will beadvisable if farmers can effectivelyuse these wastes to make some sortof manure like vermicompost andput it back to the soil. By doing soexpenses can be reduced and soilfertility be upgraded,” says Dr. V.Kantharaju, Programme Coordina-tor, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gulbarga,Karnataka. A group of farmers fromdifferent villages were selected andgiven training by the KVK staff onvermi composting methods.

AwarenessThe farmers were also made

aware on the importance of naturalfarming through vermicompostingmethods and how this could helpthem cut down expenses in buyingfertilizers. Since this method helpedthem save some money severalfarmers willingly took it up. “Also theincome obtained from such activitycan be reinvested by the farmer inenhancing his farm resources andinfrastructure for higherreturn. Hecan go for crop diversification andbetter income,” says Dr. Kantharaju.“For farmers, seeing is believing.When they heard about other farm-ers doing well in this line, theystarted visiting our KVK office andexpressed willingness to try thesame. “Today we have been able tohelp such farmers in setting up theirown small vermicomposting unitsand manufacture their own inputs,”says Dr. Kantharaju.

LoanA dryland farmer, Mr.

Shivanand in the region who under-

went a similar training, started hisown unit in small way. In due course,with help from KVK staff, he got aloan of Rs.4 lakh from a local bank.“I constructed 48 pits from the loanamount and today am able to pro-duce 100 tonnes of compost a year.50 tonnes was used for my personaluse and the remaining sold at Rs.300per quintal. The worms were alsosold for Rs. 300 a kg,” says the en-terprising farmer.

Production doubledWithin a year he doubled his

production to nearly 200 tonnes. Healso started to enrich his compostwith neem cake, Trichoderma,Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, andAzospirillum. The farmer also devel-oped a diversified cropping patternusing the vermicompost from hisown unit. He planted papaya in fiveacres, musk melon in one acre, andcucumber in some remaining area.With continuous guidance from theexpert team who periodically vis-ited him, he earned Rs. 3 lakh frompapaya, Rs. 1.5 lakh from watermelon, Rs. 1.5 lakh from muskmelon, and Rs. 1 lakh from cucum-ber. He constructed a new home,purchased land worth Rs. 5 lakhfrom the income. He has also em-ployed about 10 permanent andtemporary labour to look after thedaily work in the production unit.

Better revenueThe success of Mr. Shivanand

spread like wild fire and severalpeople are visiting his farm to learnhow he has been able to succeed interms of revenue.

Window closes on new theoryof particle physics

On November 12, at the firstday of the Hadron Collider PhysicsSymposium at Kyoto, Japan, re-searchers presented a handful of




results that constrained the numberof hiding places for a promising newtheory. Members of the team fromthe LHCb detector on the Large Had-ron Collider (LHC) experiment lo-cated on the border of France andSwitzerland provided evidence of avery rare particle-decay. The rate ofthe decay process was in fair agree-ment with an older theory of par-ticles’ properties, called the Stan-dard Model (SM), and deviated fromthe new theory, calledSupersymmetry. “Theorists have cal-culated that, in the Standard Model,this decay should occur about 3times in every billion total decays ofthe particle,” announced PierluigiCampana, LHCb spokesperson.“This first measurement gives a valueof around 3.2 per billion, which isin very good agreement with theprediction.” The result was pre-sented at the 3.5-sigma confidencelevel, which corresponds to an er-ror rate of 1-in-2,000. While notstrong enough to claim discovery, itis valid as evidence. The particle,called a B_s meson, decayed froma bottom antiquark and strangequark pair into two muons. Accord-ing to the SM, this is a complex andindirect decay process: the quarksexchange a W boson particle, turninto a top-antitop quark pair, whichthen decays into a Z boson or aHiggs boson. The boson then de-cays to two muons.

This indirect decay is called aquantum loop, and advanced theo-ries like Supersymmetry predictnew, short-lived particles to appearin such loops. The LHCb, which de-tected the decays, reported no suchnew particles. At the same time, inJune 2011, the LHCb had an-nounced that it had spotted hints ofsupersymmetric particles at 3.9-

sigma. Thus, scientists will continueto conduct tests until they can stack3.5 million-to-1 odds for or againstSupersymmetry to close the case. AsProf. Chris Parkes, spokesperson forthe UK participation in the LHCbexperiment, told BBC News:“Supersymmetry may not be deadbut these latest results have certainlyput it into hospital.” The symposium,which concluded on November 16,also saw the release of the first batchof data generated in search of theHiggs boson since the initial an-nouncement on July 4 this year. TheLHC can’t observe the Higgs bosondirectly because it quickly decaysinto lighter particles. So, physicistscount up the lighter particles and tryto see if some of those could havecome from a momentarily existentHiggs.

Still early daysThese are still early days, but

the data seems consistent with thepredicted properties of the elusiveparticle, giving further strength tothe validity of the SM. Dr. RahulSinha, a physicist at the Institute ofMathematical Sciences, Chennai,said, “So far there is nothing in theHiggs data that indicates that it is notthe Higgs of Standard Model, but aconclusive statement cannot bemade as yet.” Scientists, however,are disappointed as there are fewerchannels for new physics to occur.While the SM is fairly consistent withexperimental findings, it is still un-able to explain some fundamentalproblems. Commenting on the re-sults, Dr. G. Rajasekaran, scientificadviser to the India-based NeutrinoObservatory being built at Theni,asked for patience. “Supersymmetryimplies the existence of a wholenew world of particles equalling ourknown world. Remember, we took

a hundred years to discover theknown particles starting with theelectron.” With each such tighten-ing of the leash, physicists return tothe drawing board and considernew possibilities, apart from hopingthat the initial results aren’t accurateenough. “We now plan to continueanalysing data to improve the accu-racy of this measurement and oth-ers which could show effects of newphysics,” said Campana.

Researchers Created aPaper-Thin Fabric to StopBullets

Researchers fabricated an all-new paperthin bullet-proof supermaterial, which has the capability toself-assemble into alternating rub-bery as well as glassy layers in thesecond week of November. Thenano-material has the ability to trans-late into the safety beyond the vests.These technological advancementscould be used for protective coat-ing for the jet engine turbine bladesas well as the satellites.

Scientists from MassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) as wellas Rice University created the spe-cial textures which had the abilityto stop bullets from lab. This spe-cial texture known as structuredpolymer composite can reassembleinto rubbery layers and alternatingglassy layers.

According to the Rice Univer-sity, while the ballistic tests wereperformed, on this material at MIT’s




Institute for SoldierNanotechnologies, a 9 millimetrebullet could be stopped by the 20 -nanometre-thick layers. Neverthe-less, the most challenging task wasto test the material effectively inlab.

An innovative testing method-ology was also introduced by theMIT-Rice, where tiny glass beadswere shot at this material. Despitebeing too small in size (millionth ofa meter), they projected the bulletimpacts. If the layers of materialsare looked under the scanning elec-tron microscope, they appear likethe corduroy. The researchers alsoassumed that projectile hit the tar-get at least 2000 times more rapidlythan the falling of an apple from onemetre, but with much less force.

Malaria vaccine trial onAfrican infantsdisappointing

The results of the Phase III trialof the malaria vaccine RTS,S/AS01are greatly disappointing. The effi-cacy of the vaccine in preventingclinical and severe malaria in infantsaged 6 to 12 weeks is much less thanwhat was expected. In fact, the levelof protection offered is nearly halfof what was reported last year inolder children (5 to 17 months).

Vaccine efficacyThe vaccine efficacy (in infants

aged 6-12 weeks) was about 31 percent in the case of clinical malaria

and 37 per cent in the case of se-vere malaria. In the case of olderchildren (5 to 17 months), reportedlast year, the protection offered wasnearly 56 per cent in the case of clini-cal malaria and about 47 per centfor severe malaria. The efficacyagainst severe malaria in both thegroups combined was nearly 35 percent. Totally, 6,537 infants werestudied.

The current data on infants isalso lower than what was seen in thePhase II trial results from three of the11 centres. The protection againstclinical malaria was 61.6 per cent.According to Nature, nearly 60 percent of clinical malaria cases werereported from just two of the 11sites. The trial is being conductedin 11 centres across seven countriesin Africa.

What then could have causeda severe drop in the protection effi-cacy? One of the possibilities couldbe the severity of malaria transmis-sion. The Phase II results were fromthree centres that had only low tomoderate malaria transmission. Inthe case of the Phase III, it also in-cluded centres that had high malariatransmission. The real implicationsof vaccine protection in high malariatransmission areas will be clearwhen the complete data is analysedin 2014 after a 30-month follow-up.

What is more disappointing isthe drastic reduction in efficacyduring the 12-month follow-up pe-riod. The efficacy was “higher at thebeginning than at the end of the fol-low-up period” found the study,published a few days ago in TheNew England Journal of Medicine .If the protection efficacy does wanewith time, several factors may makeyounger infants more vulnerablethan older children, the paper sug-gests.

Possible reasonsWhat then could be the pos-

sible reasons for the disappointingprotection levels seen? One couldbe the lower protection in areas thathad higher malaria transmission.Another could be the difference inimmune response between the in-fants and the older children in-cluded in the trial. Evidencefavouring this was earlier seen dur-ing the trial. The co-administrationof other vaccines along with themalaria vaccine could be another.Finally, the presence of maternalantibodies in infants could haveplayed a role in protecting them(both the vaccine and controlgroups) from malaria, thereby re-ducing the differences seen in thetwo groups.

The vaccine has been devel-oped primarily for infants and chil-dren in sub-Saharan Africa. The rea-sons are obvious: of the 216 millioncases of malaria and 6,55,000 ma-laria-related deaths in 2010, a ma-jority of deaths took place in Afri-can countries. Even as many news-papers went overboard last yearbased on results from the older agegroup, the 2011 Editorial accompa-nying the paper in The New En-gland Journal of Medicine explicitlystated: “there does not seem to bea clear scientific reason why this trialhas been reported with less than halfthe efficacy results available.”

The 2011 paper concludedwith a rider that the “vaccine has thepotential to have an important effecton the burden of malaria in youngAfrican children.” The rider was: the“vaccine efficacy among youngerinfants and the duration of protec-tion will be critical to determininghow this vaccine could be used ef-fectively to control malaria.”




Target 2014In that sense, the latest results

do dampen the high spirits seen lastyear. The last word is yet to be pro-nounced. One has to wait till 2014when the complete data is analysedand the outcome is known. Onlythen can it be said with any certaintyif the vaccine will indeed be in-cluded for use in the African coun-tries as per WHO recommendations.WHO had taken the unusual deci-sion last year when it had “recom-mended” its use in the African coun-tries as early as 2015.

Why do crabs walksideways?

Crabs are chiefly marine, butsome are terrestrial for long periods.Although they are capable of loco-motion in all directions, crabs tendto move sideways. The swimmingcrabs have the last pair of legs flat-tened to form paddles.

The body of the forward walk-ing crabs is slightly longer than it iswider in contrast to side-walkingcrabs, in which the width of thebody is typically greater than thelength. Laterally walking crabs arecharacterized by certain featurespeculiar to their direction of move-ment. One feature is that legs on oneside of the body pull, while thoseon the other side push. They accom-plish these movements by usingjoints which allow flexion and ex-tension. A second feature is thatthese crabs produce different gaitsand phase relationships in leadingand trailing legs. It appears that,mechanically, these laterally movingcrabs may be ‘pulling’ with the lead-ing legs to a greater extent than‘pushing’ with the trailing legs.

However, forward-walkingcrabs may move differently. Theymay predominantly produce move-

ments about joints which allow a legswing forward and backward that isto promote and remote. Further-more gaits and phase relationship oflegs on opposite sides of the bodymay not differ in forward-walkingcrabs. This is because the contralat-eral legs can share equally the loadof the body.

The angles of movement aboutthe joints during antero-posteriormovement will be greater in for-ward-walking crabs than the side-walking crabs. Similarly the anglesof movement about the joints whichpermits lateral movement will begreater in side-walking crabs thanthe forward-walking crabs.

Management of citrus leafminer

The citrus leaf miner is a majorpest of citrus nursery and remainsactive from March to November. Itcauses injury to the citrus group offruits such as lime, lemon, orangesand pomelo. Caterpillars of this in-sect feed on leaves by making shinysilvery serpentine mines. The dam-age distorts the leaves, and thegrowth of the seedling is arrested asthe photosynthesis is adversely af-fected. The mined leaves turn pale,dry and finally fall down or dry onthe branches. The mining injuriesserve as foci of infection for thecause of citrus canker, a bacterialdisease. The adult moth is a tiny(3mm) silvery white moth withheavily fringed wings. The femaleattaches 40-120 transparent eggssingly on the leaves and tendershoots. Within five days they hatchto produce pale yellow and leglesslarvae which mine into the leaf tis-sues making a long serpentine con-voluted mine. Larval duration is 5 to10 days. Mature larvae spin cocoonsfor pupation in such a way that the

margin of the leaf lamina is turnedover to protect the pupa under-neath. Pupal stage lasts for 5-25days. Entire life cycle is completedin 12-55 days. There are 9 to 13 over-lapping generations in a year.

Some management strategiesare :

Collect and destroy the in-fested leaves. Prune heavily the af-fected parts during monsoon. Avoidfrequent irrigations and split dosesof nitrogenous fertilizers.

As the larvae are inside themines, these cannot be easily killedby insecticidal application. How-ever, application of some systemicinsecticides will combat the infes-tation to certain extent. Spray anyone of the following insecticides:Dimethoate 30EC, profenofos 50EC,monocrotophos 36WSC, quinalphos25EC at 2ml/litre of water, acephate75SP at 2g/litre of water orimidacloprid 200SL at 375ml/ha.

The spray should be aimed atyoung leaves only. A second sprayshould be given after 10 days orapply 5 per cent neem seed kernelextract , 3 per cent neem oil suspen-sion or 2.5 per cent neem cake ex-tract. The larvae and pupae are at-tacked by natural parasitoids thatshould be encouraged by avoidingfrequent application of toxic insec-ticides.

Researchers Developed NewTool for Keeping Your EmailSpam-Free

Researchers from theConcordia University in the thirdweek of November 2012 proposedstatistical structure for filtering thespam which can efficiently andswiftly block the unnecessary mes-sages in the inbox of your email ac-count. Researchers had conducteda full-fledged study for various spamfilters while preparing the efficient




and new one. According to re-searcher Ola Amayri, the new ap-proaches of the spam filtering canadapt to active nature of the spams.It can also handle the tricks ofspammers accurately by knowingthe informative patterns which areextracted automatically from con-tent, both images as well as text ofspams. As of now, the only focus ofemail spam filteration was that onthe text content and not on the im-ages.

When the tricks are being usedin combined format, spam filtersbecome helpless to curtail thesemessages since they focus on oneof the content- either images or textbut hardly on both ofthem. Majority of the previous re-searches had their focus on textualcontent associated with the spams.According to Amayri, by keepinginto consideration the patterns fromthe images as well as text, a new fil-tering method for spams was dis-covered.

How cooking helped usbecome brainier

The internet is abuzz over arecent paper in the October22{+n}{+d}issue of Proc. Natl,Acad, Sci.US ( PNAS ) by DrsFonseca-Azevedo and Herculano-Houzel of Brazil. These two ladieshave claimed that the enormous in-crease in the brain size in humanscame about because humans began

to eat cooked food while our clos-est cousins, the great apes did notknow how to use fire and ate every-thing raw. They claim that this sud-den and large increase in brain sizewas an important event in humanevolutions thanks to the use of fire.

Why do they claim so? We hu-mans have the largest brains in com-parison to our body size. Our brain-to-body ratio is far higher than thatof the other primates. We have asmany as 86 billion brain cells or neu-rons, compared to just 28 billion inthe great apes. This is a giant step inevolution. How and why this sud-den expansion came about has beena nagging question. And brain con-sumes a lot of energy to operate.After skeletal muscles and the liver,it is the brain that consumes mostof our metabolic energy. Though itis only about 2 per cent of the totalbody mass, it consumes 20 per centof the total body metabolic rate. Inother primates, the number is just 9per cent. To maintain such an en-ergy-expensive organ, the amount offood we need to eat, or more pre-cisely the number of calories weneed, is huge indeed.

The needsThe greater the need for calo-

ries, the greater the time needed forfeeding. This means more timespent on foraging for food andgreater time needed for ingestionand digestion, plus of course thecalorie content of the diet. And theamount of calorie intake depends onthe number of hours spent on feed-ing and digestion. It has been esti-mated that gorillas spend about 10hours a day for feeding themselves.And it is estimated that as they doso, their total body mass goes up to120 kg or so. The metabolic cost ofmaintaining such a size of body is

estimated by what is known as theKleiber scale as 70 x (bodymass){+0}{+.}{+7}{+5}kilocaloriesper day. Since brain cells consumea lot of energy, this puts an upperlimit to the brain size of an ape. Itsbrain can grow only if it feeds con-tinuously the whole day. It is herethat raw versus cooked food argu-ment comes in. Dr. RichardWranghan of Harvard’s PeabodyMuseum estimated the energeticconsequences of raw food and ofcooked in his paper in the Novem-ber 29, 2011 issue of PNAS (Inciden-tally both this paper and that of theBrazilian duo are downloadablefree). He and his group decided tocompare the weight gain of mice fedon raw meat (lean beef) versuscooked meat, and likewise fed onraw tuber (sweet potato) versuspounded, cooked and whole, orcooked and pounded. They foundthat mice that ate cooked meatgained weight (this gain was not at-tributable to differences in food in-take or activity levels); likewise withprocessed tuber over raw tuber.Cooked food was seen to be moredigestible and also helped in killingpathogens present in the rawsamples. He thus writes that adop-tion of cooking would have helpedancestral humans thrive.

Meat and tubers have beeneaten by us for over 2 million years.And when we learnt how to makeand tame fire, cooking was born.And cooking increases the nutrientcontent and energy intake in theconsumer. Dr. Wrangham publishedin 2010 a book entitled: CatchingFire: How Cooking Made us Human.Here he points out that as our homi-nid ancestors started cooking andeating, their digestive track shrunkand brain enlarged.




Pointed outThe Brazilian ladies build on

this point. They point out that theenergy intake in cooked food ishigher than in raw. And that it costsabout 6 kilocalories per day to op-erate a billion neurons. In a typicaldaily intake of about 1800 kilocalo-ries, 20 per cent or 360 kilocaloriesgo to operate our brain.

Given these numbers, one cansee the value of eating cooked food.In order to get 1800 kilocalories perday on raw food, a human weighing70 kg would have to spend over 16-18 hours eating! Cooking thus notonly would have let early homoerectus gain time away from forag-ing and eating, but also to think moreusing the greater brain size he wouldhave gained! Azeredo andHerculano-Houzel thus make a logi-cal case when they say that cookeddiet may have been a major positivedriving force to the rapid increasein brain size in human evolution.

Comments on the webAs expected, the internet is full

of comments and criticism on theabove two papers. People who pre-fer to eat raw food (not just plants,fruits and nuts) have written abouthow they are perfectly healthy,happy and brainy with raw food;others points out that even this “raw”is processed in one way or the otherif it is meat or fish (marinated, fo-mented).

But such arguments miss themain point, namely, how evolutionwould have been helped by the useof fire and cooking in providinggreater energy and nutritive values,at a crucial time period when sev-eral other factors would also haveacted to help the emergence ofhomo erectus, and then on to homosapiens like us who use our brains

to think back in time on how we gotour brains this big.

Now, lipstick created fromsquid skin

Turning waste to wealth, sci-entists of the Fisheries Research In-stitute here have developed a lip-stick using reddish brown spotsfrom squid skin to give differenthues instead of the normally usedchemicals. Squid skin has reddishbrown spores called chromato-phores which have been isolatedand used as natural pigment in thelipsticks, a senior scientist whoalong with her team has developedthe lipstick, said. “We extracted thechromatophores and studied theircharacteristics which were thenused as colourant for the lipstick,”said Dr Femeena Hassan, SeniorScientist, Quality Assurance andManagement Division of Central In-stitute of Fisheries Technology(CIFT). Instead of artificial colours,the colourants extracted from squidskin can be used for lipsticks. Dif-ferent shades were developed us-ing this pigment and they werescreened for consumer acceptanceapplying hedonic scale method.

Quality assessmentThe newly-formulated lipstick

was subjected to physical, chemi-cal and microbiological qualityevaluation, she said. The productwas compared with commerciallyavailable lipstick brands and thenew product she claimed was foundto have superior properties. Thenew product also met with the na-

tional quality standards laid downfor such category of products, shesaid. Normally, lipsticks contain bu-tylated hydroxyl toluene, Nylon G,Ferric Oxide, Polyethelene and Ti-tanium dioxide which are used togive different shades. These chemi-cals can cause allergy and even can-cer, she said. Stating that therewould be no odour, Dr Femeenasaid food grades can be used to giveflavours to it to make it more accept-able. The squid lipsticks will have ashelf life of 15 months. Cost wise,also they would not be heavy on thepocket and would be 10 per centless than the products available inthe market, she said, adding thereare plans to commercially launch theproduct.

Martian dust akin toHawaiian volcanic soil

NASA’s Curiosity rover whichcompleted its first soil analysis onMars has found minerals on the RedPlanet similar to weathered basaltvolcanic soils in Hawaii. X-ray dif-fraction image of first Martian soilsample showed the presence ofcrystalline feldspar, pyroxenes andolivine mixed with some non-crys-talline material — similar to volca-nic soils in Hawaii. The mineralswere identified in the first sampleof Martian soil ingested recently bythe rover, NASA said. Curiosity usedits Chemistry and Mineralogy instru-ment (CheMin) to obtain the results,which are filling gaps and addingconfidence to earlier estimates of




the mineralogical makeup of thedust and fine soil widespread on theRed Planet. “We had many previousinferences and discussions aboutthe mineralogy of Martian soil,” saidDavid Blake of NASA Ames Re-search Center in Moffett Field, Cali-fornia.

“Our quantitative results pro-vide refined and in some cases newidentifications of the minerals in thisfirst X-ray diffraction analysis onMars,” Blake said. The identificationof minerals in rocks and soil is cru-cial for the mission’s goal to assesspast environmental conditions.Each mineral records the conditionsunder which it formed. CheMin usesX-ray diffraction, the standard prac-tice for geologists on Earth usingmuch larger laboratory instruments.This method provides more accu-rate identifications of minerals thanany method previously used onMars. X-ray diffraction reads miner-als’ internal structure by recordinghow their crystals distinctively inter-act with radiations. “Our team iselated with these first results fromour instrument. They heighten ouranticipation for future CheMin analy-ses in the months and miles aheadfor Curiosity,” said Blake. During thetwo-year prime mission of the MarsScience Laboratory Project, re-searchers are using Curiosity’s 10instruments to investigate whetherareas in Gale Crater ever offeredenvironmental conditionsfavourable for microbial life.

How do citrus fruits likelemon/orange reducevomiting sensation whensmelled?

Usually the vomiting sensationis associated with nausea. The listof causes of nausea and vomiting isendless. Some odor can make oneperson vomit while it might not af-

stomach friendly and prevents nau-sea, heart burns, indigestion andvomiting.

Citronella, the essential oilpresent in the lemon grass impart-ing the characteristic refreshingaroma, can also prevent nausea andvomiting. Lemon grass tea is an ex-cellent drink and helps to cleansethe bowel and flush out toxins in thesystem.

Thus the lemons serve as su-per inexpensive agents for naturalcalming effect that can reduce nau-sea, and can leave us feeling cleanand refreshed.

Significance ofMartian Methane

In the last week of October, theMars rover Curiosity announced thatthere was no methane on Mars. Therover’s conclusion is only a prelimi-nary verdict, although it is alreadycontroversial because of the impli-cations of the gas’s discovery (ornon-discovery). The presence ofmethane is an important sign to in-dicate that life may have existed inthe planet’s past. The interest in thenotion was increased when Curios-ity found signs that water may haveflowed in the past through Gale Cra-ter, the immediate neighbourhoodof its landing spot, after finding sedi-mentary settlements. The rover’sTunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS),which analysed a small sample ofMartian air to come to the conclu-sion, had actually detected a fewparts per billion of methane. How-ever, recognising that the reading

fect another person at all. Drugs forthe treatment of certain diseases,such as cancer, can cause nauseaand vomiting.

People with migraines alwaysexperience this. Common infectionsor equilibrium disturbance, such asmotion sickness can also be a cause.Pregnancy often brings on periodsof nausea.

It is otherwise called as “morn-ing sickness.” Nausea and vomitingmay also be psychological in origin.Some people vomit under such con-ditions of emotional stress as familyarguments, academic tests, airplanetravel, and some high-stress situa-tions. In addition, some eating dis-orders are characterized by self-in-duced vomiting.

There are some simple treat-ments to reduce any discomfort dueto nausea and vomiting. One suchtreatment is, smelling the citrus fruits(lemon). Limonene, an essential oilpresent in lemon has a refreshingsmell, which prevents the onset ofnausea.

This essential oil is producedin specialized glands found more inthe rind of these fruits. It has beenfound that this essential oil has cer-tain physiological effects.

These include brain stimula-tion, anxiety-relieving sedation andantidepressant properties as well asincreasing cerebral blood flow.

So it is better to put somelemon essential oil into a handker-chief and keep it in our pocket orhand bag. When we feel a bout ofnausea coming on, we should wipeour nose to breathe the essential oil.

It is also better to consumelittle amount of lemon juice. Thoughlime is acidic in nature, it has an al-kalizing effect in our body. It is thisnature of lemon which makes it




was too low to be significant, itsounded a “No”. In an email to thisCorrespondent, Adam Stevens, amember of the science team of theNOMAD instrument on the ExoMarsTrace Gas Orbiter due to belaunched in January 2016, stressed:“No orbital or ground-based detec-tions have ever suggested atmo-spheric levels anywhere above 50parts per billion, so we are not ex-pecting to see anything above thislevel.”

At the same time, he also notedthat the 50 parts per billion (ppb) isnot a global average. The previousdetections of methane found the gaslocalised in the Tharsis volcanic pla-teau, the Syrtis Major volcano, andthe polar caps, locations the roveris not going to visit. What continuesto keep the scientists hopeful is thatmethane on Mars seems to get re-plenished by some geochemical orbiological source. The TLS will alsohave an important role to play in thefuture. At some point, the instru-ment will go into a higher sensitiv-ity-operating mode and make mea-surements of higher significance byreducing errors. It is pertinent tonote that scientists still have an in-complete understanding of Mars’snatural history.

As Mr. Stevens noted: “Whilenot finding methane would not ruleout extinct or extant life, finding itwould not necessarily imply that lifeexists or existed either.” Apart frommethane, there are very few “bulk”signatures of life that the Martiangeography and atmosphere have tooffer. Scientists are looking for smallfossils, complex carbon compoundsand other hydrocarbon gases, aminoacids, and specific minerals thatcould be suggestive of biologicalprocesses.

While Curiosity has some fixedlong-term objectives, they are con-stantly adapted according to whatthe rover finds. Commenting on itsplans, Mr. Stevens said, “Curiositywill move up Aeolis Mons, themountain in the middle of Gale Cra-ter, taking samples and analyses asit goes.” Curiosity is not the lastchance to look more closely formethane in the near future. Devel-opment of the ExoMars Trace GasOrbiter (TGO), with which Mr.Stevens is working, is under way. Acollaboration between the Euro-pean Space Agency and the RussianFederal Space Agency, the TGO isplanned to deploy a stationaryLander that will map the sources ofmethane and other gases on Mars.

‘Lord of the Rings’ volcanoerupts

A New Zealand volcano usedas a backdrop to “The Lord of theRings” films erupted on Wednesday,spewing a column of ash three kmabove the North Island, scientistssaid. Volcanologists said MountTongariro rumbled to life at 1:25 pm(0025 GMT), in a five-minute burstthat briefly closed roads, put avia-tion authorities on high alert andsent nearby hikers scrambling forsafety. “It was completely unex-pected, there were no warning signsbeforehand,” a spokeswoman forofficial monitoring service GNS Sci-ence told AFP. “We were watching(neighbouring volcano) Ruapehu

waiting for an eruption and insteadthis came out of nowhere.” Themountain in the centre of the NorthIsland was dormant for more than acentury until August this year, whena massive blast ripped a new ventin its side and hurled boulders thesize of cars more than twokilometres.

While officials said the latesteruption was minor by comparison,they still closed a number of roadsfor a time and warned aircraft to stayaway from the area. The three vol-canoes of the national park do notthreaten population centres, withthe nearest town Taupo some 80 kmaway, but they have proved deadlyin the past. An eruption at MountRuapehu in 1953 caused NewZealand’s worst rail disaster whenit trigged a massive mudslide thatwashed away a bridge, causing apassenger train to plunge into theWhangaehu River with the loss of151 lives. Further north from thepark, Mount Tarawera erupted in1886 with a death toll estimated at120-150. New Zealand lies on the so-called ‘Pacific Ring of Fire,’ wherethe Earth’s tectonic plates collide,making it a hotspot for volcanic andearthquake activity. Local residentClint Green said the latest eruptionwas “pretty spectacular.” “All of asudden a towering black plume justbegan erupting very quickly, sky-rocketing up,” he told Radio NewZealand. “At first I didn’t believewhat I was seeing.” Airline servicessuffered only minor disruptions andall roads were open again byWednesday evening. But officialssaid the park around the volcanowould remain closed for at least fivedays in case of further eruptions.

“Unlike August, there were noflying rocks,” the GNS spokes-




woman said. “This was basically justash being expelled into the atmo-sphere, but we don’t know whatcould happen next.” Locals weretold they could expect light ashfallover the next few days and wereadvised to stay indoors with win-dows and doors sealed. Scientistswarned about increased volcanicactivity in the area this week, sayingthat neighbouring Mount Ruapehuis in danger of erupting as pressurebuilt in a subterranean vent. GNSsaid it was impossible to know if therumblings at Mount Ruapehu andthe surprise eruption at MountTongariro were linked.

Biggest Ever Black HoleDiscovered in the SmallGalaxy NGC 1277

Astronomers claimed that theyhave discovered the biggest everblack hole in the small galaxy calledNGC 1277 which is situated around250 million light years away from ourplanet. This galaxy constitutes themass equal to 17 billion suns. Thebiggest ever black hole sits in theNGC 1277 galaxy in Perseusconstellation. This gigantic blackhole forms around 14 percent of themass of host galaxy. When com-pared with the 0.1 per cent of theusual black hole, this massive blackhole adds the mass which is equalto 17 billion suns. The NGC 1277galaxy as well as many others wouldalter the theories about how thesegalaxies and black holes evolve. Thisgalaxy is merely 10 percent of themass as well as size of the MilkyWay, the galaxy in which Earth issituated. Even though the size ofNGC 1277 galaxy is small, but thegigantic black hole which sits in thegalaxy is 11 times wider as the orbitof Neptune around the Sun. A teammember of the discovery at The

University of Texas at Austinclaimed that the galaxy is almost theblack hole and possibly this was thefirst object in the genre of galaxy-black hole systems. Apart from this,the gigantic black holes were alsoobserved in huge blobby galaxiesknown as ellipticals. Astronomersobserved that at the moment therewere three mechanisms which ex-plained association of black holeswith the properties of their host gal-axies. However which of these theo-ries best explains the association isstill under confusion. The primaryissue is the lack of proper data. As-tronomers merely have the mass ofless than 100 black holes found inthe galaxies. However, measuringthe mass of black holes is time con-suming and cumbersome at thesame time. Consequently, the as-tronomers have developed Hobby-Eberly Telescope Massive GalaxySurvey in order to know about thegalaxies which are worth followingup. Astronomers studied about 700galaxies out of 800 using their tele-scope.

Gene Discovered ThatIdentifies Your Time ofDeath

Researchers at the Division ofNeurology, University of Toronto inthird week of November discoveredthe common gene alternate whichcan influence the time you wake upevery morning as well as the time ofthe day when you are most likely todie. In the research, the scientistsidentified that variant of the gene

which can virtually affect the wholepopulation. The discovery identifiesthe variant which can determinewhen a person will die. The re-search is said to be surprising andis going to help in planning themedical treatments. This researchwill also help in analyzing the medi-cal condition of the weak patients.According to the researchers, thereis a biological clock within us whichcan help in regulating various as-pects of the human biology as wellas behavioral patterns and these in-clude times when a person can per-form brilliantly, their preferredsleeping patterns as well as timingof the psychological processes. Thisbiological clock can also influencetimings of the medical events suchas heart attack and stroke.

It has been found that earlinessor lateness of the biological clockwithin the body can be inherited.Experiments on animals suggest thatthis earliness or lateness can also beinfluenced by certain kinds of genes.In the research, wake-sleep patternsof people were compared alongwith their genotypes. The research-ers found out single nucleotide(nucleotides are responsible formaking the basic units of RNA andDNA molecules) near the geneknown as Period 1. At this site,around 60 percent people havenucleotide base A or Adenine and40 percent have G orGuanine. There are two pairs ofchromosomes in the individuals,which is why there are around 36percent chances of two As, 16 per-cent having two Gs and 48 percenthaving both As and Gs at the site. Itis this genotype which affects thepattern of each person. For ex-ample, people with A-A genotypeusually wake up one hour earlier




than the people with genotype G-G. Those with A-Gs genotypes wakeup in middle. Expression of Period1 gene remained lower in brains aswell as white blood cells of individu-als with G-G genotype thanwith A-A genotype, but only inday. Virtually, all the physiologicalprocesses include a circadianrhythm which means that these oc-cur in the certain parts of a day.There is a circadian rhythm of thedeath as well and it has been foundthat people will most likely die inmorning hours, especially around 11am on an average.

Power of invisibletechnology

It is said that Afghanistan is thegraveyard of empires. The past oneyear has showed us that the tabletmarket is no less forgiving, with thebodies of HP, Motorola and RIMhaving washed up on shore. Pricing-premium strategies and market va-garies aside, the question of why the‘tablet market’ is really the ‘iPadmarket’ offers an interesting per-spective on the underlying technol-ogy dynamics that are at play.

The issue with Android-basedtablets, which so far have had thebest shot at the throne, is that to theaverage user, they don’t seem as“nice as the iPad”. Apple’s remark-able advancements in design andmulti-touch capacitive technology(which is why the touch seems “justright”) have resulted in the iPad be-coming the golden standard. Thus

the maxim — it is not the iPad ver-sus the other tablets; it’s the iPadversus tablets. The secret of theiPad’s spell-binding success lies inthe field of invisible technology, anarea which designers and business-men have exploited to get past thesimple fact that innovation in tech-nology is fast outstripping consumercomprehension. The goal of invis-ible technology is very similar to thatof the doorknob phenomena. Every-body uses a doorknob at least oncea day, but the only time you realizeyou are using one, is when it stopsworking.

A common complaint ofMicrosoft’s Windows operating sys-tem is that it constantly demandsattention, with numerous tiny fea-tures screaming out — distractingthe user from the task at hand. Con-trast this to Apple’s OS X or iOS andthe fundamental differences in de-sign philosophy becomes apparent.

In the tech-world, while goodtools are unobtrusive, great tools areinvisible. That humans interact withtools at nearly every moment of theirlives, would be stating the obvious.Mature areas of technology, how-ever, have become so optimizedthat users no longer think about theirindividual interactions with them.Heat generation, for, instance hasbeen around for so long that onedoesn’t have to stop to think aboutone’s stoves’ user interface. Cars aresimilarly invisible, at least in the ba-sic no-frills model.

