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The World Wildlife Fund in Marchlisted the Ganges among theworld’s 10 most endangeredrivers. In India, the river providesmore than 500 million people withwater for drinking and farming.More than 100 cities andcountless villages are situatedalong the 1,568-mile river, whichstretches from the foothills of theHimalayas to the Bay of Bengal,and few of them have sewagetreatment plants. But recentreports by scientists say theGanges is under greater threatfrom water pollution & evengreater from global warming.According to a U.N. climatereport, the Himalayan glaciersthat are the sources of the Gangescould disappear by 2030 astemperatures rise. The shrinkingglaciers also threaten Asia’s supplyof fresh water. The immediateeffect of glacier recession is ashort-lived surplus of water. But

eventually the supply runs out,and experts predict that theGanges eventually will become aseasonal river, largely dependenton monsoon rains.

Arrangement at the CentralLevel

The river cleaning program wasstarted with Ganga ActionPlan(GAP) in 1985 under theaegis of GPD established underthe Ministry of Environment &Forest. A CGA under thechairmanship of the PM wasconstituted to finalise the policyframework and to oversee theimplementation of GAP. TheChief Ministers of the concernedStates , Union Ministers andSecretaries of the concernedCentral Ministries and Expertswere its members. The GAP waslater extended to GAP II in 1993and was broad-based in the formof NRCP in 1995. The GAP IIwas merged with NRCP in

December 1996. Since then asingle scheme of NRCP is underimplementation as a CentrallySponsored Scheme. The CGAwas renamed as National RiverConservation Authority (NRCA)with a larger mandate to cover allthe programmes supported by theNRCD.

National Ganga River BasinAuthority

To face this challenge the CentralGovernment by a notification on20th February,2009, has set upthe ‘National Ganga River BasinAuthority’ (NGRBA) as anempowered planning, financing,monitoring and coordinatingauthority for the Ganga River, toensure effective abatement ofpollution and conservation of theriver Ganga by adopting a holisticapproach with the river basin asthe unit of planning .The Authoritywill perform its function under theChairmanship of the Prime

GANGA, THE MOTHER IN A CURSE





Minister. It has as its members,the Union Ministers concerned,the Chief Ministers of the Statesthrough which Ganga flows viz.,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, Jharkhand and WestBengal, among others.The Authority may co-opt one ormore Chief Ministers from any ofthe States having major tributariesof the river Ganga. The objectiveof the NGRBA is to ensureeffective abatement of pollutionand conservation of the riverGanga by adopting a river basinapproach for comprehensiveplanning and management; and tomaintain minimum ecological flowsin the river Ganga with the aim ofensuring water quality andenvironmentally sustainabledevelopment.

Key Functions of theNGRBA

The NGRBA would beresponsible for addressing theproblem of pollution in Ganga ina bolistic and comprehensivemanner. This will include waterquality, minimum ecological flows,sustainable access and other issuesrelevant to river ecology andmanagement. The NGRBA willnot only be regulatory body butwill also have developmental rolein terms of planning & monitoringof the river conservation activitiesand ensuring that necessaryresources are available. TheNGRBA would work formaintaining the water quality ofthe river Ganga upto theacceptable standards . Thepollution abatement activities willbe taken up through the existingimplementation mechanisms in theStates and also through Special

Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) at thepollution hotspots. The NGRBAwill ensure minimum ecologicalflow in the Ganga by regulatingwater abstraction and bypromoting water storage projects.The NGRBA will plan and monitorprogrammes for cleaning of Gangaand its tributaries. To begin with, it will concentrate on Gangamainstem. The NGRBA would drawupon professional expertise withinand outside the Government foradvice on techno-economicissues . The technical andadministrative support toNGRBA shall be provided by theMinistry of Environment &Forests.

Role of State Governmentunder NGRBA

The State government will be atthe forefront. Implementation willbe at the level of StateGovernment/ ULBs. The Statesmay take up steps forcomprehensive management ofthe river in the State through theirrespective State RiverConservation Authorities. TheState Government/ ULBs areexpected to generate resourcesthrough taxes, levies, cess, usercharges, etc., for abatement ofpollution in the rivers and forproper O&M of the assetscreated. Funds thus raised may beutilized for infrastructuredevelopment including sewageworks. During the finalization ofthe respective State Plans, theStates should make adequateprovisions in their budgets formeeting O&M expenditure.Compliance of the environmentalnorms by industries discharging

wastewater directly into the riveris under the purview of the StatePollution Control Boards. TheBoards will need to bestrengthened for betterenforcement and surveillance ofpolluting industries located on thebanks of the rivers. The publicfunds for the capital and recurringcosts may not be sufficient tomeet the demand. The States willtherefore have to introducepolicies which may attract privatesector investments, including fromthe financial institutions.

Salient Features of the NewApproach

River Basin will be the unit ofplanning and management. This isan internationally acceptedstrategy for integratedmanagement of rivers .Accordingly, a new institutionalmechanism in the form of NationalGanga River Basin Authority(NGRBA) will spearhead riverconservation efforts at thenational level. Implementation willbe by the State Agencies andUrban Local Bodies. The minimumecological flows for the entireGanga will be determined throughmodeling exercises. NGRBA willtake appropriate measures incooperation with the States toregulate water abstraction formaintaining minimum ecologicalflows in the river. Attentionwould also be paid to therestoration of living parts of theriver ecosystem for its holistictreatment to enable conservationof species like dolphin , turtles,fishes and other native andendangered species in the river.



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Measures Taken

To restore the ecological healthand biological wealth of the river,projects on biomonitoring and bio-conservation by having indicatorspecies approach were initiated inthe Himalayan segment, mahaseerfollowed by otters and crocodilesfrom Hardwar to Kanpur, majorcarps from Kanpur to Varanasiand dolphins in the stretch ofBihar have been identified asindicator species for thesestudies. Scientists of HemvatiNandan Bahuguna University,Garhwal, Jivaji University,Gwalior, Central Inland CaptureFisheries research Institute,Barrackpur and Patna Universityare involved in carrying out thebio-monitoring and bio-conservation studies.In order to evaluate the results ofimplementation of the pollutionabatement schemes under GAP,water quality monitoring in thestate of UP, Bihar and WB isbeing carried out regularly at 27monitoring stations with the helpof reputed research institutes anduniversities. The selection ofmonitoring stations and the resultsare reviewed by experts from timeto time. Amendments in WQMare provided by incorporatingneed based modifications.

Impact so far

Under GAP I, only about 35% ofthe total sewage generatedpresently in towns along the riverhas been tackled. On the otherhand, the facilities created totackle the targeted pollution loadare not being maintained properlyin States like UP and Bihar.Therefore, the impact of thecompleted works is not fullyvisible. However, with theimplementation of GAP, thewater quality of Ganga has shownimprovement over the pre-GAPperiod quality in terms of bothBOD & DO, two importantparameters to assess the riverwater quality. Despite theproblems of O&M in UP andBihar, the improvement in riverwater quality can be attributed todiversion of large quantities ofsewage in towns like Kanpur,Allahabad and Varanasi forirrigating the farmlands. Althoughthe river water quality alongKanpur and Varanasi hasimproved significantly, it still doesnot meet the prescribed standardof BOD of 3 mg/l. This is mainlybecause:

8 Only 160 out of 425 mld atKanpur and about 100 out of160 mld of sewage atVaranasi has been taken up

for interception and diversionunder GAP I.

8 The river stretch fromFarrukhabad to Varanasi ingeneral and Kanpur inparticular is critical in termsof the availability of thedesired minimum flow fordilution purpose. The qualityof river water qualitymonitoring leaves much tobe desired. There is lack oftransparency and professio-nalism in this effort.

Dolphin Conservation

Dolphin is considered to be oneof the major bio-indicators of theecological health of Ganga.Accordingly it has been declaredas a national aquatic animal. Aworking group for preparing onaction plan for Dolphinconservation has beenconstituted. Resultantly, as we allknow that we Indians treat riverGanges as Goddess & mother,we have to make sure thatgovernment take all the corrective& preventive measures to makeGanga clean and pure, and for thiswe all should also make valiantefforts as a sincere citizen,otherwise our next generationseldom get a chance to see theriver Ganga and they will get toknow about this only in storiesand text books.





Today the main challenge in frontof international community is tosustain and accelerate the processof poverty eradication and ensurefood and energy security,particularly to developingcountries while shifting graduallyto a Green Economy. A greeneconomy approach todevelopment holds the potentialto achieve greater convergencebetween economic andenvironmental objectives .Agriculture plays a critical role indetermining food, water,ecological and livelihood security.Integrating the strategies andpolicies for a green economy intoagriculture has to proceed with anabsolute imperative of ensuringthese and not forgetting thedifferentiated needs of subsistenceagriculture and market-orientedcrops.

Also, transitioning to a greenermodel of agriculture will depend

on the expeditious provision ofgreen technologies and financialsupport to developing countriesfor productivity enhancement,improved resilience anddiversification of productionsystems.

Sustainable development andmanagement of agriculture wouldbenefit from sharing of bestpractices including farm and non-farm development, improvedpost-harvest management,

integration of supply chains andstrengthening of public distributionsystems. Eradicating poverty is anindispensible requirement forsustainable development. A majorcause aggravating poverty is theunsustainable pattern of

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consumption and production.Poverty eradication remains anoverriding objective ofgovernments in developingcountries, and efforts to buildgreen economies should



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contribute substantially torealizing that objective.Integrating green economystrategies and policies intopoverty eradication, food securityand energy security is animperative for sustainabledevelopment.Food security andaccess to affordable clean energyare both crucial to eradicatingpoverty and promoting socialdevelopment.The issue of energysecurity and universal energyaccess is intricately linked witheconomic development andgrowth, and rising energy needs tomeet it.Energy poverty coexists withinefficient energy use in much ofthe world, which – givencontinued heavy dependence onfossil fuels – has been a majorcontributor to greenhouse gasemissions. Understanding theflexibility or lack of flexibility ofeach country to change thisenergy mix and devisinginnovative methods to secureenergy security are the need of thehour without compromising on theneed for high economic growth tomeet the aspirations of the people,especially in developing countries.

Energy security is a multi-facetedconcept. In the current context,the primary focus is on poorpeople’s securing adequate energysupplies to raise their livingstandards , including throughimproved income generation,health and education. Renewableenergy should be considered as anintegral part of the solution to theenergy needs of the poor, but thatwill only be feasible if it isaffordable and technologicallyaccessible. As affordability is afunction in part of large-scaledeployment and learning, the

strategy to address energypoverty needs to be linked to abroader alternative energystrategy as part of a greeneconomy.With respect to energysecurity, rural energy accessremains seriously deficient inmany developing countries, withwell over a billion people lackingaccess to electricity and cleancooking and heating fuels. At thesame time, even in urban areas,electricity is often underprovidedand unreliable, especially for urbanpoor communities . Thisexacerbates poverty and closesoff escape routes by limitingincome generation opportunitiesas well as educationalopportunities especially for girls.

What is Green Economy?

A green economy is typicallyunderstood as an economicsystem that is compatible with thenatural environment, isenvironmentally friendly, isecological, and for many groups,is also socially just. Theseattributes are the conditions thatmust be imposed on an economyfrom the perspective of manygreen economy advocates. Thisconventional concept of a greeneconomy may be alternativelydescribed as “the greening of aneconomy”.

Some fundamental criteria formeeting these conditions havebeen established since Rio, suchas using renewable resourceswithin their regenerative capacity,making up for the loss of non-renewable resources by creatingtheir renewable substitutes ,limiting pollution within the sinkfunctions of nature, and

maintaining ecosystem stabilityand resilience. A Green Economyis a system of economic activitiesrelated to the production,distribution and consumption ofgoods and services that results inimproved human well-being overthe long term, whilst not exposingfuture generations to significantenvironmental risks and ecologicalscarcities. Conditions for socialjustice may include: 1) notcompromising future generations’capability to meet their needs; 2)the rights of poor countries andpoor people to development andthe obligations of rich countriesand rich people to changing theirexcessive consumption levels; 3)equal treatment of women inaccess to resources andopportunities; and 4) ensuringdecent labor conditions. A greeneconomy is one that results inimproved human well-being andsocial equity, while significantlyreducing environmental risks andecological scarcities.

A green economy is a economy oreconomic development modelbased on sustainable developmentand a knowledge of ecologicaleconomics.Its most distinguishingfeature from prior economicregimes is direct valuation ofnatural capital and ecologicalservices as having economics valueand a full cost accounting regimein which costs externalized ontosociety via ecosystems arereliably traced back to, andaccounted for as liabilities of, theentity that does the harm orneglects an asset.





Green Economy defined byKarl Burkart is based on sixmain sector s ,which are asfollows :

8 Renewable energy (solar,wind, geothermal, marineincluding wave, biogas, andfuel cell)

8 Green buildings (greenretrofits for energy andwater efficiency, residentialand commercial assessment;green products and materials,and LEED construction)

8 Clean transportation(alternative fuels, publictransit, hybrid and electricvehicles, carsharing andcarpooling programs)

8 Water management (Waterreclamation, greywater andrainwater systems , low-water landscaping, waterpurification, stormwatermanagement)

8 Waste management(recycling, municipal solidwaste salvage, brownfieldland remediation, Superfundcleanup, sustainablepackaging)

8 Land management (organicagriculture, habitatconservation andrestoration; urban forestryand parks, reforestation andafforestation and soilstabilization)

UNEP Green EconomyInitiative (GEI)

The Green Economy Initiativelaunched by the United NationsEnvironment Programme inOctober 2008 is aimed at seizingthe opportunities this modern

concept of a green economy hasto offer. It seeks to accomplishtwo tasks. First, it tries to makea “beyond-anecdotal” macroe-conomic case for investing insectors that produce environ-mentally friendly orenvironmentally enhancingproducts and services (“greeninvestment”). By a“macroeconomic case”, it mainlyrefers to the contribution of greeninvestment to output and jobgrowth. Second, the initiative triesto provide guidance on how toboost pro-poor green investment.The goal is to encourage andenable policymakers to supportincreased green investment fromboth the public and privatesectors.

The UNEP GEI activities includeproviding advisory services tocountries interested in greeningtheir economies ; producingresearch products, such as TheGreen Economy Report, TheEconomics of Ecosystems andBiodiversity (TEEB) series ofreports , and the Green JobsReport; and engaging partners toeffectively promote andimplement green economystrategies.

Concept of InclusiveGrowth

Rapid and sustained povertyreduction requires inclusive growththat allows people to contributeto and benefit from economicgrowth.Inclusive Growth refersboth to the pace and pattern ofgrowth, which are consideredinterlinked, and therefore in needto be addressed together.

Inclusive growth by its verydefinition implies an equitableallocation of resources withbenefits accruing to every sectionof society, which is a utopianconcept. But the allocation ofresources must be focused on theindented short and long termsbenefits and economic linkages atlarge and not just equitablemathematically on some regionaland population criteria.Utopia it isbecause it dreams of an idealstate which we all strivetowards.The inclusive growthapproach takes a longer termperspective as the focus is onproductive employment ratherthan on direct incomeredistribution, as a means ofincreasing incomes for excludedgroups. The inclusive growthdefinition is in line with theabsolute definition of pro-poorgrowth, but not the relativedefinition.

By focusing on inequality, therelative definition could lead tosub-optimal outcomes for bothpoor and non-poor households.Inclusive growth focuses on ex-ante analysis of sources of, andconstraints to sustained, highgrowth, and not only on onegroup – the poor.

Key components of InclusiveGrowth (IG)should be asfollows : -

8 IG focuses on economicgrowth which is a necessaryand crucial condition forpoverty reduction.

8 IG adopts a long termperspective and is concernedwith sustained growth.(i) For growth to be

sustained in the long



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run, it should be broad-based across sectors.

(ii) It should also beinclusive of the largepart of the country’slabor force, whereinclusiveness refers toequality of opportunityin terms of access tomarkets, resources andunbiased regulatoryenvironment forbusinesses andindividuals.

8 IG focuses on both the paceand pattern of growth.

8 IG focuses on productiveemployment rather thanincome redistribution.

8 IG has not only the firm, butalso the individual as thesubject of analysis.

8 IG is in line with the absolutedefinition of pro-poorgrowth, not the relative one.

There are important lessons tolearn from this approach includingthat development policy iscountry-specific, may involve justa few reforms that can beoptimally sequenced to relaxbinding constraints, and it maylead to large positive welfareimpacts.The main instrument for asustainable and inclusive growth isassumed to be productiveemployment.The ability ofindividuals to be productivelyemployed depends on theopportunities to make full use ofavailable resources as theeconomy evolves over timeTheanalysis distinguishes betweenself- or wage-employed, andfurther looks at employment bysector, size of firm, rural/urban,formal/informal, and other.Theinclusive growth approach takes a

longer term perspective.With thislonger term perspective, it isimportant to recognize the timelag between reforms andoutcomes. Inclusive growth isabout raising the pace of growthand enlarging the size of theeconomy, while leveling theplaying field for investment andincreasing productive employmentopportunities . Policies forinclusive growth are an importantcomponent of any governmentstrategy for sustainable growthand the frameworks for inclusivegrowth analytics are eclectic inspirit.

Delhi Ministerial Dialogue,2 0 1 1

The Ministerial Dialogue on“Green Economy and InclusiveGrowth” has taken place in NewDelhi on 3-4 October. The event,organized by UN DESA and theIndian Government, is focusing onsustainable development initiativesin the lead up to next year’s UNConference on SustainableDevelopment in Rio deJaneiro.The issues addressed atthe two-day 2011 DelhiMinisterial Dialogue on ‘GreenEconomy and Inclusive Growth’

include sustainable management ofsectors like agriculture, industry,energy and transport, urgentadoption of sustainable life stylesand consumption patterns throughreduction in per capita ecologicalfootprint, appropriate populationpolicies, equity concerns, povertyeradication and developmentalimperatives. Designed properly,green economy policies andprogrammes can directlycontribute to poverty eradication.

The Delhi Dialogue is a stepforward in preparations for theUNCSD, also known as Rio+20,scheduled to take place in June2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Itaims to provide a platform forinternational deliberations on the

integration of green economyarchitecture and global challengesof poverty eradication, foodsecurity, and energy security.Eradicating poverty is anindispensible requirement forsustainable development. A majorcause aggravating poverty is theunsustainable pattern ofconsumption and production. TheDelhi Dialogue will be anopportunity for high levelgovernment officials and UNagencies to explore in depth the




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linkages of a green economy forpoverty eradication and broad-based, inclusive growth.Integrating green economystrategies and policies intopoverty eradication, food securityand energy security is animperative for sustainabledevelopment.

Objectives of the MinisterialDiscussion were:-

(i) To obtain a comprehensiveupdate on the recent greeneconomy developmentswithin major internationalpolicy forums and throughthe UNEP-led greeneconomy initiative;

(ii) To discuss how the conceptof the green economy can befurther implemented at thecountry level;

(iii) To build on existing policiesand processes that aresupporting the shift tosustainable consumption andproduction and a greeneconomy;

Conclusively we can say,designedproperly, green economy policiesand programmes with inclusivegrowth mechanism can directlycontribute to poverty eradication.Successful examples can offerlessons and possible models for

replication. For instance, India’srural employment guaranteeprogramme is at one and the sametime an anti-poverty programmeand an ecosystem restorationprogramme.

Understanding the flexibility orlack of flexibility of each countryto change this energy mix anddevising innovative methods tosecure energy security are theneed of the hour withoutcompromising on the need for higheconomic growth to meet theaspirations of the people,especially in developing countries.

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Land Acquisition Bill, 2011Approved

The Land Acquistion, Relief andRehabilitation Bill, 2011, wasapproved by the Union Cabineton 5 September 2011. It aims toput in place a transparent andlegal framework for landacquisition.The Bill calls fordifferent land acquisition normsfor rural and urban areas.Theproposed law seeks to replace the117-year-old Land AcquisitionBill, 1894 and for the first timeintegrates both land acquisitionand Relief and Rehabilitationpackage.

Key Features of Land DraftBill

8 For land acquired in ruralareas, the compensation willbe four times the marketvalue. The compensation

package for urban areahowever remains two timesthe market value.

8 Linear projects like Railwaysand Power lines will not becovered under the Bill.

8 Irrigated multi crop land canbe acquired upto fivepercent. However, an equalarea of waste land within thedistrict will have to bedeveloped.

8 In case the acquired land isnot used for the statedpurpose the land will not bereturned to the originalowner but will go to state.

8 States are free to have theirown land acquisition law.

8 Public purpose has beendefined as land use forstrategic purpose,infrastructure and industry.

8 Consent of 80 percentpeople would be mandatory

in case the land is acquiredfor private project. Consentnot mandatory when land isacquired by the governmentfor its own use.

8 Urgency clause to be used inrarest of rarest case, such asemergencies or nationalcalamity.

8 Compensation should becompleted within threemonths of acquisition. Resettlement and rehabmonetary part should becompleted within 6 months.

8 Persons who have beendependent on the said landfor at least three years willbe eligible for compensation.

Earthquake in Sikkim of 6.8magnitude

An Earthquake of 6.8 magnitudeHit Sikkim which resulted in theinnumerable loss of human lives.

NATIONAL ISSUES





The epicentre of the quake, thebiggest in two decades , waslocated at Mangan and Sakyongareas, over 50 kilometres fromGangtok on the Sikkim-Nepalborder. An earthquake is theresult of a sudden release ofenergy in the Earth’s crust thatcreates seismic waves. Magnitude3 or lower earthquakes aremostly almost imperceptible andmagnitude 7 and over potentiallycause serious damage over largeareas, depending on their depth.Earthquakes are measured onrichter scale.

PM visits Sikkim,Announces 1000 cr. RupeeRelief

The Prime Minister visitedGangtok and made an aerialsurvey of the quake affectedareas of the state of Sikkim. Dr.Manmohan Singh flew over theaffected areas of Mangan,Chungthang, Lachen and Lachungand visited the injured at theGovernment Hosiptal in Gangtok.The Prime Minister after the visitsaid that he was deeply saddenedat the tragic loss of lives, theinjuries and the extensive damagecaused by the earthquake.ThePrime Minister said that a centralteam of experts will arrive inGangtok in the next week toidentify appropriate design fordamaged houses to bereconstructed.

These constructions will befunded entirely by the Centralgovernment and from the PrimeMinister’s National Relief Fund.Hesaid the main access roads toSikkim have been restored, theroad form Mangan to Chungthang

will be restored by mid October,and work will continue to ensurethat other roads are operationalas early as possible. A specialdispensation will be providedunder the Centrally sponsored andcentral sector schemes forenabling the reconstruction ofinfrastructure like rural roads,school buildings, health centrebuildings and anganwadi buildings.

The Prime Minister assured thestate that work on restoration ofdrinking water supply sources,reconstruction of irrigationchannels, and construction offlood protection works will alsobe taken up under centralschemes. He said that damagednational monuments will berestored by the Ministry ofCulture.The Prime Minister saidthat keeping in view the extensiveand unprecedented damage theCentral Government is ready toprovide assistance of 1,000 crorerupees for relief, restoration andreconstruction work.

Tripartite Agreement Signedfor Peace in Assam

For Suspension of Operations(against ULFA), a tripartiteagreement was signed betweenthe Centre, the Assam stategovernment and the outlawedUnited Liberation Front of Asom(ULFA) in New Delhi on 3September 2011 with theobjective of bringing permanentpeace in Assam. ULFA had earlieragreed to abjure violence and tofind a solution to the problems asperceived by the outfit throughpeaceful negotiations with theUnion Government and the

Assam Government. Theagreement would pave the wayfor putting an end to violence inthe North-Eastern State of Assamand clear the decks for initiatingthe process of holding peace talkswith the banned insurgent group.

The agreement is the harbinger offuture talks and the pact willcontinue during the political talksand till a final agreement is signed.Members of the rebel groupnumbering around 600 - will beput in special camps which will becalled Nabanirman Kendras.

Geriatric OPD at AIIMSDedicated to NPHCE

On the occasion of theInternational Day of SeniorCitizens, the Union Health andFamily Welfare Minister ShriGhulam Nabi Azad dedicated thegeriatric OPD at All India Instituteof Medical Sciences, New Delhito the National Programme forHealth Care of Elderly (NPHCE).Geriatrics is a specialty that needshelp and support of the medicalfraternity to achieve its fullpotential. Ministry of Health andFW, Government of India hasinitiated a national programme inthe name of “National Programmefor Health Care of Elderly” whichis being initially implemented in100 most backward and remotedistricts of the country with poor



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health indicators, covering 21states. Shri Azad also launchedthe NPHCE guidelines and saidthat the programme would beextended to all the 640 districts ofthe country over the 12th planperiod. He added that NationalInstitutes of Aging would be setupat AIIMS, Delhi and at MadrasMedical College-Chennai.

