e magazine - civil service india

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www.civilserviceindia.com

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Editor’s Note

Dear Civil Services Aspirants,

As a mark of tribute to our former president, A. P.

J. Abdul Kalam, the Civil Service India is putting up

10 inspirational quotes from him that may

motivate you to prepare for this challenging

examination.

1- You have to dream before your dreams can come true. Great dreams of great dreamers are always transcended.

2- To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.

3- Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.

4- Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident.

5- We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us.

6- God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers.

7- You see, God helps only people who work hard. That principle is very clear.

8- One of the very important characteristics of a student is to question. Let the students ask questions.

9- Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career.

10- My message, especially to young people is

to have courage to think differently,

courage to invent, to travel the unexplored

path, courage to discover the impossible

and to conquer the problems and succeed.

These are great qualities that they must

work towards. This is my message to the

young people.

Civil Service India Wishes you All the Best!

Essay of the Month

National Skill Development Schemes to Galvanize India’s Work Force

India is soon going to be a hub of world’s human

resource capital. There are four initiatives taken

up by the Union government that are aimed to

enrich India’s human capital.

National Skill

Development Mission

(NSDM), National Policy for Skill Development

and Entrepreneurship, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal

Vikas

Yojana (PMKVY) and Skill Loan scheme are the

four schemes aimed at achieving the vision of Skill

India.

The National Mission for Skill Development

(NMSD) is a government initiative to provide the

overall institutional framework to rapidly

implement and scale up skill development efforts

across India.

The Mission seeks to provide the institutional

capacity to train a minimum of 300 million skilled

people by the year 2022.

The objectives of the mission are to create an end-

to-end implementation framework for skill

development, which provides opportunities for

life-long learning.

It aims to align employer/industry demand and

workforce productivity with trainees’ aspirations

for sustainable livelihoods, by creating a

framework for outcome-focused training.


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NMSD try to establish and enforce cross-sectoral,

nationally and internationally acceptable

standards for skill training in the country.

It builds capacity for skill development in critical

un-organized sectors and provides pathways for

re-skilling and up-skilling workers in this sector, to

enable them to transition into formal sector

employment.

NMSD ensure sufficient, high quality options for

long-term skilling, benchmarked to internationally

acceptable qualification standards, which will

ultimately contribute to the creation of a highly

skilled workforce.

It intends to develop a network of quality

instructors/trainers in the skill development

ecosystem by establishing high quality teacher

training institutions.

It leverages existing public infrastructure and

industry facilities for scaling up skill training and

capacity building efforts.

NMSD support weaker and disadvantaged

sections of society through focused outreach

programmes and targeted skill development

activities.

It propagates aspirational value of skilling among

youth, by creating social awareness on value of

skill training.

NMSD maintain a national database, known as the

Labour Market Information System (LMIS), which

will act as a portal f

r matching the demand and supply of skilled

workforce in the country.

The Mission will have seven sub-missions under its

purview. These are: revitalizing institutional training,

infrastructure through undertaking sector

specific skill training initiatives, ensure

convergence of existing skill development

programmes, leverage existing public

infrastructure for skilling, focus on training of

trainers, and facilitate overseas employment and

Promote sustainable livelihoods.

National Policy for Skill Development and

Entrepreneurship 2015, is the second such policy

on skill development that intends to replace the

National Policy on Skill Development 2009 by

adding entrepreneurship to the policy framework.

As far as objective related to National Policy for

Skill Development Entrepreneurship, it is to

promote entrepreneurship culture and make it

aspirational, enhance support for potential

entrepreneurs through mentorship and networks

and integrate entrepreneurship education in the

formal education system among others.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal

Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is a

demand-driven, reward-

based skill training

scheme. Under the scheme, besides assessing and

certifying 10 lakh youth for the skills they already

possess, around 24 lakh youth will be skilled over

the next year.

PMKY will cover 24 lakh persons and skill training

would be based on the National Skill Qualification

Framework (NSQF) and industry led standards.

Skill training would be on the basis of skill gap

studies conducted by the NSDC for the period

2013-17.

Its focus of the training would be on improved

curricula, better pedagogy and better trained

instructors. Training would include soft skills,


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personal grooming, behavioral change for cleanliness, good work ethics.

A monetary reward will be given to trainees on

assessment and certification by third party

assessment bodies. The average monetary reward

would be around 8000 rupees per trainee.

Under the Skill Loan scheme, loans ranging from

5000-1.5 lakhs rupees will be made available to 34

lakh youth to attend skill development

programmes. It will be operational between 2015

and 2020.

The government has approved introduction of

common norms for all the Skill Development

Schemes. Common Norms seek to rationalize the

whole spectrum of skill development processes

and systems including inputs, outputs,

funding/cost norms, third party certification and

assessment, monitoring/tracking mechanisms and

empanelment of training providers.

Common Norms define the

activities constituting Skill

Development in the country,

skill development courses

and their alignment with the National Skills

Qualification Framework, broad input standards

for training programmes and the outcomes

expected from these programmes.

The outcomes of skill training programmes have

been defined in terms of placement achieved in

wage and self- employment, both for fresh

trainees as well as existing workers who have

undergone Recognition of Prior Learning.

As the common norms are aimed at being

outcome focused, the cost norms and fund flow

mechanism for skill development programmes

have also been linked to specific outcomes achieved.

Cost norms include support for components like mobilization of candidates, trainers’ training,

placement expenses, post-placement tracking/monitoring and infrastructure costs.

The State Governments are also expected to align

their skill development schemes with these

common norms so as to bring in uniformity and

standardization.

The objective of skill development is to make

quality vocational training aspirational for both

youth and employers, focus on an outcome based

approach towards quality skilling, increase the

capacity and quality infrastructure, establish an IT

base duality infrastructure for aggregating

demand and supply of skilled workforce and

promote increased participation of women in the

workforce among others.

Currently, over 70-odd Skill Development

Programmes (SDPs) are being implemented by

the Union Government. Each programme has its

own norms for eligibility criteria, duration of

training, cost of training, outcomes, monitoring

and tracking mechanism etc. This multiplicity of

norms and parameters has created a diffusive

effect of SDPs, which needs to be streamlined in

order to achieve the final outcomes envisaged.

UPSC News

UPSC IAS Prelims on August 23

The preliminary examination for Union Public

Service Commission (UPSC) Indian Administrative

Services (IAS) is slated to be held on August 23.


The results will be announced in the last week of October.

The admit cards for candidates who are appearing

this year are available on the official website. The

candidates who have registered themselves for

this exam can download the same from today

onwards till August 23.

The exam paper will be bifurcated into two

sections: Paper I (General Studies) and Paper II

(Aptitude Test). Both the papers would carry 200

marks each.

This year onward, the CSAT

would only be a qualifying

exam, the candidates need

to secure only 33 percent

marks. The marks of Paper

1 will be considered for ranking in the prelims,

based on which candidates will appear for the

Mains exam.

This exam is held in three stages: Preliminary

exam, Main exam and Personality test or

Interview. The candidate applying for the exam,

should be a citizen of India.

Candidates from Nepal, Bhutan, Tibetan refugees

and immigrants with Indian origin will have to

submit a certificate of eligibility that has been

issued by the Government of India, as an evidence

of their eligibility.

The candidates should possess a degree from any

of Indian universities or an equivalent

qualification from any recognized university.

Those who have appeared or intend to appear for

the qualifying examination and are awaiting

results are also eligible to appear for the exam.

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The candidates should be of minimum 21 years of

age and maximum 32 years of age. Relaxation

would be provided as per the government norms

to the reserved category.

General category can make 6 attempts OBC

category, 9 and SC/SC category can make

unlimited attempts.

History Notes

The election of 1937 and the formation of ministries

Under the Government of India Act 1935,

provincial election was held in February 1937. The

1937 election was the first in which large masses

of Indians were eligible to participate.

An estimated 30.1 million persons, including 4.25

million women, had acquired the right to vote

(14% of the total population), and 15.5 million of

these, including 917,000 women, actually did

exercise their franchise.

The Indian National Congress party swept the

polls in most of the provinces. The Congress Party

gained an absolute majority in seven out of eleven

provinces.

Congress was the largest single party in Bombay,

Madras, U.P., Bihar, and Orissa, Central Provinces

and in the NWFP. In these provinces Congress

ministries were formed in July 1937.

Later, Congress formed coalition government in

Sindh and Assam the other two provinces where it

was short of majority.

The non-Congress ministries were formed only in Bengal where a coalition of the Krishak Praja Party


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came to power and in Punjab where a coalition of Unionist Party took control.

After assuming office, the Congress ministries

tried to improve the condition of the people

within the narrow limits of the powers given to

them under the Act of 1935.

The Congress ministries set up new standards of

honesty, austerity and public service. They

drastically reduced their own salaries and mostly

travelled second or third class on the railways.

Congress government promoted civil liberties,

repealed restrictions on the press and radical

organization. It permitted trade unions and Kisan

organizations to function and grow. It curbed the

power of the police, and released political

prisoners including number of revolutionary

terrorists.

Congress

ministries aroused

the hopes of

industrial working

class leading to

industrial unrest

in Bombay, Gujarat, UP and Bengal.

The Congress ministries passed agrarian

legislations dealing with tenancy rights, security of

tenure, rent reduction and relief and protection to

peasant debtors. The Congress Governments

introduced prohibition in selected areas,

undertook Harijan upliftment and gave great

attention to primary, higher and technical

education and public health.

The Congress ministries gave support to Khadi and

other village and cottage industries. Modern

industries too were encouraged by the Congress

during its rule in the provinces. The other major

achievement of the Congress rule was the

handling of communal riots.

It was successful in controlling them and established peace in the provinces it ruled.

The biggest gain of 1937 election was

psychological. People felt like breathing the air

victory and self-government with Congress

ministries coming into power in their provinces.

When the Second World War broke out in

September 1939, the Government of India

immediately joined the war without consulting the

Indian National Congress or the elected members of

the Central Legislature. The Congress party

demanded that India must be declared free or at

least effective power be transferred to Indians for

Indians to actively participate in the war.

This British refused to accept the Congress

demand and even tried to put the religious

minorities and Princes against the Congress. This

led the Congress ministries to resign in October

1939.

In provincial election of 1937, the Muslim League

contested the elections but achieved moderate

success. Out of the 485 reserved Muslim seats,

the Muslim League could capture only 110 seats.

Even in the Muslim-majority provinces of the

Punjab, the North-West Frontier Province, Bengal

and Sindh, the Muslim League was trounced by

rival Muslim parties.

Later, when the Congress ministries resigned in

the provinces, the Muslim League observed a ‘Day

of Deliverance’, as a mark of relief of Congress

rule.


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National News

Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam passed away

Former Indian President Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen

(APJ) Abdul Kalam passed away on 27 July 2015

following his collapse during a lecture in the Indian

Institute of Management, Shillong. He was 83. He

was also known as the Missile Man of India.

Considered as the People's President, Dr Kalam

became the 11th President of the country and

occupied the post between 2002 and 2007 during

the NDA government headed Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

After relinquishing the charge of President of

India, he relentlessly taught science to the youth

of India.

Kalam was one of India’s most eminent scientists

and had the unique honour of receiving honorary

doctorates from 30 universities and institutions.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was born on

15 October 1931 at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu,

APJ Abdul Kalam went on to become Aeronautical

Engineer from Madras Institute of Technology,

Chennai.

After graduating in

1960, he joined

DRDO as a

scientist. He

started his career

by designing a

small helicopter

for the Indian Army.

In 1969, Kalam was transferred to ISRO, where he

was project director of India's first indigenous

Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). He also served as

the Chief Scientific Adviser to then Prime Minister

and as the secretary of the DRDO from July 1992

to December 1999.

He has been awarded with the coveted civilian

awards including Padma Bhushan (1981) and

Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian

award Bharat Ratna (1997).

Kalam authored numerous inspirational books

including India 2020, Wings Of Fire and Ignited

Minds.

During his tenure as Chief Scientific Adviser to the

Prime Minister from July 1992 to December 1999,

he led the weaponization of strategic missile

systems and the Pokhran-II nuclear tests, which

made India a nuclear weapon state.

In 1980, India entered the space club by putting

the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit with the

first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III),

developed under the stewardship of Kalam. In the

1960s, Kalam was at the Thumba Equatorial

Rocket Launching Station near

Thiruvananthapuram, where he built ISRO's

sounding rocket programme to probe the upper

atmosphere.

His taking over of Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-3)

programme as its Project Director led to its

spectacular success in 1980. As director of DRDL,

he envisioned India's Integrated Guided Missile

Development Programme (IGMDP) and led teams

that built India's Agni, Akash, Prithvi and Nag

missile programmes.

He was instrumental in forging India's

collaboration with Russia to build the world's first

supersonic cruise missile called BrahMos.


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Literacy rate 71 percent in rural areas, 86 percent in urban areas

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) released

the 71st Round of its survey on Social

Consumption: Education. The survey was

conducted for the period of January to June 2014

and portrays the salient features relating to prime

indicators on education as on 31 March 2014.

The survey covered entire country with samples

taken from 36479 households in rural areas and

29447 in urban areas from 4577 villages and 3720

urban blocks. It was conducted on the basis of

having any student aged between 5 and 29 years

receiving technical/professional or general

education.

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) functions

under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme

Implementation.

Prime Minister launched Digital India Week

Prime Minister of

India Narendra Modi

launched the Digital

India Week in New

Delhi. The newly

created week is

aimed at encouraging people’s involvement and

creating awareness among them about various

initiatives launched under the Digital India

Programme launched in August 2014.

The Department of Electronics & Information

Technology (DeitY) is the nodal agency for

implementing the Digital India Programme in

close cooperation with other departments and

ministries. Digital India has been envisioned as an

ambitious umbrella programme to transform India

into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

In order to achieve the above objectives, several

projects/ products were already launched by the

Union Government and Public Sector Enterprises.

They are; Digital Locker System, MyGov. Swachh

Bharat Mission (SBM), eSign framework, The

Online Registration System, National Scholarships

Portal, Digitize India Platform (DIP), Bharat Net,

Electronics Development Fund, National Centre

for Flexible Electronics, Centre of Excellence on

Internet on Things

Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 for Rural India released

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union

Minister of Rural Development, Panchayati Raj

and Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation

Chaudhary Birendra Singh released the provisional

data from the Socio Economic and Caste Census

(SECC) 2011 for Rural India.

