vol 100 30th october 2015 to 6th november 2015

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National News

PM says India and Africa are similar and has bigpotential

• Calling India and Africa “the two bright spots of hope and opportunities in the globaleconomy,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the leaders of African nations hereon Thursday that India and Africa must “speak in one voice” for U.N. reforms. Hewas addressing representatives of African nations at the third India-Africa ForumSummit.

• PM Modi held bilateral meetings with all 40 leaders present in Delhi, the largestsuch representation at an African summit outside the continent, also spoke to themabout the need to coordinate their positions at the U.N. during its 70th year, whenIndia hopes the reform process will be taken forward.

• India announced credit at a concessional rate of $10 billion over five years, in additionto about $7.4 billion that India has already pledged since 2008, and the first summit.

Israel’s balloon for spying is in demand• Indian security agencies such as the National Security Guard, the Border Security

Force and the Karnataka police have shown interest in acquiring balloon-based aerialsurveillance systems from Israel’s RT, according to the Israeli company’s Bengaluru-based partner Mistral Solutions.

• The aerostat system, widely used by the Israel Defence Forces and recently purchasedby the U.S. army, includes a helium balloon that is tethered to a mobile groundplatform and provides surveillance images from its airborne perch.

• India is expected to emerge as one of the largest players in homeland security systemsby 2020, according to a report by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industryof India and KPMG.

• The report projects that India, along with Britain, Germany and France, will outgrowthe United States, which enjoys about 35 percent of global procurement in this field.The helium-inflatable device is equipped with imaging equipment having long-range day and night-time thermal capabilities.

India might get into NSG• The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) will begin consultations on India’s membership

to the elite group of nuclear export in December, says NSG Chairperson Rafael Grossi.

• However, he ruled out an “India-specific” rule, which means countries such as Israeland Pakistan, who too haven’t signed the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), couldalso apply.

Gujrat HC wants NOTA in local elections as well• The Gujarat High Court once again criticised the State Election Commission (SEC)

for its reluctance to implement the NOTA (none of the above) option in the comingmunicipal and panchayat elections in the State.

• The court said the SEC must provide the option as directed by the Supreme Court,

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rejecting the SEC’s contention that it was not possible to include the NOTA button inthe electronic voting machines in 20 days because the polls are scheduled forNovember 22 and 29.

• Earlier, the court pulled up the SEC for putting off the local bodies polls by threemonths, citing the law and order situation, and asked it to hold the elections for sixmunicipal corporations, 30 district panchayats, 230 block panchayats and 55municipalities immediately.

Indian soldiers in African peace mission• At present, almost 6,000 Indian soldiers are deployed under the U.N. peacekeeping

force across Africa and 159 have died over the years.

• A bulk of the soldiers are in Congo (about 3,000) and South Sudan (about 2,200),while the remaining are in Sudan, Ivory Coast and West Sahara

• India has one of the highest numbers of soldiers in Africa under the U.N. flag andhas also lost most soldiers in this continent on peacekeeping missions.

• Over the years, a large number of military officers from Africa have been trained inIndian military academies and the practices eventually make way into the militarytraditions back home.

Centre readies blueprint to check IS influence• The National Democratic Alliance government is ready with a blueprint to tackle

the influence of the Islamic State (IS) in India, and newly created Telangana.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will circulate among all States a modelframework for de-radicalisation and counter-radicalisation.

• Of the 19 Indians who had planned to travel to Syria to join the IS in the past oneyear, 16 were identified and stopped by the Telangana police.

• Telangana suggested a ‘surrender and rehabilitation’ policy — similar to the oneoffered to Maoists — for young men and women prevented from joining extremistgroups.

• The State also suggested that India follow the U.K. model and set up a separate unitto tackle violent extremism.

• The Research Information and Communication Unit (RICU) of the U.K., created afterthe 2005 London train bombings, draws officials from the Home, Foreign&Commonwealth Office.

• It works under the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, coordinatinggovernment-wide communication activities to counter violent extremism andpromote stronger inter-community relations at the grassroots.

• Telangana said waging an ideological battle was important and government agenciesshould have a wide presence on the Internet, both overt and covert.

Indology meet to project ‘soft power'• The Ministry of External Affairs is getting ready to promote the global discipline of

Indology as a soft diplomatic platform.

• The Ministry, under the umbrella of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, willorganise the first World Indology Conference from November 21 to 23.





• Indology, which includes the study of the Vedas, Vedanta, Upanishads and theSanskrit classics, has a global pool of scholars who can project India's corecivilisational values effectively on the global stage.

• The three-day conference would be inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjeewho is widely known for his interest in the Sanskrit classics.

Govt. forms committee to review drug pricing policy• The government has formed an inter-ministerial committee to review the Drug Price

Control Order (DPCO) 2013, following the Supreme Court verdict this year thattermed the drug pricing policy as irrational and unreasonable.

• The committee will look into the drug pricing mechanism as there have beencomplaints that the companies are making significant profits which go up to fewthousand per cent.

• One of the five issues to be considered by the government relates to NGO's plea thatMBP (Market Based Pricing) was never used for any price regulatory purposes andunder the new policy, simple average ceiling prices were, in many cases, higherthan the market leader price.

• At present, the government caps prices of essential drugs based on the simple averageof all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment with sales of more than 1 percent. In case of non-scheduled formulations companies are allowed to hike prices ofmedicines by only up to 10 per cent in a year.

Chhota Rajan came to India• Mumbai underworld don ChhotaRajan, now in police custody in Bali, Indonesia, is

likely to be deported back to India as “early as Tuesday.”

• He will be flown from Bali first to New Delhi, and then to Mumbai.The CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI), the nodal agency in India for Interpol coordination,will likely question him in a passport forgery case first, and then hand him over tothe Mumbai Police.

• The gangster is wanted in 70 criminal cases in Mumbai, including those relating tothe Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the Prevention ofTerrorism Act (POTA) and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act(MCOCA). The 55-year-old gangster has been on the run for over two decades sincethe Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued against him in 1995.

1500 firms get security clearance• As part of its “Ease of Business” program, the National Democratic Alliance

government has given security clearance to at least 1500 foreign and domestic firmssince January this year.

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is the nodal authority for grantingsecurity clearance to any foreign or domestic company before it starts business inIndia, said they were in the process of expediting the pending applications.

• The government is also revisiting its policy to grant security clearance to companiesin sensitive as well as non-sensitive sectors. The meeting was attended by secretariesof Home, Defence and Shipping.





Suggestions to improve collegium system pour in• With the Supreme Court collegium system here to stay, a Constitution Bench will on

Tuesday kick-start a brainstorming to “better” and make transparent the mechanismto appoint judges to the higher judiciary.

• Though delivering the NDA government’s first legislative victory – the NationalJudicial Appointments Commission law – a crushing blow in a majority verdict onOctober 16, a five-judge Bench led by Justice J.S. Khehar held that all is not well withthe two-decade old Collegium manner of appointing judges.

• As a result of the misgivings commonly felt among all the judges — Justices Khehar,J. Chelameswar, Madan B. Lokur, Kurian Joseph and Adarsh Kumar Goel – aboutthe opaqueness of the collegium system, the Bench had fixed November 3 to invitesuggestions from the government, petitioners in NJAC challenge and senior advocateon how to improve the mechanism.

• Legal and judicial circles are keeping their fingers crossed on whether the November3 hearing would hear objections to a five-judge Bench hearing on ways to change theconstitution or functioning of the collegium system.

• It can be argued that since it was a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court withJustice J.S. Verma at the head which established the Collegium system in 1993, anytinkering with the Collegium should also be done by a Bench of a similar or higherdenomination of judges and not a five judge Bench.

NGT says no to age-old practice• Even as the winter has set in, the pollution-ravaged Capital is now battling thick

smog due to stubble burning, forcing the National Green Tribunal to direct Delhiand its neighbouring States to stop the age-old practice.

• A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the Delhigovernment and the four northern States of Punjab, Haryana, Rajas-than and UttarPradesh to check the bi-annual menace, which the farmers engage in to save timebetween sowing of wheat and rice.

• The tribunal also announced a fine of Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 15,000 on farmers foundindulging in straw burning.

• The practice is followed by farmers not only to save time under the rice-wheat croprotation to clear the land of residue of one harvest and sow the next, it is also believedthat it makes the land more fertile and kill pests.

• The burning of agriculture waste is a serious issue contributing towards globalwarming and the environmental pollution. You all are putting the life of people andchildren at danger, and they are getting sick. You cannot allow them to suffer.

• The tribunal also directed the District Magistrates to form a committee to organiseaware-ness programmes for farmers and villagers so as to educate them about theill-effects of straw burning.

President to launch IIT -IISc initiative• President Pranab Mukherjee will, on Thursday, launch an initiative to develop a

road map for research and pave the way for solutions to major engineering andtechnology challenges, at the on-going Visitor's Conference in RashtrapatiBhavan.





• The initiative, ‘IMPRINT India', is a pan-IIT and IISc joint collaboration to develop ablueprint for research of immediate relevance to society requiring innovation, directscientific research into identified areas, ensure higher fund-ing support for researchinto these areas and measure out-comes of the research efforts with reference to theimpact on the standard of living in rural/urban areas.

• IMPRINT India will focus on 10 themes and each theme will be coordinated by oneIIT/IISc. For instance, IIT -Kharagpur will work on the themes of health care, computerscience and information and communication technology, while IIT -Kanpur will workon advance material, water re-sources and river systems.

Rape victim's child can claim inheritance right• Allahabad High Court has ruled that a child born after a rape has inheritance rights

over the property of the assaulter, the “bio-logical father,” and suggested that anappropriate law be enacted to deal with this “complex social issue.”

• We may observe here that in the matter relating to inheritance, the manner of birth ofa person is irrelevant; the rights of inheritance are governed by the Personal Law towhich the person is subject, irrespective of the manner of birth.

• The Bench noted that the right of inheritance to the property of a biological parentwas a complex Personal Law right which was guided by either legislation or custom.

NITI Aayog for improvement in Higher educationthrough cooperation

• NITI Aayog Vice-Chairperson Arvind Panagaria on Tuesday pitched for PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's idea of “cooperative, competitive federalism” to beimplemented in the field of higher education; where the best practices of one Statecan be replicated in the others, instead of borrowing ideas from other “cultures andcountries.”

• Mr. Panagaria, who wants the sector to be more inward-looking, said the NITIAayog, following the Prime Minister's cue had been advocating “learning from theStates.” “States are where most stu-dents are; that is where the action ought to beand there is scope for the largest value addition”, he said.

• He credited the proliferation of engineering and management colleges both in thepublic and private sector for the growth that India saw in the past few decades.

• The government's recent decision to open more IITs, IIMs and AIIMS-like institutionshas been criticised for compromising the quality of education being offered by thesepremier bodies.

• Mr. Panagaria said the perception of their brand dilution was erroneous.

• To support his claims he cited the restricted entry to medical colleges vis-à-visengineering and management colleges. “In 1965 there were five medical colleges inRajasthan; in 1995 there were still five medical colleges — that is how restrictive theentry has been made by the Medical Council of India.”

Impose AFSPA in Garo Hills, says High Court• At a time when there is a growing demand to revoke the draconian Armed Forces

(Special Powers) Act, 1958, from several States, the Ministry of Home Afairs (MHA)is finding itself in the soup after the Meghalaya High Court asked the Centre to





consider enforcing AFSPA in the militancy-hit Garo Hills region in the State.

• The order, issued in a bid to check the threat posed by militants, also said, “TheChief Justice and judges of the High Court are also get-ting veiled threats that theywould have to face the consequence after their retirement.”

• “We have no option but to direct the Central government to the use of AFSPA, 1958,in the Garo Hills area and deployment of armed and para-military forces to controlthe situation in the aid of civil and police authorities, till life be-comes normal andthe incidents of rampant kidnap-ping and killing stopped,” the order stated.

Collegium systems improvement suggestions fromPublic

• Braving uncharted territories to fulfil its promise of transparency in judicialappointments, the Supreme Court threw open the collegium system to public scrutinyand invited the common man from every part of the country to give his opinion onwhat kind of per-sons should be appointed as judges of the highest courts.

• Judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the High Courts were based entirelyon the Memoranda of Procedure framed after a nine-judge Bench of the SupremeCourt established the collegium system.

• The public had never been consulted in these matters.

• The public can post their suggestions on the Ministry website till 5 p.m. November13.

• Meanwhile in a report to improve the collegium prepared by senior advocate ArvindDattar and Additional Solicitor-General Pinky Anand, lot of suggestions have come.

• Improve transparency, formulate eligibility criteria, establish a Secretariat for thecollegium and frame a mechanism to deal with complaints against judicial candidates.Some of the suggestions to ensure transparency within the collegium includesubjecting the minutes of its meetings to Right to information Act.

• The report records a proposal to have candidates dis-close whether they are relatedto any sitting judge.

• While the OBC Advocates Association made an oral representation to include 50per cent quota in judicial appointments to highest courts, the report has incorporateda “special suggestion” for representations for minority, backward classes, and SCs/STs.

India wants China to share counter-terror plan• At the first counter terrorism dialogue with China under the NDA government, India

reportedly asked one of its most powerful neighbours to share its strategy for dealingwith ‘jihadi activities' in Xinjiang province.

• Uighur militants, affiliated to al-Qaeda operating in Xinjiang province, want toestablish an independent state called East Turkestan.

• The official said India also discussed the probable involvement of certain Chineseindividuals in supply-ing of arms and ammunition to the North-east-based terroristoutfits.

• The dialogue has been an annual affair since 2002 and the last meeting took place in2013 when the UPA was in power.