The original iPad was not atrailblazer in its openness, features,or its screaming capabilities. In-deed, the Samsung Galaxy Tab andnewer contenders such as theGoogle Nexus 7 are far better inthese categories. When media com-mentators and analysts exclaim thatApple’s products “just work”, what

they really mean is that the productshave become nearly invisible.

The academic-turned-designerDon Norman once spoke abouthow, at one time, people could ac-tually buy a ‘kitchen motor’ thatwould attach to a number of usefuldevices such as mixers and blend-ers. When motor technology ad-vanced, however, motors disap-peared – becoming just an implicitpart of other devices that we con-sider for their primary function andnot for the fact that they containmotors. That desideratum — get thejob done and then be unobtrusiveis how the iPad wowed its targetmarket. It is no surprise that Mr.Norman has been with Apple sincethe Macintosh was first developed.

However, the competition islearning quickly from the tabletgraveyard with Google, Microsoftand Samsung determined to catch-up to the invisible standard, whileplaying to their own strengths.

Google in specific is not likelyto forget the spectacular failure ofMotorola’s Xoom, which when ini-tially launched to counter the origi-nal iPad, came with a steep learningcurve. It consequently fell flat at re-tail.

True to their words, however,the market looks ready to be shakenup with the arrivals of the Nexus 10and Surface in the coming months.However, even as the ‘tablet revo-lution’ leaves the general consumerbehind as more bells and whistlesare constantly added, the move to-wards invisible technology will bea cornerstone in driving future prod-ucts.

DNA study unravels secretsof bactrian camels

Scientists in China said onTuesday they had sequenced theDNA of the wild bactrian camel, a




threatened species with an extraor-dinary ability to survive in extremeconditions. The genetic codeo f Camelus bactrianus ferus reveals20,821 genes, many of them provid-ing the metabolic tools to cope withdays without food and water and adiet based on tough desert vegeta-tion. Bactrian camels are descen-dants of even-toed ungulates whichdiverged from a common ancestoraround 55-60 million years ago, theyfound.

The DNA book could shedlight on the camel’s ‘remarkable salttolerance and unusual immune sys-tem,’ said the study, published in thejournal Nature Communications .Wild bactrian camels live in thedeserts of northwestern China andsouthwestern Mongolia, where theyendure fierce heat and bitter cold,aridity and sparse grazing. Camelsconsume eight times more salt thancattle or sheep and have twice theblood glucose levels of other rumi-nants, yet do not develop diabetesor hypertension. They also makeunique disease-fighting proteinscalled heavy-chain antibodies,which interest pharmaceutical engi-neers.

US Grand Canyon IsActually 65-70 Million YearsOld: Researchers

US Grand Canyon, one amongthe seven natural wonders of world,is in reality 65 million years old thanwhat was thought, revealed a studyconducted by the University of

even in the extreme conditions. Sci-entifically also known as Camelusbactrianus ferus, the genetic codeof this species unveiled 20821genes. A lot of these genes facilitateBactrian camel with the metabolictools which allow it to go for dayswithout water and food. It is pos-sible for the species to go on a dietwhich is based on the tough vegeta-tion.

Scientists found that even-toedungulates are the predecessors ofBactrian camels, both of which haveevolved from the common ancestorsome 55 to 60 million years ago. Thestudy revealed that the camel hasastonishing salt tolerance as well asatypical immune system. This Bac-trian camel can be found in theNorthwestern China as well asSouthwestern Mongolia’s deserts. Inthese regions, the camels withstandbitter cold and fierce heat, very littlegrazing as well as dryness.

Camels can consume more saltthan the sheep or cattle and alsohave two times higher blood glu-cose level. Still they do not develophealth issues such as hypertensionand diabetes. These camels makeexceptional heavy-chain antibodies,which remains a special interest forthe pharmaceutical engineers.

Strategies to control thripsin groundnut

In the recent past, thrips men-ace has drastically increased ongroundnut crops grown all overTamil Nadu. Thrips are small insectsand they appear on groundnut cropboth in vegetative and floweringstage. Female lays 60-70 single eggsinto young tissues of the plant. Thenymphal and pupal periods last 5days each. The adults are pale creamin colour. They are soft bodied andhave highly fringed wings.

Colorado Boulder. This means thatGrand Canyon might have beenthere at the time of dinosaurs aswell. In the previous estimates of theage of Grand Canyon, it was foundthat it was 5-6 million years old de-pending upon the age of gravel-washed downstream by the Colo-rado River.

Researchers nevertheless be-lieve that it was created around 70million years ago when dinosaurshad existed on Earth. The research-ers made use of radioactive decayas well as thermal dating in order tofind out the age of Grand Canyon.In the study, the radioactive decayof thorium as well as uranium atomswas exploited into the helium atomsin phosphate mineral called apatite.The helium atoms remained lockedinside the apatite grains when theycooled and contracted to surfacewhen Grand Canyon was carved.Hotness of the apatite determinedthat fewer helium atoms were therewithin it, which enabled research-ers to find out thermal history of thisarea.

The temperature variations atthe shallow levels under the surfaceof Earth are influenced by the to-pography and this in turn enabledthe team of researchers to find outabout the important natural excava-tion of this wonder of the world. Theresearch found out that Grand Can-yon was carved to around somehundred metres of the moderndepth around 70 million years back.

Chinese Scientists unveiledthe Secret of BactrianCamels by DNA Study

Scientists of China on 13 No-vember 2012 found the DNA of WildBactrian Camel, which is actually anendangered species. The endan-gered species has a capability to live




Unique feedingThe thrips desap the plant with

their unique feeding apparatus andalso transmit the deadly bud necro-sis virus that impedes plant growth.Nymphs and adults tear the surfaceof the leaflets and suck the oozingsap resulting in white patches ap-pearing on the lower surface of theleaves and distortion of young leaf-lets. The injury results in develop-ment of dull yellowish-greenpatches of the upper leaf surfaceand brown coloured (necrotic) ar-eas on the lower surface. Severe in-festations cause bronzed appear-ance of leaf with curling and stunt-ing of plants. High temperature withlow rainfall favours multiplicationand transmits groundnut bud necro-sis virus.

Management methodsUproot and destroy severely

infected plants. Remove the alterna-tive host plants. Mulching wouldcheck the damage during the earlystage of the plant. Setting up of bluesticky traps at rate of 12 per hectarein the field will check the thripspopulation. Apply safe chemical in-secticides at recommended dosesonly if the population crosses 10thrips per plant.

Application of ecofriendly pes-ticides viz., neem oil or pungam oilat 2ml/ha will be very effective.

Spraying of fipronil 5 per centSC at 1.500-2.000ml/ha orthiacloprid 21.7 per cent SC 125ml/ha or thiamethoxam 25 per cent WGat 40g/ha or dimethoate 30 EC at 2ml per litre of water at 25, 45 and 60days after sowing will protect thecrop from thrips menace.

Citizen science projectstake root in India

The practice of science islargely seen as the privilege of a few

scientists working within the limita-tions of a research institute or uni-versity. But not any more! Thanks toCitizen Science initiatives even non-scientists may experience a taste ofscientific research today. CitizenScience is when people make theirown voluntary contributions to theprogress of science from home. Theadvent of the Internet has madepossible the active participation ofa large number of people in areaslike astronomy, ecology and particlephysics all over the world. NationalCentre for Biological Sciences, Ban-galore, (NCBS) is spearheading twosuch projects within India —Migrantwatch and Seasonwatch.

M i g r a n t w a t c h(www.migrantwatch .in) was set upin 2007. The participants in this ac-tivity identify migrant birds and notedown the first sighting and feed itinto the online database. This re-quires skill in identifying birds, andso the target group consists ofbirdwatchers. They are contactedthrough email groups and natureclubs in a straightforward manner.However, the organizers soon real-ized that there was a better way toreach out to non-specialists all overthe country, and that was by study-ing plants. After all, everyone knowsto identify at least five differentplants. This led to the start ofSeasonwatch, a programme inwhich the participant identifies atree and observes it every week tonote down when the flowers, fruits

and leaves come out. The plan is tobuild up baseline data based ondecade after decade of observa-tions. This would help studychanges in the seasons based onchanges in flowering pattern. Notjust adults, but school children,many of them, have been recruitedinto this programme. Now there aremore than 300 people inSeasonwatch, about 250 of whomare children.

Pied Crested CuckooThe Pied Crested Cuckoo mi-

grates from Africa to India everyyear. (There is also a resident popu-lation in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.The migrant birds come to Centraland Northern India.) There are leg-ends that this bird marks the arrivalof monsoon; there is widespreadbelief that the monsoon followswithin a definite number of days af-ter the first sighting of the bird.

This was verified by collatingobservations made by the membersof Migrantwatch for four years,which included the first sighting andthe onset of the monsoons.

The findings indicated thatwhile the birds arrive just before themonsoon, the number of days be-tween the sighting and the onset ofthe monsoon is not fixed from yearto year. It is possible that the birdsuse the wind that sets in on the eastcoast of Africa and are likely ridingon the wind in their journey to In-dia. The citizen scientists were ableto affirm this by analysing the ob-servations over a four-year period.The findings may actually make aresearch paper.

SeasonwatchIn India, there is little ecologi-

cal data about the seasons prior to1950s. While there is a lot of inputfrom meteorological studies, there




is less information about changes inseasonal cycles of plants. The onlyone of its kind is a 20-year studydone in Mudumalai, in the WesternGhats.

In this study, the change in veg-etation was monitored. It may benoted that there is no significantbaseline work on climate and sea-sons from the ecological angle.S e a s o n w a t c h( w w w . s e a s o n w a t c h . i n )workaddresses this lacunae — itbuilds up baseline data about theflowering and fruiting of trees whichcan be put in the public domain.

The advantage of these twoprogrammes is twofold says SuhelQuader, head of Citizen Science,NCBS: “they help in adding to thescientific knowledge base and alsochange us as citizens — to careabout the environment and developa relationship with what is aroundus.” “I hope many more peoplecome forward, including children,so that 20 years from now we willunderstand and love nature better.”

Seasonwatch andMigrantwatch are largely in Englishand Malayalam. The next step is totranslate the pages into local lan-guages. But that is not all; for thebenefit of people challenged in us-ing the Internet, the organisers areplanning to take the programmemobile — using smartphones andmobiles in collecting data. So reallythe whole exercise is a case in pointthat technology can be used to bringtogether people in the most creativeway possible.

NASA’s Mercury-orbitingprobe discovered ice on theplanet

Scientists of NASA have dis-covered a huge mass of ice atMercury’s North Pole on 29 Novem-

ber 2012. Mercury is the planet clos-est to the Sun. These findings comefrom the Mercury-orbiting probe ofNASA, Messenger. Frozen water isfound in the North Pole regions ofMercury which are always found inshadows and mainly affects the cra-ters. It is supposed that the southpole of mercury also has ice butthere is no hard and fast data whichsupports this. Messenger orbitscloser to the North Pole than SouthPole. Scientist from the JohnsHopkins University opined that if allthis is added, the total amount of icecomes out to be 100 billion to 1 tril-lion metric tons. The only thing thatis uncertain is how deep it lies. Itis thought that the ice is approxi-mately 1.5 feet or 0.5 metres deepor possibly, around 65 feet deep aswell. The amount of ice found atMercury is enough to bury the areathe size of Washington D.C. byaround 2.5 miles deep.

The radar measurementsanalysed from Earth had suggestedexistence of ice on Mercury’s polesfor two decades. Because of theMessenger, the results have beenconfirmed now. The water, itseemed, came from impacting com-ets and possibly even the asteroids.Ice was found at Mercury’s surfaceand also buried under the dark or-ganic material. It is very importantto note that presence of ice on Mer-cury does not necessarily indicatethat there is a possibility of life on

Mercury. But it is evidence that Mer-cury might support life, consideringthe presence of water on its surface.Over the years, Mercury has alsobecome a subject of astrobiologicalinterest.

About MessengerMessenger was launched back

in 2004. It is a NASA spacecraft or-biting around Mercury. The obser-vations through NASA’s Messengerwill continue in the next year as well.

Research on Paralysis Curethrough OlfactoryEnsheathing Cells

Cambridge University re-searchers reversed in the third weekof November 2012, the paralysisprocess in dogs after injecting themwith the cells which grow on the lin-ing of the nose. This research hasopened up new aspirations for theparalysis cure in humans as well. Researchers believe that this will becrucial for the human patients withspinal injuries who had lost bowelor bladder control as well as sexualfunction. The research was con-ducted on the pets which had suf-fered from spinal injuries that pre-vented them in using the back legs.Researchers are especially optimis-tic as this would help in the treat-ment of humans as well. Accordingto the researchers, this is the firststudy to test the transplant in real-life injuries instead of the lab ani-mals. The olfactory ensheathingcells, removed from the lining of thenose of dogs were grown as well asexpanded for various weeks in thelab.

Out of the 34 pet dogs, 23 ofthem had these cells transplant intheir injury site. Rest of the dogs,were injected with neutral fluid. Thedogs which received transplant dis-played a great improvement. They




were walking on treadmill with har-ness support. The other group ofdogs did not regain the use of theback legs. The co-author of thestudy, Professor Robin Franklin be-lieves that the findings are very ex-citing because it is the first time thatsignificant improvements can beseen in severely damaged spinalcord. It is also believed that thistechnique can restore some move-ment at least in the human patientswith the injuries of spinal cord. Thetechnique could also be used withthe drug treatments in order to pro-mote the nerve fibre regeneration aswell as bio-engineering in order toreplace the damaged neural net-works. Researchers believe thattransplanted cells can regeneratethe nerve fibres around damagedspinal cord regions. This was whathelped the dogs regain usage of theback legs as well as coordinate themovements with the front limbs.

What are olfactoryensheathing cells?

Olfactory ensheathing cells arethe kind of glial cells which arefound in nervous system. These arethe neural crest cells which partici-pate in guidance as well as growthof the main olfactory neurons. Ol-factory ensheathing cells exist in thePeripheral Nervous System (PNS) aswell as Central Nervous System(CNS) portions, i.e., olfactory epi-thelium and bulb.

Bionetwork of Bacteria Livein Belly Button

US researchers from NorthCarolina State University in the sec-ond week of November found thatthe navel, also known as belly but-ton can harbour the bionetwork ofbacteria which is quite similar inbiodiversity to the rainforests of theworld. 2368 such species of the bac-

teria were found out of which 1458are absolutely new for science. Among the 60 individuals who werestudied, merely eight of the specieswere frequent in around 70 percentpeople. These eight species arecalled oligarchs. Nevertheless whatremains doubtful is what factorsdetermine about the kind of speciesfound in the people. Researchershave looked at various factors suchas ethnicity, age and sex and noneof these can predict as to whichspecies of bacteria will live in a per-son. The project was launched bythe researchers in part in order toinvestigate claims made over recentyears about collection of the organ-isms on human skin which makesthe first line of protection against thepathogens. Researchers are awareof the fact that the immune systemwill not function properly in the ab-sence of these microorganisms.

Total Solar Eclipse seen inNorthern Australia

A total Solar Eclipse was seenin Northern Australia on 14 Novem-ber 2012. The darkness of theeclipse was at its peak for 2 minutes.Number of scientists, amateur as-tronomers and tourists gathered to-gether on the hill tops and the beau-tiful beaches of Great Barrier Reefto have a look on of the celestialphenomenon. The total solar eclipseleft a large part of the Continent’sNorth Eastern part into sudden dark-ness.

The eclipse started at the timeof dawn and casted its shadow inan area of about 150 kilometers inthe Northern Territory of Australiasweeping across the east to theSouth Pacific after crossing acrossthe northeast tip of the country. Thiseclipse was partially visible from theeastern half of Australia, East Indo-nesia, Papua New Guinea, NewZealand and southern parts of Chileand Argentina.

Started just after the dawn, theeclipse casted its 150-kilometreshadow in Australia’s Northern Ter-ritory, crossed the northeast tip ofthe country and was swooping eastacross the South Pacific, where noislands are in its direct path. A par-tial eclipse was visible from east In-donesia, the eastern half of Austra-lia, New Zealand, Papua NewGuinea and southern parts of Chileand Argentina. Totality of the dark-ness, that happens at the peak of theeclipse lasted just for two minutesin some parts of Australia, where itwas visible.

Solar EclipseThe Solar Eclipse occur when

the moon crosses between the Sunand the Earth blocking the sun com-pletely or partially. This celestialevent can occur only on the day ofa new moon when, the sun and themoon lies in conjunction to eachother when seen from the earth.

Soybean plants atChernobyl produce fertileseeds

The environmental impact ofradiation at Chernobyl continues tointerest many researchers. There areonly very limited studies on plants.Chernobyl accident led to contami-nation of large tracts of land.

“There have been a few mo-lecular analyses of plants grown in




the radio-contaminated Chernobylarea, and there is as yet no broadunderstanding of the mechanismsthat underlie survival,” Dr. Katarý´naKlubicova and coworkers from theSlovak Academy of Sciences,Slovakia reported in the October2012 issue ofPLoS ONE , an openaccess journal.

Researchers found that in spiteof the magnitude of the Chernobylnuclear accident, local flora contin-ues to grow and reproduce in theradioactively contaminated soil.

“Although there has been morethan 80 years of research address-ing the effects of ionizing radiationon plants, the ongoing success ofplants in the Chernobyl area was notanticipated,” the researchers added.

These researchers who havebeen pioneers in the field, analyzedprotein abundance in mature seedsharvested from first generation soy-bean plants grown in radioactiveand non-radioactive plots in theChernobyl area . They reported thatthe plants adapted very well to thecontaminated environment ( Jour-nal of Proteome Research ,2009).This study was describedi n The Hindu on July 23, 2009.

There was evidence suggestingthat the plant adapts itself to heavymetal stress and protects itselfagainst radiation damage. Plantsmobilise seed storage proteins toadjust to increased levels of ionisingradiation. Researchers planted soy-bean plants since 2007 in a radioac-

tive field located 5 km from theChernobyl Nuclear Power Plant(CNPP), near the villageChystogalivka, and in a control fieldestablished directly in a non-radio-active area in the town of Chernobyl.The soil in the radioactive field con-tained 20,650 Bq /kg of Cs-137 and5180 Bq/ kg of Sr-90 and in the non-radioactive field 1414 Bq/ kg of Cs-137 and 550 Bq/ kg of Sr-90.( In a Bqof radioactivity one disintegrationoccurs every second).

The dry weight of mature soy-beans harvested from the radioac-tive Chernobyl area was only 63 percent of those harvested from thenon-radioactive area. Total oil con-tent in mature dry seeds harvestedfrom the radioactive area decreasedto 20 per cent from 25 per cent inthe seeds harvested from the non-radioactive are. Soybeans from theradioactive Chernobyl area weresmaller, contained less oil, and werefertile. The Abundances for 211 pro-teins were characterised during soy-bean seed development in non-ra-dioactive and radioactive Chernobylareas. “.... the study showed that bio-chemistry of soybean seed develop-ment in radio-contaminatedChernobyl area is altered the spe-cific way that resulted into thesmaller seeds with less oil ... “, DrMartin Hajduch, co-author and Se-nior Scientist, Slovak Academy ofSciences responded to an e-mailquery.

The researchers observed thatrelatively larger amounts of Sr-90 gottransferred from soil to plant com-pared with Cs-137.

“This is due to different bio-chemical properties of these tworadio-nuclides that are still not wellunderstood,” he added.

“In the case of both contami-nated and control fields, Sr-90 got

concentrated in the shoot system forboth control and contaminated (550Bq/kg to 1720Bq/kg (3 times) forcontrol;5180Bq/kg to54,000 Bq/kg(9.5times) for contaminated. Howdo you explain this?”

Dr Hajduch thus responded tothe query:

“The biochemical pathways ofradio-nuclides within the plants arestill not well understood. Differentlevels of Sr-90 and Cs-137 accumu-lation in soybean are due to differ-ent biochemical properties of theseradio-nuclides.” “Will the energyabsorbed from Sr-90 by the seedsduring their storage dramatically af-fected its behaviour during itsgrowth during the second genera-tion?”

“There was probably some mi-nor effect of accumulated radioac-tivity on the seeds during the stor-age. However the effect was not big,because mature seeds are not bio-logically active tissue. This is alsodocumented by the fact that seedswere able to germinate,” he clari-fied. Scientists measured Cs-137and Sr-90 in the shoot system (en-tire plant without roots and seedpods) and in the seeds. They foundthat the shoot system accumulatedmore radioactivity than seeds. Thismay be nature’s scheme to resistfurther damage by limiting accumu-lation of radioactivity in seeds.

In an interesting study pub-lished in PLoS ONE Journal in2009, Dr Sher Ali and his co-work-ers from the National Institute ofImmunology, Delhi showed someevidence that while natural back-ground radiation may be respon-sible for varying alterations, it leavesthe DNA of the vital germ line intact.Nature’s inexplicable schemes saveall living things from extinction.




Seas rising 60 % faster thanUN forecast

Sea levels are rising 60-per centfaster than the UN’s climate panelforecast in its most recent assess-ment, scientists reported onWednesday. At present, sea levelsare increasing at an average 3.2millimetres (0.125 inches) per year,a trio of specialists reported in thejournal Environmental ResearchLetters . This compares with a ‘bestestimate’ by the UN’s Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) in 2007, which projected thatby today, the rise would be 2 mm(0.078 inches) per year. The new fig-ure converges with a widely-sharedopinion that the world is heading forsea-level rise of around a metre (3.25feet) by century’s end, co-authorGrant Foster of US firm TempoAnalytics told AFP. “I would say thata metre of sea level rise by the endof the century is probably close towhat you would find if you polledthe people who know best,” Fostersaid. The investigation, led by StefanRahmstorf of Germany’s PotsdamInstitute for Climate Impact Re-search (PIK), gauged the accuracyof computer simulations that theIPCC used in its landmark FourthAssessment Report in 2007.

New Drug Discovered thatcan Halt Cancer fromMultiplying

Scientists in the last week ofNovember 2012 developed a newdrug called Aflibercept for stoppingthe cancerous cells from multiply-ing. The new drug compels the can-cerous cells to sleep which in turnstops them in multiplying. The drugis said to trick the tumours for be-coming inactive by swapping themolecular switches in cancer struc-ture so that there is no multiplica-

tion of the cancerous cells. The drughad shown positive results in UK,where scientists performed trials onthe patients. The patients hadshown significant life extension.There were over 1400 patients in-volved in the trial and some of thesewere also suffering from advancedbowel cancer. These patients withadvanced bowel cancer had alreadygone through chemotherapy whichprolonged their life by two years. Scientists believe that the drugwould be useful across a wide rangeof cancers in the future studies.Aflibercept in comparison to theconventional drugs had statisticallybetter survival benefits for treatingbowel cancer which had spreadeven after initial treatment.

Aflibercept is usually given as30-minute infusion with chemo-therapy. As of now, it is found in USonly. Europe would soon approvethe drug for cancer treatment.

Scientist decoded theReason for Albert EinsteinBeing a Genius

A study led by Scientist andEvolutionary Anthropologist, DeanFalk of Florida State University re-vealed in the Month of October thatthe Physicist Albert Einstein’s brainhad an “extraordinary” prefrontalcortex - unlike those of most peoplewhich may have contributed to hisremarkable genius. It was onEinstein’s death in 1955 that hisbrain was removed and photo-graphed from multiple angles withthe permission of his family and wassectioned into 240 blocks fromwhich histological slides were pre-pared. The researchers came to con-clusion after studying 14 newly dis-covered photographs of Einstein’sbrain, which was preserved forstudy after his death. The research

concludes that the brain was indeedhighly unusual in many ways as itwas compared to 85 “normal” hu-man brains and, in light of currentfunctional imaging studies, inter-preted its unusual features. It wasfound that the overall size and asym-metrical shape of Einstein’s brainwere normal but the prefrontal, so-matosensory, primary motor, pari-etal, temporal and occipital corticeswere extraordinary. The study waspublished in the journal Brain and italso published the “roadmap” toEinstein’s brain prepared in 1955 byDr Thomas Harvey to illustrate thelocations within his previouslywhole brain of 240 dissected blocksof tissue, which provides a key tolocating the origins within the brainof the newly emerged histologicalslides.

Scientist Developed aDevice that allow Heartbeatto Power Pacemaker

Scientists had developed anew device that uses energy from abeating heart to power a pace-maker, which can eradicate theneed for surgeries to replace thedepleted batteries. The experimen-tal device converts energy from abeating heart to provide enoughelectricity to make a pacemaker run-ning. After conducting test it wassuggested that the device could pro-duce 10 times the amount of energyneeded. The researchers at the De-partment of Aerospace Engineeringat the University of Michigan in AnnArbor tested an energy-harvestingdevice that uses piezoelectricity –electrical charge generated frommotion. The approach is a challeng-ing technological solution for pace-makers, because they require onlysmall amounts of power to operate.Pacemakers device is replaced ev-




ery five to seven years when theirbatteries run out which is quitecostly and inconvenient. With theinvention of such new technologymany patient are spared with manyoperation which are conducted inorder to transplant new batteries.

Animals are bigger in colderclimates

Animals living near colder cli-mates are bigger in size becausebeing heftier allows them severalbenefits like reducing body heatloss, researchers said. For most spe-cies of vertebrates, body mass in-creases the closer you get to thepoles. The bigger you are, the morefat you can store to help you getthrough the winter.

For many types of animals, itpays to be bigger in the colder cli-mates that exist at high latitudes andaltitudes. Heftier animals have asmaller surface area-to-volume ratio,which helps reduce heat loss — apattern known as Bergmann’s Rule.A more massive organism has asmaller surface area-to-volume. An-other reason is that the bigger youare, the more fat you can store tosee you through the winter of colderclimates. More nutritious foods alsofuel bigger body size closer to thepoles.

Sunita Williams ReturnedBack on Earth after 4Months in Orbit

The Indian-American SunitaWilliams, 47, set the record by re-

turning to Earth on 20 November2012 from the International SpaceStation (ISS) from Russian Soyuzcapsule after having spent 4 monthsin the orbit. She touched the grass-lands of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan afterliving months in the orbit. This wasthe perfect landing for Williams aswell as flight engineers Aki Hoshideand Yuri Malenchenko, when theytouched down earth in the chillingexpanses of Kazakhstan from theRussian Soyuz capsule.

After they landed, helicoptersrushed towards them for assistancebecause the capsule parachuteddownwards around 35 km fromplanned destination because of theprocedural delay. Their return haswrapped a 127-days space sojournsince they were launched in spacefrom Baikonur Cosmodrome,Kazakhstan on 15 July 2012, includ-ing the 125 days aboardISS. Williams has a total span of 322days in space during two long-du-ration missions. Initially, she servedat ISS as an Expedition 14/15 flightengineer from 9 December 2006 to22 June 2007. Sunita Williams alsohas the record for highest space-walking time for the female astro-nauts. She has in all 50 hours and 40minutes spacewalking time. Thereare three more Expedition 34 flightengineers- Nasa astronaut TomMarshburn, Russian Federal SpaceAgency cosmonaut RomanRomanenko as well as CanadianSpace Agency astronaut ChrisHadfield scheduled to be launchedfrom Baikonur on 19 December 2012for 5-months stay.

Boron management in colecrops

Boron is an essential micronu-trient and plays a important role infertilization and flowering process.

SynthesisIt has been known to be con-

stituent of plants since 1857. Facili-tating pollination and fruit set is con-sidered to be the most importantfunction of boron besides its role inthe synthesis of amino acids andprotein metabolism.

Boron increases the transloca-tion of sugar in plants and increasesthe rate of transport of sugars(which are produced by photosyn-thesis in mature plant leaves) to ac-tively growing regions

It plays an important role inboth structural and functional integ-rity of plasma membranes. Integrityand functionality of plasma mem-branes are ensured with adequatesupply of boron.

Boron is involved in nitrogenfixation and it is required for growthand development of vascular tis-sues. It accelerates nitrogenous ac-tivity through effective nodule de-velopment for nitrogen fixation.

Cole crops (those which growwell in temperate climate like cauli-flower and cabbage) have high bo-ron requirement and its deficit ishigh in acidic soils.

These crops develop crack,corky stem, petioles and midribs. Incrops like Knol Khol (Kohl rabi),cracking will be seen and as a resultthese vegetables will not fetch amarket value.

In cauliflower it appears assmall water soaked areas in the cen-tre of the curd. Later, the stem be-comes hollow with soaked tissuesurrounding the walls of the cavity.




Brown rotIn more advanced stage, pink-

ish or rusty brown areas develop onthe surface of the curd and hence,it is also known as brown rot or redrot. Affected curd develops a bittertaste.

It can be controlled by appli-cation of borax or sodium tetra bo-rate at 20 kg ha. In case of acutedeficiency, foliar spray of 0.25 to0.50 per cent solution of boric acidis advocated.

SRI system revivespopularity of paddycultivation

Paddy cultivation requires a lotof water. In fact the year’s produc-tion of paddy depends to a largeextent on the season’s rainfall andany delay or failure in the monsoonhas a direct impact on the paddyyield.

“As scientists we face a greatchallenge in motivating a farmer andsustaining his interest in continuingpaddy cultivation with less amountof water, using techniques like Sys-tematic Rice Intensification (SRI).For this we need to identify enter-prising growers in respective dis-tricts who are optimistic and readyto try,” says Mr. M.Devanathan,programme co-ordinator, ThirurKVK, Tamil Nadu Agricultural Uni-versity, Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu.

Personal interest“Though today SRI technique

has established increased yield andhelps farmers get a better incomethere are some pockets where farm-ers still have not accepted it. Wetake a personal interest for thosefarmers having some inhibition andtry to make them aware through in-teractions with others who have suc-cessfully done it, and impress uponthem to try it out,” he says.

A. Venkattahiri, a farmer, hasnearly 13 acres in Ramakuppam vil-lage in the region. Initially the farmerwas growing paddy under the com-mon conventional method alongwith some other crops. He was notwilling to accept this simple and ef-fective technology having his owndoubts on its effectiveness. On oneof their regular visits, the KVK staffmet him and impressed upon himto try SRI. “Though initially reluctant,the farmer was willing to try it sincewe promised him that he would geta better yield and income.”

And today the farmer does notregret taking to SRI as he has got anet income of more than Rs. 1 lakhfrom his two and half hectares in lessthan four months in which he car-ried out SRI. Previously he was ableto earn a little over Rs. 50,000 usingconventional methods.

“Ï regret not taking to SRI ear-lier,” says the farmer.

“Practically under this methodthe cost of cultivation has comedown. The seed requirement for anacre is only 3 kg, whereas underconventional methods I used to sow30 kg of seeds for eight cents. Plantprotection is easy and less expen-sive. The incidence of pest and dis-ease also seems to be low.

No rat menaceMost important, rat menace is

practically absent in SRI plantedfields due to the square system ofplanting the seedlings. I noticed thatthe grain panicles are quite denseand tillers are more in number,” ex-plains the farmer.

The KVK constantly kept guid-ing and motivating him. Right fromsupplying leaf colour charts to pro-viding the different machines ontime they saw to it that the farmergot all the necessary inputs on time.

Sourcing is difficult“Though the Government has

made available certain devices likecono weeder and markers (devicesrequired for this type of cultivation)at a subsidized cost for farmersthrough the different KVK offices toencourage SRI cultivation, manyfarmers find it difficult to source thedevices on time as there is a gooddemand for them.

“One needs to wait for someweeks to be able to get the ma-chines. In such cases farmers losepatience and decide to grow thecrop under the conventionalmethod. If they are able to get thedevices on time then I am sure likeme many would start adopting SRI,”he says confidently.

At a time when paddy grow-ing is fast becoming un-remunera-tive for many paddy growers acrossthe State, people likeMr.Venkattahiri serve as motivationfor others. Earning nearly Rs. 1 lakhfrom an hectare in three and halfmonths is no longer a fairy tale.

In fact today nearly 200 hect-ares in Poondi region have comeunder SRI cultivation after seeing thefinancial success of Mr. Venkattahiri,according to Mr. Devanathan.

The Tamil Nadu AgriculturalUniversity has also uploaded a de-tailed visual presentation on SRIcultivation, methods, inputs, irriga-tion schedule etc at http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/sri.html

SchemeThe state government through

a world bank scheme called ‘TN-IAMWARM’ is presently supplyingsix bags of urea, three bags of su-perphosphate, one bag of potashand eight kg of any seed variety freeof cost for cultivating SRI in onehectare. Interested farmers need to




approach the respective KVK officesin their region with relevant landdocuments to avail this benefit.

Scientists decoded how fluviruses replicate withinInfected Cells

Scientists in the fourth weekof November 2012 decoded how fluviruses replicate within infectedcells, which could be used in thedevelopment of potent vaccines.The study done by the scientistsexplained the flu virus replicationmachinery. Scientists used advancemolecular biology and electron-mi-croscopy techniques to see one ofinfluenza’s essential protein com-plexes in detail. They focused oninfluenza’s ribonucleoprotein(RNP). RNPs contained the geneticmaterial of virus and the special en-zyme that is required by the virus toreplicate itself.

Any influenza virus containseight RNPs in its core. RNPs are im-portant to the virus’s ability to sur-vive and spread in its hosts. EachRNP contains a single protein whichis the coding gene of the RNA-basedviral genome. The viral RNA segmentis coated with protective viral nucle-oproteins and its structure re-sembles a twisted loop of chain. Thefree ends of this twisted loop areheld by a flu-virus polymerase en-zyme, which is entrusted with twoimportant tasks of viral reproduc-tion-1) making new viral genomicRNA 2)making the RNA gene-tran-scripts that will develop into newviral proteins. It would be interest-ing to know how the flu polymeraseand the rest of the RNP interact.

The only flu RNPs reproducedin the laboratory, were shortenedversions whose structures didn’tmatch those of native flu RNPs. Still,Scientists developed a test-cell ex-pression system which produced all

of the protein and RNA componentsrequired to make full-length fluRNPs. The discovery enabled Scien-tists to analyse molecular samplesmore easily.

New Genes found thatexplain Vulnerability ofWomen against Arthritis

Scientists at Arthritis ResearchUK Epidemiology Unit found out insecond week of November, 2012about 14 new genes which causerheumatoid arthritis. This adds tothe already identified 32 geneswhich cause the disease. The dis-covery will help the scientists ex-plore new treatments for this con-dition. Also, this discovery will helpthe scientists know why women aremore susceptible to the disease thanmen.

According to the scientists,these genetic findings will help individing the patients to smallergroups with similar rheumatoid ar-thritis. This will further help in dis-ease management as well as alloca-tion of the therapies. The scientistswill consider how even the minorgenetic changes can alter normalbiological process to cause the dis-ease. A study conducted by thescientists identified the genes whichwere specific to the X-X-X-X-X-chromosomechromosomechromosomechromosomechromosome of the females andthis explains why women are 3 timesmore vulnerable to arthritis thanmen. The study will have a hugeimpact on developing the clinical

treatments for the condition. Thescientists have already found threegenes which can be targeted fordrugs and this leaves 43 more geneswith drug developmentpotential. This was the first timewhen genetic association was estab-lished between X chromosome,which is found in the females andarthritis.

What is rheumatoidarthritis?