The survey was completed in all the 640 districts.

It provides very useful data on households

regarding various aspects of their socio-economic

status– housing, land-holding, educational status,

status of women, the differently able, occupation,

possession of assets, SC/ST households, incomes,

etc.

The data addresses the multi dimensionality of

poverty and provides a unique opportunity for a

convergent, evidence based planning with a Gram

Panchayat as a unit. The data is an opportunity to

make evidence based selection, prioritization and

targeting of beneficiaries in different programmes.


SECC 2011 is a unique paperless Census. The

enumeration of the data was done using over 6.4

lakh electronic handheld device. Household data

was taken from the National Population Register

along with the Temporary Identification Number

(TIN).

The districts and State Governments have carried

out the SECC with the Union Ministry of Rural

Development as the nodal Ministry. Union

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

carried out the survey in urban areas and the

Registrar General, Census of India carried out the

caste census.

Panagariya Committtee to classify Caste Census data, 2011

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on 16 July 2015 gave its approval

to set up an expert group to classify the Caste

names returned in the Socio Economic and Caste

Census (SECC), 2011.

The expert group will be chaired Arvind

Panagariya, Vice-Chairperson of NITI Aayog and

will be serviced by the Ministry of Social Justice

and Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Welfare.

As per the released SECC data on 3 July 2015,

there are about 46 lakh Caste/Sub Caste names/

synonyms/surnames/ clan/gothra names. The

caste census was the first since 1932.

The approval was given in lieu of the failure of the

states in consolidating different categories and is

in line with the one taken by the UPA government

on 19 May 2011.

The SECC was conducted by the respective State/UT Governments. The field survey on

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economic data has since been completed and the

socio economic data relating to rural areas has

been released by the Ministry of Rural

Development (MoRD). The work on urban data is

under progress

CBI constituted 40 members team to probe multi-crore Vyapam scam

Vyapam: Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal/Madhya

Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB)

Vyapam scam was in news in July 2015 as Central

Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on 12 July 2015

constituted a special team of 40 officers, under a

Joint Director level officer, to probe the multi-

crore Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh. The team

will be headed by CBI Joint Director RP Agarwal.

Vyapam scam is an admission and recruitment

scam involving politicians, senior officials and

businessmen in Madhya Pradesh. The scam

involved a collusion of undeserving candidates,

who bribed politicians and MPPEB officials

through middlemen, to get

high ranks in these entrance

tests.

The CBI constituted the team following the

direction of Supreme Court (SC) of India. SC bench

headed

by Chief Justice of India HL Dattu on 9 July 2015

transferred the probe of all cases related to

Vyapam scam to the CBI. It also asked the agency

to file its report before it on 24 July 2015. Earlier,

the case was being handled by a Special Task

Force and was monitored by the High Court.

India second among 40 countries in terms of Confidence in National Government: OECD


India stood second among 40 countries in terms

of Confidence in National Government in 2014 as

per the Government at a Glance 2015 report that

placed Switzerland at the top with Norway coming

in third.

The report was released on by the Organization

for Economic Co-operation and Development

(OECD). It was based on a sampling survey of 1000

citizens in each country conducted by World Poll.

Out of 1000 Indian citizens surveyed, 730

answered in the affirmative to the question

related to confidence of citizens and businesses in

government to do what is right and perceived as

fair.

However, between 2007 (pre financial crisis

period) and 2014, trust levels in India dropped by

9 percentage points.

Also, India stood at the 24th position out of 35

countries in the comparison on protection of

fundamental rights that include the right to equal

treatment and the absence of discrimination, the

right to life and security of the person and

freedom of belief and religion among others.

Union Ministry of Urban Development launched nationwide HRIDAY scheme

Union Ministry of Urban Development on 14 July

2015 launched the National Heritage

Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY)

for 12 cities in the country from Amritsar in

Punjab.

The scheme seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the

rich cultural heritage of the country in the

selected 12 cities in the country, including

Amritsar. The scheme was launched by Union

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Minister of Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley,

HRIDAY seeks to

promote an integrated,

inclusive and

sustainable development of heritage sites,

focusing on maintenance of monuments and on

advancement of the entire ecosystem.

In the initial phase of HRIDAY, 12 heritage cities

have been identified which will be rejuvenated

and developed. Union Government will provide

500 crore rupees to these 12 cities. Physical,

institutional, economic and social infrastructure

developed as part of the scheme in the identified

cities. It will be completely funded by the Union

Government to create infrastructure and provide

facilities around the heritage sites to attract more

tourists.

Initiative to recognize 100 women achievers of India

The Union Ministry of Women and Child

Development launched the #100Women Initiative

in collaboration with Facebook to select 100

women achievers of India. The initiative is aimed

at recognizing and acknowledging women who are

making a difference in their communities across

the country.

To select 100 women achievers, a contest will be

held through public nominations via social media.

Nominations are accepted between 15 July 2015

and 30 September 2015 on the Facebook page of

the Ministry. Voting will begin on 27 November

2015 on the top 200 entries as determined by an

esteemed jury. Winners will be announced in

December 2015 and invited to join a reception


organized by the Ministry around the Republic Day.

Pam Rajput Committee’s recommendation on Status of Women

High Level Committee (HLC) on Status of Women

headed by Pam Rajput, constituted by former UPA

government, was in news in fourth week of July

2015. The committee came in news after a

workshop to discuss its recommendations to

generate a working road map to empower women

was held in New Delhi.

The meeting was called to work out actionable

points to empower women on the basis of the

report of High Level Committee that is a

voluminous report comprising of four parts. The

workshop discussed the recommendations under

four groups including; Women and Economy,

Women and Social Empowerment, Women,

Media and Information Technology, Women and

Law and lastly, Institutional Mechanism and

Governance.

The High Level Committee on Status of Women

presented its first copy of the Preliminary Report

to the Minister for Women and Child

Development, Krishna Tirath on 3 February 2015.

It identified Violence against Women, Declining

Sex Ratio and Economic Disempowerment of

Women as three key burning issues which require

immediate attention of the nation, and action by

the government.

Union Government launched Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan

Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and

Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan launched the

Surakshit Khadya Abhiyan, a countrywide

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campaign, to create mass awareness and capacity building for safe and hygienic food.

The initiative complements the widely popular

multi-media campaign Jago Grahak Jago which

empowers the consumers of its rights and

demands. This campaign, planned by CII and

Consumer Organization VOICE, and National

Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), is

an effort towards building a culture of food safety

in the country.

Under the campaign, nationwide sensitization

sessions on cleaning, hygiene & sanitation for safe

food, Walkathons and Media dissemination

programmes for Consumers, Street Food

Industries will be organized across the country.

The ministry also launched a website and a logo of

the campaign and also signed a pledge for

adopting safe food practices.

India ranked 12th in terms of power generation from nuclear source

With the total power

generation from

nuclear reactors at

5308 MWe, India is

ranked 12th in the

world in terms of power generation from nuclear sources.

This was revealed by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union

Minister of State for Atomic Energy and Space in a

reply to an unstarred question in Lok Sabha

though the data with respect to this was

published by Power Reactor Information System

(PRIS) of International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) in May 2015.


Further, in terms of number of nuclear reactors in

operation, India was ranked at 7th position with

21 reactors.

The released data further said that there are 31

countries including India in the world that

generate electricity from nuclear source.

The installed nuclear power capacity of India is

expected to increase from 5780 MWe to 10080

MWe on progressive completion of projects under

commissioning or construction by 2019.

Financial sanction and administrative approval for

Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojana

(GHAVP) Units – 1&2 (2X700 MW) and

Kudankulam Units- 3&4 (2X1000 MW) with a total

capacity of 3400 MW has been accorded by the

Government.

In addition, one Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor of

500 MW capacity at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu is at

advanced stage of commissioning. Construction of

two more Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR 1&2) of 600

MWe capacity each at Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu is

also planned.

Besides, India has signed nuclear agreements with

USA, France, Russia, Namibia, Mongolia, Republic

of Korea, Argentine Republic, United Kingdom,

Republic of Kazakhstan, Canada, Sri Lanka and

Australia.

Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana launched

The Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched

Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)

along with various other development projects in

Patna.

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The scheme is for rural areas was launched to

provide electrification to all villages Feeder

separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers

and regular supply to other consumers.

Improvement of Sub-transmission and

distribution network to improve the quality and

reliability of the supply. Metering to reduce the

losses. The Scheme has an outlay of 76000 crore

rupees for implementation of the projects under

which Union Government shall provide Grant of

63000 crore rupees.

CCEA approved Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

(CCEA) on gave its approval for a new scheme

called Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana

(PMKSY).

The Yojana was approved with an outlay of 50000

crore rupees over a period of five years, that is,

from 2015-16 to 2019-20 and the allocation for

the financial year 2015-16 has been kept at 5300

crore rupees.

The aim of PMKS is to bring concerned Ministries/Departments/Agencies/Research and

Financial Institutions engaged in

creation/use/recycling/potential recycling of

water under a common platform so that a


comprehensive and holistic view of the entire

water cycle is taken into account and proper

water budgeting is done for all sectors namely,

household, agriculture and industries.

The objectives of PMKSY are to provide

convergence to existing schemes of water

management, thus bringing efficiency to the use

of water. Expand cultivable area under assured

irrigation (Har Khet ko pani). Improve on-farm

water use efficiency to reduce wastage of water

Enhance the adoption of precision-irrigation and

other water saving technologies (More crop per

drop). Enhance recharge of aquifers and introduce

sustainable water conservation practices by

exploring the feasibility of reusing treated

municipal based water for peri-urban agriculture.

Attract greater private investment in precision

irrigation system.

Union Cabinet approved National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship

The Union Cabinet approved the India’s first

integrated National Policy for Skill Development

and Entrepreneurship 2015. The Policy

acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap

for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a

successful skills strategy.

The Vision of the Policy is to create an ecosystem

of empowerment by Skilling on a large Scale at

Speed with high Standards. It aims to promote a

culture of innovation based entrepreneurship

which can generate wealth and employment so as

to ensure Sustainable livelihoods for all citizens in

the country.

It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal

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education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers, etc.

The Policy seeks to align supply and demand for

skills by bridging existing skill gaps, promoting

industry engagement, operationalizing a quality

assurance framework, leverage technology and

promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training.

Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets

skilling opportunities for socially/geographically

marginalized and disadvantaged groups.

Skill development and entrepreneurship

programmes for women are a specific focus of the

Policy.

In the entrepreneurship domain, the Policy seeks

to educate and equip potential entrepreneurs,

both within and outside the formal education

system.

It also seeks to connect entrepreneurs to mentors,

incubators and credit markets, foster innovation

and entrepreneurial culture, improve ease of

doing business and promote a focus on social

entrepreneurship.

India’s 1st Earthquake Warning System successfully installed in Uttarakhand

An Earthquake

Warning System

(EWS) was successfully

installed in

Uttarakhand,

Dehradun in the first week of July 2015. With this,

Uttarakhand became first Indian state to install a


system that can detect earthquakes and disseminate warnings.

The system was designed and manufactured by

Italian firm Space Dynamics which already

installed this system in Japan, Italy and US. The

system will issue warnings 1-40 seconds before

the occurrence of earthquakes of magnitude 5 or

more.

According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS),

Uttarakhand falls under Seismic Zone –V, which is

a zone of high seismic activity with magnitude of

6.9 or greater on Richter scale. Apart from it,

Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rann of

Kutch (Gujarat), Northern Bihar and Andaman &

Nicobar Islands also fall under this seismic zone.

Another system like this will soon be established

at Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region of

Uttarakhand.

The Earthquake Warning System technology was

brought by the state Disaster Management and

Mitigation Centre (DMMC) and is operational at

the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).

The system is incorporated with sensors that can

detect P (Primary) and S (Secondary) waves

generated during an earthquake.

It is capable to detect the harmless P wave, which

travels faster than the S wave for advance

warning. It generates a variety of alarms like

programmable built-in audio alert, connected to

external alarms like sirens and public

announcement systems. It also triggers visual

alerts and sends them via cell phones and the

internet. The system can also eliminate false

triggers from environmental vibrations and filters

smaller non-damaging quakes.

14

Indian Economy

MUDRA card under Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana scheme launched

Corporation Bank launched country’s first MUDRA

(Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency)

card under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

(PMMY) in Mangalore, Karnataka.

The card is based on

the RuPay platform

and facilitates the

withdrawal and use of the working capital finance by micro entrepreneurs.

Under the PMMY, the bank launched three loan

schemes-Shishu, Kishore and Tarun- to

entrepreneurs based on their capacity to repay.

The Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY) was

launched by PM Narendra Modi on 8 April 2015

under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

(PMJDY) to ensure credit facility to small

entrepreneurs through Micro-Finance Institutions

(MFIs). Corporation Bank is one of the oldest

banks in India that was founded in 1906.

Make in India initiative won Economic Development Innovation Award

Frost and Sullivan, a US-based Growth Partnership

Company, recognized Make in India initiative of

the Department of Industrial Policy and

Promotion (DIPP), Government of India.

In this regard, it presented the DIPP with the 2015

Asia – Pacific Economic Development Innovation:

Policy and Program Implementation Excellence

Award in Manufacturing.


The award was given in recognition of its

outstanding contribution to nurture India’s

economic and industrial transformation through

simplifying the regulatory framework, reinforcing

connectivity and incentivizing investments.

The Make in India initiative scored the highest

score among the 100 countries in the GIL-100

Index: Manufacturing Index for 2015 on

Manufacturing Excellence which was prepared by

independent global experts through a detailed 10-

step process.

RBI constituted Committee on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion

The Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) constituted a

committee to work out a

five-year (medium-term)

action plan for financial

inclusion. The 14-member panel will be headed by RBI executive director Deepak Mohanty.

The Committee will work to spread the reach of financial services to unbanked population.

The terms of reference of the Committee are as under:

(i) To review the existing policy of financial

inclusion including supportive payment system

and customer protection framework taking into

account the recommendations made by various

committees set up earlier. (ii) To study cross country experiences in financial

inclusion to identify key learning, particularly in

the area of technology-based delivery models,

that could inform our policies and practices.

