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Index

Chief Editor:Sachchida Nand JhaEditor:Yagya Nand Jha

Designed by:Upendra Bhardwaj

Disclaimer:Editor and Publisher are notresponsible for any view data,figures etc. Expressed in thearticles by the author(s). Mapsare notational.

CURRENT AFFAIRSv National Issues 19v International Issues 26v India & the World 32v Economy 36v Science and Technology 44v Sports 53v Award & Prizes 59v In the News 64

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PAGE NO. 106v Model Question Paper 109

MAY, 2012

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Editor’s NoteDear Friends/Aspirants

As you all know we at www.upscportal.com are sincerely trying to help the civil service aspirants to achieve theirtarget. In this effort we were publishing a monthly magazine named- Civil Services Mentor, since last one year, butthis was available only online, in PDF format. Above 25000 aspirants were downloading this magazine monthly, butthey were asking for the hard copy repeatedly. So, we are very happy to inform you that, we have decided to launchprint edition of our magazine from this month. Friends, I can assure you for the success once you sincerely followthese simple “Steps of Success” in planning & preparation of civil services.

Avoid negative sources, people, places, things and habitsBelieve in yourselfConsider every angle of the factDon’t give up and don’t give inEnergize your thoughtsFamily and friends are hidden treasures, seek them and enjoy their richesGive more efforts than you are supposed toHang on to your dreamsIgnore those who try to discourage youJust focus on your goalsKeep trying to matter how hard it seems, it will get easierLove your goal first and foremostMake it happenNever lie, cheat or deviate from your goalOpen your eyes and understand things from your perspectivePractice hardQuitters never win and winners never quitRead, study and learn about everything importantStop procrastinatingTake control of your own destinyUnderstand yourself in order to better understand othersVisualization of task makes it easyWant it more than anythingXcellerate your effortsYou are the bestZero in on your target and go for it! 

As we are human, we are error prone, so make us aware of our errors. We will sincerely welcome yoursuggestions, Please send your suggestions to [email protected]

Yagya Nand Jha

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T he Union Budget 2012-13presented by the FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee in

Lok Sabha on 16th March, identified fiveobjectives to be addressed effectively inthe ensuing fiscal year. They include focuson domestic demand driven growthrecovery; create conditions for rapidrevival of high growth in privateinvestment; address supply bottlenecksin agriculture, energy and transportsectors particularly in coal, power,national highways, railways and civilaviation; intervene decisively to addressthe problem of malnutrition especially inthe 200 high-burden districts andexpedite coordinated implementation ofdecisions being taken to improve deliverysystems , governance, and transparency;and address the problem of black moneyand corruption in public life.

If the Union Budget was expectedto make some special concessions forWest Bengal to placate Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee, there was no hint of itin Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’sspeech on Friday.

Indeed, it was a speech singularlyshort of any political message; nor indeed,did it have a strong social message, asmost of the schemes mentioned arealready in place, with the government justmaking additional allocations. Perhaps,the only social sector issue that Mr.Mukherjee highlighted in this fiscal year

was to “intervene decisively to addressthe problem of malnutrition, especiallyin the 200 high burden districts.”

Interestingly, that messageappeared to have got across to theTrinamool Congress. For despite the factthat West Bengal only got a floodmanagement project in Murshidabad, aCongress-controlled district, and Rs. 50crore to establish a world-class centre toimprove water quality in Kolkata, theTrinamool MPs seemed low key,describing the budget as “tolerable.” Ofcourse, Trinamool Leader in the LokSabha Sudip Bandopadhyay did mentionthe fact that West Bengal, like Punjab andKerala, was “in a debt trap” and wanted athree-year moratorium. But governmentsources told  that the Centre had made itclear to all three States that it wanted tosee some signs on the part of these Stategovernments that additional funding“would not be like pouring water into abucket with holes in it.” The message thatthe UPA government, evidently, wants tosend out through this budget is that itsfocus will be on strengthening theeconomy, stimulating growth and onrevenue generating measures. “If Indiacan continue to build on its economicstrength, it can be a source of stability forthe world economy and provide a safedestination for restless global capital.”Probably the message of this budget: thatthe government intends to govern, and

the allies need to get on board. Mukherjeesaid that India’s GDP growth in 2012-13is expected to be 7.6 per cent +/-0.25per cent. He said that in 2011-12, India’sGDP is estimated to grow at 6.9 per centafter having grown at the rate of 8.4 percent in each of the two preceding yearsHe said though the global crisis hadaffected India, it still remains among thefront runners in economic growth.Mukherjee said the slowdown is primarilydue to deceleration in industrial growth.Stating that the headline inflationremained high for most part of the year,the Finance Minister expressed hope thatit will moderate further in the next fewmonths and remain stable thereafter. FMlaid emphasis on striking a balancebetween fiscal consolidation andstrengthening macroeconomicfundamentals. He announcedintroduction of amendments to the FiscalResponsibility and Budget ManagementAct, 2003 (FRBM Act) as part of theFinance Bill 2012. He said that conceptof “Effective Revenue Deficit” and“Medium Term ExpenditureFramework” statement are two importantfeatures of Amendment to FRBM Act inthe direction of expenditure reforms.This statement shall set forth a three yearrolling targets for expenditure indicators.

The FM called for a need to have aclose look at the growth of revenueexpenditure, particularly, on subsidies.

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He announced that from 2012-13 whilesubsidies related to food and foradministering the Food Security Act willbe fully provided for, all other subsidieswould be funded to the extent that theycan be borne by the economy withoutany adverse implications. He said that theGovernment will endeavor to restrict theexpenditure on central subsidies under 2per cent of GDP in 2012-13 and over thenext three years, it would be furtherbrought down to 1.75 per cent of GDP.Finance Minister said that based onrecommendations of the Task Forceheaded by Nandan Nilekani, a mobile-based Fertilizer Management System hasbeen designed to provide end-to-endinformation on movement of fertilizersand subsidies which will be rolled outnation-wide during 2012. He said thattransfer of subsidy to the retailer andeventually to the farmers will beimplemented in subsequent phases whichwill benefit 12 crore farmer families. Onthe tax reforms, the Finance Minister saidthat the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) Billwill be enacted at the earliest afterexpeditious examination of the report ofthe Parliamentary Standing Committee.He said drafting of model legislation forCentre and State Goods and Services Tax(GST) in concert with States is underprogress. He added that the GSTnetwork will be set up as a NationalInformation Utility and will becomeoperational by August 2012.

On the disinvestment policy, FMsaid that the Central Public SectorEnterprises (CPSEs) are being given alevel playing field vis-à-vis private sectorwith regard to practices like buy-backsand listing at stock exchange. Stating thatwhile in 2011-12, the Government willraise about ` 14,000 crore fromdisinvestment as against a target of` 40,000 crore, the Finance Ministerproposed to raise ̀ 30,000 crore through

disinvestment in 2012-13. He said at least51 per cent ownership and managementof CPSEs will remain with thegovernment. Calling for strengtheninginvestment environment, FM said thatefforts are on to arrive at a broad-basedconsensus in respect of decision to allowFDI in multi-brand retail up to 51 percent. He proposed to introduce a newscheme called Rajiv Gandhi EquitySavings Scheme to allow for income taxdeduction of 50 per cent to new retailinvestors who invest up to ` 50,000directly in equities and whose annualincome is below ` 10 lakh. The schemewill have a lock-in period of 3 yearsRegarding capital markets, the FinanceMinister proposed to allow QualifiedForeign Investors (QFIs) to access IndianCorporate Bond market. He alsoproposed simplifying the process of InitialPublic Offer (IPO).

The FM said that the governmentis committed to protect the financialhealth of Public Sector Banks andFinancial Institutions. He proposed toprovide ̀ 15,888 crore for capitalizationof Public Sector Banks, Regional RuralBanks and other financial institutionsincluding NABARD. He added that aCentral Know Your Customer (KYC)depositary will be developed in 2012-13to avoid multiplicity of registration anddata upkeep. The Finance Ministerinformed that out of 73,000 identifiedhabitations that were to be covered under“Swabhimaan” campaign for providingbanking facilities by March 2012, about70,000 habitations have been coveredwhile the rest are likely to be covered byMarch 31, 2012.He added that as a nextstep Ultra Small Branches are being setup at these habitations. In 2012-13,Swabhimaan campaign will be extendedto more habitations.

Emphasizing on infrastructure andindustrial development, Mukherjee said

that during the 12th Plan, infrastructureinvestment will go up to ̀ 50 lakh crorewith half of this expected from privatesector. Stating that in 2011-12 tax freebonds for ` 30,000 crore wereannounced for financing infrastructureprojects, he proposed to double it to raise` 60,000 crore in 2012-13. The Ministerproposed to allow External CommercialBorrowings (ECB) to part finance Rupeedebt of existing power projects. TheFinance Minister announced a target ofcovering 8,800 km. under NHDP nextyear and increase in allocation of the RoadTransport and Highways Ministry by14per cent to ` 25,360 crore in 2012-13.He proposed to permit ECB for workingcapital requirements of the AirlineIndustry for a period of one year, subjectto a total ceiling of US dollar 1 billion toaddress the immediate financial concernsof the Civil Aviation Sector.He added thata proposal to allow foreign airlines toparticipate up to 49 per cent in the equityof an air transport undertaking is underactive consideration.

Expressing concern over shortagein housing sector, the Finance Ministerproposed various measures to addressthe shortage of housing for low incomegroups in major cities and townsincluding ECB for low cost housingprojects and setting up of a CreditGuarantee Trust Fund. Regarding textilesector, the Finance Minister announcedsetting up of two more mega clusters, oneto cover Prakasam and Guntur districtsin Andhra Pradesh and other for Goddaand neighboring districts in Jharkhand inaddition to 4 mega handloom clustersalready operationalized. He alsoproposed setting up of three WeaversService Centres, one each in Mizoram,Nagaland and Jharkhand. The Ministerproposed a ` 500 crore pilot scheme intwelfth plan for promotion andapplication of Geo-textiles in the North

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East. A powerloom Mega Cluster will beset up in Ichalkaranji in Maharashtra. FMproposed to set up a ` 5000 crore IndiaOpportunities Venture Fund with SIDBIto enhance availability of equity to micro,small and medium enterprises. Statingthat agriculture will continue to be apriority for the government, Mukherjeeproposed an increase by 18 per cent to` 20,208 crore in the total Plan Outlayfor the Department of Agriculture andCooperation in 2012-13. He said that theoutlay for Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana(RKVY) is being increased to ̀ 9217 crorein 2012-13. Underlining importance oftimely access to affordable credit forfarmers, the Finance Minister proposedto raise the target for agricultural creditto ̀ 5,75,000 crore, which represents anincrease of ` 1,00,000 crore over thetarget for the current year. He said that ashort term RRB Credit Refinance Fund isbeing set up to enhance the capacity ofRegional Rural Banks to disburse shortterm crop loans to the small and marginalfarmeRs He added that Kisan Credit CardScheme will be modified to make it asmart card which can be used at ATMs.

The Financed Minister said that inorder to have a better out reach of thefood processing sector, a new centrallysponsored scheme titled NationalMission on Food Processing will bestarted in cooperation with the States in2012-13. Minister proposed an increaseof 18 per cent to ` 37,113crore forScheduled Castes Sub Plan and anincrease of 17.6 per cent to ` 21,710crore for Tribal Sub Plan during 2012-13. Regarding food security, Mukherjeesaid that National Food Security Bill 2011is before Parliamentary StandingCommittee. He said a multi-sectoralprogramme to address maternal andchild malnutrition in selected 200 highburdened districts is being rolled outduring 2012-13. He further said that an

allocation of ` 15,850 crore has beenmade for ICDS scheme which is anincrease of 58% and ` 11,937 crore forNational Programme of Mid-Day Mealsin schools for the year 2012-13. He addedthat an allocation of ` 750 crore isproposed for Rajiv Gandhi Scheme forEmpowerment of Adolescent Girls,SABLA.

The allocation for rural drinkingwater and sanitation is proposed to beincreased by over 27 per cent to ̀ 14,000crore and for Pradhan Mantri RoadSadakYojana by 20 per cent to ` 24,000crore in 2012-13. He proposed toenhance the allocation under RuralInfrastructure Development Fund to` 20,000 crore with ` 5,000 croreexclusively earmarked for .creatingwarehousing facilities. The FinanceMinister proposed an increase inallocation by 21.7 per cent for Right toEducation – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan to` 25,555 crore and by 29 per cent forRashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyanto ̀ 3,124 crore. He proposed to set up aCredit Guarantee Fund to ensure betterflow of funds to students. Regardinghealth sector he proposed an increase inallocation for NRHM to ` 20,822 crorein 2012-13. He also said that NationalUrban Health Mission is being launched.

The Finance Minister said thatMahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme has hada positive impact. He proposed anallocation of ` 3915 crore for NationalRural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) whichrepresents an increase of 34 per cent. Heproposed to provide ` 200 crore toenlarge the corpus to ̀ 300 crore of theWomen’s SHG’s Development Fund. Hesaid the fund will also support theobjectives of Aajeevika i.e. NRLM and willempower women SHGs to access bankcredit. He also proposed to establish aBharat Livelihoods Foundation of India

through Aajeevika which will support andscale up civil society initiatives andinterventions particularly in the tribalregions covering around 170 districts.Allocation under National SocialAssistance Programme (NSAP) isproposed to be raised by 37 per cent to` 8447 crore. Under the Indira GandhiNational Widow Pension Scheme andIndira Gandhi National Disability PensionScheme for BPL beneficiaries, themonthly pension amount per person isbeing raised from ` 200 to ` 300.

FM announced a provision of` 1,93,407crore for Defence Servicesincluding ` 79,579 crore for capitalexpenditure. He said the allocation isbased on present needs and any furtherrequirement would be met. Addressinggovernance related issues, Mukherjeesaid adequate funds are proposed to beallocated to complete enrollments ofanother 40 crore persons under UIDMission. Outlining the steps taken by theGovernment to address the issue of blackmoney, the Minister proposed to lay aWhite Paper on Black Money in thecurrent session of Parliament. In theBudget estimates for 2012-13, the GrossTax Receipts are estimated at ` 10,77,612 crore which is an increase of 15.6per cent over the Budget Estimates and19.5 per cent over the revised estimatesfor 2011-12. After devolution to States,the net tax to the Centre in 2012-13 isestimated at ` 7,71,071crore.

The Non Tax Revenue Receipts areestimated at ` 1,64,614crore and Non-debt Capital Receipts at ` 41,650 crore.The total expenditure for 2012-13 isbudgeted at ` 14,90,925 crore. Of this` 5,21,025crore is the Plan Expenditurewhile ̀ 9,69,900 crore is budgeted as NonPlan Expenditure. The tax proposals areguided by the need to move towards theDirect Tax Code(DTC) in the case ofdirect taxes and Goods & Services Tax

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(GST) in the case of indirect taxes.Individual income up to ̀ 2 lakh will befree from income tax; income upto ̀ 1.8lakh was exempt in 2011-12. Incomeabove ` 5 lakh and upto ` 10 lakh nowcarries tax at the rate of 20 per cent; the20% tax slab was from ` 5 lakh to ` 8lakh in 2011-12. A deduction of up to` 10,000 is now available for interestfrom savings bank accounts. Within theexisting limit for deduction allowed forhealth insurance, a deduction of up to` 5000 is being allowed for preventivehealth check-up. Senior citizens nothaving income from business will now notneed to pay advance tax.

While no changes have been madein corporate taxes, the budget proposesa number of measures to promoteinvestment in specific sectors. In orderto provide low cost funds to some stressedinfrastructure sectors, withholding tax oninterest payments on external borrowings(ECBs) is being reduced from 20 percentto 5 per cent for 3 years. These sectorsare – power, airlines, roads and bridges,ports and shipyards, affordable housing,fertilizer, and dam. Investment linkeddeduction of capital expenditure in somebusinesses is proposed to be provided at150 per cent as against the current rateof 100 per cent. These sectors includecold chain facility, warehouses for storingfoodgrain, hospitals, fertilizers andaffordable housing. Bee keeping,container freight and warehousing forstorage of sugar will now also be eligiblefor investment linked deduction. Thebudget also proposes weighted deductionfor R&D expenditure, agri-extensionservices and expenditure on skilldevelopment in the manufacturing sector.

For small and medium enterprises(SMEs) the turnover limit for compulsorytax audit of accounts as well as forpresumptive taxation is proposed to beraised from ` 60 lakh to ` 1 crore. In

order to augment funds for SMEs, sale ofresidential property will be exempt fromcapital gains tax, if the proceeds are usedfor purchase of plant and machinery, etc.A General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR)is being introduced in order to counteraggressive tax avoidance. Securitiestransaction tax (STT) is being reducedby 20 per cent on cash deliverytransactions, from 0.125% to 0.1%.Alternative Minimum Tax is proposed tobe levied from all persons, other thancompanies, claiming profit linkeddeductions.

The Finance Minister has proposeda series of measures to deter thegeneration and use of unaccountedmoney. In the case of assets held abroad,compulsory reporting is being introducedand assessment up to 16 years will nowbe allowed to be re-opened. Tax will becollected at source on trading in coal,lignite and iron ore; purchase of bullionor jewellery above ` 2 lakh in cash; andtransfer of immovable property (otherthan agricultural land) above a specifiedthreshold. Unexplained money, credits,investments, expenditures etc. will betaxed at the highest rate of 30 per centirrespective of the slab of income. TheFinance Minister has made an effort towiden the service tax base, strengthen itsenforcement and bring it as close aspossible to the central excise. A commonsimplified registration form and acommon return are being introduced forcentral excise and service tax.

All services will now attract servicetax, except those in the negative list. Thenegative list has 17 heads and includesspecified services provided by thegovernment or local authorities, andservices in the fields of education, rentingof residential dwellings, entertainmentand amusement,public transportation,agriculture and animal husbandry. Anumber of other services including health

care, and services provided by charities,independent journalist, sport persons,performing artists in folk and classical arts,etc are exempt from service tax. Filmindustry also gets tax exemption oncopyrights relating to recording ofcinematographic films. Service tax rate isbeing increased from 10 per cent to 12per cent, with consequential change inrates for services that have individual taxrates. The standard rate of excise dutyfor non-petroleum goods is also beingraised from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.No change is proposed in peak rate ofcustoms duty of 10 per cent on non-agricultural goods.

The Budget offers relief to differentsectors of economy, especially thoseunder stress. Import of equipment forfertilizer projects are being fullyexempted from basic customs duty of 5per cent for 3 years Basic customs duty isalso being lowered for a number ofequipment used in agriculture and relatedareas. In the realm of infrastructure,customs relief is being given to power,coal and railways sectors while steam coalgets full customs duty exemption for 2years (with the concessional counter-veiling duty of 1 per cent), natural gas,LNG and certain uranium fuel get fullduty exemption this year. Different levelsof duty concessions are being providedto help mining, railways, roads, civilaviation, manufacturing, health andnutrition and environment. So as to helpmodernization of the textile industry, anumber of equipment are being fullyexempted from basic customs duty, andlower customs duty is being proposed forsome other items used by the textileindustry.

Customs duty is being raised forgold bars and coins of certain categories,platinum and gold ore. Customs duty isto be imposed on coloured gem stones.Excise duty on certain categories of

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cigarettes and bidis, pan masala andchewing tobacco is being increased.Customs duty is being increased oncompletely built large cars/ SUVs/ MUVsof value exceeding $40,000. Silverjewellery will now be fully exempt fromexcise duty. Unbranded precious metaljewellery will attract excise duty on thelines of branded jewellery. Operations arebeing simplified and measures taken tominimize impact of this provision onsmall artisans and goldsmiths. Whiledirect tax proposals in the Budget willresult in a net revenue loss of `

4,500crore, indirect taxes will result in anet revenue gain of ̀ 45,940 crore. Thus,the tax proposals will lead to a net gain of` 41,440crore. 

HIGHLIGHTS OF BUDGET :

v Cars to attract ad valorem rate of27 per cent.

v Upper limit raised from ̀ 8 lakh to` 10 lakh for 20 per cent bracket

v Individual income tax payerexemption limit to be raised to` 200,000 from ` 180,000.

v Capital gains tax on residentialproperty exempted if sale proceedsused for SMEs.

v Customs duty on bicycles and partsincreased

v Customs duty on standard gold barand coins exceeding 99.5 per centpurity, platinum and non-standardgold raised

v Import duty on large cars, MUVs,SUVs enhanced

v Gold jewellery not bearing brandname to be included in the one percent levy on precious metaljewellery

v Branded silver jewellery fullyexempted from excise duty

v Baggage allowance for people ofIndian origin increased from` 25,000 to ` 35,000 and for

children from ̀ 12,000 to ̀ 15,000v Customs and central excise

proposals to net a revenue of` 27,280 crore

v Installation of solar plants exemptedfrom CVD.

v Oil cess on domestic crude raisedto ̀ 4,500 per ton from ̀ 2,500 perton.

v Standard excise duty rate raisedfrom 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

v Service tax to yield additionalrevenue of ` 18,650 crore.

v No change in the peak rate customsduty.

v Full exemption from basic customsduty on natural gas, LNG, uraniumfor generation of electricity for twoyears.

v Import of equipment for fertilizerplants fully exempt from customsduty for three years

v Full exemption from basic customsduty for equipment for road andhighway construction

v Customs duty on import of parts ofaircraft, tyres and testing equipmentfully exempted.

v Excise duty on handmade and semi-mechanised matches reduced from10 to 6 per cent

v Introduction of compulsoryreporting of assets held abroad.

v Securities Transaction Tax (STT)reduced from 0.125 per cent to 0.1per cent.

v Withholding tax on power, airlines,road and brides, ports and shipyard,fertilisers, dams and affordablehouses lowered to 5 pc from 20 pcfor 3 years.

v No change in corporate tax rate.v The Budget also exempts up to

` 10,000 of interest income fromtax.

v No IT for income up to ̀ 2,00,000;10 pc on income between ` 2-5

lakh; 20 pc on income between` 5-10 lakh and 30 pc on incomeabove ̀ 10 lakh.

v Tax exemption of up to ̀ 5,000 forhealth insurance for annualpreventive health checkup

v Direct taxes proposals to result innet revenue loss of ̀ 4,500 crore.

v All services except 17 in thenegative list to be brought underservice tax net.

v Copyright relating tocinematography in film industryexempted from service tax

v Team to study common tax codefor service tax and central excise tobe set up

v No change in the peak rate customsduty

v Service tax to yield additionalrevenue of ` 18,650 crore.

v Standard excise duty rate raisedfrom 10 per cent to 12 per cent.

v Determined to bring down fiscaldeficit to 5.1 per cent of GDP nextfiscal

v Total debt of the Centre will be 45per cent of GDP

v Revenue deficit for 2012-13projected at ` 1,85,752 crore.

v Non-plan expenditure ` 9,69,900crore in 2012-13; 8.7 per centhigher than current year

v Direct tax collection fell short by` 32,000 crore in current fiscal.

v Fiscal deficit at 5.9 per cent of GDPin revised estimates for 2011-12.

v Determined to bring down fiscaldeficit to 5.1 per cent of GDP nextfiscal.

v Urban health schemes get higherallocation.

v 40 crore Aadhar enrollment in yearbeginning April 2012.

v White Paper on black money to betabled in current session ofParliament.

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v Information on blackmoneystashed abroad has started flowingin; prosecution to be executed insome cases.

v Net tax receipts of the Centre in2011-12 stands at ̀ 7,71,071 crore.

v Interest subvention of 7 pc towomen self groups for loans up to` 3 lakh, additional 3 pc for thosemaking timely repayment.

v ` 1000 crore to be provided forNational Skill DevelopmentCorporation in 2012-13.

v ` 3,915 crore to be spent onNational Rural Livelihood Mission.

v ` 193,407 crore provision made fordefence services in 2012-13.

v National Backward Region Grantscheme outlay raised by 22 per centto ` 12,040 crore

v ` 20,000 cr to be spent on ruralinfrastructure development,including ` 5,000 cr for creatingwarehousing facilities.

v ` 20,822 crore earmarked forNational Rural Health Missionagainst ̀ 18,115 crore this year

v Govt to create PDS through Adhaarplatform by Dec to realise objectivesof Food Security Bill

v ` 15,850 cr to be allocated toIntegrated Child DevelopmentScheme in 2012-13 as against` 10,000 cr this fiscal.

v Allocation for rural drinking waterand sanitation scheme increasedfrom ` 11,000 cr in FY 12 to` 14,000 cr in 2012-13

v National Mission on Food Proce-ssing to be started in 2012-13.

v Govt to allow use of Kisan creditcards in ATMs

v FM says computerisation of thePublic distribution system will bedone

v Additional 3 per cent interestsubvention to farmers for promptlyrepaying their dues.

v Investment in agriculture will behiked, says FM

v Government to provide ` 10,000crore to NABARD for refinancingregional rural banks

v Farmers will continue to get interestsubsidy

v Government to set up ̀ 5000 croreventure fund for MSME sector.

v Agriculture credit target to be raisedby ` 100,000 cr to ` 5,75,000 cr,says FM

v Govt to double tax free bonds forinfrastructure financing to ̀ 60,000crore in next FY

v Proposal to allow foreign airlines toparticipate direct or indirectly inIndia being considered actively.

v India will become self-sufficient inurea production in five years, saysFM

v Microfin institution regulation bill,natl housing bank regulation bill, regbank regulation bill and public debtmanagement bill this session

v Income Tax deduction of 50 percent on investments of up to` 50,000 in savings scheme namedafter Rajiv Gandhi which will beintroduced

v IPO equity offer above ` 10 crorewill have to be made electronicallyin capital market reforms.

v ` 15,888 cr to be provided forcapitalisation of public sector andregional rural banks and NABARD.

v Infrastructure investment in 12thPlan to go up to ` 50 lakh crore;half of it to come from pvt sector

v Qualified institutional placement(QIPs) will be allowed to accessIndian markets

v Government to raise ̀ 30,000 crorein 2012-13 from disinvestment ofstake in PSUs

v Efforts to arrive at broadbasedconsensus with state governments

on allowing FDI in multibrand retailup to 51 percent.

v FM expects current account deficitto be 3.6%

v Govt. will keep FY13 subsidy atunder 2% of GDP

v Direct Tax Code (DTC) Bill to beenacted at the earliest, says FM, butindicated its deferment.

v Govt to fully provide for foodsubsidy and food security act in2012-13.

v Food Security Act will be fullyprovided for and subsidy to be 2per cent of GDP for next two years.

v Pilot project for direct transfer ofsubsidiary for kerosene has beeninitiated in Alwar, Rajasthan.

v Amendments to FRBM Act part ofthe budget.

v Expectations are for economicgrowth rate of 7.6% next year.

v Macro-economic policies must beimproved.

v RBI’s monetary policy which hasbeen tight has impacted bothgrowth and consumptionSectoral allocations are as follows:

AGRICULTURE AND ALLIEDACTIVITIES

v Budgetary allocation for agricultureand allied activities 2012-13increased by 18%

v 9217 crore rupees allocated forRashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.

v 1000 crore rupees for BringingGreen Revolution to Eastern India(BGREI) project

v 300 crore rupees to VidarbhaIntensified Irrigation DevelopmentProgramme under RKVY.

v 200 crore rupees allocated forincentivising research with rewards

v 14242 crore rupees allocated forAccelerated Irrigation BenefitProgramme (AIBP)

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v 500 crore rupees provided tobroaden scope of production of fishto coastal aquaculture

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

v 14,000 crore rupees allocated forrural drinking water and sanitation

v 24000 crore rupees allocated forPradhan Mantri Grameen SadakYojna

v 12040 crore rupees provided forBackward Regions Grant Fundscheme

v 20,000 crore rupees allocated forRural Infrastructure DevelopmentFund

v 5000 crore  rupees earmarked forcreating warehousing facilities

EDUCATION

v Sarva Siksha Abhiyan-Right toEducation- 25555 crore rupees

v 3124 crore rupees provided forRashtriya Madhyamik ShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA)

HEALTH

v 20822 crore rupees National RuralHealth Mission 

EMPLOYMENT AND SKILLDEVELOPMENT

v 3915 crore rupees provided forNational Rural Livelihood Mission

v 1276 crore rupees allocated forPrime Minister ’s EmploymentGeneration Programme

v 1000 crore rupees allocated forNational Skill Development Fund

DEFENCE AND SECURITY

v 193407 crore rupees aallocated forDefence services including79579crore rupees for capitalexpenditure

v 1185 crore rupees to be allocatedfor construction of nearly 4000residential quarters for CentralArmed Police Forces

v 3280 crore rupees proposed to beallocated for construction of officebuilding of CentralArmed PoliceForces

INFRASTRUCTURE ANDINDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

v 25360 crore rupees allocated forRoad Transport and HighwaysMinistry

v 3884 crore rupees loan waiver forhandloom weavers and theircooperative societies

v 500 crore rupees pilot schemeannounced for promotion andapplication of Geo-textile in theNorth Eastern Region

v 70 crore rupees allocated to set upa powerloom mega cluster inIchalkaranji in Maharashtra

v 5000 crore rupees IndiaOpportunities Venture Fund to beset up with SIDBI

v 15888 crore rupees to be providedfor capitalisation of public sectorbanks and financial institutions

OTHER MAJOR ALLOCATIONS

v 37113 crore rupees allocated forScheduled Castes Sub Plan

v 21710 crore rupees earmarked forTribal Sub Plan

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F inance Minister PranabMukherjee tabled the EconomicSurvey 2011-12 in Parliament on

15th of March, stating the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) is likely to grow 7.6percent in FY’13. “The growth rate ofreal GDP (is expected) to pick up to 7.6percent (plus or minus 0.25 percent) in2012-13 and faster beyond that,” saidPranab Mukherjee in Parliament. Itexpects the economic growth to furtherimprove to 8.6 percent in 2013-14. TheSurvey said fiscal consolidation is likelyto get back on track from 2012-13, whensavings and capital formation will alsobegin to improve. “Moreover, with theeasing of inflationary pressure in themonths to come, there could bereduction in policy rates by the RBI, whichwould encourage investment that couldhave a positive impact on growth”, itadded. Indian economy is likely to slowdown to 6.9 percent in 2011-12 from 8.4percent in the previous two years mainlyon account of global slowdown anddomestic factors. “There were also thepressures of democratic politics, whichslowed reforms,” the Survey said whileendorsing the Central StatisticalOrganisation’s (CSO) estimate of 6.9percent growth during 2011-12. India’seconomic growth slowed to its weakestannual pace in almost three years in thethree months to December, as highinterest rates and rising input costs

constrained investment andmanufacturing, government data releasedearlier showed. GDP rose 6.1 percent inOctober to December compared with ayear earlier. That marked a sharppullback from 6.9 percent growth in Julyto September and was the seventhsuccessive quarterly slowdown.

The slowdown in Indian economywas attributed largely toweakening industrial growth. Theindustrial sector has performed poorly,retreating to a 27% share of the GDP.The services sector however continued tobe a star performer as its share in GDPclimbed from 58% in 2010-11 to 59% in2011-12 with a growth rate of 9.4%.Agriculture and allied sectors wereestimated to achieve a growth rate of2.5% in 2011-12. Agriculture & alliedsectors were are estimated to achieve agrowth rate of 2.5% in 2011-12 withfoodgrains production likely to cross250.42 million tones as a result ofincrease in the production of rice in anumber of states. Overall growth duringApril-December 2011 reached 3.6%compared to 8.3% in the correspondingperiod of the previous year. The fiscal2011-12 was marked by asharp depreciation of the Indian rupee.In the current fiscal 2011-12, on month-to-month basis the rupee depreciated by12.4 per cent from 44.97 per US dollarin March 2011 to 51.34 per US dollar in

January 2012. Rupee reached a peak of43.94 on 27 July 27 2011 and lowest at54.23 per US dollar on 15 December2011 indicating a depreciation of 19 percent. The RBI was required to sell dollarstwice in the fiscal to help raise the valueof the rupee. Also in 2011-12 India’sexternal debt stock increased by US $20.2 billion (6.6 per cent) to US $ 326.6billion at end-September 2011 vis-à-visUS $ 306.4 billion at end-March 2011,primarily due to higher commercialborrowings and short-term debt.

The Labour Bureau conductedtwelve quarterly quick employmentsurveys to assess the impact of theeconomic slowdown on the employmentsector. The surveys indicated an upwardtrend in employment since July 2009 wasmaintained. Overall employment inSeptember 2011 over September 2010increased by 9.11 lakh, with the highestincrease recorded in IT/BPO (7.96 lakh)sector. The coverage underthe MGNREGA consistently increasedfrom 4.51 crore households during 2008-09 to 5.49 crore households during 2010-11 with averaged employment of 47persondays per household. Average wageincreased from Rs 65 in 2006-07 to Rs.100 in 2010-11. The Survey stated thatto strengthen transparency andaccountability in the implementation ofthe MGNREGA, the Governmentinitiated a service delivery project for

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Information and CommunicationTechnology (ICT) and biometrics relatedworks of the MGNREGA on PPP basis.

The real GDP growth is expectedto pick up to 7.6% in 2012-13 and 8.6%in 2013-14 as per the survey. PranabMukherjee predicted 7.6% GDP growthin 2012-13. As per the survey, given thatfiscal consolidation is back on track,savings and capital formation should islikely to start rising. Also the RBI policyrates are expected to be reduced in theback of easing of inflationary pressures.The lowered interest rates will encourageinvestment activity and have a positiveimpact on growth.

These projections were all made onthe basis of assumptions regardingfactors like normal monsoons,reasonably stable international prices,particularly oil prices, and global growth.The progressive deregulation of interestrates on savings accounts is expected toraise financial savings and thus improvetransmission of monetary policy.

Sustainable development andclimate change were recognized by thesurvey as central areas of global concern.The Survey suggested need to examinethe linkages and trade-offs betweenpolicy rate changes and inflation in theIndian context, for better calibration ofmonetary policy. The Economic Survey2011-12 stated that it was essential tomake lower carbon sustainable growth acentral element of our Twelfth Five YearPlan commencing in April 2012.

The Economic Survey inconclusion mentioned that India is moreclosely integrated with the worldeconomy as its share of trade to GDP ofgoods and services tripled between 1990-2010. The extent of financial integration,measured by flows of capital as a share ofGDP also increased leading to anexpansion of India’s role in the worldeconomy.

Following are the highlights ofEconomic Survey 2011-12 :v Rate of growth estimated to be 6.9%

in FY 12v Outlook for growth and stability

promisingv Real GDP growth expected at 7.6%

in FY 13v GDP pegged at 8.6% in FY 14v Agriculture grows at 2.5 % growth

in FY 12v Services grow at 9.4 %, in FY 12,

share in GDP at 59%v Industrial growth pegged at 4-5 %

in FY 13v Industry expected to improve as

economic recovery resumesv Inflation on WPI was high, but

shows signs of moderationv Inflation moderation likely to spur

investmentv WPI food inflation dropped from

20.2% in February 2010 to 1.6% inJanuary 2012

v Calibrated steps initiated to containinflation

v India remains among the fastestgrowing economies of the world

v India’s sovereign credit rating roseby 2.98 percent in 2007-12

v Fiscal consolidation on trackv Savings & Capital Formation

expected to risev Exports grew at 40.5% in H1v Imports grew by 30.4% in H1v Foreign trade performance key

driver of growthv Forex reserves enhanced, cover

nearly the entire external debt stockv Central spending on social services

up at 18.5% in FY 12 Vs 13.4% FY07

v MNREGA coverage of 5.49 crorehouseholds in FY 11

v Sustainable development andclimate change high priority

v Tenuous global economic

environment turned sharplyadverse in September, 2011

v Euro-zone crisis responsible forinternational downturn

v Slowdown of Indian economy dueto global, domestic factors

v Decline in overall investment ratecause for slow recovery

v Gross capital formation in Q3 of FY12 as a ratio of GDP at 30%, downfrom 32% in FY 11

v Global economy remains fragile;efforts needed through G-20 forstability

v Progressive deregulation of interestrates on savings accountsrecommended

v Deregulation of interest rates onsavings accounts to help raisefinancial savings and improvetransmission of monetary policy

v Need deepening of domesticfinancial markets, especiallycorporate bond market

v Efforts on to attract dedicatedinfrastructure funds

v India’s foreign trade performancekey driver of growth

v Balance of Payments widens toUSD 32.8 bn in H1 of FY 12 VsUSD 29.6 bn FY 11

v Forex reserves up from USD 279bn in March ’10 to US USD 305 bnin March’11

v India now more closely integratedwith the world economy

v India’s share of trade to GDP ofgoods and services in world tripledin 1990-2010

v India’s flows of capital as a share ofGDP in word increaseddramatically in last two decadesInflation

v Inflation to moderate further in FY13

v Renewed focus on supply sidemeasures essential for price stability

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v Inflation expected to moderate at6.5-7% by March end

v Gap between WPI and CPI inflationnarrows in FY 12

v Milk, eggs/meat/fish, gram & edibleoils major drivers of food inflation

v Monetary policy measures taken tocontain inflation

v Substantial Monetary policychallenge to rein-in inflation

v RBI addressed liquidity concernsv Monetary market remained orderly

in FY 12 2011-12v Need to examine linkages between

policy rate changes and inflationv Threat from asset price bubbles in

real estate and stock marketsv Scope to further sharpen monetary

policy and use macro prudential todeal with above said threats

v Unexpected shocks such as oilprices remain inflationary threats

v High level of food stocks to helpmaintain overall price stability

MEASURES FOR PRICESTABILITY IN FOOD ITEMS

v Need guidance for farmers onfertilizers, insecticide, alternatecropping patterns

v Need strategy, regular imports ofagriculture commodities in smallerquantities

v Need to set up special markets forspecial crops

v Improve Mandi governancev Need to promote interstate tradev Perishable food items should be

taken out of ambit of the APMCAct

v FDI in multi brand retain will fillinfra gap during harvest period

v Need to step up creation of modernstores facilities for food grainsAgriculture

v FDI in multi-brand retailrecommended

v Higher levels of agricultural outputaugur well

v Concerns over growth rate in agrisector falling short of target

v Agriculture grows at 2.5% Vs targetof 4% in five yr plan

v Agriculture, allied activities accountfor 13.9 % of GDP in FY 12

v Foodgrains stocks at 55.2 milliontonnes

v Production of foodgrains in FY 12estimated at 250.42 million tones

v Speedy improvement in yieldthrough adequate investment inR&D needed

v Agri infra priority areav Agri outlook for next fiscal bright

Industryv Industrial growth pegged at 4-5%

in FY 12v Industrial growth less than recent

past and far below potentialv Need to boost business sentiments,

encourage investment and identifybottlenecks

v Industrial sector expected torebound during next financial year

v Industry expected to rebound withinflation easing, moderation incommodities prices in internationalmarket and revival ofmanufacturing performance

v Long term average annual growthof industries comprising mining,manufacturing and electricityremain aligned with overall GDPgrowth rate

v Employment in Industry increasefrom 16.2% in 1999-2000 to 21.9%in 2009-10 largely due tpconstruction sector

v Contraction in production in themining sector, particularly in coaland natural gas segments

v Electricity sector witnessedimprovement

v Basic goods and non-durablesgoods grew at 6.1%

v Moderation in growth in othersegments of IIP

v Negative growth observed in capitalgoods and intermediates segments

v Gross Capital Formation inindustry as percent to the overallGCF moderated to 48.3% in FY 11

v Manufacturing GCF growth ratedeclined to 7% in FY 11 Vs 42% inFY 10

v Moderation in rate of growth ofcredit in infrastructure andmanufacturing sectors

v Need to address land acquisitionand infra issue on priorityServices Sector

v Services sector proves saviourduring global crisis

v Services grow by 9.4% despiteslowing GDP growth

v Share of services in GDP atincreased from 55.1% in FY 11 to56.3% in FY 12

v Financial & non-financial services,IT, Telecomm, Real Estateconstituted 41.9 % of total FDIequity inflows during April 2000-December 2011

v FDI inflows to the Services Sectorslowed down FY 10 & FY 11,dipping to negative zone

v FDI inflows in FY 12 recovered;increased by 36.8 % to USD 9.3billion (April-Dec)

v Slight moderation in servicesgrowth no cause of worry

v Moderation due to the steep fall ingrowth of public administrationand defence services reflecting fiscalconsolidation

v Growth in trade, hotels andrestaurants robust at 11.2%

v Retail-sector growth expected to beeven more robust in FY 13

v Worry areas include real estateownership of dwellings andbusiness services segment

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v Software service exports steady;face threat from Eurozone

TRADE

v India’s exports grew at 23.5% toreach USD 242.8 bn in April 2011- Jan 2012

v Exports decelerated in Oct-Nov dueto global downturn; recovered inDec-Jan

v Key performers in export -petroleum and oil products, gemsand jewellery, engineering, cottonfabrics, electronics, readymadegarments, drugs

v Imports up 29.4% during April - Jan2011-12 at USD 391.5 bn

v Key import areas -POL (petroleum,oil and lubricant), gold and silver

v Trade deficit in April-Jan 2011-12at USD148.7 bn Vs USD 105.9billion in last fiscal

v Diversification of export andimport markets a success

v UAE India’s largest trading partner,followed by China

v India’s services exports bounceback after contraction in FY 10

v India’s services exports grew 38.4% to USD 132.9 bn in FY 11

v Growth in export of servicesmoderated in H1 FY 12 to 17.1%

v Software exports may show somesluggishness

v Trade challenges include globalsituation, systemic problems

v Further diversification of India’sexport basket needed

v Facilitate trade by removingprocedural delays, red tape

v Infrastructural bottlenecks need tobe removed

v Total investment in SEZs till 31 Dec2011 at Rs. 2,49,630.80 crore

v Formal approvals granted forsetting up of 583 SEZs of which 380notified

v Forex Reserves at USD 293 bnv External Debt Stock at USD 326

bnv Oil, Gold and Silver prices

contribute to modest rise in currentaccount deficit

v Net capital flows at USD 41.1 billion(4.5% of GDP) in the H1 of FY 12

v External commercial borrowing atUSD 10.6 billion in H1 of FY 12

v Portfolio investment shows largedecrease in inflow to USD 1.3 bn inH1 of FY 12

v Trade deficit more than 8 % of GDPand current account deficit morethan 3 % sign of growing imbalancein BOP

v High share of volatile FFI flowsadded external shockInfrastructure

v Performance of broad sectors andsub sectors in key infrastructureareas presents mixed picture

v Achievements in certaininfrastructure sector ‘remarkable’

v Need to attract large scaleinvestment into infrastructure

v Public-Private Partnershipsuccessful model

v PPPs expected to augment resourceavailability, improve efficiency

v Investment requirement at USD 1trillion during Twelfth Plan

v 50% investment to come fromprivate sector as against the 36%anticipated

v Financing infrastructure a bigchallenge

v Improvement in growth in power,petroleum refinery, cement, railwayfreight traffic, passenger handled

v Coal, Natural Gas, Fertilizers,handling of Export Cargo at airportsand number of cell phoneconnections show negative growth

v Steel sector witnesses moderationin growth

v Core and infrastructure sector stilldepends on public sector projects

v Delays increase project risk andcost, and need to be minimized

v Credit growth to infrastructuresector turned negative in FY 12

v Incremental credit flow to the infrasector in April-December 2011nearly 61% in same period yearbefore

v Reduction in credit flow in powerand telecom sectors

v Total FDI inflows into majorsinfrastructure sectors during April-December 2011 registered growthof 23.6%

v Challenges on form plateauing ofthe domestic savings and macroavailability of resources

v Need for innovative schemes toattract large-scale investment intoinfrastructure

v Strengthening domestic financialinstitutions and development oflong-term bonds market criticalRupee

v Rupee falls by 12.4 % against USDv Rupee falls from 44.97 per USD in

March 2011 to 51.34 per USD inJanuary 2012

v Rupee’s high volatility impairsinvestor confidence

v Aggressive stand to check Rupeevolatility recommended

FINANCIAL MARKETS

v Volatility in global financial marketslikely to tighten availability and costof foreign funding

v Government measures mitigateliquidity stress

v Indian banks robust amidstEurozone crisis

v Financial infrastructure continuesto function without any majordisruption

v Indian financial markets, especially

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currency and equity, performedunder pressure in FY 12

v Global market turmoil caused riskaversion and moderation in capitalinflows

v Countervailing steps helpedmitigate strains

v Global situation, rising tradeimbalance, pace of reform initiativesto boost capital flows

v Domestic growth concerns likely toinfluence financial marketsmovements

v Concerns over Greece’s sovereigndebt problem spreading to India

v Banking business may becomemore complex and riskier in futurewith greater global integration

v Risk and liquidity management, skillenhancement necessary

v Need to maintain sustainable levelsof external debt

v Need innovative steps to bringcorporate bond market at thecentrestage

v Infrastructure financing andfinancing of unorganized micro/small business sector neededBanking and Micro Finance

v Public sector banks show 19 %growth in priority sector lending

v Credit Disbursement to agri sectorexceeded target by 19 %

v Credit Disbursement helped over12.7 mn new farmers

v 98 % public sector bank branchesfully computerised

v Self Help Group- bank linkageprogramme major success

v Capital in banks essential forbalance sheet expansion

v Rs 12,000 provided in FY 12 forcapital infusion in public sectorbanks

v Growth in bank credit extended byScheduled Commercial Banks grewat 17.1%

v Flow of agricultural creditimpressive

v Infrastructure Debt Funds tofacilitate flow of funds intoinfrastructure projects

v Resource mobilization throughprimary market shows sharpdecline in FY 11Environment and Climate Change

v Lower carbon sustainable growth tobe central element of 12th plan

v India’s per capita CO2 emissionsmuch lower than those of developedcountries even if historicalemissions are excluded

v Need for more sensitivity fromdeveloped countries to carbonemissions

v Economic pricing of energy, newtechnologies to be the key

v India has taken voluntary actions topursue sustainable developmentstrategy

v Warming planet may cause adverseeffects, extreme weather events

v India has stepped up protection ofits natural environment, forests

v Five main challenges includeclimate change, food security, watersecurity, energy security andmanaging urbanization

v Broad-based economic and socialdevelopment answer for greatersustainabilityEducation and Employment

v Reform process in educationcontinued IN FY 12

v Aakash, low cost computing devicelaunched

v Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan normsrevised to correspond with theprovisions of the RTE Act

v National Council for TeacherEducation notified as the academicauthority for teacher qualifications

v Number of out-of-school childrendown from 134.6 lakh in 2005 to81.5 lakh in 2009

v Need to scale up the successfulcentres of innovations, create highertechnical institutions

v Labour Bureau Survey indicatesupward trend in employment sinceJuly 2009 maintained

v Employment in organized sectorincreased by 1.9 % in 2010

v Share of women in organized-sector employment at 20.4% in2010 March end

v MGNREGA: Coverage increases to5.49 crore households in 2010-11

v Government sets up committee fordeveloping index for fixingMGNREGA wage rates

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Coalition Politics is a time testedthing in Modern Democracy.The concept of Coalition Politics

basically draws its roots from the timeswhen warring states sometimes used toally with each other in order to defeat ofa common enemies, as in VedicCivilisation’s Dasragya war, Nizams &British coalition verses Marathas . Inrecent times in India got a taste ofCoalition Politics at the state level whenthe Left front comprising of CommunistParty of India (CPI), CPI (Marxist) andothers formed the first ever CoalitionGovernment in India at West Bengal withMr. Jyoti Basu as the Chief Minister(succeeded by Mr. BuddhadebBhattacharjee) which till date hasn’t beendefeated. At the national level the firstever coalition government was formedunder the Prime Ministership of Late ShriMorarji Desai Ji which existed from 24thMarch 1977 to 15th July 1979 headedby now an insignificant Janata Party (whoreputation has now been acquired by itsbreakaway section which formedthe Bharatiya Janata Party). Since 1996Indian Politics has been dominated withCoalition Governments which by far havebeen stable after a shaky start.Theincumbent Prime Minister of India Dr.Manmohan Singh is heading a coalitionGovernment of 15 parties called theUnited Progressive Alliance (UPA) withMrs. Sonia Gandhi, being its Chairperson

which is holding a second term in Office.The term ‘coalition’ is derived from

the Latin word ‘coalitio” which is theverbal substantive of coalesce whichmeans to grow together. However, asactually used, it somewhat belies itnominal meaning, ‘for the units or theelements brought into combination by acoalition very seldom grow together inany literal sense. According to thedictionary meaning coalition means anact of coalescing, or uniting into onebody: a union of persons, states: alliance.In the strict political sense the wordcoalition is used for ‘alliance or temporaryunion into a single government of distinctparties or members of distinct parties. Itis also generally accepted that a coalitioncan take place only within the contexts ofmixed motive in which both conflict andcommon interest are simultaneouslypresent and must govern the Course.Political coalition or political alliance isan agreement for cooperation betweendifferent political parties on commonpolitical agenda, often for purposes ofcontesting an election to mutually benefitby collectively clearing election thresholdsor otherwise benefiting fromcharacteristics of the voting system or forgovernment formation after elections. Acoalition government is a cabinet of aparliamentary government in whichseveral parties cooperate. The usualreason given for this arrangement is that

no party on its own can achieve a majorityin the parliament. In such times, partieshave formed all-party coalitions (nationalunity governments, grand coalitions). If acoalition collapses a confidence vote isheld or a motion of no confidence istaken.

Coalition and/or minoritygovernments were rare between 1947and 1989 when the Congress Party wonmajorities of seats in the Lok Sabha(Lower House), based on only pluralitiesof 40 to 48 percent of the vote. Thesevictories were an artifact of the first-past-the-post electoral system’sdisproportional seat-vote ratio by whichthe leading party gets disproportionatelymore seats than votes in percentage terms.As like any other democracy, politicalparties represent different sectionsamong the Indian society and regions, andtheir core values play a major role in thepolitics of India. Both the executivebranch and the legislative branch of thegovernment are run by therepresentatives of the political parties whohave been elected through the elections.Through the electoral process, the peopleof India choose which majority in thelower house; a government can beformed by that party or the coalition. Thefull-term stability of the NDA and theendurance of the UPA for eight years asof today, has also been due to the factthat coalitions in India since 1996 have

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been characterized to a large degree byspatial compatibility, that is, they consistof a patchwork quilt of parties that havestate-specific bases and do not competeon each other’s turf. This enables evenminority coalitions dependent on outsidesupport to last, combined with the factthat in the UPA’s case the supporting Leftparties, whatever their dissatisfaction withCongress policies do not wish to createan opportunity for the BJP to return topower.

Experts say that Coalition Politics isresult of rise of Regional Parties onagendas of National Importance. One ofthe reasons for the growing importanceof Regional Parties has been their successin articulating the interests of the assertivebackward castes and Dalits or‘untouchables’. These parties remain‘regional’ in terms of geographic location,but are national in terms of issues relevantto the country as a whole. Their role withinthe national coalition is also indicative ofa more competitive and polarised partysystem. Cabinets based on a coalition withmajority in parliament, ideally are morestable and long-lived than minoritycabinets while the former are prone tointernal struggles, they have less reasonto fear votes of no confidence.Sometimes grand coalitions of two largeparties also occur, but these are relativelyrare and large parties usually prefer toassociate with small ones. However, ifnone of the larger parties can receiveenough votes to form their preferredcoalition, a grand coalition might be theironly choice for forming a government.In many democratic countries, such asGermany, France, India, Israel and Italy,government by a coalition of politicalparties is considered normal. This debateis closely related to issues of votingreform, as countries with some form ofproportional representation tend to havemore political parties in parliament than

those that use a first-past-the-postsystem, and so are more likely to havecoalition governments.

