july ias express current affairs 2013

CrackingIAS.com JULY 2013

Cracking IAS Study Circle, Chennai. KITE4education.com IAS EXPRESS

Compiled by: CrackingIAS.com

CONTENTS INDEX P.No. National 1

International 5

India and World 9

Science and Technology 10

Economics 18

Sports & Awards and Honours 22

Social issues & Development 24

Political issues, Human Rights & Governance 25

Monthly Special Focus 23

Bitcoin

Silicine - possible Graphene replacement?

Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs)

Integrity pact for Indo-Bangladesh relations

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*3 Indian projects to receive U.N. public service

awards: U.N. Public Service Awards will be given to

three Indian projects for the year 2013. The awards

are given for projects that fight poverty and promote

sustainable development. The projects are:-

1. Project Mass Contact Programme of Kerala:

Launched in 2011 by Kerala government to

Combat red tape and bureaucracy in

administration.

Key Achievements: Enables interaction b/w the

people and the government by encouraging them

to approach the government directly to get their

concerns addressed without delay or corrupt

practices. Under this programme, The CM visits

each town and organizes massive events where

people can address their queries personally. The

programme has facilitated in improving

accountability in the State. It has reduced the time

usually taken to respond to complaints and actions

and has expedited problem solving.

2. Project Swavalamban of District Administration

of Dhanbad in Jharkhand: It is an initiative of

Dhanbad administration - To improve disbursement

of pensions in the district.

Key Achievements: Replaced the manual process

of disbursement in the payment of pensions,

particularly registration of new pensioners by

automating payment and creation of direct cash

transfers into pensioners’ bank accounts. It

reduced the time from three months to three days.

Payment through Business Correspondent in

remote rural areas has dramatically improved the

delivery of services. Besides, the database of all

pensioners was digitized with the help of new

software.

3. Graamin Haat programme of Department of

Cottage and Rural Industries in Madhya Pradesh:

For Women Empowerment.

Key Achievements: The Haat Development

Committee that operates weekly markets (haats) is

setting up Women Self Help Groups (WSHGs)

that operate its own haats. Women now not only

had an important place in the haat and thus in

society but also control over resources. Now, there

are 1,775 shops in 36 haats benefiting almost

1,800 sellers and 4, 15,000 villagers from 217

villages. This endeavor has provided women an

opportunity to acquire management skills, operate

a business on their own and improve overall living

conditions in their communities. This in turn

imbued a new sense of self-confidence and earned

them respect in the family and society. It has also

allowed women to gradually become part of the

governance of their community.

*Crisis looms as country faces TB drugs stock-out:

Even as the government is trying to tackle the stock-

out situation for anti-tuberculosis paediatric drugs, a

new problem has surfaced. Stocks of second-line

medicines like Kanamycin, an injectible drug used for

NATIONAL - News



treating multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB have dipped

alarmingly. Currently, there is stock only for two and

a half months. India is among the few countries with a

high burden of MDR TB.

The Prime Minister’s Office has asked the Union

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)

for clarification on the availability of drugs.

The Central TB Division (CTD) called an

emergency meeting to find the way forward to

extenuate the crisis. Manufacturers of paediatric

drugs, prolongation pouches and streptomycin

have been identified and the ministry is hopeful of

getting supplies to states by the end of July. States

with a lower disease burden have been asked to

transfer drugs to those with a higher burden facing

extreme shortage of drugs.

The shortage of drugs was due to procurement

failures and delays at the level of the government

of India. It also confirmed stock-out of paediatric

doses, Rifampicin (the key drug to treat TB),

streptomycin injection as well as diminishing

stockpiles of Kanamycin injections and other first

line drugs. The emergency procurement of

paediatric drugs was delayed by six months and

the orders had just been placed.

As for KANAMYCIN, emergency procurement of

over 400,000 vials, done with the support of the

Geneva-based Global Drug Facility (GDF) through

WHO’s intervention had not reached the country

because of delays in processing orders, payments

and the ministry not issuing the necessary customs

duty clearance on time.

*DGCI bans cosmetics with animal-tested

ingredients: The Drug Controller General of India

(DCGI) has banned testing cosmetics and their

ingredients on animals.

According to PETA, the DGCI announcement

comes in the wake of European Union (EU) and

Israel imposing bans on the testing of cosmetic

products and their ingredients on animals.

Any cosmetic product which performs animal

testing will face action as per provisions of the

Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Animal Cruelty

Act. Infringement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act

by any person or corporate manager or owner is

liable for punishment for a term which may extend

from 3-10 years and shall also be liable to fine

which could be Rs.500 to Rs.10,000, or with both.

The law also makes it mandatory to use modern

non-animal alternative tests, replacing invasive

tests on animals. It implies that any manufacturer

interested in testing new cosmetic ingredients or

finished products must first get the approval from

India’s regulator Central Drug Standards Control

Organization. A manufacturer will be given

approval to test only after complying with the BIS

non-animal standards.

Companies around the world are switching to

effective, modern non-animal tests and more than

1,200 companies have already given up animal-

testing methods. But many still are carrying out

with the same old procedures of subjecting animals

to painful tests.

*India Ranks 141 in Global Peace Index 2013:

Iceland tops the list and Afghanistan ranks at bottom.

The major indicators that bring down India’s ranking

are militarization, domestic and international

conflicts, and corruption.

According to the 2013 GPI, key drivers in making

the world a less peaceful place are:

rise in the number of homicides and

countries increasing their military expenditure as a

percentage of GDP.

GPI

The GPI is the world’s leading measure of

global peacefulness produced by the Institute

for Economics and Peace.

The list was launched first in May 2007, then

continued yearly.

It is claimed to be the first study to rank

countries around the world according to their

peacefulness.

It gauges ongoing domestic and international

conflict, safety and security in society, and

militarisation in 162 countries by taking into

account 22 separate indicators.

*India to declare 2013 as Water Conservation

Year: With per capita availability of water depleting

at a faster pace, the government approved a proposal

to declare 2013 as Water Conservation Year under

which awareness programmes will be launched for

conservation of the scarce natural resource.

Under the proposal, which got the nod of the

Union Cabinet, the Water Resources Ministry will

launch a series of programmes among masses,

especially children, on water conservation.

While India has more than 18 per cent of the

world's population, it has only 4 per cent of the



world's renewable water resources.

With growing population and rising needs, per

capita availability of water is likely to go down

from 1545 cubic meter per annum in 2011 to 1341

cubic meter per annum in 2025.

Water Conservation is the key objective of the

National Water Mission which is one of the eight

National Missions under the National Action Plan

for Climate Change.

This envisages conservation, minimising wastage

and ensuring more equitable distribution of water

resources both across and within states through

integrated water resources development and

management.

*India: World’s 3rd most attractive FDI

destination: As per the World Investment Report

2013 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD), India is world’s third most

attractive destination for investment by Transnational

Corporations (TNCs) during 2013-15. In the survey

based on responses of 159 companies, India has been

positioned after China and United States. Thus India

has retained its previous ranking. As per UNCTAD

the top five countries in attracting FDI are:

China

United States

India

Indonesia

Brazil

As per the report, developing countries make up

four of the top five host economies. Six of the top

10 prospective host countries also come from the

developing world, with Mexico and Thailand

appearing for the first time.

*National Cyber Security Policy Released: This

policy aims at facilitating creation of secure

computing environment and enabling adequate trust

and confidence in electronic transactions and also

guiding stakeholder’s actions for protection of cyber

space.

The National Cyber Security Policy document

outlines a road-map to create a framework for

comprehensive, collaborative and collective

response to deal with the issue of cyber security at

all levels within the country.

The policy recognises the need for objectives and

strategies that need to be adopted both at the

national level as well as international level.

The objectives and strategies outlined in the National

Cyber Security Policy together serve as a means to:

Articulate our concerns, understanding, priorities

for action as well as directed efforts.

Provide confidence and reasonable assurance to

all stakeholders in the country (Government,

business, industry and general public) and global

community, about the safety, resiliency and

security of cyber space.

Adopt a suitable posturing that can signal our

resolve to make determined efforts to effectively

monitor, deter & deal with cyber-crime and cyber-

attacks.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE POLICY

A vision and mission statement aimed at building

a secure and resilience cyber space for citizens,

businesses and Government.

Enabling goals aimed at reducing national

vulnerability to cyber-attacks, preventing cyber-

attacks & cybercrimes, minimizing response &

recover time and effective cybercrime

investigation and prosecution.

Focused actions at the level of Govt., public-

private partnership arrangements, cyber security

related technology actions, protection of critical

information infrastructure and national alerts and

advice mechanism, awareness & capacity building

and promoting information sharing and

cooperation.

Enhancing cooperation and coordination

between all the stakeholder entities within the

country.

Objectives and strategies in support of the

National cyber security vision and mission.

Framework and initiatives that can be pursued at

the Govt. level, sectoral levels as well as in public

private partnership mode.

Facilitating monitoring key trends at the national

level such as trends in cyber security compliance,

cyber-attacks, cybercrime and cyber infrastructure

growth.

*The Surge of Leptospirosis: A rise in the number of

cases of leptospirosis has been reported in

Thiruananthapuram even as the district is focusing its

efforts on curbing the dengue fever. Dengue has

eclipsed the fact that the incidence of leptospirosis has

been on the rise in all districts of the state after the

rain began.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease caused by

bacteria Leptospira that affects both humans and



animals. Humans become infected through direct

contact with the urine of infected animals or with a

urine-contaminated environment. The bacteria

enter the body through cuts or abrasions on the

skin, or through the mucous membranes of the

mouth, nose and eyes. Person-to-person

transmission is rare. The disease has also been

known to trigger abortions in cattle.

Transmission- Leptospirosis is transmitted by the

urine of an infected animal and is contagious as

long as it is still moist. Although rats, mice, and

moles are important primary hosts, a wide range of

other mammals including dogs, deer, rabbits,

hedgehogs, cows, sheep, raccoons, opossums,

skunks, and certain marine mammals are able to

carry and transmit the disease as secondary hosts.

Symptoms - include high fever, severe headache,

muscle pain, chills, redness of the eyes, abdominal

pain, jaundice, haemorrhages in the skin and

mucous membranes, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash.

Most vulnerable - Although the disease can occur

to anyone who comes in contact with the urine of

infected with Leptospira, its prevalence is seen in

cleaning workers, manual labourers and farm

workers are most vulnerable. The number of

infection increases in rainy season as people wade

through waters contaminated with garbage and

animal excreta which contain the bacteria.

To counter leptospirosis vulnerable sections are

put on Doxycycline prophylactic treatment. Care is

taken to distinguish the disease from other diseases

like Malaria and Dengue as these too show similar

symptoms and spread in the same season.

*Train service linking Banihal in Jammu to

Qazigund in Kashmir launchedJune 29th

2013: PM

Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi

flagged off the first train connecting Banihal in

Jammu region with Qazigund in Kashmir Valley.

It was the first train to pass through 11 km

tunnel through Pir Panchal Range.

The 18-km Banihal-Qazigund section, which

includes an 11-km long Pir Panchal Range tunnel,

the country’s longest, reduces the 35 km distance

to 18 km. It has been constructed at a cost of Rs

1,691 crore. The Udhampur-Banihal section is

expected to be completed by 2017 connecting the

Valley to the rest of the country round-the-year

without any hindrance. The Banihal-Baramulla -

Banihal train will make five trips daily beginning

from June 27, 2013.

Train service is already operational within

Kashmir Valley on the 118-km-long route b/w

Qazigund and Baramulla in north Kashmir.

Pir Panchal Tunnel - It is 11-km tunnel b/w tunnel

Banihal-Qazigund section. It is the longest tunnel

in the country and has been constructed using New

Austrian Tunnelling Method, which has been used

for the first time on such a large scale in India.

This method optimises the tunnel design by

mobilising the inherent ground strength in

adopting a curved section, providing primary

support system immediately after excavation and

monitoring the ground behaviour while allowing it

to develop its inherent strength. The tunnel also

has a 3 metre wide road for maintenance and

emergency rescue and relief operations. The tunnel

has been made water-proof by providing

continuous PVC membrane b/w primary and

secondary lining.

*Water Min sets up panel to find reasons behind

U'khand floods: The committee will be headed by

Chairman, Ganga Flood Control Commission,

Patna and will comprise representatives from Central

Water Commission, India Meteorological Department

and Ministry of Water Resources.

The committee will study various issues including

the river bank erosion, the river draining systems,

effect of sedimentation downstream and also the

effectiveness of flood warning systems, the

monitoring of lakes in the high altitudes including

glacier lakes that could be a part of a more

effective early warning system for flash floods.

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*Chandigarh-born "trailblazer" Indian-American legal

luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan has made history

with the US Senate unanimously confirming him as

the first South Asian judge on the powerful appeals

court for the American capital.

*Croatia Becomes 28th

EU Member: Croatia has

become the 28th member of the European Union, with

crowds joining celebrations in the capital Zagreb.

It is the first addition since Bulgaria and Romania

joined EU in 2007.

Croatia is the small Balkan nation that declared

independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.

Croatia formally applied for EU membership in

2003.

Slovenia is the only other former Yugoslav

republic that has been admitted to the EU since

federal Yugoslavia‟s breakup.

*EU Releases Nuclear Safety Law: The European

Commission released a long-awaited proposal for new

EU-wide nuclear safety rules. There are 132 nuclear

reactors in operation in Europe today.

Safety objective: Member States shall ensure that

– in case of accidents – the release of radioactivity

in the environment is practically eliminated.

EU-wide, legally binding reviews every six years:

Member States will jointly agree on the specific

topic (s) and the common methodology of the

reviews that multinational teams will carry out.