• According to a report by central intelligence agencies, China has become a transithub for circulation of fake Indian currency notes.

• India is said to have raised the issue with China and re-quested it to share the detailsof recovery of fake currency notes and the persons involved in its circulation in thepast couple of years.

Microsoft picks Varanasi for experimental Internet pilot• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's plans for the ambitious Digital India pro-gramme

include an experimental technology pilot in Prime Minister Narendra Modi'sconstituency of Varanasi.

• The software giant has chosen the pilgrim town in Uttar Pradesh as the venue for aproject to fund local entrepreneurs aiming to build devices that can overcome India'sbandwidth crunch, according to Mr. Nadella.

• Varanasi is among Microsoft's two pilot projects in India to provide low-cost Inter-net to villages, the first being a government school in Srikakulam district of AndhraPradesh.

• Microsoft is not the only global technology major to venture into building a low-cost Internet infrastructure. Google received permission from the Indian governmentearlier this month to provide Internet using large balloons that float 20 km above theearth's surface. Facebook announced in October that it would launch a satellite nextyear in collaboration with the French company Eutelsat to provide low-cost Internetto 14 sub-Saharan African countries.

• Earlier in the day, Maharashtra Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis announced thathis government was working with Microsoft to build “smart villages” in the State.“We plan to start work on building 50 smart villages by the end of 2016,” he said. “Arinsal will be the first smart village. It was infamously known as the State'smalnutrition capital. We are changing that.”

Surrogate mothers appeal to ICMR• Surprising policy makers and women's rights activist, surrogate mothers have

appealed to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) asking them to al-low“foreign surrogacy and respecting the right to life and dignity of surrogate mothers”.

• Contrary to the change proposed by the Assisted Reproductive Technology(Regulation) Bill, 72 surrogate mothers signed a letter that was sent to the ICMR,requesting the council to not term surrogacy a bad practice.

• The proposed change bars single persons and foreign nationals from becomingparents through Indian surrogate mothers.

• It has been proposed that the facility be offered only to infertile Indian marriedcouples. Non-resident Indians, persons of Indian origin and overseas citizens of Indiawould also be eligible, but foreigners — unless they are married to Indian citizens— will not.

Inclusive reforms will make life better, says PM• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India's performance on all economic

parameters, including inflation and foreign investments, was now better than whenhis government assumed office 17 months ago.





• The question is reforms for what…is the aim just to achieve higher GDP growthrates or to bring about transformation of society…then the question is reforms forwhom…to impress groups of experts or achieve higher ranks in inter-national leaguetables…the answer is reforms which will help all citizens especially the poor…itshould be sabkasath, sabkavikas…reform to transform.

• Mr. Modi was the first Prime Minister to attend the Delhi Economics Conclave in itssix-year history.

• He also said the government had brought back as much as Rs. 10,500 crore of theblack money stashed away abroad and that the JAM (Jandhan, Aadhar and Mudra)initiatives were all about “achieving maximum values for every rupee spent,maximum empowerment and maximum technology penetration among the masses.”

• What we have done in the last 17 months is to bring one hundred and ninety millionpeople into the banking system, Now these millions are part of our banking system,and words like ‘interest rate' have a meaning for them.

• Under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, he said, banks provided more than sixmil-lion loans to small businesses for a total value of nearly Rs. 38,000 crore or sixbillion dollars. If one conservatively estimated that each loan created two jobs, hesaid, his government had already laid the foundation for 12 million new jobs.

• “Even Rs. 2,00,000 crore invested in the corporate sector would not produce thismany jobs.”

Now , 0.5% cess on services to support Swachh Bharat• The government on Friday imposed two new levies — a 0.5 per cent Swachh Bharat

Cess on all services, now liable to service tax and a 2 per cent regional connectivitycess on international air travel and flights between metros and big cities.

• The Swachh Bharat cess will be effective from November 15, said an official re-lease.The proceeds from this cess will be exclusively used for Swachh Bharat initiatives.The decision will in-crease the service tax outgo on insurance premiums, air faresand cell phone bills.

• “This is not another tax but a step towards involving each and every citizen in makingcontribution to Swachh Bharat,” the government said.

• The scheme provides for viability gap funding (VGF) from the government foroperating small aircraft to small towns with a fare cap of Rs. 2,500 per hour of flying.

• The government estimates that with the increased allocation for Swachh BharatAbhiyan con-sequent to the collections from the cess, it will be able to preventdiseases. At present, an estimated Rs.6,700 crore or about Rs.60 per capita is spentannually on health.

Control room for daily review of air pollution• The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has announced that it will set up a

control room in the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) immediately toundertake daily review of air pollution levels and monitor the air quality in Delhi-NCR.

• The move, announced on Friday, comes in the wake of the thick smog that hasengulfed the city in the past few days. The level of PM 2.5 — minute, toxic particles– in Delhi's air has been several notches higher than the safe permissible limits.





• The Ministry has directed all State governments to submit three-month reports tothe Centre on the steps taken to reduce air pollution and improve the ambient airquality.

Rail ticket cancellation charges hiked• The Indian Railways has again revised the re-fund rules, doubling the cancellation

charges and reducing the window time for cancellation of tickets with effect fromNovember 12.

• As per the new rules, no re-fund would be granted for confirmed tickets if they arecancelled after four hours be-fore the scheduled departure of the train, as against theexisting rule (June 25) of 50 per cent refund if the tickets were cancelled before twohours after the actual departure of the train, as per the Commercial Circular 64 issuedby the Railway Board on Friday.

• The minimum cancellation charges have been fixed at Rs. 240 for AC I/ Executiveclass (Rs. 120), Rs. 200 for AC II/First class (Rs. 100), Rs. 180 for AC III/ AC chair car(Rs. 90), Rs. 120 for sleeper class (Rs. 60) and Rs. 60 for second class (Rs. 30).

• If reserved tickets are cancelled after 48 hours and up to 12 hours of the scheduleddeparture, 25 per cent of the fare is deducted while giving the refund while 50 percent of the fare is deducted if tickets are cancelled within 12 hours and up to fourhours of the scheduled departure, both subject to minimum cancellation charges.

Greenpeace's registration cancelled• The Registrar has further accused the Executive Director of the society of making

completely irrelevant and in-valid statements, aimed at procrastination.

• It further stated that the decision had come at a time when several internationalleaders, including the United Nations Secretary General, upheld the importance ofcivil society in healthy democracies.

• Greenpeace India, on its part, termed the notice as the latest assault on free speech inIndia.

Modi gives a big package to J&K• Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economic package of Rs. 80,000 crore

for Jammu and Kashmir here on Saturday, but the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) was upset by his silence on a “political package” it had been expect-ing. Evenso, the PDP, which is in an alliance with the BJP in the State, will take a “holistic viewof the situation”.

• Addressing a packed Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium, Mr. Modi said “not only Del-hi's treasures but Delhi's ‘Dil' [heart] is also always for the people of Kashmir”.

• There can't be a bigger message than Mr. Vajpayee's Jamhooriyat, Insaaniyat andKashmiriyat [democracy, humanity and the essence of be-ing a Kashmiri].

• The State's development has to stand on these three pillars... People participated inrecent polls and came out in huge numbers even for the panchayat polls.

Centre notifies OROP , veterans reject it• The Union government notified the one rank, one pension (OROP) scheme on

Saturday, but ex-service-men were quick to reject it.





• “The Government Order by the Ministry of Defence, which could not be issued[earlier] because of the model code of conduct [for Bihar elections], has been issuedto-day,” said a government statement.

• The government seems to have stuck to the conditions announced by Defence MinisterManohar Parrikar in September. The veterans had rejected them then, and lastweekend, announced plans to step up protests.

• Personnel who henceforth get discharged on their own request under Rule 13(3)1(i)(b),13(3)1(iv) or Rule 16B of the Army Rule 1954 or the equivalent Navy or Air ForceRules will not be entitled to OROP benefits, the government said. The ex-servicemen,however, want no distinction between retirees, and exclusion of such personnel willbecome a major point of friction.

• The two sides had not reached a consensus on the concept of premature retirement.Earlier, the government stated that those opting for it would not be eligible for theOROP.

• After protests by ex-service-men, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said everyone waseligible. However, the notification said those opting for it in future would be out ofthe scheme.

• The notification says “in future, the pension would be re-fixed every 5 years”. Theex-servicemen have been demanding more frequent revisions. They have arguedthat revision after every five years, which means five different pensions for the samerank, will not be in the spirit of the OROP.

• The government announced that the pension of past retirees would be revised onthe basis of the pension of retirees of calendar year 2013 and the benefit will beeffective from July 1, 2014. This is not acceptable to the veterans, sources said. Thenotification said arrears would be paid in four equal half-yearly instalments.

• However, family pensioners and gallantry award winners would be made thepayment in a single instalment, it said.

Border youth may get martial arts training• The new Border Area Development Plan drawn up by the Union government lays

emphasis on providing “martial arts” training to the young population living closeto the Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and China borders, say newUnion Home Ministry guidelines.

• The Border Security Force, posted along the Bangladesh and Pakistan borders; theSashastra Seema Bal, along the Ne-pal and Bhutan borders; and the Indo- TibetanBorder Police Force, along the China border, will be asked to encourage “martialarts” among the youth and train them in shooting, archery and boxing.

• The paramilitary forces have been asked to provide training platforms and coaches,the guidelines say. There is no compulsory military training in India, but nationssuch as China, Singapore, Israel and South Korea have conscription.

• After the India-China war in 1962, the Special Service Bureau had been providingsome sort of armed training to the border population till 2001. In Jammu and Kashmir,a similar practice exists in the form of village defence committees, which work underthe State police and are provided with li-censed weapons to fight militants.

• The Border Area Development Plan was started in 1986-87 for the balanceddevelopment of areas bordering Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Gujarat





and Rajasthan. The plan was later extended to all land borders. After it came topower, the National Democratic Alliance government modified the plan, which wasallotted Rs.990 crore this fiscal.

• The Ministry, which will be implementing the scheme, has decided to include the‘Swacch Bharat Abhiyan' in it. The government has decided to extend the plan tocover all villages within 10 km of the International Border.

• These villages in 381 blocks are located in 106 border districts in Arunachal Pradesh,Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya,Mizoram, Naga-land, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhandand West Bengal. They will be referred to as “strategic villages”.

Red signals from meat• A recent recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared

red meat a carcinogen. Processed meats are the major culprit, and are a Class-1carcinogen, which means that the evidence linking consumption to cancer is strong.

• Red meats are in a lower category, 2A, which means consumption is probably linkedto cancer, specifically colorectal cancer. The link between processed meat andcolorectal cancer is hardly new.

• A 2009 study funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health found that eating redand processed meats was linked to a higher risk of dying of heart disease and cancer.In the U.K., it is estimated that 19 per cent of all cancers are linked to tobacco usewhereas 3 per cent of all cancers are linked to red meat. The relative danger fromprocessed meat consumption (relative to tobacco) is likely to be far lower in Indiawhere tobacco use rates are higher than in the U.K. and consumption of both redmeat and processed meat is far lower.

• Although meat consumption in India is on the rise, it is nowhere close to what theWest consumes. Even compared to China, India’s intake is much lesser. Every Chinesecitizen consumes 10 kg of poultry each year. This is roughly 10 times what everyIndian does. The consumption of beef by the average Chinese citizen comparedrelative to India is even greater.

• Moreover, the proportion of processed meat in India is small compared to mostcountries. However, consumption of meat as a whole and of processed meat is onthe rise, although mostly of poultry rather than red meat.

• The biggest health threat to the average Indian is likely to come from meat productionrather than consumption of processed or red meat. Countries like Australia, NewZealand and the U.S. used to lead the world in beef exports. That’s no longer thecase. India is the world’s largest beef exporter and, as it happens, is now also theworld’s largest milk producer, although this latter improvement has not necessarilyresulted in greater milk consumption for many of our children, who remain protein-deprived.

• For a country with one of the lowest availabilities of fresh water supply per person,and where hundreds of thousands of children die of diarrheal diseases every year,the potential for disease and poor sanitation because of meat production has a fargreater health consequence than any direct consumption of meat.

• The second impact is in terms of climate change. Globally, livestock accounts for 18per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. Beef production emits five times moregreenhouse gas emissions than other livestock. Also, a global transition to a low-



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meat diet would halve the mitigation costs to achieve a 450 ppm CO2-eq. stabilisationtarget in 2050, needed to head off the worst effects of climate change.

• Third, meat impacts land availability. Beef production requires 28 times more landthan other livestock. A global food transition to less meat and a complete switch toplant-based protein food is likely to have a dramatic effect on land use. Up to 2,700million hectares of pasture and 100 million hectares of crop land could be abandoned.The extra land could be used for fruits, vegetables and other foods.

• Finally, meat production in India is increasingly using more antibiotics, placingselection pressure for drug resistant bacteria. Global consumption of antimicrobialsin food animal production was estimated at 63,151 tonnes in 2010 and is projected torise by 67 per cent in 2030. According to our estimates, roughly 58,000 newborndeaths are due to antibiotic-resistant bacteria produced each year in India. Withgreater antibiotic resistance, the impact on newborn deaths is likely to increase.

Over 100 community radios operating ‘illegally' in India• As many as 100 community radio operators in the country, out of 187 radio stations

currently on air, are in effect operating illegally while transmitting pro-grammes.

• A majority of them do not have the licence to operate, and as for the rest, they don'thave valid agreements with the Information and Broad-casting Ministry. The licencesand the agreements have expired and the fault lies with the Ministry, which is yet togive finishing touches to the Grant of Permission Agreement (GOPA), an essentialprerequisite to obtain licences.