The NPHCE programmeenvisages establishing geriatricwards, rehabilitation centers, andgeriatric clinics at various levels ofthe district health care deliverysystem. The interventions aredesigned to capture thepreventive, curative andrehabilitative aspects in thegeriatric field. Regional GeriatricCentres in 8 regional medicalinstitutions – AIIMS, Delhi,Institute of Medical Sciences,BHU, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute ofMedical Sciences- Srinagar, GovtMedical College-Thiruanantha-puram, Guwahati Medical College,Madras Medical College, SNMedical College-Jodhpur and atGrants Medical College-Mumbaiwould be set up as part of theNPHCE. During last few decadeslife expectancy has increasedsubstantially and, consequent to

this, the population of seniorcitizens has increased four foldsince 1951. The number of seniorcitizens above the age of 60 was76.6 million as per the Census2001 which constituted about 7.5% of the total population. At thisrate of increase, it is projected tobecome 173 million by 2026.

radio communication services/applications in different frequencybands. This document providesthe basis for development,manufacturing and spectrumutilization activities in the country,both for government and privatesectors.NFAP-2011 will comeinto effect from October 1, 2011.It contains International andNational frequency allocationtable, footnotes to internationaltable of frequency allocations,India remark and channeling planin different frequency bands.

The key features of NFAP-2011 are :8 It is in line with the Radio

Regulations of InternationalTelecommunication Union(ITU).

8 It has been developed tocater to the needs of newlyemerging technologies suchas Ultra Wide Band (UWB),Intelligent Transport System(ITS), Short Range Devices,etc.

8 It has enabled provisions infew frequency bands forindigenous development andmanufacturing.

8 The NFAP-2011 has takendue care to ensure protectionof existing services.

8 It has kept in view therequirement projected by allstakeholders.

Compensation should begiven to Farmers for thePlantation on their Land

The Supreme Court of India ruledthat farmers, whose land is beingacquired by the government,should be compensated not onlyfor their land but also for theplantation on it.A bench

National FrequencyAllocation Plan Released

The National FrequencyAllocation Plan-2011 (NAFP)was released by Shri Kapil Sibal,the Union Minister ofCommunications and InformationTechnology to ensure its efficientand effective management.Speaking on the occasion, ShriSibal said that in today’s society,radio spectrum is becomingincreasingly important for allwalks of life and needs to bemanaged rationally. Whilespectrum management has alwaysbeen important, the complexity ofthe task has been compounded bythe proliferation of bothtraditional and entirely new radiospectrum frequency-using servicesin recent years. NFAP-2011 is apolicy document which containsspectrum allocation for various





comprising Justices VRaveendran, H L Gokhale andGyan Sudha Misra, set aside theorder of the Bombay High Courtwhich had held that once thecompensation is awarded for theland, there cannot be additional orseparate compensation for thetrees.The Apex Court ruled, if theland value has been determinedwith reference to the salestatistics or compensationawarded for a nearby vacantland, then trees will have to bevalued separately.

SC ordered PrivateHospitals to Provide FreeTreatment to Poor

The Supreme Court on 1September 2011 ordered Delhi’sprivate hospitals to provide freetreatment to the poor. The courtruled that they cannot wriggle outof their responsibility. The SCordered the city hospitals toreserve 25 percent of their out-patient department capacity and10 percent of beds at the indoorlevel for free treatment of thepoor.The court passed the orderon a batch of petitions filed by tenprivate hospitals, whichchallenged a Delhi high court orderto provide free treatment to thepoor as per the land leaseagreements between thegovernment and them.There are37 hospitals in Delhi, which weregranted land by the governmentat concessional rates. Out ofthem, 27 hospitals provide freetreatment to poor patients.

Mercy Seeked for theRajiv Gandhi Assassins

Tamil Nadu assembly adopted aunanimous resolution on 30August 2011, urging the President

to reconsider the mercy petitionsof Santhan, Perarivalan andMurugan in the Rajiv Gandhiassassination case.

The resolution moved by ChiefMinister Jayalalithaa appealed tothe President to commute thedeath sentences of Murugan,Santhan and Perarivalan into lifesentences.The Madras High courtordered an interim stay on thedeath sentence after hearingpetitions from the three convicts,who are scheduled to be executedon 9 September 2011. PresidentPratibha Patil rejected the mercypetitions of the three convicts on11 August 2011, after thepetitions were filed more than 11years ago.Indian former PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi was killedin a suicide bombing at an electionrally near Chennai, capital city ofTamil Nadu, on May 21, 1991.Itshould be noted that the Presidentof India could reconsider thedecision of rejecting the mercy

petitions as the state Governorcould not take a decision on amercy plea rejected by thePresident.

Training of Drivers by MOT

A Scheme for Driver’s Trainingunder Hunar Se Rozgarinitiative,launched by the Ministryof Tourism . The Scheme nowlaunched draws upon the fact thatdrivers with skill and in adequatenumber are essential for sustainingtourism, and that in India wheretourism is expected to emerge asa key economic driver, driving asan avocation has largeemployment potential. As in allthe programmes and schemeslaunched as part of Hunar SeRozgaar initiative, the Schemenow launched has a distinctleaning for youth belonging toeconomically weaker strata of thesociety. Open to young men and



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women in the age group of 18 to28 years who are atleast 10thpass, the Scheme has the firstpreference for persons belongingto BPL category. The Scheme, bysubjecting eligibility to aneconomic criterion, explicitly barsthose who have the wherewithalto afford this training.

Key features :

(i) training to impart drivingskills, and

(ii) etiquette training.

(iii) the Scheme will be deliveredby the State Governmentsand the UT Administrations,which will select the drivingschools following atransparent system.

(iv) applications for the trainingprogrammes will be invitedthrough open pressadvertisements,

(v) the Central Institutes ofHotel Management in theState / UT will conduct theetiquette training under over-all supervision of the StateGovernment / UTAdministration,

(vi) certificates to trainees whosuccessfully complete thetraining course will beawarded by the StateGovernments /UT Adminis-tration concerned.

New National Policy onSenior Citizens underconsideration

The Union Minister of SocialJustice & Empowerment ShriMukul Wasnik has said that theGovernment is activelyconsidering the recommendationsof a committee set up to

formulate a draft New NationalPolicy on Senior Citizens .Speaking at a function on theoccasion of International Day ofOlder persons he said, the NewPolicy would address thechanging needs of Senior Citizensand gear up for future Challenges.He said older persons are anintegral part of our society as weneed their expertise and wisdom.It is thus of paramount importancethat we commit ourselves to theprotection and promotion of theirwell being, their rights as seniorcitizens, particularly those whoare in need of care. The Ministersaid the Government respects therights and well being of the olderpeople. The National Policy onOlder Persons envisages Statesupport to ensure food security,health care, social care, securephysical environment, equitableshare in development, protectionagainst abuse and exploitation,and availability of other servicesto improve the quality of theirlives and we will go the extra mileto ensure that their rights areprotected and promoted.Enactment of “The Maintenanceand Welfare of Parents and SeniorCitizens Act, 2007” is a majormilestone in providingmaintenance, shelter, health andsecurity for senior citizens in thecountry.

Amendments to NIMHANS,Bangalore Bill 2010Proposed

The Union Cabinet of India on 15September 2011 approvedAmendments to the NationalInstitute of Mental Health andNeuro-Sciences, Bangalore Bill,

2010. The Amendments arebased on the recommendations ofthe Department —relatedParliamentary StandingCommittee on Health arid FamilyWelfare.

The key features of theproposed amendments are asfollows :

(a) No change in Clause 4(Incorporation of Institute)of the Bill is proposed in viewof legal advice obtained fromthe Department of LegalAffairs.

(b) As regards Clause 5(Composition of theInstitute), it is proposed that:(i) The President of the

Institute shall benominated by theCentral Governmentfrom among themembers other than theDirector of the Institute.

(ii) The Institute shallconsist of the ChiefSecretary or hisnominee, not below therank of Secretary, tothe Government ofKarnataka, ex-officio.

(iii) The Institute shallconsist of the followingmembers namely:

1. Seven persons of whomone shall be non-medical scientistrepresenting the IndianScience CongressAssociation and oneeach from biological,behavioural andphysical sciences ofrepute from anyuniversity to benominated by theCentral Government insuch manner as may beprescribed;





2. Four representatives ofmedical faculty ofIndian universities ofwhom one shall be fromNIMHANS to benominated by theCentral Government insuch manner as may beprescribed;

(c) Under sub-clause 7(1)(Powers and Functions ofPresident), the followingmay be substituted:

There shall be a President of theInstitute who shall be nominatedby the Central Government fromamong the members other thanthe Director of the Institute.

Pictorial Warning onTobacco ProductsCompulsory

The Union government of Indiamade it mandatory for tobaccotraders , retailers, vendors todisplay the pictorial warning on allthe tobacco related products attheir stores.

The government did so accordingto the new regulation underCigarettes and other Tobacco

Products Amendment Rules-2011.The Health Ministry framedthese rules on 11 August 2011after releasing GazetteNotification No- GSR 619 (E).

Under the new rule, all vendorswho sell tobacco products mustensure to display board depictingpictorial warning, measuring 60x30cm, at the entrance of the stores.Moreover, any tobacco productcannot be sold even through theautomatic vending machine. Anyshopkeeper who breaches the rulewill be imposed a fine amounting200 rupees.

Ration and Voter Cards toSex Workers should beprovided

The Supreme Court on 15September 2011 recommended tothe Centre and state governmentsto provide ration and voter cardsto sex workers by relaxing theverification procedure. The courtalso recommended that theprofession of sex workers should

Golden Jubilee for SCI

Prime Minister Dr. ManmohanSingh has called for an acceleratedpace of expansion in the shippingindustry and the port sectorthrough public privatepartnership. Addressing thevaledictory function of the GoldenJubilee Celebration of ShippingCorporation of India in Mumbaitoday , he stressed that India’sgrowing economy offers anexcellent opportunity for themaritime sector and there is anurgent need to develop theshipping sector in tune with theglobal economic environment.

Since its inception in 1961, SCIhas witnessed steady and robustgrowth in the last 50 years. TodaySCI is a world-class shippingcompany having its footprint inmost of the segments of theshipping industry serving India’sEXIM trade. Its modern fuelefficient fleet accounts for nearlyone-third of the country’stonnage.In the last two years 22PPP projects have been awardedat an estimated cost of Rs.14178crore. This includes the prestigiousICTT at Vallarpadam in Cochin,which was inaugurated by thePrime Minister. The first phase ofthe Fourth Container Terminal inJNPT for creation of a capacityof 4.8 million TEUs, which is one

not be mentioned in ration andvoter cards.



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of the largest in the country, hasbeen awarded recently. TheIndian tonnage crossed 10 millionGT last year and stands at 10.75million GT as on date.The shippingsector has been facing manychallenges in recent times. One ofthe biggest challenges is the rise inincidents of piracy off the coastof Somalia. The Shipping Ministryhas been working in closecoordination with the MEA, theIndian Navy and otherInternational agencies to tacklethis menace.

Bill to Check Cow Slaughterin Gujarat

The Gujarat Legislative Assemblyon 27 September 2011 passedthe Gujarat Animal Preservation(Amendment) Bill 2011. The billseeks seven-year jail term forcow slaughter or even transportingthe animal for thatpurpose. Although the slaughterof milch cattle below the age of16 years was banned in Gujaratfor decades, some cows are stillslaughtered due to the loopholesin the law. As per the provisionsof Gujarat Animal PreservationAct (GAPA) 1954, despiteprohibition on cow slaughter isthere, there is no provision in theAct to prevent transportation ofthe animal for slaughter.TheMaldharis(Pastoral People) inGujarat had been demanding stricter laws against cow slaughterand trade of beef for a long time.

To Deal with Naxalism NewPolicy unveiled

Prime Minister Manmohan Singhunveiled the new policy whichaims at dealing with Naxalism

through a five year integrated planwhile addressing the concludingsession of the day long nationalworkshop on developmentstrategies in naxal affecteddistricts in New Delhi on 13September 2011.This programmeis aimed at bridging thedevelopment deficit in theextremely backward areas thatare affected left wing extremism.Lack of development often leadsto alienation among the inhabitantsof these areas .Establishinggovernance in the naxal-affecteddistricts is the greatest challengeIndia faces. Left Wing Extremismposes a greater threat to thecountry than terrorism orinsurgency. The Government iscontemplating to bring 20 morenaxal affected districts under theIntegrated Action Plan. Aspecialised battalion is beingraised to ensure security anddevelopment in these districts.

NDMA Observed 7thFormation Day

To reaffirm its commitment tomake India Disaster Resilient, theNational Disaster ManagementAuthority observed its 7thFormation Day at NDMABhawan in New Delhi today. On28th September 2005, thefoundation was laid for centre-staging the disaster managementinto the governance of thecountry. Disaster Managementconcerns are institutionalized inthe developmental process andthe agenda is being reflected in theapex planning bodies at theNational and State levels. Theformation of NDMA was one ofsuch efforts.

Rules of Reservation notApplicable to UpgradedPos t s

The Supreme Court of India heldthat Rules of reservation likeSC,ST, OBC quota would notapply to upgradation of posts inGovernment establishments as thebenefit could be extended only topromotional posts . The SCquashed the concurrent rulings ofthe Central AdministrativeTribunal (CAT), Chennai branchand the Madras High Court thatrules of reservation would applyeven to upgradation of posts.Thecourt in its ruling stated that whenthere is a restructuring of somecadres, which results in creation ofadditional posts and filling of thosevacancies by those who fulfill theconditions of eligibility, will attractthe rules of reservation. On theother hand, where restructuring ofposts does not involve creation ofadditional posts but merely resultsin some of the existing posts beingplaced in a higher grade toprovide relief against stagnation,in that scenario the rules ofreservation are not applicable.The candidate continues to holdthe same post without any changein duties and responsibilities andsimply gets a higher pay scale,observed the bench. The SupremeCourt bench gave the judgmentwhen BSNL (Bharat SancharNigam Limited) approached itafter being aggrieved over theorders passed by the MadrasBench of the CentralAdministrative Tribunal andapproved by the Madras HighCourt that reservation wouldapply to upgraded posts in BSNL





under the BCR (Biennial CadreReview) scheme.The benchobserved that as upgradationinvolves neither appointment norpromotion, it will not attractreservation. Upgradation involvesmere conferment of financialbenefits by providing a higherscale of pay. The court added thatin case of mere upgradation ofposts , as contrasted frompromotion, reservation provisionswould not apply.

NCCF asked to Expend itsNetwork

Ministry of Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution hasurged the National CooperativeConsumer Federation (NCCF) toplan new strategies and expend itsnetwork to take advantage of thefree and open economicenvironment in the country.Consumer cooperatives haveplayed an important role insafeguarding the interests ofconsumers. During the time ofscarcity, the private trade hadfrequently failed to render therequired services to theconsumers by adopting straightforward business practices. Theconsumer cooperatives werefound the only answer to protectthe interests of consumers duringsuch time.The Minister forConsumer Affairs , Food andPublic Distribution said that theNCCF has played a pioneer rolein importing pulses and sellingthem to consumers at subsidizedrates. It has also performed directmarket intervention by sellingwheat, pulses and onion in retailto check artificial price rise and toprovide relief to consumers.He

expressed the hope that theNCCF will be entrusted thedistribution of other PDS itemsalso by the states to improve thefunctioning of PDS. The Ministeralso congratulated the NCCF forimprovement in its sales andprofitability in recent years.

For Better Governanceleverage synergies betweenIT and Telecom

Information and telecommuni-cation technologies offertremendous untapped potentialthat can be leveraged to curbcorruption and ensure goodgovernance at all levels in publiclife, ASSOCHAM said. Massadoption of technologies for e-governance and m-governancecan improve the quality and speedof public services delivered tocitizens in urban and rural areas.

Telecom infrastructure –especially towers located inremote locations – can also beused to promote various socialand economic developmentinitiatives, said The AssociatedChambers of Commerce andIndustry of India (ASSOCHAM).With nearly 860 million mobilephones in the country, allgovernment websites should bemade mobile-compliant. Thevision should be to touch andtransform lives of citizens throughthe use of IT, and lead the nationinto a globalised knowledge

economy, said secretary generalD.S. Rawat. IT and mobiletechnologies can enhancetransparency of governmentmechanisms like the Right toInformation Act and grievanceredressal. Service deliveryservices relating to health,education, employment, police,tax, judicial and legal systemsalong with information disbursalcan also improve.States likeAndhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujaratand Uttar Pradesh have alreadytested efforts to widen the reachof basic services to ordinarycitizens through online sections ingovernment offices, e-kiosks, e-seva kendras, post offices, callcentres and cooperative offices.Amajor issue in maintaining law andorder in remote and rural areas islack of real time information andreporting to the authorities.Complaints could be filed usingmobile services and uniqueidentification (UID) number. SMScan also be enabled foranonymous reports on crimes andwrong-doing by a police officer.Technology intervention couldpossibly make Mahatma GandhiNational Rural EmploymentGuarantee Act (MGNREGA)implementation better for jobseekers, common man and societyat large. Mobile technology canbe used for applying for jobcards, enrollment for work andreal time monitoring of work atsites.

Rule of Law is an IntegralPart of the Basic Structureof the Constitution

The Supreme Court of India heldthat rule of law is an integral partof the basic structure of theconstitution and cannot be



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abrogated by Parliament of Indiawhich is bound by it.The benchopined that any law whichdeprives a person of his privateproperty for private interest, willbe unlawful and unfair andundermines the rule of law andcan be subjected to judicialreview. In Kesavananda Bharati’scase, this Court enunciated rule oflaw as one of the most importantaspects of the doctrine of basicstructure. Rule of law affirmsParliament’s supremacy while atthe same time denying itsovereignty over theConstitution.A five-judgeconstitutional bench headed by

Chief Justice SH Kapadia gave thejudgment. In its judgment it statedthat Rule of Law has beencharacterized as a basic feature ofour constitution which cannot beabrogated or destroyed even byparliament in fact. It further addedthat Rule of law affirmsParliament’s supremacy while atthe same time denying itsovereignty over the constitutionof India.

The bench, which also includedJustices Mukundakam Sharma, KS Radhakrishnan, SwatanterKumar and Anil R Dave passedthe judgment while upholding theRoerich and Devika Rani Roerich

Estate Acquisition Act, 1996,enacted by the Karnatakalegislature to protect the 465-acreestate of the famous Russianpainter Svetoslav and his wife, inBangalore.Svetoslav had sold apart of the estate to K TPlantation before his death.However, the state governmenttook over the estate in 1996,through the act, to preserve thevaluable trees, paintings and artsgallery of the artist couple.TheSupreme Court dismissed the pleaof KT Plantation on the basis thatprivate land of individuals can beacquired for public purpose onlyand with due compensation.

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Right to Vote for Women inSaudi Arabia

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on25 September 2011 grantedwomen the right to vote and runin future municipal elections. In hisannouncement, the king said thatwomen would also be appointedto the Majlis Al-Shura, aconsultative council that advisesthe monarchy on matters of publicpolicy. Women in Saudi Arabiaendure strict gender separation,including a ban against driving.

The recent uprisings in the Arabworld for the past nine monthscoupled with sustained demandfor women’s rights and a morerepresentative form ofgovernment in Saudi Arabiaprompted the decision.Municipalelections in the kingdom will beheld on 28 September 2011. InSuadi Arabia.

Ban on Oil Imports fromSyria by European Union

The European Union on 2September 2011announced a banon oil imports from Syria. Thisstep could strive away a majorsource of financial support for thegovernment’s five month oldcrackdown on dissent. It willmake it harder for the Syriangovernment to fund the effortagainst the protesters.The US hadalready banned Syrian oil imports.Europe buys most of Syria’s oil,spending 4.1 billion dollars in the

country in 2010.Western powershave mounted pressure on SyrianPresident Assad to step down andhe is showing no signs of relenting.The European Union (EU) is aneconomic and political union of 27member countries which arelocated primarily in Europe.In theintervening years the EU hasgrown in size by the accession ofnew member states and in powerby the addition of policy areas toits remit. The Maastricht Treatyestablished the European Unionunder its current name in 1993.

Expanded EU Bailout Fundapproved by GermanParliament

Garman Parliament approvedexpanded powers for the EU’smain bailout fund. The Parliamentvoted in favour of an enhanced440 billion euro EuropeanFinancial Stability Facility (EFSF).Many Germans are against

INTERNATIONALISSUES



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committing more money to propup struggling eurozone memberssuch as Greece.The approval bythe Parliament means that it wouldallow the fund to buy bonds ofdistressed states and offeremergency loans to governmentsand offer emergency loans togovernments. Earlier, Finnishparliament approved theproposed overhaul of theEFSF.The EU bailout fund mustwin the approval of all euro-zonemembers.

US accusing Hakkani TerrorNetwork for attack on USEmbassy in Kabul

The United States said thatHakkani terror network carriedout the recent attack on the USEmbassy in Kabul with the help ofPakistan’s ISI. Haqqani networkwas also behind the attack againstthe Inter-Continental Hotel inKabul on 28 June 2011.TheHaqqani network is anindependent insurgent grouporiginating in Afghanistan that isclosely allied with the Taliban.Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani leadsthe Haqqani network, which isbased in the Afghanistan–Pakistanborder areas.

For Reforms in the UNSecurity CouncilG-4 will Work together

India and three other members ofG-4 countries pledged to worktogether to bring about urgentreforms in the UN SecurityCouncil. This was done after theMinisterial meeting on the marginsof the UN General Assembly inNew York. G-4 countries calledfor enlarging the Security Council

in both permanent and non-permanent categories. The G-4countries reiterated their commonvision of an enlarged securitycouncil for the 21st century,expansion in both permanent andnon-permanent categories ofmembership taking intoconsideration the contributionmade by the countries tomaintainenance of internationalpeace and security as well as theneed for increase representationof developing countries in bothcategories.The other countries inthe G-4 group are Brazil,Germany and Japan.The G4 is analliance among Brazil, Germany,India, and Japan for the purposeof supporting each other’s bids forpermanent seats on the UnitedNations Security Council. TheG4’s primary aim is the permanentmember seats on the UN SecurityCouncil.

Indian Mujahideen DeclaredTerrorist Organization

The United States on 15September 2011 declared theIndian Mujahideen terror group asa Foreign Terrorist Organization(FTO) under Section 219 of theImmigration and nationality act asa specially designated globalterrorist under section 1(b) ofexecutive order 13224.

The consequences of thisdeclaration include the freezing of

all property and interests inproperty of the Indian Mujahideenthat are in the US, or come withinthe US, or the control of USpersons. Indian Mujahideen is anIndia-based terrorist group withsignificant links to Pakistan. Thegroup is responsible for dozens ofbomb attacks throughout Indiasince 2005. Indian Mujahideen hasclose ties to other US-designatedterrorist organizations includingLashkar e- Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami.

India Took over thePresidency of the G-24

India on 22 September 2011 tookover the presidency of the G-24group of 24 developing countriesafter a gap of 28 years. Indianfinance minister Pranab Mukherjeetook over the Presidency of thegroup from South African financeminister Pravin J Gordhan. Egyptwas elected the Vice Chair of thegroup. The last time India held thePresidency of the group was in1983-84. Interestingly, PranabMukherjee was the FinanceMinister at the time and thuschaired the G-24.G-24 wasEstablished in 1971. Itcoordinates the position ofdeveloping countries on monetaryand development issues ,particularly issues on the agendasof the IMF and the World Bank.The group was formed to balancethe influence of the G-10economic grouping.

NATO’s Mission inLibya extended by 3 Months

The NATO agreed on 21





September 2011 to extend itsmission in Libya by 3 months.Themission was mandated by UnitedNations (UN). The currentoperation mandate was due toexpire on 27 September 2011and it was the second 90-dayextension to the mission toprotect civilians.

The NATO had taken over themission in Libya on 31 March2011.The mission was extendedbecause Muammar Gaddafi, theousted ruler of Libya is still atlarge. Gaddafi loyalists are holdingthe area called Bani Wahid anddenying the new government acomplete victory over the region.

7th ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative on Asiaand the Pacific

The 7th Regional Conference ofADB/OECD Anti-Corruptioninitiative on Asia and the Pacificwas inaugurated by the Presidentof India Smt. Pratibha DevisinghPatil in New Delhi.TheConference is aimed at ‘buildingmulti-disciplinary framework tocombat corruption’. In herremarks, the President said thatThe ADB-OECD Initiative onAnti Corruption, which now hasmore than a decade of experience,is committed to move forwardpurposefully, in the fight againstcorruption. India has an elaboratelegal and institutional frameworkfor prevention and combatingcorruption in public services.The President said that anyapproach to combating corruptionwould need to be multifaceted, asthe problem itself has a number ofdimensions. Governments wouldhave to constantly look at and

review existing laws, systems andprocedures for ensuring theireffectiveness. It would requirestrengthening institutions ,removing loopholes, stringentlyimplementing laws and makingevery institution more transparentin its functioning. All thestakeholders have to worktogether in all these initiatives.Experts from 28 membercountries and economies of ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption initiativeand delegates/ eminentpersonalities including CVC, CICfrom India are attendind theConference. It also has expertsfrom all the relevant disciplines –representing internationalorganizations, leading enterprisesand businesses associations, civilsociety, and multilateral and donororganizations.There are severalserious challenges to achieving thiscollective aspiration but oneoverarching challenge that isrelevant to us here today isimproving governance and fightingcorruption, he said. Asiancountries must transform theirinstitutions with an emphasis ontransparency, accountability andenforceability. In this context, thisconference’s focus onstrengthening diverse institutionalframework to combat corruptionis very relevant and timely.ThisConference will provide a forumon establishing and implementingin Asia-Pacific.