RA or rheumatoid arthritis isthe systematic and chronic inflam-matory health condition which af-fects various organs as well as tis-sues, but mainly it attacks the flex-ible joints. Around 1% of populationof the world is suffering from RA andwomen are 3 times more suscep-tible to the condition than men.Mostly the onset of this condition isbetween 40-50 years. Neverthelesspeople can be affected by RA at anyage.

Arthritis is caused because ofenvironmental and lifestyle factorslike pregnancy, smoking as well asinfections but the genetic makeupof a person is also said to influencea person’s vulnerability to the dis-ease.

NASA launched SpaceStation Alert Service toMake People Aware aboutthe ISS

The US Space Agency, NASAon 2 November 2012 launched anew service in which people canreceive text messages on their




phones, whenever the InternationalSpace Station would come overtheir house. The service waslaunched during the celebration of12th anniversary of astronauts livingand working on the orbiting lab.

The message would makepeople aware in finding out the In-ternational Space Station (ISS) aspeople yet are unaware about thelocation of ISS in the sky also aboutthe fact that after sun and moon, itis the third brightest object presentin the sky.

The Spot the Station facilitywould be available across the worldas the trajectory of the station car-ries more than 90 percent popula-tion on earth. The Spot the StationService would provide people infor-mation about the location of the ISSin the sky.

About International SpaceStation (ISS)

International Space Station(ISS) that looks similar to Venus ismainly visible in the sky during duskand dawn at the time, when onlymoon is visible in the sky. It is a hab-itable satellite made and placed onthe lower earth orbit by the Scien-tists, and can be seen in the sky withnaked eyes without using telescopeor any other device. The Interna-tional Space Station Acts as a plat-form and environment for scientiststo conduct research in the space,which cannot be performed by anyother means. The ISS provides aplatform to conduct scientific re-

search that cannot be performed inany other way. While small un-manned spacecraft can provideplatforms for zero gravity and expo-sure to space, space stations offer along term environment where stud-ies can be performed potentially fordecades, combined with ready ac-cess by human researchers overperiods that exceed the capabilitiesof manned spacecraft.

Makemake, the Massive DwarfPlanet of Solar System Has No At-mosphere from Instituto deAstrofisica de Andalucia, CSIC,Spain in the third week of Novem-ber 2012 discovered that the distantdrawf planet called Makemake,which is 2/3rd that of Pluto in sizedoes not have atmosphere. Planetmakemake revolves around sun in itsdistant route which lies away fromPluto. This distance is closer to sunthan Eris’, the massive dwarf planetin entire solar system.

In the previous observations itwas found that Makemake was quitelike the fellow dwarf planets whichcompelled some astronomers tobelieve that it had atmosphere,maybe like that of Pluto. But in thenew study it was discovered thatMakemake does not have significantatmosphere. The team that carriedout the study combined the obser-vations from three telescopes- NewTechnology Telescope, Very LargeTelescope and TRAPPIST(TRAnsiting Planets andPlanetesImals Small Telescope) atEuropean Southern Observatory’sLa Silla and Paranal observing sitesin Chile. The new observations ofthe team will add many more detailsto discover about Makemake. Thedetails will include finding the sizemore precisely and estimating thedensity of the planet.

Scientists Developed Testto Detect schizophrenics

Scientists developed a near to100 percent accurate test to detectschizophrenics, by simply checkingtheir gaze. Apparentlyschizophrenics can be checked justby implying some ‘simple viewingtests’. The tests brought out ninety-eight per cent accuracy in distin-guishing between those with andwithout schizophrenia. This pathbreaking research was done by re-searchers at Aberdeen University.They found that people with schizo-phrenia showed well-documenteddeficits in the ability to track slowmoving objects smoothly with theireyes. The study was led by Dr PhilipBenson and Professor David St Clairwhich involved a range of eye testsand the volunteers were asked totrack slow moving objects slowlywith their eyes, inspect a variety ofeveryday scenes and given instruc-tions to keep a steady gaze on asingle unmoving target.

Why certain zones areprone to railway accidents

So what caused the 11 railwayaccidents involving express trains in2010 alone, and why has there beena sudden spurt in accidents duringrecent years? A paper published thisyear in Physica A , a reputed inter-national journal, has in a very scien-tific way identified the reasons be-hind these. Aside from clearly estab-lishing the well-known cause — thedisproportionate increase in railwaytraffic compared with infrastructure— it has also identified zones thatare insufficient to handle the con-gestion and reasons for this.

The paper is based on statisti-cal analyses of data drawn from theIndian Railways website, and isauthored by Saptarshi Ghosh,




Avishek Banerjee and Niloy Gangulyof Complex Network ResearchGroup (CNeRG) in the Departmentof Computer Science and Engineer-ing, IIT Kharagpur.

The authors have identifiedtwo main reasons for the 2010 acci-dents. First, railway traffic has growndisproportionately to railway infra-structure, particularly railroads androutes. Second, there are seriousflaws in the scheduling of trains onsome routes. So much so that theRailway system would not be ableto handle the traffic on certainroutes if all trains were to run as perschedule. Hence, the Railways re-sort to making trains wait at signals,leading to long delays in trains’ run-time. This is alarming, as the systemintentionally introduces the possi-bility of human error and/or systemfailure leading to accidents.

The 11 accidents were due toderailments or collisions betweenexpress trains or some sort of fail-ure of the railway system itself. In-cidentally, eight of the 11 accidentstook place in a zone which they callthe Indo Gangetic Plain (IGP) — anorth-eastern belt. This is no coin-cidence, as the statistical analysis bythe authors clearly identifies the rea-son.

They find that the Indo-Gangetic Plain hosts some of themost traffic-intensive segments ofrail routes — seven out of the 20 thatthey consider high-traffic. Compar-ing data gathered from 1992 to 2010from “trains at a glance,” they con-clude that this is because the infra-structure such as railway lines andtracks have not grown over theyears, whereas the number of trainshas increased manifold. They iden-tify the most risk-prone ‘trunk seg-ment’ as the Delhi-Tundla-Kanpurone and identify the

Vishakhapatnam -Vijayawada trunksegment from the southern zone asthe “safe standard” based on theempirical evidence that it has nothad any accident so far.

How sound is the rationalebehind keeping the south zoneroute as a safe standard? Is it notbetter to keep an absolute value onsafety? In an email to The Hindu ,Niloy Ganguly noted: “It will defi-nitely be better to use an absolutestandard, but we do not know of anysuch standard for IR….

Note that there have been de-railments/collisions even in SouthIndia in 2012. Hence, some seg-ments in South India also seem tobe nearing the risky zone. Thismeans that the condition of IGP iseven worse than what we had esti-mated in our paper (since the safestandard itself is no longer verysafe).”

Another parameter is the head-way, or time lapse between twotrains as they cross the same point.The possibility of two trains comingdangerously close to one anotherincreases as the headway reduces.They found two segments clearlycoming out as risk-prone segments— the Delhi-Kanpur segment andthe Ahmedabad-Surat segment. TheVishakhapatnam-Vijayawada seg-ment has a much higher headwayand is therefore safer, relativelyspeaking. Of the two lower headwaysegments, the Ahmedabad-Suratsegment has trains with low head-way running throughout the day,whereas in the case of the Delhi-Kanpur segment, trains get bunchedup in the early hours.

Runtime delays of trains onthese segments were also studied.While 20 per cent of the trains onthe Delhi-Kanpur segment were de-layed by more than one hour, only

about three per cent of the trains onthe Vishakhapatnam-Vijayawadasegment were delayed to that ex-tent. The delays reflect the high de-gree of congestion and frequentwaiting of trains at the signals, andhence a possibility of an accident.

They also analysed traffic con-gestion at a fine-grained level byundertaking a simulation of the traf-fic flow according to the IR sched-ule. The authors modelled the“block system” followed by Indianrailways.

A railway track is divided intoblock sections (of about 4-8 km)such that when one train is occupy-ing a block, no other train is allowedto enter that block on the sametrack. Signals or stations at the endof the block control the traffic.

From the simulation, it becameapparent that there would be morethan two or three trains in one blockquite frequently in the Indo-Gangetic Plain if all trains were torun as per schedule and not stoppedby signals.

Now, while some blocks havethree tracks, most of the IR blockshave only two tracks and so can ac-commodate at most two trains. Sothis indicates that the infrastructureis not sufficient to handle the trafficand this is only being managed bystopping trains and delaying thembeyond the scheduled time.

Why is a choke required ina tube light and not in aCFL?

Both conventional fluorescentlamps (usually 4 feet long) and com-pact fluorescent lamps — CFLs (much smaller both in length and di-ameter of the tube) used in lightingapplications are low pressure mer-cury vapour discharge lamps. Theselamps generate light by the process




of fluorescence (accomplishingconversion of invisible ultra-violet,UV to visible light) by electrical dis-charge-passage of electricitythrough gaseous-vapour mediumalong the column of the tube. Whenelectrical discharge could strike thecolumn of the tube, lot of invisibleUV radiation having wavelengthdominantly at 254 nm is generated.This UV radiation when strikes thewhite coating inside the tube madeof fluorescent material- phosphorsgets converted to visible light withwavelengths in the region of 400-700nm through the process of fluores-cence. The electrical resistance ofthe discharge column of the tubeincreases with dimensions and de-creases with miniaturization of lampdimensions.

For a conventional fluorescentlamp, the ballast used is a chokewhich essentially a leak transformer(made of bulk coil windings) whichmomentarily produces an inductivekick in the form of high voltage (ap-proximately 1000 volts) so that theelectrical discharge could be struckalong the column of the tube. So ina conventional fluorescent lamp therole of the choke is to initiate theelectrical discharge process. Oncethe discharge is struck it can be sus-tained through the drop in electri-cal resistance of the column. ButCFLs, being smaller in dimensionsoffering much lower electrical resis-tance do not require such bulkychokes. Instead the discharge inCFLs is initiated by much compactelectronic circuits integrated intothe CFL holder. Usually these elec-tronic ballasts are small oscillatorcircuits producing high frequencies(approximately 10 kilo Hertz) facili-tating flicker free quick start of lampas electrical discharge strikes fasterat such high frequencies.

How do mobile touchscreens work?

Mobile phones may use twotypes of input devices. In regularmobile phones, a keypad type ofdevice is used, which is mountedseparately from the screen of thecellphone. Whereas in touch screencellphones, a touch screen is acellphone display screen that alsoacts as an input device. The touchscreens are sensitive to pressure; auser interacts with the mobile ap-plications by touching pictures orwords on the screen. Most mobilephone keyboards are basic in thatthey use a tactile surface you areaccustomed to touching, and under-neath is a basic rubber peg (blackdot) which travels some depth untilit encounters resistance in the formof the actual keyboard surfacewhich is sometimes called a ‘bubbleboard.’ This is basically a semi-circleof aluminium shaped in the form ofa dome and provides that springingeffect of key and feedback on yourfinger when you press down and thebutton regains its at-rest shape andnormal position. Touch screen tech-nologies used in mobile phones in-clude resistive, capacitive and sur-face-wave based system.

The resistive system consists ofa normal glass panel that is coveredwith conductive and resistive metal-lic layers. These two layers are heldapart by spacers, and a scratch re-sistant layer is placed on top of the

whole setup. An electrical currentruns through the two layers whilethe monitor is operational. When auser touches the screen, the two lay-ers make contact exactly at thatspot. The change in the electricalfield is noted and the coordinatesof the point of contact are calcu-lated by the processor. Once thecoordinates are known, a specialdriver translates the touch intosomething that the operating systemcan understand, much as a com-puter mouse driver translates themovements of a mouse into a clickor a drag.

The change in the electricalcurrent is registered as a touch eventand sent to the controller for pro-cessing. In the capacitive system, alayer of an electroconductive mate-rial (most often indium tin-oxide)that stores electrical charge isplaced on the glass panel of themonitor. When a user touches themonitor with his finger, some of thecharge is transferred to the user, sothe charge on the capacitive layerdecreases. This decrease is mea-sured in circuits located at each cor-ner of the monitor. The computercalculates, from the relative differ-ences in charge at each corner, ex-actly where the touch event tookplace and then relays that informa-tion to the touch screen driver soft-ware. Resistive touch screen panelsare generally more affordable butoffer only 75 per cent clarity and thelayer can be damaged by sharp ob-jects. One advantage of the capaci-tive system over the resistive systemis that it transmits almost 92 per centof the light emitted from the moni-tor, whereas the resistive systemtransmits only about 75 per cent.This gives the capacitive system amuch clearer picture than the resis-tive system. Also, the capacitive sys-




tem has a very long life (about 225million clicks).

Device Developed toImitate Dog’s Nose forDetecting Explosives

Dogs are known for their olfac-tory sense. Imitating the same sense,scientists from the University of Cali-fornia in the third week of Novem-ber 2012 designed the nanotechchip that can smell presence of themolecules from a bomb within a fewseconds. According to the re-searchers, this nanotech chip is por-table, absolutely sensitive and accu-rate which can smell the vapoursfrom the explosives as well as othersubstances. This could become verycommon in future just like thesmoke detectors found in the pub-lic places.

Researchers who were led byprofessors Martin Moskovits andCarl Meinhart designed the detec-tor which makes use of themicrofluidic nanotechnology in or-der to imitate biological mechanismused behind canine scent receptors.This device is not just very sensitivefor tracing the amount of specificvapour molecules but can also tellabout specific substances besidesthe similar molecules. The devicehas been designed with the similaror even better sensitivity just like thenose of the dogs. Results of thestudy depict that this device canalso detect the airborne moleculesof the 2, 4-dinitrotoluene, mainly thevapours which emanate from theTNT-based explosives.

Algorithm Developed forControlling ComputerCursors with the Thoughts

Researchers from Stanfordwho were led by the scientists ofIndian origin, in the third week ofNovember 2012 claimed the devel-

opment of fastest as well as mostreliable mathematical algorithmwhich can help the disabled trickthe computer cursors with thethoughts. The speed, accuracy aswell as natural movements of thealgorithm are those like the real arm.Researchers have developed thesystem for ReFIT, the algorithm forthe brain-implantable prostheticsystems. This can help in greatlyimproving the accuracy as well asspeed of the neural prostheticswhich can control cursors of thecomputers. The findings will help inimproving the prosthetic systemperformance as well as robustnessin the paralysed. The system worksby relying on the sensor which isactually implanted in the brain. Thissensor is responsible for recordingthe action potentials in the neuralactivity from the range of electrodesensors. It then sends the data to thecomputer.

Scientist Decoded a Genethat Gives Humans an Edgeover Apes

Researchers of University ofEdinburgh discovered a new geneknown asmiR-941miR-941miR-941miR-941miR-941, which explainsthe evolution of humans from thechimpanzees. The gene is foundonly in human beings. It appearedin humans after they evolved fromapes. This gene played a very impor-tant role in the development of ahuman brain. The gene could beused for knowing how humanslearnt the usage of languages as wellas tools. University of Edinburghresearchers compared this gene to11 more mammals’ species whichincluded gorillas, chimpanzees, ratsas well as mice. The research willhelp us know the answer to mostcommonly asked question- what isit that differentiates humans fromothers. Previous studies which dif-

ferentiated humans and apes estab-lished the fact that evolutionary ge-netic benefits enable humans to livemuch longer than the apes, whilealso making them susceptible to ail-ments such as heart disease, demen-tia as well as cancer. miR-941 is thefirst of its kind gene and scientistsbelieve that the gene has certainspecific purpose in human body.

Scientists discoveredBacteria that can Line up toCreate Live Wire

Scientists on 8 November 2012revealed about the discovery of aspecial type of bacteria in the Oceanwith abilities of combining togetherfor the formation of the long con-ducting nano wire cable for trans-portation of electrons and captur-ing the oxygen available at the sur-face for carrying out the metabolicactivities. The live wire is made ofthe living biological cells, not fromany type of metal or alloy that is gen-erally used in making of the wire. A group of scientists along withChristain Pfeiffer reported about thediscovery of this special type of bac-teria with abilities of cooperate andmultiply at times of threats to over-come the problems.

Same DNA but differentgene expression

Humans share over 90 per centof their DNA with their primatecousins. However, the expression oractivity patterns of genes differacross species in ways that helpexplain each species’ distinct biol-ogy and behaviour.

U.S. shale gas drives upexports of unused coal

A report by researchers at theUniversity of Manchester has con-cluded that whilst the U.S. is burn-ing less coal due to shale gas pro-




duction, millions of tonnes of un-used coal are being exported to theUK, Europe and Asia.

Benefits of leisure-timephysical activity

Leisure-time physical activity isassociated with longer life expect-ancy, even at relatively low levels ofactivity and regardless of bodyweight. Life expectancy gains of asmuch as 4.5 years were seen.

Saliva research to saveendangered sea lions

Studying zoo animals is a per-fect opportunity to research on howsaliva can signal stress, health risks,and illness in the human body, andapply this research to endangeredspecies such as seals, as well.

Solar energy ‘funnel’ tapsmore sunlight

A ‘solar energy funnel’ thattakes advantage of materials underelastic strain enables harnessing abroader spectrum of sunlight’s en-ergy to produce electricitysays Nature Photonicsjournal.

Sun emits a mid-level flareOn November 13, the sun emit-

ted a mid-level solar flare. Solarflares are powerful bursts of radia-tion, which can disturb the atmo-sphere in the layer where commu-nications and Global PositioningSystem signals travel.

Trigger for earth’s last bigfreeze

Scientists have found conclu-sive evidence that flood waters frommelting of the enormous LaurentideIce Sheet flowed north into the Arc-tic first down the Mackenzie Rivervalley.

Skeleton of a mammothfound

A near-complete skeleton of a

mammoth which lived between200,000 and 500,000 years ago hasbeen found near Paris.

Climate change will alterGreenland’s face

Using a regional climate modeland the output of three global cli-mate models, researchers at The CityCollege of New York predict howclimate change would change theface of Greenland over the next cen-tury.

River floods predicted usingnew technology

Scientists have developed atool for gauging and managing thedangers of floods in specific riverzones and are now using it to pro-vide real-time forecast of the dan-gers of river floods.

Why Antarctic sea ice coverhas increased

NASA and British AntarcticSurvey scientists have reported thatmarked changes to Antarctic sea icedrift caused by changing winds areresponsible for observed increasesin Antarctic sea ice cover in the pasttwo decades.

Genetic traits affected inturkey evolution

The genetic traits affected bythe variation between today’s do-mestic turkeys and their wild ances-tors are body size and breast muscledevelopment — features that deter-mine whether a consumer will buythe turkey.

How blue-green algaeharvests sunlight

An international team of biolo-gists has identified both the enzymeand molecular mechanism criticalfor controlling a chameleon-like pro-cess that allows blue-green algae tomaximize light harvesting for pho-tosynthesis.

New strategy to visualisefingerprints

A new approach for identify-ing and making fingerprints on pa-per readily readable has been de-veloped.

It produces a negative of thefingerprint image and is nearly inde-pendent of the composition of thesweat residue left behind on thepaper.

New, more natural lensinspired by human eye

Researchers have created anew artificial lens that is nearly iden-tical to the natural lens of the hu-man eye. This innovation may pro-vide a natural performance in im-plantable lenses to replace dam-aged human eye lenses.

Australia to strengthen leadin solar energy

Australian government willfund 3. 3 million AUD for The SkillsDevelopment Program of solar tech-nology to reinforce Australia’s lead-ership in this field, the Minister forResources and Energy MartinFerguson said.

Finding clues to diseaseresistant watermelons

An international consortium ofscientists has published the genomesequence of watermelon. This couldaccelerate watermelon breedingtowards a more nutritious, tastierand more disease resistant fruit.

Mummy unwrappingpromoted Egyptology

Public ‘unwrappings’ of realmummified human remains by bothshowmen and scientists heightenedthe fascination, but also helped de-velop the growing science ofEgyptology, says a Missouri Univer-sity historian.




Owl study aims to mitigateaircraft noise

Owls have the uncanny abilityto fly silently, relying on specialisedplumage to hunt in acoustic stealth.Researchers are studying the owl’swing structure to better understandit and apply that information to de-sign of aircraft.

Life found in sub-zeroAntarctic lake’s brine

Where there is water there islife — even in brine beneath 60 feetof Antarctic ice, in permanent dark-ness and sub-zero cold. Lake Vida,in East Antarctica hosts some newlydiscovered microbes, says PNASjournal.

Carbon buried in the soilrises again

Scientists have identified asource of carbon emissions. Whileerosion can bury carbon in the soil,acting as a carbon sink, the sink isonly temporary. About half of suchcarbon will be re-released withinabout 500 years.

Increasing efficiency ofwireless networks

Two professors at the Univer-sity of California, Riverside have de-veloped a new method that doublesthe efficiency of wireless networksand could have a large impact on themobile Internet and wireless indus-tries.

Mars, Earth had similarearly building blocks

A team of scientists studied the

hydrogen in water from the Martianinterior and found that Mars formedfrom similar building blocks to thatof Earth, but that there were differ-ences in the later evolution of thetwo planets.

Grapefruit–medicationinteractions increasing

The number of prescriptiondrugs that can have serious adverseeffects from interactions with grape-fruit is increasing, yet many physi-cians may be unaware of it, statesan article in the Canadian MedicalAssociation Journal .

Additional Kepler data nowbeing released

The Space Telescope ScienceInstitute U.S., is releasing 12 addi-tional months worth of data meticu-lously collected by NASA’s KeplerMission, one of the most prolificplanet-hunting endeavours everconceived.

Mosquitoes fail at flight inheavy fog conditions

Mosquitoes have a reducedwing-beat frequency in heavy fog,but are able to generate sufficientforce to lift their bodies, even afterdew deposition. They are unable,however, to maintain an uprightposition needed for flight.

Columbia Glacier will stopretreating in 2020

The wild and dramatic cascadeof ice into the ocean from Alaska’sColumbia Glacier, one of the fastestmoving glaciers in the world, will

cease around 2020, according to astudy by the University of ColoradoBoulder.

Bacteria talk to each otherand human cells

Bacteria can talk to each othervia molecules they themselves pro-duce. This is important when an in-fection propagates. Now, research-ers are showing how bacteria con-trol processes in human cells thesame way.

Stroke recovery usingmarine algae product

A new study using brevetoxin-2, a compound produced naturallyby marine algae, stimulated nervecell growth and plasticity in mouseneurons. Treatment for stroke maynot be far off.

Evidence of a ‘mid-lifecrisis’ in great apes

Chimpanzees and orangutanscan have a mid-life crisis just likehumans, a study suggests. Well-be-ing follows a U shape — high inyouth, old age and low in middleage.

Massive black hole inflatesgiant bubble

Some black holes activelyaccrete matter, part of which isejected in a narrow stream of par-ticles, and travels at nearly the speedof light. When the stream slowsdown, it creates a tenuous bubblethat can engulf the entire galaxy.




CRICKETRicky Ponting Retired

The Cricketer and Former Cap-tain of the Australian Cricket team,Ricky Ponting on 3 December 2012announced his retirement from In-ternational Test Cricket. The deci-sion of retirement came after Aus-tralia lost the third test match againstSouth Africa by 309 runs on 3 De-cember 2012 at Perth. The first andsecond test matches at Brisbane andAdelaide resulted in a draw duringthe South Africa Tour to Australia2012. Ponting will continue playingfor Tasmania and in the AustralianDomestic T20 Tournament the BigBash League, where he would rep-

Arts at a function organised at TajLands End at Mumbai, India.On thisoccassion Sachin recieved a medaland a stump painted by an Austra-lian. With this honour Sachin hasnow joined the list of non-Austra-lian cricketers to be honoured withthe membership of Order of Austra-lia along with Brian Lara, Clive Lloydand Gary Sobers.

West Indies won theBangladesh Test Series

West Indies on 25 November2012 won the second match of thetest series against Bangladesh atSheikh Abu Naser Stadium andsealed the series with 2-0. Tino Bestthe West Indies paceman claimed

SPORTSSPORTSSPORTSSPORTSSPORTSresent the Hobart Hurricanes thisseason.

About Ricky PontingRicky Ponting nicknamed as

Punter was the Captain for the na-tional team of Australia in both testand one day segment of Cricketfrom 2004 to 2011 and 2002 to 2011respectively. He made his interna-tional debut in one day cricket on15 February 1995 against South Af-rica and in Test on 3 December 1995against Sri Lanka. He played his lastone day match against India on 19February 2012 and test match on 3December 2012 against South Africabefore giving an end to his interna-tional career in Cricket.

Honorary Membership ofthe Order of Australia forSachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar the IndianCricketer on 6 November 2012 re-ceived the honorary membership ofthe Order of Australia by SimonCrean, Minister for Regional Austra-lia, Regional Development and Lo-cal Government and Minister for the




his career best six-wicket haul tohelp the team win the match againstthe competitors, which was fol-lowed by the five wicket haul in thefirst test against Dhaka.

With this defeat Bangladeshfaced its 65th defeat in the 75 testsplayed till date, since the time it gotrecognition as aq test playing na-tions 12 years back. The list of de-feat also includes 34 defeats by aninnings. After marking this major winin the test series, West Indies wouldbe playing five one-dayinternationals followed by atwenty20 international match.

Only Indian to Score ThreeTriple Tons in First-ClassCricket

Ravindra Jadeja became firstIndian and only eighth batsman inthe first-class cricket history ofworld to score three triple-centuriesin the unbeaten 320 runs againstRailways in the Ranji Trophy GroupA match on 2 December 2012 inRajkot. With the help of Jadeja’sinnings, Saurashtra reached the gi-ant score of 534 for six in their firstinnings on second day of 4-day com-bat. Jadeja had scored 303 againstGujarat in his first match of this sea-son and eventually the second triplecentury and third as well to becomethe only Indian batsman to reach thispodium.

There are five other Indianbatsmen who have scored two triplecenturies in their first-class cricketand these are VVS Laxman, WasimJaffer, Virender Sehwag, VijayHazare and Raman Lamba. With histriple century, Jadeja has joined theleague of seven other non-Indianswho have reached this landmarkand these are Mike Hussey, WGGrace, Graeme Hick, Sir DonBradman, Wally Hammond, BillPonsford and Brian Lara. During the

match, Jadeja, the left-handed bats-man hit 28 fours and 7 sixes duringhis 11-and-a-half-hour game inwhich he played 491 deliveries. Withthis, he added 274 for the unbreak-able 7th wicket partnership withKamlesh Makvana.

International NewsAgencies Boycotted IndiaEngland Test Series

International news agencies on15 November 2012 boycotted thehigh-profile Test series between In-dia and England which began withits first test in Ahmedabad to pro-test against the restrictions imposedby the BCCI on some photo agen-cies covering the tour. The majorInternational agencies ThomsonReuters, Agence France-Presse andAssociated Press decided to sus-pend reports from the tour as wellas pictures. Also, as per the releaseissued by the News Media Coalition(NMC), the press Association, Na-tional Agency in the United King-dom is not going to supply Photo-graphs. The international news agen-cies are basically protesting againstproviding pictorial or text coverageof the tour. It is being seen that agen-cies distribute thousands of imagesas part of their editorial coverage tothe enjoyment of fans, the curiousand sponsors of teams, such as Nikeand Sahara. The lock-out of photo-graphic agencies by the Board ofControl for Cricket in India (BCCI)would result in cricket fans world-

wide having sight of far fewer im-ages taken by press photographers.

Life Ban Lifted onMohammad Azharuddin

The Andhra Pradesh HighCourt on 8 November 2012 lifted thelife ban from playing Cricket onMohammad Azharuddin which wasimposed by Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) in Year 2000.The life ban on MohammadAzharuddin came after he wasfound involved in the betting scan-dal and the match-fixing episode asper the BCCI three-member commit-tee, comprising its erstwhile presi-dent A C Muthaiah and two vice-presidents Kamal Morarka and K MRam Prasad. Overturning the BCCIdecision, the bench of Justice whichwas comprised of justices AshutoshMohanta and Krishna Mohan Reddygave relief to Azharuddin allowinghis appeal challenging the order ofa local court.

The bench of Justice agreedwith the argument of Azharuddin’scounsel K Ramakant Reddy thatthere is no evidence against him.Azharuddin made his debut for In-dia in 1984-85 and played his finalinternational match in June2000.Mohammad Azharuddin wasstranded on 99 Test appearancesdue to the ban. He had made 6215runs in test matches at an averageof 45.03 after bursting on the scenein 1984-85 with centuries in each of




his first three Tests. In One-DayInternationals, he scored 9378 runsand hit seven hundreds across 334matches. Mohammad Azharuddin inhis 49 years of age is currently amember of parliament fromMoradabad constituency in UttarPradesh.

South-African Sportsman ofthe Year 2012

South African fast bowlerVernon Philander on 4 November2012 at the South African SportsAwards ceremony in Sandtonnamed Sportsman of the year beat-ing two Olympic gold medallists forthe award. The top title of SportsStar of the Year went to Olympicgold-medallist swimmer Chad LeClos who had won gold in the men’s200m butterfly at the London Olym-pic Games 2012. 27 Years oldVernon Philander made huge pub-lic impact since his Test debut in2011 and he is now ranked the num-ber two bowler in the world onlybehind his fellow teammate DaleSteyn. Earlier in 2011, Hashim Amlahad won the award and was nomi-nated again this year. Vernon Philan-der is the fastest player to take 50Test match wickets in more than 100years of cricket history and the phe-nomenal thing is that he has done it in his debut year of Test matchcricket. He was named Man of theMatch in South Africa’s Test victoryat Lord’s this year in 2012when theProteas claimed the No.1 ranking inTest match cricket.

TENNISDavis Cup 2012

The Czech Republic on 18 No-vember 2012 won the 100th DavisCup 2012 finals, after defeatingSpain by 3-2 in the finals. RadekStepanek of Czech Republic out-classed Nicolas Almagro of Spain

with 6-4, 7-6 (0), 3-6, 6-3 in the 3hours and 52 minutes game, on thehard court of Prague’s O2 Arena,during the final fifth rubber of theDavis Cup.

Radek Stepanek has created ahistory by his name after winning theDavis Cup final as he became thefirst man ever aged 30 or above towin the decisive rubber in 100years. With this win, the Czech Re-public lifted the Davis Cup for thefirst time after winning indepen-dence in 1993. Before this in the year1980 it lifted the trophy underCzechoslovakia flag by the team ledby Ivan Lendl. With this win theCzech Republic turned-up to be thefirst nation that won the HopmanCup, Fed Cup and Davis Cup in oneyear.

ATP World Tour Final 2012The Spanish pair of Marcel

Granollers and Marc Lopez on 12November 2012 defeated the Indianduo of Mahesh Bhupathi and RohanBopanna in the Men’s Doubles titleclash of the ATP World Tour Finalsin London. In the final match, thefifth seeded Indian duo went downfighting in a tight three-set game, 5-7, 6-3, 3-10. Meanwhile, Serbia’sWorld Number One Novak Djokovichas bagged the Men’s Singles tro-phy. Djokovic defeated World Num-ber Two Roger Federer of Switzer-land in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5, in thefinal match played early this morn-ing.

ATP Tour Masters TitleIndian Tennis Player Mahesh

Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna on 4November 2012 won their first ATPWorld Tour Masters 1000 title to-gether defeating Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul- Haq Qureshi and Netherlands’Jean- Julien Rojer by 7-6(6), 6-3 inthe final of the BNP Paribas Mastersin Paris. The pair Mahesh Bhupathiand Rohan Bopanna won • 142500in prize money and had also claimed1000 ATP Doubles Team Rankingspoints, while their opponent andBarclays ATP World Tour Finalsqualifiers Aisam-Ul- Qureshi andJean- Julien Rojer claimed •69780prize money and 600 points. MaheshBhupati, till date, had won 16 ATPWorld Tour Masters 1000 trophies,while for Bopanna it his secondshield. Also, together for Bhupatiand Bopanna it is their second titleof the year 2012. Earlier they hadwon the Dubai ATP event in March2012 and ended runners-up at Cin-cinnati and Shanghai. In 2011, RohanBopanna and Aisam- Ul- Haq Qureshi won the Paris title.

MOTOR RACING/F1Daimler Purchased fullcontrol of Mercedes OneMotor Racing Team

Daimler, the German LuxuryCarmaker purchased 40 percentstakes of the Mercedes Formula OneMotor Racing Team owned by theAbu Dhabi sovereign wealth fundAabar Investments in the third weekof November 2012. With this pur-




chase the teams’ full control wentinto the hands of Daimler. Theamount of purchase of the 40 per-cent stake remained undisclosed.The deal of selling out the stakes ofthe formula 1 team now awaits regu-latory approval.

•The Two companies Daimlerand Aabar came together into mo-tor racing in 2009 after they pur-chased Brawn GP, the then WorldChampion and re-launched it thenext season with the name,Mercedes. At present Mercedesstands at fifth position in the 12-team Formula One Standings. TeamMercedes has signed a three-yeardeal with the former world cham-pion Lewis Hamilton, who would bedriving for the team in the next sea-son.

Youngest Triple Championin Formula One History

Sebastian Vettel of Germany,the Red Bull driver became young-est triple champion in the history ofFormula One on 25 November 2012by finishing 6th behind Jenson But-ton in the Brazilian Grand Prix.Vettel, 25 got himself involved inopening lap collision and made verylittle damage to his Red Bull car inthe run in rain-swept conditions atInterlagos circuit. The only title rivalof Vettel was two-time championSpaniard Fernnando Alonso whofinished in the second position in hisFerrari. However he had pre-race 13points deficit while Vettel won thetitle by merely three points.

Vettel was the third driver inthe history of Formula One to winthree consecutive titles. Others whohave done this before are MichaelSchumacher and Argentine JuanManuel Fangio. The Red Bull teamof Vettel took the third constructors’championship in the sequence on 18

About Superbike RaceThe Superbike race first started

in year 1970 when super bike raceis held in many countries mainly inUSA and Australia. At that time theraces were of large capacity bike ofup to 1100cc and were strictly lim-ited to four stroke machines. Butsoon the grand prix bikes arrived inthe states which were accompaniedand later replaced by 700 and 750two stroke, three or four cylindermachines.

BILLIARDS/SNOOKERWorld BilliardsChampionship Title

Indian Billiards Player PankajAdvani won seventh World BilliardsChampionship title after compre-hensively beating defending cham-pion and seasoned Englishman MikeRussell in the finals of World BilliardsChampionship 2012. The event wasscheduled at the Northern SnookerCentre in Leeds, England wherePankaj scored 1895 points andRussell managed to score only 1216points losing to Pankaj Advani.Pankaj was on steady rhythm sincethe beginning of the match and goton track with first break of 147points followed by 298 points toobtain a lead of 450 points. Russel,on the other hand fearlessly repliedwith a break of 397 narrowing thedeficit to just 60 points. In session2, Pankaj maintained the samerhythm and kept his attack scoringbreaks of 100+ in almost every visithe played where as Russell couldmanage only breaks of 243 and 120

November 2012 in Texas and fin-ished with 281 points while Alonsowith 278 points.

Mahi Racing Team India

Indian cricket team CaptainM.S. Dhoni’s Superbike champion-ship team on 7 November 2012changed its name from MSD R-NRacing Team India to Mahi RacingTeam India and had signed two newmembers. The two new membersthat had been signed up are worldchampion Kenan Sofouglu andformer world champion FabienForet. Sofouglu is a driver from tur-key and had won the championshipthree times in 2007, 2010 and therecently-concluded season with theKawaski team after the PortugueseGrand Prix. While, Fabien Foret is adriver from France and is a 2002World champion. At the end of2008, he had 24 podium finishesunder his name which includes 11wins and 12 pole positions.