15

(iii) To articulate the underlying policy and

institutional framework, also covering consumer

protection and financial literacy, as well as

delivery mechanism of financial inclusion

encompassing both households and small

businesses, with particular emphasis on rural

inclusion including group-based credit delivery

mechanisms.

(iv) To suggest a monitorable medium-term

action plan for financial inclusion in terms of its

various components like payments, deposit,

credit, social security transfers, pension and

insurance.

(v) To examine any other related issues.

The committee was constituted in reference to

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on the

occasion of the Reserve Bank’s 80th anniversary

wherein he asked the Bank to take the lead in

encouraging financial institutions and to set a

medium-to-long term target for sustainable

financial inclusion.

Overall direct lending to farmers should not fall below average of past 3 years: RBI

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed banks to

ensure that their overall direct lending to farmers

should not fall below the average of last three

years.

The direction was given by RBI against the

backdrop of government expressing concern over

adverse impact of any reduction in direct credit,

given the adverse weather conditions.

Further, the RBI warned the banks that direct

lending below the target set for priority sector

lending will attract usual penalties.


The apex bank also said that banks should also

continue to maintain efforts to reach the level of

13.5 percent direct lending to beneficiaries who

earlier constituted the direct agriculture sector.

In an effort to increase direct lending to

agriculture, the RBI in April 2015 revised the

target for direct lending to small and marginal

farmers under priority sector norms to 7 percent

for 2015-16 and to 8 percent for 2016-17.

Direct lending to the most disadvantaged farmers,

the small and marginal farmers, has been around

6 percent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (or Credit

Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet

Exposure, whichever is higher).

Also, the distinction between direct and indirect

agriculture has been dispensed with and loans to

food and agro processing units will form part of

agriculture. Banks' overall target for agriculture

stands at 18 percent.

RBI permitted CBS-enabled Cooperative Banks to issue ATM cards in tie-up with a sponsor bank

Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) permitted

Cooperative Banks with

Core Banking Solution

(CBS) to issue ATM

cards/ATM-cum-debit cards in tie with a sponsor banks.

The decision was taken by the RBI in an attempt

to move towards a less-cash economy and with an

aim to inculcate the habit of using electronic

payment channels among bank customers.

Further, these cooperative banks by virtue of being a sub-member of National Financial Switch

16

(NFS) are required to fulfill the risk management

requirements prescribed by the sponsor bank and

meet expenses devolving on them under the

agreement with the sponsor bank.

Also, banks should set up their own arrangement

for issuing cards, authorization of cards and

customer support/redressal mechanism and

ensure to provide uninterrupted services to their

customers.

The RBI took the decision after it received

representations from cooperative banks not

having their own ATMs and sought permission to

issue ATM-cum-debit cards to their customers in

tie-up with banks having their own ATM network.

After examining the representations in light of

requirement to become a direct member or a sub-

member of the NFS for carrying out such

transactions, the RBI arrived at this decision.

Union Government extended Interest Subvention Scheme to banks

Union Government extended Interest Subvention

Scheme (ISS) to Public Sector Banks (PSBs), private

sector commercial banks, rural regional banks

(RRBs), cooperative banks and NABARD.

It was extended to ensure availability of crop

loans of up to 3 lakh rupees to farmers at 7

percent per annum.

The decision to continue interest subvention on

short term crop loans was taken by the Union

Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi

for the fiscal 2015-16.

The Cabinet also approved an additional interest

subvention of 3 percent per annum for those

farmers who repay on time.


The government also decided to provide interest

subvention to small and marginal farmers with

Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) for loans against

negotiable warehouse receipts post-harvest at

annual interest of seven percent for six months.

The government will also give relief to farmers

affected by natural calamities, where the interest

subvention of two percent will continue to be

available to banks for the first year on the

restructured amount.

Besides, the Cabinet also approved a Central

Agricultural University at Samastipur in Bihar.

According to the approval, the existing agricultural

university at Pusa will be converted into an

international level institution through

strengthening of infrastructure, manpower and

other provisions.

The cabinet also gave its in-principle nod for the

revival of Banana Research Centre at Goraul in

Vaishali, Bihar.

Seven Indian companies in the list of Fortune 500 list

The 61st

edition of the

Fortune 500

list for the

year 2015

was released.

In 2015

Fortune 500

companies list, 7 Indian companies finds the

mention.

The list is topped by Indian Oil at 119th rank with

revenues of 74 billion US dollars and is followed

by Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, State Bank of

17

India, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).

India and World Bank signed Financing

xAgreement for Andhra Pradesh Disaster

Recovery Project

India and World Bank signed Financing Agreement

for assistance of 250 million US dollars for Andhra

Pradesh Disaster Recovery Project.

It is a loan for an implementation period of 5

years and Andhra Pradesh Government will be the

implementing agency of project.

The objective of the project is to restore, improve

and enhance resilience of public services,

environmental facilities, and livelihoods in

targeted Communities of Andhra Pradesh.

It aims to increase the capacity of the State to

respond promptly and effectively to an eligible

crisis or emergency.

Direct beneficiaries of the project will be

populations of the affected coastal areas

specifically the four heavily impacted districts of

Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and

East Godavari.

It will have seven components: Resilient electrical

network, Restoration of connectivity and shelter

infrastructure, restoration and protection of

beach front, restoration of environmental services

and facilities and livelihood support, capacity

building and technical support for disaster risk

management, Project implementation support

contingency emergency response.


Indian Defence

INS Astravahini decommissioned after 31 years of service

INS Astravahini,

indigenously built

Torpedo launch

and recovery

vessel (TLRV), was

decommissioned after its 31 years’ service to the

nation. The vessel had immensely contributed in

the trials of indigenous torpedoes developed by

Naval Science and Technological Laboratory

(NSTL).

It was decommissioned at a ceremony presided

over by Commodore K A Bopanna, Naval Officer-

in-Charge ( Andhra Pradesh Division) at the Ship

Building Centre, Andhra Pradesh.

INS Astravahini was an auxiliary vessel of the

torpedo launching and recovery (TLRV) class. It

was ordered to be built by the NSTL in October

1981 for Defence Research and Development

Activities.

It was commissioned in Indian Navy in 1984 at

Visakhapatnam. It was only one of its class and

was extensively used by the NSTL as a test

platform to launch and recover experimental

torpedoes for their induction into the Indian Navy.

The ship was commanded by Lt Rohan Kulkarni.

Indigenously developed helicopter-launched Nag missile test fired

Indigenously developed helicopter-launched Nag

(HeliNa) missile was test fired at the Chandhan

firing range in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. HeliNa is a

variant of Nag anti-tank guided missile (ATGM).

18

Out of the three trials conducted by the Defence

Research and Development Organization (DRDO),

only two were successful in hitting the target.

Nag Missile is a third generation fire-and-forget

and can be fired during night and day. It is

equipped with top attack capability to nullify the

explosive reactive armour (ERA) of a battle tank. It

weighs 42kg having 1.90m length and can be fired

against both moving and fixed targets.

Besides HeliNa, it has land, air-launched and man

portable (weighing 14 kg) versions. To carry the

land version, DRDO developed the NAMICA (Nag

Missile Carrier) for the army.

While the land version can hit targets in the range

between 500m to 4km, the range of air-launched

version is between 7 and 10 km. It can carry a war

head weighing up to 8kg. It has been developed at

a cost of 300 crore rupees by the DRDO under the

Integrated Guided Missile Development

Programme (IGMDP).

Once inducted in the Armed Forces, the HeliNa

missile will be integrated with the weaponised

version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH)

Dhruv, the light combat helicopter produced by

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Defence Acquisition Council approved defence proposals worth 30000 crore rupees

Defence Acquisition Council approved defence

proposals worth over 30000 crore rupees for

buying four more P81 long-range maritime patrol

aircraft for the Indian Navy and to replace Indian

Army’s vintage air defence guns of 60s.

The detailed proposals are as follows: Acceptance of necessity (AON) to replace L70 and Zu 23mm


guns for Indian Army’s air defence under Buy-and-

Make category. Now, army will buy 428 guns at a

total cost of 16900 crore rupees. It will now pave

the way for issuance of a Request for Proposal

(RFP).

Acquisition of 4 more P81 aircraft at a cost of

4380 crore rupees. These aircrafts are based on

the Boeing next-generation 737 commercial

airplane. It is a variant of the P-8A Poseidon used

by the US Navy.

Up gradation of weapon and sensor suite of the

Delhi and Talwar class ships at a cost of 2900 crore

rupees.

Moreover, six ships will see new surface-to-air

missile system that would be bought from Russia,

besides new radars.

Army launched Operation Shiva to secure Amarnath Yatra

To provide

security to those

devotees taking

part in the 59-

day-long annual

Amarnath Yatra

in Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Army in first week of July launched Operation Shiva.

The operation was launched on the basis of

intelligence report suggesting that a group of 15

terrorists are likely to attempt a strike.

The operation will include Rashtriya Rifles unit,

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for surveillance

of Yatra route and cave shrine, combing of forests

located along the Yatra track, Infantry Unit of

19

Army, companies of Paramilitary Forces, CRPF and BSF.

Army dedicated Prerna Sthal at Hussainiwala to the nation

Indian Army dedicated the monument named

Prerna Sthal at Hussainiwala to the nation. The

commemorative monument was built to honour

the sacrifice of soldiers of India.

The newly constructed Prerna Sthal is located at

the gateway of the memorial to Shaheed Bhagat

Singh at Hussainiwala, a village in Firozpur district

of Punjab, India, where Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and

Raj guru were cremated on 23 March 1931.

The monument was dedicated to the nation

amidst the musical notes played by the buglers of

the Last Post from the roof of the historical

Hussainiwala railway station. General Officer

Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen

KJ Singh laid the inaugural wreath and observed a

two minute silence as a mark of respect to the

martyrs.

DRDO to invest in IITs to kick-start aerospace defence technology

The Defence Research and Development

Organization (DRDO), charged with Indian

military's research and development, is pumping

in over Rs 400 crore into IIT Bombay and IIT

Madras to kick-start advanced defence-related

aerospace research and development.

Products and technology now under development

include aircraft that can morph into a missile, gas

turbine engines used to run aircraft and missile

propulsion, hypersonics that enable flights to go at


several times the speed of sound, and rockets for long-range missiles.

DRDO could identify private partners from the

industry who can work with research faculty at IIT

on technology development. While DRDO will be

the primary funding agency now, other industries

could join in later. IIT Madras and IIT Bombay will

be the main nodal centres, three other IITs —

Kharagpur, Guwahati and Bhubaneshwar, along

with NIT Surat will be associates in the research to

be undertaken.

Currently, India imports 60-70% of the military

aircraft and where it is indigenously developed

the design still comes from outside.

IAF pushes for 20 more Rafale fighters from France

India and France are now trying to swiftly finalize

the government-to-

government deal for

direct acquisition of 36

Rafale fighters, even as the earlier $20 billion

MMRCA (medium multi-role combat aircraft)

project for 126 such jets stands scrapped.

The IAF is pushing for at least 20 additional

Rafales over the 36 decided during the Modi-

Hollande summit in Paris on April 10. But India is

unlikely to buy more than 36 Rafales at this stage,

less than one-third of the 126 jets envisaged

under the MMRCA project.

In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, defence minister

Manohar Parrikar said the Indian and French

teams were negotiating the terms and conditions

for the 36-jet deal and would recommend a draft

agreement.

20

Under the now-scrapped MMRCA project, which

had remained deadlocked after Rafale emerged

the winner in January 2012 following a hotly-

contested global competition among six vendors,

the first 18 jets were to come in “a flyaway

condition”. The rest 108 were to be made by

Hindustan Aeronautics in India after transfer of

technology.

Government takes steps to address Indian Army's ammunition shortage

Acknowledging that the Indian Army is short of

critical ammunition, Defence Minister Manohar

Parrikar said the government has taken steps to

mitigate the deficiencies.

The Defence Minister highlighted additional steps

taken to address the ammunition shortage. These

are: Second Five Year Ammunition Roll on indent

for the period 2014-19 has been placed on

Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).

A road map on ammunition has been approved

which envisages procurement ex-import and ex-

trade to build up adequate targeted stocks in

addition to training requirement.

An institutionalized mechanism in the form of

Working Group to review critical items has been

set up.

Ammunition with recurring large annual training

requirement with high cost has been intimated to

Defence Research and Development Organization

(DRDO) and OFB for indigenous development.

Second Five Year Ammunition Roll on indent for

the period 2014-19 has been placed on Ordnance

Factory Board (OFB).


Environment News

Electronic Nose for environmental monitoring developed

An Electronic Nose (E-Nose) was jointly developed

by Nagpur-based National Environmental

Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) of CSIR and

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing

(C-DAC).

E-Nose technology will help monitor the

surrounding environment to sniff out dangerous

gases.

The key features of E-Nose is it is a portable device and

measures odour

concentration as well as

odour intensity. It uses an

array of sensors that function

on the principle similar to that of human olfaction (sense of smell).

The sensor array generates a pattern based on the

type of aroma. It is possible to train the software

by feeding information based on observation of

experts. It is the first of its kind of technology to

be developed in India that makes use of intelligent

software to identify odorous molecules.

E-nose can help sniff out a variety of volatile

organic compounds (VOCs) and odorants at a pulp

and paper mill industry with a prime objective to

protect the health of thousands of workers

working in this industry.

The pulp and paper industry emits a variety of

gases, namely, Hydrogen Sulphide, Methyl

Mercaptan, Dimethyl Sulphide, and Dimethyl

Disulphide all of which beyond a certain

21

concentrations may adversely affect the environment and human health.

It helps in continuous monitoring of these gases,

overcoming all limitations of the available

analytical instruments that are not only expensive

and time-consuming.

It also establishes a correlation between sensory

and analytical measurements for the sulphurous

odorants generated from pulp and paper

industries, tanneries and distilleries.

It can be easily operated at a pulp and paper mill

industry and is currently functioning successfully

at the Mysore Paper Mills Limited at Bhadravathi

in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Paper Mill.

The researchers are currently working on the

application of Electronic Nose to monitor gas

emissions from any source, be it an industry or

leakage of petroleum pipes going through fields or

farms.