Some of the key features ofan effective multidisciplinaryanti-corruption framework:

(1) international cooperation inmultijurisdictional corruptioninvestigations;

(2) measures to prevent anddetect corruption in publicprocurement;

(3) corporate compliance,internal controls and ethicsmeasures to fight corruption;and

(4) strong citizen contributionsto these frameworks .Additional smaller breakoutsessions will delve furtherinto more specialized areasof interest, such as effectiveinternational information-sharing in investigations;public procurement in highrisk sectors; features of aneffective corporatecompliance programme; andstrengthening citizens’participation to increaseintegrity and transparency ingovernment.

$100 million Donation byIran to Pakistan to HelpRehabilitate its FloodVictims

Iran made the announcement on11 September 2011 that it woulddonate USD 100 million toPakistan to help rehabilitate itsflood affected people in thecountry’s Sindh province.Theannouncement was made during ameeting between visiting PakistaniPrime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilaniand Iran’s interior minister MostafaMohammad Najar.Over 140people have died and four millionpeople have become homeless infloods triggered by rains inPakistan’s southern Sindh provincesince August.

8th International Abilympicsto be held in Seoul

8th International Abilympics, avocational skill competition among



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the person with disability, isscheduled to be held in Seoul,Republic of Korea fromSeptember 25-30, 2011. AnIndian contingent of 25 membersincluding 15 contestants is toparticipate in this prestigiousevent.

The contestants belong todifferent regions of the countryand have undergone an intensivetraining programme in Delhi priorto departure for Korea. Theorganizers expect approximately

1500 participants from 50nations . An exhibition anddemonstration of assistivedevices/technology, handmadecrafts and demonstrations ofculture etc. of each participationwill be held during this period.

order to improve their economicconditions and to increase theirrate of employment.

India Contributed $1 Millionto UN Women Budget

The core voluntary budget of UNEntity for Gender Equality andthe Empowerment of Women orUN Women has received USD 1million from India, for the year2011.India donated 1 million USdollars to the core voluntarybudget of UN Entity for GenderEquality and the Empowerment ofWomen or UN Women, for theyear 2011.Hardeep Singh Puri,India’s Permanent UNRepresentative handed theamount to Michele Bachelet,Under Secretary general andexecutive director of UN Womenon 9 April 2011. India demons-trated its firm support to thepromotion of UN efforts in thefield of gender equality and theempowerment of women throughits contribution. India is presentlyone of the members of theExecutive Board of the UNWomen.

The International Abilympics likeOlympics is held every four yearsin different parts of the world. Itstarted in 1981 to celebrate theUnited Nations’ “Internationalyear of the disabled persons” in

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Approach Paper for the12th FYP(2012-17) Approved

The Union Government approvedthe Approach Paper for the 12thFYP(2012-17) on 15 September2011, which seeks to attainsecond generation economicreforms, improving governanceand raise annual economic growthrate to 9 per cent duringimpending five-year period. ThePaper would be placed before theNational Development Council(NDC) for its final approval inOctober 2011.The ApproachPaper provides a broadframework of the governmentpolicy to be pursued in the five-year plan period to achieve thedesired growth rate of 9 per centwas cleared by the PlanningCommission on 20 August 2011.The theme of the Approach Paperto the 12th Five Year Plan isfaster, sustainable and more

inclusive growth. Health,education and skill development,environment and natural resourcesand infrastructure developmentwas pinted to be focus areas inthe next Plan. The paper layemphasis on inclusive growth. Forthe first time in the history of theFive Year Plans the ApproachPaper has a chapter ongovernance and corruption. Theapproach paper’ key componentsare following:

State Portal IncludingApplications & e-forms

The functionality of the StatePortal including Applications & e-forms are as follows:

8 The portal will provideinformation aboutgovernment departments,line ministries, and web linksto the various departments.It will also provideinformation about

government structure in thestate , service offerings ,budget, key notifications,government schemes etc tothe business and citizencommunity.

8 The portal would primarilybe available in English but indue course it’ll also need tobe available in Hindi andregional language.

8 The State portal will be singlewindow to the Governmentto business (G2B) andGovernment to citizen(G2C) services. The servicedelivery would happen inintegrated fashion usingNeGps core infrastructurecomponents – SWAN, SDC,CSC and SSDG

8 The paper suggested that thestate proposals shouldinclude e-forms forrespective departments.

8 Content personalization and

ECONOMY





content management shouldbe a part of the proposalcomponent and links todepartmental websitesshould be included.

8 A complete application fore-receipt of forms by thedestination office , MIS,printing, accounting, statusreporting, query service andpayment handling should beprovided.

State Service DeliveryGateway (SSDG)

The functionality of the StateService Delivery Gateway(SSDG) are as follows:

8 SSDG will enable auditmanagement & timestamping which would resultin better tracking (auditing)and security of eachtransaction.

8 With Gateway Server,legacy applications can beInternet enabled as Gatewayserver can act as a Weblayer around them soGovernment Departments

need to put least effort forweb enabled of their legacyapplications.

8 The gateway as themiddleware will facilitate

Data Centre, will help inbetter centralizedAdministration, Monitoring,over all maintenance workand deployment of hardwareof Web Site at optimal level.

8 Gateway has the capabilityto add additionalfunctionality to supportshared common services likeAuthentication, paymentgateway interface, etc

CDAC would provide the SSDGexecutables, centrally versioncontrol and provide technicalassistance to the States inProposal preparation (SSDGcomponent), subsequentimplementation and necessary.

Gap Infrastructure -Identification of Gaps inConnectivity

The functionality of GapInfrastructure - Identification ofgaps in connectivity the are asfollows: GoI funding will includefunding for minimal gapinfrastructure for the departmentswhich would enable interaction toget the printout of servicerequests from the centralinfrastructure.The State may need to prioritizethe departments and services bytaking into account following-HighVolume Services – Serviceshaving high volumes of transactionso that there is maximum impact.

IMMP Services – Services alreadyidentified under State MMPswhere work is yet to start andwhich are not covered under HighVolumes Services.

Any other services which the Statewants to include because of theirhigh Citizen Relevance.

easy inter-departmental dataexchange.

8 The Gateway will also helpthe Departments backendworkflow evolve graduallyas the Gateway acts as amiddleware de-linking thebackends from the front end.Departments, which do nothave the completeautomation or work, flow atthe back can still deliver e-Service to the citizens in alimited manner.

8 The placement ofconstellation of GatewayServers at State Level willfacilitate getting informationand doing transactions bycitizens of one State withGovernment Department ofother States seamlessly.

8 The positioning of GatewayServer and building portal ofall the departments atCentral location, i.e., in State



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Training

The Approached paper talks oftraining 2 employees of thedestination departments forprocessing of e-Forms, SSDG &Portal. Employees from eachdepartment whose service will bedeployed on the portal, SSDG ande-form processing would have tobe selected.

Training would encompass StatePortal Framework & websiteDesign Guidelines , SSDGunderstanding and e-formprocessing.

Manpower

The Approach Paper states thatprovision should be built fortechnical Advice / Consultationfrom NIC State Unit as well asCDAC during implementation &Operation phase of the project.This can be built in consultationwith State representatives of NIC& CDAC.

The states would have to buildinternal capacities to support thedepartment on on-going basis fore-Forms , new applicationintegration, Service registration onSSDG and continuity when theImplementing Agency exits.

Content Service Provider(CSP )

The paper proposed that theStates extend the arrangementwith the existing CSPs under IndiaPortal for content support underthis project. If the contractperiod was getting over in Stateswhere the CSPs are not in place,an Agency can be identified if

required to support the State forContents . NIC would beresponsible for Standardization ofthe Content Framework, StatePortal Framework and WebsiteDesign Guidelines and providetechnical guidance to the State forState Proposal preparation (StatePortal component & application)and its development.

India will have Growth Rateof 8.1 Per cent: UNCTAD

The United Nations Conferenceon Trade and Development(UNCTAD) projected aneconomic growth of 8.1 per centfor India, the fastest rate ofexpansion in the world after Chinain midst of an anticipated globalslowdown to 3 per cent in 2011.

According to the report, despitethe slowdown in developedcountries, the Indian economy isset to grow by 8.1 per cent in2011 as against to 8.6 per cent in2010. Surpassing India during theyear would be China with agrowth rate of 9.4 per, slightlylower than the 10.3 per centposted in 2010.India, the reportmentioned continues to pursuerapid economic growth (close to8 per cent), based mainly onstrong domestic consumption and

investment as well as on thepositive contribution of netexports.

The report mentioned that slowdown of global economy to 3.1per cent from 4 per cent in 2010,would impact developingeconomies which would getaffected by recession in thedeveloped world. Even as thedeveloping countries wereexpected to regain the pre-crisisgrowth rate of 6 per cent in 2011,economic expansion in thedeveloped economies was likelyto be only about 1.5-2 per cent.The South Asia region was likelyto be among the best performersglobally, with a growth of sevenper cent in 2011. On the otherhand, growth in the U.S. was toremain low on account of lowdomestic demand, stagnatingwages. The European debt crisisis expected to act as a drag on theglobal growth.

Lohia Panel Suggestions

Panel headed by S.K. Lohiasuggested an increment in theexcise duty and registration costson diesel-powered privatevehicles. It also suggested a banon hoardings on pedestrianwalkways and cut down thetaxes on buses and other publictransport vehicles as part ofmeasures to make cities andtowns more socially andenvironmentally sustainable. Thepanel was formed to work out theparameters for the urban transportsegment under the recentlylaunched National Mission onSustainable Habitat. It suggestedan increase in the excise duty atthe national level and registrationcosts at the State and city-levels





for diesel-propelled privatevehicles. It argued that increaseduse of diesel vehicles was onlyadding to the burden of particulatematter and nitrogen oxides, keypollutants of concerns in Indiancities, even while defeating theobjective of improving thecountry’s energy security.

The panel pointed out thathoardings on pedestrianwalkways were posing majorsafety hazards. The State and citygovernments could, instead, earntheir revenues by going foradvertising on public serviceamenities such as buses, metrotrains , commercial passengervehicles , bus shelters, metroshelters, public toilets and publicgarbage facilities.The panelpointed that the total tax burdenper vehicle km is 2.6 times higherfor public transport buses thancars in India. It suggested that the

State and city governments couldgo in for cascade registration taxfor owning more than one privatevehicle.

National ManufacturingCompetitiveness Council

NMCC was set up by thegovernment as an inter-

Member (Industry), Departmentof Industrial Policy and PromotionSecretary, Finance Secretary,Heavy Industry Secretary, Micro,Small and Medium EnterprisesSecretary and the Director-General of the Council forScientific and Industrial Researchfrom the government side, thePresident of the Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII), Federationof Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry (FICCI) Presidentand Associated Chambers ofCommerce and Industry of India(ASSOCHAM) President willrepresent the apex industryorganisations in the 28-memberbody. Finance Ministry ChiefEconomic Advisor Kaushik Basuand Indian Council for Research inInternational Economic RelationsIsher Judge Ahluwalia are the twoeconomists in the reconstitutedbody.The representatives ofvarious industrial sectors includedin the NMCC are Tata GroupChairman Ratan Tata, TVS MotorCompany CMD Venu Srinivasan,S Kumars Group Chairman MukulKasliwal, Larsen & Toubro CMDA M Naik, ITC Ltd CMD Y CDeveshwar, Godrej & Boyce LtdCMD Jamshyd Godrej, BHELCMD B P Rao and HCLInfosystems Chairman and CEOAjai Chowdhry.

PMEAC revised GDPGrowth to 8 Per cent in2 0 11 -1 2

The Prime Minister’s EconomicAdvisory Council (PMEAC)lowered its forecast for GDPgrowth to around 8 per cent in2011-12, from its earlier estimateof 8.2 per cent on 29 September2011.The eastimate was loweredon account of persistently highinflation, slowing industrial

disciplinary body at the highestlevel to serve as a policy forumfor credible and coherent policyinitiatives in the manufacturingsector. The Union Governmentannounced the reconstitution ofthe National ManufacturingCompetitiveness Council (NMCC)under the chairmanship of V.Krishnamurthy on 26 September2011. The council is to energiseand sustain the growth ofmanufacturing industries and helpin the implementation of strategiesby the government. Following thereconstitution, the council willcomprise the Planning Commission



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expansion and global uncertaintiesposing a challenge to economicgrowth.C Rangarajan, chairman ofPMEAC mentioned whilespeaking at a golden jubileefunction of the Indian EconomicService the need for for reducingthe country’s reliance on capitalflows as a means to bridge thecurrent account deficit (CAD), aswell as the need to ensure that theCAD does not exceed 2.5 percent of GDP.PMEAC cautionedon the perils of growing beyond9 per cent as it would triggerinflationary pressures. It pointedout that if the country continuesto grow in the range of 8-9 percent, as projected in the 12th FiveYear Plan, then a current accountof deficit of 2.5per cent of theGDP will be created. The CAD isexpected to exceed 2.5 per centby the end of the 2011-12 fiscal.

Highlighting the footloose natureof global capital, Rangarajanstressed on the need to containCAD while lowering itsdependence upon capital flows asa means of finance. India receiveddismally low capital inflows ofabout half-a-billion ($0.488billion) till August-end in 2011-12fiscal. Rangaranjan pointed outthat there existed short-termconcerns and medium-termconstraints which would come inthe way of achieving 9 per centgrowth. There are three short-term constraints- one is inflation,the second is balance of paymentand the third area is fiscalconsolidation.

India’s GDP Growth will be7.5-8% According toMoody’s

Global rating agency Moody’sprojected India’s GDP (grossdomestic product) growth for the2011-12 fiscal at 7.5-8 per centon 5 September 2011. It alsocited high domestic interest ratescoupled with the current globaluncertainties as the near-termfactors that could affect itseconomic expansion.

Moody’s noted in its annualsovereign credit update on Indiathat the cyclical slowdown wasunlikely to alter its credit outlook.The rating agency is of the opinionthat rising domestic interest ratesand an uncertain global economicenvironment would possiblydampen India’s near term GDPgrowth. However, the reportmentioned that a cyclicalslowdown is unlikely to alter itscredit outlook.Moody’s report pointed to thelimited room for further fiscalstimulus, given the fact that thegovernment targeted to cap thefiscal deficit at 4.6 per cent ofGDP in 2011-12, down from 4.7per cent last fiscal. Moody’s notedthat its outlook on India’s Baa3

foreign currency governmentbond rating remained stable witha Ba1 rating on the country’s localcurrency debt. The gap betweenthe Baa3 foreign currency debtand Ba1 local currency debtratings reflects the potentiallikelihood that the governmentcould prioritise its externalobligations over its domesticobligations.

Export of Endosulfanallowed

The Supreme Court of Indiaallowed the export of more thanone million tons of controversialinsecticide Endosulfan on 30September 2011, subject to strictmonitoring and supervision by theCustoms and EnvironmentMinistry officials. The SC benchcomprising Chief Justice S.H.Kapadia, Justice K.S.Radhakrishnan and JusticeSwatanter Kumar opined that1090.596 metric tons ofEndosulfan could be exported tothose countries from whomexport orders have been receivedby the manufacturers in India.TheSC decided on the issue after





hearing a plea seeking a completeban on production, sale,distribution and use of theagriculture insecticide accused ofcausing ailments in human beings.

Railway Revenue Jumps upby 8.52%

The total approximate earnings ofIndian Railways on originatingbasis during the period from 11thto 20th September 2011 wereRs. 2495.07 crore compared toRs. 2299.20 crore during the sameperiod last year, registering anincrease of 8.52 per cent. Thetotal goods earnings have gone upfrom Rs. 1497.40 crore during theperiod from 11th to 20thSeptember 2010 to Rs. 1614.48crore during 11th September –20th September 2011, showing anincrease of 7.82 per cent. Thetotal passenger revenue earningsduring the period 11th to 20thSeptember 2011 were Rs. 780.38crore compared to Rs. 713.47crore during the same period lastyear, reflecting an increase of 9.38per cent. The revenue earningfrom other coaching amounted toRs. 71.15 crore during this periodcompared to Rs . 59.63 croreduring the same period last year,showing an increase of 19.32 percent. The total approximatenumber of passengers bookedduring the period 11th to 20thSeptember 2011 were 240.40million compared to 232.30million during the same period lastyear, showing an increase of 3.49per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the number ofpassengers booked during 11th to20th September , 2011 were130.27 million and 110.13 million

compared to 127.59 million and104.71 million during the sameperiod last year, registering anincrease of 2.10 per cent and 5.18per cent respectively.

MOU between India Post &NSE for FinancialAwareness

India post signed a Memorandumof Understanding (MOU) withNational Stock Exchange (NSE)here today for deploying LCD TVscreens in selected post officesacross the country.This MOU isaimed at creating financialawareness among the public. Tobegin with LCD TV screens willbe deployed in 50 post officesacross the country. These LCDTV screens shall be utilized fordisseminating financial awarenessand awareness on various postalproducts and services for the

common public visiting postoffices. This step will bring thefinancial market place closer tothe people considering theimportance and footfall at postoffices . Besides publicizingproducts available in post offices,India Post will use the facility totrain the postal staff. Showcasinginformation about market will helppeople develop live skills aboutfinances and people will be ableto manage their finances better.

Additional Production ofPulses in Rabi 2011-12

Government has prepared acontingency plan for additionalproduction of pulses in Rabi 2011-12 through area expansion andproductivity enhancement. Pulsescovered under the scheme arepigeon pea, gram, pea and lentil. It is targeted to achieve anadditional production of Rs. 2.78MT during the ensuing Rabiseason and offset the loss ofKharif season. Additionalallocation of Rs. 80 crore hasbeen made for this purpose underNFSM- Pulses programme. State-wise allocation of additional fundsfor increasing crop production andproductivity of pulses are asunder:

State Additional allocation(in Rs. crore)A.P. 8.23Assam 3.78Bihar 3.20Chhattisgarh 8.80Haryana 5.32Jharkhand 4.55Karnataka 8.88MP 7.56Maharashtra 7.83Orissa 7.20Punjab 2.73U.P. 11.92



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Gujarat and Tamil Nadu will meetthe expenses of additional areaexpansion from their normalallocation under NFSM-Pulses. Asper the current coverage of areaunder pulses during Kharif 2011,there is a shortfall of 10.89 lakhhectare as against area coverageduring last Kharif season. Lessacreage during Kharif 2011 maylead to shortfall of 0.70 MT asper 1 st Advance Estimates ofProduction. The production andproductivity of pulses haveincreased during last three-fouryears from 14.20 MT in 2006-07to 14.66 MT during 2009-10.Likewise the productivity ofpulses has also increased from612kg/ha during 2006-07 to 630kg/ha during 2009-10. As per 4thAdvance Estimates of CropProduction, the production ofpulses has increased from 14.66MT (2009-10) to 18.09 MTduring 2010-11. Productivity ofpulses has also increased from630 kg/ha during 2009-10 to 689kg/ha during 2010-11.

Cropped Area Acreaged up

As per data received from States,rice has been sown in 381.32 lakhhectare as on today. It representsan increase of 33.54 lakh hectareover last year’s acreage on thisdate. Higher area coverage hasbeen reported from West Bengal,Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.Oilseeds have been sown in178.60 lakh hectare, 5.58 lakhhectare more than last year. Higher area coverage has beenreported in Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and UttarPradesh. The cropped areas as ontoday are as follows:

Crop This year’s area Last year’s area [as[as on 23rd September] on23 rd September]

Rice 381.32 347.78Maize 75.36 75.19Jowar 26.28 30.50Bajra 80.82 86.30Total of coarsecereals 200.19 210.89Arhar 38.64 45.54Moong 23.93 27.95Urad 23.37 24.86

109.41 120.30Soyabean 103.36 93.20Groundnut 43.28 49.46Total oilseeds 178.60 173.02Sugarcane 50.93 49.44Cotton 120.03 109.92

Mines and Minerals(Development andRegulation) Bill, 2011

The Government constituted aHigh Level Committee (HLC) in2006, which suggested forevolving a mining code adapted tothe best international practices,streamlining and simplifyingprocedures for grant of mineralconcessions to reduce delays, etc.Based on the HLCrecommendations , theGovernment had announcedNational Mineral Policy (NMP) on13 March 2008. To give effect tothe policy directions in NMP, theGovernment has now evolved anew Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation)Bill, 2011, after several rounds ofconsultations with thestakeholders including StateGovernments , concernedMinistries and Departments ofCentral Government, Industry andCivil Society. The MMDR Bill,2011 was referred to a Group ofMinisters (GoM) on 14 June 2010and which has now, after five

rounds of discussion, hadrecommended the draft Bill to theCabinet. The GoM in its meetingheld on 7 July, 2011 hasrecommended the draft MMDRBill, 2011 for introduction inParliament. The Union Cabinetapproved the proposal tointroduce the Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation) Bill(MMDR Bill), 2011, in terms ofNational Mineral Policy, 2008 inParliament and to repeal theexisting Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation)Act, 1957.

The Key Features of NewMMDR Bill, 2011, are theFollowing:

8 States may call forapplications in notified areasof known mineralization forprospecting based ontechnical knowledge, valueaddition, end-use proposedore -linkage etc. and to invitefinancial bid;

8 States may grant of directmining concessions through





bidding based on aprospecting report andfeasibility study in notifiedareas where data of mineralsis adequate for the purpose;

8 State Government may setup a minimum floor price forcompetitive bidding;

8 Special provisions forallowing mining of smalldeposits in cluster, wherecooperatives can apply;

8 National Mining RegulatoryAuthority for major minerals- State Governments mayset up similar Authority atState level for minorminerals;

8 Imposition of a Central cessand a State cess, and settingup of Mineral Funds atNational and State Level forcapacity creation;

8 For the purpose of sharingthe benefits of mining withpersons or families havingoccupation, usufruct ortraditional rights in miningareas , and for local areainfrastructure, creation anamount equal to royalty incase of mineral other thancoal, and 26% of net profits,in the case of coal, has beenproposed to be credited eachyear to district Level MineralFoundation;

8 Sustainable and scientificmining through provision fora Sustainable DevelopmentFramework;

8 Consultation with localcommunity before notifyingan area for grant ofconcession, and for approvalof Mine Closure Plans;

8 Enhanced penalties forviolation of provisions of theAct, including debarment ofperson convicted of illegalmining for future grants andtermination of all mineralconcessions held by suchperson; and

8 Establishment of SpecialCourts at the State level forspeedier disposal of thecases of illegal mining.

The new draft MMDR Act wouldhave financial implications in thecreation of an independentNational Mining Tribunal andNational Mining RegulatoryAuthority at the Central Level,and the expenditure involved inthe capacity building of the IndianBureau of Mines. The funds forthis expenditure are likely to bemet from levy of cess at the rateof 2.5% on the basis of Customs/Excise Duty.

YH Malegam Panel’sSuggestions

YH Malegam panel in September2011 proposed that the existingwell managed co-operative creditsocieties meeting certain financialcriteria like profits, capitaladequacy and NPA proportion begiven priority for granting licencesas urban co-operative banks(UCBs) particularly in unbankedor inadequately banked centres.

The panel acknowledged theimportance of urban co-operativebanks for financial inclusion and

suggested that new entrantsshould be encouraged to openbanks and branches in unbankedor inadequately banked area.UCBs play a useful role and thepanel felt a need for a greaterpresence of UCBs in unbankeddistricts and in centres havingpopulation less than 5 lakh.

It was also considered necessaryto discourage new entrants fromopening branches in districts andpopulation centres which arealready adequately banked. Asfar as capital requirement isconcerned, the panel suggestedminimum paid up capital of fromRs 50 lakh to Rs 5 croredepending on the area ofoperation.

The panel has recommended aminimum paid-up capital of Rs 5crore for UCBs that wish tooperate in more than one stateafter five years of successfuloperations. It also suggested thatthere should be segregation of theownership of the UCB as a co-operative society from itsfunctioning as a bank.The RBI hadannounced in the Annual PolicyStatement 2010-11 its intentionto set up a committee comprisingall stakeholders for studying theadvisability of granting new urbanco-operative banking licences.

Agro Advisory Services

The agro advisory servicescontinue to serve 50 AgroAdvisory Services units againstthe largest of 600 during themonth of last July. The serviceshave been extended to 21,00,000 users through mobileservices.During this period, an



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exclusive ocean state forecastservice for the southern districtsof Kerala state (Trivandrum,Kollam and Alapuzha) has beeninaugurated this month.