The riders are going to test theKawasaki Ninja ZX-6R machines dur-ing the official winter testing season.Earlier named MSD R-N RacingTeam India, the Indian skipper’steam competed in the 600cc classin 2012, becoming India’s first FIMworld superbike championshipteam. The Budh International Circuitis hosting the superbike worldchampionship event in March 2013,leading to a rush in interest forIndia’s first bike racing team, involv-ing Dhoni, who had passion forspeed and bike.




during the second session play. Thewin came after Pankaj had choosento play the World Championships inLeeds with avoiding playing Inter-national Championship on the Pro-fessional Snooker tour. Prior to thistitle Pankaj had also won World Pro-fessional Billiards title in the year2009 and it was a case of history re-peating itself because Pankaj hadbeaten Mike Russel with 2030-1253in the finals of the World Profes-sional Billiards Championship in2009 at the same venue. The win alsomarks the eighth overall world titlefor Pankaj and it is his seventh titlein billiards.

FOOTBALLLuiz Felipe Scolari appointedas the Coach of Brazil

The Brazilian Football Confed-eration (CBF) on 29 November 2012appointed Luiz Felipe Scolari as theCoach of Brazilian Football team.Luiz replaced Mano Menezes whowas sacked from his position in thethird week of November 2012. LuizFelipe Scolari would be leading theteam as its coach also during the2014 FIFA World Cup scheduled totake place in Brazil. Before this in

the 2002 FIFA World Cup held inSouth Korea and Japan, Luiz FelipeScolari led the Brazilian side as itscoach, the team which was declaredthe winner of the tournament.

His recent recruitment at theposition of coach would give him atime of 18 months to guide the Bra-zilian Football Team to win the nextWorld Cup at its home. He wouldbe guiding the team during the FIFAConfederations Cup that is sched-uled to be organized in June 2013in Brazil.

HOCKEYV. Dinesh Reddy appointedas the President of IHF

V. Dinesh Reddy, the Director-General of Police for AndhraPradesh has been appointed as theNew President of the Indian HockeyFederation (IHF) on 7 November2012. Dinesh Reddy replaced R.K.Shetty after he resigned from thepost. Reddy’s elevation to the posthappened because he was the se-nior most Vice-President of the or-ganization after R.K. Shetty andwould be at the post till next elec-tions of the federation takes places. Indian Olympic Association’s Elec-toral College has also released a listfor elections that is scheduled for25 November and Indian HockeyFederation (IHF) was allowed tovote attend the meetings scheduledin the future for the elections, butwould not be allowed to vote in theelections. Hockey India (HI) wouldbe placing three representativeswho are eligible for Voting duringthe elections.

GOLFYoungest Indian on GolferList

Indian Golf Player GaganjeetBhullar became the First Indian who

made it to the elite group of theworld’s top-100 players in the latestranking. The title was previouslyheld by Jeev Milkha Singh, whobroke the record in 2006 at the ageof 34 with Jyoti Randhawa follow-ing him in the same year when hewas also aged 34. As per the latestOfficial World Golf Ranking(OWGR), Bhullar had jumped 10ranks on the back of a tied-18 finishin the $7 million WGC-HSBC Cham-pions in China to take the 98th posi-tion in the world. Only Jeev MilkhaSingh is ahead of Bhullar currently,and is placed at 95 in the OWGR.The next best placed Indian isAnirban Lahiri ranking 234 on thelist. Gaganjeet Bhullar is currentlyin Singapore, where he is going toplay the $6 million Barclays Open.In Year 2012, Gaganjeet Bhullar hadwon the Yeangder Tournament Play-ers Championship on 17 September2012 which was followed by his winover the Venetian Macau Open inthe month of October.

KABADDIAsian KabaddiChampionship

Pakistan on 6 November 2012was declared champion of the AsianKabaddi Championship after Indianteam walked out from the field in aprotest against the referee’s deci-sion of penalizing the IndianCoach. The Pakistani team wasleading the game by 40 pointsagainst 31 points scored by the In-dian side. The protest by the Indian




players came after the Coach of In-dian side; Goormel Singh wasshown a green card after continu-ously disturbing the finals in protestof decision of the referee.

WEIGHTLIFTINGAsian Jr Weightlifting

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, thefemale Weightlifter from India wonthree bronze medals for IndianTeam on the opening day of the 19thJunior Women Asian WeightliftingChampionships in Yangon inMynamar. To win and secure med-als she lifted 168kg in the 48kgweight category — one each insnatch (74kg), clean and jerk (94kg)and total (168kg). Mirabai, got se-lected for the event after lifting163kg in the trials and had managedan additional five kg more during themain event. Mirabai was fifth in 48kgweight category in the last editionof the tournament in Pattaya (Thai-land). She had earlier clinched goldin the dame category during the sev-enth National Youth (Girls)Weightlifting Championships held atItanagar, Arunachal Pradesh in year2011.

CHESSWomen’s WorldChampionship Crown

Anna Ushenina of Ukraine on1 December 2012 won the Women’sWorld Championship Crown ofChess at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russiaafter defeating Antoaneta Stefanovaof Bulgaria in first set of tie-breakgame. Anna won the title along with60000 US dollar for the efforts madeby her to win the Chesschampionship. In 2013 Anna wouldbe playing the next world champi-onship against Chinese Yifan Hou,which is a part of new cycle inWomen’s World Championship.

World Youth ChessChampionship

M. Mahalakshmi and R. Vaishalifrom Chennai on 19 November 2012won Gold at the World Youth ChessChampionship in Slovenia. ArvindhChithambaram (Under-14 Open)from Madurai and Girish A. Koushik(Under-16 Open) from Mysore wonSilver Medals in the championship.G.K. Monnisha (under-14) and Sa-vant Riya (Under-12) securedBronze at the Championship for In-dia. R. Vaishali was successful insecuring her position in under-12girls honours. ArvindhChithambaram lost gold after losingthe tie-up with the American TroffKayden by a tie-break score at theend of the 11-round event.

N Priyanka Won WorldYouth Chess Championship

Asian under 10 girls chesschampion Nuthaki Priyanka baggedt h e world youth chessworld youth chessworld youth chessworld youth chessworld youth chesschampionship championship championship championship championship at Maribor, Sloveniaon 18 November 2012. She com-pleted with 9.5 points of 11rounds. Priyanka completed hergame against US-based Wang Anniein 38 moves. She is the 5th standardstudent of Mustabada Sports andEducational Academy. She becamethe second girl to win the title fromHyderabad after Koneru Humpywho bagged her title in 1997. V.R.Bobba, the noted coach providedtraining to Priyanka. In the middleof the game, the Hyderabadi girl

committed blunders by running intothe time trouble, but despite losingthere she bagged the title. She hasbecome the fifth one to bag the titlefrom Andhra Pradesh in the under-10 category after P. Hari Krishna, K.Humpy, Ch. Moineesh andSahajasree. On her victory, GlobalChess Academy director, DistrictSports Development Officer as wellas Krishna District Chess Associationsecretary congratulated her.

VARIOUSIOC suspended IndianOlympic Association

The International OlympicCommittee (IOC) suspended theIndia Olympic Association (IOA) on4 December 2012 and eventuallythis might also lead to IOA ban fromOlympic movement.

IOA ban from Olympic wouldresult in consequences such as:

• No funding from IOC• No officials from India would

be invited by IOC to any eventssuch as Paralympics and Olym-pics

• No India athlete would be al-lowed competing underIndia’s flag; but could be per-mitted competing under IOCflag

• Commonwealth Games Fed-eration as well as The OlympicCouncil of Asia might also gowith the trend which wouldlead to similar sanctions incase of Commonwealth Gamesas well as the Asian gamesIOC suspended IOA because

India was following the Sports Codeof government in the IOA elections,which is against the Olympic Char-ter. IOC declared that following ofSports Code of government is actu-ally the interference of the govern-ment in the Olympic Movement.




Suspension of IOA from Olympicscame just before the Election Day.IOA officials declared that the elec-tions would go as planned andscheduled. IOA has been holdingthe elections on direction by theDelhi high court which had askedthis body to conduct its polls as perthe Sports Code and its ownconstitution.IOA decided this afterit put down the bid of IOA to sendthe 2-member delegation for ex-plaining its scenario. It was alreadyevident that the suspension was inthe line because of the developmentin run-up to these elections. Aftersending various letters to IOA, ask-ing it to follow the Olympic Char-ter, IOC warned for the first timeregarding suspension on 23 Novem-ber 2012. Then it gave the secondwarning of suspension to IOA on 28November 2012. It is worth notic-ing that the decision of IOC waswelcomed by several former as wellas current sportspersons. They be-lieved that suspension was an op-portunity of cleaning the hassles inIOA.

Four-Year Ban for FelonyAthletes under New WADACode

World Anti-Doping Agency(WADA) proposed that athletesfound guilty of the serious dopingfelonies will be suspended for 4years from 2015. However no spe-cific rules were made for banningthe wrong-doers from Olympics. At present, the athletes who arefound guilty of their first main dop-ing felony are put on 2-year ban fol-lowed by a life ban in case of suc-cessive positive tests. WADA pro-posed in its second draft of2012WADA code that there will be anintroduction of longer ban for theoffenses which include Human

Growth Hormone (HGH), anabolicsteroids as well as trafficking andmasking agents. This draft was re-viewed from 17 November 2012 to18 November 2012. The draft hasdoubled the suspension length forthe offenders and has also widenedanti-doing oragnisations’ scope toimpose the lifetime bans. Never-theless, in the draft there is no con-sideration to the former Interna-tional Olympic Committee (IOC)rule in context with the Olympicparticipation. This rule was ruled inrefusal with WADA Code back in2011 by the Court of Arbitration forSport (CAS), the highest sports’court. As per the IOC rule which wasintroduced in 2008, in case the ath-letes were suspended for sixmonths or more than that, partici-pation in next Olympic Games wasbanned. According to the newWADA Code draft, there has alsobeen an inclusion of the proposalabout the prohibited substances ortechniques which are contradictoryto the sports spirit or health of anathlete. This proposed draft willalso go for review between Novem-ber 2012 and March 2013, afterwhich it will be presented to WADAFoundation Board before prepara-tion of the final draft.

NADDP Suspended 11Athletes for Two Years onCharges of Doping

The National Anti-Doping Dis-ciplinary Panel (NADDP) on 5 No-vember 2012 suspended all the 11athletes for two years, who weretested positive withmethylhexaneamine (MHA) in therun-up of the last CommonwealthGames. The decision came-up aftera twenty five months long hearingprocess and the suspension wouldbe in effect from the date of deci-

sion making. The panel hearing intothe case also ordered disqualifica-tion of all the records and results bytheir name recorded from the dateof sample collection, it would alsoinclude omission of all the conse-quences that included forfeiture ofall the points, medals and prizes.Following the provisions of Article10.8 of the National Anti-DopingAgency (NADA) and the code ofWorld Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)which is yet not applied in the hear-ing procedures of Indian disciplin-ary, would mean the loss of BronzeMedal in the 96 kilogram freestylecategory of Wrestling from wrestlerMausam Khatri, which he won in the2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.

The additional disqualificationof results from sample collectiondate, under Article 10.8 of the Na-tional Anti-Doping Agency (NADA)rules and the World Anti-DopingAgency (WADA) Code, hitherto notapplied in Indian disciplinary hear-ing procedures, will mean that wres-tler Mausam Khatri will lose hisbronze medal in the 96kg freestylecategory in the 2010 GuangzhouAsian Games. Under the same pro-visions, swimmer Richa Mishrawould lose all the 16 medals thatinclude 11 Gold in the NationalGames February 2011 held at Ranchialong with the other five Gold wonduring National Swimming Champi-onships held in October 2012 atPune. Others, against whom thehearing were carried on and whosename were included in the suspen-sion orders include six wrestlers outof which Rajeev Tomar is an ArjunaAwardee and rest five are SumitSehrawat, Joginder Singh,Gursharanpreet Kaur includingMausam Khatri. The list also havename of two athletes namely




Saurabh Vij and Akash Antil alongwith three swimmers and they areAmar Muralidharan, JyotsanaPansare and Richa. The disciplin-ary panel that was hearing into thecase included retired judge DineshDayal and former Asian badmintonchampion Dinesh Khanna and Dr.N.K. Khadiya disqualified the evi-dence presented to establish devia-tions in proceedings of the labora-tory and other agencies involved inthe processes.

IAAF World Athletes of theYear 2012

Usain Bolt won the IAAF WorldAthlete of the Year Award 2012 forthe fourth time and United Statessprinter Allyson Felix won women’sWorld Athlete of the Year Award2012 on 24 November 2012 duringthe IAAF’s 100th Anniversary Cel-ebration. The Jamaican sprinter Bolt

had won for defending his goldmedals in the 100 and 200 meterraces of the summers’ OlympicGames, he also won the same awardpreviously in 2008, 2009 and 2011.Bolt managed to be ahead of UnitedStates hurdler Aries Merritt andKenyan runner David Rudisha to winthe award.

Allyson Felix managed to se-cure her Gold medal in the LondonOlympics in the 200 meter race.Before this she managed to settledown with the Silver in the BeijingOlympics in the year 2008. New

Zealand shot putter Valerie Adamsand British heptathlete Jessica Enniswere the other finalists of theWomen award segment, who alsowere the gold medalists in LondonOlympics.

In 2003, Bolt and Felix won theRising Star awards for the mostpromising young athletes of theyear. United States hurdler AriesMerritt was successful in winningthe Inspiration Award for his seasonand the award included a goldmedal and a world record in the 110-meter hurdles. David Rudisha wonthe Performance of the Year awardfor his record-setting gold medal runin the 800 meters; he was the win-ner of the Athlete of the Year in 2010.Keshorn Walcott, Javelin thrower ofTrinidad and Anthonique Strachansprinter of Bahamas won the RisingStar awards.




Indira Gandhi Peace Prize2012

Liberian President and Nobellaureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on19 November 2012 was chosen for2012 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,Disarmament and Development forbeing an inspiration to women andensuring return of peace and de-mocracy in her country. The awardis set up by Indira Gandhi Memorial

AWARDS & PRIZESAWARDS & PRIZESAWARDS & PRIZESAWARDS & PRIZESAWARDS & PRIZESTrust with an international jurychaired by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh. The Indira GandhiPrize is being awarded to EllenJohnson Sirleaf for serving asa n example and inspiration towomen in Africa and beyond andfor ensuring the return of peace,democracy, development, securityand order in Liberia. Ellen JohnsonSirleaf who is the 24th President ofLiberia was commended by the juryfor her strong interest in the consoli-dation and improvement of Liberia’srelations with India. She was risento the Presidency becoming the firstelected female head of state of theAfrican continent. Ellen JohnsonSirleaf took over office as the Presi-dent of Liberia in 2006 acquiring alegacy of distrust, disharmony andmismanagement. She had success-fully restored financial health hercountry which was on the verge offiscal breakdown.

About Indira Gandhi PeacePrize

The Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

is the prominent award given annu-ally by the Government of India toindividuals or organizations in ac-knowledgment to resourceful ef-forts toward promoting interna-tional peace, development and anew international economic order;ensuring that scientific discoveriesare used for the larger good of hu-manity, and enlarging the scope offreedom. The prize carries a cashaward of 25 lakh Indian rupees anda citation. To be eligible for consid-eration it is mandatory to have awritten work published. The 2011recipient of Indira Gandhi PeacePrize was Ela Bhatt the FounderofSewaSewaSewaSewaSewa, Self-Employed Women’sAssociation of India.

Moortidevi Award for 2010The Vice President of India M.

Hamid Ansari on 16 November2012 presented the MoortideviAward for 2010 to eminent Urduscholar Gopi Chand Narang for hisoutstanding work on Urdu Ghazalaur Hindustani Zehan waTehzeeb at a function organized by




Bhartiya Jnanpith. Gopi ChandNarang revived Urdu language inIndia through his writings and he isone of the foremost theorist, liter-ary critic and Urdu scholar of ourcountry. His perceptive writingshave helped Urdu criticism becom-ing more contemporary. It is befit-ting that his long academic life ofexcellence has been felicitated byconferring the Moortidevi award onhim.

About Gopi Chand Narang

Gopi Chand Narang Gopi Chand Narang Gopi Chand Narang Gopi Chand Narang Gopi Chand Narang is an In-dian scholar of Urdu language andliterature, an eminent Urdu writer,scholar, critic and linguist. He is au-thor of many books in Urdu, Hindiand English. Gopi Chand Narangreceived many awards from the gov-ernments of India and Pakistan andmany literary organizations world-wide. He was awarded PadmaBhushan in 2004. He taught in manyuniversities in India and participatesin literary conferences around theworld. He was awarded the SahityaAkademi Award in Urdu 1993 forSakhtiyaat, Pas-Sakhtiyaat aurMashriqi Sheriyaat (Literary criti-

cism), later he remained the presi-dent of the Sahitya Akademi, India’sNational Academy of Letters, 2003to 2007. He was also on the edito-rial board of Akademi’s journal, In-dian Literature.

About Moortidevi AwardMoortidevi AwardMoortidevi AwardMoortidevi AwardMoortidevi AwardMoortidevi Award is named

in the memory of Moortidevi,mother of Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain,founder of Bharatiya Jnanpith. ThisAward is presented for a reflectiveor intellectual work, which under-lines and expresses Indian philoso-phy and cultural heritage based onwider ideals and human values. It isconferred on the litterateur who isalive. As far as the selection Processis concerned Nomination forms areinvited from hundreds of scholars,thinkers and writers of different lan-guages. These forms are presentedbefore the selection board, whichis authorised to include any morenames to the list. The writer isawarded an amount of Rupees twoLakh, a citation plaque, a SaraswatiStatue, a srifal and a shawl.

Indira Gandhi Prize forPeace, Disarmament andDevelopment

The former President of theFederative Republic of Brazil, LuizInacio Lula da Silva was awardedwith Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace,Disarmament and Development on22 November 2012 at RashtrapatiBhavan by President of India, PranabMukherjee. Lula was conferredwith the award for his contribution

towards elimination of hunger. Hehas also brought inclusive growth inhis country. He was awarded foradvocating stronger ties among thedeveloping economies as well as forthe signal contribution for India-Bra-zil partnership.

About Luiz Inacio Lula daSilva

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wasappointed as the president of Bra-zil on 1 January 2003. Lula, theformer President of the FederativeRepublic of Brazil is the transforma-tive figure of the country. He con-tributed towards the cause of India-Brazil better relationship and part-nership. Lula received number ofmedals, awards and recognition. Hehad received awards and medalslike Brazilian Order of Merit, Mexi-can Order of the Aztec Eagle, Navaland Aeronautical Merit, NorwegianOrder of Royal Merit and manymore. Lula is the most renownedBrazilian President. In 2006, Presi-dent A.P.J Abdul Kalam conferredhim with Jawaharlal Nehru Awardfor International Understanding. Lula left the office on 1 January 2011after serving two terms as the presi-dent.

About the Indira Gandhi Prizefor Peace, Disarmament and Devel-opment. Every year, Indira GandhiPrize for Peace, Disarmament and




Development is awarded to personor an organisation that works to-wards enlargement of scope of free-dom as well as enrichment of hu-man spirit. The award is conferredupon the person or an organisationirrespective of race, religion, nation-ality or other aspects. It consist ofaward worth 2.5 million Rupees aswell as trophy alongwith citation.

Malala Yousafzai awarded withBravery Award by World Peace andProsperity Foundation

Malala Yousafzai, on 19 No-vember 2012 awarded by WorldPeace and ProsperityFoundation for her bravery andcommitment to education for girlsin adverse conditions in Swat, Paki-stan. She was shot in the head byTaliban, and had become the faceof Pakistan’s struggle against theTaliban. She is now being treatedand on the road to recovery at aQueen Elizabeth Hospital, En-gland.

The Deputy High Commis-sioner of Pakistan to the UK, SZulfiqar Gardezi received the awardon her behalf at the CholmondeleyRoom of the House of Lords. Theother recipients of award includeda Bishop of London, a distinguishedBritish Muslim Psychiatrist, a distin-guished Turkish academic and MP,and eight year old Josh Altman, Eu-ropean Chess Bronze medalist. On9 October 2012 Malala Yousafzai,was shot in the head and neck bythe Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)while she was returning home. Shewas attacked for speaking up againstthe Taliban and advocating girls’education.

Earlier, United Nations de-clared November 10 as MalalaDay in honour Malala Yousafzai, foradvocating girls’ education.

Indira Gandhi NationalAward

Lyricist and well known poetGulzar on 31 October 2012 awardedwith Indira Gandhi National Integra-tion Award by congress PresidentSonia Gandhi. The award was givenon the eve of 28th death anniversaryof the late Prime Minister IndiraGandhi who was assassinated on 31October 1984. Marking the event,Prime Minister Manmohan Singhcongratulated the poet for theaward and asserted the fact thatGulzar Sahab is real talent and agreat personality who is spreadingthe message of peace and brother-hood in the country. Gulzar hadwritten some charismatic lyrics forsongs like Raah pe rehte hain, Dodeewaane shehar mein, Hazaarraahen mud ke dekhi, Tujhse naraaznahin zindagi and Mera kuchhsaamaan. He is a versatile lyricist andhad also shown his magic in new agesongs like Kajra re and Beedi jalaileand had used his poetic talent forlate filmmaker Yash Chopra’sFilm Jab Tak Hai Jaan as well. Ear-lier, Gulzar was awarded SahityaAkademi Award in 2002 and thePadma Bhushan in 2004 for his con-tribution to the arts.

Durgabai Deshmukh AwardsPresident of India Pranab

Mukherjee on 5 November 2012 pre-sented the Durgabai Deshmukhawards for women’s developmentfor the years 2005, 2006 and 2007 at

an award ceremony at theRashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.With the presentation of the awards,President Pranab Mukherjee calledfor concerted efforts by the govern-ment, private and voluntary sectorsfor the development of the weakerand vulnerable sections of society.He had also asserted that the Gov-ernment of India, through itsprogrammes and policies has engi-neered a major directional changein public policy by its focus on in-clusive development. The eighthAward for 2005 was jointly given totwo winners, Mizoram Hmeithai(Widows) Association and People’sForum, Bhubaneswar. TheMizoram Hmeithai (Widows) Asso-ciation works to provide aids andrelief to widows and destitutewomen and hundreds of aban-doned orphan children. While, ThePeople’s Forum, Bhubaneswar wasawarded for its landmark services inthe rescue and rehabilitation of hun-dreds of mentally ill women and forits exemplary work with women indistress. The ninth Award for theyear 2006 was awarded toSumangali Seva Ashram of Banga-lore whose prime focus is to workfor education and development ofdeserted, orphan and needy chil-dren and to provide socio-eco-nomic opportunities for develop-ment of women. Whereas, the tenthAward for the year 2007 wasawarded to the Snehalaya ofAhmednagar for its distinctive workin the rehabilitation of women of redlight areas and for other destitutewomen.

About Durgabai DeshmukhAward

The Durgabai DeshmukhAward for women’s developmentwas constituted in 1997 by Central




Social Welfare Board which is anautonomous organization of theMinistry of Women and Child Devel-opment, Government of India. Theaward is basically given to honournominee in the memory of itsfounder chairperson Dr. DurgabaiDeshmukh.

The award is presented to anorganisation which has made out-standing or innovative contributionto women’s welfare and empower-ment and has at least 5 years ofworking experience in the field. Theaward carries an amount of Rs. 5lakhs, a citation and a shawl.

French Award The Knight ofthe Order of Arts and Letter

The Aishwarya Rai Bachchanon 1 November 2012 was conferredwith the Knight of the Order of Artsand Letters (Chevalier dans l’Ordredes Arts et des Lettres) by theFrench Ambassador to IndiaFrançois Richier.

She was awarded on behalf ofthe French Authorities. She wasconferred with the award for thecontributions made by her to Indianand World Cinema and the devel-opments in Indo-French coopera-tion in art, culture and the most im-portant one, Cinema. Late HabibTanvir, Nandita Das, Raghu Rai,Shahrukh Khan, and UpamanyuChatterjee are few more Indianswho had been conferred with thisprestigious French award.

About Aishwarya RaiBachchan

• The youngest Indian Actress towin Padmashree in 2009.Padmashree is the fourth high-est civilian award given by theUnion Government of India

• She is the first Indian Actressto be among the jury membersat Cannes

• She made her debut in the In-dian film industry with ManiRatnam’s Tamilo Film Iruvar in1997

• Has received two Best ActressAwards at Filmfare for herfilms Hum Dil De Chuke Sanamin 1999 and Devdas in the year2002

• In the year 2012, she was ap-pointed as the goodwill am-bassador for UNAIDS

• To promote eye donation inIndia, she was appointed asthe brand ambassador for theEye Bank Association of India’snationwide campaign

• She became the brand Ambas-sador for Pulse Polio in 2005 amission established by theUnion Government of India forpolio eradication from thecountry

• To raise awareness about themain goals and priorities of theUnited Nations’ poverty alle-viation efforts, she was ap-pointed as the spokespersonfor the International Year ofMicrocredit

• For Smile Train, she was ap-

pointed as its first GoodwillAmbassador in the year 2009.It is an international charity es-tablished to provide free Cleftlip and palate surgery to chil-dren across 76 different devel-oping countries

Gavaskar conferred withCol. CK Nayudu LifetimeAchievement Award

Sunil Gavaskar, the FormerCaptain and legendary opener ofIndian Cricket Team on 21 Novem-ber 2012 was conferred with BCCI’sprestigious Col. CK Nayudu LifetimeAchievement Award at the BCCIAnnual Awards Function 2011-12.Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli andV.V.S. Laxman were also felicitatedat the award ceremony. The Life-time Achievement Award given toGavaskar carried a citation, trophyand a cheque for 25 lakh Rupees andhe received this award from theBCCI president N. Srinivasan. SachinTendulkar was honoured at the oc-casion with a gold-plated bat forscoring the century of centuries ininternational cricket. Kohli was cho-sen as the Best Indian InternationalPlayer of the year at the award cer-emony.

About Col. CK Nayudu andthe Lifetime AchievementAward

Col. CK Nayudu or CottariKanakaiya Nayudu was the first cap-tain of Indian Cricket Team in TestMatches, and he played the firstclass cricket for India till 1958. Theruler of Holkar in 1923 conferred him




with the honour of Colonel inHolkar’s Army at Indore. Nayuduwas appointed as the first captainof Indian team for its first test tourof England in 1932 after the previ-ously appointed captain and vice-captain of the team, Maharaja ofPorbandar and Ghanshyamsinhji ofLimbdi respectively were out of theseries due to health problems. Col.Col.Col.Col.Col.CK Nayudu Lifetime AchievementCK Nayudu Lifetime AchievementCK Nayudu Lifetime AchievementCK Nayudu Lifetime AchievementCK Nayudu Lifetime AchievementAwardAwardAwardAwardAward is the highest-revered awardfor captaincy and lifetime achieve-ment in Indian Cricket.

WISE PrizeDr Madhav Chavan was

awarded the WISE prize, which isknown as the ‘Nobel prize for Edu-cation’. He was felicitated on 13November 2012 at the WISE sum-mit in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Theinternational award not only felici-tated the person himself, but alsorecognized his efforts to providelessons in literacy and numeracy forless fortunate and disadvantagedchildren and adults in India. Theaward is decided upon by an inter-national jury, which includes the theUS Librarian of Congress, Dr JamesBillington; the president of PekingUniversity, Prof Zhou Qifeng; formerUN high commissioner, MaryRobinson and the chairman of WISE,Dr Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani. DrMadhav gave himself up for thecause of social activism and start-ing helping uneducated slum dwell-ers in Mumbai in the late 80’s oncehe returned to India after studyingin the United States. After havingworked with Unicef and the cityauthorities, he devised a method forproviding lessons for huge numberof people at low cost. Dr Madhav’scharity, Pratham, also carried outlessons in temples and offices andrecruited volunteers from the local

community. His work expanded andwent forth to other cities and statesto become the largest non-govern-mental education provider for de-prived children in India.

International NewspaperColour Quality ClubMembership

The Hindu in third week ofNovember 2012 was awarded withthe Membership of the InternationalInternationalInternationalInternationalInternationalNewspaper Colour Quality ClubNewspaper Colour Quality ClubNewspaper Colour Quality ClubNewspaper Colour Quality ClubNewspaper Colour Quality Club(INCQC)(INCQC)(INCQC)(INCQC)(INCQC) - popular global recogni-tion of print quality of the year 2012to 2014. The recognition was givento Hindu for its performance stan-dards in the printing facility availableat Coimbatore of Kasturi & Sons lim-ited, the owner company of Hindu. A total of 192 newspaper partici-pated in the 10th INCQC10th INCQC10th INCQC10th INCQC10th INCQC in fourdifferent categories among whichthe Hindu’s nomination was in thefirst category for coldest offset print-ing, in which it was successful incompiling and standing with thestringent standards mentioned topass the test. The award was an-nounced during the World Publish-World Publish-World Publish-World Publish-World Publish-ing Expo 2012ing Expo 2012ing Expo 2012ing Expo 2012ing Expo 2012 held at Frankfurt,Germany from 29 October to 31October 2012 by the WAN-IFRAWAN-IFRAWAN-IFRAWAN-IFRAWAN-IFRA— World Association of Newspa-— World Association of Newspa-— World Association of Newspa-— World Association of Newspa-— World Association of Newspa-pers and News Publisherspers and News Publisherspers and News Publisherspers and News Publisherspers and News Publishers. Thefacilities at the Coimbatore centerof the Hindu Printing Press are fit-ted with high speed, double-widthpress.

About the AwardThe Program of awarding the

newspapers for the print quality af-ter examining the same on scientificstandards systematically was startedby IFRA in the year 1994. The pointsfor selection for the nominatednewspapers in the category is doneafter examining the aesthetic valuesand parameters followed while

printing. Newspapers that maintainconsistency on all the defined stan-dards are chosen and declaredmembers of the exclusive ColourQuality Club. The initiative of IFRAhelps in ensuring the fact that thereaders of newspaper may get a highquality product with attractive printstandards. For selection of thenewspaper, the experts at Germanyevaluated the quality of the news-paper and its visual impact on thebase standard fixed by IFRA and thati s ISO 12647-3. ISO 12647-3. ISO 12647-3. ISO 12647-3. ISO 12647-3. The set standarddescribes the quality of the pro-cesses and materials used in print-ing.

CSI-Nihilent e-GovernanceAward for Excellence

The Computer Society of India(CSI) on 22 November 2012 ad-judged Ministry of External Affairs’Passport Seva Project as the mostsignificant e-Governance initiative ofthe Government of India undertakenduring 2011-12. The final selectionfor the award was done after a multi-stage evaluation, which includedfield visits to Passport Seva Kendras.The Computer Society of India is thelargest association of IT profession-als in India. It joined hands withNihilent Technologies in the year2002 to institute CSI-Nihilent e-Gov-ernance Awards for recognisingsuccessful efforts in application ofICT for good governance.

The Ministry of External Affairsis improving governance in PassportOffices by focusing on citizen-cen-tricity, service orientation and trans-parency. The intended benefits tocommon man are service provision-ing in a transparent manner withindefined service levels, closer andlarger number of access points forservices, easy availability of a port-folio of on-line services with real-




time status tracking and enquiry,availability of good public facilitiesat PSKs and an effective system ofgrievance redressal. The award is aclear recognition that enhanced us-age of ICT as envisioned in the Pass-port Seva Project has brought abouttransformation in the functioning ofthe Passport Offices and delivery ofpublic service to citizens.

Kyoto Prize

Renowned literary critic andeducator Gayatri Chakravorty Spivakon 10 November 2012 was awardedthe prestigious Kyoto Prize in Kyoto.Kyoto Prize was instituted by theInamori Foundation. It honoursthose personalities who had signifi-cantly contributed to the scientific,cultural and spiritual betterment ofmankind. Gayatri ChakravortySpivak, is professor at ColumbiaUniversity in the U.S. She won theaward in the Arts and Philosophycategory for her “deep thinking onhumanities against intellectual colo-nialism in relation to globalisation”.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak shiftedthe critical theory of“deconstruction” into political andsocial dimensions, and had applieda sharp scalpel to intellectual colo-nialism which is being reproducedin our heavily globalised modernworld, said the Foundation.

Gayatri Chakravorty exempli-fies what intellectuals today shouldbe, through her theoretical work forthe humanities based on compara-tive literature and her devotion tomultifaceted educational activities.Also, U.S. computer scientist IvanSutherland, regarded as a father ofcomputer graphics, won the Ad-vanced Technology Prize whileJapanese molecular biologistYoshinori Ohsumi was awarded theBasic Sciences Prize. Each laureatereceived a diploma, a 20K goldKyoto Prize medal and a cash gift of¥50 million ($630,000).

NETPAC Award at KolkataFilm Festival

The Chinese film, 1111111111FlowersFlowersFlowersFlowersFlowers on 17 November 2012 wonthe Network for the Promotion ofNetwork for the Promotion ofNetwork for the Promotion ofNetwork for the Promotion ofNetwork for the Promotion ofAsian Cinema (NETPAC)Asian Cinema (NETPAC)Asian Cinema (NETPAC)Asian Cinema (NETPAC)Asian Cinema (NETPAC)AwardAwardAwardAwardAward a t 18th Kolkata Interna-18th Kolkata Interna-18th Kolkata Interna-18th Kolkata Interna-18th Kolkata Interna-tional Film Festivaltional Film Festivaltional Film Festivaltional Film Festivaltional Film Festival. The film wonthe best film award in Asian Selectcategory-the only competitive cat-egory in Kolkata International FilmFestival. A total of 13 films from 1212 Asian Countries were selected to

compete for the award of thiscategory. The film directed by theacclaimed filmmaker WangXiaoshuai describes the backdropof the Cultural Revolution in form ofa semi-autobiographical story of therural Guizhou Province.

Wang Jinchun and WenqingLiu are the lead stars of the film. TheNETPAC award is now a part of 44film festivals of 28 different coun-tries across five continents.

13th Annual GreentechEnvironment Award

Indian Oil’s Mathura Refinerywas awarded the Platinum Award inthe 13th Annual Greentech Environ-ment Awards. The award was felici-tated on 31 October 2012. MathuraRefinery was awarded in regard tothe company’s outstanding achieve-ments and contribution to aptimplementation of environmentalfriendly technologies and method-ologies. Greentech Awards is a keycomponent that values the need ofenvironmental management in busi-ness sustainability.




APPOINTED

IN THE NEWSIN THE NEWSIN THE NEWSIN THE NEWSIN THE NEWS

Barack Obama

President Barack Obama wonre-election on 6 November 2012overthrowing a severe challengefrom Republican Mitt Romney resist-ing concerns over his handling ofeconomy and anxiety over the fu-ture. The President Barack Obamahad secured over 270 votes in theElectoral College which was neededto win the race. He was re-electedfor a second term in the WhiteHouse securing another four yearsin which he will try to fulfil the prom-ise that greeted his election in 2008.The victory of Barack Obama indi-cated the unchanging triumph of anew, 21st-century America: multira-cial, multi-ethnic, global in outlook

and moving beyond centuries of ra-cial, sexual, marital and religious tra-dition.