Partial Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in the third

week of July signed an Implementing Agency

Agreement with REC Power Distribution Company

Ltd. (RECPDCL) for the operationalisation of Partial

Risk Guarantee Fund for Energy Efficiency

(PRGFEE).

RECPDCL signed the agreement with BEE on behalf

of the consortium between RECPDCL, REC Limited

and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).

The Agreement was signed by Secretary of BEE

Sanjay Seth and Chief Financial Officer of RECPDCL

Somya Kant in the presence of Dr. Ajay Mathur,

Director General, BEE.


NGT suggested variable office hours to cut pollution

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) gave an idea of

variable working hours for the government and

private sector in the national capital, Delhi. The

plan was mooted with an aim to reduce vehicular

pollution in the capital during peak hours.

The idea was mooted by an NGT bench headed by

Justice Swatanter Kumar, who said that it needed

to take everyone along and come up with an

innovative approach to curb pollution. The bench

asked the Union Government to discuss the

proposal with all stakeholders.

A gap of one or two hours in the office hours of

government and business establishments in Delhi

may help in reducing vehicular emissions, which is

caused due to traffic problem

It will also reduce the pressure on buses, autos and metro during peak hours

Besides, the bench also included universities in

the proposal. It said that if a child can go to school

at 7am, why can’t a graduate can do so?

ZSI monitoring climate change impact on Sundarban animals

The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) set up

monitoring bases inside the mangrove forests of

Sundarbans to measure the effect of climate

change on flora and fauna of Sundarbans.

For this purpose, monitoring bases were

established at 25 plots in the five islands of Bali,

Gosaba, Basanti, Sagar and Satjelia.

These bases measure the diversity and population index of mangroves, crabs and snails. Apart from

22

eight major mangrove species of the region, the

bases also monitor pollination by insects like bees,

beetles, butterflies and moths.

For collection of data about their population and

species, a team of experts has been sent to the

spot.

Under the process for monitoring photographs of

the flora and fauna will be taken and a GPS map of

their habitat will be prepared, which will help in

knowing the change in the region.

In the process, the impacts on animals are being

monitored by ZSI, while Botanical Survey of India

is monitoring the impact on flora.

The three-year monitoring project is funded by

the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and

Climate Change.

New species of butterfly discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

A new species of tiny

butterfly species called

Banded Tit (Hypolycaena

Narada) discovered in the

green forests of the

Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Banded tit is a resident of low-lying evergreen

forests of Changlang and carries an interesting life

cycle. Adult butterflies of the species live only for

approximately two weeks in March every year.

It spends a large part of the year in a dormant

state in larval or pupal stages, which is still

unknown. The species primarily feeds on bird-

droppings along cool streams in the forests.


Bright-eyed Argus (Callerebia Dibangensis) was

the last species of butterfly that was discovered in

Arunachal Pradesh.

Two new plant species discovered in Western Ghats

A team of

researchers led

by CN Sunil

reported

discovery of two

new plant

species christened as Vellithumpa (silver flower)

and Eriocaulon Manoharanii. These plants were

discovered from the Pooyamkutty-Adamalayar

and Neriamangalam forest regions of Western

Ghats in Kerala.

These plants were discovered during

investigations conducted as part of a UGC-

sponsored project on the flowering plants of

Ernakulam district of Kerala.

The findings of the discovery were published in

the June 2015 issue of the international journal

Webbia: Journal of Plant Taxonomy and

Phytogeography.

New fish species discovered in Kerala

A new species of cyprinid fish christened as

Puntius Dolichopterus was discovered from a

small water stream in Alappuzha district’s

Kayamkulam city of Kerala.

Puntius Dolichopterus that is found in small and

shallow water channels has been included in the

fish family Cyprinidae. These fishes are edible and

can be utilized as ornamental fish.

23

The fish was discovered, named and described by

Mathews Plamoottil, head of the department of

zoology, Baby John Memorial Government

College, near Kollam city.

After being examined, this new species also

received Zoo bank register number from

International Commission of Zoological

Nomenclature, the official body approving the

new names of animals.

Six specimens of this fish have been deposited in

the Government Museum (Zoological Survey of

India) at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Maharashtra cabinet approved scheme for development of villages around Tiger reserves

Maharashtra Cabinet approved Shyamaprasad Mukherjee Jan Van Vikas Scheme.

The scheme proposed by Forest Minister Sudhir

Mungantiwar in the state’s annual budget 2015-

16 aims at creation of comprehensive

development of villages in the buffer zones of

tiger reserves and around them.

Its objectives are to reduce the man-animal

conflict and achieve sustainable development of

these villages. The scheme also aims at reducing

the dependence of villagers on the forest.

The scheme will seek to boost the supplementary

businesses to farming activities and create

alternative employment possibilities in these

areas.

The scheme will be launched on project basis from 2015-16 to 2019-2020.


Science and Technology

Four World-Class Broadband Products developed by C-DOT launched

Union Minister for Communication and IT Ravi

Shankar Prasad launched four world-class

broadband products developed by the C-DOT in

New Delhi. They are- Long Distance Wi-Fi, Solar

powered Wi-Fi, Suteerva and Next Generation

Network (NGN).

C-DOT stands for Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and is an Indian Government

owned telecommunications technology development centre.

The products were launched under the Digital

India Programme that was launched in August

2014 in order to transform India into a digitally

empowered society and knowledge economy.

Wi-Fi products: Long Distance Wi-Fi and Solar

powered Wi-Fi address the connectivity problem

of rural areas, hilly terrain, highways, dense

vegetation, tunnels etc. They are also suited for

green field projects like smart cities, areas where

there is little/no grid supply, emergency

situations, Disaster Management Networks etc.

C-DOT also developed a light weight Green Power

Source to make these products self-sustainable.

Using this solution, reach of BharatNet can be

increased beyond Panchayats to the remotest part

of country.

ISRO successfully launched five British satellites into space

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) successfully launched five British satellites into

24

space from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta.

These satellites are

three identical

DMC3 optical earth

observation

satellites and two

auxiliary satellites,

viz., CBNT-1 and De-OrbitSail.

These all satellites, built by Surrey Satellite

Technology Limited (SSTL) and weighing 1440-kg,

were launched aboard the 13th flight (PSLV-C28)

of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

The three DMC3 satellites, each weighing 447 kg

was placed into a 647 km Sun-Synchronous Orbit

(SSO) using the high-end version of PSLV (PSLV-

XL). PSLV-C28 is the ninth flight of PSLV in ‘XL’

configuration.

These international customer satellites are being

launched as part of the arrangement entered into

between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a

wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK; and Antrix

Corporation Limited (ANTRIX), the commercial

arm of ISRO.

This was the heaviest commercial luggage carried

by a PSLV rocket to date. It was also the biggest

commercial launch of ANTRIX/ISRO. France’s SPOT

7 satellite that weighted 714 kg was the heaviest

single foreign satellite carried by a PSLV rocket

until now. It was launched on 30 June 2014.

Since 1999, India has launched 40 satellites (38

smaller and two bigger satellites) of foreign

countries and the successful launch of the five

British satellites took the tally to 45.


White-Fi technology of Microsoft to boost Digital India Initiative

White-Fi technology or TV White Space

Technology was in news in the as Microsoft

announced plans to introduce this technology in

India to provide last mile connectivity and give a

boost to the Digital India initiative of Prime

Minister Narendra Modi.

According to Microsoft, its technology can provide

free Wi-Fi connectivity to the roughly one-billion

Indians who don't have any net access and it plans

to start with International Institute of Information

Technology (IIIT) Bangalore campus.

White-Fi technology uses the unused spectrum in

frequencies utilized for broadcasting of television

signals and use it for the internet. In technology

parlance, these unused spectrum spaces are

called White Space and thus it is also called TV

White Space technology.

The 200-300 MHz spectrum in the white space can

reach up to 10 km as compared to current Wi-Fi

technology that allows you a range of about 100

meters. The 200-300 MHz spectrum currently

belongs to Doordarshan TV channel and isn't used

at all.

It can be run on solar power and thus overcome a

key hindrance that currently impedes internet

service providers, namely the high cost of

installation equipment.

Indigenously designed and developed High Thrust cryogenic rocket engine tested

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

successfully tested India’s first indigenously

designed and developed High Thrust cryogenic

25

rocket engine generating a nominal thrust of 19 tonnes at ISRO Propulsion Complex, Mahendragiri.

The rocket was hot tested for duration of 800

seconds, which is approximately 25% more

than the engine burn duration in flight.

The engine will be used for powering the

Cryogenic stage (C25), the upper stage of the next

generation GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle of ISRO,

capable of launching four tonne class satellites.

This high performance cryogenic engine was

conceived, configured and realized by Liquid

Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), the lead centre

of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

responsible for developing liquid propulsion

systems for Indian Space Programme.

The Engine design was totally in-house effort with

experts from different fields like fluid dynamics,

combustion, thermal, structural, metallurgy,

fabrication, rotor dynamics, control components,

etc., working together. The fabrication of major

subsystems of the engine was carried out through

Indian Industries.

Assembly and Integration of the engine and

Testing were carried out in ISRO Propulsion

Complex (IPRC), a unit of ISRO.

The recent successful endurance hot test of the

first high thrust cryogenic engine is the tenth test

in a series of tests planned and executed as part

of the development of the engine employing

complex cryogenic technology. The performance

of the engine closely matches with the pre-test

prediction made using the in-house developed


cryogenic engine mathematical modeling and simulation software.

Indigenous Visibility Measuring System, DRISHTI, installed at IGI Airport

An indigenously

designed and

developed Visibility

Measuring System

DRISHTI was installed

at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport,

New Delhi on 20 July 2015. The CAT III B IGI

Airport, New Delhi, is now the first Airport in the

country to have 10 indigenous systems operating

in all its three runways.

The system developed by CSIR-National Aerospace

Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bengaluru will be used

for reporting the runway visual range, which is a

critical parameter for safe landing and take-off of

aircraft in poor visibility conditions (<25 to >2000

meters).

Drishti system is very cost-effective and is a

mandatory system required at all airports as per

International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

and World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

The complete system is engineered in such a way

to enable easy installation and maintenance. It

can perform health monitoring of the system

through web enabling from Bengaluru itself.

Earlier, CSIR-NAL and India Meteorological

Department (IMD) signed a partnership

agreement to jointly execute a mega project for

installation of nearly 70 Drishti systems, at various

Airports of the country.

26

The Drishti field site system is completely

designed and fabricated at CSIR-NAL. IMD has

established the dual mode Landline and Wi-Fi

communication along with multiple displays at Air

Traffic Control Room and Approach Radar Room.

The data from Drishti systems at IGI Airport can be

viewed on a single screen at ATC, which would aid

the MET officer to easily report visibility data to

pilots.

NDRI scientists developed technique to decrease cholesterol level in Ghee

A team of scientists at National Dairy Research

Institute (NDRI), Karnal of Haryana developed a

technique to decrease cholesterol level in Ghee

(clear butter). Best part of this technique is that

ghee produced using this technique has been

found up to the prescribed standards.

Use of this technique will help in reducing the

level of cholesterol in Ghee up to 85 to 90

percent. It also does not affect the taste and

quality of the ghee.

NDRI has transferred the technology to Vaishal

Patliputra Dugdh Utpadak Sahkari Sangh Ltd,

Patna (popularly known as Patna Dairy Project) as

per the memorandum of understanding signed

between the two bodies. The officials of the Patna

dairy has planned to launch the product within

two months.

Joint Venture to provide technology services solutions to banks

The Computer Science Corporation (CSC) and

Hindustan Computer Limited (HCL) signed an

agreement to form a Joint Venture company to


provide technology services and solutions to the banking industry.

The joint venture will invest in platform

modernization and product functionality

enhancement and will capitalize on the proven

capabilities of both companies in addressing the

multi-billion-dollar, global core banking software

market.

The benefits and capabilities of the Joint Venture are;

strengthening ongoing

support for existing banking

clients looking to extend the

useful life and investment in

their current platforms.

Reaffirming the commitment to enhance and

expand CSC’s core banking and cards platforms

Hogan and CAMS into modernized end-to-end

solutions under the Celeriti suite. Advancing

digital banking transformation solutions in

conjunction with other partners

According to the agreement, CSC will provide its

core banking expertise for software and product

development.

While, HCL will provide funds, its banking sales, client engagement expertise and its experience in

product engineering and application

implementation services in order to modernize

the banking industries.

Moreover, both the companies agreed to work in

accordance to meet the increasing demands for

data analytics services, regulatory compliance and

multi-channel deployments from the banking

industries.

27

India and Neighbors

India-Pakistan joint statement released at Ufa, Russia

India and Pakistan issued a Joint Statement (JS) in

the Russian city of Ufa after a bilateral meeting

between the Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and

Nawaz Sharif. The meeting between the two

Prime Ministers took place on the side lines of the

BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization

(SCO) summits.

The JS was issued by the Foreign Secretaries of

India and Pakistan, S Jaishankar and Aizaz Ahmad

Chaudhry.

The text of the Joint Statement issued by the two

foreign Secretaries are as follows; The two leaders

exchanged views on issues of bilateral and

regional interest and condemned terrorism in all

its form and agreed to cooperate with each other

to eliminate its menace from South Asia.

The two nations agreed to have a collective

responsibility to ensure peace and promote

development. Both leaders also agreed on

following topics

a) To discuss all issues connected to terrorism, the

National Security Advisors (NSAs) of the two

countries will meet in New Delhi.

b) Early meetings of DG BSF and DG Pakistan Rangers followed by that of DGMOs

c) They agreed to release the fishermen of each

other countries, who went into custody along with

their boat, within a period of 15 days. d) Agreed to

form a mechanism for facilitating religious

terrorism


e) The two leaders agreed to discuss the ways and

means to expedite the trial pertaining to 2008

Mumbai attack including additional information

like providing voice samples

Besides, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Sharif invited

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Paksitan for

the SAARC Summit in 2016, which was accepted

by him.