The forecasts are disseminated inlocal language , i.e. Malayalamthrough website of IndianNational Centre for OceanInformation Services, Hyderabad.An electronic display board alsohas been installed at the harbour.The system provides 3-dayforecasts of wave, wind, tide andcurrents characteristics for thecoastal waters of Kerala as wellas location specific forecasts forthe harbours/fishing harbours inthe state. Digital Current WeatherIndicating System (DCWIS ) hasbeen upgraded at Gondia Airport( Maharashtra) to report surfacepressure and temperature foraltimeter setting for safe landingof aircraft.

High Wind Speed Recorder(HWSR) has been installed atVeraval & Dwarka for cyclonemonitoring.Under the NumericalWeather Prediction & DataAssimilation system, the radardata (radial wind and reflectivity)from nine radar stations receivedthrough Global Telecommuni-cation System (GTS) are includedin the high resolution (9 km)WRF-VAR assimilation systemover Indian region. The utilizationof ASCAT scattero-meter windshave been developed.

Review of MineralConcession Regime in India

The quarterly meeting of theCentral Coordination-cum¬-Empowered Committee (CEC) onmonitoring and minimizing delaysin grant of approvals for mineralconcessions was held under thechairmanship of Shri S. VijayKumar, Secretary, Ministry ofMines.The Committee reviewedthe position regarding variousimportant aspects of the mineralconcession regime in the country,and took decisions aimed atbringing about more efficiency andtransparency in the system. Someof the important issues that cameup for discussions and review inthe meeting were: action taken tocurb illegal mining including use ofsatellite imagery; improvingmonitoring of the mineral systemthrough a State EmpoweredCommittee and District level TaskForces; plugging loopholes in theroyalty collection system;strengthening governance bygearing up the State MiningDirectorates; expediting approvalincluding forest clearance cases toclear long pending mineralconcession applications.

Major decis ions takenincluded:

(i) Action Plan to be preparedto increase capacity of StateMining Directorates.

(ii) End-to-end accountingsystem for mineraltransaction to prevent anddetect illegal mining throughan All Indian Online System.

(iii) Ensuring proper explorationin leasehold areas in a time-bound way to enableexecution of Mining Plans ina scientific manner.

8 Core InfrastructureIndustries registered 3.5 %Growth

As per the provisional datareleased on 27 September 2011by the Commerce Ministry, the 8core infrastructure industriesregistered an output growth of3.5 per cent in August 2011lower than the 4.4 per centgrowth witnessed in thecorresponding period in 2010. Theeight core industries include-crude oil, petroleum refineryproducts, natural gas, fertilizers,coal, electricity, cement andfinished steel. The eight coreindustries have a total weight of37.90 per cent in the Index ofIndustrial Production (IIP).Thecumulative growth rate of theeight industries during the April-August period of 2011-12 stoodat 5.3 per cent, down from the6.1 per cent in April-Augustperiod of 2010.

RBI hiked Repo Rate by 25basis points

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)in a move to contain persistinginflationary pressure, hiked theshort-term policy rate (repo rate)by 25 basis points from 8 per centto 8.25 per cent on 16September 2011. The reverserepo rate as a result gotautomatically adjusted to 7.25 percent and the marginal standingfacility (MSF) rate to 9.25 percent.Repo rate is the rate atwhich banks borrow from thecentral bank and reverse repo isthe rate at which banks park theirfunds with the RBI. The centralbank raised rates for the 12thtime since March 2010.





FDI Limit for FM radio upto 26%

The Union government increasedthe foreign direct investment limitfor FM radio from 20 per cent to26 per cent on 30 September2011.The government alsoexempted the education sectorand old-age homes from theconditions imposed in theconstruction sector.The FDI limitin terrestrial broadcasting and FMradio was approved by theCabinet in July 2011.

TRAI in 2010 had madenecessary recommendationsarguing that increasing the limitwill help the third-phase for FMradio, which will see 806 FMstations across 217 cities.FDI intoconstruction activities in theeducation sector and old-agehomes has been exempted fromthe conditionalities imposed onFDI in the constructiondevelopment sector. This wouldmean that schools, universities andcolleges would not have to meetminimum area and built-up arearequirement, minimum capitalrequirement, minimum capitali-sation requirement and lock-inperiod. The Department ofIndustrial Policy and Promotion(DIPP) mentioned that theeducational institute and old-agehomes have their own specialrequirements which do not fitthese conditionalities.

Ban on the Export of OnionsLifted

The Government has decided tolift the ban on the export ofonions.Onions can now beexported subject to a Minimum

Export Price (MEP) of US$ 475per tonne.

This is exactly the position thatwas prevailing on 8th September2011, immediately before the banon the export of onions wasimposed on 9th September 2011.The MEP will be reviewed everyfortnight and a close watch wouldbe kept on domestic arrivals,total exports, overall domesticavailability and domestic prices.

Fraud Risk ManagementPractices will beImplemented

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)directed banks to implementvarious safety measures related tocredit card and debit card usageover a period of next two yearsin order to eliminate cases offraud and ensure security oftransactions on 22 September2011.The RBI emphasised on the

need to migrate to Euro payMasterCard Visa (EMV) chip and

PIN based cards from the presentmagnetic strip cards as themagnetic strip card is vulnerableto skimming and cloning. The needfor a complete migration to EMVchip and PIN based cards couldbe considered based on theprogress of Aadhar (UniqueIdentification Card) in 18 monthstime frame. The RBI directedbanks to strengthen the existingpayment infrastructure and futureproofing system along withadoption of fraud riskmanagement practices within aperiod of next 12-24 months. Animperative need was felt tosecure card based transactions aswell to protect the interests ofthe card holders. In the circularissued in this repect the centralbank directed banks to implementimproved fraud risk management



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practices by 30 September 2012and secure the technology set upby 30 September 2013.

MOU between IIFCL, LICand IDFC for TFS

A MoU was signed in Mumbaibetween IIFCL, LIC and IDFC inMumbai.The Union FinanceMinister Shri Mukherjee said thatin this Scheme,IIFCL can take outdebt up to 20% of the TotalProject Cost after the COD ofthe project with certainlimitations.He said that there wasfelt need for higher take out. MoUbetween IIFCL and LIC & IDFCwill provide for takeout upto50% of the Total Project Cost inthe ratio of 20:20:10 by theseinstitutions respectively.ShriMukherjee said that he expectsthis mechanism will help financingto the tune of 30,000 crore underthe Scheme.Take out finance isessentially a mechanism designedto enable Banks/ Lenders toavoid asset liability mismatch thatmay arise out of extending longtenor loans to infrastructureprojects. Under this arrangement,Banks that extend credit facilityto infrastructure projects enterinto an arrangement with afinancial institution for transferringthe loan outstanding in the Banksbooks to the books of thefinancial institution who take outthe loan.Subsequent to theannouncement in the FY 2010-11general budget, Government ofIndia (GoI) entrusted IndiaInfrastructure Finance CompanyLtd. (IIFCL) with the task ofintroducing the Takeout FinanceScheme (TFS).

This will facilitate banks to takemore exposure in new projects,which in turn will help in bridgingthe gap in infrastructure financingto a great extent the FinanceMinster added.

Details of the MOU are:

1. Identified project Lender(s)will offer eligibleinfrastructure projects foravailing takeout financing toIIFCL in respect of mutuallyagreed accounts inaccordance with IIFCL’sTakeout Finance Scheme.

2. In respect of aforesaidmutually agreed accounts ofinfrastructure financing LIC,IDFC and IIFCL will agreeto give takeout finance(a) enter into a quadri-

partite agree-ment,which will be theTakeout Agreement asmutually agreedbetween the Parties,

(b) LIC, IIFCL and IDFCwill take out/ buy-out inthe ratio of 20:20:10respectively and takeout debt upto 50% ofthe project cost.

3. Earlier IIFCL could take outdebt upto 20% of the TotalProject Cost. With this MoUin place, the take out of debtupto 50% of the TotalProject Cost will bepossible. This will facilitatebanks to take more exposurein new projects, which inturn will help in bridging thegap in infrastructure financingto a great extent.

Salient Features andadvantages of TFS :

1. Enhances the availability oflong tenor debt finance for

infrastructure projects

2. It enables availability ofcheaper cost of financeavailable for the borrower

3. Addresses sectoral / group /single party exposure issuesof Banks/ Lenders who areproviding long term debtfinancing to infrastructureprojects.

4. Addresses Asset-Liabilitymismatch (ALM) of Banksarising out of financinginfrastructure projects andalso to free up capital forfinancing new projects.

Terms of Referenceextended of the NilekaniPanel

The Union government extendedthe terms of reference of theNilekani task force on directtransfer of subsidies on 20September 2011.The extendedterms of reference is to include anAadhaar-enabled unified paymentinfrastructure. Considering theexpansion the governmentenlarged the task force by addingfive new members .The newmembers is to include arepresentative from the ReserveBank of India, a representativefrom the Indian BanksAssociation, Director of theNational Informatics Centre, theController-General of Accounts inthe Finance Ministry or one of hisrepresentatives and the CEO ofthe National PaymentsCorporation of India.

Set up by the Union FinanceMinistry under the chairmanship ofUnique Identification Authority ofIndia (UIDAI) chief Nandan





Nilekani in February2011, the taskforce was asked to recommendand implement a solution for directtransfer of subsidies on kerosene,LPG and fertiliser to the intendedbeneficiaries.In tune with thedecision to expand the terms ofreference the panel was asked torecommend an architecture for e-banking through inter-operablebusiness correspondents andexamine the alignment of currentstandards for devices that will bedeployed by them. The panel wasalso asked to suggest one to alignthe recommendations of the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on aFramework for the Delivery ofBasic Financial Services usingmobile phones with Aadhaar-enabled payments infrastructure.

The panel is to recommend:

8 A solution that incorporatesa robust customer supportand grievance redressmechanism

8 The feasibility of extendingthe solution architecture toinclude payment instrumentsapart from bank accountsand post office savings bankaccounts to facilitate thefostering of e-commerceoversee and evaluate theimplementation of thesolution proposed on a pilotbasis.

8 A common framework toadopt it for all governmentwelfare schemes involvingdisbursements to individualbeneficiaries.

Solutions devised by the panelshould ensure that the entirecountry can leverage the samepayments platforms . whilerecommending an approach to

harmonise various exercisesrelated to opening bank accountsfor financial inclusion andelectronic benefit transfers, thepanel should also identify andrecommend amendments which itfelt was required required toenable direct subsidytransfers .The task force is tosubmit its final report on theextended Terms of Referencewithin 3 months of the extensionof the Terms of Reference.Thetask force had submitted itsinterim report on 5 July 2011 andthe suggestions therein were takenup by Ministries on a pilot basisunder its supervision of the taskforce.The interim report hadsuggested direct cash transfersthrough banks, ATMs or evenmobile banking to beneficiaries ofkerosene, LPG and fertilisersubsidies.

$1 Billion ECBs in Yuanallowed

The Union Government decidedto allow corporates to raiseExternal Commercial Borrowings(ECBs) in yuan (Renminbi)equivalent to $1 billion to helpcompanies who are trading with

China on 15 September 2011.Forthe first time yuan, (equivalent of$1 billion) was allowed as anacceptable currency under theECB. So far, the government hadallowed firms to raise externalcommercial borrowings (ECBs)only in US dollar, Japanese yen,euro and British pound. Thedecision to allow companies toraise ECBs in yuan is expected tobenefit infrastructure firms such asADAG Group company ReliancePower and Lanco Infratech.TheCabinet Committee on EconomicAffairs did not raise the overallceiling of ECB, which is now at$30 billion.The decision wouldhelp companies across allsegments to access higherquantum of overseas funds. Forthe services sector, the ECB limitunder the automatic route hadbeen doubled to $200 million andfor NGOs from $5 million to $10million.

Post Offices toProvide Visa RelatedServices

India Post has signed aMemorandum of Understanding



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(MOU) with M/s VFS Global toprovide visa related services fordifferent countries through PostOffices . Memorandum ofUnderstanding between IndiaPost and M/s VFS Global wassigned in Delhi on 30 August2011. The MOU sets out broadunderstandings and intentions ofboth the parties to provide visarelated services at places wherethey are not currentlyavailable.Post Office counters willbe used for fee collections ,providing visa applications forms,dissemination of visa information,biometric enrollment and othervisa application process relatedservices. India Post and VFS arealso planning to cooperate inutilizing India Post’s courierservice, Speed Post formovements of passports to VFSoffices and concerned embassies,and their delivery back to theapplicants. Both the parties willalso explore to provide any otherservice that India Post may wantto provide through VFS globalnetwork on mutually acceptedterms.M/s VFS Global is in thebusiness of visa applicationservices and is working with 35governments across the worldwith over 450 offices in 50countries.

Fiscal Deficit Surged to Rs2.73 lakh crore

According to Comptroller Generalof Accounts data released on 30September, the government’sfiscal deficit surged nearly two-fold to Rs 2.73 lakh crore duringthe first five months (April-August) of the current fiscal2011-12 due to low revenue

realisation.Deficit was Rs 1.5 lakhcrore in April-August period of2010.The higher deficit in theApril-August, 2011 wasattributed to slowdown in netrevenue collection following higherrefunds and moderation ineconomic growth rate. Thegovernment decided to increase2011’s borrowing target by anadditional Rs 53,000 croreanticipating slower tax collectionsand lower disinvestmentproceeds.The deficit in the April-August period was 66.3 per centof the target originally estimatedat the beginning of the 2011-12fiscal for the whole year.PrimeMinister’s Economic AdvisoryCouncil (PMEAC) chairman CRangarajan pointed out that thetarget to cut fiscal deficit to at 4.per cent of the GDP for thecurrent financial year would bemissed.Finance Minister PranabMukherjee had lowered the fiscaldeficit target to Rs 412,817 croreor 4.6 per cent of the grossdomestic product from 4.7 percent achieved during 2010-11.

Public Private Partnershipfor Infrastructure Projects

The finance ministry released thedraft national public-privatepartnership (PPP) policy aimed atcreating a framework forimplementing infrastructureprojects across sectors on 27September 2011.Thedevelopment follows theannouncement made by theFinance Minister PranabMukherjee in the Budget. Thedraft of PPP policy was releasedin pursuance of government’scommitment to improve the leveland quality of economic and social

infrastructure service.The Policyseeks to expand the scope of thePPP scheme. It aims to developgovernance structures to facilitatecompetitiveness, fairness andtransparency in procurement andattaining appropriate publicoversight and monitoring of PPPprojects.

India’s Spending on GreenIT & SustainabilityInitiatives to Double to $70billion in 2015

According to a report Hypecycle for green IT andsustainability in India, 2011 by leading IT research and advisorycompany Gartner, India’sspending on green IT andsustainability initiatives will doublefrom $35 billion in 2010 to $70billion in 2015.The report pointedout that India’s information andcommunication technology (ICT)industry will be an early adopterof green IT and sustainabilitysolutions as India is one of thefastest-growing markets in termsof IT hardware and communi-cations infrastructure consum-ption. Apart from the ICTindustry, the banking and financialservices , hospitality,manufacturing (such asautomobiles), pharma, and otherindustries that have significantexposure to the export markets,will join the green IT andsustainability trend early inIndia.As per the report awarenessof green IT and sustainabilityissues is low in Indianorganisations . However theincreasing global focus on energyefficiency, energy security andgreen IT and sustainability issuesis will not only raise awareness





but also cause the executiveleadership in the technology sectorto track, report and managesustainable and resource-efficientbusiness practices.

Committee Set up byTRAI Submitted Report

A three-member expertcommittee, set up by the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India andmeant to determine the precisevalue of spectrum during 2001-2008 submitted a report In thereport the committee compalinedof a tricky exercise plagued bydata deficit.The panel stressed onthe importance of adequate andgood quality data in an estimationof the loss.The task of estimatingthe data become furthercomplicated because it involvedgoing back in time during whichthere was unexpected andunprecedented growth of thetelecom industry.The reportrecommended auction ofspectrum as the ideal method.Thereport estimated the value of

spectrum in 2008 to be betweenRs 5500 crore and Rs 9500crore. It complained that theauction route not being taken bythe government proved to be astumbling block in its inquiry.

domestic and internationalparticipants. Over 200 exhibitorsfrom 22 countries areparticipating in India’s largestrailway show.IREE-2011 is alsohosting an international rail withthe theme “Rail Transportation inIndia: Moving to the Next Orbit”will focus mainly on future of railtransportation in India, rollingstock- emerging trends andtechnologies including diesel andelectric locomotives, high speedtrains, system components, railinfrastructure including Trackmodernization, Integrated Railmanagement, Advances inSignaling and Telecom, DedicatedFreight Corridor, Upgradation ofRailway Bridges , Propulsiontechnology, PPP, finance,investment, Operations ,Maintenance, logistics and thechanging face of urbantransportation in India.

The objectives of theconference are:8 To showcase the large-scale

business opportunity inIndia’s railway sector,

8 To discuss the IndianRailway’s vision in adoptingnext- generation policy,procedural and regulatoryinitiatives needed to attractinvestments in the sector,

8 To provide a platform forexchange of views, ideas andbusiness opportunitiesamong the global / domesticindustry and Indian railways,

8 To discuss the state ofdevelopment and trends inbenchmarking for the Indianrailways in operationparameters and to highlightthe railway’s vision in freightmanagement and passengerservices.

The International RailwayEquipment Exhibition -2011

The International RailwayEquipment Exhibition (IREE)organised by the Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII) inassociation with the Ministry ofRailways, Government of India, isthe only international event inIndia for the Railway industry andits allied sectors.IREE has alwaysbeen organized in association withthe Indian Railways and theyparticipate in a big way,displaying their capabilities andfuture requirements .We arepresently staging the 9th Editionfrom 28-30 September 2011. Thefirst edition of IREE was held in1990 in Kolkata. The exhibitionturned biennial in 2003.The 9thIREE 2011 received anoverwhelming response from both



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INDIA ANDBANGLADESH

India and Bangladesh signed ahistoric protocol on land boundaryagreement following the talksbetween Prime Minister

Mahmohan Singh and BangladeshPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina inDhaka on 6 September 2011.Theagreement in itself is historic,

after signing agreements, IndianPrime Minister said that signing ofthe protocol on land boundary willresolve all issues relating to un-demarcated boundary areas ,enclaves and land under adversepossession.

During the visit of ManmohanSingh to Bangladesh, India andBangladesh signed the followingagreements:

(i) Framework Agreement onCooperation forDevelopment

(ii) Protocol to the Agreementconcerning the demarcationof the Land Boundarybetween India andBangladesh and relatedmatters

(iii) Addendum to the MOUbetween India andBangladesh to facilitateOverland Transit Trafficbetween Bangladesh andNepal

because for the first time Indiawill have a fully demarcatedboundary with one of itsneighbours.In a joint statement,

INDIA & THE WORLD



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(iv) Memorandum ofUnderstanding forCooperation in RenewableEnergy

(v) Memorandum ofUnderstanding onConservation of theSunderban

(vi) Protocol on Conservation ofthe Royal Bengal Tiger of theSunderban

(vii) Memorandum ofUnderstanding onCooperation in Fisheries

(viii) Memorandum ofUnderstanding onCooperation betweenDoordarshan andBangladesh Television

(ix) Memorandum ofUnderstanding onCooperation betweenJawaharlal Nehru Universityand Dhaka University

(x) Agreement of Cooperationbetween National Instituteof Fashion Design (NIFT),India and BGMEA Instituteof Fashion Technology(BIFT), Bangladesh

Bangladesh Prime Minister SheikhHasina described the landboundary agreement as a historicmoment in bilateral relations andadded that the frameworkagreement on cooperation anddevelopment is a visionarydocument that looks not just onthe reality today but also thepotentials of tomorrow.India andBangladesh also agreed to removeall barriers and improveinfrastructure like road, port andrail links for enhancing bilateraltrade. This was agreed after atwo-day successful visit by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh. Duringhis visit, Manmohan Singhannounced to remove 46 textileslines, of interest to Bangladesh,from India’s negative list for theleast developed countries underthe South Asia Free Trade AreaAgreement (SAFTA). Importduties on these items fromBangladesh will be eliminated withimmediate effect.

INDIA AND PAKISTAN

At the invitation of theCommerce Minister of India, ShriAnand Sharma, the CommerceMinister of Pakistan, MakhdoomMohammad Amin Fahim visitedIndia from 26th September to 2ndOctober, 2011.

After more than three and a halfdecades, this is the first visit by aPakistan Commerce Minister toIndia. The official level discussionswere held on 28th Septemberbetween the Commerce Ministersand their respective officialdelegations. Both Ministers notedwith satisfaction that India andPakistan are entering a new phaseof full normalization of bilateral

trade relations. This augurs wellfor enhancing mutual trust andunderstanding.

The Ministers agreed to jointlywork to more than doublebilateral trade within three years,from current levels of 2.7 BillionUS dollars per annum to about 6Billion dollars. This goal shall alsobe facilitated through theMemorandum of Understandingsigned today between the IndiaTrade Promotion Organizationand the Trade DevelopmentAuthority of Pakistan. The MoUshall foster better tradepromotional activities, for thebenefit of business communities ofboth countries .The Ministersmandated their Commerce

Secretaries to pursue with vigorthe task of fully normalizingbilateral trade relations. Theyagreed that their countries wouldcooperate for a high ambition ofpreferential trade relations underthe framework of the South AsiaFree Trade Agreement (SAFTA).They noted with satisfaction thejoint and collaborative effortsalready being made by India and





Pakistan to liberalize trade ingoods and services under SAFTA.They agreed that all mutualobligations contracted underSAFTA would be implementedwith full sincerity.

The Ministers appreciated theprogress made and roadmap laidfor trade liberalization in the April2011 meeting of the CommerceSecretaries. They furthermandated their respectiveCommerce Secretaries that whenthey meet in November, 2011they shall lay down specifictimelines to normalize all traderelationships including dismantlingof all non-tariff barriers. Fullimplementation of SAFTAobligations was also mandated.

Both Ministers agreed that jointand concerted efforts will bemade in all areas to create anenabling environment for tradeand to encourage greaterengagement between the businesscommunities of both countries.

They agreed to further promotegreater intra-regional connectivitythrough road, rail, shipping and air.

This meeting has been animportant milestone inidentification of issues impedingtrade (in sectors such as cement,textiles, surgical instruments) asperceived by the businesscommunities of both countries.Customs arrangements have alsobeen significantly synchronizedand both sides are vigorouslyaddressing issues of infrastructure,to further promote bilateral tradethrough the land route of Attari-Wagah.

The new business visa regimewould allow multiple entry and

could be for a period up to oneyear.The Ministers expressed thehope that such a new visa regimewould rapidly expand the vistas ofbilateral commerce.Theyemphasized that a more secureregional environment wouldprogressively help both countriesto keep liberalizing the visaarrangements for businesspersons.The Ministers agreed that thebilateral trade liberalizationprocess should be uninterruptibleand irreversible.

They affirmed that both countrieswould cooperate and work inclose coordination at multilateralforum, such as WTO andSAARC, to support each other,thereby strengthening theireconomies.

INDIA AND CHINA

India and China held their firstStrategic Economic Dialogue inBeijing on 26 September 2011.India and China agreed to deepenbilateral investment cooperation,further open up markets to eachother and improve the investment

environment.India and China alsoagreed to strengthen cooperationon energy efficiency andconservation, as well as onenvironmental protection. In orderto promote sustainabledevelopment, the two sidesagreed to cooperate in therenewable energy sector.The two sides agreed to host thenext SED in 2012 inIndia.Strategic Economic Dialoguewill increase mutual understandingand trust between India andChina.Through this dialogue, bothnations could share theirexperience to achieve economicdevelopment. Although thebilateral trade crossed 61 billionUS dollars in 2011, India was leftwith deficit of over 40.9 billionUS dollars due to acceleratedexports from China.

INDIA AND USA

Minister of Power ShriSushilkumar Shinde visited UnitedStates of America to take part inthe 8th India Investment Forum inNew York.The India Investment



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Forum had distinguished gatheringof top ranking India centricinvestors, captains of Indian andUS Industries,especially thosefrom power sector, seniorgovernment representatives, FundManagers and Analysts.

Calling upon the Americaninvestors to invest in Indianpower sector, Shri Shinde said thatIndia has taken several measuresto make the power sectorinvestor friendly in a fast growingcompetitive environment, he saidthat an independent regulatoryframework in India now providesbusiness confidence to powercompanies and a fairly lucrativerate of return on equity of 15.5per cent per annum.

Highlighting the reforms in thepower sector the Minister saidthat the Electricity Act 2003allows the sector to align itselfwith market dynamics and clearsthe roadblocks especially in theway of greater participation bythe private sector.Shri Shinde saidthat while the present installedgeneration capacity in India isabout 1,81,000 MW, more than80,000 MW of new power

capacity is under construction. Heinformed the gathering that the12th Plan aims at a capacityaddition of nearly 100 thousandMW. The Minister said that in the11th Plan period from 2007 to2012, the funding requirement in

the norm. Shri Shinde said as ofJanuary 2011, all power to beprocured is mandated through thecompetitive bidding route. He said100% Direct Foreign Investmenthas been allowed for sometimesnow in all segments of the powersector including power trading.The Minister said that investorconfidence has returned to thesector which is amply borne outby the fact that all projects of the11th Five Year Plan and 78,000MW for the 12th plan haveachieved financial closure.