Barack Obama is the America’sfirst black president who had wonthe election by convincing voters tostick with him as he tries to reignitestrong economic growth and re-cover from the worst recessionsince the Great Depression of the1930s.

Obama scored narrow wins inOhio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylva-nia and New Hampshire - all statesthat Romney had contested - whilethe only swing state captured byRomney was North Carolina. Poll-sters were expecting a tie after thePresidential debates and surveys,but in the ultimate analysis Obamagot over 300 votes but not anywherenear his 2008 score of 349.

Ranjit SinhaRanjit Sinha, IPS officer of

1974-batch Bihar cadre on 3 Decem-ber 2012 acquired the office as new

CBI director. Ranjit Sinha, 59, whowas holding the designation of di-rector general Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice, succeeded A.P. Singh whoretired from the CBI office on 30November 2012. Sinha will havetwo-year duration as the CBI direc-tor. He had served in CBI agencyinitially as the DIG and joint direc-tor as well.

Sinha accepted that there werechallenges which the agencyneeded to face and these includedlack of proper manpower, LettersRogatory execution delays as wellas delays in the forensic field. Dur-ing his tenure, he would try solving




and addressing these issues. Sinhaaccepted the prestigious designa-tion with a greater sense of respon-sibility. He believed that the faith inCBI would be strengthened underhis guidance and supervision.

Alok Joshi & Asif IbrahimAlok Joshi, senior IPS officer of

1976 batch from Haryana cadre isscheduled to be appointed as thenew Research and Analysis Wing(RAW) chief and Syed Asif Ibrahimis cleared to be the next IntelligenceBureau director. AppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet (ACC)cleared Alok Joshi’s name as theRAW chief to succeed SajeevTripathi, the 1973-batch UP cadreIPS officer. Alok Joshi, apart frombeing the 1976 batch IPS officer hasalso served in IB as well as HaryanaPolice. His main operations were inNepal and Pakistan. Apart from AlokJoshi, Amitabh Mathur, a 1977 batchIPS officer was also a strong con-tender for the post of RAW chief. Hehas now been shifted to AviationResearch Centre (ARC).

Ibrahim, 59, is a 1977 batch IPSofficer from Madhya Pradesh cadre.He will take over as the officer onspecial duty on 1 December 2012.This is the procedure that will helphim in smoothly acquiring powerfrom present director. He will betaking over from Nehchal Sandhu,who will retire on 31 December2012. Ibrahim is veteran of IB opera-tions directorate. Till 2011, he wasIB station chief in London. Ibrahimwas also the first person to haveclear understanding about the In-dian Mujahideen movement withinorganisation. He has also served IBin handling various operations,cyber security, Maoists as well asKashmir. Ibrahim was also the Pri-vate Secretary to Madhavrao Scindia

and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Ibrahim will enjoy a two years fixedtenure starting from 1 January 2013.Significantly, appointment ofIbrahim as the new IB chief led toshifting of four senior officers. Thepresent second-in-command R.N.Gupta has been shifted to the posi-tion of Cabinet Secretariat as OSDand V. Rajagopal has shifted to JointIntelligence Committee. Ibrahim isfirst Muslim to rise to prestigiouspost of the IB after independence.

Rafael BenitezChelsea Football Club on 22

November 2012 officially an-nounced the appointment of RafaelRafaelRafaelRafaelRafaelBenitezBenitezBenitezBenitezBenitez as their new interim man-ager. Rafael Benitez who is theformer Liverpool manager is goingto replace Roberto Di Matteo whowas sacked on 21 November 2012.Rafael Benitez is 52 Years old andbecame Chelsea’s ninth managersince Roman Abramovich was thefirst owner in 2003. Rafael Benitezjoined Liverpool from Valencia in2004 and won the ChampionsLeague in 2005, as well as reachingthe final in 2007, before leavingAnfield by mutual consent in 2010.He has been out of work since hewas sacked by Inter Milan in Decem-ber 2010. He spent just six monthsin charge of the Series A club de-spite winning two titles - the ClubWorld Cup and Italian Super Cup.

Tony HallRoyal Opera House chief

executive Tony HallTony HallTony HallTony HallTony Hall on 22 Novem-ber 2012 was appointed as directorgeneral of the BBC (British Broad-casting Corporation). Tony Hall isdue to take up his post in earlyMarch 2013 when acting DirectorGeneral Tim Davie steps down. TonyHall is replacing George Entwistle,who resigned on 10 November 2012

over the corporation’s reporting ofchild sex abuse. Tony Hall who is61 years old, was director of BBCnews, and was a candidate for thetop job in 1999 when Greg Dykesecured the position. Hall is a formerBBC employee, having worked therefor 28 years. He was head of BBCNews and Current Affairs between1996 and 2001. Tony Hall went offto run the Royal Opera House for 11years, taking over an organisationthat was itself in crisis. Under histenure, the Opera House tried toshed off its elitist image, by hostingtelevised public performances out-doors in Trafalgar Square and else-where.

Xi Jinping

The Communist Party of China(CPC) on 15 November 2012 de-clared Xi Jinping as the new Gen-eral Secretary of the Party’s seven-member Politburo standing commit-tee. The 59 years old, Xi Jinping isthe son of the former politburo andvice premier. Xi’s selection as thenew leader, the Communist Party ofChina has marked the end of HuJintao’s ten year term as the GeneralSecretary of the Party, but he willcontinue as the President till March2013, the month when the ChineseParliament would meet. Li Keqiang,the second-ranked member of thePolitburo standing committeewould take over as Premier in March2013 after Wen Jiabao will stepdown from his position.




Shanti GandhiShanti Gandhi, a great-grand-

son of Mahatma Gandhi was electedto a State Assembly in the UnitedStates during the general electionsheld on 6 November 2012. 72 Yearsold Shanti Gandhi contested as aRepublican Party candidate and haddefeated his Democratic rivalTheodore “Ted” Ensley by nine per-centage point for the Kansas’s 52ndAssembly District. Shanti Gandhi isson of late Saraswati Gandhi, wifeof Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson - thelate Kanti Lal. Shanti Gandhi, whowas a cardiovascular and thoracicsurgeon retired in 2010 fromStormont-Vail Hospital at TopekaCity in the Kansas State. He had re-ceived 6413 votes as againstEnsley’s 5357 to win the electionswhich was held on 6 November2012 for the State’s, as per the re-sults declared by the Kansas Secre-tary of State. Shanti Gandhi went USin the year 1967 as a medical gradu-ate from University of Bombay.

Scott FlemmingScott Flemming was appointed

as the head coach of the men’s Na-tional Basketball Team in the thirdweek of November 2012 bythe Basketball Federation of IndiaBasketball Federation of IndiaBasketball Federation of IndiaBasketball Federation of IndiaBasketball Federation of India(BFI).(BFI).(BFI).(BFI).(BFI). Flemming has served as the

assistant coach in NBA Develop-ment League of Texas Legends, of-ten working as the head coach forpresent as well as future NBA play-ers. He was also designated ascoach and athletic director at MountVernon Nazarene University in Ohio.Flemming has a total record of397"226 with the Cougars. Flemming is excited for the headcoach position. The former Indiahead coach of basketball team-Kenny Natt will keep playing advi-sory role with BFI while keeping aneye on the men’s as well as women’steams. He will now be the Directorof Basketball at IMG Academy inFlorida. Partners at the IMG Reli-ance played a crucial role in bring-ing Flemming to India.

Chitra RamkrishnaChitra Ramkrishna on 26 No-

vember 2012 was appointed as theManaging Director and CEO of theNational Stock Exchange (NSE). Herappointment to the position wouldcome to effect from 1 April 2013,for a period of five years from thedate of joining. Chitra Ramkrishnawould be replacing the ManagingDirector and CEO of NSE RaviNarain. Chitra Ramakrishna atpresent serves NSE as its Joint Man-

aging Director and has been associ-ated with it since the time of its in-ception. The present MD and CEOof NSE Ravi Narain was appointedas the Vice-Chairman of NSE and hewould be taking on the office from1 April 2013. At present Ravi Narainis serving NSE as its Managing Di-rector and CEO.

Jeff ZuckerThe former NBC Universal

chief Jeff Zucker has been namedpresident of CNN Worldwide on 29November 2012. Jeff Zucker is go-ing to lead a large and profitablenews organization with 23 separatebusinesses worldwide that hascome to be defined by problems atthe flagship U.S. network, particu-larly in prime time. He will succeedoutgoing CNN chief Jim Waltonstarting in January 2013. Zuckerstarted his 25-year career with NBCas a researcher for NBC Sports’ cov-erage of the 1988 Summer OlympicGames and rose to president andchief executive officer of NBC Uni-versal. He was named executiveproducer of Today in January 1992;under his eight-year leadership, theprogram was the most-watchedmorning news show and the mostprofitable program on television.

DEATH

Balasaheb Thackeray

The Shiv Sena Supremo

Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray diedon 17 November 2012 at the age of86. He died of the cardio-respira-tory arrest after suffering a long ill-ness at his residence Matoshree, inMumbai. Balasaheb KeshavThackeray was an Indian Politician,who founded Shiv Sena a PoliticalParty based in Mumbai, Maharashtrain the year 19 June 1966. Beforeturning up to politics, he was a car-

toonist by profession with an En-glish daily newspaper in Mumbai,named the Free Press Journal. Hiscartoons were also published in theTimes of India. He resigned from theFree Press Journal in 1960 andfounded his own political weekly,named Marmik. He also foundedSamana, the Marathi language news-paper and the Dophar ka Samna aHindi newspaper. His house at




Bandra, Mumbai is famous with thename Matoshree. Balasaheb was aleading face in the fight namedSamyukta Maharashtra movement(United Maharashtra movement); tomake Mumbai a place forMaharastrians that was witnessingthe influence of South Indians,Gujaratis and Marwaris.

IK Gujral

Inder Kumar Gujral, whoserved as the Prime Minister in United Front government in 1990s,died at the age of 92 on 30 Novem-ber 2012. Following the resignationof HD Deve Gowda, he became the13th Prime Minister of India on 21April 1997 and held that post till 19March 1998 in United Front govern-ment .The political party which hebelonged to was Janta Dal. Gujralwas a Rajya Sabha Member twicefrom 1964 to 1976 and a member ofthe Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991.He was re-elected to Rajya Sabhafrom Bihar in 1992. He was re-elected to Lok Sabha from Jalandharin Punjab as an independent withhelp from Akali Dal in 1998. It is im-portant to note that he was the RajyaSabha member during his tenure asthe Indian Prime Minister. He hadwritten Matters of Discretion:AnAutobiography which was releasedin February 2011. The golden jublee(50 years) of Indian Independencewas celebrated during IK Gujral’stenure as the Prime Minister.

About IK Gujral• He was born on 4 Decem-

ber1919 in Jhelum (Pakistan’s

Punjab Province). He belongedto a family of freedom fighters.

• He began his political careerwith the Quit India movementin 1942.

• He became vice-president ofthe New Delhi Municipal Com-mittee in 1958. He formallyjoined Congress(INC) party.

• He elected for Rajya Sabha inApril 1964 on Congress ticket.

•• He became external affairsminister when national frontgovernment came to power in1989 with VP Singh as thePrime Minister.

• He retired from active politicsin 1999.

• During his tenure as the PrimeMinister, IK Gujral resistedsigning CTBT(ComprehensiveTest Ban Treaty) paving theway for next government con-ducting the Pokhran nucleartests.

• He provided a five-pointroadmap to build trust be-tween India and itsneighbouring countries knowna s Gujral Doctrine.

Gujral DoctrineThe five principles of Gujral

doctrine are:1. With neighbors like

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives,Nepal and Sri Lanka, India doesnot ask for reciprocity, butgives and accommodates whatit can in good faith and trust.

2. No South Asian country shouldallow its territory to be usedagainst the interest of anothercountry of the region.

3. No country should interfere inthe internal affairs of another.

4. All South Asian countries mustrespect each other’s territorialintegrity and sovereignty.

5. They should settle all their dis-putes through peaceful bilat-eral negotiations.

K.C. PantK.C. Pant, the ex-Defence Min-

ister of India and former PlanningCommission Deputy Chairman diedon 15 November 2012. KrishnaChandra Pant was the son of theBharat Ratna and former Chief Min-ister of Uttar Pradesh, GovindBallabh Pant. Being a Member ofParliament for about 26 years, K.C.Pant held different key positions ofGovernment of India like FinanceMinistry, Defence Ministry, AtomicEnergy and Science and Technol-ogy, Steel Ministry, Home Ministryand many more. Pant served IndianNational Congress till 1998 and af-ter that joined Bhartiya Janta Party. K.C. Pant for the first time waselected to the Lok Sabha in 1962 andthen he was elected in 1967, 1971,and 1989. In 1978 he was elected asa member of Rajya Sabha and servedit as its leader from 1979 to 1980.

Kailashpati Misra

Veteran BJP leader, formergovernor of Gujarat and Rajasthanand former finance minister of Bihar,Kailashpati Mishra, passed away inState of Bihar on 3 November 2012.Kailashpati Misra, was of 90 years ofage and was suffering from pro-longed illness. Kailashpati Misrawho was born at Dudharchak villagein Buxar district in 1923 served asgovernor of Gujarat from 7 May 2003to 7 July 2004 and for a brief periodof Rajasthan too during the sameduration. He was a bachelor and




popularly known as the“Bhishmapitamah” of State BJP.Kailashpati Misra had taken part inthe Quit India Movement at veryearly age when he was in schoolonly. Later in young age he joinedRSS in 1945 and became stateorganisation secretary of Jan Sanghin 1959. Kailashpati Misra was thefirst state BJP president in 1980. Hethen went to become Rajya SabhaMP from 1984 to 1990 and was BJP’snational vice-president from 1995 to2004.

Dr. Joseph Edward Murray

Dr. Joseph Edward Murray, thefirst doctor to perform kidney trans-plant successfully died on 26 No-vember 2012. The 93 year old doc-tor had received a Nobel Prize forthe work. Murray had stroke at thesuburban home in Boston on 22November 2012 and eventually hedied at Brigham and Women’s Hos-pital. After he performed the firstkidney transplant on the identicaltwins, various other transplants ondifferent organs of the body wereperformed. Murray also sharedNobel Prize in Physiology in 1990along with Dr. E. Donnall Thomas,who performed various bone mar-row transplants. Earlier in 1950shuman organ transplants were neversuccessful. But Murray along withthe associates in Boston’s Peter BentBrigham Hospital which is nowcalled Brigham and Women’s Hos-pital developed the surgical meth-

ods by transplanting the kidneys indogs. First kidney transplant wasperformed in December 1954 on 23-year old Richard Herrick as well ashis identical twin Ronald Herrick.After operation, Richard got thefunctioning kidney transplantationfrom Ronald.

Kamala SadagopanThe eminent Tamil writer and

novelist Kamala Sadagopan died on14 November 2012. She is survivedby her husband Sadagopan who isalso a screenplay writer known bythe name of Chitralaya Gopu andfour sons. Kamala worked in a jour-nal run by novelist Vai MuKothainayaki Ammal namedJaganmohini. As a delegate to AllIndia Congress Committee she at-tended its Avadi Session In1955. Kadhavu a novel written byher bought her fame and for it shewon Narayanasamy Iyer Award fromKalaimagal magazine. Her novelPadigal won the State Government’sPrize in the year 1981. She was adeputy editor in Mangayar Malar awomen’s magazine

T. Samuel Died

Veteran Cartoonist and the pio-neer of pocket cartoons in India, TSamuel died on 2 October 2012 atthe age of 86. Samuel is now sur-vived by his wife, two daughters and

a son. Samuel started his journey asa professional cartoonist before In-dependence from Lahore with aMilitary Gazette. After partition hecame to Delhi as a refugee andjoined Shankar’s weekly, where hecontributed the Kalu and Meena, thesilent strip cartoon and some morerelated to social life. As a staff car-toonist, he served Delhi edition ofTimes of India, where he becamefamous as the creator of the pocketcartoon named Babuji. After serv-ing Times of India for a certain pe-riod of time, he joined Indian Ex-press as a cartoonist and carried onwith his featured cartoon Babuji andGarib, the next strip cartoon series.He was back with Times of India andserved it and its Hindi daily NavBharat Times till 1985, the year of hisretirement.

Indravadan Ambalal Modi

Founder of Cadila Pharmaceu-ticals and industrialist, IndravadanAmbalal Modi died on 26 Novem-ber 2012 after suffering from a briefillness and respiratory disorder. The87 year old industrialist was theChairman of Cadila Pharmaceuticals.He ventured himself into the Pharmaindustry in the year 1951 by settingCadila Laboratories. Modi was therepresentative in the National Work-ing Group on Patent Laws, India(NWGPL) and Indian Drug Manufac-turers’ Association (IDMA) and re-mained an active member in shap-ing the 1986 Drug Policy of Govern-




ment of India. He is also referred asa Champion of Indian Patents Act,1970 in the Indian PharmaceuticalIndustry.

P K Venukuttan NairP K Venukuttan Nair, 81, a well

known theatre personality as well asthe Malayalam film actor died on 26November 2012 atThiruvananthapuram because ofbrief illness. Nair was a respectedpersonality in theatre circles in thestate of Kerala. Nair had also re-ceived state government award forthe best drama director four times.Nair is survived by his wife. P KVenukuttan Nair was honoured bythe Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Acad-emy for contribution to drama field.He was also the former Vice-Presi-dent of the Kerala Sangeetha NatakaAcademy. Apart from this, he wasalso Kendra Sangeetha NatakaAcademy member. Some of therenowned works of the artist in-clude Oru Cheru Punchiri,Swayamvaram, Swapnadanam andUlkatal. He acted in over 90 playsand gave direction in 20 dramas aswell.

Savita HalappanavarSavita Halappanavar a woman

of Indian Origin and dentist by pro-fession died on 28 October 2012 inIreland after doctors refused to per-form an abortion. The doctors de-nied the abortion with a claim thatIreland was a Catholic Country.

Savita the Indian dentist wassuffering from miscarriage when shewas 17 weeks pregnant and the Irishlaw at the University College Hospi-tal Galway denied abortion to her.This led to septicemia (blood poi-soning), multiple organ failure lead-ing to her death.

IRISH LAWAccording to the Person Act

1861 of Irish Law on abortion andoffences, abortion has is consideredillegal in the country. This denial onabortion that took life of Savita cre-ated a widespread outrage, to makethe Irish Government take a clearstand on Irish Laws on Abortion.

S.K. KhaitanShree Krishna Khaitan, the

chairman of Khaitan group of com-panies, passed away on 4 Novem-ber 2012. He was a native ofJhunjhunu village in Rajasthan andwas born on 15 December 1939. Itwas S.K. Khaitan who had incorpo-rated the Khaitan group of compa-nies in 1975.

Khaitan Group is one of theleading fan manufacturers in thecountry with interests in home ap-pliances and lightings business. S.K.Khaitan was also a philanthropistand was also involved in severalphilanthropic activities in the fieldsof education and healthcare. Hewas also the Founder Trustee ofSeth Chiranjilal Khaitan Trust andShree Krishna Foundation amongothers. S.K. Khaitan was a visionaryman and was greatly inspired by theexploits of visionary giants likeHenry Ford, Thomas Bata, SoichairoHonda and J. N Tata who built greatbrands around their own names. Hehad started entrepreneurship in veryyoung age. During his lifetime, S KKhaitan was honoured by many in-dustry associations, Central andState governmen

ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSYBS Yeddyyurappa

B . S . Y e d d y u r a p p a (Bookanakere SiddalingappaYeddyurappa), former Chief Minis-

ter of Karnataka on 30 November2012 announced his resignationfrom Legislative Assembly and fromprimary membership of BJP party.Yeddyurappa submitted his resigna-tion to the Speaker of the Assem-bly, KG Bopaiah. Yeddyurappa rep-resented Shikaripura in his homedistrict Shimoga, which is about 280km north of Bangalore.Yeddyurappa resigned from chiefMinistership in 2011 in the wake ofallegations of corruption. He started

his political career when he waselected as President of theShikaripura Taluk erstwhile JanaSangha in 1972. He won his firstAssembly election in 1983 as BJPcandidate. He belongs to Lingayatcommunity. He became the first BJPchief minister in South India. Atpresent, Jagadish Shettar is the ChiefMinister of Karnataka.

George EntwistleBBC Director General George

Entwistle on 10 November 2012 re-




signed from the job after the broad-caster put out a program which wasdenounced by the corporation’schairman as shoddy journalism as aBritish politician was depicted inchild sex abuse. George Entwistlein a statement asserted that he haddecided that the honourable thingto do is to step down as directorgeneral after just eight weeks in thejob.

He also asserted the fact that

the director-general is also the edi-tor-in-chief and ultimately respon-sible for all content. GeorgeEntwistle was facing widespreadcriticism since a rival broadcastercarried charges in October 2012 that a former BBC star, the lateJimmy Savile, was one of Britain’smost prolific sex offenders and hadsexually abused hundreds of chil-dren over four decades. Thereafterthe BBC’s flagship news programNewsnight aired a mistaken allega-tion that an ex-politician sexuallyabused children. The programmedid not identify the politician in thereport, but he was widely named onthe Internet as former Tory partytreasurer Alistair McAlpine. TimDavie, who is currently the BBC’sdirector of audio and music, is go-

ing to take over as acting directorgeneral.

Marc GrossmanThe US special envoy to Af-Pak

(Afghanistan-Pakistan), MarcGrossman on 27 November 2012announced his resignation after be-ing at the helm of diplomatic affairsin the volatile region for two yearsfrom 2010 to 2012. His resignationwould come into effect from 14December 2012.

Grossman would be suc-ceeded by his Deputy Special USRepresentative for Afghanistan andPakistan, David D Pearce. Grossman,a former State Department diplo-mat, Grossman was roped in afterthe sudden death of RichardHolbrooke in 2010.

HONOUR

Brahma Chellaney

India’s leading strategic thinkerand analyst, Brahma Chellaney on 25

October 2012 won the 2012 AsiaSociety Bernard Schwartz BookAward for his recently publishedbook Water: Asia’s New Battle-ground.

Brahma Chellaney is going tobe honoured with $20,000 prizemoney at a special event to be heldat Asia Society’s headquarters inNew York City on 23 January 2012.The book Water: Asia’s New Battle-

ground” by Brahma Chellaney wasselected from nearly 90 nominationssubmitted by US and Asia-basedpublishers for books published in2011. Asia Society BernardSchwartz Book Award was estab-lished in 2009 and is the only awardthat recognizes non-fiction booksfor their outstanding contributionsto the understanding of contempo-rary Asia or US-Asia relations.

BOOKS

Victory India-A Key toQuality Military Leadership

The Air Chief Marshal NAKBrowne on 20 November 2012 re-leased a book titled Victory India -A Key to Quality Military Leadershipauthored by Colonel Vinay B Dalvi(Retd) at the Air Headquarters. The

book has tried to present the pro-cess of identification, selection andtraining of the youths for mouldingthem into effective and inspiringmilitary leaders of the nation.

The book is a compilation ofwell written contributory articles bymilitary experts that includes Admi-

ral Arun Prakash, Lieutenant GeneralArun Chopra, Lieutenant GeneralGautam Banerjee, Air Marshal TSRandhawa and different technolo-gists, professors, sports medicinespecialists and psychologists.




Colonel Vinay B Dalvi (Retd)In the 37 years of his distin-

guished service of the Indian Army,Colonel Vinay B Dalvi has served al-most every sector and commands ofthe Indian Army which also includesNational Defence Academy, Instruc-tional Training at Indian MilitaryAcademy and Officers TrainingAcademy.

YuviThe book on Indian Cricketer

Yuvraj Singh named Yuvi was re-leased in third week of November2012. Kapil Dev and DilipVengsarkar, the former cricketinglegends were invited at the launchceremony to offer insight on thecricketing star. Yuvi, the book on

Yuvraj Singh is published by HarperSport and written by MakarandWaingankar. The book illustrates thebrilliance of cricket shown by YuvrajSingh in his career as a cricketer andthe way he recovered from Cancer.

Behind the BeautifulForevers: Life, Death, andHope in a MumbaiUndercity

Pulitzer Prize-winning journal-ist and writer Katherine Boo on 14November 2012won the nationalbook award for nonfictionfor Behind the Beautiful Forevers:Life, Death, and Hope in a MumbaiUndercity, which sheds light on thelives of India’s poor as well as gov-

ernment corruption. Behind thebeautiful forever is a story of anambitious woman who has set hersights on being slumlord inAnnawadi, a large slum close toSahar International Airport inMumbai the story also revolvesaround a boy and the harsh and illu-minating after effects of crime orperceived crime. More broadly, thebook explores themes of inequalityand the perseverance of familiesstriving for something better.

The National Book Foundation,which administers the awards,nominated five writers in each offour categories: fiction, nonfiction,poetry and young people’s litera-ture.

VARIOUS

Bangladesh

The worst industrial fire acci-dent took place on 24 November2012 in Bangladesh at Ashulia atSavar which is approximately 30 kmaway from Dhaka. In the history ofBangladesh, this is the most devas-tating fire accident which claimedseveral lives. The fire which brokeout due to unexplained reasonsstarted at Tazreen Fashion near theDhaka Export Processing Zone andsoon engulfed the ground floor andfirst floor of the multi-storey build-ing. The government of Bangladeshconstituted inquiry committee inorder to find out the cause of thisworst-ever fire accident. Concernedauthorities were directed for propermedical treatment to the injured.

DRDOThe Defence Research and

Development Organisation (DRDO)conducted its eighth ballistic inter-ceptor missile. Scientific Adviser to

the Defence Minister, K. Saraswat,had asserted that the attacker, amodified Prithvi missile, would takeoff from the Integrated Test Rangeat Chandipur district of Odisha,mimicking an enemy missile whilethe interceptor would blast off fromthe Wheeler Island and pounce onthe attacker in endo-atmosphere atan altitude of 15 km to 16 km. Theinterceptor missile is called Ad-vanced Air Defence (AAD) systemand it race at a supersonic speed tointercept the attacker and destroyit.

Out of the seven interceptormissiles tests conducted by theDRDO so far, six was successful. Thefirst interceptor mission took placein November 2006 in exo-atmo-sphere at an altitude of 48 km and itwas successful. The second test,which took place in December 2007,in endo-atmosphere at an altitude of15 km was again successful. Outof the seven tests, five took place in

endo-atmosphere at a height lessthan 20 km. The interceptor isaround 7.5-meter long single stagesolid rocket propelled guided mis-sile which is equipped with a navi-gation system, a hi-tech computerand an electro-mechanical activator.The interceptor missile had its ownmobile launcher, secure data link forinterception, independent trackingand homing capabilities and sophis-ticated radars.

Mohammed Ajmal AmirKasab

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab,the Pakistani National and the lonesurviving terrorist of 26/11 MumbaiTerror Attacks, was hanged on 21November 2012 at Pune’s YerwadaJail at 7:30 am. The Home Ministerof Maharashtra R.R. Patil confirmedthat Kasab was hanged. The Presi-dent of India Pranab Mukherjee re-jected the mercy plea of Kasab. Hewas hanged five days before the




fourth anniversary of the brutal ter-ror attack on Mumbai that claimed166 lives and sieged Mumbai forcontinuous three days. In the top-secret operation, the sole survivingterrorist of 26/11 Mumbai terror at-tacks Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasabwas hanged till death in Yerwadajail, Pune, on 21 November 2012.Kasab had killed 166 people on 26November 2008 along with 9 otherterrorists from Pakistan.

Ajmal Kasab’s ExecutionChronology

• 26 November 2008- Kasab aswell as 9 terrorists launched acommando raid in Mumbai

• 27 November 2008- Kasabcaught and arrested

• 30 November 2008- Kasab con-fessed before police

• 16 January 2009- Arthur RoadJail selected for trial of Kasab

• 20/21 February 2009- Kasabconfessed before the magis-trate

• 22 February 2009- Ujjwal Nikalappointed as the Special Pub-lic Prosecutor

• 20 April 2009- Prosecutioncharged Kasab on 312 counts

• 6 May 2009- Kasab wasawarded death sentence bythe trial court

• 21 February 2011- BombayHigh Court upheld the deci-sion of the trial court

• March 2011- Kasab wrote toSupreme Court challenginghigh court’s decision

• 10 October 2011- SupremeCourt stayed execution of thedeath sentence

• 25 April 2012- Supreme Courtreserved its verdict after goingthrough a lot of hearing overtwo and a half months

• 16 October 2012- Union HomeMinistry recommended to

president for rejecting mercyplea of Kasab

• 5 November 2012- Presidentrejected mercy petition ofKasab

• 8 November 2012-Maharashtra Government wasinformed about the decision ofPresident

• 21 November 2012- Kasab washanged at 7.30 A.M. inYerwada Jail, Pune

Background of KasabKasab was a Pakistani militant

and belonged to Lashkar-e-Taibaterrorist group. He was born on 13July 1987 at Faridkot, Pakistan andis 25 years old. Kasab was foundguilty in 80 offences which includedmurder, possession of explosives,waging a war against India and manymore. The Supreme Court of Indiaupheld the death sentence of Kasabon 29 August 2012. The defense law-yers on Kasab’s side are Defenselawyers Amin Solkar, Farhana Shahand Abbas Kazmi.

Kasab’s execution issecond-fastest in thehistory

Kasab’s execution is said to bethe second fastest in the history ofIndia, only after Banswara-basedRamchandra a.k.a Raoji. Raoji wasexecuted in just 3 years after mur-dering his family. Raoji was put todeath on 4 May 1996. Comparingthe two, Kasab’s execution is thesecond-fastest as he was hanged 4years after his heinous terror attackin Mumbai. It is quite significant tonote that the President PranabMukherjee decided to reject Kasab’smercy plea while 14 other petitionstill October 2012 were pending andthis also included Parliament attackterrorist- Afzal Guru besides otherimportant names.

South Pacific IslandAustralian scientists from the

University of Sydney discovered inthe third week of November 2012that the South Pacific Island whichis located between Australia andNew Caledonia in South Pacific isnot in existence. The island is shownon the marine charts, world mapsas well as Google Earth, but in real-ity it has no existence. Geologistsfrom the University of Sydney be-came suspicious about its existencewhen navigation charts which areused by ships showed 1400 metresdepth in the area while the scien-tific maps as well as Google Earthshowed large island at that place.When the geologists sailed throughthe place, they found nothing ex-cept the blue ocean. The error hadbroadcasted through to worldcoastline database, which is respon-sible for making a lot of maps. It isnotable that the island which doesnot exist at all has also appeared inthe scientific publications since2000.

India International TradeFair

The 32nd season of Indian In-ternational Trade Fair started on 14November 2012 at Pragati Maidan inNew Delhi. The annual fair thatwould conclude after 14 days on 27November 2012 was inaugurated bythe President of India PranabMukherjee. Mikhail V Myasnikovich,the Prime Minister of Belarus was theGuest of Honour to the inaugurationceremony and he also inauguratedthe Belarusian pavilion at the fair. Belarus has been selected as thepartner country to the event,whereas South Africa is selected asthe Focus Country for the 32nd edi-tion of the International Trade Fair.In the state category, Uttarakhand




has been opted as the Partner Stateand Andaman and Nicobar Islandswas opted as the Focus State for theevent.

ThemeThe theme selected for the

32nd edition of the India Interna-tional Trade Fair is Skilling India andthe event would focus on the initia-tives undertaken by different agen-cies, government departments andother private participants for devel-opment of skills among the youths.To make the event successful andpass on the idea behind the theme,several seminars and workshopswere also organized. A total of 6000participant exhibitors from acrossthe world and the country have par-ticipated in the trade fair. The firstfive days of the trade fair would beopen for business visitors only andfrom 19 November 2012 to 27 No-vember 2012, the fair would beopen for the general public from9:30 am to 7:30 pm every day. Forthe senior citizens and the physicallychallenged people, there would beno fee. To make the event a eco-friendly one, the India Trade Promo-tion Organisation have made thecomplete venue a no smoking zoneand have not allowed use of plasticbags at the organized venue, PragatiMaidan, New Delhi.

Ami Bera

Ami Bera, 47, California-based,Indian-American has become theonly 3rd of the community to win

Congressional election, making itt o US House ofUS House ofUS House ofUS House ofUS House ofRepresentatives Representatives Representatives Representatives Representatives on 6 November,2012 by defeating Republican DanLungren. On 6 November 2012,Bera had neck to neck competitionwith the opponent Lungren with just184 votes lead. The lead increasedto 3800 votes on 13 November 2012.Later, on 15 November 2012, it wasannounced by The SacramentoCounty Registrar of Voters that thelead of Bera had increased by 5696votes or 2.2 percent. Gradually thelead widened and Bera won the seatto the House of Representatives. Bera at present is in Washington forthe orientation course that is orga-nized for the new lawmakers. Thisis incidentally led by the opponentLungren.

Previously, Dalip Singh Saundcreated history when he became the1st Indian-American elected to theHouse in 1950s. Saund was themathematician with interests infarming. The 2nd Indian-Americanto be elected was Bobby Jindal in2005 and 2008, the health-policyexpert. He is now the Governor ofLouisiana. Democrat Bera now hasbecome the third Indian-Americanto repeat the deed by defeating Re-publican Dan Lungren in the SeventhCongressional District of California.Ami Bera is a renowned physician.

DSC South Asian LiteraturePrize 2013

Three Indian writers- UdayPrakash, Amitav Ghosh and JeetThayil were shortlisted for the USDollar 50,000 DSC South Asian Lit-erature Prize 2013. The names ofshortlisted candidates were an-nounced on 21 November 2012 inLondon. Others who wereshortlisted for the prize include Pa-kistani novelists Jamil Ahmad and

Mohammed Hanif as well asTahmina Anam of Bangladesh. Onlycontender from beyond the bound-aries of Indian Subcontinent is Ja-son Grunebaum who is the Ameri-can Writer, academic and transla-tor.

Amitav Ghosh has been cho-sen for River of Smoke, Jeet Thayilfor the debut novel Narcopolis andUday Prakash for The Walls ofDelhi. Well known litterateur K.Satchidanandan chairing the jurysaid that the list represented diver-sity of the South Asian fiction interms of idiom and theme. Theseworks, according to the jury mem-ber were stylistically innovative, the-matically fresh and have a definitivecontribution to the genre ofnovels. Another member of PrizeSteering Committee, ManhadNarula, described these novels aswell balanced and excellent whichrepresent finest writing of SouthAsian region. The winner of theprize is scheduled to be announcedon 25 January 2013 at DSC JaipurLiterature Festival.

Daw Aung San Suu KyiDaw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chair-

person of the National League ofDemocracy of Myanmar visited In-dia from 13 November 2012 to 18November 2012. Daw Aung San SuuKyi spent several years in India dur-ing her early days when her motherDaw Khin Yi was Ambassador to In-dia. She also spent some time as aFellow at the Institute of AdvancedStudy in Shimla in 1987. Besidesher engagements in Delhi, travelledto Bangalore where she visited theIndian Institute of Science and theInfosys Campus. She also touredrural areas in Andhra Pradesh to gaina firsthand impression of the ruraldevelopment and women’s empow-




erment programmes being under-taken in India.

Ram Jethmalani

The BJP(Bhartiya Janta Party)on 25 November 2012 suspendedsenior leader and Rajya Sabha mem-ber Ram Jethmalani from the partyfor gross indiscipline. RamJethmalani recently, openly at-tacked the party for criticizing theappointment of the new CBI chief.He had also challenged the party totake action against him on theissue. The party had also takenstrong exception Ram Jethmalani’spublic outburst against senior partyleaders Sushma Swaraj and ArunJaitley who had written to PrimeMinister expressing their reserva-tions over the appointment of RanjitSinha as the new Director of the CBI.

