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RUdRASAGARdeveLOPMenT SCheMe

Planning commission od India on

19 January 2012 approved investment

clearance or the scheme Rudrasagar

Drainage Development Scheme,

ripura. Te scheme is an estimated to

cost o Rs. 14.8978 Crore (Rs Fourteen

crore, Eighty Nine Lakhs and Seventy

Eight Tousand Only). Te project is

to be completed by the nancial year2012-13 and Plan account would be

closed by 31st March 2013.

Te implementation o the scheme

will restrict water spread area o the lake

during monsoon and maintain water

level o 13 m during winter and maintain

water level o 11 m or boosting the

ecology o the area. An area o 2200 ha

with a population o 1000 will benet

rom the scheme.

AMILy PLAnnInGACCePTORS InCReASed In

IndIA

As per the latest ocial data,

the total number o amily planningacceptors in India increased by 3.5per cent between 2010 and 2011. Tedata revealed that condom is the mostpreerred method o amily planningwhile sterilisations the least adopted

means. Te comparative gures between

April and September 2010 and 2011 put

the number o couples adopting some

method or amily planning, including

spacing methods was ound to be close

to 24 million, with at least 15 million

preerring condoms to any other means

Condom use was ollowed by oral pil

user though the number in this case

came down to just over 5 million in 2011

IUD (intrauterine device) insertions by

women was also another signicant

birth control measure adopted.

STATe-wISe STUdy

Bihar showed a jump o 92 per centbetween 2010 and 2011 in sterilisations

61 per cent in IUD users, 49 per cent in

condom users and 71 per cent in ora

pill users. Jharkhand on the other hand

showed an overall decline in all methods

used or amily planning.Karnataka

too showed all-round decline as also

amilNadu, except sterilisations, which

showed a 6 per cent increase. Densely

populated Uttar Pradesh indicated a 3.7

per cent increase in sterilisation gures

12.7 per cent jump in IUD insertions

17 and 18 per cent hike in condom use

and oral pill use respectively. In terms

o sterilisations per 10000 unsterilised

couples exposed to higher order o birth

(3 and above), amil Nadu showed the

best perormance at 1834 sterilisations

T O S UES


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ollowed by Karnataka (1197), Kerala

(1101), Maharashtra (857), Gujarat

(510), Punjab (501), Haryana (4170) and

Madhya Pradesh (342). Te achievement

in all States is lower than the all India

average o 315 sterilisations per 10000unsterilised couples.

dOPPLeR RAdAR SySTeMIn new deLhI

Indian Meteorological Department

on its 137th oundation day (15 January

2012), installed C-Band Polarimetric

Doppler Radar system at Mausam

Bhawan, New Delhi. Tis system uses

advanced data to give inormation in

severe weather condition like rain,hailstorms and dust storms. With the

installation o this radar, IMD will be

able to cover the entire NCR more

accurately to give to the residence o

Delhi more accurate inormation about

rainall, about wind, about heat, about

dust storms about hail storms. Tis

will impact the trac movement in the

city, it would avoid trac jams, people

will know exactly what is going to be

happening into the course o between 15minutes to 2 hrs. Te data transmitted

through this advanced radar system is

more accurate than the conventional

radar, and avoids the need to monitor

radar parameters, and its ne tuning.

It also detects dicult aviation hazards

such as bird focks, aircrat and icing

conditions. Tis acility will be installed

in other 8 cities in due course o time.

AnTI-dOwRy LAw ShOULd

Be LeSS STRInGenTTe Law Commission o India on

18 January 2012 recommended the

dilution o Anti-Dowry law to make it

less stringent. Te Commission, headed

by Justice P V Reddi, recommended the

Government to make Section 498-A

o the Indian Penal Code, which deals

with harassment or dowry and cruelty

to a woman in her matrimonial home, a

compoundable oence. Compoundable

oences are those which can be

compromised by the parties to thedispute. Te permission o the court is

not necessary. Tis means that those

who would be booked in cases under

this section would nd it easier to get

bail. Te recommendation would allow

the woman, involved in the case, to

withdraw it with the permission o

the court, provided she is not under

any pressure. Te Nineteenth and

the current Law Commission was

established on 1 September 2009under the Chairmanship o Justice

P.Venkatarama Reddy. Its tenure was

xed till 31 August 2012.