Shri Shinde informed that 16 UltraMega Power Projects (UMPPs)and 14 Inter State Transmissionschemes have been identified fordevelopment by the private sectoron competitive bidding route.Stating that while the bidding offour Ultra Mega Power Projectsand six transmission projects havebeen completed, Shri Shinde saidthat more than 5 UMPPs are inthe pipeline, for which SpecialPurpose Vehicles (SPVs) havebeen created by the PFC.

Regarding Hydro power ShriShinde said that estimatedpotential in hydro sector in Indiais 1,50,000 MW out of whichonly 30,000 MW has beenharnessed. The remaining capacityneeds to be developed whichprovides the investors anopportunity. To enable theproject developer in the HydroSector a reasonable and quickreturn on investment merchantsale of up to a maximum of 40%of the saleable energy has beenallowed, making investments inthe sector more attractive.

The Minister said that India isactively pursuing a low carbon

Indian Power Sector had beenestimated at USD 230 billion, andthe similar investment isanticipated for 12th Plan.

Allaying the apprehensions ofinvestors on the availability offuel, Shri Shinde said India isworking on increasing imports aswell as domestic production ofcoal. He said a Group of Ministershas been formed to quicklyaddress the coal shortage issue.The Minister added that in orderto increase the availability of gas,India is working on an RLNGpooling mechanism.On the policyfront, Shri Shinde said that theNational Electricity Policy, 2005and the Tariff Policy, 2006 havepaved the way for renewedinterest amongst both developersand investors. He said the biddingdocuments have beenstandardized and the competitivebidding route is slowly becoming





growth strategy which includesSuper Critical Technology inThermal Plants , the rapidinduction of Clean CoalTechnologies and a sharper focuson renewables .He said thatinternational majors likeMitsubishi, Toshiba, Hitachi,Alstom and Ansaldo have alreadystarted the process of partneringwith Indian manufacturers to setup Super Critical Manufacturingfacilities in India. He alsohighlighted India’s commitmenttowards renewable energy andsaid that India plans to add20,000 MW of solar power by2022. He said that the StateElectricity RegulatoryCommissions (SERCs) aremandating a minimum RenewablePurchase Obligations (RPOs) toDiscoms and a mechanism fortrading of Renewable EnergyCertificates (RECs) throughpower exchanges has also startedworking in India.

He said that an investment of Rs.74,000 crores ($ 15 billions)would be required for energyefficiency initiatives in India. Hesaid that in order to improveconfidence among the FinancialInstitutions , a robust andtransparent energy audit systemhas been created. Sharing thatboth the Partial Risk GuaranteeFund and the Venture CapitalFund are being created forboosting investments in the areaof energy efficiency, the Ministersaid that a National Mission onEnhanced Energy Efficiency isunder implementation.During thevisit Shri Shinde also addressedCEO’s meet organised by USIBC.Shri Shinde was on a five day visit

to the USA which aimed atenhancing cooperation betweenthe two countries in the powersector.

INDIA AND GERMANY

International Advanced ResearchCentre for Powder Metallurgy &New Materials (ARCI)Hyderabad of India and theFraunhofer Society of Germanyhas signed a path breakingcooperative R&D agreement inthe field of automotivetechnologies. This partnership is aresult of the dialogue between theIndian Core Group onAutomotive R&D (CAR) andGerman Fraunhofer Society (FhG)some time ago.CAR is a majorinitiative of the Government ofIndia to promote collaborativeR&D among Indian Industry,R&D Institutions and Academiafor the benefit of the automotiveindustry. The CAR programmeswere initiated by the PrincipalScientific Adviser to theGovernment of India. TheDepartment of Science &

Technology as the nodal agencyhas funded the projects developedby DST-TIFAC under the CARprogramme. The ministries ofHeavy Industry, Electronics andRoad Transportation have been

the other members of the CARapex committee and providedfunds where necessary. FhG is aleading industrial R&Dorganization in Europe. With aview to exploring the possibilityof collaboration between CAR-FhG workshops were held in Indiaand Germany. Distinguishedexperts drawn from Indianacademia, national laboratoriesand industry and Fraunhoferinstitutes participated in theworkshops and identified projectsunder four broad themes :Materials , Manufacturing,Automotive Electronics andPropulsion in short-term, medium-term and long-term categories.

The first of the collaborativeprojects “MultiJoin” is the basis ofthe agreement signed todaybetween the German and Indiansides.A special feature of this



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project arises from the way R&Dprojects were identified.“Multijoin” project priority wasindustry-driven and Governmentsupported. “MultiJoin” projectaims at enabling light weighting ofautomotive body through hybriddesigns involving multi-materials.Four Indian institutions, ARCIHyderabad, IISc Bengaluru, IITMadras and ARAI Pune; fourFraunhofer institutions IWU, IWS,IFAM and IZFP; withparticipation of Indian automotiveOEMs will work on evaluation offour different joining techniques tojoin aluminium, steel and plastic indissimilar combinations leading todevelopment of design guidelinesfor incorporation of the newlygenerated knowledge intoautomotive body designs. Optimaltechnology concepts includingappropriate quality controlstrategies based on a cost benefitanalysis will be implemented inproduction by interestedindustries.

INDIA AND SOUTHAFRICA

India and South Africa agreed tostrengthen bilateral cooperation inthe MSME (micro, small andmedium enterprise) sector. SouthAfrica houses many prominentcentres of learning and excellence.The MSME sector accounts for alarge share of industrial output,employment and exports in bothcountries. There are immenseopportunities of cooperation andstrategic alliances in MSMEsector, which could be in the formof joint ventures , technologycollaborations or marketing tie-ups.

The total trade between the twocountries in the financial year2010-11 was 10.6 billion USdollars, higher than bilateral tradetarget of 10 billion US dollars bythe year 2012, set during the visitof South African President JacobZuma to India in June, 2010. Arevised bilateral trade target of 15 billion US dollars has been setfor the year 2014.

South Africa is India’s 2nd largesttrading partner in Africa. There is,however, ample scope ofdiversifying the existing tradebasket by bringing in many moremanufactured goods. There isactive contact between India andSouth Africa in multilateral fora,particularly at the NAM ,Commonwealth, G-77, G-20,NAASP and WTO. Bothcountries are part of the IBSAtrilateral initiative. Both countriesare currently non-permanentmembers of the UN SecurityCouncil (2011-2012). SArendered pro-active support in the

NSG decision to enable full civilnuclear cooperation with India.SA recently participated in theBRICS summit held in China inApril, 2011.

INDIA AND MYANMAR

India and Myanmar on 27September 2011 agreed to set a3 billion US dollars as trade target.The trade target will be achievedby 2015. At present, the bilatraltrade between India and Myanmaris 1.5 billion US dollars. This wasdecided at a fourth meeting ofjoint trade commission which wasattended by the Union CommerceMinister, Anand Sharma and theMyanmar’s Minister ofCommerce, U. Win Myint.Indiaand Myanmar also agreed to builda Land Custom Station at India-Myanmar Border (Mizoram) tofacilitate the movement ofvehicles and goods entering andleaving Mizoram. Both nationsnoted that the border trade pointat Moreh on the Indian side and





Tamu on the Myanmar side hadhuge potential for normal trade.

It should be noted that one thirdof India’s imports of pulses andone-fifth of India’s imports oftimber are from Myanmar. Atpresent, pulses and woodproducts accounts for 97.5percent of Myanmar’s totalexports to India whilepharmaceuticals and buffalo meataccounted for 45 percent ofIndia’s total exports toMyanmar.India and Myanmarimplemented the India-ASEAN(Association of Southeast AsianNations) Free Trade Agreement(FTA) on 1 September 2010.India had also implemented theDuty Free Tariff Preference(DFTP) scheme for Myanmar inJanuary 2009, under whichMyanmar would gain marketaccess for 94 per cent of India’sproducts at zero duty.India andMyanmar have also increased thelist of items for border trade from22 to 40.

INDIA AND ISRAEL

India and Israel have decided toenhance cooperation in TourismSector. This was decided at ameeting between StasMisezhnikov, Tourism Minister ofIsrael and Union Tourism Minister,Subodh Kant Sahai held in NewDelhi on 5 September 2011.Boththe countries have decided toconsider exchanging experience indestination management andpromotion. Manpowerdevelopment will be another areaof cooperation between India andIsrael. Exchange programme forteachers, students, and exchangeof information on teaching

modules will be considered by thetwo countries.

Tour operators and travel agentsof both the countries will interactwith each other in order topromote two-way tourismbetween India and Israel. Thepossibilities for promotingpackage tours in either of thecountries will also be explored bythe travel trade of two countries.

Tourist traffic from Israel to Indiawas 40581 in 2009, which rose to43539 in the year 2010. Anagreement between India andIsrael on cooperation in the fieldof tourism was signed in NewDelhi in May, 1993. Both thecountries have rectified thisagreement. India Tourism Officelocated in Frankfurt is responsiblefor promoting India as a touristdestination in the Israeli market.

INDIA AND NEPAL

India and Nepal resumed bilateraltalks on security issues inKathmandu on 22 September

2011. The-two-day jointsecretary level talks between

India and Nepal was resumedafter a gap of four years. The lastone was held in New Delhi in2007.Besides information sharingand security issues, India andNepal also discussed aboutconstruction of the Nepal PoliceAcademy at Panauti with Indianassistance of 5 billion Nepalirupees. The two nations alsodeliberated on bordermanagement and trans-bordercrime, human trafficking andsmuggling of fake Indian currencythrough the open border.AlthoughIndia-Nepal agreement to holdjoint-secretary level security talksevery six months is in place, thesecurity talks were not held forthe past four years. India andNepal share 1800 km long borderbetween them.

INDIA AND URUGUAY

The Government of the Republicof India signed a Double Taxation



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Avoidance Agreement (DTAA)with the Oriental Republic ofUruguay for the avoidance ofdouble taxation and for theprevention of fiscal evasion withrespect to taxes on income and oncapital on 8th September ,2011.The DTAA provides thatbusiness profits will be taxable inthe source state if the activities ofan enterprise constitute apermanent establishment in thatstate. Such permanentestablishment includes a branch,factory, etc. Profits of aconstruction, assembly orinstallation projects will be taxedin the state of source if theproject continues in that state formore than six months.

Profits derived by an enterprisefrom the operation of ships oraircraft in international traffic shallbe taxable in the country ofresidence of the enterprise.Dividends, interest and royaltyincome will be taxed both in thecountry of residence and in thecountry of source. However, themaximum rate of tax to becharged in the country of sourcewill not exceed 5% in the case ofdividends and 10% in the case ofinterest and royalties. Capitalgains from the sale of shares willbe taxable in the country ofsource and tax credit will be givenin the country of residence.TheAgreement further incorporatesprovisions for effective exchangeof information including bankinginformation and assistance incollection of taxes between taxauthorities of the two countries inline with internationally acceptedstandards including anti-abuseprovisions to ensure that the

benefits of the Agreement areavailed of by the genuineresidents of the two countries.TheAgreement will provide taxstability to the residents of Indiaand Uruguay and facilitate mutualeconomic cooperation as well asstimulate the flow of investment,technology and services betweenIndia and Uruguay.

INDIA AND CANADA

Government of India and Canadaagreed that residual issues withregard to Foreign InvestmentProtection Agreement (FIPA) andBilateral Social SecurityAgreement (SSA) between thetwo countries have been resolvedand both agreements could nowbe signed at an opportune time.Mr. Edward Fast, Minister ofInternational Trade of Canadaalso confirmed that the Canadianside has delinked the SSA fromFIPA. India’s Commerce MinisterAnand Sharma raised the issue ofconstrained supply of Potash fromCanada to the Indian buyers.Hesaid that the Government ofCanada should view this matterfrom a strategic perspective andurge the Canadian businesses to

enter into long term agreementswith the Indian buyers oncommercial terms.

The two Ministers took stock ofthe current status of trade andcommercial linkages betweenIndia and Canada. They alsodiscussed steps to be taken byboth sides to intensify theinteraction between thegovernment and the private sectorstakeholder on both sides.Minister

Sharma underscored the need toconvene the meeting of the India-Canada CEO Forum at an earlydate so that the agenda forpositive engagement between thebusinesses of the two countriescould be furthered.MinisterSharma strongly raised theproblems being faced byprofessionals of the Indian ITindustry in obtaining appropriatevisas for Canada. He said that thiswas limiting services tradebetween the two countries. In thisregard, he asked Minister Fast tosensitize the relevant Canadianauthorities to remove impedimentsto the movement of ITprofessionals from India toCanada. Minister Fast said thatthe Canadian government had





recently changed its policy andunder the revised guidelinesCanada was giving appropriatemultiple entry visas if thepassports were of 10 yearvalidity.

INDIA AND LIBYA

India announced support forLibya’s Transitional NationalCouncil in the UN on 17September 2011.The Uniongovernment of India supportedthe acceptance of credentials ofthe delegation of the TNC, toattend the 66th session of UNGeneral Assembly in New York.The TNC delegation was headedby its President Mustafa AbdelJalil.India participated as anobserver in the Libyan ContactGroup meeting in Istanbul in July2011. India’s charge d’ affaires toLibya, at present based in Tunis,formally established contact withthe TNC mission in Tunis. India

recently gave humanitarianassistance of 1 million dollars toLibya.

INDIA AND ZIMBABWE

India and Zimbabwe agreed toexpedite the ratification of BIPA( Bilateral Investment Promotion

particular, in the rail sector whereIndia had gained considerableexpertise in laying of tracks anddevelopment of rolling stock,IRCON and RITES could assistZimbabwe in the expansion andrehabilitation of its railinfrastructure. In the aviationsector also India could providetechnical assistance toZimbabwe.Mr. Scindia informedhis Zimbabwe counterpart that ithad been decided to furtherstrengthen the India-Zimbabwebilateral ties by setting up Ruraltechnology Park and Food testinglaboratory in Zimbabwe.Mr. Scindia stressed that there isscope for significantdiversification of Indian exports toZimbabwe, and Zimbabweanexports to India, and tosubstantially increase the presentlow level of bilateral trade of US$ 125 mn registered in 2010-11.He highlighted the fact that in thecoming years maximum growthwill be from south-south tradeamongst the countries of Asia,Africa and Latin America. Theminister also appreciated thecontribution of 10000 strongIndian Diaspora in Zimbabwe tothe economy of Zimbabwe.Speaking about the potential areasof cooperation between the twocountries, he mentioned thatZimbabwe has the world’s largestplatinum reserves and alsopossesses large reserves of gold,coal, asbestos, copper, nickel andiron ore.Indian mining companiescould partner Zimbabwean miningmajors in key value-addedactivities. He also mentionedabout other business sectors, suchas renewable energy, whereIndian and Zimbabwean

and Protection Agreement)between India and Zimbabwe forfurther strengthening theinvestment and trade ties betweenthe two countries. This was oneof the important outcomes of thebilateral meetings betweenHon’ble minister of stateCommerce and Industries Mr.Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and hiscounterpart minister fromZimbabwe Government. Mr.Scindia was on a visit toZimbabwe accompanied by abusiness delegation.He offeredIndia’s full support in thedevelopment of telecom,highways and railways sectors. In



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companies could strike projectpartnerships.

India is helping Zimbabwe incapacity building and assisting indeveloping its own research andknowledge base by sharingexperiences in various sectorssuch as SME, Power, Agricultureetc. Zimbabwe will soon join otherAfrican countries that arebenefiting from the Pan-African e-Network, a project that willconnect all 53 countries of theAfrican Union (AU) with asatellite and fibre optic for sharingIndia´s expertise in education andhealth. Government of India alsoprovides assistance to Zimbabweunder the ITEC programme forcapacity building.

INDIA AND TURKEY

India and Turkey agreed forfuture cooperation in coal relatedareas during the meeting betweenSriprakash Jaiswal, Minister ofCoal, Government of India andTaner Yildiz, Minister for Energyand Natural Resources,government of Turkey on 12September 2011.The meetingtook place at Istanbul, Turkey onthe sidelines of the 22nd WorldMining Congress inauguralsession. India and Turkeydiscussed about the energysituation in the two countries,particularly in the field of coalmining. India offered technicalcooperation to develop coal andlignite deposits and coal washingin Turkey. Turkey is planning toset up some 15000 MW coalbased power generation plantsand requested Indian companies toparticipate in the tenders.

INDIA AND BHUTAN

India and Bhutan signed aMemorandum of Understandingfor a period of five years tofacilitate exchange of knowledgeand experience, information,material, expertise and technicalknowhow, training of personneland development of humanresources in electoral matters andalso for taking up joint initiativesand providing assistance toothers .The MoU was signedduring the visit of Chief ElectionCommissioner SY Quraishi toBhutan on 16-18 September2011.The Chief ElectionCommissioner of India offered tocreate a SAARC Resource Centreat the India International Instituteof Democracy and ElectionManagement for preserving andnurturing election relateddocumentation in relation toSAARC countries .The ChiefElection Commissioner of Bhutanasked for training of their newlyinducted officers through the

IIDEM platform in India. Quraishiagreed to that and offered to train

Bhutanese election officials duringthe process of forthcoming Stateelections.

INDIA AND UGANDA

The government-run IndianInstitute of Foreign Trade (IIFT)setup its first overseas campus inKampala, Uganda to assiststudents of African nationsunderstand the nuances ofglobalisation and capacity-buildingin the continent.The new institute,named India-Africa Institute ofForeign Trade (IAIFT), is beingset up as a part of the Indiangovernment’s initiative to helpdevelop a higher educationsystem in African countries inspecialised fields.It will be a pan-Africa institute-part of India’scommitment for capacity-buildingin Africa. Established in 1963 bythe government of India, Duringthe India-Africa Forum Summit in2008, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh had announced that Indiawould help establish 19





educational institutions in Africa.IIFT is one of them and theAfrican Union wanted it to be setup in Kampala.

INDIA AND ESTONIA

India signed DTAA (DoubleTaxation Avoidance Agreement)with Estonia on 19 September2011 and forged a pact to workwith it in the field of information,communications and technology

(ICT).The DTAA and the pact onICT was signed during the visit ofcommunications and InformationTechnology Minister Kapil Sibal toEstonia. Estonia is a state in theBaltic region of Northern Europe.

Kapil signed the DTAA withEstonian Minister of FinanceJurgen Ligi.India will also set up aChair on Cyber Security in TallinnUniversity and a Chair on Indianlanguages, history and literature in

another of Estonia’suniversities.The government ofEstonia also announced 20scholarships for Indian studentsthat enroll with Estonianuniversities for accrediteddoctoral programme leading to aPhD degree in information andcommunication technology,environment technology,biotechnology, materialtechnology power engineering orhealth.

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BOEING’S P-8ICOMPLETED FIRST

FLIGHT INSEATTLE

Boeing’s first long-range maritimereconnaissance and anti-submarinewarfare aircraft P-8I for theIndian Navy completed its initialflight at the Boeing Field inSeattle,USA on 29 September2011.Test pilots performedairborne systems checks includingengine accelerations anddecelerations and autopilot flightmodes during the flight.

The plane was taken to an altitudeof 41,000 ft and stayed airbornefor two and half hours .Indiaawarded a $2.1-billion (aroundRs9450 crore) contract to Boeingin January 2009 for eight suchplanes to replace the ageing fleetof Soviet-era Tu-142s.Poseidon isinternationally acknowledged asthe benchmark in maritime

patrol.It marries a tried and testedsensor and weapons suite with aspecially developed Boeing 737aircraft. Given that reliability andendurance are crucial, it waslogical to base the Poseidon onthe world’s most widely flownairliner (a 737 lands or takes offsomewhere in the world everythree seconds). The Poseidon is a737-800, specially modified witha 737-900 wing.

The P-8I is built by a Boeing-ledindustry team that includes CFMInternational, Northrop Grumman,Raytheon, Spirit AeroSystems,BAE Systems and GEAviation.The CFM-56 enginespower the Poseidon. These aremodified with larger generatorsthat churn out the power neededfor the MMA ’s sensors andcontrol systems. In addition, thereis an auxiliary power unit thatprovides electricity even when themain engines are switched off.

Boeing was instructed by theIndian Navyto install certaincapabilities not provided for theP8A.

This includes aft-looking radar,custom-designed by US companyTelefonic, which functions like anelectronic rearview mirror,scanning the water behind theaircraft.

NPCDCS : Managing Non-Communicable Diseases

India is experiencing a rapid healthtransition with a rising burden ofNon Communicable Diseases(NCDs). Overall, NCDs areemerging as the leading causes ofdeath in the country accountingfor over 42% of all deaths(Registrar General of India).NCDs cause significant morbidityand mortality both in urban andrural population, withconsiderable loss in potentiallyproductive years (aged 35–64

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY





years) of life.It is estimated thatthe overall prevalence of diabetes,hypertension, Ischemic HeartDiseases (IHD) and Stroke is62.47, 159.46, 37.00 and 1.54respectively per 1000 populationof India. There are an estimated25 Lakh cancer cases in India.

National Programme onPrevention & Control ofCancer, Diabetes , CVD &Stroke

Considering the rising burden ofNCDs and common risk factors tomajor Chronic Non –Communicable Diseases ,Government of India initiated anintegrated National Programmefor Prevention and Control ofCancers, Diabetes, CardiovascularDiseases and Stroke (NPCDCS).The focus of the programme is onhealth promotion and prevention,strengthening of infrastructureincluding human resources, earlydiagnosis and management andintegration with the primary healthcare system through NCD cells atdifferent levels for optimaloperational synergies. NationalCancer Control Programme, anon-going programme, has beenintegrated under NPCDCS.Theprogramme is being implementedin 100 districts spread over 21States during 2010-11 & 2011-12) at an estimated outlay of Rs.1230.90 crore (Rs.499.38 crorefor interventions on diabetes andcardiovascular diseases & strokeand Rs.731.52 crore for cancercontrol) on a cost sharing basisbetween the Centre and theStates at the rate of 80:20. Thesedistricts have been selectedkeeping into account their

backwardness, inaccessibility &poor health indicators.

A. Cancer:

8 Common diagnosticservices , basic surgery,chemotherapy and palliativecare for cancer cases at 100district hospitals.

8 Support for Chemotherapydrugs at each district hospital

8 Day care Chemotherapyfacilities at 100 districthospitals.

8 Facility for laboratoryinvestigations includingMammography at 100district hospitals

8 Home based palliative carefor chronic, debilitating andprogressive cancer patientsat 100 districts.

8 Support for contractualmanpower and equipmentfor management of cancercases at the 100 districthospitals.

8 Strengthening of 65 centreTertiary Cancer Centres(TCCs)

B. Cardiovascular Diseases(CVD), Diabetes & Stroke

8 A Cardiac care unit at eachof the 100 district hospitals.

8 NCD clinic at 100 districthospitals and 700Community Health Centres(CHCs) for diagnosis andmanagement ofCardiovascular Diseases(CVD), Diabetes & Stroke.

8 Provision for availability oflife saving drugs, to eachdistrict hospital in 100

districts.

8 Opportunistic Screening fordiabetes and high bloodpressure to all persons above30 years including pregnantwomen of all age groups at20,000 Sub Centres.

8 Home based care for bedridden cases in 100 districts.

8 Support for contractualmanpower and equipmentsat the 100 district hospitals& 700 CHCs formanagement of NCDsincluding health promotionactivities.

Achievements so far

8 Human Resource underNational NCD Cell in place.

8 Human Resource under Stateand District level in process.

8 Signed MOU Received from11 States.

8 Setting up of State andDistrict NCD cells in process

8 Operational Guidelinesdeveloped.

8 Training Modules developedfor Health Workers andMedical Officers.

8 Funds for implementation ofNPCDCS in 27 districtsacross 19 states werereleased in March 2011 foropportunistic screening,establishment of ‘NCD clinic’at CHCs and DistrictHospitals.

8 Funds for conducting trainingworkshops were released toNIHFW and Indian NursingCounsel.

8 Pilot Project on School basedDiabetes Screening



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Programme initiated in 6districts

8 Proposal for surveillance ofNCD risk factors is undersubmission

8 Efforts are being taken toincrease awareness forpromotion of healthylifestyle through Massmedia.

The programme, thus, attempts toachieve behaviour change in thecommunity to adopt healthy lifestyles including dietary patterns,enhanced physical activity andreduced intake of tobacco andalcohol resulting in overallreduction in the risk factors ofcommon Non-CommunicableDiseases in the country.

New Laser to help DetectRoadside Bombs

A new laser developed by theresearchers at Michigan StateUniversity, which can accuratelydetects roadside bombs and helpsidentify Improvised Explosive

Devices(IEDs).The lasercombines short pulses that causemolecules in the explosive tovibrate.Every kind of molecule hasdifferent vibrational frequenciesthat uniquely find thesubstance.However, the newlaser can make these distinctionseven for quantities as small as afraction of a billionth of agram.The laser has the sensitivityand selectivity to look into largeareas and detect improvisedexplosive devices, which cause 60percent of coalition soldiers’deaths in Afghanistan.

