16 April - 22 April 2013 Issue-16/2013 (16th April to 22nd April)

CURRENT AFFAIRS
CLASS NOTES: 16 Apr -22 Apr, 2013
(Compiled from 11 Newspapers & 7 Magazines)
16 April 2013 Plugging the loopholes in Right to Education
RTE has failed to understand why many children dont enroll themselves (or rather, why their parents dont enroll them), or having done so, drop out. The main reason is POOR PERCEIVED RETURNS. How? incremental returns from incremental knowledge tapers off. water schemes to power plants to technology parks and railway infrastructure. India does not attach any conditionality, does not prescribe policies and does not challenge national sovereignty

It is no social stigma to be illiterate, when generations have remained illiterate. Peer pressure exists more at a younger age; it is less at the secondary and least at the graduate levels, explaining dropouts at later stages. MAKING RTE WORK

Sleeping Buddha of Tajikistan

A new and unique statue of Sleeping Buddha at a museum in Tajikistans capital here showcases ancient cultural and historical ties between both the countries and attracts a number of visitors to this central Asian nation. Inaugurated late last month by Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon. The original Sleeping Buddha is kept in National Museum of Antiquities in India. Historical piece was excavated by Soviet archaeologists in 1996, from a Buddhist monastery complex in Ajina Teppa in southern Tajikistan. Ajina Teppa was an important location on the ancient Silk Route connecting China with Europe and central Asia with the Indian seaports. Hamid Ansari during his visit mentioned that the cross fertilisation of ideas, ideology, commerce and people-to-people contact at that point of time is evident from the artifacts kept in the museum.

For the parents, putting their wards in schools involves two kinds of costs paid out costs (fee, cost of books, transport, etc.) and foregone earnings of not having them work the fields or other petty errands.

To reduce the cost of foregone incomes, the schools will have to adjust their timings, so as not to clash with harvest; transplanting or sowing seasons or dates.
Midday meals will reduce the burden on parents and provide an immediate return on their investment.

Unless they feel (based on what they see and observe) their costs and foregone incomes (investments) will earn returns higher than their high discounting rate at the end of their education of 12 years (up to secondary education), it will be irrational for them to send their children to school.

Focus should shift to skill development, after children attain basic physical maturity. This can promise them the returns.

NEWS IN NUTSHELL North-South cooperation is needed for SouthSouth co-operation

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced plans for cutting aid to India and the U.K. has already firmed up plans to do away with it by 2015. India faces the prospect of receiving lesser aid from the North. Because overseas aid programme of India is making developed nations cut their aid. South-South Cooperation has to be accompanied by a significant enhancement of North-South aid flows, not their diminution Through concessional Lines of Credit, one of the active components of the Indian development cooperation portfolio, over 150 lines of credit, totaling over dollars 9.5 billion, have been allocated for Africa and other developing countries to finance projects ranging from drinking

Currently, the demonstrated returns from being a successful secondary student, if discounted for 12 years at their high discounting rate, is very less.

Therefore the preference is for immediate benefit. We see this in voting patterns as well. The fruits of development and good administration are distant dreams, compared with a few wads of notes or other short-term gratifications. WHY DROP OUTS? The foregone earnings of children are low to begin with, due to physical maturity levels. For parents of such children it may make relatively better sense to send their wards to school. However as they age, their productivity and hence foregone income increases and the

Nicolas Maduro ,Chavez protg wins vote by thin margin

Venezuelas acting President Nicolas Maduro was declared winner of the election to succeed his late mentor Hugo Chavez by a razor-thin margin Mr. Maduro had won with just 50.66 per cent of the vote compared to 49.1 per cent for Mr. Capriles a difference of less than 300,000 votes.

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Current Affairs Notes

16 April - 22 April 2013 Gir lions to be shifted to M.P after courts nod
The Supreme Court gives a ruling that some of the Asiatic lions currently found only in the famed Gir sanctuary (Gujarat) must be shifted to Kuno (M.P) within six months. The decision was taken by National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for the shifting because the Asiatic Lion should need a second home to save it from extinction due to catastrophes like epidemic, large forest fire etc. It also says NO to translocation of Namibian cheetahs to India. The native cheetah went extinct over 60 years ago Compensation tariff package to Tatas Mundra project The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) ordered a compensatory tariff package for Tata Power-owned 4,000 MW Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) over and above the tariff agreed in the power purchase agreements (PPAs). This sets the path for similar relief for other power projects A new committee will be set up which shall go into the impact of the price escalation of the Indonesian coal on the project viability and suggest a package for compensatory tariff Central and State Information Commissions. It also states that, wherever a Chief Information Commissioner is of the opinion that intricate questions of law have to be decided in a matter, he will ensure the matter is heard by a Bench of which at least one member has knowledge and experience in the field of law The stayed sub-paras of the apex courts ruling stipulated that the Information Commissions should work in Benches of two members and each Bench should comprise a legally trained member, who is to be appointed in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justices of the High Courts of States concerned.

Cheaper Gold
Why the price is falling? Fears of a Cyprus gold sale, liquidations in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and unwinding of long positions by institutions in the international markets and finally the magnitude and the forcefulness of the recent fall

Lab-made kidney, a promising work

Bio-engineered a kidney by US scientists has been transplanted it into rats, marking a step forward in a quest to help patients suffering from kidney failure. This is a prototype biokidney that can work, emulating breakthroughs elsewhere to build replacement structures for livers, hearts and lungs. The work entailed taking a rat kidney and stripping out its living cells using a detergent solution, leaving behind a shell made of collagen. The next step was to repopulate this empty structure with living cells, comprising human endothelial cells, which line the walls of blood vessels in the kidney, and kidney cells taken from newborn rats The trick was then to seed these cells in the correct part of the kidney, using a muscle duct called the ureter as a tube. The team transplanted the organ into living rats from which a kidney had been removed. The new kidney started filtering blood and producing urine through the ureter as soon as the bloody supply was restored, and there was no evidence of bleeding or clots.