Member States are also responsible for

implementing the recommendations. In case, there

is a delay or recommendations are not

implemented, the European Commission can

organize a verification mission to the Member

State.

National reviews: Every nuclear power plant

undergoes a periodic safety review at least once

every 10 years and a specific review in case of a

possible life time extention;

New Power Plants: All new nuclear power plants

are designed in a way which ensures that if a

reactor core is damaged, this has no consequences

outside the plant;

On-site emergency preparedness and response:

Every Nuclear Power Plant needs to have an

emergency response centres which is protected

against radioactivity and earthquakes or flooding

and implementing strict accident management

guidelines;

As to transparency, national regulatory authorities

and plant operators will have to develop a strategy,

which will define how public is informed in the

event of an accident, but also in times of normal

operation of the plant. This strategy will have to be

published. In addition, citizens will have the

opportunity to participate in the decision-making

process when the licensing of a new nuclear power

plant is being chosen.

Finally, the directive ensures that national

regulatory authorities are independent in their

decision-making and that political, economic or

societal interests cannot override safety objectives.

National regulatory authorities must be allocated

sufficient funds and expert staff to allow their

effective operation.

*First IOR-ARC Economic and Business

Conference:

The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Shri

Anand Sharma recently co-chaired the Indian Ocean

Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-

INTERNATIONAL - News



ARC) Economic and Business Conference in Port

Louis, Mauritius.

Member States and Dialogue Partners of IORARC,

met in the Mauritius, for the First Economic and

Business Conference on July 4-5, 2013, under the

theme of „Deepening Economic Linkages for

Balanced, Inclusive & Sustainable Growth‟.

The meeting was co-hosted by the Governments of

Mauritius and India and brought together Ministers

and business representatives from across the

Indian Ocean Rim

First IOR-ARC Economic and Business

Conference was in keeping with the decisions

taken by the IOR Business Forum held in

Gurgaon, India, during the IOR-ARC Council of

Ministers and Related Meetings in October-

November 2012,which recommended that

Business-to-Business meetings have an important

role to play for expanding trade and commerce

between Member States.

Discussions took place in the four panel sessions,

namely:

Unlocking the Potential of the Services Sector

in the IOR-ARC (ICT, Tourism, Financial

Services)

Enhancing Trade and Investment in the IOR-

ARC

Creating Agri-business linkages, addressing

Food Security and Sustainable Development‟

Ocean Economy/Blue Economy

Conference encouraged the concept of ‘Open

Regionalism’ and identify trade as an integral

factor in in promoting economic cooperation and

development.

It urged Member States to harmonise trade

practices in line with international norms and take

steps to minimize barriers to trade in the Indian

Ocean region and emphasize the need to build on

the complementarities of our economies and

identify key growth sectors.

It welcomed the IOR-ARC Work Program in

Trade Facilitation initiated by Member States and

fully support efforts to implement this for boosting

intra-IOR-ARC trade and commerce.

Conference noted that the study on “Trade and

Investment Prospects of the IOR-ARC in the New

Millennium” which was released in 2011 in the

Council of Ministers Meeting in Bengaluru, has

highlighted ten areas of cooperation namely trade

cooperation, tariffs, food sector trade, standards

cooperation, regional value chains, mining,

pharmaceutical and traditional medicine,

coordination among EXIM Banks, investment and

trade facilitation.

It recognized the value of ongoing dialogue among

Ministers of Economy, Trade and Industries as an

integral part of economic dialogue involving the

National Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

*Ireland set to allow abortion for first time under

'historic' new law: Irish lawmakers voted to allow

abortion in limited circumstances for the first time in

the deeply Catholic country‟s history, following a

bitter debate that saw letters written in blood sent to

the country‟s Prime Minister Enda Kenny.

Under a new bill, doctors will be allowed to end

the life of an unborn child if there is a threat to the

life of the pregnant woman.

The debate over abortion was re-ignited in Ireland

after the death of SAVITA HALAPPANAVAR

last year. The 31-year-old was refused a quick

termination of her pregnancy even though she was

miscarrying and suffering from blood poisoning.

The bill allows medical procedures that result in

the ending of “an unborn human life” in order to

deal with “a real and substantial risk of loss of the

[pregnant] woman‟s life.”

It also allows for an abortion if three medical

practitioners agree this is necessary to prevent a

pregnant woman from taking her own life.

*Kuwait’s Constitutional Court Dissolves

Parliament: Kuwait‟s Constitutional Court ordered

the dissolution of 50-member parliament and called

for fresh elections.

The Constitutional Court made its ruling on a

petition by opposition which challenged the recent

changes in the electoral system brought by the

emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, the

hereditary ruler of the country.

The new voting rules, decreed six weeks before the

poll, triggered mass protests in the country.

The court upheld controversial regulations that

brought a one-person, one-vote system in place of

the former rules that allowed voters to cast ballots

for multiple candidates.

The latest electoral reforms reduced the number of

votes allowed per citizen in parliamentary

elections to one from four.

Under the old system, voters could place four

votes of equal weight for a candidate in their

constituency.



Since political parties are banned in Kuwait so

candidates campaign on an independent basis.

According to protesters, the new rules aimed to

weaken the opposition, favored Kuwait‟s ruling

family and were imposed without public debate.

However, the government says that the new voting

system brought Kuwait in line with other

countries.

According to the court ruling, the emir must

dissolve parliament and call elections.

Kuwait‟s emir is expected to set a new election

day, possibly within three months.

The decision may set the stage for a new wave of

political showdowns in the Gulf nation.

ABOUT GOVERNMENT IN KUWAIT

Kuwait‟s parliament has legislative powers and

can hold government ministers to account.

However the emir has the final say in state matters

and chooses the prime minister who in turn picks a

cabinet, with members of the ruling Al-Sabah

family occupying the top posts.

*Latvia to Join Euro Zone on Jan. 1, 2014: The

European Union has officially approved Latvia as the

18th member of the eurozone, which uses the bloc‟s

common currency. Latvia will adopt the euro on

January 1, 2014. The EU‟s current presidency holder,

Lithuania, announced the news.

It was also announced that Latvia‟s current

currency, the lat, will be converted at a rate of

0.7028 lats per euro.

After its real-estate bubble burst amid the world

financial crisis in 2008, Latvia faced massive

economic problems leading to a 7.5-billion-euro

($9.7 billion) bailout by the EU and the

International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Now, after following an austerity plan to recovery,

the country boasts the EU‟s highest growth rate,

which came in at more than five percent year-on-

year in 2011 and 2012.

Its deficit and debt levels are also among the

lowest in the bloc.

All EU countries except for Britain and Denmark

are mandated to join the eurozone once they fulfil

its criteria.

Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary,

Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden have yet

to adopt the common currency.

*Malaysia Declares Emergency in its Province:

Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak has declared

emergency in two parts of its southern State of Johor

(Muar and Ledang) as smoke from land-clearing fires

in Indonesia has increased the air pollution in the air

above the normal level.

The smoke is the outcome of illegal burning of

forests in Indonesia‟s Sumatra Island to clear space

for palm oil plantations.

The air pollution index had touched 750. Any

reading above 300 indicates hazardous air

pollution.

The “haze” of Sumatra has also shrouded

neighbouring Singapore, but air quality in the city

state has improved over the weekend after

reaching hazardous levels.

*More than 65 countries sign Arms Trade Treaty:

An overwhelming majority in the UN General

Assembly voted in favour of the landmark Arms

Trade Treaty (ATT). Treaty intends to regulate the

international trade in conventional arms, from small

arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships.

Argentina was the first to sign the Arms

Trade Treaty the General Assembly

approved in April.

Iran, Syria and North Korea cast the only votes

against the treaty.

Key arms exporters including Russia and China

and major importers including India, Saudi

Arabia, Indonesia and Egypt abstained and have

given no indication yet that they will sign it.

Signatures are the first step to ratification, and the

treaty will only take effect after 50 countries ratify

it.

The treaty will require countries that ratify it to

establish national regulations to control the

transfer of conventional arms and components and

to regulate arms brokers, but it will not control the

domestic use of weapons in any country. It

prohibits the transfer of conventional weapons if

they violate arms embargoes or if they promote

acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war

crimes, and if they could be used in attacks on

civilians or civilian buildings such as schools and

hospitals.

*Mugabe Signs New Zimbabwe Constitution Into

Law: Zimbabwe moved a step closer to holding new

elections, after President Robert Mugabe signed a

new constitution into law.

The constitution stipulates new voting procedures

and reforms to be implemented from the signing



date so that the earliest new elections can be held.

The supreme law replaces the one written in 1979

at Britain‟s Lancaster House.

The constitution was unopposed through both

houses of parliament.

The new constitution limits future presidents to

two five-year terms.

The provision limiting presidential terms will not

apply retroactively, so the 89-year-old Mugabe

will be able to run in the next election and

potentially continue to serve as president for the

next decade.

Mugabe has been Zimbabwe‟s president since the

country‟s independence from Britain in 1980.

Mugabe and his allies want the polls as soon as

possible while PM Tsvangirai insists on the

application of key reforms first to ensure a free and

fair vote.

Genesis

This new law come as a result of a January

agreement between Mugabe and Prime Minister

Morgan Tsvangirai, who both pledged their

support for the new constitution.

In 2008 the two political rivals formed a coalition

government following highly contested elections,

ultimately finding a compromise to hold elections

on the condition that a new constitution was

enacted beforehand.

The five-year coalition parliament, formed under

the same agreement, expires on June 29, and

parliamentary and presidential elections should

follow within 90 days of that date.

Date for elections has yet to be determined.

International observers described Mugabe‟s

victory in 2002 as deeply flawed, and in 2008 the

vote was plagued by violence and irregularities.

In March in a nationwide referendum, nearly 95

percent of voters supported the passage of the draft

constitution, which then passed completely

unopposed through both houses of Parliament.

In February three UN independent human rights

experts urged the government of Zimbabwe to

respect international human rights in anticipation

of the referendum and potential changes to the

system of government.

*Obama nominates James Comey as next FBI

director: The US President Barack Obama nominated

James Comey as the next FBI (Federal Bureau of

Investigation) Director. James Comey has been a

registered Republican and former Justice Department

official under President George W. Bush. The US

senate is yet to confirm his nomination. He is likely to

take charge from the outgoing Robert Mueller who

held the post since 2001.

*Peace Deal Signed Between Mali Govt & Rebels:

Mali‟s government has signed a peace deal with

Tuareg rebels to help pave the way for elections next

month.

The planned elections on 28 July, will be the first

in Mali since the military staged a coup in 2012,

accusing the government of failing to end the

conflict in the north.

The deal was reached after nearly two weeks of

talks brokered by Burkina Faso‟s President Blaise

Compaore in the Burkina capital, Ouagadougou.

The accord calls for an immediate ceasefire and

for government troops to return to the last rebel-

held northern town of Kidal. The rebels captured

Kidal after a French-led offensive forced militant

Islamists out of the town in January.

The Tuaregs have been fighting for autonomy in

the north since Mali gained independence from

France in 1960. They say they are marginalised by

the government in the capital, Bamako.

*Sri Lanka parliament approves voting rights for

displaced people: Sri Lanka parliament passed a bill

to ensure the voting rights of the displaced people in

the North. The legislature passed with amendment the

Registration of Electors (Special Provisions) Bill

tabled by the Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem in

parliament earlier this month.

The Northern Province is one of the nine

provinces of Sri Lanka.

The provinces have existed since the 19th

century but did not have any legal status until

1987 when the 13th

Amendment to the

Constitution of Sri Lanka established

provincial councils.

Between 1988 and 2006 the province was

temporarily merged with the Eastern Province

to form the North Eastern Province. The capital

of the province is Jaffna.

The Sri Lankan Civil War had its roots in this

province. It is also known as Sri Lanka‟s Tamil

country.

According to the 13th

Amendment to the 1978

Constitution of Sri Lanka, The Governor is

the Constitutional head of the province while

the Chief Minister is the head of the



government and the head of the council of

ministers.

The Chief Justice of the High Court is the head

of the judiciary.

Provincial Government is not is functioning in

Northern Province at present. It is ruled directly

from the Central government. Governors are

care taker of province. Most of the governors

were retired army generals.

The bill will allow the IDPs displaced from the

North between May 1, 1983 and May 18, 2009 to

register to vote if they have not been registered as

voters in any other electoral district.

Bill will allow some 20,000 people to vote in the

upcoming provincial council elections in the

Tamil-dominated north.

The Supreme Court ruled that the special bill is

consistent with the Constitution.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is expected to make

the proclamation on the northern provincial

council elections next week. The election may take

place in early September.

*The Popocatepetl volcano (5,452 m high) in the

Mexico has spit out a cloud of ash and vapour 3

kilometres high over several days of eruptions.

*UN Security Council Resolution on Sexual

Violence During Conflict: On 24 June 2013, the

United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution

2106 (2013) on sexual violence in conflict.

The resolution acknowledges the importance of

women‟s political, social and economic

empowerment as well as the enlistment of men and

boys to combat all forms of violence against

women.

The resolution emphasizes more consistent and

rigorous investigation and prosecution of sexual

violence crimes as a central aspect of deterrence,

and ultimately prevention.

The resolution also calls for the further

deployment of Women Protection Advisers (WPA)

in accordance with an earlier resolution 1888, to

facilitate the implementation of Security Council

resolutions on women, peace and security, and for

the systematic assessment of the number and roles

of WPAs during the planning and review of each

UN peacekeeping and political mission.

It also calls on Member States to continue the fight

against impunity and recognises the importance of

including women in all aspects of mediation and

peace-building.

The UN has recently focused on the issue of

violence against women in a variety of contexts

and countries.

In March more than 130 UN member states agreed

to adopt new measures to prevent and eliminate

violence against women.