The basic essence of federalism isthe notion of two or more orders ofgovernment combining the elements of‘shared rule’ for some purpose andregional ‘self rule’ for others. It is basedon the objective of combining unity anddiversity. This means accommodating,preserving and promoting distinctidentities within a larger political union.The noted constitutional authority,Durga Das Basu wrote that Constitutionof India is basically federal, but of coursewith striking unitary features. Accordingto Nani Palkivala, Indian Constitutionprovides for a cooperative federalismamong states with a bias in favour of theCentre. He was of the view that if theConstitution is worked in the right spirit,there would be no need to consider anyamendment as far as centre-state relationis concerned. He further said that theproblem has arisen to-day in an acuteform because over a period of years theCentre has acted in a manner in which atbest has been contrary to the spirit of theConstitution. Article-1 of theConstitution mentioned that ‘India, thatis, Bharat shall be Union of States’. If thisarticle is analysed it provides the messagethat there should be more of cooperationand understanding than the concept ofdomination and conflict. The conflict thatoccured in the Indian Federal process aredue to the conflict between party in thepower at the Centre and the parties inopposition to it which control some ofthe states. In all federal system, and, inparticular, what are called polyethnicunions there is a conflict of valuesbetween those of the nation and the sub-nations which constitute the Union.

In a coalition situation, governmentsare forced to build consensus amongstthe allies. In theory, to the extent that

these efforts at consensus building aredebated on the merits of the issuesinvolved, coalition governments areactually healthy. In practice, however, theperception that these negotiationsamongst allies sometimes amount tounhealthy and unethical quid-pro-quos,is gaining ground. The recent cash-for-votes issue that erupted in Parliament,and widespread media coverage aboutthe kinds of ‘deals’ that have been struckwith various allies to get support for theIndia-US nuclear agreement, Rail Budget,FDI in retail, Srilanka issue and manymore have only reinforced our concernsabout tenuous nature of coalition politics.If we as a nation are likely to live withcoalition politics, there are someimportant issues we need to consider.Hollow as it might sound, we need amassive push for enforceable ethicsreforms among political parties, howparties raise funds, how they spend them,how much of it needs to be transparentand other related issues. As a country, wecannot wait for a chance discovery of anoasis in the desert to save us. This needsa concerted effort of citizens from acrossthe country to push for higher standardsin public life.

Reasons for Coalition Politics inIndia are as follows:

1. Growth of Regional PoliticalParties: Growth of regional partieshas been reason for the emergenceof coalition politics in India.

2. Inability to Represent India’sdiversity: Coalition politics alsothrives because of the inability ofnational parties to continue to givea feeling to the diverse populationin India that they are able toadequately represent their disparateinterests. pc. The BJP’s vote shareincreased from about 11 pc in 1989to a little below 25 pc in recentelections.

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3. Lose of Trust: The tendency of thenational parties to speak of nationallevel issues, and to force coherencein the politics and views on issues, isat odds with our extremely diversepopulation. In the initial years, tothe extent that the Congress partywas able to accommodate regional/local interests and reflect theiraspirations, it was possible tomaintain a large single partyidentity. But over the years, regionaland caste identities have begun toincreasingly assert themselves in thepolitical space.

4. The moral degeneration inpolitics: Combined with regionalparties’ ability provide crediblealternatives to the Congress partyin the states, led to a situation,where ‘horse trading’ becamerelatively common in unsettling stategovernments. The brazen mannerin which political parties tradedMLAs led to the passage of the anti-defection law in 1985.

MERITS & DEMERITS OFCOALITION POLITICS

Merits1. The coalition government

addresses the regional disparitymore than the single party rule.

2. Coalition government is moredemocratic, and hence fairer,because it represents a muchbroader spectrum of public opinionthan government by one partyalone. In almost all coalitions, amajority of citizens voted for theparties which form the governmentand so their views and interests arerepresented in political decision-making.

3. Coalition government creates amore honest and dynamic politicalsystem, allowing voters a clearer

choice at election time. It is alsoeasier for parties to split, or newones to be formed, as new politicalissues divide opinion, because newparties still have a chance of a sharein political power.

4. Coalitions provide goodgovernment because their decisionsare made in the interests of amajority of the people. A coalitiongovernment better reflects thepopular opinion of the electoratewithin a country.

5. Coalition government providesmore continuity in administration.A more consensual style of politicsalso allows for a more gradual andconstructive shift of policy betweenadministrations.

6. Such government functions onprinciple of politics of consensus.Besides, states are given morepowers, and the base of concept offederalism is strengthened.

7. Government will be moreconsensus based: resulting policieswill be broadly approved of for thebenefit of the nation.

9. Better representation of theelectorate’s wishes

10. Better quality of policy: enhancedscrutiny and increased attentionpaid to each policy

11. Increased continuity: election doesnot lead to dramatic overhaulwhich can produce fragmented rule12. Yet instability apart, coalitiongovernments have been effective inenhancing democratic legitimacy,representativeness, and nationalunity.

Demerits1. Coalition government is actually

less democratic as the balance ofpower is inevitably held by the smallparties who can barter their support

for concessions from the maingroups within the coalition.

2. Coalition government is lesstransparent, Because a party has noreal chance of forming agovernment alone, the manifestosthey present to the public becomeirrelevant and often wildlyunrealistic.

3. Coalitions provide bad governmentbecause they are unable to take along term view.

4. Coalition governments are veryunstable, often collapsing andreforming at frequent intervals –Italy, for example, averages morethan one government per year since1945. This greatly restricts theability of governments to deal withmajor reforms and means thatpoliticians seldom stay in anyparticular ministerial post for longenough to get to grips with itsdemands.

5. Coalition governments aredefinitely far less effective, notdurable, and non-dependable ascompared to the governmentsformed by any one party with adefinite ideology and principles.

6. In coalition governments, MLAsand MPs from all the parties aregiven portfolios/ministries andappointed as Ministers. Theseministers are appointed on therecommendations of the parentparty, without taking thequalification, character and criminal/clean record of the MLAs andMPs.From above discussion it can be

concluded that since India is a diversecountry with different ethnic, linguistic,and religious communities, it also hasdiverse ideologies. Due to this, the benefitthat a coalition has is that it leads to moreconsensus based politics and reflects the

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popular opinion of the electorate. In orderto have stable coalitions, it is necessarythat political parties moderate theirideologies and programmes. They shouldbe more open to take others point of viewas well. They must accommodate eachother’s interests and concerns. In India,

parties do not always agree on the correctpath for government policy. Differentparties have different interests and beliefsand it is difficult to sustain a consensuson issues when disagreement arises.However, this is not to say that we havenever had successful coalitions.

Governments in W. Bengal, Kerala,N.D.A. last ministry as well as presentU.P.A. Government led by Congress(twice) at centre have been successfulcoalition.

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BEYOND THE RAFALE DEAL

India’s decision to select DassaultAviation of France to supply 126Rafale multi-role fighters caps a

process that began in 2007 to replace theIndian Air Force’s ageing MiG-21s andaugment its fleet of Sukhoi 30MKIs.Given the size of the contract — which,at upwards of $10 billion, is the largestdefence deal struck by India — theacquisition of the Medium Multi-RoleCombat Aircraft (MMRCA) was viewedin many quarters as a purchase in whichpolitical and strategic considerationswould, or even should, play a role. Such aview was bolstered by the fact that eachof the six competing aircraft originallyshort-listed had a lot to offer, thedifferences between them lying morealong the perimeter than in the core. Thattechnical and commercial factorsprevailed over extra-contractualconsiderations became evident when thecompetition, following a slew of technicaltests, was narrowed to two — the Rafaleand the Typhoon, produced by aconsortium of four European countries.Clearly, the selection process wasuninfluenced by the United Statesadministration, which had lobbied hardin favour of Boeing’s F/A-18 andLockheed Martin’s F-16, suggesting thatthe acquisition of either was an important

element in forging a closer strategicrelationship. The rejection of the U.S.-manufactured aircraft underlined that wehad, as one commentator wryly butwrongly noted, “settled for a plane, not arelationship.”

At the same time, it would be naïveto assume that arms purchases,particularly big ticket ones by a largenation such as India, are free fromstrategic implications or considerations.Indeed, for India, the Rafale acquisitionwidens its strategic options in a worldwhere multi-polarity is a fact of life. At amore immediate level, the decision to buythe fighters, which has been greeted withunabashed glee in Paris, could providethe leverage for India to hold France toits promise of increasing cooperationacross a whole range of areas, butespecially in the nuclear and defencefields, including the greater sharing oftechnology and expertise. Of particularinterest to New Delhi, is the question ofenrichment and reprocessing (ENR)equipment transfers. The NuclearSuppliers Group reneged on its 2008bargain with India last year by banningthe sale of ENR items but France — a keymember of the nuclear cartel — has saidit will not be bound by the newrestrictions. The French must now beheld to their word. As for the IAF, the

acquisition of the Rafales may stem, inthe near- or medium-term, the problemof the reducing number of squadrons.However, the IAF’s long-term combataircraft requirements will need to be metby developing the promised fifth-generation fighter in cooperation withRussia and overcoming the problems thathave delayed the induction of the TejasLight Combat Aircraft.

SYRIA NEEDS DIPLOMACY, NOTINTERVENTION

President Bashar al-Assad’sgovernment has used brute force to crusha genuine popular upheaval against hisregime. The death toll is nearly 6,000.Human rights have been systematicallyviolated. But the crucial question is howand what steps can international societylawfully take to bring an end to the crisis.Libya is not a model for emulation but awarning to heed; more so, Iraq. Each wasa split polity surviving on fragile unity. TheSyrian regime, however unpopular, issupported by a significant section ofpeople. Regime change through outsideintervention wreaks havoc, violates theUnited Nations Charter, the rules ofinternational law, and undermines thestability of the world order. Thesefundamentals must not be overlooked.At the root of Russia and China’s veto of

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the resolution on Syria in the SecurityCouncil on February 4, lies distrust, deepand justified. The world was taken for aride twice by the Council’s resolutionswhich did not authorise the use of force,but came in handy as fig leaves to coverthe nudity of illegal recourse to war.

OBAMA’S FATWA

Statements made in the Council aswell as their texts establish that Resolution1441 of November 8, 2002, did notauthorise an attack on Iraq. Nor didResolution 1973, adopted on March 17,2011, authorise the use of force againstLibya. However, on February 26,President Barack Obama delivered afatwa on Col. Muammar Qadhafi: “Heshould go.” Now, on February 4, the veryday the UNSC was to vote on theresolution on Syria, he peremptorilydeclared apropos President al-Assad:“He must step aside and allow ademocratic transition to proceedimmediately.” Few would believe HillaryClinton when she said, on January 31,“there is no intention to seek any authorityor to pursue any kind of militaryintervention”.

Suspicions of plans for regimechange are justified. “Then you will starttelling what King needs to resign and whatPrime Minister needs to step down. Thisis not the business of the SecurityCouncil,” Russia’s Ambassador to theU.N. Vitaly Churkin remarked on January31. Textually, the resolution is misleading.It “calls for an inclusive Syrian led politicalprocess” but adds it “fully supports in thisregard the League of Arab States’ 22January 2012 decision to facilitate aSyrian-led political transition to ademocratic, plural political system, …including through commencing a seriouspolitical dialogue between the Syriangovernment and the whole spectrum ofthe Syrian opposition under the League

of Arab States’ auspices, in accordancewith the timetable set out by the Leagueof Arab States; Encourages the League ofArab States to continue its efforts incooperation with all Syrian stakeholders.”As Neil Macfarquhar of The New YorkTimes reported: “Three clauses thatendorsed specific aspects of the Plan —including that Mr. Assad delegate hisauthority to his vice-president to speed atransition to democracy — wereremoved. But Arab and Westerndiplomats said the essential idearemained, even if it was not spelled out.”

‘DEMANDS, DOES NOTRECOMMEND’

The Resolution, obviously adoptedunder Chapter VII, “demands,” does not“recommend.” It says: “Demands that theSyrian government, in accordance withthe Plan of Action of the League of ArabStates of 2 November 2011 and itsdecision of 22 January 2012, withoutdelay.” Six steps are listed. Finally, theCouncil “Requests the Secretary Generalto report on the implementation of thisresolution, in consultation with theLeague of Arab States, within 21 daysafter its adoption and to report every 30days thereafter. Decides to reviewimplementation of this resolution within21 days and, in the event of non-compliance, to consider furthermeasures.” Of what avail the disavowal“Nothing in this resolution authorizesmeasures under Article 42 of theCharter” when the threat is implicit in thetext itself? The League’s Plan which isendorsed provides for Mr. al-Assad tostep down.

Bashar al-Assad is no pushover.Diplomacy should seek his consent to aplan which leaves him in office but ensuresa democratic transition. The resolutionis not an aid to diplomacy but aninstrument of duress. The Arab League

and its Western backers were impatienton regime change. Regime change hasfurtively acquired certain respectability.Time there was when Gladstone told theHouse of Commons on April 2, 1880 that“the rights of a Power, the rights of anation, ought not to be invaded becauseit happens to have the misfortune of adespotic government.” The law was laiddown by the International Court of Justiceon April 9, 1949, in the CorfuChannelcase: “The Court can only regardthe alleged right of intervention as themanifestation of a policy of force, suchas has, in the past, given rise to mostserious abuses and such as cannot,whatever the present defects ofinternational organization, find a place ininternational law. … from the nature ofthings it would be reserved for the mostpowerful States; …” These words aremore relevant now than they were in1949. This was reaffirmed inthe Nicaragua case in 1986. The Courtrejected intervention at a “request forassistance made by an opposition groupin another state.”

The collapse of the USSR in 1991opened new vistas of the play of power.In 1986, a British Foreign Office PolicyPaper noted that “the overwhelmingmajority of contemporary legal opinioncomes down against the existence of aright of humanitarian intervention”. In1992, the Foreign Office held:“international law develops to meet newsituations; we believe that internationalintervention without the invitation of thecountry concerned can be justified incases of extreme humanitarian need.” Inthis clime came R2P. In an inspiredmoment in 2000, the Canadianmovement picked on the egregiousGareth Evans of Australia, withMohamed Sahuom of Algeria, doubtlessboth of undying reason, to co-chair anindependent International Commission

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on Intervention and State sovereignty.They coined the phrase “responsibility toprotect”. The doctrine was not acceptedby the U.N. General Assembly onSeptember 14, 2009, after a long debate.On September 24, 1999, ForeignMinisters of the Group of 77 “rejectedthe so-called right of humanitarianintervention, which has no basis in theUN Charter or international law”. Thisrepresents the opinion of 132 states; 33Asian, 51 African, 22 Latin American, and13 Arab states.

CRISIS OF LEGITIMACY

Such an intervention inevitablyentails regime change. One suspects thatchange is the main objective; humanrights violations are a pretext for it.Witness the deafening silence on outragesby the favourites. Beneath the crisis inthe U.N. system lies a deeper crisis of thelegitimacy of an order which is devoid ofan international consensus. That can berestored only by a wide consensus. Weface a genuine humanitarian problem.Remember Biafra, Cambodia, Rwandaand Darfur. Russia’s Foreign Minister saidon February 4 that the resolution on Syriawas not “hopeless” and that “we supportthe call of the Syrian people for change.”There was ample room for compromise.There is still time for that — a U.N.Mission comprising members of highcredentials can go to Syria to bring abouta settlement which leaves Mr. al-Assad inoffice but ensures democratic transition.India’s Permanent Representative to theU.N., Hardip Singh Puri, said “the mainrole of the international community,including this Council, is to facilitateengagement of the Syrian governmentwith all sections of Syrian society.”Nominating its adversary, the ArabLeague, to accomplish tasks set by theResolution is no way to secure that“engagement.”

FOR A FAIR, FREE TRADE PACTWITH EUROPE

Since 2007, India and the EuropeanUnion have been negotiating acomprehensive free trade agreement —officially known as Bilateral Trade andInvestment Agreement (BTIA) —covering trade in goods and servicesbesides rules pertaining to cross-borderinvestments, competition policy,government procurement and state aid.This legally binding agreement wouldcover almost a fifth of the worldpopulation and, therefore, it impact andimplications (both positive and negative)would be significant.

DIFFERENCES

Despite 14 rounds of formalnegotiations, the finalisation of the BTIAhas been delayed as differences croppedup between India and the EU over certainissues. Some of the contentious issuesholding the BTIA are the EU’s demandon India to drastically cut tariffs onautomobiles, wines and spirits. The EU isalso seeking greater market access in theservices sector, particularly banking,retail trade, telecommunications, legaland accounting services. On the otherhand, India is seeking a significantrelaxation for the movement of itsprofessionals (for short-termassignments) within the 27-nation bloc.India has also expressed its opposition tothe inclusion of sustainable developmentissues related to labour and environmentunder the proposed agreement.

SUMMIT TOMORROW

Presently, the negotiations havereached a “closing” stage as both tradingpartners are hoping to finalise theagreement before the India-EU Summitto be held on February 10 in New Delhi.Given the logjam in talks over certain

issues, it is likely that both trading partnersmay skip negotiations over difficult areasholding the BTIA, and may announce abroad political agreement on the areasacceptable. As bilateral trade andinvestment agreements are reviewedperiodically, it would enable both Indiaand the EU to pursue negotiations overdifficult areas once the initial agreementis signed this year. Furthermore, India isunilaterally opening up key sectors of theeconomy (such as retail trade, banking,pensions, telecommunications) forforeign investments, which would addressthe key concerns of European investorsover market access.

TARIFF REDUCTION

India and the EU have agreed toeliminate tariffs on over 90 per cent of alltradeable goods during the next 10-yearperiod. If not carefully managed, a drasticelimination of tariffs on a wide range ofagricultural and industrial products couldlead to a decline in domestic output,massive job losses, significant tariffrevenue loss and negative implications forthe trade balance. The EU is particularlyinsistent on the reduction of tariffs onwines and spirits, dairy products and cars.The cheaper imports of dairy productsfrom the EU’s heavily subsidised andprotected dairy sector could result in asignificant dislocation of local producersof milk and dairy products in India. Theimplications of lowering the tariffs onagricultural and dairy products couldhave a serious and long-lasting impact asthe bulk of our rural population isdependent on them for employment andlivelihood. It needs to be emphasised thatunlike in Europe, most of the unorganisedworkers in India are self-employed.There is no social security net to take careof people who may lose their traditionallivelihoods and jobs due to a lowering oftariffs under the BTIA.

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OPENING UP BANKINGSERVICES

Car manufacturers in India areconcerned about the inclusion of finishedcars (called Completely Built Units orCBUs), and are strongly opposed to anylowering of customs duty on CBUs underthe proposed agreement. There is astrong fear in the domestic automobileindustry that lower tariffs will promptEuropean car manufacturers to importCBUs instead of assembling them in India.This move could also negatively affectfuture investments in the domesticautomobile industry as well asemployment generation. In particular, theEU wants India to open up its bankingsector. Some of the key demandsemanating from Europe include theremoval of all restrictions pertaining tobranch licences and foreign ownership(of both public and private banks),besides the removal of priority sectorlending on locally incorporated EU-basedbanks.

If European banks are given greatermarket access, will they serve 500-millionIndians citizens who do not have accessto basic banking services? The Europeanbanks are not located in rural areas andare not even serving the poor and low-income groups residing in metropolitanand urban areas. There is no regulatoryban on these banks to serve the urbanpoor. Therefore, it is not regulatorydiscrimination or the lack of a marketwhich is hindering the delivery of bankingservices by European banks but theirbusiness model which tends to “cherry-pick” the most profitable businesses inIndia.

EU’S NEW MANDATE

Moreover, the global financial crisishas put a big question mark over theefficiency, “best practices” and state-of-

the-art risk management models ofseveral big banks. The crisis has shownhow many big European bankstransmitted financial shocks acrosscountries. In contrast, the Indian bankingsystem has remained insulated fromglobal turmoil thanks to a limitedpresence of foreign banks, enlarged stateownership of the banking system, and arelatively strong regulatory framework.In a post-crisis world, New Delhi shouldseriously rethink the benefits of openingup banking and financial services underthe India-EU BTIA. On September 12,2011, the General Affairs Council of theEU officially approved the negotiatingmandate for investment protectionmeasures under the BTIA with India.

The mandate is highly problematicas it specifically proposes investor-to-state dispute settlement provisions (inaddition to state-to-state). Theseprovisions give special rights to investorsto completely bypass the domestic legalsystem and seek redress before a panelof international arbitrators. This isespecially worrisome since the newmandate calls for “the highest possiblelevel of legal protection and certainty forEuropean investors in India.” At the sametime, it does not endorse anyqualifications or limitations of investors’right to be protected under the newagreements. Such a lopsided negotiatingmandate which puts investors’ rightsabove those of democratically-electedgovernments should not be accepted byIndia under the BTIA.

LACK OF CONSULTATION

It is of grave concern that the India-EU BTIA negotiations have been markedby a gross absence of transparency andpublic consultation in India. Beforeinking an agreement with the EU, it isimportant for New Delhi to initiate widerconsultations with small and medium

enterprises, farmers’ groups, communitybased organisations, trade unions andtrade experts on an equal footing. EvenState governments have not beeninformed about the ongoing negotiationseven though it would have been only rightto take them on board on importantissues such as agriculture, public healthand education which falls under theState/Concurrent List of theConstitution.

It is a matter of shame that whilethe proposed agreement will have to beratified by national Parliaments in all 27-member-states of the EU, there is nosystem of parliamentary ratification orsupervision of such agreements in theworld’s largest democracy.

LESSONS FROM THE DURBANCONFERENCE

You know your negotiating strategyis in trouble when countries ranging asfar as Norway in the developed world topartners like South Africa and neighbourslike Bangladesh start quoting Gandhi andNehru back to you. Two months ago, thiswas the unfortunate situationEnvironment Minister Jayanthi Natarajanhad to face at the Durban conference onclimate change.

That she managed, through apassionate last-minute speech, to ensurethat all was not lost for India goes to hercredit. But the fact that India found itselfoutwitted and cornered at the endgameof these negotiations, with no option butto resort to an angry ministerial plea, isan indication of how far New Delhi haslost its way on the issue. As the dust fromthe conference settles, and a new UnitedNations deadline approaches forcountries to submit their formal views onthe subject by the month end, it is time toreappraise India’s performance atDurban, and see what lessons it can learnfrom it.

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THREE OBJECTIVES

India had gone to Durban with threepredominant objectives. First, to securethe continuance of the Kyoto Protocol,whose ‘first commitment period’ isscheduled to end in 2012. Second, toensure that its particular concerns onequity, intellectual property rights andunilateral trade measures, neglected inprevious negotiating rounds, weresubstantively integrated in the futureclimate agenda. And third, to preservethe notion of ‘differentiation’ betweendeveloped and developing countries,recognised through the principle of‘common but differentiatedresponsibilities’ (CBDR) in both the U.N.Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) and the 1992 RioDeclaration on Environment andDevelopment.

Notwithstanding the euphoricdeclarations of victory in some nationalnewspapers that uncritically peddled thegovernment line, the overall results of theconference do not make comfortablereading for India. On the plus side, onemay point to the fact that industrialisedcountries have now agreed to a ‘secondcommitment period’ of the KyotoProtocol, which requires them to reducetheir emissions in a legally bindingmanner, potentially up to 2020. This issomething India was anxious to secure,not least given its high investment in, andexposure to, the Clean DevelopmentMechanism of the Protocol. The progressmade in operationalising the technologymechanism that India championed mightperhaps also be counted as a success. Butthese apart, there is little else fromDurban that it can cheer about.

The continuation of the KyotoProtocol, important as it may be, offerslittle more than an ephemeral gain. Withthe United States refusing to ratify thetreaty; Canada blatantly disregarding its

previous ratification; and Japan, Australiaand Russia equally disinclined towards it,it is only the European Union’scommitment at Durban that has still keptthe Protocol alive. But it is unlikely tosurvive in its current form beyond thisextended phase. And, going by pastrecord, its ability to enforce seriousemission reductions in developedcountries also remains equally dim. WhatIndia gave up in return at Durbanhowever holds far more seriousconsequences. The most importantdecision that Parties took at Durban wasto terminate the ongoing negotiatingprocess on ‘Long-term CooperativeAction’ (LCA) that had been launchedunder the Bali Action Plan in 2007, bythe end of 2012. Adopted following toughnegotiations, this had notably maintainedthe ‘firewall’ between developed anddeveloping countries and also the ‘linkingclause’ that had made mitigation by thelatter contingent on the level oftechnological and financial support thatthey received from the former.

COPENHAGEN & CANCUN

The 2009 Copenhagen Accord andthe 2010 Cancun Agreements were bothnegotiated under this mandate. Eventhough they diluted the Bali ‘firewall’, theynevertheless reaffirmed the coreUNFCCC norms, that nations wouldneed to combat climate change on thebasis of ‘equity’ and in accordance withthe CBDR principle, respecting thevarious provisions of the Convention. Thenew decision at Durban that now replacesthe LCA negotiating track with the‘Durban Platform for Enhanced Action’remarkably fails to make even a passingreference to these foundationalprinciples. Calling instead for the ‘widestpossible cooperation by all countries,’ apreferred formulation of the West, itlaunches a new process to develop a

‘protocol, another legal instrument or anagreed outcome with legal force’ by 2015,which is to be ‘applicable to all Parties’,and enter into force from 2020.

Given the uncertainties of what thisnew mandate might ultimately produce,India did well to ‘loosen up’ its legally-binding character by insisting on theinclusion of the third option. But the factthat a key decision was adopted for thefirst time in the entire 20-year history ofinternational climate talks without evena cursory mention of ‘equity’ and CBDRshould give policymakers in New Delhiserious pause. What makes this omissioneven more striking is that it occurred, notthrough any oversight, but despite India’spersistent and voluble invocation of thesenorms throughout the two-week longconference, and the months precedingit.

ABSENCE OF BEDROCKPRINCIPLES

Some have argued that since thenew process is set to operate ‘under theConvention’, all its principles andprovisions will automatically apply, andhence do not need repetition. While thismay hold some force, the absence ofthese bedrock principles from theDurban Platform text should be seenclearly for what it is: a successful attemptby the developed world to detach thefuture climate negotiations from theirexisting normative moorings, and torevise the very basis on which their legalobligations, and the legitimacy of thepositions and arguments of countries likeIndia, have so far been based. India alsofailed in its bid to gain substantiverecognition for the issues of intellectualproperty rights and unilateral trademeasures. Even on ‘equity’, the issueclosest to its heart, all that it managed tosecure in the end is a ‘workshop’ on‘equitable access to sustainable

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development’, itself an ambiguousformulation, under a mandate that is nowscheduled to expire. To what extent‘equity’ will find any formal operationalrecognition beyond 2012 remains anopen question.

The outcome of the Durbanconference — and India’s failure to attainmost of its stated objectives — shouldnow raise serious questions about thewisdom of its negotiating strategy, andespecially its alliance management. Itshould also raise questions about thecapacity that it has brought to bear inthese negotiations to date. At Durban,India fielded a delegation of 34 members,as opposed to 96 from the U.S., 101 fromthe EU, 228 from Brazil, 167 from China,and even 102 from Bangladesh. Andinsiders well know what the teeth-to-tailratio even within this small group is.

COMPLEXITY OF CLIMATENEGOTIATIONS

However capable our topnegotiators are, the sheer weight andcomplexity of climate negotiations todaywill inevitably lead to more slippages inthe future unless this capacity constraintis urgently, and meaningfully, addressed.This overstretch is partly also the reasonwhy key decision makers are left withlittle time to think more deeply and open-mindedly about the newer challenges thatare confronting India today, and todevelop effective and imaginativeresponses to them. In recent years, India’sclimate foreign policy has undergoneconsiderable oscillation, in not alwaysexplicable ways. While climate change isa complex issue, and genuine differencesof opinion can exist among our politiciansand bureaucrats on how best to approachit, it is far too important and strategic aconcern for the country in the long runto be weakened by either individualcaprice or collective groupthink. If the

interests of 1.2 billion Indians are to beadequately safeguarded in the comingdecade and beyond, it is imperative thatIndia develops both a coherent grandstrategy to address climate change thatenjoys broad cross-party parliamentarysupport, and a strong negotiating teamto see it through.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER

In a few months’ time, in June 2012,the international community willreconvene in Brazil to commemorate the20th anniversary of the historic Rio EarthSummit. The developed world will thenno doubt try to use the precedent set atDurban to press for a more generalerasure of the principle of ‘differentiation’within international environmental lawitself. If this is an outcome that Indiawishes to avoid, it needs to rapidly get itsact together on this issue. Durban is awake-up call that it must not ignore.

GIVING BRICS A NON-WESTERNVISION

India is all set to host the FourthBRICS Summit in March this year. Thejourney from Yekaterinburg to NewDelhi has demonstrated that the politicalwill amongst member nations to sustainthis contemporary multilateral process isstrong. Along the way South Africa hasbeen welcomed into the original “groupof four.” Yet, the challenge for BRICS hasalways been, and continues to be, thearticulation of a common vision. Afterall, the member nations are at differentstages of political and socio-economicdevelopment. While some have evolvedeconomically and militarily they are yetto succeed in enabling plural governancestructures, while others who representmodern democratic societies are beingchallenged domestically by inequalitiesand faultlines created by caste, colour,religion and history. The BRICS nations

do have a historic opportunity — postthe global financial crisis and the recentupheavals in various parts of the world— to create or rebuild a new sustainableand relevant multilateral platform, onethat seeks to serve the interests of theemerging world as well as manage thegreat shift from the west to the east.

WAY FORWARD

Indeed, two out of the fiveeconomies in BRICS, China and Russia,have already emerged, and are veritableheavyweights in any relevant globalpolitical and economic discourse. Whythen should BRICS depend on sluggishmultilateral channels such as the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO), or try toimbibe didactic, non-pragmatic westernperspectives on issues purely of commoninterest? It is amusing to be offeredsolutions to poverty and inequality,bottom of the pyramid health models,low cost housing options, educationdelivery, energy and water provision, etal by the wise men from organisationsand institutions of the Atlantic countries.When was the last time they experiencedpoverty of this scale, had energydeficiency at this level and suffered fromhealth challenges that are as enormous?The responses to the challenges faced bythe developing world reside in solutionsthat have been fashioned organically.

BRICS could systematically createframeworks offering policy anddevelopment options for the emergingand developing world and assume the roleof a veritable policy think tank for suchnations, very similar to the role played bythe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) inthe 20th-century world. Thus BRICSmust create its own research and policysecretariat (for want of a better term) foraddressing specific issues such as tradeand market reforms, urbanisation

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challenges, regional crises responses,universal healthcare, food security andsustainable development (many of theseissues are being discussed year at theBRICS Academic Forum in March).

NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY

The OECD’s stated mission is to“promote policies that will improve theeconomic and social well-being of peoplearound the world.” Although the BRICSnations account for a fourth of globalGDP and represent over 40 per cent ofthe total global population, none of themare OECD members as yet; instead whatthey have is “enhanced engagement” withthe OECD. The BRICS nations havealready created a viable platform for“enhanced engagement” with each otherthrough the institutionalisation of theannual Leader’s summit, preceded by anAcademic Forum of BRICS researchinstitutions and a Financial Forum ofdevelopment banks (and this year, a newlyinstituted Economic Research Group willfocus on specific economic issues). Thedominant discourses within each of theBRICS nations today are centred on non-traditional security, which can beefficiently addressed through collectivemarket based response mechanisms.

Despite intra-BRICS trade volumesrising exponentially over the past decade,there are few instances of actual financialintegration within the consortium (asidefrom the case of Russia and China startingbilateral currency trading last year). Auseful first step to enable this would be toinstitute a code of liberalisation of capitalmovements across the five countries, asa modern day parallel to the 1961 OECDcode with an equivalent mandate. In thecurrent environment of global economicuncertainty, multinational corporationsare perhaps the most adaptable andprofitable drivers of economic growth.Therefore, at the outset, the creation of

favourable policies for multinationals toconduct business across BRICS would bewell justified. Moreover, just as the OECDhas a comprehensive set of guidelines thatset benchmarks for various economicactivities, from testing standards foragricultural goods to corporategovernance of state owned enterprises,the BRICS nations could create their ownguidelines on the best practices andstandards within the consortium.

Finally, within the BRICS nations,there are both import and export centriceconomies. This provides an excellenttemplate for a realistic multilateralnegotiating platform where obdurate selfserving bargaining positions are naturalstarting points. The stalled discussions atthe Doha Round of the WTO are anexample of the difficulties of consensusbuilding.

Since the BRICS nations are alreadyaddressing a plethora of issues coveredby the Doha Round, they are well placedto move ahead of it, and resolve mutualpositions and common concerns. Whatstarted as an investment pitch byGoldman Sachs (BRIC) has evolved intoa useful multilateral instrument, for theBRICS nations. BRICS must now moveon from being a grouping of individualnations, discussing agendas, to becominga “go-to” institution for setting regionaland global agendas. The essence andethos of such an institution must in turn,flow from the inorganic prism of stability,security and growth for all. Stability frombusiness cycles and financial governancefailures, security from traditional andnon-traditional threats posed to humansand the environment, and unbiasedgrowth and prosperity are commonaspirations for all BRICS nations, and theymust be achieved and delivered fromwithin. The Fourth BRICS AcademicForum will attempt to address theseimperatives.

HOW FUKUSHIMA IS RELEVANTTO KUDANKULAM

The nuclear plant accident atFukushima, Japan, in March 2011exemplifies the prescient remark ofnuclear reactor pioneer, the late AlvinWeinberg, that “a nuclear accidentsomewhere is a nuclear accidenteverywhere.” After Fukushima, manycountries initiated a reconsideration ofthe role of nuclear power in their currentand future energy portfolios and checksof their safety features at operating plants.Public demonstrations for haltingongoing construction of new plants andeliminating nuclear power altogetherfrom energy portfolios also followed.Social demonstrations against theconstruction of any new nuclear powerprojects in India and a bringing on streamof the nearly complete Kudankulam plantin Tamil Nadu are parts of thisphenomenon.

The Central government’s attemptsto assure the public of the safety of theKudankulam plant failed and thedemonstrations continued, leading theTamil Nadu government to appoint anexpert panel of four to assess afresh thesafety of the plant. The committeesubmitted its report on February 27,2012 which is as yet not released. Amember of the panel, former ChairmanM.R. Srinivasan of the Atomic EnergyCommission (AEC), is quoted as sayingthat the Committee was fully satisfied thatthe plant was safe. It remains to be seenwhether the report is convincing andcredible in coming to its conclusion, thusaddressing public concerns aboutKudankulam and also possibly bluntingthe threat to India’s future nuclear powerprogramme from escalatingdemonstrations. Concerns of risks ofnuclear power, both from possible designfaults in plants, their inappropriatelocation and from natural events such as

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earthquakes and tsunami have risen sinceFukushima. The committee has toaddress these concerns effectively in atransparent manner in its report for it toserve its purpose of looking at the issuesafresh regardless of the prior publicpositions of any of its members on them.While awaiting the report, we highlightwhat the Fukushima accident revealed onthe previously unknown orunderestimated risks and costs of nuclearpower for the reason of their possiblerelevance for evaluating the risks andbenefits of the expansion of nuclearpower in India and the operation ofKudankulam.

ISSUES FROM FUKUSHIMA

The following is commonknowledge about the Fukushimaaccident and its aftermath. First, it wastriggered by a very rare natural event —the occurrence together of anearthquake of magnitude 9 on the Richterscale and a 15-metre tsunami whichcompletely overwhelmed the plant andits safety systems. This raises the issuewhether the probability of the event couldor should have been anticipated or wasignored as unlikely by the Japaneseregulatory authorities when the plant wasdesigned, built and located at Fukushima.Second, the analysts exposed the closeties between public regulators and theprivate plant operators that could haveled them to collude and neglect safety andother features that could have been builtinto the design of the plant and affectedresponses to the accident and the timingand transparency of informationreleased.

Third, although the physicalstructure of the Fukushima plantwithstood the earthquake, together withthe tsunami, the earthquake led to theloss of offsite and onsite power leavingthe plant completely dependent on diesel

generators and batteries of emergencycooling system for reactors. But adequateemergency power was not available atFukushima. The consequential build-upof temperature resulted in production ofsteam and hydrogen that explodedrupturing the containment structurewithin a matter of hours and eventuallyled to a partial core meltdown. Fourth,radiation leaks from the disabled plantspread far beyond what had been deemedlikely, affected rice crops, milk and otherproducts for domestic consumption andexports. The leaks and damages beyondthe plant emphasised that containmentstructures have only a limited time-boundability to mitigate the consequences ofreleases of radioactivity into thecontainment by overheated reactorscoolant accidents until emergencycooling systems prevent further heatingand a core meltdown. At Fukushima,emergency cooling systems failed and ledto a partial core meltdown. Just a fewhundred metric tonnes of steam couldpose a serious threat to the containment’sstructural integrity of Kudankulam withits VVER-type reactor. It is thereforeessential that cooling systems operatereliably and effectively.

A complete analysis of theFukushima accident is not available yet.From what is available, it is known thatradiation leaks affected crops andpopulation and resulted in loss of outputfrom disruptions in power supply.Kudankulam is located in the rice andmilk producing, heavily populated andfast growing southern state of Tamil Nadunear Sri Lanka. The deleteriousconsequences of the Fukushima accidentand the risks of their happening atKudankulam are real. Obviously potentialrisks and their costs have to be weighedagainst potential benefits from the plantin a scientific, social cost/benefit analysisin evaluating whether or not to bring

Kudankulam on stream andinstitutionalising such analyses in thenuclear decision-making process.

Fifth, emerging information onactions not taken but considered atFukushima is disturbing: “in the darkestmoments of the nuclear accident last year,Japanese leaders did not know the actualextent of the damage at the plant andsecretly considered the possibility ofevacuating Tokyo [350 km away fromFukushima], even as they played downthe risks, an independent investigationinto a report has disclosed”.( International Herald Tribune , February29, 2012)

The panel’s report should includeestimates of the probabilit ies ofearthquakes of magnitude greater than 6and of tsunamis originating outside Indiathat could threaten the Indian coast. Socialcost/benefit analysis of alternativeresponses to very low probability events,which, were they to occur could inflictlarge social costs in terms of populationloss, damages to structures and long termhealth consequences is a difficultanalytical problem. However, to assurethat the Kudankulam plant is “reasonablysafe,” the panel should attempt thedifficult social cost/benefit analysis andmake public its methodology andassumptions. The uncertainties in thedata used and in estimation errors inducean “error band” around the average socialcost/benefits and these should be madeexplicit. Superimposition of estimatedprobabilities of possible reactor accidentswith site specific probabilit ies ofearthquakes and tsunamis highlighted byFukushima would enable the estimationof probabilities of a Fukushima-like eventat Kudankulam.

REGULATORY INDEPENDENCE

The Fukushima accidenthighlighted the need for the independence

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of regulators from plant operators. TheAtomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)has long been criticised for beingsubservient to DAE, the promotingorganisation for nuclear power. AfterFukushima, the establishment of a trulyindependent regulator has beenpromised. Currently, institutionaldeficiencies are structurally inbuilt andhard to eliminate. If they remain, thecredibility and autonomy of the regulatorcannot be ensured. Historically, nuclearpolicymaking in India was nottransparent and involved only a handfulof people in the government. The DAEhas exploited this arrangement.Unfortunately, the political leadership leftthe operational aspects of nuclear affairsentirely to DAE without creating anyinstitutional mechanism for independenttechnical and policy advice on civilian aswell as military aspects.

A glaring example of DAE’s misuseof the Atomic Energy Act to escape thescrutiny of regulator and courts overpublic safety concerns came in the wakeof the still unpublished 1996 AERBreport. The report is believed to haveexposed how DAE had turned regulationinto a farce because of the cosyarrangement between the regulators andthe regulated. In India, all Indian nuclearplants are in the public sector and so arethe agencies that exercise regulatoryfunctions and promotionalresponsibilities. In this situation, conflictof interest between regulation andpromotion is inevitable. Their separationand the creation of a statutory body forregulation are essential to win publicconfidence.

ENERGY PORTFOLIO

Significant shortfalls of India’senergy generation relative to estimatedenergy demand have been longstanding.Many policy failures contributed to the

shortfalls and their consequences.Amongst them, the failure to implementthe Electricity Reform Act of 2003 rankshigh. Legitimate concerns about globalwarming and energy security have driventhe proposed expansion of nuclearpower. As a poor country with a growingpopulation with a need for rapid andsustained economic growth to eradicatepoverty, India faces the daunting task ofincreasing its energy supply by a factor oftwo to three over the next two decadeseven after factoring in feasibleconservation and efficiencyimprovements. Every possible source ofenergy (fossil, renewable, and nuclear) hasto be considered without any a prioriopposition to the use of any source inany credible social cost/benefit analysisof alternative energy portfolios in meetingdevelopment goals without pushing theirrisks beyond socially tolerable levels.

Understandable public concernspost-Fukushima pose enormouschallenges for the planned expansion ofnuclear electricity generation in India.Neither technological hubris nor shrillanti-nuclear rhetoric is useful in thiscontext. For this reason the panel has toexamine critically what Fukushimarevealed that was not known before interms of risks and social costs of apotential accident over a long term andoffer its informed assessment of theextent Kudankulam and other futureplants are subject to known andpotentially new risks. Its assessment andjudgment need to be transparent andexplain which risks it considers worthtaking and why. We urge that dueconsideration be given also to issues thathuman frailties, potential natural disasterslike earthquakes and tsunamis and actsof sabotage pose to the potential failureof well designed but complex engineeringsystems like a nuclear reactor. Nohumanly designed system can ensure that

it will never fail — thus an option withzero risk does not exist. For this reason, acredible and convincing social costbenefit analysis of risks and benefits ofcurrent and available future energyoptions is essential.

PUNISHING A WHISTLEBLOWER

The United Nations specialrapporteur on torture has just submittedhis findings on Washington’s prolongedand controversial detention of WikiLeakshero Bradley Manning. Simply put, he hasconcluded that the punitive conditionsimposed on him, before beingpronounced guilty, amount to cruel,inhuman and degrading treatment. Theformer U.S. intelligence analyst has beenunder incarceration since May 2010 forallegedly having leaked secret StateDepartment cables to the whistleblowerwebsite WikiLeaks. Mr. Manning ischarged with over 20 offences, of whichthat of aiding the enemy could even attractthe death penalty. The United Statesgovernment has hampered investigationsinto his treatment — including solitaryconfinement for eight months, ostensiblyto prevent him from causing harm tohimself. Significantly, the U.N. specialrapporteur, Juan Mendez, who hasconcluded his 14-month investigation,was denied a private interview with thedetainee. The findings, which form partof his report last week to the U.N. HumanRights Council, is the latest attempt toelicit U.S. cooperation in theinvestigations into Mr. Manning’sincarceration. Earlier, over 50 membersof the European Parliament and hundredsof American legal scholars had written tothe U.S. Congress noting that 17 monthshad elapsed in bringing the accusedbefore a pre-trial court.

Mr. Manning’s treatment isreminiscent of the Central IntelligenceAgency’s infamous enhanced

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interrogation techniques used withimpunity during the Bush era againstdetainees at Guantanamo. Significantly,the White House today is guilty ofsupporting the very kind of extra-judicialmethods that Barack Obama thecandidate pledged to end and even outlawin the run up to the 2008 elections. Whilethe Bush administration at least allowedthe Red Cross to have access toGuantanamo inmates, the currentadministration has taken a step back inrefusing to allow the U.N. rapporteur tomeet privately with Mr. Manning. TheManning case is proof yet again of thehypocrisy and double standards thatgovern Washington’s attitude towardshuman rights and the rule of law. Equallydisturbing, from the point of view ofinternational precedent, is the fact thatWashington seems intent on making anexample of someone who is essentially awhistleblower. The financial targeting ofWikiLeaks is of a piece with the samevindictive mindset. States are entitled toprotect their secrets and punish thosewho break the law. But there is a line theymust not cross in trying to do so. In theManning case, the U.S. has crossed thatline.

DEALING WITH SRI LANKA

India faces a crucial decision-making moment at the United NationsHuman Rights Council on the U.S.-sponsored resolution that urges Sri Lankato address rights violations alleged againstits army in the final phase of the waragainst the LTTE in 2009. At one level,this decision should be easy to make —New Delhi does not support country-specific resolutions at the HRC inGeneva. Sri Lanka, however, poses aspecial challenge. All this time, quietdiplomacy rather than grandstanding hasbeen New Delhi’s preferred path inprodding Sri Lanka towards

reconciliation with the island’s Tamilminority. That this has not produced thedesired outcome, especially in the matterof a forward-looking political solution tothe Tamil question, is evident. Threeyears after winning the war against theLTTE, Sri Lanka is yet to cement a peacewith the Tamils . Instead, thetriumphalism about the military victory,unaddressed human rights violations andthe overwhelming presence of the Armyin northern Sri Lanka, have deepened thepolitical alienation of the Tamils. But ifquiet diplomacy hasn’t worked, Indiamust carefully assess whether the HRCresolution will get the Sri Lankangovernment to move in the rightdirection. Western powers seem to believeit can shame Sri Lanka into doing this. Infact, the proposed censure might workin exactly the opposite way, by furtherfuelling Sinhala nationalism andrendering the possibility of politicalreconciliation even more distant.

As for the “feelings” of the politicalparties in Tamil Nadu, it should be clearby now that for them, the Sri LankanTamil issue is an opportunity for cynicalone-upmanship, and nothing more.There was no clearer evidence of thisthan at the time of the UPA victory in2009, which coincided with the last standof the LTTE. After creating a furore overthe war in Sri Lanka during the elections,the DMK’s only concern after the resultswas how many and which cabinetpositions the party would get in the newgovernment. The Sri Lankan HighCommissioner’s suggestion that themembers of parliament from Tamil Naduare unwitting propagandists of the LTTEshows poor understanding of thedynamics at play in the State; hiscomment can only worsen the din.However, it should be clear to allconcerned that a decision by India not tosupport the resolution cannot be seen as

backing for Sri Lanka’s record on humanrights; Colombo would be mistaken if itinterprets it thus. Indeed, an Indiandecision to abstain or vote against theresolution would place an even biggerresponsibility on New Delhi to ensure —through more effective and even hard-edged diplomacy — that the Rajapaksagovernment delivers on the commitmentsit has made on the political and humanrights front.

THIS IS NOT FISCALCONSOLIDATION

Going into Part B of his budgetspeech in Parliament, Pranab Mukherjeecomplained that the life of a FinanceMinister is not easy. He has everyone’ssympathy there. That said, there were anumber of features in the fiscal policy ofthe Government of India for theforthcoming fiscal year (FY13) whichgenerated unease among those listeningto him.

The fiscal deficit in the current yearwas widely expected to exceed the budgetestimate of 4.6 per cent of GDP. In theevent, it is higher by a good 1.3 per cent,at 5.9 per cent. Off-hand, I am unable tothink of any other year in which thedisparity between achievement and intentwas so wide. What is even moreremarkable is that a fiscal deficit for FY13at 5.1 per cent of GDP is called a returnto fiscal consolidation, when it is higherby half a per cent of GDP than what wasbudgeted for the current year.

NO FOLLOW-UP

The failure to meet targets is blamedon reduced tax collections owing toslowing real growth, and on the rise inthe global price of oil from $ 90 a barrelas projected at the start of FY12, to $115 a barrel. But there is no coherentfollow-up on these identified causes withwhat will be done going forward.

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On the rising petroleum subsidy bill,all we have is a promise in paragraph 22that Central subsidies will be restricted inFY13 to 2 per cent of GDP, which is still awhopping Rs 2 lakh crore. No furtherdetails follow on what will be cut and whatprotected within this overall ceiling. Theneed of the hour is for a clear linkbetween the retail price of assortedpetroleum products and the global priceof oil, through an announced, andanalytically defended, pattern of subsidies.This has already been successfully donefor non-urea fertilizers, although wecontinue to hold down the price of urea,with terrible consequences for soil fertility.

The longer term challenge is for aconcerted nationwide effort at providingeffective intra-city public transportation,and at increasing the share of rail trafficin transportation of goods. There is a clearlink to the rail budget presented two daysearlier. The Union Budget offered asecond opportunity to defend the firsttentative steps attempted there togenerate revenues for expansion of therail network, but it was allowed to slip.

In the forest of 61 paragraphsdealing with the minutiae of innumerableindirect tax proposals, which felt morelike a pre-reform budget speech, therewere some that were consistent with theneed to contain the petroleum subsidy,such as the switch to a fully ad valoremexcise of 27 per cent on large cars. Thehike could have been much higher, sincethese cars clog city roads and substantiallyincrease the oil import bill by slowingtraffic all round. What struck a discordantnote was the hike in the basic customsduty on bicycles from 10 to 30 per cent,and on bicycle parts from 10 to 20 percent. The interests of buyers of non-motorised vehicles should surely takeprecedence over the interests of domesticproducers of these vehicles. On measuresto tackle slowing growth, the other

identified cause of fiscal failure, therewere some good measures scatteredthrough the speech. Even more than thenew Direct Tax Code, the Goods andServices Tax (GST) needs to be speedilyenacted for economic integration of thecountry. The move to a negative list ofservices is in the right direction, but thehike in the standard rate of excise andservice taxation to 12 per cent raises theCentral stake in the eventual GST rate.What the states will have to say aboutthat remains to be seen. Eventualagreement on the configuration of theGST will take a great deal of patience andpolitical stewardship, but the expectedcompletion of the information technologyplatform for the dual-track levy byAugust 2012 is a necessary and welcomefirst step.

There are a number of measures todeepen the capital market and encourageinvestment in infrastructure.Amendments to an assortment offinancial legislation are listed for passagethrough Parliament, although it wouldhave helped if the key direction towardswhich the amendments nudge thelegislation in question had been describedsuccinctly in the budget speech.

INFRASTRUCTURE

On infrastructure, the multi-headedhydra which obstructs real growth inIndia, there is a whole section of 26paragraphs which seeks to remove keyconstraints in a number of areas, such asviability gap funding for public privatepartnership projects, supply of coal andother fuels for power generation,operation of tolled roads, and the highoperating costs of airlines. But many ofthese measures to remove obstacles aredistressingly discretionary in nature, thusmaking the sectors in question hang onthe outcome of inter-ministerial groupsand other such bodies. This is at variance

with the broad objective of reform, whichwas to release the economy from thestranglehold of gatekeepers.

Infrastructure bottlenecks areremoved not by new initiatives alone, butby persistence with initiatives introducedin previous years. In September 2010, acess on coal at Rs. 50 per tonne wasintroduced to fund transmission lines forevacuation of electricity from renewableenergy generation points to consumptioncentres. This has raised the cost ofthermal generation, but we know nothingabout whether the transmission linesintended came into existence at all.

THE EVERYDAY EMBRACE OFINEQUALITY

The big winner at the Screen ActorsGuild Awards on Sunday night was TheHelp , a film about the relationshipbetween African American maids andtheir employers in 1960s Mississippi. Thefilm, and the book on which it is based, iswell-meaning, but both patronising andsentimental. Critics see it as a nostalgicfeel good experience (“we were so racistthen but we are so much more evolvednow”) for contemporary whiteAmericans, while ignoring the inequalitybetween employers and domesticworkers in the U.S. today. But it raisessome important issues for those of us wholive in servant-keeping societies. It is areminder of the peculiar nature ofinequality in the intimate environment ofthe home.

THE DOMESTIC WORKER

Studies show that numbers ofdomestic workers in any society rise withlevel of inequality. What this means is thatin order for this occupation to flourish,there have to be people desperate enoughto do the work that no one else wants todo, and people well off enough to paythem for the work they don’t want to do.