So even after a correction of almost 20 per cent from the lifetime high of Rs. 32,464 per 10 grams, Investors need to still wait before taking any long position. On the Multi-Commodity Exchange( MCX) front, prices might correct up to levels of Rs. 25,800 and Rs. 25,000 per 10 grams.

Commission (CIC) set up under the Right to Information Act is the authorised body, established in 2005, under the Government of India to act upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer

Background information on Central Information Commission The Central Information

or State Public Information Officer due to either the officer not having been appointed,
or because the respective Central Assistant Public Information Officer

Inflation down to 3-year low

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)is down to lowest level since December 2009 when it was 4.95 percent. Downward trend vegetable prices pulled down inflation to over three-year low of 5.96 percent in March. This has increased the possibility of a rate cut by the RBI. In the last policy review in March, when RBI had cut the repo rate by 0.25 percentage points to 7.5 percent, the apex bank had virtually ruled out a rate cut in the near future, saying it had a limited room because of the high current account deficit. WPI had come down mainly on easing of fruits and vegetable prices, but retail inflation continued to be in double digit as food inflation remained structurally high.

State Assistant Public Information Officer refused to receive the application for information under the RTI Act. Satyanand Mishra is the current
Chief Information Commissioner. He is being assisted by seven Information Commissioners

NEWS IN NUTSHELL Irans earthquake jolts India

Earthquake in Iran was a deep earthquake, and not a shallow one, with the hypocentre estimated to be about 82 km. So it was not felt in all parts of north India Hypocentre is the position below the surface of the earth where the built-up strain energy in the rocks is first released and the fault begins to rupture. It is directly below the epicenter. Its being caused not due to a surface fault

17 April 2013 Supreme Court ruling on appointments in information panels

SC stayed its direction in last year September that only sitting or retired chief justices of High Courts or an apex court judge can head the

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but due to a faulting in the subduction zone. Subduction zones occur when oceanic crust of one tectonic plate dives under the oceanic crust or continental crust of another and there is a build-up of strain energy in the plates. This region has complex tectonics with the Indian plate subducting obliquely under the Eurasian plate in particular. No fewer than four major tectonic plates (Arabia, Eurasia, India and Africa) and minor smaller tectonic blocks such as the Oman plate are converging and the compression that is taking place is responsible for seismicity and tectonics in the region Arabian plate is converging in the north-northeastern direction on the Makran coast of Iran and Pakistan at about 37 mm/yr with respect to the Eurasian plate, the Indian plate is converging northwards at about the same rate. international pricing would lead to a massive hike in power tariffs and hefty rise in fertilizer prices The Commission feels the Rangarajan panels formula for natural gas price at $8.5 mBtu should be viewed as an interim or transitional solution valid up to the 12thPlan (March 31, 2017) and applicable for all existing contracts. Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP) and the Technical Cooperation Scheme of Colombo Plan, have contributed substantially to capacity building in many parts of the world. Capacity building in many parts of the world and scholarships. Running special courses at the request of countries or regions on specialized subjects such as election management, WTO studies, parliamentary practices and public-private partnerships. At the India-Africa Forum Summits in 2008 and 2011, India committed to establishing about 100 institutions in different African countries to strengthen capacities Illiterate grandmothers from various countries are trained in a remote village in Rajasthan, so that they can carry back solar electrification technologies to their remote villages in Africa, Central America, Asia or the Pacific Islands. The NGO SEWA Self Employed Womens Association similarly contributes to womens empowerment in rural Afghanistan through livelihood generating programmes An earlier example is from Green Revolution, when India shared with Vietnam research on high-yielding rice varieties through exchanges of scientists and the establishment of a Rice Research Institute in southern Vietnam. Over the last decade or so, over 150 Lines of Credit totaling over U.S. $9.5 billion have been allocated In all these strands of development assistance, our underlying philosophy remains that which underpins South-South cooperation. Conclusion

Dhruv copter aims for the gold standard in aviation

Home-grown advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv will go in for the coveted U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification, its virtual passport to a large global aviation market. A flight certification from the FAA is considered the gold standard in aviation. It can open up the global market for the multi-use helicopter, which has not met its export expectations so far.

Background information on Indian Plate

The India Plate or Indian Plate is a tectonic plate that was originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana from which it split off, eventually becoming a major plate. About 55 to 50 million years ago it fused with the adjacent Australian Plate. It is today part of the major Indo-Australian Plate, and includes most of South Asia i.e., the Indian subcontinent and a portion of the basin under the Indian Ocean, including parts of South China and Eastern Indonesia, and extending up to but not including Ladakh, Kohistan and Balochistan.

New power projects under strain sans price pooling tag

Close to about 16,000 MW of thermal power projects with an exposure of Rs.35,000 crore from various banks face the threat of turning into non-performing assets (NPAs) in view of the decision of the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) not to consider them under the price pooling formula of imported and domestic coal. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved that plants commissioned up to March 31, 2009, will continue to get domestic coal supply from Coal India Limited (CIL). In the case of plants commissioned/ to be commissioned between April 1, 2009, and March 31, 2015, CIL will provide imported coal on cost plus basis.