Ernest Bai Koroma

Sierra Leone, the incumbentPresident Ernest Bai Koroma, leaderof the All People’s Congress was re-elected as the President of the na-tion on 23 November 2012 after theelectoral body declared results ofthe elections that took place in thecountry in third week of November.

He had sworn in as the President ofSierra Leone on the same day, whenthe results were declared. He wonthe Presidential elections by secur-ing 58.7 percent votes in hisfavour. Julius Maada Bio, the toprival of Koroma won 37.4 percentvotes. The incumbent Presidentmanaged to save himself from thesecond round of voting by securingmore than 55 percent votes in hissupport. To support the growth ofthe country and make it one of thefastest growing economies of theworld, the President of the war-scarred nation asked all the opposi-tion parties that included SierraLeone People’s Party’s (SLPP) tounite with each other and work forthe cause of overall development ofthe nation. Christiana Thorpe, theChief of the National Elections Com-mission on 23 November 2012 de-clared that any citizen of the nationcan challenge the validity of thePresidential Elections by filing apetition in the Supreme Court of Si-erra Leone within seven days of re-sult declaration.

Joaquim Barbosa

Joaquim Barbosa was sworn-in as Brazil’s Supreme Court’s firstnon-White President on 23 Novem-ber 2012 at a packed ceremony inthe capital Brazilia. Barbosa becamefamous in Brazil after overseeing oneof the country’s biggest corruptiontrials involving key members of theformer President Lula Da Silva’s gov-

ernment. Barbosa is famous for histough stand against political corrup-tion. Brazil has the second largestnon-White population in the worldafter Nigeria, but few of themachieve high office.

Hamid Karzai

Hamid Karzai, the President ofAfghanistan paid a state visit to In-dia from 9 November to 13 Novem-ber 2012 following the invitation ofthe President of the Republic of In-dia Pranab Mukherjee. On his visitto India he was accompanied by ahigh-level delegation to India. TheAfghani President held delegatelevel bilateral discussions on variousregional and international issues thatare relevant for both the nations withthe Prime Minister of India. Duringhis India Visit the Afghanistan’sPresident attended a business meetat Mumbai on 10 November 2012participated by the business lead-ers of India. On 12 November 2012,he delivered a Maulana Abul KalamAzad Memorial lecture that wasorganised by the Indian Council ofCultural Relations (ICCR) in NewDelhi. The geographical conditionsof both the countries make themnatural strategic partners of eachother to create a common platformfor the virtue of peace and coopera-tion in all fields. The good relationsstarted between the two nations af-ter the two signed a Strategic Part-nership Agreement in October 2011for creation of strong ties betweenboth the nations.




Mount Tongariro VolcanoThe Mount Tongariro Volcano

erupted on 21 November 2012 atTongariro National Park, NewZealand. The volcano left behind the

cloud of ashes that spread acrossthree-kilometer in the Skies of theNorth Island. The eruption tookplace about 300 kilometers fromWellington and the reported time at

which the volcano grumbled wasrecorded as 1:25 pm on 21 Novem-ber 2012. The volcano was used asthe backdrop of many scenes andsequences of the film Lord of theRings.




Taking aHard look at Soft Power

The Copyright Act (Amendment)Bill, 2012 passed recently by Parliament,is a landmark beginning for the Indiancreative sector. In an era that is over-whelmed by global commercial inter-ests for short-term gains, the collectiveconsciousness of a mighty heritage, per-haps involuntarily, heard the voice of theindividual artist who has been centralto the ethos of its civilization. The veryfact that this Amendment got passedreflects a larger need to focus on thecreative sector not merely as a tool forprofitability but as an organic agency forhuman development and sustainability.

The General Conference of theUNESCO, recognising the role of softpower in human development as earlyas its fourteenth session in 1966, pro-claimed in Article I that: 1. Each culturehas a dignity and value which must berespected and preserved; 2. Everypeople has the right and the duty todevelop its culture; 3. In their rich vari-ety and diversity, and in the reciprocalinfluences they exert on one another, allcultures form part of the common heri-tage belonging to all mankind.

But India’s ambition to be a “su-perpower” by 2020 at the cost of hersoft power heritage has run into tangibletrouble: between 1997 and 2006, at least1,66,304 farmers committed suicide in

India, resulting in recent farmer upris-ings against the usurping of land bycorporates and the state. In AndhraPradesh alone, at least 2,000 weaverscommitted suicide between 2006 and2011. Kerala saw an uprising against aCoca-Cola factory on the grounds thatit diverted groundwater from primaryneeds. And protests, ranging fromKudankulam to the Narmada valley, onlyreflect the widening conflict betweenthe excluded majority and the benefit-ting minority in a skewed state devel-opmental agenda.

Three characteristicsIs this “superpower” model going

against the very fundamentals of India’s“soft power”? Three characteristics dis-tinguish India: a 5,000-year-old extant,unbroken, well-documented,civilizational, cultural heritage; an over-whelming population of no less than 1.2billion; and a living laboratory for plu-ralistic development without a commonspoken language. While other countriesmay share some of these characteristics,India is unique in having to factor all ofthem into any developmental plan, thusnecessitating an original blueprint.

The Indian arts and cultural sec-tor has the inherent capacity to createthe desirable models of development.Indian crafts alone can potentially em-ploy about 25 per cent of India’s popu-lation. For example, the north-eastern

hilly state of Manipur is beingindustrialised at a heavy cost due to itstopography. The crafts sector could berevitalised as a nerve centre of Manipur’sdevelopment as its soil is congenial togrowing bamboo, and since it has tra-ditionally produced master craftsmen ofbamboo products. While this rehabili-tation is integral to peace and develop-ment in the State, it equally calls for radi-cal transformation in governance.

As diplomatic bridgeArts and culture build bridges like

nothing else. Take India’s complex re-lations with her neighbours. She has ahistory of turbulent political relationswith Pakistan; border issues with China;ethnic links to Sri Lanka’s political cri-sis; and issues of democracy with Nepaland Bhutan. One common theme thathas enabled India to sustain “Track 2”non-official dialogue with neighbours,through non-diplomatic channels, hasbeen culture. Exchange programmes inart, music and dance, and bilateral filmproductions sustained the India-Paki-stan dialogue even when the two coun-tries were at war.

The power of cultural and creativeexpressions has been skilfully hijackedand exploited by commercial super-powers to sell themselves successfully.As Simon Evans of Creative Clusters Ltd.says, “Companies like Nike and Coca-Cola do not manage factories, they man-

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age narratives. And the language thatthey use is not analytic and impersonal,but intuitive and aesthetic. It is the lan-guage of the storyteller, the entertainer,the artist.”

Creativity is the birth of an idea orthought that architectures the culturalenterprise to be understood as a spiri-tual, emotional, experiential, even ab-stract experience. Within theglobalisation agenda itself, the CreativeIndustries bring back to the table, thenatural human urge to explore one’sown creativity. This is perhaps becom-ing less possible in other sectors, whichare far more institutionalised andcorporatised than the creative industrysector. But this trend has also created anew hierarchy where the dominantcommercial forces appropriate and ex-ploit human creativity, exploit intellec-tual property of the less advantaged andgenerate a business sector that excludesthe very sources of its business. Yoga,ayurveda and ancient philosophical,spiritual and knowledge traditions aresome of the biggest commercial money-spinners in the western world, whicheven claims patent rights over some ofthese traditions.

At the other end of the spectrum,creative models have emerged in India,seeking to synergise lifestyle, the envi-ronment and the aesthetic. Islands ofexcellence, small-scale entrepreneurialenterprises, and performing arts move-ments, such as DakshinaChitra, Dastkar,the Self Employed Women’s Associa-tion (SEWA), the Prakriti Foundationand Rupayan Sansthan have mush-roomed around the country to nurturetraditional arts and crafts while enablingtheir innovation, livelihoods, businessand trade in these sectors.

A culture policyIt has been argued that a culture

policy is required to nurture India’s cul-tural sector. Independent India has beendiscussing a culture policy but found nofeasible mechanism to implement it.This is perhaps because the state’spolicy constructs are centralised andmonolithic, but the cultural sector is in-herently diverse and devolved to com-munities. However, in an act of copingwith the global trend, the Planning Com-mission set up a national committee forcreative industries in 2004. While thecommittee has produced a preliminaryreport that is in cold storage, it is faced

with the challenge of addressing a 5,000-year-old continuous cultural heritagethat is caught between the superpowerand soft power paradigms.

India is crying itself hoarse for thestate to veer away from the ugliest twin-manifestations of its corporatisationagenda — corruption and environmen-tal destruction — and to waste no timein engaging with the Indian creative in-dustries sector, in a trailblazing long-term sustainable way.

Short-term is negativeFor example, although there are

potentially 50 million people who areemployable in the Indian crafts sector,a fast-diminishing number of less than25 million people are sub-optimallyemployed, and Indian crafts constituteonly two per cent of the world trade.This sector suffers from underemploy-ment, a lack of organisation, and ispreyed upon by a few big players withshort-term market targets that eclipselong-term sustenance. Therefore, insti-tutions like the Crafts Council of Indiaand the Zonal Cultural Centres have theirwork cut out.

The golden era of Indian cinemawhich was considered an extension ofIndian art and culture in the internationalmarket was largely propelled by theNational Film Development Corporationof India (NFDC) up to the early 1980s.Ironically, it was the Indian state thatsupported “independent cinema”! To-day, commercial Bollywood is amus-ingly patronised, and Indian cinema ischaracterised more for its syntheticpresence, mostly through shallow redcarpet posturing than its core cinema.The NFDC-model of state support needsto be urgently reinvented to producegreat cinema and build capacity to reachlatent audiences.

Recognition of the individual art-ist by these institutions churned out ar-tistic excellence and set standards inIndia’s sustainable soft power sectors.India also needs to revisit its culturalhistory with renewed imagination to re-discover its reservoir of knowledge tra-ditions. And the artist and artist-drivencultural movements must be central tochartering these new pathways not fortourists or for travellers but for seekers.

Courtesy-The HinduCourtesy-The HinduCourtesy-The HinduCourtesy-The HinduCourtesy-The Hindu

Bihar’s caste curseBihar under Nitish Kumar received

some stunning good news last week.Long condemned as a basket case, theState buried that image once and for allwith a chartbuster GDP growth of 13 percent. Remarkably, Chief Minister Kumarachieved this in just seven years, settingan example for other leaders strugglingto lift their States out of crushing pov-erty and economic backwardness. Yetonly days after scaling this wonderfulstatistical peak, Bihar would return witha vengeance to its badlands past, withmayhem and worse following the mur-der of Brahmeshwar Singh, the unoffi-cial chief of the outlawed Ranvir Sena.The violence rekindled memories of anearlier Bihar, where lawlessness was agiven, and the Sena, an upper casteBhumihar-led private militia, plunderedand killed as it pleased. Formed in theearly 1990s, the Sena ruled uncheckedfor a decade, leaving its bloody imprintson large swathes of central and southBihar, where its primary adversarieswere the Naxals led by the CommunistParty of India (Marxist Leninist-Libera-tion) and the Maoist Communist Cen-tre. And yet, the victims of this class warwere almost always the landless Dalits,newly awakening to Bihar’s gross casteinequalities but nonetheless rendereddoubly vulnerable by their poverty andtheir social exclusion.

The Sena’s signature was evidentin over 40 massacres, with the landmarkcases of Bathani Tola, Laxmanpur Batheand Shankarbigha accounting for themurders of over 100 Dalits and Muslims.The Sena’s sadistic trait was revealed inthe fact that it did not just kill randomly,it acted by design, picking women andchildren as its targets. Bitter memoriesof that period were stirred again whenthe Patna High Court in April this yearacquitted all 23 men charged with theBathani Tola carnage. The court citedlack of prosecutable evidence againstthe accused but for the families of thevictims, this was no consolation. Indeed,the release of the men, among themBrahmeshwar Singh himself, was awarning that Bihar could yet relive thecaste nightmare of the 1990s. Tragically,the Nitish Kumar government failed toanticipate the violence inherent in thesituation. The regime ought to have ex-ercised vigil, and all the more in view ofthe perception that the Janata Dal(United) is a patron of the Bhumihars.In his time, Lalu Prasad was wont toboast that he had given swar (voice) to




the Dalits of Bihar and he would givethem swarg (heaven) too. The castemassacres showed up the emptiness ofhis words. Under Mr. Kumar, Bihar hasadmittedly come a long way from thehopelessness of that period. It would bea pity if the feel-good vibes were to es-cape the Dalits and the landless whoform the lowest rung of the social lad-der.


Guilty on many counts, notcorrupt

Last fortnight I had cloistered my-self away in the hills for a spot of reflec-tion and writing. I had chosen to deprivemyself of blessings like newspapers, thetelevision and internet; telephone con-nectivity was at best erratic and in anycase it was turned off most of the time.During one occasional moment of con-nectedness I got a call from a televisionchannel, seeking my comments on thePrime Minister’s response to TeamAnna’s charge. I politely excused my-self but I was indeed shaken up by thesheer audacity of the charge. What kindof cultivated viciousness have we in-jected in our polity that a man like Dr.Manmohan Singh is to be labelled “Cor-rupt”?

Demonisation gameMy mind instantly recalled a con-

versation I had had with Prime MinisterManmohan Singh the day I joined himas Media Adviser in June 2009. That af-ternoon he spent an hour with me, shar-ing his views and thought-processes. Atthe end of the conversation, just as I wasleaving, he beckoned me to sit downagain and said: “One more thing, Harish.If you ever hear anything about anymember of my family engaging in anykind of hanky-panky, please come andtell it straight to me, however unpleas-ant or painful it may be.”

Now this man is being called “cor-rupt” by a bunch of self-appointedShankaracharyas who have arrogated tothemselves the licence to declare some-one clean and someone else corrupt.The charge of “corrupt” carries with it asuggestion of active collusion in abuseof governmental discretion in exchangefor a monetary consideration.

Last year the argument was: “Sowhat, if you are honest?” This season thedemonisation game has been ratchetedup to declare Manmohan Singh to be

corrupt. Was it not George Orwell whohad warned us against how political lan-guage was “designed to make lies soundtruthful and murder respectable”? OldGeorge would have admired TeamAnna’s homicidal finesse.

Manmohan Singh is not corrupt,but he is definitely guilty. He can beeasily charged — along with his politi-cal partner, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi — ofpursing a politics of decency and of el-evating reconciliation to a matter of statepolicy.

Significance of 2004Historically, this was the only wise

course open to the United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) leadership when in 2004it found itself saddled with the respon-sibility of governing a country that hadbeen kept on the edge of fear and inse-curities during the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) regime. The country —including both the (Hindu) majority andthe minorities — had been jolted out ofits civilizational equanimity over whathappened — rather what was allowedto happen — in Gujarat in 2002; and,that too despite Atal Bihari Vajpayee’smoderating presence. So shaken up was“shining India” that it decided the onlyway to restore national sanity was toshow the NDA the door. Not since 1977had any incumbent government been asdecisively spurned as the BJP-led re-gime. Never before did a new govern-ment have its mandate so unambigu-ously spelt out: restore sobriety, sanityand decency in public life and amongits political leaders. India needed a heal-ing touch and Manmohan Singh — thedecent, non-politician — was the manto provide it. In partnership with SoniaGandhi, Manmohan Singh calmed thenation’s frayed nerves. We all basked inthe sunshine of Manmohan Singh’s de-cent impulses and inclinations. Decencyis an ephemeral virtue; it is neither eas-ily identifiable nor quantifiable; but, itsabsence can be felt acutely. Just look atGujarat; or, ask Medha Patkar, perhapsthe only one in Team Anna with a three-decade record of pro-poor struggle. Anactivist who cut her teeth on the strugglefor Narmada rehabilitation,Medha ben cannot today pitch her tentin Gujarat. The absence of decency atthe top has converted Gujarat into a partof India totally inhospitable to any kindof democratic dissent, leave alone pro-test. It is no coincidence that Team

Anna, rather Mob Anna, has not daredto test the Gujarat waters.

I remember another conversationwith Manmohan Singh last year. Likeevery sensible student of statecraft, I toowas baffled and dismayed that four se-nior ministers should have gone to theairport to receive and talk to BabaRamdev. I was lectured on the virtue ofreconciliation “There is no dishonour inseeking reconciliation,” remarked thePrime Minister.

Manmohan Singh, and Mrs. SoniaGandhi, are guilty of making a virtue ofseeking reconciliation to the extent ofavoiding confrontation; a luxury, state-craft does not permit a prime minister.Not being a politician or a lawyer or apoliceman or a revenue officer or a busi-nessman, Manmohan Singh happily as-sumes attributes of reasonableness, fairplay and decency in everyone else. Thatis precisely his fault — and his undoing.

Historians will wonder how a mancan be so unsparingly unsentimental andbloody-minded in pursuit of nationalinterests vis-à-vis external interests; yetthe same man allows his decent instinctsto becloud his judgment about fellow-citizens.

Manmohan Singh is guilty of mak-ing the grievously erroneous assessmentthat Mob Anna was just a bunch of well-meaning civil society busybodies; he isguilty of not seeing through their incur-able political agenda. And, he is defi-nitely guilty of underestimating MobAnna’s cunning ability to manipulate themedia’s penchant to promote andproject anyone masquerading as a mod-ern-day Savonarola.

Second inningsManmohan Singh began his sec-

ond innings on a wrong note. He is guiltyof not being ruthless enough to crackopen the Nira Radia tape case, a rogueoperation carried by unscrupulous cor-porate elements. Different segments ofcorporate Indian drew different infer-ences. This can of worms was the logi-cal culmination of the corporate war thathas now come to be known in popularfolklore as the “2Gscam”; in fact, it wasthe falling out among elegant thieves,who were (and are) resourceful enoughto enlist the media and the ambitious“eager-weaver” among civil society ac-tivists, to convert their internecine cor-porate quarrels into a morality play. Inthe best traditions of Joseph Goebbels,




the civil society crusaders have neatlydiverted attention away from the cor-porate sharks to “corrupt politicians.”Manmohan Singh may be charged withhaving led the country on a path of de-velopment which could only produce agreedy and rapacious capitalism with allits attendant aberrations of inequity andinjustices. He is certainly guilty of notgoing after the corporate charlatans whohave used and exploited the very open-ness of the democratic system toweaken the legitimate state so that theirthuggery goes undetected and unpun-ished. It is indeed how Mob Anna andother pretenders reserve their moral in-dignation only for the political class andnever for the beneficiaries of the politi-cal class’ corruption. Manmohan Singhis guilty of not marshalling the intellec-tual and policy arguments to tell thenation that Vinod Rai’s maximalist inter-pretation of the Comptroller and Audi-tor General of India (CAG)’s mandatehas dangerously undermined the con-stitutional structure of equilibrium. Amyopic political class has allowed awayward CAG to take advantage of itsdivisions. Above all, Manmohan Singhis guilty of pursuing the noble quest forreconciliation at the expense of anothermaxim of statecraft: those who spurn thepublic authority’s hand of reconciliationmust be made to learn the cost of con-frontation. He is guilty of not learningthe lesson from the mid-1970s and early1990s when mobs were allowed to over-whelm the democratic institutions andtheir liberal ethos. A king who choosesto ignore the first principle of statecraftthat the royal staff must be tapped —and, tapped hard — once in a whileshould be prepared to be called cor-rupt.


Give the SarandaDevelopment Plan a chance

I read Aman Sethi’s piece on theSaranda Development Plan (“Ninemonths on, police camps sole develop-ment in Saranda plan”, June 4) with greatinterest but with greater anguish.BeforeI deal with his main charge — that pri-vate mining interests are behind the SDP— I want to lay out what the SDP is allabout. It is the first systematic experi-ment in combining a security-orientedand development-focussed approach inMaoist-affected areas on a large-scale.In July-August 2011, the CRPF and the

State police jointly “liberated” this areaof West Singbhum district of Jharkhandfrom 11 years of Maoist control anddomination. One of the very first thingsI did after becoming Union Rural Devel-opment Minister in July 2012 was to ini-tiate discussions with the State govern-ment on how best to consolidate on thesuccess achieved by the CPRF andlaunch development activities in thismost backward area. In October 2011,the SDP was prepared by the districtadministration covering 56 villages in sixgram panchayats of Manoharpur block.The population covered is around36,000 (7,000 households).

The main elements of the SDP areas follows:

• Building houses for 6,000 house-holds under the Indira AwaasYojana which have already beensanctioned in December 2011.

• Appointment of 56 Rozgar Mitrasfrom local tribal youth forMGNREGA works for which over6,000 job cards have already beenissued and something like Rs.60lakh in wages have been dis-bursed.

• 11 roads and one bridge to beconstructed under the PMGSY forimproving connectivity to all habi-tations, of which two roads arenearing completion.

• Implementation of the ForestRights Act, 2006 under which2,122 claims have been receivedand 176 titles have already beendistributed.

• Distribution of 7,000 solar lan-terns, 7,000 transistors and 7,000bicycles paid for by SAIL whichis to be completed by end-July2012.

• Launch of five mobile health units,again as part of SAIL’s corporatesocial responsibility programme,of which three are in operationand two more will start by end-July 2012.

• Start of six watershed develop-ment projects covering an area ofaround 36,000 hectares, whichwere sanctioned in February 2012.

• Improving access to drinking wa-ter supply for which 128 handpumps have already been in-stalled.

I have personally visited Sarandatwice in the last few months and in re-sponse to a suggestion made by a localhuman rights activist have set up abroad-based monitoring group to seehow the SDP is being implemented. Ihave been receiving mixed feedback —some local reports are positive but someothers have raised questions.

Now, to Mr. Sethi’s main charge— that the main purpose of the SDP isto protect and enhance the interests ofprivate mining companies. As the fullpicture of the SDP highlighted abovewill reveal, the daily concerns of de-prived tribal communities are the verycore of the SDP.

It is true that a number of privatemining companies have their eyes on themineral wealth of Saranda. But I cancategorically assert that there was neverany thought given to private miningwhen the SDP was conceived. Indeed, Idistinctly recall that when I was Envi-ronment and Forests Minister, the issueof mining in the Saranda area had comeup repeatedly and I had taken the posi-tion that only SAIL should be allowedto mine.

On February 9, 2011 I had, in apublicly available speaking order (asindeed were all such decisions of minein that tenure), clearly laid out the rea-sons for this special treatment for SAILand the conditions associated with theforest clearance. Subsequently I am onrecord as having opposed opening upSaranda to private mining. In Paderu inAndhra Pradesh, I have consistentlytaken the view that bauxite mining —private and public — should be banned.

Regarding the expanded presenceof the security camps in Saranda, I havebeen guided by the views of the districtand State administrations who feel thatit is premature to withdraw police per-sonnel completely at this stage. It is truethat I have facilitated with my erstwhileministry clearances for setting up suchcamps. I make no apologies for it. Thepresence of the police is essential forenhancing public confidence. OneRozgar Mitra — Srikrishna Mahato —was killed by the Maoists on March 2,2012. The Maoists and their many “front”organisations obviously do not want theatmosphere of fear and intimidation tobe dispelled so that people can leadnormal lives. The security camps arenecessary so that rural roads that tribalpeople — not private mining companies




— want get constructed and MGNREGAworks proceed unimpeded.

Courtesy-The Hindu

Humour is by no meansexempt from prejudice

When NCERT’s Class XI PoliticalScience textbook, Indian Constitutionat Work , came to the attention of someDalit activists, they objected to the man-ner in which the Chairman of the Draft-ing Committee of the Constitution, Dr.B.R. Ambedkar, had been depictedriding a snail representing the Constitu-tion, with Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru wielding a whip behind him andan entire crowd smiling and watchingthe spectacle. Six weeks later, the issuewas raised in Parliament and a chorusof MPs cutting across party lines soughtthe withdrawal of the cartoon, and someeven of the NCERT textbooks. Many sec-tions of the public had not been privyto the contents of the textbooks in thepast six years. It is only now that thesetextbooks are being debated.

We, the undersigned, are dis-mayed by the two polarised sets of re-actions that have emerged. Firstly, manymembers who were part of the textbookadvisory committee for the senior sec-ondary level, including Chairman of thecommittee Prof. Hari Vasudevan, andChief Advisors Suhas Palshikar andYogendra Yadav, have since protestedagainst the demand for reconsideringthe use of this insensitive cartoon. Sub-sequently, many members who havebeen part of various textbook develop-ment committees have argued that thetextbooks should remain unchanged;and have been silent about the violenceof the cartoons. This is a rather unten-able position. We find it insulting whensome intellectuals suggest that peopleprotesting the cartoon fail to understandthe “productive power of laughter” orthat there’s a “fear of cartoons”. The text-books, however good they are and evenif they mark a radical departure frompast efforts, cannot be above criticism,discussion and improvement. This logic,in fact, goes against the stated aim ofthese textbooks: to engage scepticallyand critically with what one reads. In-deed, each of the new NCERT textbookssolicits feedback, criticism and sugges-tions. The textbook writers may havetried their best to overcome their castebias, but none of us is exempt from thebaggage of caste, gender or other inter-

ests. As the feminist movement has soclearly shown, humour is by no meansexempt from prejudice. Cartoons andjokes can be vicious about minorities.Hate speech often masquerades ashumour. Jokes and cartoons need to besubjected to critical scrutiny.

Secondly, we do share the fearthat in the name of handling the con-tentious cartoon on Dr. Ambedkar, theUPA government might attempt to re-move many cartoons and other visual/textual material from the textbooks. Cru-cially, these textbooks feature severalposters from the women’s movement,the Dalit movement and the environ-mental movement. Also to be com-mended is the inclusion of a wide rangeof literary texts by Dalit writers. How-ever, the textbook writers must realisethat they have not done a favour to Dalitsby such inclusion, which was long over-due. There’s a lot that is good aboutthese textbooks — a result of the pres-sures that the women’s movement, theDalit movement, environmental andfarmers movements, anti-SEZmobilisations exerted —that may be lostif the final say about what may or maynot appear in a textbook is to be withthe state.

These textbooks have beendrafted collectively by a wide range ofsocial scientists, including some acade-micians who happen to be Dalit, and inconsultation with activists, NGO repre-sentatives and educationists working atthe field level. However, it is not as ifthese textbooks are completely error-proof. Besides the offensive cartoon, thetext in the Class XI textbook does notever properly introduce Dr. Ambedkar.The text does not inform the studentsthat a Drafting Committee chaired by Dr.Ambedkar drafted the Constitution. Inthe absence of a proper discussion ofDr. Ambedkar’s role in the ConstituentAssembly, the violence of the cartoonis all the more palpable. We urge theThorat Committee to make the neces-sary changes in the text as well.

We wish to express dismay overthe adamantine attitude of some of ouracademic friends who seem to treat thecartoon as sacrosanct. The implicationthat “dalit intellectuals have unwittinglyplayed into the strategies of politicians”is indefensible to say the least. The lackof understanding expressed by the “in-tellectual classes” towards the Dalitviewpoint has been saddening. The Dalit

question has always been historicallydeflected and postponed in this man-ner. When Dr. Ambedkar and the earlyDalit movements raised the question ofcaste, the nationalist movement said theanti-colonial struggle was more impor-tant; when the issue of caste was raisedin the feminist or Left movements, it wasconsidered divisive; when Adivasisraised the question of representation inthe leadership of dam evictees’ move-ments, the stopping of the dam wasmade paramount.

We wish to bring to your attentionthat many Dalit activists and scholars,including some young Dalit students inthe University of Pune, not only con-demned the act of vandalism at the of-fice of Prof. Palshikar, but even guardedhis office from further attacks. This wentunreported in the media.

We are also deeply saddened thatbecause of this one aberrant act, theotherwise democratic and rational en-gagement with this issue that Dalits andsome non-Dalit intellectuals opposed tothe cartoon have engaged in — throughnews media, blogs, Facebook, and theInternet — has been portrayed as emo-tional and infantile. The Dalit movementhas been one of the most democraticmovements in this country. And forDalits a whip is a vulgar reminder of ev-erything feudal and casteist about thissociety. As the dalitbahujan feministblog Savari says: “The whip is insepa-rable from violence against slaves, dalits,women, animals and children. Almostall histories of protest against injustice,be it feminism, anti-slavery, anti-caste oranti-apartheid movements have pro-tested and continue to protest the sym-bolic violence in imagery that uses in-struments of violence such as the whip,noose or chains.” That the advocates ofcritical pedagogy do not see this as suchis regrettable.

It is time we realised that there isa permeable boundary between thesymbolic violence of such a cartoon andthe tolerance of such cartoons by aca-demics on the one hand, and atrocitieslike Bathani Tola, Melavalavu, Chunduruor Khairlanji on the other. Quite oftenthe iconicity of Dr. Ambedkar has beenused by Dalits to assert their democraticrights. And the struggle against the car-toon is indeed a democratic struggle —even if the mainstream and alternativemedia have portrayed it as otherwise.

At this stage, we petition the




Thorat Committee set up to examine thetextbooks to reconsider the Ambedkarcartoon (and possibly other such insen-sitive material). While we demand thatthe NCERT take into account the widerange of criticisms and feedback thetextbooks have elicited, we also urgeKapil Sibal, the Union HRD Minister, todesist from seeking any major overhaulof the basic NCF framework of the text-books. We also think this is the occa-sion to seek fair representation of Dalitsand other social minorities in NCERT’svarious committees, as well as in theSenates and Syndicates of Central andState Universities; and to introspect onwhy Dalits and Adivasis, despite con-stitutional provisions for 22.5 per centreservation, occupy less than three percent of faculty positions .


To know is to protectOn May 23, the Ministry of Envi-

ronment and Forests (MoEF) posted thereport of the Western Ghats EcologyExpert Panel (WGEEP) on its websitehonouring a landmark judgment of theCentral Information Commission trig-gered by an activist seeking access tothe material. In this judgment, the CICnoted that the Ministry argues that therelease of the report, containing themethodology for demarcation of eco-logically sensitive areas (ESA), to thepublic without adequate consultationsat governmental level to refine theboundaries may lead to an influx of pub-lic proposals for declaration of eco-sen-sitive zones. The Ministry contendedthat this would impact economicprogress and interests. The CIC notedthat implementation of ESA proposals,before or after the finalisation of theWGEEP report, is an executive decision.Mere apprehension of proposals beingput forth by citizens committed to en-vironmental protection cannot be saidto prejudicially affect the scientific andeconomic interests of the country. Giventhis background, we are being naturallyasked to explain the whole issue ofESAs. While the Report discusses thisin detail, we attempt to provide here abrief explanation. While doing so, wewish to emphasise that WGEEP has notcome up with a set of rigid prescrip-tions, but seeks to provide a basis forinformed discussion involving the vari-ous levels of governance including thegram sabhas/ward sabhas.

WGEEP mandateThe MoEF constituted WGEEP in

March 2010 with a mandate to demar-cate areas within the Western Ghats Re-gion which need to be notified as eco-logically sensitive, and make recommen-dations for conservation, protection andrejuvenation of the Western Ghats fol-lowing consultations involving peopleand State governments. It was also re-quired to recommend the modalities forthe establishment of the Western GhatsEcology Authority (WGEA) under theEnvironment (Protection) Act, 1986(EPA).

Ecologically sensitive areasThe concept of ecologically sen-

sitive areas is very much an Indian in-vention, rooted in attempts by civil so-ciety to use the EPA to promote sustain-able development alongside protectionof the natural heritage. The term ‘Eco-logically Fragile Area’ was first used in1991 for Dahanu Taluka in Maharashtra,followed by the declaration of otherESAs like Mahabaleshwar-Panchganiand Matheran. These are all initiativesof civil society organisations or are aconsequence of a resolution of the In-dian Board for Wildlife in 2002 to pro-tect areas up to 10 kilometres from theboundaries of wildlife sanctuaries andnational parks.

Initially, there were no guidelinesavailable on what areas may be consid-ered ecologically sensitive, nor on work-ing out an appropriate management re-gime. These issues were addressed in2000 by the Pronab Sen Committee. TheSen Committee’s foremost criterion foridentification of ESA is endemism.Western Ghats harbours well over twothousand endemic species of floweringplants, fish, frogs, birds and mammalsamongst the better known groups oforganisms, and thousands moreamongst less studied groups. Amongstthemselves these span the entire West-ern Ghats and all conceivable habitats,including highly disturbed ones. TheWestern Ghats region also qualifies asan ESA under several other Sen Com-mittee criteria.

A layered approachWGEEP fully endorsed the conclu-

sion that the entire Western Ghats tractshould be considered ecologically sen-sitive. However, the tremendous hetero-geneity of environmental, social and

economic conditions in the region ledWGEEP to follow a layered approach:firstly, to recognise three levels of eco-logical sensitivity over the region, des-ignated as ESZ1, ESZ2 and ESZ3; sec-ondly, to suggest that the final delimita-tion of the zones as well as formulationof locality specific management regimesbe undertaken by involving local bod-ies. This requires going beyond the SenCommittee’s qualitative criteria and as-signing quantitative sensitivity scores tospecific localities. In its 2000 report, theSen Committee had called for system-atically mapping and recording base-line ecological data for the country, asalso to design and operationalise a com-prehensive ecological monitoringprogramme and network through a par-ticipative approach. Unfortunately, nei-ther had happened. There had, how-ever, been one development of signifi-cance, that of district-wise Zoning At-lases for Siting of Industries (ZASI) byCentral and State Pollution ControlBoards. However, MoEF has not re-leased this exercise; as a result, WGEEPhad to start from scratch.

Manifold challengesWGEEP thus needed to address

manifold challenges; formulate the non-standard concept of ESAs, solicit sug-gestions from civil society and gramsabhas on constituting ESAs, develop adatabase on ecological parameters forthe Western Ghats region, assign Eco-logical Sensitivity scores and delineatezones of different levels of EcologicalSensitivity over the region, suggest man-agement strategies and, finally, suggestmechanisms for building upon what wasnecessarily a preliminary exercise.WGEEP attempted this in a fully trans-parent, participatory mode, at the sametime observing due scientific discipline.

Ecological Sensitivity being a non-standard concept, WGEEP began byorganising a web-based discussion, andpublishing a paper in Current Science .The following working definition wasarrived at: ESAs as those areas that areecologically and economically impor-tant, but vulnerable even to mild distur-bances and hence demand careful man-agement. Since sensitivity scores had tobe arrived at within a year over this ex-tensive tract, our focus was on access-ing pertinent computerised databases.Fortunately, several were available: theWestern Ghats boundary, boundaries of




States, districts, talukas, Shuttle RadarTopographic Mission (SRTM) 90 m reso-lution data, Protected Areas, forest typesof India, percent forest, unique ever-green elements, forest with low edge,Enhanced Vegetation Index of MODIS,riverine forests derived through drain-age and forest cover, data on endemicplants, vertebrates, and dragonflies-damselflies, Red list Mammals, Impor-tant Bird Areas, and Elephant Corridors.

Such exercises, like the globallyaccepted Important Bird Areas, naturallyinvolve subjective elements, but wesought to put it on an objective scien-tific basis by explicitly stating the meth-odology and making public the natureand quality of the information used,along with its limitations. Amongst themajor lacunae in our information basewas of habitat continuity, and weaknessof information on streams, rivers, wet-lands, and ground water and leaving outissues of significance for the coast andcoastal plains, such as mangrove forestsand khajan lands.