GRIevAnCe RedReSSALMeChAnISM In

hIGheR edUCATIOnALInSTITUTIOnS

Union Ministry or Human

Resource Development on 18 January

2012 announced that there would bea Grievance Redressal mechanisms in

higher educational institutions. UGC,

AICE and NCE would be requiring

all Central Educational Institutions,

institutions deemed to be universities,

technical and management institutions

under AICE and teacher education

institutions under NCE to establish

a Grievance Redressal Mechanism or

Students and applicants or admission

beore the commencement o the

admission this academic year. Every

institution would be required to

constitute an Ombudsman; person

with judicial or legal experience to be

appointed rom a panel suggested by

the aliating university or technical

and management institutions, by the

Central Government or deemed

universities and by the regulator or

non-degree granting institutions. Te

concerned regulators would issue the

detailed instructions to the educationa

institutions shortly.

42% O ChILdRen InIndIA UPTO 5 yRS. ARe

UndeRweIGhT

Te Hunger and Malnutrition

Survey monitored over 100000 children

in 112 districts across nine states in the

country rom October 2010 to February

2011. Te Hunger and Malnutrition

Survey report was released by Prime

Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 10January 2012. Te survey stated that

orty-two percent o children in India

younger than 5 are underweight and

nearly 60 percent are stunted. India

with a population o 1.2 billion people

has the largest number o children in

the world. It was ound that though

India's economy boomed, with growth

over the last ew years averaging about

8 percent, the country's development

indicators continue to be abysmal.The IndInGS O RePORT

Te report ound that o the stunted

children, about hal were severely

stunted and about hal o all children

were underweight or stunted by the

time they are two years. However, the

number o underweight children was to

have decreased rom 53 to 42 per cent

in the past seven years. Te last study on

the subject was done in 2004. Te survey

however noted that positive change or

child nutrition in India was happening

including in the 100 Focussed Districts

Te 100 Focus Districts are located

across Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya

Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar

Pradesh states which perorm the


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worst on child nutrition. Te prevalence

o malnutrition is signicantly higher

among children rom low-income

amilies. It ound that children rom

Muslim or SC/S households generally

had worse nutrition indicators.

According to the report, birth

weight is an important risk-actor or

child malnutrition. Te prevalence o

underweight in children born with a

weight below 2.5 kg is 50 per cent, while

that among children born with a weight

above 2.5 kg is 34 per cent. Awareness

among mothers about nutrition was

ound to below. 92 per cent mothers had

never heard the word malnutrition.

Also, the report stated thata negligent appraoch was shown

towards girl children even in their early

childhood. Te nutrition advantage

girls have over boys in the rst months

o lie gets reversed over time as they

grow older. According to the survey,

the mothers' education level also

determines children's nutrition.

nORMS ARe TO BeTIGhTened

Te Union government o India on

14 January 2012 directed all the states

to tighten norms in granting licenses

to open new medical institutes, and

ensure re saety provisions mandatory,

or launching any such new ventures.

Te Home Ministry order came weeks

ater a devastating re at the Kolkata

hospital, which claimed more than 90

lives.Te states were directed to ensure

that hospital building bylaws provideor mandatory re saety provisions and

without such provisions, no Licence

should be given to anyone or setting up

any hospitals. Te state governments

were asked to ensure that all hospitals

and nursing homes equip their

institutions with the required reighting

gadgets, to avoid any untoward incident.

Te Home Ministry also directed that

mock drills should be conducted in

some o these hospitals and nursing

homes, to see how doctors and nursing

sta respond in case o an emergency,and their patient evacuation plans.