Planning Commission calls a Shift to global gas pricing regime,

The PC has recommended switching to the international pricing formula for natural gas which presently works out to $14.5 per MBTU, almost three times more than the present price of $4.2 mBtu (per million British thermal unit) by the beginning of the 13th Plan (2017-22) It has also sought that coal bed methane (CBM) gas and yet to be discovered shale gas be freed from any price control or approvals without any further delay. This demand has faced strong opposition from the Fertilizer and Power Ministries as well as power producers who fear switching to

18 April 2013 How India is playing its role in south-south cooperation?

The Indian Technical and Economic Assistance programme, ITEC, was launched in 1964 with the objective of sharing our knowledge and skills with fellow developing countries. Over nearly five decades, ITEC and its sister initiatives, the Special Commonwealth

We do not attach any

conditionality, we do not prescribe policies and we do not challenge national sovereignty. historic responsibility, SouthSouth cooperation is a voluntary partnership.

North-South cooperation is a

More Background on South-South cooperation

SouthSouth Cooperation is a term historically used by policymakers and academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and

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knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the global South. In 1978, the United Nations established the Unit for South South Cooperation to promote SouthSouth trade and collaboration within its agencies However, the idea of South South cooperation only started to influence the field of development in the late 1990s.Due to the geographical spectrum, the cooperation is now well known as South America-Africa (ASA) cooperation SouthSouth cooperation has been successful in decreasing dependence on the aid programs of developed countries and in creating a shift in the international balance of power database, with a resolution of 24 square metres as opposed to the 9 square km used by the Gadgil report. It then used remote sensing technology to distinguish between natural landscapes and cultural landscapes which include human settlements, fields and plantations. It recommends a prohibitory regime on those activities with maximum interventionist and destructive impact on the environment on about 90 per cent of the area of natural landscapes. The Gadgil report wanted the entire area of the Ghats to be graded into three levels of ecosensitive zones, each of which would have different restrictions. The four major restrictions in this area would be a total ban on fresh mining and a five-year phaseout of current mining, a ban on thermal power, all red category industries, all townships and any construction above 20,000 square metres. Also, the land-use change restrictions recommended by the WGEEP have been discarded. Restraints cannot be imposed on areas where people already live and work Instead, the report called for incentivizing green growth in the cultural landscape areas. Hydel power projects will be allowed subject to certain conditions, in stark contrast to the Gadgil recommendations, and a small window of hope has been provided for the future of the controversial Athirapally hydel power project in Kerala.

The Regulation of British press, finds opposition

The global community of news publishers and editors has reacted critically to U.K.s proposed move to set up a press regulator through a royal charter. The U.K. govt proposal has emerged in the wake of the Leveson Committees findings into the ethics of the British press after the phone-hacking scandal. The Committee had recommended the setting up of a new, independent body, with a range of sanctions, to replace the existing Press Complaints Commission. According to WAN-IFRA and World Editors Forum, Itll threaten more than 300 years of press freedom The proposed royal charter, the organisations said, would discourage investigative journalism and encourage selfcensorship as publishers who did not sign up to the approved regulator system could be liable for punitive damages, or alarmingly high libel costs. Disputes currently settled easily without cost to either side could become major compensation claims for even the smallest of errors

NEWS IN NUTSHELL Ravuri Bharadwaja gets Jnanpith

Telugu writer Ravuri Bharadwaja was selected for the prestigious Jnanpith award on Wednesday His creations Kadambari, Pakudurallu, Jeevana Samaram, Inupu Tera Venuka and Koumudi have been translated into English and various Indian languages. Though he studied only till Class VIII, his books have been prescribed as text books in universities and even been the basis of many research works.

Threat of H7N9
The new H7N9 avian flu virus is currently circulating in certain regions in China H7N9 is a product of reassortment of three avian influenza virus strains that infect only birds. Reassortment happens when gene swapping takes place between two or more viruses present at the same time in a host. The peculiar feature of the virus is that it causes only asymptomatic or mild disease even in birds. This allows the virus to silently spread among birds. In the case of H5N1, birds falling sick after infection were clearly seen, and this helped in knowing the spread of the infection.

K. Kasturirangan Panel calls for ban on mining in 37 % of Western Ghats

The panel submitted its report to Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Wednesday, was initially set up to review the more stringent recommendations of the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP) headed by ecologist Madhav Gadgil. Destructive activities such as mining, thermal power, major construction and some hydel power projects should not be allowed there. The panel was silent about any restrictions in the remaining 96,000 square km area, thus creating the perception that it had diluted earlier recommendations that the entire Ghats should be declared as an eco-sensitive area. It has used satellite data to produce a far more detailed

Roadblocks to Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link

The MMRDA has started the process of constructing the crucial link, Indias longest bridge on sea, which will cut travel time between south Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and to other upcoming projects such as the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport and satellite townships. Central security agencies have alerted the Centre about serious security ramifications that the project (the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) will have due to its proximity to several key installations, including the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the Mumbai Port Trust (MBPT) and the Mazagon Docks.

Secrets of the Sun unraveled

he suns magnetic field, evolves in a cycle, the most prominent of which is the reversal of its polarities which takes places every eleven years, which coincides with the sunspot appearances At the base of the suns

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turbulent convection layer, toruslike bands of magnetic field of opposite polarities form at midlatitude on either hemisphere. Intriguingly, the torus-like bands of magnetic field undergo polarity reversals once every forty years. Actually, the sun functions as a dynamo. In an ordinary dynamo, a conducting coil rotates in a magnetic field which causes an electromotive force (emf) to be set up in the coil. view of the transgender community, many members of whom identify themselves as women but is not born female. In provision after provision, the Act insistently and regressively defines the victim of sexual violence as being only a woman, thereby narrowing the scope of protection granted. The hope ignited by the Naz decision, and fuelled by the Verma Committee recommendations has been extinguished by the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013. comprehensive guidelines on tiger conservation and tourism on October 15, 2012, the Supreme Court permitted the reopening of tourism strictly in accordance with the guidelines. Visitation is now permissible in existing tourism zones subject to a maximum of 20 per cent of core areas being used But the important issue of creating viable buffers around a core area lost focus In most tiger reserves, core areas comprise notified sanctuaries and/or national parks, which are to be managed as areas free of incompatible human activity. Reserved forests, deemed forests and other unencumbered government land with some vegetation immediately abutting the CTHs are to be notified as buffer areas, which can act as shock absorbers for core areas While notifying such contiguous forests as buffer areas may be relatively easy, the real challenge is in creating viable buffers wherever private agricultural lands abut core areas. Merely notifying such areas as buffer or peripheral areas without any viable habitat, as is being done now, may not only fail to deliver the imagined benefits for tiger conservation but also lead to hostility and loss of support from the local community. Acquiring large extent of private land abutting tiger reserves, to insulate the entire core area with a complete wrap around buffer that can support wildlife might be impractical.