In December the UN released a report declaring

that women in Afghanistan are still suffering abuse

at the hands of men.

*US Exempts India Under Iran Sanctions Act:

United States exempted 9 countries including India,

from sanctions for importing oil from Iran under

America‟s Iran Sanctions Act. Other countries are

China, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Sri

Lanka, Turkey, and Taiwan.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said that these

countries have significantly reduced their

dependence on Iranian oil in the last six months.

The Obama administration has introduced a series

of measures over the past week to step up the

pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, which

US suspects is aimed at making weapons but Iran

insists is for generating electricity and medical

research.

US hopes the pressure will force Iran to come

clean on its nuclear activity so that the US and its

allies can avoid any military intervention to

prevent the Islamic republic from obtaining an

atomic arsenal.

In optional Subjects – Political Science, Public

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MAINS GENERAL STUDIES TEST

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MAINS 2011 GS

QUESTION

OUR TEST PAPER

QUESTION

Bring out the salient

features of the PCPNDT

Act, 1994, and the

Implications of its

amendment in 2003. (20

MARKS)

Cracking IAS “IAS

EXPRESS” – May

2011. P.no.12” +

Mains 2011 Test no.1

question.no.1 of III +

Discussion.

Trace the salient

sequence of events in the

popular revolt that took

place in February 1946

in the then „Royal Indian

Navy‟ and bring out its

significance in the

freedom struggle. Do

you agree with the view

that the sailors who took

part in this revolt were

some of the unsung

heroes of the freedom

struggle?. (20 MARKS)

Cracking IAS “Indian

History Book”. +

Mains 2011 Test

no.11 question. No.

(b) of I + Discussion.

Mudiyettu (2 MARKS) Cracking IAS “IAS

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no. 1 question no.12

of III..

Rahim Fahimuddin

Dagar (2 MARKS)

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Cracking IAS “IAS

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question.no.2 of III

*6 Sites In Syria Put Under UNESCO List of

Danger Sites: UNESCO World Heritage Committee

has decided to place the six World Heritage sites of

the Syria on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

It was done basically to draw attention in order to

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee in its

current 37th session in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

has approved the inclusion of East Rennell

area in the Solomon Islands in Dangers List.

East Rennell is the largest raised coral atoll in

the world and its dense forest has a canopy

averaging 20 metres in height.

The forests, which cover most of the land area of

the 37,000-hectare site, are an essential

component of the atoll, which is considered to

be a natural laboratory for scientific study.

mobilize all possible support for the safeguarding

of these properties.

The sites concerned are:-

Ancient City of Damascus

Site of Palmyra

Ancient City of Bosra

Ancient City of Aleppo

Crac des Chevaliers

Qal‟at Salah El-Din

The decision was taken as part of the World

Heritage Committee‟s review of the state of

conservation of World Heritage sites already

inscribed on the World Heritage List.

The World Heritage Committee is currently

holding its 37th session in Phnom Penh. The

session will close in Angkor on 27 June.

The Committee recently removed the Iranian

World Heritage site of Bam and its cultural

landscape from the list of sites in danger citing

improvements in the management and

conservation of the site.

Bam was inscribed on the World Heritage List

in 2004, shortly after it was struck by a major

earthquake. Damage caused by the quake

warranted the site‟s simultaneous inscription on

the List of Heritage in Danger.

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KITE4education.com India & World - News 9

*India, Albania sign agreement for avoidance of

double taxation: The DTAA provides that business

profits will be taxable in the source state if the

activities of an enterprise constitute a Permanent

Establishment (PE) in the source state. The agreement

provides for fixed place for permanent establishment

building site, construction and installation the

permanent establishment, service and agency

permanent establishment.

The agreement incorporates para 2 in Article 9

concerning Associated Enterprises. This would

enhance recourse to Mutual Agreement Procedure

to relieve double taxation in cases involving

transfer pricing adjustments.

Dividends, interest and royalties and fees for

technical services income will be taxed both in the

country of residence and in the country of source.

The low level of withholding rates of taxation for

dividend (10 percent), interest (10 percent) and

royalties and fees for technical services (10

percent) will promote greater investments, flow of

technology and technical services between the two

countries.

The agreement further incorporates provisions for

effective exchange of information between tax

authorities of the two countries in line with latest

international standard, including exchange of

banking information and supplying of information

without recourse to domestic interest.

The agreement also contains an Article on

Assistance in Collection of Taxes. This article also

includes provision for taking measure of

conservancy. The agreement incorporates anti-

abuse (limitation of benefits) provisions to ensure

that the benefits of the agreement are availed of by

the genuine residents of the two countries.

The agreement will provide tax stability to the

residents of India and Albania and will facilitate

mutual economic cooperation between the two

countries. It will also stimulate the flow of

investment, technology and services between India

and Albania.

*India, Lanka, Maldives sign tripartite maritime

security pact: India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have

entered into a tripartite agreement on maritime

cooperation to secure sea routes in the Indian Ocean

region.

The three sides agreed that the Third NSA-level

Trilateral Meeting will be convened at a mutually

convenient date in 2014 to review the progress

made in implementing the areas of cooperation

agreed upon as well as identifying new areas of

cooperation.

They also agreed that prior to the Third NSA-level

Trilateral Meeting, the Working Group would

meet to implement the consensus and decisions

agreed to by the three sides at the Second NSA-

level Trilateral Meeting.

*India, Pakistan granted more time to file

submissions on Kishanganga: India and Pakistan

have been granted a two-day extension for filing their

submissions on the additional information sought by

the Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the dispute

between them over the 330 MW Kishanganga

hydroelectric project, which is under construction in

Baramullah district North Kashmir.

The extension was sought by Pakistan, highly

placed sources told The Hindu. Both the countries

were supposed to file their submissions by

Wednesday.

Pakistan had objected to India diverting waters of

a tributary of the Jhelum for the Rs. 3600-crore

project, saying that water-flows to their

downstream Neelam-Jhelum Hydroelectric Project

would be affected. The Court had asked them to

provide power generation and agriculture data on

their project.

In its order in February, the Court asked India to

provide statistics on power generation at the

Kishanganga project as well as provide

information on environment concerns at the dam

site in Gurez. India, sources said, was ready with

its submissions. At the same time, the Court had

asked Pakistan to provide information on the

power generation at the Neelam-Jhelum project.

Last month India sought “clarification” from the

Court on the modern drawdown technique for silt

removal in run-of-the-river projects. The Court

restrained India from using the technique on its

projects on rivers allocated to Pakistan under the

Indus Waters Treaty of 1960. The “draw down”

technique, which Pakistan has reservations about,

requires depletion of reservoirs below the “dead

storage level.”

In its partial award delivered in February, the

Arbitration Court upheld the legality of India’s

right under the treaty to divert waters from

Kishanganga /Neelam river (a tributary of Jhelum)

to Bonar Nallah, another tributary of the Jhelum,

for the Kishanganga project.

The Court, however, held that India would have to

maintain a minimum flow of waters in

Kishanganga at a rate that would be determined by

the Court in its Final Award, expected by the end

of the year.

The Court is chaired by Judge Stephen M.

Schwebel of the United States.

India & World - News


KITE4education.com India & World - News 12

*India, Uzbekistan oppose outside interference in

Afghanistan: India and Uzbekistan shared the view

that any outside interference in internal affairs of

Afghanistan could prove to be counter-productive, in

the backdrop of the proposed withdrawal of the U.S.

forces by 2014.

The centuries-old relations between Indian and

Uzbekistan could provide a perfect platform to

develop friendship and to meet they could be

facing in future. There were discussions on the

issues of connectivity in the region.

The two countries discussed the issues of counter-

terrorism and connectivity in the region. They

signed an MoU for upgrading the Jawaharlal

Nehru India –Uzbekistan Centre for Information

Technology in Tashkent.

*Iran Seeks Enhanced Defence Ties With India:

Iran is seeking to enhance defence ties with India and

its envoy GholamrezaAnsari met defence minister A

K Antony on Saturday. The defence minister is said to

have welcomed the idea about the need for more

bilateral defence exchanges between the two

countries.

Iranian army is equipped with a wide range of

domestically-manufactured military and defence

equipment, including ground surveillance radar

systems, personnel carriers, drones, destroyers,

submarines, and missile-launching frigates.

*Japanese Emperor, Empress to visit India:

Japanese royal couple will arrive here on November

30 and leave for Chennai on December 4. They will

return to Tokyo the next day.

The Emperor of Japan is the titular head of the

country, but his overseas visits are carefully

calibrated and form an important part of Tokyo’s

statecraft. For instance, China has been an

important country for Japan after World War II.

But the Emperor visited the country in 1992 as

Tokyo felt its ties were at a take-off stage, pointed

out Prof. Lalima Varma of the Centre of East

Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

India and Japan are currently engaged in talks at

several levels to step up mutual trust and security,

and economic ties. The two have signed a

Comprehensive Economic Cooperation

Agreement, agreed on a first-ever sale of a highly

sophisticated dual use amphibious aircraft and

agreed to join hands for a mega industrial corridor

in India.

The two countries held one round of bilateral naval

exercises in June last year and during Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Tokyo,

decided to hold a second and expanded edition in

the second half of this year off the Indian coast.

*US asks India to deliver commercial promise of

civil Nuclear-deal: US has asked India to deliver the

commercial promise of the historic civil nuclear

agreement between the two countries.

*We will work within the framework of nuclear

liability Act, says France : Unlike other countries,

France will not ask India to change its nuclear liability

Act. This is a law passed by the Indian Parliament and

we shall work within the framework of that law to

provide civilian nuclear technology to India.

French Ambassador to India Francois Richier said

the Indian Parliament was sovereign and in its

wisdom had passed the nuclear liability Act [Civil

Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010]. It was

up to France to decide on the best way to work

within the framework of the Act to provide nuclear

reactors to India in a manner that would take into

account the interests of both sides.

In a wide-ranging interview that emphasised the

“substantive nature of the Indo- French

partnership,” Mr. Richier said there was great

scope for the two countries to further ties, not just

“the four strategic pillars of our relationship,

namely cooperation in the military, space and

nuclear sectors and counter-terrorism,” but also in

student exchanges and specific areas of economic

activity where there was a close fit.


KITE4education.co Science & Technology + Defence & Environment + Health Issues - News 13

* „INS Trikand‟ Commissioned Into Indian Navy: INS Trikand built in Russia, was commissioned into

the Indian Navy today at Kaliningrad, Russia by Vice

Admiral R K Dhowan, the Vice Chief of the Naval

Staff, Indian Navy.

The commissioning of INS Trikand marks the

culmination of a three ship contract for “Follow

On Talwar Class” ships built in Russia, and is

therefore a milestone in the Indo-Russian military-

technological cooperation.

INS Trikand carries a state-of-the-art combat suite

which includes:

the supersonic BRAHMOS missile system,

advanced Surface to Air missiles Shtil,

upgraded A190 medium range gun,

Electro-optical 30 mm Close-in Weapon System,

Anti-Submarine weapons such as torpedoes and

rockets and

an advanced Electronic Warfare system.

The weapons and sensors are integrated through a

Combat Management System „Trebovanie-M‟,

which enables the ship to simultaneously neutralise

multiple surface, sub-surface and air threats.

The ship also incorporates innovative features to

reduce radar, magnetic and acoustic signatures,

which have earned this class of ships the sobriquet

of „Stealth‟ frigates.

The ship is powered by four gas turbines and is

capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots.

The ship can carry an integrated Kamov 31

helicopter which is best suited for airborne early

warning roles.

*British Government gives go ahead to „three-

parent baby‟: The UK government has given

approval to the controversial IVF technique that

would lead to the creation of babies with three

parents. If the proposal is passed by its parliament

then Britain would become first country to allow this

technique. The decision has invited criticism from

different calling it unethical, unnecessary and unsafe.

“Three-Parent Baby”

It is a baby born with the genetic contribution

(DNA) from three people. It is done through IVF

technique which involves taking the nucleus of one

egg (first female) and inserting it into the

cytoplasm of another egg (second female) which

has had its nucleus removed, but still contains

mitochondrial DNA, and then fertilizing the hybrid

egg with a sperm (third person). The purpose of

the procedure is to remove a nucleus from a cell

with defective mitochondria and place it in a donor

cell with healthy mitochondria, which after

fertilisation will contain a nucleus with genetic

material from only the two parents.

Utility

As per experts, this method will give a choice to

women with mitochondria disorders to bear

children free from such diseases. These are caused

by mutated mitochondria — tiny structures that

supply power to human cells — and are passed

from a mother, through the egg, to her child. It is

said to affect one in every 6,500 babies. The

technique will help combat genetic problems that

can cause rare and debilitating conditions affecting

the heart, muscles and brain.

*India to have shield from missiles of 5,000km range: India's missile defence system is set to get a big boost as

it is developing capability to intercept enemy missiles

fired from a distance of up to 5,000km, in effect tackling

any possible threat from countries such as China.

The capability is being developed by DRDO as part

of the Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) shield,

whose first phase is ready for deployment possibly in

Delhi.

Development of the first phase of the BMD

programme has been completed.

Under this, the BMD shield can tackle enemy

missiles fired at from ranges up to 2,000 km.

Taking this forward, the DRDO is enhancing the

capability of BMD in phase-II to deal with threat

from missiles of longer range of up to 5,000km.

Under the phase II of the programme, all the

components of such a missile shield including the

radar and interceptor missiles would be new and will

have extended ranges.

*INSAT-3D integrated with French launcher: The

INSAT-3D satellite of the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) has been successfully integrated

on to the French-built Ariane 5 launcher.

The satellite, which will aid in meteorological

observation and monitoring of land and ocean

surfaces, has been slated for launch on July 26.