First Planet Orbiting TwoStars

NASA’s Kepler mission made thefirst unambiguous detection of acircumbinary planet - a planetorbiting two stars - 200 light-

planets in our galaxy.Previousresearch has hinted at theexistence of circumbinary planets,but clear confirmation provedelusive.Kepler detected such aplanet by observing transits ,where the brightness of a parentstar dims from the planet crossingin front of it.Kepler is the firstNASA mission capable of findingEarth-size planets in or near thehabitable zone, the region in aplanetary system where liquidwater can exist on the surface ofthe orbiting planet.Scientistsdetected the new planet in theKepler-16 system, a pair oforbiting stars that eclipse eachother from our vantage point onEarth. When the smaller starpartially blocks the larger star, aprimary eclipse occurs, and asecondary eclipse occurs whenthe smaller star is occulted, orcompletely blocked, by the largerstar. This showed the third bodywas circling, not just one, butboth stars, in a wide circumbinaryorbit.This discovery confirms thatKepler-16b is an inhospitable, coldworld about the size of Saturn andthought to be made up of abouthalf rock and half gas. The parentstars are smaller than our sun.One is 69 percent the mass of thesun and the other only 20percent. Kepler-16b orbits aroundboth stars every 229 days, similarto Venus’ 225-day orbit, but liesoutside the system’s habitablezone, where liquid water couldexist on the surface, because thestars are cooler than our sun.

WISE Captured BlackHole’sWildly Flaring Jet

NASA ’s Wide-field InfraredSurvey Explorer (WISE) captured

years from Earth,on 15September 2011.The planet iscold, gaseous and not thought toharbor life, but its discoverydemonstrates the diversity of





rare data of a flaring black hole,revealing new details about thesepowerful objects and their blazingjets.Scientists study jets to learnmore about the extremeenvironments around black holes.Much has been learned about thematerial feeding black holes,called accretion disks, and the jetsthemselves through studies usingX-rays, gamma rays and radiowaves.But key measurements ofthe brightest part of the jets,located at their bases, have beendifficult despite decades of work.WISE is offering a new windowinto this missing link through itsinfrared observations.The blackhole, called GX 339-4, had beenobserved previously. It lies morethan 20000 light-years awayfrom Earth near the center of ourgalaxy. It has a mass at least sixtimes greater than the sun. Likeother black holes, Observing thejet’s variability was possiblebecause of images taken of thesame patch of sky over time, afeature of NEOWISE, theasteroid-hunting portion of theWISE mission.WISE data enabled the team tozoom in on the very compactregion around the base of the jetstreaming from the black hole. Thesize of the region is equivalent tothe width of a dime seen at thedistance of our sun.The resultsshowed huge and erraticfluctuations in the jet activity ontimescales ranging from 11seconds to a few hours . Theobservations are like a dance ofinfrared colors and show the sizeof the jet’s base varies. Its radiusis approximately 15000 miles(24140 kilometers) with dramaticchanges by as large as a factor of

10 or more.The new data alsoallowed astronomers to make thebest measurements yet of theblack hole’s magnetic field, whichis 30000 times more powerfulthan the one generated by Earthat its surface.

GRAIL to Study Moon fromCrust to Core

NASA ’s twin lunar GravityRecovery and Interior Laboratory(GRAIL) spacecraft lifted offfrom Cape Canaveral Air ForceStation in Florida on 10 September2011 to study the moon inunprecedented detail.

GRAIL-A is scheduled to reachthe moon on 31 December 2011,while GRAIL-B will arrive on 1January 2012. The two solar-powered spacecraft will fly intandem orbits around the moon tomeasure its gravity field. GRAILwill answer longstanding questionsabout the moon and give scientistsa better understanding of howEarth and other rocky planets inthe solar system formed. Thestraight-line distance from Earthto the moon is approximately

250000 miles (402336kilometers). The science collectionphase for GRAIL is expected tolast 82 days. JPL manages theGRAIL mission.

A Plant Discovered thatSows its Own Seeds

A team of Scientists from RutgersUniversity in Brazil discovered atiny plant which they say bowsdown and sows its own seeds.The plant has pink and whiteflowers. Scientists found the plantin rural northeastern Bahia, Brazil,one of the world’s mostbiologically diverse areas. Thediscovery was reported in Live

Science.When the plant’s fruitsform, the plant slowly bends itssmall, fruiting branches down,depositing the seed capsulescarefully onto the ground. Theplant sometimes buries them inthe soft cover of moss. The teamof scientists named the newspecies Spigelia genuflexa,because of the plant’s dexterity.

Laccognathus Embryi

Scientists discovered fossilisedremains of a large predatory fish



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with a fearsome mouth whichprowled North Americanwaterways some 375 millionyears ago. The fossil was foundon Ellesmere Island in theNunavut Territory of ArcticCanada. The findings arepublished in the Journal ofVertebrate Paleontology.

The lobe-finned fish, now calledLaccognathus embryi, grew toabout five to six feet long and hada wide head with small eyes androbust jaws lined with largepiercing teeth.The predatory fish preyed onarmoured placoderms and lungfish.The beast was likely a bottom-dweller, waiting on the seafloor topounce at prey passing by, theresearchers said.In the past, theresearchers also discoveredTiktaalik roseae, a transitionalanimal considered a missing linkbetween fish and the earliestlimbed animals, side-by-side withL.embryi at the same site. Thatsuggests the two lived side-by-side as well, the researchersbelieve.

Major HistocompatibilityComplex

Scientists discovered geneticfactors that make frog immune tothe fungal diseasechytridiomycosis . This couldimprove captive breeding

However, the frogs from theother two locations survived andfought off the infectioncompletely.The researchers tracedthe difference back to regions ofDNA that form part of the immunesystem called the MajorHistocompatibility Complex(MHC).It is likely that the twopopulations whose memberssurvived infection in the lab are theones that had been most stronglyexposed to the fungus in the wildsince it was detected in Arizonain the 1970s.

Perfomax

A composite herbal formulationnamed ‘Perfomax’ launched, thathas been developed by DRDOand has been found to improvephysical and mental performancein High Altitude and HypoxicConditions at a function held inLeh, Ladakh today. Theformulation is rich in antioxidantsand other bioactive compoundsthat improve performance ofbrain, heart, kidney and lungs andimproves blood circulation.

Universe is Bound byCosmic Thread

Planetary Scientists discoveredthat the universe is bound bycosmic thread. Scientists have gotevidence of the vast filament ofmaterial connecting the MilkyWay galaxy to nearby clusters ofgalaxies , which are similarlyinterconnected to the rest of theuniverse.According to thescientists, there were two typesof matter that made up theUniverse; the dominant, enigmaticdark matter and ordinary matter

schemes. Chytridiomycosis isslowly spreading across the worldand has already sent a number ofspecies extinct.Chytridiomycosiskills by damaging the skin of theliving being, which eventuallyresults into cardiac arrest.

Frogs and other amphibians thathad no resistance succumbedquickly. For their experiment,Scientists collected lowlandleopard frogs (Lithobatesyavapaiensis) from five places inArizona.

In the lab, they infected theanimals with the chytrid fungus(Batratochytrium Dendrobatidis,or BD). All the frogs collectedfrom three of the locations died.





in the form of galaxies, stars andplanets.Unlike a sponge, however,gravity draws the material overthese interconnecting filamentstowards the largest lumps ofmatter, and the scientific findingsshow that the globular clustersand satellite galaxies of the MilkyWay trace the cosmic filament.

Our Galaxy’s Spiral ArmsCaused by its Crashes withDwarf Galaxy

Scientists stated that the twopowerful collisions with a dwarf

galaxy in the past two billion yearswas the cause of the spiral armstructure of the Milky Way.Intrying to explain the shape of ourown galaxy, the Milky Way, withits prominent spiral arms rooted ina central bar, scientists had earlierdismissed the influence of outsideforces .However, in the newstudy, scientists focused on thenearby Sagittarius dwarf galaxy,much of which had been rippedapart by the gravitational pull ofthe Milky Way, leaving debristhat formed a large but very faintstream of stars around our

galaxy.This dwarf galaxy mighthave once been 100 times moremassive.This dwarf galaxy’scollision with the Milky Waytriggered the formation of ourgalaxy’s spiral arms, caused theflaring seen in the outermost diskand influenced the growth of itscentral bar.The impact could havegenerated ringlike structureswrapping around the Milky Way,similar to ones actually seen in ourgalaxy, such as the Monocerosring.

UPSC

LAW (Optional)



UPSCPORTAL’S



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CRICKET

Australia Won Test Seriesagainst Sri Lanka

Australia under the captaincy ofskipper Michael Clarke won the

Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0when the second test concludedon 20 September 2011 Tuesday.It was Clarke’s first Test tour ascaptain. In the first test Australia

a rain-affected draw. The victorysaw Australia and Sri Lankaexchange positions in the officialTest rankings, with Clarke’s menmoving to fourth place and SriLanka dropping to fifth.

ICC Rankings for ODI TeamRanking

16 SEPTEMBER 2011

Team Points Matches Rating

Australia 30 3894 130Sri Lanka 28 3327 119South Africa 19 2197 116England 30 3383 113India 34 3804 112Pakistan 29 2931 101New Zealand22 1973 90West Indies 19 1475 78Bangladesh 26 1648 63Zimbabwe 27 1200 44

SPORTS

won 125-run victory in Galle. Thesecond Test in Pallekele ended in





BATSMEN RANKING

Rank Name Country Rating

1 H.M. Amla SA 8672 A.B. de Villiers SA 8043 S.R. Watson AUS 7604 I.J.L. Trott ENG 7505 K.C. Sangakkara SL 7476 M.S. Dhoni IND 7347 M.J. Clarke AUS 7308 M.E.K. Hussey AUS 7299 V. Kohli IND 72510 T.M. Dilshan SL 690

BOWLER RANKING

Rank Name Country Rating

1 G.P. Swann ENG 7282 D.L. Vettori NZ 7013 M.G. Johnson AUS 6804 D.W. Steyn SA 6635 M. Morkel SA 6616 D.E. Bollinger AUS 6597 Saeed Ajmal PAK 6588 R.W. Price ZIM 6539 L.L. Tsotsobe SA 65210 S.L. Malinga SL 639

Lord’s.He played his last matchesfor England in both forms of thegame against India in 2002.Hetook a hat-trick in only his thirdTest as England scored a six-wicket win over the West Indiesat Old Trafford.

TENNIS

US OPEN CROWN

MEN

Novak Djokovic used his superiorreturn game, defense and speedto defeat the 10-time Grand Slamchampion Nadal, 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1 and win his first careerUS Open crown and fourth GrandSlam title.With the victoryDjokovic pushed his record on theyear to an amazing 64-2 and 6-0over Nadal. With the win he alsobecame just the sixth man in theOpen Era to win three GrandSlam titles in the same year. Hehad won both the AustralianOpen and Wimbledon (overNadal) earlier in 2011.

Nadal in 2010 was beingcelebrated as the next King ofTennis, with nine Grand Slams(Now 10, counting this year’sFrench Open). He needed a fewmore tournaments to matchFederer, who holds the recordwith 16 gand Slams. However in2011 he is on a six-match losingstreak to Djokovic and all of themin finals.

WOMEN

Australia’s Samantha Stosurdefeated Serena Williams to winthe US Open crown and her firstgrand slam singles title.Stosurbecame the first Australianwoman in 38 years to win the title

Kochi Tuskers’ ContractTerminated

Kochi Tuskers’ contract wasterminated by Board of Controlfor Cricket in India (BCCI) on 19September after N Srinivasan, thenewly-appointed president of theBoard of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI), took over . Thecontract was terminated after theIndian Premier League (IPL)franchise defaulted on a Rs 156crore annual payment it was tomake.The decision wasannounced after the 82nd AnnualGeneral Meeting (AGM) of theBCCI.The BCCI decided toencash the bank guarantee of theTuskers in their possession andalso terminate the franchise for analleged non-payment of annual

fee.The franchise was bought bya consortium comprising someGujarat-based businessmen for awhopping Rs 1,550 crore in 2010.According to the rules, franchiseshave to pay the amount in 10equal installments.

Dominic Cork AnnouncedRetirement

Former England all-roundercricketer Dominic Cork on 22september 2011 announced hisretirement from cricket at the ageof 40. Cork played 37 Testmatches and 32 One-DayInternationals during a career.Corkmade his England debut in a One-Day International against Pakistanin 1992, and his Test debut in1995 against West Indies at



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when she beat Williams 6-2 6-3.Williams, a 13-times grand slamsingles champion, had won four ofher six previous matches againstStosur.Stosur, seeded ninth,became the first Australianwoman to win the U.S. Open titlesince Margaret Court in 1973. Thelast Australian woman to win anygrand slam was EvonneGoolagong-Cawley atWimbledon in 1980.

Stosur, who for the early part ofher career was better known asa doubles player, emerged asAustralia’s best prospect whenshe made the final at the FrenchOpen last year but lost to Italy’sFrancesca Schiavone.

ATHLETICS

WORLD ATHLETICS

CH AMPIONSH IP S

-Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won theMen’s 4x100 Relay final and seta world record at the WorldAthletics Championships in Daegu,South Korea on 4 September2011.Usain Bolt and his Jamaicanteam smashed the 4x100m relayWorld record.It was Bolt’ssecond gold of the Worldchampionships after winning the200m crown. On the second dayof the competition Bolt wasdisqualified following a false startthereby shattering his dream of100m gold.-Mo Farah of Britain ended thechampionships on a high when hewon the 5,000m gold.He hadearlier in the competition lost the10,000m title. He crossed theline in 13min 23.36sec , just0.28sec ahead of his Americanrival.-In yet another show of distancerunning power by Kenya, Kirui

crossed the line in 2hr 7min 38sec,nearly two-and-a-half minutesahead of teammate VincentKipruto — the biggest winningmargin in World championshipshistory. Ethiopia’s Feyisa Lilesatook bronze.

Berlin Course Marathon

Kenyan Patrick Makau shatteredthe world men’s marathon recordby 21 seconds when he clockedtwo hours three minutes 38seconds in Berlin course on 25September 2011.

Makau ran alone for the final 12kms to break the previous markof 2:03:59 set by Ethiopian HaileGebrselassie on the same course.

It was the fifth time the men’sworld record fell on the 42.195-km race through the heart of theGerman capital.Patrick Makau isa former halfmarathoner, whobroke the 60-minutebarrier marka record eight times. His previousbest marathon mark was 2:04:48in Rotterdam in 2010.PatrickMakau (Ken) 2hr 3min 38sec was followed by Stephen Kwelio(Kenya) in the second and Edwin

Kimaiyo (Kenya ) in the thirdposition. Makau’s team mateFlorence Kiplagat, the world half-marathon champion, won thewomen’s race in 2:19:44 in herfirst completed marathon.

Gebrselassie who had won theBerlin marathon four times ,headed the leading group until justbefore the 27-km mark when hepulled up in obvious pain. He bentover double but then steppedback on to the road within aminute but was unable to finishthe race.

51st National OpenAthletics Championships

On the opening day of the 51stNational Open AthleticsChampionships, Preeja Sreedharanwon the gold medal in the10000m race on 10 September2011 in Kolkata. Competing forRailways, Sreedharan had earlierwon the 10000m race in theGuangzhou Asian Games with anational record of 31.50.47. Hertrack rival Kavita Raut (35:56.13)





finished a fraction of secondsbehind to earn ONGC a silvermedal.In the men’s 10,000m finalONGC’s Suresh Kumar clinchedthe gold with a timing of 30:18.16.

BADMINTON

JAPAN OPEN

Chen Long claimed his second titlein two weeks on 25 September2011 when he shocked WorldNo. 1 Lee Chong Wei to win themen’s singles badminton title at theJapan Open.The Chinese fourthseed had earlier emergedvictorious at the ChinaMasters .He dashed theMalaysian’s defence of the titlewith a 21-8, 10-21, 21-19victory.

In the women’s singles final,Chinese World champion and No.1 Wang Yihan whipped theeighth-seeded Juliane Schenk ofGermany 21-16, 21-14 in 43minutes to regain the title shewon in 2008 and 2009.

All-India Ranking SeniorBadminton Championship

Sai Praneeth, the second seeddefeated top seed and Petroleumteammate Saurabh Varma 21-13,10-21, 21-16 to win the men’ssingles crown in the IFCI all-Indiaranking senior badmintonchampionship on 5 September2011.Sai Praneeth also won themen’s doubles partnering NandaGopal (AAI).The duo defeatedtop seeds Pranav Chopra (PSPB)and Akshay Dewalkar (AI) inthree well-fought games 22-20,14-21, 21-15.

The women’s singles was adisappointment. Tanvi Lad failedto produce the form that carried

her into the final and was defeatedby Sayali Gokhale who kept itsimple and cruised through. Sayaliwon over her Air India teammate21-16, 21-17 in about 45minutes.

FOOTBALL

33RD FEDERATION CUP

Salgaocar defeated East Bengal 3-1 in the final of the 33rdFederation Cup at the Salt LakeStadium in Kolkata on 29September 2011.Salgaocarbecame the first non-Kolkata clubto win the premier domestic cupcompetition in Indian footballsince Mahindra United in2005.Early goals from Edeh Chidiand Francis Fernandes gaveSalgaocar a 2-0 lead in thegame.East Bengal tried to comeback in the second half but RyujiSueoka scored the third to ensureSalgaocar’s fourth Fed Cup title.

Baichung Bhutia AnnouncedRetirement

Veteran Indian footballerBaichung Bhutia on 24 August2011 announced his retirement

from international soccer.Hehowever will continue to play forhis club that he is currentlyassociated with,SikkimUnited.Baichung Bhutia made hisdebut as a substitute in the 1995Nehru Cup in Calcutta. In hiscareer spread over 16 years hescored 42 goals in 107international appearances .

Nicknamed the Sikkimese Sniper,he is currently contracted by theclub he owns, United Sikkim. Hehas thrice in the past been namedIndian Player of the Year.

His international footballinghonours include winning the NehruCup, LG Cup, South AsianFootball Federation (SAFF)Championship (three times) andthe Asian Football Confederation(AFC) Challenge Cup. He is alsoIndia’s most capped player, andin the 2009 Nehru Cup hereceived his 100th internationalcap.He has a stadium named afterhim- Baichung Stadium in Namchi,the district headquarters of SouthSikkim district in the state ofSikkim, India. He was honouredwith the Arjuna award in 1995and Padma Shri in 2008.



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MOTOR RACING

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel wonthe Italian Grand Prix.The victorymarked his 18th career win. He iscurrently one race away frombeing crowned world championfor the second year in a row andat the age of 24. Victory atSingapore Grand Prix is toguarantee him the title.The victorywas his eighth win of 2011.It wasVettel’s 18th career win, hissecond at this circuit and RedBull’s first at Monza.Vettelcurrently leads the championshipby 112 points , with 150remaining. If he scores a win inSingapore he will be the 2011world champion and the youngestever two times champion at theage of 24.McLaren’s JensonButton finished second, whileAlonso was placed third.

Singapore Grand Prix

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel ofGermany on 25 September 2011won the Singapore Formula OneGrand Prix on the Marina BayCity Circuit in Singapore. RedBull’s Sebastian Vettel who heldoff a charging Jenson Button towin the Singapore Grand Prix iscurrently one point away frombecoming Formula One’s youngestdouble World champion.The 24-year-old German led from pole toflag and despite a spiritedchallenge over the final five lapsfrom Button, held on to move 124points clear of the Briton with just125 available from the five racesremaining.Vettel won in one hour,59 minutes and 6.757 seconds, a

time that signalled the longest andmost arduous race of theyear.The victory marked Vettel’sninth win in this season and the19th of his career.Force India’s diResta finishes career-best sixthand Adrian Sutil was palced eighth

List of winners:1.Sebastian Vettel(Red Bull-Renault);2.JensonButton (McLaren-Mercedes); 3.Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault).

GOLF

EUROPEAN MASTERS

Denmanrk’s golfer Thomas Bjornon 4 September 2011 securedback-to-back titles for the firsttime in his career after winning theEuropean Masters.

Bjorn’s 9-under 62 helped himfinish with a 20-under total of264, four shots clear ofGermany’s Martin Kaymer.Hethus earned the 333,333 euro($473,000 U.S.) winner’sprize.The victory at the EuropeanMasters won him the third title ina year.The victory came to him aweek after he had won a five-

man playoff at Gleneagles ,Scotland.

Global Green BangaloreOpen

Sri Lankan golfer Anura Rohanacompleted pole to finish victory inthe Global Green Bangalore Openon 17 September 2011 therebyending a decade-long wait for atitle on Indian soil.He wobbled abit but steadied his nerves inauthoritative style.Leading by acomfortable five shots fromMukesh Kumar overnight, Rohanaovercame a minor blip to finishwith three-under 69 for the round,and a card of 12-under-276 forthe competition. Mukesh finishedsecond (282) after shooting two-under 70.

HOCKEY

ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY

India defeated Pakistan 4-2 in thepenalty shoot-out in a nerve-wrecking final to clinch theinaugural Asian ChampionsTrophy hockey tournament on 11September 2011. Goalkeeper S.Sreejesh played a crucial role in





securing victory as he managedtwo crucial saves for India. Indianhockey team is coached byMichael Nobbs.

Rajpal Singh, Danish Mujtaba,Yuvraj Walmiki and SarvanjitSingh scored for India in thepenalty shootout whileMuhammad Rizwan and WaseemAhmed sounded the board forPakistan after both the sides werelocked goalless in the regular andextra time.Malaysia baggedbronze by defeating Japan.

ARCHERY/SHOOTING

WORLD CUP ARCHERY FINALS

India’s Deepika Kumari of Indiasettled for a silver on 25September 2011 after beingdefeated by China’s Cheng Ming5-6 in the tie-breaker of thewomen’s individual recurvesummit clash at the World Cuparchery finals in Istanbul.Deepikahad earlier overcome BerengeneSchuh 6-0 to enter the final. Shehad defeated Alejandra Valenciaof Mexico 6-4 in thequarterfinals.It was a very goodstart for the Indian and the

Chinese archers in the World Cuptitle race. Each got ten points inthe first two arrows. Cheng madethe decisive shot with a 9 whileher opponent only got an 8.

Russian champion and one of thehighest-ranked players in theworld. He defeated strongcompetitors like American GataKamsky and Urkainian RuslanPonomariov earlier in thecompetition.With the victorySvidler won a $96000 prizemoney and a ticket to the 2012world championshipmatches.Russia holds the No.1spot on the World ChessFederation’s top-10 list.

BOXING

WORLD POLICE AND FIRE

GAMES IN NEW YORK

Star Indian boxer Vijender Singhwon gold and also bagged theBest Boxer award at the WorldPolice and Fire Games in NewYork. Indian pugilists finished offa reasonably successful campaignwith two golds, two silvers and abronze at the World Police andFire Games in New York.BothVijender (75kg), an Olympic andWorld championship bronzemedallist and Dinesh Kumar(81kg) won gold.

KABADDI

ASIAN KABADDI TITLE

The Indian kabaddi team lifted itsfirst-ever Circle Style Asiankabaddi title on 27 September2011 by defeating arch-rivalsPakistan 53-38 at Tabriz inIran.India and Pakistan werealmost on even terms at the half-time score of 24-22, but in thesecond half India dominatedproceedings leeading to a huge15-point difference.It is for thefirst time that the championshipwas played outside India. Eight

Kumari’s performance was hailedby the Tata Archery Academyand Jharkhand ArcheryAssociation.The ArcheryAssociation of India (AAI) in themeanwhile announced a prizepurse of Rs 4 lakh for a four-daytrial for the 17th Asian ArcheryChampionship.The men’s title onthe other hand was won by thereigning World No 1, BradyEllison of the US, defeating DiaXiaoxiang of China 6-2.

CHESS

CHESS WORLD CUP

Russian grandmaster Peter Svidlerwon the Chess World Cup title on20 September after winning afour-game final against hiscompatriot Alexander Grischuk.Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) anindustrial town hosted over 120world’s greatest chess playersfrom 40 countries who fought forthe title. Svidler is a six-time



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nations participated in thechampionship.

BILLIARDS/SNOOKER

IBSF WORLD MEN’S SNOOKER

CHAMPIONSH IP IN BANGALORE

International Billiards & SnookerFederation (IBSF) aanounced on28 September 2011 its decisionto shift the venue for IBSF WorldMen’s Snooker Championshipfrom Bahrain to Bangalore. IBSFWorld Men’s SnookerChampionship is scheduled to beheld from 28 November to 3December 2011.

Due to prolonged crisis in someparts of Middle East Asia, theIBSF decided to move thetournament out of Bahrain andgrant the hosting rights to India.

The IBSF held a lot of discussionswith the Chinese federation, tryingto work out the schedule of thetournament but due to clash ofdates with SEA Games, ArabGames and the proposed IBSFWorld 6-Red Snooker in India,the association finally had to

amend the proposed 6-RedSnooker and decided to hold theevent only in the men’s category.