Western Ghats gives out two new genera of tree frogs

Newly found genera belonged to tree frog family Rhacophoridae. The frogs were discovered in highly threatened fresh water swamp eco systems One genus is named Beddomixalus after colonel Richard Henry Beddome. He was a gifted polymath of the colonial era. His works were the first detailed forays towards a systematic and through understanding of the amphibian diversity of the Western Ghats. They have been named as Beddomixalus bijui and the Mercurana myristicapalustris. They were found in Myristica swamp forests The other genus has been christened Mercurana to commemorate Freddie Mercury, late iconic lead singer of the British rock band Queen. Mercury (his pen name) was of Indian Parsi origin and had spent major part of his childhood in India in Panchagni, located in the northern part of the mountain range, where the frog now bearing his name has been discovered.

Background information:The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013

Highlights of the Bill The Bill and the Ordinance amend the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act. The amendments proposed seek to replace the offence of rape with sexual assault which has a wider definition. The Bill and the Ordinance protect the victim by penalising public servants who fail to record FIRs relating to sexual offences. They also require the victims to be provided with legal and medical assistance. The Bill specifies a separate offence for acid attack. The Ordinance provides for other new offences as well, such as stalking, voyeurism, assault to disrobe a woman and sexual harassment. The Ordinance prescribes higher punishments for sexual assault resulting in death or persistent vegetative state, gang sexual assault and repeat offenders. The Bill and the Ordinance increase the punishment for sexual assault upon a judicially separated wife. The Ordinance requires the court to be prima facie satisfied of the offence before it takes cognizance. The Bill and the Ordinance increase the consent age from 16 to 18 years

19 April 2013 Voice for transgender

Third viewpoint which has found no voice in any mainstream discussion on the issue of sexual violence. While Section 375 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 broadens the definition of rape beyond peno-vaginal intercourse, it is myopic in restricting the category of victim as being women only. This has very serious repercussions from the point of

Create a buffer zones for Tiger reserves

The Supreme Court issued interim directions to stop tourism in core or Critical Tiger Habitats (CTHs) and notify buffer areas. However, after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) filed

project promoters seeking diversion of forest land for a nonforestry purpose have to identify an equivalent area of non-forest land. This has to be transferred and mutated in favour of the forest department for declaration as reserved forest/Protected Forest (PF). The project must also deposit funds for taking up compensatory afforestation in such lands. Stage II clearance under the Forest Act is to be granted only after compliance of this important condition.

Why the current laws are not effective? Presently, most development

Unfortunately, in most cases, this important condition is relaxed based on certification by the State that sufficient/appropriate nonforest land is not available. In such

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cases a simpler condition of compensatory afforestation in degraded forest land twice the area diverted is insisted upon. This legal loophole has meant the loss of an excellent opportunity to create viable buffer areas as State governments routinely provide this exemption to most projects. only required in some cases because forest dwellers should be treated humanely and to ensure public consultation. consequence, pushed up the trade deficit to $190.91 billion. The zero duty EPCG benefit will be available to all sectors. Export obligation (EO) in the case of domestic sourcing of capital goods under EPCG authorizations had been reduced by 10 per cent to promote domestic manufacturing of capital goods.

Finally a draft of Land Acquisition Bill finds consensus

The government and opposition parties arrived at a broad consensus on the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 Land should be leased and not acquiredas that will not change the ownershipthe government has agreed to let individual states to decide. It proposes a compensation of four times the market value for people who give up their land for industrial and infrastructure projects in rural India. In urban areas, it will be twice the market value. It also seeks to address problems of industry when land is acquired for setting up projects. Consent of 80% of people is required for acquiring land for private industry. It provides for land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement of displaced people. It seeks to replace the existing Land Acquisition Act, 1894.

Way out: A participatory communitybased tourism plan can help reduce pressure on core areas.

NEWS IN NUTESHELL
In a Landmark judgment SC directs gram sabhas to take a call on Vedantas mining project In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the smallest units of local governance to use their powers and take a decision on whether the Vedanta groups $1.7 billion bauxite mining project in Odishas Niyamgiri Hills can go forward or not. Affirming the decision-making power of the village councils of Rayagada and Kalahandi under the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the court directed these gram sabhas to take a decision within three months on any claims of cultural, religious, community and individual rights that the forest dwellers of the region may have. SC is of the view that the question whether STs [Scheduled Tribes] and other TFDs [traditional forest dwellers], like Dongria Kondh, Kutia Kandha and others, have got any religious rights i.e. rights of worship over the Niyamgiri hills, known as Nimagiri, near Hundaljali, which is the hill top known as Niyam-Raja, have to be considered by the Gram Sabha Once the gram sabhas have made their decision, the court gave the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) a further two months to take a final decision on granting a forest clearance for the bauxite mining project being run as a joint venture between a Stateowned mining corporation and the U.K.-based Vedantas Indian arm. The verdict not just as a victory for the Dongria Kondhs against Vedanta, but as a validation of the gram sabhas powers under the FRA It could also throw a shadow on recent guidelines drafted by the Prime Ministers office, which seemed to hold that, under the FRA, gram sabha consent was not mandatory, and that its input was

To encourage manufacturing activity in Jammu and Kashmir, it was decided to reduce the specific EO to 25 per cent. At present 2 per cent interest subvention scheme was available to certain specific sectors such as handicrafts, handlooms carpets, ready-made garments, processed agricultural products, sports goods and toys. The scheme had been further widened to include 134 subsectors of engineering sector.