*INSAT-3D launch likely on July 26: Indian Space

Research Organisation (ISRO) will put a second satellite

in orbit in July: advanced meteorology satellite INSAT-

3D is slated to fly weeks after the space agency launches

the regional navigation satellite. ISRO will launch

navigation satellite IRNSS-1A from Sriharikota on the

Science & Technology

Defence & Environment - News



light-lift PSLV rocket on July 1.

INSAT-3D is meant exclusively for meteorological

studies. Weighing 2,090 kg, it will be flown to its

orbit on the European Ariane 5 launch vehicle. It is

tentatively planned to be sent up on July 26, says an

ISRO official.

Paris-based Arianespace announced on Thursday that

the spacecraft had reached the French Guiana space

port of Kourou this week and would go into space

along with Alphasat, Europe‟s largest

telecommunication satellite, which is owned by the

U.K.-based commercial operator Inmarsat.

*ISRO successfully launches India's first

navigation satellite: The IRNSS-1A is the first

dedicated Indian Navigation Satellite. In total seven

satellites of the IRNSS constellation will be launched

and the full constellation will be up during 2014

timeframe.

The PSLV-C22 rocket is expected to spit out its

only luggage - the 1,425 kg IRNSS (Indian

Regional Navigational Satellite System)-1A.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV- C22

blasted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre,

Sriharikota with the Indian Regional Navigation

Satellite System (IRNSS-1A) it is for the first time

that the space agency has launched a satellite at

night.

The IRNSS-1A is the first dedicated Indian

Navigation Satellite. In total seven satellites of the

IRNSS constellation will be launched and the full

constellation will be up during 2014 timeframe.

According to ISRO, the IRNSS is designed to

provide accurate position information service for

terrestrial (cars, goods transport, buses) aerial

(flights) and maritime (shipping) navigation for

users in India as well as neighbouring regions

extending up to 1,500 km from India's

borders/boundaries, which will be its primary

service area.

The IRNSS will provide two types of services:

Standard Positioning Service (SPS) for all

users; and Restricted Service (RS), an

encrypted service provided only to authorised

users.

The IRNSS System is expected to provide a

position accuracy of better than 20 m in the

primary service area. This means if your vehicle is

at point A on the ground, the error would go only

as far as 20 metres, and not more -- which is pretty

accurate in terms of navigational aspects.

The IRNSS-1A will be placed in an inclined

geosynchronous orbit at 55 degree East longitude

with an inclined orbit of 29 degrees with respect to

the equator. The satellite will be positioned at

36,000 Kms altitude.

AN INCLINED GEOSYNCHRONOUS ORBIT

means that the satellite's orbital plane will be

tipped to some number of degrees from the

horizontal as compared to the equator. In such

cases although the satellite will be geosynchronous

(completing one revolution around Earth along

with Earth's rotation), it will not be geostationary

(fixed in space at one point in relation with a

location on Earth).

The entire IRNSS satellite constellation will

compromise of three satellites geostationary orbits

and four in inclined geosynchronous orbits, of

which IRNSS-1A is the first one.

Around 20 minutes into the launch, the rocket

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-XL (PSLV-XL)

will eject the navigational satellite at an altitude of

501 km.

Applications of IRNSS

Terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation, disaster

management, vehicle tracking and fleet

management, integration with mobile phones,

precise timing, mapping and geodetic data capture,

terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers,

and visual and voice navigation for drivers.

The satellite with a life span of around 10 years is

one of the seven satellites constituting the IRNSS

space segment — a regional navigational system

developed by India designed to provide accurate

position information service to users within the

country and up to 1,500 km from the nation's

boundary line.

Following this launch of navigational satellite,

ISRO is planning to launch its communication

satellite G-Sat 14 using a heavier rocket —

Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV)

- powered with a domestic cryogenic engine

sometime in August this year.

*Mystery of Moon‟s Surface Gravity Solved By

NASA Mission: NASA‟s Gravity Recovery and

Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission has

uncovered the origin of massive invisible regions that

make the moon‟s gravity uneven, a phenomenon that

affects the operations of lunar-orbiting spacecraft.

GRAIL‟s twin spacecraft studied the internal

structure and composition of the moon for nine

months.

They pinpointed the locations of large, dense

regions called mass concentrations, or mascons,



which are characterized by strong gravitational pull.

Launched as GRAIL A and GRAIL B in

September 2011, the probes, renamed Ebb and

Flow, operated in a nearly circular orbit near the

poles of the moon until their mission ended in

December 2012.

GRAIL data confirm that lunar mascons were

generated when large asteroids or comets impacted

the ancient moon, when its interior was much hotter

than it is now.

The origin of lunar mascons has been a mystery in

planetary science since.

This new understanding of lunar mascons also is

expected to influence planetary geology well beyond

that of Earth and our nearest celestial neighbor.

Because of GRAIL‟s findings, spacecraft on

missions to other celestial bodies can navigate with

greater precision in the future.

*NASA Decommissions Its Galaxy Hunter

Spacecraft: NASA has turned off its Galaxy

Evolution Explorer (GALEX) after a decade of

operations in which the space telescope used its

ultraviolet vision to study hundreds of millions of

galaxies across 10 billion years of cosmic time.

Operators at Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles,

Va., sent the signal to decommission GALEX at

3:09 p.m. EDT Friday, June 28.

The spacecraft will remain in orbit for at least 65

years, then fall to Earth and burn up re-entering the

atmosphere.

GALEX met its prime objectives and its mission

was extended three times before NASA decided to

end it.

Highlights from the mission‟s decade of sky

scans include:

The discovery of a gargantuan comet-like tail

behind a speeding star called Mira.

Catching a black hole “red-handed” as it

munched on a star.

Finding giant rings of new stars around old,

dead galaxies.

Independently confirming the nature of dark

energy.

The discovery of a missing link in galaxy

evolution

The mission also captured a dazzling collection of

snapshots, showing everything from ghostly nebulas

to a spiral galaxy with huge, spidery arms.

In a first-of-a-kind move for NASA, the agency in

May 2012 loaned GALEX to Caltech, which used

private funds to continue operating the satellite

while NASA retained ownership.

Since then, investigators from around the world

have used GALEX to study everything from stars in

our own Milky Way galaxy to hundreds of

thousands of galaxies 5 billion light-years away.

*NASA Launches Satellite to Study how sun's

atmosphere is energized: NASA's Interface Region

Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft was launched

from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The mission is

to study the solar atmosphere.

IRIS is a NASA Explorer Mission to observe how

solar material moves, gathers energy and heats up as

it travels through a little-understood region in the

sun's lower atmosphere. This interface region

between the sun's photosphere and corona powers its

dynamic million-degree atmosphere and drives the

solar wind. The interface region also is where most

of the sun's ultraviolet emission is generated. These

emissions impact the near-Earth space environment

and Earth's climate.

IRIS is expected to start science observations upon

completion of its 60-day commissioning phase. During

this phase the team will check image quality and

perform calibrations and other tests to ensure a

successful mission.

*Nicobar islands declared a world biosphere

reserve: The reserve which encompasses a large part

of the island of Great Nicobar is home to indigenous

Shompen people, semi-nomadic hunters living inland.

The International Coordinating Council of Man and

the Biosphere Programme (MAB-ICC) under the

United Nations Organisation for Education, Science

and Culture designated the 103,870 hectares Great

Nicobar reserve as protected, in its meeting in Paris,

this week, according to a statement released by the

body.

Biosphere Reserves are sites chosen by the MAB

program to experiment with different approaches to

the management of terrestrial, marine and coastal

resources as well as fresh water. They also serve as

in situ laboratories for sustainable development.

The designation is not binding under any law but is

aimed at building and promoting a network of places

where people are attempting to mesh human activity

with biological and scenic assets.

Great Nicobar joins the reserves at Simplipal

(Orissa), Nokrek (Meghalaya), Pachmarhi (Madhya

Pradesh), Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu), the Gulf of Mannar

(Tamil Nadu), Sunderban (West Bengal) Nanda

Devi (Uttarakhand) Similipal (Odisha) and

Achanakmar-Amarkantak (Madhyapradesh and



Chhatisgarh) which are already on UNESCO‟s list.

Among the other 11 global sites included in the new

batch of UNESCO bioreserve is the reserve in

Alakol Kazakhstan, which includes wetlands of

world significance.

The additions bring the total number of biosphere

reserves to 621 in 117 countries.

*Nuclear fission progressing smoothly in

Kudankulam plant: India's 21st nuclear reactor at

Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu is functioning well after it

began nuclear fission process for the first time on July

14, 2013. All its parameters remained normal. This is a

much-awaited development for the Indian nuclear

establishment.

India's atomic power plant operator, NPCIL, is

setting up two 1,000 MW reactors with Russian

technology and equipment at Kudankulam, around

650 km from Chennai.

The over Rs 17,000 crore project, which came up in

the face of intense protests in nearby villages who

feared for their safety, began generating heat and

steam from the 163 uranium fuel bundles loaded in

the reactor.

The reactor was loaded with fuel assemblies

containing about 80 tonnes of uranium oxide.

On July 11 night, armed with the AERB's clearance,

the KNPP started its journey towards criticality.

At the first stage, the plant will be synchronised with

the southern grid when power generation touches 400

MW. That is expected to happen in 30-45 days.

After necessary regulatory clearances, power

generation will be increased gradually to 50 per cent,

75 per cent, 90 per cent and finally 100 per cent.

*Prithvi missiles to be replaced by more-capable

Prahar: DRDO: Seeking to enhance its precision strike

capabilities, India is planning to replace its 150km-range

Prithvi ballistic missiles with the newly developed quick

reaction Prahar missiles.

The 150km-range Prahar is a single-stage missile

and is fuelled by solid propellants. It was first test-

fired by DRDO in mid-2011 from its range in

Odisha.

The uniqueness of the missile system is that it can be

fired in the salvo mode also from one launcher

vehicle in which four missiles can be fired in one go.

This short-range missile would be an "excellent

weapon" which would fill the gap between the 90km-

range of the Smerch multi-barrel rocket launchers

and guided missiles like Prithvi, which can strike at

250km to 350km range.

The under-development Prahar missile would be

offered to the Army for user trials very soon and after

its acceptance, it is planned to be part of its Corps of

Artillery.

The Prithvi missiles were developed by India under

its Integrated Missile Development Programme in the

1980s. The ballistic missile was developed with

multiple strike ranges from 150km to 350km.

The longer ranges are planned to be in service with

both the Army and the IAF.

*Royal Bengal Tiger count in Sunderbans is 103: Sunderbans, one of the last surviving natural tiger

habitats in the world, has a minimum of 103 tigers. This was found after a study was conducted in

collaboration with WWF and Wildlife Institute of

India.

SUNDARBANS

The Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage

Site covering parts of Bangladesh and the Indian

state of West Bengal.

Two-third of the Sundarbans is in Bangladesh and

the remaining third in West Bengal, India.

The Sundarbans National Park is a National Park,

Tiger Reserve, and a Biosphere Reserve located

in the Sundarbans delta in the Indian state of

West Bengal.

The figures indicated that there was presence of a

tiger in every 20 sq km of the delta.

The figures point out that there are 22 tigers in

South 24 Parganas forest and 81 in the STR.

*Satellite launch to put first piece of India's own

GPS in orbit: When PSLV-C22 lifts off with IRNSS-

1A satellite in tow from Sriharikota on July 1, 2013, it

will mark India's first step towards building its own

satellite navigation system. Named IRNSS for Indian

Regional Navigation Satellite System, it will be one

of the few navigation systems in the world and will

provide an alternative to systems like the GPS (global

positioning system) owned by the US, for navigation

in and around India.

Most countries build their own navigation systems

because global systems like GPS owned by a single

country cannot be relied upon in times of war and

conflict. This system will ensure India has access to

navigation systems in hostile situations.

While the US operates a GPS, Russia has its own

GLONASS (global navigation satellite system).

China is building its BeiDou navigation satellite

system (also called COMPASS) and the European

Union is developing Galileo for its own needs.

IRNSS consists of seven satellites, three in

geostationary orbit and four in inclined

geosynchronous orbits, and will mainly cover the



area around India. A geosynchronous orbit leads

to satellite passing over the same locations over

the earth at the same time every day. A

geostationary orbit, a special form of

geosynchronous orbit, means the satellite will

always be over a certain point on earth, ensuring

continuous coverage.

IRNSS will aim to provide more than 20-metre

accuracy over the Indian landmass. Its range will

extend to 1,500km around India. On whether the

satellites will be used by other countries in the

region, Karnik said it's a "policy matter which

will be discussed at a later stage". The system can

also be expanded beyond its current stated aim of

covering the area around India. "Expansion at a

later date is always possible. In fact, the orbits

were designed keeping a possible expansion in

mind," said Karnik.

The IRNSS-1A, first in the constellation, will

have an inclined geosynchronous orbit. The ISRO

navigation centre in Byalalu, Karnataka will be

the nerve point for managing the IRNSS system.

All the seven satellites will be identical and have

a stated mission life of 10 years. The arrangement

of satellites is different from global systems like

GPS. "We studied various combinations and this

provided us with the best accuracy," said Karnik.

He said the complete satellite system will be in

place by 2015.

Each satellite will be equipped with rubidium

atomic clocks that will help applications requiring

precise timing. Apart from navigation and precise

timing, the system will have applications in

disaster management, visual and voice navigation

for drivers and vehicle tracking and fleet

management, among other things.

The IRNSS navigation system will provide two

kinds of services: standard positioning system

(SPS) for civilian uses and restricted system (RS)

in which encrypted service will be provided only

to authorize users, like the armed forces.