RBI signed Special Currency Swap Agreement with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka

The Reserve Bank of India signed a

Special Currency

Swap Agreement

with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Under the arrangement, the Central Bank of Sri

Lanka can draw up to 1.1 billion US dollar for a

maximum period of six months. This special

arrangement is in addition to the existing

Framework on Currency Swap Arrangement for

the SAARC Member Countries.

Earlier on 25 March 2015, the Reserve Bank of

India had signed a Currency Swap Agreement with

the Central Bank of Sri Lanka for 400 million US

dollar under the existing SAARC Currency Swap

Framework within the overall limit of 2 billion US

dollar.

The swap arrangements are intended to provide a

backstop line of funding for the SAARC member

countries to meet any balance of payments and

liquidity crises till longer term arrangements are

made or if there is need for short-term liquidity

due to stressed market conditions.

28

The proposal to extend the additional currency

swap facility of 1.1 billion US dollar for a limited

period was decided by the Union Government in

April 2015 based on the recommendation of the

Reserve Bank of India for mitigating the possible

currency volatility in the spirit of strengthening

India’s bilateral relations and economic ties with

Sri Lanka.

Government sanctioned 1000 crore rupees for Indo-Bangla Rail Link

Union Government sanctioned 1000 crore rupees

for the laying of 15.06 km long tracks to connect

Indian Railways with Bangladesh through the

North East.

The Indo-Bangla Rail link would be completed by

2017 and the entire route will be constructed by

IRCON. Out of 15.06 km length connecting

Agartala with Akhaura railway junction in

Bangladesh, 3.7 km would comprise of elevated

corridor.

The completion of the project would reduce the

distance from Agartala to Kolkata from 1650 km to

515 km and difficult hilly terrain could be avoided.

It will also improve trade and commerce between

the North-East region of India and Bangladesh and

enhance people to people contact

The project is the result of discussion between

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh

counterpart Sheikh Hasina during the Modi’s visit

to Dhaka from 6 June to 7 June 2015.

India and Singapore signed agreement to enhance maritime cooperation

India and Singapore signed Technical Agreement (TA) on sharing white-shipping information to


enhance maritime cooperation between the two

navies. The agreement was signed during the visit

of Navy chief Admiral R K Dhowan to Singapore.

The White-shipping refers to commercial shipping information about movement of cargo ships.

The Singapore Navy and the Indian Navy conduct

the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise

(SIMBEX) together annually. In 2015, the SIMBEX

was held in May, this was the 22nd in the series.

Both navies also interact regularly through high-

level visits, dialogues, joint military training,

courses and other professional exchanges.

India, Myanmar issued joint statement on bilateral cooperation

India and Myanmar issued a joint statement on

bilateral cooperation after the conclusion of the

first meeting of the India-Myanmar Joint

Consultative Commission (JCC) in New Delhi.

The JCC meeting was co-chaired by the External

Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Foreign

Minister of Myanmar U Wunna Maung Lwin.

The second JCC meeting is scheduled to be held in

Myanmar in 2016. Highlights of India, Myanmar

joint statement are as follows;

Both the leaders agreed that negotiations should

be conducted to enable early conclusion of the

bilateral MoU on Movement of People across the

Land Border.

First meeting of the India -Myanmar Joint

Boundary Working Group, with a mandate to

address all outstanding boundary issues, would be

held in New Delhi at the earliest.

29

A joint survey by officers of the two Foreign

Ministries is expected to be undertaken to inspect

the earth blockage site on Ti-Ho (Tizu) river on

India-Myanmar border to inspect the efforts made

by local authorities of Mizoram to remove the

debris and restore the normal course of river.

Investments by Indian companies in areas like

ports, power, agro-industries, forest products,

mining, construction industry,

Consumer goods, highways, oil & gas, plantation,

manufacturing, hospitality and ICT would be

specifically encouraged. Trial runs of Imphal-

Mandalay Bus Service will be held at the earliest.

Maldives assures India not to allow Chinese military bases

Maldives

President

Abdullah

Yameen has

assured India his

government’s

move to allow

foreign ownership of its islands will not affect India’s strategic interests.

After ratifying the constitutional amendment on

freeholds that could benefit countries like China,

that are eager to build land holdings in the Indian

Ocean, he said. "We don’t want to give any of our

neighbours, including India any cause for concern.

We don’t want to be in a position when we

become a threat to our neighbours.”

"The Maldivian government has given assurances

to the Indian government and our neighboring

countries as well to keep the Indian Ocean a

demilitarized zone,” Mr. Yameen said.


Bhutan orders flags to fly half-mast to mourn APJ Abdul Kalam death

The Bhutan government has joined India to mourn

the death former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam,

media reported. On the command of The King

Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck , the National

Flag will be flown at half mast, Kuensel reported.

A thousand-butter lamps offered at the Kunrey

(congregation hall) of the Trashichhodzong.

Bhutanese Premier Tshering Tobgay said,

"Saddened to hear of the passing of Dr Abdul

Kalam, India's iconic president -- one who was

loved by all people, especially the youth of India."

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam, 83, also

known as India's 'missile man', collapsed during a

lecture at the Indian Institute of Management in

Shillong on Monday and later died in a hospital.

Kalam served as the President of India from 2002

to 2007. Read More: Some miscellaneous facts

about Dr Kalam: An immortal personality of India

He was credited with helping develop his

country's first space satellites. In the 1980s, he

was helped design the nuclear-capable Prithvi and

Agni ballistic missiles.

Secularism to go from Nepal constitution

Nepal's political parties have agreed to remove

the word "secularism" from the new constitution.

Nepal was declared a secular country in 2007.

The decision ended Nepal's century-old identity as

the world's only Hindu kingdom. Over 80 percent

of Nepal's population is Hindu. The political

parties were forced to take a U-turn after millions

of people, in their suggestions and feedback on

30

the new constitution, called for the removal of the word "secularism".

A majority of people wanted "secularism" to be

replaced by "Hindu" or "religious freedom",

according to Nepal's Constituent Assembly that is

now busy studying people's views vis-a-vis the

new constitution. Nepal is in the verge of

promulgating the new constitution.

Arts and Culture

Sayed Haider Raza honoured with highest French civilian honour Legion of Honour

Modern Indian artist Sayed Haider Raza was

conferred with the highest French civilian honour,

the Commandeur de la Legion d’ Honneur (the

Legion of Honour). The award was presented by

French Ambassador Francois Richier on the

occasion of the French National Day celebrations.

Raza was conferred

with the award for his

superior achievements

transcending all

boundaries, for the

lasting ties he has forged between France and

India and for his continuing artistic quest

straddling nations, cultures, religions and

philosophies.

Syed Haider Raza alias SH Raza is an Indian artist

who has lived and worked in France since 1950,

but maintains strong ties with India. He became

India’s priciest modern artist in June 2010 when

his seminal work titled Saurashtra was sold for

16.42 crore rupees at a Christie’s auction. Raza’s

work represents the origins of life and draws on


symbols that tribal painters and highly

sophisticated Indian philosophers have traced,

pondered and mulled over for millennia.

Raza is conferred with numerous awards Padma

Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Lalit Kala

Ratna Puraskar, Kalidas Samman etc.

The la Legion d’ Honneur award was created in

1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte. It is the highest

civilian award given by the French Republic for

outstanding service to France, regardless of the

nationality of the recipients. The President of the

French Republic is the Grand Master of the Order

of the Legion of Honour.

Remnants of India's one of the oldest port discovered in Goa

A team of scientists

from Goa based

National Institute of

Oceanography (NIO)

discovered the

remnants of a historically important port on Goa’s

Zuari river which is expected to be amongst the

oldest signs of human trade on the central west

coast.

The Port is supposed to be existed around 1000 to 3500 AD, which makes it India’s oldest ports.

The researchers are also of the opinion that they

may discover a dockyard similar in structure to

Lothal dockyard in Gujarat which was discovered

by Archeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1954.

The exploration work on the site has been

completed and scientists have found the steps

going in the water. It is imminent that existence of

31

such a big wall parallel to river indicates that it is remnant of a port.

According to the scientists, there is an existence of cross walls which stands inundated in the water.

These observations concluded that this port might

be connected to Old Goa, ancient capital of Goa,

through Rajvidhi (Road built and used for the

King).

The NIO's scientists have been working on 1.2KM

long wall along the Zuari River which is just few

kms away from the capital city of Goa. This area

was earlier known as Gopakapattinam.

The scientists will now conduct Radiocarbon and

Thermo-luminance dating to find out the correct

age of this ancient port. Also to unearth other

buried structures, the scientists will do ground

penetrating radar (GPR) survey in sandy beach

area and seismic surveys in offshore area.

Kutchi New Year observed in Kutch Region of Gujarat

Kutchi New Year of Kutchi community in the Kutch

region in Gujarat was observed. Kutchi community

observes this New Year on the second day of

shukla paksha or waxing phase of moon in Ashada

month – Ashadhi Beej or Dwitiya.

This day is associated with beginning of rains in Kutch, which is largely a desert area.

The Kutchi New Year celebrated in a traditional

way by organizing satsangs, musical competitions

and other cultural programmes in Kutch region.

Ganesha, Goddess Lakshmi and other regional

deities are worshipped on the day.


32

Kerala tourism's Muziris heritage project bagged PATA award

Kerala

Tourism's

Muziris

Heritage

Project

(MHP)

bagged the 2015 Pacific Asia Travel Association

(PATA) award in the ‘Heritage & Culture’ category.

The award was conferred on the Muziris heritage

project for its conservational aspect, uniqueness,

and impact on local community. It recognizes the

projects objective that is, restoring the historical

and cultural significance of the ancient town that

stretches across North Paravur in Ernakulam to

Kodungalloor in Thrissur.

Muziris heritage project, the flagship project of

the State is one of the biggest heritage

conservation projects of modern India. The award

will be presented on 8 September 2015 at the

PATA travel mart in Bangalore.

The Muziris Heritage Site (MHS) is designed to

involve and integrate the local community in all

intended developmental initiatives. It stretches

across from the municipality of North Paravur in

Ernakulam district to that of Kodungalloor in

Thrissur district. It includes four panchayats in

Ernakulam district viz. Chennamangalam,

Chittatukara, Vadakekkara, Pallippuram, and three

panchayats in Thrissur district viz. Eriyad,

Mathilakam and Sreenarayanapuram. The Muziris

Heritage Project intends to conserve and to

showcase the culture of 3000 years or more for

posterity.

Benoy Behl won the Best Documentary Producer award at Madrid International Film Festival

Film-maker Benoy Behl in fourth week of July won

the Best Documentary Producer award at Madrid

International Film Festival. He was awarded for

producing and directing a documentary film titled

Indian Roots of Tibetan Buddhism.

Bhel shot the documentary for XPD Division of the

Ministry of External Affairs, which was released by

Ministry of External Affairs in February 2014.

The film is shot extensively in Tibet, Kalmykia in

European Russia, Ladakh, Spiti, Arunachal

Pradesh, Nalanda, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and

Karnataka.

The film traces the foundation of Tibetan

Buddhism to its roots in ancient India’s Nalanda

University and the hundreds of year-old spiritual

relationship that India share with Tibet.

The documentary features quotes and analogies

from various Tibetan Buddhist teachers and

scholars including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and

Prof Samdhong Rinpoche.

'Buddha in a Traffic Jam' bagged best screenplay award at Madrid film festival

Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri's ‘Buddha in a Traffic

Jam’ won the Best Original Screenplay award in

the Foreign Language Category at the Madrid

International Film Festival, Spain.

It also had nominations in the categories Best

Foreign Language Film and Best Lead Actress in a

foreign language film for actress Mahie Gill at the

fest.


Earlier, the film was premiered at the 2014 edition

of Mumbai International Film Festival in the India

Gold category.

Buddha in a Traffic Jam is an unreleased

Bollywood film

conceptualized and

produced by Friday

Night Productions (a

venture of ISB alumni)

and co-produced by

Phoenix

Multidimensions and

Vivek Agnihotri Creates. The film has been

directed by Vivek Agnihotri and stars Anupam

Kher, Pallavi Joshi, Arunoday Singh, Vivek

Vaswani, Aanchal Dwivedi and Mahi Gill.

French film The Big Day to showcase Anand Kumar's Super 30

Super 30 initiative of mathematician Anand Kumar

was in news as it will now feature in a 90-minute

film The Big Day made by famous French director

Pascal Plisson. The initiative helps students of

deprived section to crack the prestigious IIT

entrance examination.

The Big Day is ready to hit the screens in August

2015 and its clips are being shown on TV and

YouTube.

The film comprises of four special stories from

across the globe. One of the four stories is a story

of a girl named Nidhi Jha, a student of Super 30,

who at present is studying at ISM, Dhanbad. Nidhi

cracked JEE (advance) in 2014.

Earlier also films have been made on the success of Super 30 initiative, first it was Al Jazeera, then

33

Discovery, Japanese TV, and British filmmaker Chritopher Mitchell followed.

Super 30 was started by Kumar along with former

Bihar Police director general Abhyanand over a

decade ago. It was selected by Time magazine for

the list of 'The Best of Asia 2010'.

BOOK: Modi’s World: Expanding India’s Sphere of Influence released

The book titled Modi’s World: Expanding India’s

Sphere of Influence authored by C Raja Mohan

was published by Harper Collins. The focus of the

book is on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s

foreign policy.

In the book, the author presented a sharp analysis

of India’s challenges in navigating a rapidly

transforming regional and international landscape

under Narendra Modi.

C Raja Mohan is one of India’s highly respected

foreign policy analysts and commentators. His

other books include crossing the Rubicon: The

Shaping of India's Foreign Policy (2004),

Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and

the Global Order (2006) and Samudra Manthan:

Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific (2012).

Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years authored released

The book titled Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years was

published by HarperCollins. It was co-authored by

AS Dulat and Aditya Sinha.

The book focuses on initiatives launched by the

Vajpayee government between 1998 and 2004 to

restore normalcy in India's most beautiful but

troubled state.


The book includes firsthand account of AS Dulat,

who was chief of the Research and Analysis Wing

(RAW) during Vajpayee government, about the

difficulties, successes and near triumphs in the

effort to bring back Kashmir from the brink.

In the book, he showed the players, the politics,

the strategies and the true intent and sheer

ruthlessness of the meddlers from across the

border.