• For a government for which communication is the key, the operators are surprisedwhy the ministry has not demonstrated any urgency to draft the agreement guidelinesfor community radio. By keeping it a work in progress, the operators lose out inseveral ways. Says ArtiJaiman, station director of Gurgaon Ki Awaaz, a communityradio station that broadcasts in Hindi, “Till we get a valid GOPA, we cannot get awireless operating licence from the Department of Telecommunications.

• This creates a whole lot of problems because, at the State lev-el, when we seekadvertisements, they ask us for the broadcasting licences first.” The GOPA is validfor five years while licences are re-is-sued annually.





International

Boost for Erdogan as AKP wins critical Turkey vote• Turkey's long dominant Justice and Development Party (AKP) scored a stunning

electoral comeback on Sunday, regaining its parliamentary majority in a poll seenas crucial for the future of the troubled country.

• The party founded by President RecepTayyip Erdogan won over 49 per cent of thevote to secure 315 seats in the 550-member parliament with nearly all votes counted,easily enough to form a government on its own.

• And underscoring one of the key challenges ahead for a new AKP administration,police fired tear gas and water cannon on protesting Kurdish militants who set fireto tyres and pallets in the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.

13 killed in al-Shabaab attack on Somali hotel• Security forces in the Somali capital fought for several hours on Sunday be-fore

clearing a hotel of Islamist al-Shabaab gunmen who had stormed the building aftertwo bombs ripped into it, police and witnesses said. At least 13 people were killed.

• Al-Shabaab, which has frequently launched attacks in Mogadishu in its bid to topplethe Western-backed government, said it was behind the assault on the Sahafi hotel,where government officials and lawmakers stay.

• The government is battling to rebuild the Horn of Africa nation after more than twodecades of conflict. Al-Shabaab ruled much of Somalia until 2011, when it was drivenout of Mogadishu by African and Somali troops. It remains a potent force.

U.S. to keep operating in South China Sea• U.S. Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday told his Chinese counterpart Chang

Wanquan that the American military would continue to operate in the South ChinaSea.

• With tensions still simmer-ing following a U.S. naval vessel’s cruise near China-claimed islets last week, the pair met for about 40 minutes on the sidelines of aregional defence meeting.

• The ship had sailed within 12 nautical miles of at least one of the land formationsChina claims in the disputed Spratly Islands.

Key Bangladesh Opposition leader jailed• A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday sent a key BNP lead-er to jail on several charges of

violence and sabotage during the main opposition party's violent campaign againstthe government earlier this year.

• Alamgir was earlier arrested in January when his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)launched a violent nationwide anti-government campaign coinciding with the firstanniversary of the 2014 general elections which it had boycotted.

• JagritiProkashony publisher Faisal ArefinDipan was killed in his office on October31, while an attack at the office of Suddhaswar publishing house left publisherAhmedur Rashid Chowdhury Tutul seriously injured along with writer





RandipamBasu and blogger Tarek Rahim the same day.

• The United Nations has called upon Bangladesh authorities to “fully investigate”the killing of a publisher.

Sakharov Prize for Saudi blogger• Saudi blogger RaifBadawi, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison

for ‘insulting’ Islam, was awarded the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharovhuman rights prize.

• He was initially charged in 2013, and last year a Saudi court sentenced him to 1,000lashes and 10 years in jail.

• His wife EnsafHaidar, who fled to Canada with his children, hailed the award as “amessage of hope and courage” which came just two days after she warned that herhusband’s flogging was expected to resume.

Pakistan loses UNHRC seat• Pakistan failed to win a re-election to the top UN human rights body, garnering just

105 votes in the 193-member General Assembly.

• A total of 18 members were elected to the UN Human Rights Council through asecret ballot. Pakistan’s current term is set to expire on December 31 and it wasseeking re-election to the 47-member Council.

• The new members, who will start their three-year terms from January 1 next year,are Belgium, Burundi, Cd’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Kenya,Panama, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Togo, Slovenia,Switzerland, UAE and Venezuela.

Crisis deepens in the Maldives• The state of Emergency declared in the Maldives on Wednesday, as of now for 30

days, by President Abdulla Yammen Abdul Gayoom is the latest in a host of crisesthat shook the Indian Ocean nation's young democracy.

• The Emergency was declared after the Maldives National De-fence Force (MNDF)and the Maldives Police discovered a large cache of arms in different locations inthe archipelago nation.

• The government recently arrested the Vice-President, Ahmed Adeeb, and conducteda series of raids to recover arms and explosives from several locations after theSeptember 28 blast on the Presidential boat.

Historic China- Taiwan meet prompts hope andsuspicion

• The Presidents of China and Taiwan will dine together in Singapore on Saturday inwhat will be the first meeting of its kind since Chairman Mao's Communist troopsforced out their nationalist enemies from the Chinese mainland in 1949.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Taiwanese counterpart Ma Yingjeou will meetto “exchange views on cross-Strait issues.”

• The announcement of the milestone meeting comes as Taiwan gears up for apresidential election on January 16.





• Ma, who has overseen an unprecedented and controversial warming of ties withBeijing since taking office in 2008, will step down next year, and his ruling Nationalistparty (KMT) is currently badly trailing its rivals in the polls.

• “I believe people across the country, like me, felt very surprised,” Tsai said. “ Ameeting of the leaders of the two sides across the strait is a great event, involving thedignity and national interests of Taiwan. But to let the people know in such a hastyand chaotic manner is damaging to Taiwan's democracy.”

S. China Sea row cancels ASEAN joint statement• Differences over the South China Sea forced countries from Southeast Asia, along

with China and the United States, to cancel a joint statement at a meeting of de-fenceministers in Malaysia.

• The meeting was split between countries that agreed with China and those thatstrongly disagreed, including Australia, Japan and the United States.

• China maintains that its territorial claims in the South China Sea must be discussedwith individual countries that also have claims. It has consistently opposed eforts tohave conflicting claims discussed in a regional setting like ASEAN.

Maldives impeaches Vice-President Adeeb• The Maldives Parliament on Thursday approved a state of Emergency imposed by

President Abdulla Yameen and used extraordinary powers to sack his estrangeddeputy despite mounting international concern.

• Lawmakers loyal to President Yameen voted to remove Ahmed Adeeb, who wasarrested last month in connection with a September blast aboard the Presidentialspeedboat that the government says was an assassination attempt.

• The impeachment was rushed through in line with the state of Emergency, whichsuspended several rights en-shrined in the Constitution, including freedom ofassembly and freedom of movement. U.S. and U.K. have expressed concern over theimposition of the Emergency.

China, Taiwan hold historic talks• Taiwan and China have identified a broad agenda of engagement, including talks to

narrow down differences over a “one-China” formulation, easing security tensionsand collaboration in Beijing-led connectivity projects, following historic talks after agap of 66 years, between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Tai-wanese counterpartMa Ying-jeou.

• As they assembled for talks in Singapore, President Xi called his meeting withPresident Ma as “historic.” “This is a very special day, and a new chapter in history,”he added. Mr. Xi pointed out that a seven-year effort by both sides had culminatedin Saturday's meeting. “This is a very special day, and a new chapter in history,” heob-served.

• Mr. Ma reciprocated, with matching enthusiasm, by point-ing out Saturday's meetingwas not for his personal benefit but for that of the next generation. History, he added,has left a series of “complex and perplexing is-sues” that needed to be resolved.“On sensitive issues, the two sides should confront reality and deal with any problemsusing wisdom, patience, sincerity and pragmatism,” he observed.





• A lengthy handshake that lasted 80 seconds, in full media glare, before they wentinto talks, underscored the special importance that the two leaders attached to theoccasion.

• Consolidating consensus Analysts point out that both leaders have a tough taskahead of bridging their gap on their perception of a “one-China” concept that thetwo neighbours had flagged in 1992 when they had agreed that that there was onlyone China, but acknowledged their differences on its interpretation. In his remarks,President Ma noted that China and Taiwan needed to make progress in consolidatingthe consensus reached in 1992.

WHO declares Sierra Leone Ebola-free• The World Health Organisation on Saturday declared that Sierra Leone's deadly

Ebola outbreak is over, prompting jubilant celebrations as thousands massed in thecapital Freetown.

• Crowds poured onto the streets, waving banners, dancing and banging drums asthe steep hills surround-ing the city reverberated with the crackle of fire-works.

• It was the first public party tolerated in the impoverished west African nation sincethe epidemic hit 18 months ago. Ebola killed almost 4,000 citizens and plunged theeconomy into severe recession.





Business and Economy

India trying to understand TPP: Nirmala Sitharaman• U.S. officials briefed Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the 12-nation Trans

Pacific Partnership (TPP), a recent free trade pact that will cover about 40 per cent ofglobal commerce and could lead to trade diversion from India.

• After the 9th round of U.S.-India Trade Policy Forum (TPF) meeting, which she co-chaired with U.S. Trade Representative Mike Froman, the Minister said the attemptwas to understand the “contours of TPP,” and deflected a question on whether Indiawould like to join it.

• The discussions focused on agriculture, trade and goods and services, investmentin manufacturing and intellectual property and both sides “welcomed the substantiveprogress in promoting bilateral trade and investment since the last TPF meeting inNovember 2014.”

• The Minister said India’s willingness to engage on the contentious issue ofintellectual property has led to higher U.S. appreciation of its position. “Indian IPRregime TRIPS compliant,” the Minister said, adding that there were issues that neededto fixed and the government was doing it with the involvement of all stakeholders.

Centre provides duty benefits to boost exports• In light of the major challenges being faced by Indian exporters in the backdrop of

the global economic slowdown, Department of Commerce today announced increasedsupport for export of various products and included some additional items underthe Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS).

• The current revision introduces 110 new tariff lines (products) and increases rates orcountry coverage or both for 2,228 existing tariff lines, it said. Under the MEIS, thegovernment provides duty benefits at 2 per cent, 3 per cent and 5 per cent dependingupon the product and country.

• Global support has been extended to products including textile items,pharmaceuticals, project goods, auto components, telecom, computer, electrical,electronics and railway transport equipments.

• Earlier, benefits to these items were provided to a few countries. The move is expectedto help in improving competitiveness of a large number of exporters and help themtide over the difficult global economic scenario.

5-member panel mooted for deciding on monetarypolicy

• After four months of debate and discussion, the Reserve Bank of India and the FinanceMinistry has overcome the stalemate over the most significant reform in the centralbank’s 80-year history.

• The Ministry’s note for the Cabinet’s approval proposes a five-member MonetaryPolicy Committee.

• The government will nominate two members and the RBI one expert, besides two ofits officials: the Deputy Governor and the executive director dealing with monetary





policy.

• Each of the five members would have one vote and the RBI Governor, chair of thecommittee, will have a casting vote in the event of a tie in situations such as theabsence of a member.

• The inflation target for the RBI in each financial year will be determined by theGovernment in consultation with the RBI itself.

• At present, the Governor is advised by a technical committee but can veto decisions,being singularly responsible for monetary policy.

• A draft of the Indian Financial Code that the Ministry had posted on its website inJuly proposed to strip the Governor of veto vote on the monetary policy.

• The draft proposed a six-member monetary policy committee, besides powers forthe government to appoint four of the six members.

• Relations between the Centre and the RBI had already been uneasy over amendmentsto the RBI Act that Finance Minister ArunJaitley had announced in his Budget speech,leading to a breakdown of talks between the two sides.

India to emerge as largest cotton producer• With domestic trade estimating cotton production at around 400 lakh bales, India is

expected to emerge as the largest cotton producer in the world in 2015-16.

• Cotton output in all major producing countries in the year, barring India, has beenanticipated to be lower than the previous season. As a result, China has had to vacateits place as the largest producer of cotton to India, according to sources in SouthernIndia Mills' Association (SIMA), the apex body of spinners in the Southern Region.

• Though USDA anticipated a marginal reduction in India's production, trade estimatessuggested that the production would be around 400 lakh bales of 170 kg each, takingIndia to the first position, the sources said.

• USDA report on India has estimated cotton area in the country in 2015-16 (August toJuly) at 11.26 million hectares and cotton production at 370 lakh bales.

Pulses buffer stock• The Agriculture Ministry has moved a proposal to create a buffer stock of 3.5 lakh

tonnes of lentils during the current 2015-16 crop year through domestic purchase orimports to prevent a further price rise in pulses.

• Out of the proposed 3.5 lakh tonnes, about 1.5 lakh tonnes of tur and urad will beprocured in the ongoing kharif marketing season and the rest 2 lakh tonnes of chanaand masoor will be bought in the rabi marketing season.

• These pulses will be purchased locally or through imports using the Rs.500-crorePrice Stabilisation Fund and a scheme that supports MSP operations. Pulses will beprocured both at the minimum support price as well as market rates.

• The State-owned Food Corporation of India (FCI), Small Farmers' Agriculture-Business Consortium (SFAC) and Nafed will be engaged in the pulses procurement.

• Pulses production fell to 17.20 million tonnes in 2014-15 crop year due to poor rains,against 19.25 million tonnes in the previous year. The country imported more than 4million tonnes during the last fiscal and traders expect imports to cross 5 milliontonnes this fiscal.





• Despite a higher MSP, the pulses cultivation has not scaled up to meet the growingdemand because of inadequate supply of pulses seeds in the country. Worse, pulsesare more prone to pest at-tacks unlike other crops and are mostly grown in rain-fedareas.

RCom acquires Sistema’s India unit• Indian telecoms operator Reliance Communications (RCom) has agreed to

buyRussian conglomerate Sistema’s Indian mobile phone business with a share swapthat marks the first major deal in seven years in a crowded and indebted sector.