SURyA nAMASKAR' SPARKSROw

Te yogic exercise o Surya

Namaskar in government schools

in Madhya Pradesh has become

controversial with the city Qazi issuing

a atwa against the practice and the

State government gearing to ensure

maximum participation o studentsin order to set a world record.While

Chie Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan

has made it clear that the exercise

was not mandatory or all students,

minority groups and the Congress-

led Opposition have accused the

government o attempting to saronise

school education and divide students

along communal lines. Te School

Education Department has put in place

arrangements to ensure maximumparticipation in the exercise in the

coming days to get into the Guinness

Book o World Records. However, the

city Qazi has issued a decree against the

practice by terming it synonymous with

idol worship.

nATIOnAL POLICy OnndPS APPROved

Te Union Cabinet o India on 12

January 2012 approved the Narcotics

Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

(NDPS) policy, with the objective

o checking illicit production o

psychotropic substances, curb drug

abuse and stop tracking o such items.

Te new policy will help in controlling

the prolieration o black money. Te

Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime

Minister Manmohan Singh. Te NDPS

policy will lead to reduction in crime

and improvement in public health. I

aims at social re-integration o victims

o drug abuse.

Te salient eatures o the policy

are as ollows:

(i) Te policy recommends

production o Concentrate o

Poppy Straw (CPS) in India by acompany or body corporate. Tiswould enable India to retain itsstatus o a traditional supplier oOpiate Raw Material (ORM) tothe rest o world, while remainingcompetitive.

(ii) Te consumption o poppy strawby addicts will be graduallyreduced and nally stopped in atime rame decided by the States

(iii) On the illicit cultivation opoppy and cannabis, the policyemphasizes use o satelliteimageries or detection oillicit crop and its subsequenteradication and development oalternate means o livelihood inrespect o cultivators in pockets

o traditional illicit cultivation.(iv) Te private sector may be

allowed production o alkaloidsrom opium. At present alkaloidsrom opium are produced only inGovernment Opium and AlkaloidFactories (GOAFs).

(v) Non-intrusive methods o

regulating the manuacture, trade

and use o such psychotropic

substances will be introduced,


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(vi) Emphasis will be laid on adequate

access to morphine and other

opioids necessary or palliative

care, a strategy to address street

peddlers o drugs, periodic

surveys o drug abuse to gauge theextent, pattern and nature o drug

abuse in the country, recognition

o de-addiction centers,

(vii) Tere will be a time bound plan

o action, detailing the steps to be

taken by dierent Ministries/

Te NDPS Policy will serve as a guide

to various Ministries and organizations

and re-assert India`s commitment to

combat the drug menace in a holistic

manner.

Ol 1 % o t eucatioBugt is spt o Improigt Qualit o eucatio

PAISA, a non-government group

conducted a survey o elementary

education unds o seven States or

2009-2010. In its report, it pointed out

that. Te ocus o the study was to track

the fow o unds rom their point o

origin to their nal point o expenditure:

the district or the school. Tis required

analysis at the levels o the Centre

and the State, district and school.

Te survey was jointly conducted by

Accountability Initiative and Centre or

Policy Research. Te study covered the

districts o Medak (Andhra Pradesh),

Nalanda and Purnea (Bihar), Kangra

(Himachal Pradesh), Sagar (Madhya

Pradesh), Satara (Maharashtra), Jaipur

and Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Jalpaiguri(West Bengal).

The RePORT

Te survey showed that the

largest investment, 78 per cent o the

education budget in India is invested in

teachers and management costs while

the next largest spending, 14 per cent

o the und is invested inn creating

school inrastructure. Only 1 per cent

is spent on improving the quality o

education. Substantial nances were

provided to expand the elementaryschooling system. Between 2007-08

and 2009-10, the elementary education

budget increased rom Rs. 68,10 crore

to Rs. 97255 crore. in 2008-09, the

government invested Rs. 6314 per child.

However, the per child investment in

each o these States or 2009-10 ranged

rom Rs. 3982 in West Bengal to Rs.

19111 in Himachal Pradesh indicating

inter-State disparity in investments.

Te survey revealed serious delays andgaps in und fows across all levels o

government. Te delays had a knock-on

eect on expenditures, resulting in the

prioritisation o recurring expenditures

like salaries, at the expense o other key

learning-related activities like training

and quality. Tese problems are

aggrevated by the act that little time

and act was spent in developing the

capacities o school and local ocials

to exercise discretion whereevernecessary.