After his retirement as the RAW chief in 2000, AS

Dulat served as an advisor on Kashmir in the

Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) from January 2001

to May 2004.

Aditya Sinha has been a journalist since February

1987. He has been Editor-in-Chief of the New

Indian Express and DNA. His published work

includes the biographies Farooq Abdullah:

Kashmir's Prodigal Son (1996) and Death of

Dreams: A Terrorist's Tale (2000).

Green Signals: Ecology, Growth, and Democracy in India released

The book Green Signals:

Ecology, Growth, and

Democracy in India were in

news in the second week of July

2015. It was written by former

Union Environment and Forest

Minister (Independent Charge)

Jairam Ramesh.

It unveils the story of environmental policy making

in India from the perspective of a pivotal decision

maker.

It chronicles India's environmental decision-making

since the 1991 movement, telling the story

34

of how, for the first time, the doors of the

environment ministry were opened to voices,

hitherto unheard, into the policy-making process.

It also takes us through India's coming of age in

the global environmental and climate change

community to take on a leadership role that is

progressive, proactive, and steeped in national

interest.

Further, the book also addresses the challenges

involved in trying to ensure economic growth with

ecological security.

At present, Jairam Ramesh is Chair of the Future

Earth Engagement Committee, a research

platform on global sustainability. He is also a

member of the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

He also authored Mobilizing Technology for World

Development (Co-editor, 1979) and Making Sense

of Chindia: Reflections on China and India (2005).

World News

PM Narendra Modi concluded his 6-nation tour to Russia and five Central Asian nations

Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to India

after his six-nation tour of Russia and five Central

Asian countries namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,

Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

During his eight-day visit, which took place from 6

July to 13 July 2015, he met the leaders of the five

nations namely President of Tajikistan Emomali

Rahmon, President of the Kyrgyz Republic

Almazbek Atambaev, President of Turkmenistan

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of


Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, and President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

During this visit, Modi also visited Russia and

attended the 7th BRICS summit and 2015

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held in

Ufa. These two events became the highlight of the

visit after PM Modi met and held talks with his

Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and some

other leaders.

He flew back to India

from Dushanbe the

capital city of

Tajikistan, which was

the last stop of his

visit.

Major highlights of this Russia and five-Central

Asian countries are: Prime Minister Modi, during

his stay in Ufa in Russia, attended the Summit of

the five-nation BRICS, which focused on economic

and security cooperation.

He also attended the Summit of the six-member

grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,

SCO, which decided to grant full membership to

India along with Pakistan.

On the sidelines of the Summit, Modi held a

meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister during

which a host of significant decisions were taken to

improve ties. One major decision was to speed up

the trial in Mumbai attack case, including

providing of voice samples of the accused. India-

Pakistan joint statement was released at Ufa,

Russia

Head of BRICS nations on 9 July 2015 released the Ufa Declaration. The 7th BRICS was held under the

35

theme ‘BRICS Partnership – a Powerful Factor of Global Development’.

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) signed

framework agreements for equity investments in

infrastructure projects in BRICS countries

To boost cooperation within the members of the

BRICS, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a

10 point initiative named as ‘Dus Kadam: 10 Steps

for the Future’.

India will be hosting the Eighth BRICS Summit in 2016

India will host the next BRICS Summit in 2016,

even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a

10-point initiative for closer collaboration among

the group of emerging countries and hit out at the

west for imposing “unilateral sanctions”.

At the plenary session held in Ufa, Modi said the

world was faced with challenges and, therefore, it

was important “to have consensus, collaboration

and cooperation between all major nations”.

He noted that it would be his honour to host the

eighth BRICS Summit in New Delhi in 2016 - four

years after India organized the fourth summit in

2012. India would become chairperson from

February 2016.

Terming his proposal as ‘Das Kadam’ or Ten Steps,

Modi said India was ready to host the first BRICS

trade fair. There will also be a Railway Research

Centre, cooperation among audit institutions, a

digital initiative and Agricultural Research Centre.

Not surprisingly as a votary of state-level

cooperation, Modi also suggested a forum for

provinces and local governments in BRICS. He

further suggested cooperation among cities in


urbanization. On the field of climate change, Modi

suggested that the first major project to be

financed by the New Development Bank should be

in the field of clean energy.

Besides, Modi proposed setting up a BRICS Sports

Council and an Annual Sports Meet, as well as a

film festival. In what was sweet music to the

Russian host, Modi asserted at the BRICS Business

Council that “unilateral sanctions” were hurting

the global economy.

“Unilateral sanctions are hurting the global

economy. So, it is very essential that BRICS

economies deepen their cooperation. BRICS

should also work with other developed regions,”

he said while addressing the BRICS Business. He

did not name any country, but the veiled

comments were certainly aimed at the west as

they were made in Russia - which had been the

target for sanctions by EU and West over the

Ukraine crisis.

10 Steps for the Future proposed by PM Narendra Modi for BRICS countries

Prime Minister

Narendra Modi

proposed a 10 point

initiative named as

‘Dus Kadam: 10

Steps for the Future’

to boost cooperation within the members of the

BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South

Africa). He proposed the initiative while

addressing the 7th BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia.

The 10 steps of the proposed are: BRICS Trade Fair

(to be held during India's chairmanship in 2016)

BRICS Railway Research Centre. Cooperation

among Supreme Audit Institutions.

36

BRICS Digital Initiative. BRICS Agricultural

Research Centre. BRICS state/Local Government’s

Forum. Cooperation among cities in field of

Urbanization. BRICS Sports Council and Annual

BRICS Sports Meet. First Major Project of NDB to

be in field of Clean Energy. BRICS Film Festival

India, US signed Inter Governmental Agreement to implement FATCA

India and United States (US) signed Inter

Governmental Agreement (IGA) to implement the

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The

agreement will promote transparency on tax

matters between the two countries.

The agreement underscores growing international

co-operation to end tax evasion everywhere. As

per the IGA, FFIs in India will be required to report

tax information about US account holders directly

to the Indian Government which will, in turn, relay

that information to the IRS. The IRS will provide

similar information about Indian account holders

in the United States. This automatic exchange of

information is scheduled to begin on 30

September 2015.

India, USA signed MoU on cooperation to establish PACESetter Fund

India and the USA signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) on cooperation to establish

the PACESetter Fund in New Delhi.

The PACESetter Fund is meant to support the

Promoting Energy Access through Clean Energy

(PEACE) track of the USA-India Partnership to

Advance Clean Energy (PACE).


It was established with a corpus of about 50 crore

rupees with both the countries contributing

equally.

To oversee the fund, a steering Committee

comprising the Secretary of the MNRE and the

United States Ambassador to India, and three

representatives from each side has been

constituted.

USA-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy

(PACE) is a flagship initiative on clean energy that

combines the resources of several U.S. agencies

and GOI Ministries.

It is aimed accelerating the commercialization of

off-grid clean energy through early-stage grant

funding grants to develop and test innovative

products, systems and business models.

Union Government approved signing of India-Canada Civil Aviation Pact

The Union Cabinet approved the signing of

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between

India and Canada in the field of Civil Aviation.

The MoU will help in enhancing the experience

and technical knowledge in the field of Civil

Aviation between India and Canada.

It will also deepen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

Under the MoU, an appropriate platform shall be

formalized for exchange of views on the

possibilities of fostering economic cooperation

between the two countries in the areas of civil

aviation.

There will be a cooperation programme in the areas of safety of aircraft operations and related

37

issues that will provide more up-to-date

knowledge to the Directorate General of Civil

Aviation.

Apart from the above, India firms will also be

benefited from the exchange of technical

knowhow with Canadian companies as the

aviation industry is far more developed in Canada.

Canadian companies will gain from enhanced

access to the fast developing civil aviation industry

in India.

India and Georgia signed MoU for cooperation in field of Election Management

India and Georgia signed a Memorandum

of Understanding

(MoU) for cooperation

in the field of election

management and administration. The MoU was

signed by Chief Election Commissioner of India

Nasim Zaidi and Tamar Zhvania, Chairperson,

Central Election Commission, Georgia.

Till now, Election Commission of India has signed

twenty MoUs with Election Management Bodies

and international organizations across the world.

Major purpose of the MoU between India and

Georgia are promotion of exchanges of knowledge

and experience in electoral processes, exchange

of information, materials, expertise and training of

personnel, production and distribution of

materials pertaining to electoral systems, voting

technology, voters’ education and awareness.

Participation of women and minorities in electoral

process.


Sports News

ICC World Twenty20; Kolkata's Eden Gardens to host final

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

announced venues for the Men and Women ICC

World Twenty20. The World Twenty20 will be

hosted by India from the 11 March to 3 April 2016.

BCCI in its press release said that finals of the

2016 World Twenty20 cricket tournament will be

held at iconic Eden Gardens ground in Kolkata.

Bengaluru, Chennai, Dharamsala, Mohali,

Mumbai, Nagpur and New Delhi will be the other

venues along with Kolkata.

These venues will host the matches subject to

fulfilling the prescribed requirements of the

International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI

while adhering to the statutory obligations that

are mandatory for hosting an international match.

India won 2015 South Asian Basketball Championship

India won the South Asian Basketball (SABA)

Championship title. In the final played at the

Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, Karanataka,

India defeated Sri Lanka 93-44. It was 4th edition

of the championships. India was the winner of

third SABA Championship.

With this win, India qualified for the FIBA Asia

Championship in China. FIBA Asia Championship

will be played in September 2015.

The winning team was given a cash prize of 35000

rupees as a personal gesture of Basketball

Federation of India President K Govindraj.

38

Top three teams of the championships were India (gold), Sri Lanka (silver) and Nepal (bronze).

Shot-Putter Inderjeet Singh win a Gold Medal at World University Games

Indian shot-putter Inderjit

Singh came up with a best

throw of 20.27 meter in the

final attempt to win the

Gold medal of men's shot

put event at the World

University Games in Gwangju, South Korea.

With this, he created history to become the first

Indian to win a gold medal at the World University

Games. In the last edition of the games in 2013 in

Russia he had won silver medal in the shot put

event.

In the year 2015, the 27-year old shot putter from

Haryana has won gold medals in all the

international events he has participated thus far.

Earlier on 23 June 2015, he won gold at the first

leg of the Asian Athletics Grand Prix in Bangkok,

Thailand, while on 3 June 2015 he won gold at

Asian Championships in Wuhan, China.

Inderjeet Singh is currently coached by Pritam

Singh, younger brother of another Indian shot

putter Shakti Singh and is being supported by

Anglian Medal Hunt Company.

Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis won women's doubles title in Wimbledon

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis, the top-seeded

Indo-Swiss pair of Tennis won women’s doubles

title at Wimbledon. In the title clash played at

Centre Court in London, the Indo-Swiss pair


defeated Russian duo of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6, 7-5.

This is Sania's first-ever women's doubles Grand

Slam title, although she has won three mixed

doubles titles at the majors. With this title, Sania

also became the first Indian women to win a

Wimbledon title.

Sania is winner of three mixed doubles Grand

Slam trophies. She won Australian Open (2009)

and French Open (2012) with compatriot Mahesh

Bhupathi and the US Open with Bruno Soares last

year. Hingis won the Wimbledon doubles with

Helena Sukova in 1996 and Jana Novotna in 1998.

Earlier, the Indo-Swiss pair had won doubles title

of BNP Paribas Open on 21 March 2015 and WTA

Family Circle Cup doubles title on 12 April 2015.

Sumit Nagal-Nam Hoang Ly won 2015 Wimbledon Boys’ Doubles title

The Indo-

Vietnamese pair

Sumit Nagal-Nam

Hoang Ly won the

2015 Wimbledon

Boys’ Doubles title by defeating Opelka and Akira

Santillan in the final match held in London. The

eighth seeded pair defeated the fourth seeded

USA-Japanese pair 7-6 (4) 6-4.

With this win, the 17-year- old Sumit Nagal

became the sixth Indian to win a Grand Slam

junior title.

Ramanathan Krishnan (1954 Wimbledon), Ramesh

Krishnan (1979 French Open and Wimbledon),

Leander Paes (1990 Wimbledon and 1999 U.S.

Open), Sania Miraza (2003 Wimbledon Girls

39

Doubles) and Yuki Bhambri (2009 Australian

Open) are the other junior Grand Slam singles

champions from India.

Paes-Hingis won mixed doubles final at Wimbledon

Seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair of Leander Paes and

Martina Hingis won mixed doubles title at

Wimbledon. In the final clash, the duo defeated

the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team of

Alexander Peya and Timea Babos 6-1, 6-1.

It was Paes’ 16th Grand Slam trophy and eighth

mixed doubles title. Overall it was 18th Major title

for the Swiss and third in mixed doubles.

This was second mixed double win for Paes and

Hingis together. They had won the Australian

Open in February 2015.

Shubham Jaglan won IJGA World Stars of Junior Golf event 2015

10-year old Shubham Jaglan won the IJGA World

Stars of Junior Golf event in Las Vegas. Jaglan is

the son of a milkman from rural Haryana, India.

He shot a three round score of 106 winning by a

five-stroke margin, ahead of two Americans Justin

Dang and Sihan Sandhu and Thailand's Pongsapak

Laopakdee for the Boys 9-10 years category title.

He also scripted a scintillating one-stroke win at

the Junior World Golf Championships that was

held at Welk Resort Fountain Course in California.

First All Women Trans Continental road expedition from Delhi to London flagged off

First All Women Trans Continental Road Expedition from Delhi to London was flagged off.


40

The expedition, which started from Major Dhyanchand Stadium of New Delhi.

The three woman participants, namely Nidhi

Tiwari, Rashmi Koppar and Soumaya Goel, will

reach United Kingdom in 55 days. During the

journey they will cover a distance of 15000 kms

via Myanmar, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan,

Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Czech

Republic, Germany, Belgium and France.

This all women team will be travelling in one

vehicle without any backup vehicle and the

journey will be sponsored by Mahindra First

Choice Wheels Limited.

Main Supplements

An Inquiry into the Impact of India’s App Economy

Internet and Mobile

Association of India

(IAMAI) and Indian

Council for Research on

International Economic

relations (ICRIER) released a report titled An Inquiry into the Impact of India’s App Economy.

It provides a detailed analysis of the entire value

chain of the App Economy in India, including

importantly its impact on growth and

employment.