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Thus domestic workers occupy one ofthe lowest rungs in the social hierarchy,have little or no dignity of labour, and areexploited in both everyday and egregiousways. But domestic workers are unlikeany other kind of worker preciselybecause they work in other people’shomes. The site of their work, in the veryheart of the household and family life,erases the usual divide between homeand work, and places workers in aposition of caring for a home and childrenthat are not theirs. In the home, oneperson’s refuge from labour is another’ssite of labour, one person’s space ofprivacy is another person’s public arena.There is spatial intimacy yet vast socialdistance.

IN INDIA

Because of the long history ofservant employment in India, we oftendo not reflect upon the institution — or ifwe do, it is to wish that servants thesedays were as loyal as servants of the past.We simply assume that we cannot live amiddle-class existence without it. But wewould do well to reflect on the effect ofthe institution of paid domestic work onthe internal dynamics of middle-classfamilies. What difference does havingsomeone who is paid to look after themmake to the lives of children and to thatof their parents? In a recent study of paiddomestic work in Kolkata, my co-authorSeemin Qayum and I suggest that whilethe institution of paid domestic labourproduces cleanliness, meals andchildcare, it also produces andreproduces a class, gender and, often,caste unequal home and society.

If the home is the site ofsocialisation, where children learn therules of society, then it is also the site wherethey learn about inequality and hierarchy.It is the site in which they learn, shouldthey have a domestic worker in the house,

that someone (usually a woman who doesnot look like them) will pick up their socksif they are lying around. They will learnthat you can pay people to do things youdo not want to do yourself, like makingyour bed, or cleaning your bathroom, andthey will acquire the belief that those tasksrequire no skills. In other words, they willlearn to normalise privilege, value certainkinds of work, and devalue others.

BECOMING AWARE OFHIERARCHY

We learn hierarchy in subtle ways;it is in small gestures and unspokenmoments — such as the different tone ofvoice a mother uses toward workers, orwhere a domestic worker sits, or that arequest made to a domestic worker isreally an order — that children learnabout the hierarchical order of daily life.One child remembers being told to touchthe feet of his elders, and realising, whena hushed silence fell over the room, that“elders” did not include the maid; anotherdistributes sweets to her friends but doesnot include the domestic worker who isalso a child; and another expects his maidto run after and fetch the ball when he isplaying with her. Children learn, throughthe simple act of every day living, todistinguish between domestic worker andemployer, and to convert theseperceptions and practices intointernalised dispositions about what itmeans to treat a “servant as a servant.”

Having a domestic worker alsomediates the relationship of theemploying couple to each other. Genderhierarchies are learned through the factthat domestic work is still seen as women’swork. The most common reaction whenwe went to interview employers was thatthe man would summon his wife andleave the room as if to say that he had noopinion on the matter, he simply lived inthe house. A professional woman who

wants to have a serious career learns touse her class advantage (the ability to hirea worker) to minimise her genderdisadvantage (the inability to insist thatyour husband do his share of thehousework and childcare). To put itbluntly, men simply won’t do houseworkand women don’t feel they can makethem. The dominant ideology continuesto be indisputably that men areresponsible for life outside the home andwomen for life within the home, even ifwomen work outside the home. Thepresence of a servant simply mitigates theneed to insist that men do their share athome, and because it is the servant thatdoes the housework, it continues to bedevalued labour. In this way, themaintenance of the institution of paiddomestic work, though usually taken forgranted, leads to the reproduction ofhierarchies, not just in 1960s Mississippibut in the 21st century in very manysocieties, and stands in the way of anymove towards a genuinely egalitarian one.Indeed, it produces what we have calleda culture of servitude through whichrelations of domination, dependency, andhierarchy are normalised.

MAKING SCIENCE ENJOYABLE

That little children are gifted withsophisticated thinking capabilities andcan solve problems like a hard-wiredscientist has been documented by manystudies. Instead of nurturing these talentsand imparting other skills like logicalthinking — so very essential for excellingin science — the system ends up bluntingor even destroying what they alreadypossess. The systemic problem can betraced to the way science is taught todayin schools and colleges: through lecture-oriented, teacher-centric instruction. Ifthis turns the students into passivelearners, introducing “difficult conceptstoo early in the science curriculum”

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compels them to become rote learnersand excellent reproducers of “boring,incomprehensible facts,” notes a recenteditorial in Science . The system ensuresthat the joy of learning science is killed atan early stage. Learning by doing isregarded as one of the best ways ofstimulating a child’s curiosity and interestin the subject. Unfortunately, the faultysystem has corrupted even this avenue.The curriculum has laboratory-based‘experiments’ that require students toblindly follow certain prescribedprocedures to achieve somepredetermined results. This is in starkcontrast to open-ended experimentswhere students, like scientists, arerequired to raise a logical question andgo about testing it in a scientific manner.This kind of a system that makes scienceenjoyable is neither practised norencouraged in India.

A recent initiativeby Science provides an ideal opportunityto undertake some vital course correctionto inculcate interest in the subject. Thejournal has started publishing oneinquiry-based activity a month (“Aninquiry-based curriculum for nonmajors,”by David P. Jackson et al .); this will becontinued for the next 15 months. Theintent of the initiative is to “increasescientific literacy [and] impart afundamental understanding of the natureof scientific investigation.” Aside fromincreasing scientific literacy, the modules,if properly used, can surely serve as astarting point for teachers and studentsto appreciate the power of learningthrough ‘real’ experiments. In the shortterm, institutes in India should focus onmoving away from the teacher-centriceducation that is in vogue to a more activestudent-centric instruction. The meritsof such learning have been demonstratedby none other than Nobel Laureate CarlWieman at the University of British

Columbia. In his study, the active learninggroup scored nearly double that of thepassive group and outperformed it on allcounts.

INDIA’S STAKE IN ARCTIC COLDWAR

A retired Rear Admiral of theChinese PLA Navy, Yin Zhuo, caused amajor stir in March 2010, when in aspeech to the Chinese Peoples’ PoliticalConsultative Conference, he declared:“The Arctic belongs to all the peoplearound the world as no nation hassovereignty over it.” China, he said, mustalso have a share of the region’s resources.

RESOURCES, RESERVES

The five nations which ring theArctic Ocean, namely the U.S. Canada,Denmark, Norway and Russia, disagree,though they themselves have competingterritorial claims. The stakes areenormous: The Arctic Circle encloses 21million square kilometres of land and 13million sq.km of mostly ice-bound seas.By way of comparison, India’s total landarea is 3.3 million sq.km. It is estimatedthat the region may hold over 40 per centof the current global reserves of oil andgas. There may also be significant reservesof coal, zinc and silver. As global warmingcauses the ice to melt, even for limitedperiods, the commercial exploitation ofthese resources is becoming feasible. InJanuary 2011, the multinational oil major,BP, concluded a strategic alliance with theRussian State Company, Rosneft, toexploit the hydrocarbon resources in theRussian Arctic.

Arctic shipping has become a realityin the summer months. The Northwestpassage, mainly along Canada’s ArcticCoast, will link Far East Asia with NorthAmerica, while the North-East Passage,mainly along Russia’s Arctic shoreline,would provide an alternate route between

Asia and North America, but alsobetween Europe and Asia. These Arcticroutes, which used to be the stuff of fablesin the 18th and 19th centuries, will cutglobal shipping routes by severalthousand kilometres. For example, theArctic route from Rotterdam (Holland)to San Francisco will be 4,000 km shorterthan the existing route. This route hasalready been used in the past twosummers by commercial shipping. As thedensity of Arctic shipping increases, sowill the geopolitical importance of theNorthern Tier countries. The Arcticregion is now becoming a popular touristdestination. In 2010, over 50,000 touristssailed the pristine waters of a hithertoforbidden zone.

THE ANTARCTIC

It is, therefore, easy to see why thecountries that lie on the Arctic littoral,are keen to monopolise the resources ofthe region, shutting out any interlopersincluding China. The sharpening tensionsarising out of long-standing territorialdisputes among the Arctic countries arealso a consequence of the prospects ofsignificant economic and strategic gainsthat could be made from exploiting thelocational advantages and potentialresources of this vast frozen expanse. Thecurrent scramble one witnesses in theArctic is in sharp contrast to the relativetranquillity which prevails over theopposite end of the Earth, the Antarctic.In a rare example of cooperation amongthe major powers, the Antarctica Treatywas concluded in 1959, permitting onlyresearch and scientific activity in the vasticy continent, shelving for the time being,any competing territorial claims.

The Antarctica is a continent, unlikethe Arctic, which is an ocean, but it is alsocovers a vast area, approximately 14million sq.km, covered in a thick layer ofice. The Antarctic, like the Arctic, is also

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estimated to hold vast reserves ofhydrocarbons and rare minerals. Globalwarming is also leading to the melting ofthe permanent ice in the southernsummer and there could well be a frayingof the compromise arrived at among theAntarctic Treaty partners. Territorialclaims, which have been frozen for theduration of the Treaty, may well berevived. What happens in the Arctic maywell trigger a negative change in theAntarctic.

Is the world on the threshold ofa new geopolitical contest, centred on thewarming waters of the Arctic? If theshipping routes through the Arcticbecome more dense, the countries thatlie astride these routes, will gain inimportance. The exploitation of the richresources of the region will add to thewealth and economic significance of thealready aff luent U.S., Canada andnorthern European countries. Russia maybe the most prominent beneficiary of thisshift, not only because it occupies thelargest part of the Arctic, but also becauseit has the most experience in dealing withthe harsh conditions that will continue toprevail in the region. The relativeimportance of countries that currentlydominate global shipping routes willdecline; the strategic chokepoints of thePanama Canal, the Suez Canal, theBosphorous and the Malacca Straits,would lose much of their economicimportance. The distribution of theworld’s critical resources would bedrastically rearranged, giving greaterleverage to the U.S., Canada, Russia andnorthern Europe. The geopolitical centreof gravity may well swing back from theAsia-Pacific to the trans-Atlantic.

ELEMENT OF IRONY

It is ironic that while on the one handthe world is grappling with globalwarming triggered by climate change, the

world’s major powers are scrambling toprofit from its consequences in the fragileArctic zone. There is a deliberate effortto minimise the dangers of the melting ofArctic ice, which may affect the chemicalcomposition of the world’s oceans, raisesea-levels, affect ocean currents andthereby weather patterns across theglobe, including our own monsoons,which are vital to our survival. It is wellestablished that the challenge of globalclimate change cannot be addressedunless there is a worldwide, acceleratedand strategic shift from production andconsumption patterns that rely on carbonbased fossil fuels to those based onrenewable sources of energy such as solarpower and clean sources of energy suchas nuclear power. And yet, all availableevidence points to fossil fuel use not onlycontinuing but being significantlyexpanded in the coming years.

The British economist, LordNicolas Stern recently pointed out( Financial Times , December 8, 2011)that the world’s largest coal, oil and gascompanies are basing their currentoperations and future plans on theassumption that there will be no barriersto rising emissions from fossil fuel use,despite this being the stated policy of bothgovernments and companies. Theunseemly rush for Arctic resources is justthe most glaring example of this. Theongoing multilateral negotiations onclimate change under the U.N.Framework Convention on ClimateChange may soon become irrelevant. Theindustrialised countries lose noopportunity to preach a low carbongrowth strategy to developing countrieslike India on grounds that this is globallyresponsible behaviour. And yet theiractions, including in the Arctic,demonstrate their intention ofintensifying their own carbon intensivelife styles.

The depleting rainforests in theAmazon basin in Latin America, CentralAfrica and the Indonesian archipelagohave been declared “global commons,” ongrounds that their preservation is vital tomaintaining the health of the global eco-system. These ecological resources, it isargued, cannot be treated as exclusivenational resources by the countries inwhich they are located. The rest of theworld has a legitimate interest in theirbeing managed in an environmentallysound manner. By the same token, thepreservation of the extremely fragileecology of the Arctic, whose disturbancemay adversely affect the survival ofpeoples across the planet, is of vitalconcern to the international community.The Arctic Ocean is as much a “globalcommons” as is the Antarctica. Non-Arctic countries like India need to asserttheir right to have their say in themanagement of the Arctic. This cannotbe the exclusive privilege of the Arcticlittoral countries. India should mobiliseinternational public opinion in favour ofdeclaring the Arctic a common heritageof mankind and sponsoring aninternational legal regime on the lines ofthe 1959 Antarctic Treaty.

ROLE FOR INDIA

There may be voices in this countrywho may argue that India should followChina in seeking a share in theexploitation of Arctic resources to fuelits continuing economic growth. Thiswould be short-sighted. It ignores themuch greater damage compared to anypossible benefits that India may have tobear if the Arctic continues to be ravagedby unchecked human greed. Further,India possesses neither the financial nortechnological capabilities to match thecountries in the forefront of the currentArctic scramble. The available pickingsmay prove to be meagre. India should

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consider carefully whether it shouldpursue its reported application to join theArctic Council as a permanent observer.The Council was set up in 1996 and haseight members viz. U.S., Canada, Russia,Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland andIceland. There are five permanentobservers viz. the U.K., France, theNetherlands, Poland and Italy. Brazil,China, Japan and South Korea have alsoexpressed an interest in becomingpermanent members. However, it shouldbe noted that a condition for beinggranted this status is acceptance of thesovereign rights of the Arctic Councilmembers over the Arctic Ocean. Indiashould instead press for the AntarcticTreaty template where the territorialclaims of States have been shelved forthe duration of the Treaty. The reasonsfor which the international communityaccepted the discipline of the AntarcticTreaty are today even more compellingand urgent with respect to the Arctic.Placing this on the U.N. agenda duringIndia’s term in the Security Council andinitiating international action on it couldbe a historic contribution by India in itsrole as a responsible global power.

FROM FOOD SECURITY TO FOODJUSTICE

If the malnourished in India formeda country, it would be the world’s fifthlargest — almost the size of Indonesia.According to Food and AgricultureOrganisation (FAO), 237.7 millionIndians are currently undernourished (upfrom 224.6 million in 2008). And it is farworse if we use the minimal calorie intakenorms accepted officially in India. Bythose counts (2200 rural/2100 urban),the number of Indians who cannot affordthe daily minimum could equal the entirepopulation of Europe. Yet, the Indian eliteshrieks at the prospect of formalising auniversal right to food. Notwithstanding

the collective moral deficit this reveals, italso shows that the millions of Indianswhose food rights are so flagrantly violatedare completely voiceless in the policyspace. India’s problem is not only tosecure food, but to secure food justice.

What can food justice practicallymean? First, to prevent situations wheregrains rot while people die — a very basicprinciple of distributive justice. But it hasto mean a lot more: people must havethe right to produce food with dignity,have control over the parameters ofproduction, get just value for their labourand their produce. Mainstream notionsof food security ignore this dimension.Food justice must entail both productionand distribution. Its fundamental premisemust be that governments have a non-negotiable obligation to address foodinsecurity. They must also address thestructural factors that engender thatinsecurity. Most governments, however,appear neither willing nor able to deliverfood justice. It needs therefore thedevolution of power and resources to thelocal level, where millions of protagonists,with their knowledge of local needs andsituations, can create a just foodeconomy.

COLLECTIVE STRUGGLE

This is not quite as utopian as it maysound. Something on these lines has beenunfolding in Kerala — a collectivestruggle of close to a quarter millionwomen who are farming nearly 10 millionacres of land. The experiment, “SanghaKrishi,” or group farming, is part ofKerala’s anti-poverty programme“Kudumbashree.” Initiated in 2007, it wasseen as a means to enhance local foodproduction. Kerala’s women embracedthis vision enthusiastically. As many as 44,225 collectives of women farmers havesprung up across the State. Thesecollectives lease fallow land, rejuvenate

it, farm it and then either sell the produceor use it for consumption, depending onthe needs of members. On an average,Kudumbashree farmers earn Rs.15,000-25,000 per year (sometimes higher,depending on the crops and the numberof yields annually).

Kudumbashree is a network of 4million women, mostly below the povertyline. It is not a mere ‘project’ or a‘programme’ but a social space wheremarginalised women can collectivelypursue their needs and aspirations. Theprimary unit of Kudumbashree is theneighbourhood group (NHG). EachNHG consists of 10-20 women; for anoverwhelming majority, the NHG is theirfirst ever space outside the home. NHGsare federated into an Area DevelopmentSociety (ADS) and these are in turnfederated into Community DevelopmentSocieties (CDSs) at the panchayat level.Today, there are 213,000 NHGs all overKerala. Kudumbashree office-bearers areelected, a crucial process for its members.“We are poor. We don’t have money orconnections to get elected — only ourservice,” is a common refrain. Theseelections bring women into politics. Andthey bring with them a different set ofvalues that can change politics.

The NHG is very different from aself-help group (SHG) in that it isstructurally linked to the State (throughthe institutions of local self-government).This ensures that local developmentreflects the needs and aspirations ofcommunities, who are not reduced tomere “executors” of governmentprogrammes. What is sought is a synergybetween democratisation and povertyreduction; with Kudumbashree, thisoccurs through the mobilisation of poorwomen’s leadership and solidarity.“Sangha Krishi” or group farming is justone example of how this works. It istransforming the socio-political space

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that women inhabit — who in turntransform that space in vital ways.

This experiment is having threemajor consequences. First, there is apalpable shift in the role of women inKerala’s agriculture. This was earlierlimited to daily wage work in plantations— at wages much lower than those earnedby men. Thousands of Kudumbashreewomen — hitherto underpaidagricultural labourers — have abandonedwage work to become independentproducers. Many others combine wagework with farming. With independentproduction comes control over one’s timeand labour, over crops and productionmethods and, most significantly, over theproduce. Since the farmers are primarilypoor women, they often decide to use apart of their produce to meet their ownneeds, rather than selling it. Every grouptakes this decision democratically,depending on levels of food insecurity oftheir members. In Idukki, where theterrain prevents easy market access andfood insecurity is higher, farmers takemore of their produce home — asopposed to Thiruvananthapuram wheremarket access is better and returns arehigher.

SANGHA KRISHI

Second, “Sangha Krishi” hasenabled women to salvage their dignityand livelihoods amidst immenseadversity. Take the story of Subaida inMalappuram. Once widowed and oncedeserted, with three young children, shefound no means of survival other thancleaning dead bodies. Hardly adequateas a livelihood, it also brought herunbearable social ostracism. NowSubaida is a proud member of a farmingcollective and wants to enter politics. Inthe nine districts this writer visited, therewas a visible, passionate commitment tosocial inclusion amongst Kudumbashree

farmers. Our survey of 100 collectivesacross 14 districts found that 15 per centof the farmers were Dalits and Adivasisand 32 per cent came from the minoritycommunities. Third, “Sangha Krishi” isproducing important consequences forthe Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme inKerala.

Because of Kerala’s high wages formen, the MGNREGS in Kerala hasbecome predominantly a space forwomen (93 per cent of the employmentgenerated has gone to women where thenational average is 50). From thebeginning, synergies were sought betweenthe MGNREGS, the People’s Plan andKudumbashree. Kudumbashree farmersstrongly feel this has transformedMGNREGS work.

“We have created life … and food,which gives life, not just 100 days ofmanual labour,” said a Perambra farmer.In Perambra, Kudumbashree women,working with the panchayat, haverejuvenated 140 acres that lay fallow for26 years. It now grows rice, vegetablesand tapioca. Farmers also receive twospecial incentives — an ‘area incentive’for developing land and a ‘productionincentive’ for achieving certain levels ofproductivity. These amounted to overRs.200 million in 2009-10. They werecombined with subsidised loans frombanks and the State, and seeds, input andequipment from Krishi Bhavan and thepanchayats.

CHALLENGES

However, serious challengesremain. Kudumbashree farmers arepredominantly landless women workingon leased land; there is no certainty oftenure.

Lack of ownership also restrictsaccess to credit, since they cannot offerformal guarantees on the land they farm.

Whenever possible, Kudumbashreecollectives have started buying land toovercome this uncertainty. But analternative institutional solution is clearlyneeded. It is also difficult for women toaccess resources and technical know-how — the relevant institutions (such ascrop committees) are oriented towardsmale farmers. There is also no mechanismof risk insurance.

Is this a sustainable, replicablemodel of food security? It is certainly oneworth serious analysis. First , thisconcerted effort to encourageagriculture is occurring when farmerselsewhere are forced to exit farming — inlarge numbers. It re-connects foodsecurity to livelihoods, as any serious foodpolicy must.

But more importantly, the value ofSangha Krishi lies in that it has becomethe manifestation of a deep-rootedconsciousness about food justice amongstKerala’s women. Kannyama, thepresident of Idamalakudy, Kerala’s firsttribal panchayat, says she wants to makeher community entirely self-sufficient infood. She wants Sangha Krishi produceto feed every school and anganwadi inher panchayat — to ensure that childrenget local, chemical-free food. Elsewhere,Kudumbashree farmers plan to protestthe commercialisation of land. Even inthe tough terrain of Idukki’s Vathikudypanchayat, women were taking a censusof fallow land in the area that they couldcultivate. Some 100,000 women practiseorganic farming and more wish to.Kudumbashree farmers speakpassionately about preventing ecologicaldevastation through alternative farmingmethods.

In the world of Sangha Krishi, foodis a reflection of social relations. And onlynew social relations of food, not politicalmanoeuvres, can combat the twinviolence of hunger and injustice.

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DON’T TIE DOWN THE INDIA OFIDEAS

India must rank among the world’soldest centres of ideas. Going by the textsand the inventions that have emergedfrom India, there must have been a timewhen it had an effective system of learningand instruction. However, somewherealong the way from a hoary past to astagnant present, an institutionalarrangement has emerged that iscompletely out of synch with therequirements of India’s economy and theaspirations of its people. Perhaps the mostsignificant shock that led to India’seducational system veering off course wasthe introduction by the East IndiaCompany of the system of highereducation in mid-nineteenth century.The significance of this is usuallyunderstood to be that the medium ofinstruction now became the Englishlanguage. However, arguably, themedium of instruction per se matteredless than what came to be consideredknowledge.

CONCENTRATED IN PORTS

The colonial initiative in the field ofeducation led to a system of highereducation concentrated in the ports,eluding the vast hinterland, and heavilyskewed towards a European idea of thehumanities, cutting away the graduatesproduced from their fellow natives. Itcannot be asserted, however, that it wasentirely worthless, at least not in thecontext of colonialism. The system didproduce, in modest numbers, doctors,engineers and administrators. But,unsurprisingly, they largely went on toperpetuate colonial rule in India.

There were, of course, exceptions.Thus, there was C.V Raman who won theNobel Prize working out of his lab inKolkata. Then there were the scientistsBose and Saha, and in the arts Sarvepalli

Radhakrishnan, one of the first of theglobal academics from India who attainedprominence as an interpreter of Indiantexts to the West. But, by and large, whatthe university system produced wasgeared mainly to advancing the colonialproject in India. It had little to offer onthe specific problems of the country, wascoy on the topic of democracy, and waswont to privilege English literature overothers. Political independence presentedus with a unique opportunity to developa higher education system devoted tocreative thinking on India. But close toseven decades later, we have not mademuch of this opportunity, though thepolitical class might claim that it hasincreased access.

Education, however, is also aboutthe generation of ideas. In the world ofideas, political boundaries do not justcount for nothing, but are mostly viewedwith scorn. The adage “No man is aprophet in his own land” is not so much alament for the prophetic academic as amessage to the political establishment thatthey had better be hospitable to theirthinkers. Long before the advent of theWTO, the world of ideas, as opposed togoods, was resolutely global. The onedifference is that in the 21st century,information technology lays bare thecupboard, exposing those who onlyborrow ideas while celebrating those whoproduce them. We are by now left withthe inescapable impression that in today’sworld, India is a mere consumer of ideas,generating much less in turn. Fromeconomics to political theory, not tomention the management mantrams ,India’s higher education archipelago iscontent to be at the receiving end. Theunimaginative way in which highereducation is structured is entirelyresponsible for this.

The central element in any systemof institutionalised learning is the teacher,

collectively referred to as the faculty .Following the substantial hike in salaries,as recommended by the Sixth PayCommission, the universities have had toaccept a set of rules governing all aspectsof the functioning of their faculty. Whilethe principle that earnings must beperformance-linked is entirely correct,the question is whether the rules onrecruitment and performance appraisalare designed to allow Indians to competeon the global marketplace for ideas, aforum not substantially different fromthe world of commerce where only thefittest survive.

EXPERIENCE VS. EXCELLENCE

The point about the current rules isthat when it comes to performanceappraisal, it quantifies activity withoutsufficient correction for quality. In asimilarly misguided vein, recruitmentrules are hooked on experience asopposed to proven excellence in research.While quantitative indicators have theirplace, their use must be confined to thoseareas where they have an applicability,such as lecture hours, and resolutely keptout of everything else, as they distort thepicture. The claim that they provide a‘transparent’ index collapses when werecognise that even criteria stated upfrontcan be transparently poor when they areill-suited to the task.

Quantitative output targets thatignore the quality of outcomes in theuniversity can be disastrous for a society.Service rules in many Indian universitiesalso restrict professional travel at a timewhen travelling to conduct anddisseminate one’s research has becomethe mark of the successful academic. Itcannot have escaped anyone’s attentionthat many overseas Indians are herealmost as often as they are in the countrieswhere they hold professorships. Whyshould India’s academics be tied down

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by mindless rules, very likely devised byunaccountable bureaucrats who have noidea of how to create knowledge?

Quantitative targets, mindlesslyimplemented, are no answer to the veryserious challenge the Indian universityfaces today, which is to compete in theglobal forum for ideas. The rules thatgovern them tie them down even beforethe race has started. An argument oftenmade is that these rules are needed todiscipline the vast army of collegeprofessors who have historically violatedall norms even as they draw a salary.Absentee teachers, and underperformingones, even when they do appear in theworkplace, are a very real problemespecially in the vast hinterland. There isalso the problem of private collegemanagements that have no interest ineducation except as a profit-makingenterprise. While all of this needs seriouslyto be tackled, the field of education posesa very specific problem. Regulation —interpreted as tethering the faculty orevaluating them loosely — is surely lessof an objective than the furtherance ofeducation. We need to recognise that ourobjective is less to tie the lecturer downthan to advance learning, which ultimatelyrevolves around how much the younghave learned. This requires somethingmore than merely devising conduct rulesfor the faculty.

India needs to learn from theexperience of the West, whose modelcurrently towers over others in highereducation globally. Certainly there are nonationwide rules in the United States, andfar greater autonomy is given there toheads of institution when it comes toraising academic standards. In India,heads of institutions, especially in theuniversity system, have becomeinsignificant, in that they have noautonomy nor are they held responsible.Inevitably, the morass of rules and

regulations precipitate self-selection: thebrightest academics give a wide berth toadministration as it is a professionaldeathtrap. Even as the rules for facultyappraisal quite shamefully privilege‘foreign’ journal publications over ‘Indian,’and ‘international’ conferences over themerely desi , they remain entirely out ofsync with the best global arrangementsin higher education.

KILLING CREATIVITY

Furthermore, among therecognised publications, there is no placefor books, considered an important partof an academic ’s accomplishmentglobally, and the expected teaching loadis outrageous. Summary quantitativeindicators, adopted in the name ofobjectivity, kill creativity and encouragethe mediocre. Actually, they are only thethin-edge of the wedge in theprogression, and bode ominously for thefuture of India. Imagine an India withoutan Amartya Sen, a Romila Thapar or a‘Venky’ Ramakrishnan. The currentsystem of governing the production ofknowledge in our higher educationsystem has come close to deliveringprecisely this outcome. It may be claimedthat too few among India’s academicshave protested. But this is proof that thedeathly arrangement devised to governour institutions of higher learning hasactually succeeded. The rules onrecruitment and appraisal of faculty needto be publicly reviewed by anindependent panel of citizens before itcan do further harm.

COPING WITH DISASTERS

Nothing tests the political will andadministrative efficiency of a governmentlike a natural disaster. More than long-term development projects and poverty-alleviating schemes, it is the responsemechanisms activated in times of

emergency that people remember. InTamil Nadu and Puducherry, a monthafter cyclone ‘Thane’ made landfall, theaffected communities are still strugglingto put their lives back together. Given themagnitude of destruction in the coastalareas, especially Puducherry and thedistricts of Cuddalore and Villupuram,normality could not have been restoredin a matter of days. The All India AnnaDravida Munnetra Kazhagamgovernment in Tamil Nadu led by ChiefMinister Jayalalithaa did well in theaftermath of the cyclone, clearinguprooted trees from the roads andreaching food to the victims. But withtens of thousands of electricity polesfalling to the fury of the cyclone, powersupply has returned only in phases, spreadover a month, to the affected areas. Moredisconcertingly, a lot remains to be donein terms of rehabilitation for the peoplewho lost their homes and means oflivelihood. Farmlands have been ravaged,leaving farmers and workers without anymeans of income during harvest time.Many have resorted to taking loans orwithdrawing deposits for day-to-daysustenance.

In this context, the decision of theState government to construct one lakhconcrete houses at a cost of Rs.1,000crore to replace huts damaged in thecyclone is a significant step in easing themisery of the victims. Too often, theenthusiasm shown by officialdom in thedays immediately after a disaster dries upin a couple of weeks. As seen in theconstruction of houses for those affectedby the tsunami in 2004, delays can stretchto years. Without the pressure of publicopinion, governments tend to under-perform and fail to keep promises madeat the time of the calamity. And almostinevitably, housing projects for disastervictims, which take a longer time tocomplete, drop off the priority list of the

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authorities. As pointed out by ChiefMinister Jayalalithaa, ‘Thane’ causeddamage on a scale rarely seen before.Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will needsubstantial help from the Centralgovernment in carrying out long-termrehabilitation measures. The State, whichsought Rs.5,248 crore from the NationalDisaster Response Fund, has so far beengiven Rs.500 crore. Whatever it takes, theState and Central governments mustspeedily ensure that the peopletraumatised by ‘Thane’ and the North-East monsoon are able to lead a normallife again.

IN THE MALDIVES, ARESIGNATION THAT KEEPS

DEMOCRACY AFLOAT

Rather than allowing events to drifttowards a political or even militaryshowdown, Maldivian PresidentMohammed “Anni” Nasheed has showngreat fidelity to democratic principles ina country where none existed before himby stepping down from office with graceand poise. The alternative to his suddenand yet unsurprising resignation — whenpushed by circumstances, often of hismaking or that of his aides and followers— could have been political instability atbest, and possible street violence at worst.

Under the U.S. executivepresidency model, Nasheed has beensucceeded by Vice-PresidentMohammed Waheed Hassan Manik,Maldives’ first PhD-holder and aninternational civil servant in U.N. agenciesacross the world. Again, as in the U.S.model, Dr. Manik, who was the running-mate of President Nasheed, will completethe five-year term for which he waselected, ensuring that there would be noinstability of any kind at the top. Thatdemocracy has taken deep-roots in theIndian Ocean archipelago was provedeven in the hours immediately following

President Nasheed’s resignation, whenthe People’s Majlis , or Parliament, metto pass the necessary resolutions todeclare the succession.

ROAD AHEAD

The speculation about the newPresident ordering fresh elections is thusill-informed. If anything, there could befresh elections to the Majlis . This is alsounlikely. Under the prevailingcircumstances, no party or group iscertain of winning an absolute majority,and therefore, will not push for elections.Instead, as President, Dr. Waheed mayconsider the feasibility of constituting anational government, where all parties,including President Nasheed’s MaldivianDemocratic Party (MDP) and the tworival parties founded successively by hispredecessor, President Maumoon AbdulGayoom, have a substantial andmeaningful role and responsibility innation-building, a task that has sufferedover the past couple of years for a varietyof reasons.

NASHEED’S LEGACY

There are other parties and groupsthat are now in the Opposition but hadsided with the MDP, particularly duringthe second round run-off elections to thepresidency in which Nasheed was electedin October 2008. Included in the list areIslamic fundamentalist groups, who werea part of the informal arrangement of the“December 23 Coalition,” named afterthe day on which they all together stageda protest to “protect Islam” in 2011. Atthe end of the day, President Nasheed’sshort tenure, particularly compared tothe long innings of his predecessor, willbe remembered for theinstitutionalisation of democracy in thecountry. However, it will also besimultaneously remembered for theavoidable, and at times acrimonious,

constitutional and political deadlocks.The Nasheed camp blamed the variouscrises that came in its way on the well-entrenched administrative set-up that theyoung President had inherited. The newgovernment did not learn, or learn fastenough, to live and work with the oldguard. Instead, from day one and untilthe end, the Nasheed governmentworked against the system.Unfortunately, that did not yield much interms of positive results or a positiveimage for the young inheritors of troubledtimes.

As President, Nasheed began well.With much help and cooperation fromhis predecessor, he could ensure asmooth transition when much troublewas feared. Likewise, at his exit, hestepped down without unease anddiscomfort, rather than indulge inbrinkmanship that could have put theyoung democracy in difficulties. A street-fighter to the core, it remains to be seenhow he will shape up in the Opposition— before this, when he and his yet-to-berecognised party were fighting fordemocracy under President Gayoom, hehad no formal role in the political system.Declared a “prisoner of conscience” byAmnesty International, Nasheed spentmuch of his political career either inGayoom’s prisons, or overseas — he wasmuch influenced by the BritishConservatives and by the U.S.’ views onglobal issues. Yet, he also displayed anelement of sagacity, in accepting India asa natural ally, as in the past.

THE COMPLAINTS

Today, along with PresidentGayoom, with whom he did not sharemuch in common, President Nasheed hasa substantial role to play in nation-building efforts, both learning as muchfrom their faults as from the other person’sstrengths while in office. This can be both

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a cementing and calming effect on thepolity and society, which has felt elated atthe birth of democracy and a change ofleadership, from the old to the young —and yet could not adjust itself to thechanging realities, particularly on theeconomic front, overnight. Included inthe long list of complaints against theNasheed leadership is the steep increasein the price of daily needs, all of whichhave to be necessarily imported, theproblem further accentuated by theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF)-induced decision at a “managed float ofthe rufiyaa,” the Maldivian currency — adevaluation in other words.

Likewise, the IMF-directed slash onsalaries and staff-strength in thegovernment also had critics in a countrywhere 10 per cent of the population isemployed in the government. Yet, theMarch 2011 local council elections didgo the MDP way mostly, but then thatalone has not been enough in this case.From Parliament to the judiciary, and nowat the level of the police, the leadershiplacked the capacity to handling crisissituations that eventually became itsundoing.

CONTRIBUTORY ROLE

The new President and his twopredecessors can play a concurrent andcontributory role to make a Maldives oftheir collective dreams — Dr. Waheed,heading the relatively minor GaumeeIththihaad Party does not have anyparliamentary representation, and mustdepend on Gayoom and Nasheed, as wellas the Dhivehi Rayathunge Party (DRP),the parent party of Gayoom’s morerecent Progressive Party of Maldives(PPM), among others, to get governmentbusiness through the legislature. Dr.Waheed can be expected to take the leadin this matter.

PUTTING DOWN THE BURDEN OFBORDERS

Dhaka and New Delhi are set tohost many important visits soon to reviewthe deals and commitments they madeduring Bangladesh Prime Minister SheikhHasina’s trip to New Delhi in January2010 and her Indian counterpartManmohan Singh’s much hyped visit toDhaka in September 2011.

While Bangladesh Home MinisterSahara Khatun’s February 23-24 visit tomeet P. Chidambaram has already beendecided, the widely expected Dhaka tripby Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjeeto review bilateral ties is yet to be officiallyannounced.

ESCALATING TENSIONS

The Home Minister-level talks willtake place at a time when Dhaka is peevedat the repeated incidents of brutaltreatment of Bangladeshis by the BorderSecurity Force, escalating tensions on thefrontier. The border incidents, includingthe recent savage treatment of a youngcattle trader by the BSF, shown on video,have not only shocked Bangladesh butalso caught Indian as well as worldattention, prompting New Delhi to takeaction against the personnel involved.

The Indian media and human rightsorganisations have reacted sharply to thebehaviour of the border guards. TheHindu , in an editorial, urged New Delhito tender an “unreserved apology” toBangladesh for the “brutal conduct”(“Brutality on the border,” Jan. 24).According to an estimate released byNew York-based Human Rights Watch,more than 900 Bangladeshis and 164Indians were killed along the border bythe BSF between 2000 and 2010. Thesituation improved after the twocountries agreed last year to avoid usinglethal weapons in dealing with illegal

border activities, and Mr. Chidambaramordered the BSF not to shoot except inself-defence. Yet, according to mediareports, 16 Bangladeshis were shot dead,seven others tortured and three morekilled in other methods between Apriland December 2011. Dhaka hasexpressed deep concern over therecurring incidents despite repeatedassurances by New Delhi that the BSFwill exercise maximum restraint.

RENEWED DISCUSSIONS

Understandably, Ms Khatun’s visitwill allow a renewed discussion on suchborder incidents, which have all thepotential to generate a negative impacton people-to-people relations. The twoHome Ministers, as the agenda says, willdiscuss a wide range of issues that willinclude border security, smuggling ofdrugs, review of the implementation ofborder management agreement signed inJuly last during Mr. Chidambaram’s visitto Dhaka.The border guards of Indiahave all the right to defend their frontierfrom illegal activities, detrimental to theirnation’s interest. But the law should beallowed to take its course. Opening firestraightway and indulging in brutal actstake their toll on people’s trust. Thewidespread feeling is that the largestdemocracy and Bangladesh’s bigneighbour is doing little to curb suchexcesses despite repeated assurances.

Since considerable time has passedafter great expectations were aroused in2010 of a shared, forward-lookingenhanced connectivity and trade, it is nowtime to assess the implementation of theaccords signed and commitments made.Mr. Mukherjee’s likely Dhaka visit thismonth will be the best opportunity forthat. The Finance Minister is visiting onthe invitation of his Bangladeshicounterpart, A.M.A. Muhith, extendedwhen they met in January at Petrapole on

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the India-Bangladesh border. That boththe sides have felt the need to review thedecisions reached so far is praiseworthy.Mr. Mukherjee will review the state ofbilateral relations, especially the $1-billion line of credit India has committeditself to providing for infrastructuraldevelopment. The loan under an August2010 agreement remains virtuallyuntapped. Bangladesh says it plans toabandon eight of the 21 projects plannedunder the Indian loan, due to “toughconditions.”

Those watching the recent positivetrend in India-Bangladesh relations mayhave reasons to be frustrated at the slowpace of implementation of some of thevitals accords, which deserve quickimplementation to place the ties on a solidfooting. The Teesta water sharing accordhas remained unfulfilled till date, thanksto West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, causing acute embarrassmentto the Hasina government, while the landboundary protocol signed during Dr.Singh’s visit to Dhaka — on exchanging162 enclaves — has not progressedsatisfactorily. New Delhi is facing troublein clearing the impediments to theimplementation of the treaty, which hasto be ratified in Parliament. The BharatiyaJanata Party, opposed to theimplementation of the 1974 borderagreement, has expressed its strong viewson the issue and reportedly decried theland swap deal, perhaps to suit its politicalinterests. Many see the BJP’s position as aroadblock to the emerging India-Bangladesh ties.

POLITICAL SITUATION IN DHAKA

On the other hand, the politicalsituation in Bangladesh has notdeveloped as smoothly as the rulingalliance, which won a thumping majorityin Parliament, expected. As the Hasinagovernment stepped into its fourth

crucial year — elections are scheduledfor late 2013 — civil society finds itselfincreasingly divided on certain issues,which include the scrapping of thecaretaker government system through aconstitutional amendment. Politicaltensions are also on the rise on the issueof a new Election Commission. The majorcomplaints against the government areits failure to prevent the recurrentcollapse of the share market, rein ininflation and price hike, controleconomic chaos, stop violence by rulingparty cadres, and improve law and order,and the allegation by political rivals that ithas failed to gain any advantage fromIndia. The government has been accusedof protecting “India’s interests” only.However, the Khaleda Zia-ledopposition’s open stand against the trialof the perpetrators of the worst crimesagainst humanity during the 1971 Warof Liberation has caused more harm thangood to it.

Political perceptions may differ butindependent observers believe that allmajor political points being made by thealliance of Islamist-friendly BangladeshNationalist Party and the fundamentalistJamaat-e-Islami against the Hasinagovernment are, covertly or overtly,India-centric. The Opposition is againstallowing India transit to connect itsnortheast, and opposed to taking a hardline against the region’s insurgents. Evenin the recent abortive coup — foiled,thanks to the army chain of command —India-centric issues, prompted byextremist religious views, dominated themindset of the plotters.

With the Teesta deal yet to be inked,the land boundary protocol yet to cross ahurdle before implementation, themuch-desired transit non-operational,and the Tipaimukh hydro project inManipur triggering allegations of animpact on Bangladesh’s environment and

economy, political adversaries opposingthe new found ties will, undoubtedly, havethe added advantage of questioning theultimate outcome of the relations theneighbours fondly embarked upon twoyears ago. There is no denying that thedeals signed and the commitments madeso far must reach their logical goals, andtheir fruits enjoyed by the people on bothsides of the border. In an era ofglobalisation marked by a phenomenalgrowth of science and technology,Bangladesh and India cannot lag behind— nursing and sustaining mistrust andhostilities. Let us hope the relations putin place by the two countries, afterdecades of acrimony, will emerge as anexample for South Asia. Let them not failus.

T IS FOR TRADE IN INDIA-PAKISTAN TIES

Commerce Minister AnandSharma is leading an 80-strong businessdelegation to Pakistan this week toadvance what has been a remarkableturnaround in bilateral economic ties overthe last year. In April 2011, bothgovernments agreed on a structuredprocess to promote trade. Theyintensified senior official contact,consulted experts and chambers ofcommerce on ways to address sector-specific and non-tariff barriers,encouraged greater business-to-businessinteraction and set to work on improvingthe trading infrastructure at Wagah (dueto be complete in a couple of monthstime). A liberal visa regime forbusinesspersons is reportedly in theworks and there have been discussionson petroleum and power trade.Bureaucrats improved trust by makingimportant tradeoffs. India lifted its blockon EU concessions for Pakistani textiles.Islamabad reciprocated by agreeing tomove (shortly) from a positive to negative

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list of tradeable items and to, further onin the year, grant India MFN status.Constant engagement has promptedambition. Mr. Sharma and his Pakistanicounterpart Makhdoom Amin Fahimannounced in September plans to doublebilateral trade to $6 billion by 2014, upfrom the modest $2.7 billion during2010-11. The CII declared last week thatif obstacles are addressed in time thevolume of Indo-Pak trade can reach $10billion by 2015.

A GOOD YEAR

All of this was unthinkable a littleover a year ago. In the weeks prior to theForeign Secretaries Nirupama Rao-Salman Bashir meeting at Thimphu lastFebruary, it was still unclear if therelationship had recovered fromrecriminations following Foreign MinisterShah Mehmood Qureshi’s outburst at thepress conference with S.M. Krishna atIslamabad in July 2010. Mr. Qureshi’scriticism of India’s former HomeSecretary’s comments about the ISI’s rolein the Mumbai attacks had provokedfresh doubts in Delhi about the extent ofthe Pakistan Army’s support for Indo-Pakdialogue.

But a range of factors allowed bothsides to get back together and transactmore at the table. Prime MinistersManmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilanitackled the issue of bureaucratic mistrustby instituting regular contact on a rangeof subjects. Their summit meeting amidthe festive exuberance of the World Cupcricket match at Mohali in March andthe Indian media’s exaggerated attentionon Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Kharduring her visit in July improved wideratmospherics. Meanwhile, the Indianmiddle class acquired a greater familiaritywith Pakistan’s internal crises, owing toincreasing media coverage of the seriesof terrorist attacks on markets, shrines

and Pakistan Army targets. And sectionsof the Indian strategic communitydiscerned changes in the Pakistan Armycalculus as its relations with Washingtondeteriorated rapidly after Osama binLaden’s killing in May. Sceptics in Delhibegan coming round to the view thatRawalpindi may, out of self-interest, backimprovements in relations with India, atleast on the trade front. All of thisincrementally helped Dr. Singh win thedomestic debate on the merits ofcontinuing dialogue despite the lack ofmovement on the Mumbai trials inRawalpindi.

AFTER TRADE

Both sides may have reconciled tothe significance of enhancinginterdependence through trade, but suchconsonance is, however, unlikely toextend to core political issues, at least inthis year. This is largely owing to internalpolitical constraints on both sides, theuncertain endgame in Afghanistan andthe bilateral impasse over issues likeKashmir and Siachen. To begin with,discussions on contentious issues cannotproceed till political turbulence inPakistan subsides. The civiliangovernment’s tussles with the Army andthe judiciary have already had aprocedural impact, delaying elements ofthe bilateral calendar. The planned HomeSecretary talks in December and theForeign Ministers meeting in January (asannounced during the Krishna-Khartalks in July) have been deferred. For now,India is content to watch developmentsacross the border with interest andprovide Pakistan’s civilian government thespace it needs to reset its relationship withthe Army which is vital for making furtherprogress with India.

Dr. Singh has his own difficultclimate to contend with. The outcryagainst corruption has not stalled; the

issue is getting a regular refresh eitherthrough a spike in civil society activismor judicial injunction. The UPAgovernment’s relations with theopposition remain fraught, underminingscope for consensus on key policy issues.And the results of the ongoing Assemblyelections will likely affect thegovernment’s political authority. A poorresult for the Congress will undermineDr. Singh’s ability to take bold steps onhis Pakistan policy. The Prime Ministerhas a history of taking bold steps onforeign policy from a position of apparentpolitical weakness. But under thecircumstances that he finds himself in,Dr. Singh may prefer pushing economicreform in an attempt to bolster theCongress’ chances in 2014 rather thanchoose to work towards a grand politicalentente with Pakistan.

This has largely to do with theshadow of Afghanistan on Indo-Pakrelations. Both countries are competingthere for influence; they back differentsides and do not trust each other’sintentions. Islamabad is wary about Indiatraining an increasing number of AfghanNational Army troops, as agreed underthe Strategic Partnership Agreement withKabul. There are concerns in Islamabadthat New Delhi will develop an Afghanarmy with an “Indian mindset”. India fearsthat Pakistan will ultimately succeed insecuring a place for its Taliban andHaqqani network clients in thedispensation that will ultimately emergeat Kabul or push those actors towardsconfrontation with India’s traditionalnon-Pashtun allies if peace talks fail. Indiaand Pakistan will thus wait for the fog ofwar (and peacemaking) in Afghanistan toclear before deciding to address othercontested issues of Kashmir and Siachen.

The enabling conditions forresolving Jammu and Kashmir are, in anycase, not in sight. Delhi and Islamabad

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are yet to agree on the starting point ofnegotiations. India is keen on picking upfrom informal agreements reached in theSatinder Lambah-Tariq Aziz backchannel talks during the Musharraf years,which were based on the principles of softborders, self-governance, demilitari-sation and joint management. But in aneffort to distance itself from theMusharraf legacy, the Gilani-led PPPregime disavows the so-called ‘four pointformula’ on grounds that the formerPresident did not secure domesticsupport for his ideas, which they reckonis key for such a totemic issue in Pakistan.Perhaps wiser by the Indo-Pak back-channel experience, India and China haverecently agreed to prepare a “jointlyagreed record” of boundary-related talksheld over the years between NSAShivshankar Menon and Chinese StateCouncillor Dai Bingguo — to serve as thestarting point for future talks with thelatter’s successor.

Equally, Delhi has been unable tomake the necessary headway in pacifyingKashmir or using the relative quiet of2011 to develop a consensus between theregions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakhon restoring autonomy provisions for theState — on which the Prime Minister hasexpressed his openness. The report of thethree J&K interlocutors is presumed tohave spelt out political options for theCentre, but Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram’s plans to initiate a publicdebate on the report’s findings have notseen the light of day, owing to theconstraining climate that the Congressfinds itself in. Likewise, both sides areunable to agree to a deal on Siachen sinceDelhi has become risk averse after theKargil intrusion in 1999 that was partlyaimed at choking Indian access to theglacier. As a result, the Indian stand ofdelineating ground positions as part of anegotiated deal has reportedly become a

sticking point. Indian and Pakistanidiplomats are, therefore, likely to focuson consolidating economic links,especially by addressing non-tradebarriers, while continuing high-levelengagement on other issues this year. Thekey challenge for both sides will be toinsulate economic discussions from widerstrategic anxieties. India will rightlycontinue to insist on the prosecution ofMumbai attackers. Lack of movement onthe trial may not in itself derail dialoguebut Delhi will need, to use NirupamaRao’s phrase, a “proper closure” tosustain popular support for continuedengagement. Needless to say, anothermajor terrorist attack can unravelprogress all too quickly.

GIVING BRICS A NON-WESTERNVISION

India is all set to host the FourthBRICS Summit in March this year. Thejourney from Yekaterinburg to NewDelhi has demonstrated that the politicalwill amongst member nations to sustainthis contemporary multilateral process isstrong. Along the way South Africa hasbeen welcomed into the original “groupof four.” Yet, the challenge for BRICS hasalways been, and continues to be, thearticulation of a common vision. Afterall, the member nations are at differentstages of political and socio-economicdevelopment. While some have evolvedeconomically and militarily they are yetto succeed in enabling plural governancestructures, while others who representmodern democratic societies are beingchallenged domestically by inequalitiesand faultlines created by caste, colour,religion and history. The BRICS nationsdo have a historic opportunity — postthe global financial crisis and the recentupheavals in various parts of the world— to create or rebuild a new sustainableand relevant multilateral platform, one

that seeks to serve the interests of theemerging world as well as manage thegreat shift from the west to the east.

WAY FORWARD

Indeed, two out of the fiveeconomies in BRICS, China and Russia,have already emerged, and are veritableheavyweights in any relevant globalpolitical and economic discourse. Whythen should BRICS depend on sluggishmultilateral channels such as the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO), or try toimbibe didactic, non-pragmatic westernperspectives on issues purely of commoninterest? It is amusing to be offeredsolutions to poverty and inequality,bottom of the pyramid health models,low cost housing options, educationdelivery, energy and water provision, etal by the wise men from organisationsand institutions of the Atlantic countries.When was the last time they experiencedpoverty of this scale, had energydeficiency at this level and suffered fromhealth challenges that are as enormous?The responses to the challenges faced bythe developing world reside in solutionsthat have been fashioned organically.

BRICS could systematically createframeworks offering policy anddevelopment options for the emergingand developing world and assume the roleof a veritable policy think tank for suchnations, very similar to the role played bythe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) inthe 20th-century world. Thus BRICSmust create its own research and policysecretariat (for want of a better term) foraddressing specific issues such as tradeand market reforms, urbanisationchallenges, regional crises responses,universal healthcare, food security andsustainable development (many of theseissues are being discussed year at theBRICS Academic Forum in March).

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NON-TRADITIONAL SECURITY

The OECD’s stated mission is to“promote policies that will improve theeconomic and social well-being of peoplearound the world.” Although the BRICSnations account for a fourth of globalGDP and represent over 40 per cent ofthe total global population, none of themare OECD members as yet; instead whatthey have is “enhanced engagement” withthe OECD. The BRICS nations havealready created a viable platform for“enhanced engagement” with each otherthrough the institutionalisation of theannual Leader’s summit, preceded by anAcademic Forum of BRICS researchinstitutions and a Financial Forum ofdevelopment banks (and this year, a newlyinstituted Economic Research Group willfocus on specific economic issues). Thedominant discourses within each of theBRICS nations today are centred on non-traditional security, which can beefficiently addressed through collectivemarket based response mechanisms.