*Switzerland retains top spot in 2013 Global

Innovation Index: The Global Innovation Index

2013 looked at 142 economies around the world,

using 84 indicators including the quality of top

universities, availability of microfinance, venture

capital deals - gauging both innovation capabilities

and measurable results. Published annually since

2007, the GII has become a chief benchmarking tool

for business executives, policy makers and others

seeking insight into the state of innovation around the

world. India ranked 66th in the Global Innovation

Index 2013.

Switzerland and Sweden's performance reflects the

fact that both countries are leaders in all

components (pillars) of the GII, consistently

ranking in the top 25.

The Global Innovation Index 2013 (GII), in its 6th

edition this year, is co-published by Cornell

University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual

Property Organization (WIPO, a specialized

agency of the United Nations).

The United Kingdom has a well-balanced

innovation performance (ranking 4th in both input

and output), in spite of a relatively low level of

growth in labor productivity.

The United States continues to benefit from its

strong education base (especially in terms of top-

rank universities), and has seen strong increases in

software spending and employment in knowledge-

intensive services.

Highlights For India

India ranked number one in the Centraland South

Asia region followed by Kazakhstan and Sri

Lanka, and 11th overall in Innovation efficiency

ratio. (Innovation efficiency reflects the

Innovation output per unit of Innovation input in

the economy).

The strength areas for India are its Gross Capital

formation (% of GDP) (Rank:9), Investment in

new business (Rank: 20), Industrial Cluster

Development (Rank: 29), Growth rate % of PPP

GDP/Worker (Rank:14), Computer & Info.

Services exports (Rank:1), Creative goods

exports(%)(Rank:11).

India ranked poor in the areas such as political

stability (Rank: 123), Ease of starting business

(Rank: 128), School life expectancy (Rank: 109),

Pupil-teacher ratio (Rank:108), Knowledge

absorption (Ran:122) and others.

Despite the economic crisis, innovation is alive

and well. Research and development spending

levels are surpassing 2008 levels in most

countries and successful local hubs are thriving.

A group of dynamic middle and low-income

countries, including China, Costa Rica, India, and

Senegal - are outpacing their peers, but haven't

broken into the top of the GII 2013 leader board.

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KITE4education.com ECONOMICS - News 18

* Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation

Scheme: The Cabinet Committee on Economic

Affairs has approved the Modified Industrial

Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS) with an

approved outlay of Rs.1030 crore for the 12th Five

Year Plan period consisting of Rs. 450 crore for

committed liability and the remaining Rs. 580 crore

for taking up 14 to16 new projects including a

minimum 2 projects in the North Eastern Region

(NER) for upgradation of infrastructure in existing or

greenfield industrial clusters.

The IIUS was launched in 2003 as a Central

Sector Scheme to enhance competitiveness of

industry by providing quality infrastructure

through a public private partnership in selected

functional clusters with central assistance upto

75 percent of the project cost subject to a ceiling

of Rs. 5 crore.

The Scheme was recast in February, 2009 based

on the recommendation of an independent

evaluation.

Central assistance was retained upto 75 percent

and assistance upto 90 percent of the project

cost introduced for NER/Hill States with a

maximum ceiling of Rs. 60 crore (with 15

percent minimum industry contribution and 5

percent in case of NER/Hill States).

The CCEA further approved that at least 10

percent outlay will be set aside for the minimum

two projects in the NER.

All States are covered under the scheme. However

projects are likely to be undertaken in only 14 to

16 States/Districts due to limitation of outlay in the

12th Plan.

After notification of the MIIUS, the Project

Management Agency (PMA) would be appointed.

The PMA will assist the Department of Industrial

Policy & Promotion (DIPP) in appraisal of project

proposals and also, in monitoring of projects.

Project proposals would be invited through

advertisements in two national dailies; the

proposals received would be scrutinized with the

help of the PMA and these would be brought

before Apex Committee for ‘in-principle’

approval.

Monitoring of projects would start after ‘in-

principle’ approval so that these achieve stipulated

milestones according MIIUS, to qualify for ‘final

approval’.

Monitoring of projects would continue till these

projects achieve completion. These projects are

targeted to achieve completion by the end of the

12th Plan.

The decision will have to develop of better

common infrastructure, common facilities

including skill development centers at the selected

industrial clusters.

It will also positively impact better employment

generation in the selected clusters.

* RBI announces fresh steps to tackle rupee

volatility: Under the measures announced, RBI raised

lending rates to commercial banks 2 per cent to 10.25

per cent making the loans costlier.

The RBI will conduct sale of Government of India

Securities to suck up Rs 12,000 crore on July 18

from the market, in a move to make rupee dearer.

There has been continuous decline of rupee from

53.8 levels against dollar since April.

The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate has

also been increased to 10.25 per cent from current

8.25 per cent. Repo rate has been left unchanged.

“The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate is

calibrated with immediate effect to be 300 basis

points above the policy repo rate under the

Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF).

Accordingly, the Bank Rate also stands adjusted to

10.25 per cent with immediate effect.

Introduced during the 2011-12 period, MSF allows

banks to borrow money from the central bank at a

higher rate when there is significant liquidity

crunch.

The overall allocation of funds under the LAF will

be limited to 1.0 per cent of the Net Demand and

Time Liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system,

reckoned as Rs 75,000 crore for this purpose.

According to RBI, the market perception of likely

tapering of US Quantitative Easing has triggered

outflows of portfolio investment, particularly from

the debt segment.

ECONOMICS - News



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The exchange rate pressure also evidences that the

demand for foreign currency has increased vis-a-

vis that of the Rupee in part because of the

improving domestic liquidity situation.

Last week, RBI had asked oil firms to source all of

their 8-8.5 billion of dollar needs every month for

import of oil, from a single public sector bank.

It also barred banks from trading in currency

futures and exchange-traded currency options

market on their own.

Meanwhile, the RBI has imposed fines totaling

49.5 crore rupees on 22 private and public sector

banks, including SBI, PNB and Yes Bank for

violating KYC or Know Your Customer norms.

It also gave cautionary letters to seven, including

Citibank and StanChart, following an expose made

by an online portal.

*‘Commodity Transaction Tax’ From 1st July:

Commodity Transaction Tax (CTT) at 0.01 per cent

will be levied on various non-agricultural

commodities, including gold, sugar and edible oils,

with effect from July 1.

At 0.01 per cent of the transaction value, the levy

would work out to Rs.10 on a deal worth Rs.1

lakh.

The tax was proposed in the budget in February.

India has 21 commodity bourses, including six

operating at the national level. Foreigners are still

not allowed to trade in futures, but can buy stakes

in commodity exchanges.

Apart from gold, other commodities such as silver,

crude oil and base metals and processed farm

items such as sugar, soya oil, mentha oil and guar

gum will also come under CTT.

The tax would be levied on futures trading and not

on spot trading in the commodities.

CTT is to apply to all non-agricultural

commodities traded on futures exchanges. There

are 6 such national exchanges.

The rules specify that the exchanges must collect

the tax from members and pay to the central

government.

CTT was proposed 2013-14 Budget speech by

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

Finance Minister had stated that it will be on par

with the amended Securities Transaction Tax

(STT) to be levied at the rate of 0.01%.

*Govt clears ETF for public units to push

disinvestment: The Cabinet today approved the

setting up of a CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

which is expected to speed up disinvestment

programme, check volatility in share price movement

and encourage retail participation.

An ETF is a security that tracks an index like an

index fund but trades like a stock on an exchange.

Constituent stocks are listed and actively traded,

and may have representation from various sectors

to provide ETF unit holders adequate

diversification. ETF was introduced in India in the

year 2001 when the Nifty BeES was launched with

an Asset Under Management (AUM) of Rs. 7

crore. Since then, ETFs have grown in India, with a

total of 33 ETFs at present, having AUM of close

to Rs. 11,500 crore and held by 6.2 lakh investors.

Gold ETFs dominate the ETF market in the

country. The AUM of equity ETFs is around Rs.

1,600 crore.



Gold ETFs dominate ETF market in India.

*Govt Panel Recommends Increasing FDI Limits:

A govt panel headed by Economic Affairs Secretary

Arvind Mayaram proposed raising foreign investment

limits in host of sectors like defence, multi-brand

retail and telecommunications.

According to him the main objectives behind

raising the cap is to spur investment in the country

and tide over the Current Account Deficit woes.

This committee was set up by Finance Minister P

Chidambaram to review the sectoral caps in FDI.

According to the sources, the FDI limit in the

defence sector is likely to be raised to 49 per cent

from 26 per cent now.

Similarly, telecom and private banking could see

FDI up to 100 per cent against the current 74 per

cent. Print and broadcasting media might have FDI

limit up to 49 per cent from 26 per cent now.

There is also a move to axe the requirement for

approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion

Board (FIPB) for FDI of up to 49 per cent in

various sectors.

However, FIPB approval could be retained for

sensitive sectors so that strategic interests are not

compromised.

MERGING FDI, FII CAP - One key proposal is

also setting a single cap of 49 per cent merging

Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign

Institutional Investment. Currently, the FII, or

portfolio investment, limit in various sectors

(excluding public sector banks) is 24 per cent.

*RBI decided to Launch Inflation Indexed Bonds

(IIBs): The RBI (Reserve Bank of India) on 15 May

2013 decided to launch Inflation Indexed Bonds

(IIBs). The first tranche of the IIBs 2013-2014 for

1000 to 2000 crore rupees will be issued on 4 June

2013. The maturity period of these bonds will be 10

years. The total issue size will be 12000 to 15000

crore rupees in 2013 to 14.

The RBI will do on monthly basis to attract

household savings of up to 15000 crore rupees so

as to discourage investments in gold.

After the first tranche, bonds will be issued on the

last Tuesday of every month. While the first series

of the bonds will be open for all class of investors,

the second series issue - beginning October - will

be reserved exclusively for retail investors.

*Rising Farm Wages in India – The ‘Pull’ and

‘Push’ Factors: A new working paper titled Rising

Farm Wages in India – The ‘Pull’ and ‘Push’ Factors,

written by Ashok Gulati, Surbhi Jain and Nidhi Satija

of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices

(CACP), Ministry of Agriculture has been in news



lately. This has been for the reason that the paper

disputes the MNREGA’s contribution to creation of

farm and rural sector jobs.

Main arguments

Real farm wages (i.e. the rise in wages adjusted for

inflation) grew by 3.7 percent during the 1990s.

The growth fell to 2.1 percent in 2000s.

Based on the above two it can be argued that if real

wages had followed the same trend of 1990s in

2000s, the current level of real farm wages would

have been higher than what it is today with

MGNREGS.

The data in the 2000s can be divided into two very

different parts. Between 2000-01 and 2006-2007,

farm wages declined by 1.8 percent per year

whereas they grew by 6.8 percent between 2007-

2008 and 2011-2012.

Guaranteed wages under MGNREGS have

increased the wage expectations, although the

employment generated under MGNREGS has been

less than 10 percent of the total rural employment

in most of the states during most of the years.

According to 64th round of National Sample

Survey (Migration in India), 2007‐08, nearly 57

percent of urban migrant households migrated

from rural areas and mostly for employment-

related reasons. For rural males, around 20 percent

were employed as casual labour after migration.

Thus, construction activity certainly competes for

rural labour and would act as a pull on farm wages.

Taking these arguments into account, the working

paper authors constructed a statistical model to test

what really impacts farm wages. According to this

model, a growth of 10 percent in construction

pushes up farm wages by 2.8 percent. A 10 percent

increase in overall economic growth (measured

through growth in the Gross Domestic Product)

pushes up farm wages by 2.4 percent.

Impact of MGNREGS is limited as with 10

percent increase in employment generated through

MNREGA led to around 0.3 – 0.5 percent increase

in farm wages.

Thus, the impact of MGNREGS on farm wages is

nowhere near the impact that a rise in real

economic activity, which is measured through an

increase in construction GDP or overall GDP, has

had on farm wages.

The impact of growth variables [GDP (overall) or

GDP (agri) or GDP(construction)] is almost 4‐6

times higher than the MGNREGS impact.

Policy implications

The paper conclusively shows that growth is the

main driver of farm wages, not MGNREGS.

These results raise a pertinent policy issue: given

fiscal constraints and high food inflation, if there

was a trade‐off between allocating resources for

welfare schemes and increasing investments with a

view to raise farm wages, could the money spent

on MGNREGS (more than Rs 2 lakh crore) not be

better used if it was for investment in say rural-

urban construction, or for overall growth, or for

agri growth?.

These investments would have raised the growth

rates in these sectors, and thereby ‘pulled’ the real

farm wages through a natural process of

development, whereby wages increase broadly in

line with rising labour productivity, making the

whole process much more economically efficient

and sustainable.


KITE4education.com SPORTS & AWARDS - News 22

*SAMARJIT SINGH clinched the bronze medal in

javelin throw of men’s section at the Asian Athletics

Championship being held at Pune.

*The Basketball Federation of India (BFI) has

appointment Spain’s Francisco Garcia as head

coach of the Indian senior women’s basketball

team.

*UN Public Service Awards Announced: Three

Indian projects received U.N. Public Service Awards

this year.

The United Nations Public Service Award is the

most prestigious international recognition of

excellence in public service.

It rewards the creative achievements and

contributions of public service institutions that lead

to a more effective and responsive public

administration in countries worldwide.

Through an annual competition, the UN Public

Service Awards promotes the role, professionalism

and visibility of public service.

In 2003, the United Nations General Assembly, in

its resolution designated June 23 as the United

Nations Public Service Day to “celebrate the value

and virtue of public service to the community”.

The UN Economic and Social Council established

that the United Nations Public Service Awards be

bestowed on Public Service Day for contributions

made to the cause of enhancing the role, prestige

and visibility of public service.

INDIAN INITIATIVES WHO WON THIS

AWARD THIS YEAR

Mass Contact Programme of Kerala: Under the

programme, the Chief Minister visits each town and

organises massive events where people can address

their queries personally. The main aim is to

combating red tape and bureaucracy in

administration.