The highlights of the report are as follows: The

mobile application industry in India is forecast to

grow to 1964 crore rupees by 2016 from 974 crore

rupees in 2014.

The mobile application currently account for

75000 jobs in India as per the estimates for

increase in employment between 2014 and 2016.

It projected that employment in this industry will range between 1.51 lakh and 1.59 lakh by 2016.

The aggregate number of jobs that apps could

create in India during the period 2014-16 lies

between 91476 and 604867.

It follows from above point that, the multiplier

effects could result in an increase in employment

within the industry by up to 8 times during the

period 2014 to 2016.

If direct employment increases at a faster rate,

the multiplier effects will result in massive

benefits to overall employment in the economy.

Moreover, there is also a demonstrated need for

seed funding for entrepreneurs who are trying to

break into the local market.

Even though smartphone penetration in India was

estimated at just 10 per cent of total mobile users,

the country experienced 100 million downloads

per month, placing it amongst the top five regions

for Google Play, the official Android mobile app

store.

It highlights the need for skilled app developers to

go beyond trouble-shooting and focus on

developing improvements in user interfaces/user

experiences (UI/UX) through enhanced design

that also serves local needs.

DoT released A K Bhargava committee report on Net Neutrality

The report of the A K Bhargava committee on Net Neutrality was released by the Department of


Telecommunications. The six member committee was appointed in January 2015.

Though the Committee unhesitatingly

recommended for adherence of the core

principles of Net Neutrality, it also suggested few

exceptions in the interests of national security and

businesses.

The highlights of report is as follows: Legitimate

traffic management practices may be allowed but

should be tested against the core principles of Net

Neutrality. Further, Improper (Paid or otherwise)

Prioritization may not be permitted.

India specific Net Neutrality approach should be

formulated by taking into account international

best practices that serve specific needs of the

country.

The primary goals of public policy in the context of

Net Neutrality should be directed towards

achievement of developmental aims of the

country by facilitating Affordable Broadband,

Quality Broadband and Universal Broadband for

its citizens.

User rights on the Internet need to be ensured so

that Telecom or Internet Service Providers do not

restrict the ability of the user to send, receive,

display, use, post any legal content, application or

service on the Internet, or restrict any kind of

lawful Internet activity or use.

Over-the-top (OTT) application services should be

actively encouraged and any impediments in their

expansion and growth should be removed.

There should be a separation of application layer

from network layer as application services are

delivered over a licensed network.

41

Specific OTT communication services dealing with

messaging should not be interfered with through

regulatory instruments.

In case of OTT VoIP international calling services, a

liberal approach may be adopted. However, in

case of domestic calls (local and national),

communication services by TSPs and OTT

communication services may be treated similarly

from a regulatory angle for the present.

Content and application providers cannot be

permitted to act as gatekeepers and use network

operations to extract value in violation of core

principles of Net Neutrality, even if it is for an

ostensible public purpose. In this regard, the

committee expressed its objections to Facebook’s

Internet.org. In order to deal with the

complexities of the new digital world, a think-tank

with best talent may also be set up.

Union Government constituted All India Council of Sports

The Union

Government

constituted All

India Council of

Sports as an

advisory body for the Union Ministry of Youth

Affairs and Sports. The advice rendered by the

council will be duly considered by the

government, but it will not be binding and

obligatory on the government.

The objectives of the All India Council of Sports is to

popularize sports amongst the youth as a way of life.

Increasing outreach of sports to rural and tribal

areas, areas affected by left wing extremism, north

east and Jammu & Kashmir. Implementation


42

of policies for promotion of sports and games in the country

Matters relating to promotion of inclusiveness in

sports with special focus on women, differently-

Abled, Tribals etc. Preventing drug abuse in

Sports, fraud of age and sexual harassment of

women in sports. Bringing professionalism,

transparency and good governance in functioning

of national sports federations. Ways and means to

raise resources for the promotion of sports and

games in the country.

Promotion of sports sciences and sports medicine.

Augmenting sports infrastructure and ensuring its

proper utilization. Matters relating to

participation and performance of sportspersons

and teams in international sporting events

Issues arising out of match fixing and other

malpractices in competitive sports. Ways and

means to promote indigenous games in the

country

Early identification of sports talent and nurturing

of the identified talent. Integration of sports in

educational curriculum in schools, colleges and

universities

Welfare measures for sportspersons. Issues and

matters specifically referred to the council by the

ministry of youth affairs & sports.

How White-Fi technology would aid Digital India initiative?

Under the Digital India initiative, the government

plans to use the national optic fibre network

project to deliver e-services to all corner of the

country. However,

Reaching the end consumer may still require

wireless technology, particularly in far flung areas

as network will be deployed only at the gram

panchayat level.

Generally 200-600

MHz frequency is

used for TV channels

to carry data,

however, in India, 93

percent of this

spectrum is not utilized. White-Fi will use this vacant spectrum to provide connectivity.

It has potential to provide free connectivity to

large sections of the Indian population through

wider coverage and economical deployment and

licence-free access.

It is best suited to provide digital connectivity to

low-income group segments which mostly remain

unattractive to commercial telecom providers.

Other countries where Microsoft has helped

implement the technology are Kenya, Singapore,

the U.S. and London.

Major findings of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) Survey on literacy

Adult literacy (age 15 years and above) rate in

India was around 70.5 percent in 2014. Among the

age group 7 years and above, the male literacy

rate was registered at 83.2 percent vis-a-vis the

female literacy rate of 67.1 percent.

Literacy rate (age 5 and above) in the rural areas

was pegged at 71.4 percent in 2014, compared to

86.1 percent in the urban areas.

The rural population in India for the age-group 5-29 years was estimated to be a little over 36


crores (47 percent) and the same for urban was approximately 14.5 crores (44 percent).

For the country as a whole, 84 percent male and

83 percent female children in the age-group 6-10,

the official age-group for Classes I-V, were

reported to be attending primary classes. This

symbolized no major rural-urban or male-female

disparity in the country.

Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Kerala, Goa,

Delhi, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep had more

than 90 percent of literates in 7+ age groups.

Rural female literacy rates (for 7+ age) in Andhra

Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan,

Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were still low

in comparison to all-India average.

In terms of physical access to primary schooling

within less than 1 km, more than 12 percent of

rural households in India did not have any

secondary schools within 5 kilometers whereas in

urban areas such cases are insignificant (less than

1 percent).

No major differences were observed between

male and female persons in urban areas up to the

level of higher secondary but such differences are

noticeable in rural areas. The rural-urban and

male-female disparities accentuate at higher

education levels of graduation and above.

In the rural areas nearly 4.5 percent of males and

2.2 percent of females completed education level

of graduation and above, while in urban areas 17

percent of males and 13 percent of females

completed this level of education.

The adult literate females of the country was about 61 percent compared to 80 percent males

43

and about 25 percent of adult females among the

female literates had completed at least higher

secondary (excluding diploma). For males it was

about 27 percent.

There was no noticeable rural-urban disparity

observed among the persons currently attending

educational institutions, but gender disparity can

be observed in rural areas with 58.7 percent of

males and 53 percent of females in the 5-29 age-

group reported to be attending education.

AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission and Housing for All to rejuvenate urban infrastructure

Urban rejuvenation or renewal calls for re-

organizing the urban clusters where the

infrastructure has far outlived its extent and is

almost bursting at seams. The concept of urban

rejuvenation has been used in many of the leading

cities of world like Hong Kong, Singapore etc.

Urban rejuvenation or re-development or renewal,

requires formation of authorities to carry out the

'large-scale redevelopment of urban areas, rather

than piecemeal rebuilding of individual buildings or

the provision of specific facilities'.

In other words the buildings which were older

than certain age were pulled down and new

infrastructure was created which catered to the

needs of the changed time.

Politically sensitive and requiring extreme

transparency along with faith of the community in

the system implementing it, it was repackaged in


our context in India 10 years back with the launch

of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal

Mission (JNNURM) in December 2005 by the then

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

However, JNNURM has not lived up to the outcome

of ‘urban renewal’ in any locality in India. The only

visible outcome of JNNURM has been its low-floor

AC or Non-AC buses plying in the city.

The High Powered Expert Committee for

Investment in Urban Infrastructure found in a

2011 report that the JNNURM had not delivered

either the required investment or service

improvements.

In 2012, the Comptroller Auditor General declared

it a ‘failure’, detailing under-used, unspent

funding (particularly for the poorest wards),

unmet reforms (even on paper) and projects

rarely completed (8.9 per cent overall).

It is to stem the loopholes in JNNURM, the BJP-led

NDA government announced in 2014 to replace

JNNURM with a new mission with a focus on GIS-

based planning and waste management. As a

result, these three schemes were envisaged and

launched.

Conceptually these schemes sound effective but

these three different urban renewal schemes

need to be closely integrated in order to work

well.

Any city aspiring for the fundamental aspects of

urban infrastructure and living has to leverage all

these schemes in some way or the other. Besides,

budgetary outlays are not adequate and state

governments need to contribute generously.

44

Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India – Some Key Elements

Digital Locker System aims to minimize the usage

of physical documents and enable sharing of e-

documents across agencies. The sharing of the e-

documents will be done through registered

repositories thereby ensuring the authenticity of

the documents online, says the government.

MyGov.in has

been

implemented as a

platform for

citizen

engagement in governance, through a "Discuss",

"Do" and "Disseminate" approach. The mobile app

for MyGov would bring these features to users on

a mobile phone.

Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Mobile app would

be used by people and Government organizations

for achieving the goals of Swachh Bharat Mission.

eSign framework would allow citizens to digitally

sign a document online using Aadhaar

authentication.

The Online Registration System (ORS) under the

eHospital application has been introduced. This

application provides important services such as

online registration, payment of fees and

appointment, online diagnostic reports, enquiring

availability of blood online etc, the government

claims.

National Scholarships Portal is said to be a one

stop solution for end to end scholarship process

right from submission of student application,

verification, sanction and disbursal to end


45

beneficiary for all the scholarships provided by the Government of India.

Digitize India Platform (DIP) for large scale

digitization of records in the country that would

facilitate efficient delivery of services to the

citizens.

Bharat Net, a high speed digital highway to

connect all 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of country.

This would be the world's largest rural broadband

connectivity project using optical fibre.

Policy initiatives

have also been

undertaken by

in the e-

Governance

domain like e-

Kranti Framework, Policy on Adoption of Open

Source Software for Government of India,

Framework for Adoption of Open Source Software

in e-Governance Systems, Policy on Open

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for

Government of India, E-mail Policy of Government

of India, Policy on Use of IT Resources of

Government of India, Policy on Collaborative

Application Development by Opening the Source

Code of Government Applications, Application

Development & Re-Engineering Guidelines for

Cloud Ready Applications

BSNL has introduced Next Generation Network

(NGN), to replace 30 year old exchanges, which is

an IP based technology to manage all types of

services like voice, data, multimedia/ video and

other types of packet switched communication

services.

BSNL has undertaken large scale deployment of Wi-Fi hotspots throughout the country. The user

can latch on the BSNL Wi-Fi network through their mobile devices.

BPO Policy has been approved to create BPO

centres in different North Eastern states and also

in smaller / mofussil towns of other states.

Electronics Development Fund (EDF) Policy aims

to promote Innovation, R&D, and Product

Development and to create a resource pool of IP

within the country to create a self-sustaining eco-

system of Venture Funds.

National Centre for Flexible Electronics (NCFlexE)

is an initiative of Government of India to promote

research and innovation in the emerging area of

Flexible Electronics.

Centre of Excellence on Internet on Things (IoT) is

a joint initiative of Department of Electronics &

Information Technology (DeitY), ERNET and

NASSCOM

Highlights of Census data on disabled population

There are 207.8 lakh households having disabled

persons in the country constituting 8.3 percent of

the total households.

Out of the total households having disabled

persons, about 99 percent households are normal

households, 0.4 percent are institutional and 0.2

percent are houseless households.

Total households having disabled persons show an

increase of 20.5 lakhs, from 187.3 lakhs in 2001 to

207.8 lakhs in 2011 (6.2 lakhs in rural and 14.3

lakhs in urban).

Normal households increased by 2024495

institutional households by 8370 and houseless

households by 13560 during the decade 2001-11.


Disabled persons in normal households increased

by 4819382 institutional households by 65895 and

houseless households by 22948 during the said

decade.

The State/Union Territory with maximum disabled

population is Uttar Pradesh and is followed by

Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

The State/Union Territory with minimum disabled

population is Lakshadweep and is preceded by

Daman and Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yoiana PMKSY

PMKSY envisages a decentralized State level

planning and execution structure. As part of it

States will be allowed to draw up a District

Irrigation Plan (DIP) and a State Irrigation Plan

(SIP).

DIP will have holistic developmental perspective

of the district outlining medium to long term

developmental plans integrating three

components namely, water sources, distribution

network and water use application of the district

to be prepared at two levels - the block and the

district.

All structures created under the schemes will be geo-tagged.

46

The programme will be supervised and monitored

by an Inter-Ministerial National Steering

Committee (NSC) under the Chairmanship of the

Prime Minister with Union Ministers of all

concerned Ministries.

The implementation of the yojana will be through

a National Executive Committee (NEC) to be

constituted under the Chairmanship of the Vice

Chairman, NITI Aayog.

Besides, NEC will also oversee allocation of

resources, inter-ministerial coordination,

monitoring and performance assessment,

addressing administrative issues etc.

A State Level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC) to be

chaired by the Chief Secretary of respective state

will be administering the programme at state

level.

The committee will have all authority to sanction

the project and also monitor the progress of the

scheme.

At the district level there will be a district level

implementation committee for ensuring last mile

coordination at the field level.

The Yojana is in addition to existing farmer

friendly initiatives taken by the NDA government

in the last one year.

These include issuing of Soil Health Card to

farmers, setting up soil and fertilizer laboratories

for Soil Health Management, launch of

Pramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana to promote

organic farming, and starting of dedicated Kisan

Channel by Doordarshan.


Quickly Quickly

About the Prerna Sthal

Prerna Sthal

encompasses

seven pillars

made of sand

stone with

copper finish

metallic inscription plaques.