• The agreement will see Sistema take a 10 per cent stake in billionaire AnilAmbani’sRCom, worth about $290 million at current prices, in exchange for itsoperations.

• Monday’s announcement comes at a critical time for a fast-growing but hugelycompetitive industry.

• India’s mobile phone market is the world’s second-biggest after China by number ofcustomers, but its phone carriers operate on wafer-thin margins and cut-throatcompetition that have dented their balance sheets.

Steel, cement output weigh on infrastructure sector• The Modi Governments’ big infrastructure push is yet to translate into pick-up on

the ground.

• Growth of the eight core infrastructure industries slowed to 2.3 per cent in the firstsix months compared with 5.1 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

• The performance does not reflect the more than 60 percent jump to Rs.82,818 Crorein the Government’s capital expenditure during April-September this year.

• Led by fertilizers and electricity sectors, output of the eight core infrastructureindustries improved in September to 3.2 per cent from 2.6 percent in August.

• The tepid performance could be a drag on India’s overall industrial growth in thefirst half of the current year as the core industries comprise almost 38 percent of theindex for industrial production.

• The data released on Mon-day showed that the production of fertilizers grew 18.1percent in September, ahead of the rabi sowing, which is to have started from October-end and will go on till December.

• That followed the sector's robust growth of 12.59per cent in August.Almost 11 percent more electricity was generated inSeptember than in the comparable period in2014. The growth in the sector was 5.6per cent in August 2015.

Small tea growers seek international agency• An international agency has been proposed to help represent the small tea growers'

sector, which currently contributes about 70 per cent of the world tea crop. Effortsare also on to find ways to directly market small tea growers' produce.

• The 11-member Indian delegation was led by Santosh Kumar Sarengi, chairman,Tea Board India. It also included a member represent-ing the interests of India'ssmall tea growers. The need for an international body for small tea growers wasbrought to the fore by quite a few tea-growing countries including India, Sri Lanka,





Kenya and Indonesia.

• These countries have among them a small tea holders' group with representatives ofthe respective governments and the industry. The contribution from this segment ofthe tea indus-try is highest in Sri Lanka and Kenya.

World Bank not too optimistic on India’s growthprospect

• World Bank projected that India’s GDP growth will remain below 8 per cent till2018, the penultimate year of the Modi Government’s tenure.

• The projection contrasts sharply with the Government’s projection that the growthrate will cross 8 per cent this year and will be in double digits before the end of itsterm.

• GDP growth is expected to accelerate gradually to 7.5 per cent in 2015-16 and to 7.8and 7.9 per cent in the subsequent two fiscal years, the Update projected.

• However, this acceleration in growth is conditional on the growth rate of investmentpicking up to 8.8 per cent during the period 2015-16 to 2017-18.

• Although India may be able to achieve fast GDP growth without export growth for ashort period, sustaining high rates of GDP growth over a longer period will requirea recovery of export growth.

All govt. financial transactions to be made digital• The Centre is planning an e-route for all government transactions, including receipts

and payments, as part of Digital India programme. However, a senior official saidthe government is not particular on the mode of electronic transaction.

• With the increasing internet and computer penetration through the broadbandnetwork, citizens can transact with all the departments digitally using e-paymentgateways and banks.

• As mobile devices and smart phones are used for public interface, all centraldepartments will soon offer citizen services on mobile.

• To make it an inclusive programme and accessible to all, we are planning to bring100 government websites in three languages. This is being done with industryparticipation.

GST only a matter of time: FM• Obstruction against the GST has been due to political reasons. Within months from

now, the numbers (in the Rajya Sabha) are going to tilt even more. So it will becomeeasier to pass. GST is only a matter of time. As and when it is put to a vote, it will bepassed,” the Finance Minister said.

• Mr. Jaitley also added that he is looking to table the government's proposedBankruptcy Bill in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

• Also regarding corporates, the Union Finance Minister said that he will soon beannouncing the first tranche of exemptions from corporate tax that are to be doneaway with. The first round of corporate rate cuts — part of the government’s longerterm agenda of cutting corporate tax rates from 30 per cent to 25 per cent — will beannounced in the next Budget.





• Talking about infrastructure, Mr. Jaitley lauded the performance of the road sector,but said that the power sector was still a problem. “The big problem in infrastructureis the power sector.

• We are generating more power than India needs. However, state discoms, the lastmile, are not in a position to lift that power because of their poor financial health,”he said, adding that re-forms regarding the power sector will be announced soon.

• There are some crises that impact more than others, he added. “If the U.S. Fed hikesrates, there will be some turmoil here but it will settle down. Like what happenedafter China's currency devaluation,” Mr. Jaitley said.

PM unveils 3 gold schemes• Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled three gold-re-lated schemes, namely the

Gold Monetisation Scheme, Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme and Gold Coin and BullionScheme.

• “India has no reason to be de-scribed as a poor country, as it has 20,000 tonnes ofgold. The gold available with the country should be put to productive use, andthese schemes show us the way to achieve this goal,” the Prime Minister said whileintroducing the schemes.

• The Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) will replace the existing Gold Deposit Scheme,1999. However, the government has made clear that deposits outstanding under theGold Deposit Scheme will be allowed to run till maturity unless the depositors pre-maturely withdraw them.

• Under the GMS, resident Indians (classified as individuals, Hindu UndividedFamilies, Trusts including Seri-registered Mutual Funds and Exchange TradedFunds) can deposit gold at collection and purity testing centres certified by the Bureauof Indian Standards.

• The deposit certificates will be issued by banks in equivalence of 995 fineness ofgold and the principal and interest of the deposit under the scheme will bedenominated in gold. The terms of deposit range from short-term deposits (1-3 years),medium-term deposits (5-7 years) and long-term deposits (12-15 years).

• Depositors will be allowed to prematurely withdraw their deposits subject to aminimum lock-in period and a penalty that is to be determined by each authorisedbank. “The minimum deposit atany one time shall be raw gold (bars, coins, jewelleryexcluding stones and other metals) equivalent to 30 grams of gold of 995 fine-ness.There is no maximum limit for deposit under the scheme,” the government said in anotification.

• Under the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, the Reserve Bank of India will issue GoldBonds on behalf of the Government of India. The applications for the bonds will beaccepted between November 5-20 and the bonds will be issued on November 26.

• The Bonds will be sold through banks and designated post offices as may be notified.As with the GMS, the Gold Bonds will be sold only to “Indian entities includingindividuals, HUFs, trusts, Universities, charitable institutions”. They will be de-nominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold with a basic unit of one gram.

• The Bonds will be for a tenor of eight years, with an exit option from the 5th year.Those buying the bonds will not be allowed to purchase less than two grams-worthof bonds and not more than 500grams-worth per person per financial year.





• Under the Gold Coin and Bullion Scheme, the government will issue gold coins, thefirst ever national gold coins, which will have the Ashok Chakra engraved on them.Initially, coins of five grams and 10 grams will be available, soon to be followed bya 20 gram bar.

• The government will make avail-able 15,000 coins of five grams, 20,000 coins of 10grams and 3,750 gold bars. “The Indian Gold coin is unique in many aspects andwill carry advanced anti-counterfeit features and tamper proof packaging that willaid easy re-cycling,” the government said.

• These schemes are aimed at bringing the gold lying with citizens into the economy,and at reducing India's dependence on gold imports.

• India imported Rs.2.1 lakh crore worth of gold in the financial year 2014-15, accordingto CMIE, not counting jewellery. So far, Rs.1.12 lakh crore worth of gold has beenimported between April-September 2016.

Centre hikes support price of Rabi pulses to boostproduction

• To give a boost to production of pulses, the Centre on Thursday hiked the minimumsupport price (MSP) of Rabi pulses by Rs.250 a quintal and in addition sanctioned abonus of Rs.75 per quintal for gram and masoor dals.

• The MSP of wheat was hiked by Rs.75 to Rs.1,525 per quintal from Rs.1,450 perquintal last season, while the support price for oilseeds were also raised by anaverage of Rs.250 per quintal.

• Announcing these deci-sions taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister NarendraModi, Union Power Piyush Goyal later said that the Cabinet Committee on EconomicAffairs had approved an increase in the MSP for the Rabi season of 2015-16 to bemarketed in 2016-17. The hike of Rs.325 per quintal (including bonus) in the supportprice of pulses is significant as the prices of tur, urad and moong have sky-rocketedin the retail market due to huge gap between demand and supply leading to heavyimports.

• The support price for masoor is now Rs.3, 325 and for gram (chana) Rs.3, 425 perquintal.Centre hikes support price of Rabi pulses to boost production.

UDAY scheme for discoms• The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a ‘re-form' package for loss-making

electricity utilities, allowing for the transfer of 75 per cent of the about Rs 4.3 lakhcrore outstanding debt incurred by stressed discoms to States' debt.

• The scheme, named UjwalDiscom Assurance Yojana(UDAY), will be optional forStates. The electricity distribution firms in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Ta-mil Nadu and Haryana are among the most stressed and have run up the maximumlosses. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union Power Minster Piyush Goyal toldre-porters that the Centre aims to help states in wiping out the discoms' losses by2019.

• “States shall take over 75 per cent of discom debt as on September 30, 2015 over twoyears — 50 per cent of discom debt shall be taken over in 2015-16 and 25 per cent in2016-17,” an official release said. The decision is also expected to help the banksinmanaging their bad loans.





• The future losses of Dis-coms States will take over in a graded manner all the wayup to 2020-21. The balance discom debt outstanding with banks not taken over byStates will be converted into loans or bonds. The bonds will carry interest rate of notmore than the bank's base rate plus 0.1 per cent.

• States accepting UDAY and performing as per operational milestones will be givenadditional / priority funding through DeendayalUpadhyaya Gram JyotiYojana,Integrated Power Development Scheme, Power Sector Development Fund (PSDF)or other such schemes of Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and RenewableEnergy.

• States not meeting the operational milestones will be liable to forfeit their claim onIPDS and DDUGJY grants.

• States which want to take up the rescue package will sign agreements with the powerministry.

Facebook joins $300-billion club, beats GE in marketcap

• Facebook, the 11-year-old social media company founded by Mark Zuckerberg inhis Harvard dorm room, surpassed the $300-billion mark in market capitalisation,overtaking General Electric (GE) along the way.

• Facebook became the seventh most valuable firm in the U.S. on Friday, with marketcapitalisation touching $303 billion and joined Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft andAmazon among the top 10 ranks.

• $896-million profit The surge in market value came on the back of Face-book posting$896 million in third quarter profit on a revenue of $4.5 billion. In comparison, GEreported a profit of $2.51 billion on a revenue of $41.7 billion for the third quarter.

• Facebook shares touched a high of $108 after the results valuing the tech giant at awhopping $306 billion, surpassing the about $300-billion market cap of GE. “Wehad a good quarter and got a lot done,”.

• The stark contrast in revenue and profits of Facebook and GE notwithstanding,investors are bullish about Facebook's prospects, especially given its reach and abilityto monetise the people's connections through advertisements.

• The social media company, which counts more than 1.45 billion active monthly users,got 78 per cent of its advertising revenue from mobile advertising in the third quarter,a 66 per cent jump over the year earlier period.

Robust U.S. jobs report bolsters case for Decemberrate hike

• U.S. job growth surged in October and the un-employment rate hit a 7-1/2-year lowof 5 per cent in a show of economic strength that makes it much more likely theFederal Reserve will raise interest rates in December.

• Nonfarm payrolls in-creased 2,71,000 last month, the largest rise since December2014, the Labor Department said on Friday.

• In addition, average hourly earnings rose a respectable 9 cents. The payrolls jumpfollowed modest gains in August and September.

• The unemployment rate now stands at its lowest level since April 2008 and is in a





range many Fed officials see as consistent with full employment. “The employmentreport had everything you could have asked for.

• The reaction in financial markets was swift and sharp. The dollar rallied to a nearseven-month high against a basket of currencies as investors braced for higherborrowing costs. U.S. Treasury debt prices fell, with yields on the two-year notehitting a 5-1/2-year high.

Cost of sending remittances likely to come down• With remittance to India is expected to increase by 2.5 per cent in this calendar year,

the cost of sending remittances likely to come down further with many initiatives ofthe Government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), like payment banks.

• However, remittances to developing countries are expected to rise by about 4 percent in 2016 and 2017, buoyed by the continuing recovery in the U.S. and a modestacceleration of economic activity in Europe.

• “It is hoped that India's new payments banks will expand penetration of the bankingsector in rural areas, thus in-creasing competition in the remittances market,” saysthe recent World Bank's report on Migration & Development Outlook, which indicatesremittances to India continue to grow steadily.

• The report says that the decision by RBI to grant ‘in principle' approval for 11 entitiesto set up payments banks, which would be directed at small savers in underserved(largely rural) markets, could help transform the rural remittances market.

• The entry of new players is likely to increase competition, lower remittance costs,and extend the formal market for remittances.

• Unlike earlier, emigration from Northern parts of the country is on the increasecompared to Southern India as per the State-wise figures of workers grantedEmigration Clearance / ECNR Endorsement during the last five years 2010-2014. In2014, U.P. is the highest — 229,444, followed by Bihar 98,721, Tamil Nadu (83,202),Andhra Pradesh (53,104), Kerala (55,058), and West Bengal (51,561).



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India and World

Ageing Japan goes all out to woo Indian students• Japan's declining young population is proving to be a blessing for Indian students,

who are being wooed by Japanese universities for taking up research in science andtechnology with scholar-ships covering tuition and living expenses.