Swavalamban of District Administration of

Dhanbad in Jharkhand: This programme

improved disbursement of pensions in the district.

This project has created an automating payment and

creation of direct cash transfers into pensioners’

bank accounts.

Graamin Haat programme of Department of

Cottage and Rural Industries in Madhya

Pradesh: This programme created Women Self

Help Groups (WSHGs) that operates its own haats

(weekly markets). The initiative provided women an

opportunity to acquire management skills, operate a

business on their own and improve overall living

conditions in their communities.

There are 5 following categories in which awards are

given:

Preventing and Combating Corruption in the

Public Service

Improving the Delivery of Public Services

Fostering participation in public policy decision

making through innovative mechanisms

Promoting Whole-of-Government Approaches in

the Information age

Promoting Gender-Responsive Delivery of Public

Services

*Wimbledon 2013 Winners: Andy Murray

(British) and Marion Bartoli of France won the

2013 Wimbledon singles titles. The 2013 Wimbledon

Championships was a tennis tournament played on

outdoor grass courts. It was the 127th edition of the

Wimbledon Championships and the third Grand Slam

event of the year.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams were the

defending champions in singles events, but neither

was able to repeat their success. This marked the

first time since 1927 in which both defending

champions were eliminated before the quarter-

finals.

The Wimbledon 2013 mixed doubles

championship has been won by Daniel Nestor and

Kristina Mladenovic.

The No.1 seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina

Siniakova of the Czech Republic continued their

dominance in the Girls’ Singles Championship.

Australians Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis

have captured the boys’ doubles title at

Wimbledon with a dominant victory over Enzo

Couacaud and Stefano Napolitano.

2013 FRENCH OPEN WINNERS

Men’s Singles: Rafael Nadal beat —— David Ferrer

Women’s Singles: Serena Williams beat ——-

Maria Sharapova

Men’s Doubles: Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan beat——

Michael Llodra & Nicolas Mahut

Women’s Doubles: Ekaterina Makarova & Elena

Vesnina beat ——- Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci

Mixed Doubles: Lucie Hradecka & Frantisek

Cermak beat—- Kristina Mladenovic & Daniel

Nestor

SPORTS & AWARDS - News


KITE4education.com SOCIAL ISSUES & DEVELOPMENT - News 24

*National Skill Development Agency Constituted: The Union Government has constituted the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) by subsuming the: Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill

Development (PMNCSD), the National Skill Development Coordination Board

(NSDCB) and The Office of the Adviser to the PM on Skill

Development. The NSDA will coordinate and harmonize the skill

development efforts of the Government of India and the private sector to achieve the skilling targets of the 12

th Plan and beyond.

It will endeavour to bridge the social, regional, gender and economic divide by ensuring that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and marginalized groups like SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, women and differently-abled persons are taken care of through the various skill development programmes.

While the Central Ministries and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) will continue to implement schemes in their remit, the NSDA will develop and monitor an overarching framework for skill development, anchor the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) and facilitate the setting-up of professional certifying bodies in addition to the existing ones.

NSDA will be an autonomous body chaired by a person of the rank and status of a Cabinet Minister supported by a Director General and other support staff.

*National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a sub-mission under the National Health Mission (NHM): The Union Cabinet gave its approval to launch a National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) as a new sub-mission under the over-arching National Health Mission (NHM). Under the Scheme the following proposals have been approved :- One Urban Primary Health Centre (U-PHC) for

every fifty to sixty thousand population. One Urban Community Health Centre (U-CHC) for

five to six U-PHCs in big cities. One Auxiliary Nursing Midwives (ANM) for 10,000

population. One Accredited Social Health Activist ASHA

(community link worker) for 200 to 500 households. The estimated cost of NUHM for 5 years period is Rs.22,507 crore with the Central Government share of Rs.16,955 crore. Centre-State funding pattern will be 75:25 except for North Eastern states and other special category states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for whom the funding pattern will be 90:10. The scheme will focus on primary health care needs of the urban poor. This Mission will be implemented in 779 cities and towns with more than 50,000 population and cover about 7.75 crore people.

The interventions under the sub-mission will result in Reduction in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) Reduction in Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) Universal access to reproductive health care Convergence of all health related interventions.

The existing institutional mechanism and management systems created and functioning under NRHM will be strengthened to meet the needs of NUHM. Citywise implementation plans will be prepared based on baseline survey and felt need. Urban local bodies will be fully involved in implementation of the scheme. NUHM aims to improve the health status of the urban population in general, particularly the poor and other disadvantaged sections by facilitating equitable access to quality health care, through a revamped primary public health care system, targeted outreach services and involvement of the community and urban local bodies. *World Bank approves USD 106 mn credit for improving nutrition: The World Bank approved a USD 106 million (about Rs 583 crore) credit to the government of India to improve the nutritional outcomes for children less than six years of age. This represents the first part of a two-phase loan

for ICDS Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP).

ISSNIP has 4 major components Institutional and systems strengthening in ICDS Community mobilization and behavior change

communication Piloting multi-sectoral nutrition actions Project Management, Technical Assistance and

Monitoring & Evaluation. India has one of the highest malnutrition rates in

the world. One-third of the children are born with low birth-weight, 43 per cent of children under five are underweight, 48 per cent are stunted, 20 per cent are wasted, 70 per cent are anemic, and 57 per cent are vitamin A deficient.

The project will be financed by a credit from the International Development Association (IDA)- the World Bank’s concessionary lending arm – which provides interest-free loans with 25 years to maturity and a grace period of five years.

*World Bank Loan For AIDS Control Project in India: India and World Bank sign an agreement for loan of US$ 255 million for the National AIDS Control Project (NACP-IV). The Objective of the project is to increase safe

behaviors among high risk groups in order to contribute to India’s national goal of reversal of the HIV epidemic by 2017.

The Project has three components that include implementation at the national, State and district levels:

(i) Scaling-up Targeted Prevention Interventions; (ii) Behavior Change Communications; and (iii) Institutional Strengthening.

SOCIAL ISSUES & DEVELOPMENT

- News


KITE4education.com POLITICAL ISSUES, HUMAN RIGHTS & GOVERNANCE - News 25

*Govt sets up panel of six to measure states'

backwardness: The Union Government on 15 May

2013 had set up an expert Committee under the

supervision Raghuram G Rajan, Chief Economic

Adviser to evolve a composite index to measure

backwardness of states.

The panel is set up in consistent to the Budget

announcement, and it can also invite other experts as

Special Invitees for discussions.

The decision was taken amid demands for special

category status by Bihar. The backwardness of the

States will be consider in terms of measures like

distance of the State from the national average

under criteria such as per capita income and

other human development indicators and for

evolving a Composite Development Index of

States.

The Committee is supposed to submit its report

within 60 days. The other members of the committee

are Shaibal Gupta, Bharat Ramaswami, Najeeb Jung,

Nirija G Jayal and Tuhin Pandey.

It is important here to note that the present criteria

for determining backwardness are based on

terrain, density of population and length of

international borders.

*Restructuring of centrally sponsored schemes

approved: The Union Cabinet today decided to

restructure the existing Centrally Sponsored Scheme

(CSS)/ Additional Central Assistance (ACA) schemes

in the Twelfth Five Year Plan into 66 schemes,

including Flagship programmes. This includes 17

Flagship programmes with significant outlays for major

interventions required in health, education, irrigation,

urban development, infrastructure, including rural

infrastructure, skill development, etc.

To suit the requirements of the States, the Cabinet

has also approved that a scheme may have state

specific guidelines which may be recommended by

an Inter-Ministerial Committee constituted for this

purpose.

Besides, the financial assistance to the States in

these schemes would be provided through the

Consolidated Funds of the states.

Further, to bring in desired flexibility, the Cabinet

has approved that 10% of the outlay of the Schemes

be kept as flexi-funds.

For each new CSS/ACA/Flagship scheme, at least

25 per cent of funds may be contributed by the

General Category States and 10 percent of funds by

the Special Category States including J&K,

Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

In the BE of 2013-14, budgetary provision has been

made for 137 CSS and 5 Scheme based ACA

excluding block grants.

These arrangements will come into force for the

remaining years of the Twelfth Five Year Plan and

will help in optimum utilisation of resources for

desired results.

Earlier, the National Development Council (NDC),

while approving the 12th plan in its meeting in

December 2012 had also recommended building

flexibility in the schemes to suit the requirements of

the State Governments.

*Sensitising citizens about electoral rights: EC, NLMA sign MoU: The Election Commission and the

National Literacy Mission Authority of the HRD

Ministry today signed an MoU to help sensitise citizens

about their electoral rights.

The MoU on 'Electoral Literacy and Greater

Participation for a Stronger and Inclusive

Democracy', the first by EC with a government

department will help sensitise citizens, especially the

vulnerable and disadvantaged including women,

SCs, STs, Minorities, in NLMA-covered districts,

about their electoral rights and exercise of franchise.

Electoral literacy will form part of curriculum for

adult literacy and basic education. The NLMA will

spread electoral literacy during its environment

building and mass mobilization campaigns, with

specific focus on electoral registration and informed

and ethical voting in coordination with the Election

Commission.

*Tripartite Talks Between Govt of India, Assam

Govt & ULFA Held: Among other issues, ULFA

leaders requested that additional measures are needed to

be taken for effective guarding of Indo-Bangladesh

Border to check illegal infiltration from across the

border. The three issues are:

protection of political and cultural identity of the

indigenous people of Assam,

land rights and

illegal immigration.

United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is a

separatist group from Assam, among many other

such groups in North-East India.

It seeks to establish a sovereign Assam via an

armed struggle in the Assam conflict.

The government of India banned the organisation

in 1990 citing it as a terrorist organisation.

There has recently been a large ULFA crackdown

in Bangladesh, which has significantly assisted

the government of India in bringing ULFA

leaders to talks.

In January 2010, ULFA softened its stand and

dropped the demand for independence as a

condition for talks with the Government of India.

On 3 September 2011, a tripartite agreement for

Suspension of Operations (SoO) against ULFA

was signed between Indian Government, Assam

government and ULFA.

POLITICAL ISSUES, HUMAN

RIGHTS & GOVERNANCE - News


KITE4education.com ARTICLES – MONTHLY FOCUS 26

Digital Currency Bitcoin

In the second week of April 2013, the virtual digital currency – Bitcoin – crashed to the lowest

ever from $266 to $54 for a single Bitcoin, according to the Mt. Gox platform, which manages 80 per

cent of the Bitcoin transactions and had to briefly shut down trading. This 21st century internet era

currency was gaining popularity among the internet user community, but the recent crash has raised

many issues regarding its viability and trustworthiness under current global economic circumstances.

BITCOIN Bitcoin is an experimental, decentralized digital currency that enables instant payments

to anyone, anywhere in the world. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central

authority - managing transactions and issuing money are carried out collectively by the network.

The original Bitcoin software by Satoshi Nakamoto was released under the MIT license.

Bitcoin is one of the first implementations of a concept called crypto-currency which was first

described in 1998 by Wei Dai on the cypherpunks mailing list.

Building upon the notion that money is any object, or any sort of record, accepted as payment

for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context, Bitcoin

is designed around the idea of using cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money, rather

than relying on central authorities. It gained popularity after 2009, in the wake of the global financial

crisis.

Bitcoin uses public-key cryptography, peer-to-peer networking, and proof-of-work to process

and verify payments. Bitcoins are sent (or signed over) from one address to another with each user

potentially having many, many addresses. Each payment transaction is broadcast to the network and

included in the blockchain so that the included bitcoins cannot be spent twice.

After an hour or two, each transaction is locked in time by the massive amount of processing

power that continues to extend the blockchain. Using these techniques, Bitcoin provides a fast and

extremely reliable payment network that anyone can use.

Advantages of BitCoins

Bitcoins are sent easily through the Internet, without needing to trust any third party.

Transactions are irreversible by design.

Funds received are available for spending within minutes. It can’t be stolen.

Cost very little, especially compared to other payment networks.

The supply of bitcoins is regulated by software and the agreement of users of the system and

cannot be manipulated by any government, bank, organization or individual.

The limited inflation of the Bitcoin system’s money supply is distributed evenly (by CPU power)

to miners who help secure the network.

Disadvantages of BitCoins Bitcoins Are Not Widely Accepted: Bitcoins are still only accepted by a very small group of

online merchants. This makes it unfeasible to completely rely on Bitcoins as a currency. There is

also a possibility that governments might force merchants to not use Bitcoins to ensure that users’

transactions can be tracked. Apart from this, high degree of anonymity is concerning as this

currency might be used for illegal transactions.

Bitcoin Valuation Fluctuates: The value of Bitcoins is constantly fluctuating according to demand.

As reflected in recent crash of its exchange value.

No Buyer Protection: When goods are bought using Bitcoins and the seller doesn’t send the

promised goods, no action can be taken to reverse the transaction. This problem can be solved

using a third party escrow service like ClearCoin, but then, escrow services would assume the role

of banks, which would cause Bitcoins to be similar to a more traditional currency.

Risk of Unknown Technical Flaws: The Bitcoin system could contain unexploited flaws. As this

is a fairly new system, if Bitcoins were adopted widely, and a flaw was found, it could give

tremendous wealth to the exploiter at the expense of destroying the Bitcoin economy.

Built in Deflation: Since the total number of bitcoins is capped at 21 million, it will cause

deflation. Each bitcoin will be worth more and more as the total number of Bitcoins maxes out.

This system is designed to reward early adopters which lean towards so-called Ponzi scheme.



Since each bitcoin will be valued higher with each passing day, the question of when to spend

becomes important. This might cause spending surges which will cause the Bitcoin economy to

fluctuate very rapidly, and unpredictably.