The central pillar that is large in size carries a

portrait of Bhagat Singh. The first of the six

smaller ancillary pillars has been scripted with

motivational verses and remaining five pillars

narrate briefs of various battles fought in this

specific place as well as the names of martyrs and

details of gallantry awards.

About the PATA Award

The annual award sponsored by the Macau

Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is given by

Pacific Asia Travel Association. It is given in

recognition of the achievements of 25 separate

organizations and individuals. PATA is a

membership association working to promote the

responsible development of travel and tourism in

the Asia Pacific region.

About Sundarbans

The Sundarbans mangrove forest lies on the delta

of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers

on the coast of Bay of Bengal. The UNESCO World

Heritage Site is a home for several endangered

species like the Royal Bengal Tiger, Ganges and

Irawadi dolphins. The area is known for its wide

range of fauna, including 260 bird species, the

47

Bengal tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python.

About Puntius Dolichopterus

Name of the species dolichopterus has been

coined from two Greek words ‘dolikhos’ that

means elongated and ‘pteron’ that means wing or

fin. They are between 7.3 and 8.7 cm in length.

It is characterized by the longer pectoral fin,

shorter dorsal fin, unusually elongated dorsal

spine, longer head, lesser number of lateral line

scales and pre-dorsal scales. It can be further

differentiated from its relative species in having 3-

4 longitudinal lines present below lateral line

It carries a silvery body with dorsal fin of light

orange red, pectoral and anal fin greenish yellow,

ventral fin yellow, caudal fin dusky and an

inconspicuous dusky spot present on 21 and 22

scales. Its spine of dorsal fin is rigid, strong and

long and has a pair of small barbels.

Its relative species namely Puntius nigronotus,

Puntius viridis, Puntius nelsoni and Puntius parrah

are found in Kerala, Puntius dorsalis are found in

Chennai and Puntius chola and Puntius sophore

resides in the water bodies of the Ganga River.

What is PRGFEE?

PRGFEE is an innovative financing mechanism

under Framework for Energy Efficient Economic

Development (FEEED). It is one of the initiatives

under National Mission for Enhanced Energy

Efficiency. The fund has been constituted by

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Union

Ministry of Power. Further, it is a risk sharing

mechanism to provide financial institutions


(Banks/NBFCs) with a partial coverage of risk

involved in extending loans for energy efficiency

projects.

About Vellithumpa plant

It was found growing on steep wet rocks on

Shoolamudy, the highest peak in Ernakulam

district, deep inside the Edmalayalar forest range.

It is a shrub plant belonging to the mint family.

The species was named after the place of

collection and was given vernacular name

Vellithumpa because of the white silvery hairs

under the leaf. The plant bears small white

flowers with red anthers in cylindrical closely

packed clusters.

About Eriocaulon manoharanii plant

It was found growing in the wet rocky mountain

grasslands of Mamalakandam-Munippara area in

the Neriamangalam forest range. It is an

herbaceous plant belonging to the pipeworts

family and carries small white flowers growing in

clusters. It was named after former Principal Chief

Conservator of Forests TM Manoharan as

recognition of his contributions to biodiversity

conservation and wildlife protection.

About Economic Development Innovation Award

Economic Development Innovation (EDI) Award is

given under Frost and Sullivan’s EDI programme

that identifies exemplary initiatives by

governments that have the potential to transform

their countries into important destinations for

investments and achieve rapid economic growth.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company works in collaboration with clients to leverage

48

visionary innovation that addresses the global

challenges and related growth opportunities that

will make or break today's market participants.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is a United

States federal law that was enacted in 2010 to

obtain information on accounts held by US

taxpayers in other countries. The law was enacted

It requires U.S. financial institutions to withhold a

portion of payments made to foreign financial

institutions (FFIs) who do not agree to identify and

report information on US account holders.

About Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

TRAI was established in 1997 by an Act of

Parliament to regulate telecom services in India,

which was introduced in wake of entry of private

sector in telecom industries. It is an independent

regulator that regulates telecommunication

services; it also fixes or revises the tariffs for

telecom services in India. Its main purpose is to

deliver a fair and transparent environment for fair

competition in telecom market. It was constituted

with the motive to create and nurture conditions

for growth of telecommunication sector in India.

About National Youth Parliament Competition

National Youth

Parliament

Competition is

organized by

Ministry of

Parliamentary

Affairs for school children across the country. It is

organized under the Youth Parliament Scheme

with an aim to inculcate the spirit of self-

discipline, tolerance of diverse opinion, righteous


expression of views and other virtues of a

democratic way of life. The Youth Parliament

Scheme was first introduced in the Schools in

Delhi in 1966-67 and in 1997-98 it was extended

to cover Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and

University/Colleges.

About SUTEERVA

It’s a 100 Gbps Optical Fiber Cable (OFC) link

system that addresses the telco’s requirement of

optimizing communication transport backbone in

smart cities, IT parks, Industrial Complexes, Inter

City Traffic, Data Centres etc.

It offers ease of deployment, lesser shell space

and lower power consumption, and saves on the

high cost of laying fiber for each individual user.

Further, SUTEEVRA is capable of serving multiple

applications and protocols ranging from the Data,

Storage, TDM and Video networks.

About Next Generation Network (NGN)

It is an

advanced

Internet

Protocol (IP)

based

network

which is designed to replace existing TDM network

in BSNL and MTNL.

It provides a centralized remote control to the

operators to manage the exchanges thereby

providing better services to the end subscribers.

Besides, there are considerable savings in the

power consumptions with the introduction of the

much smaller and low power consuming

equipment.

49

About Computer Science Corporation

Founded in 1959, CSC is an American MNC having

presence in 70 countries that provides

information technology (IT) services and

professional services.CSC is a global leader in

specialized banking application software that

addresses core banking, cards, payments and

default management solutions.

About Hindustan Computer Limited

Incorporated in 1991 by Shiv Nadar and Arjun

Malhotra, HCL is an Indian global IT services

company that provides holistic, multi-service

delivery in key industry verticals including

Financial Services, Manufacturing, Consumer

Services, Public Services and Healthcare & Life

sciences across 31 countries. HCL is a leading

provider of application, business process and

infrastructure services to the Global Banking and

Financial services (BFSI) sector.

MODEL QUESTION PAPER

1) The moon is a

A. Comet

B. Satellite

C. Star

D. Planet

2) Who receives Dronacharya Award?

A. Scientists

B. Movie actors


C. Sports Coaches D. Sportsmen

3) Who was the first Indian to be-elected to the British Parliament? A. Dadabhai Naoroji

B. Mothilal Nehru

C. Mahathma Gandhi

D. Gopalakrishna Gokhale

4) In which year India Joined the United Nations? A. 1954

B. 1955

C. 1956

D. 1957

5) A hole is made in a brass plate and it is heated. The size of the hole will A. increase

B. decrease

C. first increase and then decrease D. remain unchanged

6) Which language was patronized by the rules of Delhi Sultanate? A. Hindi

50

B. Arabic

C. Persian

D. Turkish

7) Who discovered magnetic field of electric current?

A. Ampere

B. Faraday

C. Fleming

D. Edison

8) Which country leads in the production of rubber?

A. Australia

B. India

C. Malaysia

D. Myanmar

9) The Panchayat Raj is a

A. One–tier System

B. Two–tier System

C. Three–tier System

D. Four–tier System

10) Which is the most irrigated State in India?

A. Bihar


B. Punjab C. Andhra Pradesh

D. Uttar Pradesh

11) When a gas is turned into a liquid, the process is called A. condensation

B. evaporation

C. deposition

D. sublimation

12) Which of the following parts of the sun is easily visible only during a total solar eclipse? A. core

B. photosphere

C. sunspots

D. corona

13) Earth's seasons are caused by which of the following?

A. The tilt of the earth's rotation relative to the ecliptic as earth revolves around the sun B. The varying amount of sunspot activity

C. The earth's orbit around the sun as an eclipse rather than a circle D. The rotation of during a 24-hour day

51

14) Which of the following is most likely to cause a

rise in the average temperature of earth's

atmosphere in future?

A. Atomic warfare

B. CO2 from fossil fuels

C. Dust clouds from valcanoes

D. Depletion of earth's ozone layer

15) The accumulation of stress along the

boundaries of lithospheric plates results in which

of the following?

A. Earthquakes

B. Magnetic reversals

C. Hurricanses

D. Increased deposition of deep-sea sediments

16) Which of the following elements is a metal

A. S

B. Se

C. I

D. Ga

17) Which of the following items will be attracted

to the north pole of a permanent magnet by a

magnet force?

A. The north pole of another permanent magnet

B. A piece of iron that is not a permanent magnet


C. A positively charged glass rod D. A negatively charged rubber rod

18) Pollination by birds is called A. autogamy

B. ornithophily

C. entomophily

D. anemophily

19) The fastest-running terrestrial animal is A. cheetah

B. lion

C. man

D. jaguar

20) As you go down into a well, your weight A. increases slightly

B. decreases slightly

C. remains exactly the same

D. None of the above

21) Arya Samaj was started by A. Swami Vivekananda

B. Raja Ram Mohan Roy

C. Swami Dayanand Saraswati

52

D. Gopal Krishna Gokhale

22) Who is known as the ‘Grand Old Man of India’?

A. C. Rajagopalachari

B. Dadabhai Naoroji

C. Lala Lajpat Rai

D. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

23) Which of the following was a recommendation of Hunter’s Commission?

A. Women’s education

B. New regulation for the organized senates system

C. Gradual withdrawal of state support from higher education

D. Introduction of civic education at college and university level

24) Which of the following pairs are correctly matched?

1. Warren Hastings – Regulating Act

2. Cornwallis – Permanent Land Settlement

3. Wellesley – Subsidiary Alliance

4. Dalhousie – Abolition of Sati

A. 1 and 3

B. 1, 2 & 4


C. 1, 2 & 3 D. 2 and 3

25) The theory of economic drain of India during British imperialism was propounded by A. M. K. Gandhi

B. Jawaharlal Nehru

C. Dadabhai Naoroji

D. R. C. Dutt

26) Arrange the following in chronological order, who administered as Governor Generals of India.

1. Wellesley 2. Cornwallis 3. Warren Hastings 4. Dalhousie A. 3,2, l, 4

B. 1,2,4, 3

C. 4, 2, 3, 1

D. 4, 1, 2,3

27) Who amongst the following was involved in the Alipore Bomb case?

A. S. N. Banerjea B. Bipin Chandra Pal

C. Jatin Das

53

D. Aurobindo Ghosh

28) Gandhiji wanted that the students should spend their vacations in

A. studies

B. Games

C. Social service

D. None of these

29) Which one of the following upheavals took

place in Bengal immediately after the Revolt of

1857?

A. Sanyasi Rebellion

B. Santal Rebellion

C. Indigo Disturbances

D. Pabna Disturbances

30) Which of the following was not founded by Dr.B. R. Ambedkar?

A. Deccan Education Society

B. Samaj Samata Sangh

C. Peoples Education Society

D. Depressed Classes Institute

31) In India, which one of the following States has the largest inland saline wetland?

A. Gujarat


B. Haryana C. Madhya Pradesh

D. Rajasthan

32) In which one of the following States has India's

largest private sector sea port been commissioned

recently? A. Andhra Pradesh

B. Karnataka

C. Kerala

D. Tamil Nadu

33) Consider the following countries:

1. Australia 2. Namibia 3. Brazil 4. Chile

Through which of the above does the Tropic of Capricorn pass?

A. 1 only B. 2, 3 and 4

C. 1, 2 and 3

D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

34) Consider the following statements:

1. There are no east flowing rivers in Kerala.

54

2. There are no west flowing rivers in Madhya Pradesh.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 only

B. 2 only

C. Both 1 and 2

D. Neither 1 nor 2

35) In India, the ports are categorized as major

and non-major ports. Which one of the following

is a non-major port?

A. Kochi (Cochin)

B. Dahej

C. Paradip

D. New Mangalore

36) In which one of the following places is the Shompen tribe found?

A. Nilgiri Hills

B. Nicobar Islands

C. Spiti Valley

D. Lakshadweep islands

37) In which state is the Buddhist site Tabo Monastery located?

A. Arunachal Pradesh


B. Himachal Pradesh C. Sikkim

D. Uttarakhand

38) Where is the famous Virupaksha temple located? A. Bhadrachalam

B. Chidambaram

C. Hampi

D. Srikalahasti

39) When you travel in certain parts of India, you

will notice red soil. What is the main reason for

this colour? A. Abundance of magnesium

B. Accumulated humus

C. Presence of ferric oxides

D. Abundance of phosphates

40) Which among the following has the world's largest reserves of Uranium? A. Australia

B. Canada

C. Russian Federation

D. USA

55

41) There is some relationship between diagrams A & B. The same relationship persists between C & D. Find the right diagrams for D from the alternatives.

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

42)

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

43)

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3


56

D. 4 C. 3

D. 4

44)

A. 1

47)

B. 2 A. 1

C. 3 B. 2

D. 4 C. 3

D. 4

45)

A. 1 48)

B. 2 A. 1

C. 3 B. 2

D. 4 C. 3

D. 4

46) 49)

A. 1

A. 1

B. 2 B. 2


C. 3

D. 4

50)

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

Answer Key

1. Answer – B 2. Answer – C 3. Answer - A 4. Answer - B 5. Answer - C 6. Answer - C 7. Answer - B 8. Answer - C 9. Answer - C 10. Answer - A 11. Answer - A 12. Answer - D 13. Answer - A 14. Answer - B 15. Answer - A 16. Answer - D 17. Answer - B

57

18. Answer - B 19. Answer - A 20. Answer - B 21. Answer - C 22. Answer - B 23. Answer - A 24. Answer - D 25. Answer - C 26. Answer - A 27. Answer - C 28. Answer - C 29. Answer - C 30. Answer - D 31. Answer – D 32. Answer - A 33. Answer - D 34. Answer - D 35. Answer - B 36. Answer - B 37. Answer - B 38. Answer - B 39. Answer - C 40. Answer – A 41. Answer - D 42. Answer - A 43. Answer – C 44. Answer – B 45. Answer – C 46. Answer - A 47. Answer - D 48. Answer – A 49. Answer - C

50. Answer - C


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