The new FTP widened the scope of utilization of duty credit scrip.

Norway had been added under Focus Market Scheme, and Venezuela under Special Focus Market Scheme

for 2013-14 was unveiled by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, on Thursday, contains a slew of measures which include, among others, extension of zero duty Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme to all sectors, extension of TUFs (Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme) benefits to EPCG, promotion of incremental exports, widening the market and product focus scheme and extension of interest subvention scheme till March 2014. Majority of the measures are aimed at giving a big boost to the labour-intensive handicrafts, handloom, ready-made garments and man-made fabrics sectors which form a major chunk of the textiles exports which have been on the decline for the past many months.

Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for 2013-14 The Foreign Trade Policy (FTP)

About 126 new products have been added under Focus Product Scheme from sectors such as engineering, electronics, chemicals, textiles and pharmaceuticals. About 47 new products have been added under Market-Linked Focus Product Scheme (MLFPS) with two new countries Brunei and Yemen added as new markets.
The Government allowing hotels and tour operators to import cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) under the Served from India Scheme (SFIS).

The FTP document said the SFIS scrip can be used for payment of import duties. The service providers are entitled to duty credit scrip under SFIS at the rate of 10 per cent of free foreign exchange earned during a financial year.

These vehicles will not be allowed to be imported under EPCG scheme.

Minimum land limit for upcoming SEZ is decreased

A new reformist policy for Special Economic Zones (SEZs) was announced. A set of reforms for Special Economic Zones (SEZ) were announced which include relaxation of land requirement

The measures were primarily aimed at giving a big push to exports which showed a decline of 1.76 per cent to $300.6 billion during 2012-13 and, as a

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norms, introduction of graded scale for minimum land criteria, offering an exit policy and doing away with minimum land requirement for setting up an IT/ITeS SEZs. The minimum built-up area requirement had been considerably relaxed at one lakh sq.m for Mumbai, Delhi (NCR), Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata. For class Bcities, minimum built-up area would be 50,000 sq. m. For other cities, 25,000 sq. m. built-up area norm would be applicable. To provide greater flexibility in utilizing land tracts falling between 50 hectares and 450 hectares, it had been decided to introduce graded scale for minimum land criteria which would permit a SEZ an additional sector for each contiguous 50 hectare parcel of land. For multi-product SEZ, minimum land requirement has been brought down from 1,000 hectares to 500 hectares, and for sector-specific SEZs, it has been brought down to 50 hectares No minimum land requirement for setting up IT\ITeS SEZs. The minimum built-up area criteria, too, was eased. Mr. Sharma said it had now been decided to allow transfer of ownership of SEZ units, including sale. Flexibility to set up additional units in a sector-specific SEZ had been provided by introducing sectoral broad-banding to encompass similar or related areas under the same sector. The private TV industry claims it is seriously starved of satellite capacity for its operations. 75 percent of the 820-odd private channels are beaming into Indian homes through leases on foreign satellites. While ISRO tightly regulates this lease, it provides only 25 per cent of industry requirements on its own INSAT/GSAT communication satellites. Broadcasters beam in two frequency bands, technically called the C-band and the Ku-band; the latter is used by the Direct to Home segment. It is estimated that ISROs satellites supply only 18 of the 31 C-band transponders they currently need, and 18 of the 73 Ku band transponders required by the six private DTH operators Airtel Digital, Dish TV, Reliance Digital, Sun Direct, Tata Sky and Videocon d2h. The rest of their requirement is run on foreign satellites. INSAT capacity has not been augmented in the last three consecutive years. One reason is that two Indian satellite launches failed in a row. In 2010, ISRO lost two entire communications satellites (GSAT-4 and GSAT-5P) while launching them on its GSLV test vehicle; it also soon lost half of INSAT-4B which got crippled in orbit Industry wants foreign satellite leases to be contracted for 10-15-years as it gives it reasonable prices and longer security in space. It also suggests automatic renewal on the same satellite, tying up with foreign operators for long-term deals; and a single window approval through multiple ministries [Space, Telecommunications, Home and Information & Broadcasting.] The 2000 SatCom Policy allows privately owned Indian satellites; they cannot happen without supportive policies, With all transponder-using groups hitting a high growth curve, it appears unlikely that the great Indian space hole will close any time soon. Background information on Satellite Frequency Bands

L-Band (1-2 GHz)

Being a relatively low frequency, Lband is easier to process, requiring less sophisticated and less expensive RF equipment, and due to a wider beam width, the pointing accuracy of the antenna does not have to be as accurate as the higher bands.

C-Band (4-8 GHz)

Satellite C-band usually transmits around 6 GHz and receives around 4 GHz. It uses large (2.4- 3.7 meter) antennas. These are the large white domes that you see on top of the cruise ships and commercial vessels.

All this set back the nation by some 50 transponders.

The space agency has greatly fallen behind its 11th Plan target of creating 500 transponders. Of the total number of 263 transponders in use in the country as of September 2012, the INSAT/ GSAT fleet provides 168. ISRO hired 95 transponders on foreign satellites to meet its overall demand. We are following two-three routes to meet the demand, Dr. Radhakrishnan had said in 2011. The organisation is working to send large, improved four and sixton satellites to meet the INSAT demand. More than mere foreign leases, the broadcasting industry is anguished by an outdated ISRO rule of three-year leases, after which it must seek fresh approvals all over again for the same satellite, or for small additional space on it

Ku-Band (12-18 GHz)

Ku-Band refers to the lower portion of the K-Band. The u comes from a German term referring to under whereas the a in Ka- Band refers to above or the top part of K-Band. The middle portion of K-Band is a bit of a mystery. Ku-Band is most commonly used for satellite TV and is used for most VSAT systems on yachts and ships today. There is much more bandwidth available in Ku -Band and it is therefore less expensive that C or L-band.