Despite intra-BRICS trade volumesrising exponentially over the past decade,there are few instances of actual financialintegration within the consortium (asidefrom the case of Russia and China startingbilateral currency trading last year). Auseful first step to enable this would be toinstitute a code of liberalisation of capitalmovements across the five countries, asa modern day parallel to the 1961 OECDcode with an equivalent mandate. In thecurrent environment of global economicuncertainty, multinational corporationsare perhaps the most adaptable andprofitable drivers of economic growth.Therefore, at the outset, the creation offavourable policies for multinationals toconduct business across BRICS would bewell justified. Moreover, just as the OECDhas a comprehensive set of guidelines thatset benchmarks for various economicactivities, from testing standards for

agricultural goods to corporategovernance of state owned enterprises,the BRICS nations could create their ownguidelines on the best practices andstandards within the consortium.

Finally, within the BRICS nations,there are both import and export centriceconomies. This provides an excellenttemplate for a realistic multilateralnegotiating platform where obdurate selfserving bargaining positions are naturalstarting points. The stalled discussions atthe Doha Round of the WTO are anexample of the difficulties of consensusbuilding. Since the BRICS nations arealready addressing a plethora of issuescovered by the Doha Round, they are wellplaced to move ahead of it, and resolvemutual positions and common concerns.

What started as an investment pitchby Goldman Sachs (BRIC) has evolvedinto a useful multilateral instrument, forthe BRICS nations. BRICS must nowmove on from being a grouping ofindividual nations, discussing agendas, tobecoming a “go-to” institution for settingregional and global agendas. The essenceand ethos of such an institution must inturn, flow from the inorganic prism ofstability, security and growth for all.Stability from business cycles andfinancial governance failures, securityfrom traditional and non-traditionalthreats posed to humans and theenvironment, and unbiased growth andprosperity are common aspirations forall BRICS nations, and they must beachieved and delivered from within. TheFourth BRICS Academic Forum willattempt to address these imperatives.

IRAN ISSUE NEEDS DIPLOMACY,NOT CRUDE WEAPON

By imposing sanctions that aim tothrottle Iran’s oil industry and exports, theUnited States and Europe have embarkedon a course of action that is likely to

backfire on the West and the immediateregion.Oil as a political weapon was lastused by oil producing countries in the1973 Yom Kippur war. With Washingtonsupporting Tel Aviv, the Organisation ofthe Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) retaliated by imposing an oilembargo on the West to get Israel to backoff. This embargo, in turn, had a lastingimpact on both oil prices and globalinflation.

Saudi Arabia included India in theembargo list because Israel had aconsulate in Mumbai, and ordered a haltto oil loadings for India. As theGovernment of India’s petroleum advisorfor the Gulf, I was asked to rush to Riyadhfrom Tehran; I met the oil companyexecutive in charge of exports, explainedour position on Israel, persuaded them,in consultation with Jeddah, to lift theembargo, load the two ships nominatedby Indian Oil and remove our name fromthe list of “West.” I was then asked to goto all the Gulf capitals to explain our policyon Israel and Palestine so that nobodyelse would be tempted to embargo oilshipments to India. Since then, India’sstake in the Gulf Cooperation Council(GCC) has expanded exponentially, interms of oil imports, human resourceexports and remittances. So has India’svulnerability to any conflict in the Gulf.

AFTER 1973

After the 1973 episode, the OPECgroup has, under the influence of SaudiArabia, never used oil to influencepolitical policy. OPEC Arab membersknow that if they stop or severely regulateoil supplies to the West, they couldinfluence American policy on Palestine.The U.S. is also acutely aware of thispossibility (as well as the dangers of OPECunexpectedly falling under the politicalsway of Russia and China) and hence therepeated military interventions by the U.S.

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and its allies in oil producing countries.In 2009,when Israel was constantlyattacking the Gaza strip, the Saudis wereasked to use their oil strength to get Israelto stop the attacks. The Saudi ForeignMinister responded by saying that “oil isnot a weapon. You cannot reverse aconflict by using oil.” It was almost arepetition of what the then Saudi foreignpolicy advisor said in 2002 that “oil is …not a tank.”Linda Heard, a specialist onMiddle East, has noted that “indeed, thereseems to be a general consensus amongArab oil producers that as guardians ofmuch of the world’s supplies, they havean ethical responsibility not to use oil as atool of manipulation.”

But this is not just an ethical issue.Any disruption of oil supplies from theGulf, whether as a result of consciousOPEC policy decision or due to closureof the Strait of Hormuz, will create untoldproblems not only for Westerneconomies and the Gulf’s oil suppliers butalso for oil importing developingcountries like India. It is sad that theinternational community, fed by westernpropaganda, is looking at the Iran crisisas a bilateral issue of controlling Iran’snuclear ambitions, rather than at thelarger consequences of the use of oil as apolitical weapon for the region and world.It is sadder that India has been suckedinto thinking along similar lines and isworrying about how to pay for the crudeit buys from Iran — some 10 per cent ofour import requirement — without fallingfoul of Western sanctions, instead ofopposing the West’s use of oil as a politicalweapon.

What is required today is to stopthe implementation of sanction measuresthe European Union (EU) has rashlyannounced but not fully implemented.The sanctions have provoked equallyunreasonable threats by Iran to suspendexports or close the Strait of Hormuz, to

raise the price of oil or to have a scorchedearth policy for some Gulf oil fields. Thesethreats, in turn, are being disingenuouslytouted as justification by the Israelis formilitary intervention. There are, ofcourse, wise people on both sides whocan be depended upon not to carry outsuch threats. But oil sanctions have raisedthe temperature so much that a conflictby miscalculation has become a majorthreat.

A diplomatic initiative by India,China and Russia is needed to lower thetemperature, persuade the EU and theU.S. to freeze and then slowly withdrawthe use of oil sanctions while getting Iranand Israel to back off on all their threats.Disengaging the weapon of oil from thedialogue required to deal with Iran’snuclear issue is the need of the hour.There are ways to find an acceptablesolution to the nuclear issue. It couldinvolve widening the geographical scopeof the negotiating group to include Iran’smajor neighbours, dealing with theperceived security threat to Iran,refashioning the approach to non-proliferation and dealing with theemerging political puzzle in West Asia.But using the oil weapon against Iran isnot one of them.

AN IRANIAN OIL EMBARGO ANDA RUSSIAN OIL BOON

For months, the Russiangovernment has opposed the idea ofWestern petroleum sanctions againstIran. But new threats to Iranian oil flowcould have at least one beneficiary:Russia.The Russian oil industry wasalready reaping the rewards of higherglobal oil prices from Iranian tensions,even before Tehran raised the stakesWednesday by threatening to cut off oilto six European nations. Now, whetherIran carries out that threat immediatelyor Europe proceeds with its previously

planned embargo of Iranian oil thissummer, the Russian industry couldcapitalise more directly. Its pipelines standready to serve customers willing to pay apremium price — with a grade of oilclosely resembling Iran’s.

WINDFALL FOR PUTIN

“It’s pretty good for Russia rightnow,” Jesse Mercer, a senior oil analystbased in Houston with PFC Energy, saidin a telephone interview. Russia is nowthe world’s largest oil producer, pumpingabout 10 million barrels of oil a day,slightly more than Saudi Arabia. Of this,Russia exports seven million barrels a day.Most of it goes to customers in Europeand Asia, although small amounts fromSiberia make it as far as the West Coastof the United States.

For Russian oil companies likeRosneft and Lukoil and the Russian-British joint venture TNK-BP, theinternational tensions that began overIran’s nuclear development programmelast autumn have meant a windfall.Analysts estimate that Iran jitters haveadded $5 to $15 a barrel to the globalprice of oil, which means an extra $35million to $105 million a day for theRussian industry. And the taxes theRussian government has received fromthose sales have been a political windfallfor Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin ashe campaigns to return as Russia’sPresident.

The extra money has helpedfurther subsidise domestic energyconsumption, tamping down inflation.“It’s good for Putin,” Mr. Mercer said. “Inthe United States, when oil prices go up,the president’s ratings go down. In Russia,it’s the opposite.”

Rising prices, of course, are a boonfor every oil producer, whether in NorthDakota, the North Sea or northernSiberia.

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PIPELINE ADVANTAGE

But Russia has a particularadvantage: a pipeline system that cansupply Iran’s traditional customers in bothEurope and Asia. Depending on whichway the geopolitical winds are blowing,Russia has the ability to direct more orless of its oil either eastward or westward.Some of its oil to Europe travels bypipeline the entire way; other oil is pipedto the Black and Baltic Seas and shippedfrom there. What’s more, the grade ofRussia’s main export oil, Ural Blendcrude, is similar to Iran’s and has alreadybeen in greater demand as an alternativeto Iranian oil for European refineries.

That’s why the price of Ural Blendhas risen even faster than global pricesgenerally. In December, it traded at a $2discount to Brent oil from the North Sea.That difference is now gone. Both gradesare now trading for about $119.50 abarrel, energy analysts say. The sixnations Iran threatened to cut off onWednesday were, in descending order ofthe size of their purchases: Italy, Spain,France, the Netherlands, Greece andPortugal. Tehran did not explain why itselected those countries, while ignoringeven bigger oil users like Germany. Butall six were already planning to stopbuying Iranian oil this summer, anyway,as part of an embargo the 27-nationEuropean Union agreed to last month, tobegin in July. At its recent peak, Europewas buying 500,000 to 660,000 barrelsof Iranian oil a day, according to PFCEnergy.

If the European sanctions do takeeffect then, oil prices could rise further— by as much as $7 to $13 a barrel abovewhere they are now, in the view of WoodMackenzie, an oil consultancy based inEdinburgh. And even if oil prices later fall,Russia’s natural gas monopoly, Gazprom,would continue to benefit for a while.Russian gas prices in Europe, Gazprom’s

biggest export customer, are linked to theprice of oil under long-term contractsthat are adjusted twice annually, basedon average oil prices over the previoussix months. 

G-20 LINKING IMF HIKE TOBIGGER EU ‘FIREWALL’ FUND

The G-20 nations are conditioningadditional money for the InternationalMonetary Fund on the European Unionfirst increasing its financial stabilisationfunds to ease concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis, officials said on Sunday.Officials participating in a meeting of G-20 nations’ finance ministers and centralbank heads said an EU decision to add tothe estimated $675 million in firewallfunds already committed to the effortwould be essential before the rest of worldconsiders contributing to the stabilisationmeasures.

“There is broad agreement that theIMF cannot substitute for the absence ofa stronger European firewall and that theIMF cannot move forward without moreclarity on Europe’s own plans,” U.S.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithnersaid following the close of the meeting,noting the U.S. would not be making anyincreased contribution.The weekendtalks mainly focused on stability for theEuro zone, where debt and economicproblems have threatened to destabiliseglobal financial markets. Though nospecific amount in firewall funds wasdiscussed, Geithner said the funds “haveto be large ... my sense is that they(Europeans) understand that.” Otherofficials said the added funds must beenough to calm market concerns andshould be available to countries beforethey fully carry out promised fiscalreforms.

While the United States, Brazil andthe Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development had

already publicly urged an increase, asenior G-20 official who spoke oncondition she not be quoted by name saidthe consensus that the EU must act wasmuch broader, including big potentiallender countries like China and Japan.They feel the IMF can play a back-uprole, but the EU’s own fund must be thefirst line of defence, the official said.Itappears Germany’s reluctance to furtherfund EU stabilisation funds may be thesticking point, largely because the issue isa sensitive one in German domesticpolitics. Germany is the EU’s strongesteconomy and would probably be thebiggest contributor, and the GermanParliament must still approve the currentround of support efforts for debt-plaguedGreece.

AN ESSENTIAL INPUT

At a news conference, MexicanTreasury Secretary Jose Antonio Meadenoted the Euro-zone countries are toassess their stabilisation efforts at a Marchmeeting and said the results of thatassessment, and possible changes in thesize of the firewall funds, would “befundamental” to how G-20 nations decideon increasing funding for the IMF.Mexico’s central bank head, AgustinCarstens, said the EU decision would bean “essential input” for IMF fundingdecisions. Geithner noted that “the G-20is committed to making sure that the IMFhas the resources it needs to help itsmembers deal with the risks fromEurope.”

Geithner also said he had “a seriesof encouraging conversations withcountries planning to significantly reduceimports from Iran,” to reinforce sanctionsaimed at discouraging Iran’s nuclearprogramme.

Turning to the U.S. economy,Geithner said, “this is an important yearfor financial reform in the United States.”

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WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, MYLORDS

In recent times the Supreme Courtof India, with a series of remarkabledecisions, has earned our admiration,respect and gratitude. Alas, it has nowcome out with an extraordinary order onthe Inter-Linking of Rivers (ILR) Project,which has caused consternation anddismay to many of us. In 2002, in a post-retirement explanation, a defensiveJustice Kirpal had said that his order onthe river-linking project was not adirection but merely a recommendation.That defensiveness has now beenabandoned. In the present order, theSupreme Court explicitlydirects theExecutive Government to implement theproject and to set up a Special Committeeto carry out that implementation; it laysdown that the committee’s decisions shalltake precedence over all administrativebodies created under the orders of thiscourt or otherwise; it (graciously)authorises the Cabinet to take all final andappropriate decisions, and lays down atime-limit of 30 days for such decision-making (though it has the saving grace tosay “preferably”); and it grants “liberty tothe learned Amicus Curiae to filecontempt petition in this court, in theevent of default or non-compliance of thedirections contained in this order”.

THE NORMAL COURSE

In the normal course, a project goesthrough certain stages and procedures:formulation; examination from variousangles by the appropriate agencies,Committees, and Ministries; statutoryclearances under the EnvironmentProtection Act and the ForestConservation Act; compliance with theprocedures prescribed in the NationalRehabilitation Policy; acceptance of theproject by the Planning Commission fromthe national planning point of view; and

finally a decision by the Cabinet. TheSupreme Court rides roughshod over allthis and orders not quick considerationand decision-making by the government,but implementation.

Are the proposed SpecialCommittee and the Cabinet free toexamine the project and come to theconclusion that it is unacceptable andmust be rejected? No, they are under theSupreme Court’s order to implement theproject and may face contemptproceedings if they fail to do so. Theproject decision has been taken awayfrom the hands of the government; it hasbeen exercised by the Supreme Court;the government and the PlanningCommission have been reduced to theposition of subordinate offices orimplementing agencies of the SupremeCourt.

It could be argued that the above isa misrepresentation of what the SupremeCourt has done, and that the learnedjudges are only concerned at the delay inthe implementation of an approvedproject and asking for earlyimplementation. In fact, there is noapproved, sanctioned project called “theinter-linking of rivers project”. In 2003,when there was a raging controversyabout this idea, an important defence byits supporters was that it was not a projectbut a grand concept; that it will consist of30 links, each of which will be a projectthat will go through all the usualexaminations and procedures; and thatthe critics are needlessly raising the bogeyof gigantism. If it is a concept, how can itbe ‘implemented’? It has first to betranslated into projects, and each of thoseprojects has to be properly approved orrejected, as the case may be. Thereafterwe can talk about implementation.

How many of those 30 projectshave been actually approved? None.Three — Ken-Betwa, Damanganga-

Pinjal, Par-Tapi-Narmada — havereached the stage of preparation ofDetailed Project Reports, and one(Polavaram), though included in the ILRProject, was separately taken up by theAndhra Pradesh government onsomewhat different lines, but is mired incontroversy. There is not a single case ofa project actually sanctioned and readyfor implementation. The learned judgesmay say that this is precisely what worriesthem; that by now the projects shouldhave been well under way; that a goodproject or concept or whatever it was,announced in 2002, is languishing; andthat the judiciary has to step into thevacant space created by non-action bythe Executive and issue the necessarydirection. This is the gap-filling theory.However, there is a fallacy here.

The “delay” is not the result ofexecutive failure or inefficiency, but adeliberate (though unstated) slowingdown of action on the project. The NDAhad announced the project in 2002 withfanfare and trumpets. The UPAgovernment which followed in 2004 wasnot very enthusiastic about the projectbut at the same time did not want toabandon it; its Common MinimumProgramme stated that the project wouldbe comprehensively re-assessed in a fullyconsultative manner. This was a clearindication of reservations about theproject. Thereafter the project has beenin the doldrums. Unfortunately, thegovernment’s attitude towards theproject was never made unambiguouslyclear to either the general public or theSupreme Court.

The Supreme Court was clearlyentitled to ask the government to statecategorically where it stood in this matter:whether it considered the project to be agood (or the only) answer to the country’sneeds; if so, whether it intended toproceed with it; or alternatively, whether

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it had decided to drop the whole idea,and if so, on what grounds. What theSupreme Court was not entitled to dowas to issue a direction to the governmentto implement the project. Why has itdone so? It would be wrong to attributethis to a desire for aggrandisement. TheSupreme Court is convinced that theproject is good and urgently needed; andthat a very important national initiative isgetting bogged down because of variousreasons and needs to be galvanised. It hascome to that conclusion because of areport by the National Council forApplied Economic Research.

TWO PROBLEMS

There are two problems here. First,assuming that there is a serious waterscarcity problem, it is not the business ofthe Supreme Court to deal with it; thereis an Executive Government to deal withsuch matters. True, the citizen’s right towater is a fundamental right, andtherefore the Supreme Court isconcerned with it; but while it may directthe government to ensure that the rightis not denied, it is not for it to lay downthe manner in which or the source fromwhich that right should be ensured.Moreover, the connection between theright to water and the ILR Project is verytenuous; it is the large demand forirrigation water that generally drivesmajor projects and long-distance watertransfers. It is true, again, that there areintractable inter-State river-waterdisputes, and these are of concern to theSupreme Court; but the Supreme Courtcan at best direct the ExecutiveGovernment to find early answers to riverwater disputes, and not recommend aparticular answer such as the ILR project,which may in fact generate new conflicts.

Secondly, and finally, we come tothe heart of the matter, namely the viewthat the country faces a looming water

crisis; that the answer lies in augmentingsupplies; that given the magnitude anddistribution of India’s future waterrequirements, the ILR project is the bestpossible answer; and that it is in thenational interest to implement it quickly.It is that conviction that provides, in theSupreme Court’s view, the justification forits intervention. If that view of India’swater crisis and its solution is challenged,the whole basis for the Supreme Court’sorder collapses.This article will not enterinto a discussion of this vital question, butwill merely point out that there is adiversity of views on it, which theSupreme Court has failed to consider. TheNCAER may have taken one view of thematter, but there are other views. Thecogent case against the project has beensuccinctly stated in the editorial in thispaper on 1 March 2012. That knocksthe bottom out of the Supreme Court’sorder.

In 2002, when the NDAgovernment announced the ILR Project,a fierce controversy broke out. Therewere many who hailed the initiative, butthere were many others who deplored itas not only uncalled for but as positivelydisastrous. Many State governmentsexpressed strong reservations on theproject. Articles appeared in newspapersand journals. Books were published onthe subject. How much of this vastliterature have the learned judges read?How could they rely on the NCAER’sreport without reading other scholarlywork? Even if the learned judges did nothave time to read all the available material,should they not at least have heard adozen scholars representing differentdisciplines and a few social activists beforethey decided to issue directions to thegovernment? This article will concludewith an earnest and respectful request tothe Supreme Court to withdraw or atleast put on hold its order, conduct

further hearings, listen to a wider rangeof opinions, and reflect on the matterbefore it comes to firm conclusions.

THE COLD WIND FROM RUSSIA

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,almost certain to win the Russianpresidential elections this Sunday, has laidout a tough foreign policy vision for histhird term in the Kremlin that may entailchanges in Russia’s relations with its mainpartners East and West. In an article titled“Russia and the Changing World,” the lastin a series of election manifestos Mr. Putinhas published in Russian newspapers inrecent weeks, he mounted a scathingattack on the United States and itswestern allies accusing them of exporting“rocket-bomb democracy” and workingto undermine Russia’s security and globalstability.

Mr. Putin said “certain aspects” ofwestern policies, “based on thestereotypes of bloc mentality,” are“impairing our security and upsettingglobal stability.” He hit out at Nato’sEastward expansion in Europe, plans toset up a U.S. missile defence system inEurope, and “ever more frequent casesof crude and even armed outsideinterference in the domestic affairs ofcountries.”On Afghanistan, he said theNato operation had “not resolved its settasks” and “it clearly does not suit us” that“the Americans are creating militarybases there and in neighbouringcountries,” even as they plan a withdrawal.

DENUNCIATION OF U.S. ANDNATO

Mr. Putin’s article is reminiscent ofhis hard-hitting denunciation of the U.S.and Nato in the famous 2007 speech inMunich and stands in stark contrast withthe Kremlin’s friendly tone during thepresidency of Dmitry Medvedev.Manyanalysts say Mr. Putin has ratcheted up

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the anti-West rhetoric ahead of theelections to capitalise on the high level ofhostility that persists in Russian societytowards the U.S. (According to a Januarypoll, 76 per cent of Russians, fourpercentage points more than a year ago,see the U.S. as an “aggressor bent onimposing its control on all countries.”)However, Russia’s policy on the groundhas indeed taken a harder line in recentmonths.

The veto Russia slapped jointly withChina on two United Nations SecurityCouncil resolutions that sought the ousterof Syrian President Bashar al-Assadmarked the most serious East-Westconfrontation since the end of the ColdWar. It was a u-turn from Moscow’s standon Libya last year, when it voted for a no-fly zone to protect civilians, which led tothe toppling of Muammar Qadhafi. In thecase of Syria, Russia has firmly dug itsheels in against regime change. Westernarguments that Russia is trying to save itslast ally in the Middle East and a majorcustomer of its weapons miss the point.Moscow feels its cooperation with theWest on Libya was wilfully abused whenNato countries, in Mr. Putin’s words, “didaway with the Libyan regime by using airpower under the pretext of humanitariansupport.” Mr. Putin reiterated Russia’sopposition to the “right to protect”concept of foreign intervention onhumanitarian grounds. “A string of armedconflicts under the pretext ofhumanitarian concerns has underminedthe principle of national sovereignty,which has been observed for centuries.”

‘NO REPLAY OF LIBYA’

Mr. Putin said Russia would notallow a replay of the Libya scenario inSyria. “Sadder but wiser, we are againstany U.N. Security Council resolutions thatcould be interpreted as a signal formilitary interference in Syria’s domestic

processes.” Russia’s intransigence on Syriasteps from a clear understanding that theU.S. and the Saudi-led group of Arabcountries are out to pull down the Assadregime in order to weaken Iran, changeits political regime, and remodel the entireregion. The Russian leader warned that amilitary strike against Iran would have“catastrophic” consequences, whose “realscale is impossible to imagine.”

Mr. Putin’s new anti-Americanismreflects his disappointment with thepolicy of “reset” in relations with the U.S.that has been the hallmark of Mr.Medvedev’s presidency. The “reset” didbring its dividends in the form of the NewSTART arms reduction treaty andRussia’s membership in the World TradeOrganisation but, as Mr. Putin pointedout in his article, Russia and the U.S. “havefailed to fundamentally change the matrixof our relations.” The U.S. and Nato “havedeveloped a peculiar understanding ofsecurity which is fundamentally differentfrom our view. The Americans areobsessed with the idea of providingthemselves with absolute invulnerability,”Mr. Putin said adding that “absoluteinvulnerability for one means absolutevulnerability for everyone else.”

‘NOT THE 19TH OR 20THCENTURY’

“We cannot agree to this,” hewarned. “A qualitative breakthrough” inRussia-U.S. relations was still possible, buton the condition that “the Americans areguided by the principle of equal andmutually respectful partnership.” InRussia’s view, such partnership has beenwoefully lacking so far. “The West is tooquick to grab the cudgel of sanctions oreven military force to ‘punish’ certaincountries. Let me remind you that this isnot the 19th century or even the 20thcentury today,” Mr. Putin said. Thestandoff on Syria may also trigger shifts

in Russia’s relations with its two mainstrategic partners, India and China. Thecrisis has strengthened the strategicalliance of Russia and China. The vetothe two countries used twice in fourmonths was unprecedented in the recenthistory of the Security Council. Bothrefused to join the Friends of Syriameeting in Tunis and denounced attemptsby outside forces to impose solutions onSyria. In his foreign policy manifesto Mr.Putin predicted that Russia’s partnershipwith China will keep going stronger, andwelcomed China’s “ever more confident”voice in the world.

By contrast, India and Russia foundthemselves on different sides of thebarricade. India’s decision to side with theWest raised eyebrows in the Kremlin. Asrecently as October, India stood withRussia and China in the U.N. SecurityCouncil as they opposed a one-sidedcensure of the Syrian government. NewDelhi reasonably argued that violence inSyria came from two sides and thegovernment was fighting an armedinsurgency. However, on February 4,India turned around and voted for asimilar resolution that again addressedthe demand to end violence to only theSyrian government. At the same timeNew Delhi said that, like Russia andChina, it supported “a Syrian-ledinclusive political process.” How can onebe in favour of an “inclusive politicalprocess,” Russians wondered, whilebacking a resolution that supports theouster of President Assad as aprecondition for launching such aprocess?

A day before India sent a high-ranking diplomat to the Friends of Syriameet, senior Indian and Russiandiplomats held annual foreign policyconsultations in New Delhi.Disagreement over Syria was apparentlyso serious that a Russian Foreign Ministry

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communiqué on the talks did not evenmention that the Middle East wasdiscussed.

‘INDIA’S STAND SURPRISING’

“India’s stand on Syria came as asurprise to the Kremlin,” says Prof. AndreiVolodin of the Russian Foreign Ministry’sDiplomatic Academy. He thinks it isshortsighted on the part of India to castits lot with the U.S., whose global poweris declining, and with conservative Gulfmonarchies, which are historicallydoomed. But he admits that India’s Syriastand falls into a trend. “Some upperechelons in the Ministry of ExternalAffairs, alarmed by China’s fast rise andbacked by the U.S. Indian communityand a corporate lobby, are trying toimpose a foreign policy course on thecountry’s leadership that goes againstIndia’s long-term interests,” the Russianscholar who closely follows India’spolitical scene told The Hindu . Prof.Volodin sees this trend as part of anongoing struggle in the Indian elitebetween advocates and opponents of theforeign policy tradition of JawaharlalNehru and Indira Gandhi, a struggleaggravated by a general decline in the levelof strategic thinking in the Indian foreignpolicy establishment.

“India’s stand on Syria betrays thesame lack of strategic foresight as itsrecent decision to buy in a tender a 20thcentury fighter plane for 21st centurytasks at a time when a fifth-generationplatform that India is jointly developingwith Russia is in the pipeline.” Five yearsago, Mr. Putin, then President, placedIndia along with Russia and China in anexclusive club of world powers that “canafford the luxury of genuine sovereignty”.As he prepares to reclaim presidency, Mr.

Putin has again invoked the issue ofsovereignty in foreign policy. “Everythingwe do will be based on our own interestsand goals, not on decisions othercountries impose on us … Russia haspractically always had the privilege ofpursuing an independent foreign policyand this is how it will be in the future,” Mr.Putin wrote in his election manifesto.“Syria has put to the test the ability ofcountries to take sovereign decisions,”says Prof. Volodin. “Russia and China havepassed the test; India, unfortunately, hasnot.”

SPENDING FOR A HEALTHYINDIA

An increase in public expenditureon health from an estimated 1.4 per centof GDP to 2.5 per cent by the end of theTwelfth Plan can, if it is used wisely, bringabout a revolution in health care. PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh’s resolve toboost government spending canpotentially make high quality careaccessible to all. Universal healthcoverage, including cashless treatment,is to be achieved through greaterexpenditure and a system of strongregulatory oversight outlined by thePlanning Commission’s High Level ExpertGroup (HLEG). Arguably, with asignificant increase in public funding,India can move towards its own model ofBritain’s famed National Health Service.There is some scepticism about thecountry’s ability to shift to a good tax-funded plan for universal health coverage,but as the HLEG points out, the trajectoryof economic growth makes this theopportune moment. Apprehensionsraised by special interests against healthreform are, naturally, self-serving andshould not cloud the vision. What should

be borne in mind is that the HLEG hasnot suggested the scrapping of the privatehealth sector but its participation in theUHC plan on a contracted-in basis, withtight monitoring of costs and protocols.

The need for publicly-fundeduniversal health coverage is beyondargument. At present, private out-of-pocket health expenditure constitutes 3.3per cent of GDP, or around 67 per centof the total spending. Moving towardsuniversalisation of care can cut it to about33 per cent by 2022. Clearly, a policyapproach that relies primarily on for-profit health insurance and servicescannot provide universal cover, as theexperience in the United States hasdemonstrated. The key to universalisationlies in including everyone in the risk pool,through a system of means-testedcompulsion and taxation. Making such aplan work requires extensive reform ofstandards, protocols and oversight bodiesfor both public and private sectors. Here,the HLEG has provided a road map thatenvisages setting up of public healthcadres for services and management atthe national and state levels, standardsetting, and a timeline for merger ofexisting government-led health insuranceschemes such as the Rashtriya SwasthyaBima Yojana and those operating at theState level. An increase in outlay onmedicines from 0.1 per cent of GDP to0.5 per cent for public procurement canensure free universal access to essentialdrugs. This measure, suggested forimplementation through contractedprivate chemists, among others, is alsovital to cut out-of-pocket expenditure.The States, which are increasingly lookingtowards private health insurance to fundhealth care for the poor, should find theHLEG recommendations more sound.

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The agreement was signed onJanuary 28, 2005 betweenAntrix Corporation Ltd., the

marketing wing of the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO), andDevas Multimedia Pvt. Ltd. based inBangalore. The agreement laid down thatAntrix would provide satellite capacity toenable Devas to launch ‘satellite digitalmultimedia broadcast’ (S-DMB) servicesthat would be delivered to fixed, portableand mobile receivers, including mobilephones and vehicle-borne devices. As aresult of this deal, ISRO was committedto build, launch and operate two custom-built communication satellites, whichcame to be called GSAT-6 (also knownas Insat 4E) and GSAT-6A. Theagreement specified that 90 per cent ofthe capacity on these two satellites wouldbe leased to Devas “on a 24-hour, seven-day-per-week basis” for 12 years, with aprovision to extend the lease by another12 years. These were not ordinarycommunication satellites of the sort thatISRO had built and launched before. Theyinvolved high-powered spot beams in theS-band requiring a large 6.5 metreantenna (that could be unfurled in space)that was specially developed for thesesatellites and which ISRO has never flownbefore.

Antrix (a variation of the Hindi wordfor space, antariksh) Corporation was setup as the marketing arm of Isro in 1992.

The company hoped to promotecommercial exploitation of spaceproducts, technical consultancy servicesand transfer of technologies developedby Isro. And most importantly, as Isrosaid about the Devas deal: “A majorobjective is to facilitate development ofspace-related industrial capabilities inIndia.” Enter Forge Advisors, a US-basedstrategic consultancy. In March 2003,Antrix inked a memorandum ofunderstanding with Forge for exploringopportunities in digital multimediaservices. Forge later established an Indiancompany called Devas Multimedia, withsome former Isro scientists on board. OnDecember 24, 2004, Antrix’s boardapproved the draft agreement betweenthe two sides, and the agreement wassigned on January 28, 2005. Theagreement provided leasing of 90% of thespace segment capacity on two satellitesfor 12 years to Devas.

But here’s how a “scam” wasdiscovered: first, the Cabinet was not“informed” that the two satellites werebeing built by Isro for Devas. Second,there was no tendering for awarding thecontract to Devas. Third, the satelliteswere leased to Devas at “throwaway”prices. There are powerful counterarguments. First, Devas was bringing innew technology that had a high risk offailure. Second, Antrix-Isro, regularlyleases satellite capacity to private firms in

the direct-to-home business withouttendering. Third, the estimated loss -media reports said 2 lakh crore - wasbased on comparing what Devas paid to3G auction prices. That’s a nonsensicalcomparison because the 3G spectrumand its uses and market are completelydifferent from those of the S-bandspectrum and the related technology thatDevas would have used. But the damagewas done. A hi-tech, high-risk technologyventure that was bringing in private andforeign capital to space business in Indiawas killed.

Last year, the government first askeda high-power committee to review thetechnical, commercial, procedural andfinancial aspects of the January, 2005agreement between Antrix Corporation,the marketing wing of the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO), and theBangalore-based private company, DevasMultimedia.This committee, composedof B.K. Chaturvedi, member of thePlanning Commission, and RoddamNarasimha, a distinguished academic anda member of the Space Commission, wasalso asked to suggest corrective actionand fix responsibility for lapses, if any. Thegovernment subsequently constituted afive-member, high-level team, under thechairmanship of the former CentralVigilance Commissioner, Pratyush Sinha.It was tasked to examine the entiredecision-making process followed in the

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deal and identify acts of “omission andcommission” by officials.

The reports of the two committeeswere released late by the ISRO. The Sinhacommittee’s report has been particularlyscathing. It says: “It is very clear that therehave been serious lapses of judgment onthe part of a number of officials.” In thecase of some, “their actions verged onthe point of serious violation of normsand breach of public trust.” Others werejust “file-pushers and passive onlookers.”Both committees have noted how theSpace Commission and the UnionCabinet were not told about theagreement when their approval wassought for building the GSAT-6 andGSAT- 6A satellites. In the case of theGSAT-6, which came up for approval in2005, both bodies were given theimpression that Antrix and theDepartment of Space had beenapproached by several potentialcustomers, but no agreement had yetbeen reached, according to theChaturvedi-Narasimha committee’sreport. When it came to the GSAT-6Asatellite in 2009, only “a very vaguestatement” was made in the note put upto the Space Commission. When theproject proposal for the two satellitescame up before the Space Commissionfor approval, it was important to havementioned that the bulk of the S-bandspectrum available with the Departmentof Space had been committed to oneparty. Instead, on both occasions, theSpace Commission had been left“completely in the dark.”

Moreover, the amount of spectrumallocated for the Devas project seemed“disproportionately large,” comparedwith what had reportedly been given forsimilar services in the U.S., Korea andJapan. They also observed that when theagreement was made operational inFebruary 2006, the Department of Space

did not have funds for building the secondsatellite. “To sign an agreementcommitting funds and satellite prioritywithout such a commitment from theMinistry of Finance was not correct.Unfortunately, the Antrix agreementnever went before the Space Commission,where the Finance Secretary is a Member.It did not even go to the Union Cabinet,where approval would have entailedcommitment for expenditure for thesecond satellite. Thus, this commitmentfor building a satellite and the expenditureon it was without any financialauthorisation.” Further, both committeespointed out that the Insat CoordinationCommittee (ICC), which was establishedin 1977 for the overall management ofthe Insat communication satellites, hadnot met since 2004, and was bypassedwhen 90 per cent of the capacity on thetwo custom-built satellites had beenallocated to Devas. Like the Sinhacommittee, the Chaturvedi-Narasimhacommittee pointed out that Antrix hadsigned an agreement with a companywhose paid-up capital was Rs. 1 lakh withtwo shareholders. Antrix and the ISROhad committed an investment of aboutRs. 800 crore on two satellites “with a lotof other unusual concessions.”Consequently, “the ISRO was committinglarge funds for unproven technology andwith players who had very little financialstake. Clearly, this was financially weak.”The committee has recommended thatthe Department of Revenue and theMinistry of Corporate Affairs initiate aninvestigation, specifically into Devas’changing ownership pattern, theeconomic interests of various individualsin the company and the role played bythe Mauritius-based firms. Thus, theagreement terms were “heavily loaded infavour of Devas,” the report says. If thesatellite failed, the Department of Spacewould bear the risk, whereas if it

succeeded, that too would put substantialburden of expenditure on the DoS.

But there are at least three pointsthat call for public attention, but haven’tbeen given enough play:

1. There was no spectrum deal. TheAntrix-Devas deal, whoever brokethe story first, made its first mediaappearance as an “S-band spectrumscam”. For several months, mediareports followed this keyword andsaid that this was a spectrum scambigger than the 2G scam. Someeven pegged it at Rs 200,000 croresas against the “notional” 2G loss ofRs 170,000 crores. The reports alsocompared a “space spectrum”(something that a satellite andreceivers will use) with terrestrialspectrum that mobile telephonyuses. Naturally, these media reportsbecame a convenient weapon forthe BJP to attack the PMO since theDepartment of Space came underit. Now it turns out that it was not aspectrum-scam at all and that spacespectrum cannot be compared toterrestrial spectrum. Thecommission of enquiry byChaturvedi and Narasimha hascategorically said that there was nospectrum-deal at all: “Concerns ofcheap selling of spectrum to Devashave no basis whatsoever. Spacespectrum is not comparable toterrestrial spectrum. Devas alsorequired to obtain license fromDoT/I&B for providing services tocustomers and would have to pay,apart from transponder leasingcharges, other charges which wouldbe determined by TRAI based ontheir consultation charges.”

2. ISRO-head start in utilising satellitebased multimedia and mobileservices got wasted. Going by thereport, the Antrix-Devas deal,

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despite its irregularities, wasobviously an attempt to foray intothe new frontier of satellitecommunications by getting intomobile applications using spacespectrum. When ISRO initiated thesteps, it was among the fewcountries in the world that wasbreaking the barriers such as Japan,South Korea and the US. EvenChina had made some advances.

3. The technical capability of ISRO inlaunching satellites with S-bandcapability. In its examination of thecomplex technology involved,which is now a preserve of an eliteclub of countries such as Japan,Korea and the US, the committeeexpressed its doubts if ISRO had thecapability to send an unfurlable 5.5meter antenna into the orbit, whichis required for fair S-band coverage.Nobody knows what ISRO’s planwas on that. It is highly unlikely tocome out in the public given thenational security angle.Anyway, the committee has

recommended that “reforms arerequired in the space commission. ISROand ANTRIX are to meet the growingrequirement of space activities. Spacecommission must meet at least four timesand be fully briefed at least four times ayear. It  must also be briefed about thenew and emerging technologies thatANTRIX/ISRO may negotiate and

develop, the risks inherent in the process,the implications for societal, defence andcommercial needs.” The committee alsomentioned that the costing systems of theorganisation are weak. Anotherrecommendation is “peer review of ISROadministrative and scientific culturalpractices.” “Such cultural audits will bringout inadequacies in existing policies.”There are still many grey areas thatremain, that Nair himself finds difficultto justify. Acquisition of high-endtechnology, the processes adopted andthe financial implications most often fallin a sensitive national interest realm as inthe case of the atomic energyestablishment. The legacy of suchestablishments, which also depend on theexpertise and profile of highly celebratedscientists, also will be a barrier to publictransparency.

The Antrix controversy has scaredoff risk-taking entrepreneurs fromentering India’s space industry. Who’llnow bring hi-tech chutzpah to what canbe an Indian success story? It’s been arough fortnight for the folks associatedwith India’s space industry. Allegationsflew faster than rockets. When theDepartment of Space barred former chiefMadhavan Nair and three other scientistsfrom any future re-employment in anygovernment-related work, battle lineswere drawn within India’s space researchcommunity. Even as Nair described theJanuary 13 order of the government as a

“witch hunt” and squarely blamedcurrent Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (Isro) chief KRadhakrishnan for misleading thegovernment in the much-malignedAntrix-Devas deal, the real question iswhether this controversy will hamstringIndia’s efforts in getting private-sectorinvolvement in the fast-growing spaceindustry.

After all, according to the SpaceReport 2011, the space economycontinued to grow for the fifth year in arow, unaffected by the global economicturmoil. The space economy increasedby 7.7% in 2010, registering a robustgrowth rate compared with the averageof 5% per annum registered in theprevious two years. The space economyitself increased by about $20 billion toreach an estimated total of $276.52billion, the report said. Pertinently, thereport said, “Some of this growth camefrom increases in government spending,but the vast majority occurred in thecommercial sector.” While sectors suchas telecom may be driving some of this,many of the noticeable activities in thesector are coming from private individualsand corporations. From space tourismto next-generation launch vehicles,almost in every sphere privateinvestments are fast emerging. So, Indiacan’t afford to scare off entrepreneurs.But that’s what the Antrix-Devas deal hasdone.

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An increase in passenger faresacross all classes, more than 100 newtrains, enhanced frequency or routes formany others, and plans to hire more thanone lakh employees were some of the keyRail Budget proposals made onWednesday. Presenting the annual RailBudget for the financial year 2012-13 inParliament 14th March 2012, RailwayMinister Dinesh Trivedi made some keyproposals. While preparing the budget hedrew heavily from the recommendationsof Kakodkar committee on railway safetyand Pitroda committee on modernizationof infrastructure. Based on therecommendations of the twocommittees, Trivedi zeroed on five focusareas:

1. Track;2. Bridges;3. Signaling & Telecommunication;4. Rolling Stock;5. Stations & freight Terminals.

The emphasis on the focus areaswould eventually lead to strengthening ofthe basic infrastructure of IndianRailways resulting in safety, decongestion,capacity augmentation andmodernization of system, creating moreefficient, faster and safer railways.

Indian Railways StationsDevelopment Corp to be set up to re-develop stations and maintain them likeairports. Considering the overallparameters set out in Vision 2020

document, the budget stated that a hugesum of ` 14 lakh crore is required in thenext ten years. The total union budgetoutlay for 2012-13 stood at ` 60100crore. Informing that 40% of theconsequential train accidents, involving60% to 70% of the total casualties occurat unmanned level crossings, he decidedto set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)named Rail-Road Grade SeparationCorporation of India with an objective tofast track elimination of level crossings inthe next five years. The decision to set upa committee to examine the currentstandards of safety on Indian Railwaysand to suggest suitable benchmarks andsafety protocols were also announced.

By way of initiating a long termapproach to safety and in line withrecommendations of the Committee,minister proposed to set up anindependent Railway Safety Authority asa statutory regulatory body. Thefunctions of the Authority are to bechalked out in line with internationalpractices. In tune with therecommendations of the Expert Groupfor Modernisation of Indian Railwayswhich suggested following of a ‘MissionMode’ approach, the budget announcedthe formation of Missions headed byMission Directors in each of the identifiedareas for a three year term. Also, a HighLevel Committee is to be set up tofacilitate coordination amongst the

Missions, fast-track implementation, andaddress bottlenecks. The Union RailwayBudget proposed a multi-prongedapproach with an objective to build a new,safe and modern, passenger and freighttransportation system which wouldcontribute at least 2 to 2.5% to the GDPof the nation as against less than 1% atpresent. Multi-pronged approachfocused on: Safety; Consoliation;Decongestion & Capacity Augmentation;Modernization; to bring down theOperating Ratio from 95% to 84.9% in2012-13 and to 74% in the terminal yearof 12th Plan.

The 12th Plan investment proposedby Railways at ̀ 7.35 lakh crore up fromthe investment during XI Plan of ` 1.92lakh crore. The required resources forthe plan are proposed to be met by:-

i. Gross Budgetary Support of 2.5lakh crore;

ii. Government support for nationalprojects of 30,000 crore;

iii. Ploughing back of dividend of20,000 crore

iv. Internal Resources of 1,99,805crore

v. Extra Budgetary Resources of2,18,775 crore

vi. Railway Safety Fund of 16,842crore.The budget put forth a demand for

additional funding assistance of about ̀5 lakh crore under the Pradhan Mantri

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Rail Vikas Yojana from the government.The Union Railway Budget proposeda progressive shift to flash butt technologyfor welding of rails, progressive use of 60kg rails instead of 52 kg, provision of thickweb switches at points & crossings,mechanised maintenance with the latesttrack machines and increased frequencyof ultrasonic testing of tracks. Plan tomodernize nearly 19000 km trackthrough renewals, upgradation of track,replacement and strengthening of 11,250bridges to run heavier freight trains of 25tonne axle load and to achieve passengertrain speeds of 160 kmph and over wasproposed in the budget. The estimatedexpenditure of ` 63212 crore wasproposed for the same. Signaling systemon Indian Railways will be modernizedwith the provisioning of advancedtechnological features. Panel/Route RelayInterlocking covering 700 more stationsby 2014 was proposed as a part of themodernization of the signaling system.Provisioning of Train Protection &Warning System (TPWS), which ensuresautomatic application of brakeswhenever a driver over-shoots a signal atdanger, thereby eliminating chances ofcollision of trains was also proposed.

The total cost of various signallingand telecom works was estimated to be ̀39,110 crore in the next 5 years. Therailway budget proposed to provide `

200211 crore in 2012-13, which is morethan double the allocation of the currentyear and the highest ever.

Upgradation of coaches includingEMU coaches, locomotives and wagonswas noted to be one of the key areas ofmodernization during the next 5 yearsfor improving safety and convenience &comfort of passengers. The highest everallocation of ` 18,193 crore wasproposed for the 12th five year plan forthe purpose of upgradation. In the areasof Stations and Freight Terminals, Trivedi

proposed to set up a separateorganisation namely Indian RailwayStation Development Corporation, whichwill redevelop the stations and maintainthem on the pattern of airports. TheUnion railway proposed to electrify 6500route kilometers during the 12th Planperiod. This would include electrificationof Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla lineand hence provide pollution free tractionto the pristine Kashmir Valley. Anallocation of ` 828 crore has beenprovided in 2012-13. Propulsion Systemfor use in high power electric locomotivewas proposed to be introduced.

Initiative to start manufacturingespecially designed coaches havingearmarked compartments and toiletsadapted to the needs of wheel chairborne/differently-abled person was aprime focus of the Union Railway Budget.The Union budget proposed to set up afactory at Shyamnagar in West Bengal onPPP basis for manufacture of nextgeneration technology and also proposedto utilize and augment the electric locoAncillaries Unit of CLW being set up atDankuni for fabrication of locomotiveshells. Several measures were initiated/proposed to promote clean environment.On the occasion of the 175th BirthAnniversary of Rishi Bankim ChandraChattopadhyay, propose setting up ofa Coaching Terminal to be named afterhim at Naihati. Also it was decided that aspecial train would run across the countryto disseminate his legacy to the younggeneration. Institution of a Rail KhelRatna Award was also proposed tohonour 10 sports-persons every year,based on their current performance. Theawardees would be provided world classtraining to hone their skills further.

Salient features of Railway Budgetare as follows:v To set up an independent Railway

Safety Authority as a statutory body.

v The open discharge toilets on trainsto be replaced with green (bio)toilets.

v All unmanned level crossings to beabolished in next five years; Totarget zero deaths due to railaccidents.

v To provide rail connectivity toneighbouring countries, a new linefrom Agartala to Akura inBangladesh to be set up.

v Double-decker container trains tobe introduced.

v Steps to improve cleanliness andhygiene on trains and stations withinsix months. A special housekeeping body to be set up to takecare of both stations and trains.

v New passenger services includeescalators at major stations,alternative train accommodationfor wait-listed passengers, laundryservices, AC lounges, coin/currency operated ticket vendingmachines.

v Two new members , one formarketing, and other for safety, tobe inducted into Railway Board.

v On board passenger displaysindicating next halt station andexpected arrival time to beintroduced.

v Introduction of regional cuisine;Book-a-meal scheme to providemeals through SMS or email.

v Specially designed coaches fordifferently-abled persons to beprovided in each Mail/Expresstrains.

v Railway Tariff Regulatory Authorityto be considered.

v National High Speed Rail Authorityto be set up; Pre-feasibility studieson six high speed corridorscompleted; study on Delhi-Jaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur to be taken up in2012-13.

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v Wellness programme for railwaystaff at work places.

v Institution of ‘Rail Khel Ratna’Award for 10 rail sportspersonsevery year.

v A wagon factory at Sitapali, Odisha,rail coach factory at Palakkad, twoadditional new coach manufact-uring units in Kutch (Gujarat) andKolar (Karnataka); componentfactory at Shyamnagar (WestBengal); new coaching terminal atNaihati, the birth place of BankimChandra Chattopadhyay.

v Freight loading of 1,025 MTtargeted; 55 MT more than 2011—12; Passenger growth targeted at5.4 per cent.

v Passenger earnings to increase to` 36,200 crore.

v Gross rail traffic targeted to increaseby ` 28,635 crore to ` 1,32,552crore in 2012—13.

Rail Fare Hikes

v passenger fares by 2 paise per km– suburban and ordinary secondclass,

v 3 paise per km for mail/expresssecond class,

v 5 paise per km for sleeper class,v 10 paise per km for AC Chair Car,

AC 3 tier and First Class,v 15 paise per km for AC 2 tierv 30 paise per km for AC I.

Few New plans on Railway Budget2012 :v Bio-toilets,v Special housekeeping body to

enhance hygiene and cleanliness,v New catering policy,v Specially designed coaches

earmarked for wheelchair borneand differently-abled passengers,

v Three centres for training personnelin disaster management and tointegrate Railway Protection Force(RPF) helpline with all passengerhelplines,

v Satellite based real time informationof trains,

v Introduction of escalators,v Book a meal,v AC lounge,v Extension of housekeeping,v Mobile booking,v Alternate train accommodation

system for wait listed passengers.However, in an expected move the

controversial hike in rail passenger fareswas on 22nd March 2012 rolled back forall classes except AC 2 Tier and First Classby the new Railway Minister Mukul Roy,overturning the decision of hispredecessor Dinesh Trivedi, who lost hisjob on account of his bold proposals.Mukul Roy, who was inducted into theUnion Cabinet and the Railway Ministryon 20th March 2012, announced in theLok Sabha the roll back of the fare

increase for second class suburban andnon-suburban, Sleeper, AC Chair Carand AC 3-tier, dubbing it as a “huge drain”on the pocket of masses. He, however,left untouched the increase of 15 paiseper km and 30 paise per km respectivelyin passenger fares in AC 2-tier and AC-Iannounced by Trivedi in the RailwayBudget only last week. The Minister didnot give the financial implications of theroll back decision. In his budget, Trivedihad assumed an income of ̀ 4,000 croreon account of the hike but reversal ofthe decision could result in a loss of`3,000 crore, officials said. Replying tothe debate on the Budget, Roy also puton hold Trivedi’s proposal of setting up acommittee to examine whether thereshould be an independent tariffregulatory authority and scrapped a moveto expand the Railway Board. Roy saidthe proposal to increase fare by 2 paiseper km, 3 paise per km and 5 paise perkm in second class suburban and non-suburban and Sleeper class is a hugedrain on the pocket of the masses.“Similarly, increase in the fare of AC ChairCar and AC 3-tier, which is nowpatronised by the middle class, is also quitesevere.”

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JUSTICE HS BEDI PANEL

The Supreme Court of India on 2March 2012 appointed its former judge,Justice H S Bedi as the chairman of themonitoring authority. He willinvestigate the case of 22 alleged fakeencounter killings in Gujarat between2002 and 2006. It also rejected the pleaof government to extend the time till12 March 2012 to sort out the issue ofappointment of chairman. It alsodirected the Gujarat government toprovide full facility and cooperation toJustice Bedi. The monitoring authoritywill submit its interim report withinthree months.

AMENDMENTS IN MOTORVEHICLE ACT 1988 APPROVED

The Union cabinet of India on 1March 2012 approved the proposedchanges in the Motor Vehicle Act 1988,which includes longer jail terms andhigher fines for repeat traffic violations.The new act has a provision of 500rupees fine if one does not wear seatbelt and helmet or jumps a red light. Anybody caught using mobile phonewhile driving will be fined. Repeat

traffic offences like jumping red lights ornot using seat belts and helmets willattract fine between 500 rupees to 1500rupees. Crossing the speed limits couldattract a fine of 1000 rupees, if theoffence is committed first time. In casethe offence is repeated, the penaltycould be as much as 5000 rupees. 

