[TIMES OF IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS] May 3, 2015

Rural stress affects farmers even in prosperous

states

According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, nearly 64 per cent of all farmer suicides in
the country in 2013 took place in the four states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and
Kerala. These are relatively prosperous states. But why?
Maharashtra tops the list, accounting for about a third of these, followed by Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka. Not all suicides take place because of economic stress.

Reasons for Rural stress on farmers:

Greater adoption of cash crops in these relatively prosperous regions could be one of the reasons for
acute rural stress in such states.
What has worsened the situation is the volatility in prices of some agri-commodities. Example: The
average annual price of J-34 variety Cotton spiked from Rs 3,115 a quintal to Rs 5,571 the following
year and collapsed subsequently.
Other reasons include: Rise in input cost of farming, Banks showing unwillingness to restructure loans.

Natural catastrophe pool still remains a distant

dream
What is catastrophe pool?
It is a pool of money used when a catastrophe or natural disaster occurs where people lose life and property in
large scale.

A proposal for such a pool was presented to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), but
has not taken shape yet.
Currently, India doesnt have a single cover for all catastrophic incidents. Two years ago, non-life
insurance companies had presented a concept paper on catastrophe insurance to the NDMA. The
paper cited the need for a pool to deal with losses from natural disasters. In the absence of such a
pool, both insurers and reinsurers have to bear the cost, leading to a big hit on profitability.
Last year, Asia recorded the highest economic loss from natural catastrophes and manmade disasters.
Cyclone Hudhud, an earthquake in China, and floods in India and Pakistan led to the loss of about 7,000
lives in Asia last year, with the overall economic loss from these disasters estimated at $52 billion.

[TIMES OF IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS] May 3, 2015

Subramanian to head panel to fix issues in reporting

govt data

The government has formed a coordination committee under Chief Economic Advisor Arvind
Subramanian to address issues while reporting Government Finance Statistics (GFS) data.
Currently, numerous constraints are being faced in reporting GFS data, which include manual
compilation of data from detailed demand of grants for economic and functional classification and a
time lag of more than two years to get final data.
The composition of the committee will have representation from RBI, the Controller General of
Accounts, the Central Statistics Office, the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Department of
Economic Affairs.

Lahiri panel invites industry to discuss tax issues

Committee set up by the finance ministry to address industry's tax concerns & to interact with trade
and industry on tax related issues on regular basis and ascertain areas where clarity in tax laws is
required.
It is headed by former chief economic advisor Ashok lahiri, was constituted in november 2014. The
term of the committee is for one year.
Other two members of the committee are settlement commission's (income tax and wealth tax)
retired member Sidhartha Pradhan and customs and central excise retired dg (audit) Gautam Ray.

Whom will this High Level Committee give recommendations to?

The hlc will give recommendations to the central board of direct taxes (cbdt) and central board of
excise and customs (cbec) for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars.
In News now:
Panel now invited associations, federations and stakeholders representing trade and industry to
present their views and suggestions on issues that required clarity in tax laws.
In the recent past, the government has been involved in tax disputes with some big multinational
companies such as vodafone, nokia and shell. This panel will address these problems.

Nepal aid: govt. working to amend PMs relief fund

rules
How can Prime Minister Nation Relief Fund be used?
According to the rules of the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund and the tax exemption granted to donors,
the fund can be used to provide relief only to the citizens of India.

[TIMES OF IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS] May 3, 2015

Can India use this fund to help Nepal? The confusion deepened when Prime Minister Narendra
Modi announced on April 27 that he would donate one-month salary for assistance to those
affected by the recent earthquake. As the rules stand now, however, the PMNRF money can
only be used for the earthquake victims in India.
What now? If the government agrees, Mr. Modi could use his discretionary powers to extend
the fund for Nepali citizens, given that the India-Nepal Friendship Treaty (1950) accords them
national treatment, and they are treated on a par with Indian citizens with regard to property
and commercial rights.

Banks cap upper limit for withdrawals at micro

ATMs
In News:
Banks have firmed up the upper limit on withdrawals at micro automatic teller machines (atms) at Rs
10,000 as part of rules governing small transactions.
They will levy an interchange fee of Rs 2 for withdrawal up to Rs 2,000 per transaction. The charge will
rise to Rs 15 per withdrawal for amount between Rs 5,001 and Rs 10,000.
Banks will not levy interchange fee for non-financial transactions at micro atms.