No Valuation Guarantee: Since there is no central authority governing Bitcoins, no one can

guarantee its minimum valuation. If a large group of merchants decide to dump bitcoins and leave

the system, its valuation will decrease greatly which will immensely hurt users who have a large

amount of wealth invested in Bitcoins. The decentralized nature of bitcoin is both a curse and

blessing.

Apart from the above mentioned limitations of the Bitcoins, international community, especially,

Central Banks of various nations (European Central Bank report, October, 2012) are concerned

regarding misuse of this digital currency for illegal operations.

The mass production of illegal drugs is widely recognized as devastating plague to all peoples

of all cultures. A study administered by the United Nations found that in 2005, the global drug market

generated approximately $321.6 billion US dollars, representing almost 1% of worldwide commerce.

Now, as it is evident that BitCoins easily lend itself to money laundering and the anonymous nature of

transactions. Unsurprisingly, one the most significant bottlenecks in the drug trade are the laundering

of money from first-world markets to their final destination, generally in clandestine territories far

from the reach of the law. A simple internet connection and some capital investment could completely

eliminate the most significant obstacles to the flow of currency.

It is apparent that there are many issues regarding the illegal drug trade and the viability of

BitCoins. However, as we all know, it is only one of the many dastardly industries that would broadly

benefit from BitCoins. For example, those who run prostitution rings or are human traffickers would

greatly benefit as it would eliminate all tangible evidence, as history has witnessed that many

criminals were only convicted of money-based crimes such as tax evasion. Therefore this, pivotal tool

of law enforcement cannot be compromised. Not to mention, money laundering is the important tool

used for terrorist group fundings and BitCoins may become a handy tool in the hands of enemies of

humanity. Due to these concerns already Europen Central Bank has derecognised the BitCoin

Currency transactions.

Silicine - possible Graphene replacement?

Silicene is a two-dimensional allotrope of silicon, similar to graphene.

Silicon and carbon both have four valence electrons which means that the two elements should be

able to demonstrate a degree of similarity including the possibility of silicon-based life forms and carbon-based

conductors and semiconductors.

Graphene has attracted much attention recently because it offers higher electron mobility than materials

used to date in silicon-based transistors. However, before it has reached commercial deployment if could be

rivaled its silicon equivalent, especially because of the inherent compatibility silicene has with silicon-based

electronics and how easily it could be used in wafer fabs.

Silicene is thought to differ from graphene by having a rippled surface but the electronic properties of

silicene nanoribbons and sheets are said to resemble those of grapheme. 2D silicene is not fully planar, apparently featuring chair-like puckering distortions in the rings. This

leads to ordered surface ripples. Hydrogenation of silicenes to silicanes is exothermic. This led to the prediction

that the process of conversion of silicene to silicane (hydrogenated silicene) is a candidate for hydrogen

storage. Unlike graphite, which consists of weakly held stacks of graphene layers through dispersion forces,

interlayer coupling in silicenes is very strong.

In addition to its potential compatibility with existing semiconductor techniques, silicene has the

advantage that its edges do not exhibit oxygen reactivity.

If fully tamed, this material might match graphene's useful electrical properties. It could also be much

easier to integrate with normal silicon-based circuits, meaning the development of super-miniaturised electronic

devices could be accelerated.

Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) – Q & A

1. Inflation Indexed Bonds (IIBs) were issued in the name of Capital Indexed Bonds (CIBs)

during 1997. How is the new product of IIBs different from earlier CIBs?



The CIBs issued in 1997 provided inflation protection only to principal and not to interest payment.

New product of IIBs will provide inflation protection to both principal and interest payments.

2. How will inflation protection be provided to both principal and interest rate? Whether

inflation component will be paid along with interest?

Inflation component on principal will not be paid with interest but the same would be adjusted in

the principal by multiplying principal with index ratio (IR). At the time of redemption, adjusted

principal or the face, whichever is higher, would be paid.

Interest rate will be provided protection against inflation by paying fixed coupon rate on the

principal adjusted against inflation.

An example of cash flows on IIBs is furnished below.

Example 1 (For illustration purpose)

Year Period Real

Coupon

Inflation

Index

Index Ratio Inflation

adjusted

principal

Coupon

Payments

Principal

Repayment

I II III IV Vti=(IVti/IVt0) VI=(FV*V) VII=(VI*III) VIII

0 28-May-13 1.50% 100 1.00 100.0

1 28-May-14 1.50% 106 1.06 106.0 1.59

2 28-May-15 1.50% 111.8 1.12 111.8 1.68

3 28-May-16 1.50% 117.4 1.17 117.4 1.76

4 28-May-17 1.50% 123.3 1.23 123.3 1.85

5 28-May-18 1.50% 128.2 1.28 128.2 1.92

6 28-May-19 1.50% 135 1.35 135.0 2.03

7 28-May-20 1.50% 138.5 1.39 138.5 2.08

8 28-May-21 1.50% 142.8 1.43 142.8 2.14

9 28-May-22 1.50% 150.3 1.50 150.3 2.25

10 28-May-23 1.50% 160.2 1.60 160.2 2.40 160.2

Example 2 (For illustration purpose)

0 28-May-13 1.50% 100.0 1.00 100 1.50

1 28-May-14 1.50% 106.0 1.06 106 1.59

2 28-May-15 1.50% 111.0 1.11 111 1.67

3 28-May-16 1.50% 104.0 1.04 104 1.56

4 28-May-17 1.50% 98.0 0.98 98 1.47

5 28-May-18 1.50% 99.0 0.99 99 1.49

6 28-May-19 1.50% 105.5 1.06 105.5 1.58

7 28-May-20 1.50% 110.2 1.10 110.2 1.65

8 28-May-21 1.50% 106.5 1.07 106.5 1.60

9 28-May-22 1.50% 104.2 1.04 104.2 1.56

10 28-May-23 1.50% 99.2 0.99 99.2 1.49 100

3. Whether capital protection will be provided?

Yes, capital protection will be provided by paying higher of the adjusted principal and face value

(FV) at redemption.

If adjusted principal goes below FV due to deflation, the FV would be paid at redemption and

thus, capital will get protected. 4. Why will WPI be used for inflation protection? Why CPI has not considered for the same?

The consumer price index (CPI) reflects the inflation people at large face and therefore, globally

CPI or Retail Price Index (RPI) is used for inflation target by the Central Banks as well as for

providing inflation protection in IIBs.



In India, all India CPI is being released since January 2011 and it will take some time in

stabilizing. Monetary policy has also been continuing to target WPI for its price stability

objective. In view of above, it has been decided to consider WPI for inflation protection in IIBs. 5. What is the formula for calculating index ratio?

Index ratio (IR) will be calculated by dividing the reference WPI on the settlement date with the

reference WPI on the issue date.

The formula for the same is as under:

6. Why will final WPI be used with a lag of four months?

Final monthly WPI will be used as reference WPI for 1st day of the calendar month. The

reference WPI for intermittent days, i.e. dates between 1st days of the two consecutive months

will be computed through interpolation.

For interpolation, two months final WPI should be available throughout the month. As final WPI

is available with a lag of about two and half months (e.g. final WPI February 2013 will be

released in mid-May 2013), two months final WPI could be available only with a lag of four

months.

In view of above, the four months lag has been chosen for final WPI to be considered as reference

WPI for 1st day of the calendar month. For example, December 2012 final WPI will be taken as

reference WPI for 1st of May 2013 and January 2013 final WPI will be taken as reference WPI

for 1st of June 2013. 7. What is the formula for interpolation of daily reference WPI?

For calculating the index ratio for a specific date, daily reference WPI values would be linearly

interpolated using ‘Ref WPI’ for the first day of the calendar month and the first day of the

following calendar month.

The formula for computing the reference WPI for a particular day is as under:

[Ref WPIM = Ref WPI for the first day of the calendar month in which Date falls, Ref WPIM+1 = Ref WPI

for the first day of the calendar month following the settlement date, D = Number of days in month (e.g. 31

days in August), and t= settlement date (e.g. August 6)]

An example of daily reference WPI computed through interpolation is furnished below.

Date Ref WPI

(Given)

T-1 D Ref WPI

(Interpolation)

1-May-13 168.8

2-May-13 1 31 168.85

3-May-13 2 31 168.90

4-May-13 3 31 168.95

5-May-13 4 31 168.99

6-May-13 5 31 169.04

7-May-13 6 31 169.09

8-May-13 7 31 169.14

9-May-13 8 31 169.19

10-May-13 9 31 169.24

11-May-13 10 31 169.28

12-May-13 11 31 169.33

13-May-13 12 31 169.38

14-May-13 13 31 169.43



15-May-13 14 31 169.48

16-May-13 15 31 169.53

17-May-13 16 31 169.57

18-May-13 17 31 169.62

19-May-13 18 31 169.67

20-May-13 19 31 169.72

21-May-13 20 31 169.77

22-May-13 21 31 169.82

23-May-13 22 31 169.86

24-May-13 23 31 169.91

25-May-13 24 31 169.96

26-May-13 25 31 170.01

27-May-13 26 31 170.06

28-May-13 27 31 170.11

29-May-13 28 31 170.15

30-May-13 29 31 170.20

31-May-13 30 31 170.25

1-June-13 170.3

Integrity pact for Indo-Bangladesh relations

DISPUTE over the use of water resources has been one of the key determinants in the bilateral relations

between Bangladesh and India for long. Despite initiatives, establishing sovereign rights over trans-boundary

international rivers has remained a cause of concern for Bangladesh. In their major engagements, India used

non-elastic diplomacy while taking advantage of the elastic attitude of the Bangladeshi counterparts. It is time

for Bangladesh to revisit the balance sheet of this mutual relationship and ask what was wrong with the big

neighbour, India.

Bangladesh’s major problems in bilateral relations with India stem from a number of irritants ranging

from water disputes, un-demarcated lands, exchange of enclaves, frequent border killings, trade complications,

using Bangladesh as a market for Indian narcotics, push-in of the Indian minorities into Bangladesh territory,

non-compliance by India with major treaty provisions, and finally lack of commitment from the Indian side to

address these issues through goodwill and friendship.

One priority issue for India is to integrate northeast India with its mainland through Bangladesh

territory, for which it has been persistently seeking some form of transit/corridor facilities for a long time. The

traffic between India proper and the northeast is mainly carried by rail and road links through the Shiliguri

Corridor, which requires staggering transportation costs for carrying goods. To transport goods to and from the

northeast through this ‘chicken neck’ corridor, the Indian government provides 25% transport subsidy. It was

estimated in the 1990s that Rs.7 billion is spent as additional costs to transport goods and services to and from

northeast India. It is expected that the cost has increased subsequently in tandem with economic growth both in

the northeast and the rest of India.

India is now desperately seeking transit facilities for its landlocked states in the northeastern region. It

is asking for a free gift or token cost from Bangladesh. During her visit to New Delhi in January 2010,

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina signed a framework agreement allowing river port ‘transit facility’ to

the seven sisters region from Ashuganj to Akhaura. Once implemented fully, it would allow India to transport

annually an estimated 10 million tons of inward and outward traffic to the northeast, surpassing the previous

level of river transit of about 50,000 tons a year.

Prior to the full implementation of the transit deal, Bangladesh should claim from India about two-third

of the total additional costs that India has to spend now. Also, in order to avail the complete inland river facility,

India will have to ensure the flow of water in the major river basins of Bangladesh, including Meghna and

Tessta.

Besides, many observers fear that if these transit/corridor facilities are used for military purposes at

times, an anti-Indian insurgency might start inside Bangladesh territory. Bangladesh has to be very cautious in



dealing with such issues and lessons should be learnt from anti-Taliban drive in Pakistan. The Pakistani

example should be sufficient to help persuade Bangladesh not to invite similar risks for its own territory and

people.

Amongst the major problems, the water sharing dispute remains dominant. Farakka Barrage and the

desertification of northern Bangladesh have been the most contentious issues for the last 38 years. Bangladesh

has 54 common rivers with India, out of which Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna are major trans-boundary

rivers. In the absence of joint basin management, and non-compliance with the Indo-Bangladesh water sharing

agreement of 1996, about 20,000 kilometres of Bangladeshi rivers have dried up.

Gazoldoba barrage project in Teesta River is another serious concern for Bangladesh. India keeps

the barrage closed during the winter season, which affects the river flow downstream and disrupts the

navigability of the Teesta River and ecology of the northern districts. India has also constructed several dams on

Teesta to produce hydropower. The Tipaimukh dam project on the Barak River in Manipur state in India is a

new addition that will affect Bangladesh. It will have drastic and adverse impacts on the hydrology,

morphology, and ecology of the downstream Bangladesh.

The Joint River Commission (JRC) has been working to assess the gravity of the overall economic

and ecological impacts of the dams. On its side, the Bangladesh government has engaged two consultants who

might be able to submit their full reports by mid-2014. This assessment is necessary, but the measure allows

India to buy time. Given the situation, the present government will not be able to sign any agreement during the

next few months. Playing the Mamata card, however, Teesta water sharing deal was unilaterally abandoned by

India in September 2011, and again by postponing the ministerial meeting scheduled for June 2013.

Furthermore, there are disputes between the two nations that impede a settlement on maritime boundary

demarcation. The establishment of Bangladesh’s right over New Moore (South Talpatti) island remains a far

cry. India claims that the main channel of the Haribhanga river flows to the east of the new island, whereas

Bangladesh maintains that it flows to the west, which would clearly make the island an integral part of

Bangladesh territory. The Bangladeshi position is also supported by the British survey report from the colonial

era.