• On radar are the students of IITs and other prestigious institutions who have strongmath and science background.

• Japan's population is declining and only around 25 per cent of its young generationis showing interest in sciences. The country wants to pro-mote research in sciencesand technology inviting the best brains from across the world, and India is definitelya choice given the huge talent pool.

• Indian students got an opportunity to work in the best of Japanese science and re-search laboratories and they had a greater chance of being hired by Japanesecompanies that were known for cutting-edge research and technology.

India pushes for NSG membership• With the visit of the Nuclear Suppliers Group chairperson last week, India is fast-

pacing its pitch for membership to the 48-member nuclear club.

• The push for the nuclear clubs, whose members can trade in and export nucleartechnology, comes despite a setback to India’s efforts in early October this year,when the MTCR group met in Oslo, but failed to take up the membership application.

• As the 48-member NSG works by consensus, not majority, India is reaching out toevery possible country, much like the push at the UNGA for reforms.

• In the past few months, President PranabMukherjee’s visit to Sweden, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit to Ireland and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar’s visit toSwitzerland all saw “intense discussions” over the NSG question. The support of allthese countries, including Norway is critical, as previously they had all been seen as“non-proliferation hardliners,” insisting that India sign the NPT before it could beadmitted.

• However, in the past few years, they have softened their position, calling instead forIndia to align its civil nuclear safeguards with NSG guidelines. Equally, India hasgiven in on its earlier stand that it must be recognised as a “nuclear weapons state,”as that is unlikely in the current scenario.

• India’s biggest worry remains possible opposition from China, but hopes to smooththis over as the two sides engage on climate change and nuclear energy ahead of theParis summit, officials confirmed. Vice-President Li Yuanchao will be in Delhi onNovember 6 for discussions on a range of issues. China “noted” India’s aspirationsto the NSG for the first time in May 2015, but also recognised Pakistan’s aspirationsfor the same in June 2015, leading to speculation that when the NSG decideson India’smembership it would open the way for other non-NPT states like Pakistan and Israelas well.

Indonesia is our key ally , says Vice-President• Vice-President Hamid Ansari said in Jakarta on Sunday that key agreements in





maritime security cooperation, bilateral trade and cultural exchange would be soonsigned with Indonesia.

• He also said that Indonesia is the “single-most important and biggest country inASEAN, and a key strategic partner.”

• Mr. Ansari underlined the three crucial MoUs under consideration in Jakarta. Onewas collaboration between the AYUSH Ministry and Bali's Uddiyana University inthe field of Ayurveda. Another pertained to a cultural ex-change programme. Noteswould be exchanged on the Extradition Treaty signed in 2011.

• The last visit by an Indian dignitary was in October 2013, when then Prime MinisterManmohan Singh visited Bandar Seri Begawan to attend the 11th ASEAN-IndiaSummit.

India’s APEC membership not on the agenda, says U.S.• India’s desire for membership is not on the agenda of the Asia Pacific Economic

Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting in Manila in Philippines.

• U.S. President Barack Obama had “supported” India’s desire for membership of theforum during his 2015 visit to India on Republic Day.

• U.S.-India Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region releasedduring Mr. Obama’s New Delhi visit had said: “the United States welcomes India’sinterest in joining the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, as the Indianeconomy is a dynamic part of the Asian economy.”

• The 21-member APEC, established in 1989, has nearly half of the world trade amongthe members and India has been lobbying for its membership for the last two decades.

• India has been an observer at the forum since 2011 and a membership would havebeen in tune with the Modi government’s ‘Act East Policy,’ the purportedimprovement it claims to have brought about in the earlier ‘Look East Policy.’

In India, Li will ink pacts on river and culture• Li Yuanchao, the Vice-President of China will conclude his India visit by sealing

agreements marking cooperation on better river water management and culturalexchanges.

• Mr. Li who visited Aurangabad and Kolkata before landing in Delhi, will presideover the renewal of the 2013 memorandum of under-standing on joint watermanagement which helps India and China share data on multiple Himalayan riversfor better water management.

• The second agreement tobe signed during Mr. Li's visit will be on the culturalexhibition on the Gupta period in the Indian history to be held in 2016 in China.

• However, the focus of Mr. Li's visit is expected to be onthe renewal of the MoU onsmooth sharing of hydrological data related to the com-mon Himalayan rivers.

• While a prominent part of the 2013 agreement focused on joint study of Sutlej whichoriginates in the western Ti-bet region, the other and more important aspect of thatagreement was on the hydrological study of the Brahmaputra.

• Water scarcity is a big is-sue in China whereas the north-eastern States of India haveabundant river water. So hydrological exchanges be-tween India and China aremainly aimed at emergency planning to help India.





Countries met only half of emissions target: UN report• The message from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions

Gap report launched on Friday in Geneva is clear. Only a dynamic Paris climateagreement in December can help keep global warming under the 2°C threshold, asthe current levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be cut by 2030 — 11gigatonnes — is only about half of the total required.

• This is even if all conditional and unconditional In-tended Nationally Deter-minedContributions (INDCs) of countries submitted by October 1 are fully implemented,as emissions will still be 12 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) beyondthe level that gives a likely chance of limiting global temperature rise to 2°C thiscentury.

• Ahead of the U.N. climate meeting to commence in December, the UNEP reportprovides a sense of the scale of the task lying ahead of countries to curb globalwarming. It shows that the 119 INDCs submitted so far represent GHG emissionreductions in 2030 of 4 to 6 GtCO2e compared to what the emissions would be underthe current policy trajectory.

• The report notes that 2030 projections based on current policies are them-selves 5GtCO2e lower than the estimate of 65 GtCO2e by the Inter-governmental Pan-el forClimate Change (IPCC) fifth assessment re-port, which assumed no additional climatepolicies, put in place after 2010.

• The report has a special chapter on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation andForest Degradation (REDD+), a U.N. programmefocussing on opportunity for climatechange mitigation through forest-related actions in developing countries, and findsthe theoretical potential of reducing forest loss and restoring forests could be ashigh as 9 GtCO2e/yr in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and theCaribbean combined.





Science & Technology

IISc: cleaning rivers using a nano-composite• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru have developed a novel

‘reusable' nano-composite material, with Cerium being the crucial compound in it,which can degrade microbes and chemical dyes that are among common effluents inrivers.

• It is this notion, that the compound can speed up the degradation of chemical dyesand the bacterium Escherichia coli (which forms a large chunk of organic waste insewage) led the re-searchers to develop ceria nanoflakes, which com-bines ceria withsilver salts.

• The superior photo catalytic activity of this nano-composite for the degradationchemical dyes is attributed to its extended absorption in visible region and enhancedstability of the catalyst owing to the firm adherence of silver bromide and phosphateto ceria nanoflakes.

• The compound was to re-main stable even after seven cycles of its usage with pollutedfluids.

Scientists developing battery-free pacemakers• Scientists are developing next-generation battery-free implantable pacemakers that

may be powered by an unlikely source — the heart itself.

• The advancement is based upon a piezoelectric system that converts vibrationalenergy — created inside the chest by each heartbeat — into electricity to power thepacemaker.

• The technology may eliminate the medical risks, costs and inconvenience of havinga battery replacement every five to 12 years for millions of people worldwide.

• The new wireless option does not require leads because it rests inside the heart.This removes a potential point of failure, but the device still relies on a battery thatmust be replaced as often as the batteries that conventional pacemakers use.

GSA T -15 set to replace INSA T -3A, 4B• GSAT -15, the mainly communications satellite being put in space next week, will

replace two older space-craft that will likely expire in the coming months.

• Its 24 transponders are solely in the Ku band and will cater to DTH (direct-to-home)television first, besides supporting the thousands of VSAT operators who providebroadband services; and DSNG (digital satellite news gathering) for TV newschannels.

• GSAT -15 will not add new transponder capacity to the country; it will ‘ensuresustainability of service ‘for the capacity-hungry DTH sector’.

• It will also carry the third GAGAN satellite navigation transponder as a back-up forairlines and other users of augmented GPS-based systems.

• GSAT -15, weighing 3,164 kg, will be launched in the wee hours of November 11(IST) from Kourou in French Guiana (in South America) on the EuropeanArianespace's Ar-iane-5 launcher.





• GSAT -15 will be flown along with Saudi Arabia's Arabsat-6B/Badr-7.

Vanishing African lions• Africa's lions are fast “'disappearing” from vast swathes of the continent, including

from the savannah grasslands, where they are the indisputable flagship species, findsa new scientific paper.

• Threatened by habitat loss, a depleting prey base, poorly regulated sport huntingand a demand for traditional African and Chinese medicines, several lion populationshave either entirely disappeared or are expected to go within the next few decades.

• Their populations are declining every-where, except in four southern countries —Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

• The reintroduction of lions in fenced and intensively managed reserves has been thekey to their growth in Southern Africa.

• While the animal is currently graded as “vulnerable” on the World ConservationUnion (IUCN) Red List, it will be considered “endangered” if numbers declined by50 per cent over three lion generations.

Pelicans face disappointment• Nearly 5,000 pelicans have come to Atapaka the core birding area of the Kolleru

Wildlife Sanctuary and other nesting sites around the Kollerulake, India’s largestfreshwater lake, for the annual breeding season this winter.

• Breeding has just begun with pelicans making nests after finding suitable partner.Several more thousands of pelicans and painted storks are expected to arrive in theseason.

• But the birds will find the sanctuary less welcome than last year with the poormonsoon this year failing to replenish the pond, over an aggregate area of 50 acresthat had dried up last summer.



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Sports

Sania-Hingis domination is complete• Swiss veteran Martina Hingis and India's Sania Mirza crowned a stunning year for

their partnership on Sunday by winning their ninth title at the WTA Finals here onSunday.

• The top seeds, who joined forces only in March, beat Spain's eighth seeds GarbineMuguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3 in 66 minutes, much of which lookedmore like an exhibition match than a season finale.

• Hingis, 35, and Sania, 28, have also won Wimbledon, the US Open and Indian Wellson their way to Singapore, where they also swept all their matches. Their only finalsloss was in Rome.

• The pair had bagged the 2015 WTA year-end top ranking.

Federer goes past Murray• Federer overtook AndyMurray as he climbed to second in the ATP world rankings

after seeing of Rafael Nadal for his seventh Swiss Indoors title at the weekend.

• The rankings1. Novak Djokovic (Srb)15,785; 2. Roger Federer (Sui) 8,250(+1); 3. AndyMurray (GBr) 8,070 (-1);4. Stan Wawrinka (Sui) 6,585.

Yogeshwar the highest-paid marquee player• London Games bronze medallist Yogesh-war Dutt pipped double Olympic medallist

and World champion, Sushil Kumar, to become the highest-paid marquee player atRs. 39.7 lakh in the Pro Wrestling League auction.

• The league, with a total cash prize of Rs. 3 crore and a Rs. 20 crore budget for theplayers, will be staged in six cities — Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Ludhiana, Gurgaonand Noida from December 10 to 27.

• In all, over 150 Indian and international wrestlers went under the hammer in theauction conducted by Bob Hayton.

Tom Graveney passes away• Tom Graveney, the former England captain and president of Marylebone Cricket

Club, died at the age of 88.

• Graveney made 11 centuries in 79 Test matches be-tween 1951 and 1969, scoring4,882 runs at an average of 44.38. Appointed MCC president in 2005 he was anhonorary life member of the Lord's Club.

• India was a lucky hunting ground for Graveney. He scored his first Test century(175) against India at the BraBourne Stadium before the 1951 Christmas.

Indian juniors strike it rich• India finished with a rich haul at the World youth chess championship in Halkidiki,

Greece, on Thursday. It won 11 medals — five gold, three silver and three bronze.

• It was indeed quite an impressive show by the Indians who won five out of the 12gold medals on ofer.





• India was by far the best-per-forming country. The other top teams, Russia and theUnited States, won just four medals each but neither of them could win a gold.

Heena Sidhu wins thriller against Gundegmaa Otryad• Heena Sidhu pipped Olympic silver medallist GundegmaaOtryad of Mongolia by

0.2 point for the women's air pistol gold in the Asian shooting championship inKuwait City.

• Heena captured the gold in a thrilling fashion despite shooting eight 9s on the last10 shots of the final. It was the second successive gold for Heena following the AsianAir Gun championship last month. She also managed to push the London Olympicsgold medallist Kim Jangmi of Korea to the bronze.

• There were more gold medals for India through Angadvir Singh Bajwa in juniormen's skeet.

• Angad along with the bronze medallist AnantJeet Singh Naruka and fourth-placedArjun Mann won the team gold, 27 points ahead of Kuwait.





Ministry of External Affairs

Third India-Africa Forum Summit 2015The Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation representing the con-

tinent of Africa, the African Union (AU) and its Institutions, and the Prime Minister of theRepublic of India, met in New Delhi, India on 29 October 2015 for the Third India-AfricaForum Summit. For Reviewing the strategic partnership and the implementation of theFramework of Enhanced Cooperation adopted at the Second Africa-India Forum Summitheld in Addis Ababa in May 2011 and the associated Plan of Action agreed upon thereaf-ter. Noting the synergies of their shared core priorities of working together towards aninclusive economic growth to eradicate poverty and allocate adequate resources for sus-tainable development, as defined in Africa’s Agenda 2063 and its First Ten Year Imple-mentation Plan as well as the Sustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda forSustainable Development, and the priorities of the Government of India.