20 April 2013 Shortage of transponders in space

From its inception in 1969, the national space programme has been a source of pride and inspiration for most Indians. Bracketed with its cousins, atomic energy and defence research, the Department of Space has some 100 users for its satellite communication applications alone. One of these is the private/ commercial television broadcasting sector. The state-run ISRO is the sole provider of satellite capacity or transponders for broadcasters and other public and private users of space applications in the country.

Ka-Band (26.5-40 GHz)

Ka-Band (pronounced Kay-A) is an extremely high frequency requiring great pointing accuracy and sophisticated RF equipment. Like Ku-band it is susceptible to rain fade. It is commonly used for high definition satellite TV. It is also used today for terrestrial VSAT

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Current Affairs Notes

16 April - 22 April 2013 An invitation from Myanmar for better relations

Our bilateral relations with Myanmar have gathered momentum in recent times. India has made substantial commitments to assist Myanmar in the areas of capacity building, connectivity, infrastructure and border region development India figures at only the seventh place in Myanmars total imports and ranks, even lower at the13th place in terms of foreign investments into Myanmar. President Thein Sein has, in the last two years, taken the country towards a democratic path that has made political life more inclusive One can expect that responsible leaders of Myanmar would not want adverse domestic developments to affect its hosting of international events in the coming months for the first time, the World Economic Forum East Asia Summit in June and the South East Asian Games in December 2013. It will also chair the ASEAN from January 2014. Myanmar is also moving towards an accelerated development programme with the promise of a more open economy. An unexpectedly deliberative Parliament, social activism and loosening of media controls have further energized the process. V.S Sheshadri (Indian Ambassador to Myanmar from July 2010 to February 2013) says Myanmar is open for trade and investment but the response from Indian business has not been adequate despite the growing political ties between the two countries from the government, the domestic units would turn sick. ISMA said that, in 2013, analysts expect there will be close to 1 GW worth of project installations in India. The thin-film, a technology most experts agree is unsuitable for India, takes 75 per cent share of the projects purely due to subsidised financing. Many sub-standard modules also make their way into India as the policy remains sensitive only to cost and not quality, which , in the long-term, will harm the industry However only 10-15 per cent, of these project installations will use domestically made cells and modules, even though the industry has the capacity to provide. opening a dialogue with the member-states of the Customs Union Russian Federation, Kazakhstan and Belarus for the possibility of entering into a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) The Commerce Ministry has initiated discussions with ECC for moving forward with the proposal of CECA with the Customs Union. These are likely to be given a final shape during my visit to St. Petersburg for the International Economic Forum meeting in June.

4G testing in India by Reliance

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has allocated 10,000 numbers to Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, for testing 4G services in Delhi, Mumbai and Jamnagar. The company, in its communication to the department, has said that it has developed a technology, VoLTE, in preparation of a unified licensing regime recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) under which consumers will be able to get voice, messaging and video using a single device.

Endangered spider sighted at foothills of Seshachalam hills

This sighting of a rare poisonous spider was after a gap of 113 years in India at the foothills of Tirumala. This spider belonging to the genus poecilotheria is known to be native to India and Sri Lanka Found in the Seshachalam hills The dead specimen of Theraphosid spider, a variety listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered.

Details on VoLTE
The Voice over LTE, VoLTE scheme was devised as a result of operators seeking a standardized system for transferring voice traffic over LTE. Originally LTE was seen as a completely IP cellular system just for carrying data, and operators would be able to carry voice either by reverting to 2G / 3G systems or by using VoIP. VoLTE technology would enable it to work seamlessly with the existing 2G, 3G, NLD and ILD networks. The VoLTE technology of the company is expected to provide an alternative to applications now used for making calls and video chat using internet. 100 percent of these installations.

Fleet Support Ships sought by Indian Navy

The Indian Navy plans to acquire five self-propelled Fleet Support Ships (FSS) that should be capable of transferring all types of stores, ammunition, fuel and personnel to naval units while underway at sea. This is to further bolster its blue water capabilities. The Navy wants the FSS to be able to perform a 60-day mission with the capability to operate for an extended mission on requirement and be able to endure a trip of 12,000 nautical miles at a speed of 16 knots. The FSS should have a service life of 30 years, be capable of operating helicopters in extremely rough and cyclonic sea conditions and should possess ballast capability.

NEWS IN NUTSHELL Anti-dumping duty on imports from China

The Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA) has called for imposition of antidumping duty on cheap imported solar equipment from China to protect the interests of the Indian industry. Stating that the government should encourage domestic production, something that is practiced in countries such as Italy and Canada, ISMA said in the absence of any clear directions

21 April 2013 Paper Gold

What is e-Gold? This is a purchase option, involving investments in units traded on the National Spot Exchange (NSEL).

India is exploring CECA with Customs Union of Russia

India has sought the Russian Governments intervention in

Here, the investor is required to

have a demat account with an

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affiliate of NSEL. e-Golds brokerage and transaction charges are lower than gold ETFs as there are no fund management charges. Children) Act, 2000.By the end of financial year 2011-2012, 733 homes were fully supported by the government under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. Madhya Pradesh tops with 9,465 cases former Secretary in the Department of Biotechnology, Olympian Mary Kom, Hindustani musician Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, industrialist Adi Godrej and Bharatnatyam exponent Saroja Vaidyanathan.