IBSF however assured that sincethe competition will not be held inWomen and Masters categoriesthis 2011, it will give an extra slotto these sections in the 2012World Championships.

VARIOUS

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

SPORTS SCIENCES & MEDICINE

Union Minister of State (I/C), forYouth Affairs & Sports Shri AjayMaken announced the decision to

Sports Sciences (CISS), theNISSM, apart from other inputs,emanates from a series of bi-lateral endeavors between Indiaand China over the past year anda half. On 23rd September, 2011,Shri Maken met with Mr. LiuPeng, Director of State GeneralAdministration of Sports at theheadquarters of State GeneralAdministration of Sports in Beijingand discussed the areas for furtherenhancing the bilateral relations &increased cooperation in the fieldof sports as envisaged in theMoU signed between twocountries.A clear road map withdate lines has been prepared toestablish this Institute, at theestimated cost of Rs. 200 crore.Apart from this Rs. 100 crore willbe provided for strengthening theexisting Sports Science andMedicine infrastructure at variousSAI Centres and augmentinglinkages with them. Shri Makensaid that NISSM is expected tocater to integration of SportsSciences into coaching curriculumand teaching of sports coachesthrough its inter-disciplinarystudies departments and QualityAssurance wing.He also stressedthe need to include Certificatecourses and bridge programmesfor sportspersons. This Institutewould be headed by a Director,equivalent to a Vice-Chancellor ofa Central University. A SearchCommittee will be appointed toidentify and recommend thename/s of person to Head thisInstitute. The NISSM will work inclose partnership with nationaland international partners fromUK, USA, China, Australia,Germany, Korea and SouthAfrica.It will be function under

set up the National Institute ofSports Science and Medicine(NISSM).Premised at the JawaharLal Nehru (JLN) Stadium in theCapital, the Institute will aim atfostering the much neededdisciplines of Physiology,Psychology, Nutrition, Bio-chemistry, Biomedical, Anthro-pometry and Sports Medicine,with the purpose of providingcutting edge excellence to IndianSports and athletes. Modeled onthe lines of China Institute of





the Ministry of Youth Affairs &Sports.

National Institute ofHockey

Shri Maken also informed that theSAI had prepared the conceptpaper for establishing the NationalInstitute of Hockey at the DhyanChand Stadium and works to thiseffect will start at the earliest.TheInstitute will interact with the bestHockey/Sports Institutes in theworld and will also follow thetraining regime of the OlympicMedal winner athletes in theworld. After collecting intelligenceabout their training schedules andplay strategies, the Institutewould design customized training,coaching and recoveryprogrammes for our top athletes.The Institute will also try to imbibesuch innovative and modernadvancement in recoverytechniques which are still notknown to us. It will also work onthe development of cost effectivesports equipment and goodsspecially suited to the physicalparameters of our athletes.

Agreement with AIFF toDevelope J.L.N. Stadium asFootball hub

Similarly, the JLN Stadium, NewDelhi will be developed as aFootball Hub and Stadium withspecialized pitch/ turf in its centralperiphery. To this effect theSports Authority of India (SAI)will sign a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with the AllIndia Football Federation (AIFF)on October 5, 2011 in thepresence of Shri Ajay Maken andthe President, AIFF and Ministerfor Heavy Industries, Shri PrafulPatel.Apart from other things, theMoU will provide for AIFF layingthe turf and using the stadium for40 days in an year for hosting ofinternational tournaments, nationaltournaments and coaching campsand clinics relating to Football. Inthis regard the Ministry has givenin principle approval to theproposal of AIFF to host theforthcoming SAF footballtournament during 2nd to 13thDecember, 2011 at JLN stadium.

Come & Play SchemeNationwide Launched

After the successful launch andimplementation of the Come andPlay Scheme at the SAI Stadiumsin the Capital, which witness morethan 12000 children and sportslovers benefitting, it has beendecided to launch the Come andPlay scheme nationally onOctober 9, 2011. Having testedthe success of the scheme here inDelhi, the same is being replicatedacross the nation through all theregional/sub-centres/institutions/STCs and SAG Centres of SportsAuthority of India (SAI).Thescheme which will be launched byMinister of Social Justice andEmpowerment at the Jawahar LalNehru Stadium in the Capital.There will be close monitoring ofperformance and children withpromise will further be inductedto the various schemes as per thedefined selection criteria therebycreating a pool/nursery of talent tobe further caste into InternationalAthlete.

UPSCPORTAL’S

INDIA 2011Comprehensive Coverage onIndia General Studies

Coming Son



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JNANPITH AWARDS

44TH JNANPITH FOR 2008

The 44th Jnanpith Award for2008 was presented to renownedUrdu poet Professor AkhlaqMohammad Khan Shahryar for hisdistinguished contribution in

enriching Indian literature. He waspresented the award by actorAmitabh Bachhan in a glittering

received his Ph.D degree in Urdufrom Aligarh Muslim University.He taught at the AMU UrduDepartment and retired asprofessor and Head ofDepartment in 1996. He made amemorable contribution to Urduliterature as a teacher, critic andcreative writer.Considered one ofthe foremost writers of ghazal andnazm, Prof. Shahryar haspublished 10 collections of poemsin Urdu. His actual name isAkhlaq Mohammed Khan and‘Shaheryar’ is the pen name. Hisfirst poetry collection Ism-e-azamwas published in 1965. The thirdcollection titled Hijr ke mausamreleased in 1978 was his mostcelebrated work. Khwab Ka darband hai released in 1987 andwon him the Sahitya AkademiAward in Urdu for the year.Hebecame the fourth Jnanpith winnerin Urdu. Firaq Gorakhpuri was thefirst Jnanpith winner in Urdu. Firaq

ceremony organised by theBharatiya Jnanpith in New Delhion 18 September 2011.Born in1936, in Anwala district in Bareillyin Uttar Pradesh, Prof Shahryar

PRIZES & AWARDS





Gorakhpuri had won theprestigious award in 1969 forGul-e-Naghma.

45th & 46th Jnanpith for2009 & 2010

Eminent Hindi authors Amar Kantand Shrilal Shukla was chosen forIndia’s highest literary honourJnanpith Award for 2009, whilerenowned Kannada litterateurChandrasekhar Kambar won it for2010. The selection board -chaired by noted writer andJnanpith award winner Dr SitakantMahapatra - made the selectionsfor the 45th and 46th Jnanpithawards.Octogenarian Amar Kantis a leading author whose famousnovel Inhin Hathiyaron Se earnedhim the Sahitya Akademi Awardin 2007.Shrilal Shukla is aneminent novelist and asatirist,whose works threw lighton the falling moral values of theIndian society in the post-Independence era. His notedworks include Raag Darbari,Makaan, Sooni Ghaati Ka Sooraj,Pehla Padaav, Agyatvas , andBisrampur Ka San. Shukla’s RaagDarbari, one of the best sellingHindi novels, had also beenadapted for a TV serial. Shukla isthe winner of several awards,including the Sahitya AkademiAward and the Vyas Sammaan. In2008, he was awarded thePadma Bhushan for hiscontribution to Indian literatureand culture. ChandrasekharKambar who won the JnanpithAward for is a novelist andplaywright. His noted worksinclude Takararinavaru, SaaviradaNeralu, Chakori (poetry);Jokumaraswamy, Chalesha,

Jaisidanayaka.He is also recipientof the Sangeet Nataka AcademyAward and the Sahitya AcademyAward.

Shanti Swarup BhatnagarPrize

CSIR honoured 11 scientists withthe Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizefor Science and Technology forthe year 2011 on 26 September2011.Dr Samir K Brahamachari,Director General, Council ofScientific Research and Industrialdevelopment announced thenames of scientists at thecelebration of CSIR foundationDay.The Shanti Swarup BhatnagarPrize for Science and Technology was first given in 1958. It isregarded as the country’s highestaward in science is named afterthe founder director of CSIR,Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar.It isgiven to a scientist up to 45 yearsof age and carries a prize of Rs 5lakh.

The list of the recipients inthe different categories are:

Mahtematical Sciences

Dr Mahan Mj (RamakrishnaMission Vivekananda University,Howrah)

Dr Palash Sarkar (IndianStatistical Institute, Kolkata)

Physical Sciences

Dr Shiraz Minwalla (Tata Instituteof Fundamental Research,Mumbai)

Chemical Sciences

Dr Balasubramanian Sundaram(Jawaharlal Nehru Centre forAdvanced Scientific Research,Bangalore)

Dr Garikapati Narahari Sastry

(CSIR Indian Institute of Chemical

Technology, Hyderabad).

Engineering Sciences

Dr Sirshendu De (Indian Instituteof Technology, Dharagpur)

Dr Upadrasta Ramamurty (IndianInstitute of Science, Bangalore)

Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean& Planetary Sciences

Dr Shanker Doraiswamy (CSIRNational Institute ofOceanography, Goa)

Biological Sciences

Dr Amit Prakash Sharma(International Centre for GeneticEngineering and Biotechnology,New Delhi)

Dr Rajan Sankaranarayanan (CSIR

Centre for Cellular & Molecular

Biology, Hyderabad).

Medical Sciences

Dr Kithiganahalli NarayanaswamyBalaji (Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore)

CSIR Young ScientistAwards 2011

CSIR Young Scientist Awardswere instituted in 1987. CSIRYoung Scientist Awards seek topromote in- house excellence invarious fields of science andtechnology. CSIR scientist, below



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35 years of age, as reckoned on26 September (CSIR FondationDay) of the preceding year, iseligible for the Award.Council ofScientific and Industrial Research(CSIR) on its Foundation Daycelebrated on 26 September 2011presented the CSIR YoungScientist Awards 2011 that seekto promote in- house excellence invarious fields of science andtechnology.These awards aregiven annually in the fields ofBiological Sciences, ChemicalSciences, Earth, Atmosphere,Ocean and Planetary Sciences andEngineering Sciences PhysicalSciences (includinginstrumentation).Each awardconsist of a citation, a cash prizeof Rs . 50000/- (Rupees fiftythousand only) and a plaque. CSIRYoung Scientist Awardees are alsoentitled to a research grant of Rs.5.0 Lakhs (Rupees five lakh only)per annum for a period of fiveyears and an honorarium of Rs.75000/- (Rupees seven thousandand five hundred only) per monthtill the age of 45 years.

The list of the recipients inthe different categories are:

Chemical Sciences

Dr Bikash Kumar Jena from CSIRInstitute of Minerals andMaterials.

Dr Dattatraya Hanumant De andDr Rahul Banerjee

Earth, Atmosphere, Oceanand Planetary Sciences

Dr Arun Singh of CSIR NationalGeophysical Research Institute.

Dr Rajeev Saraswat of CSIRNational Institute ofOceanography

Engineering Sciences

Dr Amol Arvindrao Kulkarni andDr Kaushik Biswas.

Apart from these CSIR DiamondJubilee Invention Award forSchool Children 2010 were alsogiven.In order to enhancecreativity amongst school children,CSIR announced for the first timeDiamond Jubilee Invention Awardfor School Children on 26 April ,2002 the day celebrated asWORLD INTELLECTUALPROPERTY DAY throughout theworld. The objectives of thiscompetition are: to capturecreativity and innovativenessamongst school children andcreate awareness aboutIPR.There are 60 awards to begiven each year. The first prizewinner becomes eligible forWIPO’s Young inventor’s Award,carrying a medal and a certificatebesides cash prize of Rs. 50,000/-CSIR instituted a Gold Medal in2004 in the fond memory of Prof.G N Ramachandran, a pioneer ofprotein chemistry and thesounding father of structuralbiology in India, for recognizingexcellence in the interdisciplinarysubject / field of BiologicalSciences & Technology.

Vayoshrestha Samman,2 0 1 1

Vayoshrestha Samman,2011 forInstitution of Service -KinneraWelfare Society, Mehdipatnam,Hydrabad;

Best panchayat -Prashant NagarGram Panchayat, Medak, AndhraPradesh;

Lifetime Achievement -Dr.Vinod Kumar, New Delhi;

Creative Art -Sh. C.S.N.Patnaik, Vishakhapatnam;

Sports Person -Dr. (WingCommander) Ashish Roy, NewDelhi;

Economic Leadership -Sh. OmPrakash Gupta, New Delhi;

Hridaynath Award

Legendary playback singer LataMangeshkar was honoured withthe first Hridaynath award for hercontribution to Indian music on 28September 2011. On 28September, which also happenedto be Lata Mangeshakar’s (82)birthda, she was presented acheque of Rs one lakh, a trophyand a shawl by megastar AmitabhBachchan.The award has beeninstituted by Hridayesh Art, aMumbai- based socio-culturalorganisation in honour of LataMangeshkar’s brother, HridaynathMangeshkar.

63rd Annual PrimetimeEmmy Awards

The 63rd Annual Primetime EmmyAwards ceremony was organisedon 18 September 2011 at theNokia Theatre in Downtown LosAngeles, California. The awardsceremony to honour the best inprimetime television programmingfrom 1 June 2010 to 31 May2011 was hosted by actress JaneLynch, who hosted the Emmysfor the first time. British showstriumphed at the annualHollywood show, the Oscars ofthe small screen, with KateWinslet leading a string of Britishperformers. The list of recipientsof the 63rd Annual PrimetimeEmmy Awards are as follows:





8 Best drama: Mad Men

8 Best comedy : ModernFamily

8 Best miniseries: DowntonAbbey

8 Best variety or comedyshow: The Daily Show

8 Best actres s , drama :Julianne Margulies, The GoodWife

8 Best actor , drama: KyleChandler, Friday NightLights

8 Best actress, miniseries :Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

8 Best actor , miniseries :Barry Pepper, The Kennedys

8 Best lead ac tress in acomedy : MelissaMcCarthy, Mike & Molly

8 Best lead actor comedy:Jim Parsons, The Big BangTheory

8 Supporting actress in acomedy : Julie Bowen,Modern Family

8 Support ing actor in acomedy : Ty Burrell,Modern Family.

8 Best direc tion in acomedy: Michael Spiller,Modern Family.

8 Best reality competition:The Amazing Race

FICCI Excellence Award

The Maulana Azad DentalInstitute bagged the FICCIExcellence Award on 8September 2011. The health careoperational award was givenaway by the Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce andIndustry after rounds of

assessment. Maulana Azad DentalInstitute is the first dentalinstitution, catering to more than2.5 lakh patients annually acrossthe country.The parameters whichwent on to decide the winnerwere initiatives and outcomesreflecting innovation, academicresearch and training,accreditations, environmentalconservation and patientsatisfaction.The FICCI health careoperational award aims atfelicitating organisation for theircontribution to the industry byinnovating for increased efficiencyand improved performance ofhealth care at large.

Rajiv Gandhi InternationalPrize

The Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (IGNOU) on 28September 2011 conferred theRajiv Gandhi International Prizefor Technology in Education andDevelopment to the Azim PremjiFoundation.The award institutedby the university in its silverjubilee year was presented toAzim Premji by Communicationsand Information TechnologyMinister Kapil Sibal.Azim Premji,upon receiving the award stressedon the need of integrating IT withmainstream education whichwould then prove far more useful

in disseminating education amongadults than children. Azim HashimPremji is an Indian businesstycoon and philanthropist who isthe chairman of Wipro Limited.He founded Azim Premjifoundation in 2001.Azim PremjiFoundation is a not-for-profitorganization, operational since2001, with a vision tosignificantly contribute towards ajust, equitable, humane andsustainable society. TheFoundation has been active insupporting the primary educationsector. It has partnered with stategovernments across India to pilotinitiatives that have the potentialfor systemic reform to enhancethe quality of elementaryeducation within government runschool systems .The awardcomprising of Rs.five lakh cashand a citation is given to individualor institution that contributedsignificantly in education, partic-ularly educational technology, fordevelopment in developingcountries across the world.

Best Performance Award byGovernment

The awarded by the governmentfor best performance in differentcategories were given to ONGC,Coal India (CIL) and NMDC on20 September. The Departmentof Public Enterprises (DPE)Secretary, Bhaskar Chatterjeegave away the awards.

Best f inancial performanceaward in Maharatna andNavaratna category was given toONGC. In Miniratna category, thebest financial performance awardaward has been given to GoaShipyard.



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Good Corporate Governanceaward in Maharatna andNavaratna category was alsogiven to ONGC.

Good Corporate Governanceaward in Miniratna category, thesame award was given to ChennaiPetroleum Corporation Ltd. KBalachandan MD, CPCL receivedthe award.

The company of the yearaward in Maharatna categorywas given to CIL. The sameawards for the Navaratnacategory were given to NMDCand Oil India.

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APPOINTED

Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Danish opposition leader HelleThorning-Schmidt emergedvictorious in the elections held on15 September 2011 and will takeover as the country’s first femalePrime Minister. She belongs to theSocial Democrats party. Theresult ended the center-rightgovernment’s 10 years in office.

Thorning-Schmidt succeeded LarsLokke Rasmussen who submittedhis resignation to Queen Margretheon 16 September 2011.HelleThorning-Schmidt became a socialdemocrat during her studies inBelgium and joined the DanishSocial Democrats in 1993. From1994 to 1997 she led thesecretariat of the Danishdelegation of social democrats inthe European Parliament. Afterher time in Brussels she worked as

an international consultant withthe Danish Confederation ofTrade Unions until being electedMEP in 1999.She was a Memberof the European Parliament in the1999–2004 period. During thefive year term, she was a memberof the Employment and SocialCommittee and the ConstitutionalCommittee of the EuropeanParliament. She also co-foundedthe Campaign for ParliamentReform (CPR).

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil

The head of Libya’s NationalTransitional Council, MustafaAbdul-Jalil, delivered his firstpublic speech in the capital Tripolion 12 September 2011, outlininghis plans for thecountry.Thousands of Libyansgathered to hear his speech in thecentral square in the city.Heemphasized the need for a modern

democratic state with an activerole for women in New Libya. Inhis maiden public speech, Abdul-Jalil stated he would not acceptany extremist ideology, on theright or the left.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil was Ministerof Justice under ColonelMuammar al-Gaddafi. During the2011 Libyan civil war, Abdul Jalilwas identified as the head of theNational Transitional Council.

Major General (retd) BCKhanduri

Major General (retd) BC Khanduriwas appointed the sixth ChiefMinister of Uttarakhand. Hereplaced Ramesh PokhriyalNishank who resigned on 11September 2011. Nishank wasasked to resign by the BharatiyaJanata Party as it was alarmed bythe state government’s saggingimage due to several allegations

IN THE NEWS



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of corruption. The decision wastaken keeping in view theforthcoming elections in the statein 2012.

Khanduri returned as CM twoyears after he stepped downfollowing the 2009 generalelections, when the BJP lost allfive Lok Sabha seats in the state.Khanduri, a former army officer,has the image of a honest and no-nonsense leader who commands alot of respect among retireddefence personnel inUttarakhand.

Shah Rukh Khan

ESPN-STAR Sports, the officialbroadcaster and commercialpartner of Nokia ChampionsLeague (NCL) Twenty20,announced Shah Rukh Khan as theface of the tournament. Theannouncement was made on 9September 2011. Nokia, the titlesponsor of Champions LeagueTwenty20, also announcedambitious plans to promote itsassociation with the tournament.

The third edition of Nokia

Champions League Twenty20 willbe participated by more than 100players who have experience atthe international level.

Dinesh Kumar Likhi

SAIL’s general manager (BusinessPlanning) Dinesh Kumar Likhi wasappointed as director (Production& Marketing) of Mishra DhatuNigam Ltd, another public sectorundertaking. Likhi had played keyrole in formulating andimplementing corporate plans inSAIL, such as the Investment Planin 1995, Turnaround Plan in 2000and the Corporate Plan-2012.

DEATH

Wangari Maathai

Kenyan environmentalist & Nobellaureate Wangari Maathai died on25 September 2011 in Nairobi.The first African woman to win aNobel Peace Prize, WangariMaathai had began a movementto reforest her country by payingpoor women a few shillings toplant trees . The Green BeltMovement organization foundedby her in 1977 mentioned that shehad been treated for ovariancancer in the past year. WangariMuta Maathai was born on 1April 1940, in Nyeri, Kenya.Shewon a scholarship to studybiology at Mount St. ScholasticaCollege in Atchison and receiveda degree in 1964. She earned amaster of science degree from theUniversity of Pittsburgh.She wenton to obtain a doctorate inveterinary anatomy at theUniversity of Nairobi, becomingthe first woman in East or CentralAfrica to hold such a degree.

Dr. Maathai, one of the mostwidely respected women on thecontinent, played many roles like

Anil Kumar Chaudhary

State-run Steel Authority of India(SAIL) on 1 Septemebr 2011announced the appointment ofAnil Kumar Chaudhary as itsdirector, finance. He succeededSoiles Bhattacharya who retiredon 31 August 2011.Prior to beingappointed as Director (Finace), heserved as the Executive Director(Finance & Accounts) at SAIL’sBokaro Steel Plant. Aftercompleting his graduation incommerce from Delhi University,Chaudhary joined SAIL CorporateOffice in New Delhi in 1984 asJunior Manager (F&A), and roseto the rank of Executive Director(F&A).An Associate Member ofthe Institute of Cost & WorksAccountants of India (ICWAI) &Institute of Company Secretariesof India (ICSI), Chaudhary is analumni of Faculty of Law Studies(FLS), from where he completedhis bachelor’s degree in law.





that of environmentalist, feminist,politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate andhead of the Green BeltMovement.The mission of GreenBelt Movement was to plant treesacross Kenya to fight erosion andto create firewood for fuel andjobs for women. The movementhelped to plant more than 30million trees in Africa and has alsohelped nearly 900,000 women,according to the United Nations,while inspiring similar efforts inother African countries.She wonthe Peace Prize in 2004 for whather contribution to sustainabledevelopment, democracy andpeace. It was a moment ofimmense pride in Kenya andacross Africa.

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi

Former Indian cricket captainMansur Ali Khan Pataudinicknamed Tiger Pataudi died inNew Delhi on 22 September2011.Mansoor was born toIftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, 8th

Nawab of Pataudi and his wifeSajida Sultan, second daughter ofthe last ruling nawab of Bhopal in1941. Pataudi was the ninth andlast Nawab of Pataudi until 1971,when the Indian governmentabolished royal entitlements

through the 26th Amendment tothe Constitution. He went on animpaired eye to become avisionary and pioneering captainof the Indian Test team. He wasthe youngest to become captainat the age of 21.

Tiger Pataudi made his debut on13 December 1961 in the testmatch against England played inNew Delhi. In 1962 he scored hismaiden centuary (113) in his thirdTest against England in Chennai.On 23 March 1962 he lead Indiain his fourth Test, in Barbados andthus at 21 he became Testcricket’s youngest captain.Pataudi played 46 Tests between1961 and 1975. He led India in40 Tests and had a successfulcareer. Pataudi scored 2793 runsat an average of 35 and made sixcenturies, the biggest of whichwas an unbeaten 203 againstEngland in Delhi in 1964.He washonoured with the prestigiousArjuna Award in 1964. He wasconferred upon the Padma Shri in1967.Since 2007, bilateral Testseries between India and Englandhave been contested for thePataudi Trophy, named after hisfamily for their contribution toAnglo-Indian cricket.

Burhanuddin Rabbani

Former Afghan PresidentBurhanuddin Rabbani was killedby a suicide bomber killed inKabul on 20 September 2011. Ashead of Afghanistan’s High PeaceCouncil, Rabbani shoulderedresponsibility to find a politicalsolution to the 10-year war withthe Taliban. Rabbani was giventhe dangerous and difficult job ofguiding the negotiations between

the government and its opponents,including the Taliban. His deathwill impact the future of the warin Afghanistan.

Gursharan Singh (Bhajji)

Leading Punjabi playwright andtheatre personality GursharanSingh popularly known as bhajjidied on 28 September 2011.Gursharan Singh was known tohave developed the character ofBhai Manna Singh through hisplays .Well known theatrepersonality Singh in his lifetime hadpenned around 70 plays .Hestarted the tradition of theatre inPunjab and was known as BabaBohar (towering personality) ofPunjabi theatre.He workedrelentlessly for an egalitariansociety, gender eqaulity andworkers’ rights. He served as achairman of the theatre groupPulse Manch. Gursharan Singh won several awards from KalidasSamman to Kala Ratan awardedby the National Sangeet NatakAkademy.

C Achuthan

Former presiding officer of theSecurities Appellate Tribunal CAchuthan passed away in Keralaon 20 September 2011 followinga massive cardiac arrest.Afterearning Masters degree inEconomics and a degree in lawfrom the Bombay University,Achuthan started off with theIndian Legal Services and servedas a legal advisor to the Centralgovernment. He also served onthe Company Law Board, beforebeing promoted as the SAT’s solepresiding officer from 1997 to2003. Achuthan’s term as the SAT



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presiding officer for a five-yearperiod from November 1997which was by a year expired on3 November 2003. Afterretirement from the SAT, heworked as partner with aMumbai-based law firmCorporate Law Chambers.