As a result of the controversial claims made by India, Bangladesh is also facing difficulties in the

exploration of untapped resources from its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelves, which are

essential for the exploitation of marine resources in the country. Whereas Bangladesh’s claim over the seabed

areas with Myanmar was resolved by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on March 12,

2012, issues with India are still waiting for international arbitration. Maintaining its hegemony, India has been

asking for seaport facilities from Chittagong and Mongla without recognising the maritime boundary.

In view of this reality, Bangladesh should send a clear message to India about shelving all the treaty

provisions on transit and river port facilities, unless India comes forward with total cooperation and integrity. A

more plausible way would be signing an ‘Integrity Pact’ taking China and Nepal as joint partners to find

durable solutions of the outstanding disputes between Bangladesh and India.

NEW GAS PRICING GUIDELINES

The Government recently approved new Gas Pricing Policy Guidelines which generated a large

scale interest among various stake holders.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs recently (28.6.2013) decided to review the

domestic natural gas price policy on the basis of recommendations made by Dr. Rangarajan

Committee constituted by the Prime Minister in May, 2012.

Accordingly a new domestic natural gas pricing guidelines, 2013 has been approved which will

be applicable to all natural gas produced domestically and to all consuming sectors informally.

These guidelines shall apply from 1st April, 2014 and shall be applicable for five years after which

market discovery price could be adopted as per the road map being prepared by Dr. Kelkar

Committee. As per the Rangarajan formula, the price will be fixed on the basis of average of net back price of

Indian gas imports and also the weighted average of the price at international hubs.

The underlying principle is that the Indian producer should get a similar price what the gas

producers elsewhere are getting.

On the basis of the said formula, the price for natural gas in India for the quarter April – June 2013

comes to 6.83 $ per MMBTU.

During the course of circulation of the Cabinet Note, the Planning Commission suggested a price of



11.18 $ per MMBTU, Ministry of Finance 6.99 to 8.93 $ per MMBTU, Department of Fertilizer

6.68 $ per MMBTU, whereas Ministry of Power opined that we should stick to the present cost plus

regime which comes to around 4.14 $ per MMBTU.

BACKGROUND

The domestic oil and gas sector is mainly administered under New Exploration Lincensing

Policy (NELP) introduced in 1997 by the United Front Government and the first round of bidding

was announced by NDA Government in 1999. So far, nine rounds have already taken place.

However, the performance of the NELP Blocks has been far from satisfactory due to a variety of

reasons which is evident from the fact that out of 110 discoveries announced under NELP, only six

are presently under production. As per the production sales contract signed by the Government with the selected contractor,

the sale of gas is to take place at competitive arms length price discovered by the contractor and

approved by the Government. Accordingly, the present price of 4.2 $ per MMBTU was fixed in

2009 which is applicable till March, 2014.

However, the price of 4.2 $ per MMBTU is not found to be viable for sustenance of the domestic

production of gas and all the operators are demanding increase in price.

The Gujarat State Petrochemical Corporation (GSPC) owned by Government of Gujarat has been

demanding a price of 13 – 14 US$ per MMBTU for their blocks in KG D-6 basin.

Similarly, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has also been asking a price in the same

range. Even the Public Sector Undertakings such as ONGC and Oil India Limited have been

repeatedly representing for increase in gas price as the production will not be viable at any price

less than 7 US$. The domestic gas production in the country has been falling drastically short of the demand and

the present deficit of 142.78 SCMMD is expected to increase to around 234.26 SCMMD in 2016-

17.

Therefore, there will be huge dependence on the import of gas at much higher price of around 14

$ per MMBTU and above, which will simply become unaffordable for consuming sector.

Moreover, the Economy cannot afford to continue with such a huge Import Bill which is around

160 billion US$ for the import of petroleum products.

As per a reliable estimate, the subsidy burden to meet core sector demand through imported LNG

can go up to as high as Rs 1,20,000 Crore, if the demand is not substantially met by domestic gas.

One of the main reasons for weak domestic gas production sector is viability of the production

vis-à-vis price of the gas at which the producers are supposed to sell.

The present price of 4.2 $ per MMBTU has not been found to be feasible and the Ministry is not

approving the development plan for the lack of commercial viability. Around 3 TCF of gas reserve

is waiting to be exploited.

The investment in exploration and development plan consistently going down from 6 billion US$ in

2007-08 to around 1.8 billion US$ in 2011-12. At the same time, Indian Companies have already

invested 27 billion US$ in the E&P Sector abroad and the remaining 10 billion US$ is in pipeline.

It is important to note that every 1 $ per MMBTU increase in the gas pricewould result in an

additional burden of approximately 1 billion US$.

However, half of it i.e. around 500 million US$ will come back to the Government in the form of

royalty, profit, petroleum taxes and dividend.

This additional income can take care of the additional subsidy burden of fertilizer and LPG, if

the Government decides to absorb the burden.

As regards to the Power Sector, around 16000 MW Capacity is stranded for want of gas supply.

Apart from the high import price of the gas, the import infrastructure is also insufficient to meet

the requirement and therefore, if domestic gas supply is not restored to the Power Sector, the huge

investment made on the gas based Power Plant will go waste.

As regard to alleged windfall gain to the private operators, more than 65% of the domestic

gas production is by the public sector companies and the remaining 35% by the private or joint

venture companies between public sector and the private sector.



As regard to RIL, presently it is producing only 10% of the gas production in the country. With

the new price, it is expected that their production from KG D-6 will increase with the additional

investment.

However, the gas flow is not likely to start before 2017-18 and therefore, allegation of any

windfall gain is misconceived.

In view of the above, it can be concluded that revision of the gas price is the most economically

prudent decision taken by the Government which is likely to trigger additional investment,

additional production, reduction of import dependence and therefore, better fiscal balance.

Increased availability of domestic gas is also likely to result in affordable production by the

consuming sector such as Power and Fertilizer.

In any case, as indicated by the Finance Minister, the Government has revised the output price

of the domestically produced gas and its impact on the increased input cost for certain sectors

would be looked into by the Government separately.

Apart from the gas pricing, Government in recent few months, has also taken anumber of

measures such as approval of exploration in the mining lease area, clearance of all pending

administrative issues and the management committee resolutions (around 200 such issues were

pending and even approved management committee resolutions were not signed since last 1 to 5

years), clearance of 30 Blocks from Ministry of Defence, aggressive. acquisition of oil and gas

assets abroad, formulation of Shell Gas and CBM Policies etc.

These steps alongwith the right gas price would certainly result in increase in investment in the oil

and gas E&P Sector and substantial boost to the domestic production.

Rupee Touches 60 Barrier Against Dollar

The Indian Rupee has depreciated significantly against the US Dollar marking a new risk for

Indian economy. The rupee touched an all-time low of 60.76 a dollar recently, breaching its previous

historic low of 59.98. It closed at 60.72 in the foreign exchange market.

Meaning Rupee depreciation means that rupee has become less valuable with respect to dollar. On the

other hand if the rupee moves downwards from 55 per dollar to 50 per dollar then it is said to

appreciate. For example, 1 USD = Rs 60 now. One year ago it was Rs 50. If the demand for the dollar

is higher than its supply, the Rupee depreciates. If it is the other way round, it appreciates.

Main Reasons The main reason is global economic scenario. The economic situation, world over is very volatile.

People are worried about the safety of their investments. Because of risk aversion on the part of

people, US Dollar regained its place as a Safe Haven. People still believe that the US Dollar is

much safer than any other currency in the world and hence are accumulating the US Dollar.

The reason behind the rupee’s recent weakness is the heavy selling of debt by foreign investors.

FIIs have sold debt worth Rs 15,402 crore in the Indian market since May 22.

Another reason of drop in rupee is RBI’s hand-off on currency policy and the central bank does not

want to shed forex reserves defending rupee.

Implications

Exporters benefit from a rupee depreciation while importers benefit from rupee appreciation.

Weak rupee would pose threat of high inflationary pressure and would impact PSU oil marketing

companies and subsidy sharing companies.

Due to descending flow of rupee, Oil minister was forced to increase petrol prices.

Apart from oil, prices of other imported commodities like metals, gold etc will also rise pushing

overall inflation higher.

With the depreciation of the Rupee, the cost of living goes up substantially.

The depreciating rupee has serious effects on the external debt figures of the nation.

Indian Rupee is currently caught in this vicious cycle; it will have to find a stable level to regain

investors’ confidence.



MONTHLY QUESTIONS

1. What is a ‘Three-Parent Baby?

It is a baby born with the genetic contribution (DNA) from three people. It is done through IVF technique

which involves taking the nucleus of one egg (first female) and inserting it into the cytoplasm of another egg

(second female) which has had its nucleus removed, but still contains mitochondrial DNA, and then fertilizing

the hybrid egg with a sperm (third person). The purpose of the procedure is to remove a nucleus from a cell

with defective mitochondria and place it in a donor cell with healthy mitochondria, which after fertilisation will

contain a nucleus with genetic material from only the two parents.

2. What are White Label ATMs?

ATMs set up and run by non-banking entities are called White Label ATMs (WLAs). Earlier, only banks

were allowed to establish and operate ATMs. RBI had allowed the company under the guidelines it released in

June 2012 which set certain minimum net worth and obligation for permitting independent non-banking firms

to operate such ATMs, as per three different schemes.

The Muthoot Finance has been given approval as per Scheme A under which Muthoot Finance will set up

WLAs, a minimum of 1,000 WLAs have to be installed in the first year; a minimum of twice the number of

WLAs installed in the first year have to be installed in the second year; and a minimum of three times the

number of WLAs installed in the second year have to be installed in the third year.

3. How Does a Gas Lighter Work?

Gas lighters work by a physical phenomenon known as the PIEZOELECTRIC EFFECT. There is a

special class of materials called piezoelectric crystals, which exhibit the effect. This effect was discovered in

1880-81by Pierre Curie who studied tourmaline, cane sugar and quartz.

If a stress is applied along one axis of the crystal, a voltage develops across a transverse direction. Even the

reverse effect occurs, i.e., if a voltage is applied across the crystal along one direction, the crystal deforms along

the transverse direction.

Now, a large number of piezo materials have been discovered and perform better than the ones studied first.

Z-cut quartz crystals are well known and most frequently used piezo components.

Because of their high mechanical and chemical stability quartz crystals are used in high precision oscillators

in electronic circuits including quartz watches. In gas lighters piezoelectric ceramics (like lead zirconate titanate

known as PZT) are normally used because of their low cost and high sensitivity.

Apart from their use in gas lighters and oscillators the piezoelectric materials find extensive use in many

other technological applications requiring extremely high precision movements.

In the gas lighter, a spring-loaded hammer gets suddenly released and hits a piezoelectric crystal when the

lever or button is presses beyond a limit. This sudden hammering causes a large stress and a high voltage, of the

order of 800 volts, gets generated.

The device is wired in such a way as to apply the voltage across a small air gap between two metallic points

placed at the tip of the lighter. This voltage is sufficient to produce the necessary discharge or spark. This spark

lights the combustible gas available in the neighbourhood.

4. Explain the Working Principle of Fluorescent Tube Lights.

Fluorescent and compact fluorescent lamps work based on the LOW PRESSURE GAS DISCHARGE

PRINCIPLE. The

glass tube on low

pressure gas discharge

lamps is filled with a

noble gas at low

pressure and a small

quantity of mercury.

The glass wall is coated

with a fluorescent.

Inside the housing, an electrical field develops between two electrodes and gas discharge occurs. The discharge

process causes the mercury vapor to emit UV rays. Visible light is emitted as soon as the UV radiation

makes contact with the fluorescent. The light color generated can be varied using an appropriate fluorescent

mixture. Thus it is possible to create fluorescent lamps for all kinds of applications.



When a lamp of this design is produced with no phosphor coating, it produces a very small amount of violet

light and is considered to be an ultraviolet lamp used for germicidal and sterilization purposes. It is harmful for

humans to be exposed to this type of lamp. Another variation of this process is the tanning lamp, which is

coated by phosphors that allow a high percentage of the UV produced to radiate through.

5. Compare the efficiency of LEDs, CFLs and incandescent bulbs.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) - Compact fluorescent light bulbs, also called CFLs, are the most

popular energy-efficient bulbs. They have a life span of eight to 10 years. One of the main downsides to CFLs

is that they contain mercury and therefore make safe disposal difficult.

Light-emitting diode (LED) - LED bulbs consume the least power and have the longest life span, lasting

up to 40 or 50 years. This kind of bulb is both energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, as it does not

contain mercury or lead like CFLs do. LEDs also function much better than CFLs when it comes to using

dimmer switches. The LED color spectrum is still in development. As of right now, LED bulbs only come in

two varieties: cool white light and warm white light. Cool white light is used for task lighting and warm white

light is best for accent lighting. The major downside with LEDs is the price.

LEDs use less power (watts) per unit of light generated (lumens). LEDs help reduce greenhouse gas

emissions from power plants and lower electric bills.

Both LEDs and CFLs are better than traditional incandescent light bulbs when it comes to energy

efficiency, but their practicality in consumer households is variable.

6. How does an induction stove work?.

In the case of an induction stove, magnetic energy inside the coils of the stovetop generate electromagnetic

fields that initiate a warming reaction with the substance of the steel-based cooking vessel. This, in turn, causes

the cooking vessel to heat. The coil

does not heat up during this process.

However, because all of the energy is

transmitted to the base of the cooking

vessel only, the cooking vessel

actually cooks the food, not the stove.

Additionally, because there has to be

stimulation between the metal of the

vessel and the coil, once the vessel is

removed, the process is broken.

In contrast to the induction

cooking process, other types of

stovetops create a heat source –either

the coils of an electric stove or the

flames of a gas stove- which warm up

and cook the food through the cooking

vessel. Induction cooking is very

popular with professional chefs who

find that working on gas or electric stovetops is just not conducive to certain cooking methods. With an

induction cooktop, they have much more control.

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