In case, the same offender violatesthe traffic rules again, the fines willmultiply. The new act also provides thatthe offence of drunk driving will beawarded with a punishment of a two-year jail term and a fine of 5000 rupeesor both. The fines are increased in thenew act with the objective of targetingthe major causes of accidents on Indianroads which are- speeding, use of cellphones, not wearing seatbelts andhelmet and drunk driving. MotorVehicle Act 1988 governs licensing rulesand offences on Indian roads.  Anexpert committee appointed byministry of road transport andhighways suggested the changes.

PORTAL FOR IMPLEMENTATIONOF NSIGSE

Human Resource Development(HRD) ministry launched a web portal

for implementation of the NationalScheme of Incentive to Girls forSecondary Education (NSIGSE) in NewDelhi. Web portal was developed by theCanara Bank to implement the scheme.The portal will facilitate on linesubmission of data of the beneficiariesand on line disbursement of the amounton the day of the maturity into theiraccounts directly after certification bythe State Nodal Officer on line that thebeneficiary is 18 years old and passedclass X examination. Now, theproposals under the scheme will besubmitted by the State Governments online. This will eliminate the possibilityof feeding incorrect data and bankaccount numbers which was the majorcause for delay in the processing of theproposals and ensure error free entryof data and timely release of funds. Theonline system will also ensure totaltransparency and quicker disbursementof benefits to the beneficiary girls andon time submission of proposals by theState Governments.   The web portalwill make sure that there istransparency and quicker disbursementof advantages to the beneficiary girls.The NSIGSE Scheme was sponsored by

NATIONAL ISSUES

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the central government and it waslaunched in May 2008 with the aim ofestablishing a conducive environmentto reduce the drop-outs and to promotethe enrolment of girl child belongingspecially to SC/ST communities insecondary schools.

INDIA’S MANGROVE COVERRISES

India recorded a net increase of23.34 sq. km of mangrove coverbetween 2009 and 2011, thanks toefforts of one of the most industrialisedstates, Gujarat , in planting andregenerating the ecosystem rich inbiodiversity. The new biennialassessment report by the Forest Surveyof India (FSI) has commended Gujarat’scontribution in planting andregenerating the mangroves, a salttolerant plant community, whichharbours a number of criticallyendangered flora and fauna species.“Compared with 2009 assessment, therehas been a net increase of 23.34 sq. kmin the mangrove cover of the country.This can be attributed to increasedplantations particularly in Gujarat stateand regeneration of natural mangroveareas,” according to the assessment bythe FSI, an arm of Union EnvironmentMinistry. Mangroves in India accountfor about three per cent of the world’smangrove vegetation. The report saysmangrove cover in India is 4,662 sq. km,which is 0.14 per cent of the country’stotal geographical area. Sundarbans inWest Bengal accounts for almost halfof the total area under mangroves in thecountry. The very dense mangrovecomprises 1,403 sq. km (30.10 per centof the total mangrove cover),moderately dense mangrove is 1,658.12sq. km (35.57 per cent) while openmangroves cover an area of 1,600.44 sq.km (33 per cent). Mangrove forests are

regarded as the most productivewetlands in the world on account of thelarge quantities of organic and inorganicnutrients released in the coastal watersby these ecosystems. They also act asnurseries for fin fish, shell fish,crustaceans and molluscs. 

INTERLINKING OF RIVERSPROJECT TO BE IMPLEMENTED

The Supreme Court of Indiadirected the union government of Indiato implement the ambitious interlinkingof rivers project in a time-boundmanner. Observing that the project hasalready been delayed resulting in anincrease in its cost, a three-judge bench,headed by S H Kapadia, appointed ahigh-powered committee to chart outand execute the project.

The committee will comprise ofUnion Minister of Water Resources, itsSecretary, Secretary of Ministry ofEnvironment and Forest (MoEF) andfour expert members appointed byWater Resources Ministry, FinanceMinistry, Planning Commission and theMoEF. Representatives from stategovernments, two social activists andsenior advocate Ranjit Kumar, who hasbeen assisting the court in the case, willalso be members of the committee.

AYUSH TO BE INCLUDED INNATIONAL HEALTH SCHEMES

The Centre is planning to launcha special scheme for delivery ofhealthcare services in 100 out of 264focus districts across the country where

the health indicators are very low, byintegrating allopathic and other Indiansystems of medicine soon. Under thescheme, joint teams of doctors ofallopathy, Ayurveda, yoga andnaturopathy, Unani, Siddha andhomoeopathy systems of medicine willvisit villages frequently to bring aboutan improvement in the general healthcondition of people. Modalities werebeing worked out to include AYUSHsystems of medicine in all nationalhealth programmes within two years.

WHO REMOVED INDIA FROMPOLIO-ENDEMIC COUNTRIES

The World Health Organisation(WHO) has removed India from the listof polio-endemic countries, suggestingthat the wild polio virus had been totallyeliminated from the environment. Thedisease paralysed thousands of childrenevery year for several decades.Thisannouncement was made by Health andFamily Planning Minister Ghulam NabiAzad at the Polio Summit 2012 in thepresence of Prime Minister ManmohanSingh, amidst a thunderous applause.The feat came after India successfullycompleted an entire year without anincidence of polio. “WHO has takenIndia’s name off the list of polio endemiccountries in view of the remarkableprogress that we have made during thepast one year.” However, India will haveto remain polio free for two more yearsbefore it is declared polio-free by theWHO. There were only four countriesin the WHO endemic list, includingPakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.

PMAGY TO BE TRANSFERRED TOMORD

In a major administrative move,the Planning Commission has clearedthe transfer of the Pradhan MantriAdarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) to the

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Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)from the Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment. Planning CommissionDeputy Chairman Montek SinghAhluwalia has conveyed the in principleapproval of transfer of the scheme toRural Development Minister JairamRamesh saying that the PMAGY had asynergy with the programmes run by theMoRD and underlined the merit ofconverging it with the Total SanitationCampaign.

The PMAGY was announced in2009-10 for integrated development ofall villages with more than 50 percentscheduled caste population. Presently,there are 44,000 such villages. As a pilotproject, it has been implemented in1,000 villages in Assam, Bihar,Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and TamilNadu with an allocation of Rs. 100 crorewith each village to get Rs. 10 lakh peryear.

The annual funding was raised toRs. 20 lakh per village in September andRs. 194 crore has been spent in thesevillages.

ADVANCE RESERVATION OFBERTHS EXTENDED

Railway Ministry extended thetime period for the advance booking ofRailway tickets from 90 days to 120days. This new reservation policy willcome into effect from March 10, 2012.No change has been proposed fordaytime trains such as the Taj Expressand Gomti Express. The advancereservation periods for these trains are15 days and it will remain unchanged.There will also be no change in case ofthe limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.

The Indian Railways carryapproximately 30 million passengerseveryday and the move of increasing theadvance reservation period will help thecommuters to plan their journey better.

THE NEW VERSION OF MGNREGA

More than 25 agriculture andallied activities were included in thenew version of Mahatma GandhiNational Rural Employment GuaranteeAct, MGNREGA , which will beimplemented from 1 April 2012. Thenew version of MGNREGA will lead tobetter farm output. After receiving areport on revised operational guidelinesfor MGNREGA. The new version of actwas prepared after receiving a report onrevised Operational Guidelines forMGNREGA. It will also respond todemands of the states for locationspecific flexibility in permissible worksas valuable suggestions from the statesare incorporated in the guidelines.  TheReport was prepared by a committeeheaded by Planning CommissionMember Mihir Shah.

4TH PHASE OF ITMP BEGINS

The fourth phase of an “IntensiveTiger Monitoring Programme”envisaged by the Tiger Task Force of theUnion Government has begun at theKalakkad - Mundanthurai TigerReserve (KMTR) in Tirunelveli (TamilNadu).

In the fourth phase now thesetting up of 100 cameras in every foursq. km. area has begun. The cameratrapping will cover a 400 sq. km. areain the 890 sq. km. spread of KMTR. The400 sq. km. area has been identified asimportant tiger habitat. Already theKMTR officials have 20 cameras and theNational Tiger Conservation Authority(NTCA) has provided funds to buy 60cameras.

Besides these, World Wide Fundfor Nature – India (WWF-I) hasprovided another 20 cameras. In thepresent intensive system movement ofevery tiger in a reserve can be identified.

KOSI MAHASETHUINAUGURATED

The fertile and chronically flood-lacerated swathe of the Mithilanchalbelt in north Bihar witnessed awatershed moment in its urbanecosystem when Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar inaugurated the ‘KosiMaha Sethu’ — a rail-cum-road bridge— in Supaul district. The bridge wasdestroyed in the 1934 Bihar-Nepalearthquake, dividing Mithilanchal intotwo halves and reducing the entiretownships to rubble and killing tens ofthousands of people. The loss of thisbridge, known as the ‘Lifeline ofMithilanchal,’ had hampered traffic andcommerce for several decades. The10.63 km-long bridge, of which 1.87 kmis built over water was completed at acost of more than Rs. 400 crore.

BIGGEST COORDINATED MOCKDRILLS

The biggest coordinated mockdrills were carried out on 15 February2012 in New Delhi, to check thealertness and preparedness of variouspublic agencies, if an earthquake of highmagnitude rocks the national capital.The drills were conducted in severalplaces, including six Metro stations,across the national capital by theNational Disaster ManagementAuthority and Delhi DisasterManagement Authority. Six metrostations were closed for over half-an-hour and road traffic in many areas inCentral, South and North Delhi werediverted as part of the exercise. 

A number of simulated situationslike collapse of flyovers, crack in metropillars, damage to hospitals and collapseof residential buildings due to anearthquake measuring 7 on the Richterscale were created. Officials from all the

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important Emergency SupportFunctionary departments like police,MCD, DMRC, Health department, DelhiJal Board and Food and Civil Supplies co-ordinated with senior officials of all thenine districts to make the drill a success.

INDIA TO BE A YOUNGESTNATION BY 2020

India will be one of the youngestnations by 2020 and this changingdemographic condition, whileproviding great opportunities, couldpose some challenges too, theEconomic Survey 2011-12 has said.India is passing through a phase ofunprecedented demographic changes,wherein the proportion of the workingage population (15-59 years) is likely torise from around 58 per cent in 2001 toover 64 per cent by 2021, according tothe Survey. The comparative figures forChina and the U.S. are 37 years, whileit is 45 for West Europe and 48 Japan.The ‘demographic dividend’ would posea challenge, as the average Indian willbe only 29 years old in 2020, the Surveynotes. In absolute numbers, there willbe around 63.5 million new entrants tothe working age group between 2011and 2016. These changes are likely tocontribute to a substantially increasedlabour force. However, it will benefitIndia only if the population is “healthy,educated, and appropriately skilled.”The bulk of this increase is likely to takeplace in the relatively younger age groupof 20-35.

RIVER DIVERSION AND SOILEROSION THREATEN TURTLE

NESTING

Erosion and diversion ofRushikulya river mouth in Odisha’sGanjam district are posing a seriousthreat to the annual mass nesting of theendangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.

The marine species started sporadicnesting in the area this season along thefour-km-long stretch fromPurunabandh to Gokharakuda near theRushikulya river mouth. The entire siteis now submerged due to shifting of theriver mouth, which is likely to causeproblem for the Olive Ridley turtles tolay eggs in mass.

They are likely to choose someother site for their annual nesting offGanjam coast. There are doubts nowover continuity of the mass nesting nearthe coast, when their traditional nestingsite was wiped out. Rapid erosion andshifting of the river mouth was due tothe climate change and a naturalphenomenon.

NCPCR GUIDELINES FORSCHOOLS

The National Commission forProtection of Child Rights (NCPCR)released guidelines to eliminate physicalpunishment and to discipline schools. The NCPCR survey disclosed that theuse of physical punishments is commonin Indian schools and corporalpunishments are often used by teachersas a means to discipline children. Evenchildren in the age group of 3 to fiveyears are not spared. The NCPCRreleased the Guidelines after a detailedstudy. The study was conducted in2009-10 and it involved 6632 childrenacross seven states in India. Theguidelines suggested the formation ofCorporal Punishment Monitoring Cells(CPMCs) by schools. Besides hearing

grievances related to corporalpunishment, child sexual abuse andmental harassment, CPMCs willforward recommendations to districtlevel authorities within 48 hours of theoccurrence.

NATIONAL DATA SHARING ANDACCESSIBILITY POLICY

APPROVED

Union cabinet of India on 9February 2012 approved the NationalData Sharing and Accessibility Policy(NDSAP-2012) to facilitate access tocentral government owned shareabledata and information. The data can beshared in both human readable andmachine readable formats through anetwork across the country. TheNDSAP policy is designed to promotedata sharing and enable access tocentral government owned data fornational planning and development.The Union Cabinet also approved theguidelines for establishing Joint VentureCompanies by Defence Public SectorUndertakings, DPSUs. The guidelineswill provide a streamlined, fair andtransparent framework for enteringinto Joint Ventures with the ultimateobjective of better risk-management,greater-efficiency and enhancing self-reliance in the defence sector as a whole.It is expected that the guidelines willfoster better and deeper partnershipsbetween the DPSUs and privatepartners.

CONSERVATION RESERVESTATUS FOR JAWAI FORESTS

Rajasthan will soon accord thebio-diversity rich Jawai Bandh forestsin Pali district the status of aconservation reserve. The rich forestsand the water bodies along the Jawaidam in Sumerpur tehsil have a largepresence of crocodiles. The wildlife

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census in 2011 had put their number at288. The standing committee of theRajasthan Board for Wildlife, which methere on Wednesday under thechairpersonship of Minister forEnvironment & Forests Bina Kak,cleared the new conservation reserveunder Section 36 of the amendedWildlife Protection Act, 1972. Thereserve is fifth in the category in theState. The conservation reserves, aconcept introduced in the Act throughthe amendments, replaces the “closedarea” concept. The census report of wildanimals for three years from 2009 to2011 was released by Ms. Kak on theoccasion. The existing conservationreserves in the State are Jhodbede inBikaner district, Bisalpur in Tonkdistrict, Soonda Mata in Jalore districtand Gudha Vishnoi in Jodhpur district.Rajasthan has a lone community reserve— also introduced after the 2002amendment to the Act — in Rotu inNagaur district.

INDIAN BLACK EAGLE WASSPOTTED IN THE ARAVALI

BIODIVERSITY PARK

The Indian Black Eagle wasspotted in the Aravali Biodiversity Parkafter a gap of 90 years. The bird was lastseen in 1920-21 by Basin Edwardes. TheIndian Black Eagle is usually found,along the base of the Himalayas fromHimachal to Bhutan, northeastpeninsula in Odisha, in the south Assamhills to the Lushai hills, in northeastPakistan, the northeastern andsoutheastern Ghats and Sri Lanka.

OPPOSITION TO MONSANTOPATENT ON INDIAN MELONS

Activist Vandana Shiva and anEurope-based NGO have jointlyopposed a patent awarded to anAmerican company on virus resistance

traits taken from indigenous melonvarieties in India. The NGOs —Navdanya and No Patent on Seeds —contend that, armed with this patent,the U.S. company (Monsanto) couldblock access to all breeding materialinheriting the virus resistance derivedfrom the Indian melon. Seekingcomplete revocation of the patent theNGOs, in their application filed in theEuropean Patent Office in Munich onFriday, said that the patent (EP 1 962578) on Closterovirus-resistant Melonplants should not have been granted asit was not an invention but a case of“bio-piracy.” Melons have a naturalresistance to certain plant viruses. In thecase of Cucurbit Yellow StuntingDisorder virus (CYSDV) — which hasbeen spreading through NorthAmerica, Europe and North Africa forseveral years — certain melons areknown to be naturally resistant to it.Using conventional breeding methods,this type of resistance was introducedfrom an Indian melon to other melonsand has now been patented as aMonsanto “invention.”

DHARMADHIKARI PANEL REPORTSUBMITTED

Former Supreme Court judgeJustice D. M. Dharmadhikari, whoheaded a four-member committee onintegration of thousands of employeesafter the merger of two State-ownedcarriers — Air India and Indian Airlines— on Tuesday submitted his report tothe Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh.The report takes into account the viewsof the pilots, cabin crew and engineerson integration of about 29,000employees of Indian Airlines and AirIndia which were merged five years agointo unified Air India. The employeeshave been agitating over disparities intheir pay scales, promotional avenues

and areas of responsibilities. The reportruns into more than 100 pages and thereare so many people involved in it — thepilots, the other people in the airlinemanagement. The Ministry willexamine the report and then dowhatever needs to be done.” Thoughdetails of the report were not availableimmediately, the DharmadhikariCommittee is understood to have madeseveral recommendations on criticalissues such as career progression,integration across various cadre,rationalisation of their pay scale,allowances and incentives and overallrestructuring of the entire staff of theerstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India.

SETTING UP OF A NATIONALCENTRE FOR COLD CHAINDEVELOPMENT APPROVED

The government of Indiaapproved setting up of a national centrefor cold chain development andallocated a one-time grant of 25 crorerupees for its corpus fund. The decisionwas taken in a Cabinet meeting held inNew Delhi under the chairmanship ofPrime Minister Manmohan Singh. Themove comes in the wake of post harvestlosses to the tune of 50000 crore rupeesannually in absence of proper storagefacilities. The Cabinet gave its ex-postfacto approval for registering NationalCentre for Cold Chain Development,NCCD, as a society under the SocietiesRegistration Act, 1860. The NCCD willbe having a Governing Council underthe Chairmanship of Secretary with 22members, covering governmentofficials, Confederation of IndianIndustry, Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce and Industry,FICCI and other stake holders. India isthe second largest producer ofhorticultural commodities in the world.However, a significant portion of the

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produce, particularly perishables likefruits, vegetables, flowers go waste dueto post harvest losses. A robust coldchain infrastructure will go a long wayin reducing the losses of perishables.India, the world’s second largestproducer of horticulture products afterChina , accounts for 71.5 million tonnesof fruits, 133.7 million tonnes ofvegetables and 17.8 million tonnes ofother commodities like flowers, spices,coconut, cashew, mushroom, honeyamong others. A significant portion ofthe produce like fruits, vegetables,flowers go waste due to post harvestlosses in absence of proper cold storagefacilities.

NATIONAL COUNTER TERRORISMCENTRE (NCTC)

The Union government decided tooperationalise the ambitious NationalCounter Terrorism Centre (NCTC)from 1 March 2012. A pet project ofUnion Home Minister P. Chidambaram,the NCTC got approval from theCabinet Committee on Security (CCS)in January 2012. The operationsdivision of the counter-terrorism bodywere powers to arrest and carry outsearches under Section 43A of theUnlawful Activities (Prevention) Act,1967. The NCTC is to be located in theIntelligence Bureau and headed by aDirector who will be an officer in therank of Additional Director, IB. It willhave three units — gatheringintelligence, analysis of intelligence andcarrying out operations. Each of thesedivisions will be headed by a jointdirector of the IB.

NATIONAL POLICY ON NARCOTICDRUGS

The Union government unveileda comprehensive policy on narcoticdrugs and psychotropic substances, as

announced by Finance Minister PranabMukherjee during the budgetpresentation last year. The need forsuch a policy assumes significance inthe light of the fact that trafficking innarcotic drugs also contributes togeneration of black money in thecountry. Unveiling the policy at afunction, Mr. Mukherjee said thedeleterious effect of black economy,generated in the world through drugtrafficking, could well be imagined andthe money could finance several otherforms of criminal activity, includingterror financing and other forms oftransnational organised crime. “Thereleased policy, presents evidence ofIndia’s strong commitment and itsintent to rise to the challenges posed bythe drug menace. It also reflects thecountry’s willingness to shoulder theresponsibility that is cast upon itbecause of its strategic position,sandwiched between two major regionsof the world producing illicit narcotics,and on account of being a traditionalcultivator of illicit opium and a supplierof this raw material for medical andscientific needs of pharmaceuticalindustry, which makes use of suchnarcotic drugs and psychotropicsubstances to make critical medicines.The policy recommends the productionof Concentrate of Poppy Straw (CPS)in India by a company or bodycorporate that would enable thecountry to retain its status of atraditional supplier of Opiate RawMaterial (ORM) to the rest of world,while remaining competitive.

NATIONAL INFANT MORTALITYRATE REDUCED

As per the latest SampleRegistration System (SRS)bulletinreleased by the RegistrarGeneral of India (RGI), it is noted that

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) hasdropped further by 3 points from 50to 47 infants deaths per 1000 live birthsduring 2010. The IMR for rural areashas dropped by 4 points from 55 to 51infant deaths per 1000 live births whilethe Urban rate now stands at 31 fromthe previous 34/1000. State of Goa stillhas the lowest IMR of 10 infant deathsfollowed by Kerala with 13 infant deathsper 1000 live births (as against 12/1000in January 2011 figures) – the UrbanIMR in Kerala has however reduced to10 against 11 of previous figures.Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMRof 62/1000 followed by UP and Odishawith 61/1000 IMR . States/UTs ofAssam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Haryana,Rajasthan, Meghalaya still have IMRsmore than the national average of 47.

The Sample Registration System(SRS) is a large-scale demographicsurvey for providing reliable annualestimates of birth rate, death rate andother fertility & mortality indicators atthe national and sub-national levels.The field investigation consists ofcontinuous enumeration of births anddeaths in selected sample units byresident part time enumerators,generally anganwadi workers &teachers, and an independent surveyevery six months by SRS supervisors.The data obtained by these twoindependent functionaries are matched.The unmatched and partially matchedevents are re-verified in the field andthereafter an unduplicated count ofbirths and deaths is obtained.

STAMPEDE AT JUNAGADH INGUJARAT

A stampede erupted at Junagadhduring the Mahashivratri fair on 19February 2012. The stampede turneddeadly as it left at least six peopleincluding three women, two children

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and a man dead, and 30 injured. Thestampede took place in the wake of aheavy traffic jam on PannchnakaBridge, the only road to Bhavnathtemple at the foothill of Mount Girnar.The annual fair is held every year on thefestival of Shivratri. Lakhs of devoteesevery year visit the Junagadh to paytheir obeisance to the famous shrine ofLord Shiva on the occasion of Shivratrifestival. Junagadh is the seventh largestcity of Gujarat, situated at the foot ofthe Girnar Hill, 355 km south west ofstate capital Gandhinagar andAhmedabad.

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SENIORCITIZENS

The Union Government of Indiagave the approval for setting up aNational Council for Senior Citizens. Itwill be headed by the Minister of SocialJustice and Empowerment. It will advicethe Central and State Governments onissues related to welfare of seniorcitizens. The Council will suggestspecial policies and programmes for thephysical and financial security of thesenior citizens in the country. TheCouncil will comprise of 20 membersincluding the Minister of State forSocial Justice and Empowerment along

with the oldest members from both theHouses of Parliament and distinguishedpersonalities from different fields.

RUDRASAGAR DEVELOPMENTSCHEME APPROVED

Planning commission od Indiaapproved investment clearance for thescheme – Rudrasagar DrainageDevelopment Scheme, Tripura. Thescheme is an estimated to cost of Rs.14.8978 Crore (Rs Fourteen crore,Eighty Nine Lakhs and Seventy EightThousand Only). The project is to becompleted by the financial year 2012-13 and Plan account would be closedby 31st March 2013.   Theimplementation of the scheme willrestrict water spread area of the lakeduring monsoon and maintain waterlevel of 13 m during winter andmaintain water level of 11 m forboosting the ecology of the area. Anarea of 2200 ha with a population of1000 will benefit from the scheme.

TRIVEDI PROPOSESREGULATORY BODY TO DECIDE

RAILWAY FARES

After failing to effect a hike in railfares as a measure to generate internalresources, Railway Minister Dinesh

Trivedi proposed an independent bodyto take decisions on rail fares withoutbeing influenced by political exigencies.He also favoured the restructuring ofthe Railway Board.

The Minister was addressing aconference organised by the Federationof Indian Chambers of Commerce andIndustry.

Mr. Trivedi called for a nationalpolicy for the railways that would setforth a revenue model with stress onsafety and customer benefit . Hisemphasis on need to de-politicise therailways came amid rumours that hefailed to get Trinamool Congress leaderand West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee’s approval for fareincrease.

He, however, denied that his callfor keeping politics at bay was becauseof any political interference. Instead, hesaid, his emphasis was on the growthof the railways over the next fivedecades. He hoped the UPAgovernment and Parliament would givetheir nod for setting up a regulatorybody on fares.

As for the Railway Board, he saidnow it was oriented to operations; itshould focus on customer comfort andsafety.

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LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST THESRI LANKAN PRESIDENT

A US (United States) federal judgedismissed a lawsuit filed against the SriLankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.The lawsuit alleged that the humanrights abuses occurred during the civilwar in Sri Lanka, and it held PresidentRajapaksa responsible. The court notedthat President is immune from lawsuitsas a sitting Head of State. The courtadded that head of state immunity is awell-established legal principal in theUSA.

REPORT ON WORLD BANK’SCRISIS RESPONSE

A phase-two study of the WorldBank’s crisis response, presented in areport , titled The World Bank’sResponse to the Global EconomicCrisis: Phase II was released.

The report noted that during itsresponse to the worst financial-economic crisis that hit the worldeconomy in 2008, the World Bank failedto adequately modif y its lendingpatterns as per the severity of thedownturn across nations. It therefore

currently finds itself with potentiallyinsufficient headroom to respond to asecond crisis of similar or greatermagnitude to the one in 2008-09. Thestudy report was unveiled by its authorsat the Independent Evaluation Group

(IEG), which is a member of the WorldBank group of institutions but reportsto the Bank’s Board of ExecutiveDirectors rather than its management.Anjali Kumar is a lead author of thereport and a Lead Economist with theIEG

Salient features of Report

Low resource allocation at the startof the crisis and the assumption that allfinancing demands could beaccommodated from existing patterns

of lending had played a role in the Bank’sultimate lending decisions. The reportobserved that while equity-to-loan ratiosof the Bank at the outset of the crisis werearound 37.5 per cent, the recent financialfigures released by the Bank for quarterclosing September 2011 suggested it had

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

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come down to 27 per cent.The lendingphenomenon was driven by countrydemand for Bank lending, and hencecountries that were most engaged withthe Bank before the crisis such as Indiaand Indonesia – tended to approach theBank more and in some cases get loansmore quickly. 

Other factors such as the limitedfiscal capacity of certain countries andthe fact that some countries went toother lenders such as Russia’sengagement with the European Bankfor Reconstruction and Developmentand Ecuador and Venezuela’s relianceon the Inter-American DevelopmentBanks also affected the bank lending.The IEG also noted that while much ofthe budget-support lending that theBank undertook in India had helpedsignal the strength of public sectorbanks in the country, yet many of thesepublic sector banks had capitaladequacy ratios conforming to Indiangovernment norms at the outset ofcrisis. This aspect raised the questionof Bank lending priorities during thecrisis – for example whether it was apriority for the Bank to provideprecautionary buffer capital to banksthat were adequately capitalised.

NORTH KOREA AGREED TOSUSPEND ITS NUCLEAR

PROGRAMME

North Korea agreed to suspend itsnuclear and uranium enrichmentprogramme in return for US food aid.USA had promised North Korea240000 tonnes of nutritional assistanceand food aid following breakthrough intalks with the latter. North Korea alsoagreed to allow UN inspectors tomonitor its reactor in Yongbyon so thatcompliance with the measures could beverified and the disablement of the 5-MW reactor and associated facilities

could be confirmed. This step was takentwo months after Kim Jong-un came topower following the death of his father,Kim Jong-il. The move is expected tobring peace in East Asian region andease the tension between North Koreaand South Korea. At the global level, itcan prevent the proliferation of nucleararmament.

INDIA AND ADB SIGNED LOANAGREEMENT

India and ADB (AsianDevelopment Bank) Signed the thirdand last tranche of loan agreement  tosupport electricity transmission anddistribution capacity in Assam  underthe Assam Power Sector EnhancementInvestment Programme. It amounts to120.6 million US dollars. Tranches 1and 2 are already given. The objectiveof the Assam Power Sector Enhanc-ement Investment Programme is tomeet increasing demand for electricityin the state, where the large ruralpopulation depends mainly on theagriculture and manufacturing sectorsfor income. The programme will helpASEB add an additional 430 MVAsubstation capacity and reduce systemlosses by four percent. Part of the loanwill be utilised to increase energyefficiency through renovation andmodernization of existing 33/11 kVsubstations, the introduction of highvoltage distribution systems, andconversion to aerial bunched cables forsome high voltage and low voltage linesin the urban areas. The programme willhelp around 1 million households,hospitals, businesses, and schools in thestate.  The loan has a 20-year term andit includes a five-year grace period withan annual interest rate decided inaccordance with ADB‘s LIBOR-basedlending facility. The project will becompleted by 30 June, 2014.

INDIA TOOK OVER THE CHAIR OFASSEMBLY AND GOVERNING

BOARD OF ASOSAI

India took over the chair ofassembly and governing board ofAssociation of Supreme AuditInstitutions (ASOSAI). Vinod Rai,Comptroller and Auditor General ofIndia is the new chairman of the 45-nation strong Asian Organization of theInstitutions of the AccountantsGeneral. ASOSAI is the largest regionalorganisation of the governmentauditors. India took over the post ofchairman from Pakistan. The objectiveof ASOSAI is to promoteunderstanding and cooperation amongmember institutions through exchangeof ideas and experiences in the sectorof public audit.

The ASOSAI is not merely anauditor of financial transactions of theGovernment. It is also the promoter ofan organisations’ performance and toact as a powerful trustee of public good.Growing demands from stakeholders toknow more about performance andresults has changed the perception ofthe role of the Auditors General in mostnations.

UNHRC ASKED SYRIA TO HALTTHE ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS

The UN Human Rights Councilasked Syria to immediately stop theattacks on civilians by the securityforces. The death toll in the ongoingviolence in Syria has crossed 7500. TheUNHRC is likely to approve resolutionfor indicting the Syrian officials who areresponsible for attacks on the civilians.

THE TALKS BETWEEN IAEA ANDIRAN FAILED

The second round of talksbetween the five-member IAEA

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(International Atomic EnergyAssociation) team led by its Chiefweapons inspector, Herman Naeckartsand Iranian government failed. Thetalks were held in Tehran, capital ofIran.  IAEA requested access to themilitary sites at Parchin, which wasrefused by Iran. An IAEA report inNovember 2011 had named Parchin asone of the military sites where Iran wassuspected to work on developing anatom bomb. Iran had rejected theallegations as baseless at that time. TheIAEA team had gone to Iran to seekclarifications over its dispute nuclearprogram and its possible militarydimensions.

NEW MALDIVIAN CABINETSWORN IN

The former President of theMaldives, Mohamed Nasheed,displayed admirable restraint as newPresident Waheed Hassan finally got hisact together, named a new Cabinet, andembarked on a Himalayan task ofmaking the national unity governmentwork. Even as a “unity” mantra beganreverberating in the corridors of powerin Male, it was clear that the countryhas been divided: there is now a pro-Nasheed population and an anti-Nasheed population (which is beingseen, by some quarters, as people whoare pro-Gayoom). Quite a few from theearlier era are back in power, includinga few India baiters.

OBAMA PROPOSES TAX HIKEFOR MILLIONAIRES

In the most unmistakable sign yetthat he has thrown down the gauntletto his Republican challengers in theNovember presidential election, UnitedStates President Barack Obamaannounced a dramatic increase in thetax rate for the wealthiest Americans,

to about 30 per cent. Though even withthe increase the tax rate for Americansearning over $1 million annually willonly fall in line with the standardincome tax rate, Mr. Obama struck adefensive note about the increase in abudget speech in Virginia, doubtlessanticipating obstructionism in theRepublican-controlled House ofRepresentatives.

IRAN LAUNCHED 3 NUCLEARPROJECTS

Iran launched 3 nuclear projectsincluding a fourth generation UltraCentrifuge, which is capable ofenriching the Uranium faster than itsearlier models. The first one was at theIranian Atomic Organization ResearchCenter in Tehran where Iran’s firsthome-made nuclear fuel rods wereloaded into a medical reactor. Thiswould be used for production ofisotopes used in treatment of cancerpatients. Iran unveiled two otherprojects in the Natanz plant in centralIran. These include a facility which willenable the plant to enrich uranium to20 per cent. The fourth generationUltracentrifuge will enable far higherenrichment speed than previousmodels. Enriched uranium is a criticalcomponent for both civil nuclear powergeneration and nuclear weapons.

MARINES OF ITALIAN SHIP TO BEPROSECUTED

The marines of Italian ship EnricaLexie, Latore Massimiliano andSalvatore Girone allegedly killed twofishermen Valentine Jalastine andAjeesh Binki off the coast of Kollam inKerala.The marines fired at the boat offishermen causing their death. Thearrested Italian marines LatoreMassimiliano and Salvatore Gironehave been charged with murder

under Section 302 of IPC. The Italianauthorities, however, argued that themarines fired at the boat, mistaking itto be a pirate vessel.

Syria rejected the Arab Leagueproposal

Syria rejected the Arab Leagueproposal for deployment of a Joint UN-Arab Peacekeeping mission by the UNSecurity Council to monitor thesituation in the country, describing it asa hostile act that targets Syria’s stabilityand security. Arab League suspendedSyria’s membership in November 2011.The UN General Assembly will take upfor discussion the situation in Syria inNew York. The focus would be onhumanitarian concerns. The GeneralAssembly will discuss a Saudi draftproposal calling for support to ArabLeague peace plan in Syria. The draftcalls for Syrian President to step down.It says those responsible for killings ofcivilians in Syria should be heldaccountable.

PAKISTAN, AFGHAN, ISAFCOORDINATION RESUMES

The Army resumed bordercoordination with the InternationalSecurity Assistance Force (ISAF)stationed in Afghanistan and theAfghan National Army after a two-month freeze in relations following theNATO air strike on Pakistani borderoutposts. The meeting at the BorderCoordination Centre at Torkham waspart of the tripartite engagement todiscuss and improve variouscoordination measures along the Pak-Afghan border. Pakistan wasrepresented by the Director-General ofMilitary Operations. Bordercoordination meetings — aimed atensuring that terrorists do not crossover to either side of the porus DurandLine whenever operations are being

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conducted against them in the twocountries — have not been held afterthe November 26 NATO strike on twoborder outposts of Pakistan which left24 soldiers dead.

Soon after the strike, the Armyhad temporarily recalled personnelattached to some of the coordinationposts on the border but officially it wasmaintained that they had not beenwithdrawn from the posts in protest aswas reported in a section of thepress.The resumption of the bordercoordination meetings comes a weekafter Foreign Minister Hina RabbaniKhar visited Kabul signalling a thaw inbilateral relations that had turned verybitter in the last quarter of 2011.

PRESIDENT MOHAMMEDNASHEED RESIGNED

President of Maldives, MohamedNasheed resigned after weeks ofprotest. The protest was against hisdecision to sack a judge he had accusedof favouring the opposition. VicePresident Mohammed Waheed Hassanwas sworn in as President, followingNasheed’s resignation. It is alleged thatpolice officers sided with anti-government demonstrators.   InJanuary 2012, Nasheed ordered thearmy to arrest Criminal Court ChiefJustice Abdulla Mohamed. Thegovernment accused the judge of givingpolitically motivated ruling, which wasbiased in favour of the opposition.

IRAN-IAEA TALKS FAIL TOACHIEVE BREAKTHROUGH

Iran and the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA) have failed toachieve a breakthrough, after two daysof talks, on a roadmap to ease nucleartensions surrounding Iran’s atomicprogramme. Early, the IAEA issued astatement which said despite intensive

discussions, the two sides could not signa document which could have clarifiedwhether Tehran’s nuclear programmehad a military dimension. “Intensiveefforts were made to reach agreementon a document facilitating theclarification of unresolved issues inconnection with Iran’s nuclearprogramme, particularly those relatingto possible military dimensions,” saidthe statement. “Unfortunately,agreement was not reached on thisdocument.”

Iran also barred the IAEA team,led by the Agency’s deputy directorHerman Nackaerts to visit a militarysite in Parchin, where, there aresuspicions that Iran has carried out highexplosives testing related to thedevelopment of atomic weapons. IAEAchief Yukiya Amano expresseddisappointment over the Iran’s decisionto deny the IAEA team access to thefacility.

CHINA’S DEFENCE BUDGET UPTO $100 BILLION

China has announced it willincrease defence spending by 11.2 percent in 2012, for the first time taking itsannual military expenditure beyond$100 billion as it puts in place plans tomodernise its Army against thebackdrop of an uncertain regionalenvironment. The planned defencebudget was announced in Beijing onSunday as 670.274 billion yuan ($106.39billion), an increase of 67.604 billion

yuan over the expenditure in 2011 andan 11.2 per cent year-on-year rise. Theproposed budget is expected to beapproved this week when the NationalPeople’s Congress (NPC), the toplegislative body, begins its annualsession on Monday.

IRAN READY FOR IAEAINSPECTIONS AT PARCHIN

Iran has announced that it is readyto open up its Parchin military facilityfor inspections by the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — amove likely to retard the growing callfor military strikes against Iran’s nuclearfacilities. In Vienna, the office of AliAsghar Soltanieh, Iran’s permanentrepresentative to the IAEA, issued astatement on Tuesday that the agency’sinspectors could visit Parchin once anagreement was reached on themodalities for inspections. In a day offast-paced developments, the fivepermanent members of the U.N.Security Council and Germany, who aredemanding that Iran freeze all uraniumenrichment, announced that they haveaccepted an offer to resume stallednuclear talks with Tehran.

SYRIAN PRESIDENT SET 7 MAY2012 AS THE DATE FOR

ELECTIONS

In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad set 7 May 2012 as the date forparliamentary elections. This would bethe third election for parliament sincePresident Bashar Al Assad became thePresident of Syria in 2000. The electionswould be held as per the newconstitution adopted by a referendumin February 2012. As per the newconstitution, Baath party will not havemonopoly on power. The new charterstates that the president can serve onlytwo seven-year terms and a Supreme

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Constitutional Court will oversee free andfair elections. The parliamentary electionsare being considered as a response fromPresident Assad to UN Special envoy toSyria Kofi Annan’s initiative.

6.8-MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE INCENTRAL PHILIPPINES

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struckoff the coast of the central Philippines inthe narrow strait between the heavilypopulated islands of Negros and Cebu.Soil and rocks buried homes in aneighbourhood in Guihulngan City nearthe quake’s epicentre, which had also seenheavy rain in the days before theearthquake. The powerful quake whichstruck near Tayasan town in the centralPhilippine island of Negros causedbuildings to collapse, resulted in thercracking of roads and bridges, and shutdown the power supply.

In Cebu city, a popular touristdestination and city of 2.3 million, hotelguests scrambled to higher floors asunfounded rumours did rounds. Theworst-hit area appeared to beGuihulngan, a coastal city in Negrosclose to the quake’s epicentre, with 39people confirmed killed there. Anothereffected city Cebu is loacated  50kilometres from the epicentre  Hoursafter the quake struck, a strong 6.2magnitude aftershock hit the centralPhilippines, followed by another  shockmeasuring 6.0. Over 200 less-powerfulaftershocks were detected throughoutthe day.

PLASTIC BAG TAX TO BEIMPOSED IN N. IRELAND

A 5p (GBP0.05) plastic bag tax willbe imposed in Northern Ireland fromnext year. Alex Attwood, environmentminister, said “we want to demonstratethat the Northern Ireland governmentis dedicated to the green agenda.”

INDONESIA, 157TH COUNTRY TOADOPT THE CTBT

Indonesia became the 157thcountry to adopt the ComprehensiveTest Ban Treaty. Indonesia formalisedratification of the nuclear test ban treatyon 6 February 2012 at the UnitedNations. The Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) completed itstalks on the regional weapons free zonein 2011 and the 10 member states arenow completing ratification of thattreaty. The Southeast Asia NuclearWeapon-Free Zone treaty commitsASEAN’s 10 member states not todevelop, manufacture or otherwiseacquire, possess or have control overatomic weapons.

RUSSIA AND CHINA VETOED THEUNSC RESOLUTION

Russia and China on 4 February2012 vetoed the UN Security Councilresolution for the second time in fourmonths. The resolution condemns theSyrian regime’s crackdown on publicuprising and calls upon PresidentBashar Al Assad to abide by the ArabLeague time-frame for political reformsin the country. 13 members of the 15-member Security Council, includingIndia voted in favour of the resolution.The draft resolution was prepared byEuropean Union and Arab nations andrevised amidst stiff opposition byRussia. From the original draft severalmajor demands were dropped. Thetime-frame for implementation of theresolution by Syria was increased from15 days to 21 days.

U.S. PLANS TO END AFGHANMISSION IN 2013

NATO allies discussed onThursday U.S. plans to end combatoperations in Afghanistan in 2013 and

shift to a training mission, as the allianceseeks to wind down a war that hasdragged on for a decade. U.S. DefenceSecretary Leon Panetta set out the goalas he arrived in Brussels for two days oftalks with NATO counterparts on thefuture of the mission, clouded by aleaked document showing the Talibanconfident of victory. “Hopefully by themid-to-latter part of 2013, we’ll be ableto make a transition from a combat roleto a train and advise and assist role,” Mr.Panetta told reporters aboard his plane.

CONGO WARLORD CONVICTED INFIRST ICC VERDICT

The International Criminal Courton Wednesday convicted Congolesemilitia chief Thomas Lubanga of warcrimes for conscripting children into hisarmy, the tribunal’s first ever verdict.Lubanga (51) was found guilty in TheHague of enlisting child soldiers asyoung as 11 to fight during a bloodyfour-year war in a gold-rich region ofthe Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC). Rights groups hailed the verdict,saying it sent a strong message to otherwarlords still using children —including fugitive Ugandan rebel leaderJoseph Kony. “The chamber reached itsdecision unanimously that theprosecution has proved ThomasLubanga guilty of crimes ofconscription and enlisting childrenunder the age of 15 and used them toparticipate in hostilities,” said JudgeAdrian Fulford at the ICC, set up in2002.

GOOGLE TO DO COUNTRY-SPECIFIC CONTENT FILTERING

Less than a week after a similarmove by micro-blogging site Twitter,Internet major Google has unveiledplans to make content on its bloggerplatform selectively available,

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depending on the local rules of eachcountry. Google is the latest entity tocome out with the option to restrictonline content amid a raging debateover moves by many countries,including India, to enforce regulationson the internet.

Google, which launched itsblogging service — Blogger — in 1999,said the rules would be applicable inmany countries, such as India, Brazil,Honduras, and Germany. It isunderstood that Google plans to roll itout the new system globally also. Thecompany will now be able to restrictcontent in individual countriespursuant to requests by the local legalauthority. The move will not requireblocking worldwide access to a blog.This means, for example, that if a blogbreaks an Australian law, Google cannow block it in Australia but leave it upin the rest of the world, the companysaid.

“It will allow us to continuepromoting free expression andresponsible publishing while providinggreater flexibility in complying withvalid removal requests pursuant to locallaw,” the company said. Google said itwas deploying a country-specificuniform resource locator (URL) schemefor its blogger platform, which will beredirected to a country-code top-leveldomain, or ‘ccTLD’, in the comingweeks. By utilising country-specificdomain addresses, content-removal canbe managed on a per-country basis,which will limit their impact to thesmallest number of readers. Contentremoved due to a specific country’s lawwill only be removed from the relevantpage, the company said. The move

comes after micro-blogging site Twitterlast week announced that it had theability to block content by country. 

SOUTH-TO-NORTH WATERDIVERSION PROJECT NEARS

COMPLETION

China’s ambitious $80-billionproject to divert waters of southernrivers to the arid north is nearingcompletion and will begin supplyingwater next year, officials have said. Theproject’s eastern and central routes,which will bring waters from theYangtze river to the Yellow river, will befully constructed in the next two years,planners told a review of the projectconducted over the weekend in easternShandong province. Reports of themeeting were silent about long-pendingproposals for a controversial westernroute, which has so far been stalled overenvironmental and technical concerns.The western route includes a plan todivert the Brahmaputra’s waters tonorthern China.

The south-to-north waterdiversion plan is one of the mostambitious construction projectsembarked on by Chinese engineers,estimated to cost more than 500 billionyuan (around $80 billion). It envisagesdiverting 44.8 billion cubic metres ofwater every year from Yangtze by 2050.The water-deprived and drought-affected north, home to 35 per cent ofthe population, has only seven per centof the country’s water resources. Theproject will be partially completed thisyear and “will start supplying water in2013”, water conservancy officials atmeeting were quoted as saying by theState-run Xinhua news agency. Sun

Yifu, deputy water resources chief inShandong, through which much of theeastern route runs, said the entire routewould become operational in the firsthalf of 2013, with 18 water supply unitscoming online next year and 23 othersbefore 2015. Construction of theeastern route began in 2002, when thewhole project was given approval afterdecades of planning. The project wasfirst proposed in the 1950s and backedby Mao Zedong. The central routebegan to be built the following year. Itwill be completed in 2014. Officials saidlast year more than 440,000 peoplewould be relocated for the eastern andcentral routes, bringing criticism ofproject’s costs. Around 100,000 peoplewill be displaced every year until 2014.The project has also been delayed by anumber of environmental problems.

Construction has not yet begun onthe western route, which plans to divertwater from the upper reaches of theYangtze as well as a number of riverson the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, includingthe Brahmaputra and Mekong. Thisplan has triggered concern among manyof China’s neighbours, including India,which lie downstream of these riversand depend on their waters. Of thewestern route, the Xinhua report ofmeeting only said construction had notbegun. It, however, remains unclearwhether the central government hasgiven the green light to any of theproposed diversions, amidenvironmental concerns of the project’simpact on the ecologically sensitiveTibetan plateau. Chinese officials haverecently ruled out diverting theBrahmaputra, or Yarlung Tsangpo as itis known in Tibet.

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INDIA & AUSTRALIA

An integrated approach to supplyand demand side water management isthe best response to water stress andclimate change, experts from Australiaand India pointed out at a paneldiscussion. With the success story ofintegrated approach in the Murray-Darling basin, the Australian experiencein water management is seen as anatural area of collaboration with India.“The ultimate challenge is to makerivers and lakes report card of ourcivilisation,” said Don Blackmore,globally renowned water expert andformer CEO of the Murray-DarlingCommission. Other areas ofcooperation, as India readies its newreforms-oriented National WaterPolicy, are “best practices” in waterreform, setting up of institutions todeliver “managed sustainability,”developing models that focus on“climate to hydrology” and in buildinginstitutional and human resourcecapacities. Water being a politicallysensitive issue, unless there wasconsensus on an agreed approach,reforms would not be possible.

INDIA & CHINA

India and China decided to havemaritime cooperation to buildconfidence. This was decided duringthe talks between the External AffairsMinister S M Krishna and his Chinesecounterpart Yang Jiechi in New Delhi.They also discussed other importantissues including the boundary dispute.The talks laid emphasis on thepreparations for the summit of the five-nation grouping BRICS - Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa. TheSummit will be held in New Delhi at theend of March.

INDIA & SAUDI ARABIA

India and Saudi Arabia discussedthe World Oil Outlook in New Delhi ,especially the growing demand forhydrocarbons in Asia and India duringthe delegation level talks betweenvisiting Assistant Minister forPetroleum Affairs, Saudi Arabia, AbdulAziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz andRPN Singh, Minister of State forPetroleum and Natural Gas.  The talkswere held under the India-Saudi ArabiaEnergy Consultations. R.P.N. Singh

conveyed India’s requirement ofincremental quantities of Saudi Arabianoil imports in the years aheadconsidering the ongoing expansion inIndia’s refining capacity. The Indian sidealso conveyed its growing requirementof LPG (Butane and Propane)considering the accelerated expansionof LPG coverage in the country’s ruralareas under the Rajiv Gandhi GraminLPG Vitran Yojana (RGGLVY). Indiaimports nearly 2 million tonnes of LPGfrom Saudi Arabia. Other related issuessuch as the imposition of arbitrary cutsimposed by Saudi ARAMCO on supplyof Butane and Propane from time totime, MRPL’s request for supply ofcrude oil on the basis of parentcompany guarantee instead of letter ofcredit, etc. were taken up with the Saudiside. 

India invited Saudi participation inupcoming investment opportunities inits petroleum upstream anddownstream sector including OPaL’sPetrochemical project at Dahej andOMPL’s Petrochemical project atMangalore. An offer was made to theSaudi side for considering equityparticipation in these projects as a

INDIA & THE WORLD

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strategic investor. Other proposedinvestment opportunities such as IOC’sLNG project at Ennore, BPCL’s LNGterminal at Kochi, HPCL’s grass-rootrefinery in Vizag and IOC’spetrochemical plant at Paradip werealso discussed. Since both Saudi Arabiaand India are prominent actors in theInternational Energy Forum (IEF)comprising 88 countries, which is theworld’s principal vehicle for the ongoingglobal energy dialogue, several issuesrelated to the IEF were alsodiscussed. The discussions betweenSaudi Arabia, a leading producer ofcrude oil and India, the world’s 4thlargest oil importer are significant asthey come at a time of heighteneduncertainty in the international oilmarkets. Saudi Arabia supplied 27million metric tonnes of crude oil toIndia during 2010-11, making it India’slargest crude oil supplier.

INDIA & SAUDI ARABIA ONDEFENCE CO-OPERATION

India and Saudi Arabia agreed toset up a Joint Working Group onDefence Co-operation during the visitof Defence Minister A.K Antony to thelatter.  The focus was on strengtheningbilateral co-operation in the defencesector. The two sides held wide rangingtalks including those on combatingterrorism and piracy and co-operationin regional affairs. India opined that thesituation in the Gulf region is a causeof great concern for India. It hoped thecrisis will be resolved through peacefuldialogue. 

INDIA & MALDIVES

Senior officials here heaved a sighof relief that the two-month-longpolitical confrontation in the Maldivesappeared to be getting peacefullyresolved despite belligerent statements

from a section of the Islamists againstMohd. Nasheed, who resigned as thecountry’s chief executive earlier in theday. Having been in touch with allsections of the political spectrum, NewDelhi would like mainstream parties toform a national government under Mr.Nasheed’s deputy who has now beensworn in as President. For India whichhas close security and trade links withthe Maldives and is now poised toprovide greater developmentalassistance after Prime MinisterManmohan Singh’s visit during theSAARC summit, at least half-a-dozenpositives emerged from the sudden turnof events.

They are: Maldivians arethemselves managing the problem, thesituation is well under control with noincident of prolonged violence, theresolution is taking place under theConstitution, India’s advice wasconsidered fair and helpful and therewas no repeat of the attempted coup in1988 when foreign mercenaries tried tooverthrow the government. Afterclashes took place and a posse of

policemen joined the supporters, theOpposition was very categorical thatsome sort of change in situation musttake place, said officials. With Indiagently nudging the process, talks wereheld (disrupted at one time byoverenthusiastic Nasheed supporters),a general agreement has been reachedon the formation of a nationalgovernment of both the ruling partyand opposition legislators.

INDIA & MALDIVES

India handed over 20 millionDollars standby loan to Maldives inview of the difficult financial situationthere. Moreover, the 50 million dollartreasury bonds owed to the State Bankof India by Maldives was extended foranother year.

INDIA & THAILAND

India signed six agreements withThailand during the visit of latter’sPrime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.These agreements are as following: 

(i) The MoU on DefenceCooperation between India andThailandThe MoU would help furtherstreamline and facilitate theongoing defence cooperationbetween the two countries.

(ii) Treaty between India andThailand on the transfer ofsentenced prisonersThe treaty will enable Indians,convicted and sentenced inThailand, to be brought to Indiato serve the remaining part oftheir sentence. Similarly, Thaiprisoners serving sentence inIndia can be transferred to theirhome country.