Using the most readily quantifiableof the data, we have assigned gridwisescores. Thus, the highest maximum alti-tude within any grid for a State is as-signed the maximal score, and all othergrids are ranked relative to this score.An average of scores for all other quan-tifiable parameters is then calculated toassign a sensitivity score to each grid.The scores are calculated separately foreach state since there is a marked north-south gradient in terms of ecologicalvariables from river Tapi toKanyakumari. Grids with scores at thelevel of Protected Areas and abovewithin the same State were assigned toESZ1 category. This threshold is appro-priate since the government has ac-cepted since 2002 that areas adjoiningProtected Areas need to be constitutedas ESZs. About 25 per cent of grids withscores at the lower end were assignedto ESZ3 category to cater to develop-ment needs, and the balance to ESZ2.This implied a decision to treat up to 60per cent of grids as belonging to PAsand ESZ1, and about 75 per cent of thegrids as belonging to PAs, ESZ1 or ESZ2.

Given that the national goal is tomaintain 66 per cent of area under for-est cover in all hill tracts and that theWestern Ghats is a region of special sig-nificance, we considered it appropriateto aim at 75 per cent being treated asareas of high or highest significance.

Next stepsThe data base, methodology and

conclusions of WGEEP relating to ESZsneed to be widely exposed to scientific,as well as public scrutiny. All this mate-rial should be made available in all re-gional languages as well, communicatedto every local body and feedback ob-tained from people at grass roots. Suchan exercise is not a pipe-dream; it wassuccessfully accomplished for Goa Re-gional Plan 2021. The feedback shouldthen be compiled, assimilated and ap-propriate decisions arrived at to ensurethat the rich natural heritage of the West-ern Ghats is protected and utilised in asustainable fashion, while equitablysharing in the benefits that flow.


Ability more than a seven-letter word

A loud round of applause forAamir Khan for bringing together diverseviews on disability in his “SatyamevJayate” programme. Sprinkled with sat-ire and humour, the TV show was a com-ment about the wider world from theviewpoint of disabled individuals withexceptional achievements. That said, itis important to evaluate what was, andmore importantly, what was not articu-lated in the programme about disabilityin the Indian context.

Let us begin with the term “differ-ently-abled.” “Differently-abled” is in-creasingly being accepted as an um-brella-term to denote a disabled popu-lation whose bodily capacities are saidto differ from an average norm. The dis-abled themselves embrace such a labelbecause it caters to a view that theypossess abilities which are not quite thesame as the rest, but nonetheless simi-lar in potential and scope. It is claimedthat the “differently-abled” deploy dif-ferent abilities to muster their sensoryand cognitive faculties to achieve thingswhich others appear to do with ease. Inthis connection, there is also an unstatedview that the label “differently-abled”does not suit people with intellectualdisabilities because they lack the cog-nitive capacity to muster inner abilities.Given such a bias, the electronic mediafinds it hard to offer them equal spaceon the stage.

I certainly do not mean to take adig at those role models who did ap-pear on the stage. In fact, their contri-

butions are significant. In so many ways,they convey the reality that disabilityactivism relies on humour to capturenuances of social discrimination. Thevisually impaired interviewees for ex-ample, rightly criticised the popularview that blindness is intrinsically linkedto karma and sin; asexuality; isolation;mendicancy; and for that matter, a tal-ent for music. Where they, and otherstoo falter is in thinking that they candemolish such a linkage by a mere la-belling tactic. I may be flattered by theremark that “inspite of your … you areable to achieve so much.” For a moment,I may feel tempted to give myself a paton the back for being a “differently-abled” achiever. This is so self-defeat-ing because many a million so-called“differently-abled” citizens do badlybecause a certain kind of ability-enhanc-ing training is unavailable to them.Clearly, we need a terminology that doesnot bank on the idea that the disabledare those who possess a set of abilitiesthat are uniquely available to them, andnobody else. One of the participants,much to the amusement of the host, saidit all when he said: “Tendulkar is differ-ently-abled than Dravid, and ManmohanSingh is ‘differently-abled’ than the othertwo!”

Body and disabilityIt also appears to me that our idea

of bodily defect is not merely derivedfrom experiences of disability. The no-tion is very much attached to the ideaof appearance. How do I know this? Iknow this because I had the luxury tolearn from little Nisha, who has a rareskin-thickening condition. On“Satyamev Jayate,” her parents narratedan interesting anecdote. Once Nisha andher mother were in a shop. The mothergets the shock of her life when a womansuddenly spits on Nisha’s face, callingher an ugly creature. What Nisha said toher mom to console her is telling. Sheexplained that the problem of uglinesswas not with her, but with the womanwho committed the assault. Yes, I agreewholeheartedly.

In fact, the woman, and those whoare in her position, inherit ideas of ugli-ness, bodily defect, and the like from aconsumer culture like ours which pro-motes beautification as a primary occu-pation. Shameless though it may sound,there are a wealth of cosmetic indus-tries that spread the idea that a fair com-




plexion is an absolute requirement.Even worse, they spread such an idealthrough a host of symbolic narrativesthat trap everybody into believing thatthey need an appearance-lift after all.The phrase “black heart and white skin”for example, does not do the rounds asan innocent ‘kolaveri’ idiom which onecan use and discard by will. Instead,such symbolic idioms shape our inter-nal images, the very impressions of ourfellow beings that we carry on in ourheads.

When confronted by someonewho seemingly appears different, suchdormant symbols launch themselvesreadily into a viral action. For example,the internal image of an ugly creaturemay provoke someone to spit on, ver-bally abuse, and even annihilate thosewho look different from a standardnorm. I am afraid this is bound to in-crease since men, women, and thosewith all kind of orientations and abili-ties, are increasingly lining themselvesup at the devil’s anvil, where an abso-lute appearance ideal is manufactured.

Four pointsSo what do we do now? More pre-

cisely, what kind of disability politics dowe need? First, we need a nuanced un-derstanding of the idea of ability. Ratherthan treat it as an innate faculty, ability(differently or otherwise), should beseen as a sort of a cultural investment.Reading Braille, Assistive Technologyusage, musical appreciation, orientationand mobility, and others, which dis-abled people appear to do with the aidof a mysterious inner ability, are in factlearnt over a period of time. These skillsets appear natural and not cultivatedas such since they are acquired frominstitutions that are tucked away frompublic view. All the same, the disabledmay display a certain clumsiness in theperformance of abilities of every day lifesuch as eating, speaking, body languagemodulation, sporting, making love, andcaring. Such clumsiness is symptom ofa long-term institutional isolation, andnot ability difference. Insights like thesemay lead us to a policy thinking that oneneeds to invest a certain amount, cul-turally and financially, to cultivate abili-ties that are amenable to all.

Second, disability activism shouldwork against aggressive individualism.Such an ideal treats disability only as amarket category. For example, while

appreciating a disabled sky-diver as wedid during the programme, we can iden-tify deficits in cultural and institutionalinfrastructures of the sport. They mayactually deter many other disabledpeople from pursuing sky-diving. Tolook for only role models such as a dis-abled sky-diver is tantamount to celeb-rity culture, and not disability activism.In fighting a market-oriented individuallifestyle, disability activism may pro-mote a society that deems mutual careas a valued good. Third, a disabilityrights movement should remain criticalof the medical establishment. It shouldalso endeavour to reform medical edu-cation. A socially responsible medicaleducation can in fact complement dis-ability activism. And fourth, disabilityactivism should be a socially transfor-mative enterprise. The attitudes thatundermine people with disability arealso the same as those that contributeto gender stereotypes. People who fightfor gender justice for example, vouchfor the fact that structural alterations donot transpire in isolation. When it comesto structural transformation, disability isparticularly in an advantageous positionsince it is not tied to a specific identitysuch as a race or a caste. After all, onlythree per cent are born with a disabil-ity, the rest drift into it during the courseof their lives.


Manmohan’s sermon at LosCabos

Indian Prime Ministers are prob-ably more used to being lectured to oneconomic policy than sermonisingthemselves. It was therefore a surpriseto see Dr. Manmohan Singh deliversome home truths to a gathering ofHeads of State representing 80 per centof global GDP at the G-20 summit in LosCabos on Monday.

To boot, he donned the role of aglobal philanthropist, pledging $10 bil-lion to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) firewall for the eurozone.

The wheel has indeed turned fullcircle for a nation that merrily soughtassistance from the Bretton Woodstwins till as recently as the 1990s. Butmore on that later.

The speech delivered by Dr Singhmust have stunned the audience, espe-cially leaders from the eurozone, as hebluntly told the gathering that Europe

was getting it all wrong in its approachto solving the crisis. He also left the gath-ering in no doubt about his displeasureon the impact of the crisis on the devel-oping countries due to disruption incapital flows.

The Prime Minister was probablyreflecting the collective views of thedeveloping countries in general and theBRICS grouping in particular when hesaid: “An expansion of investment ininfrastructure in developing countries isonly possible if they can get access tolong-term capital to finance such invest-ment. This is difficult at a time whencapital flows are disrupted.”

His comment that liquidity mustbe provided along with an effective “ad-justment programme” is also a reflectionof the general discontent in the rest ofthe world with the way eurozone lead-ers are attacking the sovereign debt cri-sis. Promising and providing massivefunds without a structural adjustment ofthe economies in the crisis-afflictedcountries is not going to solve the prob-lem. Most if not all of the bailout moneyhas been used to rescue banks in thetroubled countries.

Dr. Singh also dived into the de-bate over austerity in the eurozone andthe impact that it was having on recov-ery. Germany has held out strongly infavour of stringent austerity measures inthe bailed out countries and those mea-sures are now actually hindering the re-covery process. Calling the relationshipbetween austerity and growth “conten-tious,” Dr. Singh pointed out that“synchronised austerity” across manycountries is not the right medicine whenthe growth impulse is weak.

$10 billion contributionGermany and its stubborn Chan-

cellor Angela Merkel, therefore, got apiece of sane economic advice from theeconomist Prime Minister: “Austerity inthe debt-ridden members of theeurozone can work only if surplus mem-bers are willing to expand to offset con-traction elsewhere in the currency area.”Germany, the strongest economy in theeurozone, has to loosen up and even beprepared to face an elevated level ofinflation if the crisis-ridden countries areto turnaround. That seems to have beenDr. Singh’s thrust.

Lest his advice be seen as gratu-itous, the Prime Minister backed it upwith a hefty $10 billion commitment to




the $430 billion IMF eurozone fund. Thisis part of the overall $75 billion — in-cluding $43 billion from China — thatthe BRICS nations have committed to thefund. But it already has raised eyebrowsin the country.

Why should India, a developingeconomy enmeshed in its own eco-nomic problems, cough up such a hugesum to the rich Europeans, is the ques-tion many are asking. The question isunderstandable but to agree with itwould be taking a narrow view.

First, this is a commitment onlyand it is not as if hard cash is about toflow out of India into the IMF’s coffers.The commitment will be called upononly if the fund is required to be used.The IMF fund is in itself a comfortscheme for the eurozone aimed at calm-ing the market.

Second, this assistance is part ofthe overall BRICS portfolio and India hasto play its role with the others in thegroup. Third, this is not philanthropy butenlightened assistance because theeurozone is India’s largest trading part-ner and the country can ill afford a col-lapse there. Already the crisis has mani-fested itself in lower trade volumes withexports slowing down.

India needs a return of stability inthe eurozone for its own benefit. Itcould be argued that $10 billion willhardly make a difference in the overallscheme of things but the answer is thatIndia can only do what is possible withinits capacity. The idea is to help a trad-ing partner in distress, no more, no less.

Fourth, though the sum appearsbig, it is hardly so for a trillion-dollareconomy growing at 6.5 per cent. Yes,there are economic problems that Indiafaces and they are serious but to use thatas an argument to question the assis-tance would amount to belittling therole that the country plays in the globalscheme of things.

Finally, it must also be remem-bered that the IMF lends only what itgets from its members. India has usedIMF assistance in the past. Now when itis in a position where it can be of help,it needs to play its part. $10 billion is asmall sum to pay for being a responsiblemember of the global club. And don’tforget, it is also a signal of India’s eco-nomic strength to all those naysayers,not the least of whom are the ratingsagencies.


China’s star trek, steadilypaced

China has taken another majorstep forward in its human spaceflightprogramme when Shenzhou-9, a cap-sule carrying three crew, one of themthe country’s first space woman, dockedwith an orbiting laboratory, Tiangong-1, recently.

The Asian giant becomes the thirdnation that can send humans to rendez-vous, dock with and then move intoanother orbiting spacecraft. This capa-bility is essential for achieving its goalof establishing a full-fledged space sta-tion, which will be permanentlymanned, by early next decade.

China’s first woman astronaut, LiuYang, a 33-year-old Air Force pilot,made her voyage on the 49th anniver-sary of the Soviet Union’s ValentinaTereshkova becoming the first womanto go to space. In that intervening pe-riod, there have been over 50 womenin space, including Indian-born KalpanaChawla who lost her life when spaceshuttle Columbia disintegrated duringre-entry in 2003.

‘Plan 863’China launched its first satellite,

the 173-kg Dong Fang Hong 1, in April1970. A few months later, the country’stop leadership gave the go-ahead for aproject to send humans into space. Butthat effort soon fizzled out, given thedaunting technological complexity in-volved and the cost of mastering it.

However, the idea was resur-rected in 1986 when the Chinese gov-ernment embarked on “Plan 863” so thatthe country could rapidly close the gapwith advanced nations in chosen areasof science and technology. Aerospacewas one such field that was selected.

The following year, experts on acommittee, which was set up to developa detailed plan for the space sector,decided that a manned effort shouldhave the construction of a space stationas its long-term goal. “The goal of con-structing a space station, as opposed togoing to the moon or some other long-term objective, was set very early inChinese deliberations,” according toGregory Kulacki, a China expert with theUnion of Concerned Scientists, a U.S.-based non-profit science advocacygroup.

Manned spaceflightDrawing on Chinese-language his-

tories of the space programme, he,along with Jeffrey G. Lewis of theMonterey Institute of International Stud-ies in California, had published a paperin 2009 titled “A Place for One’s Mat:China’s Space Program 1956-2003.” Hehas recently written another article,“Why China is Building a Space Station.”

Having a space station as the ulti-mate objective was never a point ofcontention among those who wantedthe country to send humans into space,observed Dr. Kulacki in the latter piece.The country’s leaders felt compelled tobuild a space station because theirspace experts believed that the U.S., theSoviet Union, Europe and Japan wereinvesting heavily in technologies for thatpurpose. They also thought that SouthKorea and India, might join as partnersor develop space stations of their own.

“From the beginning, and through-out the development of the Chinesehuman spaceflight programme, the goalwas never to catch up or surpass othernations but to avoid falling too far be-hind,” he remarked.

But there were vigorous internaldebates on whether to have a mannedspace programme at all. Issues ofwhether the country had the necessaryfinancial, human and technological re-sources for such an ambitious effortcame up. A minister for aeronautics andastronautics voiced concern that amanned programme would hinder thedevelopment of ballistic missiles andapplication satellites that were needed.

The debate finally ended only inSeptember 1992 when the StandingCommittee of the Politburo approvedthe human spaceflight programme withthe space station as its ultimate objec-tive.

Interestingly, according to Dr.Kulacki, there were also argumentsabout the space transportation systemthat should take astronauts to space andback. A group at the Chinese Academyof Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)wanted to see a reusable space shuttlebeing developed. They took the viewthat sending humans in a space capsulewould only “disgrace the nation.” How-ever, the development of a powerfulvariant of the Long March rocket so thatforeign satellites could be launched oncommercial terms settled the matter infavour of a capsule.




From 2003China demonstrated its capability

for manned spaceflight when Shenzhou-5 took Yang Liwei aloft in 2003. Twoyears later, two astronauts circled theearth for nearly five days in Shenzhou-6. Then, in 2008, three men went on athree-day mission aboard Shenzhou-7,with one of them coming out of the cap-sule to carry out a space walk.

The experimental space labora-tory, Tiangong-1, was put into orbit inSeptember last year. In preparation forthe present mission, an uncrewedShenzhou-8 spacecraft was sent in No-vember to dock automatically with theorbiting lab. The Shenzhou-9, with itsthree astronauts, docked with theTiangong-1 on June 18. Soon afterwards,video images of the astronauts enteringand floating about in the lab werebeamed back to earth.

The 8.5-tonne space lab was quitemodest, observed analyst Marcia S.Smith, founder and editor of thewebsite, SpacePolicyOnline.com. It wasonly about half the mass of the world’sfirst space station, the Soviet Union’sSalyut-1. Skylab, America’s first spacestation that was launched in the 1970s,had weighed about 77 tonnes. “Never-theless, occupying a space station willbe a significant achievement for China,”she pointed out, writing before the as-tronauts left Earth.

The Shenzhou-9 is expected toremain in space for 13 days, accordingto a report from the Xinhua newsagency. During this time, it will undockand attempt a second docking undermanual control (the first had been doneusing automatic systems).

The Tiangong-1 has a life of twoyears. Another set of crew will be sentto the lab on the Shenzhou-10 eitherlater this year or in 2013. The Tiangong-1 will be followed by a larger Tiangong-2 and, subsequently, by Tiangong-3.While Tiangong-1 is intended to supporta crew for only about two weeks at atime, later space labs will allow longerduration stay onboard.

Assembly of a permanentlymanned space station, made up of mul-tiple modules and weighing about 60tonnes, will be taken up only after thesemissions are successfully completed.

It will be another decade beforeChina completes its space station, withdifficult and dangerous work remainingto be done, observed Dr. Kulacki. “The

leadership of China’s space programmedoes not appear to be in a hurry and isnot rushing to beat the United States tothe moon or anywhere else.”


A difficult journey, somedifficult decisions

My visit to GujaratOne of the pillars of development

that I have thought a lot about is that wehave to create a nation where povertyhas been totally eradicated and illiteracyremoved. Alongside, we need to evolvea society where crimes against womenand children are absent and none in thesociety feels alienated. These thoughtswere prominent in my mind during myvisit to Gujarat in August 2002, which Itook up as my first major task immedi-ately after becoming President.

The State had been hit by riots afew months earlier, and their impact hadleft thousands of lives in disarray. It wasan important and sensitive task, becauseit took place under unique circum-stances, in a politically charged atmo-sphere. I decided that my mission wasnot to look at what had happened, notto look at what was happening, but tofocus on what should be done. Whathad happened was already a point ofdiscussion by the judiciary and the Par-liament and continues to be discussedeven now. As no President had ever vis-ited an area under such circumstances,many questioned the necessity of myvisit to the state at this juncture. At theministry and bureaucratic level, it wassuggested that I should not venture intoGujarat at that point of time. One of themain reasons was political. However, Imade up my mind that I would go andpreparations were in full swing atRashtrapati Bhavan for my first visit asPresident. The Prime Minister, AtalBihari Vajpayee, asked me only onequestion, ‘Do you consider going toGujarat at this time essential?’ I told thePM, ‘I consider it an important duty sothat I can be of some use to remove thepain, and also accelerate the relief ac-tivities, and bring about a unity of minds,which is my mission, as I stressed in myaddress during the swearing-in cer-emony.’…

I visited twelve areas — three re-lief camps and nine riot-hit locationswhere the losses had been high... I re-member one scene, when I visited a re-

lief camp. A six-year-old boy came upto me, held both my hands and said,‘Rashtrapati ji , I want my mother andfather.’ I was speechless. There itself, Iheld a quick meeting with the DistrictCollector. The Chief Minister also as-sured me that the boy’s education andwelfare would be taken care of by thegovernment.

All through my visit only onethought occupied my mind… Shouldnot development be our only agenda?Any citizen following any faith has thefundamental right to live happily. Noone has the right to endanger the unityof minds, because unity of minds is thelifeline of our country, and makes ourcountry truly unique. After all what isjustice, what is democracy? Every citi-zen in the country has a right to live withdignity; every citizen has a right to as-pire for distinction. To access the largenumber of opportunities, through justand fair means, in order to attain thatdignity and distinction is what democ-racy is all about. That is what our Con-stitution is all about. And that is whatmakes life wholesome and worth livingin a true and vibrant democracy, theessence of which is tolerance forpeople’s belief systems and lifestyles…

The increasing intolerance for theviews of others and increasing contemptfor the way of life or religion of others,or the expression of these differencesthrough lawless violence against peoplecannot be justified in any context. Allof us have to work hard and do every-thing to protect the rights of every indi-vidual …

Returning the Office ofProfit Bill

Broadly, the Parliament (Preven-tion of Disqualification) Act 1959, stipu-lates that certain offices of profit underthe government shall not disqualify theholders thereof for being chosen as, orfor being, Members of Parliament. Dur-ing mid 2006, I received a number ofcomplaints from MPs about certain fel-low members holding office of profit. Ihad to deal with these complaints. I sentthese to the Chief Election Commis-sioner to study and conduct an inquirywherever considered essential … Mean-while I received the Office of Profit Billfrom the Parliament for approval.

I studied the Bill and found that ithad many anomalies. In the proposedOffice of Profit Bill, I did not find a sys-




tematic approach towards deciding thequestion of what constituted an officeof profit. Instead exemption was givento only the existing offices which wereoccupied by MPs. I also discussed theanomalies and my concerns with threeformer Chief Justices of the SupremeCourt. I prepared a letter in consultationwith my team and the three CJIs …

The Office of Profit Bill was notsent by the Cabinet for my approval butby Parliament. Hence, I returned the Billto the Secretary-General of the LokSabha and Rajya Sabha for reconsidera-tion by both the Houses of Parliament.This was the first time in the history ofParliament or Rashtrapati Bhavan that aPresident returned a Bill for reconsid-eration….

The Bill was reconsidered andsent back for my approval. The PrimeMinister met me and he was surprised,as I normally send the approved Bill thenext day. Why were weeks rolling bywith no action taken, he wondered. Isaid some action is needed from Parlia-ment and I have not heard anythingabout it. The Prime Minister said theParliament has already decided on theconstitution of a Joint ParliamentaryCommittee (JPC) for going into all as-pects of the Office of Profit Bill as permy suggestions. …

I was on tour to the North-East and… received a message that the forma-tion of a JPC on the Office of Profit Billhad been approved by Parliament. OnceI got the confirmation about the actionby Parliament, I immediately signed theOffice of Profit Bill. After a few months,Parliament approved the JPC reportwhich was not complete and did notaddress the problem which I had sug-gested. Parliament has to deal with suchissues with care, otherwise it would beconstrued that the highest body of thenation is promoting wrong practiceswhich may set a national trend in differ-ent echelons of the government…

Recently, we saw two fastingmovements against corruption andmany more may get inspired. I was ask-ing myself, why are such movementstaking place in our democratic country.This is basically due to the dilution ofstandards by Parliament itself …

On the death penaltyOne of the more difficult tasks for

me as President was to decide on theissue of confirming capital punishment

awarded by the courts after exhaustingall processes of appeals. As a substan-tial number of cases have been pend-ing in Rashtrapati Bhavan for many years,it is one inherited task that no Presidentwould feel happy about. I thought Ishould get all these cases examinedfrom a normal citizen’s point of view interms of the crime, intensity of the crimeand the social and financial status of theindividuals who were convicted andawarded capital punishment. This studyrevealed to my surprise that almost allthe cases which were pending had asocial and economic bias. This gave mean impression that we were punishingthe person who was least involved inthe enmity and who did not have a di-rect motive for committing the crime.Of course there was one case where Ifound that the lift operator had in factcommitted the crime of raping and kill-ing the girl without doubt. In that case Iaffirmed the sentence…

We are all the creations of God. Iam not sure a human system or a hu-man being is competent to take away alife based on artificial and created evi-dence.

On Sonia Gandhi as PrimeMinister

One of the responsibilities of thePresident is to appoint the Prime Minis-ter after every general election or when-ever an occasion arises for change of theincumbent. On these occasions thePresident has to satisfy himself there isa party or a coalition which has the re-quired number of members to form astable government. The process of se-lection becomes more complex whenthere is more than one contender lay-ing claim to government in view of noneof the parties having a clear majority inthe House. In this context, the 2004 elec-tion was an interesting event. The elec-tions were over, the results had beenannounced and none of the parties hadthe strength to form the government ontheir own. The Congress party had thelargest number of members elected. Inspite of that, three days had passed andno party or coalition came forward toform the government. It was a cause ofconcern for me and I asked my secre-taries and rushed a letter to the leaderof the largest party — in this case theCongress — to come forward and stakethe claim for forming the government. Iwas told that Sonia Gandhi was meet-

ing me at 12.15 in the afternoon of 18May. She came in time but instead ofcoming alone she came with Dr.Manmohan Singh and had a discussionwith me. She said that she had the req-uisite numbers but she did not bring theletter of support signed by party func-tionaries. She would come with the let-ters of support on the 19th, she said. Iasked her why do you postpone. We caneven finish it this afternoon. She wentaway. Later I received a message thatshe would meet me in the evening, at8.15 p.m. While this communication wasin progress, I had a number of emailsand letters coming from individuals,organisations and parties that I shouldnot allow Mrs Sonia Gandhi to becomethe Prime Minister of our country. I hadpassed on these mails and letters to vari-ous agencies in the government for theirinformation without making any re-marks. During this time there were manypolitical leaders who came to meet meto request me not to succumb to anypressure and appoint Mrs Gandhi as thePrime Minister, a request that would nothave been constitutionally tenable. Ifshe had made any claim for herself Iwould have had no option but to ap-point her.

At the allotted time, 8.15 p.m., MrsGandhi came to Rashtrapati Bhavanalong with Dr. Manmohan Singh. In thismeeting after exchanging pleasantries,she showed me the letters of supportfrom various parties. Thereupon, I saidthat is welcome. The Rashtrapati Bhavanis ready for the swearing-in ceremonyat the time of your choice. That is whenshe told me that she would like to nomi-nate Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was thearchitect of economic reforms in 1991and a trusted lieutenant of the Congressparty with an impeccable image, as thePrime Minister. This was definitely a sur-prise to me and the Rashtrapati BhavanSecretariat had to rework the letter ap-pointing Dr. Manmohan Singh as thePrime Minister and inviting him to formthe government at the earliest.

Finally, the swearing-in took placeon 22 May with Dr. Manmohan Singhand sixty-seven Ministers in the splen-did Ashoka Hall.

I breathed a sigh of relief that thisimportant task had finally been done.However, I did puzzle over why no partyhad staked a claim for three days.





‘Obamacare’ winsThe endorsement by the United

States Supreme Court of a key provisionin President Barack Obama’s health re-form law requiring most individuals topurchase health insurance or pay a pen-alty, is a progressive decision. As all pro-visions in the law go into effect, it isbound to strengthen the call for a non-profit universal health care system inAmerica. That the majority verdict de-livered by the Chief Justice and four lib-eral judges chose to lean to the left in acliffhanger case is a watershed momentin U.S. constitutional history. To thosewho have campaigned for tax-basedhealth coverage for all, the new law maystill fall short, but what it does provideis health protection to millions of unin-sured Americans through more afford-able insurance choices. It also preventsinsurers from refusing to cover peoplewith pre-existing conditions. In spite ofsuch progressive features, the law is notuniversal in its coverage, exempting pris-oners, undocumented aliens, and somepoor families. Four years ago, theagenda for the U.S. presidential electionvirtually centred around health reform,and the Obama presidency has weath-ered the fierce backlash from Tea Partyand Republican conservatives. The le-gal denouement has now vindicated thePresident as he pursues a re-electionbid, and sustained much of the PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act of2010.

For sheer scale, PresidentObama’s health reform evokes compari-sons with Franklin Roosevelt’s NewDeal. Despite Thursday’s ruling, though,it faces challenges. These arise from thecourt’s rejection of a portion of the lawthat requires States to use more federalfunds to protect the health of less afflu-ent citizens through the Medicaidprogramme. Importantly, the principleon which the health reform law has sur-vived is the power of the governmentto levy a tax (in this case, on those whoare eligible but do not take out healthinsurance). The Affordable Care Act alsostipulates the percentage of funds thatinsurance companies must spend onactual care, thus capping administrativecosts. These aspects are of particularinterest to India, which has a fast-grow-ing profit-seeking health and insuranceindustry, and is simultaneously trying toformulate a tax-funded universal healthcoverage plan over the next five years.

A Planning Commission panel here hassubmitted its report calling for regula-tory structures to standardise healthcare, with a contracted-in role for theprivate sector. Unlike the U.S., and inspite of the impoverishing levels of out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in-curred by citizens, health reform has notbecome a central issue in Indian poli-tics. As Americans celebrate their con-stitutional victory, it is a moment for In-dia to think of its own universal healthsystem.


Reading the rainsThis year, not only did the mon-

soon reach India a few days late but itsprogress thereafter has been alarminglylackadaisical. While Assam has beendeluged and is reeling from the result-ing floods, over 85 per cent of the coun-try is suffering from far too little rain. Theresult is that the nationwide rainfall defi-cit stood at a grim 29 per cent at theend of June. Rainfall data for the past140 years shows that even with a Junedeficit of that magnitude or greater,there is still a 60 per cent chance of themonsoon turning into a ‘normal’ onewhere nationwide rainfall for the sea-son falls between 90 per cent and 110per cent of the long-period average. Thegovernment, which has been pinning itshopes on a good monsoon to help pro-pel economic growth, will undoubtedlybe hoping for such an outcome. Even ifthe monsoon does turn out to be ‘nor-mal,’ it is likely the rains will be at thelower end of that range. The probabi-listic forecast in the India Meteorologi-cal Department’s updated monsoonprediction issued in late June has indi-cated that this is just what could hap-pen. The forecast divides the traditional‘normal’ range into three — ‘below nor-mal’ (90 per cent to 96 per cent), ‘nor-mal’ (96 per cent to 104 per cent) and‘above normal’ (104 per cent to 110 percent). The current monsoon has, ac-cording to the IMD, a 35 per cent chanceof becoming ‘below normal,’ which istwice the climatological probabilitybased on the outcome in past years.

After its poor showing in June, itis important that the monsoon revivesquickly. Good rains in both July andAugust are essential for a ‘normal’ mon-soon that is needed to sustainthe kharif crop. July will be particularlyimportant for agriculture. As it is, the

sowing of rice, coarse cereals, pulsesand oilseeds have been hit. Much coulddepend on what happens in the PacificOcean. The temperature at the surfaceof its central and eastern tropical wa-ters has risen. The worry is that the tem-perature rise might continue and resultin an El Niño, which could adverselyaffect the monsoon. According to theIMD statistics, there have been 36 ElNiño years since 1875. Of these, the na-tionwide monsoon rainfall was between90 per cent and 100 per cent of the long-period average in 14 years and above100 per cent in six years, including in1997 that saw one of the strongest ElNiños of the last century. But there were‘deficient’ monsoons, with nationwiderainfall falling below 90 per cent, in 16El Niño years. One hopes that if an ElNiño does develop this year, it will bethe benign variety. The governmentwould, however, do well to plan aheadand get prepared to meet any contin-gency.


Ill blow the trade windsIndia’s external economy, for long

considered to be the one bright spot inthe entire macro economy, has beenrepeatedly coming under stress re-cently. While still not a cause for alarm,the latest balance of payments (BoP)data released by the Reserve Bank ofIndia on Friday is deeply disquieting.The current account deficit (CAD) — thesum of the balance of trade and“invisibles” including earnings from soft-ware exports and workers’ remittances— has risen to the highest ever level of4.5 per cent of GDP, or $21.7 billion,during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011-12. This is sharply higher than the 1.3per cent recorded over the same periodin the previous year. That in turn haspushed up the CAD for the whole yearto $78.2 billion, or 4.2 per cent of GDP,which is again a record. Any hope ofcontaining the CAD to within reasonablelevels depends on global commodityprices as well as economic activity inIndia. Although falling petroleum priceshave afforded a measure of relief, thedepreciating rupee has neutralisedsome of the gains. The economic slow-down, though an undesirable featurefrom the growth perspective, can alsomoderate the CAD by limiting the im-port bill relating to capital and interme-diate goods. The falling rupee can dis-




courage imports and, over the mediumterm, at least, boost export competitive-ness, consequently shrinking the CAD.That has not happened so far becausesome imports, notably petroleum, areinelastic. Also, exporters have not de-rived the full benefit of the rupee de-preciation mainly because of lower de-mand from the principal markets of theEuropean Union and the U.S. Obviously,for policy makers, the real challenge isto fund the CAD on a sustainable basis.In sharp focus is the fact that the widestever CAD has kept India’s BoP in nega-tive territory for the second quarter in arow, forcing the RBI to dip into its for-eign exchange reserves. Once again, theBoP data highlights the huge risks independing on volatile portfolio capitalflows. A related development contrib-uting to the economy’s vulnerability isthe high level of external debt, espe-cially of the short-term variety. Key vul-nerability indicators like the debt-GDPratio and debt-service ratio deterioratedduring last year. However, despite be-ing aware of the serious pitfalls, the gov-ernment and the RBI have shown a pen-chant for short-termism. Recent relax-ation of rules relating to external com-mercial borrowings and greater incen-tives for non-resident Indians and for-eigners to invest in government papercan all be justified only on the groundof expediency.


From crisis to resilience:why inequality matters

The frequency of global financialand economic crises has increased overthe past decade-and-a-half, and theyappear to have become a systemic fea-ture of the international economy. Therisk of economic growth and humandevelopment achievements being un-dermined by such volatile internationaldevelopments is fostering an overall re-think about the inner nature of crises,the growing vulnerability of developingcountries and their capacity to be resil-ient in the face of these shocks. As the2015 Millennium Development Goalsdeadline approaches, the debatearound a new framework for under-standing macroeconomic vulnerabilityand resilience is gaining momentumamong a wide array of stakeholders,ranging from academia, civil society andgrassroots movements, to internationalorganisations, development

policymakers and the media. A new re-search piece by the United Nations De-velopment Programme contributes tothe public debate by arguing that atpresent there is no uniform approach tounderstanding macroeconomic vulner-ability or resilience in the context of fi-nancial and economic crises in devel-oping countries.

Two approachesBroadly, two distinct approaches

can be identified: the first addressesmacroeconomic vulnerability princi-pally in relation to financial crises —currency, debt or banking crises. Cur-rency crises, for instance, are seen asbeing driven mainly by macroeconomicimbalances in the financial sector ofdeveloping economies and by fragiledomestic financial systems. Hence,policy recommendations to build resil-ience to such shocks are focused oncontaining credit growth and the moneysupply, ensuring flexible exchange ratesand guarding against expansionary fis-cal policies. However, the empirical andtheoretical assumptions underlyingmany of the studies and articles thatsupport this approach have been longquestioned — in particular, the assump-tion that markets are self-regulating andinherently efficient.

A second approach frames mac-roeconomic vulnerability in the contextof both economic and financial crises.The focus here is on identifying thestructural determinants and transmis-sion channels through which aneconomy is exposed to crises, reflect-ing the rapid integration of developingcountries in international trade and fi-nance. This broader perspective arguesthat the growing dependence of manydeveloping countries on exports — spe-cifically primary commodity exports,their increased dependence on foreigninvestment for economic growth,coupled with limited fiscal and institu-tional capacity — renders them vulner-able to economic and financial shocks.Yet, there is no clear agreement onwhich structural determinants and trans-mission channels are the primary driv-ers of macroeconomic vulnerability.Some argue that the size and locationof an economy are critical determiningfactors, whereas others focus on tradedependency or dependency on interna-tional private capital flows as the pri-mary conditions that expose an

economy to shocks.