Building on prior positive cooperation in various areas of common interest, agreeto enhance their partnership with more substance, based on the aspirations of the Africanand Indian people to achieve development, integration and prosperity as indicated inthe African Union Agenda 2063 and its First Ten Year Implementation Plan as well as theSustainable Development Goals under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,and the priorities of the Government of India. Noting the importance of urgently fulfill-ing the unmet challenges of providing access to quality education, skill developmentand capacity building, affordable healthcare, clean modern energy sources, infrastruc-ture, suitable employment opportunities through development of all sectors of economyincluding agriculture, manufacturing and services, value addition and connectivity, cli-mate change adaptation and mitigation, blue and ocean economy, and disaster manage-ment and disaster risk reduction among others;

Africa and India have adopted this Framework for Strategic Cooperation betweenthem which will comprise the following broad areas:

GENERAL AREAS OF COOPERATION• The common characteristics of the African and Indian societies insofar as being multi-

ethnic and multi-religious as well as the similar societal values have quite naturallycemented the bonds of friendship between the African and Indian peoples over thecenturies;

• Africa and India recognize the crucial need for gender equality for progress andsustainable development and are committed to promote empowerment of women,which will greatly support efforts towards poverty eradication, protect and promotehuman rights and build more non-violent and environmentally sustainable societies;

• The Africa-India Strategic Partnership represents a multi-dimensional South-Southcooperation and needs to be strengthened to render it more effective;

In this regard, Africa and India resolve to:Facilitate greater mutual understanding of cultures, traditions and heritage and bring-

ing our people closer through exchanges at various levels;

Promote gender equality and empowerment of women, which will greatly support





efforts towards poverty eradication, protect and promote human rights and build morenon-violent and environmentally sustainable societies;

Encourage use of modern social networks to build communities of mutual interest.Linkages between academia, journalists, media entities and civil society will be furtherencouraged inter-alia through the Forum for Indian Development Cooperation (FIDC) todocument successful development interventions by civil society among communities indeveloping countries;

Promote good governance through the efficient use of emerging e-governance tech-nologies. The empowering of peoples through enhancement of digital connectivity andaccess to these technologies that permeate all sectors of economy will help targeting ofbenefits to the needy, make delivery of services more efficient, catalyse development andincrease citizen participation in governance, and promote financial inclusion and em-powerment through access to banks, credit and social insurance against diseases andaccidents;

Reaffirm our strong commitment to work together for a comprehensive Reform ofthe United Nations system, including its Security Council, to make it more regionallyrepresentative, democratic, accountable and effective;

Deepen ongoing cooperation and sharing of experiences in ensuring free, fair andtransparent parliamentary and electoral processes, such as training and capacity build-ing in tandem with current international best practices;

Facilitate air and maritime connectivity and more liberal visa procedures and visaconcessions to enhance tourism, trade and other people to people contacts;

Support African Small Island States tackling the impact of climate change as well astheir connectivity with mainland Africa.

ECONOMIC COOPERATIONAfrica-India trade has multiplied in the last 15 years and doubled in the last five

years to reach nearly US$ 72 billion in 2014-2015. There is growing investment by Indiancompanies, both multinational and SMEs, in Africa in a range of sectors. These includetelecommunication, hydrocarbon exploration, agriculture, light manufacturing, IT andIT- enabled services, IT education, water treatment and supply management, petroleumrefining and retail, chemicals, drugs & pharmaceuticals, coal, automobiles, floriculture,engineering consultancy and management, paper, textiles, among others. Such invest-ment brings in capital and technology, assists value addition and industrialization, di-versification of economic activity and most importantly generates employment and pro-motes skill development for local populations. Both sides recognize that India was amongthe first emerging economies to propose a duty-free market access scheme for LDCs fol-lowing the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration of 2005. In 2014 India expanded its DutyFree Trade Preference Scheme (DFTP) for LDCs, launched in 2008 and which becamefully operational in 2012, to now include 98% of tariff lines. The benefits of this unilateralscheme extend to 34 African countries to increase their exports to India. India took note ofthe African request to provide technical assistance to the beneficiary countries of the DFTPScheme in order to further enhance market access of their exports to India. Both sidesrecognize that the Indian experience in Small, Medium and Micro enterprises offers sig-nificant avenues for further cooperation in industrialization, job creation and enhance-ment of local capacities of Africa, particularly in the field of managing and organizingindustrial clusters, and attaching them to the feeding industries;





One of the most significant forms of Africa-India partnership has been the offer ofconcessional credit under the Indian Development and Economic Assistance Scheme(IDEAS) for implementing a range of projects as per the economic and social priorities ofAfrican countries in areas where Indian companies have relevant expertise. In the lastdecade, a total of almost US$ 9 billion in concessional credit has been approved for nearly140 projects in more than 40 African countries. So far nearly 60 projects have been com-pleted across a range of sectors.

Energy and Infrastructure form substantial part of the ongoing cooperation betweenAfrica and India. The forms of our ongoing cooperation include training, capacity build-ing, consultancy and project implementation through concessional credit in areas includ-ing water supply management, power generation and transmission, road and railwayconstruction and upgradation, hydrocarbon exploration among others.

While underlying the importance of private investment in achieving sustainableand inclusive economic growth, the two sides decide to share experience and knowledgein this regard, and to:

• Embark on sensitization efforts to create greater awareness of India's DFTP schemeamong businesses in Africa and appeal for the extension of this duty free preferencescheme to all African states;

• Accelerate trade between Africa and India through a coordination mechanismcomposed of representatives of the Government of India and the African diplomaticMissions represented in India to promote investment from Africa into India andfacilitate the setting up of African-owned businesses in India;

• Enhance collaboration in technology transfer and demonstration, training and jointresearch and development for specific applications;

• Explore possibilities of collaboration and training in utilising space technology forremote sensing and natural resource mapping including for water, agriculture, forestcover, mineral and marine resources, weather forecasting and disaster managementand disaster risk reduction including early warning of natural disasters; and ofnuclear technology for areas such as medicine, agriculture and hydrology in largeinstallations that will have direct benefit for our peoples.

Africa and India take note of the importance of the capacity building institutions,which India is in the process of establishing in Africa’s diverse sectors, and recognize thatsuch efforts would greatly assist African industries and service sectors, and in the longrun contribute to the growth of the continent. In this regard Africa and India agreed to:

Support establishment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Medium andSmall Industries (MSIs) in order to promote employment creation and income generationfor people of both sides;

Promote Public-Private Partnership (PPP) by encouraging Indian businesses to setup skills development units in African industrial zones with the aim to train Africanengineers, technicians, managers and workers as well as by encouraging other experts inareas such as food security and solar energy;

Review the functional mechanisms of the already established institutions with aview to ensuring that the processes for their establishment, provision of material, humanand financial resources and management are clearly understood and supported;

Create a mechanism to enable women groups to access credit for productive activi-ties and markets for their products;





Enhance cooperation through training and collective negotiations on global tradeissues, including at the WTO to protect and promote the legitimate interests of develop-ing countries, especially the LDCs.

COOPERATION IN BLUE /OCEAN ECONOMYLivelihoods of large sections of our peoples are dependent on Oceans which have

emerged as the new frontier for the development of the peoples of Africa and India. Thesignificance of Oceans for global or regional trade and its marine resources as a contribu-tor to the economic prosperity of our people is evident.

In this regard the two sides decide to:

Put special emphasis on exploring closer collaboration through training, capacitybuilding and joint projects in developing sustainable fisheries, maritime connectivity,managing marine resources, exploring non-marine resources, promoting eco-tourism,developing renewable energy, and disaster risk reduction through modern early warn-ing tools, pollution control and other coastal and ocean studies;

Pursue cooperation in port operations and marine transport, addressing illegal andunregulated fishing and hydrography surveys.

Pan-African E-Network ProjectAcknowledge the importance of successful implementation of the Pan-African E-

Network Project aimed at providing an efficient tool to bridge the digital divide and alsooffer affordable and easy access to quality education and healthcare to the peoples ofAfrica;

In this regard Africa and India agree to:

Continue cooperation in the areas of scientific and technological development aswell as in Information and Communication Technology;

Explore possible joint investments to establish a robust, reliable and accessible fibreoptic infrastructure in Africa, with a view to setting an enabled African information soci-ety, and integrated digital economy whereby all actors have access to reliable and afford-able ICT networks and services;

Promote greater interaction, exchange and partnership between the tertiary institu-tions of Africa and India;

Renew, expand and upgrade the existing Pan African E-Network Project infrastruc-ture so as to permit an innovative utilization of the E-Network Project with the view tocover newer areas of mutual interest;

Intensify cooperation through sharing of experiences, gender-specific training coursesand capacity building measures including through skill development;

Provide and facilitate the access and enrolment of African students and academi-cians to India’s premiere institutions of higher learning in an effort to boost Africa’s ca-pacity in areas such as engineering, medical, technology, agriculture as well as emergingareas;

Fast-track the implementation of those capacity building institutions that have beenfound to be feasible for continuation under IAFS-III;

Intensify cooperation in capacity building, joint research and development and imple-





mentation of projects in renewable energy sources including solar, wind and hydro poweralong with building efficient power transmission systems.



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NITI Aayog

Cooperative federalismAny big change requires big ideas, decisive leadership and happy coincidence of

circumstances. Nothing illustrates this better than the unfolding story of cooperative fed-eralism in India.

As chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi had often argued that the central gov-ernment implemented schemes were at odds with the state’s needs and priorities. Forexample, schemes that provided funds for electrification were at best of limited value toGujarat since it had already achieved near 100% electrification. This state could havespent the money provided for such a scheme more productively if allowed to use it forother purposes.

In advancing this view, Modi was joined by other chief ministers such asVasundharaRaje of Rajasthan who argued that the vast numbers of central schemes fur-ther restricted their fiscal space because many of them required matching contributionsby them from their otherwise untied funds. Once these matching funds were committedto access central schemes, states were left with very limited funds for even the most im-portant expenditure items such as enforcement of law and order.

Nevertheless, this system has remained entrenched in one form or another in the lastseveral decades on account of coincidence of three factors. First, outside of state leadersand a few economists and policy analysts, advocates of the view that true federalismmeans giving greater fiscal space to states and trusting them in setting their own priori-ties have been few and far between.

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Finally, successive central governments have chosen to transfer the bulk of the re-maining funds to the states via central and centrally sponsored schemes. With nearly 8%growth over an entire decade, tax revenues have significantly expanded. Alongside, cen-tral and centrally sponsored schemes and the revenue resources they absorb have ex-panded dramatically as well.

Two key factors have come together to dramatically alter this equilibrium. One,India now has a prime minister who was once a chief minister and strongly feels thatcooperative federalism means greater fiscal and legislative space for states. And two, bya happy coincidence, the chairman and members of the 14th Finance Commission believein genuine federalism themselves.

Moreover, they have recognised the opportunity offered by a prime minister at thehelm who truly believes in the power of the states and their leaders. Accordingly, theyhave recommended that starting 2015-16, states be awarded 42% of the divisible pool oftax revenues to the states. This is a gigantic and unprecedented 10% jump in devolution.

Predictably, the prime minister and his Cabinet have accepted this bold recommen-dation of the 14th Finance Commission.





What implications does this change have? For starters, with larger transfers comingas untied funds, states also have greater responsibility in discharging their duties. It islikely that they will now have to take greater responsibility in areas that have been hith-erto covered by the Centre, especially those falling on the state list. States will also haveto do this in ways that are more consistent with their priorities and not according to “onesize fits all” schemes. By the same token, with a lower share in the divisible pool theCentre’s fiscal space will shrink, requiring a rethink of central and centrally sponsoredschemes.

One might ask where does NitiAayog fit into this story? I am tempted to say that inreplacing the Planning Commission by NitiAayog, Prime Minister Modi may have an-ticipated the 14th Finance Commission. Under the previous regime, the Centre was oftenseen as “giver” and states as “recipients” thereby making the latter feel that they wereless than equal partners. In replacing the Planning Commission by NitiAayog, the primeminister sought to change that equation and forge an equal relationship between the twosides. As such the change represents a step towards cooperative federalism.

We will have a more complete picture of the emerging Centre-state relations thisSaturday when the finance minister presents the budget. But even with what we nowknow, one thing is clear: in the years to come, NitiAayog will have to play a much greaterrole in the knowledge space. Greater fiscal freedom combined with greater legislativefreedom in areas covered by the concurrent list of the Constitution means that states willneed to play a more active role in designing their own programmes and policies.

As they do so, they will need to reach out to data, analysis and expert advice. Thedesign of NitiAayog as per the Cabinet Note of 1 January 2015 positions it well to providethese services. By the same token, those of us at NitiAayog have to work hard in themonths to come to build new strengths so that we do not disappoint the states that reachout to us for advice and assistance. We shall see.

Decline in Rural Female Labour Force Participation inIndia: A Relook into the Causes

As an economy transforms from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy,a decline in participation of female labour force is observed. This is attributed to the shiftfrom family-based production to large-scale production in industrial units. The women-folk being mostly illiterate or with low levels of education face shortage of work in thehome turf and have inhibitions in working as manual labour in the non-agricultural sec-tor. But with an increase in family income and improvement in the education level offemales, more and more females start entering the labour force, especially into non-manualor service oriented jobs. That is why the participation of females in the labour force incomparison with the economic growth is supposed to be U-shaped (Goldin, 1994).