(iii) Second Protocol to amend theFramework agreement betweenIndia and Thailand

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Under this protocol, third countryinvoicing would be allowed forgear boxes made in India and two-door refrigerators would be addedto the list of products tradedunder the Early Harvest Schemelaunched under bilateral FTA.This would help boost Indianexports to Thailand as well as ourbilateral trade.

(iv) Programme of Cooperation inthe fields of Science &Technology for the year 2012-14This document is under theframework bilateral agreement onS and T cooperation and coversscientific cooperation in a numberof areas for the period 2012-14.

(v) Cultural Exchange Programmebetween India and Thailand forthe year 2012-14This document will furtherdeepen age-old cultural andhistorical ties between the twocountries by promoting diversecultural exchanges.

(vi) MoU between ICCR andChulallongkorn University forsetting up a Chair at the IndiaStudies CentreThis document will enable setting

up a Chair at the India Studies Centreat Chulalongkorn University inBangkok.

Besides, India and Thailand issueda joint statement. The highlights of thisjoint statement are as following:

• Both nations agreed to explorepossibilities of collaborationbetween their respective oil andgas companies in Exploration andProduction (E&P) opportunitiesin Thailand and India, as well asin third countries. 

• The two leaders unequivocallycondemned terrorism in all itsforms and manifestations and

stressed that there could be nojustification whatsoever for anyact of terrorism. 

• Both sides expressed their desireto further enhance their valuedpartnership and cooperation inthe context of India - ASEANrelations.

• The two sides agreed to enhancecooperation in the United Nationsand other international fora onmatters of mutual interest.

INDIA & BANGLADESH

India and Bangladesh will take thefirst step towards revisiting theproposed Teesta river treaty whenofficials exchange river flow data at atechnical meeting of the inter-governmental Joint Rivers Commissionin Kolkata. India had put the treaty onhold after West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee, unhappy over thetreaty’s provisions, pulled out of PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh delegationto Dhaka last year. In case of Teesta,both sides are also thinking of involvingSikkim, the uppermost riparian State.While agreeing to put off the signing ofthe Teesta Treaty, Dhaka had askedNew Delhi to ensure that the agreementwould be examined after some time. Anagreement is expected to pave the wayfor the signing of a similar agreementon the Feni river and five minor ones— Dudh Kumar, Manu, Khowai, Gomtiand Muhuri. The sources said WestBengal or any of the other State throughwhich over 50 rivers flow intoBangladesh will be kept in the loopwhile signing water sharing agreements.The States were briefed and their advicetaken during negotiations on a protocolon land boundary that was signedduring Dr. Singh’s September 2011 visitto Dhaka. In fact, senior officials fromthe Foreign Office here had travelled

twice to Kolkata to brief the Stategovernment during negotiations on thedemarcation of the entire landboundary and the status of enclaves andadversely possessed areas. The Centrehad also obtained the written consentof States and kept its negotiating briefwithin the parameters of their advice,especially from the West Bengalgovernment, on taking “pragmaticsteps”, which meant retaining the statusquo, on enclaves and exclaves.

INDIA & COLOMBIA

India and Colombia signeda Cultural Exchange Programme(CEP) in New Delhi for the Years 2012-2016. The CEP was signed inconformity with the provisionestablished in the Cultural Agreementbetween the Government of India andthe Government of Colombia. CEP wassigned in Bogota, capital of Columbiaon 22 May 1974. The CEP includesareas such as Cultural Heritage,Museums, Archives, Exhibitions,Scenic Arts, Visual Arts,Cinematography, Radio and Television,Music, Libraries, Book and Literature,Creative Industries and EditorialIndustry for cooperation.

Both India and Colombia shallcontribute to the exchange andcooperation between institutions andorganisations that deals with culturalaffairs, as well as amongst culturalcreators, researchers and culturalagents of the two nations.  India andColombia shall exchange visits ofcultural delegations.

Both the nations have agreed toset up a joint working group to lookafter the implementations of theirprogramme. The joint working groupwill have a meeting alternately in Indiaand in Colombia when decided by boththe nations.

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INDIA & PAKISTAN

India and Pakistan agreed to extendthe agreement to reduce the risk fromaccidents related to nuclear weapons foranother five years (till 21 February 2017),in accordance with Article 8 of theagreement between the two countries.The agreement had come into force on21 February 2007 for an initial durationof five years. The agreement on extension

was finalised during the sixth round ofbilateral talks on nuclear confidencebuilding measures held in Islamabad.

INDIA & SOMALIA

India asked Somalia to bring in anational anti-piracy legislation forinvestigation and prosecution ofsuspected pirates. Addressing the UNSecurity Council, India urged that

Somalia should itself give a solution tothe piracy problem. Any imposition ofexternal solutions will not work in thelong run. The piracy off the coast ofSomalia  continues to be high and thegeographic spread of pirate activitieshas expanded into the Red Sea, theSomali Basin and into the westernIndian Ocean.

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RBI PANEL’S RECOMMENDATION

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)panel on priority sector lendingproposed increment in the target(priority sector) for foreign banks to40% of net bank credit from the currentlevel of 32 per cent with sub-targets of15 per cent for exports and 15 per centfor the MSE sector. In the MSE sector 7per cent of net bank credit is to beearmarked for micro enterprises. Thecommittee, under the chairmanship ofM. V. Nair, Chairman, Union Bank ofIndia re-examined the existingclassification and suggested revisedguidelines with regard to priority sectorlending and related issues.

RecommendationsThe panel suggested focussed

lending to small farmers and micro-enterprises who are excluded fromformal financial channels. 

Farm SectorThe committee noted that small

and marginal farmers constituting morethan 80% of total farmer households inthe country face exclusion from formal

financial channels. The committeesuggested that the sector agricultureand allied activities be made acomposite sector within the prioritysector, by doing away with thedistinction between direct and indirectagriculture.

It suggested fixing of the targetsfor agriculture and allied activities at 18per cent. A sub-target for small andmarginal farmers within agriculture andallied activities equivalent to 9 per centis to be achieved in stages by 2015-16.

MSE SectorThe MSE sector may continue to

be under the priority sector. The panelrecommended a sub-target for microenterprises within the MSE sectorequivalent to 7 per cent, which also isto be achieved in stages by 2013-14.Banks, as per the report should ensurethat the number of outstandingbeneficiary accounts register aminimum annual growth rate of 15%.

The report called for a sub-targetfor micro enterprises of 7% of ANBCor CEOBE, whichever is higher to beachieved in stages by 2013-14. This

would be within micro and smallenterprises (MSE) covering almost 26million units across the country.

Housing & education loansThe loans to housing and

education may continue to be under thepriority sector. It sugggested grantingof loans for construction or purchaseof one dwelling unit per individual upto ̀ .25 lakh, loans up to ̀ .2 lakh in ruraland semi urban areas and up to ̀ .5 lakhin other centres for repair of damageddwelling units under the priority sector.

To encourage construction ofdwelling units for economically weakersections and low income groups,housing loans granted to theseindividuals may be included in theweaker sections category. All loans towomen under the priority sector mayalso be counted under loans to weakersections. The limit under the prioritysector for loans for studies in India maybe increased to `.15 lakh and `.25 lakhin case of studies abroad, from theexisting limit of ̀ .10 lakh and ̀ .20 lakh,respectively. The committeerecommended allowing non-tradable

ECONOMY

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priority sector lending certificates on apilot basis with domestic scheduledcommercial banks, foreign banks andregional rural banks as market players.The panel suggested making food andagro-based processing with an initialinvestment in plant and machinery upto R20 crore eligible for loans underpriority sector and that there be noceiling for loans for units that processperishable agriculture produce.

The measure is expected to boostprocessing levels in India, whichcurrently is extremely low at around 6%compared with over 30% in most Asianand Latin American developingcountries.The commmittee feels thatlimit for loans for studies in India should be increased to ` 15 lakh whilefor studies overseas, it should go up to` 25 lakh, from the existing limits of `10 lakh and ` 20 lakh respectively.According to committee, theDifferential Rate of Interest (DRI)scheme has become obsolete andshould be scrapped.

Bank Loans to Non-bankFinancial Intermediaries

The objective of reaching out to alarge number of small and marginalfarmer households and micro-enterprises in defined time-frame couldbe supplemented by allowing bankloans to non-bank financialintermediaries for on-lending tospecified segments to be reckoned forclassification under priority sector, upto a maximum of 5% of ANBC orCEOBE, whichever is higher. Further,allowing non-tradable Priority SectorLending Certificates (PSLCs), on a pilotbasis, that can be only transacted betweendomestic scheduled commercial banks,foreign banks and RRBs, may lead to thedevelopment of a market for PSLCs, thecommittee feels.

BALTIC DRY INDEX PLUNGED TOITS LOWEST LEVEL

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure ofshipping costs for dry bulk goods plungedto its lowest level after it touched 647points on 3 February 2012. The lowestlevel was nearly 20 points lower than theprevious low of 663 points recordedduring the 2008 global financialmeltdown. In the past 26 years since theBaltic index came into being, the indexhad never slipped below 650 points. Thecurrent fall recorded on 3 February 2012in the Baltic raised serious concernsamong shipping companies.  The Balticdry index was noticed to have fallen evenin January 2012 though shipping analystshad predicted a recovery for the shippingsector in 2012. Sea-borne traffic wasexpected to rise 20-25% in 2012 fromthe 1500 level in 2011. However,  thesea borne traffic that plunged by morethan 62% in 2012 left analysts cluelessabout the much-expected recovery.China had declared a week-long holidayfor the lunar new year celebrationsstarting from 23 to 28 January 2012 andthe surplus iron ore inventory in thecountry further reduced the demand foriron ore, affecting the struggling globalshipping sector. In addition, the adverseweather conditions in Brazil and twotropical cyclones in Australia alsoaffected iron ore shipments and portoperations.

The Baltic Dry Index which hasbeen in existence since 1744 is issueddaily by the UK-based Baltic Exchange.It tracks the worldwide internationalshipping prices of major raw materialsand dry bulk cargoes by sea, includinggrain, iron ore, coal and other fossilfuels. The BDI measures the shippingcosts of these raw materials for fourdifferent sizes of merchant vessels on26 different geographic routes and

averages them into one index. The index’smovements are closely tracked becausethey reflect the demand for drycommodities from industries andconsumers around the world. A higherdemand for ships to transport dry cargowill obviously reflect in a strong indexand vice versa. The index had droppedbelow 700 points in 2009, at the peakof global economic slowdown, but hadsince picked up and never droppedbelow the 1,000-mark in the past threeyears. In 2009,when the Baltic hadslipped to record lows, westerneconomies slipped into recession andgrowth slowed down in emergingcountries like China and India.

FDI POLICY FOR POWEREXCHANGES

Union finance ministry urged thedepartment of industrial policy andpromotion to design a FDI policy forpower exchanges on the lines ofcommodity exchanges. The ministrystrssed upon the urgent need for clearFDI regime for power exchanges. sincepower exchanges are akin tocommodity exchanges, a similarstructure is to be followed whiledesigning the FDI policy for powerexchange. Currently, FDI in powerexchanges is not explicitly banned butthe rules don’t provide for foreigninvestment on the lines of commodityexchanges. FDI is permitted in powerexchanges up to 49%.

Experts opined that a clarificationis required to provide certainty and alsoemphasised on the need to relook at thenegative list concept followed in the FDIpolicy as the foreign exchangemanagement act works on positive listconcept.

A recent FDI proposal fromMultiples Private Equity, promoted byRenuka Ramnath, to pick up minority

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stake in Financial Technologies-promoted Indian Energy Exchange(IEX) prompted the ministry’s directionin this respect. The proposal was puton hold. Trading on the exchange is100% physical delivery based and only2% of the total generation is tradedthrough any exchange. Currently, Indiahas two power exchanges- IndianEnergy Exchange, National StockExchange-promoted Power ExchangeIndia. Policymakers are of the view thatFDI policy should be rationalised andsimplified to encourage overseasinvestment in sectors as the countryneeds foreign capital to support a 9%growth. Central Electricity andRegulatory Commission were till datesupervising the inflows in the powersector.

TELECOM COMMISSION DECIDEDTO ALLOW SHARING OF 2G

SPECTRUM ONLY

The apex decision-making body ofthe communications ministry, theTelecom Commission decided to allowmobile phone companies to sharespectrum. The Commission hashowever limited this facility to 2Gairwaves alone. Second generation (2G)spectrum is largely used for offeringvanilla voice services. Thetelecommnication companies cannottherefore share 3G spectrums.

The Commission also decided tointroduce slew of riders to governspectrum sharing. The riders are asfollows:

• Only those operators that haveairwaves in a particular region canshare it. Spectrum can be sharedonly between two spectrumholders. A non-licensee orlicensee who has not beenassigned spectrum as yet cannot beparty to spectrum trading. 

• Two companies can share airwavesonly if their combined holdings donot exceed the limits prescribed inthe M&A norms. The TelecomCommission had recently approvedsector regulator TR AI’srecommendation that duringmergers, the combined entity beallowed to have up to 25% of thetotal airwaves in the region. 

• Spectrum sharing deals will alsohave to be renewed every fiveyears. 

• When operators share spectrum,both companies will have to payusage charges on the totalairwaves held jointly. Currently,operators share between 2% and6% of their annual revenues basedon the quantity of airwaves theyhold. 

• The telcos sharing spectrum mustpay the government thecommercial value of the airwavesit is using. It essentially means, anoperator that has 4.4 MHz ofairwaves, and is sharing radiofrequencies with another telcothat has the same amount, mustpay current prices for additional4.4 units of spectrum it is using.

NABARD INTRODUCES NEWSYSTEM FOR FARMERS

The National Bank for Agricultureand Rural Development (NABARD) hasintroduced a Negotiable WarehouseReceipt (NWR) system to help farmersavoid distress sale of their produces.NABARD chief general manager K.C.Shashidhar said the NWRs wouldenable small and marginal farmers withKisan Credit Cards to avail post-harvestloans at concessional interest rates andstore their produce in warehousesagainst warehouse receipts. At present,concessional loan at 7 per cent interest

is available to farmers as pre-harvestloan.

However, in the case of post-harvest loans, the farmers must paycommercial interest rates. The interestsubvention being offered now would bereleased through NABARD for thepost-harvest loans granted bycooperative banks and regional ruralbanks.

SESA GOA ACQUIRED GOAENERGY PRIVATE LIMITED

Sesa Goa Limited, a majority-ownedsubsidiary of Vedanta Resources acquiredGoa Energy Private Limited fromVideocon Industries Limited in a 101crore Rupees deal. Sesa Goa as per anagreement inked with VideoconIndustries on 3 November 2011, hadagreed to completely buy out GoaEnergy Private Limited for theenterprise value of ̀ 101 crore on cash-free debt-free basis, includingnormative working capital of ` 2.75crore.

Goa Energy Private Limited hasunder its ownership a 30-MW waste heatrecovery power plant in Goa, whichutilizes the waste heat and gases fromSesa Goa’s coke making and pig ironfacilities.

KOMLI MEDIA ACQUIRED ADMAX

Asia Pacific’s leading mediatechnology company, Komli Mediaacquired South East Asia’s largest digitalmedia network Admax Network .Thefresh acquisition is set to provide KomliMedia with the region’s largest andmost diverse publisher network of 4,600local and international websites whichincludes Admax’s exclusive salespartnership with Facebook in  Thailand,Indonesia and Philippines and withMSN in Thailand.

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CIL SIGNED AGREEMENT WITHTRADE UNIONS

State-run Coal India (CIL)announced its decision to increasewages by 25%, which would put anadditional burden of ` 6,500 crore onthe public sector unit. The hike is tobenefit over 3.7 lakh workers of theworld’s largest coal producer. Anagreement was signed between its tradeunions and CIL management forincrease in the wages under whichminimum guaranteed benefit would be25% of gross as on 30 June 2011. TheNational Coal Wage Agreement wassigned and  will be of five years tenurewith effect from 1 July 2011.  Increasein basic would be 88 per cent, which willbe reflected in all fixed allowances. Asper the new pact, the house rentallowance in  non-urban areas would betwo per cent of basic per month  insteadof fixed amount of ` 150 a month. 

STERLITE INDUSTRIES MERGEDINTO SESA GOA

The mining giant Vedanta mergedits Indian subsidiaries, SterliteIndustries into sister concern and ironore miner Sesa Goa. The merger is thepart of company’s strategy to consolidateand simplify the structure of companyand eliminate cross holding. The movewould also serve to improve capitalstructure of the company. Vedanta is amining major led by Indian originindustrialist Anil Agarwal. Vedantawould hold 58.3 per cent in the newcompany Sesa Sterlite. Sesa Sterlite wouldhold 58.9% stake in Cairn India.

DOMESTIC AIR CARRIERS TODIRECTLY IMPORT AVIATION

TURBINE FUEL

Director General of Foreign Trade[DGFT] issued a formal notification

allowing the domestic airlines to directlyimport Aviation Turbine Fuel [ATF]. Atpresent only state trading enterprises ofthe government are allowed to importATF. The govern-ment’s decision to allowdomestic airlines to import ATF on theirown would help the carriers to bringdown their operating cost as the taximposed on ATF itself put a hugeeconomic burden on the Airlinesoperating in India. The tax levied on ATFby different states varies from 4% to above32% across the country. This makes thecost of ATF in India 50% moreexpensive than other developingeconomies. 

FDI IN INDIA INCREASED BY 31%IN 2011

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inIndia went up by 31 per cent to 27.5billion US Dollars in 2011 despiteuncertain global economic slowdownand uncertainities. FDI inflows in 2010totalled USD 21 billion. services,telecom, housing and real estate,construction and power were thesectors that attracted maximum FDI in2011. Mauritius, Singapore, the US, theUK, the Netherlands, Japan, Germanyand the UAE were found to be the majorinvestors in India.

PMEA PANEL PROJECTED 7.5-8%GROWTH RATE

The Prime Minister’s EconomicAdvisory Panel (PMEAC) projected 7.5- 8 per cent growth rate for the fiscal2012-13. India is also expected toachieve a higher economic expansion ifthe global environment turnsfavourable. Indian economy wasgrowing at over nine per cent before thefinancial meltdown of 2008 pulleddown the growth rate to 6.7 per cent in2008-09. The economy recorded agrowth rate of 8.4 per cent in 2010-11,

which according to the CSO estimatesis expected to moderate to 6.7 per centin the current fiscal 2011-12. As per theReview of Economy (2011-12) released,the growth rate in 2011-12 is likely tobe 7.1%, marginally higher than 6.9 percent projected by the Central StatisticalOrganisaton (CSO). Inf lation wasprojected to moderate to 6.5% by March2012 and 5-6 per cent in 2012-13. Whilethe retail inflation based on ConsumerPrice Index (CPI) was 7.65 per cent inJanuary, the

Sectoral Projection• The council pegged farm sector

growth at three percent ascompared to 2.5 percent growthprojected in the advance estimate.The farm sector had grown byseven percent in 2010-11.

• The manufacturing sector wasprojected to grow by 3.9 percentwhile construction segment isexpected to expand by 6.2 percent.As per the PMEAC’s projection,

strong growth in the services sector willcontinue with overall growth estimatedat 9.4 percent for the fiscal ending 31March 2012.

RBI CUT THE CRR BY 75 BASISPOINTS TO 4.75%

The Reserve Bank of India on 9March 2012 cut the cash reserve ratio(CRR) by 75 basis points. The CRR wascut to 4.75 per cent of their net demandand time liabilities (NDTL) effective thefortnight beginning 10 March 2012. TheRBI action will inject around ` 48,000crore of primary liquidity into thebanking system. The central bankagressively cut the CRR, the amount ofcash that banks need to park with theRBI (or CRR) from 5.50 per cent to 4.75per cent of deposits to ease the liquiditycrunch being faced by banks. The central

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bank had reduced the CRR from 6 percent to 5.50 per cent of deposits in itsthird quarter review of monetary policyin January 2012.

FIRST NATIONWIDE ANNUALINDIA CONSUMER PRICE INDEX

RELEASED

As per the first nationwide retailinflation data released by the Centre ofStatistical Office on 21 February 2012,inf lation based on the all IndiaConsumer Price Index stood at 7.65 percent in January 2012. The annualconsumer price index (CPI) datareleased for the first time measuresretail prices in major food groups, fuel,clothing, housing and education acrossrural and urban India. While food andbeverages reported a moderate rate ofprice rise of 4.11 per cent year-on-yearin January, the inflation numbers forfuel and light, and clothing, bedding andfootwear segments were in double-digits. Overall retail inflation in ruraland urban areas stood at 7.38 per centand 8.25 per cent in January,respectively. Consumer price inflation forrural India (CPI-R) was recorded at7.38%, for urban India (CPI-U), it stoodat 8.25%. Beginning 21 February 2012,the union government will release thenation-wide Consumer Price Index (CPI)on a monthly basis for better reflectionof retail price movement as well as helpthe Reserve Bank take effective monetarypolicy steps to tackle inflation. The newCPI will eventually replace the WholesalePrice Index (WPI) for policy actions todeal with the price situation.

IIP REGISTEREDGROWTH OF 6.8 %

As per the data released by theministry of statistics and programmeimplementation on 12 March 2012,Indian industrial sector registered a

growth of 6.8 per cent in January 2012on a year-on-year basis. The Index ofIndustrial Production (IIP) recorded agrowth rate of 4 per cent growth for theperiod April-January 2012. Miningsector witnessed a contracted growthof 2.7 per cent in January 2012.Manufacturing sector, which makes upfor the 75% of IIP, recorded animpressive growth of 8.5 per cent.Growth in Power sector and basicgoods stood at 3.2 % and 1.6%respectively. Slow growth in the sectorslike crude oil, refinery products, steeland cement deterred the overall growthscenario.

RBI CHANGED THE BANK RATE

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)changed the bank rate, a medium-termsignal rate after nine years. The bankrate, a benchmark rate at which RBIbuys or re-discounts bills of exchangeor other commercial papers eligible forpurchase, was hiked with immediateeffect to 9.5% from 6%. The bank ratewill change whenever there is a changein the repo rate. The rate was raisedwith the objective to realign it with themarginal standing facility (MSF) rate asa one-time technical adjustment to linkit with the main policy repo rate. Underthe revised operating procedure,marginal standing facility, instituted at100 bps above the policy repo rate, hasbeen in operation. MSF is a specialfacility for banks to access overnightmoney up to 1% of their deposits. Banksraise this money at 9.5%.

RBI PARTIALLY LIFTED CURBSON BANKS’ FOREIGN EXCHANGE

TRANSACTIONS

The Reserve Bank of Indiapartially lifted the curbs on banks’foreign exchange transactions which ithad imposed in December 2011. Several

banks, including large lenders such asState Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFCBank and Axis Bank and some publicsector institutions were allowed to runhigher net overnight open positions(NOP) in foreign exchange. The revisedNOP caps are however still way belowthe earlier limits banks enjoyed beforethe restrictions were imposed inDecember 2011. Banks use the openposition limits to carry out proprietarytrades or buy and sell dollars to meetrequirements of corporate clients. Theopen position limits differ from lender tolender depending on the size and level oftreasury activity. Open positions also helpbanks meet customer needs. Banksusually buy some dollars on a given dayto arrange funds for a corporate that hasto pay for its imports the next day. Thedollar bought captured under NOPlowers the cost and ensure availabilityof foreign exchange. Similarly, for acorporate looking to convert its dollarexternal commercial borrowings intorupees, the bank sell some dollars toother banks so the client can be offereda competitive conversion price. Whenthe RBI brought in the curbs, a uniformlimit of ` 50 crore was imposed on allbanks. It must be noted that though thecentral bank has selectively raised theNOPs for many banks in the otherrestrictions on forex transactions havenot been lifted. 

4.3% GROWTH IN INDIA’SMERCHANDISE EXPORTS IN

FEBRUARY 2012

As per data released by theCommerce Ministry on 9 March 2012,India’s merchandise exports in Februarygrew only by 4.3 per cent to $24.6 billiondue to poor overseas demand. Exportsin February grew at the slowest pace inthree months. The poor performance inthe export sector was attributed to dip in

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demand for electronics, engineering andtextiles goods in Europe. Importsoutpaced exports and rose 20.6 per centto $39.8 billion in February 2012 therebymoving the trade deficit to $15.2 billion.Imports however declined from $40.1billion in January 2012. Meanwhile,exports during April 2011-February2012 registered a 21.4 per cent growthto reach $267.4 billion, crossing $250.46billion in the last financial year. Importsduring this period grew at a faster paceof 29.4 per cent to $434.2 billion,widening the trade deficit to $166.8billion. During April 2011-February2012 exports recorded a 21.4 per centgrowth to reach $267.4 billion, crossing$250.46 billion reached in 2010-11.Imports during April 2011-February2012 period grew at a faster pace of 29.4per cent to $434.2 billion, widening thetrade deficit to $166.8 billion during theperiod. The main drivers of exportsduring April 2011-February 2012 wereengineering, petroleum products andgems and jewellery.

NEW TELECOM POLICYANNOUNCED

The New Telecom Policy wasannounced by communicationsminister Kapil Sibal. The key policymeasures are aimed at reassuringincumbent operators who had beenseeking clarity in rules at a time whenthe government is making everypossible effort to put the scam-taintedtelecom sector back on track.

Salient features of New TelecomPolicy Policy

• The government decided to allowsharing of bandwidth and easedrules for mergers and acquisitions(M&As) in the telecom sector. Themaximum airwaves thatcompanies can hold, also known as

the prescribed limit, was enhancedto 8 MHz in all regions except Delhiand Mumbai, where the cap is at 10MHz.

• The new policy favours a unifiedlicence regime and a uniformlicence fee of 8% of an operator’sadjusted gross revenue (AGR)across all telecom service areas.telcos currently pay 6-10% of theirAGR as license fees.

• The policy defined the exit policypermitting mergers betweenoperators, which do not exceed35% of the market share and 25%of the spectrum available in thesector.

• The policy allows spectrumsharing, too, though thegovernment has refused to allowleasing and left a decision onspectrum trading for a later date.The sharing will initially beallowed for five years and could berenewed for another five on termsto be prescribed.

• Telecom regulkator TRAI hadrecommended that telecomcompanies could merge theiroperations if the combined marketshare of the new entity is less than60%.

• The department of telecom (DoT)prescribed a limit of 2x8 MHz tobe assigned to a GSM serviceprovider and 2x5 MHz for CDMAplayers while renewing licencesfor another 10 years.

• Taking into consideration thehigher density in the two keymetros of Delhi and Mumbai, thelimit will be 2x10 MHz and 2x6.25MHz for GSM and CDMAplayers, respectively.

• An operator can acquireadditional spectrum beyond theseprescribed limits through a

market mechanism. Operatorskeen to extend the licence willhave to pay a fee of ` 2 crore formetro and A circles, ` 1 crore forB circles and ` 50 lakh for Ccircles. 

RBI ISSUED CIRCULAR FORDEPLOYMENT OF WLATMS

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)issued the ‘Draft Circular forDeployment of White Label AutomatedTeller Machines (WL ATMs) from non-bank entities. The central bank alsoannounced its plans. The centralbanks’d issuance of the draft reflectedthe bank’s intention to accelerate thegrowth and penetration of ATMs in thecountry. ATMs rolled out by non-bankswill be like White Label ATMs (WLA)and will provide ATM services tocustomers of all banks. WLA meansATM owned, run and maintained bythird parties on a contract basis from afinancial institution. The WLAoperator can choose the location of theWLA. However, it will have to adhereto annual targets and the ratio of WLAbetween Tier I &II and Tier III-VIcentres that may be stipulated by theRBI. Non-bank entities proposing to setup WLAs have to apply to the RBIseeking authorisation under thePayment and Settlement Systems Act2007. The non-banking entities shouldhave a minimum net worth of `. 100crore at the time of making theapplication and on a continuing basisafter issue of the requisite authorisation.Being non-bank owned ATMs, theguidelines on five free transactions in amonth for using other bank ATMs willnot be applicable for transactions madeon the WLAs. The charges for thetransactions have to be displayed on thescreen before the customer initiates thetransaction. The WLA operator will have

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to declare one Sponsor Bank, which willserve as the Settlement Bank for thesettlement of all the service transactionsat the WLAs. The Sponsor Bank shouldbe a member of one of the ATM networksauthorised by the RBI and also be amember of the RTGS. At present onlybanks are permitted to set up AutomatedTeller Machines (ATMs) in India. Bankshave played a major role in encouragingATM adoption and modifying behavioralstrategies in the domain of personalbanking.

VISA ON ARRIVAL SCHEMEREGISTERED 72 % INCREASE

The number of foreigners availingVisa on Arrival (VoA) schemeregistered 72 per cent increase inJanuary 2012 as against January 2011.There were as many as 1359 foreigners,who availed themselves of the schemein January compared with 790 inJanuary 2011, registering a growth of 72per cent.

As a facilitative measure to attractmore foreign tourists, the Governmenthad launched Visa on Arrival schemein January 2010 for citizens of fivecountries — Finland, Japan,Luxembourg, New Zealand andSingapore. The Government hadextended the scheme to four morecountries — Cambodia, Indonesia,Vietnam and the Philippines fromJanuary 2011. There were total 6.81 lakhforeign tourists in India in Januaryagainst 6.24 lakh during the samemonth in 2011, registering a growth of9.2 per cent . January 2012 alsowitnessed a growth of about 50 per centin foreign exchange earnings and 9.2 percent rise in foreign tourist arrivals inIndia. Forex earnings during January2012 were ̀ 8623 crore compared with` 5,777 crore in January 2011, a growthof 49.3 per cent.

CEC SUBMITTED FINAL REPORTON ILLEGAL MINING

The Central EmpoweredCommittee (CEC) set up by theSupreme Court to investigate illegalmining in Karnataka submitted its finalreport. The committee recommendedthe cancellation of leases of 49 minesthat have violated the terms of theirlicence. It also recommended theauction of these leases. The report islikely to radically change the manner inwhich mining is done in the country andjeopardise planned investments in steelplants in the southern state. 45 minescleared of any wrong doing is to bebeallowed to mine as soon as the ban islifted while 72 other mines will resumeonly after they have paid penalties. Thecollected fines will be used to establisha Sustainable Mining DevelopmentFund and set up dedicated mininginfrastructure for the area. The CECagreed with a report by the Council forForest Research and Education that hadrecommended capping iron oreproduction in Karnataka’s at 30 milliontonnes. The reporthad mentioned that30 million tonnes was Karnataka’s so-called carrying capacity, meaning thatproduction beyond 30 million wouldcause irreparable damage to theenvironment.

ADVISORY GROUP ON ARFFAVOURED $20 BILLION LIMIT

FOR INVESTMENTS BY FIIS

A government-appointed advisorygroup on asset reconstruction firmsthat submitted its report to FinanceMinister Pranab Mukherjee favoured$20 billion limit for investments byforeign institutional investors in securityreceipts (SRs) issued by securitisationfirms. The report of the advisory groupalso recommended a subcap of 10%

participation by foreign institutionalinvestors in SRs be removed.

Security receipts are the ones issuedby a securitisation company for a periodof seven years to qualified institutionalbuyer or banks as they do not pay cashupfront. The advisory group constitutedto look into the condition of ARCs, in itsreport recommended thatreconstruction firms should be allowedto buy performing loans from banks,arrange them in groups, and issue bondson such groups or securitise in bankingparlance.

RBI rejected the proposal to allowARCs deal with healthy assets. As perthe RBI ARCs should only play the roleof resolving only NPAs in the systemand should not be allowed to deal inhealthy assets. The committee howeversuggested that ARCs can hold theseassets through Special Purpose Vehicles(SPVs), which will be regulatedaccording to RBI guidelines. ARCscame into business af ter thegovernment passed the Securitisationand Reconstruction of Financial Assetsand Enforcement of Security InterestAct, 2002. The primary purpose of anARC is to help the banking system getrid of NPAs to avoid crisis in thefinancial system. The ARCs function bybuying non-performing assets (NPAs)from banks and financial institutions ata discount (mutually agreed upon)through a trust following which itrecovers the outstanding amount, andearns a fee for managing the trust. TheARCs however did not manage to takenoff in India. The pace of new bad loanswith banks far exceeded the amounttransferred to ARCs. between March2009 and March 2010, even as bad loanswith banks increased by ` 15774 crore,transfers to ARCs stood only at rs 10675crore. Credit rating agency Crisil’sreport in September 2011 projected

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gross non-performing assets (NPAs)-essentially, bad loans outstanding totouch 3% of assets in March 2012,against 2.3% in March 2011.

TRAI TO ACT LIKE A CIVIL COURT

The apex decision-making body ofthe communications ministry clearedthe proposal to enable the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India (TRAI)to act like a civil court . Thecommunication ministry’s decision toapprove the proposal resulted in morepowers for the watchdog. TRAI wasthus put at par with the Securities and

Exchange Board of India and theCompetition Commission of India.TRAI had been argued that transferringthe spectrum mandate to it would ringin more transparency. With the powerto act like a civil court it would be ableto carry out regular audits and ensurethis scarce national resource is usedoptimally. TRAI’s new powers arementioned in the upcoming NationalTelecom Policy 2012. The telecomregulator can thus now summonpersons, examine them on oath,demand documents and evidence onaffidavits and, in appropriate cases, call

for expert assistance in conducting. TheTelecom Commission took a broaddecision that the regulator, TRAI mustbe strengthened and must beempowered to discharge its duties. TRAIhad been demanding additional powerssince 2006, but its requests were spurnedby former telecom ministers A Raja andDayanidhi Maran.

It was however not clarifiedwhether TRAI would be permitted topenalise operators for non-complianceof the terms and conditions of theirlicence.

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‘WORLD’S HIGHESTRESOLUTION’ LUNAR IMAGES

RELEASED

China recently released a set of“world’s highest resolution” lunarimages taken by its second moonorbiter, Chang’e-2, as it braces to launchits next mission to land a rover toexplore its surface. China’s StateAdministration of Science, Technologyand Industry for National Defence(SASTIND) recently published a set offull coverage map of the Moon and itsimages with a resolution of sevenmeters captured by Chang’e-2.

The map and images are theworld’s highest-resolution lunar imagesever published that cover all of themoon, state runs Xinhua news agencyquoted Liu Dongkui, deputy chiefcommander of China’s lunar probeproject. The images were photographed

by a charge-coupled device (CCD) stereocamera on Chang’e-2 from the heightsof 100 km and 15 km over the lunarsurface between October 2010 and May2011, the SASTIND statement said.

EXCESS SUGAR INTAKE,HARMFUL

It may not be providing anynutritional benefits, but added sugardoes plenty of harm. There is a greatbody of scientific evidence that provesthe harmful effects of sugar when theintake is in excess. Most importantly,consumption of excess sugar goesbeyond increasing body mass orobesity. And obesity is not the onlyreason why people develop diseases/conditions that constitute the metabolicsyndrome — diabetes, hypertension,lipid problems, cardiovascular diseases,and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.Insulin is the vital hormone required forstoring excess sugar as glycogen in theliver, fat in the adipose tissue and in themuscles. Insulin is also required forbreaking down the stored glycogen/fatinto glucose when a person is hungryor fasting. This two-way conversionstands compromised in individuals with

insulin resistance. The growing scientificevidence, both epidemiological andmechanistic, very clearly shows thatexcess sugar induces “all of the diseasesassociated with the metabolic syndrome.”Fructose in sugar increases uric acid levels.It can also increase blood pressure insome individuals. Uric acid is a wasteproduct resulting from the metabolismof food. Fructose exerts toxic effects onthe liver “similar to those from alcohol.”

ANTARCTIC SUBGLACIAL LAKEREACHED

A Russian team has succeeded indrilling through four kilometres (2.5miles) of ice to the surface of a mythicalsubglacial Antarctic lake which couldhold as yet unknown life forms, reportssaid Monday.

Lake Vostok is the largestsubglacial lake in Antarctica andscientists want to study its eco-systemwhich has been isolated for hundredsof thousands of years under the ice inthe hope of finding previously unknownmicrobiological life forms. ValerieMassson-Delmotte of the climate andenvironment laboratory at the FrenchAtomic Energy Commission, said Lake

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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Vostok was of particular interest as it hadbeen formed over the course of 400,000years. RIA Novosti said that the possibilitythat the lake existed had first beensuggested by a Soviet scientist in 1957.

Scientific research drilling in thearea started in 1989 and the lake’sexistence was confirmed only in 1996.

SALT-LOVING WHEAT COULDEASE FOOD CRISIS

Plant scientists on Sunday saidthey had bred a strain of wheat thatthrives in saline soils, boosting the questto feed Earth’s growing population at atime of water stress and climate change.Durum wheat with a salt-loving genehad yields which were up to 25 per centgreater than ordinary counterparts,according to trials carried out in highlysaline fields.

The gene, called TmHKT1;5-A,helps remove sodium from the waterthat is transported from the plant’sroots to the leaves, said a research teamled by Matthew Gilliham of theUniversity of Adelaide, southernAustralia. Spotted in a scan of ancestralwheat strains, TmHKT1;5-A wasinserted into a commercial strain bytraditional cross-breeding, not throughgenetic engineering, which is contestedin many countries. Durum wheat — Triticum turgidum — is used formaking pasta, bulgur and couscous. Itis more salt-sensitive than bread wheat( Triticum aestivum ).

By some estimates, world foodrequirements will soar by 70 per centby 2050 as the planet’s population risesfrom seven billion today to nine billion.The challenge will be made eventougher by the impact of climate changeon rainfall patterns.

WHITE RICE INTAKE INCREASESRISK OF TYPE II DIABETES

Each serving of polished rice a dayincreases the risk of Type II diabetes by11 per cent, according to a study beingpublished today (Friday) in the BritishMedical Journal. Polished rice iscommonly called white rice, and oneserving refers to nearly 160 grams.

“Higher consumption of white riceis associated with a significantlyincreased risk of Type 2 diabetes,especially in Asian (China and Japan)populations,” wrote the authors fromthe Harvard School of Public Health,Boston. The conclusion was based on ameta-analysis of 3,52,384 people whowere followed up for four to 22 years.The participants were from China,Japan, the United States and Australia.

HOMININ GENOME SEQUENCED

Scientists in Germany saidrecently they have sequenced nearly allthe genome of the Denisova people, anextinct human-like speciescontemporary with the Neanderthals.The work by the Max Planck Society’sEvolutionary Anthropology Institute inLeipzig is the first time that full geneticdata has been obtained about any of thearchaic hominins which roamed theearth until they were displaced bymodern people. Svante Paabo, leader ofthe team, said, “We hope biologists willuse this genome to track down geneticchanges that were important in thedevelopment of modern humans’culture and technology.” The group

worked with less than 10 milligrams ofDNA from the finger bone of a female.The bone fragment, found in theDenisova Cave in Siberia in debris30,000 to 50,000 years old, was the firstevidence of the existence of thevanished species.

NIRBHAY LIKELY TO BE TEST -FIRED IN APRIL

The Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation (DRDO)has developed a new sub-sonic cruisemissile called Nirbhay (Fearless inSanskrit), which may be test-fired inApril. This is the first time that Indiahas developed a cruise missile that willtravel at a sub-sonic speed (less than thespeed of sound). India and Russia havejointly developed BrahMos, asupersonic, cruise missile, which travelsfor 290 km at 2.8 Mach (2.8 times thespeed of sound). Nirbhay has manytechnologies derived from Lakshya.The maximum speed of Lakshya is 0.65Mach. Nirbhay is India’s equivalent ofTomahawk, a long-range, sub-soniccruise missile, developed by the U.S.Nirbhay is a two-stage, surface-to-surface missile. While a booster enginewould “kick the first stage” from theground, the second stage has a turbo-prop engine, akin to an aircraft’s. It cancarry multiple payloads and engageseveral targets. “Even if there aremultiple targets, it can pick out a targetand attack it. With a range of more than750 km, Nirbhay can remain in the airfor a long time. Capable of flying at theheight of a tree (so, it is known as “tree-top missile), it can soar to a minimumof 10 km and a maximum of 50 km.

The DRDO will also soon test-fireHelina, the helicopter-fired version ofNag, the third-generation anti-tankmissile. Helina is a portmanteau term,standing for helicopter and Nag (the

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cobra). Nag has ‘fire and forget’ and ‘topattack’ capability. Carrying an eight-kgwarhead, it has an infra-red seeker andcan destroy enemy tanks four km away.Based on the information available fromthe target, Helina will lock on to itmidway through its flight and zero inon to it.

A modified version of Arjun-MarkI main battle tank will prove its mettleby firing a LAHAT missile from anArmy range this month. The LAHAT(Laser Homing Attack or Laser HomingAnti-Tank missile) is a third-generationsemi-active low-weight anti-tankmissile. This version was fired from theArjun tank in 2004. The CombatVehicles Research and DevelopmentEstablishment, a DRDO facility atAvadi, designed and developed theArjun.

NEW TECHNIQUE TO RUN ULTRA-FAST INTERNET

Researchers in the second week ofMarch 2012 invented fibre-optictechnology, under a project calledSardana to run ultra-fast Internet. Itdemonstrated speed of upto 10 Gigabitsper second (Gbps), around 2000 timesfaster than today’s fastest Internetspeed. The research showed that byusing existing fibre infrastructureInternet’s speed could be increased.Within next three years, yearly globalinternet traffic will be measured inZettabytes(one trillion Gigabytes),which is a four-fold increase from today.You Tube and Netflix will have most ofthe traffic.

TWO GENES LINKED TOPARKINSON’S IDENTIFIED

Scientists identified at least twogenes, NACP and MAPT linked toParkinson’s disease, a finding which maypave the way for better treatments for

the second most prevalent neurologicalcondition after dementia. The twogenes are related to proteinaccumulation in the brains of peoplewith Parkinson’s disease and canindicate how quickly the disease willprogress in a person. The study showedthat these two genes could be used as asurrogate marker to estimate the rateof Parkinson’s disease progression, withpositive predictive values of 94 to 100per cent for certain genotypes.

WATER ON THE PLANET CALLEDGJ1214B DISCOVERED

Researchers at the HarvardSmithsonian centre for Astrophysicsdiscovered that the planet GJ1214b waslargely covered in water. They usedHubble Space Telescope to discover thewater on planet . GJ1214b wasdiscovered in 2009 by the ground-basedMEarth Project. GJ1214b was describedas a super-Earth. It is approximately 2.7times Earth’s diameter and weighsalmost 7 times as much. 

This presence of water on theplanet was confirmed when it crossedin front of its host star. The light of thestar, filtered through the planet’satmosphere, provided clues to the mixof gasses, supporting the water vaportheory.

LAKSHYA-1 TEST-FLIGHT

India’s indigenously developedmicro-light pilotless target aircraft‘Lakshya-1’ was successfully test-flownfrom the Integrated Test Range at

Chandipur, as part of a routine trial.Lakshya-1, fitted with an advanceddigitally controlled engine, was onceagain test-flown at about 1.10 p.m. froma mobile launcher. 

DRDO CONDUCTED TEST OFINTERCEPTOR MISSILE

SUCCESSFULLY

DRDO conducted a successful testlaunch of the interceptor missile.DRDO’s Air Defence Missile AAD-05successfully hit the ballistic missile anddestroyed it at a height of 15 kms offthe Coast of Orissa near the WheelersIsland. A modified Prithvi missilemimicking the ballistic missile waslaunched at 1010 hrs from ITRChandipur. Radars located at differentlocations tracked the incoming ballisticmissile. Interceptor missile was ready totake-off at Wheelers Island. Guidancecomputers continuously computed thetrajectory of the ballistic missile andlaunched AAD-05 Interceptor Missileat a precisely calculated time. With thetarget trajectory continuously updatedby the radar, the onboard guidancecomputer guided the AAD-05Interceptor Missile towards the targetmissile. The onboard radio frequencyseeker identified the target missile,guided the AAD-05 Interceptor Missileclose to the target missile, hit the targetmissile directly and destroyed it.Warhead also exploded and destroyedthe target missile into pieces. India isthe fifth nation to have these ballisticmissile defence capabilities in theworld. 

SCIENTISTS TRANSFORMED SKINCELLS DIRECTLY INTO BRAIN

CELLS

Scientists recently transformedskin cells directly into brain cells. Thisscientific finding could bypass the needfor stem cells. Stem cells can be turned

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into any other specialist type of cellranging from brain to bone. Therefore,these cells are used in a range oftreatments. Alternatively, skin cells canbe reprogrammed into induced stemcells.These could be made from apatient’s own cells and transformed intothe required cell type. However, theprocess can activate cancer-causinggenes. Therefore, the scientists aretrying to convert a person’s own skincells into specialist cells.

BISONS ADAPTED TO CLIMATECHANGE

Ancient bison bones discovered ata Canadian goldmine are helpingunravel the mystery about how animalsadapt to rapid environmental change, astudy reveals. The 30,000-year-oldbones were unearthed by University ofAdelaide researchers, which helpedthem analyse special geneticmodifications (epigenetic changes) thatturn genes on and off without alteringthe DNA sequence itself. Epigeneticchanges can occur rapidly betweengenerations, even without goingthrough standard evolutionaryprocesses. Such epigeneticmodifications (the effect ofenvironment on genes) could explainhow animal species are able to respondto rapid climate change.

POTENTIALLY HABITABLEPLANET DISCOVERED

International astronomers said onThursday they have found the fourthpotentially habitable planet outside oursolar system with temperatures thatcould support water and life about 22light-years from Earth. The teamanalysed data from the EuropeanSouthern Observatory about a starknown as GJ 667C, which is known asan M-class dwarf star and puts out

much less heat than our Sun. However,at least three planets are orbiting closeto the star, and one of them appears tobe close enough that it likely absorbsabout as much incoming light andenergy as Earth, has similar surfacetemperatures and perhaps water. Thenew rocky planet, GJ 667Cc, orbits itsstar every 28.15 days — meaning its yearequals about one Earth month — andhas a mass at least 4.5 times that ofEarth, according to the researchpublished in Astrophysical JournalLetters . Other planets circling the samestar could include a gas-giant and anadditional super-Earth. 

A VACCINE TO TREAT BREASTCANCER

Scientists developed a vaccine totreat breast cancer, using a patient’s owncells. The cells were modified in thelaboratory in such a way that theimmune system could detect thecancerous cells as foreign and attackthem. The patients were given fourweekly injections of their personalizedvaccine. The pre-vaccination sampleswere compared with post-vaccinationsamples by the scientists and its wasfound that five patients almost 20person had no disease, which provedthat their immune system had wipedout the tumour. The scientificexperiment showed that the breastcancer vaccines developed in this waycould be effective against breast cancer.The scientific findings were publishedin the Journal of Immunotherapy.

HUMAN SHOCK ABSORBERFOUND

In a pioneering research, scientistsclaim to have discovered human “shockabsorber” which they say performs thesame function in people as shockabsorbers do in a car. An international

team, led by the University of Sydney,has, in fact, found the molecularstructure in the body which functionsas human “shock absorber,”the Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences reported. Thescientists say the discovery of themolecule can be used on designingimproved versions of a human bloodvessel and on repairing skin damage,including burns, and can also be appliedto treating cardiovascular disease andemphysema, a lung disease whichprimarily causes shortness of breath. Infact, the team dissected a key part ofthe molecule in elastin, the protein thatkeeps tissues such as skin, lungs andblood vessels elastic during normalprocesses such as body movement,breathing and blood circulation. “Thisfinding will benefit our work ondesigning artificial blood vessels thatuse replicas of human elastin, to repairand replace human blood vessels, withimplications for the treatment ofcardiovascular disease. 

NEW IRIDESCENT LIZARD, SEASNAKE SPECIES DISCOVERED

A new species of lizard withstriking iridescent rainbow skin, a longtail and very short legs has beendiscovered in the rainforest in northeastCambodia, conservationistsannounced.

Scientists named theskink Lygosoma veunsaiensis to honourthe Veun Sai-Siem Pang ConservationArea in Rattanakiri province where it was

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found, Conservation International (CI)said in a statement. The lizard wasdiscovered in 2010 in the remote andlittle-explored rainforest area duringbiological surveys led by Fauna & FloraInternational (FFI) in partnership withCI, the group said. The lizard was thethird new species in the last two yearsto be found in Veun Sai, following thediscovery of a new type of bat and agibbon. Scientists have discovered anew species of sea snake in the Gulf ofCarpenteria, a shallow sea enclosed onthree sides by Australia, which theyclaim could provide important cluesabout evolution. The snake, which isunique in having raised scales, has beengiven the scientific name Hydrophisdonaldii and the common name“rough-scaled sea snake” to reflect thescalation, says a team at the Universityof Queensland.

TEST TUBE HAMBURGERS TOBECOME A REALITY

Scientists have claimed theywould serve the world’s first test tubehamburger this October. A team, led byProf Mark Post of Maastricht Universityin the Netherlands, says it has alreadygrown artificial meat in the laboratory,and now aims to create a hamburger,identical to a real stuff, by generatingstrips of meat from stem cells. Thefinished product is expected to costnearly 220,000 pounds, The DailyTelegraph reported. Although it ispossible to extract a limited number ofstem cells from cows without killingthem, the scientists say the mostefficient way of taking the processforward would still involve slaughter.Each animal will be able to produceabout a million times more meatthrough the lab— based technique thanthrough traditional method ofbutchery.” According to the scientists,

making a complete burger will require3,000 strips of muscle tissue, each ofwhich measures about three cm long by1.5 cm wide, with a thickness of half—a—millimetre and takes six weeks toproduce. The meat will then be groundup with 200 strips of fat tissue,produced in the same way, to make ahamburger. To produce the meat, stemcells are placed in a broth containingvital nutrients and serum from a cowfoetus which allow them to grow intomuscle cells and multiply up to 30times.

CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS LINKED TOSUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH

A fundamental discovery reportedtoday (February 23) in Nature uncoversthe first molecular evidence linking thebody’s natural circadian rhythms tosudden cardiac death. Ventriculararrhythmias, or abnormal heartrhythms, are the most common causeof sudden cardiac death: the primarycause of death from heart disease. Theyoccur most frequently in the morningwaking hours, followed by a smallerpeak in the evening hours. Whilescientists have observed this tendencyfor many years, prior to thisbreakthrough, the molecular basis forthese daily patterns was unknown. Thediscovery will be the first step towardsnew diagnostic tools and therapies toprevent or treat the occurrence of thisfatal event. The research team led byCase Western Reserve UniversitySchool of Medicine discovered that anovel genetic factor, Kruppel-likeFactor 15 (KLF15), links the body’snatural circadian rhythm to, andregulates the heart’s electrical activity.A lack or excess of KLF15, causes a lossor disruption in the heart’s electricalcycle and greatly increases susceptibilityto arrhythmias. A lack of KLF15 is seen

in patients with heart failure, while itsexcess causes electrocardiography(ECG) changes such as those seen inpatients with Brugada syndrome, agenetic heart rhythm disorder. Withthis understanding, scientists canpropose new patient treatments withthe goal of reducing incidences ofsudden cardiac death. This landmarkfinding proves that circadian rhythmsare an important factor in suddencardiac death.

In addition, it raises the possibilitythat additional factors may affect theoccurrence of sudden cardiac death.