Major factorA major determinant of macroeco-

nomic vulnerability that is either totallyneglected or barely mentioned by thesestudies is that of rising income inequal-ity. The staggering escalation in inequal-ity contributes to global and domesticeconomic and financial instability byfostering a political environment thatlends itself to risky investment behaviourand the emergence of asset bubbles.The critical importance of inequality asa driver of crisis is clear when one isconfronted with the fact that the aver-age income of the world’s richest fiveper cent is 165 times higher than thepoorest five per cent. In a world wherethe richest five per cent earn in 48 hoursas much as the poorest in one year, un-derstanding the linkages between risingincome inequality and the greater fre-quency and severity of the financial andeconomic crises is central to proposingpolicies that build systemic resilienceand enable a less volatile growth pro-cess. In traditional thinking, there is nodisagreement on the need for policiesthat help economies cope with or coun-teract the impacts of shocks. Indeed,this is how resilience is defined in theeconomics literature.

A relookThe recent — and lasting, eco-

nomic and financial — crisis, along withrenewed calls for a rethink on traditionalapproaches to economic growth anddevelopment, offers us the opportunityto embark on a more comprehensiveframework for the assessments of mac-roeconomic vulnerability in developingcountries. Such a framework should al-low for a comprehensive mapping of allthe structural conditions and transmis-sion channels that drive the vulnerabil-ity of developing economies, and thatexpose them to the virulent impacts ofcrises. Calls for a rethink of existing ap-proaches should ultimately help us de-liver policies for resilience that buildcoping capacities to withstand andcounteract a shock and reduce expo-sure to shocks, while advocating for glo-bal coordination mechanisms tominimise the frequency of global crisesthemselves.





Remembering GP, thegentle colossus

Gopalaswami Parthasarathi, or GPas he was known to all, was born a hun-dred years ago today, July 7, 2012. Hewas the quintessential intellectual. Hisfather, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, hadserved with distinction in the ProvincialCivil Service in the Madras Presidencyand later as Dewan of Kashmir, as amember of the Constituent Assemblyand then as a Minister in the first Cabi-net of Jawaharlal Nehru. GP was associ-ated with a range of activities during hislong, productive and distinguished lifespanning six decades. He was almostalways disarmingly modest and unas-suming about his achievements in thenumerous important positions of na-tional responsibility he held. And evenwhen things didn’t go the right way, hissangfroid saw him through.

As diplomatIn 1962, he came to South Block

from China for consultations, where hewas the Ambassador. The possibility ofarmed conflict loomed over Sino-Indianrelations. The Report of the Officials ofIndia and China on the Border had justbeen concluded, but no solution wasin sight. India’s ‘Forward Policy’ of set-ting up pickets in Aksai Chin in the West-ern Sector to prevent Chinese incur-sions, had not helped. Yet, GP appearedto be his normal, imperturbable self.However, when the Sino-Indian conflictbroke out later in September 1962, thoseclose to GP could feel his palpable sad-ness at what he ever-afterwards termedthe Chinese betrayal of the Five Prin-ciples of Peaceful Coexistence(Panchsheel) that Nehru and Zhou enLai had signed in 1954.

His role as a diplomat was ac-knowledged by a range of leaders fromNehru to Indira Gandhi, Henry Kissingerto Zhou en Lai. He was appointed Am-bassador to Indonesia in 1957, until hewent to Peking (Beijing) in July 1958,where he served for a full term of threeyears. In 1962, he was appointed HighCommissioner to Pakistan. It was con-sidered to be a very tough assignment.GP was India’s Permanent Representa-tive to the U.N. during the eventful 1965-1969 period.

On the fieldA noted sportsperson, he was a

Ranji Trophy cricketer, and also a Test

player. At Oxford, he was a double blue,in cricket and hockey. Behind his mildmanner, there lay a streak of doggeddetermination. This was in evidence,among other instances, in his wooingand winning the hand of SuburMugaseth, a Parsi co-student. She hadbeen in college with him in Madras andin Oxford. That was at a time when suchcross-religious alliances were not onlyrare but also frowned upon. (SuburMugaseth became a member of theRajya Sabha after working for some twodecades as a college teacher.)

One of his known adversariesonce exclaimed in exasperation that GPsomehow always managed to radiatewisdom, without ever saying a word.That was, indeed, a unique gift whichstood him in good stead throughout hiscareer as a diplomat and an interlocu-tor of Indian national interest in the vari-ous international and domestic assign-ments he was entrusted with. He hadthe distinct advantage of enjoying thetrust and confidence of both JawaharlalNehru and Indira Gandhi. In the latter’scase, GP was adviser and trouble-shooter in virtually all areas ofpolicymaking.

Political assignmentsHe undertook several tough politi-

cal assignments. He had a role in theKashmir accord of the 1970s thatbrought Sheikh Abdullah back intomainstream politics. He helped finalisethe terms of the Mizo accord that RajivGandhi signed, after holding protractedtalks with Laldenga. He never involvedhimself in party politics, yet played hisown role in forging alliances among cer-tain like-minded parties.

In 1982, GP led a delegation ofsocial scientists to Beijing. It was dur-ing his two-hour meeting with DengXiaoping that the Chinese supremeleader proposed a “Package Deal” tosettle the border dispute. It involvedIndia accepting the Chinese territorialclaim in the Western Sector (Ladakh)and China doing likewise in the EasternSector (Arunachal Pradesh).

Realm of educationGP’s contributions to the fields of

higher education and social science re-search were also impressive, too. Hewas associated with many educationalinstitutions. But above all, he will beremembered as the architect of

Jawaharlal Nehru University, and as itsfirst Vice-Chancellor. His vision was re-flected in JNU’s academic programmes.The School of International Studiesowes an everlasting debt to him. JNU’sstructure as India’s first institution ofinter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinarystudies was innovative, indeed unique,and it has had far-reaching impact onthe Indian higher education system.

He was Chairman of the IndianCouncil for Social Science Researchfrom 1980 to 1990. During that tenurehe transformed the ICSSR through hisspecial ability to be firm while at thesame time using gentle persuasion. Hegot its budgetary allocation tripled, andthe Council set up several institutions.GP endeared himself to the nation’s en-tire social science community, withinand outside the university system.

One aspect of his diplomatic skillsemerged as the Chairman of the Indo-U.S. Sub-Commission on Education,Culture and Science. Three sub-com-missions were set up. Through these, anactive programme of Indo-U.S. ex-changes was initiated in fields such asscience, museums, art history and natu-ral history. A generation of Indian mu-seum specialists thus got opportunitiesto interact with U.S. museums, espe-cially the Lawrence Hall of Science inCalifornia.

Serving on Unesco’s executiveboard for a decade, he contributed sig-nificantly to programmes in education,science, culture, media and communi-cation. His voice was heard with atten-tion and respect at many delicate mo-ments of crisis between, and among,member-states.

Very few people have had suchwide-ranging involvement in domesticand international affairs, as diplomat,negotiator and educationist and journal-ist. A man of many parts, he was inter-nationally known, and operated at mul-tiple levels at home and abroad. In eachsphere, he displayed astutenesscoupled with depth of thinking and fore-sight. GP passed away on August 1,1995. He was truly a man for all seasons.Men like him come rarely in a nation’shistory.


‘Meaningful autonomy isthe only realistic solution’

Uncertainty surrounds the futureof the Tibetan movement as the 14th14th14th14th14th




Dalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoDalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoDalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoDalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoDalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso , turns 77.Last year, the Tibetan spiritual leaderannounced he would relinquish his po-litical roles, a position the Dalai Lamashave enjoyed since the 5th Dalai Lama,Lobsang Gyatso (1617-82). The decisioncame at a time of new challenges fac-ing the Tibetan movement. More than40 Tibetans in Tibetan areas acrossChina have set themselves on fire in thepast year to protest Chinese policies,with some calling for the exiled leader’sreturn. The self-immolations have trig-gered accusations from Beijing of a plotbeing instigated by the Dalai Lama. Ne-gotiations with China have stalled afterthe Tibetan leader’s envoys resigned lastmonth, citing a hardening Chinese stand.

The 14th Dalai Lama discussedthese challenges in a wide-ranging in-terview with Ananth KrishnanAnanth KrishnanAnanth KrishnanAnanth KrishnanAnanth Krishnan in hisresidence in the hill-station town ofMcLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, in HimachalPradesh, on July 6, his 77th birthday.Following his decision to devolve powerto a leader elected by the exiled Tibetancommunity, the Dalai Lama said he was,for the first time, “sleeping soundly.” Ata time when some Tibetans are callingfor more radical ways to voice concerns,he spoke of his determination to followthe “Middle Way” approach of finding asolution to the Tibetan question withinthe framework of the Chinese Constitu-tion. He said it was in Tibetans’ own in-terest to remain within China “in orderto modernise,” provided Beijing guar-anteed meaningful autonomy. If Chinawas “thinking in a more realistic way,”the Dalai Lama said, “then we are alwaysready.” Excerpts.

After you made the decision ofrelinquishing your political authority,how has the adjustment been, for youand for Tibetans?

I am very happy. In fact, one of mysecrets is that the day I formally an-nounced or handed over all my politi-cal responsibility, that night I had veryunusual sound sleep. No dreams. Justvery sound sleep. I really feel, in anycase, I am getting older. Our struggle isan issue or struggle for the rights of anation. That responsibility should becarried on by the Tibetan people them-selves, and should not rely on one per-son.

During our election, I noticed thatin the Tibetan community, they are re-ally showing genuine interest and asense of responsibility... This is also not

only my own retirement but also that ofa four-century-old Tibetan tradition.Now that has ended. Proudly, voluntar-ily, happily.

Your special envoy in talks withBeijing, Lodi Gyari, resigned last month.Do you share his concerns that China ismoving further away from trying to reacha solution?

In the last 10 years, we have hadnine meetings. Because their policy issomething fixed, there has been no ef-fect. Therefore, the two envoys also feelfrustrated and they resigned. That doesnot mean we have no interest to talk.Now there is a new elected leader[Lobsang Sangay]. As soon as he waselected, he made it clear that as far asour relationship with the Chinese gov-ernment is concerned, the Middle Wayapproach will continue. There is nochange on our side. Once the [Chinese]leadership is thinking in a more realisticway, then we are always ready.

Following recent problems, suchas the 2008 riots in Tibet and now theself-immolations, Beijing has claimedthe incidents were planned inDharamsala. You have said there needsto be a fact-finding mission.

That is very important. After the2008 crisis, even Chinese Premier WenJiabao, who is usually considered moremoderate, blamed all these crises asbeing instigated from Dharamsala. ThenI immediately responded, saying pleasesend some Chinese officials and checkall of our records. But there was no re-sponse.

When the first self-immolationhappened, again I expressed that. TheChinese still blame everything on us. Ifthe Chinese have the confidence, theymust allow the international communityto see the truth. That is very important.If they do not allow, it is an indicationthat they have the feeling of guilt, thatthey have something to hide.

Since 2008, local conditions aremuch worse… On the other hand, I meta number of Chinese who told me thatafter the 2008 crisis, they paid more at-tention about the crisis and feel genu-ine sympathy. In that respect, there issome benefit. The Chinese propagandaalways says the Tibetan people are veryhappy, that they were liberated from thefeudal system under the Dalai Lama. Sonow their propaganda is on shakyground.

Following the immolations, more

people may be aware of problems, buton the other hand, some Tibetan poetsand writers have expressed a concernthat young Tibetans must be encour-aged to cherish their life and not give itaway. Do you share their view?

This is a very, very delicate politi-cal issue. Now, the reality is that if I saysomething positive, then the Chinese im-mediately blame me. If I say somethingnegative, then the family members ofthose people feel very sad. They sacri-ficed their own life. It is not easy. So Ido not want to create some kind of im-pression that this is wrong. So the bestthing is to remain neutral. Right from thebeginning, when this sort of event hap-pened, what I said, and still I am insist-ing, is this is not happening due to alco-hol or family quarrels.

Now the Chinese governmentmust carry thorough research, what isthe cause of this, and not pretend thatnothing is wrong. Like [former Chineseleader] Hu Yaobang said in the early1980s when he came to Lhasa, he pub-licly apologised about what they haddone, the past mistakes. He promisedthey would follow a more realisticpolicy. Now for that kind of courage,that kind of spirit, the time has come.

Do you still have the belief that asolution to the Tibetan issue could befound within the Chinese Constitution,for meaningful autonomy?

That is the only way, the only real-istic way. Number one, many Tibetansinside Tibet want independence, butaccording to the circumstance, the DalaiLama supports the Middle Way ap-proach, which is the best, realistic way.I have met, personally, quite a numberof Tibetan intellectuals, some old, someyoung, and they all express to me theyfully realise that our approach is the bestapproach.

Second, in order to find the solu-tion to the Tibetan problem, Chinesesupport is very important. The solutionmust be found between Chinese andTibetans. We have to find understand-ing or support from our Chinese broth-ers and sisters. Also, at this moment,[Tibetans] have never had the experi-ence of democracy. Even in the refugeecommunity, the Khampas, Amdos, U-Tsang [the three traditional Tibetan re-gions] people sometimes have unnec-essary competition. Tibet is a huge areaand a majority of Tibetans are unedu-cated and never experienced democ-




racy. And most important [Tibet is],materially backward. Tibetans also wantto modernise Tibet. In order tomodernise Tibet, remaining within thePeople’s Republic of China is in our owninterest, provided they must give usmeaningful autonomy so that we cancarry any activity regarding preservationof our culture, we can promote our lan-guage and carry out full protection ofthe environment. \So that is a mutualbenefit. Realistically speaking, separateTibet, at this moment, I don’t think it isreally a benefit to us. Our approach formeaningful autonomy is not only for theTibet Autonomous Region but for theentire area where the Tibetan popula-tion exists [in Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghaiand Yunnan provinces]. The ChineseConstitution itself recognises Tibetanareas — Tibetan autonomous regions,prefectures or counties. So we are ask-ing the Chinese government that all theareas that the Constitution recognises asa Tibetan area should have the sameright of meaningful autonomy.

Some Tibetans feel India is goingtoo far to accommodate China’s con-cerns on Tibet, especially after HuJintao’s visit to New Delhi this year whenmany Tibetans were detained and notallowed to protest. Do you feel so?

No. I think maybe in the late 20thcentury and beginning of 21st centurymaybe [the Indian government was]overcautious and had a reconciliatoryattitude. For example, my visit toTawang [in 2009], in a Cabinet meetingthey had a discussion on whether Ishould go, but ultimately I was able togo. Now the government of India has amore realistic position than in the past.For some period, there were no signifi-cant people supporting Tibet or ex-pressing consideration for Tibet. Now,more and more people express support.I told [a meeting of groups] that this isdue to Chinese pressure, so we shouldthank the Chinese! I also told the Tibet-ans now we, whether Amdo or Khampa,have a very remarkable unity. That is alsodue to Chinese suppression, so we mustthank the Chinese government.

On the issue of reincarnation,when the next, the 15th, Dalai Lama ischosen, China has said it will not acceptyour choice. In fact, the CommunistParty has issued regulations on reincar-nation. If China chooses its own DalaiLama, will there be a division in the Ti-betan community?

After a meeting with Tibetan reli-gious leaders [last year] we had a con-sensus and I made a formal statementwhere I made very clear that when myage reaches around 90, then I will con-vene a bigger meeting. Then I will de-cide [on the issue]... In order for theChinese government to take responsi-bility for the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation,then the Chinese Communists shouldfirst accept religion and particularlyBuddhism, and they should accept thetheory of rebirth.

If the Dalai Lama becomes 100 percent pro-Chinese, then Tibetans will notrespect the Dalai Lama. Like what hap-pened with the Panchen Lama. [Chinaappointed a Panchen Lama in 1995 inplace of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, whowas chosen by the Dalai Lama as the11th reincarnation and was subse-quently disappeared.]

I think the Panchen Lama himselfnow knows that. Recently during thesecrises, he has remained very silent. Heis quite wise. It looks like the ChinesePanchen Lama is more wise than theChinese leaders.


India must look inwardEverything about the heart-rend-

ing story of Yannick Nizhanga, an Afri-can student who was attacked by localyouths in Jalandhar in April and whonow lies in a coma in a Patiala hospital,should be a cause for national outrage.The vicious attack on the 24-year-oldfrom Burundi was unprovoked. That af-fluent youngsters could indulge in suchviolence, that too against a foreign stu-dent, for next to no reason is a matterfor concern, but what calls for seriousnational introspection is the story thatunfolded subsequently.

The police took a long time to takeaction against the attackers, one ofwhom was the son of a police officer.In the days and weeks following the at-tack, Yannick’s father, NestorNtibateganya, was left struggling to meetmedical expenses, and for ways to takehis son, who may never recover, backto Burundi. Last week, more than twomonths after the attack, the Punjab gov-ernment ordered a probe and financialaid and the Ministry of External Affairsbegan the process of assisting Mr.Ntibateganya to take his son home.

Indian officialdom and civil soci-ety are quick to cry hoarse and demand

immediate action when Indian studentscome under attack in Australia or othercountries. But when it comes to offer-ing help to foreign students in a similarsituation in India, the official machineryis depressingly slow to act. Sadly, thesituation is worse when the students arefrom Africa or poorer Asian countries.Like the shabby prevarication we sawin Australia earlier, the Punjab adminis-tration would like us to believe racismwas not a factor in the attack on theyoung Burundian. Even if it wasn’t, it ishard to believe Yannick’s race and Afri-can origin were not factors in the tardyresponse of the system. Indeed, theCentral and State governments woke upto the issue only after wide coverage inthe media.

The callous attitude of govern-ment authorities in such cases betrays amindset that concerns itself only withthe concerns of the rich and the power-ful. All projections of a rising India countfor nothing if the country cannot ensurethe rule of law and the safety and secu-rity of its citizens and residents, includ-ing overseas visitors and students. Indiais becoming an attractive destination forhigher education, especially for studentsfrom countries in the global south. If arepeat of the Jalandhar-type attack is tobe avoided, the authorities will have tolearn to be responsive and quick. Anduniversities and colleges, whether pri-vate or State-funded, will have to workwith the government to strive to createa welcoming and nurturing environmentfor foreign students.


The growth model has comeundone

What has been called the ‘goldenage’ of India’s economic growth wasunderpinned by global integration, highrates of investment and savings growthand low current account deficits. Theslowdown is characterised by a sharpdeceleration in investment growth onthe demand side and in agriculture,manufacturing and construction on thesupply side, alongside high and unprec-edented current account deficits.

The government’s argument thatthis is the result of the global economicslowdown and related uncertainty isonly partly true. The deeper reason,which the government is either unwill-ing or unable to come to grips with, is




the unravelling of the underlying growthmodel — partly due to structural changeengendered by globalisation and partlybecause the investment subsidy implicitin under-pricing assets is no longer fea-sible.

ImportsThe speed and depth of global

integration accelerated sharply in thefirst decade of the 21st century. The av-erage international trade(exports+imports) ratio which for theperiod 1992/3-94/95 stood at 19 per centrose to 27 per cent by 2000/01-02/03.However by 2008/9-2010/11 this ratiohad shot up to 48 per cent. But in thisphase of rapid integration import elas-ticities — of both total imports as wellas non-oil imports — have more thandoubled. As a result, even as GDPgrowth has decelerated, goods exportgrowth has slowed faster than both to-tal goods import and non-oil importgrowth, resulting in a widening currentaccount deficit, given that service sec-tor exports growth dropped off as well.

The manufacturing sector’s traderatio in 1994/95 was 92 per cent. By2000/01-2002/03 the ratio had risen to112 per cent with the import ratioslightly higher than exports. This in-crease pales into insignificance as com-pared with that of the next decade whenthe average manufacturing trade ratiohad risen to 180 per cent, with exportand import ratios at 68 and 112 per cent.Therefore not only has integration in-creased sharply for the manufacturingsector but it has also been asymmetric— import penetration has almostdoubled whereas export integration hasincreased by 20 per cent.

Of the three sectors, however,manufacturing is the only one that runsa trade deficit. The deficit is substan-tial, the average for the period 2008/09-2010/11amounting to 44 per cent ofmanufacturing GDP and rising — theaverage was only 9 per cent for the pe-riod 2000/01-2002/03. Little wonderthen that, in the face of continuing im-port competition, manufacturing growthhas witnessed a sustained slowdown.And, as one would therefore expect,capacity utilisation has declined signifi-cantly, well off its third-quarter 2009/10peak, as Reserve Bank of India surveysindicate.

Investment growthOne of the more remarkable as-

pects of the ‘golden age’ was that de-mand growth was investment-led, bothin absolute and relative terms. In con-stant terms, over the period 2003/4-2007/8 gross investment grew at 17 percent per annum, more than twice therate of private consumption expendi-ture. What is historically unprecedentedwas that gross investment accounted formore than 50 per cent of demandgrowth at the margin. If the high growthphase was investment-led, so is theslowdown. Investment (gross) growthslowed down to 10 per cent p.a. for theperiod 2009/10-2011/12. The slowdownin fixed investment was even sharper,to 7 per cent p.a. over the same period,less than 50 per cent of that in the high-growth phase. The depth of the decel-eration is brought home by the fact thatin 2011/12 gross and fixed investmentgrew only at 5.8 and 5.6 per cent respec-tively. And, more worryingly, consump-tion has decelerated much less and, asa result, over the last couple of years, ithas grown faster than investment, result-ing in the decline of the critical invest-ment-to-consumption ratio.

Under-priced assetsIf the nature and pattern of inte-

gration has affected investment growth,Keynesian ‘animal spirits’ have beendampened due to a factor quite unre-lated to globalisation.

During both the NDA and UPA-Iregimes, an important driver of invest-ment growth has been access to under-valued assets, whether those of the pub-lic sector, mineral and forest resources,land or the ability to influence the allo-cation of scarce spectrum resources.During the NDA regime, privatisation ofpublic sector assets at fire sale pricesstalled in the face of widespread politi-cal and social opposition. Withprivatisation off table, the UPA-I choseto use all other modes listed above toensure that animal spirits were kept inruddy health. The investment boom ofthe ‘golden age’, which roughly coin-cides with the UPA-I term, therefore,was primed by access to a wide varietyof undervalued assets, ranging from land(SEZs, PPP infrastructure, etc.) to spec-trum. In UPA-II, however, this dynamic

has largely run aground, hemmed in byprotests from below and corruptionscandals. Widespread and sustainedprotest against the public acquisition ofland for private purposes — Singur,Nandigram, POSCO, Jaitapur, just toname an iconic few — has made it apolitical hot potato which is to be re-legislated and at least for the moment isoff-limits. The implementation of theForest Rights Act (FRA) and introduc-tion of new legislation to govern the dis-tribution of benefits from mining sug-gests that mining leases may not be aseasy to get nor as lucrative as earlier.Add to this the Niira Radia revelations,the 2G scandal, the Anna Hazare move-ment, the CAG’s observations and Su-preme Court rulings and it is not easy(at least as of the moment) to use eliteaccess to influence the underpricing ofassets. Therefore, all mechanisms usedduring UPA-I to under-price assets andgive animal spirits a sufficiently condu-cive environment have becomeinfructuous, being caught up in unin-tended political economy conse-quences.

The nub, therefore, is that the in-vestment-led growth model of the‘golden age’ has come undone and likeHumpty Dumpty, the PM’s men andwomen cannot put it back togetheragain. The undoing is only partly the re-sult of the global financial crises and therelated slowdown. There are two otherimportant reasons which the govern-ment does not talk about: globalisationhas led to unsustainable import compe-tition in the manufacturing sector, lead-ing to a slowdown in manufacturinggrowth and hence in investment; sec-ond, the investment subsidy implicit inthe under-pricing of assets in high de-mand is no longer feasible due to po-litical economy reasons. As C.P.Chandrasekhar has articulated in earliercolumns, it is of course possible to chartan alternate path and revive growth andinvestment. For that we would need tostop genuflecting before the fallen godsof finance capital. But that was too muchto expect of the former finance minis-ter or of the incumbent. There is, then,little else to do but to wait for the mon-soons, capricious foreign investment orother such manna from heaven.





DEVELOPMENT, according tomany analysts, is “the best contra-ceptive”. But if we look at India,there seems to be some doubt aboutthe statement’s truth. In India,planned development and familyplanning have been going on forover four decades now. But ourpopulation problem has only be-come more disturbing over the time.The fruits of development are seenon the food front where productionhas gone up three and a half timessince 1951. Life expectancy has in-creased, so has the gross domesticproduct. We are among the first 15countries in industrial production.Schools have proliferated. However,population growth has not sloweddown much. The increase in popu-lation, in fact, dilutes every improve-ment in India’s national develop-ment.

The gap between GDP and percapita income indicates the adverseeffect of a large population on stan-dard of living. Another aspect of de-velopment in India is the skewed

distribution of the GDP, which hasdenied any effective rise in the liv-ing standards of most Indians.Nearly 30 per cent of the people stilllive below the poverty line andmany more just hover over the bor-der. line. The benefits of develop-ment have been mostly cornered bya small per-centage of people, withonly some small portions ‘trickling’down to the majority. The existingstandard of living is just about main-tained so that there is a low deathrate but no appreciably high reduc-tion in the birth rate.

An economist would say therehas been failure on the populationfront rather than in development.Then, surely, development cannotbe ‘the best contraception’. Apopu-lation expert would say thatif the development efforts have notled to any significant reduction inthe population growth, it is becauseof the low rate of economic or pro-duction growth vis-a-vis the rapidpopulation growth and the unequaldistribution of the small benefits.

The 25 or so per cent of our peoplewho have benefited from the devel-opment process have generallyshown a significant fall in birth rateto maintain a substantial rise in theirliving standards. For the remaining75 per cent, the rise in the livingstandards is so marginal that it hassimply resulted in lowering of thedeath rate without a correspondingdecline in the birth rate. Thus it isnot development per se, but the rateof development and the distributivefactor of its benefits that are criticalfor the development process to beeffective in controlling the popula-tion growth. Two ways are possibleto overcome this problem. Either in-crease the economic growth rate toat least three or four times thepresent population growth rate evenwhile ensuring equitable distribu-tion, or reduce the populationgrowth drastically to one-third or soof what exists now, again keepingin mind the distribution aspect. Rais-ing the economic growth rate sub-stantially poses some difficulties.

DEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION CONTROLDEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION CONTROLDEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION CONTROLDEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION CONTROLDEVELOPMENT AND POPULATION CONTROL




Harnessing our natural resourcesfurther will take much effort and dis-cipline. A high growth rate is alsobound to cause serious damage tothe ecological balance, for we arenot technologically so advanced orso well endowed financially ‘to buyenvironmental-friendly develop-ment processes.

However, when we talk of de-velopment, we may enlarge theterm’s meaning to include humandevelopment. It is only through de-veloping human beings-through lit-eracy, education, better health facili-ties-that we can hope to have animpact on population growth. Mereeconomic development will not do.

If the State concentrates on what iscalled the ‘social sectors’ and pro-vides for development with a humanface, only then can we have healthyand aware human beings who willhave a stake in keeping the size oftheir families small.

S. K. SinghS. K. SinghS. K. SinghS. K. SinghS. K. Singh


CSATGeneral Studies Manual

IAS Preliminary Examination Paper I





SEX EDUCATION IN INDIA - NEED OF THE HOURSEX EDUCATION IN INDIA - NEED OF THE HOURSEX EDUCATION IN INDIA - NEED OF THE HOURSEX EDUCATION IN INDIA - NEED OF THE HOURSEX EDUCATION IN INDIA - NEED OF THE HOURThe term ‘Sex Education’, also

known as sexuality education or sexand relationships education, iswidely used to depict educationabout reproductive system, sexualinteraction and other facets of hu-man sexual behavior. It is the pro-cedure of gaining knowledge anddeveloping mind-set as well as ideasabout sex, sexual identity, human re-lations, closeness, gender roles,contraception methods and preven-tion of Human ImmunodeficiencyVirus (HIV)1 and Sexually Transmit-ted Diseases (STD)2. It is also an ef-fective way to respect one’s partner,wife, husband and also a means toadmire sexual preferences. The mis-interpretation of the people that aregenerally kept under the wrapsshould be cleared and they shouldbe convinced about the need for sexeducation in this rapidly changingera. It is important that youth shouldbe familiar with the purpose of pro-viding education in order to developan open and healthy approach to-wards sex and sexuality in order to

assist them to make well-thoughtjudgments.

A parliamentary committee,with a varied political membership,recently recommended that thereshould be no sex education inschools. Sex even if done at theproper time, with a proper person,in a proper place, is a topic thatmakes many Indians uncomfortable.The committee itself refused apower point presentation on thequestion “after going through thehard copy because of its explicitcontents. The Committee felt thatit was not comfortable with it andcould be embarrassing especially tothe lady Members and other ladystaff present.” The committee hasrecommended that chapters like‘Physical and Mental Developmentin Adolescents’ and ‘HIV/AIDS andother Sexually Transmitted Diseases’be removed from the general cur-riculum. Instead, they want thesetopics to be included in biology syl-labus for school leaving classes.

This leaves the students of the

non-Biology streams at sea. Inschool, two years before schoolleaving exams, I remember waitingexpectantly as our Biology teacherreached the last page of a chapteron the Skin, which ended with adescription of the anatomy of thefemale breast. The teacher, a female,was an old hand and probablysensed the collective eagerness. Shepromptly skipped the page andwent on to the questions at the endof the chapter. A couple of yearslater as a Biology student in myschool leaving year, the most dogeared pages in our Biology text bookdescribed the physiology of the fe-male orgasm and the female repro-ductive system. These pages toowere skipped on the plea of selfstudy. At home, any discussion of‘these’ was possible only in hushedtones with my brother. Involvingyour parents was out of question.Nice kids are not supposed to takeany interest in ‘these’ things. It’s agiven. Jyoti Bajpai, a developmentprofessional working in the field of




reproductive and sexual health, re-calls her own experience on sexeducation. She and her female classmates at school were called awayfor a session on sex education on apretext. “What information we wereimparted was limited to menstrua-tion and menstrual hygiene and littleelse. It’s amazing that boys in myclass were kept completely out ofthis. We were expressly warnedagainst discussing any thing withthem.” When my mother was grow-ing up her parents did their best topostpone the acknowledgement ofthe fact. She had to turn to herfriends.

Things were much the same formy parents and my generation, butare they finally going to change forthe coming generation? But manyIndians don’t see it as reason to denyadolescents the right knowledge,especially with 2.47 million cases ofHIV infected persons in the countryand with sexual transmission beingthe predominant mode of HIV trans-mission. The NACO website says,“Most young people become sexu-ally active during adolescence. Inthe absence of right guidance andinformation at this stage they aremore likely to have multi-partnerunprotected sex with high riskbehaviour groups… “ With increas-ing exposure to television andinternet sex education does not im-ply teaching kids about sex, whichknowledge they will pick upanyways, but for many proponentsof sex education it definitely meansteaching them about what safe,healthy and acceptable sexualbehaviour is.

A whole political culture hasbeen built upon sexual mores- rang-ing from the Congress-led govern-ment calling homosexuality a dis-

ease to Hindu fundamentalistgroups equating women visitingpubs as ‘loose’. With two phases ofelections to go it remains to be seenif this is going to earn political divi-dends. Are our representatives inthe parliament providing us leader-ship or abdicating it by followingand mobilising their followers ontheir less informed instincts?

Why India should go all theway

The lesson that Indian leadersseem to take from sex education:Prevention is better than cure. Butthis may not be the best formula fora country with a high incidence ofchild marriages and teenage preg-nancies. Experts say that the casefor sex education in India is quitedifferent from in the West becauseit is ‘legitimate’ here for youngpeople to have sex. According tothe National Family Health Surveyconducted by the International In-stitute for Population Sciences (IIPS)and Macro International in 2005-06,12% women aged between 15-19years are mothers. The survey saidthat one in six Indian women aged15-19 starts to have children. DrSunil Mehra, director of the MAMTAHealth Institute for Mother andChild, says, “Youth in India needssex education more than in anyother country since child marriageensures that you not only have sexat a young age, you also have teen-age pregnancy.”

Contrast this with the receivedwisdom of our politicians. The Com-mittee on Petitions headed by theBJP’s Venkaiah Naidu is a cross-party group up of nine Rajya Sabhamembers. The Committee has saidthere should be no sex education inschools because it promotes pro-miscuity and India’s “social and cul-

tural ethos are such that sex educa-tion has absolutely no place in it.” The Committee directed its outrageat the human resource developmentministry’s (HRD) Adult EducationProgramme (AEP). Launched in2005 and backed by the NationalAids Control Organization (NACO),the AEP’s focus is safer sex, as wellas the physical and mental develop-ment of 14-18-year-olds. But theCommittee said that it was “highlyembarrassed” by the HRD ministry’scurriculum and insisted that pre-marital sex, together with sex out-side marriage, is “immoral, unethi-cal and unhealthy”. It also said thatconsensual sex before the age of 16“amounts to rape”. But Mehra isone of many who point to the facts.Child marriage means huge numbersof adolescent Indians indulge in “le-gal” sexual activity. The IIPS says that47.4% of all women aged 20 to 24are married by the time they are 18.About 18% are married by the timethey are 15. Mehra says politicianshave long promoted regressivepolicy on the pretext of culture. “Itis due to this so-called culture thatmany young girls are forced intomarriage and sex and early preg-nancy,” he says.

Sex education can also helpwith India’s fight against Aids. Gov-ernment statistics indicate that 40%of new sexually transmitted infec-tions are in the 15-29 age group.More than 31% of all reported Aidscases occur in this age group, whichindicates that young Indians are ahigh-risk demographic. But all isnot lost. A four-year study byMAMTA underlines the differencegood sex education classes canmake. The study was conducted infour schools in Haryana from 2004.Two schools were in urban Rewari;




the other two in rural Bawal. Five-hundred students participated. Sexeducation classes led 78% of therural schoolgirls and 33% of the ur-ban to declare they would declinesex without a condom. It was a star-tling rise in condom-awareness. Be-fore the classes, just 5% of the ruralschoolgirls and 10% of the urbanknew about the need for a con-dom. Ranjana Kumari, director ofthe Centre for Social Research sayssex education achieves many goalsmissed by a blinkered Parliamentary

Committee. Not least sexual abuse.A nationwide study by the Depart-ment of Women and Child Develop-ment says that 53.2% children havefaced one or more forms of sexualabuse and at least half the perpe-trators were known to the child.

Awareness of sex is the mostsignificant factor necessary to leada secure life. Usual educationalpractices are very simple to learn,but we cannot consider sex educa-tion on the same line. It comprisesof physiological, psychological and

social issues, especially when wethink of including it as a part of aca-demic syllabus. As these complica-tions occur, a question may arise inthe mind of people about the needfor sex education providing to thechildren. While children reach teen-age level, lack of sex education maylead the way to their unusual behav-ior. If not corrected at the exacttime, it may generate problems ofimmature misbehaviors in thesechildren’s life.

Gyanesh PandeyGyanesh PandeyGyanesh PandeyGyanesh PandeyGyanesh Pandey


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