It advocates or greater transparency

and ecient und fow management,

which the survey discovered was critical

to ensure that the recommended move

away rom the current system o tied

time-lined budgets to a system that

ocuses on children and school, works.

new MISSIOn COnTROLCenTRe AT ShAR

President Pratibha Patil visited the

Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC

SHAR) at Sriharikota on 2 January 2012

and inaugurated the new Mission Control

Centre. Following the inauguration, she

witnessed a simulation o the launch

o the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

(PSLV) at the Mission Control Centre

Te new centre has been developed

with state-o-the-art acilities to

meet the requirements or the launch

o the Geo-Synchronous Satellite

Launch Vehicle Mark-III and uture

missions o the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO). Te Mission

Control Centre, situated six km away

rom the launch complex, will monitor

and conduct launch operations during

the precountdown and countdown

phases until the injection o the satelliteinto orbit. Te launch preparations on

the vehicle will be monitored using a

multichannel closed circuit television

system. Te President on this occasion

also presented ISRO awards or the

year 2008 and 2009. Te lietime

achievement award or contribution

to the Indian space programme was

conerred on ormer ISRO chairman K

Kasturirangan.

nMdC SIGnS PACT wIThSePC

Te National Mineral Development

Corporation (NMDC) signed a contract

with a consortium led by Shriram

EPC Limited (SEPC) on uesday or

By-Product Plant (BPP) package or


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the upcoming three million tonnes

per annum integrated steel plant at

Nagarnar in Chattisgarh. According to

a release, the total cost o the package is

Rs.509 crore. Te contract was signed

by ED (NISP) G. Viswakarma on behalo NMDC and V-P o A.B.Paul or

SEPC.

SeTTInG UP O nCTCAPPROved

Te Cabinet Committee on Security

on 12 January 2012 approved the setting

up o a National Counter errorismCentre (NCC) to counter terrorism

eectively. Te NCC was proposed by

the Ministry o Home Aairs. It will be

a single window organisation that will

gather and disseminate intelligence to

central and state security organisations.

A notication or the appointment

o Directors and other members o

core team o the NCC will be issued

soon. Te NCC was created in the

wake o 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

It will work under the Union Home

Ministry. A senior IPS ocer o the

rank o Additional Director General

o Police and above will head the elite

counter-terror body. Te NCC will

also coordinate with relevant probe

and intelligence agencies to ensure

that the perpetrators o terror are

brought to justice besides maintaining

a comprehensive data base o terrorists,

their associates and supporters.

nCPCR ASKed ORShIKShA SAMvAd

National Commission or Protection

o Child Right (NCPCR) on 9 January

2012 directed the state governments

to propose a system called Shiksha

Samvad or holding regular dialogues

between government ocials and civil

society on the implementation o the

Right to Education Act. In a letter, the

commission, which is monitoring the

Act, asked the state governments to

institutionalize the system or regularreviews o the act. Tis will enable the

local administration to keep a close

watch on how the implementation o the

Act is proceeding at the ground level. It

will also allow the people to seek speedy

redressal by raising the issues directly

with the government ocials.

5-Mw SOLAR eneRGyPLAnT AT PhLOdI

InAUGRATed

Rajasthan Chie Minister Ashok

Gehlot on 11 January 2012 inaugurated

a 5-MW solar energy plant by

SunEdison. SunEdiso is the leading solar

energy services provider, at Phalodi in

Jodhpur district. Te plant was set up

under the Jawaharlal Nehru National

Solar Mission (JNNSM). Te 5-MW

solar energy plant is situated over a

sprawling 44 acres in the Tar desert

It will use thin-lm PV technology to

generate 8000000 KWh o electricity in

its rst year o operation. It is expectedto oset carbon emissions up to 3000

metric tonnes every year. Connected

to the national grid on 31 December

2011, the plant is expected to supply

electricity to NPC Vidyut Vyapar

Nigam (NVVN), the nodal agency or

augmenting purchase and sale o power

generated rom solar energy under

the JNNSM mission. SunEdison also

has put in place a 33 KV transmission

line rom the project site to the stationsituated at Bap.