One can take delivery of gold or

sell it in the exchange. Under e-Gold, one has to hold the yellow metal for 36 months to enjoy long-term capital gain benefits, and this is taxed at 20 per cent after indexation. For ETF and gold funds, the holding period to be classified as long-term is only one year.

After a year, ETF and gold funds

will suffer 10 per cent tax without indexation and 20 per cent after indexation,

have not formed inspection committees which are mandated to inspect the juvenile justice homes and report at least once in every three months. Second, there are hundreds of unregistered child care homes across the country despite the requirement to register them within six months under the Act. Inspection is seldom carried out in these unregistered homes and children remain extremely vulnerable to sexual abuse there. Also, there is no punitive provision per se for non-registration.

What is the role of inspection panels? First, most State governments

Prachanda calls for 3way ventures in Nepal with India.

Former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in his visit to china repeatedly emphasised a need for increased economic cooperation between China and Nepal, and also had requested Beijing to implement 3way ventures in Nepal with India. Equal ties is often interpreted here as a departure from the special relationship politicians claim Nepal has with India. He also invited Chinese investments in hydro power, tourism, Lumbini, ring road, and the mid-Hill highway Prachanda pointed out the inability of the South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) to spur trade in the region and said that Chinas involvement may energise Safta.

For a small investor, gold ETF would appear to be the best option, as it meets his needs without difficulties in terms of creating a separate demat account, tax implications and wealth tax.

What are Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)?

Recently Gold ETFs have seen net outflows with investors turning net sellers due to falling prices of gold in global markets These are open-ended mutual fund schemes that closely track the price of physical gold. Each unit represents one gram of gold having 0. 995 purity and the ETFs are listed on stock exchanges. The net asset value of each unit is calculated based on the prices of physical gold prevailing on that day and is designed to provide returns that would closely track the returns from physical gold.

Though Section 23 of the Act allows authorities to take action against willful neglect, mental or physical suffering of children, little is done.

In The World Bank report, India tops global remittances list

The World Bank has said that India is the largest recipient of remittances in the world, receiving $69 billion in 2012. It is followed by China ($60 billion), the Philippines ($24 billion), Mexico ($23 billion) and Nigeria and Egypt ($21 billion each), it said on Friday. Remittance flows to developing countries have more than quadrupled since 2000. Migration and remittances offer a vital lifeline for millions of people and can play a major role in an economys take-off. They enable people to partake in the global labour market and create resources that can be leveraged for development and growth.

Russia-U.S. cooperation on the backdrop of Chechen issue

In the wake of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing blamed on two ethnic Chechens, Russia and the U.S. have agreed to step up counter-terrorism cooperation. Russia has long blamed the U.S. for adopting double standards toward terrorists America was fighting and Chechen freedom fighters

NEWS IN NUTSHELL
Indias Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes report by ACHR Indias Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes, brought out by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) blames Centre, States for continuing assault A large number of the crimes committed in juvenile justice homes run and aided by the government .There was a 336 per cent increase in child rape cases in the country between 2001 and 2011,. Majority of the child rape cases were reported from homes established under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of

22 April 2013 Contradicting evidence to the theory of global warming

March in Russia saw the harshest frosts in 50 years, with temperatures dropping to 25 Celsius in central parts of the country and 45 in the north. It was the coldest spring month in Moscow in half a century. Why is this happening?

Padma Awards
Space scientist Prof. Roddam Narasimha and artist Syed Haider Raza (for Art) were presented with the Padma Vibhushan, while actor Rajesh Khanna and satirist Jaspal Singh Bhatti were honoured with Padma Bhushan posthumously Among other Padma Bhushan awardees were M.K. Bhan, a

Because its Linked to Arctic Meteorologists said the

unseasonably cold weather in the northern hemisphere this year was a result of the so-called atmospheric Arctic Blocs, with

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higher than usual air pressure over the Polar Regions pushing cold currents southward. They possibly linked the phenomenon to the rapid loss of Arctic ice in recent years. Thus, the record-breaking winter colds this year would seem to support the theory of global warming. primarily caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases produced by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation These findings are recognized by the national science academies of all major industrialized nations

Boston Marathon bombing suspect and Miranda rights

The arrest of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev (19), a naturalised U.S. citizen, on Friday, has ignited debate over a legal exception that allows police to interrogate individuals without reading them their rights. A Supreme Court ruling in1966 requires that police read suspects their Miranda rights, in order to protect them against involuntarily incriminating themselves. Under rules, the only comment made by a suspect who has been read his rights is able to be used in a subsequent trial. The court created an exception in 1984 for cases where the suspect is deemed to be an immediate threat to him or to the public.

Human activity and industrial discharges do have a great impact on environment, but forces of nature are far more powerful, said the scientist, who has studied Antarctic ice cores that are hundreds of thousand years old. Climate moves in natural cycles of warmer and colder, drier and more humid times.

Future warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe

The effects of an increase in

global temperature include a rise in sea levels and a change in the amount and pattern of precipitation, as well a probable expansion of subtropical deserts

Warming is expected to be

How is this affecting other parts of the world? The fields in much of Russia are still blanketed in snow. Weathermen say spring is a full month behind schedule in Russia causing migrating birds to delay their return to Russia from the south.

strongest in the Arctic and would be associated with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice.