NOVEL TECHNIQUE USING STEMCELLS REVIVES DAMAGED EYE

Treating blindness caused byburns using limbal stem cells harvestedfrom the undamaged eye of the samepatient has now become cheaper, easierand safer. Results of a pilot study of theSLET (simplified technique of limbaltransplantation)technique conducted atL.V. Prasad Eye Institute on six patients,and published recently in the BritishJournal of Ophthalmology provides theproof. Blindness arises when burnspermanently damage the limbal stemcells found in the eye and causes loss incorneal transparency. In such cases, thestem cells are harvested from thehealthy eye and transplanted to thedamaged eye. There are currently twoways of using limbal stem cells to cureblindness caused by burns. One is todirectly transplant the stem cells to thedamaged eye. The other technique —cultivated limbal epithelialtransplantation (CLET) — is to removea smaller portion (2 mm by 2 mm) ofthe limbus containing the stem cells andincrease (expand) the cells in thelaboratory and then transplant them tothe damaged eye. While both methodsare good at restoring vision in the

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damaged eye, they have their owndisadvantages. In the case of directtransplantation — CLAU (conjunctivallimbal autografting), almost 50 per centof the limbus (6 mm to 8 mm length ofthe limbus), has to be removed from thehealthy eye. Excess removal of stemcells from the healthy eye canpermanently damage it.

The new technique (SLET)developed recently by Dr. Sangwan andhis team at the Institute and Dr. SheilaMacNeil at the University of Sheffield,UK combines the best of both methods.While only a small portion of the tissueis removed from the healthy eye (as inthe case of CLET), the stem cellexpansion takes place not in the lab butin the damaged eye itself. This ensuresthat the healthy eye is never damaged,the procedure is cheaper and there isless risk of contamination (as theexpansion does not take place in a lab).“It would cost only half the earlierprocedure (CLET),” he stressed. Theprocedure is quite simple and takesabout an hour to perform. In this, thedamaged eye is first cleaned and anamniotic membrane is pasted on thecornea using biological glue. The 2 mmby 2 mm limbal tissue harvested fromthe healthy eye is then cut into eight tonine pieces and placed them on themembrane. Glue is then applied on thecut limbal tissue so that it sticks to themembrane. The eye is then bandagedusing soft contact lens.

HUMAN ACTIVITY REVERSESSPECIES DIVERSITY

Plant and animal species diversifyto occupy specific environmentalniches created by several ecologicalfactors. But can a reduction orelimination of environmental nichesforce the otherwise diversified speciesto come together and hence resulted in

a reduction in species diversity? A studypublished today (February 16)in Nature proves that reversal in speciesdiversity can indeed result whendifferent environmental niches in agiven system, say lakes, are reduced orremoved. The study highlights the caseof whitefish species seen in 17 Swisslakes.

COLD AIR NOT GOOD FORHEART

People with heart disease may notbe able to compensate for their bodies’higher demand for oxygen wheninhaling cold air, according to PennState researchers, making snowshovelling and other activitiesdangerous for some. “This study canhelp us understand why cold air is such atrigger for coronary events,” saidLawrence I.

Sinoway, Distinguished Professor ofMedicine and director of the Heart andVascular Institute, Penn State College ofMedicine in a press release. Breathingcold air during exercise can cause unevenoxygen distribution throughout the heart.But a healthy body generally corrects forthis problem and redistributes blood flow,making sure the heart continues tofunction properly. In people with heartproblems — such as coronary arterydisease — this may not be the case, saidSinoway.

SMELLING THE ROSES WITHONE’S EYES

A new study reveals for the first timethat activating the brain’s visual cortexwith a small amount of electricalstimulation actually improves our senseof smell. The finding was published inthe Journal of Neuroscience. “In particularwe wanted to test the idea that activationof brain regions primarily dedicated toone sense might influence processing inother senses. We found that electricallystimulating the visual cortex improvesperformance on a task that requiresparticipants to identify the odd odour outof a group of three.” “This study showsthat on a basic level the brain structuresinvolved in different senses are really quiteinterconnected in everyone. This ‘cross-wiring’ of senses is found in people withsynesthesia, a condition in which people

see the colour ofnumbers or smell words,or hear odours forexample,” says Dr. JohanLundstrom at MonellChemical Senses Center.TMS (transcranialmagnetic stimulation)was directed towards thevisual cortex to improvevisual perception. SinceTMS alters brain activity

in a targeted area, it provides a powerfultest of the hypothesis that visual cortexactivation changes olfactory perception. 

LIFE BEGAN ON LAND, NOT SEA

A new study claimed that the theoryproposed by Charles Darwin on life’sorigin was right. Darwin proposed thatthe life originated on land in a pond andnot in the oceans. The study byresearchers at the Osnabruck universityin Germany found that the first primitivecells might have originated in pools of

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condensed vapour. This was caused byunderground hot water. The studychallenged the prevalent view that lifeoriginated in the sea. The study was basedon the analysis of key rock chemicals inancient inland and marine habitats. It wascompared with the genetic reconstructionof Earth’s first cells. The scientistsdiscovered that the oceans did not containthe best balance of ingredients to supportlife.

Miller’s Grizzled Langur found inIndonesia

Scientists rediscovered a large greymonkey-the Miller’s grizzled langur- inthe dense jungles of Indonesia. Themonkey was believed to be extinct. Themonkey has black face framed by a fluffy,Dracula-esque white collar.

It has hooded eyes and a pinkishnose and lips.

The animal one roamed the north-eastern part of Borneo, as well as theislands of Java and Sumatra and the Thai-Malay peninsula.

The area once the habitat of thesemonkeys had been destroyed by humanencroachment, conversion of land foragriculture and mining and fires.

Smart Paint for StructuralSafety

An innovative, environment- friendly,low-cost smart paint that, using nano-technology, can detect microscopic faultsin wind turbines, mines and bridgesbefore structural damage occurs is beingdeveloped.

Mouse to elephant in 24million generations

Scientists have for the first time measuredhow fast large-scale evolution can occur inmammals, showing it takes 24 milliongenerations for a mouse-sized animal toevolve to the size of an elephant.

Testosterone lessenscooperation

Testosterone makes us overvalue our ownopinions at the expense of cooperation,new research has found.

Volcanic eruptions causedLittle Ice Age

An unusual, 50-year-long episode of fourmassive volcanic eruptions led to the LittleIce Age (1275-1300 A.D). The sea iceexpanded and the Atlantic currentsweakened after the eruptions.

Hydrogen molecules

Hydrogen molecules may act as a kind ofenergy sink that strengthens the magneticgrip that causes sunspots.

Livestock, not gazelles, driveFMD outbreaks

There is evidence which supports the viewthat Mongolian gazelles are not thereservoir of foot-and-mouth disease(FMD), a highly contagious viral diseasethat threatens wildlife and livestock inAsia, but livestock in Mongolia.

Music training impacts theageing process

Age-related delays in neural timing arenot inevitable and can be avoided oroffset with musical training, says a study,the first to provide biological evidence oflifelong musical experience’s impact on theaging process.

Ocean once covered part ofMars

ESA’s Mars Express has returned strongevidence for an ocean once covering partof Mars. Using radar, it has detectedsediments reminiscent of an ocean floor.

Biological computer deciphersimages

Scientists have developed a ‘biologicalcomputer’ made entirely from biomo-lecules that is capable of decipheringimages encrypted on DNA chips.

Unifying mechanism for dunepatterns found

In a study, a unifying mechanism toexplain dune patterns was found, holding

implications for identifying when dunelandscapes may reach a tipping pointunder climate change, going from grazingland to barren desert.

Ant colonies use odour tocompete with rivals

A new study has shown that weaver antsshare a collective memory for the odourof ants in rival nests, and use theinformation to identify them andcompete, like sports fans knowing eachother by their colours.

Cuttlefish’s most acutepolarisation vision

Cuttlefish have the most acute polarisationvision yet found in any animal,researchers at the University of Bristolhave found, by showing them movies on amodified LCD computer screen to testtheir eyesight.

Easily tracking downmisplaced objects

IPURSE is a mobile platform that keepstrack of tiny RFID (radio frequencyidentification) tags stuck to or insertedinto personal possessions such as mobilephone, camera, etc and helps locate themif they are misplaced or lost.

Shedding light on theevolution of plants

A crucial step in plant evolution gave riseto the plastid, which is the specialized

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compartment where photosynthesis takesplace in cells. This happened 2.4 billionyears ago.

Rare element detected in threeancient stars

Researchers have detected the elementtellurium for the first time in three ancientstars. They found traces of this element— which is very rare on Earth — in starsthat are nearly 12 billion years old.

PET for more accurate breastcancer diagnosis

A molecular imaging technique withwhole-body positron emission tomography(PET) provides a non-invasive means ofcapturing estrogen receptor expression inestrogen receptor-positive metastaticbreast cancer.

Used water disposal in shalegas extraction

There are environmental concerns inextracting natural gas from shale. Waterinjected into the shale picks up selenium,arsenic, iron, salt and even radioactiveparticles. The water has to be disposed ofproperly.

Satellite reveals sea turtlefeeding hotspots

Satellite tracking of threatened loggerheadsea turtles has revealed two previouslyunknown feeding hotspots in the Gulf ofMexico — important habitats for at leastthree separate populations of the turtles.

Sugary solution to Alzheimer’sdisease

Slowing or preventing the development ofAlzheimer’s disease may be as simple asensuring a brain protein’s sugar levels aremaintained.

Dictating human weight,energy levels

Researchers have discovered a key cellularmechanism that may help the brain

control how much we eat, what we weigh,and how much energy we have.

Modified bone drug in fightagainst malaria

A chemically altered osteoporosis drugmay be useful in fighting malaria. Thedrug readily crosses into the red blood cellsof malaria-infected mice and kills themalaria parasite.

Arctic sea ice decline linked tosnowy winters

Further evidence found of a relationshipbetween melting Arctic sea ice andwidespread cold outbreaks in theNorthern Hemisphere could be used toimprove seasonal forecasting of snow andtemperature anomalies.

Finding explosives from farwith laser beams

A new method has now been developed todetect chemicals inside a container over adistance of more than a hundred metres.Using laser light, the contents of anontransparent container can be analyzedwithout opening it.

Coral reefs are affected byoverfishing

The loss of predatory fish leads to anexplosion in sea urchin populations.Excessive grazing by sea urchins damagesthe reef structure and reduces the extentof crustose coralline algae, which arecrucial for reef growth.

Zebrafish

The way zebrafish regenerate damagedretinas after injury suggests new strategiesto be used in humans with reversibleconditions.

Integrating microbes intoclimate models

The models used to understand howEarth’s climate works include thousandsof different variables from many scientificfields. Microbiology is the latest field.

Good aerobic capacitypromotes learning

Aerobic fitness has a favourable effect oncognitive functions. An increase inphysical activity raises both aerobiccapacity and learning ability in bothhumans and animals.

Foraging bumblebees cued byhoneybees

Bumblebees can use cues from their rivals,the honeybees, to learn where the best foodresources are, demonstrating that sociallearning is not a unique process limited tomembers of the same species, says a study.

Large Hadron Collider’s beamenergy in 2012

CERN, the European Organization forNuclear Research, has stated that theLarge Hadron Collider will run with abeam energy of 4 TeV this year, 0.5 TeVhigher than in 2010 and 2011 to delivermaximum possible amount of data.

First map to show CO over thewhole sky

The first map to show carbon monoxideover the whole sky has been made by thePlanck mission. Astronomers can usecarbon monoxide to identify the coldclouds of hydrogen where stars are born.

Circadian rhythms help plantsbattle insects

Plants whose clocks were in phase withthose of insect pests were relativelyresistant, whereas the plants whose clockswere out of phase were decimated by theinsects feeding on them, according to astudy.

Ferroelectric nanostructures

A ‘soft template infiltration’ techniquefabricates free-standing piezoelectricallyactive ferroelectric nanotubes and othernanostructures.

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How good cholesterol turnsbad

How cholesteryl ester transfer proteinmediates transfer of cholesterol from ‘good’high density to ‘bad’ low densitylipoproteins has been explained.

Paulinella chromatophora

Focusing their research on a type ofamoeba called Paulinella chromatophora ,scientists have homed in on three of the P.chromatophoratransferred genes, whichencode proteins involved inphotosynthesis.

Universal Vaccines

‘Universal’ vaccines, so named for theireffectiveness against several flu strains,could for the first time allow for theeffective, wide-scale prevention of flu bylimiting the influenza virus’ ability tospread and mutate.

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AUSTRALIA WON CBTRIANGULAR SERIES

When it mattered most, theAustralians held their nerve in thecauldron. They also played the keymoments of the decider better.Defending a modest target of 231, thehost finished at the right end of a tensegame to triumph 2-1 in theCommonwealth Bank ODI triangularseries finals at the Adelaide Oval onThursday. In the end, only 16 runsseparated Sri Lanka from Australia.Prior to this Australia won the 1st final,while Sri Lanka came triumphant in the2nd.The 3rd team of this tournament wasIndia.

INDIA DROPS TO THIRD

World champion India dropped aplace to third in the Reliance ICC ODIChampionship cricket table after itsdismal performance in the tri-series inAustralia. Australia, however, stayed oncourse to retain the ICC ODIChampionship shield after defeating SriLanka by 16 runs in the third and last

match of the best-of-three finals inAdelaide on Thursday, while SouthAfrica is second.

PAKISTAN WON ASIA CUP

Pakistan defeated host Bangladeshto lift Asia Cup Cricket Trophy on 22March 2012. In a closely contestedmatch at Sher-e-Bangla NationalStadium Bangladesh fell short by 3 runswhile chasing the target of 237.Mushfiqur Rehman led Bangladeshteam was for the first time in itscricketing history reached to final of abig tournament. Pakistan squad was ledby Mishbah Ul Haq.

The two teams defeated India andSri Lanka to make it to the final. AsiaCup tournament which started in1984,is held on every two year. The

tournament sees participation of all fourtest playing nation in the continent. Indiawho was the winner of maiden Asia CupTrophy in 1984 has claimed the trophyfor five times. Sri Lanka and Pakistanhave lifted the trophy for 4 and 2 timesrespectively.

INDIA GONE PAST 320 IN LESSTHAN 40 OVERS

Sent into bat, Sri Lanka scored ahuge 320 for the loss of four wicketsagainst India in the penultimate one-dayer of the cricket tri-series in Hobarton Tuesday. Tillakaratne Dishan scoredan unbeaten 160, while KumarSangakkar made 105. Nobody at theBellerive Oval gave them a chance ofchasing down Sri Lanka’s gargantuan320 for four, let alone doing it in lessthan 40

overs to earn the bonus point andkeep alive their hopes of making it tothe finals. However, the Men in Blue didit in style thanks to Virat Kohli, whoblasted an unbeaten 133 off 86 balls.With cameos from the other fourspecialist batsmen, India did the

SPORTSCRICKET

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unthinkable by achieving the target offjust 36.4 overs.

PAKISTAN COMPLETES A CLEANSWEEP

Pakistan’s bowlers sealed anemphatic 71-run win in the third andfinal Test against England, inflicting a3-0 humiliation on the Englishmen.Pakistan won the first Test here by 10wickets and the second at Abu Dhabiby 72 runs. Set a daunting 324-runtarget, England was bowled out for 252with paceman Umar Gul taking four for61 and off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (fourfor 67) to help Pakistan achieve a first-ever Test clean sweep against itsopponent. Pakistan has become the firstteam to win a Test after being bowledout for under 100, since 1907, whenEngland, shot out for 76, beat SouthAfrica at Leeds. It was England’sseventh series whitewash and its firstat the hands of Pakistan. Pakistan hasnow recorded five series whitewashes,its last coming against Bangladesh in2003.

England’s last series whitewashcame in 2007 when it was routed byAustralia 5-0.

RAHUL DRAVID ANNOUNCEDRETIREMENT

Indian batting maestro and formercaptain Rahul Dravid, on 9 March 2012,announced his retirement frominternational cricket. The 39-year-oldhas to his credit the second highestaggregate of runs in the test history onlyafter Sachin Tendulkar. Dravid whichscored 13,288 runs in 164 Tests,including 36 hundreds has been one ofthe most successful batsmen India hasever produced. Dravid made hisinternational debut on 20 June 1996while playing at the Lord’s againstEngland. He had announced his

retirement from the ODIs in Englandin 2011.

RICKY PONTING ANNOUNCEDRETIREMENT

Former Australian CricketCaptain Ricky Ponting on 21 February2012 announced his retirement fromthe One day cricket. Ricky Ponting, wholed the Australian squad twice to worldcup victory in 2003 and 2007,announced his retirement after he wasdropped from the one day squad.Ponting’s record in the one day crickethas been quite impressive as in 275ODIs he has accumulated 13,704 runsat an average of 42.03. Next only toSachin Tendulkar, Ponting has 30centuries and 82 fifties in ODI in hername. Ponting had made his one daydebut against South Africa on 15February 1995. He was made thecaptain of Australian one day squad in2002 during the series against SouthAfrica.

LORD WOOLF RECOMMENDEDTHE RESTRUCTURING OF ICC’S

EXECUTIVE BOARD

The International CricketCouncil’s independent review,conducted by Lord Woolf in its reportcalled for sweeping changes in theadministration of cricket. The reviewrecommended the restructuring of theICC’s executive board in order to makeit more independent. It also stated thatinfluence of the bigger countries and thefull-members must be reduced. Thereview mentioned that the biggernations in the ICC look after their owninterest rather than that of the game.Lord Woolf ’s report highlighted theneed to reduce the strength of FullMembers and the appointment ofindependent directors. ICC’s boardcurrently comprises the heads of all Full

Member nations, three representativesfrom the Associates and Affiliates andthe ICC’s president, vice-president andchief executive. Woolf recommendedfive independent directors, of whichthree are to be from within the gameand two from outside with voting rights.The review also recommended that anICC director should not concurrentlyhold any leadership or executive postwith their home boards.

Woolf Report Recommendations• A culture should be established

where all potential conflicts ofinterest are declared, assessed andaddressed. 

• ICC Directors should neither seekto place undue influence on otherMembers, nor allow themselves tobe influenced inappropriately byother Members to support theinterests of individual Members.

• Any side agreements betweenMembers that may affect theinterests of the ICC and globalcricket should be disclosed so thatthere is due transparency and theireffects are understood.

• Government interference isinappropriate and is notacceptable. A level of governmentpatronage and support of cricketis permissible.

• There should be clear andenforced limits on the value ofGifts and Hospitality (individuallyand aggregate) that ICC Directorsand staff can give or receive. Itshould be mandatory to log allgifts and hospitality that are givenor received.

INDIA REPLACED BOWLINGCOACH ERIC SIMONS

BCCI decided to sack IndianTeam’s bowling coach Eric Simons. The

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ongoing One day tri-series in Australiawill be his last assignment as thebowling coach of Indian Cricket Team.Joe Daves of Queensland will take thecharge of new bowling coach. EricSimons had joined the Indian team inJanuary 2010. He was included in thesquad as the support staff to the coachGarry Kirsten. Decision about theremoval of Simons came after BCCI’sWorking Committee Meeting inChennai on 13 February. Sword wasdangling over Simon’s head af terconsistent poor performance of Indianbowlers in England and Australia.

PAKISTAN APPOINTED DAVWHATMORE AS COACH

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)appointed Dav Whatmore as itsnational team coach on 4 March 2012.Whatmore would remain on theposition for next two years. EnglishmanJulian Fountain was slated as the fieldingcoach of the team. Asia Cuptournament, to be held in the later partof March 2012, would be the firstassignment of both the new coaches.Whatmore, played seven tests forAustralia, has an impressive record asa coach of different teams. While he ledSri Lanka to world cup victory in 1996,he also led Bangladeshi team to theirfirst test match and subsequent serieswin in 2005. Prior to Whatmore, threeforeigners including EnglishmenRichard Pybus and Bob Woolmer andAustralian Geoff Lawson have beenassigned with the task to coachPakistani team in the past.

SOUTH AFRICA RECORDED 3-0VICTORY AGAINST NEW

ZEALAND

South Africa made a 3-0 cleansweep against New Zealand with a five-wicket victory in the third and final one-

day international in Auckland on 3march 2012. The South African squadled by AB Devilliers had recorded sixwicket victories in first two matches ofthe series. Debutant South Africanpacer Marchant de Lange claimed fourwickets in the match.

NEW ZEALAND CRUSHESZIMBABWE TO COMPLETE 3-0 WIN

New Zealand crushed Zimbabweby 202 runs in the final One-DayInternational to complete a 3-0 serieswhitewash over the outclassed tourists.Zimbabwe again failed to fire as NewZealand, inspired by a man-of-the-match century from skipper BrendonMcCullum, plundered 373 for eight in50 overs and then routed the Africansfor 171 with six overs to spare. CaptainBrendan Taylor, whose brisk 65 off 62balls was the high point of theZimbabwe innings, was left looking forpositives from a series in which the gulfbetween the teams progressivelywidened. Returning to the groundwhere it suffered a humiliating defeatby an innings and 301 runs in a one-offTest last month, Zimbabwe let itselfdown with loose bowling and shoddyfielding on a flat wicket. Zimbabwe’sBrian Vitori suffered the indignity ofbecoming only the fif th player toconcede more than 100 runs in an ODI.

SAHARA AGREED TO SPONSORINDIAN CRICKET TEAM

Sahara Group on 17 February2012, agreed to reverse its decision ofquashing all the commercial ties withBoard for Cricket Control in India. Thedecision was taken after series ofmeetings held between The BCCI andthe Sahara Group to resolve thecontentious issues, Sahara had cited asreasons behind voiding the deal. As perthe agreement the BCCI extended the

date for buying the players, from 17February to 29 February. The deal is toprovide the Pune Warriors with anopportunity to buy players from otherfranchises and have also re-activatedtheir auction purse. The board alsoagreed to address Sahara Group’sdemand for reduction in franchise fee.It also gave its consent to the companyto seek a strategic partner to run theIPL franchise. Existing sponsorshipagreement between BCCI and SaharaGroup involves ̀ 3.34 cr. per Test, One-day and T 20 international. The deal isto end on 31 December 2013. Sahara in2010 had bagged the IPL PuneFranchise in a bid worth ` 1700 cr.Sahara Group has been sponsoring theIndian Cricket Team since 2001. On 4February 2012 the company haddecided to withdraw its sponsorship toall the form of cricket under BCCI,giving the raging disputes between thetwo parties on variety of issues.

CSK NETS RAVINDRA JADEJA

In the days leading to the auctionat the ITC Royal Gardenia Hotel, theIPL committee had turned down theWarriors’ request to increase its auctionpurse beyond the stipulated $2 million.A miffed Sahara Group and itssubsidiary Pune Warriors pulled out ofthe auction and that remained the sub-text through the day. Even when atriumphant Chennai Super Kingsowner Gurunath Meiyappan walked infor a brief press conference aftersnapping up Jadeja for $2 million,questions on Sahara’s exit were volleyedtowards the IPL chairman RajeevShukla and CEO Sundar Raman. TheSahara-effect faded slowly and forJadeja, who made a comeback to theIndian squad during the One-DayInternationals in England, the wheel hascome a full circle. Banned from the IPL

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The list of players sold in the auction (read as name, nationality, price)

Chennai Super Kings:  Ravindra Jadeja (Ind), $2 million.Deccan Chargers:  Parthiv Patel (Ind), $ 650,000;

Daniel Harris (Aus), $ 70,000;Darren Bravo (WI), $ 100,000.

Delhi Daredevils:  Mahela Jayawardene (SL), $1.4 million;Andre Russell (WI), $450,000;Doug Bracewell (NZ), $ 50,000.

Kolkata Knight Riders:  Brendon McCullum (NZ), $ 900,000;Sunil Narine (WI), $ 700,000;Marchant deLange (SA), $ 50,000.

King’s XI Punjab:  Ramesh Powar (Ind), $ 160,000;James Faulkner (Aus), $ 190,000;Azhar Mahmood (Eng), $ 200,000.

Mumbai Indians:  Herschelle Gibbs (SA), $ 50,000;Mitchell Johnson (Aus), $ 300,000;R.P. Singh (Ind), $ 600,000;Robin Peterson (SA), $ 100,000;Thisara Perera (SL), $ 650,000.

Rajasthan Royals:  Brad Hodge (Aus), $ 475,000;Dinesh Chandimal (SL), $ 50,000;S. Sreesanth (Ind), $ 400,000;Brad Hogg (Aus), $ 180,000;Kevon Cooper (WI), $ 50,000.

Royal Challengers Bangalore:  Muttiah Muralitharan (SL), $ 220,000;Vinay Kumar (Ind), $1 million, 100,000.

TENNIS

during its third edition due to acontractual dispute, Jadeja is now thelodestone for franchises. The formerRajasthan Royals player, who waspicked up by Kochi Tuskers Kerala lastyear for $950,000, lived up to his blue-chip buzz with Super Kings and theChargers getting in to a bidding

stalemate after exhausting their purseof $2 million each. In the tie-breaker,the Chennai team pipped the Chargersby an undisclosed sum. Sri Lankanskipper Mahela Jayawardene proved tobe the next biggie and at $1.4 million,he is a valued buy for the DelhiDaredevils. Former Pakistan player and

current British citizen Azhar Mahmoodfound an eager buyer in King’s XIPunjab ($200,000) and the West Indiesall-rounder Andre Russell added zest tothe post-lunch proceedings. Russell wasselected by Delhi Daredevils for$450,000.

DUBAI DOUBLES TITLE

Indian Tennis pair of MaheshBhupati and Rohan Bopanna won thedoubles title of Dubai Open. TheFourth-seeded duo defeated Polish pairof Poles Mariusz Fyrstenberg andMarcin Matkowski. It was the maidentitle for the Indian tennis duo, who

reigned in almost all the department ofgame and secured a 6-4, 3-6, 10-5 winover the Polish tennis duo to lift thewinner’s trophy. The Dubai Opendoubles title is Bhupati’s 50th careertitle while first with Bopanna. The titlealso marked the fourth Dubai title forBhupathi, as he had claimed the titleearlier in 1998 with Leander Paes, in

2004 with Fabrice Santoro and in 2008with Mark Knowles.The title markedsixth ATP title of Bopanna’s career.

DUBAI OPEN SINGLES TITLE

World no. 2 Roger Federardefeated third seeded Andy Murray inthe singles final of Dubai Open on 4March 2012. The 30-year-old Federer,

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who lost his number 1 seed to SerbianTennis star Novak Djokovic , recordedan easy 7-5, 6-4 win over Briton AndyMurray. It is fifth Dubai Title of Federar,who has so far won 72 tour titles. RogerFederar has record 16 grand slam titleto his credit. Federer has been the partof a record 23 career Grand Slamtournament finals, including a men’srecord ten in a row.

MARSEILLE OPEN TITLE

Juan Martin Del Potro ofArgentina clinched Marseille Openfinal by beating Michael Llodra on 26

February 2012. Del Potro who turned aprofessional tennis player in 2005 haswon total ten ATP titles in his career.Del Potro claimed his first Grand Slamtitle at the 2009 US Open, defeatingNadal in the semifinal, and RogerFederer  in the final. Potro’s highest ATPranking was four.

MANISH MALHOTRA PRESENTEDWITH TOP IOC AWARD

Former Indian tennis playerManisha Malhotra conferred upon atop International Olympic CommitteeAward for her contribution in

promoting sport among women.Theaward was presented by IOC PresidentJacques Rogge at the fifth WorldConference on Women and Sport.Malhotra received the World Trophyfor helping disadvantaged girls. She hastravelled length and breadth of India toencourage women to participate indifferent sports. Manisha Malhotra hadcompeted for India in Tennis doublesat the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She wasone of six winners at the Women andSports Awards ceremony held in LosAngeles on 16 February 2012.

ARCHERY/SHOOTING

55TH NATIONAL SHOOTINGCHAMPIONSHIPS FOR SHOTGUN

Haryana’s Ajay Mittal won the goldmedal at the 55th National ShootingChampionships for shotgun by defeatingstalwarts like Sodhi and Athens Olympicssilver medallist Rajyavardhan SinghRathore in the final. Delhi’s SangramDahiya finished second, followed byRathore and Sodhi. Ajay Mittal’s younger

brother, Ankur Mittal finished fifth andanother Delhi lad, Shayan Masood, sixth.Ankur Mittal also won the juniors’competition, with Masood second andAndhra Pradesh’s Asher Noria third.Ajay Mittals’ father, Ashok , whocombined with his sons to win thebronze medal in the team competitionfor Haryana too, behind winners Delhiand runners- up Punjab. In the non-

Olympic women’s double trapcompetition, Bihar’s Shreyasi Singh wonthe gold with a score of 92 out of 120,breaking her own national record of 90.

Army shooters Seema and VarshaTomar won the silver and bronzemedals respectively.

Shreyasi also pocketed the juniors’gold ahead of Madhya Pradesh’s VarshaVarman and Uttar Pradesh’s Malika Wig.

KABADDI

FIRST WORLD CUP KABADDITITLE

Indian national women Kabadditeam clinched maiden Women WorldCup Kabaddi championship title on 4March 2012.

In a thrilling match held in Patna,capital of Bihar, Indian women teamdefeated Iran 25-19. Japan secured thirdrank while Thiland came fourth in thechampionship. Earlier in the day, Indiadeferated Japan 60-21 to enter the final

while Iran beaten Thailand 46-26 to makeit to the final.

The global sports event witnessedthe participation of 16 countries. Thefour day event  received a great followingin India.

SQUASH

SDAT-WSF UNDER-21 SQUASHWORLD CUP

Egypt defeated India 2-1 in the finalof the SDAT-WSF Under-21 SquashWorld Cup. Marwan El Shorbagy

defeated  Ravi Dixit 11-4, 11-7, 7-11, 11-7 while Karim Abdel Gawad bt RamitTandon 12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8.However Dipika Pallikal manged to scorea point by defeating Nour El Sherbini 11-7, 4-11, 8-11, 14-12, 11-5. England

defeated France 2-0 (Charles Sharpes btLucas Serme 14-12, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6,11-6; Emily Whitlock bt Cyrielle Peltier11-5, 11-7, 11-7) to finish third. AfterRavi Dixit’s defeat,  Dipika Pallikal foughthard to bring India back into contention

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by winning a five-game marathon againstNour el Sherbini.

However, Ramit Tandon’s defeatdealt a blow to India. Tandon, who beat

a much higher ranked opponent in thesefi final on 4 January had to do it all overagain at the Express Avenue Mall againstGawad, who is placed close to 300 places

above him in the world rankings. Gawadfinally managed to close the game 11-8to win the match and the inaugural U-21World Cup for Egypt.

BADMINTON

ALL ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP

India’s ace Badminton player SainaNehwal suffered a straight-game defeatin the women’s singles quarterfinals ofthe All England Championship  atBirmingham on 9 March 2012. The

Fourth seeded Nehwal lost to seventhseeded Li Xuerui of China in a forty-minute match  at the National IndoorArena. Saina on 8 March 2012haddefeated French shuttler  Hongyan Pi tomake it to the quarter finals of thechampionship. Saina in 2010 had

reached the semi finals of All EnglandChampionship.  In 2010 she had wonthree Super Series titles -Singapore,Indonesia and Hong Kong beside theCommonwealth Games gold medal.

GOLF

EUROPEAN TOUR TITLE

South African Golfer James BarryKruger won Avantha Masters Golftournament in New Delhi. Popularlycalled Jbe Cruger, it was his maidenEuropean Tour title. The 25-year-oldKruger made four birdies and overcamea bogey on the 17th to finish with a 14-under total of 274 in New Delhi. Jorge

Campillo of Spain and Marcel Siem ofGermany jointly secured the secondposition. Campillo and Siem were twoshots back in the match. Jose Manuel Laraof Spain and Australian Marcus Fraserfinished joint fourth at 11 under. JamesBarry “Jbe” Kruger is a South AfricanGolfer, who in year 2007 turned to beprofessional Golfer. He has won twice on

the Sunshine Tour Kruger finishedsecond on the Asian Tour three times in2010, while his best previous result onthe European Tour was third at the AfricaOpen the same year. Kruger’s topmostposition in this year’s European Tour hasbeen ninth which he had secured at theJoburg Open in South Africa.

HOCKEY

INDIAN WOMEN HOCKEY TEAMLOST THE FINAL OF OLYMPICS

QUALIFIER

South African Women Hockeyteam on 25 February 2012, defeatedIndian Women Hockey Team to qualifyfor the London Olympics 2012. SouthAfrican squad scored 3 goals while theIndian squad could manage to hit onlyone goal. Holland, Argentina, Australia,China, Germany, Britain, South Korea,New Zealand and the United States have

already made it to the Olympics. IndianWomen Hockey Team had got its maidenand sole Olympics entry in 1980 MoscowOlympics. Since then it has not been ableto break the qualifiers round, a gatewayto the Olympics.

SAHARA AWARD FOR HOCKEYTEAM

Sahara India on Tuesdayannounced a cash incentive of ` 1.16crore to be distributed amongst theplayers and support staff of the Indian

hockey team for qualifying for the 2012London Olympics. For their exceptionalperformance, Sardar Singh and SandeepSingh have been awarded ̀ 11 lakh each,while the rest of the players will get ̀ fivelakh each. The support staff will also getan incentive of`1 lakh each.

In addition, Sahara will also bear thetaxes on the cash awards, taking the totalexpenditure incurred by the company toaround`1.29 crore.

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59TH NATIONAL FILM AWARDS

The Prestigious 59th National FilmAwards were announced in New Delhion 7 March 2012. The awards were

announced by the Chairpersons of thethree juries- Rohini Hattangady  forfeature films, Ramesh Sharma for non-feature films and Vijaya Mulay for BestWriting on Cinema  category. The  Best

Actor was given to Girish Kulkarni forfilm Deool (Marathi) and Best Actressto Vidya Balan for the film The DirtyPicture (Hindi).

AWARD & PRIZES

Feature Films

Best Feature Film : Shared by Deool (Marathi) and Byari (Byari)Indira Gandhi Award For Best DebutFilm of a Director : Aaranyakandam (Tamil)

Award for Best Popular Film Providing

Wholesome Entertainment : AzhagarsamiyinKuthirai (Tamil)Best Children’s Film : Chillar Party(Hindi)Best Direction : GurvinderSingh for Anhe Ghorey Da Daan (Punjabi)Best Actor : Girish Kulkarni for Deool (Marathi)Best Actress : Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture (Hindi)Best Supporting Actor : Appu Kutty for Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai (Tamil)Best Supporting Actress : Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi for Phijigee Mani(Manipuri)Best Child Artist (Shared) : Partho Gupte for Stanley ka Dabba (Hindi)Best Male Playback Singer : Anand Bhate for Balgandharva(Marathi)Best Female Playback Singer : Roopa Ganguly for Abosheyshey (Bengali)Best Cinematography : Anhe Ghorey DaDaan (Punjabi)Cameraman : Satya RaiNagpaul

Best Screenplay

Screenplay Writer (Original) : Vikas Behl & Manish Tiwari for Chillar Party(Hindi)Screenplay Writer (Adapted) : Avinash Deshpande Nigdi for Shala (Marathi)Dialogues : Girish Kulkarni for Deool (Marathi)

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BIHARI PURASKAR

The K.K. Birla Foundation hasawarded the 21st Bihari Puraskar for2011 to Arjundeo Charan for hisRajasthani poetry collection “ Ghar TauEk Nam Hai Bhrosai Rau “. The awardcarries prize money of Rs.1 lakh, acitation and a plaque.The award,installed in the name of the famousHindi poet Bihari, is given only toRajasthani writers.Dr. Charan was bornin 1954 in Jodhpur district. Anoutstanding poet, critic, playwright,and translator, the central theme of Dr.Charan’s poems is the poor conditionand constant struggles faced by womenin a stridently feudal society. Dr. Charan

is a Sahitya Akademi award winner andis presently the Head of the RajasthaniLanguage Department at JayanarayanUniversity, Jodhpur. His works havebeen translated into a number of Indianlanguages.The “ Ghar Tau… “ anthologyexplores life’s ironies, changing values,and continuing contradictions in Indiansocial structures.

84TH ACADEMY AWARDS

The 84th Academy Awardsceremony/Oscars was hosted by theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts andSciences (AMPAS). The ceremonywhich took place at the Hollywood andHighland Center in Hollywood,

California on 26 February 2012honoured the best films andperformances of 2011. The ceremonywas hosted by Billy Crystal who markedhis ninth time as host, and produced byBrian Grazer. Academy Awards ofMerit were presented in 24 standardcompetitive categories. ChristopherPlummer  at 82 became the oldest actorever to win an Academy Award, pickingup the Best Supporting Actor trophy forhis role as a senior citizen coming outof the closet in The Beginners. Pakistangot its first Oscar as Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy received the Oscar for Savingface (Best documentary -short subject) along with Daniel Junge.

Best Audiography

Location Sound Recordist : Baylon Fonseca for Zindagi NaMilegi Dobara (Hindi)Best Costume Designer (Shared) : Neeta Lulla for Balgandharva (Marathi)Niharika Khan : The Dirty Picture (Hindi)Best Make-Up Artist : VikramGayakwad for Balgandharva (Marathi) and The Dirty Picture (Hindi)Best Music Direction Songs : Neel Dutt for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbo Na (Bengali)Best Lyrics : Amitabh Bhattacharya for ‘Agar Zindagi’ in I AM (Hindi)Special Jury Award : Anjan Dutt for Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbo Na (Bengali)Best Choreography : Bosco and Caeser for ‘Senorita’ from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Hindi)Best Debut Film Of A Director : The Silent Poet (Manipuri)Best Environment Film : Tiger Dynasty (English)Special Jury Award : Anand Patwardhan for Jai Bhim Comrade (Marathi)Best Film Critic : Manoj Barpujari (Assamese and English)Best Book on Cinema : R.D. Burman The Man, The Music (English)

List of Awardees in the Different Categories

Best Picture : The ArtistBest Actor : Jean Dujardin for The ArtistBest Actress : Meryl Streep for The Iron LadyBest Director : Michel Hazanavicius for The ArtistBest Supporting Actor : Christopher Plummer for BeginnersBest Supporting Actress : Octavia Spencer for The HelpBest Animated feature film : RangoBest foreign language film : A Separation ( Iran)Best documentary (feature) : UndefeatedBest art direction : HugoBest cinematography : Robert Richardson for HugoBest costume design : Mark Bridges for The ArtistBest music (original score) : The ArtistBest music (original song) : Man or Muppet from The Muppets

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List of Winners in different categories at the BAFTA

Best Picture: The ArtistBest Actor: Jean Dujardin – The ArtistBest Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron LadyBest Director: Michel Hazanavicius – The ArtistBest Supporting actress: Octavia Spencer – The HelpBest Supporting actor: Christopher Plummer – BeginnersBest Animated film: Rango directed by Gore VerbinskiBest Documentary: SennaOutstanding British film: Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyBest Film not in the English language: The Skin I Live In (Spanish thriller film writtenand directed by Pedro Almodóvar)Outstanding debut: TyrannosaurAdapted screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor and Peter StraughanBest Original screenplay: The Artist – Michel HazanaviciusBest Original score: The Artist – Ludovic BourceRising star award: Adam DeaconAcademy fellowship: Martin ScorseseShort animation: A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue GoffeShort film: Pitch Black Heist – John Maclean and Geraldine

54TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS

The 54th Annual Grammy Awardswere held on 12 February 2012, at theStaples Center in Los Angeles. The deathof pop diva Whitney Houston the nightbefore the Grammy awards however casta sombre mood at the awards. Theproducers quickly planned a tribute toher in the form of a performance byJennifer Hudson. Paul McCartneyreceived the MusiCares Person of theYear award on 10 February 2012, at theLos Angeles Convention Center. Britishsinger Adele, with six nominations, wonall six awards, tying Beyoncé’s record formost wins by a female artist in one night.Foo Fighters and Kanye West followedwith five and four awards, respectively.The British songstress, Adele swept theawards winning a staggering six goldengramophones for her Album, 21.

Adele, who was named best newartist in 2009, is only the second artist inhistory to take all four major Grammycategories. Christopher Cross attainedthe feat in 1981 with a four-award sweep.Kanye West was the top nominee withseven nods.

However West once again had tosatisfy himself with rap wins. Westcaptured four awards to add to his 14previous wins, for best rap/sungcollaboration and best rap song (for Allof the Lights), best rap performance (forOtis, shared with Jay-Z) and best rapalbum (My Beautiful Dark TwistedFantasy).

List of Important Winners

Album of the Year: 21 - Adele Record of the Year: Rolling in the Deep,AdeleSong of the Year:Rolling in the Deep,Adele Best New Artist: Bon Iver

65TH ANNUAL BRITISH ACADEMYFILM AWARDS

The sixty-fifth annual BritishAcademy Film awards, the BAFTA’s washeld at the Royal Opera House inLondon 12 February 2012. Black andwhite silent movie,The Artist toppedwon six awards, including best film andbest director.  The Silent movieblockbuster also won the best actoraward for its star Jean Dujardin, who beat

British favourite Gary Oldman. The Artistdirected by Michel Hazanavicius is aFrench-made romance set in Hollywoodin the 1920s and 30s. The film tells thestory of a star of silent movies whosecareer is destroyed by the advent oftalkies. It had been nominated for 12awards and walked away with the prizesfor best film, leading actor, director,original screenplay, costumes,cinematography and music.

THE NATIONAL TOURISM AWARD2010-11

The National Tourism Awards2010-11 were conferred by the Presidentof India Pratibha Devisingh Patil on 29February 2012 in New Delhi. A total of78 awardees from 50 various categoriesreceived the award. Three new awardcategories named; The Best State:Campaign Clean India, Best Heritage Cityand Best Heritage Walk were alsointroduced this year. Madhya Pradeshreceived the National Tourism Award for

its effort in developing tourism relatedinfrastructure and programmes in thestate. It also received awards for BestTourism Film and Best TourismPromotion Publicity Material category.North-Eastern state Sikkim bagged theaward for the best among Northeaststates and J&K category. It also got thenew award under Campaign Clean India.Hyderabad airport received the award inthe Best Airport award category. NewDelhi railway station named the mosttourist friendly railway station. The DelhiTourism and Transportation

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Development Corporation also receivedthe National Tourism Awards.

The Oberoi Rajvilas emerged theBest Five Star Deluxe hotel whileNeemrana Hotel in Alwar bagged theBest Heritage hotel award.

21ST VYAS SAMMAN

Noted Hindi writer ProfessorRamdarash Mishra was selected for the21st Vyas Samman for his poetrycollection Aam Ke Patte published in2004. A selection committee headed bySuryaprasad Dixit, a well-known writerand former chairperson of LucknowUniversity’s Hindi department, selectedthe collection for the award. The prizemoney for Vyas Samman is Rs 2.5 lakh.

Professor Mishra, a veteran writer,was born on 15 August 1924, in UttarPradesh’s Gorakhpur district. He servedin Delhi University’s Hindi departmentand retired as professor there. Hispublished works include 16 collectionsof poetry, 13 novels and 18 short storycollections. His notable poetrycollections include Pak gai hai dhoop,Path ke Geet, Kandhe par Suraj andBarish mein bheegte bache. His novels-Jal Tootata Hua and Paani ke Prachirreceived with critical acclaim. The award,instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation,is given annually for an outstandingliterary work in Hindi published duringthe past 10 years. The award carries acash purse of Rs. 2.5 lakh. After theSaraswati Samman, which is given for awork chosen from among works in allleading Indian languages, the VyasSamman is the most prestigious awardgiven by the Foundation.

LATA MANAGESHKAR AWARD

Veteran Hindi film music composerRajesh Roshan was honoured with theLata Manageshkar award by the MadhyaPradesh government on 8 February

2012. The Lata Manageshkar  award for2010-11 contained Rs two lakh in cashand a scroll of honour. The award waspresented to Roshan by the State CultureMinister Laxmikant Sharma. During hiscareer spanning 36 years, he had neverbefore accepted an award from any stategovernment. The award was instituted bythe state government in 1984 and sinceits inception it has been given away to 27personalities including legends like lateJagjit Singh, Asha Bhonsle and Naushad.

V. SHANTARAM LIFE TIMEACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Veteran environmental filmmakerMike Pandey was honoured with theprestigious V. Shantaram Life TimeAchievement Award at the MumbaiInternational Film Festival 2012 on 3February 2012. The award was presentedby Maharashtra Governor K.Sankaranarayanan. He received theaward for his documentaries on wildlifeconservation and environment. MikePandey is one of India’s foremostwildlife and environmental filmmakers.He hasd won over 300 national andinternational awards. His list of filmsinclude Shores of Silence, The LastMigration, Broken Wings and TheTimeless Traveller. The award carries acitation, a trophy and a cash prize ofRs.5 lakh. It was instituted in 1996 inmemory of the legendary filmmaker V.Shantaram. The award is given with anobjective to recognise the multi-facetedcontributions of an Indian for thedocumentary film movement.

GREEN GLOBE AWARD

Bollywood actor AbhishekBachchan received a Green Globe forOutstanding Efforts by a Celebrity for hisefforts toward a greener future at thefourth edition of the Panasonic GreenGlobe Foundation Awards on 2 february

2012. He received the award fromHollywood actor and former Governorof California Arnold Schwarzenegger.The award is conferred to honour theefforts of organisations and individualsfighting climate change through theirwork in environment preservation andregeneration.

The Terminator star,Schwarzenegger was the guest ofhonour at the event.

SKOLL AWARD FOR SOCIALENTREPRENEURSHIP

The National Association of StreetVendors of India (NASVI) and Nidan,an organisation that supportsunorganised workers, will be honouredwith the Skoll Award for SocialEntrepreneurship by the SkollFoundation in Oxford, England, onMarch 29. The award carries with it athree-year operating support grant.“From the slums of Bihar to the streetsof Delhi, Nidan and NASVI giveinformal workers more than a voice;they give them ownership of theircollectives,” said Skoll Foundationpresident and CEO Sally Osberg. Theaward will be accepted on behalf of theorganisations by NASVI coordinatorand Nidan executive director ArbindSingh. The Skoll Foundation invests in,connects and celebrates socialentrepreneurship and the innovatorswho help them and was instituted in1999. “They have shown not justentrepreneurial vision but persistenceneeded to make a lasting change,” saidthe Skoll Foundation about the awardwinners.

SCOPUS AWARD

Three IITians are among the eightyoung scientists who have won theprestigious Scopus award, instituted bythe National Academy of Sciences and

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Elsevier, a leading provider of scientific,technical and medical informationproducts and services. The winners areSanjib Senapathi, IIT-Madras; SagnikDey, IIT-Delhi; Satyajit Banerjee, IIT-Kanpur; Partha Sarathi Mukherjee, IISc,Bangalore; Prahladh Harsha, TataInstitute of Fundamental Research,Mumbai; Sundergopal Sridhar, IndianInstitute of Chemical Technology,Hyderabad; Ritesh Agarwal, P.G.Institute of Medical Education andResearch, Chandigarh; and S .B.Shivachandra, Indian VeterinaryResearch Institute, Mukteshwar,Uttarakhand. The winners wereselected from more than 250applications received from researchinstitutes and universities across thecountry.

G.D. BIRLA AWARD

Tapas Kumar Kundu of Bangalore-based Jawaharlal Nehru Centre forAdvanced Scientific Research has been

selected for the G.D. Birla award for hiscontribution in biochemistry. The award,instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundationfor according recognition to high calibrescientific research undertaken by Indianscientists below the age of 50, carries apurse of Rs 1.5 lakh. Mr. Kundu, who hasone US and three Indian patents to hiscredit, has been selected for hiscontribution in the area of human geneexpression and its links to disease andtherapeutics. He not only elucidated themechanism of transcription regulationthrough the epigenetic modifications inhumans but also used the process todesign new generation cancer diagnostics,as well as therapeutics for cancer, AIDSand diabetes. Born in 1962, Mr. Kundudid his Masters in Biochemistry at theUniversity of Agricultural Sciences andPhD from Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore. He did his post-doctoral workat the National Institute of Genetics inMishima in Japan and RockfellerUniversity, New York. 

SANT GADGE BABA AWARDINITIATED

Union Rural Development MinisterJairam Ramesh announced a nationalaward for sanitation and water in thename of Maharashtrian saint Sant GadgeBaba. The Minister toured several villagesin Satara district to inspect the work ofthe Nirmal Gram Yojana for sanitation.The award was constituted in the nameof the Saint who strove to serve thesociety through cleanliness. The award isto honour villages, individuals ororganisations working in the field ofsanitation and drinking water.Maharashtra’s Sant Gadge Baba SwachtaAbhiyan (cleanliness scheme) encouragesvillages to be open defecation-free. Wellperforming villages are awardedthrough the Nirmal Gram Yojana. Outof the 25 lakh villages in India, 25000are open defecation-free, and out ofthese, 9000 villages are in Maharashtraalone. Maharashtra has 27900 villages.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN

The incumbent Prime MinisterVladimir Putin won the RussianPresidential Election with 63.75 percentof votes as per the result declared bythe Russian Central ElectionCommission (CEC) on 5 March2012.Communist leader GennadyZyuganov came second with 17.18percent of the votes whereas MikhailProkhorov secured 7.98 percent. Putinhas already served eight years asPresident (2000-2004 and 2004-2008)and four years as PM (2008-2012). Thiswill be his third term as President,which will last 6 years. Initially, thePresidential term in Russia was fouryears. In December 2008, a

constitutional amendment was passedto extend the Presidential term to sixyears.That was to take effect after thefollowing presidential election inRussia. Significantly, Russia’sconstitution has a provision that noPresident can serve more than two consecutive  terms.

PARKASH SINGH BADAL

Parkash Singh Badal of ShiromaniAkali Dal, sworn in as the 31st chiefminister of Punjab on 14 March 2012.Badal, 85, became the chief minister ofthe state for record fifth time. Born on8 December 1927, Badal made his entryinto politics in 1947 and was elected toPunjab Vidhan Sabha for the first timein 1957. He first became the chiefminister of Punjab in 1969. At the age

of 42, he was the youngest chief ministerof Punjab. Parkash Singh Badal led hisparty Shiromani Akali Dal along withits alliance partner BJP, to a historicalvictory in 2012 assembly election as thealliance defeated the rival Congressbeating the anti-incumbency factor.The victory is even more importantgiven the fact that never in the historyof Punjab the incumbent governmentcame to power for second consecutiveterm.

VIJAY BAHUGUNA

Vijay Bahuguna of Congress, on 13March 2012,sworn in as the chiefminister of Uttarakhand.  Bahuguna, aCongress MP from Tehri Gadhwal, isthe seventh chief minister of

APPOINTED

IN THE NEWS

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Uttarakhand which was carved out of UPin 2000. Born on 28 February 1947,Bahuguna is a former high court justice.He served as the judge of Bombay andAllahabad high court. Bahuguna is firstformer High Court judge to become astate’s chief minister. Hailing from apolitical background, Bahuguna’ sfather Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna wasalso a former Chief Minister of UttarPradesh. His sister Rita Bahuguna Joshiis UP Congress president.

AKHILESH YADAV

Samajwadi Party leader AkhileshYadav was sworn in as the 33rd chiefminister of Uttar Pradesh on 15th

March. The 38-year-old, the youngestto hold the post in Uttar Pradesh, tookoath at the sprawling La MartiniereCollege grounds in Lucknow. Twentynine other ministers of state were alsosworn in the new government. The sonof SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav,Akhilesh is credited with steering theparty to a thumping victory of 224 seatsin the 403-member assembly.

MANOHAR PARRIKAR

Manohar Parrikar, who was swornin as Goa chief minister on 9th March,the third stint in the top post comeswith no coalition strings attachedfollowing the party’s emphatic mandatein the assembly polls. The first IITian

to become Chief Minister, Parrikar’s twoprevious terms — October 2000-02 andFebruary 2002-05 — had been bumpyrides with constant pinpricks from hisalliance partners.