GOveRnMenT LOweRSMeP O OnIOn

Bowing to the demand o traders

and armers, the Commerce Ministry

on Wednesday notied that it was

lowering the minimum export price

o onions by $100 a tonne to $150

per tonne to boost exports that have

witnessed a decline in the recent times

According to a notication issued here

by the Directorate General o Foreign

rade (DGF), Te minimum export

price (MEP) o all varieties o onions

except Bangalore Rose onions and

Krishnapuram onions, will be $150 per

tonne.'' Te export price o Bangalore

Rose and Krishnapuram onions have


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also been reduced marginally to $250

a tonne rom the previous rate o

$300/tonne, the notication added.

Onion growers and traders have been

demanding a slash in the export prices

to keep the commodity competitive inthe international market. Onion exports

rom India declined by nearly 23 per

cent in the rst nine months o the

current nancial year as compared to

the previous year's, mainly due to high

rate o shipment at $250 per tonne.

China and Egypt are dominating

the international market by selling bulb

at less than $200 a tonne. Ater liting

the ban on onion exports in October last

year, the government had kept its MEPinitially at a high $450 a tonne. It was

rst reduced to $350 a tonne and then

to $250 a tonne in November, 2011, to

make it competitive in the international

market. But, lowering o onion export

prices to $250 a tonne ailed to perk up

its outbound shipment as the kitchen

staple rom China and Egypt are selling

at less than $200 a tonne.

CJI nOT COMPLeTeLy

exeMPT ROM dISCLOSURe

Te Central Inormation

Commission (CIS) held in the rst week

o January 2012 that all inormation inpossession o the oce o the ChieJustice o India is not completely exemptrom disclosure under the Right toInormation (RI) act. Te CIC observedthis while directing the Supreme Courtto disclose communication exchangebetween Chie Justice o India and

the Law Ministry on the question oproposed changes in appointment

procedure or Judges. Chie Inormation

Commissioner Satyananda Mishra ruled

that, the procedure o appointment o

judges or any proposal or modiying

that procedure should necessarily

be available in the public domain so

that citizens know what is transpiring

among the major stake holders. Te

order came on an appeal by RI activist

Subhash Agrawal on this issue.

nATIOnAL MISSIOn OnMOnSOOn PRedICTIOn

Te Union Cabinet is likely to give

its nal approval or a national mission

to try and improve the accuracy o

monsoon orecasts by this month-

end. Tis was stated by Secretary

in the Ministry o Earth Sciences

Shailesh Nayak here on Wednesday.

He was speaking to reporters on the

sidelines o the ongoing 99th session

o the Indian Science Congress. Mr.

Nayak said the Expenditure Finance

Committee recently gave its approval

or the proposal and it was now under

the consideration o the relevant

Ministries and departments. Te

mission, estimated to cost Rs. 350 crore,

is designed to improve the current

generation o dynamic numerical models

or prediction through better insight

o the highly complex phenomenon o

monsoon.

At present, India Meteorological

Department makes its orecasts based

on the system o a statistical model,

which makes the prediction on the basis

o several predictors. Te statistical

system has several undamental and

inherent shortcomings. Te dynamic

numerical models, on the other hand

are expected to come out with better

orecasts. India does not have a dynamic

numerical model o it own. Te goa

now is to develop a model that would

be India-specic within ve years.

deTenTIOn UndeR nSAwIThOUT vALId ReASOnS

IS InvALId

Te Supreme Court o India in the

rst week o January 2012 ruled that a

person cannot be detained under the

preventive detention law like Nationa

Security Act (NSA) without justiable

reasons. I it happens, it would impinge

upon the individuals Constitutionaright o personal liberty. Te apex court

observed that the State authorities have

been granted the power to curb such

rights under criminal laws as also under

the laws o preventive detention. Tese

laws are required to be exercised with

due caution as well as upon a proper

appreciation o the acts as to whether

such acts are in any way prejudicial to

the interest and the security o the State

and its citizens, or seek to disturb publiclaw and order, warranting the issuance

o such an order.

IMPORTAnT InORMATIOn

Article 21 in the Constitution

o India states that no person shal

be deprived o his lie or persona

liberty except according to procedure

established by law. Article 22 in the

Constitution o India has provision or

protection against arrest and detention

in certain cases. Tis article consists

o two parts. Clauses(1) and (2) apply

to persons arrested or detained under

a law otherwise than a preventive

detention law while clauses (4) to (7)

apply to persons arrested or detained

under a preventive detention law.