This article examines how the experience has been in India especially among ruralfemales who account for the major share of the rural population. For developing coun-tries, average patterns of women’s labour force participation are more mixed, rangingfrom as low as 21 per cent in the Middle East and North African region to as high as 71 percent in the East Asian and Pacific region in 2010. The gender gaps in labour force partici-pation are also highest in the Middle East and North African and South Asian regions,where men’s participation rates exceed women’s rates by over 50 percentage points. Thelabour force participation rate (LFPR) in India is around 40 per cent, but gender-wise, forfemales it is only 22.5 per cent. The gap in male–female labour force participation is suchthat the LFPR for rural females of the age group over 15 years is only 35.8 per cent, while





for rural males it is more than double at 81.3 per cent. This is quite baffling in a countrywith a huge demographic dividend of the working population. Studies undertaken toanalyse this trend of low and declining female LFPR (FLFPR) has attributed it to educa-tion and income effect (Rangarajan, Kaul, & Seema, 2011; Vinoj, 2013). In a culturallydiverse country like India, socio-cultural aspects also have a say in the economic partici-pation of the women. India’s policies on liberalization, privatization and globalizationinitiated in the early nineties and more than two decades of reform-induced economicgrowth have driven the economy to a double-digit growth. This article examines how theparticipation of the female labour force has fared, during this period of positive growth,especially in rural areas, wherein almost 70 per cent of the female population lives (Cen-sus 2011).

The trend analysis in the paper covers five quinquennial National Sample Survey(NSS) Rounds on the Employment and Unemployment Survey (EUS) (1993–1994, 1999–2000, 2004–2005, 2009–2010 and 2011–2012). The pursuit of neoliberal economic policies5has led to a discussion of both defeminization and feminization of labour force in theeconomic literature. But, according to the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO)EUS, the rural female LFPR (RFLFPR) has been almosthalf of the rural male LFPR, whilein the urban areas, the FLFPR is even less than half of the male LFPR. While the FLFPRmarginally revived in urban areas in 2011–2012, in the rural areas, the declining trendcontinues except for the year 2004–2005.With nearly 80 per cent (NSSO 2011–2012, 68thround) of the female labour force being concentrated in rural areas, the focus of this paperis on addressing the issue from the rural angle. Table 2 captures the age cohort-wisedistribution of rural female labour force across the Rounds. It emerges that there has beena steady decline in the LFPR from 1993–1994 to 2011– 2012 in the age group of 5–9 yearsand 10–14 years indicating that the rural females of this age group are in the educationspace. Similarly, in the 15–19 and 20–24 age-cohort, a decline in the LFPR is seen in 2009–2010 and 2011–2012. More than 70 per cent of the rural female workforce (Table 6) isengaged in agriculture, and the proportion of workforce engaged in agriculture in princi-pal and subsidiary capacity is around 75 per cent across different NSSO rounds. In 2004–2005, when there was a spurt in RFLFPR, the proportion of rural females engaged inagriculture in principal or subsidiary capacity was found to be lower than that in 1999–2000. But the proportion of females engaged in the non-farm sector saw a rise in 2004–2005. The declining trend in the share of employment in agriculture both in principal andsubsidiary capacity is evident from 2009–2010 onwards. Rural females engaged in manu-facturing as a principal activity declined from 12.7 per cent in 1993–1994 to 9.4 per cent in2011–2012, while the proportion of rural females engaged in manufacturing as a subsid-iary activity decreased from 32 per cent in 1993–1994 to 7.1 per cent in 2009–2010 andmarginally increased to 10.2 per cent in 2011–2012. This implies that there was the loss ofjobs for women who were engaged in manufacturing. This may be due to the decrease indemand for the products from traditional industries which led to the loss of jobs for women.In the non-manufacturing sector that consists of the construction sector apart from publicutilities, there has been a decline in the share of rural females since 1993–1994, which seesa reversal from 2009–2010 onwards. In the services sector, the share of rural females in theprincipal status has steadily increased from 1993–1994 to 2011–2012, while as a subsid-iary activity, there has been a fluctuation in their participation. Thus, in the past twodecades, while the services sector has shown a rise in jobs for the rural females, agricul-ture shows a declining trend and in the industry sector a reversal is noticed only in thelast two rounds. But only if the decline in agriculture jobs is commensurate with theincrease in jobs in the non-farm sector, can the situation of loss of jobs be arrested.





With the introduction of the SarvaShiksha Abhiyan8 and the Right to Education Act,2009, there has been an improvement in the basic education level up to 14 years of age.But for better employability, the enhancement of skills after 14 years is a prerequisite. Alook at the mean years of education after 14 years shows an increasing trend since 1993–1994, though still low at around two years for rural females and three-plus years for ur-ban females in the last two NSSO rounds.

Furthermore, the mean age of marriage in rural India being 20.8 years (StatisticalReport, 2012), for the majority of rural females in the prime age, entry into the labourforce may perhaps be hindered by social factors such as marriage and domestic duties.Hence, the argument that fall in the rural LFPR of the females in the 15–24 bracket is dueto an increase in their attending education institutions (education effect) is not fully sub-stantiated by available data. However, with schemes like the Rashtriya Madhyamik ShikshaAbhiyan (RMSA) focusing on improving accessibility, quality and outreach of secondaryeducation with special focus on more female teachers in schools, separate toilet blocksfor girls, incentives to girls students, and hostel facilities, etc., an increase in the meanyears of education of rural females would be evident in the years to come. Another factorthat can facilitate entry of female youth is the declining fertility rate. The total fertility rate(TFR) in rural India has declined from 3.7 in 1993–1994 to 2.6 in 2011–2012.10 But evenwith the decline in the TFR, the rural females are seen withdrawing from the labour forceand engaging in domestic duties. Therefore, the natural question that arises is: Could thewithdrawal from labour force be due to the absence of distress employment (incomeeffect)?

Among all the arguments, income effect, education effect and the problem of under-estimation, what is left unnoticed is the structural transformation of the economy and itsresultant impact on the female labour market in the whole process. With an increase inincome levels of the households, a woman no longer prefers working as an unpaid workeror a helper or as a casual worker unless the work is remunerative (as in MGNREGA).However, such opportunities are limited in rural India and as a result women are notfinding jobs matching their preference (regular part-time jobs close to their households).Furthermore, with low skill levels, jobs in the non-farm sector are also limited. Thesefactors perhaps have led to the withdrawal of women from the labour force.





National Portal of India

Kailash ManasarovarYatraKailash Manasarovar Yatra is known for its religious value, cultural significance,

physical beauty and thrilling nature. It is undertaken by hundreds of people every year.Holding significance for the Hindus as the abode of Lord Shiva, it holds religious impor-tance also for the Jains and the Buddhists. The Yatra is organized by the Ministry of Exter-nal Affairs every year between June and September. It is open to eligible Indian citizens,holding valid Indian passports, who wish to proceed to Kailash-Manasarovar for reli-gious purposes.

Applications to participate in the Yatra can be filed online only at http://kmy.gov.inExternal website that opens in a new window. The last date to apply onlinewas 10 April, 2015.

The Yatra-2015 was conducted between 08 June and 09 September through two dif-ferent routes – Lipulekh Pass in Uttarakhand and Nathu La in Sikkim. Yatris need tospend 3-4 days in Delhi for preparations before the Yatra. The Delhi Government pro-vides free meals and accommodation for the stay in Delhi. Yatrisare, however, free tomake their own arrangements. The Yatra involves trekking at high altitudes of up to19,500 feet, under inhospitable conditions, including extreme cold and rugged terrain,and may prove hazardous for those who are not physically and medically fit.

Now, there are two routes to undertake the Yatra:

Route 1: Lipulekh Pass (Uttarakhand) 18 batches of 60 members each with total du-ration of about 25 days per batch. Estimated cost per person: Rs.1.5 Lakh.

Route 2: Nathu La (Sikkim) 5 batches of 50 members each with total duration ofabout 23 days per batch. Estimated cost per person: Rs.1.7 Lakh.

The Government of India is not responsible in any manner for any loss of life orinjury to a Yatri, or any loss or damage to property of a Yatri due to any natural calamityor due to any other reason. Pilgrims undertake the Yatra purely at their own volition,cost, risk and consequences. The Government shall not have any obligation to bring themortal remains of any pilgrim across the border for cremation in the Indian side, in caseof death on the Chinese side. All Yatris are, therefore, required to sign a Consent Form forcremation of mortal remains on the Chinese side in case of death.





Selected articles from various Newspaper

For a truer decentralisationThe history of decentralisation in India is somewhat chequered. Although the vil-

lage panchayats as institutions of governance and justice existed for a long time, the found-ing fathers of the Constitution were not keen to empower them. Dr. Ambedkar was ap-prehensive that in the hierarchical society with highly skewed nature of asset and powerdistribution, vesting more powers at the village level would only perpetuate exploita-tion of the dispossessed. Not surprisingly, the Constitution placed local governance inthe State List (Entry 5).

Rajiv Gandhi wanted to energise the local bodies in rural and urban areas to makethem the institutions of self-government by effecting 73rd and 74th Constitutional amend-ments. Part IX was inserted into the Constitution with Article 243(A to O) specifying mat-ters such as the constitution, elections and the functions to be devolved for panchayatsand for urban local bodies under Article 243P to Z. Article 243I and Y mandated theappointment of the State Finance Commission by the Governor every five years to bal-ance their functions with funds. Article 280 was seeded with an additional term of refer-ence (TOR) to the Union Finance Commission to take cognisance of the resource require-ments of local bodies. However, the role envisaged in this seeding is only tangential orsupplemental.

There are five important issues for understanding the legal framework for thedecentralisation process in the country. First, the Constitution assigns decentralisationincluding funding entirely to the discretion of State governments. While this may be toevolve the system of decentralisation appropriate to a State considering the strength of itshistory, economy and capacity, it also hinders the process. It is entirely left to the States todecide, what and how much powers and functions should be devolved to the local bod-ies.

Secondly, the constitutional framework does not (and perhaps should not) prescribeany pattern, standard or model of decentralisation which again is left to the discretion ofState governments. Third, there are no easy mechanisms to ensure compliance of eventhe prescribed provisions of the Constitution by the States. Most States have not com-plied with the requirement of having to appoint gram sabhas (243A), ward committees,district planning committees and metropolitan planning committees.

Unfortunately, the States’ record shows complete violations of Article 243I and Y.Fourth, on the financial side, local bodies do not have any independent revenues. Thereis no separate list of tax bases assigned to them in the Constitution and they have todepend on the State governments to levy the taxes . There is also the problem of adminis-trative capacity and interest groups resisting payment of taxes and user charges.

In this context, the criticism that the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) did notcontinue the decentralisation reform initiated by the Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC)needs explanation. Specifically, while the TFC initiated a package of conditionalities foravailing the performance grants which was not continued by the FFC. The important fea-tures of the TFC recommendations included linking the grants to local governments toprevious year’s divisible pool of taxes and linking a significant proportion of the grantsfor performance.





In contrast, the FFC while recommending a much higher level of transfers, did notsee Constitutional validity in linking the transfers to the divisible pool. It continued theperformance grants, but linked them directly to the actions by the panchayats and mu-nicipalities rather than the State governments. Thus, the FFC in its report explained that itdid not carry on the scheme of rewards and punishment because truthful adherence tothe Constitutional framework did not permit it to do so. It is another issue that only afraction of the performance grants recommended by the TFC were actually utilised andthe Union government was the beneficiary in the process!

Indeed, the framework needs to be evolved to accommodate the demand fordecentralisation. Even within the existing framework, it is important for intellectuals andthe press to pressurise the States to comply with the Constitutional provisions like cre-ation of planning authorities and appointment SFCs, if necessary through public interestlitigations. The SFCs have an important role to play which can be fulfilled only whenState governments take them seriously.

(The Hindu)

Downstream concerns on the BrahmaputraAs China’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Brahmaputra, or YarlungTsangpo, be-

came fully operational this month, it has once again evoked concerns in India. The $1.5billion Zangmu hydroelectric dam has stoked a virtual paranoia over China’s resourcechoices and their likely downstream impact. But the debate has generated more heat thanlight. It has also unwittingly ended up being a single-issue debate, fixated on water di-version and its likely impact. But is that all there is to it?

An overwhelming focus on diversion has moved attention away from other criticalissues such as water quality that India needs to raise with China. There are growing con-cerns over worsening environmental degradation facing Tibet’s ‘Three Rivers area’ com-prising the YarlungTsangpo, Lhasa river and Nyangchu basins in central Tibet. One ofthe most intensely exploited areas in this region is the Gyama valley, situated south ofthe Lhasa river, with large polymetallic deposits of copper, molybdenum, gold, silver,lead and zinc. Studies by Chinese scientists are pointing to the possibility of a high con-tent of heavy metals in the stream sediments and tailings that could pose a potentialthreat to downstream water users. Global warming could further accelerate the move-ment of these heavy metals besides projected spatial and temporal variations in wateravailability. By 2050, the annual runoff in the Brahmaputra is projected to decline by 14per cent. This will have significant implications for food security and social stability,given the impact on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture.

The cumulative impact of run-of-the-river dams also remains ill-defined and littleunderstood. In this regard, the Ninth Report of the Inter-Ministerial Expert Group on theBrahmaputra (IMEG) in 2013 called for a close monitoring of the 39 run-of-the-river projectson the YarlungTsangpo and its tributaries. Despite being projected as run-of-the-riverprojects, the fact that the Jiexu, Jiacha and Zangmu dams are within 25 km of each otherand at a distance of 550 km from the Indian border has further stoked downstream con-cerns.

What sort of normative bargains should we be mindful of while designing data-sharing protocols between India and China? Are these to be seen merely as commercialtransactions or do these raise larger questions regarding contested market-based mecha-nisms such as Payment for Ecosystem Services? While India provides flood-forecasting





data to Pakistan and Bangladesh free of cost, it pays to receive the data from China. Indiapays China Rs. 82 lakh annually to receive advance flood data as per MOUs reached in2008, 2010 and 2013. These provide flow data from May to October on the water level,discharge and rainfall from three measuring stations on the Brahmaputra, namely Nugesha,Yangcun and Nuxia.