About Micro ATM in India:

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) would enable
beneficiaries with Aadhaar to withdraw money near their doors through the
core banking system. The beneficiary has to put his finger and Aadhaar
number in to the micro ATM wireless device and get the money within 8 to 9
seconds. Postal department which has about 1.55 lakh post offices over 90
per cent of which are in villages is planning to install 135,000 micro-ATMs at
post-offices across the country by September 2015.

MICRO ATM

AIIMS launches autism helpline

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has launched a helpline to help parents cope with any
medical emergency.
What is Autism?
Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.

[TIMES OF IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS] May 3, 2015

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.
Autism is highly heritable, but the cause includes both environmental factors and genetic susceptibility.
In rare cases, autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects.
Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses
connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.
Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered.

C N R Rao conferred with Japan's highest civilian

award
In News:
Scientist C N R Rao was conferred with Japan's highest civilian award for his contributions to science
and Indo-Japanese science coperation.
Rao is also the only Indian to be elected as a foreign member of the Japan Academy in Jawaharlal
Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.
About CNR Rao:
He is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural
chemistry. He currently serves as the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to
the Prime Minister of India. On 16 November 2013, the Government of India
announced his selection for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India,
making him the third scientist after C.V. Raman and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to
receive the award. He, along with the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar,
was conferred the award on 4 February 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.
His work on transition metal oxides has led to basic understanding of novel
phenomena and the relationship between materials properties and the
structural chemistry of these materials. Rao was one of the earliest to
synthesize two-dimensional oxide materials.

CNR Rao receiving Bharat

Ratna

Soon, norms for selling medicines online

After controversy over Snapdeal selling prescription drugs online, India's drug regulator is considering
bringing out guidelines for selling medicines on e-commerce portals.
Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed a First Information Report (FIR) against
Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl and the company's directors. The FIR has been registered under the Drugs
and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

[TIMES OF IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS] May 3, 2015

The matter pertained to sale of prescription drugs online. While OTC products can be sold without
prescriptions, many e-commerce companies following the marketplace model are selling even
prescription drugs online.

What are over the counter (OTC) drugs and Prescriptive drugs?Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs
are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription from a healthcare
professional, as compared to prescription drugs, which may be sold only to consumers
possessing a valid prescription.

Asiatic lions census begins in Gujarat

In News:
Gir is the last abode of Asiatic Lions, where the species are found at present. This time a method of direct
sighting or direct contact will be used to count lions. The earlier indirect evidence like pug-marks or scat will
not be taken into account, thus giving 100 per cent results. The forest department conducts the head count
for lions every five years in first week of May. The last census was conducted in 2010. At that time the lion
population had increased from 359 (census figures of 2005) to 411.
About Asiatic Lion:
The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica), also known as the Indian lion or Persian
lion, is a lion subspecies that exists as a single population in India's Gujarat
state. It is listed as Endangered by IUCN due its small population size. The lion
population has steadily increased in the Gir Forest National Park, more than
doubling from a low of 180 individuals in 1974 to 411 individuals comprising 97
adult males, 162 adult females, 75 sub-adults. The Asiatic lion is one of five big
cat species found in India, apart from Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, snow leopard
and clouded leopard.

Asiatic Lion

Virtual Harappans to come alive

In News: DNA to be extracted from the four full-sized skeletons excavated from a
Harappan site at Rakhigarhi in Haryana will be simulated using a novel software
developed in South Korea to show how the Harappans looked like 4,500 years ago
(their build, the colour of their skin or hair, their facial features and so on). These
skeletons belonged to the Mature Harappan period (2600 BCE-1900 BCE). The
skeletons were those of two men, one woman and a child. Rakhigarhi is a big
Harappan site, 25 km from Jind in Hisar district. 21 trenches, besides four burial
pits, were dug during the excavation. The four burial pits with the skeletons had a
variety of ritual pottery. The 21 trenches yielded typical Harappan painted pottery,
including goblets, terracotta figurines of wild boar and dogs, and furnaces and
hearths that provided evidence of a bangle- and bead-making industry using
terracotta.

Skeleton at Rakhigarhi