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IndIA IS Ree ROM BIRdLU, h5n1

India became ree rom bird

fu, H5N1. Te government made a

declaration to this eect on 4 January

2012. Te states were advised to

have strict surveillance, especially in

the vulnerable areas bordering the

inected countries and in areas visited

by migratory birds. Infuenza A virussubtype H5N1 is also known as birdfu , A(H5N1) or simply H5N1, is a

subtype o the infuenza A virus .It can

cause illness in humans and many other

animal species.

RenCh AdvAnCedMISSILe SySTeMS OR

IndIA

India on 4 January 2012 approved

6600 crore rupees acquisition o 490

French advanced missile systems to

arm the Mirage-2000 ghter jets. Te

Cabinet Committee on Security cleared

the contract or the re and orget

MICA with French armament company

MBDA. MICA are interception andaerial combat missiles. Te MICA

systems will be tted on IAFs 51

Mirage-2000s. Fren ch company

Dassault Aviation will help in the

upgradation o IAFs 51 Mirage-2000s.

Te Mirage upgrade project will cost

around 20000 crore rupees. Te project

will be completed in 10 years. In act,

India plans to induct stealth FGFA (Fith

Generation Fighter Aircrat) rom 2020

onwards with cooperation rom Russia.

Tis deence project is considered to be

the biggest-ever deence project and itwill cost approximately 35 billion US

dollars.

heALThy OOd AvAILABLeIn SChOOL CAnTeenS

Te Delhi High Court on 11

January 2012 directed Food Saety and

Standards Authority o India (FSSAI),

under the Ministry o Health and Family

Welare, to hold deliberations with the

experts and rame necessary guidelinesto make healthy ood available in school

canteens. Te court sought a complaince

report rom FSAAI, along with the

guidelines to be submitted on 25 July

2012. During the hearing on 11 January,

the ministry, through its adavit,

submitted that FSSAI has set up eight

scientic panels and a committee to

prescribe standards o various items o

ood, including those containing trans-

at acid residues, poisonous metals and

microbiological parameters.

Te Food Saety Act does not

empower the authorities to ban any

particular category o ood, and its

implementation rests with the state

governments. Te decision to ban

the sale o junk ood in educational

institutions is thereore to be an

administrative decision, to be taken

by the authorities in charge o running

such institutions. According to experts

most junk ood have high quantity o

trans-at acids and are low in mineralsvitamins and other essential ood

nutrients. Tey are also cited as a

reason behind obesity among children

Te Delhi High Courts direction was

issued in the backdrop o a PIL led by

social group Uday Foundation, seeking

a complete ban on sale o junk ood

and aerated drinks in schools and other

educational institutions.

POLITICISATIOn OIndIAn JOBLeSS yOUTh IS

MATTeR O STUdy

Oxord University has announced a

major new study on how unemploymen

in India is politicising young people

who oten turn to violent struggle

or a more equal society. Te ocus

would be on North India where, it said

unemployment was more acute and

causing social tensions.Young people

have invested time and money in theireducation and yet nd there are very

ew salaried jobs or them. Tis has

let them eeling short-changed and

rustrated. Educational levels have risen

rapidly but there is a big gap between

their aspirations and the reality o the

current jobs market, said Dr. Craig

Jerey who has worked extensively in

India and will lead the study. Scholars

know surprisingly little about the

extent to which unemployment was

pushing educated young people towards

political actions. Tis had resulted in

media stereotypes o youth. Te study

would strive to move beyond these

stereotypes.

Tese questions have been largely

the subject o journalistic conjecture


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We want to nd out rom our survey

whether they eel globalisation is

changing their lives or the better; nd

out whether their political views change

when they leave school; and ask them

why their protest groups are not longerlasting. We will move beyond media

stereotypes o youth or example,

as heroes' or villains' and publicise

the varied and changing roles played by

educated unemployed young people, he

said. Te study is part o a bigger project

in collaboration with the University o

Edinburgh and the Economic and Social

Research Council on the impact o

unemployment on youth in South Asia.

Besides India, it would study trends inNepal and Sri Lanka.