Other likely effects of the

Record snowfalls brought Kiev, capital of Ukraine, to a standstill for several days in late March, closed roads across many parts of Britain, buried thousands of sheep beneath six-metre deep snowdrifts in Northern Ireland, and left more than 1,00,000 homes without electricity in Poland.

warming include a more frequent occurrence of extreme-weather events including heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall, ocean acidification and species extinctions due to shifting temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing crop yields and the loss of habitat from inundation

Defence Ministry unveils the new procurement policy

Defence Ministry has put in place a new procurement policy that accords first priority to Indian public and private sector for military procurements. This also aims at plugging loopholes that allow corruption into defence deals. It has to be approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the apex decision-making body of the Ministry, The changes in the DPP were made with the twin objectives of infusing greater efficiency in the procurement process and strengthening the defence manufacturing base in the country. The Ministry also approved a proposal under which the Services headquarters would be required to freeze specifications of the desired products before they are approved by the DAC. Changes will also end the virtual monopoly of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) and ordnance factories in the defence sector as they will not be automatically nominated for maintenance and repair of systems procured from abroad, as private firms will be allowed to take part in these contracts.

NEWS IN NUTSHELL
Mechanism on Coordination and Consultation on Border Affairs

British authorities said March was the second coldest in its records dating back to 1910.

New Delhi in January recorded the lowest temperature in 44 years. Scientists who study solar activity also predict global cooling. While long-term climate change remains a hotly debated issue, the no-warming forecast for the next five years from the British Met Office is good news

India- China are in the process of sorting out a recent incursion by Chinese troops who entered Indian territory in the Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector in eastern Ladakh and went on to set up a tented post. Both. under the aegis of the
recently set up Mechanism on Coordination and Consultation on Border Affairs, are working the phones to guard against the incursion developing into a flash point in bilateral ties.

average temperature of Earths atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation. Since the early 20th century, Earths mean surface temperature has increased by about 0.8 C (1.4 F), with about two-thirds of the increase occurring since 1980. Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and scientists are more than 90% certain that it is

Background on Climate change and Global warming Global warming is the rise in the

While taking the route of

dialogue, India has beefed up its military presence in the area. It has also reactivated the Advanced Landing Ground (ALG) at DBO which sits on an old Silk Road tributary from Ladakh. Ensuring the continuance of peace and tranquility on the border would be one of three core pillars of Chinas policy towards India.

The other two are expanding

economic engagements and stepping up convergence on global governance and security-related issues.

The first option would be to buy Current Affairs Notes

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from India followed by buy and make India, month and gradually link it to international prices. The government has also deregulated bulk diesel prices, the supply of subsidized LPG cylinders has also been capped at nine per household annually. A scheme to directly transfer cash subsidies to domestic LPG consumers is being implemented so as to eliminate duplicate connections. These measures will improve the profitability of upstream public sector oil companies as they have to share 33-40 per cent of the under-recovery burden. After being deregulated in June, 2010, petrol prices have risen by about 35 per cent till date. Consequently, the growth in demand for the fuel shrunk to a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 5.5 per cent over the last two years vis-a-vis a healthy growth rate of 10.4 per cent CAGR over 2005-06 to 2010-11. Similarly, the average growth in demand for diesel (which accounted for 45 per cent of the overall fuel consumption in 201213) fell to 3.7 per cent during October-February, 2012-13, from 10.5 per cent in the previous six months. Although, the fall in diesel prices can be, to an extent, attributed to the overall slowdown in the domestic economy, a large part of it is because of policy reforms and the subsequent increase in prices. As the gap between diesel and petrol prices narrows, the proportion of diesel car sales will fall A sharp rise in crude oil prices, a steep depreciation of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, and the lack of corresponding policy actions have pushed up underrecoveries over the last two years. In the absence of reforms and policy actions, the under-recovery in the second half of 2012-13 would have been higher by Rs.30,00040,000 crore. In 2013-14, CRISIL Research expects underrecoveries to fall by 50 per cent to Rs.70,000-80,000 crore. Indian economy has bottomed out, meaning that the worst is over. IMF projects the domestic economy to grow by 5.7 per cent in 2013.The Indian economy will benefit from a hopefully better monsoon, external demand, solid domestic consumption and recent policy changes. But, risks remain as the economy faces structural challenges, which can lower potential output and keep inflation at elevated levels. Meantime, from the point of view of trade deficit, the good news has been the sharp fall in global prices of gold. Considering that global oil prices are also heading lower, has India finally found a solution to the serious Balance of Payment (BoP) problem? Falling gold and commodity prices will reduce CAD, but they are not the real solution which depends on a revival of export growth. For that to happen, the industrial sector must revive. In that context, the news of a sharp fall in WPI (wholesale price index) inflation index to 5.96 per cent in March, the lowest level in three years, is most welcome. Along with the still weak IIP (index of industrial production) numbers, the fall in inflation ought to induce the RBI to cut its policy rates by at least 25 basis points.

Under the second category, private and public sector firms can tie up with foreign vendors and produce the equipment required by the armed forces within the country. Global cases being a choice of last resort.

The DAC has also made it mandatory for the armed forces to explain to the Ministry when they do not prefer to buy from Indian sources or are excluding the higher category. The other three categories include Buy and make with Transfer of Technology, Make and the last option of buying the equipment from foreign vendors directly under the Buy (global) category. To help the domestic industry prepare for meeting the requirements of the armed forces, the DAC approved release of a public version of its 15-year perspective document (LTIPP), for 2012-2027 outlining the Technology Perspective and Capability Roadmap (TPCR). The TPCR will provide useful guidance to the Indian defence industry for boosting its infrastructural capabilities and directing its R&D and technology investments Consultations to begin sufficiently in advance of actual procurement by Services, so that capital acquisition plans can be translated into national defence Research and Development and production plans. A high-level Committee has also been constituted for simplification of Make procedures, with a view to unleashing the full potential of this important category Under the Make procedures, the DRDO produces the equipment for the armed forces.

Decrease in under recoveries of public sector oil companies

The government has announced several reforms in the petroleum sector last year. These measures will have considerable impact on the fortunes of public sector oil companies. Oil marketing companies (OMCs) have been permitted to raise the price of diesel every

IMFs World Economic outlook and India

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the latest edition of its flagship publication World Economic Outlook says that the

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