Vasant Sathe

Congress veteran and formerUnion minister Vasant Sathe diedon 23 September in Gurgaon.

Vasant Sathe was a senior partyleader known for his frank views. A lawyer by training, Sathe wasthe Union minister for informationand broadcasting in Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi’s cabinet.He hadtouched on many issues like adebate on Presidential form ofgovernance and demand forPriyanka Gandhi’s entry intoactive politics.He was Born on 5March 1925, in Maharashtra.Hetook active part in the freedommovement and removed theBritish flag and unfurling theIndian tri-colour at the districtcourt in Nagpur during the QuitIndia Movement.

Sathe made his debut in the LokSabha from Akola in 1972 andlater represented Wardhaconstituency from 1980 to 1991.

T.K. Govinda Rao

Veteran musician, musicologistand revered guru T.K. GovindaRao passed away on 18September 2011.A highlyregarded musician and practionerof Carnatic music Govinda Raoreceived his initial training underChembai VaidhyanathaBhagavathar and much of his

advanced music training under thelegendary Musiri Subramania Iyer.In 1949, he joined the CentralCollege of Music, Chennai andwas guided by great musicianssuch as T. Brinda. He was aspecialist in Purandara Dasacompositions.The MusicAcademy in Chennai hadconferred the title of SangitaKalanidhi on Sri T. K. GovindaRao in 2000. The award carriedRs . 10000, a citation and aninsignia.

Gautam Rajadhyakshapas sed

Bollywood’s legendaryphotographer GautamRajadhyaksha passed away inMumbai on 13 September 2011.Born in 1950 in Mumbai,Rajadhyaksha went on tobecome synonymous withBollywood portrait photography

during the 80s and 90s and alsoexperimented in film making andwriting screen plays.

Making celebrity portraits wasRajadhyaksha’s specialty and hewent on to become an iconicfigure in the industry. In 1992, hewrote his first screenplay for thefilm, Bekhudi, which launchedactor Kajol’s career. In 1997, hereleased a coffee table book titledFACES, containing 45 filmpersonalities.

Ganapati Sthapati

Eminent sculptor GanapatiSthapati died on 6 September2011 in Chennai. He had sculptedthe famous Tiruvalluvar statue inKanyakumari and Buddha statuein Hussainsagar.Professor Sthapatiwas the chief architect of the 133-feet-tall statue of Tiruvalluvar, theTamil saint who penned the Tamiltreatise,





Thirukkural. The statue is erectedon a rock in the Indian Ocean inKanyakumari. The Telugu Desamfounder N.T. Rama Rao hadengaged him for several of his petprojects during his stint as chiefminister including the tallestBuddha statue, sculpted bySthapati from a monolithicrock.After completing hisgraduation with a degree inmathematics he became a Sthapati(Hindu traditional architect) atPalani Murugan Temple, Palani,TN, India. He resigned after thedeath of his father, who hadserved as principal of the Schoolof Architecture and Sculpture atMamallapuram from 1957 to1960. He succeeded his father asthe Principal of the GovernmentCollege of Architecture andSculpture, Tamil Nadu.Sthapatihas authored a number of bookson the science and technology ofVastu Shastra and conductednumerous seminars.

Books he has wrote includeIconometry, Temples of SpaceScience: The Building Architectureof Sthapatya Veda andCommentary on Mayan’sAintiram. He was honoured withthe Padma Bhushan in 2009.

D.U. Sastry

Eminent industrial economist,D.U. Sastry passed away on 5September 2011.Shastri receivedhis early education in Economicsat Mysore University and atAmherst College inMassachusetts, United States. Hespent some time as a researchscholar under D.R. Gadgil at theGokhale Institute of Politics and

Economics in Pune. He was alsoa research fellow at theUniversity of Pennsylvania andwas associated with Nobellaureate L.R. Klein.

Professor Sastry started his careerwith a short stint at the IndianInstitute of Economics inHyderabad

RESIGNATION/REMOVAL

Justice Shivaraj Patil

Karnataka Lokayukta JusticeShivaraj Virupanna Patil resignedfrom his post on 19 September2011 over charges of violatingco-operative housing societylaws. Charges are that he ownedtwo residential sites in Bangalore

city. Media exposé showedirregularities in the allotment oftwo residential plots to him andhis wife.Patil and his wife,Annapurna, owned three plots ofland in violation of Bangalore citylaws , which mentions that afamily cannot buy more than onehousing site through a housingsociety.

Patil bought a plot of land thoughhe already owned a house inBangalore and was also allotted aplot in 1994, a 9,600 sq ft sitefrom the Karnataka Judicial

Department Employees’ HouseBuilding Cooperative Society.According to the cooperativehousing society rules, people whoown a plot or a house in a city arenot eligible for a plot from ahousing society as the plots are



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sold at prices much below themarket price for members of thesociety.

Tim Nielsen

Tim Nielsen stepped down asAustralia’s coach after helping theside to a series victory in SriLanka. Nielsen, who took overfrom John Buchanan in 2007,made the announcement afterAustralia managed a draw in thefinal Test at the SSC in Colombo.

Abu Salem

The Portuguese High Courtordered termination of extraditionof underworld don Abu Salem forbreach of agreement by India forslapping offences which attractdeath penalty. The Portugesecourt said that in view of the newcharges against Salem which entaildeath penalty, the authorisationgranted for his extradition hasbeen terminated.Salem tried ineight criminal cases including the1993 Mumbai serial blasts wasalso charged with MCOCA(Maharashtra Control ofOrganised Crime Act) forallegedly making extortion calls toa Delhi-based businessman. Salemand accomplice Monica Bedi,were extradited to India on 11November, 2005, after a tortuouslegal process in Portugal lastingthree years.

HONOUR

Miss Universe 2011, LeilaLopes

Leila Lopes from Angola wascrowned Miss Universe on 12

September 2011 in Sau Paulo,Brazil.Lopes is a businessmanagement student in GreatBritain, where she was crownedMiss Angola UK on 8 October2010, the official representative ofthe Angolan community in theUnited Kingdom to the 2011 MissAngola pageant.Lopes, Angola’sfirst winner, out did 88 othercompetitors to win the title duringthe 60th anniversary of theworld’s biggest beauty pageant.pageant

The first runner-up was 23-year-old Olesia Stefanko of Ukraineand the second runner-up wasPriscila Machado of Brazil.

Abhinav Bindra & MS Dhoni

Olympic gold medallist shooterAbhinav Bindra and Indian captainMahendra Singh Dhoni wereconferred with the rank ofhonourary Lieutenant Colonel inthe Territorial Army by PresidentPratibha Patil on 13 September.The honour was bestowed onBindra and Dhoni for their

outstanding contribution in thefield of shooting and cricketrespectively, and theircommitment to the Army onvarious occasions. Bindra hadwon the only individual Olympicgold medal for India at the BeijingOlympics in 2008.Dhoni led Indiato World Cup victory in 2011 andwas instrumental in taking theteam to the No 1 spot in Testrankings for the first time ever.Prior to them senior cricketersKapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkarwho have been conferred with

honorary ranks in the armedforces.Kapil Dev is an HonoraryLt Col in the Territorial Army,while Tendulkar is an honoraryGroup Captain in the Indian AirForce.

Eddie Murphy

American stand-up comedian,actor, writer, singer, director, andmusician, Eddie Murphy waschosen to host the 84th AcademyAwards/ Oscars in February2012. The hosting of the Oscarsin 2011 by the dramatic actors





Anne Hathaway and JamesFranco had fallen flat with criticsand viewers.Murphy who madehis film debut in 1982.Thecomedian Eddie Murphy’s filmsrange from Beverly Hills Cop tovoicing the smart-moutheddonkey in Shrek. Eddie Murphyhad earned his Oscar nominationfor his supporting role in

Dreamgirls in 2006. Box officetakes from Murphy’s films makehim the second-highest grossingactor in the United States. Hewas ranked 10 on ComedyCentral’s list of the 100 GreatestStand-ups of All Time.Hereceived Golden Globe Awardnominations for his performancesin 48 Hrs , Beverly Hills Cop

series, Trading Places, and TheNutty Professor. In 2007, he wonthe Golden Globe for BestSupporting Actor and received anomination for the AcademyAward for Best Supporting Actorfor his portrayal of soul singerJames Thunder Early inDreamgirls.

SSC GRADUATE LEVEL EXAMINATIONSOLVED & PRACTICE PAPERS

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PART-I

General Intelligence

Directions (1-10): Select the related word/letter/figure/number from the given alternatives.

1. Mechanic : Spanner : : Carpenter : ?(a) Tree (b) Wood(c) Furniture (d) Saw

2. Fish : Gills : : Min : ?(a) Ears (b) Eyes(c) Lungs (d) Nose

3. Grain : Warehouse : : Water : ?(a) Drink (b) Dam(c) Canal (d) River

4. AZBY : CXDW : : HSIR : ?(a) JQKP (b) KPLO(c) YBXC (d) TGSH

5. DMVE : ? : : HQZI : JSBK(a) GOXF (b) FOXG(c) GOXG (d) FNWG

6. Question Figures:

++

++ +

++ +

+ ?

Answer Figures:

++

++ +

++ +

++

++ + +

+ +

(a) (b) (d)(c)


?

Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (d)(c)


?

Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (d)(c)

9. 16 : 49 : : 100 : ?(a) 85 (b) 121(c) 144 (d) 169

10. 15 : 220 : : 100 : ?(a) 600 (b) 620(c) 625 (d) 650

Directions (11-18): Select the one which isdifferent from the other three responses.

11. (a) Son(b)Niece(c) Grandson(d) Grand-daughter

12. (a) January (b) February(c) July (d) December

13. (a) Intelligent (b) Precis(c) Stupid (d) Comprehensive

14. (a) ZXVT (b) RPNL(c) OMKI (d) HFDC

15. (a) MONJK (b) ACAZV(c) GMRGS (d) METEI

SOLVED PAPERSSC DATA ENTRY OPERATOR EXAM

HELD ON: 31-08-2008



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16. (a) 19 (b) 25(c) 16 (d) 49

17. (a) 26, 119 (b) 35, 513(c) 10, 27 (d) 17, 65

18.

+

×

+

× × ++×

(a) (b) (d)(c)

19. (a) 6 – 13 – 24(b) 12 – 19 – 30(c) 18 – 25 – 34(d) 24 – 31 – 42

20. A series of figures is given which can be groupedinto classes. Select the group into which thefigures can be classified from the givenresponses:

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(6) (7) (8) (9)

(a) 3,5,1; 1,4,6; 7,8,9,(b) 3,4,1; 5,7,9; 2,8,6(c) 1,4,9; 3,6,8; 2,5,7(d) 8,5,4; 3,2,1; 7,6,9

Directions (21-25): In each of the followingquestions, arrange the following words in a meaningfulorder:

21. 1. Neonate 2. Child3. Infant 4. Embryo

(a) 1, 3, 2, 4 (b) 4, 1, 3, 2(c) 4, 3, 2, 1 (d) 3, 1, 4, 222. 1. Plastering 2. Painting

3. Foundation 4. Walls5. Ceiling

(a) 3, 4, 1, 2, 5 (b) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5(c) 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (d) 3, 4, 5, 1, 2

Directions (23-30): A series is given with oneterm missing. Choose the correct alternative fromthe given one that will complete the series.

23. Z3a, W5a, T8g, Q12j, ?(a) M16n (b) N17m(c) N16k (d) K17n

24. DGJ, FLN, HKN, JMP, ?(a) LON (b) LOR(c) LOQ (d) LOM

25. 321, 301, ?, 181, 21(a) 281 (b) 161(c) 241 (d) 261

26. 2816, ?, 176, 44, 11(a) 704 (b) 1408(c) 352 (d) 2640

27. Question Figure

Answer Figure

(a) (b) (c) (d)

28. Question Figure

Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (c) (d)


?

Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (d)(c)






?

Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (d)(c)

31. In a row of children, Harish is eleventh fromthe left and Mangesh is seventeenth from theright. When they exchange their places, Harishwill be thirteenth from the left. Which of thefollowing will be the new position of Mangeshfrom the right?(a) Eleventh (b) Twenty-first(c) Nineteenth (d) Twenty-ninth

32. A is the son of B, while B and C are sisters toone another. E is the mother of C. If D is theson of E, which of the following statements iscorrect?(a) D is the maternal uncle of A(b) E is the brother of B(c) D is the cousin of A(d) B and D are brothers

33. Question Figure

::: : ?Answer Figures

(a) (b) (c) (d)

34. If BOMBAY is coded as FSQFEC, which wordcould be coded as QCWSVI?(a) MANDYA (b) MANDAL(c) MYSORE (d) MYSOER

35. If D = 4 and READ is coded as 7, then what isHEAR coded as?(a) 32 (b) 33(c) 7 (d) 8

36. Some equations are solved on the basis of a

certain system. On the same basis, find out thecorrect answer from amongst the fouralternatives for the unsolved equation:

72 × 96 = 6927

58 × 87 = 7885

79 × 86 = ?(a) 7689 (b) 8976(c) 6897 (d) 6978

37. If ‘+’ means ‘×’, ‘–‘ means ‘+’, ‘×’ means ‘–’, ‘+’means ‘÷’, then what will be the value of thefollowing?

20 + 4 × 6 – 5 = ?(a) 28 (b) 32(c) 34 (d) 36

Directions (38-40): Select the missing numberfrom the given responses.

38.

12 14 165 9 6

10 16 ?50 110 84

(a) 11 (b) 12(c) 14 (d) 18

39. 144 (132) 12164 (?) 100

(a) 70 (b) 80(c) 85 (d) 90

40.45

22 27 3530

2060 30 40

30

2025 ? 35

65

(a) 36 (b) 33(c) 45 (d) 60

41. In an imaginary mathematical operation ‘+’means multiplication, ‘×’ means subtraction, ‘÷’means addition and ‘–’ means division. All otherrules in mathematical operation are the same asin the existing system. Which one of thefollowing gives the result of

175 – 25 ÷ 5 + 20 x 3 + 10 ?(a) 160 (b) 2370(c) 77 (d) 240

42. Rana travels 10km North, turns left and travels4 km and then again turns right and coversanother 5 km. He then turns to right—hand side



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and travels another 4 km. How far is the fromthe point of starting of his journey?(a) 5 km (b) 4 km(c) 15 km (d) 10 km

43. Four position of a dice are given below. Identitythe number at the bottom when top’s numberis 6:

3

6 2

4

5 1

1

2 3

2

3 1

(a) 5 (b) 1(c) 3 (d) 4

44. Among the four answer figures, which figurecan be formed from the cut pieces given thequestion figure?

Question Figure:

Answer Figures:

(b)(a) (d)(c)

45. The diagram gives the number of candidateswho failed in Chemistry, Electronics and Englishin different tests . The total number ofcandidates appeared was 600. What is thepercentage of candidates who failed in at leasttwo subjects?

Chemistry Electronics

27 15 65

1028 22

90 English

(a) 12.5 (b) 1.25

(c) 12.05 (d) 1246. Find out which of the diagrams as given in the

alternatives correctly represents therelationship among Employers, Doctors andWomen

47. In this question, a statement is give followedby four alternative inferences. Select the onewhich is most appropriate.

Statement: A large number of languagespecialists write novels.

Inferences :(A) Some language specialists do not write

novels(B) A novelist need not be a language

specialist(C) Language specialty is highly helpful to

write novels(D) All novelists are language specialists

48. In this question, a statement is given followedby two conclusions I and II. You have toconsider the statement to be true even if it seemsto be at variance from commonly known facts.You have to decide which of the givenconclusions, if any, follow(s) from the givenstatement.Statement: Industries destroy the naturalresources.Conclusions :

I. All natural resources are destroyed byindustries.

II. No industries, no environmental pollution.(a) Only I follows(b)Only II follows(c) Neither I nor II follows(d) Both I and II follow

49. Which answer figure will complete the patternin the question figure?Question Figure:

?





Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (d)(c)

50. From the given answer figures, select the onein which the question figure is hidden/embedded?

Question Figure:

Answer Figures:

(a) (b) (d)(c)

PAPER-II

General Awareness

51. Which of the following is not the source of therevenue of central Government?(a) Income Tax(b) Corporate Tax(c) Agricultural Income Tax(d) Excise Duty

52. ‘Operation Flood’ is associated with–(a) milk production(b) wheat production(c) flood control(d) water harvesting

53. Who has the sole right to issue paper currencyin India?(a) The Government of India(b) The Finance Commission(c) The Reserve Bank of India(d) The Central Bank of India

54. A fall in demand or rise in supply of acommodity-

(a) increase the price of that commodity(b) decrease the price of that commodity(c) neutralises the changes in the price(d) determines the price elasticity

55. Planning Commission of India was establishedin(a) 1947 (b) 1950(c) 1951 (d) 1949

56. How many types of emergencies are envisagedby the Constitution?(a) 1 (b) 2(c) 3 (d) 4

57. Who calls the Joint Session of the two Housesof the Parliament?(a) The President (b)The Prime Minister(c) The Lok Sabha Speaker(d) The Vice-President

58. In which year, Gandhiji established SabarmatiAshram in Gujarat?(a) 1916 (b) 1917(c) 1918 (d) 1929

59. No confidence Motion against the Union Councilof Minister can be initiated(a) in the Rajya Sabha only(b) in the Lok Sabha only(c) in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha(d) in the State Assemblies

60. Which constitutional Amendment deleted theRight to Property from the list of FundamentalRights?(a) 42nd Amendment(b) 62nd Amendment(c) 44th Amendment(d) 43rd Amendment

61. Most of the Chola temples were dedicated to(a) Vishnu (b) Shiva(c) Brahma (d) Durga

62. Where was the First Session of Indian NationalCongress held?(a) Bombay (b) Madras(c) Calcutta (d) Delhi

63. In the Gupta period, the largest number of coinswere issued in(a) gold (b) silver(c) copper (d) iron



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64. The tax which the kings used to collect fromthe people in the Vedic period was called-(a) Bali (b) Vidatha(c) Varman (d) Kara

65. Buddha preached his first sermon at-(a) Gaya (b) Sarnath(c) Pataliputra (d) Vaishali

66. Which one of the following is not the result ofunderground water action?(a) Stalactites(b) Stalagmites(c) Sinkholes(d) Fiords

67. Grassland is called “pampas” in-(a) Africa(b) South America(c) the United Kingdom(d) the USA

68. The coastal part of water bodies of the oceanswhich is structurally part of the mainland of thecontinents is called(a) isthumus(b) oceanic ridge(c) continental shelf(d) continental slope

69. Anemometer is used to measure(a) wind direction(b) wind velocity(c) pressure gradient(d) wind speed and time

70. Marina Trench is found in(a) Atlantic Ocean(b) Pacific Ocean(c) Indian Ocean(d) Arctic Ocean

71. Which cells in our body have the leastregenerative power?(a) Brain cells(b) Muscle cells(c) Bone cells(d) Liver cells

72. A potato tuber has been cut into two halves.A few drops of iodine solution are placed onthe cut surface of one of the halves. Whatcolour change will be noticed?

(a) From brow to blue-black(b) From brown to orange-red(c) From blue to pink(d) From pink to blue-green

73. How many values does a human heart have?(a) Four (b) Three(c) Two (d) One

74. The cells which are responsible for theproduction of antibodies are(a) red blood cells(b) neutrophils (c) lymphocytes(d) platelets

75. The source of the enzyme, diastase is(a) salivary gland(b) stomach(c) liver (d) pancreas

76. Mycoplasma is associated with a disease thataffects the organs of(a) respiration (b) excretion(c) reproduction(d) digestion

77. Which one of the following has the highest valueof specific heat?(a) Glass (b) Copper(c) Lead (d) Water

78. The device used for locating submerged objectsunder sea is.(a) sonar (b) radar(c) laser (d) maser

79. The metal whose electrical conductivity is more,is(a) copper (b) aluminum(c) silver (d) lead

80. What happens to a liquid, when the vapourpressure equals the atmospheric pressure?(a) The liquid cools(b) The liquid boils(c) No change(d) The liquid evaporates

81. Seaweeds are important source of(a) fluorine (b) chlorine(c) bromine (d) iodine

82. In nuclear reactor, heavy water is used as(a) coolant (b) fuel(c) moderator (d) atomic smasher





83. Which one of the following pairs is correctlymatched?(a) Tetanus-BCG(b) Tuberculosis-ATS(c) Malaria-Chloroquin(d) Scurvy-Thiamin

84. Tear gas used by the police to disperse the mobcontains(a) carbon dioxide(b) chlorine(c) ammonia(d) hydrogen sulphide

85. Correct expansion of the term ‘http’ in Internetaddress is(a) higher text transfer protocol(b) higher transfer text protocol(c) hybrid text transfer protocol(d) hypertext transfer protocol

86. Which of the following is a Navaratna PSE?(a) Steel Authority of India Ltd.(b) MMTC Ltd.(c) National Aluminum Company Ltd.(d) Oil India Ltd.

87. ‘World AIDS Day’ is observed on(a) 1st January (b) 1st April(c) 1st September (d)1st December

88. Who was (is) the first lady recipient of DadaSaheb Phalke Award?(a) Nargis Dutt(b) Uma Devi(c) Devika Rani(d) Sulochana

89. Out of the following artists, who has writtenthe book, Meandering pastures of Memories?(a) Shovana Narayan(b) Saroja Vaidyanathan(c) Yamini krishnamoorthy(d) Geeta Chandran

90. Out of the following Indian States, which Statedoes not have any maritime boundary?(a) Gujarat (b) Goa(c) Rajasthan (d) Maharashtra

91. With which brand of product, is the slogan ‘Justdo it’ associated?

(a) Bata (b) Power(c) Wood land (d) Nike

92. With which of the following books, is Dr. S.Radhakrishnan associated?(A) An Idealist View of Life(B) Bhagavad Gita(C) Conquest of self(D) Hindu View of Life(a) A, B, and C only(b) B, C and D only(c) A, C and D only(d) A, B and D only

93. The Headquarters of International Court ofJustice is located in(a) Paris (France)(b) Geneva (Switzerland)(c) New York (USA)(d) The Hague (Netherlands)

94. ‘Subroto Cup’ is associated with which game/sports?(a) Hockey (b) Football(c) Basketball (d) Badminton

95. The first talkie film in India was(a) Raja Harishchandra(b) Alam Ara (c) Chandida(d) Jhansi Ki Rani

96. Who holds the record for scoring the highestnumber of runs (individuals) in One-day CricketWorld Cup Tournaments?(a) S. Gnaguly (b) S. Tendulkar(c) B. Lara (d) G. Kirsten

97. Which is the field in which Ustad Bismillah Khanhas distinguished himself?(a) Sitar (b) Guitar(c) Shehnai(d) Hindustani Music (Classical-Vocal)

98. Where is the Baba Imambara located?(a) Agra (b) Lucknow(c) Patna (d) Allahabad

99. What does the open market operation of theRBI mean?(a) Buying and selling shares(b) Auctioning of foreign exchange(c) Trading is securities(d) Transaction in gold



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100. ‘Consumer Day’ is celebrated every year on(a) 1st April (b) 23rd April(c) 15th March (d) 5th December

PART-III

English Language

Directions (101-105): In the following questions,some of the sentences have errors and some havenone. Find out which part of a sentence has an error.The number of that part is your answer. If there isno error, your answer (4) i.e. No error.

101.(a) They agreed(b) to repair the damage(c) freely of charge(d) No error

102.(a) When Darun heard the news that hisfather had been hospitalised

(b) he cancelled his trip(c) and returned back to his village(d) No error

103.(a) The Governing Board(b) comprises of(c) several distinguished personalities(d) No error

104.(a) My uncle does not spend(b) so much money on that house(c) unless he thinks of moving in soon(d) No error

105.(a) Neither my sister nor my brother(b) are interested(c) in moving to another house(d) No error

Directions (106-110): In the following sentencesare given with blanks to be filled in with theappropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggestedfor each question. Choose the correct alternative outof the four.

106. If I ____ a doctor, I would serve the poor.(a) am (b) had been(c) were (d) was

107. He is weak ____ he does a lot of work.(a) and (b) yet

(c) because (d) so108. Mahesh showed an ____ for sports at a very

early stage.(a) attitude (b) aptitude(c) imagination (d) intuition

109. For ____ sake don’t tell it to others.(a) haven (b) heaven(c) heavens (d) heven’s

110. Napoleon’s army ____ to the Russian soldierswithout any flight.(a) evaded (b) decimated(c) capitulated (d) cordoned

Directions (111-115): In the following questions,out of the four alternatives, choose the one whichbest expresses the meaning of the given word.

111. Supersede(a) suspend (b) enforce(c) repeal (d) set aside

112. Perilous(a) monstrous (b) dangerous(c) cautious (d) dubious

113. Affluence(a) richness (b) difficulty(c) influence (d) awkwardness

114. Bifurcated(a) dissected into pieces(b) divided into two(c) thoroughly evaluate(d) verbally abused

115. Consensus(a) unanimity (b) equanimity(c) magnanimity(d) proximity

Directions (11

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