North India, Nepal and Sri Lanka

were chosen because they each have

major problems in providing work

that suits the skills and qualications

o their unemployed. Tey also have

a youth-bulge' in their population o

mainly young men. While the jobs

market in the public sector has shrunk

in these countries, the private sector

has not lled the gap in providingsecure, salaried job opportunities.

Tere are political dierences too

between the three countries: India is

a democracy where people are ree to

protest; Sri Lanka has a history o more

authoritarian orms o government;

while Nepal only broke rom monarchic

rule recently, in 2006, Dr. Jerey said.

ex-IM BAnK O IndIAAMendMenT BILL, 2011

PASSedRajya Sabha approved the Export-

Import Bank o India Amendment Bill,

2011, on 27 December 2011. It aims at

promoting international trade by raising

the capital unds o overseas trading

rom two thousand crore rupees to ten

thousand crore rupees. Te Bill was

passed by the Lok Sabha earlier.

ReGULATIOn OACTOR (ASSIGnMenTS

ReCeIvABLe) BILLAPPROved

Rajya Sabha approved the

Regulation o Factor (Assignments

Receivable Bill, 2011) on 27 December

2011 to help micro, small and medium

enterprises.Te bill aims at regulating

assignment o receivables by making

provision or registration o the rights

and obligations o parties to contract. It

applies to all types o industry whether

it is small, medium or big. It will helpmitigate the payment problem o the

MSME units. Factors will be regulated

by the Reserve Bank o India. Te Lok

Sabha had already passed the bill.

TeLeCOM AUThORITyReMOveS CAP On SMS

Te elecom Regulatory Authority

o India (RAI) on Wednesday

removed the 200 SMS per SIM cap

on text messages that are generatedby automated machines or sent to it,

a move that would provide relie to

various service providers. Te RAI

has received representations rom the

stakeholders that in view o the limit o

200 SMS per day per SIM, they are not

able to send machine-to-machine and

person-to-machine SMS which are sent

by them to initiate process or application

or their operational requirements

Te RAI has duly considered such

representations and has excluded al

machine-to-machine and person-to-machine messages rom the limit o

200 SMS per day per SIM, the telecom

sector regulator said in a statement

Such services include providing details

o driver or taxi on booking o radio

taxi, tentative date o delivery o goods

tentative date o attending complaint

contact details o person attending the

complaint etc, it added.

10Th PRAvSI BhARTIyAdIvAS heLd In JAIPUR

Te 10th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas

(PBD) was held on 7-9 January, 2012 at

Birla Auditorium, Jaipur. Highlights o

the 10th PBD are as ollowing:

e Prime Minister of Trinidad

and obago, Kamla Persad

Bissessar was the Chie Guest o

the event.

e PrimeMinister,Manmohan

Singh inaugurated the event. Over 1900delegates from abou

60 countries were participated

this years PBD.

e Global Indian: Inclusive

Growth was the theme o the

event and the ocus was on Indias

Social Development and the

Overseas Indian community.

PrimeMinisterannouncedanew

Pension and Lie Insurance Fund

or overseas Indian workers. Tescheme will encourage, enable

and assist overseas workers to

voluntarily save or their return

and resettlement and old age. It

will also provide a low-cost lie

insurance cover against natura

death.


9/9



19




Prime Minister also announced

that pursuant to the law that was

enacted to enable non-resident

Indians to vote in national

elections, the Government

has issued notications or

registration o overseas Indians

under the Representation o

People Act, 1950. Tis constitutes

the rst major step to enable

Indians resident abroad to

participate in election processes.

Minister of Overseas Indian

Aairs announced that next

Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas-

2012 will be held in Dubai or the

Gul region.

AProtector of Emigrants (POE)

oce was inaugurated in Jaipur

during the event to acilitate

overseas Indians and emigrating

workers o this region.

e ChiefMinisterof Rajasthan

announced a new scheme, Know

Rajasthan or NRIs. Under this

scheme 50 NRIs rom 18-28 years

o age annually would come on

tour to the state. 90% expenditureo their Air Fare will be borne

by the state Government. Te

expenditure on internal transport

and residence will also be borne

by the State Government.

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