The justification for payments is being advanced on the premise that downstreamusers are disproportionate beneficiaries of data flows. But then it can also be argued thatlocation bestows a disproportionate advantage on the upper riparian and consequently aprimary responsibility to build cultures of trust and confidence within the region. Anupper riparian’s willingness to bear the costs involved in the maintenance and operationof upstream measuring stations could be read as an indicator of its willingness to investin such riparian trust-building practices. These could further strengthen the larger philo-sophical argument of an inherently intrinsic as against instrumental value of nature andhave beneficial ripple effects on the discourse on water as a human right within the re-gion.

(The Hindu)

Fast forwarding to thoriumWhat is the single greatest factor that prevents the large-scale deployment of tho-

rium-fuelled reactors in India? Most people would assume that it is a limitation of tech-nology, still just out of grasp. After all, the construction of the advanced heavy-waterreactor (AHWR) — a 300 MWe, indigenously designed, thorium-fuelled, commercial tech-nology demonstrator — has been put off several times since it was first announced in2004. However, scientists at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre have successfully testedall relevant thorium-related technologies in the laboratory, achieving even industrial scalecapability in some of them. In fact, if pressed, India could probably begin full-scale de-ployment of thorium reactors in ten years. The single greatest hurdle, to answer the origi-nal question, is the critical shortage of fissile material.

A fissile material is one that can sustain a chain reaction upon bombardment byneutrons. Thorium is by itself fertile, meaning that it can transmute into a fissile radioiso-tope but cannot itself keep a chain reaction going. In a thorium reactor, a fissile materiallike uranium or plutonium is blanketed by thorium. The fissile material, also called adriver in this case, drives the chain reaction to produce energy while simultaneouslytransmuting the fertile material into fissile material. India has very modest deposits ofuranium and some of the world’s largest sources of thorium. It was keeping this in mindthat in 1954, Homi Bhabha envisioned India’s nuclear power programme in three stagesto suit the country’s resource profile. In the first stage, heavy water reactors fuelled bynatural uranium would produce plutonium; the second stage would initially be fuelledby a mix of the plutonium from the first stage and natural uranium. This uranium wouldtransmute into more plutonium and once sufficient stocks have been built up, thoriumwould be introduced into the fuel cycle to convert it into uranium 233 for the third stage.In the final stage, a mix of thorium and uranium fuels the reactors. The thorium trans-mutes to U-233 as in the second stage, which powers the reactor. Fresh thorium can re-place the depleted thorium in the reactor core, making it essentially a thorium-fuelledreactor even though it is the U-233 that is undergoing fission to produce electricity.

After decades of operating pressurised heavy-water reactors (PHWR), India is fi-nally ready to start the second stage. A 500 MW Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) atKalpakkam is set to achieve criticality any day now and four more fast breeder reactors





have been sanctioned, two at the same site and two elsewhere. However, experts esti-mate that it would take India many more FBRs and at least another four decades before ithas built up a sufficient fissile material inventory to launch the third stage. The earliestprojections place major thorium reactor construction in the late 2040s, some past 2070.India cannot wait that long.Procuring fissile material

The mainstreaming of thorium reactors worldwide thus offers an enormous advan-tage to proliferation-resistance as well as the environment. Admittedly, there still remainsa proliferation risk, but these can be addressed by already existing safeguards. For India,it offers the added benefit that it can act as a guarantor for the lifetime supply of nuclearfuel for reactors if it chooses to enter the export market, something it is unable to do foruranium-fuelled reactors.

It is clear that India stands to profit greatly from plutonium trading but what com-pelling reason does the world have to accommodate India? The most significant carrotwould be that all of India’s FBRs that are tasked for civilian purposes can come underinternational safeguards in a system similar to the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. There is littledoubt that India will one day have a fleet of FBRs and large quantities of fissile materialthat can easily be redirected towards its weapons programme. This will limit how quicklyIndia can grow its nuclear arsenal to match that of, say, China. Delhi has shown no incli-nation to do so until now, but the world community would surely prefer that as much aspossible of India’s plutonium was locked under safeguards.

The U.S. could perhaps emerge as the greatest obstacle to plutonium commerce.Washington has been resolutely opposed to reprocessing since the Carter administra-tion, preferring instead the wasteful once-through, open fuel cycle. Although the U.S.cannot prevent countries from trading in plutonium, it has the power to make it uncom-fortable for them via sanctions, reduced scientific cooperation, and other mechanisms.The strong non-proliferation lobby in the U.S. is also likely to be nettled that a non-signa-tory of the NPT would now move to open and regulate trade in plutonium. The chal-lenge for Delhi is to convince Washington to sponsor rather than oppose such a venture.In this, a sizeable portion of the nuclear industry could be Delhi’s allies.

(The Hindu)

Towards an honourable exit for allEveryone agrees that a ceasefire and a political settlement are necessary for Syria.

Too many people have been displaced; too much destruction has been wrought on thiscountry. Syria is, in many ways, broken. War has led nowhere and none of the actors cancredibly claim victory now, or hope for a final victory later. Everyone has been defeatedin Syria.The 2011 uprising easily morphed, therefore, into a battleground for regionalinterests — with Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. rushing in to form their ownproxies, as Iran and Russia joined in to help the government. Russia’s military interven-tion a few weeks ago was designed less to hit Islamic State targets and more to pressureQatari, Turkish, Saudi and al-Qaeda proxies along the western axis of Syria. Cooperationwith the U.S. to prevent any mid-air accidents and coordination with Iraq and Jordan overair strikes suggest acquiescence with the Russian project. Russian aircraft and groundforces closed off the possibility of Western-backed regime change in Syria. It, therefore,forced the regional powers to reconsider their commitment to regime change.

The Vienna meetings of the regional powers with the U.S. and Russia on October 23and October 30 opened up a new diplomatic page. In 2012, these regional powers had





created a Syria Contact Group, which met in Cairo. That Group was not permitted tomake an impact because of the West’s insistence on regime change. Now — with regimechange off the table — diplomacy has been allowed to proceed. Though the communiquéfrom the Vienna meeting was anodyne, far more was established. Saudi Arabia was theleast invested in any dialogue but did not leave the table. The Saudis are already over-stretched in Yemen and unable to move a more robust agenda for their proxies in Syria.They require a way to walk away from this war. Turkey too is not capable of honouringits pledge to remove Mr. Assad. Ten days ago, a Turkish diplomat told me that his gov-ernment was now willing to consider a political process because the Russians have guar-anteed Mr. Assad’s departure after six months. This guarantee is the basis for the politicalprocess. The re-election of the AKP or the Justice and Development Party in Turkey doesnot suggest that it would snub the Russian offer. Too much is at stake for the Turks toremain outside this process.

Mr. Assad is no longer the issue. Western capitals now acknowledge he is person-ally weak. What they fear is the collapse of Syrian state institutions. To push harder againstMr. Assad might risk the destruction of these institutions. The process of a political settle-ment will have to come with him because insistence on his departure has lengthened theprocess and threatened the state institutions. The political transition will have to comewith Mr. Assad in place, but with guarantees of his departure within a specified — butsecret — timeframe. This is the view of the Russians and the Iranians.When Mr. Assadreturned from Moscow, he announced early elections as a way to signal this six-monthtimetable. The second Vienna meeting echoed this statement. The idea of “elections” is,of course, merely symbolic. Half of Syria’s population is displaced, a major populationcenter (Aleppo) is a battlefield and IS holds another city (Raqqa). The last election in 2014was held in areas controlled by Damascus and amongst refugees who were willing tovote in Syrian embassies abroad. United Nations General-Secretary Ban ki-Moon warnedthat the election of 2014 would “damage the political process.” At the time, the politicalprocess was already in abeyance. People whom I met on the streets who had voted in theelection said that they voted not for Mr. Assad but for stability. They wanted the war toend then. It did not. It would be difficult to see the current call for elections as anythingother than an indication of the new balance of forces, with the President gesturing for anopening to the opposition.

But what is left of the stalwart opposition? This April one of the oppositional figures— Louay Hussein, who heads Building the Syrian State — fled to Spain. In al-Hayat , Mr.Hussein had argued that vast areas of the country and many communities “would prob-ably find it hard to rejoin a central state, even with al-Assad absent.” This is a prescientassessment. The opposition is as fragmented as the country. Deep divides prevent the“Damascus Opposition” (those who remained in the capital) from building unity withthe external opposition, notably the Syrian National Council, which has lost its followinginside Syria.

The gap between what this meeting called for and what Mr. Assad believes is nowvery narrow. Among this team would be the well-regarded academic Haytham Manna,who was once deputy to Hassan Abdul Azim. Over this summer, Mr. Manna said, “Forfour years we have assassinated every political initiative in Syria. We need to go back toa normal political life. We need to stop this dirty war.” It is likely that these figures — andsome who have been keeping a low profile over this past year (such as the aristocraticdefector, ManafTlass) — will take advantage of this new opportunity.

Between the Vienna meetings, Oman’s Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi visited





Damascus. Oman was the secret post-office for the U.S.-Iran backchannel negotiations. InAugust, Syria’s Foreign Minister, Walid Muallem, visited Muscat. This is the return trip.Oman’s diplomats are likely carrying messages to Damascus from the U.S.and, perhaps,Saudi Arabia. Often, in these matters, the real work gets done with a wink and a nod. ForSyria’s sake, with IS at the doorstep of Homs, one hopes that these are not empty ges-tures.

(The Hindu)

Uneasy neighboursLess than a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Neighbourhood First policy

was being hailed as a radical new breakthrough. It is clear now, to even the most incorri-gible optimists, that the product hasn’t delivered on its billing. Nepal’s relations withIndia have sunk to a historic low, with what is perceived as an informal but state-backedblockade incensing large swathes of the country. India has watched from the sidelines asthe Maldives prepares to jump into the abyss. Facing a serious threat from jihadist terror-ism, the government has instead expended its energies on imprisoning much of the op-position leadership, prosecuting one vice president on charges of trying to assassinatethe president, impeaching another, removing two defence ministers, and throwing outtwo Supreme Court judges.

The Modi government has dismantled what it sees as PM Manmohan Singh’s flawedpolicies on Pakistan, but the contours of what it intends to put in its place are still un-known. Bangladesh continues to complain of the lack of counter-terrorism cooperationfrom West Bengal, among other things. Ties with Sri Lanka, though cordial, haven’t shownany exceptional energy or direction. Myanmar, outraged by India’s decision to go publicwith a cross-border raid earlier this year, has been assuaged — but there’s no great pushon economic ties or strategic cooperation.

The lesson in this is a simple one. For all of Modi’s high-energy performances on theinternational stage, his foreign policy still lacks a script. For the most part, the PM hasbeen content to allow foreign policy bureaucrats to continue down the path of their pre-decessors. In other cases, he has demanded change — but is yet to articulate what alter-nate course he wishes to take. In some cases, like Nepal, policy seems to have becomehostage to special interests, like Hindutva politicians with interests in Bihar.

Put simply, the Neighbourhood First policy hasn’t shaken India out of the torporthat characterised the last years of the UPA government. Manmohan Singh’s diminishedpolitical authority meant his Sri Lanka policy was hostage to parochial politics in TamilNadu, and that he was unable to block West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’ssuccessful campaign to sabotage relations with Bangladesh. Manmohan Singh was un-able, moreover, to reframe India’s policy after the collapse of General Pervez Musharraf’sregime, with whom he had made real progress. There’s no disputing that Modi broughtnew energy to these problems. Energy, though, isn’t policy.





MCQ

National1. With respect to straw burning which among the following is correct?

a) Straw burning is a practice used for burning agricultural residue after cutting thecrop.

b) Recently NGT announced a fine of Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 15,000 on farmers foundindulging in straw burning.

A) a only B) b only

C) Both D) None

Ans: C

2. Consider the following statements and mark the correct one?a) GSAT-15 is a communication satellite which will replace INSAT-3A, 4B.

b) GSAT -15 will be flown along with Saudi Arabia's Arabsat-6B/Badr-7.

c) It will not help in navigation system of GAGAN.

A) a, b B) b, c

C) c,a D) All

Ans: A

3. What is IMPRINT- India project?A) It is a pan-IIT and IISc joint collaboration to develop a blueprint for research of

immediate relevance to society requiring innovation, direct scientific researchinto identified areas.

B) It is an initiative for the protection of IPR in India.

C) It is an initiative to increase the accountability of press in India.

D) None of the above

Ans: A

International1. Spartly islands are part of which ocean/ sea?

A) East China sea B) South China Sea

C) Indian ocean D) None of the above

Ans: B

India and World1. Which among the following is correct with respect to nuclear suppliers group?

a) It is a 48 member countries body body concerned with reducing nuclearproliferation by controlling the export and re-transfer of materials.

b) India is a member to NSG.

A) a only B) b only





C) Both D) None

Ans: A

Economy1. Consider the following statements and find out which among them are correct?

a) Ease of doing business index is published by World Bank.

b) India’s ranking in this year report is 130.

A) b only B) a only

C) both D) none

Ans: C

1. As proposed by cabinet monetary policy in India will be determined by a committeein the future. Which among the following statements is correct regarding thecommittee?a) Committee will have five members in which the government will nominate two

members and the RBI one expert, besides two of its officials: the Deputy Governorand the executive director;

b) RBI Governor will have veto power in the committee.

A) a only B) b only

C) Both D) None

Ans: A



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