This time, BJP enjoys a simplemajority — 21 in the 40-memberassembly and also has a buffer of threeMLAs of ally MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party and twoIndependents. An IIT Mumbaigraduate in metallurgical engineeringand among the first members of BJP inthe state, Parrikar has beeninstrumental in raising the profile of hisparty from just four members in thestate assembly in 1994 to its presentstatus as a ruling party with the highestnumber of seats in the state assembly.

OKRAM IBOBI SINGH

Okram Ibobi Singh was sworn inas Manipur Chief Minister for the thirdconsecutive term on 14 th March.Governor Gurubachand Jagatadministered the oath of office andsecrecy at a function at Raj Bhavan. Noother Minister was sworn in.

ZAHEER-UL ISLAM

Ending weeks of speculation, thegovernment on Friday announced theappointment of Karachi CorpsCommander Zaheer-ul Islam as the ISIDirector-General. He will replaceAhmad Shuja Pasha who is due to retireon March 18 after a three-and-a-half-year stint at what is regarded as one ofthe most powerful offices in thecountry, second only to that of the Chiefof Army Staff (COAS).

ABDUL RAHMAN

M. Abdul Rahman, currentlyDirector of Vocational HigherSecondary Education, has beenappointed Director of the All IndiaCouncil for Technical Education(AICTE) under the Union Ministry ofHuman Resource Development. He willassume charge at the AICTE office inNew Delhi next week. The AICTE is anadvisory and statutory body,established for accreditation andcoordinated development of thetechnical education system, includingthe engineering colleges, the IndianInstitutes of Technology, and the IndianInstitutes of Management.

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MAHESH RANGARAJAN

Environmental historian andpolitical commentator MaheshRangarajan was selected and appointedas director of the Nehru MemorialMuseum and Library, one of thecountry’s top centres for research onmodern Indian history. The Delhi HighCourt had earlier struck down hisoriginal appointment on the grounds of

an invalid selection process. Dr.Rangarajan’s appointment had beenchallenged in court by a historyprofessor from Rohtak.

DK MITTAL

Union government nominated DKMittal on the central board of ReserveBank of India, the apex Indian bank. MrD. K. Mittal is the Secretary of Department of Financial Services of Ministry of Finance.

He is the second governmentnominee on the RBI board. This is forthe first time that the UnionGovernment has got two of itsnominees on the central board of RBI.Until now the Secretary of Departmentof Economic Affairs of Ministry of

Finance, used to be the only director onthe RBI central board nominated by thegovernment.

Mr. R Gopal, Secretary ofDepartment of Economic Affairs ofMinistry of Finance is the othergovernment nominee on the RBIcentral board. With Mr. DK Mittalbeing included in the Board of Directorsof RBI the total number of RBI directorshas reached to 18.

DEATH

O. P. DUTTA

Veteran Bollywood writer-filmmaker O. P. Dutta has passed awayfollowing a bout of pneumonia atKokilaben Hospital here in suburbanAndheri. The end came on 9th Marchnight. The film-maker, who was in hislate 80s, began his career as a directorwith ‘Pyaar Ki Jeet’ in 1948, followed by‘Surajmukhi’ (1950), ‘Ek Nazar’ (1951),‘Malkin’ (1953), ‘Aangan’ (1959) andothers. Later he turned writer for hisson J. P. Dutta with films like ‘Ghulami’(1985), ‘Hathyar’ (1989), ‘Border’(1997), ‘ Refugee’ (2000), ‘LoC Kargil’(2003) and, his last film as awriter, ‘Umrao Jaan’ (2006).

ANTHONY SHADID

Anthony Shadid, two-timePulitzer Prize-winning foreigncorrespondent who died on Thursdayat 43, had long been passionatelyinterested in West Asia, first because ofhis Lebanese-American heritage andlater because of what he saw therefirsthand. He was known most recentlyto Times readers for his clear-eyedcoverage of the Arab Spring. For hisreporting on the sea change sweepingthe region which included dispatchesfrom Lebanon and Egypt TheTimes nominated him, along with ateam of his colleagues, for the 2012

Pulitzer in international reporting. (Theawards are announced in April.) Shadidwon two Pulitzer Prizes twice in 2004and 2010, for his coverage of Iraq forthe Washington Post. Shadid’s otherjournalism honors included a GeorgePolk Award in 2003.

AKHLAQ MOHAMMAD KHAN

Shahryar was born June 16, 1936,in a village named Anwalla in Bareilly,Uttar Pradesh. He received his earlyeducation at Bulandshahr and thenstudied at Aligarh Muslim University.Shahryar started his career as a literaryassistant at Anjuman Tarraqqi-e-Urdu.He then went on to join Aligarh MuslimUniversity, as a lecturer in Urdu and

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rose to become the chairman of the UrduDepartment.His first poetic collectionwas published in 1965 under thetitle Ism-e-Azam followed Satwan Darwhich was published in 1969. Shahryarhad received the Jnanpith Award, India’shighest literary award, in the year 2008.In 1987 he received the Sahitya AkademyAward in Urdu for his poetry collection,Khwab Ka Dar Band Hai. He was alsohonored with various other awardsincluding Bahadur Shah Zafar Award,Iqbal Samman, Gangadhar Puraskar andUP Urdu Academy Award.

JOY MUKHERJEE

Yesteryear actor Joy Mukherjeepassed away after prolonged illness atthe city’s Lilavati hospital. He was 73.Mr. Mukherjee had starred in manyHindi movies of the 1960s suchas Shagird , Love In Tokyo , Ziddi, PhirWohi Dil Laya Hoon and Ek Musafir EkHasina. Mr. Mukherjee was actorKajol’s paternal uncle.

SHAMIM AHMED KHAN

Sitar maestro Shamim AhmedKhan, one of the finest exponents ofHindustani instrumental music, passedaway in a private hospital following amassive heart attack. He was 74.Shamim Ahmed Khan was born in 1938in Baroda into a musical family of theAgra gharana, which boasts ofluminaries like Ustad Faiyaz Khan,Ustad Vilayat Hussain Khan, UstadKhadim Hussain Khan and UstadLatafat Hussain Khan. He was initiated

into vocal music at a very young age byhis father, Ustad Ghulam Rasool Khan,but his love for sitar led him to becomea disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar in1955.

RUNAKO MORTON

West Indies cricketer RunakoMorton was killed in a car crash. The33-year-old, one of the few cricketersto emerge from the island of Nevis, lostcontrol of the car he was driving andhit a pole, according to reports. He diedon the spot. Morton had played 15 Testmatches, 56 One-day internationals andseven Twenty20s for the West Indiessince making his international debut in2002. He last played in February 2010in a Twenty20 against Australia inSydney.

R.D. SHARMA

Science communicator R .D.Sharma (73), who was a senior officerin the Indian Council of AgriculturalResearch, has passed away. A formermedia consultant at the India office ofthe International Rice ResearchInstitute, he was known for hisinsightful writings on different aspectsof science for the benefit of the commonman. Among other things, he is awinner of the Indian National ScienceAcademy’s Indira Gandhi Prize forPopularisation of Science.

WHITNEY ELIZABETH HOUSTON 

Singer and actress WhitneyHouston died in a Beverly Hills hotel room

in California. Former wife of New Editionsinger Bobby Brown Houston is a winnerof six Grammy Awards including recordof the year for ‘I Will Always Love You’and album of the year for ‘TheBodyguard’. Houston was the only artistto have seven consecutive No. 1 singleson Billboard magazine’s pop chart.

The streak began with “Saving AllMy Love for You,” from her debut albumin 1985. She had also reached the topof Billboard’s rhythm-and-blues,contemporary and dance charts.Whitney Elizabeth Houston born on 9August 1963 in New Jersey was anAmerican recording artist, actress,producer, and model. She belonged toa musical family that included an olderbrother, Michael, and a half-brother,Gary, from her mother’s previousmarriage. In 2009, the Guinness WorldRecords cited her as the most-awardedfemale act of all time.

JEFFREY ZASLOW

Best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslowwas killed when he lost control of hiscar on a snowy road after promoting hislatest book in the state of Michigan. Hewas 53.

Mr. Zaslow, co-author of themillion-selling inspirational book “TheLast Lecture,” was also a formercolumnist for The Wall StreetJournal and former advice columnistfor the Chicago Sun-Times .

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ACCUSED/RESIGNED/CONTROVERSY

CHRITIAN WULFF

Germany’s President resigned in ascandal over favours he allegedlyreceived before becoming head of state,creating a major domestic distractionfor Chancellor Angela Merkel as shegrapples with Europe’s debt crisis.Chritian Wulff announced hisresignation a day after the slow-burningaffair escalated with a request byprosecutors for Parliament to lift hisimmunity from prosecution over hisrelationship with a film producer in hisprevious job as governor of LowerSaxony. Those benefits allegedlyincluded paying for a luxury hotel stayin 2007.

KRIPASHANKAR SINGH

The police on Tuesday filed a FirstInformation Report (FIR) against theformer Mumbai Regional Congresspresident, Kripashankar Singh, oncharges of cheating, forgery andcorruption. The FIR comes nearly aweek after the Bombay High Court

submitted the report on behalf of theUnion government to the apex courtbench of chief justice SH Kapadia andJustice Swatanter Kumar. The benchdirected the government to inform it onthe further action to be taken onallegations against former CJI,Balakrishnan, who is presently thechairman of National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) within threeweeks. The court’s direction cameduring hearing of a Public InterestLitigation filed by civil society CommonCause, which alleged that the ex-CJI andhis relative amassed wealth farexceeding their legal income duringBalakrishnan’s tenure as an apex court’sjudge.  The PIL sought apex court’sdirection to the government to takeproper action against the ex-CJI, whois presently the chairman of NationalHuman Rights Commission (NHRC).

YASIN MALIK

Jammu & Kashmir LiberationFront (JKLF) chief Yasin Malik wascharged by a local court under thePrevention of Terrorism Act (Pota) forallegedly raising funds to strengthenarmed activity. Additional sessionsjudge, Sanjay Parihar charged Malikwith raising funds to strengthen armedactivity in the state and to strike terroramong people.

directed his prosecution under thePrevention of Corruption Act foramassing huge benami assets. The courthad directed the Police Commissionerto register an FIR against him and hisfamily members, and attach his benamiproperty worth crores of rupees,consisting of movable and immovableassets.

FABIO CAPELLO

Fabio Capello resigned as managerof England following the FootballAssociation’s decision to strip JohnTerry of the captaincy, the FAconfirmed. Meanwhile, the EnglishFootball Association has appointedStuart Pearce as the interim coach ofthe England team following Capello’sresignation. The 49-year-old Pearce, aformer Manchester City manager, runsthe British Olympic and England under-21 teams. Capello quit was angry thathe had not been consulted by the FAover its decision to strip John Terry ofthe captaincy.

KG BALAKRISHNAN

Report of the probe by the income-tax department into the allegations thatrelatives of former chief justice KGBalakrishnan had amassed huge wealthduring his tenure was submitted on 12March 2012 to the Supreme Court.Attorney-general GE Vahanvati

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SACHIN TENDULKAR

Tendulkar, the leading run scorerin the history of both Test and one-daycricket, achieved the most-coveted tonby taking a single off Shakib Al Hasanagainst Bangladesh in Asia Cup.Tendulkar’s century came off 138 ballsand was studded with 10 fours and asix. The master blaster’s 99th centuryhad come against South Africa onMarch 12, 2011, at Nagpur during theWorld Cup. Friday’s century wasTendulkar’s 49th in one-dayers; he has51 Test centuries. 

SUNIL MANOHAR GAVASKAR

Former India cricket team captainSunil Gavaskar was formally inductedinto the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, whenhe received his commemorative capfrom fellow Hall of Famer andteammate Kapil Dev. Gavaskar is oneof the initial 55 inductees into the ICCCricket Hall of Fame, which waslaunched in January 2009 in associationwith the Federation of InternationalCricketers’ Associations (FICA) as partof the ICC’s centenary year. He nowjoins a Hall of Fame that includes 72male and female cricketers. ICC chiefexecutive Haroon Lorgat and formerPakistan captains Aamir Sohail, RamizRaja, and Waqar Younis were presentat the function. 

NARENDRA MODI

Gujarat Chief Minister NarendraModi figures on the cover of theforthcoming issue of Time magazine,which praises him in an article for thedevelopment of the State he has beenruling for more than a decade, butwonders if he can become PrimeMinister.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

Serbian tennis star, NovakDjokovic was awarded with the highestSerbian award, the Gold Star ofKaradjordje. The award was conferredupon him by the Serbian PresidentBoris Tadic. Novak Djokovic currentlyholds the number one seed in the worldtennis ranking. He has five grand slamtitles in his name including twoAustralian Open title, one Wimbeldonand US open title each. Award toDjokovic, also marks the resumption ofthe highest award which wasdiscontinued by the leadership ofYugoslavia after World War II. The Starof Karadjordje, the topmost awardconferred by Serbian government, wasfirst introduced in 1904 by King Peterbut was discontinued later in theaftermath of Second World War. It wasreintroduced in 2010 by the presentgovernment.

 AMARTYA SEN

The White House named India’sNobel Prize-winning economistAmartya Sen the  receipient of the 2011US National Humanities Medal.Amartya Sen, who retains his Indiancitizenship, is the first Indian to behonored with the medal that is typicallyawarded to US nationals. While Indianscholars and experts of Indian-origin

had previously won White Houserecognition in science and engineeringin the form of National Medals, this isa first in humanities. Sen wasrecognised while for his insights intothe causes of poverty, famine, andinjustice. Amartya Sen had won hisNobel Prize for economics in 1998 forhis studies of the roots of poverty. He iscurrently the Thomas W. LamontUniversity Professor and Professor ofEconomics and Philosophy at HarvardUniversity.

RAMÓN SALDÍVAR

In a White House ceremonyPresident Obama awarded a NationalHumanities Medal to Stanford Englishand comparative literatureProfessor Ramón Saldívar. His teachingand research, centering onglobalization, transnationalism andChicano studies, were recognized for“his bold explorations of identity alongthe border separating the United Statesand Mexico.” The National HumanitiesMedal came into existence in 1996. Ithonors individuals or groups whosework has deepened the nation’sunderstanding of the humanities,broadened our citizens’ engagementwith the humanities, or helped preserveand expand Americans’ access toimportant resources in the humanities.It has been bestowed on 133 individualssince its inception.

HONOUR

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MIKE DAVIES

Mike Davies, the former British starwho rose to lead the ATP, has beenelected to the International Tennis Hallof Fame.

RAJESH ROSHAN

Veteran Hindi film musiccomposer Rajesh Roshan has beendecorated with the Lata Mangeshkaraward by the Madhya PradeshGovernment. This award for 2010-11,containing Rs. 2 lakh in cash and a scrollof honour, was presented to Mr. Roshan

at a function by State Culture MinisterLaxmikant Sharma. The 56-year-oldcomposer said that he had neveraccepted an award from any Stategovernment in his 36-year long career,but broke the tradition as it was in thename of a singer whose songs he hadlistened to since childhood and grew uphumming. The award was instituted in1984.

ANITA RANA

That awards do come to thededicated came true for Anita Rana,homemaker-turned-versatile social

activist , when she received tworecognitions in a single day. Ms. Ranareceived an award recognising her“Leadership in Community Initiativesfor a Green Economy” from UnitedNations Development ProgrammeCountry Director Caitlin Wiesen. Laterin the day, she received a certificate ofappreciation for her ”Valuable Work inSupport of Earth Day Network’sCampaign —Women and the GreenEconomy.”

This award was presented byEarth Day Network president KathleenRogers.

COMMITTEE/COMMISSION/CONFERENCE

44TH SESSION OF INDIANLABOUR CONFERENCE

The 44th Session of Indian LabourConference was held on 14 and 15February, 2012 under the chairmanshipof Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, UnionMinister of Labour & Employment. Theconference was inaugurated by thePrime Minister Manmohan Singh on 14February. The conference was attendedby senior representatives of Workersand Employers Organisations and StateLabour Ministers and Senior Officersfrom Central Ministries/Departmentsand State Governments. TheConference deliberated upon verytopical and critical issues viz. ,(i) Minimum Wages, (ii) Social Securityand (iii) Employability and Emplo-yment.

The brainstorming sessions at theconference is expected to strengthenthe institutions of social dialoguealready in place and result in betterunderstanding of each other’sperspective and convergence of variedideas and approaches amongst socialpartners. The first such tripartiteconsultation at the national level was

held in 1942 as the Tripartite NationalLabour Conference – subsequentlyrenamed as Indian Labour Conferencesince 1944.

THE 12TH INDIA-EU SUMMIT

The 12th India-EU Summit washeld in New Delhi. The Republic ofIndia was represented by the PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh. EU wasrepresented by Herman Van Rompuy,President of the European Council, andMr. José Manuel Durão Barroso,President of the EuropeanCommission.  The leaders expressedsatisfaction at the deepeningcomprehensive bilateral relations. Indiaand EU, as long-standing strategicpartners, are committed to workingtogether with a balanced and result-oriented approach, bearing in mindeach sides’ respective development

priorities, based on common sharedvalues, relating to democracy, rule oflaw, civil liberties, fundamentalfreedoms and respect for human rights.

FOURTH & FINAL REGIONAL HUBOF THE NSG IN MUMBAI

Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram inaugurated the fourthand final regional hub of the NationalSecurity Guard (NSG) in Marol,Mumbai. At the inauguration,Chidambaram the Centre allotted Rs.1200 crore for the modernisation anddevelopment of the National SecurityGuard during the 12th Five Year plan.The Mumbai regional hub spreadacross 20.28 acres was constructed at acost of Rs. 56.10 crore by the NationalBuilding Construction CorporationLimited.

The permanent regional hub wasan important addition to thefortification of the country’s defenceagainst terror, insurgencies andseparatist acts of violence. The regionalhubs at Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennaiand Mumbai were set up to reduce theresponse time and reach the area ofoperation as quickly as possible.

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IIC GOLDEN JUBILEE

President Pratibha Devi Singh Patilreleased a special commemorative stampto mark the Golden Jubilee of the IndiaInternational Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.

IIC plays a major role in promotingawareness and creating public opinion.The Stamp priced at five rupeespromotes the nations image and depictsthe rich diverse culture of the country.The Postage stamps highlights thecountry achievements in various fears. Bybringing out postage stamps thedepartment of post is committed to muchof the historical, intellectual and thecultural heritage of a nation.

LAKSHYA-1 SUCCESSFULLYTEST FLOWN

India’s indigenously developedmicro-light pilot-less target aircraftLakshya-1 was successfully test flownfrom the Integrated Test Range atChandipur near Balasore. Usually, theflight duration of the micro light aircraftis 30 to 35 minutes. But test isconducted for enhancement of theflight duration and to check otherparameters. Lakshya , a sub-sonic, re-usable aerial target system is remotecontrolled from the ground anddesigned to impart training to both airborne and air defence pilots. It is fittedwith an advanced digitally controlledengine. Lakshya has been inducted intothe Indian Air Force (IAF) since 2000.

The PTA has been developed by India’saeronautic development establishment(ADE), Bangalore to perform discreetaerial reconnaissance of battle field andtarget acquisition.

LARGEST PINK DIAMOND EVERFOUND IN AUSTRALIA

The largest rough pink diamondever found in Australia was discoveredin a West Australian mine owned by RioTinto. The  12.76-carat rough pinkdiamond was christened the ArgylePink Jubilee. Natural pink diamonds areconsidered one of the most valuabletypes of diamonds. The huge roughstone was found at Rio’s pink diamondoperations in the Kimberley region ofwestern Australia. According to expertsit would take 10 days to cut and polishthe rare diamond after two months ofimmaculate planning. When the Jubileediamond has been cut and polished itwill be graded by international expertsand showcased globally before beingsold by invitation-only tender. The lightpink Argyle Jubilee is a similar colourto the 24-carat Williamson Pink givento Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as awedding gift which was later set into aCartier brooch for her coronation. TheWilliamson was discovered in Tanzaniain 1947 and is ranked among the finestpink diamonds in existence.

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION-ERASEAL FOUND

Pakistani archaeologistsdiscovered a rare Indus Valleycivilization-era seal in steatite datingback to 2,500-2,000 BC from theCholistan area of Punjab province.   Thediscovery is expected to open newdimensions for scholars. The seal wasdiscovered during the Sui-Vihar

Excavations and ArchaeologicalReconnaissance of Southern Punjab —a project funded by UNESCO toexplore sites along the Hakra river. TheUNESCO project aimed at learningmore about Buddhist influence in thisregion which has its own distinctivefeatures as opposed to the Gandharaschool of art further north. The rare sealwas found at Wattoowala, located nearDerawar Fort and along the ancient bedof the Hakra river. It was discovered bya six-member team of archaeologistsled by Punjab University archaeologydepartment chairman Farzand Masih.

YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA VISITEDINDIA

Prime Minister of Thailand,Yingluck Shinawatra visited India. Shewas the chief guest for the 63rdRepublic Day Ceremony. This was herfirst visit to India since assuming officein August 2011. India and Thailandsigned 6 agreements during this visit.The visit took place in the backdrop of65th anniversary of India-Thailandbilateral diplomatic relations as well as20 years of India’s enhancedengagement with the ASEAN (1992-2012).

GRAMMATICA GRANDONICAFOUND

A sanskrit grammar manuscript ofgrammarian, lexicographer andphilologist Arnos Padre, which had been

VARIOUS

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lost for over two centuries, was found inan Italian monastery. The manuscript,Grammatica Grandonica was written bythe Jesuit missionary Fr. Johann ErnstHanxleden, popularly known as ArnosPadre three centuries ago. It is consideredas one of the earliest missionarygrammars in Sanskrit. Toon Van Hal, aBelgian scholar and professor at theCentre for the History of Linguistics,Leuven University, traced the lostmanuscript to the Convento di SanSilvestro, a Carmelite monastery inMonte Compatri in the Province of Rome.

12TH DEFENCE POLICYMEETING BETWEEN INDIA AND

USA

Strengthening their military tiesfurther, India and the USA discussedways of expanding their growingstrategic partnership and cooperationat the 12th Defence Policy Groupmeeting held in New Delhi. Themeeting was co-chaired by DefenceSecretary Shashi Kant Sharma and USActing Under Secretary of Defence forPolicy Jim Miller. The next meeting ofthe Defence Policy Group will be heldin 2012 in the USA. 

MADHURI DIXIT AT TUSSAUDS

The wax statue of actor MadhuriDixit will be unveiled in MadameTussauds, London, in March. “MadameTussaud’s unveiling on March 7th, 2012.

MD. AMIR FREED EARLY FROMJAIL

Young Pakistani fast bowlerMohammed Amir has been releasedfrom Portland Young OffendersInstitution in Dorset after spending three

months in prison instead of serving a fullsix-month sentence. Amir was sent to jailon November 3 last year after beingconvicted in a spot-fixing scandal alongwith teammates Mohammed Asif andSalman Butt. The 19-year-old was dueto be let out of Prison on Friday but thedate, according to reports, was broughtahead two days to avoid media attention. 

YUVRAJ SINGH IN U.S. FORCANCER TREATMENT

World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh istrying to relive his role. The crucialdifference is, now he is fighting for hislife and not for sporting glory.Diagnosed with lung cancer, he isundergoing treatment in the U.S., withthe tumour reportedly showing signs ofmalignancy. There were momentsduring the World Cup when he wokeup at night , gasping for breath,coughing and feeling drained out. Hecontinued playing, ignoring the ailmentat great peril to his life. His all-roundefforts played the most significant rolein India lifting the Cup.

TAMIL-BRAHMI INSCRIPTION INEDAKAL CAVE

A short inscription engraved inthe Brahmi characters has beendiscovered in the Edakal cave on theAmbukuthi hill in Kerala’s Wayanaddistrict. This is the fifth Tamil-Brahmiinscription discovered in the caves.M.R. Raghava Varier, retired Professorof Epigraphy, Calicut University, whomade the latest discovery, has read therecord as ‘Sri Vazhumi.’ An estampageof the inscription was made by K.Krishnaraj, designer in the Kerala StateDepartment of Archaeology. In Dr.

Varier’s interpretation, the inscriptionappears to be a label attached to ahuman figure, engraved exactly in theEdakal style of drawing. The figure isshown as having a big phallus, probablydenoting fertility, and suggestingBrahma, the Creator himself.

4.5% QUOTA FOR MINORITIES INIITS FROM THIS YEAR

There is good news for IITaspirants from the minoritycommunity. The IIT-JEE AdmissionCommittee has decided to implement4.5 per cent reservation for them withinthe 27 per cent seats meant for theOther Backward Classes (OBCs) fromthis year.

INDIAN DIPLOMAT ASKED TO PAY$1.5 MILLION TO EX-MAID

A New York City Magistrate Judgerecommended that an Indian diplomat,Neena Malhotra, and her husbandJogesh be required to pay out nearly$1.5 million for forcing an Indian girl,Shanti Gurung, at the time said to beunderage, to work without pay andmeting out “barbaric treatment” to herin their plush East 43rd StreetManhattan apartment. According toreports the Malhotras induced Ms.Gurung to “work without pay by seizingher passport and visa, restricting herability to leave their apartment, andconstantly warning her that if shetraveled on her own without theirpermission, she would be arrested,beaten, raped and sent back to India as‘cargo’,” in the words of Magistrate JudgeFrank Maas.

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PASSAGE 1

It begins the moment you set foot ashore, the momentyou step off the boat’s gangway. The heart suddenly, yetvaguely, sinks. It is no lurch of fear. Quite the contrary. It isas if the life-urge failed, and the heart dimly sank. You trailpast the benevolent policeman arid the inoffensive passportofficials, through the fussy and somehow foolishcustoms— we don’t really think it matters if somebodysmuggles in two pairs of false-silk stockings - and we getinto the poky but inoffensive train, with poky but utterlyinoffensive people, and we have a cup of inoffensive teafrom a nice inoffensive boy, and we run through small,poky but nice and inoffensive country, till we are landedin the big but unexciting station of Victoria, when aninoffensive porter puts us into an inoffensive taxi and weare driven through the crowded yet strangely dull streetsof London to the cosy yet strangely poky and dull placewhere we are going to stay. And the first half-hour inLondon, after some years abroad, is really a plunge ofmisery. The strange, the grey and uncanny, almost deathlysense of dullness is overwhelming. Of course, you get overit after a while, and admit that you exaggerated. You getinto the rhythm of London again, and you tell yourselfthat it is not dull. And yet you are haunted, all the time,sleeping or waking, with the uncanny feeling: It is dull! Itis all dull! This life here is one vast complex of dullness! Iam dull’ I am being dulled! My spirit is being dulled! Mylife is dulling down to London dullness. This is thenightmare that haunts you the first few weeks of London.No doubt if you stay longer you get over it, and find Londonas thrilling as Paris or Rome or New York. But the climateis against me. I cannot stay long enough. With pinchedand wondering gaze, the morning of departure, I look outof the taxi upon the strange dullness of London’s arousing;a sort of death; and hope and life only return when. I getmy seat in the boat-train, and hear all the Good-byes! Good-bye! Good-bye! Thank God to say Good-bye! (Written byD.H.Lawrence, an English novelist.)

1. ‘It’ in first sentence refers to a feeling of(a) foreboding (b) fear(c) depression (d) malaise and relief

2. The author of the passage makes his point mainly bythe use of(a) metaphor and simile(b) repetition and exclamation(c) accumulation of details(d) irony and satire

3. The extensive use of the pronoun ‘you’ in the passageindicates that the author(a) is speaking to one particular person(b) is describing the experience of someone else(c) believes that his feelings will be shared by many

others(d) wishes to add variety to his style

4. Lawrence apparently believes that the ‘nightmare’(last sentence of 2nd paragraph) is(a) uniquely caused by city life(b) only over when he leaves the country(c) made worse by the weather(d) dispelled by a longer stay in London

PASSAGE 2The Voice had to be listened to, not only on account of

its form but for the matter which it delivered. It gave amessage to the country that it needed greatly. It brought tothe common people a realization of their duty to concernthemselves with their affair; The common people weremade to take an interest in the manner in which they weregoverned in the taxes they paid in the return they got fromthose taxes. This interest in public affairs-politics as youmay call it-was to be the concern no longer of the high)educated few but of the many-the poor, the property-less,the working-men in town and country. Politics was not tobe the concern of a small aristocracy of intellect or propertyof the masses. And with the change in the subjects ofpolitics that voice brough about also a change in the objectsof politics. Till then politics had busied itself mainly with

Model Question Paper

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the machinery of Government toward making itspersonnel more and more native, with proposals for abetter distribution of political power, with protests againstthe sin of omission and of commission of theadministration. This voice switched politics on to concernfor the needs of the common people. The improvement ofthe lot of the poor was to be the main concern of politicsand the politician.

The improvement, especially of the lives of the peopleof the neglected villages, was to be placed beforeGovernments an political organizations as the goal of allpolitical endeavour. The raising of the standard of livingof the people of the villages, the finding of subsidiaryoccupations which would give the agricultural poor k fortheir enforced leisure during the off season an an additionto their exiguous income, the improvement of the housingof the poor, the sanitation of the villages-these to be theobjectives ±o be kept in view.

In the towns, the slums and cherries we receivespecial attention. There was especially a class c the poorfor which compassionate voice pleaded and protested.This was for the so-called depressed classes, the outcastesc Hindu society. The denial of elementary human rights tothis class people it considered the greatest blot on Hindusociety an history. It raised its passionate protest againstthe age-old wrongs of this class and forced those thatlistened to it to endeavour t remove the most outrageous ofthem like untouchability caused a revolution in Hindureligious practice b’ having Hindu temple thrown, to thesepeople. It made the care of them a religious duty of theHindus by remaining those Harijans.

5. Why had people to listen to “The Voice” of MahatmaGandhi(a) To follow him (b) Necessary for revolution(c) On accounts of its form & matter(d) For raising the standard of living of the people.

6. Why had people to take an interest in politics?(i) To know now they governed(ii) What citizens get from the taxes they paid?(iii) To participate in the politics.(iv) For the improvement of the lot of the poor.Which of the given statement is/are correct?(a) (i) and (iii) (b) (ii) and (iv)(c) (i) and (ii) (d) (i),( ii), (iii) and (iv)

7. What was the change brought about in the objects ofpolitics?(a) Concern for the needs of the common people(b) Improvement of the people of the neglected villages(c) Improvement of the lot of poor(d) All the above

8. What improvements were made for the common man?(i) Standard of living of villagers were raised(ii) Subsidiary occupation for agricultural poor.

(iii) Housing of the poor was improved(iv) Untouchability was removedWhich of the given statement is/are correct?(a) (i) and (iii) (b) (ii) and (iv)(c) (i) and (ii) (d) (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)

PASSAGE 3The Ring at Casterbridge was merely the local name

of one of the finest Roman amphitheatres, if not the veryfinest remaining in Britain.

Casterbridge announced old Rome in every street,alley, and precinct. It looked Roman, bespoke the art ofRome, and concealed dead men of Rome. It was impossibleto dig more than a foot or two deep about the town fieldsand gardens without coming upon some tall soldier orother of the Empire, who had laid there in his silentunobtrusive rest for a space of fifteen hundred years. Hewas mostly found lying on his side, in an oval scoop in thechalk, like a chicken in its shell; his knees drawn up to hischest; sometimes with the remains of his spear against hisarm; a brooch of bronze on his breast or forehead; an urnat his knees, a jar at his throat, a bottle at his mouth; andmystified conjecture pouring down upon him from theeyes of Casterbridge street boys, who had turned a momentto gaze at the familiar spectacle as they passed by.Imaginative inhabitants, who would have felt anunpleasantness at the discovery of a comparatively modernskeleton in their gardens, were quite unmoved by thesehoary shapes. They had lived so long ago, their time wasso unlike the present, their hopes and motives were sowidely removed from ours, that between them and theliving there seemed to stretch a gulf too wide for even aspirit to pass.

The Amphitheatre was a huge circular enclosure,with a notch at opposite extremities of its diameter northand south. It was to Casterbridge what the ruined Coliseumis to modern Rome, and was nearly of the same magnitude.The dusk of evening was the proper hour at which a trueimpression of this suggestive place could he received.Standing in the middle of the arena at that time. there bydegrees became apparent its real vastness, which a cursoryview from the summit at noon-day was apt to obscure.Melancholy, impressive, lonely, yet accessible from everypart of the town, the historic circle was the frequent spotfor appointments of a furtive kind. Intrigues were arrangedthere; tentative meetings were there experimented afterdivisions and feuds. But one kind of appointment - in itselfthe most common of any - seldom had place in theAmphitheatre: that of happy lovers.

Why, seeing that it was pre-eminently an airy,accessible, and sequestered spot for interviews, thecheerfullest form of those occurrences never took kindly tothe soil of the ruin, would he a curious inquiry. Perhaps it

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was because its associations had about them somethingsinister. Its history proved that. Apart from the sanguinarynature of the games originally played therein, suchincidents attached to its past as these: that for scores ofyears the town-gallows had stood at one corner; that in1705 a woman who had murdered her husband was half-strangled and then burnt there in the presence of tenthousand spectators.

Tradition reports that at a certain stage of the burningher heart burst and leapt out of her body, to the terror ofthem all, and that not one of those ten thousand peopleever cared particularly for hot roast after that. In additionto these old tragedies, pugilistic encounters almost to thedeath had come off down to recent dates in that secludedarena, entirely invisible to the outside world save byclimbing to the top of the enclosure, which fewtownspeople in the daily round of their lives ever took thetrouble to do. So that, though close to the turnpike-road,crimes might be perpetrated there unseen at mid-day. Someboys had latterly tried to impart gaiety to the ruin by usingthe central arena as a cricket-ground. But the game usuallylanguished for the aforesaid reason - the dismal privacywhich the earthen circle enforced, shutting out everyappreciative passer’s vision, every commendatory remarkfrom outsiders - everything, except the sky; and to play atgames in such circumstances was like acting to an emptyhouse.

Possibly, too, the boys were timid, for some old peoplesaid that at certain moments in the summer time, in broaddaylight, persons sitting with a book or dozing in the arenahad, on lifting their eyes, beheld the slopes lined with agazing legion of Hadrian’s soldiery as if watching thegladiatorial combat; and had heard the roar of their excitedvoices: that the scene would remain but a moment, like alightning flash, and then disappear.Henchard had chosenthis spot as being the safest from observation which hecould think of for meeting his long-lost wife, and at thesame time as one easily to be found by a stranger afternightfall.

As Mayor of the town, with a reputation to keep up,he could not invite her to come to his house till somedefinite course had been decided on.

9. The amphitheatre is described as a ‘suggestive’(3rdsentence of 4th paragraph) place because(a) its real size could not be appreciated at a glance(b) it was full of historical associations(c) mysterious meetings took place there(d) it was lonely yet accessible

10. The ‘curious enquiry’(beginning of 4th paragraph)refers to finding out(a) why happy lovers never met there(b) why interviews never took place there(c) what historical events took place there

(d) how the amphitheatre came to have sinisterassociations

11. The boys had given up cricket in the Amphitheatrein part because(a) it was too dark(b) crimes commonly took place there(c) there were no spectators or passers-by to applaud

their efforts(d) they were afraid of being caught

12. The author’s primary purpose is to(a) justify his opinion of the Ring(b) attempt to account for the atmosphere of a place(c) chronicle the development of the Amphitheatre(d) describe the location of a Roman relic

13. The attitude of the local residents to the unearthedremains of dead Romans was one of(a) total apathy (b) confusion and unease(c) trepidation (d) momentary interest

14. The incident of the woman who was burnt ismentioned in order to(a) horrify the reader(b) illustrate one reason for the unsavoury reputation

of the place(c) show the bloodthirsty nature of former occupants(d) add realistic details to an imaginary plot

15. All of the following are said to have taken place atthe Ring except(a) ghostly apparitions(b) boxing matches(c) hangings and secret assignations(d) theatrical performances

16. It can be inferred from the last paragraph thatHenchard(a) is afraid of his wife(b) has something to hide from the townspeople(c) is a stranger to the Ring(d) is about to commit a crime

17. It appears that in general the attitude of Casterbridgeresidents to the Roman past suggests that they(a) appreciated the art of the Romans(b) feared the ghosts of the buried Roman soldiers(c) felt far removed from the concerns of the Romans(d) were awe-struck by their civilization

18. 720 sweets were distributed equally among children,in such a way that number of sweets received by eachchild is 20% of the total number of children. Howmany sweets did each child received?

(a) 12 (b) 14(c) 11 (d) 15

19. The income of Rahul is 20% more than the income ofSaurav and the income of Saurav is 25% more thanthe income of Ajay. Find by how much per cent is the

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income of Rahul more the income of Ajay?(a) 50% (b) 25%(c) 75% (d) 125%

20. A man purchases two clocks A and B at a total cost of` 650. He sells A with 20% profit and B at a loss of25% and gets the same selling price for both theclocks. What are the purchasing prices of A and Brespectively?

(a) ` 550, ` 660 (b) ` 250, ` 400(c) ` 378, ` 375 (d) ` 300, ` 350

21. A shopkeeper marks his goods at 25% above the costprice. He sells 3/5 th of his goods at marked priceand remaining at 20% discount. Find his gain or lossper cent in the transaction.

(a) 7% gain (b) 15% gain(c) 10% gain (d) 8% gain

22. A tank 9 ft by 5 ft by 2 ft has a supply pipe pouring in576 ins of water in a minute and an exhaust pipeemptying it in 3 h. If the tank is full and both pipesare open, how many hour will it take to empty it?

(a) 9h (b)19 h5 (c)

19 h7 (d)

39 h8

23. Twelve men working 10 h a days, 8 women working8 h a day and 10 children working 8 h a days finishof a work in 5 days. Three men complete the sameamount of work in 1 day, as would 4 women or 5childen when they work for equal number of hoursper day. How many days will 20 children need tocomplete the job working 6 h a day?(a) 15 (b) 18(c) 20 (d) None of these

24. A cistern has a leak which would empty it in 10 h. Atap is turned on which admits 4 L a minute into the

cistern and it is now emptied in 15 h. How manylitres does the cistern hold?

(a) 7400 L (b) 7200 L(c) 7100 L (d) 7500 L

25. Two persons A and B are at two places P and Qrespectively. A walks at v km/h and B is 2 km/hfaster than A, starting simultaneously from wherethey stand. If they walk towards each other, they meetin 72 min. If they walk in the same direction, the fasterovertakes the slower in 6 h. Find their respectivespeeds (in km/h).(a) 3 and 5 (b) 4 and 6(c) 2½ and 4½ (d) 3½ and 5½

26. A man borrowed ̀ 12000 for 4 yr at 37 %4

per annum

and a year later he again borrowed another ` 11000for 3 yr at the same rate. How much should be pay atthe end to settle the loans?

(a) ` 30510 (b) ` 28610(c) ` 31450 (d) ` 29590

27. Sudha borrowed some money at the rate of 6% perannum for the first 2 yr, 8% per annum for the next 4yr and 12% per annum for the period beyond 6 yr. Ifthe total interest paid by him at the end of 14 yr is` 6300, how much money did she borrow?

(a) ` 4500 (b) ` 4800(c) ` 4200 (d) ` 4900

28. The difference between the simple interest on acertain sum at the rate of 10% per annum for 2 yearsand compound interest which is compounded every6 months is ` 124.05. What is the principal sum?

(a) ` 9000 (b) ` 8000(c) ` 10,000 (d) ` 13,000

Directions: Study the following table carefully and answer the questions given below it.Number of Candidates Appeared and Qualified in a Competitive Examination

from Different States over the Years

Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

State App. Qual. App. Qual. App. Qual. App. Qual. App. Qual.

A 15250 1800 17800 1750 14500 1350 15400 1640 16300 1725

B 12500 1100 15400 1480 13800 1420 14000 1525 14550 1500

C 14000 1550 16200 1640 15500 1480 17500 1880 15800 1620

D 17600 1640 16500 1560 14800 1575 15600 1480 17200 1750

E 16400 1480 14700 1820 17000 1600 16400 1500 18000 1950

F 14500 1250 16800 1780 17200 1780 15200 1450 16800 1775

G 15000 1400 15200 1650 16400 1840 17200 1820 17000 1850

Total 107250 10220 112600 11680 109200 11045 111300 11295 115620 12170

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29. What is the percentage of candidates qualified in1998 and 1999 together from all the States over thecandidates appeared from all the States in these twoyears (the value upto two decimal points)?(a) 10.84 (b) 10.32(c) 10.62 (d) 10.34

30. For which of the following States the percentage ofcandidate qualified over appeared is the lowest inthe year 1995?(a) A (b) F (c) B (d) D

31. What approximately is the percentage of candidatesqualified from States C and D together over thecandidates appeared from these two States in 1997?(a) 10 (b) 12.5 (c) 15 (d) 20

32. What approximately is the average number ofcandidates qualified in 1998 from the given States?(a) 1630 (b) 1516(c) 1615 (d) 1545

33. What is the average number of candidates appearedfrom State B in the given years?(a) 15850 (b) 14550(c) 15050 (d) None of these

Directions : These questions are to be answered on the basis ofthe table below giving the percentage of different factors thatemployees in a modern organisation want.

Why employees Factor Why employees factor like an leave an

organisation organisation

71% Job Content 50%57% Opportunities 57%21% Training 21%29% Compensation 36%36% Company Image 7%29% Flexibility 0

0 Sense of Purpose 07% Leadership 21%

79% Work Culture 7%0 Work Relationships 0

21% Quality of Work life 0NA Higher Studies 42%NA Overseas Assignments 64%NA Personal Needs 29%

34. The single most popular factor to encourageemployees to leave an organisation is:(a) Bad work culture (b) Not enough training(c) The attraction of foreign assignments(d) The desire to pursue higher studies

35. For how many factors listed in the table is thepercentage for employees leaving the organisationgreater than the percentage for employees liking anorganisation:(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5

36. If the job content and the work culture are rightapproximately what percentage of the employees

would be happy in an organisation?(a) 90% (b) 30% (c) 75% (d) 50%

37. Which factor other than work relationships seems tohave no significant bearing on the employee likingor leaving an organisation?(a) Work culture (b) Flexibility(c) Sense of purpose (d) Quality of work life

38. The percentage for all factors contributing to anemployee leaving an organisation can be expressedas multiples of 7 (including 0), plus or minus 1. Thereis only one multiple of 7 which does not occur in thedata. What is that?(a) 7 (b) 21 (c) 14 (d) 56

39. If the total number of employees in an organisation is1400 approximately how many of them would leavethe organisation on account of the compensationpackage?(a) 700 (b) 420 (c) 98 (d) 504

40. Which factor is twice as important for employees toleave an organisation as the training being providedby the organisation?(a) Personal needs (b) Higher studies(c) Leadership (d) Job content

41. Of the fourteen factors identified in the problem howmany have absolutely no significance as far asinfluencing an employee's decision to leave theorganisation is concerned?(a) 3 (b) 5 (c) 6 (d) 4

Directions: Read the statements and then answer the questions,by selecting the best option which follow each question.

(i) The manager gave vent to his rage when he heardthat none of the sales targets that he had set wereachieved by his team.

(ii) Though Surekha was a beautiful woman she did notattract men because she was keen on books andlearning.

(iii) Rohan could not believe that Reena had cheated him,so innocent was her demeanour.

(iv) After the vacations Suresh was in a distracted,dreamy state of mind in his office for a week.

(v) Ramesh always got into trouble and it was Stuti’s jobto bail him every time.

(vi) The lawyer assured the client that the opposingparty’s arguments will carry no weight at all, andwill get easily demolished.

(vii) By looking at Ram’s high class life style it is difficultto believe that he is concerned about the labour class.

42. Who was a “blue stocking”?(a) Surekha (b) Manager(c) Stuti (d) None of these

43. Who is a “whited sepulcher”?(a) Ramesh (b) Suresh(c) Reena (d) None of these

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44. Who is in a “brown study”?(a) Suresh (b) Lawyer(c) Rohan (d) None of these

45. Who always “pulled the chestnuts out of the fire”created by someone else”?(a) Surekha (b) Reena(c) Ramesh (d) None of these

46. Who made the “air turn blue”?(a) Opposing party (b) Layer(c) Manager (d) None of these

47. Who is a “champagne socialist”?(a) Suresh (b) Surekha(c) Reena (d) None of these

48. What will fall like “the wall of Jericho”?(a) Opposing party’s arguments(b) Team’s morale (c) Rohan’s confidence(d) None of the above

49. Emerald is to may as sapphire to(a) October (b) July(c) September (d) January

50. Flapjack is to Macaroon as Sapphire is to(a) Brioche (b) Cornet(c) Pretze (d) Tuile

51. Futon is to divan as Bench is to(a) Matzo (b) Ratafia(c) Baribaldi (d) Creepie

52. They maintain friendly, pleasant relations with you,regardless, whether you agree with them or not. Goodcommunicators command your respond andgoodwill. You are willing to work with them again,despite their differences.Match the above statement with one of the followings:(a) Precision (b) Credibility(c) Control (d) Congeniality

53. When the company thinks your audience will beinterested in what you have to say or willing tocooperate, it usually opts for(a) Indirect approach(b) Direct approach(c) Neutral approach(d) Modern approach

54. AIDA plan stands for(a) Attention, interest, Desire, Action(b) Authority, Interest, Disclose,(c) Accuracy Accuracy, Internal Diction.(d) Attention Action, Interest, Desire, Authority

55. Leadership roles first emerge in which of thefollowing kinds of communication ?(a) interpersonal communication(b) small group communication(c) face-to-face public communication(d) media-like cell phones and instant messenger

56. Another name for interpersonal communication is:(a) mass communication(b) face to face public communication

(c) dyadic communication(d) virtual reality

57. When your text says that interpersonalcommunication can be thought of as a constellationof behaviors, it means that(a) It is important to understand the joint actions

people perform when they are together,(b) It is important to understand how people label

and evaluate relationships.(c) It is important to understand the opposing forces

that pull communicators in different directions.(d) None of the above; interpersonal commun-ication

is not a constellation of behaviors.58. In which set each word is a noun, adjective and verb

also?(a) delegate, defeat, temporary, tertiary(b) chronic, incumbency, parent, proponent(c) topic, alacrity, android, auditory(d) prelate, precipitate, delegate, irate

59. From the options select the idiom which means: “tolay oneself open to a dangerous counter-attack whenattacking an opponent”.(a) to stick one’s achievements”(b) to take on the chin(c) chin up (d) to lead with one’s chin

Directions: In each of the following Questions, there is a certainrelationship between two given words on one side of : : and oneword is given on another side of : : while another word is to befound from the given alternatives, having the same relationwith this word as the words of the given pair bear : choose thecorrect alternatives.

60. Influenza : Virus : : Typhoid : ?(a) Bacillus (b) Parasite(c) Protozoa (d) Bacteria

61. Haemoglobin : Iron : : Chlorophyll : ?(a) Copper (b) Magnesium(c) Cobalt (d) Calcium

62. Radio : Listener : : Film : ?(a) Producer (b) Actor(c) Viewer (d) Director

63. Milk : Emulsion : : Butter : ?(a) Aerosol (b) Suspension(c) Sol (d) Gel

64. Spider : Insect : : Crocodile : ?(a) Reptile (b) Mammal(c) Frog (d) Carnivore

65. Dum Dum : Kolkata : : Palam : ?(a) Kerala (b) Delhi(c) Chennai (d) Mumbai

66. Foresight : Anticipation :: Insomnia:?(a) Treatment (b) Disease(c) Sleeplessness (d) Unrest

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67. USA : Congress : : Iran : ?(a) Althing (b) Storting(c) Majlis (d) Cortes

68. Karnataka : Gold : : Madhya Pradesh : ?(a) Diamond (b) Iron(c) Copper (d) Gems

69. Carbon : Diamond : : Corundum : ?(a) Pearl (b) Pukhraj(c) Garnet (d) Ruby

Directions: In this section you find a number of sentences,parts of which are bold. For each bold part, four or five words/phrases are listed below. Choose the word/phrase nearest inmeaning to the bold part.

70. The pianist played the tune with verve.(a) Enthusiasm (b) Tenderness(c) Efficiency (d) Depth

71. It is possible that printed books will soon becomeobsolete.(a) Boring (b) Inaccessible(c) Unfashionable (d) Out-of-date

72. We should emulate the examples of our teachers.(a) Study (b) Admire(c) Follow (d) Imitate

73. He never recovered from the loss of his wife.(a) Got by (b) Got over(c) Got aside (d) God rid

74. The poor man stood abashed at the display of wealth.(a) Embarrassed (b) Humiliated(c) Surprised (d) Elevated

Direction: Sentences given in each question, when properlysequenced form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelledwith letter. Choose the most logical order of sentences from amongthe given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.

75. A. Malignancies were diagnosed in three familymembers on the basis of this abnormality andthen surgically removed.

B. It appears to be the first instance in which thisspecific abnormality – in this case an exchangeof material between the chromosomes numberthree and eight in all cells of the person's body –has been traced from generation to generationand thus permitted identification of cancerpatients before they had any symptoms.

C. An inherited genetic abnormality has been linkedto a specific type of kidney cancer in a family inwhich ten members were affected over threegenerations.

D. The discovery by scientists at Beth Israel Hospitalin Boston, USA, provides a potentially importantclue to the origin of at least some cancers.

(a) DCAB (b) CBDA(c) ABCD (d) DABC

76. A. In what has since become the first, legendary taleof computer forensics, Dr. Stoll spent a year ofmeticulous work tracking and recording thehacker's movements.

B. This was an intriguing problem for Clifford Stoll.C. In August 1986, an astronomer at the University

of California, noticed a 75 percent discrepancyin the accounts for a computer in his library.

D. When he investigated, he found that somebodyhad broken into his computer and used it for ashort time without permission just enough tounbalance the accounts.

(a) CABD (b) CBDA(c) CBAD (d) CDBA

77. A. A curved titanium plate with five tiny screwswould hold the bone in place and help reformthe damaged margin of the eye.

B. Deftly, he replaced the wedge of bone in Tenneh'sface.

C. Intravenous antibiotics would take care of anylingering infection.

D. When he'd eliminated most of the diseased tissue,he stopped.

(a) ABCD (b) DCAB(c) DCBA (d) ACBD

78. A. The finding is surprising, investigators say,because bladder cancer, which has long beenlinked to smoking, is more common among men.

B. When it comes to bladder cancer, two things havealways seemed clear; smokers and men are atheightened risk.

C. In a study of more than 3,000 adults, with andwithout bladder cancer, researchers found thatwhen smoking habits were comparable, womenhad a higher risk for the disease than men did.

D. But new research shows that, cigarette forcigarette, female smokers are more likely thanmales to get the disease.

(a) BDCA (b) BACD(c) BDAC (d) BCDA

79. A. The software will exploit the untapped power ofthe computer to process information on themolecules and send it back to a central server atOxford University.

B. British scientists enlisted the help of thousandsof home computer owners in an experimentwhich they hope will find new treatments forcancer.

C. Volunteers can download software over theinternet which when their personal computer isidle, will get to work screening molecules foranticancer activity which could be used in cancerdrugs.

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D. The more the volunteers taking part, the quickerthe results will come, according to the scientistsbehind the project.

(a) BDCA (b) BACD(c) BDAC (d) BCAD

80. A. Speaking before a congressional hearing ondigital entertainment, Valenti said the industryis moving to meet the demand at a time whenpiracy of films is growing at an exponential rate.

B. He said that 35000 movies are being illegallydownloaded everyday.

C. "Within four to six months, several of the majorfilm studios will be online with movies, and theothers will be close on their heels." Said JackValenti.

D. The major Hollywood studios will be workingonline soon, but may ask Congress for help tocombat a growing problem of piracy of films overthe internet.

(a) DABC (b) DCAB(c) BCAD (d) DBCA

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